What I Learned in 2013...

I know, I'm FINALLY updating my blog again, no need to adjust your computer/phone screens. :)

 

In 2013 I learned that:

 

…life has unexpected twists and turns in it. It’s not a straight, smooth road. There are sharp curves, speed bumps, road blocks, and detours. There is also an occasional speed trap that causes you to really slow down and pay closer attention to what is going on.

 

…some people are not going to like you, and that is okay. There is nothing you can do to change that, and you shouldn’t have to. You shouldn’t have to change who you are to be accepted. Be yourself. Don’t change your personality and lifestyle just to impress or please someone else. There is only ONE you, be that person.

 

…I deserve a guy who is going to love me for the woman I am, and treat me with the respect I deserve. I don’t deserve someone who toys with me emotionally and mentally. I deserve someone who doesn’t make me feel worthless.

 

…I am not perfect. I make mistakes. If someone puts me on a pedestal, I shouldn’t be expected to live up to their expectations of me. I have my own faults, sins, demons, and issues that I struggle with on a daily basis. Whether or not I want to share them with people is up to me, but just because I don’t talk about them, doesn’t mean that I don’t have them. You see the part of someone’s life that they want visible, don’t think they are perfect and “have it all” just because that is all you see.

 

…friendships aren’t perfect. Some friendships can withstand anything, and some are only meant to be around for a while. There are also some friendships that need time apart for individual growth. No one knows the turnout.

 

…friends don’t always agree. Friends fight and can cause emotional pain. Friends don’t always approve of your actions, but, that doesn’t mean they don’t love you or that they are judging you. They are just concerned about your well-being. While you may not agree with what they have to say, you should accept that they have that opinion and either take the advice, or ignore it. Don’t make them seem like a terrible person for expressing how they feel, whether it was right or you feel it was wrong. Don’t act in such a way that would cause a friend to cut ties completely with you. Don’t feel that because they aren’t talking to you that they don’t care about you or that they are heartless. Being surrounded by constant negativity can be toxic, sometimes a person needs a break from that. Ask yourself if it is worth tossing away friendships.

 

…sports are always going to break my heart, but I am still going to keep watching them.

 

…sometimes life happens and writing my blog takes a backseat. It doesn’t make me a bad blogger. There is no written rule that I have to update every day, every week (or in some cases, every month). I do want to be better about writing on my in 2014 though.

 

Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me over the past month and a half of my blogging hiatus. I do feel special that my blog is missed when it is not updated. I decided to end the post today with pictures of my adventures over the past year. I want to wish each and every one of you a very happy new year. May 2014 bring you all the happiness and success you want and deserve! 

 

XOXO!!

 

Hanging out with friends (both old and new):

 

Spending time with family:

 

 

Spending LOTS of time at the Ballpark:

 

Trip to Boston and Rhode Island:

 

Hanging out by the water all summer:

 

Visiting Jonestown (AKA Cowboys Stadium, AKA AT&T Stadium)

 

Meeting celebrities (or at least having them know about me):

 

Spending the holidays with family:

 

Since the word "selfie" was added to the dictionary this past year, I had to post some of my best selfies from 2013:

 

 

Again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

Mobile Monday

I haven't done a Mobile Monday in a long time, so I thought I'd try it out again! Oh, for those waiting on a Jason Aldean concert recap, the concert got rained out. :( I was so bummed. We saw the first two opening acts before a lightning and rain storm caused them to cancel Jason's performance. When he plays his make-up concert, I will definitely be going to that!!

Last Tuesday employees at my company could bring their kids up to the office for our Annual Halloween Trick or Treating event. Our decoration committee went above and beyond this year with it! It was crazy! They even set up a haunted house in one of our meeting rooms.

My friend Chance coaches his son Cam's soccer team and I went to his game on Saturday morning. I would watch soccer more often if all players were as cute as Cam is! I tell Chance I'm only friends with him because I think his son is adorable (I'm just kidding...maybe). ;)

Chance and his Mini-Me,

After the game, Chance and I took a road trip to College Station to see the Texas A&M/UTEP game (University of Texas at El Paso). We did make a quick stop beforehand to see my family since they live near Aggieland. Miss K was the only one who would cooperate for a picture with Aunt Rachel. I can't wait to spend more time with my family in a few weeks at Thanksgiving.

Aunt Rachel's sweet girl

The game was a lot of fun, despite being crammed together on bleacher seats. We are pretty sure people on our row were not in the right seat because we only had enough room for about a person and a half in what should have been two seats. Thankfully it was kinda cold, so being packed together like sardines wasn't miserable. If it had been a day game and hotter, it would have been unbearable. I haven't been to a college game since, well, probably college. Wait, I THINK I went to one of my alma mater's games about five years after I graduated for some kind of Homecoming. I haven't been to Kyle Field (home of the Aggies) since I was in college and was visiting a friend who went there. I have to say the environment there was awesome. The only time it got quiet was when a player got hurt. He is thankfully okay, but for about 15 minutes, no one at Kyle Field made a sound (they had to call paramedics out on the field to take the player off). It was so quiet you could hear the noise the stretcher made when they lifted it off the ground.

It was military appreciation day so they had a special logo on the field.

Me and my friend Chance.

The band nerd in me was excited to get to see the Aggie band perform at halftime. I'm sad we don't get to see halftime shows when we watch games on TV. Since I was in the band in high school, I can appreciate them, knowing how many long hours they put in to make this show happen.

I found this video on YouTube of their performance Saturday night, if you are a fellow band nerd, err, appreciator of marching bands, check it out. :)

Hope everyone is doing well. I still can't believe it's NOVEMBER. I mean, seriously. It's like I blinked and 2013 is practically over!!

XOXO!

My So-Called Life...

It's hard to believe that this time next week it will be NOVEMBER. Seriously, where did 2013 go? It seems like only yesterday I was moving and excited about getting settled into my new apartment. The saying about time speeding up as you get older is true (I don't like it, I really wish time would slow down some).

Anyways, I'm sure it's no surprise to any of you that I've been staying busy. I had actually taken a few days off work this week to just stay home and relax, and I ended up getting sick late Sunday night, so I pretty much stayed in bed for two days with a migraine headache. Well, I guess that is ONE way to get me to slow down, but it wasn't quite the time off I was wanting.

October has been a crazy busy month. Sadly it did NOT include Rangers playoff baseball like I had hoped, but I had other things to keep me busy. I went to two weddings for some dear friends of mine. My friend Forrest and I have known each other for over twenty years, and my friend Jonathan and I have been friends since college. Not sure what these people were thinking planning their weddings during college football season. ;) No comment if I checked my Sportscenter app for scores during the weddings. :) It was cool that at both weddings I ran into friends I hadn't seen in years. It was fun times! Congrats to both couples! :)

I missed the State Fair of Texas last year so I made sure to make a trip out there this year. I went on a beautiful day, it was sunny and in the high 60s (maybe low 70s). I also went on a weekday, so it wasn't as crowded. I wanted to get out there to see the new Big Tex. Some of you might remember Big Tex burned last year (it was a sad, sad day).

The new Big Tex. He just wasn't the same.

They had a Big Tex memorial set up (no lie, people could actually leave a note for Big Tex). It was kind of cool to see the history of Big Tex. He started out as this creepy looking Santa. The only thing that survived the fire was his belt buckle. They had one of the original heads and hats in there too. There was also a video on the making of the new Big Tex. 

As you can tell, I got a little emotional at the memorial site. (For those who don't know me, I'm totally kidding.) ;)

I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do, but I did get some in the arts and craft arena. That is where they have the butter sculpture. Every year they have something sculpted out of butter. Yeah, I don't know why, but it's a big deal.

Butter sculpture is in the top right corner. They used over two tons of butter to make it. I personally wanted to steal the Rangers wreath (top left). I bet that idea came from Pinterest!

The Superman 75th Anniversary Costume Tour made a stop at our state fair. It featured Superman costumes worn during various Superman movies and TV shows. We got there right as they were packing it up, but the guy was nice enough to bring the photo of Dean Cain back out to the Lois and Clark exhibit As you know, I loved that show, and Dean Cain.

 

My friend B is another Lois and Clark fan (when he calls me, it's the Lois and Clark theme song. Yes, I'm a nerd). He had to keep me from taking the Dean Cain photo. And the suit. :)

We stayed until 10:00, which was the first time that I can remember staying at the fair until closing. The light show they had set up was really pretty, sadly my cell phone camera doesn't do it justice, but it was still cool. Even though we didn't ride the Texas Star (Ferris wheel) this year, I did snap a few pictures of it.

This past weekend my friend Mel and I made the drive to Ennis (about 40 miles south of Dallas) for a Dukes of Hazzard Cast Reunion (don't judge). It was a two day event, but we only made the Sunday portion of it. Sadly the guy who played Bo Duke was only there on Saturday, so we missed out on meeting him. BUT, it will happen one day, mark my word (Bo was my favorite). We met Tom Wopat in 2007 (Luke Duke), but we got another picture with him anyways. We also met Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke). She was super sweet. She kept telling me she liked my Cowboys shirt. She made small talk with everyone and didn't seem to rush people away. They said the day before the reunion closed at 5, but she stayed until 7 so that everyone in line could get an autograph and picture. We also met Rick Hurst, who played Cletus. He was funny. Mel and I were just gonna do a picture with him together, but he insisted on taking individual ones too. We didn't get our picture with him, but Sonny Shroyer, who played Enos, talked to us for a brief moment. And we got to see James Best (Rosco P. Coltrane). It cost $50 to get a picture with him, so we passed. I tried to snap a picture of him but he was looking down. And, we got to sit behind the wheel of the General Lee (well, one of them). It was a fun day.

Top left is Enos and bottom middle is Roscoe, who is looking down.

I have one more big event this month- the Jason Aldean concert tomorrow night! I'm so excited, it feels like we got the tickets forever ago. It should be a lot of fun. Yes, I'll post pictures (with the way I'm updating my blog, it will probably be NEXT year before I recap it). ;) I'll leave you today with a little Jason Aldean. HAPPY FRIDAY!! XOXO!

What I'm Loving Thursday...

I'm a day late, so I'll make this a What I'm Loving Thursday post.

I'm loving...

My friends. Yeah, I know, I say this a lot. But the past few weeks have been kinda hectic for a lot of reasons, and I have a few friends in particular who have stepped up to really help me out (even if they were just a shoulder, or in some cases, a text message, to lean on). They know who they are. Love y'all!

I'm loving...

iTunes Radio. It's similar to Pandora Radio, but there are less ads and as far as I can tell, unlimited "skips" per hour. Or at least you are allowed to skip more than on Pandora Radio.

I'm loving...

That there are websites where I can do this to a picture. Yeah, I got bored. REALLY bored. REALLY REALLY bored. Creepy vampire Rachel, what do you think? For those who want to know, I used this website.

No sparkles here.. ;)

I'm loving...

My half days at work. This month my half day is on Wednesday, so yesterday afternoon I sat outside on my balcony and read for a few hours. I love Texas fall weather.

I'm loving...

That Drew Pearson is now following me on Twitter. I wasn't even following him. See, famous people know I'm so awesome, they follow me first. BTW, I did follow him back. If you want to be awesome and follow me on Twitter as well, click here.

It's almost the weekend. I'm SO ready for this week to be over! Hang in there my lovelies!

XOXO!

Never Ever Ever...

I haven't linked up with my friend Neely for this blog hop in FOREVER, so I thought I would try it out again!

Never Ever Ever...

...will I give up on sports. Yes, I get emotionally invested in them. Yes, I get my heart broke over them (quite frequently in fact). Yes, I might send out texts saying sports are dumb (sorry Chance and Brian for my emotional texting, I'll try and remain calm next time). :) But I'll always love them, regardless. And I'll keep watching. Yes, I'm looking at you Rangers and Cowboys. For better or for worse, in wins and in losses, until death due us part. I'm here for the long haul.

...will I say, "there is nothing to watch on Netflix." Oh, I WILL find something to watch. Even if it's a really bad horror movie that makes Sharknado look Oscar-worthy, I will watch it.

...will I discuss politics on social media (or in person for that matter). I'm so sick of statuses and tweets that say, "All [insert political party here] are stupid and have their heads up their [insert body part here]." I really wish we could all get along. We have different views and beliefs, and I understand we have the right to voice our opinion, I respect that, BUT name-calling and being flat out rude is not going help.

...will I say, "I think I've pinned enough pictures of Jensen Ackles to my Pinterest board".

You are welcome ladies...

...will I look forward to working out. I see people all the time so excited about going to the gym and how much they love it. Either they are lying so they look better than everyone else, or I somehow missed out on the "I love working out" gene. I mean, I'll work out, but I'm not going to LOVE IT. Most of the time I am half-convinced I will not make it out of my workout alive. 

Happy Tuesday my lovelies! XOXO!

What I've Been Up To...Part 2

Yeah, so I'm late in posting this, sorry about that. Anyways, to continue my part 1 post, here are some more of my adventures that I've been up to that have kept me from blogging (besides my pure laziness).

A few weeks ago my bestie Zach came up from Austin and we went to the Cowboys game at Cowboys Stadium AT&T Stadium, the DeathStar, Jonestown, as I call it. Thankfully it was one of the few games this season they have actually WON (do I sound bitter?) Anyways, I do love watching football live and enjoyed going! It was a very late birthday present from Zach. :)

I was able to go to some Rangers games the last few weeks of the season. I'm now in my baseball off season funk. March 31 is Opening Day. I already have a countdown on my phone (for those of you who think I'm kidding, I'm not). :)

The last win of the season. Glad I was there for it. Love those guys.

I went to see Steven Curtis Chapman with some friends a few weeks ago. I somehow deleted all the pictures of the actual concert but here are some of me and my friends waiting for the concert to start. We had good seats, I do love SCC, although his song Cinderella makes me cry...every...dang...time.

Because Chance is awesome, he gets two pictures posted. ;)

Last week was a rough week for me for a lot of reasons. Friday night I needed some down time, so my friend Khrystal came over and we had dinner by my pool, and then watched Haven. Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with that show? I probably haven't since I haven't been blogging regularly. I watched the first three seasons in about a month and season four just started a few weeks ago. I love it! If you watch it, I'm totally Team Nathan, although Duke is growing on me. Here is a trailer for season one. It's based on a Stephen King novel, so it can get kinda weird. I like weird though. :)

Dinner by the pool in October- because it's Texas and we can do that.

I went to the Dallas Museum of Art with some friends this past weekend. They have a new modern art exhibit on display right now. I've mentioned before I'm not a huge fan of modern art. Seriously, this was a "piece". But hey- if the artist wants to call this art, by all means. I call it a mess...

Yes, that is a pile of dirty clothes on the ground.

My inner child was excited to get this in the mail last week, I ordered it months ago on Amazon before it was even released. Now, if they can just release Aladdin on Blu-ray, my Disney collection will be complete.

I'm gonna try and be better about updating this week! Hope all of you are doing well!

XOXO!