Spotted-Bird's Nest

Gone Again

2010-09-13T22:53:00.002-05:00

I am in Dallas this week for Love Affair Workshop. You may remember that I went last year when it was in Atlanta. I learned so much last year that I decided to come back for more. I love these girls that put the workshop on.

I am also super excited because I am here with one of my BFF's, Amanda. It will be great to spend some time together just having fun.

I still have tons to blog from Boston. I doubt I will have much free time this week, but I am really going to try finish blogging the trip. I added a few more pictures to www.robinperrin.com.

Happy Birthday

2010-09-11T04:43:00.001-05:00

Robin turns 30 today, so that means it's time for me to take over the blog again. As most of you know we are in Boston. When Robin and I first started talking about a Birthday trip she stated that she wanted to go to Boston, Chicago, San Diego or Los Angeles to see a baseball game. We actually booked flights to Chicago first. Those were quickly canceled so that we could book flights to Los Angeles. Those flights were quickly canceled so that we could book flights to San Diego. We did a lot of research on hotels and I found us a great place to stay in San Diego. It's a good thing I didn't purchase Padre's tickets, because we ended up in Boston. Robin could not have made a better decision. We have done baseball, whale watching and historical sight seeing --- and oh, yea -- lots of eating.

I know this is Robin's birthday trip, but I am so lucky to be in such a wonderful city with my beautiful wife. She has mentioned several times today that she doesn't feel 30. The truth is she doesn't look 30 either, as she looks better today then she did the day I met her.

We have had a great week together checking out Boston. I will be sad to see the week come to an end as I love traveling places with Robin. Best I can tell we have about 60 more Birthday trips to make and I cannot wait to keep marking cities and ballparks off our list.

Robin, I love you. Have a wonderful birthday.

Boston Day One

2010-09-09T23:40:00.002-05:00

I posted about our first day in Boston on the photography blog. www.robinperrin.com It is so much easier to post pictures there. Go over and check out our trip so far. We are having a blast and thinking about not coming back. I will let you know. Tomorrow is the last day of my 20's. I am going to live it up!!!

Boston Has Arrived!

2010-09-07T23:49:00.002-05:00

We are finally in Boston. It was an adventure getting here, but here we are.

There was a little of rain when we left San Antonio. Okay there was a lot. The airport lost power three times while we were there. After about an hour delay we got on the plane and the wind was blowing so bad that the plane was swaying. They said take off was going to be interesting. It wasn't too bad.

From San Antonio we had to go to Houston. I mean really? Out of all the cities we had to go to first it was Houston. Yes please take me to the other city in Texas that is flooding. It was actually not raining when we made it to Houston.

After all the delay we finally made it. I am ready to get this birthday vacation going. Tomorrow we are touring the city and going to the Boston Red Sox game. So ready to see the Green Monster!

Prizes and Giveaways

2010-08-31T09:17:00.001-05:00

Make sure you check my photography blog. www.robinperrin.com. I am giving stuff away all week over there. You can even win a FREE session. Check it out!

Boston It Is!

2010-08-23T22:27:00.002-05:00

After changing our (0r my) mind a million times, we have finally decided on Boston for my birthday. We have our flights, hotel and baseball tickets. There is no turning back now. Now it is your turn to share all your Boston info with me.

We are looking for fabulous food, the must sees of Boston and a day trip outside of the city. Please leave any info you have in the comments or send me an email. I am so excited to go. I went to Boston when I was 8, but don't remember a lot. James has never been. It should be an amazing trip.

By the way, everyone is invited. Book your reservations now and join the 30th Birthday Trip!!!

New Website and Blog

2010-08-18T15:05:00.002-05:00

I am finally done designing the NEW website and blog. It is the same address www.robinperrin.com, but it is much improved. I love it and I hope you do as well. Let me know what you think of it.

I am going to try and keep blogging here. Not sure how keeping up with two blogs will work, but we will see. Please go take a look and let me know what you think.

Website

2010-08-17T14:53:00.002-05:00

I am working on a new website. If you happen to stop by the website and it is down don't worry. Give me a few days and the new and improved site will be up. I am so excited and can't wait for you to see it!

I Just Can't Decide!

2010-08-03T21:11:00.002-05:00

So we have gone back and forth and then back again about my birthday trip. I just can't decide. It is really hard when you are told you can go anywhere within reason for your birthday.

About a month ago we kind of decided on Chicago. We got as far as making flight reservations to Chicago, but that was it. I started leaning towards Boston and James started leaning towards California. We gave up for a few weeks.

Last week I started thinking about the beach. The beach sounded like the best birthday ever. James has been wanting to go to the Dominican Republic for months now. I decided the Dominican was the place for us. Monday night we narrowed down the Dominican resorts to three. I felt like we were getting so close. We started looking really close at the resorts and I started getting worried. I got scared that I was going to get bored. After laying on the beach for two days what was I going to do the next 2. It probably isn't a big deal. I am sure we would have a great time, but I started worrying.

Now we have moved on from the Dominican and are back to one of our original choices--California. We are now set on going to the LA area. I got us plane tickets, but now we need a place to stay. We want to stay on the beach somewhere outside of LA. We are thinking somewhere around Laguna Beach. So the question is, do you have any suggestions?

The Duck March

2010-07-30T04:00:00.000-05:00

We stayed at The Peabody in Memphis and in Little Rock, both were very nice. The Little Rock Peabody is not very popular. The Memphis Peabody is a different story. You couldn't have payed me to watch the ducks coming or going there. Way too many people for my comfort.

Little Rock is a different story. The first morning we were there we slept in. I was looking at the hotel information book and noticed that the ducks were set to arrive at the fountain in 15 minutes. I told James to hightail it. We were going to see the ducks. We made it down stairs in time and I got a prime spot. James went to get coffee and didn't make it back. I told him to hurry, but he didn't listen to me. The ducks "coming to work" was very entertaining. I was happy we had seen it, but didn't care if I ever saw it again.

As luck would have it, it was time for the ducks to go home when we were returning from the library. This time I had my camera with me and I was ready. They say your life isn't complete till you have seen a duck march, so here you go. Enjoy!

Go Home Ducks from robin perrin on Vimeo.

I'm in Love...

2010-07-29T04:00:00.000-05:00

His name is Hugo and he works for Sears. After waiting 13 days for my dryer to be fixed, Hugo showed up at my house yesterday. He was very nice, but best of all he fixed my dryer. I now have a new heating element and temperature controls. I feel like I have a new dryer! It took me 45 minutes to dry towels yesterday when it use to take me 2 HOURS.

The other great news was the repairs cost $411.83, but with my warranty it was all FREE. I don't hate Sears like I did last week. Hugo made it alright. I have one more load to do and then I will be all caught up. Praise the Lord!

Little Rock - Memphis

2010-07-28T04:00:00.001-05:00

We took a quick trip to Little Rock and Memphis for the 4th. James had depositions in Little Rock on the Friday before the 4th. We decided to make a trip out of it.

We looked for a location close to Little Rock where we could see a Major League Baseball game. The closest was Dallas for a Rangers game and the next was St. Louis for a Cardinals game. We have been both places so decided against those two. I suggested Memphis. Memphis worked out. It was only a two hour drive and Memphis has a Triple A baseball team.

As we were getting ready to leave San Antonio James got a call that his depositions had been canceled. We decided to go ahead and go on our trip.

While we were in Little Rock we visited the Clinton Presidential Library. Neither James or I had ever been to a Presidential Library. The grounds of the library are beautiful.

The library was amazing! We spent three hours looking around and enjoying everything. The library is three floors so there is tons of stuff. On the first floor there is one of the Presidential cars that Clinton used.

The second floor was all about the history of Clinton's Presidency. It started with a replica of the oval office. I totally felt like I was on the set of "West Wing." It was really cool.

The second floor also had a timeline of Clinton's presidency, notebooks full of his daily schedules and all his accomplishments during his presidency. There were also tons of personal notes from celebrities and other politicians. Most were hard to read because of terrible hand writing. President Clinton's handwriting is not very good. There were notes from Bill Cosby, Whoopi, Sheryl Crow and many more. It all was so interesting. We spent most of our time on the second floor.

The third floor was the "People Magazine" of the Presidency. It was all about the social aspect of the Presidency. My favorite part of the third floor was Christmas at the White House. They have a theme for the Christmas tree every year. Love it! They also had this table set like it would be for a State Dinner. I am not fancy so I was amazed at the table. The amount of glasses and silverware on the table was outrageous.

After the Library we decided to hit up the mall in Little Rock. The lady at the hotel told us the mall wasn't that great, but we were out of options. I totally disagree with the lady at the hotel. The Little Rock mall ROCKED! We have a hard time finding James clothes. The Dillard's was huge and had a great selection. He got six new dress shirts. We had been looking for him some new basketball shoes, but finding a 15 is like finding a needle in a hay stack. The Champs had about 15 pairs of size 15 shoes to choose from. That might have been the highlight of the trip. I was so excited.

After a fun time in Little Rock we headed to Memphis Saturday. We had a nice easy drive to Memphis. We stayed at the Peabody in Memphis. When we got there it was a mad house. It was time for the ducks to leave the fountain and there were tons of people trying to see the ducks leave. We checked in and headed to the Redbirds game. The Redbirds are a triple A team for the Cardinals. We saw a great game. The Redbirds were down 3 in the ninth and the last batter up hit a home run with two men on to win the game. It was awesome! After the game there were fireworks which were really good.

We didn't really do much on the 4th. We had a wonderful brunch and then hung out in our hotel room most of the afternoon. We did go down to Beale street and eat down there, but it was crazy. We didn't stay long and then we headed back to the hotel. We didn't even see fireworks on the 4th. The fireworks didn't look like they were going to be any good so we stayed in the room. We ended up being able to see the fireworks from our room and they weren't that great. We made a good decision.

Overall we had a great trip and we marked two cities off our list.

So Much For Customer Service

2010-07-27T04:00:00.000-05:00

I have a little problem actually a big problem. On Friday, July 16 my dryer broke. It runs, but doesn't blow hot air. Somewhat of a problem.

My dryer is a Kenmore that is nine years old. Grandma and Grandpa bought us the washer and dryer as a wedding present. It is probably the greatest wedding present we got.

I called Sears just to see what a new heating element would cost. I am a trained dryer diagnostician and that is what i decided it needed. Sears informed me that we still had a extended warranty on the dryer. That was a really nice surprise, but I would have to call back on Saturday to schedule an appointment.

James called to make the appointment. They said they could send someone out on Wednesday. Wednesday didn't work for us. We had already planned the Schlitterbahn trip and that was the only day James was planning to take off. James said that wouldn't work so the next available time was August 2. WOW!!! Are you serious? Fine we will take Wednesday. The lady tells us someone will be out to look at our dryer on Wednesday, July 28.

At this point I am freaking out. That is a week and a half till someone will be out here. Of course the lady on the phone was not very concerned and said we could call back on Monday. We called back on Monday and nothing. No one at Sears cares that we haven't had a dryer for a week and a half.

I am so frustrated with Sears right now! So much for customer service or dry clothes.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2010-07-26T04:00:00.000-05:00

Doneece is gone and now I am very sad.

We had a fabulous time while she was here. I made her watch Devin play basketball last weekend. Monday we worked out and laid by the pool. It was very lovely! Tuesday we spent the day shopping with Devin. We all got lots of good stuff. I got two new pairs of shoes because I need another pair of shoes like I need a hole in my head. I still love them even if I didn't need them.

Doneece also got these shoes. Same size and everything. We looked really cute walking out of the store with the same shoes on. We changed out of them after a little while. They need to be broken in before a lot of walking occurs.

I love my new Nike's. They are super light and cute. I feel like I should be running at a high rate of speed when I have them on, but I don't.

I also got some new workout clothes that are new, but boring because I actually have to go workout to wear them. I also got a new pair of sunglasses that are gorgeous. Gold and fabulous, but I forgot to take a picture so just imagine them.

Wednesday we took the entire family to Schlitterbahn. James took the day off so James, Doneece, Devin, Moses and I spent the day at the water park. Moses is Devin's best friend and we have become one big happy family.

Doneece learned the goodness of having a younger "sibling." She pestered Devin like there was no tomorrow and Moses just laughed at Devin. Devin even called my Mom to complain that Doneece was picking on him. It was good times.

James had so much fun with us that he took off the rest of the week. It was wonderful. Thursday we spent the day relaxing. We all slept late and headed to the pool. We didn't spend much time at the pool because of thunderstorms. We decided the movies was a good place to hang out. We saw "Knight and Day" and it was really good. After the movie we had a wonderful dinner at Pappadeaux. So yummy!

Friday my Doneece went home. I was so sad to see her go home. If you know of a dance job in San Antonio or the Austin area please let me know. James and I had a wonderful late breakfast at the best breakfast place in S.A. After breakfast we got a couples massage, but separate. The last thing I want to do during a massage is listen to James snore. Not what I call relaxing. Of course we finished off the week with one of Devin's basketball games.

It was a fabulous week with my favorite sister. I also really enjoyed spending some time with my sweet husband. I wish ever week included my sister and my husband only working two days.

Be Our Guest

2010-07-19T21:42:00.002-05:00

My favorite sister ever is here visiting me this week. I love her being here and wish she would just move here. Since we only have a week together I am going to take another blog break. I want to spend lots of time with her before she goes home.

We have lots of shopping and pool time planned while she is here. I will be back soon with an update.

Easton W'ray

2010-07-15T23:05:00.000-05:00

We left Houston and headed to Corpus. We had a new "nephew" to meet. Damon and Jennifer had Easton on July 25. Easton is actually James' cousin, but Aunt Robin sounds so much better than Cousin Robin.

Easton is so handsome. He looks just like Damon and has a full head of hair. His hair is so cute and stylish already. Easton was rocking the mohawk when he was born. I love the mohawk!!!

We had a really quick weekend in Corpus. It was spent holding Easton as much as possible. I really didn't get enough of Easton. Jen called me after we had been home for a few days to see about a picture for Easton's announcement. I told her I didn't get a good one and would have to go back down to Corpus to take some more pictures.

It was the perfect excuse to get me to Corpus to hold sweet Easton. I spent lots of time cuddling and a little time taking more pictures of Easton. It worked out perfect!

Anniversary 2010

2010-07-14T23:29:00.000-05:00

I am so far behind, but I am determined to catch up. Instead of skipping over everything that has been going on around the nest I am just going catch up.

We had a low key anniversary this year. James had five depositions in three days in Houston. Our anniversary fell in the middle of all that. Needless to say he was a little busy trying to prepare experts. I went with him to Houston so we could see a little of each other.

The night before our anniversary we had dinner with Kathleen and Philip. We had a wonderful time with them. Philip and James kept us entertained with work stories. I think both of them could write a book about some of their clients. We ate at Ouisie's Table. Kathleen and Philip had their rehearsel dinner at Ouisie's and now it is one of our favorites. Every time James and I are in Houston we try to eat there. Everything is wonderful from start to finish!

Evidently James sent me flowers for our anniversary. After a little shopping, I returned to our hotel room where there were flowers waiting. The card was addressed to James with no note on the inside. For a moment I thought James had found a girlfriend that was sending him flowers. I was wrong. They were for me, just a little mix up with the card.

For dinner we celebrated at Capitol Grill. It was of course delicious as always. We love the crab mac and cheese there, but my favorite is the coconut cream pie. It makes everything perfect. Basically, we like to eat good meals around here...good meals that we don't have to cook.

It was a low key anniversary with some great meals. I can't believe it has been nine years!

Emily Blair

2010-07-13T21:41:00.003-05:00

I know I have been the worse blogger ever! I seriously don't know where the time goes. I always think I will blog, but then the day gets away from me. I have plenty to blog, I guess just not enough time. I promise to be better!

Today I went to meet sweet Emily Blair. Our good friends, Natalie and Chris, had their third child on July 2. They have two sweet boys already and decided not to find out what they were having this time around. I think Emily Blair pleasantly surprised everyone.

Emily is perfect and just the sweetest little thing. Her brothers think so too! She was great while I was there and let me hold her for a long time and then let me get some pictures. I am in love with these pictures.

Her cuteness makes me want one! Congratulations Natalie and Chris, she is precious!!!

Gary and Jenna Married!

2010-06-24T11:57:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks I shoot Gary and Jenna's wedding with Amanda. We had a great time and Gary and Jenna are such a cute couple. They were very relaxed and ready to enjoy their wedding day. Congratulations Gary and Jenna!

Nine Years

2010-06-23T12:29:00.003-05:00

Today James and I celebrate our 9th anniversary. I can't believe it was been nine years. The day I married James I knew it was forever, but I didn't understand how my love would grow for him. I love him so much more today than nine years ago.

Our eighth year of marriage provided some hurdles. Being sick most of November, December and January only made us stronger. James stepped up to the plate and took care of so many things while I was sick. He was my rock and came through so many times.

I could have never started a business without him. He is my business manager, my attorney and financial manager. Basically, he is everything for the business. He encourages me when I am struggling and is my best cheerleader. He is patient and calms me down when I need it most. I admire the amount of patience he has and hopefully it will start rubbing off on me soon.

Without James I have no idea where I would be in life. I doubt I would have a college degree. I am sure mom agrees with me. James deserves to have his name on my diploma as well. I would not have my own business and if I did it would not be successful. James is an amazing husband and my best friend.

James, thank you for everything you do for me and us. You are the best ever! Happy ninth anniversary.

Victor and Lara

2010-06-21T15:51:00.005-05:00

I love these two! While I was in D.C. Vic, Lara and I snuck away for about an hour for a little mini-session. The are they live in is beautiful. I love all the huge trees and everything was so green. It all worked out perfect!

Suggestions Please

2010-06-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

As you may recall I am turning 30 in September. I can hardly believe it, but it is happening. In order to celebrate the BIG 3-0 I have decided a trip is in order. I just can't decide where we should go. I am hoping you can help me out. Of course this will be a baseball based trip with other sight seeing involved.

Trip 1 - California

Start in San Diego. Spend a few days seeing the sights and see a Padres game. Drive to L.A. and see a Dodgers game and Angels game. James has been to San Diego before, but not L.A. I have never been to either place.

Trip 2 - Chicago

See a Cubs, White Sox and Brewers game. The Brewers and Cubs play in Milwaukee on my birthday. We have been to Chicago many times, but it has always been for work and we have never really enjoyed the city fully. We have seen a few sights, but not all the city has to offer. Did I mention the Cubs are my favorite team?

Trip 3 - Boston

Spend the majority of time in Boston and see a Red Sox game. Ride the train to New York for a Mets and Yankees game. We went to old Yankee stadium, but not the new Yankee stadium. I went to Boston when I was eight, but James has never been.

Those are the options. What is your vote? Everyone is invited on the trip, the more the merrier!

Back From D.C.

2010-06-15T22:03:00.003-05:00

I made it back from D.C. and I had a great time. I loved being there with Lara and the family! I so wish they still lived next door.

We didn't do too much. We spent lots of time catching up and it was great. My favorite part of the trip was going to a Washington Nationals game. Lara had never been to a MLB game so I took care of that.

We rode the Metro into the city for the game. It was so much better then traffic. I could never live in the D.C. area because of the traffic. It is pure craziness! The game was great. The Nationals played the Pirates. The Nationals won and it was a pretty exciting game. I wish we would have been there two days earlier to see Strasburg pitch his first Major League game. That didn't happen, but we got to see him in the dugout.

The ball park was nice. We had great seats. We were behind the visitors dugout about eight rows up. The hot dog wasn't the best I have ever had, but not the worst. They did have great fries. Overall it was a wonderful night at the ballpark.

Hopefully Devin is becoming a Tech fan instead of tu. He is at least wearing the shirt!

I love Pudge Rodriguez!

The Metro ride home was a little crazy. Not exactly the kind of stuff I can share on the blog. It is a Metro ride I will never forget.

So glad I had a chance to spend some time with wonderful friends. I am happy to be home for awhile. Of course now James is traveling. I really wish we could get our travel schedules on track. Maybe next week.

Gone Again

2010-06-09T23:57:00.003-05:00

I am gone again and in D.C. this time. James has been home the past few weeks so I have been gone. For some reason we can not be home at the same time very often.

I can to D.C. to see Lara, Victor, Devin, Mady and Mily. I got here late Tuesday night after my delayed flight. We didn't get back to the house till after midnight. Talk about a long day. To top off the long day, Devin and I stayed up till 4am catching up. I hadn't stayed up that late in a long time. I think I am getting too old for that.

Because we stayed up so late we had to sleep late. Actually, most of yesterday was spent catching up on sleep. We made it to lunch and then we were right back to the house for a nap. We were up in time for dinner. Basically, all Devin and I accomplished yesterday was sleeping and eating. After dinner everyone else headed to bed because they hadn't slept all day like Devin and I.

Instead of watching bad TV all night, Devin and I headed to the movies. We saw "Killers" and it was great. I highly recommend it. It was funny and scary and just all around great. Go see it. We get home from the movie to find out that Nebraska is leaving the Big 12.

What??? No more Big 12? Why can't the Big 12 survive without Nebraska? Nebraska is good at football sometimes, but I definitely don't think they are the sports powerhouse of the conference. Where will Tech go? I am so confused and worried about what will happen. I am starting to like the idea of going to the Pac 10 or 16 or 24, whatever it may be. At least we could travel to some new places to see some football games.

I guess we will have to wait and see what happens with all this conference non-sense. While we are on the subject I would like to make it clear that I think there should be a playoff system for college football. If that means we need four powerhouse conferences then get to it.

Dance Recital 2010

2010-06-08T16:10:00.007-05:00

Last weekend was dance recital for my favorite peeps. I spent the entire week in Lubbock hanging out with all my favorite people. When Friday arrived it was time to get the party started. I am still trying to recover. All day Friday and Saturday on my feet wore me out. I had to take a three hour nap on Sunday to try and recover. My left foot still hasn't recovered.

Back to recital. Friday was rehearsal and Doneece and Caroline did great. Doneece was in five dances and was perfect in each. Caroline was a Yankee Doodle dancer. She did a great job tapping away. It was a long night, but at least I got to hang out with my favorite people.

Saturday was the real deal and I was only there for a little bit. I helped Doneece get ready Saturday morning and watched a little. Saturday night I photographed a wedding so missed the recital fun.

New Addition To The Family

2010-06-01T20:22:00.008-05:00

We have a new addition to our household. It is kind of a long story so bare with me.

We had the best neighbors that lived next door to us up until a few months ago. Victor, Lara, Devin, Mady and Mily were the best neighbors you could ask for. Lara and I would start our morning off by walking 2-3 miles together. We were always helping each other out. I would pick up stuff at the grocery store for her and she would do the same for me. There were many times she cooked dinner for us and I would cook dinner for them. I would occasionally pick up her girls from school if she couldn't make it on time. James and I went to almost all of Devin's football and basketball games.

On Tuesday nights Victor would work late and Lara would take Mady to cheer practice. Devin and Mily started coming over for dinner on Tuesday nights and would stay over till Lara got home. We came to love and look forward to Tuesday nights. Mily and I would watch "The Biggest Loser" while James and Devin would play playstation after dinner. It was great!

In December we found out our wonderful neighbors would be moving to the D.C. area. I was so sad. We loved them so much and they were such a huge part of our lives. I prayed many times that the move wouldn't happen. The move continued to move forward.

Devin is freshman in high school and is very involved in sports. Devin's dad lives not far from us in the same school district. Devin was given the option to move to D.C. or move in with his dad and continue going to school at Smithson Valley. Devin chose to stay. I was so excited for selfish reasons. I knew Devin's decision was extremely hard for Lara.

We vowed to Lara that we would help Devin as much as we needed to. Devin's dad works shift work so he has a changing schedule. We told Lara we would help get Devin to and from school and any sporting events.

Since Lara and the family have moved we have had Devin with us a lot. I pick Devin up from school a couple of days a week. He has stayed with us a few nights and James has taken him to school. Did I mention he is 15 years-old? It has been interesting having him around. We love having him around. It adds a little excitement to our semi-boring lives.

It is interesting to hear about high school drama again. I have started sounding like my mother constantly asking him about homework. There is never a dull moment with Devin. Devin has become a member of our household and our family. We are loving having him around and now miss him terribly when he is away.

Seattle

2010-05-31T20:03:00.007-05:00

I am so far behind in blogging. It has been a crazy few weeks. A couple of weeks ago we were in Seattle. James had work there so I tagged along. We flew out there on a Monday and James worked Tuesday and Wednesday. James was suppose to be off on Thursday so we could hang out. It didn't really work out that way. He worked some and we toured the city a little. We flew home on Friday.

While James was working I enjoyed some down time. I had some work to catch up on. I had a couple of sessions to edit and orders to place. I worked a little at a time and enjoyed the city a lot. I had a great time in the city. We stayed downtown where there was great shopping. I love big cities where there are tons of people walking around.

We enjoyed fresh fruit from the market and some amazing restaurants. I have a photographer friend that lives in Seattle. She recommended all the restaurants we ate at and they were all amazing. We basically ate every chance we got. If you ever need food recommendations for Seattle just let me know.

The weather was wonderful while we were in Seattle. It was rainy on Monday when we arrived. The rest of the week was gorgeous. The sun was out everyday and it would get up into the 60's. At night it was cold and wonderful. I got to wear jackets and scarves and I loved it!

We went to Seattle a few years a go for our anniversary so we had done most of the tourist things. We decided in our few hours of spare time to head to the aquarium. It was okay. It was nice to do something together, but the aquarium wasn't the best.

Our next stop was the Space Needle. We didn't go last time we were there so it was on the list this time. It was fun! It was a clear day and you could see forever.

It was hard getting a picture of us at the Space Needle. The shadows were bad, but we found a solution. The reflection was perfect on the glass of the Space Needle so we turned around and took a picture of the glass. It turned out to be a really cool picture.

Seattle is a great town. I highly suggest taking a visit to Seattle if you have never been. Make sure you catch a baseball game while you are there. The stadium is beautiful. We didn't get to see a Mariners game this time. As luck would have it they were out of town all week. I have seen two games there so I wasn't totally heart broken.

For the most part I had a nice relaxing time in Seattle. I don't think the same was true for James. Maybe the next trip will be relaxing for both of us.

Damon & Jennifer Plus Baby

2010-05-12T21:08:00.004-05:00

This is Uncle Damon and Aunt Jennifer. Don't ask about the family tree because it is a long story and most people don't understand anyways. They are expecting their first child in July. I am so excited for them. They are going to be fabulous parents!!!

Damon and Jennifer picked the name Easton. Not that they need my approval, but I love it. I love that it is a "baseball" name.

Over the weekend we did a few pictures. Jennifer looks great! She is all belly and it is the cutest belly ever. I hope I look that good when I am pregnant. I just love the pictures we got. Now I am just waiting for Easton's arrival.

I love this last picture lots. Something about the Perrin boys and the way they love on their wives. I have this same picture of James loving on me from a few years ago. It makes my heart melt.

Gardner Sisters

2010-05-11T19:31:00.004-05:00

Last week I meet up with these three beautiful girls. Their mom told them they were having their pictures taken for Mother's Day! Love it. These three are hilarious and made me laugh the entire time. I had a great time walking around Greune with them.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mother's out there. Hope you had a fabulous day!

Love These Two!

2010-05-07T10:23:00.002-05:00

Love Affair Scholarship

2010-05-04T19:14:00.003-05:00

I REALLY want to win a seat to Love Affair Workshop. GO read details and sign up to join in on the fun! http://www.loveaffairworkshop.com. You could win a scholarship to the workshop!

Bad Day

2010-05-03T16:36:00.003-05:00

I count my blessings for not really having too many bad days in my life. I am blessed to have so many good days. Today was not one of those!

Part of the reason we made a quick trip to Lubbock for the weekend was to see Grandma because today she moved into an Alzheimer's care facility. Last week it became clear to Grandpa and my family that Grandpa could no longer take care of her. Grandma would become so agitated about a situation and there was nothing you could do to calm her down.

Unfortunately, she is not a very nice Alzheimer's patient. She can be mean and mad. I can only imagine what my Grandpa has been through the last few years. She is mostly mean to Grandpa and my Mom. They have both been so patient with her and will do about anything to make her happy. Grandpa and Mom are saints!

We have moved Grandma to a very nice facility that only cares for Alzheimer's patients. I know she will be taken care of there, but it is still so hard. I can't imagine going back to Lubbock and not seeing her in her home. This will become her new home with time.

I know Grandma will hate this place probably for awhile, but this is the best for her. We cannot jeopardize Grandpa's health for Grandma's. I would not be surprised if she is mad at Grandpa and Mom for a couple of weeks. She likes to hold grudges these days. I just pray that she is nice to both of them. They really had no other choice.

I can't imagine how difficult this must be on Grandpa. My grandparents celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last month. After 63 years together they will be spending their nights apart. It breaks my heart.

Please pray for my family during this difficult time. Pray that Grandma adjust well and quickly to her new environment. Pray that she does not hold a grudge against Grandpa and Mom for making this decision.

Happy Birthday Grandma

2010-05-02T20:52:00.003-05:00

Today is my Grandma's 80th birthday. We spent the weekend in Lubbock to celebrate her birthday with her. James and I really enjoyed our time with Grandma.

Grandma has been like a second mom to me. Grandma picked me up from school almost everyday, unless she was out of town. When I was still in daycare, she would pick me up early on Fridays and take me to McDonald's for lunch. I stayed with her every summer until I was old enough to stay by myself. During the summer she would take me to the pool every afternoon after "Days of Our Lives" was over and then pick me up 2 hours later. She was my chauffeur until I could drive myself.

She fixed dinner for my entire family every night until a few years ago. I ate dinner at her house almost every night of my life until I married James and moved to Corpus. After James graduated from Law School Grandma told him she expected him to be at dinner every night while he was studying for the bar. She has always taken care of everyone!

I hardly ever got in trouble with Grandma, because I was nearly perfect growing up, but when I did she thumped me on my head with a thimble. I got in trouble at school for talking often. In first grade I was sent to the hall for talking. Of course Grandma walked into the school and found me sitting in the hall. She wasn't very happy with me. I had forgotten my library book at her house and she knew it was library day so she brought it to me. I got in trouble that day.

Grandma went to so many basketball games, volleyball games and choir concerts. My senior year of high school I decided her poached eggs were my good luck charm for a good game. Grandma of course made me eggs before every game that year. She made me tons of clothes growing up. Some I didn't like and there are some I wish I could still fit in. She made the bridesmaid dresses for our wedding. She made the quilt we sleep under every night and many more.

The woman is truly a blessing to our family. We are an extremely close family because of her. I am so lucky to have her as a grandmother. I will never be able to remember and thank her for all the things she has done for me in my life. She has played a part in the girl that I have become ( I said girl because I still feel young.)

Happy 80th Birthday to the best Grandma in the entire world.

Ali - Senior - Smithson Valley High School

2010-04-30T14:10:00.004-05:00

Ali and I spent the afternoon together yesterday to take her senior pictures. She will be attending Texas A&M in the fall. (I know that will make you happy, Abby.) The wind was crazy here and made it interesting. Felt like we were in Lubbock minus the dirt. Thanks for spending the afternoon with me Ali.

Sloan Family

2010-04-28T10:03:00.005-05:00

My good friend Beth was in town for the weekend. She, Erick and Sloan spent the night with us Thursday night and Friday morning the girls headed to the outlets. We spent most of the day shopping and had a great time. We also found some great deals. Sloan was a perfect angel while we shopped. She actually slept through most of the shopping.

Beth's uncle has a beautiful place near Dripping Springs. The river runs through his property and it is breathtaking. Beth invited us out on Saturday to party with her family and take some pictures. Beth's mom, Cheryl, recently got married and the family was having a party. We had a great time hanging out with wonderful friends, eating delicious food, toasting Cheryl and John and I got some really great pictures.

Love Affair 2010

2010-04-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

Love Affair is back again this year in Dallas.

Check out http://www.loveaffairworkshop.com! They're giving away prizes & a seat to their workshop on the blog this week! Go enter to win.

Evie Mae - 6 months

2010-04-22T22:59:00.003-05:00

Parker - Senior - Smithson Valley High School

2010-04-21T23:51:00.003-05:00

Parker - Sneak Peak

2010-04-21T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's late and I need my beauty sleep, but I promised someone a blog post. Just a little sneak peak of Parker's senior session yesterday. There will be plenty more later, I promise.

Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline!

2010-04-15T00:00:00.001-05:00

Caroline is 6 today. Wow! She is growing up so fast. She is my favorite little girl of all time and these are the reasons why.

1. We talk on the phone. I love talking on the phone and could talk to her for hours. She is getting to the point where she can talk for hours.

2. She is learning so much in school. She has to write a few sentences everyday. I have to beg her to write about me. She will agree, but not without some sort of bribe. I don't mind at all.

3. She is seriously the funniest. The other day I asked her if she had written about me at school and her reply was, "not exactly."

4. James has created this game with Caroline and John where he puts them in a laundry basket and "flies" them around. They call it the rocket. James tells Caroline she has to have a permit to ride in the rocket. She calls it a permanent. James corrects her every time, but it doesn't phase her a bit. She calls it a permanent every time and laughs.

5. She loves Tech softball and has tons of questions. Next we are moving to Tech football. By the end of next season I hope she is hooked on Red Raider Football.

6. Caroline is so much like me as a child it is sometimes scary. I know it scares Ann a lot to think she is raising me. I love it. It is like seeing my childhood all over again.

Happy Birthday Caroline. You are the smartest, prettiest, funniest girl I know and James and I love you tons!

A Little Crazy Around Here!

2010-04-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

Things are a tad bit crazy around here. Actually, I feel like they are CRAZY! For me this is a three day week and I have enough to do to fill up two weeks. Hopefully everything goes just as planned so that I can get everything done.

Nothing I have to do is really that fun. The business side of photography is not the most fun. I am not an accountant and unfortunately the business is in need of an accountant right now. I am no accountant, but we are just going to have to make it work. As Tim Gunn would say, "make it work."

At least I have some photo shoots this week to make it fun. Yesterday I took some pictures of Amy. Two Amy's in one week. Wow!

Amy is a local realtor and was looking for a new photo for her business card. That's where I come in. This is my favorite.

If you need a realtor call Amy at the local Keller Williams office.

As for yesterdays Amy, she is attending A&M next year. I thought a few of you might like to know that. Actually, I though Abby might like to know.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Ashley - Senior - Canyon Lake High School

2010-04-11T21:40:00.008-05:00

The Beautiful Cara

2010-04-09T10:25:00.004-05:00

Just a few more of Cara's senior pictures.

Say a little prayer for Cara's mom, Lisa. She was working out last week and broke her ankle. She is having surgery this morning. I have been trying to tell ya'll that working out is BAD!

Do I Really Have A Blog?

2010-04-06T15:49:00.002-05:00

You probably think I forgot I had a blog. I promise I didn't forget that I had a blog, it has just been crazy busy around here.

After spending a month in Lubbock I came home to piles of laundry, pictures, paperwork and my husband. I have been trying to catch up on everything. The first thing I had to tackle was the laundry and taxes. Those are two of my least favorite things! I don't ever feel like I am caught up on laundry, but at least the taxes are with the accountant and not on my desk anymore.

I promise I will catch you up on everything going on around the nest, but it is going to be out of order. First lets talk about some basketball.

James has started helping out with Devin's select team. You may remember that Devin lives next door to us (not really anymore, but that is another story for another time.) James has always coached basketball in the Spring and Summer, but since we moved here he hadn't found a team yet.

He has been working with the Rangers for a couple of months and he loves it. I also enjoy being around the boys and basketball. I forgot how much drama there is in high school. The boys always have some drama to share.

Last week they played in an international tournament in Austin. There were teams from Japan, Chile and Norway, as well as teams from all over Texas. I got some pictures of the boys on Thursday and Friday.

The boys ended up winning 4 straight games to win the Championship. Congratulations Rangers!

A Few More of Amy

2010-03-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

Amy came by last week to look at all her Senior pictures. She found a few more that she liked. She did a great job picking out these. They are beautiful!

Bracket Buster

2010-03-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

My weekend started on Thursday. Once the NCAA tournament starts you can basically find me on the couch from Thursday-Sunday. The first Thursday and Friday of the tournament are great. It is a solid 12 hours of basketball.

My bracket was looking good on Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday happened and now I don't have a bracket. At least I am not the only person. I feel like not many people have brackets anymore. Who could have picked all these Cinderella teams?

My new team is Saint Mary's. They have five kids from Australia so it is tons of fun to listen to their post game interviews. I love their accents. They are also pretty good and lots of fun to watch. I didn't see the Cornell game, but I enjoyed their post game interview as well. Maybe next week I can see them play. It probably won't matter because I don't think they can beat Kentucky.

So much for my bracket, how does yours look?

Going Home

2010-03-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

I am headed home today. It has almost been a month since I have been home for a extended period of time. A couple of weeks ago I went home for the weekend and then headed back to Lubbock. In some ways I am happy to be going home and other ways I am sad.

These are the HAPPY:

- So ready to sleep in my own bed.

- Ready to see James for more than two days at a time.

- I need to get back to working out. I eat really bad when I am in Lubbock.

- Will be great to get back to Bible Study.

- It will be nice to get back to the shooting and editing side of my business instead of paperwork.

- The weather in Lubbock is crazy. I never know what to expect.

- It will be nice to have all my clothes in one location. I didn't pack very well for the snow one day and the warm temperatures the next day.

- I miss my friends in San Antonio and I am ready to see them.

- I can't wait to catch up on my sleep.

These are the sad:

- Not ready to leave Ann and the kids.

- I love seeing all my family everyday and it will be a change not to see everyone.

- I love being able to get anywhere in Lubbock in 15 minutes.

- Eating meals with the family is like old times.

- I haven't done my own laundry in a month. Mom has been doing it and I love it.

- How will I survive without kisses and hugs from John and Caroline everyday.

- I have gotten a massage once a week since I have been here. Heaven!

- Hanging out with Doneece and basically doing nothing has been great.

- Going home to do James' laundry is likely to kill me. He has not done any laundry. I did his laundry two weeks ago, so I have two weeks worth of laundry waiting for me at home.

- Going to the grocery store will be a nightmare. James has not gone to HEB, but for bread.

It is time for me to go home. Things will be fine here without me. I am just so thankful that I have been able to be here the past few weeks. I am blessed to have a husband who totally supports me to up and leave him for a few weeks. I love you James!

Happy Birthday Dad

2010-03-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Dad's birthday and we had a little party at the house for him. After church we headed back to the house for finger sandwiches. Everyone was there.

Caroline and John love balloons! Of course they each got a balloon for Uncle Dennis' birthday.

My sweet Caroline and James. Aren't they so cute?

John John with his Grandpa. Doneece and I have started calling him Grandpa Uncle Darrel. We figure it covers all the basis. John loves putting puzzles together. He has gotten really good at them. It is so sweet to sit down and do a puzzle with John. I am really going to miss this.

Uncle Dennis, Caroline and John. Mom made Chocolate Chip Pies for Dad for his birthday. We put a candle in each pie so both Caroline and John could blow out a candle. John took a practice run. As soon as Doneece got the candle lit John blew it out. We re-lit the candle and actually made it through the song before he blew it out again. Caroline knows the drill and got it right.

John and Ann. Such a cute picture of the two of them. Love them tons!

Caroline thinks it is hilarious to stick out her tongue for pictures. Of course she doesn't have to do much to convince James. The hard part was getting John on board. They got him on board, but he just opened his mouth and forgot to stick out his tongue. The boy is so funny.

He finally got it.

After lunch was over I braided Caroline's hair. I took this flower out of her hair and added it to mine to hold my bangs back. Mom thought it was so cute she made Doneece take a picture. I think the flower looks better in Caroline's hair.

Happy Birthday Dad! So glad James and I got to spend your birthday with you. Thanks for being such a wonderful day. We are all so blessed!

Sweet Boy

2010-03-12T00:00:00.000-06:00

This sweet boy is coming to see us this weekend. I am not sure who is more excited, me or Caroline or John. I guess all that really matters is we are all excited to see him and spend the weekend with him.

A Day With John John

2010-03-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

We had a fun day yesterday, but it was super busy. Mom and I picked John up at Noon. The boy can not stay at daycare during the afternoon. If he takes a nap at school he is up till 10:00 or 10:30 at night. It is total craziness.

We picked up John so he would not have a nap. We spent the rest of the afternoon running errands and trying to keep John awake. Poor John just wanted to go home and watch "Max and Ruby." We went to see Dad at work and Doneece at work. We made a quick stop at the mall where John got ice cream.

We also got John a haircut. I was really unsure about the haircut. He kept telling me NO HAIRCUT. I of course was the best Aunt I know how to be and bribed him. He took the bribe hook line and sinker. He was a champ while getting his haircut. He was totally cute before the haircut, but somehow he became cutter after the haircut. Don't you think?

We had a play date last night with Ashley and her sweet kids. Caroline and Carley had a great time playing with all the toys and watching "My Little Pony." Corey is so cute and so happy. I never heard him cry. He just laughed and talked.

Carley found a medal in Caroline's room. She has really been wanting a medal so Caroline gave her the medal. It was so sweet. Caroline was so generous and Carley was so excited and thankful for the medal.

It was a really fun night and John made it. I was so worried he would fall asleep during dinner, but he didn't and he was in a really good mood all night.

Star of the Week

2010-03-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

Caroline was Star of the Week last week at school. This is a really big deal in kindergarten! Caroline has been looking forward to this week for a long time. The main events of the week are you get to be the door holder, have someone read the class a book each morning, have someone join you for lunch and make a poster about yourself.

Caroline did all. Everyone morning someone read a book to her class. She loved picking the book for the class and having someone read. John even got to listen a few mornings before he went to school. Of course someone took her lunch everyday. Our family spent a lot of time at school last week. Doneece and I took her McDonald's on Friday. I forgot how crazy elementary lunch rooms are. It was so noise I couldn't even hear myself think. Caroline was the envy of all her friends. I think Caroline is the most popular kid in her class. All her classmates love her!

Caroline and Ann did a great job with the poster. Caroline had a hard time narrowing down the pictures, but she chose some really good ones. The poster turned out so cute!

On Friday night Caroline got a special surprise. Her sweet cousins, Madeline and Jake, sent her a cookie bouquet. They sent Caroline stars and John dinosaurs. The bouquets were super cute and super delicious. Everyone enjoyed them especially the kids.

Caroline is the best Star of the Week I have ever seen. She is my Star of the Week every week. Love that girl tons!!!

Honey Do List

2010-03-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

We have been working on the Honey Do List at our house. Only problem is you are suppose to give your honey the list and him take care of it. It doesn't really work that way at my house. I make the list and take care of it. It I can't handle the task I call a handyman or wait till Dad comes to visit and make him do it.

James' parents got us a ceiling fan for the kitchen for Christmas. Our kitchen windows face the West, which during the summer is HOT! We had a ceiling fan in our kitchen in Corpus, but not in the new house. I really missed the ceiling fan. I unfortunately do not know how to install a ceiling fan and James definitely does not so I called the electrician. It is up and wonderful! We haven't really used it much yet, but I am sure that will change soon.

Also on the Honey Do List was to hang my new canvases. I ordered two canvases of the pictures from our Christmas card. I love them and they are so easy. No frame needed and they come with a wire already attached on the back. My friend, Brandi, came over to help me hang the canvases. We were going to move the old canvases to another wall and hang the new ones where the old ones were.

That isn't exactly how it worked out. We ended up putting all four canvases on one wall. Brand thought of it and I never would have. I am not a creative decorator, but she is. I love what she did!

When I said "we" have been working on the Honey Do List I guess I should have said I have been working on the Honey Do List and now it is complete.

Amy - Senior - Smithson Valley High School

2010-03-04T13:42:00.020-06:00

I had a great time with Amy Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day, but a little windy. It was actually warm and sunny with a beautiful blue sky. Amy is a senior at Smithson Valley and next year she will be attending TEXAS TECH. YEAH!!! I had no idea she was planning on going to Tech until she told me one of her outfits was a Texas Tech shirt. I was so excited. I just love fellow Red Raiders.

Thanks Amy for hanging out with me Sunday afternoon and letting me take your senior pictures. You are a natural in front of the camera. Good Luck at Tech next year. You are going to LOVE it!

Back in the Hub City

2010-02-22T20:13:00.002-06:00

I am back in Lubbock and I brought my camera. Let me know if you want any pictures taken. You can email me or leave a comment.

Also, please pray for my sweet Ann. She needs all the prayers she can get right now.

Happy Birthday Papa

2010-02-17T17:02:00.002-06:00

Today is James' grandfather's birthday. He is 80 today.

Papa is one of the funniest people I have ever meet. You would never think he is 80. He is like a 13 year old boy in a 60 year old body. He is very young at heart.

We are in Corpus today to celebrate. We wanted to be able to have dinner with him on his 80th birthday. 80 only comes around once. We are going to the local Chinese buffet. Not my favorite, but it is Papa's birthday. If he wants to eat the Chinese buffet for his birthday he should be able to.

James and I are just looking forward to spending time with him on his birthday. Happy Birthday Papa!

Mud Room

2010-02-16T00:00:00.001-06:00

***UPDATED - I took down the pictures and just added links. I don't know what is up with blogger. I can see the pictures, why can't you? So frustrating!

My new favorite thing about brand new houses is mud rooms. I want a mud room so bad, but I don't think it is a good idea to try to sell our house and buy a new house all for a mud room. I want a mud room like this.

I love mud rooms basically for all the great storage. I would love somewhere to hang coats for a short period of time. Neither James nor I are very good at hanging up our jacket at night. Mostly because we are going to need it in the morning. I am so tired of jackets hanging on the back of bar stools. That is the biggest problem right now. I would also just like some general storage. I don't have anything in mind that I need to store, but I am sure I will find something.

Instead of buying a new house I am trying to turn our laundry room into a mud room/laundry room. I am not sure how that is going to work out since our laundry room isn't that big to start with. I do have a little room to add some type storage unit. I have been looking for a couple of months, but just can't decide.

I had almost decided on THIS storage unit, but then I had an "I'm not sure moment." This piece fits, but I am afraid it is going to make the laundry room feel closed in. I think it might be too much for a small space.

Now I am thinking about using THIS bench and just adding THIS row of hooks. I like that the bench has some storage and I love all the hooks. Perfect for all the jackets and the bar chairs can go back to bar chairs instead of coat racks. I think this will solve my problem, but not make it feel so closed in.

I think I will go with a white bench to help with it not feel so crowded. All the base boards and doors are white as well as my washer and dryer. I am also thinking about painting the laundry room RED! I want a red room so bad. I figured I spend a lot of time in the laundry room why not make it red so I can enjoy it.

Here is where you come in. I need help with some of these decisions. What do you think about all of this? Should I forget about this storage unit and find another one? Should I paint the laundry room red? Please help me.

Happy Valentine's

2010-02-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

We made a quick trip to Lubbock Saturday morning. James made me drive a little over an hour of the six hour trip there. So not nice. I was board after 20 minutes. I don't like driving.

It was totally worth it to see my family. I love my family! We had a great Valentine's day and got to eat lunch with Caroline and John. They are so cute!

James drove all the way home because he loves me tons. We didn't leave Lubbock till late yesterday afternoon. It was a great quick trip!

I think the best part of the trip may have been these two. I can't get enough of them!

Grandma's Soup

2010-02-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

I miss Grandma's meals. She was a really good cook. I would give anything for some Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy. YUM!!! Unfortunately, I will never get it. If you asked her she would probably tell you she has never cooked.

Growing up we had soup a lot in the winter. It was basically a bunch of leftovers made into soup. I didn't really like it when I was little mostly because it was leftovers. I thought leftovers were boring. Now I think leftovers are the greatest. James doesn't really like the leftovers. If I offer up leftovers for dinner he says no thanks and makes himself some sandwiches. It works out.

I have been craving some of Grandma's leftover soup for awhile now, but had no idea how to make it. Ann took the plunge a couple of months ago and figured out the recipe. She said it tasted just like Grandma's.

I was so excited! I tried a few days later to make Grandma's soup. It starts with roast, potatoes and carrots. Ann made Pioneer Woman's roast and said it was delicious. I decided to nix my normal roast recipe and try PW's as well. Mine did not turn our well. It was actually horrible. I think I got a bad piece of meet because I followed the recipe and my meet was tough as nails. Needless to say I didn't have the opportunity to make Grandma's soup.

Monday I went back to my trusty roast recipe and we had delicious roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner. Tonight I attempted to make Grandma's soup.

It was perfect!!! It tasted just like Grandma's. It brought back so many memories and I ended up crying through part of dinner. I am so happy Ann figured out the recipe. I will be making the soup more often and thinking about Grandma.

Here is the recipe if you are interested.

Leftover roast, potatoes and carrots cut up

Can of corn drained

Can of beef broth

2 cans of diced tomatoes

Heat on medium heat for about 30 minutes.

That's all I put in mine. Grandma would add green beans, celery and beans. She would put anything in the soup that she wanted to clean out of the refrigerator. The soup was never the same from time to time.

James must have liked this version -- he had three bowls.

Lauren and Kenton

2010-02-10T00:00:00.001-06:00

Lauren is a member of Champions Cheer Gym. Instead of wearing her cheer uniform she dressed in her warm winter clothes. I know the other girls were wishing they would have had a fur vest to keep them warm.

Lauren's brother, Kenton, came along as well. We got some really good pictures of them together and individually.

I am now finally done with Champion cheer pictures. It feels like I have been working on them forever, but I loved it. Thanks girls for letting me take some great pictures.

Audi - Champions Cheer Gym

2010-02-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

Next up is Audi. She is really outgoing and tons of fun. She was so easy to work with. She has a great smile and gave me lots of great images.

Madison

2010-02-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

Madison also cheers for Champions. She didn't want to wear her uniform for her pictures. Instead she wore this cute skirt that reminded me of Spring. Now I can't wait for Spring and bright colors.

Champions had a cheer competition here in San Antonio over the weekend. The girls came in second place. Congratulations girls!

Lindsey

2010-02-07T00:19:00.008-06:00

Lindsey also cheers at Champions, but she decided she didn't want to wear her uniform for pictures. Instead she wore this totally stylish outfit. Lindsey was also a lot warmer than the other girls.

I loved her zebra print gloves. Actually, they are probably not gloves since they really don't cover the hand, but I don't know the real name for them. They were still totally cute. She looks so ready for Valentine's day in this outfit. It was fun to throw her cute outfit into the mix of cheerleading uniforms.

Taylor - Champions Cheer Gym

2010-02-06T11:53:00.009-06:00

Next up in the freezing cold was Taylor. She is so cute. Taylor was a little quiet and shy when we started, but by the end her personality was really coming out. She looked totally comfortable in front of the camera and her pictures turned out super cute.

Avery - Champions Cheer Gym

2010-02-05T11:03:00.009-06:00

Avery was also a trooper Saturday morning. She never complained that it was 34 degrees out. She just kept smiling.

I am totally envious of Avery. I want her long blonde hair. I don't really care about the color as much as the length. I want long hair so bad. I would also love it if said long hair would hold curl like Avery's. While at it, I would also like thicker hair. All of this isn't too much to ask is it?

Thanks Avery for being such a good sport in the cold weather. You did great and I had a great time taking your pictures. Please don't ever cut your hair off. It would make me really sad.

Great Plan - Failed

2010-02-04T19:47:00.002-06:00

I had a great plan for today. I was going to run into town and take care of a few errands then head home to workout and edit pictures. I was going to finish the day off with cooking a wonderful meal for my husband.

That is not exactly how the day went. I made it to town and had breakfast at my new favorite place. From there I was headed to the mall to make a return. On the way to the mall the guy driving beside me was making all these hand signals. I finally decoded his had signals and figured out he was telling me my back tire was low.

I wasn't really surprised. About a month of ago I took my car to the dealership for a few repairs. I also need an inspection sticker. They would not pass my car because the back tire had a nail in the side wall. They also mentioned I needed to replace the other 3 tires. Jaime didn't really want to purchase all new tires from the dealership so we had planned on going to Discount Tire, but hadn't made it there.

Instead of heading to the mall I went to Jaime's office. By the time I made it there it was pretty much flat. I took Jaime's car to get a can of Fix a Flat. If you have never tried Fix a Flat, it totally works. We made it to Discount Tire with no problem. By this time it was Noon. They told me they didn't have my tires, but could get my tires and have it ready by closing. Great, but I didn't want to have to come all the way home then back into town.

Instead of driving all over the country I just stayed in town. I went to Target and returned an item and purchased four more. Can you ever go in target without buying something? I can't. I then went to the mall to return a piece of luggage. Instead of saving my credit I spent it all on clothes. I also got some new makeup. Not sure about the makeup, but I am going to try it.

Finally, my car was ready. It has four brand new tires and drives like a different car. My plan to spend most of the day at home and not spend any money turned into buying four new tires. That is way more than I wanted to spend and totally not what I wanted for the amount they cost.

Mackenzie - Champions Cheer Gym

2010-02-03T20:20:00.008-06:00

Saturday morning I got out in the freezing cold to take pictures. It was about 34 degrees and the wind was blowing. I wasn't that cold because I had tons of clothes on. The poor girls I was taking pictures of were not so lucky.

These cute cheerleaders didn't have anything on their legs. We tried to make it as fast as possible and still get great shots. Mackenzie was a great sport about it being so cold. She didn't complain once.

February???

2010-02-02T04:00:00.000-06:00

Is it really February already? I am still having a hard time believing it is 2010 let alone that January is already gone. I feel old saying where does the time go, but where does it go?

I have spent the last week trying to wrap my head around everything I learned at the Mind Your Business. I took a lot of what I learned and put it into action last week. Over the weekend I worked with Jaime for hours on pricing. I felt like we were getting somewhere and now I feel like I have hit a brick wall. We have worked with so many numbers that my brain hurts. I want to give my clients a great deal, but also need to take care of myself.

I was bummed out most of yesterday. I felt like I had worked so hard and had nothing to show for it. I also had no idea where to start again. Finally, late yesterday afternoon I decided I needed a list to get things started.

I am going to start doing a goals list at the beginning of the month. I will list out all my goals for the month and at the beginning of the month I can cross off last months goal and move on to new goals.

So here is to an amazing February......the month I get tons done.

My February Goals:

blog more often

find and purchase an album design software

create a new photography blog

establish new pricing plan for portrait sessions

find a bible study group

get back to working out and walking on a regular basis

get a manicure and pedicure

celebrate Valentine's day with Jaime

If you can help me with any of my goals let me know. I am up for all the help I can get.

Mind Your Businees

2010-01-25T04:00:00.000-06:00

I was in Dallas for the weekend for a photography workshop. The class was yesterday and it was Mind Your Business by Stacy Reeves.

The class was so good and very informative! I bet I took about 30 pages of notes. I could have taken a lot more, but my hand would not write that fast. Stacy had tons of great information. The workshop was all about the business side of photography. That is the hard part for me. Jaime has a business mind and I don't. I know some business basics, but needed some help.

I got lots of help, but I am a little overwhelmed with all the information. I really don't know where to start. I will have to read over my notes and get a game plan going. The best part about the conference was Stacy was willing to answer any question. She answered all sorts of questions about income and taxes. Most people don't want to share that type of information.

I am headed back home today. I have lots of stuff to put into action.

Cara's Senior Pictures

2010-01-18T20:44:00.013-06:00

Pity Party

2010-01-14T04:00:00.000-06:00

We are having a pity party here at the nest and everyone is invited.

I was released from the doctor and ordered to get back to life. I was getting back to life and loving it.

I spent Sunday afternoon shopping with a great friend and had a wonderful time. I bought a new pair of running shoes and was ready to go Monday morning. I walked Monday morning and it felt great. My new shoes rock! Tuesday I walked and worked out. The workout was a little hard, but it felt so good to be back.

Yesterday was my day off. I forgot how sore I can get. I look like I am 85 years-old walking around, my legs are so sore.

Now I am sick. I don't know if it is allergies or a cold. No fever, just runny nose, sore throat and cough. The doctor told me to take it easy and we will play it by ear. Instead of putting me on an antibiotic he would rather this run its course. This should be fun!

So ready for things to go back to "normal" here at the nest. I guess that's not happing yet. Instead we will just have a pity party here at the nest. All are welcome to join.

CNN

2010-01-13T04:00:00.001-06:00

When I was 8 years-old my entire family went to Boston. When I say my entire family I mean Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Darrel, Aunt Anita, Ann, Mom, Dad, Doneece and myself. This is the only vacation I remember where all of us went together. I remember going on many trips with all these people but only once with all of us.

My grandpa was receiving an award in Boston so we made it a family trip. Ann must have been about 14 and Doneece was 2 and a pain. Our family drug Ann and I all over Boston. We walked the entire town of Boston. I mean like 489 miles, but Doneece always got to go back to the hotel with Grandma. We would beg to go back to the hotel, but it never happened. Doneece was lucky and Ann and I were not so lucky. Doneece has always been the favorite.

I think we saw every possible tourist destination in Boston. We went on the Freedom Trail, saw Plymouth Rock, went to Cape Cod, went to the Boston Pops, the state capital and much more. When we were coming down the steps of the State Capital there was a T.V. crew filming. We went on about our business and really didn't think much about it.

Once we got back to Lubbock Aunt Anita was watching her favorite channel, CNN. While watching she noticed all of her family walking down the steps. I don't remember what the piece was about, but there we were walking down the steps of the state capital in Boston. Of course my family recorded it and watched it over and over.

Everyone else looked normal walking down the steps, but not me. Did I mention we walked all over the town? I know I forgot to mention it was really hot walking all over town. I was really hot and tired from walking all around Boston. While walking down the steps I pulled up the bottom of my shirt to wipe off the sweat on my forehead. Of course CNN caught me with my shirt up wiping the sweat.

I have a good explanation, besides the fact that it was hot and we had walked all over Boston. During this time in my life I had a horrible hair cut. You may remember it. If not let me remind you.

I didn't have in the gold clip on this day. The gold clip was only for special occasions in order to torment me. While walking down the steps I noticed the T.V. crew. I was so embarrassed my hair that I decided I must lift my shirt to cover my face. I didn't want to be seen on T.V. with that hair cut.

Actually, that is a lie, but it sounded good. I was 8 and had no idea what was going on. I pulled up my shirt because I was HOT and TIRED. The problem is that CNN got 2 really embarrassing things on T.V. That hair do and me with my shirt up. I have been teased about my CNN appearance since I was 8. I am sure Ann will never let me forget. She will be 92 and I will be 86 and we will be sitting in the nursing home together and she will say, "remember when you were on CNN when you were 8 with your shirt pulled up so you could wipe the sweat off your forehead."

My family has a tape of this somewhere. Ann thinks Grandma has it, but Mom thinks she has it. Who knows where it is. I am hoping no one can ever find the tape and I can deny that it ever happened. I am probably not that lucky.

The Bucket List

2010-01-12T04:00:00.000-06:00

I got this in an email from Wendee. I thought it was so fun that I decided to make a blog post about it. I did not make this list. My bucket list would include other things and some of these would not be one there. The things I have done are marked with an X.

( x ) Been to Europe? - I went to London when I was in High School.

( x ) Been on a cruise? - For Doneece's high school graduation we went on a cruise to Jamaca, Caman Island, Mexico and Key West.

( ) Gone on a blind date? - Nope and I don't plan on it!

( ) Skipped school?

( x ) Watched someone die?

( x ) Been to Canada? - Jaime and I spent the day in Canada when we took our trip to Seattle.

( x ) Been to Mexico? - More times than I ever planned on. Jaime loves it there.

( x ) Been to Florida?

( x ) Been on a plane?

( x ) Been lost?

( x ) Been on the opposite side of the country? - Not sure about this. I would think this would mean North Dakota for me. And yes I have been there.

( x ) Been to Washington, DC?

( x ) Been to Vegas?

( ) Climbed a lighthouse?

( x ) Swam in the ocean?

( x ) Cried yourself to sleep?

( ) Been Sky Diving? - nope and never plan on it.

( x ) Seen the Cherry Blossoms in Washington?

( x ) Played cops and robbers?

( ) Flown a plane? - I hope I never have to, but Jaime would love to learn to fly

( ) Owned a boat?

( ) Watched grandchildren grow?

( x ) Recently colored with crayons? - Hello, I spent last week with Caroline.

( ) Been to the Kentucky Derby?

( x ) Been to Key West?

( x ) Been to a rodeo? - I will probably never go back because of my allergies

( x ) Sang Karaoke?

( x ) Paid for a meal with coins only?

( x ) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?

( x ) Made prank phone calls?

( x ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? - I remember doing this often with Ann

( x ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue? It has been so long, but maybe Friday. It might snow here, but I doubt it.

( x ) Danced in the rain? - If it doesn't snow here on Friday I can just dance in the rain.

( x ) Written a letter to Santa Claus?

( x ) Been kissed under the mistletoe?

( x ) Watched the sunrise with someone? - Only once with Jaime, I try not to make sunrises.

( x ) Blown bubbles?

( x ) Gone to the movies? - We went to see "It's Complicated" on Saturday. It was so good.

( x ) Gone ice skating?

( ) Owned a convertible?

How much do you love your job? lots

Birth place? Lubbock Texas

Ever been to Hawaii ? Yes, twice and I want to go back with Jaime

Ever been to Africa ? No

Ever been on TV? Yes, I was on CNN when I was 8

Ever steal any traffic signs? No

Ever been in a car accident? Really small stuff thankfully

Drive a 2-or 4-door vehicle? 4

Favorite movie? Sweet Home Alabama

Favorite holiday? My birthday, does that count?

Favorite dessert? Chocolate Mousse

Favorite food? Steak and Fries

Favorite day of the week? Saturday morning

Favorite fruit? Cherries

How do you relax? Massage

How do you see yourself in 10 year? Running kids all over town

Feel free to copy this to your blog. I would love to see your bucket list!

Time to Get in Shape

2010-01-11T04:00:00.000-06:00

I went back to the doctor before I went to Lubbock last week. I am happy to report that I am at the tail end of Steven Johnson Syndrome. I am off the steroid!!!

It makes me so happy to be off the steroid. I am starting to feel more and more like myself and I love it. I am still on the Zyrtec and Benadryl. The doctor also added Zantac. I know you are thinking Zantac??? That is right! Who knew Zantac also had a antihistamine in it. The Zantac just gives me a little extra protection.

The doctor told me I could get back to my regularly scheduled program. He really wants me walking again and working out. I am so excited and ready. I complain a lot about working out, but I have missed it.

I have gained about eight pounds in a little over a month. Hopefully it is because of the steroid and the weight will come off quick. I plan on getting back to eating right and working out. But, there is one thing I am not giving up.

I am addicted to this stuff. This will be my dessert from now on. One piece of this stuff a night will hopefully keep me going. Wish me luck!

Back to Reality

2010-01-08T04:00:00.001-06:00

My nanny duties are over and I am back home. I had a great time being the nanny! I love those kids like they are my own. In fact I have asked Ann many times if I can have Caroline and John and she refuses every time. I will continue to ask.

I also had a chance to be a photographer in Lubbock and look what I came up with.

Love them and miss them already!

Vacationing In Lubbock

2010-01-06T04:00:00.000-06:00

Everyone needs a little vacation every once in awhile. When you need a vacation why not head to Lubbock Texas? Lubbock is one of my favorite places to "vacation." I am not sure it is really vacationing when you are working the entire trip.

I can't complain. I love being the nanny while here. Caroline is out of school till Thursday, but everyone else had to go back to work. Caroline need a nanny for the week and I was hired. Best job ever!

We have had tons of fun so far this week and I am sure the fun will only continue. Monday involved lots of shopping. It was my first big day out on the town. We lasted about 2 hours which is great for the two of us. I am not sure if she got more stuff or if I did.

Yesterday we had lunch with Ann and Courtney. Courtney's daughter Landry also doesn't go back to school till Thursday so she joined us. We had a lunch date at Chick-fil-a where the girls could play and the adults talk. It was fun to catch up. I took my camera with us, but didn't ever get it out to take pictures.

After lunch Caroline and I hurried home to make Doneece a birthday cake. She was a big help, but also made a big mess. Her main goal is to clean the bowl and spoons. She accomplished her goal!

After the cake was ready we headed up to Doneece's work. Caroline and I surprised her with her cake. We celebrated Doneece's birthday with all of her work friends. It was great fun and Caroline was so excited about the surprise. She loves to surprise other people. I think she also loves to be surprised herself.

Happy Birthday Doneece

2010-01-05T04:00:00.000-06:00

Today is my little sister's birthday. Doneece is 23 today. I have no idea how she is 23 because it seems like she should be about 12.

I know Ann had it all figured out when Doneece was born, but I still thought it was going to be so cool to have a baby around. I was wrong. Doneece wasn't much fun as a baby and it didn't take me long to figure it out. I gave up on her being fun, but she surprised me and has turned out fun.

She actually is tons of fun and one of my best friends. Happy Birthday Doneece! Hope you have a wonderful birthday. Love you tons.

And The Victory Bells Will Ring Out

2010-01-04T04:00:00.000-06:00

I will not discuss any drama on here, that is my new years resolution. Not really. I could never stick to that resolution so why even try. But I will not discuss any Tech drama on here. I am a Red Raider and I always will be.

Tech was in the Alamo Bowl this year which was really convenient for us. We did not have a long drive or a hotel stay instead we had house guest. Mom, Doneece and her boyfriend came to our house on Friday.

We had a large group at the game which is always fun.

Mom, Dad, Doneece, Me and Jaime

Beth, Me, Erick and Jaime

Jaime and Devin

The game was great! I wasn't sure for awhile. We did not look very good in the third quarter, but that turned around in the fourth. The minute Sheffield came in things totally changed. The team had a different attitude and so did the crowd. The crowd was so pumped up and loud when Sheffield came in. It was great to hear how loud our fans could be.

The final four minutes were a little nerve racking, but it all ended well. We pulled out the win. I was so happy! I was also happy for our players and coaches. They really deserved the win after the week they had.

We had a great time, but now the football season is over for us. August can't come soon of enough. I love college football and don't know what I will do without it for 8 months.

A Merry Little Christmas

2009-12-31T04:00:00.000-06:00

We were in Corpus this year for Christmas with Jaime's family. We stayed at the Omni downtown because of all my health issues. The hotel was nice and everyone was supper friendly, but it was not the same as staying with family.

Christmas Eve we went to Jaime's aunt and uncles house for dinner and presents. We had a great time and all of James' dad family was there. It was so nice to have everyone together. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

Grason and Uncle James

Grason enjoying his gift sack

Sweet Jackson

Aunt Jennifer and her new float

Christmas morning Jaime went to his grandparents house. I did not because Jaime's aunt and uncle on the other side of the family tree had been diagnosed with Swine Flu. We decided it was to risky for my health to go. I stayed at the hotel by myself while Jaime went for lunch and presents.

I ate Christmas lunch at the hotel. I could not get a reservation till 2pm. By the time I got there a lot of the food was gone and some was cold. I am so picky and the only thing that looked very good was the prime rib and dressing. My prime rib was delicious and the dressing was okay.

Once Jaime got back to the hotel we opened presents together. You probably already know Jaime got a Keurig one cup coffee maker and I got a pair of Bose head phones. We went really small this year. I wasn't up for shopping and Jaime never is so it worked out well this year. It really isn't about the presents anyways.

We had a suite at the Omni with a great view.

The weather on Christmas day was beautiful. You could see for miles.

Christmas evening we headed to Jaime's brother house. We had a delicious Christmas dinner. Derrick and Kendra did a great job with dinner. I don't really like sweet potatoes, but whatever Derrick and Kendra did to their sweet potatoes has changed my mind. I am afraid it was lots of butter and cinnamon that made me like the sweet potatoes. We also had green bean casserole which I usually don't like. Once again Derrick and Kendra have changed my mind. Derrick doesn't like cream of mushroom soup so he used cream of chicken soup in the green bean casserole. I loved it. Maybe I don't like cream of mushroom soup either.

Grason and his new Kawasaki

Popsci and his favorite gift - iTunes gift card

Kendra and Gramsci

Derrick

James and Grason playing around

They stopped playing for a minute to take a picture

Gramsci and her bell

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas like us. We are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends in our lives.

All Is Well

2009-12-29T04:00:00.000-06:00

Jaime is feeling much better and so far I am fine. Jaime didn't have any problems yesterday and tested his stomach last night with Mexican food. I guess he is over it and can move back to my side of the house. I am still worried that I am going to get the bug.

We spent yesterday running lots of errands. We went to Target where I found lots of good Christmas decorations for half off. I am thinking about putting my new small tree in the dining room next year and making it a "Tech" tree. I found lots of red and black ornaments and some silver tensile. I will need more Tech ornaments to actually make it a Tech tree and not just a red and black tree. I will have to look for Tech ornaments all year to make it work.

We also made it by Academy. Jaime really wants a ping pong table. We just moved out our pool table that was up stairs and he has already found something to replace it. I thought we were clearing out some room for workout equipment. I guess I was wrong. I have already told him I will not be playing ping pong with him. He better teach Mily to play ping pong otherwise he will have the table against the wall playing the wall.

Finally we headed to the airport to pick up Dad. He had some vacation time so he decided to come hang out with us this week. So glad he is here. We went and ate dinner at La Fogata last night. If you are ever in San Antonio and looking for good Mexican food you should go there. They also have the best margaritas, but I don't know that from experience.

Once we got home from dinner we finished taking down all the Christmas decorations. I took down all the decorations except for the tree on Sunday night. Since Jaime was sick he basically passed out and I decided to make myself useful. I had a burst of energy and got a bunch put away. Jaime and Dad helped get the tree down last night. It is so nice to have the house back to normal.

I know I said I would be back today with the Christmas wrap up, but I am being lazy. I haven't downloaded any of the pictures and what is Christmas without pictures? Maybe tomorrow?

The Stomach Bug Invades

2009-12-28T04:00:00.000-06:00

That is right, the stomach bug invaded our house yesterday. Jaime woke up sick. He has now taken residence on the other side of the house.

I am on "my side" which includes the living room and our bedroom. I lucked out. Jaime got the guest bedroom and the game room. We are staying separate.

I don't have the bug yet, but I am not sure that will last. We ate after each other all day on Saturday so I am afraid I might be next. I am really hoping not! I don't want to have to call the doctor and say, "Remember how you told me not to get sick? Well I got the stomach bug, now what?"

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with no stomach bug and the Christmas update.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T04:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas A La Hotel

2009-12-24T04:00:00.000-06:00

We are spending Christmas in a hotel this year. When we arrived yesterday it didn't feel very festive. I fixed that little problem.

I did a little light shopping yesterday to make our room a little more festive.

The first store I went to had all the Christmas decorations half off. I totally took advantage of that sale. I found some really cute ornaments.

Love these cowboy boots!

I saw Raider Red and knew I needed him.

This little train is cute and reminds me of John.

The candy cane is so pretty.

I couldn't resist the gingerbread house.

I also found this cute snowman. I love him here, but can't wait to find him a place at home.

I also decided I needed a place to put my new ornaments so I headed to Hobby Lobby for a little Christmas tree. I really wanted a pre-lit tree, but with it being two days before Christmas it is hard to be picky. I settled for the only little tree they had which was $10.50. I found everything I needed to decorate the room at Hobby Lobby all for under $50. I was so excited.

Now our hotel room feels festive and ready for Christmas. I am so ready for Christmas. I can't wait to spend time with family and some really good food.

Merry Christmas Eve!

My New Internet Addiction

2009-12-23T04:00:00.000-06:00

I have found my new addiction.

SKYPE!

Yesterday Doneece picked up Caroline from school and Mom picked up John. Once they were all home we Skyped. Doneece got it all worked it.

Mom and Dad have a fancy computer with a camera built in and so does my Mac. We finally put those cameras to use. I have been feeling home sick the past few days. It has finally hit me that I won't be going home for Christmas. This is the first year I have not seen my family at some point during the Christmas break. It makes me really sad!

Mom, Dad and Doneece are coming to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl so I will get to see them. I will not get to see Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Anita, Uncle Darrel, Ann, Jeff, Caroline or John. There has never been a year that I have not seen all those fabulous people and it is really hard. It is hard to believe I won't be at my parents house to celebrate Christmas with all my family.

I asked Doneece if we could Skype once my peeps were there. She agreed and after some technical difficulty we got it to work. It was wonderful. I got to see Doneece, Mom, Caroline, John and Ann even made an appearance. Caroline and John were high on sugar and really funny. John just got a hair cut and is super cute. The kids were interested for about 2 minutes and then moved on to more exciting things. Doneece and Ann were much more interested in me.

The internet is amazing and I love it. Thank goodness for Skype. I got to see my favorite people and it made me feel a little better. Hopefully we can Skype Christmas morning so I can see my wonderful family. Thanks Doneece for getting it set up. You are the best!

Peanut Butter Wheaties

2009-12-22T04:00:00.001-06:00

Peanut Butter Wheaties are a tradition around our house. I remember growing up and helping mom make these. Now I make them every year at Christmas. Usually I take one day when Jaime is at work and spend the day making Peanut Butter Wheaties, but this year I had help. There is no way I could have done it on my own.

Saturday afternoon Jaime helped me make them. He was a great help and I think it will be our new tradition to make them together. I think he will probably disagree. After the second batch he was asking how much longer. I have no idea how many batches we made. We kept going till we ran out of corn syrup. I think we probably made 6 batches.

We don't keep it all for ourselves. We give most of it away to our friends. We are trying to fatten our friends up. Not really, but once you see the recipe you will think it is true.

Wax paper

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

4 cups Wheaties

Bring corn syrup and sugar to boil. Add peanut butter and stir it in real good. Add Wheaties and coat with mixture. Remove from heat. Make into balls and place on wax paper.

I am not Pioneer Woman so don't judge the pictures. Just be happy you get pictures.

Corn Syrup and Sugar. I like this wooden spoon because the ingredients seem not to stick on it as bad as other spoons.

Corn Syrup, Sugar and Peanut Butter all mixed together.

All the good stuff, but it is hot! Don't burn yourself.

I don't actually make them into a ball. That requires too much work. I just get a spoon and spoon it out on the wax paper. I make mine small, but Jaime's were huge. Whatever floats your boat will be just fine.

The best way to make this is to sit on a stool and make your husband do all the moving around. He may pay you back by dropping a spoonful of HOT Peanut Butter Wheaties on your hand while transferring to the wax paper. Said spoonful will burn the first 2 layers of skin off your hand, but will still taste really good. I know all this from experience.

Do you have any holiday recipes I should know about?

Spotted Update

2009-12-21T04:00:00.000-06:00

I no longer have to go to the doctor. I don't know if the doctor got tired of seeing me or just felt sorry for me having to pay a co-pay every time I went to the office. I don't really care what the reason, my wallet is happy and I am happy.

Instead of going to the doctor I have to call the doctor every few days to update him. I talked to Dr. Nichola last Thursday. I was out of the steroid, but still had the rash. Dr. Nichola decided I should take the steroid for another 30 days to be on the safe side. I also have to continue the zyrtec once a day and two benadryl at night. The benadryl is suppose to help the rash, but also help me sleep. The steroid causes me not to sleep. I will take the benadrly for about 35 more days and the zyrtec for 60 more days. I can't come off all the medication at once because the rash may come back.

The rash is looking better, but I still have it on my stomach and back. If you see me out in public you would never know I still have a rash. I have started working out again. Dr. Nichola really wanted me to get back to working out. I have only been working out about once a week and I don't do much. I take it nice and easy, but it feels good to workout. I have been trying to walk each day It has been cold and rainy here so the walking isn't going very well. Hopefully this week I can walk everyday. I still get tired really easy, but have a hard time sleeping. I actually have tons of side effects from the steroid and can't wait to be done with it.

Dr. Nichola still wants me to take it easy and not push myself. I promised him I would. I also promised him I would call if I had an problems. Dr. Nichola has been so great with everything. I love having a doctor who truly cares, too bad I had to find him this way.

I mentioned on Friday that I was done wrapping all the presents. I forgot to mention non of the presents have a bow. I think the presents don't need a bow this year. Does anyone really care if the present has a bow or just what is inside?

The Presents Are Wrapped Almost

2009-12-18T04:00:00.000-06:00

I am 99% done and I am exhausted! It has been a long week.

Where has this week gone? I feel like it passed me by and I was suppose to lay on the couch all week.

Monday was not a very good day around here. I had a migraine all day. I have not had a migraine in a long time, but Monday the migraine would not leave me alone. Finally, about 6pm it went away. In all my pain on Monday I forgot to take the steroid till late. Monday night we had our Bunco Christmas party. It was fun and the food was delicious. I didn't have the energy to take my camera so no pictures this year. Once, I got home from the party I was wide awake. Not taking the steroid till late really messed me up. The only positive was I occupied my late night with wrapping presents. From midnight till 2am I wrapped six presents. That doesn't seem like a lot to me. Am I a slow wrapper? The wrapping wore me out and finally I was tired enough to go to bed.

When the week started I had no plans except the Bunco party. That all changed. I ended up doing the Murphy's pictures Tuesday afternoon. My Christmas cards finally arrived Tuesday evening. Why is it once you become a photographer your Christmas card is no longer a priority? My card has never gone out this late, but at least I sent one out. I addressed envelopes forever Tuesday night and then stayed up till 2am again editing pictures.

Wednesday was about the same. Pictures of Riley and Avary and another late night editing. I did sleep in Wednesday morning. After I got the Christmas cards to the post office I did a little more wrapping. I was finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. One good thing about ordering all the Christmas gifts online, they all came in a box ready to be wrapped. I didn't waste countless hours this year looking for boxes.

Yesterday I had another migraine. I think I have spent way too much time this week looking at a computer. I am at least blaming the migraines on the computer. The computer really wasn't my friend yesterday. I spent the morning trying to place print orders and it did not go well. I could not find the pictures I was looking for and was convinced the computer had "lost" my file. Come to find out I was not looking under the right file name. The brain still isn't working very well. Finally, I decided to head back to bed. My head hurt and it seemed everything was going wrong. After napping for three hours everything seemed better. I spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping.

I am happy to report that all our wrapping is done and no gift bags were used! Actually, I ordered one more last minute present on Tuesday. It should be arriving next week and I will have to wrap it when it does arrive. Besides that one lonely present I am done and it feels so good.

Because I am done wrapping our guess bedroom is no longer a guest bedroom and is now a present storage room. I never put all the packages under the tree. It seems pointless to me. I arrange all the presents under the tree and mess up half the ornaments on the bottom trying to fit packages under there. A few days later I remove all the presents from under the tree and mess up the other half of the ornaments on the bottom. I finally just gave up!

If you were planning on making an unannounced visit to stay with us next week, just know you will be sharing a bed with the presents.

Next week I really am going to lay on the couch!

Riley and Avary

2009-12-17T00:00:00.001-06:00

Riley and Avary are super cute and so much fun to be around. We had a great time taking pictures yesterday. Theses girls should be models. They would pick the place and just beg me to take a picture. I love my job!

Brandi is Riley and Avary's mom. Brandi was in charge of our bedroom decorations. She picked out everything that went in there. If you need someone to help you decorate a room, she is your woman. She does amazing things! I can't wait for her to do another room in our house, just don't tell Jaime.

Riley for her half birthday wants a really big picture of herself for her room. She kept asking Brandi how big will it be. So cute!

Thanks girls for letting me hang out and just have some good 'ole girl time.

Murphy Family

2009-12-16T04:00:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite families. They were some of the first people we meet when we moved to San Antonio and have become some of our closest friends. This is a wonderful family!!! They adopt me often when Jaime is out of town and feed me dinner.

David did our landscaping when we moved in and we love it. If you need any landscaping call him and he will take care of everything! Check out his website.

I have really wanted to take the Murphy's pictures since I started my business. We have tried to schedule a time, but something has always come up. The Murphy's are busy people. Yesterday it finally worked out. The sun hasn't been out here in days, but yesterday afternoon it decided to come out and greet us. It was beautiful.

I really didn't have to do much work to get great pictures. David did all the posing for me. I just stood back and took pictures. He is hired as my assistant anytime he wants. This family is so photogenic that it was hard to narrow down my favorites. After much consideration I have narrowed it down to these. What do you think?

Love you guys tons!!! Thanks for letting me take your pictures. I had a fabulous time.

Christmas Shopping

2009-12-15T04:00:00.000-06:00

All the Christmas shopping is done! I don't think I have ever finished my Christmas shopping this early. This internet shopping is pretty great. I haven't had to go out and fight all the crowds and crazy people. Instead I sit at home on my comfy couch and order all the stuff online.

I kind of feel like I haven't done anything to get ready for Christmas. Usually by this time I am all stressed out and tired from all the running around. This year I have only been out to Dillard's. Just to let you know Dillard's has a London Fog trench coat on sale for $79.99. It comes in red, pink, purple, green, orange, black, brown and khaki. It is super cute! I purchased the red one for myself. I purchased the purple one for Ann. I am her personal shopper and felt she needed to add a trench to her wardrobe.

Dillard's was the only store I couldn't get free shipping so I went Friday morning. There were not many people there and I was on a mission. I was in and out in 30 minutes and purchased 6 gifts. It was well worth my time!

My least favorite store this Christmas season is Target. I am a loyal Target shopper and usually love them. Not so much this year. I am sure the store is still great, but online is not my friend. I tried to order seven Christmas presents online. I did my shopping and had everything in my cart. When I got ready to check out I noticed that two items were no longer in my cart. I went back and tried to find them to put in my cart again. I could not find the two items anymore. After searching the site for about 30 minutes I finally figured out that the two items were out of stock. At some point during my shopping process the two items sold out and disappeared from my cart. Target didn't mention this they just took the items out of my cart.

I went ahead and placed my order for six items from Target. I got free shipping on all the items so I was still semi-excited. They were suppose to mail all the items in as few shipments as possible. Guess how many shipments I am receiving from Target? You are correct, six. This really shouldn't bother me since I didn't pay for shipping, but for some reason it does. This is where my big problem with Target comes. I received an email from them on Saturday telling me that the Keurig coffee maker I ordered for James would not ship till January 12 or 14. Great! I went to the Keurig website and they had the coffee maker for the same price and free shipping. I went ahead and ordered it from there. You will be glad to know that I ordered it on Saturday and they shipped it on Saturday. So much easier. I canceled the order with Target. Target you are dead to me for a few days!

Now that all the Christmas presents are purchased I need to start wrapping. I am afraid wrapping is going to be the hard part. That might take a lot of energy. Maybe I will just wrap a few a day. Jaime offered to wrap the presents, but Caroline could do a better job wrapping. He is not good at the wrapping. I have tried to teach him many times and it never works out.

Maybe this year everyone will get their present in a sack.

The Rest of the House

2009-12-14T04:00:00.002-06:00

Mostly everything stayed the same as far as Christmas decorations go. Same stuff different place. I usually look at the pictures from the previous year and then put the stuff in the same place. Not so much this year. That was the last thing on my mind. My goal was to get it up and I really didn't care where it went.

Last year I added these ornaments to our dining room chandelier. I love them, but think I need a few more. It dresses the dining room up and gives it a Christmas feeling. I did the same thing in the breakfast area.

I love my nativity scene. This was the most important thing for me to have out this year. It is usually the first thing I put up and the last thing I take down.

This sign is new this year. I forgot to mention it on Friday, but I have a good excuse. It is actually reversible. The other side says "Give Thanks," so it has been up for awhile now. I love a decoration that can be used for two holidays.

We have many stockings. Mom still has our stockings that Grandma made for us. I love those stockings and am sad I will not get to see them hanging over the fireplace this year. Maybe Ann will take a picture of my mom's fireplace and email it to me or blog it. Wouldn't that be sweet? My guess if she doesn't that the stockings still look like this.

We also have our stockings that hang on our fireplace. I got those stockings from Hobby Lobby and think they are cute, but nothing special. I am sure once we have kids I will get some that I love for our fireplace. I do love our other stocking that we have hung in the living room.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-11T04:00:00.000-06:00

All the Christmas decorations are up and I am loving it. I love laying on the couch with the Christmas tree next to me all lit up. Jaime and I buy an ornament in every city we visit. It is fun to look at all the ornaments we have collected over the years. I forget all the places we have been. Thank goodness I have the ornaments to remind me.

These are just a few of my favorite ornaments.

I love this little frog we got from Puerto Rico. We went to San Juan for our 5th wedding anniversary. Jaime had work in the Dominican Republic so I tagged along. I stayed in Puerto Rico while Jaime went to the Dominican for a day to work. It was a fun trip.

Guess where this one is from? We went to New York with my family for Christmas 3 years ago. None of us had ever been and it was so much fun. The Statue of Liberty was not so much fun. The line was 2 hours long and the security was worse than the airport.

I love this ornament. This is my first Christmas ornament. It says "Baby's First Christmas 1980" on one side and the other side has my birth weight and length. My birth weight and length are in stickers. I am sure they have something really fancy these days, but in 1980 you bought the ornament and personalized it with number stickers.

This is the St. Louis arch. We went to St. Louis for the 4th of July in 2008. The St. Louis arch was great on the outside, but crowded on the inside. I don't think I have ever been more claustrophobic in my life. We were in there about 2 minutes and I was done.

The Liberty Bell from Philadelphia. The best part is it is a working bell. Mily had a great time ringing the bell before putting it on the tree. I was a little worried about the crack and the ringing of the bell, but all is well with the bell.

Our cute ornament from Seattle with Santa climbing the Space Needle.

I think this turtle is super cute. It came from Washington D.C. We were visiting the Capital and this cute thing was for sale at the gift shop. I had to have it. The ornament next to it is from our trip to the Bahamas.

This is the other ornament we got from the Bahamas. It is clear and has sand in it with sea shells and a bucket. It is really cute, but if it ever breaks while on the tree I will be pissed. I do not like sand at all and the thought of sand all over my tile floor makes me cringe.

This crazy fish came from an ornament exchange. At first I thought it was ugly, but each year it grows on me.

This is the White House in case you can't read it. We got it on our second trip to D.C.

This little bell is so special. My great-grandmother on my dad's side made it. I love it and think of her every time I look at it.

This is another special one. Grandma and Aunt Anita made it for me. They always did ceramics when I was growing up. I love this ornament!

You can't really tell, but on top of this slug-bug is a Canadian flag. One day during our Seattle trip we went to Canada. I think the car is so cute.

You shouldn't be surprised that I have several Tech ornaments. I have no idea where I got the first one, but I love it because it is plain and simple. The second one I won at a raffle. It has the Masked Rider on the other side and says Texas Tech.

This is probably my favorite ornament. Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!! I always hang this ornament right next to the couch. It is my daily reminder why we celebrate Christmas.

I only have one new Christmas decoration this year. I did such a good job of not going over board. I am very proud of myself.

The first Christmas Jaime and I were married I bought a wreath for our front door from

Wal-Mart. It was a tiny little thing and not very pretty, but it worked. Over the past 8 years I had never found anything I liked better. I take that back, I found plenty, but I wasn't paying what they were asking.

I found a wreath I liked at Hobby Lobby back in September. It was originally $100, but half off. I took it! I was in love with it till I found another one at a Christmas store. It looked a lot like mine, but had tons of ribbon hanging down, but it was $300. That is CRAZY to me. I decided I would spruce mine up. This is how it came out. I love it and it was nowhere close to $300

The Christmas tree turned out great again this year. Our next door neighbor Mily came over to help with the tree. Her and Jaime did a great job, while I layed on the couch. Mily was in charge of the bottom of the tree and Jaime was in charge of the top. They are a great team.

Hot and Cold

2009-12-10T04:00:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we had some issues with the electricity. Something happened and the entire neighborhood lost electricity yesterday morning for about 2 hours. No big deal to me, I slept through it. I decided there was no reason to get up because the T.V. and the internet wouldn't work. Jaime was worried about me being home with no electricity when he left for work. It was 28 degrees here yesterday morning and he was concerned I would get cold with no heater. I was concerned because the ceiling fan in the bedroom was off. I was toasty and asked that he open a window. He declined.

There were about 10 trucks in the neighborhood working on the problem all day. There were wires and piping everywhere. About 5:30 last night we got word that we would be losing power again for about an hour.

My great friend Jacqui was sweet enough to bring us dinner yesterday. Dinner is kind of hard around here these days. By 6pm I am done and Jaime has been really busy with work stuff and hasn't had time to cook. It is also hard for him to cook dinner when there is nothing in the refrigerator. Jacqui made chicken enchiladas and beans and mashed potatoes.

I was not very happy with the whole power thing. I had just put Jacqui's dinner in the oven and needed 30 minutes for it to be ready. The power ended up not going off for another 20 minutes. We ended up eating semi-warm chicken enchiladas by candlelight. The beans and mashed potatoes were still cold. Our dinner was delicious, but I have no idea what it looked like because I couldn't see a thing. I am pretty sure that is the first time we have ever had a candlelight dinner. Thanks Jacqui for driving all the way out here and bringing us the best dinner we have had in awhile. I need that recipe for sure!

I never realized how dark it is with NO LIGHTS AT ALL. People, it is dark in case you were wondering. Lara next door saved us. It started getting a little cold in here and was super dark. Lara had some extra wood for us. Jaime started us a fire and the electricity was back on with in 30 minutes.

I forgot how nice a fire in the fireplace can be. It was nice to have all the Christmas lights on and a fire going. I could have handled the air conditioning being on as well. It was a little toasty with the fire, but Jaime told me I couldn't turn the air conditioner on. Poor thing has been walking around the house with a jacket on for the past week. He is freezing and I am sweating.

Celeste

2009-12-09T04:00:00.000-06:00

Celeste is one of my really good friends from Corpus. Six years ago I went to get a manicure and walked away with great nails and an even better friend. Celeste still does my nails and toes when we make it to Corpus. She gives the best manicure and pedicure if you are ever in Corpus Christi and need one.

Celeste came to visit me over the weekend. She came here on Sunday and got to hung out. I love catching up with her. She also gave me a manicure which I was really in need of. Monday we spent the day taking some pictures of Celeste for her husband. She is so beautiful that my job was a breeze. It didn't take many shots to get a good picture.

Thanks Celeste for coming to see me. I had a great time hanging out as always and my nails still look great!

Great Friends And Even Better Pictures

2009-12-08T04:00:00.000-06:00

While we were in Lubbock for Thanksgiving Jaime, Doneece and I had our pictures made. My photography friend, Amanda, was nice enough to take our pictures. She is a great photographer and I love her stuff. She was also great about fitting us in. We missed our original appointment because of the whole rash thing. She fit us in later in the week. So glad it worked out because I love the pictures.

Check them out on Amanda's Blog.

Devin, Mady and Mily

2009-12-07T04:00:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I meet up with Lara and her family to take pictures for their Christmas card. That family always entertains me. There is never a dull moment with these kids.

Devin, Mady and Mily were great! They make my job super easy. These are pictures that didn't make the Christmas card.

Cutest Ever!

2009-12-04T04:00:00.001-06:00

This picture took a lot of work. Ann and I started planning Christmas pictures back in October. One weekend in October while we were in Lubbock Ann, Jaime and I took the kids for pictures at the church. It was a total mess. Caroline and John could have cared less about pictures. Ann, Jaime and I tried and tried with not much success. We were out there for about an hour and I got two decent shots.

The two pictures were cute, but not great. I decided to reshoot the pictures over Thanksgiving. That was before I got sick. Doneece helped me make it work. She got us all to the park and all I had to do was take the pictures. This shoot was a lot shorter and I wasn't convinced I got anything good when we were leaving the park.

I ended up getting some super cute pictures. Ann's Christmas card turned out really good. This picture didn't make the card, but I love it. I love the way John and Caroline look at each other. They are so sweet and you can really tell how much they love each other. This is them natural, no posing. Like I could ever get those two to pose.

Seeing Red

2009-12-03T04:00:00.000-06:00

Things have been red around here for sure. I have been dying to change our bedding back to my all time favorite red bedspread. I decided it was time given everything that has been going on. Might as well match the bedroom, in fact I now blend in.

So what do you think? Do you like the blue or red better?

Blessed

2009-12-02T04:00:00.002-06:00

I knew I was blessed to have Jaime in my life before this ordeal started. He has always been the rock in our relationship. He also provides for us and is the most encouraging person I know. I have known all this for a very long time, but I didn't understand just how lucky I am to have him in my life.

Jaime was out of work for four days. That has never happened! I felt bad he was missing work, but I couldn't have made it without him. He worked from the house those four days, but I don't think he got much done. Between calling all the doctors, making all the doctors appointments and taking me to the doctor he didn't have much spare time. Jaime also had to wake me up every four hours for Benadryl even through the night. I am sure he felt like he was taking care of a baby. I know I did. I felt helpless.

Things are definatly better. Jaime is back at work and I can take care of myself for the most part. Monday was the first time I had driven in two weeks. It took me a few minutes to get everything straight. It was weird getting in the drivers seat and having to take responsibilty. I was use to the passenger seat where I had no responsibility, but to put my seatbelt on. I know it sounds funny.

After everything that happened at the doctor on Monday I was really down. I thought I was getting better and almost done with this whole thing. I was so sad to think that I have another month. I have realized how important your health is. I have never really been sick and I figured out quick that it sucks. I may bitch about working out, but I love the fact that I had the energy to workout. Now I barely have enough energy to get ready.

I am so ready to feel like my old self again. Can I go back to being 28? So far 29 has been down hill. I do thank the Lord for my health. I could be a lot worse off. Jaime tells me we will get through this and I will feel like myself again in a few weeks. I am sure he is right.

There have been lots of people that have gotten me through the past two weeks. Mom coming was so helpful. Ann was my chauffeur and babysitter at night. Doneece was my chauffeur and babysitter during the day. I am really blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Thank you Jaime! Thank you just doesn't seem enough for all you have done. There is no way I would have made it without you. Not only did you make sure I was taken care of medically, but you calmed me down and encouraged me through it all. You are my rock and I love you dearly.