This is Scurry

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

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!

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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!

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)

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!

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!

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!!!!!!!

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!!!!

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!