Siblings

Carrie - My older sister. I've always looked up to her!  She inspires me daily.  She reminds me of my grandma Myers.  She's book smart and common sense smart.  In my eyes she's beautiful, talented, strong and can do anything!  This is no lie that's exactly how I see her.  Over the past couple years her and I have grown closer and I'm so grateful for that.

Eric - my older brother, my twin born two years earlier then me...haha.  Growing up him and I were inseparable and forced together.  We had a falling out for some years but then came together again.  I remember him and Crystal drove 6 hours to surprise me for my 21st birthday, I'll never forget that!  We don't talk now as much as I'd like but he's my brother and was there for me when I needed him most last year, even though he probably doesn't even know it.


Amber - the youngest, the baby of the family.  She's like this combination of us mixed with her own uniqueness, it's amazing to see.  She's unbelievably compassionate with the biggest heart and although she hates school she's really good at it.  To have watched her grow up I would say is similar to watching your child grow up, it's scary, surprising, stressful, exciting and amazing all at once.  She amazes me constantly with her "wise beyond her years" moments.  I'm so very proud of her and look forward to her future!

Crystal - She's not my sister by blood but my sister just the same.  Carrie and Crystal were best friends when they were younger but Crystal became a "Myers" along the way.  Crystal is one of the most selfless people I have ever met.  She has taught me so many things.  I don't get to see her as much as I'd like and I miss her often.

Jay - Carrie and Jay have been dating for way over 10 years ( I always say over 10 because I've lost count).  I remember when Carrie first told me she had a boyfriend and me being the "nosy" sister that I am I grilled him to the point of asking him what shampoo and toothpaste he used (these are important things to know about your sisters boyfriend).  Jay is a unique person (the best kind), he challenges what you think but in a curious manner, he gets giddy like a kid over certain things and he treats my sister like the Goddess she is and that is what really matters.  My sister and Jay aren't married but he's my brother just the same.  I'm hoping one day I'll be able to plan their Harry Potter themed wedding.

Abbey - My new sister-in-law.  If I could only tell you how glad I am that her and Eric found each other, how grateful I am that she put up with my brother.  Hopefully she doesn't take offense to this but I feel like she fits in so well into our family, that she was one of the missing pieces.  Her and Amber have grown close and I can't tell you how much that means to me and how happy that makes me.  She's an amazing person, I admire her "go with the flow" attitude and goofiness.
 

Tasha - My cousin, my sister.  We both know we're more then sisters.  We don't talk as much as I'd like but I think of her constantly.  I think she's an amazing mom!  I wish she could see how beautiful she is on the inside and out.  Her mom would be so proud of her, I know I am! 

I'm so grateful for my siblings they are all unique and amazing in their own way!

"Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life."

I've always said that I won the lottery in the friend department and believe me I did!  I remember my first friend ever Lacey Terenzio, her and I did everything together when we were younger.  We grew apart later on in life but found each other on facebook a few years ago and got back in touch and try to get together when I'm in town (I'm working on getting her to Texas to visit).  I have a lot of memories of her and I growing up.

In high school I had some of the most amazing people in my life, each of them know who they are, I'm still friends with them to this day even though we all live so far apart (Arizona, to Texas, Texas to D.C., D.C. to Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania to Connecticut, the list goes on).  I don't talk to them all the time or see them much but I think of them every day and wish them nothing but good things in their lives.  I do know that I can count on them through thick and thin.

When I got to college I met new people and made new friends.  I'm in contact with a lot of them as well, some I'm closer to then others.  It's funny because sometimes the people you think you'll grow apart from you don't, and vice verse.

When I moved to Houston almost five years ago I made a new round of friends and then I moved to Dallas, it's taken me a while to meet new people here and make new friends because I didn't know anyone in the area but I'm starting to.

I just want to say that I'm grateful to all the people in my life whether you were my first friend, my best friend in high school, a co-worker, someone I met through Clifton, an old friend a new friend, etc.  I may not talk to you often or see you that much but I promise you I think of you daily and I'm grateful to know you.

Law of averages

I have a love hate relationship with running.  Some days, who am I kidding, most days it's a struggle just to get my feet on that pavement.  Not as often though it's not as much of a struggle once I'm out there, it's not easy by any means either!  However, once in a while, once in a blue moon I have  a run that is simply so enjoyable (yes, I said enjoyable) so easy (yup, I said easy too) that I think I could run forever.

The first time this happened to me was when Clifton and I ran our first 10k at the Cowtown Marathon event in Ft. Worth this past February.  We had never run this distance before and didn't want to start out too fast to hurt ourselves in the long run so you have to understand that we weren't running at any fast pace, we just wanted to complete the race and do our best to not stop (which we did both).  I remember enjoying my random play list, watching the sun rise as we came down one of the hills and us pointing to all the interesting t-shirts people were wearing to advertise their group/business, the whole thing was simply enjoyable, not bad for an hour of running!

Following this race I ran a few days later and had a very similar experience of an enjoyable run, at this point I thought maybe this is it, this is how "runners" feel and that's why they love to run so much and do it so often.  I felt like I had finally reached a pivotal moment in my running!  I was wrong!  

I will tell you this though that some days if you can just get yourself on that pavement and start, you'll be glad you did and even if it's a crappy run, just remember what my dad always use to tell me "at least you're out there doing it!"  Also, those scarce enjoyable runs can occur at any point and the more you run the more they're likely to occur, law of averages, right!?

I had an enjoyable run the other day, I hadn't been running in probably about 2 weeks so I didn't know what to expect, but I got a nice surprise and I'm grateful for that!  Grateful for running, even if it is a love/hate relationship.

We decided to start a fire the other night...

I loved the house I grew up in, my dad/mom don't live there any more we moved out of it when I was 11 or 12.  The house had this amazing fireplace, that my dad built.  It was made of brick and it was beautiful!  I remember waking up each morning in the winter and running to the fireplace to get warm.  I'd sit there waiting for my dad to bring me the hot chocolate he was making.  It made getting up that early and having to go school a little bit easier to take. 

I haven't experienced a fireplace since then at least not one of my own.  Living in Texas fireplaces aren't as common.  Well the apartment we moved into in September did come with one.  I remember when we looked at the place and getting excited about having a fireplace but at the same time wondering "would this be something we take advantage of or will it end up going unused?"

Well I can tell you we took advantage!  We decided to start a fire the other night!  It was nice sitting there eating dinner and watching a movie next to the fire.  I'm grateful for the fireplace in our new apartment!

"oh this must be like when cable companies give you free movies stations during the holiday weekend...

We traded in or maybe upgraded is a better way of putting it our Toyota in March.  We were both super excited because it was our first brand new car, I'm talking zero miles!  With the deal came free XM Satellite radio, at the time we weren't sure for how long, come to find out it was only 3 months.  Better than nothing!  So after 3 months we didn't have it renewed and just continued with our regular radio stations.  Well Clifton called me a couple months back telling me that the people from XM called and offered us a pretty sweet deal (can't remember what it is, surprise) but he wanted to talk to me first before accepting so he told the salesman to call back.  Well he never did.

We were in the car the other day, running errands I'm sure, and flipping radio stations as usual and discovered that most of our XM stations are back!  We weren't sure what to make of it.  Honestly, my first thought was "oh this must be like when cable companies give you free movies stations during the holiday weekend, XM gives you free radio stations"  Well it's Tuesday after the Thanksgiving weekend and I can tell you that we still have our XM stations coming in loud and clear!  I don't know why or how this has happened but I'm grateful for it, even if it is for just a short period of time!

Thanksgiving

Clifton and I spent Thanksgiving with his mom and her husband, Clint in Austin.  We won't get to see them for Christmas, seeing as we'll be spending it with my family in Pennsylvania.  We got there on Wednesday evening just in time for some home made dinner!  We spent the evening hanging out, chatting, attempting to open a bottle of wine without a wine key, looking at pictures, etc. 

After the evening had ended I told Clifton that I had a really good time and that I felt very much at home.  He said he felt the same way with my family when he first met/hung out with them.

I'm grateful that both of us feel this way about one each others family.  I'm also grateful for a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Clint, Lela (Clifton's mom), Clifton and Me!

Rylee bear

I don't have any kids of my own and my siblings don't have any either.  So when my cousin Tasha got pregnant I immediately told her that I wanted to be upgraded to aunt!  She of course had no problem with it, not that a title really matters but Tasha and I are more like sisters then cousins anyways. 

On August 28th of 2009, Rylee Ann was born.  She was without a doubt (no lie) the cutest baby I have ever laid eyes on (I know some close seconds)!  As she gets older she only gets cuter!

 Bear and I last Thanksgiving playing

My first gift to Rylee was a pink pair of Chuck Taylors (hey, I've got to teach her).  Now it's become a thing between her and I.  I will not let her parents or anyone else buy her Chucks.  She's on her 4th pair.  I told Tasha that I'll be buying her Chucks until she graduates college!  Last pair I bought her she was so excited she showed them off at day care the next day!  I can't wait until her and I can design them together!  I hope that this is what she has one day...

She turned two this year and I didn't get her chucks but I did get her pink cowboy boots....

So I'm grateful for Rylee bear, she can always put a smile on my face (even just through a picture) and I'm grateful for our Chuck Taylor bond.  I look forward to watching her grow up and spending more time with her in the future.

Flexibility

We rented Horrible Bosses this weekend.  If you haven't seen it there's this part where the guy is getting yelled at by his boss for being 2 minutes late, yes two minutes.   While I was watching this, I thought to myself "Wow, I'm so glad my boss isn't like that!"  I'm pretty lucky when it comes to my work schedule.  I used to be a sales representative and with that your schedule is a lot more flexible and you in a way make your own schedule.  When I was promoted to the Retail Operations Analyst it meant that I would work out of our Region office, mostly working a 8-5 gig.  I recall my first year with the company, I was almost always the first one in and last one out.  I didn't know how things worked and I didn't want to make a bad impression.  We don't clock in or anything, but you never know who's "watching."  I've been working out of the office now for just over 2 years and you come to find out that our schedule has some flexibility. 

Most days of the week I'll come in about 7:30 and I won't take a lunch, unless I have errands to run.  I asked my boss a few weeks back if it would be ok that a few days a week I leave about 20 minutes early so that I could get a run in outside before it gets too dark.  He replied with "yeah, that's fine."  So I'm grateful that I am allowed to make adjustments to my schedule to better fit my needs.  Not many people are lucky enough to have this.  I'm not only grateful for that but for a boss who treats me well and a job that I enjoy!

21 more days!

Twenty one more days and Clifton and I will be jetting off to the great north, or Pennsylvania, take your pick!  We didn't think we'd be making it in to see my family this year (you may have already read about it in an earlier blog titled "The Decision") but I happen to find an awesome deal and felt that it was "fate" telling us to go!  Not to mention everyone who offered a monetary contribution, transportation service, moral support, etc.

So I'm grateful that we get to spend Christmas at home in Pennsylvania with my family!  I'm grateful that the airlines didn't take all our monies and I'm so very grateful to all those who offered help (even if it wasn't taken, you have no idea what the gesture meant)!! 

I hope that everyone gets to spend the holiday with their family, friends and loved ones!

Customer service isn't dead

I NEVER wore make-up in high school, anyone who went to school with me can attest to this.  I didn't get into wearing make-up probably until my sophomore year of college.  However, eventually I did and about 2+ years ago I came across bare escentuals, bare mineral product.  I had heard some great reviews about it and they had a great starter kit.  I was sick of liquid foundation and ready for a change so I bought it.  That purchase will go down in history as one of the best ones ever made!  I fell in love with it immediately, even introduced a couple people to it!  The product is a bit pricey BUT lasts a LONG time and does NOT EXPIRE!  Who could ask for more!?!  

I don't need product often but I don't always realize when I'm running low and finding a near by bare escentuals boutique is not easy.  My other options are Ulta or Sephora but they don't have the selection a boutique does.  So yesterday knowing Clifton and I had mall errands to run I asked if we could make a trip to the North Park mall instead of the one literally less then a mile from our apartment and he said "yes!"  So off we went.  My first stop was bare escentuals and luck would have it, it was right there when we walked into the mall!  I should have known that was a good sign.  So I went straight to the store while Clifton got us some coffees.  I was immediately greeted and asked if I needed help and I went right into it..."Yes, I need foundation, but a lighter color then I have, I need mineral vail and a new blush, please!"  She was like of course let's see what color foundation will work best for you so she had me sit down and she washed my face, applied 3 foundations to pick from.  Then she washed them off, applied a new layer of the foundation I had chosen and then it was on to blushes.  I was unsure at first about the one she put on me so we tried a second one but turns out she knows her stuff cause I went with the first one.  She was so nice and so patient with me.  Then as I was checking out she said I got a free make-up bag and I got to choose a free gift.  I picked a card and I got a free full size eye liner!  I was so excited!

That little trip made my night!  That's what I call good customer service (even without the goodies)!  So I'm grateful for employees like that who take care of you and for surprise goodies, it's nice to get free things once in a while, even nicer when they're things you'll use!

If you haven't tried or don't own Bare Escentuals, Bare Minerals I highly recommend it!

http://www.bareescentuals.com