Let's open up a little bit and talk about some firsts. I'll get the ball rolling, but then I want to hear some of yours, too!
First Celebrity Crush
Patrick Swayze...oh, man. I was in 2nd grade. I think it may have had more to do with the fact that my older sister, Jaime, and my mom had a thing for him. But I joined the band wagon, and I mean really...who wasn't on that band wagon back then. I got my first poster of him from my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Caples. There was some kind of "celebrities for education" program and he was the spokesperson one month. I guess I had mentioned my crush in class a few times, because when they got the new posters with the next celebrity for the next month, she gave me his. And looking back, as a 2nd grade teacher myself, I think that was probably pretty weird. I mean, I don't go around giving the girls in my class posters of Zack Effron or the Jonas Brothers, or anything. But then there was that one poster (you know the one I'm talking about) of him in the overalls, half undone, sitting down with his chest glistening with sweat...it was delightful.
First Kiss
This one's far too embarassing to publicly share. But there are several of you who will read this and remember me coming to you, describing how it happened, and asking, "Ugh...is his tongue really supposed to fill up your whole mouth and just flop around like a dying fish?!" It was NOT good.
First Job
After applying at literaly 32 different places, I walk in to turn in my application at Pizza Hut and get interviewed and hired on the spot. I started out as a CSR (customer service representative), better known as a "phone girl". Due to my incredible skills on the phone, I quickly move up to waitress. I was pretty awesome at it. I really had a great time at that job. I enjoyed almost all of the people I worked with (everyone but Paula...the day time buffet waitress...she was trashy and down-right mean). I made pretty good money on tips and even got a couple of phone numbers. The most shocking, though, was when I was waiting on this family of 5. Everthing went fine, I got an average tip, and while the mom was getting the 3 kids cleaned up and ready to leave, the dad came up to me (within eyesight of his wife) and gave me a napkin with his phone number on it and told me to call him sometime. I was floored! It was also the place I met Kevin. I was waiting tables when he came in to interview for a delivery position. I know, super cute isn't it? A waitress and a delivery boy...it's the stuff movies are made of.
First Date
Well, this one's tricky. What I thought was my first date was actually just me being friends with a guy who was in the closet. I didn't find out until the next year that it wasn't actually a first date...because that was when he came out...and then did my hair for prom! So, I guess my actual first date (as lame as it may be) wasn't until I was 17...my senior. year. I went to a movie with a guy named Dakota (who actually may be reading this right now, so that's kind of weird). Who knows, I may find out that it wasn't technically a date either. But anyway, he came to pick me up in his old white checker cab, which everyone called "The Shaggin' Wagon". So, there I was thinking Dad would be all tougher-than-nails. But actually, he went out front and talked cars for a few minutes before we actually left....no big deal. We went to the move had some good old fashioned "is he/isn't he...should I/shouldn't I" hand holding moments, and a sweet kiss at the door when he dropped me off. Not more than 2 weeks after that, I went on my first date with Kevin. And the rest, as they say, is history.
First Car
My first car was a '96 Ford Explorer. I bought it in 2000. I put $4,000 down (and that's the only time I've ever had money to put down on a car), and had payments of $230/month....pretty sweet. It was white with a tan leather interior. There was a 6 disk CD changer in the console with a remote to use for changing the CD's/songs. I really loved that car. It got me to and from Abilene and San Angelo for 6 months. It got me from back and forth between Denton and Lewisville for school and work. It made a drive to South Dakota and back, and it safely took Cakes and me on our 4,000 mile honeymoon road trip. It also carried me safely through my first 7 months of my first pregnancy. It was a great car.
OK, so you've all either learned a little bit more about me or taken a little trip down memory lane. Now it's your turn. What are some of your firsts?!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Words of Wisdom...
Although I was never a big Aaron Tippin fan, I always thought the song "You've Got to Stand for Something....or you'll fall for anything" had a good message and was cleverly worded at that. When I stumbled across these little sayings today, that song came to mind. I think some of them are good....... or at least semi-witty and mostly true. And for a lack of anything else to write about (I've just been busy, what with the kids, school, the house, errands, meals, grading papers, Dr.'s appointments, meetings, and things like that), I thought this would suffice. I added some thoughts/examples in italics next to some of them...
* Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. (This is very similar to the traditional "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.")
* If life gives you lemons, squeeze the juice into a watergun and shoot other people in the eyes.
* If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. (example: "Hey, you cut your hair!" instead of "Wow, what did you do to your hair?")
* Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. (If I weren't such a naturally gifted dancer, I'd say that this was a philosophy of mine.)
* Always forgive your enemies....nothing could annoy them more.
* If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side. (Even when things are crappy, they could always be worse.)
* Everybody is somebody else's weirdo. (...except for me, of course)
* The early bird catches the worm, but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese.
* If you can't learn to do it well, try to learn to enjoy doing it badly. (Ahh, I really liked this one. Always try to have fun with what you do...whether you're good at it or not. Life's too short...let's enjoy it while it lasts!)
:)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
It's the Simple Things...
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope."
-- Sir Winston Churchill
~ Games: I had the pleasure of playing Catch Phrase for the first time....it is a very fast paced, loud, addicting, and fun game. I was also able to play Cranium last night with my husband, little brother, and friend. Now usually, Josh (my little brother) and I are an unstoppable force. But since neither Kevin nor Ashley were that into the idea of the game, we decided not to totally destroy them...we split up our game winning powers and played against each other. It was still fun...and, of course, my team won. And yes, I realize that it's not the games that were important. It's the time, interaction, and laughter with family and friends.
~ A 2nd Fridge: After about a year of coming home from the store and getting frustrated trying to cram everything into our fridge, or portion out some of the drinks, and only buying 1 gallon of milk at a time...we finally got a second fridge! No, it's not fancy. Kevin found it for $40 on Craig's List. But it does it's job. It is in the garage, and it holds all of the drinks that we can now buy in bulk, and it allows us to actually have room in our regular fridge. Is it lame that I find so much happiness in a 2nd fridge? But I guess it's not actually the fridge that's got me so excited, but it's a convenience...and one less thing to have to think about.
~ Nice Weather: The weather has been so nice these last few days! The kids have gone outside and played for hours (not all at once, but totaled throughout the day)! They have fought less and sweated/laughed more! Although I haven't been feeling well a lot of the time, I've managed to make it out there with them a few times. Trampoline, roller blades/scooters, and good old fashioned imaginative play...you can't beat that! And it's not the weather itself that has made me happy, but what the weather has allowed: good-natured fun (with less arguing and hurting each other), imagination, laughter, and smiles from the kids. Who wouldn't be happy about that?!
~ Texting/Facebook Wall Posts: Over the past few weeks, I have been doing more texting and posting on to people's walls on facebook. I was never a big fan of texting, but it's growing on me. I still don't know many of the texting short-hands, and I usually prefer to just type it the right way. But it is just a quick way to touch base with someone. It's the same thing with the facebook posts. It's a simple way (even if you're just leaving a sarcastic comment) of letting someone know that they're in your thoughts. Even though I'm not in the same town/state as some of these people, it's comforting to know they're never more than a click or two away. So, again, it's not really the technology that's doing something for me...it's the ease of staying in touch with your loved ones.
So to wrap things up, I think the unifying theme for all of these is: family, friends, and convenience. And the most important of these is convenience. JUST KIDDING! But it is nice, though isn't it?
-- Sir Winston Churchill
"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."
-- Antonio Smith
~ Games: I had the pleasure of playing Catch Phrase for the first time....it is a very fast paced, loud, addicting, and fun game. I was also able to play Cranium last night with my husband, little brother, and friend. Now usually, Josh (my little brother) and I are an unstoppable force. But since neither Kevin nor Ashley were that into the idea of the game, we decided not to totally destroy them...we split up our game winning powers and played against each other. It was still fun...and, of course, my team won. And yes, I realize that it's not the games that were important. It's the time, interaction, and laughter with family and friends.
~ A 2nd Fridge: After about a year of coming home from the store and getting frustrated trying to cram everything into our fridge, or portion out some of the drinks, and only buying 1 gallon of milk at a time...we finally got a second fridge! No, it's not fancy. Kevin found it for $40 on Craig's List. But it does it's job. It is in the garage, and it holds all of the drinks that we can now buy in bulk, and it allows us to actually have room in our regular fridge. Is it lame that I find so much happiness in a 2nd fridge? But I guess it's not actually the fridge that's got me so excited, but it's a convenience...and one less thing to have to think about.
~ Nice Weather: The weather has been so nice these last few days! The kids have gone outside and played for hours (not all at once, but totaled throughout the day)! They have fought less and sweated/laughed more! Although I haven't been feeling well a lot of the time, I've managed to make it out there with them a few times. Trampoline, roller blades/scooters, and good old fashioned imaginative play...you can't beat that! And it's not the weather itself that has made me happy, but what the weather has allowed: good-natured fun (with less arguing and hurting each other), imagination, laughter, and smiles from the kids. Who wouldn't be happy about that?!
~ Texting/Facebook Wall Posts: Over the past few weeks, I have been doing more texting and posting on to people's walls on facebook. I was never a big fan of texting, but it's growing on me. I still don't know many of the texting short-hands, and I usually prefer to just type it the right way. But it is just a quick way to touch base with someone. It's the same thing with the facebook posts. It's a simple way (even if you're just leaving a sarcastic comment) of letting someone know that they're in your thoughts. Even though I'm not in the same town/state as some of these people, it's comforting to know they're never more than a click or two away. So, again, it's not really the technology that's doing something for me...it's the ease of staying in touch with your loved ones.
So to wrap things up, I think the unifying theme for all of these is: family, friends, and convenience. And the most important of these is convenience. JUST KIDDING! But it is nice, though isn't it?
Friday, April 2, 2010
Easter Weekend...
Here's The Plan
Friday:
~ Take a 1/2 day from work and get the kids to Good Friday mass.
~ Get a head start on laundry.
~ Make delicious and colorful Easter sugar cookies.
Saturday:
~ Wake up early and get Mason to his soccer game.
~ Dye Easter eggs.
~ Get Hannah to her friend's birthday party.
~ Take care of last minute erands.
~ Make blackberry wine cake.
~ Make sweet tea.
~ Finish laundry.
~ Get Kevin to help me clean the house.
~ Hide the Easter eggs and the Easter baskets (complete with a series of riddles for the kids to use to find the baskets).
~ Go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Sunday:
~ Wake up early to find the previously hidden eggs and bakets.
~ Get everyone gussied up for Easter mass.
~ Get to church on time (which means early).
~ Go home and start a mini marathon of cooking a meal for 11-13 people: ham, rolls, broccoli rice casserole, green beans with bacon, mashed potatoes with gravy.
~ And have it all go off without a hitch.
Here's How it Really Happened
Friday:
~ I did take the 1/2 day from work, and I got the kids and myself to Good Friday mass. Apparently the church thought it was summer already...the AC was on full blast...the kids and I froze...and they complained the entire time.
~ I got a head start on laundry...not much else to say there.
~ The kids and I made sugar cookies. You might notice I left off the word delicious. Well, when we came to the part where we add the salt, I thought to myself "Wow...2 teaspoons is a lot of salt." So I checked and double checked the recipe. Yep, that's what it said. So, we make the cookies and we taste the dough. Something seems off, so I check the recipe again. Yep, 2 teaspoons. We roll, cut, bake, and decorate the cookies. OK, the frosting helped, but they're definitely a bit salty. So I check the recipe again (not that I can do anything about it now), and just as I thought (I can't believe I didn't see it before), the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Yikes!
~ I then look down at the floor to clean up the crumbs and sprinkles and I see that a drop of blue food coloring landed on my new pink Converse shoes! This sets me over the edge...I'm mad now. But with a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of Spray n Wash, you can barely see it. Crisis averted.
~ But from then on everything else I tried to do either ended up making a mess or frustrating me some other way.
Saturday:
~ We woke up early and got to Mason's soccer game just in time. His team won their 2nd game, and Mason scored his very first goal!!!
~ We dyed eggs without making a mess on the table or their clothes (quite an accomplishment with Hannah and Mason).
~ While Hannah was having a blast at her friend's party, Kevin, Mason, and I ran all the errands we needed to.
~ Kevin fixed the computer in Hannah's room, and then I: cleaned the whole house, continued the laundry, baked a cake, and made the tea while Kevin took a nap. I know, I shouldn't have expected anything else. But in all fairness, he did have to wake up for work at 5:45 (which means that I had to wake him up twice between 5:45 and 6:00).
~ I finished laundry, hid the eggs and baskets, and placed the clues where they belonged while watching a movie, and went to bed at 1:00 (I know...rediculous, right?)
Sunday:
~ I woke up at 7:00 to make orange rolls for breakfast.
~ The kids were up at 7:15 to find their eggs and baskets. They totally loved the riddles they had to use to find their baskets. They both said this was the best Easter ever (of course, that's what they say every year...but whatever). Then while eating orange rolls, they had a very meaningful conversation about Easter. (Here's just a sample) Hannah: Mason, did you know Jesus died for all of us? Mason: Yeah! And he came back to life...he's amazing!
~ We got dressed and ready...and got to church on time! The kids were apparently done being sweet and thoughtful, though. They whined and argued off and on throughout most of the mass. Not to mention Mason being a typical brother and stepping on the back of Hannah's heels on the way to communion
~ We got home, changed clothes, and I cooked from 11:30-2:20. Our company came over, we all enjoyed ourselves, and everything went off without a hitch!
~ I am now officially exhausted (more so than usual), and I can't wait until next weekend.
It was a VERY happy Easter!
Friday:
~ Take a 1/2 day from work and get the kids to Good Friday mass.
~ Get a head start on laundry.
~ Make delicious and colorful Easter sugar cookies.
Saturday:
~ Wake up early and get Mason to his soccer game.
~ Dye Easter eggs.
~ Get Hannah to her friend's birthday party.
~ Take care of last minute erands.
~ Make blackberry wine cake.
~ Make sweet tea.
~ Finish laundry.
~ Get Kevin to help me clean the house.
~ Hide the Easter eggs and the Easter baskets (complete with a series of riddles for the kids to use to find the baskets).
~ Go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Sunday:
~ Wake up early to find the previously hidden eggs and bakets.
~ Get everyone gussied up for Easter mass.
~ Get to church on time (which means early).
~ Go home and start a mini marathon of cooking a meal for 11-13 people: ham, rolls, broccoli rice casserole, green beans with bacon, mashed potatoes with gravy.
~ And have it all go off without a hitch.
Here's How it Really Happened
Friday:
~ I did take the 1/2 day from work, and I got the kids and myself to Good Friday mass. Apparently the church thought it was summer already...the AC was on full blast...the kids and I froze...and they complained the entire time.
~ I got a head start on laundry...not much else to say there.
~ The kids and I made sugar cookies. You might notice I left off the word delicious. Well, when we came to the part where we add the salt, I thought to myself "Wow...2 teaspoons is a lot of salt." So I checked and double checked the recipe. Yep, that's what it said. So, we make the cookies and we taste the dough. Something seems off, so I check the recipe again. Yep, 2 teaspoons. We roll, cut, bake, and decorate the cookies. OK, the frosting helped, but they're definitely a bit salty. So I check the recipe again (not that I can do anything about it now), and just as I thought (I can't believe I didn't see it before), the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Yikes!
~ I then look down at the floor to clean up the crumbs and sprinkles and I see that a drop of blue food coloring landed on my new pink Converse shoes! This sets me over the edge...I'm mad now. But with a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of Spray n Wash, you can barely see it. Crisis averted.
~ But from then on everything else I tried to do either ended up making a mess or frustrating me some other way.
Saturday:
~ We woke up early and got to Mason's soccer game just in time. His team won their 2nd game, and Mason scored his very first goal!!!
~ We dyed eggs without making a mess on the table or their clothes (quite an accomplishment with Hannah and Mason).
~ While Hannah was having a blast at her friend's party, Kevin, Mason, and I ran all the errands we needed to.
~ Kevin fixed the computer in Hannah's room, and then I: cleaned the whole house, continued the laundry, baked a cake, and made the tea while Kevin took a nap. I know, I shouldn't have expected anything else. But in all fairness, he did have to wake up for work at 5:45 (which means that I had to wake him up twice between 5:45 and 6:00).
~ I finished laundry, hid the eggs and baskets, and placed the clues where they belonged while watching a movie, and went to bed at 1:00 (I know...rediculous, right?)
Sunday:
~ I woke up at 7:00 to make orange rolls for breakfast.
~ The kids were up at 7:15 to find their eggs and baskets. They totally loved the riddles they had to use to find their baskets. They both said this was the best Easter ever (of course, that's what they say every year...but whatever). Then while eating orange rolls, they had a very meaningful conversation about Easter. (Here's just a sample) Hannah: Mason, did you know Jesus died for all of us? Mason: Yeah! And he came back to life...he's amazing!
~ We got dressed and ready...and got to church on time! The kids were apparently done being sweet and thoughtful, though. They whined and argued off and on throughout most of the mass. Not to mention Mason being a typical brother and stepping on the back of Hannah's heels on the way to communion
~ We got home, changed clothes, and I cooked from 11:30-2:20. Our company came over, we all enjoyed ourselves, and everything went off without a hitch!
~ I am now officially exhausted (more so than usual), and I can't wait until next weekend.
It was a VERY happy Easter!
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