I'm so thankful that my family was able to come down for my mom's birthday this past weekend. I love seeing them and seldom get the chance to spend time with them because we live so far away. My cousin Heather and I have always been extremely close and I cherish the time we spend together (even when she has taken Benadryl and looks like a goober (see picture!). It was great to see her and have her stay with us. And, I really appreciated that Husband got to know her a little better. I was also so happy that Caitlin (my sort-of sister) came down and we could spend some quality time together! I think it was really good for us to have that experience together! I'm grateful for the cold front that came through Sunday night and allowed me to wear my new scarf that I got last weekend! It's the one on the left (from Urban Outfitters) and it's so cute!! I looove scarf season and it's teetering on that time of year! This weekend, there is going to be a low of 48 where I'll be and I can't wait to pull out a different scarf to sport over the weekend! I get to go to the farmer's market after work today and I'm pumped! It has been a while since I've had the opportunity to make it to the Thursday market and I always feel like fresh produce can turn my week around. I'm glad I get to go and see what they have in season right now! Next week, our meals will be full of colorful goodies! So it sounds totally cheesy but I'm thankful that I got some great blog shout-outs by one of my new favorite authors, her musician hubby, and her publisher! It's exciting to know that my blog is read and appreciated by others whose work I appreciate! I'm glad I can help spread the work about writers/artists that I enjoy because I know how much it means when others enjoy my own work! Thanks for the shoutouts, Shelle and Lee! Hope it gets you some good publicity ;)
0 Comments
I'm so grateful that we have an elliptical machine at our house. The first major housewarming purchase I made when Husband bought our house was an elliptical. It has definitely paid for itself over the years. This week, it was in the 90s after work and since I was sick over the weekend, I just couldn't stomach the idea of running in such heat. I'm so glad that I could use this machine to keep up my cardio and not overheat with an outside run. I'm sooooo thankful for Hobby Lobby. This store just has it all and it has been a lifesaver this week. I made a couple of gifts for my mom's birthday and stocked up on supplies at Hobby Lobby. Of course I also spent too much on craft ideas for myself but I figure, making things can cost the same as buying something somewhere or save money but either way, it's giving me something to do! This week I'm working on bracelets! And of course my mom's presents :) We are having tons of people in town this weekend for my mom's party and several are staying at my house. Since we have been traveling so much lately, I have barely had time at home and even less time to really deep-clean my house. My wonderful mother paid for her maid to come and clean my house this week and it was amazing!!! She cleaned things that I normally just don't get around to - like dusting everything and wiping down our entire trashcan! It's soo nice to come home to a clean house. Thanks, Mom. It was perfect! My September Birchbox goodies Yesterday I got my first Birchbox! I signed up to receive a monthly box with all sorts of goodies after a bit of prodding (there really wasn't too much needed) from my friend Jennifer. We figured we could compare what we got each month and then enjoy all the goodies! I was pleased with my first box and I'm hoping that next month is just as good! I'm thankful that Jennifer talked me into trying this out because it is definitely fun to have a little surprise of girly goods delivered to your door! This week, Salice and I finally got to go visit the Houstom Museum of Natural Science to see the Titanic Exhibit. She and I have wanted to see it for months but something kept coming up and ruining our plans. I was grateful to share such an interesting experience with her and we even got to speak with the curator and see some extras that aren't on display at the museum! It was great to share the experience with her and we even made a date out of it. Dinner and a museum -- what more can you ask for??? :) This week receive some disappointing news about my brother. He has been in the hospital since the weekend and was diagnosed with full-fledged Crohn's disease. Previously, we had been told that he was suffering from Ulcerative Colitis but now we know that he has an even longer battle ahead of him. I am so thankful for all the support and prayers from friends and family for his health and recovery from his current bout of GI issues. We are so blessed to have people thinking about him and checking up on him. And, I'm blessed to have friends who are there supporting all of us. Thank you all. Today, my friend Rachel and her family come to stay with us. Rachel and I have been friends since we were in elementary school. I can't believe that I can look at her now with her two babies (2&3) and remember her just a couple years older than those boys! On Friday, she and her family were driving through Houston to meet her in-laws for a week in Galveston and they had some time to kill. Luckily, I had just arrived from my business trip and was about 15 minutes away! We got to spend about 45 minutes together completely impromptu! Sometimes those are the best visits! I'm thankful she gets to spend the next couple of days with me as well! I'm so thankful for my morning dates with my friend Kim (my anchor ;)). Whether it's to our favorite Starbucks or to get some breakfast, our dates really help my days. Not sure what I'd do without her here (so she can't even change jobs! Or get preggo again and leave me... haha). This week I am so thankful for my little brother. We celebrated his 22nd birthday on Tuesday night and I think he really enjoyed himself. In honor of him officially being old (hahahaha), I thought I'd pull out an old picture of us from about 17 years ago. Doesn't he look ADORABLE??? What a little blondie!! I'm thankful to have such a wonderful, loving brother and to have such a good relationship with him. Last night, I stayed up wayyyyy too late talking to Caitlin but it was totally worth it! I'm thankful that I get to talk to her so regularly and that I may actually get to see her next month!!! (If you're reading this, Caitlin, you should probably look at your schedule now and make sure you can come!). It's so amazing that we have gotten a chance to really build our relationship and become close! :) Sooo on a totally superficial level, I'm so pumped that it's finally turning into boot season! I can't wait to pull out the boots (and eventually the scarves/hats/other fun fall accessories) and enjoy fall! I've been looking all over for some fun fall boots. How cute are these??? Not sure what I'd wear with them but they are adorable! And I love the grey! Although the game tonight was postponed, and we won't be starting the season for another week, I'm still thankful that Aggie football is starting up! I love the college football season and it's going to be an exciting journey as we start up in our new conference! I really hope that this move is good for us and I'm proud to cheer on my Aggies!! Bath and Body Works has their fall line ready for purchase!! That means fall is just around the corner and I'm soooo excited! It's my favorite time of year for so many reasons and I get giddy when I start seeing autumn-themed items hit the shelves! I'm thankful for cozy smells and beautiful colors that will start filling up houses and stores soon! This morning I was sooo thankful for convenient healthcare! If you have a RediClinic in your area, you should really take advantage of it. It's so easy to just pop in (no appointment needed!) and only pay your regular co-pay instead of a large minor emergency fee! This place is great and when I woke up coughing up my left lung, I knew I needed to go in. I was in an out in 30 minutes with 4 prescriptions in hand! Thank goodness we have a system that allows for easy medical care! I'm so thankful I got to see my friend Maria this weekend! Ever since she got married and moved away, I've had major withdrawls :( She was in town for her great-grandma's 98th (you read that right 100-2!) birthday party and she was able to set aside a couple hours for us to get pedicures! Even though 2 hours is not NEARLY enough time with her, we made the most of it and got to act like we were back in high school :) Thanks for making time for me, girl!! Miss you like crazy!! This past weekend, Husband took me on a date and I'm so thankful that we still have semi-regular dates even when life gets a little tough! We went to see The Dark Knight Rises and it was really good! Hubs has a thing for Anne Hathaway so he was very pleased with the movie, haha! Although, Christian Bale isn't too bad, either so I guess it was a win-win! Have you seen it yet? What do you think??? This week I'm thankful for the chance to participate in a great cause. I just entered the Run 10 Feed 10 project to run a local 10K to raise money to help feed starving children living close to home. My sister Cate is going to run with me and I'm pumped to share such a great opportunity with her!! We are both raising funds for this and your support would be GREATLY appreciated. Even a $10 donation will feed several starving mouths!! Please check out my fundraising page and help me raise this money! Doing something like this is so fulfilling, I feel like I'm feeding my hunger to give as well as feeding children who can't afford meals!! Try it out! Giving really does feed the soul!! Visit my page here and you can donate a meal or 10!! I'm so thankful for the woman who found our dogs when they got out two days ago and then kept them safe in her backyard while Husband and I traveled from downtown all the way over to her house to get them. Our pups have been super sneaky lately and they love getting out and getting into trouble. Here is a picture of them plotting their next escape! I love my German Shepherd tumbler that my best friend gave me this week. I've been bringing it to work every morning and whenever I use it, I think of my baby Max and my bestie Salice :) Thanks so much, girl! It's perfect!! I'm thankful for love. I have been thinking about love a lot this week. As I drove past a place that always reminds me of Hurricane Ike, I remember how people banded together to help others during the crisis. I think people are good deep-down and during hardships, that love really shows. People are already donating to my fundraising site and I just launched it an hour ago! People are supporting others that they don't even know and that is truly love. I've also noticed that one of my strengths is that I have so much love to share. I absolutely cannot get enough of sweet babies and children or sweet pets/animals. I want to love everything around me and I want to share it with the world. Love is truly something to be thankful for and I can't even begin to explain how much I really just love love! Remember to show someone you love just how much they mean to you this week!! MUCH LOVE!!! xoxo, ME! This week I'm thankful for an understanding husband. It's been a stressful couple of weeks and we have had to work extra hard to make sure things run smoothly. Husband has been incredibly sweet and helpful whether it's with housework, finances, emotional support to even helping with work (we work together and he's been helping me like crazy!). I'm so blessed to have him! I'm thankful to be American. I LOVE the Olympics for so many reasons but one thing I have always appreciated is that it's a time for patriotism. It seems like sometimes people need a little motivation to sit back and look at how lucky they are to be from their country and have people representing them. The US has been extremely lucky in their Olympic endeavors over the years and I'm proud to wear my red, white, and blue and support the 528 athletes who are in London competing right now. When I left for work this morning it was still dark out. This time of year is such a great time to ride the bus into downtown during the early hours of the day because I get to catch the sun rising over downtown Houston. The skyline looks so pretty during dusk and when I can see it on my commute to work, I am reminded that fall is just around the corner! Today was the first day that I noticed the days getting just a little bit shorter. Though most people don't like shorter days, I love them because they let me know that the holidays are coming!! Hermano came over for a little bit this week (I may have had to bribe him with food...) and I really enjoyed spending a little bit of time with him! It's so crazy how time flies. Now that he lives about 40 minutes away, I almost NEVER see him! I can't believe we are both grown up and leading different lives. At least I have good pics, like the one I posted here, to help me remember the good ol' days! haha. Love you, Hermano! This week I'm thankful for hilarious (and true) cartoons like the one right here. I mean, this is so funny because I can actually hear the dial-up internet as I read it! It has been a stressful week and I've had some great laughs as my friends Kim and Allison have sent me an array of funnies like this. I'm so thankful for precious babies! Baby Claire was so well-behaved at the wedding on Saturday and her constant smiles (other than when she passed out in my arms) brought so much joy! I only hope that one day I have a baby with a similar temperament! I'm so grateful for my friend Kim this week. She has been there to listen to me complain, cheer me up, send me words of encouragement (and some good laughs) and has been so supportive of me! So glad we are friends :) :) :) (and she has some dang cute kiddos!!). Lastly, I'm grateful that I got to see my friend Ama this weekend. It's been too long since I last saw her (my wedding I think!) and I always love hanging out with her. Can't you tell how fun she is just be the pic?? She has always been such a good friend and she's shown me what a true friend can be. For example, when my friend MB passed away a few years ago, Ama took a day off work to drive over 100 miles just to be at MB's funeral with me so I could have a shoulder to cry on. She turned around and went back home as soon as she felt certain I was in good hands with MB's family after the ceremony. I will forever be grateful for her selflessness in that situation as well as others. Love you, girl! (P.S. hope you don't mind that I stole this awesome pic!). This week I am thankful for an understanding boss. My new boss is so sweet and understanding and I love working for her. We are still adjusting to working together and, because of her different managing style from my previous boss, we are still learning each others's expectations. She has been so understanding throughout this adjustment period and I'm lucky to have that. Yesterday I was soooooo grateful for nice people at the airport. I had a stressful traveling situation yesterday when I ended up at the wrong airport for my flight. I had made my reservations to leave from a specific airport and apparently, the travel site I used did not alert me when it made my flight from a different airport. Yes, I should have looked carefully at my ticket, but I honestly didn't expect that it would schedule me from an airport I didn't choose. So.... needless to say, when I showed up an hour before take-off and I'm told that my flight is leaving from the airport across town, I had a major anxiety attack. I was leaving for a business trip to a place that has very few flights in and out of it. I raced across town to get to the other airport and find that there is no parking! Apparently, half of the airport parking garage is under construction! I was watching the clock the entire time and praying that my flight would be delayed! When I finally made my way through the maze that was the parking lot to find someone leaving, I ran to the airport security line to find that there was a 30 minute wait to get through security. My flight was scheduled to take off in 10 minutes! I frantically cried out to the TSA guy to see if I could get through early and, of course, he didn't let me. Instead, tons of incredibly sweet people started asking those in front of them if I could cut in line because I was going to miss my flight. It's amazing how nice some people can be! Luckily, my flight took off 10 minutes late so when I made it through the line and SPRINTED through the airport, I made it onto the plane! I was sweating and panting as I took my seat but I kept thinking about how I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for those 20 or so amazing people who pulled strings to make sure I could make it! I received 5 free books this week (2 others aren't pictured but I got these 3 on the same day!). It is like Christmas time when you open your mailbox and see 3 packages of brand new books! I'm so excited to read these, and the other two I won from Goodreads! I've developed a true appreciation for reading books and critiquing them. Secret wish: I'd love to be a book critic in the future!! This allows me to pretend I am for the time being :) My good friend Andrea asked me to be part of her wedding when we spoke this week and I felt so blessed. She and I haven't seen each other since the day this picture was taken over two years ago! After she graduated med school, she moved across the country for her residency and has been soooo busy that I never get to see her anymore!! She's getting married next weekend and I can't wait to see her and share her special day with her! She will forever be my soul mate (right, Adge?), even if I don't see her every day like we did back in college! I'm thankful to be in her wedding as well as to have her in my life! |
AuthorLoving and learning a little more each day. Archives
June 2015
Categories
All
|