Austin and Ivy

Donny and I went to Austin this weekend. His grandpa is 92 and decided to travel from Ohio (with Donny's mom) to see his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. We had a great time getting to visit with everyone. His grandpa brought all of the letters Donny sent to him as a child. In all of them Donny talked about bunnies and the weather. Apparently his grandparents always had bunnies in their backyard and the weather was so different in Ohio than in Texas, it was always a topic of conversation.

We took some pictures before we left, then went to the school to play basketball, soccer, golf, etc. While we were playing basketball, I decided to take off my jewelry. I sat it down within reach of Donny's 2-year-old niece. Unfortunately, the charm that meant the most to me went missing. Donny had it engraved and sent it to me for Valentine's Day. So...we dug through thick ivy, roaches, and lizards for two hours, but never found it. I was/am extremely sad.

Me with Tatum and Jordan

Donny with Tatum and Jordan

Donny tickling Tatum

4 Generations: Tatum, Bobby (Donny's brother),

Grandpa, Donny, Sharon (Donny's mom), and Jordan

Grandpa with Jordan and Tatum

Us with Grandpa

Us with Donny's mom and Grandpa

Sharon and the boys



"Help Uncle Dee Dee" (She made the basket by the way!)

The missing charm. It said "Love Always Donny" on the back.

Guess Who's 21 Today

My 'Little' Sister...

Happy Birthday Brette!

Unlikely Angel

For those of you that don't know my brother, Corey, he is a songwriter in Nashville. One of the songs he wrote, Unlikely Angel, was released on iTunes today!! The artist is Jason Jones who is a part of the Warner Brothers label.

I am SO excited for Corey! If you happen to purchase this song, will you please let me know so that I can tell him?

Another song he wrote, Heroes and Angels, will kick off the Annual Conference of the Veterans of WWII Convention in Las Vegas where he'll also get to meet President Obama.

CONGRATULATIONS COREY!

Update

During Memorial Day weekend I went to visit my first college roommate, Carrie (Peter) Watts. Her parents only live an hour away from Donny, so I spent all day on Saturday with Carrie and her family. Her dad is a farmer who grows sweet corn. Every Memorial Day Weekend, her family sells the corn at Prasek's. It was great to see Carrie's family, many of whom I had not seen since her wedding, 6 years ago. The best part was getting to meet Carrie and Clint's new daughter, M. M's story is an amazing one. One day at church, a lady approached them and said her niece wanted to give up her 5 month old for adoption. She asked if they would be interested in adopting M. 24 hours later, Clint and Carrie were parents!

Here's the precious little girl!

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Also...I am VERY excited to announce that Donny got a coaching job at North Crowley High School. He is moving to Fort Worth around August 1st and is looking for a place to rent. If you know of anyone in the South Fort Worth/North Crowley area that has a place to rent (that is reasonably affordable for one person - $850 or less), please let me know. I can't wait to FINALLY be in the same town after 3 years of a long-distance relationship.

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My dad also accepted a new coaching position and will be the Head Baseball Coach of the East Hickman Eagles in Lyles, Tennessee.

London Andrew

My cousin, Joy, and her husband, Philip, had their first child on May 5th. Joy and Philip met in London while they were studying abroad. They decided to name their first-born London since the country was so special to them.

Meeting London for the 1st time - Forgive my shiny face. They were keeping the room warm, not to mention I bought foundation for dry skin and apparently it made my face REALLY oily.

London Andrew - 9lbs, 3 oz and 23 inches long!

London

Look at that hair!

Joy, London and Me at the hospital.

Joy, London and Aunt Marie

Newport Beach, California

April 17th - 20th, 2009

Mike and I at Sharkeez

Seals out in the ocean

Seals out in the ocean

Mike and I at Mutts

Mike and I on the boat

Birdman at Newport Beach

Brette and I on the way to breakfast

Sisters

At the Dory Fishing Fleet

We anchored in the harbor. This was a sailboat behind us.

Fresh Dead Squid (see the sign)?

Brette, Angelina and I on the front of Mike's Boat

Vacation

Tomorrow Brette and I are headed to Newport Beach to visit Mike. In case you don't know who Mike is, he was married to our mom for about 10 years. When they got divorced, he moved back to California. Part of the time he lives on his boat "Gotta Lime" and the other part of the time, he lives in Palm Springs. So...we're flying out there tomorrow and staying on the boat for the weekend. I can't wait!

For Gayle (and anyone else who's curious)

The Valentine's Gift Exchange that I participated in was orchestrated by my friend Jennifer. She had everyone that was interested in participating e-mail her and give her their mailing addresses. After the entry deadline, she paired people up and sent everyone the name and address of their match. We then mailed a Valentine's Day treat to that person that was $10 or less and posted a picture of the gifts on our blogs.

Fun!

What Happens...

when you travel without packing warm clothes? You get to wear the largest thing in your girlfriend's closet, which happens to be a sweatshirt with her name on the back. Poor guy!

Let Your Worries Go

Remember when I posted about Northwestern Mutual's Let Your Worries Go campaign? I'm proud to announce the following results of that campain through an article released by the Northwestern Mutual Foundation:

In first place with more than 42,000 votes was the YMCA. The Northwestern Mutual Foundation will contribute $400,000 to the YMCA to support Healthy Kids Day programming across the country.

Additionally, Habitat for Humanity - New Orleans is receiving $250,000, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is receiving $200,000 and Feeding America is receiving $150,000.

During this time when every dollar counts, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation is proud to utilize this campaign to make a meaningful impact for people who are touched by the outreach of these organizations across the country.

Thank you again.

Northwestern Mutual

Sweet Mema (Updated with Pictures)

My sweet Mema went home to the Lord last Monday morning. She was a beautiful, Godly woman and has now been reunited with my Pepa and her many other friends and family in Heaven. For a couple of weeks before Mema passed away, she had been asking me questions about Donny. Questions such as "Don't you still love him? I know he still loves you. Aren't you going to let him take you to lunch? Aren't you going to go to his basketball game?"

I had already decided I was going to allow him to take me to lunch during Valentine's Day weekend and when I told her, she couldn't have been happier. She called me after he went home just to ask how things went.

It's no secret Mema loved Donny. She always asked about him and would even make him his own pie to take home after the holidays. Here are a couple of pictures to prove it...
Fast forward about a week. Donny asked me to go to the UT/OU basketball game and I agreed to go, until I found out Mema had a stroke. I went to the hospital and was able to talk to her. At that point, she was still coherent and was able to talk and answer questions. My Aunt and Mom told me I still needed to go to Austin, because all I would be doing is sitting at the hospital all weekend. So...I went.

I had already decided I was going to tell Donny before he went home that I wanted to date him again. I had seen a definite change and realized that there was no one I'd rather have by my side during difficult (and great) times. So...I prepared myself to tell him, but wanted to make sure I told him at the right time. Monday morning, Mema passed away and he was the one with me picking up my mom to take her home. He was also the one that vacuumed my aunt's whole house to prepare for visitors (without being asked). He also sat with my aunt at the hospital, waiting for my mom to take a warm shower at my apartment. All of this did NOT go unnoticed by me.

So...right before he left I told him I loved him and wanted to date him again. I also told him that this is what Mema would have wanted. When I said that, he broke down. He then told me that he and Mema had been speaking 4 to 5 times a week. She would call and check on him and make sure he was doing okay. She would also tell him she was praying every night that we were going to get back together because she knew he would take care of me. Several of the things he mentioned, he would have known no other way than if he had talked to her. My aunt later confirmed the existence of those conversations.

Mema was so special to me and I will dearly miss her. The great thing is, I know that I will be carrying out one of her wishes by marrying Donny. And yes, it is my wish too!

Valentine's Gift Exchange

Thanks to Jennifer's Gift Exchange, I came home to an awesome package of goodies last week. Christy sent the following items to me:

Thank you so much Christy!! I LOVE it!

Dumb Move of the Day

On Tuesday, my low gas indicator dinged. Normally I can travel 60 more miles after I hear the ding. Due to the fact we were closed yesterday because of ice, I hadn't driven anywhere since then. So...I decided to try to make it to work this morning without filling up. As I'm sure you've already guessed, I didn't make it to work. About 1/2 mile from work my car started sputtering and died. Thankfully I was in the right lane and was able to pull over. The only bad thing was that I was at an on-ramp and rush-hour traffic was in full swing. I called my friend Janie and she had a guy from work come get me. He took me to a gas station where I bought a gas can. On the way outside, a man asked if we needed gas. He said he had a full gas-can in the back of his truck. When we told him my car wasn't at the gas station he said he would follow us as long as it wasn't too far away. The very nice man followed us to my car, put gas in it, and stayed until he knew that my car was going to start. I thought that that was such a kind and thoughtful thing to do!

I have only run out of gas 1 other time in my life...in college...when I was broke. I had no excuses today.

Lesson learned.

Top Braces No More....

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this.

Remember this picture?

Guess what! No more top braces. I have some stubborn bottom teeth and will have to wear my bottom braces for another 3 months. Oh well...

I've tried to post several times lately, but Blogger hasn't been letting me upload pictures.

I'll try to get caught up soon!

Mexico

Thanks to my friends Yolanda and Chris, I got to spend the week after Christmas in Mexico! This was the first time that I had been to Mexico for more than just an afternoon. When I was younger, we lived really close to the border and would go to the market every once in awhile. All in all, I ended up being in Mexico for 7 days. Yolanda's family is from Zaragoza, a town about an hour past the border in Eagle Pass. Her parents have a house in the States and in Zaragoza so we were able to stay there. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Front of the house

Zoey in front of the door

Yolanda's Godmother making homemade tamales

Me with Yolanda's Grandparents

Chris and Yolanda

Two cute little kids at our New Year's Day Party

Look at my little piece of the wishbone. I think I got the short end of the stick.

Zoey and me on the American side of the border

Letter to Lefty (aka, my Isotoner glove)

Dear Lefty,

Last night, I decided to remove you and Righty so that I could easily punch in the numbers at the ATM. The one thing I forgot, however, was to put you back on. You and Righty were sitting on my lap when I decided to get out of the car, forgetting that you were there. As I walked in the apt. last night, I realized you both were missing. Part of me wanted to go back and look for you. The other part wanted to stay in the warmth of the apt. So...I forgot about you and Righty until I got in the car this afternoon. Guess what I found!! Righty...but no Lefty. In a panic, I mentioned to my friend that you were missing. What was I to do?? She quickly commented that you were probably lying on the ground, out in the cold, and had probably been run over several times. Because I could not bear the thought of abandoning you, I returned to the restaurant. As I rounded the corner, I held my breath and....there you were!!! I quickly picked you up off the ground and gently laid you on the floorboard. I promise to have you looking as good as new.

As a reminder, here's what you looked like when I picked you up...

I promise to never let it happen again.

Sincerely,
Your Owner

Goodies

Since I have eaten more than my weight in goodies these last two weeks, I thought I'd share a yummy recipe...

Easy Cheese Blintzes
Must be Frozen

1 Loaf Thin-Sliced white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1 8 oz. cream cheese softened
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
5 teaspoons cinnamon

Cream egg yolk, 1/4 cup sugar, and cream cheese. Set aside. Mix cinnamon and the 1 cup of sugar. Set aside. Roll one slice of bread at a time with rolling pin until fairly flat. Spread cream cheese mixture over bread and roll jelly-roll fashion. Dip in melted butter, roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place on wax-paper lined cookie sheet and freeze. Take out of freezer 1/2 hour before cooking. Thaw 15 minutes, then cut in half. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Makes about 40.

Helpful Hints:
Suggested Assembly Order:
Make cream cheese mixture.
Mix sugar and cinnamon.
Cut the crusts off all bread.
Flatten all the bread.
Spread the slices out across counter top.
Spread cream cheese on all of the flattened slices.
Roll all of the bread jelly-roll style.
Dip in butter and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.
Place on wax-paper lined cookie sheet.
Place in freezer until 1/2 hour before baking.

This helps the process go quickly and prevents your hands from getting the bread gooey with the cinnamon sugar.

This is a great recipe to make ahead of time and keep in your freezer. It is easy to take out a few or several and bake on a moment's notice for family or friends.

The Shack

As I was walking through Wal-Mart the other day looking for a book to buy, I came across The Shack. I have heard several people say they loved the book and that they couldn't put it down once they started reading it. As a result, I bought it. I must admit...I'm 112 pages into the book and I'm not sure I like it. The plot seems a little slow to me and to be honest, a little strange.

For those of you that have read the book and loved it, am I missing something??

Let Your Worries Go...

December 31st is the last day to vote on www.letyourworriesgo.com and help decide how The Northwestern Mutual Foundation (I work for Northwestern Mutual) will distribute $1 million to four important organizations: Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Habitat for Humanity, Feeding America and YMCA.

Currently, Health and Fitness (YMCA) has been selected 35,940 times. Illness (Susan G. Komen for the Cure) has been selected 33,198 times. Natural Disasters (Habitat for Humanity) has been selected 32,803 times. And Hunger (Feeding America) has been selected 23,324 times.

Even if you already cast your worry – and therefore your vote, you can do it again. And again. You can even participate on Facebook, using the application “Let Your Worries Go Vote.” Either way, you can let your worry go as many times as you like. You’ll help the cause that addresses your biggest worry receive as large a donation as possible.

PLEASE go to this website. It's fun, humorous, and you can vote without having to enter any personal information.

If you vote, please leave a comment below. How many chances do we get to help decide where $1,000,000 will be donated?

Happy Anniversary!

4 years ago today, Donny and I started dating.

Happy 4th Anniversary Donny!!

Coming Soon: Part 1:Inservice, Danny, and Lunch