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.