Hoodlum Cousins

So I gave in and decided to take a week off from work. Chris was given the opportunity to work from HKB's Amarillo office for a week. I am a big fat weenie and am scared to stay in Dallas by my lonesome, so I went back too. I was very apprehensive at first, feeling like I was abandoning ship at Butler, however, once we pulled out of DFW I never looked back. It was a great week of relaxation. I spent the week napping, laying by the pool, shopping, and preparing for our annual Hoodlum Lake trip.

The lake was awesome. After 3 full days of skiing, knee boarding, & attempting to wake board I am burnt to a crisp and sore as can be! I am getting too dang old for this. I managed to read 2 books while we were there (LA Candy by Lauren Conrad -- 2 thumbs up--and My Sister's Keeper-- tearrr jerker). This year it was crazy packed at the lake house. I counted heads and at one point there was over 20 people there, and we all spent the night. Ahhh! The more the merrier I guess.

Ollie loves loves loves the lake. You can hardly keep her out of the water while we are there. ESPECIALLY if Chris & I were in the water. If she heard our voices from afar she was determined to swim to the middle of the lake to save us. It turned out that we had to save her. Silly dog.

Chris only got to stay Thursday and Friday nights. He had his "man trip" with his dad and brother here in Dallas.They went to the horse races, Chelsea soccer game, & golfing. I have barely talked to him since I've been home, but I'm sure he had a blast.

Funny story... kinda. My car went in the shop on Wednesday morning to get the AC fixed (it finally is-- Wahoo!) so I had to take Chris into AMA in my mom's car. I accidentally left my phone at my parents' house. Wouldn't you know that the BMW's "never fail" tires failed AGAIN. No phone, no spare tire, and no clue what to do. Soo I panicked and started to walk down VFW in my pajamas. I made it a couple miles before a sweet little grandma picked me up and offered to drive me home. Just. my. luck.

Domesticated? No, but trying!

Since we finally got cable on Saturday (after 6 weeks of waiting) I have been watching the Food Network. Taylor and I watched it all the time in college and I have become very familiar with the usuals like Rachel Ray, Giada, Barefoot Contessa, etc... Anyways, as I was watching Paula Deen with Liz she began to make these amazing cinnamon rolls. They didn't look too difficult, so I thought, "Hey I could totally make those." So I decided to use pre-made dough and substitute a cream cheese icing recipe I found online for her traditional version. They turned out prettttty darn good, if I might say so myself.

Liz and Eric were here this weekend. I just loveee them. Friday we went to Dick's Last Resort and walked around the West End. Then we went to Blue Goose for margaritas. Eric and Liz thought this was cool because it was referenced in Adam's book as the best margaritas in Dallas.

Saturday we lounged by the pool for the afternoon, which was really nice, and then went for sushi that evening. We tried Sushi Axiom by our apartment and it turned out to be really good.

Ok, so this is when our real fun began. Chris and I discovered a long time ago that jumping onto our Love Sack (aka big bean bag) from the coffee table is pretty humorous. Once we showed our guests how fun this can be it was on! It quickly turned into who could get the coolest picture mid-air. Ohhh mindless fun!

A very fun weekend with such a great couple! Success!!

A Fabulous Fourth.

Since Independence Day fell on a Saturday Chris and I were lucky enough to have Friday off from work. Sooo we headed to the Panhandle of family, food, fireworks and fun!

I got to go to lunch w/ Ashpolita on Friday at the Rock N Roll Soda shop, a Canyon staple. I hadn't been there since it was called "The Fountain" so that tells you how long it'd been. After lunch we got our nails painted and caught up. It was great to see her. Friday evening consisted of Tacos Garcias and swimming at the Demeres.

Saturday we had to be in Canyon bright and early for the parade. It was really fun this year. The parade itself was extremely long (we left after 1 hr and 45 minutes and it was still going!) but all the people and the fun little booths were exciting.

That evening we went to the Jones family cabin at the PDC. Love it! There was a very odd mix of people there this year (Me, Chris, David, Ellen, Grandad, Sam, Molly-for a bit, Delaina's son, Delaina's son's girlfriend, Delaina's son's girlfriend's daughter). We got to eat BBQ, play ping pong, enjoy the scenery, and best of all SHOOT OFF FIREWORKS!! Things got pretty crazy this year. Chris almost got hit with a huge firework spark (it got knocked over right before it shot off). One guy did get hit square in the back! His shirt was burned and it looked pretty painful.

Sunday we went to church w/ the Joneses and then to lunch at Jason's Deli. We hung out at my parents' house and swam and cooked out before making the dreaded trip back to Dallas. Liz tried to persuade us to leave at 3 (she was leaving for Dallas for a work conference) but we couldn't bring ourselves to leave THAT early. We had nothing to rush back to... no cable, no Internet--for 6 weeks now-- so we stayed in Canyon until around 6.

Overall a successful weekend.

Bad Dog

Friday after we got off work Chris, Ollie, and I headed to the Panhandle. The trip home actually passed quickly, due in large part to season 1 of Friday Night Lights (This show is amazingly addictive and I am officially obsessed). My parents talked us into coming home because it was Codi's 14th birthday and it is really difficult for us to pass up Zen's sushi with the family. It's tradition.

I spent all Saturday morning by the new pool. First off, the pool is absolutely gorgeous. It looks like a beautiful lagoon with all of the rock work and landscape. Mom did good.

Here's the problem: The recently planted grass near the pool has yet to completely grow in and must remain saturated. Unfortunately for us Ollie loves water, and she loves a muddy mess even more. She would just wallow belly up in the mud, get in the pool wallow some more.. etc etc...

We tried everything to keep the dogs (Marley and Ollie) away. We locked them in the pin that Dave (pool man) built. Didn't work-- Marley is so strong he can bust through the gate. Same story with the doggy door to the garage. We tried putting Ollie in the front yard, but she could still hear us in the back yard, so she began to dig. I caught her doing this, filled the hole, spanked her, and took her to the front only to come back 20 minutes later to a re-dug hole.

My mother found nothing funny about this situation. She had devoted every last minute to the finishing of this pool and in one morning Ollie had things topsy turvey. To make matters worse a storm blew through Saturday evening carrying all of the decorative pillows (which I'm pretty sure weren't cheap) off of the furniture which lead to ripping them apart by Ollie. Oops.

Ollie is officially grounded from Grandma and Grandpa Demere's until further notice. Bad dog.

Jones Women do Dallas/Demeres/Father's Day

This weekend was the annual Jones Women shopping weekend. Since Lacey is 8 months pregnant we stayed in Dallas instead of going to our usual spot, San Marcos. Ellen and Liz were scheduled to land at 7:00 PM on Friday with Sarah landing shortly after. After all of the delays and rescheduled flights (thank you Southwest) it was 9 before we left Love field. What's the likelihood of flights from Amarillo AND Houston being delayed? Big UGH....

Ok so Saturday Morning we were up and ready by 9--ready to shop! We went to DSW, Allen Outlets, and the Galleria and were finished by 5. After we had done our damage we went to Houston's to eat and to see The Proposal. I absolutely loved this movie. It was such a feel good romantic comedy.

So before and after the Jones women shopping extravaganza the Demeres were her. Codi and Molly had plans to attend the Jonas Brothers concert in Dallas, so they flew up on Thursday to spend the night with us. After I picked them up on from the airport we went to Sprinkles for red velvet cupcakes. Dellllish. Friday I was off of work, so we went to Six Flags. I was very skeptical and somewhat negative at first, but it turned out to be sooo much fun (other than me getting kicked off of Mr. Freeze-- a whole other story). I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the girls.

Sunday after I was finished with the Joneses I got to go to brunch with my daddy at Texas de Brazil, his favorite. He flew up for the day since it was father's day. I am so thankful for him. He is the best daddy I could ever ask for and I am forever grateful for his love and support.

Celebrating being Fabulous.

This Friday after I got off of work I headed to OKC to see some of my favorite girls; Taylor, Whitney, and Jillianne. It was SO good to see them. Friday I arrived around 8 and we headed to Chilenos for margaritas and Mexican food. We got to sit on the roof and listen to a really cool blues festival going on in Bricktown.

Saturday I got to sleep in until 10:30, which I don't think I've done in about a year. Ah-mazing. We ate a late lunch, shopped and got pedicures. Saturday evening we got all cute and went to eat at melting pot. When we arrived the waiter asked us, "So ladies, what's the occasion?" To which we replied, "Oh we're just celebrating being fabulous." :) Such a wonderful weekend.

I have missed these girls so much. It was December since I last saw Whitney, last JUNE since I'd seen Taylor, and like April since I'd seen Jillianne. It's crazy that no matter how long I've been apart from them it seems like we haven't skipped a beat when we get back together.

In other news the Honeymooners had kickball playoffs last night. We won our first game (by a lot) and lost our 2nd (by a lot). So we won 2nd place in the league. We're huge in Japan.

Ollie has team spirit.

Summer Storms.

Growing up in West Texas I should be accustomed to tornadoes. The weather service issues tornado warning in Potter/Randall county pretty frequently during the spring and summer months. This should be second nature to me; I should be calm, cool, and collected when a warning is issued. I am not. I revert back to my childhood, whining and worrying until the possible threat has passed.

I think all my fear comes from when Chris and I had when we were 18 years old back in Amarillo. We were eating at Zookinis on Coulter (when it still existed) when the tornado sirens went off. Chris, being the bargain hunter he is, was not leaving until he got another plate of food. We had paid for an "all you can eat buffet", and by God he was going to eat another plate of food. By the time we left the resteraint it was hailing softball sized hail (and I had just gotten my new car... hail damage still there today). We drove as quickly as possible to Chris's parents' house to seek shelter. I remember being at a stoplight at Coulter and 45th and glancing to my right and seeing the tornado ON THE GROUND. Given, it was a good ways away but it still scared the crud out of me. Hence, my fear of severe weather.

Last night as Chris and I were watching "Fired Up" (very funny movie) I heard the sirens go off. Panic overwhelmed me.

My first thought was, "Crap. Where do we go? We are new to this apartment and I have no clue where to go if a tornado really DOES hit."

My second thought was to turn on the TV and see where these possible storms were located. 1 problem, we still have no cable.

Needles to say we are fine. No tornado in our area. We went a little while without power and it stormed into the wee hours of the morning, but nothing too bad.