So You Think You...Have a Voice?

Huh??

Time to make a confession. I have a guilty little pleasure...or two. The Voice and SYTYCD. Oh how I loooove summer time talent shows! Growing up in choir, theater and dance, I just can't help it!

America got it right on the voice. Javier Colon (pronounced "cologne", but what an unfortunate spelling!) was crowned the winner. Go team  Adam! I was very happy that Dia Frampton was a very close second. She'll go far in her career, but I'm ready for Javier's first album. Mmmm...I could fall asleep to his voice. Ahem, sorry...got lost in thought there for a moment. ;)
He's not bad on the eyes either though.

I am a little sad that the show is over until next season though. It means I don't get my weekly dose of Adam Levine.

I mean...whoa! ;)

So - I must say that The Voice > American Idol! Like, by far! Not that I've watched AI in about 4ish years, but The Voice is definitely a better concept! 'Cept for Christina... She is sadly a hot mess these days. Kinda minus the hot though!

Now - onto an even more exciting show. So You Think You Can Dance. LOVER it!! Great season so far too. However, it is always disappointing to me when one of my favorite and one of my least favorite dancers get paired together. This year, it's Miranda and Robert. Not only does Miranda look like she's from Who-ville and has a super gummy smile (pet peeve), I don't think she's all that fantastic. The judges just love her though. Robert on the other hand is charming, genuine and a pretty fantastic dancer! He makes me smile!

This is a very flattering picture of her...

Now - I think Melanie and Marko may be my all-time favorite couple! Both amazing, adorable and ridiculously talented. I'll just go ahead and admit (since I'm in a confession giving state of mind) that I am one of those that will never vote for these shows, but get mad when my favorites don't win. I know, I know... Anywho - here's a picture of Melanie and Marko...vote for them...for me! ;)

Why they call life a rollercoaster....

Up, down and all around is where we've been lately!

Father's Day: Went to A-town to hang out at the pool with the family. I have to give kudos to my daddy-o! He was a champ and let us ALL bring our dogs. So it was his 2, plus my uncle's dog, plus Amanda's sometimes dog and then our 2. With 6 pups running around, fighting, barking and swimming there was not a dull moment! It was a great day!

Dad with a dog toy in his mouth...classic...

Timmy trying to climb onto the float

Yes, Chloe is wearing my dad's hat!

Father's day card from all 6 doggies!

Pedicure for B

This old bird can't hang like she used to.

Last Weekend: We watched my sister's doggy. Well - it's the doggy that she watches when her friend is at drum corp every summer. He's really ugly but it makes him kinda cute. He's also super smart and I think once he's trained he'd be an awesome dog. Lesson learned though - until we have tons of land...we are a 2 dog max. family! Whew...they were a lot of work! Timmy and Bart were non-stop all weekend. I get worn out just thinking of them!

Next Weekend: Fun and Fireworks! I'm pretty excited about the 4th of July! We're thinking about going to a Rough Riders game again this year. But we'll definitely catch a couple of fireworks shows and we'll head over to the 'rents for some bbq-ing!

So, busy and fun filled weekends as usual. During the week I think we're both just trying to stay positive right now as far as work goes. Neither one of us are in an ideal situation and I just keep hoping and praying that we figure out what is the best for us and our fur-babies. Who knows...we've even discussed giving Arkansas a go! ;)

I'm sure they'll be lots to update on next week at the long weekend. Have a great rest of the week and a safe and happy holiday!!!

Are You Guilty?

I am.... :( I'd be a liar if I said I've never read a text, checked an email or glanced Facebook on my phone while behind the wheel of a car. I think most people are guilty of it now-a-days. Everything is right at our fingertips.

I think we forget that just because we don't drink and drive, or we have a good driving record, blah, blah, blah...it makes us a "safe" driver and people we forget that paying attention to our phone instead of the road is reckless driving.

I don't get up on a soapbox often, but unfortunately sometimes it takes a hit that's too close to home for comfort to remind you. With that being said, my aunt was involved in a serious head on collision with a car who's driver was allegedly texting/checking email or something of the sort on his phone. Thank God for airbags, because they saved her life. In saving her life, they also took a toll on her face and she will need multiple surgeries to treat the chemical burns and broken bones, etc. that she now has.

I'm not really the "serious" blogger, but figured to anyone who may read this...it's a good reminder. So many think it's a harmless action when really it costs lives.

***Warning - super graphic link, but man oh man does it make a statement!!!***

http://www.fatherlyadviceandrants.com/texting-while-driving-is-suicide-updated.html

Stay safe out there and remember that the phone can wait...lives can't.

7'2" Gives Me a Kink in the Neck!

Quick-y post, just because it's cool...

B and I stopped by Petsmart tonight to enroll Timmy in puppy classes. Well, this guy walks in as we're talking to the trainer and it hurt just to look up at him. You could clearly see him over the aisles. I leaned over and whispered to B "He's taller than Dirk". We were in line behind them and he asked to pet Timmy and I thought Timmy was going to fall over backwards looking up at the guy...me too for that matter. He not-so-inconspicuously dropped "It's ok baby, this is on the Mavs" when his girlfriend tried paying for the dog food. He chatted with us for a few minutes about Timmy (I think he was trying to see if we recognized him) and then went on his merry way. 

I searched a bunch of rosters and finally found him. His name was Alex Ajinca and he was on the Mavs at the beginning of the season but was traded to the Raptors. Doh! Guess he was still under some sort of compensation contract with the Mavs though. Anywho - point is, I was right...taller than Dirk! I've never felt so tiny in my life! I came up to his bellybutton approximately! Nice guy...I'm never washing Timmy's head again! Kidding... 

Whoa!

Puppy training starts tomorrow night. I don't think Brandon is thrilled about the next 6 weeks of Thursday nights, but eh well...haha. It's part of being a parent!

Now Introducing....

Timothy "Chomper" Turner!

So I know it's been a little while since I've written. Life gets in the way of time every now again. Ever happened to you? ;)

I'll get to Timothy in a moment, but first let me get you up to speed really fast.

Boy and I are doing great. We celebrated our year anniversary in May. It's kind of funny…it flew by, but when I look back on our moments together, it's hard to imagine life before him – we always joke how it feels like 10 years!

At the Jimmy Buffet Concert...it was an EXPERIENCE to say the least!

We visited Little Rock together recently and it was really nice getting to see B at home with his family and in his 'hood. I hadn't been to LR since I was about 8 and that was just an over-night stay when we were driving from Dallas to Philly. It's gorgeous. Just a sweet little southern town that has a bit of a "downtown." We toyed with the idea of eventually moving out there and who knows, maybe one day, but we'll have to see how B's adventures with American Airlines go first. If he lands a really great position with them, I'm sure we'll stay put in the DFW area for quite a while.

Capital Building

View from our hotel room at the Double Tree. Gorgeous!

I feel like we're finally settling into our new place now.

Living Room

Guest/Brandon's Man Cave

Master Bedroom

I love having hardwood in every room, but of course the only downfall to that is a lot of sweeping required…especially with a pup….ahem, make that 2 pups!

Chloe says: "Help..is he really staying?!?!?" Timmy say: "I love my new home!"

Which brings me to the reason for this post! Brandon and I adopted a puppy last weekend. We've talked about it for a while and well…it just happened. He's not even really what we were looking for, but he picked us for sure! Anyone that knows me knows that I am a huge advocate of rescuing. It breaks my heart every day thinking of how many pups are stranded in the world or being put down at shelters. SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS, PEOPLE! **Off Soap Box**

So – of course, we rescued him and therefore have no idea really what he is. I'm guessing he definitely has some boxer in him, even though he was labeled as the default "we have no idea" breed of a "Shepherd Mix." I don't see it… I'm sticking with Boxer, but I have no idea what with. His paws are huge and he's 3 months old and weighs in at about 26 lbs, so I'm guessing he'll at least get to be about Chloe-sized. And, speaking of Chloe, she's not exactly in love with this idea yet. I've fostered and dog sat plenty of times, but it's as if she knows that little Mr. Timmy Turner is here to stay. I have a feeling though that once he isn't so interested in biting her ears and ankles; she'll lighten up some and really enjoy the company of another pup. I think it'll bring some life back into the old bird! ;) Timmy is super smart. He doesn't cry for too long when it's time for him to go into his crate. I worked with him last night on "sit" and he did great, but when we came in the house to show "dad" he was just too excited and would wiggle and almost get his toosh to the ground, but would jump up in excitement before he actually got down enough to receive a treat. It's a process getting them trained, but as Chloe is proof of, worth every minute. T and I will be working for 30-45 minutes (or until his attention is shot) every night on basic commands. It's fun having a project!

Timothy "Chomper" Turner AKA Timmy





That's all I've got for right now! Lots of exciting things going on this summer though, so there will be many more posts in the future, I'm sure! Stay tuned!

shopping, golfing and a little red, white and blue

First and foremost...thank you to all the men and women serving in our military. Love or hate war and the reasons/politics involved, they are all dedicated to freedom and it's a dedication that I admire!

I was also thankful for the 3-day weekend. It's always nice to have a little breather. It was a bit of a busier weekend then I had anticipated, but it was good none-the-less.

How do I know I'm getting older? I was tickled silly to babysit my Godson. No movies, dancing, socializing for me this Friday night. Just some cooing and baby talking to my sweet little Landon. He's 7 months now and it's crazy how fast they grow up. Amanda and I get together at least once a month so that I can see him and so that her and I can catch up, but it's just not enough. Their anniversary was last week so I insisted upon letting them have a date night and on her letting B and me babysit! Now - this was the most interesting part, bring Brandon along. He's always resisted any opportunity for baby holding when it comes to hanging out with my friends and the babies they all keep having, so I was very interested to see how he would be once it was just us and the baby. Well...a picture is worth a thousand words they say, so without further ado...

Boys...

In da faaaaaace.

Needless to say - they bonded!

I was really happy to see how great Brandon was with Landon. It was pretty cute. It's hard not to have fun with Landon though...I mean...he's seriously the happiest baby I've ever met. He's gonna be a heartbreaker too. Mommas of baby girls ages 0-1yr beware...he'll get 'em with these eyes...

I got to hang out with him some too though! :) 

Successful Friday night if I do say so myself!

Saturday, I left B to fend for himself and I headed to A-town to do a little shopping with momma and spend time with the fam. Dad and I went to see Fast Five. We've seen every Fast and Furious movie together (just like we see every Transformers and Batman movies together too) and as Becca put it - I'm a great son! ha. Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. We took Chloe to the dog park, relaxed around the house some and then went to Top Golf with friends. I'll have those pics later. Today we went back to A-town to hang out with the fam again - both of us this time and we had a delish dinner complete with red, white and blue cake, thanks to Becca. It was yum!

So now another week lays before us. Fortunately only 4 days of it. Lots to get done in this next week though! Need to start prepping for my nursing entrance exam, get my class schedule for next semester lined up, get some shopping and cleaning done and hopefully squeeze in some social time. It always feels as if there's something to do, but hey...better then always being bored. And we can sleep when we're dead. :)

It all started when...

Well, let's see.... I suppose it's time to get you up to date on who I am. It all started when my mom and dad met in their mid-teens.... Just kidding, we won't go there.

Quick recap: (of the past 5 or so years at least)

Graduated from A&M in December of '06 with my degree in Psychology. If only I knew then what I know now... I've made the best of it though. I recruited for the first couple of years out of college. The past (almost) three years I've been working for a petroleum consulting firm downtown. Yes, it's fun working in a high-rise! Love my company, but the job just isn't me.

Family still lives in Arlington. Two little sisters....

Manda - 22

Becca - 20

Now a days, living in North Dallas with the boy. I love living with my best friend and we definitely have a lot of exciting things heading our way! Never a dull moment with this one around...

Due to my lack of interest in the petroleum industry, I've decided to go back to school for nursing. Still in the pre-req stages and though it's frustrating to think about how much is left, I couldn't be happier with this decision. It's always been a desire of mine to be in the medical field, so better late then never.

Last and most importantly (at least she'd like to think so), I'd like to introduce you to Chloe Elizabeth. She's my fur-baby, or dogger if you will. Chloe will be 8 this year and she teeters between grumpy old lady and spunky little pup. We've been thinking a lot lately about adding another 4-legged kid to our family. I think it would keep the spunk in Chloe and get her to be a little more active. Plus I need a running buddy since Brandon and Chloe refuse to join me! ha.

That's all for now folks! Gotta get through the rest of my week so I can get to that 3 day weekend! Doing anything fun for memorial day?