The Allen's

Bachelor Thoughts

2012-01-23T22:09:00.001-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a while, especially about my favorite show, The Bachelor, so after tonight's episode I decide to do a brain dump - bachelor style.

First, could someone PLEASE review grammar rules with our lovely ladies? It's Ben and me, not Ben and I. Major pet peeve of mine.

One of my favorite descriptions from tonight was, "that vegan, rod, doe-eyed model". I had to rewind a few times to get it, but once I did I couldn't help chuckling a bit.

I wish everyone could have been here for the stomp show that Grayson gave me after the show. I tried to get a pic but he refused to pose when I said it was for the blog. Thus the pic of him pouring milk. He had nothing on Blakely's skillz.

Does anyone else think its weird how Lindzi talks with her forehead down and pushed forward?

I was forced to institute a two pause/segment rule in our house. If you can believe it, Grayson loves offering his commentary more than I do. He learned a long time ago to not talk while the show is playing, but after about 10 pauses in one segment for him to offer his insight, I was forced to create a new rule to make him choose to use his commentary wisely.

My favorite is Kacie B. Us baton twirlers gotta stick together.

Although I'm not into this season at all, comparatively, those are my thoughts before bed. I should be able to sleep much better now!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T15:38:00.001-06:00

We are having a great Christmas Eve! So far we have decorated Christmas cookies, watched The Princess and a Frog, squeezed in some football and a lot of napping.

Barks got a Saints jersey that she won't take off and Easton, in typical cowboy fashion, is loving his cowboy hat. We are thankful for sweet family time!!!

21st Century

2011-12-23T23:04:00.001-06:00

We have officially joined the 21st century and finally own a computer! We broke down and purchased a desk top for Grayson's studying. Now all we need to do is find a space for a computer nook in our home. Hmm ... maybe I'll use pinterest and really utilized all of the tools at my disposal. Should be fun. More to come later!

Happy Thursday!

2011-12-15T11:07:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving Parade

2011-12-06T09:41:00.002-06:00

I obviously fell off the "30 days of thankfulness" bandwagon; oh well, worse things have happened.

Let's get to the real reason for this post, the annual Jackson Parish Christmas Parade. Last year was the first year that Jonesboro State Bank made and entered a float in the parade, but because we were in San Antonio for Thanksgiving we missed it. Because it was such a great hit though, Thurston decided to enter again this year which meant we got to join in on the fun!

Thurston was the main force behind designing and building the float. He decided to build a "sleigh" on a 30 foot goose neck trailer, which was double the size of last year's float! It was phenomenal! Last year, Thurston manned the grill (on the float) and cooked hot dogs while the rest of the crew assembled the dogs with appropriate condiments, wrapped them with a bow and set them sailing. This year because of a torrential downpour, the dogs were cooked and wrapped prior to the parade. We still had the grill on board and did the best we could in the difficult conditions. Sadly, there were a few hot dog casualties as they landed in puddles of water/mud :(

Thankfully there were plenty of hands on deck to cook and wrap over 1,100 hot dogs!!! My parents made it into town for the parade, something they have never experienced, but always wanted to do. Winston's fiance and her family were in town along with the "veteran float crew" from last year. We were busy from morning until go time; we cut it close, but made it in time to jump on board and start throwing dogs.

Thurston also made a homemade potato launcher that was used to shoot JSB shirts to the crowd. He and Grayson manned that "station" while the rest of us focused on throwing dogs. The launcher worked extremely well and was so much fun. I'm sure we'll come up with other uses for this toy.

In a way, we were thankful that it rained b/c we ran out of hotdogs about 3/4 of the way through the parade route. Attendance was obviously extremely low due to the weather so I'm not sure what we would have done if there were more people. I'm sure Thurston will take this into account next year when determining how many dogs to make.

Below you can get a view of the front of the sleigh. Winston is manning the grill station near the "North Pole", Justin (a veteran from last year) is explaining the protocol and Maddie is probably just trying to stay warm and dry.
This was such a fun event to participate in and is just another reason to love small towns. I hope this becomes a tradition that we can look forward to doing, even if it is every other year!

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-14T14:41:00.002-06:00

Days 11-14: Weekends

I am being efficient today as I didn't realize how tedious the whole "being thankful for 30 days on my blog" thing would become. And I don't have pictures to post about my thankfulness and who really wants to read 30 blog posts with no pictures? Not me.

So today, I'm thankful for the weekend. A time to do laundry, sleep in, watch tv and enjoy the weather that I typically view from inside my office. I usually get a date night squeezed in there too which is always a plus!

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-10T08:31:00.002-06:00

Day 10: Starbucks (or flavored coffee in general)

Not too much more needs to be said about this one. I love coffee, specifically specialty coffee. It tastes good. It smells good. It looks good. It provides energy.

Basically, it's the whole package. It helps me get excited about the holidays and the changing of seasons.

It introduces me each year to my favorite season, Fall.

It's just all around goodness.

Today, I am thankful for Starbucks and flavored coffee.

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-09T10:48:00.004-06:00

Day 9: My CHS Besties (go Eagles!)

Right after graduation, Julee Guinn (aka: Gools, Jewels) created the best email group ever. She made the infamous "My CHS Buddies" email group for the sole purpose of allowing us to keep in touch with each other all across the state of Texas. We were stationed at TCU, Baylor and A&M and needed a way to communicate. Because of that email group and the ease associated with sending one email to update 5 people, this group of CHS besties has been able to stay in touch and connected as if we lived in the same city.

We've celebrated numerous New Year's Eve's together. This was our first NYE after going away to college.We travel all over for our CHS Buddy Reunions. Jill got married earlier than the rest of us, so we took a trip to Oklahoma City for Christmas one year. We've made a point to change our locations each get-together so that we can see where everyone lives and see different cities. For the next couple of years, our reunions were made possible due to wedding season! We were in each other's weddings and thus made reuniting that much easier! No need for destinations.

We survived Hurricane Ike in Dallas one year! This was the "reunion of babes" where we got to meet the two newest additions to our club all while making some pretty hysterical memories in Dallas.The last few reunions haven't been complete due to greater physical distance between us, work schedules and needing to visit our primary families, but we do the best we can. We squeezed in a quick trip to Dallas last year to meet the second addition of babies; only the youngters came on this trip.

And of course, anytime anyone is in San Antonio we try to squeeze in at least a 30 minute visit to the local Starbucks. This past summer, we had a mini-mini-reunion with Gools and Jill (Flood and Cutee, you were missed!!!).

I really am thankful for Castle Hills and the small classes it offered, the fact that students attended k-12th grade which made developing deep relationships that much easier. I am thankful for our cheerleading squad (sorry, Gools) and the experiences we made together there. I am already looking forward to a much needed, full-blown CHS Besties Reunion (hopefully in the next year!)

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-08T13:18:00.003-06:00

Day 8: My Job.

I love working for Louisiana Tech University! It is seriously a major blessing in my life.

When I knew we would be living in Northern Louisiana I had mixed emotions. I had spent so much of my time in graduate school developing relationships with my professors in hopes of obtaining a job in Fort Worth. Then I found out that we would be living here where I knew no one and had developed zero connections. I remember feeling overwhelmed and nervous about finding a counseling position. I remember one weekend that I came to visit Grayson in Jonesboro and he drove me around Ruston trying to show me some of the possibilities that would stem from our living here.

When we drove past the Methodist Children's Home and I saw their outpatient clinic, I thought, "Hmm, I could try and apply there," but when we drove by Tech, I remember thinking, "Man, working for a university would be my dream job." I serioulsy thought it was a pipe dream though, knowing I had little experience and wasn't local. The Lord literally opened the door for me to interview and get hired. A hiring freeze had been in effect and had just lifted which is what made the position available and then one-two months after I got hired the Governor placed another hiring freeze that is still in effect 4 years later. I love doing counseling with this demographic and love working with the sororities on campus. Although it keeps me busy, it also keeps me satisfied and for that, I'm thankful.

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-07T14:20:00.003-06:00

Day 7: The Greene House

It was here that I lived for 3 years while attending school. Not the best photo, but it's the what I had on hand. I think this house represents the first real feeling of freedom and independence I experienced in college. I was able to buy my own groceries, cook, clean and feel like a responsible adult. When I think of this house, I think of the glass door knobs that sat on every door. I remember the porch swing out front and how many good conversations were had there. I remember the hard wood floors and the way they creaked at night. I remember spying on our neighbor and feeding stray cats. I remember the warmth and feeling of family that came from a bunch of girls sharing their lives together. It was here where deep friendships were formed and when the Lord began weaving the story of our lives together. What a special thing to be a Greene Girl!

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-07T14:18:00.002-06:00

Day 6: Road Trips

I used to take more road trips when I was "younger"; I had more free time and could recover from hours spent on the road faster. Regardless, I will always make time for road trips because they allow me the opportunity to visit friends and engage in quality time which is so important to me. Without road trips I wouldn't be able to keep in touch with the special people in my life and stay up-to-speed with their lives.

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-07T14:15:00.003-06:00

Day 5: Weddings

Nothing beats a good wedding. I am a true romantic who is intrigued and fascinated by all things relationship-oriented. I love a good wedding and all that comes with it. The details of everything beginning with the invitation to the church, the dress, make-up, hair styles, flowers to the cake, the music, the venue, the food and everything in between. I seriously love weddings, what they represent and the way they allow you to assess your marriage and re-commit to the vows you made previously. Who knows, maybe one day I'll help plan them?

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-07T14:05:00.002-06:00

Day 4: TCU

Today, I am thankful for my alma mater ...

1. It's where I met my husband.

2. It's how I become a Greene Girl and able to live in the cutest house ever!

3. It allowed me to join ZTA and thereby support an important philanthropic cause..

4. Cool people come from there and support great causes: http://www.youtube.com/frogsforthecure

5. I got to be a collegiate cheerleader.

6. It's in Fort Worth, which is one of the most charming cities.

7. We have an amazing football team and coach that make being a fan fun!

8. It's highly respected for the education which has helped me in my career.

9. For the churches I attended when I was there and the people who helped shape my faith.

10. For the people it allowed me to meet and the memories it allowed me to make; all priceless!

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-03T15:15:00.003-05:00

Day 3: Barkley Lou

She definitely wasn't in "our plan". The plan was to go to south Louisiana and pick up the runt of the litter and bring her home. The plan did not include bringing home the biggest and most social puppy of the litter, but that's what happened. Grayson could tell Barkley would be sweet and just couldn't resist adding her to our family. She was a charmer even when she was little. There were times when we thought we couldn't handle Barkley. With all of her peeing, pooping and constantly needing to be around people we weren't sure we were the right fit. We even let her take a vacation for a few months, but in the end we are so thankful for her and lucky we got her back.She is a great companion, so snuggly and sweet. She is super social and loves to be in the mix of things, all complimentary to our family. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Barkley Lou, I highly recommend it!

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-03T14:54:00.002-05:00

Day 2: A house

Not solely thankful for the material possession of a house and the shelter it offers, moreso thankful for what a home symbolizes. To me, it is a place where Grayson and I can rest and relax, laugh, the place where we continue to develop our relationship, entertain friends and family and also lay a foundation for many years of marriage.

30 Days of Thankfulness.

2011-11-03T14:48:00.003-05:00

Day 1: Grayson
I love this man with all of my heart. I am so thankful for his presence in my life. He compliments me so well. I don't have to try around him, I can just be me and know that he loves and accepts me unconditionally. He has taught me how to forgive quickly, not take life too seriously and how to understand the difference between a "need" and a "want". He values me and loves me well. I am thankful today for Grayson!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-03T14:16:00.005-05:00

We purchased our home a little over two years ago, making this the 3rd Halloween experience at our new house. Based on the suggestions of neighbors and friends though, I haved avoided "Halloween in Wedgewood" the past two years by going out of town. Well, this year we decided to stick it out and experience Halloween and now I see what everyone was talking about! RIDICULOUSNESS!!!

I wish I would have had a camera to capture the scene. Our tiny little street was covered with mobs of little kids dressed in crazy outfits. Cars honking, lights flashing, parents yelling at their kids, kids running and screaming from house to house. It was awesome! Next year, I fully intend to film the madness so that everyone can experience it too. I won't say how much we spent on candy, but let's just say it was enough to warrant its own line on our itemized budget!

The kids were sooooo cute and funny. Read my favorite convo below. Let me preface by saying the rule at our house is you have to tell us your costume to get the candy.

Ashley: "Well who are you tonight?"
Little Girl: "Sarah"
Ashley: (thinking, hmm ... I must be really out of the loop b/c I don't recognize any characters with that name)
"Oh really? Sarah what?"
Little Girl: "Sarah (insert real life last name)" followed by a look that said "Dummy".
Ashley: "Oh, okay. Happy Halloween."

It was funnier in real life people. We mostly saw ninja's, Cleopatra's, batman's and country girls wearing pink. The only real hazard of the evening was almost getting my eye poked out as I bent over for the candy and a little boy decided to swing his sword in excitement.
Barkley Lou got dressed up for the occassion as well. She caused quite the distraction for most of the kids. Turns out kids are actually more interested in petting dogs than in raking in candy. B-dog did great and let all the little kiddies pet and love on her.
I wasn't in San Antonio for Halloween, but did steal these pics off facebook. You can see there was a ballerina and a deer hunter making the rounds and being super cute.

E even camoflauged his face! You can never be too careful when hunting for deer!

I busted out laughing when I saw this pic. I only wish I could have been there for the set-up and masacre of Bambi, which inevidably ensued after this pic was taken.

I really hate the pressure that comes with creating a good costume, but that doesn't keep me from enjoying all of the cool outfits that other people come up with for this holiday!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-10-14T11:03:00.006-05:00

Today, Grayson and I are celebrating five years of marriage! Wow! On one hand, time has flown by and on the other these years have taken their sweet time in getting here. I remember this day so vividly. I didn't have any trouble sleeping the night before the wedding. I had heard that some brides don't get much sleep the night before the wedding, but I remember getting in a great night's sleep and waking up totally refreshed and ready!
I didn't experience any stress that day either. I was just so happy that the day had finally come; I knew all the details that we had worked so hard on for the past 4 months would finally fall into place. I also knew that at that point, none of the stress and details would matter b/c at the end of the day Grayson and I would be married regardless of anything that happened that day.

My favorite part of the ceremony was right before I walked down the aisle. The doors were closed, all of my attendants had just finished walking down that long aisle and there was a silence in the church. I could see Grayson through the glass and got to see his face for the first time that day. All the guests were seated and waiting with their attention focused. Then one of my closest friend's from elementary school sang Nicole Nordman's version of The Doxology acapella. It still gives me chills and a knot in my throat when I listen to that song. We chose that song because of the truth of the words as they applied to the context of our marriage, our union and our acknowledgement that this relationship was 100% a gift from the Lord.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise Him, all creatures here below;
praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

It was such a special and powerful moment for me. A time to be reverant and give credit to the Lord for what was about to transpire. And then the doors opened, the organ music played and the wedding day was on its way. It was nothing but celebration from that point forward.

I loved my cake! I wish I would have been able to eat more than that one silly bite though!

This is a special picture of my favorite Greene girls. We lived together while we went to school at TCU in the cutest house on Greene Avenue. The four of us shared some amazing memories and times of growth in preparation for our "forever roommates" and so we made it a tradition to take this type of picture at each of our weddings. These women are still so special to me!

(Photos out of order, oops!) The only bummer about our honeymoon was that I got strepp throat! Yuck! My one piece of advice to all brides is to take a lot of medicine with you on your honeymoon. Most brides are stressed from planning the wedding and probably sleep deprived due to all of the festivities leading up to the wedding. Then the honeymoon comes and you have your first chance to relax and rest, which for me meant getting sick. We were in a 3rd world country too, which made for getting well that much more difficult due to lack of meds. Thankfully we spent enough time in Jamaica that I was still able to enjoy the sun and ocean even after being sick.

Love my family!

The handsome groom!

We also have the priviledge of sharing our wedding anniversary weekend with two of our best friend's birthdays. David Buchanan's birthday fell on our rehearsal dinner and Lauren's birthday is our anniversary day. They were both so kind and generous to share their special days with us! Remembering their birthdays is that much easier now though!!!

All of my besties together! Nothing makes me happier than being surrounded by the women and man I love!

Here's to many more years of wedded bliss!!!

New Sister-In-Law!

2011-10-03T16:13:00.002-05:00

I'm happy to announce that this past weekend Winston proposed to his girlfriend Maddie and she said YES!!! We are so excited to add another family member to the Allen bunch. Maddie is a fellow Horned Frog which makes us even happier!

The last wedding we celebrated was about three years ago when Natalee and Dax got married so we will be more than ready to have a party and celebrate their new lives together. Congrats you guys, we love you!

A text from Grayson.

2011-09-30T10:05:00.003-05:00

"Sunday evening enjoying one of my Cuban treats."

Recently, we purchased Barkley some rawhide treats (which she loves) and while I was in Baton Rouge for a week attending a continuing education conference, I received a pleasant surprise via text. Grayson sent that text and attached was this picture. I was in the middle of a counseling seminar and couldn't help but laugh out loud. During a somewhat tedious evening, I was thankful for the light hearted distraction and glimpse of what was going on back-home.

Thankful for the little things in life that make you laugh.

Recruitment (in pictures)

2011-09-30T09:53:00.004-05:00

A common blogging theme for me these days is to update in pictures. I hope that now that September has come and gone, so will my nights of working 2-4 hours extra, which will allow me more time to blog :)

Here is a quick recap as to what kept me super busy at the start of this month ... Panhellenc Recruitment!

I had the pleasure of advising, directing, and leading these women during Work Week and Recruitment Week. I got to work with 25 young women who disaffilated from their chapters in order to serve as Gamma Chi's (recruitment counselors) or as Panhellenic representatives. We got to know each other very well as part of the many hours we spent together. One of the things we did was attend the low ropes course offered at Tech. It was so fun and reminded me of my Frog Camp days at TCU. It was a great bonding activity that helped kick off the week.
I also had the task of organizing and monitoring recruitment for 200 potential new members and approximatley 290 in-house sorority women. Talk about a little stress!!! This was the first day with the PNM's lined up and ready to experience their first exposure to sorority life. Everything actually went extremely well!

We had 167 women accept bids to our four sororities and had record numbers for those who signed-up and went through recruitment. I know I don't love the late nights and early mornings during those two weeks, but seeing all of those girls find homes that suit them and which will hopefully make their transition to college life easier, made it all worth it in the end.

The Panhellenic Council (minus a few key players) set up and ready for recruitment.

Totally worth the splurge!

2011-09-30T09:48:00.003-05:00

I know it's officially fall when two things happen:

1. Starbucks begins selling pumpkin spice lattes and
2. When I can find honey crisp apples at the store.

Never had a honey crisp apple? You should. They will change your life.

I'll admit they are quite pricey and normally I don't go for the most expensive fruit, but these things are totally worth the splurge. Similar to purchasing rainier cherries in the summer. There are certain things that only come around once a year and are so good that it makes spending a little extra money totally worth it.

Hint: these apples only come out in the fall for a few short weeks, so make sure to grab them next time you're grocery shopping!

You can thank me later!

Vegas (in pictures)

2011-09-15T11:36:00.002-05:00

Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam

In-n-Out Burgers

Winning!

Happy Horned Frogs :) Grand Canyon

Blue Man Group

In other things ...

2011-09-02T14:28:00.002-05:00

* Grayson passed level two of the CFA exam! YAY!

* We took a vacation to Vegas where we saw a ton of shows and I won a jackpot! NBD.

* We had an American flag hung outside our house. That was sort of a big deal.

* School officially begins next week which means I am crazy swamped with Panhellenic recruitment details.

* We were able to hire another counselor at work which means I am no longer the only female on staff.

* We are in fact, watching The Bachelor Pad and enjoying all the drama.

Nothing else super exciting to post about now. Pics to follow when I empty my camera!

Staycation in SA

2011-09-02T14:04:00.003-05:00

I realize I am that girl who didn't post anything for over a month. My apologies. Rather than feel overwhelmed at the idea of going back to recap our summer I decided to start fresh with the most current event which is our vacation to Texas!
In case you didn't know, we became an Aunt and Uncle again when my brother and SIL had their second baby in July. We welcomed a tiny Mattie Lyn weighing in at 6lb 1oz! Above is a pic of Poppy feeding Mattie. We all took turns doting on her last week.

Here is Easton the Cowboy. He insists on wearing his cowboy outfit everywhere he goes and it must be "just so" before he is ready. The ensemble includes: ATM rain boots, wearing them on the correct foot is only an option, a fur vest, it must be backwards, a cowboy hat and his gun. Once each item is in place, Easton is the cowboy and therefore ready to ride anything that can be ridden.

Originally, we decided to take a vacation to San Antonio to enjoy all of the perks it offers. We made plans to take Easton to Sea World, maybe Fiesta Texas. We hoped to do an adult only trip to float the river in New Braunsfels. We knew we wanted to shop and eat out a lot also. BUT, plans changed after my parents sold their home and Matthew tore his ACL wake boarding. Suddenly, this trip became an opportunity to help move my parents and support Erin as she had been taking care of a newborn and a bummed-up husband. We couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out. With the heat the way it is in San An, it was better that we relax and lounge around inside all day.

We bought some food to grill out on the deck a couple of nights. We went swimming in the backyard and enjoyed the summer breeze. We howled at the coyotes too.

We took an evening to drive up to Austin to eat at Contigo Austin. It's an amazing restaurant that one of our long-time family friend's recently opened. It can be defined in three words: Quality. Fresh. Barfood. I could summarize it in one word - AMAZING!

We tasted fried green beans, ox-tail sliders, white bean dip made with goose fat. We had fancy grilled cheese sandwiches, rabbit stew, homemade pigs-n-a-blanket and homemade ice cream! The ambience is amazing; I'm so jealous of all of my Austin friends who have a new, cool place to get together once the weather cools off.

Mattie tagged along for the fun!

The trip was well worth it as we got a chance to catch up with our friend/owner Ben and taste some delicious food. We'll definitely be back!

Another fun part was getting to see Mattie's nursery. I had a friend make her a wall painting to match the material Erin picked out for her room. It turned out perfect and everyone was really pleased with it.

The rest of the trip was filled with shopping at La Cantera, eating (we did a lot of that), and relaxing at Matthew & Erin's house. We found land for my parents to build their next home. I anticipate the next few trips to SA will be full of looking at house plans,

watching them build and eventually moving them into their home. I was also able to bring home the furniture I used all growing up. We are using it in our guest bedroom upstairs and it looks phenomenal! I also found a few other treasures that will be stored in our attic until I can determine what I really want to do with them.

We took the big, black, Barkley dog with us and she did great! She didn't have one accident inside the house for the whole week

It was so fun to spend time with family. That was the longest we have ever spent with our family since we got married. It was so relaxing and so fun to be a part of their lives down there. We got to interact with Easton and Mattie a ton and I left feeling like they will actually know who I am, even though I don't live there and get to see them everyday. I'm looking forward to my parents being significantly closer b/c it will make it so much easier for us when we come to visit. All in all, it was a fun trip and a great "stay" cation!

A few observations.

2011-07-13T15:28:00.004-05:00

I don't think you could have missed the fact that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in North America over the past two weeks. Between all of the press coverage and my slight obsessive interest in them, I made a few observations ...
1. I love how I never saw Kate wear a watch. It made me feel like time wasn't an issue to her. While it's not something I could get away with, I enjoyed the simplicity in her accessorizing. Less was more for her on this trip and I think it worked.

2. I enjoyed her small clutches over the ginormously bulky bags that so many celebrities carry these days. One day they will inevitably ruin their posture and seriously, is there really anything in those bags? With a clutch, you are forced to decide what is truly important. I like the idea of only taking the necessities.

3. Does she wear panty hose or is that the natural sheen of her legs? Thankfully, that question was answered for me today by people magazine. I was ready to buy whatever lotion she used to get the same effect, but I have since discovered that it's panty hose. I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to take that plunge. Supposedly, she is starting a trend; I'll wait and see if I hop on board.
Speaking of trend setting, I am loving the "message" spoken in her trend setting. Simplicity, frugality, modesty, elegance, down-to-earthness. All of these combined have a way of creating a beautiful style in my opinion. I think it's important that women see that you can be modest, classy and elegant and still have style and express yourself. I realize that some of her fashion sense is probably influenced by her status as a royal family member and therefore she must follow clothing protocol, but part of me believes that even though she has hit celebrity status, she is still down to earth and relatable. I digress ...

4. Please note her cream shoes. I LOVE how Kate re-wears her clothing. Magazines use the fancy term that Kate "re-purposes" her outfits, but give-me-a-break. This girl is not afraid to re-wear things she has already worn (even from seasons and seasons ago, GASP) which makes me feel like I can totally relate to her. She is making normal, cool :)

Case in point: this is the cream dress she wore in her engagement picture. While one magazine claims she "repurposed" it, all I see is that she changed shoes and added a hat. Heck, even I can do that!

5. Yes, she even re-wore earrings that she has had for at least 2-3 years. Again, I love the simplicity and the daintiness of them and her willingness to "buck the system" and re-wear. Maybe it's a conscious move to show that she is aware of the current economic status andthe importance of frugality or maybe it is just who she really is deep inside? I choose to believe the latter.

6. Hear she is wearing her nude shoes again. This little jaunt of hers was a good lesson for me to see how one can pack "lightly" for a trip. She wore mostly navy and cream outfits with a few pops of color. She re-wore these cream shoes and another pair of navy pumps for the majority of her trip. It helped to show me that it is possible to pack lightly, but still have variations in your clothing.

7. They must not be germ-aphobic because the majority of pictures show them shaking hands with people. I have to use hand sanitizer after merely looking at the pictures so I can't even imagine what it must be like to actually shake the hands of people they don't know (and have no idea what they touched prior).

8. I like that they don't wear sunglasses. I know that's weird, but it is annoying to me how so many celebrities wear sunglasses when they don't need them. I get that William & Kate are foremost royalty and not celebrities, but I just can't help but compare them to celebrities and appreciate the (positive) differences between them.

My two major take-aways from Catherine's influence and recent visit:

1. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

2. Elegance, class and poise are very attractive.

She's back & bigger & better than ever!

2011-07-13T15:02:00.003-05:00

She started out like this.

...

She wound up like this!
We have back in our possession one big, black Barkley dog :)

She's potty trained, slightly calmer and as sweet as can be! TC doesn't quite like the new addition, but we're all settling into our roles, helping Barkley to feel like part of the family again.

Lake Weekends

2011-07-13T14:44:00.002-05:00

This summer is the first summer that Grayson and I have really been able to get away and head down to enjoy Caney Lake. We went four weekends in a row during June! That is seriously a record for us and something we intend to continue once Kathy & Chuck officially move out there. The first weekend we had fantastic company when Winston's girlfriend Maddie and her sister Colleen came into town. We tubed and tubed and tubed some more. My neck hasn't been that sore in probably two years ... totally worth it!

At first, playing it safe.
Then later, showing off and basically dominating the water. We were always conscious and on the lookout for alligators though.
Thurston and Grayson went double as well.

Chatting while we waited for dinner. I'm sure we were also ttempting to recover from tubing.

The next weekend, we got to host The Museum who happened to be playing at a camp in Ruston. We squeezed in as much fun as possible in 3.5 hours. The other two lake weekends were spent tanning & floating with family in town. It has been so great to be back out on the water as it brings back so many childhood memories of my time spent on Lake LBJ. I haven't attempted to ski yet for fear that I may have lost some of my "technique". One of these weekends I'm planning to get out there and see if I can even get up anymore! I'm sure we'll make a few more appearances on Caney throughout the summer, but we are most looking forward to sending Madalyn off with a bang at her going away party at the end of the summer. More to come on that event I'm sure!

Grayson's Test/Ashley's Vacation

2011-07-13T14:35:00.002-05:00

Grayson's big exam that he had been preparing for during the last "year" (ie: four months) came and went. We headed down to New Orleans the first weekend of June for him to sit for level two of the CFA. He was a trooper and really set his mind to focusing and preparing for his exam while I made full use of Winston's amazing apartment and all of its amenities. While Grayson was busy reviewing formulas and ethic laws, I was busy enjoying a couple of nice, long workouts, laying by the pool and reading a book! We ordered pizza from Reginelli's and I watched tv and went window shopping. It really was a great vacation ... for me.

Grayson on the other hand, was not nervous necessarily, but definitely pre-occupied. The only other time I've seen him behave so strangely was on the day that he proposed to me. Stuff like not being able to drive or respond to sentences normally, all because his brain was focused on something else. In this case, he was focused on retaining everything for the exam.

When he finished we decided to celebrate! And by celebrate I mean eat dinner at the Harrah's buffet, walk around Bourbon Street and wind up fast asleep by 11pm (so much for celebrating)! We get the results at the end of July and are hopeful that he passed. Either way, he did excellent in my book and I couldn't be more proud. I fully intend to cook him a fancy meal which I'll probably blog about since it will probably be interesting. Stay tuned!

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-07-13T14:05:00.003-05:00

I know I'm behind with my updates, but better late than never :)

With Grayson busy studying for his exam at the end of May, I decided to get out of his hair and head down to San Antonio for a quick visit with my family. Working at Tech is fantastic because I get to enjoy numerous holidays, including Memorial Day. I took a four day weekend and spent lots of quality time with everyone, doing lots of fun and exciting things.

Johnny P, my mom, me, Erin & baby Pedroza, Easton making a silly face and Meho @ Pedernales Cellar

We decided to spend our first day touring Fredericksburg. I was so happy that my brother was able to take off work to be with us. His schedule can get really crazy around holidays and so the fact that we all got to be together made the day fantastic for me. We first did some window shopping in downtown Fredericksburg. We would have stayed longer, except that it was SO HOT!!! No major purchases led us to our next stop to taste some wine grown in the Fredericksburg hill country. Even though it was hot, we had a blast and laughed a ton!!!

Easton and Erin were the DD's that day.

Matthew, Mom, Dad and Madalyn about to embibe

Our first vineyard was Pedernales Cellars where we managed to embarrass my brother royally by making sour faces, sticking out our tongues and saying "ew, that's gross". Matthew quickly informed us that the proper way to respond to foul tasting wine is to say, "Hmm ... that doesn't quite compliment my pallet." He is a professional after is ONE trip to Napa Valley last year. Oops! Lesson learned. Next we headed to Torre di Pietra to taste some more vino.

Once we were finished sampling at the last vineyard, we decided it was just too hot for wine so we opted for peach bellini's (seen above). Fredericksburg is also widely known for their peaches which made this drink extremely fresh and cool. It helped to ward off the 100+ temps. We have since decided that we want to take a real trip out to Napa Valley, especially now that we are really good at our wine etiquette.
We concluded the day's festivities with dinner at a local restaurant. Easton was into an "accessories" phase at that time and wanted to wear all of my and Erin's bracelets. Below you can see he is also currently enjoying hair clips. If he wasn't "all boy" all of the other times, we might be a tad worried ;)
Another part of the trip that I enjoyed was shopping at the outlet mall in Round Rock. I had been saving my money from the past three or four months and was relieved to find that I was able to purchase everything that had been on my list at a discounted price :) I got to see Madalyn's new apartment as she will be working/living in San Antonio this fall. She tagged around with us for the weekend which made it feel like I brought some of Louisiana home with me. The rest of the time we mostly ate Mexican food and finished packing boxes at my parent's house in an attempt to get it looking good to sell. The trip was much too fast and made me look forward to visiting again once Baby Girl Pedroza is born!

Our newest pastime.

2011-05-19T15:05:00.002-05:00

Question ... is it "passtime" or "past time"? Hmm ...

Regardless, Redbox is our new favorite hobby! We have three redboxes in Ruston in two different locations. My sister-in-law told me about the redbox app and so I downloaded it so we always know exactly where we will go to rent our movie for the evening. Just yesterday, I decided to pick up two movies to watch last night! Why not, right?

If you haven't jumped on this bandwagon, then you definitely should! For only $1.09/night you get to rent a movie and have a full evening of entertaining for cheap-ola! And sometimes they offer "specials". Like last night I got buy one, get one half off! If you don't have a problem waiting a little longer for the movies to get to the rental stage, then this is the hobby for you!

I rented "Black Swan" and "How Do You Know?" since I thought it was gonna be a girly night with Grayson out of the house studying. Well, Black Swan was horrible. I couldn't even make it 45 minutes into that movie so I stopped it and took it out. I didn't feel bad at all b/c seriously, what's 75 cents in the long run? Then Grayson surprised me and came home and so we had an impromptu date night including a romantic dinner of Taco Bell (another cheap option) and a girly rom-com. It was great and I recommend HDYK w/ Reese Witherspoon.

Anyways, if you have the time to watch movies, which apparently we do, I recommend this route for your entertainment!

Madalyn Graduates!

2011-05-17T11:44:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we all headed to Shreveport to celebrate Madalyn's graduation from Centennary. We attended a cocktail party for her Friday evening and got to hang out with her and some of her besties that evening. Here's all of the fam that made it that evening.

Natalee was able to come, but unfortunately due to the floods in south Louisiana, her husband Dax had to stay home and help his parent's at their camp. We are hoping their camp isn't hurt too badly by the floods. It gave us a good excuse for some sisterly bonding time tho!We headed to Guiseppe's afterward to catch up and hang out with Madalyn and her friends. It's been so fun to get to know them and have them come to Ruston and hang out. Madalyn getting ready to walk. She had a gold fleur-de-lis on her mortarboard and "Who Dat". It was awesome!

All of her fans outside after the graduation. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. The weather was perfect!

We then continued the celebrations by having a relaxing lunch at Grayson's favorite restaurant, Cantino Laredo, and then we were able to squeeze in some shopping before heading back to Ruston. We enjoyed getting to spend time with the family and celebrate Madalyn's graduation. She'll work for the same company that Grayson worked for when he graduated and has the summer to recuperate before heading to work next fall.

We are stretching out the celebrations as much as possible with a lake day this weekend and then one last hurrah next Labor Day before she moves away "for good". We had a blast celebrating her and her accomplishment and all the hard work she has put in over the last four years!

What Happened in April ...

2011-05-04T08:36:00.004-05:00

Apparently the month of April slipped away from me and I didn't blog anything! I've included pictures to summarize the happenings during the month of April ...

1. I attended the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference in Atlanta with these 13 lovely ladies. This is the group of young women that I have the pleasure of working with as Panhellenic Advisor. We had an awesome time in Atlanta; we listened to lots of speakers, we got a ton of great ideas to bring back to campus and we had fun shopping, eating and bonding. They make my job so easy, super fun and they help me to stay "trendy" which is a super plus!

2. We conducted Gamma Chi interviews this month and chose the 12 women who will serve as mentors, counselors and guides to the 200 incoming women we expect during recruitment next fall. It is an honor to be chosen for this role as you have to disaffiliate from your chapter in order to guide the young women through the (sometimes) stressful week of recruitment. We've been meeting frequently to train them and get them ready for their role next fall! We're looking forward to doing a ropes course with both groups sometime soon.

3. We celebrated this cutie's 1st birthday. The morning of her party I was also able to help judge Tech's cheerleading tryouts again. It's so much fun to be a part of so many things that I loved when I was in college (cheering, sorority life, etc ...) My job is so fun sometimes!!! Anyways, we celebrated A's 1st birthday and had our induction into the world of little kid's parties. It was so much fun watching the organized chaos! Later that night we celebrated her momma's 30th birthday at Portico. We shut the place down which hasn't happened for us in a long time, proving just how much fun we had with the Costanza's and Wood's!4. We celebrated Easter and the resurrection! Enough said.
5. Our book club went to watch Water for Elephants in the theatre. We read this book last summer and we all loved it so we decided to go together to watch the movie. We loved the movie and thought it did a pretty good job depicting what was in the book. We don't plan this, but it seems like many of the books we read in Book Club are being turned into movies lately. We read The Help and that's coming out this summer; there are two other books on our list that are currently being made into movies also. Needless to say, Book Club is a perfect excuse for us to get away and have numerous "girl nights".

6. Last, but definitely NOT least, I spent the majority of the month being obsessed with the Royal Wedding. I scoured almost every news site before the wedding to make sure I was up to speed and then, yes, I even woke up at 3am to watch the wedding LIVE! Some people thought I was crazy, but who cares? I was able to bounce around to various tv stations to capture the full story. I love that one day I'll be able to say that I woke up at 3am to watch. In regards to the whole event, I was not disappointed. I loved everything about it! KM seems super classy and I really feel like I can identify with her "fashion sense". I had so much fun watching the wedding, listening to the commentary on the fashion and the future life of Wills & Kate. That was definitely a highlight to end the month.

May is now upon us in FULL force! It's only May 4th and we've already: had church in the park, enjoyed getting together with our Supper Club, celebrated the end of the school year with my annual work dinner party, and met for Book Club! I'm looking forward to doing something fun for Cinco de Mayo, we celebrate my sister-in-law's graduation from college this weekend, we have the Panhellenic end of year dinner in a few weeks, the Bachelorette is going to start up soon and I'm planning to squeeze in a trip to San Antonio too ... phew!!! I'll try to take pics to document all the fun going on in our lives lately!!! And I'll try to be faster this time :)

What I would be ...

2011-03-22T14:36:00.002-05:00

If I was a month, I would be ... October.

If I was a day of the week, I would be ... Friday.

If I was a time of day, I would be ... 10:00am.

If I was a liquid, I would be ... a Diet Dr. Pepper.

If I was a gemstone, I would be ... a chocolate diamond.

If I was an element, I would be ... Au (gold).

If I was a musical instrument, I would be ... a violin.

If I was a piece of furniture, I would be ... an overstuffed chair w/ an ottoman.

If I was a place, I would be ... a beach.

If I was a fruit, I would be ... a mango.

If I was a tool, I would be ... a hammer.

If I was a planet, I would be ... Mercury.

If I was a sea animal, I would be ... a dolphin.

If I was a flower, I would be ... a mountain laurel bloom.

If I was a kind of weather, I would be ... windy.

If I was a direction, I would be ... south.

If I was a car, I would be ... a mustang.

If I was a food, I would be ... chocolate.

If I was a scent, I would be ... vanilla.

If I was a sound, I would be ... a whisper.

If I was a tree, I would be ... an oak.
If I was a material, I would be ... matelasse.

If I was a color, I would be ... olive green.

If I was an emotion, I would be ... passion.

If I was a taste, I would be ... sugared.

Let the Games Begin!

2011-03-21T13:05:00.002-05:00

Greek Week 2011 is upon us!

Yesterday marked the first day of Greek Week with Greek Sunday & a lunch hosted by First Baptist Ruston. Today we hosted the hot dog eating contest. Something, I quickly learned, that contestants actually research and practice for!!!

How many hotdogs could you eat in 3 minutes?

These contestants did awesome. The winner for the girls ate 6 hot dogs!

IFC did just as good getting a four-way tie for 6 dogs eaten also!

I'm looking forward to the Lip Sync contest tonight! This is when being Panhellenic Advisor is so fun! Can you believe attending this event is actually a part of my job? I'm so lucky a) to have this position and b) that I didn't have to stuff my face eating :)

The Finale

2011-03-15T08:30:00.007-05:00

Where do I even begin? Probably by admitting that I am tired, emotionally that is. Yesterday was an emotional roller coster for me. I was full of so much anticipation waiting for last night's show to finally air, then when I realized Brad would propose to Emily I was filled with so much excitement only to immediately feel disappointed in the fact that Emily was a) not wearing her engagement ring and b) slightly cold and distant toward Brad during the ATFR show. Then I felt embarrassed and hurt for Brad b/c he obviously loves this girl and you can tell she isn't completely sold on him yet. It just broke my heart. Then, finally, I felt relieved to find out that the next Bachelorette will be Ashley H. Not that I was rooting for her or anything, I just wasn't sure I could handle another season of Ashley S.'s crying. So, hopefully you can see why I am feeling so drained today.
I thought the finale was pretty good. I hope that Chantal will get some closure after watching the last episode. Did anyone else catch the fact that Brad never once initiated a kiss with her during their last few days together? It was pretty telling to those of us viewing from home, but obviously tough for her to pick up on during the show. I also hope that Emily cuts Brad some slack when she watches b/c you can completely tell that he was avoiding PDA's with Chantal. We first noticed this when Chantal met the fam. Brad wasn't affectionate with her while she was talking to his family, he kept fidgeting with his hands and didn't really reassure her at all. He basically "threw her to the wolves" compared to the cottling and reassuring he did for Emily during the same date. We thought it was neat because Brad knew that opening up is tough for Emily, but he also knew how important it was that she make a strong impression on his family so he did everything he could to make her feel comfortable so she would be more willing to open up and connect with his family. I think that approach worked well for him.

Can anyone say tearjerker though? I swear Grayson's eyes welled with tears during the family dinner when she brought up the accident, her daughter etc ... We noticed that Brad was extremely protective of her, often times making himself the target of an uncomfortable moment in order to shield Emily from experiencing it herself. The way Brad's brother Chad described Emily as "poised" was spot-on. I've been looking for the right word to describe her and that is it. I loved how he said there is a difference between being shy and being poised; I was glad he identified that trait about her.

We were thrilled to find out that Brad would propose to Emily, but not so thrilled to see Chantal hurt in the process. I was also less than thrilled at the outfit choices that both women chose for the ceremony. I think they have both done better in the wardrobe and hair departments this season. Anyways, I was on cloud nine after the proposal ... only to come crashing down while watching the ATFR ceremony. All along I've been saying that it concerns me that we haven't heard Emily & Brad talk about moving to Austin and she confirmed my fears last night. I'm glad to see that they are a "real" couple and are having to work out some of their differences, but I felt sooooo bad for Brad. It's like he finally took a leap of faith and put his trust in this woman only to have her retract and possibly sabatoge something good. I think last night's ATFR made me the most uncomfortable I've been all season. Just watching Brad sit there and have to listen to Emily talk about his temper, how she wouldn't move to Austin right then and then give a long and drawn out response to the question of whether or not she will marry him, broke my heart. It was horribly uncomfortable!!! I thought he took it like a man though and just goes to show how much he loves her. It's going to take some fighting to convince her that he cares for her, but hopefully now that the show is done they can get settled into being in a "real" relationship.

Also, I thought it was interesting that she took offense to being portrayed as boring on the show. I don't know if she made that diagnosis herself or maybe has been reading some blogs, but it was interesting to hear her address that issue. Also, did anyone else notice the group therapy that was going on on-stage? It was like a support group right there before our eyes. Way to go ABC. They are doing everything in their power to make sure that these relationships last! I don't know why I get so involved in these shows and these people's relationships, but I do. I really hope it works out for Brad this time. I feel like he gave it his all this time and really put himself out there, so I hope he gets a good reward in the end.

And now, I begin the countdown until May 23rd when Ashley H. begins her season of the Bachelorette!

Quick Recap

2011-03-09T11:19:00.002-06:00

1. Brad said "Mercy" alot during The Women Tell All episdoe. Southern ladies say mercy fairly often. Hopefully he's been hanging around Emily too long that he's picking up her slang now.

2. Did anyone else think they were setting Ashley H. up to possibly be the next Bachelorette?

3. Who was Jackie? Where did all of that anger and meanness come from?

4. Chantal O's dress for next week? Really?

5. It better be Emily, but I'm not holding my breath.

29 is gonna be fine!

2011-03-07T12:53:00.004-06:00

I have officially started my last year as a twenty-something and you know what? I'm pretty excited about it. Birthdays aren't really a huge deal for me, but I felt extremely loved and celebrated (like always) on this 29th birthday.

I started the celebration a little early with my work crew. A lady at work who drew my name made the best cherry pie-cake thingy. It was delicious. She also got me the new Francine River's book "My Daughter's Dream" that I'm dying to start reading. Then we went to one of my most favorite restaurants in town that I often forget about, Hot Rods. The best bar-b-que in town, IMO. We stuffed ourselves there and then headed back for a relaxing afternoon at work. All of that and it was still one day before my birthday!!!

When I got home, I was feeling up to a run (random, I know), so assuming Grayson and I wouldn't be doing anything that evening I headed out for a 5 miler! Unbeknownst to me, Grayson had planned for us to eat a nice dinner out that evening and my desire to exercise almost messed up those plans! We were still able to go to RAW in town and had a lovely dinner as we watched the sushi makers work hard to prep everyone's sushi orders. It was a low-key night, but we both very much enjoyed our meals. We attempted to watch "Alice in Wonderland", but both fell asleep by 10:30!

All along we had planned to head to Shreveport on Saturday to go shopping and eat abirthday meal out (is anyone else noticing a theme that all I did to celebrate my bday was eat?). The weather almost deturred me from going shopping b/c it was pouring down rain with a cool front pushing through. But, we determined to be hard core shoppers and we braved the storm. I took my personal shopper with me (ie: Grayson) and off we went. We made a full day of it and now my closet is appropriately stocked with work clothes and a few "fun" clothes for the weekends. On a side note, if anyone is interested in doing a multi-family garage sale this spring, I'm in. After sorting through clothes in my closet I'm about ready to sell a few items. Back to Saturday though, we ate at Macaronni Grill, another of my favorites and I introduced Grayson to the lemon passion dessert. Typically I am a chocolate lover, but every time I go there (often to celebrate my birthday) I always always always get the lemon passion cake. It is phenomenal ... try it.

Then on Sunday, my birthday "hangover" came to a crashing halt. I was brought back to reality by the fact that our house looked like a disaster zone that we could no longer function in. What set me off to this fact was when I saw Grayson picking up clothes and attempting to tidy. You know your house is in bad shape when your husband starts cleaning! Whoops! So ... I set to work on my household duties while Grayson went to the bank to get ready for work this week. I worked from early until late and now our house is CLEAN!!! I don't know why I always do that? It would make more sense to clean a little each day, but instead I spend about 6-7 hours in one day cleaning everything and then wait a while to do it again. Whatever, it works!

Tonight I am going to dinner with some of my best girl friends in Ruston at Ronin Hibachi grill. I am so excited about this b/c it's a fantastic group of girls who I've come to love and really cherish. After dinner a few of us are of course, going to watch The Bachelor and then make our predictions for next week. So really, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend than the one I got! Here's to my last year as a twenty-something and hopefully making it a great year!!!

So many Bachelor questions.

2011-03-01T09:06:00.008-06:00

Oh My Gosh! Did you love last night's episode as much as we did? I think last night was one of my favorite episodes thus far in Bachelor history. Well, not so much the entire episode, just the part where Brad broke every Bachelor rule and flat out told Emily that he was falling in love with her! We re-wound that part three times because we loved it so much. You can't write stuff like that people!

Onto the questions that were posed in our household last night ...

1: Do you think Brad picks out his clothing for this season or do you feel like he received help from an ABC intern? The reason we questioned this is because Brad doesn't really seem like a "cabby hat" sort of guy, yet he blatantly packed the black cabby to take with him to S. Africa. Weird? We thought so too.

2: Didn't you love that green jungle shirt on Chan-tell? Do you think I should get a shirt like that? We were thinking that her hair coloring is very similar to mine so if the shirt color looked good on her, maybe it would work on me. I don't wear green that often, but after last night's episode I think I may start.

3: Did you notice the slightly unflattering way the aforementioned green shirt showed only part of Chan-tell's midriff? Particularly, the side part that was semi hanging over her shorts? That's horrible to mention, I know, but the question was posed. The answer in our house was yes, we both noticed it.
3b: A long, flowy, multi-colored dress? Really, Chan-tell?

4: Did you feel that Chan-tell alluded to doing more than talking on the overnight date? Did you also think it was in poor taste?

5: A tree house, in the middle of the safari jungle with only a bed and a mosquito net? Seriously? Aren't they worried about catching malaria or some other weird jungle disease?

6: Do you think Emily's teeth are real? If so, aren't they beautiful? If not, give me the # of her dentist!

7: Do you think Emily already had those perfect tall, brown jungle boots or did she just happen to have time to go shopping for that perfect outfit prior to this trip? How is it possible that she looked so perfect out in the jungle? I want her style.

8: Did you notice how Brad initiated physical touch more with Emily than with any other girl? We particularly liked seeing those simple displays of affection as how we are now Team Emily!

9: Emily won best dressed last night, hands down. That's not a question, just a statement.

10: Do you agree that Emily handled the overnight date card invitation in a classy manner? We particularly loved how she set the expectations for the evening and how she communicated her intentions about the overnight date so no one would be confused. We also particularly loved Brad's face upon learning she would take him up on his offer. And yes, we paused the tv on his face just to read his non-verbal cues.

11. Do you have so much respect for Brad after he broke the rules and told Emily he was falling in love with her? We do. Here's our analysis of that decision ... last time Brad was on this show, he didn't wind up finding love. This time around, he is putting himself out there, he's getting constant therapy so he can make a connection and knowing how fragile these girls are, he decided it was better to reassure Emily that he cares for her in order to keep her invested in the process, rather than follow the rules and risk ending up with nothing. We think it's in his best interest to end up with a relationship at the end of this, rather than follow the rules. Way to go, Brad!

12. Did you also know that Ashley's date was going to be a major-bust after the phenomenal date with Emily? We had no clue who was getting sent home last night until the end of Emily's date. That's when we knew Ashley was a goner.

13. Did you find it odd that when he asked her where she wants to live she never even mentioned Texas, Austin or the south? Come on Ashley, you gotta get in the game!

14. Is anyone else concerned that we haven't seen the conversation between Brad and Emily about Brad wanting to live in Austin? Does this make anyone else a little nervous?

15. Why did Brad take all the responsibility for the poor communication between Ashley and him last night? He wasn't the one communicating poorly. She just wasn't being clear ... at all! We had to pause the show numerous times on that date in order to try and comprehend what was going on and we still had no clue! In Grayson's words, "That date was a hot mess!"

16. Did you know that when he pulled Ashley aside during the rose ceremony that he was gonna give her the boot? I didn't. I really thought he might give her another shot, but Grayson called it right away and he was right. I was still holding out hope that Ashley would redeem herself, until Ashley made the statement, "Just do what's best for you". That's when I knew she had retracted too far! You could read the frustration on Brad's face. I think he made a good decision in letting her go.

17. And last and most important .... Who in the world is Brad going to propose to? We are majorly Team Emily and really want her and Brad to work out. We are hoping that ABC is throwing us major edits and trying to throw us for a loop with the whole "Brad crying while he is hugging Emily" scene. I hate next week's episode where the women tell all, but we'll watch it regardless.

So ... that was a small introduction into the Allen household on Monday nights. We are weird, really really weird. I suppose these are the sort of questions you get when you take a counselor/speech communication major and sit her next to a detail oriented, logical man watching a cheezy, semi-fabricated reality tv show. These are the things we think and discuss weekly and I'm hoping we're not alone in it!

KC & Claire's Wedding

2011-03-01T08:51:00.002-06:00

This past weekend we were able to celebrate as Grayson's cousin, KC, married Claire. It was a beautiful, intimate wedding at a chapel in town, followed by a huge reception with delicious food and a great band! Claire's dress was absolutely gorgeous and she wore a stunning rhintestone headband that completed her outfit perfectly.The "cousins photo" tradition began with the first wedding, or so I'm told. All 16 cousins would gather around the bride & groom for a family photo after the wedding. Now that the cousins are busy getting married and the family is growing rapidly, the tradition has expanded to include cousins + spouses + kiddos. We were missing a few favorites in this photo, but were happy to have this many attend.

Winston came in from dental school and Madalyn scooted over from Shreveport in the midst of mid-terms. They are a good-looking bunch, don't you think?

We got a sibling photo since they were all dressed up and looking so good. Can you say, "Mother's Day gift"? I think so!
On a side note, the past two weddings Madalyn and Natalee have worn the exact same color dress without any prior planning. It's so funny that even though they haven't lived together in 10 years they still think alike.

Then we got a picture of the married folk.

It's always so fun hanging out with Natalee and Dax!

More of the cousins taking a break from dancing to pose for a pic.

And then this was taken at the end of the night, after the band finished playing and the decorations had been taken down. My dress had pockets, which I loved, so I tried to show them off in this picture, ha!

We always love celebrating the cousins and their spouses as they get married. We are excited for Claire to enter this crazy family so we can start getting to know her even better. Thankfully we still have approximately eight more weddings in our future and then who knows how many more from there. Here's to looking ahead to more fun nights full of family, love and lots of dancing!!!

Book Club

2011-03-01T08:39:00.003-06:00

Our book for book club this month was Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. The official summary reads, "An epic novel that spans continents and generations, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, compassion and redemption, exile and home that unfolds across five decades in India, Ethiopia, and America."

I'll get to the actual book in a second, but for starters I want to mention that I wasn't even sure I would actually finish this book this month, but happily I did! It was the longest book we've read thus far, totaling 550+ pages. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing, but I'm fairly compusive when it comes to starting and finishing books. For example, I read all of this book within the two week time period allotted to me by the library. I had every intention of keeping it for two cycles, giving me a full month to read the book, but when I realized that the book was on hold, no doubt my another book club member, I felt compelled to finish the book and pass it along. I did get a little help from the weather during February in that I had two ice days and one full holiday to spend at home doing nothing but reading. While it is fun for me to read and I thoroughly enjoy full days of lazing around doing nothing but reading, I'm not sure Grayson feels the same. Our house, groceries and sometimes he is often neglected in order for me to complete a book. But complete this book I did!

I would recommend this book to anyone. It started off a little slow for me, probably because I didn't know any background prior to reading it, but about 1/3 of the way through I finally got into it and was hooked. The summary statement above is completely accurate! There are so many plots going on with such a compelling storyline that you can't help but get immersed. It's also full of medical terminology which was fascinating to me. I'm not the greatest when it comes to understanding literature and being able to break it down so I'm fairly positive that some of the writing was lost on me, but I still was able to appreciate this book and the author and wanted to suggest it to anyone out there who enjoys a good read! Just give yourself a little more than two weeks to read it!

A visit from the folks.

2011-02-21T14:38:00.003-06:00

This weekend we had some out of town visitors. My parents came from San Antonio for a quick weekend retreat. They got into town fairly early on Friday evening so we whipped up a filet for dinner and relaxed in front of the tv. Lately, Grayson and I have been obsessed with the tv show Worst Cooks in America. Haven't seen it? You should have! It made me feel like one of the BEST cooks in America, but that just goes to show how deceptive comparison can be. Anyways, we have been recording this show for the past seven weeks and we knew the finale was coming up on Sunday evening so we decided to have a WSIA marathon to get my parents up to speed. We spent the majority of Friday evening laughing so hard because of this great tv show and its horrible chefs.

Saturday morning came and went b/c we decided to sleep in! Grayson made a great breakfast of grilled pork chops and fried eggs (fruit & yogurt for me and mom, please!) so that we would be full until dinner. We had a busy day planned and knew we would need our sustenance to last. After breakfast, we squeezed in a few more WCIA and then headed to Lowe's to purchase a smoker. Grayson has been wanting one for a while, so we decided this weekend would be a great time to try it out. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we decided to work outside and get it set up. It was way more complicated to put together than you would think.
While Grayson and my dad set that up, I decided to re-organize our laundry room. Doesn't sound very glamorous, but after realizing that I had been keeping all of our cleaning supplies in a highly flammable area, I decided it was time to re-organize. I initially thought we were going to have to purchase storage shelves from Lowe's, but after a little thinking (and searching) I found a stainless rack that I used in college and decided it would work. The laundry room is much more organized now, which makes it much more fun for me!

After getting all that done, we squeezed in a quick workout and another tv show and then we headed to Monroe. The Krewe of Janus parade was that evening and we wanted to make sure we were there for it. We ate dinner at the Warehouse in West Monroe and it was delicious! My parents wanted some "authentic" cajun/Louisiana fare and that was what we came up with. It was no jambalaya or gumbo, but the fish was still tasty. We then walked over to the parade route and waited a little while until the parade came through.

A good photo-op in front of the police car.

We had a bunch of fun catching beads, admiring all the cool floats and listening to the marching bands. It reminded me so much of NIOSA in San Antonio that we decided next time we'll take Grayson to SA so he can see the Mexican version of Mardi Gras.

We headed home and got some rest and on Sunday we headed to the track for some exercise and a good excuse to enjoy the beautiful weather. When we got back home the chicken was just about finished smoking and we were ready for our late lunch/early dinner.
We enjoyed hickory smoked chicken and cheese & jalapeno stuffed venison that Grayson shot earlier this year. We ended the weekend by grabbing some "healthy" yogurt from The Twisted Cow, driving around town looking at pretty homes and then watching the finale of Worst Cooks and then a little laundry in my "new" room. Weekends like this are always so relaxing and surprisingly productive. We typically put enough outings on the agenda to keep us occupied without feeling like we have too many things to accomplish. It was a fun, albeit fast, trip and we're already looking forward to another reunion ... possibly in SA next time! Thanks for the visit Mom & Dad!

Anngwilla or Anjila?

2011-02-15T08:17:00.003-06:00

I promise that once this season of the Bachelor ends, I will begin posting about our lives, real lives of people whom you actually know. But until then, it is too much fun to put all my thoughts down on this blog! For your viewing pleasure, I uploaded some pics from Christmas that I've added to the end of the blog, sort of like a reward for reading my boring thoughts on a television show that you may or may not watch.

* I first off want to recant my original comments on how much I love Chantal O. Each week she seems to get on my nerves more and more. I feel like she is acting like a spoiled brat. Like last night when she broke into tears when Brad didn't give her a rose and then threw a pity-party for herself in front of the others. I get that their emotions are involved at this point and that her feelings were probably hurt, but I just felt disappointed in the way she handled herself. Also, I didn't really like the flower in her hair at the end of the show.

* Speaking of being disappointed, come on ABC! Could you get this show back to a somewhat "family friendly" show again? Maybe not for little kids, but at least show me something I can watch comfortably with my husband. Grayson was covering his eyes for 1/4th of the show last night b/c it was so inappropriate! Ugh...but on a positive note, I'm proud of Brad for looking away during Chantal O's photo shoot! Thattaboy!

* Okay, I know I'm all over the place with my thoughts, but welcome to my brain people! Emily's date was hands down the best one of all last night. I still feel like she is a little boring, or maybe too plastic, or stiff, but then again maybe that's a good compliment to Brad? I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but she doesn't seem "fun or silly or adventurous" like what he said he was looking for in a wife. I do love how she brings out the gentleman in him though. He obviously respects her and for that I respect him. I think he likes her best which is why he broke the show's rules to tell her she was getting a rose this week. That scored him major points with me and Grayson. That was the first time he stood up for what he wanted and we liked it!

* ABC is really throwing me for a loop this season (maybe b/c I haven't read the spoilers for a change). I really liked Emily last night, but to protect my heart from getting disappointed, I'm falling for their storyline that Emily leaves Brad b/c he doesn't mesh with her daughter. Then if she stays I'll be happy, but if she leaves I won't be disappointed. The mind games this show puts you through!!

* SHAWNtel's date is what kept her over Michelle, I think. Unfortunately though, I think she's a goner after next week's visit to Chico. I am a little creeped out that we're going to have to learn so much about funeral homes. I'm with Brad on that one, I do not respond well to death and I don't really want to learn about it next week.

* Poor, poor Britt. I'm really sad for her, but we saw it coming all along. I'm just glad that they didn't make her swim back to shore like they made her swim to the yacht. I thought it was hysterical how Brad kept asking her if she was okay, if she could make it. It was like he didn't think she knew how to swim or would have the stamina to make it. I felt like it was the same conversation he had with the girl from last week, I already forgot her name. The one with in the bat cave on the sinking table. Britt was agreeing with him while he was dumping her; she just didn't quite get it. Poor Britt, way to go Brad! He's finally learning how to put all that therapy and assertiveness to good use!

* The group date ... awkward! All around on all levels, it was awkward. Poor Brad and poor us! A) it was extremely boring, B) we had to cover our eyes for half the date so we didn't get to see much and C) group dates at this point are bound to stir up drama which it did last night. I think Brad really does like Ashley H., but I don't like how he has to fight so hard for her. She is constantly "retracting" to keep from getting hurt, and I'm wondering if she's doing that on the show does she do that in real life? Will Brad always have to reassure her and pull her out of her protective shell? I just think that would get old for Brad in the real world.

* This is a side note from an OCD person. How do you pronounce where they went? "Angwiluh"? That just sounds bad to me. I'm sure it is accurate, but they kept saying it differently and that confused me. Is it Anngwilla or Anjila? IDK.

* We're excited about the hometown dates next week. I'm all over the place with who I like/want Brad to pick. After last night, I really like Emily, but again I'm afraid she'll pull away. Next, I really like Ashley H. According to Grayson, she's been in the middle of the pack this whole time and she is hitting her stride at just the right time. He thinks it might be her. Then third is Chantal O; she needs to pull it back together.

Here's a question, when is the final show? I need to mark it on my calendar ASAP!

Grayson's 30th Birthday: Bunco Game Night!

The dining room set up for a tamale dinner.

The traditional pose in front of the Christmas tree. This marked Christmas #5 for the Allen's

Where do I even Begin?

2011-02-08T08:53:00.002-06:00

I shouldn't allow myself to watch The Bachelor prior to going to bed. I can't even fall asleep because of all the thoughts running through my head after that show. Last night was no different. I wish I had a recorder to capture all of my thoughts b/c I feel they would be much better than what I have to offer to you now.

Nonetheless, I will do my best to capture all the random thoughts I had while viewing last night's episode.

For starters, I typically like to do my nails while watching the show. There's nothing better than freshly painted nails to go with the enjoyment of watching Brad hand out his roses. Last night though, painting my nails was not even an option due to all the squirming, eye closing and cringing that was going on. Was it just me or was there a high amount of awkward moments during last night's show? I want to say it was almost as high as the very first night, and that's saying something! Anyways, between the bats in the dark, claustrophobic cage, Michelle bossing Brad around and telling him how to make decisions and Emily sabotoging this relationship, I never would have been due my nails justice! I was too busy covering my eyes for half the episode.

Okay, so let's jump on in ...
* Costa Rica is cool. The bugs were not! We too went zip-lining while we were in Costa Rica and while the actual zip-lining part was super fun, all the bugs around you, some poisonous, were not. I don't fault any one of those women who freaked out at the sight of bugs. Throwing a glass full of wine at another person, possibly.
* Chantal O. is still my favorite, due to a lack of better options. She was really, and I mean really, getting on my nerves last night. The white button-up Chantal? Seriously? There were still 8 girls left in the running at that point and whipping out the shirt and (I hope) bathing suit bottoms was too soon in my opinion.
* On a side note, this was only Grayson's second episode and he was very confused as to why I kept referring to Chantal as "Chantal O". He made the snide remark that "Chantal is not that common of a name, I really don't think you need to use her last initial." Al contrare, G-money. This season we have Chantal AND Shawntel. Only on the Bachelor!
* Where is the Chantal O. that was under the canopy beachside? I liked her, not this other annoying, drama stirring person.

* On that note, I think the producers told Michelle to go up to Brad's room and then they told Chantal (O.) what had happened which made her so adamant to figure out "who said something to Brad about not giving out a rose". At least that's what I'm telling myself b/c she was soooo annoying during that part of the show. I'm in denial that she could really be that catty. Who cares about who gave Brad flack? I didn't and sure didn't want to see her try to draw it out.
* Props to Michelle for confessing though. I personally liked her confident reply of "I'm not going to apologize" in the face of all those judgmental stares.

* The group date was cool, again Michelle was annoying as all get out! She went from one emotion to the next in no time flat. I really hope Brad sees the light sometime soon.

* Surely, Brad didn't send Jackie home b/c of her low-blow about showing special attention to Michelle? I can't see how he sent her home and kept Brit. Anyone else with me on that one? Granted, he hadn't been out with Jackie in a while so I can see where the spark may have dwindled, but I just don't get the Brit thing.
* Actually, I do. My guess is that he'll take Brit on a 1-1 next week, which will make perfect sense b/c she hasn't had one yet, but then he'll go ahead and send her home. Kind of anti-climactic for Brit, poor thing.

* Alli's date was another awkward moment on numerous levels. There would have been no way anyone would have gotten me to crawl into that cave. A) I would probably have gotten claustrophic and B) did you see all those bats? For those of you that know me, know how deathly afraid of birds I am. That would have been my date for this season, hands down. The producers would have made me conquer my fear of birds by forcing me into a cave full of them. Gross, makes me cringe even now.
* I digresse ... We felt so sorry for Allie b/c Brad was probably about halfway through the dumping portion of the evening and she had no clue! She kept saying how she agreed with him and felt so comfortable with him which is why I believe he opted to be "direct" with her. Obviously, she wasn't catching what he was throwing so he had to go for the straight forward approach. It worked. She was a sweet girl, but again I was surprised she was still around this long.

* Poor, poor Emily! While I do believe that the producers are editing and splicing scenes to give us the impression that she totally pushes Brad away next week, I do think that she won't be in the final two b/c of her tendency to "sabatoge" (sing it like Taylor Swift). Brad's whole thing last night was that he wanted to see how adventurous the women could be, and I kept trying to read her face on the group date and all I saw were signs of boredom, ie: not very adventurous. I think Brad wants to like her so much, but in the end I don't see it happening.

* My guess for the final two are Ashley H. and Chantal O. We'll see. I'm looking forward to next week's episode and I hope you are too!

Bachelor Brad Update

2011-01-25T08:52:00.002-06:00

Sorry for all words and no pictures. I hate those kind of posts whenever I'm blog-stalking, but there's just no time this morning.

So, typically Grayson and I enjoy watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette series together, but with him studying so much right now it's been a solo-series for me. This is fine, but it sure makes processing and analzying all of my thoughts very difficult, therefore I've resorted to the blog method. I'm sorry for anyone who doesn't watch this show b/c this post will be very boring to you. On a side note, you really should start watching it!

I'm gonna go with the ole'trusty brain dump/ping-pong method since I'm already like 5 episodes behind:

* Why is the driveway of the mansion always wet? That is weird to me.

* I hated Chantal O's first impression on Brad. Slapping a guy when you first meet him? Seriously? Apparently, it didn't hurt b/c she has come a long way, but I really didn't like that about her at first. She is growing on me though, especially after last night's episode. Didn't you think that Brad truly seemed comfortable with her? I like how she calls him out and isn't intimidated by him. I think she may go farther than I originally thought and I'm okay with that.

* I loved, loved, loved Emily on the very first night. She is a beautiful, charming, Southern gal ... most things you would think Brad would want in a wife. She has a compelling story that makes it impossible to dislike her too. In saying all of this, while she initially was my front-runner, something about the previews they showed on the very first night has really caused me to put up my guard (ha, in Ashley H's words: I'm retracting). The producers made it seem like Emily is the one Brad falls in love with, only to have her say she can't handle this and then leave. Part of me thinks the producers are just psyching us out with misleading previews, but the other logical part thinks maybe she does leave? Especially after the previews for next week's episode when ABC pushes the limits.

* How low can ABC go for ratings? It's like they have this sheet that they make every girl in the house fill out. A sheet called: "Tell me all your deepest, darkest secrets and fears so that we can make them come true on national tv". Having Ashley S.'s special song that she shared with her deceased father sung by Seal? Making Michelle face her fear of heights by scaling a ginormous hotel wall? And now they've really stuck it to Emily. First, they make her board a plane knowing that her fiance passed away on one and next week they take her to a race car track? Not coincidence people! Sometimes I think this show goes a tad too far for ratings, but I digress.

* Michelle is crazy and needs to get the boot. I do think she knows sign language though and probably uses it often b/c why else would she be so descriptive when talking about fireworks, crazy people etc ...? Her hand motions are really distracting, along with everything else about her that I don't really like.

* Ashley H the dentist was another first-night fave, but after last night I don't know that she has the emotional capacity required. It seems like Brad is really into her, but if she remains proud and elusive, it's not gonna work. Also, isn't retracting a dentist term? Weird choice of words to describe her emotions, but whatever.

* I have never heard of Dr. who-ever from the radio show they were on last night. I don't think half of the women there had either.

* I love how Brad has his own therapist on this show. It's like ABC is doing everything in their power to make sure he finds a connection and actually chooses a girl this time around. I liked the therapist right up until he basically told Brad to go ahead and make-out with every girl there in order to "fully explore the relationships". Icky ...

* I now have my most favorite line ever from the Bachelor. It was last week when Brad was talking to Madison. As she was removing her fangs (thankfully I was able to find out of they were real or not before she left the show) and Brad says, and I quote, "You don't have to take off your fangs. I like your fangs." Seriously? It doesn't get better than that!

Meant to Be?

2011-01-03T14:01:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty sure Grayson and I are meant to be. Basically, b/c we are both sort of dorky. Like I mentioned before, we started Power 90 again which means waking up way earlier than what we are typically used to. In an attempt to make sure we really did get up this morning, we set both of our alarms.

This morning when they went off we were surprised to see that not only did we set them for the same time (ok, that's not that surprising), but then we saw that we labeled the alarm the exact same title, and we chose the same exact ring tone. What tone you ask? The motorcycle revving its' engine ... why? I have no idea, but it made us laugh that we both chose that random tone to wake us up.

In case you're wondering, it worked. We were up and at 'em at 5:50am on the dot!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T13:50:00.002-06:00

As a follow-up to my previous post, I thought I would write about all that we are looking forward to during 2011. It may not be much, but it's worth sharing nonetheless.

* The Bachelor. It starts tonight. We've had it on our calendar for months. We have a party planned to mark this major event. I am printing sheets for everyone to make their predictions. We are obsessed.

* Lots of fun supper club get togethers with friends where we will enjoy cooking one item and yet eating an entire meal.

* I will experience my first Mardi Gras. I will see if it compares to Fiesta in San Antonio.

* Grayson will begin studying for and will sit for the CFA level 2 ... Lord, help me!

* I will attempt to improve my cooking skills. Not so much what it tastes like, more the act of actually doing it.

* Baby Pedroza #2 will make his/her appearance in late July. Meaning, Meho and Erin will be parents again and we get to be an aunt/uncle again! YAY!

* We will hopefully take a short, relaxing vacation somewhere close.

* We will start Power 90 again and get in beach-body condition!

That doesn't sound very exciting at this point and now I'm sort of wishing I wouldn't have done this post, but oh well. I know neat adventures will pop up around every corner and we are very excited to start enjoying the ride!

Merry Christmas from the Allen's

2011-01-03T13:15:00.005-06:00

In lieu of sending a Christmas card out this year, I've opted for "A Year in the Life of the Allen's" blog update. This is efficient on so many levels and allows me to feel less guilty for not getting around to doing cards this year. So, here we go. In review ...

January

* I obtained licensure in the state of Louisiana and officially became a Licensed Professional Counselor. I accomplished this feat in the recommended three year time frame and feel much more confident in my skills as a counselor.
* We started/joined a Supper Club which has become one of our most anticipated nights each month. We take turns hosting, we play games and we have a great time hanging out with some of our closest friends in Ruston. I hope to continue this tradition for many, many years to come.

February

* We got the word that Grayson successfully passed level one of the CFA exam. In an attempt to protect our marriage, we decided he would take level two in June 2011 to give us more time together and less time studying. We hope to have this test completely finished by June 2012!

* We purchased our first television! This really was a big deal b/c we had gone 4 years without one, so to finally take the plunge and make the purchase was amazing. We had no idea what we had been missing in life.

* As part of owning a tv we also purchased cable, something we hadn't done before either, and fell in love with the show Yard Crashers. It became our new obsession and started us off dreaming about how we would love to makeover our backyard one day.
*Saints win the Super Bowl!

March
* We celebrated my 28th birthday.
* I think I made a quick trip to San Antonio for the rodeo. If I did, I had a great time.
* Grayson decides that purchasing Power90 is a good idea, we begin working out together.

April
* We headed down south to pick up Brinley and Barkley. With two puppies in the house, we quickly learned we got way more than we bargained for and re-realized how much we both value our sleep!

May

* We went to San Antonio to celebrate my 10 year high school reunion. It was a blast reconnecting with old friends and hearing how everyone is doing.

*I decided I really really wanted to train for a half-marathon and began the work.

June

* Celebrated many weddings of family and friends.
* Completed our committment to doing Power90, thank goodness!

* Took another cruise b/c it's what we do.July
* Pretty sure we just worked.
* Grayson celebrated 4 years at the bank.

August
* We attended some pre-season Saints football games and anticipated a great season rooting for them.

* Attended Financial Peace University, set some personal financial goals and began living in financial freedom thanks to revived self-control with our finances.

September
* As the new Panhellenic Advisor at Tech, we completed sorority recruitment successfully. This was a huge deal, staying up late, orchestrating events for close to 200 women. It was a success and something I'm already looking forward to for next year. October
* Celebrated four years of marriage by planting some pansies.
* Attended TCU's homecoming and caught up with lifelong friends and their kiddos.

* Ran 13.1 miles without stopping.

November
* Celebrated 1 year as home owners and enjoyed having everything situated, finally.

* The Magic Carpet rolled over 90,000 miles.

* We found out that baby Pedroza #2 is due summer 2011!

December
* We celebrated Grayson's 30th birthday.
* We watched the Horned Frogs ring in the new year with a major win at the Rose Bowl.

We hope you had a fantastic Christmas season with family and friends. We are very much looking forward to a great 2011 and wish you and your family nothing but happiness and health this new year!

You should have this.

2011-01-03T12:52:00.002-06:00

Do you know what this is?That's okay, I didn't either before the Christmas break. It's an external hard drive and it will save your life.

Here's the background story ... I had a laptop in college and during my time at seminary, this was the computer where I stored everything, my life. Every picture taken, every paper written went on this little machine. I understand that computers age faster than dogs, but I really had high hopes for this little guy, I thought it would last a long, long time (you see where this story is going don't you?).

Anyways, when Grayson and I got married, we didn't get the internet (still don't have it), but I held onto my computer. In fact, I kept it simply to download pictures and store more documents. Well, during our move last year I realized that my computer was getting a little old and finicky. My battery wouldn't hold strength for longer than 30 minutes and my power strip was starting to become faulty. It really didn't seem like the best choice to pay someone $60/hour to transfer all my pictures and documents onto a disc when I could do it myself, but sitting in front of my laptop for what seemed like would be 50+ hours, didn't sound fun either. So ... I did what any normal lazy person would do. I set my laptop aside, only to get to that task eventually.

I have no clue what came over me, but this Christmas break I decided was "the time" to accomplish this task. I decided I would settle down in front of the tv, get some hot cocoa and let the document transfering begin.

Wrong! This is what it felt like when I couldn't find my power strip, i couldn't turn my computer on and when I went to the emergency room/computer store the lady politely informed me that my hard drive was corrupt and the files were irretrievable!

What? No way? It was like someone had punched me in the gut! The first stage of the grieving process is denial, and denial is exactly what I felt. "Oh they don't know what they're talking about, I'll find a cord and it will work, they're crazy" etc ... Deep down I knew this couldn't possibly be true though, seeing as how they are a computer store, specializing in computers; nonetheless, I couldn't admit my life was gone for fear that Grayson would see a side of me that might not be attractive.

So, I initially ignored their request to get it fixed by a fancy computer store, but then became concerned that if I waited any longer, I might seriously lose the data. I researched and researched until I found the company in Silicon Valley who graciously said they would recover my life, er my files for a measely introductory rate of $700 (starting figure only). WHAT? My initial reaction was that that amount was ludicrous, but then that emotion was quickly followed by me getting online to check our bank account to see if I could manage this mere amount to retrieve my every memory. I'll admit, it was a deep internal struggle to determine whether or not my pictures and documents were worth that much money. Well actually, not really, the struggle was more like, "How can I present this to Grayson in a way that he'll go for it?"

All I could think about, and literally this kept me up at least three nights, were the pictures and documents that were on that computer. The images that came to mind that made me sick were the pictures of Grayson proposing to me, pictures from our honeymoon, times spent with my college roommates playing games, carving pumpkins, my 25th birthday, pictures of our first home etc ... To me, these things ARE priceless b/c they can't be recreated. Not to mention, every seminary course I took with all of my notes and papers that I couldn't re-write, papers that a) were really long, b) were really hard to write and c) would serve as documents needed if I ever considered getting a doctorate. Ugh ... you can imagine I was upset. But then by some Christmas miracle I remembered some discs upstairs that showed up during the move.

I didn't get too hopeful, for fear that I would be utterly disappointed, but I did find the discs and discovered their contents. It was discs full of the pictures from my computer!!! I guess one day in the old house I decided to be proactive and transfer the images, but had forgotten I did that. Thank goodness!!! I won't be able to salvage my graduate school documents, but really that's okay. I didn't really want a doctorate anyway! I have the pictures and that is all that matters. I fully intend to upload them to an online site, purchase an external hard drive and save the discs in a fire proof box at the bank! I'm not messing around with my memories anymore people, and neither should you!

Buddies Reunion

2011-01-03T12:38:00.002-06:00

Another impromptu trip that I took was a quick visit to Dallas to reunite with my high school besties. Jill, Julee, Kathryn, (Flood was up in Connecticut) and I have made it a point to have these little reunions ever since we graduated from college. For a while there, everyone was getting married which made these reunions much easier, but since then we have all either moved, gotten jobs, had kids etc ... all together settling into adult living. Via emails we randomly decided to make a quick trip to Dallas to spend some QT together prior the holiday hustle and bustle.
Thanks to a great deal on priceline, we stayed at an amazing hotel smack dab in the heart of Dallas. The room was large enough for all of us, and when I say the room was large, it had to be seeing as how we had four adults and three babies in tow!!! My friends in Ruston thought I was crazy when I mentioned the rooming situation, but it actually worked out really well. And when I say "really well", I mean that we got at least 5 hours of sleep! We had three pack-n-plays set up, we dimmed the lights and whispered late into the night after the babies went to sleep. It doesn't amaze me anymore, but it used to, how we don't see each other for months, sometimes years, and yet when we get together it is like no time has passed. This trip proved to be the same ... nothing like besties for life!

The only difference in this trip might have been that Joy, Clark and Kimber stole the show this time! But that's okay, they were a huge motivating factor for us to get together. We wanted to meet them and we wanted them to meet each other. In the 24 hours we had together, we actually accomplished a lot: we shopped at Northpark Mall, we ate a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, we had some great night time girl talk, we experienced an interesting night's sleep to say the least, we had a quickie breakfast the following morning at IHOP and managed a photo shoot with the big man himself, Santa!

Here we have Cutee Kat and Kimber, me, Jilly and Clarky, Gools and the Joybird.

I have no idea when we'll get together again, where it will be or what we will do, but I do know that none of that really matters. Just so long as we can talk and reconnect is all that we need to be happy.

Trip to Houston

2011-01-03T12:26:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty behind in posting, so you'll have to bear with me as I catch you up on all that has gone on in the past few weeks. Below is a pic of me and Meg, one of my dearest and best friends ever. We were college roommates, sorority sisters and all-together, best friends. Let me take a quick detur to brag on her. She is the most amazing woman I know. She is the perfect combination of gentle and loving mixed in with some very logical, straight forward thinking. She is funny, competitive and crafty! What more could you want? Most importantly, she is a mother to sweet Cooper. Megan did what not many people would not be brave enough to do, she followed the Lord's leading in her life and submitted her life to his will by becoming a foster parent. Through that experience, she was able to adopt her sweet son Cooper. Spending the time we did together in Houston reminded me of the fact that she is a strong woman, firmly founded in her faith and because of that she can love Cooper like no one else in this world!Meg is the oldest of four siblings and this fall her younger brother, Jon, past away. I was so thankful that I was able to go and spend precious time with her and her family in The Woodlands. The memorial service was beautiful and Jon's life was honored and he was remembered for being smart, funny, competitive and athletic, but most of all a great son, brother and dad. It was a fast trip and I was thankful for our time together.

While there, I was also able to visit with Sara and her (still growing) baby girl as she came down for the weekend as well. We had fun visiting, reminiscing and doing all we could to support Meg during that difficult time. On a lighter note, in true Southern tradition, I decided to take some food to stock Meg's freezer and did so by bringing a few frozen soups and of course, some fresh pumpkin bread. Un-beknownst to me, when I arrived Meg had already received close to a billion loaves of pumpkin bread. I was not offended as we brainstormed creative ways to pass out my pumpkin bread to those who might be in more need than Meg. This trip was obviously unplanned, but we did the best to make the most of it.

I love my husband ...

2010-12-13T14:19:00.004-06:00

because he went shopping while he was in NOLA this past weekend and purchased a ton of tops for me to wear to work! Unfortunately and fortunately, I sold most of my "go to" tops at the garage sale this fall so I was having difficulty getting ready for work. So, not only did he do my shopping for me (which I really hate), but he picked out everything that I would have chosen for myself! Really, it couldn't be better!

He got this brown turtleneck which I love! It is so soft and will be a great base layer!
He got this awesome purple cardigan. And literally this weekend, while looking at pictures online I had an epiphany! I am not a round neck cardigan person. All my life I have attempted to make round neck cardigans work and just this weekend I figured out why it doesn't ... I have broad shoulders so the round neck always pulls open too much for my liking. It's like he read my mind b/c he got me this v-neck sweater. I've determined that this v-cut will work better with my shoulders? Anyways, it was a major hit with me!

He got me this sweater, but in an oatmeal color. I love it! It's so fall, so warm and soft. It's the one sweater I allowed myself to wear this week. I want to save some of the goodies and spread out the fun.

This is just a great sweater to bum around in, run errands etc ... Another fave.

He got me a few other little tops that I won't spoil by putting on here. I'll try and do my best to model them next time I wear them! Here's to having a husband that is so wonderful that he can do your shopping for you!

A few things, well actually 30.

2010-12-13T13:56:00.004-06:00

My friend MG tagged me on facebook with this a while back, but I just haven't made the time to respond to it. It's another one of those "30 things about me" list. I've really been thinking hard the last couple of weeks to come up with "interesting" things I haven't shared before and got to about 5. So here goes ... 30 NEW things about me:

30. I'm pretty clumsy. I shouldn't be allowed to hand wash dishes b/c I always break them.
29. I love to read and could do it for hours except that it's pretty anti-social. Unless I'm reading a book for book club, then it's okay.
28. Painting my fingernails relaxes me.
27. Except that picking out the perfect color can sometimes be a tad stressful.
26. Which is why I choose to match my fingernail color to my mood, rather than the season.
25. I really miss my People magazine subscription. I don't even know what is going on in the world!
24. I am obsessed with Kate Middleton and Prince William's engagement. I will record their wedding.
23. I could never watch tv again and be okay (minus the above mentioned wedding). I prefer silence and a good book.
22. I hate cleaning the shower. Really, I dread deep cleaning our entire bathroom. If it wasn't disgusting hygiene-wise to never clean the bathroom, I probably wouldn't, but is is so I do.
21. I organize my grocery list based on where the items are located in the store.
20. I always try to beat my time shopping.
19. No grocery store is better than H-E-B.
18. TC isn't that bad a pet when there are no other animals competing with her.
17. I miss Brinley and Barkley, they sure were sweet puppies.
16. I prefer baking to cooking, but am learning to do better at cooking.
15. I hate that TCU didn't make it into the National Championship and am rooting for Oregon.
14. I love fancy cakes and purchased one for Grayson's 30th birthday party. He will hate that I did it, but it will look cute in pictures and that's really what matters.
13. We've had our Christmas tree up since November 4th and I don't care.
12. I "go curly" with my hair on mornings I want to sleep 10 minutes longer. In most cases, this is every morning.
11. I'm growing my hair out again. Possibly to donate and I'm considering a pixie cut when I do cut it.
10. I said considering, people.
9. We have recently started watching SNL again, it is hysterical most of the time.
8. Stefan is my favorite character.
7. I'm already out of my "eating out" budget for the month of December and it's only the 13th. This could be bad.
6. We're not sending Christmas cards out this year.
5. I've decided that I want to re-decorate our upstairs guest bedroom using only white, with a little gold or silver sprinkled throughout.
4. Last year's New Year's Eve was quite possibly my best NYE ever!
3. We played Jenga at last year's New Year's Eve party.
2. My current accessory obsession are scarves. I've noticed that I have one on in every picture taken of me in the past two months. I need a new accessory obsession.
1. In the past three months, I've purchased close to 6 different face washes and 4 different face lotions b/c Walmart stopped carrying what I have used for the past three years. Finding a new face wash is next to near impossible!

And just b/c I am on a roll...
* Efficiency is my middle name.
* I haven't had one cup of hot cocoa and it's the middle of December. This must change.
* I love my husband!

Thanksgiving ... in reverse!

2010-12-13T13:19:00.008-06:00

You'll have to forgive my laziness today, I'm taking the easy route when it comes to the blog and not rearranging the pics. I'm just glad these pics are going up, regardless of their order. While checking out everyone elses blogs, I realized it has a) been way too long since my last post and b) that the last post was sad and I didn't want ya'll thinking our entire Thanksgiving break was sad because it wasn't! In fact, it was quite the opposite, we had a great time and made lots of memories and are already looking forward to visiting again.

While in San Antonio, we were able to squeeze in a mini buddies reunion. I was shocked that between all of our schedules, babies and family that we were able to meet for as long as we did. I'm already looking forward to the real reunion in December. Here are Jules and baby Joy and then Kathryn and baby Kimber. Such sweet girls and amazing babies!Kimber is as sweet and laid back as can be. She let me hold her the entire time and was content being mellow, checking everything out.

And Joy kept me entertained the entire time, big surprise. She was hysterical making all sorts of faces and screams, she definitely has her parent's outgoing, friendly personalities. It was so fun getting to see those babes!
Here's another little guy I loved seeing. We got to read a little, play a little and mostly hang out and have fun.

We were supposed to take family pictures over the break, but our photographer flaked out on us so we did impromptu, self-take family photos. Here are Meho, Easton and Erin.

The whole Pedroza/Allen clan.

Grayson and me with our stockings. And yes, my mom is awesome and sewed them herself.

I should mention that whenever we spend our Thanksgiving in San Antonio, we always do Thanksgiving, then Christmas and wrap it all up celebrating Grayson's birthday. Basically, we cram as many events into the fewest days possible to make sure no one misses out on not being together on the actual event. This year, Santa brought Easton some luggage. It was so cute and big enough that he could literally have fit into if need be. He showed us that he is big enough to push it around all by himself! He was so proud of himself.

Here we are (later that day) celebrating Uncle Grayson's 30th birthday! Yep, I said it, Grayson is turning 30 this year. No comment.

Okay (I hate that these are out of order, but maybe that will help me be less OCD?) Whatever.

So I asked for some random gifts this year. One of them being a vanity stool for our bathroom. The lady who lived in our house before us had one in there and it looked so cool, but I just couldn't find what I liked ... until I realized that we could make our own! We turned this gift into a family project b/c neither Grayson nor I are very handy, yet my mom and brother are! SCORE! We took advantage and made this a "fun family project" that all were allowed to help out with. My mom got the fabric just right, Matthew came in with all his engineering skills and put the chair together and we basically supervised. The fabric matches what we used in our master bedroom (see belows).

The bolster pillow was another gift I asked for for Christmas. Instead of having a "professional" sew our curtains and pillows, my mom did them. She could be a professional if she wanted which is why we always ask for her help. She did our curtains and two pillows almost a year ago, but we weren't quite sure about the bolster. I was tired of not having one so we decided (again) to turn this into a family project which was actually really fun. Thankfully, our bedroom is almost done, I just need to get some tiebacks for those curtains.

Back to San Antonio ... here's the whole fam celebrating Thanksgiving.Grayson and my mom supporting good ole JSB.

The spread ... and my parents recently redecorated dining room!

It was a whirlwind of a Thanksgiving full of happy times and a little sad one. It was great to spend wonderful quality time doing nothing, running errands, working on projects, watching football, cooking together and relaxing. Trips to San Antonio are always so fun, we can't wait to go back!

Sweet Brinley Bea

2010-11-26T09:37:00.004-06:00

March 7, 2010 - November 26, 2010

While in San Antonio for Thanksgiving, Brinley Bea passed away. We're not exactly sure what happened to send her back into renal failure, but throughout the day on Thursday she began to show symptoms that her kidneys were giving her problems. She got worse pretty quickly, but not enough for us to be alarmed. Thursday evening though, she woke us up with labored breathing and extreme lethargy. We knew immediately what was happening because the vet from her accident this summer had prepared us for these symptoms. Upon talking to the veterinarian last night we realized she was in critical condition and even if she were to improve, she would require doggy dialysis for the rest of her life. Grayson and I had talked previously about this and had decided that for her, being so young and little, that it would be better to let her go.

She was such a sweet puppy, even for the few short months we had with her. We are thankful for so many things about her and the way the Lord allowed this to work. We got a few months of extra time with her after her accident this summer. We are thankful that there was a wonderful veterinary clinic in San Antonio to help us with this and we are thankful that my family got to see her another time. She was a sweet dog and we will miss her very much!

Gluten Free is the way to be!

2010-11-04T09:10:00.003-05:00

So I'm not sure I've mentioned this before, but I have been having some trouble with my stomach lately. I've actually had trouble with it since I was in graduate school, so really for about 5 years now. After meeting a great couple on our cruise this summer and talking to the wife about some of her stomach symptoms I realized that I might have a slight intolerance for gluten.

Thankfully, one of my good friends in Ruston is a nutritionist and often gives me helpful tips. She recommended that I try going gluten free for a week to see if it made any impact. It did!!! I did it for about 1 week and then stopped. The very first meal I went back to that had gluten in it majorly affected my stomach! That's all it took for me to realize the importance of feeding my body the right things.

If you were like me, you don't even know what gluten is, let alone all that it is in! I had no idea how often I was eating gluten. I literally was eating it at every single meal! I would have oatmeal, cereal or toast for breakfast, then I would have a sandwich of some sort at lunch and then for dinner always a pasta, pizza, or some sort of starch that had gluten in it. No wonder my stomach was always in pain!!!

The transition to being gluten free hasn't been as hard as I anticipated though. The only difficulty I have run into is when we have parties here at work. Most everything that people bring has gluten in it, which is fine. It just means I can start being creative with what I bring so that I can have something to eat and share with others. I have actually enjoyed the alternatives to gluten: rice cereal, rice noodles, quinoa, gluten-free oats, potatos etc ... I'm not going to be so hard core that I never have a piece of cake or won't eat something b/c it was made in the same factory as gluten, but I will change my habits enough to cut the majority of gluten filled foods out of my diet. I don't think I'm highly allergic as in celiac's disease, but more have an intolerance for it.

It actually feels really good to put fresh, whole produce into my system rather than processed foods. I hope this change has a positive impact on my overall health, which I'm sure it will. Wish me luck with this endeavor though as we enter the "holiday season". I can only imagine how tempting it may be to indulge in many gluten-filled treats!

Half-Marathon.

2010-11-04T08:47:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I did what I never thought I would physically or mentally be able to do. I completed a half-marathon! After 14 weeks of training, the weekend came and went just like any other ... except I ran for 13.1 miles straight! It was an amazing accomplishment and honestly, wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
We headed down to NOLA on Friday to get situated and have a good dinner. It ended up being me, Natalee and Dax for the evening which was perfect. We heated up a frozen lasagna, made a salad and veggies and just relaxed. We knew we wanted to get a good night's sleep so we ate and basically hit the sack. We got up bright and early the next morning, ready to hit the road (pun intended).

The weather was perfect! We couldn't have asked for a better day. When we started out temps were in the 50's and barely hit the 60's by the time we finished. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the humidity was fairly low. A point of interest: the morning of the race Thurston decided he wanted to run it with us. He hadn't registered or anything, he just decided it would be a good opportunity for him to get his "workout" in for the day!!! I was in awe of the fact that his body would let him do that. I had to train hard for 14 weeks to get in this shape and he just went out there and did it! We were so proud of him.

Here we are, probably around mile 5-6ish. I really was having so much fun. Running with a group of people made the experience so much better! I actually felt sorry for some of the people around us b/c they seemed so intense and uptight, I wasn't sure if they were really having fun. We made sure to keep a conversation (and maybe some singing) going throughout the entire race. The beautiful homes on St. Charles, the awesome Halloween costumes people wore and knowing we would get to see Dax and Grayson throughout the race really made time fly!

Here we are crossing the finish line. Out of 3,500 runners I placed 819 (in the top 25% as Grayson put it) with a total time of 2:05:57. That put my AP at 9:37. Not bad when I was thinking I would run a 10-10:10 AP. We definitely could have pushed ourselves harder, but none of us wanted to get injured. We were having too much fun with each other to turn it into a real "race."

Here I am afterward with my medal. Cheezy? Yes. But who cares? It was such a fun experience. I totally understand the "runner's high" now. After that race I was ready to sign up for another and potentially a full marathon. I've since gained my wits and am now just enjoying the fact that I accomplished this task!

Grayson was so awesome. Because the race was smaller than most, he and Dax were able to see us 7 times on the course. That is unheard of for most races. Thankfully they married two type-A personalities so Natalee and I had already mapped out where they could stop on the course to cheer for us. They ended up getting to see us way more than we anticipated. Seeing them in the distance cheering for us so many times was pivotal in finishing strong. He helped to take all of the great pictures we ended up with too!

Instead of an ice bath to help our joints/muscles recover, we opted to just sit/stand in Winston's pool for about 30 minutes post race. It was perfect. The water was just cold enough to help reduce swelling, but the sun was hitting our shoulders to help us stay warm. Way more efficient than sitting inside a freezing cold tub ... and we got a little tan in the process! Double score!

After a day full of refueling, napping & football watching, we went to dinner to celebrate our race and Winston's 24th bday. Thurston and Winston above, getting ready for a great dinner in the French Quarter.

Natalee & Dax

Me & Grayson

We strongly considered training for the NOLA Mardi Gras Marathon in February, but with Grayson registering for his CFA exam we opted to maybe just train for the half. Even if I do it by myself again it'll work out. I figure with it becoming colder, I can do better if I train in the evenings after work instead of waking up at 5am to run in the dark, freezing cold. I'll have a few weeks to recover and then I can start training again. I've heard that that race is so fun, 22,000 people, live bands and tons of people cheering you on along the course. I'm definitely hooked and excited I was able to accomplish this race!!!

Graduates!

2010-11-04T08:27:00.002-05:00

Grayson and I are officially graduates of Financial Peace University! We attended our last
class last night and received certificates and everything! Not that a certificate means anything,
other than the fact that "we" now have the head knowledge to go out and try to make a difference. (But let's be honest, Grayson didn't learn anything new in these classes, but I did and I'm thankful that he went with me).

The most interesting part about all of this is that financial peace is based only on 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior! As a counselor I can totally relate to that truth. Just because a client comes into session, we discuss their issues and they learn some techniques does NOT mean they will change! The same principle applies to our finances. Just because Grayson and I attended the class does not by any stretch of the word mean we are now "peaceful" regarding our finances. It just means that we have the knowledge to empower us to make wiser choices with our financial behavior! Getting that into my brain has been really freeing.

This class was such an amazing experience and I highly recommend it for anyone. As we ended last night's session, we took some time to process what we learned and what principles really stood out to us. I took away a few lessons from the class:

1. Using the cash only option has really helped us to decrease our spending. There truly is an emotional connection that I feel when I pay with cash rather than a debit/credit card. An emotional connection that I don't like!!! I believe the statistic that people who use credit cards spend 12-18% MORE than those who pay with cash is true! From here on out, we will operate on a cash only basis.
2. We CAN live on a budget and we've learned that we both really enjoy the structure that this brings to our lives.
3. There are people who look like they have it together financially, but really they are hurting and if we can free ourselves up financially it will then allow us to be a blessing to others. We cannot wait to implement this principle!
4. A steward is simply a manager. We are stewards of our finances meaning the money isn't ours, it belongs to the Lord. We are simply His asset managers. Are we managing his finances well?
5. Accountability and community make implementing difficult behaviors so much easier!

Be blessed today and if you have any questions about FPU, please let me know! Trinity United is starting their next session January 9, 2011!!!

Let the countdown begin

2010-11-03T09:12:00.002-05:00

To June 5, 2011. That is when Grayson will sit for Level II of the CFA exam. He registered last week, we expect the study books to arrive mid-late November and then studying will commence.

It's a good thing I am sort of getting into this "running" thing b/c it looks like I'll need to start finding ways to occupy my time. Maybe I should start getting into cooking? Even though I don't really like to do it, it's sort of a necessity in life and I figure if I have food, Grayson will probably be more inclined to study at home....hmm, it's an idea.

Any other tips for productive (and inexpensive) ways to spend my time over the next 6 months while he studies? Maybe I can start checking out some good books from the library? Not sure that will occupy my time for that long. Any other ideas?

TCU Homecoming.

2010-11-02T09:03:00.010-05:00

We were able to make it back to Fort Worth for Homecoming this year. When we thought about it, we have only missed a couple since we graduated and so it has sort of become a fun tradition to head back to Cowtown to meet up with good friends each fall. With so many people living all over the place these days, it makes it easy to plan a get together that we can look forward to each year.
A lot has changed since we graduated from college. One thing being sweet Lia. She came to the TCU parade blinged out in her awesome TCU onesie. She was born a few months ago and this was my first time to meet her. She was a gem the entire weekend and never fussed once! She has the sweetest temperament and was so laid back. It was surreal to meet her and see so much of Lauren and Josh in her.

Lauren was one of my college roommates and is still one of my best friends. It was so great to see her and her husband Josh and to watch them parent this sweet expansion to their family.

So I remember the TCU parade being way better than it was this year. Is that just me having selective memory or has the parade gotten way worse over time? Either way, the kiddos had a blast. The "floats" (if that's what you want to call people standing in undecorated trailers) threw tons of Mardi Gras beads, a little candy and clapped as they walked by. We did get to see some firetrucks, SuperFrog and a few other cool things. We weren't sad when the parade ended b/c that meant we could head over to the bouncy houses and go grab dinner.

We headed to Fuzzy's Taco Shop, one of my faves. It really wasn't that popular when I was in school, but now it's THE place to be on campus. It was crowded, but totally worth it. They have the best breakfast burritos around and lots of different beers on tap. When I was in school we lived within walking distance to this place so it brought back lots of great memories for me.Me and Meg enjoying Fuzzy's and some great time catching up with each other.The next day the weather wasn't so hot so after a short morning run, we all decided to grab a pedicure for some relaxation. Josh and Grayson even got one! They actually enjoyed it and said they had a lot of fun. Lauren and Josh enjoying the game and some adult time w/o the baby.

Here we are cheering on the Frogs. We are slightly obsessed with Horned Frog football so to get to see the team in action was so fun! We've already decided we're going to a bowl game this year, especially if they make it to the National Championship (but that's a whole other topic).

Here are 3/4 of the Greene Girls. SB had to take her little one home to get some good sleep. It's so great that we have all kept in touch after all these years through all of the changes life has brought our way.

Coop got a little tired toward the end of the game. Hey, who can blame the kid? It was 10pm and cold outside, I wanted to be in bed too! We also ran into our great San Antonio friend and one of Grayson's old roommates, Ben. It was great timing and we were lucky enough to end up spending the rest of the night hanging out with him and catching up.

Grayson and Coop get along really well, they always have, even since Coop was a baby.

The next morning, after we all got a good night's rest, we met up one last time at Dutch's, a new amazing hamburger joint near campus. We took Brinley with us this trip too and Cooper (and all the other kiddos) had a blast playing with her. She does great with kids b/c her temperament is so mellow so it's easy for her to go with the flow.

Grayson and Coop again, two peas in a pod!

Me and Coop sitting outside of Dutch's playing with Brinley.

The last picture of the weekend before we each headed our separate ways.

I feel like the pictures don't do justice to everything we did this weekend. We were also able to catch up with Whitney & Livy Anne a few times over the weekend and enjoyed spending time with them. We also spent time with SB and her sweet baby O. There is just so much to do when you come into town and so little time that we did our best to squeeze everything in to a short 72 hours. We are already looking forward to our reunion next year, possibly at a new destination.

Relay for Life.

2010-11-02T08:56:00.003-05:00

I'm a tad behind, but I wanted to at least post about our most recent 5k. Every year Jonesboro helps to raise money for the American Cancer Society by putting on the Relay for Life, among other events. I've included a pic of Grayson running this 5k a few years ago to refresh your memories.

This year since I was training for my half-marathon we decided to include the 5k as part of the training plan. It was a cold morning and I was supposed to run 8 miles for my long run, so we spent the night in Jonesboro so I could get up and at'em first thing Saturday morning. I ran 5 miles to the starting line where I met Grayson and then he and I completed the 5k together. There were 80 participants out to have a good time that morning. The highlight for me was coming in 1st place for the women's division and 7th overall. I set a PR for my 5k by running my fastest miles yet! You guys know I am by no means a runner, but this was a major ego boost and encouraged me to go ahead and keep trucking with my half-marathon training.

After the race, we headed back north to get ready for Tech's homecoming game. Sadly, there was no Womanless Beauty Pageant for Grayson to compete in this year, but what's that to stop me from reminiscing and posting this pick anyways!

The things you can do to raise awareness for a good cause!

Fraggle Rock

2010-10-21T11:23:00.003-05:00

The last few days I have been referring to Brinley as our little fraggle rock b/c her hair has gotten out of control long. I put the picture below so you could see it flappin in the breeze as we drove around town. The pic doesn't really do the "flop" justice, but you get the idea. While Fraggle Rock was on tv when I was younger, I couldn't exactly remember the characters, I could just remember their hair was OOC (out of control)! This is the character that I think of every time I look at Brinley. The big eyes with floppy golden hair above. Hysterical. Thankfully Brinley went to the groomer today so her hair should be back to normal soon enough ... or at least I hope!

I'm quirky.

2010-10-20T08:52:00.005-05:00

I learned a few new things about myself this morning. A) I love shower caddys. I feel they are necessary to keep all of my shower items in order. There's nothing worse than getting into a shower only to realize that all of your hygiene items are disorganized and difficult to find. b) I'm extremely visual and because of this I need to SEE all of my options laid out before me before I make a decision. Without a shower caddy to organize my options, how can I expect myself to make an informed decision? c) I love a FULL shower caddy. To me, it feels "off" or not fung-shui if I have space in my caddy. I like for the space to be fully maximized. That's probably weird and I know it drives Grayson crazy b/c the result is a lopsided, barely hanging on caddy, but hey, I'm the one admitting I'm quirky here. 4) I love to have options. I think the reason I love having a full shower caddy is because it allows me numerous options and makes me feel okay about whatever decision I make. Really, I'm not very good at making decisions b/c I always doubt myself or wish I would have made the other choice, but with a shower caddy that is full to overflowing I have endless options of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to choose from, so in reality I can never make a "bad" decision b/c I can always choose differently tomorrow.
This post makes me quirky for two reasons. The first being that I love shower caddys and the second is the fact that I just analyzed why I like them. I can't help it people, these are the sorts of things I think about when I'm getting ready in the morning. Here's to weird quirks and a happy Wednesday friends!

Barkley's "Staycation"

2010-10-13T09:54:00.002-05:00

According to Wikipedia, a staycation is "time in which an individual or family stays and relaxes at home or a nearby hotel, possibly taking day trips to area attractions." For Barkley though, her staycation is defined slightly different. Barkley is "stay-cationing" with Kathy & Chuckster ... indefinitely.

Having two dogs was fun, but ultimately not the best fit for our family and our active lifestyle. It was a difficult decision, but one we had to make and one we are content with. After struggling in our management of two puppies and a cat, it just got to the point where Grayson and I had to sit down, have a heart-to-heart and make a decision about what was best for our family/marriage.

We decided that sending Barkley on a staycation with KK & Chuckster might be the best option. Barkley has always been our outgoing, social, full of energy dog while Brinley is more mild-mannered, she explores quietly on her own and minds a little bit better. When we were thinking through this decision, Grayson said he would be willing to try having only one dog ... as long as it was Brinley. She doesn't have to be by your side 24/7, she doesn't bark as loud, she will come lay next to you quietly if you ask her to etc... Barkley, on the other hand. Well, she needs more social interaction, she needs to be around others most of the time which is why letting her staycation in Hodge seemed like a great idea. There is way more going on down there and thus Barkley is happy. With this decision, we still get to see her, she and Brinley will still get to play together and Barkley can run and play with all the other animals down in Hodge.

We miss Barkley very much, maybe me a little bit more than Grayson, but we know she is having a blast, she is probably being spoiled rotten and ultimately she is loving life down in Hodge. As a side note: I got her the cutest purple sweater, for TCU of course, so I'll make sure to snap a pick next time I see her.

Go Dawgs!

2010-10-13T09:49:00.002-05:00

Brinley is excited for Tech's Homecoming Week! She even asked me to get her jersey on and has been barking all around our house letting us know just how excited she is to celebrate a fun homecoming week.

Go Dawgs! Beat the Idaho Vandals!

Well worth the effort.

2010-10-13T09:40:00.002-05:00

And very little effort at that!

This weekend I had my first ever garage sale! It was a huge success! Huge success = didn't take a lot of work and I made a little money in the deal.

The background story is this ... as part of FPU the whole class goes in together to do a garage sale at the end of the sessions. The money earned can be used for some people to get out of debt, put towards their emergency fund or to just have some extra cash lying around. Unfortunately, Grayson and I were going to be out of town the weekend they do their sale so when I read on my friend Joanna's blog that she was looking for people to join her in doing a garage sale, I was all in.
Joanna, Larkin and Rachel all decided to go in together and do a "multi-family" garage sale. We did it at our house which worked out perfectly b/c there were like 3 other sales close by that morning. Made it easier for the shoppers, or so we told ourselves!

It was a great opportunity to clean out our house of the little odds and ends that we don't use or have no need for anymore. I was a little embarrassed to whip out some of my "treasures" to sell b/c it just reinforced that at some point I had to think investing in certain items was worth the $$$. The above boxes are case-in-point. I bought these unfinished boxes in college, hopefully at the time I was thinking, "Oh these are cute. I could paint them or decorate them and they would look really good!" Obviously, I lacked the motivation to do so and ended up just using these boxes in their natural condition. What? Was? I? Thinking? These boxes are so ugly! This truth was only reinforced by the fact that I could not give the things away at the garage sale. All of us girls really thought they would be a hot item, but as the morning progressed, we quickly learned that off to goodwill they would go!

Even though we had to wake up at 5:30am to get everything situated, it was totally worth it. We each made a little bit of money and we had fun doing it. If you can see in the above picture (bottom right), Brinley even had fun. She was the garage sale mascot. She wore her Tech jersey and kept all the guests entertained as she rushed here and there and even ended up with a few price tags stuck to her nose. I think this fall garage sale was a huge success and will more than likely get together with these girls in the spring and do another one!

Half-Marathon

2010-10-08T12:49:00.002-05:00

So I realize that this picture looks somewhat morbid, but I borrowed it from facebook and didnt' want to reveal these people's faces w/o their permission. Although ... I realize their names are sprawled across their chests, but oh well. Hopefully they won't mind me borrowing it for these important purposes?
Anyways, I digressed as usual. My half-marathon is exactly 3 weeks away from today! Who would have thought that I would be saying that? After writing this post a few short months ago I really thought there would be no hope that I could accomplish this "bucket list" goal? But now, without jinxing myself, I am this close to completing 13.1 miles! I think the difference this time was that I had someone training for it with me.

I'm not sure I've given the background info. At my highschool ten year reunion me and a few of my classmates decided we would all train for the SA half-marathon in November. It seemed like a great idea at the time since we all had at one point wanted to run one, but never had accountability. Well, secretly I decided that I would begin training for the full marathon since I had plenty of time. It was during that training that I wrote my previous post and was so upset about my injuries. I was pushing myself too hard and running on a treadmill (both bad combinations for me). Well, in order to train properly for the full-marathon I registered for teh half-marthon in NOLA as preparation. I registered before I got injured and figured I would chalk up the money to "a donation to a good cause." Well, I got an email from my sister in law asking if any of the siblings would be interested in training for that exact race! I figured it was meant to be and emailed her back telling her that I was actually already registered. I decided to give running another chance and we both decided that we would do this together.

And it worked!!! Even though she lives 3.5 hours away, I have felt like she is right here holding me accountable the entire time. We do our long runs on Saturdays around the same time so we always text each other after a run to touch base. That was motivation enough for me to get my rear out of bed and get in my long runs. I didn't want to get a text from her saying she ran 5 miles when I had done nothing but sleep!!! I've learned a few things about myself in the process and have applied those trinkets of knowledge to my training plan. I've learned that: I tend to get injured when I run on a treadmill, I need to carry a water bottle with to keep from panicking that I will overheat, I need to stretch, stretch and stretch and that my natural pace isn't fast so why push it? In the past I've always tried to set records and that winded up getting me hurt. So this time, I run about a 10min pace and have the endurance to last the whole time! I am running my last long run today (11 miles) and then will race in 3 weekends. When she and I ran our 10 miles last weekend, we both felt confident that we could have finished the last 3 if we had to, so I feel pretty confident that I am ready for this race.

Grayson and Dax will head down to NOLA to cheer us on and in the spirit of Halloween, we purchased matching orange tanks that we'll wear. We picked orange b/c 1) it's Halloween weekend and 2) we figured G & D could spot us easier and yell really loud for us! I'm already thinking that if this race goes well (which I think it will) that I want to run in the NOLA Mardi Gras rock-n-run in February. So, if anyone's interested in training I'd be up for it. Training with someone else is definitely easier than doing it on your own!

Recruitment

2010-10-08T12:42:00.002-05:00

I love my role as the Panhellenic Advisor. It gives me the opportunity to interact with more students in a fun atmosphere and it helps me to feel young. I stay up to date on all the "news", I am at least somewhat hip in their trends and I get to relive my college days through these girls. They are a great group of young women whom I greatly appreciate being able to work with.
This year's theme for recruitment was "Panhellenic's Secret" and they did a great job pulling off one of the best recruitment's yet. They set a record high number of girls going through recruitment and ended up with extremely large pledge classes for this campus. They were each so helpful throughout the process that it made my work so much easier!One of my favorite parts was getting to dress alike. I know it's really dorky, but it was so fun to feel part of a group and to be included in this leadership oriented group. I was very proud to be a sorority member myself and had a blast getting young freshmen girls excited about becoming one too. We'll definitely be making some changes for next year, but ultimately it was a great success and something that was very rewarding.

What I've been doing since August.

2010-10-08T12:27:00.003-05:00

It's not really my style to go so long between posts, but I feel like I have a great excuse this time ... LIFE. Yep, it happened and in the meantime it got in the way of "my fun things"! I'm sure you all can relate on some level that sometimes life just becomes more important than blogging. So as a quick recap on what I've been doing, I've included pictures b/c let's be serious, we mostly like the photos when people have been away for a while.

So as the new Panhellenic Advisor at Louisiana Tech, my main task is to help with recruitment. That's what kept me busy for the first two weeks. The end of August and the first week of September we were busy with "work week". Any sorority alumni out there is well aware of the work involved during work week. Long days full of planning, organizing, learning and implementing. And that's exactly what we did. During the midst of work week, Tech started it's fall quarter which meant we had much to do in the counseling center as we attempted to begin marketing all of our wonderful services to incoming freshmen. I was busy meeting incoming freshmen, marketing our services and trying to recruit girls to join recruitment.

Then came the actual week of recruitment. I had a love/hate relationship with recruitment. I loved it because I got to meet approximately 200 incoming freshmen, I got to know our Panhellenic Council extremely well and I got to observe how the process actually works on this campus. I hated it b/c it meant late nights and early mornings, dealing with a ton of logistics and again lack of sleep. I'll fill you in more about recruitment in another post.

After recruitment I literally had three days to teach numerous resume seminars because Career Day was on the horizon. Another role I play is the Career Development Coordinator which means I am here to help students get a great looking resume to present to potential employers for the career fair. Those three days were a blur mostly b/c I was on the verge of doing presentations, packing for a conference and getting sick. I left straight from there to go down to NOLA for our annual counseling conference.

This is always a very important conference mostly b/c that's where I obtain my continuing ed credits needed for the whole year. It's also a fun time spent with colleagues and other counselors from across the state of Louisiana. We had a great time in NOLA and were there for another week. Upon my return we had Career Day which went off very well.

In the midst of all of this, I was/am still training for my half-marathon in three weeks.And we were dealing with these guys which were a handful. Not really "we", more Grayson was dealing with them b/c I was away from the house for a majority of September.

I barely made it through alive and am still recuperating. Our house was a wreck for the entire month, I'm not really sure what Grayson ate while I was away and I still haven't sorted through the three inch pile of paperwork on my desk yet! But ... the end is in site, I know it! I do love the fall, but sadly this fall is running away right before my very eyes. Today is the first day that I've had to actually be still and catch my breath. It feels good.

There will be more to come on each of these topics, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm back and ready to de-stress by writing some blogs!

Thank you for praying!

2010-08-31T09:44:00.003-05:00

I wanted to post a quick update on the puppies. For starters though, thank you to everyone who was praying for Brinley and for us as we walked through this challenging time. I think it helped me just knowing that people were thinking of us and praying for us.

We now have both puppies at home and feel a tremendous weight lifted from our shoulders. The synopsis is as follows:

While Barkley's liver was initially affected, she is expected to make a full recovery. She will be on antibiotics for approximately 2 weeks and we will get her blood work checked in 3-4 weeks. She is back to her normal self and her energy levels are back to normal as well. She did get spoiled for the few days while Brinley wasn't home and is adjusting to having her sister back and having to share some attention.

Brinley ... she was affected the worst out of the two. Her BUN levels remain high at 99 (normal range is 10-20) and her blood creatinine was between 3.5-4 yesterday when we picked her up (the normal range is .5 - 1.5). The vet said there wasn't any sense in keeping her though since she was fully hydrated, eating normally with an active energy level. Basically, the tests show that there is some kidney damage. We will go back in a week to have her blood checked again, to see if she is maintaining the progress. She will be on a special diet and take medication, which we can handle. Throughout all of this, we have learned a lot about kidney function and the "tell-tell" signs of kidney issues and the more we learn, the more Grayson and I believe that quite possibly, Brinley already had kidney issues prior to the accident. She has always drank more than Barkley, had to go outside more often (which we attributed to a smaller bladder), she has always had dog-halitosis and has required more rest than Barkley. Apparently, these are the early signs of kidney issues. It very well could be that she always had kidney issues, but since we never did the blood work on her, we have no baseline to tell. Regardless, she is doing great and you would never know that she had an accident at all. She is eating up all her food, she is back on a regular schedule and playful as ever!

We are so relieved to have both of our dogs home and I am so thankful to you for thinking of us and praying for us as we went through this. Without getting too gushy, I will say that having experiences like this really helps to put life into perspective. Last night at 3:30am when they woke us up needing to go outside, instead of being angry or upset that I was losing sleep, I found myself greatful that they are able to relieve themselves at all! Instead of getting upset when Brinley had a little accident on the carpet yesterday, I found myself thankful that she is able to pee! That tells me her kidneys are working and that makes me happy.

Ultimately, this little lesson has changed my perspective completely and has caused me to be less selfish with my time and attention. These are helpless puppies that require our attention and care, they didn't ask to be brought to our home, we made that choice and now it is time to care for them like they deserve. From here on out we will simply continue to monitor their behavior and watch out for any abnormalities, but otherwise we will continue living life and not worrying until we have to. So thanks for praying and for thinking of us!

Calling All Prayer Warriors!

2010-08-27T08:46:00.003-05:00

We need your prayers!

Our puppies had an accident on Tuesday and Brinley is in need of your prayers. They accidentally got left in the car Tuesday morning and experienced dehydration and probably heat stroke. After two days of IV treatment, Barkley is doing much better and got to come home last night. We expect her liver to fully recover after some antibiotics and special food for a little while. We are so thankful to the Lord for allowing her to come home. She is slightly lethargic, but quickly regaining her energy.

But we need your prayers for our sweet little Brinley Bea. I am asking that you pray specifically for her:

* BUN levels to decrease drastically.
* Blood creatinine level to drop from 4.6 to 3.5 or lower.
* Body to accept the IV treatment she is receiving so that she can be fully hydrated.

Her kidney levels are still high; we are not sure if it is a long term result or if it is because she is still not fully hydrated. We will go tomorrow mid-morning to check on her progress and see how she is doing. Hopefully, they will re-run her bloodwork then and we will have a better idea of where she stands and where we will need to go from there.

I am fully confident that if the Lord so chooses to heal her that He will. Please, join us as we pray for His favor and grace in this circumstance. We are not worthy of Him healing her and in and of our ownselves, don't deserve it, but He is a good and kind God that has the power to give life. We will praise Him regardless of the results, but we are praying and believing for a full recovery for Brinley and would appreciate you joining us and covering her with your prayers as well.

I'll update as I know more. Thanks for being her prayer warrior.

Audited!

2010-08-19T08:07:00.002-05:00

I decided it's time for us to be audited. It's time to take our Walmart grocery bill and audit where the money is going exactly. I know I've posted before that this is the reason I love Walmart, because I can combine the total bills into our "grocery" category when really I know that there was way more purchased than just groceries.

Well, this has come to bite me in the butt. With us attending FPU we have been reminded of several financial principles that we knew all along, yet weren't following. But now we are being held accountable to them so that convinced me that I need to start auditing our receipts.

One chore I do enjoy is going to the grocery store. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but I'm really a nerd when it comes to grocery shopping. My mom taught me how to make a grocery list when I was younger. I put my groceries on the list in the the order that I will find them in the store. It is literally a guide that helps to keep me on track. I play a little game when I go to Walmart, I see how fast I can accomplish my list. I usually make a guestimate as to how long I think the list will take me and see if I'm accurate. Grocery shopping is not a leisurely experience for me like it might be for others. I like to get in, find everything on my list and get out, preferbaly under an hour.

I am so bad that one time I didn't know where to find diapers (for a baby shower I was attending) and since I didn't find them on my first swoop through the store, I just left and had Grayson pick some up on his way home. I was afraid that looking for the diapers would have thrown off my time! To say that Grayson was annoyed when he found this out is an understatement.

What can I say, if I make grocery shopping a competition to beat my time every time I go in there, I'm more likely to stick to my list and be efficient while I'm in there. I've digressed from the main point which is that I'm going to start auditing my list. I'm going to determine how much we spend on perishable items like food and how much we spend on other supplies required to run a household. I'm excited to see where we've been poor stewards of our finances and to see what kind of new records I set while shopping!

Cleaning Advice.

2010-08-19T07:57:00.002-05:00

I am coming to the blog for some advice this morning. I need some cleaning advice. Specifically, cleaning the bathroom. I hate, no loathe, cleaning the bathroom. The only problem is that my husband loathes it more than me which means I get grossed out by it faster and thus end up cleaning it.
My request is a simple one, what do you use/do to keep your bathrooms clean? Our master bath is not huge by anymeans. We have regular tile floors, a tub, a shower stall, toilet, countertops and mirror. So nothing too crazy, but my dilema is that I don't know the most efficient way to clean or what product I should be using.

For the floors, I get that I need to vacuum first and then mop. This isn't too hard, but what cleaner should I use when mopping? Next, for countertops and shower stall -- what should I use to get rid of water spots? How often should I be deep cleaning the bathroom? I've been doing it once a week, is this overkill or not enough? Is it an unrealistic expectation to think once I clean the waterspots that they should stay away? Probably, huh?

I just need to get into a routine of cleaning, but ugh ... I hate it. It's a never ending vicious cycle, but I thought maybe I'm just not doing it right. Maybe there is an easier way than what I'm doing, maybe I just don't have the "right system"? Maybe, just maybe there is a magical solution other than just plain hard work. So ... any and all tips would be greatly appreciated. Even if I could just streamline what I do so that this chore doesn't take me forever, I'd be happy with that.Oh and I know I've probably made our house sound like it's filthy, and well ... for the most part it isn't. At least not when we have company! haha ... please send advice!

It's a great day to be alive ...

2010-08-18T07:58:00.002-05:00

For a few important reasons:

1. The dishwasher is getting installed TODAY! I fully intend to retire as the resident dishwasher and go back to choosing when I want to handwash our dishes.

2. The AC man came last night and told us to contact him ASAP next time we have a problem!

3. We are closing on our house ... again. We got a good rate and are locking it in.

4. The pups got groomed this weekend after last week's mini-disaster. They have been so cute and well-behaved lately (for the most part).

4. We go to week 2 of Financial Peace University. We loved it last week and we even finished our homework early on Saturday! We're very much looking forward to the small group fellowship and learning some new tips tonight.

5. Grayson will pick up my book club book for this month, "The Red Tent". I borrowed it from Meg a few years ago when I was flying somewhere, but I never finished it. I have heard it is a good book so I'm pumped to start it!

6. This marks the last week that I have to come in to work at 7:30 and take a 45 minute lunch break. Next Monday we go back to our regular work schedule which means I can get more stuff done in the mornings and spend more time with the pups at lunch.

7. The Saints have their first home game in the Superdome since winning the Super Bowl. How fun will that be?

All in all, lots of reasons for me to be in a great mood today!

Woof.

2010-08-12T08:13:00.002-05:00

As in, "Buzz's girlfriend ... woof."

That's how I feel this morning. The reason we don't have kids is because we both really enjoy sleeping through the night (well, that's one of many reasons why we don't have kids, but there's not enough time to get into THAT). So, it's obvious we both very much enjoy our sleep, me moreso than Grayson. With me trying to run/train consistently these days it has me loving my sleep that much more. It helps me to relax, stretch out my muscles and recuperate for whatever training I've got scheduled for the next day. Also, with these amazing temps we've been having the only realistic time for me to get up and run is starting at 5:30 in the morning. While this may not seem early for most, it is for me! All the more reason I need/want my sleep.

Well, last night was a total bust. Our air conditioner is out, AGAIN! This thing is really starting to get old. We've called the repair people 3-4 times now and it's yet to be fixed. While I'm thankful that we have a back-up unit upstairs, it's a little frustrating to have to take everything upstairs for a few nights, then back down for a few nights, only to take it back up again a few days later. So we ended up sleeping upstairs again last night and like normal we took the dogs with us. We were awakened at 3am to some whimpering, crying etc ... but didn't think anything of it. We decided to let them cry rather than take them out for fear that we might train them to start waking up at this time each night. Well around 3:45am I woke up to a horrid smell that penetrated the entire upstairs. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that Grayson ended up bleaching their crate and I ended up bathing & drying both dogs until 4:30 this morning.

At that point it was like, do I stay awake and still run, do I nap until 5:30 and then run or try to get as much rest before I have to get up for work? It was a disaster and has us both feeling like we were run over by a train this morning. All this to say, the ac people have been contacted AGAIN, I didn't run and am already on my second cup of coffee!

Here's to a great Thursday.

Happy 5 Year (Dating) Anniversary!

2010-08-11T09:28:00.003-05:00

So yesterday while I was working, I happened to look down at my watch only to realize that the date was August 10th. It took me looking at the calendar a few more times to realize that it was sort of a milestone in Grayson and my relationship. Five years ago yesterday, we had our first date! The first time for us to sit down and really get to know the other person. It was the date that changed everything for the two of us and so I felt it should be celebrated appropriately.

I got a little cheezy, I will admit, but when you realize it's an important day around 3pm and only have about 30 minutes to throw something special together, you end up with a little cheese.I decided to re-create our first date to the best of my ability. I decided a pic-nic dinner in the living room would work best (mostly b/c the other tables are currently covered with laundry). We had our first date at the Potbelly on the corner of the University and Berry St. intersection in Fort Worth (which is a highly important landmark for numerous reasons that maybe I'll share with you on our anniversary). I knew I wanted to do something similar in the way of food, but unfortunately the closest Potbelly to us is located in Houston, Tx.
So I got a little creative (for me) and doctored up some local subs. I tried to order the closest sandwiches to what we got that day. I can't believe I still remember all that, but what can I say? It was a special day for me!!!

I had so much fun creating these labels. I also printed out the first emails we sent back and forth to each other (yes, I still have them saved). One thing I found out a few weeks after Grayson and I started dating was that in the first email I sent him I chose to write in a cool font that was pink with lots of little emoticons in it. He said that he was immediately attracted to me because I used a pink font. We are soooo dorky, I realize this! But in his (then) accounting world where all the emails he received were in boring, black type with nothing but numbers, he said it made his day to receive such a girly email from me. Yay me!

You'll also see that I included a little black book. It's the book that I made for Grayson and gave to him as his wedding gift the morning of our wedding day. Basically, from the first moment Grayson contacted me, I started journaling things about our relationship and how my feelings were unfolding for him. I wrote down the first couple of dates we went on, what we wore, where we went etc ... I have letters that I wrote to him throughout our relationship and also prayers that I wrote to the Lord, hoping that one day I could let Grayson read them. I compiled all of these treasures together and had them bound in a book which I gave to him. I decided to read a few portions of it to Grayson last night, just to remind us both of how I felt after he took me out to our first lunch together.

I leave this book on our living room coffee table as a reminder of how our love first began and as a testimony to the Lord's goodness and grace bestowed on us through the other. I leave it there for anyone to read so that they may learn how faithful our God truly is! The date concluded with us watching the pets devour their dinner and then watching the TO show on VH1 and going to bed early. My how five years can change things!

Sisters, Sisters

2010-08-11T09:24:00.002-05:00

There were never such devoted sisters.

These girls are so close that they even enjoy eating out of the same bowl. Do you think maybe it's a bad sign that our cat is devouring the dog food rather than her own?

Barkley was hesitant to join in on the fun at first. TC has swiped at her face one too many times for her to rush up to the bowl. But as you can see from above, the food ended up calling out to her and she overcame her trepidation over sharing the same bowl with TC. Let's be serious, nothing gets in the way of Barkley and her food!

We are hopeful that yesterday's dining experience was a bonding moment for the pets. Who wouldn't bond after such a fancy al fresco dining experience though?

A follow up to the LL soap box.

2010-08-09T16:57:00.002-05:00

Just be warned, if you do this assessment with your significant other, be prepared for silly jokes to be made at your love language's expense.

Scenario: It's a Sunday afternoon at the Allen household where Ashley is doing the laundry in the living room to serve Grayson while he sits on the couch watching tv.

Grayson: "Wow, Ashley. You are a really good folder .... I don't think I've mentioned today that you are doing a great job on the laundry ... Have I ever told you that you do such a good job sorting the colors?" etc ...

You get the picture, not exactly my definition of "words of affirmation", but hey, at least he's getting himself thinking in the right direction and I wasn't resentful of the jokes! I actually did sort of treasure them!

Do you know yours?

2010-08-09T15:28:00.002-05:00

Love Language, that is. If you don't, I highly recommend going here to take the quick 30 question assessment to determine your love language. If not, it may be challenging to follow the rest of this post.

Being the admitted self-help book lover/counselor that I am, I read this book many years ago. Way back in college I determined that my primary love language is quality time with my secondary LL being physical touch. I have run with this knowledge ever since. Once you learn the principles behind the 5 love languages, you will soon see that you can guage how full your love tank is based upon how much of your love language you are receiving.

Well, this has worked up until a couple of months ago when I started to notice that my love tank has been hovering around mid-full. Never quite empty, yet never quite overflowing either. I decided to go ahead and take this assessment again and to get Grayson to do the same. He had never taken the assessment, we had simply deduced from my reading the book that his primary love language was quality time with his secondary being physical touch as well. SCORE! We both have been operating under the premise that we need QT and PT to feel loved.

WRONGOLA!

After completing the assessment, so much has been made clear. While we both have the same secondary and tertiary LL's (QT and PT) our primary LL's were very different. Surprisingly and not-so-surprisingly, my primary LL is words of affirmation! When I saw that result on my assessment, I was somewhat taken aback. Mostly because I've thought I was QT all these years, but after I let the info sink in a little, it did make sense.

I've saved this orange construction paper craft that my college roommate made for me over 7 years ago. On this craft, she lists 30 reasons why she is my friend. I still have it saved to this day, crinkled paper and all.
I have yet to delete my old email address due to the fact that I still have saved every email Grayson ever sent me from his very first contact until the day before we got married. Five years later and I still read those words.
I save a majority of cards that I've received over the years, if someone took the time to reall think through their words.

I could go on and on, but that would bore you. All this to say, I am a words of affirmation person, but never realized it. Because Grayson was meeting my 2nd and 3rd LL's I always felt loved, but not the most loved. He is the same way, except his primary LL is acts of service. YIKES! I'm not so good at the acts of service, but now that I know they make him feel loved I can do a better job at serving him.

Confession: I think he had mentioned to me once or twice before that he feels loved through AofS, but deep down fear kept me from loving him this way. Fear that I would "serve" him to help him feel loved only to end up being the only one to: do the laundry, cook the dinner, scrub the toilets, take out the trash etc ... This fear of being the only one to do work around the house kept me from fulling loving him. Now though, having this realization, I understand that in my loving him this way, his tank will become fuller and therefore (this is where FAITH comes in) he will love me back. It's really a great cycle that God created.

So ... to summarize my novel. If you haven't taken that assessment DO! Then start advocating for your needs so that others can understand what you NEED to feel and hear LOVE.

Financial Peace University

2010-08-09T15:13:00.002-05:00

So Grayson and I start Financial Peace University at our church this Wednesday. We've been registered for two weeks, but have known about this class all summer long. We are very excited to start learning then applying Biblical principles to the way we manage our finances. We are walkinig in faith that Lord will use this class to humble us, sharpen us and free us up to bless others for His purposes!

Since we've known about this class all summer and have a fairly good idea of what we are getting ourselves into (the much dreaded envelope system, hello!?!), it has been my running joke for most of the summer that I need to go ahead and get all of my spending out of my system. A sort of binge before the purge, you know?

Well, I think this plan has backfired because somewhere along the way I've gone crazy! I bought myself a watch on our cruise that I normally wouldn't have even thought about buying all because of our FPU class. I went a little nuts at one of my favorite stores in town purchasing jewelry for the fall, all necessities of course. I then decided (admittedly on impulse) to go purchase some vital running paraphanalia today at lunch simple b/c I know I have only two more days to do this! It's crazy! If you could get into my mind I'm confident you would duck from all the pinging "needs" I have shooting around in there. Suddenly I find myself realizing that I NEED an either real or faux black leather purse, I NEED some black compression running shorts, I NEED to go get my toes painted ... ahh, the list goes on. While my brain is constantly racked with what I'm afraid I'm going to have to give up for a little bit, my husband on the other hand has reigned back in his inner saver. We now get to hear the phrase, "Ashley, do you really NEED that?" at our house much more frequently these days. So much for thinking he forgot!

All in all, I know this budget thing will be for a better cause. We are both very excited to apply these basic financial principles in order to improve our self-discipline and hopefully honor the Lord. It will be humours no doubt to get us back to that place. More stories will follow, I'm sure.

A nailbiter of a read.

2010-07-30T08:17:00.003-05:00

I know I've done a horrible job of posting pics from our cruise, and I still intend to do so, but this was a funny thing I thought I would share. Knowing we would be gone for a while, we took numerous books with us to read during our vacation. I literally chose our books based on their covers as I didn't have much time to research authors, storylines etc while I was at the library. So, I did what I thought was logical and checked out the Sophie Kinsella "shopaholic" series. The outside cover looked cute, happy and best of all, it was a series. Three books in one, golden! To say I got obsessed with the books is an understatement. They were so funny, easy to read and quite interesting. I couldn't help but laugh throughout because so much of the book is based on the main character rationalizing how she spends money. I just knew that Grayson would get so frustrated if he were to ever read the book. The character makes so many poor financial choices and gets herself into numerous binds due to shopping, and yet always ends up scraping by. I really wanted to finish the books before the end of our cruise so as we headed out to Magen's Bay in St. Thomas, I took the book with me. I read it while tanning ...

And while cooling off in the water.Grayson took these pics and I kind of look like a "book-nest monster". I'm sure I looked like a dork, but to me it was very practical to take the book into the water with me. I could still work on my tan, remain cool in the water and continue with this great series.Upon our return I knew I wanted to rent the movie. I had always wanted to see it when it came out, but we just never got around to watching it. So, one night I headed over to the Red Box and rented it. It didn't take much convincing to get Grayson to watch it because as I read the book during the cruise he saw how engrossed I became and had me give him little summaries of what I was reading. He had a general idea of what to expect and was just as anxious to see the movie as I was.

Unfortunately, like most movies that are based on a book, it wasn't very good. It had tons of information wrong, wasn't anything like I pictured in my head and compiled tidbits of info from all three books. I knew what to expect and knew the ending, but Grayson did not. You would have thought we were watching a thriller or horror movie the way he was biting his nails. I guess in the world of finances this movie really is a banker's worst nightmare and funnily enough, he still has the short, bleeding nails to prove it.

Is the saying true?

2010-07-30T07:57:00.002-05:00

Do opposites really attract? Well, in the case of our marriage, I believe this to be true ... to a certain extent. If anyone knows me semi-well at all, you'll know that I tend to be a type-A personality. If you knew me during any of my school years, then you'll for sure know I'm an A-type personality. If an assignment is due on Friday, I will have it done by Wednesday, just in case. Maybe even Monday if I have some social plans to attend to that week. I'm also anal about writing everything down on my calendar, to make sure I don't forget and can get it done in adequate time. I'm all about efficiency, trying to get as many things done in as little time as possible. I'm a list maker, often micro-managing my days to squeeze in as much work/play as possible. I feel comfortable in this zone, I succeed in this way and feel like I function at my best using this approach.

Grayson, on the other hand, not so much. I know the Lord knew what he was doing when He brought us together, but sometimes I can't help but laugh at how different we really are and stand amazed that this actually works. Here's the story ... his work has this report that has to be completed quarterly. Grayson inherited this duty when he started work four years ago so it's not really a new task. At the start of our marriage, I remember being very nervous about this report as it seemed to be a big deal that would take tons of G's time & mental energy. I've come to know differently, but at the beginning I, being the anal-retentive, calendar using wife that I am, wrote down when this report was due which month so I could help Grayson. It seemed pretty easy to me: you have the same type report due every four months therefore it should be fairly easy to accomplish in a timely manner, right? Wrong. In four years Grayson has had to do 16 of these reports and I can distinctly remember him coming home between 2am and 4am on the very last night it was due at least five times. That's a third of the time and last night was one of them.

Granted, we have been super busy lately with vacation, fun weddings, hosting fabulous guests etc ... so he's not been able to work on this report like normal. It just baffles me at how different we are when approaching deadlines. Supposedly, this is the norm for him. I didn't really know him in college, but he has told me that his general approach to most tests were to wait until the day before to begin studying and then go into "lock-down mode" the day before and study hard-core for a few hours and then be done. He thrives in this environment; he is able to stay cool, calm and collected. He has the ability to power through and get his work done well. I on the other hand, would be a huge mess of a ball on the floor covered in tears if I waited until the last minute to finish anything. I just don't handle that sort of pressure well, but my husband seems to highly enjoy it.

This is where marriage gets tricky b/c while I don't technically have to finish the report, I do have to lay in bed wondering when my significant other will be coming home. Let's just say that I did visit Starbucks this morning b/c I know I'm going to feel a little tired today. There's just something unsettling about knowing your spouse is away working, will be driving home late when he's tired that doens't let you rest well. I am proud of myself for growing though. Now, instead of putting the months when this report is due on my calendar to help Grayson, it's more of a reminder that probably 2-3 nights that month I need to find something productive to do with my evenings as I know that my husband will more than likely not be home until late. Grayson is teaching me how to relax, go with the flow and not freak out when things aren't done four days in advance. Once again, I'm amazed at how God uses marriage to sharpen and challenge me to become a better, more balanced individual.

But let's be honest, we all know I'm still going to carry a calendar and plan my days in detail. Some things are just meant to be.

A quick story ... in a few words.

2010-07-29T08:21:00.002-05:00

They did this on the radio the other day and I thought it was really funny. You get the jist of the story with very few words. Here was our morning yesterday...

Wake up late.
Still tired.
Dogs barking, need to pee.
Let them out.
Back in bed.
Oversleep.
Neglected cat.
Porch present.
Unattended dogs.
Dead bird.
Husband in shower.
Personal hatred of birds.
Clenched teeth.
Won't open mouth.
Bird in bathroom.
Warn husband.
Eat breakfast.

Such a Fun Weekend!

2010-07-26T08:37:00.002-05:00

We were able to host my brother, sister-in-law and nephew this weekend and we had so much fun! It's been almost four years since they last visited Louisiana and so we made sure to show them all around our sweet state.

E has gotten so big and is so cute. He's very good at walking and running and has started to expand his vocabulary. It was so fun watching him interact with all of us and the puppies, all while exploring his home for the weekend. He was a trooper and made the 8 hour trek with little difficulty. He is a fantastic traveler apparently!

It's hard to see in the picture above, but he wore footie pajamas to bed ... my absolute favorite!
Precious!

E had a blast with the puppies. They are just his size and perfect entertainment. He, like most children, loved Brinley best. She is small and calm, making for the perfect playmate. E loved her so much he made a point to get in her bed just so he could be closer to her and lay down with her. He is learning how to be gentle and did such a great job with the dogs.

Overall, the weekend was a success; full of laziness and relaxation! We watched two movies, went to the lake and watched lots of shows on the home improvement and cooking channels. Unfortunately, with our dishwasher being broken I shattered three glasses over the course of two days. I figure if those were the only real casualties from the weekend we were doing okay. I'm not sure when we'll get to go back to San Antonio, but we are definitley looking forward to seeing little E and all he will have learned by then!

You should try it sometime.

2010-07-22T08:16:00.002-05:00

Sleeping in your guest quarters, that is. With our downstairs air conditioner being out the past few days we had the opportunity to travel upstairs and test out the guest quarters ourselves. This was such a great thing for us to do, so great in fact, that I decided to recommend it to you!

If you don't sleep where your guests will sleep, you may never realize all the little quirks that will make the stay pleasant or not-so-pleasant. For instance, we never knew that both fans in the upstairs rooms squeak. They actually squeak so loud that I had to get up in the middle of the night and turn them off! Now I know why my brother-in-law took the glass covering off of the fan when he stayed with us (oops)! Also, the shower faucet nozzle is extremely low. Don't ask me why, but it's about 5-6" too low. I'm not a tall girl and even I have to duck to get my hair under the water. I wonder how someone taller than 5'7" will handle that? On the flip side, the guest bedroom is hands down the coldest room in the house making for a very comfortable night's sleep. The bed is super firm and inviting; I'm also glad we didn't scrimp on the sheet's thread count b/c that was a nice perk I wasn't expecting. There were a few things (if I were a guest) that I would have liked to have had up there: some candles, extra toothbrushes and toothpaste, some magazines and maybe a few other odds and ends.

I figure if people are going to come visit us I want their stay to feel like a vacation, a retreat, a little time away where they can enjoy themselves. Had I never stayed upstairs I never would have known these little things. And seriously, it's not like your guest is going to tell you so you might as well do it yourself and make whatever improvements necessary!

Thank you AHS

2010-07-20T08:16:00.002-05:00

When Grayson and I decided to purchase our first home we were encouraged to invest in a home warranty contract. The fact that the house was over 15 years old and thus, the appliances were as equally old, we agreed and decided to purchase a home warranty.

Best.Decision.Ever! Our pipes burst last winter thanks to a random cold freeze. No problem, we just called AHS.

After returning from our vacation we learned that our dishwasher was broken. No problem, we just called AHS. (To be fair, not really "no problem", it is sort of a bother to hand wash dishes, but technically the term "dish washer" can also refer to a person who washes dishes in either a restaurant, hotel or private setting.)

Then, our air conditioning unit went out a few days ago, but again no problem, we just called AHS. Embarrasingly enough, we could have avoided this call had we only checked our filter system. Oops, no one told us to change the hidden filter near the furnace though! Thankfully the repair man was very nice and didn't make us feel silly for this slight mistake. He actually helped us clean our units while he was there.

All this to say, purchasing our home warranty was a good decision and if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I would highly recommend getting one!

Roberto, Roberto, Roberto.

2010-07-20T07:58:00.001-05:00

I think you're a gonner son.

After last night's episode I just don't see him getting picked in the final round. Ali seemed a little stand-offish, don't you think? We noticed how her body language was pulled back from him (or at least what clips they showed us) and how she seemed to distance herself during dinner. They are making their relationship out to be this solely physical connection and until last night I disagreed, but now seeing how heartbroken Ali was when Frank left makes me feel bad for Roberto. But hey, maybe they'll sign him up to be the next Batchelor? That would be a show I could follow.

As far as the destination goes, Tahiti, please!!!

How amazing of a place was this? If Tahitit wasn't bombarded with tourists before last night's show, you can guarantee they will be soon. Shoot, we were even talking about how we'd love to save up for a trip like this. Except, we don't think we would go to the "heart shaped island" like Ali and Roberto did. I'm sorry, but did anyone else miss the heart shaped island? I even paused the tv and still couldn't find how in the world they got a heart out of that?

I really like Chris and feel like he might be a front-runner, although the general consensus is that Ali will pick no one. Mostly because now I'm sure she doesn't trust herself b/c if she let Frank get this far and he hurt her, how could she possible be right about the other two guys? I also think she really wanted to pick Frank in the end, and now that he's gone she won't pick anyone. Grayson wants Chris to be the next Batchelor, but I just don't think it would work. He's such a sweet and shy guy that I can't see him falling into that role. He did, however, crack us up with his whole "There's a fantasy suite?" Seriously, how do people come on this show and act that surprised when they get the letter from Chris H? We did think his response was hysterical, "Uh, yeah, let's go right now." Gave us a good chuckle.

Onto Frank, who here really thought that the camera and crew were catching Nicole off-guard by popping in on her? If so, she has the most immaculate apartment in Chicago and does a great job of purchasing and displaying fresh roses as her daily centerpiece. I'll need to take notes. I felt really bad for Ali. Who goes on a show like this expecting to be dumped ... um, no one. I can't imagine getting this far only to be dumped this close to the end. It makes me sad for Ali, but also the two remaining guys. I mean, I know she said that they weren't "default roses", but um actually, they were. She said that she fully expected Frank to meet her family, which meant that she probably planned to give him a rose which means that she had to have been planning to send one of the other guys home. At least this event will give them one more chance!

I'm not super excited about The Men Tell All next week, but I am looking forward to the last episode in a few weeks. And I hate to say this, but I think I'm planning to watch the Batchelor Pad too. Lame, I know, but what else do I have to do on Monday night's? Apparently nothing!

Obsessed

2010-07-20T07:50:00.004-05:00

with Booties.
I know I probably shouldn't, but I receive weekly updates from various shoe stores alerting me of the newest trends for the next season. I'll be the first to confess that in no way am I a trendsetter. It generally take me about 2-3 seasons until I can really get into something "trendy", but of course, by then it really shouldn't be defined as trendy if it's still around? Right? I digress ...

A few years ago I realized that booties were becoming popular. I remember this because Grayson's best friend Dave got engaged in the fall and his then fiance wore the cuties black booties to their engagement party. I remember the outfit exactly: black booties, black tights with a sophisticated long sleeve black dress. I remember thinking, "Wow, those shoes look amazing, but I don't know if I have the courage to get some of my own." Well, obviously I still don't have the courage because I've yet to buy a pair. To my defense though, I did want to purchase a pair last year, but Grayson wasn't having it. But I've decided that this is the year!!! I WILL get me some booties and somehow I will attempt to pull them off!

Any ideas of how to pair them? I know for sure I'll do them with leggings and a skirt of some sort. Any other cool ways that you know to wear them?

Ugh.

2010-07-19T10:01:00.002-05:00

So I've finally resigned myself to the fact that I am not, nor will I ever be, a runner.

This realization came Saturday morning as I woke to a horrible pain in my back. A pain that had me bed-ridden the entire weekend. You see, I've been "training" for the past 6-7 weeks for a half-marathon in November. When I went to San Antonio for my 10 year reunion, a bunch of us girls decided that it would be super fun to train for that race and hold each other accountable. I couldn't have been happier because while I've attempted to train numerous times before, I always end up with an injury. I thought, surely with other people training, trading tips etc ... that I would be injury free. Welp, folks, that was a no-go.

I spent the weekend analyzing what it was that brought about this injury. I feel confident it was either a) my running on the treadmill instead of outdoors, b) I need new shoes or c) I haven't been stretching nearly enough. While I could make adaptations to these problems, ultimately I feel I need to listen to my body and stop trying to force it to do something that it obviously doesn't want to do.

Ultimately, the reason I decided to take up running as a hobby was because I knew that Grayson would be studying full-time for his CFA exam and I didn't want to feel lonely. I thought that it would give me something to do while he was working hard to pass that test. I've come to learn that maybe this wasn't the best hobby to choose and that I'm just not cut out for this sport. Here are my thoughts in no particular order:

* In order to train in Louisiana, one must wake up at the butt-crack of dawn to avoid heat stroke.
* I am NOT a morning person and was really never that good at consistently waking up early.
* On days when I did manage to pull myself out of bed to hit the road early, I realized that this didn't really help me feel less lonely b/c Grayson studies in the evening, not in the wee hours of the morning.
* I have no real training in running and believe that this naiveté leads to my injuries over and over again.
* I am not really all that interested in obtaining information about running.
* Running, around here anyways, is an isolated sport, not social.
* I love to be social.

This realization led me to believe that maybe I am just the "take exercises classes at the gym" sort of girl. It is obviously not in my cards to run a half-marathon, but I still need to stay fit. Since I love to be around people and I need to fill my evenings with something productive, I decided to be okay with being the "take exercise classes at the gym" girl. No, it may not be the most competitive sport, I may not set any PR's doing this and I am most definitely not in the "runner's club" anymore, but I believe that it will keep me occupied, help me be healthy and most importantly, will keep me injury free. And as an added bonus, the classes they offer at our gym really are amazing.

My back is feeling a little bit better today. I'm fairly confident that if I keep taking some medicine and stay off of it for a while that all will be well in time. I just wonder if I can still get away with buying cool workout apparel even though I'm not technically training for anything?

Whoah, way behind.

2010-07-15T08:30:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over a month. My apologies. We were on vacation.

And you know how that goes. You come home and have so much to do and feel a little behind and then time passes and then you feel even more behind and wonder when you'll ever get to posting all the great pics from the trip. Well, I'm there. When I get a chance I will post pics from our cruise. I may do it in a few postings though so it won't feel so overwhelming to do or read.

In the meantime, I did watch the Batchelorette on Monday. Thoughts ...

* Frank needs to leave. He is really getting on my nerves. It doesn't help that Grayson is obsessed with him and really feels like Ali made a HUGE mistake by not calling his name first the other night. In Grayson's opinion, that was the straw that broke Frank's back. "If only Ali would have called his name first, it would have built up Frank's confidence to know she really likes him. But instead, it was not like Ali was offering Frank a rose because she cared about him; no, it was more like she was rejecting Kirk." These are the thoughts I have to listen to and contend with on Monday nights.
* Chris was more impressive after his hometown. I think I would like to join Chris's family. His sister-in-laws seemed cool and I loved his dad. So tender and emotional, very sweet family.
* I still like Kirk, even though the show made his dad out to be some weird taxidermist. Well, okay, maybe his job was a little weird, but he seemed nice all the same.
* I really like Roberto, but I don't think it's gonna work. His family visit seemed to be the most awkward out of all of them. Didn't you think? Maybe he'll be the next Bachelor for next season? I would watch for sure!

Okay, those are all of my thoughts for now. Since I'm posting a few days late, I've lost most of my witty comments that I had stored up on Tuesday. Pics to come from our cruise soon!

the puppies get a spa day!

2010-06-08T08:35:00.002-05:00

Some of you may not know this, but Grayson is really good at cutting hair. He has a set of what I would consider fancy grooming tools that he used all throughout college when he would cut his roommates and friend's hair. I even recall him cutting a friend's hair right before his wedding! Now that is trust.

He cut his hair for a while, but then when he decided to let it grow a little bit longer he opted for a barber. But the other day we decided to put his skills to good use and trim up the pups. We had the hardest time getting them to the groomer due to shots, poor hours of operation etc ... So "we" trimmed them ourselves. I basically held them in place while he worked his magic.
Brinley got a nice close trim so she won't be so hot. Now she looks like a little rat.

Barkley has more poodle hair so she took a little bit longer. She gets super hot a) because she's a little chunker, b) b/c her hair is thicker and c) b/c her hair is black black black! She was a champ and let us get her a good cut. With less hair though she somehow thinks she is a speed racer and runs around the yard more than ever to show off her speed and mad-dashing skills.

After they were properly groomed, we also clipped their nails and gave them a bath. It truly was a spa day for the puppies! I'll try to get an after shot to show you just how little they look!

Episode 3.

2010-06-08T08:22:00.002-05:00

You can't tell me that these two don't look like they could be the same person???

The guy on the left (Roberto) is one of my top 2 favorites on The Bachelorette right now.

I won't tell you who the guy on the right is (safety purposes, duh), but I do know him and every single time I watch the show I can't help but think of him. It even prompted me to send him a friendly HI message!

So last night's episode was good. I feel like they are starting to get a little bit better than they have been previously. I really wanted Jonathan gone, he's really starting to get on my nerves. He talks so fast, he cried last night and overall I just think he is awkward when he interacts with Ali. All the whispering he does is just weird!

I'm basing my hunch on previous episdoes, but last night Roberto and Ali had this super exhilerating, potentially life threatening "date" together which is vaguely reminiscent of Jake/Vienna's bungee jumping experience and Jillian/Ed's repelling a sky scraper date. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with Roberto based solely on that. Good thing too b/c I really like him. Mostly b/c he's a good guy, but then partly because he reminds me of my friend above who is super funny and nice. I'm sure there's some transference happening there.

I also like the guy from Cape Cod, can't remember his name, but I think it's obvious that being from the same geographic area gives two people an automatic connection due to an easy understanding of where the other came from.

I really hate how they are portraying Rated R Justin to be this bad guy. 1) I don't think he really walked, sorry crutched, himself over to Ali's house, give me a break! and 2) I think they are just trying to stir up drama and he was an easy candidate. I don't think Ali will choose him, but ultimately he seems like he's a good guy that is getting the short end of the stick. I wish they would just lay off of him!

I was sad to see the guy who couldn't open the champagne bottle go. Then again, it probably says something that I can't remember his name and hardly ever saw him with Ali. But I thought he was funny and a little bit better candidate than our Nashville singing friend Ty who's accent is starting to get on my nerves too.

So my current top 3 faves are, in descending order: Roberto, Kyle and Cape Cod boy. I'm excited to watch next week and see what other drama unfolds!

Episode 2

2010-06-04T08:16:00.002-05:00

So I'm way behind. We went to San Antonio this past weekend for my 10 year high school reunion (pics to come) and because of that we didn't get home until late Monday night. Thank goodness for DVR b/c I totally forgot what day it was and didn't get to watch this week's episode
until Wednesday evening. It was a good one, I guess. CONFESSION:
I haven't gone back to the "spoiler" website and I'm gonna do my best to avoid it for the rest of the season. While I kind of remember what I read, I kind of don't at the same time. I think I know who the final two will be, but no real details beyond that. So ... here are some thoughts and I'm anxious to hear yours. I don't have anyone

to watch the show with and so I'll need to process this ideas with the blogging world!

* Why the speedos? Seriously, do they think people WANT to see guys in speedos all year long as they look daily at a calendar to check the date? Well, we don't!
* The photo shoot was cool, I think, only I never heard the charity that the profit would benefit. Seemed weird that they didn't give any credit to the non-profit organization they were "promoting".
* I don't know the guys name up top doing Warrior 1 pose, but I hope he goes far, I like him.
* Roberto is my top guy right now ... kind of reminds me of someone I knew who went to Baylor.
* I'm so glad Canada Craig is gone. Did he freak anyone else out? Grayson came in as the show was ending and swore up and down that Craig had to be drunk because no one in their right mind would ever act like that. But I think that was just the thing, I'm not sure Canada Craig was in his right mind ... ever!
* So far I feel like this season has been okay. Nothing too exciting yet. Maybe as time goes on things will get better. Time will tell!

Episode 1

2010-05-25T15:51:00.002-05:00

I hate that I did it, but I did. I went to a spoiler website and read the spoilers for this season's Bachelorette. Why do I do this??? I never did this before some savvy college student alerted me to this site.

It was during Jason's season that I was introduced to this guilty pleasure. For any avid Bachelor/ette follower, you will recall the drama that ensued during Jason's season. How he ultimately picked Molly, but only after breaking Melissa's heart on national television. It was during this season when I was introduced to the worst and best thing imaginable. Some rando-guy has all these "informants" who leak secret info to him which he then spreads all over the internet.

At first, I didn't believe what I read and denied the fact that Jason would end up with Molly. We were Melissa fans for goodness sake and needed to support her through and through. But then, during the ATFR ceremony when he picked Molly I switched camps and became a believer in this guy's spoiler website. Now, I cannot start a season without going to his site to see what info he has to share with me. And I hate to say this, but he has been spot-on for the past 2 seasons and I believe he'll be right this one too.

I had every intention of avoiding this site in order to fully engage in the emotional drama associated with watching this show every week. But, alas, I folded this morning and read an entire season's worth of spoilers (minus who Ali chooses). I guess you could say there is still some anticipation left, but then again it's only week one.

Have no fear though, G and I still intend to analyze, process and break-down each week's viewing. In closing, here's my favorite comment he made about the show last night ...

"Oh, that guy is so gay. I thought you had to be straight to go on this show?"

The Death of Me.

2010-05-25T15:42:00.002-05:00

We LOVE the ICB!

For those of you who are unaware of the Little Caesar's jargon just used, ICB is what any good employee will scream over his/her back when you order a delicious, piping hot order of Italian Cheezy Bread. This stuff is to die for and thus the reason we have become regulars at the new LC's right up the road. We must get some weird joy out of hearing the employees scream our order out for the entire room to hear because we have made it our job to drive up and pay a mere $3.99 to indulge ourselves in this little slice of heaven far too often.

It really is wonderful and dangerous all at the same time. If you'll remember from previous posts, pizza is one of the very few foods that I can eat all day, everyday and never get tired of. There are many nights when we feel exhausted and decide to "splurge" on a $5 Hot & Fresh pizza from up the road. Sadly, we are exhausted a little too often for our own good (and our mid-sections).

If you are like me, it's probably been at least 10 years since you last had a piece of Little Caesar's pizza. The reason being, anyone who attended CHFBS would know that we indulged ourselves in this deliciousness every single Wednesday from birth until graduation in order to help raise $$$ for the senior class. If I thought it would be too soon before I ever saw another piece of LC's pizza, I was wrong! I'm lovin it all over again! In fact, I might just have to make a flyby sometime this week!