Congrats to Amy...

...on her pregnancy!! I absolutely love these girls! We have all been friends since 6th grade. It's so fun to see everyone grow-up!

Urban Crust in Plano, TX

Fall is blowing in...

Fall is blowing in...which means it is time for cookouts, family, friends and the holidays! As the weather temperature drops, we are very excited to be outdoors... to see old friends...and to just hang out! The below pictures was taken about 1 year ago.

Richard and some of the guys he grew up with in Nacogdoches/Huntington...
This is the day that Jessa experienced her first crawfish boil.

An eventful September!

Tortilla Soup Night
CARES Event
(Richard made all the soup!)

September always seems to be one of the busier times of the year for us! As you know, Jessa runs Keep Mesquite Beautiful (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that aims to educate kids and adults on environmental education...through special events and programs). Richard and Jessa serve as a CARES Team at The Village in Dallas through the nonprofit, Apartment Life, Inc. (our mission is to serve our neighbors by building community and friendship through special events...and help out in special times of need). See what events we have been up to... :)

CARES EVENTS

Richard prepping for a CARES breakfast!

One of our sweet volunteers, Michelle!

More sweet volunteers, Molly and Natalie.

The CARES Team that we are helping to mentor.

The CARES Team we are helping to mentor.

Keep Mesquite Beautiful's

2nd Annual Recycling Fashion Show

Richard volunteered to oversee the judging process...he did a fantastic job!
He even created a scoring database for us.

Jessa and her co-chairs, Susie & Brandee!

Keep Mesquite Beautiful's

Trash Bash

Richard helping to pass out the pizza to deliver to the Mesquite Fire Department. The event was cancelled due to rain....so, we had a TON of pizza to distribute!

One of Jessa's best friends, Kristi, showing off her umbrella during the rain. Kristi is a teacher for Mesquite ISD and volunteers at a lot of Jessa's Keep Mesquite Beautiful events.

The fam at Fellowship Dallas!

Richard and I have started going to Fellowship Dallas a few months ago. We were in need of a church much closer to our home! We love the worship style, worship leader and pastor. This morning's message and music was especially good. Check it out: http://www.fellowshipdallas.org/ (click on "watch").


Here are a few photos from this morning of my parents, my sister-in-law and our niece and nephew. Chloe truly enjoyed the kid's play area....but she REALLY enjoyed the fun new game that Uncle Richard taught her....going up and down the escalator. Oh yeah, you have to walk up the steps to go down the escalator. We didn't know we would be getting a workout! Enjoy!

Our niece and nephew!

Here are some recent pictures of our sweet niece, Chloe, and nephew, Jude! A few weeks ago we went to the Duck Pond at The Village and last night we had dinner with Beth and Matt.

A "cute" education ... "Pickle & Sundae sized bones" ... An American dinner seasoned with Indian culture ...

I was very excited to start my Nonprofit Leadership Certification at SMU today! I have wanted to work toward the NPLC for about a year! I was so inspired and encouraged at all the Nonprofit Leadership in one room. The certification is a 12 week cohort style program. I have so much to learn and I feel very blessed to be a part of this program. I absolutely love the nonprofit realm and my job. I can't wait to see where God takes me in my career. Jessa

The very cute bag they gave us with our books!

Being a CARES team allows us to meet people in all walks of life and from all around the world. Recently, we had the opportunity to spark a friendship with Roshni. She moved to The Village this past month from India to attend the MBA program at SMU. Richard helped her out by building her a desk. We invited Roshni to dinner last night. We had the opportunity to share cultures, food, sports, ideas, politics and just life in general. It was great! Roshni is very scared of dogs, so we bought HUGE bones for Pickle and Sundae...they entertained themselves all night (they also did not make a dent in those bones). Roshni gave us a bottle of wine as a thank-you for dinner. How sweet!

Sundae and her new bone!

Pickle and her new bone!

Yum!

A little bit of rain... walking... and a great meal!

Last night, Jessa and her mom decided to walk the trail at White Rock Lake! The area is beautiful! Despite the rain....they still walked for half an hour! Later that night, Jessa and Richard went to Jessica and Sean's apartment for a homecooked meal. Jessica did a great job!

Jessica's wonderful meal!

Jess made dinner, and it was GOOD!

...yay! A rainbow! We then walked for 30 mins....

And then it rain...and we RAN back to the car! (exercise too, right?)

Our walk begins!

We can see it raining over the lake...but we thought it would stay there for a little while....

Sean & Jessica in front of the new stadium.

It's that time of year, the NFL is here...let's send the Dallas Cowboys some good cheer!

Here are a few photos from when the Dallas Cowboys stadium first opened. You definitely have to check out the stadium in person...it is HUGE!

Us in front of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium!

Richard and Sean at the New Dallas Cowboys Stadium
(they didn't know that we took this picture...hehe)

Happy (one day early) 77th Birthday Grandma! Love, Jessa

Matthew 6:19-20

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven." -Matthew 6: 19-20

Jessa is going to be famous...Oh yes, get excited!

Jessa had the opportunity to be an "extra" for a new TV show, Lonestar. She will be in the third show (fourth if you include the pilot). It takes place in a hospital. If the scene makes the cut, you will see her for about 2 seconds as a nurse right before the "bad news" is received. :)

Lone Star (FOX TV Show) Pictures

"Lone Star" (FOX TV show), formerly known as "Midland," is a sophisticated and provocative drama about a con man who is juggling two wives and two very different lives. FOX's "Lone Star" TV show is set against the backdrop of greed and corruption in the Texas oil and power industries. From Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman ("Party of Five"), writer Kyle Killen and directed by Marc Webb ("(500) Days of Summer"), the compelling series stars newcomer James Wolk as Robert Allen, a charismatic and brilliant schemer who has entangled himself in a deep, complex web from which he can't break free. In FOX's "Lone Star" TV series, he's caught between two very different women.

The "Lone Star" cast also includes Adrianne Palicki ("Friday Night Lights") as Cat, Eloise Mumford ("Crash") as Lindsay, Jon Voight as Clint, Mark Deklin as Trammell, ("The Ex List"), David Keith ("The Class") as John Allen, Hannah Leigh Dworkin ("The Suite Life of Zack & Cody") as Grace, and Bryce Johnson ("Doctor Strange") as Drew. The "Lone Star" TV show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television.

September in Texas :: Hot!

In the middle of our crazy busy September schedule, we had the opportunity to have a Starbucks Date on Friday night! We absolutely love the Starbucks at Greenville and 75. On Saturday, we had a CARES event with waffles, chick-fil-A and fruit... this is one of our monthly events for our residents. We had about 65 attend! Then we met Anna & Steven and Mindy & Evan at Top Golf for a day filled with putt-putt and the driving range...followed by some yummy tacos at Torchy's Taco! On Sunday, Richard jogged with our neighbor Christian. Then we met Jessa's parents at Fellowship Dallas for church and then headed back to our apartment for lunch and the Cowboys game. Our day ended with Welcome Visits in the Cliffs/Bluffs in The Village (our apartment). Great weekend!

Celebrating 70 Candles.

This is our friend and nearby neighbor, Sonny! We met Sonny at our very first CARES event. Without fail, she always brings an Indian dish to our events...which is great for us since we love Indian food. She has promised to make us a cookbook so we can cook our favorites. We've learned so much about her culture, language, food and customs. She is a truly special person in our hearts! In this photo we are celebrating her 70th birthday at an Indian Restaurant in Plano. Yum. ;)

Jessa's iphone...shattered.

It would definitely not be an understatement to say that I am addicted to my iphone. My iphone allows me to keep up with friends, family, work, cares, Richard, bills, facebook, and our calendar for friends, family, work, cares, bills, etc. (ha!). Needless to say, I really rely on my iphone! I was visiting Goodwill Industries of Dallas today and I dropped it in the lobby (on their floor made out of recyclables... must have been some pretty darn hard recyclables). The screen is shattered...Ahhh! I then visited Richard at his job (so we could save all the photos off the phone). Of course, my warranty doesn't cover it... so I either pay $500 for a new phone (not an option) or find someone to fix it. So...the journey begins. When all else fails, pose the question on facebook and pick your friend's brains on what to do.

And now...for your viewing pleasure....(yes, this was taken with Richard's blackberry...oh the shame!)

Blogging...It's the American way. Welcome!

Yeah...we had to join the rest of America and get a blog too.

We hope you enjoy our blog! This is our way of keeping you up-to-date on our big little adventures in everyday life. This blog will also serve as our memory journal for travel, work, friends, family and eventually our own little family.

Blessings,
Jessa and Richard