A Journal Addict's Blog

This is Easter 2009

2009-04-13T22:32:00.003-05:00

We started our Easter morning to an interesting sight.... apparently Mr. and Mrs. Mallard lost their way somewhere along the way - or maybe they were just taking an Easter stroll?

Our church has a really neat tradition where families can bring flower to decorate a cross in our atrium - it's always so beautiful!

It was a wonderful Easter celebrating our risen Savior!

Yippee - only 2 more days in tax season - then I get my hubby back!
Blasted - to Glenn being under the weather :(

This is one of the most awesome decisions I've made

2009-03-23T22:46:00.004-05:00

No not to become a professional raquetball player.... to get LASIK! Dr. Whitman of Key-Whitman Eye Centers did my surgery in January (yes I know that was a long time ago - doing some serious catch up!)

Key-Whitman was a great place all around. I received excellent care and the staff was very nice and thorough. I'd recommend them to anyone looking to get any corrective eye surgery! Other than a "eye hickey" (as my doc called it) the surgery went flawlessly. I went in at eight and the procedure took about 20 min total and I was walking out the door before nine! My mom came and helped me to and from the surgery and she couldn't believe how quickly it all happened. Later that day after I woke up from sleeping off the Zanax I had great vision! I'm not 20/15 and loving it!

PS the googles were for protection - that and to let everybody know how cool I was! :)

Yippee - for mixing up my workout tonight :)
Blasted - to the puppy begging for more food!

This is Disney - Day 4 SpectroMagic Parade!

2009-03-18T19:45:00.006-05:00

The SpectroMagic Parade is an amazing sight! I can't remember how many hundreds of thousands of lights that are used in this parade - but it's a bunch!

The Mouse himself!

Fishy!

My favorite princess! (And yes Michelle she is a princess - see below)

King Tritan - Ariel's dad - therefore rendering her a princess!

This is Disney - Day 4 Fireworks

2009-03-18T19:36:00.006-05:00

Disney sure knows how to do fireworks!!!!

Tink brings on the show!

Whoa!!!
Yippee - to my workout tonight!
Blasted - to tax season :(

This is Disney - Day 4

2009-03-15T22:04:00.006-05:00

On day four we made our way to Animal Kingdom - Glenn and I's most favorite park of all! You just feel like you are being transported into the jungle - love it! We utilized a great tool when we went to Disney it's a website call Tour Guide Mike. I highly recommend it to anybody taking a trip to Disney - Tour Guide Mike was a tour guide at Disney and his site give you all the little tips and tricks to getting around the parks! Like how we managed to be some of the first people in line at Animal Kingdom - and all alone on a trail - BEFORE the park opened! :)

Thanks Tour Guide Mike!!! We are at the front of the massive crowd!!!

Massive Crowd

Safari themed Christmas!

Safari Mickey

After riding Dinosaur - quite possibly the most bumpy, whip-lash inducing ride at Disney! Oh and Mrs. Huxtable makes a cameo!

Goofy and Pluto - we asked Pluto how he felt about not being a planet anymore - he just hung his head - sooo sad...

Mt. Everest - best ride at Disney (or at least my fav)

Like my glasses!

Yippee - to working out today!
Blasted - can't find the gazillion pictures of the animals in the Tree of Life - wonder where they are????

This is Disney - Day 3

2009-03-10T23:22:00.004-05:00

Gotta love Christmas at Disney!

If you listen closely on the jungle cruise these guys say "I love disco" - no joke!

This is what happens when you ride the front seat of Splash Mountain! :)

Yes I know I've been gone - life has been crazy! - sorry I've been gone I promise I'll be better!

Yippee - we close on our house this Thursday!
Blasted - this is shaping up to be a longgggg week!

This is for Shell! :)

2009-01-29T22:24:00.005-06:00

We are in the process of selling the house and upstairs we have a table with a game of scrabble on it... it made Michelle smile...
Yippee - for getting to see my friends this weekend
Blasted - to working tomorrow - and still being up!

This is a request

2009-01-25T21:39:00.002-06:00

Ok let's forget for a second that I haven't blogged in a LONG time. I have a blog about all the ridiculous reasons for my absence, but that's for another time.

Glenn and I have friends from our church that need your prayers. Heath and Carla were expecting their baby boy Garrett around May 3rd - but instead he came quite early - like this Friday! He was 25 1/2 weeks old and weighed 1.5 pounds. Both he and mom are doing well. But Garrett will need continued prayers that he will grow fast and strong and pack on the ounces!

Thanks friends!

This is Disney... Day 2

2008-12-21T22:23:00.005-06:00

On Day 2 we headed out for Hollywood Studios (MGM - don't ask me why it's not MGM anymore - i didn't ask). We ended our day at the Magic Kingdom for some Extra Magic Hours.

It was the year he was born so he obviously had to take a picture.

Right after the FIRST time we road the Rockin' Roller Coaster

My second most favorite ride in all of Disney (my fav is Everest Expedition - pics to come!)

Watch out it's the Baylor Storm Trooper

Careful Indy look out for that boulder!!!!!!

Crazy explosion at the stunt show!

The Osborne Family Festival of Lights - or in other works ridiculously amazing!!!! Over 5 million lights! And to think this guy had it all up at his HOME!!!!!

You probably can't tell from the pic but it's "snowing"!

Fantasmic - yet another amazing Disneyworld experience. It's a laser and light show which might seem weird at first but they project images onto mist (above) and it's crazy!!!!

Watch out Mickey has a flame throwing sword!

Cinderella's Castle

This is DISNEY!!!!

2008-12-21T18:38:00.005-06:00

We had a great time at Disney I've got a toooonnnn of pictures so here are a sampling from our first day at the happiest place on earth!!!!!!!!

Checking into Pop Century!

Gotta love Christmas in Disney

Ahhhh Venice.... well not exactly but pretty close! :)

Gotta love it when you end up with a cool picture when you totally don't mean to! :)

This guy is what's it's all about!

Gettin me some chipmunk love ;)

Yippee - Three day work week this week!!!!
Blasted - been eating waaayyy to much thanks to the holidays

This is Jack and Jen

2008-12-06T23:21:00.004-06:00

Today I got to take some pics for one of my best friends and her beau, Jack! I meet Jennifer when I first started working at GuideStone. She was on my team - and she already had "Jennifer" claimed - so I had to be "Jen" as to avoid confusion. Not that it mattered that much - for the most part we started getting referred to as "the Jens." We've gotten to do some traveling for conferences and such and we've always had such a great time! When I started my new position in January I had to move to a different floor than Jen and it made me so sad :( Thankfully we have lunch once a week and it keeps me sane! :) We've become great friends over these past several years and seeing her and Jack together and so happy makes me go all mushy inside!

We meet up in Downtown Mckinney for some fun pics.

Yippee - to going to Disney tomorrow!!!!
Blasted - I'm totally not going to be able to sleep - I'm soooo excited!

This is Duke the Fifth!

2008-12-01T21:26:00.004-06:00

My parents have had collies since before I was born. They're always named Duke - not sure who came up with the name or why - but it obviously stuck! Well meet the newest member of the LeForce crew Duke the Fifth!

Uggg 10 week old puppies are the cutest!!!!

yippee - less than a week till Disney World!!!!
blasted - to accidentally putting laundry detergent in the fabric softener side of the washer - shesh!

This is trust

2008-11-30T22:54:00.003-06:00

One of my best friends, Michelle, asked me to take some family pictures for her for Christmas this year. And it was a little nerve wracking because Michelle is who started my interest in photography. And Michelle is super talented with the camera and with editing – girl can edit like crazy! So needless to say I was really hoping that she'd be happy with what I took.

We went to downtown Mckinney and got some cute family photos – I got some pictures to play with and so did Michelle (cause she's lots better at this editing thing than I am!). You can see her version here.

Here's what I saw…

yippee - to lots of fun photos from Thanksgiving!!!! - lots of fun posts to come!

blasted - to the holiday being over

This is Glenn's Birthday

2008-11-19T22:43:00.003-06:00

My sweet hubby turned a year older today - and sadly I didn't get to enjoy much of it because I'm under the weather - boooooo. We celebrated last night by going to dinner at the new Chuy's in Plano - it was sooo yummy. In honor of Glenn's birthday I thought I'd share with you some fun and random facts about my amazing guy!

He can brush his teeth longer than any person I know! - seriously he's in bed next to me right now brushing his teeth - that's right you read right - in bed
He is an amazing manager of time - over the past two years he has worked a full time job - gone to school for his masters - and ran his DJ business - the kid can multitask with the best of them!
He graduates from UTD with masters in Accounting in December!!!!!
Most of you know this - but for those of you that don't he was a mascot in college and was a mascot for the NBA Timberwolves - so you know - he's shy
He loves to fish - sadly this is something we haven't gotten to do together yet - hopefully this next year
He's like crazy coordinated - like sports wise - so basically he's the yin to my yang.
Goonies is his favorite movie - "hey you guuuysss"
He loves him some grey t-shirts
He loves 80's music almost as much as I do! ;)
He puts up with me - that alone is amazing!

I love you baby - you make my life so sweet and wonderful! Happy Birthday!

This is total cuteness!!!

2008-11-18T22:55:00.003-06:00

Or my friend's have the cutest kids! I took some pictures for my friend Callie this past weekend. She has the most adorable family! Isn't Will a handsome dude?

Yippee - to finding new perfume I love
Blasted - to a scratchy throat

This is about as "athletic" as I get!

2008-11-11T22:12:00.003-06:00

So to celebrate the Cheese and Molly's birthday we went out to dinner at our favorite Waco Mexican resturant, La Fiesta, yum! Then we went bowling!!!!! Cheese and I took bowling while at Baylor - but it had been a while since I picked up a bowing ball... so needless to say I was a little bit worried about looking a fool. But I totally managed to break 100 in my first game - the second one wasn't that hot. Let's face my athletic ability is - well wait - oh yeah I don't have any! :) But we had a blast!!!!

Michelle was having fun taking artsy pics - if you look closely enough you can see Molly's bowling shoes - yep that's right - girlfriend owns her own shoes!!!!!

Shell and Sean

Me having fun taking artsy pics!

My most favorite girls in the whole world!

Yippee - to having a Chicken Biscuit for breakfast (maybe that should be a blasted)
Blasted - to missing my bedtime wayyy to many nights in a row - yes I'm 80

This is more Baylor Homecoming

2008-11-09T23:07:00.005-06:00

This one's for my bros! :)

Sadly the ALICO building lost it's "I"

Love my friends!

Hey let's give the babies Dr. Pepper Floats!!!!!

toooo funny!!!!

Kayleigh trying to get every last drop of Dr. Pepper Float - either that or she's teething.

Families!

By far my most fav pic from the whole weekend!!!!!!

Yippee - to already having one showing for the house!
Blasted - weekend was waaaayyy to short!

This is why I love Waco

2008-11-05T23:34:00.003-06:00

My friends toddlers were absolutely ADORABLE for Halloween this year. Price was a pirate and Kayleigh was Wonder Woman!!!!

Kid has the cutest grin ever!!!!

I feel like Price should be saying "Ahoy Matey!!!"

Kayleigh trying to figure out what part of the world to save next! :)

K-bear playing keep away with Mommy - love the look on her face

Ahhh Baylor - I love you sooo much

This pic make me a bit dizzy but I love it - Satch!

Bonfire!!!!

I got to spend an awesome night with my hubby!!!!!!

Yippee - to more of the house being clean
Blasted - soooooo tired.

This is why you shouldn't feed the ostriches!!!!

2008-11-04T23:26:00.003-06:00

This is not an action shot - so you can't really tell how crazy these guys were - they were going nuts trying to get every last little bit of feed!!!!
PS - my hubby wants it noted that his face "looks so fat - because he is sucking his face into his skull" end quote

Hey man why you keep rolling up this window - we ain't done here!!!! (that's gansta ostrich talk)

Hey you gonna finish that??????

Yippee: to the house being so close to being ready
Blasted: to all the work that's still left to be done - and here I am blogging

This is lots and lots of big animals

2008-11-04T23:13:00.004-06:00

So Glenn and I went to Glen Rose for a wedding he was DJing. Saturday we visited a cemetary where one of Glenn's kin was buried - it was a really neat little cemetary - call me creepy - I don't care.
We also visited Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose - also very cool.We stayed Saturday night and got up Sunday morning to go see Fossil Rim an animal reserve. It's one of those places you drive through and they give you feed to feed the animals - some are more daring than other as evidenced by some photos below!

Enjoy!

This is a list

2008-11-04T01:06:00.002-06:00

Of things that I promise I will blog about - because I'm sure you all are waiting with bated breath about what I will blog about next! :)

Our trip to Glen Rose (got some awesome pics of Glenn posing with some really big game)
My friend's babies 2nd Halloween (wow crazy to think it's their second!!!)
Baylor Homecoming SIC 'EM
The fact that we are putting our house on the market and for the past two days I've put in a collective 11 hours of cleaning - hence the lack of blogging

I promise that there will be posts

Yippee - to a much cleaner - less cluttered house
Blasted - well it's 1:10 and I'm blogging....

This is a long time coming - well maybe not that long...

2008-10-26T22:51:00.005-05:00

So I finally got around to working on pics from the fair here are some of my favs:

Lovin the Texas Star

Seriously Fried Grilled Cheese - is quite possibly the most heavenly fried food I've ever had!!!! Carb and cheese - FRIED - what's not to love.

Gotta love the Alpacas! they were so soft - and apparently expressive - Glenn was able to catch this guy mid yawn!

Here piggy piggy! Isn't he so cute and pink!

And this is basically what I looked like for the entire fair!

See more of my fair photos!!!

Yipee - to an awesome weekend with my hubby - more on that later this week!

Blasted - to being up at 11:01 and blogging when I should be asleep!

This is a preview

2008-10-20T20:54:00.004-05:00

Glenn and I went to the State Fair this past weekend! We were there for 8 solid hours - and we had a blast and collectively took like 400 pics - ridiculous I know! More to come I'm nursing a cold right now - so all I really want to do is fall asleep on the LoveSac. ummm yeah that sounds good.....

Yippee - to lots more to blog about - pics will come soon I promise!
Blasted - to my nasty cold

This is quick quick slow, quick quick slow...

2008-10-12T21:18:00.003-05:00

And yes that would be the count for the Rumba - which we learned at our BALLROOM DANCE CLASSES!!!!!

(The look on Glenn's face before our lesson - we were both a little nervous!)

Yes friends - we're officially insane - or at least I am. It was my surprise date for Glenn on our Anniversary!!!!! It was fun (and don't let Glenn tell you he didn't have good time!) And Glenn is actually better than me - hopefully our next couple of lessons I'll pick up a little better!

Before you know it I'm going to have him in sequins and a competition number!!! :)
Yippee - To having a great dance partner
Blasted - to having to go to work tomorrow :(

This is two years!!!!!

2008-10-07T22:30:00.003-05:00

Glenn and I were married two years ago today! I'm such a lucky girl! We've had a great two years - they've been totally awesome. We have had so much fun together – no matter what we are doing. I knew marriage was going to be fun – but I never would have guessed it would be this great!

I'm such a lucky girl! I got flowers two days in a row (Glenn knows I have a soft spot for them)!

Glenn came and picked me up from work for a little lunch outing to Chuy's – yum. And tonight we planned to go to Twisted Root – one of Glenn's favorite burger joints – but they were closed :(. So we went to Jake's instead.

Glenn and I have an arrangement that I plan even number anniversaries and he plans odd (we'll work together on the big ones). So it's my year and the big anniversary date/activity is on Saturday – we had planned it for Friday. But we were graciously offered tickets to the Stars opener this Friday!!!! Glenn doesn't know what we're doing yet - but I'll definately post about it - it's gonna be awesome!!!! So it's shaping up to be an eventful and fun-filled week!!

Yippee – to being one lucky girl!

Blasted – to still being up

This is quite possibly the most exciting news this year!!!

2008-10-05T20:32:00.006-05:00

Glenn and I were driving home from a wedding he DJed in Waco and I glance to the side at a resturant that used to be Shady Oak Barbeque. And what did I see but a "Now Hiring" sign with a name that I didn't get a good look at but had a hunch. I grabbed Glenn's iPhone and googled as quick as my finger could type. And friends it's true.....

Plano is getting a Chuy's.....
Just let that sink in a bit..............

Seriously I so stinkin excited it's ridulous!!!!!!

Yippee - to the new Chuy's
Blasted - to not being very productive this weekend.

This is a bunch of hot air!

2008-09-24T17:21:00.003-05:00

Kinda delayed but here was my weekend with my mom…

Thursday night she got into town and we went and had dinner at Café Malaga in downtown Mckinney – I highly recommend it! Friday I slept in and once we got ready we made our way down to Northpark – we shopped our little hearts out! Actually my mom shopped her heart out – I just got so tights at Forever 21. And for the funniest moment of the day – I asked mom if we could walk through Delia’s (teen/tween store). And so we were walking through and she kept saying things were cute and holding them up. Then as we were headed out she picked up a cable knit hoodie sweater and said that she liked it – then she proceeded to try it on – and then bought it! Yes ladies and gentleman my mother purchased an item of clothing from a store even I feel a little to old to purchase from! :)

We had dinner with my brother and sister-in-law that night and it was great seeing them and enjoying amazing greek food.

Saturday was the big day! We got up bright and early 6am to head out to the Plano Balloon Festival. They launched the balloons at 7am. Normally they launch several at a time and they race – well they couldn’t do that Saturday morning because there wasn’t enough wind for it to be fair. So they just launched them as they were ready so it was basically a steady stream of balloons all morning, around 60 of them. It was pretty amazing and really cool to watch.

Saturday was also a big day for naps! When we got back from the festival I hit the hay I was exhausted because I wasn’t able to fall asleep the night before so I only got like 4 hours of sleep. When mom and I roused from our mid morning nap we headed down toward Dallas and met up with my sis-in-law for a great lunch at La Duni! Then we wandered around and window shopped. After window shopping mom and I headed home and when we got there I TOOK ANOTHER NAP. I was beat – I had a little cold all weekend and I think my body was just spent!

Yippee – to all my fav shows being back on!!!

Blasted – to not working out in a very long time.

This is what I learned from my mother!

2008-09-15T22:41:00.003-05:00

So my mom’s coming into town for the weekend to have a belated celebration of her birthday at the Plano Balloon Fest!

So in honor of Billie Jayne being in town and her birthday here we go!

Things I learned from my mother…

How to open a book correctly – next time you see me - ask and I’ll show you.
The kitchen sink is not meant for washing your hands – it for cooking. This one doesn’t really cross over to our household. But fair warning if you’re ever in the LeForce household – wash your hands in the bathroom sink! :)
That a perennial is nothing more than a pretty weed
If it’s raining and the sun is shining it’s gonna rain the next day
There are all kinds of smart
That if you haven’t raised your kids by the time you send them to college – you don’t really get any more chances.
To love the small things in life
How to do Cat’s Craddle
How to fix a snag in your clothing
You should never ask anyone how many acres they farm, how many cattle they run, how many square feet their house is or what they made on a test – because it’s just rude.
How to bottle feed kittens
In college you should study two hours for every hour in class, which I totally did ;)
How to balance my checkbook – this one was hard – I don’t know how many times she watched me cry as I attempted simple arithmetic! :)
How to prune a tree
If you have a convertible you must have some coordinating outfits!
That for the most part, wild animals are more scared of you than you are of them
When in someone else’s home – you eat what’s served you.
When you’re in your home – you eat what’s served you – once I stated that I didn’t want spaghetti for dinner – so I didn’t get it – as a matter of fact I got nothing!
How to be bold! I can’t tell you how many times we were at a concert or something and she would hand me a pen and the program and make me go get autographs!
What an amazing Christian woman looks like!

Granted this just scratches the surface of the many things that my mother taught me. But she’s a great mom and I’m lucky to have her!

As for the things my mother didn’t teach me – the one that will forever be in my memory. I was probably six (about the time little girls start caring what they look like) and I guess I’d asked my mom to do something to my hair. She looked and me and “Sweetie if you want your hair to look cute you’re going to have to fix it yourself.” And this fact can be evidenced by numerous grade school photos of some awesomely styled hair!

Yippee - to working out tonight
Blasted - to eating Mexican for lunch :(

This post brought to you by the number seven!

2008-09-14T22:52:00.003-05:00

I gotta admit I stole this from a blog I read – and it’s too funny you should totally read it – it will brighten your day (the blog - not necessarily what follows)!

Seven Things I Plan To Do Before I Die:

Go to a Police concert
Travel in Europe with my hubby
Attempt snow skiing … one more time
Go to Washington DC and New York with the hubby
Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef
Work at a florist shop – maybe when I’m retired
Overcome my addiction to Hot Tamales

Seven Things I CAN Do:

Tie a cherry stem in a knot … with my tongue… true talent. That’s what a Baylor education will get ya!
Laugh… REALLY LOUD!
Cook a mean pot of spaghetti sauce!
Quilt but nothing fancy
Talk to just about anybody
Drive in Dallas traffic
Pop my arm out of my shoulder socket – gross huh?

Seven Things I CANNOT Do:

Subtract 3 digit numbers – much to the disappointment of my math tutor in grade school – sorry Mrs. Zander.
Snow ski – (see #3 under before I die) well I can’t do it well or enjoy it.
Paint with a roller – I’m awful – ask my college roommate Michelle.
Be lost and stay calm – I panic every time. It’s a big fault.
Control how loud I’m speaking
Ride in a car for an extended period of time and not fall asleep
Play sports – I was a senior in HS on the JV softball team, tell me how that works!

Seven Things I LOVE To Do:

Arrange flowers
Read
Take pictures
NAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hang out with my hubby!
Hang out with my friends!
Soak up life!

Seven Things That Attract Me To My Spouse:

The way he giggles/smiles when he’s telling white lies!
His boyhood charm ;)
His loyalty
His big ideas
His laugh – maybe not so much when he’s laughing at me though!
His passion to serve
His freakish ability to remember names!!!! One of the main reasons I married him – since I can’t remember names to save my life! :) just kidding sweetie!

Seven Celebrity Crushes:

Johnny Depp
Jeff Goldblum – yes I know it’s weird – please don’t judge
JTT – from back in the day
Devon Sawa – also from back in the day – some of you ladies know what I’m talking about – you know you watched Little Giants over and over just to look at him!
James McAvoy – hello!
Hugh Laurie – gotta love it when you hear his real accent!
Matthew McConaughey

Seven People Who I Think Should Do This:

Pioneer Woman – wait she doesn’t read my blog!
Cheese or Kristy – whichever you want to call her
Michelle
Glenn
Molly… wait a second…
Kim
You!! – total cop out from Melissa - blogger who I stole idea from.

Yippee - to a great and productive weekend!
Blasted - to the Thin Mints that talked me into eating them tonight - they're persuasive little buggers!

This is a day I wish we didn't have to remember

2008-09-11T21:05:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe it's been 7 years since 9/11. I remember exactly where I was - just like every other American can. Just like my mom can tell you she was standing in line at the OSU bookstore when she found out Kennedy been shot. We all have our stories - how all our lives where changed on that day - and how we stared at TVs in disbelief. We all know of people that lost their lives in the tower or fighting to save the people in them. My brother (who was a trader at the time) was on the phone with a friend and colleauge who was in the towers when the plane hit.

It changed how we viewed the world - even in the graduation speech at Baylor the student speaker spoke to it altering our world because it happened so soon after we started our freshman year. Last night we had the freshman over for bible study and one of them requested prayer for all the families of victims. I did the math and most of them were 7 or 8 in '01. They really never got to experience a world without the threat of terrorist attacks.

I've seen some blogs, articles today about 9/11 some of them memorializing some saying we need to look past and move on. I'm torn - I'm glad we as Americans were not paralyzed with fear because of this day. But I don't think we should ever forget about those that were lost.

Just some thoughts....

This was Price's birthday!

2008-09-04T22:06:00.004-05:00

We got to spend last weekend in Waco celebrating Price's 1st birthday! Lee and Kristy were kind enough to let us stay with them and we had a blast!!! I can't believe my friends babies are both a year old - seems like just yesterday we were visiting them in the hospital! Thanks for letting us come over and celebrate your birthday Pricer!

Price's Cake - pretty cool huh?

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog - what a classic

There's nothing like playing peek-a-boo with frosting covered hands! :)

Did I mention I have the best friends ever!!!!!

You give the kid a toy and the men play with it! Kayleigh is trying to tell Glenn he's way to big to be climbing in that thing!

Yippee - to it being my weekend - right now!
Blasted - to realizing that my vacation from working out is taking a toll - back to it tomorrow! :(

This is madness - or something like it

2008-09-03T23:03:00.003-05:00

This is what our house looked like tonight. Our youth group has Wednesday night bible study in local homes. We had seniors last year so this year we were assigned a new age group... wait for it.... FRESHMAN!!!!!!!!! They were great - we had a blast all 33 of us. Let's break that down shall we - 25 freshman, 7 leaders and one very stressed out dog! Looks to be an exciting year.

Yippee - to tomorrow being my "Friday"!
Blasted - serious allergies - thanks Gustav!

This is what makes my hubby so awesome!

2008-09-01T22:59:00.003-05:00

So Glenn had told me that he was going to take me on a super fun date on Labor Day I was totally stoked. I thought for sure I knew what we were doing. So on our way back from Waco this weekend (we were there for Price's 1st bday - more on that later) he suckered me into telling him what I thought my guess was. He told me I was wrong and started giving me clues.

No specific attire needed - whew that meant no sky diving!
It required skill - but not a coordination skill or brain skill
It would require some knowledge of 80's music - ok that one I was completely lost!
The skill required would be a singing skill.... that's the one were I figured it out

We went to a Mama Mia Sing-A-Long!!!!! And my hubby is awesome because we'd already seen it once in the theaters. Basically every time anyone mentioned seeing Mama Mia I would chime in "Wouldn't it be great if you could go to a sing-a-long where no one would judge you for belting out Dancing Queen!

We went and had some awesome Chuy's before - it's Green Chile Festival all you Dallasites. I'd highly recommend the Wild Burrito - but it's HUGE - you have been warned.

We headed to a late showing of Mama Mia - we decided to go on Sunday since we had time. It was a ton of fun - but I'm pretty sure Glenn and I were the only ones "singing along." Oh and they totally put the words at the bottom of the screen - so great. Although not so great for the guy who obviously got talked into going to a chick flick - let alone a sing-a-long version! You could totally tell that he kept asking her what was up.

Needless to say it was a great date with a great guy! Thanks babe!

Yippee - to getting the majority of the downstairs carpet steam cleaned - man that's some hard work
Blasted - to not getting more done around the house today - so much stuff to do!

This is sooo ridiculous

2008-08-23T17:33:00.008-05:00

So I had a Junior League friend ask if I could take pictures of her little girl in her christening gown - seeing that she had decided to spit up all over the day of her christening so all her pics from that day are in a white onesie. I was so excited an nervous to go take someone (other than my super close friends) pictures. We had so much fun taking pics of sweet Miss Maggie!

So I've been editing pics most of the afternoon and I'm completely obsessed!!! This is soo much fun!

Here are some pics of little Miss Maggie!So serious and ladylike!

Such a happy girl!

Which looks better with my skin tone yellow or pink???Every little girl has to have a pink tutu!!!!

Yippee - For game night tonight
Blasted - To having to clean the house Sunday

This is my problem...

2008-08-20T22:23:00.002-05:00

So with the Olympics being on so late in the day I'm having a super hard time going to bed on time. I just want to stay up and watch. It's ridiculous!!!! Not a whole lot going on right now other than an absurd amount of rain falling over the past couple of days - but we'll take it the lawn was starting to look pretty sad.

Yippee - to discovering action in Photoshop
Blasted - to being up late again - yet another night.

This is a weekend to remember (Part 3)

2008-08-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

On Friday all the girls got up and went to this really awesome restaurant, The Old Sugar Mill Griddlehouse. Their specialty was pancakes - but the cool part was that you made them at your table. There was a griddle in the middle of the table and they brought us two different batters - so good! You were able to put toppings on them like blueberries!
We headed back to the house to get some rest and start getting ready for Molly's big day!!!! We all got fabulous(especially Molly) and headed down to the beach to get Molly married!I really cannot describe how unbelievably beautiful the whole wedding was. It has stormed everyday we'd been in Florida and the forecast was storms for Molly's big day. It wasn't looking so good early afternoon but about an hour before the wedding it cleared as was as beautiful as can be. I gotta admit it was really had to keep it all together seeing Molly coming down the aisle, knowing that all my close friends are married and this would be the last time we'd be having a wedding with our best friends. Now we just get to wait for Kayleigh and Price to get married.The ceremony was goregous and we had a great time taking pictures on the beach after. Glenn was super impressed with his ability to take pics with my camera - we've been working on him learning how to use it on a setting other than Auto!The reception was in this beautiful building right on the water - it was perfect. We ate and danced the night away.
And sent Molly and Henry off to their honeymoon - cans tied to the car and all!!!!!

Thanks for the memories Molly and Henry.

I can't wait for "Total Eclipse of the Heart 09!" :)

This is what my friends and I are married to!

2008-08-14T23:10:00.005-05:00

LeeGlenn

And we love em!!!!

There's a lot more to tell about Molly's wedding and I'm working on that post! But wanted to share our silly hubbies at Molly's rehearsal dinner.

Yippee: to milk and cookies tonight - yum
Blasted: Gotta work tomorrow

This is a weekend to remember (Part 2)

2008-08-13T23:18:00.006-05:00

We woke up Friday morning and got ready to hit the beach - we had rehearsal on the beach early and we knew we were going to stay and hang out for a while. The rehearsal was short and sweet and we had a blast playing on the beach and taking pictures (Michelle and I were in picture heaven).

We also played a rousing game of Apples to Apples – too much fun – I highly recommend it!

Molly and Henry’s rehearsal dinner was at this great restaurant called “Deck Down Under” they had amazing seafood. We had a great time getting to meet all of the families!

Glenn and I at Deck Down under

The Saiz-Pack Fam

This is a weekend to remember (Part 1)

2008-08-12T22:01:00.003-05:00

I truly adore my friends is the first thing I have to start off saying. I can’t remember laughing as hard as I did on this trip in a really long time – the laughing so hard you start to cry and can’t even talk. Laughing – it’s soo good for you! Molly's wedding weekend was amazing.

Thursday – Our trip started with Kristy coming to our place to load into the car to head to the airport. Parking at the airport was a slight challenge seeing that all the remote parking was full and we got stuck on this random service road and could get back on the main road – we literally drove the length of the airport. We finally parked and met Lee at the airport and checked in and had some lunch. Our flight was a little bumpy but not terrible. When we got off the plane we met Sean and Michelle whose flight landed a little before ours. Luckily all of our bags made it. We got to the rental car place where we were assigned a “lovely” Dodge Caravan – we named her Betsy – she treated us well.

From the airport we drove to Molly’s parents house to have some dinner and then we were off to the condo – which actually turned out to be a house that was amazing. It was literally a block and half from the beach. It was late but we still wanted to go to the beach. So we wandered down – it wasn’t till we got there that we realized bringing a flashlight of some sort would have been a good call. It was amazing because there were thunderstorms in the distance over the Atlantic. We all dipped our toes in and headed in to hit the hay – we had a big day ahead of us.

This is a taste...

2008-08-11T23:08:00.003-05:00

So we just got back from Molly's wedding in Florida and had soo much fun!!!!!! More pics and stories to come - I'm currently trying to get over a nasty sinus infection I acquired in lovely Florida.

Yippee - for the awesome tan I got!
Blasted - aforementioned sinus infection.

This is one reason I'm such a lucky girl!

2008-08-05T22:06:00.004-05:00

I have some of the best friends ever!!! Sometimes I wonder if other people have it as good as us – if other people are as lucky when it comes to friends. I was hoping to get out of college with one good friend – and I came out with three great friends.

We are headed to Florida for Molly's (far left) wedding this weekend! Can't wait to be on the beach soaking up the sun with my friends!!!

Yippee - to getting off work early tomorrow.
Blasted - Been eating way to much this week.. uggg

This is what a fantasic vacation looks like!!!!

2008-07-30T13:44:00.007-05:00

So we went camping with the Conlons and had a wonderful time!!! We stayed at Lazy L&L Campground on the Guadalupe River. It was a great campground and had beautiful views - it had an entrance to the Devil's Playground, a shallow rapids area, right next to our campsite. It was such a relaxing, laid back trip. We went into Gruene both nights and walked around. We floated the river both days. The first full day we floated with Rockin "R" outfitters the first day and did their 4 hour float - which I managed to get the slightest sunburn. The last day we floated the "Chute" which was so much fun - it was like a water ride! All in all it was a fantastic get away and I got to take lots of fun pictures!!!

Our tent - it was great it was all mesh on the back side and we were able to wake up and see the river - amazingly beautiful!

The boys playing in the Devil's Playground

Our camping buddies, the Conlons

This was just a cowboy sitting at Gruene Hall - just thought it looked cool!

Yippee - to great times with my friends!
Blasted - to the sunburn on my scalp

This is Kayleigh's Birthday!!!

2008-07-24T12:46:00.004-05:00

So Kayleigh turns one today (one of my best friend's little girls)! Kinda amazing how quickly she grew and the little girl she's become!!! I absolutely adore my friends babies and I've loved watching my friends be the great mommies they are!!!

So Happy Birthday Kayleigh!!! Can't wait till you wait for your birthday party!!!

Yippee - for vacation!
Blasted - still have a lot of packing before the trip!

This is my new obsession

2008-07-22T21:16:00.003-05:00

So I finally got a version of Photoshop elements that works on my Mac!!!! So Sunday when I had 10+ boys at my house playing video games on ALL the TVs in our home. So it was a great chance to get to know PE 6.0. I basically spent the entire afternoon on it and it was great! This is my favorite picture I've worked on so far! This is Ally she's the granddaughter of Allen - she's a cute little kid!

Yippee - to finally getting home tonight!
Blasted - It's 9:20 and I'm still in my work clothes

This is the BIGGEST tent ever!!!!

2008-07-21T21:49:00.002-05:00

So we are going camping this coming weekend and Glenn found this tent at Sears and we had a gift certificate to Sears left over from our wedding (yes that was a year and a half ago!) So we got this tent for like 30 bucks. It's huge!!!!! But I'm totally stoked about camping!!!!

Yippee - for a three day work week!
Blasted - for not working out today :(

This is Whirlyball!!!

2008-07-20T16:55:00.004-05:00

So for teambuilding for our department at work this past week we went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then went and played Whirlyball. I'd never heard of Whirlyball - but everybody assured me that I'd love it. Whirlyball is a combination of bumper cars and lacrosse - weird I know - but amazingly enough fun! We had a blast but I definatly woke up the next morning from Whirlyball Whiplash! :) It was totally worth it being able to ram into other coworkers and have it be totally appropriate!

Yippee - Got my new version of Photoshop elements - and I LOVE it!!!!
Blasted - The weekend is almost over

This is a conflicted heart

2008-07-14T22:28:00.003-05:00

So I called my mother today and she informed me that Allen Stickney passed away on the 6th of July. I would venture to guess that none of you have ever heard of or met Allen Stickney , but he has been in m life for as early as I can remember.

Allen and his wife Alice were friends of my parents- they met in Georgia when my father was serving in the Army. Alan and Alice were called to the ministry, specifically to missions. Every since I can remember they've served in Kenya. I'll never forget the stories they'd tell about their kids being timed when taking bathes in their boarding school!

They both impacted everyone they come in contact with. Several years ago - how long I can't remember - Allen was diagnosed with cancer - but Allen knew his God was bigger than any cancer and stronger than any medicine. He had complete faith God would heal his body - and He did - how amazing is our God! Even with the cancer Allen never waived when it came to his ministry - he continued to work with his church and the IMB in Kenya.

A little over two years ago the cancer came back - but it certainly didn't slow him down. He came to our wedding bald chemo head and all - and he worked it!!! The cancer was more severe the second time around and he ultimately lost his battle to it. But Allen certainly did not lose!

This is where my heart is conflicted. I have such joy that Allen is with his Savior - but such sadness that we no longer have him. I know it's selfish of me - it's human nature I guess.

All I can say for now is it's gonna be great to see Allen again someday - mischevious grin and all!

Please keep Alice in your prayers, and their children and grandchildren. They've lost an amazing husband, father and grandfather - who right now is praising his Father in Heaven!!!

This is what denim scrubs look like :)

2008-07-11T11:19:00.002-05:00

Sexy huh???? Sorry all you single guys I'm taken! My hubby is trying to avoid me when I wear them - he thinks he won't be able to look at me the same if he sees me in them! :)

Why the demin scrubs you ask?? Well I joined Junior League of Plano last year and this year is my first year as an active member. The project I was placed on is Pier's Project and the committee members volunteer at the Medical Center of Plano Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). We wear Junior League scrub so nurses will know we are volunteers (why they ahve to be demin I don't know). Today was my first shift at the NICU. I stocked carts for nurses pretty much the whole time. I did get to give a little one their paci because she was not happy at all! It was pretty cool just to be helping out and being around all those little ones!

Yippee - For my Friday off and getting to go have lunch with my hubby!!
Blasted - Lunch isn't for 30 more minutes and I'm starving!!!!!

This is my husband on my blog account

2008-07-10T00:15:00.002-05:00

Paco's real name was Reggie. We found his owners.

For more info visit groush.blogspot.com

In Him,
Glenn

PS Everyone that reads my wife's blog should convince her to divulge some of her recipes, because she is an amazing cook! She holds out on you guys because she didn't create the original recipe...

This is what I do all day...

2008-07-09T19:00:00.001-05:00

Ok maybe not all day. I manage the website at my place of work and we use Google Analytics to collect data about people visiting our website. And because I’m a big huge dork I’ve created a Google Analytics account for this blog. And for a while my friend Kristy has been the #2 referring site to my blog being narrowly beat by direct hits. Well now Kristy I have to hand it to you – you are now my #1 referrer!!!

And the prize is … the knowledge that you hold a 1/3 of my readership in your hands – please try not to abuse the power.

Google Analytics is a really cool tool if any of you are interested – you can find out a lot about who’s coming to your site and what they are looking at. It’s very beneficial for businesses – it’s more fun for us bloggers.

PS – I would be totally stoked if the person who visited my blog from Finland made a comment!!! J

Blasted – Ate too much for dinner.

Yippee – To Reggie aka Paco having his family come and get him!

This is Paco...

2008-07-08T22:23:00.003-05:00

Or at least that's what we're calling him. We were walking tonight and we saw this lady stopped picking up this "little" guy. She asked if we knew his owner - we didn't. And seeing that she had a minivan full of kids we offered to walk him around the neighborhood knocking on doors. Well we didn't have any luck with that.

We got home and made some signs to put up on the mailboxes around the neighborhood. But just as we finished it started storming like crazy. When the storm blew over we went driving around with Paco to see if anybody was looking for him. No luck there either. We are going to post the signs tomorrow and hope that Paco's family turns up!

We're just sad that some family is thinking he's out in the cold. He's a super sweet dog - likes cuddling on the couch with us. And if you're wondering - Rodi is NOT happy - but she's gonna have to deal for now!

This makes me chuckle

2008-07-08T20:37:00.001-05:00

My usual routine in the morning I get to work, check my email, and head to our kitchen to make my breakfast (green tea and oatmeal.) Never fails that about once or twice a week I’ll hop on the elevator, breakfast in hand, and there will be one other person riding with me. Awkward silence – it’s usually much too early for me to converse. Then the other person riding with me will ask, “Breakfast, huh?” I’m always tempted to say, “Nope just getting an early lunch at 7:45am!” It’s just funny how awkward elevators are.

I’m sure all of us have an awkward elevator story to tell. What makes them so strange – and makes us act in strange ways? It’s like there is a set of rules we all must follow at least here at work there is... it goes about like this.

Rule #1 – Speaking on the elevator is frowned upon.

Rule #2 – When entering the elevator move as far to the back as possible.

Rule #3 – Always face forward (I think this is true of all elevators.)

Rule #4 – When at all possible look at the numbers above the door while the elevator is in motion.

I’m sure there are many more those are just the ones I could come up with at the moment. Here’s an entertaining article on elevator behavior , for those of you who need a time waster!

Yippee – For getting to see my friend April who is in town from Memphis!!!!

Blasted - To April not staying in Texas (we’re thinking about kidnapping her)

This makes me happy!

2008-07-03T19:01:00.005-05:00

So tomorrow will be the four year anniversary of Glenn and I meeting! We were both waiting tables at resturants in Waco. The wait staff would always get together after the last shift of the day. I had finished my shift and didn't have anything else to do so I thought I'd join. This particular get together was at a pool at an apartment complex. I was there talking with friends when Glenn showed up. He was with another girl so I assumed they were dating. We chatted and he was friendly but I thought he was being just that, friendly. The next day he showed up at my work and asked for my phone number - so apparently he was more than just being friendly!!! I'm so thankful I met him - I love him so much!!!!
Yippee - to an exciting weekend ahead
Blasted - to the traffic that I got stuck in on the way home

Glenn had an amazing blog post today - I love my hubby!

This is sad

2008-07-01T18:53:00.002-05:00

So apparently my husband thinks I don’t love him anymore because I took his blog off my blogroll and off my igoogle account (where I keep up with all my work/friend blogs.)

So in order to get back in his graces here is a short list of reasons why I love my husband:

He makes me laugh
He doesn’t mind my laugh (which is really obnoxious)
He helps around the house
He loves even though I shed like a Labrador!
He claims to like my cooking
He absolutely hates holding onto presents – never fails the week before Christmas he’ll want me to open a gift. (The gift is not the reason – the reason is that he can’t wait to see people open presents!)
Sometime when he sees something really cool – I can totally see the 6 year old boy in his eyes – like the other day on our walk we saw this enormous bullfrog – I think it was all he could do to not go and try to catch it!
When he fibs to me I can totally tell because he can never keep a straight face!
His love for the youth at our church (I love em too!)
His service-nature whether that’s at home, church or work.
We have fun no matter what we’re doing!

Yippee – it’s Double Fudge week at work and that makes for a great week!

Blasted – to having too many meetings!

This is fate

2008-06-30T21:27:00.005-05:00

So Glenn's mom, Alice, has always loved Vegas. She goes at least 3 times a year and the woman wins ALOT!!! The funny thing is she goes and plays in Bingo tournaments most of the time - but she always seems to pay for her trips. She cracks me up!

Alice and Don have dogsat Rodi when we go out of town. And even though our dog is lovably psycho she has finally warmed up to them - and I think she really enjoys going (probably has a lot to do with Don feeding her a ton of cookies when she stays there.) After we got back from our last trip Alice tried to convince us that Rodi wanted to stay with her! :) Alice decided she needed a dog - they'd lost their dog fairly recently and they haven't had an inside dog in a while.

So she looked into it and thought she might be interested in a Shi-Tzu - since the only Shi-Tzu we know is Macie - we could give nothing but rave reviews (we love Macie). She checked at the local pound and they had two Shi-Tzus one girl and one boy. She was interested in the girl but by the time she got there the girl was gone. So she brought the little boy home.

And the name that he came with ... drumroll please......

VEGAS

With his long handsome nose we're guessing he isn't fullblood Shi-Tzu - but isn't he a cutie!!!!! But it's fate he ended up with a great "Vegas lovin" mom (now in more than one way!)

Yippee - to another 4 day work week!!!
Blasted - for Bueno making me sick last night - uggg

This is combining something I love and hate

2008-06-28T21:22:00.006-05:00

Love:
Well I've always loved the weather just before and after a thunderstorm. The air just feels charged - I just can't get enough of it! Well this evening a storm has been rolling in and it was wonderful.

Hate:
Well I got it in my head I was going to go for a jog (this would be what I hate - ok maybe hate is too strong of a word). I know it probably wasn't my smartest moment what with it lightening to the west of our house - but it never got to me it just sprinkled on me the whole time and it was fabulous.

Yippee - To actually working out!
Blasted - to missing my hubby.

This is why I don't need kids

2008-06-27T18:34:00.005-05:00

Because I can just play with my friends' babies!!!! It was my Friday off today so I was able to spend some fun time with Michelle and Kayleigh! We went out to the pool, Kayleigh was tired but she did pretty good, I had a blast.This was kinda her attitude the whole time - not fussy - just worn out baby! :) Every now and then we'd get a good giggle out of her!
LOVE this face!!!!!

Yippee - to fun times with my favorites "niece"!
Blasted - had to go to the dentist today - I hate getting my teeth cleaned.

This is why you shouldn’t touch the baby bunnies in the backyard and an update…

2008-06-24T19:18:00.001-05:00

Well first off – if you touch a baby wild animal– the mom could smell human on it and reject it – so don’t do it.

Secondly, a guy at work told me about Rabbit Fever, also known as Tularemia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tularemia! At first I thought he was joking but apparently not! So FYI if you come across a nest of baby bunnies don’t pick them up! They guy that told me was hospitalized with it. That’s just nuts!

Update on the bunnies – when we first discovered the bunnies Glenn proceeded to bring out carrot sticks (I informed him that since the bunny didn’t have its eyes open it probably couldn’t gnaw on a carrot stick – but good effort). Glenn did however leave a couple of them for the mommy to munch on when she came by – which she did!!!! Before we went to dinner we saw that the mommy bunny had come to the nest – it was pretty cool to watch. Later that night we checked on them and the mommy had hidden them really good again!

Yippee – For getting to go on a walk with my hubby!

Blasted - For our Kroger being out of Edamame - sheesh!!!!

This is what happens when you live across from the park...

2008-06-23T18:46:00.004-05:00

You get a baby bunny in your backyard!!!!

We noticed a bald spot in our backyard and saw some fuzzy stuff on it we looked closer and it was a bunny nest!!! Crazy! We've decided that Rodi is not a very good varmit catcher - she is completely oblivious to the baby bunny!

Yippee - I finally get to spend some time with my hubby!!!!
Blasted - Can't really think of one right now!

This is San Fran

2008-06-20T21:50:00.004-05:00

I spent the majority of the week in San Francisco at the Gilbane Conference. It was a Web Content Management conference, for those of you who don't know - that's what I do at my job! It was a really good conference and we got to hear a guy from Google - which was totally cool. It's crazy when you really start thinking about how BIG Google really is - kinda nuts.

I got to go to see quite a bit of San Fran - the biggest disappointment was that I didn't get to go to Alcatraz, oh well, next time! Here are a couple of pics from the trip.

Yippee - I get to see my friends this week - yeah for Molly!!!
Blasted - missing the 70 degree weather in San Fran

This is a fire hydrant

2008-06-05T23:06:00.002-05:00

In the middle of a field - thrilling I know! :)

And this is why the puppy loves Glenn more than me! Evil owner that bathes her dog - just sad...

Yippee - my friends are coming into town this weekend!!!!
Blasted - I have to work tomorrow

This is Scurry

2008-05-21T19:14:00.002-05:00

One of my past co-workers, Brenda, and her hubby built a home out in Scurry last year. Where is Scurry you might ask… well according to Brenda – it's the middle of nowhere! J During the nine months it took to build their home they lived in their RV or "The Box" as Brenda so lovingly called it! Well Brenda and Jerry threw a shindig out at their place in Scurry for her coworkers this past weekend – it took a while to get out there – but man it was beautiful when we did! And Jerry can cook one mean burger! I can't remember the last time I was that full!

Yippee – One more day before my five day weekend!!!

Blasted – I ate too much for dinner! UGH

This is me wishing I was back in Mexico

2008-05-20T22:55:00.001-05:00

Glenn and I had a blast in Mexico – it was so much fun! And totally relaxing! We enjoyed the sand and ocean (crazy blue). Our hotel was fab-u-lous! We stayed at the Riu Hotel Palace Las America – I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about visiting Cancun. I was slightly bummed because I didn't get as much sun as I had hoped (which Glenn laughs at me every time I say this because I did get pretty tan). We can't wait to go back although next time we would like to try the Riviera Maya and stay longer (obviously).

We didn't do much on this trip it was more of a relaxing break since Glenn was in between his semester (which he knocked out of the park) and summer school. Next time we're in Mexico we want to visit the ruins Chichen Itza or Tulum – they look sooo cool!

Now we are just in countdown mode to Molly's wedding on the beach in Florida – it's gonna be so fun!

Yippee – to a four day work week!

Blasted – I'm still up and it's 11pm :(

This is what happens when you give little girls sugar cookies!

2008-05-05T21:49:00.004-05:00

We had a Cuatro de Mayo party with our Sunday School class. Someone had brought those sugar cookies with tons of icing on them. And there were little girls... need I say more....
Then giggles and screaming ensued...

Yippee: Five days till Mexico!!!!!
Blasted: Still five more days till Mexico.

This is a day to remember

2008-05-02T11:22:00.006-05:00

So when I flipped my calendar over to the month of May a couple days ago I noticed that today is "Yom Hashoah" or Holocaust Remembrance Day. I’m sure many of you have seen Schindler’s List and if you haven’t please do so – it is a movie that will touch you deeply. Also I have another recommendation. Glenn and I love documentaries and about two years ago we rented a documentary called Paper Clips. It’s an amazing film here’s an excerpt from IMDB.com about the film.

Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the setting for this documentary about an extraordinary experiment in Holocaust education. Struggling to grasp the concept of six-million Holocaust victims, the students decide to collect six-million paper clips to better understand the extent of this crime against humanity. The film details how the students met Holocaust survivors from around the world and how the experience transformed them and their community.

One reason paper clips were chosen was because during World War II people in Norway wore paperclips on their collars as a sign of protest against the Nazis. It also something small enough to collect six million of and it gave the school children a tangible example of how many six million really is.

Six million think about that…

Read more about 2008 Holocaust Remembrance Day.

This is why my middle name is Grace

2008-04-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

So not only did I manage to dead leg myself this weekend getting ready for my last big Junior League event of the year, I also managed to seriously bruise my knee.

So my very sweet hubby went with me to Northpark Mall this Sunday because I had a coupon for a store I like! We’re walking around and we turn to walk across one of the walkways that connects each side (we were on the second level). I noticed a store I’d never seen before that was behind me. I pointed it out to Glenn and mid “how do you think you pronounce that” I basically reverse clotheslined myself by running full speed directly into a solid wooden bench with my kneecap. I limped the rest of the day – because I’m that kid that doesn’t look where they’re going.

Yippee: I worked out even with a bruised knee.

Blasted: Glenn’s in class tonight and I’m all alone.

This is what peer pressure will do

2008-04-15T18:30:00.000-05:00

So if you follow my blog you’ve read about my recent admission of my addiction to Hot Tamales. Well the other day I decided that I was going to swear off candy till our trip to Mexico in May (I briefly thought about adding soda to this list but soon realized that’s next to impossible).

Today I was faced with my temptation head on. I had a meeting in the conference room that has the fish bowl FULL of Hot Tamales. I had gone in early to boot up the computer and my boss comes in and grabs a cupful of Hot Tamales and proceeds to enjoy their cinnamony goodness. I shared with him that I was going to cave to my promise to myself and indulge in some as well. He told me emphatically “No!” and proceeded to walk over to the trash can and throw his cup of Hot Tamales away. It was like watching horror movie in slow motion. :( I begged him to eat his and he said he wasn’t going to be party to lack of self control! It was heartbreaking – I’d been thinking about them all day! So I couldn’t justify getting any if he denied them himself. So thanks Chris!

Yippee – to not breaking my promise
Blasted – I’m sooo hungry (thanks Weight Watchers!)

This is what growing up in Oklahoma will do to you...

2008-04-10T10:26:00.007-05:00

I grew up in Tornado Alley. Tornadoes were common place in Oklahoma’s springtime. As typical as April showers! I grew up in an area where when the average resident saw a tornado warning on TV they'd run into their front lawn to look for it! I always had a healthy dose of respect for tornadoes, mostly because from a young age I’d seen the destruction they could create. But I wasn’t ever really scared of them – cause when you’re a kid you’re pretty much invincible – remember what that was like.

That and the home I grew up in had a basement – it’s where my brothers' and my rooms were. And the room I grew up in just happened to be our storm shelter. Now that probably seems a bit odd – but it really wasn’t. My dad designed our house and he created one of the rooms to serve as a storm shelter as well – it looks like all the other rooms – it just has cement walls and ceiling and a storm door (it looks like normal door). You see the beauty of this is I never had to worry if a storm blew through – I’d be safe. I can count on one hand how many times people actually had to join me in my room - and one of those did end up in a tornado that, thankfully, missed our house – but not our grain elevators.

Now that I’ve moved to Texas, where basements are a rarity, it’s a completely different story. Granted I’m still not scared of tornadoes – but the healthy dose of respect has been heightened a bit. When the spring came I began to wonder if we had a tornado siren close to us and if it was loud enough to wake us up. I wondered where the best place to go in our house would be (it’s our under the stairs closet by the way). I had thought through in my mind what we should do in case a storm came.

Well last night we got to test that plan out!

At about 3:45 I was woken up to the tornado siren, so I guess that answers my question about it! I woke up Glenn to ask him if thought it was the tornado siren – and he confirmed it was. I looked out the window and it was perfectly calm (something which is never a good sign). I threw on a robe and went downstairs flipped on the tv and saw the meteorologist showing the radar with a storm line full of red coming right towards us. In that lovely storm line there was a lot of circulation over our city a couple of miles away. Then the power went out. So I went and got Glenn and we cleared out the closet and climbed in.

The storm loudly blew over without real incident –at least to our house. When the storm was about 5-7 miles away (I used the whole – count the seconds between thunderclap and lightning – every second is a mile) we headed back upstairs with no power – and woke up with no power. And friends let me tell you there is an art to putting makeup on by candlelight!

And now for the after school special brought to you by the girl brought up in Tornado Alley.

Checklist for storm/tornado preparedness:

Always know where you are going to “hunker down”
Your hunker down spot should be your basement or, if there is no basement, a center hallway, bathroom, or closet on the lowest floor.
Always and candles/flashlight in case your power fails
Always have a battery powered radio so you can follow the storm in case your power fails and you can’t watch the meteorologist on the TV
Keep that radio where you hunker down – when seconds count you don’t need to be hunting for a radio.
Always have stuff to cover you a mattress, blankets, pillows – something is better than nothing when it comes to deflecting debris!
It’s probably a good idea to throw on some tennis shoes before you go to your hunker down area – because, God forbid, your house is damaged and there is debris everywhere you have something to protect your feet!

Yes I know you all think I'm a huge dork for listing stuff out like this - but it's important to remember.

Yippee - To no damage in our neighborhood!
Blasted -To getting a really awful night of sleep :(

This is the beginning to an end

2008-04-08T22:46:00.004-05:00

But it’s a good thing!

First things first: CONGRATULATIONS MOLLY!!!

One of my best friends from college got engaged this past weekend – to a great guy! There were several of us that were really close in college and Molly is the last to get married – and we are sooo happy for her! So it’s the end to an era – but it was a super fabulous era. And we’re just starting to work on an era that will be even better, an era strewn with diapers and formula!

And now for my favorite picture of Molly EVER!

Yippee – For wedding bells!!!

Blasted - I don’t get to hug on her for two more weeks – booooo.

This is a first

2008-04-08T22:17:00.002-05:00

Here’s some background and let me preface with – I adore my mother – she’s great (even though she did torture me with the History Channel growing up.)

When I was at Baylor my freshman year is when this all started. My mom would call me and let me know about a very interesting show on Book TV (yes it exists – it’s a CSPAN channel), the History Channel, PBS – the list goes on. That she thought I might be interested in. These little bits of information might have been helpful
a: had I had cable my first semester in college and
b: if she hadn’t been calling at 9am on a Saturdays! ☺

I still get these calls with helpful information about TV shows that might be on. Every now and then I’ll get an email. But the other night my mom called to let me know about a Bette Davis film was on Turner Classic Movies called “All About Eve” – and you know what I actually turned it on and watched it. Glenn was DJing an event that evening – so I had the remote all to myself. It was a good classic black and white film. Bette had apparently won an Oscar for her performance.

Thanks Mom!

Yippee – to having a Mom who still wants to broaden her children’s horizons
Blasted – not being able to figure out what to do about my photo editing software.

This is where we’re going…

2008-04-03T21:07:00.004-05:00

In May

In December

Right now Glenn and I are focusing on doing a lot of traveling over the next several years. We are excited to get started with year when we went to Vegas! Our next stop Cancun, Mexico at the Riu Palace Las Americas in May!!! Then in December we head to Disney World to enjoy all of it’s Christmasy goodness! Glenn has never been to either place and we are both totally stoked about going. We are trying to decide whether to road trip in September or not???

Places we want to go over the next several years (in no particular order):
Italy (ok this one’s in order – I absolutely LOVE it)
Cruise the Mediterranean
Hawaii
London
Washington D.C.
Boston
New York
Australia

And that just to name a few! We’ll see if we get it all done!!

Yippee – This is my Friday off!!!!!!!!!!!
Blasted – I still have a lot of stuff to do (read: laundry)!

This is what happens when you buy a Wii

2008-03-30T22:00:00.005-05:00

Teenage boys come in droves!! Glenn had a Super Smash Brothers Tournament. We mostly had kids from our 12th grade Wednesday night bible study - but they invited friends too! I don't think there was a clear winner but if their volume level indicated how good of a time they were having they were having a ball!!!! I choose to watch a movie downstairs - I figured I'd watch a chick flick to keep Glenn from that torture. So I rented Georgia Rule - I highly recommended bypassing this movie if you ever think of watching it! You know those movies that look one way in the previews and are completely different - this was one of those movies. I thought it was going to be a funny chick flick - nope not at all I won't go into the details but I didn't enjoy it.

Hot Tamale Watch 2008
Divine intervention: When I went to Blockbuster to rent a movie I picked a couple of movies and grabbed a box of Hot Tamales. I get to the register and there's a big sign that says - Only Accepting Cash -no credit cards - no checks. Welp turns out that I only had a five on me so I just got one movie (I should have gone with Atonement - my other movie.) I reluctantly handed back my Hot Tamales and knew I wasn't meant to have any last night! :)

Yippee - I got an awesome Sunday nap.
Blasted - I really don't have a blasted today! :)

This is the first step

2008-03-27T21:52:00.003-05:00

Admitting I have a problem.

Ok I have a problem with Hot Tamales – I've shared it with my closest friends in hope that would shame me out of my addiction- yes addiction. But that hasn't seemed to work. You see I love candy – but can control myself for the most part – except for when it comes to these lovely ruby colored cinnamon flavored gems. Insert sigh here.

I blame it all on my workplace – and my new job – because you see there a conference room on my floor (just moved to this floor in January) that has a huge bowl FULL of them – just calling me. And usually after lunch I sneak down the hall AND check to see if Mindy is at her desk (she sits right by the conference room). If she's not there I quietly make my way in and grab a little cupful. See this is why I know I have a problem – I think if Mindy was sitting there I would make up some excuse – like I needed Advil from the workroom (which is also by her desk.)

So I'm putting my shame out there for all the blogger world!

Fun fact about Hot Tamales: They are the rejects from Mike and Ikes – the cinnamon flavor masks the flavor that it was when it was a Mike and Ike. This is also why they are misshaped for the most part. I learned this on "Unwrapped" – love that show!

Yippee: to the yummy Baked Cheetos I had with dinner (lame I know)
Blasted: I have to work tomorrow

This is just for fun

2008-03-26T22:17:00.008-05:00

So over Easter Weekend my mom, sis-in-law Dorrie and I went to Dallas Blooms. I truly don't know if anybody understands how much I LOVE flowers - when I grow up I want to own a flower shop. I've always loved arranging flowers. My mom was an amazing gardener and she had beautiful flowers in her garden - still does. Some of my most favorite memories are picking flowers to decorate the house. Sadly it costs me an arm and a leg to make a flower arrangement now -so the next best thing is seeing them in their natural state (and most beautiful)!

Just wanted to share some pics. And sadly they are not edited in Photoshop - because apparently Leopard (mac operating system) won't run my version of Photoshop - boo on Adobe.
Yippee - to my new camera bag
Blasted - to blogger uploading my pictures really slow - or I'd add more!

This is a sad day

2008-03-25T19:16:00.002-05:00

So my mom called me today to left me know some sad news. A guy I went to high school with in Oklahoma was killed in Iraq on Sunday. Chris Hake was a year older than me and went into the army after high school. He leaves behind a wife and baby boy. Please keep the Hake family in your prayers.

This is Easter Sunday!

2008-03-23T22:08:00.004-05:00

That's right folks - I had an Easter hat for Easter Sunday! I've threatened Glenn all year that I was going to do it and I did!!!! The guy in green is our pastor, John Mark Caton. My parents were in town this holiday weekend and we got to do lots of fun stuff including going to the Aurboretum to see Dallas Blooms - very cool. I got to be annoying and take lots of pictures!

Another fun thing about this weekend was my Mom showed up in her new toy - a Chrysler Crossfire!!!! My mom has wanted a convertible for I don't know how long and Dad finally got her one only after 44 years of marriage! :) Doesn't she look chic!!!!

Yippee - To a event filled weekend

Blasted - To having to go to work tomorrow :(

This is one awesome brownie recipie (yes I'm a dork)

2008-03-20T16:58:00.001-05:00

So I made these brownies for my boss's birthday this week – and everybody loved them so I'd thought I'd pass on the recipe. I'm not gonna take credit for it though – it got it from Carla in my Sunday School class at church! Super yummy especially when they're still warm.

Death by chocolate brownies
2 boxes of brownie mix (the one with the syrup pouch)
4 large Carmello bars

Mix one box of brownies as directed pour in 13x9 pan. Lay Carmello bars on top.Mix other box of brownies pour on top of Carmello bars. Bake at directed temp on box for 45 to 60 min (just shake the dish and make sure middle is firm.)

Yippee – for Easter Break – and getting to go to Dallas Blooms with my mom!
Blasted – Having to be a grown up and cook Easter dinner (it's stressful cooking for the fam.)

This is the NBA!

2008-03-17T22:07:00.005-05:00

So Glenn and I went to my first NBA game on Friday (it's old hat for Glenn, what with being a professional mascot at one point)! It was the Mavs v. Pacers game – it was a good game – seeing that they one. I was surprised at how quickly it went by – guess I'm used to watching baseball games. Glenn and I had a blast – we even got to see them filming the 10 o'clock news – pretty cool! Here are some pics from our fun night out!

This is what a great vacation looks like!

2008-02-28T20:11:00.006-06:00

So Glenn and I headed out for Vegas early Thursday morning! We had an easy trip, when we arrived we went to the Excalibur and checked our bags and set out to see the sights! We had a blast walking the strip and seeing all the people! By the time we made it all the way back to our hotel from our sightseeing walk we decided to go get our rental car, which ended up being this cute red Chevy Cobalt. We took a crazy long nap and headed out for more people watching!

The next day we kinda just bummed around till our HELICOPTER RIDE!!! That's right you read correctly - Glenn booked a helicopter ride for us - it was unreal! I loved it. Next time we're there we want to take the Grand Canyon helicopter tour. Oh yeah on on this day we also saw the people from Little People, Big World - pretty cool huh!

On Saturday the big event was Cirque de Soliel Mystere - which was awesome. I can't wait to see another Cirque show - the things they do are indescribable!

For more a detailed breakdown of our trip Glenn did extensive blogging about it!

Blasted: For getting really crappy sleep this week. :(

Yippee: I get to see my friends this week! And I get to see SING!!!! Rockin!

This is a great Valentine's Day present!!!!!!!

2008-02-14T20:04:00.000-06:00

Well this Valentine’s Day was a blast. Glenn had left me cards around the house that were so sweet – and Rodi was kind enough to purchase a card for me as well! Glenn and I had been teasing each other that he had gotten me a puppy for Valentines day and that was the running joke (spoiler – it wasn’t a puppy!). Well he’d given me a card to open at work and it had musical notes on the envelope so I knew it was going to sing to me – it was super cute it sang Johnny Cash’s “Burning Ring of Fire.” Glenn said that he didn’t want to give me my present until that night so he could see my face. So when I got home I was anxious to find out what it was.

I was surprised and a little confused when he handed me another musical card. When I pulled it out it had two people sitting in the cockpit of a plane! When I opened it – it made the sound of an airplane taking off – and Glenn had written “you’ll be hearing this in a week” on the inside of the card! He looked at me with this great big smile and told me we were headed to Vegas next week!!! He’d arranged everything, including getting with my boss to make sure I could take Thursday off!

It was a fantastic Valentine’s day and a great present! I can’t wait, I’ve never been to Vegas and I’m looking forward to seeing the sights and going to a couple of shows!

Yippee – I get to go to Vegas!!!

Blasted – I have to wait a week :(

This is Michelle's Birthday Weekend!!!!

2008-01-23T21:24:00.000-06:00

My college roommate, Michelle, celebrated her birthday on the 17th of this month!!! I love this girl - we were put together as Pot Luck roommates at Baylor and ended up the best of friends! She lives in Dallas now and the rest of our bestest college friends Kristy and Molly live in Waco. They came up from Waco to celebrate Shell's birthday this past weekend. We had dinner at Northpark and did a little shopping!

We then went to this cupcake place called "Sprinkles" it was sooo good - I had the dark chocolate one.

We had dinner that night at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaruant. We only had cheese and chocolate - which rounded out the whole day. Then my friends all came to my house and we had a fun night! I love seeing my friends and I miss the days of our apartment in Waco - we had sooo much fun (we still do)!

Blasted: Glenn is really sick - he went straight to bed when he got home from work

Yippee: My work week is almost over

Just had to put in this sweet picture of Kayleigh, Michelle's little girl, that I took on Michelle's b-day weekend! Isn't she precious!

This is my new car!!!!!!

2008-01-21T21:36:00.000-06:00

Glenn and I got a car tonight!!!! We got an amazing deal on this 03 Honda Accord! Isn't it pretty!!!! We went from having a Baylor green car to a Baylor gold car!

Blasted - I'm starting to feel really sick.

Yippee - We got a new car!!!!

This is Lute Riley Honda - sheesh!

2008-01-17T22:00:00.000-06:00

So Glenn and I are shopping for a car. We’re going to trade in the car I had in college for a commuter car that gets better gas mileage. We had looked at Corollas but wanted to test drive a Honda Civic as well. So Glenn checked around and found that Lute Riley Honda of Richardson had good feedback regarding their sales people. So after work we headed off. As we walked in there was the typical salesman who was right there to offer us help. We asked to test drive one of their pre-owned Civics. He pulled a nice 03 from the lot and we were off – and it was a good test drive. The salesguy seemed like a nice guy, just a little on the talkative side. There was also an 05 on the lot that we wanted to look at. Apparently it already had a deposit on it from another customer, Glenn found this out after our salesguy FOLLOWED HIM INTO THE BATHROOM TO TELL HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously who does that… apparently Lute Riley Honda.

He asked if we had a trade in, we told him we did, and he asked if we’d like it appraised. We had them appraise it and when they came to bring us the numbers they had worked up we made mistake number one and didn’t get our key back before we started talking. When we sat down we told them we were absolutely not buying tonight. Their offer was high – which was completely expected that’s how they make money, I’m not going to fault them for that. But talk about pushy, they asked the standard “What can we do to get you into this car today?” question, which is another thing I don’t fault them for, their job is to sale cars. We explained to them that even if we were buying the numbers weren’t right anyway. Well then the manager came by and asked again what they could do – we told him “nothing we aren’t buying tonight – but we appreciate your tenacity” (yes I used the word tenacity – call me a dork I don’t care!) And they both kept pushing the issue and even asked if we would do an even trade – which is shady sales tactics because there was no way they would make a even trade, so why bring it up??? Needless to say we told them we were leaving and wanted our key back. The salesguy continued to talk to us all the way out to our car – I thought he was going to get into it and go home with us! So my suggestion to anyone: if don’t care for the high pressure sale – don’t go to Lute Riley Honda of Richardson.

But if you’d like to work with a better dealership that we’ve really enjoyed working with try Patt Lobb of Mckinney and ask for Randy C., talk about a great salesman. He listened to us when we said we were “just looking” so he took us on a test drive and asked us what he might keep an eye out for us – talk about awesome! Now we haven’t bought anything yet – we’re still looking – but just wanted to share our experience!

Yippee – for car shopping – yeah some of it’s a pain but test driving cars is fun!
Blasted – Can’t really think of one right now!

This is how I failed

2008-01-16T15:50:00.000-06:00

So I don’t mind giving blood. Needles don’t bother me (so I kind of feel obligated to do it). So a while back we were having a blood drive at work and I went down to give. Well my iron wasn’t high enough to give. So when I saw our next blood drive on the calendar for yesterday I decided I was going to pass the iron level test by eating right and drinking lots of water! This is the only time I’ve truly pre-gamed before giving blood. So I go to give blood fill out all the paperwork and do the iron test and pass – but just barely!!! So I go lay down and await my phlebotomist. First off Joe was a nice guy – but he had crazy shaky hands, which was a little disconcerting! So I get stuck and I’m off and pumping my little stress ball every eight seconds. Then Joe has some other guy come over and they look at all my stuff and the bag and all. Turns out my blood had stopped. They tried all sorts of things to get it going again (which I won’t go into detail about for the queasy folks *Glenn*.) But to no avail my veins had decided to be stingy with my blood. I felt like a complete failure. I’ll get over it I’m sure. I’ve started to wonder if I should give up on giving blood???

Yippee: My friends and I get to celebrate Michelle’s birthday this weekend with fondue!!!!
Blasted: I have a hole in my arm and no blood donation to show for it!

This is Bling, the Lion King and Paparraz"ing"

2007-10-08T17:26:00.000-05:00

So this Sunday was Glenn and I's one year anniversary!!! It certainly doesn't seem like a year has past since we got married, but according to the calendar it has been! I have been so blessed with such a wonderful first year of marriage to a fantastic guy. We had a really fun really laid back day. We slept in and it was great and we hadn't gotten out of bed yet and Glenn handed me a ring box!!! I opened it up and found another band to go with my engagement and wedding ring, it's beautiful! I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful gift. So then I had to give him what I got him which was a new Ipod Nano. I've loved mine and I knew had been wanting one. We are slowly but surely becoming Apple junkies. But seriously man if you don't have an Apple you should totally get one they are amazing!

Several days before our anniversary one of Glenn's friends, Robert, called and asked if we'd like to go with them to the Lion King. It did fall on our anniversary but we figured why not enjoy a show and walk around the fair? For all you non-Dallasites - The great state fair of Texas runs from the end of September to the end of October and there is a Music Hall on the fairgrounds and there is always a show that runs during the fair. This year it is the Lion King. And when you go if you have a ticket to the show it also get you into the fair for free. So we saw the show and it was amazing, the costumes were so imaginative - it amazes me people can think up this stuff! And the singing was great, it was all together a great show! The fair was good we had our typical fair food. Glenn and I both like the corn dogs. Then we each have our own personal favorites. Glenn's favorites are the roasted corn and funnel cakes. My favorites are the potato twist things and belgium waffles. We shared the roasted corn and potato twists and opted out of dessert because we probably couldn't eat any more fair food!

So then later we decided to go to dinner at Chuy's. We love Chuy's and figured we were sweaty from the fair and we didn't want to clean up to go somewhere swank! Ok so were at Chuys and we sit down and Glenn says to me that there is a guy at the table behind me that's famous but can't remember what he's in or what his name is. So I nonchalantly turn around and see him and sure enough famous dude right there table next to us. I can't figure out what he's from either. So throughout our dinner Glenn and I both try to get pics of him with our camera phones to no avail. Glenn calls his friend Cratin who knows tons of actors but without a good pic to send him or even to tell him what the dudes in we are all at a loss. We could even tell the table next to us recognized him so of course being the extremely shy people that we are we asked then if they knew who he was. They couldn't figure it out either.... well the husband thought he was a guy he'd seen at his favorite bar, which we all thought was funny. So we are both raking our brains, and I said well maybe he's from prison break or maybe he's an actor that grew up in dallas or lives here now... well that wasn't it because the more I listened (yes I was eavesdropping) he had a what sounded to me like a northern accent. So by the time we paid our bill I decided we'd ask the hostess stand who it was. Having worked in a resturant in college I knew that the whole staff had to be talking about it and somebody was bound to have known who this dude was! Sure enough up to the hostess stand I go and they say it's William Fichtner from Prison Break! Obviously Glenn and I are avid fans.... yeah we don't watch that show at all but we got home googled him and sure enough it was him. So I've had my first close encounter or at least fairly close encounter on my anniversary no less!!!!
Yippee - to being married to the man of my dreams for a year!!!
Blasted - to waking up this morning with a serious tummy ache from all the fair food!

This is not goodbye!

2007-09-12T17:35:00.001-05:00

Because I’m still don’t want to believe she’s going!!!! This is my good friend/co-worker April. I love her, she’s the greatest! Well we’ve both worked at GuideStone for the past couple years and have become great friends. She recently got a FANTASTIC promotion within GuideStone. But of course it had to be one of the very, very rare positions that is not in our building and sadly not even in our state!!! Can you believe it? She will be moving to Tennessee to be an On-Site Manager for one of GuideStone’s biggest clients, and they are so very lucky to have her! There are many people that are going to be missing her wonderful smile and encouraging words. But all is not lost she will be visiting back in Texas every now and then, which we were very relieved to hear. She heads out this weekend to move her life several states away, and I really am excited for her. My co-worker Jennifer and I worked on road trip CDs for her so she wouldn’t forget us too soon with great Texas hits and some Tennessee ones so April (because I know you love the ellipse) See you around…

Yippee: Getting to eat really good cake tomorrow at a baby shower!!!!!!!!
Blasted: To the headache I’m getting…grrr

This is what I'm lovin!

2007-09-04T17:28:00.000-05:00

Well I’ve been bad but I’m trying to get better about posting!!! Just wanted to share with you some fun things that I’m lovin’ right now!!!!

In no particular order

-Baby Kayleigh (Michelle’s little bundle of joy born on July 24th)

-Baby Price (Kristy’s little bundle of joy born on August 31st)
-The new Nike + Ipod running system (mind you I’m not a runner more of a walk/jogger)
-Our new deep freeze at long last we can actually buy frozen foods in bulk!!!!
-My hubby, we’re coming up on our year anniversary and we are having more fun than ever!!!
-My Twinings Jasmine Green Tea that I have every morning at work (yes I know I’m a dork, but if you had to be functional at 7:30 you’d need caffeine too, and I’m not a huge coffee fan)
-The fact that I’ve been invited to more country music events in the past month than I have in my entire lifetime (weird)
- Our new movie theatre seats (Thanks Shell) they are enormous, but very very cool
- The new curtains in our master bedroom (only one more room to go for curtains)
- The new ceiling fan in our guest bedroom, so come and visit
- Glenn’s new website http://www.glennandjen.com/ check it out!

Yippee – To a three day work week
Blasted – Totally sore from working out (I guess that’s a good thing though)

This is Jennifer - remember me????

2007-07-20T16:25:00.000-05:00

Sooo I’ve been gone for a long time …. I know I’m a terrible blogger and I’m very sorry. I’ve faced the consequences of being gone for as long as I have… such as my good friend Kristy took me off her blog link list on her blog…. I was truly shamed but don’t blame her in any way, it’s my fault completely. So to catch you up on what’s been going on in my life for the past 8 – 9 months!

- Glenn and I join Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen, Texas

- I travel with several coworkers to DISNEYLAND for a big conference (gotta love an employer that will send you to the happiest place in the world!)

- I find out my great friend Michelle is pregnant and we’ll be meeting a baby in July!!!!

- Merry Christmas to the Roushes – Glenn got a really big TV!!! (so come over and watch it, you know you want to!)

- Day after Christmas – I find another great friend Kristy is having a baby and we’ll be meeting this one in August!!!

- Glenn offers up our home for Disciple Now! And about a minute later our youth leaders see us for the suckers we are and assign us the Jr. and Sr. guy! Sheesh!

- Glenn travels to Austin with friends Cratin and Terrell to try out for VH1’s Pop Culture Tournament – love em, but they didn’t get very far!

- Disciple Now came and went with no major damage to our home and we really got to know the kids in the youth group and love em!

- Glenn is accepted into the Masters program at University of Texas at Dallas.

- Went to Philly with co-worker Jennifer for American Marketing Association training!!! And had a blast and got to experience my first Philly Cheesesteak (sadly I wasn’t that impressed).

- Find out from my dentist I have 7 (count 'em) 7 cavities!!!!!!! sheesh!

- Molly and I threw a joint baby shower for Michelle and Kristy in Waco – soooo much fun!!!!

- Traveled with our youth group to Gulf Shores, Alabama to sponsor youth camp! Gotta love camp on the beach! What a wonderful experience!

- Counting down to meeting Kayleigh and Price (the above mentioned babies)!!!!

I will try my best to start posting more…. My life will start to get interesting seeing that I’m going to be an “Aunt” twice over this summer!!!!!

Yippee: we are having a BBQ at our place this weekend for the College ministry at Cottonwood!

Blasted: This I have a headache :(

This is the abridged version

2006-10-25T21:01:00.000-05:00

Well so much has happened since I last blogged…. I think it should just be assumed that I have to apologize at the beginning of every blog because well… I’m not a very good blogger. But here goes …..

So I’M MARRIED!!!! I got married on October 7th and it was perfect and sooo much fun I can’t even begin to describe! Being married has been absolutely great. If you want to see the wedding pictures just go to http://www.pictage.com/ and log in or register and search for Jennifer and Glen. It was so much fun to be around all my friend and family. I can’t wait to see the video so I can see the whole ceremony from beginning to finish! And I finally got to have a Dr. Pepper float at the reception, this was probably my favorite part about the reception!

We are officially homeowners! What a big step and how scary it is to have a mortgage, but really fun to do whatever you want to your house and not have to worry about getting your deposit back! We are living in Allen, Texas and it has been a blast so far, we have some awesome neighbors that have been a godsend. We are having fun painting and decorating! Although it’s amazing how long it takes to get settled, because everything has to find its place in your house and you’d be surprised how long it takes. Not to mention just getting everything put away take FOREVER. Or at least it feels like that by the time you get home from work you don’t have time to do much. Because you see with my new fabulous home and I have a new fabulous commute. I get up at 5:45 – yep you heard it 5:45 leave the house around 6:20 and get to work between 6:50 and 7:30 depending on traffic. Now this means that I have to start getting ready for bed around 9 in order to get into bed by 10 and hopefully fall asleep by 10:30. I usually get home between 6 and 7 so that gives me roughly 2 to 3 hours of free time a day… wow being an adult is not as fun as it looks in the movies :( But I am lucky to work at a place where I get every other Friday off, so I’ll let it slide.

Glenn (that would be my husband – I can say that now) is enjoying opening up a new bank branch in McKinney – which has lead him to discover downtown McKinney (ladies it’s the coolest – lots of little shops and restaurants – in a word, fantastic) so I can’t wait till everything is in the house and settled (and I don’t feel guilty for shopping while I should be working on the house) and I can take a day to check it all out.

Blasted: This is the Friday I have to work.
Yippee: I’m going to have my first house guest the 2nd weekend in November, and I couldn’t be any more excited!

This is my apology

2006-08-18T13:46:00.000-05:00

So I know I haven’t blogged in a while and I’m a terrible person for it. Feel free to call me names! Life has been a bit on the crazy side lately with only 50 days to go till the wedding not only and I walking talking wedding maniac, its exploded all over my apartment, and sadly Glenn’s as well! We had our first shower the other day and it was a blast. Glenn’s mom and sister threw it for me and they were so nice and everyone there was so sweet and generous. Glenn’s apartment is the holding tank for wedding gifts! We mailed out invited on Monday of this week and again his apartment was sacrificed for the wedding and we stuffed and addressed all of the invites (with a only a medium amount of tears shed… long story I’m an idiot and messed up a lot of our invites… I had a breakdown… but I’m ok now though). But now that they are out of my hair I’m definitely breathing a little easier! I got my dress altered and pick it up tomorrow, which is thoroughly exciting! My alterations lady is amazing! Please if you know of anyone in Dallas that needs a wedding dress altered let me give them Becky’s info!

Along with the wedding we are dealing with another major life event of building our house! It’s exciting and it’s going up so fast I can’t even describe to you how quickly they are building this thing! We have brick, cabinets, countertops, light fixtures, our AC unit, and more. Seems to me the only things they have left to do are lay the carpet and put in finishing touches… well and lay the sod… that should be fun in our Stage 3 water restrictions (just to give you an idea Stage 5 you can’t water, period.) So we are hoping the best for our sod. Funny the things that become important to you as you grow up… like sod! We went and looked at it last night and for the first time weren’t able to get in and look around, guess that’s for the best we don’t want anybody stealing any of our stuff (although it really miffed Glenn that we couldn’t get in)!

Yippee – My friends are coming into town and I get to go pick up my dress!!!
Blasted – I didn’t work out nearly enough this week boooo.

This is "an alternative to lame furniture"

2006-06-06T15:32:00.000-05:00

Ok I have to admit that’s LoveSac's slogan, not mine. But I truly believe it! When I moved up to Dallas a little over a year ago (how weird is that – someone asked me the other day how long I’d been up here and it was the first time I realized an entire year had passed – crazy!) I originally lived with my brother and sister-in-law (thank you) but then moved onto my absolutely lovely apartment. It’s small but I love it. I didn’t own much so I didn’t need a lot of space. I didn’t own a lick of furniture so I decided to be a grown up a purchase some! Now I didn’t want a couch, my apartment would get cluttered if I put a couch in it, but I wanted something more than one person could sit on. I’m not sure where I stumbled onto the LoveSac idea but I did. For those of you that don’t know what a LoveSac is it’s an oversized bean bag (but they’ll tell you on their website not to call it that, because it’s oh so much more!) It doesn’t have the traditional Styrofoam beads that you and your friends would some how manage to get everywhere. It actually has shredded DuraFoam in it so it never really deflates, all you have to do is fluff it every now and then. So I go to the LoveSac store and find the one I want, it’s the "SuperSac" it’s 6’ wide and can seat up to 3 people (or at least that’s how big it is when you get it fluffed up). You see it comes to you shrunken down with all the air sucked out of it and mine was a 3’x 4’ cube and weighed about 80 pounds! Breaking the foam apart and fluffing it was a task for one person but I got my workout for the day – and my first piece furniture! I would also have to say my favorite piece of furniture I think I'll ever own!

Well now Glenn and I are building a house in Allen and we have a gameroom where we are putting a TV and my LoveSac. We had always talked about getting another LoveSac but never really did anything about it till the other day. We dropped by a store to see if they had any sales going on, they did, but not enough of one to justify buying another one! So of course being the resourceful people we are we checked Craigslist (online garage sale – super cool)! And low and behold we found a LoveSac just like we wanted for an insane price and the people had only had it for 4 months! The guy that sold it to us said it was “The Big One” which is 8’ wide, but after getting it home we’re not quite sure it isn’t the "SuperSac," doesn’t matter though it was a steal! So now Glenn has a LoveSac residing at his apartment, although it is naked. We had to take it’s cover off because it got some grease on it’s ride home. It took up the entire bed of Glenn’s truck! So I’m going to have to wash it, but it’s a small price to pay for the steal we made!

Yippee: To the awesome new LoveSac!
Blasted: It’s only Tuesday and I’m ready for the weekend.

This is Law and Order

2006-04-20T11:47:00.000-05:00

Note: Glenn’s dad is doing very well after his surgery, other than the normal pain and discomfort associated with open heart surgery. Thank all of you for your prayers and thoughts during this time. Glenn and I appreciate it greatly!

Well I went to court today for my trial by jury, yes you heard it friends, trial by jury. See this all started back in May ’05 when I got a speeding ticket in a school zone 32 in a 20. See it was my second or third day to my new job and I was completely oblivious to the fact that I was driving through a school zone, on top of the fact they didn’t have the flashy lights and the sign was partially covered by a tree limb, and this school looks like an abandoned warehouse thank you DISD (these are not excuses I’m guilty there’s no question about that) I’m just trying to explain why I got the ticket. So the cop told me that I could take defensive driving. So I fill out all the forms and copy my drivers license and send in my big fat administrative check to the city of Dallas. Well I get my approval letter to take defensive driving but it states on this letter that if you have a Commercial Driver’s License you cannot take defensive driving. Well you see I have a CDL because I’m the cool kid that gave tours of Baylor in the 26 passenger bus (that you need a CDL to drive!). I call the city of Dallas to ask them what I should do, the immediate response, “Oh we made a mistake, you have to go to court now.” Wait I have to go to court because you made a mistake, ridiculous. So I ask my lawyer brother who I should get to defend me in court, he say Giofreddi, sounds like the mob, huh? Ok so I get Giofreddi and they see that my court date is in December and they inform me that they’ll be requesting a trial by jury, so my new court date was today, 11 months from when I got the ticket!

So I got to court this morning leary about what’s about to happen the only instructions I have are to say “Here your Honor” when they call my name. I walk into the courthouse and find Court #7 and find a seat in the very overcrowded courtroom. Ok they called my name I said I was there, then the judge says “We will go into recess, if you have an attorney this would be a good time to consult with them.” Sidenote: the one redeeming thing about court was that the judge was quite entertaining, very nice guy, or at least he seemed that way. He kept cracking jokes, hey at least that part was enjoyable. Ok looking around no attorney, there are attorney’s coming in calling people’s names mine isn’t called. The girl sitting next to me has the same attorney we’re both clueless. Finally he shows up and askes me into the hall. Let me explain this guy to you. Tall balding, oh yes and a long grey ponytail! I explain my situation to him about the CDL and why I have it and that I got rid of it as soon as I got the ticket. Oddly enough he’s a Baylor grad and asks about what type of tours I gave, always nice to have a fellow bear on your side. He explains to me that because I have a regular driver’s license now (court date) I can take defensive driving, that it didn’t matter that I had a CDL when I got pulled over. So that’s great news!!! So off to defensive driving I go!

Yippee: We got our engagement pictures booked!
Blasted: I worked out last night and I’m really sore today.

This is quite disturbing (at least the second half is)

2006-03-29T10:39:00.000-06:00

Here is an update, not much but some.

***Most importantly I need your prayers for my future father-in-law, Don. He is undergoing open heart surgery today to replace his aortic valve. They’re replacing it with a pig valve, how cool (and at the same time weird) is that?! He’s 76 years old and his doctors have given him a very high success rate for the surgery. Glenn and I would greatly appreciate your prayers for a successful surgery and peace for the family. He is at the VA hospital in Dallas***

And for something completely different it looks as thought I’ll get to keep my toes which is a good thing. Let me explain…..
As I was driving to work yesterday I felt a string or something in the front of my shoe. I hate that feeling, but I toughed it out till I got to my desk and got to sit down to get it out. Welllll, I sit down and pull off my shoe to find the carcass of a spider all stuck to my toes, some of his legs were pulled off and strewn about my toe area (disgusting, I know). This wasn’t a little one either each leg was a good 3/4 inch long. Well instinctually I flicked off the curled up body onto the floor. It was about this time that I realized that that spider was spindly and brown. For those of you that grew up in Texas you probably haven’t encountered fiddlebacks all that much, but me being a native Oklahoman and having grown up in log cabin, I know these guys pretty well (and brown and spindly is a pretty good description). I google imaged a brown recluse because I considered posting a pic, nope all too scary, I suggest you don't do it, lots of rotting flesh pictures (I think I just threw up a little). I’ve encountered them many times, curled up in clothes on the floor, on the ceiling above my bed, and my personal favorite, climbing across my thigh as I was using the restroom (that was the worst). Needless to say I kind of became immune to these nasty little things. When you’re around them a lot it kind of losses it’s scary, oh my gosh those things can rot your skin off, effect. And I must admit I haven’t seen a one since I’ve moved to Texas and that’s been almost five years now. I know that ya’ll have just as scary things here in Texas (scorpions for instance) that would petrify me. Ok sorry for the ramble back to spidey in my shoe. So I’m sitting in my desk thinking ok I just flicked him on the floor he’s got to be right here. Panic kindof spread through my body because I know what their bites do to you, and also if they do bite you, you usually don’t feel it. So I’m looking at my toes for any puncture wounds, nothing there, but I’m still a bit shaken. So I decide all I have to do is find this little guy on the carpet, easy enough, yeah right. I get on my hands and knees to no avail the carpet is too multi colored and it’s way to dark. So I get a hold of Facilities and see if they can bring me a flashlight (because no one around me had one). They bring two up and we search again to no avail. So then it was only time that would let me know if I’d been bitten.

I’m glad to report no itching toes or flu like symptoms so I’m pretty much in the clear.

Blasted: When I got a replacement phone in the mail I managed to erase all my phone number off my SIM card, so if I had your number before please call me so I’ll have it in my phone, yes I know I’m a technological idiot.
Yippee: We are having Dr. Pepper Floats at our wedding reception, and according to the Baylor caterer we are the first wedding to request them, yep we’re cool!

This is my list of fours!

2006-03-15T14:35:00.000-06:00

Four Jobs I've Had:
Communications Coordinator
Public Relations Account manager
Waitress at Slo-Pokes
Tour Guide for Baylor University – yes I got to drive the bus around!

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
I’m gonna have to go with cheese on Love Actually
High Fidelity (best movie ever)
Say Anything
When Harry Met SallyFour

TV Shows I Love to Watch:
House
How I Met Your Mother
GhostHunters (oh yeah, that’s right it’s on the SciFi channel)
Whose Wedding is it Anyway?

Four places I've Been on Vacation:
Italy
Greece
Costa Maya/Cancun
FranceFour

Favorite Dishes:
Spaghetti
Stir Fry (mom’s version)
Chicken and String Beans from Panda Express
Frozen green peas (still frozen, you should try it)

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
GuideStone.org
BankofAmerica.com
All my favorite bloggers
Yahoo.com

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
Venice
by a pool (someplace sunny) with a fruity drink (or any drink for that matter)
In Waco with all my friends (or anywhere with my friends for that matter)
On a lake somewhere

Four Others I'd Like to Tag:
Michelle
Glenn
Cratin
Linds (I know kristy already got her but I've run out of people) -- yeah I'm lame

Blasted - bills
Yippee - We're having a wedding shower for a lady here at my work.... cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is me streaky!!!!!!!!

2006-03-03T09:26:00.000-06:00

Let me just say to all girls out there spray tanning booths may seem like fabulous inventions, but they are not as glamorous as they seem on the TV. The Friends rendition is much more accurate. I’m sharing all this information because last night I decided that I should try out this lovely invention out and see what all the buzz was about! So I read up on the internet about what I need to do before to ensure I get the best experience possible (yeah I’m a dork). So after work I go home take a shower and exfoliate my skin as to remove all the dead skin cells to obtain a less blotchy tan. So I head over to my local tanning salon where I’ve tanned before and walk in thinking this was gonna be a breeze! So the manager takes me to the room with the booth and starts into his 12in thick manual (at least in my mind that’s what he was reading) about all the things that I need to do and it went a little something like this.
- get undressed – this was by far the easiest part
- put on the hair net past your hairline not below, or you’ll look stupid
- use this lotion cover your feet, in between your toes, the balls of your feet, oh and your Achilles tendon, and the tops of your feet, or you’ll look stupid
- use the same lotion about 7 squirts to cover you hands, get it in good in between your fingers and saturate your hands, or you’ll look stupid (this is one step that I obviously did not do correctly because, well, my hands look stupid)
- when you are in the booth make sure to stand with your arms down, then your right arm up, then your left, turn around when it tells you, hold your right arm up again, then your left (I believe it was at this point that I started to worry that this was a bit to complicated for me, with much too permanent ramifications because of my idiocy)
- when you get out use the small towel to wipe off your hands well, or you’ll look stupid, then use the big towel to pat dry the mist that’s on your body
- when you walk out go to the bathroom and wash your hands, only your fingers and palms though not the top part, or you’ll look stupid
- now to get in wave your hand in front of the sensor to open the booth door (obviously I’m invisible because I’m standing there naked, with my hair net thing on, slathered up with lotion on my hands and feet and waving my hand around after about 15 times of me trying it did it, oh and don’t worry that there was another sensor in the booth to start the spray that also thought I was invisible
- ok, so I’m in the booth the voice instructions are counting down for when the spray starts and it begins this is the part that is not as glamorous as they let on, that stuff sprays at you hard and fast and it’s none to fun to breath in either
- this is another moment when I’m shocked by the intensity of the spray and I start to worry about not getting this stuff evenly sprayed on me, lest I look like Ross! So I start doing the dance right arm up left arm up turn around do it again, sounds like a kids song huh?
- so it stops and I feel disgusting because of the reference I made about patting the mist off your body, yeah, it’s not exactly a mist you are wet I mean really wet! It’s not dripping wet, but it’s like when you walk under those cooler misters at an amusement park your not wet but your not damp either so I step out of the booth onto the towel they have laid out, all wet and smelly, yeah it smells. So I do this cute little shuffle thing so I don’t have to get off of the towel and get my small towel and my large towel and pat dry.
- I get dressed and wash my hands and leave feeling slightly satisfied with my adventure, thinking I followed all the rules bring on that beautiful golden tan!

Fast forward a couple of hours as I’m about ready to crawl in bed, I have noticed a slight change in my skin a color change that I was satisfied with! You go Mysitc Tan!

Fast forward to when I wake up and walk into my bathroom and look in the mirror, WOW I’m tan!!! My face looks darker and skin looks great… oh wait my hands… crap…. Streaky, but that’s life right? Wait for it... what’s that on my arm, yep, big white streak on my elbow, how it got there, or should I say how the spray didn’t get there, I don’t know. Pulling my hair back to get some water to rinse my mouth after brushing my teeth, is that a shadow, nope big dark streak on my neck, good thing I have long hair! So needless to say it was a learning experience. Would I do it again, I don’t know, was it worth it, sure – it only lasts about 5 to 7 days, I can handle looking stupid that long right?

Blasted – For the weather getting absolutely gorgeous for only a day and a half
Yippee – My friends are coming into town to shop for bridesmaid dresses for my wedding and having a late celebration of my birthday!!!!!!!!!!

This is 100 Things I love - Inspired by Kristy

2006-02-07T08:22:00.000-06:00

Things that I love :

1. my fiancé – he’s the best and greatest!
2. my crazy dog, Rodi
3. my friends
4. my very comfy lovesac
5. Glenn and I’s new furniture, it’s huge!
6. shopping for my dog, yes you heard, my dog
7. paper clips
8. the wall in my apartment that’s covered with pictures that I’ve taken all over the world of gates
9. “Out of Practice”
10. Ballroom dancing, I can’t do it but I love watching it!
11. that I met a best friend in my college roommate, Michelle
12. the sound of leaves crunching under my feet
13. the way my friends accept me, even though I’m from Oklahoma
14. all of my friends puppies Macie, Cosmo, and Dakota
15. a good margarita
16. weekend getaways to Waco
17. free room and board for above mentioned getaways, I’m pretty sure Glenn and I owe Lee and Kristy our firstborn
18. going to the movies, with friends or alone!
19. journals and journaling – I’ve got more of them than I know what to do with
20. PostSecret, the website and the book!
21. getting every other Friday off, thank you GuideStone!
22. the southern strawberry/double fudge frozen yogurt in our cafeteria at work, that’s right they give us frozen yogurt too!
23. my engagement ring, Glenn couldn’t have chosen a more perfect one if he tried!
24. my dog back home, Duke the 5th, he’s a collie
25. my home in Oklahoma, not many people can say they grew up in a log house!
26. Where everybody knows my name, Nash, OK population 200ish
27. Cruises, especially when they’re with friends “What happens in Mexico, stays in the Mississippi Delta” – Linday
28. Lindsay and all her fabulousness, she the most hip person I know!
29. changing my hair color and style
30. Chuy’s!!!
31. Eskimo Joe’s plastic cups
32. the way my dad still calls me “shug”
33. Falling asleep watching TV
34. Netflix, you really can’t beat it!
35. theknot.com I’m ridiculously addicted
36. scary movies
37. reading fiction
38. the fact that I have friends great enough to tell me when I’m an idiot, this is mainly Kristy cause she’s just brutally honest, everybody needs a friend like that!
39. those black and silver butterfly, flippy clip things that you use instead of paper clips
40. pictures of my friends and family
41. the theatre, plays, operas, symphony (I know it doesn’t fall under the theatre category but I’m putting it here)
42. wakeboarding - but I’m terrible
43. Baylor
44. inflatables (especially Inflatables of Texas)
45. rap music (I know it’s terrible)
46. Dancing
47. Purses, purses, purses
48. Traveling
49. Toffifay candy – yum
50. blogging
51. the 9108 even though I don’t live there anymore
52. my mom’s cooking
53. my nephews and their craziness!
54. all 448 sq ft of my apartment, efficiencies are great - biggest utility bill so far - $54!
55. Glenn all dressed up in a suit he looks so sharp!
56. the fact that Molly will get engrossed in any magazine you put in front of her
57. how Glenn puts my name in every song on the radio
58. how excited Rodi is when I get home from work and does the happy dance

59. rollercoasters, but not the ship ones, those make me sickly
60. facebook!!!
61. my coworkers, they can find humor in the most stressful times
62. jump drives – what a great invention
63. my painted ceramic frog from our cruise senior year, he holds my bobby pins very nicely
64. having a friend to talk online to all day – it’s great to say good morning to Cheese everyday!
65. being tan
66. shopping with my mom, I consider myself lucky to be a girl who likes this activity
67. Thanksgiving at my house, 36 people in one house, it’s crazy but it’s fun
68. my car, she’s fast, but not anymore, speeding tickets are bad things, it took me awhile to figure that one out
69. my plant at work that was passed onto me by a coworker, her name is Jean, the plant, not the coworker
70. tropical places
71. the fact that I can get a massage at work
72. Diet Dr. Pepper
73. that Glenn and I are going to get married at Baylor – Sic ‘Em Bears
74. Chipolte --- ummm burritos
75. tracking points on Weight Watchers – weird I know but it’s fun, we’ll not talk about how many points Chipolte is
76. throwing parties
77. Northpark Mall
78. Museums
79. Italy – I’d live there if I could
80. learning, cheesy I know, but I do enjoy it
81. Rodi and her obsession with rocks, any rock really
82. cleaning, I love the feeling when I’m done, it’s one of the few things that I can do and actually lose track of time
83. lazy weekends, when you get nothing done
84. productive weekends when everything gets checked off your to do list
85. that my parents are absolutely kooky
86. filing stuff away
87. the smell of citrus cleaning stuff
88. cheese, with just about anything
89. arranging flowers, I’d do it for a living if I could make money at it
90. filling out my day planner
91. poetry
92. movies that make me cry, give me about 10 mins into “A Walk to Remember” and I’m a goner
93. frozen grapes and frozen green peas, they make great snacks
94. the tini tiny bows I got to put in Rodi’s hair, she has enough hair to put in it but it just sticks straight up!
95. the DVR!!!
96. driving with my sunroof open
97. swimming
98. Belgium waffles – the one’s at the state fair are to die for
99. holding Glenn’s hand
100. that when all of my friends get together we never have a bad time!

With all the Things I love today I'm suspending my Yippee and Blasted!

This is - lets be honest, kinda boring

2006-01-31T10:58:00.000-06:00

I am officially the worst blogger ever! So a little update on my life! I have officially picked my wedding dress!!! This might seem strange, but I had two, long story but I have finally chosen! I can’t wait till the first weekend in March my lovely bridesmaids are coming to Dallas to go dress shopping!!!! Something fun that happened recently is my bio for the Knot is featured on http://www.thebiobuilder.com/BioBuilder/ they emailed me and asked me if they could use it on their website. I thought why the heck not! So if you'd like to see it you have to go to the website and scroll all the way to the bottom and click on our picture to see the craziness that is our wedding plans. My life has been fairly uneventful, other than we are approaching the month of my birth!!! And a very busy month it will be between SING, the Dallas Opera, and visiting my friends I have a full calendar! It’s nice to be busy, but this past weekend I enjoyed the greatness that is not getting out of your pajamas till 2 oclock in the afternoon and doing nothing but watch TV all day, it was fabulous! I watched a marathon of stand up comedians on Comedy Central and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, or the SAGs if you’re really cool! I did discover this past weekend the beauty of DSW (Direct Shoe Warehouse). So many shoes I didn’t know what to do with myself! I got a lovely pair of black pumps with the cutest white flower on them! On a completely different note, I’m starting Weight Watchers again, now that I’ve decided on a dress the only bad thing is that it doesn’t have a corset back. SIDENOTE – To those of you that don’t know, when you have a corset back dress you can gain/lose weight and it doesn’t matter so much, you just either let the corset out or tighten it up. I have a dress that zips up, meaning I have to be as skinny as I want to be for the wedding when I get it altered which will be several months before the wedding, boo on that, but that’s life! Let’s see what else has happened??? Well work is quite crazy, let me just say there is nothing like crisis management!

Oh yes and I’m addicted to the theknot.com and the message boards.

Blasted: To the cold that I think I’m getting!
Yippee: To my fab new shoes!

And the pic is from the teambuilding my company did at the State Fair -- YUM Turkey Leg!

This is a rousing game of TAG

2006-01-16T15:11:00.000-06:00

Thank you Kristy for tagging me! Such a novel but difficult little game!

Ground Rules: The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yourself", and people who get tagged need to write a blog entry about their 5 weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end you need to choose the next person to be tagged and list his/her name. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" on his/her blog and tell them to read yours.

My Five Weird Habits… here goes nothing

1. I love to chew on paper clips – well not so much chew just kinda hold in my mouth, it’s hard to describe.
2. I sit Indian style anywhere, work, restaurants, church, you name it, it’s the most comfortable way for me to sit (I’ve even woke up in the morning to find myself lying on my back with my legs Indian style, yes I know I’m a freak). I sometimes wonder if I will ever “grow up” enough to break this habit… I hope not!
3. When Fall arrives I always step on the leaves that have fallen and look nice and crispy, because I love the sound it make when you step on them!
4. When I’m just lounging around the house and I have a blanket over me I have to have it tucked under my feet. If I’m taking nap or whatever, always has to be tucked it drives me crazy if it’s not!
5. I make all time relative to when I’m getting married. Like at work we talk about something that will happen in September, I think, wow, I’ll be a month away from being married! I think most brides-to-be do this so I guess it’s not all that weird but I’m running out of stuff here.

Glenn TAG YOU’RE IT!!!!!!

This is a recap

2006-01-09T14:20:00.000-06:00

I am officially the worst blogger ever! I apologize profusely for my absence lately. But because I’ve been gone so long I’ll recap:

- Michelle is now officially Mrs. Sean Conlon!!! Her wedding was absolutely stunning, and Michelle was a gorgeous bride. Her Christmas theme could not have been any more perfect! Being in her wedding and getting to do a reading brought me such great joy!

- Yeah for Christmas and family – Glenn and I both got to spend time with our families together, and had a blast!

- We went and saw ICE at the Gaylord Texan which was so much fun! Cold, but fun!

- I have officially asked all by bridesmaids if they will stand with me on my wedding day! I couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends to surround me! These special ladies are Michelle Conlon, Kristy Boyd, Molly Pack and Lindsay Renfroe!!! I am so blessed!

- What a wonderful New Year’s Eve we had!!! We all got together and spent the evening at Kristy’s family farm!

- Glenn has accepted a job with Compass Bank here in Dallas! I am so excited and proud of him, Mr. Senior Financial Sales Representative!

- Happy Birthday to Lindsay who is now 23!!!!!! We all celebrated her birth this weekend in Waco and it was a blast! We of course had too much fun like we always do (SECRET TIME)!

- If you are looking for Glenn he just moved into the Gate (the building right next to mine in #115)!!! We are so excited about being so close! We had a great time painting one of his walls in his living room.

- We are the owners of couches, because let’s face it you can’t use a lovesac as permanent furniture. We found some great couches at Rooms-To-Go, but they won’t get to his apartment till the 2nd of February.

Yippee – I dreamt last night that I was Scarlett Johansen ( I was smoking!–talk about in your dreams!

Blasted – I dreamt what felt like all night long and woke up tired.

This is Michelle's Last Hurrah

2005-12-12T13:15:00.000-06:00

Well it’s officially 5 days till Michelle ties the knot (that’s if you count the actual day)!!! So to celebrate her big step into deep dark abyss called marriage we sent her off in style with the time honored tradition of a bachelorette party, complete with all the vulgarities required for such an event! Michelle looked lovely in her cowboy hat complete with veil and a particularly, how do you say, creative, candy necklace. Let’s just say the candy came in a particular shape, wink wink! We had a blast all the girls came and stayed at my place and we went out on the town in our stretch SUV limo (oh yeah we’re that cool)! We had dinner at the Magic Time Machine, and it was great, it’s a place where all the waiters are dressed up as characters from movies, cartoons, ect. Aladdin was our waiter, although Abu was absent (Aladdin said he hadn’t seen him in six weeks, some pet owner). Let me just insert here that the Magic Time Machine was great I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time! That and Waldo (famous from his many books, Where’s Waldo) had a particular liking for our table, it’s cause we’re all hot, I mean come on, who wouldn’t want to hang out with us. All the male waiters serenaded Michelle with “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling.” Oh and I forgot to mention the best part, all the table at MTT are decorated differently like one table is in a library, another is a school bus, we were in the hut!!!! It was fabulous, although a little tight for six girls! After dinner we loaded into the limo and headed toward Pete’s Piano Bar, where we had to wait in line to get, obviously they didn’t get the memo we were VIPs! Once inside you basically needed football pads and gear to get anywhere cause it was so full! I invaded so many people’s personal intimate space (that would be the 0 to 14 in area around your body, I’m not sure which theory that is but I learned it in college, good thing I took away important information huh, thank you Baylor). I’m pretty sure I inadvertently groped a couple people accidentally as well. But it was a good time nonetheless, the piano guys played “Total Eclipse of the Heart” which is our song (our=the girls). And we got Michelle called up on stage and they made up a song about her that was well, far from tasteful! All in all the evening was a success!

Here’s to you Michelle!

Blasted: For my family driving me crazy.

Yippee: I only have to work three days this week!!!!