Welcome Brady!

My cousin Greg and his wife Rachael welcomed a son today, he's very handsome! I had grand ambitions for a cute picture of the girls with a welcome sign...but they are REALLY tired at the end of the day. This was as good as it got...




Welcome Brady! I can't wait to see him soon!

Chompin' at the bit!

I am SO EXCITED!

A couple of days ago my mom mentioned that she and my dad would be headed back to Gainesville for the next home Florida game! She said UF would be playing Tennessee...and I got to thinking. I would LOVE to see UF play Tennessee. One of Ben's sweet highschool friend's Chris coaches at Tennesse. I gave Chris a call, and checked with my parents (who were SO excited that I wanted to come) and it happened like *snap* that.



So my flight is booked, Chris is working on the game tickets for us, and in one week I'll be on a plane to Orlando! I'm heading out a day early to spend some time with my Nana, who hasn't met Ella yet. I'll be bringing her with me! So Mom, Dad, Lauren and myself (and Ella) will all be in Gainesville for the weekend. We'll tailgate with Sean and his family too.

What an awesome weekend to look forward to!!

Random Happenings.

My thoughts are all over the place after an almost 4 day weekend.

- I'm so happy it's cooled off a bit in Centex. We had a record breaking hot summer (75+ days over 100 degrees)... and it is NICE today. Yesterday we left the back door open most of the day. Betsy went to school in long sleeves, and said "Hey it's cold out here!"

- Please pray for those fighting the fires in Texas. We have so many friends all over Texas and we're worried for their safety. This is the worst drought in recorded history in Texas and these fires are moving quickly and destroying homes.

- Betsy saw a man running this morning and said "Hey! Look at that running hippie!" This was inspired by discussions of my Dad who has been working out and getting in shape lately. His grandpa name is 'hippie'.

- Ella ate her first ice cream this weekend. Huge fan. She also ate peas, carrots, squash, yogurt and bananas. She loves eating. And she's gotten really good at it.

- My girls slept more than they were awake this weekend. Spending a night with the 'big kids' will wear them out! I enjoyed the peace when they were sleeping and I enjoyed their awesome moods when they were awake.

- I don't remember Ben being gone so much last year in the fall, but I know he was. It's not HARD without him home, but he's such a big help when he gets home. And those girls (especially Bets) is SO EXCITED to see him come through the door.

- Have I mentioned I love this weather? I broke out my cowboy boots in honor of the fallish feel in the air.

- I think this weekend might be the first of many pumpkin roll paloozas with my girls. Betsy loves helping in the kitchen, and Ella loves sitting in the highchair watching. Ben has an away football game and a far away meet this weekend so I might as well start planning stuff to keep us busy.

- FOOTBALL! I had games on all weekend but the only game I really got to focus on was the Baylor-TCU game and MAN was it good. I'm hoping to have some low key time to watch some games next weekend.

- It's nice skipping Monday, isn't it?

TGIF!

It's a great day! It's the Friday before a three day weekend! AND at work, it's the first day that registration is over, meaning it's much slower, giving us time to catch up around the office!

We have a fun weekend planned! After work I'm taking Bets to the eye doctor. We're concerned about her vision as she squints, sits close to the TV AND when she's tired seems to have a lazy eye. This stuff is genetic and being that Ben had terrible eye sight pre-lasik we're going to be proactive about treating it (if it's necessary!).

Tonight I'm keeping nephew William while Mary goes to support my brother-in-law JD at Wingo. JD has been hosting this even at Pluckers where my SIL Tiffany is the catering manager! It's really fun and if we didn't have to find child care it would be a weekly event for us. SO, Betsy is having her first slumber party with Will, and Mary is going to come stay with us after Wingo!

Mary is doing us a big favor in staying the night so the next morning she can watch the girls while Ben is coordinating his school's cross country meet, and I'm assisting (I think I'm checking people in, then calculating results.) We should be done pretty early Saturday, probably by 11 am then I suspect we'll rest. Then I'm so happy we have TWO days off in a row. YAY for Labor Day!

We've made no plans for the rest of the weekend, so I'm sure I'll be back Monday to report what mischief we've gotten ourselves into.

Ten years

It's been ten years since a couple of big things happened in my life. I started college ten years ago. I pledged a sorority (Zeta) ten years ago. And I met my sweet HusBen ten years ago.

The past ten years have been so full of changes! I found myself while in college. I developed independence and confidence I didn't have before. I found a CAREER! I loved college so much I decided to work in the field.

I loved my undergrad years in Zeta, and I've met some of my best friends through the organization. My SISTER pledged the same sorority which was kind of fun (and makes my girls double legacies should they decide to rush in the future.) Ten years after pledging, I'm going to be a bridesmaid for one of my zeta sisters this December. We've gone through break-ups, make-ups, marriages, children, jobs, and supported one another in pursuing our dreams. We might not talk regularly, but when we do we pick right up where we left off. These friends of mine are all over the world now. It makes me SO glad to have had my time in Zeta.

I met Ben my first week at school and during the four years I was an undergraduate student we dated pretty steadily. Our relationship has matured so much... I look back at letters we wrote each other even five years ago and it's really apparent how we've grown so much stronger in the past five years. While looking back I've always thought we've had a mature relationship but reading those letters show me how much we've grown up and changed for the better. It's hard to imagine the next ten years holding more changes that the past ten have, but I'm sure I'll be awed with what happens in our future.

These pictures were so fun to find! They reminded me of many nights-out. Getting ready for date parties, road trips, days spent laying out by the pool, talking about boys. I miss those days sometimes, but I love where we are now.

















Shannie and Ben. I need to upload a few of the pre-digital camera pictures too!


By the way, have you noticed how Ben doesn't age? It's not fair! He looks the exact same today as he did when I met him ten years ago.