Lake Texoma

warning:: you are about to see a ton of photos of Blake, Dakota, and me hanging around outside.

This past weekend, to celebrate yet another rotation ending, I tried to surprise Blake with a little camping trip. Something close to home, no stress, easy, just to get outside and away for a night.

I picked Eisenhower State Park on Lake Texoma. It was super luxurious compared to past tent camping experiences. 

Here was our weekend...

Man and his tent.

Our spot was super nice. Set back away from other sites, it felt like we were there alone... and we kinda were... February in the rain I suppose is not the most desirable time to camp. Bonus for us!

Tent went up. Shiners came out.

It drizzled for just a bit right when we got there, with that, plus the cool wind... it was time for a fire. Good thing I brought my burly outdoorsman to help.

say now, that's lookin' like a camp site.

what's camping without a little exploring...

For a dreary, cloudy day, the lake was still gorgeous. to me... I guess I'm not that hard to impress.

Blake pondering all the mysteries of life.

kinda pretty for Texas/Oklahoma, right?

 well deserved shiner after exerting all that energy. 

 Blake loves a good fire. 

Wouldn't life be just fine with an hour or two of mandatory fire sittin' every week? just me?

 husband/wife camping time!

turns into fire dancing/enchantment time? .. I might be on fire here.

 our poor princess wasn't the biggest fan of the whole idea.

she lives a sheltered life. 

dinner time!

  

 We watched this sucker burn down for hours... while we listened to Blake's favorite rap songs, chatted about life, what's next, and other such nonsense. 

We climbed into bed, and watched Argo on the iPad. Luxurious I tell you.

Thunderstorms hit that night, and other than Dakota being terrified out of her mind, it was cozy and sort of peaceful. and cold.

 Morning came super early. It always does when your camping, and I secretly like it. 

There are few better things than a little french press out of a jetboil in the trunk of your car.  

last photo of the weekend. 

 goodbye tent, until next time...

our first snow!

 

sorry Dallas, that I'm from Houston and that the wonder of snow still amazes me. 

(There have been some cranky office people around now that it's cold --cmon, it's Janurary!)

 

dog in the snow.

 

 dog using the restroom in the snow.

   

 it's just too pretty.

 

 thank you Jesus, and next time could we have a bit more, maybe enough to close the roads to work? 

winky face.

picnic at Dallas Arboretum

Last time I was at the Dallas Arboretum I was taking my bridal photos with my friend, and very talented photographer, Kate. This time it was a little different atmosphere. With picnic basket in hand, we headed out to the fields to stake our claim with blankets. We saw the M80s, an 80s coverband, play everything from Billy Idol to Abba to The Proclaimers. It was so fun to sit out on the hill, see the sun set over White Rock Lake, and watch grown men dance in spandex hot pink pants. 

here's to spring

My dad refinished this old Schwinn for me for some spring time bike riding. I got to choose the color, so went with this bright aqua blue :)

I took it for a spin this weekend, and it's one nice ride. I was a little nervous on the corners, the last time I rode a bike I think I was in elementary school. I even got a bell.

now, I need to get out there and cruise, before the Texas heat moves in.

a flower bed.

well, this weekend started as a little "spruce up the front yard's flower bed" project, but soon enough turned into a complete front yard overhaul. Blake tackled the mowing, while my mom and I picked up lemon zest, annuals, and plumbago from Home Depot. I had to take some before shots. This yard was wild.

We, with hoe in hand, drew out where our flower beds would eventually lay. It began as a half circle on the left and a half circle to the right.

Then, the mulch came out. We used cypress mulch, and then everything started looking real, real nice.

Here is your right side. Like I mentioned above, we were planning on 2 half circled beds, but Blake got a little carried away and continued the bed around to the back. Have I mentioned yet that Blake and I may be the best tenants any one could ever ask for??

Below is the left side of our sidewalk. Fushia and white annuals, one plumbago, and one lemon zest fill up our new flower beds.

(this, above, might not be too impressive, but if you only knew... you'd know that we de-weeded that entire thing, trimmed some crazy trees growing - thanks to our squirrel friends that buried their loot around our yard, pulled weird grass, and ripped up other strange growing things- needless to say, I'm sore today)

The pretty stuff.

And Dakota.

We added a few more solar lights along the pathway for some added ambience, or "awesomeness" as Blake would put it. Speaking of little Blakey, here we are... proud new yard and flower bed makers.

We had a total of 3 neighbors let us know what an incredible job we did. One said, and I quote, that, "that bed has NEVER looked that good" thank you, thank you.

Our unspoken, spoken, goal before we move out is to achieve and receive the neighborhood's Yard of the Month sign. If there's ever been a month to get it I think this might be it. So, fingers crossed, and I'll keep ya updated.