Update

Not too much new to add here. Things have been hectic. We moved all of our belongings into a POD about a week ago and we are staying with my rents for the moment. My brother had another seizure this last week while he was at school (Ole Miss). Please be praying for him. He is home now - and he will go through tests soon to see if they can discover why he had another one while on seizure meds. Both of our "disorders" are really not understood by the medical community - and you really can't express the frustration that comes with the "not knowing why" fully unless you have gone through something like it yourself. Which I hope you never have to go through. But PTL we have much to be thankful for. We are all trying to get into the Christmas spririt but I have to admit this year has been tough. Mike and I will be doing the "Tour of Texas" again this year to see all of his family. If I don't sign on again before Christmas...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

My Yummy

I haven’t been able to blog for awhile – mainly because I knew I would want to write about my beloved grandmother – but I just couldn’t. How do I put the woman into words who I have loved so dearly as far back as I can remember? It’s going to be a tough feat and I still probably will not be able to convey what my Yummy means to me. But I am going to give it a go.

A little over a week ago we laid to rest my beloved grandmother Yummy. She was a sister, wife, mother, friend and my most dear grandmother. The type of grandmother you read about in fairy tales. The elegant, graceful, beautiful grandmother whom you could always run to and tell her your craziest dreams and she would help you reach for them. As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to be just like her. First of all – the woman had serious class. People would always remark what a classy lady she was – she had style that not many people can rival. She’s one of the few women I have known in my life who can be dripping in diamonds on an average run of your mill day, running around doing errands, looking totally blissfully normal.

Oh and she was incredibly funny. There are too many “Yummyisms” to name – but a few would be her infamous “Give me a Break!”, “Well that’s just swell”, “Oh Heavenly days”, and of course I love my name that I was always called by, “My precious Brook”. In fact those were the last words she said to me before she went home to be with the Lord.

Oh how I am going to miss her – right now I miss her so much it hurts – the holidays are going to be so strange without her. She made everything so beautiful this time of the year. She could cook like no other – I have memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas meals that would rival what a professional chef could whip up. She was feisty as all get out – stubborn like no other – I come from a long line of strong stubborn women! We shared a love of horses – as an avid equestrian herself she understood completely what it meant to be in love with an 1100 lb majestic animal – and the thrill that comes with riding one. She understood my love so much that she made so many of my equestrian endeavors possible – she bought me my first pony, Revision. And then my horse Magoo – technically she bought Magoo for me twice – that’s a whole story in itself. I always looked forward to seeing her – just hanging out with her was so fun.

And oh the shopping trips we took together. A shopping trip with Yummy was always amazing – I completely blame her for my love of fine designer clothes and accessories. From St. Johns to Chanel – Yummy was always exquisitely dressed to the nines. I could go on and on with all the memories I have with her. I am so thankful for the time here I had with her. Twenty-six amazing years. I love you so much Yummy – more than words can ever convey. And I look forward to the day when I will see you with our Father!

Update

So I haven’t blogged in awhile. Mainly because I have been crazy busy at work. The annual upgrade to our flagship software product is about to be released. So as usual this is the second busiest time of the year for me. At least it isn’t happening during Thanksgiving…which it has in years past! On a happy note….the Twilight Soundtrack was released today. Listening to it right now. The soundtrack has made me only more excited for the movie which comes out in a couple of weeks! My hubby is such a good sport and is going to dare to cross the throngs of all the teeny-boppers who are awaiting just as eagerly as I am for the movie release at midnight on Thursday, Nov. 20th. I mean….I don’t have the date memorized or anything. I started the dreaded packing project this past weekend. Yes we are moving. No I don’t know where we are moving too yet. That’s the million dollar question. We may be chillin at my parents house for the month of December while we figure things out…..an incredibly kind and generous offer. That’s about all I can come up with right now. Next time I sign on we will have a new President of the United States.

Tagged!

So fun! I have been tagged by Amber.

7 random facts about me:

1) My middle name is Loving.

2) I always have a book in my bag.

3) In my life, I have had 5 dogs, 1 pony, 1 horse, 2 hamsters, 5 birds, 1 rabbit, multiple fish, and a partridge in a pear tree.

4) I love Christmas music - I play it 24/7 starting the day after Thanksgiving until New Years.

5) One day I hope to finish writing a book.

6) My dogs full name is Greta Marie Riley.

7) I met my husband at a country western dance hall and I thought he looked like Tim McGraw.

I don't follow enough blogs to tag 7 people...but I tag Tera, Sarah and Rebecca!

Blonde or Brunette? That is the question…..

I have recently had an inkling to go back to my natural roots – yes those who have met me in the past three years say “natural roots?” Yep it’s true – I haven’t been blonde all my life :) I love it when people look at me and say no way when I tell them my natural color is brunette – and a pretty dark brunette at that. Kudos to my hairstylist that those who have met me in the “blonde” period of my life have no idea it’s not natural. Jackie really is a fabulous hairstylist – the best of the best! I don’t know if it’s the Fall weather or what – or maybe it’s just me wanting a change – as I do pretty often. And since my haircut is pretty short – I can’t change anything too drastically with that. So I started toying with the idea of color – and what it would be like to go back to brunette. My hubby is supportive of whatever I do – I know – I’m so lucky :) So we shall see what I walk out of the hair salon tonight as – blonde or brunette! Want to take a vote?

Obsessed.....

Obsessed....yes I'm obsessed with the "teeny bop" Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I'm reading the fourth and final book in the series Breaking Dawn right now. I would be finished already if work didn't get in the way. I seriously take this book everywhere hoping for a few minutes to read in between the daily life things. I always love to read - and I always have a book in my bag. But it has been awhile since a book or series had me so caught up - so obsessed. Probably the last series was Harry Potter. But I don't think I was even this crazy over Harry Potter. Just ask my hubby - he can tell you. I had about a 30 minute conversation with a co-workers kiddo who is in the 6th grade about the series. She told me that it's all anyone talks about in school. Which is kinda crazy that a book can get the young teeny bops going all the way through their "old teachers" - aka my moms age group. She said the kids and teachers talk about them non-stop. Who would have thunk a love story dealing with vampires and werewolves would be the rage! Now I just need to find out how this all ends so I can start sleeping again!

Fun Times at Katy Horse Show

Most of you know that I disappear most weekends to go ride my horse Mr. Magoo. This last weekend we went to a horse show in Katy. It was a blast!!! Magoo was good boy – really proud of his 1st place win in an over fences class with 20 horses in it. And he placed 8th in the hack against 17 horses – huge deal for us!!! There were of course a couple of blooper moments. My old trusty horse decided he was going to act like a 5 year old in my second over fences class on Saturday and became a wild man. Liza (trainer) asked someone to please remind Magoo of his age when we came out of the class – it was kind of a catch 22 though – even though he totally tried to run away with me – I was happy because it showed he was really feeling his oats and having way too much fun in the show ring. That makes me excited and happy he still loves his job so much after all these years!!! Overall – the weekend was a great success – and most importantly – I had a ton of fun. Back when I was younger – if I didn’t win – I don’t think you would have heard the words “I had fun” come out of my mouth unless I was going home with a blue ribbon. Now, I just feel so blessed to be at a horse show with Mr. Magoo – the first place ribbons are icing on the cake. Shout out to Christian and Tonic who took home a first place ribbon in the Adult Jumpers on Saturday!!

Walk of Shame with Two Different Shoes On

One part of my theme song “It Happens” says

“Missed my alarm clock ringing
Woke up telephone screaming
Boss man singing his same old song
Rolled in late about an hour
No cup of coffee, no shower
Walk of shame with two different shoes on”

Yesterday I was so deliriously tired that I really did live out that last line. I actually showed up to work with two different shoes on. AND the worst part is I made through more than half the day before I realized it. I know I know. Me of all people. You can imagine how horrified I was. And everyone that I have told has laughed their tails off at me. So go ahead…laugh away. At least both of the shoes were black flats…so they looked similar…but yeah…different shoes. Jeez. I need some sleep.

Where are da boots?

Last night my mom and I had some girl time. My mom was due for some much needed stress relief from taking care of my grandmother and she was free from her duties for the night. What activity did we decide was the best way to achieve some much needed stress relief? SHOPPING!!! Specifically boot shopping. We are always too late in the season when we begin our annual boot shopping hunt. This year we were going to be on-time – well we actually ended up being early. As in where in the world were the boots? Nordstroms had some – Dilliards and Macys hardly had any. So strange – normally we are too late and the selection is super picked over – this year we were too early - craziness. That never happens but once we thought about it we realized we are still in September. Maybe the boots will make their debut in October. Whenever they decide to take over the shoe departments – my mom and I will be ready!!!!

I Heart McD’s Coffee

If you know me well you know how much I love coffee. I can’t always drink it but when I can drink it I’m pretty happy about it and it better be good :) I also have a dear affection for Starbucks. I was a rather frequent visitor in college and unfortunately I think a lot of my extra spending money went to my luxury coffee habit. However, I have found a grand substitute. One that is so good I hardly ever buy coffee from Starbucks anymore unless it is a specialty coffee like an Americano or Mocha. I have found what I love the most about Starbucks is the atmosphere….and I can relish in the atomosphere without breaking the bank by just sitting and reading my book sans pricey coffee. Although once it gets cold I really love mochas and it might be harder to bypass Starbucks. But back to the point. The wonderful coffee substitute I have discovered is McDonald’s regular coffee and iced coffees. I can get a small coffee for $1.18! Yes I know…back in the day you could get it for $.50 or whatever or I could make it at home…but I don’t. I have been so blown away by the yumminess of McD’s coffee. I actually now like their regular coffee better than Starbucks daily brewed coffee. I know it’s heresy but it’s true! I think it’s because McD’s is not as strong and I can’t handle Starbuck’s strength anymore. Oh and the iced coffees are delish! I strongly recommend the vanilla iced coffee. So if you are looking for a Starbucks substitute with all the taste without the price…try McD’s…you just might be surprised!

Prayer for those in Ike's Path

Praying for those in Ike’s path right now. Specifically praying for my horse trainer Liza and her husband Lee. They live in Fulshear which is right outside of Katy (Houston area). With the event of the hurricane turning for Galveston so quickly and everything that could happen in Houston they are in a pretty scary situation right now. They are just going to hunker down and as Liza says “its in God’s hands”. Please pray for her and Lee’s safety and the horses safety. Probably be good to get down on our knees for the whole Ike situation.

Dancing Queen

I finally went to see Mama Mia the other night with Nicole. Both of our hubbies were thrilled we went with each other to see the movie instead of dragging them to see it :) I had heard it was good but I was totally blown away by Meryl Streep’s performance. She rocked the house! I went home after the movie and danced around the living room with Greta while signing Dancing Queen. Mike looked on and laughed. My puppy dog loves to dance with her mama :) So yes - for one night - Greta and I were Dancing Queens!

It’s all about pH balance people!

I’m sitting here at work and my eyes are bugged out as usual after a typical Monday. Monday’s are filled with numbers. It’s so ironic because my least favorite subject in school was always math. Yet my Monday’s are encompassed with math – sales figures, ROI, percentages, yuck, yuck and more yuck. So while my mind decompresses from the world of math I thought I would blog about the new info I came across last week. You know about the latest diagnosis in what has become my health saga for the past year and a half. I started thinking on Friday how I have issues with acid reflux and now I have a definite diagnosis of IC. Is there any underlying big picture here that I'm missing here? And I swear the Lord popped one word into my brain: ACID. Well duh. Why did I not think of that before? Of course! Acid reflux is due to an excessive amount of acid in your stomach. And the IC flairs occur because my bladder is irritated by acid. (Sorry if that’s TMI but it’s the truth). So obviously my body’s natural pH is out of whack - I must be too acidic. Now what should I do about that? Well of course I went to the internet and started to Google about the body’s pH balance. Boy did I find a wealth of information out there. Lots of people are totally convinced that a lot of sickness is due to the fact that our bodies pH is totally out of balance due to the typical American’s diet. I had no idea that certain foods were acidic. I mean I knew the basics – coffee, tomatoes, alcohol, onions, ect. But I had no idea meat became acidic once our bodies broke it down. And what is the majority of food that we consume? Meat! Or at least us non vegetarians I guess I should say. So I am going to give this a go and try to eat a diet consisting of 80% alkaline foods and 20% acidic foods for the next couple of weeks and see how I feel. A balanced diet would consist of 60% alkaline foods and 40% acidic foods but since I am trying to become less acidic I will bulk up on the alkaline foods for now. Up until now I was definitely consuming more acidic foods than alkaline foods without even realizing it. I will tell you though after three days of doing this I can already tell a difference…..my acid reflux is subsiding. I don’t think this is a coinkeedink. If you are wondering what is an alkaline food and what is an acidic food – check out the following website – it gives you examples of foods in each category. Interesting stuff. It’s all about pH balance people! :) http://www.trans4mind.com/nutrition/pH.html

Hello Love

I downloaded Chris Tomlin's new CD Hello Love from iTunes today. Wow. Wow. Wow. Yes this album deserves a three star WOW. It's awesome...go buy it....now. My fave song thus far is Praise the Father, Praise the Son. God of this City holds a close second :) The whole album is amazing though. You'll love it!

Ode to Shining Stars

I was going through old computer files today and I found this poem I had written right after we had to put down the dogs that my brother and I grew up with...Shiner and Clara. I have been so blessed to have lots of animals in my life growing up over the years. Max and Katie were my parents dogs when I was born. Then we got Shiner and Clara towards the end of Katie's life. And of course I have so many cherished memories with my pony, Revision. Revision was my Christmas present from "Santa" when I was in the fourth grade. To this day that is my most fond Christmas memory I have as a child growing up. I mean what little girl doesn't want to wake up to find a note under the Christmas tree that Santa had given her a pony. It was awesome. Little did Santa know that Revision would live until I was a Junior in college :) So this is a little poem about the animals in my life whom I miss dearly.

Ode to Shining Stars

In Remembrance of the wonderful animals of my life
Max, Katie, Revision, Clara, and Shiner

You knew me as a young one
Always so patient and kind
What more could a child ask for
But for the love you gave every time

So many years we spent together
Outside rain or shine
You always were there for me
Time after Time

I will miss you all the days of my life
Always a shining star in my mind
You gave me so much joy
I so wish we had more time

As you rest yourself in God’s good hands
I thank Him all the time
He gave me all those years with you
Now rest in peace you blessed beast

Book/Movie Review

While I was out of work sick all last week….I did a whole lot of two things: sleeping and watching movies. I think we rented around 10 movies total last week…seriously…I know….Blockbuster was my new friend last week. I was able to catch up on chick flicks that I otherwise would not have rented if it were a movie night for Mike and me. I do have to give him some credit though…sometimes he gives in and watches a chick flick. Out of the ten movies that I rented…two stuck out as my faves.

Movie number one was Penelope w/Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon. (Reese also produced the movie.) Christina Ricci plays the main character – a “blue blood” heiress who is cursed with a pig snout. To break the spell she thinks she has to marry another “blue blood” rich boy. Nobody will of course because of her pig snout. But really the whole time it was in her power to break the spell…once she realized she loved herself as she was…pig snout and all. It was a great movie about inner beauty and loving yourself as you are – something we don’t normally see on screen today. I loved it and highly recommend it – oh and for you guys – Mike came in towards the end of the movie and got hooked. So it’s not just for the ladies!

Movie number two was P.S. I Love You. Hilary Swank plays the leading female role. Now first I have to give a forewarning. I cried through this entire movie. It’s a beautiful film about love but it is really really sad too. Hilary Swank’s husband dies of a brain tumor and in his dying days he writes all of these letters to her and has them sent to her after he has passed away with instructions on things to do to help her cope with his death. The entire movie I kept putting myself in her shoes – thinking about how I would react in that situation and I kept thinking about how you really have to live everyday like it’s your last because you just never know when your time will be up. Yes it sounds depressing…and again…I cried the whole movie. But the acting was superb – storyline was really good – I really loved it. Just watch it with a box of tissues.

My first book review (oh how exciting!) is about Twilight by Stephanie Meyers. It’s the first book in the Twilight saga series. I had heard about these books for sometime now. I try to keep up with the “newest and coolest” books out there. It’s just kind of my thing. I am not a huge science fiction person - although I did love the Harry Potter series – but lately everywhere I kept turning I felt like these books would appear or someone would be talking about them. Mike and I were in Barnes and Nobles one night reading (if you can’t find us during the week Barnes and Nobles should be your first place to look…yep I’m a big book worm and my poor hubby has to put up with my B&N obsession :) and I wasn’t totally into the book I was reading. B&N had a huge Twilight display at the front of the store and I decided what the heck and picked the book up to buy. Well later that night I was sucked in and I could not put the book down. I am now reading the second book in the series New Moon. So it’s a bit different from Harry Potter in that it’s a love story from the start. But the storytelling on Stephanie Meyer’s part is fabulous. She totally sucked me right in just like J.K. Rowling did. It’s very rare now in my “adult” (did I just write adult…clarification…I don’t feel like an adult though) reading life that I stay up super late to read a book…but this series is proving to roll into my sleep time at night. I highly recommend the series if you are 1) a Harry Potter fan and 2) a fan of love stories.

Diagnosis

Ok so I haven’t blogged in awhile since I started this blog. Mainly because I haven’t been at a computer in about a week and a half for any length of time. I have been sick...and without giving TMI basically I have been diagnosed with condition called interstitial cystitis….an autoimmune disease of the bladder. This diagnosis has explained so much about the past year and a half…mainly why I have been so sick. I’m not going to lie…it definitely is a scary diagnosis to me especially since it’s something the medical community doesn’t fully understand and there is no cure. But I have a great doctor and she is trying to do everything possible to guide me though this…and then of course I am in the hands of the ultimate Healer..the Great I Am. You have no idea how much I have taken comfort in that over the past week. But thankfully I am starting to feel a lot better. Sunday was my best day by far from the past week. I was able to go ride Mr. Magoo (Praise!) and I made it to church too (another Praise!). Mike and I served on the Welcome Team together and greeted people at the front door for the 5 o’clock service at church on Sunday. You can only imagine how serving in this capacity totally hits home for Mike’s personality….and we had a great time serving together. So as I am coming out of this “IC flare” as they call it…I am choosing to remain optimistic that better days are ahead!

“It Happens”…..the song written about my life.

It's my debut blog entry and I thought what better way to start than by writing about something I most recently identified with. So Sugarland released their new album Love on the Inside and I was listening to the album on iTunes (it's terrific by the way) and I came across the song “It Happens”. I immediately identified with the song and I thought “this song was written about my life”. I had Mike listen to it...he laughed, and said, “Yep…you’re right…this song is about your life”. Not sure how they did it but kudos to Sugarland….and it’s a catchy tune too :)

Lyrics to “It Happens” by Sugarland

Missed my alarm clock ringing

Woke up telephone screaming

Boss man singing his same old song

Rolled in late about an hour

No cup of coffee, no shower

Walk of shame with two different shoes on

Now it is poor me, why me, oh me

Boring the same old worn out blah blah story

There is no good explanation for it at all

Ain't no rhyme or reason

No complicated meaning

Ain't no need to over think it

Let go laughing

Life don't go quite like you planned it

We try so hard to understand

Irrefutable, indisputable

The fact is

Psssh

It happens

My trusty-rusty had a flat

I borrowed my neighbors Cadillac

"I'll be right back," going down to Wally World

That yellow light turned red too quickly

Knew that the truck moment it hit me

Out stepped my ex and his new girl

("Sorry 'bout your neck baby")

But it is poor me, why me, oh me

Boring the same old worn out blah blah story

There is no good explanation for it at all

Ain't no rhyme or reason

No complicated meaning

Ain't no need to over think it

Let go laughing

Life don't go quite like you planned it

We try so hard to understand

Irrefutable, indisputable

The fact is

Psssh

It happens

Ain't no rhyme or reason

No complicated meaning

Ain't no need to over think it

Let go laughing

Life don't go quite like you planned it

We try so hard to understand

Irrefutable, indisputable

The fact is

Psssh

It happens

Yeah, the irrefutable, indisputable, absoluteable, totally beautiful fact is

Psssh
It happens