Craziest Week Ever

So much for vacation! Whew-what a week to come back to...Brad and I were both in bed, lights out, sleep sound on at 8:38 last night!!!! I don't remember a week that was so busy and so tired afterwards! Thankfully it was a REALLY fun week going something like this...
Sunday: Spent the day shopping and getting ready for a baby shower at my house...flowers, food, arranging, setting up...went to bed late...

Monday: Had a shower for one of my best friends-Mallory-we had an awesome turnout, she got the most precious gifts, and everyone seemed to enjoy it! She is due on Valentines Day and so we did the whole shower with hearts and red and pink. We had lots of fun making Strawberry Italian Sodas and they were delish! Thanks Tiff for that great idea!!! Late again to bed...

Tuesday: My friend Sharon wanted to have an Arbonne party for me with all her work friends. There was a great turnout and they all came to the party already wanting to buy products because my friend and her daughter have had such awesome results! Thanks Sharon and Allison!! Didn't get to bed until midnight (SO late for me)

Wednesday: Woke up and found out that our computer had crashed! TERRIBLE-we lost everything on our hard drive and hadn't backed up in a long time! BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER!!! :)
Went to Bible Study - Brad stayed up forever trying to fix the 'puter with no luck...

Thursday: Finally errands get done...stay up late getting things ready to prepare for Saturday because I won't be home until late Friday night...

Friday: At work at 6:30 AM, work until 3:30, pick up Brad and go to Amy's house. She is another friend that I just love! She is having a baby boy in two weeks and I helped her faux clouds in the nursery and painted "Cale" on the wall. She did the Pottery Barn Airplane bedding and so "hopefully" the name looks like the airplanes were doing some sky-writing. We had such a great time - the guys went to the driving range, brought home some awesome pizza, and we got home around 11pm. Once home, spent the next hour making dessert and breakfast casserole...finally fell into bed after midnight...missed Laura's b-day party and Bunko...

Saturday: Up at 7 am - Mallory, Macy, and Allie came over for an Arbonne meeting-we had a great metting focusing on our plans for this year! We are all ready to take our business to the next level and it is so much fun to work with some of my best friends! We planned to go to our National Training Conf in April in St. Louis! Can't wait...Missed Lucy's party...
1 pm: Helped hostess a shower for another good friend having a baby! Another fun time and good food! She got cute little girl things, too.
4 pm: Home - Brad had just put Reid down for her nap-we were babysitting our niece for the night because it was Laura's birthday. She was so sleepy-we had to wake her up from her nap at 5:30. Took her to Chili's-she was so good! Got home, gave her a bath, in bed easily, and we were right behind her! Finally the week was done and we were in bed!!

Today we were VERY lazy! Up at 6:00 am, went to church, lunch at Laura and Todd's because Reid fell asleep in our car on the way to the restaurant, I took over a 2 hour nap, Brad slept during football, and we had "internet" church tonight with Justin, Tiff, and Lucy! We FINALLY got some much needed rain and it was a great day! I feel totally rested and recharged-ready for the week ahead...luckily just work!!
Well, I hope everyone has a GREAT week that isn't as busy! Mine isn't going to be :)

Packing Up Is Even Harder To Do

Here is part of our dessert from tonight: It is this special cream sauce with brown sugar and chocolate sauce-the waiter made each of us a different picture. Then we dipped flaming strawberries in it! OH MY - It was SOOO good!
We've come to our last night in Maui! It was such a fun day though laying by the pool and soaking in the sun. We had a great time at dinner too! We went to Nick's where Laura and Todd had their rehearsal dinner. It was awesome-the food is the best and their service is unbelievable. The staff moves around that restaurant in one fluid motion-quite impressive. It has been a great trip! I am ready to get home to my own bed and actually sleep beside Brad-even with his snoring and talking. (We have been in the room with 2 double beds-which is actually a treat for me for a couple of nights to sleep alone, but like I said, I'm ready to be in our own bed.) No matter what though, any bed is going to feel great when we get home on Thursday morning at 5:30am!! Yikes...

A Hula, Hula, Hula Birthday!

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY, BOB~BOB!!!!! Well, here's the reason we are here-my dad's birthday. Although technically it was the 2nd, we chose tonight to celebrate. We had an AWESOME sunset dinner at the Hula Grill-one of our favorites, followed by a Hula Show in the Whaler's Village Shopping Center, ended with Hula Pie from Leilani's! The night couldn't have been better.

We have all loved writing tributes to our hubbies and best friends, but tonight is all for Bob-Bob-the greatest dad in the world...
I have so many favorite memories with Dad that this blog would take a year to write, but here's some of his best qualities and favorite memories...
1. He's THE most patient man I know-guess you learn this with 1 wife, 3 daughters, and 3 granddaughters!
2. I could talk to Dad forever and he always gave his undivided attention. (These talks were usually over Long John Silvers and Ice Cream.)
3. Dad was also the one that would tuck us in at night. He would get down on his knees and we would say our prayers. He and I used to get in SO much trouble because he would also read me "Oh Say Can You Say" by Dr. Suess. He would read this book of tongue twisters BACKWARDS making me laugh so hard that I would break into an asthma attack - that's when Mom had to break up the party!
4. He is so generous in all aspects of his life. He would go to any lengths to help anyone-not just his family.
5. He is a man of his word whether in business, with family, or with friends.
6. He has EXTREME will power-especially when it comes to dieting! Once he started a "Sugarless Delight Frozen Yogurt Diet" and only ate that!?!? In the last few months, he has stopped eating sugar and salt and has dropped 40 pounds-his clothes are hanging off.
7. I love that when he walked each one of his daughters down the aisle, he had his "quiverring" lip-His lip quivers when he is trying not to cry.
8. I love that his face can turn beat red when he laughs really hard.
9. Every Saturday night Mom would give us our baths and then Dad would dry our hair-most of the time while watching HeeHaw and eating tangerines. He always gave us a "cowlick" down the middle of our hair that drove us crazy.
10. When he wanted to wake you up in the morning, he would bust in and start singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" - again driving us crazy.
11. Almost every night, Dad and I would play PacMan and whoever lost had to dip the ice cream-seems he always dipped even if I lost.
12. Dad's motto that we hated growing up, but have learned to actually live by: Don't let other people control your emotions!" Man, that was the WORST when he would say that, but man, is it true and do we try to apply it!
13. He is a man of God-trustworthy, honest, spiritual, and to me-the definition of wise.

Again, I could write a novel and probably already did according to most of you, but he really is the greatest and I couldn't have asked for a better father. I love you, Dad! Happy Birthday!

My Three Girls

What can I say-I love these three! For X-mas this year, we gave gift cards to Roy's with an attachment for free Hawaiian babysitting! So, tonight is Date Night for Laura and Todd, Amy and Brian, and Mom and Dad. They are off to Roy's and we are here at the house with the girls!! We had to DRAG Mal and Abby out of their beds because they were SO sleepy from swimming all day. We finally enticed Abby out with an agreement that we would watch "Little Mermaid II"- She is a princess fanatic. When the movie started, Mal said, "MeMe, we need some popcorn!" and Abby followed that with, "Yeah, and some icecream!" They had also just told me that they weren't hungry for any dinner yet-but magically they were ready for popcorn and icecream-girls after my own heart. Reid was so content tonight just playing with Baby Tad! She was super cuddly too! On a different note-you know vacation is great when you don't know what day it is-I called my friend, Amy, today because I wanted to know how her shower went today-she just laughed and said, "Have you lost track of your days already?" The shower is tomorrow (Sat) and I was thinking about her all day wondering if she had fun! What a dork! Have a great weekend! Enjoy whatever day you think it is!! Here's some more pictures...

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

Well, I hate to say it - but this is what we have been waking up to the past two mornings! WOW! It is so beautiful here and the view is spectacular! We are up on the mountain a little bit making the whole scene gorgeous. It is peak "Whale Watching" season and so we are keeping our eyes peeled for some big splashes! Mallory is learning to look thru binoculars-although I'm not quite sure what she is "seeing". The boys are off playing golf right now and we are staying here at the house getting ready to hop in the pool. We taught Mal and Abby how to "lay out" yesterday but they enjoyed Uncle Todd and his "Cannon Ball" splashes much better! So far, only Mal has fallen in the pool-saved by Uncle Brad! He says that makes 2 life-saving rescues for him and Mal in her two short years of life! (Remember the seizure story?) Reid loves to get in the water-it was a little chilly yesterday so we hung out in the hot tub b/c it was a little warmer than the big pool. She splashed and splashed wearing herself out! We are having so much fun! We ended the evening with a YUMMY dinner at Bubba Gumps! If you haven't been to one of their restauants, they are so fun! We knew all the trivia about the movie and won several "prizes"!
I'll post more pictures later-Brad's got the camera at the golf course!

Thankful For Just the Two of Us!

Happy New Year!!! I feel like we have so much to be thankful for from 2005! As the year began, we were in the midst of craziness! We had a precious, new niece, Reid; Brad had just made a major career change: from the life in corporate America as a Financial Analyst to the stresses of starting his own business in Insurance; and we were in the emotional roller coaster of fertility treatments!


When I think back over this last year, I am so grateful for the way things turned out with each situation! Brad is doing awesome in insurance-I have never seen him happier about work and what he does. He is so driven and motivated and loves being able to help people. It is a big change from sitting behind a computer all day. I am so proud of him and all that he has accomplished this first year and never worry that he won't be successful!


After many months of fertility treatments, our doctor finally told us that InVitro needed to be our only option for my safety and the safety of any babies we might conceive. This started my year off with a very overwelming sense of sadness, fear, disappointment, and longing. Because our insurance doesn't cover the cost of InVitro, we needed to start some serious savings-we didn't want to wipe out everything we had just on that and not have anything else left-making me go back to work while there were twins or triplets at home...We put several time lines and goal dates and everytime we approached one-we continued to push it back a few more months.

In the meantime, I started a new job with Dr. Weyandt and have fallen in love with working again. Now, I am not ready in the least to do the InVitro and have decided not to put any type of time frame on it. I am amazed at the patience God has given me and the peace He has placed in my heart about it all. This has been a true year of growth in that respect. I wouldn't change the year we have had together and I am so thankful that it is still just the 2 of us! I am thrilled we are going to Hawaii and only have to pack 2 small bags (and golf clubs), and not all the carseats, strollers, etc! I laugh as I see all my sisters have to pack up!!!

So, to 2006! Whatever this year may hold~Who knows!? I resolve to continue to keep saving for when we are "ready"and continue to allow God to bless me and fill me with the love and peace He did in 2005. And for now, it is time to fill my suitcase with swimsuits and shorts and head to the beach! Aloha ~ I'll update from the beach!!

Christmas...

What a great Christmas!! It all seemed like a whirlwind over Christmas Weekend, but we had a great time! Friday night and Saturday morning we were with my family! After I told you all about our traditions, we ended up changing plans.

We still had seafood, we just went out for it and then we went and saw a little Christmas village in town. The girls loved it!
We opened our pajamas, the boys played poker, and all the girls hit the sack! We woke up and had our traditional breakfast and presents and then we ran out the door to go to meet Brad's Family!
We had a lot of fun with them and spent the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday with them-presents, good food, and movies occupied the weekend right up! I love the holidays and getting to spend time with family!! It was fun to have little Emily (Niece #4) at Christmas this year! Our families are only going to be getting bigger! I am still waiting to know when my sisters are each going to have more!!

Monday is was back to work for me!! YUCK-but it was good to get in a week of work because as of Wednesday, we will all be in MAUI!!! ALOHA!!! We are so pumped and ready for a long vacation!!

My Merry Christmas List!!

Why I love Amber Smith...She gave me something to Blog about after about a month of not blogging...man, we have just been CrAzY busy these days! But here goes...I love these lists!!!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate: Umm, both actually, my NEW favorite thing is "Land O Lakes Cinnamon Hot Cocoa (available at your neighborhood grocery store) - It is SOOOO delicious! But you all know my LOVE for Egg Nog (Leslie) and I just had some left-over Peppermint-Eggnog Punch from a shower I had last week-DELISH because it has ice cream in it-what's not to love there???

2. Santa always wrapped presents but I am beginning to be a BIG fan of the NOT wrapping-that makes such good sense-however, I would have been out of a job there in college on X-mas break. One year my mom actually stuck me in the cold garage with a long folding table and had me wrap all the gifts! Burrrr!!! HaHa-I LOVE wrapping - the prettier I can make the bows the better!

3. ONLY, ONLY white lights for the tree/house! Because Brad wouldn't spend the extra dough for the pre-lit tree, I decided to "pre-lit" my own tree-now every year we just struggle it out of the box, fluff, and plug it in! What a miracle-it was just that first year that killed me to wrap a 10 Ft tree with 1200 lights!

4. I don't hang mistletoe but I have actually gone to the florist before to get some but the didn't have any-very disappointing.

5. We always decorate the weekend of Thanksgiving-this year we were babysitting my niece, Reid for the weekend and when she woke up from her nap the tree was all done and she looked up and then down and then up again and then got the biggest smile on her face-it was priceless!

6. My favorite Holiday meal is Christmas Eve at my parents house. As tradition holds it, we always have a huge Lobster dinner with salad, bread, lobster, and even sometimes crab legs! I LOVE this night most of all...I also love Christmas morning breakfast and "shrimp dip" another family favorite!!!

7. My most Favorite holiday memories include...unwrapping our Christmas pajamas each Christmas Eve, getting my Cabbage Patch Kid (I cried because mine had short blond hair like me and my sisters dolls had long hair-there started my obsession with wanting long hair-still don't have it though) I also remember the long hours of decorating the house from when I was younger. We put Christmas carols on the record player (complete with the "Chipmunks Christmas" and danced around the house decorating) We still do this every year-we just use the CD player or Dish Network Satelite Music Channel!!

8. I don't ever remember "knowing the truth about Santa" we used to sneak into my parents room and watch them put out gifts but I always thought Santa came after that. Dad used to set our burglar alarm and tell us if we came out of the hallway of our bedrooms it would set the alarm off-I knew it really worked like that and was scared to death that I would scare Santa away if the sirens were going off-so I never got out of bed!

9. We only were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve:it was always matching pajamas for us-we still hold that tradition from year to year and it is my favorite one!!!! We have even recruited the boys and grandkids in the tradition too.

10. Santa always got Chocolate chip cookies but I don't remember doing that very much...we do it more now as adults for my dad than anything.

11. Snow-I think it is beautiful and I like to look at it-sitting by the fireplace, drinking hot cocoa, wrapped in a blanket with flannel pj's on, etc...I really don't like to be cold most of all but if I am bundled up warm, I love the snow.

12. I cannot ice skate but I do have a good memory of a "father-daughter date to go skating at the old PrestonWood Mall. We weren't very good and we even got in free because they were closing soon, but it is a special memory with my dad.

13. Wow, my favorite gift...Brad proposed on Christmas night - the ring was in my stocking from his parents! I opened the last little gift tucked away at the bottom and it was a little box that I thought was like a paper weight-when I held it up to show Brad the top popped off and WOW there was a beautiful ring! He dropped on one knee, asked me to marry him, and I said yes! I was so happy-I didn't cry and he always gives me a hard time about that-I was just too happy to cry!

14. The most important thing about Christmas for me is being with my family and upholding our traditions. Our family only really has Christmas traditions : we ALL spend the night at my parents, eat our lobster dinner, open our pj's, play games in our pj's (Mexican Train, Uno, Farkel), wake up have Christmas morning, and have Christmas breakfast which is my mom's awesome breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and orange breakfast punch! I just love when my whole family is together!

15. My favorite holiday dessert is Brickle Blonde Brownies (although I have been making them thru-out the year these days) and my mom's Peppermint Ice Cream Pie. My sister Amy and I used to have Vanilla Ice Cream and Ginger Ale every New Years Eve we were together-that is Yummy too!

16. I think I have mentioned all of my favorite traditions...I do have a new tradition that started this year...I went to the PrestonWood Baptist Christmas show and it was UNBELIEVABLE!! It was so beautiful and moving...I loved the "holiday festivities" at the beginning and was so touched by the story of Christ in the second half. It will move you to tears as Christ is crucified and then is raised-Angels are flying above Him and a 500 member choir is singing and it is just an amazing glimpse of Heaven. It was spectacular!!!

17. My tree topper is a big bow with funky beaded spirals spraying out-a little "untraditional" maybe but I love it.

18. I love giving gifts-especially when I know it is something they have wanted or something that is creative!

19. My favorite Christmas Carol: that is honestly IMPOSSIBLE for me to choose BUT here is a list of my faves...
Faith Hill's "Where Are You Christmas?" from the Grinch
TransSiberian Orchestra "This Night" (Cannon in D version-not really sure if that is the title)
Christmas CDs from Mariah Carey, SheDaisy, Aaron Neville, Kenny G, Celine Dion...Sirius Music Channel 6002 or XM Satelite Channel 23... the list goes on and on...I absolutely LOVE Christmas music...thankfully Brad does too - or he might go NUTS this time of year!! You should hear him singing to the SheDaisy CD!!!

20. Candy Canes...ummm, impartial...don't love 'em, don't hate 'em. I DO like peppermint flavored things though...I just wouldn't go sit and eat a candy cane!

Thanks to Amber for helping my in my busy, blogging slump! As y'all can tell I love the holidays and now some of you may know why! Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday filled with everything you love and enjoy about the season. I am thankful that our Savior was born and that we can celebrate his birth! That is the best tradition of all! Merry Christmas!

My Thankful List!

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's lists of what they are thankful for over the last few days-now it's my turn...

I am thankful ...

1. That I have a husband who is my best friend, tidy roommate, and faithful man of prayer! (He is also manly enough to play "Pretty, Pretty Princess" with his nieces!)

2. That my immediate family is all within 20 minutes or less of each other. There is nothing like being able to meet for burgers at JCs every weekend.

3. That I have the best 2 sisters anyone could ever ask for-I love how we are getting closer and closer as we "grow up".

4. That I have 4 beautiful nieces-all healthy and happy-that I get to see whenever I want-and that each have a different name for me-MaMere (Abby), MeMe (Mallory), MerMer (Reid-although I really think she is saying a form of "mama" but I am going to take it anyways), and little Emily can't say anything yet but Chad and Allie call me "Aunt Meredith"

5. For a two wonderful dentist offices to work in each day-Today, one dentist hired the high school band to come play the UT fight songs b/c she is a longhorn and the other dentist is an Aggie! It was crazy trying to clean teeth with "The Eyes of Texas" being pounded out down the halls. When was the last time you had a pep rally during your cleaning?

6. For an incredible church family with an amazing small group that I know continually prays for one another.

7. Being able to have a relationship with God and the avenue of prayer.

8. Being 27 and having all 4 of my grandparents still living-my Daddy Bill is 92 years old, still walks 3 miles a day, and can eat a horse and still be as skinny as a string bean.

9. That my family has not had to endure any sort of tragedy yet-although I know when we do we will be strong enough to face it together.

10. For gift certificates for pedicures-Thanks Tiff-my toes were in need of some attention!

11. For the patience God has given me regarding having a baby-I know He will bless us in His time-and I am thankful that since we don't have kids yet we are able to love on our nieces and so many of our friends kids-I am thankful that He is preparing us daily and teaching us to rely on Him.


Now for my fun things I am thankful for:

Blue Bell Ice Cream
Electric Blankets (Brad doesn't want to use the heater)
Free Scrubs for work
Grocery Coupons
Heated Seats
Velour jogging suits in brown, black, light blue, and turquoise
Gym memberships
Blogging & Email
Arbonne sea salt scrubs
Peanut Butter
My 45 minutes a day to watch General Hospital
Christmas Decorations and Christmas Music

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend with family!!

Surgeries, Surgeries, and More Surgeries

Let me tell you about the day...now this is craziness...let's start out with the week...Monday, my boss' s little 9 month old had his 3rd surgery-a successful one thank goodness! So, she was going to be out the whole week. Her partner, who normally only works one day a week, said she would work all week except Wednesday. Monday rolled by, Tuesday came and went, and then Wednesday hit. She again wasn't planning on working so we saw patients in the morning and then scheduled a computer training for the afternoon-very productive day. We went to lunch at 11 and as we are sitting there, by boss calls and says they are going home, baby Carson is doing great and is going from ICU to home! Great! She even stopped by the bakery on her way and dropped off some goodies to have for our training-how awesome is she to think about that on the way home from the hospital?!?!

Anyways, we get back and her partner called and said she is on her way to College Station to take care of her sick mom and possibly won't be back for work on Thurdsay-which would be a crisis because we had a lot of new patients that have to be seen by the dentist by law. So, we frantically call our boss, tell her the situation, and she says she will come in for Thursday. Whew!

Then, Thursday came:Dun, Dun Dunnnn!!! She walks in this morning and into our staff meeting and told us that her baby's stitches had come out last night on one side and that he was probably going to have to go back into surgery this afternoon! The problem came when her partner called and said, "My mom is in the ER being admitted for something, and my dad is upstairs in surgery for kidney stones!" OH MY! To make matters worse, my boss's husband was also scheduled to have surgery on his toe THIS afternoon! I mean seriously, have you ever heard of so many people having surgery? Thankfully, little Carson was ok and he did not need to go back into surgery-we managed the day, Dr. W bought us lunch at Chili's, and even got done about 2 hours early since we had moved so many patients up! It was a whirlwind of a week!

I am thankful though that everyone's surgeries went well and hopefully that is the end of them! Like so many other blogs, pray for the family at our church that lost their little 11 month old baby girl! She was 2 weeks apart from my niece and my sister has been teaching her in craddle roll this quarter. I just don't know how they are dealing-it crushes me to think of losing my precious niece-much less a daughter.

I pray everyone has a safe and fun weekend! Time to eat less so you are hungry for turkey!

Why I Love This Blogging Business

There is something to this "blogging"! Over the last few days, I have re-connected with so many people. I have found college friends that I haven't talked to in about 4 years, found a way to daily connect with 2 old roommates that have moved away, learned that a dear friend and her family are in desperate need of prayers, laughed histerically at several funny kiddos, and finally been moved by inspirational words of faith and love and the wonders of being a mom, sister, and friend.
There is nothing better than to KNOW you can go to certain friends blogs and get a good laugh. I always rely on Holly and Leslie for that no matter what. I love to read Alyssa's blog because she always has the most gentle, sweet reminders that make me appreciate my sisters and friends. The "ZooKeeper" amazes me with her creativity and vibrance even over the internet. I love to hear and see pictures from those sweet Arizona girls-I miss their mom and consider her as my sister that lives far away. I always learn something fun about being a mom from most of you, but I love to read the silly things that Cori and Kate do together-I know they will always be close like Cori hopes. I enjoy going thru the new moments that all of the new moms are having with their little girls and am THRILLED that someone else is as googly over their niece as I am about my 4!! I am also thankful for those of my friends that are just as bad as posting as I am and STILL have pictures from OSU homecoming on their blog! haha...
So, to all of you, I salute you and thank you! You brighten my day, make me laugh, cause me to reflect, and bring me inspiration of some kind each day! Keep 'em coming - even if I don't post for another 3 weeks!

Got a Problem, Do Ya???

A few of you have recently complained about my boring-not-updated-enough blog. Well, to you I say hhhggg! If you really want me to post my daily happenings here they are:
Wake up-Put on scrubs (color-coded for the day:brown/turquiose, grey/pink, aqua with striped ribbon, black/khaki, & navy) Don't have to take a shower because I took one the night before so I could sleep 15 minutes later.
Fix hair, makeup, put on shoes-realize I better get going!! Say bye to sleepy-head(who has not stirred once) and turn on "1310 the Ticket" as I walk out of the bedroom. Take my BC and allergy medicine, Grab a spoon full of peanut butter and bottle of water and head out the door!
Listen to Kidd Kradick on 106.1, Quick Staff meeting to go over the crazy patients, and then start scraping away!
Here I can begin to give you the nasty details of my day with people that come in that haven't brushed since 1985 and wonder why I need to make them come back for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th appt to get their teeth cleaned and to prevent them from falling out! There are always the clean ones though that make my job easy-whew-please keep FLOSSING!
Clock out-work out (maybe) and then watch General Hospital while fixing dinner. After dinner eat chocolate chip ice cream, read, watch tv, read blogs, etc...
SO there you go! That is why I don't blog everyday! That would be boring to tell you that everyday, but I will try to do better!! The fun thing is that I LOVE reading everyone else's blog!
Have a great weekend everyone!

A Little Thing Called Hope

To all those Alias Fans...This just in from the ShowBiz Top 5 on Kidd Kraddick...

Jennifer Garner is now on maternity leave. But she spent the next to last day on the set of "Alias" making out with her real life ex-boyfriend Michael Vartan. The scene was the first time Michael has been back on set since his character, agent Michael Vaughn, was gunned down in the season premiere. Witnesses say the scene looked like a wedding and according to sources, it's a dream Jen's character Sydney is having where she's dreaming about being with the father of her baby again. Despite what you might think, sources say there was little on-set tension between the former luv-uhs. Jen and Michael enjoyed a little chit-chat between steamy takes, and then Jen headed home to hubby Ben Affleck. While waiting for baby to arrive, Jen's been going to yagoa classes. Ben sneaked a ciggie while waiting for her -- going back on his promise to quit. Jennifer caught him and he was seen apologizing profusely.

Lost Sneak Peak...

For those of you into LOST, if you look at Kidd Kraddick's website...
www.kiddlive.com and scroll down you can find a link to the LOST website with a password and it will link you then to a page of the actual script...You might want to read it for some insider info...If this is old news - sorry - I am behind on my TV investigating!

First and Last

Tagged!

First Memory: Laying in my bed staring at my little slide and thinking there was a wild monkey hiding underneath it and I didn't know how I could run out without it getting me!



First Kiss: Brad Meyer in 4th grade by the fence at Shannon Ruppman's house. First Real kiss was Justin Gibbs my first night as a freshman at ACU in James Mayo's dorm room. RANDOM!



First Concert: Every Brothers at Starplex where you could sit out on the grass-it was great!



First Love: let's just count true love: Brad - no question



First Thing You Think in the Morning: Ugh, why is it still dark outside?



First Book You Remember: Oh Say Can You Say by Dr. Suess - My dad used to read this backwards to me - it is a book of tongue twisters - and I would laugh so hard that I would start having asthma attacks & mom would get mad at us! One of my most favorite childhood memories!



First Pet: Freckles, a cocker spaniel that was MEAN-bit me and got 6 stitches in my lip-still have a scar.



First Question You Will Ask in Heaven: I can't even imagine - I have so many...



First Thing You Think of When You Hear Vacation: 3 months-we'll be in Maui!!! Happy Birthday Dad!



First Best Friend: Kathy Hurley



Last Time You Dressed Up: Church on Sunday-not too fancy though-church is too COLD



Last Time You Cried: Saturday when I got lost returning our rental car :( I only cry when I'm frustrated...



Last Time You Told Someone You Loved Them: Today to Brad of course and to Mallory & Macy-my upline



Last Really Fun Thing You Did: I spontaneously went to the movies with my friend Kristin from work and we saw In Her Shoes...other than that Las Vegas and Kentucky



Last Thing You Watched on TV: Amazing Race



Last Halloween Costume: 7th grade Cheerleading Uniform-I was chubby in 7th grade!



Last Concert: CELINE DION-the BEST!!!



Last CD I bought: Amy Stroup - incredible



Last Thing I ate: Sonic-naughty but it was 1/2 price burger night!! who wants to cook after the movies??

The Bad Luck Continues...

Thursday morning I went to DFW to catch a flight to Louisville, Kentucky with one of my good friends Mallory and her sister, Macy for an Arbonne convention that was fantastic!!!
Here is how it went...
10:30 AM Arrived at airport, checked bags (which I NEVER do) wait to board
11:40 AM Scheduled departure
12:00 PM First announcement of water in a closet of the airplane
12:15 PM Deboard the plane as they are tearing up the floorboards
12:30, 1:15, 1:45, 2:00 - All times we watched on the screen of new departure times
2:05 PM Originally scheduled time of arrival in Louisville and we are still at gate B15 waiting
3:15 PM Moved to new gate to get on a new plane to take off
3:30 PM Announcement that the new plane has Instrumentation problems-wait another 15 min.
3:45 PM Announcement from the pilot that the flight has been CANCELLED!!!!
4:45 PM Rebooked on a flight to Nashville, TN because all other flights to Louisville are booked and the earliest we would get there direct would be Friday afternoon.
7:45 PM Arrived in Nashville however our bags did not
8:00 PM Picked up the rental car and GPS that Brad reserved for us and drove 3 hours to Louisville
11:30 PM Arrived at the Hyatt in Louisville-again with no bags

Friday morning:
6:45 AM Rolled out of bed and went to the conference-the hotel gave us toothbrushes-we didn't even brush our hair.
12 noon Got lost returning rent car because the GPS navigation didn't work
5 PM - Conference over for the day and Mallory & I had luggage waiting at the hotel-Macy's was still missing. Ugh-it was awful but at least we could all share and Macy and I can wear the same size!
5:25 PM - Never happier to be clean in my life!!! :) And I will NEVER again check bags!

Saturday morning:
7:00 AM - Macy's bag finally arrives
5:52 flight to DFW- I had one foot on the plane, Mal & Macy already are seated, and they stopped boarding because someone on the flight before threw up all over two rows-including the walls and seat pockets and the cleaning guy just wiped it off with a paper towel! GROSS! It was actually the row behind mine too!
6:02 PM Take off and home to Dallas! THANK GOODNESS!!!

Although the travel part was the biggest nightmare, our conference was incredible. It was a very motivating, encouraging, even spiritual experience. Arbonne and the opportunity it gives people is such a gift.
Hope you all had a great weekend and it was a little less nuts than mine!

Viva Las Vegas

Whew-I'm tired!!! I am not complaining by any means-I am just exhausted from our whirlwind trip! Las Vegas...Sin City...I would agree with that! We had fun but were also ready to come home too!
We got there Friday morning at 9:15, checked in, walked around, and hit In & Out by 11 am. Brad couldn't wait to sink his teeth into a Double-Double. YUMMY-they have the best burgers in the West-if only they would come to Texas.
The rest of the weekend was spent walking, walking, walking! I got the best exercise ever for vacation-we must have walked 7-8 miles a day...my dogs were barkin!

Here's the highlight of the trip...Friday night my mother-in-law and I went to see Celine Dion! Now keep in mind that I like her in the very low key since not a member of the fan club by any means! However, this was THE best show I have ever seen. Actually it is tied with seeing Beauty and the Beast on Broadway when Tony Braxton was Belle, but that is another trip.
So, back to the incredible show...she was amazing...I actually cried (heavy tearing of the eyes no boo-hooing) TWICE because it was so moving. The first time was when she was singing "I'm Alive" - so awesome. And the second time was during her encore when she sang "What a Wonderful World". Everything was so beautiful and the dancers were excellent-they are choreographed by the same choreographer for Cirque De Soliel so they were very unusual but neat and extremely talented!

Well, that was just Friday and I could have gone home after that I was done! We did also see Danny Gans-very funny I just got sick and missed part of the show (which I think was because I ate a 2 lb lobster entree that was DELICIOUS but who eats that good on a daily basis??) We got to ride in a limo to that show because we went with a highroller friend of the Moore family. Finally we saw Cirque's "O"-very very amazing. How they do all that I will never know!

Vegas was fun and I am glad that I went but I can officially scratch it off my list and not go back - that is until Celine signs a new contract and has a new show...then I'm there. Maybe by then my lungs will have cleared and we will be emphysema free-man those casinos are smokey and we didn't even play that much! We came home with about ehh $30?? Nothing exciting but we didn't lose money!

When my mom-in-law sends me pics I will post some-we are so backwards and don't have a digital camera yet...not til kids...so give me a couple of days to get them posted!

A Tribute...

Today is our 3rd anniversary! It is funny to me to think that we have already been married 3 years and then again it seems that night was so long ago. We actually had a low key night-Brad came home early from work with a migraine, slept it off thankfully, and I stopped at PeiWei and we had an oh so romantic dinner on the couch before bible study. That's ok though because on Friday morning we are headed to LAS VEGAS for a long weekend trip-full of fun and excitement.


I told an assistant at work today(after getting gorgeous flowers) that Brad is a much better husband than I am a wife. I mean that in the best compliment toward him. He is the strongest person I have ever known. I call him my rock because he is the most constant and stable person. There is no wavering and in a world of grey, fuzzy areas, Brad is a crisp black and white. He is confident and secure never affected by what others may think of his beliefs. He doesn't make decisions on emotion but thoroughly contemplates every option. (Sometimes I question if he has any emotions other than toward the Cowboys winning or losing) He is calm when I am a lunatic, steady when I am unsure, and encouraging when I am down.


He constantly proclaims his belief in me and tells me I am capable of doing anything I want to do. He is driven and strives always to be a better person, leader, and husband. If we fight it always ends in, "I'm sorry, I will try to do better" when most likely the reason we are fighting is because I misinterpreted something and I know it is my fault. He would never do anything to intentionally hurt me and it hurts his feelings if he thinks he hurt mine. He gives me everything I need and want. I am not allowed to do the dishes after dinner-he always does that!!!! He will fill up my car with gas and then back the car in so that I can just drive straight out in the morning to go to work. He has even been known to turn on the heated seat and make sure the radio is set to KissFM for me too! We also have this long gutter that runs on the ground outside my window in our bedroom and when it rains it is REALLY loud (like a tin roof) He will go out in the pouring rain and cover it up with the lawn chairs to that the rain won't wake me up or keep me up all night! I mean who does that?? He really is the greatest! He always thinks of the smallest things-in fact he is always thinking of me-he is so selfless! (I really am not as high maintenance as this is all sounding, he just literally thinks of everything) The sweet thing is that all I have to do to keep him happy is to feed him! And he isn't even a picky eater-just so there is food to eat he is happy!


It's funny how our two lives criss-crossed so many times before we ever met...I have his signature in my NuNu pledge book, we sat in the same section of chapel for 3 years, and I even went to his parents church in Wichita Falls for a year before I met him. God knew the right time for us to meet...he knew the right time for us to fall in love and it wasn't immediately. God knew Brad was exactly what I needed and would be my mate. We balance each other out completely...we used to say that he was type A and I was type B, but somewhere along the lines we both just settled in the middle and balance each other out.


I am blessed beyond what I can type in a blog about the wonderful husband I have. I won't slather you with anymore drippy love nonsense about Brad-he will be embarrassed that I even wrote all of this. I pray that we have many more years together and will happily tell our kids and grandkids all about when we were young and in love! I am so thankful that God brought him into my life.

All I Wanted Was...

Well, congrats out to me for blogging 2 days in a row! Ha~don't count on this being a regular occurrence...
So many of you expressed your annoyances with Walmart over the weekend and so I decided to completely avoid that whole scenario. On my way home from work this afternoon, I made the daily call to Brad to check in and ask what he had for lunch. Now I am not trying to be an overbearing nosey wife, I am merely trying to meet his dietary needs for dinner-truthfully he just doesn't like to eat chicken if he has had it for lunch which really annoys me because all I really cook quickly on the fly is chicken. So, guess what...Chick-Fil-A was on the lunch menu which meant I HAD to come up with something else~Thankfully Brad mentioned he wanted crab legs. Ugh...no matter how great that actually sounded to me it meant I had to go to Sam's. Ok, Ok, I gave in and thought...4:30 go to Sam's...home by 5...be at the gym by 5:15-5:20ish...ok, that would work.

UNTIL...dun...dun...dun...I am quickly filling up my cart at Sam's with pork tenderloin, steak, bread, everything one needs in bulk, and I hear this...
"Attention Sam's Members. We have currently lost our phone service and can only accept cash or check payment. No debit or credit cards will be processed." UGH...I never carry the checkbook anymore...it stays in the drawer and comes out only on Sunday morning for the contribution. So, I put all of my groceries back and head to the freezer section to get my crab legs. Great deal by the way...2 lbs Russian crab legs for only $10.88!!! Superbly delicious...thankfully, I had the $20 cash from Saturday that Brad's dad didn't let me spend since he bought my lunch and movie ticket! Whew! I'm safe there. I checked out and went on my merry way.

I thought, well, I'm right here, let me run into Walmart and grab a few things and be done with all this...I quickly grab a cart and rush around grabbing groceries again and actually make it to the deli and order my SaraLee Honey Roasted Turkey sliced very thin and then I hear it...
"Attention Walmart Customers!" OH NO- You've got to be kidding! "We are currently only able to take cash and check. Our phone lines are down and we cannot process debit or credit transactions. I am sorry for the inconvienence." I just couldn't believe it...so I told the deli man to scratch that order-I would have to come back another day. I put everything back on the shelf and decided just to get the salad that I knew I had to have for dinner, paid thru self-check-out and got out of there as fast as I could!

As annoyed as I was, it helped me get a better workout than I might have otherwise and our dinner sure was good. I highly recommend the Sam's crab legs if anyone likes to eat them. Super deal compared to any seafood restaurant and they only take 4 minutes in boiling water! Might be a little difficult with kids, but I will babysit if you want a romantic, quite dinner at home one night!! :)

Now, no good meal would be complete without ice cream, so Brad and I are going to now top it all off with our favorite, BlueBell Triple Chocolate! He'll be in heaven eating that and watching Monday Night Football! Hope y'all have a good night!

P.S. On a good note, we had a Lunch-And-Learn with the OralB rep today and we each got free electric toothbrushes. Mine didn't work (or so we thought) so she gave me another one but it was different. Come to find out, I messed with it and got it charging so now both are gearing up to clean my teeth after my ice cream finale! I will try them both out and let you know which one I think you all should get~as your person online blogging dental hygienist, I vow to bring you the latest and greatest in dental health news and products! You know I want you all cavity-free!

Recommendations...

I know, I know! I am a terrible blogger and you are all sick of seeing Reid pop up on your screen but come on-you know it gives you a little laugh every time you see it!

Brad left yesterday afternoon for a guys weekend just outside of Canton. I was thrilled to have some alone time, but yet none of it ended up being alone at all. (Except of course my sleep~no crazy men came over!!) My family met up at my sister's house last night for dinner-it was delicious-thank you Festive Kitchen (with a new store opening in McKinney next week and with the BEST cookie dough EVER)-and several of our second cousins came over, too. That was a blast to see them and their kids! Their kids were amazing-so well behaved at ages 7, 6, and 3. They ate their dinner (even ate spinach salad), had impeccable manners, and played so well with all my nieces. Hats off to Ben and Rachel for raising such awesome kids. Ben is in seminary and said that they have been reading the book Sheparding A Child's Heart by Ted Trip. After hearing him talk about the book, I wanted to go out and read it to be prepared. You may all know about it already but just in case, go get it! It sounds like a great tool to help raise strong Christian kids!

After the party was over, my parents, Todd and Laura, and I all played Farkel! If your family is into playing games and you have never played this dice game...I HIGHLY recommend it! Super easy, fun, and a great way to pass the time over the holidays! We can play forever-it has even replaced Mexican Train as the #1 game in our collection!
After my victorious win, I headed home to crawl in bed, watch the recap of Fashion Police Emmy's 2005 (Halle Berry takes the award!!), and fell asleep around 11:45. It was the BEST night of sleep-I didn't even stir until 7:07 am~that's what happens when Brad is gone~no talking, snoring, or whistling and I sleep great! Sorry Brad!


After getting out of bed at 9, I called Brad's parents because they always go to the movies on Saturdays. Before I could even invite myself, they invited me and we saw "An Unfinished Life" with Robert Redford, J-Lo and Morgan Freeman. (and the cute hunk from Sweet Home Alabama??) It was extremely good-very Shawshank Redemption/Legends of the Fall type movie! A huge surprise for me because I really just wanted to see "Just Like Heaven".
What a great day! Unfortunately, Brad's golf weekend got rained out thanks to Rita, but they had a great time and were home before I got home from the movies!


I never really title these things until after I write them because they always go a different direction. This blog is just my list of recommendations for the day!