What am I doing?!

You know how they always tell you "God doesn't give you more than you can handle"? Well, He must think I'm living in a world of 28 hour days right now. Every day I have a lot on my plates but I have a lot more right now. Honestly, I'm actually enjoying it and learning to manage my time down to the second.

My grandma had knee surgery mid-July and I'm caring for her and also for my dad while she is out of commission. That means between Robert and I we have to go up to my dad's once at 10 a.m. and again at 5 p.m. and we also have to stop by my grandma's at some point during the day. That's in addition to the chores and things they need done from laundry to grocery shopping. Oh, and that pesky thing called a job.

I won't complain though because I find it joyful to care for others. I think it's a great honor to have the emotional maturity to do it. And I'm getting used to waking up at 5 a.m. every day!

What else have we been up to?

Elisha and Kevin celebrating high-five Friday. In the rain.

We seemed to hit every rainy event with the Burys this month. It rained on our symphony and fireworks and it rained on our Rangers game. But we still had fun.

I read every Sookie Stackhouse novel. We've had fun True Blood nights with the Burys that included themed food such as Blood Orange soda and Howl at the Moon brownies.

I started all of my seeds for fall in the indoor garden. We had a mishap with the greenhouse on the windowsill...the only casualty was the carpet behind the couch. We're hoping to replace it soon anyway.

We've been getting ready for Steve and Nicki's wedding in San Antonio next weekend (woohoo!).

I bought another Kate Spade dress. I hope I have a daughter someday so I can pass down the beautiful high-end clothing and shoes I've been collecting lately. It'll be vintage!

My annual review went well and Robert was promoted.

We booked our Labor Day weekend vacation to Florida.

I switched offices to one closer to my area and in the country. I absolutely love my drive every day. It takes me from our house in West Fort Worth down to Whisky Flats, through the beautiful ranches around Godley and Crowley and then into Joshua. My view is a gorgeous "yard" of pasture grass and mature trees. And let's not forget the fun of decorating a second office. Pictures will come next month.

Staying dry at the Rangers game.

Despite the crazy life I've been leading the past few weeks, it's been a pretty darn good month for us. Can't wait for the next!

Summertime and the livin's easy...

The heat has been wicked this year and has not helped our garden. In the sun's defense, we planted late this spring. We are getting a bumper crop of hot peppers, bell peppers and herbs. Our tomatoes are slow...we've had two from four plants. Our cucumbers and squash are suffering from cucumber beetles. I'm ready to give up on those. That's what I get for not buying the pest resistent variety. The eggplant has been flowering but no fruit and the canteloupe and watermelon are growing like crazy (no fruit yet).

I'm about to start some seeds for the fall and I'm really excited about everything you can grow in the fall and winter. I'm hoping to have a bunch of different varieties of lettuce and greens!

We've been keeping busy with work, family and friends. We went to Concerts in the Garden and we'll be going again Friday for the Fourth of July concert.

I've moved offices at work...or actually set up a second office in a new location. I've also flown through the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Now that True Blood is on again, I've been craving more plot line. I've definitely found it in the books. I hope Charlaine Harris continues to write the books and doesn't pull a Stephanie Meyer and quit.

I'm loving the long summer days. It's light outside when I wake up extra early and I can go outside and water plants and prep for the night's dinner. At night I can play in the yard or enjoy a late night dinner on the patio and still have light. It might be hot to the extreme but I can't get enough of the beautiful sun. This weekend we set up what we like to call our "redneck" pool in the backyard. It's an 8 ft. snapset pool with room for two floats. We filled it up, did a little tanning and then watered our yard with it. A nice treat for $11!

Happy fourth of July!

The next stage...

We completed our garden beds with the help of the Burys over Memorial Day weekend. Gardening has commenced. We planted eggplant, squash, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, four types of tomato, basil, sage, bell peppers and hot peppers. I'm about to start a few things from seed for the fall. It sounds kind of silly to be prepping for fall when we just got into our ridiculously hot season, but apparently, now is the time for some things. I'm most excited about the malabar spinach. I hope the seeds work!



This weekend we went to Austin for two celebrations. On Friday we drove in and were able to spend some time with my aunt, uncle and cousins before we headed out to Megan and Joel's wedding. I've known Megan since we were little kids back when we used to have a radio station called MJKL and we taped our own radio show :) It was awesome to see her entire family again and our good friend Lindsay.



That night we didn't get much sleep because we had to be out the door at 7 a.m. for Kyle and Kimbell's high school graduation. I am so proud of them for both graduating in the top 10 of their class. They're off to big things at St. Edward's and UT this fall.

Robert and I took some time Sunday morning to eat at the Magnolia Cafe (gingerbread pancakes!) and stop by a huge organic nursery. This place has its own gardens and it was fun to walk through all of them and get some inspiration. We bought a few plants to bring home and try out since everything they stock is great for the Texas climate.

It's always fun to see friends and family moving on to the next stage in their lives :)

Do you remember when...?

Welcome summer...we missed you. This was our first full week of 90+ temps and I'm definitely starting to acclimate. What I can't acclimate to is wearing a full suit outside...time to break out the short sleeve suit jackets and skirts!

May has been the month of meeting goals. I've had a lot of goals for myself at work and I've managed to hit the majority of them. Time to set the bar higher. I love my job, I love my company and I love my boss. Who would've thought that at age 27 I'd have my dream job?

Courtney came in to visit from NYC last weekend. I have missed her so much. She makes such a big impact on our group of friends. She is doing amazing things with Puma right now. I'm really excited that Mark is moving from San Fran to NYC to be with her...and we can't wait to visit so they can show us their city. We're hoping to go later this year.

I haven't been playing in the yard as much this year because I was sick so much but now that summer has hit, it's time to get back to it. This weekend we're having some friends over and we're building raised garden beds. We've already bought our starter plants (it's too late for summer seeds). They're hard at work producing and attracting bugs. Organic gardening is a lot harder than people think..not many alternatives for getting rid of pests. We also got two new hydrangea plants and they are beautiful. They are currently trying out different spots in our yard before they find their permanant homes.

We don't have big Memorial Day weekend plans aside from gardening. Tonight we're headed to the Special Olympics summer games opening ceremonies to accept an award for my company. Then we're going to head out to a date night. I'm hoping to catch lunch with Stace after a memorial service tomorrow morning and then grab some pool time. I'm working on my summer tan so I don't scare people at work with my ghostly white legs. Sunday will be BBQ time and Monday will be filled with relaxation. Life doesn't get much better than this!

Next weekend we're heading down to Austin for a wedding. My twin cousins are also graduating from high school. I'm so incredibly proud of them for graduating numbers 5 and 10 in their class. Amazing! One is going to UT and the other to St. Edwards and both received scholarships. We're going to have a blast on our Austin celebration weekend.

Don't forget to stop and remember those who have lost their lives or livelihood for our country!

all in a days work...

I think we've been in the pattern of updating this every month or so. I'll try to keep up!


I'm happy to say that I feel nearly recovered from the pneumonia. I battled some allergy stuff last week but I won! Now I'm taking Claritin twice a day until it gets really hot. I'm thinking about starting allergy shots this fall - I can't live through another spring like this.



I have been working on a few big projects at work recently. I love my job because I'm afforded new challenges and opportunities every day. I am never bored! I was really excited to be named to a cool FW steering committee this week...can't wait to get involved with it.


We've been keeping busy with my work schedule, too. We supported the Cowboys for Kids PBR Rodeo in Cleburne a few weeks ago. It was so much fun and we got to wear our cowboy boots. We also volunteered for Special Olympics spring games. Robert had a great time measuring for the shot put event. Caitlin and I escorted the winners to the podium after each heat. It is such an inspiring event. This past weekend I survived my second Relay For Life in Hill County. The community is so supportive of the event and I'm looking forward to hearing the total raised.


I'm also looking forward to some "me" time this weekend. I have a few projects around the house I want to tackle, a few shows to catch up on and the requisite pampering I try to fit in every month - love the spa!

My rundown for the rest of the week: watch the company broadcast, go to tonight's Rangers game, visit the Hillsboro area. How can you call it work when you're having so much fun?

ready, set, go....now stop.

We've been keeping busy as usual. We started a little renovation project on our bedroom. To compliment the gorgeous linens we received for our bed at our wedding, we decided to repaint the bedroom. We've learned that paint color changes without primer and have had to prime before painting quite a bit of wall space. We have one wall to go and should finish that tonight. Well, sweet Robert will. Pictures will come soon! We debabted on changing the bathroom color but decided to keep it neutral.

Last weekend was Robert's birthday and we celebrated by doing a 5K, checking out Main Street Arts Festival and getting Robert a pair of cowboy boots. (Shhh...I got a pair too!) Then we went to have Korean BBQ with his brother and David. On Sunday we celebrated my dad's birthday and then took my sister golfing to get ready for her tournament on Monday. It was so much fun even though I don't play. Golf courses are super relaxing and I loved driving my own golf cart :)

In other news...I'm being sent a signal that I need to slow down again. I've been pushing pretty hard at work and we're getting ready to go in to a very busy rate season. I have been suffering from allergies for the first time in a long time this year. I lost my voice yesterday and then couldn't sleep (or breathe) last night. I went to the doctor this morning and found out I have bronchitis and pneumonia. My body won't let me lie down (can't breathe) so I haven't been able to get any sleep today. I'm anxious to start feeling better and get my voice back. I haven't ever taken a sick day at my current job and now I'm taking two! Following the sign to slow down.

And on a last note...my awesome mom is in the British Virgin Islands again taking part two of her captain's license classes. She is living aboard a sail boat this time with three other women. Nothing new to her but she's having a great time. She's so inspirational and I'm really proud of her for going after her dreams.

Spring Breakin'

Last week was spring break and unfortunately for the Pacleb household, we don’t get a vacation. Or rather, we choose to spend our vacation days during other times of the year. Either way, we celebrated. My biggest celebration was during my usual 20 minute commute to the south of downtown. With all of those parents staying home with their kids, we childless people were left to enjoy the space on the highway and shorter commutes. Woohoo for extra sleep in the morning!

We had the pleasure of attending the Cliburn Concert Series featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott last Tuesday. Amazing. Simply amazing. We were given box seats and they were fabulous. As Robert said, “I feel a little bit like Abe Lincoln right now!” We also met with our accountant to have our taxes prepared. Not quite as exciting.

On Saturday we awoke to wicked winter weather. I’m talking rain like you wouldn’t believe. Well, I guess everyone around here could believe it because it has been the story of our lives for the past few months. I heard Dallas got a few inches of snow but we just had a dusting. And I’m totally fine with that. I’m looking forward to the spring temps this week. If Saturday starts looking good, we may have our first garage sale. It is much needed – we have an entire bedroom filled with garage sale items! I'd like to reclaim that space as my own.

And yesterday, we finally broke down and saw Avatar in 3D. And yes, I enjoyed it even though I thought it was going to be lame. James Cameron created a beautiful world that made me wonder, "what happened to my imagination?" And I loved the subtle “save the Earth” undertones in the movie. Caitlin absolutely loved it, too. But we all know she is a tree hugger and a sci-fi nerd ;)

Last night I attempted a Tomato Tart from this month’s food and wine magazine. Like most things with tomato, it’s always best on day two. And I wish I would’ve left it in the oven for about 15 additional minutes because my yellow cherry tomatoes were a little big and they all didn’t roast. I give the recipe two thumbs up for being delicious and fresh. And the pie crust was fun to play with too! I may attempt something else from the magazine next week.

And speaking of food, we’re about to start week two of our chef delivered meals. We LOVED it last week. Everything is portioned correctly and it saved us a good hour in the kitchen every night. Perfect for busy people like us :)

Life in fast forward...

We've been keeping busy lately...here are a few highlights:

I threw a bridal shower for a friend two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun because we got engaged around the same time. She's getting married this weekend!

I went to the Dallas Flea, which was cool but smaller than I expected. The only things I bought were food items but Ashleigh found a few great "vintage" items for her house.

I had my first meal at Nordstroms Bistro and my mouth is still watering for another goat cheese tart. I love great food. Why does America like junk so much?!

Robert bought a new driver and played golf on Saturday with Justin. They got sunburned...welcome spring!

We all went out to dinner Saturday night at Taverna and had a soup incident. I always have to order their soup because it's delish. Saturday night it was butternut squash and our waiter ran into another waiter and splat! Soup was all over the floor. The next day I realized that there was soup splatter all over my black heels and my black purse. Don't judge...the lighting was really dim everywhere we went. :)

We also went to Scat Jazz Lounge to see an organ trio. An organ + jazz = amazing. Who would've thought?

On Sunday we celebrated my brother's birthday. I was excited to try Hoffbrau for the first time. Too bad it turned out to be that junk that America likes to eat. Nothing special.

Last night Robert and I went to see Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott at the Bass as part of the Cliburn series. The Cliburn series is arguably one of the best in the country, if not the world, and it was a special treat. We were given box seats by one of the board chairs. I hate to say it, but Stott almost outshined Ma if that were possible. She was a total rockstar.

This week Robert and I are trying something new. We've been looking for ways to save time and maximize it to our benefit. We hired a chef we met who owns a catering company to make all of our meals for the week and deliver them on Mondays. So far, so good. We're eating really great, fresh food and we get at the very least an extra hour to spend doing something meaningful every night...whether going to bed early or taking a walk, it's made a big difference! Now if only I could outsource all of my cleaning, laundry and yard work...

And tonight is tax night. We're meeting with our accountant after work. We're hoping for a very small refund and to owe nothing. That is the point, right? We're also going to get advice for filing as a married couple for this tax year.

And that's our little update of what has been happening. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Too busy being fabulous...

Here is a gross way to find out that you're a really, really busy person. Interested?

So for the past few months I have been out and about running around and living out of the office that is my 4runner. I'm not in my stationary office very long and when I am, I'm only checking my mail or drafting a quick contract on the computer.

Today I was rummaging around my "utensil" drawer to grab a pack of crystal light and noticed a horrible odor. That odor turned out to be a rotten lunch that I left in there. It was concealed in a Target bag, which blended in with the other Target bags I recycle.

Have you ever wanted to vomit from a thought? I wanted to vomit at the thought that I haven't noticed that smell for what could be months. So disgusting.

And for all of you clean freaks out there, that drawer has been heavily disinfected and everything in it has been disposed of.

New rule: no more hiding my lunch in drawers.

Sugar, sugar, sugar...ohhh honey, honey....

Thanks to all of my great friends, I had a wonderful birthday this year. We're getting really bad about not taking pictures and we didn't capture any this year. We will make sure we get a few good ones on Robert's birthday :)

On Monday, Robert and I start the wellness program at my work. There is a 10 week education component that we are completing with 900 fellow employees and 200 spouses. They call it education but it's really something like a sugar detox. We don't know all of the details yet but we've heard it's living a healthy lifestyle and concentrating on keeping your blood sugar at a consistent level all day. Hence, we will be dropping most sugar from our diets for a few weeks to reset.

One of the divisions in my company piloted this educational component (or lifestyle change) and on average every participant dropped 20 lbs in 10 weeks. We decided to do this based on those results and based on the feedback that division provided us. They said it is a sustainable lifestyle change and that they feel so much more better.

If you know me well, you know that sugar is my thing. Dessert always comes first and is rarely forgotten. Even fake sugar is welcome in my life (cough, diet coke). This is going to be a HUGE challenge for me and hopefully I make it through feeling a lot better and having more energy (as opposed to being moody and unhappy). Since the wedding I have been slowly changing my eating habits as a move toward this change and I've mentally prepared myself.

So stay tuned to see if I survive the next week! (and if Robert survives a sugar-free Kelly)

The birthday week...

Nope. Not my birthday (although that is coming up).

Our friend Justin likes to celebrate his birthday. And by celebrate, I mean celebrate every day for a week. It was a lot of fun to participate in some of the festivities. On Wednesday, we all went to Japanese Palace and had a fabulous dinner. I love that place. It's a West Fort Worth classic. Highlight: Ashleigh's first time at a Japanese Hibachi. Enough said. (should've brought my video camera)

On Friday we had our Olympic Opening Games party...or our dinner party for the wedding party. Stace and Russ brought Jase (woohoo! The mini half Canadian). We had a birthday cake for Justin. Birthday ice cream cake in celebration of our 14 inches of snow.

Oh, by the way, we got more snow than I've ever seen in my life. I got to shovel snow out of my driveway and shovel my car out of the snow/slush mixture in the street after it got stuck. Yep, I'm sticking to life in Texas. I won't do that much snow again unless I have to. It was the most snow we've ever had in North Texas. Ever.

Back to the birthday festivities...

On Saturday, Ashleigh and I had brunch and pedicures. This was the first weekend in a while that I actually had time to relax! Then we went to Dave and Busters in Arlington for Justin's birthday round three. It was a lot of fun (I love ticket games!!). We skipped out on the boys part afterward and watched our favorite speed skater compete. I get so nervous every time.

On Sunday we had a laundromat experience. Our dryer recently quit and we ordered a new one. The only catch...it doesn't come until Feb. 20. There must have been a run on dryers recently. Robert and I took two weeks worth of laundry to a local laundromat thinking we'd be there all day. Wrong again. It took exactly one hour to wash and dry four loads of laundry. Amazing. I wish all laundry was that easy. I will admit though, I'd rather not have to go to a laundromat every week.

And last night we made dinner together to "celebrate" Valentine's day and caught up on the Olympics. I am obsessed this time of year and slightly annoyed that the news is reporting all of the medals before the events are actually aired. Come on now.

And for Justin...now it's time for MY birthday week!

Kiss the pig...

This past week has been very interesting in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with the whole swine flu outbreak. I've been using hand sanitizer like crazy and hoping that my down immune system doesn't pick up something. I'm not going to stop doing my everyday stuff though...

Friday was Calvin's (one of Robert's older brothers) 30th birthday and we celebrated by grilling steaks. Delish. Saturday I had a little spa day to relax, did some mandatory yard work (in the rain - yuck) and then ran over to spend some quality time with Ashleigh shopping for 26 things for Stacey's birthday in Southlake. We found so many cute things to help Stace celebrate her 26th!

Today Ashleigh, Stacey and I went to Blue Mesa for brunch. Delish again. I love mimis. We watched Mamma Mia and looked through wedding magazines. What an awesome Sunday and what an awesome weekend. I can't wait for the next one.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired...

I had a really laid back week. I've been sick with acute bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection for a few weeks now and it really hit me hard Sunday/Monday last week. So I decided to just chill out after work every day. I'm talking take a nap, go to bed early, catch up on DVR shows, etc. Anything but work. I will admit that I did spend some time pulling weeds one evening - I couldn't resist the nice weather. Don't tell Robert.

On Saturday I joined about 300 employees from my company at Maverick Stadium in Arlington for Special Olympics. I feel so blessed to work for such a giving company - not only does the company give but the employees do too. Stacey, Ashleigh, Samantha and her mom Patsy joined us and we had the best volunteer job: hugger! What an uplifting experience.

Saturday evening I was beat so Robert and I napped on the hammock (he played golf all day) and then I did a little shopping.

Today we took Jack and Molly to the dog park. Molly actually ran around! It's a total breakthrough. She's always such a diva and doesn't usually like to walk on the grass. Then we went to see my dad and grandma and did the usual Sunday grocery shopping. Tonight we went to Winslow's Wine Cafe on Camp Bowie for Grant and Candice's wedding reception (they got married April 1). It's such a neat little restaurant and the food was delicious (wine too!). They had a great fireplace and fire pit outside.

Now it's back to the grind - work is going to be super busy until June (lots of deadlines coming up!).

Hopping down the bunny trail...

It was really nice to have Good Friday off this year. Not only did I have some time to reflect before Easter, I also had time to get some wedding things done. Robert had to work a half-day (it was his birthday!) and then spent the afternoon playing a round of golf with his friend Lon. I went with my mom, Robert's mom and Caitlin to order my wedding dress. I'm so happy that that part is done for now. It will come in in August! Mom and I also picked up the final proof of the save-the-dates. They turned out super cute. I'm hoping to get them out next Monday if they get them done in time. I also officially booked our band.

After that, we went to Brownstone village to shop and have lunch and then Caitlin and I went to Green's to do some birthday shopping for Robert. We put together an herb and pepper garden for the patio. This summer he'll be able to cook with fresh cilantro, rosemary and about 10 different kinds of hot peppers.

Caitlin spent the night and we went to Purple Cow to get purple vanilla milkshakes. mmmmm.

On Saturday, Robert and I spent most of the day getting ready for his birthday party. He did find some time to take Jack to the dog park though :) His party was a lot of fun. We grilled burgers, ate wasabi coleslaw, tomato, basil and mozzerella pasta salad, fruit salad and to top it off we had a lemon cake with raspberry filling. mmmmmm again. (we even had vegetarian meals for Elisa and Courtney!)

We had an awesome crowd of our nearest and dearest and we definitely used the patio furniture out back. Awesome investment. We played Scene It on the Xbox for a while and then watched everyone's favorite YouTube videos on our AppleTV. Definitely hilarious - how do people find this stuff? I even made everyone a little Easter basket. I knew our friends were illiterate. We said "no presents please" but everyone brought Robert a gift.

At midnight, Elisha was allowed to have sweets again (she gave them up for Lent) so we celebrated with a slice of cake!

Yesterday was my dad's birthday and Robert's mom's birthday so we went to visit my dad and grandma and celebrate with them. Then we went to Robert's parent's house and had Easter dinner. mmmmmm again. Too much good food this weekend. I will be glad to see the gym tonight.

Holy jello molds! It's a wedding!

I'm kind of delayed on my posting here. It's been a crazy couple of days. Well, when is it not crazy?

I'm going back in time to last Wednesday, April Fool's Day. I had two friends getting married - one in sunny Mexico and one in beautiful Granbury. Robert and I made our way down to Granbury for the surprise of the century for this family. Candice and Grant decided to surprise their parents with a wedding. That takes guts and a steel trap. They told their parents they were getting married in Puerto Rico that weekend and that they were having a "non-rehearsal" rehearsal dinner in Granbury Wednesday night.

Robert and I got to Stringfellow's on the Square and peeked at the courtyard where they were going to have the ceremony - simple and beautiful. Grant got there and seemed a little nervous (I would be too if I had lied to my mom!). Robert and Grant have known each other since childhood - tres cute.

We played our part with the siblings in the front of the restaurant, acting like Grant and Candice were late and sitting down to "dinner." Then the owner of the restaurant played her part and told us that she set up some food outside while we wait for the happy couple.

As we walked outside, the moms realized what was going on and screamed and cried. Grant's dad was clueless until someone spelled it out. We sat down, Candice's dad walked her through the gate and "down the aisle" and it was a wedding!

I don't think I'd ever have the guts to do something like that. Grant's dad told us that his mom had been going into the closet for days and just weeping because she wasn't going to get to see her son get married. Candice's mom had secretly booked tickets to go to Puerto Rico. Crazy stuff I tell you.

Earlier that day, Robert and I finally purchased patio furniture. We've had two wicker chairs and a glass table for years but that glass table bit the dust in some severe weather last year. Watch out for glass if you ever dig in the dirt on the East side of my house! (it's safety glass)

It was really comical to see them bring out these three HUGE boxes containing six chairs and a big table. Robert made a face that said "ohmygoshi'mgoingtohavetomakethatfitinthecar." I love my 4runner, I really do, but it couldn't accomodate everything at once. We had to make two trips to get it all home. Justin came over on Sunday and helped us set everything up. It'll be nice to have some seating outside for entertaining.

On Friday we arranged for our Fort Worth employees to work on a Habitat restore house. You've never done Habitat until you've done it with our company. Our guys were awesome - who builds French drains for a house in Como? We do! It was a lot of fun and we're going to adopt the homeowner's yard for the summer.

On Saturday, Robert bought a new car. We've become a Toyota family because he got a Camry. I'll post pictures soon - it's really nice!

Paw-ty time!

Last week was pretty busy with wedding planning. I think we've decided on a band. I also designed and ordered the Save the Dates. Here's a sneak preview (no details are on it though...have to save something for a surprise!):

On Saturday, I made cute little informational cards for my bridesmaids. I started with this:

And ended up with these:

I am starting to incorporate Kraft paper into things - I used Kraft paper envelopes to tie it all together.

After that, Robert and I took Jack to PetsMart to pick out a birthday present for his friend Lincoln. Jack also ended up picking out a toy for himself as well. He was really fond of this brown duck and it rarely leaves his side now. It's like it is his new "baby."

Lincoln, a boxer, turned eight on Saturday and we celebrated with margaritas, carnitas, homemade tortillas and skewered veggies at Kevin and Elisha's. Yum. There was also a little birthday cake at the "paw-ty" and homemade dog biscuits. To make things even more cute, each dog got a doggie bag to take home - and it was filled with toys!

On Sunday, I met Stacey and Ashleigh for brunch at Yogis and had fabulous French Toast with strawberries and bananas. I want to start a brunch tradition.

I also did more gardening and spring planting and reseeded the lawn. I put in sweet potato vine, bouganvillea, stone crop, green leaved Euryops and begonias. I'm still holding off on planting the seeds for the flowers in the front because we had another cold snap this weekend. The seeds I planted inside for the back yard are getting stronger every day. Last night, it hailed but luckily, my begonias were spared this year!

Working for the weekend...

It's been a while. As always, things have been a little crazy. Last Friday Stacey, Russ, Ashleigh, Bill, Robert and I went to La Familia for dinner for my birthday. Flaming margaritas AND fajitas? I'm in. They even made me wear a sombrero and I got a birthday song. Good times.

Saturday night was Sprinkles night. It's a tradition that Stacey, Ashleigh and I have. This time it was at my house so I made jerk pork tenderloin, coconut rice and stir fried veggies. You have to go with something healthy if you're going to indulge in Sprinkles cupcakes!

They put together the most awesome birthday present - 26 different things. Now I have a ton of stuff to have fun with. I have something new to play with every day. Genius.

I also took the opportunity to ask them BOTH to be my maid of honor (or matron of honor in Stacey's case). I wanted to ask them in a semi-creative way so I handmade cards and got them both bouquets. It was hilarious when they opened the cards at the same time - I think there was a brief moment of panic in both of their faces wondering "oh no...did she get the same thing or did she get guestbook attendant???" Needless to say, they both said "yes!" Stacey has a cute "family picture" of us that I'll post another time.

On Sunday Elisha, Courtney and I went to see He's Just Not That into You downtown and met the guys for sushi at Pirhana's. Yum again. We had more late night Sprinkles and black and white cookies.

Now on to this weekend....

(I love weekends!!)

On Friday my mom, sister and I went to see Confessions of a Shopaholic at the Movie Tavern. My mom gave me my birthday present - tickets to Jimmy Buffett! Fins to the left, fins to the right...

My little sister came home with me and spent the night. She loves our Lego Indiana Jones game and playing with Jack. I got a new Chanel nail color and painted her nails blue satin. She's so trendy and fun to hang with.

Last night was dinner (party!) at the Burys. Elisha mad e grown-up grilled cheese and La Madeline's tomato soup. She also made these amazing peanut butter cup cookies...to die for. Again, I took the opportunity to ask her to be a bridesmaid with a handmade card and bouquet and of course she said yes! The Burys are so special to us and Kevin is going to be one of Robert's best men.

Becky brought baby Andrew and everyone had a turn holding him. He slept through nearly the entire night, including a rousing game of Last Word. And when I say rousing, I mean loud.

Robert and I don't believe the groundhog. It's spring in Texas. Sure, it might be 55 degrees today but we enjoyed an entire week of 85+ temps. The trees are budding, the flowers are blooming...now all we need are a few days of severe weather and we're there. Our experiment with tulips in our yard was a success. Because of our very rocky soil, it's hard to grow much of anything but the bulbs bloomed perfectly. I can't wait until next year, I'm planning to put in nearly a hundred bulbs in the bed. Red tulips have a special place in my heart because they are a fond memory. My mom used to plant them when we lived in Tulsa. I can remember them poking out of the snow and just being beautiful. Spring gardening is just a few weeks away!

Days go by...

January has come and gone fast. 2009 is shaping up to be a quick year!

What's new in our lives? Mostly the same old routine. Robert is going to class three nights a week and of course working full-time. Poor guy was sick this week with the stuff everyone is getting (fever, sore throat, etc).

I've been working hard and going to the gym almost every night. It's amazing that I now crave my workouts! Stacey and I tried the yoga class on Tuesday - it's harder than it looks. My trainer said we were doing some of the advanced positions. That makes more sense now.

Next week is going to be crazy - I'll be in Austin, Hillsboro, Dallas and Cleburne for work. I love it and I can't wait to go down for the legislative session!

Yes, wedding planning has commenced - slowly. We've booked a chapel but haven't formally announced the date yet. We're working on the contract for a reception site right now. We're also asking our nearest and dearest to formally be a part of our special day. After that, we'll have a date! (...and we're already working on the honeymoon - two weeks of adventure if Robert can swing the class schedule...)

Jack's newest favorite pastime is going to Fort Woof, our local dog park. He loves to play with his best friends Freddy and Avery. We went this morning and the poor guy is tuckered out. Molly thinks she is too good for the dog park! It's hilarious to watch the dogs chase each other. Jack is the unofficial greeter. He likes to go to the gate and welcome every new dog with a wagging tail. He may run for Mayor of Fort Woof next year if he keeps that up.

Robert and I did yard work today. I worked in our back yard garden (soil amending, trellis installing, pruning, cleaning out the bed, etc) and he worked on the lawn. Much better. I can't wait for the official start of spring. Our tulips are already coming up out front and our jasmine is already blooming out back. I think this wonderful "winter" weather has our plants confused. I'll take 75 degrees and sunny over 40 degrees any day!

Tonight I'm catching up on my DVR'd shows. I love nights where I have absolutely nothing to do!