2000 Miles+ 5 States+ a family of 4 = VACATION!

We just got back last night from our vacation. We left last Thursday about 7am and headed for Tennessee. We didn't get too far until we hit a "road block" shall we say. There was a MAJOR wreck on I-30 going East. We were forced to sit on the highway for 2 HOURS..yes, I did say 2 HOURS!

There was an 18-wheeler that had pulled off to the shoulder and had its flares up. A little VW Passat came by and clipped the back end of the trailer and ran up underneath the truck. We still don't know if there was a medical emergency, they didn't see him or fell asleep at the wheel. Careflight had to come as well. The passenger died on impact and the driver had to be extricated from the car. I think they later died at the hospital. The truck driver wasn't hurt. Pray for this family. I know they are grieving right now.

Well... after sitting on the highway for that long we were finally able to continue on. After stopping a few times, we finally made it to our destination at about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday. We stayed with our cousin, Gladys, in TN. Friday we didn't do much. Kelly and I went into "town". It's about 15-20 minutes just to get anywhere. On Saturday, we had our family reunion. It was fun. There are a lot of people there. I don't know most of them but it's fun still the less. Sunday we went to church and just hung out at the house.

We left Monday and started to head to our next destination- Branson, MO. We took our time and stopped at a few antique places. We got to Branson on Tuesday afternoon. We had to have lunch at Lambert's. They're famous for their "throwed" rolls. If you want a hot roll, you have to catch it. So.. bring your mitt! :D

After a DELICIOUS meal, we found our hotel and rested for a little while. We had tickets to go see the new "NOAH: The Musical". We've heard great reviews about it, so we decided to go. OH MY GOODNESS!! If you happen to get the chance, it's WONDERFUL!! You actually feel like you are one of the animals on the Ark. It is expensive but it's about the same as any of the other shows up there. I'd give it 5 stars! :D

Wednesday we got up and did a little shopping. We then started heading back home. We thought we would stay in Benton, AR but the antique shops we wanted to go to weren't going to be open on Thursday. :( So, we ate dinner at Chili's and drove to my aunt and uncle's in Mt. Pleasant, TX. Hey.. it's free and we got to see our newest cousin, who is 6 months old. We got up on Thursday and spent a little time with them before heading back. We got back in about 5:30 p.m. yesterday. We unloaded the car and vegged.

It was a pretty good vacation. Mom celebrated her birthday while we were gone. It always seems to fall on vacation time!

Now it's back to reality. I'm heading back to Houston tomorrow morning. We have teacher in-service all next week, so I have to be there for that. I'll have to blog once I get my new classroom set up. Hopefully all the work is done.

Until then...



P.s. I know Mom took pictures, so I'll try to see if I can upload some. :D

Life This Past Week

Well... life this past week was fun. My friend Jeremy was in town and stayed with us for a little over a week. He left yesterday to head back to Houston to stay with some other friends of both of ours.

We went to the Mesquite Rodeo on Friday when he got here. That was fun. It was faster than I remember it being. We had pretty good seat and the riders were getting knocked off left and right!

Saturday was my birthday, so of course we had to "PARTAY"! ;)

Sunday was church and then we did a little shopping. That night we went to a church member's house and had a swim party.

Monday we went to the Frisco Roughriders game. We sat right behind home plate. It was HOT!!! We were in shade but it was still hot! The game was great. My name was on the big screen during the birthday annoucements. They won the game over the San Antonio Missions.

Tuesday we went shopping at the outlet mall in Allen. Afterwards we went to Stonebriar and did some more shopping. That night we went to see The Dark Knight and then went to dinner at Abuelos.

Wednesday we just stayed here. Jeremy went to the Rangers game that night by himself.

Thursday we went to Frisco and went shopping. That night we went to the Roughriders game again. This time my dad joined us. It was me and the guys! :) We were on the 3rd base line, so it was still HOT but the tickets we got were in what they call the "Teddy" section, which means we get to get all-you-can-eat hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks included with the price of the ticket. I liked that. ;)

Friday I had to take my car to CarMax to get the tailgate fixed. I spent most of the morning there trying to take care of it. Jeremy had to come and get me because they're not going to have it done until probably Monday or Tuesday. :(

Saturday we went to pick up a washer/dryer for my sister. Jeremy was so kind to stay and help us go pick it up and load it on the trailer. :D (Thank you Jeremy!) When we got back, he loaded up the car and headed back to Houston. Hopefully I'll be able to see him again before he leave. He's my friend that lives in England. He heads back at the end of August.

Plans for this week are to get ready for vacation. We're leaving BRIGHT AND EARLY on Thursday morning to travel to Tennessee. We have a family reunion every year at this time, so we just make it into our family vacation. Other than that, I don't plan on doing a lot.

Well.. I better go and wash some clothes so I'll have things to wear on vacation. I'll blog about vacation once we get back. Hopefully I'll have some pictures!

The Dark Knight

Okay... I like Heath Ledger. Come on.. what's there not to like! ;)

He was a good actor that just decided to leave the earth a little too early. The Dark Knight was the last movie he did. It is based on the DC Comic Batman.

This movie is cool. It has some great special effects. Jeremy, Kelly and Charles (Kelly's friend) and I went to see it last night. There was only 1 part that I didn't like but that was because it was gross. (I'm not into gross things like that! Ewww! :) )

Heath did such a great job. You didn't even realize it was him, unless you knew he was in the movie. Jeremy said he didn't realize it was him until the credits started rolling and it said that it was in memory of Heath.

Christian Bale, Maggie Gylenhall(?), Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and others were good as well.

I would recommend seeing it if you're into comics or like action movies. It was pretty good. I'd give it 3 stars.

OVER THE HILL... OFFICIALLY!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! (I'm singing this.. can't you tell! ;) )

I am officially 30 years old today... July 26th, 2008. It was 30 years ago today that I came into this lovely world. I was born at 1:10 p.m in Dallas... I think at Presbyterian Hospital.

An interesting side note about the year I was born.... It was the same year that the 1st ever test tube baby was born. She was born on July 25th, somewhere over in England. I saw her picture and stuff online the other day. Pretty cool, huh!

My family threw a party for me to celebrate. The menu consisted of brisket, smoked sausage, chicken, homemade baked beans, pasta salad, potato salad and homemade rolls. For dessert, we of course had birthday cake. My sister made it for me(see picture above). We also had my mom's famous banana pudding.

We invited several friends over and had a wonderful time of sitting around the table eating and talking.

I am thankful that God has given me these 30 years and hopeful that he will give me at least 30 more!

Nothing Much This Week

Not a lot has been going on this week. I've sort of stayed here at the house.

Let's see... what have I done:

Monday- I cleaned out my desk and rearranged some of the things at my desk... Fun.. I know but I didn't realize that I had that much junk just stuffed in there! It really needed it!

Tuesday- I went to school to see how the renovation process is going. My room is huge now! The wall that was there between my room and the one next door is gone! I can't wait to it in there and start decorating my new room. For just starting last week, the workers have done a lot. There were several walls already knocked out. Some rooms were gutted out to make room for new offices, a computer lab, etc. My principal said that they should have it done before August 1st. I'm going to hold my breath, but I'm just hoping that everything will be done before school starts.

Wednesday(Today)- I cleaned my kitchen and paid some bills. Other than that, not much.

Starting tomorrow, I'll be babysitting the kids. Jim and Cheryln are going to Florida for a business trip and I'm staying here with the kids. Hopefully Lillie won't be too sad with Mommy gone for a few days.

We're getting the outside of our house repainted. It's starting to look really nice. They should have it done tomorrow or Friday.

I promise I'll have more to talk about in the coming weeks. Let's see.. I'll have Jeremy here to blog about. I'll have my BIG birthday. We're going on vacation. School will be starting.

So stay tuned! :D

Back at Home... At least for a few weeks!

I'm back at home in Houston right now. I got back on Sunday afternoon. Not a lot has happened since then. It was good to sleep in my own bed and get back to life down here. I'll be here for a couple of weeks, then I return back to Carrollton for my 30th birthday! Plus, we are going on a family vacation to Tennessee. Also, my friend Jeremy is coming over. He'll be here in 2 weeks! Woo Hoo!!

Let's see... what I am going to do while I'm down here for a few weeks. Well... I went yesterday and got my nails done. They look pretty. I went to HEB to get a couple of groceries to last me while I'm here. I reorganized my books for school. I also organized my wheel drawer that I keep all my personal school supplies in.

Tomorrow I'm thinking about going to Palais Royal. I heard that they are having a sale. I usually don't find anything, but I thought it would be something to do outside of the house. I also have Praise Team practice tomorrow night. I haven't been in a few weeks, so they might say.. "Who are you?" Just kidding. I'll actually be able to go to church this Sunday. It's also my Sunday to sing. That will be nice.

Other than that, not much is going on. I wish there was something more exciting, but I guess that will be in the coming weeks.

Keep looking for more updates!

Here's The Newest Addition!

Here's the Newest Addition to the Family:

Isn't it pretty! :D I got it yesterday at CarMax. It's a 2004 GMC Envoy SLE XL. Here are some of the cool features: 4 doors, 3rd row seats, storage rack, tow hitch and CD/Tape player. It has 43K miles. Not bad for a 4 year car. It drives really smooth. My dad said it's almost like a brand new 2009 model. It was very well kept. It will take a little bit to get used to driving it, but I think I can handle it. I just thought that I would share a picture. :D