Craft Day!

Ahhhh, today was SO fun, but I am one exhausted human being!!! Today was Craft Craze Day...and swimming. Savita just had this awesome-gorgeous new pool put in so the other girls brought their kiddos and when we were done, in the pool we went. Well...let's say I went in first...for a LONG time with the kids. Nina wasn't there today and so someone had to take her place of completing the task super fast and apparently that person was ME!! As soon as I was done with my wreath Savita's older daughter, Avery, said, "SHE'S DONE!! YESSSSS!" and immediately gathered up the other kids and in their swimsuits they went. So I entertained the kids for a while in the pool. It was lots of fun! Ethan, Lydia's son, knows me really well so we played. But the fun part was Stephanie's "darlings" as she -and we- call them. They are always SO shy when they come up to work to visit her on the weekends. I mean, barely look at you. They will say, "Hi" but that's about it. They are absolutely adorable. They are twins, a boy and a girl, and just too precious for words. Well I got in the pool with them and they just played and played with me...and talked to me!! It was so fun! Then FINALLY my friends joined me and Lydia even went off the diving board, much to our surprise! ;) After the crafting and swimming, Lydia and I went to play Raquet Ball. We are heading to Destin in a couple of weeks so we are trying to be good about this. She won, of course! Like she says, "We don't get a trophy or anything," when one of us goes way out of our way to get a ball...and misses! It's really quite funny and we laugh more than anything!! Now I'm home...showered...and about to go to sleep. Yes, I do believe I will sleep great after this fun filled Summer Day!!! Just wish 0450 wouldn't come SOOOOO early!!!!!!

4th of July Wreath

Fun in the Sun!!

This weekend ended up with me getting lots of pool side fun and sun! Sunday we went over to my brother in law's house where they have a pool. We grilled out and had fun swimming. You might remember me posting pics last year of my husband sliding down a slide, etc. We had lots of fun, especially the boys...Morgan, Matt (Morgan's brother), and Davin (our nephew). It got to the point where we had to tell them that if they couldn't play nice, well then one of them would have to get out of the pool. It's so interesting to me how you can throw 3 boys, yes boys, into a pool and it turns into them trying to pull each other's pants off, ganging up on each other, tearing goggles off each other's face, holding the blow tube while the other is trying to swim and breathe under water, etc. But if you threw 3 ladies, yes ladies, in a pool, you would see NONE of that. You would probably see us gathered in a little circle chatting. None of that other non sense going on! It's truly amazing to me that we can co-exist with these animals in this world!! ;) They also decided that they would practice fishing in the pool. Like my friend said, "You might be a Redneck if..."


I also got to go see some people I haven't seen in FOREVER!!! My longest friend-Holli-I have known for 29 years. Her parents and my parents were super close when we were growing up so her parents are like my second set of parents. I feel so comfortable around them. Even though I hadn't been down to their house in over 3 years, there was that instant comfort level there when I walked in...like I am walking into my own parents home. They live in Granbury and really have an amazing home and "set up" out there. It's like a mini resort...seriously!!! Pool, pool cabana with a swinging bed, etc. I love it out there! So relaxing!!! Holli's little girl, Tatum...

is my little buddy! Love her to pieces!! I swear Holli must always talk to her about me, or something, because every time she sees me it's like she just saw me yesterday. Instantly running up to me giving me a hug. I love it! She stuck by my side ALL DAY yesterday!!! I was her little playmate in the pool for probably at least 4 hours and she was my little "5 yo workout!!" I loved every second of it though, all though my arms are a little sore today. It was fun!! The sweetest moment to me was when we were about to pray before we ate dinner and she ran around the little island and grabbed my hand. Ahhh, just melted my heart! My second favorite moment of the day involves Wyatt. Wyatt is Holli's little boy who will be 2 yo in July. He's got the same blond hair as Tatum and is just so stinkin' cute!! Well, basically he wants nothing to do with me so I just don't even try to play with him. He will look at me from across the table and smile, but that's about it. He did come and sit by me on the floor, but I didn't dare try and love on him. Well right when I was about to leave Tatum gave me a big hug bye and then all of the sudden Wyatt ran around to me and said, "Bye!" Which surprised us all! I asked him if I could give him a hug and he ran up to me and let me hug him. Ahhhh, these really are the sweetest kids! Holli said I better take that hug because it rarely happens. I felt so special. :) I was sad that Morgan had to work and couldn't go with me. I really want him to get to know these people because they are just good-solid-fun-Christian people! We are planning on going out on the 4th of July and I can hardly wait!!

Roses!

Yesterday, my sweet husband brought me roses just because he loves me! This was after I made him turn around when he was almost home from work and drive back to Target to get Lillie dog food because I didn't realize we were completely out...and then he brings me roses. We've had some ups and downs lately (like every couple) and it's actually made us stronger and made me realize how much I love him! I hate those poeple who pretend like everything is "happy happy joy joy" when in reality it's not. No one's life is like that all the time!! They weren't lying when they said marriage is "work." Just thankful to have a partner who's equally willing to work on it like me. :)

Miss Landry!

Seriously, does it get much cuter than this?? She has the most kissable-lovable head and don't forget about those scrumptious cheeks! Her cuteness is almost too much! Then add in her sweet little demeanor and the way she wakes up smiling...OH MY!! I couldn't stop kissing that little semi-bald head of hers. Cutest thing ever!! I got to hold her and play with her a lot so I was happy! She even let her mama (Jill) go to the bathroom. I just sat her on the table in front of me and talked to her and made faces at her. She smiled...A LOT!! So Dear Lord, when you bless me with my baby (twins I'm sure of it) will you please send me two just like her?? Thanks in advance! ;-) Down below is Jill feeding her. This baby barely fusses, even when she's starving. Then she was just a talking away after she ate and when we were about to leave. She just makes me smile!!

Nice Surprise!

Today was one big nice surprise, for the most part. Today I got off work early. Might I add it's a gorgeous Saturday to get off work early?? We had tons of discharges which left us with only three patients. So we transferred them to the other unit and close our side. :) This made me happy because I wanted to go to my mother in law's jewelry party she was having this afternoon. I swear, I can have a multitude of days off and not one thing planned. No invites to anywhere. But schedule myself to work an entire weekend and BAM, get invited to three different things. Really sucks at times! Anyway, I got to go over to my mother in law's where I ran into one of my favorite cousins, Brooke. Didn't know she was going to be there.

How cute is she?? Oh I just loooove that belly of hers. I couldn't stop touching it. Plus, Rhyder was moving around so I got to feel him. So neat!! I'm so excited that she lives only a few miles from me now so I hope I will get to see more of her and that sweet baby boy.

After the jewelery party, Morgan was off work and I have been wanting to go to In-N-Out Burgers up here. Don't ask me why. I have no idea why. I've had them in California and I don't remember them being that special. Kincaid's and Mooyah are both so much better! It will probably be a really long time before we go back, but it was still fun to go.

This was after an hour of waiting in line. It took us a total of one and a half hours to get through this line and receive our cheeseburgers & fries. We realized we could have driven to Fort Worth in this time and had a decent burger. Oh well! It was kind of fun and exciting to see ALL of the people there. Of course they had police directing traffic. Of course we saw a few people try to cut in line, but they were kindly told to GET OUT and GET AT THE END OF THE LINE!!! I'm sure the police officer didn't say it like that, but I would've. ;) I took pictures, but my phone is as slow as molasses tonight so I couldn't upload them. I will say this, you can't beat the price!

Anyway, so what I thought was going to be a day stuck at work for twelve hours...actually turned into me getting to see Brooke & hang out with my husband. Nice Surprise!

CCD-Wine Glasses!

(Ughhhhh! This picture is pure motivation to lose weight!!! Why is it I can look "okay" in one picture and "not okay" in the next?? Happiness has made me fat...well I'm going to look at this picture every time I don't want to go to the gym for pure motivation! Plus, I'm standing next to the skinniest person there. I need to remember not to do that again!!!)

Today was a little stressful for us all at Craft Craze Day! All though we still had fun. Three of the five of us are big wine drinkers. Savita and I like wine, but don't drink it quite so often as the other girls. No, the other girls are not lushes or anything, just saying they know more about wine than the two of us. Anyway, it turned out to be a little more difficult than we thought it would be. Savita had bought stencils for us to use...and we failed miserably at using them. Want to know what we ultimately used to design our wine glasses besides a paint brush? Savita's children's pencil erasers. I knew I wanted to design mine with flowers all along so I made little flowers. The other girls were smart and quick to catch on as to how easy and cute my glass was, so they also made flowers. Even though we all used the same idea, they all look so different and so adorable! I just love our wine glasses!! Nina...as always...whipped out 3 wine glasses before most of us were starting our second one. I mean, I don't know how the girl does it! It's truly amazing. One second I look over and her glass is empty, the next it's got a gorgeous design on it! Truly impressive!

Another perk to CCD...besides the pure enjoyment & laughter that comes with being around these 4 girls, is the drinks and food!! These girls can cook! Lydia brought an alcoholic beverage called "Pink Bikinis" that had us all dreaming of laying on a beach. BUT, Savita's gorgeous pool should be done this weekend so we all see many of summer days with us lounging around her pool with a Pink Bikini in our hand! :-) The kind you drink, of course!! Not the kind you wear! Savita had fruit with a really good fruit dip. Nina had brought a dip and wanted to use us as "Ginny pigs." Thank goodness she did because it was so delicious!! Couldn't really tell you what was in it right now, but it was amazing! I brought stuff to make these sandwiches my mom makes called Brittany Sandwiches. You take a croissant, a medium cut piece of ham, a tablespoon of applesauce, and Swiss cheese. Put them together and then bake for 15 minutes!! So easy and very yummy!!

Anyway, even though it was stressful, it was also lots of fun!! We poke fun at each other and laugh a lot! I've been meaning to write a disclaimer for my previous post about the no kid thing. I just want y'all to know that I am really okay! I went to lunch with one of my best friend's, Stacey, a couple of days ago and I told her that if our biggest concern is having kids, then we are doing good! I feel like I have a full life just as it is and a child would just be an added bonus. I see so many people that have their families (husband & kids), but yet have no life. They have no friends. They go no where. They do nothing. That is not the life for me at all! I absolutely love my freedom and friends! I love how I can just go to the movies whenever I want with whomever I want. I can have my girlfriend lunches all the time. Workout with my best friend. Morgan and I can have a date night every night if we wanted to. My life is really great!!! So please don't feel bad for me at all!! I'm just so thankful to have some really great friends in my life that let me love on their children like they are my own! God has blessed me in soooo many other ways!!

Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! Today was a great day! Above is me with my little bundle of Joy, aka Lillie Bear! I was kind of nervous of today. I've been a big ball of tears the past two days...for several reasons that I won't get into. There are days that I want kids so bad my heart hurts, my arms ache to hold the babies that I believe are yet to come. Then there are days where I am so thankful to only have to care for myself. It's really an emotional roller coaster and I am so thankful to have friends that don't say, "YOU will get through this," but they say, "WE will get through this!!" I seriously have the BEST friends I could ever ask for. One of my friends told me the other day that she can't wait for the day where she and I can hold my babies and we can cry together just thinking of everything I've gone through to get those babies. Just typing that made me tear up. I can just imagine that day and what a great day that will be!! Sometimes I hope it's sooner than later, but ultimately I'm just waiting on God's timing!! The Boss is in charge, thankfully!!
But today I got to hang out with my parents. Had some good Taco Soup, delicious cornbread, and one of my favorite cakes for dessert. We then watched the Mavericks vs Lakers Basketball game. 4-0...we will take it!! The unspeakable-disgusting behavior from the Lakers...not so much! Craziness! I mean, grown men acting like fools. Glad the Mavericks didn't stoop to their level. My mom is a Maverick fanatic!! So it was fun to watch the game with her. I'm so happy that I still have her to celebrate on Mother's Day. I have several friends who have lost their moms, including my mom who lost hers a year before I was born, and I can't imagine how difficult this day would be for me if she wasn't here. She's my ultimate best friend and I am so blessed to call her, "Mom!"

Three Years!

How has it already been 3 years since I married this cutie pie??? I still remember that day so clear! Best day of my life!! We still have people tell us how fun our wedding was...STILL! I have to admit...and brag...it was a blast!! I mean, when you're partying so much and you basically only remember to cut the wedding cake because your father reminds you as you're passing him in a Congo line...that's a party! :-)

This year we really didn't have any plans to celebrate our anniversary like we have the past two years. Mainly because his work got in the way. I had a friend at work tell me about the Hilton on Lake Ray Hubbard. About how it had little shops and restaurants within walking distance, has a light house, and just how "cool" it was. Boy was she right...especially about the COOL part. It was more like freezing to me. IN MAY! CRAZY!!! The picture above was taken outside at the Hilton down by the lake when it was 48 degrees. It was a really nice hotel and nice area in general. It's in Rockwall right off I30. I'd recommend it to anyone for a little one night getaway...just go when it's warmer so you can thoroughly enjoy yourselves! They also have a really nice pool, but no way were we getting in it!

The next morning we got up, ate a really nice breakfast and then headed to the Dallas Arboretum. I've been wanting to go for EVER and since my aunt has a free year pass, we got to go for free. :) I have to admit, the day before when it was dreary and raining ALL.DAY. I might have had a little break down. I was really sad. But, Morgan assured me that the weather was supposed to be really nice the next day and it really didn't matter as long as we were spending time together. Boy was he right! The weather was GORGEOUS! Couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Made for a perfect day at the Arboretum. After that, we drove downtown and had lunch at Old Spaghetti Warehouse. My favorite restaurant as a child. Then we went to the Dallas Aquarium because he had never been. I had been once, but they redid it and it was so nice! That boy has some EYES! He always tells me this, but he seriously does. He can spot things so fast! You know those little windows with small little reptiles they want you to find but they are hiding...well he finds them in 2 seconds! It's a really neat place to go, especially if you have kids.

After that, Morgan wanted to go to the Dallas Zoo, but I wasn't up for it. Mainly because I've been and it isn't that nice. Especially when I am used to the Fort Worth Zoo. So we came home and I took a nap. We were going to ask one of my best friends and her husband if they wanted to go to dinner, but for some reason we thought Grandy's was a better choice. LOL! Mainly because I was too tired to get back out and drive to town.

So that's how we celebrated our 3 year mark! Wow! Time is just a flying by!!! Can't believe it's already been 3 years...before I know it we will be at the 30 mark! It's true, the older you get the faster time flies by! Slowwwwww Downnnnnn!!!

Lillie Bear

It was 11:00 pm when this picture was taken last night. Normally she would be out cold, snoring. This puppy dog is a new dog! This puppy dog has lost 6 pounds which has transformed her life!! She can now jump on the couch by herself. She lost the ability to do so when she gained weight. The vet switched her medicines for her skin, which decreased her appetite, which has now given her a new found energy. She is almost like she was when she was a puppy. Except this time when I say, "No!" She stops, she doesn't challenge me like she did when she was in her "teenage" years. She also goes for walks now, against her will. She hates the leash...probably because the only time she goes on the leash is when she goes to the vet. I think now she's starting to get that the leash doesn't always equal a trip to Hell. Tonight when I asked her if she wanted to go for a walk she flew off the couch and when she saw me with the leash in my hands, she was jumping up at me to put it on her. The reality of it all, is that she knows she gets a pupperoni when we are finished. I love seeing her like this. She just seems like she feels so much better!! So I guess you can say all those vet bills to find out what was wrong with her were really worth it after all. :)

Independent

I like to think I am pretty independent. I wouldn't trade those years for anything that I had alone, paying my own bills, running my own little life, knowing that I am the only one responsible for everything that happened. I've heard people say that girls should never go from living at home with their parents to marriage and I couldn't agree more!!! I feel like every girl should experience life on her own for a little while. I'm not saying don't have a boyfriend, but I mean where you provide for yourself. That way once you get married and if something were to ever happen to your husband, you know how to support yourself. So now that I've done it, I know I can do it in the future if need be. Well, apparently I am too independent. Last week I was driving to workout with a friend and while I was driving down our country road, my car just died. The air conditioner and the radio still worked, but the car itself didn't. OF COURSE it happened on the worst part of that road!!! The MOST dangerous-winding part, but thankfully my car made it to the one and only pull off...if you want to call it that. I'm pretty sure if I left it on the road I would've been hit from behind. After I got off the road, I pulled out the book that comes with the car that informs me of what the indicator lights mean. There were two, the engine and tire pressure. Well that's just great, it could be a number of things with the engine. This car isn't even 2 years old, but does have 60,000 miles on it. So, with a little help of 1411 (thank God for that!) I called the Honda dealer and spoke with someone. They said it could be a number of things wrong. They then gave me a number to call for towing. I called them and they were there in 20 minutes. So in less than 30 minutes I had it all handled. Pat on the back, yay me!! Yeah, not so much. We went to dinner the next night with one of my best friend's and her husband and apparently I really hurt Morgan's pride and should have called him FIRST!! I called him after I called for the towing. He showed up right after the tow guy did. I was informed that I was to call him first...always! He said it was probably just the battery and could have fixed it himself. So we follow my car to the dealer and they say the same thing...it's probably the battery. If so, then the towing is covered under warranty, as well as the battery, and I won't have to pay a dime. YAY! The entire time I kept saying it wasn't the battery. I just knew it wasn't the battery! Yep, wasn't the battery. Turns out it was a $900 part...but thankfully is one of the rare parts covered under warranty. They said they would have to order the part and get it in the next day...meaning they will have to keep my car overnight. I asked for a loaner car since not having a car is kind of an issue and if the part is under warranty, they should cover that. He said that since it takes less than 4 hours to fix my car, that a loaner probably wasn't going to happen. I then informed him that since he was going to have to keep my car at the dealer overnight due to it not starting, I think that's a little longer than 4 hours. He then agreed and got me a loaner. :) But is that not common sense to y'all like it was to me??? Anyway, turns out they had my car for 4 days! What they thought was the issue wasn't, it was something else. But since they said they were going to cover the cost from the get go, as well as the towing, they ate the cost!! I'm one lucky girl!! So with all of that said, back to being too independent for my husband's liking. If I would have called him first, he would have come and towed me back to the house, changed the battery, the fuel pump, and it still wouldn't have worked. Would have wasted LOTS of time AND money. Then would have had it finally towed to the dealer. I told my husband that he should be happy that he has an independent wife that doesn't need him for every.little.single.thing. I didn't want to call him and bother him at work, so I just handled it myself...WRONG! So from now on, I think I'll just blow up his phone. ;)

New & Improved

Today Stephanie posted a picture of her completed wreath. She wanted to add more ribbon so it took her a little longer. It's so cute! She had tons more ribbon than the rest of us. I was lucky to get off work early, thank goodness because I worked yesterday...got 3 hours of sleep...and went back today...LONG STORY! Anyway, so I cruised on over to Hobby Lobby and bought me some more ribbon. Here's the BEFORE... And the AFTER...

What a difference, huh? I love it even more now!!

Breezy Saturday!

This past weekend I thought I was supposed to work. Turns out I got on call on Saturday and I was never scheduled to work on Sunday. I had looked at my schedule wrong. What a nice surprise that was!! Morgan was pretty busy all weekend with plowing the fields. My sister in law, Melissa, knew this and so invited me down to go fishing with her and my nephew. It was such a gorgeous, breezy, relaxing Saturday. This is the pond/tank/lake whatever you would like to call it behind Nannie's house. Even Nannie came out and sat with us to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Matt caught a pretty decent size fish. They caught quite a few, but a turtle bit a hole in the cage and so some fish got away...NO BUENO! Yes, I am extremely blessed to have this as my view anytime I want it to be. After fishing, my father in law invited me to go round up the cows with him. While doing so, I was reflecting back on the first time I did this with Morgan and him...I was so scared! Basically I just hung back on my horse and let them do all the work. I was too scared to get close to the cows. Not this time, I was up there pushing the cows like I knew what I was doing, haha!

My father in law and I riding out to the cows.

I just love this little cow. This is Morgan and a gentleman that always clips with him. I was ready to go home by the time they got to this cow, the last cow for them to clip. Told Morgan I was leaving, but he asked me to stay. Said I'd like the next cow they had to clip. Well sure enough, I did!! I remember this cow when it was a baby and how it had a Heart on it's head. How rare is that?!? I want to keep him since he kind of goes with our last name and all. :-)

Easter Wreath

Today was Craft Craze Day!! :-) Oh yes, oh how we all look forward to this day and are all super sad that our next one isn't until May 11th...BOO!!! Today we made Easter Wreaths and I think they all turned out really cute!! Savita added a little bonus and got us all the initial of our last name which was a nice surprise!

I'd never say any of us were alcoholics, but we all sure do love a good alcoholic beverage. Today the choice of drink was wine. One of the other girl's brought this wine and it was good. It was a red wine. I brought my favorite wine, which was a little sweet for a few of the other girls. Oh well, more for ME!! :)

Then we had some yummy food...notice the order...wine-then food. We are girls that have our priorities straight. Anyway, Savita made some excellent tasting Chicken Salad. I need to get the recipe from her. She said it was easy, so let's hope her definition of "easy" and my definition of "easy" are the same, because I would love to make it sometime.

I accidentally uploaded my pics out of order, but this is Nina's initial. We painted them blue, added pink and white polka dots and then glitter. I love the swirliness (pretty sure I just made up that word) of all of our letters.

We also attached glittery Easter eggs to our wreaths!

Our wreaths and letters before we started.

Savita, Lydia, and I hard at work!!

I loooove this picture!! I think it's so cute!! Stephanie and Savita standing up on the bench to get a better look at Stephanie's wreath. Savita was being helpful on deciding on what else her wreath needed. By the way, our group picture was taken before Stephanie's wreath was finished. Nina had to get home to her new puppy dog so we took a picture before she was finished.

I just love this picture, too! All these pictures were taken by Stephanie...except for the one she's in and the group picture...which was taken by Kyle, Savita's son...who is so stinkin' cute!!

Whalah...my Easter Wreath! I just LOOOVE it! I'm thinking about in a couple weeks getting together my mom, mother in law, Nannie, aunt Becky, and my sister in law to make them. They are so easy and I think we would have a blast!!

STARS!!!

Recently this crew above went to the Stars game. Even with a reverse camera-where I can see myself taking the picture-I still can't get a good picture. Honestly, I blame my husband. He hates pictures and was hesitant about scooting over to get in it. Where as my brother in law has no issues with pictures. Why can't MY husband be more like his BROTHER in this aspect??? Really frustrating at times. A.N.Y.W.A.Y. we had fun. Melissa, my brother in law's wife, is a teacher and her entire class won tickets because they raised the most money for a fundraiser...I think. But she and my nephew were in Houston for the stock show so Matt took us. I love the city! Love, Love, Love it! We went early so we could eat dinner. Since one of my best friend's used to live down there in a condo right next to the American Airlines Center I remembered that at the bottom of her building was a Mexican Restaurant, Luna De Noche. It was enjoyable, waiter spilt Matt's water all over the table. HaHa!

After dinner we had time to kill so we went to this little bar outside the AA Center. It was such a nice, cool evening that night. Wonder what they are looking at?? No clue! The boys were so excited to see where they tape the morning news. You could see in the windows and there were 2 news ladies sitting at the desk. Well as we walked closer we saw that we could actually go in, open tour at that time. :-) You could take pictures with them if you wanted. I was trying to get my boys to go sit in the 2 chairs that they sit in during interviews on the morning show, but they wouldn't. You could see where they did the weather with the green screen. Kinda cool.

We had decent seats. Really wherever you sit is good in there. They were introducing the players in this picture. This will sound weird, but Matt and I both made the comment how everything seemed so CLEAR in there. It was weird.

This had to be the Stars #1 fan!! Never seen a fan so enthusiastic, it was great!! The only bad thing was that when the stars scored their second goal, he was busy getting cotton candy for his little girl so he missed it. It was funny because all of us sitting up around him pointed to where he should be sitting saying how he missed it.

It was a fun night! I always love our "Matt" time. He's fun to be around. The best part is that he gets Morgan...he's the only other person that sees through the comments that Morgan makes. The comical comments that Morgan makes. The embellished comments that Morgan makes for the fun of it. While everyone else believes him, Matt and I know better and so we get a good laugh at him together. I know that sounds mean, but it isn't. It's really quite funny!

Layla Update

Two blog posts in one night...watch out! I'm gettin' a little crazzzzy! ;)

Remember how back during the ice I posted about Layla being brought in to the back room/laundry room and how Morgan thought she'd just hate it and cry all night? Well guess who EXPECTS-DEMANDS to come in EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT.SINCE??? That's right, our sweet Layla Bayla. Even on gorgeous nights, sometimes gorgeous days, she wants in. I refuse to let her in during the day even though she trys to dart in while the door is slightly ajar. Sometimes I even have to pick her up and set her back outside. This is her new favorite spot, unfortunately. I mean, how am I supposed to wash all the towels under neath her that are making her bed? I just don't have the heart to do it right now. Anyway, just want y'all to know that I was right and Morgan was wrong. LOL!! Love you, honey!!

Horse, Cows, & Tractor

This has quickly become one of my favorite views. I've become much more comfortable on a horse. So much so that Morgan is teaching me how to run on Albert. Albert is probably the worse horse to ever have to learn to do this because he's a sloooooow poooooke!! Well, that is, unless you're heading back to the barn. Funny how his "grandpa" walk turns into an actual normal horse strut. Gurrrrr! Morgan always gives me crap-friendly crap-while we are riding saying how slow we are, why is he always in front, why aren't we staying up with him and crazy Flaco??? Listen here Buddy, let's switch horses and see how well you do. Funny how he always gets Flaco and I get slow poke. Anyway, while trying to learn how to run on Albert, Morgan has to keep saying, "Now kick it up a gear!!" Now, most horses you just have to kick them once to walk, twice to gallop, and three times and they are running. Well Albert I kick three times and he's running...maybe a few steps, then he's back down to galloping. So I have to keep kicking him to run, while some how managing to hang on??? It's a work out. Oh, while my sweet husband tells me that I shouldn't be holding on at all, that this is going to cause me to not be able to steer him correctly, he could take a sharp turn on his own free will...and throw me off. Really??? Why do I want to learn how to run on a horse again?? I'm not sure anymore...

When we got back to the barn this was the view we had...hahaha!

You know that song, "She thinks my tractor's sexy..." I can't help but think of that song every time I see Morgan on one of them. As you can tell, this isn't our nice, A/C, radio, sun roof tractor. No clue how old this one is. Can't imagine how they still farm on this thing, but they do sometimes. Anyway, took this picture the other day of him on it and just thought I'd share. :)

Cowboy Take Me Away

Dixie Chicks, Cowboy Take Me Away

I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly

I wanna sleep on the hard ground
In the comfort of your arms
On a pillow of blue bonnets
And a blanket made of stars

Oh it sounds good to me

I said cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to Heaven above
And closer to you
Closer to you

I wanna walk and not run
I wanna skip and not fall
I wanna look at the horizon
And not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one
For miles and miles
Except for maybe you
And your simple smile

Oh it sounds good to me
Yes it sounds so good to me

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to Heaven above
And closer to you
Closer to you

I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
Oh it sounds so good to me

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to Heaven above
And closer to you
Closer to you

Closer to you

Cowboy take me away

Closer to you


When I was younger, back when this song first came out, I used to imagine this "Cowboy" and how romantic, simple, and nice it must be to have someone like that. I'd imagine this song in my mind. Well who would have ever known that it would have ever become a reality for this City Girl?? Not me. As much as I sometimes wish that I lived in the city and all the conveniences that brings, I am also thankful to be able to walk out in my backyard and lay in the hammock without "city noise", to actually be able to listen to nature, or actually be able to see ALL of the beautiful stars at night!! You city folks are truly missing out on God's amazing light show!! There are times when I am with my Cowboy down at the barn, on a tractor, or riding horses and no one else is around that I think to myself, "It's so weird to think that right now there are millions of people on this earth...but yet not a one of them is in sight for as far as I can see. All I see is gorgeous open land!" I love the only thing in sight is that "simple smile" of his. :) I'm a lucky girl! I love how being out here does slow you down and not make you feel so rushed...rushed...rushed! Don't get me wrong, when the cows decide to break free or the rain is coming...the pace does pick up. But other than that, life is pretty calm around here and I am okay with that. ;) If you want to hear this song, scroll down to the bottom of this blog. It's in my play list.

Craft Craze Day

Savita was our photographer, so she's missing. :(

Quick Note...notice how we're all dressed the same??? A shirt with a light little sweater type jacket over it??? Guess we some how all got the subconscious memo to dress alike. Made me laugh! Even Savita is dressed this way!

Today was "Craft Craze" Day. This is quickly becoming my favorite day of the month!! I went back to my last blog post and put our names under the picture I posted so you would know who is who...so when I throw names out you'll know who I am talking about.

Have you ever had those days where you just wake up and for a brief moment in time everything feels PERFECT? Today was one of those for me. Actually, the entire day felt so perfect!! The sun was shining and I was getting to go hang out with some fun girls and get to craft while having a blast. We laugh sooooo much at ourselves and each other. Today we met at Nina's house. Oh my word!!! I can't even begin to describe how GORGEOUS her house is!! Or Big!! She's such a natural hostess and had brunch waiting for the 4 of us when we got there. I mean, the type of stuff that would most likely take me HOURS to make and stress over, she just whips out of the oven like no big deal. I wish I could be like that! I wish I had a house like that to host in!!

Savita is our fearless leader. I wish everyone had someone like her in their lives. She's just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. One of the sweetest people you could ever meet. She's the one that's been getting our projects together, buying the stuff, and organizing for us. All so effortless I must say...while taking care of her three kids and husband. No clue how she does it. I can barely keep me and Lillie Bear together, much less 3 other human beings...and a husband, to boot.

Anyway, we ate and then whipped out our hot glue guns and got to crafting...and burning out fingertips off. DANG!! That stuff is HOT!! We were all jumping and semi yelling when we were caught off guard by the glue. Except for Lydia who amazingly has some high pain tolerance...or is just better at keeping her squeals inside than the rest of us. We made these flowers today, buttons and all. They are super cute! Savita walked in with one on her little craft bag she had all of the supplies in. Then showed us how we can put them on hats, tank tops, shirts, hair etc. Apparently, Savita thinks we are just amazing crafters and could bust out 9 of these in one crafting day. Lydia and I also thought that we might possibly need to do two projects today because we'd fly through these things...WRONG!! Oh my goodness, they are kind of hard. I think if you were to remove from the equation the possibility of burning fingers with a glue gun, this might have been possible. But since you have to take your time, they take a while. Lydia and I made 3, Stephanie 2, and Nina was the overachiever with 4. Savita whipped out 3, but she doesn't count since she had already practiced on many of them, so she already had the skill down. :) Plus, she had to leave a little earlier than the rest of us so I'm sure it would've been more like 6 for her if she'd stayed the entire time. ;) So here is the result of our Craft Craze Day...

This is one of Stephanie's that she did today. She went home and put the flower in her sweet little girl's hair. I think it looks precious! Her daughter now wants her to make them for all of the girls in her class...good luck with that Steph! We see many late nights in your very near future. ;)


These were Nina's. I just LoVe the blue and orange one. Can't wait to make one of those for myself.


Here's a close up of one of my flowers. I'm too tired to figure out the settings on my camera to take a nice looking pictures...so this is what you get.


These were the 3 I made. Trust me, they look way better in person. Haha! But, no, seriously they do!!



So that's what we did today. Once again, I'm so lucky to be a part of this group of girls. Love them! I had a lady that I work with the other day ask me if my life is really always so Happy! Made me laugh. She wasn't being rude, just curious. I told her, "Hell No!" But I just choose to focus on the good. There's so much more good in life than bad. Who wants to walk around all day being depressed?? Not me! I have such amazing friends in my life! Friends that I can call in a moments notice for anything, at anytime of the day, and they would come running. I would never hesitate to do the same for them!! So yes, most of my blogs are up beat, most of my facebook posts are about the good in my life...DEAL WITH IT!! :-)

Craft Group

Lydia, Nina, Me, Stephanie, & Savita

Well who would have ever thought that I would ever be part of a Craft Group!! Oh how fun it is, though!! I will say, going into this I was a little nervous...okay, maybe more than a little. These girls are far from the "judging" type, but I still couldn't help but say a silent little prayer, "Lord, Pleasssse let my heart turn out half way decent!!!" These other girls have kiddos and are always crafting it up. Me on the other hand, not so much...until now. I mean, I can color with the best of them, make semi-okay looking necklaces, and even make a decent looking flower arrangement. But when pins, glue, felt, etc become involved, I get a little nervous. But I am over all of that now after surviving the first meeting of the "Craft Club." We had lots of fun. These girls are all so sweet and funny. I'm so lucky to have been asked to be part of this little group of crafters. We're getting together again the first of March so I'll post what we do then, too!! Wish Me Luck!!

Layla's Slightly Spoiled

This weekend I was down visiting my parents and my dad was informing me about how the weather was going to take a turn towards the worst this week-tomorrow to be exact. We were talking about Layla, our outside cat. For an outside-barn-country cat, she's become slightly spoiled. Layla gets fed at the same time every day and still has her little bed on our back porch. We change her towels out that are in her bed when they get cold or wet. So my dad and I were discussing the concern we have for her when the temperatures drop to the teens with the wind chill factor around 0 degrees. I told my dad that I wouldn't mind putting Layla in our back laundry/junk room, but how would she go to the bathroom? It's not like it is with Lillie where we let her outside, tell her to do her business, she does, and then comes right back in. Layla would be like, "Huh??? I don't' understand. I'm a cat, not a DOG!" So my dad made Layla a litter box and sent it home with me. Well I brought it home and was telling Morgan all of this. The weather always seems to be worse out here than in the city. The roads can be semi-okay in the city, but hit our 5 mile country road and you better pray, cross your fingers, drive super slow, drive with both hands (yes, this is not the norm for me), and hope you make it to your house while driving on this curvy, one lane country road. Remember when it snowed a few weeks ago? Well...this was our house 5 days later...

while Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth, etc snow had melted, we still had a winter wonderland to deal with. It was sooooo bizarre. Anyway, so tonight it was time to grab Layla and bring her inside. Morgan said she was probably already in the barn. I opened the back door and was like, "Nope, she's right here!" So I scooped her up, loved on her, and put her in the backroom. I then turned off the light and left her alone. Well Morgan then tells me how she's an outside cat and asked me something about haven't I ever seen on TV how cats tear up rooms??? And, he informed me she will most likely start crying. So after a little while I decided that maybe I should check on Layla to make sure she hasn't torn anything up and this is what I saw...

yeah, she's really sad and out of control in there!!! ;)