Dallas Weekend Omission of Very Impotant Evening

But I promise, it wasn't my fault!!!

I swear there was a whole big-ole paragraph about getting to eat dinner with my darling cousin/ MofH Jess & her boyfriend Michael on Sunday night! She left me a sad comment, so I went back & re-read it, and it was missing! I know that sometimes when I highlight all the text to change the color, some stuff gets deleted or moved around, but I usually catch it, because it usually does it in the middle of words or other paragraphs... All I can think is that it got deleted, but cleanly, so I didnt catch that something was missing... So here is the missing event:

Sunday night, James & I met up with my darling cousin/ MofH Jess, and her boyfriend Michael. We ended up being a bit late to her house because of my inability to pull James away from the attractions of Fair Park, so by the time we got there, the poor things were starved. They took us to a YUMMMMMY gourmet pizza place... you know it's going to be good if they refer to their pizzas as "Pies". It was so nice to get to be with them... particularly Michael, because we so rarely get to see him outside of Best-Behavior-ENTIRE-Family-Mode. Unfortunately (because we were so late, I'm afraid), by the time we got back to Jess' place, it was past Mikey's bedtime, and he had to go home, so we just went in for a quick looksey around... James had never been there before, and Jess has tons of pics from when we were kids & in college & stuff. I am so jealous of how cute her place is... She had it all decorated up for fall... cute little punkins & leaves & cute dishes & stuff. In fact, at her inspiration, I am going to Hobby Lobby tomorrow to get James' place all Fall'd up.

So, Jess, this one's for you... I'm sorry!!!! I promise, it was COMPLETELY inadvertant!!!

Texas/ OU Weekend

Last weekend, we traveled to James' Mecca: the State Fair for Texas- OU Weekend.

This was my first state fair experience, and I must say, it is definitely better than the Poteet
Strawberry Festival. Don't tell James I said this, but it was actually pretty much the same, except on a bit larger scale, and that it wasn't so dusty- everything was paved, and a lot of the exhibits (buy a hot-tub, get your teeth whitened, adopt a pet rock, etc) were indoors and air conditioned. I was incredibly grateful to one exhibit in particular: the Tempur-pedic Mattress Test Center. I laid down & had a 20 minute zzz.

All weekend, the weather was beautiful, and we both got pretty lobstered, so I actually had to push back my bridal portrait date, so I wouldn't be all red & peely. oops.

Friday night, we had dinner with a few tailgating friends that had also made the trip up to Dallas. They were originally from Dallas, so they took us to this GREAT Mexican restaurant on the South East side of Dallas... I knew it would be good, because all the businesses around had all their signs in Spanish. There were two 9-piece mariachi bands playing, and one of our friends (who had already consumed about 14 margaritas too many) knew ALL the words to EVERY song. And sang along LOUDLY. And he cannot carry a tune in a bucket. It was a bit embarrassing, but hilarious. Eventually, he called the band over to "honor" James & me with a few songs as an engagement present... They played 10 songs. At $15 a pop. It was a long night.

We stayed in a Westin, which was really nice (we got a great deal, courtesy of hotwire.com); there was a double shower head (yum!), valet parking, and the bedding in our room was FANTASTIC. A little card said that the "Heavenly Bed" was all for sale, and the cost of the feather bed, 400 thread count Egyptian Cotton sheets, feather comforter, duvet cover, and five pillows (a yummy combination of feathers & memory foam) for EACH of our full-sized beds was like $3500 ! The robe in the room was for sale too, but it wasn't as comfy as the one in the rooms at the Bellagio. Needless to say, I slept well.

The game on Saturday was a really close one, and even I actually enjoyed it. We were sitting in the end zone, and got to be a part of the "X" in a card stunt that spelled out "Texas Fight" or something. A HUGE B-52 flew directly over our heads just before the opening kickoff- it didn't matter that I was wearing orange... it all felt like a big game when I was in college. In fact, I had to keep reminding myself NOT to cheer for the red team...

Party Party Party

*whew* Big weekend!

Saturday, James and I drove alllllll the way down to Carrizo Springs for my Granddaddy's 80th birthday party at my Aunt Doris' house. Unfortunately, my mom didn't get to go, due to back problems, but that just meant Dad got to go. There were about 20 of my family there, including my cousins Jacob (works in Africa!) & Jay (lives in Atlanta), and a couple of old family friends I hadn't seen in years. I'd say the highlight of the party was when Jacob agreed to give me, Jess, & our 3 aunts a ride around town in his brand new, bright yellow H3T (nicknamed "The Short Bus"). Keep in mind that the truck is made to seat 5, there were 6 of us, and almost every woman in my family is... shall we say... bountifully blessed... in the posterior department... After hoisting each other in (my cheerleader pyramiding skills came in handy), we drove off, amidst peals of giggles, through the heart of downtown Carrizo Springs, honked and waved our way through the Sonic, and by the Mexican Rodeo (no kidding! a guy in a sombrero was riding a burro when we passed).

We spent a long night on the couches at my grandmother's house (I'll post a separate blog on that one).

Sunday afternoon was my bridal shower! I was honored that so many people came, and the hostesses did a beautiful job. The room was filled with ladies from my family, former bible class teachers, my babysitters, babysitting clients, friends parents, parents friends... it was basically a "This is Your Life" of female role models. I had been nervous about all eyes being on me, but it wasn't like that at all. Everyone was just sitting or walking around visiting, and I happened to be opening presents in the corner. Jess, Mom, & my aunt Mardi all helped with the present opening, & my cousins Carroll & Chloe acted the part of Vanna White with the presents very well. Oh yeah... and I got lotsa cool stuff.

We have a Marine!

It's been an exhausting weekend, but he's home!!!

I've known for quite some time that I've got this quality about me that seems to attract misbehaved kids, overly friendly dogs, and very strange people. Evidently, I inherited this from mom. One thing we've learned from the trip is that when you combine our magnetisms, you get to laugh at/ be annoyed by a lot of weirdo's. On the shuttle between the airport and our hotel, we met a couple of ladies that had a son and grandson in Tyler's company. Mom made the mistake of asking one of them a question, and she promptly proclaimed that she was "Aaaaarmed with knaaaaledge" in a nasal Wisconsin accent. This quickly became her nickname, and our first suspicions of doofus-ocity were quickly confirmed. And, true to our magnetism, on a base full of the family of the nearly 600 recruits, every time we turned around, there she was. EVERY. TIME. Anyway, she provided a lot of laughs...

We arrived on base a little after 7 on Thursday morning, only to find out that there was almost no shade, almost nowhere to sit, and we would not get to see Ty until 10:30, and would not get to talk to and hug him until 1. Also, the green flag was up, announcing that it was too hot for certain people to work out. After months of Ty's letters containing many brrrs & shivers, we arrive, and its about 90 & sunny. And what do we hear from James? Oh yeah, it's 65 in Austin. argh. Also, the base seems to be located in some sort of wormhole that makes time pass at half the speed of smell.

Ok, so enough whining... at 9:30, a drill sergeant came out to yell at us all the rules of the base. There are a LOT. For an hour. Finally, at 10:30, all the boys came out for their final run as recruits, a four mile run called the "MotoRun" (it stands for something about "Motiviation").
They came marching out in formation, and since they had us lined up by platoon, Ty ended up almost right in front of us. We knew they couldn't turn their heads, but you could see all the boys eyes scanning the cheering crowd for their families. I think this may have been my favorite part of the whole day. We finally spotted our boy in the back row and waved & cheered more than we ever did at any of his football games...Tyler's eyes landed on us, lit up, and it was so obviously all he could do to keep from breaking into a huge grin. We could actually see him biting his cheeks to keep from laughing. The boys took off for their run, and Mom said it was cruel to dangle them so close to us, but not let us have them. We were all herded into a theater to watch a film & get yelled some more rules, while the boys finished their run. We watched them run back up, and got to see them from afar for another minute before they had to hit the showers.

After what seemed like hours later, we headed to the parade deck for the noon drill parade whatsit, followed by the moment everyone bought the plane tickets for. They had base liberty time from 1-5:45, so immediately after the parade, they were finally released to our hungry arms.

After the whole day in the sun, I developed a fever, and fell into bed the minute we got back to the hotel, and stayed there until I was roused sometime in the 5s on friday morning. Again, we arrived on base in the early 7s (that was the latest the shuttle could take us), but this time we were a bit smarter about it & tried to hang out inside as much as possible. The graduation ceremony (during which a little girl sitting behind me kept standing on my rear...) started at 10:00, and lasted until about 11:30, and was very cool and all, but the result below was all we cared about.

Ok, sorry this took soooo long for you to read, but I was asked for the play-by-play, so.... you got it. It's sooooooo incredibly good to have him home.

PS: Out of all the almost 600 recruits, Tyler was the second best gun-shooter-person. :) cant you tell i learned all the terms?

helloooo from San Diego...

I could input a crude "Anchorman" joke here.... but I'll refrain... I am very mature that way...

My parents and I left Pleasanton in the 7s for the airport this morning. Got to see an amazing sunrise, & mom & dad treated me to a lively chorus of "Red Rubber Ball". We had some amazing stickybuns at this little bakery in San Antonio. Yes, I got icing down my shirt & in my hair. None on my elbows or feet though, so yay me.

We arrived in San Diego (via Houston), but I have no idea what time. Somehow this time change business does not register in my brain. After a bit of a "Clampetts go to Maui" type checkin, we got settled in our room for a big fat nap. Had dinner at a Yummm restaurant that was literally on the bay. We rolled back to our room, (not because we are hip & use cool lingo, but because we were so full, we actually had to be rolled) and since I am not a fan of waking up in the 5s, I decided to go ahead & wash my hair for tomorrow. After nearly an hour of trying to blowdry my hair, it still was not dry, and I was beyond frustrated. My sweet dad finished blowdrying it for me, just like he did when I was small! Dad really is a peach... a bit odd sometimes, but a complete peach.

I really am going to have to get a new blow dryer... although maybe all blowdryers get tired & smell like theyre burning after being on for that long...

anyway, who cares... I GEDDA HUG MY TYLER TOMORROW!!!!! I bet he'll be all pretty in his uniform...

you have a baby.... in a bar...

Sunday, James & I went to Pleasanton for a poker tournament. It was held in the local dance hall, which I had never been to. Even though it was in the afternoon, and hardly anyone was there, the whole place was hazy with years of heavy cigarette smoke & smelled of sweaty cologne & stale alcohol. Blegh.

The front of the building is small, just a bar with a few tables & a jukebox, then, you have to go through a hallway to the main dancehall/ stage in the back. Evidently, they rent out the space for parties and such, because the remains of the most recent shindig were still there during the poker tournament.

Hanging from the ceiling, there were bright pink, heart shaped signs declaring, "Baby's First Birthday!!!"

Updated Date!!!!

Change your calendars everyone, the New Official Date is:

December 27th, 2008!

We really wanted to have the wedding in my parents backyard, so we pushed back the date to accommodate for the repairs from the vandalism.