Putting in hardwood floors...

Here are some pictures of the process...we still have a bit to go but we are certainly getting there!!!

finally....now get off my case

so i don't feel like writing a blog post. my dad threatened to join facebook today since I am on there more often. not sure of my feelings, but my actions thought it best to do a blog post. :)

taking the easy way out and doing a list.

1. We are having a baby. if you didn't know that I am not sure you should be reading my blog.

2. today we found out that it is a BOY!!!

3. Ironic that on the day we find out we are having Jackson (that will be his name), Michael Jackson dies. Can I put that in the baby book?

4. I have been so busy lately that I have forgotten to do homework assignments. For those that knew me in high school or college, that should be a big shock.

5. We are putting hardwood floors in at the house and Clay has insisted that I blog about the process.

6. Trust me when i say #5 is a PROCESS. More details to follow....

7. Texas is HOTTTTTTTTTTTT. thank goodness we have snowcones. they make life bearable.

lots of life has been going on. I am ready for things to slow a bit, but I am learning that life doesn't ever really slow. your perspective just has to. hope this blog will lead to more and fewer weeks (okay, months) will lapse in between them.

My girl

The story really started almost twenty years ago. Standing in line at Hardees waiting to get some biscuits and gravy with my dad. I was around 7 I think. He probably doesn't remember this conversation but I do. Vividly. You see, in my neighborhood, there was this high school girl. She drove a red 1965 mustang. I am pretty sure her name was Stephanie Hawkins and I thought she was the coolest person alive. I wanted to be just like her so that morning in Hardees I asked my dad if when I was in high school if I could have a red 1965 mustang just like her. He said, "I tell you what if you are valedictorian I will buy you a 1965 mustang.

Fast forward to senior year. I realized that I wasn't quite going to be valedictorian (only months later did I realize I was 1 little point in calculus away from it but that's another story) so I decided to remind my dad of the conversation and see if I couldn't negotiated a new deal. We agreed that I would get a new car based on scholarship offers. December of that year I wrecked the car he had gotten me at sixteen and got a nice scholarship letter from my #1 school. So on January 1, 2001, my dad bought her for me.

She was beautiful. Perfect. Even if she was a few years old. I instantly fell in love. This week, Clay and I will most likely be getting rid of her. In ways I am very happy but part of my heart is breaking.

She was with me the week my 12 closest friends and I headed to the beach to celebrate the end of high school and the beginning of our "real" lives -- you know, back when 30 sounded so old. I still treasure that picture of my two best guy friends asleep in the back seat cuddling each other and a teddy bear of mine.

She was with me the day I drove off to my #1 school. Complete with a letter in the dashboard from my dad telling me how amazing he thinks I am and how proud he was. (I just removed the letter yesterday) And she was with me the day I drove home to transfer schools.

She was with me for more camps than I can count. She has hauled everything from vats of salsa to more dish washing liquid than they sell in Walmart. Unfortunately, we had some spillage with the soap and to this day if you put some water in the back, the carpet will have suds.

She was there when I realized I loved Clay. He was driving when I looked over and then looked to the backseat. I could literally see our future kid seating in his carseat. It was then that I knew he was it for me.

She was there the day we packed up our world, waved goodbye and moved to Texas. She didn't carry much on the trip. She just transported the two most important things --- our dogs.

After just over 8 years, I have put over 96,000 miles on her. These days she is far from perfect. In fact, she probably has more things wrong than right.

But I still love her. And hate to see her go.

I feel just a tad guilty.

I had lots of great plans to type a wonderful, beautiful year in review post. But I just didn't get around to it. I had all the intentions in the world to write an amazing, inspiring post detailing my 2009 to do list (I prefer "to do list" to resolution) Instead, my blog sat alone and un-updated. I think it feels a bit neglected and I feel a tad bit guilty. Unfortunately, my blog is probably going to continue to feel that way.

On Monday, I officially start grad school. If you are reading this blog, chances are you are know that I am going back to school. If not, don't feel bad...I kinda forgot to tell my mom. Ooops. Thankfully, she was pretty understanding. In fact, she informed me that she once forgot to tell her mom that she was pregnant. Boy, I hope that was when she was pregnant with my brother...

Anyways, I am taking two classes over the next eight weeks and hope to finish my masters (in counseling) in about 18 months or so. I may try to significantly reduce that time frame if I am able to balance work, life and school better than I anticipate. I never was one to take school slowly. I am really excited about going back -- just slightly nervous that I won't be as smart as I once was.

I am so excited that I have already started reading and am about one week ahead of schedule. Oh, and tonight, Clay and I made a special trip to Wal-Mart to gather all my school supplies. I think Clay had to remind me two or three times that I was in grad school not elementary. At least I didn't purchase the Jonas Brothers folder!

So all this to say, if my blog doesn't have tons of updates it is because I am busy learning about ethics and human development. And I don't think you really want updates on that.

I think I can, I think I can...continue repeating

So somehow we are only six days from Christmas which means I really gotta go get Clay's gifts. Yet, my spot on the couch with Clay's old sleeping bag and a little puppy curled up beside me is just so comfortable this morning. 10:24 still counts as morning, right? Just not early morning.

I had such high hopes for today- clean the kitchen, workout, get all the shopping done. So far, I haven't lifted a dish or if we are being real here, brushed my hair. I think if I would just get up right now, I still have enough time to get it all done.

See friends, this is why I can't have a kid-I get zero done and have no one else to take care of but myself. My mom friends do like a thousand things with kiddos dressed in mostly clean clothes and attached to them at the hip or leg or wherever their little hands can grab onto.

Sorry this post is a little boring but I am hoping it provides me with the motivation to get going on my 3 item to do list. okay, here I go...

p.s. hi Uncle Wally....so glad you found my blog!

My Christmas Wish List

Normally, this time of year I am begging Clay to go up to the attic and pull out of all my Christmas decor. Normally, I love to decorate the tree. Normally, I love to put all of the other decorations in the perfect spot around my house. Normally, the James Taylor Christmas album can be heard throughout the house. Normally, I can list several things I would like to receive and spend hours picking out gifts for people on my list. Normally.

This year none of that seems to be the case. Granted if I could find that cd James Taylor would probably be playing but it must have gotten lost somewhere between Knoxville and Keller.

I don't know what my deal is. I just can't get geared up for Christmas. I seriously asked Clay if we even had to put the tree up. To which he replied, "We don't have to, but I think we should." Can some elves just come set it up and twist and turn every pre-lit light until there are all working? I just don't feel like it. All I want to do is fly home.

It has been a year since I have seen my friends. It has been a year since I have sat in my mom's house. It has been a year since I have played with Tyson (my dog that is really more of my mom's dog these days) And it has been a year or really more than that since I have ate at Steamboat, Wasabi and some other places near and dear to my stomach.

I miss it all. I miss it all A LOT.

So if I skip all of the decorating, can I just fast foward to Dec. 25 at 11:05 when my plane lands at home? I have zero desire to move to Knoxville at this moment, but that doesn't mean I don't want to spend a few days there. A few days spent enjoying the comforts of home. A few days playing with that dumb dog and eating at all my old favorites. A few days spent laughing with friends until the wee hours of the morning. Friends who know me. I mean really know me. You know, the ones who can tell stories that get you fired.

That is what I want for Christmas.

The Bigs and the Little

A couple of videos of the dogs playing...the last 10 secs of each are pretty boring. I wasn't quite sure if they were done fighting.