Tennessee

Last Thurday I flew to Nashville Tennessee to see my best friend Christy.  I have known her since about second grade when we both lived in Colorado.  When we moved apart we started visiting each other every summer.  She recently got engaged, so it was fun to talk about wedding plans.  I'm excited because I get to be her Matron of Honor.  We had lots of fun together this trip.  On Friday on of her friends who sells Mary Kay came and we got to play with makeup.  On Saturday I tried on the bridesmaid dress that she wants.  And then we went to a place called Cheekwood, which is botanical gardens mixed in with blown glass art.  So it was very cool.

On Sunday we went to church and grocery shopping and then hung out by the pool.  My flight out was pretty early on Monday morning.  And so to keep with our tradition of an airport picture here is the 2010 version...

When I came back on Monday, Heather was driving down to visit us.  She stayed Monday and Tuesday night.  It was great to hang out with her.  On Wednesday she headed up to College Station to visit some friends because I had another GT training class.  Wednesday was an exciting day, because it was Mom's birthday, but I didn't get to see her but they are coming down next weekend.  Also, Wednesday I got my new iPhone 4!!  It's really cool. lol.  However they made me get a new Houston number.  So it's official... I live in Houston. lol  Yestersday i helped my friend Cody move.  She is moving to a bigger apartment in the same complex.  I didn't do much besides watch the movers come and then go to lunch.  But when after lunch we did unload some boxes and arranged furniture.  I left at 3 because I have a standing racketball game every Tuesday and Thursday.  One of Russell's coworkers wife is a member at our gym and she is fun to play with.  So it's been a pretty busy week!

Little Bit of This and That

Nothing too exciting has been going on around here.  The last few weekends we have been eating well (and eating in) all week and then on saturday going out and having a nice dinner.  Two Saturdays ago we went to P.F. Chang's.  Russell's parents joined us.  And this past Saturday we went to the Galleria and the Cheesecake Factory.  Both Satrudays I left very full and very happy.  It's nice because it gives us something to look forward to, and we do better eating during the week.  Unfortunately we wont be able to continue our Saturday tradition since I am leaving for Nashville to see Christy for the weekend.  But that's ok because I am excited about seeing Christy!!!

I took the ESL certification test last Thursday.  I got my test scores back on Monday and I passed with a pretty high score, so thats exciting.  After teaching an ESL class this past semester, I really liked it, so I wanted to make it official and go ahead and get ceritified it.  After I took the test on Thursday I swung by the AT&T store to try and get the new iPhone.  They had to order it for me.  I was hoping that I could get it before I left tomorrow, but it's not in yet :( .  But I am excited about it, despite the reception problems.  I'll give you an update to see if it's as bad as they say.  But from what I have heard it's only bad if you don't have a case for it and are left handed.  lol. 

More later when I get back from Tennessee on Monday!

Also an update... I have lost 2 and a half pounds since joining the gym! YAY!

Gym Members

So we haven't been good about working out on our own.  So we decided to join a gym.  We are now official members of Lifetime Fitness- it's really close to our house and has great amenities.  It has racketball, pool, classes, and other stuff.  So as new members we got a free personal training session (yes so they can then try and get us to signup for more-not free).  But oh my, did he make us work.  We are still sore and we worked out with him on Friday.  Needless to say we won't be working out with him again- not so much because we can't, but because it's kinda expensive, and Russell is knowledgable enough for us to do it on our own.  Putting it out here on the blog will keep us accountable, that, plus the $50 a month.  So hopefully the next time you see us you can see the results of our hard work!! 

Redecorating

So if you come visit us this summer (which I hope you do!!) you will notice some changes at our house.  First off we got a new sofa table.  When you used to walk into our front door all you could see was the back of the couch.  So now there is more of a formal entry way.

Also, we did the guest bathroom.  I really don't call it redecoration since it wasn't really that decorated to begin with.  It was more of a mismatch of our old stuff from college.  We liked Russell's old shower curtain so we stuck with that as our jumping off point.

I got some towels that actually coordinate with the shower curtain.

And then we got some decoration and some basic bathroom accessories for the sink area.

So next time you are in the Houston area, please feel free to come by and check out our changes in person!

Lauren's Wedding

This past week has been filled with wedding festivities for my friend Lauren.  I went up to Dallas on Monday and spent the week there.  First order of business was to help celebrate Leslie's 26th birthday.  Her birthday was on Sunday and they had gone to the Rangers game.  But it was fun to have dinner and dessert with her and Jeremy.

Mom seems to be reusing my candles from February.  On Monday night I got to hang out with Amanda and the Fosters.  On Tuesday I went and had lunhc up at the church with mom and Mrs. Laura, yummy Taco Bueno (someone needs to open one up here in Houston).  Afterwards, Heather came up and we played Wii in the youth room- some perks of knowing all the right people at the church.  It was great to hang out with Heather alone some before all the wedding stuff.  On Tuesday night we went to On the Border with Lauren, Katherine, and Katie.  Dad had a late softball game that night, and despite the rain they played.  I haven't been to one of his games in awhile because they are always on Tuesday nights when I'm not there.

Wednesday I had lunch with dad at Genghis Grill (yay someone is opening one up in Houston!!!!).  And then mom got permisison to miss work and we went to see Eclipse with the Foster ladies. It was really good, much better than the first two. 

Afterwards we had a dessert shower at Heather's house for Lauren.  It was nice because it was just the bridesmaids.  Afterwards we went out for Lauren's bachelorette party.  We started out with margaritas at OTB and then to have a "dance" lesson at the Girls Room.  It was fun and very interesting-lol.  And I'll just leave it at that.

Thursday we went to get our nails done in the morning and then checked in the hotel and got ready for the rehersal at 3.  Then Lauren and Mark had an open house at their new apartment before the rehersal dinner at Maggianos.  Friday we had a nice surprise of 30 minute messages, Lauren got an hour one.  We got our hair and make up done in time to then start worrying about the rain.  They finally decided to have the wedding inside instead of outside (good thing they didn't take my advice, because I was certain it would blow over).  Good theing they didn't because it rained practically all night.  Russell's flight was delayed by about 3 hours.  He missed the ceremony but made it in time for the reception. 

After the all the wedding activities, on Saturday the boys went to play golf and me, Leslie, and mom went to Northpark Mall.  Mom had some "gold" there and so she shared with us.  Overall it was great week.  However, I was glad to be back at home with my husband and my dog.