So it's been about a month and a half since I last updated. I've been too busy and lazy to update!!

I'll put some pics up eventually (I do put pics on facebook more frequently than on my blog).

We moved! We are all moved into our new house in Dallas. We've been here a little more than two weeks. I've been so busy b/c in addition to moving almost 2000 miles in our own car with a trailer, I've also moved in, unpacked a lot of stuff already, painted 3 closets, tore down paneling from an entire floor-to-12 ft ceiling living room, tore down half-wall paneling from the kitchen, refinished, re textured, and painted the living room, changed all the plug outlets and a few light switches, took down 3 sets of cabinets in the kitchen, and removed a small wall coming from the ceiling in the kitchen.

Needless to say, not only have I not had time to blog, but I also haven't been able to type due to my scabbed-over and throbbing hands! I always knew I was quite handy, but I have to admit, I've impressed myself this time.

Anyway... kids are great. Ben is great. I'm great. Travis is in 1st grade and has already adjusted quite well at his new school. Kinsey is my little cling-on, but I hate to admit, I think she loves tv more than she loves her mom! Which has been great b/c I've logged in 10-12 hour days remodeling the house.

I told her the other day, "Kinsey, I'm so sorry I've made you watch tv for so long today. I promise I'll finish all this work soon so that I can spend time with you."

Her reply, "Thats okay mom. I luuuuuuvvvvvvvveeeee tv!!!!!!!"

Whoops. Gotta work on that.

Have a merry christmas everyone and enjoy your holiday. I know I will b/c Ben will actually be home using vacay time for the next 2 weeks!!! Not only will he NOT be traveling and away from us, but he'll actually be HOME and NOT WORKING!

Peace out.

You say tomaeto, we say tomahto

In Texas I learned how to talk. In New Jersey I learned how to talk all over again. I'm glad that my choice of words has entertained so many New Jerseians on a daily basis! :)

I say... / They say...

Beach / Shore

Tennis Shoes / Sneakers

Grocery Store / Food Store

Grocery Cart / Buggie

Stroller / Buggie

Wahterr / Whatah

Jersey / Joisee

New York or Manhattan / The City

Y'all / "'Y'all' hahahahaha 'y'all' y'all' hahaha oh my gosh that is so funny! y'all"

New Jersey Turnpike / Turnpike

Garden State Parkway / The Parkway


I'll add more as they come to me.

10 things...

Top 10 Things I WONT MISS About New Jersey:

10. Too-narrow check-out lanes at the Grocery Store

9. ALL Costco Employees at the Costco in Eatontown

8. NO swimming pools (unless we want to pay $4k a summer for a Beach Club)

7. Elementary School & all Teachers refusing any and all Parent Involvement

6. Having to drive at least 20 minutes to get to Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Grocery Store, etc

5. Weekend Traffic on the Parkway

4. Fake-Baked, Breast Implanted, Rhinoplastied, rich, snotty, plasti-girls

3. Nannies and AuPairs instead of Parents

2. Getting my groceries from my car to my apartment through a lobby, up the elevator, and down a long hall... every week

1. Totally RUDE and SNOTTY people (mainly employees) in general



Top 10 Things I WILL MISS About New Jersey:

10. Spring, Summer, and Fall (and never getting above 85 degrees!)

9. Celebrity Sightings (So far we've seen Bruce Springstein several times!, Kelly Rutherford aka Lily Van Der Woodsen from Gossip Girl, and Ken Paves aka Celebrity Stylist)

8. Attendants pumping my gas for me - it's the law! and it's SO nice!

7. Ocean Front View each day out ALL my windows

6. Billy & Heather (and of course, all my other amazing friends I've made!)

5. Eating Sushi @ Kanji

4. Beautiful wooded drive anytime you drive anywhere on the Parkway - and it's getting even better with all the leaves changing

3. Wicked

2. Weekend Road Trips exploring as much of the North East as we can cram in

1. Being so familiar with New York that I don't need a map in Manhattan anymore

For Better

I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason bringing something we must learn. And we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them and we help them in return. Well, I don't know if I believe that's true, but I know I'm who I am today because I knew you.

Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun. Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood. Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you I have been changed for good.

It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime, so let me say before we part so much of me is made of what I learned from you. You'll be with me like a hand print on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end I know you have re-written mine by being my friend.

Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea. Like a seed dropped by a sky bird in a distant wood. Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you I have been changed for good.

And just to clear the air I ask forgiveness for the thing I've done you blame me for. But then, I guess we know there's blame to share and none of it seems to matter anymore.

Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun. Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood. Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea. Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood.

Who can say if I've been changed for the better? I do believe I have been changed for the better.

And because I knew you I have been changed for good.

-Wicked "For Better" lyrics

What role do I play?

You Are the Innovator

You're the type of person who is always a step ahead of everyone else. You thrive when you're experimenting with new designs, ideas, and attitudes. You are a creative person with many talents. You have to have artistic outlets in your life. You need to create - whether it's writing furiously or redecorating your home. If not, your life becomes chaotic. You tire of doing the same thing every day. You change your job, friends, and personal style often. You are at your best when you have a focus. If not, you develop a flaky artist's temperament.

What Role Do You Play?

Our apartment is so not family friendly!

Here in New Jersey I live on floor 4 of my apartment complex. It's built like a hotel, so I have to go into the lobby and up the elevator to get to my unit.

I have to park in a parking garage across the parking lot - on floor 3.

So to get home I have to park on floor 3, take the elevator down to floor 1, walk outside the garage, across the street, into my building, up the elevator to floor 4, and then down a long hallway to my apartment.

HUGE PAIN IN THE REAR!!

Now, imagine doing this every single week with two kids AND an entire weeks worth of groceries. It's virtually impossible.

So, I park against the curb of my building, use my stroller as a make-shift grocery cart, and go up the elevator and down the hallway to my unit.

THEN, I have to take the kids back out, down the hall, down the elevator, load them up into the car, drive it into the garage, and then I have to park on floor 3, take the elevator down to floor 1, walk outside the garage, across the street, into my building, up the elevator to floor 4, and then down a long hallway to my apartment.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store. I finished putting the groceries away and got sidetracked doing something with the kids.

Fast forward to tonight at 12:30am. I finally realized (a day and a half later) that I never moved my car. So I left my kids alone in the apartment asleep (that's illegal, right?), ran down the hall, down the stair well, and outside to make sure my car wasn't towed.

Well, it wasn't. But now I have a boot on my car and I have to pay a $30 fine to get the boot removed.

Better than paying a towing company, but still!!

I'm totally annoyed about it b/c I wouldn't have had to illegally park if this complex didn't make it so hard to get my groceries from my car to my apartment!!!

On top of me having to pay $55 per month per car (2 cars) just to have the privilege of even getting to park at my own apartment complex (that, by the way, costs $3200 a month to rent from - yup, they don't give you a "free" parking pass to park at your own home!) I now have to pay an additional $30 because I parked somewhere that was slightly more convenient for me so that I could get my groceries in the door w/o the popsicles completely melting.

Argh!!!!!!

Kinsey is the new Gisele

That's hot!





Posh loves her.

Travis is a walking infomercial

Travis, I kid you not, is a walking infomercial. (He's 6.) He'll come up to me and say,

"Mom, we should buy a plant. And then, we can buy a Aqua Globe. And did you know that if you act now and call the toll free number that you can get it for only $14.99? Can you believe it, mom? Only $14.99! Plus, they will even give you a second one for free!! Mom, you HAVE to call the toll free number NOW so we can get our two Aqua Globes for only $14.99. This offer wont last long, mom, so we really need to hurry!!"

I'm not kidding! If he sees a commercial more than a few times, he walks around talking exactly in the same words and tone as the commercial. The cereal and unhealthy junk food ones are the worst!



And just in case you have been persuaded by Travis's excellent persuasion skills, here is the link where you can order your very own set of Aqua Globes!

https://www.buyaquaglobes.com/?cid=496594

Unconventional buys?

I have a thing for high heels. Whenever I go into a store, I head straight for the dressy high heel isle. I love trying them on, modeling them, and buying them. Funny thing is, I don't like wearing them. I am a comfy shoe kind of girl. I don't care how cute the shoes are, if they aren't comfy, I will not wear them. Except for Sunday to church. I might wear one of my cute pairs of high heels to church unless I'm just totally not in the mood and then I'll just wear my daily staple - Old Navy flip flops. Why do I obsess about cute high heels when I hate wearing them?

Mystery Caller Identified!

Apparently the mystery caller at 3 am was my brother in Law. LOL. I didn't have his number in my phone, so I didn't know it was him!

My sister called me and said she saw my blog and wondered why her husband's phone number was in my post. She said she fell asleep with his phone and must have rolled over onto it causing it to call me. That's why all I could hear was heavy breathing.

HAha!

Mystery Caller

This number just called me at 2:30am (1:30am 512 (Texas) time):

512-xxx-xxxx (removed for privacy purposes - see above post)

I am not sure who it is, but I could hear breathing on the other end. The person would not speak once I said "Hello".

The reason I'm so curious is because I don't live in Texas (Austin area). I live almost 2000 miles away. Plus, my own cell phone has a Dallas area code, not Austin. Plus, I'm from Austin and am familiar with the 512 area code.

I don't think it's a random prank-caller. What prank-caller from Austin would just happen to call my Dallas area code?

I tried a reverse-lookup, but they all wanted money. Maybe I'll pay the $4.95 just out of curiosity about who my prank caller is. However, the reverse lookup did tell me that the phone number is a cell phone through Sprint (I believe) out of San Marcus, but one of the sites mentioned that the address was an Austin address, just out of the San Marcus location.

So, to all my plethora of readers... if you have reverse lookup, plug in this number and tell me who my mystery caller is. I'm extremely curious!

Don't have too much fun...

http://www.ninjakiwi.com/bloons.html

I want to be, or I am?

I've said these two phrases my entire life:

"I want to be a runner."

"I want to read more books."

I never liked running or reading. In fact, during high school I loathed doing either thing. When the tennis coach would force us to run 3 miles or the English teacher would make us read another book, I would cringe. I just flat out hated it.

But, I always wanted to want to do it and enjoy it.

Last year I started running because of a bet that Ben and I had with some of his co-workers. The deal was, for all of April 2007, you had to run 20 min a day, 5 days a week. Whoever actually finished the month would earn the pot of money. (We each put in $20.) I didn't win the money, but I did gain an appreciation for running. I've been running ever since. Well, jogging is a more appropriate word I suppose. I run 3-5 days a week for anywhere from 1-5 miles. It's been 11 months and I'm still doing it. One day I finally said to hubbs, "So, at what point am I a runner? How many days a week do I have to run and how far each time? 10 miles a day?"

At that point I realized I AM a runner. I have been for 11 months. I've finally accomplished a life-long desire.

As for the reading, I read a lot. I like to read. I finally realized a few days ago that I AM a reader. I love to read. I may not know all the classics, but I do love to read.

I've accomplished two of my life-long desires and I didn't even realize it. I'm quite impressed with myself.

More good books

I just read the 3 book series by Stephenie Meyer. If you haven't read them, READ THEM. They were fun and easy to read. The first book was good, by the 2nd book I was hooked. I can't wait for the movies!

New Read

I just bought:

Water For Elephants.

I've heard really great reviews about this book. I read the Prologue and Chapter 1 so far. I think I'm going to enjoy it.

Also, I finished this book recently:

Eat Love Pray

I know several people that just didn't get it or like it at all. I, however, was not one of them. I really enjoyed the book and I really connected with the author. I feel like I really learned a lot from her journey to find peace and to grow more spiritual. The Third and final section of this book was a bit more slow for me, but all in all I really liked it. And it has good quotes in it. As soon as I get my copy back from my mom I'm going to post all the great quotes I underlined.

I just spent $42 on...

Cow Tails.

https://www.groovycandies.com/GC2Se...tails&Submit=Go

I bought 4 boxes - one in each flavor. There are 32 candies per box.

What has gotten into me?

First ever Celebrity sighting

I work out at Golds Gym here in Long Branch, NJ. It's on the first floor of my apartment complex. So... while I was running on the treadmill I started chatting it up with these two people on either side of me. They both knew each other so I was kinda in the middle of their conversation so I just jumped right in. So, anyway, I tell them I'm from Texas and they say that I can't live in NJ unless I know who Bruce Springsteen is. (Of course, you NJ ladies had already told me that!) I mention that I had heard that and that I need to buy his CD. :bag: And then the girl says,

"Well, he's right over there (and points down to the free weight area)."


She told me that he works out there every morning. So of course, I stare at him for awhile and didn't recognize him at all b/c I'm not really into that type of music....

When I got home I looked up his photo on google. Sure enough, this is the exact person who works out at the same exact gym as me... every day!

He looks exactly like this! He even has the soul patch.

Funniest TMZ post of the month

This post caught me so off guard that I almost sprayed soda on my computer when I saw it. It's pretty clever.

http://www.tmz.com/2008/02/08/stone-faces/