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!

What I've Been Up To, Part 1

First of all, thanks for all the feedback on my post yesterday. I appreciate the honest responses. I am definitely going to take your advice into consideration (most of you said about the same thing).

I mentioned yesterday that I had a ton of pictures to share with y'all to show you what I've been doing the past month. There is so much to share, so I'll break it into two posts so I don't overwhelm you.

First of all, earlier this month my folks came up for a weekend visit. We went to a Rangers game (of course) and toured the George W. Bush Library at SMU. This makes two presidential libraries that I have visited this year, and makes three total for my lifetime. I went to LBJ's Library when I was younger, I should probably go back since I don't remember much about it. 

Anyways, for my folks anniversary, I had these Rangers T-shirts made for them. They proudly wore them at the game.

I tweeted a picture to the Rangers official Twitter page and they sent a response, I thought it was pretty cool.

Me and my folks at the game

My friend Chance was at the game as well, so he found an empty seat by me and my folks and joined us for a while.

He is one of my favorites to spend time with! :)

Just a few of the many pictures I took at the Bush Library. I liked his cowboy boots. Bush was once owner of the Texas Rangers.

I also took a road trip down to San Antonio this past month to see my friends Julie and Steve. I hadn't seen them in over 11 years (we went to college together). While I was there, we visited the Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle. Julie and I had a great day there with their daughter Miss E (Steve had to work). The Quadrangle was neat, it had birds, deer, and ducks walking around. They were use to humans being there because we got pretty close to them. I think they wanted us to have food to give them. I tried to convince one of the peacocks to give me a feather, but he would agree. Silly bird.

I didn't use the zoom on any of these pictures, this is how close we were.

I have a fear of birds so I was a little hesitant to get this close to a peacock. If you have ever seen Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds, you will understand my fear.

It was a great few days hanging out with them. So glad I got to see them. I told them we cannot wait 11 years before our next visit!

Me and Julie

Me and Steve

Miss E and I were testing out the new filters on the iOS7 update. :)

On my way back from San Antonio, I made a quick stop in Austin that Friday to see some of my besties.

Me and Mandy (the original BFF as I call her). 25 years of friendship in this picture. :)

Miss E didn't want Aunt Rachel to leave. She's so sweet!

As most of you know, the Rangers were eliminated from going to the playoffs. Yes, I'm okay. I will not sink into a deep depression (at least I don't think I will). Here is what I posted on Facebook last night. 

I'll post the the last of my baseball season pictures tomorrow. There are a lot of them! Hope to catch up on some of my blog reading soon. I know I'm like a month behind with some of you (sorry about that!!)

XOXO!

Being a Good Friend...

I know, I don't post for weeks, and my first post looks all serious. Hey- it happens. I'll get back to goofy posts eventually (I have so many pictures I have to share with y'all). One of these days I'll quit being so lazy about updating my blog. I have been slacking lately. No real excuse on why I'm not posting, just pure laziness.

I wanted to post today about friends and friendship. I am so blessed to have many great friends. Someone was joking with me one time that I have too many friends, but I don't think a person can ever have too many friends. To quote my favorite angel: "Remember no man is a failure who has friends." (Okay, if you don't know that is a quote from It's A Wonderful Life, we can't be friends anymore....just kidding. But I will make you watch it with me if you confess you've never seen it). :)

I've been thinking about this for a while, but haven't been able to get the words down on paper (or down on my blog in this case). I'm not sure I'm going to do a good job of it now-thoughts are running through my head and it's kinda hard to organize them. I blame my A.D.D. :) Okay, here I go....

When things are going great, it's easy to be a good friend. But what about those times when you feel you should tell a friend something you know they don't want to hear? And I don't mean if a friend asks you if you like their outfit and you think it's hideous, I'm talking about stuff bigger than that. What if you feel a friend is doing something they really shouldn't, or making a decision they aren't in a place to make at that time. What if you feel a friend is about to repeat the past of something that hurt them before? Do you tell them and risk them getting mad, or do you sit back and hope for the best? Which is being a better friend- telling them your true feelings about the situation or letting them possibly get hurt and being there to "pick up the pieces" afterward? No one likes to see a friend get hurt, but at what point do you have to just sit back and let them do it on their own? I understand, NO ONE likes being told they might be doing something they shouldn't. It's very easy to get defensive, I'm sure we've all been there. But would you get more upset with your friend for expressing their concerns ahead of time, or after the fact and learning they had concerns and didn't speak up?

Am I making sense? My mind is a million other places today, so I'm not sure my words are coming together. I look at it like this: It's like telling a little kid not to touch a stove because it's hot. Even though you told them, it might take them touching that stove once to realize you were telling the truth- hey, that's hot and hurts. But what if the kid tries to touch the stove again? You know that they know it's hot, you watched them touch it before. Do you stop them and say, "hey- remember, that hurt before", or do you let them get hurt again? Maybe that was a bad example. I'm going to have CPS tracking me down asking why I'm letting children touch hot stoves. CPS: I'M NOT LETTING KIDS TOUCH HOT STOVES- IT WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE. But seriously, does that make sense?

I'm curious to get feedback on this one. Feel free to tweet me or comment below with your responses. 

XOXO!

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday!! Hope everyone had a great weekend. I spent Friday night at home watching baseball (I don't want to talk about the outcome of that game), and I also worked on my novel a little (well, short story, I don't think I'm ever gonna have enough written to call it a novel). I'll never complain again when my favorite authors take time getting their next novel published, this is hard to do!

Saturday I pretty much stayed in bed all morning and most of the afternoon watching college football.

For some reason, my TV looks really tiny in this picture. It's a 32 inch flat screen, so it's not that small.

I also had college football discussions via text with my nephew James.

If Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk ends up winning the Heisman, this is proof my nephew and I thought early he was a good candidate! :)

Saturday evening I finally pulled myself out of bed away from the television (for a while at least) and met up with my friend Theresa. We went to college together and hadn't seen each other in about 13 years. She and her husband were in town for the weekend so we met up for dinner. It was great seeing her, we have promised it will not be 13 years between our next visit!

Theresa's dog Tux insisted on being in the center of the picture

After I got home, I spent the rest of Saturday evening watching baseball (again, don't want to talk about the outcome of THAT game either) and college football. I wish the Texas Tech game was available on my cable (and I'm not just saying that because I think the Texas Tech coach is good looking- which he is). That game would have been been better than the UT game or the Notre Dame game (I have two friends who are Notre Dame fans, I seem to keep up with the Irish now when it comes to football. The things I do for my friends). :)

Random picture of Texas Tech football coach Kliff Kingsbury. See, told you he was good looking. Wreck 'em Tech. :)

Sunday morning I was up earlier than usual, so I decided to get a breakfast taquito from Whataburger before church. I wasn't the only one with that idea.

Well worth the wait...

Church went really well on Sunday. I got to sit by a buddy of mine (we both discovered recently that we attended the same church-it's a big church, it's easy to miss people in the crowd). After services, I had a great lunch with one of the lovely ladies from my Bible study before we met up with the rest of our group. It was kind of what I needed after my week last week (I might have mentioned I was feeling blah last week).

I finally went grocery shopping (we won't say how many weeks I've been eating out because I've been to lazy to go to the store). I actually cooked dinner last night. Boom!

I wonder if my back left burner feels like a red-headed stepchild. I never use that burner. Am I the only person who only uses the front right burner?

Last night the Cowboys were the Sunday night game of the week. I know, there are a lot of Cowboys haters out there. I can't help it, I've been a fan too long, why give up now. I'm also an unapologetic Romo supporter. I think he gets the blame for a lot of things that are not his fault (not saying that he doesn't deserve SOME of the blame- he's not perfect). But alas, I can't help but love the man (although he breaks my heart every year). Last night I had a range of emotions during the game (that usually happens when I watch Cowboys football). I didn't get a picture of all of my facial expressions, but here are a few. I was entertaining a friend during the game by texting him. He thought it was funny I was throwing things (my brush possibly went flying across my room at one point. My college roommate will verify I do throw my brush if I get frustrated during sporting events).

The picture to the left is how I looked whenever the Cowboys couldn't take advantage of a Giants turnover. The picture on the right is a happy Cowboys fan after they held on for a 36-31 win.

Yes, I did take a picture of my TV during Romo's postgame interview. Don't judge me.

I'm looking forward to this week. I'm going to three Rangers games (I cannot believe the regular season is just a few weeks from being over- where did the season go?) The Rangers BETTER hold on and make the playoffs this year. I spent an un-godly amount of money on post season tickets (I have no self control) and I want to use them. My folks are also coming to town this weekend- they have never seen my new apartment. I'm actually taking them to the game on Friday night. I bought them new Rangers shirts for their anniversary. I'll post pictures of them next week- they are adorable. :)

How was your weekend?

XOXO!