Why I Hate Cats

They are mean & vindictive little monsters that pee on my bed, while I'm inches away from them in the same room.


Happy 7th Birthday Sylvester. I hope you enjoyed your night in the crate, and that you enjoy the rest of your life living in the bathroom.

Your wild, hellion brother is now the favorite. Deal with it!

You shall never relax like this again.

A Decade of Kenny

This weekend was yet another Kenny Chesney concert for Deborah, Elizabeth, and myself. His 'Goin' Coastal' tour stopped in at Cowboys Stadium yesterday with acts Uncle Kracker, Billy Currington, and The Zac Brown Band opening for him. The concert was in a word, AMAZING. I don't know if it was the company, the fact that I hadn't seen him perform live in 2 years since he took last year off, or the fact that he's a freakin' superstar, but it was FANTASTIC!

Yesterday's concert got me to thinking about all the other times that I've seen Kenny, most times with Deborah & Elizabeth. Kenny is kind of our thing. It started in college at SFA. Our first concert seeing him was Friday, October 26, 2001 at 8 pm at W.R. Johnson Coliseum on campus. The cost of the ticket was $25 and that was for floor seats!!! It was right before Kenny hit the big time and it was FABULOUS. We were inches from him. I have the BEST close-ups! And that's what began a decade of Kenny. Sometimes we let other people tag along with us, but it's typically just us...and we LOVE it!

2001 - Greatest Hits Tour

Me, Deb, Elizabeth, & Kate

Our last semester together at Stephen F. was Summer I of 2002. Deb & I graduated that summer and Bets (Elizabeth) had one more year of school left. Most of our other friends graduated in May of that year, and/or moved, so the three of us lived together. The theme of that summer was No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems...Kenny's 2002 CD. We knew the words to EVERY single song and listened to it 24/7. It was greatness. That will always be a very special summer & cd for us that we will never forget.

Today I spent a large part of my afternoon going through lots and lots and lots of photos to find all our Kenny ones. I find it super hard to believe that we didn't go to his 2002 or 2003 concerts, but I found no evidence to suggest we did, and my memory is obviously not that good. 2002/2003 may have been the time period that Deb went to see Kenny in IL with her sister, when they lived up there. At least one of us was representing. ;)

Bets & my next KC concert was in 2004 at Smirnoff Music Centre in Dallas, June 5, 2004 at 7:30 pm. Lawns seats were $27.50, plus all the super fun ticketmaster fees. :P Courtney came with us to this concert. She'd just had major back surgery a little over a month before so we wheeled her around in a wheelchair, which led to better lawn seats for us. Ha!

2004 - Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lotta Love Tour

Me, Court, & Bets

On April 8, 2005 we traveled to Madison, WI for yet another Kenny concert at the Kohl Center at UW-Madison! Bets & I had flown up to Chicago, IL for a long weekend with Deb, who lived in Rockford, IL at the time. Yes, we'll travel far and wide for our Kenny. ;-)

2005 - Somewhere In The Sun Tour

Bets, Deb, & Me

On July 22, 2006 we saw Kenny at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. We had LOTS to celebrate! We were seeing Kenny together AND Bets & Kevin had JUST gotten engaged the night before! Plus Deb was finally living back in Texas. All was right with the world!

2006 - The Road & The Radio Tour

The day the music died. My 'The Road and The Radio' cd bit the dust in my piece of junk computer. It got stuck in the cd slot and the computer ate it. I nearly cried. :( Of course I had to quickly buy another.

We saw Kenny at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the The Woodlands on June 15, 2007. It had rained lots in the days leading up to the concert, so since we had lawn seats we took a tarp and quilt to sit on. Someone how my booty still ended up getting soaked. Also, carrying out a wet, muddy tarp at the end of the night was hellacious. Leaving the pavilion was like a cattle stampede, people were even mooing. Our tarp was disgusting and huge and took two of us to carry it. It kept bumping into people and they were upset they were getting dirty. Pretty soon we starting purposefully knocking people with it so they would move and we could get out of there faster. It was completely ridiculous at the time, but we soon were cracking up about it. It's still hilarious to us to this day!

2007 - Flip Flop Summer Tour

Bets, Me, Deb, & Catina

We headed back to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco on May 3, 2008 at 5:30 pm. Tickets were $58 for section 115 Row 6, plus the convenience fees. It was a beautiful day and tons of fun. It's the concert where Deb & I acquired our 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy' green baseball caps. Whoooo! The margs were pretty good too. ;)

2008 - The Poets & Pirates Tour

There's something sexy about the rain...or so the Kenny song goes. Court & I went the Kenny concert at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco on May 2, 2009 amidst the rain, lightening, and thunder. Court & I waited around at my apt awhile but I talked her into heading over to the concert. We had to park a little ways away and wade through the water. As we were walking to the concert, through the ridiculous circumstances, Court commented "Only stupid people do this." Maybe she was right, but I was NOT going to miss MY Kenny! And she's an awesome sister for going along with my hair-brained ideas. We arrived part way through Lady Antebellum's performance and got to see Miranda Lambert. We were bundled in raincoats, plastic covers, and our caps. Kenny's band struggled to get on-stage equipment covered as the weather got worse and the lightning crew closer. We moved under a canopy, with a million other people, during Kenny's performance. Kenny had been singing less than an hour and was soaked to the bone and continued to sing, changing the playlist to sing his "There's Something Sexy About The Rain." At the end of his performance he told everyone that he'd be back in a few weeks and to get the hell out of there because the storms and lightning were way to close. We struggled to get back to the car through the flowing streams that had flip flops floating down them and finally made it out of there.

Rained-out 2009 - Sun City Carnival Tour

Kenny returned to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco on May 17, 2009. It was just Kenny, no opening act. Seating was first come first serve. It was a terrific make-up performance. Kenny sang for hours. After he finished his songs he began to sing other fun, random ones. It was great! It definitely made up for the crazy rain-out before. What a great guy to return and do another concert! See why I love this man?! Hehe!

Make-up 2009 - Sun City Carnival Tour

Kenny didn't tour in 2010. I guess everyone, even Kenny, needs a break sometimes. He didn't really take a break though. He came out with his album 'Hemingway's Whiskey' in the fall of 2010.

And that leads us back to this weekend and his 'Goin' Coastal Tour'. Again, it was awesome and just reminded us, not that we needed it, how much we love our Kenny!

2011 - Goin' Coastal Tour

Because Everyone Deserves A Lifetime

A year ago today my mom was diagnosed with cancer again for the third time. It was the worst day of my life. It was all too ironic that it fell on April Fool's Day. I had spent the night in the hospital with mom as we awaited test results for what we knew might be cancer again, although we were hoping it was some type of infection. I'll never forget that day. I wish I could. I still remember the doctor's face like it was yesterday. I can't explain the feeling of getting that news that the breast cancer was back and had spread. It's the helpless, out of control feeling. You know those tv shows where the main character is up above watching what is happening to them down below? Yeah, kind of like that.

Fast forward to today, a year later. Mom took her 14th chemo today and her tumor marker has gone down to 55 from the 1800 it was at a year ago. Destination tumor marker is between 0 - 37. We're nearly there!!!! God is a mighty, mighty God.


This is the reason I have taken on an incredible challenge. November 4-6, 2011 I will walk 60 miles to help end breast cancer forever. I will join together with thousands of other women and men as part of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.

No one should have to go through what I have seen my mom go through. No one should have to have a double mastectomy, take radiation that burns their skin, or take chemotherapy that causes them to lose their hair and feel ill. She had NO choice in getting breast cancer three times. I choose to walk 60 miles to honor her, as well as the many other women and men fighting and SURVIVING this terrible disease. I also walk in remembrance of those we have lost. I will do all I can not to let breast cancer affect anyone else's future. I am choosing to fight back. I am challenging myself to accomplish more than I ever thought possible.

I've agreed to raise at least $2,300 in donations and need your help. I would be honored if you'd consider making a donation to this cause. Please know you can donate any amount no contribution is too small!

You can donate online at The3Day.org. Just click on "Donate" and search for my personal fundraising page. You can also fill out the enclosed donation form and mail it to the address on the form. You can also call 800-996-3DAY to donate over the phone.

Net proceeds from the 3-Day for the Cure are invested in community-based breast health programs and breast cancer research. The research funded focuses on decreasing breast cancer incidence and mortality in the next decade.

Somewhere in the world, a woman dies from breast cancer every 69 seconds. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer, and is the leading cause of death among women worldwide. The majority of women with breast cancer have no known significant family history or other known risk factors. Breast cancer knows no boundaries be it age, gender, socio-economic status or geographic location. I'm walking in the 3-Day because everyone deserves a lifetime.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and for helping end breast cancer forever.

Also, ask your employer if they will double your donation through a matching gift program! Many companies will!