Sick

I always forget that our sweet, cuddly dog is also a cold blooded hunter and loves to track down and kill other animals. Lately we've been putting her in our yard for a little bit when we first let her out of the kennel do take care of her business in her own time and to run around a little bit. She could entertain herself for hours out there, every time I let her in the yard, this is what she does.


When you add in the crying, barking, and jumping, it becomes a pretty interesting sight. I know what you're thinking, what is she after?

Well folks, it is probably one of my least favorite things in the world (Bart, I'm still blaming you and your lizard earrings), that and a visit to the dentist. It's these massive tree lizards. They are EVERYWHERE! I have screamed numerous times when one has been around me. Also, if you will recall a previous post, we have horny toads as well, making it absolutely outrageous for me to even attempt to leave the semi-safety of the paved sidewalk--even though I have run into them on the sidewalk before, at least I can see them a little better.

Here's a picture I took of one up in the tree. See if you can see it, try looking for its tail first, that might make it easier. Now you know why I am so afraid of them, you cannot see them unless you are a) looking for them, or b) they are moving.


Here is a closer up picture from another tree. They are so SO gross, and I can't believe that they live so close to me.


Yesterday I let Bridger in the yard and there were two of them. After Bridger chased them up the tree, I stood at the top of our stairs looking into the tree to watch them run.. I had no idea how many there actually were. They are like termites and for some reason, some of them like to hang out about 18 to 24 inches off the ground making it perfect for Bridger. Thankfully she didn't get either of them.. I don't know what I will do the day she gets one. I think I'll just scream and wait until Brandon gets home to clean it all up. :) I'm so glad I have a husband who will take care of things like that for me!

Fresh New Look for the Summer

So, I decided to change the look of the blog for the summer.. you know, liven things up a bit. You'd be amazed if you spent a mere 5 minutes looking at all of the different backgrounds and extras people make for blogs and give away for free.

No pictures for today, or really anything special... sorry, I'm busy today!

I will say this though, I have been inspired by my sister's latest post on guacamole. I will be making this with dinner tonight. I'm thinking fajitas...

I would take pictures of some of my favorite dishes I make, but they would look so sad with our little bitty kitchen that has hardly any working space, a stove top so small that you can only fit two pots diagonally from each other, and no working oven. That's ok though, there will be time for that!

Our Little Girl is 2!

This past weekend, Bridger turned 2! What made it even better is that her (2nd) cousin, Sally turned 3 on the same day! Following in my standard tradition when I know the actual date of birth of my dog, I will make sure it is documented. I made some party hats for the girls before we left for the weekend at the lake. Don't they just look enthusiastic?

After the quick celebration, we decided to make all the men dig up the yard. But really, they had to dig up the drain line from the sink because it was clogged. Please note the boot/swim suit combination on both Brandon and his uncle Jon (who Brandon will be in about 15 years).

During all of this, we gave the dogs their birthday rib bones.. and they were in heaven!


Ok, so it wouldn't be a complete trip to the lake if the little ones hadn't gotten into something.. Sunday evening most of the adults were sitting in the living room visiting when Abby (age 7) and Grant (age 8) come running in from fishing. In an excited, out-of-breath scream, they say, "ok, so... let me tell you what happened to Bridger!" Knowing our dog full well, Brandon and I immediately think she's run down the bank of the lake chasing some snake or something with the kids chasing her even farther until they realize they've over stretched their boundaries and just watch her continue. So our first question is, "Where is Bridger?" Abby's nonchalant response was "I don't know, outside somewhere..." as if us asking her that imperative question totally ruined the suspense she had created for herself and her story.

Immediately, Brandon and I get up off the couch to go find her when she comes and stands in front of the glass door to the living room. Knowing that she has disappeared somewhere to never be found, so both sit down and begin to listen to the kids' screaming story. You know that kind of excited scream kids get when they just can't settle down about the story they are going to tell? Yeah, that was this scene.

So, Grant continues, "Well, I was fishing, and Bridger was watching my lure..." (totally normal, Bridger is so intrigued by fishing) "...and I was reeling it in.. and Bridger jumped in after my lure... and it hooked her ear... and then I reeled her in... and she broke the line... and now she has my lure in her ear!!" Shear satisfaction on his face as we all tried to process what he's just said.

Then Abby jumps in, still screaming, "and then there was a lure on the dock... and Bridger smelled it.. and then she shook her head like this..." (insert head shaking impression) "...and then she ran off!"

Brandon and I begin asking questions, "Is the lure still in her ear?" In unison, they screamed "YES!" By this point they've reached a decibel level, very few could even touch.

Brandon and I go out on the front porch and make all the kids stand on the inside with the glass door as a barrier. Bridger seemed fine, she wasn't trying to do anything to her ear, just sitting waiting to be pet. Sure enough, a brand new, shiny silver lure was dangling from her ear like some sort of California chihuahua's grocery store accessory.
This is a blurry picture because she was so excited still from all of the commotion of the kids screaming from their excitement of Grant catching the "biggest fish of the weekend" and me taking the picture with my phone.

Brandon went to get some cutters because fish hooks have a barb on the end of them preventing them from coming out the way they came. Luckily, the hook was nearly all the way through so Brandon only had to push it a little further to fully expose the barb for cutting. I sat holding her face and talking sweetly to her.

The only time she tried to get away was when Brandon lifted the pliers up to cut the barb off, but she did good. In a matter of seconds, we had the barb cut off and the lure out of her ear! I then joked that Bridger got her ear pierced for her birthday! Brandon chuckled a bit until he realized that the lure the kids were using was the brand new one he had bought for himself the day before, making it MUCH too big for the little ones. It was on Kirk's pole that they had just decided they could use. So then we had to come inside and make sure they were reminded that they are not to use any of the "big kids' fishing stuff" because they are too big for them.

That was the biggest excitement of the weekend... nothing a little hydrogen peroxide and neosporin can't fix. Needless to say, Bridger was relieved to sleep in the room with Brandon and I that night.

The rest of the holiday weekend, we spent down by the lake with the boat and jet ski, where I tried my skills at knee boarding (something I haven't attempted in 7 years--gosh that makes me feel old).

The drive home was nice and relaxing, Bridger stretched out across the back seat sound asleep (she'll sleep for a week) and Brandon and I watching another beautiful West Texas sunset!

This Week

Well, it seems I've fallen behind on the subject of posting. The reason? My mom told me about this amazing story on another blog. I'm telling you, it's life changing. Ok, so maybe not, but I feel like I've been reading a book in the last week and I have an urge to talk about it. Seriously, yesterday I almost said, "In this book I've been reading..." how embarrassing that would have been if I had said it and then I would have to tell someone I was addicted to reading a blog.

Her name is Ree Drummond and her blog is The Pioneer Woman. The story I'm so addicted to is the love story of her and her husband meeting entitled "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels." She was a city girl by blood. She loved the lights, the sounds, the SHOPPING, the food, everything about city life. Her whole life, all she knew was this. She meets and falls in love with "Marlboro Man," a cowboy (now her husband, sound somewhat similar?) that lives on his family's ranch (now their ranch) over an hour "out in the boonies" from her parent's suburban golf course community. The story is thrilling and should seriously be a novel. I've considered printing every post out to put in a binder and pass around to friends like a book. She is a wonderful writer and I look forward to the little bit of free time I have to go read another post. I think I'm so into the story because a lot of it reminds me of Brandon and I, just for the main differences in our location of our upbringings.

I'm warning you, don't start reading unless you want to get hooked. Ree has a way of expressing every emotion each of them felt in such an exciting time in their lives. She'll often leave you with "to be continued.." and you can't help yourself but to hit the back button and go to the next post. Remember, if you decide to read this, you'll have to click on her "Love Story" and scroll to the bottom to read them in order.

Something else I've been up to? Well, you'll never guess it because I thought I would never see the day.. we got Brandon an iPhone and his life has been forever changed! Ok, seriously. It has been a long, slow process trying to transfer all of our things together and the cell phone thing has been the most difficult. You have to jump through so many fiery hoops and run across hot coals to change anything on your cell phone account if you are not the main person listed on the account--ask my mom, she had to conference my dad in the other day to talk to them on the phone about releasing my cell phone number. I think our biggest hassle of the whole ordeal was waiting on the upgrade. In Brandon's family, as with most, they don't pay attention to who's upgrade is available, it just gets used when someone needs a new phone. We tried to go before the wedding to switch everything over and they wouldn't let us transfer him off of his parents' account because there was no eligible upgrade (mind you Brandon's phone was a few years old--he never asks for anything). Even though we were going to sign a new contract and everything, it didn't matter. Because he wanted to keep his number, we had to wait (they wouldn't even let us pay full price for a phone).

The past month and a half we've been in a waiting period for the next available upgrade and FINALLY, we timed everything right! I didn't even mention how stressful a cell phone store is for my poor little country boy. We've seriously gone in there 4 times and had to leave because he would get so mad. He always says, "I just feel like they're trying to take my money!" Well, this is true, but not like he assumed. After careful explanation of all the plans in the privacy of our own car and home (it took me a while), he finally agreed to go in there and sit through it while we worked everything out! :) So yesterday, we showed up at the AT&T store and went through the whole process--I even convinced him to go ahead and get the bundle that included the protection plan, car charger and a free case. I was on a role so when it came time for us to hand over some money, I quickly pulled out my debit card and put in my pin, only telling him the total after I had hit "enter." Sneaky? yes, but had he known the total was $322, he probably would have backed out on the bundle.

After the AT&T store, we ran home to change clothes and I plugged his phone in to the computer to upload the address book I had already taken from his other phone the night before--I knew I had to make it as simple as possible so he would still move forward with it. I set up his email for him and got him ready to go! Then we went to a little league baseball game to watch his boss coach and his boss's third grade son pitch. After the game we joined them at the country club for dinner and conversation. It was fun and I think I might have a work out buddy now! His boss's wife is going to join the health club I am a member at (mind you I've been paying for this membership, but have not used it in months) and we are going to go workout together!

At dinner, Brandon pulled his phone out and said, "look what my wife made me get..." I smiled because the same thing had happened with his boss (who is Brandon's personality twin, just about 20 years older).

Last night, Brandon got in bed and laid there playing on his phone for about 45 min. I smiled, rolled over and went to sleep knowing he would never admit that he had wanted an iPhone and was excited about having it. :)

Sorry mom, there isn't a picture of both of us with our phones, I couldn't get him off of his long enough to take a picture!

My Best Friends' Wedding

This past weekend I got to celebrate the wedding of my two best friends, Kevan and Katie. The wedding was just beautiful and so sweet. The joy and excitement in both of their eyes as their faces were just glowing all weekend was priceless! I love both of them and I could not be more happy to have been there and more honored to be such an important part or the whole process. I took some pictures of all the festivities (except the wedding) so that I could burn them to a CD for Katie, so here are some of the highlights.

Eating lunch at McAlister's with one of the other bridesmaids.

All the Bridesmaids getting our toes done on Friday

The end result

Yes, Katie and I had the same dress from Target, you should probably buy one too because it's cheap and cute.

All the Bridesmaids with Katie at the rehearsal.

Standing up on the stage we didn't get to use because it was raining on the wedding day.

Kevan has a Husky named Lobo and he always joked about what his role was going to be in the wedding. Well, this isn't Lobo, but looks just like him. This dog appeared out of the woods and came to hang out for a bit. He was very nice and had a collar, but no tag.

Kevan and Katie at the Rehearsal Dinner

Katie never wanted a lingerie shower or anything like that, and as her Matron (hehe, I'm Married) of Honor, I couldn't let her get married without anything. After the rehearsal dinner, we blindfolded her and took her out to my car that was decorated with streamers, filled with gifts, and even a tiara for her.

Here we all are getting her into the car. She had no idea about any of it! It was so fun to have all her closest friends together for about an hour just hanging out and having fun!

She loved it! It was just her type of lingerie shower: simple, fun, and classy! (and yes, she's wearing pink glow bracelets and a necklace, we all were)

I wanted all the Bridesmaids to get her something special because all of my bridesmaids made pages of a scrapbook for me and put them together. I knew I didn't want to do the same thing because Katie was one of my bridesmaids, so I remembered that she didn't even have a digital camera. How sad would it be to go on your honeymoon and not have anything to show from it except your tan that will fade? Well, we all went in together and bought her this camera that is totally her! It the the newer vesion of the camera I have that is shockproof and waterproof! She was so excited, I think more because it was blue!

The bridesmaids (minus me) and the Bride!

Saturday we had a sweet luncheon!

I knew it was a good idea when I made this!

After getting our hair done!

This was a page in the magazine at the Salon and I thought it most definitely needed to be documented. In case you were wondering, there is a panty you can buy to fill out your butt "all without exercise, diet or surgery!"

Finally in her dress!

And this is where I stopped taking pictures until the end of the reception. I was a little busy, and I figured the photogapher could handle it from here.

The bride and groom are so happy!

After they left, we took an ACU Alum picture throwing up the "WC" for wildcats!

All in all, it was such a fun weekend! I'm so thankful for the wonderful friendship we have and the years to come! I'm so happy for them to start their amazing jouney as husband and wife and I can't wait to see what God has in store for all of us!

"one pair of shoes can change your life" -Cinderella

Ok, so they didn't change my life, but I just love them!

After all of the graduation festivities this weekend, my mom and I went shopping all day Mother's day! IT was a blast! I had some graduation money just burning a hole in my pocket that I made sure to tell Brandon I was going to use every bit on it for clothes! :)

I bought a good amount of clothes including skirts, tops, pants, etc. It was just so fun trying on all this stuff I could never justify trying on before (I never wanted to try them on so that I wouldn't completely fall in love with them when I was willing to spend the money on myself). It took a bit of coaxing in the beginning, but I made myself spend the money and it was so much fun!

When I got home, I tried on every combination possible of all the new clothes I came home with for Brandon. He wasn't as thrilled about the outfits as I was, I had to pry his eyes off the TV every time I came into the living room with a new outfit. Bridger, however was so intrigued with the process that she followed me back and forth between the bedroom and the living room just staring at me and watching my every move--why? I still don't know. After I had put them all on about 3 or 4 times, I decided it was time to hang them all up in the closet with the biggest smile on my face. Brandon came in and saw that I was beaming with happiness from my new purchases. He laughed at how the simplest things could make me so happy.

So I wore a brand new outfit to work yesterday and it was delightful! Everyone commented on how cute my outfit was and for a person who loves shopping as much as I do, it was so much fun! The only thing left that I needed was shoes (don't worry girls, I saved a third of my earnings for more shopping on another day). I got home from work and to my surprise, Brandon wanted to go shopping!! We stopped off at Wendy's for a hearty dinner and an obnoxious story from a stranger about how AMAZING the new Star Trek movie is--no offense to any Star Trek fans out there, but that's just not my cup of tea.. My sister talked on her blog about things that make her nauseous and Star Trek could be added to my list, I don't know why, but it makes me sick to my stomach.

Anyways, Brandon and I went to Academy to find him some casual shirts he could wear to work on the days when he was in the office. After that, we went to the mall--my third time in 4 days. I found 2 pairs of shoes!! Both of them were on sale so I couldn't resist. Brandon couldn't believe that I wanted both.. I mean, one was a pair of open-toed black heels and the other was open-toed brown--both of which I needed. Brandon had already told me that with the little bit of Dillards gift cards we had left from the wedding I could buy a pair of shoes. well, since both were on sale, I had to get both. I proceeded to check out while Brandon was still in shock that I needed both. After she rang them both up and used the gift card, my total was $22! I turned around and said, "$22! you tried to tell me it wasn't worth it! rigghhhht!" So Brandon made fun of how giddy and smily I was for the rest of the evening with my two pairs of brand new shoes--and I still have money left to spend!

Look how cute they are!! I know what you're thinking, the brown ones are different, but you HAVE to see them on!

This shopping thing with money that I know I can spend on whatever I want could be addiciting. It's like a drug, just with positive effects. I mean, I'm sure that everyone in my office appreciates that I have new clothes, I'm sure they were so sick of all the outfits I had worn out! :) Now, if I can only get off the Dr. Pepper...

Chapter 10

As you go through life, each new phase or step you could consider a new chapter. I'd like to think that my chapter 9 is closing and I'm staring at the opening page of chapter 10. The difference with Chapter 10 is that it is one of the only Chapters that I don't know exactly how long it will be! This will make much more sense when I get to it. But here is a brief summary of all of the chapters of my life:

Chapter 1
Birth-PreK

The last few of Demon's puppies... moving from Houston to Dallas, and then back again within the first year of my life... riding in car seats, learning how to ride my bike at about the age of 4 (Christy took my training wheels off of my 'Rainbow Bright' bike, broke them, and threw them in the trash.. but she then taught me how to ride my bike). Playing school with Christy and Bart.. and LOTS of crying--I had to get my siblings in trouble some how!

Chapter 2
Kindergarten-4th Grade

I remember the summer before I started Kindergarten driving by the nearly completed Klenk Elementary and saying, "bye school, I'll be there next year!" The days of elementary school seemed to fly by through all of the Easter hat parades, Field days (go blue team!), and playing Oregon Trail.

Chapter 3
5th Grade Safety Patrol

In fifth grade, I was one of the few blessed students to obtain the role of Safety Patrol and that bright orange sash. It was glorious! I got to tell all the younger kids what to do and what not to do (since there was no one to boss around at home). I remember feeling so cool, especially when I got to work the carpool line and tell the parents to keep on moving down the line with a steady movement of my hand. Looking back on it now, I would like to apologize to all of the children I bossed around and the parents I thought I was in charge of.. I bet it was funny to them though.

Chapter 4
Middle School

I started at Wunderlich in the fall of 1998 at a measly 4'-11" and 65 pounds, (about the size of your average 3rd grader) but boy was I popular! I remember one day when I was walking late to clas (I had a pass because I didn't ever do anything wrong) and I ran into Bart in the hall. He, however was running without actually running to get to class on time. I saw that he was chewing gum because he was a BIG eigth grader. I willed up enough nerve to talk to him at school (breaking his rules he set for me on the first day) because there wasn't anyone around. I asked him if I could have a piece which he reluctantly threw my way. From that moment on, I was rarely in class without some gum in my mouth. I perfected the skill of hiding it under my tongue when talking and mainly sucking on it in class so I wouldn't get caught.
Middle school was also filled with sports, volleyball, swimming, track, and the beginning of my lifelong dream to be a cheerleader. I still know some of those cheers.

Chapter 5
Freshman Year

When you come from being the big man on campus in 8th grade, you think you are "it" at the beginning of freshman year. Well, everyone knew who I was because I was "Bart's little sister." My freshman year at KF I cheer on the JV cheer squad because only 3 freshmen tried out. It was fun getting to cheer with older girls and go to competition with them, I made a lot of friends and had fun, but when the school year was coming to a close, I knew I didn't want to stay around.

Chapter 6
Private School

The second semester of my freshman year at KF I made a proposal to my parents to change schools. I was fed up with the public school system and researched some of the private schools around our area, compared tuition costs and people I knew and decided on Northland.
I was able to try out for cheerleading before I was even attending NCS so that I could cheer the first year I was there. I felt so cool when I made the squad because since the school was so small, there was only a varsity (at KF there is no chance you can make varsity until you are a Junior, and you have to have cheered on JV first). I went to cheer camp with Northland and made some really good friends. Taylor, Tiffany and I were inseparable. I have such wonderful memories from Northland from being so involved across the board in Choir, Cheer, Soccer, Softball, and short stints in Swimming and Track. If I could change anything about my high school career, I would have moved to Northland sooner.
I have such lasting relationships with some of the faculty and staff like I wouldn't have known in public schools.

Chapter 7
Freshman Year of College

I started my freshman year of college with 22 of the 55 people I graduated with from Northland. I know, you're shocked. That's nearly half of my graduating class. Well, going into Northland I never thought I would EVER go to ACU because that's what everyone did. One spur of the moment trip to Sing Song my senior year sold me and I never looked back.

Chapter 8
College

College is just, college.. from pledging, to school, to YoungLife, to moving into a house, college was a blast. I was definitely ready to be done though!

Chapter 9
Marriage

Getting married was everything I hoped it would be and more. Brandon is my best friend and nothing makes me happier than for him to be the last thing I see before I go to sleep and the first thing I see when I wake up.. unless of course, Bridger has to go potty. :) We are just so happy living our simple life in our little bitty apartment that I've made home. Learning how to cook and clean up after not only myself, but someone else has been a task, but I have loved every minute of it. I've made it into a challenge to come up with new dishes to cook.

Chapter 10
Married Life without school or kids

And thus begins chapter 10, I'm out of school and married and there are no children for 2009 (do the math) ha! The reason I said this is one of the only chapters in my life that I don't know exactly how long it will last is because everything else before this chapter had a definite ending or time period, but this one I don't know! My mom would love for me to give her a definite time period, but mom, sorry, I'll let Christy take that baton first. So I begin my Chapter 10 of simple life. No kids, no school, just married bliss and our little bitty apartment. I can't wait to see how the story unfolds, and I'm sure you can't either...