Summer Table Fun

Since having a home with Jeffrey setting our table for different seasons has been something I have really enjoyed. It might also be because we were blessed beyond belief with beautiful serving pieces from our wedding. Some of my favorite dishes were our FIESTA! I know they have been around forever, but I love them just the same. I hope to have a huge collection someday. I got a great start! I knew I would use it to set my table for summer because the colors were so bright and fun. I also knew that they would come in very handy at the Jones First Annual Fiesta for our community group. My mom and sister gave up their Saturday to help me set the perfect summer table and to prepare for my fiesta (that will get a separate post once it happens). I modeled it off a picture from pinterest (of course) and am still missing one of the elements, tissue paper flowers, but those will be added before the fiesta and before our fun visitors for May aka The Jones family arrives. Hope my table makes you smile as much as it does me.

     And just for fun here is a picture of my sister and I doing authentic Fiesta shopping in IRVING!!!

Thankful for beautiful tables, 

MJ 

Thankful Thursday

So I am going to attempt to make a commitment to blogging every Thursday on the things I am thankful for at that time. I take for granted all of the amazing things God has blessed our life with. I am so quick to ask God for things and ask his help for things, but I often forget to thank him for all that he has given me. So this week I am thankful for:

1. Beautiful Sunrises on my way to work 

2. My new job as a counselor 

3. That there are only two weeks left in this semester of Grad school 

4. The friendships I have and am continuing to develop 

5. A husband that is helping me learn to budget (even though this is very hard for me)

Thankful, 

MJ 

Easter in D.C.

This post has been a long time coming. I am so sad it has taken me this long to get it done. Between grad school, a new job and life I have not had much time to blog. I am trying to get all caught up though!

We had been planning to spend Easter in D.C. for months! We were excited to be in Washington, but even more excited to spend the weekend with our friend Cary! Cary is Jeffrey's best friend from Amarillo. The two of them grew up together. I met Cary three years ago and ever since I feel like he is one of my good friends too! He is so funny and we loved getting to spend the weekend in his hood! Anyways the plan was to arrive on Friday morning, but because of the tornadoes our flight got canceled. So we landed at 2:00 am Friday morning, took a cab ride to our hotel and basically fell into bed. We met Cary bright and early and here is how the rest of the weekend looked!

Friday: We met Cary at his office building and saw where he works everyday. We then hit the ground running with our capitol tour. Since Cary works there we got to do a lot of inside stuff. Such as cut all lines, see the secret balcony, ride the underground subway. It was so cool to be inside that building. We then left there to see where Cary lives. It is such a cool place. Brunch was next on the agenda (which we found out is a really big deal in D.C., everyone brunches) It was very yummy! Great food & Great Company. We then piled in the car to head out to Annapolis. Here we saw the Naval academy, walked around the town, and went to have crabs on the Chesapeake Bay. This was such a fun experience. Eating crab is hard work. We then just sat on the dock and chatted the evening up.What a day!

Cary's Office  

On the Capitol Tour 

 Capitol Balcony 

Underground Subway 

Brunch 

Naval Academy 

Crabs

Saturday: To say I was really excited about Saturday would be an understatement. I absolutely could not wait for this day! We got up bright and early, caught a cab to the WHITE HOUSE for our insiders tour. We had to go through 3 security check points. Once we were in though, it was incredible. There is so much history there. I could have asked hundreds of questions. The secret service men are in charge of the tour which was cool to hear their insight. After that we met Cary to go have drinks at the W's balcony and look out over the entire city. It was gorgeous! We then headed to have lunch and peruse Georgetown. On this day we got to ride the Metro and take a gorgeous stroll through D.C. Georgetown had tons of amazing shopping (the biggest anthropologie I have EVER seen) I could have easily spent the whole weekend shopping there! Jeffrey actually made a purchase (which he NEVER does) and I found a J for our J wall ( which we sadly left in our hotel room) Then it was time for another exciting part of the trip.. bike rides to see all of the National monuments. We rode bikes for probably three hours up and down the Potomac river and to see all of the monuments. It was beautiful weather, and incredible views. We had so much fun stopping at each site and taking pictures. We then got ready for our roof top dinner and our trip to a speak easy (which was an experience all in itself..my drink was not so yummy). Saturday really was an unforgettable day!

Outside the White House (the only place pictures are allowed) 

W Hotel 

Metro 

Shopping in Georgetown 

 The boys loving the shopping 

Bike Riding 

Boys Bikes 

Favorite Picture of the weekend! 

 At one of the stops 

Beautiful! 

Rooftop Dinner 

Speak Easy 

Sunday: We woke up to have breakfast on Kathryn's rooftop (one of Cary's friends). She was so sweet to get up early on Easter Sunday and cook for us! Her rooftop looks out over the whole city. We then piled in the car to head to the National Cathedral for Easter services. There were tons of people. Luckily we got seats in the center aisle. It was gorgeous inside and it was a great way to celebrate that Jesus has Risen!! Sadly that was the end to our trip and we had to head to the airport to get back to reality.

Hoppy Easter--Balcony Breakfast

National Cathedral 

Easter inside the Cathedral 

Our trip to D.C. was absolutely AMAZING! It was a great way to see the city and we had an incredible time with Cary. Traveling with Jeffrey is my favorite! I cannot wait for all the fun places we will experience
 together!

Thankful for the opportunity to see other places,

MJ

Sunday Funday

Yesterday was a little different than our average Sunday. Normally I am doing homework and Jeffrey is getting ready for the work week. We just switched to the early service at church and it is such a nice change. We get to attend church together and then volunteer together at the next service. With the switch comes having more day left after church because we are done by 11 now. Yesterday we decided to take a break from everything and met James & Krista at the Fort Worth Arts festival. We spent the afternoon walking around, hanging with great friends and looking at art (not Jeffrey's favorite thing to do). It was a nice change though! Then we went to community group and had a nice surprise that the last hour we would spend hanging out at a local park. It was nice to be out in the beautiful weather and just catch up on each others lives. Such a FUN SUNDAY!

Community group girls at the park! 

Thankful for Sunday,

MJ

Shower Time

Wedding Season is in full swing in my neck of the woods. It is so fun to get to be a part of this special time in my friends' lives. Now that I have gone through the entire process I realize how important each and every event is. I feel so blessed that I have so many amazing friends and my prayer is that they take this time to prepare for their marriage. In the last two weeks I have  helped host two wedding showers. One being for my sweet friend Laura. Laura and I met at Baylor. In fact we were in the same group for rush and were both very interested in PI PHI. Luckily we both got bids and our friendship has been going on ever since. Laura is full of JOY. Jon is so lucky to be marrying a woman like her. I am excited I get to stand up there with her on her special day. Cannot wait for JULY! I love you Laura!

 Yesterday I helped host Victoria's bridal shower. I met Victoria 3 years on my first day working as a school teacher. Our classrooms were right across the hall. We began our friendship talking between passing periods. Victoria's wedding is in June and I am so excited to be a part of it all. I am so happy for her and TRENT! ps.. this shower was harder for me to host because I was in charge of the TCU themed candy bar. Purple is DEFINiTELY not my favorite color! JK! I loved getting to make her day special!

I love weddings and all that they mean! I am so excited I get to be a part of both of these. Next up is AL's baby shower and then its JEN's turn! Cannot wait for all of the big events happening in my friends' lives.


Thankful for big events,

MJ

He is RISEN!!!

Jeffrey and I celebrated the fact that Jesus has risen this year in Washington D.C. (post coming soon) at the National Cathedral. What a beautiful place filled with people from all walks of life. It was an incredible experience. I will say we missed the intimacy of Compass and our church family back home. I am so thankful that Jesus conquered the grave for me and hope that this next year my relationship with him continues to grow deeper. I hope you all had a very HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND!!

Thankful for our savior, 

MJ 

ahhhh

So those that know me well know that I LOVE the Dallas Cowboys. I have loved them since I was a little girl thanks to my daddy. The stadium was in my hometown (IRVING) up until a few years ago. It is the team I grew up with. Being older I have gotten more into the players, the scores and watching the game. I am slightly obsessed with TONY ROMO and have been since college (just ask my roomies). My love for the Cowboys grew thanks to my sweet friend Jen. We spent many days in our college house rooting for the cowboys in our cowboy gear. We are HUGE Fans.

 Anyways Jeffrey's basketball league happens to be the same one that Tony Romo and Jason Whitten play on (ahhhhhhh) I know its crazy! When the schedules were released we realized they would be playing each other. A game I would definitely not miss. Jeffrey's team lost, but they definitely held their own (scoring 85 points). I was very impressed! After the game, thanks to NATHAN (my sisters sweet boy) we had the courage to ask for a picture. Boy am I THANKFUL. I look horrible in it, but that does not matter. I have a picture with my hubby and two of the best players on the COWBOYS team! They were such sweet guys and it made me realize they are just like anyone else... well maybe not ANYONE!!!  I will treasure this picture FOREVER!!!

Thankful for the DALLAS COWBOYS,

MJ

Welcome Bennett

We are so excited to WELCOME Bennett Blandford into our family. We are so blessed to have such sweet nieces and nephews in our life. We hope that we are the BEST AUNT & UNCLE around! We love you so much already sweet Bennett and cannot wait to meet you!

The Blandford Kids! :) 

Blythes first time to hold Bennett

She is going to be such a sweet big sister! 

We love you both!

Thankful for nieces and nephews,

MJ

Last Weekend of March

This was the last weekend in March and boy was it action packed. Friday night we headed to Joe T Garcia's for dinner, drinks and nice patio weather to celebrate ANNIE'S 23 Birthday. The weather was perfect and so was the company. We had a great evening out on the patio. Annie even got the excitement of being sang to. We then headed over to Billy Bobs to hear Aaron Watson. He is such a great performer, but also an incredible man. Not a huge fan of the concert venue for Billy Bob's, but it was still a great night.

Saturday night we spent the evening in downtown Dallas celebrating Mandi & Trevor's wedding. Mandi was a beautiful BRIDE!  It was a great night filled withs lots of laughs and dancing.

Sunday I went with one of my best friends JEN to look at bridesmaid dresses. She made the choice and I cannot wait for September to wear them! It was a busy, but GREAT weekend!


Counting down to EASTER in D.C.,

MJ