For the love of the game....

Wow, the last 3 weeks have been wonderful. There is nothing like waking up to the game you grew up loving. Daily, I would wake up between 8:30 and 9:00 just in time to begin watching the second match of the day. It would become a ritual. Something that just comes around every 4 years becomes something you schedule your day around. This is exactly what I would do when it came to watching the World Cup. To put yourself in the shoes of those who were on the pitch.... only to imagine the tough road it took for those players to get the experience or obligation to represent their country. Discipline in their actions. Dedication to succeed. Responsibility to their teammates. Love for the game. Desire to never quit. If I only tried to carry myself in that demeanor on the field when I was playing. How much of a better player/teammate I could have been.

These last 3 weeks have made me more aware of the way I miss being on the field and experiencing those same feelings. Focus. Anxiousness. Soreness. Success. Defeat. Sweat. Teamwork. Togetherness. Although the playing has come and gone, the love for the game will never leave. That feeling when a player scores the winning goal or stops the other team from scoring. That understanding will forever be apart of my life. Standing up in the middle of my house (with no one home) and cheering for the team that came from behind to tie the game at the end of regulation or being heart broken at the sight of the players exhausted and worn out after a game because they left everything out on the field which only resulted in defeat will always live close to me.

Until the next game....

Enjoying God's Beautiful Creation

I can't believe it has been a week since our trip to the Beach. What a great experience it was to be with our family again all at once. Before we left, there were plans to go deep sea fishing, parasailing, rent jet skis, shop, golf and lay on the beach. It was about the 4th or 5th day we were there until I realized that we weren't going to get to several of the things on our list. I will say that I wouldn't trade any of the days.

We got there Saturday afternoon about 3:00. That day was pretty much gone after getting everything unloaded and making the infamous trip to Wally World. It never fails when my whole family goes to Wal-Mart that we don't come out with 2 (or 3) carts full of who knows what. The funny thing about that is knowing we will be back in a day or so because we will need something we didn't get or will already be out of things.

Sunday being church day, we were able to have a little devotional on the balcaony looking at the ocean. What a gorgeous view of the reason for living! There being about 35 of us on the beach that week made this devo that more inspiring. After our devo was the beinging to life on the beach for a week. We packed up our beach chairs and headed down to the water! Not long were we sweating like crazy because it was so toasty. The next adventure was a trip to Jo Patties! This is a seafood fresh market. It is kind of crazy! You walk in and there are fish in ice all over the place. Once you get a number, the people behind the counter ask what you want. You can get any fish you would ever want. My dad wasn't the fondest of grilling seafood. That didn't take long! He is the bested at grilling cedar plank salmon. Not only that, he is great at cooking jumbo shrimp wrapped bacon!

Monday was spent entirely on the beach. We would wake up about 8:30, hang out at the beach house for a while then head out to the beach about 9:30. That would last till about lunch time then it was time to nap or recoop in the air conditioning. After a trip to Joe Patties again, we grilled out Monday night.

It wouldn't be a vacation for my family unless golf was included. You bet we dook advantage of some great courses while we were there. Tuesday was one of those days. There were 6 of us so we did a little scrammble. Me, Corey and Dustin against Dad, Chad and Scott. We were tied going into the last hole at -3. Of course we goofed with a boogy and they had a par. Go figure! It was great fun though. Wasn't even that hot with was very nice. For dinner, my parents went to eat with some friends so me, Dustin, Corey, Amber, Marisa and Morgan took it upon ourselves to go eat at Landry's. It was a great time. We had some great food and of course even better times. Once we got back to the house, out to the beach to look for crabs. Those are the scrariest little things. You just do not know where they are going to come from or go! I will never forget this night! I started the night with a brother and sister and ended the night with a soon to be sister-in-law. I can't express how happy I am for Corey and Amber. Corey has truely found an amazing future wife. Congrats you two!




There is nothing like golfing in Florida 2 days in a row. This course was a beauty. You could see the ocean off in the distance. I would have to attest that this course was a little more challenging then the previous. When the golf pro says there is water on 16 of the 18 holes you know you are in for a treat. With that being said, I did shoot an 87, which I was VERY proud of. Not to mention that Dustin beat me for the first time in a few rounds, won't mention it was just by a stroke. We had a blast! It was just Dustin, me and my dad this round. Once we got back to the beach house, we were out to the water. Wednesday was supposedly the clearest day of the week. There was a sand bar that formed about 50 yards from the sand. The water was clear as it could be. We could see to the bottom of the ocean.

We couldn't come to shop on the last day we were in Florida, so we went Thursday instead. A trip to Destin is just about a 45 minute drive. There we have an awesome outlet mall. We didn't intend on staying very long but with everyone going I figured it would be longer of a trip than orginially planned. Not only a Nike outlet but also an Under Armour outlet. I'd never been to an UA outlet before so that was cool. It was bigger than we thought so we had lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. We used to have one here in the city but it has gone out of business in the last couple years. No worries, the girls did get a shirt from the manager. The Crab Trap was for dinner. We sat out on the patio, which was a beautiful view.

Friday, for me, was reserved for the beach only. I got up and laid out there almost all day. Went in for lunch then went back out. Corey, Dustin and Dad went golfing again at the same course we golfed at Wednesday. Yeah, they liked it that much! I did mention it was nice right? $80 nice... since it was the last night, we didn't really have a lot of food left to eat so we went out to a local Italian restaurant. It was pretty decent. Our waiter seemed to like us, he even brought out a cheesecake for Corey and Amber for them being newly engagement. Friday was also our family picture night. There wasn't much of a choice as to what we were wearing. The traditional khaki and white was Mom's first choice. So, of course, that is what we went with! Here are a few pictures from our photo shoot on the beach....




I couldn't believe the week was over but soon came Saturday. It started early as we were leaving the houses by 8:00 in order to get to Jackson before the start of the USA/England game. We did make it in enough time..... so no need to panic! It was an absolutely amazing week with family and friends. We had late night game nights and early morning trips to the water. How else is there to spend a weekend! I am truely a blessed person in a blessed family!

The Start of something new!

It all starts with just the talking of buying your own house. You know when you are a kid and you dream of planning and decorating your very one house? Well, I am proud to say that Dustin and I are now in that position. Back in November we were driving around looking/talking about buying a house. We were already sick of the apartment, only have been in there for 6 months. After looking at several different neighborhoods and going back and forth between buying a new home or one several years old, we decided on the perfect location. It was just down the road from all the restaurants and Walmart. What else do you need!

So, we decided to choose a lot and floor plan. We were able to pick everything. The brick color, interior/exterior colors, appliances, all check! It was about a 6 month process but not sure I would change a lot of anything. Dustin thinks that we can do this again in about 4 or 5 years and change the things we would change.... not to sure about that yet! Maybe a little ways down the road that would be something to look at doing.

I will get pictures up soon! We haven't had internet connection... sad I know... but as soon as that comes we will get those pictures loaded.

Until next time...

The Bestest Mom

Yeah, yeah I know this is a little late, but I feel that it is never late to express the way your mom has impacted your life.

What does the word Mom mean?
A Mom is God fearing. She is loving. Gives a shoulder to cry on. Is caring. Looks for ways to teach. Always supportive. Enjoys late night talks. Jumps at the opportunity to go shopping. Submissive. Servant. Laughs at your not silly jokes.

When I was younger, mom ran me everywhere. I still don't know how she went to every game or practice when all of us kids had 2 or 3 sports going on at the same time. She never wanted to miss a thing. Even if we said, "Mom its okay, its just....". Not to my mom! There were times she had to ask one of our friends mom to take us because she just couldn't do it. That would happen only followed by an apology or an I'll do it next time. Never did she think about how tired she was running us around absolutely EVERYWHERE. Oh.... did she like the day I could drive by myself. I don't think that solved a whole lot because mom still went to all games. It is hard for me to remember a game mom didn't make. Tournaments were always a must with mom.

I won't say that mom and I always go along. We had our moments, but what teenage girl gets along with her mom ALL the time. Think it is fair to say going off to college is the best scary thing that happen to me. Pretty sure once my parents left that first Sunday of pre-season I felt the most uncomfortable I've felt in a very long time. Even though it is my dad I say I am like the most, it is my mom that provides the comfort moms always give. I called every day, most of the time 2 times a day. Fair to say, I did that up until I graduated from college.

I got married almost a year ago, but what does my mom have me do each and every time I drive from the city to Springdale, call her to make sure I made it home safely. Only does a mother not loose her characteristic of compassion, support and love.

Dustin and I surprised my mom last weekend. It was great! She had asked me several times throughout the week if we were going to get to come home. Unfortunately or fortunately I had a soccer state playoff game Friday night at 6:00. I kept telling her that because the game wouldn't get over until 8:00ish, we wouldn't be able to make it home. Unknown to her, I had talked to my Dad and sister about coming home. We didn't get into town until 12:30, so she was already asleep. The next morning, my mom say Dustin walking up the stairs. She was so confused. She walked into the room, I was just starting to wake up, with a BIG smile on her face. That is the exact reason I wanted to keep it a surprise. My mom loves family! She loves when we can all be together and I just know that she hates it that Dustin and I live in Edmond. No worries... she makes it over here from time to time to see us! Helps that Corey goes to school over here and Marisa is on her way here in a year.

Mom, you are the the best mom! It is by your example that I am who I am today. I hope that I am half the mom you are to Corey, Marisa and me. I love you very much!

Something new...

So, blogging is something that I would never thing I would get in to, but a lot of my friends, even my sister, has a blogspot so I thought I would see how long this would last. To me this is kind of a funny thing. Writing was not and is still not my strong suit. Don't count on long or frequent blogs. No worries... if there is something important or fun happening you'll be the first to know.

Signing off from my first EVER blog.