Happy Wednesday, friends! I’m 36 today, but I feel like we’ve been celebrating since the first of September. 36 is off to a fabulous start, and I’m so looking forward to everything this next year will hold for me. My 35th year was a year of tremendous growth for me: professionally – and personally. And while I have all the things that I could ever hope for in this life (my 5-year-old self would be pinching herself if she knew how good it could be), I hope that I keep learning, stretching and growing during my 36th year.
My life verse
And, if I could leave ya’ll with one one piece of advice for those of you who are entering into your 30s – or maybe you are at the midpoint like me…. it’s actually my life verse. Everyone needs one. And mine is Romans 12:12. I actually dreamt about this verse when I was going through a rough time (seriously), so when I woke up in the morning, I flipped my bible to Romans 12:12, and it was everything I needed to know that I was exactly where I should be. So, here it is:
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and persistent in prayer.” And this verse has kept me grounded during many a happy and joyful time (we should celebrate the good things that happen in our lives), reminded me to persevere when the season of life I was in was not always the most enjoyable (we all go through good – and not-so-good seasons), and reminded me that prayer matters (truly intentional, daily prayer). So, thank you for celebrating 36 years with me!!!!
Waco, Weekend
For those of you who are new around here, I went to Baylor University for undergrad, and I try to go back to visit campus (and Waco) as often as I can. My husband is an honorary Baylor Bear, and I love to show him around one of my favorite little Texas cities. One of my besties has a birthday September 5th, so we always try to do something for our birthdays. This year, we decided a trip to Waco was just what we needed. They loaded their baby, and I loaded up Aaron, and we hit the road on Friday. But not before I grabbed some birthday treats from Nothin’ Bundt Cakes.
By the time Aaron and I got on the road on Friday, it was rush hour in Houston, and we hit some rain going toward Waco. By the time we got in, it was late. We stayed in the same house we stayed in when we went to the football game last year, and it’s still just as cute as I remember.
Spoiler alert: we are staying there again for a football game in November! One of these days, we need to just buy an investment property there. And, because we are now in our 30s and not college kids, we ordered food to the house, and we were all in bed by 11.
Waco Favorites
Saturday morning, Aaron went to go grab some coffee from Common Grounds. They didn’t open until 9, so he walked around campus to see Lady, our Baylor Bear.
Joy, one of Baylor’s Bears recently passed away, and her memorial service was this weekend. They had a whole historical display at our Bear Habitat. Aaron was able to grab some photos before it got crowded. There is a brief history on Joy below. She will be missed.
This is one of my favorite Baylor memories. I’m dating myself because it’s a hard copy of a photo, but Zeta Tau Alpha’s exec team got to meet the bears one day. That was a such a highlight of my college experience. Needless to say, the Baylor Bears were an important part of my college days.
Magnolia
And of course, a birthday trip to Waco wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Silos. You can read all about Magnolia Market here, but we shopped til we dropped. One of my favorite items from the Silos are the candles. Their Amber scent is great for fall, and its scent fills my whole house. Highly recommend.
Even Clara got in on the fun.
After shopping all afternoon, we headed to Viteks for lunch. If you know, you know 🙂 That pic was from our last trip to Viteks!
And then, we went to go visit Lady at the Bear Habitat. It was Baylor’s first game day of the season, and while we didn’t actually go to the game – we watched it, and the Bears beat Albany. Is anyone else excited for college football season? I love it!
It was so nice to be able to spend part of our long weekend in Waco with friends. We headed back to Houston on Sunday afternoon. Aaron and I hopped over to Lovesac as soon as we got into town to take advantage of their Labor Day sale. We’ve been eyeing their sectionals, and we finally pulled the plug. More on that to come, but I can’t wait until it arrives!!!!!! Thanks for reading along – and celebrating with me. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
