Edy

C.U.T.E.

2012-01-14T16:26:00.000-06:00

As most of you guys know, my niece, Rachel, is an extremely talented photographer. (Check out her website at www.raetayphotography.com. You can also "like" her page on Facebook.) She was just in town for a couple of weeks over the holidays. Before she headed back to Idaho, she took some pics of "my" girls. The pics are sooooooooooooo cute. See for yourself!

Hunger Games

2012-01-11T23:32:00.001-06:00

Forever ago, Rachel suggested that I read The Hunger Games. The only thing that I knew about the trilogy is that it was likened to the Twilight books which were frivolous but entertaining. Well, I decided to finally read The Hunger Games yesterday, and I really liked it. It was an easy read...a page turner. I ended up reading the other two books in the trilogy as well. All three in one day. I didn't even start them until I got home from work. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night. Since I was little, I have always felt the need to finish a book the same day that I start it. It is a complex that I have.

Anyways, I am excited for The Hunger Games movie. Just like I was excited to watch Twilight which ended in me being super disappointed if you recall. I am really hoping that the movie will be decent. If you haven't read the trilogy yet (which you probably have since it is a super popular series), I would recommend it. Just FYI, the first book is by far the best in the series. The last one gets a little "meh" at times but still offers some resolution to it all.

Happy Holidays!

2012-01-05T00:30:00.000-06:00

(Super long post. Sorry!)

The holiday season has passed. Tear! I had a lot of fun while it lasted. I was able to hang out with so many of my friends and family...many who came over to my apartment/North Pole. I love having people over to see my Christmas decorations! Hey, with all the hard work that we put into them, they need to be seen!

I had some girlfriends from a few different friendship groups over for a low key girls' night. It was nice for me to have some of my good friends over...and to have them meet each other! Unfortunately, I was too busy partaking in girl talk to take any pics. The only proof I have of the night is from the early morning hours as evidenced here -

My 3 girls came over to my place for a sleepover a few days before Christmas. My sister, Julee, my niece, Jessica, and my nephew, Devon, all came over to participate in the fun. The girls LOVE Julee, so they were thrilled to spend extra time with her. I let the girls open their presents from Gavin and me. We had a dance party, played games, sang songs, ate popcorn, watched a movie, drank hot chocolate, and just had a good time.

The night after my sleepover with Izzy, Courtney, and Lexie, some of my Huffman girls came over for a girls' night.

Noe has never been much of a hugger.

G and I, along with three other couples, went to our friend's beach house near Galveston for a night. The house was ridiculously awesome. We all went to a fancy dinner at the yacht club in the beach community. Seriously had a blast!

We had Christmas at Julee's. Highlights: tons of Mexican food, intense game of Cranium and a white elephant game with a twist.

My Little Sister and I went to Dave and Buster's for an outing. I freaking love that place minus the fact that it is kind of expensive.

Makayla's obsessed with Ray Ray from the band Mindless Behavior. She loved her present from me!

We just went to the ranch for three days to celebrate my mom's birthday. As my mom said, "It was a perfect weekend". Highlights: hardcore family basketball games, stuffing out faces with lots of good food, throwing the football (turns out I have a pretty decent throwing arm), riding the four wheelers, playing games and being entertained by my oh so cute niece, Isabella!

Past NYEs - fancy restaurants, good friends, pretty hair, cute dresses, fun heels, champagne, Austin bars and Ryan Reynolds :)

This NYE - the ranch, no makeup, gross hair, UT sweatshirt, fireworks, sparkling cider, a dance party, great family and TONS OF FUN

We sang "Happy Birthday" then realized that we hadn't even brought the cake out yet. We had to do a do-over. This was the first version.

Don't feel the need to watch this whole video! It shows how "special" my family is.

My Courtney Bear turned 5 yesterday! She already had a family party, and she is going to have a slumber party with some friends as well. To honor her special day, I let her pick where we went for lunch (Chick Fil A) and where she wanted to celebrate (Chuck E Cheese).

I love babysitting girls, especially girls with cute clothes.

We got some decent use out of some of their Christmas attire.

Holiday Home!

2011-12-15T00:06:00.004-06:00

This truly is my favorite time of year. I love everything about Christmas - the reason why we celebrate, the music, the decorations, the tacky sweaters, the cheesy Lifetime and Hallmark channel movies, the classic movies....everything.
Christmas Overload!

I love the way our big tree turned out this year!

Wrapping paper insert

(our initials)
The nativity set hand-painted by my mom

Bedroom tree

Last year was my first time setting up a village. It was maybe a fourth of this size. Shortly after Christmas (in the midst of all of my after Christmas shopping), I found an awesome girl in Austin who was selling several pieces from her village collection. She hadn't put her village up the two years prior, so she really just wanted her stuff to be used. Insert a crazy Christmas person...me.
The village has now flourished into this -

This is what my village looked like before...

(That wasn't even half of the buildings in the individual pictures...)

________________________________________

**Since we live in an apartment on the 3rd floor, decorating for Christmas is a huge undertaking. All of our decorations are stored in my dad's garage 35 minutes across town, so several trips to/from were made over the course of a couple of weeks. My uncle and my cousins all came over to deliver and assemble the big tree. Each year I ask myself if it is really worth it to spend so much time and energy decorating, and the final answer is always yes. It really does bring me and those who come over to visit so much joy! P.S. I didn't just decorate my place. I also did my dad's house. I think I was an elf in a past life.

Theme Parties

2011-12-13T10:12:00.001-06:00

G & I went to a tacky sweater Christmas party Friday night. We both were head to toe tacky/awesome, and we had a lot of fun putting our costumes together.

My Slippers!

Gavin likes Mickeys beer. Under every beer cap is a riddle (notice the caps that he has on his sleeves). His shirt has a riddle on it. Can you figure out what it is??

We did a White Elephant gag gift game. There were about 25 people there. I would say 90% of the gifts were completely inappropriate, including the ones that we bought. Blow up Shananay doll anyone? There were plenty of laughs as the gifts were unwrapped. I ended up with a gift that I LOVE! Most of the responses when I unwrapped it were, "Of course, YOU would end up with another Christmas thing." I was so happy to get a legit gift!

Saturday night, my friend Stephanie had her 30th birthday masquerade party at a super nice house in Galveston. I almost ended up not going because of some last minute change of plans. I am so glad I went. I may have arrived four hours late to the party, but that didn't matter. We didn't go to bed until 5:00 in the morning, so I had plenty of fun & dancing time. P.S. I am WAY too old to stay up until 5!

Birthday Girl!!

*I had to steal this pics of FB since everything was half eaten by the time I got there!

As much fun as the parties were, the absolute highlight of my weekend was going to see a kids' production of Annie. One of the girls who I babysit (and have for the past 4.5 years), Mallette, played the role of Miss Hannigan, a pretty major part. Mallette gets nervous going to school after getting an inch cut off of her hair because she doesn't like people giving her extra attention. Needless to say, I was surprised that she was cast in such a big role...she was too. Anyways, Mallette completely nailed her part. She even had to sing a solo, and she didn't seem the slightest bit nervous. I was so proud!! I was amazed at the talent that the kids in the play all had. I was expecting a rinky dink play, but I was so impressed. The cast was made up of kids in 1st-3rd grades, so they were all pretty young. The girl who played Annie was amazing!

My other three girls (Izzy, Court & Lex) all adore Mallette, and she loves them. I have taken them over to play with her a few times. The three young girls have seen the Annie movies close to a hundred times, so I brought them with me. It was a great experience for all of us.

Mallette and her friend, Lara. They teased her hair to make it crazy & ratty for the part. She still had knots in it this morning!
The Girls

The riddle on Gavin's shirt is Naughty or Nice. The loop represents a knot. Knot + T = Naughty. The paddle is an oar = OR. The clear box is supposed to be an ice cube. N + ice =Nice.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T21:25:00.001-06:00

My brother's boss let our family use his ranch for Thanksgiving weekend. When I first heard "ranch", I was thinking a modest house with lots of property. I was was partially right. The house is on 500 acres. Turns out that the house was amazing!! We stayed there Thursday-Sunday and loved every minute of it! The ranch was in Schulenberg, only an 1.5 drive for me, which was nice. The weekend consisted of...

- watching my Longhorns beat the Aggies!!!!
- TONS of good food
- dozens of shuffleboard and air hockey matches
- many attempts (fails) to master the arcade games
- intense family basketball games
- movie watching in the theater room
- paintballing (for the kids)
- skeet shooting
- 4 wheeler and ATV rides
- QUALITY FAMILY FUN TIME

Elf - one of my favorite holiday movies!
Plenty of seating for us in the media room

The house was made for big gatherings. Lots of sleeping options.

While the rest of us were riding around on the property, Sarah (my bro's gf) opted to go for a run. Fitness first with this one.

Skeet shooting

Picking teams...like being in elementary school all over again!

Special people

Kids posing for a pic on the slide

Kids reaction after my brother turned the water on as they were sitting on the slide.

Daredevil

The water was freezing hence my nephew's facial expression.

As I was typing this blog my bro called to tell me that his boss said that he (we) are more than welcome to use the ranch again sometime in the future! WooHoo!

Fall Weddings

2011-11-17T12:11:00.002-06:00

A couple of months ago, I attended the wedding of my friends Cynthia and Jesse at the Courtyard on St. James Place. Their wedding was fabulous. I first got to know Cynthia three years ago when a bunch of us went on my brother's "Dirty Thirty" birthday cruise. She is the kind of person who is always up for having fun. Not long after the cruise, Cynthia met a nice, cute boy in her apartment complex...Jesse. They had only been dating for a matter of months when Jesse's job required him to move to Australia. Taking a huge leap of faith, Cynthia decided to move with him. Obviously, things worked out for them since they are now newlyweds! They are currently living in Malaysia, so she had to plan the entire wedding remotely. She had a ton of help from her maid of honor/cousin, Steph!

The connecting theme for the various wedding elements was wine... for two reasons - a)They love to drink wine. b)They love to make wine. The save the dates, invitations, programs, bride's cake, etc. all had grapes incorporated into their designs. The centerpieces were full of reds and purples. During Cynthia's bachelorette party weekend, a trip to a winery was made, so they stayed true to their theme.The wedding was a complete blast. Caught up with old friends. Made a few new friends. Spent most of the night of the dance floor. Fun times had by all.
How cute are these shoes?

Stephanie & Dan...the unofficial wedding planners.

It had been almost a year since I had seen my favorite world travelers

Packed dance floor all night

This past weekend I went to my friend Trishia's wedding held in the Crystal Ballroom at the Rice Hotel. The theme for this wedding was "Lucky in Love" since the wedding was on 11.11.11. Their first dance was even to Jason Mraz's "Lucky". Trishia went all out for her wedding which is crazy considering that she paid for most of the wedding by herself. During her wedding planning process, she encountered so many problems...to the point she wanted to cancel the big wedding production. I am glad that she didn't because everything turned out beautifully.

I took pics off of her FB page that her photog (Amy Karp) had posted because they are just stunning photos.
Trishia & Mike

Her dress was completely custom made.

Each penny was hand stamped with the word "Lucky" on it. I know it was a major time-consuming task for her, but it was such a cute idea. On the back of this is a lottery ticket. I didn't win any $$ :(

They served Berripop! They had at least a dozen toppings to put on your yogurt. It was a big hit!

Here I am with one of Trishia's good friends/bridesmaids, Melodie. Funny thing is Melodie and I met through Big Brothers Big Sisters events. Not only is she one of Trishia's friends, Melodie is also friends with my bro. Such a small world!

Side note: Trishia used to be a pageant girl, and she now does airbrush makeup, eyelashes, tanning, etc for pageant girls. My table at the wedding consisted of a recent Miss Texas, a recent Miss Houston, a Miss Teen Something or Another, a pageant judge, etc. (They didn't go around announcing their titles or anything. My friend told me.) These are the peeps who need to be sharing makeup and hair tips on blogs. For real. It was a good looking wedding!

Favorites Revisted

2011-11-07T13:45:00.001-06:00

I have posted a few blogs about some of my favorite things. Since some time has passed, I figured I should revisit some of those favorite things to see if I still love them as much as I originally did. The answer is "yes" to pretty much all of them. I looked over my past favorites lists found here and here. Some of the things I love so much that I feel the need to mention them again!

Nars Blush - The blushes are pricey at $27 each, but they are so worth it. I have had this particular blush since December of 2008. (I am not sure if it is good to have blush that long, but I do clean my brushes regularly.) I use this particular blush at least 3-4 times a week, and I still have a good amount left.

Too Faced Bronzer - I lost this bronzer a few weeks after purchasing it. I loved it so much that I went ahead and bought it again.

Nike Free Run+ 2 - My mom and my oldest sister both have a pair now of these shoes. One of the kids I babysit for has 2 pairs of these, and he said it is like "walking on clouds". I don't know if I would go that far with my description, but these are hands down my favorite tennis shoes ever. They retail for $89 at Finish Line, but I have scored them for $72 (tax & shipping included) from Road Runner Sports thanks to various coupon codes.

Netflix - I considered canceling my Netflix account when they increased the monthly price. I didn't because of the instant streaming on our PS3. I don't use the DVD's to your mailbox at all, but I use the instant streaming all of the time. The girls love to come over and watch Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and Angelina Ballerina movies, and I have watched several TV shows through it.

Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner - I only love this eyeliner for the first few weeks that I use it. After that, I feel like it doesn't go on as smoothly. I am always on the search for the perfect eyeliner as evidenced below:
If you have an all time favorite eyeliner, please let me know!

More Favorites:
Crest Professional Effects White Strips - I use these white strips sporadically - about once every week or so just to keep my teeth looking fairly white. I don't like using them several days in a row because my teeth start feeling sensitive. I order mine from drugstore.com because they always have discounts on them.

Perfume Rollerballs - I don't buy bottles of perfume anymore - just the rollerball size from Sephora for two reasons: 1) Easy to carry in my purse. 2) Able to try a variety of perfumes. 3-4 rollerballs equals the price of one nice bottle of perfume.

Sedu Revolution Clipless Curling Iron - I have been wanting a clipless curling iron for a long time. After doing tons of research, I decided to order this one. It takes some practice to get used to the iron, and I always wear the protective glove that comes with it. I have only used it a few times, and my curls stayed in tact each time. The real test will come during the summer with all of the humidity! I should also mention that I love my Sedu flat iron that I have had for about a year now. Both I ordered from Folica with 30% off coupons.

My hair about 6 hours after originally doing it.

Pinterest - I have been slacking lately with my Pinterest activity, but it is a great place to get inspiration for decor, food, crafts, etc. So many cute ideas on one concise website. I will be spending a lot of time on there in the next couple of weeks getting more Christmas ideas!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:43:00.000-05:00

Once again, my brother and his roommate hosted the party of all parties for Halloween. They go all out for their parties - multiple DJ's, fog machines, crazy lighting system, 300 people, etc. I had a ridiculous amount of fun, and I can't wait for next year's party!
Party House

Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj

Class of 2001

2011-10-18T13:40:00.002-05:00

In case you have somehow missed my FB updates and pictures in the past few days, my 10 year high school reunion was this past weekend, and I was in charge of planning it.

To start the reunion weekend, some of us went to my hometown high school's football game. I haven't been to a game since high school, so it was a pretty cool experience. I ran into some old teachers and other random blast from past kind of people.

Friday night, I realized how much our class got jipped. When I was in high school, we had a crap football stadium located at the MIDDLE school with the grossest restrooms. Of course, after we graduated, they built a ridiculously nice football stadium...and a new high school.
Old high school (This picture doesn't even show all of the fancy portable buildings that we had)

New high schoolNew stadium

Our senior year, our varsity football team only won one game. This year they have only lost one game. My how the times have changed.

Think Pink for breast cancer awareness game
The reunion planning process started back in February, and my life was absolutely consumed by reunion stuff these past few months. Creating a budget, tweaking the budget, retweaking the budget, researching caterers, ordering linens, hounding people to pay, scanning pictures, finding a DJ at the last minute b/c the original DJ flaked, responding to dumb Facebook questions (ex. When is the reunion?), etc, etc has been my existence lately. This was my weekend: Friday - work, quick dinner with Kati, football game, after party. Saturday - run reunion errands, set up for reunion, get ready for reunion, finish setting up for reunion, have fun at reunion, after party at local bar, after after party. Sunday - sleep.

After all of the planning, I am so happy to say that our reunion was a success! Based on all of the Facebook comments, text messages, and phone calls that I received, everyone who attended agreed! We even ended up paying a little extra to have the reunion end later than planned because everyone was having so much fun. The night could not have been any better! I walked away with so many great memories with old friends and even some new friends as well. So glad that my work was validated. I would have been so sad if our reunion was lame and boring!

Program

My planning helpers

Best high school friends
I know that my mom, sister, and Gavin are all SO glad that my reunion is over finally! They all were big supporters and good listeners throughout the process!

Girls

2011-09-21T11:38:00.002-05:00

As always, I have been a slacker blogger. I was organizing my pictures on my computer and decided that I need to do a picture blog of cuteness, so here goes -

Courtney ate this entire bear pancake!

Wonderwild.
It is $10 per child, and you can stay there as long as you want. The girls love this place!

with their new friends

Swimming at Julee's

Do you think she has enough animals on her bed???

L-O-V-E

I am so fortunate to have a "job" (if you can even call it that) that I absolutely love.

Galveston

2011-08-17T13:59:00.008-05:00

My sister got us a sweet hook-up on a house in Galveston, so we just did a family weekend there. We had 14 of us there total, and two of our family friends came to visit as well. We LOVED the gorgeous house even if it was haunted (or so we think). Apparently, some very famous people have stayed at the house, including: JFK, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and other members of the Rat Pack. The weekend was filled with playing games (a must in our fam), swimming for hours in the estate's pool, arm wrestling, visiting the disgusting beach, and a trip to Schlitterbahn!

The front door was absolutely gorgeous!

The 3rd floor was designed for girls.

The mirror doubled as a TV.

One thing I really loved about the house was the use of space. Decorative accents everywhere!

Bathroom art

28

2011-07-27T10:20:00.007-05:00

I wasn't very excited to turn 28. I was okay with turning 27 because I was still closer to 25 than 30. Not the same case with 28. Nevertheless, I had an absolutely wonderful birthday, so maybe 28 isn't as bad as I thought.

To start the week off, I went to dinner at Chuy's with some of my high school girlfriends because Jessica, who lives out of the country, was in town for a short bit. It was a repeat of this night. The only person missing again was Leah (insert sad face). It is always nice getting together with old friends.

I went back to Chuy's again with my girls on my actual birthday for lunch. Can you tell I LOVE Chuy's? Creamy jalapeno...yum!

After lunch, the girls and I went to go see my newest family member, Lillian (Lily) Grace and we picked up Devon. G met all of us for some bowling. We went bowling a lot when I was young - I even had my own ball and bag. The girls were so excited to have Devon and Gav with us!

Look how big Lily's feet are!! So precious!

After bowling, sno cones at Mam's. Check it out. Delicious.

I did dinner with the fam at Mamacita's, one of my favorite restaurants that I know I have mentioned way too many times on here. It is seriously good Mexican food plus they have fajitas 2 for 1 Mon-Th before 7:00. I like their fajitas more than I do Pappasito's. Now that is saying a lot.
I spent the night playing on my new PlayStation Move. It is like the Wii but for the PS3. I played beach volleyball for a couple of hours on it, and I was seriously sore the next day. Sad.

Not surprisingly, I went to Austin to celebrate my birthday with my friends there. There are two things I dislike about having a summer birthday - 1) Friends are always out of town in the summer, so it is hard to plan any bday celebrations. 2) It is so freakin' hot. I spent about 30 min on my hair (really long time for me), and it looked awesome. Within 10 minutes of being outside, my hair looked like crap, and I had sweated off all my make up. Random rant now finished.

As I was saying, I went to Austin. I had about six friends out of town for a wedding and a few others who couldn't come out for various reasons, but the night ended up being so much fun. I was bummed that some of my friends couldn't make it, but three of my friends commented on how much more they enjoyed my birthday this year over last year. The main reason is because I actually got to talk to everyone rather than dealing with a massive group. Quality over quantity.

Cozumel

2011-07-18T14:17:00.006-05:00

So, eight of my family members, my bro's gf and I all went to Cozumel for a week. This was my fourth time in Cozumel, but all of the other times have just been day trips on cruises.

Recap:

Price - My oldest sister scored us a super awesome deal for our trip. It was only $600 each for airfare and a week's stay at an all-inclusive resort! That includes taxes!

Resort - Besides an issue with a towel card our very when we checked out, I loved our resort, El Cozumeleno. All of the staff members were super helpful and attentive. Our waiter practically every night was named Fernando, and he was a rock star. The crazy part is that the staff members only make $5/day, and they do a tip pull with everyone else on the staff. Their hard work ethics were extremely admirable.

The resort had all kinds of fun things for us to do - water aerobics (a completely random & ridiculous but fun class), miniature golf, volleyball, basketball, tennis (though we never played), trivia games, theme nights, etc.

Weather - Pretty much it rained at least part of the day every day we were there. That sucked...but the sun fully came out to play our very last day. It was so nice leaving there on a good note!

Fun - Every night after dinner we all played games - Catch Phrase, Farkel, Taboo, Quiddler, and Rummikub. We are obsessed with games in my family.

Friends - We met some new friends who were guests at the resorts. They were all good company, especially considering they were mostly 16 years old and younger. We (Julee, Rachel, Jessica, and I) spent a good amount of our days hanging out with teenagers. I wish I could be a teenager again! We had fun playing matchmaker to a pretty, tall, blonde 15 year old girl and a super cute 15 year old boy!

I posted all of the pics on facebook, so sorry for the redundancy!

Our Resort

My bro's g/f did my hair!

Dancing Queens

My bro and his g/f were in a "dance" contest

with my 16 year old niece, Jessica

My nephew's 18th birthday

Annoying Facebook People, Part 2

2011-07-15T13:54:00.002-05:00

** I plan on posting my Cozumel blog either day or tomorrow.

In the meantime, I read this post, and it reminded me of my rant about annoying Facebookers found here. This blogger reiterated my thoughts but in a much more entertaining way.

To save you the trouble of clicking on the link, here is the majority of the post:

"The Over-Sharer:

This person just wants to tell you absolutely EVERYTHING they are doing. They cannot go an hour without documenting exactly what came to pass in their life since their last update.

Susie Q: “Going to granny’s!” 2 hours ago

Susie Q: “Driving back from granny’s!” 1 hour ago

Susie Q: “Just got home from granny’s- unloading the car. These bags are heavy!” 30 minutes ago. Seriously.

Enough! Absolutely no one cares that much about your day, not even your mom. If anyone ever wanted to stalk you, you would be handing yourself over on a silver platter. When Facebook launched the “status” feature, they did not literally mean for you to give a captain’s log of your life. And you do not need pictures to support these posts- never ever. Addendum: Mobile picture posts are to be reserved for entertaining things you observe like funny signs, crazy bag people in shocking outfits, adorable children or animals (there is a limit on this one if they are YOUR kids) etc.

The List-Maker:

This person is a lot like the over-sharer except their over-sharing is condensed into one or two boring posts a day. The list-maker seems to think that the status update bar is the place to put their to-dos for the day. I don’t know if they genuinely think people care or maybe they don’t own a notepad and pen.

Betsy: “Making breakfast, dry cleaner’s, grocery store, clean house, laundry, make dinner, jog, bed.”

The list-maker often posts lists every day, even if their activities do not change. Look, if you drop the kids at school, run errands, clean house and go to the gym every day- no need to post again! Posts like these just make me think of the famous priorities on Jersey Shore- “Gym, Tan, Laundry.” This brings me to my all time, list-maker pet peeve: tanning updates. Why in the world do you need to let everyone know that you are tanning? So we can all pray for your skin cells? Boring! Also, I thought the point was to keep it under wraps so that you appear to have an authentic tan, even though you are fake-baking. Essentially, you are saying: “Everyone- just in case you were wondering what I am doing right now- I am laying in a supine position in a fiberglass UV bed for the next 15-20 minutes. Please assume that I look great.” So annoying. A couple of these and I remove you from my news feed.

The Ultra Bore:

This person may not update often, but when they do, it’s not worth reading. The Ultra-Bore is often a guy who is not that into Facebook , but he feels pressure to update once in a while. Gold star to him for trying to keep up with the times and participate in social media, but if this is what you’re giving us, just go back off the grid.

Bob: Working. January 15th

Bob: I’m hungry. February 3rd

Bob: Cold day. March 7th

Fail, Bob, fail.

The Open Book:

This person can also be known as The Attention Junkie. These people tend to put things all over Facebook that should really be reserved for a visit with the doctor, a phone call with Mom…or a conversation with a priest. Their posts make you feel guilty for reading them.

Kevin: “Well, Sally broke up with me again. This time, she said it was because I cheated on her with that waitress at Chili’s. Guess I need to go get all my stuff out of her house before she burns it. That leaking sore is back on my foot again and I found a lump on my…”

No no no no no! Do you not understand the concept of a diary? Maybe you don’t care if everyone knows, but I care that I know. Without any warning, you gave me a run down of your intimate life details and your medical issues. In a mansion somewhere, Mark Zuckerberg weeps as his robot hands him ~~tissues~~ $100 bills.

Women who share too many emotional details (the Attention Junkie) are often hoping for 25 comments that read, “Oh no! Poor baby!” or “So sorry, girl- I love you!” How many hugs did your parents withhold to make you word vomit on Facebook to feel loved?

And finally, The Self-Proclaimed Pundit:

This person is extremely opinionated on certain subjects (politics, sports, world issues) and they use Facebook as their soapbox. They will use the max characters allowed for a status update to explain exactly how to fix the national debt, how to deal with foreign nations, how a coach should have better utilized Michael Vick in order to win the game.

John: “Like I said all along, the president passed that bill and blah blah blah. If he would just blah blah blah and stop blah blah blah, then we wouldn’t have to worry about blah blah blah. Problem solved! You see, this is what is wrong with our system…

Attached: CNN article

Who do these politicians with their law degrees and all their years of experience think they are? Why are they not listening to the junior in college who CLEARLY has all the answers? A little humility, please. Now, I totally support free speech and I love expressing my opinion (see: this entire post), but I think if you want to constantly rant about a particular subject, start a blog or a journal of some kind. Go to a website with a message board. If you find an article interesting once in a while, maybe share the link without editorializing the crap out of it. But please, stop using your Facebook friends as an unwilling audience to your diatribes.

Now, I have tons more (the “Like” Button Junkie, the Quiz Taker, the Song Quoter, the Debbie Downer, the Inappropriate Single Mom), but I won’t get into those. I feel like such a cantankerous old woman, but I really am blown away at what people deem status-worthy information. Thank goodness for the “block” feature, even if it was intended for stalkers and creeps."

No TV???

2011-06-08T20:07:00.004-05:00

Gasp! I just caught up on my blog reading. My dear friend, Katie Mac, recently posted about how she decided to cancel her cable. Another of my friends posted on FB last week that she too was cancelling her cable. I think I would die without cable. How sad is that? Ok, so, I obviously wouldn't die, but I would slip into a coma for a few days. I am ridiculous.

Since we are on the subject of television, let me share some thoughts on some recently watched shows.

MTV Movie Awards
- Lost brain cells watching this.
- Why is Kristen Stewart always so freaking awkward?
- Partial ditto for Robert Pattinson.
- I love Reese Witherspoon.
- And Chelsea Handler.
- A text message from my friend, Stephen, pretty much summed up the show - "When is the last time MTV had a good movie awards that didn't have a viewing audience that was 12? 2003?"

RHOC (Real Housewives of Orange County)
- Sad that women are SO petty & catty....even in their 40's!
- So why do I keep watching?

The Bachelorette
- Bentley. I am sure he was just trying to get extra TV time, but he really made me cringe every time he spoke. What an a$$
- I actually like Ashley.

The Voice
- Really REALLY like this show.
- I am over the platinum blonde, bright lips, boobs pushed up to her face look that Christina Aguilera keeps doing.
- I have a crush on Blake Shelton.

SYTYCD
- So happy about the new season!

Could you survive without cable television????

***My laptop wouldn't boot recently. Instead of the Windows sign on screen, I got a black screen. No fun. I really didn't want to pay $100+ to have it fixed. After reading dozens of articles online with suggestions how to fix it....and trying dozens of the suggestions....I fixed it. All by myself. It wasn't a simple fix, so I am extremely pleased with myself!!!

Mary Poppins

2011-05-25T16:15:00.001-05:00

I have been babysitting/nannying in some sort of capacity since I was 12. I pretty much have this kids thing down by now. I run a pretty tight shift. I strongly believe in setting boundaries, not making idle promises/threats, enforcing good manners, etc. One of the things that I enjoy about babysitting is being able to go into different homes to see first-hand various parenting techniques. Over the years, I have figured out what works and what doesn't.

Manners. If one of the girls asks me for something without saying "please," I ignore them until they say it. When they were younger, I got tired of having to remind them to say please, thank you, may I, etc. Ignoring their requests fixed that problem for the most part.

Cleanliness. Every day when we get home from school, the first thing the girls have to do is to clean their playroom. It never takes more than 10 minutes, and I think it encourages them to work together. I have literally heard them singing the "teamwork" song from Wonder Pets as they were cleaning. I also have them do a quick clean up before we go to lunch, the mall, the library...pretty much anywhere. It is so much nicer coming home to a clean house rather than chaos. By doing these mini cleaning jobs, the house is always pretty orderly.

The girls also all know that they have to clean up their own messes. If they eat a snack, they know to throw away their trash and put their dishes in the sink. I hate it when kids think the adults are their maids.

Responsibility. Isabelle's "job" is to let the dog out to go to the bathroom when we get home from school, running errands, etc. Courtney's "job" is to bring in the trash can on trash days (with my supervision).

Boundaries. I have made the rules pretty clear, so the girls are never really surprised when they get in trouble. Some things are non negotiable in my book. Ex. Hitting. That results in an automatic timeout.

This may all sound a little hardcore, but it works for us. All of the girls teachers rave about their good manners. When we go out to eat, I never have to worry about the girls running around the restaurant or making a big mess. This is important to me because I take them out to eat once a week. The rules also seem to prevent fighting between the girls. Despite being around each other a lot, they really don't argue that much...

unless they are with their parents. Sarah (girls' mom) and her husband are the exact opposite of me. They are extremely laid-back and let the girls call the shots most of the time. I have noticed that this passive parenting leads to tantrums and bad behavior. I am not a fan. They always ask the girls why is it that they behave for me but not for them. I am really appreciative though because the parents let me make my own rules and schedule for the girls.

Sticker charts are also big hits with the girls. They love them. They each have a chart, and I give them a sticker to add to it for good behavior. Once they reach a certain number, they can choose something out of the goody bag.

I am not a couponer...is that a word? I am always thoroughly impressed when people post pictures of a hundred items that they bought for like $6, but I just haven't joined the ranks yet. Today, when I was at HEB, they had ALL of their Revlon cosmetics on sale for $3 off the original price. I wear Revlon Colorstay foundation, and I also use Revlon eyeliners. I was thrilled to get them discounted. What was more thrilling was getting nail polishes for 17 cents each! The girls are obsessed with make-up right now (Lex isn't even 3 yet & knows what bronzer is), so I bought these eyeshadows to put in the goody bag. Now, they can quit using my pricy makeup! They were so excited when I showed them these -
From L to R, $1.38 ea., $2.24 ea., and 36 CENTS ea.!

A couple of other last minute things -

- Usually, when you ask a kid about their day went, they answer with "good" or "fine". To eliminate the one word answers, when I pick up the girls from school, I ask each one of them to tell me something specific about their day. This especially works really well with Isabelle since she learned so much in kindergarten this year. She was always excited to tell me about what words she learned in Spanish that day, what book she picked out from the library, what colors she painted her pictures, etc.

- I rarely talk on my phone when I am with the girls. I always want them to feel like they have my full attention.

- I try to teach them one new song a week. Between watching hundreds of hours of Barney with Rachel when she was a little girl and going to summer camp all those years, I know dozens of kid friendly songs.

- My mom introduced all kinds of musicals to me when I was a kid. I am doing the same with these girls. They LOVE Annie and The Sound of Music. We watch clips on YouTube of all kinds of musicals - Singing in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Meet Me in St. Louis

Sorry for this long post! If you have more tips, pass them along to me!

Wedding Season

2011-05-11T11:22:00.000-05:00

In the past month, G & I have been to three out of town weddings. Here's a recap:

Wedding 1 - G's good friend from college. It was an outdoor wedding held at the GORGEOUS Horseshoe Bay Marriott. Thankfully, the weather was perfect. Several of G's good friends who he hasn't seen in a while were there, so it was great for him to be able to catch up with everyone. I didn't take many pics since I didn't really know many people there, but you get an idea below of how beautiful it was.

Look at the back of her dress!!! AMAZING!

Wedding 2 - G's old roommate. The wedding was completely opposite from the wedding the weekend prior. It was very low-key and relatively small, maybe 60 people. It was held in the Arlington area. We had a lot of fun since some of G's closest friends were there. We spent the night on the dance floor which is always a good sign.

Wedding 3 - The only thing better than attending a wedding of a very good friend is attending a wedding of two good friends! I have known Kristine and Danny since before they even started dating around 6-7 years ago. We all worked together at Iron Cactus, so we spent many nights downtown together. They are the ones I stay with almost every time I make a trip back to Austin, so we have never lost touch over the years. They are both just extremely quality people. I absolutely love these two together.

The wedding was held at a private residence on the lake, and it was utterly picturesque. I love how weddings really are a reflection of a couple's style, specifically the bride. Kristine is extremely easygoing. She loves the outdoors, and she is kind of a no frills person. Complete antithesis of a Bridezilla. Throughout all of the planning process, she kept me updated on her dress, picking a band, catering choices, etc. She never showed any signs of being stressed out or anything. Kristine made it seem like planning a wedding was pretty effortless which we all know is so not true!

Back to the wedding. The food was beyond delicious. I didn't get a chance to eat that day before the wedding. I thought maybe the food tasted so good just because I was in starvation mode. That was until everyone at our table started raving about the food. Half of our table went back for seconds. It was THAT good. Peppercorn beef medallions, pecan crusted chicken, strawberry summer salad, creamy mac and cheese, and roasted veggies. Can you tell I am hungry as I am writing this? The super fun band kept the dance floor packed. Everything about the wedding was awesome!

The most touching part of the day was when Danny's sister made a toast. Their dad was never really in the picture, so they (Danny and his three sisters) were all extremely close to their mom. Their mom passed away several years ago. His sister's toast went something along the lines like this - "When our mom passed away, I prayed that Danny would find a woman who would love him and us unconditionally as our mom had. I also prayed that he would be worthy of this woman when he did meet her. My prayers were answered with Kristine."

Groom's Cake!

Random Favorites

2011-05-03T14:40:00.004-05:00

Magnifying Mirror - I had one when I was in high school, but somehow I didn't have one in college. Gavin bought me a new one as a present. My eyebrows are thankful.

Jack Black Lip Balm -
http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P12573&categoryId=B70
The girls and I go to Sephora at least once a month, and I always let them try on one perfume and one lipgloss. We were looking at some one the men's stuff and ended up trying on this lip balm. I have both the lemon and the mint kinds, and I love them both. This stuff is awesome.

Too Faced Bronzer -
http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P229406&categoryId=B70
I have used a few different bronzers (Stila, Sephora brand, Benefit, CoverGirl, Nars), and I really like this one. I have only been using it for two weeks, but I like that it is matte (no shimmer). Side note: It smells like Cocoa Puffs cereal.

Johnson's Baby Shampoo - I use this shampoo to clean my make-up brushes. It is way cheaper than an actual bottle of brush cleaner, does the job, and my brushes always smell soooo good.

OPI's Not Like the Movies - I go through random spurts when I do a good job changing up nail polish colors, and then two months go by without me wearing any. Yesterday, my nails were pink. Today, my nails are dark purple. Obviously, I am going through one of my nail polish phases. "Not Like the Movies" looks just kind of gray with a little shimmer in the bottle. In the light though, it sometimes has a lavender tint and other times a green tint. I like that it isn't just a flat color. It partial makes me feel like a teenager rather than a grown-up...which I like.

Lasko Fan -
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=116398
My sister, my dad, and I all swear by this fan. It is POWERFUL. I sit in front of it when I blow dry my hair because it helps me to not get so freaking hot. I also use it as a nail polish dryer.

Bananagrams - I have been playing Bananagrams on the computer through Facebook for the last month or so. Highly addicting. Personal venting session - I find it SO annoying how everyone jumped on the Words With Friends bandwagon. Hello! It has been around for ages. It is called Scrabble. My brother would jokingly give me a hard time about playing Scrabble and other word games, and now he is a WWF addict, along with half of FB it seems like.

Redbox - So cheap and convenient. I still use my Netflix if I want to watch a TV series and certain movies, but I go to Redbox pretty frequently.

Nike Free Run +2 Shoes -
http://www.finishline.com/store/catalog/product.jsp?productId=prod674127
I heard good things about the original Nike Free Run shoes, but I waited for the 2nd version to come out before buying them. I have had these for a month now, and I seriously love these shoes. I usually wear them with thin socks just so I can feel more of the "bounciness" and cushion of the shoe. These are so comfortable.

ABC's

2011-04-21T14:26:00.002-05:00

Age: 27

Bed Size: Full. The most comfortable full sized bed ever. I tried my queen bed from my mom's house for about a week and had to go back to my full. Gavin has a queen though.

Chore you hate: Laundry. I agree with you, Rachel. I hate laundry. I put two loads of clothes that need to be folded on our dining table about three weeks ago. They are still sitting there.

Dogs: No dogs of my own.

Essentials to start your day: Nothing clever to put here. I have a protein shake mid-morning, but by that time, I have been up for 4 hours.

Favorite color: Purple. I pretty much like all colors though. I used to say my favorite color was clear...

Gold or silver: Both.

Height: somewhere between 5' 6" and 5' 7". I wear 4 inch heels when I am out, so I always look a lot taller.

Instruments: Played the piano back in the day. I tried playing a few songs at my mom's house a few months ago, and I was actually pretty decent still.

Job title: Nanny. Personal Assistant. Bum.

Kids: None of my own yet though I do spend a lot of my life in carpool lines, at ballet classes, the park, etc. On MWF, I go to FOUR SCHOOLS because of all my kiddos.

Live: Houston, TX. Still wishing I could put Austin, TX.

Mom's name: Carla

Nickname: Sweety Edy (only my Mom has called me that). Ediot. Edy Pie. Miss Edy.

Overnight hospital stays: Never

Pet peeve: Poor grammar. I think Gavin is going to strangle me the next time I correct him.

Quote from TV show: "You're killing me, Smalls" - The Sandlot

Right or left handed? Right

Siblings: On my mom's side, I have two half-sisters, one half-brother, and one brother. I don't ever think of them as half-anythings though! On my dad's side, I have one half-sister.

Time you wake up: 6:30ish

Underwear: I like them.

Vegetables you dislike: Brussel sprouts.

What makes you run late: Anything & everything.

X-rays you've had done: My nose after it was broken in a basketball game.

Yummy food you make: Brownies. Taco Soup.

Zoo animal: Chimp.

FNL

2011-04-15T11:09:00.000-05:00

Dave, my brother-in-law's favorite TV show is Friday Night Lights. Always seemed fitting since he is an avid football fan. Chelsea Handler has said repeatedly on her show that FNL is her favorite show as well, and she has had several of the cast members on Chelsea Lately. Well, Big Dave and Chelsea Handler are about as opposite as you can get...

A month or so ago, I had a bunch of free time on my hands. Rather than being ultra productive, I decided to finally check out this TV series thanks to my Netflix instant streaming on our PS3. After just the first episode, I was hooked. It wasn't hard for me to understand why Dave & Chelsea Handler both love the show. They aren't the only ones who love it. When I was googling some of the cast members, every article I read about the show praised the cast and the show in general. The critics are all fans.

I am obsessed. Actually, I should say I WAS obsessed. I watched all five seasons of FNL in two weeks. I stayed up way too late every night watching it. Only the first four seasons were available on Netflix since the fifth season doesn't premiere until tonight. I watched the fifth season on the computer through various websites. Obsessed.

Reasons why I love the show:
- I grew up in a small town in TX where every Friday night, everyone was at the football game. Our team was never all that good though.
- The show was shot in Austin, Pflugerville, Del Valle, San Marcos, and other surrounding areas. There were a lot of scenes filmed on the UT Campus and in restaurants/bars in Austin. Mack Brown also made a cameo in the very first episode.
- Authenticity. They used actual places, schools, and houses to film the show instead of creating sets.
- Actors are legit. The two main stars of the show were both nominated for Emmy's last year. Each character displays lots of depth and complexity.
- I will admit that I guiltily watch my fair share of reality shows. This TV show was/is like a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the trash on TV.
- Eye Candy

If you find yourself with some free time, you should definitely check out Friday Night Lights. You don't even have to like football. Promise. I think it is my all time favorite TV series. Ok, maybe, 2nd favorite. I don't know if any show can replace Dawson's Creek. Don't judge.

Loves of My Life

2011-04-07T10:48:00.018-05:00

Since my blog is basically a journal of sorts, I thought it was time that I dedicate a post to my absolute Loves. This is one of those blog entries that I know I will be really happy that I wrote when I look back on it later on in life.

Isabelle
Izzy. Dizzy Izzy. Busy Izzy.
Isabelle will be six in May, and she is almost finished with kindergarten.
Tall - There have been times when I have picked her up from school, and I can see some boys from her class talking to her. They come up to her armpit.
Artistic - Izzy loves anything art related, and she is actually a pretty impressive artist. She can stay occupied for hours just by some paper and crayons.
Self-conscious -Not the girl who likes to be the center of attention.
Perfectionist -She does everything extremely meticulously from coloring to organizing her toys.
Sponge - Isabelle's performing above average in school, and I think so much of that is because she absorbs everything. She loves to learn.
Obedient - I have never had to send Izzy to time out or discipline at all. When you ask her to do (or stop doing something), she listens the first time. It is amazing.
Extremely well-mannered - Her teachers always comment on how she has the best manners. She is definitely a please and thank you kind of kid.

Courtney
B. Court. Bear. Courtney Bear with Curly Hair.
Courtney turned four a few months ago, and I want her to stay this age forever. I promised my parents that I would stay four forever, and somehow today I am 27.
Scary Smart - When Sarah (girl's mom/my friend) went in for Courtney's parent/teacher conference, the teachers said Courtney is "scary smart".
Tester - Of all the girls, Court is the one who pushes the limits the most which is why she can be a challenge sometimes.
Protective - To say Courtney is overprotective of her little sister is an understatement.
Nurturer - She is the complete "Mother Hen" of the group. When they play baby & Mommy, Courtney always wants to be the mommy. This goes with her protective nature. Her teachers say that when it is nap time at school, Court goes around to each kid to make sure they have a stuffed animal to sleep with the
Fearless - Child will do pretty much anything whether it is picking up a bug or trying a random new food.
Sharer - She is really good at sharing which I know is hard for kids. When I ask her to let her sisters play with something of hers, she rarely seems to mind.

Lexie
Lex. Lexie Loodle. Lexie Loodle Snickerdoodle Kissed a Pink Poodle. (Don't ask). Loo Loo.
Lexie will be three this summer, and she is just the most precious child.
RIDICULOUSLY SMART - When Lexie was 13 months old, she was able to fully communicate her needs with me. If she was hungry, she would tell me. If she was thirsty, she would ask for juice or milk or whatever. When she needed her diaper changed, she would point to it, and tell me "wet". Before she was two, she was speaking in complete sentences and telling stories. She was one of the first kids in her class to be fully potty trained. I attribute a lot of this to having older siblings. Lex realized at a young age that if she wanted to play with her sisters, she needed to get moving and talking.
Entertainer - She loves to get everyone's attention by doing all sorts of crazy things like pretending she is a dog to singing "Do Re Mi". Yes, that's right. My girls love The Sound of Music just like me.
Stylish - She can often be seen around the house sporting a purse and tons of jewelry.
Sweet - Lex is the only one who lets me smother her kisses still. She often will come to me and just say, "I love you so much" randomly. Love.

More pics of my Loves

*Disclaimer, I don't have as many pictures of Isabelle because she goes to school five days a week. It isn't because I love her any less!

Wedding Crasher

2011-03-28T12:54:00.006-05:00

One of my really good friends, Jenna, came into town on Saturday to attend a wedding in The Woodlands. Her date bailed on her last minute, so she asked me to go with her as her plus one. Since I love weddings, I happily obliged. I must admit that I felt way awkward going to a wedding where I didn't know the bride or groom....or actually anyone. Jenna used to work with the bride, but she didn't know anyone else there besides her.

It was an AMAZING wedding. The bride looked ridiculously gorgeous. It wasn't a very big wedding, maybe 120-130 people, but they went all out on everything. The reception was The Club at Carlton Woods. It was absolutely beautiful.

The food was insane. All of the appetizers were so good - beef medallions, chicken satay, eggrolls, and cream cheese stuffed shrimp. They had a salad bar, mashed potato bar, chicken, pasta, pork tenderloin, beef carving station, and a seafood bar with oysters, shrimp, tuna, and sushi. For dessert, they had a ice cream sundae bar which I have always wanted to have at my wedding one day.

We had so much fun at the wedding despite not knowing anyone there prior to attending! After the wedding, we went with the wedding party and some of their friends in a huge Hummer limo for some after party action. We didn't end up going to bed until 4:00 in the morning. Successful wedding crashing.

My place card name - David Ancira

The groom went to West Point, and then went to UT for law school. The bride went to Texas Tech hence the cupcake.

Selena Gomez!

2011-03-09T13:11:00.005-06:00

This past Sunday, I saw Selena Gomez at the rodeo with my "Little" and other matches from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. My former Little moved to Pittsburgh at the end of December, and I was recently matched with my new Little, Makayla. When I originally signed us up for this event, I thought I would pick up the Selena Gomez tickets from the BBBS office, and we would just go to the concert. Our itinerary was sent with the confirmation email, and I was surprised to see that the outing would last ALL DAY. I had mixed feelings about this, but the entire day turned out to be extremely well planned and fun.

We met at the BBBS office to ride a bus with 24 other matches, including 4 male Bigs/Littles (Selena Gomez is super cute, so I can see why some boys wanted to go!), to the rodeo. Our host was a representative from Cat Lift Trucks, who very generously donated their suite to us for the concert. Once we got to the rodeo, we were given a little tour, and then we did a scavenger hunt. After having some time to walk around to the various exhibits, we made our way to the suite where they had tons of food and caricaturists. Cat Lift also provided us with backpacks and T-shirts to wear for the day. It was SO nice to actually be comfortable at the rodeo.

So I am almost embarrassed to admit that I knew at least four Selena Gomez songs. I actually really like her, especially compared to other teen pop stars....Miley Cyrus...vomit. Wizards of Waverly Place is probably my favorite show on the Disney channel. Watching her in concert made me like her even more.

**I left my camera at home on accident, so these are the blurry pics from my iPhone.

Notice the ticket value is $175!

Jimmy Fallon
Caricature

A pic of us when we were first matched-

V Day

2011-02-18T12:44:00.004-06:00

"We've been together long enough to understand that life isn't simple. Some days are easier than others, but we've also been together long enough to be sure of each other. We know that no matter what, our love is tried and true."
This is part of what was written inside of my Valentine's Day card from Gavin. He has a knack for picking out the perfect card.

Gavin has a tendency to be a trickster. He completely tried to downplay Valentine's Day, and he really didn't mention it all prior to the actual day. When I got in my car that morning, I was surprised by a beautiful bouquet of flowers and some candy. (Side note: I ate the candy before and after I went to the gym that day. Fail.) That evening, Gavin gave me my card and a James Avery double heart charm for the charm bracelet he bought me. After exchanging gifts, we went to CASA OLE!!!! We hadn't been in a long time, so I was in need of a green sauce fix. When we got home, Gavin told me he had to "set up" dessert. I watched TV while he was doing this. Dessert was the highlight of the day. G bought me (us) a fondue fountain. To go with the chocolate, Gavin set up a spread of strawberries, bananas, pineapples, pretzels, marshmallows, crackers, etc. I am SO mad that I didn't take a picture!!! I suck!

Gavin is a really good gift giver. It is always impressive how much thought and preparation goes into his gifts. He slipped up one year for my birthday, and it is pretty safe to say that won't happen again. He knows he has set a high standard for himself, and he definitely made sure that I had an awesome Valentine's Day.

Nostalgia

2011-02-04T12:44:00.004-06:00

This week I have been pretty occupied with the beginning planning stages of my 10 year high school reunion. So thankful for Facebook. It makes planning SO much easier. I really don't know how people got the word out to everyone in the "olden days".

I think there are 3 kinds of people when it comes to reunions -
A) Those are excited to see old friends and revisit the past.
B) Those who will drag their feet but will go if enough of their friends go.
C) Those who have absolutely no desire to go.

I am definitely a Type A in this case. I have kept in touch with most of my old friends. Though Facebook allows us to all see certain info about each person, it isn't nearly the same as catching up face to face. In trying to gather everyone's info, I have had to bust out my old scrapbook and yearbooks to figure out who some people are. Nostalgia lane.

Since our senior year yearbooks weren't ready until after we graduated, we were given an insert thing for people to sign. Here are some of the entries:

"You are going to be very successful in the future & I wish you exceptional luck. I'm really happy we got to know each other cause you are a really cool gal! I'll never forget our trip to the Galleria and getting lost on 610! ♥Connie Buck"
Connie is one of the craziest girls that I know, but we have still managed to keep in touch all of these years. Love her.

"...Thanks for always being there for me. You are a great friend. I will always remember the fun times we have had. I think you and KP will get married one day...♥Mandie"
The ironic thing about this is when we were in college, Mandie & KP ended up dating for a while! Mandie has an incredible memory, and she often reminds me of funny things that we did or about people I have forgotten. Mandie is highly entertaining.

"Janice, you'll be 30 and lookin back and wishing you could just be with me again. In the dying eyes of our generation, I shall succeed and grow old. I'll miss you and be good. ♥Jason Robinson"
This post made me laugh out loud.

"I've known you for quite a while and you have matured into a fine young lady. I hope you have a great time at UT. Always rely on God and keep in touch.♥Adam Harris"
I have seen Adam since our freshmen year of college which makes me sad. He was always a close friend in school and a genuinely great guy. He is def one of the people who I hope will attend our reunion.

"Howdy, you are a great friend. Your probably the closest girl friend I have (you should feel special), not in a sexual way though. You better keep in touch...-Eric Spurgeon"
Eric has been the BEST about keeping in touch. He has never forgotten to call on my birthday. I still consider him one of my closest guy friends. We will be friends forever.

"...We do get in trouble when we are together but it's worth it. Thanks for all of the memories & for being a friend... ♥Megan"
We still get in trouble when we are together. Out of everyone from HS, I talk to Meg the most. She is a solid friend to have.

"...Just remember me & all of our crazy memories. I'm gonna miss you next year, but I'll come and visit. I love you! ♥Leah"
Leah and I had spent countless hours together in middle and high school. So many of my favorite memories are with her.

"...It's really weird that the 7 of us won't be together anymore...We've all been through so much together...♥Laura"
Laura is the worst about keeping in touch, but we all still love her. I have to rely on a wedding or a baby shower to see her!

"...NKOTB 4 ever!...-Noe" (HA HA HA!)
Noe and I not only grew up together, we were the only ones who went to UT, and now we are both back in Houston.

"...I hate school. You know this, but I'm going to miss everyone on June 2nd. You've been very cool & I'm glad I have some smart friends....I guess I will end this long paragraph. I've put more effort into this than most of my schoolwork. Good luck in Austin!♥Damien Howard"
Another one that made my laugh out loud.

"It has been a lot of fun these past few years and I am glad I have had the chance to meet you. Your buddy, Travis"
I totally saw him two weeks ago in Humble, and we didn't say a word to each other. Awkward!

"I have really enjoyed having classes with you this year besides putting a smile on my face, you have lifted my confidence level...-Karl"
Reading this put a smile on my face.

"...You're really cool to talk to, and even though it sounds lame, it is true. No matter what test we were failing, or what homework we failed to complete, it was easy to sit back and relax when talking to you...-Shaun McMillan"
Shaun left me a super nice comment on my blog this summer. I am glad that my outgoing personality resulted in making friends outside of my "group". P.S. Despite what one would assume from reading what he wrote, we both actually made really good grades.

"...our best memories are from junior and senior year. Let's see...there was Humanities and how I would MasterLock your purse to your desk, or pants, etc, etc...and who could forget the infamous Physics back-row gang? Us doing (copying) pre-cal right before class. The crazy Spanish club field trip....one philosophy binds us FOREVER: "Procrastination is the key to a successful education"...You're one of the best girl/friends I've ever had.-Matt Patin"
Matt is one of the smartest, wittiest, and coolest guys who I know. He lives in Austin (jealous), and we still get together whenever I am in town. High school would not have been the same without him!

Sorry, I know this post is super cheesy, but I have always been big on preserving and revisiting memories. My scrapbooks are full of pictures, programs, cards, notes, etc.

Brrrr...

2011-02-02T14:44:00.003-06:00

...it's cold in here. There must be some Toros in the atmosphere.
I couldn't resist the Bring It On reference. Sorry.

As everyone knows, it is beyond freezing (literally) in Houston. About 10 minutes before I had to leave this morning, Gavin went out to my car to heat it up, so I wouldn't freeze. This isn't a new concept. He has done this countless times for me of his own accord. If it is raining and my car is parked kind of far, he will go get it for me. So nice. It is especially nice because I am used to this treatment. As soon as I turned 16, my dad (stepdad) would always heat my car up for me on cold days. When I lived with my dad (real dad), ditto. Both of my dads would go outside super early to de-ice my windshields. Basically, I have some great men in my life, and I am extremely grateful for them. That's all for now.

New Purchase

2011-01-26T11:50:00.003-06:00

I am so excited by my newest online purchase! When we first moved into my apartment, I had all of my makeup in a drawer in my bathroom. Over a year later, I decided to get my vanity table and stool from my room at my parent's house, so I moved all of my makeup to my vanity drawer. All of my makeup crammed into one drawer was not a pretty sight, thus here is my new cosmetic organizer!

LOVE!

The Vowells

2011-01-19T13:45:00.000-06:00

On November 13, 2010, my good friend, Casey Hunnicutt became Casey Vowell (though she still hasn't changed her name on FB...). Before she officially tied the knot, she had a bling bling bachelorette party in Houston with probably 25-30 of her closest friends. Girl has friends, for real. Lots of sequins and sparkles that night.

Then, her bridesmaids and a couple of others, myself included, went to New Orleans for an epic weekend of -

dancing A LOT
Krystal Burger (I wasn't a fan of the burgers, but I did like their chicken sandwiches!)
super late nights...technically mornings since the earliest we went to bed was 6:00AM
dirty streets = black feet
being called cackling hens
Casey riding a mechanical bull (No worries, Casey! I won't post the vid on here. Pretty sure everyone you know has already seen it anyways!)
tons of great pics...until I dropped my camera & it broke

This list could go on forever. It was sooo nice to just have a girls' weekend. So many fun memories.

Casey & Anthony were together for pretty much forever before they got married. Like 7-8 years, I think. Pretty much everyone was ready and excited for them to make it official. Their wedding was GORGEOUS!!! The food was great, the bride was beautiful, and the decor was stunning. Overall, it was a fantastic wedding. My only complaint was that it was too short, but I always feel like that at the end of weddings. I love weddings! Some of these pics are "borrowed" since I forgot to charge my camera battery before the wedding. Not smart.

LOVED this centerpiece!

The story behind this photo - Anthony gets an A+ for his proposal to Casey. He proposed to her during a hot air balloon ride in Spain. The only thing that wasn't so romantic during the proposal was the fact that he had a chipped front tooth. He chipped it at the beginning of their trip...that is a whole other story. How crappy is that? His best man busted out this pic during his speech to remind everyone how much Casey really loves him...chipped tooth and all.

Christmas is OVER!!

2011-01-17T11:34:00.001-06:00

*One of my goals for 2011 is to blog more. Last year, I only did 24 posts. It isn't like I have a massive audience to please with my blogging activity or anything. Basically, I think I will be pretty happy in years to come to have a way to look back to fully remember certain experiences, people, feelings, etc.

Christmas is officially over at my apartment. Obviously, Christmas was over three weeks ago, but this past weekend we removed every last thing that was Christmasy. It was Gavin's turn to host football Sunday for his friends yesterday, so that was a HUGE motivating factor for me to get the apartment back to normal earlier than I typically would. Big thanks to Gavin, my dad, and my uncle for helping me with everything!

I hit up all of the after Christmas sales and bought more ornaments, figurines, candles, etc...not like I needed more Christmas decor, but I couldn't pass up all of the good deals. Now, I am just super excited for next Christmas!!

This guy was only 75 cents! $8

I found a teapot and soap dispenser that matches the stuff that I already had. Best part is together, they cost $4.I got this picture along with a couple of others for $3.75 each.
It took a TON of hours to get the apartment back to looking like this.

It!

2011-01-11T18:53:00.000-06:00

So, Cracker (Rachel) tagged me in this post, so here goes -

4 Shows I watch:

1. Vampire Diaries. I almost quit watching this show after its first few episodes b/c I thought it was soooo slow. So glad I didn't. Now, I can't wait to watch it every week.

2. MTV Challenges. Latest was Cutthroat. Such a guilty pleasure.

3. Pretty Little Liars. LOVE.

4. SYTYCD

(My list probably resembles that of a 16 year old's.)

4 Things I'm Passionate About:

1. Family

2. My Girls - I,C,L

3. Austin, TX

4. Leading a good life

4 phrases I say a lot:

1. Oh, snap.

2. I'm tired.

3. What's for dinner?

4. I need to do laundry. (I usually say this for a good week before I actually do it.)

4 things I've learned from the past:

1. Time really does heal all (or most) wounds.

2. Take lots of pictures or hang out with people who do (like me). Pictures help preserve memories.

3. Get a job that you like even if it doesn't pay as much as you desire. I know easier said than done. Life is so much more enjoyable when you don't dread going to work every day.

4. Happiness is a choice.

Feel free to "tag" yourselves if you need some blogging inspiration.

NYE

2011-01-03T11:08:00.000-06:00

Highlights
- Hanging out with so many of my favorite girls. I miss my friends!
- The hook-up for a delicious dinner at Fonda San Miguel.
- Festive feather hats.
- Sparkly dresses & shoes.
- BEING TWO FEET AWAY FROM SANDRA BULLOCK & RYAN REYNOLDS! Yes, he is super hot in person. ScarJo is retarded for cheating on him. I mean, look at him -

Bummers
- Molotov (where we were) didn't do a countdown. At 12:01, our group did our own countdown since they obviously didn't do one. Lame.
-Only being in Austin for 24 hours.
-Just realized after looking at pics that I never took my coat off! It was cold! Plus, I didn't feel like lugging around a coat. Oh well, I guess I can wear that dress again soon.

Now, I am off to take my mom to a belated birthday lunch. Yesterday was her birthday. Happy Birthday, Favorite Mother!

Christmas

2010-12-28T13:19:00.001-06:00

************************LONG POST DISCLAIMER*******************************
Happy Birthday, Jesus!!
I have so many posts that I want to write (or finish writing), but I figured I should complete the most obvious post....the one about CHRISTMAS!!! I can't believe Christmas has already passed! So sad! The past week has been full of family time, games, laughter, food, love, and lots of fun.

A couple of days before Christmas, I gave Isabelle, Courtney, and Lexie their Christmas presents. I prefaced the gift opening by explaining to them that their presents were "sharing presents," meaning I bought them stuff that they could all play with together. We will see how long that lasts. I bought them a toy cash register (highly recommend), a piano mat, some nail polish, sparkly makeup, arts and crafts supplies, and a movie. They were all very excited. I was most pleased about their good manners. I have taught them well. With every gift that they opened, they gushed over it and thanked me for each thing. It was beyond cute.

The night before Christmas Eve, Gavin and I exchanged presents and went to Casa Ole. He gave me gift cards to two of my favorite stores (Sephora and Express) and a charm bracelet. The best part was that he gave me a Christmas tree charm for my bracelet. Not only was that the perfect charm because it was Christmas, it is extremely fitting, considering my obsession with the holiday.

My dad headed to the Valley to see our family down there on Christmas Eve, so Michael, Alicia, and I went to eat dinner with my dad before he left. We didn't want to open gifts in the restaurant. It would have been a pain to lug in all of the gifts; therefore, we did the logical thing and opened them in the parking lot. Always keeping it classy.

We had an early Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve because my oldest brother and his family were in town for that day. We had a huge spread of Mexican food and yummy desserts, and the day was spent playing Catch Phrase and football. Ex. of playing Catch Phrase with my family. It was Julee's turn, and her word was scrubs. She described it by saying that it was something she used to wear when she worked at a dentist's office. My brother's response...a g-string.

Christmas Eve night, Devon and I went to go see Yogi Bear in 3D. Best movie ever! Not. It was decently cute. He really liked it, so that is all that matters. We finished the night off by watching A Christmas Story. Not so shockingly, when we finished the movie, he wanted a BB gun for Christmas. He almost didn't believe me that I had a BB gun when I was young!

Christmas Day, we headed back to Julee's for some brunch and more games - Apples to Apples and Farkle. My family is a big fan of games, can you tell?

The day after Christmas, we all headed up to my mom's house. More eating, Catch Phrase, and Farkle followed, along with some fireworks.

FA LA LA LA LA

2010-12-13T12:12:00.000-06:00

Finally. My absolute FAVORITE time of the year is here! I feel like I have been the Christmas fairy the past few weeks. I helped my mom put up her Christmas decorations and also went to my dad's house to put up his Christmas tree and the decorations. Plus, I had to do all of my own decorations too, of course.

I LOVE my place when it is decorated for Christmas. This year we had 3 trees. Yes, I said 3...in an apartment. We had our big 12 ft tree in our living room, a 9 ft one in my bedroom, and a live tree in our dining area. I realize having 3 Christmas trees is a bit overkill, but I am happy with the results. This was also the first year that I put up a Christmas village. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

Thanks

2010-11-25T11:21:00.003-06:00

So, I have about an hour to kill before my brother and I head to my mom's house for Thanksgiving, round 2, so what better way to spend the time than giving thanks! When someone sends me an email or text to ask how my life is going, I usually respond with "no complaints". I really don't have anything to complain about...at. all. I am beyond blessed, and I am thankful that I can recognize this. There are so many people on facebook who...every day...complain about something so insignificant in their lives. These people have been removed from my newsfeed. Negativity is not flattering. Anyways, back to giving thanks -

Family. We are the epitome of a modern family. I am so thankful for that. I wouldn't trade my crazy multiracial family for anything!! We have been talking a lot lately about how much we miss the Christmas' when we were younger and ALL of my brothers and sisters would come to our old house. I wish all of my ID, PA, SA, and McAllen family would move back. Stat. I am grateful that I have really close relationships with my brother and sister who live here. Sunday dinners at my sister's are the best! **Also SO thankful for my extended family members - Clover, Lybbe, Gard Dawg, and O'Con.

My mom. So, technically she should be under the family category, but she deserves her own bullet point! The other day I realized that I rarely listen to the radio or my iPod in my car. This is because I am ALWAYS on the phone with my mom. I am lucky that my mom truly is my best friend.

Family. Again. This time my dad's side of the family. My dad is awesome. There is no other way to put it. My dad's side of the family is really fun, low-key, and soooo nice. I always enjoy going to the Valley to visit everyone and to eat my grandma's homemade flour tortillas!!!

Friends. Austin friends. Huffman friends. Houston friends. Old school friends. Thankful for all. As I have gotten older, I have kind of realized who of my good friends will still be my good friends 10 years from now. I value those friendships immensely.

Technology. Thankful for email, facebook, text messaging, and blogs since they all play a HUGE part in keeping in touch with the aforementioned groups. I know when I email Megan, Casey, or Chambs, I will get a response back within the hour. Love that. I also love being able to keep up with my BFF's Kelci and Becky's lives via their blogs, along with Rae Rae. Gchat has been instrumental in getting all of the scandalous life updates from Katie Mac (check out her blog. My wifey is hilarious!) and Jenna, and I just can't imagine life without FB and text messages!!

Gavin. We aren't a couple, but I would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude for him. In the past year, he has done some major soul searching, and now he really is just the nicest guy ever. He does so much for me, which I know he thinks sometimes goes unnoticed, but it doesn't.

My girls. Meaning Isabelle, Courtney, and Lexie. They are completely the loves of my life. That will be another post. I keep telling my friend, Sarah, that I am going to steal her children. She thinks I am kidding. I am not.

Money. Nothing like showing a little greed on Thanksgiving. No really, I am soooooo thankful that I am in a good place financially. I have had my fair share of days of working my butt off and still being broke in college, and I am sure I have many times like that in the future as well. BUT, for now, I am good, and it is so nice. (I dread the day when I will have a car payment again.)

Health. I feel like despite eating semi healthily, working out a decent amount, drinking lots of water, taking my vitamins, I still feel pretty tired a lot, and I get sick a little more than the average person. I don't mind this though because I am happy that I don't any major illnesses and life threatening conditions.

My apartment. That might sound silly, but it is such a good feeling coming home every day to a place that you love. Don't get me wrong, I would love to own a nice house right now, but my apartment will definitely do for now.

My little sister. (from Big Brothers Big Sisters). I had a charmed upbringing and high school experience. She has not. My little sister has been dealt some pretty crappy cards in life. We are complete opposites, but it works for us. It hurts my heart literally to hear about some of the stuff that she goes through on a weekly basis. I hope in some small way that I am helping her.

Jesus Christ. I know it is bad to put Him at the end of my list and not at the beginning, but He is the one that made all of the above possible.

I mentioned earlier that today is Thanksgiving, round 2. Round 1 occurred this past weekend when Rachel, Nikki, and little Isabella were all in town. We did a big Thanksgiving feast at my sister's on Saturday. It was so much fun just being able to hang out, stuff our faces, and play our favorite card game, 5 Crowns! Thanksgiving food twice in one week? Yeah, be jealous.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING (to all 3 people who read my blog!!!! :)

Too Early for Christmas?

2010-11-11T18:31:00.002-06:00

When I went shopping for fall decor in September, Hobby Lobby and Michael's already had all of their Christmas decorations out for sale. As soon as Halloween passed, I noticed that shopping centers and malls were decorated for Christmas. I had lunch at CPK earlier this week, and they were playing Christmas music. I feel like every year, all of the Christmas festivities start earlier and earlier. I LOVE THIS!! Obviously, if you are my friend, you know about my obsession for Christmas. I will say though that I was a little surprised to see SANTA CLAUS at the mall today. Really? Already?

Fall

2010-11-07T09:45:00.000-06:00

I LOVE fall. It is my favorite season for several reasons:

-Cooler weather. Potentially. We had great weather at the beginning of October, but it warmed back up for most of the month. This past week it has started cooling down again which has wreaked havoc on my immune system. Despite being sick all week, I am loving the cooler weather.

-Football. To say the Texas Longhorns football season has thus far been disappointing would be an understatement, but I still enjoy spending my Saturdays watching college football games. SO thankful for internet on my phone. When I am busy on Saturdays, I can still refresh espn.com to check the scores. Love technology!

-Holidays. My brother and his roommate hosted a Halloween party for about 300 of their closest friends. I hate scary movies, and I am not a big fan of haunted houses....BUT I LOVE HALLOWEEN! I love getting dressed up and seeing everyone else in their costumes.
Next on the agenda, Thanksgiving. Delicious food. Family. What's not to love?

and then.....CHRISTMAS!!!!! Technically, Christmas occurs during winter, not fall, but the pre Christmas decorations, music, and festivities are during the fall.

-Decorations.

NY NY

2010-10-27T22:40:00.002-05:00

I started this post a couple of weeks ago, but I just now am finding the time to finish it. The month of October has been crazy busy for me. Three weekends ago I went to NYC. Two weekends ago I went back to Austin. This past weekend I went to New Orleans. I have had a complete blast during all of my travels, but I am feeling the effects. This week I have been battling a cold and complete exhaustion. It was all worth it. SO MUCH FUN.

NEW YORK

My brother & I, along with our friends, Stephanie & Dan, went to NYC to visit my favorite Freckle Faces, Seonaid & Ashley. We went there to help celebrate Seonaid's neverending 28th birthday. We were there for 3 and 1/2 days. The trip flew by so quickly, but I definitely needed to get back before I collapsed. I truly felt like it was "the city that never sleeps".

I had been to NYC probably around 4 times before this trip, but the last time I went was over a decade ago. It was nice being able to stay with friends....for the money saving aspect and also because it was cool being able to meet all of their friends and see how their lifestyles are up there. Here are some of my random thoughts and experiences from my trip:

- No shoebox sized apartment. The general consensus is that apartments in NY are ridiculously small and way expensive. Well, their condo was definitely not small...but is pretty pricey. (Thank you Seonaid & Ash's parentals!) You are lucky to have a good sized one bathroom in a 2 bedroom place in NY, but they have a 2 bedroom, 2 and a 1/2 bath place which was soooo nice. My favorite part of their place is the rooftop patio at the top of their building. Gorgeous!

-Top of the Rock...as in Rockefeller Center. The best views of the city!!
The Rockefeller ice skating rink was much smaller than I remember but still cool to visit again.

Empire State Building

Central Park

- NYC Scavenger Hunt. We split off into three teams, and we had lists of places we needed to go, pictures we needed to get, and tasks to accomplish. It was beyond fun. So many memories created this day.

- Not THAT expensive. I have always been told how overpriced things are there. Yes, gas, tolls, toiletries, and stuff like that are WAY expensive, but going out to eat and stuff wasn't bad at all. The delis stay open 24 hours. There was one right around the corner from where we were staying, and it has the BEST sandwiches. A foot long sandwich was only $5.50. We went to one fancy dinner, but it wasn't too unreasonable.

- Taxi Drivers. I think their main goal is to make you throw up. As soon as a light would turn green, they would punch on the gas then three seconds later have to slam on their brakes at the next block. This got old really quickly.

- So Much Food. Every block has tons of eating options. It was overwhelming. With all of the yummy eating choices, it is a good thing that New Yorkers do so much walking! One of the girls I met there said it is pointless to cook, so she eats out for lunch and dinner every day. Groceries are expensive and go bad quickly...not to mention having to lug them home from the "grocery store".

Sad to leave!!

Zumba

2010-09-23T08:45:00.000-05:00

After seeing people's FB status updates about it and infomercials on TV, I decided to try Zumba about 5 weeks ago. Since then, I have gone to Zumba classes about three times a week. Here are my scattered thoughts:

The music is really upbeat and fun, so it makes the hour go by really quickly.
Zumba is taking over the world. There are consistently at least 50 people in any of the classes I attend. Saturday classes usually have 90-100 people. (I count as I am doing Zumba. Not an easy task.)
There is always at least one guy in the class. One class we had 8 which was a record.
My advice to new people is try not to look at yourself in the mirror too often. You will be disappointed b/c I guarantee your moves look nothing like the instructor's. She or he are typically the only ones who look really good doing the moves.
Other piece of advice is not to take yourself too seriously. If you look around, everyone looks a little awkward...in some cases, really awkward. There is always one moment in every class when I look up and see how ridiculous we look, and I literally laugh out loud.
Everyone is curious about Zumba. There are always people watching our class through the windows. With that being said, I try to stand as far away as the windows as possible.
There is a woman in my class whose butt puts Kim Kardashian's to shame. It is the craziest thing I have ever seen.
Some instructors are definitely better than others. I have had about 5 different instructors. I LOVE two of them. The others are good but not my faves.
People of ALL ages go to Zumba. From teenagers to women in their 60's. There are a couple of older women who attend the weekday classes religiously, and they even bring their own belly dance skirt things.
People of ALL shapes and sizes go to Zumba.
One class, there was a chick, quite possibly a stripper, who literally just did her own dance moves for the entire hour. I guess she just liked the music???
Excellent cardio. I always feel like I got a really good cardio workout after an hour long class.
They have classes called Zumba Toning where you use light weights, so you get some resistance training in there. I am a fan of these classes as well.
Zumba is FUN & ADDICTIVE.

Chick Fil A

2010-09-13T11:48:00.002-05:00

Just a little tip for any of you Chick Fil A lovers out there -

If you go through the drive-thru between 10:30AM-11ish to get lunch, they usually put some free items in your bag as well. I have gotten chicken mini's, a biscuit, hashbrowns, and a bagel before in the drive-thru. I thought that they did that because a) they are generous and b) they were getting rid of breakfast items. Well, I stopped by at 11 today and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, and they put an 8 count of chicken nuggets in my bag as well. Whatever the reasoning, I love free food!

Big Walter

2010-09-02T17:42:00.003-05:00

My sister has been friends with Big Walter Price for I think around 25 years now. She met him back in the day when she worked at Kroger, and he was a customer. Last month, I went with her to his 96th birthday party. Ninety freaking six.

Big Walter was and still is a blues musician. When I was 15, I went on an Alaskan cruise with my parents. Big Walter told me to send him a postcard. I failed to do so for whatever reason, and I have since then been known as his "worst nightmare". I asked him to sign a poster for me one time, and it read "To: My Worst Nightmare. Love, Big Walter Price, The Thunderbird". No amount of redemptive efforts on my part will ever rid me of that nickname. At 96, he is still quite the ladies man. He requires kisses on the cheek every time you see him. I just wanted to do a quick blog dedicated to him because I am not sure how much longer he will be here.

(Ignore the fact that birthday is spelled wrong on the flyer!)

27

2010-08-03T13:13:00.003-05:00

So, there isn't anything too exciting about turning 27. It means that I am one year closer to 30 which is just weird. And scary. Despite 27 not being a very eventful age, I think I had one of the best birthdays ever...and by birthday, I mean birth week.

The weekend before my birthday I went out to dinner with a few friends and then went out in Houston. I think I have talked about this before in a blog, but I am a very grateful that my bro and I are pretty close, meaning we are able to share friends. When he was at school in San Marcos, I was 30 min up the road in Austin, so I became really good friends with several of his roommates and neighbors. One of our friends, Seonaid, and her sister, Ashley, have been traveling for the past year, so I was very excited that they were able to come out to help me celebrate!
Gavin did a lot to make me feel special this year which was highly appreciated. He cooked me breakfast, made me a fruit tray and a tres leches cake, bought me a big thing of green sauce (which I finished in 2 days easily), a bouquet of flowers, a Sephora GC, a big mirror that I wanted, and 3 gift certificates to go get massages. Oh, he also played "Happy Birthday" for me on the keyboard!

The night of my birthday some fam members and I went out to eat to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, Mamacita's. They have the BEST fajitas!!
My sisterhood hooked me up with some sweet gifts!
My favorite girls, Isabelle, Courtney, and Lexie, also helped me celebrate. "They" gave me cupcakes and a gift card. They wanted to be invited to my "birthday party". Since most of my parties occurred well after their bedtime, I decided that we would all go to Chuck E. Cheese for my birthday. I mean, what 27 year doesn't want to celebrate there?
My friend, Kaci, and her twin sister, Kati, a fellow blogger, turned 27 the day after my birthday. I went out one night with Kaci and some of our other friends from Huffman to Pete's Piano bar downtown. I love piano places, especially when you are there with a good sized group. Kaci and I warned our dear friend, Connie, that we were not getting on stage at any point in the night, despite it being our birthdays. Connie chose not to listen to us, and she gave the piano players $20 to call out our names and bring us on stage. We refused. Luckily for us, our friends, Venus and Candis, don't get embarrassed as easily, and they pretended to be "Kaci and Edy". So thankful.

"Kaci & Edy" Since moving back to Houston, I have made it a point to go back to Austin every year to celebrate my birthday. This year was no exception. A couple of my friends threw a HUGE (150 people) party barge on Lake Travis on the same day that I came into town, so that was the perfect way to begin the Austin celebration. That night, I went to dinner and out with several of my friends. It is hard for me to believe that I haven't lived in Austin for three years! Despite being gone for those years, I am still really close with all of my good friends there. It often feels like I never even left!

The Sunday following my Austin bday, I drove back to Houston for my birthday party with my family and a few friends. My sister hosted and made tacos...my favorite. It was especially nice because my niece, Rachel, was in town!

All in all, I think 27 is going to be a good year!

Mexican

2010-07-10T18:31:00.001-05:00

As one would assume, my "white" side of the family and my Mexican side of the family are completely different. There are so many cultural differences, but most things are just the norm for me at this point. We went to the Valley (South Texas) last weekend for one of my cousin's weddings.

Blurry group pic :(

My dad & Aunt Lety
Cousins Karen & Amanda

Here is some insight into my Mex fam:

1) Entrances. When I go over to a family members' house or even friends of the family on my dad's side, I address every person. Instead of saying a generalized hello when you walk in the door, it is customary to go to each person, say hi, give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The guys typically shake hands with each other. This whole process is repeated when you leave. It doesn't matter if there are 3 people there or 30 people, it is considered rude if you don't address each person, even the kids.

2) Mealtime. A couple of the women cook the majority of the food, and usually one or two of the men grill the meat. The women serve the plates to everyone. I never have to do this for whatever reason. So, basically, I just sit down and someone brings me a plate of food, a drink, silverware, and a napkin. The food is always delicious - usually fajita meat, refried beans, the best rice, potato salad, and THE BEST HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS.

3) Gamblers. Some of my uncles love going to Louisiana or Vegas to go to the casinos. The women play Loteria - Mexican bingo, a lot. My grandma is usually the winner. I remember when I was young, sitting on my dad's lap, and having him help me play. Instead of calling out numbers, each card has a picture of something and the word in Spanish. Sometimes they go pretty fast, so I definitely needed help translating some of the words when I was a kid.

4) Authority. There isn't a whole lot of backtalk from the kids on my Mex side of the fam. I rarely ever hear any of my cousins arguing with their parents. Pretty much, when an adult tells you to do something, you do it. My dad has NEVER gotten mad at me which is probably because the few times he has asked me to do something, I do it.

5) Mustaches. Every man has a mustache. Every.

6) Names. Every man has a son named after them except for my dad. My brother was named after my dad's brother who was killed in a car accident. The son is usually called the "little" version of the name. Ex. Lupe - Lupito. Julio - Julito. This is common with the women too. Ex. Leticia - Letita.

7) Generosity. When my cousin, Samantha, had her quinceanera a couple of years ago, everyone pitched in to help with the costs. Quinces are freaking expensive. They assume a lot of the same costs of a wedding - food, alcohol, DJ, dress, etc. I know one of my aunts purchased her dress. Another person paid for the DJ. Etc. Etc. Everything is a family affair. My dad's lifelong friend told me last weekend that when I get married, he and his wife will pay for my dress. When we stayed at my uncle's house last weekend, he and his wife gave us the master bedroom, and they slept in a smaller bed in one of their kids' rooms. That is just how people are in the Mexican culture.

There are plenty other distinguishable characteristics, but these are just some of the main things that first came to mind. My "white" side of the fam and my "Mex" side are very different, but both are fun and loving. I am very thankful for them both!

Team Jacob

2010-06-30T18:11:00.007-05:00

In light of all of the FB posts about Eclipse, I wanted to officially declare that I am on Team Jacob. I prefer a tan, super buff, hot (and young) Taylor Lautner over a pale, thin, scruffy, doesn't look like he has showered in days Rob Pattinson. When I read the books, I was definitely torn on the Edward vs. Jacob debate, BUT after seeing the movies, there wasn't any competition. Don't get me wrong, I like Edward, but I LOVE Jacob.

Anyways, I didn't go to the midnight viewing of Eclipse like I did for Twilight. I learned my lesson last time. My high expectations for the movies were shattered about 5 minutes into Twilight. In fact, I didn't even see New Moon in the theater. I waited until it came out on DVD. I might go see Eclipse next week just because I have some free days. I really hope I will not be sorely disappointed though I am guessing I will be since K Stew will still be Bella. She is SO awkward...and not in the endearing way that I gathered from the book....just in an extremely annoying way. If you (all 3 of the people who read my blog) watch Eclipse, let me know your thoughts.

When did 18 year olds get so hot???

This does not compare in my opinion -

Debit Card

2010-06-16T13:32:00.003-05:00

I think my debit card hates me, and, no, not because I use it excessively!! I have a really bad habit of not using a wallet or anything like that. Since I don't use credit cards, I pretty much only need my debit card most of the time. I change my purses pretty frequently, especially when I go out on the weekends. Last week, I went to Target, and I could not find my debit card. I tried retracing my steps in my mind, and I realized the last place I had it was at Walgreens the day prior. After searching through my car and apartment, I decided to call Walgreens. Sure enough, I had dropped it in the PARKING LOT, and a very nice person had turned it into the manager.

This happened to me last year. Same story, just substitute Walgreens for a kolache place. Yes, the PARKING LOT again. I have severe issues.

My favorite "losing my debit card" story happened in college. I couldn't find my debit card one morning, but I didn't think too much of it. Later that afternoon, my friend since 5th grade, Matt Patin, left me a voicemail that went something like this - "4630 2244 7283 XXXX". Do these numbers sound familiar to you? They should. I found your debit card." He found it, as you might have guessed, in a parking lot in the West Campus area of UT. I had gone out in that area the night before briefly. The crazy thing is that most of my friends at UT knew me as Edy Spears, not Janice Edith Spears (thanks again, Mom..sigh), but since I had known Matt forever, he knew the card belonged to me. He just happened to be in West Campus that day (neither one of us lived there)...happened to cut through that parking lot...happened to see my card...happened to know my full name. Lucky me.

Moral of the story - Invest in some sort of ID holder. Will I do it? Prob not.

Summertime

2010-06-08T12:40:00.000-05:00

In theory, summer sounds awesome...beach/lake days, snow cones, vacations, BBQ's, etc, but I am NOT a fan of how freaking hot it gets here in Houston (or most places in Texas). I think summer is completely overrated unless you are a student or a teacher. In those cases, summer is the best thing ever. Seriously, the only way that a summer day is bearable is if you spend the day indoors or in some form or water - pool, lake, floating the river.

I started writing this blog on Friday, but I got sidetracked. My dislike for summer weather was reinforced Saturday night when I went out with some friends. I am not sure why I even bothered to straighten my hair because at the end of the night, my hair was in a ponytail, and I was sweating. Disgusting. Yesterday had to be the most humid day so far this year. It was soooo gross outside. Ugh. I feel really sorry for my preggo friends who have to deal with the heat + having extra poundage!!

As long as I am in a pool though, I am happy. I hate being so pale in the winter months, so I make it my mission to really look like a Mexican in the summers. So far so good for this summer.

Gang Signs

2010-04-22T15:11:00.002-05:00

Stole this from Rae's blog. Apparently, when someone tells you to do a silly picture that translates into making awkward gang signs. My family goes hard. Some members of the Tate side of the fam (left hand side of the pic) obviously were trying to distance themselves from the CRAZIES.

**Thanks Kelci for acting as our photographer.

Family

2010-04-19T12:53:00.005-05:00

The other night we went out to eat, and the waiter asked us how we all knew each other. We said we're family, and you can imagine the confused look that we received.

Extra enjoyment

Unusual Names

2010-03-11T10:21:00.002-06:00

It seems like the thing to do these days is to give your kid an unusual name. Lately, I have heard some rather interesting names for kids. I support this movement, but some of these are a little weird even for me.

Here are some of the names I have heard lately. Cute or weird?

Girls - McKay, Vaughn, Connelly, Mimi, Waverly, Tatum, Adelaide, Remilee

Boys - Sutton, Kaiser, Monroe, Phoenix, Bennett, Beckham

Zoo Day

2010-02-19T12:45:00.000-06:00

So, the other day, my brave self took my friend Sarah's three girls to the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo since high school, and I have been wanting to go for a while now. We had so much fun. I figured we would go for 2-3 hours at the most since the girls are all pretty young - Isabelle is 4 and a 1/2. Courtney just turned 3, and Lexie is 19 months. We ended up being there for over 5 hours, and we saw almost all of the exhibits, went to the petting zoo, rode the carousel, and spent time at the zoo playground. The girls were troopers. I did have a double stroller for the two younger girls, so that was helpful. More than anything, I was amazed that Izzy walked all day without complaining. Serious all star. I tried to help Izzy out by carrying the baby for a while, so she could sit down. I quickly figured out though that it is absolutely impossible to push a double stroller with one hand.

Courtney and Izzy asked me as soon as we left if I could take them to the zoo again the next day. The following day Sarah told me that Lexie told her she wanted to "go somewhere". Sarah asked where she wanted to go, and she said the zoo. Success.

It was pretty chilly outside, but the girls really wanted an icee. I figured they would make a mess, but I didn't care. They were so good all day, so I felt a reward was in order.
Lexie's 1st bite
2nd bite

3rd (and last) bite!
On the positive side, these were the only tears for the day.

I have always been around kids, but most of the kids that I have babysat for are usually older...5 years +. I don't even have any young nieces or nephews that live close anymore. :(
Poor Devon is always the center of attention since he is the only kiddo in our fam who lives in Houston, so he gets picked on all the time. He is going to be seriously traumatized.

It is so much fun being around young kids though because they get so excited about everything. Lexie fully communicates, so that makes things a lot easier. She talks. A lot. The girls are just so cute. (It helps that they are pretty good too.) Now, I just need to find 3 little boys to hang out with because that will be a real test of my skills...

Mom & Popcorn

2010-02-16T12:05:00.001-06:00

It is hard to keep coming up with gift ideas for Gavin...birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, and V days, but I had an idea early on of what to get him for this V day - popcorn. Gavin LOVES popcorn. He isn't the kind of person who throws a bag into the microwave; he goes all out with a popcorn popper, butter, etc. I looked up various places that sell popcorn. Being the experienced online consumer that I am, I read reviews for every place and narrowed it down to one place - Mom & Popcorn located in McKinney, TX. They have the cutest website (www.momandpopcorn.com) and great customer service. It only took one day for shipping which was really nice. Now, on to the popcorn flavors. They have a bunch!! I ordered hot cheese, buffalo wing, cajun, dill pickle, loaded potato, peanut butter, Texas bumpy road, and chocolate covered cherry. Ok, so I know some of those sound really gross, but I promise that they are all DELICIOUS! The dill pickle is really lightly flavored. The loaded potato tastes just like a potato skin...bacon, chives, and all. The buffalo taste in the buffalo wing isn't too overpowering. The chocolate covered cherry tastes exactly like chocolate covered cherries. I asked G what his favorite was, and he couldn't pick one. I like popcorn, but I have never loved it. I never have craved popcorn...until now. I freaking love this stuff. I feel partial bad because I keep eating all of the popcorn that I bought HIM. Oh well, there is a ton of it!! It is hard to make a dent in the bags though because they give you so much. We seriously have enough to last us for weeks.

I also bought him 10 seasonings from kernelseasons.com. I don't think he will have a chance to use that stuff for a while since we have so much popcorn as is right now.

Enough with the popcorn. Time to move on to some desserts. I also got G a cookie cake like always. I wish Great American Cookie Co offered some kind of cookie cake punch card. I have bought so many over the past few years. Gavin bought me 2 dozen chocolate covered strawberries. Yum. Did I mention that we went to our favorite place for lunch too on V day - Casa Ole? Basically, I have been in a food coma for the past couple of days. How do super healthy people survive Valentine's Day...or Halloween...or Thanksgiving...or basically any holiday? Willpower? I am seriously lacking.

G also bought me a spa gift certificate which is perfect for me. Massages and stuff are those things that I just can't bring myself to buy for myself, but when someone else buys it for me, that is a whole different story...

Friendly Gecko

2010-02-09T16:00:00.001-06:00

This past summer I remember telling one of my friends that my car had been pretty good to me since I had not had any major problems with it thus far. I think I spoke too soon. My car started jerking when I would reverse it, meaning there was a problem with my transmission. Unfortunately, the cost to buy or rebuild a transmission is expensive!! My mom mentioned that she thought my insurance provider, Geico, might cover it. I didn't understand why Geico would cover it since I thought they just covered problems due to an accident or something. Anyways, my mom told me just to call because she thought we paid a little bit extra every month for mechanical breakdown insurance. (My mom just withdraws my insurance money from my account every month, so I have never seen our actual group policy.) I called them, and they said they would cover it. I would only be responsible for my $250 deductible. The total cost was over a couple of thousand dollars, so $25o was a sweet deal.

Fast forward to last week. I got in my car on Wednesday afternoon, and it wouldn't start. I called Geico, and they sent someone out to jump it for me. It turns out it wasn't the battery, so they had it towed to a repair shop. Apparently, the computer in my car was friend, and I needed a new one. Once again, I called Geico to see if they covered this, and they did. A refurbished computer would have cost me about $400 plus labor, but Geico paid for a new one which cost about $1000 plus the labor. I just had to pay the $250 deductible again.

Now, I am crossing my fingers, hoping that nothing else goes wrong with my car. I am very thankful that I had Geico coverage during all of this. Even the tow truck driver told me that Geico is the best. He said that they are the friendliest and easiest to deal with out of all of the insurance providers. I have never had insurance coverage with anyone else, but I was surprised how friendly and helpful the Geico customer service people were. Both times it was such a simple process to get my car approved to be fixed. Obviously they did a great job since I am blogging about it. If anyone is looking for auto insurance sometime in the future, I would definitely recommend the friendly Gecko.

Online Shopping

2010-01-26T09:30:00.003-06:00

I don't like people. I mean I do like people, but I don't like an excessive amount of people in one place. Ex. Wal-mart on a Saturday. Since I don't have that much time during the week to go shopping, I am a big fan of online shopping. Depending on the seller, it is pretty hassle-free, and the shipping is fast. I love coming home and having packages waiting for me. I think the UPS guy must hate me though since he has to keep climbing the stairs to deliver my packages. In just the past two months (a lot pre-Christmas), I have ordered from numerous places, including: Amazon (twice), Target, Endless, Express, Sephora (3 times), Kohl's, Overstock, Folica, Forever 21, Ebay, and a couple of other places. There are a few reasons why I really LOVE online shopping.

1) I can search for promo codes to pretty much any website online. With these promo codes, I can get all kinds of goodies. Sephora is the best about these, especially when you have a Beauty Insider card. Not a credit card, just a way to earn points on every purchase. For example, I ordered some stuff for my sister from Sephora for Christmas. I automatically received free shipping because of the amount I spent. I also was able to choose my 3 free samples that Sephora offers for every online purchase, and I also selected which full size sample I wanted with my Insider points. To top it all off, I used a promo code to get a mini Philosophy miracle worker set for free. Sweet.

2) You can easily shop for the lowest prices on items. I have ordered 4 duvet covers and a couple of sheet sets from Overstock in the past year. I have gotten great deals on all of them, and they always have either $2.95 total shipping or free shipping if they are running a special. Ebay and Amazon always have pretty good deals too.

3) A lot of websites offer a bunch of reviews on the products, so you can make an informed shopping decision. I just purchased a pretty expensive hair flat iron, and Folica.com had a bunch to choose from with reviews. Several reviewers also posted before & after pics. Sephora and Amazon are also really good about posting both the good and bad reviews.

4) Great customer service. I ordered a video game for Gavin for Christmas, and it was supposed to be delivered the Tuesday before Christmas. The tracking number indicated that it had been delivered, but I never received it. I called Amazon, and they immediately shipped me a new one. I received it the next day, and they didn't ask me a million questions. Zappos and Endless have the BEST customer service. Whenever I order from either one of these sites, I receive my order the next day. Returns are also free, meaning you don't even have to pay for the return shipping.

I just wanted to pass this info along because I know some people are hesitant to buy things online. I have been buying things online for several years now, and I have never had any real problems. The major downfall of buying things online though is the possibility of spending too much money. I may have fallen victim to this a a couple of times...

Preggo My Eggo

2010-01-15T21:01:00.000-06:00

NOT ME! No preggo here, but it seems like I am in the minority. I just received the good news that Kelci is now preggo with her second kiddo. Becky is due with her second in June. Amy is due in March with her first little bundle of joy. Two of the Christmas cards that I received this year announced that some more babies will be joining this world in 2010. One of those cards was from my good friend from high school, Laura, and this will be her second. The other was from my friend, Aynsley, who just found out that she will be having a girl! This will be her first. (Side note - I think everyone was TRYING to have a baby, so no unexpected pregnancies!) I find all of these announcements exciting/scary. Exciting because I love kids; scary because this means I am really getting old! I don't have a single friend in Austin who has kids, so I can still pretend like I am in my early 20's when I go back for a visit. Anyways, is there anyone else who wants to announce their pregnancy? Rachel???

CONGRATS TO ALL YOU PREGGO WOMEN!

Annoying Facebook People

2010-01-13T12:30:00.000-06:00

I love FB. I am on it way too much. I can't imagine life without it. With that said, there are some people on FB who should be fined for being super annoying. Most of the following offenses are okay if they are done in moderation, but I am not a fan of doing these things on a daily basis. These are the offenders in my book -

1. People who constantly update their status with their workout schedules. I mean, do you really have to let the world know every single day how many miles you ran? Do you want a cookie? If it is a big accomplishment, then I totally understand. If you are about to run a marathon, understood. If you climbed Kilimanjaro, I get it. I DO NOT understand the need to post every day that you are going to the gym, going to a workout class, leaving the gym, am sore from the gym, ran 4 miles, ran 5 miles, ran 6 miles, well, you get the point.

2. People who update their status 5 times a day with something having to do with their kids. I don't care that your kid finally ate broccoli. Actually, I doubt anyone cares. I love kids. I do enjoy the stories of cute things a kid says & does, but people are way over the top with letting the whole FB world know every detail of their kids' lives. People who feel inclined to do so should follow the lead of Becky & Kelci and post to each other on a private Twitter account and not tell all of FB.

3. People who post about everything they ate that day. I can understand if you are having a delicious dinner or a fabulous dessert. That is cool. If the posts are done in moderation, then you aren't an offender. If you post every day about what you had for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and dessert, then that is NOT COOL.

4. People who post a million pictures of just themselves. I find this odd....and vain. Sidenote: Kelci, this does not include your modeling pictures. You got $$$ to do those. Plus, I was the one who told you to post them. LOL! Not to mention, you were gorgeous in all of them, and they were artistic and creative. I am talking about the people (usually girls) who take 30 pictures of just themselves every weekend when they are out on the town.

5. People who do not understand the term TMI. I have a FB friend who aired all of her dirty laundry via FB status updates...from a cheating fiance to money problems. So inappropriate. Baby momma drama, past relationships, family problems, etc are PRIVATE situations.

6. People who brag about how great their husbands/boyfriends are. There are a few guilty offenders of this on my FB. They interrupt having a supposed romantic dinner with their husband/boyfriend to post about how romantic said dinner is. Retarded. They post every day about how lucky they are to have their husband/boyfriend. Sweet, yet you should spend more time telling that person that, not all of FB.

7. People who untag every single picture that they are tagged in on FB...even the good ones. Noe.

8. People who are constantly doing random quizzes which flood my newsfeed.

9. People who "like" their own posts and updates. That is just weird.

10. People who are always inviting me to support their cause, join their group, and sign their petitions. Currently, I have 141 requests for these types of things, but I have not been bored enough to actually go through all of these yet.

I am sure there are more offenses, but these were the main ones for me.
Am I missing any major ones??

I am not a perfect Facebooker, and I know I have some annoying FB habits. I am completely guilty of having way too many pictures/albums on FB. I have seen worse though. Some of my friends have 70+ albums, so that makes me feel a little less guilty...

Post Christmas Depression

2010-01-04T12:01:00.000-06:00

Hmmm, so now what? I really need another obsession besides Christmas. I was very happy that it was actually cold Christmas Day. I HATE it when you can easily wear shorts and/or a short sleeved shirt on Christmas. That just seems so wrong. We did Christmas at Julee's, and it was a good time. Terry, Kelci, and Ikeke came over which was really nice. Devon was in Pennsylvania visiting that side of the fam, so I was happy to have a kid around on Christmas. We really need some young kids in our Houston fam. Michael?? Hint hint.

I wish all of our family lived close by like everyone did when I was little. Thanks to Rachel being born, Julee always had a video camera handy. It is so funny to watch our old family videos from different holidays. EVERYONE got together. Now, people are all moved off - RACHEL, Carlene, NIKKI, Randy, and Anissa, plus my grandma and Aunt Mary are no longer with us. :( Anyways, I am rambling.

On Christmas, we always eat Mexican food...which I love. Since Thanksgiving is only a month before, we don't do the whole turkey, sweet potatoes, etc thing all over again. Enchiladas, tacos, nachos, and dips are more our thing. Works for me.

I got some pretty sweet gifts too. Money, picture frames, a UT snuggie, a water pik (Thanks Mom!), a Cricut (scrapbooking), a necklace from Tiffany's, and some other goodies. All in all, it was a great Christmas.

AND, of course, I hit up the after Christmas sales on Saturday. I woke up at 5:00, and I got back home around 11:00 AM. I went to...Kohl's, JC Penney, another Kohl's, Walmart, Garden Ridge, Target, Marshall's, Ross, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Crate & Barrel, and Babies R' Us (for preggo Amy). I was SO disappointed in the after Christmas goodies this year. There really weren't nearly as many cute things as there were last year. I still ended up dropping some money, but the damage wasn't even close to how much I spent last year. This is probably a good thing.

Christmas officially came to a close last week after going to dinner with my dad, Michael, and my half-sister, Alicia, to exchange presents. The Christmas tree and decorations are coming down this weekend. Sigh.

Group Pic. Gotta love having timers Ikeke playing with the bowling set I got him. Kid has skills.

Monkey & Monkey

So cute!

Kelci, really? Julee & I do not look alike at all. Sisters!

Thompson's

PUBLIC PLEA - AMY ARROYO VAUGHN YOU BETTER START BLOGGING AGAIN!!

This is my preggo friend, Amy, at her baby shower in Houston. She lives in the San Diego area, but she was in town over the holidays. Girl racked up with some sweet gifts at her shower, and it was only one of many showers. Baby Jonas is pretty much set.

GAG 'EM! :)

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-12-12T21:00:00.000-06:00

Last night I had a few friends over to my place, and it was a good opportunity to take pics of all of my Christmas decor. I spend all year looking forward to Christmas, and now it is less than two weeks away. In a way, I don't want Christmas to ever get here because then it means it is time to take down the decorations. Hmm, last year I did not take them down until Feb. Yeah, I know. Anyways, I was telling Amy the other day that someone should have told the Pilgrims & the Native Americans to get together sooner to create Thanksgiving. It would be so much nicer if we celebrated Thanksgiving the first week in November or something. That way it would be "Christmas season" for so much longer. Yes, I know I have issues. Oh well.

My multi-colored Christmas tree in its 12 ft of glory. I literally just sit on the couch sometimes just admiring my tree. Considering how much work went into getting this tree up and decorated, this is understandable. I am so grateful that my dad helped me with this tree. There is no way I could have put it together on my own. The tree was a big hit last night. Everyone said they have never seen a tree this tall in a house, let alone an apartment. Success.
I love fun ornaments!

The tree in my bedroom!

Some of my favorite ornaments on this tree!
Casey & Anthony

Eric can not take a decent pic for the life of him.
Dan
Michael & Noe
My friend Keith

10 Things

2009-11-23T11:30:00.002-06:00

Becky tagged me in this thing where you are supposed to write 10 honest things about myself. Most of the random things about me I have already posted in that 25 things note on Facebook, so I was scraping the bottom of the barrel on this one. Oh well, I am bored.

1. I am a complete facebook stalker.

2. A couple of times a week, I conduct google images searches for Christmas tree decor ideas. I type in phrases like "beautiful Christmas tree", "Christmas living room", etc.

3. I plan on having 4 kids....one day. Not anytime soon. I would prefer to have a husband, a house, & some $$ saved before this happens.

4. About once every two months or so I have one of those days where I never change out of my pajamas, and I spend the entire day in bed reading and watching TV/movies. At the end of the day, I realize that I never even stepped outside, but this does not bother me at all. I spend so much of my life following some kind of schedule, so I like those rare days when I just go MIA from the world.

5. I always tip at least 20%. After working four years in the service industry, I almost feel like I am obligated to tip well.

5. Anytime I go out of town, even if it is just for two days, I clean my room/apt completely before I leave.

6. I would totally redo college if I could. The social part I wouldn't change too much. Had more than my share of fun over the years. Academically, I would have gone straight into the communications school instead of staying in the business school for two years and then switching. This switch led to a lot of hours that did not count for my major. I would probably only owe half of what I do now in student loans. Ugh.

7. I always put back my shopping carts in the designated area anytime I go to the grocery store, Target, or someplace like that. It drives me nuts that people just leave their carts in a parking spot, making it difficult for someone else to park there.

8. I am never without my camera. A lot of the times when I go out, my friends don't even bother taking pictures because they know I will take a bunch & post them promptly. I hate when people take months to post their pictures.

9. I pride myself on keeping in touch with people. Email, texting, facebook, and blogging make this pretty simple I think.

10. I have been to 39 states.

I don't have many blogging friends, so I won't even bother tagging anyone. If you are bored, do it. If not, oh well. :)

Naughty Monkey 2

2009-11-13T18:49:00.002-06:00

I don't know why I keep buying so many shoes. Actually, I don't know why I keep buying so many heels. I wear flats M-F, so I really should be buying more flats. Flats aren't nearly as fun as heels though. Anyways, here are the additions to my Naughty Monkey collection since my last NM post.

(All of these were purchased on sale!)

So, I realize that the next 3 are all the same style shoe just in different colors. What can I say? They are comfortable! The retarded part is that I bought each of these at a different time. Two of these were purchased from Marshall's (on diff dates). I just couldn't pass them up because they were so inexpensive.

THESE just arrived today, and I LOVE them. Haven't really had a chance to test out the comfort level though.

These also arrived today, and I also LOVE them. I cheated on the monkey though. These are Madden Girl.

Believe it or not, I have really been saving money lately...kind of. Christmas season is already really dipping into my bank account though. And that is just for decorations. Ugh. I wish my Christmas addiction was more on a normal level. Anyways, I have 2 more pairs of boots arriving next week (also on sale), so Christmas is coming early to me!

Fun Weekends

2009-11-03T20:30:00.001-06:00

Lately, life has been so much fun. All my pics are on FB, but oh well, I am posting some of them again.

A few weekends ago my friends, Mike & Karen, hosted a party for the huge rivalry game - TX v. OU. So much great food, friends, a Texas win, and gorgeous weather made for a fantastic game day.

As I have mentioned already, one of my closest friends from high school, Leah, is getting married in a couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, we decided to have a girls night out for us Huffman girls before she gets hitched. Out of the 7 of us, 5 were able to make it plus Leah brought a friend with her from Dallas. Not bad. Jess is across seas doing missionary work, and Noe was out of town for a soccer tournament. In any case, we had a blast. We went to a piano bar, Howl at the Moon, which is always a fun place to go with a group, and then the girls stayed the night at my place. (Gavin was booted out of the apt for the night!) I really hope that one day when I have kids, they can have such a great group of friends growing up like I did. We have so many fun memories, and we continually make more.

This past weekend I went to Austin for Halloween (of course)! The weekend flew by despite having an extra hour of going out time Saturday night. Halloween is HUGE in Austin. EVERYONE dresses up...no excuses. Friday night, I was able to meet up with my long time best guy pal, Stephen, and my old roomie that I lived with for 3 years, Stacey. Saturday night, we went to a party downtown. The best part of the party was the party was private, so it wasn't overly crowded. It was so much fun, and I am already excited about next year's Halloween.

View from the balcony of 6th st on Halloween

My BFF, Jess

Max from Where the Wild Things Are

See, I hang out with missionaries too. HA!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2009-10-16T12:48:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of Dana Wiggins-

5 Chicken Breast shredded
12oz Ranch dressing
12oz Franks- Hot Sauce Buffalo flavor
16oz Cream Cheese (Softened)
4 Cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
Mix all together and pour into 9x13 baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 min.
Freezes well. Serve with Fritos. Better served HOT!

DELICIOUSNESS!!!

Longest Day Ever

2009-10-11T13:05:00.004-05:00

I usually have relaxing Saturdays which consist of me sleeping in, watching some TV, and maybe running some errands. Not the case yesterday....at all. I had one of those days where I just rushed from one place to another.

I babysat in the morning until noon. Then, I rushed to Port Arthur for Gavin's aunt's funeral. I pulled into the parking lot right when it started. Since I was one of the last people there, I had to stand in the back. She was a loved woman, and there were so many people and floral arrangements there. The one thing that the pastor said that I think is worth repeating is "Lead your life in a way that no one has to lie at your funeral". (No one had to at hers!) After the graveside service, we went to the church by Gavin's parent's house to eat. Gavin's family is HUGE. I thought I had met most of his family members at other events, but I was clearly wrong. I was introduced to dozens more people, all cousins,aunts, or uncles. His family is so loud and fun, and they are always laughing and joking, even during a sad time.

I had to leave there early to drive to Kingwood for Leah's lingerie shower. The shower started at 6, and I didn't get there until 7:45! The shower was so much fun. Leah's mom is literally the nicest person I have ever met in my entire life. She is genuinely so sweet. None of that fake business. Her mom and her aunt were great hostesses! My friend Wigs' mom, Miss Dana, is probably the best cook that I know, and she brought buffalo chicken dip for me!! It is seriously the best stuff. Google the recipe! It is great for parties! At the end of the night, I left with tons of dip and some chocolate cake. Not too shabby.

Once I left the shower, I went and met up with one of my friends. I didn't get home until sooo late (technically early...this morning) As the post title says, it seriously was the longest day ever. Oh, and I had to change in my car twice today. Always classy!

Random Plugs

2009-09-28T23:30:00.001-05:00

Really random post. I have been meaning to blog about a few things that I love and some recent good deals that I have found, so here goes.

- Neutrogena Advanced Solution
I was never blessed with flawless skin, and I used to spend close to $50 for each Proactiv set. I liked Proactiv, but it made my skin really dry. Plus, it was so freaking expensive. I have been using this Neutrogena stuff for months now, and I really like it. It is a 3 piece set - cleanser, acne lotion, and SPF lotion. The best part is that it is only about $19 at Walmart, CVS, etc, and each box has a $4 coupon for the next time you buy it. I am a fan!

- Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner
This eyeliner really does last all day. They have all sorts of colors - black, brown, plum, teal, navy, smoke, etc. The regular old black works the best for all day wear. I have a lot of expensive eyeliners from Make Up Forever & Urban Decay that I really like, but the Revlon is the best for a long day. Plus, CVS & Walgreens always have sales on Revlon (and other brands), like buy one get one free.

- WebEyeCare.com
I HATE paying for my contacts. They are obviously pretty essential for my everyday life, but they are a pain to purchase. I went to the eye doctor recently for my annual eye exam. My contacts cost $45/box if I ordered them from the eye doctor. Considering I need 8 boxes to last me a year, that is $360!!! I did some research online, and I decided to order from webeyecare.com. The 8 boxes (plus free shipping) only cost me $213, and I received them in less than a week.

- Aussie 3 Minute Miracle
I have been a fan of this hair conditioner for a long time now. It makes my super thick hair feel great, and I LOVE the smell!

- Powerade Zero - STRAWBERRY
Zero calories, and it actually tastes really, really, really good.

-Netflix
I go through spurts of using my Netflix. Some weeks I watch a bunch of movies; other times I keep a movie for months until I decide to watch it. Regardless, the website is user friendly, shipping is super fast, and it is relatively inexpensive. It is really good if you want to watch a series too. Oh, and I really like that you can watch certain movies instantly.

- Retailmenot.com
I use this website when I do any online purchasing, from pizza to clothes. They always have great promo codes which can get you discounts. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to score some great full size samples from Sephora when I ordered some make up. Speaking of Sephora...

- Few Splurges
shu uemura eyelash curler ($19). Not the cheapest eyelash curler, but it never pulls on my lashes and lashes stay curled all day.

Nars blush ($25). I have a few Nars blushes, and I love all of them. Really good pigment, and they last FOREVER.

Addicted

2009-09-18T19:07:00.003-05:00

I have a serious addiction to TV....and my DVR. This has been a really busy week, so I am really behind on my shows. I just looked at everything stored in my DVR, and I realized how ridiculous I am. Every week I record the old Beverly Hills 90210 episodes, The OC, One Tree Hill, Project Runway, The Vampire Diaries, The Office, Glee, The Biggest Loser, Chelsea Lately & SYTYCD. Starting next week, you can add Dancing with the Stars & Modern Family to that really long list. I have a problem, but at least I can admit it. That makes it a little better, right????

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-13T13:31:00.002-05:00

This past week has been extremely busy, so that explains the overdue Labor Day posting. I am really going to start blogging more often. We shall see...

Last Saturday, my BFF's Kelci & Becky came over to my place with their little ones. Kelci also brought her photographer, Terry :) It had been a year since we were last together, so the reunion was much needed. The thing with us is that we always pick up right where we left off last. Julee & Devon also came over to join in on the fun. The day was filled with good company, yummy food, tons of pictures, and keys locked in a car!

Devon's sweet photography skills

It was so great to see how much their kiddos have grown. Both of them are such good mothers. I know now how Kelci stays so thin. She is always having to chase after her little man. Kelci was definitely right when she said Ikeke is as boyish as boys come. He is an adorable handful! Becky's little Aubrey is a precious little girl. She is so sweet and smart.

Ikeke practicing his soccer skills

Aubrey!

Ikeke and his scraped up nose :)

Ikeke stealing the pillow from Aubrey

Thompsons!

The fam and I also went to Main Event for some bowling, laser tag, shuffle board, air hockey, pool, and arcade games. We had such a blast. The highlights of the day for me were getting the highest score in laser tag and dinner at Chuy's! Also, I discovered that Julee and I are a pretty unbeatable team at shuffle board.

The Winners

Michael tormenting Devon

Dev attempting the Moonwalk

KOOOWAAALLA!!!

SYTYCD

2009-09-02T21:36:00.005-05:00

I am OBSESSED with So You Think You Can Dance!! Maybe that is because I am a white girl (technically half white; half Mexican, but whatever) lacking rhythm. Whatever the reason, I love it. For the first time, I was able to watch every episode this season. Thanks DVR! I haven't deleted any of them either because I like to go back and watch some of the dances. I was really excited when Jeanine won this past season. I seriously called in to vote for her after the finale. Yes, I know I am a nerd. When I got home from dinner earlier, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my DVR had taped a special SYTYCD tonight which featured 15 of the judges favorite dances over the years. Next week is the premiere for season 6, and I am SO excited!

If anyone is ever really bored, here are some of my favorite dances from last season -

This is my FAVORITE ever group dance from season 2.

26 Again

2009-08-17T22:00:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, while my ridiculously gorgeous BFF, Kelci, was celebrating her 26th birthday, I was celebrating mine...again! Since I entered college, I have always celebrated my birthday in some form in Austin. This year was no exception, even if the celebration was almost a month late. Tiny detail. It is not that I am obsessed with my birthday (26 is pretty boring), I just like having a good excuse to have all of my friends come out on one night.

My weekend Austin routine is pretty standard but always a blast. Fridays - late dinner with friends then out on the town, Saturdays - lunch w/ a friend, movie, nap, late dinner with friends, then out on the town, Sundays - sleep in fairly late, brunch w/ friends, and then back to Houston. Somehow this never gets old..at all. I always look forward to my Austin trips, and I am never disappointed in them. I had four friends offer spare bedrooms for to move into if I wanted to move back there. Not happening anytime soon, but it is nice to know I am wanted! :)

Anyways, Saturday night, the other birthday girl, Little Red, and I booked a private room for dinner in a restaurant on 6th street. This is the second year that I have had my birthday dinner at this place - The Belmont. We had a group of 25 people, and the waitresses were awesome. I always appreciate good service, considering I spent all of my college years working in a restaurant. After dinner, we went to another favorite place of mine, J Blacks, where we reserved an area for all of our friends. Fun times! This birthday celebration made turning 26 a lot more exciting!

I posted all of the pics on Facebook, but here are some of my faves!

Jessica. This is one of the most genuine, loyal, loving people I know.

Joel. We met each other 10 years ago at EFY! LOL!

Katie. She has been through a lot lately and has been strong throughout it all. My wifey forever.

Kristine/Chambs. Every time I go to Austin, I stay with her. She is seriously the best hostess ever. And such a solid good friend.

Every year for my birthday, Chambs goes to a really cool boutique in Austin called Emerald's and buys me a super cute purse. The orange one is the newest addition! Perfect for the UT football season!

Megan Matthews

2009-08-06T13:43:00.004-05:00

Last weekend I traveled to Bandera, TX (Hill Country) for Megan's wedding. Megan and I first became friends in the 5th grade when we had to interview each other for a class project, and we have been close friends ever since. It was so awesome to be able to share in her special day. The wedding was held at the Medina River Ranch, home to a lot of exotic animals. During the rehearsal dinner, I looked up to see a bunch of zebras running around on the property. Seriously cool. The rehearsal dinner was extremely entertaining, considering a couple of Heath's guy friends decided to do a striptease for him.

Saturday, we had a brunch in the morning, and we spent the rest of the day hanging out and relaxing. We had some slight pre-wedding drama when I discovered that I had lost the green sash for my dress right before we were supposed to have our pictures taken. Luckily, we were able to find a white ribbon for Michelle (Megan's sister/maitron of honor) to wear, and I wore her green ribbon. Megan was the most low maintenance bride ever....pretty much the complete opposite of a bridezilla. No stressing over hair or makeup. She didn't need to since she made such a beautiful bride! The ceremony was held outside. Luckily, it was only 15 minutes long, so we were able to survive the heat. I had lots of fun at the reception, hanging out with all of my old school friends. They had quite the turn out at the wedding, especially considering Bandera is a 5-6 hour drive for most of the guests. I know over 225 had RSVP'd yes, so it was a huge party basically. I am so happy for her!Megan and Heath are just one of those couples who are meant for each other, and I have no doubt that they will live happily ever after!

Heath & Megan Matthews = Heath bar & M&M's
...too cute

Cali

2009-07-28T21:47:00.002-05:00

As most of you know, I went to California recently for 5 days to help my morning family out with their kids. My morning family owns a spa in Vista, CA (north of San Diego), and it was a great experience being there. The thing I loved the most though was the weather. It was beyond nice not melting as soon as I walked outside. I can completely understand why people pay the ridiculous prices for housing out there.

I love love love the kids, so that made the trip so enjoyable. While I was there, the kids and I were able to do all kinds of fun things like swimming, exploring the property, cruising around in the golf carts, etc. We went to a place called Boomer's which has arcade games, putt putt golf, bumper boats, lazer tag, etc. Another day we went to see Up in 3D which I had been wanting to see forever. Some people had warned me that it was kind of sad/depressing, but we all really enjoyed it. The ending was uplifting and inspiring. We played the Wii a lot which the IT guy set up on the projection screen. The only thing cooler than playing the Wii is playing it on a huge screen. Hmm, what else? We made fresh squeezed lemonade. It was awesome to walk outside and pick fruit off the trees. Oh, and we watched too much Spongebob. He quite possibly has the most annoying laugh ever.

As far as the spa itself, it is absolutely beautiful which is proven in all of the pics below! All of the staff members were super friendly and accommodating, and you could tell that they actually liked their jobs. It was just nice to be around such positive and happy people. The chef there is really really good at what he does. All of the dishes were healthy but delicious. The kids are picky eaters, so he made sure to make them healthy versions of their favorite foods - turkey burgers, turkey hot dogs, ginger wheat pancakes, BBQ chicken pizza, watermelon popsicles, chocolate sorbet, etc. Yummy!

Windmill that was recently built.

This chapel is over 400 years old.
They had it flown over from France piece by piece.

If anyone wants to go to the spa, it only costs $8,000 per person a week! :)

26

2009-07-22T14:51:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I am 26 now. 25 was cool because it was a quarter of a century. 26 is just blah. Just that much closer to 30, which is really weird. I went out to eat Monday night with the fam, and Mamacita's was delicious as always. Yesterday, I went to lunch with my mom and stepdad for a little belated birthday action. For the past two years, I have gone out in Houston the Friday before my birthday, then in Austin that Saturday, and then did the fam thing on Sunday. (Always exhausting but fun weekends) That wasn't the case this year due to the fact I didn't get back from CA until the night before my birthday. So now, I plan on going out with friends in Houston this weekend. My Austin birthday has been delayed by a month since my next three weekends are taken. (Sad face) Oh well, now my friend Lil Red (has red hair and is under 5 feet tall) and I are going to have a big joint party in August. Yay for that! Until then, I will have to come to terms with being boring 26.

Devon in the trunk (voluntarily!)

Sorry Mom! The group shot outside was awful.
My eyes were closed, and my hair was all in my face!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! Special thanks to my BFF Kelci for her blog! :)