Thursday Thirteen...

I've been trying to think of a topic for my Thursday 13 post most of the day. Recently I was "tagged" in a note on Facebook where you are supposed to list 25 random facts about yourself. So, I decided to be lazy and take 13 facts from that list and post them here. So, here you go...

13 Random Facts You May (or May Not) 

Want To Know About Me

1. I am the daughter of a Heavenly King. I know I can get silly with my posts, but I wanted to be serious for a moment with this one. I am proud to say that I know and love Jesus Christ. I am grateful that He loves me and cares for me, even when I am not deserving of it!  

2. I am the great-aunt of four adorable great-nephews!! 

3. My all time favorite actor is Dick Van Dyke. I enjoy watching reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show and Diagnosis Murder. My favorite movie of all time is Mary Poppins.

 Mr. Dick Van Dyke

 The intro to The Dick Van Dyke Show

 4. When I was in high school, I dislocated my knee while playing soccer.

Freshman year soccer picture. Please forgive my bangs. My hair took a while recovering from the 80s.
 

5. Not counting the time when I was a baby, I didn't fly in a plane until I was 21. And I've only flown twice since then (once in 2007 and once last year).

6. My favorite dwarf from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is Dopey (yes, this explains my whole "ear obsession".)

7. I had a cat named Elvira when I was 4 years old (named after the Oak Ridge Boys song, "Elvira".)

 Me and Elvira, circa 1982ish

8. I don't like milk. Now, chocolate milk I like. And I can put milk on cereal, but I don't like the taste of regular, plain milk.

9. I own over 3,000 baseball cards. Some of them are in notebooks, some are in protective cases. I've been collecting them since I was 11.

 My baseball card collection

10. I love going to art and history museums. I've been known to plan vacations around what museums I can see in that particular town. My college roommate and I went to New Orleans for Spring Break our senior year. We spent most of the week in museums and on tours. I love having another museum "nerd" friend!! :)

11. I spend entirely too much money at Half Price Books.

12. I turn into a giddy 15 year old starstruck girl when professional baseball players shake my hand. Rangers Fanfest 2009: Josh Hamilton was in the locker room at the same time we were touring it. He made a point to shake my hand and speak to me before he left. Me and my friend Brandy were giggling like school girls for the next hour.

Giddy BFFs!

13. I'm a believer of True Love Waits.

Wednesday Ramblings...

Once again, I start my post with a birthday shout out.

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY STEVE AVERY!! Seriously, what is up with all my former crushes turning 40 this year? Anyways, as I've mentioned in a previous post, Steve Avery was a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves back in the day. Yes, I was a Braves fan (I guess I still am, but obviously I pay more attention to the Rangers now). You see kids, back when I was young, we didn't have MLB TV or internet streaming of any baseball game we wanted to listen to. If it wasn't on regular television or radio, we were out of luck. Since I grew up in an area that didn't show or air Rangers games, I would find myself flipping through the channels and usually landing on TBS, home of the Atlanta Braves (I guess if I would have landed on WGN, I would have become a Cubs fan). Anyways, this started about 1990ish. In 1991, this team that I had been watching made it to the World Series (we'll leave out the part where it took them until 1995 to actually win it). Anyways, I've rambled on too much about the Braves when I really just wanted to say happy birthday to Steve. Not that anyone cares. Except my friend Jami (another Steve Avery fan), and my friend Mandy. Well, Mandy doesn't really care, she's just doomed to always remember April 14 as his birthday! : )

(L) Steve Avery's rookie card, 1990. (r) A picture of Steve being inducted into his hometown (Taylor, MI) sports hall of fame, circa 2004ish. Thank you Google Image Search!

Well, I just realized that I've been keeping up with this blog for 6 months now. I'm still a newbie when it comes to blogging, but I'm having fun (and I've met some new blogging buddies! Shout out to all of them!!) I've also added many new blogs to my reading list. If you have time, check them out. Them are listed in the sidebar to the right under "My Blog List". And yes, that is the real Wil Wheaton whose blog I follow (I know, I'm a nerd). But he's funny! For all my Dallas area peeps, I strongly recommend you check out "My Dallas Mommy". There are some awesome deals and coupons listed there. I found a link for free tickets to the Studio Movie Grill on there yesterday. Sadly, there were only 100,000 available so you can no longer use that one (thankfully I had already printed mine). But keep checking, she posts lots of stuff daily!

Thanks for reading friends (new and old), I appreciate it!! I know I ended with a "Feel Good Moment of the Day" yesterday, but I think I'm going to post another one (because we all need a feel good moment, don't you agree?) This isn't an offical one that aired on The Bonnie Hunt Show, but a friend sent me this one. A soldier returned home after spending 15 months in Iraq and this was the greeting he received from his dog (so cute!!) God Bless our troops!! Thank you for all you do!!

Early Edition: Tuesday Ramblings...

I know, I usually have Wednesday Ramblings (and trust me, I'll probably still have a Wednesday Ramblings this week), but I honestly couldn't think of a clever title for my post today. And I also couldn't think of one specific topic to talk about (my mind can be an interesting place sometime!) : ) So, sit back, relax..here we go...

First of all, HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY RICKY SCHRODER!

If you are new to my blog, you might not be aware that my first crush was Ricky Schroder. Well today, my first crush turned 40. Yeah...I now feel old. : )

The year was 1983. I was 5 years old.

Me at age 5- I know, I was adorable, it was a tough job, someone had to do it! :) 

The show was Silver Spoons. And yes, I own season 1 on DVD, judge me if you must!

Recently he appeared on The Bonnie Hunt Show (can you tell I'm a fan of her show? I seem to mention her a lot.) He's still a-dor-a-ble!! And I love the way he talks about his love for his wife. So sweet!!  **sigh**

Okay, so I know I said I was going to try to not mention baseball in my blog, but really, if you know me, that's not going to happen anytime soon. It's going to be thrown in somewhere, somehow, at least until October! ;) I'm posting this now because it probably won't last long. The Rangers starting pitchers have the LOWEST ERA in MLB right now (and if it wasn't for our closer Frank "I can't save a game to save my life" Francisco, who blew two saves last week, we would be 6-1 instead of 4-3, but I won't go there. I'm moving past that). : ) Here is picture proof about the ERA (shout out to my buddy Nathan who sent me this!) For all you none baseball fans, ERA means Earned Run Average. Sorry, I forget not everyone speaks baseball! : )

And lastly, since I mentioned The Bonnie Hunt Show earlier, she always ends her show with a "Feel Good Moment of the Day". It's usually a video sent in by a viewer, it can be funny, sweet or touching. I thought this one was very touching. A little boy's bike was stolen and he knew his parents couldn't afford to buy him a new one. This was his reaction when he saw they had gotten him another one. For my sensitive friends out there, **tissue alert**. You have been warned!! : )

 

The End of an Era...

As all Cowboys fans know, Sunday morning we will say the final goodbye to Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys for 37 years. The implosion of the stadium will take place about 7 a.m. Sunday morning. Die-hard fans wanting to watch the implosion can start arriving at 2 a.m. to park in a lot across the street. $25 per car. I guess I'm not a die-hard fan, or maybe I'm a die-hard fan who likes my sleep. WFAA will be broadcasting the "historic event", I think I'll set my DVR and watch it after I get home from church.

There are tons of articles online with memories and historic moments that took place in Texas Stadium. I won't bore you with those, but I will bore you with my personal memories of Texas Stadium. : )

For almost four years, I drove by it every day going to work (when I worked at the "evil place"). It's weird to think about driving down Loop 12 and it not being there anymore.

My first football game at Texas Stadium actually wasn't a Cowboys game. My friend Jon was a teacher at a local high school and their team was in the playoffs. Their game was being played at Texas Stadium.

Me and one of my best friends Mel at a high school game in Texas Stadium in 2004.

My first Cowboys game was on November 19, 2006. We played the Indianapolis Colts. (For all you football fans, this was the year the Colts won the Super Bowl. The Cowboys gave them their first loss of the season this game.) My sweet friend Zach drove to Dallas with his brothers and their dad for a Cowboys game. He was a sweetheart and bought me a ticket too! I think he feared the consequences if he went to a Cowboys game without me! : )

 

 

 

Me and Zach at my first Cowboys game

My second trip to Texas Stadium was with my sweet friend Aaron, who got last minute tickets from his boss. Last minute tickets (especially free ones), are always a nice surprise!! Once again, I got to see the Cowboys play Peyton Manning and the Colts.

 

 

 Me and Aaron watching the Cowboys beat up on the Colts.

The only time I have ever actually paid for Cowboys tickets (wow, that sounds snobby, I didn't mean for it to), was when I took my nephew James to see his two favorite teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys on November 29, 2007. At that time, Brett Favre was his hero (after the whole retiring/unretiring stunt that he's pulled the past few years, I think Brett is offically "dead to him"). This was James' first NFL game to attend in person. I got the title "Favorite Aunt for Life" that day! : ) James called me four days before the game asking if we could go. By some miracle, my then supervisor was selling two tickets for his brother-in-law (this was a year when the Cowboys were actually doing well- tickets were hard to find). After selling a few body organs, my first born child (whenever I finally have kids), and part of my soul, I came up with the money to buy the tickets. :) In all honesty, it was worth it to see the excitement on my nephew's face when we got there. We were there extra early (like 3.5  hours early) and got to see the teams warming up.

 

A funny, yet disturbing, story we always tell about this game is that someone thought I was James' wife. I know I look young, but do I look THAT young? And my nephew was 17 at the time. We both kinda went "ew" when the guy called me that. Okay, I possibly freaked out and went postal on the guy, yelling, "What do you mean?? I'm his aunt!!" 

Me and James by the field. Yes, he wore the cheesehead all the way from the truck and through most of the game.

The NFL network doing their pre game show. We took a few pictures of former Cowboys player, number 21 himself, Deion Sanders.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (I call him Skelator. If you watched He-Man growing up, you KNOW he looks like him). I might be a Cowboys fan, but I can't say that I'm a Jerry Jones fan. I have issues with him. I won't get into that today.

This was the moment when I thought my nephew (who is like 6'4) was going to faint and I was going to have to somehow catch him. His hero was walking off the field right towards us. Brett wasn't signing autographs, but he did wave.

A view from our seats. We were right under Pat Summerall's suite (I don't think he was there, I didn't see him). If we stood up, we were eye level to the suite. At one point, they made James take off his cheesehead, claiming they couldn't see. I think they were just being jerks because he had a cheesehead on.

The final score. James knew he would be happy whatever the outcome was because he liked both teams. We all thought it would be Brett's last game against the Cowboys. We were wrong.

My last game at Texas Stadium was on August 22, 2008. My sweet friend Derek got last minute tickets to his company's suite (yes, my friends seem to get last minute tickets a lot! And yes, all my friends are sweet!) :) We watched a pre season game against the Cowboys and the Houston Texans.

  

 

The 2008-2009 season was the last season the Cowboys played in Texas Stadium. They moved to Cowboys Stadium (or, as I call it, Jonestown) this past season.

 

Me and my buddy Derek in the suite.

The last picture of me in Texas Stadium.

 Farewell Texas Stadium, it's been real! 

Thursday Thirteen

I mentioned yesterday that I love the TV show Psych, so I thought I would make my Thursday Thirteen some of my favorite quotes from the show.

1. Burton 'Gus' Guster: I don't need to see him, Shawn! Some people are just born evil: the kid from "The Omen", the Children of the Corn, Chad Michael Murray.

2. Juliet O'Hara: Detective Lassiter is literally on fire today.
Shawn Spencer: "Literally on fire" as in Michael Jackson in the Pepsi commercial, or as in a misuse of the word "literally?"

3. Burton 'Gus' Guster: Are you crazy?
Shawn Spencer: I wouldn't say crazy. Maybe an eccentric who looks good in jeans.

4. Carlton Lassiter: Hey, we found prints.
Shawn Spencer: Was he in a little red corvette?
Burton 'Gus' Guster: Under the cherry moon?
Carlton Lassiter: FINGER prints!

5. Shawn Spencer: Oh, you mean my pilot's license? That's out back in the Cessna. Or perhaps you're referring to my license to kill. Revoked. Trouble at the Kazakhstan border. I could give you the details but then I'd have to kill you, which I can't do because my license to kill has been revoked.

6. Burton 'Gus' Guster: Great. Now you've gotten me kicked out of a funeral. Just add it to the list. Kicked out of Petsmart, kicked out of Santa's Village, kicked out of the Salvation Army...
Shawn Spencer: Dishonorably discharged!

7. Shawn Spencer: Assuming that Parker Stevenson had never been born... have you ever seen a very attractive man solve a crime before?
Abigail Lytar: [thinks] I did see John Cusack prevent a jaywalking once.

8. Burton 'Gus' Guster: Do you even know what a pep captain is, Shawn?
Shawn Spencer: Yeah. He's a male cheerleader, I believe.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: It's a leader among men, Shawn. A leader among men.
Shawn Spencer: Who cheers. I saw "Bring It On".

9. Mr. Waring: Do you understand about honor, Mr. Spencer?
Shawn: Of course I do, I have a bootleg copy of Saving Private Ryan at home.

10. Shawn: (while eating spicy Indian food) Dude, I can't see anything out of my left eye.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: I see dead people.

11. Shawn: You've seen The Mentalist, right?
Cop: Yes.
Shawn: It's like that.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: Except that guy's a fake.
Shawn: Right, if I was a fake psychic it would be eerily similar.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: Exactly.
Shawn: A virtual carbon copy.

12. Henry: (storming into the police station) Shawn!
Shawn: Hey, did I miss a memo? I thought "bring your daddy to work day" was next week.
Henry: I forbid you to be a part of this, Shawn. (Henry pulls Shawn around by the arm.) You're coming with me.
Shawn: W–w–w … "forbid" me. I'm familiar with your hands-on approach to parenting, but I'm not twenty-seven any more. I can do whatever I want.

13. Burton 'Gus' Guster: Brazilian airport codes. How do you know that?
Shawn Spencer: I lived in an airport for a month, Gus.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: That was Tom Hanks in The Terminal.
Shawn Spencer: Same difference.

Wednesday Ramblings...

After having Monday off work, my week is thrown off a bit (I'm not complaining though). I forgot that it was Wednesday already! And even better, my flex day this month is Thursday, so I only work 3.5 hours tomorrow. Wahoo! 

I give you another installment of my Wednesday Ramblings. I've had a great week so far (and not just because it's been a short work week and I got to go to Opening Day. And not because I'm going to another Rangers game tomorrow...and also on Saturday. Oh yes, I take my baseball VERY seriously!) :) It's been a week of smiles and laughs so far, so I'd like to continue that theme here.

So, in no particular order....more things that make me smile/laugh/giggle like a school girl.

First of all, this picture of me and my sweet little great-nephew makes me smile. He is so precious!! I got to spend time with him last weekend. Yes, I said great-nephew. For those who don't know me, I have nieces and nephews close to my age, and some of them are married and have children. I am a great-aunt. :)

Another Pearls Before Swine that I like:

Okay, I promise to one day NOT mention baseball in a blog post. It's not going to be today though (obviously). My friend Nathan posted this on his Facebook page earlier today. It stars baseball players Ian Kinsler (of the Texas Rangers) and Prince Fielder (of the Milwaukee Brewers) as well as actor Adam Scott.  I **heart** you Ian!! :)



For those who have never seen the USA network show Psych, you are missing out. It is Hi-lar-i-ous. Oh yes, that funny! I love Shawn and Gus!!





This week I was introduced to a new "nerd crush". Zachary Levi (star of the TV show Chuck, which I now am going to start watching), was a guest star on The Bonnie Hunt Show. A-DOR-A-BLE! His whole interview made me laugh!! Here is part 1 of that interview:



I know, I know, I'm a nerd, I can't help it!

Have a great one!!

So funny!!!

My brother sent me this YouTube video. He said his kids thought of me when they saw it (even my family is aware of my obsession with Chick Fil A). :)



You should also check out some of this guy's other videos!! He's funny!!!

Rangers Opening Day OH-TEN

It's baseball time in Texas!! Some friends and I enjoyed a great Opening Day at The Ballpark today (even better that the Rangers won 5-4). After freezing last year with the temperatures being in the 30s, this year we enjoyed a mostly overcast day, with temperatures in the high 70s, low 80s. By the 7th inning, the sun finally decided to make an appearance (I have a lovely little sunburn to prove it!) Here are some pictures of our adventures.

 Tailgating with friends before the game

The tailgating crew!

Me and Bran. Our fifth year of attending Opening Day together!

Me and Coach T. I used to be a sports writer for a newspaper. Coach T was the coach for the local high school baseball team. I was in charge of covering their games. I hadn't seen in like 7 years. He just happened to be in Arlington at a Rangers game. It was great seeing him!

A view from our seats.

During the Star Spangled Banner.

Waiting on the first pitch!

Roger Staubach threw out the first pitch! Nolan Ryan walked him to the mound.

 In the 7th inning, the Rangers bats finally came alive, and the sun came out!

Our traditional "baseball" picture.

Me and Monica enjoying the sunshine.

Rangers win in the bottom of the 9th!

Salty had a walkoff hit in the 9th to win it! These two photos are courtesy of ESPNDallas.com and TexasRangers.com.

I found this video on YouTube. It seems someone at the game today uploaded video of Neal McCoy singing The Stars Spangled Banner.

Sadly I could not find a video of the man who ran onto the field towards the end of the game (I think it was in the 8th inning). He was tackled and escorted off the field. I heard if you do that during a game, you are arrested and banned from The Ballpark.

Looking forward to the season. If you can't tell, I am officially in my "happy place" now that baseball season is here!!

**NEW VIDEO ADDED APRIL 6th**

I found these on YouTube today and wanted to add them here. Here is Salty's game winning base hit!





:)