Another week down...

This week was good (but honestly looking forward to it being over). I was in Seattle for work Wed./Thurs. I love Seattle - I hope I can go back and visit for fun soon. It's such a great city.

I did sit next to a very interesting and functioning alcoholic on the plane on the way to SeaTac. She was downing crown and water like she hadn't had anything to drink in days...and boy did you smell it and experience it. She kept asking me to read her book, listen to her music, she asked 4 times where I was going and where I was from. She angrily told me I had that "white collar kind of work" she only had "blue collar kind of job". She worked for the airline I was flying and I have serious doubts about flying them again if she is the one working on the tarmac. Sylvia if you stumble across this and you remember sitting next to a blonde who you thoroughly annoyed.... maybe it's time for an intervention.

I should have taken a pic of her for the pic of the week.

Instead: here it is.....

My precious oldest niece Kaylee...

She is going to be NINE tomorrow!! I can't believe it.

Kaylee - Happy birthday my love - I love you more than you will ever know!!!!

I need to dedicate a post to Shelby..... wait and see....

Happy Friday!!

The many faces of Cooper Webb.....

Erin... Here you go... the pic of the week!

sorry it's Friday and it should have been up yesterday...BUT ... I was super busy at work :)

My newphew Cooper cracks me up! Here is a series of pics from the funny faces he makes...

My precious.....

two weeks...

I haven't blogged in two weeks almost... I'm slacking!!

Tri training is going great! Cayla and I are training together now for two hours on Saturdays. It is so nice to train with someone ... I wish we lived closer so we could work out together everyday!! We are just under two months until race day and I'm getting more and more excited each week... but that also comes with more and more nerves.

I'm super nervous about the bike portion of the race. I was initially most nervous about the swim but now this bike part has really got me freaked... I think I need to spend some time "getting comfortable" on the bike. I'm afraid if I don't feel comfortable I'm going to seriously injure myself or someone else...that would make for a nice post though...

I am also three weeks out before our annual girls trip. This year we are headed back to Fredericksburg the first weekend in March. This will also conclude our "Operation Get Fit" Challenge that we started in November. I'm not sure if I initially blogged about this or not but back in November, all the girls, took part in a fitness challenge to get ourselves back in shape. This was about the same time I decided I wanted to do this triathlon so it worked out perfect. We put $50 in a pot... $25 will go to the biggest percentage of weight dropped and $25 will go to biggest drop in BMI. This has been the best thing ever.... I have completely embraced this challenge and feel better about myself now than I have in along time.

In the meantime...

I saw "He's Just Not That Into You".... such a cute movie! I highly recommend reading the book first though. I read this book when it was first published in 2004 and fell in love with it so naturally I was stoked when I saw the previews for the movie.

It is so cute. And although I don't agree 100% with every part of the book/movie it is a fun, mindless, romantic comedy that even the guys would enjoy. So buckle down, pay the $100 it costs to go to the movies now-a-days and see it!

Continuing on to my TV addiction...

American Idol is in full swing! WHAT WHAT!! I love A.I. ... I love the tryouts, Hollywood week, everything! I get sucked in EVERY YEAR!

We are into our top 36 now and the first group sings Tuesday... I will throw it out there... I love Kai Kalama. He made me cry during his audition in San Francisco and I was soooo happy when he made it through. Even if he doesn't win.. he's a winner to me :)

Family Stuff:

Coop turned 3 on Friday! I can't believe he is 3!!! It seemed like just yesterday he was this tiny thing! It is also hard for me to grasp that Shelby is going to be 1 in two months. I was able to see all three of my precious nieces/nephews on Saturday for Valentine's Day. I played Cupid and delivered them all their Valentine Goody Bags... as far as I'm concerned they are my perfect Valentines!

I did have a slight emotional moment when I left Paige and Nick's... Shelby started to cry when I was leaving and it made me cry. I love that little girl so much she is sooooo cute and soooo sweet. She would just cuddle with me and love on me; she is really starting to take on a personality.

I was equally excited to see Kaylee and Cooper on Saturday. I just knew that they would love their goody bags. AND I only gave them one thing of candy each so Anna wouldn't yell at me. They each got a heart shaped Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.... it's my favorite and I knew they would share.... I totally had ulterior motives. Kaylee and Coop always make me smile and after a long day at the gym their hugs and kisses were just what I needed.

I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful family!!!!

On a serious note:

Please continue to pray for Jessica. Her chemo regimen now is pretty hard on her and I ask you to lift her and her family up in your prayers for continued strength, healing and peace. If you get a second visit her website and leave her a note of encouragement at www.jessicagage.com

Have a great Monday!

stupid html

Hello my lovely blog readers... I was keeping track of how many hits my little blog was getting but something happened with that html code and now I refuse to start over again at 0!

Training for the tri has been lax this week... I've been traveling for work so it's been hard but I'll get back in the swing of it next week.

Today I want to dedicate my post to one of my sisters, Anna... For Christmas I gave her cake decorating classes. She had taken an interest in cake decorating awhile ago and is really good at it. So I figured I've give her some professional lessons to enhance her already natural ability. She just finished her third week in class.

This is what I have discovered:

1. She makes a better butter cream icing than any professional cake I've ever eaten... and I've had a lot... I do pride myself as a cake connoisseur..

2. She faced her fear of clowns... this week in class she had to make a clown cake... sorry sister I wasn't aware of that when I signed you up

3. You should totally hire her out to make your kids birthday cakes...

So that's it... she's really good and it tastes REALLY GOOD!

Keep checking back for further updates :)

OH MY GOODNESS!!

I have so much to blog about... I haven't had a computer (or the time since the holidays) to sit down and blog so I'll try to do a December 2008 recap...


1. I got a job! AWESOME! I'm so excited I start on Monday, January 5... at Cambridge Integrated Services Group. I am going to be an Account Manager in the Client Services division. My new office will be about 10 minutes from house and I hopefully will have the opportunity to travel. I will have a book of business that I am responsible for once the initial sale has been made by the sales force... this will include implementation, problem soliving, benchmarking and other stewardship reports and meetings, continued education, etc. I am so very excited about this awesome opportunity! I truly know this position was worth the wait! The job and the people completely fit my personality and my goals and I'm so fortunate to have found a job with such an amazing company!

2. FAMILY PICTURES - It was so nice to get the WHOLE family together to take pictures for the first time. Our pictures included - my mom, me, My sister Paige and her family (nick and shelby), and my other sister Anna and her family (Randy, Kaylee and Cooper)... NINE of us... six girls... you can imagine the chaos that ensued...

It was wonderful and we were able to get a ton of awesome pictures from our AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER STEFANIE!!

3. I was able to be a part of an AWESOME friends wedding right before Christmas. Laura was my roommate in college and she married her handsome little husband on December 21 in Georgetown, SC. It was an amazing weekend filled with wedding festivities and reconnections. I was able to see a few friends that I hadn't seen in a long time and catch up. I also was able to meet all of Laura and Jaime's wonderful friends and family. Their wedding was beautiful and I so enjoyed being a part of it.

4. CHRISTMAS! Christmas was so fun this year. It was my niece - Shelby's - first Christmas and so much fun! She loved tearing up all the tissue paper while opening her presents and playing with all of her fun toys. She has started crawling and is now officially on the move! Kaylee and Cooper also had an amazing Christmas... they are so fun as well and Cooper really "got" Christmas this year. Kaylee is the best big sister ever and helped him with opening his toys and playing on the wii with all of their fun new stuff!

5. New Years - WELCOME 2009!! I welcomed in 2009 in Houston with my friends Kristin and Nick. They hosted a party at their house fully equipped with lots of food, drinks and rockband! I'm just about the most amazing rockband singer ever...

This holiday season was filled with family and friends. This was definitely the best way to end a great year and an even better way to begin a better 2009! I hope each of you had an amazing and BLESSED holiday season as I did.

Let's play ketchup - haha catch up I mean!

What a corny way to start off a blog! (but I'm just a corny person I guess)...

I haven't blogged in like two and a half weeks!! WOW!! I'm sure you are all on the edge of your couches wondering where I've been and what I've been up to :)

Things have been crazy as usual... work has been especially nutzo lately...we are in the process of opening two new restaurants (one whole new concept) so it's been very exciting and busy around Bailey and Bailey Restaurants. I have spent more time in Cedar Hill it seems than at my own house but that is ok - the effort is worth the payoff :)

We are gearing up for a super busy month in October - we have weddings and wedding showers galore to be prepared for :) It will be fun to watch two sets of our dear friends tie the knot in October.

Kristi and I will also be a vendor at a HUGE craft show on Oct. 17 - Oct. 19 in Plano. Hot Tot Designs will be on display for all the world to see :) - Come see us we will be at Plano Centre
If you can't make it you should tell two friends - tell them to tell two friends..... and so on and so on.... :)

We had a super fun weekend last weekend... Friday night I went to the Ranger game with Cayla and Hunter ... so much fun to see them even though they live so close I don't see them often enough.

Saturday ... was Oktoberfest in Addison - celebrated the non existent-German heritage :) it was a great reason to get a good brat and a cold bier... also watched the Aggies loose pathetically to Miami.... GO AGS!

Monday I went to the Ranger game AGAIN but this time with Jessica... we had such a fun time - Can't beat a girls night at the ballpark! You can indulge in gluttony ... cotton candy, ice cream, nachos - YUMMY!!!!!!

Last Friday was my precious niece's 8th birthday - I can't believe Kaylee is 8! The fam celebrated Sunday night at my mom's house! Kaylee picked Spaghetti with Salad, Green beans, and rolls for her birthday dinner! It was fantastic - one of my favorite meals that my mom makes and birthday cake with ice cream...can't get any better than that!

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend....I promise to blog more frequently :)

xoxoxo

Sadness and Comfort

I am so thankful for so many things, my friends, my family, my health.

I learned late last week that my sister's best friend growing up was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is 31 and has two young children (4 & 2). She is a strong woman of God and her faith runs deeper than most. I find comfort in knowing that she will heal completely and live a life that will be fulfilling and long.

Her family was my family growing up - she has a brother one year older than me and her and my sister were the same age. As kids our parents would go out together on the weekends and we would stay home and mostly get into trouble. Me and her brother would bug the heck out of our older siblings as little brothers and sisters normally do. From my memory, I think we even created a band once called the "Four A's" (our first names all started with A). We overflowed the toilet at my mom's house more than once - causing numerous problems, not only with our parents but with the septic tank as well... not to mention the carpet, towels and all items used to clean up our messes....but it was all in good fun and created memories. Memories that I haven't thought about in years....

I think about my sister right now - I know what she's feeling - as I too have gone through this with my best friend. A different type of cancer on a different body part, but cancer none the less. It is hard when you see your friend go through something that you know nothing about. You can relate on most subjects when it comes to hard times, parental issues, significant other issues, etc but when it it something that you haven't faced; something as serious as a cancer diagnosis your whole world turns upside down and you no longer have a realm of understanding of what they are going through. All you can do is be there. Be there to cry with them, be there to love them, be there to pray for them.

I had never experienced prayer like I did when Jessica was diagnosed. I always had signs in my life that God was with me and I always had my faith in knowing that He was our Savior - but never had I experienced the power of prayer until her medical condition was revealed. It was amazing. A feeling indescribable with words. I hold true to the fact that this will be the same for April.

So I ask you today, if you came across this blog - please pray for April and her family as they forge through this journey.

God is good -