Vacation

We are in Navarre Beach, Florida on vacation! There are 10 of us who came to spend the week with Crazy Ray, who by the way, retired and lives on the beach! Tough life, huh?

Anyway, I am taking lots of pictures and will post when I get back....if I ever come back! OMG! This is the life!

Elm Street

Joy will turn 21 soon and we have been discussing her present for several months now. She talked about jumping from an airplane, we talked about taking a trip...then she finally decided...she wanted another tattoo. Not any tattoo, she wanted her entire upper arm area done. She had been looking as designs and searching for artists for quite a while, so when she told me what it was I knew she had thought it all out. She called the artist at Elm Street Tattoo, made the appointment and we made our date to tat!

We arrived around noon and Dean, the artist, was busy drawing her owl design. He took his time and sketched out a great design. An hour later he started and this was the beginning of a great tat.

He worked on her arm for over three hours, taking two breaks along the way. In fact, he "finished" twice before he really stopped. After about 2 hours, he stopped, wiped her down so she could bleed out and decided he was not done! He did this twice before he was satisfied. This man take his work seriously! Here he is working hard! Joy was staring at all the stuff in the room!
Voila! The finished product! I can't wait for the healing to be over and the colors to really show up. Note the lime green in the eyes...my idea!!! In fact, I think Dean added the green just to shut me up! Happy Birthday, Joy!! I love you!

East Texas Wedding

One of the most beautiful places in Texas can be found between Hwy. 37 and Hwy. 82...Clarksville, Texas! This was my mother's hometown and one of my favorite places to be! My cousins live there and we love to go visit whenever we can. Last weekend was my cousin Kevin's wedding. So off we went to Clarksville...well, actually we started our in Paris, wedding in Powderly then lunch with Grams on Sunday in C'ville.

This is Kevin and Erin Moore. Kevin is one of the nicest men you will ever met, and Erin is beautiful! They are very much in love. Erin's uncle let them have the wedding on his land, in his barn. It is so relaxing and beautiful! Look at this:
I love these ladies...Grams, Kari and Debbie!
It was nice to get away and spend time in the country with family! We missed Larry. He is Debbie's husband and Kevin's dad. Right now he is working in Kuwait and was not able to come home for the wedding. I am sure when he returns in the fall we will travel back to East Texas and welcome him home! Love you, guys!

Changes

I made a decision in January to eat healthier and get hopefully lose weight. Nothing new. Almost everyone makes these "resolutions" in January. I made my decision based on my health and age. See, every January 1st a new year begins and every January 2nd I have a birthday. Great combination, huh? Anyway 54 years old and weighing over 200 lbs. is not a good combination. Especially when your hips lock up, you can't walk straight is you sit for more that 20 minutes at a time, you can't climb a flight of stairs and you can't sleep at night because of your own snoring. Not a pretty picture, is it??

Well, I cut out fried foods, sugar, soda, candy...everything that we all know is bad for us. I quit eating take out food and started taking my lunch to school. Turkey on whole wheat with spicy mustard became my main meal. We ate healthy at night, too. Juan and Joy went along with all my changes and adapted well. Altering some meals was not easy, but we all got through it.

I did a herbal cleanse (thanks, Lori!) and started sipping on Spark energy drink. No coffee, no red meat, no dairy for 10 days!!! I thought I would die! But, 10 lbs. later I was elated!!! I was truly motivated now!!

Next Juan bought us an eliptical machine and it is awesome! I had to start out slow and work my way up...first 15 minutes, then 30, now I can do 45 - an hour! Still not at a fast speed and not using the ramp, but I'll get there!

Long story short...4 months later I have lost 25 lbs. My goal is 20 more by the end of June (not that I think I can do that!) before we go to Florida for vacation. I would be happy with 10 more pounds as long as I can firm up some.

You probably did not want to read about my diet plan. But, if you are like me you might need some motivation to get healthier. Maybe my story will help you. At any rate I feel better, I can move around easier, and my sleepy time is great!!!

Spring Break Getaway

Juan and I were able to get away to the Hill Country over Spring Break and it was fantastic! We had not time table to follow except to be in Austin by 5 p.m. on Thursday for tattoo appointments. We left on Thursday morning and our little adventure began!

We arrived in Austin around 3:30 p.m. only to be right in the middle of the South by Southwest music event. OMG! The traffic was horrible. It didn't help that I thought I had booked a room in south Austin when it actually was in north Austin. What's the problem with that, you ask?? Well, we drove all the way through Austin to our hotel only to find out we had to go back north 7 miles. Not a big deal, huh? Except...we had to drive right through the SxSW traffic--again!!! Anyway, it all turned out OK and we just used Lamar Blvd. to get from one end of Austin to the other. Lamar was far enough west from the event that there was very little congestion.

We arrived at Rock of Ages tattoo shop a little early and waited for Mark to finish three friends getting waffles on their shoulders...weird! Anyway, Mark finally go started on Juan around 5:30. He was getting more work added to his arm. My little tattoo would have to wait. Well, at 6:45 Mark was done with Juan, but he plans at 7 p.m. and Juan had not told him I was getting a tattoo. I was pissed!!! No, I was more than pissed! I was a bitch! I was mean, mad, hurt and hateful! So, we left and went to eat at Matt Martinez El Rancho (just across the street). My food was awful, I had no new tattoo and I was still mad. Back at the hotel, I pouted and Juan tried everything to make it up to me. He even left the hotel at 11 p.m. in search of Guiness for me! He came back with a six pack of Guiness and a bottle of water. I was somewhat appeased...

I decided that I was over the tattoo...I would just wait until I retired and get that half sleeve that I really want anyway!

Friday morning was a new beginning. We ate at Taco Xpress and it was yummy!!! Then we hit the road for Fredricksburg. There is nothing more beautiful than the Hill Country in the Spring! It was so nice to be in the country with no time constraints and no deadlines! We arrived at our destination, The Fredricksburg Brewery, by mid afternoon. We had booked a room upstairs. It was so cool! We slept above the brewery and they gave us free beer for staying there! What a deal!

We checked in, walked up and down the Main Street, drank, ate and shopped. It was great! Then it was time to meet some friends who were also in Friedricksburg. They RV and were at the KOA just outside the city. We drove out there and visited with them for a while before returning to the Brewery for dinner. After we ate, we walked the street again. We heard music from various venues, at ice cream at the parlor and just enjoyed the beautiful evening.

We got up Saturday morning and ate at the little bakery behind the Brewery. It was quaint and peaceful, and we just sat outside and enjoyed the food and atmosphere. We checked out and headed home. But, first, a stop at the San Marcos outlet malls! Yeah for shopping!

The drive from Fredricksburg to San Marcos was absolutely breathtaking! The scenery, the countryside, the homes, the beauty of Texas!

Shopping! Shopping! Shopping! We walked all around the outlet and took our time. Since it was Spring Break, and Saturday, it was busy! Several of the stores were so packed that I did not even attempt them. The Coach store had everything at 50% off and I really wanted to spend some quality time there, but so many people!!! I bet there were 75 people waiting in line just to check out! I walked in the store, looked around and walked out!!!

We got back on the road and headed home. It was nice to have time away, get back home and have time to recover before getting back to the grind on Monday. We drove over 700 miles and made so many memories. I highly recommend taking a long weekend to unwind. No computer, no timelines, no requirements, no agendas! When I get stressed I close my eyes and remember those three fabulous days and all is settled again.

I love Texas and all that it entails! There is so much to see, do and remember! And, I love my husband for taking time off to be with me and take me on this trip!

Speed Racer

WOW! I have been away a long time and lots has happened! I will begin with Juan as a race car driver.

Juan loves to drive fast! He owns three radar detectors and uses them faithfully. He drives fast in any vehicle and he has no fear. I usually ride looking out the side window because I don't want to see what is coming at me.

For our anniversary this year I bought him a trip to the Texas Motor Speedway to drive 8 laps in a real Nascar. He had to wait 3 months, but finally, on March 14th he put on his driving suit and took the wheel. Two of my friends bought their husbands the same gift for Christmas, so all three of the guys were there to support each other and drive fast!!!

It was a cold, misty day but the smile on Juan's face made it a great day. He thoroughly enjoyed his day as a race driver and of course, want to do it again! Those 8 laps went by quickly but the memories will last a long time.

Happy Anniversary, Juan!!!

My kids are the greatest!

Ihave two of the best kids in the world! They are respectful and loving, and I am blessed by them.

David is doing well living on his own. He is working and taking care of his business. He came over on Sunday for chili and brought Deebo home to visit "Grandma"! I was very happy!

Joy is subbing for GP and doing well. I love her smile and loving personality. She is a mature young lady and I am proud of her.

Both of my kids have friends who would do anything for them. That says a lot about a person--friends who will stick by you through thick and thin. The old saying, "to have friends you must first be a friend" is very true. Joy and David are loyal to a fault, but in return they have loyal friends. This makes me happy.

Parents often worry whether or not they are doing a good job of raising their kids. Truthfully we never really know...we hope, we pray and we do the best we can. I have, by no means, made all the right choices, or always set the right examples. In spite of all that, my kids are turning out just fine!

I love David and Joy with all my heart! They make me complete!