Happy Birthdays

Since I won't remember to do this tomorrow, I figured I'd go ahead and give my birthday shout outs to 2 of my favorite people who share a birthday tomorrow:

1. my sweet and loving husband of 4 years, 4 months, and 26 days, who turns the big 29 and










2. one of my bffs in the whole wide world, Gretchen Leigh Leifeste, of 8 years, 2 months, and 10 days who is finally going to be 26











And I owe a belated happy birthday blog post to my mom who turned an age that she doesn't look on Wednesday, 10/22.











Happy Birthday to you all!

Blonde Joke

I've been struggling with what to write about recently, so I've decided to share a blonde joke (sorry mom) because we've been telling blonde jokes at work this afternoon...

There was a blonde who found herself sitting next to a lawyer on an airplane. The lawyer just kept bugging the blonde wanting her to play a game of intelligence. Finally, the lawyer offered her 10 to 1 odds and said every time the blonde could not answer one of his questions, she owed him $5, but every time he could not answer hers, he'd give her $50. The lawyer figured he could not lose, and the blonde reluctantly accepted.

The lawyer first asked, "What is the distance between the Earth and the nearest star?"

Without saying a word the blonde handed him $5. then the blonde asked, "What goes up a hill with 3 legs and comes back down the hill with 4 legs?"

Well, the lawyer looked puzzled. He took several hours, looking up everything he could on his laptop and even placing numerous air-to-ground phone calls trying to find the answer. Finally, angry and frustrated, he gave up and paid the blonde $50.
The blonde put the $50 into her purse without comment, but the lawyer insisted, "What is the answer to your question?"

Without saying a word, the blonde handed him $5.

I can touch my toes!

I owe a "thank you" to yoga, pilates, and stretching. Last night at the Y, I discovered I can sit down with my legs straight out in front of me and touch my toes for more than 5 seconds. This is a big achievement! Case was the only one blessed with flexibility in our family, but currently, I am the only one who can touch my toes (only b/c Noah is getting in the way and Case can't bend over). Now, I am not sure that means I can touch my toes while standing up?

Pilates and Muffins

I have now only been to Pilates twice in my life, but last night was a better workout than the first time I went. The instructor was a 65 year old woman - a very cute and spunky little thing, and like my friend Leah always says, I wanted to put her in a bottle and poke holes in the top and put her on my shelf. I went with a good friend, Ashley, and anytime I take a workout class with a friend, I always get giggly. So I am constantly looking over at Ashley to see if she is laughing at the ridiculous positions and things we had to do. There are several positions we did to work out our stomachs (most not flattering), and at one point the lady next to me let out a little toot and about 10 minutes later, the man in front of us let out a much louder toot, maybe even a double toot. I couldn't resist the laugh and neither could Ashley, so we rudely laughed out loud. To top it off, at the very end of the class, we were supposed to stand up, shake out our arms and legs, and stick out our tongues; needless to say, I did not participate in the tongue-sticking-out-exercise.

Liz wanted me to write about her today, but instead I am dedicating this recipe below to her which I found on the Runners World web site - and this is what the recipe was called. If you know Liz, this should be funny. Liz, I want you to make these for me, please.

Liz's Muffin Mix

The surest way to know you're eating a healthy muffin is to bake it yourself. Start with this basic low-fat recipe and add your favorite ingredients for a nutritional boost.

2 cups whole-grain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs or 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1 cup skim milk, soy milk, or kefir
1/2 cup applesauce, regular or flavored, such as blueberry or pomegranate
1/2 cup chopped nuts, or dried, fresh, or frozen fruit

Preheat oven to 425° F. Fill a muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cups. Mix the first five dry ingredients in a large bowl. Slightly beat the eggs. Mix in the milk and applesauce. Add wet ingredients to the dry mix. Stir until just combined, sprinkling in the nuts or fruit. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until muffin tops are golden brown.

Calories per muffin: 230
Carbs: 46 g
Protein: 4 g
Fat: 3 g

Belated Weekend Wrapup

This past weekend was fun-filled, but very busy. Friday night we went to the Dallas Symphony with a good friend of ours, who is a professional piano player, to see a Beethoven piece - we sat in the fourth row so we could see the pianist playing each key. After that we enjoyed a great dinner at Nine Steakhouse by the AAC.

Saturday, we woke up, went on a bike ride, packed, and drove to San Antonio for a wedding for one of Josh's HS friends, Chance Litton. Once we got to San Antonio, we only had time to go up to our room and change clothes, then it was time to leave for the wedding. The wedding was at Mission Concepcion, the oldest unrestored stone church in America. The reception was conveniently located in the hotel we were staying at, the Hilton Palacio del Rio. Josh, Kyle and Spence were standing by our table and I had to take a picture b/c it looked like they were modeling (Josh looked incredibly handsome that night).











Photo courtesy of the Cooks.








Chance is an avid hunter, so check out the cake.











Danielle had one of the most beautiful wedding portraits I had ever seen - it was taken in front of the church they got married in.











Sunday morning, I got up and ran in the hotel's fitness center, then we got ready and started the drive back to Dallas. But, we couldn't go through Austin without seeing Gretch and Aaron, so we went to their house for some lunch and a little football. Their puppies are growing and growing.









We finally left their house around 3:30pm, so unfortunately we had to listen to the Cowboys game on the radio - sounds like it wasn't very pretty.

Dixie pics

It was time to share some pictures of Dixie, our 9.5 year old Chocolate Lab. We love her so!

Here's to you, Stacey

Here's an update on how the Victory Party went on September 5th:

1. We were picked up at our house by my bosses in a limo. It was spacious and our limo driver was very cordial. Our conversation on the way to the Paladium included: the 80s music we were listening to and fantasy football - that's what you get when 3 of the 3 guys are obsessed with the game.

2. One of the Jeffs said it wouldn't be a big deal if we went in a limo b/c no one will see us get out and it will be so crowded anyway. BUT, we pulled up to the place right at the start of the party, 8:30pm, and the doors were not open yet. So, what did all of the people do who were waiting to go inside? They stared just like I would. We felt pretty darn embarrassed and felt like we were "somebody." Well, one of us was, the actor Jeff, but only we knew that.

3. After the doors opened and we got our VIP passes, we proceeded into the ballroom. It was more like a Billy Bob's set-up: huge dance floor, lots of tables, comfy couches, bar, stage, etc. We were directed to go check out the VIP room. This room had several TVs on a table where you could play the newly-released video games, Brothers-In-Arms: Hell's Highway and Samba de Amigo. So we did that for a while then noticed in the corner of the room there was a chaise lounge all by itself. It was kinda of strange, but when we were told that somebody was going to be painting a nudist on a canvas, it got even stranger. We left the room soon after, but think we saw the woman who was going to be painted...don't worry, she was fully clothed in something black leather, with long fake red hair.

4. We walked around for a bit then went to grab some food. On the way to get food, Josh and I think we saw Jazzy Jeff (who we saw on Fresh Prince on Saturday night), but we're not 100% sure.

5. Although the party seemed like it would be fun, my sweet husband had a headache, so we decided that the loud music and crowded ballroom might not make him feel any better. So we had the limo driver take us home.