come back to texas, it's just not the same since you went away.

amanda came to texas and it was the best vacation ever!!!! i never wanted it to end.

 logan is such a lunatic.

our first day included whataburger, riding the horse, going downtown to see the alamo, gelato, cane sugar coke, and a river cruise down the river walk.

on saturday morning jon and i woke up and ran 8 miles. you read that right, 8 miles. then we drove up to Fredericksburg for chocolates, shopping, cowboy booting and all around texas-ing.

people could not take their eyes off of us. i don't think they could grasp the idea of twins in cowboy boots with adorable pants.

this shop has millions of peanut butter, salsa, honey, and jam flavors and they let you taste them all!! best place ever!

we drove back to san antone and got ready for country dancing!!!

ashton and her girlfriends definitely helped us feel at home there. they taught us the texas two step! it was so strange to be in texas in a country bar wearing cow boy boots surrounded by cow boys and girls. everyone knew the dances and they were all happy to be there. after a song ended I saw a girl put both hands up and yell "texas!" 

these are our 4 and 5 year old church babies! i am so glad amanda took these pictures because i never want to forget those little faces. and yeah, maybe we do allow our kids to sit on the floor if it is more comfortable. or maybe we just let hunter do it because of his big eyes and dimples, who knows.

if "muddin'" means driving a four wheeler through the mud, then i think we went muddin'.

we debated going boating because the forecast called for rain. we pulled up to the dock and it was pouring and cold. we decided to go for it anyway and the clouds cleared and the sun came out for the perfect boating weather. amanda and i tubed for awhile and i didn't breathe the entire time because we were laughing so hard. not an exaggeration, i honestly could not breathe because amanda and i were laughing at absolutely nothing.

we ended the weekend exactly the way we should have, with Rudy's BBQ. cream corn, beans, potato salad, brisket and Bluebell ice cream. my ice cream cone was good but didn't do much to ease my oncoming separation anxiety attack. i tweeted that dropping amanda off was like waking up from a complicated surgery getting my siamese twin's head removed from my shoulder and yeah. it was exactly like that.
it was the best weekend ever! amanda slept in our new room with us on the futon and we just chatted until we fell asleep. we shared clothes and laughed and laughed and laughed. if i could be surrounded 24/7 by any two people i would definitely choose jon and amanda and i'm confident they would both choose me and each other as well.

lastly, it is amanda's 27th birthday today. i wanted to post this picture because it is a very accurate description of our relationship. we've lived far from each other (1.5 hours in CA...i'd take that back anytime) for about 8 years now. i am so grateful for technology including computers, cell phones, cameras, facetime and airplanes and cars. we have distance between us but we are always in contact. we send each other pictures of our outfits all the time and feed off of each others style. in this photo i am very obviously feeding off of her style because she has the superior outfit. nevertheless, i'm grateful for her friendship and her great example of sticking to your beliefs, showing compassion on others, and fostering friendship with your girlfriends. i love her so much and wish her a happy 27th!!!!!!
read about the weekend from amanda's perspective here.

three years.

three years ago, on September 14th, 2010, Jon left for 7 months to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

this day, and the months following rocked our world. 

i'm grateful every. single. day. to have him home safe and pray so hard for the men and women still over there and the families left behind and especially for those whose loved ones haven't and won't come home.

ashton+aaron

we made friends, ya'll.

jon googled a salon to get his haircut at and met a nice girl whose fiancé was also a former marine! he got me a coupon for $15 off, so i went in and got my haircut from ashton as well. turns out she's as cute and funny as jon described and we hit it off right away. we exchanged numbers and almost immediately planned to go to Main Event to bowl and laser tag, our favorite!!!!!

the four of us all get along really well and it already seems like we've been friends forever.

on august 25th, i went up to this tiny town about 3 hours away with ashton and her two friends amanda and kelsey for her bridal photos!!! it blewwww myyyy mind. there are actually little towns like this, you guys. i was taking pictures to show jon because i was so surprised. we didn't even have cell phone service.

i knowwww the trailer, but look how pretty she is!

the pictures turned out perfect, ashton is so beautiful. there are so many sentimental details about the photos/her dress/her wedding that make it so special. also this was the day i realized that i had to come to terms with the fact that i didn't want cowboy boots, i needed them.

we left the little ranch at like 10 pm and were all starving. my new friends taught me that DQ is "texas' stop sign" because you just have to stop and eat there. ashton was looking beautiful with her make up and hair done so when she got to the drive up window she said to us "they probably think we're in a country band because i look so fancy" and from the backseat i hear kelsey (the sassy one) say "yeah ashton. in a honda." soo funny. 

this was a few weeks later when we tried and failed to go to the fair. 

amanda, ashton and i. 

(i'm borrowing amanda's boots)

ashton and aaron's wedding was on september 7th. 

a perfectly beautiful day at a perfectly beautiful golf club. 

aaron and his mom.

ashton's mother passed away when ashton was in high school. this is her step dad escorting her mom's mom down the aisle. 

the whole wedding party arrived and stood behind the audience until two by two they walked down the aisle. as the flower girl and ring bearer were walking down the aisle, a golf cart pulled up with ashton facing the back. she stepped off the golf cart and didn't turn around until it was her time to have her dad escort her down the aisle. i didn't even see the flower girl because i was so busy watching aaron see ashton for the first time. his eyes were fixed on her and he was trying to hold back tears. he later told me that "she looked more beautiful than i could have ever imagined."

it was the most romantic little wedding ever, i loved every second of it. 

i did it. i bought myself a pair of brand spankin new cowboy boots. i'm not going to lie, i've always wanted a pair. but when it really came down to it and i was picking the ones i wanted, it was the weirdest thing in the world. this new little life of ours is a far cry from the life that we had in san diego. i told myself i'd jump in with both feet (ha) and we are doing just that and are learning to love san antonio and the texas culture more and more.

see what i mean about a far cry? have you ever seen these before!! long horns! i saw them on our drive to take ashton's pictures and pointed them out to the girls and they said "yeah, we're in texas. you'll see those a lot." for some reason i thought it was uncommon to see longhorns, but i guess it isn't.

cows are my favorite animals or at least tied for favorite with cats, horses, and puppies. but don't make the same mistake we did at the wedding-touching, prodding and pulling on the horns. jon was squatting in between the two horns when the cow turned his head to walk away and got jon's arm with one of his horns. luckily it didn't rip his suit but the next day he had a bruise right there. amateurs...

here are the newlyweds during their first dance! it was such a special night, i'm so glad we've met these two and were able to celebrate the day with them. during ashton's speech she let her true colors come out when she thanked her salon sisters for making her look like a princess and then said "yeah, that's right ya'll, i look like a princess!" but the best part was when she said that she and aaron met through tragedy, and that he was the one to "bring my smile back." they are the best together, jon and i love them so much and are so happy that they are married.