Texting has reached a new level

Attention cell phone uses:

My mother, after many years of not understanding the purpose and knocking on texting, got texting. She officially added it to her plan AND has a QWERTY keyboard cell phone (mom - that's a cell phone that has a keypad separate from the numbers - get it - the top row of letters from left to right QWERTY)

Now people, don't get tooo excited. She only has 250 a month and is keeping track of them. Currently I think in the last 2 weeks she may be up to 7 (I know this because I send them to her). She will rarely respond but it is still fun if she does. Why you ask are her responses fun? Welll you see... she knows that people (people meaning young kids like ages 10-13) like to abbreviate words such as LOL (laugh out loud) ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) me2 (me too), etc. Well....... my mom wrote me a text on the first day she got it and sent 'Jst practicing.' I sent her a picture of Mia and then she called me. As we were talking I told her about T9 texting which will guesses what word you are typing - for example when you typed 'jst' it would fix it for her you and type 'just'. Her response ..... Oh no - I meant to do that. You know, like how people abbreviate stuff. Oh mother.... no. No you can't do that.

Soooo that is my mother - is Facebook next????

Shit on

You know the saying 'shit on' when you have a bad day. The world is at that moment gaining up on you. Well, yesterday i got a speeding ticket. My second one ever in my lifetime of driving, first 1 in the last 10 years. The police officer CLAIMS I was driving 69 in a 55. Anyone who knows my driving knows I drive like a grandma and follow a very strict rule --- never over 5 mph of the speed limit. I was in shock and actually asked the office why I was pulled over (I thought it might have been a tail light out or something). He laughed at me and told me why. Then proceeded to be ridiculously rude and demanding and completely fit the description of an arrogant cop. Unfortunately, fighting it means nothing to me - let's be serious me against a cop. Sure, there's the possibility of my doing that. I have no idea. But, deep down inside I do not believe I was going that fast for many reasons. There is a speed trap here that I drive every time I go to the airport (2-3 times a week....) where the highway ends and in 1/4 of a mile you go from 70 to 55. This would the reason of me going so fast - was he sitting right at that point and I was too slow to slow down... possibly..... but another reason of me not believing this is because there was a ton of traffic -- I do not see how I could have been going that fast.

Well, it ruined my night but I woke up on Saturday feeling good. We went out to lunch and *SPLAT* - yep.... I got shit on ... literally. In the middle of eating lunch outside a bird opted to find my little shoulder and brand new shirt and shit on it. To make it even better we had just commented a second before how we had no napkins. So I sat there... with a sandwich in my hand not moving because I didn't want my hair to get in it and cold shit dripping down my shoulder. Derrick comes back - Mr. Gag Happy - and as he attempts to wipe it off gags loudly and I get this feeling I'm going to also get throw up on my back. I jump up - Derrick walks away because he needs some space and air - and I try to wipe off my back. Lucky for me a mom was around and came over with a baby wipe and wiped my back for me. Afterwards, I looked at Derrick and then looked next door - frozen yogurt. Yes, this would make my day all better - and for the most part it did.

monkeys again

monkey videos

these are a little shaky because there were monkeys jumping on my head... for real

You know you love coffee when....

.... you are getting ready for bed and you cannot wait to wake up in the morning and enjoy that first, hot, yummy cup.

Yes, I love it that much. Recently so much so that I crave it in the evenings too - I think I need to invest in decaf for that time.

PS... more videos to come of us with the monkeys!

More videos

Another video

Costa Rica videos

It has taken me awhile but I am working on uploading some fun videos of us ziplining and then hanging out with the monkeys. Sorry for the shakiness and craziness but still so fun to watch! It takes forever to upload them so be patient with me:) Enjoy!

Injury

I have really started enjoying running and was up to about 3 1/2-4 miles (this is huge for me... I used to die after 1/2 mile because I hated it so much). Unfortunately, the week before school started I came down with an INTENSE pain on the inside of my left calf. My first thought was well it only hurts when I first start running so I'll just run through it. When I would get home my leg would throb but go away by the morning time. Then throughout the week it slowly got worse. Finally, the weekend before school started it became terribly intense. To the point where even if I did run that day it hurt to even walk on it or put pressure on it. Awesome... no big deal that I was getting ready to start my first week of school and my feet always hurt that first week as it is, let alone with a leg injury.

After talking with friends their solution was.... stop running. Shocker. They all said give it 3 weeks, stretch daily, etc. But no running. After 3 weeks if it wasn't better I should go see a Dr. So I waited. The 3 weeks ended last week and I went for a run. It felt great. No pain at all! I decided not to push it and took a day off then ran again the following day. Still felt great. I could feel a little stress on it (barely) so I was sure to stretch it well afterwards. I wanted to keep up the every other day running because I have missed it so much (and need to get back down to my normal weight... 4 pounds lighter - I know I know, people say I'm skinny but my clothes are still tighter and I don't like it and I know it's because of poor eating habits...). Sadly, I had what I thought was insane allergies, which is partially was, and developed into a crazy cough and it burned my lungs to run. My cough is much better today for the first time so my fingers are crossed for it to be even better tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to getting back into my running program. I never thought I'd say I am bummed about not being able to run AND counted down the days till my leg felt better. Every once in a while, like right now after taking a long walk with Mia, I'll notice a slight pain but nothing like before and with some stretching and rubbing it feels a ton better. My first injury.... it wasn't fun!

ACL!

Derrick and I finally experienced Austin City Limits, a huge 3 day concert event with around 25o bands total. We only got tickets for the final day on Sunday. The concerts start at 11 and go till 10pm everyday. On Sunday there were 67 bands for us to see! There are about 8 stages and usually 4-5 bands playing at a time around the park. Lucky for us we live about 2 miles from the park where the concert is held because the road to the park was closed down for the festival. We opted to walk because apparently cabs are triple in price for the weekend! It was a 40 minute walk but we had the time:)

We actually only knew of 2 of the bands we went to go see, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses and Jack Ingram. We made up our schedule the night before and linked it to my iphone so we knew who was playing and at what stage. We found a ton of new much loved bands:)

Around us there were tons of drunk people, bathing suits, people smoking weed (how did they get away with this with cops around?) - an interesting but super fun day!

We also expected a lot of rain so we didn't plan on being out in the extreme sun all day. Hence our extreme sun burns that we have today:(

Enjoy the photos!

On our walk

In front of the main entrance

Water fill up station

Mariachi el Bronx

Awesome view

Tons of people

Funny sign at one of the vendors

Huge crowd for Awolnation

Waiting for Ryan Bingham

Burnt? Yes

Tons of bikes

Shopping spree!

Last weekend I babysat 2 of my 3 nights off until 12:30/1:00AM. Those were some late nights but well worth the money:) Sunday Derrick and I went to brunch downtown at our favorite spot - Cru- with bottomless mimosas. It was fabulous. Right across the street is this awesome little boutique called DuO and I had been wanting to do some shopping in there.

Lucky for me Derrick doesn't mind my shopping, especially if they are also serving bottomless mimosas and cheesecake brownies in the store. He was enjoy himself and so was I. They were running a special but any 2 items, get 1 free. The dress is super cute with 3 layers and a big belt. An awesome striped shawl for the fall, a pretty white peasant top, and a neat gray cropped linen top.



We also headed to Nordstrom Rack which sells my favorite brand of tees/tanks - Love on a Hanger. They are sooo comfy and hold their shape really well and are super cheap ($5-$8). I got the cute cowl neck striped cropped shirt for $15 and it is so lightweight I can definitely wear it in the heat. The green and gray tank is super cute - it buttons up the back.



We then headed to Old Navy because I heard they were having an awesome sale - they were! Old Navy has recently updated their quality and I have to say, I'm sold. I love their jeans and got 2 pairs for $20 each! Cropped items are so in right now and I got the cute coral and tan striped sweater. Adorable ruffled skirt for $9, white tank you can't see very well with pretty ruffles for $6, an adorable black simple dress for $9, and the 3/4 length light weight coral and tan shirt. Love Old navy

And lastly, we hit up Macy's where I found their summer clearance with shoes for 65% off and a dress for $8!


And because no shopping trip is complete with baby purchases:) I had to stop in Target and pick up some bigger, warmer clothes for sweet Abigail. I love the 2nd outfit - striped leggings, an adorable tutu skirt, and sweet long sleeve shirt:)

So people live like this...

Last Saturday we went to tailgate for the Texas game. I couldn't really enjoy the tailgating because I had to babysit later that evening. The tailgating was nice though to get out and see the crowds again. It's always fun to see excited and crazy fans no matter how hot it is outside!



I ventured off to babysit for a family that I hadn't met yet. I was referred to them for a last minute help-out. Well, the house was amazing. I was in complete shock. I only had my phone so the photos are amazing but I think you will get the thing. The ceiling were soooo high, 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, an enormous wine closet, work out room, huge office, a coffee/tea room just filled with coffee pots and tons of coffee and tea products, infinity pool. fountain in the hot tub, and on the lake to top of it. Whew it was gorgeous. Just think, people really do live like this on a normal basis.

View from the kitchen looking outside

On the side of the pool with the lake in the foreground

View from 2nd living room looking at the front door

Hot tub flowing into the pool with the lake

View of the back of the house

Outside living room/kitchen

Awesome bathroom - I love it

Huge wine closet - the left was a HUGE ladder that went all the way up to the ceiling

2nd living room at night trying to show the tall ceilings - didn't do it justice

Where were you?

Where were you when the world stopped turning, that September day?

I remember where I was. I was in my chemistry teacher's classroom doing my Senior elective of helping her and talking about going to the Bagel Shop across the street for a mid morning snack. Her mom called her, she turned on the tv since it was just her and I in the room, and we watched it happen. We were so confused at first as to how many planes there were. Everyone was buzzing and we were released early from school. This is a moment I will never forget. I will always remember this day and honor those people that lost their lives.

What I'm loving....

New things I'm loving:

• Pumpkin Ale Derrick bought - yummy:)
• Combined with the amazing weather we have had these past few days (whoa now... I wore my North Face fleece to school yesterday because it was 58 and I was FREEZING!). We have slept with the windows open every night for the past 4 nights and loved it!
• Pumpkin Spice Latte is B-A-C-K at Starbucks. Wanna know what else they have.... a Salted Caramel Frappucino. Sure it has enough calories for an entire day but holy goodness... it is worth every sip. It's a must to at least enjoy 1!
• Listening to Christmas music while I'm typing away - it makes me happy
• Derrick making his own Pandora account finally -- that way whenever mine comes on it's already on Christmas:)
• The gingerbread hunt my kids went on -- omg they were sooo funny! They went bonkers over this!!!
• Brunch = bottomless mimosas on Sunday. l-o-v-e <3
• Having friends at school - good friends:) This might seem so small but as an adult it's hard to make great friends, and even harder ones you work with. Over the summer we began a Bachelorette weekly get together which resulted in a 5+ hour get together and has now evolved into daily coffee runs, breakfast surprises, random notes in eachother's school mailboxes, wine nights on school nights, and yes - brunch. I absolutely love these girls and love having them to talk with. Everyone needs their own group of girls. I also love that they know Derrick as their 'valet' - whenever they come over he always moves their cars for them to the visitors lot - I know, he's awesome
• my iphone. I never thought I'd say this but I'm obsessed... it's amazing. Words with friends (scrabble with friends or random people), uno, spades, fitness, facebook (of course), and to top it off... my super cute Kate Spade phone cover:)
  

• Babysitting - a lot of people don't enjoy it on weekends or doing anything on their days off. Me? I say if I'm not busy I'd much rather make an easy $100! I love that I have a family fairly busy that needs me about 2 weekends a month and always gives my name out to others for random jobs (pics coming on that one... wow... the way some people live!)
• I got accepted to begin my National Boards process! In Austin they make it a 2 year process - 1 year of prep and then the next year of actually doing it. If you get into the program they pay for the whole thing your first try! Who hoo!!!
• Barkingdeals.com - a 'groupon' type site for dogs! I love it!
• Coffee.... I have always been obsessed but now that I have a coffee pot in my room (yep, Derrick's brother and sister got it for me for Christmas last year and I'm in heaven) I am even more obsessed. I make a full pot in the morning and enjoy it all day long!
• Austin... have I said this lately? I love it here. It makes me sad to know that at some point in our lives we will have to move for Derrick's job but until then, I could not be happier. And same for Derrick. We truly love it here and every weekend find something else new to do!

Well, what can I say? I have a lot to love! Who doesn't?