Friday, August 28, 2009

Am I Getting Old?

I am a little late posting this morning, which really isn't that odd for me. My parents say I have been late my entire life. It all started when I was due at the end of August and didn't end up making my appearance in this world till September 11. That is also a small hint that my birthday is fast approaching.

I had good intentions of blogging last night. We went to our first football game of the season. High school football is in full swing and college is fast approaching. We made it home right before a big storm hit. I really don't remember what a storm is. It hasn't rained here in a month and when it did rain in July it rained for about 5 minutes.

Last night was great. There was lots of lightning and thunder and a good amount of rain. I was so excited about the storm that I laid down on the bed in the dark to enjoy the storm as much as possible. I didn't turn the TV on so I could hear the rain and thunder perfectly. The lights were off so I could see every lightning strike possible. The storm was wonderful and I really enjoyed it.

The crazy part is this was all about 9:30. Mom, don't freak out but I was asleep by 10. The last time I was asleep my 10 was probably when I was six or seven years old. I slept great last night and am now considering going to bed early every night. I said considering, I seriously doubt that ever happens.

I think Jaime thought I was crazy just wanting to lay in bed with no TV on. This morning he had a different opinion. He now thinks we need a sound machine in our room. Don't get me wrong, I slept really good, but I am not willing to give up falling asleep to Sports Center. If I can find a sound machine with Stewart Scott talking, I'm in.

Happy Friday! We are headed to Corpus for the day. The good news is we have nothing planned for the weekend. I am so excited, but that probably means I will have nothing to blog about next week.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Celebrating Amy

Our original plan last week was to stay in Dallas over the weekend and then come home on Monday after Jaime got done with mediation. Our plans changed last Thursday when we both decided we needed to get home. Home was a distant memory and I wanted to get reacquainted with my wonderful home.

Jaime wanted to come home Friday night after he was done with his deposition. I wanted to stay until Saturday and fly home Saturday night. I begged, I pleaded, I pulled out all my tricks to get my way. Guess what, I got my way.

I really wanted to stay Saturday so I could go to a baby shower and a football game. My friend from high school, Amy, was having a baby shower on Saturday morning. Amy and I actually went to junior high and high school together. She was one of my best friends. She went off to that school in college station with Jacqui and we lost touch. We didn't lose touch completely. We did a good job of keeping up with each other through Jacqui.

Come to find out Amy and I hadn't seen each other since my wedding eight years ago. WOW! It doesn't seem that long ago. Jacqui invited me to the shower, but didn't tell Amy. Amy walked in and was shocked. It was great. Amy has not changed much since high school. I remembered why we were such great friends in junior high and high school.

Amy is due late September with her second baby. She has Emma that is two and Jack will be joining the family soon. We celebrated the upcoming arrival of Jack with pedicures. Isn't that the perfect way to celebrate?

The shower was so much fun and it was great getting to see Amy and her mom. It was hard to leave when Jaime came to pick me up. I felt like I was in high school again and I wanted to call and say "Can I stay a little longer?" I did have to leave, but not without taking pictures.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Blog Friends Become Real Friends

In the past two weeks I have actually meet 2 blog friends and now they are my real friends. The big news is Jaime can't give me a hard time about reading blogs of people I don't know. Actually that isn't true. I still read blogs of people that I don't know, but I cut the number by 2. I am making progress.

While in Lubbock Ann and I got to "meet" Courtney. We met for yummy Mexican food at lunch one day. The food was great, but the company was better. Courtney was just like she seems on the blog and we never stopped talking. We will definitely be meeting up to hang out again. We both love Tech football so I see lots of tailgating and football in our future. This isn't the best picture, but what do you expect with the bright sun and a self portrait?


My next lunch meeting was with Kara. That last sentence makes it seem so professional. It was anything but professional. It was a gab feast and I loved every minute of it. We had lunch at La Duni at Northpark. It was so good. I didn't get a picture of Kara and I, but I got a picture of the amazing desserts. Not only did the dessert taste amazing, but it also looked amazing.


It was so great meeting "new friends" that really felt like long time friends. I hope I can continue to meet all my blog friends that way Jaime can't give me a hard time anymore.

Monday, August 24, 2009

My Loves

Last Wednesday was my last day in Lubbock. I was ready to get to Dallas to see Jaime, but I wasn't ready to leave two of my favorite people. It was hard saying goodbye to Caroline and John.

It may have been a little harder to say goodbye to John. He was not happy that I was leaving without him. I was not happy that I was leaving without him. Once he heard I was leaving on a plane, he was set on going with me. I like to think it is because he can't live without me, but I am afraid it is because he wanted to ride on a plane.

We went to dinner before I had to catch my flight. I was determined to get some video of him. My camera has video capability and I have never used it. I got it figured out and got some really cute video of the boy.

He says the cutest things and I wanted to get them on video. He calls me Wobin and it is so cute. This is his favorite conversation.

J: Wobin?
R: Yes John
J: What r you doing?

When I am driving or we are eating dinner we have this conversation about 30 times. It is so cute. He also likes to say nay, nay, nay, a, do, do. It is so funny. You can see all these funny things in this video. It is a bunch of video all put together.



John says the funniest things while in the car. Ann called him fickle and he responded, " I not a pickle." Too cute. He was also being a little loud in the car at one point so I told him to take it down a notch. He then whispered to me, "I got a basketball, nay, nay, nay, a, do, do.

I love him so much and I almost didn't leave him. I was ready to just move there so I can see him everyday. I decided I can't live without Jaime so I left John behind. So sad.

We are now back home and trying to catch up. I have tons of work to do since I didn't do anything for 2 weeks. I better get started.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Lazy!

We are now in Dallas. We will finally be going home tonight and I can't wait. I have not been home since last Tuesday. I miss home and my BED so much. Yesterday made me really want to be home.

I was totally lazy yesterday and I loved it. Don't judge, but I never got out of my pajamas. I stayed in the hotel room all day except to leave to get food. I got fast food and didn't get out of the car so decided I could just stay in my pajamas.

I watched HGTV all day. I started watching about 11am and didn't turn the channel till 8pm. I am so inspired to get my bedroom done. I am inspired, but I have no ideas on decorating. I think maybe I will just apply for some shows and maybe a professional will want to come decorate my bedroom. If anyone out there is interested in decorating my bedroom, feel free to come on over.

Finally about 8pm I decided it was time to get ready for the day. I finally got up and showered and got ready. Jaime took me to a late dinner at Capital Grille. It is one of my favorite restaurants. We first ate at Capital Grille in D.C. We are now hooked. Dinner was so good as usual and it was nice to be back with my wonderful husband. I have really missed him.


I have a busy day today. I am meeting my college roommate and great friend, Becky, to do some shopping. Then I am headed to lunch with my blog friend Kara. I am so excited to hang out with an old friend and "meet" a new friend.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

2 1/2 Weeks

Two and a half weeks and counting until football is here. I am so excited that I can hardly stand it. I have been waiting for months for football to be here.

Friday night we went to football practice. I was really excited before we went to practice and now after seeing practice I am ecstatic. I am not sure if we are going to be any good this year. At times we looked really good and other times we didn't look so good. But how can you really tell at practice?

We are going to miss the first football game this year. We will make the second game against Rice when we come for my birthday. The first game is against North Dakota and if we came for that game it would be two weekends in a row. I don't think we will miss much against North Dakota, but it still makes me sad that we are missing the first game. Maybe I can talk James into it some how.

I just happened to have my camera with me at football practice. Here a few pictures. We were watching practice from on the field which was so cool. I love being on the field!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Seafood Dinner

Friday night we had seafood and it was delicious. My parents did shrimp, crab, potatoes and corn on the cob. It was all so good. For dessert mom made homemade ice cream. All the food was so good. I don't work for my crab but James was willing to help me out. He did all the hard work and I just got to eat the crab. It was so good, but I may have been jipped. I think James ate some of my crab since he was doing all the work.


The kids were great and didn't eat any of our food. They don't like seafood so that was more for us. Caroline and John had a great time playing with Jaime. I am pretty sure Jaime had just as much fun.


They may get tired of me taking pictures so they stick their tongues out at me. John just thought this was funny.


Jaime and his ice cream. Soon after I took this picture John ended up on Jaime's lap. John is not a very clean eater which greatly affected Jaime. Jaime ended up wearing more ice cream than John got in his mouth.


But how could you be mad at this cute face? It is impossible. We all just laughed about it.

We had such a wonderful dinner and tons of fun with family!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Aubrey and Luke

Here the pictures from my latest session. I had a great time hanging out with Aubrey and Luke. They are super cute and tons of fun.


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Today I am leaving for Lubbock. I am going to be in Lubbock for a week and I am really excited. The trip actually worked out perfectly. James is going to be out of town for the next two weeks so I decided there was no point in sitting at home by myself. Jeff is also going to be out of town for a week so I volunteered to stay with Ann and the kids to help out.

I haven't seen the kids since they came to visit us in the middle of July. I have decided a month is way too long. I need to see them more often. I miss hearing their voices and the laughter. I am really excited that I am staying with them because my best bud, Caroline, has already asked me to sleep with her every night. That means lots of hand holding.

James is going to come to Lubbock on Friday for the weekend. He was already going to be in Dallas on Friday and decided to fly to Lubbock to see everyone instead of flying home to be by himself. It also didn't hurt that my parents are doing their famous seafood, potatoes and corn on Friday night.

I have lots of plans while I am in Lubbock. Ann and I are finally going to meet Courtney so she can be our "real" friend and not just a blog friend. Ann and I are also going to pick out a color to paint my bedroom. I am not picking out the color by myself so I have enlisted her help. I am there will also be lots of braiding hair and pool time. I can't wait.

If you are in Lubbock and want a photo session I am sure I can fit you in. Just let me know.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Low-Key

We had a low-key weekend, but I enjoyed it. We had great friends from Corpus come visit us. We ended going out to eat Friday night and then did a little shopping. It was really nice. I got some new clothes, but I won't be able to wear them until November. Everything in the stores right now are long sleeve and HOT. It is still over 100 degrees outside and probably will be until November.

Saturday I woke up with a migraine and that pretty much sums up the day. I think everyone else had a great day, but it is all a blur to me. I know we went to a indoor amusement park. They have those blow up bounce things and slides. They also have batting cages, a climbing wall and a spa. The spa was the best part. I did get a pedicure that looks great, but I don't remember the experience.

We also had a great dinner Saturday night. We had stuffed mushrooms, steaks, baked potatoes, asparagus and fruit salad. Good stuff, but I ended up getting sick.

Sunday was much better. The migraine was gone and I was feeling good. We started the morning with grandma's cinnamon rolls. Those things are so good and so bad for you. After our friends headed home we headed to the movie. We saw "The Ugly Truth." It was okay, but it was really the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The theater had to be about 65 degrees. I had my jacket and I was still cold. It was great! I haven't been that cold since February.

It was great seeing our wonderful friends and just hanging out. It had been way too long, I just wish Saturday wouldn't have been wasted with a migraine. It was low-key which is not normal for us, but maybe it is just what the doctor ordered. Things are about to get crazy around here.

Friday, August 7, 2009

The Braves

While we were in Atlanta I was dead set on going to a Braves game. I wasn't flying all the way to Atlanta and not see a game. I wanted to mark Turner Field off my list and move on to other fields.

Turner Field was amazing. It is the largest stadium we have ever been to. The attendance was 46,000 and there were still plenty of seats available. CRAZY!!!

The skies did not look good leading up to the game. It looked like it was going to pour during batting practice. It never did. The sky looked like this for a long time.

In about the 2nd inning it started raining. It was a nice steady rain, but that didn't affect us. They continued to play baseball so we continued to watch baseball. I had my rain jacket on and an umbrella covering my legs so I was totally fine. Jaime isn't made of sugar so he was fine as well. It rained for about 2 innings and then got super humid. I would have rather it rained the entire game. The Braves ended up losing 5-0.

Manny!

I love the catcher, McCann. He totally doesn't look like a baseball player. Just a regular guy.

Joe Torre is one of my favorite managers!

How cute is Chipper blowing a bubble?


We even got to see Craig Sager. Let me just say he dresses just as crazy in person as he does on TV. I guess he has to keep up the image.


To top it all off, we got to see fireworks after the game. The Braves have fireworks every Friday night and they were pretty impressive.


The game was so much fun. Only one slight problem that Jaime keeps bringing up. The hot dogs weren't the best. I guess we are ranking stadiums and hot dogs now. Just know that the Rangers hot dogs are at the top of the list and the Braves are at the bottom. As far as stadiums go, Jaime's favorite is the Giants and mine is the Phillies.

I was going to count how many stadiums we have been to and how many more we have to go, but I didn't. I keep seeing the Tigers stadium on TV and thinking it looks so nice, but who wants to go to Detroit. Maybe we can just fly in, see a game and then go home.

Who knows what stadium is next for us, but I can't wait to find out.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Atlanta

Last week was a great week! I had so much fun in Atlanta and learned so much. My brain is still on overload from the week. I took tons of notes so I am going to have to go back over all of them in the hopes that everything will sink in.

One great thing about Atlanta that I was not expecting was the weather. I thought Atlanta was really hot and humid. It wasn't last week. The weather was perfect. It was in the 80's most days and one day it only got into the mid 70's. It was like heaven. The best part was that it rained everyday. I had totally forgotten what rain looked like and smelled like. Amazing!

You should defiantly go visit Atlanta. I flew in on Delta, which was fine except for the $40 they charged me for my bags. I felt like I was being nickel and dimmed on everything. We ended up flying Southwest home from Birmingham because Delta felt like ripping us off. Jaime's flight to Atlanta on Delta was going to cost $400. To change my flight to come home a little later was $500. I had already paid $200 for my original flight. It seemed like $1100 was way too much to pay to get to Atlanta especially since you can pay $600 and get to Hawaii right now.

I called Southwest and they were super friendly and took care of everything. I kept my original flight on Delta to Atlanta and then Jaime flew into Birmingham and drove 2 hours to Atlanta. Saturday we drove back to Birmingham and flew home. The drive from Atlanta to Birmingham was great. Everything was so green and pretty. The trees are huge and so amazing. We also passed Talladega Speedway. So cool. I will probably never go to a car race so that will do for me.

We stayed at the W Hotel in Midtown and it was amazing. Everyone was so nice and accommodating. The hotel was crazy busy everyday we were there. The first two days "Drop Dead Diva" was shooting there. It is crazy how much stuff and people it takes to shoot a TV show. American Idol auditions were being held there the final few days. I never saw any of the judges or Ryan, but I did see Chris Allen. I didn't know who he was, but I was told. I don't watch idol. I do watch Entourage, but I didn't see Jeremy Piven. Lots of girls in our group rode the elevator with him, but I was not as lucky.

Hotel patio
Hotel lobby

One of the highlights of the trip was that Jaime sent me the most amazing flowers. I walked past the concierge during lunch one day and saw the most beautiful arrangements of gerber daisies. Gerber daisies are my favorite and I considered stopping and asking if I could have them. Five minutes later there was a knock on my door and the concierge was delivering the flowers to me. I was so excited. Jaime is so good to me. The flowers still looked great on Saturday when we left so I brought them home. They traveled very well and are still alive sitting on the counter.


The conference was amazing and I am so glad I got the chance to go. I learned so much about photography and the business. I never imagined I would learn so much. I also met tons of great girls, some even live close. I can't wait to put everything I learned to use. I leave you with a few more pictures of our models.


Tomorrow I will be back with the final post about Atlanta. Tomorrow the Braves!!!