Vacation!

The week before Ben's wedding my dad rented a beach house in Santa Rosa Beach, and we had a fun week of hanging out on the beach, riding our bikes, reading, sleeping in, and just hanging out. My family teases me because I almost never get in the water because I hate being cold, but aside from that, I love the beach. The sound of the waves, the sand between your toes, people watching, shelling peanuts, the smell of sunscreen and watching the planes fly along the coast. I could quite easily be transformed into a beach bum. One of the great things about the area we stayed in was that a bike path ran parallel to the beach road. We had fun riding through the cute towns that were near us, and even discovered a fun little art colony in the town of Seaside.

It was hard to go back to work last week. I'm already wanting to plan our next vacation! Phil has one more week of studying before he takes the second part of the CFA exam so we would love to go somewhere when he won't have to hit the books.

In honor of Memorial Day...

Here are pictures from my brother's wedding. We were in Santa Rosa Beach for the week prior to the wedding, and I will blog about that later, but I thought that in honor of Memorial Day I would post about Ben and Chelley's wedding. My family has a rather extensive military history, with my grandfathers both serving, uncles, my dad who was a fighter pilot, and now my brother who is in Navy flight school...and not to leave out Phil's family, as his grandfathers both served as well and his Papaw earned the nickname Chigger while in the Marine Corps. I guess he got under people's skin? Hehehehe. On a serious note, I am thankful for their service and that of the men and women who have given up their lives defending our country. I love this quote by George Orwell, "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because tough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." It rings true.

Back to the wedding. It was held on the beach at sunset, with the reception at a little art gallery right up the street. Chelley was a beautiful bride and it was a small intimate wedding with mainly family and close friends in attendance. Warning: There are lots of pictures!

Happy Birthday E & P!

Yes, we were born on the same day...in the same hospital. No, we were not switched at birth! Also, happy birthday to my dear friend Missy, and my coworker Jan. Phil and I can't celebrate tonight because I have a junior league meeting, but we are going out with friends on Saturday, and we celebrated on Sunday with his family, and I had a fun dinner at Gloria's for the annual Ginger & Elicia b-day celebration. Check out this awesome cake that Ginger created.

Oh yes, it is really cake!

Happy Dog Mother's Day!

I love you dogs! Dodgy, you are usually so calm, cool and collected, but I love your "happy panting face" after we go running. You look like you are smiling. Patton, you are quite the naughty dog and you drive me up the wall some days, but I have to admit, you are pretty cute, especially when you are doing something bad like chewing on our grill brush!

I love this fabric!

It is so me. Phil and I are finally furnishing our dining room this month and I want to paint the walls a medium gray. I really want a fun, bright fabric on the dining room chairs. I want our dining room to be kept somewhat casual and a fun print is a good way to do that. I always feel like the more formal the room, the less you end up using it. So, I'm considering the pink and white floral on the bottom row in the first set, or one of the top two middle fabrics on the second set. I need to see them in person, and hopefully I can find them somewhere local this weekend. Luckily, Phil lets me pretty much run wild as far as decorating goes, because a lot of husbands would probably balk at pink fabric in their house!

Myanmar junta refusing U.S. aid workers

This makes me so sad. There are thousands of thousands of people left homeless, without shelter, food and clean water after the cyclone, and yet their government has been stalling for days on allowing foreign aid workers into the country. Can you imagine living somewhere like that? I know that the U.S. dropped the ball when it came to Katrina, but can you even comprehend more than 22,000 people dead, family members missing, and no relief in site? It makes me appreciate the country that we live in.

MS 150

This weekend Phil rode in the MS150, which is a two day cycling event traveling from Frisco to Fort Worth. It actually covers 160 miles of ground while passing through many North Texas cities and ending in Sundance Square. Phil rode with John-Michael and Chris and the girls had the weekend to themselves. Lauren and I sneaked in a bike ride on Saturday morning before she met up with her college roommates, and Emily's sweet mom had us over for a yummy dinner that evening.

I'm glad that I didn't sign up to bike with the guys, because it sounds like they were riding pretty fast, averaging over 17 mph and covering 85 miles the first day. From what I heard, they were spoiled with massages and tons of grilled food and entertainment upon arriving at the Texas Motor Speedway on Day One. On Sunday, Emily and Campbell and I met up with my dad to greet the boys at the finish in downtown Fort Worth. Campbell even had his first bar experience when Emily and I went into the Flying Saucer to check out my dad's plate on the wall. We headed over to Joe T's for mexican food and relaxation before coming home to Dallas, and Chris got to practice his baby holding skills on little Camp. It was a fun weekend, but it went by fast!

If you look closely at JM's KPMG jersey, take note of the awesome 10 key that they incorporated into the design. It also features a pencil. Sweet!