Happy Birthday J.C.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

Today, Christmas day, we should all take time to pay homage to the man that has allowed for all that we have to be possible. I know that the day will be filled with spending time with family and friends and opening gifts, but we should not forget that on this day over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born into this world as a gift for us. He lived and died so that we could all have eternal life. That is a gift much greater than anything you might find under the tree.

Happy Holidays!!

We wish everyone a Happy Holiday and Happy New Year!!

Happy 3 Years!

Yesterday was mine and Will's third year marriage anniversary. It's crazy how quickly time passes. To celebrate we took the day off from work and went to the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.





Though we have been married three years, I have now been with Will for ten. I've truly grown up with him. Some of my greatest growth, has been since we've gotten married. I'm proud to call myself Will's wife. Though as independent as I've always loved to claim that I am, I am happy to have him to depend on.

In the work I do as a hospice social worker, I love to ask older couples what the secret to a long, happy marriage is. I've met several couples who have been married OVER 70 years! The answers I get always vary, but among the center of them include good communication, putting your partner first, and as one husband jokingly (or not!) put it, "Do everything she says." :) One thing I've learned over the past year is that love is a choice. We can choose to be loving every day, even when there are days when we are upset or angry or frustrated. It can be easy to slip into a pattern of routine, where we stop showing one another how much we appreciate and love each other. My hope for our marriage is that we hold on to our appreciation and show it daily through our actions. Though we haven't always been successful at this, we have certainly grown and learned its value. Thank you Will for putting up with me, even on the days I fail to show how much I love you! :)

Anniversary Time!!

On December 17, 2005 I married my partner and best friend and now we are about to celebrate another anniversary. I just want to say how thankful I am to have been able to share another year with my wife. I greatly matured as an adult this year and it has been nice to share that with Cara. I am very much looking forward to spending another year with Cara and many more to come. I feel like we are just at the beginning of something great and are starting to connect on even higher levels after all this time.

Congrats Nate and Jaclyn!!

This past weekend our extended family grew in number by one. Our cousin, Jaclyn, got married in a beautiful ceremony in front of her family and friends. Though I did not get a chance to meet her new husband, Nate, I am glad to welcome him to the family and also welcome him to an exclusive group... The Young Non-Toulouse Toulouse Men. :-) We are the men that have married into the second generation of the Toulouse family.

There were just two of us, my brother-in-law and myself. Nate now brings our number to three. We will be adding another member in January when our other cousin gets married. Hmm... If our other cousin gets married soon we can have enough for a basketball team. I'm seeing a Toulouse vs. Non-Toulouse men's basketball game as and added event to the Toulouse Christmas gathering in the future...

Sorry, got a little sidetracked there... This is supposed to be about the wedding, haha.

It was really a beautiful wedding and I was glad to be there. It reminded me a lot of my wedding day, when I was so happy to be joining my life with Cara's. I could tell by the look in Nate's eyes when he saw Jaclyn coming don the aisle that he was feeling the same way. Unfortunately, I have to report that Nate did not break down and bawl like I did. That means that the title of "Most Emotional Groom Ever" is still mine for at least a little while longer, and the Toulouse men made sure I knew it, haha.

Anyway, I just want to say congratulations to Jaclyn and Nate. I wish you the best and Cara and I are here for you guys if you need anything. You both just started what will be the most exciting and thrilling journey you could ever imagine.

Turkey Trot = DONE!!

After a month of semi-training, Cara and I finally ran the Fort Worth YMCA Turkey Trot 10K last week on Thanksgiving. We ran at a very stable pace so that we wouldn't tire out too quickly and except for an impromptu potty break (thank goodness for big cars parked on the street!!) we pretty much ran the whole way. Gladly there are no pictures to document the event because I'm sure no one would want to see a picture of me freezing in running shorts...

All in all, it was a very pleasant experience jogging with Cara. There were times when I started to speed up and she would yank me back. Then there was a time when she provided a nice distraction to other runners while I had my potty break (once again, thank you SUV!!). Hopefully the Turkey Trot can become a yearly tradition in the Wallace household. Worst case, it will provide a tiny bit of last minute exercise before we stuff ourselves with turkey.