Small Things in LIfe

1. New Bigger Office. Ever since January, I have been coveting the two bigger offices in my office. I somehow ended up in the smallest office in the our offices. Being the new associate I accepted this gracefully and gratefully. To even have an office was a big deal. Then I realized the other two open offices were considerably bigger, and I began to covet them and dream of my days when I could be in one of them. Well, friends, that day has arrived! Today I was informed by the P that I would be moving into the bigger office (by the breakroom!) if I wanted to. And of course I jumped at the offer, and had to contain my excitement. I know, an office is an office, but this one is soooo much bigger than the closet I am currently in. And its close to the breakroom and bathrooms. Its a bit further walk to the printers, but I don't care! Hopefully while I'm on my vacay next week the office will be set up so I can get back move all my personal stuff over there. I might even bring my diplomas up now. (I was holding out in hopes I'd get to move to the other offices). Small things in life I tell ya!

2. Lotion. Has made my sunburn feel so much better. It still hurts, but not as tight with the lovely Aveeno lotion applied in layers.

3. Captivating. I started this book last night on a recommend from Tara. OMG. Speak to my heart Lord. I could not get enough of it. I'll be sharing more about this later.

4. Thunderstorms. It stormed last night in H-town. And it was wonderful. I read my book and listened to the thunder.

5. Looking forward to something. Let me tell ya, looking forward to this vacay has made the past month much more fun. Now if only I can find something to look forward to once I get back (wait, i'm not thinking that far ahead..).

6. New planner. I have a franklin covey planner. I bought it last year in July. So now all I have to do is replace the pages and keep the shell. Well time is up and so last week I bought the new year. I love it. I enjoy writing in my planner, filling in important dates for the upcoming 12 months, putting cheesy date stickers on it, and generally planning out my life. Yea, its nerdy. But it makes me happy.

Its the small things I tell ya!

Much Love.

Yay: moving offices!

Dang: still bright red sunburn. yikes.

Week 2

I forgot to update on my running program -- I am still on Week 2, things came up last week that kept me from running as much as Id hoped too, and I want to make sure I can conquer week 2 before heading on to week 3, which includes 5 minutes of running without stopping...eek.

Total weight lost - 6 lbs.

Ouchies

This hurts today -

The Lake was fabulous! Arrived at the lake on Friday night. Had dinner with the fam at this restuarant called "The Pier". There was some live music which set the relaxing mood. The next day we set out on the lake early (like 9 am, what can I saw, we are hardcore). We stayed out till about 3 pm. I put on sunscreen like it was going out of style, but apparently it was in the cards for me to leave with an awesome sunburn on my back and shoulders. Im hoping it doesn't peel but leaves a nice tan for my Mexican vacation next week! That night we had a steak dinner with some tasty red wine, and then hit the hay early from exhaustion. It was a great weekend with my family!

My hope for this week is that it goes by fast. In 3 1/2 days I will have 10 days off from work, first time since well last August when I started work. I cannot wait!

Oh and for those who are wondering which resort it is - Excellence Playa Mujeres. I'll give a full recap of the vacay once I get back.

Much Love.

Yay: short work week.

Dang: Sunburn hurts. Let's just say, I have my hair in a pony tail and the end of my pony tail that touches my back huts my back. Yea, its that awesome.

Countdown...

Countdown to Summer FUN!

The next three weeks are my summer in a nutshell pretty much.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Lake Travis for some good ole Fam Time. My sister's bday, mom's bday, and father's day are all within two weeks of another. This weekend we'll celebrate all three (mainly Kate's 28th birthday!). I'm super excited to lay on a boat, or on a floaty, and get some sun.

9 1/2 days from now - I'll be leaving on a jet plane with the boyfriend for our summer romantical vacation to Mexico. We are staying at an adults all inclusive resort for a whole week. I'm super pumped. I check trip advisor everyday to read reviews about our resort (5 stars!) and get any inside info that I can. I have a countdown on my bulletin board at work (X's and Numbers, haha). And I check the website every now and again just to feed the anticipation and excitement. Im looking forward to a week with my honey, lounging by the pool/beach, drinking fruity drinks, snorkeling, reading, and doing anything else besides work for a week!

Just gotta get through the rest of today, tomorrow for the lake, and then 5 1/2 more work days for vacay!

Much Love.

Yay: productive today!

Dang: RIP Farrah Fawcett

Camp

As I eat my sandwich, I'm perusing the internet and various photos from the Camp I used to attend from 7th grade till the summer after 12th (yes, I did go to camp before I left for college). I also counseled at this camp every summer from 10th till 12th grade. I would share an awesome photo of me from camp in my prime (not!) but alas that was before the days of digital cameras, so the pics are all old fashioned paper copies/negatives. I do have this one though -

Its really hard to see this one apparently. BUT if you look closely... You'll see on the upper left side, five people in, my friend (Angie) and I doing something with our hands with green face masks on (like for facials). That's how cool I was. We were counselors in this picture. I think i was maybe 16/17 years old, and in charge of 10 kids in elementary school, crazy.

I loved Camp Crucis (Episcopal church camp in Granbury, Texas). And it makes me miss the carefree days of summer as a teenager, where I could disappear to camp land for weeks on end and enjoy bonfires, dances, "camp romances", skits, late nights sitting in the girls cabin circle reading cosmo and chatting, shower caddies (okay maybe I don't miss that), and general lazy days with friends, learning about Christ. How that time seems so long ago...

Much Love.

Yay: Happy Hour tonight.

Dang: busy.

Week 2

Hello Friends. I just finished Week 1 of my 9 week running program. Today I start Week 2. This week will be 3 minutes of running and 3 minutes of walking (x5). I'm excited to start this week because by the end of last week I felt like I could run longer than the 2 minutes. I'll let ya know how this week goes on my recap next weekend!

I am doing this running program in order to be a better runner and to also trim down. I've put on some pudge (i'm not ashamed to admit it here in blog worlds) since starting my full time desk job. Apparently sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day (give or take bathroom breaks/coffee breaks/lunch, etc.) can lead to weight gain if one stops working out and isn't watching what they eat. I've had enough with that habit I fell into! I'm happy to report that after week 1 of the running program (and watching what I eat (healthy foods!)) I've lost 3.5 lbs!!!

Much Love.

Yay: 2 weeks till vacay!!

Dang: massive amount of projects at work.

Up!

Last night Patrick and I had a tasty dinner at Maria Selma . Its a mexican food restaurant next door to a favorite bar of ours that we generally overlooked, until Patrick's co-worker recommended it the other day. Let me tell ya, if you live in the Houston area, you must try it! It was really tasty and authentic and the "perfect margarita" was delish!

Afterwards, we went and saw Up in 3D. I'm not a big cartoon or animation fan. I just can't ever get into it. But I kept hearing great things about this movie so I decided to give it a shot and dragged the boyfriend with me. I really enjoyed it. It made me laugh and had a very loving message in it. I wont' tell you what that is so that you can see it for yourself. But it made me happy to watch it. Life is stressful and busy and its really peaceful to watch a happy movie, can't beat the Disney castle at the beginning. Brings back wonderful memories of all my favorite movies as a child. I recommend this movie, and I recommend seeing it in 3D. Pretty cool stuff.

On another note - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY!

My dad is my hero. He encourages me to strive for my best in everything I do, he gives the best advice on life, makes me laugh and is who I attribute my sarcasm too (in other words, he is silly), he is intelligent, successful, caring, and loving. My dad is one of the reasons I am who I am today. He is there for every important milestone in my life, and never misses a birthday. I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate such a wonderful father today, but I'll see him also this weekend at the Lake. I love you Dad. Hope you have a wonderful father's day that includes - 1. US Open Golf 2. Nap while watching Golf 3. Brunch at Lucille's in FTW 4. Steak Dinner and 5. a phone call from me and kate, and a hug from liz to remind you how important you are to us and how thankful we are that you are our Dad.

Much Love.

Yay: good weekend!

Dang: must clean apt today, must.

Callie the Cat

My dear Callie,

This month you turn 1 year old, although at times you still act like you are a itty bitty rambunxious (sp?) kitten.

You have brought much joy and laughter to my life and are a very loving, affectionate kitty.

You crack me up on a daily basis b/c you are very weird, but in a good way. For one, you like to stare at the birds from the windowsill in my bedroom and in the living room. You even like to talk to the birds.

You love to sleep. Especially in this chair. And you do not like to be woken up, but do not mind in the least waking me up several times a night. You were good for a while but now you are back to pouncing on my face and biting my toes.

Which is another thing you like to do, bite. I don't know where this habit decided to appear from but you for some reason think my arm is the prime thing to pounce on and bite. Dear Callie, I do not enjoy this and do not think its a fun game, despite how much fun you might be having.

You like to sit in weird positions on my legs when I'm on the couch. This one below is your favorite position. I don't think it looks very comfy, but as you can tell by your pic you are fast asleep.


You enjoy climbing things, such as - the chair, the bathroom counter, the shower curtain (which is a little harder now that you no longer have claws), the washing machine (which scares me for fear you might fall behind it and get stuck), the water heater (again, scares me), the window (you try your hardest), the kitchen counter, and on top of my head.

This is by far your favorite spot to sit during the day, my bedroom window, and the living room window (identical view).

Your favorite toys include - my hair ties, q-tips, string, bags (which you find really fun to climb into despite the size), boxes (specifically my michelob ultra box, which is way too small for you but you find a way), toy mice, and anything you think might be fun to pick up and bring to me.

Your favorite activities at age 1 include - fetch with any of the above mentioned toys (which you are very good at btw), cleaning yourself, trying to lick water out of the toilet (disgusting), licking the bathtub clean (gross), staring at yourself in the bathroom mirror, making noises and talking to yourself, doing laps around my small apartment, hiding and thinking i can't see you so that when i walk by you can jump up and wrap your front legs around my leg, lying in any sort of comfy bag that I am packing to go away for the weekend, laying in front of the door when I try to leave in the morning, crawling into the fridge when i open it, licking Patrick's hair, trying to eat my hair (gross), giving kisses, purring all the time, and eating.

Your least favorite activities include - any type of water on your body, being fed anything but Iams Kitten Food (have to switch your food now, you'll learn to like something else), being lifted off of furniture that you really want to be on top of, when i take showers and you think i'm gone forever (you sit on the toilet lid and cry), and when I leave for the weekend.

You are a happy little thing and I've enjoyed the last year with you. I know you are a cat, so you won't read this, but know you are loved :)

Much Love.

Yay: its friday!

Dang: have to work this weekend, bummer.

Happy Birthday MOM!

Today is my wonderful Mom's 56th Birthday! I can't be there to celebrate it with her today b/c, well, I live in Houston and she DFW, but I will get to see her in a week at the lake! My mom is one of the most generous, loving, caring, encouraging, patient, strong, funny, and beautiful mothers!! She inspires me everyday to be a better person, to trust in God and His plans for my life, to be confident in myself, and to not take life so seriously. My memories of her are too many to write down here, but let's just say she never missed a volleyball game, cheerleading competition, band concert, graduation, parent's weekend, homecoming, birthday, or anything else that was an important milestone in my life. She's always a phone call (or text, now that she has learned how to do that) away. I hope one day I can be the kind of mom/woman/wife she is. Happy Birthday Mom, I hope today that you are able to 1. eat lots of Godiva 2. take a nap 3. hug one of your children (Liz, she's at home now) 4. laugh 5. blow out some candles 6. open a bunch of small presents (her fave) 7. Know how truly loved you are in this life and what a blessing you are to anyone who has the luckiness of knowing you. I love you!

Run, Run, as fast as you can...

I'm not a runner. I have no problem admitting that. There are many plausible causes that this could stem from 1. Jr. High cross country - i was forced to run cross country in jr. high if I wanted to stay in the athletic period (i played volleyball). Everyday I'd suit up in the cold air and run. And I'm pretty sure I always came in last. But I didn't care. I began to loathe it, at age 12, not good for running in my later life. 2. Cartilage in my chest- i apparently fell down at some point in college and managed to hurt a part of my rib cage (or something in that area) and a lovely cartilage bump grew (TMI, I know). Well when I run it gets irritated and hurts, suck. 3. Lack of endurance - when you don't run you don't build endurance so when you do try to run you dont have any, vicious cycle. 4. those stupid pains in the side of my back when i run- stitches i think they are called, and I think I read somewhere they are due to not breathing correctly when you are running (If anyone has a better idea on how to combat these pls let me know in the comments section!).

So, as you can see, running is not my forte for those 4 reasons (among many) that I have for not running. Well my friends, I am turning over a new leaf, for multiple reasons - 1. One of my besties, Lauren, hated running in college, we'd talk about how much we both disliked it and how it was much better to walk the "bear trail" then, gasp, run it. Now she is awesome runner of the world. She runs everyday, and joined a running club, and runs in races on most weekends. I'm super proud of her and her ability to run. 2. My trainer said running is the best way to lose fat. I believe her. 3. I want to build endurance, and at some point you just gotta bite the bullet and start buidling it. 4. I'm going to be in a bikini for a week straight in 2 1/2 weeks, yikes.

What is this new leaf my friends - I'm. going. to. start. running.

Well I have already started to run. Elaine passed on this website with a 9 week running program for those, like me, who don't like to run, or can't do it very well. Its a program that builds up your endurance over 9 weeks. I'm on week 1. I'm going to be running 2 minutes, and walking 4, and repeating 5 times (which amounts to 30 minutes of work out!). I did it for the first time last night at my apt gym and actually really liked it. Tonight I'm going to go run outside (yes in the TX heat/humidity,but hey being hot burns more calories right?) for my second day on week 1. I hope to get get 2 more runs this week on week 1. I'll let you know how it goes each week! (this time i'll actually follow through, not exactly what I did on my WW goal, which btw i ended up cancelling b/c it was virtually impossible for me to concentrate on keeping track of all the points, props to those who can!).

Now, there will not be a marathon in my future, or even a half marathon for that matter. I'd just like to be able to run 2 miles without stopping. I'm pretty sure at this point I can run 3/4 mile without stopping (i haven't tried yet...). I know those out there who run 5-10 miles a day are not impressed by my 3/4 mile run, but I ma my friends.

Therefore - if anyone out there in blogger land likes to run and has some hints or suggestions on how to get me in the running spirit, i'd love the tips and advice :)

Much love.

Yay: finding the earring i thought I lost on the bathroom floor.

Dang: laundry.

Weekend Update

This past weekend was really fun and relaxing! I didn't have anything planend which was nice for once and so just took things as they came:

Friday: Went to dinner with Alisa and Maggie at this dive in the Heights called King Biscuit. It was pretty tasty. The wine was really good and defnitely needed after my horrendous morning. The place was made by the outdoor seating. Afterwards Alisa and I went and got ice cream at Marble Slab and chatted and then i went home and fell asleep on the couch for an hour and then met Patrick, James & Jamie, and Angelique for a beer at Onion Creek (another Heights place, catching a trend?).

Saturday: Slept in! Got brunch with the boyfried and then saw Hangover with the boyfriend. IT was hilarious. Patrick and I lauged a lot, probably more than anyone else in the theater. That nigth we joined my sis/bro in law/sis' friend in Galveston for dinner and to go "out". We ate at their old college bar (my sis lived in galveston for 8 years) and then pub crawled. That's right my friends. We were up till 4 am (old school like college, its been a longgg time since i've done that). We had a great time and I was able to get my groove on at the clubs (dancing, sillies).

Sunday: Brunch with the boyfriend again at La Madeliene. (I love brunch). Then proceeded to lay on couch for upwards of 8 hours, napping, watch movie, napping, watch movie, repeat. But this time it was with the boyfriend! It was a day that I often don't get to just be perfectly lazy and it definitely revived me for this week of work.

This weekend was really fun. The boyfriend and I were able to spend a lot of quality time together which doesn't happen very often b/c he is also dating his job (joke :) ). He works insane hours right now - (worked till midnight both thursday and friday (yes friday) nights). I was happy that he took both saturday and sunday off. that hasn't happened in a long time. You could call it the Sara/Patrick weekend 09.

And again, no pictures, sorry y'all. I'm slcaking these days. Promise it'll get better. Not sure if i've outgrown the desire to document my whole life now since i'm no longer a student, or if i'm just lazy..prolly both, ha.

Much love.

Yay: much needed boyfriend time this past weekend!

Dang: taking things personal that i shouldnt

One more thing...

My sister officially confirmed today that yes I do indeed have poison ivy on my back from the river trip last weekend, holler.


I promise a happier post the next time around.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Today took a note right out of one of my fave children's books - Ivan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Here's how my day from 8 am till 2 pm went:

1. Woke up late, missed trainer appointment, lost money.
2. Fell back asleep, woke up late, running late to work.
3. Drive to friend's house to feed dogs and let them out, while at said friend's house, close front door, lock bottom lock from inside, dead bolt from outside, lock self out of friend's house. Friend won't be home till Sunday. Freak out. Try to climb fence to back yard in heels, unsuccesful.
4. Decide to get in car drive to apt, get wire hanger, and try to break into my friends house, a la McGiver style.
5. Get in car, car won't start. Freak out.
6. Try car again, won't start. Freak out some more b/c i know jack crap about cars.
7. Call boyfriend in panic.
8. Boyfriend says to open hood, and check battery.
9. Proceed with boyfriend's directions. Battery is corroded with cauliflower looking debris around knobs, think to self "that can't be good.".
10. Call sister, freak out.
11. Sister calls brother in law, who comes to the rescue.
12. Brother in law shows up, lifts me over fence to check on back door, find it locked.
13. Brother in law drives on grass to jump car. Car jumps. Best thing to happen all morning.
14. Brother in law's maintenance man comes to break door knob and let me in and then proceeds to replace door knob and lock. (No worries, checked with friend before I did this to her house).
15. Drive to NTB. When getting battery replaced, told that one of my tires is leaking air and the others are bald and will more than likely pop in the next long drive. Freak out.
16. Buy new battery + new tires + oil change = 2 hour long wait.

Needless to say I didn't make it in to work until 2 pm. Looks like I'll be making up some of that time this weekend. Awesome.

I could use a big glass of wine and a good tear jerker movie to just let all my frustrations out.

I guess they say when it rains it pours. Atleast now I have new tires and a new battery and my friend has a new door knob.

I hope this weekend is better than today was.

Much love.

Yay: an awesome brother in law
Dang: see above.

(side-note: boyfriend not able to come rescue me b/c of his stupid job and a project due at noon, he tried his hardest to do his rescuing over the phone though so thank you boyfriend)

Happy Birthday L!

I know i'm a few days late on this, but it doesn't mean any less. The L in SnL (Lauren) celebrated her 26th birthday on Friday!! I wasn't able to celebrate with her b/c she was at a wedding with her hubby's family in Austin, but hopefully soon!

Lauren and I were inseperable in college once we met each other. We were introduced through a friend of mine from hs and then ended up in the same psychology classes. I have so many wonderful memories with Lauren from those years and beyond. Here are some highlights:

- summer of nothing where we literally layed out at the pool, worked as waitresses, shopped, drank sweet tea from Bush's, and relaxed.

- spring break in Florida (the chip incident and my amazing choice in men)

- Girl nights in pjs making our "senior boxes"

- Gilmore girls

- Late nights studying in Jones library at our table and getting yellled at by the mean security guard for eating in the library.

- 10 pm breaks for snacks in the library during finals.

- Lauren's wedding!

- 4th of july in Austin

- countless inside jokes

- getting yelled at by our TA in psychology statistics lab

Thank you Lauren for always being an amazing bff. I could not have gotten through so many moments in my 20s without you. You are encouraging, loving, caring, practical, realistic, and make me laugh all the time. Even now not seeing you as much as I want to, we are still close as ever. Love you girl.

Perfect Texas Summer Weekend

I know that I have been uber bad at posting and I'm sorry to all of my 3 readers who check back but get no update. It has been pretty busy as of late and I just haven't found the time. (last week was crazy hectic at work with the NYP and the P both working with me on every file I have, I accomplished a lot, which gives me time to update on this).

This past weekend was the perfect summer in texas weekend! I went with some friends to New Braunfels, Texas for a weekend of floating the river and general relaxation. We stayed at a hill country house near Gruene, Texas. It has the most perfect patio with a fire pit and a bbq picnic area, and two other patios, one with an outdoor stone fire place and another with a chiminea. The house was definitely set up for outdoor entertaining. Friday night we relaxed around the fire (yes it got chilly enough to warrant a fire). Saturday we floated the Comal river. It was pretty crowded but that didn't stop us. We floated twice and it was wonderful! I even managed to not get sunburned, but have the perfect amount of sun. Go me! (if you know me then you know thats a fete hard to accomplish for I am one pasty woman). That night we enjoyed a dinner at Gristmill (I got the chicken fried stead, a departure from my diet and well worth it!). Then we trekked to a bar called Tavern on the Gruene and listened to some down home country band and hung out for a while (by trek I mean we walked a mile to get there, yes walked, but it was a nice evening). Sunday Patrick and I headed to Boerne to attend a cook out at his dad's house. We stayed till late in the day but were able to get some quality time in with his family.

Overall it was a fan-tastical weekend!

To recap on the past week: I attended two astros games - 1. with my friend Cindy from hs and her hubby and new baby girl Haylee (who is so precious). We ate at ninfa's before the game and then sat in great seats right above home plate! It was a joy to see them and i'm glad they made time to visit me during their vacay :) 2. with patrick's firm, open bar, free food, need i say more?

On the plate for this week: Girls HH; casino night with patrick's firm (possibly) AND working out everyday. Leave for vacay in t-minus 27 days and def not in bikini body, not even close.

Sorry I didn't take many pics this past weekend and those that I did didn't turn out well..will hopefully have some from a friend soon!

Much love.

Yay: finally having a little color on my face and legs, and realizing that my hair is a lot blonder than i thought (yes naturally blonder than i thought it was, since i haven't seen the real color oh since sophomore year of hs, eek).

Dang: new shoes = two gigantic blisters on my heels. bummer.