We Got Snow!!!

We got snow this morning. It stuck in the grass but not on the roads. It was a nice thing to see to help start off our morning. We are forecasted to get more snow on Friday.

Since our last posting, Tina and I went to Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth with her parents to see the Dickies 500. We had a lot of fun at the all day event.

How We Spent Our October 31st

Tina and I signed up for a 5k race in Frisco that we ended up doing without training. The race temperature was about 45 degrees, which most runners would say is good weather. We both finished the race in under one hour (walked pretty much all of it). Tina used the last bit of energy she had to run and get to the finish line before me. After the race, we drove to Tyler, TX where Tina's parents were camping. It was a good two hour drive to get to Tyler from our apartment. We hung out and enjoyed the weather. After having some good homemade burgers and watching Tina and her mom jumping on a Blob Balloon, it was time to go since we already had a long day.

Hope everybody had a Happy Halloween.

The Heat Is On

Fall is here and with the low tonight forecasted to be 43, we have decided we need to run the heater to get the chill out of the apartment. We aren't forecasted to see 80 degrees for awhile, hopefully not until April 2010.

A lot of things have happened since Tina's September posting. Tina finished her first placement as Student Teacher. She had three successful observations from a TWU representative. She is now at her second placement (last one) which emphasizes the ESL aspect of her degree. Tina received a letter from SHSU saying that her hard work has paid off and she will being graduating this December "MAGNA CUM LAUDE!" Congratulations to her for the hard work and late nights to achieve this. I had my annual review at work this past week. I can't believe that it has almost been one year since we relocated to Dallas from Houston.

The most important thing that happened was that we celebrated our 7th Anniversary.

Here is a picture of our nephew Braedon from our recent trip back to Houston.

School Days

8/31/09

Photo taken from the first day of student teaching.

Pictures From Colorado

Budweiser Tour In Fort Collins



Hot Air Balloon Ride In Boulder

River Rafting On Cache La Poudre River in Fort Collins

Jon's Smiling On The Outside, But Scared On The Inside.

Tina Takes A Break From Rafting.

Flyfishing On Cache La Poudre River In Fort Collins

Tina's 1 Of 5 Fish She Caught

Jon's 1 Of 3 Fish He Caught

Professional Anglers!

Happy 4th of July!!

Just wanted to wish all of you a Happy 4th of July. Here is a recap of how we have already celebrated America's Independence.

We went to the Addison Kaboom Town yesterday for their celebration. The festivities consisted of a family fun center in the town park. Then a flyover (air show) of various WWII airplanes from the Cavanaugh flight museum. Finally, the moment that everybody had waited all day for, the fireworks. It was a HOT day but there was a good breeze to help cool things off. About 30 minutes of fireworks and another 45 to get home. Addison is not that far from where we live but I think the entire DFW area was there. Kaboom Town is one of the best 4th of July events we have been to. I have to give a shout out to the Sonic owner on Midway for setting up pre-paid parking spots, the best seat in the house, and keeping everyone fed and cooled with a cold treat.

Check out Scooter sporting her custom scarf.

Air Show!

What's that on the wing?

Now OPEN!

Most of you know I am a creative and crafty person. Some of you have even seen my products and already purchased them from me and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. I have broadened my horizons by creating a website for which to generate more business. My site is now up and running and my shop is officially open for business! I am so excited about this little side venture (hopefully one day it will be huge) and I invite you to visit my website at www.TinaMarieCreations.etsy.com. Email me and tell me what you think. Email all your friends and families too!

Vacation is OVER and life doesn't wait

Wow it has been a busy time on the home front. Vacation is definitely over! Since our last post there has been a slew of events so lets catch up briefly. First of all, our renters decided to move out one month early with only a weeks notice. Kinda of bummed but the way they left it I would need some extra time getting it market ready. I did say "market ready". Our lovely house is FOR SALE! Kinda of sad because I like the extra monthly income and it was our first place :( But we are ready to move on. So tell everyone you know that is look for a nice house on a huge lot to visit this site for all the info.

Jon came down to Houston for our nephew's (Stevie) graduation party and I was already here from working on the house and for Steph's baby shower, which was a blast. We really enjoyed seeing everyone again and still miss you guys. Finally, we drove home (weird because that is Dallas now) that Sunday.

Well most of you know my cousin and I are like sisters and she had been dealing with a kidney stone for the last few weeks and had been in and out of the hospital while I was in town working at the house. Her doctor finally decided after I left Houston that they were going to induce her on June 9th. My thoughts "she probably won't even be ready to push until late that night." Right? Wrong. The baby was not happy with the medicine and so they delivered little Braedon Alexander by C-section before I ever had a chance to make it. This was a wake up call to me. I felt like Dorothy when I looked at my dog and said "Scoot Dog we're not in Houston anymore", close to all of our family. I drove down the next morning to see the little guy ( 7 lbs and 10 oz 19.5 inches long) and to help my cousin with whatever she needed. I drove back home on Saturday to find out from Jon when I got there that our other nephew Mikey and his girlfriend just delivered their baby. Not a girl like we were told, but a BOY! How does that happen? The whole time we were told that she was having a girl. Come to find out when mom went for the past weekly appointment they told her nope you are having a boy. He weighed in at the exact weight of my cousins baby. A baby boy, Elijah Antony. Please be in prayer for him because he is actually still in the hospital because of jaundice and breathing issues.

Well that takes account for the spread in the posting of blogs. But I will give you a tease for next time. There will soon be more than a house for sale on the Internet. ???

Tina's Here And We Are On Vacation

Sorry I haven't posted anything in almost a month. It has been a BUSY May. With being in Houston almost every weekend (baby showers, weddings, Mother's Day) and watching good basketball games nightly, posting new things got put to the side.

Tina finished her Spring Semester and is now up here permanently (except a mini-mester in July). We are both excited about being together. Tina has been busy with her new hobby of embroidering burp cloths and various things that some of you have already seen (currently working on a website for all to see).

Since Tina had time off from school, and I was now eligible for vacation, we took a week off just to be together. Our vacation started out back in Houston for the Memorial Day weekend because one of Tina's classmates was getting married. It was a nice wedding. That Sunday we went to the Texas Rangers vs. Houston Astros game at Minute Maid. The game was BORING, but the Rangers won 5-0 (sorry to the Astros fans out there). On Memorial Day we spent the afternoon with my parents for a barbecue get together. Tuesday we went to the Butterfly Center at the Museum of Natural Science. Tina had never been there, and I hadn't been there since it opened back in the mid 90's. Then we went to Galveston because we wanted to see how the city was doing nine months after Hurricane Ike. It is still a work in progress but things are looking good. The state park in Galveston that Tina and I frequently visited was destroyed but they plan on rebuilding. A popular fishing pier that my dad would take my grandfather and me was also destroyed. The ramp that connected the seawall to The Flagship Hotel was damaged so the hotel has been closed. After walking around the beach, we decided to go to Kemah for dinner and see how they were doing since Ike. We were told that they were up and running about 2-4 weeks after IKE. Only Landry's received the most damage. Wednesday we drove back to Dallas to relax from the busy weekend in Houston and prepare for the weekend in Dallas. Thursday we drove to the Winstar Casino in Oklahoma. We didn't do too good but had a good time. Friday we got a round of golf in (9 holes on a Par 3 course). Neither one of us had played golf in almost a year. Today we went to the Dallas Arboretum to see what they had planted for the early Summer. As usual, they had a nice array of colorful flowers on display. Tomorrow we are going to the Fort Worth Zoo. We have heard a lot of good things about this zoo, even on the Travel Channel, so we wanted to check it out for ourselves. Then it is back to work for me on Monday. Tina will be busy with her embroidering. This was a much needed break for Tina and me.

I hope everybody had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather is getting warm up here as it is back in Houston (except not as much humidity).

    

Driving Home With A Friend

Normally Tina drives back and forth between Houston and Dallas by herself. I am so thankful that her school schedule allows for her to do this. This past drive back to Houston, Tina was accompanied by a friend who loves car rides. I will get to see both of them this weekend and the friend will come back with me.

On a different note, I want to wish all the mothers a Happy Mother's Day.

Have a great weekend!

It's Official!

Well it's official! I will be doing my student teaching up in Dallas with FRISCO ISD. Thanks be to God and all who have prayed for this as it has not been an easy road. Finally, after much debate with the department of education's field experience office at SHSU they approved that I could go to Dallas as a courtesy placement student. I am currently working with TWU and the nicest folks that found me a great placement. Without Judy and her staff at TWU this would not have been possible. SHSU has given their blessing and everything is a go. I can't wait for the Fall semester to start so I can FINALLY graduate. For now I am looking forward to the summer, ahhhh time to relax. This summer I hope to do some private tutoring and I am looking into volunteering to read to the kiddos at our local library.

No 5k Today

The morning after I posted about the 5k, I got word at work that our deadline was being moved up a week and everybody had to work Saturday. This meant that I would have to back out of the 5k race. I was a little bummed, but who wants to run in the rain anyway. I know that there will be many other opportunities for 5k races and I am glad that I've been blessed with a busy job. Thanks for the words of encouragement that Tina and I have received. To answer some replies from the previous posting, we were training for this event by walking at a nearby park that has a 1.25 mile trail. We will continue to train for future 5k's plus the exercise that we both need. I even jumped into the iPod world and got my Nike+ tennis shoes to help me along.



We hope everybody has a great week.

Quote About Life

Today Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson and all he did in changing the game as we know and see it today. Every player throughout Major League wore the number 42 in honor of Jackie. The Astros and Rangers ended their current losing streaks tonight on this special day.

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." Jackie Robinson

In other sports news, the NFL released the 2009 schedule. I read a lot of comments today on the Houston Chronicle website from fans who are optimistic with the Texans schedule. The main focus was the Monday Night Game against the Tennessee Titans. People think this is the year the Texans will be the surprise team. I would love to predict a 10-6 record for the Texans but I can't so I will say 9-7.

I would like to see some of your predictions for the teams that you cheer for.

As far as Dallas, things are going good. Work is good. I have about a month left of this "Bachelor Life" and then my better half will be up here permanently. Tina and I are participating in a 5k this Saturday morning. It should be fun, if the weather cooperates. Neither one of us will be setting record times at this event, but we are doing our part to maintain healthy lives.

Baseball Season Is Here!!!

It was Opening Day for most baseball teams today. A lot of people, including me, have been looking forward to this day since last years world series ended.

The Texas Rangers had an afternoon game today against the Cleveland Indians. Former President G. W. Bush throughout the first pitch (according to the radio broadcasters it was a strike). The Rangers gave the Indians a 9-1 beating.

The Houston Astros had an evening game against the Chicago Cubs. This is usually a great battle between these two NL Central teams. Unfortunately Roy Oswalt and The Astros could not beat Carlos Zambrano and The Cubs score was 4-2). I got to see this game on TV since The Rangers had an afternoon game.

I am looking forward to following The Astros and yes The Rangers this year.

On a different topic, what is up with this weather? Yes I know I was begging and pleading for winter-like weather in a previous posting, but the DFW area is under a freeze warning tonight. No precipitation, just COLD weather. I keep asking coworkers about Dallas Spring and Summer seasons. They say Summers are miserable. I can't wait to see what their definition of miserable is.

If you haven't had a chance to see the bluebonnets, I got to see a good number of them between Corsicana and Huntsville. I wish I had a camera to stop and take pictures.

Hope everybody has a Happy Easter weekend.

Weekend With The Parents

This past weekend my parents came up to Dallas to visit us and get away from H-Town. Tina and I had planned this for a couple of weeks. A cold front adjusted our plans a little for Saturday, but it was a good weekend.

Friday we all had a nice dinner and spent some good time talking and catching up about what had been going on in Houston and Dallas. On Saturday we had breakfast before we drove downtown to see the Sixth Floor Museum about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This museum was set up nice and was very informative. The museum made you feel like you were a part of that time even if you weren't born during that time. We took some pictures of downtown afterwards even though the temps were in the 40's with 20+ mph winds. After the picture taking downtown, we were able to drive by President George W. Bush's neighborhood and took a picture of his house. We then drove through parts of Plano and Frisco and then drove to church for the 5:00 PM service. After a long day of driving we called it an early evening. On Sunday we met up and went to the Dallas Arboretum. My mom loved the pictures from a previous posting on the blog and wanted to go to an arboretum one day. So Tina and I figured why not take them while they are in Dallas. The weather was PERFECT for an outing. Apparently the rest of Dallas had the same idea to go to the arboretum too. General parking, valet parking , and the off-site parking were almost full. The arboretum is so spread out that even with all the people, you didn't feel cramped amongst others. After we left the arboretum, we had lunch and then took my parents to the airport to catch their flight back to Houston.

Weekends go by TOO quick, but Tina and I enjoyed their company and the time we got to spend together.

Pictures from the Dallas Arboretum