Oh! Hello there...Again!

I took a break from ZeldaRay after my mom noted that my posts had started turning dark and dreary. I even freaked out and thought work people were trying to find my blog so I made it private (paranoid much?) Things aren't so dreary in my world these days. Things are good. Crazy! But, good.

Check this out:

• One of the twins is getting married to a guy she started dating on December 5, 2008. They are getting married on December 5, 2009. (Everybody now... Awwwww)
• Both of the twins are officially adults. They both received their college degrees last weekend. I'm oh so proud.
• 3 of my very favorite girl friends are now engaged & are sporting some serious BLING.
• One of my favorite friends from home, who I've known since middle school had a baby late last night. I hope I get to meet him soon. It's so crazy that my real life friends are having babies.
• My oldest friend who I've known and loved since kindergarten is graduating from Pharmacy school next week. Little does she know, two days before graduation her boyfriend of 10+ years is proposing.
• Jonathan & I are thisclose to booking a trip to Paris in August.
• I haven't had a zit in probably 3 weeks!
• In 15 days I'll be on my way to a week long vacation in Florida.

Yes, there are so many exciting things going on right now. How can I complain? I think sometimes when the good things start rolling in...it's hard for me to let go and just drink in the goodness. I put up a fight and resist the happiness and do my best to hold on to all the non-perfect, bitter, nit-picky things. I'm working on loosening up a bit. That and saving money b/c holy moly do we have a lot of shower/wedding presents to buy!

Missed you Internets!! Let's be friends again, k?

Some downs and ups & major exaggerations

Yesterday sucked.

• Dude at work who was supposed to teach a webinar didn't show up. He emails me 10 minutes before the class starts to let me know he won't be there. I had to teach the class for him. NOT a happy camper.
• Other dude at work was a lame wad & tried to get out of teaching his webinar that afternoon...I laid on the passive-aggressive bitchiness and made it clear that I WOULD NOT cover for him and he better not ask me or I might bite his head right off his shoulders.
• Other dude, after giving his webinar totally screwed up and deleted the recording of his webinar...the recording we post for attendees...ah! Had to restrain myself from telling him exactly what was on my mind right that very minute...which was something you should not say to another human being because, well, we're all human and we all screw up. But, man, did he really make me want to go get in bed and never leave so I wouldn't have to be around lazy, apathetic, jackasses all day at work....oops, so much for holding it in...
• I had gone three days with out my don't overreact meds & so those three events pretty much did me in for the day.

Today rocks!

• I refilled my prescription so my urge to overreact and feel like the world is out to get me has been reduced significantly :)
• I'm wearing a cute new dress that I got for 40% off at STRUT.
• I got to eat lunch at Taco Deli with my padres who are in town for the Spring Game. So I got to show them my new car...oh yeah, I got a new car! (a post on that to come...someday...if I ever get around to posting regularly again!)
• Jonathan & I are going to Rockport tonight to stay at one of my BFF's (Lindsay) boyfriend's family bay house. Lindsay's boyfriend (Bradley is his name) is planning on proposing TONIGHT!! I'm bursting with excitement for her. Lindsay was one of my bridesmaids & one of my very first friends when I moved to Austin to go to UT. Her and Bradley are just perfect for each other and I am so thrilled that I'll get to be there the night he proposes :)

Linds & Bradley - aren't they just adorable!?!

• Oh and I'm driving my new car to Rockport since it gets better gas mileage than Jonathan's Tahoe. Woo hoo!

What are you doing this weekend? Have a fun, safe, relaxing, rejuvenating weekend!

Love you Forever

I'm not sure it's possible to read this book and not feel a little tug at your heart strings.

My mom gave me this book while she while she was living in Florida with my step-dad and sisters. Even though I was probably 9 or 10 at the time and a little too old for this type of book, I loved it very much. When I would be sad or miss my mom, I would read it and think of her thinking of me from what seemed like the other side of the world, in Florida..."American Tail" style.

Lakehouse

My in-laws had a lakehouse on the Pedernales (which isn't a lake, it's a river...but it connects to Lake Travis, which isn't really a lake either...it's a dammed portion of the Colorado River...but not the Colorado River that runs through the Grand Canyon...the Texas one...yes, it's complicated. Think that's weird...you should hear how we pronounce it. Sorta like this: Purt-en-al-ess).

(Not our dock, the neighbor's dock)

A little less than a year ago it burned down for a still unknown reason. (You can check out the photos on Flickr if you happen to be curious. I had never seen the remnants of a fire before this so I find these pictures amazing.) Luckily, or unlucky, depending on how you look at it, we were all on vacation in Destin when the fire occurred and we didn't even know about it until the fire department had already put out all the flames.

It was truly a devastating loss. There wasn't anything incredibly valuable out there. Mostly your normal second home stuff...TVs, Beds, extra clothes. But, they had done such amazing things building an awesome deck decorated to the 9s with kitchy lights and figurines. Most of that stuff is priceless for the memories it holds rather than an actual pricetag.

After a brief debate about whether to rebuild or sell, they did what Jonathan & I were hoping...they rebuilt! It's been several months in the making but I'm excited to say that they are closing on the house today!

Of course, we're in a drought here in Central Texas so last time we were out there, the Pedernales was hardly a river...it was more like a giant sandbar with a few little ponds here and there.

(On the right is the same dock as the picture above...crazy huh!)

Water or not...It's a big day for us all. The lakehouse is about a 30 minute drive from our house so Jonathan and I always treated it as a retreat whenever we wanted to just get out of our own house. Even though his parents live in Houston, they end up coming up to the lake several weekends a month year round. It's quiet, in the middle of nowhere, and just a good place for relaxing.



This weekend Jonathan and I will be joining his parents and his brother & his fiance to move everything in to the brand spanking new lakehouse. Insurance is a wonderful thing & this new house is going to be better than the last. We're all truly grateful to be able to return to our normal weekend ritual of hanging out at the lakehouse.

"Camping out" in Small Town Texas

Today's Plinky, asks about your first kiss. I LOVE this question :) Hearing about people's firsts always intrigues me to no end.

Technically my first kiss was at some guy who was having "movie night"'s house. There were probably 20 or so 13 years olds hanging out at this guys house watching a movie. Of course there was very little movie watching going on. It was mostly an excuse for everyone to make out. This was going to be the first time I'd ever kissed a boy. But, being the extremely sheltered little baptist girl that I was, I didn't know how to do it "right" and so my boyfriend at the time was a bit perturbed at me. I didn't realize you were supposed to ahem, part your lips a bit and I was puckering like a fish. Yeah, I was a VERY sheltered teenager. How was I supposed to know that you were supposed to relax and maybe let him slip you the tongue?

I like to think of my second kiss as my first. It's a much better story

I think it was spring break of 8th grade. See, my boyfriend had told my good friend Emily that he didn't think I wanted to kiss him. Why else would I have puckered like a fish when he tried to plant one on me?! So, Emily, who happened to have already kissed two boys, was kind enough to give me a few pointers.

So, back to spring break...Emily and I decided to have a little camp out in the back yard. We set up a tent in the field behind her house. Just out of earshot of her parents bedroom window. We decided that it would be a great idea to have our boyfriends sneak over in the middle of the night. This would be my chance to test out my new kissing skills.

That's about as scandalous as the story gets. We were good girls. Seriously. This was about probably my most rebellious act of 8th grade. We kissed our boyfriends for an hour or two and then the boys went home. Very PG.

But, the story still makes me smile.

Do you remember your first kiss?

steps to a "better" me | excuse me while I rant a bit

I've been trying to shake things up lately by taking active steps to improve certain aspects of my life but to little avail. Let's examine:

Exhibit 1: My Skin
After months of obnoxious but fairly minor breakouts, I finally decided that enough was enough. I'm 26 years old and I feel completely ridiculous walking around with zits all over my face. It was bad enough when I was 16 but as an adult with excellent medical insurance there is really no excuse for walking around all blemishy. So, I set up an appointment at a dermatology office. The doctor was booked until the end of the month, but I could get in to see the PA right away.

This was my first trip to see a skin doc. and I didn't really know what to expect (especially since it wasn't the actual Dr, only the PA...which I'm not even really sure what the difference is but whatever..). So, I told the doctor, er PA, or whatever you call him my skin woes and I walk away with three prescriptions. The guy didn't come within a foot of my face so I'm not sure how he knew what I needed, but I guess they do this kind of thing all the time and since my case isn't really severe, he just gave me what he gives everyone with acne.

So I'm on an antibiotic and in the morning I apply this stuff called BenzaClin and at night I apply Retin-A. The results: A new zit is popping up every other day, my skin is peeling, and I think I'm getting a freakin yeast infection! These are known side effects for all of the medications but oh man does it suck. I've been following this regimen for one week and I'm supposed to start seeing results from the topical stuff in two weeks. This shit better work or I may go figure out where that PA lives and go beat the tar out of him for making my life more difficult.

Exhibit 2: Fitness
I've been slacking in the fitness department since oh...November. After reading about the "30 Day Shred" on so many websites, I decided to give it a go. I'm on Day 12. Well, in all honesty, I skipped 3 days but one of those days I went to the gym and ran so I don't think it was completely cheating. Anyway, so I'm on Level 2 now. Holy cow Jillian is NOT playing around. So far, I've gained 4 lbs. WTF! Yeah, yeah, muscle weights more than fat...I know. But come on. If my clothes were fitting better I wouldn't be so angry...but they aren't.

I will say that the workouts are getting a little easier and I don't feel like I'm going to pass out after the first circuit anymore. Of course yesterday I did a little sneak preview of Level 3...and not gonna lie, I'm scared. I think I'll stick with Level 2 for another week or so because the warm up for Level 3 looks harder than the third circuit of Level 2 (which is no piece of cake)!

Exhibit 3: Diet
Jonathan and I have been doing our best to start building up our savings in 2009. One of the main excesses we've cut out is eating out. I've started cooking more and we eat out once or twice a week...which is WAY better than the 4-5 times we were eating out every week in 2008. I know that's a lot but we're DINKs and that's what we do :)

As I was saying...eating at home more often has kind of led me to try to start cooking healthier meals since I have control over exactly what goes in to each meal we eat. I'm not a veggie junky...I like my meats, starches, sugars, & dairy...so I've been trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our everyday life. I've made little changes...like Dryers Fruit Bars instead of double chocolate cookies, subbing ground turkey for ground beef in tacos, spinach for salads instead of romaine; and celery & fat-free Ranch dip rather than chips & salsa.

Skin doctor + exercising + eating healthy SHOULD = a radiantly skinny Ray. BUT. IT. IS. NOT. I know that I just started making these changes and I shouldn't necessarily expect instant results. But, dude, it's so incredibly frustrating.

Just had to vent a little bit.

End rant.

Over IM Just Now

Jonathan: I just caught Lola chewing up your hair holder - that black one that goes across your whole head

Me: Doh

Jonathan: sorry :(

Me: it's called a headband :) hehe

Jonathan: ah yes!

Me: haha...your hair holder

Jonathan: I like hair holder better

And They Call The Thing Rodeo

My stepmom, Susie, grew up in west Texas, the Odessa area to be specific. I don't know how much you know about west Texas, but if you're looking for cowboys, rodeos & ranches, you'll find an abundance of all of them out west.

Her brother, Mark, loved it so much he left home and moved to Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming to be a rancher. He raises cattle and in the summer, he and his famly put on a rodeo at the fairgrounds, which they happen to live on.

For the past week, two of Mark's daughters, Susie's neices, aka my cousin's, Katie & Callie, have been staying with my parents while visiting Jean, Susie's mother. Like that family history lesson :)

Last weekend, I met them in San Antonio so that I could visit with Katie & Callie while they were in town. We also wanted to go see Royce, Katie's husband ride in the San Antonio Rodeo on Saturday night...which I think is awesome.

See, even though I grew up in Small Town, Texas, I have never really been to a rodeo. I'm pretty sure my parents took me to the local one when I was little, but I've never been to one as big as the San Antonio Rodeo. All this was made better by the fact that I was going to be cheering for someone, someone who is actually really good and well known in the rodeo circuit.

Talking to Katie, who is 6 months pregnant!!, I had no idea that there wasn't really a rodeo season. These guys are travelling, rodeoing, all. year. long! In fact, Katie hadn't seen Royce in a month when she saw him last weekend! Can you imagine?

The rodeo was tons of fun! There was a tradeshow where you could go and buy all sorts of goodies...I managed to buy some fabulous things for my father-in-law and possibly something for the husband's birthday in April. Then they had all the typical fair food like onion blossom's, burgers, & corn dogs. Which I of course, had to sample.

Once the actual rodeo began, there was a laser light show and all sorts of pageantry. Bareback Riding is first, and I was shocked at how fast it all went. The guys have to stay on for eight seconds, just like in Bronc Riding & Bull Riding...so really, it's about a minute for each person by the time they get on the horse, ride, jump off & get the hell out of the arena. I was also shocked by how painful it looked. Take a look at this picture* of Royce from a rodeo in 2007. *Image via Google images from here.

Crazy! I've truly become a fan.

Have you ever been to a rodeo? Do you know anyone who rodeos? (I don't know why, but I find it hilarious that rodeo is a noun and a verb).

Ah, I love cowboys! Too bad my husband is an alt. rocker, hipster. Oh what am I saying, I think alt. rocker, hipsters are pretty darn sexy too :) Love you honey! Maybe next time you'll come to the rodeo with me?

Darn Snooze Button

I've had a really unproductive day. I blame it on my alarm. The buzzer went off at 7 as usual, but in my sleepy daze, I missed the snooze and hit the "radio on" button. Suddenly, Britney Spears "Circus" is blaring in my ear. I scramble to hit the "radio off" button. It crossed my mind that this might turn off the alarm instead of snooze and I should probably reset my alarm to go off in like 5 minutes.

Are you a snoozer? I have this terrible snooze habit that I just can't seem to break. just love knowing that I have a fabulous 9 more minutes to sleep. Jonathan gets a little perturbed when my snoozing goes on for two hours, but, psh, whatever.

Anyway, next thing I know it's 9:45 and Jonathan's alarm is going off.

Stink pot rolls out of bed at 10 am everyday. Must be nice to work from home. (I'm not bitter, I swear)

So, I jump out of bed, brush my teeth, throw on some jeans, a shirt & flip-flops, throw my hair in a pony tail and jump in the car.

Yeah, I was and hour and a half late for work. Luckily, my boss is kick ass and laughed that I was still on Vegas time.

So, I look like poo and of course there are like 50 million people (ok 3) having a smoke break when I drive up to the office. I felt like I was doing the walk of shame and walked as quickly as I could into the building and into my office where I proceeded to finally put some make-up on so that I wouldn't scare the bajeezus out of anyone else!

All of this has led to a very unproductive day. At least I'm well rested!

For the record...

Sarah posted an interview a while back and offered to interview the first 5 people who commented...I made it! So here goes:


When you were growing up what did you want to be-are you doing something close to what you had dreamed?

Both of my parents were educators so as a small child I pretty much always saw myself as a teacher. When my twin sisters were about 4 (I was around 8 or 9) they moved to Florida with my mom. I had always planned on helping them learn to read and write so I would send them "homework" assignments in the mail and my mom was kind enough to make them do the "homework" and they would mail it back. I was a little looney thinking that was fun. In my tweens I wanted to be a dance instructor. I took ballet, tap and jazz for about ten years until I was 14 (see evidence on right). I loved dance and always wanted to be a dance instructor like mine, Miss Kim. I would make up dance routines (mostly to songs off Michael Jackson's "Black or White" album) and teach them to my friends. It's a wonder I had any friends left!



Yikes! I'm catching a theme here...I was kind of a bossy little girl! I'm an Event Coordinator now, so not exactly a teacher or dance instructor. I do get to boss people around though, so perhaps this is what I was meant to be...



If you had to pick one of the five senses to give up...which would it be and why?

Gosh, this is a hard one...uh, none? Not a good answer? Ok, fine. If I absolutely must choose a sense... Hearing. I would miss music terribly, but I think maybe perhaps you could get the idea of music by feeling a bass line. On the plus side, I could easily ignore anyone who I didn't want to talk to and no one could fault me. And I could totally justify weekly manicures since I would have to talk with my hands on a daily basis and if you have to talk with your hands then you would certainly want your hands to be in pristine condition.



If you could have a pedicure with any person in history who would it be...and why? Another really good question! It's kinda making my brain hurt to think 0f this one...not going to lie...did a google search for "famous women" to give me some ideas because wow, this one is hard for me.

Oprah would be fun to sit down with...I'd love to just sit down and talk with her about how insane her life has become. I'd like to ask her if she would keep things as they are with all the fame & fortune, or if she ever wishes her life had gone a different way. You know what else would be cool...I bet she'd pay top dollar for the pedi...get all of the extras thrown in you know :)

If Oprah weren't available, I'd love to sit down with my mom when she was my age. I wonder what she was like. At that time I was three years old and my sisters weren't around yet. I wonder what her day to day life was like and what she would think of the woman I am now.

Your trapped for the afternoon at the DMV, what do you bring with you to prevent yourself from going nuts? I'm a reader, so definitely a book or magazine. I'm right in the middle of "Son of a Witch" the follow-up novel to "Wicked" so these days it's pretty much always in my purse. If I weren't in the middle of a novel, I would probably bring one of my many magazine subscriptions with me...I'm a loyal reader of "Lucky", "Vanity Fair", "RealSimple", and "Texas Monthly".


What song has been getting the most play in your car/ipod etc. lately?
I've had my Lykke Li CD in the car for the longest time and I'm still not tired of it! At work, I've had TV on the Radio on repeat. Pretty much all of the songs on these two CDs are fantastic so I wouldn't say I've had just one song on repeat.

Thanks for sending over the interview questions Sarah! It was a fun challenge. If any of you haven't already been interviewed and are interested leave me a comment asking to be interviewed and I'll be happy to send you some questions!