This is guaranteed to make you laugh...

Sutton got this on e-mail today and it made us both laugh so I thought I would share it with you. Since we cannot post videos of our own babies yet, we will just post videos of other peoples' children that we do not know. Enjoy!

Warm, cozy, and blessed...

I am blogging tonight from the LaQuinta Inn in Eastland, Texas. It has been a crazy day. My new manager has been riding with me the last two days. We stayed last night in Brownwood and got up this morning to head out east. We picked up a breakfast and headed toward Comanche. We were in separate cars because the plan was for him to end up in Abilene and me in Stamford with Mom and Dad. But, the weather changed things a bit. Between Blanket and Comanche we came up on a pickup upside down in the pasture on the side of the road. We did not see anyone in it and no one else was stopping. Bill backed up and checked it out and there was a scared boy inside upside down held in by his seatbelt. He got him out and into his car to get him warmed up while we waited on help. Thankfully the boy, Scotty, was fine, just scared and worried about his job. Then another car slid in behind and off the road just barely missing my boss's car and Scotty's overturned pickup. It was slow going today but we made some good calls and covered alot of ground. At one point we had to pull into De Leon to scrape ice from our rearview mirrors. We made it into Stephenville in time to warm up and enjoy a great lunch at Hard Eight. I decided to stay here in Eastland tonight so I can catch a few customers tomorrow morning. The roads were really bad north of Abilene and Dad did not want me to chance it.

I am warm and cozy here enjoying salted caramel hot chocolate from Starbuck's and American Idol on tv as I listen to sleet hit my hotel room window. Tonight I am thankful that Scotty was okay. I am also thankful for safe travel, for the many red birds that I saw as we slowly drove the frozen roads of central Texas, for finding a great radio station, Country Legends (a nice blast from the past) to keep me company on the slow drive, for great barbeque, for nice people, for hot chocolate, for a productive day at work, for Mom's good test results, and I am thankful that I will get to see Sutton tomorrow night! I hope that you are feeling happy and blessed and that you are safe and warm wherever you are tonight.

The Grill

We enjoyed dinner out with friends last night at a new place called the Grill. The food was good and the atmosphere was really cool...You did not feel like you were in San Angelo...almost like a New York City restaurant with the modern lighting and decor. Click here to read about the restaurant and the executive chef who was on Hell's Kitchen a few years ago. Everyone we were with especially loved the jalapeno margaritas. I am excited that we have a cool new place in town to enjoy a casual dinner and cocktails....Chili's and Cheddar's get old after a while....

An award winning week...

So this week I have received my first two blog awards...Very exciting! To receive them I have to provide some information for you. To claim my first award from my friend, Joanne, I have to list five addictions. By the way, if you haven't, you should definitely check out Joanne's fabulous blog, So... What Do You Do All Day- The Life of a Stay at Home Mom...My top five current addictions are:
1. Hot chocolate from my Keurig
2. Reeses peanut butter hearts (these things are very bad news, but they taste so good!)
3. Facebook
4. Reality t.v. (JoAnne- I'm with you on the Bachelor...and I am also hooked on the City, the Biggest Loser, and Top Chef right now).
5. Quiet evenings at home with Sutton (We've had 3 this week and I can't get enough!)

Now I am awarding "the fabulous blog" award to Jessica, Ingrid, Becky P. , Chelsea, and Becky B.

My second award is from Becky B. of the Sweet Life of a Trophy Wife who also has a fabulous blog that I enjoy reading daily. To receive this award I have to answer the following questions with only one word. (This was kind of challenging for me...)
1. Where is your cell phone? bedroom
2. Where is your significant other? Eldorado
3. Your hair color? highlighted
4. Your mother? devoted
5. Your father? strong
6. Your favorite thing? home
7. Your dream last night? scary
8. Your goal? peace
9. The room you are in? office
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in six years? mother
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you are not? disciplined
15. One of your wish list items? Paris
16. Where you grew up? Stamford
17. The last thing you did? coffee
18. What you are wearing? pj's
19. Your TV? on
20. Your pet? outside
21. Your computer? slow
22. Your mood? calm
23. Missing someone? sisters
24. Your car? milan
25. Something you are not wearing? bra (Becky I had to keep this one- it made me laugh!)
26. Favorite story? romantic
27. Your Summer? busy
28. Love someone? Sutton
29. Your favorite color? yellow
30. When was the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? yesterday

Now, I'm going to give the "I love your blog" award to Joanne, Leanna, Kacee,and Carrie. To claim your prize, just post the pic and answer the questions with one word only.

I am in major decluttering mode...

I am home today celebrating MLK Day with domestic chores and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I am kind of a nerd because there is nothing I love more to do on my days off than to declutter and organize and that is exactly what I am doing today (with a little daytime tv thrown in). I am reading an awesome book called Its All Too Much by Peter Walsh (the organizer from Clean Sweep). I read about the book on one of my favorite blogs, Creative Organizing. This book is very inspiring and is really helping me to let go of things I have been holding onto forever because I thought we might need it one day, or because it held memories for me, or because I received it as a gift and felt bad about not keeping it. I have issues with paper clutter...specifically holding on to thank you notes, cards, and letters. I also love magazines. These things bring me great joy but the clutter is starting to really overwhelm me. Peter Walsh's philosophy is very liberating and I highly recommend this book if you are interested in this type of thing. I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day and that you are getting to do exactly what you love to do today.

Finally getting back to normal...

or is there such a thing? As my faithful readers know, I have been in a rental car for over a month now....Actually I went through two rental cars, so my "new" company car makes my fourth car in a little over a month. I am so excited to finally be in my "own" car again! It is really nice and I am looking forward to getting back to normal on Tuesday. I am thankful to have a car and I am praying for safe driving.

I think Sutton is glad it is a little smaller than my Charger so he has more room to park :).

Home Again

I am so glad to be home. Sutton picked me up late Friday night from the airport. I was thankful for safe, uneventful flights (no geese) and an on time arrival into San Angelo. The trip was mainly work so I did not get many pics but are a few...

The view from my hotel room window
My favorite part of the trip- I enjoyed a bubble bath every night!
Our new district team
A toast to our new team...I am getting used to changing managers and teams even though it is bittersweet each time. I am on my sixth manager in less than five years. The benefit of this is that I feel like I gain new knowledge from each manager. It definitely stretches you personally and professionally, and I have always heard that you must stretch in order to reach your full potential.

Hello from Salt Lake City

I am in Salt Lake City right now getting ready for our Plan of Action (aka POA) meeting to kick off the new year. I flew in yesterday because the flights today were booked, so I am enjoying some quiet time in my beautiful room before my roommate gets here and the meeting kicks off. We are staying at the Grand America Hotel and it is absolutely fabulous! I took an amazing bubble bath last night and this morning I am drinking coffee, blogging, and enjoying the beautiful view of snow covered mountains from my window on the 8th floor. As nice as this is, I am looking forward to seeing Sutton late Friday night...A week is too long! Hopefully I will have some good pics to share when I get back....

My 2009 To Be List

I blogged last week about Ali Edwards one word concept. Well, I have officially decided that my word for 2009 is be. Click here for the entire list from Ali's blog comments. I had been thinking about this for a while and I got my confirmation when I received our church newsletter. Our pastor, Bill Proctor, wrote about making a to be list for 2009 rather than a to do list. He read about this idea in the January issue of Guideposts magazine. Bill says it can be argued that God has not called us "to do" as much as God has called us "to be". Bill also says that maybe if we had more to be lists then the things we want to do would be accomplished more easily. Bill challenged us not to do more for the Lord this year but rather try to "be" more like the people God has called us to be in Christ Jesus this year. So my word is be and here is my 2009 "to be" list:
-Be present and in the moment
-Be still
-Be at peace
-Be loving
-Be kind
-Be attentive
-Be healthy
-Be centered
-Be merciful
-Be happy
-Be authentic
-Be in touch
-Be patient
-Be forgiving
-Be disciplined
-Be awake
-Be bold
-Be creative
I am sure I will add others to the list as the year progresses, but I think this is a good start. Ali suggests having a symbol that you wear or keep in your work space that will be a daily reminder of your focus word. I purchased this charm the other day for my Pandora bracelet to serve as my reminder. It is a cute little queen bee. My friend, Kacee, blogged about her word the other day...Click here to read her great post. So do you have a word for 2009? If so, please leave a comment- I would love to read what it is.

Tagged!

I just realized I have been tagged by my sister, Jessica...She invited me to share a photo with you.

Here are the instructions she gave me:
1. Go to your photo folders and open the 4th folder.
2. Choose the 4th photo.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Tag 4 other people!

Sutton took his computer so I do not have access to the bulk of my pictures, so instead, I went to my Walgreens albums and chose from there. This picture is of my sweet Sutton holding Ashley and Justin's daughter, Sydney. Sydney is about 2 1/2 months old in this picture.It was taken the night of my birthday dinner in
May 2008. Ashley made awesome Chicken Parmesan and the chocolate cake was the best I have ever had (sorry to my Grandma, whose chocolate cake is a very close second). Ashley also had everything decorated and we just hung out, talked, and played with Sydney. I love this picture because it reminds me of a fun night with friends, but it also shows me that Sutton is going to be a wonderful father one of these days. Now I tag- Leanna, Joanne, Wendy, and Becky B....

Our new favorite thing...

I have not blogged in a few days, but that is because there has not been much to report...We are both just trying to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. This is our new favorite thing...A Keurig coffee maker that we acquired over Christmas. The coffee is good, but we are hooked on the hot chocolate. It is awesome and only 60 calories per cup! The perfect winter treat. The cocoa pods are sold out everywhere including the internet, so I was excited today when I was able to locate and purchase two boxes in Abilene. I am enjoying a cup as I type this post.

Here are a few other random tidbits from the week:
-Puffin has not improved after a week of antibiotics, but at least he is eating and drinking. He is a chubby guy and he has gotten mean lately. He really hates us putting the drops in his ears and apparently he is constantly dizzy from the head tilt. I guess I can't blame him for being kind of grumpy, but I am getting a little tired of him taking it out on me.
-I am slowly getting back on the horse and have driven to and from Abilene twice this week. I still feel nervous when I drive and can't help but think about the wreck, but I started listening to audio books again to get my mind off of those thoughts. I am still waiting to get another company car and hope to have something by next week.
-Sutton is getting ready for the American Farm Bureau Convention that is being held in San Antonio this weekend and I am getting ready for my POA Meeting next week in Salt Lake City.
-We have beem hooked on tv this week and have enjoyed watching new episodes of all of our favorite shows. My favorite so far has been The Biggest Loser. I cry and I cheer in every episode. I love that those people are truly making a difference in their life- It is so inspiring to me! I have been wishing that Jillian or Bob would show up at my front door and get me in shape. Speaking of getting in shape, Sutton is doing great! He has worked out every day this week and he is eating better. Hopefully his healthy habits will rub off on me...
-I just finished listening to the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People on CD. It was very good and I am glad this was my first audio book of the year. My resolution for this year is to live these seven habits.

Hopefully my next post will be more exciting, but to be honest, we have rather enjoyed this week getting back in the swing of things and being able to be together and sleep in our own bed. We have been able to eat together several nights and Sutton even made chili last night. Tomorrow things pick up and we won't see each other for an entire week, so I guess this was the calm before the storm...

Impromptu New Year's Eve Fun

This year we decided to stay home and ring in the new year in our pj's- just the two of us. We had planned on eating lobster and crab with cilantro cream sauce (so good) and just taking it easy. The Whites were headed to a big bash and we told them to just come by for a cocktail on their way. After a couple of drinks, Sutton talked them into staying. I had coffee with Lori earlier in the day and told her of our plans and told her they were welcome to join us. I did not expect them to take us up on the offer, but she and Jeff showed up around 8:30 in their pj's with more crab, a few six packs, and a key lime pie. We all just had a great time talking, laughing, and just hanging out. It was a perfect night! There was no stress about a clean house, perfect food, or the perfect new years outfit because the whole thing was so impromptu.



















Notice Lori's awesome Christmas present...We are excited that 2009 is the year that they will get married!
Lori came in her pj's all the way down to her cute house slippers.
There are a couple of friends that we missed because of the accidental nature of the get together, but I think from now on this is how I would like to do new year's- low key dressed in pj's with our dear friends- and we will make sure to plan ahead so we are all there.
What a great way to kick off 2009!

One little word for 2009...

I love the idea of having a word for the new year...Ali Edwards does this every year and you can read about it here. Ali is one of my favorite celebrity scrapbookers and her ideas always inspire me. My word for last year was less. I am still thinking on my word for 2009, but I think it is going to be- "be". I just want to be this year. I want to be in the moment, be okay with me, and not feel like I always have to be doing. A wise woman told me last year that we are created to be human beings, not human doings. How about you? Do you have a word for 2009? If so, post a comment with your word and maybe we can all help keep each other accountable. Hope your new year is off to a great start!

Final Christmas post and then on to 2009!

We spent Christmas day and a few days after in Dallas with Sutton's mom, stepdad, and family. We had a great time, but I don't have a lot of pictures to show for it. I think I just enjoyed being in the moment for once and that was really nice. We had an awesome Christmas dinner complete with steaks cooked by Russ, a red wine and mushroom sauce, Chelsea's famous mashed potatoes, and Nancy's amazing rolls. We watched lots of movies, the boys played Wii, and the girls shopped. It was nice to just relax and enjoy time with the family knowing that the hustle and bustle of December was finally slowing down. Sutton got sick on Friday night and had to spend Saturday in bed. We both were in bed at 7:30 on Saturday night- very unlike us. We drove home on Sunday and had our little Christmas here. Here are the final pics from Christmas 2008...
Christmas day afternoon while opening presents
Russ and Davy
Another important member of the family, Colby, sporting his cute Christmas collar
Rick and Caroline
Ricky with his Christmas/ graduation gift. It was so fun to see his face!

Our new stockings
Hanging my ornament from Sutton. Every year we get each other an ornament. This is another one of my favorite traditions that began while we were dating. Also, notice my new Pandora charm bracelet that my sweet Sutton gave me. He got a heavy duty cutting torch and welding helmet from me.
I took this pic as we enjoyed the coziness of our living room with a fire and some egg nog. It was a great Christmas and as always we feel so blessed to have been able to spend time with our family. We are looking forward to another good year in 2009!

By the way, poor Puffin is a very sick bunny. When we got back from Christmas he had a tilted head and was in a lot of pain. He went to the vet yesterday and was diagnosed with an ear infection. We are treating him with antibiotics but the prognosis was not good. We are hoping that we will see some improvement in a week...