Fort Worth Zoo and Race

I have been wanting to post this since Tuesday but our internet has been down until yesterday. (Yeah Verizon and I have not been friends this week) So....

My nephew has been here the past couple of weeks getting intensive therapy. Last weekend, my sister-in-law came to town with my niece, and Jason and I decided to take them to the Fort Worth Zoo on Saturday.

Before we went to the zoo, Jason had a triathlon early in the morning and I went and cheered for him. He did really well, and he got to run with one of his friends. Although, it was very early in the morning for me. =) I'm proud of him because I would never be able to do a triathlon because I don't swim unless I can touch the bottom. They swam in Joe Pool Lake and the wind was so bad that the turbulence of the waves made me sick just looking at them. There were several people who didn't make it through the swim and had to be rescued by the boats/kayak people in the water. Crazy!

He's somewhere out there

Jason and Ryan

We met my family at the Fort Worth Zoo after the race and enjoyed looking at all the animals. I love zoos!!

The elephants - my mom's favorite. And this one was determined to get through this closed gate.

This pic cracks me up every time I look at it. She got upset about something her mom said and begin to pout while I was trying to take a pic in front of her favorite animal. I swear there are pics of me at her age making that same face. Haha!

Now that's a better picture of the beautiful girl. Five minutes later..haha...

I had to get my picture by my favorite - the penguins. I want one for a pet.

Blake standing all by himself in front of his favorite - the alligators. He has learned to do this in the past couple of weeks of intensive.

The kids "wingspans"

We had such a blast at the zoo and am so glad we got to experience it with my niece and nephew. It makes it so much better when you can see it through their eyes.

Flashback Friday

I wanted to share things that I did before I started a blog so I thought this would be a good way to do it - with pics of course! This is Jason and I at the Race for the Cure in June 2008!

Wicked

Jason and I saw Wicked on Saturday night. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! The cast, the music, the scenes, the storyline - everything! It may be a favorite musical of all time now. We had great seats (a very early anniversary present) and enjoyed the evening together. I highly recommend going to see this musical - Jason even liked it! I can't say enough to say how much I enjoyed it! I would so see it again!!!


My all time favorite song.

I also bought a t-shirt that says Defy Gravity. I'm going to look rocking awesome in it=).

Things I would rather do

I had to get my blood drawn today to check on some things. I hate getting my blood drawn. I repeat hate. The thought of it shoots off my sympathetic nervous system and my palms become all sweaty and I feel queasy. I look away while they put the needle in my arm and give myself a pep talk that it will be over in less than a minute.

Yeah, I give myself pep talks. Glad I put that out there.

I've known about this appointment for about a week so I've been trying to prepare myself for it, but instead all I could think of was things I would rather do than get my blood drawn. So in no particular order here they are:

• Walk 5 miles in heels
• Touch raw meat
• Do paperwork =)
• Run a half marathon
• Watch The Terminal
• Listen to a really boring lecture
• Herd cattle into stalls

Shutterfly

(I've meant to post this for several weeks but I kept forgetting)

I love to scrapbook. I have been scrapbooking since high school and always enjoyed it as a past time, but to be perfectly honest, I haven't had the time for it since I went to grad school. I still have to scrapbook my summer in Europe and that was almost 5 years ago - eventually, I will get started on it. Ha!

I decided a couple of months ago to look into online scrapbooking because I had given up on getting caught up. I found Shutterfly and started playing with their photobook material. When you sign up, they send emails every so often with deals. They sent me a 50% coupon for a photobook and so I thought I would give it a shot since it wouldn't cost me as much.

I was not disappointed.

Shutterfly gives options for different backgrounds and layouts. They don't have stickers that you can put on the pages but I didn't mind. I was completely pleased with the end result.

I highly recommend Shutterfly. I actually have a photobook in my hand and the pictures are no longer just in a box or on my computer. I think that is worth the money. =)

The Tassle is Worth the Hassle

Last weekend, Jason and I went to Louisiana to see one of his younger brothers graduate from high school. I can't believe that he is already graduating. It feels like yesterday that he was a freshman. The weekend was spent enjoying time with family and celebrating Jordan's accomplishment. He will start college in the summer (he's a real go getter) in music education. We had a graduation party for him on Saturday and then he graduated Saturday night outside.

Jason grilled all the burgers and hot dogs for the party.

The cake that was delicious!

On our way to watch Jordan graduate

All the siblings

All the Raccas

That's Jordan on the left walking down the aisle

Getting his diploma!

Jordan saying his speech. Did I mention he was the valedictorian? Well he was. He's a smartie!

They're done!

The graduation was great and it made me reminisce about my own high school graduation. I remember the excitement, feeling so grown up, excited about going to college, etc. And now its going to be 10 years next year..gosh...I don't know if I can handle that...

Fingers and Toes

Last Tuesday, my friend, Jessica, and I got pedicures and manicures at a place called Polished. It was well deserved and we had fun relaxing and talking. It was my first manicure ever! I've had acrylic nails put on before for weddings and such, but I never had the nails to get a manicure.

I bit my nails well into college.

Whew! That felt good to get off my chest.

Then one year a couple of years ago, I decided that I was going to make a new year's resolution to stop biting my nails and I accomplished it (shockingly). Don't ask me about my other resolutions - I don't have a good track record.

Anyways, I want to get manicure and pedicure every week now! I had forgotten how awesome they were. Any donations you would like to give for this indulgence would be appreciated.

Jessica's pretty fingers and toes

I chose Ms. Hepburn polish for my fingers. I figured I could channel some of Audrey Hepburn's grace and daintiness - and then the next day I dropped a rolling stool onto my leg.

Purple Rain on the toes

I can't wait til my next one. If you live in the area, sign up for their mailing list. They give specials all the time.