Peyton Kathleen

Last week my wonderful  fiancé bought me a round trip from Houston to  Chicago  to see my sister Allison! She has been in Chicago all summer training for her job at JP Morgan. With how crazy summer was, I didn't think I would have an  opportunity  to get up there and see her so when Erik told me I could I was over the moon excited!  Friday night I got to her downtown apartment around 10. We hung out with her group of friends and experienced the incredibly fun Chicago nightlife.  The next day for brunch we met up with our friends Laurie and Dakota and their precious babies! They have been such a huge part of our lives for ages and it was wonderful to see them and catch up. I wish this picture had turned out better! But I'm glad we at least got one of all of us! Baby Bradley!  We walked around Millennium Park for a few hours, we took pictures at the bean, went to Buckingham Fountain and had great views of downtown and Lake...

When I was living in Dallas, my friend Maura and I would attended The Porch at Watermark on Tuesday nights. I loved the fellowship I developed with her, and the knowledge I gained about Christ and His pursuit of my heart. One of the hardest things about moving to Houston was how much I missed this bible study. I attended Catholic church on Sundays but still missed the weeknight time to worship. I did not take ownership of my faith, or even consider myself a Christian, until I was 22 years old. My coming to Jesus story could be another post altogether!  I rarely speak about my faith because I am a fallen person with brokenness  and sin.  I have an imperfect and painful past that the enemy constantly reminds me of. But I firmly believe that brokenness is what makes me so desperately in need of a relationship with Christ.  The lessons I learned at The Porch gave me a sense of God's wonder, brought me peace along with understandin...

"Strength shows not only in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over." After a summer filled with travel, romance, and adventure, I am ready to return to routine and schedule! It's time to get back to showing this strong body of mine how much I love it!  I began Day 1 of the Whole30 yesterday. I have read this book before, but went through it again to remind myself of the truths I already know, but have let slip the past few weeks.  I took a picture of my book and calendar, Instagrammed it and tagged the author, Melissa Hartwig, in my caption. I asked her for a shoutout and she gave me one! She is great about replying on social media. I just adore her. Bottom comment! She knows me now ;) A big rule in Whole30 is you cannot weigh yourself. For someone like me who lives and dies by the number on the scale, this will be a challenge. I'm excited to share "non-scale" victories, meal plans and more over the next month.  ...

Earlier this year, I was overcome with a desire to go backpacking in Colorado. I had been once before when I was 19, but at that time I was out of shape and didn't enjoy the trip as much as I should have. My dad loves hiking so I gave him a call and he was immediately interested! He and my older brother William decided on Mount Elbert in CO. Neither of them had hiked it yet, and because it is the highest point in the Rocky Mountains. We left on Friday, July 31st at 5am. We drove through Texas, New Mexico and into Colorado in about 15 hours. Throughout that whole drive, we never listened to music once! My dad and brother are incredible history buffs and I had the best time listening to them talk about the settlement of Texas, Comanches, other Native American tribes and more. Hard to believe, but the drive really flew by! We got through the mountain passes and drove right up to the trail head and set up camp. I was stunned by how beautiful the aspen trees and scenery were. No...