Diet Time

Last week I decided that I am officially on a diet. A real one. I've seen a few photos of myself that were shocking to say the least and I am just not thrilled with how I look. It's important to be healthy and eat foods that are good for you and I need to jump on that train.

While I've loved my recent diet of Arby's, Wendy's, and pasta.... I feel like that may be part of the problem here. :)

I don't think I'll ever be able to cut carbs or stop eating sugar... but I think I can just make wiser decisions when it comes to what I put in my body and be more intentional and proactive about exercise.

I know, I know, I'm picking a really bad time to do all this with the holidays coming up (and y'all know how much I love mashed potatoes) but I will just cheat on those days. Anyone else dieting right now? Any helpful tips or pointers?

Things I Learned at Dinner Tonight

Tonight, I had dinner with my mom, dad, my sister, her husband, and their children Grace and Dean.

My niece, Grace, is 4.

My nephew, Dean, is 2.

Grace and Dean taught me a few things:

Grace got her Pocahontas costume in the mail that Aunt Shannon sent her and "it is absolutely adorable."

Grace told me all kinds of things about her Pocahontas dress. She cupped my face in her hands and stroked my hair, and then tucked my hair behind my ears as she told me about how the shoes, the necklace, and the dress. She says they are "so wonderful".

When a little girl intends to order a corn dog but accidentally says "corn on the cob", she will be VERY upset when a corn dog does not appear but in fact sends vegetables in its place.

When a little boy gets new Batman pajamas, he really feels the need to talk about them. I mean, they are Batman pajamas. There is a lot to talk about.

When Captain Jack Sparrow and Black Beard have a sword fight, their swords fall out of their hands many, many times and there is lots of crawling under the table to find their swords.

Dean thinks that his daddy is "kinda funny".

They really are amazing and you should click here to see fantastic pictures of those darling little ones!

 

I Forgot I Had a Blog

Um, there's a blog here and I forgot about it.

I'm sorry.

It's been a whole week.

Let's just say that I've been taking some drugs for some sinus congestion and that I've been less than coherent.

I also sound like a man and cough up a lung every few hours. 

I've never been more attractive in my whole life.

But I'm not gonna talk about that.

I'm not really sure what to talk about. 

This blog entry is going really well.

I can tell you that Grant's mom spent Sunday with us and that was wonderful.

I can tell you that 20 seconds into our pastor's sermon the fire alarm went off and the whole church was evacuated and everyone was sent home. I was sad.

I can tell you that I have Diet Cokes in my fridge again because I CAN'T DO IT. I have to have them in the house at all times. I tried to stop buying them but I just can't. I'm weak.

I can tell you that my calendar is super full but I'm not complaining cause everything is fun.

I can tell you that I have a really strong urge to go buy Christmas decorations.

I can tell you that it's not even Thanksgiving yet.

Alright, I have to wrap it up cause this could go on forever. 

I'll try to remember that this blog is here and I should come visit more often. :)

It's Blogging Time

Today has been super duper productive. I had a fantastic meeting with a new client, a fantastic lunch with my handsome husband, and a fantastic power-hour at Starbucks, my second office.

Yes, Symphony Social Media has two offices. I have a home office and a Starbucks office.

I got to Starbucks about an hour and a half ago. Since then I have posted all my dailies for my clients, written 3 proposals, 3 client agreements, returned several emails, wrote 4 blogs for clients, and now I'm blogging for you. See?

Fact: I am MUCH more productive at my Starbucks office than my home office!

I am glued to this gosh darn computer all the day long, but I am just so happy and thankful. Life is good. God has chosen to bless this business and I am excited to see what the future holds!

Also, thanks for the all the love I got yesterday about my Sports blog. I got lots of texts and emails telling me that I am not alone. One friend even said she never knew that the yellow line wasn't there! :) I will say that I know a whole lot more about golf than the average girl so at least I have that going for me.

One last thing I have to share: Earlier this summer I saw an ad posted on Craigslist for a real, authentic, gorgeous Burberry scarf for a ridiculously low price. I purchased it and have been waiting to wear it. The weather went below 80 degrees today (PRAISE THE LORD!) so I threw it on immediately. It makes me soooooo happy!

Sports

I am what you might call a non-athlete. Athletically challenged, if you will.

I have never, ever played on an organized sports team. I was all-music right out of the gate and never really enjoyed being outside or sweating or running and I had a tendency to start wheezing after physical activity so my parents put me in singing and piano lessons and called it a day. 

In middle school, a coach told me that I had two options: 

1. Run the track with everyone else

2. Hug a tree for the remainder of gym class.

I love that he thought that this would've been a hard decision for me. Um, YES I WILL HUG A TREE FOR THE NEXT HOUR. It was a beautiful day and I thoroughly enjoyed my day hugging one of God's most majestic creations. 

In college, a guy friend of mine called me BEGGING me to come to the Rec Center as it was the finals of their co-ed flag football team and they were short a girl and I just HAD to be there or they would have to forfeit. I assured him 13 times that he doesn't need me to be there and that they would surely lose. I finally agreed to come after he promised me I could just stand there. He then told me I needed to wear pants or shorts with no pockets and then I got REALLY stressed out about wardrobe. Long story short, I went. However, at one point someone mistakenly handed me a football and all these people were running at me so I promptly sat down indian-style on the field and closed my eyes.

I'm saying all this because this is the season where sports are on every channel and I am just underwhelmed. I enjoy the spirit of competition and I feel like I need to try to get involved and root for a specific team but I just find myself getting distracted from the game. I also spend a lot of time empathizing for the players, coaches, and family members of the players and coaches. 

After seeing a wounded player: "You know his mom is freaking out right now"

After learning that a coach's job is on the line if his team loses: "Oh, well I'm totally rooting for his team. He needs to keep his job. He probably has kids!"

When a coach is mean looking: "Why is he always so unhappy?! A positive attitude would probably help."

When a generally unknown player makes a big play: "That's so exciting for him! I bet his wife is crying right now cause she's so proud of him"

"Do you think those refs have favorite players?"

"He just said a cuss word. Did you see that? He said a cuss word"

"People need to stop being so hard on him."

"I DO NOT LIKE HIM. His hair is HORRIBLE."

"Their pants are the color of a highlighter."

Anyhoo, all my friends are all worked up about sports and things and I'm trying to get there but I just don't know how I can do it. 

I've learned that the World Series is about to start (found out about that this morning), something is going on with Basketball where they aren't playing right now cause they are boycotting something, and the Aggies won this weekend. I AM AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPORTS INFORMATION.

Also, that yellow line they show on the field on TV during a football game? It's NOT REALLY THERE!

Please note that I am actually quite good at Air Hockey and I will take you down.

It's a Beautiful Day....

....for some wedding showers!

Grant and I had a wonderful time at dinner last night with 2 friends who told us they were expecting and I flew across the table and hugged and screamed and I think the whole restaurant took notice :-/

Now this morning I have not one but TWO wedding showers to go to on opposite sides of Houston. It's gonna be a fun morning cause I don't want to miss either one!

I've got my Bed Bath & Beyond boxes for Bride #1, and my Dillard's boxes for Bride #2. I am trying to decide what to wear. I don't want to wear pants cause I'm in a skirt-like mood today, but I also feel like it's time to retire the pale legs for the remainder of the season. Sigh. Decisions, decisions.....

Y'all, I Have An Announcement:

THE WEATHER: IT IS TOLERABLE.

Now, I'm holding my breath because October has a habit of melting us into a sweaty mess towards the end of the month. But, so far, we have had RAIN, BREEZE, and TEMPERATURES BELOW NINETY-FIVE DEGREES. In the last week I have worn a long sleeve shirt and on another occasion I wore a scarf. (Okay I wore a scarf with a tank top but that is neither here nor there.)

It almost feels like summer is thinking about taking himself elsewhere. We encourage him to do so. 

In other news, my hair is at that awkward length where it doesn't rest well on my shoulders and it bothers me so I wear it in a bun or a ponytail every single day and that is getting old. Just left a voicemail with my hair stylist so hopefully that will all end very soon. 

I watched the Kim Kardashian Wedding Special and I just need to say that I'm glad he shaved his mustache. And also her skin is ridiculous. It's almost the same as my skin. Just ignore the 4 zits I have on my chin and then it is like we are twins. 

Highlights of Today

It rained the whole day. Praise Him.

The High 5 kids choir sang in all 3 services. So much fun. They are too cute for words.

My husband got out of bed and got dressed just so he could walk me to my car using his giant golf umbrella as it was storming bad.

I had Starbucks twice today.

The drive to church was super scary. I couldn't get my windshield wipers to go fast enough. 

I parked near a drain so when I got out of my car in the pouring rain, I also stepped right into a flood. Water was almost to my knees! I literally had to pour out my shoes in a bathroom at church. Seriously. Also, I was freezing the rest of the day.

Grant and I ate lunch in the food court of the mall. We also went into Target and bought me a long sleeve shirt and socks before I had to go back to church.

We had a great rehearsal for Christmas this afternoon. I had some really dorky socks on but at least I was warm during rehearsal. 

Long days at church are super fun when you have good friends with you the whole day.  I love choir people :)

I finally got home around 6:30. Grant cooked steak, I made corn and a salad and we sat on the couch together watching the playoff of this weekend's golf tournament and now we're watching Planet Earth. 

I'm so thankful for the rain. And now that I'm home and not going anywhere and not driving anywhere I like it even more. 

Looking forward to a rainy, productive, calm week!

Girls, We May Be Jumping the Gun

It happens every year.

Houston has a few days where the high is 85 degrees and we just go bonkers.

We bust out our cable-knit sweaters, scarves, and let's be honest.... boots.

On the one hand, I am quick to jump to our defense because WE TAKE WHAT WE CAN GET HERE. Not to mention we've been wearing our summer clothes since April and we are flat out tired of wearing the same thing every day. (CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?)

However, I also have to remind us that the short burst of cool, breezy air is definitely a relief from the brutal heat, but this first one always fades away. I've lived in Houston a loooooooong time and we always seem to climb back up into some warmer temperatures later in the month. And then we're going to be miserable in our cute jackets and scarves.

I hope I'm wrong.

I hope this beautiful weather is here to stay.

BELIEVE ME, I have a Burberry scarf that I am just dying to wear.

As long as we're willing to sweat it out, I say let's just buck up and pull on our tall, leather boots.

I am currently wearing long sleeves.

Have you pulled out your fall wardrobe yet?

 

A+ for October

October is starting off in the best possible fashion: COOL.

As 2011 has broken every heat record here in Houston, we have been praying for rain and for some relief.  When I walked outside this morning to walk the dog, I felt BREEZE and crisp, COOL air! I couldn't stop smiling. Seriously, it was like a whole new world. When Moxie and I go on long walks, I usually sing (quietly) to myself and this morning my songs were "A Whole New World" from Aladdin (naturally) and "What Joy" by Generation Church. You gotta keep some variety in there :)

Many of you have asked which movie I chose to watch. I am happy to announce that I watched both :) I watched Fried Green Tomatoes last night and Sense & Sensibility this morning. The first film makes me want to yell "Tawanda!" all the time and the second film has made me want to name my house. I really like the fact that every estate and cottage had a name. Perhaps I will talk to Grant about what we could name our house. I'm assuming we will end up with a name of a golf course. "Blackhorse." "Houstonian." "Bethpage." Something along those lines.

I would prefer to call it the Magic Kingdom, but that's just me.

What would you name your house?