Happy New Year's Eve!

I read on A Blonde Ambition's blog today that she made some New Year's Intentions instead of Resolutions :) You know, these are the things that I intend to do in 2010. So I thought I would share my intentions with you too. There are not many:

1. Save more money.

- Brian and I have been doing good in 2009 to save money but I would like to make a larger effort in 2010. I would love to buy a house sometime soon and obviously, we need money to do that.

2. Continue to work out and eat better.

- Cliche, I know. But since August I have been doing the wellness program at the school and I am loving it. I feel better and think I've lost some inches. I need to eat better and over the break, acutally, I've been doing really well. Besides yesterday when we had Chilis AND Panda Express, I've cut back on my helpings and had a lot of salad. Simba also needs to lose some major weight so we will work on that too!

3. Find a church home

- I've talked about doing this for the 3 years that we've been in San Marcos and we haven't made any effort to find a church to go to. I've always had a problem with comparing all churches to the one that I grew up in and none have measured up. But since we are in a town without our family, I just feel like finding a church will help us feel at home, provide support & show us some new friends.

That's really about it. I was going to put that I want to travel more but that would be kind of counter-productive to my number one intention - to save money! :) However, my cousin is getting married in Colorado this summer and Ali is planning a trip to South Dakota with my grandparents. We went to the Grand Canyon a few years ago and this will be another great trip. So I will still get my travel in without spending too much money.

We don't have any plans for tonight. I told Brian that we are just grateful to not be sick this year. I think we have spent pretty much every nye sick for the past 5 years or so. Last year was the worst with the flu. Yuck! Brian has to work tomorrow so we won't be up late.

We are going to Waxahachie again for the weekend. We felt like we didn't get to just hang out with our families last weekend for Christmas since we were only there for less than 24 hours.

I hope that you all have a great NYE and wish you a very happy and blessed 2010!

Much Love!

Who got a new netbook?

That would be me!! Once I figure out how to get my camera software downloaded on here, I will post some pictures! The minis don't have a cd drive so I can't use the disc for the camera software but hopefully they will have something on their website I can use.

I'm so excited! This thing is exactly what I wanted. It is small and portable and light. I've already gotten used to the smaller keyboard and I've downloaded skype so I can chat with my sister!

It's great! Brian is only a little jealous and so I'm sure we will be making another Best Buy trip to find him a laptop. His is currently got some sort of virus or something going on with it and it's pretty old anyway. I did end up getting mine from Best Buy and I got an hp instead of a Dell. I got it at BB because it was going to cost me $100+ to customize and order it on Dell.com. The one at BB already had everything that I was going to customize except for the color. However, BB didn't have the Dell. The HP had all the same stuff and was the same price so that's what I got. It got it in black but it has some swirly designs on the top and my case matches it.

Did I say that I love it?! :)

Will post pics soon!

Much Love!

Laziest. Day. Ever.

Ask me what I did today and I'll tell you nothing. Not because it's top secret. Not because I don't want you to know. Because I just plain didn't do anything today. I was lazy.

I can't even remember what time I woke up but I stayed in bed pretty much all day watching movies. I woke up and put in Julie & Julia. Then I put on Harry Potter (for the 3rd time in 2 days) and took a little nap somewhere around Ron hooking up with Lavendar. Then I got up around 3 and had some lunch. Back to bed to watch Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey & Jennifer Garner. It was cute but not buy-worthy for me.

Finally, mainly because I would feel guilty if I was still in bed when Brian got home, at 5 (yes, pm) I got out of bed and took a shower. And no, I didn't even cook dinner. All we had stuff for was pasta and I wasn't feeling like pasta tonight. So we had turkey and dressing leftovers from Christmas - which is about the best turkey ever. It is so good.

I do realize that I didn't talk about what we got for Christmas. I was too eager to share my parents experience :) but we had a great Christmas. Brian's mom always get us shoes, which I love because I hate buying tennis shoes for myself. So this year I got some super cool adidas tennis shoes. Brian also got some shoes - I don't remember what kind. He always asks for some sort of "cool" shoes :) Brian also got a PS3 and I got the steam mop that I asked for. I haven't tried it out yet but it's all put together. I'm excited about it cause now we can get rid of that nasty string mop. I got some great work clothes and stocking stuff - sweats, bbw spray & lotion, puppy calendar, pjs, and of course, socks. Brian got me a great new purse and some slippers that I love! We got some dvds and I got Brian a new Wii game and some polos.

I know, it sounds like we were totally spoiled, but I like to call it extremely blessed! :) I also got enough Christmas money for the new laptop that I am wanting. I think I'm going to order it tomorrow. I'm excited!

Tomorrow, I'm going to be a more responsible adult and get out of bed at a reasonable time :) I am going to the office for a little bit to finish up everything that needs to be done before we come back for real. Then I may try to find something else to do away from the house :) I still haven't done anything about that scrapbooking thing so that may need to be on the top of the list.

Oh, oh, forgot to mention that I spend 2+ hours at Half Price books yesterday. It was a pleasant time :) HPB was having a 20% off sale and I got 4 new books for only $16.00. None of them were Jodi Picoult books because they didn't have any that I needed but I a couple of Jude Devaroux and some other new authors. I've already started one called "Wednesdy Letters" and so far so good. I'll let you know how good it is when I'm all done :)

A Christmas Story

No, I'm not talking about the movie that TBS plays for 24 flippin hours. The one that I complained about in a previous Christmas movie post. I'm talking about the story that my parents will have to tell for many Christmases to come.

Earlier in the week, my parents drove to Amarillo to see my grandparents. The plan was for them to come home on Christmas eve and we would have Christmas day at their house. We always have Christmas eve at Brian's parents then go to my parents for Christmas day. It makes for an easy time especially when the time comes for us to have kids. It helps that our parents live in the same town too.

Anyway, back to the main story, my parents did leave Amarillo on Christmas eve morning BUT they didn't make it to Waxahachie until 10 o'clock on Christmas morning. The trip should have taken 5-6 hours but because of the weather, it took 25 hours! My parents made it to outside Wichita Falls and sat on the road for 8 hours. Around midnight, they made it Jolly, which is on the other side of WF to a truck stop. There they finally got to eat something and slept for a few hours in the car. They were joined by tons of other people that were stranded. It was quite ridiculous and kept me and Ali very worried. We kept getting different reports but initially mom and dad were stuck on the road because of 4 trucks that had jack-knifed. Then the tow trucks that came to help them out got stuck. Then other cars tried to drive and got stuck. People were trying to get off the highway and got stuck on the off ramps so no one else could exit or they would get stuck too! I just couldn't believe how crazy everything was! The roads were backed up, obviously, for miles and miles. I can't imagine if you were sick or just needed a bottle of water. You just had to sit there and wait because there was nothing anyone could do to help.

So needless to say, Ali and I spent Christmas eve worrying about mom and dad sleeping in their car at the truckstop and then driving the rest of the way on the icy roads. I hated that they had no food and they didn't have a warm bed to sleep in. I was feeling very Scrooge-ish.

But I learned two things: if I ever decide to be in Amarillo during the winter, I will a) likely fly and not drive and b) NEVER decline a big breakfast or sausage balls to go from Nonnie. Both of these were mistakes made by the parentals :) I also learned that, while my selfishness and Scrooge-ness stemmed from the worry that I had for my parents, I am lucky that I had parents that were coming home to me and my sister. I am lucky that they made it home safe. I am blessed that I have family to care about and worry about. There are people out there that have to sleep in their car every night, even if it is 13 degrees outside. There are people that went hungry on Christmas day. There are people that had no family to come home to. My family is so very blessed and I am thankful for our "Christmas Story" that reminded me of that.

Also, on a funny note, my parents were behind a Bud truck on the road and the driver got out and opened up his truck. No, not to hand out beer to the people that had been sitting in their cars for 8 hours (although we thought that would make a perfect commercial) but to fill his own pockets with some bottles and head back to the cab :) Don't worry, he didn't drive anywhere for the night!

While it was an eventful Christmas, it was also very blessed. We enjoyed our (short) time with family and got some great gifts. I only took a few pictures but I will post those later. I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas and appreciated your loved ones and the time spent together.

Much Love!

The Blideside

The only thing on my agenda today was to go to the movies to see 'The Blideside'. Brian hasn't been too enthusiastic to see it with me the past couple of weeks so I thought: I'll go by myself! This movie has not been a priority on my list either - I know, surprise! Most people thought that since it was a football movie that I would be in line at the theater when it came out. I don't know why - because I was interested for sure - but I've just put it on the back burner, kinda take it or leave it.

I'm glad that I saw it. I knew about the story before the movie since, I think, ESPN did a whole story on him when he got drafted by the Ravens. I think it is a fantastic story and definitely tugs at your heartstrings. I loved the message of the story and I loved that they used football as a metaphor for protecting the people that you love, even if they are not your 'real' family...you protect their blideside and they protect yours.

As for my review, it was good. It wasn't great but it's a movie that will go on our movie shelves. It certainly doesn't beat my #1 'Remember the Titans' but it was a good movie. I think the cinematic story side of it was just enough, not too much. It made my chin quiver and my eyes a little wet but I never cried :) It was definitely a feel good story and made you laugh some in between. I also love that it's a true story because you can leave that movie theater and continue to root for Michael Oher (I don't know if that's really how you spell it) while he plays in the NFL.

Now for my movie experience: I must say that I typically go to the movies on a Sunday morning - the first showing - so that I can be in that theater with as few people as possible. I know, that's very negative of me, but people are the #1 reason that I do not go to the movie theater very often. I hate that people are on their phones, that they can't stop talking and that they brought their 2-year old to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. I mean, really? I just rent movies and have Netflix to save myself the irritation. Today, I went to the first showing and was happy to see that I was in the room with mostly older couples and a couple mother/daughter combos. It was a pleasant experience but I would have to sit right behind the lady with the most annoyingly, high-pitched, loud laugh EVER! :) I dealt with it and really enjoyed the movie.

Now I'm watching some Ellen (who I LOVE!) and Oprah. Tomorrow the only thing on my agenda is to pack and be ready to leave when Brian gets home. The dogs will be bathed and I'll clean a little house and be packed and ready.

We are doing Christmas Eve at Brian's parents house and then Christmas day at my parent's house. We've done this for the past 3 years and it has worked out so well. We are looking forward to being home even if it is only for a little bit.

If I don't blog before Christmas, Merry Christmas to all of you! I have a very small following but they are all people who are very important in my life and I wish every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a great time with your families.

Much love!

Oh Winter Break, how I love thee!

Well, as promised, there hasn't been much going on around here with winter break and all. Brian is still having to work which sucks because that leads to some major boredom for me - although it hasn't quite hit yet.

Yesterday, Brian didn't work until noon so we slept in a little and then he had to get ready for work. So I got up and went in to the office for a little bit too. I got quite a few things done - which always happens when there is no one there to interrupt me - and then started some Christmas shopping. Yes, I said started. Brian and I have completed shopping for everyone else as of Saturday. However, I hadn't even started shopping for Brian. I had to make two trips to Target, two to Sam's and one to Wal-mart just to find half of what I was getting him! So after that, I was pooped. Plus I need to start dinner. We had carne guisada, always yummy, but it takes me a good hour to get everything chopped and sauteed in order to put it in the oven for 2 hours.

Today, it's embarrassing to admit, I got out of bed at 11am. I woke up a couple of times in between but boy, it felt good to sleep that late cuddled up with the pups. Anyway, we got up and went for a nice walk/run in the field. It was warm and humid today and super windy. After that I got a shower and lunch and headed out to finish my Brian shopping. I did get that done today plus some stocking stuffers and some books for my nephew (I figure I can say that on here since he can't read - which sounds funny since I got him books but they are sound books :).

On that note, I love books. I could stay in a bookstore for HOURS! Today, I could have sat in the kids section for HOURS! I told Brian today that I really hope that our kids love to read as much as me and their Aunt B do. Ali and I grew up reading and I still love that I love books so much.

In another note, I got my Pioneer Woman cookbook today. I had to admit to Brian that I cheated and purchased an early Christmas present for myself. But I couldn't resist. And I already love it. It has some great recipes that work for anyone and I think I can at least try most of them :) It's good Southern food and I also appreciate that. I'm excited to start on some of the recipes, maybe when we get back from Waxahachie.

That's about all that has been done on my first two days of winter break. Tomorrow, I plan to go see Blideside (yes, by myself) and one day of the break, go get a pedicure. The dogs need a bath too - they have to smell good for the grandparents. And when we get back, I really am going to get on that scrapbook thing. I just need a plan for it.

I'll post again when something crazy and exciting happens - or just at some point this week :)

Much Love,

Kels

I'm SO over work

Today is my last "real" work day before the break. Tomorrow is ring ceremony and department bowling (which I love!). I will be at the office some over the break but that will be on my own time and after I've slept in until at least 10am :) Point is, I cannot focus today. I just want to be in my sweats, catching up on DVR shows and hanging out with the dogs. Ahhh, that's the life :)

In other news, you should go to http://www.txstatebobcats.com/ and look at our department Christmas video. It's there on the front page, you just have to press play. It's really quite amusing - actually, it makes me laugh pretty hard!

That's it for today. Thank goodness the kids are gone for a month. Thank goodness I get two weeks off (especially because I still haven't started shoppnig for Brian!).

I've started a list of things to do over the break so that I don't get bored. Brian insists that won't happen :) So far, I have pedi/mani, scrapbooking our SF trip, give the dogs a bath, Christmas shopping, cooking new recipes...I think that's it. So there's your preview of blogs for the next two weeks :)

Much Love!