Hello August where did you come from

Apperently its already the middle of August, I am not sure how that happened or where it came from.  The last few weeks have been crazy as always, tons of traveling for work and pleasure.  This is the first weekend I have been home in over a month! 



   Several weeks ago I went to Ft. Laramie, WY for work.  We were implementing a new program at that terminal so I went along to facilitate the training and learn how to use the program.  It just so happened that weekend was Frontier Days in Cheyenne and  every hotel had been booked a year in advance.  Let me tell you folks this is quite a big deal up there, apparently its the largest outdoor rodeo in the US.  The only hotel available was the local Bates motel we are talking rent by the hour, trucker/meth addict heaven.  Now normally we do not stay in places like these, but my coworker booked it and didn't realize how bad it was.  It was bad, beyond bad for starters you couldn't run the air and the blow dryer at the same time because you would short the circuit.  I am sure the place had never been cleaned, the TV didn't work, I had an adjoining room with no lock or door handle on my side.  Close your ears Mom and Dad....lets just say I drank a lot to aid in sleeping, slept with my clothes on on top of the "sheet/comforter" and left the lights on just in case oh and I didnt show the two nights we were there!!  GROSS We were supposed to be there three nights, but we check out early to go to Denver and stay in a nice hotel!  Since we were there during Cheyenne days we had to check it out.  I really like the outdoor aspect to the rodeo because that how it should be, but it didn't hold a candle to the ridiculousness that is the Houston Rodeo.  It was very entertaining to watch the people that attended the event.  Friday morning we headed back to Houston and I have never been so happy to be home in my life. 

Downtown Denver

   That weekend a group of my friends and I headed down to San Antonio to enjoy a little river floating.  Floating the river is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, there is nothing more relaxing that sitting in a tube floating down a lazy river, enjoying and adult beverage.  Friday night we met up with some friends to have a BBQ and then go two stepping.  We called it an early night because we to float the river early.  The next morning we packed up a couple of coolers with jello shots, beer, and vodka lemonades and headed to the river.  It was a wonderful relaxing float, we floated for about four hours and then got out to eat some lunch.  That evening I met up with the crossfit girls for one of the girls bridal shower (in San Antonio) after the bridal show we went and explored downtown.  The next morning we had brunch at a great little spot and hit the road back to Houston.

Jello Shots

Sunday afternoon it was unpack and repack for my trip to St. James, LA.  My intern joined me on this trip so he could see the facility. I was there to get more footage for the E&I tech video.  It was a quick two day trip, but I will still very tired from traveling. I had Wednesday and Thursday at home and then it was time to pack for my trip to DC, this trip was for pleasure! 

   A good friend of mine moved up there last year and I had promised to visit him, but never found the time.  It just so happened all the pieces came together and I was able to take a long weekend and go up to DC.  He had  the whole weekend booked up so we were able to do tons of stuff.  I will tell you all about it my next post.  As of now I need to get off and start packing for my trip tomorrow. 

Here and back again

Hello middle of July, where did you come from?  Feels like I was just sitting down goal planning for the work year and now its half way over.  I know I have been missing for a while and I keep promising to write, but it never happens.  Below are a few terrible excuses.

My last update was before I got shipped of to Canada for work.  Canada eh? Yes, Friday June 15, 2012 I was strolling out of work getting ready for an awesome weekend, when my head boss called me.  The needed my boss and myself in Canada by Sunday.  Ugh well there went my weekend.  I went back to work to book flights, hotels, car and get caught up to speed on what was going on.  I was there until about three sorting through the details.  We had a release on water and they need some Ops/Comm people to come up and relieve those that had been working for several weeks straight.  That afternoon my friend Liz came into town and we hung out.  Saturday we went shopping, to a pool party, and a friends birthday party.  All while packing and getting ready to leave with a one-way ticket to Canada!  Sunday morning I was up bright and early to get to the airport, thankfully it was a direct flight so we were in Canada by one.  After getting checked in we headed to the office to get to work.  Our trip ended up being 12 days and lets just say I was beyond exhausted by the time we got home.  We took one day to run up to Banff National Park and see Lake Louise and Lake Moraine.  It was worth the drive the area was incredible and the lakes were breathtaking.

Since getting back I have been swamped with work and spending every other waking minute studying for the GMAT.  I am really hoping to start Grad school in the spring, but I have to do well on the GMAT first.  The weekend after I got back I headed to CS to help Christy move.  Boy am I glad mom, dad, and Tommy were there.  It was a huge chore I had no idea how much work was involved!  We spent two days, packing, cleaning, fixing, painting and working, working, working. Its terrible, but I was glad to get home on Sunday to rest.  The rest of the crew was stuck in CS to finish moving.

The fourth of July came and went very uneventfully since I had to work Thursday, I hung out with the crossfit girls for BBQ and pool party.  That weekend some college friends came in for a few nights out on the town!  We had a great weekend.  This last weekend Christy came into town!  I love being able to see my sister.  Friday night we got all dressed up and headed to Blackfinn for dinner, after dinner we met up with some friends for drinks at Taps.  Saturday we relaxed and cooked some healthy and not so healthy food.  That afternoon my friend Ben came in and we headed over to another friends house for a bbq.  After stuffing our faces for several hours we decided to go country dancing at a local bar.  Needless to say Christy and I were exhausted on Sunday.  Around 11 we meet up with the girls that are going to Costa Rica with me for brunch.  After brunch we walked back to my house to plan our trip.  After all the planing it was time for relaxation...then back to the grindstone on Monday.           

First weekend of June, bring on summertime!

The first weekend of June turned out quite successful.  The work week weak was short with Memorial day on Monday and half day on Friday.  Even with a short week I was still looking forward to an incredible weekend. 

Friday night I met up with a few of the girls from crossfit to watch the Metropolitan dance company perform at Miller Outdoor Theater. I love summer time and I love weekends at Miller.  Its a free event for the public and you are welcome to bring food and drinks.  The girls and I took full advantage of this.  I brought a veggie wrap, cheese, crackers, popcorn, a bottle of wine, and cookies.  It was wonderful, we enjoyed an awesome picnic and some modern dance.  Sadly I missed the last two weekends (with the symphony) due to being in Canada for work...more on that in another post.  The show ended about 11:30 and we all went our separate ways.

The next morning we meet up at Ash condo for some pool time.  I spent a better part of the day soaking up the sun and relaxing.  By the time I got home I was exhausted so the dogs and I just hung out and watched movies.  Sunday was a very uneventful day after church, I cooked some lunch and spent the rest of the day reading and studying for the GMAT.  Then it was back to the grindstone Monday morning.  Tuesday after work some coworkers and I headed to the Astros to watch some baseball.  The best part about it was we had suite passes.  The suites were located next to the bullpen so we were able to talk to some of the players and get a few baseballs.  We were also privy to free food and drinks!  Let me tell you its a tough job, but someone has to go to these events.  The rest of the week was pretty tame nothing too exciting to note. 

Until next time..

Tory

Shooting, CS, and summer nights

Its the second weekend in June and boy does time sure fly...where did the first half of the year go?? As always the weekends are more eventful than the work week so lets just focus on the fun stuff!  Friday I got invited by a coworker to go shoot some sporting clays at the American Shooting Center in Katy.  It has been quite some time since I have been and was really looking forward to going.  Even thought I am ridiculous rusty, I had a complete blast (no pun intended)!  I will have to try and get out there more often.  After shooting I ran home, packed up myself and the dogs and headed to College Station to see Christy.  That evening we went to Cheddars and had to much food and some delicious margaritas! We were both exhausted from the last week so we went home and passed out. 

The next morning I was up bright and early, since Christy was still asleep I head to the grocery store to get the fixings for Whole wheat brown sugar banana pancakes with a vanilla maple glaze.  Yes, its ok to be jealous and yes, they were incredibly delicious!  They were just about finished when Christy crawled out of bed (convenient).  They actually did turn out really really good they tasted like banana bread with doughnut glaze yummmy (not healthy)!  After breakfast we went to the gun store to get Christy's birthday present.  After gun shopping we headed to grab some lunch before checking out some houses for Christy to live in.  We were completely unsuccessful in the hunt, thankfully one came on the market recently and she now has a place to stay. 

Since Christy had to work that evening, I washed up the dishes, packed up the girls and headed back to Houston.  That evening I met the crossfit girls for dinner and drinks.  We started the evening off at 13 Celsius a little wine bar in midtown, we each enjoyed a glass of wine and a cheese plate.  For dinner we headed over to Lucios.  Lucios is one of my favorite restaurants, the food is incredible and the service is good.  I had the herb roasted chicken with yam puree, crispy prosciutto, and a natural reduction for desert we shard a chocolate brownie cake and creme brulee.  The creme brulee was probably the best thing I have had in a long time.  After dinner we did some bar hoping and then I headed home.

Sunday was a day for rest and relaxation the little girls and I read, studied, napped and cleaned all day long. 

Until Next time...

Tory

Memorial Weekend

Hello to everyone!  I hope everyone had a wonderful and fun filled Memorial Weekend....cause I sure did.  Granted I truly missed spending time with the family at one the awesome pool parties, but visiting Chris is SC was pretty exciting.  Since it was a long weekend Chris flew me up to Greenville so we could explore his new little town.  Lets just put it this way it was quite a bummer land back in hot ol Houston.

I took Friday off to make it nice long weekend and head up to SC Thursday night.  Since Chris had to work a half day Friday, I took advantage of my day off.  After sleeping in, I got up and headed for a run to explore the neighborhood.  Chris lives about two blocks from a neat downtown so I headed that direction.  The main drag has tons of little shops, restaurants. parks, theaters, and lots of things to do.  A nice little river runs through downtown, I ran to the river, around the park and back to his apartment.  It was a good morning work out with  great scenery.  After Chris got home we walked back to downtown to eat at a little southern fare restaurant.  After lunch he showed me around downtown and then went back to the casa to relax.  That evening we met up with one of his coworkers and his wife for dinner at "famed" BBQ joint.  Now Carolinian's rave about their BBQ and to be honesty I don't know what about, Texas BBQ is the best.  After dinner we drove to Clemson and checked out the campus and the college town.  It reminded me a lot of A&M and the scenery was beautiful.

Saturday we got up early and headed to the farmers market in downtown, we did a little shopping and ate some Shrimp and Grits for breakfast. Since Chris is very close to mountains we decided to spend the day hiking and exploring the different trials.  It happened to be perfect weather for hiking we did two different trails and got to see a couple of waterfalls along the way.  By the time we got home I was beat, even though I am in fairly good shape hiking took it all out of me (it might also have been that Chris hikes at a strenuousness pace, if its a 3 hour hike he completes it in 1.5).  That evening we went to a nice little Italian place for dinner and I enjoyed several pounds of delicious pasta and a glass of wine. After dinner we went to a little wine bar to explore the Greenville nightlife, the people watching was great.

Sunday it was up bright and early again to go hike some trials in North Carolina.  For lunch we drove into a little town and had a delicious lunch at a farm to table restaurant.  The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and watching movies.  Monday we decided to rent a jet ski and play on the lake for a while before I headed back to Houston. I have never ridden a jet ski and boy was I missing out.  I am not going to lie I was terrified, I thought I was going to die when Chris was driving.  (Please not this does not reflect on his driving skills, its just a whole ton rougher for the person on the back)  Let me tell you the minute I got behind the wheel it was pure FUN!!  I was chasing speedboats and hoping their wakes, I am pretty sure we got up to 60 something speed wise.  The lake was gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and the water was warm... couldn't have asked for a better way to end the weekend.  Then it was back to reality sitting in the Greenville Airport. 

                    

21's Birthdays, Weddings, and ridiculous amounts of fun

Good Afternoon All,
   It has been a wild and fun two weeks now its time to get you all caught up to speed.  Two weekends ago was my little sisters 21st Birthday.  Can you believe it, she is 21 years old..good Lord how old does that make us :( Anyway lets not think about that.  That same weekend also happened to be a very good friend of mines wedding.  I kicked off the weekend Wednesday night...yes you read that right, some times the weekends just aren't long enough and you have to start early.  I made a big crockpot of jambalaya and had the girls over for wine night.  We had lots of wine and food and probably stayed up too late, oh well you only live once right?  Thursday afternoon Christy came in to town, as well as several of the people coming for Becca's wedding.  I met Becca freshman year in college and we have been friends since. We have a big group of friends that all hung out together in college so her wedding was going to be a college reunion.

Once everyone got to the house we headed out to BINGO!! Don't be misled thinking this is an old folks game, it is not.  In Houston there is a huge bingo hall and it is quite the thing to do on Thursday nights for 20/30's crowd.  Its neat because you can bring your own food and drinks and have a good time with friends.  This was my first time going and it was a blast.  Unfortunately we didn't win any money, but we had a good time playing.  After bingo we went to midtown to have a few drinks, it was nice relaxing evening and thankfully not too hot!  Friday we were busy as ever trying to get all the last minute things finished up for Beccas wedding.  Around three we rounded everyone up and headed to the venue for the rehearsal.  Since dinner wasn't until six we all headed back to mi casa to hang out and ended up playing a speed game of monopoly.  The rehearsal dinner was held at a local BBQ joint and everything was delicious.  After dinner it was back to the casa to pre-party our going out.  Once everyone showed up we headed to Washington to have another night out.  Keep in mind, my body is not used to this back to back going out.  I am normally on the 4:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. schedule.  We all had a good time dancing the night away. 

The next morning we were up and at it again.  Since the boys were in town we decided to get a work out in before the wedding festivities.  We all headed to Crossfit for a 9 a.m. work out, it was challenging, but we survived.  After lunch with the group we headed to the venue to get ready.  After make up and hair time we were ready to go get Becca hitched.  It was a beautiful service and everything went smoothly.  After the ceremony it was time to party!  It is impossible to describe the amount of fun that was had that evening.  Since these were the guys I learned how to dance with we danced the night away!

Trio of Trouble

Sisters

After the reception was over we headed to Wild West a country bar just down the street and continued the party there until 2 a.m.  Since Sunday was Christy's birthday we had to wait until Midnight to get her in.  Whooo and then she was 21!!  I think she had a really good time hang out with the group, thankfully it was a pretty tame 21st birthday.  Sunday morning I ran a few people to the airport and then it was time to celebrate Christy's birthday (even though we celebrated all weekend)  For breakfast we walked down the street to Coco's crepes and had Nutella crepes.  Since she was 21 we headed over to Blackfinn for Mimosa's.  After breakfast we were le tired so we took a nap.  For dinner that evening we went to Mia Bella an nice little Italian restaurant in downtown, Christy had Shrimp Fettuccine and a Cosmo and I had some sort of Veggie Fettuccine and a glass of wine.  Dinner was delicious!  Afterwards we both decided to get some rest, I had work in the morning and she was heading back to College Station.  It was a long awesome weekend and was sad to see it go.          

Birthday Cupcakes

21

21st Birthday Breakfast

Cosmo with dinner

Raking in the gifts

Sweet new watch

 

Friday

  I hope you all are as excited for the weekend as I am!  It seems like it has been an incredibly long few weeks.  I have been on a writing hiatus due to finishing school, trying to stay on top at work, and be able to eat every day!!  OK I am over exaggerating I wasn't that busy, but it seemed like it.  I am going to have to start a few weeks back, because it has been a whirlwind of activity.  About five weeks ago Chris got a new job, with the company he used to work for, a week after starting they put him on a project in Greenville, South Carolina. Then bam he was gone! Well he had a week to get everything sorted out and get up there.  He left April 22nd and will be in Greenville for 6-8 months then Malaysia a year.  Since he had to move so quickly, I kindly volunteered to watch the little girls.  Even though its lonely with out him I have the girls to keep me entertained....how could you say no to those faces??

The upside to Chris moving is his company fly's him back every three weeks, or I can fly up and visit him, hello Greenville SC here I come!  After Chris left it was a long week of work, studying, and finishing up projects for work and class.  That weekend I took the girls and headed to College Station for some much needed sister time!  It was an awesome weekend, Friday night we watched an Aggie Baseball game.  They just redid the stadium, it was very impressive.  The best part was the baseball games were just as much fun as when I was in school, and we beat Texas...so no big deal.  :)  After the game we grabbed a bit to eat, showered and headed out to Northgate for a little action.

The next morning Christy had to go to work so I was super lazy and did nothing but read and study...it was glorious!  Once she got off work we head to the gun range so she could shoot my new handgun.  Even though we didn't have much time to shoot before they closed, we still had a good time.  That evening we went to dinner at Roadhouse and had another round of Northgate.  Turns out I am getting old and this staying up late thing that college kids do is really hard for me!!  Needless to say I was exhausted Sunday.  Since Christy had school and work I head back to Houston to relax and get ready for the next week.  With Chris gone I acquired a lot of spare time, therefore I have really been focusing on working out and eating healthy!  I have Crossfit every M,W,F at 5 a.m., Tuesday/Thursday I go to my regular gym to swim, and MW nights is yoga!  I think I just love working out.  Crossfit has been pretty brutal, but I am getting stronger and I love the challenging workouts.

Cino de drinko was this last weekend and hopefully everyone got to celebrate appropriately with a margarita in hand.  Chris was back in town that weekend and we both headed to College Station.  Five years ago one of Chris friends from college passed away so every few years a group of his buddies get together and go back to visit his grave.  That was the reason we went back.  It was a nice long weekend of visiting with friends and hanging out with Christy.  Sunday we were back in Houston and Chris was on a plane back to SC.  Then it was nose to the grindstone for me.  My final for Financial Accounting was Tuesday night and I needed to do some studying.  I haven't received my grade, but I feel fairly confident about the test, we shall see.

Since this class I have decided it is important for me to get my MBA.  If I can make the deadline (June 1st)  I will be starting in the fall, but if not I will begin in the Spring.  I am pretty excited, I miss school and am ready to get back to it.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and to all those wonderful mothers out there Happy Mothers Day.  Hate to break it to the rest of the world, but my moms the best...period.  Love you mom.

Until Next Time...