tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624753800610588322024-03-04T23:13:18.503-06:00Brown Eyed Girl & Her BeauGirl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-89589205413696082232011-01-05T09:46:00.000-06:002011-01-05T09:46:07.651-06:002011 Motto<div style="text-align: justify;">One weekend while Aaron and I were doing some shopping in a quaint little area near our house, I stumbled across the sign below. I actually saw several signs with all sorts of sayings. But this one really stuck with me. I browsed the store for a while, falling in love with most of it, but kept going back to this sign. It was exactly what I needed to read at the time. So I bought it and decided that I would bring it to work and hang it in my office so I could be reminded of it daily. I spend most of my time here anyway, so it made sense. I look at it every single day. Over and over. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENleLuFrclKsDNiV3IyCFgJ80T7lLazlsVdCKtqLL9v-9MTlTv_77UHQpYPA5LqNFCdCQcS2A9J3mur-gDKv_lvyP1aSJef9xWA3miM4pzC6knoG5r5W2-gFdJpVmrZ0TvA8NsukPNrOG/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENleLuFrclKsDNiV3IyCFgJ80T7lLazlsVdCKtqLL9v-9MTlTv_77UHQpYPA5LqNFCdCQcS2A9J3mur-gDKv_lvyP1aSJef9xWA3miM4pzC6knoG5r5W2-gFdJpVmrZ0TvA8NsukPNrOG/s320/photo.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">How true is that?? I feel like I spend so much time wanting more and more. The new style, the new shoes, the new bag, etc. Without even focusing on what I have and realizing that at one time, I wanted all these things. And now I have them. In my closet, in my house, in my marriage, even in my garage. The sign isn't extremely profound, but it is a great reminder for me to be grateful of all the things I've been blessed with. Be content with my life NOW. Stop focusing on the future and the "wants" of the world. It's easy to lose sight of how good we have it sometimes. It's easy to compare our lives with what we see on other blogs, tv, or what our friends and family have. But in reality, we all have it pretty good. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I resolve to make this quote my 2011 motto. To be thankful and content with what I have in my life now. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Happy new year friends!</div>Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com68tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-32955615559029753372010-12-31T10:45:00.000-06:002010-12-31T10:45:43.151-06:00Best adventure of 2010<div style="text-align: justify;"><span id="goog_1331659416"></span><span id="goog_1331659417"></span>The year is coming to a close and the new year is quickly approaching...very quickly, so I figured it would be nice to do a recap of one of the most wonderful family vacations I've been on. The most wonderful place I've been period. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We are so fortunate that my parents asked us to tag along for their 30th anniversary trip. That's just like them too. They would rather have us all together, as one big family, then on a trip just the two of them. I think this trip brought us all closer and made us all realize how blessed we are to have been placed in this family. It's always hard to come back from a trip with loved ones. I miss waking up in the morning, walking down stairs and seeing everyone's faces sitting at the table, sipping coffee, Chelsea making her famous spicy scrambled eggs, giving each one a good morning hug. It was just so perfect.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was a great 7 days together. In paradise. We couldn't have asked for more. The food was delicious, views were breathtaking and the company was out of this world!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All in all, between my dad, sister and I, we took a good 2,000 pictures. Obviously I won't be posting all of them but I will do my best to give a recap in one post. We'll see how long it is when it's all said and done...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWx2t1mlSQl9nIlLYNwqEiBTlP0XiiwR8yTaSondqjhJp-kCOPR6gjT4r9rXLE78my4PPHU5WrhSCflFvCeF4RJwrgy-g6XuNRhieFt7L17LlTt-EMlyp8Mp_JPfEsmvE5aJA8L0_svAZ/s1600/Nicole+Cayman+Pics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWx2t1mlSQl9nIlLYNwqEiBTlP0XiiwR8yTaSondqjhJp-kCOPR6gjT4r9rXLE78my4PPHU5WrhSCflFvCeF4RJwrgy-g6XuNRhieFt7L17LlTt-EMlyp8Mp_JPfEsmvE5aJA8L0_svAZ/s400/Nicole+Cayman+Pics.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> Starfish Beach and lunch at Rum point (almost daily occurrence..)</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQn-legI5ZQm8izOjeEDtjUFqGMm4B8AC8ampPBCgmUDqfOfaK135SGK3EsP0GRZuoMcf3TMwkMw6o-5M0913at671zLK54HpouK6MAjeDsiksWFl62etxNlKIvMPOiY6BiT0483P-jgET/s1600/Nicole+Cayman+Pics1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQn-legI5ZQm8izOjeEDtjUFqGMm4B8AC8ampPBCgmUDqfOfaK135SGK3EsP0GRZuoMcf3TMwkMw6o-5M0913at671zLK54HpouK6MAjeDsiksWFl62etxNlKIvMPOiY6BiT0483P-jgET/s400/Nicole+Cayman+Pics1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> Best. Night. Ever. Dinner on the beach followed by dance party!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEl0EQ1ObMzkbtrZMR16eSRWeC6L9jMGhiMQei19TVO6BBbuXND4DuqT-9o1XNeQmxkmtdpHMGdTGpPCRt4mXzC0A-7HJRk4IQlLkuwWWLBTmj2kfUBodMCKy2ZiFD141ySVcUinTlsFVm/s1600/Nicole+Cayman+Pics2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEl0EQ1ObMzkbtrZMR16eSRWeC6L9jMGhiMQei19TVO6BBbuXND4DuqT-9o1XNeQmxkmtdpHMGdTGpPCRt4mXzC0A-7HJRk4IQlLkuwWWLBTmj2kfUBodMCKy2ZiFD141ySVcUinTlsFVm/s400/Nicole+Cayman+Pics2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <i>Margaritaville (Georgetown), 7 Mile Beach, topped off with best incredible dinner at Edoardo's</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJCHZRmR3VFE5y0YksBIiEQC5esJRZ2W1Gp6CK80xNmxmn7V6_E8YsnfNYE537Lz96F8xgxWsezWvuoPOenuxcv3X58XVcpglEX9cGMhxlIDyJZOrWEhA3xvbGmBQbMYRye9CpsA8n6W8/s1600/Nicole+Cayman+Pics3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJCHZRmR3VFE5y0YksBIiEQC5esJRZ2W1Gp6CK80xNmxmn7V6_E8YsnfNYE537Lz96F8xgxWsezWvuoPOenuxcv3X58XVcpglEX9cGMhxlIDyJZOrWEhA3xvbGmBQbMYRye9CpsA8n6W8/s400/Nicole+Cayman+Pics3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> Turtle farm, Smith's Cove (amazing snorkeling) and a little BTHO t.u. from the hubs :)</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy33uvLpei6eRhigEYijn7kU6pMNJIsSmPBxkRLmxHOrY3ro1H711ocXu70mK781xYsIaYQVMSe3o1bmTfPusEOF2ztc_Ib5di14KqFTL1Pb0aZe9XiZ6gYPBrnrOVXGx7doU2CrKJKqnL/s1600/Nicole+Cayman+Pics5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy33uvLpei6eRhigEYijn7kU6pMNJIsSmPBxkRLmxHOrY3ro1H711ocXu70mK781xYsIaYQVMSe3o1bmTfPusEOF2ztc_Ib5di14KqFTL1Pb0aZe9XiZ6gYPBrnrOVXGx7doU2CrKJKqnL/s400/Nicole+Cayman+Pics5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> Lunch at Cracked Conch, mmmm.., Hell!, and my boo driving our sweet ride</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhigVimf49Yxncx7ZfmPiQrOwRsJqlw680adVaKZfb7qhTb0MxL_nQ-ukcShkmTvVX-rVCGc3Sxdzo5Z4fW5vmmjzOKwMvSkjL28kCe4sowqF9O7qBVEy1Z_cHWSVys909OOObRD7OCXXMb/s1600/Nicole+Cayman+Pics6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhigVimf49Yxncx7ZfmPiQrOwRsJqlw680adVaKZfb7qhTb0MxL_nQ-ukcShkmTvVX-rVCGc3Sxdzo5Z4fW5vmmjzOKwMvSkjL28kCe4sowqF9O7qBVEy1Z_cHWSVys909OOObRD7OCXXMb/s400/Nicole+Cayman+Pics6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <i>Sting ray city, Rum Point, photo ops and more eating </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ahhh, just going through the pics is making me relive it all! We had such a great time and rumor is, there's plans to go back soon. Very soon! :) Thank you mom and dad for letting us tag along! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This year has been a whirlwind from the start with Aaron being laid off in January and slowly recovering from all that came along with it. But in the end, it has been an incredible year and we have been TRULY blessed. It was nice to finish the year off on a positive note and with the ones who mean the most! Can't wait to see what 2011 holds for us all. No matter what is thrown at us I know we will be able to make it through and come out on top! </div><br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-72791196249133440052010-11-19T09:56:00.000-06:002010-11-19T09:56:36.992-06:00Hitting the Islands, Mon!<div style="text-align: justify;">Ladies and gentlemen (well, dad and Aaron) we are Grand Cayman Islands bound! I could not be more excited!! My lovely, amazing, wonderful parents are taking the kids and their SO's with them to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary! How cool is that? My parents are such a great example to my sisters and I and we could not be happier for them. We're heading out this weekend and will be gone all week. (Holla for no Thanksgiving family drama of who's house we spent more time at...) It's going to be incredible. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My parents have rented a house on the beach. Our backyard is sand and ocean. Heavenly! Apparently, courtesy of double J (sister's boyfriend) our backyard backs up to some pretty sweet coral and marine life. The house has a pool too, you know, in case you get tired of frolicking in these crystal blue waters...</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_yFcb-ipbOpopE6RwMipcq6uRyczv3c4SVQwZQDnLC-tZLJiymISAiwMbS3wPLDrwkqNnGvHcBrm5f1yBocx1A7h-NyANxqMy6sNVEDo9zTnRiq_MWf84RnEpE4s0XdCJuTDeDurpPXuf/s1600/seven_mile_beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_yFcb-ipbOpopE6RwMipcq6uRyczv3c4SVQwZQDnLC-tZLJiymISAiwMbS3wPLDrwkqNnGvHcBrm5f1yBocx1A7h-NyANxqMy6sNVEDo9zTnRiq_MWf84RnEpE4s0XdCJuTDeDurpPXuf/s320/seven_mile_beach.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">We will also be hitting up Stingray city. Sister sent us the stingray down low in hopes to alleviate any fears. I'm not sure if it worked or not but I will attempt to swim with the little devils!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXgnoQMvpz99og8PuhvBNoy5rpPu-vTaF4L1HNiG_wwvXmbxfsQFJ6faZTm1h6Aeg1whAeL6m8wzxIhbxcgeW9HxTB9tQDsa_w6WaVjeZT5fNAOfB4eZMCdfz4f1heRw6gncRb0oDdcnM/s1600/stingray+downlow.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXgnoQMvpz99og8PuhvBNoy5rpPu-vTaF4L1HNiG_wwvXmbxfsQFJ6faZTm1h6Aeg1whAeL6m8wzxIhbxcgeW9HxTB9tQDsa_w6WaVjeZT5fNAOfB4eZMCdfz4f1heRw6gncRb0oDdcnM/s640/stingray+downlow.bmp" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TwpXMNsekSbAl9YtV7P2M_5XToPYF_pkwXEOohHJmtzUf_XIpUd12JxE3FiZQ49mP9VxzKgPACVkR7mq_510Sw4wHPAwvxk_URGDY2OJJO5fT2vDTzj7L4S1zWiUg4y8pvjOGIRFoxfJ/s1600/sting-ray-city-grand-cayman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TwpXMNsekSbAl9YtV7P2M_5XToPYF_pkwXEOohHJmtzUf_XIpUd12JxE3FiZQ49mP9VxzKgPACVkR7mq_510Sw4wHPAwvxk_URGDY2OJJO5fT2vDTzj7L4S1zWiUg4y8pvjOGIRFoxfJ/s320/sting-ray-city-grand-cayman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">We will also make our trek to Hell. Eek! You heard it right. The fam is going to Hell...well, at least the Caymans version of Hell. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7Vv5OnFpPkaaTI_wSsZ5_Buc8vqsBPuyLlYRi2mkoRA537B52aO3s_4afH_kZU1d7w53IQL35st5R5bBDCMFF_Qj4O2KmuNxO0cjzPduTeksO6a0prKhru6RdnfN7Fb7ah71hKrW4BCH/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7Vv5OnFpPkaaTI_wSsZ5_Buc8vqsBPuyLlYRi2mkoRA537B52aO3s_4afH_kZU1d7w53IQL35st5R5bBDCMFF_Qj4O2KmuNxO0cjzPduTeksO6a0prKhru6RdnfN7Fb7ah71hKrW4BCH/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"> Next up is Rum Point! It's walking distance from our lovely little house. That way we can stumble home as opposed to driving :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFtvsfGmvK_bWo1f9wqbPpRKY0Zu_0HUWs4kY5nHVVQWVdvfNXU2UrMQZEIobMqn_230jFfjY4EebPfDLuZEdpqdkOn29hopNrJtjBA31uOrm_sgrzJR6f39gSXXiibfitjCsPMR1YV-Hl/s1600/rum-point-signs-grand-cayman-islands-george-oze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFtvsfGmvK_bWo1f9wqbPpRKY0Zu_0HUWs4kY5nHVVQWVdvfNXU2UrMQZEIobMqn_230jFfjY4EebPfDLuZEdpqdkOn29hopNrJtjBA31uOrm_sgrzJR6f39gSXXiibfitjCsPMR1YV-Hl/s320/rum-point-signs-grand-cayman-islands-george-oze.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I can't wait to come back and post pictures of our amazing family vacation!! Let's hope I come home with a tan. We also plan to take our Christmas card pics on the beach in santa hats :) Sooo excited!! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Remember all the things to be thankful for. It's been a crazy year in our household but it's also been a very blessed year. </div><br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-55480652553281935492010-10-12T20:24:00.001-05:002010-10-12T20:25:12.179-05:00Pumpkin Overload?<div style="text-align: justify;">What better way to come off a month+ long blogging break than to talk about pumpkins?!? I mean, we all love pumpkins and tis the season for the round orange balls of cuteness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well I think this year I might have gone a little overboard with my orange decor. And we haven't even done our <a href="http://browneyedgirlandbeau.blogspot.com/2008/10/oh-happy-day.html" style="color: #38761d;">annual</a><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span><a href="http://browneyedgirlandbeau.blogspot.com/2009/10/pumpkin-patch.html" style="color: orange;">pumpkin patch</a> pickin'. Aaron is going to start tossing the pumpkins out the door if I bring anymore in the house so I'll be stuck to decorating the outside.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year. I wish it felt more like Fall today...high of 90 doesn't really scream October by any means but that's what we get for living in Texas, right? Also, it's worth mentioning that I glittered the pumpkins below. Yep, yours truly. Found this little craft idea on Martha Stewart, as well as all over twitter world, and they were super easy! I have about 4 more to glitter this week too. I might be taking them down to the neighbors as I don't seem to have any more open spots for pumpkins!</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Happy Fall! </div><br />
<br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-15984188787073921202010-08-23T21:26:00.002-05:002010-08-27T21:01:49.957-05:00Gym, Tan, Laundry...or just Laundry (pups pics!)<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Update: Prints below are from Etsy sellers K9ArtGallery and DogArtStudio. Love!</span></div><br />
<br />
For a while now I have been wanting to add a little something to our laundry room. I figure it's the cheapest room to update for the time being. I don't know if that's how it will end up but that is the plan! I wanted a room in our house to be bright and cheery. And I think my little laundry room is probably the only room I could make bright and cheery without Aaron thinking I'm trying to "girlify" our house too much! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So my first step to this process was to search for some fun and unique art prints of our dogs. I turned to my old faithful for this task: <a href="http://www.etsy.com/" style="color: #38761d;">Etsy</a>. You can pretty much find whatever you are looking for there! I immediately began searching "white Labradoodle prints" and "golden retriever prints". Lo and behold I found 2 perfect matches! I put them in my basket, checked out and the rest is history. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I got them a few days later and fell in love! They were so perfect. Next was the task of finding the perfect frame. Now, I'm still doing this on the cheap so I was going to have to do a little searching. I wasn't about to take these prints that were all of $12.50 each and pay in the upper $100's for frames! So after church last Sunday, the hubs and I went to Garden Ridge. After searching all 4 aisles up and down and again we finally found 2 frames that matched! Do you know how hard it is to find two matching frames on 4 aisles of mismatched frames thrown everywhere?? Gotta give it to my hubs, he was a trooper the whole time! He was slinging frames left and right! Of course, the one frame I liked was the one that was the hardest to find. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ahhh well, it paid off! Each frame was $14.99. The total of this little project was under $60 for both prints and frames. Not too bad! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And now for the final project!!!! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PcVPhFq_dXAmnvDHx8vpOOsr7PTuAA5SUkJnQV1wmp0JTo9ybF5xZWvo4y3t4QV8e_utASQ3WHSe0HrcQgX9W04cqvJcZRDt9OYd_iYvM2PxSfVb7UGYOgCB_pzI0ajbgdpvFcV-DktB/s1600/DSC_0144_2574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PcVPhFq_dXAmnvDHx8vpOOsr7PTuAA5SUkJnQV1wmp0JTo9ybF5xZWvo4y3t4QV8e_utASQ3WHSe0HrcQgX9W04cqvJcZRDt9OYd_iYvM2PxSfVb7UGYOgCB_pzI0ajbgdpvFcV-DktB/s320/DSC_0144_2574.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieewW3OBKLOgCIT9z7t8qpaIKGquhyphenhyphenxrrchXKMa1aCyGNsgwKpPaD5tdqVrnSnepKm7qGjNOJstMATWy46hQrbVTZa5f0xb0kh_If-JuI8RG-j5E-Yar2L2VlLkEIhqQrvHWcgp2HrWpQh/s1600/DSC_0145_2575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieewW3OBKLOgCIT9z7t8qpaIKGquhyphenhyphenxrrchXKMa1aCyGNsgwKpPaD5tdqVrnSnepKm7qGjNOJstMATWy46hQrbVTZa5f0xb0kh_If-JuI8RG-j5E-Yar2L2VlLkEIhqQrvHWcgp2HrWpQh/s320/DSC_0145_2575.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivkFbfQOBRby9MavWNZbxlYaADSUHyrXsQt4TluanQAXcuM65FXmi4D8SRX1kGGfopIrgnpYUdHs8OD1OXbrCy5whc47Cdi8uicY5uWLVc2rPFKgFtHW_59HeWepNSy_QHYEgGiaTxK_v0/s320/DSC_0161_2591.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next step will be picking a color for the walls, thinking a light acqua blue or a yellow. Maybe even orange? I think we'll have several options painted in little squares on our walls! That is our project for the next weekend or two. The final touch will be to add cabinets above our washer and dryer. I've seen them pre-built at Lowe's and Home Depot. Super easy and not too expensive either! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's funny because I had chosen this as my Summer project and the Summer is at an end and here I am just beginning... I guess we will shoot for mid Fall? </div><br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-22017728891578819012010-08-04T21:26:00.004-05:002010-08-05T10:54:03.380-05:00nPort Resort<div style="text-align: justify;">Ahhh, what a weekend I had! I spent Saturday in the lap of luxury. It was amazing. My two fave girls came to my area and we had a spa day at an Aveda institute! We started off with facials which were incredible and ended with mani/pedi's. We were all so extremely relaxed after our facials. It was such an experience. But the mani/pedi's were a bit on the awful side. Something that should have taken an hour for both, at most, took 2+ hours! I was tempted to grab the dang polish and start painting my own nails! My patience level is not cut out for that apparently...We all agreed that we will stick with our little ladies at the regular nail salons. But it was still so much fun to spend time with these girls for the morning!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFMMexbr6R6fLTCsXTHU5s-JuQTIj4eUyI1uuVkMYbKgW6r9lb_U7moP-c5TbP7-t9jhBThAxWlrWAalzAV8MdQlINuD86HebYUlo150BaXFt66VVCHaZYKsbx5cTBNjYKOZYWx9YI-o2/s1600/DSC04279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFMMexbr6R6fLTCsXTHU5s-JuQTIj4eUyI1uuVkMYbKgW6r9lb_U7moP-c5TbP7-t9jhBThAxWlrWAalzAV8MdQlINuD86HebYUlo150BaXFt66VVCHaZYKsbx5cTBNjYKOZYWx9YI-o2/s320/DSC04279.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYXpCHWfkv5uQwu38JNw6hKdVb7-8A7C47y2fAHJdtKFZqyl1hSjGKkr8iLeR5GEUoA43stPZ3GVlD-q073Eex2ksVfQcVFs1buePQ-257dYDqN8yy24kXFvndGDntyTGTofbNZ542DpR/s1600/DSC04280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYXpCHWfkv5uQwu38JNw6hKdVb7-8A7C47y2fAHJdtKFZqyl1hSjGKkr8iLeR5GEUoA43stPZ3GVlD-q073Eex2ksVfQcVFs1buePQ-257dYDqN8yy24kXFvndGDntyTGTofbNZ542DpR/s320/DSC04280.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">After our spa day we hit up Lauren's parents new house. Or shall I say resort? It was amazing! Her mom has spent so much time designing their home and the detail was out of this world. It's incredible. I was in awe as I walked from room to room. My favorite room had to be the kitchen and the beautiful back splash. Hand painted tiles from Italy! Ahhh, it is even more gorgeous in person. Now I didn't go around taking tons of pics because I wanted to actually be asked back, but Lauren has some pretty awesome pics <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/2010/07/we-have-pool-well-my-parents-do.html" style="color: #38761d;">here</a> I didn't want to leave to be honest. It was a great escape from reality and Lauren's mom had a delicious lunch ready for us along with mango margaritas! Perfect day! <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5HLJ40BLtMi_oqff8RC2qve4-gC1Aukd2dBcfPJ_vY_kaRhVulnz7bu1J4lJ544Ogr35RH8GKGkz4V-GKz4GA6rogbKSf1pJ-6sRVlHGbz5d_rU1rGz9j9jG3MnNBmH7Gs2UssDkS8IPF/s1600/DSC04281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5HLJ40BLtMi_oqff8RC2qve4-gC1Aukd2dBcfPJ_vY_kaRhVulnz7bu1J4lJ544Ogr35RH8GKGkz4V-GKz4GA6rogbKSf1pJ-6sRVlHGbz5d_rU1rGz9j9jG3MnNBmH7Gs2UssDkS8IPF/s320/DSC04281.JPG" /></a></div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7_Mj5Rtj9nsa-AXId7wSJDideeuwHvRPfLhFAWzEPVBO30QNi9HjDF9m-8xyTJYY7-WJlXUfXwcM8HkNqz5cy9yz1IEoSJrUgHgjwSSI9ykL5OA58qw58r7NEKABIKRtx34Nv-YXrTJ0/s1600/IMG_2672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7_Mj5Rtj9nsa-AXId7wSJDideeuwHvRPfLhFAWzEPVBO30QNi9HjDF9m-8xyTJYY7-WJlXUfXwcM8HkNqz5cy9yz1IEoSJrUgHgjwSSI9ykL5OA58qw58r7NEKABIKRtx34Nv-YXrTJ0/s320/IMG_2672.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGA1SFo6micl-o4nttzaPcZQ-3VlknzABcGNBh7AprHDM51ltAWf_Kd9Fw5kLo4oCWG2VF3_hEUk_pFF7-bEBeMI3Db3quMr5maFRjV0ahGkFr5hFA8ne96gc5Y2JJhwsyct3ghaeWtjJn/s1600/IMG_2673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGA1SFo6micl-o4nttzaPcZQ-3VlknzABcGNBh7AprHDM51ltAWf_Kd9Fw5kLo4oCWG2VF3_hEUk_pFF7-bEBeMI3Db3quMr5maFRjV0ahGkFr5hFA8ne96gc5Y2JJhwsyct3ghaeWtjJn/s320/IMG_2673.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRrwflu2vINswE07K2D-chyphenhyphen8y7Vl-GzbINfrkyk_o8kA-VZnZ2U3Iy9Mw1mgKSdoXc_XJBPXJ8ksca8Ilvb2ZQlGmFgr-vEc6nayyFJ3RXNlpmIKXQ4VTHKGnMPynthpPZxuoH2hHxmto/s1600/IMG_2675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRrwflu2vINswE07K2D-chyphenhyphen8y7Vl-GzbINfrkyk_o8kA-VZnZ2U3Iy9Mw1mgKSdoXc_XJBPXJ8ksca8Ilvb2ZQlGmFgr-vEc6nayyFJ3RXNlpmIKXQ4VTHKGnMPynthpPZxuoH2hHxmto/s320/IMG_2675.JPG" /></a></div><br />
And guess what?? We are going back this weekend too! More pool time and a dinner to boot. How sweet is that?<br />
<br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-31227376829700149322010-08-03T20:54:00.002-05:002010-08-03T21:10:19.411-05:00St. Arnold's Brewery<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjSuu-qj9a5Pq6TEDXU-LybP7-IU1bK8C8HonjThdimTNlt_4nK9ertdxOgX-Rbgpj1EFz09ebC-y_WlfytijEr7XTwf6eu2oEph6_uJcPtlpvKRD0koNQ4JlvFBtInEvKpjxyffoTe9U/s1600/DSC04269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjSuu-qj9a5Pq6TEDXU-LybP7-IU1bK8C8HonjThdimTNlt_4nK9ertdxOgX-Rbgpj1EFz09ebC-y_WlfytijEr7XTwf6eu2oEph6_uJcPtlpvKRD0koNQ4JlvFBtInEvKpjxyffoTe9U/s320/DSC04269.JPG" /></a></div>So it's been a while, eh? I know, I know. It's been 2 months actually - this is what my wonderful friend Lauren pointed out to me today. I'm a horrible blogger! Little did I know people were actually reading this thing and were expecting me to post more than once every 2 months. Sorry, mom! I will be better. I hope. And I have so much to catch up on! But for now, we will talk about beer. Because, let's face it, alcohol is always a friendly subject.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We live in H-town, and we have a brewery and apparently it's the place to be these days. We've been now twice - two weekends in a row! No, we don't normally visit breweries two weekends in a row but it was a special month I guess. When we first arrived we saw kids carrying fold out chairs, pizza boxes and their own personal beer glasses. Immediately we knew we had screwed up but we made our way inside. It was a blast but I wouldn't recommend going on an empty stomach... The chairs people were bringing in were due to the fact that the place was jammed packed and unless you got there 3 hours before the tours started, you weren't going to be sitting down unless you had your own sweet fold out chair with the color of either maroon or burnt orange...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That was our first experience. We went back the next weekend and this time we actually brought some food. Good ole' KFC came to the rescue. Still, no chairs though. But we had a sweet zebra blanket, courtesy of my sister, Chels.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbWx9ZawkUVv9bARnvZUr6T3qoZuoaOW5fbj5EJW3MhHS45MwOrCd08wyXr7dZCqfskar6yoJROv7kRiUJZBpJXOBLgHtbhT4K-w4UP-ote055OO4KFOKlBbVRKmk-4_DEA1CG6BhjWrB/s1600/DSC04266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlbWx9ZawkUVv9bARnvZUr6T3qoZuoaOW5fbj5EJW3MhHS45MwOrCd08wyXr7dZCqfskar6yoJROv7kRiUJZBpJXOBLgHtbhT4K-w4UP-ote055OO4KFOKlBbVRKmk-4_DEA1CG6BhjWrB/s320/DSC04266.JPG" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are some pics from the exciting weekend! They had a Rolls Royce painted with the brewery's logo. So, of course we were all over that. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVfr7n8ZHxZ02RVTMsUA6fpBKtlRBnk6VBMvFzTKPcwXlfuOKNx3rFQuAobqj4IOsHp0hbjr5hchp4fWmaNF8SeD4T4JNQKWPOAB2rbbA9gC-pXGd45ZPCt045KjP3FaqK1b4-aEMPQSf/s1600/232323232%257Ffp433%253C9%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A53324nu0mrj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVfr7n8ZHxZ02RVTMsUA6fpBKtlRBnk6VBMvFzTKPcwXlfuOKNx3rFQuAobqj4IOsHp0hbjr5hchp4fWmaNF8SeD4T4JNQKWPOAB2rbbA9gC-pXGd45ZPCt045KjP3FaqK1b4-aEMPQSf/s320/232323232%257Ffp433%253C9%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A53324nu0mrj.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The whole group in front of their big metal tanks that housed the beer. There's a better term but I've had some wine and can't remember what it is</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGlmWTa5CVPbyohtT2HMAQDm4wKPuMveZCUo-QT2WBYLZHq6RuIKfY-UCwdE5RqMHxQEVJkpTOwo-51miorcA3xB-qpUfKtYk6DlZpSMsuvrwpbhL3A5o4JRJl5olYsS_5JyEeFQTQuZh/s1600/232323232%257Ffp433%253C%253A%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A47324nu0mrj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGlmWTa5CVPbyohtT2HMAQDm4wKPuMveZCUo-QT2WBYLZHq6RuIKfY-UCwdE5RqMHxQEVJkpTOwo-51miorcA3xB-qpUfKtYk6DlZpSMsuvrwpbhL3A5o4JRJl5olYsS_5JyEeFQTQuZh/s320/232323232%257Ffp433%253C%253A%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A47324nu0mrj.jpg" /> </a></div>I wasn't going to post this because my legs look ridiculously white and frog-like compared to my black sister - I must say that Chels had just gotten back from Aruba, so of course she's freaking tan!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwm6DpFkmdQuwEyv_AvOMUkzK-7caK1DXeYJ1Yiw_KKFwdzzpr_Xta4xmq0fuH1U6OTLtzPjQK8aunWv5DYyI7Ftl93U1J0yEWwUjj6FCy2qwmjOkAVvLJ9wGnrxNwlsJsrBHEo2CkonE5/s1600/232323232%257Ffp43442%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A44324nu0mrj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwm6DpFkmdQuwEyv_AvOMUkzK-7caK1DXeYJ1Yiw_KKFwdzzpr_Xta4xmq0fuH1U6OTLtzPjQK8aunWv5DYyI7Ftl93U1J0yEWwUjj6FCy2qwmjOkAVvLJ9wGnrxNwlsJsrBHEo2CkonE5/s320/232323232%257Ffp43442%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A44324nu0mrj.jpg" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ballin' in the Rolls Royce. Take that P.Diddy!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWX6S3wSNrbzsZfr1aZRIh3rTHQebe9VJpsR5J6tUZn5ehC3Jw564dkWVk2Vc3QgOTqTW4HDQDqbOk55CSBApa25jlz2krFzCWUnC5I8UkI0NQVaFktj7zn-AT-kol5YkVe1cHqWEnDoS/s1600/232323232%257Ffp43443%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A57324nu0mrj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWX6S3wSNrbzsZfr1aZRIh3rTHQebe9VJpsR5J6tUZn5ehC3Jw564dkWVk2Vc3QgOTqTW4HDQDqbOk55CSBApa25jlz2krFzCWUnC5I8UkI0NQVaFktj7zn-AT-kol5YkVe1cHqWEnDoS/s320/232323232%257Ffp43443%253Enu%253D323%253B%253E957%253E268%253EWSNRCG%253D339345%253A%253A57324nu0mrj.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">If anyone has stuck through this 2 month gap and is still reading, I appreciate it! If it's just my mom and friends, then that's OK too. I'm going to keep it going because I truly have missed this little blog :) </div><br />
<br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-44422436569702104502010-06-03T13:29:00.000-05:002010-06-03T13:29:02.367-05:00The Name Game<div style="text-align: justify;">I hate to admit this but I have had the worst time figuring out how to log into my blog now that I no longer have a blogger blog. You see, when Lauren gave me a makeover; which I love by the way and am so glad to have a friend that will tell me "you're blog is lame and needs a face-lift ASAP."; but it took away the sweet sign in tool at the top of the page. Now I have to go to google homepage. Click on the "more" tab, then click the "even more" tab and finally arrive at the "blogger" button. It's exhausting, really. I guess I could say that's the reason I've been such a slacker in blogging?? But truth be told I am just really lazy and life hasn't been all that exciting lately. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">So the other day when I was trying to find my blog, I typed in a url that I thought was mine. When the page loaded I noticed that it was in fact totally not mine. But same name. Obviously the url wasn't the same but all it lacked was the "www." business so it was basically the SAME. I thought for a second my blog designer Lauren was playing a mean trick on me. To which I immediately Gchatted her and was all "what the heck did you do to my blog, Ski!" She of course had no clue what I was talking about. I explained to her what I had come across and she laughed! Now, I'm not one to be all whiney and "someone stole my blog name" bularki. Because, let's be honest, my name isn't <i>that </i>original and if were really being for reals with each other, most aren't. I started my blog on a whim. I needed an outlet since my husband was always on this weak Texas ATM website, which is basically a blogging website for boys. Pretty sure he would just love that I've referred to it as a "blogging site for boys"! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I didn't really give myself a lot of time to come up with a catchy name. I talked myself into blogging on a Friday night and then early Saturday morning I did my first post. Moral of the story: Don't pick a blogging name on a Friday night after a couple glasses of wine or you'll wind up in my position today. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Which is </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: center;">I need a new name! </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I'm extremely confused and not sure how to go about doing this. Here's the deal. I'm in that transitioning phase. Ya know, the one where you've been married for over 2 years so you're not a newly newly wed, you've already moved into a new house and aren't going anywhere for a good 15 years, you've grabbed up a couple of dogs, one being a doodle and one's a golden, and the babies aren't going to start popping out for a while. A long while at this point. Sads. So where does that put me? I'm not really a newly wed. And I'm not a momma. So no names can come from that. See, this is tough stuff people! It looks like I've got some thinking to do. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Any and all help is appreciated. I'm pretty sure my dad would chime in with Punky Brewster which was my nickname growing up. I pretty much was PB. Loved her hair. Her style of clothes and the way she mismatched her sneakers. My poor poor parents. And look! She has a golden too! Maybe it's meant to be....</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFv0P-5T6byrOo_v0Y8smTExxzMyq1PUUJarKl-M7g9hVTxchzKU0YVgwdPaazsz3M97657MkcGULAxsTMJ0hRWjy7ZPP-R6Y8A3p-VccyNYWsFiWj3YVj71ZhuSZTDuXUbNqHdvHOMeKu/s1600/serie_punky-brewster_47_1141981762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFv0P-5T6byrOo_v0Y8smTExxzMyq1PUUJarKl-M7g9hVTxchzKU0YVgwdPaazsz3M97657MkcGULAxsTMJ0hRWjy7ZPP-R6Y8A3p-VccyNYWsFiWj3YVj71ZhuSZTDuXUbNqHdvHOMeKu/s320/serie_punky-brewster_47_1141981762.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div> <a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a>Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-63982891880088195832010-06-02T09:54:00.001-05:002010-06-02T13:11:23.326-05:00My little boo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Today is the last day of school for my little sis, Gabrielle. She has completed 3rd grade and is growing up way too fast! Gabby not only finished 3rd grade but she did it with all A's! In fact, she's never made a B! Definitely not following in my footsteps, but I'm pretty sure she'll be better off :) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I was going through my old computer and started pulling up pictures and came across these below. The first few were taken on her 5th birthday! What a doll is she?!? I am in love with her smile in the first one. I remember it so well. She just made you want to squeeze her cheeks silly and smother her with kisses. This little girl is so much of my heart. I remember the night very well when my parents took me and my older sis out to dinner to lay the news on us that they were pregnant. I hate to admit it but I was not happy. Chelsea, she was ecstatic! Me, I felt a lump in my stomach and couldn't even finish eating. What did this mean for me?? What was going to happen to our family of 4? All the selfish thoughts a 16 year old has. But as my momma's belly grew and time passed I knew it was going to be an amazing thing we were experiencing. I was in on the labor/delivery and it was so incredible - great birth control by the way for a 16 year old ! ;) My mom was so brave and so calm. Not mean at all like you see in the movies! Then out came my little sis - 12+ hours later. She was beautiful! I loved her so so much. And still do! I'm so sad that she is growing up so fast. She'll be 10 in September! But I'm so thankful that I've been able to see her grow up. We're close enough to where we can have sleepovers or play days. I don't ever want her to think I'm not there for her if she needs me. I love my little boo!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjorwaQ-BlJLQS37kKX1Qnw7rrDilpALTuABOAgdqbrc6mz366K9pBKTb1z8B85lNOxPXdyR2TZHzAJ-B4bKOO3vUz2wII-atpnHv-kcDSpN9K8WUGyUlhefwnYMYV5AfC2yosfNh2X4hmQ/s320/10-24-2005-07.jpg" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmv72bxrXOoahmhfWWUvnwN35Te55TFxu2a_8ctaE4gexIMjZ6jXckaSTyL2AEIsdnr6v27ftQ5VBb1_yQAyypXwA4Kv8lbdllnXPzTewDKNbORPdwOqzEzg_AEbjRpCus673AxY5-U59/s1600/10-24-2005-08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmv72bxrXOoahmhfWWUvnwN35Te55TFxu2a_8ctaE4gexIMjZ6jXckaSTyL2AEIsdnr6v27ftQ5VBb1_yQAyypXwA4Kv8lbdllnXPzTewDKNbORPdwOqzEzg_AEbjRpCus673AxY5-U59/s320/10-24-2005-08.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXv_V3MbfzeCEHi6KwQSOjlemT43mAxTSJh6Eh8-nLhkPvb_qDwF9k_FQqKAKhBp09Me_vzBiJ482hR6pKQoooHbKaX5MIdufpCoMDt5sjASNlubRdOLGr4ZUm7l3QGw6YiGgsdJ4CyMBL/s1600/10-24-2005-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXv_V3MbfzeCEHi6KwQSOjlemT43mAxTSJh6Eh8-nLhkPvb_qDwF9k_FQqKAKhBp09Me_vzBiJ482hR6pKQoooHbKaX5MIdufpCoMDt5sjASNlubRdOLGr4ZUm7l3QGw6YiGgsdJ4CyMBL/s320/10-24-2005-15.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Below are a couple of pics when we were dress shopping for my wedding. She was so excited and looked like a princess in each gown she put on! It was really cute to watch her come out in the long gowns and pretty dresses. She pranced around and loved every minute of it! I miss that part of wedding planning. It was always so fun when my mom, Gabby and I got to go to the vendors or dress shopping together! She got to experience the intense planning process at such a young age :) She didn't seem to mind the cake testing though!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFkaH-4BN6jb2EJQEoGE_G74c0hG9kwjdcE4lJpHuIW9nfwFGuBpzs9YfpJikd0xBzS-s3-m-9_fs3vyKbu5Grl0YBO84iAoGxP2XBtQQe7_xcU_thf8h3kKqq7G1kc0KqTB2D04OoBP8/s1600/DSC00393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFkaH-4BN6jb2EJQEoGE_G74c0hG9kwjdcE4lJpHuIW9nfwFGuBpzs9YfpJikd0xBzS-s3-m-9_fs3vyKbu5Grl0YBO84iAoGxP2XBtQQe7_xcU_thf8h3kKqq7G1kc0KqTB2D04OoBP8/s320/DSC00393.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZwRQYgJTLnxiWpU24UmB-oEhqXPSQ6z-mM2-eBQyAyH4Fz2XP4o_ngn4dpypSzZZ33n8pSo1oD4WYQGydV7nM_573OsTQoJFZfHo-0xCSkslsE_EWVDl2dJ203Lzn3P7FSBrzsCdUqn_/s1600/DSC00395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZwRQYgJTLnxiWpU24UmB-oEhqXPSQ6z-mM2-eBQyAyH4Fz2XP4o_ngn4dpypSzZZ33n8pSo1oD4WYQGydV7nM_573OsTQoJFZfHo-0xCSkslsE_EWVDl2dJ203Lzn3P7FSBrzsCdUqn_/s320/DSC00395.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Love you little boo!</div><br />
<br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-1503983266952510172010-05-24T09:05:00.003-05:002010-05-24T09:05:00.706-05:00Workin' Man<div style="text-align: justify;">Today my wonderful husband starts his new job!! Yes, you read that right. After a long 4 months of unemployment, he has been offered a job! Hallelujah :) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I would be lying if I said this hasn't been a struggle for us but I feel like we've learned a lot about one another and how each of us handles things. I feel so blessed that God walked us through this little life lesson and that we made it! The one thing that amazed me is that Aaron never seemed to give up. He knew he would find a job. It just took longer than we expected. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We've got a lot of recovering to do now. Building our savings account back up, paying off my taxes, credit cards, etc. But we made it through the tough stuff and we will make it through this too! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our family and friends have been amazing through out all of this. A special shout out to my parents. Could not have done it without them. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Below are some pics of the Mr's graduation day (2 1/2 years ago). He graduated on a Friday and started his work journey with his ex-company the following Monday. Now he is on to the next step in life :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVAGP0qpv7fp_WyQWonVnz5qchk8sIxttYGE2XsjYscW0YN3d897LoK6MMZmZKusG65FEodqAE7Udg-uMz0vn60tWvXmCuOE-VAhMG-D33br03CRWugmP6cWFxDf58T2Fxst-j86zjx_G/s1600/DSC00896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVAGP0qpv7fp_WyQWonVnz5qchk8sIxttYGE2XsjYscW0YN3d897LoK6MMZmZKusG65FEodqAE7Udg-uMz0vn60tWvXmCuOE-VAhMG-D33br03CRWugmP6cWFxDf58T2Fxst-j86zjx_G/s320/DSC00896.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-I_JVb5x8Paa6EPXZaqqEt3lK0XDSw6mORdpZuUhq7MwSpOKX2EyVCWwiuc1MOUsbEurRWSNoQDdTYvM4pSyjDidwL8k1AD0QbAlFiGGBol5MNkMRs3pSoDwoG4YmTIAf7f-m_06nTfO/s1600/DSC00916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-I_JVb5x8Paa6EPXZaqqEt3lK0XDSw6mORdpZuUhq7MwSpOKX2EyVCWwiuc1MOUsbEurRWSNoQDdTYvM4pSyjDidwL8k1AD0QbAlFiGGBol5MNkMRs3pSoDwoG4YmTIAf7f-m_06nTfO/s320/DSC00916.jpg" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKd9lJOI1MA17FuNzNv79obT7zp41Eqf4mL4pbgz3mvQXKRoRP9eChg3pVeXB8ezjx6pgcS4lwSklChu-f2W3RBzFWVwPa4vqoztdHPcZKjA25XoVd7I9xMqN2GL1OMXGeWIxyUe1mLga/s1600/DSC00924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKd9lJOI1MA17FuNzNv79obT7zp41Eqf4mL4pbgz3mvQXKRoRP9eChg3pVeXB8ezjx6pgcS4lwSklChu-f2W3RBzFWVwPa4vqoztdHPcZKjA25XoVd7I9xMqN2GL1OMXGeWIxyUe1mLga/s320/DSC00924.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Love you honey!! Thank you for being such an amazing husband. I'm so proud to be your wife! </div><br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-47118270098059613572010-05-18T10:15:00.001-05:002010-05-18T10:15:00.483-05:00Lazy Saturday Mornings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghedDKSD0sQtY4oSDQ8QOM-mc6y03PNBAloZp3DTqJq0NK6BgCqKPgkJJ56bIQw_4bgCu5VrMWHDlgXwwBnnaUuAc8JQ9jgWd2FunwwSI8DgbwNo6BBtB1UHGLi-4JQLQbfaDZ1kXk8b8/s1600/DSC_0065_2489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghedDKSD0sQtY4oSDQ8QOM-mc6y03PNBAloZp3DTqJq0NK6BgCqKPgkJJ56bIQw_4bgCu5VrMWHDlgXwwBnnaUuAc8JQ9jgWd2FunwwSI8DgbwNo6BBtB1UHGLi-4JQLQbfaDZ1kXk8b8/s320/DSC_0065_2489.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is one of the faces I wake up to on Saturday mornings. She is quite adorable, yes? We normally don't grant her bed access unless it's on the weekends, and even then, she's lucky if she makes it passed the warden...me</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAD23IFm27eFiPSbJSSnAYs8HLn63JOLRxOQ7oSoUlbZplm0Gonfszm9T55kPQlJNllJj6Riwbwvy2w_QdLlTzDAxYwu6BzHJup6hsQnpqjXgUg5geR1D9oP7Ud9DGRpCIJI1P2XqN2DhO/s1600/DSC_0075_2497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAD23IFm27eFiPSbJSSnAYs8HLn63JOLRxOQ7oSoUlbZplm0Gonfszm9T55kPQlJNllJj6Riwbwvy2w_QdLlTzDAxYwu6BzHJup6hsQnpqjXgUg5geR1D9oP7Ud9DGRpCIJI1P2XqN2DhO/s320/DSC_0075_2497.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As you can see, she's quite tired. {yawn} or maybe bored. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmqPgfmnIeXet-ZFjRzhapDsE7osGBp7JvH2kOYL8hFLxXLSOHEzeBFwn9_muJmOKfZwzeP1V8X6tm8phHN2tST4vHdtgM8unGSIQMJgK0Qu6zNSI9Xf1gA1VFKK7uq7VeX4xhOnwpY2T/s1600/DSC_0093_2514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmqPgfmnIeXet-ZFjRzhapDsE7osGBp7JvH2kOYL8hFLxXLSOHEzeBFwn9_muJmOKfZwzeP1V8X6tm8phHN2tST4vHdtgM8unGSIQMJgK0Qu6zNSI9Xf1gA1VFKK7uq7VeX4xhOnwpY2T/s320/DSC_0093_2514.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Why is this thing in my face at 8 in the morning??" "You know dad and I like to sleep in till at least 10!" And this is totally true. The dog gets irritated if she has to get out of bed before 9. As does Aaron who has come more than accustom to sleeping in late during this span of unemployment...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KFE-pV8Fal2uvCSIDv4HSPsMY8FzBQp9qX9eJ_ozUjN5X4uIFRBH10VDySN82anrRKPmk8yuu0kw97PtoF2lQ9F1IWLpylhFYcYnujBAmSP_Pgto8kHbsrd95-4UFONSk0OCJfiaABrB/s1600/DSC_0074_2496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KFE-pV8Fal2uvCSIDv4HSPsMY8FzBQp9qX9eJ_ozUjN5X4uIFRBH10VDySN82anrRKPmk8yuu0kw97PtoF2lQ9F1IWLpylhFYcYnujBAmSP_Pgto8kHbsrd95-4UFONSk0OCJfiaABrB/s320/DSC_0074_2496.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That's better. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2bfqr9ViwnAemh5I-3yL-Y76dNF-Ml1kk1dW8L9PARvIGyrCc2pRGhZ0M863IhjbumEz5Jb0QduHFCzurdkKjbI7hZ-xf7GKX28k6OVe9x_k9FwC9AUuElVgNOj5nh8iH1-XZesfN7PF/s1600/DSC_0098_2519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2bfqr9ViwnAemh5I-3yL-Y76dNF-Ml1kk1dW8L9PARvIGyrCc2pRGhZ0M863IhjbumEz5Jb0QduHFCzurdkKjbI7hZ-xf7GKX28k6OVe9x_k9FwC9AUuElVgNOj5nh8iH1-XZesfN7PF/s320/DSC_0098_2519.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Obviously he's not a fan of the camera either. Would this be the "talk to the hand (paw)" pose?? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoEuwZYHPBMR5pppj-5VgLX9ZqX5npBNSvBZKdjfCwS-6PHGXUfSgxDaCyqVEljN6rHQ1om2XBL3m1eP3Gy23fyAOtMw90qVp9LvSrWhrZKIkuFG6c4tPS_vVItLSrAzt7d5NyYH1X-3Wv/s1600/DSC_0103_2524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoEuwZYHPBMR5pppj-5VgLX9ZqX5npBNSvBZKdjfCwS-6PHGXUfSgxDaCyqVEljN6rHQ1om2XBL3m1eP3Gy23fyAOtMw90qVp9LvSrWhrZKIkuFG6c4tPS_vVItLSrAzt7d5NyYH1X-3Wv/s320/DSC_0103_2524.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is one tired pup. I don't quite know how he got on my bed to be honest. He's not allowed. Sheds way too much for my liking. That's why he's shedder chedder. But one look with those eyes and his daddy melts! Why this doesn't work for me I'll never know.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmiK5LcXz5hent-bdl4p7BU9uHLLcd327-uGbZdFDEqT8q7yQJ9y-4qc-lXz9qiRv0n-mxtiJ9yTrg7zlrW-J-aRPwO63NylKb6dc9ftmsJw5gV_Foc85ww1kxwwPrx3b1D35154ObN-6/s1600/DSC_0108_2528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmiK5LcXz5hent-bdl4p7BU9uHLLcd327-uGbZdFDEqT8q7yQJ9y-4qc-lXz9qiRv0n-mxtiJ9yTrg7zlrW-J-aRPwO63NylKb6dc9ftmsJw5gV_Foc85ww1kxwwPrx3b1D35154ObN-6/s320/DSC_0108_2528.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> He's so ticked right here. I picture him saying so many colorful words that I can't post on this blog ;) And look, he's in my spot! How convenient. Oh Chedd!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCzwI5UHKRTSHcJcztOmp_NtlIU9_XZ8LAahkfq7gwawtsmRx350hB9aSIYvCbzqYm0RvavqM1-GM55rlJObMTJYGuaRxuAsO58-QwytbXkd3Ipk_maAc7pHLfXE4i-dohk7TMSYM8npdX/s1600/DSC_0117_2537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCzwI5UHKRTSHcJcztOmp_NtlIU9_XZ8LAahkfq7gwawtsmRx350hB9aSIYvCbzqYm0RvavqM1-GM55rlJObMTJYGuaRxuAsO58-QwytbXkd3Ipk_maAc7pHLfXE4i-dohk7TMSYM8npdX/s320/DSC_0117_2537.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What a life these kids have. Now how much sweeter would this be if it was two <i>real</i> kids?? Aww pretty sweet. But not nearly as quiet I bet. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX_7trqTFiQOgmNE-qi0fqYFH0eoX1TW2iPDK6PMWQb-12U1fpK-2XboG_PX-5bcCmW4wSDY97EKp06ddxQorxYAw6kibPRFtdjHTJK5ciR9md8tcm-rkSdSDhLxsyeSzOtXOZt7FMJ1H/s1600/DSC_0110_2530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMX_7trqTFiQOgmNE-qi0fqYFH0eoX1TW2iPDK6PMWQb-12U1fpK-2XboG_PX-5bcCmW4wSDY97EKp06ddxQorxYAw6kibPRFtdjHTJK5ciR9md8tcm-rkSdSDhLxsyeSzOtXOZt7FMJ1H/s320/DSC_0110_2530.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Here's the big bear. He is in his deep slumber. Totally doesn't even realize that I'm taking this only to post it on my blog the next Monday. Oh the joys of a deep sleeper! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCOerU6jYaXVCPZruG5zyYOfk9OPZC458KeWay4KfMtYxE6-CBydEKvggiFwR8RkOurwUohmkv0dKohk8wTuPmrspMVSgcMK-Zo4MxLPgzgYIDaae6RqD36z0D9fSa53NG6mgM04Ul9XD/s1600/DSC_0125_2543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCOerU6jYaXVCPZruG5zyYOfk9OPZC458KeWay4KfMtYxE6-CBydEKvggiFwR8RkOurwUohmkv0dKohk8wTuPmrspMVSgcMK-Zo4MxLPgzgYIDaae6RqD36z0D9fSa53NG6mgM04Ul9XD/s320/DSC_0125_2543.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And yours truly. Gotta love the $5, 5 year old, Old Navy sleep tank </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZSJVpYrQ1pq_H3TCQi1lqvUAqYeuSZxmf-KcIIDCEShDMtLe3z0s2w-A1CmlcAr-1Op2b1TnYp46EknVWzS1CXzQ8FqrPxHMoPyDZ19FoiuKA3pJRgrdjYSWBesvtzzzio5XbexFfUTG/s1600/DSC_0155_2566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZSJVpYrQ1pq_H3TCQi1lqvUAqYeuSZxmf-KcIIDCEShDMtLe3z0s2w-A1CmlcAr-1Op2b1TnYp46EknVWzS1CXzQ8FqrPxHMoPyDZ19FoiuKA3pJRgrdjYSWBesvtzzzio5XbexFfUTG/s320/DSC_0155_2566.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mmm, breakfast. This is what Saturday mornings are all about. Fun times with the pups and a sleepy hubs! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Now, can someone please reassure me that we are not the only family that allows our pups on the beds occasionally?? I did tell A that they might be banned from our room after seeing how hairy our wood floors get! It's a non-stop cleaning process with these two. Especially the orange one. He looks cute but that dude sheds like no other. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I will now be back to regular posting! As you can see, my wonderful and amazing friend <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/">Lauren</a> gave me a blog update :) She is just awesome. And fast to boot. She is really getting good with her Photoshop and has some extreme talent! She is such a sweet person and I am so thankful for our friendship. This pic was taken on her wedding day almost 3 years ago! Love ya Ski!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncapGB89qcBGay9qK6g3UuKDx7Kg-xCGVtlGhKgn7t7_mcwxZ821JsVLp-hUMtKQZVvagd9VOerk1sje0MG9EWON6zNA-AQFZT1pSgw38PIVS4uMAKUIgsjy3A7_Ejd-lyybaUXUABFpu/s1600/DSC00308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncapGB89qcBGay9qK6g3UuKDx7Kg-xCGVtlGhKgn7t7_mcwxZ821JsVLp-hUMtKQZVvagd9VOerk1sje0MG9EWON6zNA-AQFZT1pSgw38PIVS4uMAKUIgsjy3A7_Ejd-lyybaUXUABFpu/s320/DSC00308.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a>Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-38071821100173471012010-05-16T18:06:00.000-05:002010-05-16T18:06:45.066-05:00New Look, New BeginningsHi! This is Lauren over from <a href="http://www.lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/">Life with the Rudys</a> and I am surprising my good friend Nicky T with a new look for her blog. She hasn't seen this design yet and doesn't exactly know that I was planning on writing a post for her so I hope she likes it and isn't mad :)<br />
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I wanted to give her something fun and bright for a few reasons. One, Nicole is such a happy person and needs a blog design that reflects her personality. Two, I'm hoping a new look will give her the motivation she needs to start posting more often. And lastly, because her and A have had a couple of hard months and I'm hoping this cheers up her and makes her smile :)<br />
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Here's to a new look and new beginnings with your blog and your life! Hope you like the new look :)<br />
<br />
-Ski Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-80145167474070329252010-05-04T10:46:00.004-05:002010-05-04T11:01:02.436-05:00Everthing happens for a reason<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those are 5 of the hardest words to hear. Most likely you've heard them when something bad has happened in your life. Your boyfriend breaks up with you, you lose a loved one, your car breaks down, the loan on your first home falls through, you or your spouse loses their job, etc. Those words are hard to swallow when you have gone through something painful. Sometimes they seem so nonchalant and to almost roll off someones tongue. We've all said it before and probably felt pretty good about ourselves after saying it. We feel like we've really helped out the person in need. As if we always have the right thing to say. But when you're on the receiving end it's a different story. You wonder if the person really understands the state you're in and just how discouraged you are. Not that you needed to hear something extremely profound, but "everything happens for a reason" doesn't exactly call for an immediate mood change.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My knee jerk reaction, as I'm sure most peoples knee jerk reaction, is to turn negative when I hit a bump in the road. I know better than to let my emotions get the best of me and think the worst but I still allow the worry and anger and fear set in. After 10 minutes or so I calm down and bring myself back to my "God has a plan" mantra. But those initial 10 minutes can be futile.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is all stemming from Aaron's job situation. He has been working hard getting his resumes out and staying on top of any job openings for the last 3 months. He had one promising job but it was in Austin. And he has yet to hear a solid answer on it. You can imagine our excitement when last Thursday he received an email regarding a job interview at a different company here in Houston! It had been 3 months and he finally received a bite on something!! It was a happy day! Fast forward to this morning. The morning of said interview. He gets an email saying they will have to reschedule because the manager is not able to meet with him today due to jury duty. Is this for real? My automatic reaction was they must have found someone else and they are letting him down easy. They won't reschedule and the job search will have to continue! All negative, see? Now I do realize that jury duty is common and it does happen. It's just tough to accept another set back.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What's worse is I had told everyone, in my sheer excitement, about the interview (that wasn't) so now I would have to send word that it was not in fact happening today. Of course my emails, chats and calls weren't exuding positivity. I was down. But leave it to my momma to send me back a powerful email that really made me stop and think:</div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><style>
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Wow...I am so sorry honey. When I saw the subject on my phone I thought this can't be good news. But it isn't bad either it's just a delay. Another opportunity to trust God that He will not forsake you and He won't. Jury duty happens (Hey, I think we should make a tee shirt that says that!) and it won't last forever. Maybe the guy will get sent home today and he can schedule it for Thursday. Think positive and thank God for another opportunity to trust in Him and remember God loves you and so does Robert Schuller! Love you!!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">She's good, right? Kind of corny with her t-shirt comment, but she's good :) "another opportunity to trust God that He will not forsake you" I love that she put it that way. I never see the bad things in my life as an opportunity to trust God. In fact, sometimes I get angry at the big guy. But today, I am going to think of this as an opportunity to continue putting my faith in God and trusting that He knows what path we need to be on. Maybe the interview will be rescheduled, maybe it won't. I have no control over it. But the one thing I can control is my faith. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thank you all for sticking through the last few mopey posts. I am in fact a fun person and not everything is gloom and doom! I just wanted to share a piece of my life on here so in three years when I am sitting at home taking care of our babies and Aaron is at work at his amazing job with a great company I can look back on this and smile :) </div><br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-15095250340594760472010-04-01T21:43:00.001-05:002010-04-01T21:47:26.039-05:00With a moo moo here....<div style="text-align: justify;">Last weekend we were lucky enough to get invited to the farm. <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/" style="color: #38761d;">Lauren's</a> in-laws farm to be exact! Nothing like a little country living :) We had so much fun! It was really nice to get away from all the highways and city living. We arrived on Saturday morning and the ladies loaded up and went antiquing while the men stayed behind and did manly things. I didn't really know what to expect while perusing the old artifacts but we actually ended up stumbling across some descent stuff. It wasn't antiques, but still good nonetheless. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When we got back to the barn, the cows were out and about. Now, I love me some farm animals! Love love! After a few rides on the gator (which by the way, Lauren is kind of a scary driver...) I took after the cows. Literally stalking them in the field. The dogs loved them too. The cows however were not quite as fond of the pups. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We ended the night playing a few rounds of cornhole and then had some steaks. Such a fun time!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK5bin0c1Nm55xVw0TthQbGUQaiYTujEfpD3H4P0AdiPVrCpItnVKau4Zl93d4cvDwmG1-SecmwCZOJy0cC-BcEU5ZRN7iXlMr_HT1JPvOZf5GLdc35nohxTsObDsjcB-wHfIgs3SZN6-/s1600/DSC_0225_2209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK5bin0c1Nm55xVw0TthQbGUQaiYTujEfpD3H4P0AdiPVrCpItnVKau4Zl93d4cvDwmG1-SecmwCZOJy0cC-BcEU5ZRN7iXlMr_HT1JPvOZf5GLdc35nohxTsObDsjcB-wHfIgs3SZN6-/s320/DSC_0225_2209.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIpRlGIp96X61Jb26w7LgOz7c3oDQIPAi4j0ILTh_H3hSOOOUrmRfEYx277tnoas-80Kt8o61utrRGGp66613S8S4ZLq91tDlx70oF05F8Va95KCQAOtkS_fNpj22-3EuktG20MhQiOuI/s1600/DSC_0247_2231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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I hope we're invited back again! I think the cows miss me :)<br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-86762465486709569402010-03-22T10:32:00.000-05:002010-03-22T10:32:48.256-05:00Privacy please<div style="text-align: justify;"> With Aaron's recent unemployment there have been many questions asked that I'm not sure how to answer. You know the questions where you feel like people might be overstepping their bounds a little. Money questions are never fun and it always throws me for a loop when asked. First came the unemployment questions: How much does he get? Can you all survive off your check and unemployment? Does unemployment cover what he was making at his prior job? Now I dont know if these questions are asked out of concern or nosiness, but how much information is too much to share? I was raised in a family where I knew nothing about how much either of my parents made. We just didn't discuss that. I knew we got by and I never went without and that's all that was really supposed to matter. Was I curious? Heck yeah I was. But I didn't dare go to my dad after dinner and ask him what he was bringing in on a monthly basis! I don't know if this was good or bad, but it's left me a little guarded when others ask me questions like that. I normally share everything, but Aaron would prefer I not. He doesn't like talking about how much we paid for our house, what our mortgage payment is a month, how much we make, what we tithe, bonuses, etc. And I completely agree and respect that. I know I have been one to open my mouth on more than one occasion on some of these points. It's hard not to sometimes and I'm not the type to say, none of your business. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When Aaron got offered the job in Austin, the questions started rolling in about how much they offered him. I think this is incredibly out of line personally but some people don't get it. What does it matter to anyone else how much he's getting paid? Is it so they can compare it to their own salary? My coworker does this to me a lot and I now see it as pure immaturity. She asked me on the spot how much I was making, has asked me how much my bonus/raise was, and most recently what my share is in a new deal my company is offering. I tell her it's personal or private and it's not something we need to disclose but she won't take that for an answer. Of course she found out what I made and it happened to be a little more than her and it was all down hill from there. That's why you don't discuss this stuff! It does nothing but cause problems. She now compares everything even our work ethic and I feel she thinks she does more than me and works harder, therefore she should be getting paid more. Some things are just meant to be private. I would NEVER ask someone how much they are making. If it's offered up, OK, fine. But to flat out ask someone about their salary or benefits is crazy to me. When I worked contract for my old company, if you were to discuss your date rate with your peers it was grounds for termination. You better believe that was something that was never discussed in our offices. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I ask you, blog world, how do you handle questions like these? What is an appropriate answer, without sounding rude? Or maybe you are the type that doesn't see anything wrong with sharing this information? I'd love to know! </div><br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-68264739423816156512010-03-18T11:02:00.002-05:002010-03-18T11:04:05.618-05:00From my computer to yours<div style="text-align: justify;">Just a few tid-bits from N&A. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I hope that one day I can look back on this part of our lives and laugh. A lot. Right now, not so much. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aaron is still on the job hunt. He has been blowing and going getting his resumes out there - much like the little engine that could. I'm impressed that he hasn't torn all of his hair out sitting at home for the last 8 weeks (crap that's a long time). He's not want to revel in the fact that he's at home all day, as I might. He hates it in fact. But it has its perks. Like picking up my shoes from the shoe doctor, my prescriptions from the pharmacy, clean house, etc. The pay sucks though. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He did get a couple of job offers. One in Dallas. One in Austin. Where are all the Houston jobs, people?? The one in Austin is the only one we are considering. It's a great job and something he would love to do. We are still waiting to hear back from the company on a finalized start date but during the interview he was basically told the job is his if he wants it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Great, right?? I mean, it is a job. But it's 2.5 hours away. And I can't leave my job for certain reasons. I'm kind of locked in on a deal that I can't really pass up right now. It's all great news on both ends, but it's a lot of decisions to make. Can I be apart from my husband M-F and see him on the weekends? I'm sure a lot of people would be OK with that. I even am when I go look at our bank account and get a big dose of reality. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BUT, Aaron is my bud, were like BFF's. He's who I lean on when I have a crappy day at work. I'm not necessarily close (distance) to my friends/family. I have some great neighbors, but I doubt they want to see me every single night. We did it in college, so I know we could do it again, but that's not to say it won't be rough. I've talked to everyone under the sun about this and gotten their advice on what they would do, but in the end it's our decision and we need to make sure it's what's best for the two of us. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Plus side to Austin job: Money!, We love it there, I'd be able to go shopping again, I could control the TV (alhough A would argue that I do this already) and I might lose a lb or 2 since I wouldn't be cooking manly meals. I could go on the Special K/Lean Cuisine diet like <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/2010/02/nutritional-night.html" style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;">Lauren</a> :) </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="text-align: center;">In other news: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We joined a small group a couple of weeks ago and so far it is amazing! We absolutely love it and our group is so much fun. We hosted at our house last Sunday. I had all sorts of nerves going on but it ended up going great and I am now realizing how important it is to have something like this in our lives. Why did we wait so long to do this?? Obviously we were a little scared to take that next step in being more involved in our church. It's slightly branching out of our comfort zone. We enjoyed going to church Sunday morning, worshiping with our amazing praise group, listening to the words of our pastor and then heading out the door for lunch. But with this group we are actually meeting people and forming relationships with couples that are in the same stages of their marriage as we are. Pretty exciting, indeed! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I love my pups. I seriously think after our latest addition, Mr. Chester, my baby fever has been cured. Can a dog really do that? I was all gung-ho to have a bambino and then we got our little cheeto and now my fevah is drained. I know I still want babies, but I <i><b>really</b></i> wanted them about 6 months ago. It better come back, I'm not getting any younger here!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, that's all I got. I'll quit boring you with randomness and let you get on with your lives. Hope everyone is having a fabulous week! </div><br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-21174025860225459812010-03-10T13:00:00.000-06:002010-03-10T13:00:04.328-06:00Rub a dub dubTwo pups in a tub! I don't know what it is, but these dogs love to jump in our tub. There doesn't have to be water in the tub, they just get in. Strangest thing ever! They love this large porcelain bowl :) And they are pretty cute sitting there.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So stinking adorable!! And they stayed that way forever! I don't get it. Oh and little known fact, Daisy (our giant-looking white dog) weighs 41 pounds and Chester (the little orange chunk) weighs 57 pounds!! Can you believe that?? Me either. He's just this little booger, but the dog has some meat on his bones! Were convinced Daisy doesn't eat because she wants to maintain her girlish figure. </div><br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-35518456728397931842010-03-08T09:00:00.000-06:002010-03-08T09:00:08.772-06:00House Husband<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I think he's enjoying staying at home and cleaning the house wayyy more than he's leading on. Yeah he wants a job and all, but he looks pretty happy being my cleaning boy :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOc6bd8Kb-dnb4zenqVLC_Y7Tdfb3vL5Yd6mT_7Tqqlj_2Hd73-2OyTl_v4JZ3Alvfp7TGsq7NB-1y8kQRhoQMWPR0hdgaPtBoskS7MxtcS1Lfj987MQrM3tfsnRqAilSQw1RlLJCCWY2/s1600-h/DSC_0015_2110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOc6bd8Kb-dnb4zenqVLC_Y7Tdfb3vL5Yd6mT_7Tqqlj_2Hd73-2OyTl_v4JZ3Alvfp7TGsq7NB-1y8kQRhoQMWPR0hdgaPtBoskS7MxtcS1Lfj987MQrM3tfsnRqAilSQw1RlLJCCWY2/s320/DSC_0015_2110.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7pZoYZQDbT-WjMK_YkqGMfEi5apN7DM30vES2qZaAljkj_afo7Pu7GulFi4pbZn8UhyphenhyphenHasAb_s8NNlsmzByNCg8SkMyo5iXtlMwVrZuVGuZtv0k7zjqiOINLV3tBND_VbCYEN55v9IdC/s1600-h/DSC_0017_2112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7pZoYZQDbT-WjMK_YkqGMfEi5apN7DM30vES2qZaAljkj_afo7Pu7GulFi4pbZn8UhyphenhyphenHasAb_s8NNlsmzByNCg8SkMyo5iXtlMwVrZuVGuZtv0k7zjqiOINLV3tBND_VbCYEN55v9IdC/s320/DSC_0017_2112.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJ7HW7TfUwDra9LrCE_ZXPVKeJ_HY6hC8bkejLsPE1c4j2AsO1EZw21MUolk8uyCI1Dg4BfFXvgd8-PIMLPdDVbX153wDmy1MLT4vvyEv6lvgbiJDnz2GoZ0lGxkq5WmiK663rLt11P3I/s1600-h/DSC_0021_2116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJ7HW7TfUwDra9LrCE_ZXPVKeJ_HY6hC8bkejLsPE1c4j2AsO1EZw21MUolk8uyCI1Dg4BfFXvgd8-PIMLPdDVbX153wDmy1MLT4vvyEv6lvgbiJDnz2GoZ0lGxkq5WmiK663rLt11P3I/s320/DSC_0021_2116.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What.A.Fruit! And that is all were going to say about that. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Love you baybay! </div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a>Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-91469728201677069552010-03-05T09:26:00.003-06:002010-03-05T09:38:48.879-06:00Celebrations!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh February! The shortest month of the year filled with so much fun! February is the month of birthdays in our family. My mom's is the 9th, sister's the 17th and mine on the 29th - Leap Year! Now I don't have pics from my birthday because I left my camera at the house, but I do have pics from my mom and sisters! The whole fam came out to our area and we had a fabulous meal at Fleming's Steakhouse. It was incredible! We came back to our house and had cake and champagne. So much fun! </div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6w2pKodgAHcxlsVimk3xI1y6i2vwAjyPfES5tze5W7pH-CEU6do20uWA-RxAR_oXu8ftdPfB0Aubx9a2oS-_otdhWduMBD8JOkgm-T6yPI9Zc6WHg2KcqtVvK9JBk0p7YGHyqrOvjlupV/s1600-h/DSC04243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6w2pKodgAHcxlsVimk3xI1y6i2vwAjyPfES5tze5W7pH-CEU6do20uWA-RxAR_oXu8ftdPfB0Aubx9a2oS-_otdhWduMBD8JOkgm-T6yPI9Zc6WHg2KcqtVvK9JBk0p7YGHyqrOvjlupV/s320/DSC04243.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcr66KVHeC28r5wUEW8uE-iVkHPHiSiyzVSD1-xEDEmCnbrW1lEgT_LOiufptvfj2tSzf1pEGsr1Q9Mkv364LGFF5bRlHdmCV4Vn9S_oVOhqmWNGp5Z-DACx4WmQuTzQEPFxDN8R9vmHv/s1600-h/DSC04244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcr66KVHeC28r5wUEW8uE-iVkHPHiSiyzVSD1-xEDEmCnbrW1lEgT_LOiufptvfj2tSzf1pEGsr1Q9Mkv364LGFF5bRlHdmCV4Vn9S_oVOhqmWNGp5Z-DACx4WmQuTzQEPFxDN8R9vmHv/s200/DSC04244.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtka_lX4zItwMswh-ZJbfXgwDW5K7a-vc22JjqsE3Pc6glK8hzZol1qm75Tl0Zj8iAdc0I1LyYWml4rzxUkfq6NqcE54zbhLjX4Fabfy5gxX4wha3h9bzj8yWPKbfllfuYQk1WuwRR2mNE/s1600-h/DSC04246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtka_lX4zItwMswh-ZJbfXgwDW5K7a-vc22JjqsE3Pc6glK8hzZol1qm75Tl0Zj8iAdc0I1LyYWml4rzxUkfq6NqcE54zbhLjX4Fabfy5gxX4wha3h9bzj8yWPKbfllfuYQk1WuwRR2mNE/s200/DSC04246.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4C7x29eS-NPvfx67xpQLnPwAFYyqrFdKDOLPKc_HS_Uz838557UCABfRI44Z7BzSV5UbWjq5_R6-lUqzJXbw7KJwAyZJ9b9ff1SU0K19WcRfZZupADRZI_rCpgzjUeOIyyKewWZpTEEJR/s1600-h/DSC_0069_2058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4C7x29eS-NPvfx67xpQLnPwAFYyqrFdKDOLPKc_HS_Uz838557UCABfRI44Z7BzSV5UbWjq5_R6-lUqzJXbw7KJwAyZJ9b9ff1SU0K19WcRfZZupADRZI_rCpgzjUeOIyyKewWZpTEEJR/s320/DSC_0069_2058.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-_Nd8upFPiyqsm42DpUGTStccEuG2UiC4BIuvXn-WQoMxCm5GQfyOkKBzoqrmUrduK2otVfbrA0_PhBNDnSjYaiww6-fjtI8ZAqe36OuPbQMNua8cqsIiHaxL94e8wdLjatjPZuC4qi9/s1600-h/DSC_0058_2047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-_Nd8upFPiyqsm42DpUGTStccEuG2UiC4BIuvXn-WQoMxCm5GQfyOkKBzoqrmUrduK2otVfbrA0_PhBNDnSjYaiww6-fjtI8ZAqe36OuPbQMNua8cqsIiHaxL94e8wdLjatjPZuC4qi9/s320/DSC_0058_2047.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXVQORj4hKppnzRHTewJryQHQLBu2fVVI4f_MpIfa0RVFWGqfWvNXgEy-mzsKAXGCRvuF0qfkHK_xXrH7Ul17zs7Zv9zvWukVXDAlsle1M-NHB4lPk3qTWx229tnQq4sLl4rHMj0O_5Cn/s1600-h/DSC_0060_2049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXVQORj4hKppnzRHTewJryQHQLBu2fVVI4f_MpIfa0RVFWGqfWvNXgEy-mzsKAXGCRvuF0qfkHK_xXrH7Ul17zs7Zv9zvWukVXDAlsle1M-NHB4lPk3qTWx229tnQq4sLl4rHMj0O_5Cn/s320/DSC_0060_2049.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl88_61DCCvYvS7ltj2wOOM9wp48iawyw-WJrW0SYjiReSEx4RrvzV4Mc3eKia2ELum1TDlp65I3_6JfQS3XuV3m-8gqbmszitbXW5ifqbVs1Q6nir1-toViFAHEbGLS4ouThSBcCdHqV/s1600-h/DSC_0088_2077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl88_61DCCvYvS7ltj2wOOM9wp48iawyw-WJrW0SYjiReSEx4RrvzV4Mc3eKia2ELum1TDlp65I3_6JfQS3XuV3m-8gqbmszitbXW5ifqbVs1Q6nir1-toViFAHEbGLS4ouThSBcCdHqV/s320/DSC_0088_2077.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I also wanted to give a big shout out to my little sister, Gabrielle!! She is such a doll and I talked to her this week and she told me how much she loves reading my blog and how she has gone back to the very beginning and read every single post! How stinking cute is that??? And she's 9!!! She can use the internet, find my blog and knows her way around it better than I do!! She is my sunshine and I love her to bits! Here's to G-Unit!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqxqVu4Ot3jf8XiWTiBvcljvP-4ISMi5P0QCpSGWW0CpOZ-XvxyFJh3Afcztlme0k1-H-Ghc4jXxBGhhLbhMpxP5DwUHgdqCAVqyG6OpHaNeKt9IWpl_l9y5Ho7mrH8wU-v398A5RAMdl/s1600-h/DSC_0054_2043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqxqVu4Ot3jf8XiWTiBvcljvP-4ISMi5P0QCpSGWW0CpOZ-XvxyFJh3Afcztlme0k1-H-Ghc4jXxBGhhLbhMpxP5DwUHgdqCAVqyG6OpHaNeKt9IWpl_l9y5Ho7mrH8wU-v398A5RAMdl/s320/DSC_0054_2043.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-82863404227600107072010-03-03T08:40:00.002-06:002010-03-04T19:50:23.159-06:00Boat shoes<div style="text-align: justify;">So Aaron has these shoes. Some call them boat shoes, sperry's, top siders - pick your poison. Well friends, they're hideous! They just happen to be my least favorite pair of shoes he owns. And he wears them EVERYWHERE. I've had to put my foot down a few times. When we got married and made our little house a home, he assured me that they were "for mowing only." So I felt pretty good about allowing him to keep them. You know, because I rule with an iron fist and all. But as the months passed, I noticed that wasn't the case. I began seeing them more and more. And then he would wear them <u>out in public</u>. I can barely stand to see them when he's out mowing, but then he wants to wear them to the grocery store?? Nuh-uh! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now don't get me wrong, boat shoes aren't all bad and can be done tastefully. They can look nice if they aren't 5 years old and have been worn to float the river, wash the truck, mow the lawn, etc. When he wears his saggy baggy butt (sorry hun, but those need to go too) Levis with them is when I draw the line. I wish you all could see his feet actually in them so you can get the real picture of what I mean. I keep trying to devise a plan so that I can sneakily throw them out without him noticing. I can't use the "well, looks like the dogs chewed up your shoes, babe." because even they won't go near them! I contemplated just chunking them but that wouldn't be very nice...would it?? I don't see him letting go of them freely either. Looks like I'll be stuck with them. And the Levi's.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL48bwql2JeYV2y6XkbuCEERX0fw4adfio_EYI_B-JluZFrDqdAjaEImg3i_2jHuypg-bRU2WAS_zAkilse39RqN3TcZBtg6x2fHuXrbORYNWipcT3jCAIDClCP2bmWwOaSqaMM3qdBwPV/s1600-h/DSC_0003_2134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL48bwql2JeYV2y6XkbuCEERX0fw4adfio_EYI_B-JluZFrDqdAjaEImg3i_2jHuypg-bRU2WAS_zAkilse39RqN3TcZBtg6x2fHuXrbORYNWipcT3jCAIDClCP2bmWwOaSqaMM3qdBwPV/s320/DSC_0003_2134.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvvFpQGW3-ng0UzKRza_qsd8-hFcj-7UgMI5lKyRghrwAr2ia3GmqSEjEDKWBHrC7a5QmMpVTgiawY7NlDSL0cjxekWFDwgQQtMpyj8iO2WRtMscprxooWWXLtpD1gy5tWYUGRIpUlf1U/s1600-h/DSC_0006_2137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvvFpQGW3-ng0UzKRza_qsd8-hFcj-7UgMI5lKyRghrwAr2ia3GmqSEjEDKWBHrC7a5QmMpVTgiawY7NlDSL0cjxekWFDwgQQtMpyj8iO2WRtMscprxooWWXLtpD1gy5tWYUGRIpUlf1U/s320/DSC_0006_2137.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihZbf6lLgSpnsjI-EV44AI5F_viR7datWspiOJq5BaYBKuDghd8SmQTvNoprx5Jm01518s6wAxE00JHJKeXlyI6nx9dfUWAtppOmV9L8V-s0sOsM1j9IsGpJcbNsRhno-h_Dj4kEWy9v8/s1600-h/DSC_0009_2140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihZbf6lLgSpnsjI-EV44AI5F_viR7datWspiOJq5BaYBKuDghd8SmQTvNoprx5Jm01518s6wAxE00JHJKeXlyI6nx9dfUWAtppOmV9L8V-s0sOsM1j9IsGpJcbNsRhno-h_Dj4kEWy9v8/s320/DSC_0009_2140.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Don't they look like they smell too?? I mean, they just look like they would smell like rotten fish or something, right? I certainly didn't get that close to sniff it out but I'm sure they reek! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I tried to switch up the pics some to make them look descent, but it's not happening!</div><br />
<br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-18132504455894415222010-02-09T10:45:00.001-06:002010-02-09T12:55:49.103-06:00HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!<div style="text-align: justify;">Happy Birthday to the most wonderful, caring, humble, selfless, beautiful, amazing, God fearing, momma I know!! You bring so much joy to my life and so much encouragement. I love you as high as the sky and as deep as the sea! Thank you for being the woman you are today. You mean more to me than you'll ever know. I love you!! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QLxJd0Qx7-N3jhBJVScdP15M6ea0LKgyoyEZasVKebZt3R21Y6g5h2sJXcr3ppcl6xiOfN7H2ynwhhrC_QikVqjRn_z0aPbBZkMjpoEM7CoRTUdItcHsZ9k2n3ztwuSbTeynxVLn-LYp/s1600-h/DSC_0056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QLxJd0Qx7-N3jhBJVScdP15M6ea0LKgyoyEZasVKebZt3R21Y6g5h2sJXcr3ppcl6xiOfN7H2ynwhhrC_QikVqjRn_z0aPbBZkMjpoEM7CoRTUdItcHsZ9k2n3ztwuSbTeynxVLn-LYp/s320/DSC_0056.JPG" /></a></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-67487565950094520832010-02-08T20:30:00.001-06:002010-02-08T20:32:11.839-06:00Never want to "Leav the Beav"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last week we were lucky enough to go on another ski trip with some fabulous friends of ours to Beaver Creek, Colorado. <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/" style="color: #38761d;">Lauren's </a>dad has quite the hook up at the condo we stayed at and we were able to score a free stay out of the deal! We have gone skiing together a few times now and this was our first trip out of college. I have to say that my fear factor has climbed quite a bit since being out of school. I no longer am as easy going down the slopes! In fact, I'm quite terrified at times. There was a couple of times while sliding down the slopes doing what was coined the "electric (ski) slide" that I thought to myself "Why don't we take beach vacations together?!?!?" It didn't help that the first day we ended up going down a blue turned black slope and I watched Ryan, Lauren's husband take a pretty good fall. Nor did it help that poor BC hadn't seen much snow in a while therefore leaving icy slopes :( </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I pictured myself swooshing down the mountains like a professional snow bunny and well, that just didn't happen. But everyone else did awesome and we all had a complete blast! I love the village area. It is like something out of a movie! Absolutely incredible!! I feel so lucky that we have gotten to visit not once but twice! We also enjoyed several nights in the hot tub with a beverage after our long days of skiing. Perfect way to recover! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And now I leave you with some pics. Several pics actually, of our wonderful vacay! Thanks again Rudy's for the invite!! It was a blast and we loved spending time <span style="color: black;">with you guys</span>! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmKD3BKPCIqZu_MQesxExEBBEOdgA0Lloi0BzNzcW7dv2txf-D8yAoHSvazVPDWSOIfMBV5CczF_Z4VNNaLG_PAMcC3xo8huWo5Zvg2BvSH6gKF7pDe5Pw12WGHWudqCOBCxg0ccG7870/s320/DSC04216.JPG" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGdeXyJhc3Dsey5pbw3HQvL2TQCjDWBE64ZJFSsTf78gqALHfBVzXB2vzDRPP6h1BthgSSHquBj-28ig6zEpA-0z3u6r4trZDfPtdTprxOIIB247Kvk7kzXYc2wobs-vNz5o6iA24VKdq/s1600-h/DSC04218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGdeXyJhc3Dsey5pbw3HQvL2TQCjDWBE64ZJFSsTf78gqALHfBVzXB2vzDRPP6h1BthgSSHquBj-28ig6zEpA-0z3u6r4trZDfPtdTprxOIIB247Kvk7kzXYc2wobs-vNz5o6iA24VKdq/s320/DSC04218.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">minivan time </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58TNVRnrj0_9yyWILzCN1q1ZlRlhS_Clc9tTGaYa61iq1l-ozrraKOfRmO9S7MTScsRSfT0uZz756ZNXdTfJrBnkRoFzHHxx2mGotZNiM14Y2F53eUehS7_0uP-hbQoMrwUwiQaAQgoJc/s1600-h/DSC_0156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58TNVRnrj0_9yyWILzCN1q1ZlRlhS_Clc9tTGaYa61iq1l-ozrraKOfRmO9S7MTScsRSfT0uZz756ZNXdTfJrBnkRoFzHHxx2mGotZNiM14Y2F53eUehS7_0uP-hbQoMrwUwiQaAQgoJc/s320/DSC_0156.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"montanas"</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0AEvZnUV6n02jyu9OY2TOJEGfJGBhT8M1C3sGnjzN7ubqyT0OKqjbvXQG-oeyxXOnYQmbRjqNXcn2Wv1RvHJkrCEGTlN-Mtj8f1gInKWD26LpzPKlZR0ozqDxV3ESs6zL1v1u12BCHKX/s1600-h/DSC04220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0AEvZnUV6n02jyu9OY2TOJEGfJGBhT8M1C3sGnjzN7ubqyT0OKqjbvXQG-oeyxXOnYQmbRjqNXcn2Wv1RvHJkrCEGTlN-Mtj8f1gInKWD26LpzPKlZR0ozqDxV3ESs6zL1v1u12BCHKX/s320/DSC04220.JPG" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2OY0tI-F5D38SLqXkIi9RVt9VJVg-XBZAV4FrBcl-f5ajZeoOdD1Ym3mvM1A4Xc-bVzk7JIESrnsBOwujiqMDPR4qkaJFYErmvw7dzb87o8eUE16pvKqLiIFju3bYKYzVaVVSJhHJ0-3/s1600-h/DSC_0234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2OY0tI-F5D38SLqXkIi9RVt9VJVg-XBZAV4FrBcl-f5ajZeoOdD1Ym3mvM1A4Xc-bVzk7JIESrnsBOwujiqMDPR4qkaJFYErmvw7dzb87o8eUE16pvKqLiIFju3bYKYzVaVVSJhHJ0-3/s320/DSC_0234.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuSCfHnkzE0_1C4UjASeVyAYmFFfPkSFdtvM4v5yD2I7Twq4xsIPEJUuAK3kVwP2aQKJb5FUCDqjzI8rUHJ22APgSUVvdIFHBejFSLnUIF2P4IHhLSdlK9nBxQN-W-9Fh6bU4mQPxk690/s1600-h/DSC04225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuSCfHnkzE0_1C4UjASeVyAYmFFfPkSFdtvM4v5yD2I7Twq4xsIPEJUuAK3kVwP2aQKJb5FUCDqjzI8rUHJ22APgSUVvdIFHBejFSLnUIF2P4IHhLSdlK9nBxQN-W-9Fh6bU4mQPxk690/s200/DSC04225.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6a0hmL-AMpt9y7XNwLoTvH0fiB0rRa-YVy2J6SWe38TrL13_Bbw4XskSkEXJ4lVGljQw-tWTZpDngmW16XTtjGx46ipiyqoynibB0DE0xfLId2YP4lYuQQ4mLvmo1f7B1LLvZMvg_-tlz/s1600-h/DSC04226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6a0hmL-AMpt9y7XNwLoTvH0fiB0rRa-YVy2J6SWe38TrL13_Bbw4XskSkEXJ4lVGljQw-tWTZpDngmW16XTtjGx46ipiyqoynibB0DE0xfLId2YP4lYuQQ4mLvmo1f7B1LLvZMvg_-tlz/s200/DSC04226.JPG" width="150" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">sweet drawings - Aaron's (on the left) an over-achiever. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And that's all I'm saying about that. </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfNQgtlGAi8nBgm_lZZ71MJtReB3Upc707vZVlf33n4Q76Dl4eExW_Hmq6R3yC8bkviH6wYwTeIa-qrIzxjo2VvFBthatCuq2ojW-F6-4-RrdXyFZZj1KTbva5p5cO0QTrZG8jdp6tP4_/s1600-h/DSC04221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfNQgtlGAi8nBgm_lZZ71MJtReB3Upc707vZVlf33n4Q76Dl4eExW_Hmq6R3yC8bkviH6wYwTeIa-qrIzxjo2VvFBthatCuq2ojW-F6-4-RrdXyFZZj1KTbva5p5cO0QTrZG8jdp6tP4_/s320/DSC04221.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ryno and Ski!!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXeetRIQAskmcGYOjblp_s5YYxNiZMVb-CHxZWSgik1LrBxbpRW3sGU_kx0IONJmZ9QDM0JrIQOq9p6MojK8bp58NhQwxXlfIEKhSpFZYcOj-APGXodvez0HoccsGjFkTPfvVT3PLKrcN/s1600-h/DSC04222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXeetRIQAskmcGYOjblp_s5YYxNiZMVb-CHxZWSgik1LrBxbpRW3sGU_kx0IONJmZ9QDM0JrIQOq9p6MojK8bp58NhQwxXlfIEKhSpFZYcOj-APGXodvez0HoccsGjFkTPfvVT3PLKrcN/s320/DSC04222.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BayBay and me </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyoJjoOD1lFtp8jmvXIPMvir10uyKUw_QaSUGN0saKOHJXTf2bgHPnNPc8KoYvNy4h82oefRTJAvOxQh8YDfQetJSwEL2Q_6u-7UpNP4Ox7YTkvOJ46BA7pfend7WqDyUligdiLV4ulxm/s1600-h/DSC_0164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyoJjoOD1lFtp8jmvXIPMvir10uyKUw_QaSUGN0saKOHJXTf2bgHPnNPc8KoYvNy4h82oefRTJAvOxQh8YDfQetJSwEL2Q_6u-7UpNP4Ox7YTkvOJ46BA7pfend7WqDyUligdiLV4ulxm/s200/DSC_0164.JPG" width="132" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4y1oPlixnlsvN6We-y7eVSdsGbCpgCNXj1bGWSfHuMVWNbMkBCeg8W0VZLQxhXefxWueCx9Oq1FZcQ-gG-c2rpJyaX2mU9OTqoka0Jf6g_bkFmyr6EfZQ7nRrQip-pg_H_jGS1LvobfG/s1600-h/DSC04228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4y1oPlixnlsvN6We-y7eVSdsGbCpgCNXj1bGWSfHuMVWNbMkBCeg8W0VZLQxhXefxWueCx9Oq1FZcQ-gG-c2rpJyaX2mU9OTqoka0Jf6g_bkFmyr6EfZQ7nRrQip-pg_H_jGS1LvobfG/s200/DSC04228.JPG" width="150" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Derrick and Tyler </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsA7VT3c2L3tBdiXNGb1L8-hOyHziec01F2DrEzuPv22Pv4EynSs9Cx_FpUDNU8Q_WcjkAH_yN8ATECawC1NDT4A4QXcsLqHrLqK6d8XI9EDjTyjvH8IZx-TaKsWJXzDu8DHbPHaducm5t/s1600-h/DSC04229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsA7VT3c2L3tBdiXNGb1L8-hOyHziec01F2DrEzuPv22Pv4EynSs9Cx_FpUDNU8Q_WcjkAH_yN8ATECawC1NDT4A4QXcsLqHrLqK6d8XI9EDjTyjvH8IZx-TaKsWJXzDu8DHbPHaducm5t/s320/DSC04229.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Big A in all his ski gear glory</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEYLug6tRcC5JnPg2D40vCQtc7F_GjsKb7QehCfIJTIvre3Z1w6vWbc7Y2qf0WgDOvfx4yUK8hmsK1J4FqS5y7zT1NdMBBiy58kz_6lzSt9JkVnmNw-_aYlxmz9G5f5o9c6vShNDNMlv6/s1600-h/DSC04232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEYLug6tRcC5JnPg2D40vCQtc7F_GjsKb7QehCfIJTIvre3Z1w6vWbc7Y2qf0WgDOvfx4yUK8hmsK1J4FqS5y7zT1NdMBBiy58kz_6lzSt9JkVnmNw-_aYlxmz9G5f5o9c6vShNDNMlv6/s320/DSC04232.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pit stop on the mountain!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF89McYQ_96OK65CAL_-I-UcSVFuzLfw5t7gEkzBG9fG2lAoDDxFZv7KWQnehu5KzjePzOyWb0hr0W7vkWfrFRB__N262-fCXh3xMTsf-qwxd5PWc7-X_Vg_6DmTOQqMs3MGElWc0ZvvT_/s1600-h/DSC04238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF89McYQ_96OK65CAL_-I-UcSVFuzLfw5t7gEkzBG9fG2lAoDDxFZv7KWQnehu5KzjePzOyWb0hr0W7vkWfrFRB__N262-fCXh3xMTsf-qwxd5PWc7-X_Vg_6DmTOQqMs3MGElWc0ZvvT_/s200/DSC04238.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbP05xy8G6tNUXMH9bMSxU9XKwC6bPuYWFGjHLqHN-7E09aiG1sdyAUsIo48_cNfP9wzCJ5QdPs-MqqSiAjLt3yQ1ydlqbS9rEFv1qnTd5j914IqHTe4rpZTEmGi_YRa6YucIiQusn-YH/s1600-h/DSC04233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbP05xy8G6tNUXMH9bMSxU9XKwC6bPuYWFGjHLqHN-7E09aiG1sdyAUsIo48_cNfP9wzCJ5QdPs-MqqSiAjLt3yQ1ydlqbS9rEFv1qnTd5j914IqHTe4rpZTEmGi_YRa6YucIiQusn-YH/s200/DSC04233.JPG" width="150" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">last day so we had to get in our model shots....</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9elRLccHKIDFTJIdwqQb3fGO_NDZgNb4ZpWTkCGrmE1w5Rpv84WZc4fLaURp61HR21LM1ILA2_Y25x_IkwiY-gpbNE9KcEtyuoJaSbT_TCrjw3WUzPJcctyVtDfRfaz8MQGq1efNuWtR1/s1600-h/DSC04239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9elRLccHKIDFTJIdwqQb3fGO_NDZgNb4ZpWTkCGrmE1w5Rpv84WZc4fLaURp61HR21LM1ILA2_Y25x_IkwiY-gpbNE9KcEtyuoJaSbT_TCrjw3WUzPJcctyVtDfRfaz8MQGq1efNuWtR1/s320/DSC04239.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheTSAu8ZN7D1izP-CcQC6CSSUqTr8FiUxmyNV5Z9jJaDqvBXbnBbjhZMb74_ZgfY71oembdADln-ezUmhxyYEKwjXqzzSGFHQZyDgGtzT1s3ps3iZFEdfWLYRBDT8UB88viobPbLYCy-B/s1600-h/DSC_0206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheTSAu8ZN7D1izP-CcQC6CSSUqTr8FiUxmyNV5Z9jJaDqvBXbnBbjhZMb74_ZgfY71oembdADln-ezUmhxyYEKwjXqzzSGFHQZyDgGtzT1s3ps3iZFEdfWLYRBDT8UB88viobPbLYCy-B/s200/DSC_0206.JPG" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_adpdKW2ogAXBGBl9739KfkkcJ-V9V5-3TCRexe_WTMFYDYbwvZWoPYXbFMzpcO7x3NHO4-LvaHA3yHjdDJzHqWkgXt4coJ3CvqkSaud6Fp2VwUTYVONkJGGrA1W6PaysKls0MdpOf8nf/s1600/DSC_0225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_adpdKW2ogAXBGBl9739KfkkcJ-V9V5-3TCRexe_WTMFYDYbwvZWoPYXbFMzpcO7x3NHO4-LvaHA3yHjdDJzHqWkgXt4coJ3CvqkSaud6Fp2VwUTYVONkJGGrA1W6PaysKls0MdpOf8nf/s200/DSC_0225.JPG" width="133" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">when the man on the left blows his "ricola" horn, </span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">the man on the right brings out delicious cookies! Awesome!</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtGYHdl87sA445sCoSjhwZbMeFaveTW2xuMQMs-BDDbQKhRN_QgECHg_MgrB5Kx9wz3QXcv2XvK1A7Tz3nZwejpC02z4aM6WEhMZfRbCmD1N_N3pzWzotxObu8ZLale_8BtJP51PYHoe7/s1600-h/DSC_0217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtGYHdl87sA445sCoSjhwZbMeFaveTW2xuMQMs-BDDbQKhRN_QgECHg_MgrB5Kx9wz3QXcv2XvK1A7Tz3nZwejpC02z4aM6WEhMZfRbCmD1N_N3pzWzotxObu8ZLale_8BtJP51PYHoe7/s320/DSC_0217.JPG" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxLuOx44c789z_9u20RZVf-fea9M9ZttgkV-A7284Q7xHu3Oxi9zXLUOpLrDRfAbJgYgqIyP84gevKNszZlI7APUzEg1pZeBd67shp2YQOaosdYr2W0vW6iZiHgz1NaZt93jyjFEE8-b3/s1600-h/DSC_0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxLuOx44c789z_9u20RZVf-fea9M9ZttgkV-A7284Q7xHu3Oxi9zXLUOpLrDRfAbJgYgqIyP84gevKNszZlI7APUzEg1pZeBd67shp2YQOaosdYr2W0vW6iZiHgz1NaZt93jyjFEE8-b3/s320/DSC_0199.JPG" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgscq-lIOV0wKM0GUt8cvDRIX0zMeTEafdeBJxEtqxWfTIqTGql_rMawtHowkNHYGGfvFpqlHqMdBZNC-9z9llIZgu_65VFWUXhjyFWPEAvBFV4WArWwI9MIhAcq9Sznr8NwgwfV129nl/s1600-h/DSC_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgscq-lIOV0wKM0GUt8cvDRIX0zMeTEafdeBJxEtqxWfTIqTGql_rMawtHowkNHYGGfvFpqlHqMdBZNC-9z9llIZgu_65VFWUXhjyFWPEAvBFV4WArWwI9MIhAcq9Sznr8NwgwfV129nl/s320/DSC_0236.JPG" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAzG0KOqee8jUpXEWd5ZNa0Yd95Wq0CrkNM3QyQLg_78OVpFbWB95aZhcIqo5881QK-bz93cL0jL8832L9Byg071_9nuzWFUZtLgBH5cDXzkqD6IyCmAUqlkw_rD_JtKV_V9EbbZkSSHGO/s1600-h/DSC_0246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAzG0KOqee8jUpXEWd5ZNa0Yd95Wq0CrkNM3QyQLg_78OVpFbWB95aZhcIqo5881QK-bz93cL0jL8832L9Byg071_9nuzWFUZtLgBH5cDXzkqD6IyCmAUqlkw_rD_JtKV_V9EbbZkSSHGO/s320/DSC_0246.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBiVs9-6D1wIE-QNzjBrI05zss8U5El_f5wNp5TSo9yjEYQU37gYmp03n9itw9dhheKAgLQzD4C7OUtPt6QsUyelwNdjkYxto06hx0_wQw7oidPpJhWHWzb085QpZDPxf59GhLq3cQOb8/s1600-h/DSC04235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBiVs9-6D1wIE-QNzjBrI05zss8U5El_f5wNp5TSo9yjEYQU37gYmp03n9itw9dhheKAgLQzD4C7OUtPt6QsUyelwNdjkYxto06hx0_wQw7oidPpJhWHWzb085QpZDPxf59GhLq3cQOb8/s320/DSC04235.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"leav the beav"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Head on over to <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/" style="color: #38761d;">Lauren's</a> blog to check out her post too! And speaking of the oh so fab Lauren, she redesigned my blog for me!! I know you all noticed how it transformed from the shabbiness it was before to ultra chic!! She did so great and it took no time at all - well, I take that back, she worked her booty off doing it but she was so fast! I love love love it! I still have to add some stuff to my links above, but it's such an amazing start! I have an actual blog design now :) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I also want to say a huge thank you to you all for the insanely sweet and thoughtful comments on my last post. It means the world to me to be able to come here and lay it all out to you all and get such great support! You all are amazing!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border: 0pt none ! important;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-28473091214314723022010-02-03T12:39:00.000-06:002010-02-03T12:39:37.329-06:00When my world is shaking.....<div align="center"><strong>Heaven stands.</strong></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Well friends, it appears the lay off bug has hit my husbands office and he caught it. Friday the 22nd the Mr. went into his office thinking it was a regular work day and left at 3:30 with no job. Neither one of us were aware of any layoffs at his company so you can imagine we were both pretty shocked. To say the least! He had made it through last years layoffs so I guess it was time. They went from 20 employees to about 7 all in one day. Needless to say I don't see the company lasting too much longer. It's best he got out when he did. It's just hard to accept that right now. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I do feel like this is the best thing that could happen to him. He was kind of stuck in a position he didn't love and wanted more out of his job. That being said, it is still super hard and scary to go through. And for a guy, I can only imagine the stress he must feel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have to say that I am in awe of how God works and how at peace the two of us are about this. I think Friday we were both in shock. I was a mess. A MESS! But when I came home and hugged my wonderful husband I knew it was all going to be OK. I had this incredible feeling of security come over me - I can't even describe it. I feel like God has a wonderful plan for him and it will be a job that he has dreamed of! He worked with some great guys that have been more than willing to contact other companies and put in some amazing words for Aaron. My husband is one of the most dedicated workers I know, besides my dad, of course. He has such a great work ethic and it always amazed me at the hours and time he put into this company. I never felt like it was appreciated like it should have been, but he kept on working as if it didn't matter. He's extremely loyal!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That being said, the last couple of days have been tough. We went on a ski trip to Colorado, because, well that's what everyone does when they get laid off, right? It was planned and mostly paid for so we went and had a great time! I'd be lying though if I said the 'no job' thing wasn't in the back of my mind the whole trip. We got back this last Monday and it's all setting in now - we really do only have one income. It wasn't just a bad nightmare. I am doing my best to keep the faith and know that God knows what He's doing. But then I have days like today, when everything seems to go awry. Aaron gets discouraged because he hasn't heard back from companies, I get angry because I can't buy my favorite salad for lunch that I've missed oh so much and opt for a pb&j instead (I know, real problem right?) and thinking of all the things that need to be done now. All the while trying to keep a positive attitude and not allow myself to freak out. It's hard holding it together. Tension is definitely high. But the last thing I want to do is make Aaron upset or feel like this is all on him. We are a team - *Pectoral Powers! Remember sweetie?? ;) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I hate not knowing what the future holds. I'd love to know our plan and know that this path we're on will lead us to wonderful things. Waiting is so hard; blind faith is tough. But I know we have to stick with it. God has never given up on us and I know He's not going to start now. We will make it through and it will only make us stronger, relationship wise and faith wise. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I do have to mention that my family and friends have been amazing through all this! My parents kept our pups for us while we were in CO and when we got back mom had bought a ton of groceries for us to take back home! I cried when I saw it, cried the whole way home from their house and then cried more when I unloaded it all to see how much stuff she had bought! She not only bought necessities for us, i.e. bread, milk, toilet paper, etc. but she also bought us luxuries like beer, cokes, all sorts of meats and breakfast food too! It's hard not to feel blessed when you have people like that in your lives! We are now set for a good 2 weeks at least! Love you momma! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqDODxzGocabt1awHLmRL6TFrlmS8I_JSM-DlKyBgX1vx1IiWrpRcmz-tU0A_EIcw5qijtd4R34mitOAAGi5ZBXsopkwPz6GSc1y6iKvyAH3ztLkNFkhCXqDNYwfVyZ8eARuaRoZWIwJm/s1600-h/groceries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqDODxzGocabt1awHLmRL6TFrlmS8I_JSM-DlKyBgX1vx1IiWrpRcmz-tU0A_EIcw5qijtd4R34mitOAAGi5ZBXsopkwPz6GSc1y6iKvyAH3ztLkNFkhCXqDNYwfVyZ8eARuaRoZWIwJm/s320/groceries.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I promise to post something positive and upbeat next time! I have so many pictures from our ski trip that I can't wait to get downloaded and posted! Have a great week everyone and happy hump day!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">*our highschool name we had for each other - he had pecs, and I had, well you know. </div><br />
<br />
<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt;" />Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-49619301597630879402010-01-19T16:17:00.004-06:002010-01-19T16:24:29.318-06:0013.1 Recap<div style="text-align: justify;">This past weekend was like any other weekend. Get off work Friday, hang out with the hubs, and wake up early Saturday to go to race expo to pick up my packet, go to lunch with friends for Lauren's birthday, and check out the new 4Runners at Toyota dealership. You know the usual. <br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Except it wasn't!!!!! <br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This weekend was one of the MOST memorable weekends. After 6 months of training I was finally going to complete my goal of running 13.1 miles! How insane is that?? It was last May/June when <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lauren</span></a> and I went to lunch and out of the blue she said "you should run a half marathon!" I said, "No, no, WE should run a half marathon!" I had been running for exercise purposes only at that time. 3 miles here and there. No big deal. Well Lauren planted the seed in my little brain and from there the idea blossomed. She of course agreed to join me in this adventure - I think she was a little more pumped about this than me - as did two of our other friends Alison and Mark. This won't be that bad, right? I mean we're all in this together. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the months passed by and the miles started increasing, I almost second guessed my decision. Maybe a couple of times actually. It was rough. 3 miles was now 7, 8, 9, etc. Those longer runs didn't seem to come as easy to me as I had hoped. There were days when I would come back in from a 9 or 11 mile run and feel so sick. I wouldn't get off the couch until 3! Part of my problem was not really knowing what to eat while I ran. I would try out new things and they would NOT work for me at all. But it was always very empowering to go over to my schedule and "X" off one of those bigger runs. What a feeling that was! I felt like I had really accomplished something! <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the training progressed, the 13 miler crept up on us. I decided to run that one with <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lauren</span></a>. We had been running all of our runs separate but we knew we were pretty much the same pace. That was probably one of my best runs I had had up to that point. It felt so good and I never felt like I was drained - physically or mentally. We finished 13 miles in 2:02.40. We both looked at each other after and said "you know what that means!" Knowing how competitive each of us is, we wanted to try to break 2 hours for the half. That was each of ours secret goal. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aGhnV_1GofG2egH03ZODgx0kP-iUCUvzdFbryy2r8vFkAazq-XtIAsfyLWzN3hIgBd8DbwaXxo0D9QrNa_agHRYpzJLjitqin9fK6xdqPDSFdbycl-eSBX7Q8r3mc0PjyPDIYo9gJVk1/s1600-h/4262066755_3d0c4a7585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aGhnV_1GofG2egH03ZODgx0kP-iUCUvzdFbryy2r8vFkAazq-XtIAsfyLWzN3hIgBd8DbwaXxo0D9QrNa_agHRYpzJLjitqin9fK6xdqPDSFdbycl-eSBX7Q8r3mc0PjyPDIYo9gJVk1/s320/4262066755_3d0c4a7585.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">13 mile Before/After shot - stole this from <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lauren</span></a> :)</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjp0uRitOD5M6KQyF0ZKlysgjhR1OaYj7gytJjuATqZEtVd3QehADlwqd7wiiv1U32Vm4XmfrluOS-3uxM1Wri9xSPw6Zy4mCefd4DpwMUvXK14FootpgCDpLWwXaNpl_kglUf1m9I_w-/s1600-h/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjp0uRitOD5M6KQyF0ZKlysgjhR1OaYj7gytJjuATqZEtVd3QehADlwqd7wiiv1U32Vm4XmfrluOS-3uxM1Wri9xSPw6Zy4mCefd4DpwMUvXK14FootpgCDpLWwXaNpl_kglUf1m9I_w-/s320/photo.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">chocolate milk! best recovery drink ever!! </span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguP94E9u-mnOhmg7z3TmIa4g_mxZlYqZXM1XTis15yzt4WDinB0sH4-y2xshP1wbdrq2aufLt7ILBUDkSyoBneiuKfUoAfLIboWjK2xGI-4tqO2HopIMBupLxyY65h4TRODZluhZl9clW4/s1600-h/photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguP94E9u-mnOhmg7z3TmIa4g_mxZlYqZXM1XTis15yzt4WDinB0sH4-y2xshP1wbdrq2aufLt7ILBUDkSyoBneiuKfUoAfLIboWjK2xGI-4tqO2HopIMBupLxyY65h4TRODZluhZl9clW4/s320/photo+1.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">my poor feet and legs. they took a beating.</span> <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fast forward to this weekend. What a blast!! Saturday we all met up and headed to the expo to pick up all of our goodies. I kept telling myself to take it all in. There was so much to see and it was really awesome to be there with all the runners - and to be one myself! We picked up our packets and shirt and walked around for a bit. After grabbing some cowbells and posters we headed out. It was Lauren's birthday on Friday so we went to lunch and then went home so we could all get some rest for the big day.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthMc_XxLNg5KERKDK2qqf0MOSWxOonx2KbO31pQ1uQ_zXOw0m24wYVpsYEKLOXWyX2eRqCQ_JqJRpt4z6m3cytiG5cog_dHmdXNGF3jZLq_uC1NdN54rxP8ysC6s3TWw3hhFV9jYZhv1v/s1600-h/IMG_2566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthMc_XxLNg5KERKDK2qqf0MOSWxOonx2KbO31pQ1uQ_zXOw0m24wYVpsYEKLOXWyX2eRqCQ_JqJRpt4z6m3cytiG5cog_dHmdXNGF3jZLq_uC1NdN54rxP8ysC6s3TWw3hhFV9jYZhv1v/s320/IMG_2566.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Running group! Me, <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lauren</span></a>, Ali and Mark</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6eJV2FLaEJ1ZZGfmkovzYZq_icq9Tzr-ExVrAL7zCNLnvIuJMo1RmaD7gscYTgB1qXIqL3A2fHzWO3BPCvDN_N_E7kdplAmLhNhEARZE4jyjZ9jUBR6maJo5Br4IDEMgzLi_gxsMgU5OC/s1600-h/IMG_2565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6eJV2FLaEJ1ZZGfmkovzYZq_icq9Tzr-ExVrAL7zCNLnvIuJMo1RmaD7gscYTgB1qXIqL3A2fHzWO3BPCvDN_N_E7kdplAmLhNhEARZE4jyjZ9jUBR6maJo5Br4IDEMgzLi_gxsMgU5OC/s320/IMG_2565.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me and my partner - Ski!</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">4:00 am came extremely fast the next morning. I had gone to bed at 9 and slept the entire night so I felt pretty good and rested. I had all my stuff laid out the night before so I wouldn't be rushed. The chip was on my shoes and I was ready to go! We made our way back to Lauren's where we all met up and then had the boys drop all 4 of us off! I really wasn't nervous. I was actually pretty pumped! We listened to a few jams on the ride over and I think it got me in the zone ;) We got inside the convention center and hung out for about 30 minutes; stretching and using the lovely port-a-cans! Then we made way to the start line!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEUVCJ3rZyvF77cXBehMHrsNWxTeRveOjzX20UmM-IUIj3NSQlw_Fowklz1bG-ssIz_y1hyphenhyphenFJDtOjwvGkdDEJ4pLJH01oivowEaTwWuiAqI34iGDYxAYBRwKkmkIFm1gyFRmfVSqXaRLc/s1600-h/DSC_0817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEUVCJ3rZyvF77cXBehMHrsNWxTeRveOjzX20UmM-IUIj3NSQlw_Fowklz1bG-ssIz_y1hyphenhyphenFJDtOjwvGkdDEJ4pLJH01oivowEaTwWuiAqI34iGDYxAYBRwKkmkIFm1gyFRmfVSqXaRLc/s320/DSC_0817.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Awesome signs Aaron made us all! The one he's holding reads: </span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"You better pick up the pace if </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">you want some C-Lubes" </span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I about died!!! C-Lubes?? Maybe, CLoubs. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oh and he so </span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">funnily puts a 2 hour time frame in order to get my "C-Lubes" </span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is when the adrenaline starts pumping! They have music playing and you're shoulder to shoulder with 20,000 of your closest friends. All these maniacs out here ready to sweat their brains out to run this thing! Oh, it was an awesome feeling my friends. I did several "woo-hoo's" and "holla's!" That's when the gun went off and we were on our way to dominating 13.1 miles!<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first couple of miles were slow. Weaving in and out of people to get to a less crowded area. I feel like we spent the first 3 miles doing this. But it went by so fast! The first 6 miles flew by. Before I knew it I was looking down at my watch and we had already been running for an hour. We were checking off miles right and left. We were able to see our wonderful support group at mile 4.5. That was so awesome! I am so happy that all of our families came out to cheer us on! I almost got a little teary eyed when I ran by and saw all the signs and heard all the encouraging words! Aaron had stayed up making us all signs the night before (see above). I wasn't allowed to see them until the next day and they were hilarious! I also loved the ones my mom and little sis made. So cute and sparkly!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">momma, chels and gabby :)</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lauren's, Ali's and my mommas - aren't they adorable??</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6a5UoqxtkzFGcYxjshu6X-a9UjXqYdacbTRiUgafXCkEQJ765HHIXwkJqOML9XkzT0UhfqJ_uoaEDmn8NbYI6SBn3dPj4XApYFKdFpu9FvytydiDGXYinsiZRis_RgZxlMnzyyWCyJC7p/s1600-h/DSC_0078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6a5UoqxtkzFGcYxjshu6X-a9UjXqYdacbTRiUgafXCkEQJ765HHIXwkJqOML9XkzT0UhfqJ_uoaEDmn8NbYI6SBn3dPj4XApYFKdFpu9FvytydiDGXYinsiZRis_RgZxlMnzyyWCyJC7p/s320/DSC_0078.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Little sis of mine, Gabby - love her!</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lauren</span></a> and I kept trucking along. Each mile felt faster. I think it was mile 9 or 10 that I started getting weak. My arch of my right foot had been hurting since Saturday and was acting up again. My legs weren't too tired, but I just felt drained. We started making our way back downtown and it felt like the longest stretch. The course was relatively flat, but we had a lot more inclines than I was anticipating. I was used to running on the sidewalks of my neighborhood so the hills were getting to me. I started losing my pace and I would speed way up then slow down. At mile 12 I had a "vurp" - you know a vomit burp. Egh, not a nice feeling. Totally burned!! I have never thrown up after a run, but after the vurp, I felt like I might. We were so close and I knew there was no giving up. We pushed through and sped up a little through the last mile. We had several turns in the last stretch so I couldn't get a feel for where the finish line was. That annoyed me! I wanted to see it so I could know I was getting close. After the last turn I finally caught a glimpse of the big blue arch! Ahhh!! Almost home :) <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We had one more family sighting and that really helped kick me into gear! We made it this far and I wanted to go out with a bang! The announcer was there at the end along with all the cameras and I did a fist pump and a woohoo and I heard "Alright Nicole!" The announcer called my name! Holla!! Then I raced on in to the finish line. This is when I ran smack dab into some old man that had come to a complete stop! I totally jacked the dude! Whoops. Yeah so my finish line video is kind of funny! <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2SaqJ66l6ORfLZBenVxMLwCCOEYDismAoctXTxp2sOblz2cQbLq4NclbDYMIYolAUCktqnt6s7DARl4S1EOEu2Yhk2Ub5a4tqUq1yTqrdfOrNWTjOtvAMMnUglkRYC7McaWmbar1nAkBX/s1600-h/DSC_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2SaqJ66l6ORfLZBenVxMLwCCOEYDismAoctXTxp2sOblz2cQbLq4NclbDYMIYolAUCktqnt6s7DARl4S1EOEu2Yhk2Ub5a4tqUq1yTqrdfOrNWTjOtvAMMnUglkRYC7McaWmbar1nAkBX/s320/DSC_0083.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">obviously I was a little excited here :)</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5pk2JjE6sPZkYDyJmhkKrAHhHI83pWj0h8YiG3HRclPcmgc7uBth-xxCAXnLvD_xXSISAlw2l_6ZpqsSr6Oe75QE7m7FkwbznnY0CsR31iU2A3tvKojZio3XE6m-bnWuWqv6cX-4USUA/s1600-h/DSC_0832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5pk2JjE6sPZkYDyJmhkKrAHhHI83pWj0h8YiG3HRclPcmgc7uBth-xxCAXnLvD_xXSISAlw2l_6ZpqsSr6Oe75QE7m7FkwbznnY0CsR31iU2A3tvKojZio3XE6m-bnWuWqv6cX-4USUA/s320/DSC_0832.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">so close you can almost taste it!</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4waZcqZZWzqwWLdSHatB0Z7WZi1ABP7xEhH3Km6QeAUMZp6cGQdczlGyPHkUnqYHQ5rQBw5JAmU9iEqOdwi5WhOaKNOUJqyREDW71FFfXxTl6VJHFJiLmVRafUaQGgW6Q0VQj2lwUej0/s1600-h/DSC_0831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4waZcqZZWzqwWLdSHatB0Z7WZi1ABP7xEhH3Km6QeAUMZp6cGQdczlGyPHkUnqYHQ5rQBw5JAmU9iEqOdwi5WhOaKNOUJqyREDW71FFfXxTl6VJHFJiLmVRafUaQGgW6Q0VQj2lwUej0/s320/DSC_0831.JPG" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Final time: 2:02.40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was more than happy with our time! <a href="http://lifewiththerudys.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lauren</span></a> and I finished the exact same time so that was pretty sweet too! We started this thing together and we were going to finish it together. How close were we to breaking 2 hours though?!? Now I know what my goal will be if I decide to challenge myself to another 13.1! ;)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-xEiQC1IZqn6qE3e66xabk8kLXEjAqHutlY7WEyjpwnhxfHmBHGwhcQjLrBWdsygu9GcTc4rqtvI2kEKUulCfYPbXoJNNk9rC1DnFkAFzNsHiZfPxkTPKTPtsVSqyIJzIbCdTH4XZSFD/s1600-h/DSC_0837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-xEiQC1IZqn6qE3e66xabk8kLXEjAqHutlY7WEyjpwnhxfHmBHGwhcQjLrBWdsygu9GcTc4rqtvI2kEKUulCfYPbXoJNNk9rC1DnFkAFzNsHiZfPxkTPKTPtsVSqyIJzIbCdTH4XZSFD/s320/DSC_0837.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">after the race pics!</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">me and my boy :)</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNfIqfiXKA1SYZK3A3lr2968GNgmw7blZlEXk0285T2E52Txk35i_JWhCwiiWaj_X6P090fbwSFYJwnL327Lv8GAd11QMrzfu1aN_foca6uNHcJH-qbM8VxTYX8RkD-37jADE9YY9OUVs/s1600-h/DSC_0841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNfIqfiXKA1SYZK3A3lr2968GNgmw7blZlEXk0285T2E52Txk35i_JWhCwiiWaj_X6P090fbwSFYJwnL327Lv8GAd11QMrzfu1aN_foca6uNHcJH-qbM8VxTYX8RkD-37jADE9YY9OUVs/s320/DSC_0841.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">the 13.1 group! So proud of all of us!</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the race, we met up with all of our families and then went to have mimosas and brunch! It was such an incredible day! All the training, sweat and tears that led up to race day were totally worth it! I'm still a little on the sore side today but nothing too bad. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">mi familia at Cyclones for bottomless mimosas! </span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PS I have the best family ever :) I just love them. They were </span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">amazing </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">and I couldn't ask for a better support group!</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next up is a 10K race in February that the fam and I are running in together! Should be fun and hopefully a breeze from the half. I'm going to try to continue short runs here and there. I probably won't be waking up extra early on Saturdays to get in 11 miles though. I'm ready for a break and to reconnect my relationship with the elliptical! Poor thing has been sitting dormant for the last 6 months! <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/358/7AF0DA6A426DBFB15C3C711E5209FFBA.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262475380061058832.post-25445001100938856472010-01-11T21:24:00.002-06:002010-01-11T21:27:46.334-06:00I love the shark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This last Sunday, the hubs and I went on a little shopping extravaganza. I know, I know, saving money is our new mantra for 2010. But I had several gift cards burning wholes all in my wallet so it was like shopping without spending, right? Right. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Except for the $75 I went over on at Target, but we won't go there. <span style="font-size: small;">I keep hearing all sorts of good reviews about the Shark steamer. Whether it be the mop or the portable steamer, it's been all good! I needed a little kick in the tail to get me motivated to clean and I figured this just might be the answer. Oh boy! It was the answer all right. </span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">We got home and I wanted to take it out of the box immediately but I forgot that I had to do one little thing first. Take down ALL my Christmas decor. You heard that right. We were 10 days into January and it was all still up. Pathetic! So I conquered that task and then had to vacuum which took about an hour. Since we got that stinking cute little sausage Chester (our Golden) I have noticed a TON of hair everywhere. We literally vacuum every other day. It's sick. And have I mentioned that our vacuum sucks??? And not in the good way that it should. The sucker clogs every 2 minutes. Meaning I have to clean out the vacuum nozzle thing where a small clump of hair lies and then start again. So that took half my afternoon. Then I remembered that I had to get in a 5 miler. Seeing as my race - my first half marathon - is NEXT SUNDAY!! The whole time running, I'm dreaming up all of the places I can clean in our house with my fancy schmancy steamer :)</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">I get back and finally am able to dig into my goodies. Just as I thought, this thing is like magic. I cleaned my stove, microwave, trash can and fridge </span></span>(all stainless) and my granite! Wow. I love this thing. I kept asking Aaron "what should I clean next??" It was too fun to put down. So I went on into the living room. The thing dusts/steams too!!! I cleaned our leather chair and couch and then dusted all of our wood with it! OH MY WORD. I think I'm in love! And there's a shower attachment that will clean your grout too!! Do you know that I spend an hour + every 2 weeks cleaning our disgusting shower grout and tile??? You probably didn't, but you do now. Aaron thinks it's ridiculous, but this is the place you are supposed to go to get clean! I don't want to see mildew and mold! So I thought I was done, but I ventured into our bathroom and cleaned off our marble and sink area! Ahhhh! So fresh and so clean, clean! And no harsh chemicals - HA I sound like an infomercial. I do have to admit that when I was cleaning Aaron's sink I picked up his soap dispenser and the boy hadn't screwed the top back on after he refilled with soap so the jar drops out of my hand and took a huge chunk out of the marble around his sink!!!!!!!!! That sucked. But he didn't yell and I didn't yell so I think we're still good?<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9E6qfTU1KZfigdKFJ6xsxfEY3XdC0pUiV5K_PFc3PtwtEEU7pIzgi9TAa5CkeWsOIbD6cDnZyU0-wGha7Ox30PTiL0Z-U7w9ygENEkFfX9CAomypvay-WauqdJMDIGMw48qLSUNW0zkr/s1600/Steamer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9E6qfTU1KZfigdKFJ6xsxfEY3XdC0pUiV5K_PFc3PtwtEEU7pIzgi9TAa5CkeWsOIbD6cDnZyU0-wGha7Ox30PTiL0Z-U7w9ygENEkFfX9CAomypvay-WauqdJMDIGMw48qLSUNW0zkr/s320/Steamer.JPG" /></a><br />
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SO long story short, well kinda, go out and buy the Shark Portable Steamer!!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I also picked up another item that I plan on reviewing for you this week: Target brand whitening trays. I am on day 2 and so far so good. I have been taking pics of my teeth, but I'm not sure you will be able to tell a difference. I definitely have but it's hard to see on camera! I'm hoping for shiny white teeth on race day! Gotta smile pretty for the cameras :)<br />
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</div>Girl Meets Beauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879055931051643806noreply@blogger.com9