Retreat

Today Neal and I spent the day at a retreat with Michael Brown.  A former journalist and lukewarm Catholic, he is now a devout teacher of the faith and author of 20 books.  His conversion story is a beautiful one that he describes with great passion.  You can find it on his website, spiritdaily.com.   He has become an expert in the areas of the afterlife and end time prophecy, his thoughts on which we found very interesting and insightful.  As Catholics, we don't always take the time to stop and evaluate the situation of the world - in politics, in science, in relationships, in religion, in spiritual warfare.  There is so much going on right under our noses and if today did one thing for us, it was wake us up to the importance of taking an active role in our faith.  Now, more than ever, the world needs believers, people who have the desire and the courage to help effect positive change.

Wedding Weekend!

One of the most surreal things about getting older is watching your childhood friends get married and start families of their own.  That was my experience this weekend.  Mary and I met in 7th grade at La Reina and have been friends ever since.  We've seen each other through some of our best and worst times in life, and we can definitely tell some good stories about the boys that we've seen each other date over the years.  It's been a long journey for us both to find our knight in shining armor and we have been blessed to share in that special joy together.  This was Mary's, the day the fair maiden married her prince.  And a beautiful day it was!   

SATURDAY

L to R: Sarah (Mary's younger sister), Mary, and I

After going to get pampered with manicures and

pedicures, we went out to lunch at one of our

favorite places - Baja Fresh.

Since Mary and Sarah were both in town this

weekend, they decided to throw Sarah a baby

shower so the family could be there.  This, too,

was a reminder of how quickly the time has

passed, as I've known Sarah since she was 8.

SUNDAY

The bride to be - she looked so beautiful!

Mary wanted a beach wedding in California, and boy

did she get lucky with the perfect day!  Mandalay Beach

couldn't have been more picturesque as the sun shone

down through clear blue sky.

Leading her out to meet the groom

(is it just me or do we look like Men in Black walking here?)

When Shawn saw Mary he told her she looked

like an Egyptian princess.  It was so romantic watching

him take her hand to lead her toward the water.

Picture perfect

Old friends   :-)

The reception was at Macaroni Grill, where Shawn and

Mary had their first date.  It was a good way to end a great day.

Flannels

Today I had the day off of work so I decided to take care of a chore we had been putting off for far too long - getting rid of some old clothes.  We had bags and bags of them and as I went through some of the stuff, I couldn't help but get a little sentimental.  After all, these clothes had been with us through a lot in our lives and letting them go, in some ways, was like letting go of a part of our past.  At least that's how it felt to a sentimental sap like myself.  :-)

As I was going through Neal's bags, I was reminded of a part of our love story in which God, once again, had been there to guide us to one another.  Several years before I met Neal, I was already praying fervently for my future husband, asking God that we would meet sooner rather than later.  As is sometimes the case with single people, I often worried that if I wasn't keeping my mind, heart, and eyes open enough, he would pass through my life without me knowing it.  Yet, it was hard to keep my eyes open when I didn't really know what I was looking for, what he would look like.

This one particular day I was driving home and was sitting at a stoplight.  It was a dreary day and I remember staring through the rain at the light, daydreaming about the future.  Unexpectedly, I had what I can only describe as a vision, as the image of a man flashed before me in my mind.  It was brief and I couldn't make out the features of the face but there were some very distinctive things that I remembered.  He was tall, thin, fair-skinned, had sandy blonde hair with some sort of sideways bang in front, and wore a flannel, khakis, and brown shoes.  At the time, I had never met someone that looked like this and didn't know what it meant that I saw a stranger in my mind.  Yet, I held onto the image, especially, for some reason, the flannel shirt.  Somehow I interpreted this vision to mean that my future husband would love flannel shirts.

Fast forward to December 2004.  Neal and I met in person on the 17th and the following week I flew Omaha to meet his mom and sister.  His physical features were already the exact image of the man from my vision, and you can imagine my surprise when, during my visit, he came out in the outfit below.

Coincidentally, this flannel shirt was similar in color to the one in my vision.  Without wanting to read too much into it initially, I joked with him about how not many people wore flannels anymore and asked if he really liked them.  Enthusiastically, he responded that he loved flannels and had a huge collection of them.  If I wasn't convinced already that he was the one I was meant to be with, then this definitely sealed the deal.  :-) 

So, although Neal still only wears a couple of his flannels on a regular basis, this is one reason it was difficult for me to put the rest into a bag and send them off with Purple Heart.  All together, I gave away 23 of his old flannels.  Yet, even though they're gone they'll forever be for us a symbol of the mysterious ways God can work and how much He was there in our relationship even before it officially began. 

Baby Shower!

".....I have called you, and you are mine."

- Isaiah 43:1

Today was a heartwarming day.  Reva and Dave are expecting a child in February and friends and family came together to celebrate with Reva.  It's difficult to describe in words how special this day was but in summary, Reva is one of the kindest, most spiritually mature people I know.  The life that she lives in so many ways inspires those around her and challenges them to be better themselves.  She is a absolute light of God and everyone who attended this shower is blessed to know her.  

This was probably the most beautiful baby shower I've ever been to - there was such a presence of God there.  We had prayers, games, and a sharing of how we each know Reva and how she has touched our lives.  It's enough that one person can touch your life so much but to hear from three dozen others how much she has impacted their lives as well really made me feel like I was in the presence of holiness.  She and Dave are going to be such great parents and we couldn't be more happy for them!

My mom was my date to Reva's wedding and today was

my date to her baby shower.  She, too, adores Reva and

it was good to have her there to share in this special day.

Every time I'm in California I can't help but visit the beach.

It was my favorite part of living there and I deeply miss

the California coastline.  After the shower ended I made

a quick run to the Ventura Pier and the beach lovingly

known as "Surfer's Point."  I visited this beach countless

times growing up and still never get tired of going there.

New Year's Eve 2008

Party at Mike & Lisa's! Our old neighbors, Sarah and Gi, were in town as well so the gang was back together again.

Christmas in California

This year we spent the holidays in California with my family - parents, siblings, aunt, uncle, and cousins.  The weather was chilly but we did get some sun, which gave us a great view of the mountains and beach. We were able to relax but also spent some quality time with our family and some of our friends.   

The first night we arrived we went to Buca de Beppo

to celebrate both Ana's and Cecilia's birthday, which

both fall near Christmas.

Mom and Andrey

The birthday girls eating their cake

Back at my parents' house, the tree was all nicely

decorated, though Neal had to get up and fix 

the falling star.

We were lucky enough to catch the annual Stallcop holiday 

party and a few of our friends were able to join us as well.  

Here we are with Mary and her fiancee Shawn.

Group photo op!  Dave, Reva, me, Neal, Brian, little

Kyle, and Erin  

The next day we were able to meet up with Dave, 

Stacey, and Kolbe for dinner at Pickles.  It was too short

but we were glad to be able to see them. 

Christmas Eve at Cecilia and Gaston's house

Christmas Day at mom and dad's.  Ana with her 

new jacket - beautiful smile!

Mom proudly sporting the stylin' jacket that she got

from Ana - HAND MADE by our little fashionista!

For our Christmas gift, Stacey and Dave gave us a game

we had been hearing rave reviews about - Apples to Apples.

We broke it out on Christmas and had a great time with it.

Neal, of course, cleaned house winning both games.

Coincidentally, Neal's good friend Mike and his girlfriend

Holly were in southern California for the holidays.  We

were able to meet up with them for lunch in Long Beach.

After two years of fashion design school, Ana

has made quite a portfolio for herself.  She has

started doing most of her designs digitally but

of all her designs, this one is still my favorite.

It was hand drawn with colored pencil.  What an

amazing talent!!  Thanks for letting me share

this one sis.  :-)

Annual Bailey Holiday Party

2008 was a busy year but filled with a lot of great memories for us Baileys. We traversed the globe, indulged in our new hobby of motorcycling, developed new friendships in our home of Texas, and spent a lot of quality time with family.   In addition, we surprisingly found the rocker within us and somehow became experts on Rock Band. Even more surprising than that is the special affinity Kelly has developed for the term "Y'all." As they say, "when in Rome....." 

It's always great to celebrate the close of each year with friends and family. We had our annual holiday party to do just that and it turned out to be a really fun evening. The best part - Lynn was even able to fly out for the weekend to join us!   We didn't take as many pictures as last year (we were too busy enjoying our guests!), but we did get some good ones. Here are a few of them. 

Who are these beautiful ladies?  :-)

Christine, Lynn and I before the party

(table to the left filled with prizes for our games!)

Tony, Christine, and Lynn

This game was called the "Kiss Relay."  You had to wear a

pair of ski gloves and attempt to unwrap four Hershey

Kisses before the opposing team finished.  It got a little

hairy when people started eating paper and foil along with 

the kisses!  Here Mike and Lisa were competing against

Cindy (a fellow neighbor and member of our book club)

and her husband.

The happy couple :-)

On Sunday the four of us went to mass and brunch.

Christine suggested a place called the Rainbow Lounge,

which felt just like being in a mountain lodge.  For Texas 

that's something special so we thoroughly enjoyed both 

the atmosphere and the excellent food.

White Christmas in Houston?

It snows in Houston about as often as it snows in California but yes, it DID snow today!   At first it was just a few flurries but then it started really coming down, enough to stick to the ground and cover the tops of cars!  We were having dinner at a restaurant and by the time we came out, it looked like this!

(Don't know what the "yellow" is all about)

I know to most people snow is really not that big of a deal but when you didn't grow up with it and witness snow in a subtropical climate, it's pretty exciting.  

Anyway, the reason we were out tonight was to celebrate Christine's birthday!  We had some delicious Mexican food at Chuys and enjoyed time with Christine and her friends.

The ring cleaner we got Christine for her birthday