Other

Well, first let me say that I have missed you all terribly. I didn’t mean to barely write at all last week, but plans came together for Gulley and me to go meet Jen in Houston for a doctor’s appointment with a breast cancer specialist so we jumped at the opportunity. I was going to be in Houston anyway to speak at Houston Christian High School and the timing just totally worked out.

Jen was feeling pretty good and we all stayed at Bops and Mimi’s house in Houston just like we did when we were in college and even got to shop at Anthropologie and try on clothes and laugh about all manner of things. And I’m so thankful for that time because within just twelve hours of Jen getting back home to Dallas, her pain was bad enough that her husband rushed her to the hospital and she’s there indefinitely until they can figure out what’s going on and/or how to better manage her pain. It’s just another reminder of how cruel cancer is because how can someone look so great one day and then have it all turn so fast? It’s heartbreaking.

Yes, they were out of the big sunglasses.

I know Jen would so appreciate your prayers if you feel so inclined.

Anyway, I got home on Thursday afternoon, picked up Caroline from school, drove her to soccer practice and then fell into bed later that night with the sweet knowledge that there would be no alarm going off since Friday was a school holiday. I spent most of Friday catching up on laundry, running to the grocery store to get our normal stuff, plus everything I needed for Easter lunch at our house…oh and a quick trip to Banana Republic because they were having a big sale and had several things I’d had my eye on. I’m sad to report that after trying on seventy-four things that I left with approximately two cotton tank tops.

On Saturday I cleaned the house and did my best to make it presentable for Easter lunch, then we dyed Easter eggs before Caroline’s soccer game at 5:00. We used Sharpies to make emojis on some and then the rest are our usual amalgamation of colors and patterns.

Carolines team won their game and she even scored her first goal of the spring season so that was exciting.

We celebrated after with dinner at Sushi Zushi, which is never my first choice because fish. But she and P love it and I can always manage with some fried rice, especially considering that we stopped for ice cream afterwards and that’s really the most important part.

Easter Sunday seemed especially sweet this year because it was our first one at Community Worship and it’s kind of an anniversary of sorts for us since it was last Easter when we really saw God start putting pieces together for the whole thing to happen. I love our Community Worship family and it was fun to all be together for our first Easter service. We had an egg hunt for the kids afterwards and, based on all the full Easter baskets, I think it was a success. One of our youngest parishioners was exceptionally happy that he and Mr. Perry had on basically the same shirt.

Then we came home and had our families over for lunch and another egg hunt because you can never have too many candy-filled eggs.

This is Mimi and Bops with Caroline and my sister’s kids, Luke and Sarah.

And here we are with P’s mom.

And our little fam. I have some ponytail regrets but the day started off rainy and humid and I wasn’t brave enough to believe the weathermen when they said it would clear out by late morning. I almost wore my rain boots too and that would have been a truly terrible choice.

After everyone left, I did my best to clean up all the confetti from the confetti eggs, but the truth is I’ll still be vacuuming up random confetti pieces until next Easter. My theory is they hide in the rug and then multiply.

We spent the rest of the day just being outside and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Piper was a little on edge all day because she felt certain she’d seen a large bunny parading around the neighborhood the night before.

Meanwhile, Mabel didn’t really have a care in the world.

She was all smiles and even wrote a little something.

Sister is distraught
Bunnies hopping, plastic eggs
I am not afraid

I prefer my hare
to be served medium rare
no jelly beans please

(Disclaimer: No bunnies were actually harmed in the conception of this poetry.)

Hope you had a nice Easter.

I had no plans to take a whole week off from the blog, but sometimes life just happens. But I couldn’t let the week go by without wishing you all a Happy Easter.

Yesterday, I spoke at chapel for Houston Christian High School and the student worship team played this song and it resonated with me because this year for me has been all about remembering that our hope in Jesus is the only true anchor for our souls. It seemed especially appropriate to share it with you today.

Happy Easter to all of you!

So what did y’all do last night?

Me?

I just started innocently watching Aggie basketball on my couch at 7:00 p.m. and ended up hyperventilating and feeling like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest about two hours later.

Apparently that’s how you come back from a twelve point deficit in 31.1 seconds. I had no idea that was even possible until last night.

And I believe this best sums up my feelings about it.

I have experienced a lot of Aggie sports highs and a lot of Aggie sports lows, but this has to rank right up there at the top of the high list. Just unbelievable.

But my hat is off to Northern Iowa. They played their guts out and showed so much heart and class after the game was over even though it had to be devastating. Man, March Madness is crazy.

In other good sports news, Caroline played in a 3 v 3 soccer tournament this weekend and her team won first place. The final game came down to overtime and penalty kicks before her team cinched the win.

So what I’m saying is it was a gloriously fun weekend for all the sports here at the Shankle house, even though I have a few more gray hairs and probably lost five years off my life from the stress. But it all kind of helps take some of the sting away from Spring Break being over and the real world coming for us.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

We have had the best week off and I’m sad to see it end. Consider this my vote of approval to extend Spring Break to a two week vacation.

Here are a few cute things I found.

1. toms lexie sandals

These sandals are so cute in person and unbelievably comfortable like all Toms.

They also come in black, cayenne or navy here

2. lush knit tees

These tees look so much better in person and are a perfect basic to wear with shorts, jeans, or skirts.

3. old navy fit and flare jersey dress

I ran in Old Navy this week and loved all the dresses they have in stock right now. I am such a fan of a dress when the weather gets hot. This one is on sale for $15 and also comes in black and gray.

After trying them on, I think they fit a little small through the bust so you may want to size up if that’s an issue.

4. street level reversible faux leather tote

I know I’ve featured this bag before but I fell in love with it all over again at Nordstrom on Wednesday. Best of all, it’s reversible so you can buy a great cognac bag and a cute coral bag (or black) all in one shot. And that’s a deal for only $48.

5. old navy jersey swing dress

This is another dress that’s only $15 right now. It comes in a couple of other color combinations, but I love this coral for summer.

6. lila tiered tunic

This top is on sale for $49.95 at Anthro and it comes in a few other color combinations. All of which would look great with white jeans.

7. free people mixed print slip dress

I saw this in the store and it may be long enough to wear as a dress depending on how tall (and young) you are, but it would also look great as a tunic with skinny jeans. It comes in other colors, but I really like this one.

8. gap embroidered tank

Here’s something I’ve learned. When Gap gets in something cute, it goes fast. That appears to be the case with this embroidered tank. It comes in several colors but sizes left are limited online. You may be able to find more options in your local store, but based on the reviews these will go fast.

9. madewell lace lyric dress

I saw this dress in white in the Madewell window in the Galleria and told Mimi how much I loved it but how little I need a white dress in my life right now. Then I got home and saw that it also comes in navy. That could be a game changer.

10. vigoss white skinny jeans

Gulley and I had a lengthy discussion about the perfect white jeans. I have to say that I have loved every pair of Vigoss I’ve ever owned. They are super comfortable and fit just as well as more expensive designer jeans. Best of all, they’re only $68.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

Caroline and I made our way from College Station to Houston today to see Mimi and Bops. We made our way to the Galleria, did some shopping and then went to eat dinner at Seasons 52 which is absolutely delicious and I highly recommend if you find yourself in Houston in search of a great meal.

Here are just a few quick thoughts from the road:

1. Sitting in the grass on a blanket for nine innings of baseball is so fun and like a little slice of American pie. Unless you’re forty-four years old.

Gulley and I both woke up yesterday morning and hobbled to the breakfast table. I can barely turn my head because my back and neck are so sore from all those hours of sitting at an incline on hard ground. I’m in need of a good massage, Ben-Gay and a lot of Advil.

2. I just filled out my March Madness bracket and picked the Aggies to win it all. Do I actually believe they can? I have no idea. It will be a hard road. But I threw caution to the wind because the heart wants what it wants.

And it’s not like my bracket isn’t always completely busted by the second round anyway so I say go big or go home.

3. Raise your hand (I’ll pretend like I can see it) if you’re going to Antique Week in Round Top. My friends the Junk Gypsies have all kinds of fun events planned.

Look who’s going to be signing books at their store from 1-3 p.m. on Friday, April 1st! It’s safe to assume my excitement about this on a scale of 1 to 10 is about a 14 1/2. Okay, more like a 27. It’s going to be so fun and I would love to see you there.

That’s it for now. I’m off to find some more Advil. And maybe a heating pad. And to put a reminder in my iPhone that I’m too old to sit on the hard ground for an entire baseball game.

I know I’ve been out of the loop this week because I have been enjoying all the breaking of spring. We have already slept late, survived the time change and just generally relaxed.

On Monday morning Caroline and I made our way to College Station to meet up with Gulley and the boys. And last night we had tickets to go watch the Aggies play the Longhorns at Olsen Field.

The kids aren’t big fans of the camera these days, but I managed to get this picture of them right before the game began.

And I felt like this gorgeous (almost maroon) sunset was a sign that God was on our side.

The Aggies appeared to have the game well in hand going into the ninth inning. We were up 4-0 and so Gulley and I folded up our blankets and got ready to head out. Except the Longhorns rallied and came back to tie the game up 4-4 at the top of the ninth. Which THE STRESS. ALL THE STRESS.

All I could think was that I dearly love Aggie baseball but I really didn’t want to sit out in the grass through sixteen innings of a tie ballgame because I had lost all feeling in my bottom sometime around the fifth inning. However, that didn’t happen because our catcher, Michael Barash, came up to bat and hit a walk off homerun to win the game.

Even better, the kids got to get their picture taken with him after the game.

So I think it’s safe to assume that our Spring Break has been a success thus far.