Marilyn

I never realized I was a Marilyn Monroe fan until recently.  I had been searching for quotes for a project I've been working on, and ran across several Marilyn quotes.  I liked so many of them and had to share.  Perhaps you too, are a Marilyn fan.

-"A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night." 

-"I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it." 

-"A girl knows her limits, but a wise girl knows she has none."

-"It's better to be absolutely ridiculous than to be absolutely boring."

-"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure.  I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle.  But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

-"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything."

-"I don't want to make money, I just want to be wonderful. "

-"I'm very definitely a woman and I enjoy it. "

-"A girl doesn't need anyone that doesn't need her."

-"Believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they're right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

and maybe my favorite....

-"Give a girl the right pair of shoes, and she can conquer the world."

First Big Spill

I'm sure today was the first of many, but boy did it hurt! I've nearly conquered learning my way around one of the "easiest" loops at McAllister, And during my 2nd easy loop, one of those easy descents got the best of me. I tried to veer to the right, but the roots on the left tripped me up and I found myself going over my handlebars, skidding down the dirt, and ending up with my bike on top of me. I won't lie, I cried a bit. It hurt!!
I dusted myself off, put my chain back on, and VERY SLOWLY made my way back to my car.
These pics were taken just about 30 minutes after the spill, after I had time to clean up a bit! Now that's it's been a few hours later, these bruises are REALLY gonna be good!

I think I'm ready to go again, but I may need to hire a biking buddy.

Exploring the Greenbelt

I always knew we had a great Greenbelt behind our house, full of wildlife and preventing us from ever having back-door neighbors. What I didn't know is how great of a workout it could be!!
I recently bought a mountain bike. I was looking for an exercise I could do on my own and enjoy. I've never been a runner, tennis is GREAT but you always need a partner, I never seem to stay in a routine with a gym, so why not try biking??
It turns out I have a newfound respect for bikers of all kinds. It's not as easy as it looks! You don't realize your neighborhood has hills until you're pushing uphill while your quads are screaming "you haven't done this to me in 20 years and you think you can conquer this now!?!?". I started on the roads with a little over 3 miles. A couple days later I pushed it to 4. Then 5, then 6.
Then I decided to venture off-road into the Greenbelt behind our house. I have to admit, I grinned as I swerved off the road, down a fairly steep, grassy hill towards the beginning of the trail.
I have nothing to compare my Greenbelt to, but for this rookie, it was pretty tough in parts, very rocky, a couple good climbs, and the wooded trail proved to be a really nice change of pace! (oh, and THANK GOODNESS for padded shorts!)

I'm not very good, but getting better. I'm not very fit, but it's good exercise. I'm not very fast, but getting faster and stronger every time I go out.
I read this recently and loved it:
"Good thing don't come to those who wait. Good things come to those who work their asses off and never give up!"

Deep breath!

It's Thursday, and the week has been what I describe as my new "typical" work week. I'm already past 40 hours, I'm exhausted, a little beat up, a lot behind, semi-stressed and overly brain dead.
I left work with approximately 150 emails unread in my inbox so I reach for my blackberry in hopes to read, respond and delete as many as possible within the 45-minute block for dance class. I get through about four and then the red battery indicator says it has had enough and dies.

So I sit in the lobby of the dance studio and close my eyes and take a deep breath! I realize that for just a few minutes, I am not mommy. I am not the boss woman. I am just one woman, a tired woman, taking a deep breath and getting ready to tackle the world again.

Little did I know when I started this post (on the mobile app!!) that at the end of those 45 minutes, the parents would get to go watch/video their tap dance. And as much as I enjoyed my moment of silence, Aubree's wiggle tap dance reminded me how much I enjoy being mommy....

The Best Year of my Life...

Little did I know that as I embarked upon my 33rd birthday, I was about to enter into the BEST year of my life!  Now, you're probably thinking, "she's only been 33 for five days, how does she know it will be the best year of her life?"  Well, it's on the internet!  It has to be true, right??
Here's the proof.

Obviously there are 360 more days to go and the reality is that there is nothing that will promise me this will be the best year of my life.  But what I can do is make a few promises to myself.  Promises to smile more. Worry less.  Laugh more.  Accept criticism and failure.  Appreciate.  Listen.  Don't hate.  Embrace change.  Take chances.  Be thankful.  Cherish friendships.  And Love deeply ---

That, just might be the secret to the best year of my life, and quite possibly a recipe I can reuse again and again and again.

10-word Challenge

I've contemplated giving up the blog.  I mean seriously, it's been EIGHT MONTHS since I last updated it??  But I can't.  I love going back and re-reading old posts now.  I can't imagine how much I'll love reading them in another 30 years.  I'm a wordy person and I could probably recap the last 8 months by writing a novel.  However, I've been through several challenges lately so let's make up a new one...recap each month in less than 10 words each!  (Crap...this could be hard...)
 

August 2011 - Princess Baby turned three! Brock started first grade! Mom Married!  (phew!  10 words)

September 2011 - Aubree started DANCE CLASS!!

October 2011 -   Bachelorette Party; Las Vegas; First Louis Vuitton purchase!

November 2011 - My Bestie got MARRIED!

 December 2011 - We boycotted traveling for Christmas (gasp!!!) - Christmas @ home!!!

January 2012 - NYE Party; Superhero Room Makeover; Hard work month

 

February 2012 - Brock turns Seven; Started new diet (currently down 27 lbs!!!)

(diet progress:  February picture and April picture!!)

 

March 2012 - Booked Ireland Vacation!  Started playing tennis again.  College Station. 

And that brings us to APRIL!  And maybe, just MAYBE, I will post again before 2013!  ;-)

Little Moments

As another crazy week is quickly approaching, I want to thank my little Aubree for an oh-so subtle reminder. I'm constantly juggling life, and sometimes I don't feel all that successful at anything because I'm trying too hard at so many things. But as I'm sitting by her sleepy little self in the dark, I finally hear that "sound": the irregular pattern of her sucking her thumb that tells me she is finally asleep. And I realize I knew, because it's the little things that make the Mom in me, a good Mom. :-) I also realize it's these little moments that will pass too quickly. In five days she'll turn 3. It won't be long and she'll outgrow that "sound" as fast as she outgrew all the size 3 & 4's in her closet!

I don't want to forget these seemingly insignificant little moments, and I hope I can take more opportunities to post them since I can't rely on my brain for anything these days!!

(Yes, as you may have guessed...I used a past picture. Since she doesn't really suck her thumb anymore unless she's going to sleep, I don't have too many to choose from.)

Our Newest Addition

After Sarge made his trip to Doggie Heaven, we decided we would wait a while before getting another furry family member. Well, that lasted a whole six weeks.

Meet Rocky, our little boxer who is going to get very, very big!

Rocky's Statistics:

Born on 3/31/11 and the largest of his litter.

Temporarily in the lightweight category weighing in at 14.2 pounds @ 10 weeks

Almost naturally responds to the command "Sit".

Has a fond love of toes and anything else he can sink his puppy teeth into.

Enjoys comfy places to sleep.

Thinks his name is "No".

Glass Balls

Oh where, oh where, has my blogging time gone? Oh where, oh where could it be?

I don't even remember if I've written this in past blogs or not, but in April I took a management position at work. To say it was a totally new experience is an understatement. I'm getting along, and know it's getting easier with time, but the learning curve is slow...and there is so much more to go.

I'm trying my best to juggle being Lori the mom, Lori the wife, Lori the daughter/sister, Lori the friend, Lori the manager and Lori herself. That is an effort that will never end, and most likely I will never feel truly successful at any of them. In the midst of that juggling act, several

other balls have dropped. Something I learned along the way is that you have to know which balls in life are made of glass, and which balls are made of rubber. You don't want to drop the glass balls because they may not ever be repaired. But the rubber balls can bounce on their own for a while until you have the time to pick it back up. My family is definitely made of glass. Unfortunately, my love of photography and blogging is a ball made of rubber. Therefore, many weeks go by without an update. I would love to have the time to sit down and blog a couple times a week, but in 20 years when my kids are gone, there should be plenty of time to blog about my empty nest. I may not remember all the details of these days (since they won't be preserved on the world wide web!) but I will know that I was there for my family as much as possible.

So, to any followers I may have (bless you if you are still checking in!)...I promise

to continue to keep up the posts as much as possible. In the meantime, go take care of your glass balls too and get off the computer. ;-)

And because I still love pictures...here's the sweet picture of the week!!!

Our Sarge

Back in May of 2000, Tom and I went home to his mom's house in Hillje. The dog they had who roamed around this country area was the puppy (and named: Puppy) of another dog they had once won/bought at the church auction. Well, Puppy was a mutt and mated with the mutt down the street and when we arrived that day, we saw several brand new puppies. They were a few weeks old at the time, and seriously...who can resist a puppy?? There was one puppy in particular who was so ridiculously cute. He was brown with a white patch on the lower part of his neck, and a bit on his toes. The thing about this dog is he wouldn't leave my feet alone. He kept trying to nip at them and of course those puppy teeth did nothing more than tickle the heck out of me. I somehow convinced Tom we should take this one "home". By home, I mean College Station where I was living in an apartment, and Tom in the notoriously famous trailer. On the way to College Station, we decided his name would be Sarge. For all you Aggies out there, we named him for Ol' Sarge.

Sarge started off much like a child with divorced parents. He spent some time with me at my apartment, and with Tom at his trailer. He was the good ol' college puppy who tried beer at a very young age and ate all sorts of goodies from a rookie mom & dad and all their college friends. In 2001, I moved to San Antonio while Tom finished up school at A&M. Sarge would again spend a week San Antonio, then a week in College Station.

I think Sarge was very happy when Mom and Dad FINALLY tied the knot so he had one place to call home!

Sarge was spoiled from day one, and it didn't stop anytime soon.

He always slept on the bed with one or both of us, despite having many dog beds in his lifetime. As a puppy, he would fall asleep chewing on Tom's hair. (weird...I know) When it was cold, he would spend the night curled up under the covers by your feet.

He was always an inside dog. He would whine nonstop if left outside for any amount of time. He would also run, run, run if he ever managed to escape.

He was a picky eater when it came to table food. No chip without dip, please. He loved stealing food from the table, counter, anywhere he could find it. (Don't ask Tom about the steaks that mysteriously vanished from the countertop...not his finest moment.) I recall one time though I had NyQuill sitting on the coffee table. I wouldn't drink it without having water or something to chase it with. Well, sneaky Sarge went in for a taste...I laughed so hard as he quickly backed off and began messing with his mouth to escape the taste!

We took him to obedience school once. We thought he would get kicked out, but he made it through successfully. Now, if only we had kept up with the obedience. Little did we know they were training US, not him.

Sarge lived the life of a luxury dog. Well, for at least 5 years. In 2005 Brock arrived. I don't think Sarge ever forgave us. I had no idea how he would do with a baby. Sarge was never really a calm dog. I was shocked. He instinctively knew this was not a toy. He would watch over Brock, alert us anytime he needed a diaper change, and would howl (seriously...HOWL) if Brock was crying or whining. He would still sleep with Tom & I. He liked Brock but was still OUR dog. As Brock grew, he simply ADORED Sarge. They were a good pair and generally seemed to know when each other wanted to play, and when they wanted to rest.

In 2008, Sarge didn't understand why we would do this again. Aubree entered the world and if Sarge could talk, I think we would have laughed at his reaction. Really?? Sarge liked Aubree and for the most part she liked him. Although, they never quite had the relationship Sarge and Brock had.

Well, in 2011 Sarge started getting sick. He really got thin, wouldn't eat much, and was generally just lazy. We monitored him for a while, but it wasn't long until we were constantly cleaning carpets because Sarge couldn't keep anything in. We came home from work one day and the very thin dog had a bloated up like a pot-belly pig. We took him into the vet knowing it may very well be a hard trip. We were right. The vet said he either had heart disease or liver disease. We could do more tests to pinpoint the illness, but either way it was terminal and the poor dog was at a point where he could hardly move. He couldn't jump up on the bed. He couldn't even jump up on the couch. Looking in his eyes you saw pain. The hyper, sometimes obnoxious, lovable Sarge was not there. We put him down on Thursday, April 14. Three days before my 32nd birthday. I was 21 when we got Sarge. At my age, 11 years is nearly one-third of my life. I miss him so much. It's been a little over two weeks and I still catch myself thinking of him when I come home each day. I still glance in his dog bed direction when I got to bed in the evenings.

Sarge, you really were a good dog. Not the best behaved. Not a pure breed with papers. But a good dog who saw us through most of our milestones in life. College graduations, Engagement, Marriage, New Homes, Babies and more. I love you Sarge.

By the way...I didn't realize until he was gone what a good housekeeper he was!! It wasn't but two days after he left us that we noticed how DIRTY the kitchen floor was! We've vacuumed it more in the past two weeks than we probably did in the past 4 months. He was quite the vacuum himself!

Aubree's World

I've been so bad lately about updating the blog. But I had a few thoughts this morning that I thought were mildly entertaining, so why not share? ;-)

It is no less than a few times per day when Aubree will do something (good, bad, indifferent) and Tom & I look at each other, our eyes meet, and we just give this exasperated little laugh because there's not any words that can truly describe her.

I imagine when Aubree opens her eyes for the day, she sees the whole world in a pink hue, with sparkles on everything, rainbows and butterflies in they sky, and everything in her line of sight (no doubt) belongs to her and her kingdom. Her royal path must have lots of hills and curves, because she almost never walks, but rather hops and prances to her own beat. While the princess is not lacking for anything, we frequently do the unspeakable, and discipline her. She may be princess, but that only makes mommy the Queen! ;-)

--For those of you who know our dear Aubree, I imagine you would agree to the statement above, and even add a few more descriptors! We love her dearly. She leaves no room for a shred of boredom in our lives, and does an exceptional job making sure her big brother ALWAYS knows she's around.

I love you Aubree! One day, when you dig back in this blog and read all mommy's thoughts and memories of your childhood, I hope you smile a little, are intrigued to think of what your own daughter will be like someday, and realize when you thought mom & dad were being cruel, we were doing our best to make you the best person you can be. Oh, and the wake-up calls we're planning on giving you at 5am on Saturdays when you're 16...those are just payback!

Girls Trip 2011

I had the opportunity to take a girls trip this year with my mom and sisters. It was quite the relaxing get-away! My mom's cousin owns a cute little cabin in the mountains of Ruidoso, New Mexico. So off the four of us went. We left very early Saturday morning in the denali. I started out driving, Meredith was my co-pilot, and the "kids" (well, actually just Mom and Dede) were in the back enjoying the DVD player. ;-)

We were quick and efficient travelers (traveling without kids tends to do that!). Plus, there are not many places to eat or get gas on the route from San Antonio to Ruidoso. We had to be strategic about where we needed to fill both our gas tank and tummies. We made it to Pecos, Texas where we planned to find lunch. We found an ity bity town with not much more than a Sonic. Imagine our surprise to find the best Sonic burger I have ever tasted in my WHOLE life! If you ever find yourself in Pecos, give it a try. Hopefully you'll have the same cook we did. ;-)

Our first stop in New Mexico was to Carlsbad Caverns. It was impressive, and a nice walk after spending 8 or so hours in the car.

During our time in Ruidoso, we didn't plan too many activities. Just took our days there at a nice, slow pace!

Photographed the beautiful St. Joseph's Mission. (And learned this is the same church in the photograph that has been in my grandmother's house!)

Went back in time and got a bit on the rowdy side!

Fell in love with the Ruidoso Bears! (Even brought a few home with us!)

Did a little Wine Tasting at The Cellar (yes...brought a few of these home with me too!)

Spent a few days shopping the Main street in town. It's full of really cute and fun shops!

Enjoying the scenery and hiking at the Petroglyphs site in Three Rivers, New Mexico.

Finally, at Pine Knots, we did a lot of stressing. Stressing over catching perfect "close-up". Stressing over the perfect mixture of a cold morning and hot coffee. Stressing over who would get the peanuts first...the deer or the blue jays. And when we couldn't stress any more, we stressed ourselves to sleep.