Lovely in Love

Today is the 10-year anniversary of the day Levi and I were married!

It's strange, it seems like we've been together forever and yet at the same time I can't believe it's been 10 years already.

So much has changed since we first met - we've graduated high school and college, we've gotten married (obviously).

We've moved across the country four times. Levi has a Master's Degree. I'm now a doctor.

Most importantly, we have a beautiful daughter that daily teaches us the lessons of love, patience, and imagination.

I know that we're far from done growing together, as a family and as a couple. I am thankful that despite - or because of - all that we have been through together, we have such a deep understanding and love for each other. I pray that this though it has been 10 years already, it is only the beginning.





Baking Cookies

Our new house in Austin has an amazing kitchen...okay, so it's probably a "normal" kitchen by anyone else's standards, but we've spent the last several years in less-than-stellar kitchens. I LOVE this kitchen - it has lots of nice, spacious countertops, new appliances, a gas stove! I've been cooking alot and trying to bake some of the things I didn't have the space or nerve to try before.

A few days ago my favorite food blog, Annie's Eats, had a recipe for those yummy soft frosted sugar cookies you can buy in the grocery store...you know, the ones that have different frosting depending on the season or nearest holiday that are so yummy you want to eat the entire box? yeah, those.

I decided to try them...and of course, I have a helper in the kitchen. She really does well, as long as I remember not to fuss at her about getting flour all over her shirt or eating half of the sugar before I can get it in the bowl...

The cookies turned out very well, though the icing left much to be desired. I wanted that fluffy, thick icing that comes on the cookies in the grocery store, but my icing was very runny. Will have to play with it next time (maybe use real butter, which I ran out of this time).

This was taken the next day, after they'd have time to set. Levi caught me right after my shower...

Olivia is very proud of her cookies! She loves to help me bake.

close up of the cookies. Can you guess who picked the color? :)

Evening Prayers

We've started saying prayers at night as Olivia goes to sleep. It started out with me praying out loud and she repeating what I said. Something like:

"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day
Thank you for my family
Thank you for Jesus
In His name we pray, Amen."

Now we've moved on to Olivia saying the prayers, and of course she wants me to repeat them after her. These go something like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day
Thank you for my family
I hope you love my kitty
and my lips
and my cheeks.
I love my ears so so so much.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."

Austin: We've Arrived!

So really, it's been almost 2 weeks since we arrived in Austin...

(please note - I'm abandoning writing in the 3rd person, ie, writing about "the Jacksons" instead of "us," because it's too hard. :P Plus, you all know it's me, Charity, writing this blog and not Levi. Hee hee.)

Anyway. We left Nashville at the very end of June and made our way to Austin. Thankfully and luckily, Tim & Kathy bought us a Garmin GPS as a going away present. It was (and still is!) so helpful! It has helped us find places to eat, places to stay, the post office. pretty much everything. Every now and then it's wrong but most of the time it's indispensible!

We beat our furniture to Austin by about 5 days. Let me tell you, by the time it arrived we were VERY ready for it. Squatters, we are not. I never realized how much I loved our couches before I had to sit on the floor for nearly a week!

We really love our new house. It's so nice! Two story, with 3 bedrooms and a loft that we turned into an office.

The front door. Pretty stone! And a purple door. :)

 Office space. :)

Living & Dining room, as seen from front door.

As seen from the stairs...

Back toward the front door

Kitchen and Dining Room

Our neighborhood is definitely "suburbia" but it fits us. There is a community playground, a community pool, and an elementary right in the middle of it all! Olivia has definitely enjoyed all of that!

So now we're all settled, and are slowly exploring our way around Austin. In the midst of it all, was Levi's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEVI!!! To celebrate we went to a fun restaurant on Lake Travis called The Oasis.  It was yummy food and an awesome view because (according to the menu) the restaurant is on a cliff about 400ft above the water. Definitely a place to take visitors!

And that's it!  Olivia and Kitty are waiting for visitors! :)



NM Vacation 2011, Part 3: Roswell

The final leg of the NM vacation was in Roswell to visit Papa Joe and Grammy (Joe and Melba Jackson -  Levi's parents) and Levi's sister, Joanie Weber. It was a long drive from Cliff to Roswell, and once again, Olivia was a trooper.

Also, once again, Levi and Charity had to stop at a yummy Mexican restaurant for dinner! There just is no comparison to good New Mexico-style Mexican food!

They arrived in Roswell too late to do much but visit for a few minutes and then go to bed. The next morning, however, Papa Joe took everyone out to feed the cows on the ranch. He put Levi and Joanie to work! :)

Levi had to check with Joanie to make sure he was doing it right!

Then they all went for a ride around the ranch.

 "Mommy, those big puppies are mooing!" - direct quote from one cute little Olivia Jackson

Olivia and Grammy

Olivia and Aunt Joanie

In the evenings everyone relaxed outside. Olivia played in the kiddie pool because it was hot!



Finally, Olivia got to ride a horse for the first time! She was such a big girl...first she rode with Grammy...

And then she rode with Charity...

And then she rode all by herself!!

Such a big girl! She really didn't want to get off of the horse after that...

New Mexico 2011, Part 2: Silver City and Cliff

After visiting the Massey family in Animas, the Jacksons headed to the Silver City/Cliff area to visit Olivia's great-grandparents.

First up was Silver City, where Joe & Lorene Lickliter (Charity's paternal grandparents) live. They hadn't seen Olivia since she was about 3 months old, so she had changed a bit! It was a very good visit. Olivia enjoyed reading and playing!

After that, the Jacksons traveled to Cliff to visit Dorothy Jackson (Levi's paternal grandmother), also known as Grandma Dot. Luckily, other Jackson relatives were able to come over for lunch or dinner, so they were able to visit lots of people - George and Nancy Jackson, Stewart and Connie Rooks and their daughter Kelsey. Great fun!

Olivia was very convincing in talking people into reading to her!

Olivia much enjoyed covering people in stuffed animals!

Three generations of Jacksons...just missing Joe, Levi's dad to have a complete 4 generations. maybe next time!

While in Cliff, they also went to a playground...Olivia had some energy to burn!

They stayed in Cliff overnight before heading to Roswell to see the rest of the Jackson family...but that's the subject of Part 3. Coming soon!!