We bought a House!!

It's official! We just got a call from the Realtor, the funding went through and we just got the call a few minutes ago. We are so excited and I am on my way to the house right now to get some cleaning done while David stays home and packs.
So off I go and can't wait to inform you more!

Who counts chicken's anyway?

So I have been trying to hide out. I have avoided this blog like the plague. And the only reason is because good news is on the way. And I have known about this good news for a while, but let's just be honest here. You should be blaming my mother for not letting me tell you anything.

Reasons being since she decided to ingrain into my head that I can not count my chicken's before they hatch.The way I learned that lesson as a child was due to a raffle done at the end of every six weeks in Junior School. The last raffle that was done of the school year was a bike. And I knew that I would win it. I talked about where I would ride my bike when I won it and how jealous everyone would be of me. And did I win the bike? NO! I won a gift certificate to T.C.B.Y.! And I don't even like frozen yogurt! So that was a bust and since then I really try to not "count my chickens before they hatch."

So since then, I will keep mum about things. But on Thursday morning, our news will be official. And also on Monday morning. And I'm sure there will be other things to announce as well. But those are the 2 biggest things right now in our life.
So until Thursday, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Good Night!

My Papa

On the 25th of July, my mom called me at 7:30 in the morning to inform me that my grandfather's time has come and to go back to San Antonio as quick as I could. David and I were at my grandmother's house at 9 am with breakfast since no one has eaten, and I knew it was going to be a long day ahead. At 1:15 pm, my grandfather passed away. It was a day full of family, trying to remind each other of his wonderful memories and trying to keep from crying. I knew that I wanted to write something for him from our family for his funeral. We went through a lot for the next few days, and I really think it was something needed for our family to help us through our process.

I wanted to share with you my speech for my grandfather. I know it can help me through my mourning, and I want to share with the world of what an amazing man he was.

I grew up knowing that Papa and Ma traveled around the world, living life and making wonderful memories. I remember the first time I got to meet them and was honestly a bit scared. More so of Papa than Ma. He stood there so stoic and proud and letting out just a little bit of a smile at me. At 5 years old I couldn't understand things the way I do now - I wasn't sure if he wanted to be my friend or not. But the more I have grown up, I can now look back and laugh at how silly I was. He was my Papa and he loved me with his whole heart. And it might have taken some years for me to actually see how much love he held for me, but when I finally saw it - I felt like I had wasted so many years just being foolish about this one thing.

I thought I knew enough about him when he passed. I knew that he loved his wife for over 50 years and that he was really proud of his only son. That he adored my mother and that he got a kick out of the fact that she knew how to handle his personality the way she did. He loved his only grandson as his own and always wanted the best for him. And with me, he loved my happiness for life and the fact that he never knew what I would do next. But the day he passed I was able to see something beautiful, something that I will never forget. That this one man was able to live his life out the way he wanted, and some how he was able to bring out some of the most amazing people in the world together, in this one room, to share this one moment. I saw love in a way that I never knew could exist and it was all because of Papa.

After his passing we decided to make a collage for him so everyone could see what he brought to this world, but I didn't expect to find out what I did. Being as lucky as I was to see his life documented, I realized - Papa has lived an amazing life. So amazing, that some people chase around their whole time on this earth just trying to grab a taste of it. He lost his father so young, but was still able to be strong enough to be there for his mother, brothers and sister. He was able to be placed in the perfect situation to run into the most beautiful woman in the world and make her fall in love with him and even get her to marry him. He was able to have a strong, wonderful son and show him the world and teach him about life. He traveled the world and saw some things that might be hard for some people, but instead of sulking on that, he made this world a better place. And even after he retired, he continued living his life to the fullest, traveling with Ma and sharing his stories and love for others.

I know for me it was hard to read him since he had such a strong personality, but now I see that he had to be strong, because he wasn't going to wait around for anyone else to be, he had to be the one to make things better. And by him standing up for what he knew what was right, it has changed my world. He had so much love to give, and just by him giving that out in his own way, it has given a rippled effect of love. And our job today, is to see that love, acknowledge it and continue to pass it on.

I am proud to call myself his granddaughter. I am proud to know his stories of his life, and continue to share them out with this world. Because Papa was special, and he is a special caliber of person that this world is missing and very much needs now a days. I hope one day, I can say I did just as much as he did in my life. I hope that one day this pain of missing him won't hurt as much as it does now. And I hope he's looking down on us right now and smiling at the fact that we are all here today, celebrating his amazing life.

I love you Papa.

Adios and Vaya con Dios

Ten on Thursday

I missed the last Ten on Tuesday last week - So I did it on Tuesday, and catching up with this weeks today! I know its a little confusing, but here you go!

1. What is your current favorite television show?
There just can't be just one! Here is a list of shows I watch with my wonderful Husband...
* America's Got Talent
* Burn Notice
* Psych
* If you really knew me
* Tosh.0
* The Soup
The shows I watch by myself
* Project Runway
* Teen Mom
* Jersey Shore
* Keeping up with the Kardashians
* Kourtney and Khloe take Miami
and anything else bad that rots your brain.

2. Apple juice or orange juice?
Can't I have both? Apple Juice is wonderful for a hangover and orange juice is great to create that hangover!

3. It’s Shark Week on Discover Channel. Do you watch? Why or why not?
I've always thought about watching, but don't really care. It's just a shark. And I find the term 'Great White Shark' very offensive and racist.


4. What are the non-blog websites that you visit regularly?
* Google
* The Daily What
* Facebook
* Blame it on the Voices
* Beer or Kid
* The High Definite

I keep busy at work :)


5. What is your favorite way to prepare green beans? Asparagus? Potatoes? Carrots?
Green Beans: Steamed or in a casserole
Asparagus: Steamed or Grilled
Potatoes: Chopped into sticks and deep fried
Carrots: Grilled, with squash and Zucchini

6. What is your favorite flower?
Daisies! They were my wedding flower, and if I could have an entire garden of daisies, I don't think I could ever be sad in my own back yard.

7. How do you feel about handkerchiefs?
Indifferent. Maybe a touch of class, depending if you actually wash them after a use.

8. If you could only shop at 3 stores for the rest of your life, what would they be? (You probably should include a grocery store.)

I will place HEB and Central Market in the same boat since they are under the same people that run them. Lowe's. and..... JC Penny. I always find the craziest sales there.

9. If you could only use wine for one purpose for the rest of your life, which would you choose? To cook with or to drink?
Drink! I use straight alcohol for cooking. Wine is something I will always enjoy drinking.

10. What’s your bedtime?
Whenever I get too tired waiting for David to get sleepy and I just give up. Between 10 and 12.

Ten on Tuesday

These are starting to get fun! Hope you enjoy!

1. How do you take your coffee on an average day? How do you like your coffee if you’re spluging?
Coffee at work is with 1 Splenda, 1 Sweet N Low and one creamer. If I am at starbucks - Triple, Grande, Sugar Free Vanilla, Non-Fat, 2 Sweet N Lows, at 140 degrees, latte. I know I'm picky.

2. What is your genre of books to read?
I've tried different things - but my favorite are sappy strong female stories.

3. Where do you want to retire, if you could go anywhere?
Out of the country would best. The kids could all get scholarships and go away to school and David and I could move to some place wonderful, like Spain or Costa Rica.

4. The 17-year-old you is told to write a 10-minute speech. What topic would you have picked?
Some provocative. I enjoyed pushing my limits and make some people feel uncomfortable with my work.

5. What word describes you best?
Tired.

6. What is the next “event” that you are looking forward to? (ex.: vacation, moving, date, job change, etc)
David and I are in the process of buying a house. If things go well we can be closing this month. That would be something wonderful!

7. Do you like to discuss controversial topics or do you prefer to avoid those types of conversations?
I love controversial topics, because I tend to hang out with people that just talk and keep their cool on the subject. Those happen to be some of the best conversations I have ever had and has really helped me learn more about my friends.

8. Would you rather add 4 free hours to each day, or add 1 extra day to the week?
I would enjoy 4 extra free hours a day. That would be so great to be able to enjoy more time with my hubby.

9. If you created a sports team; what would your colors and mascot be?
The Unicorns!! And the colors would be the colors of the rainbow!! Hooray!

10. If you had to be a teacher, what subject would you teach?
Child Education. It just so happens to be the subject that I know most about- honestly I do. I don't know how many times i have explained why or how is the best way to handle situations with growth development of a child.

Game Nights

How I love Game Nights... let me count the ways! Last Sunday we had a terrific game night. David and I cleaned the house on Saturday so all we had to worry about on Sunday was actually having food prepared. David had decided he wanted to do Grilled Chicken Salads for Game Night Dinner. I was a little worried of how it was actually going to turn out - but it was one of the best salads I have ever had. We had 2 different types of lettuce. Lots of tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, chopped up turkey bacon, cheese and croutons. We had 3 different types of salad dressing and let me tell you, it was so DEEE-LIC-IOUS!!!! Once we stuffed ourselves with green food, we started game night. Pata brought the game Chutes and Ladders. It was so great to be able to see a bunch of 20- somethings (except David, he's 30) have such a fun time with Chutes and Ladders. We tried as hard as we could to play with logic and play with the intellecutal side of your brain- but it's hard when the only way you can move forward is to spin a higher number than a lower number - yea I know, Rocket Science! So we played this delightful game and had a great time doing so. We then decided to play a game of Apples to Apples which I have explained about before. It's a super fun game and finished just in time for Pata to head out and watch her show True Blood. So we packed up the games and had a movie night. We have been planning this movie/game/dinner night all week.

David was insistent to have me watch Labyrinth. I was a little taken back in the beginning of the movie- not sure what to think of it. But the puppets and David Bowie was hands down amazing! It was such a fun movie and thanks to David singing me many songs from that movie, I was actually able to keep up with my friends sing in the back ground. So that was our game night. We had such a lovely time and I''m sure there will be many more!

Moonshine

Wow! It's almost been a week! I swear, I don't know where the time went. I have honestly been very distracted and busy- and I mostly blog at work since there isn't much to do recently, so now I have tried to find some time and something to actually talk about.
On Saturday, David and I went to go visit our family and hang out for a few hours. On the way back I realized we didn't have much planned to do that night. So we got home and David cleaned the kitchen, and I cleaned the living room and finished a load of laundry. Right when I had finished cleaning, I laid down on the couch to rest up and my friend Moses gave me a call. He is so amazingly awesome! I love him to death- so much he is the only person that can convince me to walk 10 miles in one day. I hasn't seen him in a while since he was out of town - so I was really excited to get to hang out with him and get my head on straight. So David and I met him at a cute little bar names Stompin' Grounds. It's a great little place off of Congress, they serve coffee, pizza pie and drinks. I think we had 2 drinks and lots of conversation when Moses suggested we go up to his loft, which was upstairs. I had always wanted to see Moses' place since it is amazing and he has some of the coolest things with the greatest stories behind them.
Then Moses tells us he brought back some Moonshine from Georgia when he went to visit family. I had tried it before, but David and I decided to have a drink of it. It was mixed with orange juice and tasted very pure and tasty. Before you call the cops on me- it is not illegal for me to drink it. It is however to distill and distribute. So we had a great night of conversation and enjoyed some moonshine. Well David's little brother and his wife, Ben and Ashley, came in to town and got to meet my friend Moses as well. Ashley was a tad tired from working all day and coming up to Austin. I was pretty sure she wanted to make a night in - but after she had half a glass of moonshine and orange juice - she was like the energizer bunny. So we decided to join Moses and his trip to downtown. We went to 3 different dance clubs! We would walk in one - go find a place to dance and just sing at the top of our lungs. We actually all went upstairs to the balcony and Ashley and I danced it up! David and Ben thought it would be better to find out where the lasers where coming from that you could see on the dance floor.

So once we decided to leave downtown we stopped at a fun pizza place called Home Slice. I personally enjoy Hoboken Pie better- but if you are traveling down Congress- you should try a slice of Home Slice!
So in all honesty, I didn't go to bed til 3:30 am- and it has been a while since that has happened. But I think it really did need to happen. I had a fantastic time with my husband and family and the best friend in the whole world, Moses. I've been trying to distract myself and stay stress free recently. Moses really helped me see what is important and what I should focus on. And if for one night it was a glass of moonshine and a dance party- I will gladly accept that.