Sunday, August 23, 2009

Happy Birthday Halie!

Last night we celebrated my 26th and Halie's 24th birthdays. We are birthday twins. Halie's birthday is actually today and I am so thankful for her life and the joy and laughter (and drama) she brings to my life. I think I have expressed here before how much I love my sisters so I won't got into it again but I am really proud of Halie and thankful for the strong, Godly women she has become. I have to tell ya...I was a bit worried about her a long time ago but she has turned out pretty cool. :)

I was so thankful for the special gifts they each gave me. Halie, who just recently learned of my passion for hydrangea, gave me one to plant. Hopefully I won't kill it! Kirsten got me a Kingwood Park shirt to sport at all the games I will be going to this year but added one special touch, "Team Kirsten" on the back. Katherine, our resident Barista, gave me a cute tea shaker complete with four cups, stirrers and straws so now I can make my very own Passion Ice Tea Lemonade she taught me to make in style!

It was so great to see my family. I think I miss them more the longer I live away from them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAY HAY!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Rice-a-roni: The San Francisco Treat











I have put off blogging for a while because I knew this would be a big blog. It has been almost a month but we had a great summer vacation visiting our friends Brittany and Drue in San Francisco in late July. Brittany and I danced together in college and she is now a former drill teamer who is loving teaching dance at a high school outside San Fran.

She also has a great future as a professional tour guide. She took us EVERYWHERE! The San Francisco Piers, Ghiredelli Square (best ice cream ever!), Muir Woods, Golden Gate Bridge, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, The Mystery Spot, Lombard Street, Market Street, Alcatraz, the church where Marilyn Monroe got married, and much much more! We had a good 4 days of being tourist and then I attended a studio owners conference over the weekend as Bobby when to visit his friend Tim in Seattle. San Francisco is a quirky city I decided being built on what seems like a cliff and being 60 degrees in July! (I refused to wear jeans). I was obsessed with all the flowers, especially all the hydrangea's that seams to grow everywhere. We have some great pics of us by the Golden Gate Bridge but they are one Bobby's computer so I will post them later.

Bobby was out of town over 50 days this entire summer. We both got home from our last trips of the summer last Saturday and are happy to be home. We are also thankful that we get to travel a bit with our jobs even though it is tiring. Between the two of us our summer consisted of:

- 2.5 weeks of jr high and high school camp
- 3 weeks in Mexico
- one weekend in Dallas
- one weekend in College Station
- 1 week in San Francisco/Seattle
- one weekend in Galveston
- 4 days at children's camp

:)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sisters Weekend (All By Myself: Day 16)

My sisters and I went this weekend to my friends farm house in Round Top. We have never gone away just the four of us before and are already looking forward to doing it again (when it is not so hot!). It is very rare to get all four of us together (and even more rare for us not to argue a lot, which we didn't!).



Across from the farm was a llama family in the pasture across the street which the girls really thought was intriging. They got out of the car to take pictures and Kirsten figured out how to officially call a llama. You have to make her do the sound for you, its really funny. She started doing the "call" and the llama family, which they named Tina (appropriatly), Fred, and a couple of other names which I forgot, came running to the fence.




We went into town one afternoon and visited the cute shops including this fancy sleep store with $350 giant pillows. The manager was super nice and asked us if she could "put us to bed". We obliged and she laid Kat and Halie in these beds and strategically placed the special pillows on them. Kirsten and I sat on a day bed where she placed giant pillows in our laps. VERY relaxing. She gaves us instructions for the best nights sleep and answered some of our very pressing slumber questions. We were in there for a good half hour "resting".





On our way back home we saw some very enticing bales of hay and stopped to take pictures. We laughed a lot, especially when Kirsten tumbled off the bail of hay and we just stood there and watched like the good sisters were are... laughing.







I love each of my beautiful sisters for different reasons. They are each unique. Kirsten is the perfect girl and we give her crap for it all the time. She seems to be good at everything and has the best personality and a great head on her shoulders. I tease that I want to be just like her when I grow up.

Katherine has the best sense of humor and always keeps you laughing. She loves people and sees and appreciates things in people that others may not. She is kind and loyal, adverterous, and up for anything. I admire this quality in her sometimes because I am NOT adverterous and I know it has probably prevented me from experiencing some great things in life. She also taught me how to make Passion Ice Tea Lemonade from Starbucks which I am forever grateful for!

Halie is such a hard worker and VERY passionate (especially about the villian in movies). She loves people and focuses on the best in those she loves. She is very nurturing and never judgemental. Each of them inspire me in different ways and I would do anything for them.

The Taylor Swift sing-a-long, our mutual love of Hugh Jackman and Chocolate Extreme ice cream, the hay in very weird places, and llama calls is something I will cherish for a very long time.....Bailey enjoyed the trip to the farm too.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

All By Myself: Day 11

I am sitting here watching the MJ memorial. What a sad story. It is so weird to see someone who was literally two different people in their life it seems. I don't think that anyone could ever scratch the surface of who he was in the inside. Sad man but such great music and choreography! He did so much for the dance world. I have loved watching it over the past week and recalling the glory of the 80's!

Busy weekend for me surprisingly... I went with Bobby's family for a day road trip to San Antonio and New Braunsfels on Friday. Saturday I went to Kingwood which we always do on the 4th. It was fun to be with my family. We made fajitas together, played with our dogs, went to the fireworks and then my sisters and I went to my dad's fire station because the 4th is his birthday! He had to work on the 4th so on Sunday we celebrated his birthday together.

This weekend I am looking forward to getting away for a weekend with Halie. Should be fun, stay posted!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Princesses

I am a huge fan of Vicky Courtney, the founder of Virtuous Reality Ministries. She just had a great article on her blog which you can see on my list of blogs about raising Godly "princesses". It makes me so thankful that my parents raised Halie, Kat, Kirsten and I in such a responsible way. GO READ IT!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

All By Myself: Day 6

I have managed to stay really busy this week with Bobby gone and looking at my calendar my summer is fuller than I thought. I told you in my last post I would like you know what I thought of "The Secret Life of Bees". It was GREAT! I LOOVVE Dakota Fanning! What a little superstar. The movie made me laugh and cry. Last night I watch Twilight. I have been dying to know what all the hype is with teenage girls about it. Now I know...every girl wants to be pursued, protected, fought for and passionately loved, you get wrapped up in all that in the movie. Not that this was the purest of relationships but hopefully it encourages girls to look for that in a guy.

Since I wanted to start blogging a long time ago, here are some pictures from over the past few months that I never got to post:

-Oprah's townhouse from me and my mom's trip to Chicago last summer
-Our company girls, me and Monica after their performance at Dance Revolution
-My sisters, Bobby and I with our dogs Bailey, Zoey, Maggie and Roo
-The rest are construction pictures on the studio last fall and our Ribbon Cutting! What a project!