Just Shy of a Y

Monday, September 12, 2011

11 years ago today....

I married my best friend.

I can truly say Gary is my best friend. I am honestly don't think there is one thing he doesn't know about me. I am lucky to have found such an amazing partner, friend and soul mate.

Happy 11th Anniversary Gary!!

September 12, 2000

Sunday, September 11, 2011

This weekend was busy, fun, tiring and emotional for me. To start off the weekend I helped host a baby shower for my friend Ashley. Her sweet baby boy Judd will be born the end of October. Me and a few other friends crashed Ashley's house for the weekend preparing for Saturday's shower.

Friday night we had a fun slumber party. We worked into the wee morning hours preparing the cutest cuteness to honor Judd and Ashley.

Saturday was very busy and fun. I am so happy I was able to meet Ashley's family and friends. Everyone was so sweet and nice. Ashley, Aaron, Ava and Judd are so lucky to have so many amazing people in their lives.

Aren't these cupcakes the cutest ever?

And these cookies. They were so good. I couldn't stop eating them.

I am sad to say I didn't take all that many pictures of the shower. I am happy Sarah did, and as soon as she posts them to her blog I will share the link with y'all. You must see the cuteness.

*****

Today, Sunday ... we rested. We played outside, grilled steaks and tried to relax.

We watched football and ate candy corns.

Speaking of candy corns. One of my sweet friends brought a bag of candy corns to my door today. It was a total surprise and I LOVED it. I don't know if she reads my blog, but thank you Jessica! You are so sweet and such a great friend.

Jessica was trying to cheer me up because I was very sad today. My mom called me this morning to tell me her sweet dog Bella was taken from their backyard by a coyote. My parents are devastated. This is horrible and I am so sad. I couldn't stop crying thinking about Bella's tragic death.

I am so mad about this. I hate that this precious dog was in her yard minding her business and a coyote jumped the fence to grab her and take off with her. I blame the drought. I have said it a million times lately...we are thirsty. TEXAS NEEDS RAIN. The wildlife in Texas is thirsty. We need water so bad and I believe this happened because of the coyotes desperation. It is just so sad. It hurts my heart.

And on that note I am off to bed.

Night Night!

Where were you?

I have a strange memory. Sometimes I forget stuff. Sometimes I remember things from years ago like they just happened. I can remember what I wore two years ago on a dinner date with my husband, but can't remember what I had for dinner last night.

I do remember almost everything about September 11, 2001. I was at home getting ready for work. I vividly remember the second plane crashing into the tower. They replayed it over and over again.

Gary and I lived in a tiny little house in Waco. I loved that house. It was about 1250 square feet. It had a 1 car garage, 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. It was a perfect house with a big, pretty backyard for us newlyweds. We got married September 12, 2000. One year almost to the day of the 9/11 chaos.

Gary was laying in our king size bed waking up. That king size bed took up the whole room. It was hysterical. We couldn't even get around the room, but we had a gigantic bed and a TV on a dresser. The 1/2 bath was 'my' bathroom. I curled my hair and put my makeup on in there every morning. I would shower in the little, but bigger full bathroom, and then grab my coffee and make my way to my bathroom. Every morning I would watch the CBS Early Show. I loved it. I would get my news while I was getting dressed, every day.

I was the Director of Sales for a hotel in Waco. I loved that job. It was an amazing job. Sometimes I wish I still had that job. I loved all my coworkers. I loved working in the hotel industry. I loved showing people the hotel property. I loved booking meetings in our meeting space. It was a fun time in my life. I was newly married and it was a great paying job for me at the time.

I stayed at home that morning a little longer than normal. After the shock wore of I headed to the office around 10am. Gary worked from home. He cancelled all his appointments and sat glued to the couch all day long. I remember driving to the hotel in shock. I remember sitting in the lobby, watching the non-stop news with all the other managers. I remember being scared to death.

I remember finally getting in touch with my parents. The cell phone coverage was all jacked up. I couldn't call out, all circuits were busy. My parents were in a federal building in Oklahoma City. They basically got kicked out of the building, as the whole nation shut it's doors that day.

My best friend was with her husband in Las Vegas. They couldn't get home...they stayed in Vegas for 3 extra days. I called her like crazy and couldn't get in touch with her, but finally I talked to her. She assured me they were fine. I remember being scared. So scared.

I remember thinking how I'd remember my 1 year wedding anniversary forever. How could we celebrate the next day when so many people were suffering or injured or dead?

I thought of one of my life long friends...she lived and worked in DC. I prayed for her, hoping someone would send me word that she was OK. And she was. As OK as she could be. As OK as we all could be.

Where were you?

Friday, September 9, 2011

Gone fishin'

Every day since Gary went fishing a few weekends ago Hayden has been begging Gary to take him fishing. He was hoping to catch a shark like daddy, but since we fished in a local pond he wasn't able to catch that shark! We didn't catch anything, but we had tons of fun!

I must note: Hayden dresses himself and I was totally impressed that his shirt matched his shorts. He hasn't yet mastered putting his shorts on the right way. As you can see his shorts are on totally backward! I am ok with it. I don't want to discourage him, so I choose to pick my battles when it comes to him dressing himself. I'm just so happy he puts his own clothes on. HA!

I am so thankful for Gary's job. He works from our home office. We were able to drop Layla off at school AND then head to the fishing pond and still make it home for Gary to start working around 8:30 am. We are blessed!

It also helps that Hayden's attention span is all of 10 minutes. He fished and then he was jumping from rock to rock! All that took about 30 minutes. heehee! It sure was fun, and Hayden was so happy!

And just because everyone else in the family is in this post I can't leave Layla out!

She was in rare form yesterday before school! She wanted me to take pictures of her jumping. She'd look at the pics to make sure they were just right. We were laughing like crazy! Oh ... my kids are a hoot y'all! I just love them so much!

Have a great weekend!