What I'm Loving Today

Besides all the normal stuff I love on a daily basis, like my hubby, my family, Bella, Jesus...you know the normal stuff, there are a few other things I'm loving today. 

First things, first.  Today 7-Eleven is offering free Slurpee's...I'm so excited.  Geoff loves Slurpee's and I pass a 7-Eleven on my way home, so I'm going to stop in *fingers crossed* and get some, hoping they still have some left!  Geoff has no idea.  Baa-haha!  



Next up...the American Idol Finale is tonight!  I'm excited for 2 reasons.  First...I'm excited to find out who the NEXT...American IDOL is (in the Ryan Seacrest voice).  Then in all honestly, I'm excited it's over because it consumes 2 of my evenings.  I can't miss a stinking episode and they're usually 2 hours long.  Thank goodness for DVR, because I can usually watch the show in half the time.  

On to real business...who am I rooting for, I know you're dying to know.  I didn't really have a resounding favorite this year, which was so much less stressful.  Ha.  I liked almost everyone in the Top 10.  The final two are Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips (Why would you name your child that...no one knows!)  As I watched the show last night I said, I really don't care who wins.  However, after hearing Phillip's possible first single...he won my vote!  You can check out his performance HERE. 

I'm not taking anything away from Jessica, because this 16 year old has got some pipes!!  Here's one of my favorite performances of hers. 

Last, but certainly not least...lets talk about our favorite American Idol, Carrie Underwood.  So recently, Carrie released the tour dates for her Blown Away Tour, to my huge disappointment, she was not visiting Colorado.  I wasn't going to let that get me down, so without much twisting of his arm I asked Geoff he wanted to go to Phoenix for his birthday, he said...Why?  I said, to see your Grandparents of course...OH and Carrie Underwood.  :)  Of course he said Yes!  Hopefully Carrie will go to Hawaii one day and then I'll be able to talk Geoff into that!  I'm thrilled to see her in concert (for the 3rd time) in October!!  Whoohoo!  

Speaking of Carrie Underwood, I found out yesterday that a presenter for Rachel's Challenge got a autographed 'Carrie Underwood' guitar for us to auction off at our annual Educators' Summit in Texas this year. OMG!  So, I'm emptying our piggy banks, pulling together our pennies and dimes to win that bad boy!  If you'd like to make a charitable donation, to me of course, feel free to do so at any time.  :)  Happy Hump Day!

Rolling In the Deep

What a great weekend it has been so far!  My parents came up on Friday morning because my Dad had some business meetings he had to attend, so they decided to make a weekend out of it.  Yea!  I haven't seen my parents since Christmas...for some that may seem like FOREVER, for others that may seem like it was 'only 5 months' ago.  To me...it seemed like FOREVER.  Haha.  So needless to say, I was very excited that they were coming to stay.  On Friday afternoon we literally sat on the back porch, played with Bella and watered the lawn.  It's the simple things in life...I tell ya!  As soon as Geoff got off work we met him at a local pizza place...either we were really hungry or the pizza was delish.  I'm hoping it was the latter of those two.  Let me remind you that when they got here on Friday it was 88 degrees and sunny.  When we woke up yesterday (Saturday) morning it was 50 some degrees, pouring rain and cloudy.  Blah!  The night before we planned that Geoff & my Dad were going to go fishing in the morning and then me and my Mom would go get a pedicure...we are both in DIRE need of pedi's.  Haha.  However the rain put a damper in those plans...so we ended up at Bass Pro Shops.  Really?  We survived and then we headed over to Toby Keith's, I Love This Bar for lunch.  (It was average, nothing spectacular)  Finally, the sun started to peak through the clouds, so we headed home and Geoff & my Dad went fishing and me and my Mom headed to church and then off to run a few errands.  I called, 3 different nail salons hoping they stayed open past 6pm...but no luck.  Shucks!  My Mom and I came back home and took Bella on a nice little walk and then we met my Dad & Geoff at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. 

<Insert> Memory <Here>
When I was in school, my Mom had to drive me 12 or so miles every day to school and I always enjoyed that time in the car with her.  I can VIVIDLY remember us blasting the radio and singing Celine Dion or Billy Ocean's Get Out of My Dreams.  haha.  We would work on breath control and see if we could hit the high notes! 
 <Insert> New Memory <Here>
On our drive to Texas Roadhouse we put Adele's CD in and blasted the radio.  We were hitting the high notes and I swear we sounded exactly like her!  LOL.  What a great time!

My parents are actually pretty young...just thought this was cute!

Then this morning...I had a slight break down.  I knew my parents were going to leave first thing this morning because they had stuff to do when they got home, they talked about leaving around 7am.  So, I got up at 6:45am thinking I could spend a few minutes with them before they left and tell them bye.  When I woke up, I found a very sweet little note from my Mom that started off by saying, 'Hated to wake you.' 

So, I just started CRYING!  I felt awful that I didn't get up and come to find out my Mom knocked on our bedroom door a few times and neither Geoff or I heard it.  Oh goodness.  I called my Mom and like always...she brought me back down.  

I can't even begin to tell you how lucky I feel to have such awesome parents.  I know that no matter what happens my parents will ALWAYS be there.  They have taught me how to live, how to love and how to laugh.  I think to myself...one day when I become a parent if I can be 'HALF' the parent that my parents are...I'll be doing good!  The thing that makes me feel even better is that they have accepted and loved Geoff as one of their own.  They have been there for the both of us emotionally, financially, physically and most importantly they never stopped loving us.  Seriously, I have the BEST parents in the WORLD.  

Have a great Sunday!

           

Weekend Wrap-Up

Isn't that the truth!!  Every Sunday evening I think...really?  Tomorrow morning I already have to get up at 6:15am!  It's not a matter of me not liking my job, because you all know I LOVE my job.  It's more a matter of getting up.  I'm not really a morning person, my poor husband can attest to this.  He's Mr. Sunshine in the morning and jumps out of bed and says, 'Good Morning!'  That literally makes me scowl in the morning.  Poor guy, he's gotten many blank stares or a 'Urgh' 'Hmmph' 'Agh-morin-ah'.  I really try to be 'peppier' but it doesn't happen.

So...what did we do his weekend.  Friday evening Geoff actually didn't have to 'close' so we decided to go to our all-time FAVORITE Mexican restaurant called, El Senor Sol.  Ahh..it's so delish.  When we lived closer we went pretty often...to the point that the waitress knew what we ordered.  She would tell Geoff, 'fried carnita burrito with extra guacamole and sour cream?'  LOL!  That was our sign.  No just kidding, we didn't care...in our mind that meant a better tip!  We literally haven't been there for months so we were excited to go back and we weren't disappointed.  I either have cheese enchiladas or carnita tacos.  I went for the tacos this time.  Yum!

Saturday we had a busy day.  At noon I went over to my Aunt's house as she was hosting a college graduation party for my cousin, Kevin and his then girlfriend, Nicole.  I say 'then' because we found out on Saturday that Kevin FINALLY popped the question and they're getting married!  Whoop-whoop!  It was a day full of exciting news...in addition to graduating college and getting engaged, they're expecting their second baby, a little girl in September!!  I had a great time with the fam and the food never disappoints.  Geoff showed up later in the day, as he had to work...he felt bad because he literally ate a plate of food and then we left.  We had another college graduation party to attend to.  My good friend, Keechia graduated from Colorado Christian University.  

I adore this girl and could not be prouder.  She has worked her little booty off and I'm praying that all her hard work pays off.  Although I really think she should take up catering as a part-time gig, because this girl always has a spread!!!  Of course, I couldn't pass up more food and more delicious cake.  (Let me just say...I'll be eating salads all week!) 

Yesterday, we did NOTHING and I loved every minute.  I did manage to wash some clothes, walk the dog and make dinner...but that was about it.  We had country style ribs, potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner.  I decided to put EVERYTHING on the grill so I wouldn't have to clean my kitchen.  Haha.  For some reason, I asked Geoff if we had enough propane, he said, "Yeah, we should."  Approximately, 5 minutes later...no propane.  Sheesh.  So, Geoff had to run to the local gas station and get some more propane.  We should be set for the rest of the summer though.  Geoff and I aren't big drinkers...on occasion we'll have a glass of wine or Geoff will have a beer.  I've heard a lot about Moscato lately and really wanted to try it.  We're big spenders...as you can tell I splurged on the Barefoot brand.  hehe.  It was really good, though.  Light and bubbly.  

Needless to say it was a great weekend.  As summer gets closer and closer with each passing day our weekends get busier and busier...which is fine as long as we're spending those weekends in good company.  Have a great week! 

Happy Birthday, Bella!

I've been in a lull...I just haven't had anything to blog about. Bad case of blogger block!  But I'm back at it and got lots to talk about this Friday!

First thing, first!  Today, our sweet little beagle baby is 1 YEAR OLD.  Oh my gosh. I had a moment last night where I 'tried' holding her and told her she used to be so tiny and how I wished she was still tiny and Geoff looked at me and said...I'm really worried for our kids some day when they have birthdays...HA.  

See that awesome little photo I created.  It's a new...addicting app called Red Stamp.  It's awesome, it gives you all these templates for every holiday, celebration or just because, you can think of.  You can insert a picture, add text and then...the best part you can text, email, save, post to Facebook or sent it to PRINT!  Brilliant I tell you, BRILLIANT!

I think during my last post, I posted with excitement that Geoff's boat was done.  HA!  I could have only wished.  He took it to the shop to have steering cables and a propeller put on it,which I expected...however we had to replace all the batteries and the wiring was totally messed up.  So, at last I believe the boat is DONE.  (Please, Lord Jesus let this be it...or I might jump off the boat into the lake, and I can't swim very well!) On a positive note...last weekend we did sell Geoff's old boat.  YEA.  It was a very bittersweet moment for Geoff.  The previous owner of the boat was a great family friend of Geoff's family, Paul.  Paul passed away when we were in high school, so Geoff just had a connection with the boat.  For the longest time, as we've had the boat for sale for almost a year, we thought Paul was making sure we didn't sell it.  Finally everything worked out.  In addition to selling the boat last weekend, we also attended our first Rockies game this season with our friends Wyatt & Sherri.  They lost to the Mets, but it's always great to be at Coors Field.  

On a totally different note...I've been on a uphill climb to shed some winter weight.  In the last month or so I've lost 3 pounds (blah), but I'd really love to lose 3 or 4 more, 5 would even be better and I've been struggling.  I feel like no matter what I eat, good.bad.ugly, I gain weight.  In the past during times of weight loss I had to set a reward for my weight loss or a goal.  First round, was my wedding.  I knew I wanted to get to my comfortable weight for my wedding, I didn't want to look back at my pictures and say, 'Dang it!  I wish I would've been more serious.'  Now I look back at my pictures and say, I wish I could get back to that weight!  LOL.  Vicious cycle.  So, I've told myself and Geoff that when I get down to my goal weight I'm going to buy myself something special...something I've wanted for a long time.  Hopefully, sooner than later I'll be posted a picture of my reward!  So, with that long story...I was pissed this morning when I got off the scale, so I came to work and had one of these.

A tall (non-fat) Mocha Coconut Frappuccino and YES, load the whip cream on that bad boy!  I know...probably not the best idea, but it sure tasted good and this is my summer weakness.  I love coconut and chocolate.  YUM.  

On a much lighter and HAPPIER note.  I have book club tonight and I can't wait to see my girls!  We'll be discussing The Secret Garden.  I think I read this book when I was in school, but I was happy to read this classic again.  I don't know if I'm in a reading funk too, but I'm only about half way through it.  I'm enjoying it, I just feel like my evenings consist of yard work, playing with the dog, trash TV and 10pm is already upon me.  What are you plans for the weekend?  Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo!!!  Maybe I'll take Geoff to Qdoba and then we'll come home and make margaritas.  Good diet food, right?  Queso, starch and alcohol.  Ha.  I'll make it work.  Have a great weekend everyone!