Six Years of Bliss

I have found the one whom my soul loves

Song of Solomon 3:4



It has been a wonderful, adventure-filled 6 years. I love getting to spend my life with my best friend, the love of my life. God has truly blessed me. 

I narrowed it down to what we have done in these last 6 years, here are the big 6:

1. Drew graduated and got his job

2. Jennifer graduated 

3. We bought a house

4. Paid off all our student loans

5. We took our big 5 year anniversary trip to Napa, San Fransisco, and Las Vegas

6. We adopted our sweet black lab, Lily

In these past 6 years, Drew and I have done some great things and accomplished big tasks, together with God, we can do anything!

Life Group Christmas Party

This year we hosted the first annual Steele/Jarke Life Group Christmas Party...and let me say we had a blast and quite a few laughs during the White Elephant exchange. I was able to get pictures of the families and their prized winnings.

ELizabeth and Bruno came away with a smores kit

Gref and Kim came away with some classical music and a lotion kit

Ryan and Mindy were both crafty and typical Steeler's and got the coveted snuggie and red neck wine glass

Drew and I got Christmas mugs with hot chocolate and a creepy christmas jack in a box with a starbucks gift card!

Mike and Kara came away with a lotion kit that ended up going home with David!

Kyrie and Ricky came away with a ceramic vase and frog glasses

Jason and Leslie came home with a stocking full of goodies (practical jokes and candy) as well as a Guiness clock

Amber and Cain went away with a rare vintage year of boxed wine and a donkey political popper.

David and Amber went home with the treasure chest of gifts full of pirate booty (gold coins) and of course a picture of Jarke!

We had such a wonderful time and we are so blessed by our life group family and the friends we have made!

A Month of Thankfulness

This year I decided to join the 30 days of thanks on Facebook, here is what I have been thankful for.

Give thanks, day 1: I am thankful for my sweet husband who is always willing to help.


Give thanks, day 2: I am thankful for my sweet brother and the ability to go celebrate his birth!

Give thanks, day 3- I'm thankful to be an Aggie and to be a part of such a wonderful community so full of tradition.

Give thanks, day 4- I am thankful for our wonderful church and the opportunity to worship with 4 year olds.

Give thanks, day 5- I am thankful for my awesome job and amazing team.   Give thanks, day 6- I am thankful for the right to vote, and that my opinion matters!

Give thanks, day 7- I am thankful that no matter what, My God is strong and mighty, My God is faithful, My hope is in the Lord, For He is able!   Give thanks, day 8- I am thankful for pedicures and relaxation with family and friends!

Give thanks, day 9- I am thankful to have the opportunity to have lunch with my sweet hubby and his family.

Give thanks, day 10- Thankful to get great family photos on this beautiful Saturday! Thank you Cassie.

Give thanks, day 11- thankful for my sister, she is going to make a beautiful bride today!

Give thanks, day 12- thankful for the safe delivery and healthy arrival of baby Layla

Give thanks, day 13- I am thankful for the men and women who proudly serve this country and fight for our freedom!

Give thanks, day 14- Thankful for my life group girls and the amazing women that they are. I am thankful for their friendship and that they encourage me to grow stronger in my faith.

Give thanks, day 15- I'm thankful for my sweet baby girl Buttercup, she has brought so much joy to my life over the last 7 years.



Give thanks, day 16- thankful to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 25th anniversary. They are such a blessing and a great example of God's love!

Give thanks, day 17- thankful to have a great dinner and fun time with my brotherS, sister, and husband!   Give thanks, day 18- I am thankful for a great start to a much needed relaxing week off.


Give thanks, day 19- I am thankful for my sweet Lily Girl, she is such a sweet little cuddle bug who is always ready to play.

Give thanks, day 20- I am thankful for the plentiful options for food. We are never in short supply!

Give thanks, day 21- I am thankful for my husband who keeps me grounded, he is the most stable force in my life and he loves me through thick and then. I am so blessed to have him in my life, to love me and do life with.

Give thanks, day 22- here is the list that Drew and I came up with this morning: each other, our puppies, our house, our jobs, our hard work ethic, our car, Aggie football, our wonderful parents, our siblings, our family, our friends, and our church. I would say we are pretty blessed!

Give thanks, day 23- I am thankful for completely relaxing, lazy days with my hubby and family.



Give thank, day 24- Thankful for an amazing Aggie season. Way to show them that you can compete in the SEC boyss!

Give thanks, day 25- I am thankful for safe travels from a wonderful vacation. It's good to be back home!

Give thanks, day 26- I am thankful for my nice warm house.   Give thanks, day 27- I am thankful for a car that is safe and reliable to get me from point A to point B.
Give thanks, day 28- I am thankful for laughter...it always has the ability to ease stressful situations.

Give thanks, day 29- I am thankful for our Life Group, for the wonderful couples we've met, and the great friendships we've made.



Give thanks, day 30- I am thankful for this Christmas season and the birth of our Lord and Savior. He is the reason for the season. Without Him I would have nothing to be thankful for.
Also, I am thankful for girls night with my mom and sister.

TV Fall Line Up

 The shows are back and here's what We've been watching.

Drew and I are loving Once Upon a Time, it is very suspenceful and keeps us in anticipation for next week. I love the twists that they put on the old Fairy Tales.

A couple Christmas' ago Drew and I stated watching Bones on Netflix during the break. We have been watching it ever since. The relationships between the characters is great, there is a little humor between them which add a little comic relief from the creepy suspense.

 I love Parenthood (I watch this by myself)... Leave it to Parenthood to bring on the water works. I think they do a great job incorperating different aspects of families.

 My mom got me into Smash...I love it for the talented singers and AWESOME music. I've heard that it may eventually go to Broadway (it's a show about creating a Broadway Musical about Marilyn Monroe)

The end of summer and beginning of fall brings 2 shows from USA that I love to watch. Necessary Roughness brings together humor and drama about a psychiatrist and a football player and his team.

 Royal Pains is witty and clever. I like the medical side plus the relationships between the characters.

Party like it's 1980

Last weekend our good friend turned 30, and to celebrate we did it up 80's style. Good times were had by all!

The life group couples...

Drew and I

The Cooks

 The Jarke's

 The Endres'

 The Gallegos'

The Coughlin's

The Coulter's

The birthday girl and her hubby

The Steele's

The Williams'

Photo booth time...girls gone crazy!

 As the night went on, it got a little crazy

Dance party karaoke



The newest member of our family

4 weeks ago we brought home sweet little Lily. She has added so much joy to our life along with sleepless nights. It has been an adjustment for us all especially for big sister Buttercup. I think there were mixed emotions about the pup. They are becoming great friends as Lily gets older and is able to keep up.

Here are some pictures we have taken of our sweet little girl.

Lily the day we brought her home and today (October 13, 2012)

It's Fall Y'all

September 22, fall is here...whoop!

With fall comes cooler weather, Fight'n Texas Aggie Football, pumpkin spice lattes, leaves changing color, Oktoberfest, honey crisp apples, cider, Thanksgiving and my personal favorite PUMPKINS. Y'all I'm obsessed it is a problem and each year I just add more to the collection. Today I plan on getting the house ready for fall. I'm looking forward to baking with apples and pumpkins, carving pumpkins and trying some new yummy soups and comfort food for those cool autum days. What do you love about fall?

Girls night out

I am back from my long blogging hiatus, and I have so much to post about. First day pictures, classroom, girls night and so much more. Which I will all get to eventually.

Last night one of my friends from work invited me out on a little girls date night while her hubby was out of town and mine went to a football game.

After our little work social, we headed out to Downtown McKinney to Wild Brush Studio where we painted, enjoyed some great red wine and being all aroung chatty. It was a great night that ended at square burger...yum! Here are our pictures from the night.

Mediterranean Cooking Round 2

I have not given up on Mediterranean cooking, in fact, I thought I would give it another go. Not Paella of course or Spanish food, but I moved on to Italian, and man was it a hit! I'm not a newbie to making Italian food, but I thought I would try something new that was not in my repertoire and I think I will be making it again.  I made Giada De Laurentis' Pork Chop with Fennel and Caper Sauce.

Girls Weekend Away

A couple of weeks ago my mom and I headed out to have a girls weekend. We traveled on down to the hill country, to the small town of Marble Falls and we loved it. We had such a great time. We stayed at a little B&B on the main downtown square, shopped, tasted wine, went to a brewery and hung out at the piano bar across from our room.

We also went zip lining...so fun!

And rappelling

After getting super hot zip lining, we headed out to Krause Springs to cool off. And boy did we ever, that water was chilly!

We finished the trip with some wine tasting at Flat Creek Estates, their wine was absolutely wonderful. We also bought a case of raspberry sparkling wine for my sisters wedding. I will definitely go back.