Goodbye Mid-20's

Uh oh - so that dreaded day is almost upon me...the one where I can no longer claim myself to be a "mid-20."
Dun Dun DUUUUNNN!!!
For awhile, I wasn't really happy about turning 28. I've been noticing "smile lines" around my eyes recently. There's even the hint of one atop my forehead. People think it their right to know exactly why it is that you haven't yet mothered a child. You hear the words, "biological clock" when people speak in reference to you.
These are all not-so-good facts of getting older.
But I think age 27 was a milestone year for me.
I stepped out of my comfort zone for the first time in a long time, and changed jobs/offices. I learned how to speak in front of groups of people without being nervous. I learned to say "no" when asked to do things that I didn't want to do. I learned not to offer up an immediate apology when aforementioned "no" response was invoked. I got into a bathing suit and didn't suck in my stomach.
That's right, world, I have a touch of a lower abdomen pooch, and if you don't like it - don't look. (It's now my belief that a small pooch is kind of endearing even!! LOL)
I'm learning that it's ok to put your feelings first in some situations. I'm learning that you can't control others' emotions/reactions, but you can control your own. I'm learning that you don't always need approval from others - that sometimes your own approval is the most important of all. And I'm learning that it doesn't make you a bad person to know what you deserve and to not accept anything less.
So if this is what it is to be "late-twenties," then I say bring it on!!

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

So did you know that in the State of Texas, you have to slow your car down to 15 miles per hour below the speed limit when passing a police officer who's making a traffic stop?
Because I didn't.
So when I got pulled over today, I was extremely surprised to hear about this new law. And when the police officer preempted the conversation by saying, "Yeah, a lot of people don't even know about this new law yet..." and then proceeded to give me a freaking ticket, I was a little upset.
I ask you this question, Officer Chapa from the Texas City Police Department: Have you ever heard of a little thing called a WARNING? Because in my opinion, that would have been appropriate today.
And one more thing, Officer Chapa from the Texas City Police Department: I will be cursing your very name whilst enduring 8 hours of defensive driving hell. So thank you.

Shout out to LeAnne

Certain people are always in your heart, no matter what.
Circumstances may change, friendships may change, distance may grow. But God puts certain people in your life who, no matter what, will always know you, will always get you, and will always be special to you.
Today is my childhood/junior high/high school BFF's birthday. And it's funny, because no matter what's going on each year at this time, whenever I see the date: March 11th, I always, always, always think of LeAnne.
It's weird how certain things, certain memories, certain dates stick with you always...

LeAnne - hope your birthday is great, and I'm thinking about you :)

NY Pics - especially for you, Lisa :)

OK - we all know what a picture freak I am. And there's no way I could ever take a trip and not come home with a zillion pictures. These are the pictures from our NY trip - stand by for a series of random NY pictures...


These were the pictures from our trip to see The Lion King on Broadway. The show was awesome, and I highly recommend it if you're ever in NY.







This was the view of the Empire State Building from our hotel room, and then the view of Manhattan from the top of the Empire State Building...




These were pics from Hello Deli - the deli that's always featured on David Letterman, because it's located next door to the Ed Sullivan Theater. The second pic is Rupert from Hello Deli. Super nice guy :)




These were some pictures from the Statue of Liberty. It was so cold on this day that Craig had to buy an I Heart NY hat from a street vendor. TOURIST!!! LOL




These were some pictures from Central Park. The second picture is my favorite picture of all time. I loved the peacefulness of the park...






St. Patrick's Cathedral. How beatiful is this church?




Craig on Times Square


These was us playing at FAO Schwarz on the gigantic piano! So much fun :)





These were some of the shots from Yankee Stadium, us "squishing" the NY sign, and Craig in the dugout...








Congrats - you've officially survived my "NY in a nutshell" photo post :)

It's Up To You New York, New YOORRKKK!

Wow - so Craig and I just got back from our New York trip.
This trip started with a delayed flight out of Houston, putting us late for our connection at DFW, meaning that by the time we rode the skylink about a mile to our gate area, we literally had 6 minutes until the plane was scheduled to take off. We sprinted about 500 feet to our gate where the ticket guy was yelling "COME ON, COME ON - WHAT ARE YOUR LAST NAMES?" "GO GO GO - THEY'RE WAITING ON YOU!!"
It was so much like a movie, it was ridiculous.
We then had five days in New York, where we went to the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Chinatown (I got a killer "Dolce and Gabanna" bag!!), The Lion King on Broadway, Times Square, the NBC Studios (including the SNL set and the Conan O'Brien studio), Radio City Music Hall, the Ed Sullivan Theatre/David Letterman studio, Central Park, FAO Schwarz, - we totally played the life-sized piano from Big - the Trump Tower, the Empire State Building, Hello Deli, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Yankee Stadium. We made our way around New York on the subway, managed not to get lost and not to die. I consider that a successful trip.
Our trip even ended with an emergency landing when a passenger got sick on the flight. The person was ok by the time we landed, so again - success.
We had an amazing trip, got autographs from Rupert at Hello Deli for our parents (he's the guy that's always on David Letterman, and my parents love him), and may or may not have seen Lucy Liu. Seriously.
Oh, and I ate fallaffel (falaffel? fallafel? How do you spell this word??) for the first time from a street vendor and LOVED IT. If you haven't tried it, you should. Like today. Do it.
So yeah - no doubt, I'll be posting pictures as soon as I have had time to sleep.