Our Outstanding Adventures

Baby Bump

2011-06-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of me at 6 months-

Scroll down for a trip review!!

Yosemite/San Francisco

2011-06-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

We went on a little trip just the two of us to Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. We flew into San Fran and then drove to Yosemite. (if we were to do it again we would stay the first night in SF and then drive the next day!) It's about 4 hours from SF to Yosemite, but we hit some awful traffic on the way out of town. We stayed at the Tenaya Lodge about 2 miles outside of the south gate into Yosemite. It was beautiful. The weather was perfect. The hotel was wonderful! Our room was great and comfortable.

The food at the hotel was good and being so close to the park was just perfect. On Saturday we got up and went into the park. We first drove to Glacier Point where you can see the Nevada and Vernal Falls and the Yosemite Falls, along with the valley of Yosemite. It was breathtaking. The views were amazing and again the weather was perfect. We had the perfect day. Our phones had no service and it was just the two of us. It was a dream!! After Glacier Point we went and ate lunch at the Wawona Hotel in the park and walked around there and then went to see the Giant Sequoias in Mariposa Grove. They are crazy huge! We walked around and looked at the trees and then headed back to the hotel. It was the perfect day!

Sunday we headed back to SF. That night we went to a Giants baseball game, which was fun!

Then Monday we went to Fisherman's Wharf and out to Alcatrez.

Alcatrez was very neat to see and hear the history. After we went to Ghiradelli Square and then back to the hotel to rest before dinner. Tuesday we shopped and rested and then headed home on Wednesday. We had a blast SF is so pretty and again the weather was amazing. I would go back for sure!

Little Girl

2011-06-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone see our crib and bedding we have ordered. It isn't in yet and once we have it in the room I'll post but here it is in the store.

These two pictures are of the crib and bedding we are getting. It should be in this month! I can't wait to actually get it in the baby's room.

The pictures below is the room the baby will be in. Don't mind the messy bed, but look at the super cute rug I bought for her room!! I am in LOVE with this rug!

We still have stuff to move in and out of the room but we will get there. It's a work in progress! =)

And just because I think this is cute here is a little onesie I order the other day.

And for those of you asking (Steph=) I'll post some baby bump pictures within the next week! PROMISE!! =)

It's a................

2011-06-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!

Little Girl Chamberlain is doing great! She will be here sometime late September. My due date is September 28th but she is measuring about a week big so maybe she'll be early! Who knows. I am still doing great. Haven't been sick and am doing good. Thankfully with this HOT weather we are having we have a pool and I am able to enjoy that almost everyday!

Exciting Update

2011-04-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

So I have been neglecting the blog for too long. Facebook is so much easier for me to update and I have just been doing that! But I have been asked nicely =) to update here too, so I am going to try to do that too!

Let's see since the last time I blog a lot has gone on! First we went skiing in Durango, Co before Christmas. It was a blast. We all had so much fun. It snowed

soooo much, but it was so pretty.

We had a great Christmas. Lance got me a gun and it's PINK!! How awesome is that. Now our house is super protected, don't be coming over unannounced! =)

In January we went to Dallas and Atlanta for hunting shows. Both we super fun. Our friends from South Africa, Meggan and Rudi, came to our house between the shows and stayed with us. We had a blast in Atlanta. We went to the aquarium and Coca Cola World

and of course Meggs and I shopped!!

Also in January we found out that I'm pregnant!! We are excepting a little one the end of September!

In February L was gone for hunting shows. He drove to Salt Lake City and Reno, NV and then home. I did get to join him but I flew to all of the place!! =) I did drive home with him though. We went over the Hoover Dam and drove by Area 51 and 52, those were the only cool things on the drive home!!

In March we went with 11 other family and friends to the gorgeous Dominican Republic. It was amazing!! We stayed at a WONDERFUL private villa with all the amenities. It was amazing, I could go back right now for sure!

So that updates everyone for now! We do find out the baby is next week, so I'll try and update after that!

Paris

2010-11-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Ok so this post has an OVER load of pictures. It's hard to write a post on such an amazing city without lots of pictures and it's hard to put into words how much I love this City. Seriously, I love it. It is gorgeous. I love the cafes, the streets, walking everywhere, public transportation, the oldness, the new parts of the city, the buildings, the people I love it all. This is L and I's second time to come to Paris and for sure not our last. For my parents and my sis it was their 1st time to visit Paris and they LOVED it too!!!

L and I at Notre Dame. We went to Notre Dame and walked around the outside and then waited in a LONG line to go inside. Notre Dame is very pretty but not my favorite church. It is very dark inside. The stained glass is amazing. Very detailed and colorful.
After we ate lunch at Les Duex Magot (where Hemingway visited while he lived in Paris) we walked around the area and discovered this AMAZING church. It is St Suplice. One of my favorite churches and I can't wait to go back once it is completely restored. We really just stumbled upon this church and I am so glad we did. The front of it is being resorted so there were scaffolding set up around half of the front, but still is was gorgeous. The waterfall in the front of the church was so pretty too!! This is inside St. Suplice. Seriously SO PRETTY!!! I could have walked around for an hour in here. There is so much detail in everything. LOVE IT!

This is outside the Louvre looking up the Champs Elysses to the Arc de Triomph.
The pyramid outside the Louvre
The Mona Lisa. It's neat to see her because of how famous the painting is, but there are SO many people trying to get as close as they can (which isn't very close). The painting is behind glass and then there is a fence thing around it so you can't get very close and then you have to fight through the people to get up close. But it's still great to see.
The inverted pyramid inside the Louvre
We went to a French macaron class in Versailles. It was amazing. Macarons are the best thing EVER. They are not like our coconut macarons. These are little sandwiches with a soft chewy outside and a great filling! The lady that we took the class from, Patricia, was wonderful. She is super sweet and a great cook and we got to take a lot of them home with us! The best macarons are from Laudree. It is a cafe and the main one is on the Champs Elysses my favorite is raspberry and L's fav is vanilla. I could eat a million of these!
At the cooking class
The hubs and I in the gardens at Versailles
The pretty manicured gardens at Versailles. So so pretty!
The wonderful Eiffel Tower
The hubs and I in front of Notre Dame at night. We took a night tour, it was awesome to see everything lit up at night. Paris truly is the City of Lights.
The Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes at every hour starting at dusk and going until I think midnight. It is so pretty to see lit up without it sparkling, but to see it sparkling is gorgeous. I could sit there all night and watch it! It is wonderful. If you ever have the chance to go to Paris, GO!!! I can't wait to go back!

Update

2010-11-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Ok a long overdue update about our life! We have been busy, busy around here! The hubs and I went to one of the World Series games in Dallas. We had an absolute blast. We are Yankees fans and went to the winning World Series game last year in NYC and said we'd go to a World Series every year so we did our 2nd annual MLB World Series trip and it was so fun. It was great time just us. We ate some great food, shopped and watched the game. It was perfect.

We also went to the Luke Bryan/Jason Aldean concert, which was a blast. They put on a great concert. I also got to take my sis and 2 friends to the Justin Beiber concert. My lands! It was the loudest concert EVER! Crazy girls screaming the WHOLE time! But we had a fun. The girls loved it! And my sis caught one of the drumsticks at the end. She was pumped!

Update on little Cohen (from the last post) He is doing AMAZING. He is walking on his own, talking and doing wonderful. He is still going to therapy, but is doing so good. Praise the Lord!

Other than that nothing much has been going on. I haven't uploaded my camera in awhile so the next post should have some pictures AND i still haven't finished our Europe vacation my FAV city is left (PARIS) So that should be coming soon too!

Prayers for Cohen

2010-10-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. A friend of mine's son, Cohen, who is 2, was in an accident this past Saturday. I am going just copy from their blog so you can see what's going on. But please pray for him and their family. He needs healing, rest and comfort.

This is from their blog http://www.cohenritter.blogspot.com/

On October 9, 2010 two year old Cohen Ritter was involved in an accident at his home in Yukon, Oklahoma. He suffered a head injury and multiple skull fractures and is currently in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.When he was taken to the hospital on Saturday by ambulance, doctors were unsure of his prognosis but are expecting him to fully recover. He has been temporarily placed on a ventilator to allow his body to rest and for the swelling in his brain to go down. Doctors have said he will have to have atleast one surgery on one of his skull fractures in order to repair some of the damage. A CT scan and an MRI were both completed today and they are saying he possibly has a blood clot in one of his jugular veins and they may have to give him some blood thinners to rid the clot. Doctors have requested that Cohen is not talked to or touched because they do not want to stimulate him but rather for him to rest. We are waiting now to let his body kick in and help him progress in his healing and recovery.

On the blog there will be updates on his progression. Also their is a paypal link to help the family financially, while they are at the hospital and not being able to work. If you feel you can help financially I know the family will apperciate it more than you'll know. Thank you for your prayers and for passing this along to others so we can have many people praying for the Ritter family.

Random

2010-10-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

So I am linking up to Carissa's Miscellany Monday!

1. Seriously so glad my hubby is home! 3 nights was a long time to be gone and I am happy he's back.

2. My massage this weekend was AMAZING and I can't wait to get another one.

3. Losing weight SUCKS! OK technically losing weight is awesome and getting the final outcome is awesome, but getting there sucks. So hard. But I'll get there! So far I've lost 6 lbs and I will "officially" weigh again on Wednesday so we'll see!

4. It has cooled off here in Oklahoma. I think fall has finally arrived. I took this pic this morning on my way to work! It was quite chilly

5. I wish I was in bed snuggling with this little guy. I am SUPER sleepy today and I hope I get a nap!

6. Excited to go on a walk with my hubby today. We have been walking everyday and I so enjoy that time with him. It is so special to me to just be him and I!

I hope you all have a great Monday!

Edinburgh, Scotland

2010-09-24T04:43:00.001-07:00

After London we flew from the London City airport to Edinburgh. If you are flying out of London and can fly from London City do it! It is a wonderful small airport, that isn't very busy. It's a super quaint not busy airport, which is nice especially in London. Anyways, we flew to Edinburgh and stayed 2 nights there. (I wish we could've stayed longer!) We stayed at the Apex Waterloo Hotel. Which was a nice hotel right in the middle of town. We could pretty much walk everywhere. We did the hop on hop off bus tour, which i HIGHLY recommend in any town you are in. It gives you an overview of the city and then you can get off and see what you want. It was great. The first day we just rode it and only got off at the Edinburgh Castle and the Scotch Whiskey experience and then our second day we went to Holyrood Palace. The "new" main street in Edinburgh has some great shopping and the "old" main street (to the castle) has some good touristy shopping, if you are looking for typical Scottish things. The second day we were there that afternoon we went to St Andrews. It is about an hour and half away, but gorgeous to see. The golf course is so pretty and it's right on the ocean. The town of St. Andrews is also so pretty. I wish we could have stayed the night there and I know if we get back to Scotland we will. It was a very cute smaller town with lots to do. Seeing the countryside was wonderful. Everything was so green and pretty.The view from the Castle
Listening to our audio guides at Holyrood Palace. Another thing I recommend is getting the audio guides at places that offer them. They have some great info on them!
Part of the ruins of Holyrood Abbey
The hubs and I in front of the abbey
Holyrood Abbey

At Holyrood Palace- This is the Queen's resident when she is in Scotland
The Scotch Monument in the center of town with beautiful hydrangeas
The hubby at the Scotch Whiskey experience.
The Chapel at the Edinburgh Castle
The Edinburgh Castle

London

2010-09-23T15:38:00.001-07:00

The end of July we went to London, Edinburgh and Paris with my parents and sister. We had an amazing time. The first day we took an overview tour of London. We saw most of the highlights on London and got to visit Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. That evening we went to a nice restuurant by our hotel. We stayed at the St James Sofitel. It was an amazing hotel. Nice size rooms and wonderful beds! =)Lance and I in Trafalager Square. Probably one of the busiest places I've ever been in the evenings. It was PACKED with people. Street performers, tourist, locals, everyone!
My chocolate raspberry shake at the Chocolate Bar in Harrods. If you are in London go to this place. It is AMAZING!! First off Harrods is CRAZY! It's so big and seriously has everything, but the chocolate bar is wonderful! YUMMY

The family in front of Parliament and Big Ben
The Eye of London and the Thames River. The street performers on the river are amazing. They are so entertaining! Also there are some great place to eat on the river down from the Eye. Walking around in the evening was so much fun and so entertaining.
The Tower Bridge
My sister and I with a Beefeater
London was very nice. The weather was wonderful and we got to see so many things! Our next stop is the gorgeous Edinburgh, Scotland

Long time......

2010-09-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ok I've negelected my blog long enough!!! We have done so much since I last blogged so I'll start from after my birthday! We went to Michigan to visit some friends. We had a wonderful time. We went to the Mackinaw bridge, which connects lower Michigan to the upper part.

I caught the biggest bass of the season!! (it may be the biggest anyone's caught from that pond!!)

We also went to San Antonio in July for a hunting show, but we got to play too! We went to the Alamo and Sea World. It was my sisters birthday so her and her friend swam with the beluga whales.

Also at the hunting show I got to meet Matt Hughes (a UFC fighter) He was very nice and walked around the show and visited different booths

Ok the next posts will be a little longer. We went to Europe with my parents so I'll do a couple post on that with pictures!

Birthday in Pictures

2010-07-06T15:42:00.001-07:00

For my birthday we had a big party and then we went to the Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw concert. We had a BLAST!!!! At the concert
Lady A
Part of the birthday part group watching the UFC fight on the back porch
Hand stand contest!!! =) (Yes I am 25, who cares!)

The caterer for my party. It was SO yummy!! Big Truck Tacos came out to the house in their truck! It was awesome!
My hubby and I

With my birthday glass from my Uncle R.
The girls sitting by the pool

I have more pics to update from a trip to Michigan and the 4th. Hopefully I'll get to update them soon!!!!! Thanks for all the b-day wishes I had a BLAST

It's MY Birthday

2010-06-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

So Saturday June 12th was my 25th b-day. The hubs had planned a party for me at our house! We swam and Big Truck Tacos came out and catered. The big truck served 5 or 6 different tacos, chips, salsa, queso and gauc. It was DELICIOUS!!! We also had yummy yummy cake and cookies. They were wonderful! There was a UFC fight on that we got on the TV outside and then we swam and swam until like 2:30am. We had a BLAST. The group of people that came was just amazing. Some old friends, new friend, lots of family and it was just perfect. We all sat and talked and swam and just had an absolute blast. I love ALL birthdays but this one was just AMAZING!! The hubs and my parents did an awesome job! I also got some fun fun things for my b-day. The hubs got me tickets to the Lady Antebellum/Tim McGraw concert! So excited to go!!!!! I got some fun fun gift cards, hair things, picture frames, candles, a local beer, my parents got me a new small camera (I have a huge Canon Rebel, so I have this to carry in my purse!) It was such a great summer night. It was kind of cloudy, but perfect so that it wasn't too hot! It was amazing. Seriously, having so many friends and family that truly love me and my family and love being with us is such a great thing. We are so blessed. There were tons of memories made and laughs that it was such a fun night! Love my hubs for doing this for me! It was an awesome party!!!!!

Pics to come sometime soon! =)

Quick Trip

2010-06-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial weekend my mom, gran and a friend of my mom's went to Branson to go shopping at the outlet malls and to see some friends. We had an absolute blast. We shopped all day at one of the outlets and got some wonderful buys! There is a Gap Outlet there and I LOVE Gap. So I got some great things!!

These are the waterfalls that dance to music and have fire too! They are so fun!

We stayed at Branson Landing. It is a newer part of Branson on Lake Taneycomo. There is an outdoor mall and restaurants and a neat water fall that dances to music. It's so fun! We met our friend Syls and one of her little girls Gabs for dinner. (This fam has 7 kids!! The hubs and I babysat for them for 3 weeks before we were married.) Anyways, it is so much fun to see them and hang out with them. Dinner was amazing! We got up the next morning and shopped at Branson Landing and then headed home. It was a great little trip just the girls!

Me with Syls and Gabs eating dinner on Lake Taneycomo

This pretty pic is from sitting on our back porch. The evenings have been so pretty lately. I just love it!!! So thankful for where we leave. It is so pretty!

What we have been up to lately

2010-05-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

So now that summer has arrived (it was 93 degrees F today) we have been outside a lot. Now only if the cottonwood tree would stop blooming and my allergies would go away for a bit I'd be good to go! (Seriously though these stupid trees need to go away.) We had some friends over last weekend for their boys 11th b-day. They wanted to go fishing for their birthday. So they came over and fished with some friends. They had so much fun!!

Here is the hubs with the G and G and a bass they caught
Of course from my last post you all know I've been laying out by the pool. Here is Phoebe chilling by the pool. A friend of mine, Steph and I got to lay out last week for a couple hours. Let me tell you it was great! I always enjoy laying out with friends. Talking, reading, and enjoying the beautiful weather. We picked up sandwiches for lunch and ate by the pool. It was a perfect afternoon and I look forward to many more soon!!!

Bo and Filson on the dock after we walked to the pond

L and I have been trying to walk the dogs more. Well really I am trying to lose some weight so I am trying to walk close to everyday along with Curves and Bikram. Hopefully I can kick these 20lbs! But L has been walking with me which is nice b/c I like being with him. So we have been taking the dogs with us. The other morning I took Bo (the boxer) on a walk through the neighborhood and he saw a squirrel and just about freaked out. He almost pulled me over trying to chase it! This dog CRACKS me up. Whenever deer are outside of our fence you can ask him Bo where are the deer and he RUNS to the fence and barks at them. So I don't know why is surprised me when he ran at the squirrel, but I'm pretty sure he scared me more than the squirrel!!

So we had a nice relaxing day. Laid our by the pool and ate lunch at a yummy restaurant. Looking forward to a nice weekend!

PS I don't know why the pictures are so small, but oh well!

Summer Time

2010-05-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know I LOVE summer! I am totally a summer girl and I am so excited it is upon us! This past weekend was the first weekend we had people over to swim and cook out! It was so much fun. The weather is finally starting to warm up enough to lay out. I have yet to get in the pool, but I'm sure within the next week I will be!!

Filson loves the pool as much as I do!!

We have also had lots of critters arounds. First the dogs found a snake on the back porch at 5:20am as I was about to leave for work. Once the hubs let them out again it was gone. I HATE snakes! Seriously I could never see another one in my life and be just fine! Later that afternoon I saw a snake in the pond. As long as it's not in my yard, house or back porch I will be ok! =) Then we have these cute deer! There were twins born last year and they are both bucks. They have cute little antlers and have been hanging around our back yard the past couple of nights. They walk almost up to the fence. It is so fun! The dogs freak out! It's hilarious! Also today my mom and I were coming back from yoga and there was a mom and baby deer in our field. The baby was PRECIOUS!!! I mean so little and it's legs were wobbly. It was just adorable! I told the hubs I wanted one!! haha. The snakes can stay away for now I'll take the deer! =)

Speaking of yoga. I have been doing Bikram yoga for about 2 months now and I absolutely love it!! It's yoga in an 105 degree room, let me tell ya you sweat like you've never sweated before, but it is AMAZING. It is such a workout. The hubs has started going with my mom and I too. He loves it just as much as I do! It seriously works you out hardcore! If you have hot yoga or Bikram yoga anywhere close to you, you must try it! FYI bring a large towel, water and a hand towel to wipe your sweat! I think next week mom and I are going to try and do it everyday and do two classes in one day! So i'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully I don't pass out!!

Alright I'm headed to fold pool towels and get ready for the pretty sunshine!

Goodness Gracious!

2010-05-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

For about a week now the weathermen on ALL of our local channels have been saying there would be bad weather today. Of course when they predict it that early I always think, "Oh whatever, it's not going to be bad" Well they were right. We have had multiple tornadoes touch the ground in the metro area. We even had one on the ground about 5 miles from us. I hate tornadoes. About 3 years ago I was on my way home from college and I was in a tornado in my car. My car went up on two wheels and a tree limb hit the side of my car and my windshield cracked. Seriously one of the scariest things in my life. I called my sweet hubby when I saw the tornado and he talked me through it all but once it passed me my phone had no service and I couldn't talked to me. He left work and headed to where I was. We met on the road. It was so scary. So since then I have been pretty terrified of tornadoes. So today I called our family made sure they were all at home and got my things ready to get in the cellar. My mom called and said it was on the ground 5 miles from us and the dogs and I headed to the cellar. L of course stood outside watching for it. He did come in the cellar when the rained stopped and it got quiet. He thought it was close to us. Fortunately it went back up in the sky and we were protected. But in the metro area there has been some big tornadoes touch the ground with injuries and homes destroyed. Please pray for these families that are affected by these storms. It is so scary when it is so close to home. I'm glued to the TV for the rest of the night to see what all has happened and make sure we are in the clear! What a crazy Monday! Hopefully we won't get anymore the rest of the week!

(image from newsok.com)

Totally Random

2010-04-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have gone through my phone and put all my pictures on my computer. So I have a lot of random pictures of things we have done over the past couple of months! So here is a quick picture update!

First my mom, my sis, my friend Steph and I went to the Taylor Swift concert. We had so much fun. The concert was really good. We went and ate at the Melting Pot before, which was DELICIOUS and then went to the concert.

My sister and I
This was Romeo and Juliet, the stage looked like a castle. It was so pretty.
Steph and I at the concert

We also went to one of the NBA playoff games. The Thunder came to OKC 2 years ago and they are in the playoffs this year playing the Lakers. We went to one of the home games and they won! It was so much fun. The crowd was crazy loud and my throat is still a little sore from the game, but it as a blast!

I went fishing in the pond behind our house and caught this bass! The hubs laughs at me because I get so excited for catching fish regardless of how big (or small) they are!Of course he had to out do me and catch a big bass! Oh well! Here is Daisy laying out in the sun one day! She cracks me up

We went bowling with some friends at Rock N Bowl with the black lights! I though we looked really tan so I had to take of pic of our legs. (I know I'm a dork)

Our fun bowling shoes

Ok so hopefully I'll try and update this a little more often instead of posting a TON of pictures at one time!! But we have had a fun month. I love that the weather is warming up and we can be outside more.

Funny Friday

2010-04-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

It's Friday!!! I'm linking up with Kelly's Friday Funny! This is my first time to link up to anyone's blog so if there are issues please let me know! =)

So here are some of the funny things that happened this week: (you might now think all of these are funny, but I do and I want to remember them!! =)

First off we went and played golf on Monday we some friends of ours. It was a blast! I'm awful, but oh well we still had fun! The funniest part of the evening was I was walking down a little hill to where I hit my ball and L was on the cart watching me and I totally bit it! I fell flat on my butt! Our friends where up on the green and they saw me and then I went missing down the hill. I was laughing SO hard I couldn't get up! L just looked at me and started laughing.

I also went fishing this week. L wasn't home so I went to our pond with my new pink pole. I caught 7 small fish and then cast and the top of my pole flew out in the pond. I guess I didn't put it together right. But luckily I reeled it back in. I was dying laughing. If only someone saw me! It was pretty funny.

L and I got a new TV and TV cabinet for our living room and moved our old tv into our bedroom. It is a TV that sets up on the speaker (like all in one) So it doesn't have to have a cabinet or anything. We had a trunk in our bedroom that our old TV was on so we tried to put this TV on it and it set up like almost to the ceiling. We laughed and laughed about how high it was. L wanted to leave it but I was afraid the dogs would knock it off. It look liked a drive in theatre in our bedroom. It was so funny!

I think that is most of the funny things that happened this week. If I think of more I'll update this post and add more! I hope you all had a great week and laughed as much as I did!!

Sweet Puppies

2010-04-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

So this post is dedicated to our sweet puppies. I watched the movie Marley and Me tonight. WOW what a sad movie. I have had it on my ipod to watch for a while now but didn't want to watch it while we were traveling (don't really want to be crying on an airplane watching a movie!) Anyways, yes I did cry. As most of you know we love our dogs. They are our children. This movie hit close to home. Not that any of our dogs are not doing well, but just thinking about getting to that point where dogs get sick and old, makes me so sad. You better believe I'll be loving on all my babies more after watching this movie. Man, I still can't believe how sad the movie is. If you haven't seen it just be prepared, especially if you are a dog lover. Filson sitting pretty outside. He loves to be outside! He would stay in the pool all day if we let him!
Daisy with her winter coat on

Bo got stung by a wasp (well he was actually trying to eat it!) but that is why his lip is so big on the right side. I felt so bad for him, but he looked so cute and silly! Love that boy
Phoebe with her Christmas present. She is guarding it from the rest of the dogs

So if you watch the movie make sure you have some tissue! It really is a good movie, even though it is super sad, it has a good story line! I am so thankful for my lovey dogs! Going to give them hugs now! =)

FCA Banquet

2010-04-08T10:11:00.001-07:00

This past week we attended the FCA State Banquet. Michael Oher was the main speaker. I read the book about him and the Blindside before the movie came out and just loved it. We watched the movie a couple weeks ago and I thought it was wonderful. What an awesome story he has and it is so neat of him to share it at the banquet. First Mark Clayton introduced him. He played at OU before going onto the NFL and now plays with Oher in Baltimore. They did a sort of Q & A seesion for Oher. It was really good. What he has accomplished in his life is pretty amazing. I do hope that he doesn't stray from doing so good though. So many people look up to him. That has to be a hard position to be in, but I hope he doesn't take it lightly. One thing I thought was funny that he talked about was, he actually went to see the movie The Blindside with some of his buddies. He bought a ticket and went. No one even recognized him. I think that'd be so crazy to go sit in a theatre with some friends and watch a movie about your life. I'm sure it was a little strange. The banquet was really good. The food was delicious and the speakers did a great job! I am glad we got to go!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

L and I on Easter Sunday after lunch

On Easter Sunday L and I went to church and met a friend there and then we all went to my parents house for lunch. We have started attending a new church and this past Sunday was the official launch. There were SO many people there, it ended up being standing room only. It was such an awesome thing. The service was incredible. It was such a good start to Easter Sunday. After church we came home and I made green bean bundles and corn flake chicken and then we headed to my parents. There were 19 of us at my parents for lunch. We had delicious food! Prime rib, chicken, fried quail, okra, deviled eggs apple pie and the list goes on! It was so good! After lunch all of the kids did an egg hunt in the front yard. It was so fun to see them running around and having so much fun. The big kids got involved too because there was money in some of the eggs. They were being pretty funny! It was such a great time to reflect on what Jesus did for us and to spend time with family. The weather was amazing. L and I cooked out that evening and went fishing. We had an awesome day.

Fun Week and Good Friday

2010-04-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already April, summer is just around the corner. We are doing a Biggest Loser Challenge at Curves and it ends the 1st week of June and that is in like 8 weeks! SO CRAZY! I need to get on the ball with my weight loss, so I can win! =)

This past week my sister, my mom and one of my friends went to see Taylor Swift. Once I get my pics uploaded I'll post. The concert was so good. We had a blast. We ate at the Melting Pot before (I know so not good for dieting!) and then went to the concert. Taylor Swift is so stinking cute and just has so much fun performing. She put on a VERY good show!

L and I tried a new restaurant in town the other night. It is a update of the "pub" so it has pub food but nice pub food (does that make since?) There are burgers, bangers and mash, homemade pretzels with fondue, nachos and fish and chips. I had bangers and mash and L had the pulled chicken nachos. They were both SO good!!

Good Friday is such an neat day, being able to read in the Bible about what Jesus did for us to live every day. I have been reading through the book of John the past couple of weeks and reading about Jesus' last days and suffering just so I can live my life is such an overwhelming thought. God letting his only son suffer for me is so mind boggling. I am so not deserving of that, yet they still love me and accept me. Easter is such a special time of the year. Reading through the book of John and knowing the things that happened to Jesus and rising again on Easter Sunday, is so amazing. What an amazing God we have. The past month has been a really good time for L and I. We have gotten back into reading our Bibles and praying together and having quiet times. Also we have started going to church again. It is a refreshing time for me. God is so good and getting deeper into his word and closer to Him is such an amazing thing. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and remember what we are celebrating. The rise of Christ our Lord.

This weekend should be a lot of fun for our household. Tonight L's bro is coming home from school for the weekend, tomorrow some family friends from Missouri are staying at my parents and then Sunday we will go to church and then like 20 of us (family and friends) are all going to eat lunch at my parents. It will be a fun packed weekend and I can't wait!! Next post I'll have some pics for you!! (It's hard for me to not post pictures, but I'll try it!)

Grand Bahamas

2010-03-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

Last week was spring break and the hubs and I went to Grand Bahama Island with our families and friends. There were 17 of us total. We rented a house that is on a canal and across the street from the beach. It was AMAZING! We kayaked in the canal and saw all of the houses and some dolphins.

The front of the main house. There were 5 bedrooms in the main house and then 2 in a guest house. They were both very, very nice!

The pool looking out on the canal

The guys fished in the canal. They caught a few small fish but nothing too big!

My bro in law with his BIG catch and his coaches. My friend S and I, we were telling him where to cast and coaching him (ok we were teasing him)

We also snorkeled in the ocean. There were a ton of starfish and sand dollars.

Me with a starfish after snorkeling. (My hair is CRAZY! and Yes i put the starfish back so it could live!!) We didn't see lots of fish though, but it was still fine!

Here is my dad with crazy hair too!! His hair is really long for him right now and it is sometime kind of CRAZY!

My sweet friend S and I on the beach

My sis and I on the deck

My mom, sis and mother in law on St. Patty's day

Sis, dad and I

The weather was great. It only rained and was cloudy one day. It was just beautiful. The guys went golfing one day and the girls all went shopping. There were so cute shops in Port Lucaya. We rented a car so being able to drive around and do what we wanted was very nice.

This is my bro in law and 3 girls he doesn't know and then the girl in the purple dress is my "cousin" (fake cousin, our dad's are best friends) Anyways, L's bro was walking down the beach and these three girls were too, so my "uncle" asked if they'd take a picture with him. He was SUPER embarrassed! I think the picture is so funny, the girl in the swimsuit next to him is WAY far away from him! I'm sure these girls were scared and thought we were all CRAZY! Oh well, we were having fun

The beach was just beautiful. We had a great time laying out, the guys played frisbee and football and the beach was great to go on walks.

My sis and I got our toes done before we left and we got zebra print! You can't really see it in the pic, but they are so cute!!!

The hubs and I with our friends S and A

My amazing husband and I on the beach. (I think this is my new fav pic!)

The last day L and I went into town for dinner (everyone else had already left to go home) we went to China Beach at the Radisson. It was SO yummy! If you are ever in Freeport go to this restaurant. It was just delicious and had an amazing view. Our vacay was just wonderful. We had a great time getting some sun and relaxing on the beach. We all had so much fun together at the beach and playing games in the evenings. I learned how to play B.S. the card game and the I won the first time I've ever played!!!!!!! I was so excited! We came home last Saturday to a couple of inches of snow on the ground! But it's 70 today, so I'm ok with it! I am SO ready for summer though! I love warm weather

My Hubs

2010-03-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

So my hubby has started a new venture in his life. He has started his own company booking hunts all over the world. Our family hunts a lot and have been to a lot of different places to go hunting. So him and his dad are starting to be a booking agent for some of the places they have hunted. They have picked the best of the best and are booking hunts for them. It is such a great opportunity for him and he has so much fun doing it!

They are going to hunting shows to get their business started and to get some clients. They have been to two shows so far. One of them was here close so I got to go to some of it. It was so much fun to see my hubby having so much fun working. In the pic above is my FIL, my hubby in the hat standing and his bro sitting. I also loved talking to all of the different people. I get to go with L to one of the shows in Texas in May and I can't wait. It should be so much fun! If you want to check out his company the website is(warning if you don't like hunting don't go to the website! There are pics of dead animals! Don't say I didn't warn ya! www.powwowcreek.com

This and That

2010-03-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

Not much going on here on the homefront. But here are a few things for ya:

-I need to take pictures of the "new" Curves and post! (a sweet friend reminded me of that the other day!) I promise I'll do it soon!

-I need to update on what my sweet hubby is doing (again another post and pictures, don't have the time now!)

-The weather is actually going to be somewhat pretty this week and weekend! I am SO excited! I plan on taking the dogs on walks everyday! I CAN'T wait!

-My sweet hubs and I are getting massages tomorrow! Again somthing I am SO excited about!

-We watched Couple's Retreat again last night! It is such a cute movie, but it makes me want warm weather SO bad!

-Can you tell I'm sick of cold weather? Seriously, TOTALLY over it!

-I'm thinking about starting a kick boxing class. We are doing a Biggest Loser Contest at Curves and I HAVE to win! (I'm super competitive, by the way) So I think I'm going to do my Curves workout and then a kick boxing class or two. Also my mom wants me to do some yoga with her! So I might do that too! I'll keep you updated for sure! I need some accountablility with all of this.

Look for some new posts later on (with some pics!)

Boot Scootin Boogie.....

2010-02-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

So I got a pair of cowgirl boots this weekend. My sis was actually the one looking for boots last Friday, at the first store we went to I found some SUPER cute boots that I knew I had to have. My dad calls them "hippie boots", but oh my goodness I just LOVE them!!! Here they are........

Scroll down for more new posts!

Austin

2010-02-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago L and I went to see a friend of mine and her fiance in Austin, TX. We had so much fun. Neither one of us had ever been to Austin. We drove down there on Friday and ate dinner with Chey and her fiance at Guerro's Taco bar. It was so yummy!

L and M at lunch

On Saturday another one of our friends were in Austin too and they went shopping with us. We went to San Marcos to the outlet malls. On my goodness! These outlets are HUGE! We walked the whole thing and got some good deals. They even have a Pottery Barn outlet. I didn't get any thing there but there was some super cute stuff. That afternoon we ate lunch at Iron Cactus on 6th st. It was a beautiful afternoon and we got to sit on the deck. It was so pretty.

L and L

evening we met Chey and her fiance at Thirdbase to watch a UFC fight. We had a blast. It was yummy food and being able to hang out with Chey was so much fun.

Chey and M

Sunday we got up and went to Moonshine Bar and Grill. OH MY GOSH! If you are ever in Austin on a Sunday you HAVE to have brunch here. They open at 10am and do not take reservations. We got there at about 10:15 and waited about 5 mins. When we left the wait was almost 2 hours. So if you are there on a Sunday go to Moonshine very close to 10am! This was the best brunch I've ever had. They have everything pancakes, salad, fried chicken, eggs, sweet potato casserole, king ranch chicken, biscuits and gravy and it was ALL delicious! I wish I could get eat there on Sunday!! Seriously it was that good. After brunch we went to Cabela's to let the boys go shopping and then went to The Domain an outdoor mall. It was super cold that day though so we didn't stay long, but it was a very pretty place, we'll have to try it again when it's warmer. For dinner and to watch the Super Bowl we went to an Irish pub on 6th St. ( I forgot the name of it) We had such a great time in Austin and if you ever get the chance to go I recommend it. It was so much fun to get to hang with my hubby and our friends and

of course to see my friend Chey!

Go down for another new post

Oh Baby

2010-02-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

This month is FULL of baby showers! We know so many people that are pregnant it is CRAZY! One of the shower's recently was my sweet friend D. Her and her hubby are having a little girl (actually she was born this week! Welcome to the world little Kaylore!) We had so much fun at her shower. She got some great things! The food was awesome and the cake was tasty and super cute!

All of the hostess with D in the middle.

All of the yummy food and the cute cake

Another baby shower that I have helped with this month is my friend Linds. She is also expecting a little girl in April. Can't wait to meet little Kit! I forgot my camera for her shower, but trust me when I say I have never seen so many presents in my life! They got so much stuff and so many cute outfits and of course the necessitates. This was a really fun shower b/c a lot of these girls I used to go to church with and don't see very often so it was fun to catch up! If I get pics from someone else I'll post them here!

I have one more baby shower towards the end of the month for another friend. It is crazy how many people are pregnant right now! So exciting though.

Snow, Snow and MORE Snowl

2010-02-04T14:32:00.000-08:00

Last week it started raining and then sleeting and then finally turned into a beautiful snow! School's in our area were closed for 3 or 4 days because of the snow and ice. We didn't let it get us down. We had a blast, going to my parents for lunch two days, watching movies, playing on the Wii, hot tubing and sledding! Oh my the sledding was fun. I only went one time b/c I'm a big chicken, but watching the kids and taking pictures was still so much fun. Saturday, when we sledded, was such a BEAUTIFUL day. It is amazing how it can go from so yucky with ice to so pretty. God's creation is such an amazing thing. The ski was a beautiful blue and then the snow on all of the trees. It was just great.Filson and Bo playing in the snow

Little Miss Phoebe
The icicles on the pergola. So pretty!

The hubster, isn't he just the most good looking thing! =)

My sis, me and my mom

One of our friends thought he could go on the sled face first and this is what he looked like after! He had snow all the way down his shirt!

The sister's sledding, we tie the sleds to the back of the four wheeler and take them around the field! SO fun
Us with Bo
Daisy Mae playing in the snow

The snow on the side of the pool
What a wonderful day! The sun came out and the snow was just SO pretty.
One day when we were at my parents house my sis couldn't figure out her homework, so here is the hubs and my dad trying to figure it out (my mom ended up calling the teacher and the key was wrong! That's why no one could figure it out! HA)
My sis's friend. My sis and L's sis. They all had cute little bows in!

Our days home were so much fun! Curves was closed for 3 days and we didn't leave the house for about 2! It was a great time. We spent a lot of time together and really enjoyed just hanging out! It was wonderful.

Ithemba Trust

2010-01-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

The Ithemba Trust is the trust that started the schools that we visited in South Africa. Kitty Phillips and Angela Price co founded the trust together and started a private Christian school intially for their own children. The public schools in SA are not very good and the children do not get a good education, so parents normally send their children to boarding schools hours away. Kitty did not like sending her kids far away and not being able to be an active part of their daily lives. So Kitty and Kevin prayed about what to do and God lead Kitty to bring her children home and homeschool. Man what a calling God had and still has for her. The school started in a garage with their children and now has it's own land, building and 60 children. Here is their Vision off of their website:

"To become a life-giving community of people that nurtures, comforts, supports and develops the talent and gifting of school children through holistic education and a Christ-filled lifestyle."

Here is Charles, he is a little boy in the preschool class. We had the chance to visit with them and play with them. It was such a joy to be able to bring toys and presents to them and play with them.
Marvellous and Lisa. Such sweet children. They were both just learning english and were so excited about counting and their alphabet.
The information at the luncheon.
Charles and Angela Price and Kitty and Kevin Philips speaking at the business/community leaders luncheon. The Lord has so much in store for them and for the schools. Just recently they were able to buy a home to house some students and their families. Also they got a new principal and are making old farm buildings into classrooms. It is so neat to see God working in their lives and through them. If you want more information about the school the website is www.ithemba4hope.org

Also be praying for Kitty, Kevin, Charles and Angela for God to lead them in the next steps for the school and staff. Pray for the teachers to teach God's will and for the children to soak it all in and see the love of Christ. It is such an awesome experience apart of this and I urge you, if you ever have a chance to do any sort of mission work do it! It's amazing!

Kitty, Kevin, Angela and Charles- Thank you for coming here and visiting us. Thank you for sharing your heart with us and for being open to what God wants you to do. Thank you for being such amazing and fun people. We can't wait to see you again! Love to you all and your families!

Also continue scrolling down for some more new posts. I'm on a roll tonight!

How ya Feelin'

2010-01-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

In March 2009 we went to Discovery Bay, Jamaica and stayed in the Fortlands Point Villa. There were 13 of us that all went together. We flew into Montego Bay and then drove to our villa. Which is between MB and Ocho Rios. The villa is nothing short of amazing.

We had our own pool and our own little beach.

We also had kayaks, snorkel gear and plenty of games to play with. The kayaks were so much fun to take around the Bay. One evening we had "Rock star Night" Yes we dressed up did our hair had fake tattoos and we were all rock stars ( well some of us decided not to participate, ahem, DAD and C!) But I'll forgive them and go on with my story! On rock star night a steel drum band came out and performed for us. On my goodness it was so fun. We ate and danced and sang the night away. We even had a little bomb fire. It was so fun.

Our table for dinner on Rock star Night
The Steel Drum Band
All of the girls on Rock Star Night
All of the guys on Rock star Night

We did rent jet skis on day. It was pretty exciting, but I liked the kayaks more. The food was absolutely amazing. We went to Ocho Rios one day and went to Dunn's River Falls and climbed up it. It was a pretty fun experience, a COLD experience, but fun. The camera man kept yelling "HOW YA FEELIN'" and wanted us to yell back "hot hot hot!" He said this probably 1,000 times in an hour. It was hilarious. Another day we went on a snorkeling cruise. It was a lot of fun. The CD they were playing on the boat was the funniest things I've ever heard (well except the American Idol guy singing Pants on the Ground, if you haven't seen it look it up! HILARIOUS!) Anyways, back to the boat. They were playing songs about loving big booty's and big bamboos. It was so funny, the people working were singing every word and just loving it and we were all cracking up! Most of the trip we stayed at the house and just enjoyed our relaxing time. It was such a gorgeous house.

Scroll Down for another new post! =)

Busy, Busy

2010-01-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

Ok first off did ya'll not just LOVE the Boden clothes?!?!?! I order two shirts! I'll have to post pics once they're in! So excited!

We went to dinner for my dad's birthday with my fam, L's fam and my Gran. It was a delicious meal and a great time!

My sis sat by me and was just the sweetest cutest thing! She is 14 and getting to the stage where she wants to know everything and be in every one's business. It is so funny. L and I were talking about paying for dinner and getting our waiter the credit card and she got made b/c we wouldn't tell her what we were saying. Too funny. Also she looked super cute. I got her these bows for Christmas (i got some too!) And she just looked SO cute! Love her!

Saturday our friends from South Africa were in town. Charles and Angela Price, own part of the place we went to in SA and Kevin and Kitty Phillips are the co-founders of the school that we support and went to this summer. They are in the States for some hunting shows and came here and stayed with my parents and the in laws. It was great to have them here. Saturday we went to the in laws and ate dinner. We played on the Wii and Charles even sang Miley Cyrus "The Climb" for us on Wii Sing. It was HILARIOUS! L was videoing (if that's a word) it. I'll have to post it! On Sunday I took the girls all over town shopping. It was so much fun. It was great to get to spend more time with them. We ate dinner at my parents and watched the DVD of our Africa trip. It was so much fun to watch it with them. On Monday our church had a business/leaders luncheon and had them speak about the school in South Africa. It was great to hear their hearts and to hear more about the schools. I do plan on making a post about the schools b/c it is such an awesome thing. That night we went to the other owners of the Safari's house (they live here in the city) They hosted an evening about the safari and hunting. It was great to catch up with them too and we all have a wonderful time. It is so good to catch up with old friends and to be able to learn more about people. Kitty and I got to run around some together Monday afternoon and it was so cool to hear her story about her and Kevin meeting and her kids. I hope we get to see them all soon. God is doing awesome things in SA in the schools and in their lives. It is such a neat thing to be apart of!

I do think I am going to go back in our travel "files" and post some pics, tips and journal about different places we've been . If only for us to remember and be able to record them! I hope you all enjoy looking though and reading about our adventures!

Random

2010-01-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

So this post is TOTALLY random! That's kind of how my mind has been lately, so just go with it if you will! =) The pic above is from the other night L and I got to go see Legally Blonde the Musical! Oh my gosh it was SOOOO good. If you get the chance to go see it you must! It was hilarious! We had so much fun. We got dressed up and went to a really nice steak place and then to the play. It was a great evening just the two of us. We don't get "dressed up" and go out on dates very often so it was a nice treat! We also went to an NBA game with some friends of ours. It was a great game! It went into overtime, but we ended up losing! It was still alot of fun though.

Ok totally random, but I just got a new magazine in the mail that has the CUTEST clothes. The website is http://www.bodenusa.com/ I've never heard of this place and it has the neatest clothes and they are so unique. They also have men's and children's. The stuff is a little pricey, but I think I might splurge and get a couple things!
Oh a little update on Curves! We have had such a great 10 days at our new location! Not only does everyone LOVE it! But we got a new machine and we have had so many new members and new people come in for information. It makes me so happy to have new people in and for some of our old (not age old) members come back in! It is so fun to see them again and get reconnected!
We have a super busy weekend, but I am super excited about it! My dad's b-day is today so we are going out to eat with the whole fam for his birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY-O!! The people that live in Africa that own part of the lodges we stayed in are going to be here this weekend, so we are having dinner with them Saturday and then lunch and dinner on Monday. It should be super fun getting caught up with them and spending time with them.
OH and another TOTALLY random thing! We got the Just Dance game for the Wii! OH MY LANDS! It is so much fun! (and yes I did just say on my lands!) It is a cardio workout for sure, but oh so much fun. I pretty much rock on it! I have only been beat one time and that was by L's lil sis! The sweet hubs even played me (don't worry I beat him!!) If you have a Wii you have to play this game! So much fun! Ok I think that's it for my totally random post! Aren't you glad you see how my head works! (I'm sure you're even more glad you aren't in it! It gets a little crazy sometimes! )

What a week

2009-12-30T15:54:00.000-08:00

This week has been such a great week. Besides the fact that it was Christmas! =) On Saturday we had some friends, their kiddos and L's bro, over and ate chili and played on the Wii. It was just a great stay at home evening. Sunday night we met some other friends for dinner, also a fun time to chat and eat some good food! Monday we went to dinner with some friends from our old church. It was DELICIOUS and great to see them! We went to PF Changs and I LOVE it! It was so so yummy! Then they came over after dinner. It was great to catch up and spend time with them. This week we are moving Curves to a new location. So besides our fun time with friends we have been very busy moving! L has done everything for me! He is so great! He put together a desk, painted the whole place, moved a HUGE desk and put speakers in today. I am so thankful for my hubby and how much he helps me. He's just amazing. We are opening in our new location on Monday and I CAN'T wait. It is going to be such a good move for us. I'll have to post some pics next week, once everything is in. Even though it's been a busy week, it has for sure been a good one! Tomorrow we are having friends and family over for New Year's Eve and that will be a lot of fun too! We plan on playing games and eating some good food!! I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve! "See" you in 2010!!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2009-12-26T17:18:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve our church service was cancelled due to the CRAZY blizzard so we stayed home! We live very close to my parents and L's parents so we took our 4 wheeler and drove to L's parents house! My parents drove over also. L and I got stuck right in their drive way in a big snow drift! It was pretty funny and then my parents walked in and they had got stuck driving my dad's H-2 in the driveway too. So needless to say we knew we would never be able to make it to town! It was CRAZY! But we had our family and we were all safe! So we had our own church service and played games.

L's dad playing the guitar with his mom my sis and his sis singing.

My parents

After we sang and ate dinner and dessert, us girls played a game of scrabble, while the boys went to get the tractor to pull my dad out. Once everyone was unstuck, we ate some more and then all went home.

Christmas morning L and I woke up and opened our presents together and then went to my parents house and then his parents came to our house to open presents. After presents my g-parents came over along with my parents and L's parents and we had a HUGE brunch and spent time together.

L and I have always had matching PJs for Christmas morning, this year our PJs were Yankees pants! It is fun to pick out the pants and then to get to wear them together! It's something we will always do!

Part of the spread for brunch. We had fruit, cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, prime rib and sausage balls. I made the cinnamon rolls for the FIRST time! I was so worried that they weren't going to turn out (PS as a side note I'm not the best cook! So this was a BIG deal for me!), but they turned out and were DELICIOUS!

My sis, M, and L's sis, K, after opening presents! They were both jazzed up after opening presents. We got K a sewing machine and she just loved it. After we ate she went to my parents house and sewed with my mom. My sis, M, is 14 and WAY into make-up, so we got her make-up and she just LOVED it! She immediately went to the bathroom to put some on! Silly silly girls!

Uncle L (hubby's bro) and Bo dancing!

L playing with one of his presents. My parents and I got him a nice video camera to film his hunts with. He LOVES it and as soon as we got home him and his brother started messing with it. I'm sure he'll have a lot of fun with it and I can't wait to see some of the things he films.

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was great to spend time with family. I loved Christmas Eve being able to just be with our families and celebrating Jesus' birth. We all got lots of great presents and had just a wonderful time! Now we are relaxing with friends and enjoying our time together! What a great weekend we have had.

Beautiful

2009-12-24T12:46:00.000-08:00

In my last post I talked about how much I missed the summer and warm weather! Well we just got home from Cabo San Lucas. We were there for 4 nights with my parents and my sis. We had an absolute blast relaxing by the pool and the beach. It was just what we needed. Here are some pics from the vacay. We stayed at the Riu Palace in Cabo, which is an all inclusive resort about 10 mins from the town of Cabo. The resort was gorgeous!

The beautiful view at night
My precious hubby and I

My cute sis

One of the pools

My parents
The beautiful beach

AND then this is what we came home to! Oh my goodness is it COLD!!!
Oh how I miss the summer! =) Winter is here for sure!
The firepit is full of snow!

Filson is the only brave one that would come outside!
The pool looks SOOO cold

The good thing is we made it back home from Cabo before it started snowing and we will be having a WHITE Christmas! We are having a nice relaxing day inside. God is so good! Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year and it is so great to celebrate His son's birth. What a great day!

I miss this.......

2009-12-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

I love the change of seasons. I love that it's cold during Christmas, the leaves changing colors, the tulips in the spring, BUT I am TOTALLY a summer girl. I love being in my swimsuit by my pool, I love reading books in the sun, I love my hubby grilling for me,I love sitting out by the fire pit, I love my anniversary and birthday (both in June), I love having peeps over to be outside and swim, so when winter comes and it's too cold for me I just miss my summer! We aren't even in the coldest part yet, but I am longing to lay out and read my book right now! Especially b/c I'm reading a good book! (I'm reading Blindside: Evolution of the Game, the movie the Blindside is based on this book)

Just remind me next August when I'm saying it's too hot b/c my pool water is bathtub temp. how much I missed summer!

Oh Christmas Tree

2009-12-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a date night of dinner and Christmas decorations. It was a lot of fun to go through all of our ornaments that we have and look at all of them. We buy an ornament every place we go on vacation so it is fun to go through them and remember that vacation. We also bought a new tree this year. We bought a pre-lit tree and I just LOVE it!!! In the past we used L's parents tree from when they first got married. I plan to put it up in another part of the house next year, but just didn't get around to it this year.Our pretty tree! We don't have a mantle so I got the wire Christmas Card holder from Pottery Barn and hang our stockings on it. (Yes the dogs have stockings too!!! )

This is the only pic we got of the dog by the tree! The other two (Daisy and Phoebe) wanted NOTHING to do with taking pics!

Filson sitting by the tree

Bo decided he just wanted to sit on the couch

This is our tree topper this year. We had a pretty angel but since we have moved we can't seem to find it, so we improvised this year! I got this twiggy things from Hobby Lobby. I really like it, it is super fun.

here are some of my fav ornaments
This is from New York City. It's Santa at a hot dog stand
This is from our first Christmas married, we went to Hawaii.
Our little Bo's ornament! I need to get Filson one but haven't found the perfect one!
This is from Steamboat, CO. The sign next to it says "Kiss Me S'more" I thought that was just so stinking cute!!

I love Christmas. It is such a great time of the year and to celebrate our Savior's birth. What a great time it is!

SURPRISE!

2009-12-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had a surprise birthday party for my lovey hubs! It was so much fun. He was totally surprised. We had it at a little event center and did all the decorations very rustic. We had BBQ for dinner and chocolate cake and key lime tarts for dessert. It was such a great time with friends and family.L looking at me saying "What in the world?!?!?!?"

I kind of looked surprised here too! HA

Me and my sweetie

The yummy dessert table

The girls

Our fun table decorations

L "making it rain" with the bartenders tip! The guys were being VERY silly!

The party was great! I am so surprise I kept it together and didn't tell him. Especially because the day of my friend and I were setting up and we got this brilliant idea to get something out of the loft with no ladder! So I got on her shoulders! NOT SMART! After getting the decoy it took us off balance and I fell off her shoulders onto my head and she fell on her hip. Yeah not the brightest time of my life, but we survived! We both are a little sore, but no blood and no broken bones! But defiantly CRAZY! I promise I'll never do that again! As an adult you shouldn't be getting on anyone shoulders unless you are in the pool! (Note to SELF)

Other than falling, the day went great and the party was even better!

Happy Birthday Sweet Hubby

2009-11-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Today is my sweet hubby's birthday! I hope you have a GREAT day babe! I am so glad we get to spend the day together! You are so special to me. You are my best friend and always will be. Thank you for all the fun times we have together and for being there to cry, laugh and smile with. I am so glad we get to go through this life together. Thank you for being such an amazing man. I am so proud of you. I hope your 25th Birthday is a GREAT one! I love you so much and I am SO thankful for you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!

Capetown

2009-11-27T18:03:00.001-08:00

Our final stop in South Africa was Capetown. It is a wonderful city. We stayed at the Cape Grace which is on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The area is amazing. It has cute shops and great restaurants all right on the waterfront and all within walking distance.
This is our hotel and Table Mountain in the background
Cape Fur Seals
Our hotel the Cape Grace
Our lil sisters at the aquarium that is on the V & A Waterfront. It was a very neat aquarium and a nice afternoon outing

This is in the wine country. We took a tour one day to Franschoek and Stellenbosch. These are two cities outside of Capetown that have tons of wineries. We went to a couple of them and got to have a wine tasting. There were some amazing wines and the vineyards are just beautiful.

An old cathedral. The buildings in these towns were just amazing. Most of them were old buildings that had been renovated with cute little gift shops, coffee shops and restaurants. It was great to just be able to walk around and shop here.
We also went to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Very cool to think about the history that is here and when the Cape of Good Hope was found.

These are South African Penguins. There is a colony of them at Boulder Beach, which is outside of Capetown. They are the cutest little things! We had so much fun watching them play and swim. There little waddle was so funny.

The ones that look like they have fur on them are babies. Once they get into their "teens" They lose the furry-ness (is that's a word) and just have the soft feathers.
Cute little babies
The whole fam

The girls with Table Mountain behind them
Getting ready to get on the gondola to go to the top of Table Mountain
The view from Table Mountain. It was so pretty to see the city from here and to be above the clouds
Us on the top of Table Mountain

Our time in South Africa was just amazing and I cannot wait to get back. There are so many things to see there and so many things that we don't have. It was a wonderful trip

Shamwari Pt 4 of Africa

2009-11-22T18:49:00.000-08:00

We then as a family went to Shamwari. It is a big game reserve that has the Big 5 ( Lion, Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Leopard and Rhino) This was the first place that we had been that had cats. There are a couple different places to stay at Shamwari, we stayed at the Riverdene Lodge. The Riverdene Lodge had a kids area, game room , indoor and outdoor dining area and a pool. The Born Free Foundation is also at Shamwari. This is where they take cats that have been living in poor conditions such as circuses, zoos, parks and private homes and these cats are brought to Born Free Sanctuary to live in the most natural environment for them. Most of them can't go back in the wild b/c they aren't able to protect themselves and get food for themselves. It is a really neat program. We went there and saw some of the cats and got the history of the foundation.
The view from dinner outside

The infinity pool

The beautiful flowers

Vervet monkeys

A jackal and wildebeest in the background

Hippos

A baby cheetah. There were two babies. They were so cute and playful

The two babies with their momma

Three lion cubs. There were 5 cubs and their mom together.

Sitting in the game drive vehicle waiting to go look for animals. When we went on the game drive in the morning our guide had put hot water bottle heaters in our seats with a blanket over them so our seats were SO warm! It was such a nice touch!

Leopard. It was crazy trying to find the leopard. They guide said that someone had seen it in this area so we drove around and around for probably close to an hour looking for it. We saw a giraffe and admired it and took pictures and drove around more. And then the giraffe spooked and ran off and then looked back at this location, so the driver went back to where the giraffe was looking and the leopard was laying right there. A place that we had just went by minutes before. They are so hidden in the grass and trees it is crazy! It also was crazy how close to got to the animals. I kind of was freaked out!

Such a beautiful animal. Her eyes were amazing!

The giraffe that let us know where the leopard was. Thank you pretty giraffe!

A warthog! or Pumba as we called them!

Back to Africa, Pt 3

2009-11-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

After our stay at Oceana we wet back to a hunting lodge with the guys! This one was closer to town so us girls got to go shopping and to the beach! Oh and we went on a river cruise that was just great. Most of my Africa blogs are pretty picture heavy, but that is just the best way to show what all we did and what we saw! So here we go:
This is part of the lodge we stayed in. I loved the thatch roofs.

Dinner one evening. The outdoor/indoor dining areas where amazing and the dinner set-up was just as great at every meal!
My cute and awesome hubby on the beach

We went to a Mohair Store, where they take the sheep hair and dye it and then make it into yarn and then make scarves, blankets, jackets, hats etc. It was such a neat experience to see it from start to finish and the owner was just the sweetest lady!

The yarn outside drying after it had been dyed.

A lady making a scarf

All of the yarn.

Making the yarn.

The next set of pics are from the camp we stayed at while we were there. We went on a River Cruise and then had dinner at this small little old house right on the river. It was such a great meal and a wonderful atmosphere.

The dining area

L and I on the river cruise

The beautiful sunset on the river

The house and firepit from the river

Looking towards the Indian Ocean

Fast and Fabulous

2009-11-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

So L is a HUGE NY Yankees fan. So we had been keeping up with the World Series and watching every game! So last week when the Yankees lost to the Phillies in Philadelphia I said jokingly, "How fun would it be to go to NYC for the game at the new stadium?" L just said " Yeah it'd be fun" and it was dropped. That was Monday night and the game was Wednesday. So on Tuesday morning I got up and checked out how many airline miles we had and Hilton Honors points. Well it turned out that we had enough

to get us to NYC and we had enough points for one night in a hotel. So I called Lance and he said ok let's go! So I booked our flight and hotel and got tickets to the game online. I booked everything on Tuesday at 10am and our flight left at 5pm!!! Then I ran my errands as FAST as I could, ate lunch with my Gran, did some laundry and threw some clothes in our bags and we took off!

The pics above are from our hotel room. The Empire State Building, office buildings and then the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

We got to our hotel at about midnight. We slept in

Wednesday, got up and went shopping, walked around, ate lunch at Ted's Montana Grill, which is delicious and then went to Magnolia Bakery to get a Cupcake (they were ok, a little dry, but the icing was great)

After shopping some more we went and took naps knowing that we would have a late night at the game!

We saw Jimmy Fallon in Rockefeller Center. They had Olympic day while we were there and he was doing one of the events for his show.

So the evening of the game we went and ate mexican food at Chevy's. It was a great Tex-Mex. So so yummy! Then we took the subway to the Bronx to the stadium. When you got off the subway it was so crowded going into the stadium. Everyone had their Yankee gear on and the level of excitement was awesome. It was such a fun place to be.

L and I at our seats before the game!

Our view of the game!

This guy was walking around the stadium dressed up as a pirate! It was pretty silly!

The end of the game!

After Rivera came in and closed the game! It was a blast and most importantly the YANKEES won the World Series! We stayed for the presenting of the trophy and to hear some of the players speak. It was an absolute BLAST! We we left the game everyone was still outside of the stadium, to get back to the subway it was person to person taking tiny steps to get anywhere. It was CRAZY!

We finally got back to our hotel about 3am and went straight to bed! We got up the next morning and went to a Yankees shop to get World Series tees, ate lunch and headed back to the aiport! It was a FAST, but FABULOUS trip. We had so much fun and we are so glad we got to go!

GO YANKEES!

SA School

2009-11-02T10:24:00.001-08:00

One of the places we stayed in South Africa has started a school for the workers children. Before we went each of us sponsored one of the children in the school and will continue doing that until they graduate. It was such a great experience to actually get to meet the children we sponsored. We took two big bags FULL of things for the children. Clothes, blankets, shoes, socks, toys, books, paper, things for school parties, and much more. It was so amazing to be able to give these things to these children who really don't have alot. We spent the morning playing with the children and letting them see everything we brought. It was so much fun to be able to give them new t-shirts that we had made and all of us match. The kids just loved that! They are just now learning english and had so much fun trying to talk to us and tell us different Bible verses they have memorized. They sang songs for us and showed us all of their activities they do everyday.
This is the whole group, all of the kids, teachers and all of our groupLearning how to hit off of a tee. They don't play baseball there so they didn't know what to do with the tee. It was so much fun to be able to show them and then play baseball with them. They are so stinking cute!

L's mom, dad and sis with the little girl they sponsored

L and I sponsored two and then Curves sponsored on child. So this is me with the 3 kids. They were just adorable. ALL of them were so nice and so extremely grateful

Little Sisi picking out a blanket.
The kids loved to look at the pictures after we took them. Here they are looking at all of the pictures we had taken that day. It was so cute to see them look at themselves in the pics. They would get so excited!
All of the kids giving my mom and big hug after picking out their blankets
Seeing a song for us
Saying Thank You
CUTE CUTE CUTE! She loved this tutu and headband.
This is who my mom, dad and sis sponsored. Mom brought John Deere boots for him and new jeans and a hat. He LOVED it.
Playing catch
Dancing for us outside
Doing a song and dance for us outside

It was such a blessing to get to meet these children. God us blessed us beyond measure and it is great to give back to others. All of these children will always hold a special place in my heart. They are so precious. Also the teachers are amazing. The main teacher just learned english 2 years ago and is now teaching it to these children, which is just amazing. She is such a blessing to these children and to her own children. It was so awesome to get to meet her and spend time with her. Also the family that started these schools are just amazing. Another just wonderful wonderful family. I am so glad Angela got to spend the day with us at the school. What they have done for these children and the children at the other schools is wonderful. God is doing such great things at these schools and I hope we get the chance to go back there to visit these children and share with them.

SA, part 2

2009-11-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

After E G Reserve the guys and my sis went on to mountain camp to hunt some more. My mom, L's mom and L's lil sis, K, all went to Oceana Wildlife Reserve. OH MY is was AMAZING. One of the most gorgeous places I've ever been in my life. It is outside of Port Alfred, a very cute town on the Indian Ocean. Oceana is just breathtaking. It is on the Indian Ocean, set up on a hill. Everything overlooks the land, beach and the ocean. The staff there is also amazing. We got massages, pedicures and manicures. We took a LONG walk on the beach, which goes on and on, and we never saw a soul. We took game drives and had sundowners (which is a stop right at sunset with appetizers and drinks) This is looking from the spa towards the main dining area and pool.

We stayed in the 3 bedroom house on the property. This is the upstairs living area.

The awesome pool. The bottom part was a shallow pool and then up above the waterfall was the main pool area that was deeper. It was too cold for us to swim but it was still very pretty. Oh the weather. We went in June and that is the begining of winter in SA. It was cold, but not freezing. On game drives we did need a scarf, beanine and jacket, but there were some days that t-shirt and jeans were just fine.

This is the fitness center overlooking the amazing ocean.

The beach was spectacular. It is huge. There is big sand dunes that you have to get over before you get to the ocean. It is so so so so pretty.

From where we were standing it takes about 10 minutes to walk to the water. That is how big it is. It was very deceiving. We were like Oh yeah a walk on the beach no biggie! Well when we saw this we though differently!

This isn't a very good pic, but this is sundowners. There is a little tray that pops up on the front of the vehicle and that's were all of the snacks and drinks go. It was so cool to be standing out in the bush just snacking and watching the sunset. All of the food here was also amazing. K was so excited because they had hot dogs and french fries! She was glad to have some American food!! =) The last day we were there we were suppose to meet the guys at the next camp and they surprised us and met us at Oceana for lunch. I was so glad that they did that because I wanted all of them to see Oceana. It is just such an amazing place.

K with the gorgeous sunset
AMAZING giraffes. They let us get so close to them. It was so cool. They'd just look at us and then go right back to eating.
Zebra family
This is at the elephant park. We got to ride the elephants and then feed then. It was fun to do, but the guys didn't enjoy it as much. It's not the most comfortable ride! But to be able to touch them and be that close to such huge creatures is so amazing.

South Africa June 2009

2009-11-01T06:39:00.000-08:00

Our families went on a hunting/family trip to South Africa in June. We stayed at the EG Reserve in the Eastern Cape of SA. The first placed we stayed was S P on the Eproperty. The closet town was Grahamstown. It is a small, old town. It had some very cute little shops and a gorgeous cathedral. While we were staying at S P the guys and M (my sis) hunted and my mom, D (L's mom), K and I got massages one day, went on a SUPER long walk, which was crazy to be walking and seeing these wild animals everywhere. We went to Grahamstown and to Port Elizabeth to shop. PE is the town we flew into to get to S P. There are some SUPER cute shops there and we ate lunch at a great little cafe. One day while at SP we went to do an elephant ride. Besides the day we went to see the elephants the guys hunted everyday while we were there. The service at all of the E Properties was absolutely amazing. The food was wonderful. The wait staff and cooks were just as great. They were so kind and attentive. We ate what the guys and my sis killed that day. Which was fun to be able to try so many different kinds of meat. The desserts were wonderful too. The staff was great. The hostess were just wonderful. They took us girls on our walk and on our game drive. We had so much fun with them. The PH's (pro hunters) were fun too. They guys and my sis had a great time with them. They are so attentive to what they wanted to hunt and very accommodating. The whole trip was just amazing, but being cared for in this matter just made it so much better.
The Cathedral in Grahamstown

Warthog Wallow is an outdoor eating area by the pool.

The Rhino Bar

This is the Rhino Bar. This is where the TV is along with a bar, a huge fireplace and an outdoor area with a fire pit and a dining area.

This is my mom and L's mom sitting out by Warthog Wallow bird watching. . At S Pthere were 3 chalets (which are in the background of this pic) Then there is a main house with 2 bedrooms, a bar and an eating area.

This is L and I's room at S P. We were there for our 5 year anniversary and the girls that work there put rose petals in the room and some champagne. It was super sweet.

This is on a game drive. The two rhinos and the cape buffalo in the background. Seeing these animals in real life, in their natural atmosphere was just amazing.

Beautiful rhinos. It was amazing to be able to just sit in the ranger and watch these animals.

A mountain zebra

A Sable

This is a type of Aloe plant that was blooming, these were everywhere.

This is the first of 5 places that we stayed while we were in SA. I plan on adding each place we stayed in and a review of them soon!

Enjoy

First Time for Everything

2009-10-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

L and I with the dogs. 2007
Bo and Daisy

So here goes. My first blog. I guess I can introduce everyone, for those of you that don't know us IRL (in real life). I am M, I'm married to L. We have been married for 5 1/2 years. We have four dogs.

Phoebe a French Brittany who is 9 and doesn't really like the other dogs, but she loves to sit outside and watch our duck!( more about him later)

Daisy is a Boston Terrier and is 5 she's CRAZY! She loves to take everything she can under our bed. She steals everyones toys and just takes them there, doesn't play with them she just stores them.

Bo is our Boxer is will be 4 in November. He's just a doll!! He has the sweetest personality (my mom said he might be a little slow) He just likes everyone.

Then there is Filson, he is a Chocolate Lab and he will be 3 in November. He is L's duck hunting dog! He is HUGE. He weighs close to 115 lbs. No fat just a big big boy. He is a bull in a china cabinet. Just today K (L's sis) walked in with Sprite from Sonic and Fil walked up and nudged her and busted a whole in the cup! Crazy!

L and I bought the Curves Women's Fitness Center in our hometown a year ago in September. I work there and L works for my dad who is a geologist. L hunts as much as he can and we travel whenever possible!

OH our duck! I almost forgot! We have a small pond behind our house and we started with 3 ducks and have at one time had 6. Well we are down to one! =( His name is Louis Vuitton. We call him Louis or Lou Lou for short. He thinks he is a person and would come in the house if we let him. He walks around the outside fence and teases the dogs ALL day long. He loves leftovers and will eat ANYTHING! I do feel bad for him b/c his friend Dolce just ran away last week (really I think she was killed, but running away sounds better!) So we might get another duck or give him to my mom. I'll keep you updated! So I think that give you all a little bit of info to who we are! Hope you enjoy!

Really there's not much else to say, besides it's been a CRAZY two weeks. I had my tonsils out two weeks ago. So there was a week of doing NOTHING, not even talking. L said it was weird to watch TV in silence! =) Then this past Sunday the complex that Curves is in caught on fire! GREAT!!!!!! We had smoke damage BAD! It still stinks. We were closed for three days trying to clean and get it ready to be open. But we are up and running, just a little smelly! Well we have K for the night so we are going to watch Monsters vs Aliens here at the house! So I gotta go get ready for that! Hope you all have a great Saturday!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know. I am going to just use initials for us and our families. So if you comment could you please do the same? Thanks so much!

M