It's Been Awhile...

Just realized how long it has been since my last post. We have been a little busy lately. 

Chloe has been taking riding lessons for almost a month now and I think she has had a total of 6 lessons so far. She is a total natural! Right now she is learning 'English' style riding. She doesn't want me posting pictures (not sure why) but I will be a bad mom and post some anyway. =-p How else is everyone going to see how amazing she is doing? 

These are from her first lesson on March 5th

Getting settled

Love the form!

 Learning balance

Since her first lesson, she has progressed pretty quickly. She has already done some small jumps where the horse typically walks over the jumps (while trotting). Her horse actually did a real jump (not big) and the look on her face was priceless! She didn't fall off and didn't freak out which was great. This past lesson she got to test out the big arena! 

Here are some pics of her lesson Friday

 Let's go this way

 Walking

 Jumping

 Kickin' up dust

Getting ready to jump

I am so proud of Chloe! She was so adamant about taking riding lessons but insisted that she wanted a horse just so she could take care of it. We told her that she HAD to take lessons if one day she was able to get a horse. Now look at her! She is also earning an additional lesson each week by cleaning stalls, bridles, and doing whatever needs to be done. Oh and yes, I have pics of her doing that too! =-]

 The headless Chloe cleaning stalls

 Hard work

Hard at work

Now onto Lyndsy. She has been taking hitting lessons for softball and has been doing much better! No pics of her lessons but I do have some pics of her warming up during her game last Friday. I haven't mastered taking pics during her game... I will work on that! Lyndsy's school is honoring 'Texas Tobacco Free Kids Week' this week and some students signed up to die due to second hand smoke. Well of course, Lyndsy signed up. She 'died' yesterday and all week has to wear a white shirt and a necklace. She is supposed to refrain from talking to anyone (ya know... since she is dead) but said she has laughed several times. Good going. =-]

 Having fun

 Pop up

 Yea, I caught it... with my eyes closed even!

 Looking like a true softball player!

 The view from the bleachers

We went to Six Flags Over Texas with MeL and Dave during Spring Break, have watched some UFC fights with them as well. Ha ha! I just remembered that before the first fight we watched together here in TX we went to dinner. We were going to take them to Babe's Chicken but the wait was CRAZY long so, we decided on The Blue Goose. Well, I saw that they had this brand of tequila that my cousins friend had while at his house for lunch after my grandma's funeral. A bunch of them were doing a shot and offered me one, but I was leaving - which meant I was driving. Anyway, I decided to take advantage of the restaurant having that brand and ordered me up a shot of tequila. Let me state that I hadn't eaten lunch and the shot was more like 2! Let me also state that I DO NOT remember much of dinner - the actual eating part! The tequila hit me hard and fast! I was devouring freshly made tortillas as quickly as I could to help absorb the alcohol. That was for you grandma! =-] 

This Thursday the girls are showing goats at the County Fair in Denton. Never thought I would say that! They are my sister-in-laws goats and she needed help so, the girls offered up their services. Such great girls we have!

Anyway, I must hope in the shower and head out to find me some 'interview' clothes. Yep, I have an interview tomorrow. Yikes!

Funerals, Family, and Friends

Funerals are never fun. Well, at least in the true sense of the word. When you come from a large family you can't help but have fun... even at a funeral. 


Late last week my grandmother passed away. She was surrounded by some of her children, their spouses, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She joins my grandfather and my uncle Jerry. I have learned a lot about my grandma during the celebration of her life. I learned that she used to sew clothes for her children (a Halloween costume for my uncle John that he didn't want to wear but did anyway and ended up winning a contest), she gave great words of wisdom to anyone who needed them, she made delicious cakes for any occasion (I did know this about her - as she made me numerous cakes), she has 23 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, and so much more!

I was able to fly out to Arizona on Tuesday night and spend some time with my parents. 

Wednesday was the celebration of my grandma's life:

It started with a viewing

Then a very nice service at a church in Chandler

A motor escort to the cemetery

A nice graveside service

Seeing my grandfather's headstone

My nephew's headstone

My uncle's headstone

And then finally off to my cousins house for some reminiscing and food.

I had some great conversations with some of my relatives that I don't get to see very often as well as some I do see more often. It was so nice to see some friends of my cousins show up to his house to pay their respects and just hang out. They weren't afraid to meet the family... we can be very daunting with their being so many of us! =-] 

Here are some other pictures that I took at the cemetery. 

Flowers

 Flowers

 Flowers

and more flowers

 This the tree that shades my nephew, Colin's, grave. I liked how the sun was shining through just in one little spot.

 My sis and I

 My sis, my dad, and I

Me, my mom, my dad, my sis, and her husband

My cousin, Chaz, paying a visit to his dad. I used to babysit Chaz and his older brother when they were just little kids. I have never sat down and just chatted with Chaz before until yesterday. We got to talking about cameras and taking pictures and lo & behold... he loves photography! He brought out 2 35mm cameras of his and was so proud of them. One of them was an old Fugi camera and it was pretty cool! Well, Chaz loves black & white prints so I made this just for him! We talked for quite a while and as I was watching him talk I realized just how much like his dad he really is! His eyes are just like his dads, his demeanor, and his passion. Now to just have him grow a mullet! =-]

 This is the full shot of my grandparents headstone. The blank space on the right is where my grandma's plaque will go.

This is my grandma's final resting place. I thought twice about posting this shot but really like what was written in the dirt. You see everyone was invited to drop a handful of the dirt shoveled out of this hole back onto her casket. Some of my cousins and cousins kids were really close with my grandma and really struggling with her passing. So, Doug - my brother-in-law - took them and had them write "We love you" in the dirt. I honestly didn't notice the writing until after I had taken the picture. That just made it that much more special! I have to say that I know that my grandma's body is laying beneath these words but her spirit is definitely with her Maker! Love you grandma!

I ended my day running a few errands and then hanging out with some dear old friends, The Duggan's. We (Peter & I) have known Jim & Heather as long as we have known each other! They were kind enough to lend me a car for the day, feed me dinner, let me crash at their house, and then take me to the airport at butt crack thirty. Heather and I stayed up talking way too late and I got up way too early but it was so worth it! Thanks again guys for your hospitality!

Well I am exhausted from the last several days. Night

Some of my favorites

To take pictures or to not take pictures... that is the million dollar question.

I really enjoy taking pictures and would love to be more confident in doing so. I think that I have taken some pretty fantastic pictures but they have mainly been of non living things. I would love to take pictures of the girls and other people but am just not sure if I would be creative enough. I will have to work on that. 

Anyway, here are my favorite pictures I have taken in the short several months that I have had my camera. Most of the pictures you are about to see, you have seen before.

Enjoy...

They are not in any sort of order... I also realized as the pictures were uploading that most of them are of living things. LOL! 

 

Friends

I have decided that everyone needs a friend. A really good friend. A friend that will listen when you need to vent. A friend that yell and scream at the TV with you.  A friend that will cry with you. A friend that will do nothing with you. I have also decided that YOU must be all those things back! As the saying goes, "It takes two to tango".

I have had a lot of friends over the years and I truly believe that the friends that I have had, came into my life for a reason. I do however, believe this true more for adults than kids. I have developed friendships quickly with some people while others it took time to develop that special bond. Some friendships seem to never end even though you hardly talk or write. You just know that they will always be there for you for whatever reason. And then there are some friendships that just end abruptly. Well, it seems abrupt when it happens but once you take the time to re-evaluate what happened you can see the deterioration started  a while back.

Well, today was a big day for a couple of our friends! They were getting news about a potential move across the US or a closer move to TX for a job. Of course I was hoping for the latter but would have been super happy for them no matter where they moved too! Really! Well, we got the text (a very clever one I might add) that they are moving to TEXAS! I was (and still am) SUPER excited that our friends are moving here! The areas that they are looking at to live are pretty close which is even better! I cannot wait until March! I may have to make a paper chain to help count down the days. tee hee!

I pray that this friendship lasts a lifetime! Love you guys and welcome to Texas!

Just a lazy Monday...

Today was rather a lazy Monday. I got the girls up and out the door for school (YES, there was school today!!!!) and then my goal was to hit the clubhouse to do the treadmill. Well, my stomach was bugging me from all the spicy buffalo chicken last night so I decided it best to not stray too far from home. I crawled back into bed and ended up falling back asleep. Oops! 

When I got up (around 10am), I decided that my car needs a wash and vacuum. Peter and I ventured out to the $3 car wash (and FREE vacuum), picked up our mail, got a burger (I have been craving a burger for over a week now and man was it good!), then stopped to get a few items at the store. 

Not much happened the rest of the afternoon. 

I made dinner which consisted of leftover buffalo chicken... Buffalo Chicken Wraps with rice. I took a bite of mine and realized that I was not very hungry so I handed it over to Peter. 

For any of my friends who have played Angry Birds... during the Super Bowl there was a commercial for the new movie called, Rio, and they were giving a clue to a level that gave you a football golden egg. Peter and Lyndsy were trying to figure out how it works and Peter came across a walkthrough for it. I sat and tried to get the darn football egg for what seemed like FOREVER! I tried on my iPod and my phone (droid) and nothing. Well, so I thought. I was at it again today and was looking on the golden egg section and happened to swipe my finger across the screen and it revealed another page. Guess what was there? The frickin' football egg! I couldn't believe that I sat and played it over and over again when I didn't have to! But I quickly got over that. I played the football egg game and beat it... then followed the link to register to win (I know, like I am really going to win) a trip to Rio de Janeiro to see the premier of 'Rio'. It was kinda funny yesterday when Peter was talking about what you win... Chloe asked him if we would really go if we won. He said, "sure".

Well, that is it. Nothing else going on. Oh wait... I just remembered something. =-] Wednesday we are expected to have another bad storm and I guess the schools are planning ahead and saying they may close both Wednesday and Thursday. Pretty crazy! I guess the good news is that they are only having to make up 2 days out of the 4. 

Ok, now I am done. Night =-]

Snow Days and more

Well, it has been a few days since I last blogged and really not much has been going on. We had a big winter storm (really a cold front) come in on Tuesday morning. It didn't put much snow on the ground this time but the same snow has been on the ground since Tuesday and it's now pretty much ice! 

This is actually at my sister-in-laws house, when we ventured out on the 1st.

School has been canceled since Tuesday and is for the rest of the week. They are very thorough at the school district as they send me at least 2 emails and 6 or so texts daily  to tell me that "school is closed due to inclement weather". =-] 


Yesterday was Lyndsy's 14th Birthday and she was extremely excited to have the day off from school! I didn't have any decorations so, Lyndsy and I made paper chains and hung them around the kitchen area. (yes, she really did help make her own decorations) She invited her friend Emily over for a sleepover. We enjoyed her favorite dinner of Onion Chicken, pasta, and sugar carrots. I almost forgot to make her birthday cake... I saw it there, quickly made it, and then put it in the oven with the chicken (on a different rack that is). When the chicken was done I must have turned off the oven because when I went to check on it, it was still pretty runny! Oh well! I ended up being super moist and yummy!

 The birthday girl! I must say that I think she is very beautiful! I can't believe that she is already 14! Time is flying by way too fast!

Because the cake was still hot from the oven, the candles were melting inside the cake. Pretty funny!

Lyndsy's birthday present... Let's see how long this one lasts!

Today has been a relaxing kind of day. I worked on laundry and watched some home improvement shows. I talked to my mom about my grandma. My grandma was at the doctor's office about a week ago and fell. She broke her hip and had to have a hip replacement. While at the hospital they discovered she had some other issues and now they just found out that she has cancer in her gall bladder and that it has spread to her lymphnodes. My mom said that she isn't taking it very well and that my dad is doing 'alright'. I will update as I get them.

Well, that is about it! Just trying to stay warm!