Happy Birthday JOHN

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Today is actually not John's birthday. Today is Halloween in case you missed it. Tomorrow is John's birthday, but I don't blog on the weekends. Here at the nest we are celebrating John's birthday today. Actually, we will celebrate John's birthday all weekend.

John turns 2 tomorrow and it seems like it can't be true. It seems like yesterday that Ann told me she was pregnant. I am so happy we have John. He is so wonderful and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for him. No doubt, it will be an adventure!

Here is my list for sweet boy. This one was easy because he is only 2. I came up with 2 things I love about John easily. Just to let you know, there are a lot more than 2 things I love about this kid. But here at the nest we are sticking to tradition.

1. I love your car sounds and truck sounds. I have no idea where you learned them, but they make me laugh.

2. I love playing hide and seek with you. The best is when I jump out and scare you. You have this really high pitched scream, like a girl. After you scream you laugh the best deep belly laugh ever.

Happy Birthday John! You are my favorite 2 year old boy!!!

SPURS

I am a big Spurs fan. That is a little of an understatement. Jaime and I make almost every game during the season. The only games we usually miss are when we are out of town. I would say we maybe miss 8 a year. That is not many considering how long the season is.

Last night started the 2008-2009 season. We played Phoenix. I know, what a way to start the season. We always start with a big game. It is not like football where you can start with a few easy games and move into the hard games. Anyways, we looked good at times and not so good at times. We ended up losing at the end of the game. I am afraid we don't have anybody that can really finish games for us. We need a clutch player and no one stepped up last night. Maybe that will come later in the season. You win some, you lose some. Unfortunately, we lost.

I am not sure how we are going to do this season. We are getting old with really no young blood coming in. The good thing we have going for us is we are on a streak of winning the championship every other year. That would mean that this year would be our year. I guess we will have to wait till June to see. It will be a long year, but I am sure it will be here before we know it.

This picture is of us during the NBA Finals 2007. I don't have any pictures of us winning the Championship because the Spurs won it in Cleveland. We still got to see them win two games in the Finals, so I am not complaining.

This picture is from the 2005 Championship. We were there and it was awesome. Game 7 was actually played on our 4th anniversary. We will have to try really hard to top that anniversary. It was amazing!!!

We are so lucky to get to go to all that games that we do. We love going and I know how lucky we are. I just hope we are lucky enough to get to see another Championship game this year. Go Spurs Go!

Sixth Picture

A lot of my blog buddies are taking a trip down memory lane and showing their sixth picture from their sixth folder on their computer. I decided to participate. All the other girls had really cute pictures to share. I have a ton of cute pictures so I figured I would share as well. Boy, was I supprised. I am not saying that my picture is not good, but I thought it would be a picture of some great vacation or a picture of Jaime and I or a picture of Caroline and John. I was way off.

I don't know these people. Jaime went to New Orleans about a week after the hurricane hit. They had worked on a case outside of New Orleans where they became good friends with this volunteer fire department. After the hurricane hit they called their friends in St. Amant to check on them. They said they were desperate for people to come help them. Jaime and a few of his co-workers took an R.V. and went to do whatever they could. These are the volunteers at the fire department in St. Amant that they went to help.

They were there for about 5 days and did tons of things to help out. They helped stock a warehouse full of supplies and food. They did go into New Orleans for a day and try to hand out food to those who needed it. It was an experience for Jaime. He has some great stories and you should ask him about them sometime.

I am happy that he went, but I was really hoping for a different sixth picture. I though about cheating, but decided that was not right. The whole point was for something different. You got it.

Couple of Workers

The girl that usually volunteers with me on Monday mornings at The Foundry had to go into work early so that left me short handed. It is hard finding someone to fill in from 6:30 - 8:30am. Most people are not as crazy about getting up early as I am. People prefer their sleep, but I am not sure why. I had to find someone to help me because doing it by myself that early on a Monday was out of the question. I called a few people, but no one was available.

I finally found someone that could not turn me down and was going to be there anyway. Jaime got the job. I know he has been bored lately and looking for an extra job. Jaime was sweet enough to help me out yesterday morning until my next volunteer showed up. He only had to stay an extra 30 minutes more than usual.

He was a great help. He did his normal job of filling the ice bind and then made coffee, unloaded the dishwasher and went and got the breakfast tacos. What would I do without him? I would be lost! I would also have to work, instead I made him work so I could take pictures.

Don't worry, we made the customers wait while we took pictures.

Weekend Update

We had a nice relaxing weekend, which was much needed. On Friday we went over to Kyle to watch my cousin, Drew, play football. It was nice to hang out with the family for awhile. The game on the other hand didn't go so well, but we still enjoyed ourselves. It was perfect weather for Friday night football. I love football and I love cold weather. They go together perfectly. I was so excited to get my jacket out to wear. I know, the little things excite me! I didn't take any pictures of the game, only Libby. She is getting so big and is fun to be around. She is always in a great mood.

Saturday the highlight was Tech football. Doesn't get much better than 63-21 over Kansas. Sorry if there are any Kansas fans out there. I am sure you will get us back in basketball. We really looked like a top ten team this week. We will wait to see what happens next week. We had an early dinner at Ruth Chris which was amazing as always. We were home by 8 and asleep by 8:30. That is how exciting we are. I was good after about an hour and got up and finished watching football then Sports Center and College Game Day Final. I went back to bed about Midnight. Jaime on the other hand was out and never knew I was gone.

On Sunday Jaime's parents came to San Antonio to spend the day with us. They came up to celebrate Jaime's birthday and we had a wonderful time. We met them for Mexican food after church. The food was great, but the company was better. After lunch we took them by the Foundry. They had never been there so we took them for a little tour and taste. I made a few drinks while we were there. After our coffee break we went by Jaime's office to pick up some birthday gifts he had left at the office. We headed home after all that.

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting, and by visiting I mean the boys playing Wii and the girls playing cards. Jaime and Popsci played tennis and Gramsci and I played Phase 10. I think Jaime may have won all the tennis games, but I am sure Popsci was just letting him win becasues it was his birthday. Gramsci and I are now hooked on this card game Phase 10. I can't even explain it, but it is great and you should run out to Target now to get yours. Thanks Popsci and Gramsci for coming up to see us for the day. We had a wonderful time visiting.

Vegas Baby

Vegas came about very quickly. We always go somewhere for Jaime's birthday with his legal partner, Paula, and legal secretary, Toni. This year we weren't going anywhere because they were preparing for trial. Thank goodness the case settled last Friday. Vegas here we come. I made all the arrangements in about 30 minutes on Friday night and we left Saturday afternoon.

We had a great time. We did lots of shopping, eating and Jaime gambled a lot. I don't like to gamble. To me it is a waste. I have never won and only think about what I could have purchased with the money I lost. I would much rather walk around the mall and look then sit at a table and try to win money. Jaime on the other hand loves it. He has been dying to go to Vegas for the past 2 months. He loves to sit at the black jack table for hours. He will sit there until 5a.m. I will not!

The girls did a lot of shopping while he gambled. The shopping was wonderful as always and I did good. There was lots I wanted, but resisted.

The best part of the trip was eating at my favorite restaurant. It is SW Steakhouse at the Wynn. It is amazing. Makes me hungry just thinking about it. Of course the steak is amazing, but the french fries are out of this world. I am a french fry person, don't touch my french fries!

Dessert there is also amazing. We ordered 4 different desserts and shared.


These were funnel cakes with chocolate, white chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. They did not last long.We stayed at the Bellagio which is always decorated so beautiful. This time it was decorated for the fall. It is always amazing how much stuff they bring in to decorate with. I can only imagine how many hours it takes to construct everything.

Jaime and I dressed like twins for the trip home. It was not on purpose, I promise. Jaime and I have never dressed alike and probably never will again, at least not on purpose. He thinks it is goofy. If you and your spouse dress alike, I am sure you look good. I cringed every time someone had a comment about how cute we looked. I knew it was just making him mad and making me feel bad for not choosing my wardrobe better. But we did look really cute.

Happy Birthday Jaime

Happy 34th Birthday Jaime!!!

This list doesn't even begin to cover all the reasons that I love you, but I guess it is a start.

1. You are more than I could have ever asked for in a husband.

2. You will take me to any sporting event that I want to go to.

3. You know how crazy I am about Texas Tech football and you love me for it.

4. You love my family as much as you love me (even thought they are a little crazy.)

5. You now appreciate all my planning after we missed the Duke vs. Georgetown basketball game while we were in D.C. because I didn't plan every minute of every day.

6. You take me on wonderful trips.

7. You still cook the spaghetti for me after 7 years.

8. You always wash the dishes if I cook.

9. You are my best friend and will listen to me talk for hours.

10. You still need a bowl of cereal after I cook dinner.

11. You are obsessed with the financial news, but you don't talk to me about it because I don't like it.

12. You are always calm no matter what crazy situation I have made up in my head.

13. You are my rock and I couldn't live without you.

14. You are passionate about your work and your clients.

15. You have read more articles than any one person should have to. You deserved a Journalism degree as much as I did.

16. You don't think I am crazy for taking a million and one pictures of everything.

17. You turn out the lights at night because you know I hate doing it.

18. You take me to every Spurs game, but know I will need one night off at the end of the season.

19. You support us so I can volunteer at the coffee shop and write sports articles.

20. You go to the coffee shop with me every morning and never complain about getting up that early.

21. You are 6'8 and change all the smoke detector batteries and light bulbs for me.

22. You drive me everywhere because you know I don't like to drive.

23. You let me sleep as late as I want on Saturday mornings.

24. You love playing with Caroline and John and will "jump" them as many times as they want.

25. You buy me expensive purses.

26. You love our clean house even thought I do go over board sometimes.

27. You aren't handy at all, but I love you anyways.

28. You love God as much as I do.

29. You want to have kids with me someday.

30. You love to read and you know so much.

31. You sit with me in the big chair and watch stupid reality T.V. even thought you would much rather be playing football.

32. You encourage me to keep working out and tell me how good I look.

33. You love me and my flaws.

34. You kiss me on the forehead every morning before you leave for work and tell me I am precious and then squeeze my foot.

Happy Birthday Jaime. I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I love you to infinity and beyond.

I am a really bad wife and did not actually post this on his birthday, but he doesn't read the blog so he will never know. Anyways, I have a good excuse for not posting on his birthday. Join me tomorrow when I share the rip roaring details. It actually is pretty interesting.

Step Up to the Plate

I know people out there are reading my blog. You can't hide because I have a tracker. I love that you are reading my blog, but it is time to start leaving comments.

I only have one faithful commenter (Thanks Ann!) and I want more. I am not feeling the love. Please go and leave a comment. Just register for an account. It is not difficult to do so. You don't even need a blog to get an account or leave a comment. Just take my work for it, it is easy!

To summarize, I need some comments. I love doing this, I just need to know that some of you love to read it.

In other news around the nest, I am writing another article for the magazine. I have had the assignment for three weeks and it is due today. I am almost done, but only because I stayed up late last night working on it. I am really bad at procrastinating. Maybe someday I will get better. The article has turned out really good in my opinion, but let's wait and see what my bosses say.

That is about it around here. Hopefully I will be better at blogging next week when I am not working everyday. Let's be honest, I will probably not be better at blogging next week.

Name Game

It is time for the truth to come out. My name is really not Spotted-Bird, as if you did not already know. It is my nickname which I am very attached to. Not many people call me Spotted-Bird, but some really special people call me Spotted-Bird.

It all started when I was a junior in high school. We were on a family vacation in Wyoming and the Dakotas. My wonderful Aunt Anita was along for the ride with us, which made it a much more entertaining trip. We had just got done seeing Mount Rushmore and we were having a discussion about me going to college. Aunt Anita thought I needed an interesting name to fill out my applications with. She thought it would give me a little extra pizazz. Let's be honest, I needed a little extra something for my applications.

Being the creative type she is, she started thinking of names that would make people more curious about me. Spotted-Bird was the perfect name for me. I have lots of freckles, hence the spotted part. You will have to figure the bird part out for yourself. I love my name and it will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks Aunt Anita!!!

I have another confession. Jaime's name is not really Jaime. That is my nickname for him. I am not sure he likes it, but it will be his forever. It all started when we were living in Corpus. I thought he needed a loving nickname from me. I am not sure when it started or really how it came about, but it has stuck. We have lots of friends that now refer to him as Jaime. I think it is cute. Maybe he can do a post about weather he thinks it is cute.

Sorry to let you down (the few of you that really do not know my real name). I am sure all of you really thought my real name was Spotted-Bird. Don't worry, if you yell out Spotted-Bird I will answer. I am not sure about Jaime. If you yelled out Jaime or his real name there is a good chance he would not answer. Maybe it is just when I yell out his name. I think he has selective hearing.

What Happened?

Can you believe what happened to my Cubbies? After everything this season, I am so disappointed. We did great all season. We played tough and held onto the lead in the National League then when it matters most we can only make it three games.

I did good all season and didn't talk about how good we were playing and that maybe this was our year. I didn't want to jinks the team. Maybe I should have talked about it and we would still be playing. I just can't believe we played so good all season and then we only make it three games into the playoffs.

On a bright note, we have seen 2 of the teams play this season that are still in the playoffs. We saw Tampa Bay play the Yankees and we saw the Phillies play while we were in Philadelphia. I would like to see those two teams make it to the World Series. It is cool to say you have seen the best teams in the league play in person. The only thing is I would really like to see the Dodgers win the World Series. I hate what the Yankees did to Joe Torre so it would be fitting if the Dodgers won. Who knows who will end up in the World Series and who knows who I will root for. Actually I know I will root for the National League team because there not cheaters and actually make their pitchers bat. That is another post.

Have no fear, I still believe the Cubbies will one day win a World Series. I have no idea when it will be I just hope I will be alive for it. If the Red Sox can win a world series after so many years so can we. Here is hoping for next season. I still love my Cubbies.

In Loving Memory

The past week has been rough here at the nest. I got a call last Wednesday that Jaime's grandfather was not doing well and would probably not make it through the day. Jaime and I left for Corpus late Wednesday afternoon. We got there and had a few hours with Richard before he passed away.

He is in a much better place now and is no longer in pain. We are happy he has joined his wife with God. We are still extremely sad that he is gone. Richard was a great man and we appreciate everything he did for us.

Richard gave Jaime his first office out of law school. Jaime decided he wanted to work for himself so Richard gave him an office in his CPA firm. It was a blessing. Jaime didn't have to pay any rent that first year of practice. It was definitely a stress relief for Jaime not worrying about rent. Richard also gave Jaime a lot of business. Richard will definitely be missed by all.

Thank you so much to all of those that have been there for us in the past week. Seeing some of your faces at the funeral was very comforting. Also all the text messages and emails were appreciated. We definitely felt loved and comforted. Please continue to pray for us as we deal with this loss.

Psalm 23
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."