A very special birthday...

I wanted to take time today to wish a VERY HAPPY 90th birthday to Mr. S. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick Fil-A. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you might notice my obsession, passion, fondness of Chick Fil-A.  Happy birthday Mr. Cathy, hope it's a special day!

S. Truett Cathy

I mentioned it was his birthday on Twitter and a few people responded that they had never heard of Chick Fil-A. I know that Chick Fil-A is not available in all states, SO, to see where the closest one to you is, go here for locations. And then go on a road trip, don't forget to get a milkshake while you are there! :) Man, I REALLY want Chick Fil-A now. 

Comedian Tim Hawkins wrote two songs about Chick Fil-A. They are greatness!! Watch them below!

Last week Lindsay over at Scenic Glory gave me this blog award.  (Please go check her blog out here, it's awesome!!)

I'm supposed to thank the person who gave me this award (thank you Lindsay, you are the best!!) and list 7 random tid bits about myself (I feel that y'all already know everything about me). What else can I say that you don't already know? Um.....

1. I started watching season 4 of The Incredible Hulk yesterday. When I was younger, I would get up at 7am on Saturday mornings to watch that show. I LOVED it "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." (That is my motto!) ;) My friend John let me borrow his season 4 DVDs this past weekend (thanks again John!)

2. I am deeply saddened by the sudden departure of  (now former) CEO Chuck Greenberg from the Texas Rangers. I can't go into it right now, it's too painful to talk about. The wound is still fresh. **baseball tears**

Thanks for the memories Chuck!

3. The lady who sings the National Anthem at the Dallas Stars hockey games really annoys me. And I mean, REALLY annoys me.

4. When I was little, I use to make faces in the mirror. Now, I make faces into my iPhone camera. I really need to get a life! ;)

Look ma- no make-up (I know, a scary sight, right?!) :)

5. I am looking forward to March Madness. I usually fill out a bracket before the tournament starts. I don't follow college basketball closely enough to know what I'm doing, but it's fun. I LOVE upsets so I like it when a number one seed goes out in the first round (mainly Duke). ;)

In case you need a bracket...

6. I have never knowingly listened to a Justin Bieber song. I'm not bashing him, simply stating a fact. Until he guest starred on CSI, I didn't even know what he looked like. Sorry, no Bieber fever here!

7. I have never seen an episode of the TV show Dallas. I guess a lot of people assume that if you are from Texas, you watched the show. Not true. I know things about it though (i.e. I know how the theme song goes, I know someone named J.R. got shot, I know Patrick Duffy was really in the shower the whole time, etc), but I've never seen an episode.

So there you go! Just when you thought you knew everything about me, I throw out new facts!! ;)

I hope that everyone has a great week!! 

XOXO!

Thursday Thirteen- Confessions of Crime Show Addict

Last July I posted 13 of my favorite TV shows from my childhood (go here to view those). If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you might have noticed me mentioning my "unhealthy addiction to crime shows". It's true. I watch a lot. For my Thursday Thirteen I thought I would list 13 crime shows that I watch (or have watched in the past, some of these are not on the air anymore).

1. CSI: (Las Vegas). Out of the CSI trilogy, this one is my favorite!

I **heart** nerds. Greg is one of my favorites!

My favorite Nick scene (despite his short hair- which I don't like). George Eads is a Texas boy. I knew his mom when I was in college. More about that another day!

2. CSI: New York: This is probably a very close second to my favorite show. This show has a lot of great actors. Gary Sinise is one of my favorites!

Gary Sinise- I will forever call him Lt. Dan!

3. CSI: Miami: I'll be honest, Adam Rodriguez is the only thing keeping me interested in this show. There, I said it! So what if I'm shallow? ;)

Adam Rodriguez, AKA Eric Delko on CSI: Miami

4. Criminal Minds: I only starting watching this one about two years ago, but thanks to reruns on cable, I think I've caught up on most of them!

5. NCIS: I finally drank the NCIS Kool-Aid and started watching this show last year. I love Mark Harmon's character. He is great in this! And of course my tradition of liking the geeky/nerdy guy continues- absolutely love the McGee character! :)

Sweet geeky McGee.

6. NCIS: Los Angeles: I actually started watching NCIS: Los Angeles before I started watching NCIS. I love Chris O'Donnell!! :) He is really good in this!

7. Psych: Okay, I know this more of a comedy, but it's still involves crime! :) Shawn and Gus are two of my favorite characters ever!

8. The Mentalist: I felt guilty when I first started watching this show because I felt like I was cheating on Psych (the producers of Psych feel The Mentalist is a rip-off of their show). There are similarities, but they aren't exactly the same. Simon Baker is great in this show!

9. Cold Case: I wish this show hadn't just ended last season, it didn't really have a series finale. It was a good show!

10. Monk: I absolutely adore Tony Shalhoub. Sleuth TV has started airing reruns of Monk, so I try and watch them whenever I can! And yes, it was also a comedy, but it had crime! :)



11. Without A Trace: Ah, another show that I miss. Or maybe I just miss seeing Eric Close on a weekly basis. (I think my friend Penelope would agree with me!) :)



12. Diagnosis Murder: Yes, the only reason I started watching this was because Dick Van Dyke was in it. I may or may not have the first three seasons on DVD! :)



13. Murder She Wrote: This actually might have been the show that started the whole crime show obsession. My folks and I used to watch this on Sunday nights after church when I was growing up. How can you not like Angela Lansbury?

Head over to For the Love of Blogs and see what other drinks are being served up for Thirsty Thursday! A co-worker and I have decided to have a weekly Dr Pepper break (just to get caught up on life- he moved to the other side of the building, I don't see him as much as I used to). Yes, Dr Pepper is a common drink for my Thirsty Thursday, I can't help it! :)

XOXO!

Wordless Wednesday

Aunt Rachel strikes again with pictures of C and E! :)

 

 

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, go here.

Be blessed friends! XOXO!

If you need to smile today...

All of these pictures are courtesy of Ann Taintor- Vintage Revisited. Please click here to visit their website! You can order some awesome stuff! :)

Not a lot of time to post today so I wanted to give you something to smile at. These always make me laugh. I have a few of these at home either as a magnet, coaster or picture!

One of my favorites! I have this one at home!

 

 

 

 

One of my besties gave me this one last year! :)

I feel like this a lot!

 

 

This is so true! 

I just wish that somewhere was here!

I have this one as well!

You have been warned! :)

Don't you agree?

I believe the picture says it all!

I've always said my idea of "roughing it" is staying in a motel with no cable.

Have a great day friends!
XOXO!

Remember the Alamo!

Today marks the 175th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo (I think we've established that I'm a Texas history nerd!) :) I could list so many facts about the Alamo, but I have a feeling y'all might be tired of my history ramblings. :) But I will say this: what you see today is all that is left of what was once originally called Mission San Antonio de Valero (so if you visit the Alamo and it seems small, it's because that is all that is left of the mission.). The Alamo is located in San Antonio and is managed by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed (and encouraged). If you ever visit Texas and make your way down to San Antonio, I highly recommend checking it out. It is one of the most popular historic sites in the United States (over 4 million people visit it each year).  

One more random note: the majority of the defenders of the Alamo were not from Texas (see here for a list of all of them and where they were from).

 Here are some pictures of the Alamo over the years and how it's changed.

Rare picture of the Alamo "chapel", taken around 1849. The familiar "humps" at the top of the current Alamo were not added until after 1850. Photo courtesy Alamo Images

Alamo buildings was used as Army supply depot, 1850-1870. Photo courtesy Alamo Images

 

 

The Alamo and Hugo and Schmeltzer Building, ca 1890. Photo courtesy Alamo Images

 

 

Alamo ca. 1900 and a nearby saloon. Photo courtesy Alamo Images

Alamo chapel and convent buildings in 1912. Photo courtesy Alamo Images

 

 

 

Alamo Plaza ca. 1919. Photo courtesy Alamo Images

Alamo grounds 1937 showing demolition of surrounding buildings. Photo courtesy Alamo Images

Me and one of my "besties" Brandy at the Alamo in 2008

We were there the weekend of March 6, 2008. They always have a reenactment of the Battle of the Alamo that weekend. Here we are with one of the defenders of the Alamo. It might have been Davy Crockett, I'm not sure. He actually asked to be in our picture.

For more information on the Alamo, click here to visit the homepage! 

The truth is revealed!

So last week I gave you five statements, one of them was true, and four of them were false. For those of you who missed it, here they are again (in no particular order).

-The first major league baseball game I attended was between the Rangers and the Orioles. 

-When I was in junior high, my family hosted an exchange student.

-I didn't learn to swim until I was 10.

-My favorite clothing store is Old Navy.

-When I get married, I want to leave the reception in a DeLorean.

Are you ready for the true fact? I enjoyed reading your comments and getting your tweets with what you thought was true. A few of you guessed it correctly! Now, some of these were partially true, but only one was completely true.

1. The first major league baseball game I attended was between the Rangers and the Orioles. 

NOT TRUE. My first RANGERS game was against the Orioles, but the first Major League Baseball game I attended was between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros at the Astrodome in Houston (August 22, 1995). And Steve Avery was pitching that night (he was the winning pitcher in fact). Oh, and Chipper Jones called me "hun" (but that is a story for another day.) :)

     Steve Avery and Chipper Jones

 

2. When I was in junior high, my family hosted an exchange student.

NOT TRUE. I had a friend who hosted an exchange student from France (we taught him Pig Latin, it was awesome) but my family didn't host one. Anyone else remember Pig Latin? For a refresher course, go here for an English to Pig Latin translator! ;)

3. I didn't learn to swim until I was 10.
NOT TRUE. I learned to swim like at age 5. BUT, I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 10 (don't laugh at me!)

4. My favorite clothing store is Old Navy.

NOT TRUE. I have maybe bought one thing from there in my entire life. I LOVE that most of you emailed or tweeted to me that you know my favorite store is Kohl's. That means you read my blog!! Or that I talk about Kohl's entirely too much! :)

5. When I get married, I want to leave the reception in a DeLorean.

TRUE! Yes, it's true. I would love to leave my wedding reception in a DeLorean. If it has a flux capacitor, that would be even cooler!! ;) I know, I'm a nerd. But think about it. Most people leave in a limo or by horse and carriage. How many people leave in a DeLorean?

I feel the need to watch Back to the Future now.

 

 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Sorry for the short post today. Hop on over to For the Love of Blogs and make a few new friends today!! XOXO!!

Thursday 13- Random Style

I'll be honest, I couldn't come up with a theme for my Thursday 13, so I decided to take the easy way out and list 13 random thoughts going through my mind.

1. I wonder what life will be like if there is an NFL Lockout next season? I have three brothers. Sundays at my house were church, then football. Now, I don't love football as much as I love baseball. It's not even close. But it's weird to think about no professional football being played next season. Even though I would miss football (a little), I would love to see Jerry Jones fume over it (I know, I'm mean, but that man is evil! He deserves it.) :)

2. Will gas prices ever go back down? The gas station by my house was $3.20 a gallon last time I looked. I know it's only going up. I will have to say that I'm thankful I'm carpooling to work again. And we might have found one other person to join our carpool, meaning I would only have to drive every 2 weeks to work (it's about a 30 mile commute).

3. Is Charlie Sheen really that crazy, or is this some weird publicity stunt? The man got over a million followers on Twitter in less than 24 hours. I guess everyone loves watching a "train wreck". The ones I really feel bad for in this whole deal are his kids. Poor things.

4. I'm very excited that Chick Fil-A is giving away free fries tomorrow. I just heard this on the news. Between 2pm-4pm tomorrow you can get free waffle fries if you mention you are wanting to try the new Heinz Dip and Squeeze ketchup. Yum! Go here for a location near you!

5. If I was given free tickets, I would totally go see New Kids on the Block and The Backstreet Boys in concert when they are here in June. I can't say I would PAY to go though (does that make sense?) I was a huge NKOTB fan back in the day (circa 1989-1991). I never got to see them in concert though. Somewhere the 12 year old still hiding inside of me would get a kick out of going. I was never a Backstreet Boys fan (I didn't dislike them, but I get some of their songs confused with the other boy bands that were out around that time. I was in college when they were popular).

6. Not only am I going to Rangers Opening Day on April 1, but I'm also going to Opening Night on April 2. My baseball heart is happy. Oh so happy. I know you can't see me, but I'm smiling right now. :) And dancing. Okay, I'm not really dancing.

7. I wonder what the acting qualifications are for playing a dead body on a crime show? I've said it before, but I would totally play a dead body on CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds or The Mentalist (yes, I have an unhealthy crime show addiction- moving on).

8. Is there really such a thing as a McLobster at McDonald's, or is this a hoax? And if it's real-ew. I'm not a fan of seafood to begin with, but that just sounds really nasty. For some reason McLobster is trending on Twitter, so I'm just wondering.

Real? Photoshopped? Has anyone seen one in person?

9. I wonder if Whataburger will ever serve taquitos all day? Right now they are only available 11pm-11am. But sometimes I'll want a taquito for lunch or dinner. For those not familiar with Whataburger, a taquito is an awesome breakfast burrito (the egg, bacon and cheese one is my personal favorite!) If you are local, email/write/call Whataburger. DEMAND they serve taquitos all day long. If not for you, for me. Together my friends, we can make this happen! 

10. I don't understand how my co-workers can email me (when they have to type in my name to get my email address) and they STILL misspell my first name when they are addressing me in the body portion. It's very simple folks. R-A-C-H-E-L. Not Rachael. Not Racheal. Maybe I'm just being over-sensitive about it today.

11. I wonder if there is really a Loch Ness Monster? When I was little, I really wanted the Loch Ness Monster to be real. I don't know why. I plan to go there one day, maybe I'll find out!

12. Why is a raven like a writing desk? If you have never seen Alice in Wonderland, then you won't get this. And I'm talking about the original cartoon, I didn't see the Johnny Depp one. The previews looked creepy.



13. I wonder if people really read my whole post, or if they just skim it? Um....

 

For more Thursday 13 entries, go here!

Hop on over to For the Love of Blogs and participate in the Thirsty Thursday blog hop!! I think my drink of choice will be Ginger Ale today!

Have a lovely day friends! XOXO!!

Happy Texas Independence Day!

Hey friends! Sorry for being absent all week! I got sick Sunday late afternoon/early evening and have been in bed all week since then. I'm feeling a little bit better today (I can't say that I'm feeling fabulous by any means, but I did manage to get out of bed and make my way to work). Hope to be back to 110% soon! :)

I promise to get caught up on all my blog reading soon. I wasn't online much this past weekend, and since I was sick all week, I haven't even been in front of a computer until this morning. For all my new followers, I promise to stop by your blogs soon!! I'm looking forward to getting caught up on everyone's blogs! I miss reading your posts! :)

If you know me, you know I'm a history nerd (so please forgive me for my history-filled post today). And if you are from Texas, you SHOULD know that today is Texas Independence Day. I mean, in 7th grade we had to take a Texas History course in school (any other states make you take a state history class? I'm just wondering). I'm not complaining, it was my favorite class! :)

For those of you not familiar with Texas history, today is the celebration of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence.With this document, settlers in Mexican Texas officially broke from Mexico, creating the Republic of Texas. For more on that (and to read the declaration), you can go here. I actually have seen the Texas Declaration of Independence in person. A few years ago I was in San Antonio for a convention and the original declaration was on display at the Alamo. :)

I thought I would share some facts about Texas for your reading pleasure!

Nickname: The Lone Star State

Origin of name: From the Indian word meaning "friends".

State flower: bluebonnet

Me and my friend Brandy stopped to have our picture taken in the bluebonnets going to Opening Day in 2009

State bird: mockingbird

State tree: pecan

State song: "Texas, Our Texas" (no, it's NOT "Deep in the Heart of Texas") ;)

Random facts stolen borrowed from the internet:  (many thanks to this website here)

- El Paso, TX is closer to Los Angeles, CA on the Pacific Coast than it is to Port Arthur on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Port Arthur, TX is closer to Jacksonville, FL than it is to El Paso.

- The only place in the world where they make Dr Pepper according to the original formula is in Dublin, TX. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco, TX in 1885. There is NO period after Dr in Dr Pepper.

- Texas was an independent nation from 1836-1845.

- Texas is the only state to have flags of 6 different nations fly over it: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States and United States. This is where the theme park SIX FLAGS gets its name! :)

Me and my nephew James riding The Runaway Mine Train roller coaster at Six Flags over Texas a few years ago.

-Austin, TX is considered the "live music capital of the world". 

-The first word spoken from the moon on July 20, 1969 was "Houston".  

- Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth is the world's largest country-western honky-tonk and includes a 4800 square foot rodeo arena. I have been there many times- they have great concerts! :)

-The first suspension bridge in the United States was the Waco Bridge. It was built in 1870 and is still used today as a pedestrian crossing of the Brazos River.

-The world's first rodeo was held in Pecos, TX on July 4, 1883.

Me and some friends hanging out at the Mesquite Rodeo a few years ago.

For a list of famous people from Texas, you can go here. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to retype my favorites!) :)

I realized I could go on and on, but I'll spare you! :)

Before I close my post today, I have to wish Jon Bon Jovi a very happy 49th birthday. In honor of Jon, I'll leave you with some Bon Jovi videos. BTW, my BFF Mandy should love my post today. It has Texas history and Bon Jovi- two of her favorite things!! Love you friend!! :) See you, Andrew and Effie in a few weeks!

Funny Sportscenter commercial with Bon Jovi:

Thanks to all my Twitter friends for sending me get well wishes and "we miss you" tweets this week. I feel so loved! XOXO!!