O'Christmas Tree

We are right smack dab in the middle of the Christmas Holidays.

The time is flying by and we'll be opening presents and wondering where the hell all of our money went in no time....

Here at our house....it isn''t about money (thank god) it's about spending time together....decorating the tree...putting the lights up outside and seeing all of our old ornaments....

BUT with a teenager in the house...we had a new tradition (to us that is) called:

"How fast can we decorate the tree so I can get the heck out of here and go to the movies with my friends"

You know that good ole tradition of the the kid rushing to finish while the mother gets more and more irritated and the step dad goes outside to miss the trainwreck that is no doubt about to happen in the living room.

You know that one all to well don't you, Mom!!!

It's a large dose of reality when just last year she was so excited about decorating the tree; she even baked us cookies. When the cookies were done she got them out of the oven, poured us each a glass of milk AND brought it to us. We ate them with the tree all lite up and watched one of the Christmas movies.

Not this year and I'm sure, now that I think about it, that will probably be the last kiddo Christmas thing I'll have with her and to tell you the truth there's nothing funny about that.

But on the up side as a mother of a teenager I LIVE for moments to make her do things that she isn't thrilled about. Christmas time will just have to become one of those things I force her to do and we'll both appreciate it in the end!!

So with no further ado.....here are some pics of our Christmas

Still working on outside...gotta finish the lights around our big tree!!! More pics to come.

"Clark, Audrey's frozen from the waist down....it's all part of the experience"

It's Christmas time and I can't believe it!!

Every year I'm going to be prepared and EVERY year it creeps up on me until literally I only have weeks to get ready!!!

Our household is pretty excited about decorating our new house. Going to hit up Hobby Lobby for some lights...no more of those crappy icicle lights that we can never get to hang right on those stupid plastic clips......who invented those things....what am I saying....we've been buying "those things" for 3 years.

We definitely have our work cut out for us...we have the Griswald's living about 3 houses down. Their house looks great and they've even incorporated their boat into the scenery!!

We have no boat, but we have spirit...YES WE DO!!

We were able to get our tree last night and I have to admit.....it's THE best tree we've ever had. Really close to being too big for our living room, but Hailey is totally excited and so are we.

Our plan is to put on some Christmas shows tonight...make chicken and dumplings for dinner (it's supposed to get down to 30 degrees here tonight) and deck the halls.

My next blog will be full of Christmas cheer....

I'll even post the pics of Jason (make that me) throwing the garland that just won't hang right or the strand of lights with that 1 bad bulb that screws up the whole strand.

Merry Christmas

Hair Hair Hair

So I'm so over this hair thing that I have going on....

It's long...It's stringy....it's a HOT MESS!!!

Seriously sometimes I feel like I have a mop on top of my head and the only way I'm totally satisfied is when it's on top of my head in a bun thing, but haven't I been doing that since 1993!!

My new obsession is to find a hairstyle...which includes cut and color that I love....get it and maintain it!!!

I found these pics and I really like them - I'm not so much concerned with the length as I am the actual style of it. I need STYLE!!!

I've actually had something really close to this one of Mandy Moore...super cute !!! Like I said it's the maintaining part that gets me...my hair grows really fast!!

Not sure if I love this one because of the hair or for the simple fact that I just love Nicole Richie....it's cute right??

What about the color - I always talked about going almost blonde....just scared about being able to go back dark if I wanted???

This one is pretty...not my favorite though!!!

I want to make a decision before Christmas and just DO IT!!!

Every time I walk into a salon I tell myself "Just go for it" and then I back out!!! This time that isn't an option!!!

Halloween 2009!!!

Since we moved here 3 years ago...oh my gosh has it been that long?? We have gone to the same Halloween party at a friend's house on the Island.

Every year there is a theme...First year was Hero's and Villains so we went as John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

2nd year was Law Enforcement - I went as an Officer Ivana Bribe....Jason went as Fire Marshall Bill and won 1st place!!! He looked GREAT!!

This year...no theme...you think that would have made it easy, but to tell you you the truth with everything else going on....it was hard.

So we kind of, maybe, took the easy way out....Robin, Jason and I went as the Seniors from Dazed and Confused.

We had a great night!!! Laughed harder than I thought possible. We were supposed to be taking some great pictures and this is what we came out with.

I couldn't convince him to stop doing this!!!

Annnnnnnnd scene.........after seeing this one I knew it was a lost cause....

Group shot at the Smith's house before we caravan over to the party!!!

Here are the Smith's....2 of the nicest people you'll meet!! Obviously Rick (Satan from Tenacious D..Pick of Destiny) won that night...He looked so great!!!

Just some more pictures

Next year will be MY year....1st Place here I come!!! More pics to come :)

WOW.....It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I posted - WOW....Have I been that busy? I know I haven't, but for the sake of this posting let's pretend; shall we....

The month of October went by SO fast I can't believe it. Hopefully November will go by at a snail's pace...for the main reason; Hailey will turn 14 at the end of this month. Can that be right?

I develop a shortness of breathe anytime I think about this!!! Seriously it's hard to breathe!!

So the month of October....well here is a little synopsis of how it was for us!!

Hailey's Jr.High Volleyball career ended this month!! She did so great and I can only tell her the measure of a true athlete is his/her improvement each year. She was so much better than last year...she knew her place on the court and her confidence soared!! We'll definitely be signing her up for more camps at the University over the summer.

My kickball days are in full swing...sometimes having 4 games a week!!! It's exhausting, but I really do love it!! I'm on an all girls team...The Hollaback Girls (don't ask...we really don't know where the name came from and I or Robin refuse to take credit for coming up with it)

Robin signed us up for a Co-Ed team this year...Big Sam....I'm not ready for this kind of kickball. The men are huge and the girls are beast....not my cup of tea, but I show up..try to make an attempt to not be killed and go home...that's the extent of my Co-Ed skills. There isn't anything like kickin butt in the Women's league and going to a Co-Ed game and having your confidence stomped into the ground like your face when you try to catch one of their balls. I'm pretty much over this team.....only a couple of more games to go :)

Just started a new Winter League...first game tonight 10 o'clock!!! All I can say about this team is they sell beer at the fields...NUFF SAID!!!

Took Hailey to a concert ..all she wanted for her B-Day was to go to this concert in San Antonio..All Time Low, We the Kings, Hey Monday and Friday Night Boys...The Glamour Kills Tour. This concert was on a school night..her grades have been good and all in all she really is a good kid so I talked to some of her friends parents and they were all for it. Picked the girls up from school at noon on Thursday and took them home to get all dolled up and we hit the road.

The weather was calling form some pretty bad storms for later that night so I was pretty nervous about driving by myself...even though it got really cold no rain so I was all good!!

We got to San Antonio and Hailey could hardly contain herself!!! She was running and jumping and just so excited - We arrived about an hour and a half before the gates opened so we got in line and I was all set to be entertained by our society's youth.....

I think we should all be a little concerned...just kidding...?

The girls literally got 1 row from the center stage.....I stayed in the back and tried to stand on my tippy toes just trying to get a glimpse of my kid amongst the sea of teenagers...no luck. I didn't see them until the end of the concert when they emerged from the front completely stoked about the last 4 hours of complete shoulder to shoulder rockin!! They were soaked from all the sweat and water and grossness...They loved it!!!

So at 11:30 we piled in the car and headed home....it took only 30 minutes of the humming of the road to put them fast asleep....I turned on my talk radio and headed southbound!!! Made it home about 1:30...hit the sheets and actually didn't feel to bad the next day. So glad we did it - she made some memories that night that she'll have forever!! Love you Hailey!!

Obviously the last thing is Halloween in October - We had a great time and I want to post some pictures so that will be my next post.

I promise I won't wait so long in between posts!!!

Austin City Limits Music Festival 2009

So about a year ago we started planning our ACL trip for October 2009. I am on the mailing list to find out when tickets go on sale early and we bought 2 days of the 3 day festival for $85.00 a ticket....not bad right???

Friday: Kings of Leon and Beastie Boys (Beastie Boys ended up cancelling due to one of them developing cancer)

Sunday: The Toadies, Ben Harper, Pearl Jam

Well as it came closer to time -some things changed. Hailey started school...made the volleyball

team and her last tournament fell on the same weekend as ACL....of course. So we sold our Friday ticket so I wouldn't miss her last tourney (I'm glad I did...they got 2nd place!!!)

So plan was to leave Saturday about 2 head to Austin....and be at the concert by 1 o'clock Sunday

Off we went....Robin, Heather and myself in hopes to find some fun, sun and some great music...

2 out of 3 ain't bad...?

It started raining about San Marcos and it just came down with a vengeance. Thank goodness we didn't have Saturday tickets right.....wrong.

(Just a glimpse of me through the girls eyes that weekend :)

ANYWAY....back to my story

C3, the people who host this whole ACl, had just invested about 2 mil on beautifying Zilker park. Beautiful lush green grass..mother nature had other plans (as she often does)...It started to rain about 2 days before the festival was to begin.

After watching the ACL coverage of Saturday that beautiful green grass had started to become a freakin mud pit.

So we decided we better hit Academy and see what kind of rain gear we could find...

I'm convinced these boots will be all the rage this fall!!!

We figured we weren't going to win any cuteness awards for our attire, but neither would anyone else; so we went with it!!

The best $20.00 spent that weekend....FOR SURE!!!

We got to ACL and the city did such a great job of organizing the whole thing....they had free shuttle buses that were constantly moving people to the park. We went through the line and didn't stop once to wait.....it was great!!!

We go to the festival and sure enough....mud pit..... I won't even try to use descriptive words for what it looked like, but just imagine Grandma and Boompa's pasture after a day of torrential rain pour and 300,000 cows herding around.

That pretty much will give you a sense of what it looked like and what it smelled like. Think about all that fertilizer being churned up in a gooey mess. Someone said it was like walking in chocolate pudding that smelled like sh*!..
It was GREAT!!!

Our group started out pretty strong, but by about 4 o'clock

Only 2 stood standing

We got really close to the Toadies and actually pretty close to Pearl Jam, but Robin stands a whole 5'3" so she was looking at people's backs, but she was a trooper.

Overall:

The music was amazing...the beer was cold ($8 for a TALL boy $5 for 12oz.)....and the people were great!!!

Can't wait til next year.......

Great website

So I get a link to this website through yahoo so you may have already been or seen this website, but it has some really great stuff in it!!

It's in my favorites

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/

Fall Stuff

So I want to become a little more fashion forward with my new attitude towards being healthy.

Cuz we all know when you look good you feel GREAT!!! So here are some things I've been reading about that's going to be HOT for this fall!!

Ankle Booties - I will have me a pair of these this year - Forever 21 has some really cute ones that are really affordable - $27.80!! HELLO!!

Cute Right!!!!

I definitley have to UP my accessory wall at home.....I guess from having NONE I can't go anywhere, but UP!!

Basically my jewelry collection is so none existent. I am in desperate need of some cute bracelet's, rings, earrings, you name it I need it.

I found this cute store in Corpus called Dusty's. It's wall to wall accessories in every size, shape and color!! Not to mention super cute hand bags and wallets!! Definitley plan on making some trips to that store soon

Next is a jacket. I want a really cute business-y one this year. Forever 21 is again your one-stop shop for things like this. They have every kind of jacket you could imagine and most of them are under $30.00!! I KNOW!!!

I am in the midst of looking for some jeans that actually fit right - The ones I always end up buying either stretch out so much they are unreconizable or they shrink so much they aren't long enough. Hailey really wants me to try skinny jeans - not sure about that. The whole "poured" into your pants look is way beyond me, but we'll see!!!

That's it for now - When I find some other cute stuff I'll definitley post them!!!

Please do the same :)

Jingle Bells Jingle Bells

The holidays are coming and to be honest I'm scared.

I've been working so hard...SO HARD on losing this extra weight and I have this horrible deep rooted feeling that once the weather gets cold and the holidays roll around it's all going to go down the tubes. Kind of like food down my throat....uugghhh

My biggest down fall is sweets. I just learned, recently I may add, that I get that lovely little trait from my father...thanks Dad

It's bad...I would live off of them if I could...seriously.

So my new expedition is to find new and tasty ways to not deprive myself of this "addiction" for the holidays.

Hailey and I love to cook together so we're going to make a list of sweets to make for the holidays that won't have me crying about my "genes" into the New Year.

Here are some of the things I'm going to try this year....

Rocky Road Fudge
Serving Size: 1 square Calories:73 Fat: 15.5g Fiber: 1g Sugars: 10g Protein

Cheesecake Brownie

Serving Size: 1 brownie Calories: 133 Fiber: 1.5g Sugars: 8g Protein: 3g

Going to look for a low fat recipe for Green Bean Casserole...that's Hailey's favorite!!

Going to try and record some videos of hailey and I cooking this year....stay tuned!!

Why we moved here

Ok maybe not so much this.....



but definitley this

Self Pity Bullsh#*

So I feel like I need a change in my life - I'm 32 years old and I'm not anywhere near where I want to be in life.

Let me explain that sentence -

My need for change is strictly mental!!

No, I didn't say I was mental......wait....did I?

I have a beautiful child whom I love and adore tremendously!! I have a man in my life that, next to Hailey, is the greatest thing EVER!!! He really is...I couldn't have cut him out of a mold myself and him turn out so good!!!

For whatever reason my self esteem, at time, can be really low. I acknowledge it; I just don't have the tools to change it.

Until now

I was watching Biggest Loser the other night, the first episode, and they have a woman on there who weighs 460 pounds. HOLY CRAP that's HUGE. She found herself smack dab in the middle of her first workout; probably in her life and she wanted to quite. She said she just couldn't do it anymore. Jillian's response was so powerful:

She screamed "I'm not going to play into your self pity bullshit" "It's a choice....it's a choice to get on the treadmill or not...to weigh 460 pounds or 160 pounds...it isn't about can or can't it's about do or don't" She told the woman there is a whole story inside of you that you are the way you are and you can't keep choosing to do nothing about it.

WOW; right???

I spend a lot of time not doing things and wallowing in my own self pity.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that I screwed off my 20s and I'm totally paying for that in my 30s in more ways than one. My credit is shot to hell and that alone is something that holds me back BIG TIME!!! I'm a mother and "wife" and my capability to provide for them is severely hindered because of that. My obsession over my weight is out of control and that keeps me from doing things that I really want to do.

So all of that negative "self talk" is my absolute biggest problem right now. It keeps me from eating right and exercising consistently. It keeps me from moving forward in my education and employment goals. It's horrible and until recently I allowed it to control my life.

Well it's time to make a choice.

My choice is to STOP with all this nonsense and self pity. All it does is give me an excuse to be in the situation I've been in for the past how may years? It's enough.

My life is great...I have a man who I love....my daughter is healthy....I have the best family in the world...it's time to start appreciating what I do have and working towards what I don't.

Ahhhhh ***sigh of relief****

It's not going to be easy to get to where I want to be in life, but HELLO DEVON who ever said it would be!!!

Did everyone know what a BRAT I can be???? Dang why didn't someone tell me..wink wink

What a Weekend

Who knew so many things could happen in a 3 day weekend!!!

Volleyball.....Flu.....Fish......

Whew I'm tired just thinking about it

Volleyball

So Hailey had her first Volleyball tournament this past weekend...Friday night we were there til about 8ish and then she was back on the bus at 7:15 the next morning. What a trooper she has become!!! I've seen Hailey excited to wake up that early for 2 things in her entire life.....Six Flags and Volleyball....gotta love it!!

So she had sleep over Saturday night...Lily and Carol......which means all night screaming, laughing, making videos and eating as much sugar as their little stomach's can stomach!!!

Each year with Hailey's life their is a new joy with watching her grow. It's the first time she laughs, her first word, her first step and you wonder how much better can it get.

Well let me tell you; laying in bed listening to her laugh so hard you wonder if she is going to pee her pants with girls who you hope love her as much as they should; is a feeling that fills me with such happiness. Hearing her be so happy that she literally sounds like she is going to burst is absolutley amazing.

Ya know I think I'm going to secretly tape them one night. Tape them just being goofy 13 year old girls laughing in a way that they could NEVER fake. Then maybe if life ever seems so hard on her that she can't see the light; I'll play that tape of her just being Hailey and maybe she'll remember that life isn't always so bad.

Flu

Well then Sunday afternoon Hailey started coughing a little and she swore..."I'm NOT GETTING SICK" well about 2 1/2 hours after that statment came this one....

"Mom; I think I'm sick"

Uhh-huhhh!!! So she went down for the count. Ran about 102.6 fever and finally took her to the doctor and sure enough...it's the FLU!!! Dang it. She'll miss her game tonight and practice tomorrow, but her coach said they are missing 5 girls due to the same stuff. At least when she's running laps to make it up she won't be alone.

Good 'ole school sports...You play you pay!!!

Fish

Jason did get some fishing in; finally. He went early Sunday morning for about 4-5 hours and then again Monday morning for most of the day. Caught some incredible Whiteing (spell check please!!!) on PINS...other than that just a killer sunburn. On Monday they went out on a friends boat looking to shoot some stingray with a bow for Sharkathon bait....instead they ran into a school of Red Fish!!!

Needless to say; we ate like KINGS.

Pictures to come

Oh and what about me you ask.....well Friday night after the Vball tourney...I did make it out to the Island to see the Bunco girls!! I am an official member by the way so I'll be hosting it at our house pretty soon.

Note to self: time to go shopping for the house and cover up the swatches of paint that are on the kitchen wall!!! geez

Saturday was more Vball and the girls showed up. I did manage to get in my first run on Sunday morning.....ran about 2 1/2 miles by Hailey's school and man did it feel GREAT!!! No Ipod; just me and my gasps of breathe trying to just make the route I had already planned out in the car. If I do say so myself; I did really good and I was pretty proud of myself for just doing it!!! More of that to come I'm sure of it!!!

Other than that when you have a house full of girls and a sick kid not much you can do about it. But I can't complain to much....cuz

What a Weekend!!!

What had happened was....

I posted the last blog about me taking control.....Well what had happened was....

LUNCH

You see I had to go to the Spirit Shop at the High School - this is place where we buy all of Hailey's Flour Bluff inspired shirts, shoes, bags they have it all - So I went by and grabbed Jason on the way. We contimplated several places to go have lunch and we decided a salad sounded really good!!!


We ended up at a place called George's - this place is not a chain and not fancy by any means, but we hadn't been there so we thought what the heck. Ordered a chef salad which consisted of Lettuce, Tomatoes, Eggs, Provolone cheese, Black Olives and Ham


"What kind of dressing would you like" - Ranch please....

wait did I just say that...

So out comes this medium size salad and this LARGE BOWL of homemade ranch dressing and crackers!!! CRAP

So I ate my weight in crackers and dressing and all I can say is CRAP -

Guess I'll start tomorrow...

Thanks Aubrey!!!

I'm sick and tired of complaining about my weight loss. It's annoying...I feel so bad for Jason and Hailey; you would to if you lived with me. So I'm taking control of my own destiny.

Aubrey has inspired me to stop doing what is comfortable and get off my a** and do it for real. No more jogging on the treadmil and taking breaks if I start to pant - that's when you know you're just getting started....dang it; I know that - but for some reason after about a minute I end up dropping that 5.0 to a 3.4 and THEN I strut like a peacock showing off her feathers; proud of my accompishment.

Well I'm NOT. It's been about a year of me working out 5 days a week and I've dropped about 20 pounds. 20 pounds is great, I'm not knocking that, but I know if I would push myself I would be where I want to be.

It's not about being skinny, but it is about me feeling good about myself. I freakin live at the beach and I need to be able to say "Let's go to the beach, Let's go kayacking" and right now I can't and don't say that. I would be so much happier with myself if I would JUST DO IT!!

I'm going to do cardio 3 days a week at work and 2 days outside of work.... Pilates 2 days a week
I need a good strength training program and I'll look at my Fitness magazine for help with that.

I'll share any good stuff I find!!!!



Thanks Aubrey

GO HORNETS

Well after a rough start - Things have a taken a turn for the better...Thank GOD!!!

8th grade has already proven itself to be quite the rollercoaster ride. Her first day was probably the worst first day she has ever had.

To start out she had volleyball tryouts at 6:30 A.M. Getting Hailey (and myself for that matter) up that early is a battle within itself, but the first day....geez that's tough. After 1 1/2 hours of tryouts then came first period... ATHLETICS... really???

Let me see if I can try to explain the reason this is a problem

Haily's entire life she has been told how much she looks like me.....how I could have easily had this child all by self.....somehow by divine intervention....wouldn't that have been nice if it were true :) annnnyyyways my Hussey gene is very much the dominate gene. From her eyes to her freckles there is no denying that Hussey that is.....well; US.

There is another little bit of Irish charm that comes along with all that beauty....

THE CURSE OF THE RED FACE.

I know what you're thinking; everyone gets a little red face when they get their blood pumpin. But with us it looks like we stuck our head in an oven...like we just came out of a sauna after 5 hours of "sweatin it out"....like we have the most severe case of Roseola you've ever seen in your life. It's bad...trust me; I know!!!

So she was mortified that for more than half the day her face wouldn't "chill out" it stayed so red that when she tried to put a little make-up on ; it turned orange. Not quite the look a teenager is going for on the first day. Even though I'm more than positive she looked GREAT...but again that means SQUAT to her.

But after all of the red/orange face....the getting up so early the dog looks at you crazy....falling asleep in the middle of a conversation her hard work paid off. My girl made the 8th grade volleyball team!!! She called me at work to tell me the news and I cried. Not out of shock of her making the team, but becasue after that first day and seeing how upset she was she deserved this!!!

Also in a previous post I mentioned some stuff Hailey was going to have to take care of herself; well that paid off to. Her counselor was great and she ended up getting exactly what she wanted!!!

GO HORNETS.....and....GO HAILEY!!!

Sweet Find

So I hate to admit it, but I LOVE Keeping up with the Kardashians. I think they're beautiful and funny and I just adore how much the sisters fight but still get along. Anywho....

So Kim Kardashian is doing this Shoe of the Month Club thing.

You pay a $40.00 monthly fee and you answer a series of questions....for example:

Here are some pics of models...."Who is dressed better?"

Pics of Actresses....."Who's style do you prefer?"

And so on.....THEN based on your selections/answers they send you a pair of shoes that are compatible to you!!!

How great is that??? If anything I think it's a great concept.....I think I might try it once

http://www.shoedazzle.com/


SSSHHHH Don't tell Jason

Being a Teenager...uugghhh

Boy oh Boy - I wouldn't go back for all the money in the world. It's tough.....I wish I could say it's all going to be okay, but to a teenager that means SQUAT!!! Sure hope I have some of my Mom's pep talks stored in my memory somewhere.....Mom, if you're out there, I'll take anything you got.

Hailey started the 8th grade yesterday and she was really stoked about it. When asked if she was ready she would say "No I'm not ready for school" but I knew she was. I could see it in her eyes; not that she didn't love summer...but school is a social event. Whether it should or shouldn't be we all know it IS.

Well without going into details (she would probably kill me) she is learning first hand how hard school can be. How much it just sucks to walk into a room and know absolutley no one or to walk by the popular gilrs and no one talks to you. To have all of your friends together while you are the one stuck out.

I hate that she has to feel these feelings; I remember those horrible awful feelings.

As her Mom you want to take control of the situation.

Step 1 Call the school
Step 2 Tell the counselor to do what you say
Step 3 Call Hailey and tell her the great news
Step 4 You're her HERO again!!!

BUT she's almost 14 (wipe tear from eye) and she has to start learning to handle stuff herself.

So she did; she went into the office and asked to talk to the counsleor...stated her case and they said they are going to do all they can to help her - Way to go HAILEY!!!

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but this is a milestone for our relationship!!! She is becoming a young adult.

I'm sure this is only the beginning of stuff like this for Hailey; for now all I can do is sit back and watch her become this amazing girl that is growing and changing right in front of my eyes.

My only hope is that Hailey HAS learned as much from me as I have from her.