Happy 2017!

First of all, HAPPY 2017!! I hope your holidays and New Year were FANTASTIC! I know, I haven't posted in two months. Shame. On. Me. You have probably been wondering what I've been up to lately (okay, you probably couldn't care less, but humor me). I've just been so busy (so you can understand why I've been absent from the blogging world). I know, where are my priorities? Well, as you will see below, a lot of things were more important to me.

I have been hanging out with friends.

I went to San Antonio to see Billy Joel in concert. Shout out to my sweet friend Eric for taking me (it was my Christmas gift). We made the round trip in a day. San Antonio is about 4.5 hours from Dallas, so you can imagine, we got back like at 3:30am. Thanks to Eric for driving the whole trip as well!

I spent the holidays with my family.

My cousin Travis surprised my folks with a visit at Christmas. We hadn't seen him in eight years.  

I saw a handful of my nieces and nephews at Thanksgiving (no, this isn't all of them). Everyone takes a picture with Aunt Rachel (whether they want to or not). Lol.

I went to several Christmas parties.

My Sunday School class Christmas party

My friend invited some of his favorite co-workers (that would include me) to his church's Christmas party (which involves free steak). I won a door prize that included a free set of steak knives and a $100 gift card to a nice steak restaurant. Funny story: It was almost 80 degrees when I went to the party, so I didn't take a coat. A cold front hit during dinner, and it dropped to the 40s. I was quite cold when I left! 

I saw Breakfast At Tiffany's in the theater. Yes, I own it on DVD and have seen it 100 times (not an exaggeration), BUT, it was my first time to see Audrey Hepburn on the big screen. It was awesome!

I spent New Year's Eve with Stan Lee and a bunch of nerds/geeks (I say that lovingly). 

Stan Lee was super nice. He was so full of energy too. I hope I'm like that when I'm 94!

Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen- better known as the voices of Pinky and the Brain (I'm standing by Rob- the voice of Pinky). Fun fact: When I worked for a newspaper, my nickname was Pinky. My friend was The Brain. We still call each other that to this day. When I got my picture signed, I told Rob that my nickname was Pinky, he signed it "From one Pinky to another". 

Peter Mayhew, better known as Chewbacca from Star Wars. Yes, he's tall. He's sitting down (and he's still almost taller than me).

I won an Emmy. Okay, I didn't. BUT, this is a real Emmy. It belongs to Mark Kistler. He's the host of a children's art program on PBS. He let me take a picture with it.

I would like to thank all my fans for making this possible....

I survived the great cold front of 2017. It dropped to temperatures my Texas body cannot handle. It was maybe 12 degrees at one point (all of you up north kindly stop laughing at me). HOW DO YOU PEOPLE LIVE LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS??

Okay, I am HOPEFULLY getting back to my What I'm Loving Wednesday post next week. Stay tuned!! :)

XOXO!

Mobile Monday

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Thank you for the sweet compliments on the redesign of my blog, I really hope that it motivates me to blog more! :) In an attempt to actually write more book reviews, I've added a page where all my 2015 book reviews can be found. The tab is at the top of the page.

I thought I would fall back on an old "reliable" blog post topic. I haven't done a Mobile Monday in forever (I honestly don't even know if it's still a link up) but anyways, here are some pictures that are on my iPhone. Oh, speaking of phones, I got an new iPhone 6 (which I'm loving). I just got the regular iPhone 6, not the mega iPhone 6 Plus. I really love the battery life on it. SO MUCH BETTER than my old phone. 

Going through my pictures, I realize that I really need to delete a lot of these, I still have photos from months ago on here. I'm so lazy. Anyways....

Interesting tombstone: Seems that Freddy Kruger is buried in the same cemetery as my great-grandmother. Yes, I know it's spelled Krueger in the movies, but still...

I didn't hang around this grave too long...

My trip to Seattle (back in November): My friends Mel, Aaron, and I went to Seattle on vacation. We had a blast. We were there five days and it only rained one of those days. It was awesome!

(L-R) The Seattle Great Wheel and Mount Rainier in the background; at the original Starbucks location; at the Seattle Police Museum (the dress up section was for kids only, I couldn't help myself); at the EMP Museum

At the top of the Space Needle

It seems I have my own beer in Seattle...

Fake Texas Historical Marker: I can't even remember when I took this one but it's still on my phone. If you have traveled around Texas, you have probably spotted these historical markers letting you know how long something has been there, and some history behind it. This was in some store in Fort Worth. It made me laugh. When I get a house, I'm totally buying this.

Random selfie: I think I took this for some Instagram challenge a while back, and then never posted it. So, here you go.

Family Vacation to Galveston after Christmas: I went with a (small portion) of my family to Galveston Island a few days after Christmas. We had a lot of fun!

With my brother-in-law, nephew, and parents (my sister took the picture) at the best seafood restaurant in Galveston. I had chicken (because we all know I don't like seafood). :)

With my sister on the ferry. It was very cold. And very windy.

At the Moody Gardens Ice Land Ice Sculptures. It was 9 degrees- they made you wear special parkas. I don't think I'm cut out for the cold. 

You can't go to Galveston and not take beach pictures. :)

Celebrating the New Year in style!

Chick Fil-A receipt (from College Station): I think they were supposed to remove this from the tray before I got my food. I always thought that everyone at ANY Chick Fil-A just knew it was me (because I'm such a big deal at Chick Fil-A). They would always walk my tray over to me without any doubt. Now I know they have a cheat system. Lol. I think it's funny the person who took my order was named Rachel as well. :) Although at the Chick Fil-A by my office, there is a lady that works there that knows my name and order when I walk in the door. I go to that one a lot. :)

At least it didn't say goofy looking girl in gray T-shirt. Lol.

Baby A's first birthday: I went to Austin a few weeks ago for a birthday party for my BFF's son.

Baby A loved his puzzles and stack-able rings that Aunt Rachel got him. He also loved his new Cowboys book and Rangers onesies. I got them a little big so they will fit perfectly come baseball season. :) 

Breakfast with Miss E: Baby A's big sister and I had breakfast together before I left Austin.

I don't remember why she is so deep in thought. I think she was just ready for pancakes.

Speaking of the BFF...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDY!! Today is her birthday. She's 29...again. Which means I can be 29..again. :)

I'm grateful for 26 years of friendship with my best friend Mandy. Despite being thousands of miles apart (okay- only 209 miles), I know she is there if I need her. We've been through each other's good times and bad times, poor fashion choices (mine), and horrible hair styles (again, mine). I'm honored to be Aunt Rachel to her two kids. I hate that we don't get to see each other as much as we would like, but I cherish the time we do get to spend together (as well as the phone calls during our favorite TV show). I'm grateful that she's still in my life after all these years.

This tweet is pretty cool! I did a book review last Friday (click here for it) and the author tweeted out a link for it. :)

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

XOXO!

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!!!