Let's be honest, you have a second to spare!

If you are taking time out of your very busy day to read my silly blog then you have (literally) 5 seconds to spare to vote for this precious little boy. I have received this from a couple of friends and it is just so incredible. I am going to paste the e-mail and the photo below. *Please Note: my mom even called me this morning to ask if I had received this e-mail and said, "You need to blog about him!" When momma tells you to do something, by golly, you do it!

Hi - strange request but I could use your help for a friend. She is my best friend from high school (Lori Fogarty). She has a son that was born one week before Tori (yes, we were pregnant at the same time - how fun is that?). Anywho, when Richard was born he was born with Poland's syndrome and without one of his hands and is missing the pectoral muscle on the same side. Richard is the strongest, most amazing child and kids in his class when he was in kindergarten would tuck their arms into their sleeves with only their elbow hanging out so they could "be more like Richard" because he was "so cool".

Richard is now 8 ½ and Neiman Marcus solicited children for their ideas for the Christmas Trees in the downtown Dallas windows of Neiman's. Richards tree was chosen and he got the chance to work with the designers at Neimans to build his tree. His idea was to build a tree of all the gifts that Scottish Rite Hospital has given to children he has met over the years (wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, crutches and the like). They were so impressed in working with him that Home and Garden Television (HGTV) recently did a story on the Neiman's trees and wanted to interview Richard for their story. So now . Neimans chose 6 trees and they were unveiled last week in downtown Dallas. They have opened up voting to the public for our favorite tree and well . here I am shamelessly asking you to go and vote for Richard because I know how deeply winning this would be for him. He has struggled with so many things that other little boys unknowingly take for granted and I have watched he and his family struggle and grow stronger over the years. Just last month Richard was told by one of his teachers that if she were his mother she wouldn't have bought him tie shoes she would buy him Velcro shoes as she watched him struggle to tie his shoes on the playground. He came home in tears. He and Lori worked for literally years to learn to tie his shoes so he could wear tie shoes like his brothers and his friends. I can't imagine how I would have reacted . but not Lori . She just told him that "well, Richard, this is why god gave you to me - because he knew I wouldn't sell you short. You can wear tie shoes and tie them just like all the other boys - and I am raising you to be a man and a man you are already becoming."

I want him to win this one and I want his mom to have this win for him (and for her too). I want her to have the first place award so she can beat that crappy teacher up with it. I want it for Lori because of the challenges she has faced with the schools and our community. I have a hard time writing and talking about him because of how deeply I have experienced this struggle from the outside and how deeply I love my friend and cannot begin to imagine the strength she has had to muster for things I know I have unknowingly taken for granted as a mother. Sorry for the diatribe but if you could help me by voting for Richards tree on the Neimans website (notice the prosthetic hands reaching to the sky he designed at the top ...). I'll keep you posted on the results. Below is a picture of his tree, of him (that Lori sent me), and of the link to vote. Vote Here!

Now, he had me at "hello" and I have already gone and voted. I'm not going to lie, he is kickin' boot-tay and probably doesn't even need your vote to win. But this is just so cool. I don't have children (although I do want them someday), and I could never begin to say that I understand a mother's love or the hopes and dreams of having a happy and healthy child. I am sure every mother wishes for perfection and dreams of a healthy baby with 10 fingers and 10 toes and everything else perfect in-between. And I also do not know this family and have no idea what his parents are like, but I would venture to think that they got much more than they could have ever hoped and dreamed for. I can only imagine that they are immensely proud....heart bursting with joy PROUD at the young man their child has become. What a blessing for us all! Merry Christmas!

Fabulous Find Friday...Baby it's cold outside!

I live in Texas because I'm not really a cold weather girl. We did a short stint in Oklahoma and even that was a bit too cold for me! I really don't know how people on the East Coast do it. And you can FORGET about me ever thinking of living in a place like Green Bay, WI. Just watching the Packers take on the Seahawks in what I can only image to be the most miserable game EVER gave me chills, which I think eventually turned into a cold!

Photo by: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Photo by: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Photo by: Andy Manis/Associated Press

I've got 3 words for ya...NOT.WORTH.IT. Not one thing would be worth that.

It has now dipped into the 40's here in Austin, TX and last night we even hit freezing! I will say that a bit of a cool weather change is nice, and I have LOVED building fires! I guess I can't really call it "building" a fire when all I technically did was turn on the gas and hold a lighter up to the gas logs. But I have now had 2 fires and I love it! I've busted out my jackets and I'm ready for the winter! I mentioned once before that I love coats. I am a pretty simple dresser....jeans and a turtleneck...so I think the coat makes me feel accessorized. who knows!! In case you're in the market for a great new coat for this season, I have decided to show off a few of my current favorites.

I really like the style of this Old Navy pea coat. It comes in Green, Blue and this fun fuchsia. At $79.50 you can't beat it!

This Old Navy canvas coat is perfect for times when a light-weight jacket will do the trick. With a $25 price tag you can get one in every color!

I love the puffer jackets from GAP! This coat is perfect when you're running to the store, heading out for a few runs on the ski slopes, or just need a comfortable casual jacket.

This is a great everyday coat. It comes in a gorgeous fuchsia as well as heather gray and black. It's on sale at Banana Republic for $99! Tell Santa!

I love it. Yeah, it's a leopard fur coat. Expect no less. And it's FAUX FUR, so grrr baby...very grrr! It's not cheap, but it sure is adorable!

I love this long red wool coat from Banana Republic. Very sophisticated! Grab it while it's on sale!

Mother: You're welcome! Here is the mustard jacket you've been looking for! This is a great twist on the standard pea coat. I love the stand-up neck and it comes in other great colors!

Happy Winter my friends!!

Deck the Halls

Merry Merry! I love Christmas! It excites me to put up the tree, decorate with lights and smell my Candy Cane Tyler Candle! I'm not going to lie, it makes me a happier person! I come home from work and the timers have already turned on my Christmas tree and outside lights and a smile comes over my face as I walk into a festive home ready to celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! How could that not be exciting???

Last year was our first Christmas as husband and wife. We got married on January 6th, so we just missed it in 2006! It was so fun to put up our tree and decorate together. I say together....most of it was me and a lot of it was him sitting right next to me watching a football game, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. :) Because we got married so close to Christmas we got a lot of ornaments and Christmasy things for our wedding. I didn't use it on my tree in 2006 because we weren't married yet and I wanted it to be "ours". It was like opening it all again for the first time in 2007! It was so special.

This year was once again special as we have moved into our first home and we have spent the last 2 weekends working on Christmas lights and Christmas trees and garland here and there. It is pretty much all done and now we can just enjoy the season! I did start to put up my tree before Thanksgiving because I knew we would be out of town for the holiday and I wanted to come home to Christmas! My plan worked perfectly. :) And thanks to Delilah, who has been playing Christmas music since Halloween (Ay-Yi-Yiy!!) I was able to turn on Mariah Carey singing "All I want for Christmas is You" while I was sweating stringing lights! Yes, it was still 85 degrees outside!

Christmas is here my friends! Get on board! Ho-Ho-Ho!!

Our special tree! This has precious ornaments collected through the years. Like the Old World "Wedding Cake" ornament my sister gave me Christmas of 2005 when David and I had just gotten engaged, and the little clown ornament given to us by David's aunt and uncle our first Christmas that originated from his grandmother and grandfather's tree!

This year I found Santa a job!

Dave stringing the lights!

And this is the tree in our formal living room. I bought the ornaments to match the furniture in that room and didn't even think about the fact that they are Texas Tech's colors. Dave was with me at Hobby Lobby and said NOTHING until we got home. Then he gloated that we get to show our Red Raider pride to the whole neighborhood since this is in our front window. To err is human my friends.

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie

Move Over Martha!

Moving is expensive! You have movers, set-up of all of your accounts, the first trip to the grocery store, Hobby Lobby runs, etc. And if it's your first house, of course there are things like water hoses, lawn mowers, rakes, shovels, GRILLS, ladders, that are needed to make the world go 'round. We have been no exception to this expensive rule and so we decided we would not buy any furniture and for the time being, just work with what we have. Of course, there are tons of things that I have wanted for this house, and I KNOW that it's not all going to be perfect on day one, but there are just many ideas that I have. Insert the neighbor's garage sale....Dave was leaving to make a Home Depot run and the lady down the street had a buffet for sale. He called me and in 30 seconds flat I had my tennies on and was out the door.

It wasn't the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen, but it had potential. Remind me of this word if I EVER use it again. :) I ended up getting it for a steal of a deal! She told me it was an antique and not to tell her mother. I told her I wouldn't tell her mother she sold it for a steal if she wouldn't tell her I was going to paint it black! My mother in law is cringing right now!

I gave her the $$ and called Dave and told him to pick it up on his way back home from Home Depot. 45 minutes later I was the proud owner of a dirty old buffet cabinet. Woo-hoo!! My wheels started turning with Martha Stewart ideas of it decorated in all of it's buffet glory. Insert the p word...the potential I was telling you about. Potential means you have to work to get greatness. What a pain in the booty! I was so excited and started sanding and stripping and painting. The problem is that I get home from work everyday at 5:30 and by the time I could get all my junk out and start painting it was already dark. Each night I got like 30 minutes of work done. It was taking me forever! Thank goodness for spray paint! I literally had half of the thing painted and decided to bust out a can of $2.99 spray paint. Done and done!

So, here my friends is the finished buffet cabinet. I'm a bargain shopper!! Also, I do still need to put the knobs on it. Next year, I'm hoping to have a big mirror over it and I already have an idea of how I want it decorated for Christmas. :) Can't wait!

I started painting and realized this was a blog-worthy project, so I didn't get a complete "Before" shot.

Look at her all "primed" up

And here she is ladies and gentlemen! Minus her drawer pulls of course! She'll get them this weekend. :)

The Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to my sister!! Today we get to celebrate you, Kristen and I'm so glad you were in town for honeypots and shopping trips! Kristen was given the pick of birthday cakes, pies, cobblers, whatever she wanted and she chose honeypots. That would be coffee ice cream, salted peanuts and honey. It sounds gross, but it's really so good! She also asked for the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen coffee table book for her birthday. It was a one of a kind birthday celebration, you can say that for sure!

I love you! We have so much fun together and I couldn't ask for a better sister. Thank you for always being there for me and always giving me someone to giggle with or listening when I need to cry. You are such a woman of God and I am so proud of the woman you have become. Happy birthday! And I miss you already. :)

Turkey Time!

My holiday was great. How was yours? We took full advantage of family time, ate amazing food, had a LOT of laughs and did a little shopping. We started the holiday festivities with Posadas Mexican food on Wednesday night. We sat down at the table and learned it was still happy hour. Thanks began right then as Mike, nana AND papa took part in the good fortune. The margaritas literally came out the size of a fishbowl and I knew there was no way nana and papa could EACH take one down. They tried to prove me wrong.

Taylor, Kristen, Dave and I were at the end of the table and we were not short on laughs. Of course, with Taylor, you're never short on inappropriate jokes/comments. The fact that my grandmother, who is NOT hard of hearing, was right next to me was not lost. I honestly don't remember laughing so hard for so long. We had to put a moratorium on the "That's what she said" jokes. The best though, was when I mentioned how weird I think it is that schools can be named ___ State when they are not state schools. For example, Appalachian State. Ball State. Midwestern State. I don't get it. Oklahoma State, Texas State, Michigan State....that I understand. Anyways, the comment was made and then I was trying to think of more examples. Dave, Taylor and I started thinking of them and then it became funny that Kristen couldn't think of a single one. We went on and on and we were rolling laughing and finally, Taylor said, "Ok, Kristen...this team won the College World Series last year." ...Crickets....blank stares. "Ok, a fruit stands sells 'blank' fruit." Kristen guesses, "Ripe fruit? Good fruit?" We all exchange glances and start to laugh. Let's try this again... Taylor says, "You cut up what kind of fruit to put on top of cereal?" Kristen finally guesses "FRESH fruit?" Good!!! Now Taylor says, "you go skiing on what?" Kristen, "Snow?" Now we're getting somewhere! Taylor says, "Put it together!" Kristen answers, "SNOW FRESH State?" Collective, "Are you kidding me??" Taylor then said, "Switch it around." Kristen, again, "Fresh-Snow State? Fresno State!!" She finally got one! It was so funny, and I feel sure it won't be as funny to you reading the story.

It's always funny getting together with extended family. Dave and I spent time with each of our families, and I have chosen my 3 favorite quotes of the long weekend to share with you.

1. This came from my Papa while he was enjoying his margarita. Taylor said to him, "Papa, you better start working on that. You've still got a ways to go!" Then, we began teasing him and chanting, "Chug-chug-chug-chug!" Papa proceeded to turn his hat and say, "I'm going to turn my hat sideways like fifty-cents." I love that he put an "s" on the end. Then, "Yeah, me and P.Daddy are like this (crossing fingers)" Then the following photo was taken.

2. Mom, Kristen, Dave and I were in the car on the way home from dinner and Kristen asked what Thanksgiving day would consist of. Mom explained that for the first time, both the Cowboys AND Texas played on the same day, so there would be no bowling. To which Kristen replied, "So, we'll pretty much be vertical all day?"

3. I was talking to Dave's cousin who is 9 years old and I asked him about his girlfriend. He replied, "No, she broke up with me. She said she was thinking about me too much!" LOVE IT!!!

Thanksgiving was wonderful and we have so much to be thankful for! I truly am blessed to have a wonderful family and wonderful in-laws to celebrate with. I know how lucky I am!

UMM....Sign me up for one of these please!

A freaking ADORABLE Asian toddler singing The Lord's Prayer that is... You will smile the whole time. Guaranteed! She is so CUTE!!

We're Normal...

This is what my family constantly says to one another. Not because we actually believe it, just because we try to make ourselves believe it. :) Truth is, we have a lot of fun. We might be slightly off, get into each other's business and eat ham instead of turkey at Thanksgiving, but we sure do laugh a lot!

Now, before you all FREAK out that I just admitted that we don't do turkey, take 3 deep breaths and count to 10. We have chicken and dressing...it's still a type of bird! Don't count us out, we do the green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, pies, etc etc. We're pretty legit on everything else except the turkey. Dave about died the first Thanksgiving when we sat down to the table and he didn't see the turkey....oops! I guess I omitted that information because it didn't seem weird to me.

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time with family though! I always look forward to it. One of our pre-Thanksgiving traditions is going to eat Mexican food when everyone gets into town. We are a queso and enchilada loving family. We know we won't see anything but dressing and giblet gravy for 3 days, so we hit the sauce (hot sauce that is!) and begin the holiday fan-fare. Another family tradition is bowling. We always bowl on Thanksgiving night. Nothing else is open and we have watched football and eaten all day. We need to get out before we go stir crazy!! What better way to get a little family friendly competition going but to hit the local lanes?? We also throw up nana's Christmas lights at halftime of the Cowboy's game. Literally, Taylor, Dave, Dad and papa (as the supervisor) head outside as the teams head to the locker room and garland and lights go flying into place. By kickoff of the second half Nana and Papa's house is ready for carolers!

I can't wait for Taylor and Kristen to hit town! I miss them both so much and look forward to the holidays! I hope you and your family have a fabulous turkey day!!

Fabulous Find Friday!

The holidays are here! We know because Macy's is playing Christmas music, Hobby Lobby has 900 trees up, and you have received invitations or "save the dates" for about 12 Christmas parties. It's all fun and games until you have nothing to wear! I have received a couple of e-mails asking for a few "Holiday Party outfit options" and I am happy to oblige! I have chosen a few things that I find adorable and I have tried to hit several price points. When you have many entrances to make it can get costly! Good thing my friends throw casual parties. :)

Let's get down to business!

This dress is so cute and classy! Very feminine.

This cute little number is from the GAP and you know it was love at first sight for me with those ruffles! (But please don't stand like this at your party!!)

This dress is so fun and can be worn again and again!

Classy and elegant, this dress would be perfect for any Christmas party and it could double as the perfect little number for your Christmas Eve service at church

This is the perfect outfit for your office party. I love the tuxedo look! I'm not crazy about the shoe pairing, but I know they're in....

So cute and so red! This dress is Jackie O meets Angelina Jolie...sexy and sophisticated! No worries...if black is your signature color, it comes in black too!

I.LOVE.THIS.DRESS. This is the type of dress that "that girl" would have the guts to wear and I would think all night about how adorable she looks in it! You could be THAT GIRL!

I can't wait to hear about what you choose for your parties. Be sure and send your fancy party pics my way!

Dear lady in line in front of me at Hobby Lobby....

You are a craft lover and have dreams of crafting glory! I know this because you were buying 8,000 little things to complete your crafting adventure. I've never seen so many pine cone pics, ribbon, little butterfly sticker thingies, yarn, paint pens, scrapbook paper, glue guns, ornaments, and the necessary components of any holiday masterpiece in one cart before! In your defense, everything looked strangely familiar to the upcoming end-of-year holiday outside of those butterfly sticker thingies. What, may I ask, were those for??

I'm so glad you are crafty but I am not thrilled that you were right in front of me in line. You turned and looked at me, I smiled, you smiled, you noticed that I had ONE THING in my hand, you turned and continued putting your little pic things one-at-a-time onto the counter. I could have paid and been gone like lightening before you got all your butterflies out of your basket. There is no "10-items-or-less" express lane at Hobby Lobby. In fact, at any given time there are only 2 checkers all under the age of 16. So survey the area and let homegirl with one measly picture frame move on about her day. But I'm not bitter. Nope. I only wish I could see the fruits of your labor with those butterfly thingies.

Until we met again....
T-Rog

Happy Birthday Teeny!

Did any of you have friends with a super cool grandmother? You know, one that had hot pink nails, a mustang convertible and neon shades of lipstick? Well, I was the lucky kid, because that describes my Nana! She was always SO cool and I would go with her to the nail shop and get to dip my hands in the paraffin wax while she got some shade of coral or hot pink painted on. Every Saturday she would get her hair done, so Thursday-Saturday (before hair) we could ride with the top down in her 1988 Mustang Convertible! To an 8 year old, this was the height of hip!! That same Thursday-Saturday time frame applied to going underwater in her swimming pool. When she knew she would be getting her hair done, we would have tea parties on the bottom of the pool and giggle and swim for hours! Nana would always cut up a cantaloupe for our snack by the pool.

Three Generations

I was, and AM so lucky to have her in my life. I never had to worry if a grandparent would show up for "grandparent's day" in grade school. Nana would always take off work to come sit next to me in the lunchroom, make me feel special, and get her little star name tag saying "Tiffany's Nana" in return. When I was in high school we moved to Duncan, Oklahoma. I was a cheerleader, so Friday night was my stage. Nana and papa would drive the 2.5-3 hours to watch me. They never wanted to miss our events. The same holds true for Taylor and Kristen. They never miss anything!

Nana and Papa at one of Taylor's many baseball games

We are such blessed kids to have them in our lives. I am so glad to be celebrating another year of my Nana! Happy birthday Teeny!! (She got the nickname teeny because we kept growing and I think she might be shrinking....she's our teeny tiny! Especially when she stands next to Taylor!!)

Nana with Taylor at Tulane

My favorite people

Girl's trip to Galveston for the week

Race for the Cure 2006- Nana walked the ENTIRE way!

Love you Nana!!

Where you been girl??

Where HAVEN'T I been is a better question! I was in Waco, TX, home of the Baylor Bears, on Thursday and Friday. Houston, TX, home of....**EDIT: smog, taffic, the Texans, the Astros and Rockets....on Saturday and part of Sunday, and Jarrell, TX, home of cows and such the rest of Sunday. It was a totally fun weekend, but I feel like I've traveled Texas!

I was in Waco for a conference for work and it was really fun. I only wish I had had time for some Christmas shopping at Spice! Alas, I did not. I might need to make a supplemental trip North on I-35 for that one. I got home Friday and did laundry and got ready for our trip to Houston to celebrate Mary Lee and Richard's wedding! We got up Saturday, ran some errands, then high-tailed it to H-Town.

Goin' to the chapel! Mary Lee was gorgeous! She looked so happy and everything was just as I thought "Mary Lee's wedding" would be. At the reception I had some good food, watched the crew set up for Madonna's concert on Sunday, ate an AMAZING piece of both white AND chocolate cake and called it a night!

Watching the crew put together the stage for the Material Girl

How cute is the groom's cake??

ML's cake...and it was just as good as it was gorgeous!!

I would be denying you if I failed to mention our sightings in the hotel lobby. When we got in from the wedding, we sat by the fire in the lobby and did a little bit of "people-watching". Um....it was awesome! It would have been too blatant for me to take pictures so you will have to settle for a mental picture. With Madge being in town for her concert on Sunday, you would not believe who came out of the wood works....2 ladies from New Orleans came and sat next to us and decided they were our best friends forever! They were CRAZY and probably mid 50's. They both had on jeans, knee boots over their jeans, and lots of perfume. You go girls! There were also some plus-sized ladies in minimal clothing. Nick and Dave were not as subtle as they thought they were when pointing them out!! In all, it was a great time!

Sunday, we returned to Austin, picked up mom, and headed to the ranch! Our SS class had a family day out at the Walter's ranch and it was so much fun! We toured the ranch on 4-wheelers, the kids went on a hay ride (not going to lie I was kind of bitter! I wanted to go on the hay ride, but decided I wouldn't run over a small child in my own selfish efforts), fished, had a bon-fire, made s'mores and drank hot apple cider. It was fabulous and made me completely appreciate the day. We had been going non-stop. Honestly, we have been going non-stop for weeks and weeks now. This was one more thing on the to-do list. We had committed to go to the party at the ranch and so we did. But once we got there, we really enjoyed ourselves and time moved slower.

What a handsome fisherman.

These guys were staring straight at me.

Mom and I were happy campers after our s'more!!

Dave and Jen roasting the 'mallow

Today, I start another busy week. Work is going to be CRAZY! But my challenge to myself is to enjoy it. Enjoy my week, enjoy my family, and love this Fall weather!!

Wedding Crashers

This weekend we will have the privilege of watching Mary Lee and Richard tie the knot. They make a wonderful couple and I am really looking forward to celebrating with them as they make a lifelong commitment to one another. I've been thinking about what I will wear, who I will get to catch up with, who will take a cute picture of Dave and I so we can update our "couple" photos...you know, the usual thoughts before a "dress-up" event.

There was a time when we were wedding-goin' fools. It seemed like every third weekend there was a wedding. And every weekend in between there was a shower, couple's shower, bachelor/bachelorette party. Don't get me wrong, good times were had by all! We LOVED getting to see our friends on a very regular basis, but now we are on the slow-down. We haven't had any weddings yet this year, so it's time.

We have had some great times on each of our friends dime (or their wonderful father's! I can say that because you all partied on MY dad's dime too. We're even!!) and I have decided to share some of my favorite moments in wedding history. :)

Party pic at Clifton and Tess' wedding

This picture cracks me up! It is SO not Dave, but we were having fun. :)

Definitely one of my best memories!

The.Loj. Dancing with Daniel's tie.

Caught!! Mom. Upon news they had cut the cake at Meredith and Nick's wedding!

I wish this weren't so dark! Great friends after the Assunto's wedding.

The boys, kickin' at at Robyn and Cole's wedding.

Beat It.

There really is no explanation. We were taking pictures after Allison and Ryan's wedding and the boys got rowdy. Cole decided it would be a great idea to run and jump at James. James managed to turn and catch him mid-air. The next photo on my camera is of them both laying on the ground. Boys will be boys.

So here's to ML and Richard! We're looking forward to a great time!

"Jeremy: Rule #35: never commit to a relative unless you're absolutely positive they have a pulse.
John: Rule #15: give me an up-to-date family tree, that was your mistake. You just made me look like an idiot.
Jeremy: Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion!" ~ Wedding Crashers