Gone to Texas

Hello? Anybody out there? Remember me? It's me, Alyssa. Your friendly sporadic blogger.

Man, it's been a CRAZY past few months. Most of you who read this are also Facebook friends, so you probably already know that Marcus and I are once again residents of the great state of Texas. It is a very bittersweet time for me. I am SO proud of Marcus, who finished seminary at Vanderbilt and accepted a position at Grace Avenue United Methodist Church. We are so excited to make our new home in Frisco and be closer to family. But I was devastated to leave my amazing job at Blood:Water Mission and all the wonderful friends and places we loved in Nashville. To be honest, I don't really feel like I was "done" with Nashville. It feels so surreal to be back in Texas and not have a job or a place of our own (yet!). But I am so confident that God has called us here and feel very blessed for His provision in our lives.

I suppose this little blog will need a makeover eventually. Hopefully I will get back to blogging on a more regular basis that warrants a new design! I have several things I want to post about in the next month, and while I'm on the hunt for a new job, I should have plenty of time for that! To hold myself accountable, I'm listing them here.

-Completion of my Nashville Bucket List
-Books I read in 2012
-Review and Resolutions for 2013
-Progress on decorating our new house

Yes, we bought a house! I could not be more thankful for such an easy house buying experience and I can't wait to share pictures with you. Praying everything goes smoothly until we close at the end of January!

And finally, to celebrate my return to blogging, I want to invite you to join me in a Valentine's Day blogging party! I'm a big fan of The Crowley Party and Alycia has joined with four other bloggers to host this swap. It should be fun!

It's good to be back, blog world! I hope you'll stick around!

Happy Birthday, Stister!

My "stister" hit the big 3-0 last week! It was so much fun to gather with our whole family and a lot of her friends to celebrate this milestone birthday...and she was definitely surprised!

The whole family!

My brother-in-law's cousin had a condo in Jersey City that he let us use with an amazing view of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty. There was lots of food, friends, and good times.

Party time!

When I asked Kyleen what she wanted for her birthday, she said she would love to have something I made. I knew she also wanted some placemats and napkins, so that's exactly what I made! I wanted something to go with her Fiestaware dishes in Peacock and Scarlet and I LOVE the Amy Butler fabric I found for the placemats! It had both the teal and red and a pop of yellow, Kyleen's favorite.

The finished product!

I love the way they turned out! It was the first time I've ever used piping, and it really wasn't too difficult! I used a different color of piping for each placemat. I also made some coordinating napkins and I really love the fabrics I used for them too! I had a lot of fun creating a table setting using the linens, dishes, and some other decorative items she had around the house! Kyleen folded the napkins and I think it's just so cute and colorful! It helps that these are some of my favorite colors. :)

Love the pewter pieces and yellow candles!

Yellow napkin! 

Red napkin!

If you know my sister, you know that this is so fitting for her bold personality! I'm so glad she loved the linens and that I've been able to make so many fun and special gifts lately. Happy Birthday, Kyleen! I love you!

Wish You Were Here: New York City

We had so much fun in the Big Apple last week! I'll never forget the first time I traveled to New York City. I was eight years old and it was my first time on an airplane! My uncle lived (and still does) in Greenwich Village and my grandparents took me to visit. I still vividly remember the night we arrived and I went to my first Broadway musical, CATS! We visited the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Centers, and much much more. Since then, my sister has gone to NYU and made her home there, so we've been really lucky to be able to make several trips there over the years.

This trip, however, was a first for Marcus! I was so excited to be able to make the trip with him and for him to see all the really touristy places. It was also a special trip because all of my family was there and we celebrated my sister's 30th birthday! Kyleen was so shocked when we arrived at her house and the entire long weekend was just so much fun.

We started off with a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Both places are full of history and such a neat experience for all ages!

Isn't she a beaut?

After lunch we went to the 9/11 Memorial. I guess I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was a really neat experience. The fountains are beautiful and they pay important tribute to those who lost their lives while symbolizing hope for our country's future.

One of the fountains at the memorial.

Freedom Tower, still a work in progress.

We finished a day of sightseeing at the Top of the Rock. I was really excited about this because it was new for me! We opted for the observation deck at Rockefeller Center over the Empire State Building because the wait was much shorter and the view was just as amazing.

Hello from the top of New York City!

For dinner, we went to the iconic Grand Central Station for dinner at the long-established Oyster Bar. One of the fun things about Grand Central Station is that you can stand in a corner and talk to someone standing in the opposite corner, kind of like a tin can telephone!

My dad in timeout!

The next day, we took a lovely stroll through Central Park. In my opinion, no trip to NYC is complete without a good old-fashioned New York hot dog. So this was our first stop at the park. Second to a hot dog, my favorite spot in New York is the Literary Walk. It's just so picturesque and peaceful in the city that never sleeps! We also visited the boatyard and turtle pond as well as the fountain that's seen in many films, including One Fine Day!

Next stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My uncle calls it his Number 1 Must for anyone with refinement and artistic sensibilities! :) Marcus enjoyed all of the modern art, and I just loved the new Schiaparelli & Prada exhibit. If you love clothes and fashion, it's just incredible.

After some classic New York style pizza at John's, we headed to the Broadway Theater to see Sister Act: the Musical. I have to admit, there were other shows higher on my list, but it was a really fun show. We laughed out loud and had a good time!

Best pizza in the city!

As always, trips to New York are too short and it's just impossible to see everything. After our time in the city, we spent a couple of days visiting family. Stay tuned for a post about my sister's surprise party and my special birthday gift!

Nieces in Nashville!

We just spent a wonderful long weekend in New York seeing the sights, visiting family, and celebrating my sister turning 30! I'll post about that in the next few days, but first I wanted to share some photos of a fun weekend in June when Marcus' parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and our nieces all came to visit us here in Nashville. We had such a good time and I loved having our family in town.

After Marcus got done with his mission trip, we headed to downtown Franklin to explore the shops.

Matt and Marcus with Lucy, Clare, and Abby

Of course, you can't go to Franklin without stopping in at Puckett's!

Abby loves her Uncle Marcus!

We finished off the day with swimming at the hotel pool. We all had a good time...until it was time to get out of the water...

It was freezing!!

On Saturday, we took a trip to the Nashville Zoo! I was so excited to mark another thing off my bucket list, and who better to do it with but three cute little girls?!

Meerkats!

Abby loved the "falingos"! :)

Abby is in love with the cartoon Dinosaur Train, and sang the theme song to us all weekend long! We thought she'd love the DinoTrek exhibit at the zoo, but it was just a little too real.

Abby and Lucy digging up dino bones.

The carousel was much more fun and Clare got to join in too! :)

We love our nieces!!

Cutie patooties!

There was a lot of good food mixed in with all the fun activities, and we even managed to squeeze in a few nights at CMA Fest (an unlisted bucket list item!). We had such a wonderful time and I'm so glad they were able to make the trip to visit us. I know they probably won't remember it when they're older, but it will be fun to show them these pictures of the time they came to see Uncle Marcus and Aunt Alyssa!

Wish You Were Here: Colorado

One of the perks of Marcus still being in school is that he still has a week off every spring semester. Around this time last year, I knew this would most likely be one of his last spring breaks and with the busy schedules of my family, I knew we would need to start planning far in advance if we wanted to go somewhere.  So I emailed my parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law (and Marcus, too!), we all marked it on our calendars, and I've basically been counting down the days since!

My family has been going skiing during spring break nearly every year since I can remember.  When I was five, I got to go for the first time and with the exception of a few years (including the college mission trip where Marcus and I met), I haven't missed a one. We are fortunate that my grandparents have a condo in Silverthorne that's really close to several resorts, so we've always stayed in the same place every year, and we pick where we ski based on our mood that year. :)

Before I get to our trip, though, I have to mention that the weekend we left was also a very special weekend because one of my best friends, Laura, got married! I was so honored to be a part of her wedding and we had an absolute blast!

The lovely Laura Lawrence!

The Lawrences and the Womacks

After the wedding, it was off to the Rockies! It was so great to spend a whole week with my family. There were NO lines, the weather was beautiful, and we had so much fun skiing, playing games, and catching up on life.

Unfortunately, I failed to take a single picture the whole time we were on the mountain. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! See, here's the deal. Skiing is a lot of work. I'm extremely cold-natured so it takes a lot of time and energy to get bundled up and play in the snow all day.  I had my camera with me, but by the time we were off the ski lift and stopped long enough to take a picture, it wasn't worth the effort to take off my mittens (yes, I wear mittens because they're warmer than gloves), pull out the camera, get everyone together, ask someone to take our picture, put the camera back in my pocket, and put my mittens back on.  I just wanted to get down the mountain, ok? My dad did snap a picture on his phone though, so here's proof that I was there and I skied:

After three days of skiing, we were pretty exhausted, so we decided to spend our last day shopping around the little village at Breckenridge.  If you've ever been, you know what a cute little town it is, full of little shops and restaurants!  First, we had a little lunch at a neat little crepe cart, Crepes a la Cart.

Super yummy!

We shopped around for a bit, visited a little ski museum, and then stumbled upon a wine shop, where my mom, my sister, and I did a fun wine tasting.

We shopped around a little more and then headed back to Silverthorne for dinner.  We had been told about a place called the Mint, where you cook your own steak. I still don't understand why people think it's cool to pay money to cook your own food, but I totally bought in to it and we had a great time.

Hard at work grilling my steak.

The real grill master (I had no idea what I was doing).

Deeeeeelicious!

The whole family!

Spring Break 2012 despite what the Christmas lights might indicate :)

I'm so thankful I was able to take a whole week of work and spend Spring Break with my family. Hopefully this is a tradition that will continue with our kids (many, many years from now)!

Review and Resolutions

As 2011 rolled in, it was hard to believe that it would be able to top 2010, the year Marcus and I got married.  To be honest, I'm not sure any day can top our wedding day (until we have kids) but I do know that every year with Marcus just keeps getting better and better!

Our year started off with my transition into full-time employment. What a blessing! I love where I work and I'm so privileged to be a part of the Blood:Water Mission family.

Then...

We returned to the scene of our engagement...

Alki Beach in Seattle

 And welcomed our beautiful niece, Clare Isabella!

We also welcomed a new addition to our little family!

Maximus Womack 

Look how much I've grown!

Marcus finished his second year of seminary and started his third, with a trip to England in between.

High Five, John Wesley!

 We celebrated lots of weddings...

The Pitcocks!

The Litzlers! 

The Rigdons!

The Robinsons!

The Zeisigs!

...and the first anniversary of our own wedding!

One year!

We went to Disney World...

...and marked U2 and Martina McBride off our concert bucket lists!

I made my first quilt...

...and my second!

All these things are just wonderful reminders of the blessings God has given us, and as I look ahead to 2012, I know it will bring many more blessings.  I can't wait to see how our story continues to unfold.  I'm usually pretty bad at coming up with resolutions, but I do have a few things I'd like to accomplish this year.

1. Get back into the routine of exercising at the Y. This was a resolution last year, and it lasted for a solid nine months. I was pretty proud of us! I want to do better this year, and that may mean I have to give up some things to be better disciplined about staying active!

2. Start a routine of cleaning and maintaining our house. I'm SO bad at this right now. I rarely have any motivation to clean the house, yet I constantly feel frustrated at the state it's usually in.  I really want to be better about this and if you have any suggestions, I'll gladly take them!

3. Spend more time in prayer. Starting this one now with Stormie O'Martian's "The Power of a Praying Wife" devotional.  I can't wait to go through this book and hopefully share it with you!

4. Create a bucket list for Nashville.  Knowing that there is a chance that we'll move back to Texas at some point after Marcus graduates, our time in Nashville is likely becoming more limited. There are several places to go and things to do here, as well as places to visit nearby. Time to write them all down and start checking them off!

I could probably go on, but I think this is a good start. Don't want to get overwhelmed before I even start!

Thanks for letting me share our life with you!

Wish you were here!

The Womacks