Shawn's Graduation

On Friday, Shawn graduated from Texas A&M with his doctorate in Wildlife & Fisheries. That morning he got his Aggie ring.

I am so proud of him and his accomplishments. It was a long road and not a very easy one, but he was determined and succeeded.

Shawn & his sister, Shannon

Shawn & his parents

Shawn & his niece Courtney

After his graduation, we went to the ranch for dinner and to celebrate.

2 years ago

Two years ago today, I met Shawn for the first time. I don't think very many people know this story but I think it is kind of neat.

Two years ago, one Saturday night Lindsey and I went to see the movie Must Love Dogs. It is about a woman who is looking for a man and tries to meet guys on the internet. After watching that movie, Lindsey started to try to talk me into going online and trying to meet someone. I was very hesitant at first, but she is very persuasive. Living in a college town, it is very hard to meet someone who isn't in college, so I thought it was worth a shot.

The next day, she and I got on match.com and signed me up for the free trial. I decided that if I was ever going to meet someone I was going to have to go out of my comfort zone and try. We had a list of things the guy must meet. He had to be a Christian and attend church regularly, be conservative, want to have a family, have a job, and a few other things I can't remember anymore.

On Monday, the next day, Shawn sent me an email. He met all of our requirements and he was getting his Ph.D. in wildlife. I thought he sounded great and perfect for our family so I replied back. We emailed back and forth that day getting to know each other better. That night he called me and we talked. He seemed like a very nice guy and not a serial killer or anything like that.

So, the next day (two years ago today) we decided to meet for dinner at Johnny Carinos. I wouldn't say it was love at first sight or anything like that, but we had a nice time and decided to keep seeing each other. Well seven months later we were engaged and three months after that we were married. I never thought I would be one of those people that got married so quickly, but Shawn made me the happiest I have ever been and from early on we just knew it was right.

So to recap, in a matter of about two days on match.com I met the man I was to marry. It's funny I never thought it was possible that people could meet their future spouse online, but every time I tell someone about how Shawn and I met they say, I just heard of another couple that met that way.

I am so thankful that God blessed me with Shawn two years ago today. I met Shawn at a time in my life where I didn't think I would ever get married. I felt I would never meet someone in this town and that I was going to be alone the rest of my life. I thank God everyday for bringing him into my life.

Shawn's Turn

4 jobs I have had:
1. Worked at a concession stand
2. Mowed yards
3. Worked at a freight dock
4. Teaching Assistant

4 Films I could watch over and over:
1. Dazed and Confused
2. The Gladiator
3. The Godfather
4. Black Hawk Down

4 Places I have lived:
1. Irving, TX
2. Nacogdoches. TX
3. Alpine, TX
4. College Station, TX

4 Favorite TV shows:
1. Seinfeld
2. Cheers
3. King of Queens
4. Everybody Loves Raymond

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Brownies with Ice cream
2. Pizza
3. Steak
4. Pappasito's fajitas

4 Websites I visit everyday:
1. MSN.com
2. TexasHuntandFish.com
3. FoxSports.com
4. Google.com

4 Places I would love to be:
1. Home doing nothing
2. Colorado
3. Jamaica
4. The Hill Country

4 Favorite Colors:
1. Red
2. Maroon
3. Blue
4. Green

I've been tagged!

Well, actually I was tagged several days ago, but am just now getting around to doing it.

4 jobs I have had:
1. Office Assistant
2. Fence Painter (My dad was trying to teach me about hard, manual labor. I painted this long white fence that went around the ranch house one summer and each time I would finish it, my dad would say I think it needs another coat. I think I painted it at least 10 times. I had many summers like this where my dad would find something unappealing for me to do.)
3. Cost Accountant
4. Accounts Payable

4 films I could watch over and over:
1. I don't have any. For some reason I do not like watching movies over and over again.

4 Places I have lived:
1. College Station, TX
2. Somerville, TX
3. Bryan, TX
4. I think 3 cities is pretty good considering I have lived in the same place my entire life.

4 Favorite TV shows:
1. Friends
2. American Idol
3. King of Queens
4. Seinfeld

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Pappasito's fajitas
2. Any kind of Blue Bell ice cream
3. Cake Icing
4. Chocolate Pecan Cookies

4 Websites I visit everyday:
1. Lots of blogs
2. Netflix.com
3. MSN.com
4. KBTX.com

4 Places I would like to be:
1. Jamaica
2. Colorado
3. Las Vegas
4. With Family

4 Favorite colors:
1. Maroon
2. Red
3. Blue
4. Pink

Since everyone I know that blogs has already done this I tag Shawn.

Happy Birthday Lauren

Happy Birthday Lauren!!!

I can't believe you are already 4,

you are growing up so fast.

We hope you have a very fun day.

Love,

Aunt Dana & Uncle Shawn

Getting Started

We finally have our house plans and are working on a few last things before construction on our house begins. We had a culvert put in this week for our driveway. Once we have a silt fence installed then the clearing of the lot can begin. Hopefully, we will start actual construction in about a month. That mainly depends on the rain though. Oh by the way, if you aren't interested in our home building experience then just ignore these posts. I'd like to have this experience documented to be able to look back on this in the future.

Here is a picture of our culvert. Exciting, huh!

The Hill Country

We had a great time in the Hill Country, even though it rained several inches during the beginning of our trip. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was neat. The main house was an old plantation home. They served a three course breakfast that was very good.

We went to some neat shops in Fredericksburg. Once the rain stopped, we went to a wildlife management area to try to take pictures for Shawn's publication he is writing on turkey habitat. All of the rain caused many of the roads to be closed on the way there, but we made it by taking a back way. We got about 3 of the 4 miles into the management area and saw that the road was underwater. At the end of the 4 miles is where the turkeys roost, so we missed the best part. Fortunately, we were still able to get some good pictures.

We also went to Wildseed Farms. We saw lots of beautiful wild flowers and had some great chocolate fudge and honey toasted pecans.

We had a really great time and would love to go back.

We are headed to the Hill Country

Shawn and I are getting out of town and heading to the Hill Country for the weekend. Shawn needs to take some pictures for a publication he is writing, so we are going to a management area to take pictures of turkey habitat. Exciting huh!!! It won't be all about work though. We found this cute bed and breakfast to stay at and we are going to go to the shops in Fredericksburg.

Learning to Faux Paint

The faux clinic went well. We decided to go ahead and get some paint and a piece of sheetrock to practice.

First we primed and painted the base coat.

Then we tried 3 different options for faux painting.


The first is called ragging off. You paint the glaze on and the dab it off with a rag. This is our favorite.

The second is similar to ragging off except you use a plastic bag instead of a rag. I think it is more consistent than the first one, but we like the look of the first one better.


The third one we tried making the glaze darker and then did the ragging off technique. I think it looks ok, but we like the lighter one better.


Overall, I was very surprised at how easy it was. I think we need more practice at making it more consistent and less blotchy in areas, but I think that will come with practice. I would like to start with something small like at bathroom before we try to tackle a living room.

Bridal Portrait

Finally, over a year after our wedding my parents received the bridal portrait from our wedding. It actually is a picture of both of us. I didn't take bridal portrait pictures before the wedding, we were just going to try to get a good one the day of the wedding. Well, I didn't like any of the pictures of just me so we went with the best picture of the two of us. I think it turned out beautifully. My parent's hallway is now complete with portraits from all three of us kid's weddings.