Snow Days!

Well, winter weather definitely hit the Dallas area last week! With snow, ice, and wind chills of negative 10 degrees, I had a total of 4 glorious snow days home from work. It was such a gift. I think I am one of the few people who absolutely loves being locked in her house! This is how I spent the majority of my 4 days... Nothing better than a great book, a warm blanket, and a sleeping Bandera in my lap!The first day I scored some testing for work (that was productive!) and spent the remainder of the day reading. There is nothing better than being curled up on the couch with a good book and Bandera on my lap! Dixie was dreaming in our bedroom so she wasn't far away. I also managed to squeeze in (haha) two naps which I needed after hardly sleeping the night before due to the strong winds and sleet hitting the windows all....night....long.

We got a lot of snow Thursday night to Friday - 6" to be exact!
It was a true winter wonderland.And of course, the dogs loved playing in it. This is a picture of Bandera chasing the neighbor's dog while Dixie then chased Bandera chasing the neighbor's dog. Dixie thought they were playing together though. :)
I think it was hard for Bandera to stay warm but she managed!Dixie loved sticking her nose in the snow and acting like a snow plow. She cracks me up.
Becky took me to Kroger on day 4 since I was running out of some food staples. I was too afraid to drive on the inch of ice plus the 6 inches of snow. She snapped this picture of me wearing Mark's hunting boots as I made my way from her car to the front door carrying my groceries.
It was wonderful to have the days off!

Weekend Fun!

I had an absolute BLAST this weekend! I haven't had this much fun with friends in a really long time!

Friday night, we had my belated birthday party. All I wanted to do was play the "Just Dance" game on Wii. Doug and Becky were nice enough to allow us to have a mini party at their house since they have a Wii. Anthony, Mandy, Derek, and their 2 girls came over and played with us. Mark ordered pizza and bought fancy cupcakes from the Cupcakery in Frisco. It was so much fun! We learned two things from this event: 1. Mark has good dance moves and beat all of us (except once -- I beat him in the duet dance) 2. That game is a workout! We were all sweaty and out of breath by the end of the dance. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of the night...boo!

Saturday night was Girl's Night. We all wanted to try this new restaurant in the Shops at Legacy called Seasons 52.
It was amazing! They serve all fresh, organic food and every meal is under 470 calories. I had cedar plank salmon with asparagus, carrots, and a few potatoes. They also have this awesome idea of mini-desserts. They come in shot glasses and are only $2.50. They allow you to have a taste of dessert without splurging on calories. I had a banana one and the other girls had chocolate and peanut butter ones.
No one wanted to share so I guess they were all delicious! Now, after a shared appetizer, a meal, a mini dessert and some drinks, I am not sure I was still in the 470 calories range, but everything was delicious! I will go back again, for sure. Mandy, Becky, Jenn and I had such a fun time laughing and talking we decided to go for one more drink and then head home. It was a great night and one that I can't wait to repeat in the future!

Sunday morning, Mark took me to breakfast at Le Peep. He decided to skip the last day of hunting season since he was sick. It was great to spend time together over a yummy meal!

I had a wonderful weekend filled with laughter, friends, and good times. It made me very happy!

31st Birthday Fun

I had a nice 31st birthday. Mark took me out to dinner at Silverfox in Frisco which is by far the best steak house I have ever eaten at. Their apple martinis are to die for as well! He gave me my first gift which was a weekend get-a-way in this awesome cabin in Oklahoma. Best of all, Doug, Becky and Charlotte are coming with us! It looks like a lot of fun will be had in March when we go! My second gift is coming a little later, he said.

My birthday day was filled with firsts for me. I went to my first yoga class with Sarah Jane. It was held at Northpark as part of lululemon's advertisement. Although I did not purchase a pair of hundred dollar yoga pants, I did enjoy the class. It was really hard and totally different from what I expected yoga to be. It was quite obvious that Sarah Jane and I were newbies but we had fun regardless of how stupid and unbalanced we were!

After returning home from that adventure, I went to G'Nosh with Becky. I have heard great things about this place but had never been...until a Groupon appeared and I bought it! It is a place where they teach you how to paint a picture. I knew Becky's would turn out awesome because she is a true artist but I was a little concerned about mine. But, with the help of the instructor and her "for the type A's in the crowd" instructions, I was happy with my bluebird!

I decided I will hang it in my laundry room as a little reminder that I can be successful at arts and crafts!
Lastly, Becky and I made Valentine's Day wreaths. She saw this idea and felt inspired so with a little guidance, I was able to make a really cute, sassy Valentine's Day wreath for our front door. Mark even said he thought it was cute which is the biggest compliment ever!The best part of any birthday, I think, is getting phone calls (and now Facebook messages) from friends and family. It made my heart so happy to hear from so many people. My three favorites were the "Happy Birthday" song with the "you look like a monkey..." part from Mark's nephew, talking to Charlotte while she told me she was helping make cupcakes for my birthday, and hearing Steve sing a lovely version of the birthday song on my voicemail. Thank you to everyone - you made me feel very cared for on my special day!!!

We are celebrating with friends this coming weekend since everyone was out of town my birthday weekend. I am looking forward to a little fun with friends!

Free! (or almost free): Birthday Edition!!!

I celebrated my 31st birthday on January 22nd. Because of my extreme couponing and signing up for every restaurant deal that comes my way, I got a lot of free items for my birthday month!!! Free stuff is a true gift anytime of the year :)

Things I got for free:
1. A coupon from Starbucks for any sized drink. Yay!
2. A free pasta meal at the local pizza shop by our house. I love Luigi's!
3. $20 off $20 at Vera Bradley - this ended up not being free because I couldn't resist a new purse for the spring/summer so I ended up spending an additional $30. Ooops! I shouldn't be allowed to enter that store alone...EVER!
4. A free taco plate at Taco Cabana. Delicious!

Nashville Trip

I took a trip to Nashville last weekend to see one of my best friends from college. Jodi had her 2nd baby, Sutton, and I had to meet him! We spent time at home talking and watching the kids. Life with two children is very different than my life without children!

Jodi and Chad were nice enough to go and get my favorite cupcakes that are only made on Fridays...princess cupcakes! Jodi and I were looking forward to eating these all day long. We decided to indulge after we got our PJs on. They were out of this world, as always!
We had to explain to Sophie just how wonderful they were. Jodi was kind enough to share a few bites with her. One day she will love them as much as we do and be big enough to get her own cupcake!Jodi also made me Caribbean pancakes for me (another favorite food of mine!) and we ate black bean salads from Calypso. Can you tell our favorite thing to do is talk with one another and eat?!?!?

I also got to spend a day with a dear teaching friend of mine, Megan. I met her for breakfast at the Loveless Cafe where we ate and enjoyed time with her sister and her fiance. Then we went to see "Black Swan" and grabbed some Starbucks afterwards. It is always great to catch up with Megan.It was a busy and eventful trip (complete with Jodi's 2 year old locking herself in their bedroom for 2 hours). I was happy to return to peace and quiet and my two furry kids!

San Diego Trip

This past weekend, I took a trip to San Diego to visit my brother. It was so much fun! He is a great tour guide so I had lots of beautiful beaches to look at. Drew's apartment is also awesome. He lives in the middle of downtown so one wall of his apartment is all windows! It overlooks downtown and there is truly nothing else like it!

I arrived on Saturday. We went to lunch where I got to meet one of Drew's friends and his girlfriend, Melissa. We were supposed to go whale watching that day but mixed up the location and the time it would take to get there so re-scheduled to Sunday instead. Melissa, Drew and I went to H&M (a clothing store I was dying to see), walked around the out door mall, and then walked through La Jolla. Here are some pictures we took in La Jolla after I fell and bruised/scraped my knee and got a hole in my new jeans:
Next we met some of Drew's friends for dinner at a Tapas restaurant. It was so much fun! We all shared the food and loved our waitress who encouraged us to stay for hours. That never happens! Afterwards, we went to a dessert shop called Extraordinary Desserts. The name says it all! Here are some of their amazing cakes:I also saw these adorable cupcake mittens for little girls. I fell in love! I wish they came in my size because I would have bought them for myself. Gosh how I love cupcakes!!!On Sunday we went whale watching in the morning. Here are pictures of us on the boat as we set sail.I have no pictures during the 3 hour tour because both Melissa and I were VERY sea sick. Poor Drew had to go back and forth between us to make sure we were ok. He was very kind! Even though I was sick the whole time, I really did have fun seeing whales, dolphins, and a sea lion.
Later that night we met up with my college friend, Jordan, for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It is always so great to see him and spend time catching up.

I had a wonderful trip to San Diego and can't wait to go back! Thank you Drew for everything!!!

What Makes You Happy?

I started back to work yesterday. Ugh! We had a teacher inservice day so at least we got to wear jeans and have a laid back schedule. A good way to transition from 14 days of nothing!

We had a speaker talk to us about happiness. She asked us to ask ourselves a simple question, "What makes me happy?" She said to list the first five things that came to mind that didn't include big things like God, family, life, etc. I came up with walking in the early morning before everyone else is awake, Mark's pancakes, lunch/shop at Northpark with my Mom, a handwritten note of encouragement from a friend or family member, and clean sheets. She then asked us how we felt after writing these items down and sharing them with our table mates. Amazingly, I felt much happier!

The speaker encouraged us to continue this list and remember that happiness means doing what you love. It brings inner peace and promotes the act of taking care of yourself rather than always taking care of others. This talk came at the perfect time since I feel like I have recently struggled a bit with my happiness.

I decided to continue my list and came up with these additional items: getting an awesome coupon deal, a facial or massage, a hug, time alone with Mark, having an extended amount of time to read a great book, snuggling with the dogs, an "I love you" text message, a fun night out with the girls, surprising someone with an unexpected gift, an uninterrupted talk with a best friend, date night with Mark, my Mom's chicken delight, and a big cookie or frosting filled cupcake.

My goal this year is to do things that make me happy. Like the speaker noted, happiness has a lot to do with relationships with other people so I hope to make new friends, build deeper bonds with the friends I already have, continue to grow in my marriage, and find things that make me happy that don't involve other people. It's a big task but I am up for the challenge!