Little Miss Aubrey

Blast from the Past Post!

Through JWC I have met most of my dearest friends. While we share both the joys and sorrows in our lives, it is always a blessing to get to be apart of celebrating the joyous times in their lives. 

When our sweet friend, Kristen, became engaged to Bridget's brother, Brandon, in the Fall of 2008 it was certainly cause for celebration!!  One that carried straight through from the engagement party, to showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, right to the wedding. 

Just a year later there was news for celebration again - Kristen and Brandon were expecting!!! (which is code for Allie gets to be crafty!!) 

I got lucky, because Kristen sent me a picture of the nursery so I was really able to base my gift off of it!

I knew I wanted to do a picture frame, but I also decided to do a trinket box to match. (the words/designs in the picture frame are just for presentation...it is an actual picture frame!)

This was my first diaper cake....it was a little more challenging than I expected. While I loved how it turned out, I haven't made one since then! lol.

 Kipper and I loving on Miss Aubrey at JWC's 2011 Holiday Open House. 

We haven't seen Miss Aubrey in a while since her momma isn't in JWC anymore and we all have crazy schedules. But she will be turning 2 in June and is adorable as ever!

Going For The Gold!

After months of preparation and hard work, Spring Show is once again upon us! 

I have to say it feels really good to just be part of the cast and not directing after being the director for two years in a row! :)  And I know poor Kipper is ready for the costume shop that is our house to be boxed up until next year! 

Now here is the big question!! 

Have you ordered your tickets for this year's JWC Spring Show "Going For The Gold" yet? 

Friday, March 2nd or Saturday, March 3rd. Tickets are $15 for general seating (which is first come, first serve) or $20 for reserved seating. 
     All tickets include:
           - A beer, wine, and appetizer reception before the show and at intermission
           - Program book
           - And some great laughs! :)

There are buttons on the home page so it is easy to order your tickets! http://www.jwcfw.com/

You know you are dying to see Eden and MaKenzie in action!!! 

Let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see you there!!!

Time Sure Does Fly

Had to believe it has almost been 2 years since I directed my first JWC Spring Show. (For those of you who don't know what the heck I am talking about: every year the Junior Woman's Club of Fort Worth writes, produces and performs and original musical based off of the club wide theme for the year)  Even though I have directed twice now, that first year holds a sort of magic that I am not sure can ever be repeated. From start to finish, it was pretty much a magical experience (even if I pretty much had NO life for a year) and went down in my book as one of my greatest accomplishments to date. I can't begin to describe what is is like to watch your visions come to life through the script, dances and the show as a whole, but it is an experience I will never forget. 

Today Cascada's version of Kids In America (which was our closing number) came on and all of a sudden I still got the same giddy feeling I did the first time we performed for an audience. It is a mixture of excitement and relief that you made it to the end and the audience is still there, and clapping none the less. 

I know I will never be on Broadway or have the opportunity to direct a major show, so this experience was a dream come true for me, with little pieces of my heart sprinkled throughout.  It is always fun when something in your daily life sparks a trip down memory lane. :) 

 

I could go on and on about how much I love Spring Show (even if it does make me insane and want to punch people sometimes) but I will spare you all. I am sure there will be plenty of Spring Show related posts in the future, especially since Tricia and I are planing Eden Wood and MaKenzie Meyers from Toddlers and Tiaras in this years show! :) 

Toga! Toga! Toga!

 One of our all time favorite mixers in college was the annual Toga Party with SOS. I remember all of us trying to come up with creative ways to make our togas far more than just a bed sheet. Everything from sequins, to matching jewelry, hair accessories right down to customizing flip flops! Each year we always were more excited about our outfit over the year before. Yet looking back it is sort of funny because my creations were no where near as fabulous as I remember!

Fast forward several years. Who would have ever thought that I would ever need the toga making skills I learned in college again? Well, good thing I sort of retained some of them since this year's JWC informal party was none other than a toga party!  (which I should have known since the theme is "Going for the Gold")

I had been swamped getting ready for Joy of Life and a few other things, so I didn't put NEAR as much time into my outfit as I did in college. Basically I bought some fabric on clearance because I liked the color and then the night of went "Oh Crap! What Am I Wearing??" To make matters worse....I never bought any fabric for Kipper's toga so he was left to fend for himself.

I was actually sort of pleased with how my last minute look turned out. I would also like to remind everyone before you see the photos: Kipper came up with this look ALL on his own...out of things he found in his closet!  He was super proud of his crazy, creative look and to feed his ego even more, every guy there kept telling how awesome it was. (at least Daddy would be proud! lol!) 

Even though we are a "little" bit older and no longer have them time to spend hours planning for the perfect toga, one thing hasn't changed from our days in AXiD and SOS. No matter where we go or what we are wearing, as long as Kipper and I are together we always have a great time! (As sweet as that sounds..cause it is...don't think for a minute that I didn't tease him about the hunting socks with his dress sandals! haha!)

AXiD and SOS Toga Mixer 2002

JWC Toga Informal Party 2011

The Big 3-0

Disclaimer: I promise I will get to an actual crafting blog this weekend...but first a look into the crazy things that have been swirling though my head the last few weeks.

I haven't given much thought to my approaching 30th birthday...other than hounding my husband about planning a killer roller skating, 80's themed party to celebrate. Which I quickly decided against after almost killing myself roller skating at the JWC BOD Christmas Party...if you don't count any of that I haven't give it much thought.  Yet the closer Oct 26th gets, the more I am thinking about it. Maybe panicking is a better term.

When you mention turning 30 you get so many responses from people. Anywhere from "I loved turning 30, I finally felt like a grown up!" to " I cried every time I thought about turning 30 " to my favorite "Wait, you are turning 30? Oh honey, if you want to have kids you really need to start thinking about that. It is all down hill from here!"  All these words of wisdom are really what have gotten me thinking about it the last few weeks.

To me 30 seems like that odd in between age where you feel like you don't quite fit in. Maybe that is because even though I am a silly person, I really am an old soul to begin with. On the other hand I think it is because I personally am in a weird place in my life. That sounds really deep and like I am unhappy (which I am not) so let me explain....


As a girl scout in elementary school I was always the top cookie seller in our region. I lived for cookie season. I generally spent 3-4 weeks away form home, at residence camp over the course of each summer. (And yes this was by choice!)


Then I joined the Texas Girl's Choir in 3rd grade. So began 3 day a week rehearsals, touring, being an officer...TGC became my life. By the age of 14 I had traveled to 16 different countries, sang at the white house, held a handful of officer positions, among much more. Because of TGC I was able to experience things most people hope to do in their lifetime before I ever hit high school and these opportunities helped shape me into the person I am today.

By this point in my life I had decided I wanted to compete for Miss Teen Texas. I spent countless hours each week on my platform, volunteering for several organizations and speaking to groups about the importance of volunteerism. This opened the door for so many wonderful opportunities that most people at that age would not get. By the age of 18 I had the opportunity to serve as 1 or 2 minors on an active United Way board as well as not only attend, but be a featured presenter at the Texas Challenge State Volunteerism Conference - twice.

Flash forward a bit - the girl who said she would never get married until she was at least 30 was engaged at 20 and walking down the aisle at 22. (one of my all time best accomplishments on my "bucket list" ) Because of connections I made while competing in Teen and Miss Texas, I was able to secure my first "career" position a semester before I even graduated college.

By the time I am a married, working adult I replaced AXiD with JWC. From the moment I joined JWC, I knew I wanted to direct Spring Show one day. Yet since JWC goes to 40 I didn't expect that it would be anytime soon. Well....I am 29 and have directed Spring Show twice now.  Oh and let's not forget that I wanted to someday give back to Miss Texas by being a director...well we have done that for 3 years now too.

You are probably wondering what all this has to do with me turning 30? I promise it does or at least in my head it does! lol.

I look at my life and feel like God has blessed me with so many amazing opportunities that I wouldn't trade for the world. But as people tell me the best years are still to come I have a flash of panic! How can I top all of this??  Or is it bad that a part of me just wants some time to go with the flow and not try to accomplish anything major? And where the heck do I fit in right now???  It is a struggle to put my feelings about fitting in into words.  It is almost like I am too old to hang out with friends that are early to mid 20's because I am just not hip anymore. Then sometimes I feel like I don't fit in with my older friends. And then there is all my friends who have recently had kids or are expecting....I am the weird girl who has been married almost 8 years with no kids.

The worst part of feeling this way about turning 30? I have the most amazing husband, family, friends and coworkers a girl could ever ask for! God has blessed me in more ways than I can name. And really what is the big difference between 29 and 30? It isn't like I am going to start qualifying for the senior citizens discount a Luby's anytime soon. :)

After writing all this out it is now clear as day to me. I have spent a good part of my life busting my butt to catch all the big waves. While I wouldn't be the woman I am today without those experiences, I think 30 is a time for realignment. My time to let the waves come to me every so often and to just enjoy the view.