perks

of the young professional.

snow skiing in fort worth?

i was working out at lunch today and saw a blurb on a tv about this, but i couldn't hear what they were saying...because i couldn't believe my eyes, i immediately came home to look it up. apparently there are possible plans of a year-round ski resort in north fort worth!! they don't give a lot of info, but here is a link to the article:

wfaa story on bearfire

sports fan-addict

my sports world in the last few days has been nothing short of glorious.

friday - attended opening day with my family

saturday - watched the OU spring game with the fam (details to follow)

sunday - sat in a friend's box at the ranger game, got there early and watched the end of the masters

monday - went to the mavs game, watched them clench not only the top seed and home court advantage for the playoffs, but dirk and stackhouse a vacation! woo-hoo! rest in peace, spurs fans!!!


tonight - ranger game, jay's company apparently has great seats...we're going early for a little ballpark-style tailgate.

sooooooooooo fun. loving every minute of it! spring can always end up a busy sports time, with basketball playoffs, march madness, baseball, golf tourneys, and college spring games...just one more reason to love this time of year! oh, and the spring game? let's just say that demarco murray looks like he was a VERY good choice. only 20 weeks until september 1st, that glorious first game of the 2007 season...

what every kid needs...

thanks for sharing, mary!!

mckenzie, the frog whisperer

my parents got us some very cute patio furniture for our front porch. last night jay and i took norman on a long walk, then came back to sit out on the porch and enjoy our new furniture, some lemonade, and a PERFECT NIGHT. norman was an angel. we enforced to him immediately that he was not to leave the boundaries of the porch, and he did not! he was such a well-behaved little pup. we were very impressed.



mckenzie was able to go out into the yard, because after all, she is the oldest and very mature. ; ) in the yard, i had noticed her scratching at something, then chasing it along a retaining wall we have out near the edge of the yard. i finally got up to see what was going on and found out that she had made a little friend, a frog! it was so funny, because she would scrach his little back, then he would hop away and she would chase him. then he would stop, turn around, and face her. it was like they were playing a little game.






eventually the frog went into some shrubs. little mac dog tried to follow, but i think she either lost him or ate him, because she finally emerged from the shrubs. later i gave her a bath and we were joking that she must have eaten him, because she kept making that face you make when you have something lodged in your teeth (see below, "is that a frog leg stuck between my teeth?"). we finally decided she did not, in fact, eat the frog, seeing as he was pretty much the size of her head. still, it was funny.

good, good friends

we had our first wedding shower this weekend hosted by some of my bestest girlfriends, and it was a blast! i have to say, it was very overwhelming to be at centerstage for everything. i have been to so many of those things and always had fun, but never really thought about it ever being "my turn." it was a humbling feeling and i must say that i was sincerely blown away by everyone's generosity with their time and their gifts. it was just odd knowing all those people were there because of us...all that time and preperation my dear friends did to put this all together was just amazing.

thanks again, girls!!!

tennis balls, yorkie launches, and other sorted tales from the backyard

this may take a lot of pictures to illustrate, but i keep breaking into laughter so great it leads to tears because of something that happened about three minutes ago.

i came home for lunch today and found norman with one of his favorite things, a tennis ball. i swear, he entertains himself for hours dropping it on the hardwood floors then chasing it wherever it bounces. so after lunch i step out onto the backporch to play fetch with sweet, sweet normie.



norman and i are playing fetch from the porch because i didn't have shoes on. he fetches, mckenzie stands on the porch barking, i throw, repeat, repeat, repeat. (below, a pic of mckenzie barking from said porch*)



on one trip back, norman didn't come up the stairs, he went to the side of the porch*, seen here:



suddenly, mckenzie's barking reaches a new level and my precious tiny girl, who at her tallest is seven inches off the ground, JUMPS from said porch to the ground over THREE FEET BELOW. i gasp, i scream, norman stops in his tracks, stunned. i mean, this is literally probably far enough to break all her tiny twig-like legs.

"that's like me jumping off a building...mckenzie are you okay!?!?!," i scream aloud, as a jogger passing by stares at me with a VERY puzzled look (considering i was the only other human in the backyard).

mckenzie landed on all fours, looked around, turned around, and walked back up the stairs as if nothing had happened. as if to say, "oops. didn't mean to do that." so calm, so cool. so FREAKING FUNNY. i mean, three feet is a long way to go for a creature that is seven inches tall. it was like it was happening in slow motion, with me going..."NOOOOOOOOOO!"

a reinactment*:






whew. i can't stop laughing. i hope this translates, otherwise i'm sorry that you can't have that minute of your life back. heehee...

*all pictures are reinactments. no animals were hurt in the production of this blog. ; )

baby shopping

so my friend mollie is going to have a sweet little girl, lily, this summer. today i went online to look around for a unique and cute little something to give her and found the above possibility to put on a t-shirt. i wanted to do it, but felt it might be a little charged for lily, so i will just put it on my blog instead. we'll spare her our political views and let her make up her own mind. ;)

travel

jay and i both love to travel. our philosophy is that the only thing more fun than a vacation is a last-second, throw-your-stuff-in-a-bag-and-race-to-the-airport-vacation. this website is awesome; jay just sent it over. i went on and planned a four-day trip to orange county for $310 per person, flight and hotel included. wow!!

i'm seeing many more weekend getaways in my future than i have ever had before.

www.site59.com

i love this child.

seriously, he is my hero. and for the love, please watch it to the end. his moves are greatness.

go mavs!



in case the above link doesn't work,

bentley green, mavs favorite rap-kid

his myspace is the best one i've seen yet. i'm loving this. can you tell?

www.myspace.com/bentleygreen

my two favorites.

weekend pics

what a fun weekend!!! my future sis-in-law, jacque, had an all-girls shower in dallas friday evening and let me say, the girls had a fun time!!


saturday was the day-o-the-drink in dallas, otherwise known as the greenville party. it's funny, the house parties of the m-streets are SO much more fun than the actual event. we had a great time and chris and courtney throw a fun party! the dogs are really tired today from all their playing and partying. i seriously don't think i've ever seen norman so sleepy, and 'kenz is right alongside him napping herself. it was a fun dallas weekend, made me very homesick for all my dallas peeps!!!!




below is another funny pic, and here's the story: last year at our greenville party, two of the people there met, fell in love, and are now engaged! they came to this party and we were able to get caught up. the couple they brought with them...jay and katy. same spellings and everything. the funnier thing? they are also HUGE OU FANS. i mean, how crazy?!?


tired dogs:

the hills

i don't know if i should be admitting this, but one of my favorite shows on tv right now is "the hills" (yes, the one on mtv, i know, i know)...if you happen to also be a fan, this information will also interest you. jason got arrested (from people magazine: "Jason Wahler, a star of MTV's The Hills and formerly of Laguna Beach, was sentenced Tuesday in Los Angeles to two months in jail for the beating of two men.").

serves him right after the way he treated our sweet little lauren.

geez, i know how i must sound, but this is my only reality show vice, so let me enjoy it. i've learned more recently that this show has a more widespread audience than i once thought (boys, you know who you are, of ALL age groups) so i feel more at liberty to discuss it on the blog.

now if we could just get heidi and lauren to make up. ;) ok, ok. i'll stop there.

saving

so all of this saving-for-the-wedding stuff is getting kind of old. i have always been a pretty frugal girl; i really never spend money on something i haven't thought through first. and i never get stressed, but i think i just kind of lost it for a minute today. new job, new house, new city, planning a wedding, i think it's all finally catching up with me. ;)

about an hour ago, the skies opened up above fort worth and let out a downpour of rain and lightning. in a panic, i raced home to let norman inside. i was soaked from head to toe. i think something snapped, because the last hour is a blur.

before heading back to work, hair dripping, clothes looking like i just stepped out of the shower, i made an impulsive trip to target. why? i'm not sure why. i didn't need anything from target (see how tight my rubber-band of emotions are, i was stressed b/c of a storm, i'm like a puppy). so anyway, remember that scene in father of the bride (yes, i know my audience)when steve martin gets stressed out in the grocery store over hot dog buns and ends up in jail? i think i probably looked about like that walking through target. i was wet, tired, frazzled, and walking funny because i had mud in my shoes from chasing norman...so i wasted some hard earned cash on the following (which i must say, is a good alternative to jail):

- front porch mat that reads "woof"
- bright blue sports bra (after all, i only have 45 of those things)
- two grey t-shirts (again, probably have 15 grey t's, so i definitely needed more)
- lipstick and lipliner (when do i wear lipstick?)
- some sort of magical tan lotion (i don't wear sunscreen, why do i need self tanner)

now i'm back at work. satisfied and feeling very wasteful. good times.

spring forward

it's almost here, one of my favorite times of the year, when we "spring forward" and have more light at night. it's so nice to have the evenings back. it is seriously exciting to me, and the prospect of having it come a few weeks early brings me GREAT joy.

i've read a lot of articles about the pros and cons of "spring forward" coming early. oh and yes, i realize that bush signed the final bill, so there it is---my favorite act of his presidency. good job, buddy. i'm personally thrilled that it may help us environmentally; but really i just can't wait for next week...long walks with the dogs at night, no rush for an outdoor workout (after work), cooking outside on the grill, porches...spring is around the corner and i cannot WAIT! THIS is one of those moments that it is a great time to be in texas!

a shared thought...on a spiritual note:

"Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if
someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain
it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way."
-1 Peter 3:15-16a

i love this verse. it has always been a foundation of my faith, because that "hope" is what gets me through the times that are so difficult to understand. when i make mistakes that i can't comprehend, when tragedy strikes, when someone i love is hurting, hope keeps me going.

i am so thankful that God gave us the gift of free will, to choose Him, to make decisions...he could have made us puppets, but he didn't. we are each different and unique, and we are each responsible for choosing whether we embrace or refuse this "hope" that Christ offers us.

as i read this little devotional, this sentence really stuck out to me:

"Too many times people are turned off to the gospel because
of the approach, not the message."

that covers the portion of the verse, "but do this in a gentle and respectful way." i've had moments in life that i was too forward about my faith, and moments in life that i let an opportunity to share it pass by. but i think what this verse is saying to me today is this; our "hope" in many cases, IS our witness as christians. it's the hope that i have, the trust, the confidence in my faith in Jesus Christ, that keeps me going.

twinky-dinks

as a follow up to the post about norman and his new golden-retriever-friend, payton, i wanted to post this pic. they are not related in any way, but i swear, don't they look like twins? that's normie on the left and payton on the right (after a hard day of swimming and roaming the neighborhood together). cutie patootie.

oscars

i was out of town the night of the oscars, but i caught the end in time to hear robert downey, jr make fun of himself about his drug use and see the best actor/actress awards handed out. i missed this sketch, and somehow just heard about it today. so in case you haven't seen it, i give you mr will ferrell and mr jack black...

congrats!

hooray for c-boyd, he got the prize...meg and chris are engaged!! we are all so excited for the happy couple. attawaytogo! i can't wait for september. enjoy this time - i know it's been a blast so far for us!

breck trip

we just got back from a trip to breckenridge, and wow, it snowed! we scheduled our wedding-planning-trip conveniently during the peak of ski season, so of course we had to take some time out to enjoy the mountain! after a little skiing and a few meetings, we came back with the satisfaction of a fun trip and a good set-up for our wedding. good stuff.

mckenzie, because of her size and ability to fit under the seat in front of me on the plane, was able to join on the trip. norman stayed here in big d with payton, his golden-retriever-friend, and they swam in the pool all weekend long. norm will definitely make the trip with us this summer for the big day!

some cute pics from our trip:




some not-so-cute pics from our trip:

i had to add these pics...we were trying to figure out if we had the timer set so we could take the first of the above pics. we laughed so hard when i downloaded the pics and realized we had taken these. such an old-people moment..."is this thing on?!?" giggle.