Kristi's Thoughts

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T20:52:00.003-05:00

Happy Memorial Day!

I am so thankful to the men & women who have served our country so that we can enjoy our freedom. I am very thankful for those that gave their life. There is no way to re-pay that.

Deb & I

We celebrated Memorial Day at work last Thursday. We recognized our vets, two of which are in our department, had a crazy hat contest, wore jeans, and had department ice cream socials. It was a great celebration, which everyone enjoyed!

Me & Diannah

We also had a photo-op where you could have your picture taken and receive a yellow lapel ribbon. We are printing these pictures and giving them out to the associates.

Enjoy this Memorial Day!

Why I Hate Cats

2011-04-27T11:34:00.003-05:00

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.
I deserve a refund. Too bad you were free. Now I know why. :-P

A Decade of Kenny

2011-04-17T15:13:00.008-05:00

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

2011-04-01T22:38:00.002-05:00

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!

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:http://www.the3day.org/site/TR?px=3038852&pg=personal&fr_id=1622&et=yej-_QgFkEXyrVDvHUJ6eA..&s_tafId=461820

Dallas Blooms

2011-03-28T05:27:00.004-05:00

Robin & I met Brinda & Pup at the Dallas Arboretum for Dallas Blooms on March 19th. I took a few engagement shots for Brinda & Pup for their 'Save The Dates' and then Pup left us girls alone to enjoy the flowers. The arboretum has a Fairy Tale Castles Exhibit that runs from March 5th-December 31st and features castles based on classic tales like Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel. We checked out these exhibits, as well as the Artscape, fine art show and sale that was going on that weekend.

Brinda & Pup surrounded by beautiful hydrangeas.

Brinda & Pup with a tulip back-drop.

I just love the different tulip varieties!

me, Robin, & Brinda

One of the pools with White Rock Lake in the background.

Saint Patrick's 2011

2011-03-28T04:23:00.004-05:00

We headed to Dallas' famous St. Patty's Parade on lower Greenville Saturday, March 12th. We watched the floats go down Greenville Ave and walked all over the area, enjoying the sights of the crazy tailgaters.

Jeff, Joy, Ren, Leigh Ann, me, Leah, & Joy's mom, Sandy

Everyone met up at Lindsay's apt so we could walk to the parade together. Of course we had to pose for a group photo before heading out.

Me & Joy shamrockin' it at the parade!

One of the many crazy floats.

Cheers! Leah & I at the parade!

Leigh Ann, Ren, Jeff, Leah, & Joy strike a pose.

Kilt clad! Jeff found a fellow kilt buddy to chat with on the parade route.

We got lots of random freebies thrown at us from the floats, including this beach ball and TONS of beads!

We ran into Oneal, from church, after the parade. He participated in the 5K run pre-parade.

On Thursday, March 17th we celebrated St. Pat's Day at work with a crazy hat contest.

Spirited girls! Deborah, Ruby, me, April, Diannah, & Belinda

We forced Vincent to join us in the festivities! I had to show off my shamrock socks & green shoes in this pic! ;)

Phil came decked out and even won one of the crazy hat awards. Yes, that's a hair hat! He's actually bald! ;)

Jeff crafted this amazing butterfly hat and won an extra special award!

February in Colorado

2011-03-19T00:20:00.009-05:00

I headed to Colorado back in February. My friend Suzanne wanted to check out the University of Denver’s grad school program so I decided to tag along to see the sights with her. We left from work on Thursday, February 17th and headed to DFW airport where we caught a 7:25 pm flight to the “Mile High” city of Denver. That night we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel close to the airport.

Friday morning, February 18th, we took the shuttle to Enterprise, got a rental car (which turned out to be a minivan!), and headed to Hammond’s Candies. It was fun to tour the candy factory and see how candy is made. It reminded me of the ‘I Love Lucy’ episode where Lucy and Ethel get jobs for the day at a candy factory. I’ve always wanted to do that! ;)

We enjoyed the free samples and the candy shopping. They offer a variety of treats from chocolates to caramels, lollipops, candy canes, and more. I definitely recommend the homemade peanut butter cup and chocolate covered cherry. Delish!

After the tour, and going broke buying candy, we headed to the Colorado State Capitol where we went on a free historical tour. We saw several stained glass windows, Women’s Gold Tapestry, Presidential portraits, and the Senate and House of Representatives chambers.

We then did the 99-step climb to the interior observation area, which has 360-degree panoramic views of downtown Denver and the Rocky Mountains.

Next we hit up the Denver Art Museum. This museum consists of two buildings with galleries showcasing a world-famous American Indian art collection, Modern & Contemporary Art, and Photography, just to name a few.

Weird red art.

Afterward we stopped for some awesome salads at Mad Greens and then headed for the minivan. We found a Sport Authority so that I could buy some snow boots and Suzanne could grab some gloves, then it was off to check-in at the Holiday Inn Select - Cherry Creek. We changed clothes and then headed to the grad school’s meet & greet at DU. Suzanne chatted up some fellow grad schoolers and then we went to the DU hockey game. Go Pioneers! After we’d had our fill of hockey, and chatted with the other grad school crazies nearby, we headed back to the hotel for a quick change before a late dinner at the Argyll GastroPub where we had the MOST amazing Mac-n-Cheese. It had shrimp, mini-rigatoni, a five cheese sauce, braised shallots, crimini mushrooms, bacon, peas, and parmesan breadcrumbs. My mouth is watering right now as I describe it and I’m considering hoping a flight to Denver tonight just to have some! Yes, THAT good! I didn’t touch much of my Fish & Chips after munching on that. Suzanne ordered the Roast Chicken entrée, which had the weirdest bread pudding we’d ever seen. I wasted $10 on the nastiest Tequila Thyme Margarita. I don’t think I knew, or forgot what thyme was, and then after tasting it I was too embarrassed to send it back. Seriously had two sips. I sampled Suzanne’s Pimm’s Cup Up. I do NOT know how she choked it down. It had lavender simple syrup and chopped muddled ginger, as well as grapefruit bitters. More power to her! ;)

We ended the night listening to jazz at El Chapultepec where greats like Sinatra, Bennett, and Fitzgerald have performed.

Saturday morning, February 19th, I dropped Suzanne off at DU for more grad school sessions and went back to the hotel to get ready and packed. I picked her up around 11:30 and we headed into the mountains! The drive was crazy! The road was very, very curvy and mountains surrounded us on all sides. All of a sudden the sparsely snow covered mountains turned into full blown snow coverage. It was BEAUTIFUL! My pictures do not even do it justice. As we were driving along with saw a man climbing a frozen waterfall. Really? Who does that?! The roads weren’t bad at all, which we were super thankful about. We made it to Frisco (yes, I went from one Frisco to another) and had some awesome pizza at Peppino’s Pizza & Subs. Then we hopped in the mini and headed toward Breckenridge for dog sledding. It was 6+ miles off the main road and those roads definitely were snow covered and icy in some parts. The snow everywhere was amazing. This born and bred Texas girl had never seen anything like it! We got there just in time to throw our snow/ski gear on and do the dog sledding tour. Our guide introduced us to the Siberian Huskies, quickly explained the operations of the sled and how to handle the dogs, and we were off for a 6-mile relay tour through the Middle Fork of the Swan River. The 6 of us switched between running the dogs, riding in the dogsled, and riding in a small passenger sleigh with our guide. We stopped along the way for the groups to trade places. It was amazing! Definitely my most fave part of the trip. We were in the middle of snow covered woods dog sledding. How many times do you get the chance to do that?! I have to admit I was pretty scared at first. How was I going to be able to run dogs in this rickety sled?! Oh my! All three groups of us ended up wrecking, which made the rest of us feel better about our sled driving! When you are going downhill the dogs just take off and fly around corners. That’s how Suzanne and I ended up flying into the snow. You couldn’t help but laugh. We were thrown out and the dogs took off. Thankfully our guide knew we had become airborne and stopped the sleigh and the dogs. After that I was more comfortable knowing it was okay to bust it!

After the 1+ hour dog sled experience we then headed into the town of Breckenridge to do a Hot Chocolate Scenic Sleigh Ride. This was a 45-min ride on Peak 9. It had started snowing on our dog sled tour and by the time we were on the sleigh ride the snow was flying down in buckets. I had to put my goggles on to be able to see. Thank goodness for the blankets they provided. When the sleigh ride was over we found parking around Main St. and started walking around. It’s SO cute there! It seriously looks like those little Christmas villages people decorate with during the holidays. I LOVED IT!

We met up with my college friend, Audray, who now lives in CO, and had dinner at the Whale’s Tail. It was some yum seafood. We did a lot more walking around afterward, and checked out some souvenir shops. We popped into Celia’s Night Club for a bit, but being tired and still in my ski gear, I was not feeling the dance vibe! The drive back to our motel in Frisco was INSANE. It was snowing a LOT and I could barely see. I couldn’t even tell where the lanes were. Of course people were flying by me, which made it worse! We finally arrived at the Snowshoe Motel and got checked in. Audray spent the night so she wouldn’t have to drive back in the crazy weather, and so she could ski the next day.

Sunday, February 20th, Audray took off to cross country ski and Suzanne and I headed to Loveland to downhill ski. It had continued to snow, and snow, and snow all night. The view when walking out of the motel that morning was a sight to see. It also made the drive to Loveland pretty scary. Suzanne was driving this time but I could tell it was super stressful. The road was covered, it was hard to see, and one car was stuck in the middle of the highway. Commercial vehicles weren’t allowed to be without snow chains. It was crazy!

We finally made it though and got checked in for ski school. This was my first time to EVER ski so I definitely needed lessons. Suzanne had skied a few times before so she decided to do some intermediate lessons. We both did a half-day lesson, which turned out to be around 3 hours. Looking back, I probably should have done the full-day for 5 ½ hours. Skiing did NOT go well for me.

I am the most nonathletic person on earth. I'm not coordinated, or graceful in the least, however, I wanted to take on the challenge of skiing. I knew it would be hard. I knew I would fall. I knew it would be a big workout. What I did not know is that it would very seriously be the most terrifying thing I had ever, ever, EVER done. I started my lesson out just fine. We practiced without skis and only poles. Then we practiced with one ski. Then we moved up to two skis. We went into the Kids Corral to ride up the people mover/conveyor belt they had in there that led up a little hill and then we skied down the little hill a few times. The conveyor belt was scary because you had to get on it while it was moving. Lucky for me the first time I got on it had been stopped for some reason so I didn't have any problems getting on, although it was really jerky when it took off again. Of course the second time I had to get on it while it was moving and I busted it hardcore. Yep, busted it in the Kids Corral with a line of people behind me. My instructor and some other helpers in that area tried to help me up but I was dead weight so I had to take my skis off, get them situated on the conveyor belt, and then get in them. I nearly fell again when it started back up but thankfully one of the workers in there kept me from doing so. The third time I nearly fell as well, however the workers remembered me and one guy seriously grabbed on so I didn't fall this time. I should have known this was only going to lead to worse things! :-P Next it was time for the ski lift. I was already worried about the lift because of things I had heard. We had an uneven number in our group of 5, so the instructor, knowing I was the worst in the group, joined me on the lift. Getting on was pretty scary, being up that high and looking down was a bit frightening, but skiing off the lift was horrific and I of course fell. And again, my instructor and the dude running the lift couldn't get my dead weight up so the skis came off again and I had to get back in them. The instructor asked me and another girl if we wanted to attempt the next little part of the mountain on our own or with him skiing backward and us holding on to his poles. We both said we would attempt it on our own; why I said that I don't know. I fell yet again. This time it hurt...BAD! He had told us to not fall backward. Lean forward on your boots and you won't fall. Yep, pretty much forgot all I'd learned when I started going out of control and fell backward right on my tailbone. It was at that point the tears welled up in my eyes. My instructor was able to get me up this time without having to take my skis off since I was on a slant and he said he'd hold on to me while we skied down the next part. Well, he was holding on but I still busted it, this time falling into him and on his skis. Awesome. I was way upset by this point and was having a super hard time holding back the tears that started rolling out. I was trying to talk to the instructor and my voice was cracking and shaky. He asked if I just wanted to take a break and sit for a bit to which I quickly replied yes. So I sat there in the snow while he talked to the other people in my ski class. I tried to calm down but just couldn't. By this point I had the WORST mental block about skiing and I honestly wanted the ski patrol to come get me because I was still halfway up the mountain. The others in my group had all taken off down the mountain when my instructor asked if I was ready to go down. I wasn't and he knew it. So he said he'd ski backward and I could hold on to our poles he'd be holding. It was still the scariest thing ever but we ended up making it down. The entire lesson he kept telling me to stop watching my feet and look where I was going. I was unable to do so. Of course I was supposed to be watching as he skied backward, but wasn't, and we skied into one of those little pole things you see the skiers skiing around on the Olympics. Then we were all tangled, so he had to push me backward a little to get out, which again, was SCARY. When we got down to the part we'd practiced on before he had me do it myself, and I finished fine. I couldn't wait to get out of my skis though. He did tell me that skiing is 90% mental and 10% in your head. Ha. Yup, I agree that it's all mental and I had the worst mental block ever after that lesson. The out of control, I'm flying down this mountain and can't stop, I'm going to die feeling would not leave me. He also made the comment along the way that kids that start out at 4 have a much easier time at it. He started back in the 40's when he was 4. Yup, starting at 31 wasn't the easiest. I headed to the lodge and met up with Suzanne for lunch. After lunch she went to ski again until the lift closed at 4, but I WAS DONE! I hung out with a random lady that we shared a table with, took pictures, snacked, and did attempt the skis once more but that scary 10 min attempt at the bottom of the mountain was enough and I turned my skis back in.

I'm honestly glad I tried it, even after all that. If I hadn't I would have never known. I'm also not saying I'll never try it again either. It might be better next time, who knows. But for now, I'm totally not a skier. :-P

We left Loveland and headed to Keystone to snow tube. That drive was crazy. The curves of the drive from Denver to Frisco was nothing compared to this. There were no shoulders, straight drop offs down the mountains, snow everywhere, and signs that said 'Avalanche Area'. Yeah, crazy. We did stop to take pictures because it was beautiful, but I was glad when we were off that road.

We got to Keystone but the snow tubing was booked. We were bummed, but there were lots of little shops and restaurants around Keystone so we shopped around and ate.

Monday, February 21st was time to head home. After breakfast in Frisco we headed back toward Denver, stopping to take pictures of course.

We stopped at Idaho Springs to do some gold panning at the Argo Gold Mine & Mill. It was windy and the water was freezing, but we did find some gold flakes we got to come home with. We also thought it was hilarious that the local sports team was called The Golddiggers!!!

It was a fun trip & I'm glad we went. It took awhile to recover from the bruises and tiredness, but the experience was great!

Going to the chapel...

2011-01-17T22:13:00.002-06:00

And they're gonna get married!!!

Congrats to Pup & Brinda! They are engaged as of New Year's Eve!

Looking forward to a 2011 wedding!

Love ya!

Hey, It's Ok!

2011-01-08T14:39:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine sent me a page torn out of a magazine with the following note "Kristi, So, I totally saw this in Glamour magazine - Dec 2010 and immediately thought of U! I guess no more jokes about your holiday Christmas cards. I mean if Glamour approves, so should I right..........shouldn't I?!?!"

The page titled "Hey, it's ok!" reads:

1. To wear your shades even when it's cloudy outside. A little chic privacy, please.
2. To spike the eggnog.
3. If your spin on the whole 2010 menswear thing involves raiding his closet and possibly not returning stuff.
4. To eat snow, pollution be damned.
5. To send out a holiday card with a picture of your supercute, smiling, Santa-hat-wearing...pet. Absolutely you can be that girl. Own it.
6. To love Frito pie. Chili served on a bed of Fritos and covered with cheese, Texas-elementary-school-cafeteria style? It is OK.

So yes, I AM THAT girl. I'm a single girl that sends out Christmas cards pics of herself and her cats. Crazy cat lady much?! And you know what, I love it. The crazier, funnier, the better! I know people think I've lost it sometimes, like said friend about, but hey, my kitties are the family I have right now! ;-) So here's to Glamour making it okay! lol!

Oh, and I love the rest of the things on the list too. Bring on the Frito pie!!!

And of course a sample of said pictures!

And yes, the card always reads "Merry Christmas! Love, Kristi, Sylvester, & Jax" ;-)

Thanks Brinda! Love you!

NYE 2010

2011-01-01T22:43:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year!!!!

Last night I rang in 2011 with my best single girls at Hotel ZaZa in Uptown Dallas. We had 7:30 pm dinner reservations at the hotel's restaurant, Dragonfly. We enjoyed a 4 Course Dinner, which started out with complimentary bread and an Amuse Bouche before the appetizer portion of the meal. For my appetizer I chose the Farro Risotto with Kabocha Squash and Local Goat Cheese. It was excellent. Next was the Soup/Salad course where I chose the Calamari Salad. Our waiter raved about this salad so I HAD to try it. I don't order calamari much, but it was very good. I also tried a bite of Leah's Wild Mushroom Soup which was great as well. For my Entree I chose the Grilled Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Baby Carrots, and Red-Eye Gravy. I've never been a big steak fan, until lately, and when I saw that the Dragonfly's website said "Best Steak in Dallas!" I knew I needed to try it. It was great, just like everything else. Last but not least was the Trio of Chocolate Dessert, which included Godiva White Chocolate Cheesecake with Blackberry, Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Creme Brulee, and Dark Chocolate Chambord Truffle! YUM!

I ordered The Big Flirt to accompany my meal!

Gretchen & Lacy

Entree - Grilled Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Baby Carrots, and Red-Eye Gravy (sorry, not the best photo, yet tasted awesome!)

Joy & I enjoying our Trio of Chocolate Dessert.

After dinner we joined ZaZa's NYE Party. There were lots of different party areas, including the outdoor pool which had been transformed into an indoor area with a dance floor covering the pool below. There were bars set up everywhere, as well as DJ's and dance floors. We had a fun time dancing & hanging out.

Me, Leigh Ann, Leah, & Joy

Lacy & Lindsay

Here's the pool area (photo from website) that was transformed into an indoor party area.

Below is the ceiling and decor above the pool!

Me & Leigh Ann

The DJ counted us down to midnight and we enjoyed a champagne toast!

Redhead Trio - Christine, Leah, & me

Christmas Day 'O Fun!

2010-12-27T17:17:00.005-06:00

Yes, I'm behind and still posting about Christmas! Had to share though! ;-)

Saturday, December 11th was the first annual Jonah, Glory, & Kristi's Christmas Day O' Fun!

I had told Keelie that I wanted to spend some time with the kiddos and do some Christmas activities. I suggested that Keelie & Justin drop the kids off at my apartment and head out to do some shopping while we enjoyed our Christmas Day. Jonah & I always talk about my kitties in-depth so I knew he'd enjoy being at my apartment so he could see them. The kiddos were dropped off around 10, Justin & Keelie slyly snuck out as the kids and I looked for Sylvester in my closet, and then we got started on making sugar cookies. I tried so hard to be completely prepared so that there would be no bumps in the road, but really, how can you ever be completely prepared with a 2 & 5 year old. ;-) I didn't expect the kids to want to eat the raw dough more than they wanted to cut out the fun shapes. I had to keep reigning them back in to the topic at hand. I knew it'd be a fun/interesting day when both children had massive dough balls in their mouths. Big Aunt Kristi fail! lol. We finally got the pitiful cookies cut out and cooked. And I do mean pitiful. I rolled the dough out way to thin so after they cooked they looked like hard, golden, blobs. Yeah, they didn't keep their shape even a little. I really don't think the kids cared though. It was time to decorate! I moved all the icing and sprinkles to the table where the kids were and headed back to the kitchen to bring over the cookies. It never crossed my mind that I shouldn't leave them alone with the sprinkles. In the minute I was away Glory had managed to pour some all over the table. Awesome! Even after that I didn't think about not letting Glory hold her own sprinkle container. Her cookies were covered head to toe in sprinkles! After decorating cookies, and eating LOTS of icing, and I do mean A LOT, we headed to McDonald's for some real food. Okay, maybe not real food, but Happy Meals, which we picked up and brought back to my apartment. Did you know that it's not super smart to let kids leave their food out, along with ketchup, all afternoon so they can graze? There were nuggets and ketchup everywhere. Every time I picked Glory up she was covered in the stuff. And then there was the time she took her nugget and rubbed it on the tv and then ate it. Yum! LOL!

Rolling out dough and cutting cookies!

Yummy dough! lol!

Hawaiian dough eating reindeer!

Chillin' in their Christmas shades!

Must work out!

I loved when Jonah asked excitedly "KRISTI! Do you do this every day?!" Ha!

Decorating cookies!

Love this face!

After cookies & McDonald's we worked on some art projects. Jonah & I made a hand print wreath with his picture on it, and Glory got one too, minus the hand prints since she was opposed to me tracing her hands. We also worked on some foam sticker projects. The kids enjoyed peeling the stickers and putting them on the foam background. Glory liked putting the stickers in her mouth. Wild child!

I gave the kids their Christmas ornaments & presents during the afternoon. I think they enjoyed their pillow pets, as they used them right away. At some point we had 'Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas' movie playing and started 'Elf'. Wow, I'm tired just thinking about all we did! :-) It was a very fun day! Keelie & Justin got most of their shopping done too and suggested we do this every year! ;-) I guess we can...if they twist my arm! Hahaha! I just LOVE these kiddos and enjoy all my time spent with them! I can't wait for our 2nd Annual Christmas Day O' Fun. Although I might be a bit more prepared next time and get more sleep the night before. ;-)

Away In A Manger

2010-12-27T16:51:00.006-06:00

On Friday, December 10th Joy, Leigh Ann, & I attended The Christmas Journey at First Baptist Church McKinney. According to the church's website, " “Christmas Journey” is a fully dramatized production utilizing professional sets for a 16-scene living pageant. The entire drama can be seen from your car. Volunteers will provide each car with a CD narrating each scene. As you travel through the biblical scenes, you will have a multi-sensory experience of the biblical accounts of Jesus Christ’s life. Participants will find themselves driving through a biblical street market or into the field where the shepherds heard the good news. With live animals and kid-friendly scenes, this event is geared toward the entire family." In a word, AMAZING!

I honestly didn't expect too much when we decided to attend The Christmas Journey, which I assumed was just a drive-through nativity. I was very excited to go, but just assumed it would be a small scale production that would take a few minutes to drive though. It was SO much more. The Christmas Journey was a performance of Jesus' birth in a manager through His resurrection from the grave. We were blown away. It was incredible. We even got to keep the narration CD at the end of it all! We waiting in line before entering the church lot for about 20 min and it took about 45 min to drive through it. Well worth the time spent!

It was so weird to be driving along and have Roman soldiers walking right beside the car.

According to the FBC website, more than 600 volunteers put this performance together. More than 7,000 man-hours are spent on this project, which began in June! We all agreed it was definitely worth the time spent.

The scenes were so authentic. They used real babies & children, as well as the live animals. It was great!

Check out Satan to the far left of the photo!

Up from the grave He arose!

I highly recommend this event to everyone next year. They only do it one weekend, 3 days, in December so make plans early to attend. You will not be disappointed!

2010 Holiday Tour of Homes in McKinney

2010-12-27T13:28:00.005-06:00

I just love Christmas and all the fun events leading up to it. There is never a shortage of things to do and see in the month of December.

On Saturday, December 4th, I went on the Holiday Tour of Homes in McKinney with Leigh Ann, her mom, Jackie, and three of Jackie's long-time friends from Celina. It was a busy day, but SO much fun! When Leigh Ann mentioned the Tour of Homes earlier in the week I was immediately excited & wanted to attend. In Decatur, where I grew up, they also host a Holiday Tour of Homes and I know how much work goes into the decorating of the fabulous homes on the tour. I knew it would be a fun treat to see all the pretty places.

We met at Leigh Ann's at 11 am, the 6 of us jumped into a Tahoe and off we went to our first destination, 506 W. Hunt. The Victoria style home with Neo-classical elements was built in 1906.

I liked their unusual decorating style and the way they displayed their Christmas cards.

How interesting is this wreath of kitchen gadgets, as well as the little animal designs?!

Next we headed to 315 North Church Street to the First United Methodist Church of McKinney, which was built in 1876 and has a Victorian Gothic style. This is also where Leigh Ann's brother & sister-in-law were married!

I loved all their nativity scenes.

The church has beautiful stained glass windows.

The lovely ladies in our crew outside the church.

Our next stop was to downtown McKinney Square to 110 E. Louisiana to the apartment of Don & Linda Day. This building was constructed in 1880 to house the Crouch Mercantile Store. The apartment was built in 1996.

We then visited 407 S. Tennessee. This home was originally built in 1937 as a medical clinic. The home is a New Orleans French style and still has the original chandeliers and light fixtures in the bedrooms and baths that were imported from Europe.

The light fixtures and garland were beautiful.

I thought this chandelier was amazing!

Our next stop was 824 Chapel Hill Ln, part of Cambridge Homes. The Somerset design featured an Al Fresco room with a fireplace and a very cool wine closet.

This model home was decorated so pretty.

All the ladies!

We stopped at 803 Waddill before heading home to Leigh Ann's. This home was built in 1946 and has late 1800's Victorian doors and stained glass, along with large pocket privacy doors that close off the entry foyer from the family room.

We ended our tour at Leigh Ann's for a fabulous late lunch of chicken salad croissant sandwiches, salad with pears, blue cheese, & cranberries, potato chips, and creme brulee for dessert. It was the perfect end to a fun-filled day!

I would definitely recommend the Holiday Tour of Homes to anyone. It was a great way to start off the month of December. I look forward to next year!

Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

2010-11-28T13:17:00.006-06:00

Courtney & I decorated the family tree for Mom yesterday. I love decorating their tree and seeing the 34 years worth of ornaments that make up our family collection. As we decorated yesterday we talked about many of the ornaments; how long we'd had them, where they came from, and how much we liked them. There are ornaments from Mom & Dad's first Christmas together, ornaments from mine & Court's first Christmas, and many, many others throughout childhood. I loved seeing the the wide array of ornaments. There were so many ornaments that we couldn't even hang them all. I still remembered the heart ornament with my name on it dated 1985 that was given to me by my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Hitt, as well as the tiny teddy bear ornament given to be in 3rd grade my Mrs. Burnett. It was a fun trip down memory lane. Mom, Court, & I laughed and talked for hours about the various ornaments.

This is one of probably a dozen stuffed ornaments that Mom made around 32 years ago. When I decorated the tree growing up I would always put these in the back of the tree because I didn't like them. lol. Mom soon figured it out when she saw them all in back. From then on it was a joke every year when decorating the tree. This year I hung them all over the tree, just for Mom! And yes, she noticed! ;-)

I just LOVE these pencil ornaments. We all have one with our name on it. A teacher couple that worked at Mom's school made these, so we ordered some for us, as well as many of our friends. The back of this one is dated 1987-1988.

These handcuffs may look a bit out of place on anyone else's tree, but not ours. They were given to Mom & Dad as an ornament for their wedding on December 28, 1976. Handcuffs because Dad has always been a law enforcement officer...and of course I'm sure it signifies them being cuffed together for life as well! ;-)

We have many of these engraved type ornaments too. I found the one Carrie Pruett gave me as a gift in 2nd grade. It was a little engraved cat with my name on it. I still love it. I've always loved this one too. The little girl has Mom's name engraved on it and the little boy has Dad's and it's dated 1980. How special to be able to look back and know exactly when the ornament was from.

Strawberry Shortcake has ALWAYS been one of my faves. I was always super careful with her, as she's breakable. She was given to me by family friend, Monica Weber, when I was probably about 6. Court had Strawberry Shortcake's friend, Lemon Meringue.

1982 - Courtney's first Christmas

This angel looks pretty sad now, but I still put it on the tree. I made it years ago in Sunday school and still love it!

1979 - My first Christmas

Last, but not least, is the golden star with the crown of thorns. Court, Mom, & I made this for a church presentation one year, many moons ago. It was for Sunday night service and all families that wanted to participate could get up in front of the congregation and tell about their ornament and put it on the church tree. I read a scripture, Mom told about our ornament, and Court shyly stood behind us. ;) Court & I were very nervous to get up in front of everyone. We reminisced about that yesterday. lol. As Mom said yesterday though "We all did great."

I could go on and on and on, as I already have. It's just so fun that our family ornaments have such great meaning behind them. I will enjoy decorating my own tree this year, but it won't be the same as the family tree. I do look forward to memories like these with my own children someday though. :)

Papa

2010-11-22T17:47:00.006-06:00

"I saw you pass away. Although I loved you dearly, I couldn't make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest. God broke my heart to prove to me, he only takes the best."

December 2009

Today would have been my Papa's 87th birthday and my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. We lost Papa back in February and nothing has been the same since. Grandma had to go to a retirement home and her dementia has increased, the house out in the country is empty, and we are preparing for Thanksgiving this week without him for the first time.

Papa & Grandma - December 2008

I've missed him a lot through the months, but more so today. It's hard to put into words how much he meant to me and my family. I only have a small number of men in my life that I look up to and respect and Papa was definitely one of them. He was a Godly man; at church any time the doors opened, before his health declined in later years. He was the hardest worker I'd ever known, besides Grandma. He was a farmer and a rancher and would spend all day tending to the cattle or the garden. I loved going out to my grandparent's house growing up. It was always an adventure. We would play on the cellar or cattle guards, run around with the dogs, which we called ours since we didn't have any of our own. I loved going to the big barn with Papa to get sugar cane to feed the dogs. It was a treat for the dogs and Courtney & me. We would eat a plethora of sweets at their house, and Papa would always encourage us to have more. And he always had gum...always. The little children at his church would run up to him to get sticks of gum before and after the service, and I thought my Papa was the coolest because of that.

fishing with Daddy, Papa, & Court - 1991

Christmas Day 2007

I was scared to death of my Papa when I was younger. When his voice was raised it shot terror through me. It created in me a healthy respect for him. Although as he aged he got much more mellow, and my fear disappeared all together. When I picture Papa I always think about the faded overalls he wore. Those were for working and not to be worn to town. I loved them. I also loved his big pocket watch that was always tucked safely inside the overalls. That was Papa.

Papa & Mom - 2009

The whole family - Christmas 2009

I'll never forget the year we shot off fireworks in the country. The dancing butterfly chased Papa and he was running and laughing. It was hilarious. I remember it like it was yesterday. Papa had the best laugh ever. It can't be imitated. It lit up his whole face. I got the biggest kick out of him mispronouncing Courtney's name. He always said Courtley, even if we corrected him. He loved watching 'wrastling' and eating sweets. Chocolate cake was his favorite. There are many, many more memories that come to mind when I think of Papa, but you get the point.

I miss him dearly. He was the only grandfather I've ever known and it was a joy getting to grow up 20 miles from he and Grandma. I know he's in Heaven now, but I would have selfishly kept him around here forever.

"I'm gonna miss that smile, I'm gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up, I'd do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven 'cause that's right where you wanna be
I'm not cryin' 'cause I feel so sorry for you, I'm cryin' for me" ~Toby Keith

The Official Twilight Convention

2010-11-15T19:51:00.007-06:00

Courtney & I attended The Official Twilight Convention at Westin Park Central Hotel in Dallas on Saturday. Being the obsessive Twihard that I currently am, when I heard about the convention I just HAD to go. Court, being the awesome sister she is, was game to attend with me so I didn't have to go solo.

We arrived at the hotel around 10:45 am, got our tickets and headed to the Grand Ballroom for the welcome from The Hillywood Show, hosts of the convention. They are a hilarious group who does parodies of the different Twilight movies, and many others. They started the convention off with the Eclipse Parody, which had just been released a few days earlier. IT. WAS. HILARIOUS.

The Hillywood Show Cast

Excited for the convention!

Christopher Heyerdahl (Volturi Leader Marcus) was the first celeb for Q&A on the stage. He was very funny! Very full of energy and NOTHING like his character. He would leap off the stage and run down the aisles and talk to the audience. It was fun to listen to him.

After the Twilight Lexicon Panel, who talked about their tales from the black, not red, carpet, I participated in The Twilight Saga Yes/No Trivia Game. I thought I had this in the bag. I mean, I play trivia on my iPhone through my various Twilight Apps all the time, how could I not. The questions they asked were HARD! As you can see above I'm concentrating a lot on the question. And embarrassingly enough, I answered wrong on the 2nd question and was out. How was I supposed to remember that Bella saw different colors that other people didn't see in Breaking Dawn. Really?! lol! Oh well, it was fun!

Then we received a visit from the Wolf Pack's Bronson Pelletier (Jared) and Kiowa Gordon (Embry). These guys were a riot. They were just big goofballs. Must be because they are 24 & 20. I enjoyed their crazy answers during the Q&A. It was pretty impressive when they started quoting Dark Knight together. Bronson also told a story about meeting David Duchovny when he was shooting The X-Files in his neighborhood when he was 9. It was a funny story about him having a mouthful of oreos which he spit into his hand so he could talk to David. :-)

After a short break there was a No Minimum Bid Auction with lots of the convention banners and autographed pictures. I was shocked that this Edward banner went for $500. I mean, I love me some Edward, but $500 for this?! Not so much!

Last, but not least, was a Q&A with Peter Facinelli (Dr. Carlisle Cullen). Court & I actually passed Peter Facinelli as we were going up the escalator and he was going down, along with some bodyguards, but we were so wrapped up in conversation that we didn't even notice until it was too late. Dang it! He was great though. Such a cutie and so sweet! He has a great personality. He also walked throughout the audience answering questions, as well as called individuals on stage so they could personally ask him their questions. The lady in front of us got called up on stage and he had her sit in his chair and hang out while he answered her questions. I was a little afraid she might pass out when she returned to the seat in front of us since she was shaking so bad!

It was a fun day that definitely fed my obsession with all things Twilight. I especially loved the Q&A they aired from the LA convention back in May that Taylor Lautner (Jacob), Robert Pattinson (Edward), and Kristen Stewart (Bella) actually attended. I could listen to Rob answer questions in his British accent all day, but I digress.

The next convention in Dallas is December 3-4, 2011 at the Westin Park Central Hotel again. Mark your calendars. I'll be ready to go again. I think I'm going to start a campaign for the next year to actually have Rob there! You know you'll want to go then! ;-)

Fall Girls' Weekend

2010-11-03T23:32:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth, Vanessa, & Deborah came into town from Houston/San Antonio the weekend of October 22-24. I love weekends with my girls, who I don't get to see very often. It's a great chance to catch up, laugh until we cry, go down memory lane, and make some awesome new memories.

Bets, Deb, & Ness - tornado party in the bathroom

We spent part of Saturday afternoon in the bathroom due to the tornado sirens going off. We gathered up the cats in their crates and I made the girls stay in the bathroom for a couple of minutes as well. No tornado was going to get them on my watch! ;-) However, after few minutes it go quite toasty in there so we watched the weather from my room.

The crazy weather squashed my plans of taking them to the arboretum to check out all the pumpkins so we created our own pumpkin-picture-taking-spot in my apt! ;-)

We took quite a few pictures, and got a little silly as well. It's sad how long it took us to figure out how we could all be in this picture! We worked off quite a few calories laughing during that time.

Then we carved pumpkins and I made the girls watch my favorite Halloween move from childhood, The Worst Witch. I don't think it became one of their all time faves! ;)

They turned out quite nicely!

We had dinner at Babe's on Saturday evening and the girls told the waitress it was my birthday. I corrected them and told her it had been two weeks before, but I got the royal birthday treatment anyway. :-P

Sunday we hit up Josephine's Italian Bistro for lunch before the girls headed back home.

It was a very fun weekend and I can't wait until the next get together. I am SO thankful to have these girls in my life! Love them!

Birthday Weekend

2010-11-01T19:54:00.003-05:00

I turned 31 on October 10th. Grrrr! LOL! At least I can have fun getting older. I had Monday off for Columbus Day so I enjoyed a fun, long birthday weekend filled with awesome friends and family!
October 8 - Friday night Stephanie, Trista, Julie, & I headed to Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie to see Joel McHale's comedy act. Before the show we enjoyed some awesome homecooking at Cracker Barrel. It was a very fun night!

October 9 - Saturday I celebrated my birthday at Bonnie Ruth's in Frisco with some of my closest friends. It was a fun night full of entertaining conversation, pictures, presents, wonderful food, and the best dessert. I had a blast!

The dessert tray! It was SO hard to choose!

I loved the Twilight cards, gift bag, and presents! ;-)

October 10 - My 31st! Courtney & I spent the day at Cowboy's Stadium in Arlington. As part of the iPromise campaign between the Dallas Cowboys and Susan G. Komen the Cowboys gave Komen 1 million dollars. We were volunteers in the half-time show, making a human Komen ribbon. We even got to meet Komen founder & CEO Nancy G. Brinker, with us above. It was lots of fun and a great way to spend my birthday by honoring my 3 mom, a 3 time breast cancer survivor.

October 11 - On Monday Leah, Leigh Ann, Courtney, & I headed to the State Fair to enjoy tons of fried food. We tried fried blackeyed peas, fried chocolate, fried frito pie, fried cheesecake, fried margarita, and a Fletcher's corn dog. It was fun, but we were exhausted, hot, and full when the day was over.

I guess getting older isn't so bad when there are fun times like these! Here's to year 31! :)

Birthdays Galore

2010-09-22T23:46:00.002-05:00

August & September have been very busy birthday months for my friends & family. I've headed off to one party or another nearly every weekend, sometimes celebrating during the week as well.

Emma turned 5 on August 11th. She celebrated her party at Pump It Up on Saturday, August 14th.

We celebrated Leigh Ann's 32nd on Saturday, August 14th as well, with a party at her house. That was a busy day! On LA's actual birthday, August 17th, we helped her celebrate with Mexican food at Uncle Julios!

Deborah turned 39 (again) on August 27th. I decorated her cubicle at work and we headed to Down Under Pub & Grub for lunch so she could enjoy her favorite fried mushrooms and chicken dish. She received these beautiful roses from her daughter & family.

Jonah turned 5 on September 2nd. We celebrated with a family birthday at Lake Ray Robert's on August 28th, since his family was camping there for the weekend. Jonah and his cousins really enjoyed splashing in the water.

Court turned 28 on Friday, September 3rd. How is my little sister now 28?! Yes, I feel old! We celebrated with Texas Roadhouse that evening and lots of cake & ice cream throughout the Labor Day weekend.

James turned 1 on September 15th! It seems like he was just born a few days ago. Where has the year gone?! I traveled to Houston for his party on September 11th. It was so much fun to see how he much he's grown. He's not a baby anymore. Wow.

Sara turned 34 on September 5th, but we celebrated with a Chuy's lunch on September 14th. A little late, but SO much fun! The dance party in the car was the best!

And finally, Glory turns 2 this Saturday, September 25th. We celebrated her birthday last Saturday, September 18th, with brownie sundaes, gifts, and a pinata.

Whew! That was a lot of dates and locations, but tons of fun celebrating with everyone! I wouldn't have missed it! :-)

How To Make Twilight Cupcakes

2010-08-29T15:50:00.007-05:00

First of all, you must start with a deep love of all things Twilight, as well as a love for your friend on her birthday! ;-) Then you should google Twilight Cupcakes in Google search to see what those bakers who have gone before you have created. I got lots of great ideas online, and to think I originally wondered if my search would return anything. I should have known my fellow Twilight lovers wouldn't let me down. Then you should go all over town shopping for supplies. I really got into the supply shopping and went a tad overboard, but it was fun so that's what matters.

I used a Funfetti cake mix & icing, LA's favorite. Then there was the ready-to-use white fondant from Wal-Mart and the multi-pack of black, light & dark brown, and pink from Michael's. Fyi, Michael's has an AMAZING aisle full of baking/decorating supplies. I LOVED it! I grabbed some cornstarch because I read online it would help if the fondant was sticky when you tried to roll and knead it. It really came in handy. Then of course you need cookie cutters to cut out the fondant. Party America & Party City came in handy when it came to the fangs and Twilight magnets and bookmarks, which I hot glued to the cookie sticks so I could stick them in the cupcakes. Of course I also needed assorted decorating tips, glitter & sprinkles, decorator icing bags, and edible color markers. Somewhere in there I hit up Hobby Lobby too. My shopping became a bit obsessive.

Then, I just winged it. I looked at the online photos and the covers of my Twilight books and just kinda tried to imitate those. I spent about 4-5 hours on the Saturday afternoon before LA's birthday party busting out these cupcakes. I would recommend starting a day or two before so that you aren't rushing around like crazy. The fondant decorations can be made in advance and you won't be so frenzied. The vampire bite mark cupcakes above were obviously the easiest. It's just vanilla icing and red decorating icing made into teeth marks!

Rolling the fondant out wasn't the easiest thing ever with my wooden rolling pin. I think if I work with fondant in the future I will buy the specific fondant roller that is available at most stores. You decorate, you learn. I used the round cookie cutter to get the perfect cut-out shape for the fondant decorations where I copied the Twilight book covers.

Then, I just copied the books. It was actually lots of fun to do. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to get the details pretty closely to the original. They aren't perfect by any means, but you get the idea.

Tray one of Twilight cupcakes. The vampire bite marks and fangs are pretty self-explanatory. I did dark brown sprinkles on the cupcake with Jacob Black's (Taylor Lautner's) picture to symbolize him being a werewolf, with brown, wild hair. Bella Swan's (Kristen Stewart's) picture is in a multi-colored cupcake. The yellow sprinkles represent her being from sunny Arizona and the added in purple and pink represents her being a real, human girl. Edward Cullen's (Robert Pattinson's) photo is in a white, shimmery, glittery cupcake because of how Edward, and all vampires, look in the sunlight. And then there is the middle cupcake in the front row with flowers. This symbolizes the meadow in the Twilight saga where many important moments happen, especially between Edward & Bella.

More Twi-cakes. Again, Edward and Jacob's photos are placed in the respective glitter and brown cupcakes. However, this time Bella's photo is in a half vampire/half werewolf cupcake. Is she Team Edward or Team Jacob?! Then of course I had to have Team Edward and Team Jacob cupcakes and an I LOVE Edward cupcake...because I do. And, like I said, I just tried to copy the book covers. I also couldn't forget the 32nd candles for LA to blow out!

Inspiration.

Happy 32nd to Leigh Ann!

Fishy Lunch

2010-08-28T23:34:00.003-05:00

We have a pond/lake behind our building at work. It's a pretty, serene area with a fountain, willow trees, walking path around it, and is full of fish. The week before last Deborah & I noticed someone feeding the fish bread during our lunch break. We thought this was a great idea, so we both brought our old bread to feed them as well. I'm not sure how healthy it is to feed bread to fish but they LOVE it! As you can tell, they all gather around and actually fight over the pieces. We quickly figured out the sly gray fish are the fastest at grabbing the bread. The big fish and turtle don't get to enjoy it as much because they are way too slow. We found it hilarious when the fish would jump out of the water and splash us! The two days we fed the fish were SO relaxing, even in the 100 degree weather. It was a great way to de-stress on our lunch break. Too bad we had to return to the sea of cubicles when our hour was up!

Splish splash!

Jumping to grab the bread!

Mouth wide open!

Big & slow = no bread!

Twi-hard? Really?

2010-08-21T15:21:00.005-05:00

I don't get it. I don't understand all the drama with the whole Twilight Saga. Vampires and Werewolves? Seriously? Who cares?! I think I am part of a handful of people who have never read the books and/or seen the movies. I don't even know what they are about, besides involving those two mystical creatures. I do not get the hoopla. I have friends who go to the midnight premieres, wait in line for the DVD releases, talk about it non-stop. Yet I still don't get it. I just tune them out and move on...UNTIL NOW.

Yes folks, I am ADDICTED! No, addicted may not be the right word...OBSESSED. Yes, that's more like it. "Hi, I'm Kristi and I'm a...Twi-hard."

It's really all Leigh Ann's fault. She's been telling me forever that I would LOVE Twilight. That it was my kind of story. I would just roll my eyes at her and never gave it a second thought. I don't read, so count me out of reading 4 500+ page books and I did NOT want to see those movies. I don't even like Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as actors...UNTIL NOW.

Leigh Ann bought me the Twilight book as a gift over two months ago. I thought "Oh great, I'm going to feel bad that she wasted her money on getting me this because I'm never going to read the thing." But then boredom set in late one night when I couldn't sleep and I saw the book laying on my coffee table. I thought "Why not? Maybe it'll put me to sleep." Little did I know that was JUST the beginning. I started reading and was hooked. I couldn't put it down. I read it in just three days and it had 498 pages. ME...read a book...and it was Twilight for pete's sake. Aren't teenage girls supposed to be the only ones reading this mess?! So of course I had to see what happened next with Edward, Bella, and Jacob. I got my hands on New Moon and finished it in three days as well. I LOVED these characters. (Totally Team Edward, by the way!) When I wasn't reading the books I was thinking about them. Really?! Who does that. Right after I finished New Moon I quickly ran down to Kroger and bought Eclipse. Thank goodness for their book section! However I was a bit embarrassed by the conversation with the lady working the register, the sack girl, and the sack boy from the next register. I'm pretty sure my face turned red and I hung my head. Yes, I LOVE these books but I kinda don't want the world to know this 30 year old is reading them! lol! Just like the other books I finished Eclipse in three days as well. And of course it was unbearably good at this point, and I hadn't purchased Breaking Dawn yet so I couldn't keep reading. I had friends in town for the weekend and wasn't able to get to a store to buy it. I was like someone who needed their drug fix. I was definitely having withdrawals. I couldn't sleep while my friends were in town and was bitterly mad I didn't have Breaking Dawn to get me through the night. After they left town I headed to Target to grab a copy. This book took me a week to read because life got in the way and it was 754 pages. I was holding my breath during the whole book though. I KNEW how I wanted it to end but had NO CLUE what direction author Stephenie Meyer was going to take it. I have NEVER been so wrapped up in fictional characters.

Of course after reading the first three books I then HAD to see the first three movies. I watched Twilight and New Moon on a Thursday night after work and then headed to the theater with the girls on Saturday to see Eclipse. Seeing the movies brought about my love for Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Well that...and googling them during my reading to learn all about them. Yes, I may be a bit overboard. While reading the books I kept picturing the two of them as the characters and then watching the movies brought it all to life. I'm kind of totally obsessed with RPattz. I'm an E! News junkie and when they mention his name I've been known to run from other parts of the apartment just hear what they are saying about him. Oh, and same goes for Robsten (Robert+Kristen). You know they are a couple in real life, right? So that intrigues me all the more. And of course I want them to stay together so that the new two movies, yes Breaking Dawn is going to be split into two movies coming out in November 2011 and 2012, are amazing and have that chemistry. Yes, I know, I know. Get a life! I may possibly need an intervention in the future, but for now, I'm quite content in fairytale/celeb land. However I feel a bit like a middle school girl who has her fave celeb posters on her bedroom walls. Hmmm...

No, I didn't purchase 'Robsessed' at Wal-Mart, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to!

So what does one do when they finish reading a series/saga and have watched all the available movies? One visits the author's website and reads Midnight Sun, which is Twilight from Edwards perspective. Unfortunately she stops halfway through the book, right when it's getting good, because it had been leaked on the internet. She says she'll finish it some day. She better. It's AWESOME! Then when you are done with that you can always re-read all the books again. Would that be crazy?! Nah, I don't think so. I just finished re-reading Twilight this past weekend. ;-)

Now I leave you with a paragraph from New Moon where Edward is trying to convince Bella of his love for her. Yes it's cheesy, but awesome. I think that's why I love the story so. It's a love story, just with vampires and werewolves. Ha! It definitely pulls at the romantic girl heart strings in me. If you haven't read the books or seen the movies rush out and do so right now. Go! Seriously! Oh, but the books are better than the movies and THAT'S coming from a girl who never reads...UNTIL NOW.

"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars - points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."

Awe...I swoon.

And many more!

2010-07-13T01:55:00.002-05:00

Mom celebrated her 56th birthday on Sunday!

Beautiful flowers from Mom's dear sweet friend, Lee Ann.

We surprised her with her favorite Italian Creme Cake, as well as decorating the table with confetti and presents!

The Birthday Girl!

We all wore party hats!

We love you, Mom!!!

2010 Komen North Texas Race for the Cure

2010-06-13T20:58:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was the 20th Annual Komen North Texas Race for the Cure. It was a day of mixed emotions. I was very sad that Mom wasn't able to be there, especially considering she's battling breast cancer for the 3rd time. Mom was in town until midnight the night before the Race, but due to a family emergency with Grandma, she needed to head home. All is well, but she wasn't able to return to the Race.

It was a great day weather wise. It stayed overcast with a nice breeze for most of the time. I saw on CBS 11 that we had over 11,000 people registered for the Race. There were tons of SURVIVOR'S there which was amazing, because that's what it's all about. I really enjoyed taking photographs of the SURVIVORS, Elizabeth's Garden tulips, and the pink ribbons. They are terrific tributes in memory of and in honor of courageous men and women.

I'm so thankful to the Susan G. Komen organization. Without the money they raise for breast cancer we wouldn't have made the amazing strides we have toward eradicating this terrible disease. I believe there will be a cure! That's why we do this!!!!!

Nerissa Knight, CBS 11 anchor, interviews 50 year 3 time breast cancer SURVIVOR Evelyn Kramer

Our reason to Race!

The tulip I made for Mom, which was part of a CBS 11 News feature this past week. CBS's Nerissa Knight and camera women attended one of our tulip meetings a few weeks ago and filmed us working on tulips. Yes, I'm famous now! lol!

Mom's pink ribbons

More tulips!

My girls - Heather, Court, & Keelie

My work crew - Deborah, Vincent, Caryn & her hubby Brian

Debby & Angela after the SURVIVOR celebration.

Joy, Leigh Ann, Leah, me, & Marge. SO glad they came!

Hannah even participated in her first Race at 7 months old!

Best buds

Birthday Boy!

2010-06-09T21:22:00.003-05:00

(Or at least it's our estimate of when my birthday is!)

mesmerized by my toy

love, love, love it

Look how crazy I am when I play with it!!!!

Will Talk For Toys

2010-06-08T00:17:00.000-05:00

UNIVERSAL TRUTHS‏

2010-06-05T01:03:00.000-05:00

I got this email from a friend today and LOVED it. It's like whoever wrote it was inside my brain.

Enjoy!!!

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25 How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent an ass from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my behind everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Tulips for the Cure

2010-05-23T15:52:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. Tulip time!!! No, I'm not talking about those beautiful spring flowers. I'm talking about tulips for Elizabeth's Garden, which is part of Komen North Texas Race for the Cure. This is my second year to be on the tulip committee. I really enjoy it because it lets me be my crafty self. We are able to decorate tulips in any way we like, being sure to leave an 8 1/2 by 11 space so a message can appear on the tulip. We sell tulips for $10 each. You can buy them in honor or in memory of a survivor. All tulips are displayed on Race day. My favorite part of the day is walking through the tulip garden, reading all the messages, and watching Survivors find ones that have been made for them. It makes all the hard work worthwhile. I've been decorating LOTS of tulips lately and am still not done. If you would like to purchase a tulip let me know. You can also do so online here. I've included some of my creations below.

tulip bling

supplies

tulips to be done

I finished this one last night.

kitty paws

zebra print & shoes; fyi, shoes are not easy to draw

I really like this one!

tulips on a tulip

daisies & animal print, some of my faves

Happy Mother's Day, Mom & Grandma!!!

2010-05-10T17:39:00.000-05:00

April 2010

I love my Mom more than words can express. She is more than a Mom to me, she's my friend. She is an amazing example of what a Christian woman is supposed to be. She's a fighter, SURVIVOR, strong, loving, smart, a terrific daughter and friend. She's a hard worker and has been an educator for more than 30 years. Mom is fighting cancer for the third time and she has a wonderful, positive attitude. She KNOWS God is going to bring her through this once again. I pray to God to give me her strength. Her situations don't bring her down and define her. Mom is an example to so many that fight the same fight as she is. When someone in town is diagnosed with cancer they contact mom for advice and support and she joins the fight with them.

I love my Mom. This Mother's Day was a great time to spend with her and show her what she means to me and our family. It was a wonderful time spent with all of them.

Courtney & I joined Grandma at her retirement home yesterday morning for a continental breakfast. We brought her roses and a balloons to which she exclaimed "how sweet!". We took Grandma to church at the home and then we headed back to Mom & Dad's to help prepare lunch. Right before noon we arrived back at the home to pick Grandma up for lunch. She didn't remember we were coming so we found her in the dining room and got to her before she sat down and started eating. I think she enjoyed the visit to Mom & Dad's, even though she doesn't say much. After being away a few hours she exclaimed "I'm ready to go. I need someone to take me home.". This was music to our years. She was calling the retirement home HOME!!! It has not been an easy transition for her since my Grandfather passed away and she resisted the change a lot. Thank you God that she is adjusting.

Mother's Day spent with both Mom & Grandma was fantastic. I couldn't ask for two more beautiful, strong, and courageous women to be related to. Thank you God.

How to Get Rid of Hiccups

2010-05-05T18:06:00.000-05:00

So I got the hiccups today at work. I HATE having the hiccups. They drive me crazy, they are loud and disruptive, and I feel like I can't breathe when I get them. So being a huge fan of Google, and using it daily, I decided to see how to get rid of them other than just holding my breath or having someone scare me. Many of the tips were pretty humorous. I hope you think so as much as I did. OH, and did you know that hiccups are involuntary spasms of the diaphragm?! Who knew?!

*Plug your nose and ears then swallow 20 times as fast as possible. (How is it possible to plug your nose and ears with your hands at the same time? And I didn't have cotton balls laying around here at work!)

*Distract yourself. Sing a song, go over your 7 times tables (7 x 1 = 7, 7 x 2 = 14, etc) until the hiccups are gone.

*Squawk like a chicken while flapping your arms and bobbing your head as if you were pecking at something. Bugawk!

*Stand on your head and drink small gulps of water from a sports bottle. (Seriously?)

*Exaggerate your hiccups by inhaling right as you hiccup - this will result in a long and loud "huuuaaagggghhh" that'll either be funny or embarrassing depending on your environment, but after 2-4 of these the hiccups should be gone. (Um, no.)

*Think of the ugliest person you've ever seen. Now picture them naked, rolling naked down a hill or riding a bike and slathered in A-1 steak sauce. (My personal fav!)

*Eat some pickles.

*Take a shot of lemon juice.

See, funny right? I think what eventually cured mine was my laughter after my co-worker told me which other co-worker to picture naked.

So next time you get the hiccups remember these tips and either do them or laugh about them. Either way those pesky hiccups will be gone! :)

Big Kitty Turns 6

2010-04-27T22:22:00.000-05:00

Sylvester is 6 years old today. My how time flies. I love my big kitty...bad attitude, hairballs, and all.

July 4, 2004

Tonight he enjoyed cold water from the sink...his favorite.

Tuna for dinner...another fav.

And rest time, without little brother Jax bothering him.

Happy Spring!

2010-03-21T17:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of spring. Here in Texas our first day of spring consisted of SNOW! Yes, snow. It hasn't seemed much like Texas this season. I think I've seen more snow this season then all the other times in my 30 years, put together.

I went to Gunter yesterday evening to visit with Keelie & the kids. It had snowed a bit before I left for Gunter and a bit on my way there, but nothing was accumulating so it wasn't a big deal. I got on Facebook while there and noticed all the snow accumulation in Decatur that my friends were talking about and thought it was crazy. I even talked to Courtney that evening and she mentioned the snow they had in Decatur and I told her nothing was on the ground in Gunter. Of course Keelie & I were pretty surprised when we looked out the window at 10:30 pm to see tons of snow on the ground and it was still coming down heavy. I guess alot can happen when you are busy catching up and don't look outside for 5 hours. Opted to spend the night on their couch instead of drive the 30 minutes back to Frisco in the dark, snowy night.

Livestock in the snow in Gunter.

The snow that accumulated on my car. I drove with the big mound from Gunter to Frisco.

My apt complex.

Outside my patio.

The stairs really got it too, but I thought they looked pretty!

It was everywhere. The cement around my door and stairs was icy as well.

Jax inspected the snow from his perch on the recliner.

Magically Delicious Master

2010-03-18T20:52:00.000-05:00

Saint Patrick's Day was yesterday and work decided to have a Spirit Day. Potlucks were coordinated within the departments, people were encouraged to wear green, and there was a dessert contest. The winner would be named the Master of the Magically Delicious. I decided I needed that title. I mean hey, I think I'm the Ghetto Ace of Cakes anyway, might as well show my skills, right? So off I went to google Saint Patty's Day treats. I came across these super cute Leprechaun Hat Cookies on Betty Crocker's website and I knew that is what I HAD to make! There could only be one entry per team, so after my team decided I could be that entry, I was off to bake.

Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies & large marshmallows formed the hat shape.

Once the vanilla icing was melted and dyed I poured it over the cookies. I must have done something wrong because one can of frosting and gel dye didn't do the job. Thankfully I had an extra can of frosting and food coloring in the pantry. Too bad the color was a bit off. Pouring the icing on the cookies was harder than it might seem. And beware of it running right off the counter. lol. Also, keep your cats from jumping in the excess icing once cookies are complete.

The hat bands were made of Tootsie Rolls. Ever try to roll a Tootise Roll with a rolling pin? Not the easiest. Toward the end I skipped the rolling pin and just made snake-like bands. Who says hat bands have to be flat, right?

Ta da! Finished product. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself! ;) Only took like 6 hours. lol. These will never be made by me again.

There were definitely some mishaps. These three got thrown in the trash instead of taken to work. The frosting got too thick, I tried to take it off and melt it some, and then it was way too thin and oily. Not a pretty sight.

My final product. I decorated the tray to push the cute factor over the edge. ;)

Taking them to the judges table.

The 9 entries.

And the people who made them.

AND THE WINNER IS...

Not me. lol. Booo! Hisss! Monica's Leprechaun Hat Cake came in first. It was pretty cute, I have to admit. Cane's huge cupcake in the background placed as well.

The prize. Deb made a super cute prize bow. My Cricut did a pretty good job on the letters too. ;)

Even though I didn't win it was a fun Spirit Day at work and I did enjoy the compliments on my cookies. Oh, and an insider on the Spirit Team told me I came in 4th, so I guess that's not too bad. I think next year I'll throw some green food coloring on rice krispies and call it a day!

10 Years Today

2010-03-17T20:13:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago today was one of the worst days of my and my family's lives. I had just returned from a fantastic mission trip to Galveston with my college Sunday school class to find out that my mom had been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. CANCER. How could this be? What now? Other people got cancer...not my mom! In just a few short days I had to return to Nacogdoches to college and mom would be over four hours away battling this terrible disease. After chemo, a mastectomy, more chemo, and radiation she was in remission. CANCER FREE. Praise GOD! Faith, family, & friends definitely got all of us through this difficult time. It's still hard to think back on that time; that day. It brings tears to my eyes to think about those difficult struggles. The scary unknown we were facing.

Mom is a SURVIVOR. She never got down and wallowed in self-pity. She trusted God and had faith. Mom has told me many, many times that "Attitude is everything." She's right...as usual. She's a fighter. The strongest person I know. A steel magnolia that has SURVIVED breast cancer TWICE. I thank God for my terrific mother. I thank Him for the Christian example she has always been in my life. I would not be me without her.

God, thank you so much for Mom. Thank you for healing her from breast cancer. Thank you for bringing us all through the hard times and for bringing us closer together as a family because of those hard times. Thank you for the example she is to so many. Thank you for the help that she gives to others who are going through breast cancer, just like she did. God, I thank you so much for my mom. Please continue to take care of her and her health. She means the world to me.

In Jesus' Name.

Cadbury Creme Egg‏s

2010-03-15T21:54:00.000-05:00

I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs. Love them! I get excited when they enter the store shelves every year. It's really not fair that they are only available for such a short time. I hate to admit that I enjoy quite a few of these milk chocolate eggs with soft fondant centers during the season. I've noticed that people either love these creme eggs or hate them. There really is no in-between. They have been a love of mine since childhood. I enjoy the commercials too. A bunny rabbit that sounds like a chicken with the slogan "No Bunny Knows Easter Better than Cadbury!". Greatness!

This Easter season be sure to check them out. If you don't enjoy them, send the leftover eggs my way. They won't go to waste! ;)

Happy 88th!

2010-03-13T23:14:00.000-06:00

Grandma turned 88 on March 5th. We celebrated with lunch last Sunday. It was a nice afternoon and celebration.

We love you Grandma! You mean the world to us! :o)

Record Snowfall

2010-02-16T20:21:00.000-06:00

These were the scenes that I awoke to Thursday morning in Decatur, and they lasted through Friday. It was beautiful and the largest snowflakes I've ever seen. According to WFAA Weather, this snow storm set a new all time record. 12.5" was the storm total, breaking the old record of 12.1" from January 15-16, 1964. Check out the trees. They look SO awesome!

The Dallas World Aquarium

2010-02-08T22:15:00.000-06:00

On Saturday Keelie, Jonah, Glory, & I took a trip to The Dallas World Aquarium. Keelie had called Saturday morning and said she and the kiddos were bored and wanted to know if I wanted to do something. So off we went to grab Chick-fil-A and head downtown. We'd never been to the aquarium so it was fun to check it out. Jonah really enjoyed taking pictures of the different animals. He kept asking me for my camera to do so. Turns out he's a pretty good photographer at the age of 4. The aquarium was a wee bit expensive for the two hours it took to go through it, but oh well, it was fun and the kiddos enjoyed it. On our way out there was some scary drama, thank goodness it wasn't our own. Sadly a woman had lost her little boy and was in hysterics. Thank goodness he was quickly located, although he had wondered way out in the parking lot. That was precisely why I kept making Jonah hold my hand and wait for us and he just didn't understand why he couldn't run ahead.

There were tons of cool waterfalls. Jonah stayed still long enough to pose in front of this one.

Glory & Jonah really enjoyed seeing the otters swim by.

Cheese!

I thought this was pretty.

Jellyfish look so weird. Jonah got a good shot of these.

The different tanks are so pretty!

Jonah at the penguin exhibit.

After the aquarium we headed to the mall for a little play and snack time for the kids.

She wanted the camera inbetween eating her nuggets.

Yum! Sonic!

Saturday with the Fergusons

2010-01-31T00:03:00.001-06:00

I spent the first part of my Saturday with Keelie, Justin, Jonah, & Glory. They had come to the mall today so the kiddos could get out of the house and have some playtime. I love Jonah & Glory. I live vicariously through Keelie & Justin since I have no kids of my own. The best part...I get to play with and spoil them and then Keelie & Justin have to take them home. Hehe. ;-)

I met up with them as they were getting on the carousel. Keelie & I watched from the sidelines as Justin rode along with the kids. I'm not sure that Glory knew what to think about it all. Jonah loved it though and always had a smile on his face as they went past us.

After carousel time we headed to Barnes & Noble so the kids could play with the Thomas Train set. I think Glory may have enjoyed it more than Jonah. She was cracking herself up as she shoved the trains upside down into the bridges. She also tried to climb onto the table a few times as well. At one point I looked down and she had three trains in her little fists and the other kids at the table had none. She doesn't quite have sharing down yet. It was pretty funny. I know I shouldn't have laughed but I couldn't quite help it when Keelie told Jonah to go play some more and he looked at the train table of all girls and explained "But I don't like girls!"

After train time we headed to the food court. Jonah was apparently starving, and I was hungry as well. The kiddos and I enjoyed nuggets and fries. Glory has a bit of an appetite. She always wanted to be eating something. I guess it was only fair that if Jonah and I were eating she needed to as well. :-)

After food we headed to the play area outside Sears. Us girls left the boys there and we went to shop around Sears a bit. While Keelie was in the clothing room Glory and I did laps with the stroller around the store...she riding, me pushing. Hehe. If we kept moving she wouldn't want out so I kept doing figure-eights through the clothing racks. She thought this was pretty funny. Especially since I was talking to her the whole time and making noises. The other customers looked at me at bit funny. Oh well. :P

I was pretty tired by the time we parted ways, I shopped a bit, and headed home to clean. I must be getting old. Haha. I had a great Saturday with the Fergusons though. Love them!

Yum!

2010-01-28T18:26:00.000-06:00

I love candy corn. I always have. Weird, I know. Growing up I was pretty excited when Halloween would roll around because I knew that meant candy corn. I don't really know why I love it, but I do. It's strange if ya think about it. It's just this oddly shaped, waxy candy. Why am I talking about candy corn you might ask? Well, the last two days at work I have been eating it. Our cafeteria sells candy and junk of that sort. One day I noticed that a friend of mine had bought the Deluxe Valentines Day Mix from downstairs and I thought it looked pretty interesting. It was a bright colored pink, red, and white mixture of candy inside the bag. I never buy the candy at work because it is ridiculously over-priced. $1.99 for a small bag of candy...I don't think so. The next day when I was downstairs buying lunch I saw the candy sitting by the register. It was peering at me. I resisted...for like half a second. Before you know it the cellophane bag of bright valentine colors had jumped into my arms and I was paying for it. That afternoon I opened up the bag and thought I'd try this assortment. I mean, hello, it was bound to be pretty tasty as it did have white, pink, and red candy corn in it. I thought I'd just eat a little and wrap it back up. Who was I kidding? This stuff was awesome. It was a mixture of chocolate Dutch mints, red raspberry hearts, milk chocolate hearts wrapped in bright red foil, raspberry jell hearts decorated in non-peril seeds, and cupid corn (aka candy corn). That bag of candy was gone in a flash. And so was the one I bought the next day. I know, I know. I have to stop. But it's awesome! I even googled candy corn. How crazy is that?! That's actually how I discovered the name of the delightful candy I was enjoying. It's a real mix. I thought it was just something work through together. Who knew?! lol. I was pretty intrigued with what Wikipedia had to say about candy corn. I had no idea it was created in the 1880's and that the three colors of the candy are used the mimic the appearance of North American corn. Very interesting. Plus nowadays it comes in different varieties depending on the holiday. Anyway, just thought I'd share. I highly recommend you check out the Deluxe Valentines Day Mix. I would not steer you wrong. ;-)

Baby Shower for Benjamin

2010-01-27T21:43:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday was Beth's Baby Shower for Baby Benjamin, due in March. Her aunt Helen and sister Amber did a great job with the brown and green themed shower. The food and punch were very yummy and we played some really cute games. We played 'The Price Is Right' where you had to guess the prices of different items used for a baby, we each had to guess how many jelly beans were in the huge baby bottle, and we also played the game where you wear a clothespin and can't say the word 'baby' and if you do, the person that catches you gets your pin. It was a very fun baby shower and I'm pretty sure Benjamin will be set when he arrives.

Super cute diaper cake made by Aunt Helen.

Mommy-To-Be

Beth's nephew, Levi, provided some great entertainment as a pirate.

Emma was very cute being Cinderella.

Big Sister Emma did a great job helping her mom open the presents for Benjamin.

Happy 30th Keelie!

2010-01-26T21:04:00.000-06:00

Today is my lifelong friend's birthday. I've known her since 1981, when God blessed me with making her my next door neighbor.

We surprised her on Saturday with a 30th birthday party. I was worried for two weeks that she'd find out about it. It was great to know she was genuinely surprised when pulling up the driveway on Saturday evening.

Shocked to see all her family and friends standing in the driveway.

with her hubby, Justin

buds

Glory had fun at her mommy's party.

30th cupcakes

Blowing out the candles, with help from son Jonah & nephew Brooks.

Keelie's nephew Mitch really enjoyed the cupcakes.

Looking through the scrapbook I made her of us through the years.

Love ya girlie! Welcome to the 30's!

My 1st Blogoversary‏

2010-01-26T18:53:00.000-06:00

Today is my 1st Blogoversary. Yes, a year ago today I started Kristi's Thoughts. In the past year I have written 100 posts; some craft related, some about my cats, some about events, and still some about the random. I have enjoyed blogging world so far. I'd like to blog more often but my procrastination and life tend to get in the way.

Thank you to those of you who have followed along with me through this 1st year. I have no doubt that you sometimes wish the posts were shorter and there were less pictures, but lets face it, that's me. I write like I talk and yes, I'm pretty chatty.

Get ready for year 2. I have no idea what's in store for us, but I'm sure it'll be entertaining. Stay tuned!

Making Ornaments

2010-01-17T15:34:00.000-06:00

As you know from previous posts, I did a lot of crafting during the holidays. And yes, I'm still talking about Christmas! ;) One of my more time consuming crafts was making these ornaments. Part of Red Writing's TWOC were homemade gifts. I got the idea to make these ornaments from one of Hobby Lobby's weekly adds. They had these class ornaments on sale for 40% off. I didn't know how to make ornaments but thought I could figure it out and make some cute gifts for a few friends. I did some googling and got a few ideas on what to do.

One of the ideas online was to make marble looking ornaments by pouring different color paint down the insides of the ornaments and turning it ever so often so the paint would swirl/marble together. At the end you turn the ornament upside down and let the remaining paint drain out, which also helps in the marbling.

I also painted the outsides of some ornaments. I'm a fan of polka dots so the two I painted the outsides of were adorned with these.

After the paint was dry, I hot-glued the tops onto the ornaments and then piled on the ribbon with hot glue as well.

I also personalized the outsides of the ornaments with names and dates, as well as used a little scrapbook bling around the sides.

The ornaments that I painted on the outside were also painted with Modge Podge once dry to prevent the paint from chipping off.

Show & Tell

2010-01-06T21:21:00.000-06:00

So back in October I blogged about how I would display my Christmas cards during the Christmas season. This was part of Red Writing's TWOC - Accent Crafts #1. As you can tell below, I did my own version of what Better Homes & Gardens did (theirs obviously was better) and really enjoyed displaying my cards this way. After all, Christmas cards are one of my favorite things of the season.

BH&G's cards display

This is how mine looked with all the ribbon up and two cards. I just used all the various ribbon I had in my Christmas gift wrapping box.

I attached most of the ribbon by tying it, others I taped onto the inside of my cabinet door.

End result. I actually ran out of room and had to tape cards to the side, top, & bottom of the door.

I like my cards so much that I think I'll leave them up until the end of January...or even February! ;-)

Just another close-up. Toward the end of the season you could barely see the ribbon.

Red Writing's TWOC - #12 Tour of Homes

2010-01-04T21:58:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's January 4th, but I'm just now wrapping up the TWOC. I got a bit behind but decided I MUST finish what I started. I also had high hopes of tidying up the apartment to show you more, but there is post Christmas stuff everywhere so you are seeing a few glimpses of the apartment, and some of my favorite pieces.

Meowy Christmas!

My Christmas tree. Notice the sign, "Dear Santa, Define Good."

Rashahn made me this advent calendar and gave it to me for Christmas. Totally fits my tree decor. Love it!

She also made me this great wooden sign. I told her at least a year ago that I loved this saying on stuff I see during the holidays. Thanks to the Cricut and her painting talents I got my sign! Oh, Robert did participate by putting the hooks on. Love this!

My counter is a mixture of items; nativity, little Christmas trees, frames, & my NOEL letters. My lighted garland hangs below.

Our stockings - Sylvest, Me, & Jax

I displayed my Christmas cards on my cabinet door and decorated the kitchen with holiday dish towels, and other Christmas accents.

Hehe.

Random stuff displayed on my entertainment center.

I like displaying ornaments in various bowls and trays.

More ornaments - the entire table was too bad to show. ;-)

Yay! I finished the TWOC.

NOEL

2010-01-04T21:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, it's time to make good on one of my promises in Red Writing's Twelve Weeks of Christmas. Yes, I'm still talking about Christmas. ;-) I said I would make the NOEL letters I posted in week 7 (above) when we did Accent Crafts. I finally have completed them.

I started working on the letters the first weekend in December when I had a craft day in Houston with Deborah & Elizabeth.

I bought various Christmas scrapbook and tore it into random pieces.

I then Modge Podged them randomly onto the letters.

For all practical purposes they were complete, except that I wanted to paint the sides like they did in Better Homes & Gardens.

At first I was just going to paint the sides, tops, and insides and leave the back and bottom unpainted.

For some reason leaving the backs & bottoms undone bothered me and made me feel as though they were incomplete. So last night I painted the the rest.

Ta da! They are all done now. I haven't put up any Christmas decorations yet so I'm still enjoying them this season and they will be ready to go next year.

Hannah Elizabeth Frueh

2010-01-02T21:52:00.000-06:00

Hannah Elizabeth Frueh was born November 10, 2009 at 8:13 pm to Margaret & Paul Frueh. She weighed 8 lbs 0.2 ounces and was 20 inches long. Margaret was induced early that morning and after being in labor all day, Hannah entered the world via c-section.

Paul introduced his baby girl to the world. We were all waiting at the nursery window and were thrilled to see the little pink hat. IT'S A GIRL!

Footprints on Daddy's shirt.

Leigh Ann, Leah, & I snuck back to recovery to see Marge & meet Hannah.

Mommy & Hannah

At home - Margaret & Hannah got a visit from Molly & Jack.

We had to postpone Marge's baby shower that was planned for three weeks before Hannah was born. Thankfully we were able to shower the family on Dec. 19th, which worked out great because Miss Hannah got to attend the shower and everyone got to meet her.

Hannah & Marge w/shower hostesses : Leah, Beth, Molly, Leigh Ann, & I

Such a cutie pie! She's getting so big!

(PS - I bought her the pink dress & sweater once we knew she was a girl! She needed some pink!)

Red Writing's TWOC - #11 Wrapping Paper

2009-12-29T09:37:00.000-06:00

*Okay, so I'm behind. Red Writing's TWOC are over but I'm still two weeks behind. I may not finish on time but I am going to finish. :-)

my box of goodies

I enjoy wrapping packages. I always have. I'll admit I don't enjoy it as much now as I used to because nowadays I'm doing it super last minute. But I still like it. I buy a few new rolls of paper each year. I search around for just the perfect roll that screams at me "BUY ME"! Of course I never use an entire roll every year because I have so many to choose from so my wrapping collection is quite big. Then there are the sacks. I try very hard to not use sacks for presents that my family opens on Christmas morning. I usually succeed. I will use sacks for secret santa or a few odds and ends here or there, but there is just something about tearing into wrapping paper that shouts Christmas Morning! Let's not forget about the tissue paper. Last year, or the year before, I came across some red, white, and green tissue paper with glitter. Perfect! Although I have recently realized it's quite messy. I don't mind glitter but after wrapping up a gift last week I found it all over my couch. A little annoying, but still beautiful.

Last, but certainly not least are the bows. There are the traditional bows that come in sacks. You know, the ones that are various colors and you just peal the paper off and stick them on. Mom showed me a few years ago how to give these bows a little kick. She had seen someone at her school do it. You just cut the loops, except for the middle one, with scissors and it opens it up a bit and gives it a flower effect. Now every year I snazz up my bows like this.

I do try to make a few bows of my own out of ribbon. There is not always time for this but it is a nice added touch to any gift. Last year after a family get together there were a ton of handmade bows, that my aunt had made, about to be thrown away. I snatched these up and have already reused them this year. And what's even better, is when the people you exchange presents with leave without their homemade bows in hand. Then you get to use them again! :-) I'm in charge of the giveaway this week for the TWOC. This prize will consist of a bag of bows, various sacks, homemade bows, and gift tags that can be used for next year.

I actually didn't wrap this gift but thought it was a cute sack used at our secret santa exchange at work.

Happy 33rd Anniversary!

2009-12-28T20:51:00.000-06:00

Happy 33rd Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Thank you for the wonderful example you are to us. We love you!

I'll Be Home For Christmas‏

2009-12-28T20:20:00.000-06:00

I had to work on Christmas Eve. Our company never closes except for Christmas Day. They do however let us off two hours early on Christmas Eve, which I suppose is better than nothing, but as I sit at my desk and think about my loved ones getting a jump start on the holiday I get a little bitter. ;-) And of course I didn't save any vacation days for the holidays. That would have made too much sense. So I arrived at 9 on Christmas Eve, but only had to work until 4. I already had most everything packed and in the car since I hadn't been home for a week due to dog-sitting. I just needed to run home, grab a few odds and ends, get my presents for the family, and Jax (Sylvest had already arrived in Decatur via Mom & Courtney on Sunday). The forecast for Thursday was snow. The weather forecast called for snow and said it would start in the afternoon/evening. It actually started snowing pretty early in the day and the flakes were big. At first it didn't look like it was sticking but the more it snowed the more it started to accumulate. I kept looking out our 4th floor window as the snow progressed (see pics below). It was fun to watch and was definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

My family called early on in the day to say it was snowing there, an hour away. Around 1 they told me the roads were starting to get a bit slick and wondered if I could leave early. I think they were pretty worried I wouldn't make it home for Christmas. I popped off and told Courtney that Jax and I would make it even if it took us 5 hours. Little did I know that this would ring somewhat true. My supervisor and VP were off on Thursday so I went to our sister team's supervisor and asked if there was anyway I could take off early due to the weather. He told me the roads weren't bad (because they really weren't too bad in our area at the time) and said that he couldn't let me leave because we had so much work to be done. I didn't argue and just told my family I couldn't leave early and that I would call them when Jax and I left town. I jumped up and walked out at 4, gathered up stuff at my apt, and was on the road to Decatur at 4:38. The snow was piling up here but the roads didn't seem icy at all. I hopped on the tollway and drove a bit slower than normal, but it really wasn't too bad. I thought "Oh good, my family over-exaggerated, these roads are fine". I was making good progress. The snow was falling pretty heavy and the wind was whipping it across the road but other cars had made pretty good ruts and I was doing fine. My family continued to call me quite often as they had done all afternoon while at work. Something you must understand is that my father is a worry wart. He comes from a LONG line of worry warts. He's also a retired Highway Patrolman. He's seen all the bad stuff and it's pretty much never left his mind. So when one of his own is in a potentially dangerous situation he goes into worry overdrive. Mom said she didn't even have to worry because he was doing enough for the both of them. Anyway, the phone calls kept coming to check on my progress. I made it to Denton and the snow started to get thicker, it was getting dark, and the ruts were much harder to see, but I was still trucking along fine. Slow, but fine. Jax would NOT hush. He meowed the entire way. He'd been alone for 2 days since I was away dog-sitting and the minute I got home I grabbed him up and put him in a crate. He did not care for this. He's also not the best traveler and tends to meow a lot anyway. Let me tell ya, this did NOT help my nerves. Somewhere along the way I noticed that my windshield had cracked. As if I needed any more drama. I had a small knick in the windshield and with the combo of ice, snow, using my windshield wipers, and defroster it cracked. :( I was happy to be getting closer to Decatur. I was getting VERY tired (as I hadn't had a lot of sleep lately) and visibility was getting worse and worse. I just wanted to be done with this. Dad called to see where I was and I told him I was coming up on Imperial (a company on the outskirts of town). All of a sudden I topped a hill and all I could see was a stream of break lights. As far as the eye could see it was break lights. Dad & I figured someone must have had a wreak. We hung up and I sat there. I sat, and sat, and sat, and sat. It was awful. Dad called back to say he'd called the police dept. (of course he had) and they said it was very slick in that section of the road and people were jack-knifing. Crap! I'm already super stressed out, I have no clue how long this is going to take, and I have GOT to pee. I sat there for what seemed like forever and didn't move. The line of cars started to move forward finally but the Dodge pickup in front of me was having issues. His back wheels were just spinning on the snow/ice and he wasn't moving anywhere. I backed up to give him some room but no matter how much backing he did he couldn't get any traction. After a few cars started to go around him I joined in. I felt bad leaving him behind but there was nothing I could do for him. Of course we get around him and then sit forever again. We move just a little bit and then sit. A BMW was having lots of issues as well. The guy driving couldn't get any traction either and his back tires just kept spinning. A man up ahead got out of his truck to try to help him and the minute he stepped out he slipped and was face down on the road. He laid there for a few seconds and then tried getting up with the help of someone else. At this point the sand truck arrived. OUR HERO! The truck started dispersing sand along the road and specifically on the BMW, which was FINALLY able to go after all the sand. We slowly but surely inched along and made it into town.

I was dying. At one point I thought I might have to use the bathroom in my car so the minute I got to the Shell station I hopped out and went in. I didn't know how much longer it might take me to get to mom and dad's since I didn't know what was up ahead of me. I hopped back in my car and tried to take off but I couldn't get out of the parking lot. I had HAD it. This freakin' sucked! I called my parents and started to cry. I couldn't get out of the blasted parking lot and all I wanted to do was be home. My dad said he would jump in the car and come get me. I really didn't want him to have to do this. We didn't both need to be out in this mess. I tried to leave the parking lot in a different direction and this time I made it would, got onto the highway, flipped around and slowly headed to mom and dad's. I pulled in the driveway at 7:45. It had taken me over THREE hours to get there when it normally takes me one. It was awful. I was stressed to the max and in the worse mood. Everyone came out to help me unload. Mom & Dad's drive way was full on huge snow drifts and the yard was covered in deep snow. The official report is that Decatur got 5". The ground was still really covered when I left for work this morning and we are supposed to get more snow on Tuesday. I will not be doing any traveling then!

Red Writing's TWOC - #10 Holiday Parties

2009-12-14T22:30:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about Christmas are the parties. I look forward to them all year long! :-) One of my favorite parties that I attend yearly is Keelie's Annual Girlie Christmas Party. This year is the 6th annual party. Keelie invites close friends and family, who are girls of course. She always has a fantastic buffet of goodies for us when we arrive. We all bring 3-4 dozen cookies for dessert, as well as a cookie exchange at the end of the night. I love going home with goodies everyone has made. The party is always the Sunday before Christmas, which makes it THIS coming Sunday. Whoo hoo! Keelie added a few different elements last year. She told everyone to wear Christmas PJ's, as well as instructed everyone to bring an ornament. When everyone arrived at the party she told them to pin their ornaments to them and then told them not say a designated word. If you said it, you lost your ornament and the person that caught you got it. Sounds pretty fun to me. I actually missed the party last year, for the first time EVER. An attack of a killer stomach virus will do that to ya. But I'll be there this year and will have two years of partying built up. We also all bring a $15 gift for a Chinese gift exchange. This year Keelie told everyone to bring Christmas platters or cookie jars. I'm excited to see what all the ladies will bring. And of course we try to fit in a game or two. A big hit in years past has been Catch Phrase. Bunko and Mad Gab didn't go over as well. I look forward to this party and will definitely be posting pictures!

Mom, Court, & me at Girlie Party '07

2007 - Me & Keelie

all the treats

This week is a busy one for me party wise. Tomorrow I have my Bible Study Christmas Party. We are having a potluck and doing a $5 gift card exchange. This is a fun little group and I have really enjoyed getting to know these people better. I'm excited to have a fellowship night tomorrow. I'm also excited for the gift exchange. Those always get a little crazy.

Saturday evening I have another Christmas Party in Little Elm at the Martin's house. Their 4 year old Emma is hosting! Hehe! Beth told me they worked on the cookies for the party last night. Fun! We are going to snack and just hang out. It'll be a fun crowd. Emma is such a cutie-patootie.

Then of course we are partying all week at work as we do Secret Santa. Secret Santa is a tricky little game. It's a gamble really. You can be really excited or really disappointed. I won't even go into the catastrophe's of years past. Like the time in 5th grade that I got a painted, unfinished, ceramic Easter bunny. No, Christmas is not about the gifts, that's true. I fared pretty well today. I received water and Reese's pieces in a cute little stocking. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

Merry Christmas! Party like a...Santa Claus?

Red Writing's TWOC - #9 O Christmas Tree

2009-12-06T11:35:00.000-06:00

As of last Sunday my Christmas tree is up! I have a rule. No decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Some years it's hard to abide by, but in the end my rule wins out. I just feel that if I decorate before Thanksgiving that Thanksgiving is just skipped over. So like any good rule follower I waited until after the Thanksgiving holiday and then drug out all my goodies last Sunday. I don't know if I'm just slow, too much of a perfectionist when it comes to decorating, or what, but it takes me ALL day, or at least all afternoon, to decorate my tiny apartment. I like things to look a certain way though so I guess that's what takes me forever. I love it though! Especially once it's all completed. My tree is largely decorated with purple and silver accents, with other ornaments thrown in here and there.

Dragging out the 7 foot pre-lit tree. This was an awesome purchase at Wal-Mart 7 years ago. It only cost around $70 and has been a fantastic tree. I haven't even had the troubles of the lights not working (knock on wood) that some of my friends have with their pre-lits over the years. I love my tree!

The minute I opened the box this year my cat Sylvester hopped in and starting eating the tree. He does this EVERY year. For the life of me I do not understand why he eats the Christmas tree...but he does. It's so annoying. Because it eventually comes back up and I'm given the all too gross chore of cleaning it up. He ended up being locked in the bedroom so I could decorate.

All set up. Time to spread out the branches. That's my LEAST fav part.

Four crates hold my Christmas decor. They are busting at the seams though and that doesn't even included my wreath or the random knick knacks I didn't pack away and found around the apt after the fact. They ended up in random boxes in storage.

This year I tried something a little different. Instead of wrapping my beads around the tree (which I despise doing) I tied them to the top the tree and just let them fall down the sides and I kind of wound them around the branches some. This was much easier. I decided to do the same thing with some ribbon as well. I think it added a cute touch. And as you can see I use a star and huge bow at the top.

End result. My decorations and purple tree skirt that my mom bought me a few years ago, which I love. The skirt starts out perfect and then 5 min later the kitties mess it up and it stays crazy the rest of the season.

More ornaments!

O Christmas Tree!

Red Writing's TWOC - #8 Christmas Wreaths

2009-12-06T11:22:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'm really behind on Red Writing's TWOC. The week of Thanksgiving we were supposed to have done our Christmas Wreaths. I'm going to blame my sinus infection, bronchitis, that pesky thing called work, and busy Thanksgiving week on not getting mine done. Okay, enough excuses. I FINALLY completed it yesterday. I actually took the Christmas wreath that I had made around 6 years ago, ripped everything off of it, and created a new wreath. The new one is a bit gaudy, but as Keelie told me, that's what Christmas is. :) I call it my HoHoHo wreath. You can see why. ;-)

original

new huge bow

positioned on the wreath

end result - didn't really take pics along the way like I intended ;P

Red Writing's TWOC - #7 Accent Craft No. 2

2009-11-21T22:48:00.000-06:00

This week on Red Writing's TWOC we are exploring accent crafts again. I have to admit that both times we've done accent crafts that I wasn't too thrilled about them...until I started searching for ideas. I just didn't know what I wanted to do or how to go about finding some ideas. Pretty much my lazy side was showing through. However, Better Homes and Gardens never lets me down. :-) This week I stumbled across TWO items that I am very interested in making. I'm not positive I'll get them both done, but I have high hopes.

This NOEL craft is made with papier-mache letters, which I KNOW I can purchase at Hobby Lobby. I also know that Hobby Lobby has some great scrapbook paper & paint that I can use to cover the letters. I feel like this craft will be pretty easy and will add some fun Christmas flair to my apartment.

I really fell in love with these floral packages when I saw them on the BHG website. They look elegant and don't seem that difficult to make. However I haven't attempted them yet so we shall see. The website says all you have to do is cover a block of florist's foam with button mums (I may branch out and try something different), stick a pearl-head pin through the center to secure the flowers to the foam (I may just hot glue, unless that will melt the foam?), and tie it with a ribbon. Simple enough, right? Let's just hope the materials don't break the bank.

I plan on sharing my finished products once they have been created. Stay tuned!

Red Writing's TWOC - #6 Shopping

2009-11-10T23:04:00.000-06:00

This week on Red Writing's Twelve Weeks of Christmas the topic is SHOPPING! I guess I'm a pretty typical girl in that I LOVE shopping...for others, as well as myself. ;-) Although I keep an eye out half the year for Christmas gifts for people, and have been known to buy something in July as a Christmas present, I typically make myself a list of people to buy for and present options come late October or early November. I ask my family and friends what's on their lists and go from there. Obviously I try to factor in a reasonable budget, but I'm not the best at that. I get all wrapped up in the shopping of the season and forget about how much I've spent. I try to be done with my shopping around two weeks before Christmas. Later than that and I just get annoyed at the mall or any other places I run to for presents. There are way too many people out and about during this time of year. Haha. But of course there are always a few gifts that I run to get closer to Christmas day and tell myself I'll do better the next year. ;-) I've bought one or two gifts already this year but the real shopping starts this Sunday. Keelie & I have a shopping date already set up. This will include lunch, shopping, and a movie to wind down from our busy shopping day. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, better known as BLACK FRIDAY, Rashahn & I will be hitting the stores and sales in the wee hours of the morning before I have to go to work at 9 that day. Trust me, I will only be half awake at work and will bet on not being productive, but it's SO worth it! There are a few people that I have no idea what to buy them, which makes shopping less fun and productive because I am having to go in blindly. Hopefully I'll come up with something suitable!

Happy Shopping!

Red Writing's TWOC - #5 Homemade Gifts

2009-11-08T17:14:00.000-06:00

I thought all week long about what homemade gift I could make for someone this season. I thought it over a lot and still hadn't come to a conclusion. Finally, after looking at the coming week's Hobby Lobby circular I realized what I was going to make...Christmas Ornaments. I made my Christmas shopping list yesterday and there are some people that I'm not exchanging gifts with, but still wanted to get them a little something and I decided I'd buy them ornaments. Now I've decided I'm going to MAKE the ornaments. Hobby Lobby has 'Ready-to-Decorate Glass Ornaments' for 40% off this week. Whooo! They have clear, frosted, and iridescent ornaments to pick from. I'm pretty excited. I have NO CLUE what designs I will make or what they will look like when I'm done but I'm pretty pumped. I'll definitely share the finished product with you all!

Bow Making‏

2009-11-07T18:49:00.000-06:00

A few years ago, probably more like 5 or 6 years, Jenny, Kristin, & I got together at my apartment. Jenny & I decided we wanted to make Fall wreaths so off to the craft store we went. Kristin opted to watch and hang out. Her choice was probably smartest. Ha! We gathered our supplies, which included a grapevine wreath, Fall ribbon, a little scarecrow, some fake corn, etc. and headed back to my apartment to craft. We thought we did a pretty good job twisting the ribbon around the wreath and hot gluing the embellishments on. Then came the hard part. We needed bows for the wreaths. We didn't know how to make bows. What were we going to do? Well, I had the bright idea (at least I think it was me, if it was Jenny she can totally have the credit) to just make little loops, staple them, and hot glue them on and if we made enough it'd look like a bow. Sad, I know. So that is how my Fall wreath has been the past 5 or 6 years. Pretty rigged and a little ghetto. To the untrained eye it's not obvious. But to the professional bow maker, I'm pretty sure it is.

ghetto bow

after tearing the ghetto bow off the wreath

Through the years I ended up buying myself a bow maker, instructions included, and learned how to make bows. I can even do them now without the bow maker but I prefer it because it makes it easier. So I decided that I need to make a new bow for my Fall wreath. I still have the same ribbon we used all those years ago. I guess we thought we'd use more. If we'd done them the correct way we might have. I made a new bow a few weeks ago and think it turned out well. I tore off the fake bow loops and hot glued the new one down. Now my wreath is complete. I guarantee you no one but me will ever notice that the bow kinda changed. Oh well, I did it for me. I'm pretty sure I'll always laugh and think of that Saturday afternoon we made the wreaths when I see mine hanging on my door. Happy Fall!

making the new bow

Ta da!

Reba McEntire

2009-11-07T15:51:00.000-06:00

I love Reba. Always have, always will. I wanted to be her when I was younger. No, I can't sing, but she has red hair like I do and therefore, I wanted to be her. lol. She's always been my favorite...always. I LOVED the big hair days. That's when I REALLY wanted to be her. I've seen her in concert multiple times. There were the Six Flags years. Growing up we had season tickets to Six Flags so we went a lot, and we also went to a lot of the concerts in the Music Mill Amphitheater. We saw Reba there TWICE. She was AMAZING. I think that is when my love of concerts began. She was a FANTASTIC performer. I loved how she would change clothes throughout the concert. She'd leave the stage for 1 min and come back in something more amazing than she had on a minute ago. I saw her back in 2004 at Nokia Theater. She was fantastic there as well. We had pretty awesome seats which made the experience that much better. Sugarland opened for her. They were nobodies back then, but I digress. We went to the first event at Cowboy Stadium back in June, which was a Reba McEntire/George Strait concert. As true to form, she was excellent. I also love her TV that aired from 2001-2007. I watch it in reruns all the time and I was thrilled when Vanessa gave me 4 seasons of it for my birthday! Whooo!

So of course back in September when Courtney called and told me she was coming to Allen I was in to going to the concert. Court, Heather, & I headed to the first event ever at the Allen Event Center last night to see my beloved Reba. The Allen Event Center is definitely the smallest venue I've ever seen her in. It was also a different crowd then your normal country concerts. I didn't seen any of the half-dressed girls getting drunk, which was pretty refreshing. It was a much older crowd. The seats at the center were incredibly uncomfortable though, just an fyi incase you visit this venue in the future. If you are not a size 0 you will not enjoy this seating experience, but despite that, Reba was GREAT. She sang a lot of the songs off her new album, which is awesome, as well as the old stuff. As usual I walked away thinking about how terrific she is. Other performers may come and go, but Reba...well, she'll always be my favorite.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T22:45:00.000-06:00

I had a lot of fun this Halloween.

Leigh Ann, Leah, & I carved pumpkins.

We went to Azle for a Halloween party with the family. Court & Heather were 80's girls!

I was a witch and Jenna was a cat bride. lol.

I dressed up at work as well. Yes, I'm a cat with a litter box. The litter box consisted of oats, granola, chocolate icing, and tootsie rolls. It look like the real thing! Belinda came with pink hair.

After work on Friday I headed over to Robert & Rashahn's where Rashahn (Tinkerbell), Abby (Bumble Bee), & I took pics in our costumes. Robert got home and we watched 'The Secret Window'. Very creepy and Halloween appropriate. Then we carved pumpkins.

Jax & Sylvest got into the spirit too. Jax really enjoyed sniffing the pumpkins.

Sylvest didn't enjoy costume time very much.

Yesterday I headed to a Halloween party at Lacy's. Here Lindsay, Leah, & Lacy start the night off!

I came in my cat attire again and everyone thought the litter box was pretty gross. Leah was a witch. Check out her awesome spiderweb tights!

Ghosts of Halloweens Past

2009-11-01T01:55:00.000-06:00

I've always enjoyed dressing up for Halloween...then and now.

1981 - I'm Cookie Monster & Keelie's a Clown

1986 - Trick-or-Treating with our neighbors and best friends

Superwoman - Courtney, Cheerleader - Keelie, Football Player - John, & Cheerleader - me

1987 - Mrs. Jordan's 2nd Grade Class - Decatur Elementary School

1991 - Heading to school - me as a hobo and Courtney a clown

1991 - Freakin' out the trick-or-treater's at Mom & Dad's with Patrick, Courtney, & Amanda

2007 - Dressing up & pumpkin carving at my apt - Leah, Marge, Leigh Ann, & me

2007 - Heading out to the Haunted Forest - Marge, Paul, Riley, Leah, Leigh Ann, & me

2007 - Countrywide - Me & Rashahn as Thing 1 & Thing 2

2008 - Countrywide - Superman (Robert) & The Wicked Witch (me)

Red Writing's TWOC - #4 All About The Food‏

2009-10-31T17:43:00.000-05:00

Christmas food is awesome and there is always lots of it around during the season. There are just so many things we get to enjoy this time of year.

Sausage Balls - I don't know why but they make me think of Christmas. Probably because lots of years we have them Christmas morning at Mom & Dad's after all the presents have been opened, the trash is picked up, and the parade is on TV. They are definitely tasty goodness.

Peppermint anything - Shakes (already being sold at Chick-fil-A), fudge, almond bark, canes, hot chocolate...it's all delicious and really says Christmas. I definitely enjoy my share of it during the holidays.

Cookies, bars, etc. - I attend an annual girl's Christmas party every year and in recent years we've started a cookie exchange. Talk about awesome. The women that attend are great cooks and very creative. There might be peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's kiss melted in the middle, pretzels with a tootsie roll and M&M melted on top, chocolate chip cookies, various bars, cake balls...it's all fantastic. I look forward to this get together all year long!

And don't forget about making Christmas sugar cookies. I love them! You get the fun of rolling the dough, cutting them in to cute shapes, and creatively decorating them with icing. The best part? After your done it's time to eat them!!!

Side dishes - I love my mom's Broccoli, Rice & Cheese Casserole. It's the perfect side to take to potlucks during the holidays. I've learned to make it pretty good too. Cranberry sauce is another favorite of mine. Nothing says Thanksgiving & Christmas dinner better. Of course there are the traditional mashed potatoes. You can't have a holiday meal without those.

Meat - We always have turkey and ham during the Christmas season. Brisket is sometimes thrown in there as well. Yum!

Chocolates - Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of chocolate. This especially rings true during Christmas time. My favorites are Reese's in the shape of Christmas trees and toy soldiers. There is just something about them being in those shapes that makes them taste better. Then of course there are the red and green M&M's and chocolate covered cherries...I can't get through the holidays without those.

I look forward to enjoying all these treats with Christmas time rapidly approaching. Of course come January 1st it'll be time to head straight for the gym and be strict on the diet. But we'll just worry about that then! ;-)

Red Writing's TWOC - #3 Accent Craft‏

2009-10-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

My accent craft is a Christmas Card Display. I got the idea from Better Homes and Gardens' Christmas section on Cards & Tags. My dilemma every Christmas is where to put the cards I receive. I love Christmas cards! They are one of my favorite parts of Christmas, however I do not have a good way to display them. I usually put a few on the fridge, prop some up on picture frames, or put them on my counter (where they get knocked over by my cat or from shutting doors). This year will be different. I found this great idea to tape ribbons to the front of an armoire or door, I'm going to put them on my kitchen cabinets, and then when the cards start to trickle in you just tape them to the ribbon. You can choose whatever design you wish. I'm thinking I'll just go with the random and buy a bunch of different Christmas ribbon and just randomly tape them up. I'm so excited for Christmas so I can try out this new idea. I realize this craft is not difficult AT ALL, but sometimes those are the best ones. I'll have to show you how it turns out come mid-December.

Autumn at the Arboretum‏

2009-10-21T21:22:00.000-05:00

I love arboretums! They are so beautiful and fun to walk through. I especially love the Dallas Arboretum. I've been to Dallas Blooms in the spring four different times but had never been in the fall. I mentioned it to Keelie and we decided we'd go.

I hopped in the car with Keelie and the kiddos early Sunday afternoon. After a sports quiz from Jonah "Kristi, do you know the Mavericks? Kristi, do you know the Dallas Stars? Kristi, do you know the Dallas Cowboys?", we headed to lunch at Jason's Deli, a quick trip to Old Navy for Jonah an outfit, and then we were on our way to Autumn at the Arboretum. We got there around 2 pm. A co-worker had given me a free admission ticket, which included free parking. That made the trip even better. We walked through the front gate and there were pumpkins EVERYWHERE. I loved it...and so did Jonah. It was a sea of orange. All the pathways were lined with pumpkins, and beautiful mums were popping up everywhere. There were many rare pumpkins at the arboretum as well. I had personally never really seen white and green ones. It was pretty cool. Jonah enjoyed the the Storybook Playhouses that were scattered throughout the grounds. We made it to Eragon, Treasure Island, Peter Pan, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Jonah enjoyed the streams with huge fish as well. I was personally paranoid that he would fall in and I'd have to jump in after him. I kept one hand on him the whole time. By the end of our outing Glory has passed out in the stroller. Thank goodness because we lost her bottle somewhere along the way! ;-)

I just love going to the arboretum and can't wait for Holiday at the Arboretum, which I didn't even know existed until I read the little book they pass out when you enter. So grab your camera, the kids, your friends, some walking shoes and head East on 635. You won't regret it!

Jo & Glo‏

2009-10-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

swinging Glory

I kept Jonah & Glory during the day Saturday while Justin worked a double shift at the fire station and Keelie worked at The Mission. I love those kids. They are so much fun. Plus at the end of the day I get to give them back and go home alone. Hehe. But really, they are great. We had fun playing outside. Glory enjoyed her swing for a little while, although she had a cold and was a bit fussy after a bit and just wanted me to hold her and walk around. Jonah loved being outside, digging up worms, picking up rocks, and tree climbing. Tree climbing made me a bit nervous and after he got his foot stuck and I had to wiggle it out while holding Glory at the same time I told him tree climbing was over. He was pretty cute while up there though and exclaimed "I can see all of Gunter. I can see God!". I always have fun stories after spending the day with these little ones.

tree climbing

The original plan for Saturday was for me to take Jonah Halloween costume shopping, but after Justin had to stay at work I kept the kiddos until Keelie was done with The Mission work. Keelie had to borrow my car that morning because her battery was dead and after she ran home to drop my car back off and get a ride with Lindsey to head to another Mission appointment Jonah exclaimed "Now we're NEVER going to get to go get my costume!" It was hilarious. I told him that his mommy and Glory might go shopping with us and he told me he didn't want them to. Haha. While playing outside Glory was fussing some and Jonah said "Kristi...I don't think she likes you." I told him that made me sad and then he goes "Haha. I'm just kidding!". Such a stinker. Oh and speaking of stinker, I called Glory one as she crawl-sprinted out of the play room. Jonah said "Kristi, we don't call people stinker. That is calling someone a name and that is not nice." I let him know that he was right and I was sorry. He later told me people in preschool call other people stinker and poohead and we talked about how that was not nice and that he shouldn't do that. He said he didn't. lol. After Keelie returned home Jonah and I hopped in the car, he kept telling me to come on, and we headed to Sherman to check out costumes at Target. We talked the whole way there and back. Jonah sang a song about colors and pointed out everything that was the certain color he was singing out. Oh, and Jonah dressed himself for our trip. The dew-rag did come off before we got to Target. He asked if it would be okay in my car and I told him that it would because I would lock the doors. He then inquired about the windows to which I said they would be rolled up and locked as well. He then said "What if it grows legs and walks off?" I told him that I didn't think that would happen. Another interesting conversation that Jonah & I had on our outing was about babies. He said "Kristi, did you know Knox came out of Alicia's tummy? How do babies get in there?". I said "Well, when mommies & daddies are married they decide they want to have a baby and then the baby gets in there." Then of course Jonah asks "But how?". I then said "Well, God puts it in there" to which Jonah said "But how does he get his hands in there?". I told him "Well, you know that God can do anything, right Jonah?" and Jonah asked "Like Jesus?". I said "Yes, just like Jesus. So God gives the baby to the mommy." and Jonah just goes "Oh." Get ready Justin & Keelie!

ready to shop

Once in Target we scooped out the costumes. Jonah has to be a 'community helper' for school. In other words, not scary costumes or characters. We grabbed the two costumes that would fit the 'community helper' guideline, a doctor and a fireman. Jonah quickly decided on the fireman costume and then we were off to the toy aisle. We told him he could get a toy at Target after costume shopping. We were in the toy aisle FOREVER. I thought that kiddo would never decide on a toy he wanted. Of course he wanted everything that was expensive and I kept telling him "that's too much" so then he asked "is that too much?" on every item. After awhile I was really ready to go. We turned down a different toy aisle and I spotted a construction set for $10. I showed it to him and he exclaimed "That's what I want!" Yes! We were done. We headed to the check out counter with our purchases in hand. I threw in some gummy snacks for him to have on the ride home. As we were walking out he steered into the coffee shop and grabbed a milk he wanted and started to walk off. I told him we had to pay for it. lol. We got our milk and were good to go. I stopped at Chick-fil-A since I was starving and as the man asked me if that was all Jonah exclaimed "I want something!". I asked him what and he said chocolate milk, so I ordered that for him. After getting our purchases we headed home. As we were driving Jonah said "Kristi...are you sure you know what you are doing?" CRACK ME UP! I love this kid. We made it back to Gunter in one piece. It was a fun outing with Jonah. I'm so glad we both survived! :)

Happy Birthday Leah!‏

2009-10-19T21:26:00.000-05:00

Leah turned 32 on Friday. Whooo! We celebrated by having drinks at The Fillmore, dinner at Urban Crust, and then hung out at the rooftop bar at Urban Crust. I highly recommend everyone check it out. It's located in downtown Plano and is very yum. You won't regret having pizza there and the atmosphere is very fun. It was a great evening with a wonderful group of girls. Happy 32nd Leah. We love you!

3 L's - Lindsay, Lacy, & Leah

Leah, Leigh Ann, Beth, & Margaret

Leigh Ann & me

Yay! Birthday cake!

Red Writing's TWOC - # 2 Christmas Memories and Traditions

2009-10-17T20:32:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love Christmas! I have fantastic memories of Christmas' past, as well as the traditions we uphold every year.

It has always been a tradition in our family that the presents are opened on Christmas morning. Not Christmas Eve, Christmas morning. One of my favorite memories from Christmas morning is the year I saw the reindeer tracks in the snow in the front yard. I was really young but I still remember this. My dad told me that Santa's reindeer had left tracks out front and he took me to see them. It was awesome. Now of course the reindeer tracks were not real. My dad had created them. But of course I didn't know that until years later. I love that memory.

We traditionally spend Christmas day at my grandparent's house. We open presents, have breakfast, get ready, and head there for lunch. Lunch has been and is always perfect, thanks to Grandma & Mom. When we were younger Court & I couldn't wait for lunch to be over, the dishes to be done, and for presents to be opened. We were beside ourselves until it was present time.

Keelie & I have always exchanged Christmas presents, as long as I can remember. I have many memories of this. For one, Keelie used to not be the best secret keeper and would sometimes tell me what she was giving me. lol. I loved when we would get together to open gifts and we would give each other the same exact thing. It cracked me up to find out in later years that our moms would discuss the presents and decide for us to give each other the same gift so we wouldn't want what the other had. Smart moms.

One year Courtney & I made a nativity to help decorate the living room. We used stuffed sheep, Cabbage Patches, dolls, and other various items to construct this. It was awesome! Our parents loved it. We still talk about it.

When I was in elementary school our Sunday school class made a nativity scene out of felt, glitter, glue, ribbon, and a dowel rod. It looks pretty funny since I was really young when I made it. I love that 20+ years later my mom still hangs it up every year as part of our decorations.

I am very particular about the way my Christmas tree is decorated. It's not that it has to be done any certain way, except that it has to be done my way. I've always been this way. I used to decorate the tree at mom & dad's and not let mom & Court help me. They didn't do it right. LOL! The ugly ornaments, like those given to us by my dad's Aunt Ann, always got hung in the back. I hung the stuffed ornaments that my mom made in the back as well, as they looked out-dated to me. I felt pretty bad the year mom realized what I was doing. She couldn't believe it. Haha. The ornaments from my parent's tree are awesome. They are a collection of ornaments throughout the years. Some of them were made in grade school my Court & me, others were given to my mom by students, still others contain pictures of us throughout the years. These ornaments were so special and mom still won't let me have them for my tree! :)

Okay, I'll stop. I could go on and on and on. I love Christmas and the traditions that are kept and the new memories that are made every year. Merry Christmas!

My 30th!!!‏

2009-10-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

I turned 30 on Saturday, October 10th. Yes, no matter how much begging and pleading I did it still happened. The good news is that I survived.

WORK

I arrived at work on Friday to a desk decorated in 30th Birthday garb. Deborah had balloons, streamers, candy, confetti, and banners all over my desk. There was no doubt in any one's mind how old I was about to turn. She had given me a super cute card with a cat on it and a check! Whoo! Later in the day some beautiful flowers were delivered to me with the bible verse "For I know the plans I have for you, they are plans for good and not for evil. To give you a future and a hope. I love my child. Jesus". I have a feeling Deb was behind those as well. Vincent gave me some super cute earrings from Banana Republic. Everyone in my department signed a 30th sign for me and people walked by all day wishing me Happy Birthday. It was great!

DINNER

After work I was supposed to have dinner at Abuelos with mom, dad, Courtney, Rashahn, and possibly Keelie. I knew my parents were running a bit late as they had headed over from Decatur around 4:30, were going to go get my key's at Discount Tire (I had left the car there at lunch because my tire pressure was low), were picking up dessert at Cheesecake Factory (I requested the Red Velvet Cake & Cheesecake dessert), and wanted to run by my apartment to drop off some items for Saturday that needed to be refrigerated. I was a bit annoyed because they were running late as usual and they even called at one point asking if I could figure out another way to get my keys. I had to work until 6:15 so I didn't know what I was going to do since Discount closed at 6. They said they should be able to make it in time. I asked Rashahn to pick me up at work at 6:15 since I had no car and she was coming to Abuelos with us. At this point I figured Keelie wasn't coming because I hadn't heard anything from her. I left my desk at 6:15 and headed outside but I didn't see Rashahn anywhere. I looked around for a bit but still didn't see her car so I stood at the front of the building waiting. By 6:31 I was starting to worry so I called her but had to leave a message. A few minutes later I was in the process of writing her a text when she called me. She thought I had said 6:45 instead of 6:15. She felt bad but was nearly there. I had called mom & dad and they were still at my apt because Court was not feeling well so we were still going to beat them to the restaurant. Rashahn and I got to Abuelos, put our name on the list and then waited for mom, dad, & Court. They finally called and asked what the exit was so I knew they were close. I kept staring at the door waiting for them to enter. Finally they did, but to my SURPRISE and SHOCK right behind them were Deborah & Elizabeth all the way from Houston, Vanessa all the way from San Antonio, and there was Keelie!!!! I was SO excited! I had NO CLUE! I knew Deb & Eliz were coming the next day but I had no clue Vanessa was coming at all and I didn't know Keelie was coming to dinner. What a great night! Courtney bought a crown that said Birthday Queen which they made me wear and the girls had brought me balloons. We enjoyed some good Mexican food and then headed back to my apt. Oh, and Court was never sick. They were killing time waiting for my surprise guests to arrive. :) Rashahn took me to get my car so we were the last to arrive. The girls wouldn't let me in my apt at first. When they finally did those sneaky girls had decorated with 30th Birthday decor. There was a table cloth, suckers that said 30 Sucks, confetti out the wazoo, a 30th centerpiece, streamers, presents, AND a trivia game board labeled "It's All About Kristi" (think the trivia episode from Friends). It was GREAT! I opened presents & we ate cake. Robert arrived after getting off work and brought cinnamon dessert from Papa Johns. Yum. We then played the trivia game. I had to determine who raised their hand first and what the correct answer was. Talk about pressure. Hehe. Courtney ended up being the winner. Go figure! She has known me my entire life! After that we just hung out eating and talking. I LOVE my family & friends! Everyone left after a while and Vanessa, Deb, Elizabeth, & I crawled into bed around 3:30.

SATURDAY - THE BIG DAY!

The four of us were up by 10:30 and were snacking on cake, chips, cinnamon dessert, and whatever else we could find. I received birthday wishes from family and friends via text and phone calls. Keelie & Glory came by to drop off my birthday present and cupcakes for that evening, since Keelie wasn't able to make it. We eventually all got ready and left for the Belmont Hotel around 4:15. Hey, only an hour and fifteen minutes after we had planned to leave. Not too shabby with 4 girls, 1 bathroom, and 2 wild cats. Leigh Ann, Leah, & Margaret were already at the Belmont and had decorated with streamers, a banner, and had fun drinks ready for us when we arrived. We had met up with Robin & Erin in the parking lot. We hung out, took pictures, and got ready to go have dinner at nearby Tillman's Roadhouse in the Bishop Arts District. There we met up with Stephanie, Jessica, & Julie, and Brinda joined us later as well. We had the Trio of Fries as an appetizer. This consisted of parmesan black pepper kennebec fries, chili dusted purple peruvian fries and smoked salt scented sweet potato fries with housemade catsup and horseradish pickle mayo. Yum! For my meal I had Hickory Smoked Chipotle BBQ Ribs on white cheddar mac-n-cheese. Talk about amazing! Best mac-n-cheese EVER. The blood orange margarita wasn't too shabby either. The waiters surprised me with a smores dessert with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. After dinner we headed back to the Belmont for Keelie's awesome red velvet cupcakes, drinks, and presents. We just hung out, talked, took pictures, and played w/Leah's doggies (well hers and her parent's). I think we headed to bed around 1 am. Most people left on Sunday between 10 and 11. Elizabeth & Deb headed back to Houston and Vanessa rode back to my apt with me, we had some Taco Bell, hung out and rested for a bit, and then she was off to San Antonio.

It was a FANTASTIC 30th Birthday weekend! I could not ask for better friends and family. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life that care about me. Thank you all! You mean the world to me.

2009 State Fair of Texas‏

2009-10-13T22:01:00.000-05:00

I have attended the State Fair twice in the last week and a half. I LOVE the fair. What could be better than crazy foods, fun shows, and interesting exhibits?!

On October 3rd I went to see Mary Poppins at the Music Hall at Fair Park with Beth, Chris, & Emma. It was a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious show! It started at 2 pm, had one 15 minute intermission, and lasted until 4:50. It was as great as I remembered the movie being. Mary Poppins flew through the crowd and wowed the audience. The music was great, the costumes were perfect, and that big bag of hers was full of magic. It was practically perfect (as sung by Mary in the musical)! After the musical ended we decided to head into the fair. It was sprinkling so we decided not to stay long. We did make it to the 2010 Auto Show, grabbed a Fletcher's corn dog, saw Big Tex, and visited the animals in the Barnyard. By the time we headed out the sprinkling had gotten heavier. A new experience for me this year was riding the DART to the fair. It was a great alternative to fighting traffic and finding a place to park. We hopped on at the American Airlines Center and it took us right to the Fair Park Station that was adjacent from the Music Hall. It only cost $4 dollars to ride and $5 to park at the station. We had a great time, even if we were a bit water logged by the end.

Columbus Day was yesterday and I had the day off from work. (Thank you Bank of America.) Robert, Rashahn, & I decided to head to the fair, as Rashahn had never been and Robert hadn't been in a while. We arrived at the fair at 10 am and walked out at 7 pm. Yes, we were hardcore. We watched the Kroger Bird Show, Pirates of the Caribbean High Dive Show, Jump! Dog Show, and Dancing with Canines. I do not recommend the High Dive Show or the Dancing with Canines show. Skip that and eat more fried food! :) We visited the Children's Barnyard (it's for big kids too), the Cattle Barn where we saw two cows milked and watched a video about milking in the Milking Parlor (this made me crave milk all day and I bought it twice - yes I'm weird), perused the Gateway Pavilion, the Creative Arts building where we saw the butter sculpture, Food & Fiber Pavilion, Embarcadero, and the Craft Pavilion. We checked out the 2010 Auto Show as well. No, we did not see Oprah, although she was taping her show there yesterday. We weren't really interested in that at all so we stayed clear of that area until after her show was over. We did hear a horrid band called Honor Society on the Chevy Main Stage. I do not recommend running out and buying their CD. We did stop and listen to the celtic group the Killdares perform and they were pretty good. Now for the food...we ate a lot. We first hit up the Coca-Cola Food Court where I had a frito pie. Yum! Rashahn tried out the ft. long chili cheese dog and Robert got deep fried bbq brisket. We three split fried peaches & cream and a funnel cake. I had fried smores and it was awesome. I feel as though I need to learn how to make it. We got Fletcher's corn dogs as well. Rashahn had three bites of a pickle and disposed of that. She said it was sour, as in bad, not the way pickles are supposed to taste. Robert had a BBQ sauerkraut sandwich and a hand dipped nutty ice cream bar. Hmmm. I guess that was it. I wanted to try fried butter and fried cookie dough but the line was too long and I didn't want to wait. With all the walking we did I'm sure we burned it all off. Hehe. Of course we saw the Ferris Wheel and Big Tex, which Rashahn got to hear talk. We decided to drive and park at the fair which worked out very well since we got there so early. And we only had to pay $10. It was a super fun day but by the end of it each of us was complaining about different body parts hurting. We were ready to head home and crash.

I highly recommend the State Fair of Texas. There is fun to be had by all ages. I try to make it at least once every year. You still have time to make it this year as it runs until October 18th. If you can't make it by then definitely start planning for next year. By then someone will have invented some new fried food that we'll all want to try!

Nearing the End

2009-10-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I only have a few days left of my 20's. I am in mourning. I can't believe I'm actually about to turn 30. I feel a lot like Rachel in the Friends clip. Sometimes it is hard to face the reality that some things haven't happened according to the timeline in my head. I certainly do know that God has a bigger plan for me than I have for myself. But sometimes it's just hard. Kinda like the end of a dream. Although I know there are new dreams to be had around the corner.

I know I'll survive turning 30. Everyone else has. I've really enjoyed my 20's though. I graduated from college, have made some wonderful life long friends, been on some great trips, done some really fun things, and have learned a lot about myself along the way. Learning about yourself is kinda cool, actually. It just sort of happens. You learn what you believe in, what you'll stand for, how strong you are, how to survive the tough situations, and what really matters. I just hope my 30's are as good to me as the 20's have been.

Red Writing's Twelve Weeks of Christmas - #1 Christmas List

2009-10-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

Dearest Santa Claus,

It’s your old pal Kristi. I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve been kind of good and kind of bad this year. But the way I figure it I’ve been more good than bad so I feel as though you should still bring me some nice stuff this year. Okay? Great, okay!

For Christmas this year I would like a Cricut Expression. It’s SO cool and will make my scrapbooking even better. Rashahn got one a few months back and I really like it. My scrapbooks will be the talk of the town if I get that! While we are on the subject of scrapbooking and crafting, I’d really enjoy a gift card to Hobby Lobby. That store is terrific! You KNOW I’d appreciate any extra money I can spend there. I would also like some Pleasures Perfume. I ran out a while back and decided I would wait and ask for it as a gift. I’m trying to be better with my money. J I would also like some more seasons of the Will & Grace DVDs, as I don’t have them all yet. I could also use the DVDs Bride Wars & Confessions of a Shopaholic. My DVD collection is getting a little old so these new ones would really spruce it up. I would like an iTunes gift card as well. There is a lot of good music out there lately and I really want to download some of it. Oh, and a massage. I would LOVE a massage. I haven’t had one in forever. That would be a great gift.

That’s all I can think of right now. I’ll hit you up later if something else comes to mind. Don’t work too hard during this time of year.

Love you always,

Kristi Michelle Stevens

Meeting the Neighbor

2009-10-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

I don't know my neighbors. I've lived in various apartments for the last 9 years and have never gotten to know my neighbors. This may sound rude, but what's the point? We aren't going to live here forever, why get invested?! I realize that sounds harsh, but it's pretty true. Don't get me wrong, I recognize some of the people that live around me. There is the lady directly across from me. We say hello to each other when we see one another and she drives the blue Nissan Morano. Then there is the lady upstairs and down the way from me. I see her walking her dog all the time. Her yappy little Yorkie that used to bark at me. I'm pretty sure she smokes and I know she drives the little silver Ford car. I don't even know if anyone lives next to me right now. In the three years I've been in this apartment many people have been in and out of that one. I know I've had two different tenants above me in the last 3 years. There was the older woman that I would hear talking on her porch. She INSISTED on vacuuming at 8 am on Saturday mornings. I didn't care for her. Then there were the young kids that lived up there with their two huge dogs. Those stupid dogs ran around all the time and were SO loud. And the people were smokers that let their butts fall on my patio. They went in and out of their sliding door all the live long day. I didn't like them at all. I even called my apartment complex on them once. The straw that broke the camel's back was one night at 2 am when it sounded like they were dribbling a piano above my room and when the item came slamming down everything on my walls shook. Yes, I'd had enough. They have since moved. Yahoo!

Today I met the new neighbor that took the loud youngsters' place. Although, I'll admit, I was neither dressed or in the mood to meet someone new. I couldn't sleep last night and was up every couple of hours. During one of the times I was up I realized I hadn't paid rent and it would be due by the time the office opened today. Why do I always forget to pay it on time? Grrr. I wasn't sure what time the office opened but I didn't think it was before 10 am. So when I woke up yet again at 9 I decided to run up to the office and drop off my check, check my mail, and grab some McDonald's breakfast. I'd already abandoned the idea of getting ready for church. There was no way I'd be alert enough for the sermon. After running my errands, I parked the car and headed toward my apartment. I saw a figure at the top of the stairs but I didn't look up to see the person. I don't look strangers in the face a lot of the time. That's probably rude too. All I knew was there was a person dressed in black coming down the stairs. I was concentrating on carrying my breakfast, two drinks, wallet, phone, keys, and mail. I hadn't carried a purse. Dumb! I was also concerned with how I'd get into the apt carrying all that junk while keeping the cats inside. So I struggle to get the keys out of my arm-full of mess when a voice goes "Hi! I'm your new neighbor. I just moved in above you!" My first thought was "Crap, why are you talking to me?" My hands were full, I was concentrating on keeping the cats in, I had the clothes on I slept in, yesterday's make-up smeared on my face, and my hair looked like a rat's nest. I smiled at the boy (okay, probably an early 20's young man) and said hello. He was way too chipper this early in the morning. He then said that he didn't know how thick the floors were but to let him know if I he was ever being too loud. I told him "Oh, don't worry, I'm sure I won't hear you." Really? Why had I said that? I'd heard the two previous residents. But at least he realized that this is apartment living and that I might hear him so he was trying to be nice and keep it down and that was cool. I struggled to get inside and shortly headed back to bed to catch up on that sleep I lost during the night.

Around 3 pm I decided I was hungry, having only awoken an hour before, and having no groceries, I decided I'd hit up some fast food. Who do I see when I head out to my car? Yes, the same young boy neighbor getting something out of his car. I looked exactly as I had hours before. I hoped he wouldn't speak again. I walked down the few steps to my car, smiled in that direction, no clue if he really looked up, and I headed out. Thankfully he wasn't outside when I returned. Don't get my wrong, neighbors are great, I guess. I don't really know. Hopefully he'll be quiet and I won't have to turn him in. I'll keep you updated. lol.

Tutu Much Fun

2009-10-04T10:44:00.000-05:00

So Rashahn & I, the super crafters that we are, got together last Friday (09/25) to make tutu's. Isn't that what everyone does on Friday nights? It's funny actually. I called Rashahn from Houston a few weeks before and told her I was about to go into Hobby Lobby to buy material to make a tutu for Glory's 1st birthday. Rashahn then told me that she'd already started working on one for her Tinkerbell costume to wear to work on Halloween. I thought it was a funny coincidence that we were working on the same project. We both had researched how to make a tutu online and watched an instructional video as well. So last Friday night arrived and we were set.

I arrived at Rashahn's with all my material cut and was ready to starting tying on the tulle. She had bought a little more tulle that day so she had to cut that. We learned from our online research that the easiest way to cut tulle for this project was to have it folded in half, like it probably was done by the person that cut it at the store, and then roll it up so that you are cutting all the material at once. It also makes it easier to cut straight. I cut my tulle in 3 inch sections and because I was making mine for a child, I then had to cut my strips at the fold so it wasn't too long.

Once all your material is cut you just start tying it on your ribbon or elastic in a loop fashion. Meaning you create a loop with the fabric at the middle and then loop the rest of the material through the loop so it ties onto the ribbon/elastic. I chose to make my tutu for Glory with bright ribbon that matched the tulle I used. Rashahn used elastic and it worked well too. I may use elastic next time and see which I like better. Now being the crazy, somewhat anal person that I am, I needed my tulle to be tied on perfectly. It needed to be super tight and pushed all the way to the end. As the night progressed this became less of a priority. My thumb hurt from pulling the tulle so tight, and my head and back hurt. Crafting comes at a price. Plus I was running out of that 5 yards of tulle pretty quickly so I started to tie it on less tight. It worked out great though.

I even added in a few random ribbons around the tutu for added cuteness. :) I'm not sure how long it actually took us between our cutting and tying. The video said the entire process would take about 45 minutes. Um, I'm gonna have to say 'yeah right' to that. My tutu would not have been too cute if the entire process took me 45 minutes. Oh, and the best part of the night? Once my tutu was complete we tried it on Rashahn's Boxer dog, Abby. I'm sad to say that we did not get any pictures. She freaked out and tried to get it off right away so there was not time to get footage of that. She was jumping and wiggling around. It was hilarious! I'm thinking she will not be getting a tutu made for her.

My tutu was a hit at Glory's birthday party. She even enjoyed playing with it as she wore it. How great is that? Served two functions. I'm sure Rashahn's tutu will be a hit at work on Halloween. She'll have to let us know. I've decided tutus will make great gifts for my cousin's children for Christmas as well. I mean you can't go wrong with something that's adorable and only costs $10-$15. And who doesn't LOVE dress up?!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2009-10-01T23:33:00.000-05:00

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. "This is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention and cure. The campaign also offers information and support to those affected by breast cancer." ~Wikipedia

I AM THE CURE is a great program from Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure that teaches people simple steps they need to know to take charge of their breast health. It talks about the importance of early detection and provides simple, action-oriented chants that Race participants can take home and put into action.

I AM THE CURE 2009 Chants:
*"See your doctor, learn your risk!" : Your doc can help you learn about your personal breast cancer risk. You should also talk to your family to learn about your family health history.
*"Notice changes to your breasts!" : Know how your breasts look and feel, and report changes to your heath care provider right away.
*"Get mammograms and breast exams!" : Ask your doctor which screening tests are right for you if you are at higher risk. Have mammograms every year starting at age 40. Have clinical breast exams at least every three years beginning at age 20 and every year starting at age 40.
*"Start the fight by living right!" : Make healthy lifestyle choices that may reduce your breast cancer risk, such as:
*Maintaining a healthy weight.
*Adding exercise to your routine.
*Limiting alcohol intake.

Men, this applies to you as well. You can get breast cancer too. You need to do your self-examinations! I personally know men affected by this disease. It can happen to you.

Obviously breast cancer awareness is very close to my heart with my mom being a TWO TIME SURVIVOR of the terrible disease. Mom's grandmother died of breast cancer in the 1940's. I thank God for the advances in technology that have been made since that time. I'm trying to do my part to take care of myself and raise awareness. I'm involved with Susan G. Komen for the Cure North Texas, which is holding their next annual race on June 12, 2010. I'm trying to eat healthier and add exercise into my routine. I've even already had a mammogram a few years back due to family history and to get a baseline. I think it's sad when someone won't go get a mammogram because they are scared that it will hurt. Really? It's not THAT bad. A little squishing here and there and you're done. It's much better than the alternative. Early detection saves lives. I know that personally.

So do me and yourself a favor...get those boobs squished, do the self-exams (yes I'm talking to myself), read the literature, donate your time and money, and become more aware. I'd love to see a world without breast cancer in my lifetime. It's what we're working for!

Save the Tatas!

Diana's Giveaway

2009-09-30T21:25:00.000-05:00

Diana over at To Everything A Season is having her 2nd giveaway. Check out the bag & jewelry she is giving away. It's super cute! Be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win! :)