That Feeling of Accomplishment

So you know that feeling… that great great feeling… when you FINALLY finish something that you have been working on FOREVER.  Well, I have that feeling since I finally finished my scrapbooks from my wedding.  The wedding, reception, events such as showers, trying on my Mother’s dress, and engagement photos, our honeymoon, and even moving into our new home.   ALL of these things filled three huge scrapbooks.  Here are some photos of the books and my favorite pages. 

 

FYI: This was number 1 on my post about If Only I had All of the Time in the World.

Well, I’m super proud of finishing all of these.  It was so nice to put away all of the supplies and clear up our middle bedroom.  Now I can just show off my accomplishment and move on to the next project… I’m thinking photobooks of our recent vacations, organize closets in the house, or work on my ancestry?… maybe a combo of the three, but on to better things.


 

River Bums

Last weekend we went to Concan, Texas...  yes Concan, not Cancun, but equally fun in a river-kind-a-way.  My aunt Frances has a beautiful house on beautiful property on the beautiful Frio River.  We finally made it there this summer.  Its a 5 hour drive but totally worth it.  Her property is so gorgeous and peaceful.

This is your view from the wrap around porch.

There was even a precious new addition... Sunday.  She was born on a Sunday and was a suprise

Here is Momma, Angel, and baby, Sunday.

There are numerous deer all over her property at all times.  Here is a baby deer we were trying to help get to her momma.

Roadrunner... beep beep!

This is security, good 'ol Jake.

Texas Sunset

Five bucks out for dinner.  These were only some that were out at the time.

The best part... floatin the river.  Ryley even joined us when we were just hanging out in the water.  She loves the water.

My Dad's try at a family pic... Marion's part of the fam :)

Practicing my backflips

My Man ;)

Cheers to an amazing weekend!!

What I've Been Up To

Soooo, it's been a while.  Sorry about that.  I've been busy busy busy.  Here is what I've been up to:

1.  Fabulous girls weekend.  Two weekends ago I got to spend all of Saturday with my girls, Marion and Leila.  We went shopping, booked Leila a trip to Hawaii, had dinner at the Original Ninfas, and went out to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday (yes, that's right... my friends are turning 30, kinda freaks me out).

2.  The Olympics have started!  USA USA USA!!!

I cannot get enough of the Olympics.  I think it is so awesome that so many elite level athletes are in one place competing for who is the best.  Love it... especially gymnastics which I think Brian is already sick of.  Shout out to the US Women's Gymnastics team for the winning the GOLD!!!  They did amazing, beating the Russian's by 5 whole points.... which by the way are coached by my old coach, Alexander. 
It was so funny seeing him on tv.

Yep... that is my little brother dressed as the Olympic Torch in 1996... lol!  I had to throw that in there.

 

3.  I have a new nephew!  Zachary Landon Patterson was born on 7/26/12 at 6:17 PM.  He is a cutie and I can't wait to hang out with him more.

Look at those cute little feet :)

So precious.

4.  Been brushing up on my photography skills.  I just finished a 4 week beginner course and I learned A LOT.  Now, for the most part, I can take a picture with the setting on Manual... yes, that is right.  I can set my own shutter speed, aperature, and ISO and get a somewhat descent picture.  So proud of myself :)  Here's a look...

5.  We booked a trip to this little place...

No Big Deal... Its just one of the most beautiful places in the world.  We are going to St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  We stopped here on a cruise we went on in 2010 and decided we HAD to come back.  I'm so excited and can't wait to catch some rays and relax.  Brian and I both need it.

That's what I've been up to.   And, I'm sure the Olympics and planning my vacay are going to consume me for the next few weeks.  But I'll try to be back before then.

If You Really Knew Me...

Hi Everyone!  I saw this on my SIL's blog and decided I would steal the idea and join in on the fun.

If you really knew me...

*  You'd know that I absolutely love when my pup cuddles with me... which almost NEVER happens.  She has to be the right kind of tired and at a place where she is allowed on the couch, ie. my in-laws. 

*  You'd know that I eat dessert after every lunch and dinner.

*  You'd know I can do a standing back flip.

*  You'd know it makes me gag to think about, look at, or touch hair pulled out from a drain, but I look forward to seeing open wounds.

*  You'd know I love anything LIME GREEN.

*  You'd know the last scary movie I watched was, The Ring, on Brian's and my first date... almost 10 years ago.

*  You'd know I very rarely cry.

*  You'd know I have 13 full scrapbooks that start when I was 16.

*  You'd know that I love to travel... I have been to 15 countries.

*  You'd know The Goonies is my favorite childhood movie.

*  You'd know that I'm not a big shopper... and when I do go shopping, I don't last long.  It makes me sleepy for some reason.

*  You'd know I believe that Disney World is the BEST place on earth... just like they say.

*  You'd know I love roller coasters... whoo hoo!

*  You'd know I'm NOT a runner... I don't understand marathoners at all.

*  You'd know I absolutely hate being late.  I'm very punctual and I like others to be the same.

*  You'd know I'm so in love with my hubby and I look forward to his texts, emails, or calls like a giddy high school girl.


That's me in a nut shell.  Hope you enjoyed.

If Only I had All the Time in the World

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

Overwhelmed is a characteristic I feel often... especially when I'm thinking about the things I need to do at home.  I'm a list maker and a list typically helps me decrease the stress I'm feeling about all of the things I need to do.  If I can get my thoughts down on paper and then cross them off one by one, then I get a feeling of accomplishment.  Even if one of those items is - eat lunch then I get such a warm fuzzy feeling if I get to cross something off, even if they are things I would be doing anyways.  Lists are what got me through planning my wedding for sure.  I had a small notebook that I made a list each day of things I needed to do whether it was wedding related or life related.

Anywho... this gets me to my MASTER LIST.  I constantly think about what I need to do at home.  I seem to have started many projects and left them half-finished.  So, if I had all the time in the world... these are the things that I would want to get FINISHED.

1.  Finish my wedding scrapbook.  You heard me... and No, I have not finished my wedding scrapbook.  Brian and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary in April, so I'm 4 years late in getting that done.  I have actually filled 2 full scrapbooks from pre-wedding and wedding festivities, but I still have a stack of about 100+ pictures from the reception still waiting to be creatively placed on those blank pages.

2.  Transfer ALL of our home videos on VHS tapes to DVDs.  I have also started this project, however I found out last weekend that I had not finalized any of the DVDs I've made so I have to go back and do that.  Granted, that is only about 5-10 DVDs... but I still have to redo them.  On top of what I have done, I have about 40-50 VHS tapes I would like to transfer.  Then, once all of the DVDs are finished, I would like to put them on the computer and rip them to digital files so I can post old videos on things like this BLOG :)

3.  Research and put together a compilation of all of my ancestry.  My Mom has a stack of information, there is pile of stuff coming from my Gram's house, and Brian's Mom has most of his side finished.  I would like to put all of this together and use ancestry.com to make our family trees.  This is a project I have not yet started, but something I have a HUGE urge to do.

4.  Go through 52 Weeks to an Organized Home

I started following this blog and getting email updates at the beginning of the year.  My New Year's Resolution... Let's just say I have done pretty well at reading the emails... not so much with following through with the tasks.  I would absolutely love to completely organize my home... room to room, top to bottom.  I spent MANY hours cleaning out and organizing our office.  I'm about 90% done and just feel stuck  with how to decorate it and make it look "made over".  Right now it still looks like the same ol' office.  But what you can't see is that I filled our huge trashcan size recycle bin TWICE and still had more to get rid of.  I went through our entire filing cabinet, drawers, book case... you name it, but it still doesn't look like I did much... still work to do I guess.

Back to organizing, I would love to clean out all of the closets in my house, the buit-in cabinets, the guest bedrooms, the list goes on and on.  Organizing makes me sooo happy and if I could get my WHOLE house organized, I'd be one happy camper :)

5.  Get this body in to tip top shape.  I would love more time to get to the gym, do a boot camp, or take up cycling.  In addition, researching and getting together a good diet that we could stick to would be amazing.  I could spend more time finding recipes, researching better foods, and planning our weekly meals.  Then, with more time I could begin couponing and saving mula at the grocery store.  Less money spent and more pounds lost.

6.  Spend more time with family and friends.  I love spending time with people I love.  I have known most of my friends for many many years and it feels like I see them less and less.  Everyone's lives are so busy with jobs, families, and extracuriculars that there is not enough time to spend with each other.  I wish I could spend all the time I had with my family and friends, life just does not allow it.

7.  Make photobooks of my last 2 vacations.  Photobooks are the new scrapbooks of the 2010's.  I've made some photobooks in the past and it takes so much less time to make than regular scrapbooks.  They are also sooo much CHEAPER, big plus in my family.  Okay...not just my last 2 vacations but any occassions, parties, travels, and get togethers that I have had since I started PT school (2005).  Yes, I'm that far behind on scrapbooking.

8.  Scan and organize old family photos.  Anything before the digital age... somewhere around 2001 when I got my first digital camera.  Plus, I'm supposed to receive all of the photos from my grandmother's house, scan them, and give copies to my family.  Something I'm actually really looking forward to doing.

9.  Organize all digital photos (plus those I have to scan) on photoshop elements.  Just so they are easier to find.

10.  Learn all there is about photography and my Nikon D90.  I actually am working towards this one since I began a beginner photography class this week at the Houston Center for Photography.  So far so good.  Hopefully I can learn everything in 4 weeks.

Here's hopin'.

11.  Make time to progress my career.  There is always more you can learn in the field of physical therapy.  There are journals beyond journals of information.  I wish I had the time to absorb and learn as much as possible so I can better treat my patients.

12.  Read more.  I've never been a reader.  However, lately, it has been a different story.  I made it through the Hunger Games, then Dominique's Memoir, and now I'm on Bloom.  My SIL gave it to me for my birthday.  It is a memoir from a blogger, Kelle Hampton (check it out here) and it has just sucked me in.  Anywho, I would love to have time to read for fun.

13.  Frame all of these BEAUTIFUL pictures we have taken on vacation and of our puppy, Ryley.  We have thousands of pictures from all of our vacations that are just sitting in a file on our computer.  It would be so nice to display some of those shots in our house.

14.  Spend more time with my Ryley girl.  Yes, she gets a walk most mornings and played with every afternoon... but I know she is sooo bored during the day and I wish we could just play all of the time.

15.  Become a better BLOGGER.  You know I wouldn't forget that one, didn't you?  I would love to have the time to blog daily but there just isn't enough time.  As I blog now, I think about all of the other things I could be doing (hence this list), but I have found a new love for blogging :)

Well, that is the list... for now.  I'm sure I'm forgetting some things and I'm sure I will find new and creative projects I want to get in to (ie. learn to sew).  So, I will return to this post and cross of each item, one by one.  But without all of the time in the world, this is going to take me FOR-EV-ER (imagine the kids from Sandlot).  I can only hope and manage my time as best as I can to accomplish all of these things.  But once I do, it will be the BEST feeling in the entire world!

Happy Birthday, America!!!

Happy 4th of July!!  Here are some  pics from our neighborhood fireworks show.  Enjoy!

You can see 7 other fireworks shows going on behind ours in this picture.  Actually, there were many more than that.  I love that you can shoot fireworks around our neighborhood since we are outside of Houston city limits.  I hear constant popping right now (I may not be so happy when I'm trying to go to bed).