Sunday Hike at Arbor Hills!

What an absolutely gorgeous day in Dallas! After church and a few extra errands, Ray and I decided to enjoy the beautiful outdoors.

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano

We enjoyed a fabulous hike around the many trails of the Nature Preserve and saw so many pretty wild flowers. I love beautiful Sundays such as this. A day to truly enjoy all that God has blessed us with.

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve

This Saturday the husband and I ventured to Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano to have some fun in the sun. We enjoyed several miles of beautiful scenery, excellent structures, and interesting wildlife. What a wonderful day outside with my love!



Here's to many more beautiful spring days and outdoor activities.

Red Velvet Cake, Snuggies, Serving, Baby Jacob, & a Picnic in the Park!

As I previously have stated I have gotten a little behind in the blogging world. So hold on to your chair (or not:) because this might be a long catch up post. So here we go!

A few weeks ago, the husband and I enjoyed a nice early Heart Day at home with the pups. While Valentine's fell on a Monday this year we decided to spend time together and as a fun treat we would make our very own homemade red velvet cake.



Boy was it super yummy. The cake did turn out to be more of a pink cake then red, but oh how it tasted delicious all the same. For a small gift Ray also surprised me with a blue Snuggie. To be honest I had never really been on board the Snuggie train in the past until I tried my first one at the Duke's home for Super Bowl Sunday and absolutely fell in love. But as the picture shows... the dogs may actually love it more than I do! Are they not absolutely precious together?!?!



I absolutely love our church home. We have honestly been visiting since we were in college but ultimately made it a priority over a year ago when we first got married. Soon after we joined the Honeymooners Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) and have loved every moment. Currently we are serving in Joyland and working with 3 year olds. I love seeing God work in their lives and it absolutely melts my heart for the kiddos to sing Jesus loves me!



On Wednesday nights and other nights throughout the month, I work in Childcare services at the church assisting in a nightly bible study and lesson for kindergarten through second grade. I love all the fun crafts and all the wonderful time spent with the kids. Here are a few pieces of artwork done last week for me. The little girl thought my name was Alexa:) still so cute!



Last Thursday, Ray and I had the opportunity to visit with the Dukes and even got to see baby Jacob. He is such a beautiful baby and is growing so much. I absolutely love that he looks like Adam and has Steph's adorable nose. Over the next few months, I cannot wait to hear about/see his progress as I know he will continue to get stronger and become a super big boy. Here is a picture that Steph sent of baby Jacob in his big boy bed. He is such a beautiful baby boy! I can't wait for his welcome home.

That night we also enjoyed some delicious dinner at Chuys. Yum and who could turn down free queso. Not this lady for sure:)

Anyway, it was such a wonderful time to catch up with the new parents. I seriously can't believe that baby boy Jacob is officially one month old today. Congrats!

A few Sundays ago, Ray and I had both gotten up late that morning and realized we would have missed part of the service. In a means to enjoy an afternoon with God and to spend time together we put together a picnic and discussed his word and works in the park in downtown Plano. The weather had been beautiful that week so I absolutely could not wait to spend a day outside. Well the pictures do not fully show it, the weather had been extremely windy and overcast so we enjoyed the majority of our time and then quickly went back to the car. After lunch we then grabbed a few Starbucks drinks and went for a drive to look at homes. It was an absolutely perfect Sunday!

Dance Dance Date Night & Chisled Paths!

After a few weeks of being couped up in the apartment with random symptoms of sickness... it is pretty amazing to announce that both Ray and I are back to our typical healthy selves. So Saturday night after Ray's frisbee games, we decided to celebrate and enjoy a dinner for two at Pasados!

But before we left we had to have a small dance party in the apartment to celebrate!
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Sunday morning, we started our day at church and enjoyed a wonderful bible study with our ABF and 10:50 service. After church, the hubs and I decided to enjoy this beautiful January weather (the whole two days of it:) and took a walk by our old apartment and park. It is amazing to think that our first moments of living in Dallas were standing right there before us...

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... and it was amazing to revisit all the memories and moments we shared. Almost 4 years ago this August Dallas became our home. I am so thankful for this path as it is the path that God has laid before us. It is a path that has been chiseled long before we stepped foot down it and will continue all the days of our lives. I am thankful for his paths and these journies as they are greater than anything we can ever realize.

Adventures in North Texas!

"Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time."
- Leo F. Buscaglia

I owe all my greatest adventures to the best travel partner in the world. To a husband that never ceases to amaze me or tells me no:) Enjoy some of our fun activities this beautiful first weekend of October 2010.

Friday night, I was getting over a two week sickness... so what better than a fun movie date night at home with the hubs and pups as well as with yummy McAlisters for dinner.

Saturday was absolute perfection. It was the first day that I have felt like a normal person and not like a bump on a log... coughing, sneezing, and carrying around all types of meds to get me through the day. We woke up at 7:30 compliments to the pups...now that they are no longer in our bed they do like to wake us up a lot earlier... but on a side note... this has been one of the greatest achievements of our time.

Our next desire was to find a super cute donut shop right by our new apartment... we were successful. The lady even hooked us up with some free donut holes. Always a great way to start the morning. We then headed over to Walmart for some much needed essentials and grocery shopping of course. Throughout the move we have actually been so busy that grocery shopping was definitely not on the top of our list, so it is super nice to actually have some good healthy food back in our fridge. After Walmart we decided to take the pups to the lake near the new home and go for a walk. The weather has been absolutely amazing and we couldn't think of anything better to do then to be outside and enjoy it.

At the park with the hubs

Taking the pups on new uncharted pathways

Mattie loved to run to see the ducks. Toby was of course more reserved. No we should be honest, he was terrified. Poor puppy is afraid of feathers in general. I couldn't imagine him with ones that could run at him.

The beautiful lake

After a few miles around the lake, the pups were pooped. So we dropped them off at the apartment and the adults decided to go get some fro yo at Yumilicious in Allen.

It was exactly what we needed. I ordered the cake batter with fresh strawberries while Ray enjoyed the Dolce de Leche with mixed fixings. Again both super great choices.

Now to understand this next portion I may have to give you a bit of background. This past Saturday was the day of the big OU and Texas Game... we are currently without cable. Now this was not a game that would hurt my feelings either way, but I knew it was something that Ray had really wanted to see. So I was so thankful that Yumilicious had great tvs and we did end up catching the last two quarters while watching a victorious ending where OU BTHO Texas. Sorry my Texas friends and fam. An Aggie girls gotta keep to her roots.

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We then ended our night watching our favorite shows on Hulu and turned into bed early. I gotta say this growing up thing is pretty awesome. I love that we wake up earlier and get to enjoy more of our day together. I love having a new home with new adventures. So here's to the many more to come!

P-U-R-P-L-E: spells Grapefest!

Today Ray and I met up with some sweet friends for a little fun in the sun at Grapefest... and for me a little too much sun:) We traveled to Grapevine, TX and by 2:00 we met up with Sally and her husband Paul and soon to be baby Harley. We enjoyed some tasty treats, yummy drinks, great tunes, and fun times with friends. Here are some fun pictures from the festival.

Entering into Main Street and the Grapefest Festival

A grape man on stilts welcoming us to Grapefest?

I love it! Ha!

International Wine Plaza

Champagne Terrace... Ray's fav place:)

Voting for Pro Football Teams... I simply picked the one with the "cutest" logo!

Bring on the games!

Sally, baby Harley, and I... beautiful at almost 7 months preggers

The Ladies at Grapefest!

Sally petting her puppy look-a-like

Statue Fun!

I love my BEAGLE and MUTT

Relaxing in Grapevine with our new statue friend?!?

The Gathings and yummy Funnel Cake

The Zellners

What a fun time with friends and a great day with the hubs. Now... it's time for some rest and relaxation before Monday begins again.

Love,
Alicia

Picnic in the State Park!

This past Sunday after a wonderful church service at the Heights, Ray and I decided to celebrate a beautiful Labor Day weekend and headed to Cedar Hill State Park in Grand Prairie, TX.

We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon of picnicing, swimming (well not really but we did dip our feet in for a brief moment), bocce ball, and a lot of relaxing. We will of course be back when the weather gets cooler. It was a fantastic place for hiking, swimming, camping and just enjoying the great outdoors!

Enjoy some pictures of our fun Labor Day celebratory outing.

The Hubs and I at Cedar Hill State Park! Wishing all of our friends/family a happy Labor Day Weekend!

Bocce Ball on the sand!

Enjoying some fun in the sun... and maybe a little too much sun for the hubs and he is without his sun glasses! Love this picture:)

Hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. I look forward to hearing about all the fun activities you have been up to.

Love,
Alicia

Easter Greetings 2010!

We hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter Holiday!

Love,
The Zellners

Welcome to the Zellner's Easter 2010 in Dallas! Enjoy the details!

This past weekend was absolutely amazing! My brother and his girlfriend, Melissa, came into town for a post birthday visit! This past weekend was filled with fun celebration, a photo shoot outing in McKinney, yummy food, a night on the town at Barcadia, and a wonderful Easter Sunday at the Heights!

Photo Shoot Fun:
Downtown McKinney!

I absolutely loved all of the cute little shops downtown. We stumbled across this super yummy Salsa Shop. You could try everything and literally we almost did. I absolutely loved the amazing Pecan Praline Dip.... of course. I have a super sweet tooth, but they have dips and salsa of all kinds including sweet, sour, hot, and all very yummy!





Yes Ray found a giant pair of plastic scissors. It was hilarious but a great conversation starter!




After our trip around town we kept seeing everyone with bags of popcorn and candy... so we had to stop at Mom and Popcorn Co! I love the name... catchy and clever... but seriously one of the coolest shops I've seen!



Yummy Mexican Food for lunch!



Of course the Jumpy Pictures!




Birthday Bash!
Happy 30th Birthday Chris!

Dinner at Babes!


A night out at Barcadia!



They have giant Jenga AND giant Connect 4!

First round goes to Chris & Melissa...


But the second round goes to the Zellners!
What a way to finish the night:)

Easter Sunday!
at the Heights Baptist Church

Easter baskets!

Mattie & Mama on Easter 2010

Chris & Ray in their Easter best!

Brother and sister before Church service on Easter

After recovering a lost phone (love you Chris) and saying our good-byes, Ray and I headed to Luby's for a yummy Easter lunch! I think a lot of people had the same idea... but we didn't mind the wait. It was soooo worth it! After lunch we headed home, rented Blindside (such an amazing movie) and stayed in bed for the rest of day just relaxing with each other and the pups! This truly was such an amazing Easter! I am so thankful for all the moments we shared this weekend and am looking forward to all those to come!