Girl Talk

It has been a while, I know, but I had to get on here and HAD to promote Gregg Gillis' new creation "All Day". It is better than "Feed the Animals" and I'm not even sure how. If you have never heard of Girl Talk, I highly suggest going here and downloading his FREE new CD. He steals (he calls it illegal art) popular songs and mashes them up. I know Glee has made mash ups popular, but he has been doing it forever! His music is good to listen to in the car, getting ready to go out, or Friday to get your pumped up for the weekend (what I'm doing now)! Get.it.

Also, if you're in the Austin area, make sure you pick up tickets to his concert at Austin Music Hall in January. It's gonna be a dance party! :) Happy Friday!

Careers

What does your career say about you? And does it speak even louder if you are unhappy or bored with it?

I'm neither of these, but it's curious to see people in those positions sometimes. Sure life can be frustrating in general, but I'm really glad to be part of a career that helps out kids in some way. Still have counseling and coaching on the table in the future....:)

Bunco night was a huge success and last night of kickball tonight! I'm sleepy.

Gameday!

I'm going to College Station this weekend for a Dell tailgate and a little FTA football!!

WHOOP!! :)

A Random Thanks...

Just a special thanks to those who serve our country. It's not a holiday or I don't know of anyone that has died recently...it was just brought to my attention how hard it is to be married, or in a family with those deployed or in limbo of moving or being deployed. There are times when there is no communication between loved ones- and you don't take things like talking on the phone or seeing someone, or even a simple email for granted. You wait to hear the phone ring, or have an email in your inbox, but at the same time pray that it's good and not bad news. I cannot imagine. So, thank you for all you do. Not only do you leave your most prized possessions behind, but you fight selflessly for my freedom. For that, I am forever grateful.

A Walk to Cure

Time to brag a little...I love Steven for many reasons, but one is that he's so selfless. He's always involved in some kind of community service- whether it's mentoring an elementary student, painting a house, or raising awarness and money for a cause. His latest venture is co-heading up a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). We (his Dell organization, GenNext and some friends) are doing a walk in Austin on October 31st at 8 AM, but they aren't stopping there. They are planning a bowling fundraiser to give back even more to JDRF. So, I'm here to help in advertising the walk on Halloween, and the bowling tournament. I will be at both, and am very excited! I will give more details soon about the bowling event- but it's going to be HUGE! Over 200 people, door prizes, costume contests, and bowling of course! The date is November 13th, so mark your calendars and let me know if you are interested in participating!

If you want to know more about JDRF, here is their website.

Mates of State

Quirky band from Connecticut that consist of the wife, Cori, and her husband, Jason. Cori plays the keyboard and organ, and Jason plays the drums. Their music is catchy and I love the lyrics. They recently have been the music on a Carnival commerical and an AT&T commercial too I think. They are precious and so hip. I wish I was this cool. :) If you haven't heard of them you should check them out. Some of my favorite songs are "My Only Offer", "Rearranger", "Get Better" and the recognizable "For the Actor". My favorite is their cover of a Tom Wait's song "The Long Way Home". Such a great sound together.

Enjoy! :)

Ready for fall...

Last week was such a tease. I need it to be cool and pretty soon. This hot and humid weather is really starting to get to me! Not much as been happening except I went to Austin City Limits this past weekend. I'm sure most people have heard of it, but it's a 3 day festival at a gorgeous park in downtown Austin. The headliners this year were Phish, Muse, and The Eagles. Last year I went stage hopping to make sure I heard lots of bands, and Paige and I got super up close during a lot of sets, but this year I didn't get close once. The weather was absolutely perfect (well, a little too hot on Saturday) so it was nice to lay on the nice green grass and have a couple drinks with friends. Friday night was actually my favorite when Steve, Amy and I left Zilker Park to see a free Mates of State show at Mohawk. They are so lovely, and I'm so glad we missed Phish (and The Strokes) to see them. Totally worth it. I'm still catching up on sleep, and I have a feeling it won't really catch up til this next weekend.

My roomie is engaged!!!

Laura and Ryan got engaged last week on her lunch break at school! Here are some sweet, sweet pictures of the actual engagement (a friend was hiding in the bushes) and the ring! I am so happy for her. Ryan is a great guy, and I hope they can get to planning soon! He's in the Navy, so it's hard running on military time sometimes. Best of luck, dear friends! :)

The place where he proposed...Botanical Gardens at Zilker Park in Austin.

Love it and love them!! Such a happy mood when you look at these pictures :)

I love Fall!

Oktoberfest was a blast! I forgot how much I LOVE Fredericksburg, Texas! It has been a while. The weather was perfect, I actually got more than 7 hours of sleep- I was ready for a fun day with my mom :) We left about 10 in the morning, and went straight to the tents for Oktoberfest. We immediately took pictures with the huge beer-stein at the entrance. It wasn't as crowded early, so we were about to look at a lot of arts and crafts, try some German food, and get seats at the German band (that played the chicken dance SIX times while we sat there!) 

After we had enough German-ness, we walked around Main Street and window shopped (mostly!) and then headed to Becker Vineyard. This place was gorgeous! I wish he had had more time there. It was $10 and you get 6 wine tasting tickets. All the bartenders were so friendly, and the wine was very, very good! I don't like red wine that much, and I brought home a bottle with me! As we were milling about and looking for cheese, I turned around and saw my mom had run into Beth! She is the mom of three kiddos we used to be very close with growing up. I say kiddos, but Annie (who was the reason they were there- for her bachelorette party) is my age, Lynn is a year younger than me (and the one I was closest with when I was little), and then Jimmy who was good friends and swam with Daniel. Jimmy now swims for UT and is making a name for himself. It's neat to follow him on TV and in the paper. Hopefully he'll be in London in 2012! It was great to see them and I found out Lynn lives 2 miles from me in Austin! Annie is getting married next weekend, and Lynn is getting married 11/11/11 in VEGAS next year! AT the Bellagio on a balcony. How exciting! :) Here is me, Beth and Lynn at the vineyard. Lynn is tall. I am small.

It was a great day! Steven was at a wedding with his folks, and I wish I could have gone, but spending the day with my mom was just priceless! Then Sunday we went to lunch for Mr. Yarrington's birthday, hung out with the parents for a bit, then headed back to Austin to see The Social Network with friends. I will give my opinion on that movie in a later post! I also have exciting news to post, but it needs a post all of it's own! It's not new news, but it's news I haven't blogged about :)

Also, Steve and I booked our weekend "getaway"! We'll be staying at the Antler Hotel! Going fishing, hiking, and visiting a vineyard! So excited for a nice, relaxing, CHEAP weekend away! :) Check out the hotel/cabin- it's precious! And on Lake LBJ- my favorite lake :)

Weekend Warrior

Good and bad weekend :( :) I had to work all day Saturday while friends got a free ride around the lake, buuut I got to go to Esther's Follies on Saturday and see Jersey Boys in San Antonio Sunday. Overall the good outweighed the bad, but still. Work on a weekend should be illegal! I can't complain because I get summers off aaand I got paid for working Saturday. It's not like it's a lot, but still. Oh well!

This week should be a breeze (fingers crossed). I have drinks with Caitlin tonight, nothing tomorrow, Steve's game Wednesday, Vanessa grad dinner and Ags vs OSU game Thursday night, then SA this weekend! Mom and I are heading to Fredericksburg on Saturday to meet up with some other Austinites and check out Oktoberfest. I've never been before, so I hope we both like it! Plus I'm excited that my mom will get to meet some of the Austin crew. Alison if you're reading this- she's very sad she isn't meeting you!

Back to work, trying to get a ton done this week so next week is a breeze for ACL! So close :)

Cheers!
e

Sleepy Girl

Last night I went to kickball (lost...sad) and then went to the Dave Barnes concert at Stubbs! It was a suuuuper late show, but I got some good quality hang out time with Steve, so it was all good with me :) We got downtown around 9, grabbed some pizza and a drink at Stubbs, then waited for Dave to come on at 11! What was really cool is that he AND the "opener", Andrew Ripp, came on at the same time. Mostly Dave playerd, but Andrew played a couple songs in the middle of the set. This was my 7th Dave Barnes concert (3 times at Stubbs, 1 time at La Zona Rosa, 1 time Island Party in BCS, 1 time in NYC at Bowry Ballroom, ...and I can't remember if it was Dallas or Houston I saw him a while ago.) Anyway, it was super good because I LOVE his new CD! My absolute favorite song is this song "God Gave Me You" that Steve loves too. He got a huge grin when he played this last night. So cute! Steve bought me a "i heart dave barnes" shirt too. What a man- letting his woman "heart" another man! Hahaha. Always a funny concert- love love Dave's humor. I wish he played in Texas once a month, I would totally go each time! Except if he played at 11-1 everytime- eek I'm sleepy today. I reeeeally want to go to Houston Saturday and see him with Amy again. Too stalker-y?

Sooo I read on an Austin blog that Ryan Reynolds was in down at the Drafthouse last night promoting a movie. Holy crap how did I not know about this!? I'm not a huge stalker of celebrities but I would have camped out for that one! Just look at him...he's so pretty....:) These are pictures from last night's premier of "Buried" .

ok it won't let me upload anymore. sad. anywho. he's beaaaaauuuuutiful.

In other news- we signed up for another season of bowling! I think our team is going to be "Thunderwear" since we always have a Thunder theme going...I like that name a lot :) That's my vote at least. It will be me, Steve, Bob, Jeff and Rebecca. I hope I don't bring the team down! eek. We will practice this weekend!

Happy Friday y'all!! ;)

Look at me posting two days in a row!

I don't have to write a novel every time, I just have to remind myself of that!

Yesterday Bruno Mars was on the Bobby Bones Show and I cannot get over how perfect and amazing his voice is! There was a link to his  cover medley of songs including Proud Mary,  Eye of the Tiger, and The Way You Make me Feel! Then here is his hit of  Just the Way You Are ... so good! I am getting a liiiiittle sick of them playing that song every hour on the hour, and then some, but his voice is p-e-r-f-e-c-t. So what if he had a little cocaine run in, in Vegas. It was "his first time", right?

Steve and I are going to see Jersey Boys in San Antonio on Saturday night! So excited!

 Now to decide what we should be for Halloween....I have a feeling there will be LOTS of Jersey Shore people. I might just do nerd again because that was easy and I still have the stuff for it! Last night our friend Marcus turned 27 and for that, we celebrated at ZTejas! Yum! Tonight we have Steve's bball game and I have to decide between Polvos with the girls, or Taco Bell...I know, I know this should be a no brainer. However, I told Steven almost a year ago that I would eat Taco Bell for the first time in my liiiiife on his birthday. Ugh. Buuuut something I DO know is- Modern Family is new tonight! Yay! Can't wait.

Happy Hump Day!

help!

does anyone know how to get the huge white space around my posts to go away? i want it to be all orange! i am horrible at this stufff....

Hi. It's been a while.

So with all the reading of blogs I got into again (school starting, I need a break from lesson planning) I thought I would update my own! Not that anyone reads this, but there is something very therapeutic to typing out all of your thoughts. Hmmm. Anywho- it's a new school year and lots has happened since last February!

Let's see...

On Valentine's, I ran my first half-marathon! It was tought but sooo rewarding. Speaking of, I need to man up and get new shoes and start training again. I got a stress fracture so that kind of scared me away. However, everyone has reassured me that it's the shoes, so I shall go shell out a billion dollars (motivation to run now?) for new running shoes. Boo. Any suggestions? 

I went to the Taylor Swift concert with Paige! So fun and I am such a teeny bopper, and sang every word to every song (but one) but it was a blast! I definitely want to see her again!

Now drop down about 28374 notches, and enters the Velcro Pygmies. These are by far the favorite concert of Steven, and they are disgusting buuuut they do put on a good show. You have to be in the mood, and you might want to bring a pair of earplugs with you. We had a good time- dancing to a cover 80's rock band. 

We took a trip to Houston to see the Niko Niko Gryo Eating Championship and our friends Joey and Pat compete. I will save your eyes the images of the actual competition, but here are us with the number 1 (Joey) and number 2 (Pat) places.

A couple of us helped out with the Special Olympics and GenNext...track and field. Very fun and rewarding day! Here's a shot of the whole group.

I'm thinking these are not in order but oh well! Here's a shot (and the only picture I took all day!) of some colleagues and myself on St. Patricks Day in Austin! FREE open bar at Maggie Maes= heaven...and trouble.

We took a trip to College Station at some point in the spring to see the FTA Basketball team and we tried to bring as many non Aggies as we could! Twas a fun day! here's a picture of the whole group in the Chicken!

A fun night with the girls at a John Mayer concert- aka sexxxyyyy man voice.

 And a little kayaking on TownLake....

A fun Girl Talk concert with the group...! :)

My birthday in June was a HUGE success due in large part to  my amazing friends coming in town and the bf of the year putting it all together! Best cookie cake ever....

Steve's brother Tom got married this summer and Steve was the best man and gave a wonderful speech! Here we are at the gorgeous reception!

  

4th of July this year we sucked it up and went to Coney Island to see the hot dog eating championship! Had a blast! Here's the champ himself, along with other pictures and THE BEST PICTURE EVER TAKEN OF AMY! ahahahaha

 Aaaand we were front and center for Kobyashi's arrest! I was the paparazzi! 

Amy's birthday in Houston- we went to St. Arnold's  brewery- my second fav place in Houston! Aside from Amy's of course...:) Here's the group of gals!

I went to San Diego for a week for work and got to see LB!

 

Who doesn't have fun on a night out wearing a moustache? :) 

Austin Sport and Social Kickball (SuperSocial) champions! **I am their #1 cheerleader/manager

Port Aransas with the Dell crew (Steve's class) for the weekend was a blast! Most pictures I can't put up on my website, but here's a picture of some of us in the shark!

PUB CRAWL! We did a Crawl for Cancer this year which raises money for cancer research. We had two teams- boys and girls. The boys were beach boys and the girls were nerds and it was a fantastic day! 

Lastly we just got back from a fun (and first for me and Steve) trip to NOLA for Steven's 26th birthday! I want to go back soon, that city is fuuuuun!

Last but not least- I have a baby! Her name is Callie and she's the cutest little furball everrrr!!

I hope it doesn't take me another half (or more) of a year to write in this again, but there was my year in a nutshell! One of my best yet, and I can't wait to see what more is to come :)