Keeping up with the Coles

3 weeks ago...

2011-08-31T18:09:00.004-05:00

Just 3 short weeks ago I looked like this...and then came this...The most perfect new addition to the Cole family. Camden James was born at 3:12pm weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz and measuring 19 3/4" long. Everything before his arrival seems like an entirely different life! I am really enjoying my time home with the little guy. My days are filled with feedings (lots of those!), diapers (lots of those!), sleeping (more by the baby then by me), snuggle time (as much as I can!) and basically just looking at him (is his chest moving up and down?). We feel extremely blessed and excited for this new chapter.

36 weeks - update

2011-07-14T08:29:00.006-05:00

My main feeling these days - we are running out of time! I want Baby C to cook as long as he wants but I think he wants to make an early appearance for some reason. We'll see!

I did have a growth scan today and he weighs a healthy 6 lbs and some odd oz. He's in the 67th percentile. If he decides to go full term, he should weigh about 8 1/2 lbs. He also has lots of hair and chubby cheeks! Everything looked really great and I'm making good progress.

Baby showers are almost wrapped up. I have my last one on Friday with my work crew. There hasn't been a baby shower to plan at work for at least 15 years so they are beyond excited. We have been extremely extremely blessed and really won't have that much left to purchase to complete his stock of necessities. One person's idea of a necessity is far different from anothers...example...the Itzbeen. It tells you multiple things like when he was last fed, serves as a night light, has an alarm and pretty much takes away any reason for Tommy & I to discuss his routine at 3am. Just check the Itzbeen...right? ;0) I received it on Saturday from a new mom and I can't wait to use it!

Now we just have to tackle a few more to do's like packing a bag and we'll be good to go. One important thing we need to note...where is Labor & Delivery at the hospital?? We took a tour but somehow we both managed to tune out this important factor. We were there today and have no clue where to go...we'll get there somehow!

32 weeks and growing...

2011-06-14T14:51:00.004-05:00

Whew - I was breaking a sweat in this long sleeve thing but I have to stick with it. I actually only have two more stickers to go till Cam arrives. Crazy! It's also crazy when I look at my 8 week picture which is saved in the same file as this one...will I ever see that waist again?! At this rate...will I have to stop driving because I can't fit? My sister was concerned on our flight last weekend that the seat belt wouldn't fit. She's great for the confidence boost!

Let the face roundness begin... I went to my 32 week check up today. I had been measuring two weeks ahead but now I'm just one week ahead. She said it could be due to several things including simply my height. We'll wait till our 37 week sonogram to actually see how big the little guy is. I feel like he's running short on room as he rolls around in my belly. I'm still feeling pretty good. A little tired but that could be due to all kinds of things. My feet tend to swell after walks and long, hot days which I have about 55 more of those to live through with this belly! We went and had a 3d sonogram a few weeks ago. He was a little camera shy and buried in my pelvic bone but we got a few good shots. The dark shadowing is me according to the tech...she also said he was "positioned well" as opposed to the way his mama was positioned when she came out. No more pictures please...We are in the middle of baby shower bonanza! Not just for me but several for my friends. They are so fun! I used to be so overwhelmed by baby stores but now I love just going in to look around. My mom is here for work this week and supposedly we'll have the nursery complete when she leaves. A bit daunting at this point but if we're successful...I'll post some pics! Well, sans the bedding. It should be ready in the next few weeks. :)

Giving credit where credit is due

2011-05-19T10:29:00.003-05:00

Since the big name announcement several people have asked "How did you come up with it?". Well, don't worry, the person that deserves credit wasn't happy when her name wasn't mentioned! I can picture her scanning the text eagerly waiting to read her name. Her words were similar to "You acted as if the name fell down as a gift from above". So...MOM...thank you for your endless name recommendations and thankfully one stuck! Love you!

What's in a name?

2011-05-17T14:10:00.004-05:00

At one point, I could vividly see my future in regards to name selection. We would be in the hospital checked in, IV in my arm, playing the waiting game for the baby to arrive and Tommy would have a pad of paper crossing off names trying to make a decision. We may have even had a top 3 list and waited to lay eyes on the little guy.

I mean there are a ton of things to consider when trying to choose a name. Does it fit a baby, a school kid, a teenager, look good on a resume, can he shake a business partner's hand and be proud, a wrinkly grandpa? We really can't worry too much about 60 years from now! Can you live with any possible nickname that may come from it? Again, something you can't worry too much about because kid's imagination seems to have no limits when it comes to this so who knows what they will think of. I've learned just to pass your name thoughts by a 10 year old and see what the first thing that pops out of their mouth is. Quite entertaining.

There were 24 family members at Easter dinner so we took a vote of our two favorite names (no write ins allowed) and they basically tied (if you don't count the 4 & 5 yr old sisters). Then...the very next week...our problem was solved.

The vivid delivery day image I had in my head won't be happening. We finally came to a name that we both love even more then any other name we thought we loved before. Tommy officially ok'd the name by writing it in my Mother-to-be Mother's Day card. His name will be Camden James. Camden doesn't run in the family, doesn't mean anything significant and I don't know why or how we didn't find it weeks ago but we love it. James is after my granddad who I lovingly referred to as Tatch.

We have other family names we hope to pass on if we are blessed with more babies but baby #1, you've been named!!

I didn't see Tommy do any of this on our vacation last week so the pictures were a sweet surprise.

28 weeks down

2011-05-17T13:42:00.002-05:00

The apps and emails I get compare Baby C's current size to a Chinese cabbage, an eggplant and a head of cauliflower. He's also supposedly between 14-16in (now measured from head to toe I think) and between 2.25 and 2.5lbs. I think over the next few weeks his goal is fat storage so he can have the same chubby thighs his momma was born with. I love baby thighs!! and toes and fingers and noses...haha

Over the last four weeks we've picked out baby bedding fabric, gotten rid of furniture, cleaned carpets, (he) put together furniture, started a registry, took one last pre-parenthood vaca, (I) took a breastfeeding class and tomorrow is the yucky glucose test. Something I'm not looking forward to in the least but it has to be done. I also start going in to see the dr every two weeks from this point on which I'm actually looking forward to.

I can't believe before the next sticker at 32 weeks, we'll have completed baby classes, had a few baby showers and who knows what else! It's an exciting time in our lives and I do believe we are treasuring every moment for the gift it is.

Gulf coast

2011-04-20T14:03:00.006-05:00

This past weekend we headed to Corpus Christi to see the Murphrees. I've always looked up to the Murphrees. I met Emily on Bid Day 2000 when I hopped of the bus shortly after learning I was a Theta. She was holding a sign with my name on it. We've been friends ever since!

It was a fun but quick weekend. Luckily, Corpus is a short flight away. We got in and had some yummy fajitas (Emily also has been an excellent host) and enjoyed the backyard. Emily's dad calls their house Green Acres. It is a little in the country but it's so nice! The kids have a wonderful backyard, play set, vegetable garden, room to grow...it's great! Saturday was spent at the ocean since that's one big thing we don't get here in DFW. One thing we didn't leave behind in DFW was the wind... and then we went to a Hooks game that night. It's located right at the Port of Corpus Christi. Very nice view. We took lawns seats and they have these awesome wooden rocking chair tickets you can buy. Emily and Trent have this parenting thing figured out! They brought PJs to the game, the kids changed at the end of the 8th, fell asleep in the car ride home and went straight to bed when we got there. Wow!

This boy smiles like no other and never loses the grip on his pacifier.

The next day we headed to Port Aransas. It was the 15th annual Sandfest. Lots of people, snacks and sand!

Look at all those teeth! The only time he stopped smiling was when we got near the water for fear that his parents would make him go in. I guess he's not a fan just yet!
Ella's favorite sweet pose

My favorite sand creations. They started on these Friday night and we caught them in the last 15 minutes till judgement time on Sunday.

This was a man drowning in debt trying to keep up with the Joneses.

His family and the nice house on the hill of debt and overdue bills.

This pile had everything from a diamond ring, $100 bills, prada purse, Xbox...pretty interesting concept

On the opposite end of Cole, you have Ella who wasn't entirely happy until it was time to go swimming. She took one dip and brrr...too cold! She thought maybe the area 100 yards away where there were crazy kids swimming wasn't as cold??

Then it was time to head home. I think Green Acres/Corpus Christi will be a great place to take our kids to visit in the future! ;0)

Editing

2011-04-20T14:00:00.002-05:00

Can I just add that the editing on blogspot must be beyond my grasp. I mean...why does it appear spaced out correctly for me and then there are randomly 5 spaces between things...bullet points all out of sorts...I just need to stop trying to be all fancy about it. Or get some training...Alisha?? ;0)

24 down, 16 to go?!

2011-04-20T12:55:00.003-05:00

So are you pregnant for 10 months or what? I am 24 weeks pregnant which makes me instantly think I'm 6 months pregnant. But I still have 16 weeks/4 months to go? It can be quite tricky! So I choose to go my weeks and trimesters (which could be a whole other story). At this point, the baby message boards have clearly stated to all the confused mommies out there that there are actually 4.33 weeks in each month. Technical much? All I know is...Baby C should be here sometime within the next 4 months. August 20th - that would be almost two weeks past due and I think that is the max they'll let you go.

Yes, we are still calling him Baby C. We have "taken the month off" from discussing baby names. Oh my word...maybe I should create a poll and let you choose? There would be what - 5 to 10 votes? I think majority of those votes know my first choice so I think that could be a win win for me. Hmmm...

We hit 24 weeks on Monday. Some notable changes that happened in the last four weeks and things to come...

We've had two "heartbeat" doctor appointments. It's wonderful to hear that sound. At the past one (on Monday) he kicked the doppler and she had to move to find him again.

I had my belly measured for the first time on Monday. I thought she would go around the waist like I've been doing for the past 10 years but nope she measured length wise. That's a whole new number to add to my measurement chart!

I have to drink the notable orange sugar drink before my next appointment to test for gestational diabetes. I've heard it's like a Sunkist and best to drink cold.

Speaking of kicking, I feel like I have the next Karate Kid in my tummy. He has his favorite times to be active. First thing in the morning, whenever I eat, when I lay down to sleep and then sometime around 4am. I can remember waiting and waiting for that first sign of movement and now there's no mistaking it. I can't wait for Tommy to be able to truly experience it. I think he's officially felt him twice. It helps that I can feel him both inside and out which I can't seem to grasp as I ask Tommy about three times a day if he would like to try and feel the baby again.

We confirmed 100% little boy at the end of last month. We got a great view of the little guy moving all around! Doc says he looks perfect. I think that is a doctors favorite word when it comes to babies and come to think of it many peoples. What do you say when you see a baby? The words out of my mouth are usually "Oh, he's perfect."

I was 20 weeks 4 days at my last sono but measured at 21 weeks 3 days. I guess babies grow at different rates so they don't change your due date. He'll come when he's ready.

I think I've narrowed it down to two daycares. I had a fav by my office but we came to the conclusion it would be easier to find one close to home so Tommy can be more involved in the dropping off routine. Sounds good to me! I've seen so many now and while some you can cross off immediately most seem to provide the same necessary care. The only reason my fav is by the office is because it was built in October so it seems brand new and sparkly. No one will ever do as good of a job as you feel you'll do yourself except your mom or grandmother.

I had the first man brave the "are you pregnant" question. Actually, no words came out of his mouth. He looked strangely at Tommy and then at me and pointed at my belly. Like "Did you do what I think you did and decide to procreate?". It was the Einstein bagel guy. Classic, I know. Our brother-in-law, Kane, then proceeded to ask him if we help keep the lights on around there since he seems to know us so well. I'll see women that are clearly pregnant and I'm too scared to ask! It's getting pretty obvious at this point. My zumba instructor noticed probably last week and asked me how I was feeling. Wonder how much longer I'll last in that class...

The best $50 I've spent in the past month was on this pillow. Actually, my uncle Jay gave me a Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card which I happily found out could be used at Buy, Buy, Baby. Same goes for their coupons I think. Nice!

BEST THING EVER

We are moving all the furniture out of our future baby room this weekend, getting the carpets cleaned and then it's operation baby furniture time. Unfortunately, I haven't been invited to attend. I've actually been instructed to plan to work or be out of town the day this occurs.

I'm going to start training my maternity leave replacement May 1st. That kind of puts reality in my face. It's right around the corner!

I could obviously go on and on at this point so I'll just wrap up with a close up bump pic.

Baby C progress by pics

2011-04-18T15:51:00.009-05:00

I have no belly pics on the blog? How can that be? Here they are in all their glory...24 week pic due later today! It will be similar to the last three - end of the day, hair frazzled, makeup gone after zumba kinda pic. Except, I think baby C has hit a growth spurt or at least I hope so since I have!

Think I'll change progress shirts when it's 100 degrees outside?? I don't know...I'm a pretty scheduled kind of girl.

NYC

2011-04-04T12:42:00.004-05:00

Our NYC girl's trip can best be described in pictures. It was amazing! Good weather, good food and great company. :) We were dog tired at the end of every day. We created such great memories!

When we booked the trip we decided to forgo the courtesy shuttle from the airport to the hotel. It was going to make several stops and we were told a cab might be easier. We forgot which option we chose and a week before the trip I contacted the travel agent assuming we had chosen the safer option of organized transportation to learn that no...we had chosen to wing it. Let the fun begin! It actually worked out ok. A man was waiting at the baggage carousel and asked us if we needed a ride and we took it. There you go!

The view from our room at Marriott Times Square. We were in the center of the action.

We got in around noon on Tuesday and decided to tour Central Park by bicycle. We weren't doing the work though. We were in a carriage behind the bicycle. Much faster and less smelly than the horse option. It was great having a tour guide point out all the movie locations and where the famous people reside. New Jersey is allll the way down that block. We stopped by the M&M store and the Hershey store. Yum!

The only rainy day that was "supposed" to happen we decided was our museum day. We took the subway to get there. This was Alli and mom's first subway experience...quite fun to witness. We only chose one museum for this trip and it was the Museum of Natural History. You could easily spend an entire day there. We didn't get there until lunch time so we were limited to half a day.

Most of our nights were free to roam the city. American Eagle was doing a promotion that if you made a purchase you could experience your 15 seconds of fame on Times Square so we couldn't pass that up.

There were plenty of artists on the street willing to draw your pretty face. Alli was all over it.

Once I saw how cute hers was I figured I would give it a try and asked for a cute little baby bump...what I got was an afterthought of a baby bump, a sexy dress and a cocktail. Perfect.

The next day we started our 48 hr hop on, hop off bus tour. This was a great way to see the sights quickly and also get to different areas of the city. Our first stop was Soho where we found the new Dash store.

Next up was Chinatown

Then off to the financial district with a quick stop to ride the Staten Island Ferry. This was how we decided to see the Statue of Liberty.

Then we walked the financial district and saw the new construction of ground zero.

Thursday night was the night we saw Lion King. Amazing! I left the camera at home as I knew no video or photo would be allowed. We tried to see Wicked but it was spring break for NYC kids and tickets were expensive. Next time we go, we'll definitely see more than on show.

The next morning was our big Today show cameo! It was a blast seeing everything up close and personal. We didn't get too much TV time but we definitely made it on there.

Finally on our 4th day in the city, I persuaded the family that we had to stop by FAO Schwarz. They didn't understand what the big deal was until we finally got inside. Loved it.

That night we took a night bus tour. Went through Greenwich Village on the way to Brooklyn which made us go over the Brooklyn Bridge. Yikes! Before going over, they asked if anyone was scared of heights to please get on the left side of the bus. Mom wanted to get off the bus completely. If she had known prior that the bridge was included in the tour, we wouldn't have gotten to go. I guess everything happens for a reason. :) We got some great night shots!

Our last day we had a few hours to spare so we did some last minute shopping at Macy's and ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp. It was the only sort of chain restaurant we went to on the main street but we had never been there before. It was fun and worth the wait. Then it was time to head home. We caught a good ole yellow cab back to the airport. :)

Speaking of food - yum! We ventured off the main roads and ate at random Italian, American and Chinese restaurants. It worked out really well. When the bus tour guides mentioned restaurants that we needed to hit up, we learned that we had already been there all on our own. We had cheesecake, hot dogs, pizza and bagels. I think that covers a few of the NYC must haves.

Pictures from my phone

2011-03-08T21:40:00.005-06:00

I love when Pioneer Woman does the pictures from my phone blog so with not much to write...I decided to follow her lead.

Baby C turned 18 weeks on Monday and is now the size of a sweet potato (?). He really makes himself known in my workout clothes and towards the end of the day! Whitney came in from Austin last weekend and we made the drive to Canton. First experience at Canton with a baby of my own in mind. Here's to hoping Baby C really is a boy...

We also got to see a great Mavs game on Friday. Whitney's first NBA game and Canton experience - stick with me ;0)

Many things are being done to our house to make room for Baby C. We got rid of our TV stand to make room for something...yet to be determined. Basket of toys? Pack N Play? We shall see.

We will also soon lose our guest room so we decided to get a new couch with one of those lovely pull out beds that I'm sure people will be lining up around the corner to sleep on. Luckily, we also got a daybed for a more comfortable option.

This was how I was holding my pants up two weeks ago. Now I'm lucky if I get this far. Moving on up...or out!

Not sure what kind of payback I'll get for this but this was on the way to Nanni's over President's weekend. I hear she lives a pretty hard life in Lubbock

New Year, New Look, New Addition

2011-02-23T09:32:00.001-06:00

2010 has come and gone. Actually, it's almost 2 months gone. So much has happened since I last posted and also happened secretly behind the scenes before my last post...

Found out we were expecting on November 30, 2010!
All kinds of holiday festivities where I had to stay quiet and not drink alcohol (and hear more stories and get more ?'s about when we would have kids - coincidence?!)
Seeing our little (and I mean little) bundle of joy for the first time on December 23rd. My mom and sister were in the room. The doctor asked "won't a picture suffice?" Ummm...no, it won't.
Sharing the news with our family and close friends. Great memories there!
A couple holiday fun runs
Joined a gym for the first time in 3 years! I chose to stop attending bootcamp once I found out. If I can't do it 100%, I don't want to do it at all.
Our house finally got a 2nd TV (just in time for the playoffs). Football season - I'm ready for you!
Celebrated Tommy's papa's birthday in Wichita Falls
Tommy signed up with his sister to run the Rock N Roll half at the end of March
Heard the baby's heartbeat on January 20th - intense!
Saw the baby up close and personal on January 28th. He (yes the doc said he's 98% sure Baby C is in fact a boy) was moving all around and stretching. We got a great DVD of the ultrasound.
Told work the news! They were very excited. It's been a long time since a new baby was celebrated in our department. Whew - sigh of relief there.
Had massive amounts of ice in Dallas. The word massive may be a strong choice but enough to have 5 unexpected days off work. I had time to be lazy and productive!
Became a huge fan of Zumba
Spent lots of wonderful time in Weatherford with my mom's family. It does seem my card playing skills have diminished while pregnant. I'm not near as threatening as I used to be.
Purchased quite a few large items of furniture in order to prepare our house for the new addition
Found I have a case of insomnia if woken up in the middle of the night. Gracie, our lick happy pug, has now moved her sleeping quarters to the office. It's not easy (on me) but it's a must.
Speaking of dogs, Triton is now cone free! He had to wear a cone starting right after Thanksgiving up until just a few weeks ago. We had to practice some tough love and let his hot spot see the light of day without him licking it. Fingers crossed, I think it's finally healed. He is now wrap and cone free!
I turned 29 and my grandmother turned 75 - I love celebrating birthdays no matter the age

Now we are pretty current and up to date. Alisha, the best blogger I personally know, updated our blog look and has made me promise to blog once a week. I'll do my very, very best!

Let the Christmas festivities begin

2010-12-13T12:58:00.005-06:00

What a wonderful time of year! It has been Christmas time in the Cole household since November 26th. If Tommy isn't in the mood for holiday music on the TV (let's be honest...this only happens when he's not home) then I'm walking around the house with my Ipod on the holiday station. It only happens once a year!

This past weekend we had my company Christmas party at the Gaylord Texan. They do an amazing job decorating. We had a very yummy dinner, desserts and then went through the ICE show. This year was Charlie Brown theme. It 9 degrees in there so I went through quickly!! Got some great pics though!

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing while we could before the wonderful family and friend time picks up in full force!

Backstage pass

2010-11-24T09:45:00.007-06:00

When we bought our UT tickets, the only way to purchase them without buying season passes or waiting till they may be sold out was as a double game combo package. So with our UT tickets came the non-conference Weber game this past weekend. It worked out well since we got some quality time with Alli that we won't get to have over the Thanksgiving holiday. What came as a nice surprise was the unexpected "backstage pass" we got to take advantage of. Really, it wasn't all that backstage but I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to be there. For all I know, it is wide open to the public but why wasn't it more packed?! We were just casually walking up to the game and walked towards the football training facility. A nice young lady opened the door for us and we just walked in like we were supposed to be there. Once we were in however, I noticed all the cute Red Raider Recruiters, some young boys with nametags where they go to high school, and some proud parents of current TTU seniors. Come to find out it was senior day. We got to see several players casually walking around, Coach Tuberville walking here and there...it was pretty neat. Regardless of whether we were supposed to be there or not, we took full advantage and captured the following shots on Tommy's phone...of course, I left the camera behind! Then we got to the game and seating was pretty open so we walked down near the tunnel and got even more up close and personal shots.

On the go

2010-11-18T15:00:00.006-06:00

Those three little words describe our current lifestyle to the T. We have been out of town and will be out of town for 6 weekends in a row! Thank goodness we are finally on the downward slope of this crazy hill. It's going to slow down right in time for the holidays to begin in full swing which I really can't complain about. I'm trying really hard not to play Christmas music until I fully celebrate and honor Thanksgiving.

To start the fun weekends, we got to visit the Maxfield's and spend a relaxing Halloween weekend at their lake house. The weather could not have been more perfect We ate LOTS of food, watched a scary movie, played games and made some time to shop a bit. The dogs loved being outdoors and somewhere new as they are normally left behind in their safe haven they call home.

Then we had Cole's 1st birthday!! His party was the next weekend (which we couldn't make) so we got to be in town to celebrate his actual one year on earth. We just saw him a few weeks ago and he has changed so much. He says mama, dada and uh oh. He's also the fastest scooting baby I've even seen. No pics from that weekend...I forgot the camera!

Then we have this past weekend. Tommy's annual work retreat was to Park City, UT. We left Thursday night - now there's a story...but it's a long one...bottom line is we got there just a little later than we were supposed to (not our fault though - swear it!). The work crew had meetings till noon everyday and I used that time to sleep in, order room service, watch movies and made time for the View while getting ready.Is that not cool?! Mom requested that I stop texting her pictures of my food on day 2.

Sure I could have gotten up early, hiked, read a book...nope not my style, well not that weekend anyways. Then we had "free" time till dinner. The first day we went to Park City and shopped on Main Street. Park City hosts Sundance film festival in January which I learned was put on by the Sundance Institute which Robert Redford started back in the early 80's.

The 2nd day we took a tour of Utah Olympic Park where the 2002 Olympics were hosted. It was neat to learn (from our tour guide who's an Olympian) about training, history, etc. They keep everything iced year round for training purposes. Skiing was supposed to open this coming weekend but was pushed back till at least after Thanksgiving. They were busy making snow all weekend. I voiced my frustration about this to Tommy. Typical money hungry resort owners and eager visitors alike....why can't they just wait till mother nature kicks in and produces snow? It will happen! Patience people. Keep in mind, I'm not a skier. :) Anyways...there were nice dinners every night and fancy hot cocoa and smores by the fire one night. The smores were actually too fancy for my liking. There is nothing wrong with name brand regular ole graham crackers and Hershey's chocolate. There is no need to spice something up that is so good in its purest form. However, the hot cocoa was SO good - they even had white chocolate cocoa. Seeing how sweet the regular cocoa was, even I didn't try it. We found a secret "under construction" zone with ping pong tables. The guys were happy for hours. All in all, it was a great experience and always nice to get to know his work crew on a different level.

This weekend we are headed to LBK to see a football game and a small blond child who I happen to be related to. :)

Now what

2010-11-02T10:36:00.014-05:00

I've been putting this post off, not knowing what to write or how I felt and as I type I realize I'm leading you to think something much more serious is going on...nope...I just have the post marathon blues! Who would have thought?! It's similar to how you feel after other big events. Things that you look forward to for months or in this case train for for months. To top it all off, the run wasn't even that enjoyable! It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. So, with that in mind, I really didn't know what to write. However, the feeling before the run and the feeling after you cross the finish line is something I wish everyone could experience.

We got in Friday night and celebrated my mom's 50th birthday! She and her friend, Jeanna, drove in to watch the run, eat yummy food and hit up the outlet mall. My coworker, Chelsea (who was in town to run her first full 26.2 mile marathon), had decorated her room prior to her arrival - thank you! We went to dinner to load up on carbs and then had a birthday brownie dessert. It was wonderful having mom there and being able to celebrate with her.

Saturday morning came early and brought with it rain & humidity but that didn't take our smiles away. Warm up was fun

Praying and singing the national anthem at 6:45am isn't a bad way to start your day. As the race started, it was dark and we couldn't see as we were running in the back woods of New Braunfels but you could hear and what you heard was breathing and footsteps - pretty neat. Then due to the hills (woah!) all you could see were people and heaps of concrete in front of you to climb over. I had a few choice words for those hills! Why didn't I think of this when I chose to run in the "hill country"? My mom was waiting at 3.5 miles and that gave me a nice boost. I stopped to give her a quick hug. The first few miles are the hardest as your body wants you to stop doing what you're doing to it and then it eventually says ok fine I'll put one foot in front of the other if I must. The course was along the famous River Rd. and we ran along the Guadalupe river for some time - beautiful. We went out 6.5 miles and then back in 6.5 miles. I told mom to be at the finish line at 9:30am, which would give me 2 1/2 hrs to finish and once I saw those hills I knew she had a buffer. Well she was there at 9:30am as planned but I got there at 9:23am...oops - she missed me! I'll have to buy those shots. ;0) It was great to have her there shortly after the finish. Tommy was so strong the entire race! Filling me full of positive thoughts (my nickname could have easily been negative nancy) and kept me going when I wanted to stop (not just walk but stop and step off the course completely).

Proud!!
Then it's over and you think...now what? That goal has been covered...what's next? Well quite a few things actually. Exciting things as life in general can be exciting. You never know when a new goal or plan will enter into your mind. For now, I'm just going to go for runs when I want to and not worry about my mileage or my pace. We already have a few short "fun" races scheduled for the year end. Tommy has the ok to train at his full potential now as I had requested that he stay with me for the 1st one. haha - funny side note - one time in our run I said to him "you're dragging your feet". He was kind enough not to have a comment but of course he's dragging his feet. He would be two miles ahead of me if I would let him be!

I would love to and plan to do another 1/2 marathon (26.2 miles...ehhh I don't think so) just not sure when...

I had a 1 & a 3 painted on my nails - so no I'm not channeling Miley Cyrus...but I sure am happy!!

Anxiety sets in...

2010-10-20T10:46:00.003-05:00

Last night I made this...

for my mom to hold while we run this...

Yep, that's right, my first half marathon is just about here. I did my last short easy run last night and now the time has come to put my feet to the pavement (for approximately 2.5hrs) and go for it! From the poster you can tell I won't be alone...my friend Chelsea is running her 1st full marathon!!! Wow! Our other friend, Mallory, will be running her 3rd half marathon...deserves another wow! We'll all be together when the gun goes off and then its see ya at the finish line! Oh, I'll also have by handy and steadfast hubby pounding the pavement right next to me. He didn't want his name on the sign though...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

2010-10-18T13:38:00.005-05:00

I'm in a bookclub. I've been in this bookclub for some time now...through this club I have discovered that I do in fact enjoy reading (which I never doubted) but I don't necessarily enjoy reading under a timeline, a D day (what does that stand for anyways?) or pretty much any kind of "schedule". Perhaps, it's because my daily life is so "scheduled" that I really enjoy reading whenever I want and for however long I want. I would find myself counting the remaining pages and dividing by the number of days until D day - not sure if I needed to make it a game or just stress myself out more. Anyways...I love the girls in my book club and we take turns hosting and the host chooses the book. My last hosting gig I said "eehhh, let's forget the book and put the $$ towards dinner". This time I said "eehhh, let's forget the book and paint". I'm noticing a theme here...

So this past Friday was my night and only 2 girls made it to the night of painting. Several had good intentions but Friday nights are hard and things come up. They did miss a good time but I'll see them at the next get together (where I'm sure a book will be involved - and I'm fine with that - really). We had a blast!!! I had heard of this place called Painting with a Twist - the twist being that you can bring your own wine & snacks. They assured us that at the end of the night we would walk away with something to treasure and that is why beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

We were a bundle of nerves to start...

while looking at these for inspiration...

hoping this would make it easier (or make our art appear better to ourselves and those around us)...cheers!as time went on I felt like I was getting the hang of it and would end up with something pretty decent. that was until she told us to make the leaves. Just a simple little swish of the wrist...easy does it...nope not for me! My leaves ended up looking like feathers and at that point I had to embrace the feather look. I found out later my touch was just a little too hard, not soft enough. Maybe I can remember that for next time and yes, there will be a next time. Because even though I may not LOVE my piece, I have confidence that this is the type of thing that will get better with practice! So, if anyone's up for it - let me know!You can probably tell which one of us is truly an artist...

Fair game

2010-10-18T13:08:00.005-05:00

Last weekend was the TTU vs. BU game at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park. We had a house full of guests! Once sleeping arrangements and shower schedules were figured out we were good to go. My sister, her roomie and a sorority sister made the big drive east. I can happily report they made it safely back to Chitwood where their life is so grand. :) The Dorseys also came to visit. We have had quite a few exciting things happening the past few months and the Dorseys have made several trips to visit us. I'm not complaining because they bring this little guy every time they come... The game was early so tailgating wasn't a huge part of our planning process. We hung out by the truck for a bit with the group and then headed to the game. We were all sorts of spread out seat wise so we were able to cheer on the Red Raiders from several vantage points with the game ending with a victory! I wasn't able to see my Baylor bear friend, Laura, but I was sure to send her a friendly Texas Tech good luck card in the mail prior to the game.After the win, we all headed out to the fair grounds. This was my first TX fair experience...hmmm...glad I can say I've been there and done that. Time will tell if there's a redo. We did manage to stuff our faces with everything under the sun! My friend, Embree, tried the fried frito pie which won the 2010 award. I didn't hear her complaining... I personally had the hand spun cotton candy and watched as she took a pitcher, filled it with raw sugar and poured it into the machine. Yep, that's it folks, just good ole' spun sugar on a stick!

Somehow we made it home, had dinner, played a few games (which I lost both to my evil blonde sister) and called it a night. Sunday was spent shopping with the girls. The Dorseys headed home after taking baby Cole's Halloween pics - can't wait to see those cards! The evil blonde child (who wasn't as evil come Monday morning) left to spend some much needed quality time with her grandmother before heading back to the flat, brown town that is LBK. Yea...she headed home on Tuesday because in the 6 years since I graduated they decided to create this thing called fall break?! Figures!

Happy Anniversary to us!

2010-10-12T16:13:00.016-05:00

We just celebrated our 4 yr anniversary. My how time has flown! So much has happened in the last four years but yet so many things have remained constant. Guess that's how life is...

We take turns planning our anniversary trip. We don't do gifts, we travel! Tommy has even number years and he almost missed out because we had a wonderful fall wine trip planned to San Francisco in November that was going to stand in as our anniversary trip...but Tommy's work retreat got planned for the same weekend. Way bummed about missing San Fran but we'll save it for another time. Hard to be bummed when one trip is being replaced with another - have to still feel blessed! So...that left Tommy with a limited amount of time to plan! He didn't disappoint though! I found out the week prior that we would be spending the weekend in Chicago!!! It's a city on Tommy's bucket list and very much deserves its place on the list. It was amazing! Apologizing in advance for the lengthy post but I'll try to break things up with pictures :)

The trip began with an early morning flight. Early enough to watch the sunrise from way up high!! Made for a pretty picture... One of the main reasons Tommy told me a week in advance is so his planner bee could get to work! On top of my list was transportation to and from the airport. We could take a $50 cab ride...a $40 shuttle with many stops or a $5 train ride. We chose the train! This was Tommy's first ever city rail ride and my first in the US. Glad we got to experience this piece of Chicago - even if a little work was involved...
Tommy wheeled and dealed and found a great deal at the Fairmont in downtown with a view of Millennium Park. It was a great location and we were put on the next to top floor at check in. :)

We were starving of course and I just barely got Tommy talked into trying his first ever deep dish pizza. You can't be in Chicago and get a thin crust pizza! It was delish but I now understand where those calories are saved on the thin crust.

It was a beautiful day! We had a lot to see and we decided the quickest way to cover the most ground was by bike. We had them for two hours and saw a ton of stuff in those two hours while still leaving time for lingering, relaxing on the lawn and ice cream. Love!!!!

Buckingham Fountain

Soldier Field
The Bean! We had a ton of fun in front of this piece of art.

Then we had to turn the bikes in. I wish we had kept them because Navy Pier was quite a hike but we were able to relax there so it paid off.
Relaxing on Lake Michigan and enjoying the sunset and Chicago skyline.

That night we went as far off the beaten path that our feet would carry us and found a yummy Italian restaurant and ate patio style. The entire weekend I was looking around trying to tell the difference between the locals and the out of towners. Not easy!

The next morning we had our run scheduled. We woke up to cloudy skies and a breezy chilly day...very breezy on the lakeshore trail! Heading north, we were against the wind - pretty brutal. We made it all the way to Lincoln Park, ran by the zoo and turned around. We were pumped on the way back to be going with the wind. We could feel the sand hitting us on our calves and felt sorry for those going against it - we were there! The run did not end without a story I am thankful to live to tell. The lake was scary full of waves...crashing and crashing. It was actually beautiful and fun to watch until you had to worry about coming in contact with the water. The picture below was on the way home. You can barely see the 10 ft concrete wall ahead. If you look at the base where the buildings end and you see a ferris wheel and the waves...there's a concrete wall with people running along it. We had passed this wall going northbound so I knew what was coming. I didn't feel good about it and Tommy tried to give me a pep talk. I told him we needed to walk beforehand so we could time it right as to avoid the water hitting our feet etc. So we went for it. We passed a point and the water hit my shoe and Tommy kept going assuming that was it and the worst was over...then all of the sudden a wave was upon us! I just hugged the wall and didn't move. A lady was passing me going the other direction and was walking her bike (being as it wasn't safe right there to ride it) and excuse my language but I'm quoting, all I heard was "Oh shit" and then I was soaked from the waist down and the right side of body that was clinging to the wall. The wave receded back to the lake which was about 10 feet away and I was thankful not to be going with it. Ugh! Lying in bed that night, I thought about how really lucky I was and how that possibly could have been bad. It really just boils down to bad timing and being a rookie Chicago runner! We lived and my phone seems to be doing fine after a trip to the blow drier.
After we cleaned up and hung our clothes to dry, we caught our one cab ride of the weekend to Bucktown. We had heard of a design your own t-shirt deli and we wanted to at least see one area of town that wouldn't be too touristy. We had a great lunch/breakfast at a place called Feast and then ventured over to design a t-shirt. The shirts are all American Apparel brand and Tommy picked a long sleeve brown one with Bucktown and a train stop symbol on it. They wrap it up like a deli sandwich, give you a bag of chips and a napkin with t-shirt care instructions printed on it and you're on your way in about 15 minutes. Pretty neat concept. They had some famous pictures of people with their signature displayed. One was of Jennifer Aniston and it said something about "keep selling those Team Aniston shirts" and then there was one of Brad Pitt and it said "Team Jolie all the way". Surely those were fake...

Then our taxi dropped us off at the north tip of Magnificent Mile. 1.4 miles of shopping!! I didn't waste time in any stores we have here locally. I hit up H&M and spent (according to Tommy) a ridiculous amount of time in there, Northface, Bloomingdales and Nike town. The famous Chicago marathon was being held the weekend after we visited on 10.10.10 so Nike town was full of apparel for the event. Don't worry, purchases were made.

It did rain on and off Saturday but it didn't stop us from doing anything really besides taking too many pictures. Once we were done shopping we ate a late dinner at another local Italian place and headed home. It was so nice to have no plans and just linger wherever for however long we wanted.

On our run home, we had passed this yummy looking breakfast place, Yolk. Being that we were freezing wet, we decided to hit it up the next day. YUM! Let me describe the meal below and this will still not do it justice - lemon poppy seed bread with blueberries and a lemon glaze dip, orange bread with strawberries and syrup and banana nut bread with bananas and peanut butter all done french toast style. A-maz-ing!

Here we are in front of our hotel before check out

And taking one last stroll through Millennium park

And then catching the train home...

We don't visit too many places more than once but Chicago, I feel like we'll see ya again!

Magic purple wrap

2010-09-27T11:11:00.002-05:00

Some of you may know (if you've visited our house this year) that we have had Triton's back right paw wrapped for all of 2010. That poor dog licked a hot spot on his leg over Christmas and ever since has licked around the tape, licked through the tape, licked once the tape is off. We just can't keep him busy or tired enough! So, his leg is continuously being wrapped and secured. Maybe we'll be able to celebrate the one year anniversary of his hot spot episode with a 100% healed foot! That would be awesome. :) It seems that during this time the rest of my family has taken a liking to the wrapping. Poor Gracie is always so interested as to what we are doing with/to Triton so we decided to show her. She's not so interested anymore.

Then...I get in bed one night to this...

Tommy hurt his thumb over the summer and the nail is just about healed. It seems a band aid won't quite stay so I guess this was his solution. :)

Reward!

2010-09-27T10:57:00.002-05:00

Please see my much deserved reward for running my first ever 10 miles below...

Lance Armstrong's voice on my Ipod saying "Congratulations, you've just completed your longest workout yet" was not enough for this girl...

Summer turns to fall recap

2010-09-20T15:34:00.006-05:00

Oh how the time can pass by and then blogging gets sooo far behind it seems impossible to catch up...and really...who reads it? Well, my friend Alisha had a good point. This blog thing is more of a journal of your life to look back on and maybe show your kids one day and I must admit when I go back in time and read my posts - I do laugh and reminisce - so I need to do it for myself more than anyone else.

August came and went (whew) and its highlights included the following:

I joined the Junior League of Plano (JLP)! I've really missed my volunteer time at Children's since starting a full time job so I found a way to volunteer for my local county and make some friends along the way.

We spent some time at my friends Embree & Jon’s lake house. Floating, cooking, tubing and cards. Perfect! We are hoping to get out there this fall for football, golf and shopping!

Ahhh – the Rangers. I’m not particularly a baseball fan. Now, I LOVE the Roughrider games and we attended several of those this season. I like the “small town” atmosphere and how close you are to the actual game. Tommy’s side of the family, however, loves the Rangers and for Amanda’s birthday they brought a vanload of Wichita Fallians ;) to the Rangers game. They are having a great season so far and it was fun to at least see one game in person this season…but I’m good – got my fill!

LBK! This should receive a post of its own – coming soon!

Spazmatics…2nd time to see this 80’s cover band and I love them every time! Their act never gets old.

September…fall is in the air…or is it? Being that I just typed September – here we are at the 20th and it’s still 93 degrees….seriously?! I don’t even remember what winter feels like!

September started with bookclub. It had been awhile since I attended a bookclub and actually read the book. This club’s selection was Water for Elephants which I look forward to seeing on the big screen. It was fun to see all the girls again and catch up on our summers.

Cowboys! We got to go to a preseason game and sit in my company’s suite on the 50 yd line – not bad at all! To top it off, we saw Kim Kardashian up close and personal. Glad we got that in since it seems Miss Kardashian and Miles are currently on the “outs”. The stadium is amazing – this was our 3rd time out but 1st time to experience the suite level and food. So good!

Labor Day weekend was a blast! Amanda, Kane and baby Cole came to visit and that always makes me happy! Amanda and I shopped till we dropped. It was Canton trade days so we spent all day Saturday there and all day Sunday hitting up the local Plano hotspots. So fun!

I see my future in the picture below...hungry baby...sleepy husband

On Labor Day, I participated in the Labor of Love 10k – yippee – I hit 6 miles! It was a great local run and I placed 4th in my age group which tells you how “local” it actually was…haha.

September 11th was spent a really neat way! Well it started with Tommy going from 0-8miles. I had an event at 8am but had to get 8 miles in beforehand so that meant a 1 ½ hr run in the dark…not fun! So Tommy ran with me. :) That deserves a smiley face even though it doesn’t seem fair that it took me 13 weeks to get to 8 miles and he just gets up and does it. We couldn’t listen to our Ipods (so that I could hear approaching wildlife – right?!) so the time actually went by rather quickly and he recouped nicely. Then I had an inaugural walk for C.A.K.E – Crime Against Kids Eliminated with my JLP group. We got to hear the National Anthem – on Sept. 11th – wonderful and they started the walk at 9:11am so it was nice day of remembrance. Then Tommy’s mom, dad and granddad came to visit for the day. Papa Gerik hadn’t been to “Big D” since 1937 so he was thrilled! TTU vs. UT was this past weekend. My first time to see Alli since her move in to college (more on that later). We drove to LBK which we hadn’t done in quite some time! Good ole Hwy 84! Alli took us to her new fav restaurant for dinner and then Tommy& I hit up an old local bar and Alli went to Kalf Fry – a UT vs. TTU traditional concert. Saturday morning, we got up and ran 8 miles again – nice! It was great to be somewhere new and run campus and see all the new buildings by foot. J Lunch was another new restaurant followed by hours of tailgating (got to see some great friends – old and current) and then game time. Ehh...game time – it was good to see a game in person and root for the Red Raiders – and that’s all I’ve got on that! Sunday we hit up Spanky’s burgers, drove around town a bit and saw Alli’s dorm before heading back to DFW! So glad to be home!

And now we/I/you are caught up…this fall is jam packed and I promise (myself) that I’ll be better about blogging!!

Sister of the week

2010-07-23T13:04:00.003-05:00

I am giving this award to myself this week...I take that back...I'm giving it to Alli. She went it for her annual tune up last Thursday and I'm glad to report is on her way back to Midland as I type. She did one week of hospital IV antibiotics and improved so much that she now gets to go home and complete her last week there. This may be her last summer at Children's. They are slowly "transitioning" (Alli now hates this word) the kids that are actually no longer considered kids to the adult hospital up the street. Seeing that she'll be 19 next summer when she may need another tune up...I think she'll have to transition at that point. Anyways...the following are some pics from this past week. I loved spending the quality time with her but it will be nice to be back in my bed and back to a routine. I'm sure she feels the exact same way. Back to the title of this update...I was thinking that I deserved sister of the week award for my decorations, bringing food & movies, sleeping there, shower aid, lotion applications...but actually I think Alli deserves it more. She was the one that didn't get to leave the hospital but still welcomed me with her normal warm smile on a daily basis and kept up the laughs :) Love you sis!

Being that she'll be a red raider in just under a month - I thought a TTU themed room was appropriate. These were scattered everywhere she could see.

Always one to multi-task all things important - she's texting, watching a movie, inhaling antibiotics and getting all that crap shaken out of her!She may kill me (if she reads this) but she is one sleeping beauty! ;0)And for payback for the above picture, she captured me doing a karate kick. We had a few moments of too much togetherness.While I was away, we had tile laid in our laundry room. Ahhh... Tommy probably deserves an award too. He handled the house and home and relinquished his wife for the past week. Thanks honey!! Alli really appreciates you!

Dogs Bday

2010-07-23T12:57:00.004-05:00

Triton turned 9 while we were in Jamaica and Gracie turned 8 the same day Tommy turned 31. :) So we had a joint doggie birthday party with treats and new toys!

Tommy's 31st Birthday

2010-07-23T09:13:00.005-05:00

Tommy had a fabulous birthday weekend as you'll see in the following pictures. He celebrated his 31st birthday with family, horse racing and pool time. Kane, Amanda and Cole came down for the weekend and we got to babysit Cole all by ourselves on Friday night! It was quite the experience. He had a few crying episodes but that baby is 90% giggly and happy. We fed him, traveled with him, bathed him and put him to bed. So fun!! I think we'll make a great future parental team. ;0)

Saturday was all about the horse races. Our horse raced towards the end of the race line up so we gambled a bit all day but mainly lost until Hollye raced. She was up against her stiffest competition and this would be her biggest payout. It was so fun to be a part of the big win and be there to capture the moments. I was able to sneak in to the winner's circle and grab a few great shots. I had every right to be in the winner's circle - I own half of his % right?! ;0)
What a great investment his 30th birthday $$ actually turned out to be a year later. Hollye Lynne has been in the winner's circle 3 out of 5 races and placed in all of them! There's #2 - beautiful Hollye LynneThey are set & readyShe led the entire race...But #4 was gaining on her...he actually beat her a few weeks prior to thisLooks good to me! But waiting to find out for sure felt like an eternity!

Stressed duo

And she wins by a nostril!

Jackpot! ;0) Owners, siblings, spouses, and grandkids - I'm behind the camera...typical

Thanks for the win, Cliff!

We had several bets on Miss Hollye

But Amanda & Kane were by far the biggest winner! We gave Kane some bday gambling money and he saved it all for Hollye Lynne - what discipline!

Celebratory toast

And finally T's birthday! Cole helped unwrap gifts and loves tissue paper

We spent that evening having a joint birthday party with our Plano family. :) Jason's mom's, Melissa (Mama Shoop), birthday was the following Wednesday and they would be out of town so we had a big cookout and pool party. It was a busy but wonderful weekend! Lots to be thankful for!!!

Family Fun

2010-07-01T14:44:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we headed to Wichita Falls. Amanda & Kane bought a beautiful new home! They were outgrowing the last one but miss it dearly.

There will be many great memories to come in their new house and some were made this past weekend!

Unfortunately, it was such a quick trip and flew by. We got in Saturday and watched the devastating USA loss, decorated the house a little and then headed to dinner to celebrate Stephanie's birthday.

I was obviously tired after the long trek and took advantage of some baby napping time during the game!Funny face from Cole

On Sunday, the guys woke up early to plant a new tree in the backyard. This is the 2nd tree Tommy has helped plant in Wichita. The first tree was planted on his granny's birthday at his parent's home. It's so great to plant a baby tree, watch it grow and one day talk about the memory of the day it was planted. Then we headed to church and ate at my favorite Mexican food place afterwards. Complimentary sopapillas - sign me up! Then we headed home to watch/direct Kane hang pictures on the wall and took some family pics.

Cole eventually embraced his Jamaican dread hat. I was calling him Cole Marley all weekend ;0)

He laughs when his parents do the choo choo train sound! So cute

Babies

2010-06-28T15:55:00.003-05:00

It must be that time of year...because we have a bunny family with a new baby at our house.

Weedbuster

2010-06-28T11:24:00.003-05:00

If there's something strange

growin in your yard

Who ya gonna call?

The Weedbuster

Jamaica man

2010-06-17T21:31:00.007-05:00

Jamaica is an amazing place! Don't let the news headlines deter you!! We were a little weary at first but it was wonderful and I'm still mourning the fact that we aren't there. All week I've been saying "this time last week we we're playing golf" etc. :) We left early Saturday morning the week after Alli's graduation and got back almost a week ago. This was like our last hurrah as far as a family vacation goes for awhile since my mom will have a college tab on her hands! The resort was the best we've ever visited. Iberostar Grand Rose Hall - we had a butler to make our dinner reservations, draw us baths (Alli took them up on that for sure!), fully stocked minibar. Tommy loved the bathroom - separate sinks on complete opposite ends of the bathroom. My stuff wasn't "crowding" his. Enjoy it while you can I say! Everyone was always smiling and saying hello. They love to say "No problem man" and they don't like yes sir. Seeing as Alli's 18 now she was legal to drink but she had a hard time getting the bartenders to put alcohol in her 15 Miami Vices or Jamaican Smiles she would have in a day even though you had to be 18 to stay at the resort! That made mom happy :) We said we wouldn't do too many excursions - we've snorkeled ourselves out! But there were some new adventures this trip but nothing took more than half a day so we still had plenty of pool time.

Zip lining - quite the experience! You are definitely in a tropical rain forest zipping from mountain to mountain breezing past the ocean. I tried to be brave! It rained on us which made the lines wet which made us go faster. Wonderful. We had two vertical drops - I think they called it repelling. Just a free fall with someone down there to catch you. I was glad when it was over and I was safely on the ground but had fun. We also hiked up a waterfall. Mom accompanied us on this outing. She was under the impression we were "visiting" waterfalls. She put her brave face on though and even wanted to exit halfway through but made it all the way to the top! Very proud of her and she was proud of herself. No pictures for proof though. Sorry!! It was a natural spring so the water was nice and refreshing and you didn't climb straight up. It was more of a zig zag and follow the big rocks for stepping. Very fun!

Golf! I think this was my favorite outing. We had caddies! They knew the course like the back of their hand. How far out, what club to hit, where to aim. The front nine was ocean view and the back nine was rain forest/mountain view. They also gave us a history lesson and pointed out famous houses, trees, fruit - so fun!!! Alli and I had a great birdie hole and Tommy played his best front 9 ever!

I tried to catch the caddy in action but he climbed right up that tree and got himself a coconut.

Our favorite time was sunset and dusk - everyone had gone inside and it was so peaceful

Highlights/stories from the trip:

Getting so burned on the first day - I was the girl everyone felt sorry for
Bubble baths with rose petals
Discovering a Jamaican smile drink - strawberry daiquiri with banana and rum cream
Seeing our first starfish, not once but twice. Mom had the courage to pick it up the 2nd time handing it to me and me turning it over to discover it's tentacles moving in and out of it's body. No mom, we can't take this home!
Having so much time to get ready. Alli doing my hair and makeup one night
Alli promising never to try a new drink and just stick to what she knows - it never turned out well
Me and my camera - pretty sure Roger wanted to throw it off the balcony
Racquel, our pool waitress - mom wanted to bring her home in her suitcase
Alli trying to gain 1 lb/day - must be nice
Our butler telling us to find him on facebook
Alli's breathing machine burnt out the first night and she asked me if it smelled funny and I said "oh no - I think it's the lavender they use in the room" Mom had a backup ;)

Oh, I could go on and on forever. I just love my family and Tommy's family. Memories and moments like we had is what life is all about.

Alli graduates!!

2010-06-12T23:24:00.007-05:00

Alli graduating high school was a huge event for our family. Lots of amazing people traveled all the way to Kermit to see her walk the stage. I've already posted way too many pictures so I couldn't include them all but the support was obvious! She's a very lucky girl.

Nanni insisted on a cap and gown shot ;0)

Always one to be worried about the hair...I couldn't get a shot of her without her hand covering her sweet face

You may now move your tassel from the right to the left...

And she got a car!! We had looked at ever dealership in Odessa about a month prior and told each dealership what she was looking for. They called and called mom for a month. She just happened to answer the day prior to graduation and was already in Odessa. A family needed a larger car so traded in this Toyota Rav with just barely 9,000 miles on it and it hadn't even hit the lot yet! It's the perfect car for Texas Tech...well except for the dust ;) It was at home waiting for her when she got done with graduation.

Oh the good ole Dodge truck. Some Kermit man is now the new proud owner of this beauty. ;0)

Yes, be sure and thank the ones paying!!

I think she's excited

A week later...we left for Jamaica!!! We are back but pictures have yet to be uploaded and I'm tired. :) It was wonderful though!!! Till next time ~

Headed back west...for the weekend

2010-06-12T22:57:00.005-05:00

We recently made our first trip back to AZ since our U-haul left three years ago. It was bittersweet. We remember why we loved it and we're glad we got to have the experience while appreciating what brought us back home. We were in town for Marcus and Erin's wedding. Tommy met Marcus at Chili's when he was all alone in AZ and would sit at the bar for dinner. Marcus was the bartender and they became fast friends and business partners. He and Erin are such a sweet couple and we look forward to visits with them often.

The plane landed and we headed to Oreganos. The one place that we had to go! Great pizza, salad and of course pazookie! A warm cookie with ice cream in a cast iron skillet - amazing. Then we headed to ASU to pick up some college gear. Now that we're in the same conference as them...will I get to wear it? Yikes! But...I bet they'll be more AZ trips in our future!

Rehearsal - Tommy and Marcus
The wedding was in downtown Chandler. I had driven past it many times but never actually explored it. It's a great square full of bars, shops and yummy restaurants. The rehearsal dinner was held at a winery on the square.

A few of the wedding details. My wedding "advice" for the wedding wish tree.

Very cute idea for place cards!

The BFFs :)

Bride and groom's faces on sticks...hmmm. The idea was the bride and groom fell head in heels in love so let's "surprise" them and hold their heads high while they're introduced. Something new and different that I have yet to see. Clever! Problem was, I didn't read the back of the sticks till after the intro...wonderful.

Ahhh - cupcakes!

Jason, Tommy and Marcus's sister - we had to make a special stop for the 80's glasses. They were a hit and traveled around the room.

Dancing the night away - great DJ - best I've heard!

Uh oh - dance off - ha!

Tommy and his escorted ladies. First time to have one on each arm - he felt pretty special. :)

We made a long weekend out of it and it was the perfect amount of time. Tommy got to see some old work friends and we loved driving around rehashing memories. See you soon AZ!

KHS Golf goes to State!

2010-06-12T22:42:00.004-05:00

Alli's golf team qualified for state and placed 2nd in Austin! It was so fun to be able to go watch her play and see her sink her last ball on hole 18. Great memories!!

Whitney came to see me!

Alli's future Texas Tech roomie

Nanni turns 75!

2010-06-12T22:26:00.005-05:00

My dearest Nanni celebrated her 75th birthday in April. All the family was together at the first of May so we had a big cookout to celebrate it. She is a dear woman with some great stories and a heck of a card player. She taught me all my tricks!

Sweet cousins - we played princess and restaurant outside.
Nanni and her kids

Grandkids and great grandkids

Update time! 1st up - CF events May 2010

2010-06-12T22:08:00.006-05:00

May was incredibly busy, hence the two months it has taken me to post! The first weekend of May we had our 6th annual CF walk. Every year we lose a few walkers and gain a few - we'll take it! Baby Cole (one day, he'll just become Cole - I promise) got to attend for the very first time. He was such a trooper and such a cutie in his camo!! Our goal was $5,000 and I believe we came up just short but I know we'll hit it by year end. We surpassed last year, so that's all that matters. What's amazing is how well all the teams do at raising funds. It's very inspiring! The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a great organization to be involved in no matter where you are and whether you know someone affected or not. There is a very team oriented feeling at the events and tons of kids!! Here's the link to find a walk near you - http://www.cff.org/GREAT_STRIDES/

Can you see the two black pugs?? Laura's boyfriend has a black pug named Roscoe. I was carrying Gracie half way through! Humidity is a killer ;0)

Then the very next day, we were a part of the 2nd annual CF golf tournament. The tournament alone raised $1,300. It was a fun day for a golf scramble with family and food and drink afterwards. All in all, wonderful and successful weekend!!

Prom 2010

2010-04-25T20:48:00.005-05:00

Alli had her senior prom last weekend. It was my third year to head home and help/watch her get ready. This time I was the annoying sister playing with her camera. Enjoy!

When short hair is your problem...bring reinforcements!This girl is ALWAYS on the phone

It was raining...only natural light shot I could get.

Mike and Mike

2010-04-17T17:31:00.002-05:00

Tommy went to Legacy books Friday morning and got to meet the guys of Mike and Mike in the morning. He listened to the last hour of their radio show, stood in a long line to get his book signed, made friends while in line and took this fun picture. :)

Hollye Lynne

2010-04-14T18:00:00.002-05:00

Tommy put his 30th birthday money towards a gift that keeps on giving. He bought a horse! Well as he likes to put it - a hoof or an ear of a horse. :) He and Jason went in together (along with the other folks in the picture below) and purchased a race horse for the 2010 season. They get to go watch her race, visit her in the stable and sit in the clubhouse. He spent this past Saturday there and it was Hollye's first race and she won! They were beyond excited. I can't even imagine their reactions. haha He came home breaking even - took the money, gambled, ate and came home with the same amount. In my mind...that's winning! I'm looking forward to her next race - I hope to make it out there.

Whitney heads north

2010-04-12T22:17:00.004-05:00

One of my college roomies came to visit over the weekend. We had fun shopping, chatting, eating and just catching up. We tried some new restaurants and saw some new areas of town that I had yet to explore. We played Wahoo on our Texas Tech board and beginner's luck helped lead Whitney to the win. ;0) That's the only way I lose - you know? haha

Sunday we had a yummy brunch and then spent the afternoon at the Arboretum. It was the last weekend of Dallas Blooms and man were the blooms out! Tommy and I went just a month ago and there was so much new color! Love it!

A Granny's love never ends...

2010-04-05T22:01:00.004-05:00

Memories
© Louise Bailey
I feel a warmth around me

like your presence is so near

And I close my eyes to visualize

your face when you were here,
I endure the times we spent together
and they are locked inside my heart,
For as long as I have those memories
we will never be apart,
Even though we can no longer speak
your voice is always there,
Because every night before I sleep
I have you in my prayer.

We are praying for Tommy's sweet Granny Gerik to
peacefully leave this earth and for her soul to soar to heaven.

Easter twenty ten

2010-04-05T21:47:00.006-05:00

This was our nephew Cole's 1st Easter and my 1st Easter to spend with the Cole family. It was great to have the wonderful family time, enjoy church together, lots of baby kisses, games and food. I got to take some Easter pics of baby Cole. I still had my polarized lens cover on when I went indoors so the pics were a bit dark and I didn't figure it out till later - rookie mistake ;0) Still got some great shots. Cole was due to eat so his normal giddy behavior wasn't caught on film. Next time! enjoy!

Papa Gerik

1st sweet potatoes - yum!

A day in the life of a landscaper

2010-03-29T18:45:00.002-05:00

Tommy worked in the yard this weekend and unbeknownst to him...I snapped a few pics. The yard is coming along nicely!

Can you spot Gracie?

Master Blogger

2010-03-28T14:40:00.004-05:00

My very great friend, Lishy Lu, aka Alisha, gave me this award. If this award fits me, it's only because of her. She designed my current blog layout and inspired me to blog on a regular basis. I saw her complete the task and then my great friend Whitney so now it' s my turn. This award came with an assignment to name 6 things that I am a master of (6?!). Then to tag 6 more "master" bloggers (can I figure this out?). Though I feel like there is always room for improvement here's my list in no specific order...

1. Gift giving - This obviously may be my own personal opinion! Unless something seriously sidelines me, I put a lot of thought into the gifts I give. It can even be a bit stressful which may cause me to throw my hands up in the air and grab a candle. Even then though, that candle had some thought put into it - trust me!

2. Numbers - Numbers help me budget, plan, organize...list could go on. These are all things I love to do. Whether the budget/plan/organization is utilized or followed is another thing but it definitely helps the probability of it being beneficial.

3. Raising awareness and funds for Cystic Fibrosis - I don't feel like this one needs an explanation. Being that the thought of this disease rips my heart out sometimes is reason enough to easily become a master of it.

4. Family - I feel like my appreciation for my family is like a fine wine that gets better with age. ;) You realize that every moment is to be savored and not taken for granted. My family knows how important they are to me in the ways I show my love for them - which I think I do pretty well.

5. Friends - I have a really solid group of close friends and that's due to the time and love that we both put into it. Like I said before, there's always room for improvement but that's also where personal growth comes into play, so I welcome those times. I like to think that I'm considerate and thoughtful and those things always help friendships build.

6. Eating - My mom always says "I know Kristen, you need to get your 3 meals in today." I've become more open to trying a lot of different foods as I've gotten older. I love to eat yummy, yummy things so it pains me greatly to try some radical new "diet" that requires me to drink nasty shakes or erase my favorite foods from my life. Yuck! I would rather become a master at making yummy things a little healthier!

Whew...now that that is over - unfortunately I don't know how to tag! Master Blogger Alisha, can you help me? For example, I just copied and pasted Alisha from Whitney's blog so I actually have no idea if your blog is actually linked to your name. ;0) Gotta love it! If I could tag, I would tag these people:

Kim

Amanda

Heidi

Embree

Rhonda

and that's all I got

Ink yourself - Finance yourself

2010-03-28T14:32:00.002-05:00

I completely forgot to update everyone that the "Inking" event never happened. My mom was very anti-tattoo from the beginning but a family get together the Friday before the elusive event gave her extra ammo. She told Alex that once she permanently stamped her body, she would also be permanently self sufficient when it came to finances. Being that my sister plans to be financially dependent for probably as long as possible, this buys us a few more years and hopefully the tattoo will become less desirable with age. We can only hope...

Arboretum blooms

2010-03-17T22:30:00.003-05:00

From March 8th - April 30th is Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum. I've been once before but this trip we had to use the overflow parking lot and ride a shuttle. It was the prettiest day and there were still plenty of spots to plop down and take a nap - which we did. I can't wait to go back. It was a camera and family full place!! If you come visit us, we'll take you there~

Aunt Glenda is 65!

2010-03-17T22:19:00.004-05:00

Friday night we attended a 65th birthday party for my great aunt Glenda. It was great to get together with family and celebrate life!!

My mom may never visit again...

2010-03-17T21:56:00.002-05:00

She's from a small town in west TX where she has mentioned several times "I sleep with the front door open". Tommy and I picked them up Wednesday night and while driving in from the airport, we come upon cops cars in our neighborhood. We figure it's a wreck so we drive by and see more cop cars. They have surrounded the neighborhood. The same neighborhood - exact trail - I had been jogging down 1 1/2 earlier. A spotlight helicopter is flying around....long story short...there was a marital dispute and a man actually shot and killed his wife. Yes, it can happen right next door. I thought I heard a gunshot about 7:45pm but I "think" I hear things all the time so I told myself it was a tire blowing out. It's a sad sad thing that COULD happen in small west TX towns or big cities - so mom - please come back to visit us!

Well that was Wednesday....Thursday we hit the road for the Taylor Swift concert and mom is staying at home. We leave and she says "I'll be fine". 10 minutes later she calls and says some alarm is going off. I try and calm her down and talk her through anything it might be. Come to find out it was our gas/CO2 detector. It went off, came back on and went off again. We've had it for about a year and it's never made a sound! Now it decides to go off while my mom is home alone and everyone is 30-45 min away. I tell her to call the non-emergency police number and just ask about CO2 detectors. She won't but she asks if the house is going to blow up. ha! We hang up and I call the non-emergency number! I give them all the info and they call her, tell her to go outside with the dogs and wait for the firemen. I can't help giggle while I type. Some of you are saying "it's the battery"...well it's plugged into a power outlet. I've seen the fire truck come to our neighbors at 2am when her fire alarm battery was going off so I know they do this type of thing. They come and as mom said "in their full gear and they were real nice" - walked the attic etc. and called Tommy (the homeowner ;-0)) just to check about renovations/upgrades we may have done recently. They had their high tech gas/CO2 detector and didn't detect anything but warned mom if she started to feel light headed - go outside. We changed the battery on Sunday. :) Poor mom...

The greatness that is Taylor

2010-03-17T21:00:00.005-05:00

Taylor gives an unbelievable concert!! Gloriana opened, followed by Kelli Pickler - who I love - and then Taylor. Highlights:

Kelli's shoes - they were silver glitter platforms
The stairs on stage - they became several different backgrounds and seemed to disappear at times
One time Taylor left for a wardrobe change and all of the sudden there was screaming right below us. Taylor had walked around half the arena and come right into the fans to perform. She then walked through the crowd hugging every 3rd person it seemed. She went to a rotating stage much closer to us and performed a few songs. She then did the same thing and walked through the crowd to get back to the main stage. (I saw her mom by the sound/lighting area) I would say she gave out 100+ hugs which means she made 100+ fans extremely happy with that generous gesture.
Taylor would stop and just listen to her fans scream for her. The look on her face was thankful and amazed. That's when you realize that she's just 20 and she has an extreme talent.
Having my zoom lens - I was able to get much closer to the stage BUT it did die with about an hour left...it was literally exhausted.
It rained on her!! You may have seen the performance where rain falls from the ceiling as she sings under it. It was the grand finale and grand it was!
Being there with my sister. Sharing experiences like that is what life is all about We ran into our little cousin Marisa. Taylor Swift tickets were her 8th birthday present!

Gloriana

There's Pickler and her shoes!!

She's on her way out!!!

She's just listening to her fan's love

Can you see the stairs?!

And there she is - right below us!

Again - just taking it all in

Spring...and Ink

2010-03-07T13:43:00.003-06:00

The 60 degrees days and spring rains are here! Time to put the snowmen away :( and open up the windows :) Not much to report on the Cole front. We've been enjoying down time on the weekends and getting together with great friends. Just got done signing up for our first 5k of the year. Haven't really ran too much since Christmas but I think we are ready to get back to it. We'll be doing the Butterfly Boogie http://www.butterflyboogie.com/ if anyone wants to join us. Being as it's 3 weeks away - I may find myself with the urge to walk. Funny how you can run 5 miles in December...take some time off and barely manage 1. Well I plan to manage a lot more than that this year ;0)

My mom and Alli will be here Wednesday night through Sunday for her doctor appt, Taylor!, great aunt's 65th bday and prom dress shopping. My sister also wants to fit a tattoo in there somewhere. I think I could hear the gasps coming for the readers. She has been talking about this thing since she was, I don't know, 13?! My mom hoped she would let it go...no. We'll see it if actually happens but she has every plan for it to happen. I've heard advice like "tell her to wear her favorite bracelet for a year and never take it off", "post the tattoo on the mirror and look at it every day" - this means nothing to an 18 year old. If she wants to permanently stamp her body with something that is meaningful to her...who are we to say anything? Personally, I would love to know her at 70 years old and if she has some ink on her...who cares! But this is coming from a 28 year old with no ink. I'm sure someone in her 50s with a permanent stamp would disagree and chain her to the house. We'll see........no worries though - if it happens, pictures will exist!

Taylor?!

2010-03-07T13:33:00.003-06:00

In just four short days, I'll be sitting in the AA center watching Taylor Swift. I am beyond ecstatic. Somehow I miraculously managed to get two tickets for me and Alli sometime last fall. I remember sitting at my computer waiting for the clock to strike 10:00am and I had several unsuccessful attempts but the stars aligned and I snagged two. All Alli had under the Christmas tree was a card - I believe she cried when she opened it. We already have our outfits planned! I think I'm taking a few steps back in my age bracket but I don't really care. Hmmm...to carry the big camera...I think that's a must! Can't wait to share pics with you guys.

The beast that is cancer

2010-02-19T21:01:00.003-06:00

Cancer has struck close to home yet again. Our dear dog sitter Kathy was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer just about a month ago. Because of the location of the lump both breasts were removed and chemo is necessary...but...it didn't spread! She has a super positive attitude and is hoping to return to dog sitting by the summer. It takes quite a strong grip to walk our biggest pup though! The dogs miss her but I'm sure her fill in will give just as much love and puppy kisses. We sent her this card today in the mail. It had a really cute front cover of puppy yellow labs in a tin bucket. This is Gracie's personal print saying Hi! No way would Triton wear pink. I should have done a test run elsewhere but what do ya do? I'm sure Kathy will love it and hopefully it will bring a smile to her face!

NBA game

2010-02-19T20:56:00.002-06:00

I forgot to post a NBA game update after Sunday night. It was an awesome experience. There was quite a bit of walking involved - quite a bit - but in the end we had great seats on the 1st level (of 4) for free. They ended up not using one single seat filler. Every courtside seat was taken. And as for celebrity sightings they showed Arnold Schwannager, Ludacris, Floyd Mayweather...no one like I was expecting. I guess we aren't watching the LA Lakers in LA. But - we were right above the tunnel where the players came out! We got to see Shaq, Kobe and all the All-Star players up close and personal. With the added bonus of seeing Usher, Shakira & Alicia Keys perform live...what's a little walking? :) Like I said, awesome experience!

I am loved

2010-02-18T18:00:00.013-06:00

Whew - what a whirlwind weekend. Valentine's Day Sunday and then my 28th birthday on Monday - wonderful! I was blessed with so many birthday wishes and family love on those two days. This is a tribute to all of my family and friends that thought about me and took the time to pick out a card/gift and send it my way to show me so.

My sweet hubby...he got me these amazing flowers and vase. He didn't send them to work as he knows how I feel about the cost of floral shipping - man they make a killing! But Whole Foods & Central Market make amazing arrangements! At Central Market you can build your own which I am a big fan of. He also got me a Keurig which I can't wait to plug in and start using this weekend and the new Ipod Nano! I'm hoping it works for radio stations at work as you've read before the oldies can get old. :)

P Whitty (aka Whitney) sent me these awesome bath bombs. It made my bath...seriously the bomb! She sent three hence only two below because I couldn't wait to try them.

My coworker, Laura, got me this yummy smelling candle and a black and white frame...wonder if she knew my home office was black and white? Well - I needed a frame for this pic of T & T (haha) running the Reindeer Run so now I have it.

I long to eat as healthy as Chelsea does. We'll have birthday cake and she'll pass it up. Man - I wish I had that strength! We do talk about recipes and eating well quite often so this was the perfect gift from her.

Clothes and jewelry from my fashionista friend, LG (aka Laura), was a great addition to my closet. It made me very excited for the Spring! Plus, the cute girly wine stopper as a bonus.

The Dorsey family knows me so well! I love sweets and movies - combined if at all possible. This cookbook cover is so cute I want to display it permanently. T isn't a fan of kitchen clutter so it may have to go up with my other cookbooks but it will be well used! Lishy Lu (aka Alisha) got me a new camera strap for my new savvy camera. It is oh so cute and Tommy can't wait to wear it! Thanks Lishy!

See...I told you I was blessed! Lots of love! This doesn't count the gift cards that my sweet in-laws and uncles sent (who wants a picture of those - exciting as they are?!) and makeup money my mommy dearest sent me. Is it cheesy to say that...

28 is gonna be great?!

Hallmark Holiday

2010-02-14T13:31:00.005-06:00

Some people say Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday...well I'll take it! I love Valentine's Day - it's a day of love. Family love, significant other love, doggie love...you name it!

We just got back from brunch with my grandmother (Rab), Uncle Jay, Scooter, Kimmie & Dustin. We went to Breadwinners and it was yummy!! I love the atmosphere there. It was great to catch up with family. I ordered a mimosa instead of coffee - oops - that was a "in the moment" decision. Gotta have those every now and then. Tonight we are off to the NBA All-Star game! Look for us on TV. No seriously...we'll be sitting court side! Tommy's best friend Jason works for the Mavs and got us in to the game as seat fillers. We basically fill a seat for somewhere so the games looks packed on TV and that someone may or may not show up. If they do show, we'll move to a different empty seat. If they all show, there's a holding area for us near the court. I googled this on Thursday and there is actually a seat filler website where people can attend the Emmys, Oscars - you name it. Never heard of it! Regardless, I'm hoping to see some celebrities and watch the best bball athletes battle it out. I'm pumped!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

SNOW!

2010-02-12T19:15:00.009-06:00

Breaking records...

2010-02-12T10:16:00.003-06:00

I'm off on a random Friday sitting at home watching Real Housewives, updating my blog and about to head to lunch. Lovely and unexpected! We have the wonderful DFW snow storm to thank! T had to brave the weather and he is under the impression that his company and Whataburger are the only two companies in operation today. Well I'm hoping La Madeleine, Half Price Books and Cinemark theaters are open as well. :) We had record snow yesterday and it is absolutely breathtaking! We went out and played with the dogs in it yesterday and pics will come soon. T took the camera to work today.

The other record I personally broke this week was shortest gym membership. One month to the day... I joined Tommy's gym in January to add to my current routine and try to mix things up a bit. Well...I just didn't go that often and get enough joy from it to continue paying for it. And there you have it! That simple. Ha! Will I miss it? Maybe but their classes were few and far between and when I was on the treadmill at 5pm the only thing on TV was the news. I already pay to go to bootcamp which I actually do attend and LOVE and I can just get outside and walk for free. I wanted to give it a shot since it's been over two years since I stepped foot in a gym and I did. T got to hear it though from the gym guys about how his wife had the shortest gym membership in record by a long shot. Hey - I think it's better than keeping it and being there in "spirit". ;0)

Happy weekend!! Our weekend is packed full of fun but also not too busy so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll tell ya all about it.......later

Doggie life

2010-02-07T13:12:00.011-06:00

Our furry kiddos got some new beds over the weekend and they
were oh so thankful! Especially Triton! He would sneak onto Gracie's bed when she wasn't around because her cushion was much more plush as she's a fifth of his size. While we introduced them to their new beds, I got the camera out to play with and just earlier today we went to our weekly stomping grounds and let Triton get rid of some of his energy. He loves to run and Gracie likes to skim the outskirts of the field for snacks and bark at other dogs. It's always fun but today it was cold!

Now I'm off to make some chili. I was going to make these yummy creations: http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2010/01/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles.html but our plans changed last night so now I'm making my uncle Robin's chili recipe from my grandmother's cookbook. The truffles will have to wait for another time but they will be made eventually! I got all the family tips and secrets last night for the chili so I'm off to Target.

Sidenote - I have obviously yet to figure out how to make my picture postings "easy on the eyes". They are a mess and all over the place...practice makes perfect!

GO SAINTS!!

Washington - Round 2

2010-02-01T20:31:00.011-06:00

I got back late last night from seeing Alisha at her current "home base" in WA. We had so much fun and I couldn't even remember things to tell Tommy that we did. Ha! It just flew by. Lots of girl talk, advice, food!, movies, wine...just a blast. I took off work Friday and got in just before lunch. We went to our usual Cheesecake stop and split our normal lunch and then did some shopping before heading back home. Dinner was fondue!! Yum Yum Yum! We watched a movie that night - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Good one.

Saturday we tried her new Keurig for the first time. Awesome! May need to get one of those in the Cole household. :) We went to the PX on base. It's like a Target, Dillards, Best Buy all put in one. I bought a new Coach purse. I have been eyeing them for quite some time and looking several places and just did it! I love it! Alisha had to get Mark a new Ipod Nano and a few of his favorite things to ship to Iraq. The new nano has FM radio capabilities. You may not know this but at work I have a radio and I can only get the oldies. My boss is my parent's age and he always comes in my office and is able to name that tune. Anyways...I have tried to come up with every way to listen to the radio but my side of the building only has that one station capability. A new nano may solve that problem...I don't know...decisions, decisions.
We saw When in Rome for our girl movie of the weekend. That afternoon I helped Alisha hang several decorative wall items. She repaid me by making my blog the awesome thing is has become. It's so cute!! I promised her I would update more often hence my blogolution. ;0) That night we met some of Alisha's friends for pizza and karaoke and then the next day it was time to head home already. Bummer...we did take some pics before I left using the trash can as our tripod. What creative minds we have!

TCole spent the weekend running here and there and getting things done on "his" time. The Christmas tree was finally taken down and disposed of. Yes, you read that right. It's not in our attic anxiously awaiting its next season to reappear. The tree has officially retired. I wasn't here to voice my opinion and beg for the tree's mercy and that was probably a little premeditated on my hubby's part. I can't say I blame him.

Now we are back to our day to day schedule and that will now include blog updates from time to time. More than twice a year!

Happy February!!!!

Define Blogolution

2010-02-01T19:31:00.003-06:00

Let's look at the two words separately...

Blog
A type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

Resolution
1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.
2. A course of action determined or decided on.

Blogolution
Kristen has decided to maintain regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. She also has firm determination to follow through!

Past few weekends....

2009-06-17T14:17:00.003-05:00

It's been kind of nice these past few weekends not really having any plans and just kind of going with the flow. I'm thinking of the past month and things we have done...

We went to a Frisco Roughriders game with my college roommate Embree and her fiance Jon. That was fun to catch up and enjoy the weather.

We went to Ft. Worth and went to 8.0s to see the Spazmatics. They were amazing! I've also seen Le Freak but I much prefer the Spazmatics. I wish they were in town more often.

I gave blood for the very first time at work. Come to find out I have very well hydrated manly veins so it was so easy. I just had to focus on breathing and the room around me instead of the blood flowing out of my body and into a little bag by my side. :)

I recently did a Race for Cure 5k. Geez - it was hot and I had not been training. I paid for it! But first off, waiting in line for the race to start was indescribable. It was comforting, inspiring, sad, invigorating...all wrapped up into one. I was thinking of two women as I ran the race. Barbara Trenchard was a wonderful lady who battled breast cancer on many occasions and eventually lost. She did not go down without a fight. I think of her and her family often. http://www.barbaratrenchardfoundation.com/ I also thought of one of my sister's best friend's mom who was recently diagnosed. What a scary thing for a 17-year-old to be dealing with. And then I also thought about all the people that will eventually come up in my life that will somehow be affected by breast cancer. It didn't make the run easier by any means but it made it worth it. The pictures aren't pretty but my dear husband was patiently waiting by the finish line and snapped a few. I don't have them uploaded yet. He thought he missed me when the time I told him I would be done by had passed. Ha! I overestimated by ability by just a few minutes.

This past Thursday I took a cooking class at Central Market. So fun!! I had wine, an apron, and a cutting board. :) The main subject was dinner sandwiches. Who knows if I'll cook them but I had fun looking a few of the basics for sure. I plan to take some more in the future. I may be able to twist Tommy's arm into coming along.

I got to see Alisha and Mark on Friday!! They were in town for a quick visit to TX and had many people to see but we got invited to an evening consisting of Joe T Garcia's and drinks on a patio. It was a blast catching up. Can't wait till she moves home and her husband safely joins her back in Texas! She is my main inspiration to post on my blog...she's consistent and asks me where my posts are all the time. Happy now lishy lu?

Ok I have GOT to get back to work!!

CF golf tournament

2009-06-17T14:03:00.004-05:00

My dad frequents a local bar in the Fort Worth area called A Great Notion. They host a semi-annual golf tournament to benefit St. Jude's. Well this past May, they decided to send all proceeds to Cystic Fibrosis in Team Allycat's honor. We were so honored! They raised $1,300 and had a raffle in which Alli actually pulled her name out of the bowl for the biggest prize. She won a top of the line golf bag. She's actually really good at golf so she was really excited! She would read the name off the raffle ticket and try not to give it away by her excitement if she drew mom's name or my name but she could not contain her excitement when she drew her very own name for the most sought after prize. It was a great ending to a great day. Oh and speaking of golf - I was not half bad. It was a scramble and those are awesome!

CF Walk and Baby Cole

2009-06-17T13:48:00.008-05:00

Oh I bet I got you with that title....keep reading.....

At the beginning of May we had our annual CF walk. We raised over $2,000! Unfortunately, this was right around the time Swine Flu was breaking out and we had to take precautions and not let Alli fly in town for the walk. So you won't see her in the pics but she was for sure in everyone's thoughts as they walked

Now on to Baby Cole. Our friends, Trent and Emily were in town for a benefit concert to help raise funds for Trent's cousin Jackie. ttp://www.jackiemurphree.com/ I'm not sure the exact amount that was raised but I'm pretty sure it was a success. It was great to see them. Emily also told me she was planning to name her baby boy that is due in August, Cole. Funny story though - Trent and Tommy were in charge of keeping Emily well hydrated. Water was all she asked for. Well they disappeared for quite some time and Baby Cole was feeling a bit parched so I sent a text message to Tommy saying "water for Baby Cole?!" He reappeared magically after receiving that text wondering if I had something to tell him. No not my baby Cole - the actually baby Cole inside Emily's tummy. :) At least I got his attention!

Bad hair alert - it was pouring down rain!

WA trip

2009-06-17T13:30:00.009-05:00

As you may have read below, I was supposed to visit my friend Alisha in March but missed my plane. Well I rebooked it for April and I see now why I missed my plane to begin with (something has to happen for my "everything happens for a reason" life theme to make sense). The weather was beautiful - tulips were blooming - Mark was out of town so I gave Alisha a nice little break from the loneliness - etc. etc. Our first day we saw the sights of Seattle. We took a trip up the Space Needle and learned some interesting facts. Later on the "Kendra" show, I learned that her fiance proposed to her there. Yes, I watch that show... We then ventured to the Farmer's Market where Alisha was too tempted to buy every piece of fruit she saw. The flower bouquets were $10 and prettier than our wedding bouquets. Crazy! We stopped by the very first Starbucks and ate dinner at the Crab Pot where you really have to work for your food.

Saturday Alisha made me go on a 4.3 mile army run around post. It was fun and I'm glad I did it but geez, they were serious! But it was a really neat experience. Then we spent the day doing girlie things...having cupcakes, seeing a movie and getting a pedicure. That night we went to Simply Fondue! YUMMY! I can't remember the exact order of events but I do know that I had a wonderful time and was so glad I got to share that experience with Alisha.

P.S. - Alisha's dog may have the cutest personality I've seen in awhile. She loved me or maybe she was just excited for someone rather than Alisha to walk in the door. She would not leave my side. I left there telling my sister that she should really consider a shih tzu puppy for herself.

Prom

2009-06-17T13:22:00.007-05:00

Alli attended her Jr/Sr prom in April. She's a Junior this year so it's her year to help decorate - or rather the mom's year to decorate. I went to Kermit for the big event and was hanging tulle and spraying glitter until the wee hours of the morning. Then Saturday was all about Alli. I even turned into a nail technician for the day and gave her an at home pedicure complete with a foot soak and all minus the massaging chair. Mom should have thought to cover that one. :) Here's the beautiful child now...

Anyone who truly knows me, knows that I die for the back of a dress. Look at the back of this thing - love it!
This is her date, Paul

I'm going to try and play catch up!

2009-06-17T13:20:00.001-05:00

So I got a new job in February and I love it BUT when I go home the last thing I want to do is log back on to a computer. Good news is that every now and then (rarely) blogspot.com is unblocked at work so I can take a few minutes to update. Let me look at my pics and calendar and see what I've missed!

Backyard improvements

2009-04-13T21:48:00.003-05:00

Tommy was so excited to get the go ahead from the financial planner of the family (that would be me) to build an arbor and new patio in our backyard. No, he didn't build it himself but he did design it. I figure the perfect seasons are upon us to enjoy it so why wait. Now that it's pretty outside, Tommy will spend 98% of his time outdoors where he is happiest. The puppies are right along with him! Now we just need some patio furniture. :) The orange strap is because I'm crazy and think that Triton may jump up against the gate and escape. Gracie would soon follow. The cement guys broke the latch so it won't lock. The orange strap is Tommy's way of buying time and putting my crazy mind at ease until a new latch can be installed by handyman TCole.

Birthdays - young and not so young

2009-04-13T21:22:00.002-05:00

We went to Weatherford for Easter and also celebrated a few birthdays. My cousin Marisa, you may remember her as the flowergirl in my wedding, is now 7 and my Nanni is now 74. The cookie cake was delicious! Happy Happy Birthday guys!

Cotton Bowl

2009-04-13T21:17:00.003-05:00

I recently completed my 2nd 5k of the year. It was COLD and windy but well worth it at the end. I actually improved my time from my 1st 5k by 4 minutes...not too bad but I think I've found my pace so don't expect any repeat improvements. :) We took this picture with a camera phone so it's not great but I love that you can see the Cotton Bowl stadium in the background.

TCole goes to Vegas

2009-04-13T21:12:00.003-05:00

While I missed my flight to Seattle, Tommy did not make the same mistake. He took a guys trip to Vegas over March Madness and had a great time. Marcus is getting married in July....on Tommy's 30th birthday actually. Marcus was a groomsmen in our wedding and Tommy will have the honor of being an usher for Marcus and Ellen this coming July.

Jason on the far left, Marcus in white and TCole.

Baby showers and going away

2009-03-21T13:21:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine that used to work part time at Paradise Cove is moving to Japan and having a baby! Talk about adjustments! Good luck Kim & Brett!! Of course I don't have a picture with her (maybe she'll read this and send me one - my camera died) but here is Tina - my old boss and Christy - a current Paradise Cove assistant wedding coordinator. I'm still going to stay on part time and work a few weddings here and there so hopefully it will feel like the best of both worlds! :)

1st 5k of the year down!

2009-03-21T13:19:00.004-05:00

I ran my first 5k! It was a great experience and I've already signed up for another one. The pictures are not great but they do exist...so here's one at the end of the race. :)

Nanni is doing good!

2009-03-21T13:12:00.002-05:00

My Nanni fell and cracked her hip (I'm not sure the correct term - but it was not totally broken and she did not have a hip replacement) at the beginning of February. She was in rehab in Ft. Worth for 2 weeks and then my mom's rehab (that would be the Dawn Watkins rehab center in the game room at our house) for a month. As my sister is well aware, my mom does not put up with any crap and I think my Nanni appreciated it but hated it at the same time. She came home last weekend and I went to see her. She does actually have beautiful hair but she loves warm hats so we got her a St. Patty's Day toboggan. She's doing really great and we are so fortunate!

Bummer....

2009-03-21T12:50:00.002-05:00

Well it has been waayyy too long. As most of you know, I got a new job that started mid-February and I'm on the computer all day so I normally don't want to log on once I'm home. No excuses though, I will try to get better.

I'm home and bored today but I'm supposed to be in the air flying to Seattle to see Alisha for the weekend. This morning there were two flights to Seattle and I decided to hang out at Gate 7 versus Gate 4 which is where my 9:30am flight took off from. I realized this at about 9:40am...too little too late as they say. The next flight was 3 hours later and stopped 4 times making it total air time of 8 hours....11 hour day...not worth it. Not quite sure what I was thinking or where my head was but everything happens for a reason right...I'll let you know when I figure out that reason. So now I'm back home and hoping to reschedule my trip to Seattle in a month. :) Tommy is on his way to Vegas for a bachelor party with some of his best friends. I'm sure he will have a great time. Luckily he was at his correct gate this morning.

So my new job - it's back to the business world for this girl! Working the weekends was just too tough for me and my schedule would change from week to week. I guess I need a little more structure than that. I was so fortunate to find the kind of job I found in this current economy. One of my best friend's mother is moving to Austin and I am taking her position at a local oil & gas company 6 miles from my house. I get to come home for lunch! So far I like it but it has been a huge adjustment. 8-5 is normal but I haven't been on that schedule for quite some time and doing numbers and banking is different from doing timelines and decor with brides to be. I think at the end of the day it will really pay off career wise and family wise...we'll just have to wait and see.

I was hoping to update with pics from Seattle but those will have to wait till I actually get there. I'll look through my camera and see if I have anything exciting to upload from the past month. I know pictures are so much better than a bunch of words!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-14T20:28:00.004-06:00

And I have to wait until tomorrow to open these...it's killing me!!

The Express

2009-01-31T14:28:00.002-06:00

Last night we watched the best movie I've seen in quite some time. It's about the first African American who won the Heisman trophy. There's really no way to explain the movie without giving too much away but life can be pretty ironic and seemingly unfair at times. It has definitely impacted me whether it be just for today or more than that. Bottom line - I definitely recommend renting it!

A few of my favorite things...

2009-01-23T19:12:00.004-06:00

Here are a few of my new favorite things...

Tommy and his mom bought these frames for me for Christmas.

I LOVE this! I've seen them around and it's such an awesome idea. Who would think to turn a swing seat sideways to make a C? Thanks Amanda!!
Haven't sat down to read it yet but it's a great coffee table book.
Oh my weekly obsession...now I can save some $$ at the grocery store. Thanks MOM!

This lovely item traveled all the way from WA along with Alisha. At first all I saw was the black wording then I noticed the Cole.

It appears that I am a bit obsessed with my new last name. I'm sure that will pass with time. :)

Living A Day In History

2009-01-20T21:44:00.002-06:00

America seems so united today and excited for change. It's really exciting to get to experience and be of an age that we actually appreciate and recognize it. You can't help but feel proud to be an American and grateful for all the great things we get to be a part of.

Things have been pretty routine around the Cole household...so you see the reason for no updates. This past weekend we stayed up late Friday night playing 31 and charades with Jason and Laura. That was quite a sight and the girls are way too competitive for a fair game of charades. Saturday night Tommy surprised me with Mavs tickets and it was a great game with the Mavs coming out with a win.

Sunday morning we had plans to try a new church and I was going to see a movie with Laura but...my mom called me first thing and let me know my Nanni had fallen and fractured her hip. So I headed to Weatherford and got back yesterday. She had a successful surgery which was the part we were worried about. She'll be in the hospital for the next few days and then head to Ft.Worth for a few weeks of rehab. It might actually be good for her. She'll have to be on the patch for her stay in rehab and we'll get to air her house out. ;) Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Luckily she has a wonderful family that has all pulled together during her time of need.

My new running philosophy

2009-01-07T19:05:00.003-06:00

"Every mile is two in winter"

What will 09 bring...

2009-01-05T20:53:00.013-06:00

I love the start of a new year. Even Mondays and the 1st of the month fill me with a sense of a new start but nothing compares to a brand new year. It's a time to reflect on the previous year and how fast it went by and wonder what may come in the year ahead. It's the crazy motion of life itself and I LOVE it! It's been quite a while since I posted and there are a ton of things to update on.

Christmas was great. We were in Weatherford for a few days filled of games, food and family. Then Tommy and I got to spend a few quality days alone before more family time started New Year's Eve. I cherish all the family time and always have a sense of sadness when it ends but it is what it is and you just have to be lucky you had the time together at all.

New Year's Eve was great! My sister was here to celebrate her 17th birthday. She was going to go home to celebrate with her friends since they are now cooler than family. BUT when we learned Texas Tech would be here for the (may I add disappointing) bowl game, she decided to extend her stay. We had a NYE party with a few of our nearest and dearest friends and I prepared WAY too much food! I never want to see spinach dip again! It was so fun and Tommy's favorite part was probably hanging the 2009 ceiling decor. We have approximately 20 of these lovely items still hanging...I guess it will be 2009 all year so what's the rush, right? :)

New Year's Day Tommy's parents came down to have our Christmas. His sister and brother-in-law were already here to celebrate NYE and attend the bowl game. We vegged all day and played more games - mostly at my insistence. My mom got me electronic battleship for Christmas - love it!

Then of course we had that fateful bowl game. Tailgating with friends was fun and the game was fine. We had a great season so you can't forget that. I'm excited for next year already! Everyone left early Saturday morning and we've been organizing and cleaning ever since.

I hope 2009 brings you and your loved ones health and happiness! I'm with Oprah this year - make it the year that's all about you!! May you live your best life.

Here come the pictures...

If I was Alisha, I may could say I made this cake but no...I had to buy it. It was delicious!! I have no doubt that if Alisha were in town she would have made one for me. :)

Alli has this thing with making funny face pictures. The one above made us laugh so hard we cried. There were about 20 of Amanda and Alli but I didn't get either of their approval to post one.

Cookies for the neighbors

2008-12-22T13:54:00.006-06:00

On Saturday we made cookies to deliver to the neighbors to try and meet everyone and introduce ourselves. My mom and Alli helped. The cookies were not easy to make and the first batch was rough! They are made more with love than expertise. They did get better as we went along. On Sunday somehow I coerced Tommy into walking around and delivering them with me. He is much better with strangers than I am - I considered ringing the bell, leaving the package and running as UPS does but that would defeat the purpose. It actually went really well and we visited with lots of neighbors and got invited in to 3 houses. I wore my Texas Tech Santa hat so that was a definite conversation starter - all good believe it or not. Luckily there appear to be no Aggies on the block or maybe those are the ones that did not answer the door. In the end Tommy thanked me that I made him go. Women always know best! Just kidding ;)

2008-12-19T16:36:00.007-06:00

Alli sliding down the ice block. Last night we went to ICE at the Gaylord Texan. We hadn't been before and it was amazing and COLD. Alli and mom are here for the holidays and we are having a ton of fun finishing holiday shopping, baking and watching movies. Enjoy the next few days before Christmas everyone!This was before we put the big blue coats on. I could not feel my feet by the end of it.

I loved the trees made of ice with lights. There was a huge tunnel of them.

Triton is famous!

2008-12-17T16:57:00.003-06:00

The Reindeer Run sent every participant a link for pictures taken from this past weekend. On the very front webpage is this picture:

and to think that Tommy almost didn't let me put the reindeer antlers on him :)

Reindeer Run

2008-12-13T19:12:00.006-06:00

Last night we went to Tommy's work Christmas party. It was in downtown Dallas at a BBQ place. Good company and we won a $25 AMEX gift card. Not bad! Afterwards, we went to the Ginger Man pub. Most of you know that I'm not a big beer drinker and this place had about 30 different types of draft beer. I ended up getting a Pear Ace (liked it) a Blonde Ale (passed it to someone else) and a Woodchuck Amber (my favorite). It would have been a blast had we not committed ourselves to a Reindeer Run at 8:30 the next morning. It was rough! But I'm proud that we did it and we finished it. It benefited Toys for Tots so Tommy and I took one boy gift and one girl gift. We've done this run for several years in Phoenix and were excited they had it here. I'm posting pics even though I'm looking pretty rough - the cold and wind didn't help much. Oh I almost forgot, the best part was Triton posing as a reindeer.

Amaretto Punch

2008-12-11T17:02:00.001-06:00

This punch was a huge hit last night and everyone asked for the recipe.

12 oz. frozen orange juice
12 oz. frozen lemonade
9 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
12 oz. Amaretto
32 oz. 7-Up

Mix all ingredients except 7-Up and place in container and freeze. When ready to serve, place in punch bowl and pour over bottle of 7-Up.

Cookie Party 08 - A Success

2008-12-11T16:41:00.007-06:00

The cookie party was a success. It was my first get together to host in the new house and I think I pulled it off nicely and I have several yummy cookies to show for it - all of which I personally decorated. :-) They are almost too pretty to eat! My favorite is probably the angel which was one of the last ones I made. The gingerbread lady with the pink dress was the first one. You get better as you go. The girls minus the photographer. Pretty good turn out. One girl got sick and one had to work late...hopefully they'll be there next year.

I saw this centerpiece in a magazine. This pic is before I put the bowls of colored icing out. I have so much left over - I think I'll make some cupcakes!

First Christmas party down...two more to go

2008-12-08T18:19:00.003-06:00

I LOVE this time of year! My only complaint would be the focus on food - it's everywhere! But I love it too...you can't beat the yummy holiday snacks and festive drinks while visiting with friends.

We had our first holiday party yesterday at Tommy's boss's house. They have a beautiful home near downtown Dallas. There were a ton of kids there and they had their own floor with a babysitter until Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived. I got to visit with Santa while waiting in line for the bathroom and we were talking about his next party stop. He does it every year. A local Hummer dealership has a party for kids who don't normally have a very big Christmas. He says you can tell what kind of Christmas it will be if they get to open the presents he gives them that night. If they have to save it for Christmas day, it may be because it will be the only thing they have to open. It definitely stopped me in my tracks as it is so easy to get wrapped up in the holiday spirit. Let the holiday spirit surround you but don't forget how lucky we all are. When you pass the Salvation Army bell ringers and the Toys for Tots boxes, think about that extra dollar you may have in your pocket even though I realize at this time in our lives the extra dollars may be more scarce than normal.

On a lighter note, we took our Christmas pictures yesterday and the Cole family (including Triton and Gracie) can not wait to be on your fireplace mantles this year! :) Can't post a pic or it would ruin the surprise!

Christmas home updates

2008-12-08T17:58:00.010-06:00

Spare room is still the most "spare" room in the house but it is also a work in progress. :) The winter themed sheets definitely help! I stressed the winter part to Tommy since we can use them until mid February so they don't seem like an unnecessary purchase.

Mantle is still a work in progress. Could not find a place for the Ho Ho Ho without putting a nail in the wall.

Table runner matches the placemats but wasn't long enough for the dining table. The cute Tech plate was a gift from Amanda and I'm waiting to finish the bottle of wine before I put the shiny confetti currently in the paper towel holder into a empty wine bottle.

Placemats were a present last year from Aunt Kim and the tree centerpiece is a almost too sparkly for my normal taste but I thought it was so cute.

The tree may be a bit big for the house since we had to seriously rearrange our furniture. We'll see how it does this year.

Our newest furniture addition would be this chair. We just got it put together yesterday per the tag that is still attached. :)

'Tis the season

2008-12-03T21:00:00.009-06:00

Tonight we were watching the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and got in the holiday spirit. Tommy's working on the tree and I, as Tommy puts it, do a million little things but never seem to get much done. I'll stop and put Gracie's Merry Christmas hankie on, take some pics, etc. all while leaving the Christmas boxes packed up on the floor. It will all get done - I promise!

On a side note, Children's Medical Center is having their annual Christmas card sale. Children design these during their stay in the hospital and of course all proceeds go straight to the hospital. If you haven't already purchased your cards this year, it's not too late! http://www.childrensartandcards.com/cards.php

Thanksgiving & Football

2008-11-30T21:01:00.004-06:00

We're back home again after the hectic but fun holiday week. We drove in Wednesday night to Wichita Falls to spend Thanksgiving with T's family. Thursday morning we looked at all the ads for shopping the next day and could not believe how early stores opened - 4am - would the crazy people even sleep?! Well we turned out to be those crazy people. Tommy's sister, Amanda, found out that there was a special from 12am - 2am at a local collegiate store with everything 50%. We couldn't pass it up! By the time we got home it was 1am so we decided to work on a puzzle (a now family holiday tradition) and stick it out till 3am and go get in line. We started at Kohls and shopped as long as we stood in line. We alternated in 10 minute increments shopping and waiting in line. Quite a strategy. ;) After that, the stores were easy as pie - no lines! We got home at 10am and I was in bed till 4pm. Then we headed to Lubbock to see Trent, Emily and Ella. She's the cutest thing ever! We stayed up both nights catching up and reliving old memories. Saturday was an afternoon game so we stopped by Red Raider Outfitters, ate at Chimy's, then headed to the Alumni center. The game was more of a nail biter than anticipated then we headed home to root for the Cowboys. The game was close...but no cigar. The boys were pretty defeated at that point and we called it a night. Today we headed back to Wichita, grabbed the puppies, had lunch and headed back to DFW. We put our tree up tonight and plan to decorate this week. I'll post pics when its done!

Weekend away from the hustle and bustle

2008-11-25T13:26:00.007-06:00

The weekend at Rough Creek was wonderful. I had more hot tea, lemon and honey than I can count but it was good! They brought you your own individual mini kettle and the service was almost the best I've experienced. They were all checking on my voice each day. Friday after Tommy got out of class we went driving around the property. There's a beautiful wedding chapel. The entire back wall is pure glass with a beauiful view of the property. They have hiking trails, hunting dog kennels (like 40 dogs - it was chaos), four wheelers, etc. It is the ultimate outdoor family getaway. The first night we had a nice company dinner - my voice was there for about half of it. I just smiled and nodded my head the remainder of the time. Tommy was soaking it up as I am normally full of "comments". That night they had a fire with cowboy stories and songs under the stars with hot chocolate. Very serene. Saturday I got a massage and took a nap before meeting T for lunch. Lunch was a three course meal. We had chosen them the week prior so it was always a mystery as to what were getting each day. Everything was yummy. The team building activity that morning was skeet shooting. Tommy won out of about 25 guys. Who would have thought? He won a really nice jacket from the lodge which we traded in for a less expensive version, a t-shirt and a wine stopper for me. :) That afternoon was full of activities and rest. I've posted pictures of the zip lines and the huge blow up obstacle course. I spent some of the afternoon in the main lodge reading and resting my voice - it lasted most of Saturday night. That night we had a BBQ and we were getting updates from the waiter on the OU vs. TTU devastastion. We left towards halftime thinking we could change their luck but not so much. We were there with a ton of Aggies, one OU fan and NO Tech fans so it was quite a night. Sunday I slept in, packed and read in the hammock - I could have spent the whole day in that hammock - then we all met for brunch before leaving. It was so fun and such an awesome thing for his company to do for them. On the way home we stopped in Granbury to shop around the square and got a few Christmas decor items and gifts then swung by Dallas Love to pick up Alli. She's here for the holiday until Wednesday then she's heading to Ft.Worth to hang out with dad. We are headed to Wichita Falls for Thanksgiving and to Lubbock to see Emily, Trent and Ella for the weekend. Happy Turkey Day!

Not so rough at Rough Creek Resort

2008-11-21T12:30:00.003-06:00

We arrived this morning in Glen Rose, TX at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort. http://www.roughcreek.com/ We are here for a long weekend with Tommy's company. He has team building each day from 9am-1pm then he's free until dinner. All is well except my voice. I've been sick this week and on the way to Glen Rose this morning by voice decided to become a whisper. It's a wonderful way to meet new people who want to know all about you! Guess I'll be unforgettable at the least. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for my voice to make a speedy recovery. I've been sipping hot tea with honey all morning and thought it would be more appropriate to wait till after noon to order a shot of whiskey. Just kidding!! Didn't bring the camera connection so pictures will come later. This place is very peaceful and I can't wait to explore this afternoon.

Welcome!

2008-11-20T11:59:00.003-06:00

Welcome to the Cole family blog. I've been trying to use various websites to stay up to date on all my dear friends and family while also doing the same for them...it can be time consuming! So with the aid of my wonderful friend Alisha, I have decided to start a blog to try and create one central place for everyone to see the latest news with the Cole family. It would be so easy if everyone would follow our lead - haha. I'm sure I'll learn new things about blogging with every post so it can only get better from here. Blogging here we come...