RIP Whitney

I was deeply sadden to hear of the news that one of my favorite singers of all time, Whitney Houston, died on Saturday night.

This was much, much worse for me than Michael Jackson's death. And I think it is so bad because we don't know how or why she died.

Whitney was the first cd I ever bought, "I Will Always Love You" is still one of my all time favorite songs and EVERY TIME The Bodyguard comes on TV, I watch it. I was disappointed when she went down hill during her Bobby days and drug abuse, but I still listened to her old music. She was a very strong and independent woman and I think that is why I admired her.

In honor of my dear friend, I will be listening to my Whitney Houston Pandora station all day. Rest In Peace!

Happy Birthday Papa

Today my Papa turns 89!! He is a retired preacher in Memphis and I was so lucky to have him marry me and Ryan. He is such a strong man and an amazing example. I am so lucky to have him and Nana in my life.

Love you Papa so much!

My Matron of Honor is in GLAMOUR!

Everybody knows and loves Glamour Magazine right? Well I got a text from my MOH last week that said "Pick up a March issue of Glamour and turn to page 260" Well I did and was shocked to see her and her husband Chris!!!

For those of you who don't know, Chris is a captain in the Army and has been deployed several times. This November he came home from Iraq just in time for the Holidays. Glamour did a section in their magazine on 6 different women and their husbands coming home from war and Stacia was one of those 6!!!

I read the article and got a little teary eyed but also had to laugh. When reading it, I heard Stacia saying "I was worried my hair would get frizzy."

Stacia has been through a lot and Chris is one of my personal heros. I am so happy they are together again and even more excited that I get to show off one of my best friend's picture in a magazine that has 2.3 million readers!!

Above is her page and her story is on the right side of the page. The picture at the bottom is of their first kiss when Chris got home.

Stacia and Chris - Love you guys. Do you think you will get recognized on the street now? :)

Learnings from my Bible Study

On Tuesday night, I attended the first session of a new bible study group of young women from our church. There were 7 of us in attendance and we had a great time getting to know each other and starting the first lesson. We started a lesson on the book of James recommended to me by my good friend Kelsey Hency.


Throughout the first lesson, a common theme occured - opening your heart to learning about Jesus so you can spread his word. We had a great discussion how, as much as we are in Love with Jesus, it is difficult to sing his praises to others. I myself find it so difficult, more times than not, to put into words my beliefs and feelings about my savior.


So with that in mind, I am challenging myself to share my thoughts, feelings and learnings after each lesson in attempts to be a better child of God and truly showing my love for him. I am hoping to touch at least one person somewhere in the blogosphere. If I can at least make one person think deeper about their faith, I will have succeeded.


So wish me luck. Here I go.....

• Romans 15:4 teaches us the word of God gives us Hope above all else


• By insulting other people, you are insulting God


• By storing up God's Word in our hearts, we are able to learn it and apply its teachings


• God wants us to question as we learn


• Psalm 119 - God wants us to open our eyes and hearts to his learnings and we are dependent on Him to understand what he is trying to teach us

These are fairly basic insights but sometimes we all need to be reminded of the basics in order to grow in our understandings.

A Girls Night Out

I had been waiting for last weekend since March 2010! What you say? Well remember this post about one of my favorite books coming to the Big Screen? Last Friday the movie was finally released (almost a two-year wait!!) so we decided to make a girls' night out of it.

I told friends at work about the movie so they decided to read the book as well. So five us went to a new restaurant in Fayetteville and then to the movie. We ate at Posta Plata, a new fancy Mexican restaurant which was fabulous! I had the best margarita I have EVER had and they made pretty good guacamole at our table.

After dinner we went to the movie and it was hilarious! There were a few differences from the book, but overall pretty much the same. I loved it! I really hope they make another movie. There are 19 books in the serious so far, and yes I have read all of them.

Once the movie was over, it was only about 9 so we went back to Posta Plata and sat in their bar to have another drink. We had so much fun together and have already planned another girls night out.

My AMAZING drink - Habanero Lime Margarita made with all fresh ingredients

Our group, do you recognize the gal standing next to me.....

Yep, that's right. Its Bridget from Channel 5 in Fayetteville. She was their nightly anchor for years before moving to New York, and then moving back to work for Mitchell. She might be the funniest person on the face of the earth!

Me and Brandy. Funny Fact: Brandy was my RA at Reid Hall when I was a freshman at the U of A. She started working at Mitchell about 6 months before I did. Small world right?

Christina, Tammy and Bridget

Brandy had a Hibiscus Martini that had real hibiscus flowers in it.

Christina with her Mango Mojito.

Freezer Meals

A couple of weekends ago me and two girlfriends from work got together to have a cooking day. We all had been noticing a new trend of people making several meals on one day and then freezing them to eat later. So we decided to try it.

We chose 3 meals that you freeze and then dump into your crockpot for cooking, which is even easier. We made 2 meals of each of the three receipes so we ended up with 6 complete meals.

It took us about 3 hours of chopping, measuring and pouring into our freezer bags (plus a few bottles of wine might have been consumed). We had a blast doing it. We split the ingredients up to purchase as well. I was in charge of onions, garlic, honey and zuchinni. That made it nice becaue all three of us didn't have to buy soy sauce or corn starch (or any other ingredient we weren't going to use a lot of) which saved us money. I calculated it up and with the ingredients I bought plus my own meat, I spent about $24 for everything. That is $4 per meal and $2 per person (me and Ryan). Plus, no cooking involved!

We have already decided to schedule another cooking day next month. I would highly recommend it.

Three stations ready to get started

Christina mid sip and Brandy mid chop.

My Bridesmaid Luncheon

I know I am 7 months late, but I wanted to share the pictures from my bridesmaid luncheon the day before my wedding.

My aunt and grandmother hosted it at the Springdale Country Club for us and it was beautiful. It was a great way to thank my friends and family for being a part of my day.

The room. My mom, aunt and grandmother decorated the tables and they looked great!

My place setting and menu

I loved the centerpieces. Limes and flowers - so simple and gorgeous

Me and my mom and MIL

All my bridesmaids. I love them and they truely made my wedding special! Front row sorority squat! yes! Ryan's grandmother, me and my grandmother

The Hostesses

This was a great way to kick off the wedding weekend and I am so thankful for everybody that made it happen!