Happy 1st Day of School

I have always loved the first day of school. It was a big deal at our house growing up. My Mom was not always a big picture taker, but we ALWAYS took our picture outside in the front yard on the first day of school. Even in high school she made Linde and I take each other's pictures because she was already gone teaching school. If I wasn't a nurse I think I would be a teacher so this is still kind of a special day to me. I said a special prayer for all my friends who started school as a teacher or student today. I hope it went well!

This is my best 5 year old friend Katie all ready for her first day of Kindergarten, I LOVE that she is so excited. Her face sums up how I remember feeling.

Thanks for all you teachers do to make my little friends like Katie have great days at school! I don't know how you do it, but I am so glad that you do.

Old Friends and New Friends

I love it when God says YES! Amie and Bradley have been patiently, seriously, way more patiently than I would have been waiting for little Charlie for over 2 years.

He was worth the wait, he is so cute and every time I am around him is sweet, cuddly and sleeping just like in this picture.

This is Charlie with Heidi. I am so glad that I got to meet him with her. Amie, Heidi and Christi are my best friends from nursing school and I could not have made it through without them. We miss Heidi in Minnesota, but she is so good to always see us when she comes to Texas.

The study buddies - Christi + Charlie!

I love that we are all laughing in this picture, we have laughed and cried together so many times, it was too perfect.

Everyone Should Go on a Cruise

Michael and I had so much fun on our cruise. It has definitely been one of my most favorite vacations and was well worth getting excited about way back in the winter when we planned it! I think it is a great mix of relaxing and having exciting things to do. Here are 10 reasons I think everyone should go on a cruise!

#1 Swimming with Sting Rays!

What else needs to be said, this was probably one of the most amazing things I have ever done!

#2 Getting dressed for dinner every night!

I am nurse, I wear pajamas to work, it was so fun to get dressed and have a date 7 nights in a row.

3. Having so much fun with great friends!

This was my favorite picture because all my trip buddies are smiling brightly, we had so much fun together, I can't wait until our next adventure.

#4 BINGO!

Please excuse the day 3 fingers. I had forgotten, but I love BINGO. I am going to work extra before my next cruise so I can play BINGO everyday. All the different on ship activities meant never a dull moment on Rhapsody of the Seas.

#5 Mid afternoon Margaritas!

As I said in my California post, I think all great vacations should involve Mid afternoon Margaritas and where better to enjoy one than Margaritaville?

#6! Bing!

This was our waiter Bing, actually he had a really hard name we couldn't say so he let us call him Bing. He was AWESOME! We loved seeing Bing and Jin at dinner every night and talking with them. Bing always gave us a riddle and usually taught Annalee and I a new napkin folding technique each night.

#7 Towel Animals!

This was our favorite the sting ray. You can also see our Cruise Compass which I love reading and marking all the things we might enjoy doing, I know so OCD. Otto our room steward was great. Every time we left our room we returned to a beautifully cleaned and picked up room, as I said before I am OCD so I loved it! Thanks Otto!

#8 Quality time with Michael!
The cruise provided us with great quality time together! I had so much fun being with Michael all day everyday. Love ya!

#9 The Perfect Sun Hat!

I have been on a search for the perfect sun hat for literally years. In Cozumel I FOUND IT! I love it. It is so cute and it is huge so it covers lots of my lilly white skin. I feel sooo movie star in it. :)

#10 Reading!

I also love to read! I have my whole life. The cruise provided lots of great reading time by the pool with the ocean breeze blowing in your hair. I am so glad that my fellow travelers love to read also. I think we all read several books, and 3 of us had to great Harry Potter discussion. Book 7 was great, I am so sad HP is over.

Missing My Baby

We had a wonderful trip that I can't wait to tell you all about, but first I have to weed through the 9 million pictures we took to find the ones where I look the cutest, skinniest and most adventurous. In the meantime here is a picture of my baby. My parents are so nice to pug sit for us, but I can't go and pick her up until Thursday. I was so sad when we walked around the house to go inside and I remember she wasn't in the yard waiting for us to let her in. Good thing she has her Aunt Mary Lou, the second cutest pug in the family to keep her company.

13th Tale

For Book Club this month we read the 13th tale. It was a great book that I highly recommend. I love book club and it has been so much fun to read things I might not normally read. I can't say much because what happens at book club stays at book club, but if you at all like to read I think you should join a book club.
Here's a list of my favorite things about book club, in no particular order...
1)It almost always involves wine and cheese-yum!
2) We read all kinds of books from Freakanomics, to The Devil Wears Prada, to The Tenth Circle
3)Everyone in the group is a different age, I like hearing different perspectives from different places in life
4)It is in my hometown not where I live now. Even though I am glad we don't live there and I am so happy here. I love to go back and see my family and have fun with the club, book club time always comes us just when I need some T-town.
5)I love that the thing we have in common is our faith. Even though we don't read religious books everything always relates back to faith, and it is so fun to hear what that means to each woman.
What great books have you read? I am always looking for a good book when it is my turn to choose!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

These are some really great friends who agreed to celebrate a very belated Birthday with me at a FABULOUS restaurant, Abacus. We had so much fun and literally the best salmon I have ever eaten. I am officially too snobby for my own good, I LOVE fine dining. We had so much fun taking our time eating a leisurely 5 star meal.

This was my Birthday dessert with sparklers--you know how I love fireworks. I highly recommend the 3 C's if you ever find yourself needing dessert at Abacus.

And best of all guess who came to celebrate with us?

That's right TROY AIKMAN!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I am usually not a boy crazy, giddy girl but I have had a crush on him for as long as I can remember. Many people think I married into being a cowboy fan, but I was already a true blue fan. My daddy and I have been watching the Cowboys together forever. So, I just about died when Troy hopped out of the Range Rover in front of us at the valet stand. Be still my beating heart!!!!! And, my friend Sarah graciously spotted him for us on her way to the ladies room so that I could spy on him some more. Talk about a fabulous night. I highly recommend stretching out your Birthday fun as long as I did this year, who knows maybe Troy will join you too!

PS. A big thanks to everyone who will be eating beanie weenies because I was a demanding Birthday girl-I promise I'll never ask you to do that again but it was AWESOME. We love you guys!

PPS I think Tre Wilcox is in the finals for Top Chef season 3. They said he had been back for several weeks, but was on vacation last week.....interesting!

CONGRATULATIONS AMIE!!!

I am SO excited for my friend Amie, after more than 2 years of patiently waiting she FINALLY gets to be a Mom. Please pray for Amie, Bradley and the birth parents as they all have a lot to deal with in the next few weeks. Check out Amie's blog for more fun info.