A year later....

 A year ago today, Matt proposed. That night was filled with sweet memories and lots of excitement.

Today, he has been at school studying all day for a major test tomorrow. I've spent most of the day at home, doing laundry and getting stacks of our clothes together to pack.

It's funny how drastically my life has changed in such a short amount of time. I am eternally grateful for these changes, though! I wouldn't trade my life right now for anything. I am so grateful for my loving husband and our countless blessings from our Heavenly Father. 

♥

In other news: We are leaving for Dallas right after Matt's test tomorrow, and I can't WAIT!! :D

Domesticity

The other night, I was feeling particularly domestic. 

I used this wonderful recipe holder that Mom gave me at this shower! I love it, I can store recipes inside, and I use it every time that I make something with a recipe!

 I made homemade bread! 

Here it is before I put it in the oven.

And after it was made! 

Sometimes, I really love being domestic! 

The Apple Orchard

 On Friday afternoon, Matt and I went to the Apple Orchard! It is just a few miles out of Lubbock, and it's a lot of fun! First, we went out in the orchard with our bucket and picked some apples!

 

 

 

 Then we went back to the little store. They have a small Farmer's Market there! We enjoyed looking at the fresh produce and picking out some things!

 

  I loved this display! It made me think of Dad and his pomegranates!

 They were preparing for the Pumpkin Festival, it was on Saturday. I love fall!!

They were making some fresh German Apple Cake, it looked and smelled so good that we bought some!

 

This was another one of those small hometown experiences that made me feel like I was living in a small town, I loved it!!

Happiness is All in the Little Things...

 ...like the fun of cooking dinner for missionaries, and getting to use color coordinated Fiesta to serve the meal. :)

 ...like when your husband brings you home a few roses one night, just because. And you get to put them in the first wedding gift that you opened together. <3

...like using the green Kitchen Aid mixer that a high school best friend and his dad got you for your wedding.

...like making your husband a cookie cake with a heart in it before he comes home from work.

...like having a wonderful iPhone to take all of these pictures with, because you didn't think to pull out either of your real cameras!

The South Plains Fair!!

We went to the fair on Monday. It was a lot of fun!!

 Frito Pie!

 Chicken on a Stick!!

 Matt won me a flower! :) 

I loved looking at the HUGE fruit!! 

 Yummy!!

 This made me think of home, Dad!

 We found a game of Bingo!! It was probably my favorite part! :)

 We got serious about it, right before we left and did 6 cards at once! We still lost, but it was fun!! Haha :)

 We got to go to a Jake Owen concert, too! So fun!

  Sweet Love <3

The fair was so fun and quaint. I guess coming from Dallas some people wouldn't think it was big enough or entertaining enough, but I just loved the hometown feel of it! We even ran into some people that Matt knew. I love going places and doing fun activities with my sweet husband. Marriage is a wonderful blessing. <3

Claire Lois Cooper

So this sweet little girl stole my heart six months ago! 

Today is her half birthday, and I am very anxiously looking forward to seeing her again in just 12 days! Hooray!! Happy half birthday Claire!! Uncle Matt and Aunt Laura sure do miss you! :)

You can read more about her life and family and life on my sister's blog: Cooper Connection.

This is what we do on date night....

Football!

Last weekend, Texas Tech played UT in football. This game is always a really big deal, and students begin camping out to be in line for the game starting on Monday night. Matt and I left home around 12:30 for the 7 pm game. We went to lunch and bought new shirts on the way to the stadium! I put mine on over my clothes in the back of the store and had Matt take a picture to see if I liked it! 

We finally headed to the stadium to get in line at 2 pm. Yes, five hours before game time!  This is what we saw when we got there:

The line was incredibly long, and we just hopped right in! 

 

Around 4:30 they started letting people into the stadium and we got in at about 5. 

From then on, we just killed time waiting for game time!

Unfortunately, Tech lost the game, but we put up a good fight! And I loved being able to spend that day with my sweet husband!