Drive-In

Thomas and I took Callie to a drive-in movie on Saturday night in Ennis. It was so much fun!! We loved it! It was my first drive-in and everything I anticipated. All of the screens have double features and it was only $6 per person. The food was great and reasonably priced and the sound through the radio was spectacular. Most importantly, Callie could scream at the top of her lungs and no one cared. If you haven't been to a drive-in, I would highly recommend it!

Foot In My Mouth

I am one of those people who have never been good with words. I can never find the right thing to say in hard circumstances and usually, I try to joke. I had two experiences of that nature this week.

First, a very close friend is having difficulties in her life. Things have been stressful with the kids and work and I think she was feeling a little off-kilter. After several weeks of noticing things weren't going well for her, I finally said something. It took me way too long to talk to her and I realize now that all she really needed was a friend. I am so much like a dude in those respects. I don't see things right in front of my face and I usually wait way too long to do something about it. Even as I was talking to her, I found it very difficult to find the right words to say and the right way to put into complete sentences what I was feeling in my heart. Fortunately, she knows me very well and has been around me enough to know this flaw in me. I hope she forgives my tardiness in being there for her.

Second, I think I was blindsided by PB's biopsy results. I know she is reading this, but I can't help but apologize for my initial reaction on the phone. I was so shocked that all I could do was make jokes. It is the worst defense mechanism, but it is me. My reaction was not only jokes, but it was telling her that if she needed comic relief to call me. I know people need that in times of adversity, but I wanted her to know how sad I was. She has to know that when I got off the phone with her, I sobbed. I didn't sob because I feel like things look bleak. On the contrary, I think things will be fine and, as she put it, she will get through it one step at a time and things will be fine. I sobbed because I hate that she has to go through this. I hate that she is feeling the emotional strain of dealing with breast cancer. I hate that we cannot take it on for her and share the burden she is feeling. I know God will take care of her, but part of me just can't figure out why this is happening and why now. It is not for me to ask why and I know I have to have faith and trust in God that He will heal her completely and quickly. I know I write about a lot of anger, but I am also thankful that it was caught now and that PB seems to be in pretty good spirits. Most importantly, I am thankful for her friendship and that she considers me one of the "girls."

At any rate, I am told that, if she has to have a more major surgery (hopefully, that won't be the case) KB has requested that she come out like Dolly Parton.

ARRRGGHHH!

(I wrote this last Thursday....)

Do you ever have those days when nothing seems to go right?? Today was one of those days for me! Fortunately, it ended on a good note with a nice meal with my parents and a quick and successful trip to Walmart!

So, I just came back to work and finished up a few things and then I decided to look at the videos in my phone (random, I know). I found this cute one from Thanksgiving last year and thought I would post it. It is of Callie and Pawpaw dancing to some fine country music! It reminds me of how precious the time is with family. Callie is so little in this picture and it seems like it happened yesterday. No matter how terrible my day is, she can always put a smile on my face.

Despair

I am a big fan of the online site/store http://www.despair.com/. Thomas and I bought a calendar for my Dad from them last year and it is hilarious. Well, they have a shirt that I am going to buy. It looks like this...

That being said, if you are out there reading this, somewhere in la-la land, don't hesitate to comment on my blog. I want to know I am not crazy.

You're it.

Don't forget about my MK Deal of the Week!

I didn't realize I was tagged by Tammie, so I am sorry this is late.

1. Who is your man? Thomas
2. How long have you been married? 9 years on December 5
3. How long did you date? dated a year and engaged for 1 year
4. How old is your man? 31 on November 4
5. Who eats more? me
6. Who said "I love you" first? I can't remember, but I think Thomas.
7. Who is taller? Thomas
8. Who sings better? me, but Thomas is pretty good
9. Who is smarter? Toss up
10. Whose temper is worse? MINE
11. Who does the laundry? Technically, it is my job, but Thomas occassionally has to wash underwear and jeans on his own.
12. Who takes out the trash? Thomas
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are looking at the bed, Thomas does.
14. Who pays the bills? I do.
15. Who is better on the computer? probably me, but Thomas and I are close on that one
16. Who mows the lawn? Thomas
17. Who cooks dinner? Thomas
18. Who drives when you are together? Ummm...me. And Thomas hates it.
19. Who pays when you go out? Thomas
20. Who is more stubborn? me
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I don't think either of us ever admit it.
22. Whose families do you see most? Mine
23. Who kissed who first? Thomas kissed me.
24. Who asked who out first? Thomas asked me out.
25. Who proposed? Thomas
26. Who is more sensitive? I don't know. Probably me. Thomas doesn't show a lot of emotion.
27. Who has more friends? me
28. Who has more siblings? Technically, he does. He has three half-brothers, but they don't really see each other or talk that much.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Me, but I prefer a kilt.
30. Who is the biggest pushover with the kids? So far, Thomas.

I tag Tonya, Pam and Laurie!

MK Deal of the Week is BACK!

I know I still have plenty of pictures to post from my trip and from Bunco, but I have a much more pressing need....

Here is my Mary Kay Deal of the Week:

CELLU-SHAPE CONTOURING SYSTEM

This product is amazing. It is to reduce cellulite and it really works! Visit my website (link on the right of this page) to get more information. This is a great gift, but it is also an awesome personal product to use. I am offering a once-in-a-lifetime deal on this product (I have seven in stock, but will order more, if the need arises). This product retails for $55 and I am offering it for

ONLY $35.

Free Delivery

I estimate that one set will last for more than 6 months. Aren't you worth it?

Where are they now?

Well, after several days of not blogging, this morning we woke up in Kinnewick, WA. We started making our trek home yesterday and drove a whopping 3-1/2 hours. This was mostly due to stopping at an outlet mall to see if they had Callie's Halloween costume at one of the stores. We lucked out! They did! Two hours later, we left. (With desperately needed new tennis shoes for me and a shirt from the clearance rack at Eddie Bauer for Thomas.)


Before I move on, I have to post one last beach picture of Thomas and Callie...



So, what have we been doing?


We left Rockaway Beach on Saturday morning and started making our way to Seattle. We decided to bypass Portland (as much as we hated to) because I found an incredible deal on Hotwire for an amazing hotel in Seattle.



As we made our way through the mountains to Portland, we saw some beautiful scenery and finally arrived at the place I have been looking forward to so much...










"Little People, Big World" is one of my favorite shows and I was so excited to go to their Pumpkin Patch! It was really neat and a true Pumpkin Patch where you could go to the field and pick your own pumpkin. Well, we were going to bring back a bunch of pumpkins, but we decided it might be better to find some souveniers. Another interesting point were the cameras filming while we were there...






After we did that, we worked our way up to Seattle. It rained the majority of Saturday and Sunday, but that was okay. We still had a great time! Once we arrived to Seattle, we went to our hotel - The Edgewater. Apparently, it is the only hotel in Seattle that is built on the waterfront. It was a beautiful hotel and was decorated wonderfully. We had a room with a view of the city and a balcony. This was our view (you can see the Space Needle in the mix of buildings)...


The night we arrived, we went to The Crab Pot, which is a restaurant where you order a specific meal for two and they come out and dump it on your table. We had crab, mussels, clams, corn, andouille sausage and potatoes. It was fantastic! Here is a picture of Thomas with the food before we started eating...sorry it is sideways, I am in a hurry and don't have time to reposition...
So, Sunday, we were going to go to Federal Way for church because when we lived in California, we went to camp with their youth group. I couldn't find the right church and then we got a later start than we wanted, so we ended up having our own study and communion in our hotel. The singing wasn't quite as good as at Heritage!


After we had church, we started walking around Seattle. We went to Pike's Place market and then headed over to two museums we were wanting to go through. One was a music museum that was very hands-on and fantastic!! The other was a Science Fiction museum that Thomas sais was "the best museum he has ever been to." We did the normal shopping and walked by their Tiffany and Co. and Barney's New York. We walked by and did not go in, for fear of buying something!



We then stayed for one more night at the Edgewater and then headed out of town. We attempted to see my good friend from highschool - Katie - but it didn't work out. It was disappointing, but I was glad to hear her voice and hopefully rekindle our friendship.

So, the last thing I will post is a picture of the beautiful leaves turning. The colors have been incredible and I wish you were all here to see it...






Obviously, my camera phone does not do it justice. We plan to be in Boise or somewhere just after that tonight. Should be at Grandma Freda's on Friday. See you soon!

Pay It Forward

Tonight, we decided to stay in Rockaway Beach, which is a small town on the northern coast of Oregon. This was after we visited Tillamook, which is seemingly the cheese capital of Oregon. Tillamook is home to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Blue Heron Cheese. We visited both. Callie was able to go to her very first petting zoo and feed all sorts of animals - cows, goats, sheep, etc. It was funny and she loved it. We have some great video them eating out of her hands! At the Tillamook Cheese Factory, the self-guided tour was interesting, but to be honest, cheese making really is not all that interesting in itself. What was interesting was the tasting area and the fact that they had MARS BARS. YES, I SAID MARS BARS. I was totally excited! That was perhaps my favorite candy bar before they took them off the market in the US and started selling them in the UK only. So, I bought two. One for Grandma Freda (because she is the one who introduced them to me) and one for me to snack on (since Thomas and I have decided to come back completely FAT).

So, after all this, we made our way to Rockaway Beach and checked into a nice cheap hotel. We have a partial ocean view with beach access and the room has a kitchenette and fireplace. Best of all is the price. Last nights room was cheap, but this one is cheaper! Yea!

After we all went and watched the sun set on the beach (and Callie stuck her toes in the ocean for the first time), we went to a restaurant called "Pirate's Cove" in Girabaldi (about four miles down the road). We waited for about 30 minutes to get a table because everyone at the hotel told us it was worth it. It was very busy at the restaurant and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Once we were seated, we ordered some really strong iced tea and our meal, which consisted of Bay Oyster Shooters (mini raw oysters with cocktail sauce and lemon), salad and a huge plate of fresh crab that we shared. (Tonya - you would have LOVED this meal and we would have had a lot of fun cracking crab together. Some people break bread together, we crack crab.)

Anyway - after this fantastic meal, our waitress came over to our table and said, "Well, your meal has been paid for, so you guys have a great night!" I sat there with my mouth hanging wide open and Thomas (who, apparently really didn't hear her) said, "What did you say?" She just looked at us and told us that someone had paid for our meal and we should do the same for someone else. She said that it was a stranger and it wasn't the first time she had seen it happen in there. We don't know who it was or why they did it, but we know they did and it was shocking and touching at the same time. As we left, we decided we would do the same for someone on this trip. We would find some little family like ours and essentially "pay it forward" to them.

Of course, this will probably not be an expensive meal like ours and it may be in the Carl's Jr. drive through, but that's okay! Just kidding. I will let you know how it turns out (and I promise it won't be a fast food restaurant situation). More tomorrow! We miss you guys!

Wish You Were Here

Well, I kind of mean that title. It is so nice to spend some time with Thomas and Callie, just the three of us. I do wish you all were here sometimes. I think you would love to see the things we are seeing and would enjoy my company tremendously. Hahaha.

I have a piece of bad news. I can't get another cable for my camera because it is a proprietary cable and I have to get it directly from Olympus (or an underground source). SO, I am posting only pictures from my camera phone until we get back.

To update you, I spent absolutely all day yesterday thinking it was Tuesday. To my dismay, it was not. I think I posted last on Monday, but I am not sure so I will start with Tuesday's events anyway.

Tuesday, we went to Vacaville to the outlets for a short time (kind of like going to San Marcos), bought Callie some of her very own Skechers (pictured below) and then we headed to Placerville to see my Aunt Theresa and Uncle Dick. They seemed to be doing well and we really enjoyed our visit with them and introducing them to Callie in person. She had a great time and they got a kick out of her. I have a funny video from a restaurant that I will post when we get back. Basically, Callie played the maracas while their in-house guitar player serenaded her. It was hilarious!

Wednesday, we started making the trek up the coast. For those of you that have not been up Hwy 101 in California, you travel through the Redwoods first and then you hit the beautiful coastal area. When you travel through the Redwoods, you see the Giant Sequoias. We took a lot of pictures with the digital camera, but here is an example of what we saw...

Yes, the previous picture was of us driving through a tree - in our Nitro! That is a real, living sequoia. Amazing.

Last night, we stayed in Eureka, CA, where we found a place call the Eagle House Inn. I stayed there about seven years ago with the singing group, but it was being remodeled at the time and they were still working on the downstairs ballroom and restaurant. At that time, we heard from some people in a restaurant that it was haunted and I wouldn't be surprised if it was. It has been in business for 100 years and is a Victorian style hotel. It is absolutely beautiful and all of the rooms are different and hold many different fantastic antiques. Below is a picture of Thomas and Callie in the sitting area of our room.

That was taken this morning before we left. So, after that point, we gorged ourselves on crepes and we started up the coast and saw some fantastic views. I failed to remember the gas pumping law in Oregon - which is basically that you can't pump your own gas. An attendant has to do it for you. Gas here is only $2.80 - $2.90, which shocked us! It was more than that in Amarillo. Usually, when we come out here, it is at least $.50 more expensive per gallon than in Fort Worth. That has been great because I budgeted for more gas than we are actually using.

This is a picture of Callie with Cowlie (her stuffed animal from BB&B). She has become more and more attached to Cowlie, especially during this trip.

Here are some other pictures from today (I took a lot with the video camera and digital camera as well). The first is the sunset on the Oregon Coast.

This is of an actual, working lighthouse. (That is why you see a dot of light.) We were on a huge cliff overlooking the water, lighthouse and beautiful view of the Pacific.

Finally, we decided to stop in Newport, OR. We didn't book any hotel arrangements, but we desperately wanted to find something affordable with an ocean view. At first, we tried the chains, but we weren't happy with the "partial" ocean views or the prices. We are all about bargains and found a hotel called the "Hallmark Resort." We found out an ocean view King room, non-smoking was $119, which was great (compared to everywhere else). So, imagine our amazement when we walked into the room. This is a picture (description below).

It may not look like much, but let me tell you that this is one of the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in for this price. In the lower left hand corner, you can only see a bit of it, but it is a jacuzzi tub! You can see that it has a nice bedroom area and beyond that, a sitting area with a gas fireplace, two comfy chairs, a table and a fold out couch. There is also a kitchenette with a dishwasher, refrigerator, etc. THEN, beyond that, is a private balcony that overlooks the beach and the ocean. IT IS FANTASTIC! This is the kind of place that you find only once in a blue moon. If you are ever in Newport, this is where you should stay.

So, we are having a great trip and we miss you all. Will post more tomorrow (as if this wasn't long enough)!

The longest Thursday EVER...

Last Thursday, we had the longest day ever. We woke up at the normal time...Thomas at 3:00 a.m. to get ready for work and Callie and I got up at about 7:00. Well, this is how it went:

7:00 - 9:00: Worked on the house and packed for our trip.

9:00 - 10:15: Got ready to go.

10:15 - 1:00: Doctors appt.

1:00 - 6:00: Work

6:00 - Thomas dropped off Callie at work for me and he went to a concert in Grand Prairie.

I went to Colleyville so my parents could see Callie.

8:45 - Got home

8:45 - 2:30 a.m. - Packed for our trip and finished laundry/housework

2:30 a.m. - LEFT FOR OUR TRIP

AND THEN....

Saturday at Noon, we arrived in Livermore, California! It took us a little less than 36 hours to make the drive. We went straight through, but we stopped a lot more than normal so that Callie could get out and stretch her legs every few hours.

We arrived at a close family friends house in Livermore (the city where we used to go to church) and then went to the Dave Matthews concert at an outdoor amphitheatre that is right off the bay. We were tired, but it was awesome!! I brought my camera, but I forgot my cord, so I have to get a new one tomorrow. So, to catch you up somewhat, here are a few pictures from my camera phone...

The above dessert is from Claim Jumper restaurant - perhaps one of my most favorite restaurants on the planet. This is a cookie sandwich (two giant heathbar choc chip cookies with ice cream in the middle) all topped with whipped cream, caramel and hot sauce. The dessert is almost wider than Thomas!

He ate about half of it. Next is Callie at Claim Jumper. They brought out a *complimentary* childs plate that had more food on it than I would eat in a sitting.

Below is a picture of Thomas and I at the concert...

We saw some old friends today and are headed to Jelly Belly, my Aunt and Uncles house and then up the coast tomorrow. More to come then!

Already??!?!?!?

My baby is now not a baby. She turned one yesterday! Yikes! I will post pictures of her party later this weekend. She went on her very first sugar high - she went running all over the house for about two hours. She then crashed in my arms and has not woken up since!

Blog Awards

My friend, Jennifer, was very sweet in awarding me a blog award...here are the details on the award...

"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award."

So, here are my seven:

1. Tonya - http://treyandtonya.blogspot.com. Okay, so Tonya will be the first to tell you that she is not a great blogger. IN HER DEFENSE, she also does the Power Zone blog for HCC - http://hccpowerzone.blogspot.com. When she does blog, she makes it fun to read and she uses some creativity in deciding what to write. Is she the most frequent blogger? No. When she does blog, it is great! Plus, she is a great sister.

2. Sara - http://sorenandreese.blogspot.com. Sara and I have obviously known each other our entire lives. We were as close as cousins could be before we were about highschool age, then we drifted apart. I have been able to see Sara a little more over the last couple of years because we both live in Burleson now, but I still don't see her as much as I would like. So, the blogs have kept us in touch with what is going on. I love being able to stay in touch with her this way. Her blog entries are always fun and she is doing so awesome with her triathlon competitions! I could never do what she does.

3. Jenna - http://lifewith4boys.blogspot.com. What can you say about a mother of four boys?? Me being a relatively new mom, I find Jenna's blog very insightful and informative. I enjoy reading about her sweet family and the fun things they do. I also enjoy the insights and how she deals with issues, big and small.

4. Joan - http://travelwithjoan.blogspot.com. Joan and I are (second? third?) cousins, but we never really spent any time together. Through the blogs, I have been able to read all about Ghana and Joan's adventures. I never really knew Joan well, so this has been a great way to learn more about family! She is much more adventurous than me!

5. Laurie - http://lauriesthreesons.blogspot.com. I have been so blessed to get to know Laurie through Bunco. I always have felt some sort of kindred spirit with her because her third child and Callie were born two days apart. So, we were able to be pregnant at the same time and I looked forward to talking with her every month at Bunco about our ailments! She and Jay are raising three sweet little boys and I am so glad to be able to read more about their life through her blog!

6. Megann - http://megannupdates.blogspot.com. I miss Megann. I go to her update blog and read old postings frequently. I miss her, but it makes me feel a little better knowing someone is up there on my side. She was such an inspiration to so many and I was so blessed to know her.

7. Zane Williams - http://www.zanesadventure.com/diaries.html. Zane is a friend from college who has been working for the last 6 years to make it in Nashville. Personally, I think Zane has already made it. Just the fact that he is doing what I always dreamed of, but never did, is a testament to his determination and perseverance. He is a staff songwriter for Big Dog Records and if you haven't heard "Hurry Home", wander over to his site and listen to it. It will make you cry. Zane has used his blog to keep in touch with his fans and all of his old friends. The one thing I will say about Zane is that he is grounded and really wants to go where God wants him. His blog entries are exactly who he is. They are real and honest. And yes, this is also a plug for Zane. He is on iTunes...buy his music!!

That's my girl!!

For once, Callie is like me. She LOVES Dave Matthews...

She would much rather watch a concert on TV or listen to regular music than any of the toddler stuff out there. It's amazing! I hope she loves music as much as I do when she is older!

You are what you eat...

Thomas and I love to grow various fruits and vegetables in our backyard. So far, we have watermelons, strawberries, blackberries, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, apples, peppers, basil, mint, onions and we had pumpkins, but we lost those to a tragic underwatering accident. So anyway, here is a lovely shot of my watermelon...


It is about the size of a tennis ball, but I am pretty sure we will end up sending this little guy to watermelon heaven because of the heat. We'll see!

MK Deal of the Week

Okay, several of you have heard me complain in the last few months about the excessive amount of Mary Kay inventory on my shelf. SOOOOO, I am going to start a "Deal of the Week" program. Below, you will find a spreadsheet of this week's deal - LIP PRODUCTS!! Yea! Anywho, if you would like to purchase at these low, low 50-60% off prices, let me know. The deals are good as long as I have stock and I will deliver them to you. If you are a consultant, I will give you an additional 5% off. The deals won't last long, as I am going to start selling off my excess inventory to http://www.pinkdiscount.com/ or http://www.touchofpinkcosmetics.com/. I mention the sites because you can view most everything I have and see if the color is what you like. All of the product is unused and has been taken care of, I just need to get it off my shelf!! Take a look and send me an email or drop me a comment with what you want.

Updates

Well, I still need to post pictures of my 30th Birthday Parties, Callie walking all over the place (Yikes!) and some really, really awesome pictures of Callie and Thomas. They are so cute. It's like looking at Thomas and his female Mini-Me. I also have some video and pictures of my gig with Rick at the restaurant. Thanks to those of you who came out to support us!

Last week, we all were sick with the terrible stomach bug that I know several of you had. We were experiencing true parenthood when all three of us were miserable. I have to say that Callie took it like the good sport she is. She would laugh and play, throw up, have a very yucky diaper and then laugh and play again. I, on the other hand, was not such a good sport. I will leave it at that...

So, I hope that later this week, I can get around to downloading the pictures/video. At any rate, I will leave you with this picture. It is one of my favorites of Callie and Grammy Judy. We were at Texas de Brazil for James' birthday. Of course, it was taken in May, but it is never too late to post the cute ones, is it??

Come to our sale!

Well, we are having our garage sale, compliments of the Ford family. They are moving at the end of the month and had a need to get rid of some items as well, so we are having it this Friday morning and Saturday morning at their house. Come on by! Thomas and I are looking to sell a lot of items, including a very nice coffee table and a set of dining room table and chairs. Rick and Melissa are selling two awesome wooden cabinets (a computer cabinet and a storage cabinet he was using for guitars/amps/etc.) that Rick made. They are high quality items.

ALSO, I am selling TONS of discontinued Mary Kay items. If you are a customer or consultant and want to get that shade or product you think no one has anymore, let me know. I will go through my inventory and reserve items, as requested. I have a lot of inventory and I need to get rid of as much of it as I can, so please buy it up!

Come to our garage sale!

Garage Sale

I need to have a garage sale. Anyone have any pointers? This will be our very first garage sale in the 9 years (almost) we have been married. Leave me a comment with your tips!

Callie's Firsts

We have experienced several "first" moments with Callie recently...


Callie's first swim...




Callie's first FC Dallas soccer game...

First time to wish her Daddy a Happy Father's Day...

First time to celebrate the 4th of July (she is waving the flag)...

She is growing so quickly! I am trying to get a good video of her "dancing." Perhaps that will be my next post. All of the above were taken on my camera phone, so I hope you can make them out okay. At any rate, she is hilarious and keeps us laughing all the time!

Memories

First off, don't be offended that I had to turn on comment moderation for a short time. Please don't let that stop you from making comments on my blog!

Today, my Mom was in our Conference Room shredding old documents. She had everything from old tax records to cancelled checks and old bills. As I looked through some of the items, I found a couple of really interesting things.

1. A letter sent out by Dad's old boss stating that he had been promoted to Executive Vice President of Spreckels Sugar. This letter was from 1985 and was right after we moved to California from Dimmitt, TX. The company was huge and it was such a big achievement for Dad to be promoted. He has always been a great businessman.

2. A stack of cancelled contribution checks from our church in Livermore, CA. What was sad was the address on the checks. For those of you who don't know, I am and will remain very "homesick" for California. I miss it terribly and when I see things that remind me of my time there, I get sad. I wish I had taken advantage of the time there more.

3. An invoice from Spirit Wind Studios, where I had my first recording session. I recorded a lot when I was in highschool and my early college years. I did a lot of originals and some cover tunes. It was so much fun and at that time, I felt like I could really go somewhere with it. I still think I could do something with my music, but my dreams have become a little less grand over time.

After all of this, I got an email from a friend from highschool today asking for a copy of a song we did in my senior year highschool Talent Show. It was completely random to hear from him, but nice to know someone else doesn't have moments of living in the past!!

JOIN ME!!

With the help from a few friends, I am starting a new Motivational Weight Loss Club. Now, I know the majority of people that read my blog have no desire to lose weight, but for those of you who do, this is a great way to get motivated! Here is the information:

*Weigh-in every Wednesday night immediately following church at Heritage
*Each person contributes $5
*You can follow any diet you want - grapefruit, Atkins, Weight Watchers, baby food, working out, etc.
*Each week, we show up and confidentially weigh in. Each person is given their percentage of weight loss. This is calculated by a computer and is given to each person. Your weight will be kept in strict confidence with you and the person weighing you.

This is the exciting part....

The person who loses the highest percentage

for that week takes home all the money!!

Rules:
1. If you hit your "goal" weight (set by you at the first weigh-in), you don't have to contribute to the pot as long as you stay +/- 2 pounds of that weight.

2. If you skip a week, your total weight loss will be divided among the total number of weeks and you get credit for the average. Example: I weigh in on 6/13 at 110 pounds (quit laughing). I can't be there on 6/20, but I show up on 6/27 weighing 105. Total pounds lost - 5. Total weeks since the last weigh in - 2. I get credit for losing 2.5 pounds and that is how my percentage is calculated.

3. You have to feel comfortable weighing in front of only ONE other person. No one else will know your weight unless you tell them. Results are kept in a LOCKED and password protected file on a laptop. (So we can easily and quickly do the calcuations.)

4. We all weigh at the same time on the same scale every week.


Just imagine - we already have four people participating. This means that our winnings are already at $20! If we get 10 people involved, that means you could go home with $50!!

Anyone can afford $5 and everyone can use an extra few bucks in their pocket if they win! Drop me an email or comment if you want to participate! Tell your friends. This is definitely a "the more the merrier" situation!!

I wanted to start tonight, but it may have to wait until next week. A big bonus to all of this is the great summer series we have going on at Heritage this year. Come find me tonight and I will let you know if we are starting tonight or next week.

Music Camp Update

Here is the link to our fabulous Music Camp blog:

http://hccmusiccamp.blogspot.com

A big thanks goes out to Charis for setting it up!

Join us on Saturday at 6:00 or Sunday at 5:00 for the most fantastic Children's Musical of the season!

Here we go!

I made a decision over the weekend.

I have, like many others I know, battled my weight for many years. I was a cheerleader for 9 years and spent most of it feeling like I was the heaviest girl on the squad. It didn't matter that I weighed about the same as the other girls or that I looked the same as them in our group pictures. I had always seen myself as being overweight and so, I thought I was. Then, I went to ACU and became even more depressed. I hated the heat and never went outside, thus my gain of more than 50 pounds from the beginning of my freshman year through my junior year. Then, I went to Weight Watchers for the first time. I went with my dear roommate and we did pretty good up until my wedding. I think I lost around 20 pounds and I felt better. Then, I became the Director of Singing Groups for ACU and spent the next two years on the road, eating out at every meal. Because we were relatively active, I only gained back about 10 of the 20 pounds I had lost. THEN, I moved to Fort Worth. I think that was my downfall. I became the ultimate couch potato. Thomas was working nights and I was working 12-15 hour days and when I was home, I was a permanent fixture on my love seat. Before I had Callie, I went back to Weight Watchers (2x) and lost a few. Then, I gained them back because I just didn't change myself. Since I moved and had Callie, I have gained 32+ pounds. Most of that happened before I had Callie, so I can't blame pregnancy. I have no excuse.

All that being said, I spent some considerable time in prayer and conversation with myself this weekend. I will be 30 on July 28.
I WILL NOT spend my 30's as I did most of my 20's.
I WILL NOT be exhausted when I walk up more than 10 stairs.
I WILL NOT over-eat every time I sit down at the table.
I WILL NOT take my health for granted.
I WILL NOT have my daughter grow up thinking her Mom is not healthy.
I WILL NOT impose healthy eating habits on my family and not do it myself.

I WILL be an example to Callie.
I WILL have more energy.
I WILL feel better about myself.
I WILL show my family and Thomas that I care about being here for another 60 years and I am not too lazy to take care of myself.
I WILL fit into a size 8.
I WILL pose for a picture without asking the photographer to either take it from a down-shooting angle or "hold on a second while I suck in."

I WILL SUCCEED.

My goal - 50 pounds by September 30, 2007.

Callie and Graycen

Over the last few months, Thomas and I have been watching a little boy named Graycen every Thursday. Graycen is exactly one month younger than Callie and they are hilarious when they are together. To show you how big they are getting, here is a picture from February...

Wait...something fishy is going on...are they holding hands???? Callie can't already be boy crazy!!

Here is a picture from last Thursday (May 24)...

They are getting so big! In the first picture, neither of them were able to sit up on their own, much less crawl around the house (or roll around the house, in Callie's case). It is amazing what babies can accomplish in such a short amount of time. By the way - is it just me, or my baby a bit of a ham on camera?

Misty - thanks for letting me post pictures of Graycen!

Help!

I am in a bind. I LOVE to watch The Price is Right. I watch it everyday. Tonight, there is a $1,000,000 primetime special at 7:00 CST. I will be at church and am hoping (praying) that there is someone out there with a DVR (that can burn DVD's) that will record the special for me! I will bring you a DVD and will even give you a really big hug, if you would do this for me. Any takers???

Music Camp

I just finished assigning singing roles for Music Camp. Phew! I'm glad that part is over! We had so many great kids audition this year. It was really hard to decide which would be best in which singing roles.

Fortunately, I had a group of people helping on choosing the cast. Big thanks to Diane, Mistee, Melissa and Thomas! If you read this blog and you know of a child who is anxiously awaiting the news of which part they are playing, have them stop by the Music Camp table at Heritage on Sunday. Every child who auditioned will have an envelope with their name on it. If you just can't wait until Sunday, call me, comment on my blog or send me an email!!

Make plans to come to our musical this year! The performances are in three weeks (I think). We are doing Nic at Night and it is going to be fantastic!

I was the lucky one...

Today was such an emotional day. Megann went to be with our Father. There is not much more to say than how much I will miss her and how lucky I was to call her a friend. She had so many friends and affected so many lives. I have so many "I wish..." things running through my head.

I wish I had done more with her, taken her picture more, prayed with her more than just at Bunco, encouraged her more, told her "thank you" more....

The comfort I have is that I will get to see her again someday.

For the 10 minutes I actually slept last night, I dreamed this:
I was walking up to the gates of heaven and here come my relatives, who have gone on before me, ready to greet me and welcome me in. My grandfathers and grandmother are there. Jesus is there with open arms. He hugs me tight and beckons me toward the gate. I started walking toward it and then, I heard the sound I wish I could hear right now. THAT LAUGH. That distinctive Megann laugh. Somewhere behind the gate, she is there laughing, talking, and having fun and as I approach, she turns and smiles.

Scary Baby

Callie likes to play in her pack and play every afternoon while Thomas is watching her. I was sitting at my desk the other day when I received this pix message on my phone...

Apparently, she enjoys licking the side of the pack and play.

Things Callie Loves To Do

1. Play Nintendo with Dad and then fall asleep...



2. Pick the flowers...



3. Take a nap with Daddy...

4. Swing in her swing (but she is about to grow out of it)....

5. Play with Reesie (and Bear)...

AND - MY PERSONAL FAVORITE...

6. Make farting noises...

People in My Life

Here are three
people I find
amazingly funny!

Administrative Assistant Needed

I need to hire a new Receptionist/Administrative Assistant. If you know anyone who is a multi-tasker and has a good attitude, send them my way! It is an 8-5 job and we are located off 7th Street, just outside of downtown Ft Worth. For more information, there is a job posting on Work in Texas (posting # 4692613). I want to hire someone within the next week or so. Leave me a comment if you need my contact information. Thanks!

Adrenaline

The Stars just lost game 7 and I am sitting in front of my computer wondering, "Will ANY Dallas team go ANYWHERE this year?" Oh well. I can still cheer for the Mavs. They aren't giving me much hope right now either. The Rangers stink. I guess I will have to start going to FC Dallas games with Thomas. I don't know a lot about soccer, but I can learn!

So, I had kind-of a bad day today. I had to let someone go at work and that is never an easy thing. I wasn't particularly surprised by this event and it was about the 15th termination I have had to do since starting at GST six years ago. Anyway, it is not fun sitting there telling someone they are not "working out." Then, my Jeep broke down. Do you believe in karma? I don't.

Dealing with work is one thing, but I am consumed with thoughts of friends who are struggling. I am the type of person that never knows what to say. I have never been an eloquent person. I have never been able to put my thoughts or feelings into a sentence when I am standing in front of the person in question, looking them in the eye. I can write a song about it, but that doesn't count. So, I am going to use my blog for some of those things I wish I had said. Don't be surprised if your name shows up one day on my blog! So, I will start with family...

Tonya, I don't really think you hold things over my head. I just say that in the heat of arguements with you. I actually couldn't ask for a better sister. You are an example of a wonderful Mom and that means a lot to me as I work my way through motherhood. That said, I am sorry I broke your mirror in your Camaro when you were in highschool.

Tonya's Creativity

On a side note, we are required to wear safety glasses in the sheet metal shop we work at. Right after I came back from maternity leave (Callie was about 7-8 weeks old), my hilarious sister thought it would be wise for Callie to follow the rules. She took it upon herself to do this:

Honestly, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!

I can't contain my excitement! The Stars pushed it to game 7!! We did get to go to the game and here is a shot from my camera phone...

The guys looked great tonight. They skated well, were aggressive, Turco was awesome and the heavy hitters finally made an appearance. Mo scored the first goal during a 5 on 3 (this was not from my camera phone)...

I am kind of worried because Morrow was leaving the game due to injury right at the end. He ended up getting into a fight while he was getting off the ice. I hope his injury is not serious and that he is well enough to play in game 7. Anyway, it was an amazing game and my throat hurts from screaming so much. I am so glad we were able to go!

So, Callie got to spend some quality time with the Ford's. Thank you guys so much for watching her for us! I am sure she had a great time! We owe you dinner.

STARS WIN!!

Yes, it is late. Yes, I am too excited to sleep. Yes, I am completely excited that Charis stayed up and saw the amazing overtime victory tonight! Perhaps I will get to see a playoff game after all!

Brenden Morrow is my new hero. Looks like a dork here, but wouldn't you if you had just kept playoff dreams alive??

News of the Week

So many things have happened in the last few days, I just don't know where to begin.

First, on Friday, we had some severe thunderstorms, but were still able to go to Dallas with Rick and Melissa to see Darrell Scott play. He is an amazing songwriter and performer. He wrote a lot of popular songs for the music industry, but does a lot of little intimate concerts. It was great! While we were out, our friend, Misty, watched Callie. When we arrived home, Misty was very distraught. She had just found out that the long-time boyfriend of one of her best friends had been killed in a car accident. He was an Irving Police Officer and lost control of his car while he was responding to a call to help another officer. The weather appears to be to blame. He was in his twenties and his girlfriend is 26. They had been dating since highschool. Well, tonight I sat down to watch the news and they showed his funeral and part of her eulogy. It was incredibly touching and heartbreaking. My heart goes out to her and the friends and family around her.

After those events on Friday, my Dad's birthday was Saturday. We went to Babe's Chicken Dinner House and then had cake and ice cream at my house. Other than celebrating his birthday, the best part of the day was that my house was clean! We had a good time together.

Sunday, we had small group. It was fun. We are part of a fun group of people that doesn't seem to take life TOO seriously.

Monday, I went to work and then had....you guessed it....BUNCO! For those of you who were there, I am only going to say this: From what I hear, Jon found the tassels.

Callie sprouted her fourth tooth on Monday. She has three on the bottom and one up top. The second one up top is almost in...you can see it. It makes me sad that she is getting so big! I can't believe it!

On a serious note for Monday, the terrible shooting happened at Virginia Tech. I just cannot believe what some people are capable of in this world. I was reading an article about a professor who was a Holocaust survivor. He basically sacrificed himself to save his students. What an amazing thing to do! So many of the victims are remembered as heroes. I wish that none of them became victims of the disturbed young man who decided it was his right to take their lives. My heart goes out to those families and those surrounding them. I don't know what I would do in that situation.

Tuesday, we went to Matt and Karen's house for dinner. They had us over as a thank you for LTC and to get to know us. I really enjoyed having an actual conversation with them! It has been almost a year since they came to Heritage and I have hardly talked to them at all about anything other than Music Camp, LTC, etc. It was nice. I wish we would do that with more people at church. We just live so far away!

For my sports commentary, the Stars lost last night and I am seeing my chances of going to a playoff game slip slowly into the night. Also, I believe Joey Crawford was well within his rights to throw Duncan out of the Mavs/Spurs game. Stern told the officials to take no prisoners at the beginning of the season and now he is a big hypocrite.

Today is Wednesday. Things have been busy, yet pretty good. I am reminded of the wonderful things I have and how lucky I am to be surrounded by friends and family.

One more quick note - I found out that my friend, Zane Williams, has submitted an original song to American Idol for consideration in their contest. He is an amazing songwriter and I had the pleasure of singing with him in the singing groups at ACU for several years. When the voting begins, VOTE FOR ZANE!!

Callie

So, even though some of you may disagree, I think I have the most beautiful little girl in the world. This picture is of her and I in December, when she was three months old. She is now seven months. I can't believe it! She really is a wonderful baby. My next one will be more like me, I fear. Callie is just like her Daddy. She is calm, loving, cute, etc. We'll just say, I am not calm. I am cute. There's no denying it. Haha.


All of that being said, I have wondered to myself often, "What did I do to deserve this great of a gift from God?" Then, I realize it is just that. She is a gift, but she is never really, truly mine alone. She is His. He has just loaned her to me to enjoy and to remind me what a true wonder He is. Sometimes, I wake up and just go in and watch her sleep. I wonder what she dreams and why she gets that beautiful little grin on her face so often while she is dreaming. I can only assume she is dreaming of her Mama. Seriously, I hope that she grows up with the best of Thomas and the best of me. I hope she sees/takes on his way of being rational and accepting of some things out of his control. I hope she sees only the best parts of me and doesn't take on the worst. More importantly, I hope we can help her understand how incredibly blessed our family has been and who it all comes from.


So, this will be the sappiest blog I write, but I had to get it out.

Finally giving in...

For the last year or so, I have been blogging on myspace - www.myspace.com/tamifreeman. I really like myspace. I have renewed a lot of friendships that way, so I don't anticipate closing my myspace account anytime soon. That being said, I am sitting at Bunco a few weeks ago and everyone disses me for not having a fantastic blogspot account. So, for their viewing pleasure, I am going to give it a shot.