Vegas!

So I am super blessed. I have amazing friends and a husband who willingly pays for me to go hang out in Vegas with my amazing friends.

So after getting delayed 3 hours in the world's tiniest airport that consists of two gates that are literally in a trailer, I finally made it to Las Vegas! My poor east coast friends waited up for me at the hotel when I arrived at 10pm. They even allowed me to put on deodorant before we headed to dinner at Maggiano's. We enjoyed a nice meal and made it back to the hotel to crash.

Bridget, Me, Lizzy, and Annie eating. Please excuse their sleepy looks, but also notice our hotel in the back - The Wynn.

This was my bed and that is Annie in it. That bed was SUPER comfortable.
This is the view out our window. That sun was fabulous :)
The next day we spend shopping at J. Crew with a friend of Bridgee's mom and got a rad discount. I got a pair of shorts and a sweet dress that is pink. After a nice lunch, we sat out by the pool and enjoyed catching up even more. Then that evening we made our way to Mesa Grill which is Bobby Flay's place. If you don't know Bobby Flay, then you need to watch the Food Network and his throwdowns.

Lizzy and I got to the restaurant first and we were EXCITED! Please note the back of the chair that is cow print!

We were waiting for the fountain show in front of the Bellagio.

The food was great and the company was even better. Afterward we walked over to the Bellagio and watched the fountains, saw the gondolas at the Venetian, and even stopped by the massive Walgreens for some Milanos and Pirate's Booty. Then we hit the hay.

The next day we spent at the pool and then headed to the Mirage to eat at California Pizza Kitchen and see Love Cirque de Soliel. Then we headed back to the hotel to crash. Lizzy and Annie had EARLY flights and were up before the crack of dawn. Bridgee and I had a morning at the pool, ate In and Out burgers, and then departed at the airport.
Bridgee and I are SUPER excited to be at the pool!
All four of us loving the pool!
Annie and I decided to celebrate her belated birthday with some special drinks by the pool!Annie and I before we headed to see LOVE. The background is the lobby of our hotel which was stunning!



It was a wonderfully tame Las Vegas trip that was perfect for our little foursome. We loved getting to just be in the same place and cherish our friendship. (And maybe get some frozen yogurt with toppings like Arch's).

So moral of the story is that I have amazing friends and an amazing husband. May you have such a blessed life.

To those who couldn't make it, we missed you. Next time for sure!

MOLLY HARRIS LAUFER!!!

So some people make life a lot better by just being in it - one of those people is Molly Harris Laufer. And this Sunday, I got to see her! I got to wrap my arms around her sweet little self as she returned home from a 6 month deployment.

First I drove down to Seattle to meet up with her very excited Mom and Mom-in-Law. We hung out a little before we walked down to the ferry to meet Molly! It was hard to see her since she is so little, and as she told us later, there were over a 1000 people leaving the ship that day. But she found our eager little selves waiting for her! After long embraces, we made our way back to the mom's hotel to drop Molly's things off and take a load off the feet! Afterward, we walked down to Pikes Place Market to see the sights. I literally cannot explain the feelings of happiness I had for seeing Molly and seeing her reunite with her moms! It was pure joy and happiness and so much more!

Here is her ferry ride!
Two moms waiting!
Mom and Molly reunited!!
Two Moms and a Molly!
Two Mollys in Pikes!
So Molly, welcome home and I cannot wait for you to get to be in the arms of your husband! I was so glad to get to give you lots of hugs and hear your stories first hand, and I hope your Tigers are having fun and enjoying their time on carrier! Your moms can come back any time they want!

Now onto my last Chi Omega reunion for a bit - Vegas with three special ladies!

How I have become my mother...

When we were little and it was Mother's Day, we would take the very special woman (mom) out to eat. Sometimes we would go to this place called Surfrider. There my mother would get to have whatever she wanted on the menu, and she would normally choose a head of steamed broccoli. I remember this distinctly as a child because all I could think of was, "YUCK!!! Why in the world would she want to eat THAT!" Now it was Mother's Day, so I am sure that her three children never verbalized their disgust with her choice (yeah right). The children of course (along with Dad) would get yummy things like hamburgers and french fries. Oh the heavenly french fries which we willingly shared with the honoree!

However, now I have become my mother. I LOVE that I can eat as many heads of steamed broccoli I want when Kenny is gone. It is a perfect single ladies meal, and I can now understand why that was such a special treat for my mom.

So thanks mom for passing that on to me. Now I will go eat my head of broccoli, YUM!

X and a Horseshoe, Chi O!

This will be the second weekend in a row during which I get to see a Chi Omega. I am pretty excited! One of my sisters, Sally, is living in Seattle for 9 months while she works with the PGA, so she and I met up this past weekend to do a little shopping. When you live in an area that only boasts a Wal-Mart, it is always an adventure going to a mall with a NORDSTROMS! I got two books at a BARNES AND NOBLE! and a pair of sassy heels at DSW! I am not a huge shopper, but I LOVE barnes and noble and dsw. Books and shoes. Amazing :) And spending time sipping a sparkling pomegranate lemonade with one of the sweetest people in the world just kind of made my Sunday. So thanks to Sally for unintentionally moving only 2 hours away from me :) I appreciate it.

The Help = AWESOME book, cannot put down!

THIS weekend, I get to see Molly Harris Laufer, another stellar Chi Omega. Molly got married this past September and allowed Kenny and I to celebrate our second anniversary hanging out in Cville. Not only that, but Molly is one of those girls whose laugh is contagious, whose smile is always warm, and who give some pretty amazing hugs. Now why is Molly coming to the Seattle area? She is coming home from a LONG deployment on the USS Nimitz and their last port stop is Bremerton. Now if you are thinking, but if she got married in September and has been on a long deployment, how does that work? Well my friends, it means she got hitched, honeymooned, and deployed. So her homecoming is super special in that she will actually be with her HUSBAND! YEAH!! So this Sunday, I will head down to Seattle to meet up with Molly and her Tigers (people that come spend time on the ship to experience carrier life) which just happen to be her sweet mom and mom-in-law.

Molly and Molly in the good ol' days at the Chi O house...

Now hold onto your horses because there is going to be a third Chi Omega weekend... I know. I can hardly stand it myself. Next weekend I will head to Las Vegas to hang out with THREE Chi Omegas! It will be crazy exciting :)

Esteel (or Lizzy or Elizabeth) and Bridgee (or Bridget) will be meeting me in Vegas!
And Banoo/Bananie (or Annie) will be there too!
Hope you all have a great weekend filled with people whom you love lots too!

So four years ago around this time...

*** There are no pictures that can illustrate this because I did not want my mother to know at the time, but after 4 years, I think it is okay to admit to this story.***

I went on my final spring break of college and my final spring break in Corpus Christi, TX. Living in the Chi Omega Sorority house had its advantages such as borrowing clothes, hanging with some cool chicks, and having an awesome suite. However, it also had the major excitement/pressure of being one of the sisters who might get engaged while in college. Before I went on spring break, all the talk was about how Kenny would definitely be popping the question. I kept saying that I really didn't think he would do it until after graduation, but the buzz around the house was that it was totally happening. (At least that is how I felt).

So I get to Corpus, Kenny knows that all I want to do is go to the beach, so he has put together a picnic lunch for us. Now this wasn't just any picnic lunch, it was HEB chicken salad on amazing HEB rolls with diet Sunkist, so basically my favorite things. And if you don't know about HEB, you are missing out in life. So I started to get nervous as we ate and enjoyed the sun and began to think "this is it, this is it, this is it." We were out on the beach with lots of talk about the future. Kenny was getting ready to get his wings and move. I was getting ready to graduate and was awaiting acceptance to grad school. Due to my nervousness, I forgot to put on sunscreen. I mean, how can a girl concentrate on a silly thing like sunscreen when this man of her dreams MIGHT propose. Also, we were going to go meet his grandparents and aunts and uncles that week, and I kept thinking that maybe Kenny would want them to meet me as his fiance. Well needless to say, he did not pop the big question, but that night, my face started to get red from the sun exposure. By the next morning, my face was swollen and beat red from being sunburned. It was awful. I was literally rubbing aloe on my face nonstop. I have definitely learned my lesson in terms of sunscreen.

So instead of getting a ring that week, I got a wicked sunburn, but the plus was that when I met his grandparents with a red face, I couldn't blush terribly which I can do on a dime. And they liked me despite my tomato face.

When I returned from Spring Break, a few of my sorority sisters were a little bummed that it didn't happen, but we all got our wish a month later. Kenny surprised me by knocking on the Chi Omega door when he was supposed to be in San Antonio playing golf with his buddies. And the rest is history!

And because a post without pictures is boring... Here we are moments after I said, "Am I old enough to do this, I mean, yes!"
And the gorgeous ring and roses :)

there is an end in sight

This might sound strange since this is the 6th deployment that we have done. However, tomorrow I will go to my last hail and farewell before our own in April, and I can see the end of this det in sight. I can also see the end of our time in Whidbey, which is sad. I can see the end of my job at North Whidbey Christian which is sad. I can see the end of living in our first married home together. I can see the end of extended time apart (for now). I see the end of living SO far away from our family.

All of these obviously stir up a whole smorgasbord of emotions, but there are of course exciting beginnings coming that cannot go unnoticed. Beginning of living only FIVE hours from family. Beginning of warm weather and real beaches. Beginning of living in a city with an airport. Beginning of having our family together :)

And now a little trek down memory lane...

Kenny and I enjoying the Corpus beach in 2006. I might have thought we were getting engaged that day and I might have been super wrong. :) Woops.
I look really cool on a T-44.
Kenny looking "fly" on the T-44 which he will instruct new students on when we go to Texas!

So it is kind of weird to see this end in sight and to know that soon we will pack up our first home and move. May we do this with grace and maturity and have a great end and a fabulous new beginning!

Hootie Hoo!

So I have this great friend, Whitney, who is a fabulous jewelry maker. She has this fabulous ability to put things together and come up with unique and fun pieces. She is always scoping out beads, so when she found an owl pendant, she knew that I needed it. She made me an awesome necklace for me that I just had to share!


If there is any Chi O who would like one, she can make them in silver or gold depending on your preference!

And just so you can see my friend and her sweet little girl, Kylie, here they are! We went bowling the other night and Kylie might have bowled 2 strikes and wooped all of the adults. Just might have... :)

A Day of Remembrance...

6 years ago today, my big brother passed away, so today, I remember him. Bo taught me all of those great four letter words, how to have high expectations for myself, and how to stand up for myself. So in honor of Bo and his passing, I encourage you to reach out to someone you love today and just let them know that you love them and that they have helped shape you. I know that I would not be able to deal with high school aged boys if my brother had not been such a royal pain in the you know what.


Bo getting the best present of his entire life - his little sister ;)
You can't say we weren't stylish kids... This was a year that Bo's ornaments did get to go on the tree because he hadn't been a royal pain in the you know what to my parents :)

I toast to you, my big brother, Bobo. And we miss you, so.