26 Favorite Things @ 26!!!

As I've said, I really think 26 is going to be a fabulous year. Today we've started our Labor Day off pretty well. We're definitely looking forward to a productive and successful day... starting our morning off by sleeping in, a breakfast of french toast and mimosas, followed by a day of cleaning the apt, laundry, and online lessons. Currently we are throwing in a bit of The Office... one of my favorite tv shows while the pups are resting along side. But before I begin my lessons (as I am honestly trying to put them off for just a bit longer) I've decided to write my Labor Day post. I decided since this weekend we held my birthday I decided what better than to write 26 of my favorite things/activities at age 26!
(no exact order)
1. My new job as a special education assistant and working with 6 great kiddos and teammates
2. Another amazing year with my hubs (We have almost reached 300 wonderful days of marriage... almost reaching our first year as hubs and wifey!) Plus he makes a wonderful Saturday breakfast:)

3. Watching the pups grow and love each other more and more daily... as well as watching their
cute personalities take shape.

Mattie and her toy... Baby girl loves tummy time.

Toby stealing your place on the couch...
Toby says... "I can has!"

4. Spending time and catching up with the fam and best friends
5. Completing my alternative teaching certification and becoming a full time TEACHER!

6. Completing a half marathon race for Team World Vision in December. All money will go toward The Heights Baptist Church water project in Uganda.
7. Moving to McKinney at the end of September
8. Growing and serving with our ABF at the Heights Baptist Church
9. Home Searching/Buying (next year)
10. European Trip (next year)
11. Growing our family:)
12. Random roadtrips
13. Becoming a member of the Heights Baptist Church
14. Getting baptized
15. Enjoying many exciting outings with friends
16. The Aggie Football Season
17. The hubs and I are serving 3 1/2 year olds in Joyland at our church.
18. Holiday Theme Parties
19. Visits home to Sugar Land to see the family
20. Grapefest/Winefest/Taste of Addison/etc
21. Wine Tastes & Tours
22. The State Fair
23. 1 year closer to my favorite age of all time
24. This Christmas we will have the whole Zellner family in town:)
25. my iphone
26. and BLOGGING!!!!!!

What are some of your favorite things for this year to come?

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

Twenty Six and Counting!!!

Twenty

Six

Well as many of you may have figured it out... today is my birthday! And what a birthday it has been. Last night after we had returned from Dave and Busters, Ray had told me about an article he read about a novelty donut place in Addison. Well it's not really a donut place as it is a pizza shop that sells specialty donuts from 8-10AM. So what better than eating tasty donuts for my birthday breakfast... nothing:) We then set the alarm for 8:00AM for the next morning. This is what I woke up to...

Kisses & Noms:)

We then left the apartment and had arrived all by 9:00AM... and within a few moments had made it to the counter. We were so excited... but soon found out... they were sold out. But we did not let that get us down... it's my birthday right?!?!? so we decided to head to Uptown and order some breakfast Dimples.

The Hubs w/ the Birthday Girl

If you are not familiar with Dimples cupcakes... then I do believe you should go try them for yourself. They are nothing short of amazing. It's basically cake and wonderful goodness all rolled into one. We viewed a mouth watering selection including banana cream, half and half, wedding cake, strawberry, chocolate with cream cheese icing, oreo, and many others. We ended up choosing the strawberry and chocolate. These were two very amazing choices. Enjoy some pictures of our delicious Dimples.

The Birthday Girl's Strawberry Cupcake!
(all before 10:00AM) ha!

The Hubs and I with our Tasty Treats!

On our way home... or what I thought was an extended drive around Uptown, Ray then informed me that it was time to give me my birthday present... and ended up here...

The Apple Store!

Birthday Girl w/ her Gift!

My husband surprised me with my very own iphone! I was beyond excited. Now I am officially brought into the correct decade when it comes to technology and I should now have no excuse for getting lost. Is it sad that when I previously had I simply called my husband and said ok... google me. Ha! I just figured I couldn't be that "old" at twenty six. After receiving my brand new AMAZING IPHONE and left the store to head back to the car... I definitely did a very special and spastic happy dance. Sorry people of Uptown if you saw some random girl doing a celebratory dance off Knox and McKinney this past morning... but I really don't care. I was one happy birthday girl!

So after my birthday surprise we left for the mall to find a new snazy phone cover. After about an hour sorting through different looks and styles I realized that I am a little more picky than I thought.... then realizing the time and the fact that all we had eaten this morning was sugar, it was definitely time for lunch. Since it was my decision and I had no concern today about the health factor of my choices (kind of botched that this morning with cupcakes... oops) I chose Freebirds. Boy was it super yummy. It was so nice having such a fun day with the hubs and all of my wonderful birthday surprises. After our tummies were full it was definitely time to head back to the apartment for some time of rest and relaxation. As part of my birthday I also decided that a movie marathon would make for a good afternoon (relaxing) activity. And boy was it.

Today was such a special birthday. A day filled with so much love.... so many loved ones wishing me such a wonderful day. I do believe (as previously said) that Twenty Six will be a pretty awesome year. I can't wait for all that is in store for us this year. So here's to another amazing year!

Happy Twenty Six:)

Love,
The Birthday Girl!

School Birthday Celebration & a Friend Called Dave!

Happy Birthday to me... Happy Birthday to me... well almost at least. This past Friday I was welcomed by the sweetest ladies and kiddos with this Happy Birthday sign, a very yummy Happy Birthday Chic-Fil-A breakfast, and the sweetest handmade card created by my teacher's very adorable daughters, Emma and Molly. During circle time our kiddos even sang me Happy Birthday.... (seriously one of the most special moments). What an absolutely special birthday celebration at school. Enjoy some special moments.

Birthday Sign

ELC Team: Mrs. Trout & Mrs. Wallace

This Friday was definitely a fun day with the kiddos and my team. What a great way to start my birthday weekend.....

A friend called Dave: Friday night, Ray and I met up with Duckee and Adam for a night of celebration at Dave & Busters. We enjoyed some yummy food, delicious drinks, and exciting games. Enjoy some pictures of our evening.

The Zellners as we head out for a night of D&B!

But before we arrived at Daves since we had a few extra minutes... we stopped by Sam Moon (since we were in the area of course). I had been talking for quite some time now about getting a watch... and now that I am in the classroom and it is pretty evident that it is a necessary accessory... I figured it was about time. So if you look very closely in this next picture you will see a snazy new white watch on my wrist:) Yay for early birthday presents:)

Double Date Dinner at Daves!

The Hubs and I:)

The Duke Family

Bring on the Games

The ladies with many of our tickets

The boys and their shooting game

Ray and his winnings. Great job babe!

Giant Tetrus. I love it!

Game Time with Duckee

Our prizes... 300 plus tickets (per couple) and we won some amazing candy nerd rope and a box of nerds.

What a special day. I do believe 26 is going to be an amazing age and year!

Love,
Alicia

Almost TGIF: Week Review!

Happy "almost" Friday fellow bloggers! Finally!!! Ha. I could not be more excited about a three day weekend. I'll be honest... I have missed my sleep and that is definitely one activity that I will be partaking in. It is so funny... in class it's so difficult (at times) to get our kiddos to take a nap and all I can think is... oh when you hit your 20s and on you'll be begging for a nap. Ha. But overall this has been a great week. It has been filled with fun activities with friends, nights at home with the fam of four, and of course finding myself falling asleep at all hours of the night... including right after dinner as usual. Tonight... as in Thursday... I found myself in the same situation... staring at the clock that read 7:30 and I was already in fetal position curled up on the couch with the pups (so sweet of course) and decided that it was necessary for me to get up and be a productive wifey while the hubs was out at frisbee games. I will be honestly and say I was secretly hoping the rain would cancel his games for tonight... because I do always love extra lazy nights at home... but again still so excited that he has found an activity that he loves. He's been such a great supporter of this endeavor and totally understanding of the fact that when I get home I am physically and mentally exhausted... so he's been so lovingly pulling my weight and has not complained once. Sorry I did feel it necessary to do a little bragging. Plus sadly I only accomplished the dishes and one load of laundry. While I would hate to take on cleaning/laundry/and any other household type activities this birthday weekend... it may actually not be a bad idea just to get ahead. Also I have some lessons to take care of. My goal for my certification is to have everything completed on the final day of class which is October 16, 2010. I will let you know or shall I say I'll keep you updated on how that is going. Just to give you a heads up... I have about 20 more lessons to complete.... so it may take me some time sadly.

But anyway in review this week I've been excited, frustrated, challenged, loved, and seen so many light bulb moments. It has been such a crazy whirlwind that has made up a super week... So I wish you all a wonderful Friday and Labor Day Weekend... Saturday I will say hello to 26 years. As I am told at school... I am only a baby:) but wow did this past year truly fly by. With another year older and almost a year of marriage under my belt... all I have to say is I could not be more moved by all that moments that I've shared this past year. Anyway more details are sure to come about this weekend's activities. Wishing you all the best this weekend.

Love,
Alicia

10 Tidbit Tuesday

Welcome Tuesday and Welcome Friends. Wow it has probably been a little over a month since I have done a Tuesday Tidbit post... I am so falling down on my job. Anyway so keeping that in mind I shall provide you with more fun updates... in the form of tidbits of course. So enjoy a few random tidbits about the Zellners and all we have been up to, thought about, will do, looking forward to... really any random concept is up for potential discussion:)

1. This is my second week of school and I really feel like I'm getting a great footing. I really do love this job and regardless challenging it may be... every light bulb moment is pretty perfectly amazing!
2. I wish I had daily motivation. With that in mind yesterday I did work out for the first time in prob over a month but tonight I returned home and am currently being a couch potato.
3. Ray and I will be making "Rabid Chipmunk" t-shirts for him to wear on frisbee Thursdays.
4. I am physically exhausted when I return home from school... so that typically makes for an early night... is it bad I can fall asleep between 7-9PM?
5. I am so excited. We will be returning home in a few weeks to visit our families.
6. So after a wonderful Sunday and lots of prayer, I've definitely made the decision that I do want to become baptized. More will be posted on this one.
7. One of my good friends found out she's preggers. Pictures will be coming shortly!
8. My father celebrated his 63rd birthday this past Sunday.
9. Both puppies were sick last week but seem to be doing a lot better.
10. I am so excited about an amazing 3 day weekend!

The Hub's 8th Half Marathon

As I took this picture and my husband was out the door it hit me that he was on his 8th half marathon this year. January 2010 it was determined that he would run a half marathon for each month of the year... and he has done just that. Tonight he will be running part of his half with Team World Vision at Brekenridge Park in Richardson. I am so proud of him and for his commitment to this endeavor.

Congrats love to another monthly half!

Love,
Your Wifey