January

In January, Hallie and I did the JiggleButt Run 5K.  She was actually just planning to do the 1 Mile Fun Run; but everyone else wimped out me, so I made her do the 'big race' with me.  She wasn't happy about it, but we both made it to the end so we'll call it a success.

Also, all Hallie wanted for her birthday was to see her friend Brianna...which is easier said than done, since Bri lives in Mississippi now.  So we loaded up and drove and drove and drove.  It was great to see our friends and we even got to spend a little time at the beach.

And the only OTHER thing Hallie wanted for her birthday was a guinea pig.  So after three years of persuading, we agreed and welcomed Cupcake into our family.

December

In December, BigJoel and I went on an anniversary trip to New Orleans.  It's where we went on our honeymoon twenty years ago.  So much fun!

September

In September, we went camping at Beaver's Bend with Elizabeth, Mr. Gary and Mrs. Cheryl.  Know why this picture is blurry?  Because it's so dang humid that the lens fogged up.  How's that for fall in Oklahoma?  Oh well, we had a blast anyways.

Photo Challenge #10

A TV show you're currently addicted to...

Ok, so it's not a TV show.  And I'm really not addicted to it.  But I've put this post off for days trying to figure out what to do.  I don't watch a lot of TV of my own choosing.  If its up to me, the TV stays off.  Of all the shows on our DVR, Glee is the only one I actually make a point to watch...and I'm embarrassed to admit that.  I also couldn't figure out a photo (that I took myself) to represent Glee.  So I reinterpreted the rules...  

Les Miserables is my all-time favorite musical.  I'm so sad that it's not on Broadway anymore, but this picture was from our trip to NYC in 2006.  

Photo Challenge #9

A place you've visited...

I love to travel.  I've gotten to visit some really neat places.  By far, the most amazing, interesting, exhausting and challenging place I've been is Macchu Picchu...for many reasons.  Definitely one of those things I'm so glad I did, but seriously doubt I'll ever do again.

Good Taste

I'm not really sure where or when my obsession for taking pictures of food began, but it is now a tradition, or a habit...or maybe a vice.

Since we've been trying to eat healthier, I was a little concerned when I met Joel in New York City a few weeks ago.  I know its the "City That Never Sleeps", but it is also the "City That Always Eats."  So as much as I hate to admit it, we planned our days around breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The good thing about this however, is that I was able to be very deliberate with my culinary choices without too much fear of the consequences being reflected on the scales when I returned home.

Anyway, here is just a "taste" of how much we enjoyed NYC.

 First, was breakfast at Bubby's.  

I had Eggs Florentine.  The waitress told us Bubby's has the best hollandaise sauce in the City.  I believe her.

 Later that day, we tried out A Salt & Battery--a little place in Greenwich Village.  There were only two parties inside, but that left no room; so we ate outside and enjoyed the beautiful fall day along with some "color" commentary by a local shop owner.

We both had the polluck, or haddock, I can't remember which...but I do remember that it was absolutely delicious.

On Monday evening, we got caught out in a rain storm.  We took shelter at a "Famous Famiglia" pizza place and had a little late-night snack--pizza and garlic knots.

For once, I was able to take Joel somewhere he'd never been--PopBurger.  Paige, Elizabeth and I discovered this place up by Central Park on our last trip.  I love the presentation of the two tiny burgers in a box.  They advertise "luscious mouth watering buns" and "firm fries."

On Tuesday evening, I wanted Italian food.  We explored a couple different options, but ended up at an old favorite place--Carmine's.  Neither of us really thought about the fact that Carmine's is not a place for a party of two.  Because the portions are so large, you actually need three, four, or maybe more, friends to dine with.

We had Caesar salad, stuffed mushrooms and chicken scallopini.  Even though we ate until we were completely stuffed, there was still had enough food left over to feed a few homeless people on the subway.

And do you want to know the most exciting part?  Even after all these awesome restaurants and rich food, when I stepped on the scale the day after getting home, I only brought back an extra .4 (as in, less than half) of a pound!  Oh, the damage could have been so much worse!  All that planning paid off...and 10 hours of walking each day probably helped a little, too.  No wonder New York has so many restaurants...between never sleeping and walking everywhere, you need to eat a lot to sustain yourself!

The Writing on the Wall

As we were wandering around New York City recently, we came across an art exhibit in a renovated old school.  The event was called ReForm School and was billed as "an art-based education event...designed to push forward new thinking about fixing America's schools."  It was really artsy and definitely forward thinking, but it was also a fun way to spend a few hours in the City.  You can read more about it here... if you're interested in that kind of thing.

Since I have two very smart girls who are also very pretty, I had to take this picture.  I'm not sure if this was supposed to be considered art or part of the exhibit, but it was written on the wall of the Girls' restroom... definitely better than what you would normally find written on a bathroom wall.  I took the picture with my iPhone CameraBag app and the Silver filter...if you're interested in that kind of thing.

Weekly Pic--Macy's Empire

Had the chance to go to NYC for a few days this week with BigJoel.  We had so much fun!  I've been trying to master the "art" of great photos with my iPhone.  Joel always takes the coolest pics with his, but mine never seem to come out like I want them to.   However, this was one of my favorite shots of the trip--Macy's Department Store in the foreground and the Empire State Building in the back.  For any camera nerds who might be interested (ahem, you know who you are...), I used the Hipstamatic app with the Jimmy lens and Blanko film.

Weekly Pic--New York State of Mind

Central Park, New York City

October 2008

Just thinking about these girls tonight...thinking we need another trip to New York...soon!

Weekly Pic--Hard Hearted

I took this picture of rocks in a riverbed in northern Arkansas during our Thanksgiving trip to Shepherd of the Ozarks last year. I *heart* SOTO.

I'm Always "Right"

Joel and I have a "tradition" of taking one-armed pictures. Someone asked me one time why I am always on the right and he's always on the left. I think the person thought I might be hiding some secret scar or blemish on the left side of my face, but the simple truth is that Joel has the longest arm and he has to hold the camera in his left hand to push the button.

Instead of writing about every piddly detail of our recent cruise, I thought I'd just share the one-armed shots we took. After all, who really wants to hear about the extravagant food, relaxing in the sun, and how many times Joel visited the soft-serve ice cream machine?

On the tender (which is really just a little boat) riding from the ship over to CocoCay.

In "our secret spot" on the beach at CocoCay~the sun is in my eyes and I'd really appreciate if you'd keep the comments about my granny-gardener hat to yourself.

In the lobby of the Atlantis resort in The Bahamas. Man, it was fancy!

No pics of the soft-serve ice cream machine, but here we are in front of Ben & Jerry's~with a cherry on top.

People are often gracious enough to stop and ask if we'd like them to take a more traditional picture of the two of us; but honestly, the one-armed shots are always my favorites.

Simply the Best--Day 23

I mentioned that one of the BEST things about BigJoel's job is when I get to travel with him. I've gotten to go California, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Washington D.C., the Bahamas and many other places. I've enjoyed them all and I'm so grateful for the opportunities. But by far, the BEST place we've gone is Hawaii. Of course its beautiful, but there's more to it than that. We've gone twice in the past 6 years. I've noticed the same thing both times: I feel so good while I'm there. Seriously. No headaches, no fatigue, no aches or pains, no stress. I just feel good...and that's the BEST!

Simply the Best--Day 14

Today's BEST reaches back to one of those days that I had every intention of blogging about when it first happened, but time got away from me and I never got around to it.

In September, Mrs. Cheryl, Elizabeth and I packed up and headed to Colorado to meet up with Paige and celebrate Elizabeth's big birthday. Big as in, the BIG 30. On our first day of travel, we drove to Amarillo. The highlight of the day was dinner at The Big Texan. I love that place!

The next morning, we woke up and started off on what has to be one of the BEST adventures I've ever had. First we drove out to Palo Duro Canyon, one of the most beautiful places on earth~in a rustic sort of way. Every time I see it, I stand in awe of our Creator.
Next we set out to find "The Huge Pair of Legs". We had some sketchy directions, but we figured, "How hard can it be to find a pair of huge legs in the middle of the West Texas plains?" However, the legs turned out to be more elusive than we anticipated. At one point we found ourselves in the middle of a small neighborhood where we pulled over to ask a road crew for directions. (Now she'll tell this next part differently, but its my blog so its my story.) Elizabeth rolled down the driver's window, looked at the road workers, and in her very sweetest southern drawl said, "Excuse me! We're looking for a huge pair of legs. Can you help us?" I just wish I'd had my camera ready to capture the look on those men's faces. They weren't sure if we were asking for directions or making a "proposition". Once we clarified, they pointed us in the right direction. And sure enough at the corner of I27 and Sundown Lane, there were the huge pair of legs, right in the middle of a cow pasture. In order to get a closer picture, it required hopping the fence~trespassing~but you only turn 30 once, so we figured we might as well live a little. Besides, the cows didn't seem to mind. I think they were used to intruders.
From The Huge Pair of Legs, we headed on to Amarillo's other, more well-known roadside monument~The Cadillac Ranch. There, Elizabeth found a can of spray paint and immortalized the occasion by graffiti-ing a huge "30" on one of the submerged cars. Now we've added vandalism to our growing criminal history.
We were having so much fun that we almost forgot our real destination~Colorado. So finally, about 2:00 p.m., we headed north. When we left Amarillo, it was 78 degrees. By the time we reached Clayton, New Mexico the temperature had dropped to 35 degrees and snow began to fall. Seriously. Snow. In September.
I kept saying, "Oh, it won't stick because it was so warm this morning." Boy, was I wrong! This was the scene by the time we reached Raton.
We finally made it through the inclement weather and rolled into Denver late that night. Elizabeth had booked us into The Curtis~ a super-cute boutique hotel where each floor has a different theme. So after our long, adventurous day of hitting on road crews, trespassing, vandalizing public property, and braving a snowstorm, we stepped off the elevator to be greeted by this~

"Heeeere's Johnny!"

I cannot remember a day in my life where I laughed so much, so hard and so often. That's why it qualifies as one of the BEST days on record.

Simply the Best--Day 13

The BEST meal that I had this past year~outside the U.S.~was Avocado stuffed with Chicken Salad at Oviedo's in Trujillo. Its amazing how big avocados grow in Peru!

Having a Ball in Austin

This past weekend, Elizabeth, Hallie, HannahKate and I, along with our new friend Shae took a little roadtrip down to Austin for a MercyMe show. We had a "ball." The concert was awesome, we stayed in an über-cool new hotel, ate some amazing food and of course, we laughed. A lot.

Here are three memorable chuckles from the weekend:

During dinner we were discussing HannahKate wearing jeans to church and I said, "Well, we're on vacation, so I'd make an exception." (Nothing wrong with jeans, I just have an opinion of which my girls are well aware.) Our food arrived at the table and as we were just about to dig in, Hallie piped up and said, "Well, are we gonna pray for our meal or are we on vacation from that, too?" Thanks for keeping us accountable, Hal.

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HannahKate was wearing a plaid flannel shirt and made the remark that she was going to wear another plaid flannel shirt the next day. Hallie quipped, "Gee Hannah, you're turning into Al Bourland from Home Improvement!" Thanks for the fashion advice, Hal.

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Finally, on the way home the girls were giggling in the back seat and Hallie was leaned over struggling to pick up something from the floorboard of the car. She cried, "Help, my tallness doesn't stretch that far!" Thanks Hal, for breaking the monotony of a long drive.

The slogan for the quirky sub-culture of our state's capital city is "Keep Austin Weird." I would have to say that Hallie fits right in. (She gets that from her daddy I'm sure.) I wouldn't have her any other way!

Weekly Pic--On the Side of the Road In the Middle of Nowhere

So my friend Troy (troybradfordphotos and troybradfordiphonephotos) got the opportunity to visit Salvation Mountain on a recent trip to California. Its a really neat place and pretty powerful story, but its just this huge structure/piece of art on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. That made me think of my recent trip to Amarillo where we saw two interesting, albeit not quite as impressive, sites on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

The Cadillac Ranch

Huge Pair of Legs/Ozymandias

Weekly Pic--Empire State

This time last year we were in New York. The Empire State Building had on its Halloween attire. I love NYC in the fall.

Weekly Pic--Perspective

Colorado Springs--September 2009

Weekly Pic--You Can Call Me Sandy

HannahKate took great pleasure, perhaps a bit toooooo much pleasure, in burying her sister in the beautiful white sands of Gulf Shores.

Weekly Pic--Sunset Palms

Sunset at the Beach Club

Gulf Shores, Alabama