New!

got lots of new stuff. A new haircut, new shirts, pants, shoes, shorts, makeup. aaaaah. That usually means im going somewheres. And that somewheres this time is Vegas! Oooooh yes, Las Vegas. We got engaged in Vegas in April 2008. We're considering this trip our 2nd honeymoon since we left Disney early. i'll take it. I think we've pretty much traded & upgraded all of our camera gear since the 1st trip. Seriously. We dont have a single body or lens that we took last year, anymore.

this was taken from the Bellagio last year :


If you didnt go to Dillards within the last week - you totally missed out on a killer sale. It was like 40% off in addition to clearance prices. i snagged a pair of hot pink jessica simpson peep toe heels for less than 20 bucks. Justin got 7 polo shirts. and i got some pants and 2 shirts.

I got side swept bangs :



That was the day of the cut. They look different all the time. depending on how i swing my head. or the humidity. or whatever. But i looooooooove it. Had more layers added too. It was time for a change, glad i did it.

new makeup : http://www.purminerals.com/
My bestie and I went to Ulta - and it was the last day of this promotion. And usually im just like eh, it's a promotion, they're supposed to try and get you to buy this stuff. For some reason we were like what the hell, and let em tell us about this stuff. I like to wear mineral powder foundation daily, as opposed to liquid foundation (i use estee lauder double wear) for only special occasions. Well up until saturday - the loreal bare naturale had been my fave. and when i ran out of it a few months ago, i picked up oooh, the maybelline one, the revlon one, and the covergirl one...you know...just to try them. haha. well i didnt like any of them as well as loreal, and said what the heck, and tried the ulta one too. it was pretty good. but i still hadnt picked up loreal again, so i started mixing all the different ones i had together since it was loose powder anyway. haha! it's been working tho! quite well. except when i was outside at work and i would sweat - and it got clumpy or came off or both. so the pur mineral lady showed us this 4-in-1 pressed powder compact and put it on Mander's face. It went on light-weighted and covered her red spots. She also put on some kick-ass eyeliner. Which was what sold me. Cause when i sweat outside, my eyeliner goes away too. This purminerals stuff does NOT come off. It's like waterproof. i wore the powder and eyeliner all day saturday after my little mini makeover and at the end of the day it still looked great. And well, we got this eye shadow pallette and concealer brush for free too. haha. im not too impressed with the eyeshadows yet, but ill definitely never buy anyone elses eye liner again.

I'm feeling feisty.

1 - houston traffic is miserable. it was miserable before school started and now it just quadrupled. houston - go back to drivers ed, and learn how to merge lanes and yield!

2 - there's a friggin woman at work who thinks she's special. and that she should be allowed to park wherever she please. even tho anyone else would get towed for parking in visitor parking. she doesnt. i dont know why everyone around here is a bunch of pansies and wont say chit to her. im past the point of being nice. one wrong move on her part and our bosses start battling it out and laughing at her. that's actually marvelous.

3 - if you go out and buy my camera, your pictures will not look like mine. Mine are not THE greatest, but i think they're pretty snazzy sometimes. a friend of a friend saw some pics recently and asked our mutual friend to find out what camera i had. that's fine and dandy, but the lenses i use are worth more than the camera body alone, and the beginner soccer mom photographer is probably not going to buy them. and even MORE importantly - it's the person behind the camera that makes all the difference in the world. but on that note however - if you're genuinely interested in learning what those settings do, what the numbers on the lenses mean, what lenses would help you, what camera body is right for you, and the basics of aperture & shutter speed - i would love to discuss them with you and could talk for hours or in some of my friends cases, extremely long emails every so often.

4 - some people are only alive because it's illegal to kill them.

Luke turned 1!

 This weekend I went to my Aunt Jan's aka Mamoo's house for her youngest grandson's 1st birthday. It was such a great time. Sarah and her kiddos rode with me, and man, Micah is hilarious. I love that kid. Anyway, Luke's party was filled with lots of love from friends and family, blow up water slides, bubbles, pinatas, colors, and cake. I loved how colorful everything was! We got him some books for his birthday which his momma loved. I never know what to buy a 1 year old. I dont know what toys they already have, or what size clothes to get em, but everyone can use some books that double as learning tools! And i had a huge blast taking pics. Like i posted on my facebook status on Friday - photography is like crack. I think. Except i dont anything about crack. But I meant that photography is addicting! I love it so much. I get so anxious to just pick up the camera and go shoot something. Anything. It just so happens i ran into some cute kids this weekend!

So i think i have the strangest appetite in my immediate world?

My whole department went to lunch with a supplier today to celebrate/send off one of our employees going to college after this week. We had lunch at the restaurant in Bass Pro Shops. I'm not a sea food eater. I *think* im allergic to shell fish. The doctors *thought* so, so therefor *I* think so. It could be MSG or whatever that crap is in chinese food. I dont really know. I just know, that the last 2 times ive had chinese food, the chicken had been cooked with shrimp, and the eggroll quite possibly had shrimp in it and i went to the ER by mySELF at 4AM and then spent Easter Sunday in the hospital. So i dont eat chinese food. Or shellfish. I love chinese food. I hate shellfish anyway. I dont even like fish fish. But I eat tuna fish...the canned stuff. I dunno why. But back to Bass Pro Shops. 1 - the burger i had, the meat, was literally twice as large as the bun it was on, and i actually could not eat it all. This is a rare occurence. 2 - the little bit of bread they bring out as an appetizer was topped with sugar. This sparked the following conversation:

Guy next to me: I think the bread's topped with sugar.

*me thinking mmmm i thought it tasted slightly different but delicious. I love bread*

Another guy about 5 minutes later: It tastes like the bread has sugar on it.

Girl going to college: It does have sugar on it. See! *points to the top of the bread*

Me: It's like a sugar sandwich!

Everyone has a weird look on their face and says Huh?

Me: Y'all never had sugar sandwiches when you were little?! You get a piece of bread, you slop some butter on it, spoon a few spoonfuls of sugar on it, fold in half, and take a big bite. a sugar sandwich!!

Girl from supplier: It's better when you put it on toast with a dash of cinnamon too!

Me: Uh, no that's called cinnamon toast. I'm talking about a sugar sandwich!

Girl from supplier: You're lucky you're sitting over there so i cant kick you!

Guy from supplier: You aint from around here are ya?



As a matter of fact I am not. I'm from a hicktown near Austin, TX. And when i was a kid...i used to get GROUNDED from sugar sandwiches. It's like the only thing i would make myself. Me and my sister wanted them for every meal. Breakfast. Brunch. Lunch. Whateversbetweenlunch&dinner. Supper. All. the. time. the kitchen counters looked like we had danced in a rainfall of sugar. Which we probably did too.

go fix your kid a sugar sandwich!!

This is the funniest chit I've ever read. Mostly because I've thought it on numerous occasions.

I got this in an email today. My comments are in ( ). < those marks that start with a P and i have no idea how to actually spell. And im not typing in firefox today so it's not automatically going to tell me i spelled it wrong, so im not even going to try.

Random Thoughts :
(whoever typed all these out is a genius!)

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
(like seeeeeeriously.)

More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
(i like me, you like you, dont deny it.)

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
(aw chit)

Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? (more than once. mostly it involves walking past my car in the parking lot)But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk. (well im usually already on my phone at that point and that's why i missed my car...)

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. (yawn)

The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again. (you cant make this chit up...why didnt that happen in my office.)

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft. (ya....yaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! - but blowing on my wii, because the electricity went out randomly, and the wii wont come back on....it just didnt work. I tried. I did. I had to google it. on my iphone. cause i was too lazy to walk to the computer. but dangit it works again!)

There is a great need for sarcasm font. (oh please yes!!!)

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the fck was going on when I first saw it. (i realize this with songs from my childhood too. I realize this with songs that werent from my childhood - you know that Rascal Flatts song...Mayberry? I didnt understand what the heck they were talking about til about 6 months ago. And i used to watch that show.)

I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it. (Uh, i make all my friends watch Memento. Except it's not funny.)

How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (Let me know when you find out. Mine end up wadded in a roll of some sort and stuff in whatever slot in the towel closet i can find.) (Wait, i just googled it. Martha Stewart will show you. As will youtube. What the hell WONT Youtube show you. And this person will too, better than martha stewart apparently, but i didnt watch any of the videos so i cant tell you for sure)

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in. (yes. It's hot in texas y'all)

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die. (Amanda are you reading this!?)

The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text. (well it's safer than actually texting while running through a green light..)

Was learning cursive really necessary? (no. except that in 3rd grade i won the handwriting award...and i will still brag about it to this day because of who i had to beat to get it. Well, it meant something to me in 3rd grade. I think the girl is fabulous now...)

Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say". (lol)

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. (i like food.)

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying. (it's been a few years, but ya.)

My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro. (stupid...or brilliant...)

How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said? (i usually say What just to buy me a few seconds of time while they repeat it to actually process what they just said, and then i end up interupting them repeating it to say oh, oh yeah, ok)

Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies" (i know there's a standard vocabulary of words to use for this that they teach in cop school...cause justin used to talk about it allll the time while he was in cop school, but none of it sank in - im sure you could google this too, and then print it out and stick it on a clip in your cubicle for future reference. I might do that.)

What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other? (it'd be like when Mr. & Mrs. Smith realize they're both assassins?)

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died. (I KNOW! Just last week I found out somebody i knew, died. And i have NO idea how. I googled and i googled and does that make me morbid/weird? apparently not, because someone else has obviously wondered this too. I still didnt get an answer tho)

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired. (yawn again)

Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do! (i couldnt have described it any better myself.)

Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year? (it's not just you. It's halloween you whores. Wear something scary!)

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible. (sings "where in the world is carmen san diego?" - you know you sang it too just now)

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day. (like now? lmao)

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection. (I havent even bought a blu-ray. is that even how you spell blu-ray? screw you blu-ray. i see you playing on that big hi-def tv at frys, and quite frankly, you freak me out.)

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to. (this goes for photoshop files too. scary.)

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever. (no it means, i will put it in the washing machine with other things that say that and put it on delicates. screw you hand washing, this is 2009!)

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?' (ill just DVR it when they arent looking and change the station, pft)

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away? (seriously people, what the hell! what the hell!!!)

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste. (and then when you look like poo, you see EVERYONE!!!)

I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes. (and this is why i have like 6 ipods, no joke. one has EVERYTHING on it, and i hit next, next, next, listen to a minute and a half, next, next....but then on one of my smaller ones, i have about 150 songs i could listen to NONSTOP and i never hit the next button.)

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles... (good point!)

It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood. (HA!)

I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. (i have more than one in mine. i didnt even give these people my new cell phone number. but its still there. just. in. case.)

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it. (me either you lazy genious bastards who do know what to do and do it)

My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that? (kids say the darndest things. and they're hilarious.)

It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text. (YES!)

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, I saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner. (hahahahahahahahaha!)

Now tell me you arent cracking up.

My Birthday. I dont have pics yet, but i have shoes.

We went to the Kemah boardwalk last night for my birthday. Thursday night is "Rock the Dock" and one of my favorite cover bands was playing: Texas Unlimited Band aka TUBS. I think I've been watching these guys play since I was a baby. They used to play at the Thorndale Cookoff (my hometown) all the time, but i dont think they have in recent years :( I didnt find out they were playing til yesterday, and we'd been planning on this for a few days, so i was really excited when i did find out who was playing. Everyone that went with us seemed to enjoy the band too! I even joked to Justin's mom that we should've hired them for the wedding! ha! We had dinner at the Cadillac Bar, which i actually spent my 21st birthday there too. funneh.

Justin got me a new case for my iphone, a new camera bag, Grand Slam Tennis for the Wii, and new shoes. His parents got me shoes too. and a new dress. and i cant find the dress online for nothing so ill have to take pics later. but it's a Tahari and it's turquoise and im just glad to have a dress in general, and then a dress that isnt black like everything else i own! HA! And im going to take this dress to Vegas with my new shoes and look killer this year instead of being all boring in my jeans and solid color fitted tshirts from kohls. im so over that look. and i mean take it to Vegas for dinner. not for daywear at the casino. cause im pretty sure i have more comfortable walking shoes than my new heels.

Here's my new shoes (im so excited to have brown instead of black! hahaha!) :

Michael Kors Fulton Platform




and Calvin Klein Dail Peep Toe Platform



FYI - both shoes. on clearance. 60% off at Macy's. discount coupons in the mail. extra 10% off w/ Macy's card. There's no way in hell I'd have let them spend $140 on one pair of shoes.

My husband thinks i look like a monkey.

Just so you know, anyone will look like a monkey if you blow your cheeks up with air and show your ears. you just will. but he thinks i look like a monkey all the time. rumor has it...that when i was born, the doctor actually pointed at my ears and told my mother that they had a surgery that could pin them back. gee thanks. i dont think they're that big anymore, but im still a little self conscience if i wear my hair up. that's why my hair was down for my wedding. to cover my ears. And if you want to get technical...it was my sister who was called monkey girl, not me.

these are from a trip to the zoo in like...march of 2008:


Now you make the same face. And ill tell you you look like a monkey too.

Anyway, here's some pics from our last trip to the zoo, which was May 09

Pros & Cons of taking your iPhone into the bathroom.

The main reason im scared to take my phone into the bathroom? It's expensive. The bathroom is germy. and I dont want to drop it into the toilet. I know a guy who dropped his t-mobile sidekick in the toilet. I couldnt imagine how. He had to have been text messaging while standing up to pee or something. Anyway - it still scares me. But it doesnt scare me enough to not take it in there. I think the pro side of taking the phone in there much outweighs my fear of my phone going swimming. Oh and im talking about at home. There is absolutely no reason to take your phone into the bathroom at work. Ive been in the stall at work, and someone answered their phone. What possibly could not wait 2 minutes to call someone back, i did not figure out. So at home :

Pro # 1 - If you run out of toilet paper, you can call/text your spouse to bring you some more. Justin has done this before. No lie.

Pro # 2 - If you're going to be in there awhile, there's games you can play. There's an internet to browse. Just please, no twittering.

Pro # 3 - If someone breaks into your house, you can call 911. I've thought about this numerous times. I think im just paranoid.

For the record, I love my job.

Both of my jobs, but right now im talking about my 8-5 job. Being a buyer. For a couple things..i mean i really do like it. the job as a whole. my suppliers are awesome and my co-workers in my department are awesome and i love learning new things and what the parts that i deal with do. it's interesting. my job has alot of plus sides too. one being that, your suppliers thank you for your business. our sales department thanks our customers too. that's business right? im surprised i dont gain 20 lbs at christmas time because the food items just pour in every day. well it's not christmas...but today...today, we got chocolate cake. delicious. and then my birthday is next week and we'll have cake again. and i still have ice cream cake. im going to go eat some ice cream cake. i need that room in the freezer.

Why yes, I do like to AW my niece & nephew.

And also - my family has WAY too many summer birthdays!! Apparently everybody was busy making babies in the winter months. Well everybody except me. Ya. Cause all this summer - you've got Justin's, mine, my sisters, ALL of her kiddos, Aunt Lauras is the same day as mine, her daughters, some folks in Justins family...all between the end of June, July, & mid-August. summer is a madhouse. An expensive present buying madhouse!! I'm getting my nephews stick horses for their birthdays this month, oh yes I am! They have boots and love their boots, and ill probably find them a cheap hat to play in too. And how selfish is this, im only getting them stick horses so i can take this super cute picture i saw. But i do think they'll have lots of fun with them too. Anyway, the last birthday we "celebrated" was Sarah's...except we didnt really celebrate cause we like to spend money on her kids instead. So we just kinda came over and hung out and took lots of photos. Mom got her a rug. Sucks growing up and having kiddos...you get rugs for your birthday! bwaha! no really, micah's too cute not to take pics of like, every time i see him. he's gonna be a heartbreaker. Rylie still looks too much like a little boy until Sarah puts clothes on her. Then her blue eyes take over and you barely notice the lack of hair on her head. Here's some fun photos of the kiddos and grandma (aka, my mother).

Mom brought ice cream:




Brother & Sister


See - heartbreaker.


Grandma


And heres my youngest sis just for fun. She's obsessed with myspace and everytime i take pics of her i make a point to process them really funky.



And all 3 sisters. Sarah was sick, but that never stops my shutter button. bwaha. Justin took the one of me a few weeks ago.

Happy Birthday Justin!

Justin's 28th birthday was on the 31st. Most times, i never know what to get him. We always buy games and dvds and electronics, so there goes those ideas. But this year was different, thank goodness! Our first birthdays celebrating as a married couple and i think i did very well this year! Since we're headed to Vegas soon, he wanted a little video recorder. Sure, our little point and shoot takes videos, but he wanted a recorder that was specifically for that and didnt really look like one, but more like a cell phone, and it had to have a slot for a memory card, not just internal memory. So he ended up getting this little kodak one, the Zi6. He loves it. He even took it out shooting the guns with the neighbors this morning, and then afterwards, they liked it so much, they went and got one too! I also picked him up the Madagascar 1 & 2 DVDs. He always sings the little bit "I like to move it move it" but we didnt have the dvd yet surprisingly. So he was happy. His request to his parents for his birthday, was to cook fried cauliflower. That stuff is a mess! Good thing his mom will do it for him, cause uh, I wont. Fried zucchini (spelling? It looked funny with just one c, so i added another one?) was bad enough. bleh. So we went to their house for dinner and cake and presents....

We still have a fridge full of this stuff. I know what he's having for lunch tomorrow. and dinner tonight. and a snack the next day.



Oh lookie there, black and silver balloons! He also had a transformers one. haha He's been on this snickers ice cream kick, so i told his mom to get him an ice cream cake. and now i know what im having for dessert tonight. bwaha



I also told him to tell his mom he needs a new razor. He will never ever answer us when we ask him what he wants for his birthday.



Mussssstang ;)



I might steal the tshirt from him. tehe