29

Turning 29 was not an entertaining thought. Maybe I should think it's the last year of my 20s so I should be living it up. I was basically banging on the brakes wanting to back up. Then I remember atleast I don't have to yet worry about botox and gray hair... yet... When that hits I will just have another thing to stack on my monthly beauty regimen!!! Men have it easy... They have to worry about nose hair, gray hair and bushy eyebrows... We have to try and try to look like the ageless Gloria Loren and Joan Collins.

I began my birthday week by enjoying a day with my friend, Keilly. We went shopping for a birthday outfit in Plano at Charming Charlies. We had a blast playing in all the different colors. Then we got a mani/pedi... Ahhh relaxing! Then I headed over to Nick's parents for my dinner. They always let us plan the menu. I had chicken, mac n cheese and Italian cake. They gave me a beautiful new comforter and shower curtain. I've been redoing my home slowly... I just got a new computer desk two weeks ago as well. It's fun! Next up... computer chair and new bookshelves.

We had our newly annual "Big Spring Birthday Bash" Saturday night. Tara, James, Lauren, Emily, Hamilton, Adam, Lance and I all have birthdays in January and were always close growing up. So we all try to get together. This year it was only Tara, Lauren and I that got to celebrate as James just had a baby, Emily had to work, Hamilton is still in recovery from his electrocution, Lance is about to have a baby and Adam was in Odessa. We met at Bar Celine and had a really great time. Blair had gotten us a booth so we got to just chill out there. It is a very peaceful and neat place. Great times with old friends... I don't have many pictures because Lauren took them all and she hasn't uploaded them yet!

Lauren & Cody.


Jana and Jason took me out to our favorite wine bar, Mercy the night before my birthday. We had such a good time talking. Jason and I both had parents that passed away young with heart problems so it was interesting to hear someone else's perspective that has to work like me with cholesterol. He is in tip top shape and thinks about it. It also interested me that when Jana popped out of the woods with, "Hey, when did your Mom die again?"... (she meant no harm... just asking)... Jason and I both explained we never really say "die" that we say "pass away." That's weird I don't feel as alone in that... Anyway, we also talked about how Jana and I are both only children and feel we should be in the same state as our parents because we are the only child if something were needed for them. It's pressure at times... but, it's also a neat thing. We both have stepfamily now as well so it's fun to talk about our blessings there.

My actual birthday on January 19th was a really relaxing day. I was off so I puttered around the house and enjoyed life. Nick sweetly took off work early so he came over and worked out with me and relaxed as well. A big group of us went to The Melting Pot that night. I can't say it was the best ever, but it was a fun experience! All in all the meal takes about three hours because you cook it all yourself and it's a lot of small courses!!! Good thing we all liked one another! The boys at the end of the table got all the meat, us gals got the veggie plates and the others at the other end got the seafood. We all sampled each!
Cohen

Keilly & Donna.


Shanna & John's son, Colby.


I flew to Midland to hang with Dad and Brenda that weekend. They have always come to me on birthdays, but after getting stuck in the ice storm in Tyler a few years ago they are a bit leary!!! We had an amazing time!!! First off when I got there they just had to make me open gifts... I will tell you about my big gift in a bit... but, they gave me a lot of fun other things as well! Dad got himself a new computer so I played with it all morning and felt really important that I could hook it up for him! Made me feel tech savvy!!! Then later that night we went to a hilarious play. It made me smile... It was about an older couple who had grown boring so they decided to spice up their life and play like they were on vacations when they really weren't... and finally throughout these "lies" they started falling into them so much that they lived them rather than their own life... and in the end realized their real life was much better!

Brenda made the best cupcakes ever. She also made me a seafood feast for my birthday dinner!!! Sunday Howard, Vicki, Stephanie and Trooper all came over. It was so wonderful to celebrate with them. I've been celebrating with them since I was five years old!



My big gift was in the same category from both Dad and Brenda and Nick. The best ever. Nick got me an editing software like we used in the news. I can edit my old home videos and put them online and then on DVD!!! I gave Mitchell my news tapes to edit and now I want them back so I can play!!! I have SO MANY home videos from high school, college and basketball... Dad and Brenda got me a VCR to DVD burner so I can directly transfer the videos to DVD! Some of the tapes are getting old and worn out. NO one uses VCR anyway. So needless to say I have spent countless hours already playing and editing and some uploading! Brenda spent a few hours Sunday watching her old Christmas videos while we recorded them! SO EXCITING!!!

There you go. The month of January is almost over and I have loved every day!!! Maybe being 29 is only the beginning of greatness!!!

It's a New Year

Here we are in 2011. It seems a bit surreal. I reflect on resolutions we are to make... but, I began walking in my new resolutions a long time ago. My main one is be mean. Yes, sounds funny... To stand up for myself and to have confidence. It's been working quite well lately. I am tired of being too nice and tired of not getting what I want in life because I worry what others will think. It's hard not to wonder what others think at times, but it also helps me in my daily life to hold my head high and do things that please me and help me live the utilitarian life.

I've also promised to cook more. When I was in Midland Brenda and I cooked up a great meal... We even fried chicken! I made chicken, potatoes and gravy. It was yummy, too!!! So tonight when Nick comes over I am cooking chicken (not frying, but baking), sweet potatoes sliced up and grilled asparagus. For one I want to know what is in my food. Preservatives are not fun. Tomorrow I get my physical results and I'm just sure they will tell me my cholesterol is high... it runs in the family... even though I'm slim and I run a lot... it must not matter! This week I went to the grocery store and bought things for the week... I don't usually go out anyway to eat, but it will help with the cash flow!!! A lot of fruits, veggies, soups, frozen steamable veggies, crackers... things like that.

Let's go back to New Years...

We had a get together at Nick's and a lot of our friends came. Katie and Tony came in from Houston and Katie's brother traveled from England. He is so neat to talk to... they have different lingo and don't know much about football or our food. He was excited to go to an American McDonalds! We all hung out and watched the ball drop. I was in bed by 12:30 because I'm cool like that. I didn't take any pictures... I had on a new outfit and everything, but I missed the opportunity for pictures!!! I decided New Years is a weird holiday because you have to dress up just a few days after Christmas when you feel like a whale and it's cold outside.

We went to the Texas Tech Bowl game... It was frozen, but fun! We met up with my Big Spring friends in the parking lot and hung for a bit... Then we found sunshine to watch the game! I saw so many old friends! I ran into Laura Norris Landenberger and Laura Lowe Freeman who are my sorority sisters... so good to see them. Then we ran into Allison Spencer Gilmore and her husband and brother! Allison sat next to us for a while and we got to talk. She is such a spirited Red Raider. She was so involved in the game! I must admit I'm more into socializing!!! We got to catch up about her adorable daughter and just life in itself. Old friends are wonderful. Then Missy and Josh came to sit with us. Missy is a reporter in Dallas and I don't watch the news much, but we love to relive old news life together. She climbed the ladder and went through insanity to get to Dallas, but she has the true heart of a reporter. I never had her fire for hard news. I like the fun stories!!! We had a blast catching up. She has always been one of my favorite people. We are both total West Texans at heart so we talked about West Texas things!!! We need to get together more often, but she lives in Ft. Worth and that seems light years away!!!






Back to 2011. Back to reality. I turn 29 in a few weeks and I am trying to run away. It doesn't seem real at all. But, here we are. The journey of life is always winding. We are always walking along and trying to hold God's hand. I'm scared to death of a new year because I never know what it holds. Dad says he can look back and see tragedies in his years, but he has never seen a fully bad year. God somehow always makes the path straight and helps us through each day. In 2001 we lost Mom and 9/11 hit, but I can see that in the bright lights of the year, but I can also remember such good times in sorority Rush and life in college and that summer...