Reunion of the Blackwood Clan

A couple weeks ago we had a family reunion for my dad's side of the family. 

It was really a time focused around my grandparents, 

Blackie and Jewel,

 to give them a reminder of how special they are to us and how much we

 appreciate them. It was a great time to hang out with family and really all come together. 

Annie (my cousin), Whit (the middle sister), me, Taylor (the baby sister)

All my cousins, minus two.... the two boys...out of all the babies only two of them where boys... go figure, all my uncles played Pro football and only two boys.... 

do you think that was a disappointment or what? 

Me, my sisters and mom in a little volleyball competition, we dominated!!!

Just wanted to let you know....

We LEAVE for SUDAN in 20 DAYS!!!!

Say a little prayer....

A few posts ago, I posted about my cousin and how she was pregnant and that they had run some tests due to a blood disorder she (my cousin) had and in turn they found out that the baby was very sick. Well my cousin made it to 5 1/2 months but lost the baby yesterday. They induced her last night and she birthed out a little girl that didn't even way one pound.  She had no heart beat, but she (the baby) was a little fighter. She made it way longer than the doctors expected. Not only has she been a fighter but so has my cousin, she pushed through this and I am proud of her. Please keep her in your prayers, she is sad, in physical and emotional pain and is just tired. I know that she could use the prayer right now and I know that you my Blog readers will follow through. Thanks in advance!!!

Corey

Let's play a little catch up...

What we have done since I last blog

ged:

*I celebrated my 27th birthday...

*I played black light putt-putt in a white dress for my friend Deborah's Birthday... if anyone was wondering it was not see through. Praise Jesus, but I kind of stood out, I wouldn't recommend it. See me in the White Dress, it's a no no!!!

*Gus got his first Boo Boo, he got a little dog cast on his front paw. 

He has been a little limper for the past week. 

*Bought these shoes to wear to Africa July 22-... And can I say that they are the most comfy things I have ever put on my feet, even though I look like a woman of the 

wilderness, I am contemplating wearing them daily. 

*I was asked and honored to decorate my friend Amanda's office...LPM was having their new office (words cannot express how Amazing it is) Open House today so I shopped and decorating through the weekend. It was so fun to shop for someone else, 

it quenched my shopping thirst, kinda!

I will post pictures when Amanda puts some up,

 I didn't take any because Sadly Gus ate my camera. 

* My sister Taylor came to visit me, which was Amazing.

 I love when I get any guest, especially my sisters. 

*We have been BBQ-ing and swimming like crazy, we love having a pool right across the street. I has not helped with my vow to say pale, but it has been fun. 

*Andy and I are now, in this day celebrating our 2nd anniversary.

 Two years have gone by so fast. 

*We are trying to decide where to live in Houston, I have been looking at house and trying to plan our next step, with God's push of course. 

*We got to Hang out with our friends from First Irving because they are in Houston for a middle school mission trip, We miss ya'll already!!!

Well I will stop boring y'all and when I have something worth while to talk about I promise I will be back. 

We are the Traveling Circus

That's right, I feel like we haven't

 stop for one second this whole month. 

We have been traveling and my brain feels like the circus, CRAZY!

Well since last time I posted.... I (Corey) went to New Orleans to see my family for about 5 days. My mom was also there so it was a real Treat. My cousin Perry graduated from High school and I was glad to be there to celebrate with him,

Way to go Perry!

Andy has been a to college station a couple times to watch DBU play in the NCAA Conference Nationals or something like that. Which they ended up losing but what an accomplishment to do so good, you get to go. Way to go Patriots!

This past weekend we were finally in Houston. Yeah!!!! On Friday I went to the Woodlands and went to a girls movie night, for any one who knows what movie came out last Friday, knows what movie we saw. It was a blast minus the fact that I had a sinus infection. On Friday Andy had a bunch of family come into town and we were blessed to have his cousin and her family stay with us. They were so fun!!!! Sat. we woke up for Andy's cousin graduation went to that at 8:30 a.m. and then we went to his Graduation Party. Sat. Night we celebrated my birthday with a great dinner that I was so surprised about. 

 Andy got me and new Michael Kors purse and a David Yurman Bangle.... I was so excited. 

I also got a Sowing machine from my friend Jordan 

and I cannot wait to start sowing pillows. 

This weekend, Andy is off to Austin for a boys weekend with some of his High School/Church friends and I am of to a weekend with the sister. 

Also a little FYI. The reason that I don't have any pictures (which is so unlike me) is because Gus (our dog) chewed it up due to the fact that I accidentally left it sitting next to some cupcakes, yes my fancy little camera is now worth nothing. But I did sent it off to Nikon to see if they could repair it. I am keeping my fingers crossed! 

Happy Birthday BFF!!!!

Last week was my friend 

Jordan's Birthday, 

we celebrated belated style with 

Dinner and Bingo... who could ask for more.

 To my friend J, you get more beautiful and wiser with each year. 

You are definitely the Ultimate BFF. 

Andy & his pal.... AKA, our Dog Augustus.

Andy loves to take a break during the day and this is their routine. Gus loves to play outside, he is so fast and jumps SO high. He is such a great dog!!! 

Boys just wanna have fun!

Birthday Celebration (a few weeks late)

A few weeks ago was Andy's Birthday, he turned 28 ( can we say OLD MAN), we were in Dallas for a Sudan meeting so we celebrated his birth with some 

friends there on the actual day of birth. 

Then the next day we had celebration #2, The Durhams had a BBQ for Andy and made steaks and corn, it was AMAZING! 

My camera Battery died so I only captured a few random candids.

 

THANK YOU....

I would like to thank my sweet friend ASHLEY for my new header. She is so creative and did a killer job. Thanks for being so sweet Ash!!!!

Stand under my UMBRELLA-ELLA- ELLA-ELLA -A-A-A

This weekend a few of my girlfriends headed to the Woodland to rock and roll like there was no tomorrow. We saw Riahanna, Kanye West, N.E.R.D.S and Lupe Fiasco. 

Being how I love music I felt in my element, that is until Kanye West came on and I knew only one song. Riahanna rocked the stage, 

the other I could have left behind but it was a fun night!!!

Weekend Wrap-up

Well we drove in from Jasper on Friday around noon,

 just enough time to relax before we 

hit the streets. 

Friday we went to the Astros game with the Mangrums and the Brunsons. The Astros lost big time against the Colorado Rockies but it was a great time for the girls to be able to ChitChat about life, since the game was not that exciting. 

After the game we headed to the Chocolate Bar, this is an amazing dessert place in Houston, that has ice cream, huge cakes, frozen Hot Chocolate, and cute little chocolate gifts. I myself had chocolate covered strawberries, while Christine had this amazing ice cream-

 ROOTBEER FLOAT, it makes me speechless.

If you are ever in Houston or live in Houston please try it!!!

Well Sat. was just a relax day, I laid out at the pool (and turned into a lobster). Andy went and ran some errands, we went to Central Market and then we hung out with 

Andy's brother and his wife for the rest of the evening. 

It was so relaxing to have nothing to do. 

On Sunday, we woke up and met Amanda and Curtis for Church and tried the Sunday School class that they have been attending (since we are both newbies, we thought we would try it together). Andy and I really enjoyed the class and are planning on going again. 

After that Andy and I hit the road and headed back to Jasper a little early so we could get some lake time in. it was a beautiful day at the lake and a great way to end the weekend. 

This next weekend is just around the corner and Guess who's Birthday it is ANDY'S, he is turning the BIG 28....on Friday!!! WOW!!!!

I would like to live....

HERE...

I just love the colors and the worn look. SO old yet so vivid!!!  Can you just imagine waking up with a cup of tea and walking out on that little balcony to feel the warmth of the day... AMAZING!!!!

Thanks to Desire to Inspire  for Inspiring me in this Day..... also look at this cute headboard... I would love to paint that for a little girls room. HMMM!!

!

THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE AND WHAT WE DO IN JASPER...

MOM PROM 2008

The cake that I made for MOM Prom...

PROM HERE WE COME!!!

Andy and I in our OLD MAN/WOMAN PROM outfits....

This is the second mom prom.... it is just a fun way to get together and raise money for a good cause. This year all the proceeds went to an orphanage in Mexico...

 We had so Much fun and cant wait until next year. 

Update on my SWEET cousin...

Here is the scoop... my cousin is three months pregnant. She went to her first doctors appointment for the baby and they diagnosed her with a blood disorder. The blood disorder that she has be given- in turn kind of poisons the baby.  The baby has an abundance of fluid around it and the doctor said that it more than likely has Spina Bifida. The first doctor didn't give her much hope and just bluntly said it was a matter of time, 

but he did send her to a specialist. 

The appointment for the specialist is what I was asking each to pray for. And now I am asking for more prayer. The specialist discovered that the baby had fluid from it head to it knees. They did some test and should get them back in a couple of weeks.

 They are hoping for a specific disorder, I just don't know what it is. 

They gave the baby about a 10% chance to live, if she carries it to birth or not. 

My cousin is in Good spirits and is excited about the 10% chance the baby does have. 

So please pray for that 10%....

 We have a GOD that is BIGGER than we are and we know that His 

plans are much bigger than ours 

ALWAYS!!!!

PRAYER!

I am asking you (the three people that read my blog, Ha!!) 

to please pray for my cousin 

today and tomorrow

 as she prepares and goes to the doctor for some things she has recently faced. 

Please pray that she will have a clear mind, 

that the doctors will be full of wisdom (Godly Wisdom), 

 her and my aunt will be strong in the Lord in whatever faces them and 

they will cry out to the Lord for help, as they are going through this. 

I am not going to go into details but my cousin's  

doctors appointment is at 1:30 on Tuesday. 

I believe very much so in the power of prayer and

 I know that you my sweet friends do also. 

So Thank you in advice for being such sweet sisters!!!

WE ARE OFF TO THE CITY OF JAZZ!

We Will Talk to you next week, 

everyone have a good weekend!!! 

Peace Out!!!

Happy Birthday Janelle!!!!

I will miss you today as I celebrate another year of your life from afar.

 Have a Good Day Sweet Friend!

Catch up Round TWO!

We had a great Easter, we spent it in Houston this Year with Andy's Family. Andy's sister and her husband welcomed us with Hamburger's and Easter Eggs,

 it was a fun time of Celebration. 

Last weekend, some of my girlfriends and I had a garage sale at my friend Jordan's house, it was a total success and we decided that we should become professional garage Salers. The second we walked out the door, we had a swarm of people and it was constantly non-stop. It was a fun day. 

Andy and I joined a church here in Houston, Houston's First Baptist. It was the church that Andy grew up in and that were excited to join as a family of our own. We were sad to leave our membership at First Irving, but we are excited to be a part of such a great church and new fellowship!  It has really felt like home and has been great.

Well I think that pretty much sums everything up for now.... we have been really busy and are always excited about the new things God reveals to us. We are going to Houston tomorrow to watch DBU play Rice in baseball, Go Patriots!!! On Friday we are headed to New Orleans to see my moms Family,Yeah!!!

Ok..... Here is the run down, A Little Catch up!!!

Well one weekend- I baked alot.... I made a cake for one of my friends, who was throwing a shower for one of her friends. I also made these little lollipop-cakes, that I saw on Bakerella. They were so yummy...but mine didn't turn out as cute as hers. But

 It was my first Time to bake the pops and to use fondant 

so it was trying but it was overall a success. 

Andy and His brother also built a deck for Jeremy and Erica's backyard. While they were building I got to play with Marin- If you can tell by the pictures, we had alot of FUN!!!