Memorial Day

I had a crazy weekend! My brother graduated on Thursday night, so we had tons of family stuff going on. I will have to do a post about that later because my sister is emailing me the pictures from graduation. It got too complicated trying to pass around a million cameras, so I said I would just get them from her. One of my favorite parts of the weekend is that two of my nephews were here! They are so sweet! So sweet in fact, they gave me a present while they were here...

So, this is how I ended up spending my Memorial Day! Obviously it's not the best idea to kiss on sick kids!

Squaky

My step-brother is a senior in high school and will be graduating this week! He played football and my whole family was very involved in supporting the team. Every Friday, my parents cooked for the team after school and all the parents would come and tailgate before the games. Homecoming was by far the biggest event! We would cook a steak dinner for the boys and the coaches and serve it under a tent that was setup and decorated with all things football and Cardinals. Two season ago, some of the football moms asked me to paint a Cardinal banner that could be used for homecoming and at all the football games. I quickly realized it was a job that I needed assistance on...the banner is a REALLY large canvas drop cloth! So, Hillary agreed to help me out! It took forever, but was a lot of fun. One of my nephews (he was 2 at the time) saw it and said "squaky", so the name stuck! Squaky has been at every football game since. Well, to my surprise, the moms asked if Squaky could be used in part of the decorations for the Baccalaureate reception today. I was so happy he was going to get to make one more appearance!It brought back lots of good memories seeing Squaky again! I can't believe Lance is finally a senior and our days of faithfully suporting the Cardinals are coming to an end. I think we are going to pass Squaky down to the the next group of football moms. Hopefully they can carry on with the tradtion!

Hog Wild Weekend

Well, this was the weekend that I dread every year. I was so sad on Friday morning when I went to get my baseball ticket for Friday night's game and this is what I saw:The last three tickets for the year!!!! Oh no!!!! I can't believe the season is almost over! One of the reasons I love baseball is because it gives me something fun to do on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. I go to most of the baseball games by myself and have become quite accustomed to that. I usually see people there that I know and sometimes my parents can go or I will sit with some friends, but for the most part I just sit and enjoy the game. Friday though, I was really bummed about going by myself. I think it was just the realization that another year has come and gone and I am STILL by myself!!!! Plus, it was fireworks night and who wants to watch fireworks alone! Anyway, I put my pity party aside and headed to the ball park anyway. I am so glad that I did because it was a game to remember! The Hogs desperately needed to win and they did in the most dramatic fashion... a walk-off, grand-slam homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning! It was amazing! I was so happy after the game that I swallowed my pride and stayed for the fireworks too. Fortunately, the Hogs kept the winning streak alive and won both Saturday and today's games as well to get the sweep over South Carolina. That is huge!!! I left Baum Stadium today with mixed emotions. I was sad to know that it will be a year before I enjoy spending my weekends at the ball park. But, I was so happy that we went out with big wins and with the hopes of making the SEC and NCAA tournaments high! And who knows, maybe this time next year I will enjoy weekends at Baum Stadium with someone special!

New Office and Razorfest

Last week, I was finally able to move into my new office building! I am still in a cubicle, but I have brand new furniture and more space. This is what my old cube looked like:

And here is the new, pretty one:I am so happy in my new office! It is so much better than what I had before!

Last weekend, I volunteered at Razorfest and went to the Red & White game. It makes for a long day, but this is my third year to volunteer and I LOVE it!!! This is a picture of the stadium before the 40,000 people got there:

This year, the VIP tent was set up on the deck area of the Broyels Center. I had never been in there before, so it was fun to take a minute and look around. My favorite thing was The Boot!

There were so many activities going on throughout the day of Razorfest. One of the most exciting things was that they were broadcasting the draft on the jumbo-tron. When Darren McFadden was selected, everyone went crazy!!! It was so much fun! The day was capped off with the Red & White game.

I think everyone was really excited to see the new coach and the changes that are being made. I know I was!!! I can't wait for football season now!

Deep In The Heart of Texas

This weekend, my dad and I went to Texas to visit our family. We left on Thursday afternoon and didn't get there until after midnight. We drove through some very scary storms. There was softball size hail in the towns all around us, but praise the Lord it didn't hit us! On Friday, we went with my aunt and grandparents to see one of my cousins at his office.
His office is in the Fort Worth Live Stock Exchange building. This building is over 100 years old. It has a cute little museum in it that is full of things about Texas history. We arrived just in time for the cattle drive!
This happens twice a day every day! The longhorns are so big. It is pretty funny to see them strolling down through the middle of the road!

Our next stop was my cousin's house. His kids and I had a lot of fun playing with sidewalk chalk!

How cute is she!?!

Later that day, my brother got there with the baby! I could not believe how big he is now.

I love this picture because it is all 4 generations of Newmans. The baby gets so serious when he sees a camera. It's almost impossible to get a picture of him smiling! He is so funny because he is learning to crawl, but can only go backwards. He also wants you to bounce him when you hold him so I definitely got a good workout...he is a chunky thing!

We finally made it back home and I am so tired!!! It was a super fast weekend and a really long drive, but it was so great to spend some time with family!

Some catching up to do...

This past week was so busy that I never had a chance to post about my weekend. So, I have some catching up to do! Last Friday night, I went to one of my most favorite places on earth...

Baum Stadium!!!!!

The Hogs were playing a weekend series against Auburn. I went to the Friday night game with my friends Jeff and Joe.

It was so cold and rainy that day, so please excuse the curly mess that is my hair! Unfortunately, my beloved Diamond Hogs have been having a rough season and lost that night. BUT, they won the series against Florida this weekend so I'm hoping that is a good sign for things to come!

Saturday morning, I met Jeff and Joe at Bizys for breakfast and then we went to Razorback stadium to watch spring practice. I don't have any pictures to post because you are not allowed to take pictures of practice unless you are a member of the media. Appearantly being a blogger doesn't count! The practice was fun to watch and it was nice to see the new coaches in action. It made me ready for football season to get here!

My sister and two nephews came for a visit and I got to go hang out with them on Monday. When I arrived at my parents house, the two boys were outside playing and this is what I saw...

HA!!!!! Obviously, the poor cat was not amused and was very happy that I was there to rescue her! The 5 year old will not let my brother-in-law cut his hair in any way but the mohawk. He calls it his "j-hawk" since his name starts with the letter "j". I love it and hope he doesn't out grow that any time soon! Both boys had Life Savers chapsticks. They explained to me that it was called lip balm and not lip gloss because only girls wear lip gloss. Ha! They are too funny! I just hate that they are growing up so fast and that I don't get to see them very often. I have another nephew that is 8 months old and I will be making a trip to Texas this coming weekend to see him. I cannot wait to see that baby!!!! I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to post when I get back!

A Series of Firsts

As Hillary's weekend post indicated, I experienced several "firsts" on Friday night. Well, that theme has actually continued into this week as well. Here is a quick glance at them all:

Friday night I met up with Hillary and Holly to have dinner at PF Changs. This was my first time to go to the Promenade and to eat at PF Changs! I loved this fountain that was outside the restaurant. It was a great night!

Saturday, I met Hillary and Holly for breakfast at Bizys. Now this was definitely not my first time to eat breakfast at Bizys, big surprise! Ha! But, it was the first time the three of us met for breakfast so I think that counts!

On Sunday, I made my first two loaves of friendship bread. They were really good and a big hit at my office! Oh, and if you'll notice I have the cutest recipe holder ever thanks to a Christmas present from Hillary!

Monday was the first day to workout at the new gym. It is really nice! I'm sure I'll enjoy it even more when I'm actually able to workout at a normal level again.
Today was my first day of physical therapy. I would have taken pictures, but I'm pretty sure my therapist was trying to kill me so I was a little distracted. At some point, I will definitely have to take a picture of the electric shock thing he hooked me up to!
And last but not least, tomorrow is the first day of the water aerobics class that Hillary and I are taking. Rest assured I will be taking NO pictures of that experience!!!! I still can't believe I will be in a swimsuit tomorrow...yikes!!