Love, Alicia: 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Lost and Found

I received a text from my husband today about a message that he found through a corrupted file at work. Talk about how God works in amazing ways. This is what the message had read.

Flourish in the New Year

Today's Scripture: The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.
Psalm 92:12, NIV

Today's Word: Have you ever seen a palm tree in the midst of a great storm? That tree may be bent so far over that it's almost touching the ground, but when the wind finally stops, that palm tree bounces right back up. What's interesting is that while that palm tree is hunched over under the pressure of the storm, it is actually becoming stronger. See, the reason God said we'd flourish like a palm tree is because He knew there would be difficult times. He knew things would come against us to try to steal our joy and victory. But God said, "You're going to be like a palm tree because when the storms of life blow, you are going to come rigt back up stronger than before." As you reflect ont he events over the last year, remember, the storms ou have encountered have only made you stronger. You are wiser. You are more alive, and you are headed for victory. Your brightest days are right out in front of you! Always remember that with God on your side, nothing can hold you back!

Prayer for Today: Father in heaven, thank You for making me strong in You. I trust that You are working in my life, even in the midst of the storms. Thank You for a new year and a new season of blessing in You in Jesus' name. Amen.

It's amazing that something lost was found. How amazing is it that someone's original message that was not meant for us, was found and has such a perfect message...a message for us all.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

2012 Unwrapped

2012
This has been a year. A year full of firsts, of laughs, of ups and downs, and everything in between. This year the husband and I said good-bye to apartment life and bought our first home. I proclaimed my faith and was baptized this summer at the Heights Baptist Church. I moved schools and grade level. Our Zellner family grew and we gained a new sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. We celebrated our nurse, Rachel's gradutation. Lots of babies from our ABF were born. Our best friends told us that they would be having twins. We too made lots of New Year's resolutions that sadly were not upheld (mainly my fault:) Ray sold gray ghosty and bought the Prius. We traveled to Alabama to celebrate my niece, Olivia's 5th birthday. We began our monthly Zellner Cafe lunch dates with our college crew. God is good!

But this year has also brought about its fair share of challenges. I think that may be something that this blog does lack. I have realized over time, my writings do tend to reflect only the positive. But I think what I've learned this year, is that it is also those obstacles that help define us. I think its ok to not always be ok. As only a few short days stand before me and the closing of a truly amazing year, I want to tell myself that it's ok to be unwrapped. It's ok to be open and vulnerable. It is in those moments that we leave it to God and let Him be our answer. He can move mountains... and with that in mind, there is nothing that He can't do. So with that being said, I'm so excited about 2013. I'm excited for what's to come. And while it hasn't all been in the timing that I desire, I know that there is an absolutely perfect plan. So I say the same advice for you. May your 2013 come. May we make mistakes. May we learn. May we continue to grow. May our days not always look exactly as we have planned as we know His story is truly greater than any we could imagine. Happy 2012! Here's to another amazing year in 2013!

Our Fant Five

Friday night we had dinner with our Fant five. We dinned on some On the Border specialities (oh how I LOVE Mexican food!) and spent a few hours catching up on all things Christmas. I really enjoyed sitting and spending time with our friends. It is a great way to celebrate the holiday and upcoming New Year!

Our White Return!

During our trip to Sugar Land, I had received a text that said, "Hurry home. It's snowing!" I was so excited to hear that our home in Northern Dallas was covered in beautiful, white snow. Sadly our Houston temperatures were in the mid 70s. Our Christmas day had even been hit with countless power outages due to the wind and cold front that quickly came flooding in. We returned from our trip Thursday afternoon to snow still on the ground. I was so excited to see that we hadn't missed a white Christmas! When we came inside the house, boy was it cold. This is what our thermometer read. I quickly turned up the heat.

After a quick lunch at Chick-fil-a and a stop to pick up our pups, we enjoyed a few pictures in the snow.

Toby has mastered his look of apology. I'm sure he ate something he shouldn't have. I just love this sweet, but super spoiled baby. ANYWAY... I loved our white return. It was good to see our furbabes. We spent the rest of the afternoon, house a mess and laundry all over the floor, in the bed watching movies and relaxing.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Zellner Faces and Happy Places

It is such a treat when the Zellner siblings are able to get together. Wednesday night, while the grandparents watched the kiddos, the adults went out for drinks and dessert at BJs. With hundreds of miles between us, I love the opportunity to spend time together. Here's to many more of these this upcoming year.

(Becky & Todd)

(Rachel, Kendall, & Becks)

(Tassie & Ryan)

Merry Christmas 2012!

This year our holiday season lead us back home to the Land of Sugar to celebrate two Christmas celebrations. School let out the day of our departure. I enjoyed a fun holiday choir performance, classroom holiday party, an early relase lunch at Rusty Taco (YUM!) and then spent a few hours setting up my room before I left for home. We spent a good portion of our Thursday night packing for our trip. We were super excited as our Alabama Zellner family would be joining us this year including my new sister-in-law, brother-in-law, two nieces, and nephew. Our trip took a little longer than normal as the holiday traffic piled up. Upon our arrival, we made our way to my parents house to spend the night and celebrate a small Christmas Saturday afternoon together.

Each year we switch holidays between my family and Ray's. It is a special treat that our families do live so close, as we are able to visit both. While our time at my family's home this year was short and sweet, it is always so very special to give and receive a little holiday cheer with my Waldrup family.

One of my Waldrup holiday traditions is that we each receive a scratch off in our stocking. While I can say I haven't exactly one in several years, it is still fun to play and of course someone usually wins $5.00 or so. This year my mom was our winner! I do love her winning spirit!

Sadly my brother, Chris, Ray, nor I won. So of course had to take a picture to document this dreadful occurance. You may be asking why the bandaids? Well Ray also received some great Aggie themed gear in his stocking... so of course boys will be boys! Here is my favorite picture of my brother and I. I'm so thankful he was able to come over and celebrate this Saturday afternoon.

I am so thankful for my family and our Saturday afternoon celebration. I know our visit was short and sweet, but it came at such a perfect time. To many laughs and cheers for our new upcoing year. All my love to our Waldrups:)

Saturday night, after a fun celebration and delicious lunch with my family, we left for the Zellners. Quickly after our arrival, our Alabama Zellner family came. For the next few days, we enjoyed our visiting elves, a family photo shoot by Gabby Malcuit Photography, girls lunch to Jason's, movie date, trip to town square, a visit from Santa, pickel exploration, rolling power outages, and a lot of Christmas cheer. Enjoy a huge photo overload.