"It's a God Thing!" - Christy Miller

Let's all take a trip back to say...1991 or 1992. It was a summer afternoon & I am sure my mom wanted to occupy us girls. My life was about to change as she handed us a copy of a book called Island Dreamer by Robin Jones Gunn. Here is a little summary of the book from Robin's website...


Christy Miller is spending her sixteenth birthday on Maui with her family, Todd, and Paula, her best friend from Wisconsin! What could be better? But Christy soon finds that she and Paula don't have as much in common anymore. Christy wants to live for God more than anything, while Paula's obsessed with having a boyfriend...even if it means stealing Todd from Christy! Will he choose Paula over her? Or will the islands send Christy dreaming in new directions?



I immediately became obsessed with the book & Christy Miller...not to mention I had a HUGE crush on Todd Spencer. I probably doodled Tiffani Spencer on note pads. At the time I had no idea that Island Dreamer was Book 5 of The Christy Miller Series! You can imagine my excitement when I found out I could read about what happened to Christy pre-Maui!


Needless to say, Christy Miller was a VERY important part of my teenage/college/adult life. All my friends became obsessed too & I am pretty sure my little sister Emili & her BFF Liz re-read the books out loud to each other while driving to Arkansas with Lizzy's family. We all LOVED Christy. In fact, when I was in college I heard that she came out with updated Christy Miller books. For example, Christy now had a cell phone instead of using a pay phone...Christy has to stay up with the times! So of course I bought the entire set of updated Christy Miller books!



If anyone out there has a teenage daughter please go to the bookstore immediately & buy these books! Ok, so enough on Christy Miller. If you are a Christy Miller fan...SIT DOWN for this...


Thursday during lunch I was trying to find a book title for Sunni. It was a Robin Jones Gunn book so I went to her website, and saw this...


If you’re here because you’re a fan of the Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen books, I have great news for you! You can now catch up with Christy, Katie and the gang in Peculiar Treasures, book one of the new Katie Weldon Series.


OH. MY. GOSH. An entire series on Katie...this is Christy's BFF. I was dying! I immediately emailed my friends & we all agreed that we cannot wait to read this series! Thankfully, today was my day off so I could go to Borders and pick up my copy that I reserved last night. Phew!



So if you see me chatting with middle school girls about what is happening in the Katie Weldon series...it is completely normal. I know I am 28, but that is beside the point...Katie Weldon is my best friend too!


I know there are other Christy Miller fans out there too & I just wanted to let y'all in on my discovery!

Love,
Tiffani Spencer


P.S. If you want to read something a little more on the adult level, you should check out Robin Jones Gunn's Glenbrooke Series. I also own all of those books & I absolutely LOVE them!

A Little Late...Happy Easter

He is Risen...He is Risen Indeed!

These simple words get me every time - simple but POWERFUL. As I spoke them this Sunday, I got chills just thinking of how God sent His only Son to die for us, for you, for me...WOW! We can't even imagine how much He loves us, but He does & always will!

After a wonderful celebration at church we headed home for an Easter at our house. Tim & I hosted his Mom for a fun Easter weekend. This was my first holiday to be the official chef & hostess. It was so much fun to plan!

Our Official Easter Pictures

(Please Excuse the Pale Easter Girl)

Tim & His Mom

Me & Alix & Megan (the dog)

Tim & The Easter Pups

I made Kelly's Korner Chicken...delicious!

Perini's Ranch Salad...aka Homemade Ranch Dressing

To wrap it up we had coffee & Tim's favorite...Chocolate Eclair Cake

Notice how fancy Tim is...I decided to break out our china for this Easter Celebration. It was our first time to use it for a full meal & I decided that my goal is to use my china as much as possible from now on! I LOVE my china pattern...in fact, I might be obsessed with it. It is the Vera Wang: Vera Lace Pattern.

Last but not least, here is my kit to dye Easter Eggs...as you can see, that did not happen!

Circa: A Little Over 1 Week Ago

1. Ava's 2nd Birthday

2. Enjoyed myself more than I should have at McDonald's. At least I had 2 partners in crime, Emili & Sarah Beth.

And GONE!

3. Got to see Sarah Beth & Joe. I hadn't seen Joe in 1 year. Somehow I didn't manage to take a picture with Joe so here is the one from a year ago. This is at a St. Patrick's Day wedding shower that Tim's friends threw for us. SB & Joe were so sweet to come in town for it, but that my friends, is the last time I saw Joe until last weekend. (Excuse my look...not sure what I was doing with my hair that day!)

If you have been keeping up with Sarah Beth's blog you know that Joe just got back from serving our country in Afghanistan with the Air Force. AND, if you are from Abilene you know that the B-1 Bombers are the coolest...Joe flies one so that must make him EXTRA cool. He is a very brave, smart & honorable man. I am very proud of him & thank him for all he has done for our country & me. He is always so sweet & takes care of my BFF just as I hope she would be treated. She deserves the best & Joe is just the man for the job.




Anyway, Joe gave Tim & I a little something from Afghanistan. It is a flag that he flew over Afghanistan in our honor. We absolutely love it & feel so honored to hang it in our house. It is currently on our travel wall at the top of our stairs. Every time I go upstairs I feel so patriotic & just want to salute it! Thanks Joe!

My Ultimate Niece

Two years ago today I was gearing up for the Houston Rodeo. Tim had received free tickets for the performance that night & we decided to partake in all the wonderful food the Rodeo has to offer. Little did I know, when I went to bed my dream of the funnel cake I had eaten a several hours ago would be interrupted by a phone call from Xavier. Sunni's water broke & they were going to the hospital. A quick early morning Southwest flight later I was at the hospital & waiting to meet my niece.

I had no idea how much I would love her & how much joy she would bring to my life. The past two years have been so much fun with Ava in our family. She is so sweet, so funny, so dramatic & so precious! I love her with all my heart!

Aunt T-T & Ava through the years...

Happy Birthday - I love, love, love you!

Confession...I'm so excited!

The other night Tim & I were trying to figure out who Borat was engaged to & for some reason we thought it was Amy Adams - but we weren't sure. We knew that the girl was in Wedding Crashers so we went to IMDB.com and found out that it was really Isla Fisher. Tim was reading her bio & then said, "Tiff, are you just super excited?" I had no idea what he was talking about so I looked at the screen and saw this...

Isla Fisher

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) (filming) .... Rebecca Bloomwood

Oh my gosh! I can't wait!

When I read the Shopaholic books I always thought they would make fabulous movies & now my dreams are coming true. If you haven't read the Shopaholic series then I suggest you do so before February 13, 2009...well, at least read Confessions of a Shopaholic. The books are TOTAL chick lit so don't go into it thinking it will be all intellectual. In fact, Becky will actually make you mad because she does some stupid stuff, but it is just fun reading!

See you at the movies!

A Game of Tag

I was tagged by Sarah...


10 years ago:

It was 1998 & I was a senior at AHS...Go Eagles! I was dating Luke at the time & probably wondering what we were going to do when we both went to college. The big high school dating dilemma! Don't worry, we broke up a week before Prom - but we still went together. I have a feeling if he hadn't broken up with me a week before then he would have broken up with me the night of Prom - once he got sight of my sequin/beaded dress...what was I thinking? I think it would have been time for cheerleading try-outs & I was probably crying over my uniform...why did my cheer days have to end! I don't think I was going anywhere fun for Spring Break. I think I stayed home from our church ski trip so I could surprise Luke at his Chrysalis. In June, Jason's mom took us on one last hoorah to South Padre Island where I proceeded to eat LOTS of crab legs & bake in the sun! I had a fantastic group of friends that I still hold close to me today & I was so sad to leave them when I went off to Baylor!


Things on my to-do list today:

1. Mail our HOA dues.
2. Balance the check book in Quicken.
3. Buy milk & bottled water.
4. Workout.
5. Finish painting our room.
6. Start ALL my wedding albums.
7. Buy Ava a birthday gift.
8. Take my 100 calorie snacks to work.


What would I do if I suddenly became a Billionaire?

1. Pay off my student loans & my family's student loans.
2. Pay off any debt we have & our family has.
3. Buy a nice house...nothing too fancy!
4. Give lots of money to our Church, Susan G. Komen, American Congenital Heart Association & any other charities I love.
5. Set aside college money for our future children.
6. Hire Sarah Beth as my personal stylist.
7. Vacation, vacation, vacation with Tim, my family & my friends.
8. Quit my job & do something really fun - like publish these stories my mom wrote.


Three of my bad habits:

1. I am REALLY slow when I get ready...I honestly have no idea why. Therefore, I am almost always running behind - even though I hate being late. Don't blame me, I got it from my mom!
2. I pick my nails/nailpolish so I ruin almost every single manicure I get.
3. When I bake cookies I end up eating LOTS of cookie dough.


Five jobs I have had:

1. Tax Accountant for a natural gas pipeline company
2. Tax Accountant at PwC
3. Student worker for Texas Pension Consultants
4. Director for Kids of the Kingdom
5. Filer Girl/Phone Girl/Copier Girl for my Dad's Real Estate Company


Five things people don't know about me:

1. I have a subscription to Martha Stewart Living magazine. Rarely do I read all the articles, but I love looking at all her ideas. I used to have a subscription to her new magazine Blueprint & it was my favorite, but they just sent a notice that they are not printing any new issues!
2. I love real strawberries, but strawberry flavor gives me a headache. For example, I could eat a strawberry pie, but I cannot stand strawberry milk...or gum...or lollipops!
3. I LOVE peanut butter, but Tim is allergic to peanuts & he will not kiss me if I have been eating any food with peanuts. Sometimes I have to choose between my love for peanut butter & my love for kisses from Tim.
4. No one can surprise me...I always figure things out. I often think I should be a detective.
5. When I was little I stole a toy from the Bible Bookstore. I honestly did not think I was stealing, but my mom saw me playing with it in the car & I was in trouble. I had to bring it back to the store & apologize for stealing.

I tag Sarah Beth, Julie & Sunni.

Favorite Weekend Accessories

I thought I would share a few of my favorite things from the weekend...

Friday

I love buying beach gear.

I happened to go to Old Navy on Friday & this caught my eye.

I can't wait to wear it in May!

How can you resist a cute cover up?

We met Luke & Celeste at a new sushi place called Soma Sushi...it was SO good.

Saturday

My mother-in-law surprised me with this adorable bag on Saturday morning.

We went to Austin for a wedding.

I got to put on my new Anthropologie dress

with my new fun shoes!

We got to spend time with good friends!

They passed out cigars at the reception.

The boys were loving it & I was loving being with Tim!

Sunday

I enjoyed staring at this caricature of us at the wedding the entire way home!

Tim thinks his caricature looks like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Drinking a Cherry Diet Coke before the Texas baseball game!

There is nothing like a real cherry in a Diet Coke!