Brothers ans Sisters

This past week has been all about honoring my Sister Jennifer and Brother-in-Law Chris.

Let's start with Jennifer~
On this past Saturday my other sister Ashley drove to Dallas to celebrate Jennifer's last night of singleness. We had a great night Paul (her man-of-honor) and Brenda did a great job at planning the night. We were picked up in a limo at Brenda's house. Then we went to Gloria's Mexican Cantina in downtown Fort Worth. Next we went to Hyena's Comedy Club. It was a blast. Thank you for letting us join you Jennifer.



Finally Chris~
Monday was Chris Petersen's last 20-Something birthday. That is right... Chris is now 29! As a way of celebrating Chris Ashley decided to cook his Favorite Meal ~Chicken Fried Steak~ and have us (Ashley, Chris, Ella, Katie, Greg, Ryan and me-Alisha)over for dinner. She went all out to make it special for him. We had a great time.

A Boy and His Dog

SO a little over a week ago Ryan and I added a new member to our family... Beaux! Beaux is a English Springer Spaniel. He was 9 weeks this past Tuesday. He is 10lbs and growing.

As many of you know I have had my dog Bella for about 5 years. So in my mind we did not need another dog... I already had one. But Ryan wanted a dog all his own, and he had dreamed of owning a English Springer Spaniel for years! So when we found a deal on the Internet that was about $300 less than all other puppies we had seen we jumped at it. Now Ryan is getting to learn about how much fun a puppy is (I think this might be a good wake-up call for the future).

The only problem that we have run into, was that this past Saturday we had to take little mister Beaux to the Animal Emergency Hospital. He has what might be Parvo or some other intestinal virus. It has been a long road getting him well... But we hope we are starting to be on the right track! I am sure we will have more Beaux and Bella stories later!

Upgrade Ya

So I got to tell you about the upgrades that we received while we were on our honeymoon. We had joked before we left that we didn’t want to be Chandler and Monica from friends who got beat to every spot by another couple that was on their honeymoon. Well, we didn’t have that problem at all and it seemed that everyone was happy to accommodate us or even give us some perks along our way.
1) So, we flew from Houston to Boston and while on the flight, my wonderful bride needs to go to the bathroom. While she was waiting, she sparks a conversation with the flight attendant and proceeds to tell them we are on our honeymoon. No less than when she gets back do they start passing the food cart around and we get FREE FOOD!!! That was the beginning.
2) We then arrive in Boston and go to the rental car agency and then we start up a conversation with our checker and let her know on the sly that it is our honeymoon. We then get an upgrade to a sports car and then get the navigation devise thrown in for FREE!!! How exciting I am thinking. This is awesome.
3) Well, we arrive at our destination around 7:30 pm Sunday the 12th. We check in and unload all of our stuff into the cabin we got for the week. As we are going through everything we notice 1-) the tub is very small 2-) there is no working heater and the temperature was already in the 50’s 3-) we cant make a fire with wet wood!!!

So, after about an hour of trying to get the fire up and going we succeeded. So, we slept to the cracking of a fire which was nice until about 3 in the morning when it went out and then we got cold. I know what some of you are thinking, just cuddle and get warm with each other, but there is one thing to cuddle and be comfortable and another to cuddle to try and stay warm. I like the computability factor. So, we went ahead and scheduled our massages for the day and as Alisha is getting hers I spark a conversation with the front desk attendant and she asks how the cabin is. I tell her cold and she asks for us not to make a fire and I am like well then how are we to stay warm with no heater. She then asks if we would like to upgrade to the suite for FREE!!! I ask to look at it and the one thing Alisha told me was if they have a big tub, GO FOR IT!!!

So, we upgraded and it was lovely. Instead of a wood fireplace, we had a gas one. We had a king size bed instead of a queen, huge tub and shower, flat screen tv’s. We were definitely spoiled while we were there. We knew when we left that they have forever given us a vacation spot in the mountains of Vermont.

We love you Mountain Top Inn!!!

Date Night/Road Trip

So Ryan and I have started a weekly tradition of date nights! A few weeks ago it was my turn to plan the date night. This was so much fun for me because Ryan is a very difficult person to surprise because he always wants to "figure it out." So for this date I sort of left it up to him. I had several envelopes with questions in them
1)Who is your favorite person to hang out with
2)What is your favorite food?
3)Of this type of food, what is your favorite restaurant (on a budget)?
4)What is your favorite new car that you would like to test drive?
5)What is your favorite movie
You see where I am going with this... Needless to say I think that he really enjoyed the date. Here are a few pictures of us test-driving a new Camaro and Challenger!





This last Friday we were not able to have a Friday Date-Night because we were with Chris, Ashley and Ella driving to Arkansas for Jennifer and Moises' wedding shower. It was a lot of fun... but I am not going to lie 9 hours is a very long time to be in a car with a four adults, two dogs and a toddler! I have never been so glad to get home!!!

It's Official!!!

We have been officially married for 2 and a half weeks, and let me tell you the past few weeks have been the best of my life. I know that it has been about a month since either of us posted a blog, but please show us some Grace. Planning a wedding a little stressful!!!



So let me start off by saying Thank You to all of the Friends and Family that traveled from Near and Far to make it to our wedding. It means more to us than any of you know. I felt so special to have most of the people that came to support me traveled many hours to be there! I have no idea how I will ever re-pay you!!!



As many of you know we went to Vermont on our Honeymoon, and we had the time of our lives! I feel so blessed to have been able to take a week to spend with just Ryan and I, but I will let Ryan tell you more about the honeymoon in a few days...





Once again I love you all, and thank you so much for supporting our Wedding!!!

3 Weeks to go

So we officially are 3 weeks away from "The Big Day" and I should tell you that things are starting to get a little crazy. I know that Ryan and I are huge planners, but even with all the planning in the world I have realized that ALL weddings are crazy! With that said let me explain a little of our craziness:
1) We were going to have a few family members make the wedding cake and groom's cake, but it was brought to our attention that it might be a little to much pressure to put on people you love (and are related to) so we decided that we needed to find a bakery to make our cake. This might not be a big deal had we decided this a few months ago, but when you change things within a month of the wedding date they are a little difficult and expensive! Luckily Ryan found the perfect Bakery to make the cake. Thank you God!!!
2) I do not have a stressful job, except for about two weeks a year when it is Budget time. Well, you guessed it! The last two weeks have been budget time, I feel so bad for Ryan. I haven't spent any time with him, and when I am with him I just want to leave and go to bed. I can not tell you the relief I felt today leaving the office knowing that I don't have to suffer thru that again until next year.
3) The closer you get to the wedding the more you start to think of all of the little things that you have forgot. Make a list of all of the pictures you want captured, Get Bridal Portraits, Pick one of the 300 pictures to forever be your "Bridal Portrait" (so difficult), and the list goes on and on.

Needless to say I love Ryan very much, but I am ready for September 12th so that we can start our lives together. =)

Wreck 'Em, CAIN'S!!!

So, this past weekend was our first trip to Lubbock, TX which was also the first time I got to meet the mom, and the rest of the family. Who knew it was going to be a big reunion of sorts. All cousins, aunts, uncles, parents and friends were all there. So, you would think that we would have flown to Lubbock for the weekend, but nope, we drove. We had to replace all 4 tires on the car a month ago and so decided to drive, because real life hit us and we had to use the money intended for plane tickets on tires. So, the journey began...
First stop, Dallas. That trip was ok. Just a 4 hour drive which flew by. I decided to sing along to a cd and Alisha was not feeling it. So, I mouthed the words to the songs while she read. Did I mention we had 2 dogs with us? Well, we did. Bella and Izzy. What a trip. So, we get to Dallas, and then get to spend the night with Moises and Jennifer. It was fun catching up and hanging out, and they brought over their dogs, Frodo and Ginger. All the dogs played and had fun while we talked. Then we woke up at 5 am to leave for Lubbock.
2nd stop, Lubbock. 6 hours later, we made it. The land is flat and windy. Farmland as far as you can see. There were a few things I was looking forward to when we got there. First was meeting Janice Roten. I finally got to meet her mom! The next thing I was looking forward to was... Taco Villa, and let me tell you, that place blows Taco Bell and Cabana out of the water. The third thing was getting some DayBreak Coffee. I love coffee and we got some. The last thing, which I was a little skeptical of was getting Texas Tech Gear. I got a hat and 2 shirts and Alisha got 2 new shirts. We came out looking good. Then, The Sister, decided it would be fun to take our picture in the clothes and made me do the Tech hand sign. That killed me. Well, the trade off is going to be in the next few weeks when Alisha will have to get U of H Gear and wear it and take a picture.
While we were in Lubbock, our main reason for being there was our 2nd shower. We had a blast. The whole family had a blast, all you have to do is look at some of the pictures. I kept being asked if I was going to show up at the shower or if I was getting nervous about meeting everyone, and my response to Alisha was, “I am not marrying your family. I am going to wake up next to you for the rest of my life, not them, so what is there to be scared of?” Anyway, we had a great time and thanks to everyone there who made it special for us.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we left Sunday to come back home to Houston. 9 hours is such a long drive in a car that we decided when we go back in November, we are flying. I think I am still sore. Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it.

Stuff 'Em, Lick 'Em then Send 'Em!!!!

So, we have finally sent out ALL of our invitations. What a tedious process, but once we got it down, we flew through the stuffing and licking process with no problems.

As we were starting, I decided not to lick the envelopes because, seriously it is gross. Not to mention the stories I have heard about people licking the envelopes and cutting their tongue, only to find out weeks later that they somehow got roach eggs in the cut. Then the tongue swoll up and when the doctor cut it open, they found tiny roach babies. Now, I am not sure if this is an Urban Legend or Truth. I say it is truth and have since never licked an envelope since. So, I made Alisha do it.

Anyway, during the process, we realized that we didn't have enough stamps, so I had to go to the Post Office to get more. We needed the labels, so we had to go and get those. But just having the labels makes no sense if there is nothing printed on them, so Alisha had to do that. After we got all our ducks in a row, we got all the invitations out. If we missed someone, we are sorry. We did not do it intentionally. If you did not get one, you can see it here.

Hope to see everyone there that can make it. By the way, we only have 52 days left!!!

Shower- Take 1

A big THANK YOU goes out to Aunt Nan, Aunt Nancy, Bethany & Sharon for making our first show a hit. Ryan and I arrived to a house full of several friends and family.

The attendees included:
Brenda Altman, Jennifer Lind, Guy & Kelli Casky, Tim & Kerry McCreight, Chris & Ashley Petersen, Ron & Sharon Cain, Nannet Darby, Nancy Lawrence, Greg & Bethany Carlet, Miguel & Tiffany Maldanado, Gerard & Eugenie Bailey, Kristin Funderburg, Ashley Lucadou, Kellen Kapsar, Katie White, Greg Weisen, Scott & Natalie Holt, Lynn Updegraff, Jessie & Teresa Miller, John & Erin White!

Thank you all for coming out to help Celebrate what a gift God has given us in finding each other.



Of Course I can not forget 3 of the most lively guests at the shower... our niece and nephews. Ella Faith Petersen and Joey and Aidan Carlet. Here is a picture of Ryan, Joey, Ella and I!


PS- Only 53 days to go!!!

Eye Stye Something...

So this week Ryan got to see a new side of me... He was able to see the real me. Since the last post I have had a blow-out tire, and had 2 stey on the inside of my right eyelid. It has not been the prettiest version of me. It is a good thing that he loves me.

We have had a lot of the "Real Life" things hitting our plate lately like:
1) His air conditioner had to get fixed
2) My air conditioner had to get fixed
3) I had a tire blow-out and had to replace all 4 tires
4) We had to take his truck back to the shop for the air conditioner
5) I had a swollen eye, with a horrible double stey

For all of the people that felt like we have been living on a cloud out of touch with reality... Well reality has hit, and we STILL LOVE EACH OTHER!!!

In just a few days we will start what will be a month of Wedding showers... Ryan is super excited! Wish us luck!

4th of July

This weekend was the very first Holiday that Ryan and I had the opportunity to spend together. It was so much fun, and I look for to a lifetime full! For the 4th of July we decided to have a few friends over for dinner, and then go watch the fireworks. Here are the dinner guests.





For dinner we had roast (thanks for the recipe mom). Everyone brought a dish, and we had family style supper! It was great times and great conversation. After dinner we went to the fireworks show just down the road. It was such a beautiful night to sit outside and marvel of all God has done for us -individually -as a church -as a nation! I am so Thankful and blessed. I hope everyone had a great holiday as well.

Birthday Cake Take 2

So, as you know, I just got back from Ethiopia. While I was there I caught a cold that knocked me on my butt for a few days. I had already made plans to bake my World Famous Carrot Cake for Alisha's birthday on Wednesday, but due to my lack of energy, I didn't realize how much a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda would make a difference in a cake. As you can see, this cake did not come out right.



So, after realizing my error, I decided I needed to bake it again. We tasted the original cake and realized that, as important as a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda is, so is a cup of sugar. The cake tasted terrible!!! I know, I hardly admit to being wrong, but I was way off on this cake. So, here you go. This is the way the cake should have turned out. By the way, it is DELICIOUS!!!

Happy Birthday Alisha

So Ryan has made it home, and just in time for my Birthday. Having Ryan with me has made it the best Birthday Ever! The only bad thing about this year is that everyone seem to be sick on my birthday. On Tuesday before my birthday we were supposed to go out to dinner with Ashley, Ella, Katie & Greg... Well, Ella had other plans. Ella was not feeling good, because she had a severe case of diaper rash! Ashley was ready to go to dinner, but Ella refused to put on a diaper or clothes for that matter. Instead we all went and got dinner, then brought it back to the house. They also had ice cream cake waiting for me, and presents. It was much more fun than sitting in a restaurant (thank you Ella)!

On my actual birthday (Wednesday) I had to work. After I was finished at work I went home to Ryan's house, and he had my favorite flowers waiting on the kitchen table. He is too good to me. Instead of going out to do anything we stayed home because he was sick as well, with a head cold (poor thing). Instead of going out we got a movie and take-out. It was a perfect night of relaxation with The Man I Love!!!
Thank you for being so good to me! =)

Open Hand

As most of you know Ryan is out of the country on Mission in Ethiopia. When I first learned that Ryan would be going on a trip to Ethiopia I was very excited that he had the same passion for International Missions that I have. I have been to Brazil several times, and Love traveling to other cultures and countries to do The Lord's Work! As we progressed in our relationship I started to get a little strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I immediately thought of all of the discussion that I had had with my father about going "On Mission." This must have been the feeling that he was feeling! So I started praying that I would find peace about Ryan traveling out of the country. As the trip got closer I started to have an unexplainable peace about him leaving. This is something that I know was from God. On Thursday I dropped Ryan of at the airport, and it hit me-

*My soul mate just got on that plane, and I will have no contact with him for 11 days.

For some of you 11days without communication from you soul mate might sound like a great idea, but for me the thought was quite overwhelming! I just found my soul mate. I do not want to lose him so quickly... But it was in that same moment I realized that I have to live with an open-hand to God when it comes to Ryan too. I have been trying so hard to live open-handed with everything in my life, but those things were preparation for receiving the greatest earthly gift I could receive. I gave God my Favorite Apartment (and he took it away). I gave God my Friends (and he moved me hundreds of miles away from most of them). I gave God my church (and he took away 2, 1 in Dallas and 1 in Houston). Thankfully, I gave God my family, and I feel we re doing great. I know that Gods plan is the right plan, and therefor I will open my hand and give Ryan back to God. I just pray all of those other things were a test to see if God could entrust me with such an Amazing Gift... MY SOUL-MATE!

Please Pray for a Safe return, but most of all that God's Will Be Done in Ethiopia!

Texas Tech or University of Houston? That is the real question.

So, from the title of this post, one can imagine that this is a house divided. Alisha graduated from Tech and well, I root for the COOGS. It is going to be one exciting season this fall when we try and fit in all games from both schools. Every season, there is a group of guys that purchase season tickets to the Houston games. This season I have the priveledge of going to every home game with my soon to be wife. That is a good thing. She is a huge football fan, and I enjoy every bit of the experience. This will be something we can enjoy together.

So, when we first started talking, one of the first topics we discussed was the fact that she had graduated from Texas Tech. Well, this had sparked a huge interest from me becaus I am a University of Houston fan, and we just so happened to BEAT Tech last season in football. I remember giving her such a hard time and her just not being able to come back at me. I know that I will probably receive a lot of trash talking from this post, but if you look at the overall record, let's let it speak for itself since the COOGS are 17-10 against the Red Raiders. But it is all in fun. This year for Thanksgiving we are going to be traveling to Lubbock to watch the game. Hopefully my COOGS can pull off another victory. If you will be looking for me, I will be the guy in the Cougars Jersey and red hat. See you in November!

New Blog

Well I know that I previously had a blog called Single People are Interesting Too... but things have changed quite a bit in the past few months. I have moved to Houston. I have met the Man of My Dreams, and I am engaged! Wow!!! how much God can do in the time span of 6 months... It is crazy. My future Husband is Ryan Cain (hence "The Cain Crew"). He is from Houston, and I truly believe that is a big part of the reason that God wanted me to move to Houston. I am really excited about the next chapters in our lives.

This blog will be written by both Ryan and myself... So I hope everyone enjoys what we have to say.