Pooches on Parade Style Show

Last Friday I took the day off so my mom and I could attend the Fuzzy Friends Rescue Style Show. Unlike Barkin' Ball, this event is only held every two years and it's a super fun brunch that highlights fashion - both human and canine - on the runway. 

While Tonto really looks forward to Barkin' Ball each year, he always encourages "the ladies" to attend this particular event. There are men in attendance but, granted, the majority is female. Not a surprise, right? :-)

It's such a fun reason to dress up, eat dainty chicken salad sandwiches and enjoy the super cute pups in their fashion finery. And, because it doesn't happen often, it's also neat to do something with just my mom.

Tonto snapped a few pics for us when we got back to our house to commemorate the occasion. And I'm sharing all of them with you because my pics of the actual style show didn't turn out very well. I took my point and shoot camera instead of the good one, which wasn't conducive to the lighting.

Fun day. Very worthwhile cause. Great food. Amazing fashion. Sweet company.

All in all, not a better way to spend a Friday, in my opinion!

So, yeah, this happened...

We have a staff meeting every semester that includes our entire division. That occurred Wednesday afternoon this time around. You can probably imagine our surprise when we walked in and saw the Heisman Trophy.

And even more excitement when I realized we could actually touch it this time instead of just looking at it like we did at the end of season football pep rally.

There was lots of posing going on around the guy as well.

And, honestly, I could not have felt more blessed. I have an amazing job that allows me to work on projects I could never have dreamed would be possible.

Just when I thought the opportunity had passed to actually put my grubby little paws on this magnificent statue, he showed up when I least expected it. There's probably a life lesson in there somewhere but for now I'm just grateful to have had this amazing opportunity.

Sic 'em Bears!

Inner Space Cavern

Last Saturday we decided to take a little day trip. Tonto and the girl had been talking about a visit to Inner Space Cavern for a while since neither had been there since they were in third grade. For the record, I also hadn't been since that age. Needless to say, that was a bit longer for some of us than others.

Funny thing about this pic is normally she's the one I have a hard time getting to smile. Just caught him at an off moment :-)

The inside of the cave was really beautiful and the entire trip was rather educational. We're not the parents who always plan trips around that particular aspect so I kind of felt like giving Tonto a high five when we left!

Seriously, so beautiful...

...and apparently some people have had their weddings in this room with the lovely lake.

Personally, it was a bit humid back there for me to think of making vows or taking pictures that would last a lifetime but I'm sure it's a very unique setting for nuptials all the same.

Our tour guide, Amber, was quite a hoot. We definitely lucked out in that department.

And, though I did take quite a few pictures, I did not flash any of the bats.

From what Amber said, that can cause some pandemonium in the ol' cave. And, honestly, that's not something I want to be remembered for.

After touring the cave, Tay and I ventured into the gift shop...

...where she picked up some magnetic rocks, a necklace and a stick of rock candy for less than $10.

She is all about getting her money's worth in a gift shop. And she's an expert at spending it down to the last penny. :-)

She's her mother's daughter, for sure.

After a short drive back to Temple, we stopped at BJ's to eat because we were starving. It was 3:30pm and some of us (me!) were eating for the first time that day. In addition to yummy food, this is also where we learned two additional Baylor players (in addition to Robert Griffin III, Kendall Wright and Phillip Blake) had been drafted back to back. 

Now, we love Terrance Ganaway and Robert T. Griffin but, y'all, it was hard to swallow news that they would be playing for the New York Jets. So now I'll be cheering for the Redskins, Titans, Broncos and Ravens (Nicholas Jean-Baptiste signed later in the day).

Bless Tonto's heart, though, because he's a Cowboys fan through and through. I have no idea who he'll be cheering for this fall. But it is exciting to see our college boys all grown up and moving on to the next level. :-)

Almost as fun as spending a lackadaisical day with the man and the girl.

Feed the Beaver!

Last Friday evening the girl and some friends spent the evening skating. Her latest obsession has really brought back a lot of memories, y'all, as I spent countless hours at the ol' rink back in my day. Of course, I also know what can go down there as well so she's absolutely mortified every time she returns and I thoroughly quiz her. 

But that's kind of my job, right? Balancing fun with responsibility. :-)

Tonto and I took this free evening opportunity to attend a Baylor baseball game. You know, the Bears team that had an unprecedented winning streak for most of the season, is currently ranked #1 or #2 in all polls and is slated to host both a regional and super regional by all projections.

So, yes, they're pretty darn good.

But we hadn't been to a game in person yet. That all changed and was made even sweeter by amazing weather and the generosity of a friend because we were able to sit in a box!

In the box next to us was the pitcher's family. They were precious. And so proud. As they should be.

After spending several years eating, breathing and sleeping baseball, I must admit that we've gotten away from it a bit. But, y'all, this perfect evening with a slight breeze made me remember all the things I love about America's favorite pastime.

From the music each batter chooses to announce their presence to aggressive baserunning, there are just so many little details that make up each game.

And it doesn't help when the unofficial mascot - a Beaver - makes a special appearance either.

You may ask why the beaver and it's because the previously mentioned winning streak began the day a beaver wandered up from the Brazos River. The team began feeding it acorns and a friendship was born. He's the good luck charm and even has his own Twitter account.

We were right above the Baylor dugout and could hear every word they were saying. So fun. And also quite amusing.

In the end, we shut down what I understand is a very good offensive team at New Mexico State.

And they are apparently also Aggies. Who knew?

The team is taking some time off for finals but we'll be ready to cheer for them all the way to Omaha once play resumes. The magic number is now 1 - so a win by us or a loss by UT clinches outright the Big 12 championship.

And the Year of the Bear continues!

Day of the Bear

Thursday before last - April 19 - was a very special day on Baylor's campus as celebrated the annual "Day of the Bear." Better known as Diadeloso, this is a day off from classes for all students and faculty (but not necessarily staff since it's end of the budget year :-) to enjoy games, food and a music festival.

Most students groups/organizations host a booth with a game of some sort. They range from a pie in the face to the ol' fishing game but it's a lot of fun for smaller kids. And for older ones, like mine, this is an annual bone of contention because it always occurs right before state mandated standardized testing so we don't take her out of reviews to attend. Insert her sad face here...

There are tons of musical artists lined up and this year, quite frankly, everything about Dia seemed bigger and better than ever before. From the promotional materials to the stage to the acts, which included a man and woman who did lots of "human tricks." :-)

There were also camels. Yes, camel rides. No, we did not participate but only because the line was really long and I had to get back to the office.

Tonto and I did have a nice lunch with other faculty, staff and students and then we milled about campus a bit. We stopped off at the new NPHC garden on campus, which includes a monument stone and pavers (in addition to other info) about each of the NPHC sororities and fraternities. There's also a general Baylor area as well...

...and we also strolled by the residence hall I lived in my freshman year. Lots of things have changed about it and its surroundings but nothing can change the many memories that place holds for me.

Baylor truly does have a beautiful campus. Blessed to be here, for sure.

And if you don't believe me, come by for a visit some time. :-)

Such a fun day that provided a bit of a break for the busy season. Thankful to share memories of this annual event with my man. Sometimes it's good to have events that you share only with each other, right? That's what I keep telling myself when the mommy guilt creeps in. :-)

Weekly Top 10 - Picture Perfect

So...I'm back from my little blog break and all I can say is it's a good thing nothing was written here last week. Not only was it crazy busy with a capital "C" but I honestly thought a mental breakdown was in my future as Wednesday rolled around. 

You know those weeks when nothing goes right? Yes, one of those.

1. But some good things happened in the midst of chaos (as they always do if we look hard enough, I suppose). For instance, we took family pictures Monday evening before Taylor's volleyball game. We're scheduled to view them on Thursday but I snapped these two with Tonto's phone.

To say that I'm certain we'll love them and it will be difficult to choose is such an understatement, y'all. And while I'm sure Taylor and Dave will look amazing, I'm a little worried about me and Rambo. One of us needed our roots done and the other was scared out of his mind. :-)

2. There's been a lot of Baylor baseball talk going on because, well, they're kicking tail. Couldn't help but wear this t-shirt after the sweep of the Aggies.

3. My daughter has a new style that includes crew length, black Nike socks and plaid Polo shoes. Judging by the shoe game of many of our male basketball players, it would appear she's been taking lessons from them...

4. Someone wasn't happy his dad had to work last weekend so we sent him a picture to remind him of what he was missing at home.

5. After Rambo's less than brave performance while taking pictures, I heard he and his dad having a conversation the next night. It went something like this: "You know Daddy loves you, right? I know I'm hard on you sometimes but it's only because I want you to grow up to be strong and independent--and not a scaredy cat."

6. The next night I caught R making this face. Guess he's trying to look a bit more tough to please Dad.

7. Today we had the opportunity to hear Justice Sandra Day O'Connor speak on campus. She was absolutely amazing and her spunk made me smile. She is FUNNY, y'all.

8. Have I mentioned how much I love my job lately? :-)

9. All of the anniversary dates are past. And I survived. Praise the Lord!

10. Even when you have a string of days that are not your favorite, cute shoes can still bring a smile to your face!

Timeout

This week things will be quiet on the ol' blog. No, nothing is wrong. It's just time to take a little break. Besides, I didn't take any pictures this weekend since it revolved around shopping for family pics and taking the girl to the skating rink. We also went to church and cleaned house. And hit up the grocery store.

But, as you can see, nothing was really photo worthy. Unless you count the zebra striped nails my girl is currently sporting. If you know me at all, you are aware I've already counted that twice and made a mental note to take a pic of them...

But I digress.

The truth is that things have been non-stop busy at our house for several weeks. And I'm tired. We're trying to plan two trips in the summer and finalize the girl's camp schedule as well. Pretty sure we've all been tired for weeks. And we're closing in on the fiscal year at work, which means this week will be hopping as well.

There are also a couple of one year anniversary dates on my calendar this week and, honestly, I don't want to recap a bunch of things I can't change. I do, however, know my first response will be to do so here on those days. And I think we've all had enough of that for a while, right? :-)

Don't get me wrong - I love my job. I love my family. I love being active and busy - wouldn't change anything that's currently on my plate even if I could. But what I can do is carve out time where it's available and one of the few places that's possible is the blog.

The good news is we actually have some fun things planned this week and weekend so there will probably be photos galore (along with the ones I snapped at Diadeloso last week) to share next week.

Until then, have a fantastic week!

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23 NIV