Between the Beauty and Chaos

Aaron Ivey's (worship dude from Austin Stone) new album Between the Beauty and Chaos is up on iTunes for download. I have not been this excited about a new album since Tomlin's last release. So much so I seem to tell just about everyone I come into contact with that they have to go download it from iTunes. I'm even listening to it right now as I blog. So.....go now and download. You will be really glad you did...promise! :) Also, found this review on the album and I think it hits home. Check the review out at: www.chriskinsley.com/2009/06/26/friend-friday-aaron-ivey-edition/

I want to be a country music star....

Well so much for updating the blog every day :) I guess you will just have to take what you can get! :) In the past four months I have gone to more concerts than I normally do in a whole year. Somehow my all time fave country music artists have all toured in Texas between the months of April and July. Billy Currington and Sugarland were in Austin in April. Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert and Kenny Chesney were in San Antonio in May. Billy Currington came back to Texas at the end of May. And now Keith Urban is coming to Dallas in July. Phew - seriously loving all of these artists touring in Texas! Here are a couple of pics from three of the concerts. More pics to come I'm sure from Keith Urban ;)

Billy Currington!

Kenny Chesney


Miranda Lambert with her oh so rockin pink guitar!

Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles - this girl has some serious pipes!

Sugarland!

So much to say!

Wow I have really neglected my blog! My goal is to write once a day to catch up on everything that has been going on! First I will start with the Jamaica trip. It was SO much fun. The beach was absolutely gorgeous and we just had a blast. From the good food to the fun people we went with it was an all around good time. Mike's sister's wedding was really beautiful. I told Mike if I had to do the whole wedding ceremony thing over again that I might opt for the beach scene...so he said to keep that in mind whenever we choose to renew our vows :) Deal! Here are some fun pics from the trip.

Wedding shot.

Pretty Beach!

It would not be a vacation without a blooper pic featuring Michael Riley!

Jamaica!

Yes!! I just realized we leave for Jamaica in less than 48 hrs! Mike's sister, Megan, is have her dream beach side ceremony in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Sunday. And we are so lucky to be going! It's a quick trip - fly out Saturday and fly back Tuesday - we are excited for this sweet get-away. We are staying at the Sandals Montego Bay Resort. It's both of our first times to stay at an all inclusive resort - and then add the adult only addition to that ;) I am sure I will have lots of pictures to post when we come back. Til then....ya man :)

Well Done Good and Faithful Servant....

Yesterday we celebrated the life of Mike's Grandma Riley. Amongst the sadness there is the joy that she is at home with our Father, no longer suffering. For that we can be thankful for. The priest's closing words were a verse that you often hear at funerals "Well done good and faithful servant" (Mat 25:23). I hope whenever my time comes those are the words used to describe me.

Magoo is in Austin!

A little over a week ago Magoo (my horse) moved to Austin...well technically Manor. For the past two years Magoo has lived in Bryan, TX at Steep Hollow Farm, my bff's barn. I spent so many wonderful weekends over the past two years in BCS filled with wonderful horse and friend time. We will really miss Steep Hollow Farm and our friends there! But as of late it was starting to become really hard to get to Bryan on the weekends to ride so we decided it was best to move Magoo closer to Austin. So his new digs are at Scattered Oaks Farm in Manor. Both Magoo and I are very happy his new home. Magoo settled in really well pretty fast - he has already become obsessed with his very sweet and laid back turnout buddy Scotch. And everyone has been really welcoming and nice at the barn which has been wonderful as well. This past week I have been able to go out to the barn almost everyday which has been beyond what words can describe. I had forgotten how wonderful it was to have the barn to look forward to after the day's work had been done. I am so thankful that not only is Magoo super happy with his new home but I am too. Hopefully I will have some pics of Magoo in his new digs to post soon!

iPhone Addiction

So my parents bought me an iPhone for Christmas. Mike and I had been with Sprint for a long time but our contract was up and we were free to shop around. After cell phone shopping for several days, we came to the conclusion that we could get just as good of a deal at AT&T as we did at Sprint, plus Mike got a free new phone which he really needed, and I got my iPhone. It was a win win situation. Let me just say that after having this phone for a little over two months now….I’m pretty much obsessed. I can check Facebook, Google, get GPS directions, play solitaire, play checkers, search for restaurants and movies, listen to my iTunes music, and the list goes on and on. I was a little worried about AT&T’s service because some people had told me they got better signals with Sprint. But I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the service! Our Sprint phones never worked in my parent’s house – and our AT&T phones work perfectly in their house! I really don’t know how I ever lived without this phone. The only thing that has changed is I can no longer text in the car while driving because of the touch pad….but some people would dare to say that’s a good thing ;) If you are thinking of switching over to AT&T I highly recommend the iPhone. Just beware…..you too will develop an obsession!

The Bachelor

I can’t believe I am blogging about The Bachelor but I am. So this season was about “the single dad from Seattle” Jason Mesnick. Who of course was Deanna’s reject from The Bachelorette. I was super excited they made Jason the Bachelor this season because like America, I thought this guy was such great guy and amazing father and of course wanted to root for him to find true love. And then wham – comes the finale and I, like a good portion of America, am shocked. For those who didn’t watch it, Jason proposed to one of the final two girls at the end of the show. Then a couple of months later he breaks up with his fiancée and asks the reject girl to give him a shot. And reject girl said yes! WHAT?!?!?! Seriously?! First of all I find it highly suspicious that this “Blogger Steve” totally called what was going to happen a couple of weeks before the finale aired. I don’t know what to think anymore….is the show scripted?.....did the producers tell Jason to pull this stunt?......or did he really do this out of his own accord? All I can say is that I am over this show. I totally lost “respect” if you can call it that and I’m over it. Needless to say, Mike is overjoyed that he will no longer have to watch another episode of The Bachelor ;)

Sugarland!

Sugarland is coming to Austin! I am SO excited. I really love this band - and since one of their songs is about my life - well I just have to go see them! Tickets go on sale Friday so get ready!

Sushi Convert

So thanks to my brother Sushi is my favorite new food. I have always given him a hard time for loving sushi. Always asking “How do you manage to eat raw fish – gross!” Well I am eating my words now because he somehow talked me into going to eat sushi one night over Christmas break. I tried it – and loved it. I normally eat it about once a week now. I have tried several sushi restaurants in Austin but my fave by far is Osaka off of Anderson Mill Road. If you’re in Austin and you love sushi – go there. I promise you will not be disappointed. A couple of things I have discovered about my sushi loving taste buds – they like salmon more than tuna but I will eat tuna. Spicy Salmon rolls are the bomb. And they really like the vegetable rolls – I know I know – veggie rolls aren’t quote on quote sushi. But hey – I am all for discovering more ways to eat veggies that are delish!

Grammy's Kodak Moment

I was watching the Grammy’s last Sunday and I think it was one of the best awards shows I have seen in a long time. Watching Justin Timberlake bring down the house with Al Green was pretty awesome. And of course I was dancing on the couch watching ColdPlay perform. Those guys are so fun to watch live…and then well I love their music so there’s that too. But I truly think the Kodak moment of the night was when Neil Diamond was singing Sweet Caroline and he started to walk down the steps of the stage into the audience – when the camera panned out you saw Paul McCartney just jamming away to the song. I doubled over laughing – it was so great. To see one legend so excited to dance and sing along to another legend. It was priceless!

Did You Know

So there is a viral “25 Things about Me” going around on Facebook. I decided to blog about this first and then post on Facebook. PS….I am obsessed with Facebook. It’s unhealthy – it’s the number 1 reason I wanted an iPhone. Oh well that should be a totally different blog entry. Back to “25 Things about Me”!

1) I love classical music – I’m obsessed with Itzhak Perlman.
2) Growing up math was my least favorite subject yet I deal with numbers all day long in my job.
3) I met my husband country western dancing and I thought he looked like Tim McGraw (my husband says God blinded me).
4) Pink = half the clothes in my closet.
5) Mr. Darcy and Ron Weasley are my two most favorite characters – if you don’t know who they are then you just aren’t cool.
6) I love that my husband calls me Beloved.
7) My middle named is Loving – after Oliver Loving – my great(to the third) grandfather who was one of the first men to blaze cattle into Texas with Charles Goodnight. Hence the infamous Goodnight-Loving Trail. And why is the family not in the cattle business? I don’t know.
8) I miss my grandparents so much it hurts.
9) My secret wish is to some day finish a book I have started.
10) I have owned my horse twice.
11) Breakfast is my absolute favorite meal of the day.
12) I almost always fall asleep while watching one of the following moves: Pride and Prejudice, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Enchanted, The Devil Wears Prada, Friends, (or The Office if my husband beats me to bed).
13) I was on the Texas Rowing Team my freshman year in college.
14) Back in 2000 I sat next to Heath Ledger on a plane.
15) I have an affliction for designer purses – I blame my grandmother for that.
16) My favorite place to be is a) on a horse or b) reading a book on the beach.
17) I heart coffee. I am trying to only drink decaf now but it’s really hard!
18) Every time I come home no matter what my day has been like I smile because my dog acts like she hasn’t seen me in a year and goes bananas because she is so happy to see me.
19) Austin has been my home for 25 years.
20) I could spend hours everyday in Barnes and Noble – I love the smell of books.
21) I would like to go back to school at some point for a MBA.
22) Over the course of my life my family has had 6 dogs, 2 horses, 1 rabbit, 3 hamsters, 5 birds, numerous fish, and a partridge in a pear tree.
23) Christmas is my favorite time of the year.
24) Sushi is my new fave food.
25) The song “It Happens” by Sugarland is about my life.

Happenings

Wow - it's been way too long since I blogged last. Happy New Year! I can't even begin to explain how ecstatic I am that 2009 is here! 2008 was a very hard year as most everyone knows - I said goodbye to two beloved grandparents and dealt with numerous health issues. However I do have a highlight of the year and that was showing my horse Magoo for the 2008 show year. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to show him this past year - something I never dreamed in a million years would come true but it did! So amidst the trials and sadness of the past year I will always be thankful for that opportunity.

We do have a new addition to the extended family - my brother received an 8 week old Chocolate Lab puppy for Christmas. We are so happy to have Homer Belknap as part of the family. Greta is slowly getting used to her new cousin. They do really great when playing outside. Playing inside is a different matter though - although I do have to say she has only bitten him twice so that's not too bad right? :)

Christmas was bittersweet - it definitely was not the same without my grandparents. But it reminded me that Christmas is about our Savior and Lord's birth - and what makes it even more special is to celebrate it with the ones you love. So I hope from now on to really soak in holiday time with family and friends and not get caught up in the business of the season that can sometimes take over.

Mike and I celebrated our 4th year wedding anniversary on December 30th! Wow the Lord has blessed us over these four years. We have had so much fun together and we cannot wait to see what the Lord brings our way in 2009!

We spent New Years Eve with family and friends. A very yummy dinner at Z Tejas made it even better!

January 1st Mike and I packed up our bags and headed off to Washington DC for our annual anniversary trip. We had two full days to explore all DC has to offer. The highlights of our trip included Arlington Cemetery (Mike's fave) and The National Gallery of Art (my fave). I will also always have a very wonderful memory of visiting the Louis Vuitton store in DC :)

This weekend Mike and I are headed off to Houston with the Kings to enjoy the THJA banquet (related to all the horse stuff). We are ready to have a rockin good time! Hopefully I will have good pictures to post next week!