kenai's bone.

I like to splurge on my girl at Christmas... she LOVES unwrapping presents and this year I got her something I'd expect only my dad to buy his granddog - an over-sized rawhide bone! But she had to wait till Christmas to open it!

While in Pennsylvania, I left her in the care of Stacey and Kristal, whom I'm incredibly grateful for not only doing the neccessary (food, water, bathroom) but for loving on her so much while I was gone. Kenai spent Christmas morning with Kristal, her sister and her 3 kids, along with 2 other labs and a chihuahua. Kristal says they were up at 6:30 am opening gifts and by noon, Kenai was worn out and napping, her bone resting under her chin. Stacey mentioned while we were still gone that everytime she let Kenai outside, she'd carry with her this mastadonic bone and pretty much never let it out of her sight. DK and I just laugh and laugh... it's too big for her but she insists on carrying it around everywhere with her!

And then last night, she DROPPED IT ON MY FOOT. TWICE!! It hurt really bad but the sight of her trotting away and so delicately carrying her bone made me laugh and laugh some more...

i know, santa can be scary.

This is Reagan and Ryan Sepulveda, they belong to good friends of ours. 

Ryan hates Santa, apparently. 

allegheny mountains.

Allegheny Mountains, December 27th, 2008

christmas vacation.

It was amazing. I'll just kick it off with that general statement. I missed my family terribly, but was so excited to meet everyone else in DK's family and learn more about him and his life.

I left early Christmas Eve morning from Houston for Chicago and though I totally overpacked, I felt completely sure and prepared. I felt rested, I knew I'd not missed a thing, felt sure that Kenai was so well taken care of, and was able to leave peacefully.

Despite the 4 hour delay in Chicago, I arrived in one piece to the Pittsburgh Airport with a message from DK saying he had butterflies in his stomach from excitement. As I stood with DK in baggage claim waiting for my luggage, I was overwhelmed with this nervousness and anxiety. It was so weird to be there, this place I seemed to know so well but had never actually visited. Within moments, the Kilgore family van pulled up, we hopped in and were on our way. Destination: Smock, PA. This town is so small, I can't even think of a place near Houston to compare it to. It was pouring rain, but Mr. Kilgore steered us through safely as we all chatted and caught up and shared travel nightmare stories.

Once we pulled on to Tippecanoe drive, my butterflies started swarming like a tornado - this is where DK grew up. At 19 years old, his father built this house from the ground up and has continued to build on and add to since. DK was born into this home, left for kingergarten at the end of this driveway, and drove away from here as a college freshman, never to return as a resident. This was a huge deal to me!

His younger brother Michael and girlfriend Emily were waiting inside with Ramekin, DK's old rescue pup (she's 11) and the local favorite, Pizza Wagon. We sat around and talked and discussed the next few day's plans. It was as if I'd been around for years! The Christmas village was in full effect and the tree was unbelievable. Kilgore's make a huge deal out of Christmas and I had no idea what I was in for. At some point I heard bells and some rapping on the back glass door and to my shock, saw Santa himself standing outside! He came to visit me in PA, I must have been really good this year! It was such a shame though, Mr. Kilgore had gone upstairs and missed the whole thing :(After Santa left, DK and I went upstairs to unpack and get settled in when around 11:30 pm, mom called up the stairs warning us it was time to go to mass. Growing up, I went to Christmas Eve Mass with my grandmother in Detroit and though I'm not Catholic, it's one of the most beautiful services and traditions I've ever known. We drove into Uniontown, DK and Michael pointing out the Burger King DK worked as his first job and so many memories along the way. We parked out in front of this magnifcent Catholic church and as we walked the steps to the front entrance, Mrs. Kilgore says "The last time I walked these front steps, I was about to marry Donald (DK's dad.)" And then we partook in Christmas Eve mass - in the church where DK's parents were married almost 40 years ago. Wow.

Now, I've seen DK silly and giddy, but Christmas morning revealed a whole new side to him that I'd never seen before. "Wake up beautiful, wake up, it's CHRISTMAS!!" He literally dragged me by my feet out of my bed and once in the kitchen, Kilgore's were rearing and ready to go. Christmas hugs all around, fresh coffee and I was swept downstairs to find that Santa did in fact get the memo I was in PA - I've never seen so many gifts under a tree! All of our presents were wrapped in personalized paper - DK's were to the left, my piles were in the middle and Michael to the right. I didn't even know where to start. It was an awesome morning, kind of overwhelming for me, and my favorite parts were when Kilgore's opened their gifts from us and when DK finally opened his main gift from me: SCUBA lessons. I think he even cried a little!

The rest of the day was spent with family and later Ed and Mary Lou came over for Christmas lunch. Kilgore's are like ninjas in the kitchen, I don't know where this amazing meal came from! And later, somehow everything was cleaned up! Incredible! We sat down around the table to eat and Ed gave the prayer. It was beautiful. And before everyone started to eat, I explained the Dutch tradition of wishing everyone "Eet Smakelijk!" (dutch bon appetit) in honor of Olden's, Dave and Kim. They all pronounced it very well!

One of the highlights of the entire trip was later Christmas Day when DK took me for a long walk around his "neighborhood". It was absolutely the coolest experience to put together so many puzzle pieces of his life. I love him so much and am blessed to grow in life together over the last 10 months, but to walk these roads, to breathe this air, his history and his very being... it was pretty overwhelming and beautiful. The air was crisp and the sun was just about to set. I met some Shetland ponies and some farm dogs, got to hold the fluffiest cats, ran up and down hills (he played here as a child, are you kidding me?) and talked to some stinky cows. Oh, and I climbed a hay bail too!

The next few days we relaxed, I finished and started some books, and drove around taking in more history. Highlights: dinner with Michael and Emily at Michael's new house, seeing the window of the room at DK's highschool where he discovered his love for video, meeting Jack Purcell, a 90 year old man who has been on the Brownsville Board of Everything, catching Mrs. Kilgore as she fell back from shock once walking in on her surprise birthday party, meeting our good Flickr friend themanilow, and watching DK with his parents, how well he loves them and cares for them. There are so many others, I'd be writing all day... and I'm sure I'll add them here and there in the future.

I pray your Christmas was just as beautiful and full of friends and family... I'm excited about this New Year and have some serious things to put into motion. I've got to get back to work, but I'll fill you in soon.

Love you much,

Liz

merry christmas!

I'm having an amazing time in Pittsburgh, learning so much about DK and his family! 

I'll come home tomorrow night but for now to see photos, click here!

the sweetest thing.

I was fishing around my purse making a deposit at the bank this morning and pulled out some papers I knew I hadn't put in there. I pulled them out, unfolded 'em and what I found made me feel like the most protected, cared about and safe girl in the world.

It was my flight information/confirmation for tomorrow's flight. DK printed it all and put in my purse. When, I have no idea.

Jimminy Christmas!!

all grown up.

Last night I hung out with my childhood best friend, Tiffany Childers. There was a point in the night where we realized out loud, "WE'VE BEEN FRIENDS FOR 28 YEARS!" And that's as long as we've been alive.
She's in town visiting from San Francisco and we both immediately revert back to our usual selves around each other as if no time had passed whatsoever. Her older brother Jeremy even stopped in for some chatter and catching up... it's a unique life experience to know people so long and understand they love you for the very best and the very worst of who you are. This morning DK left for Pittsburgh and tomorrow I fly out to meet his entire family. This is a huge deal and more and more I'm realizing how grown up I am. I guess spending time with childhood friends will help cement that comprehension process? I'm leaving my world here in Houston to venture into creating memories with this man I love and his family. Then I read Dave and Kim's blog - they are headed out to Borneo Island for Christmas and the simplicity in their message of loving and missing loved ones makes me cry. Andrew is in St. Croix living it up, working hard on his boat in the Virgin Islands.

We're like grown-ups, man.

behind the scenes with betty and dk.

whoawhoa WHOA WHOA whoa whoa...

5958 Farmbrook, Detroit Michigan - The house my dad grew up in.

We flew to Detroit for the most wonderful weekend with my Grandma Kaiser, I learned so much about my heritage and had so much down time like never before. To watch Grandma with DK, I get teary eyed thinking about the tender exchange between the two of them. She's a brilliant woman and I was honored to have this time with her and capture these memories on video. I'm excited to have some down time to archive the highlights on my blog, but right now I'm caught in a storm of "hurry up and get ready" - oh the holidays!

Here's what I'm thinking and am working to maintain: simplicity. If I get it done, great. If not, it's ok. And by "it" I mean everything on my list of things to do, last minute arrangements, and BLAH. Blah. Blah.

The most important things on my list are quiet time with Tiffany, my childhood best friend who is in town from San Francisco and making sure Kenai gets enough love and attention to last her through Christmas. I don't know what I'd do with you, Stacey and Kristal, knowing I'm leaving my girl with you both. Thank you.

DK leaves early tomorrow morning and I leave Wednesday morning. We are going to Pittsburgh!! So excited!!

So don't forget. If you get it done, great. If not, the world will keep turning. Don't trade in your sanity and quiet time for that one last gift you just haaave to buy for do do brains at the office. It's ok.

detroit avenue.

DK, my dad and I are headed to Detroit in the morning to shoot an interview with my 88 year old Grandmother. Also, 6 of my dad's 7 brothers will be around and we hope to capture something special with them.

Last check on the weather forecast, a big snowstorm blowing in on the fine city of Detroit - will you pray the flights aren't cancelled or delayed too badly? Thanks. 

Have a great weekend!

lights in the heights.

he knows me so well.

Look what DK got me for my birthday :)

It's called Lapis Lazuli. It has been mined for thousands of years, and was prized by the ancient Egyptians. Cleopatra used powdered Lapis as eyeshadow.

Click here to get one for yourself too!

my birthday!

The celebration actually started the day before my real birthday, all thanks to DK. He's made such a big deal out of things! I came home from work Monday night and he'd beat me there, had my house decorated with black & white stripes and balloons, and even Kenai was donning some streamers and birthday cheer.

But I have to tell you something before I go on, and it's bad. I pulled up to my house and saw him in the front window waiting for me... then I noticed some balloons on the door... and almost started crying. I thought that he had a surprise party going on inside the house and I was mortified. So what did I do? I totally drove off and called him from around the corner, near tears. "Baby, what is going on ?!"

I arrived home a few short minutes after being reassured it was just Kenai and him and we went on to have the greatest night. We got dinner from Niko's and randomly watched Home Alone. I haven't see it in ages and we cracked up non-stop. Thanks Stacey for recording it!

The next morning DK and took me to breakfast at Barnaby's. It's my favorite. I had oatmeal, he had breakfast tacos. From there I had to meet with a private investigator named Dennis. My good friend Travis has applied for a job with the State Department and they do extensive background coverage over each candidate, including talking to all friends and family, asking terribly personal questions. I met up with him at Brasil on Westheimer and he stood out like a sore thumb, totally looking like a Fed straight out of a movie. He asked me if Travis had any questionable behavior, was a member of the KKK, and you know, the usual. I had to keep from giggling through the whole thing and was excited to brag on Travis.

From there I jetted over to the Houstonian where Kristen and Domenica were waiting for our morning at the spa together. We had massages and it was heavenly... then we lounged in the tranquility room and talked. The concierge surprised me with a piece of carrot cake from the hotel, complete with birthday candle! I left feeling so relaxed and so overjoyed with how beautiful and wonderful my best friends are.

At work, it was surprise after surprise... gifts in the mail, calls from my family abroad, and even an email from my mom with the story of the day I was born. So cool. During my show, I was continually blown away at how great it was to give back to listeners. I always do a birthday show giveaway and this year it was so much more personal. There's no greater feeling...

I left from work and headed home to get dressed for dinner! It's the only thing I said I wanted for my birthday this year - quiet, simple dinner with Domenica, Kristen and DK. I just wanted to keep it quiet, simple and YUM. Easy enough! On the way home I asked DK what he was going to wear and he mentioned something something rather but when I pulled in and saw him getting out of his car, I yelled "BLAZER GUY IS BACK!" He has this beautiful blazer that he wore to my party last year and to commemorate our "one year later", he wore it again. How cute! It took me forever to decide what to wear and I ended up same ol same ol, yahoo I felt comfortable. We met up with the girls and they looked stunning, from there we walked over to dinner at El Tiempo! It was perfect.

Conversation, LAUGHING, crying, Kristen pumping DK for proposal details, DK messing with Kristen, delicious food, an overall perfect birthday dinner and even more perfect than I'd dreamed. We walked home to Domenica's, DK shooting photos the whole walk back and when we walked inside, interrupted homework time with Chiara and her friend Moriah. They are 13. It quickly turned into a dance party downstairs and we sang "You can live your life heey-eeyy, heey-eeey"!!

Once we settled down and stopped laughing, we opened gifts and ate Crave cupcakes. Those girls didn't miss a detail, I'm still amazed. We sat around talking until around midnight by the fire... DK was such an awesome sport the entire night. He's amazing!

But I think that's how birthdays should be... and I can't wait for theirs to come again too.

Ok so blah blah blah, it was the best birthday EVER. Thank you thank you thank you.

sweet 28.

It wasn't that many years ago when all I looked forward to on my birthday was my slumber party and the perfect outfit I needed to coordinate with the decorations for the night. Barbies, anything Punky Brewster, Tiffany my best friend and my girlfriends... and don't forget the VHS video camera and the hilarious memories captured thanks to dad. Remind me to tell you the story of "Jennifer the Kisser Girl" one day - that was terrifying.

Then fast forward to the teen years when boys were thrown into the mix and pubescent awkwardness reigned. During college, my birthdays were spent with friends out to eat. On my 21st birthday I was determined to swim with sharks in the ocean and definitely found myself in the clearest water, churning with sharks on an island off the coast of Belize on December 16th, 2001.

My favorite parties ever are no doubt the last couple years held in the house I currently live in. Everyone shows up, dances , eats way too much and the photos later are the perfect proof of the night well spent. Last years party is what brought DK and me together as well... aha!

But this year, I feel either too old, too boring or maybe both? I'm 28 and feeling like the way I want to celebrate really reflects what is most important to me now: simplicity, quiet time, my closest best friends on earth and good food. So that's how we will celebrate another year of Liz...

HOWEVER!!! Check out all the excitement happening on the Afternoon Show! I'm giving away some of my most favorite things!! Click here to learn more and register!

a great weekend.

It all started Friday night with an awesome broadcast from outside the Toyota Center for Toby Mac's Winter WonderSlam tour... I was interviewed for a piece on Global Force TV , met so many awesome listeners, played some b-ball with Jen before her big game against Toby, and felt such an awesome sense of community in the middle of one of my favorite places, downtown Houston. The show itself was stellar, as expected. I got to sit with DK, Kristen, Jen and Chi and we danced and sang our hearts out! I love these times...

Saturday morning came quick and we had a low mileage run planned, 14 miles. It turned into 10 miles for me and I ended up splitting from the group to run back to Memorial park and cried no, SOBBED the whole way back. My foot was killing me, my legs were so tense and my guess was my new shoes were not good for me. Today I'm fighting off shin splints. Ohhh, the enemy loves to come in to discourage us and 5 weeks out from the marathon, his timing is impeccable.

I came home and cleaned up, then left to go meet Ma Olden in The Woodlands for our birthday brunch! My birthday is tomorrow, hers was Friday. This was the highlight of my weekend! We sat at La Madeline by the fire, sipping cappucinos and chatting non-stop. I've never met such a positive, free, and uplifting woman in my whole life. To sit in her presence I feel silly for worrying or for being negative about anything. She misses Kim and David desperately also and it's so wonderful to be together as we help keep their memories and spirits alive amongst us while they are in Malaysia. We did some shopping, more talking and lots of laughing...

I then came home, put on some Audrey (Funny Face this time) in my room and fell fast asleep. DK came over later and we went to Fleet Feet to meet Coach Michael and get my shoes changed out. Success! Old (new) faithfuls are back! I knew I was born a Saucony girl.

Saturday night was Lights in the Heights with Cody and Jess, Annalee and Shane. It was a nice night to walk about the Heights and people watch. I didn't last long though and ended up going home to bed by 10 pm.

It seems like it's been awhile since I've been able to go to church... and Sunday morning I was reminded of why God called me to Ecclesia. It's HOME. It's so totally home for me. I was beaming with an open heart to God as I sang loud and louder! And through worship I was reminded that God is strong and that He loves me. He's an awesome God.

Then while in line to take communion, I was standing next to a man carrying a screaming baby boy. The tears spilled over from my eyes as I took the body with the blood, this baby boy's cry cementing the visual and sense of what the story is all about. That a baby boy was sent here to teach, love, and give hope. It was a beautiful moment. And I just love my church home.

Yum yum yum, DK and I went grocery shopping next then we went to eat lunch at our favorite, Houston's! Ohhhh I love that place. Everytime we go, I'm floored at how efficient, relaxed and delicious the overall experience is. It's the best! From there we went to Target to get some supplies, then to Ikea and I found so much striped inspiration for my upcoming project.

We came back to DK's and he put together a new shelf while I cooked and read. I'm reading Twilight. I finally caved and bought a copy!! And so far, I'm not hooked but we'll see.

Overall and great weekend... thank you Jesus for another day in you.

snow day 2008

snow in houston!

It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston! It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!
It's snowing in Houston!

so precious.

I had a bit of a frustrating day, no one's fault but mine, and came over to DK's pad after work. 

He seemed to sense I'd had a rough day and had a delicious dinner ready and served by the time I arrived. I sat down on the couch after eating and like clockwork the girls (Katie and Kenai) climbed up next to me to shower me with kisses and attention.

And just like that, everything is right with the world again :) 

fart machine.

I feel tired, kinda frustrated and yes, irritated at every. little. thing.

Earlier at my desk, Photoshop was running on molasses and my stress level was building so much, I was too exhausted and stubborn to stop, go for a walk, and take a deep breathe.

I even whined out loud like a little brat a few times.

And on top of it all, Mike wouldn't stop playing with his new fart sound effect machine and I thought I might strangle him. (We share an office.)

Not his fault, not my computer's fault... but my own for staying up too late watching "just one more!!" episode of The Office with DK, for not eating well the past couple days and not making enough time to get my daily excercise.

So tonight it's to bed early, breakfast and a run in the morning. Then I'll secretly remove the batteries from the fart machine and everything will be just fine!

ok, sorry just one more :)

I took this one of DK also... isn't he strikingly handsome? Even behind the camera heehee...

his smile!

I snapped this on our walking tour through the city last weekend and was so happy to capture a photo of him mid-laugh, not posed at all!! I can just HEAR him laughing when I look at this photo!!

farewell blue chair.

I found this blue chair out for for the trash and fell in-love with it. It was the inspiration for this 365 photo. I wanted to bring it home but DK said no, cause there might be bugs in it.

christmas flipbooks!

Look at what else you can do on Flickr - these are our friends, the Boyd's.

And here is ours!

mismatched outfit, how dare i.

Last night, DK was out with his buddy Mills, who writes for the Free Press. Mills is working on an article and needed DK's master photo skills to accompany his piece. So for Saturday night, it was me, the girls, and some new paint for my bathroom. 

I was just about done painting, loving the new blue and was brainstorming for what color towels to accent with, in my head making up every possible excuse to ohhh darn, guess I have to run to Target :) About this time, the dogs start doing their hungry dance so I open the food bin and Rats! dog food is almost out but Yay! I really DO have to run to Target! 

I was totally scrubbed out, wearing an old t-shirt dad got on one of his travels over 10 years ago, old running shorts, black flip flops and I couldn't find my coat so I opted to throw on my favorite vintage find, a circa 1960's 3/4 arm length black dress coat with fur collar and wrists. My hair had paint in it, I'm sure but seriously, who did I have to impress. 

I loaded up the doggies and we were on our way. Once inside Target, I decided to stick with white towels and keep it simple. I heaved the dog food into my cart and got some laundry detergent too. I was making my way to check out and I guess until this point was completely oblivious to how I looked... until I heard these ladies behind me. 

Did they seriously think I couldn't hear them? I estimated they were a few paces behind me and it became more and more obvious they were laughing at me. I heard "What was she thinking?" and a "Is she serious?" and the rest was that truly snide snicker that I remember from high school. It was awful.

I didn't stop and turn around to address them like maybe would have been the daring in your face kind of thing to do, but instead as I was loading up my items to check out, I glanced over to see that they were mother and daughter, she was probably high school age... and her mother wasn't like some hot, fit, well dressed woman either. Not that being that way would entitle her to laugh at me, but I just felt crushed that a mother would be an example like this to her daughter. I also wonder how easy it is for her daughter to take that same perspective and attitude to school and laugh at girls the way she laughed at me. 

What if this was the only coat I had? She doesn't know me, doesn't know my situation and I truly felt convicted and challenged more and more turn the tables in areas I feel that I judge people. It just sucked... 

simplicity.

I had a really eye-opening moment yesterday. This realization struck me so hard, tears immediately burst out of my eyes, I was short of breathe and clarity opened up like the Hoover Dam had just been broken. 

Let me back up. DK lives within walking distance of downtown and we've talked about taking a walking tour of the city, as though we were tourists. You notice so many more details when taking things in by foot. I'm also excited for any time we can shoot together, teaching one another and learning the other's perspective more in depth. So here we were, walking on a gorgeous day in downtown. 

We crossed the Bayou near Allen's Landing on San Jacinto and came around near UH Downtown. Stopping to take photos, chatting about things along the way,  just taking our time, we were waiting for the light to change so we could cross Commerce St. 

From here it all happened so fast. 

There are on a park bench behind us was a homeless man sleeping. Nothing unusual.  But then a shiny new Ford truck pulled up, a guy jumps out from the passenger side, approaches the homeless man and without saying a word, sets a brown paper bag on top of his bag. He jumps back into the truck and they take off, stopping down the road to hand a couple more bags to men on the street. 

DK and I, amazed by what we just saw, silently cross the street and that's when I got the wind knocked out of me. It hit so hard, DK just wrapped his arms around me and as I cried, this is what I said to him.

"I just witnessed what happened and my initial reaction was to stop those men and ask them what organization they were with, if they have a website and tell them I could mention them on the air sometime next week. But what I'm struggling with right now is why it even has to be a big deal, a big organization, a big production of charity. The simplicity of what these men just did is what strikes me. That is where the message is, not in volunteering for the best event... That putting together some food and drink, driving around and handing these things out was the most simple thing to do. And I bet they do it all the time, on their own, as God leads! Why can't I be more like that? Why does everything have to be a big planned event? 'Aaand tomorrow I'm going to help a large number of homeless men and women, sorry, I'm booked for the day but the rest of the week I'm open.' I want to get back to recognizing the simplicity of giving and loving." 

I have a lump in my throat as I write this... sometimes I think God just plants us right smack dab in the place He feels the message will be most powerful. This I believe was the message I needed to see, hear and set into motion. 

Simplicity.

bearded lady.

DK and I were waiting for a table yesterday morning at Baby Barnaby's, my favorite breakfast place on earth. It was a gorgeous day and because DK came to get me so early, I only had time to splash water on my face and run a brush through my hair. 

So there we are, standing outside the place, folks around us waiting, sun shining, me looking sweetly at DK and he suddenly scrunches his face, tilts his head, reaches out to lift my chin and to my horror says: 

"You have a whisker on your chin! That's funny!" 

I was mortified. I raced to the restroom and looked for it, panicking internally, thinking "Truly everyone else in the place is going to notice too, they'll probably sell me off to the circus to be on display for all to laugh and mock, I should probably just go home." But instead, I took a deep breathe, enjoyed the beautiful day and ate the best breakfast plate ever.

Later on, we were laughing about it (once the problem was taken care of, heehee) and DK asked me "But wouldn't you rather me tell you?" 

His question made me think about a few things. How he is the one man in the world I want to impress and make notice me. In this case, it's tough because whiskers are gross and masculine, far from what I want him to notice about me. Then I remember that he is my partner, my best friend, my greatest encourager and that embarrassing things will continue to happen throughout our lives. So I think we can either hide away in the bathroom and die of unnecessary embarrassment or we can laugh about and thank the Lord we have a man who loves us, Bearded Lady or not. 

Your thoughts? Stories?

conversation.

Today at work, DK and I were chatting online for a bit. Here's how the conversation went:

Donald: excited!!!!! EXCITED!!!!!! I am ordering your presents, they are on the way
me: you are ordering them?
me: my presents?
Donald: yes
me: what are they?
Donald: surprises
me: what kind of surprises?
Donald: present surprises
me: what kind of present surprises?
Donald: can't say
me: why not? can't you give me a hint? can i ask one question?
Donald: sure, but no hints
me: is it a puppy? that's more a gift for me and kenai, so technically, it's not giving it away plus i promise not to tell her
Donald: it's a cat / kitten
me: no it's not and why would you try to ruin christmas?!
Donald: kenai said she wants a kitten - she told me
me: what did she say? you fell for that? you know why she really wants a kitten!!
Donald: why's that?
me: so she can eat him!
Donald: you might be right... it might be her master plan. terrorize the cat so he climbs the tree knocks it over and then kenai looks like the precious angel
me: I agree. So maybe you should return that kitten.
Donald: maybe a bird... what do you think kenai would do if a bird were flying around the house?

Ohhhh Lord!!!!

hot dr. pepper.

I stole this from Amber's blog and thought I'd help spread the word :) All ya gotta do is boil the Dr. Pepper in a sauce pot, and pour over thinly sliced lemon!

i'll smoke ya.

Remember when you were a kid and getting new shoes was such a big deal? Trying them out inside the store, just KNOWING you were running atleast 20 mph faster than with the old ones? That's how I felt this morning!

I stopped by to see Jim and Danny at Fleet Feet in The Village and they helped get me into my Dr. Hasenbank recommended shoes. It's amazing what happens when you have the right shoes on your feet.

I had reconstructive surgery on my feet two years ago to get rid of my bunions, tailor's bunions and also my instep was awful. 6 months later I ran my first half marathon. I can't say that I've been great about wearing the right shoes though, until Dr. H taught me more about posture and how incredibly everything is connected internally, making the proper shoes vital.

6 weeks till my first whole marathon and I'm so ready!! Tomorrow we run our 18 mile long run. Will you pray for us?

And these are the new shoes I'll be wearing when I smoke everyone tomorrow morning :)

Meet the new Asics GT-2140's.

chillax.

I'm exhausted. I feel so drained... and I think it's from the non-stop, always moving things planned for every moment I'm not sleeping dilemna I create for myself weekly. 'Tis the season?

'Tis the lifestyle.

The other night though, I came home and kinda busted in on Stacey's ladies Bible study... it was so awesome to see so many girls in the house!! I hustled the dogs out the door, around the block and then thought "Hmmm, what if I do something I didn't plan to do... and just like, see if Domenica isn't busy and swing on by?" And I did. We layed around so comfy and talked. How is it we live so close and don't do that more often? It was awesome, chill and so relaxing. Chillaxing. (And I'm not gonna lie, it's an added benefit having a brilliant chef for a friend, yum yum.)

Last night I hung out around favorite Montrose venues with Kristen, DK, Jacob and Brandi and acted like goofballs. Best quote of the night "Isn't it so fun being adults?!"

Then tonight is dinner and a movie with DK at my house. And by dinner and a movie, I mean I'm making him dinner and we are gonna Netflix it up. I'm giddy excited about tonight... about sitting and being quiet with my man and the dogs, in my house and with no other agenda.

I'm so tired... yet feel so energized by these gifts of friends and memories being made.

Cheesy? Yaaa, I know. Cut me some slack, I'm tired and sappy :)

jon collins, not the drink.

He's was born ahead of his time, creatively and musically. When I was a nerd 7th grader, he befriended me and we've been friends since. He's become progressively more talented and is brilliant in his work.

Here is a little behind the scenes from his latest project. He's wearing a black shirt and glasses behind the camera. His girlfriend April is the Slate Girl :)

I share this solely because I am floored at his ability.

Behind the Scenes of Doug Burr's "Should've Known" Music Video from Jon Collins on Vimeo.

great day houston!

This morning Domenica did a couple segments with Deborah on GDH and was fabulous. I helped Kristen with setup and took some behind the scenes photos and video... I love the behind the scenes... it's so intriging to me :)

favorite new website.

My friend Tiffany in San Francisco showed me this site and I'm hooked.

For the latest, most user-friendly, non-cluttered and resourceful details on where to go and what to do in Houston, check out Yelp!

Byebye Citysearch, hello Yelp! :)

come shop with me!