Oh, Happy Day!

What's the best way to start a 4-day work week?!

Find out Monday morning that you won an office NCAA March Madness pool before the tourney is even over! :)

Here is the winning bracket...

No one else has any picks left to advance...and since I'm already in 1st place (thanks to all the upsets I called in the first round), I automatically win.

Show me the money!!!

What's great is, this will pay for my broken car window!

Funny how things work...

Let's hope this is the start of a string of some good luck!

Lemonade!

It's a good thing I love lemonade....because boy, have I been having some bad luck lately.

The old saying, "When it rains, it pours" has been replaying over and over in my head.

It seems like it has been one thing after another, and for icing on the cake, this past weekend my car got broken into! Nothing of any super great value was taken...just my entire make-up bag and a wedding shower gift for a sweet friend! Oh...and a busted window!

Cheers to lemonade & happy days!

“All of us have bad luck and good luck. The person who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the person who is there when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it.” -Robert Collier

She's Gone Country

Look at them boots

She's gone country

Back to her roots!

This past weekend I went to the Houston Rodeo with my parents. It was their first time to go this year, however, it was my fifth! So I was about "rodeo-ed" out! Here are a few fun pictures I captured. Can't wait for next year!
Grand Entrance Parade...R.C. Slocum...

former Aggie head football coach...Gig'em!

And its definitely not a rodeo without one of these...

Or one of these...

We had some pretty awesome seats!

So we were close enough to see all the action

And some cute bull fighters!

Even George Bush Sr. loves the rodeo!

My all-time favorite rodeo "event" invloves this little guy...
It's the funniest thing ever!
Little kiddos hang on to the sheep for dear life and the kid that hangs on the longest wins a trophy and belt buckle! So cute!
The night wrapped up with Brooks & Dunn's "Final Rodeo Tour." They have performed at the Houston Rodeo for 19 consecutive years and they are my dad's favorite group, so it was definitely an exciting night to be part of

"rodeo history!"

"She lives in Houston, she flies to New York City
That woman's been around the world
You can take the girl out of the honky tonk
But you can't take the honky tonk, take the honky tonk out of the girl!"

Reach for the Stars!

....Or in this case, the bouquet!

When I saw that this week's theme over at You Capture was "Reaching" I immediately thought of this fun photo! That's me on the right in the purple dress...and until I saw this picture I never knew I could jump so high! And with such great form huh? :)

Be sure to check out all the other fun "reaching" photo entries!

Oh...and in case you are wondering...the little flower girl caught the bouquet!

Luck 'O the Irish

May you always be blessed

With walls for the wind,

A roof for the rain,

A warm cup of tea by the fire,

Laughter to cheer you,

Those you love near you,

And all that your

Heart might desire.

{Irish Blessing}

Wordless Wednesday

Boy, oh boy!

Blue was definitely the theme this past weekend! The weather was perfect, the skies were blue and this pretty momma-to-be was showered with all things blue for her little baby boy, Carson! Here are some pictures from her special "fish" themed baby shower...

Betta fish centerpieces!

Diaper cake

Me & my best little friend, Taylor!

Chocolate cake & Hummingbird cupcakes!

Gift basket from the hostesses

Present time!

Gig 'em Bevo?!

Sweet, little Kaylah modeling Carson's new frog hat!

All the girls...

Congrats Andrea! I couldn't be more excited for you guys! Prayers and blessings to your little growing family!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above.” – James 1:17

Some days...

Signs from Above

Just wanted to share this little story...

{Phone conversation with my mom last night}

Mom: "Hi Sweetie, I just read your blog about Angie. It was really nice."

Me: "Thanks, I'm glad you liked it."

Mom: "Where did you get that quote about dogs making our lives whole?"

Me: "Oh...just an old quote that I had seen somewhere a while back."

Mom: "Well...this is really weird. Remember that desk calendar you gave me for Christmas? The one with the pictures of all the cute dogs on each day?"

Me: "Yes"

Mom: "Well, after I went back to work after we took Angie to the vet, I was at my desk and I was flipping the calendar from Friday to Monday and you'll never believe what last weekend's picture was."

Me: "What?"

Mom: "It was a faded picture of some dogs and at the top it had that same quote!"

Me: (speechless)

Coincidence?

Or a neat little sign from above? :)

Sweet Memories

Today, our beloved family dog of 10 years, Angie, went to sleep forever. My parents and brother made the heart wrenching decision to let her go this morning. It is a decision no pet owner ever wants to make, yet it is one of the bravest things we can do. A few months ago we found out Angie had stage four lymphoma. After taking her to the Texas A&M veterinary medical teaching hospital, she was picked as a candidate to participate in a program in conjunction with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. The purpose of the program was to determine if her white blood cells could be sensitized to mount an immune response to cancer in canines as well as humans. Angie responded well to the treatments and always loved her weekly visits at Texas A&M. She fought the cancer hard, but it was stronger than she was.

We cannot put into words all that Angie gave to us. She was loyal, loving, gentle natured, affectionate and a best friend. Dogs are truly one of the best living beings we can have. They come into our lives not asking for anything in exchange for the love they give us.

We are so blessed to have had her companionship for so long. Thank you Angie for all the good times. When you always had to be right in the middle of what we were doing, we were blessed. When we kept you in the kitchen as a puppy and returned home one night to find the linoleum completely pulled up in the corner of the kitchen, we were blessed (and mom was happy because she wanted tile floors!). When you escaped from our backyard after the strong winds of Hurricane Rita blew our fence down and we chased you for three blocks around the neighborhood until I finally tackled you, scraping up both my knees, we were blessed. When we couldn’t eat one family dinner without you looking at us with those big puppy-dog eyes from behind the gate in the kitchen and giving us the “share some food” bark, we were blessed. When you hid underneath mom & dad’s bed during every thunderstorm, 4th of July holiday, and New Years Eve, we were blessed. When you decided (on your own) that you were meant to be an indoor house dog and not the all-star hunting retriever after running and hiding underneath the pick-up truck when you first heard the shotgun fire while at your first training session, we were blessed. When you always greeted us at the door and followed us around until you got the tickles you wanted, we were blessed. When you got so excited every time we grabbed your leash to take you on a walk, we were blessed. When we finally figured out we had to spell out the word “w-a-l-k” so you wouldn’t know what we were about to go do, we were blessed. For all the times you were there to hug and give big slobbery kisses, we were blessed.

A person can learn a lot from a dog. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give them your heart and they will give you theirs. And that’s what Angie did. It makes me realize that life is short for all of us and that we need to make the most of it. Material possessions don’t matter in the end. It’s the relationships you form, both with people and pets. So, next time you look at your chewed up shoe or that chewed corner of the coffee table, remember that you are blessed!

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."

Crossroads

I received a special box in the mail...

From a special friend...

With a special necklace inside...

Thank you! I love it and haven't taken it off yet!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11