Happy Blogiversary!!!

Today is my one-year anniversary of keeping my blog! AND OH MY HOW THINGS CHANGE!!!

Thanks for sticking with me through the ups, downs and in betweens :) I know not all my posts are super exciting, life changing, quality reads; but I appreciate that you take an interest in reading about me, my ever-changing life, and my pursuit of happiness, love and all the things that make me laugh.

I hope I bring a smile to your face and maybe a bit of optimism to your day.

I'll keep posting as long as you keep reading (and I know when you read *wink*)....

Updates coming soon.............

Pic(s) of the week

My pics of the week are themed in nature... :)

As you know if you've been reading for awhile, I am a big supporter of the LiveStrong and Lance Armstrong Foundation.

A few months ago the girls and I started discussing participating in the LiveStrong Challenge in October. The LIVESTRONG Challenge is the Lance Armstrong Foundation's signature fundraising event inspired by hope, courage and the perseverance of Lance and the nearly 12 million Americans affected by cancer. We take to the streets on bicycles and on our feet, uniting individuals to stand together to fight cancer. The LAF and LIVESTRONG believes that unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything; which I completely agree.

Jessica was united in strength by her friends, family, loved ones and even strangers; she educated herself about her disease and empowered herself to fight as did her family; her attitude was COMPLETELY unwavering and admirable. I learned more from Jessica and her family than I ever thought was possible; however I do not want others to have to feel the pain that this disease brings not only to the patient but the family and friends as well.

It is important to me to do what I can to "pick a fight with cancer" and help find a cure. I truly believe in this cause and this fight; and I hope you will unite with me to do what you can.

I hate asking people for money - I've only done it one other time; when Jessica was raising money for the angel adventure walk last October; which is another amazing cause. The National Brain Tumor Foundation is another great non-profit group that fights for brain tumor patients and raises money to find a cure.

I hope you can help - any amount is appreciated... $1 will go along away in my book.

Thank you for your support, prayers, love, hugs, flowers, etc over the last 2.5 years. As you all supported me and Jessica in her fight for the last few years; now it's time to unite and fight with those that are still undergoing treatment and fighting their own battle so that we can TRI for a cure!

Click Here to donate and see my personal page: http://austin09.livestrong.org/allie0622

Click Here to donate to either me or my teammates and see our team page: http://austin09.livestrong.org/triforacure

Buffalo Wild Wings made my pic of the week because Newbie has been so gracious and found a sponsor for our team jerseys! One of her friends in Beaumont owns a few BW2 I believe, and he has agreed to sponsor us!!!! That is so awesome and we are so excited!!! THANK YOU RAJ AND NEWBIE!

Hooters, North Richland Hills is also a pic of the week, because my friend Chris is the GM there and he has awesomely agreed to host a car wash and bake sale and all the proceeds go to our fundraising efforts!!! We are hoping that car wash will be in August and the bake sale in September! I am so excited that Chris has graciously offered this to us and is helping us out to raise money for this event. THANK YOU CHRIS!!!!

Thank all of you again for your support, love and prayers!

Have an awesome weekend!!!

Della-palooza '09

This weekend was Della and Dave's wedding weekend and it was seriously amazing!

From the rehearsal dinner to the bubbly good bye - each and every aspect of the wedding was perfect!

Della and Dave are now celebrating their new married life in Cancun on their honeymoon and I can't wait for them to return and hear how it went!

We had such a blast this weekend in College Station! It was great to see everyone that attended and I saw so many old faces I hadn't seen in forever! We definitely relived our college days Saturday night after we said goodbye to D&D. We hit up northgate for some good 'ole college station drinking and eating - you must have Tijuana fries from the chicken :)

I will admit - I steal all of my pictures. I don't have a camera and haven't had one for some time now. I broke mine at Kristin's bachelorette party in October...oops ... miller light had nothing to do with that....

I was supposed to buy a new one when I reached one of my weight goals... but other things seemed more important or necessary each time I hit a goal and so I put off getting one. So I don't have any pictures to post until my friends post on FB and then I can steal them, save them and post them.... I know I'm a thief. You've now learned my dirty little secret...

So when they get around to posting I'll post here...

Della looked absolutely gorgeous :) My favorite part of the whole weekend was after the Priest pronounced them Husband and Wife; Della turned to us (her bridesmaids) and in the cutest little voice said "I'm Married!" and had the biggest most happiest smile on her face I have EVER seen.

I was so honored to stand as her Maid of Honor and will forever treasure being a part of the happiest day of her life.

Della and Dave - I love you guys and if you need anything...I'm only a phone call away! LOVE Y'ALL!

Drum Roll Please...

I know you all look forward to "Pic of the Week" Thursday :)

Today I have 2 (I guess I'll make up for last week since I was beside myself in NOLA and not blogging)

#1: Group pic from Della's Bach Party before dinner! I didn't have this one when i posted about the whole party HERE...but I love this picture... I would love it even more if Kristin could have been with us...



#2: The drivers side door of my car:
It doesn't look so bad in the picture except for the fact that it's the DRIVERS SIDE DOOR!! I was sitting right where she impacted me! I got a call from the body shop today and it's about $4500 - $5000 worth of damage. They won't know about my axle until they pull it apart; but Kelley Blue Book says in "excellent" condition it would only have a minimal trade in value. I hope they total it out...

More to come after the wedding this weekend.... watch out College Station - we're comin' back!

"Come pick me up I just got in a F'in wreck...."

The first words out of my mouth when I called Karen yesterday when I was 1mile away from her house and stuck in the middle of the service road of the George Bush Turnpike.

I had left work and was headed to Karen's to go pick up our wedding dresses for Della's wedding. Cayla was over on our side of town for a dentist appointment so she was going to meet us and then we were going to hang out. (Like I haven't seen these girls enough... j/k :)) I love summers when my friends don't have to work!

Soo... I'm on Old Denton turning right onto the service road, minding my own business; when seriously out of no where this lady drives into the side of my car.

Apparently she had made a U-turn and cut across three lanes of traffic to turn into the shopping center where Hobby Lobby is and didn't pay one bit of attention to me and my measly little car. Her Honda Odyssey van drove right on into me... and could have possibly totaled my car.. AWESOME!!!

I just paid this car off in February, put two new tires on it on Wednesday of last week, and to top it off, had a full tank of gas.... UGHHH.

So - I'm working from home today because I'm car less until I can pick up my rental tomorrow.

Awesome blossom....

Hope your Tuesday was better...

WOWZA...

First of all... I hate Mondays; especially Monday's after a weekend spent in the most sinful city behind Las Vegas....New Orleans, LA! (I will reference here as NOLA)

Our adventure to NOLA started on Thursday for Della's bachelorette party. She is getting married this weekend in College Station and I'm super excited for her.

We will go by days for the recap:

Thursday:

5:00am - alarm went off...Karen stayed with me b/c we had to get up super early to make our 7:30am flight...if you fly with me you know I have to be earlier than most b/c I fly standby on passes...the earlier you are there the better chance of you have of getting on your chosen flights. It's the price I pay to fly for free...

5:45am - Mom picks us up (with the radio BLASTING might I add) and takes us the airport where we promptly meet up Cayla... If we only could have found a Jungle Juice stand at Love Field... (More to come on Jungle Juice)

7:00am - Board our flight....

7:30am - take off

10:30am - land in NOLA...During our one hour wait for Della at the airport we ran into Sam Bradford (OU Quarterback) and Colt McCoy (TU Quarterback) apparently there were having some football camp in NOLA sponsored by Peyton Manning and they were all there. We wished Della was there so she could have taken a picture with them... we thought it would be cute for her to a "gig 'em" pose in b/w the two rival schools!

11:30am - Della arrives...we promptly load a 15 passenger van driven by a man with the THICKEST Cajun accent EVER...he seemed safer than some of the other cab drivers...and head to our hotel.

12:00pm - we get to the hotel...get early check in... SCORE! and head out to get lunch at the Cajun Van Driver's (CVD) recommendation. Central Grocery - for the Original Muffaleta. **Not to mention on the way we stopped to get a frozen beverage at one of the many bars along the way.** I had drink envy - I bought a frozen red bull and vodka (YUM-O) but Cayla got Jungle Juice and I was envious...it was soooo yummy

We made it back to the hotel ate lunch, Newbie and Audry joined us...and the girls changed and headed down to the pool. I had to work on Thursday - I had been answering emails and on calls all morning (minus flight time obviously). My email had been going off since about 5:30am and didn't stop until 5pm... what a day. But everything was handled and in place. I had 2 conference calls to be on that afternoon - so as the girls finished off a bottle and a half of champagne I was in the room working (BUMMER!!!). I got off my calls a 4ish and headed down to the pool with them ... where we went through a few more bottles of bubbly and then headed back to get ready for dinner.

Thursday afternoon pics:











5am wake up call ... calls for no makeup and pouty/kissy face...

Karen at the airport...showing off her fleur de lis....

Getting our yummy drinks on Bourbon Street














Workin' by the pool...actually I think I was talking to Mom here...











Gettin' our tan on....


We headed out that evening for dinner at Acme Oyster House (Another recommendation by CVD). It was YUM-O... there was about a 20min. wait so we had fun taking pictures outside waiting to be called in!

Dinner Pics:










The group outside Acme Oyster House












Aud and Del











Me and Cay











HIGH FIVE!!!!!











The group (minus Cayla she was taking the pic I think)

After a YUMMY Dinner we hit Pat O'Brien's and Tropical Isle... two necessities if you are in NOLA...Hurricanes and Hand Grenades...











Cayla and me with our hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's .... we even were able to keep the fun glasses!











Group shot (minus Cayla...she was taking the pic again) with our hand grenades :) YUMMY

Friday - we hung out by the pool ALL DAY seriously from 11am - 3pm...had poolside cocktail and lunch service...with fun music. Took a little nappy from 3pm - 4pm got up and did it all over again ... but this time with super fun bachelorette festivities...a checklist, a veil, and a sash can get you free drinks ALL night :)

Dinner was at NOLA (Emeril's Restaurant). It was fantastic; however my pork loin was a little dry... I won't fault them too much because they made up for it with the sweet potatoes and basil pesto garlic infused soup. Not to mention; amazing focaccia rolls and jalapeno cornbread.

Pics from Friday night:










Group shot on Bourbon Street













Our bachelorette!











Me and Del














One of her checklist items was to dance on a bar....











Newbie and Del











Singin' karaoke at Cat's Meow.... David Allen Coe-Why Don't You Ever Call Me By My Name
This was during the "Let Me, Let Me, Let Me" part


We had a blast... We owned Bourbon Street that night... we even played our traditional "High Five" game...

Saturday was rough and so was Sunday - but I'm hanging in there and trying to catch up on sleep... The wedding is this weekend and we'll do it all over again!

CONGRATS DELLA AND DAVE! I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH AND CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO SPEND YOUR LIFE TOGETHER!!!

Livestrong Challenge HELP!!

Need ideas for a team name for our Livestrong Challenge we are doing in October. We are doing this in memory of Jess and to help raise money to find a cure for cancer.

Brainstorm and leave a comment with your idea...

***Weekend update to follow later.... so fun in NOLA****

We picked a team name... TRI for a Cure...

visit our team page at austin09.livestrong.org/triforacure

Visit my personal fund raising page at austin09.livestrong.org/allie0622

44 things about me that you probably don't care about

I got this email yesterday ... it asks 44 random questions (43 really because I think #37 is missing) about you.... so I figured it would be a nice post today... even though you probably don't care...

So I'm going to post it .... then TAG all my blogger friends to do the same and post on their blogs so I can learn 43 random things about you! (see tags at the end). I am going to leave them a comment on their last post and tell them I tagged them in this blog so they will fill it out and post!

1. Do you like blue cheese? Hell no… gross …

2. Have you ever smoked? Yes

3. Do you own a gun? No… but my Brother in law thinks I should own a taser

4. What flavor of Kool-Aid was your favorite? Grape

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointment? Not really… unless I think something is seriously wrong with me…

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I think hot dogs are essential at the following:

1. sporting events

2. any cookout

3. any 4^th of July celebration

7. Favorite Holiday Movie? Miracle on 34^th Street!

8. Favorite thing to drink in the morning? Coffee every morning… minus sat. and sun.

9. Can you do push ups? Yes I can actually!

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry. It’s a tie b/w the only three pieces of jewelry I wear… my aggie ring, my heart rate monitor/watch, and my livestrong bracelet… each for it’s own significance

11. What's your favorite hobby? Does Shopping count… if so then shopping… if not then working out… it could be a tie actually

12. Do you have A.D.D? what was the ?..haha yes I do sometimes

13. What trait do you hate about yourself? Sometimes I expect too much out of people

14. Middle Name? Lynn

15. Name 3 thoughts this exact moment:

1. I want to go home… I have too much laundry to do to be at work

2. It’s freezing in my office today

3. What an awesome day I had yesterday (Sunday)

16. What do you read in the bathroom? I’m not usually in there long enough to read anything… unless I’m in the tub… then it means trashy magazines or whatever book I’m reading and I tend to get pruny and have the water so hot I end up more sweaty than I was when I started my bath

17. Current Worry? That I don't have enough time to get everything done before Della's Bachelorette Party

18. Current hate right now? The movers in my office

19. Favorite place to be? Anywhere with friends, family and people I love...

20. How did you bring in the New Year? In H-town with lovely friends

21. Where would you like to go? To Aug. 4^th… I’ll be in Hawaii then

22 . Name three people who will complete this? Kristi, Erin and Christy

23. Do you own slippers? Yes and I love them… but I only wear them when it’s cold

24. What shirt are you wearing? Plain white T with a vest

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Never have… but I think cotton is much snuggly… satin seems to be a bit pornish

26. Can you whistle? yes

27. Favorite color? Pink… duh look at my answers

28. Would you be a pirate? Sure! arrrrrghhhhh PIRATE… C?

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don’t sing in the shower… unless I remember to put on my ipod to my little speaker things then it’s whatever is playing

30. What is your favorite name? not even thinking of this at the moment

31. Favorite boy's name? see above...

32. What's in your pocket right now? Nada… I never keep anything in my pockets

33. Last thing that made you laugh? Tony

34. What vehicle do you drive? Pontiac G6

35. Worst injury you've ever had? My dislocated shoulder in sixth grade… … however this HUMOGOUS bruise on my thigh seems pretty terrible at the moment

36. How many TVs are in your house? 2

WHAT HAPPENED TO 37?

38. What is the best memory as a child? To many great ones to recount my favorite!

39. Do you have any pets? DEUCER!!!!!

40. Does someone have a crush on you? I hope so

41. Your favorite books? Anything by Emily Giffin… or anything like it …

42. Do you collect anything? Nope… However, I’ve started keeping my swim caps from tri’s… so far I have 2

43. Favorite sports team? Aggies and my dallas cowboys!

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? yall pick I don’t care… I’ll be catching up with Jess

TAGS - you better do it!!!!!!

Christy, Kristi, Erin, Kristin, Desiree, Donica

Tri #2 - "Control the Freakout"

Well this weekend marked tri #2 .... Here are the deets (details for those of you who don't follow my lingo)

Who: Me and Cayla....
What: Playtri Festival - included My First Tri, Sprint, International distances as well as swim races
When: Sunday, July 5, 2009 - 7:03am start time
Where: Las Colinas, Texas - Marriott Las Colinas
Why: Because we are dumb, crazy, and just plain stupid... but we love it...well after we are done we love it!

Sunday started off early.... 3:45am my alarm went off. As my darling friends were just going to bed after a long night of drinking games and celebrating the 4th of July - I was waking up to "Boom Boom Pow" on the radio/alarm clock.

I jumped out of bed... jumped in the shower... I know who showers before a 2 hour workout... but it's a must for me on race day for two reasons:
1. It wakes me up... did you see what time my alarm went off
2. I need my hair wet to french braid it

After my shower - I outfitted myself in my new tri-gear. Same shorts as last race but new improved and super cute top :) See to the right...

I loaded my bike rack and bike on my car on Saturday night so I wouldn't have to worry about it on Sunday morning. I still did though and checked to make sure I didn't miss a strap to secure it and make sure I had my lock, etc. etc.

I tripled checked then double checked my check list... I'm a super list person so I had to make sure I had everything from toilet paper to my race belt.... and I was out the door at 4:20am.

There is not very many people on the road at 4:20am...

I got to the race site, parked, got my gear, put in my ipod and headed to the transition line. I waited for Cayla to get there so we could rack together... supringsly she was race #59 and I was #58 so we rack together.

Cayla got there we got body marked, racked our stuff, and frolicked in the rain. Oh yes my dear friends, it started raining. As if I wasn't nervous about this enough... it started raining and continued to rain right up until we jumped into the water.

We waited in the parking garage while it rained and until we had our pre race meeting. While we were waiting we saw, not ONE but TWO cars, try to attempt to drive up the ramp and lost their bikes and racks into the rafters of the parking garage. Finally after the second person hit the rafters with their bikes the race director posted someone at the entrance to stop people from driving up the ramp if their bike was mounted on the roof. I felt so bad for these people... their thousand(s) $ bikes ripped off of their car and hanging in the balance... ugh what a way to start a race day!

We had our pre race meeting...and headed to swim the start.

CONTROL THE FREAK OUT...

I said on multiple ocassions as we overlooked the swim area... "Cayla I don't want to do this".. "Cayla why do we do this"... "Cayla are we stupid"...

500m looks alot shorter in a pool

We jumped in - heard the gun and took off...

The rest is history... but I'll explain anyway :)

The Swim was good ... I freestyled probably 80% of it... which I was proud of. I have said on multiple occasions that I DID NOT and still don't think I was prepared for this race. I should have trained harder and trained more... but I finished and that is what mattered. I hadn't been in a pool in I can't tell you how long until Saturday. I swam a quick 500m at the gym just to make sure my new googgles worked. Other than that it was about training in open water rather than for distance.
Time: 13:54 500m
Goal was under 15min
ACCOMPLISHED! :)

The bike - felt great! My bike is old and slow and heavy so I could have performed better on a new bike... which I am still contemplating buying... but overall I was proud of my performance. It rained the whole time we were on the bike so that sucked. Between getting splashed by the puddles and the constant spitting from the sky it was not the most favorable conditions but it could have been worse I guess!
Time: 46:10 - 12miles
Goal: under 53 min.
ACCOMPLISHED! :)

The Run - I hate the run...I felt like shit during the run actually.... and my time showed it. I am not even going to make excuses... it was awful
Time: 36:59
Goal: 32 min.
FAILED :(

Total Time was 1:40:09 - not to shabby I don't suppose... I wanted to be under 2hours and so my overall goal was attained!

I'll have pictures soon!

another post about the weather...sheesh I'm getting old...

This is what I saw yesterday when I got in my car to leave work... 109 degrees AWESOME!!! actually it said 111 but this a few minutes into my drive....

It is so hot here - and every day I get in my car and about die of heat stroke.... not to mention I have to compete in a three sport race on Sunday...jealous?

Enjoy frying your eggs on the sidewalk people...I know I will!

On another note: Happy 4th of July - I hope you all have a safe and FUN 4th! Be careful, don't drive drunk or buzzed or tired... it's all the same... there's my little PSA for the day :)

weather update...

Now the high for Sunday is 99 - but partly cloudy - so this could be good... I'm hoping for high 70's low 80's during race time...

Water temp was at 90 degrees on June 25th... it will be nice bath water temp.... anyone wanna throw some bubbles in???

Here's where I'm going to swimming: ICK....

awesome...nasty...run off lake... ICK ICK ICK