8 Things About My Marriage...

1. Where did you meet your husband?

We met at my cousin's apartment where he was picking us up to go to Astroworld. Yes, that's right. The day we met it was a blind date to Astroworld- like it or not we were stuck on rides together all day. Luckily it turned out to be a blast and it was like being with a friend I'd known forever! My cousin introduced us because she was dating Pat's roommate at the time, who is now her husband, Greg. We later walked together in their wedding and from then on pretty much, we were an item... well, with a few complications (long story).

2. What was the first thing you said?I don't remember, but one thing I said over and over (not to his face) was that he was so old... I just didn't know about dating him because of that... Ha! He was "27 and 1/2" and I was 21. Weird how you can have an idea in your head about something and it's not the case at all... I didn't even feel like we were that different in age once we started hanging out. Either I was really mature or ... well you can guess the opposite!
3. Where was your first date?Our first real date with just the two of us was to Bradley's Brewery, which is now BJ's, and then to see the movie "StepMom". We had a great time and never a dull moment with endless conversations... I'm known to have something to talk about when there's silence for a second and I even had this whole story for him about the carpet at the theatres and how I had a theory that the only reason they had the carpet with all those specks of all colors, shapes, and sizes was to hide all the messy popcorn, etc.... I think he thought I was a little odd about that but hey, it didn't stop him from calling me again... and again and again! After the date he took me home; and back then he used to open the doors for me, so... In my driveway at mom's house (I was home from college on Christmas break), I sat in the car, he got out and went around the back of the car, got something out, then came and opened my door, helped me out, and then from behind his back out came a beautiful yellow rose (yellow was always my favorite color, which many friends don't know due to the overflow of pink these days!) He has a knack for paying attention to little details like that. He handed me the rose and leaned in and asked if he could give me a kiss on the cheek (talk about melting me!) Of course he did, and walked me to the door. Well, as usual, mom was sitting on the couch waiting for me to come in so we could talk about how it went. I just broke down crying! Yes he was so sweet but I had been in an "on-off" relationship with a guy at college for 2 years, and now here was someone I could see leaving the "on-off" for,... for real... and that had never happened.

First kiss?
First real kiss... There were 6 of us who went to Corpus Christi to run the "Beach to Bay" team marathon. We were staying at someone's house there and had a super fun weekend. Well the first night we were there, one of the other girls stayed downstairs to talk to Pat (they had been friends all growing up). Us girls though were all supposed to be sleeping upstairs, so up I went to get showered and ready for bed. Well Michelle, the girl, did not come up for a while and I got suspicious. See we weren't officially an item then but I knew I wanted to be an item and he wanted that too... we just hadn't voiced it yet. So being the snooper I was, I got as far down the stairs as I could and tried to eavesdrop on their conversation. I couldn't hear anything, but could see them and no damage done.... It took her so long to come to bed that I got sleepy and went on to bed. The next night however, I decided I would be the one to stay downstairs and not let that happen again. I wanted to spend time with him on this trip and we only had 2 nights. So we talked and talked after everyone went to bed and he finally leaned in for the big smacker! Here's what he said though... now if you know him, just promise me you won't tease him... he says he didn't say exactly this, but this is my memory exactly. I had on one of those "illusion" necklaces. Well, he leaned in and held it up and asked me what kind of necklace that was. I said it was called an "illusion necklace". He then leaned closer and said, "this is not an illusion" ha, as he kissed me for the first time! Woo, woo, I know sounds corny but at the time it melted me!

4. Long or short courtship?

We met in August '98, corresponded (as friends) through snail mail letters while I was back at college that semester, had our first date in December '98, still weren't an item because of my "on-off " at college again, but did still keep in touch regularly (he even sent me flowers on Valentine's and I called him and said that made it awkward for me and "on-off". I'm lucky he stuck around after that rude phone call. Then we (me and "on-off" officially were over in March '99, but I didn't tell Pat. I wanted whatever happened to be "us" and not me forcing it. We walked in Becky and Greg's wedding together in April '99, I came home in May and stayed the summer at mom's and spent every day with him that summer of '99, riding jet ski's and staying out late every night. That was the first summer I had ever come home to live... hint, hint everyone! Went back to college in August '99, he proposed to me in Sept.'99, and I moved home at Christmas time'99 and finished up college in Houston, so we could plan the wedding better and we were married in June 2000! To me it seemed like a short courtship since we really were not an item until May '99 and were married in almost 1 year later, but I have heard of shorter ones.

5. Where were we engaged?

My romantic Pat told me it was his dad's birthday celebration so I came home from college to celebrate with him. It was to be a dressy occasion so I brought home nice clothes. Saturday morning we were at Barnes and Noble having coffee and trying to finish up a long essay I had to write for college. He was even helping me to finish it up so I could enjoy the rest of my weekend. He was calm as could be! Then on the way to his dad's "birthday party", we stopped by his sister's to pick her up. She said that she still need to go to the Galleria, to pick up the watch she had ordered for her dad and wanted me to ride with her. So I did and Pat and her husband were to be meeting us at the party. On the way to the Galleria I noticed she drove as slow as a turtle, had to pull over at a gas station to use the bathroom, and had several phone calls from her husband about meaningless things. I thought, "wow, with her pace we'll never make it to the party on time!" It turned out to be Pat on the phone all those times telling her where he was so we didn't beat him to the Galleria. See he was on his way there to plan my engagement before I got there. We pulled up to the Transco Tower, now the Williams, near the Galleria and Lisa asked me to get the receipt out of the glove compartment. Out comes confetti, and a card for me!!! I was shaking and read it, "For your Engagement..." what?!?! Inside it had a detailed drawing and instructions as to where I was supposed to go. I was in so much shock, Lisa had to tell me to get out of the car! So out I went walking toward the huge grassy field that is a public area between the Tower and the Waterfalls. About the length of a football field there were a dozen roses evenly spaced out on the ground and at the other end was my dear Pat all dressed up in a suit, waiting for me to pick up the roses that made a trail to him on the steps of the Waterfall! It was like a fairytale movie... as I was picking up the roses everyone at the park started clapping and cheering for me. One little boy even came and picked up one and handed it to me. His dad told him to get back. I approached the steps with roses in hand all dressed up and Pat got down on one knee and asked the question. I just yelled out and was jumping around so much he had to ask me to let him put the ring on. People were coming up to me asking to take my picture; one lady was on her cell phone crying telling her friend about it.... Then he led me over to a horse and carriage for a ride around the Galleria area. I just kept standing up in Houston traffic yelling out, "I just got engaged... woo hoo!" I was elated to say the least! Little did I know it still wasn't over. He then drove me back down toward home, but close to home, he made me close my eyes and told me we were going to a special restaurant to eat. He helped me out of the car and led me up the steps. When we got inside, I opened my eyes and there stood both of our families in a room all decorated with themes from our courtship. He had told everyone in the families that they were invited to a special birthday celebration for his dad also. So upon their arrival just prior to ours, they were shocked with the engagement news also! He had a D.J. set up,(who was a college buddy of his), food and an engagement cake. My mom, aunt and his sister, and dad were the only ones who knew and helped pull it all off. Mom and Lisa decorated like crazy, it was beautiful. There were round tables set up and a dance floor. There was a TV set up and he directed everyone's attention there, where there was a video of the whole thing... me getting out of Lisa's car, picking up the roses, and him proposing, and part of the carriage ride! His college buddy had been there hiding out videoing the whole thing, and got back to the Seabrook Community Center, where everyone was to get it all ready. So after we watched the engagement, we ate and danced. Pat had made a CD of all our favorite songs! It was a day I'll never forget and will cherish forever. My husband is officially the most ROMANTIC man I have ever met or heard of!!!

6. Where were we married?

We had a fabulous wedding day at Clear Lake Church of Christ and we went to the waterfalls in Houston where we were engaged to take pictures after the reception on our way out.

7. Where was the reception?

It was in the church gym. Doesn't sound good, but it was decorated up beautifully by mom and others, and another surprise came to me there. Pat had put together a slideshow of our courtship, set to all our favorite songs. He copied it on DVD's to give to some of our family too. I love to pull it out and go down memory lane once in a blue moon.

8. Where was your honeymoon?Poconos Mts., Pennsylvania. The honeymoon resorts there are awesome. We got the room that was 3 levels, and included: the Tall Champaigne glass hot tub, a massage table, swimming pool, huge circle bed, and breakfast delivered to our door every morning. We did all kinds of sports stuff too: archery, air hockey, skating, horseback riding, nature walks, basketball, etc. It was sort of like a cruise only not on the boat. Everything was included and we had dinner and entertainment at night... I recommend it to anyone! Then we honeymooned throughout the summer since we both are teachers! San Antonio was one of our other trips... Glory Days!

Thanks Maria, for tagging me! It was fun remembering.... I now tag Kim if she hasn't already been tagged! Love ya!

blah day...:Blame it On the Rain, yeah, yeah"

Ever have one of these? I'm sure I'm not the only one, but when you have one you do feel like you're the only one. I feel as though I wasted a full day. I got up sleepy and just never got started. Could've been the rain... ok... who can forget Milly Vanilly (sp?) when we're blaming our mood and laziness on the weather?!:) Just couldn't resist. And to get off on a wild goose chase... do you remember learning about the fact they weren't really the ones singing it? Did you care? I didn't. I was just thinking, "ok...so whoever is singing it is doing a good job and I still like the song, so why all the fuss?" N E who... back to the original topic. Is it a wasted day? Maybe not. I did get 3 loads of laundry washed, one put up, cooked, cleaned the kitchen, read my Bible, and typed on my computer. I guess after seeing all that written down it looks as though I didn't waste the day, but I did not get dressed to shoes, as Fly Lady says to do first thing... and it really does make a difference. Just think what all I could have accomplished if I had gotten dressed 1st thing! I guess I just don't like days where I barely set foot outside... and K definitely needed to let out more energy today. Oh well, tomorrow we'll start anew and get dressed to shoes first thing again.

Thank God for Meme & Mom...

Today I am thankful for my meme and mom. The day started with K and I off to meme's house by 8:15 for coffee and a little breakfast. Mom was sitting on the couch reading her Bible when we walked in... as she has always done at some point everyday for as long as I can remember, whether it was early morning or midnight, waiting up for me to get in. After a while, mom was off to work and Meme rode with me to do "take-backs"... and not the fun kind in clothing stores where you always find something else new to buy-these were tiles and carpet samples! I didn't want to have to lug K back and forth and carry those heavy tiles so that was a blessing to have Meme in the car with me and sit with Kamri, and the conversations with meme are never dull, but meaningful. Of course K kept us laughing just itching to get out of that car seat. K kept saying "mommy can I ask a question?"..."Where's my daddy?" That was the question of the day (over and over)....when we finally made it back from Houston to our side of town to Walmart, K just was elated to get out and walk! Yeah... we just had such a relaxing walk through walmart, ate at McD's and watched K ride the Earnie car=whoo hoo!

I guess the part I am most thankful for is the influence of being around a meme and mom who love Jesus. They don't fail to mention something about him to almost anyone they can. At the end of our journey today, I was dropping Meme off at the office. She stayed in the car again while I went in to say hello to mom. Well, while I was in the office, a truck flying down the highway with a trailer lost a tire and it bounced over the road and hit the front of our car. At that point she didn't even know what the bang was. Why??? Well, when I came back to the car, a man pulled up and got out. He asked if my car had any damage from the tire. He had chased down the man who lost the tire and told him about it because he was unaware he had even lost it off his trailer, so back he came too. Well, when Meme got out she said she didn't know what it was because she had been looking down in prayer to Jesus for the coal miners. The man just kind of sluffed that comment off, but I know that you never know what kind of seed you might plant just by a comment like that. This is an everyday, everywhere thing for her, and my mom as well. It is just part of who they are, like breathing, it's like they don't even give it a 2nd thought and Jesus' love and influence just come out of their mouths. And it's not like they try to make the conversations strain to that way. It sounds so natural and in place- not fakey or anything. I want to get better at that but I realize that you can not force something like that... God has to already be there on your heart all the day long. That's the part I need to work on first... really putting God first, and then maybe it will be as natural for me as it is for them.
Thanks to mom and Meme for their influence and teaching me what a godly woman should be.

Still Playing House

Today and the past week we have been picking out stains and paints. It was very easy to nail down the accent colors, my reds and Kamri's pinks. She walked in her room today and just gasped with excitement and said, "oh, mom... Hee, hee, I love it!" The one color I thought would be the easiest has turned out to be the hardest - the tan! Kilim Beige, Nomadic Desert, Latte??? What will look better once the whole house is closed in with blinds on the windows and the electricity's up with the lights on? I know which one sounds the best (Latte, Of course), but it actually turned out way too dark. One ruled out! I know I should just pick one, but it'll be there for so long because we are not going back to paint all these big walls! Once we're in, I just want to enjoy it for a while.
Well, I had my meltdown about the colors, now I am taking a breather because I know that in the grand scheme of things, the color of my walls really doesn't amount to a hill of beans! So, we're almost finished. Maybe 4 more weeks and then I can start moving in and have the fam and friends over to visit! Yeah!!!

House Stuff

Diary of building a house.
Kitchen cabinet guys, Mauricio and fam., started last week and already finished the kitchen, today finished the laundry room cabinets, Kamri's bathroom cabinet and 2 medicine cabinets above our toilet and Kamri's! They're so fast and really great workers... very nice and they have good ideas too about where things should be placed. So between Pat, them and me designing everything it should be exactly what we want. We will have storage for everything!
Reminder to self... if I ever run out of storage room in this house, I've got WAY too much and it's time to Clean out Fly Lady!

Go Framers...

Wow is all I can say looking outside my house. I could not believe my eyes when I got home from MDO today. When I left this morning there was an empty concrete slab. When I got home this afternoon, half of my house (studs) were up! I can actually take a tour through the house and see where everything will be!
Kamri was asleep when we got home from MDO so when she woke up I had the camera ready and led her outside to see her new house & playroom. She looked stunned, but not necessarily in a good way. She was very quiet and observant as the men pounded nailguns and chain saws was a little scared of all that noise. Then her little 2 year old thought came out. She looked at Pat and I and said, "I wanna ride my bike..." We just realized then, that we have now covered up the huge concrete area that she has had as her "playground" for the past couple of weeks. She eventually settled for going to jump on the trampoline and later when the men left for the day, we took a tour. She now gets it I think... she knows now there's actually going to be a house there with walls and a playroom (most importantly). She said, "it's gonna be real tall".

A Quiet Voice...

I have been told by certain members of my family that I have a loud voice. I think it just carries well, ya know. Well, I have always tried to get Kamri to lower her voice and it has been brought to my attention again that maybe she is mimicking me and reacting to me. I really don't even notice myself until someone gently points it out to me again. So my goal today was to talk gently to her. I have several friends who have gentle voices with their kids and I wish it came more natural for me. After talking softly and not getting upset about every little "terrible 2" year old thing that happened today, I really feel like Kamri's reactions to me changed a little. It does make a difference and I know this won't happen overnight, but I'm going to work on my reactions to her and I think this will eventually catch on and become a habit for me... and her... a good one!

A Sunday Milestone

Well, Kamri got up during the night and then again for good at around 7, I fed her oatmeal by 7:30, and was ready to go to church by about 5 til 8am. We went to the early service (walked in about 10min. late), and then went to Bible Class. When we were on the way, kamri says, "I'm not going" so we just ignored it. When we were walking into the hallway and she saw her teacher holding out her arms at the other end, Kamri let go of my hand and ran down the hall to Ms. Mary! It's just one of those little things that says, "I'm getting bigger, Mom". It made me happy that she likes to go, but also sad because I just see the future and her letting go more as she grows. I'll hold on tight on my end though and always be waiting at the other end of the hallway.

April 28, 2007... Our Day

Today started at 5am as Kamri came running to the bottom of the stairs calling for "mommy" (as happens every morning, but the time is never the same. it's anywhere from 5 to 7am). So down I go, give her a hug and then gently lay her down on the couch where I can be with her but also go back to Sleep (please!). Here she buys it for about 5 minutes and then starts asking for oatmeal and milk. I try to trick her and tell her it's still dark outside and still sleepy time, but her stomach tells her it's time for oatmeal. So it wins and there starts our day! By 7:30 we were out on our concrete slab bouncing the basketball. It's like a new playground for Kamri, where she can run and ride her bike in what probably seems like a HUGE block of concrete to her. I sit down in the cool morning air and have my coffee (the 3rd cup) and watch her giggle and play while all the birds are chirping and the cars that pass just stare wishing they were that carefree at that moment too. We go back and forth playing on the concrete to the trampoline, to the dogs and back to he concrete. Kamri's new big sentence for the concrete playtime is, "I don't go by the 'dults." I translated this yesterday and asked her, "you can't go by the adults?" And she then clarified herself by saying, "no mommy" and going over pointing to the huge anchor bolts sticking out of the concrete, "I can't go by the 'dults," "oh, the BOLTS" I say... so now she's got it.
By 10:40 we were ready to go get the few items I had forgotten yesterday at the grocery store, and had a little lunch at Target. When we came back I did some house chores and she played then we later made some brickle cookies together. She actually did most of the dumping and stirring and did all of the balling up and patting down. Little baker she is!
If you noticed I mentioned no nap in here. That's because it was all of about 15 minutes. On the way home from Target she fell asleep and when I got her out she stayed asleep in her room on Dora for about 5 more minutes! So tonight she was laying down by 7 and out like a light by 7:30. I already warned Pat that she'd be getting up early and we might just make the early service at church in the morn.
Pat wasn't mentioned in our day because he was upstairs almost the whole day working on the slide show for the Tennis Banquet which is May 10th. He will be working on it every second he can until that day. He really puts a lot of work in to this for the kids and they love it! They better... he said he bets it takes him about 100 hours total just to put the slide show together. (Believe me it's not your average slide show... it's like a professional thing that someone would pay him big bucks to do for him. Hey there's a thought!:)

Favorite thing today: seeing Kamri giggle and ride her trycicle all over what will soon be our home!