Day 214 and A Surprise Delivery

Dearest Bailey,
That is so neat that y'all went blueberry picking! Did y'all make a good dessert out of them? I look forward hearing about what you and Jeff are learning through the book. (Though I'm really just looking forward to talking to you in general on our phone date!)

Today, my sweet boyfriend sent me the most beautiful flowers, so of course I had to show them to you! The past couple of days have been rough studying for anatomy and dealing with advising issues at A&M, so this surprise just made my day. I pretty much can't stop smiling.

Anyway, I love you and miss you.
Talk to you soon,
Jessie

Day 213 and Blueberry Pickin' in Edom

Selfish? Maybe. I have been waiting a whole week to post this picture lady! Jeff and I had a morning off last week and we spent it in the little country town of Edom. We left at 6:30 a.m. and headed to breakfast at a diner called The Shed and then went on our blueberry pickin' adventure. It's 15 acres of pure yumminess! We picked a couple of pounds of berries and then headed to get some blueberry lemonade in the store. Yum! We spent the rest of the morning reading out of Sacred Marriage and visiting the antique, jewlery, and pottery shops in the town. What a wonderful date! I'm glad that Cale has joined the blog...does he know what he's gotten himself into with us two crazy girls? I'm excited to hear about your weekend...phone date soon!

Love you,
Bailey

Day 212 and Flip Happy on Jessie Street

Bailey,
I have a confession to make, the ball was in my court for taking and posting a photo, and I selfishly held on to it for too long. Here's the deal. I wanted to introduce Cale to the blog but wasn't sure how, so I've been waiting until the weekend to see what kind of photo opportunities would happen.
Also, I looked back at some of our earliest posts to see how Jeff was introduced to the Project, and honestly it was really quite simple... It was Day 10 and he surprised us with pancakes for breakfast. (However, a couple of times before that, he was mentioned, one time as your "stud boyfriend." haha)
So I thought this was actually pretty perfect. Cale and I drove down to Austin together to meet friends from New Life for a fun weekend at Lake Travis, but before we caught up with everyone, Cale said he a had a surprise that was definitely 365-worthy.
We stopped at a little side walk restaurant, called Flip Happy Crepes, located at 400 Jessie Street! Haha I've never seen a street sign with my name on it, so I was pretty excited. It was a great date, and a good way to introduce Cale-as-my-boyfriend to the Project, who also surprised me with breakfast... for dinner!
Love you and miss you,
Jessie Jean

Day 211 and the Groom's Cake

Saturday, June 19, 2010This weekend I went to my cousin's wedding, and this was his groom's cake! It was awesome in detail, but it reminded me of that scene from Steel Magnolias with the armadillo cake. I knew this had to be the picture from the wedding!

"But the worst part of the cake is it's red velvet--blood red! People are gonna
be hacking into this poor animal and it will look like it's bleeding to death!"

Day 210 and My Tazmanian Devils

Hey Bailey,

I'm really indecisive when it comes to picking out the best 365 photo without you. I actually had to get some help in choosing which one to post, considering I've taken several in the past few days with the Project in mind.

For the past two weeks, I've taken my boss's children to swim practice, helped them get dried and dressed, and taken them to a summer enrichment program. I also took another set of kids with them, so throughout the morning I wrangled between four and five kids back and forth in my boss's Chevy Tahoe. I like to call them my Tazmanian Devils, because they seem to be going 90 miles an hour all the time. But really, I love it; it's a fun challenge... no complaints ;)
The other day, while the boys were finished getting dressed, I turned around and couldn't find them. Panic mode almost set in until I heard Gunnar, (the one in the yellow) giggle... they were hiding in the lockers! I thought it was pretty funny so I whipped out the camera and they had a blast being silly with the cool babysitter who took pictures of them hiding in the lockers! haha
I love you and miss you dearly, but it's been wonderful talking with you the past couple of days ;)

Talk to you soon dear friend,
Jessie Jean

Day 209 and the Secret Garden

Monday, June 14, 2010

Jess!

Forgive me? I have been the worst 365 partner ever! The days seem to slip by with no thought of a picture. Yesterday Jeff and I took a drive to the little town of Edom, Texas. We have a date planned their soon--definitely some 365 worthy ones! We found this cool brick structure with all of these vines growing...kind of like The Secret Garden!

This past weekend mom and I went to Tyler and didn't a little wedding planning. I think I have even picked out our invitations! Woo hoo! Oh, and my parents sold the house! It was on the market for about four days and they had three different offers on it! The Lord is so good and it is so evident that God is moving them across the state for his purposes. Last I heard, they have to be out of their in two weeks!

Jeff and I have another wedding this weekend. My cousin Steven is getting married in the Dallas area. It will be great to be around family and spend some time with my dad for Father's Day.

Can't wait to hear how you are doing and how the move was for you...man I loved that house, I will miss it!

Love you bunches!

Bailey Elizabeth

Day 208 and the Crawsfish Boil

Sunday June 6, 2010Hey Bailey,
What a beautiful picture! I'm so glad we got to talk on Monday; it was so good hearing the familiar sound of your voice, I miss you roomie!
I should have posted this on Monday, but alas, I've been busy and forgot. In honor of Jill's graduation party, we invited people over for a crawfish boil. We took this picture while discussing how to "look" candid in shot, not knowing pictures were actually being taken... (that worked out nicely, didn't it? haha)
Hope you have a great week!
Love,
Jessie Jean

Day 207 and Sky Lake

Saturday, June 5, 2010
Jessie,

This is just one of the reasons why I keep coming back. There is nothing like seeing the Lord in such an organic way. Jeff and I were the weekend directors this weekend. We took a quick break and went down to the lake to enjoy this. We are about to start our second week...kids come in just a couple of hours. Jeff is leaving this weekend to go to St. Louis for a wedding and I will probably spend some time with my family before they begin the big move. I saw your pictures from NEXT...it looked like ya'll had such a great time! I am going to call you sometime tomorrow. I will leave a little early tomorrow evening because I worked this weekend. Love you!!

Bailey Elizabeth

Day 206 and A Visit with Honest Abe

Bailey, you posted literally the day I left for the NEXT Conference.

Rachel, Cale, Jeremy, Eric, and I all loaded up in Chevy Trail Blazer and headed for Baltimore, Maryland a little over a week ago and it's hard to be back.
Everything about the trip was great, we had a blast on the road, (all 27 hours.) It was a great time of fellowship and intentional conversation and the men were such gentleman the whole week. At the conference, we heard Joshua Harris, CJ Mahaney, Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, DA Carson and Jeff Purswell speak on the basic doctrines of Christian faith. It was so good for me to dig deeper into God's Word and learn more about who He is. I learned too much to share, but it all points to the Gospel. I am sinner who deserves nothing but punishment, yet God drew me to Himself through Jesus Christ in order that I may receive His love and mercy and walk in freedom from sin! Oh what a sweet reminder I heard every day at NEXT!

At the end of the conference we visited Washington D.C., (and by visit I mean briskly walked.) We found a cheap two hour parking spot, and got to ride the Metro down to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, where we met good ol' Honest Abe. It was so fun snapping pictures along the way and enjoying the beautiful day at our nation's capitol.

I miss you Bailey, I hope we get to talk soon!

Jessie Jean