Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Birthdays’ Category

Hi friends! Here’s what I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m thankful for rain instead of snow today!
2. I’m grateful for a reason to celebrate (it’s my best friend’s birthday)!
3. I’m thankful my kids are healthy!
4. I’m thankful my kids are not picky eaters and like their vegetables (most of the time).
5. I’m grateful for warmer weather this weekend!

Have an amazing day!

Hi friends! Yesterday was a rough day and I could have gained a lot of insight from writing this post then. Here are a few things I’m thankful for lately:

1. I am thankful for my mom and the opportunity for her to come visit for Auggie’s birthday this past weekend. We had such a fun time celebrating my baby turning 2. My mom always knows how to handle anything, especially the difficult situations, and she provides me great advice and guidance. I’m so thankful for her and I hope that she has many healthy years left on this earth so my boys can get to know her well.
2. I’m grateful for our family and friends that celebrated Auggie with us this weekend. We went to Carter Mountain sunsets Thursday, outdoor lunch at Mount Ida Friday, had a small birthday party Saturday after a trip to the Farmers Market, and then celebrated with a family dinner on Sunday. We are blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends!
3. I’m thankful that school starts next week. The transition of our regular routine to a summer/summer camp routine has been rough for us and I’m really glad school starts back soon so my boys and the family can have a better routine and a great preschool influence.
4. I’m so grateful for long days and warm weather. Summer is coming to an end soon and I’m starting to dread the coming of winter, cold, and shorter days but I’m thankful for the summer we’ve had and what we have left. I’m trying to savor the last of it and enjoy it while it is still here.
5. I’m really grateful for an awesome doctor who has been very persistent in helping me figure out some health problems. It finally feels like we are on the right track and I am so thankful to be feeling a lot better lately.

Sending love to you all!

My mom left after a fun visit today and I’m feeling kinda down so I think I need a dose of gratitude to help me perk up.  Here are just a few things I’m grateful for lately:

1. I’m grateful that my mom was able to come visit and help celebrate Auggie Bear’s first birthday.  It means more than the world to me that my boys are getting to spend quality time with my mom/best friend.
2. I’m grateful we made it through the first year of life with 3 kiddos under 4!  Those first few weeks were daunting but we made it and are all stronger because of them!
3. I’m thankful for a wonderful summer filled with visits from loved ones and travel!  I have to say an extra thank you to Ben and his mom for helping out with the kiddos so I could travel to Houston, Padre Island, and Chicago to help celebrate my brother and his fiance.  I’m also so grateful to have had both my mom and my brother and his fiance visit us this summer.  I don’t care how often I have to wash the sheets in the guest room…I’d do it a million times for precious memories made with my loved ones!
4. I’m grateful for my little family.  For so long, I wanted my own little family and now my life is full with a great husband and 3 sweet, healthy, and active little boys!
5. I’m thankful for a challenging job that I enjoy and awesome coworkers plus the opportunity to work part time so I can spend more time with my babies.

Have a great day friends!

Happy Hump Day!  Here’s a few thankful tidbits for you today:

1. I’m thankful my little preemies born almost 2 months early are happy and healthy and turned 1 on Sunday!  We are truly blessed to have them in our lives!
2. I’m thankful my mom was able to come from Texas to help celebrate the boys’ first birthday!
3. I’m grateful for my mom, mother-in-law, and many other family members who helped throw an amazing first birthday party for my little guys!
4. I’m thankful for all of our friends and family who helped us celebrate the first of hopefully many happy birthdays!
5. I’m so thankful for all of the love and support we’ve had over the past year.  We made it to 1!

Today I’ve got made thanks for the following:

1. I’m thankful that both boys slept all night because all 3 of us really needed it with fighting these colds!
2. I’m thankful we got through the time change this weekend without any major sleep issues.
3. I’m thankful for celebrations coming up…lots of fun baby showers and my boys’ first birthday party!
4. I’m thankful for a fun weekend that included brunch with my husband at World of Beer (awesome breakfast tacos) followed by the movie Chappie.  Then I got to meet awesome friends for dinner and drinks at Timberwood Grill for Collin’s birthday followed by cake and beer at his house.  Timberwood had Three Notch’d Brewery‘s new Biggie S’mores Imperial Stout that I’ve been wanting to try!  And to top it off, we took the boys to brunch at Fellini’s (they have a Make Your Own Bloody Mary Bar) with our awesome pals, Robert and Crystal, followed by a sunny, warm stroll on the Downtown Mall!
5. I’m grateful for my husband!  I love him so much and the older the boys get, the better partners in parenting we are becoming!

Happy day friends!

Good morning and welcome to my weekly Thankful Monday post!

Here’s what I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m thankful for a wonderful weekend spent with people I love!  Friday night, I had a nice quiet evening at home with my husband and kitties.  Then Saturday morning, I went with Sarah to support her school, the Virginia Institute of Autism, by participating in a pancake breakfast!  I met several of Sarah’s coworkers and we enjoyed playing with all of the cute babies that came along with their mommies.  Afterward, Sarah and I had a girls day and did some shopping.  We found alot of post-Christmas deals at the mall and then headed to a new restaurant in town, Pasture, to belatedly celebrate Sarah’s birthday!  As if that wasn’t enough fun, when I got home, Ben and I went to his parents house to visit with our nephew Brandon and two nieces Abby and Elise.  It was a great day spent with my Virginia family!  Sunday, I got to spend the entire day running errands which wasn’t bad at all because I got to do it with my husband.
2. I’m thankful for a great lunch catching up with my good friend Kristen at Baja Bean on Thursday.  I rarely go out to lunch and spend most days eating at my desk while working so it was a nice change of pace to take a long break from work with a friend.  Plus Kristen and I rarely get together since we are both so busy so I love getting to hang out with her whenever I have the chance.
3. I am thankful for a clean bill of health from my endocrinologist.  Another appointment last Monday revealed that my thyroid levels are perfectly normal which is great news!
4. I am thankful for working for such a wonderful company.  I recently talked with my boss and the Human Resources department at work about taking some important upcoming leave from work and coming back to work part-time.  I am more than thrilled with the options they have provided me and they have proved that they really do care about me as a person.  I am truly blessed to work at such a great company that treats their employees so well and recognizes the importance of a work-life balance.
5. I am thankful for the kindness of the people around me.  My husband and I are soon going to have a dramatic change in our lifestyle and people have been so wonderful to offer help, advice, support, and items that will help us along the way.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Good morning and happy Thankful Monday!

Since tomorrow marks the end of the 2013 and Wednesday marks the beginning of 2014, I thought I do a special 2o13 Recap of the things I am thankful for this year!

I’m thankful for a very productive year.  At the end of 2012 and when I turned 30 a week before 2013, I made myself a promise that I’d make 2013 a very productive and memorable year.  Though it wasn’t productive in the ways that I thought it would be, I think the improvements I made were even better than the ones I imagined.  They include the following:

1. Bought my dream house with my husband!
2. Traveled alot (10 out of the 12 months):
   • DC in February with good friends
   • New Orleans for my cousin Jennifer’s bachelorette party in March
   • Padre Island in April to visit my mom and spend time with family
   • Houston and Galveston in June for my cousin Jennifer’s wedding and to spend time with family
   • Nashville in June to visit good friends
   • Baltimore for a fun girl’s weekend to celebrate Independence Day
   • Seattle and Victoria, Canada in July for my cousin Catie’s wedding and to visit family
   • Nag’s Head in August to have a girl’s weekend at the beach
   • DC in September to see the Book of Mormon with friends
   • DC in October for a great training course for work
   • Massanutten with good friends in November
   • Cape Cod in December for my husband’s cousin’s wedding and to spend time with his family
3. Did alot of work to improve my happiness and mental health (reading, learning to meditate, cognitive behavioral therapy, online learning, exercise).
4. Trained for and ran the Charlottesville 10 Miler in March with my husband!
5. Got a great review and a raise at work and also learned to be more experienced and confident in my job.
6. Spent alot of very important time with family and friends.
7. Ran 1 race in June (4 the Wounded 5K), 4 races in the month of September (Charlottesville Women’s 4 Miler, 9/11 Heroes Run, Special Olympics Pepsi 10K, and Benefit 5K for Shiloh Thompson) and 1 race in November (Shelter For Help in Emergency 5K) and greatly improved my running, pace, and personal records.
8. Lost 25 pounds (FINALLY – this had been a goal for a long time)!
9. Won tickets to the King Family Vineyards Pink Ribbon Polo Classic, Top of the Hops Beer Festival,  Virginia Chili Blues & Brews Festival, and an entry to the 4 the Wounded 5K – it was a lucky year (maybe it was that red egg we found)!
10. Helped several friends welcome sweet babies into this world!
11. Bought several pieces of furniture and large appliances for our first house (couch, book shelves, washer and dryer).
12. Bought and decorated our first Christmas tree together and celebrated our first Christmas in our new house with our families!
13. Created 2 amazing gifts that are still in the works (more on those later)!
14. Many more!

It was an amazing year and although there were ups and downs as there always will be, the wonderful things listed above will be the things I remember about 2013 and am grateful for when I look back on this year in the future!  I know 2014 is going to be one of the hardest but most rewarding and amazing years of my life thus far and I am truly looking forward to the challenge.

Happy New Year!  I’m wishing everyone a happy and amazing 2014 and please remember to try and be thankful.  I will continue to be!

I had a wonderful holiday celebrating with my family and hope that everyone else did as well!  Here’s how it went!

Saturday morning, I woke up early to finish cleaning before my family got here.  My brother, Mikey, got in around 2 so he, Ben, and I decided to go have a late lunch at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza.  Afterwards, we did a little Christmas shopping and then went over to my friend Collin’s house for a Christmas get-together with friends.  After a fun night and a white elephant gift exchange, we headed home.  My mom and Carrie didn’t get in until about 3:30 AM.  Ben and I woke up to let them in and gave them the tour of the new house since they hadn’t seen it yet.  After a short visit, we all went to bed to rest up for the next day.

Sunday morning, we got up and took it easy.  I made everyone coffee and cooked bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast while Mikey made us all bloody marys.  After breakfast, we watched our Texans play and hung around the house visiting and looking at the fun stuff that my mom brought from Texas that she’d been storing for years.  We decided we needed to get out of the house for dinner and went to The Local since it is one of the few restaurants in Charlottesville that Mikey, Carrie, and Mom had never been to.  We had a great dinner and all ordered something different so we could each try a few bites of everyone else’s dinner.  Afterward, we stopped by our condo to show them how the renovations looked and then watched for Christmas lights on our way home.

Monday morning, we got up and all enjoyed some light breakfast and visited.  After everyone had showered and gotten ready for the day, we headed out for lunch.  We went to Basil to have some great Mediterranean food complete with tabouli, hummus, baba gannoush, lebne, grape leave, and complimentary baklava.

Complimentary Baklava from Basil

It was a delicious lunch and we were all stuffed!  Then we went to see the movie American Hustle.  We enjoyed the movie and then headed to Pier One to exchange some gifts and then to the grocery store to buy ingredients for Christmas dinner.  When we got home, we all helped to make sausage balls and pralines.  Then we sat down to watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (one of my favorite Christmas movies).

Tuesday was my birthday and we headed over to one of my favorite restaurants, Beer Run, for brunch.  I got my favorite dish, nachos, and we all enjoyed bloody marys and beers.

My Sister’s First Growler

We did a little Christmas Virginia wine and beer shopping before leaving and then headed home to make some baklava and caprese kabobs to take over to my in-laws house where we celebrated Christmas and my birthday.  My mother-in-law Virginia Mom made the most amazing spread of food…she had everything and it was all so delicious!  Then we ate some of this amazing cake:

Amazing Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake

My Virginia Mom made the cake out of black beans but it tasted just like chocolate and it had layers of chocolate and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups on the inside!  It was delicious AND full of protein!

The family sang happy birthday to me:

And I blew out my candles making a wish (it’s a secret):

Making a very important wish!

Then we opened gifts and enjoyed each other’s company for the rest of the evening.  We went home and everyone scrambled to finish putting the last minute touches on their gifts and complete their wrapping.  Our tree looked like this:

Our First Christmas Tree

Christmas morning, we awoke to this:

The Stockings Were Hung By the Chimney with Care

And my mom surprised Ben by hand-making him a stocking to match the ones she made my sister, brother, and I as babies:

A fishing Santa because Ben loves fishing

We all opened presents, enjoyed mimosas, and ate sausage balls and had a wonderful Christmas morning!

Mom and her kiddos

The kids

Then we went to work on dinner.  Mom made augratin scalloped potatoes, tenderloin, creamy horseradish sauce, bacon-wrapped green beans, rolls, Granny Scott’s Wilted Leaf Lettuce Salad, and blackberry cobbler for dessert!  It was all so delicious and she outdid herself once again!  Ian, Sarah, and Phyllis joined us for dinner:

 We finished the evening by spending time together and Skyping with some family in Texas.  In was the most amazing holiday and now I am so sad that it is over and so sad that my family had to leave.  However, I am so happy and grateful they could be here and can’t wait to see them again soon!

Merry Christmas everyone and happy New Year!

P.S.  Thanks to Sarah, Mikey, and Carrie for many of the pictures!

I know I am a few days late but what a busy week I had!  My mom, sister, and brother came to town for Christmas and we had an amazing five days!  Here’s what I’m thankful for!

1. I’m forever grateful for my mom and sister who rented an SUV, drove 1300 miles from Houston, brought me some of my belongings being stored in Texas, and then turned around and drove 1300 miles back 5 days later just to spend Christmas and my birthday with me!  I love them so very much that I could never fully express it in words.
2. I’m grateful for my brother who drove from South Carolina to spend Christmas and my birthday with me!  We had a blast shopping, eating, watching football, and lounging!  I love my little brother!
3. I’m thankful for my Virginia family who not only make my Texas family feel welcome when they visit, but also treat me like blood!  My mother-in-law made the most amazing birthday dinner and birthday cake and my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law all helped celebrate.  I love them all!
4. I’m thankful for my husband Ben!  He is part of my heart and helps hold me up when I am down and keep me grounded when I am being a fool.  He is the love of my life.
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for internet, cell phones, Facebook, Skype, and all technology that allow me to feel a little bit closer to my family when they have to leave and also allows us to celebrate the holidays virtually with family far and wide!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!  I know I did!