A month of birthdays!

September was a busy birthday month in our family. My mom Corina, Brian's Mom Jan and psuedo Brother-in-Law Joe all celebrated their birthdays last month. While we were in town we decided to all go to dinner to celebrate this occasion at, if I do say so myself, the most delicious Italian restaurant I have been to in a very long time. So Happy Birthday Moms and Joey! Hope this next year brings even more joy than the last. Love you all!

A great trip to the Northwest

Brian and I took a trip up to the Northwest ... Tacoma Wash. to be exact ... for a business/pleasure trip this past weekend. And what a weekend it was. Brian had some business to take care of while I got to play with the family and friends. We stayed at my mom's house and Brian's parents came over and stayed with us as well. It was a full house but the more the merrier in our family.

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend either. The weather was perfect, but I was a little sad that the leaves weren't changing colors yet. We had a bon fire (at Rick's request), we got Janice to ride the horse (sort of) and Kendall ran around entertaining us all day every day.

I had the chance to visit my beautifully pregnant best friend Ashley, even if it was just for lunch. It's crazy how a few minutes with someone makes you miss them ten times more.

Our flight up to Washington. Brian helped pass the time by reading his new book.

Kendall loves feeding the ponies.

Jan had to take a moment to lecture the horse. He kept trying to eat her jeans.


... and Brian can always find a moment to strike a pose ...

What a ham! She wouldn't stop posing for the camera.

Goodbye Seattle! Hope to see you again soon.

Happy October!

It's the first of October and what better way to welcome the month than with a crazy hail/rain/wind/lightning/thunderstorm. Gotta love the crazy weather here. It was great all day then out of nowhere a storm comes flying through town, and leaves blue skies and a rainbow in its wake. So weird.

Dear House,

I would really appreciate it if you quit changing shapes and sizes! As soon as the weather changes you feel the need to swell or shrink. I would rather not have to body-slam the back door to get it to close because one of these times I am going to go straight through the glass. I enjoy the rain but obviously it is causing you to bloat and making our lives more difficult. When its hot you shrink, when its humid you swell ... will it ever be win-win with you? I'd appreciate some cooperation.

Sincerely,
Your homeowners

(For those of you who don't know ... the soil in Texas is clay and absolutely ridiculous. The slightest change in weather wreaks havic on the foundation and makes it do very crazy things. When it's hot, you have to water the foundation to keep it from shrinking, but when it gets too much water it swells and changes the shape of the door frames and such.)

Fall in Texas!!!

It finally feels like summer is gone and we are moving onto the Fall season. Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year, but we don't really get true Fall weather around here. It has been all rainy and actually cooling down a little. (The high today is only 80!) I could sit here and watch it drizzle outside all day ... after a quick run to get the season's best indulgence, a Pumpkin Spice Latte, of course.

I know this weather won't last but I plan to lay on the couch under a big blanket and watch a movie today since the event I was supposed to cover for work got cancelled. People down here don't realize a little rain never hurt anybody, but I am not complaining.

And I am counting the days until we will be up in Washington. We are heading up there in 11 days and I am hoping the leaves will have begun to change colors by then.

Our big tree in our backyard is starting to show signs of Fall!

And I think Mack was born to live in the Northwest ... he loves the rain.

Ever heard of growing a mocha baby?

I can't help that my Starbucks addiction has taken over me. Have you ever seen the movie "Juno"? The part where Leah says to Juno "Are you sure it isn't just a food baby?" Well, I definitely think I am beginning to show the initial signs of a mocha baby in my belly. And now that they have Pumkin Spice back, um... it might become twins. haha. I don't know if its being from Seattle that makes me feel a little more at home at Starbucks or if its working for a newspaper that makes me feel obligated to drink coffee, but whatever it is, Brian is going to need to get a second job if I keep this up (as I sip my venti iced 3 pump triple shot Pumpkin Spice latte).

It's Friday again...

... and a week has gone by with no posts. Boy am I bad at this blogging stuff. For those of you who actually read my blog, I am sorry I am not more entertaining.

I am not going to do a Favorites Friday today because, honestly, this week was kind of crappy. The only thing I could say that was my favorite about this past week is through all the crap we got dealt, it just reconfirmed to me how great my husband is. Isn't it strange that sometimes it takes a crappy situation to make you realize how much you should appreciate what you do have, instead of dwelling on the things you don't?

But ... we do have some fun stuff to look forward to. Brian and I are heading to Tacoma the end of the month and I always look forward to the chance to visit with our families. There will be lots of celebrating as well since Candice's fiance Joe's birthday was Sept. 1, my mom's birthday is Sept. 11 and Janice's birthday is Sept. 24.