Vroom Vroom

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I thought I would catch everyone up. David bought a motorcycle! Yes. Yes, he did. It is quite interesting what everyone response to it is. But my opinion is that I think it is quite awesome. He has another bike that is on its last limb and I would prefer he get rid of sooner than later, but we will see. Anyway, he bought a bike. We had to drive up to Round Rock to go see it and check it out. It looked like a great bike, but I am the type of person that forgets what side the gas goes in on my car, so obviously I didn't know much about bikes. But I know it looked pretty and that I looked good riding on the back of it. So I said yes and David thought about it. Next day, which was Monday, he left work and went to go pick it up.It is actually a great bike and we got a great deal on it. The gentleman we bought it from lost his job and was lucky enough to find another one, but it didn't pay as much as he was used to. So they had to sell it, and he was very picky about who it went to. So lucky for us, he got along well with David and saw what an experienced rider he is.So what are we doing to prepare for a new motorcycle in our life? Funny you should ask. This coming weekend we will be going to a 3 day motorcycle class. I have only been on a motorcycle once while it was moving and that was last Tuesday, and it was just around the block. So it really is important for me to learn more, and since David has been riding for over 10 years, it is always smart to take a refresher course. I am just excited that I won't be taking the course by myself, I am so worried I might cry if I fall off the bike in the riding practice.Now don't get me wrong, I am still terrified of bikes. It's taking me some getting use to, but you should see David when he rides it. He loves riding so much and I know that with everything he has in his life, he has too much to risk losing it and that is how I know he will be safe. So allowing myself to sit on the back, I could only do that if I am riding with him. Hopefully this week we will be getting my helmet and the rest of my gear. I am hoping for a baby blue color, but we will see what is available. But the plan is, after I get my certified to ride the bike, we will be taking it to San Antonio to show it off in front of my dad and then we will be taking it to Lago Vista when we go up there for a mini get-away. We've talked about what we will do when we become pregnant, and David is very determined to keep me off the bike. It made me wonder for a bit, what was the point if I would only ride it for a few months. The point is that it will actually give me comfort when my husband goes riding on it by himself. I honestly would throw a fit whenever he rode his bike, but I really am getting better about it. He doesn't ride at night and he doesn't ride when the ground is wet. I am getting used to being the wife of a biker and actually started to become excited about being a biker myself. Now the hardest part is having to find a name for the bike...

Wedding Season is Here!

So it sometimes feels that it's either everyone we know is already married and having babies or is about to get married and then have some babies. And then there are the awesome single people in my life that I love so much that keep me young. But let me get back to the point... Wedding Season. It is officially March and that means it is warming up in Texas. The flowers are blooming and the weather is getting warm, what wonderful weather for a wedding. (Say that 3 times fast!) So since it is just perfect wedding weather, our friends Christine and Michael decided to get hitched, or 'bona fide' as I say. So David and I decided get all dolled up and head on down to San Antonio.We got to the wedding pretty early, but I had to see my grandmother since she had surgery recently. So David stayed for the wedding to represent the Balentine's and I ran off to see my grandmother. I got back just in time to swing by and pick David up and head over to the reception. It really was such a lovely wedding and we had a fabulous time. We ended up getting them a gift that every Texan needs in the winter, a fire-pit. We had some delicious food and some super sweet yummy cake. I got to dance with the bride and even with the groom! Oh, and there was the cutest little one I have seen in a long time. Blog world, please meet David's godson, Trey.

He is just the cutest thing ever and we love him so much!

(He is Teething right now, so he loved my seashell ring)

His birthday is coming up and because gas is so high, we won't be able to see him but we made sure to get him his birthday gift early. And to celebrate his birthday in our own way, we are taking Motorcycle Lessons!
yea.. I know, I will explain it in a later blog. Anyway- so we got to see some super great friends, share some laughs and drink some free booze. I really can't think of a better Saturday than that, even if it is Wedding Season.

Bonus Checks

So David and I both work for AT&T. David originally worked for Wayport which was an Austin based company that ended up being purchased for the big conglomerate known as AT&T. So then David started working for AT&T and climbing up the business ladder, then I decided to join the team. I started off on the bottom of the totem pole but I have been slowly moving myself up the chain and am now the Trainer for the Technical Center. David and I break it down for people that He makes the Internet and I teach people how to fix it. You get the point.
But when AT&T bought out Wayport things started to change, as they normally will, but one thing that was very exciting was the fact that we get a bonus check once a year. It depends on how high you are up on the scale to determine your percentage. And then there is the addition of how well the company did as a whole. This year our company did very well so we got a little extra in the bonus.
The hard part about the bonus was that AT&T has owned our company for over 2 years, but no one got a bonus last year. And that was not fun at all for anyone, so when this year rolled around and everyone got their bonus... we had a lot of fun with it.
We all decided to go to Bender to celebrate. It was so great to have another reason to go out and hang with everyone. We really always have a fabulous time.

Obviously, I enjoyed every penny I could squeeze out of that bottle to enjoy myself that night.

51 Hours to Live

Monday night, I decided to surf the web and check out a favorite website I have. One of the news reports was that there was an event going on in Reddit.com where you can "Ask Me Anything". It's a forum post that allows you to ask someone anything you want to and have them answer. One post that caught my eye was "I have 51 hours to live."
It was a forum help by a guy who had been fighting a battle with Lymphoma Cancer and he decided to take control and end his battle with Cancer by taking the Oregon's Death Act so he would die with dignity. He stated about himself that "Who I was doesn't matter. I'm in pain, I'm tired and I'm finally being granted a small shred of respect."
After reading through the many posts, I started to realize more of our society. With someone deciding to end their life with respect, they decided to treat him with their up most respect. I don't know what it feels like to be dying, but I can only see that there is a bit of clarity with it. While reading through someone wrote him a quote from Socrates, "To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise, for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest good that can happen to them, but they fear it as if they knew quite well that it was the greatest of evils. And what is this but that shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not know?"
With everything that was posted, it was amazing to see that one thing this dying man wished he accomplished was to have traveled more. So the internets decided to tell him 'hello' from around the world and send him pictures of some of their favorite places in the world. I couldn't comment because I don't feel that I have anything important that he needs to spend his time reading, but in case you want to ask him something or just read this amazingly beautiful story of the end of a life, feel free to check out Lucidending on Reddit.com
He has been on my mind all day, just hoping that he wasn't in pain anymore and everything was ok for him. I leave you with an amazing quote written by this gentleman, and just remember you are alive, that's one thing to be happy about.
"Nothing we have is worth hurting anyone else for. It's all fleeting people. Stop seeing race, color, sex, religion, etc.... Theyre all just people, and if you try to love them you won't lose anything."
- Lucidending. Reddit - 2011

Ten on Tuesday

Sending a Howdy and a Thank You to Roots and Rings for always hosting the wonderful Ten on Tuesday.

1. How did your parents decide on your name?
Funny that you ask. The way I remember it was that my mother had a dream that the Virgin Mary came to her and told her that she would have a daughter and she would name her after the Virgin Mary's sister, Elizabeth. Yep. So that's how I got my name.

2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
EKB. I have mentioned it before, but I have the same amount of letters in my first and last name. I think that is kind of cool.

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
I choose to keep my childhood middle name. Kelly. I was named after the Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. And with my maiden name 'Pena' I thought if I had it as my middle name I would sound like a law firm. Pena and Balentine, Law Enforcement!

4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
I think the first same letter is kind cheesy. And I hate things like Jack and Jill, fairy tale type of things. But we have already talked about names for future children and David and I both think it's best to involve family names.

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
When I was a teenager I swore that I would name my first son Harvey Danger. So he could say his middle name was 'Danger', girls name not so much.

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
Not that I know of. There are some great names out there but nothing that has been used over and over again.

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
Just the name itself. I don't think the meaning of a name determines what kind of person they end up being. But I do think that just the name itself can give you a first impression of the person.

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
Actually, we name them with human names. But after musicians. Erin Copland. Johnny Cash and Ella Fitzgerald

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
Hated Names: Joni. Beth. Jennifer. Hannah. I could go on, but I might mention too many names.

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
Bruce, Katherine, Madeline. I'm sure I could think of more, but it has been quite a long day and I call this the end of my post.

Pata, Lucy and Bear! Oh My!

The last weekend of February my girlfriends and I decided it would be good to get out of the house and go to the Zoo. Sometimes it's hard with all of our schedules to find time to hang out with each other, but when we actually get around to it, it really is a fantastic time. So last Saturday, my friend Pata (Patricia) came over to the house and we sat around watching the end of Back to the Future with David while we waiting for the sun to come out and warm our day up. Finally the sun broke out and the clouds parted and what was thought to be an ugly wet day, quickly became a fantastic warm sunny day. So we went to pick up our friend Lucy and head out to the zoo.

In a previous post I had told you about that amazing alligator hat I bought in San Antonio, yes I am a hat connoisseur and I thought it would be best to bring my hat with me to the zoo. Why? Well, because I knew they wouldn't sell a hat as awesome as this at the zoo and two, because I wanted to walk around looking so awesome with my amazing hat and have all those snotty little kids be jealous of me with my hat. And guess what, they totally were! I knew it, kids would point and me and say I want an alligator hat.. Well guess what kid, you can't have one. Sorry, but that's the lesson of life, you can't always get what you want.
Now besides me taunting little children with the excitement of me having such a great hat, we did happen to see lots of other things too. We saw the creation of life between two turtles. It was quite awkward and a little surprising, but it's nature. We also got to hear a Lion roar. I have never heard it before, and yes it is very loud. We got to see a pig get a back massage and we went to the petting zoo where our new friend not only ate all the food we had, but the paper bag as well.

Once we realized that we had finished the tour of the zoo and had seen everything there was to see, we starting winding things down. And that is when I saw something that made me look at motherhood and say "bring it!" A mother was walking along with her daughter that seemed to be between the ages of 3 and 4. While the girl was slightly running, she tripped and fell on her hands and knees. Her first reaction was to open her mouth and make an attempt of a quite cry. Then she was able to breathe in and that is when the howling started. The mom's first instinct was to pick her up and as she proceeded to pick her up, the little girl went to the bathroom all over herself and her mother. Yes, it was horrible to watch. Yes, I didn't know whether to look away or just stare. But it reminded me. Of the time when I was a nanny, and one of the boys I was watching decided to go to the bathroom while in a candy shop. And what did I do? I made him pack up his candy, took him to the car and had him change in the car into dry clothes. Why? because I was prepared. Yes, when I had to take care of kids, there was always an over-sized beach towel, a regular towel, unlimited amount of baby wipes, a box full of different snacks, bug spray, itch relief, a kite, bathing suits and yes, and extra pair of clothes. Not just for them, but for me as well. And what do you thin having all of that did for me? It gave me relief because when something happened I had it under control.
So yes, the zoo was an important wonderful day filled with memories that I will cherish forever. And yes every little child I passed was jealous of my hat while I stood proud and held my head high. But most of all I saw motherhood in the face, and told them to bring it. Because one day in the future, it will be me at the zoo, and I will be the one with a child who pissed them self, and I will be the one laughing but I got it under control.
(Note to self: Future Elizabeth, you have every right to read this post in the future, shake your head in disappointment and rewrite a new post of how very wrong you are)

Ten on Thursday

Thanks again to Roots and Rings for providing this weeks questions

1. What type of cell phone do you have and how would you rate it?

I have an HTC Aria and I would rate it a 8.95. It is a great phone. I love it. I used to have an iPhone and I would rate that a 2.1 + .5 points for teaching me different ways to express hatred towards a phone. If you have read my blog at all, you would know that technology is a pretty big thing in my household. David already has his 3rd phones in a year. Don't worry, he haggles his way of ever having to pay anything for it.

2. What has been your most serious injury?
I got bit by a dog once. But let me tell you of my dumbest injury. I sprained my ankle many times as a child, one way was due to us tossing around a medicine weighted ball around. I tried to convince a friend that I was stronger than a teenage mutant ninja turtle and I could kick the medicine ball like a bouncy ball. I kicked it and it didn't move, but my ankle did!

3. What is one movie you hate and why?
Any of David's horrible Sci-Fi movies. I once watched one with him and it enticed me because it had Luke Perry in it. That didnt make it better. It was sort of a low budget idea of the movie Armageddon but it had aliens? and Luke Perry wasn't as cute as he was in 90210 time, so it was a complete waste of time and now I don't watch those movies with him anymore.

4. How many email addresses do you have?
Too many. 2 yahoo accounts. One from highschool and one from college. One that i use and share a domain with my husband. One for my photography and one just for no reason at all. What a waste of email space!

5. What website do you waste the most time on?
The Daily What. I Heart that sight. It has the most interesting things and then I just repost it on the facebook and then everyone likes it and I look all clever.

6. Which mexican restaurant makes the best salsa?
I make the best salsa, I don't ever make it that often but there has been an occasion or two when I go all out and make my salsa. David loves it and I like to make him smile. I am pretty sure I will be making it in some time to come. Oh, but Chuy's has some amazing creamy jalapeño.

7. What is your dream car?
I pretty much have my dream car. It is a Dodge Hemi Charger. Oh by the way, did I mention that I have a Hemi? Yes, I have a Hemi. But if I could add another car to the list of cars that I own it would be a Dodge Hemi Challenger.

And let me just say, for the record. The only reason I do not own this car is by choice. I do not think it would responsible to drive such an amazing car as this and then to get it all dirty once we have a kid. Trust me, it would happen.

8. If you could spend up to $100 with no strings or restrictions or guilt, what would you buy?
I would go to the Outlet in San Marcos. I would either go to Dooney and Bourke or Coach. I need to own more. I have a problem. It's ok, but at least I can admit I have a problem.

9. What is your favorite board game?
Apples to Apples! It's the best game ever! David has decided to 'blow my mind' by reminding me that Apples to Apples doesnt have a board. But I would like to say that I don't care and it's just my favorite game so he can deal with it.

"That's right David! I'm talking to you, I know you can read this and you are smirking like a smirker stalker watching me right this while you watch Indiana Jones"

David's response "You mean watching you like someone who is right? Yea, that just happened. Snaaaapppp!"

This is my blog and I am awesome and so is Apples to Apples.

10. How often do you change your hairstyle?
Whenever I feel like it. Right now I have been getting my hair colored. I love it so much and my stylist is the best ever.