365 Days of Hornbuckles

Week 4

2012-02-03T15:29:00.001-06:00

Week 4

January 22, 2011 – Alece is in my house!!! My goodness I love this girl, and Sara would have been so excited about this picture. Alece has been working in Houston this month and got to come to Dallas for a concert and she stayed with us for the night. It was a short visit but it was a good one.

January 23, 2011 – Now that we’re editing on headsets most of the time, I’m finding that wearing earrings is kind of a problem. I found this super-cute little jewelry bowl at Anthropologie, and now my earrings can live here while I’m editing.

January 24, 2011 – Tonight when Jack got home he told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands (I LOVE that game!) He got me this super-cute little bird house that I saw at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and loved. I had forgotten about it, but it’s perfect for my kitchen!

January 25, 2011 – Jack came home early from work today because he wasn’t feeling very well, and since we’re leaving for our Colorado trip tomorrow night, I insisted he do everything he needed to feel better, STAT. Apparently that was playing video games and eating my homemade mashed potatoes. He felt better the next morning, so I guess it worked!

January 26, 2011 – We’re on vacation!! We left tonight after work for a late flight to Colorado, and we got to the airport early enough to eat at the airport Friday’s. We’re so excited about our trip!

January 27, 2011 – We’re headed up the mountain today with Shane and Cassandra, two greyhounds, and lots of luggage. It was crowded to say the least, but it was definitely a fun memory! I actually had to wear my helmet in the backseat because there was no other place to put it!

January 28, 2011 – We’re skiing today! Shane taught Jack how to ski today, and Jack fell A LOT. At one point he nearly ran into a tree, then tried to hit said tree with his ski pole out of frustration. Surprisingly, though, he still really enjoyed it and wants to do it again. It was a really long, really fun day. I’m glad we came.

Week 3

2012-01-22T11:56:00.001-06:00

Week 3

January 15, 2012 – It’s Michelle!!! This morning we had breakfast with Michelle at Hullaballoo Diner in College Station before we left, and oh my gosh, that place is amazing. The biscuits and gravy were incredible, and the pancakes were bigger than Jack’s whole hand. It was crazy good. Also great to see Michelle again!

January 16, 2012 – Our new office? Is a mess. But we’re getting there. I spent most of the day creating a system for our INSANE disorganized cables, so that’s going to be good. It will be nice to get all settled in and cleaned up… someday!

January 17, 2012 – Today after I worked at the school I went home and started cooking Jack’s favorite sausage corn chowder (SO good, especially on cold nights like tonight!) and packaging up veggies in snack-sized bags so we can just grab them. Jack was so nice to help me cook while I did that, and when I dropped a handful of cucumbers on the floor, he was super-pleased because apparently, “Cucumbers are gross and Satan likes cucumbers.” Uh. Okay.

January 18, 2012 – Tonight I made the Pioneer Woman’s “perfect pot roast” and from-scratch garlic mashed potatoes. I called it “comfort food” and Jack said “actually, it’s UNCOMFORTABLE food, because I ate so much of it that I’m really uncomfortable in these pants.”

January 19, 2012 – Tonight I Skyped with Ellyn, and got to see my godson Coen too. I really wish we lived closer but I am also so thankful for technology that lets us see each other face-to-face! Coen was totally interacting with me on Skype – it’s wild to think that a 6-month-old can smile and respond to stuff you’re saying to them from 1,000 miles away! I love it.

January 20, 2012 – Tonight, we celebrated. For lots of reasons. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Bonnie Ruth’s including some good wine, great food, and amazing dessert. I love date nights with Jack.

January 21, 2012 – Today Jack and I cleaned up our messy house, which included taking down the Christmas tree, which we had been putting off because NINE FOOT TREES ARE HARD TO PUT AWAY. We laughed so hard today though – we had the hardest time getting it taken apart.

Week 2

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

Week 2

January 8, 2012 – Oh, my charming date. I love him so. Jack and I spent most of the day cleaning up the house after ignoring the squalor during our weekend Friday Night Lights marathon, and for dinner we went to our favorite little Mexican restaurant, Jalapeños, also known in our house as “Tamales,” “Margaritas,” and “Tequila’s,” depending on which name we can remember at the moment.

January 9, 2012 – Tonight I was working late when I got a frantic call from my friend Debbie, who had lost her wallet and asked me to check if it was on her desk. It wasn’t. She called the place she had had lunch, and they didn’t have it either. I went out and walked to the restaurant she had earlier in the day just to see if it was still on the ground, and I didn’t find it there. On a whim, I decided to go into another nearby restaurant to see if somebody had turned it in there, and lo and behold, someone had! All the credit cards and money were there too – it kind of restored my faith in humanity.

January 10, 2012 – Tonight I made cupcakes for Joanna’s birthday, and the best part is that I get to take them to work in my new cupcake carrier that Jack got me for Christmas! I love it!

January 11, 2012 – Happy birthday, Joanna! We all had lunch together and put this awesome sparkler firework thing into one of the cupcakes. Unsafe? Probably. Fun? Definitely.

January 12, 2012 – My office has been packed and is ready to be moved tomorrow. It’s a little sad, actually. I really liked working in this office. It was my own little space for almost four years.

January 13, 2012 – And this is my new office! We spent the day moving our stuff over and setting up our new desks at work. It was tiring work but I do like my new little space. I have a new office roommate, Eric, and I’m excited to “room” with him because we get along so well.

January 14, 2012 – Talk about a beautiful bride! Today Jack and I went to College Station for Brynn’s wedding – she made a beautiful bride and it was fun to see some of our taekwondo friends. So happy for them!

Week 1

2012-01-10T00:00:00.004-06:00

Week 1

January 1, 2012 – My goodness, I love starting all my years like this.

January 2, 2012 - Today I got the TVs working with all the beautiful BoinxTV stuff I’ve been working on. There’s a news ticker, weather, announcements, tweets, and a loop of karate videos for the parents to watch while the classes are going on. The video really does look pretty cool on the screens. Bonus – after the parents figured out that if they tweet about Murphy ATA, they went CRAZY tweeting about us. It’s a fun little feature.

January 3, 2012 – This is my new view of the classes from my own computer in the Murphy ATA office. I really like it! First of all, I actually have my own space now (yesss!) and second, I can see the mirrors and therefore the whole school now.

January 4, 2012 – Thanks to GroupMe, my friends and I can be in constant communication if we want to be. And thanks to autocorrect, there is no end to hilarity in said groups. I’m so thankful for these girls.

January 5, 2012 – Today we visited the new building in an effort to plan out our audio/video set up for live events in the theater. We found this crawl space in the corner of the theater, so of course I climbed in (nearly tearing my favorite jeans and getting super-dirty). I have a fun job.

January 6, 2012 – Heaven help us all. I learned how to make Spicy Barbeque Whiskey sliders (a la The Pioneer Woman). And they. Were. AMAZING. In other news, we have started watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix, and we are completely addicted. We’ve been staying up all night every night watching “just one more episode.” This weekend rocks.

January 7, 2012 – Tonight Jack and I went to Macaroni Grill with the Barnes family to celebrate Kimi’s birthday. They had quite the time drawing on the tables together.

Weeks 41-52

2011-12-31T00:00:00.007-06:00

Week 41

October 9, 2011 – Tonight we spent a really lovely evening with the Baesels eating our favorite pizza at Grimaldi’s and then seeing West Side Story with them. Such a great show! Such a great night. Such great friends.

October 10, 2011 – Jack has started intentionally letting bananas go bad in our house just so I’ll make these banana chocolate chip muffins. I’d be mad at him but they’re so darn good that I kind of want to let the bananas go bad too.

October 11, 2011 – We have the craziest conversations on the way to lunch at work. I love my co-workers.

October 12, 2011 – Tonight I finished up a diaper cake for my boss’s friend’s baby shower. It’s not my favorite one that I’ve ever made, but it matches their theme at least. Unrelated: I tweeted only weird Broadway mashup lyrics all day. I don’t actually know why.

October 13, 2011 – I logged on to Skype with Ellyn today and we both laughed because we are wearing the exact. Same. Thing.

October 14, 2011 – Today we drove down to College Station for the weekend to visit with Jack’s buddies (the people in his Corps of Cadets outfit from his class year). We always have such fun with them. Tonight, Jason and Rebekah got engaged at the Century tree – it was so fun and exciting to be a part of it!!

October 15, 2011 – This morning, we got up SUPER EARLY so Jack could watch Drill before the football game, then we tailgated (at 9 a.m.!), watched the march-in, and then headed to Ryan and Wendy’s parents’ house to watch the game. It was a fun day!

Week 42

October 16, 2011 – This morning we went to brunch with all of Jack’s buddies and took one last group picture before heading back home (by way of Susan Menchaca’s house to visit her). We had such a wonderful weekend together!

October 17, 2011 – Oh, today. It’s just been one of those days. To begin with, before I left for work, I discovered that our garage refrigerator went out over the weekend and I had more than 60 pounds of meat plus about a hundred tiny pies plus a ton of other food in there. It was A MESS. Then tonight I was cooking and dropped my sugar juuuust like this. All over the floor.

October 18, 2011 – I finally got my little Iowa charm that I ordered from Etsy. Since I didn’t get a tattoo with the other girls, I wanted a little something to remind me of Sara, so I got this.

October 19, 2011 – These are the kinds of notes I leave myself when I leave work for the weekend.

October 20, 2011 – We’re in Orlando! Jack and I had the best day together. We spent the day playing miniature golf and enjoying an amazing dinner at a steakhouse in town. I love our Orlando trip every year!

October 21, 2011 – We spent a wonderful day together in Orlando once again. Jack won first in forms, first in weapons, and third in sparring this morning (you know, no big deal), and then we spent the rest of our day wandering the Disney Boardwalk together. So much happy.

October 22, 2011 – Today we spent the day at Universal Studios. We rode all kinds of roller coasters and I got all kinds of motion sick but it was still fun.

Week 43

October 23, 2011 – Today we spent another day at Universal Studios, which was fun, until we headed to the airport to go home. Our flight? Delayed. Which meant that we would miss our connection from Atlanta to Dallas. So then we got there with just a few minutes before our flight to Dallas so we ran about 2 miles through the airport with all our luggage, only to miss it by a few minutes. It was rough. THEN, we waited in line FOREVER to get our hotel and meal vouchers, then waited forever for the shuttle, and THEN, when we got to the hotel, they were out of rooms! So we had to call back and get a room at a different hotel. We ordered the crappiest pizza I have ever eaten at 2 a.m. because we were starving and we went to sleep with about 3 hours until we had to be up for our next flight. It was, to say the least, not ideal.

October 24, 2011 – We made it home. Finally. After 24 hours of travel. I think this photo sums up our feelings about how long it took to get home. We are NEVER FLYING DELTA AGAIN. EVER.

October 25, 2011 – Tonight was the Awards Ceremony/Kickoff Party for BikeMS, which is always lots of fun. And even better than that, I got to see my lovely co-captain, Neta again. It’s going to be a great year!

October 26, 2011 – Uh, so, I shouldn’t try frying food. Or, at least, if I do, I shouldn’t heat the oil up as hot as I can get it because I think I’m supposed to BOIL it. Because that? Will fill your house with smoke and a really rancid burnt oil smell. Also, will result in some really black potatoes. Once I cooled down the oil some, I did get two good fries out of it, but I didn’t bother with any more because the smoke was too thick. We literally had to leave the house to eat our dinner. It was ridiculous.

October 27, 2011 – Every time it starts raining, I get this text message from a service I signed up for. Makes me laugh every time.

October 28, 2011 – I don’t know if it really looks like it, but I cleaned the crap out of this shower tonight.

October 29, 2011 – Jack’s parents are in town! Jack and his dad are such good friends. I like seeing that.

Week 44

October 30, 2011 – I got this in an email from Ellyn tonight. It was one of the nicest things I’ve ever been asked, and I’m so excited to be Coen’s godmother!!

October 31, 2011 – Tonight for Halloween, we went to the Wylie community event called “Boo on Ballard” and handed out about a trillion pieces of candy and flyers to thousands of kids. It was crazy and wild, but it was a good chance to advertise for our school.

November 1, 2011 – It was date night tonight! When Jack got home, he took me to Starbucks and we talked until they kicked us out, then went home and sat on the back porch at home and talked there instead. I’m blessed to have a husband who drops everything and chooses me sometimes.

November 2, 2011 – Tonight after work I went to Aubree’s middle school play. HOW IS SHE ALREADY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL? It was really cute – based on The Wizard of Oz.

November 3, 2011 – This? Is one of the many, many reasons I hate the stupid teleprompter. Today it wouldn’t work because I got this message over and over. Thank God for Aaron in IT. I hate the teleprompter. I hate the teleprompter. I hate the teleprompter.

November 4, 2011 – Today I INSISTED that we go to Wing Stop for lunch because Eric is always saying that he doesn’t want to go to Wing Stop because he knows I don’t like wings all that much. But today we went and it was actually pretty good!

November 5, 2011 – Today I went shopping and got a bible for my godson (!) Coen. I’m going to take it to Ellyn when I go through Indiana next week.

Week 45

November 6, 2011 – Jack and I just love going to Macaroni Grill – it’s a fun date place because, you know, they give you crayons, and we’re kids.

November 7, 2011 – Today we tried to change out a graphics card in the computer at the taekwondo school. We were not successful.

November 8, 2011 – The lights are up again in the Shoppes at Legacy – it finally feels like Christmas!

November 9, 2011 – It’s a BOY! I’m getting a NEPHEW!! Devin Crawford. I’m so excited. Shane and Cassandra are so excited too. Tonight I arrived in Boston, and Shane and I leave tomorrow for Colorado Springs.

November 10, 2011 – Today Shane and I drove for 12 hours from the East coast to Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was really beautiful most of the way. It was fun listening to a book and comedy albums, talking, and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

November 11, 2011 – I GOT TO SEE ELLYN TODAY! Shane was so nice to go out of his way on our road trip to let me have breakfast with her and the kids. After that was another 12 hour day and we spent the night in Kansas, where there were virtually no hotel rooms (we were lucky to get one!) because of pheasant hunting. So weird.

November 12, 2011 – We arrived in Colorado Springs today! Shane’s rental house is really nice, and we spent most of the day shopping for Devin’s first ever Bronco’s clothes. It was so much fun!

Week 46

November 13, 2011 – I flew home today from Colorado Springs, and every time I visit Colorado I want to stay forever. I would never get tired of that beautiful view.

November 14, 2011 – It’s back to work today! Today at the school I was cutting gift certificates. I’ve been working a lot of extra hours at the school lately, but I have actually really been enjoying the extra time with Jack.

November 15, 2011 – I finally got some fuel for my crème brule torch! Jack helped me put it in there tonight, and, as I did not make any crème brele tonight, I lit a candle with it. Jack was quite uncomfortable with that idea.

November 16, 2011 – When I come to the taekwondo school, I almost always get a tiny apple juice. They make me so darn happy. I like to say that I get paid in tiny apple juice when I work at the school.

November 17, 2011 – I took the day off work today and spent most of it, well, working. Jack and I got lunch from Firehouse subs and ate together as we worked in the office. It wasn’t quite what I had planned, but it was a really good day together.

November 18, 2011 – Today Eric and I cleaned out the video archive room, and found a lot of things like this – boxes full of blank cassette tapes. Which translates to GARBAGE. It feels good to get rid of trash.

November 19, 2011 – Tonight I went with Jeri and a bunch of work people to the play “The Screwtape Letters” in Dallas, then we went to Dallas Chop House and walked around downtown where there was this lovely tree set up in addition to a craft fair thing. We ended the night with the Wildmans at our taekwondo school. It was so much fun!

Week 47

November 20, 2011 – The look on Jack’s face here doesn’t properly convey just how bad this On The Border dinner was. The food was all messed up. The waiter was slow and awkward. There was an interview/training session going on in the next booth over and we had the pleasure of listening to the ins-and-outs of the OTB menu. It was so weird.

November 21, 2011 – You know how you have those days at work where you find your co-worker laying on an empty desk with your slanket? Just me? Oh. Okay.

November 22, 2011 – Jack got my heater fixed this week so that I can do THIS again.

November 23, 2011 – I sent Jack to the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving. Poor guy.

November 24, 2011 – Happy Thanksgiving! We spent the day at my parents’ house eating and watching football. Perfect, low-key Thanksgiving!

November 25, 2011 – My office!! It’s an office again! I spent the weekend cleaning out the insane terrible awful very bad mess and I am proud to say that I only have current projects on my craft tables now. Feels GOOD.

November 26, 2011 – It’s time for Christmas decor! Jack and I bought a new Christmas tree today (a 9 foot one!) and it is so pretty in our dining room! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Week 48'

November 27, 2011 - We got our Christmas letters printed up today! Now I just have to actually send them out!

November 28, 2011 – I don’t know how he expects me to get anything done in here with this view.

November 29, 2011 – I played this word with Candy in a Words With Friends game. It made me laugh because Alece hates that word.

November 30, 2011 – Today Eric and Owen found a gong app that they sent Jack for his black belt ceremony. When I got to the school today I saw this email exchange on Jack’s computer and it made me laugh.

December 1, 2011 – I made these flower arrangements for the Black Belt ceremony today. I’m kind of proud of them, actually.

December 2, 2011 – Today was the black belt ceremony, and Master Olford came to guest judge. It was such an honor to have Jack’s original instructor here for it, and he even brought this beautiful dragon as a gift for Jack! What a nice man.

December 3, 2011 – I got to see Angela today!! I drove up to Temple this morning so I could spend a short weekend with my buddy. Tonight we went to a little downtown fair and did a lot of shopping and walking around with Angela’s brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Week 49

December 4, 2011 – It was back home again for me today. On the way home, I stopped at a Starbucks and got a coffee and one of their new brownie peppermint cake pops. Oh my cow. So good.

December 5, 2011 – Jack made us dinner tonight! It included Wolf-brand chili, but still, Jack made us dinner tonight. I have to say though, canned chili or not, his tamale casserole is pretty good. Also good? Not having to cook.

December 6, 2011 – This is what our living room floor looks like before taekwondo belt testings. Such is life as a small business owner.

December 7, 2011 – Tonight was the “Sweet Celebration” at Stonebriar Community Church, and I went with some work friends, including one of my very best favorite people, Debbie.

December 8, 2011 – Um. I think the sparring gear is here.

December 9, 2011 – We went to Nacogdoches today for Jack’s family Christmas, and we spent some time in Lufkin shopping and such. We took a little tour - this is where Jack’s taekwondo school used to be when he was a kid.

December 10, 2011 – Today we spent the day with Jack’s family in Nacogdoches, opening presents and spending time together. We went outside and took a family picture, and after that I had all kinds of stickers on the outsides of my shoes. Jack’s grandfather was so sweet – he picked every last one of them out of one of my shoes. He’s the sweetest.

Week 50

December 11, 2011 – Today we headed back to Dallas (with a stop at Sonic first!), and of course spent most of the day watching lots of football.

December 12, 2011 – I went dress shopping today for this weekend’s staff party. I really liked this one, but it didn’t quite give me The Feelings. Apparently they don’t make dresses in between “I’m 80 years old!” and “I’m a dirty ho-bag!”

December 13, 2011 – I found this unfinished to-do list on my notepad today. So, send reminder… to finish my to-do list, maybe?

December 14, 2011 – I love my husband. Jack picked me up today after work and took me to Anthropologie to see if I could find a dress there. As soon as I put this one on, I knew it was the one – it’s absolutely perfect. It’s even better because Jack bought it for me!

December 15, 2011 – Today we went out for Joel and Jeri’s birthday for lunch. I had the best macaroni and cheese ever… it had bacon and tons of fancy cheese and it was crazy good.

December 16, 2011 – Tonight was our taekwondo staff party, and we had such a fun time. Jack had a limo pick us all up and took us to Chamberlin’s, a fancy steak place. He’s such a good boss.

December 17, 2011 – Tonight it was my turn with my work friends! We went out with the Baesels and the Wildmans to Magianos, where we enjoyed some really amazing family-style dinner and some wonderful company.

Week 51

December 18, 2011 – I spent most of the day making these Christmas cards – they look like Santa and they have a little pocket inside for our letter. They’re cute but I’m glad that I’m done making them!

December 19, 2011 – Today I went through my closet and cleaned it all out – it feels good to get rid of unnecessary stuff, and it also made me feel pretty sheepish for ever having said “I have nothing to wear” after getting rid of this much and still having a full closet.

December 20, 2011 – Today was the annual fruit cake roll at work, and Joel and I won! There’s a running joke going now that everybody who wins the fruit cake roll gets laid off or fired, and Joel is leaving in a few weeks. I guess my days are numbered here!

December 21, 2011 – Well, I guess it’s official. We’re moving offices soon. We got this map of the new building where everybody will be today. The next month or two will be a MESS while we move.

December 22, 2011 – Today I walked out of my office to find my co-workers building a fort with a bunch of boxes the facility people put in our conference room for the move. Because, obviously. That must have been why they put boxes in there. After the fort was built we had a little pretend production meeting in there. I love working with these people.

December 23, 2011 – Today Jack and his dad hung up these World Champ uniforms at the school. They look AMAZING.

December 24, 2011 – Shane and Cassandra are here! We spent the day with them and the dogs for Christmas Eve. We went to Christmas Eve church this evening, followed by Chinese food, as is Crawford tradition.

Week 52

December 25, 2011 – Merry Christmas! I had my whole family in my house today and there was much food and many gift. It was a good Christmas.

December 26, 2011 – Uh, Christmas threw up in my living room.

December 27, 2011 – Today I packed up most of my office stuff at work in preparation for the move in a few weeks. My office looks so bare now!

December 28, 2011 – I’ve been working on this program called BoinxTV for the taekwondo school TVs, and I am having to learn a lot of new programs that I do not understand. I opened one of my layers up in Quartz Composer today and thought I was DIFFUSING A BOMB. It’s insane.

December 29, 2011 – The design for the new TVs is coming along pretty well! I’m really happy with this program.

December 30, 2011 – Today I visited the taekwondo school and got to see the TVs for the first time – they look awesome! My first reaction is that uh, there are a lot of them. But I think they look great in the school.

December 31, 2011 – It’s New Year’s Eve! Tonight we spent the evening at the Baesels’ house with them and the Wildmans for game night. It was a fun, low-key New Year’s Eve. It was a perfect way to end 2011.

Weeks 36-40

2011-10-08T23:44:00.001-05:00

Week 36

September 4, 2011 – Today we got on the Royal Carribean “Allure of the Seas.” This ship was a LOT cooler than the last cruise ship I was on in the Mediterranean – it has a miniature golf course, ice skating rink, zip line, diving show, park, theater with “Chicago” playing, and more. This week, we sit. We eat. We relax.

September 5, 2011 – Today we were in the Bahamas, and this was my view out the back of the ship. Wow. We spent a little bit of time walking around in town, but for the most part we just stayed on the ship.

September 6, 2011 –Today I played some miniature golf with Shane and Cassandra. So fun on a cruise ship! Also, I suck at miniature golf.

September 7, 2011 – Today we were in the U.S. Virgin islands, and this was our sunset. So beautiful. I have been doing a lot of reading here, and that is just about it. Perfection.

September 8, 2011 – This was my view today. Amen and amen.

September 9, 2011 – Our waiter, Abdurrahman, has been very friendly, and he keeps bringing me free glasses of wine. I’m not complaining.

September 10, 2011 – The moon was so pretty over the water tonight.

Week 37

September 11, 2011 – I spent September 11 on an airplane, coming home from Florida. It’s kind of weird being in airports and on airplanes on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.

September 12, 2011 – I’ve been painting letters for Kate Baesel’s room. I love painting letters for baby rooms, especially when that baby is super-special and beautiful like this one.

September 13, 2011 – When I get up in the morning, Maggie doesn’t waste any time taking my spot. I’m not going to lie, I would kind of hate them if they weren’t so darn cute.

September 14, 2011 – Today I received word that my friend Sara is dying. She’s in hospice care and she should be meeting her earthly and heavenly Father soon. I am devastated but also relieved for her – soon she will no longer be in pain. This is the canvas she made for me that hangs on my wall. I will miss her like crazy.

September 15, 2011 – Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte today. There are worse ways to drink your feelings.

September 16, 2011 – Today we went to Humble so Jack could be a guest judge at Master Henderson’s testing tonight. He respects and admires Master Henderson so much, so it was an honor to be invited here.

September 17, 2011 – This morning Jack was a guest judge at Master Henderson’s mini-tournament, and after that we headed back home.

Week 38

September 18, 2011 – On The Pioneer Woman’s cooking show, she made “eggs in a hole,” and Jack got all excited, so I made him one using my little “Ninja-bread men” cookie cutter.

September 19, 2011 –Still waiting on Sara to go home. It has been a rough couple of days. Got a lime slush today… her favorite.

September 20, 2011 – Today I went to the taekwondo school to help Jack with a few things. I love spending time with him, even though we’re usually working during that time.

September 21, 2011 – Jack has been so good to me this week. Picking up dinner, cleaning the house, doing the dishes… he’s taking care of everything. And on top of that, I came home today to such a sweet note from him. I am so blessed.

September 22, 2011 – My brother and sister-in-law heard the baby’s heart beat today! I’m so excited.

September 23, 2011 – The day we found out about Sara, I went home and immediately booked a flight to Indiana to see Ellyn. I didn’t want to go to Iowa for Sara’s funeral after so many trips that fell through to see her when she was alive, and Ellyn wouldn’t be able to go because of her kids. Sara would have wanted us to be together, so together is where we decided to be. Amie decided to join, and today we got this email from Ellyn. I am so, so excited to see them. I need it. We all need it.

September 24, 2011 – Today Sara met Jesus. This is a picture of today’s beautiful sky. She’s finally breathing fresh air.

Week 39

September 25, 2011 – Today Jack and I watched movies. That was it. Did nothing else. Just movies.

September 26, 2011 – Today I had to work the front counter at the school. It’s not my favorite job in the world, but I love being with Jack, and he loves it when I’m there.

September 27, 2011 – I’m just about done with Kate’s letters!! I’m so happy with how they turned out.

September 28, 2011 –I came home from work this afternoon to watch Sara’s funeral webcast. I am so thankful for technology.

September 29, 2011 – Today was Sara’s memorial service, a more informal service where people talked about her and sang worship songs and laughed and loved. Again, I am so thankful for technology.

September 30, 2011 – I arrived in Indiana today, and after having lunch with Todd and Jenni Hufford, I headed to Fort Wayne, where Ellyn, Amie, the kids and I went to the county fair. We had so much fun, and I got to carry this sweetheart around (wear him, I guess?) until it started POURING and we had to leave. We had such fun though, and homemade donuts have changed my life.

October 1, 2011 – We spent today just hanging out with the kids and taking pictures, and tonight we released some lanterns for Sara, ate frozen Oreos, and drank Moscato in her honor. It wasn’t the Gitzapalooza we had planned, but I am so thankful to have spent it with these girls.

Week 40

October 2, 2011 – We had to go back home today, but we spent most of the day at the Huffords’ house with Rachel. It was so cool to get together – all of us, minus one – and actually eat together and laugh together and have the kids play together. I will cherish this weekend.

October 3, 2011 – Today my co-workers and I flew to Houston for a business trip – tomorrow we have to film an event. We had a really fun evening eating dinner and doing some shopping together. I kind of love business trips.

October 4, 2011 – Our job is a LOT of “hurry-up-and-wait” time. We had to be up VERY early to set up, and then, like always, we waited. And waited and waited. Brenda took advantage of the time and laid down on her camera platform.

October 5, 2011 – Finally, I’m back home with this guy. Jack came to lunch with me today at our favorite lunch place, Jason’s. The days when he comes to have lunch with me are some of my favorites.

October 6, 2011 – Came home from work to find this at my doorstep. Oy. This is small business ownership. I think the sparring gear is here.

October 7, 2011 – Today we sort-of had a video shoot – basically we supervised another guy doing a video shoot at our office. It was pretty much the easiest shoot I’ve ever been involved with.

October 8, 2011 – Today Jack and I went to the new Dairy Queen for lunch (THERE IS A DAIRY QUEEN IN MY TOWN NOW, HEAVEN HELP US ALL). We ate outside in the beautiful weather, and then Jack played with Maggie for a while (who could not for the life of her figure out WHY WE COULDN’T JUST GO INSIDE.)

Weeks 34-35

2011-09-03T02:09:00.001-05:00

Week 34

August 21, 2011 – I did a LOT of cooking today. Mesquite brisket. Garlic croutons. Banana chocolate chip muffins. My house doesn’t know what to smell like.

August 22, 2011 – Today my friend Erin brought in an entire garbage bag full of jeans and pants she didn’t want any more. And they ALL FIT. I mean, woah. This was a good day.

August 23, 2011 – Oy, summer. You are Texas; hear you roar.

August 24, 2011 – Well done, painters. This is the “Loadin’ Zone” indeed.

August 25, 2011 – Jack has still been reading the Bible to us every night, and my goodness he is cute with his reading glasses on.

August 26, 2011 – Today Jack surprised me with a crème brulee torch!! I fell in love with the idea of making crème brulee on the Med cruise, and now I can! Let’s just hope I don’t burn the house down – Jack’s a little concerned that I will.

August 27, 2011 – Tonight we went to our friends John and Amanda’s house to celebrate Amanda’s birthday with some friends. We had such a good time with them. They are so fun.

Week 35

August 28, 2011 – Uhh… I think I may have a slight problem putting away my shoes.

August 29, 2011 – Ahhh, Salata. This is one of my very favorite lunch spots. I just can’t get enough of it. So. Many. Options. It makes me feel powerful.

August 30, 2011 – Skyping is always fun, but when I get to see my sweet godson, Coen, through that screen, it’s even better.

August 31, 2011 – Today Jack gave Madeline her first paycheck ever. So obviously I had to make them feel all awkward by taking a picture of it.

September 1, 2011 – Staff meeting day! We got Macaroni Grill for the staff and enjoyed a nice little dinner meeting with them. We’re so blessed to have such a great staff.

September 2, 2011 – Anthropologie is OPEN!!! I am just so excited. Everything is beautiful. I love it there. Jack bought me a rug for our pretty kitchen – it matches perfectly and I just love having an Anthro item in my house! I have a feeling this won’t be the last!

September 3, 2011 – Today my parents and I flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law for a Caribbean cruise. This cruise should be a LOT more relaxing than my last. We got to walk on the beach after dinner, and shortly after I took this photo of my mom, Shane and Cassandra told us all that they’re having a baby, due in April. We are all SO EXCITED!

Weeks 30-33

2011-08-20T01:37:00.000-05:00

Week 30

July 24, 2011 – This morning I made red velvet pancakes with a cream cheese glaze. Holy yum.

July 25, 2011 – I am finally packed for this ridiculous 2-week Mediterranean trip (and I think I’ve been PACKING for it for 2 weeks!), and this suitcase? 49 pounds exactly. I am a packing GENIUS.

July 26, 2011 – Today we travelled ALL DAY. I actually don’t even know what day it is at this point. Where am I? WHO am I? We flew from Dallas to Atlanta to Venice today. This is us on the terminal train in Atlanta (pretty early in the trip!) Fortunately, I got a whole row of seats to myself so I could LAY DOWN AND SLEEP for most of the trip. I mean, woah. That was fantastical.

July 27, 2011 – Today we spent as long as we could exploring Venice – we landed in the morning after having travelled for 24+ hours, so we powered through and tried to stay awake when it was light out so we could get used to the time difference. I have to say, Venice is beautiful. Traveling by water amongst the beautiful architecture is absolutely enchanting. And the hotel we’re staying in? WOW. I would love to bring Jack back here sometime. We went to a few museums today and saw Basilica di San Marco (Saint Mark’s Basilica). I could barely stand up by the time we were finished. I fell asleep at 5 p.m. and slept until 6 a.m. the next day. Now THAT was a GOOD night’s sleep.

July 28, 2011 – Today we boarded the ship (our room has a balcony! Holy wow!) and met a lot of the staff and talent with whom we’ll be travelling, including the Women of Faith ladies. They were so sweet. We had a staff orientation on the ship and some good food. It’s going to be a good trip!

July 29, 2011 – Today, Eric, Owen and I had a BLAST in Venice. It was our last day in Venice, and we did some HARD CORE exploring. We had Italian gelato (YUM), Owen bought a ukulele from a little music shop we found (and I bought a cool computer mouse with an Italian flag on it), we saw Rialto Bridge (and a lot of others!), we enjoyed an incredible Venetian lunch by the canal, and we got ourselves so lost that we nearly missed the deadline to get back on the ship. Amazing day. Amazing.

July 30, 2011 – Today we spent the day in Split, Croatia. It was a beautiful port (where they had wifi!). We saw Diocletian’s Palace, had some gelato, took a lot of pictures, and called our spouses on Skype WAY earlier their-time than they probably wanted us to.

Week 31

July 31, 2011 – Today we were at sea. First of all, I kind of have a crush on Steve Green. Don’t worry, I also have a crush on his wife. Gosh, what sweet people and oy, that voice. But my favorite part of today was at midnight, when we went “below decks” with the crew for a really, really informal worship session where Owen was asked to give a short message. And he did an AMAZING job. I haven’t been that moved from a worship session in… I don’t even remember how long. What a beautiful night.

August 1, 2011 – Today we were in Athens, Greece, and I was a bus captain! It was an INSANE day. We took the groups to the Olympic stadium, the Parthenon, and Mars Hill. The crowds were insane and it was incredibly hot, and I literally lost a couple people from my group and another lady nearly passed out. But I saw some beautiful, amazing, historical places and I’m so thankful for that.

August 2, 2011 – Today was our first day in Istanbul (not Constantinople (oh man, we have been singing that song SO MUCH)). We explored the spice market, walked from Europe to Asia (or at least, we thought we did… turns out we got the wrong bridge), and enjoyed an incredible dinner with friends on the water tonight.

August 3, 2011 – It’s day two in Istanbul! And you know what we did? We sat in a wifi area all day. I’m not going to lie… it was kind of amazing. It was great to just unwind and be a little bit connected to the world once again. (And to talk to my favorite boy again –MAN do I miss him!!) Tonight was more preaching and sound checks and shooting… I love my job.

August 4, 2011 – Ohhh, Mykonos. You are LOVELY. Today we explored and took a lot of pictures of beautiful Mykonos, Greece. I put my toes in the sand on the beach, and then we ate hummus (MY FAVORITE!) right on the water at sunset. WOW. It could not get better than this.

August 5, 2011 – Today we started the morning early and headed out to Ephesus. I was a bus captain once again, and this time, I didn’t even lose anybody! It was an incredible day – I got to see places I’ve read about in scripture and walk where Paul walked… I mean, wow. I’ll never read the Bible the same way again. Oh, and tonight, back on the ship? WE DANCED THE NIGHT AWAY. It was so much fun. See also: I am not a cool person.

August 6, 2011 – Today was Santorini, Greece. I have been looking forward to this stop since the first time I saw the itinerary. It’s just. So beautiful. We decided we would REALLY do Santorini right, and we rode the donkey up the mountain. Oh my gosh, I almost died. I mean really, this donkey was suicidal and kept trying to jump off the cliff. We spent the day taking pictures and shopping, getting lost and seeing beautiful things. My goodness I love Greece.

Week 32

August 7, 2011 – Today we spent the day in Katakolon, Greece. Eric and I headed out to Olympia to take some pictures, and it was nice hanging out with him and having some really good conversations. Eric and a new “friend” took a run from the first Olympic running block and stood on the first Olympic victory stand thing. It’s humbling seeing this kind of history in person.

August 8, 2011 – Today we spent a LONG day in Eric and Owen’s room editing our slideshow for tonight’s “farewell” sermon. It has been a long, long trip, but I am thankful that we got to do this together.

August 9, 2011 – Hello beautiful United States!!!! I’m finally home! Jack picked me up from the airport tonight and I don’t think I’ve ever been that happy to see him. It is GOOD TO BE HOME.

August 10, 2011 – I woke up with these two this morning! My goodness, I missed this.

August 12, 2011 - Today I tagged along with Jack to a testing in Sulpher Springs, where he had been invited to be a guest judge. It’s so much fun watching him be big and important at these kinds of things!

August 13, 2011 – Recently I figured out that cutting up melons and putting them in these cereal Tupperware containers is really efficient because I can just pour the pieces into a bowl like cereal. I know it’s lame, but this is the kind of stuff that gets me kind of excited.

Week 33

August 14, 2011 – Today I made Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls, and this is the amount of butter it takes. It’s really best not to talk about that, though.

August 15, 2011 – Today I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with the video boys (because they refuse to let me go to Wing Stop because I’m a girl). Owen ordered this drink, and I just had to document its girliness.

August 16, 2011 – Tonight I fried pork chops. I had never fried pork chops before, but hey, I do what the Pioneer Woman says, and she is never, ever wrong. Yum.

August 17, 2011 – I’m not going to lie, I love this view. Since I’ve been working at the taekwondo school, I’ve had the privilege of watching Jack teach more, and man do I love it. Today, he told all the kids step back into a ready stance with their weapons and say “Waaaaahhhhhhhh!” And they all did it. It was awesome.

August 18, 2011 – Now THIS is a beautiful salad. Yay, lunch.

August 19, 2011 –Jack started reading our Children’s Bible out loud to us tonight. It’s so fun to listen to him read, especially since he does different voices for the character. You should hear his “God.” It’s awesome. Heh. Awesome God. Get it? Get it?

August 20, 2011 – Tonight we went to Top Golf with the Wildmans. It was fun except that I REALLY REALLY suck at hitting a golf ball. I actually missed the ball most of my swings. I have a feeling I’m not going to the Masters any time soon.

Weeks 24-29

2011-07-23T01:50:00.000-05:00

Catching up! Believe it or not, I really did take a picture-a-day most every day this year! Just have to catch up on all the posting! Here's the first installment. :)

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Week 24

June 12, 2011 - I finished painting today! And they do look pretty good once they're on. Unfortunately, it looks like they're going to be a pain to put back on, but we'll get to it eventually. Also, I finally have my colors and fabric picked out for my kitchen! They're so pretty with the cabinets - I can hardly stand it.

June 13, 2011 - My brother is in town, and it's his birthday! He's working here all week, so we'll get a lot of time to hang out! I'm excited.

June 14, 2011 - Today was Owen's birthday, and his Mom sent little "Owen birthday boy" sheriff badges for everybody to wear and some other stuff on that theme. We had some fun with it.

June 15, 2011 - Some of Jack's students got him some special flags to hang in the school as a gift. The American flag hung over the capital in Washington DC, and the Korean flag was flown in Korea. We have such thoughtful students!

June 16, 2011 - Tonight we filmed some of the VBS stuff at Stonebriar, and Eric, playing Ned in the skit, used the "fan mail" box I made for him.

June 17, 2011 - Our kitchen is coming along! We have most of it painted now and it's just waiting on doors!

June 18, 2011 - Tonight Jack took me out to dinner at Bonnie Ruth's. Holy amazing food, Batman. He's a keeper for sure.

Week 25

June 19, 2011 - We dropped my key fab in my car and Jack worked very hard to get it back for me today.

June 20, 2011 - We have doors!!! It's amazing just how much the white cabinets brighten up my kitchen! Now if I could just get rid of that awful wallpaper...

June 21, 2011 - Today Jack left for his Mastership training in Little Rock, and while he's gone I'm having the walls textured as a surprise. (Before he left, he said "just please don't start any more projects." Heh.) As it turns out, the first contracter didn't show up, and the second told us we had to take off the wallpaper first. Yikes! My amazing neighbors, the Bedenbaughs, helped me peel wallpaper all day and Chris even mowed my lawn so I could keep working on the kitchen!! I am so, so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

June 22, 2011 - The contractor started work on the kitchen today!! We're running behind and it's making me nervous, but I am glad it's getting started at least.

June 23, 2011 - I made it to Little Rock today to find a very hungry husband - he had just been released from his 3-day Mastership fast. Tonight we had the Founder's Gala, where Jack and his friends ate and ate and ate. He's very glad to be done with that part, and I'm glad to see him again!

June 24, 2011 - Today the Top 10 competetors competed for World Champion, and we ended up with five medals, three of which were World Champ medals! We're so proud of our students!!

June 25, 2011 - Tonight, my husband was dubbed "Master Jack Hornbuckle." I have never been so proud in my whole life. It was definitely an unforgettable moment for both of us.

Week 26

June 26, 2011 - Our neighbors? Amazing. Fantastic. Beautiful. Wonderful. Today we came home from Little Rock to a completely-painted kitchen. I can't believe how pretty it is. I can't stop looking at it. I'm so thankful for them. Jack was so tired when he got home that he didn't even notice at first. When he did, though, he was so excited too!

June 27, 2011 - Jack got this fortune in his cookie at dinner. I think it's pretty darn accurate.

June 28, 2011 - Grocery shopping with Jack is usually super-fun, and not just because he insists on choosing the cart with the little car.

June 29, 2011 - I absolutely love the fabric I'm using to make our kitchen curtains! That's what I've been working on every night this week!

June 30, 2011 - This is what phone promo CDs look like when girls are Broadcast Editors.

July 1, 2011 - My curtains and window seat are all in my kitchen! I am so in love. I can't stop looking at it all! I only got around to making one pillow for the window seat, but hopefully I can get the others made soon!

July 2, 2011 - Today was Jack's Mastership party - so many wonderful friends showed up to celebrate him, and we even got a bounce house for the backyard! It was definitely a fun day.

Week 27

July 3, 2011 - I picked him because he's charming, see? We're really enjoying hanging out in our newly-pretty backyard, thanks to our neighbor, Robby, cleaning up some of the weed-trees we had around before the Mastership party. It's pretty great back here now!

July 4, 2011 - Happy Independence day! We spent today swimming, relaxing, and eating, all the best things!

July 5, 2011 - Today Joel was on a hunt for a new hat. This is the kind of hat you can find at Urban Outfitters. I was hoping he would get it, but for some reason he wasn't into the idea.

July 6, 2011 - We're leaving, on a jetplane! We got to the airport pretty early tonight for our flight to Colorado, so we ate at a restaurant and actually talked to each other. It was magical. I missed this boy.

July 7, 2011 - Colorado!! Today we had a zip line "adventure," which turned out to be quite boring. But we enjoyed laughing at the ridiculousness with Shane and Cassandra!

July 8, 2011 - Today we went rafting all. Day. Long. It was so much fun, until that one rapid where we almost flipped over and I let go of my paddle and subsequently busted my lip with the end of it. And had to pull Jack back into the raft after he was thrown out. Now THAT was an adventure. Later we went to Royal Gorge - Jack wasn't a fan of that bridge at all!

July 9, 2011 - Today we drove up to the top of Pike's Peak. It was beautiful at the top, but very cold and not exactly a carsick-prone girl's dream drive. I'm glad we went once though!

July 10, 2011 - More driving today! We spent the day around the Colorado Springs area, and our most memorable moment was at Cave of the Winds, where we had the most awkward tour guide ever.

Week 28

July 11, 2011 - Sigh. Unfortunately, we had to leave the mountains today to come home. Every time we visit there I wish we lived there. Every time.

July 12, 2011 - Eric brought me back ice cream bowls that match my kitchen from Alaska! It was so nice!! I call them my happy bowls.

July 14, 2011 - Our belts are the same, kind of!

July 16, 2011 - Jack doesn't love dying my hair (he hates it actually), which makes the fact that he's willing to do it for me super-nice.

Week 29

July 17, 2011 - Today Master Rose came and took pictures at Jack's school.

July 18, 2011 - I made hummus!

July 19, 2011 - This is our very favorite pork loin - I cook it in the oven all wrapped up for 8 hours until it just falls apart. Now that's a good dinner.

July 21, 2011 - Tonight we watched The Lincoln Lawyer on Amazon on Demand. Jack was kind of amazed that I could put it on the TV with an HDMI cable. Sometimes it's fun being married to a technology-deficient man.

July 22, 2011 - Oh, this. We wait the whole year for Grimaldi's blueberry cobbler cheesecake to come back (it's only seasonal). Dates with Jack are always great - Dates with Jack and blueberry cobbler cheesecake too? Perfection.

July 23, 2011 - Tonight we spent the evening with our friends John and Amanda playing games and visiting. Jack has to rein in the crazy competitive when we're with friends. Not sure if he did a great job of that tonight - we'll see if they ever let us come back!

Week 23

2011-06-14T00:00:00.003-05:00

June 5, 2011 - Yep. Spent the day priming cabinets. Still working on it.

June 6, 2011 - Today I spent some time chatting with my brother, and when we went out to get Subway sandwiches at the same time (I live here in Dallas and he lives in Boston), I saw this license plate and snapped a picture. Nothing says "I'm a pretentious douchebag" like a "CEO" license plate.

June 7, 2011 - These are the kinds of notes I leave myself. It may be harsh, but it works.

June 8, 2011 - I wrapped a Christmas present tonight. Because that's the kind of thing you do in June when you work in video production.

June 9, 2011 - I'm also working on decorating this little "fan mail" box for a VBS skit.

June 10, 2011 - We had a date night tonight! I don't even remember the last time we had a date night. It was so nice to sit and talk and eat (and NOT CLEAN ANYTHING UP!). Plus we had gift cards, so the meal was basically free. WIN!

June 11, 2011 - Tonight was STOMP! What a cool show. We had such a fun time, and then when we got home, we painted cabinets for four hours. Romantic.

Week 22

2011-06-07T00:00:00.002-05:00

May 29, 2011 - Today was Robby's graduation party, and they rented a bounce house! We basically spent the entire day eating, bouncing, and laughing until we couldn't breathe! It was so much fun. Jack wants a bounce house for his next birthday.

May 30, 2011 - This morning I spent some time shooting this little cutie with my new work camera. She was so cute, and I got some great shots of the family!

May 31, 2011 - And so it begins. We decided to paint our cabinets white, so Jack has been taking the doors off and we spent the day sanding. This is going to be a lot of work.

June 1, 2011 - I came home from work today, put on my super-stylish mask, and got to sanding the cabinets on the inside. It's a mess, but hopefully it will all be worth it!

June 2, 2011 - Check out Jack's new uniform! That's right, it says "Master Hornbuckle!" He can't wear it until he's officially inaugurated on June 25, but it's fun to see his new name on a uniform!

June 3, 2011 - I don't think has ever happened before. Every item on my work to-do list is crossed off. Of course, it wasn't too long before I had to add more things to it.

June 4, 2011 - Maggie has gotten to be a little (a LOT) rude when we go through drive-thru's now! She learned that sometimes she gets a corn dog at Sonic, so now she's VERY interested in what we're ordering! I guess we're going to have to train her not to be so pushy.

Week 21

2011-05-31T00:00:00.002-05:00

May 22, 2011 - Today we spent the day at the karate school hanging ceiling fans, and since we were going to be gone so long, we decided to take Maggie along with us. She had a GRAND time running around, exploring, and smelling many new smells. And she really behaved herself too!

May 23, 2011 - We got new cameras today at work! So I tried my hand at making a camera strap cover for mine. It's okay, but I'll probably try again to get it just right.

May 24, 2011 - Tonight we had ridiculous tornadoes in the area, so I spent some time in the laundry room with Maggie and our guest room's pull-out mattress... no tornadoes hit our house, but at least I made a big mess in the laundry room with all the "just in case" gear!

May 25, 2011 - Today I made this camera strap cover for my friend Brenda. It turned out much better than the last one I made!

May 26, 2011 - And tonight was this camera strap cover for my buddy Sara. This one is by far my favorite, which is fitting, because Sara is definitely one of my favorite people!

May 27, 2011 - Today we headed to Nacogdoches for the holiday weekend to visit with Jack's family. We had a fun time visiting with them.

May 28, 2011 - Today was our last day in Nacogdoches, and we spent the day visiting family members and shopping in town. It was a nice day!

Week 20

2011-05-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

May 15, 2011 - Today I took Maggie out to the backyard to go to the bathroom, and while I was waiting I saw her eating something. I thought it was poop (see also: dogs are gross), so I yelled at her, and she dropped it and looked at me. All of the sudden two baby bunnies ran in different directions, and I realized that she wasn't trying to eat poop; she was trying to eat baby bunnies. Poor little things. This one stayed there frozen for so long that I thought she had killed it, but when we went out to check later it had finally moved. I thought they were super-cute. And yes, I did bring carrots out for the bunnies.

May 16, 2011 - This morning I got up and put a pot roast in the crock pot covered in crushed tomatoes and taco seasoning for pot roast tacos. It cooked on low for 10 hours, and when I got home our house smelled AMAZING. Unfortunately, then I had to wait until Jack get home to be able to eat it. Hazard of our opposite schedule, I guess! It ended up being a really good (easy!) meal though, when we finally got to eat it!

May 17, 2011 - I like having a pillow behind me at work, but I like it in the middle and every time I move, it slips down. Bummer pants. So today I engineered this little pillow-holder for my chair - I just took a long scarf/table runner thing that Eric brought back from Ethiopia and wrapped it around my pillow and chair and tied it in the back. No more moving pillow!

May 18, 2011 - I had to document this, because my guest bathroom (and the rest of my house) is actually clean. I mean, sure, I had to panic-clean because Jack's uncle is coming into town tomorrow, but it totally counts.

May 19, 2011 - Jack's uncle Jack and Chrissy came into town tonight just to see us, and they even took us out to dinner to Ricks (my FAVORITE restaurant!). We're so completely spoiled. And we had such a great time with them!!

May 20, 2011 - Today, I discovered Pinterest. Ut oh. It's like crack for crafters. And of course, I found about 3,000 projects that I MUST START RIGHT NOW! When Jack got home, I was sneaking into the garage to try to cut wood for a wall hanging. He was not a fan of that idea (since there was a high probability I would cut off an appendage), so he went ahead and cut the wood for me.

May 21, 2011 - It's done! I stained the wood, attached the boards together, then cut out the letters with my Silhouette machine and stuck them to the whole thing! I really like the way it turned out. The quote is from one of our favorite songs from one of our favorite bands, "Rhythm of Love" by The Plain White T's.

Week 19

2011-05-17T16:26:00.001-05:00

May 8, 2011 - Happy Mother's Day! We spent most of the day doing yard work, but tonight we took my mom to BJ's for dinner. One of my favorite restaurants and one of my favorite people!

May 9, 2011 - This picture is from yesterday, but it kind of represented my day today too. Because 1) Our yards look AWESOME today after we pulled weeds, edged, mowed, and swept up for three hours. But 2) I am SO SORE after we pulled weeds, edged, mowed, and swept up for three hours.

May 10, 2011 - Tonight we opened a bottle of wine that we bought in Wimberly about five years ago. We kept trying to wait until a really special occasion to open it since it was more than we would normally spend on wine and you can only get it in Texas, but after we picked up a bunch more bottles different Texas wines during our last trip to Wimberly, we figured we might as well finally drink this one. Unfortunately, it was a little vinegary, but I'm glad we finally opened it!

May 11, 2011 - I have been trying to figure out how to use a piping bag and tips for the last few weeks, and tonight I think I finally figured out how to hold it! I made these strawberry cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese/vanilla icing tonight, and I'm kind of proud about how they turned out!

May 12, 2011 - Today we had a video shoot for work after lunch. As you can tell by my pose here, I am incredibly important.

May 13, 2011 - I love Fridays off. Today Jack had to meet with his business partner, who just so happens to also own a little floating restaurant out on the lake. I went with him and spent the time outside siting on the dock with my feet splashing in the lake, listening to my book until my (amazing, delicious) burger was ready. Beautiful day.

May 14, 2011 - Today was another beautiful day, and we spent the day at Six Flags with a bunch of people from the karate school. It was really fun, although the crowds were CRAZY because the weather was so nice. The new Texas Giant is SO cool!

Week 18

2011-05-10T00:00:00.003-05:00

May 1, 2011 - Today was supposed to be Day 2 of BikeMS, but it got very, very rained out. I spent the morning answering calls from the MS Society, updating our Twitter and Facebook page, and returning calls to people on my team, then went back to bed. We got back up around 8 and headed home. The MS Society handled this change beautifully and I didn't mind not riding on day two - My only goal is to raise money to help cure my mom!

May 2, 2011 - I ended up with some weird tan/burn lines. As it turns out, you should apply sunscreen more than once if you're going to be out for 10 hours. Lesson learned.

May 3, 2011 - About a week ago, I really wanted some dill pickles, so I splurged and bought a jar at the store. When I got it home, I realized I had accidentally picked up jalapeño dill. Which was fine, but not what I was craving at all. So today, Jack walked in with not one, but two jars of dill pickles - the good kind!! I was so excited that I opened one of the jars right then and there... and proceeded to spill the juice ALL OVER MYSELF. Smooth.

May 4, 2011 - Today is my mom's birthday!! We went to PF Chang's after work and then I brought over Angel Food cake and fresh strawberries. It was fun!

May 5, 2011 - Happy Cinco de Mayo! For lunch today, we went to a little Mexican grocery store/meat market that has the BEST authentic Mexican tacos and brought back four pounds of it (and plenty of cilantro and lime!) It was a fantastic meal. Viva la Puerto Rico!

May 6, 2011 - My husband cracks me up.

May 7, 2011 - I walked outside today and was literally startled by the state of our backyard. The weeds have totally taken over. This picture doesn't even do it justice. It was wild!

Week 17

2011-05-03T00:00:00.001-05:00

April 24, 2011 - Tonight we had a HUGE storm - thunder, lightening, crazy rain, hail, you name it. Maggie, as we all know, does not do well in storms. So what do we do? We take her with us to get coffee so she won't be alone in the house during the storm. Nothing like being trapped in a glass prison in the middle of the storm to calm the neurotic dog down.

April 25, 2011 - And the storms keep coming! Tonight we got out all our lanterns and flashlights, just in case the power went out, and watched a movie together. It turned out to be a pretty good evening.

April 26, 2011 - I love starting my days like this.

April 27, 2011 - I bought this. At a thrift store. But don't worry, this is supposed to be my "before" picture, a la newdressaday.com. This is the goal for what it's supposed to end up like. I might mess it up, but messing up a thrift store dress is cheaper than messing up fabric, so one way or another, I'm going to learn how to sew!

April 28, 2011 - Tonight I was so tired that Maggie and I fell asleep on the couch together. I was still in my work clothes and everything. Usually, Jack wakes me up and takes me to bed a few hours later, but instead...

April 29, 2011 - ...I woke up at 4:30 a.m., still on the couch, this on TV. And Jack was still awake. He had stayed up all night (presumably playing computer games or something). I was really annoyed at the time, but we watched the whole Royal Wedding live and it turned out to be incredibly riveting. We went to bed at 6:30 a.m., and slept until about noon. In retrospect, I'm glad we saw it live.

April 30, 2011 - It's finally BikeMS day!! I got up at 5 this morning (I'm not really liking this new trend!) and headed to Frisco with my parents and the Bedenbaughs, and like every year, we headed out for the 86-mile ride (and that's just day one!) I've never actually made it the whole way before, but this time, I did! I rode every single mile! This is my awesome team outside our team tent. I couldn't believe how great they were this year.

Week 16

2011-04-26T19:56:00.000-05:00

April 17, 2011 - Today was my BikeMS team's official training ride, and I did 35 miles. It was the shortest route you could take, but it just about killed me! For dinner, I asked for a Jason's Deli baked potato - I needed the potassium. And the cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.

April 18, 2011 - When Jack left this morning, Maggie stayed right where she was when he left and stared at the store like she missed him and wanted him to come back. It was really cute, and kind of sad.

April 19, 2011 - Today my mom came home to a brand new bike - my dad surprised her with it. It's beautiful, and much lighter than her hybrid. I think it will make BikeMS a lot easier for her.

April 20, 2011 - When Jack takes Maggie to my parents' house for "doggie daycare" in the morning, he has her sit and stay, then opens the door, picks her up, and puts her in the truck. It's so cute.

April 21, 2011 - I have been so busy with BikeMS planning lately that I haven't updated the Murphy ATA website, and it was in desperate need of updating. So tonight, Jack didn't let me go to bed until it was done (okay, he wasn't mean about it or anything.) It's not super-pretty, but it does the job for now.

April 22, 2011 - It's Good Friday! Jack and I had such a nice day together. We spent the day driving around, visiting thrift stores and a few Pawn shops just for fun, then we ate lunch at Kelly's Eastside, a little Aggie-run restauruant with the best buffalo shrimp sandwich on the planet. We ended the evening with at Mi Cocina in Watters Creek and then we sat on the grass and listened to music for a few minutes. When the band finished, Jack and I didn't want to leave, so we stayed and played scrabble ("Words with Friends") back and forth on our phones. We had such a fun time together!

April 23, 2011 - Well, we definitely have ground beef in the house now. 40 pounds of it, to be precise. I started buying meat from this wholesaler and I've been really happy with the quality and price - it's just that you have to buy it by the case. You can, of course, split it with another family, but I found that I have really enjoyed having meat in the freezer all the time, so I decided to keep the whole 40. It's a lot of work to package up in quart-sized baggies, but I know it's going to be totally worth it later!

Week 15

2011-04-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

April 10, 2011 - GROSS. My parents asked Jack if he wanted them to take him out for a birthday dinner, and they just HAD to suggest Panchos, this all-you-can-eat Mexican place that he just loves. Sometimes with Jack, it's about quantity over quality.

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April 11, 2011 - Today after work, my mom and I went for a bike ride. We had a good time, and I totally tricked her into having to ride up this terrible hill. At the top, we stopped and took this picture. I think she forgave me.

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April 12, 2011 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACK! Today was Jack's 32nd birthday, and after he got home from work, my parents came over to help us celebrate. I made him a yellow cake with chocolate icing (from the BOX and the CAN, NOT from scratch, even though I offered - that's what he wanted), plus a steak, baked potato, and salad with real bacon on both. I didn't have any cake candles, so he blew out a regular one. I don't think he minded though.

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April 13, 2011 - Seriously, I don't know what is happening to my husband. This (meatless!) salad was what he ate for dinner. That's IT. I'm so proud.

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April 14, 2011 - Tonight, there was a HUGE storm, and Miss Maggie does NOT like storms. At all. I read on the internet that it helps dogs if you put a t-shirt on them, and so I put one of mine on her. Surprisingly, it actually did calm her down a bit! She still had to be RIGHT ON TOP of me the whole time, but it was an improvement from her constant pawing at me to get me to pet her and hold her. My poor little wimpy dog.

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April 15, 2011 - Jack spent most of the day at a tournament, so I did a lot of baking today. And, as they say, you can't win them all. I was trying to make blue velvet cupcakes (I ran out of red food coloring), and for some reason, they REALLY didn't work out. They kept overflowing and sinking in. I ended up taking the ugly cupcakes and making cake balls out of them.

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April 16, 2011 - Tomorrow morning is our team's official BikeMS training ride, so my co-captain and the captain of our sister team (?) spent the day driving the route and marking it with arrows at the turns. We actually had a lot of fun doing it, and we learned quite a bit about marking paint - like that you should take the lid off before you try to spray it. Who knew?

Week 14

2011-04-12T00:00:00.001-05:00

April 3, 2011 - Since the Plain White T's concert wasn't until tonight, Jack and I spent the day down in San Antonio and Wimberly. We had the best time sitting along the Riverwalk, drinking margaritas and eating fresh guacamole, then eating ice cream at the little ice cream place we like down there. The rest of the day was spent in Wimberly, tasting wine and shopping at the quirky little shops, then driving back to Austin for the concert tonight. It was such a fun, relaxing day!! And the concert? That was amazing too! All in all a pretty good birthday present for both of us!

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April 4, 2011 - Since this photo was taken after midnight, I'm counting this as our picture of the day! After the concert, we got to meet Parachute and the Plain White T's and get pictures with them! The Parachute guys were so nice! After we left, we headed to Wendy's and got some crappy drive-thru food, ate it in the hotel room, and basically passed out! It was quite a day. The next day we drove home after visiting with Jack's college friend Susan, and Jack was back at work by the time classes started. It was a quick but very, very fun weekend.

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April 5, 2011 - Aaaannddd we're back to reality. Today when I was doing the dishes, the sink started flooding so I plunged it, hoping to un-clog the drain. The next thing I knew, there was water pouring out of my cabinet from the garbage disposal that I had completely blown out. Note to self: do not put potato peels down the disposal or plunge your kitchen sink with great force. There's a $350 mistake.

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April 6, 2011 - These two crack me up every morning! I'm usually the first one up, which gives Jack and Maggie plenty of cuddle time. It makes me kind of jealous!

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April 7, 2011 - Did I make a from-scratch dark chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream tonight? Why yes, yes I did.

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April 8, 2011 - Tonight was the BikeMS Club 100 (top 100 fundraisers) party at the Rough Rider's game. There were free food and drinks and lots of goodies too! It pays to raise a lot of money for MS. Jack and I had a great time watching the game (and arguing about how many innings are in baseball - fyi, it's not ten, even if the scoreboard has ten innings listed) and watching fireworks after. It was really fun!

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April 9, 2011 - This is our absolute new favorite place for dessert - or in this case, appetizers. There was a long wait at Grimaldi's, where we were having dinner, so we headed over to Bonnie Ruth's and had the most delightful blueberry cupcake ever before dinner. Being a grown-up is AWESOME.

Week 13

2011-04-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

March 27, 2011 - If you have known Jack for ANY amount of time, this photo should absolutely shock you. Because this was our dinner. A grilled chicken salad (with dark greens!! Like spinach!) and a baked potato. That's it. My, how nine years can change a person.

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March 28, 2011 - Even though last night's dinner was a hit with Jack, I think he still prefers my not-quite-so-healthy tacos (covered in cheese, of course!)

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March 29, 2011 - Maggie is just so cute. Ever since we let her on the bed in the mornings, she has been reluctant to get up. We have to ask her to get off the bed. Most of the time, I just leave her alone because she looks so comfy.

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March 30, 2011 - I've been working on these cute little labels for my new canisters - they really brighten up my pantry!

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March 31, 2011 - Without Jack's knowledge, I've been working on these little "presents" for him for his birthday - they are clues that I will give him along a birthday road trip this weekend that he knows nothing about!

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April 1, 2011 - Tonight, we decided we would have a little date to Cru (a wine bar), and then go have dinner at home. We had an awesome time tasting wine, visiting, and eating cheese on their patio. Then, we found this new little bakery/bistro with the most amazing red velvet cake, so we got some of that too. After all that eating bad food and drinking wine, we weren't even hungry for dinner! It really was a lovely evening though.

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April 2, 2011 - Today, Jack and I went to Sonic for lunch, and then when I drove away, I drove him all the way to Austin! He had no idea what was happening, and all along the way, I gave him little clues about where we were going. On the second to last clue, he finally guessed that we were going to see a Plain White T's concert in Austin! He was definitely surprised by the whole thing. We even got to meet the drummer for Parachute while we were checking into our hotel. It's going to be a fun weekend!!

Week 12

2011-03-29T00:00:00.001-05:00

March 20, 2011 - We drove back home today from Nacogdoches, and I think Maggie was happy to see us. We spent the whole day cleaning the house, which did wonders for my stress level.

March 21, 2011 - The laundry never ends. But I now have everything washed, dried, and hung up. It's not something that happens a lot, and it feels really good.

March 22, 2011 - Today is our 3 year anniversary! Jack picked me up from work this afternoon and took me to California Pizza Kitchen where, as you can see, we had a really romantic date. (After this photo was taken, he wadded up that straw wrapper and threw it across the table, into my shirt.)

March 23, 2011 - Today Team HP had a happy hour, and all of eight people showed up. Oh well, we had a good time anyway!

March 24, 2011 - Today we had to set up for a video shoot, and Brenda got on the dolly as Owen wheeled it downstairs. We have fun.

March 25, 2011 - Today the Harbor House opened over at Lake Lavon, and our friend and Jack's business partner Greg owns it, so we headed out there for dinner and then he took us out on his house boat. As soon as he let me drive it, one of the engines failed and we were stuck out there for a little while. Coincidence? I think not.

March 26, 2011 - Today I finally put our food back into our pantry, and as it turns out, there's not a lot left that I didn't throw away. But hopefully that means the moths are gone for good. After that, Jack and I went to dinner at Macaroni Grill and then the movies to see "The Adjustment Buraeu." We haven't had a date like that in a long time! It was really lovely.

Week 11

2011-03-22T00:00:00.001-05:00

March 13, 2011 - Today we had a great day together shopping and running errands, including picking up some new pillows at Target. Ours were pretty flat after three years, so we were excited to replace them. Yes, we are so very interesting.

March 14, 2011 - It never ceases to amuse us how excited Maggie gets to snuggle up between us every night. She's such a cuddly little dog.

March 15, 2011 - Tonight's dinner? Bad. Bad bad bad. I made our favorite slow-cooked pulled pork for sandwiches, and then made the mistake of "toasting" (read: burning the crap out of) the bread. We joked that we were eating the pork on croutons. Dinner FAIL.

March 16, 2011 - We got our Dallas Summer Musicals tickets in the mail today! I'm so excited. We didn't think we could afford them this year, but then they had a 3-show season ticket so we decided to go for it. It's a stretch and we have to sit in the very back, but sometimes you just have to splurge.

March 17, 2011 - Last night, I was really craving a milkshake, but we didn't have any ice cream or milk. "I can't make you a milkshake," Jack told me. "But, my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard!" I responded. "That's the other reason I'm not making you one," he said. He's so funny. So tonight, when he came home, he had a Sonic milkshake in hand. What a great guy.

March 18, 2011 - Today we drove down to Nacogdoches to visit Jack's grandmother, who had to have a pacemaker put in yesterday. It's so nice to have the freedom to leave when we need to now that he owns the school! We headed over to Lufkin to visit Jack's old school and see our friend TJ teach a class. He's a funny guy.

March 19, 2011 - We spent the day visiting with family in East Texas, and it was a beautiful day to sit out on the porch and drink a beer.

Week 10

2011-03-15T17:03:00.000-05:00

March 6, 2011 - Today was the first day of Jack's Mastership workout in Vegas. Afterward, they all went to lunch. He's enjoying getting to know them better.

March 7, 2011 - Today was another Mastership workout in Vegas, this time in Red Rock Canyon. After the workout, they took some pictures out there, and Jack got this great one with Grand Master. Not many people get this kind of picture with this guy.

March 8, 2011 - Today Jack climbed Turtle Peak Mountain in Vegas with his Master class, and he e-mailed me this photo at the top. He said climbing that mountain was harder than any of the workouts they had done that week, but he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit!

March 9, 2011 - I picked Jack up at the airport today, and even though I did enjoy my alone time this week, it's nice to have him back with me!

March 10, 2011 - Today I had a TV interview with the VP at the MS Society for a small local news program. I was flattered that the MS Society chose me to represent the BikeMS ride.

March 11, 2011 - It's my birthday!! I turned 25 today, and after work, Jack brought me my present (an iHome!!) and took me out to BJ's Brewhouse for dinner (and dessert!). It was a really, really good birthday.

March 12, 2011 - Today was birthday number two! Today, after work, Jack took us to get pedicures together and then we went to Casa Rita's, a new Mexican place that we really enjoyed!

Week 9

2011-03-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

February 27, 2011 - Today we spent the day putting the floor down at the taekwondo school, as well as reupholstering the benches and finishing up everything up for the opening tomorrow. It looks really, really good.

February 28, 2011 - Today was the first day of classes at the new school! I stopped by after work and the classes were HUGE. Guess everybody was pretty excited to see the new school!

March 1, 2011 - Today was color belt testing at the new school, and everybody looked great! So did the school.

March 2, 2011 - Tonight was the last day before Jack left for Vegas, and even though we had to leave super-early in the morning to get Jack to the airport, we decided to have a late-night date to our favorite pizza place. Even though we didn't get a lot of sleep, I'm glad we went.

March 3, 2011 - Today I had a video shoot at the church. It went well.

March 4, 2011 - As soon as Greg left for Vegas this morning, Misty started having contractions. Of course. Greg hopped on the first flight he could get on and I spent the night with Misty while she was in labor. Their daughter, Kaitlin was born just after 3 a.m., a mere 12 minutes after Greg arrived.

March 5, 2011 - This was my view today - I headed to the hospital in the afternoon and spent the entire day holding little Miss Kaitlin. She's pretty good company.

Week 8

2011-03-01T00:00:00.024-06:00

February 20, 2011 - Jack's dad and uncle have been in town all weekend, working on the school, and they have it completely tiled and the front counter and half-wall built. It looks AMAZING. So perfect.

February 21, 2011 - Our kitchen is still a disaster after the moths-in-the-pantry incident. I moved all my flour and things like that to these air-tight canisters. That makes me feel much better about our food. I would really like to put cute little labels on them someday when I have time!

February 22, 2011 - Today my sweet husband picked me up at work and took me to lunch at Jason's Deli. I love having lunch with him, especially these days, when time together is rare. (By the way, in this photo, he's showing me that he "loves me this much pickle," because he gave me half of his pickle when he didn't get one. Which is a pretty big deal in our world, since we both love pickles so much!)

February 23, 2011 - Today, my friend Rachel said she felt weird but didn't know if what she was feeling were contractions or not. I asked if she was having a baby, and she said she didn't know, so I drew her the diagram on the left. Then, Ellyn complained that the diagram didn't apply to her since she was having a c-section, so I sent her the diagram on the right. I am nothing if not helpful.

February 24, 2011 - Today, I was making spaghetti, and I went to break a bundle of it in half, and it came up and scratched my hand. I think this may be the first pasta-related injury anyone has ever gotten.

February 25, 2011 - I can't believe how great the school is looking! Jack's dad and uncle got the cubbies up, and pretty much all that's left is the workout floor! After we visited the school to drop a few things off and take this picture, we headed to Houston for the Humble tournament. It's not a great time to leave, but we're thankful for all the people who stayed behind to help finish up the school!

February 26, 2011 - Today I spent the day sleeping in in our hotel room and then shopping while Jack was at the tournament judging all day. It was just so nice to have some alone-time to relax and recharge. It's been a trying couple of weeks.