Dallas Bound...

We just got back from an amazing road trip to Dallas. Back in May, some friends of ours and us decided that we were making a road trip out to Dallas for the Cowboys/Chargers Sunday football game. Last year we made a trip out to San Diego for the Chargers game and we had such a fun time that we decided that we needed to experience it again...only this time in an rv! So our lovely husbands took on the responsibility of driving 18 hours to Dallas while Ellie and I had a few cocktails, played some games, did hair, nails and slept. I know rough life we had...but luckily the guys were up for the drive and did one hell of a job controlling that beast! We left Thursday night and made it to Odessa, TX at about 4am. The guys took a little snoozer for a few hours and then got back on the road. We ended up getting into Dallas around 1pm or so. When we got to downtown Dallas, we got out and checked out the JFK Memorial. It was really a neat thing to see and it was really kind of freaky because everything looks exactly the same. We took some pictures next to the x in the road where he was shot and then checked out the sixth floor museum. If you are ever in the area, I would highly recommend going and looking at it. It's really interesting to see and there is so much history there. Even though it's been so long, it's very sad. After we were finished there, we headed towards McKinney, TX where Houston's Uncle Jim lives. We stayed with him and his girlfriend Jordan for that night. It was great to see them and finally meet Jordan. They took us to an amazing Mexican food restaurant that night called Gloria's. Wow! The food was to die for! For some reason, we found that Texans love their cheese queso on top of everything! We didn't mind though, at least for a few days. I would be worried if we ate like that always but we knew it was a vacation and we ate like crazy. The next day, the ladies went shopping at a great mall in Dallas and the guys went golfing in 45 degree weather. Needless to say, they didn't last long and they beat us home. Then we headed off to our rv park where we were going to set up camp for the night. After we were all settled, we got ready and headed out to Billy Bob's. This place was awesome! There were probably 10,000 people inside of there. http://www.billybobstexas.com/ A huge stage for concerts is the main attraction and it has a private seating area in front of it, it also has a live bull riding arena, different bars, casino areas and a large line dancing floor. They consider it the world's largest Honky Tonk. If you go to Fort Worth, TX you have to stop by. It's truly amazing and almost every famous country singer's hand prints are on the walls from performing here. It's amazing. We had a great time there after some drinks, watching live bull riding, lots of laughs and great food!

Fall Happenings

Well throughout our busy schedules, we always manage to have a little fun. We got to do some fun things this Fall with friends and family such as concerts, state fair, carving pumpkins, a camping trip, hockey games, birthdays, dinner and drinks, date nights, movies, game nights and the list goes on... The Lady Antebellum concert was awesome! We all had such a great time and the weather was so beautiful out, we really got to enjoy the night walking around the fair after. This past weekend I went to the Craig Morgan concert with some friends too. That was such a blast! It was a very intimate concert with not that many people and it was an outdoor venue, which made it perfect! Houston just got back from a trip to Texas for a chili cook off with his uncle and grandad which he had a great time at. We've had the chance to see our godchildren quite a bit too which is always a great time. They are both so beautiful and getting so big. They both could honestly melt any one's heart...and they love posing for the camera! We truly are blessed to be able to do all of these wonderful things.

What I've Been Up to Lately

Well I've kind of been out of it lately and haven't been able to blog much about anything because I've been very preoccupied the last few months. I started real estate school back in August and finished my classes at the end of September. I've had 4 tests to pass, 2 being the school exams and the other 2 being the state and national exams (the ones that really count). Well I am officially finished with ALL real estate exams as of last night!! Man was I so happy to be done with studying. I didn't know if my poor brain could handle anymore studying day and night. Real estate exams are not a walk in the park if you are not prepared for them. I don't think the school that I went to was all the great, making me feel very unprepared so I got extra material through other avenues that covered everything and anything pertaining to real estate. Throughout high school and college I was always an A student, thus setting very high standards for myself for real estate school. I never knew how difficult these last 2 tests were going to be and compared to finishing college, I felt that this was much of a bigger accomplishment probably because I had to work extra hard at learning all of this new information. It really seems like a different language when you are unfamiliar to the verbiage and/or concepts.

It's so nice to get back to my regular routines without having to worry constantly about passing these tests. Yes, I am a perfectionist and when I have a task, I like to do it and be done with it. This was a situation that wasn't moving along as fast as I wanted it to, so it began to be very frustrating. Thank god for a patient and understanding husband and dog who weren't upset with me when I was neglecting them from visits at the station and nightly walks. Well all of the hard work of studying 24/7 has finally paid off... yippee! Now it's time to relax and enjoy the Halloween weekend! We have some great plans for this weekend, so I'll be posting soon with pictures! Thanks to everyone for all of the love and support throughout this endeavor (i.e. Houston, Mom, Dad, Sherlyn, Sheena, brothers, friends) it means more than I could ever tell you. I feel so loved and lucky to have such amazing people around me. Most people don't even get half of the support that I get on a daily basis and for that, I am grateful.

Just Love this!

I found a link on youtube of one of my favorite scenes in P.S. I Love You and I had to post it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PyuSSP63Dg

Enjoy :)

Happy 30th Birthday Mike!

Today is my oldest brother's 30th birthday and I planned a surprise party for him last night. We had a great turn out from his many friends. It was definitely a challenge for his buddy to get him there because he can be so difficult sometimes but that's why we love him. Or at least sometimes :) Happy 30th Mike!!! Here are a few pics from the night...

We're so very thankful...

This month has kind of been a blur. We had an unexpected family situation when Houston got a call late one night earlier this month from his sister's boyfriend saying that he couldn't find Rachael. Houston immediately called the local hospitals asking if she was there and the first one he called, he found her. Not knowing what had happened, just that she was in a bad car accident, he went down to the hospital to be with her. She ended up getting into an accident on the freeway and broke 6 ribs, fractured her pelvis in four places, punctured both of her lungs and a list of other things. She was in extreme pain for quite some time but luckily got better as every day passed. We spent a few weeks there going back and forth to the hospital all taking turns with her. Houston's oldest sister, Sherami, came into town with her husband and son from Salt Lake City. They stayed with us for a few days and visited with Rachael everyday at the hospital. It was so nice to have them here and to spend a few days with them. And Harrison even got to take a ride in a fire truck! He is obsessed with them :) What a cutie he is!

A few days after Sherami arrived, Houston's mother came in to help take care of Rachael also. She stayed here in AZ for a month and shared time between our home and the hospitals. It was so nice being able to spend so much time with her and really get to know her. Houston and I both felt so fortunate to have had that entire month with her that most likely we never would have had. She is so amazing and I feel so lucky to have a mother in law as wonderful as she is. Although we wish the circumstances would have been different, we had a blast with each other! It was also so nice to have her support with Rachael's situation, we couldn't have done it without her. When none of us live in the same state, it makes it very challenging to ever see each other. All of my sister in laws are wonderful and I feel so lucky to have them as part of my family. I just wish that I could see them more.

We had to give her a toast for her first day home :)

After we got Rachael out of the hospital, she and her dog came and moved in with us for about a month or so. It was very nice to be able to help her out and spend lots of time with her. She is a beautiful woman and has so much potential to do many great things. She truly is a sweetheart and I loved watching her get better everyday! We miss her since she has moved back home. On the last day of Sherlyn's stay, we were able to sneak away to Sedona for a day of cool weather relaxing by the creek and eating yummy food. There was an awesome storm that came in towards the end of the night too which was fun! We were all so sad to see her go back to D.C.

It was such a beautiful day in Sedona and we all needed it so much!