Herron to Rivera

So long Christmas! I'm FINALLY back home after a long and wild trip to Mississippi to see both sides of my family. It's always chaotic and people everywhere so it was really great to see everyone again. Now that I've eaten my weight in green bean casserole and red velvet brownie cake, it's time to focus on wrapping this year up! I really can't believe that this year has already come and went. 2014 has been a great year, but also a tough year for me personally. Lots of growing pains that's for sure. I hate that now I've grown up time just really flies, and I don't have any kids or pets of my own to account for that. It really just doesn't seem fair how life does that >:I this time next year my life will be completely different, so it's nice to be able to look back at what I've gone through to get to where I am now:  January Robert popped the question! In New York City. Then saw my sister shortly after. And after that, had 10th row Lu

Merry Christmas Eve Eve to you and yours! This month really has flown by, and we've been traveling almost every weekend. I'm sad to say that we probably won't get to go see any ice sculptures or anything festive at the Gaylord this year, but we've decorated, and hung up lights and dollar tree stockings! Alas, still haven't had any one over yet, but it's been a busy Holiday Season and there is always next year ;)  Two weekends ago we were in Baltimore to see the annual Army/Navy game, and since it's was Mallory's last year at the Academy, I was glad that Robert was able to see the tradition and the uniformity of each group. Alas, Navy still squeaked by for the win, but it was pretty cool just being there and seeing the rivalry play out (even though those pesky Midshipmen were rude during Army's march in at the beginning). We also got to spend a little bit walking around Washington DC and doing some sight seeing around there despite frigid temps (

It's the most wonderful time...of the year! It really is. I'm all cozied up with some hot cocoa and Michael Buble Holiday on Pandora, and ALL of these songs just bring me back to growing up and what Christmas means to me (ha that song is on right now-see what I did there?) It's a feeling I can't explain and probably makes me a little coo coo but I just love it. Makes me feel really young but also sad that I'm not a kid anymore and don't have any kids of my own yet to enjoy the feeling with and create traditions and memories with. I couldn't help myself: I really want to pursue art prints and things like that. I LOVE to write stuff like this. Seriously, if anyone needs anything done-let me know!  Touching back to the Christmas feeling, it kind of bums me out that more of our neighbors don't have lights on their houses. I feel like we have a substantial amount of children in our neighborhood, but that doesn't seem to make our neighbors mor

Happy December (but really, it's already December?!!)! I ALWAYS have this list of things to do inside my head that make this season so stereo-typically perfect, but always don't get around to doing anything and then bam, it's over and gone just like that. I'm really trying to live each day to the fullest and do these types of things, because in light of recent events, life truly is so short and can be gone just like that, and I would prefer to have these memories and feelings of joy and love to have. Cheesy-right? That warm fuzzy feeling that you always get when you see the perfect holiday commercial or movie is exactly what I'm going for, and who said we can't add even more happiness to an already happy life?! Life happens so quickly these days and sometimes we just need to stop and smell the...cold air and apple cider and peppermint and Christmas spirit instead of go, go, go.  Without further ado, here is what I plan (and hopefully achieve) this holiday se

Oh my goodness. I hope everyone had a fabulous fun, wobble till ya gobbled, love filled Turkey Day! I've been sick all week long (coughing, congestion, headaches, the works), but still was able to put that aside to enjoy the most beautiful clear blue, sun-filled sky with my family. My sister is in town so we were complete. My dad was up early getting the turkey in, and the meal was yummy in my tummy as usual. And Robert delayed his trip to the deer lease so he could eat with us, so I am especially grateful, thankful, and lucky for him :) AND my whole family. We are the only ones out here in Texas so I hate to stray from Tradition. OH and my "Sex in a Pan" Dessert was nomnomnomnom (good). I'll have to post the recipe later on. It was also very simple and customizable, and I remembered to take pictures this time! You can see the beginning of my food baby. Otherwise that sweater dress was not the most flattering thing to wear!   Robert, Me, Mallory, and her b

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 'Tis the season for Friends-giving, Thanksgiving, Sweater Parties, and Christmas! We are finally getting to the part of the year where just about everything weekend from now until the end of the year is filled with some sort of activity. Last weekend we had a Friends-giving, and this weekend we had a birthday, a friendly get together, and a REAL Thanksgiving. Fortunately I only had to bring dessert, and figured I'd share a super easy dessert item that I've made 3 times in the past 3 weeks. Normally at Thanksgiving at my Parent's house I am in charge of the dessert items. I can cook just about anything, but desserts and baking are NOT my specialty, so it's a good time to practice. These don't have a "real" name, so I call them Oreo Funfetti Cake Bars, and I found the recipe on Pinterest. Robert and I LOVE Oreos (more like addicted...) and this was right up my alley of ease. What you'll need: -2 packages

I've been engaged since January of this year, and since then it's been nothing but wedding talk and thoughts and choices and decisions and on and on and on, it's pretty hard to stay sane! I've been pretty secretive about what I'm doing and how everything is going to look. I want everyone to get the full effect of the entire experience when they walk in and see it all for the first time.  With that being said, it's hard to lose focus of what to use my energy on. It's a learn-as-you-go process, so I'm doing this completely blind for the first time and consequently learning some pretty valuable lessons.  Here's what I've come up with so far: 1. When you make a decision, make the decision . Don't regret it, don't think twice, and just let it go once it's done. In the world of Pinterest and Etsy and other websites easily accessible, this has proven time and time to make things extremely difficult for me. I'm already bad at

Great thing! It's a also a huge bitch. That's why I'm a strong believer in "you get what you give," and try get the most out of every situation. If it's not life threatening, then it's going to be okay. If something doesn't go right, or happens unexpectedly, it's probably not the end of the world. So why worry, stress, and think that it is and further yet put those feelings onto someone or something completely innocent in the situation. Stress Free's the Way to Be!  We recently visited our local CiCi's joint by our new house just to check things out and to get a hot meal, and this place was the ultimate dining experience. It had recently been renovated, so everything was new, shiny, efficient, and overall a great time, not to mention the staff was great. So great we went back to eat a couple of days later, where we witnessed a family of 4 have the audacity to complain to the first employee to walk by that they think the place is going d