Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Mostly for Nicole

This a correction to a previous blog. I had my facts pretty straight, but the picture was wrong. I talked to my dad tonight and he said they'd run the photo from the 1954 Cotton Bowl in the Dallas Morning News this weekend. The pic we found on the internet was a little up the field from Pete, but this one definitely has Pete in it. See the guy in the wheelchair behind the "40" sign? Yep, Pete! And, dad even found a video. Pretty cool to see TV coverage of Pete from 1954.














http://youtube.com/watch?v=eSteCSinjTs

Thursday, January 10, 2008

New Year's Challenges

I've decided I don't like the word "Resolutions" when talking about the goals we set for ourselves each year. The word resolutions sounds too definite to me...you're resolving to do something...it WILL be resolved. In fact, I just looked up the definitions for resolutions, resolving, resolved and one definition is "to deal with successfully." But, how many of us are actually successful in our annual resolutions?? I know I'm usually not. So, I'm not calling them that anymore. They're forever now "New Years Challenges." Here are mine for 2008:

1) Remember birthdays of my friends! If you are my friend and received no phone call, card, gift, or even an email on your birthday in 2007, don't be offended. I missed almost ALL of them! I am vowing to recognize my friend's birthdays in 2008 in an appropriate way!

2) Become more disciplined. Okay, I realize this is huge and vague. I can name SO many areas in my life in which I need more discipline.... my spiritual walk, my eating habits, exercising consistently, going to bed at a reasonable hour, spending my money wisely and saving more, spending my time more wisely, not procrastinating, and on and on and on. My friend, Amber, suggested I not try to take on ALL of these at once or I will fail miserably. I know she's right. I'm going to start with just two this year....

a) My spiritual walk - I am "challenging" myself to spend time reading the bible and praying each day of 2008. As part of this challenge, I will be reading the entire Bible. Thankfully, I already have an accountability group in place for this. My community group has decided to read the bible through together this year. I am SO excited about it. I had considered switching groups this year as I felt my group wasn't going as deep as I thought I needed to be going and I wasn't feeling encouraged or challenged to grow in my faith. Then, Kristen suggested we just read the Bible together, rather than doing another book study (which we haven't enjoyed or had much success with). I wasn't sure how the rest of the group would respond to the idea..it's a lot of reading each day. However, they are all SO on-board and excited. I am also excited to embark on this challenge together! Our community groups at church don't officially start up for a few more weeks, but we started this week so that accountability is set in place ASAP! My thought is that if I can develop discipline in my spiritual life, it should begin to extend to some of those other areas of my life where I'm lacking discipline. For that reason, I figured that this is a good discipline to start with. "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11. I hope to experience that "harvest of righteousness" in 2008.

Here's a pic of the girls from community group. Not our best pic, but it's the only one I've got!















b) Getting to bed on time. I have been horrible about going to bed since I was a child. There really is no reason for it other than I just find meaningless things to do at night or I spend earlier hours being lazy and then have stuff I HAVE to get done late at night. I am "challenging" myself to get to bed on time, which should lead to an overall healthier lifestyle and more productive days!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Sweet Sixteen : Phase 8 : Post New Years Fun

The days following New Years continued to be packed full as I tried to balance spending quality time with family with seeing all the friends I had yet to visit with. Here's what those days consisted of:

- Wednesday was "mom's" day. We went shopping in Southlake. I couldn't believe how the shopping center there has grown. It used to just be a little town-square type of thing and now there are TONS of shops! I didn't find much, but they had all my favorite stores out there. We ate lunch at Snuffers - cheese fries - yum!

- Mom & I also shopped at the Galleria. I got the cutest new coat on sale for a great price!

- Mom, Dad, and I met Beth & Brian and the boys for dinner at Mi Cocina in Highland Park Village. It's my favorite Mexican restaurant. The boys were really fun at dinner!

- Mom and I enjoyed a couple of late night competitions of Sudoku. She's FAST, but she makes mistakes sometimes and that's when I have the opportunity to win!

- Home Tours! I got to take a tour of Michelle's new house - really cute and nice! I also went on a tour of the additions that Kelli & Lee are doing to their house - it's going to be so nice when it's finished! The final tour I went on was to see the nursery Jennifer is putting together for "baby girl"...also cute!

- Michelle, Kelli, and I went to lunch at Breadwinners. I got my old-time favorite Cajun Chicken Salad - delish!

- Dinner with Amber and Julie at The Porch. This is a new place and is supposedly currently the "it" place to go. Amber's always in the know on where to go eat and my sister had been talking about this place as well. It was good and great to catch-up with Amber and Jules!

- Europe planning session with Tonya & Sean at Tonya's house. We got our flights booked! Now we're working on other details!

- Babysat the boys again while B&B had a date night. I took the boys to have dinner with my uncle since I hadn't seen him much. He had gift cards to Dave & Buster's so he took us there. We took the kids to the game room after eating and Ryder loved it! He especially enjoyed the cars - you didn't even have to pay for it, he was happy driving them without it even on! He kept wanting me to sit in the car next to him. "Su-Su, sit down!" he would say....first full-sentence he's uttered with my name in it :) My uncle & I raced cars - I beat him, as usual. I love racing those cars. The crazy part of the evening happened in the car on the way to dinner. We were stuck in rush-hour tollway traffic for a while. Ryder was purposely coughing - he thinks it's funny. Well, apparently he coughed so much he gagged himself and threw up all over himself. Gross!! It wasn't too long until we got to my mom's house to pick her up for dinner and I could clean him up a bit.

- Went to see "P.S. I Love You" with Worley, Andi, and Michelle. This was a really good movie, but I haven't cried that much in a very long time!

- Dinner at El Fenix and a Baylor basketball game at the AA Center in Dallas. They were playing Arkansas...no idea why they got to play at the AA Center. I went with about 8 friends. All Baylor alums, except for Andi who is neither a Baylor nor Arkansas fan. I invited her because I realized it was all her friends going. I wouldn't have invited her had I known what a traitor she is. Jeremy brought her his "hog hat" to wear. I know she's the reason that Baylor lost! Plus, we were all embarrassed to be sitting with her! (It's okay, Andi, we still love you!!) Baylor was ahead most of the game, but ended up losing. I'm still hopeful that this will be a better season for the Bears!

Andi and her stupid hog-head hat. You can't tell in this picture, but I was trying to get into the Baylor Spirit by doing the "Bear Claw"















- Kelli & I went to a late night move - Atonement. We didn't love it, but didn't hate it either. It was good to spend time with Kelli and nice that she was able to have a night out on the town away from her 2-year-old!!

- One of my "Christmas wishes" was to meet baby Owen while I was home. It wasn't looking likely for a while. But on my last night in town, his mom, Deanna, my good friend and old roommate, called me to announce that he had finally made his entrance into the world! I was able to swing by the hospital on Sunday morning for a very short visit. He is adorable and it was great to hold him. I can't wait to spend more time with them when I'm home next.

- Church at PCBC. I opted to go to the contemporary service this time and am glad I did as I enjoyed it very much!

- A final farewell lunch with mom & dad at Sonny Bryan's, a bar-b-q restaurant.

- A stop by "The Dump" on the way to the airport. It's a furniture store that sells discontinued furniture and my mom had been wanting to check it out. Cool store! I could see myself buying stuff there if I ever move back to Dallas.

It was a GREAT trip home. Sixteen days of getting to spend time with good friends and family without having to work was such a blessing!

Monday, January 07, 2008

Sweet Sixteen : Phase 7 : Cotton Bowl, New Years Day

Jessica and I went to the Cotton Bowl on New Years Day. Although I wasn't too excited about having a 10:30 kick-off the morning after New Years Eve, it was worth it! We had so much fun! It was cold, but not too cold. Luckily, our seats were in the sun the whole time or it could have been miserable. I even got a little bit of color in my face from the sun...I needed it!! Mizzou dominated the game and Tony Temple set a record for rushing yards in a Cotton Bowl. A little piece of history for ya...my great-uncle Pete (paternal grandpa's brother) was sitting on the sidelines last time that record was set in 1954 by Dicky Maegle. Here's a picture from that day....

Pete's the one sitting between #50 and #84. You can't tell in this pic, but he's actually in a wheelchair. He was a paraplegic after being shot in WWII. Because of that, he was often given special treatment - like sideline seats at the Cotton Bowl. He was a really great man and close to my family...when we lived in Columbia and he in Dallas, we could expect a Sunday afternoon phone call from him each week without fail!


























Now, here's some pics from the 2008 Cotton Bowl!

Jessica made her scarf in the car en-route from Austin on New Years Eve!






















The final score! Go Tigers!























The Dallas skyline behind the stadium




















Outside the Cotton Bowl = the Texas State fairgrounds...the best state fair ever!





















After the Cotton Bowl, Jessica and I grabbed lunch and did some shopping at Nordstrom Rack - I founds some GREAT deals on things I was really looking for!! Then, I took Jessica to the airport.

My mom made her traditional New Year's dinner...black eyed peas, corn bread, and sausage.

Sweet Sixteen : Phase 6 : New Years Eve!!

I have spent New Years Eve with the same group (give or take a few people) since the year it turned 2001 when we rang in New Years Eve for the first time together in Las Vegas. Since then, we've gotten more and more relaxed and less exotic than Vegas. I kind of like low-key New Years as they always turn into a big disappointment when you try to plan something big....plus, we could never top that trip to Vegas! And then there's the fact that some of us have started families and adjustments must be made when 2-year-olds and pregnant ladies are involved! This year, we spent the evening at Amanda's house. We did make-your-own pizzas and everyone brought different appetizers, desserts and wine. We did lots of catching-up and played a couple of games. My friends always bring their dogs whenever we get together - they like to play together. I forgot this fact when Jessica asked if Amanda has pets and poor Jessica really struggled with her allergies!! Otherwise, it was a good night, but it seemed to go by much faster than normal! Probably because we all usually spend the night together, but this year Jessica and I left shortly after midnight since we had to be up early to get to the Cotton Bowl...more on that in the next post!

Jessica & I celebrating New Years! (Notice Tonya, the poser, in the background)



















Amanda, our hostess, with her adorable daughter, Sophie, who ALMOST made it to midnight. I hadn't seen Sophie since before I moved to NYC and they moved to England (they're moved back to Dallas).




















Kylie, also adorable, and possibly the most dramatic 2-year-old I've ever met. She's got some awesome facial expressions! Great to see her for the first time since last Christmas!















Sean & Tonya - we're all going to Europe this summer!!















Elizabeth, Tamara, and Tonya (posing, yet again)

















Todd & Jenn















Elizabeth having fun with sparklers at midnight




















Sean & Tonya




















Jennifer















Garrett















Although some call me a pyro (and I do admit to loving fire), I am, oddly enough, scared to death of sparklers!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Sweet Sixteen : Phase 5 : A wedding and a trip to Austin

My old roommate, Kristen, was married on Saturday at Prestonwood Baptist in their little chapel. It was a nice wedding and was fun to see some people I haven't seen in a while!
Kevin & Kristen



























Me with Jenifer (aka Worley), one of the bridesmaids and an old friend of mine























Some of my old church crew - Rob, Vorrice, Adam, and Michelle



















Kevin & Kristen and the cake! The cakes were beautiful AND delicious!












































I especially loved their Paris Groom's cake. Kevin spent some time living in Paris and that is where they are for their honeymoon.



























Immediately after the wedding, I hopped in the car and drove to Austin. I spent Saturday night with my friend from high school, Jessica. We did a bit of shopping and then went to Guero's for dinner. I got to see the cute store where her cards are being sold (check them out at semisweet.etsy.com)! We saw Luke Wilson at Guero's!!! Who would have thought that I'd leave NYC and see yet another celebrity? He looked bad, but was with a cute, normal looking girl. After dinner, we went to an Old 97's concert. I've been to lots of their concerts with Jessica - they're always fun!
Sunday morning, I headed over to my college friend, Janet's house. She just had her first baby about 6 weeks ago and I was excited to meet little Zachary. Our friend, Michelle, also drove down from Austin to spend the day with us. We enjoyed a yummy salad lunch together then went for a walk in Janet's nice neighborhood. We came home to watch the Cowboys game. It was a great relaxing day!

On Monday, I went back to Jessica's to pick her up and bring her back to Dallas with me for New Years. We stopped in Waco to see my high school friend, Courtney. We also did a quick drive through the Baylor campus - so many changes! It's a beautiful campus, but there's so many new buildings now! There's also a new habitat for the bears I wanted to see - it was nice, but we could only barely see 1 of the bears and he was sleeping in a dark cave.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Sweet Sixteen : Phase 4 : Post-Christmas Fun

The three days after Christmas were a little bit slower than pre-Christmas time. Still fun though and I'm definitely glad to be in Texas for another whole week! Here's some things I did:

- Post-Christmas shopping with mom and Beth. For some reason I wasn't as into it this year. Probably since I don't have a big enough place for much of anything new. Beth and I still waited in line at Crate & Barrel for an hour to buy some things. I bought 2 birthday gifts and some things for myself, so I felt like I accomplished something. My friend, Andi, was working there so it was fun to see her, too! We also hit-up William Sonoma, Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, and Container Store...all our December 26th favorites.

- Went to lunch with my friend and old roommate, Kristen....it was her wedding week! It was nice to be able to get a chance to see her before the wedding when I knew she wouldn't have time to have a very long conversation with me.

- Went to a Dallas Stars hockey game with B&B and my mom courtesy of the NHL :) My mom loved the game and excitement and Brian was WAY into it as well. Our seats were terrific!

Brian getting into the game. He got to know our neighbors so well that they began offering him their food!


































My best attempt to get a pic of Mike Modano. Hopefully, I'll get an upclose pic with no hockey gear at one of the All-Star game events in Atlanta!



















- Thursday I had lunch with my friend and old roommate, Deanna, who's due to have her 1st baby any day now! I am hoping little Owen is born before I head back to NYC so that I can meet him!

- Friday, Beth roped me into being her moral support at a Zumba class. She didn't want to go by herself for the first time. I snuck into her gym under her old roommates name who is in Holland for the Holidays. Zumba is an exercise class...sort of Latin Dance. I am not a dancer AT all. It was a good workout though and Beth is a good dancer so she was good at it!

- Babysat the boys on Friday night. They were SO good. I even took them out shopping and they were perfect. Beth couldn't believe I attempted that and was amazed that Ryder was so easy for me! He really was so good and stayed right by my side the whole time. It was fun to hang out with them for a few hours!

-Saw the movie, Juno, with a couple of friends. I really liked this movie! It was such a cute, sweet story and funny, too!