What I'm Loving!

I'm not gonna lie- the last month I just wasn't motivated to do a What I'm Loving Wednesday post. There was so much negative stuff going on in my life that I just didn't feel up to it. I have to say that the past two weeks have made up for those negative times. I have just felt so happy. And this is a real happy. Not my "I'm going to put on a happy face for the world because it's expected of me." (Yes I do that more than you know). I ended up having a WONDERFUL birthday month (yes, I celebrate it all month long). It's now called the month of "Maychel". I've spent time with friends, I've seen some of my family, and I GOT TO MEET MY FAVORITE ACTOR OF ALL TIME (yes I will be talking about it on and off for the rest of my life. Lol.)

I'm Loving...

My friends. Man, they know how to help a girl celebrate the last year of her 30s in style. 

I had a birthday dinner two weeks ago at Norma's Cafe (BIG SHOUT OUT to Bill and Roger at Norma's for making this possible). They went ABOVE AND BEYOND. If you live in Dallas and haven't gone to Norma's yet- go check them out. I had a great number of friends show up to help me celebrate ME. :) Great food, wonderful friends- a fun time was had by all! :)

Does your favorite restaurant buy you special balloons for your birthday? Didn't think so. :)

My friends are awesome!

Presents and a slightly inappropriate birthday card (I actually got that same card from two different friends). My dinner was so wild they called the Dallas Police Department (okay, not really, but they were nice enough to pose for a photo with me). :)

My friend Nicole got me flowers for my birthday. It made me feel special, I rarely gets flowers at work. They made my desk a little more cheery after the rough day we had at the office a few weeks ago.

On my actual birthday my friend Katie and I went to the New Kids on the Block concert. When I was 11 years old, all I wanted for my birthday was for them to sing to me ON my birthday. 28 years later, it happened. I will not confirm or deny that I was somewhat giddy about that. Boyz II Men and Paula Abdul opened for them- it was a flashback to my childhood. I loved it!

I promise that is Boyz II Men and Paula Abdul. I was taking pictures on my phone- I keep forgetting I have a nice camera now to take pictures with and I forgot to bring it. Fail. Lol

When they sang their song Happy Birthday, I am 97.4% sure it was just for me (forget anyone else there celebrating a birthday). Lol

I had a birthday lunch with my friend Becky. We see each other at work all the time and say "hey, we need to have lunch." We FINALLY went! Lol. So much fun! 

I know I went on and on (and on and on) about meeting Dick Van Dyke last weekend, but I also got a chance to meet actor Anthony Michael Hall. He was so nice. He talked a good while with everyone who met him at his booth.

I saw Circus 1903 with my friend Mel at Dallas Summer Musicals (okay, this wasn't technically FOR my birthday, but it helped wrap up my birthday week). It was a great show, I highly recommend it!

We were excited to have floor seats for the show, normally we have "sitting next to Jesus" seats in the balcony. :)

I got to hang out with some of my favorite baseball peeps at a Rangers game on Monday night (that was actually for my friend Eric's birthday). But it wrapped up my two weeks of celebrating with friends. Monday was OU cap night at the Ballpark. Three guesses who is not an OU fan. Lol. I also got to see my friend Felicia (we got our yearly baseball picture together). AND, after like eight years of signing up for it, I WON the Designated Driver of the Game prize. I ended up with an authentic Rangers jersey. Oh, and the Rangers WON!! (It's been a rough season, we haven't been able to say it too much). What a great ending to my birthday celebrations. :)

Traditional birthday kiss from my friend Beks. Lol.

I'm Loving...

My church. I know I've said this before, but having this church family has helped me through some rough times the past few years. I'm super sad my pastor is retiring, but I look forward to our new pastor and all the great things my church will do in the future. 

I love Pastor Sam and his wife Belinda!

I'm Loving...

That I was able to make it to my niece Ashlyn's high school graduation. I had to work that day and her graduation was a two hour drive from Dallas. Despite traffic, I still made it and was able to see her walk across the stage. I'm so proud of her! And she's going to attend college at my alma mater! :)

I'm Loving...

That I was able to see my friend Richard (even if it was only for like 15 minutes) for the first time in 12 years. He picked me up at the airport in Phoenix on Saturday (he just happened to be in town). It was great to see him, next time we will definitely hang out longer!

I'm Loving...

That Dick Van Dyke's wife commented on my blog post. I posted the link on Instagram and tagged her and she responded. It made my day!!

What are YOU loving today??

XOXO!!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

All the love I received on Monday for my birthday. Thank you to everyone who sent me messages on Facebook, Twitter, or by text. You helped make my day wonderful!

I'm loving...

That I got to see a friend of mine on my birthday who I hadn't seen in over six months. We had fun at the game (despite the loss) and I ran into some other friends while I was there (birthday hugs all around!)

I'm loving...

That I was able to be at my nephews' graduations at Texas Tech last weekend. I went to Lubbock last weekend to see my nephew Jake get his undergraduate degree and to see his brother James receive his law degree. It was a VERY proud aunt moment. :) It was also a VERY long drive, but worth it!

My sweet boys at their graduation party Friday night. They loved the Rangers/Texas Tech caps that I gave them!

Graduation day! Such a proud aunt!

I'm so proud of my nephew Jake. He worked hard and completed college in three years!

Somehow this sweet little baby (okay, he was never little, he weighed 11lb, 4oz at birth) is now a law school graduate! Where does the time go? And yes, I'm rocking a NKOTB shirt. I still would wear it if I had it. :)

I love this picture of my dad and my nephew after the ceremony. James is named after my dad's father. My dad told him how proud his great-grandfather would have been to hear his name being called out

My folks have attended 37 graduations (high school and college) just between all their kids and grandkids alone. They still have more grandkids to graduate (and great-grandkids). 

I drove 733 miles in a span of 48 hours to go see my sweet boys! Totally worth it though! I had audio books and Dr Pepper to keep me company!

I'm loving...

That I got to help out my neighbor yesterday and watch her dog, Holly, for a few hours while she dealt with an emergency (everything is okay with my neighbor, by the way). :) Holly and I had fun at the dog park! 

I'm loving...

When I'm able to meet up with a Twitter peep. My Twitter friend Kari was at the game on Monday and stopped by to bring me a birthday beverage.

I'm loving...

That even though the Rangers didn't win on my birthday and I didn't get a hug from former Ranger Pudge Rodriguez, Pudge DID send me a birthday greeting on Twitter. :)

What are you loving today?

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

One of these weeks I'm going to post on a day OTHER than Wednesday. I'm not even lying when I say that EVERY DAY this month I have some kind of plans. My day planner has never looked so full. Lol.

I'm loving...

That I finally went to a Rangers game with my sister Mary. We've been trying to go for about four years now and it FINALLYworked out that she was in town during baseball season WHILE the Rangers were in town. We had fun! It also worked out that it was Texas Tech night at the Ballpark that night. Both of her sons go to Texas Tech. Well, they graduate next weekend (one from undergraduate school and one from law school). We got special Rangers caps with the Texas Tech logo on them (which are being given to my loving nephews as their graduation presents). While we were sitting in the lower concourse area, I thought I saw Kliff Kingsbury (the Texas Tech football coach) walk by. Turns out, he WAS walking by (so of course, I went over to get a photo). I'm sure this shocks you! :)

Me and my sis showing off our new caps. Well, they were ours for about five minutes until my nephews texted that they wanted them. I'm such a loving aunt to give mine up. :)

Me and Coach K. Yes, I am aware that he is a beautiful man

I'm loving...

That I finally met my great-niece L. She is the daughter of my niece Naomi. She just turned one a few months and this was the first chance I've had to meet her. She was a little unsure of the strange lady who kept taking her picture, but she eventually warmed up to me. :)

I'm loving...

That I was able to celebrate with my niece Lydia at her college graduation last weekend! I"m so proud of her! I also go to see Lydia's two sisters Rebecca and Naomi AND Rebecca's son J. I haven't seen J in two years- he's getting so big! He wasn't as willing to take pictures like Miss L. Lol.

With the college graduate!

He wanted nothing to do with the picture taking. Lol

My beautiful nieces!

I'm loving...

That I got to tailgate with my Rangers Twitter family on Saturday. Words cannot describe how much these people mean to me! I love them so much!

Jim Knox from Fox Sports Southwest stopped by to film our tailgate. I don't think we were as loud and crazy as he wanted us to be. Lol

This is Randy- he's the son of my friend Bob (I just realized I DIDN'T get a picture with Bob on Saturday). Randy is awesome and a local celebrity. He was recently on the news when his classmates surprised with him tickets to a Mavericks game. He's Dirk Nowitzki's biggest fan. So if any of my sweet followers have a hook up with Dirk, let me know so I can help make Randy's dream of meeting Dirk come true!

I was able to see my friend Janie at the game!

I sat with my Rangers partners in crime at the game on Saturday. We were happy that even though our closer blew the lead in the 9th inning, the Rangers were able to win with a walk off home run in the bottom of the 10th!

I'm loving... 

The birthday gifts that my sweet Rangers Twitter family got me on Saturday. My birthday is this coming Monday, but since we were all together last weekend, they surprised me with some gifts. I got these awesome Rangers shoes pictured below, a gift card to Whataburger, and six 12-packs of Dr Pepper. They know my top three loves in life! :) They remembered on a blog post last month that I wanted these shoes so they all chipped in for it and the gift card. What's funny is that I knew we were surprising two other members of our group who have birthdays coming up and I didn't even think about them doing something for me. The thought never crossed my mind. Lol. I feel so loved!

We were all surprised! :) 

I'm loving...

That I got to meet my sweet Twitter friend Paul. We've been Twitter friends for almost six years now so it was nice to finally meet him in person! He was in town last weekend to see the Rangers/Blue Jays series. And thanks to Paul, I got a reply from Steve Avery on Facebook because he and I were tagged in the same post (I'm not even gonna pretend that I kept my cool when that happened). Lol. Yes, I'm a nerd, I've accepted that.

I'm loving...

That I've made a smoothie for breakfast every day this week. I finally took time Sunday night to divide up the fruits for each day so they were just ready to be thrown from the freezer into the blender. I love these Ziplock bags that show you how much is in it. 

I'm loving...

That I got to go to a musical performance on Sunday with some friends. I didn't even know that Theater Arlington  existed, but it was a cute little theater and the people who performed did a great job. They sang some of Frank Sinatra's biggest hits. Check out future shows on their website! 

I'm loving...

That I woke up to this temperature this morning. It was unusually cool for the middle of May in north Texas. :)

I'm loving...

That a friend of mine is spending my birthday evening with me next Monday at a Rangers game! I haven't seen him since DECEMBER so I'm super excited about it!

What are YOU loving today?