Quiet, Lazy Weekend

After a crazy week of traveling...I was happy to have some downtime this weekend. Recap of my week...I drove to Dallas on Monday, had meetings in Dallas Monday afternoon, picked my boss up at the airport, had dinner with couple co-workers from Chicago, worked out and went to bed pretty late...didn't sleep at all, due to a pain in my side (probably from the weekend)...woke up bright and early Tuesday, had appointments in Dallas Tuesday morning, drove to Fort Worth for Motorola meeting Tuesday afternoon (Motorola not happy with Amphenol...so not a pleasant meeting), drove myself and co-workers to Austin...had dinner with them at Iron Cactus on 6th Street (they loved it), went to bed late again...woke up even earlier Wednesday, had a breakfast training session, a meeting at National Instruments and was finished with meetings with my visitors. I dropped them off with my co-worker and was headed home; however, with the week I had, I thought I deserved a quick trip to the outlet mall! :) I couldn't stay long, but got to browse through some of my favorites...Pottery Barn, White House/Black Market, Victoria Secret, and the Gap! I was so glad to get out of Dallas and Austin because the next couple of days brought some bad weather their way. Hope all of my friends homes are a-ok!

To the weekend...after a LONG Thursday night, celebrating my friend Christina's birthday, Friday I just wanted to come home and go to bed...so...I came home, took a nap, went to work out, went to the grocery store, came home, watched Baby Mama (pretty cute) and went to bed! Saturday, I slept in, did some work around my apartment, watched a "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" marathon (like I need to add any more TV to my list) and went to bed early! Sunday, I got up early, went to work out, came home, showered and went to lunch with a great group of friends - the Kotlarz's, the Oestreich's and the Aguilar's! Believe it or not, there were 7 adults and 4 kiddos, and another 2 on the way...pretty soon they are going to outnumber the adults! It was a great lunch - Lupe Tortillas is a fun place with kiddos! I love hanging out with my friends and their children. It is such a joy to watch the babies turn into precious boys and girls and I look forward to many more years of watching them grow (just wish they would slow down a little)! I then spent some time with the Kotlarz's. Kara and I ran errands at the mall and then the boys and I watched Kung Fu Panda (I was finally able to convince them we needed to watch a movie that Kel Kel had never seen)! When I left there, I headed to the Jobe's to see my precious neice and newphew, who I hadn't seen in a whole week and a half (I think that is the longest we have gone since they were born)! They have spent the last two weekends in Fort Worth and I have missed seeing them because they change so much! Lauren was having a really bad day - we think she is teething and not taking it very well...on the other hand, Jaxon has cut two teeth and is just the happiest little thing! We got some serious bonding time - I got to feed him cereal for my 1st time, bath him, feed him and put him to bed. I just can't help but call him my "Cuddlebug" cause he is the sweetest thing! I can't wait to spend the whole weekend with them next weekend and I hope Lauren is feeling better!

As the weekend came to a close, I laid in bed last night thinking about how lucky I am! I have the best family and friends a girl could ask for! I cherish every moment I spend with each of them and their families and am so blessed that they allow me to be such a large part of their lives!

Dallas Weekend

Keith and I ventured to Dallas to visit some friends of ours and to do a Crawl for Cancer...what a concept...instead of running...you do a bar crawl and drink...A LOT!!! We drove in on Friday and went out to a swanky bar...I am a Houston girl...not a Dallas girl! But we had a great time...probably a little too much fun...you know it was a good night when you wake up in your dress and makeup from the night before on the couch with no blanket! :)

We woke up the next morning and got going...of course, plans changed because we were running behind, our map "got lost", etc...etc...we finally made it to the starting bar...it was a windy day in Dallas, but it was an AWESOME time. I think they told me there were 250 teams of 12 people each...there were people everywhere in matching (different colored) t-shirts.

Maybe flip cup at the 2nd bar wasn't such a great idea...but, it sure was fun! We were out of beer super fast and moved on to bar #3!

Fantastic weekend! Special thanks to Britney for letting us stay at your place (it is sooo cute) and for organizing us coming in! It was super fun and I can't wait to do it next year! Maybe Mars will be able to join us! :)

God's Children

"Then he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on each of them, and blessed them." Mark 10:16

Sunday, May 3rd, we celebrated Jaxon and Lauren's baptism! It was a great day spent with friends and family for a fantastic occassion! I was honored that Tammy & John asked me to be the twin's Godmother! Each time I have been asked, it means so much to me that the parents feel that they want ME to have this responsiblity - I hope to never let them down. Each of my Godchildren mean the absolute world to me!

We got a phone call every Sunday morning saying that the church's air conditioner went out overnight; therefore, it was a very hot service, but we all made it through...even the poor little babies! Surprisingly, Lauren did great through the whole service and Jaxon was the cranky one, but then Lauren got fussy at picture time. Considering the circumstances, they were both really good and the service was very nice.

My sister pulled out her creative side to ask me...too cute for words...

And....this picture cracks me up...here I am all smiley and happy and poor baby girl doesn't want anything to do with happiness...she did do better once we got to the church!

What a celebration! God is GOOD!

Almost Summertime

Wow - it has been a month AGAIN!!! Where has the time gone?!? I cannot believe it is almost summertime! Can't wait for the warm weather and some pool / beach time AND my BIRTHDAY! Yes, even though I am going to be 32...I still love my birthday!

Things have been pretty crazy lately. Unfortunately, AGCS had another round of layoffs in our sales force and our Dallas salesguy got let go. I am very sad to see him go, as I have worked with him in different capacities for 9 years! He is a great friend that has a beautiful wife and 3 little girls to take care of so I pray that God moves quickly and helps him to find work fast! This change brings mixed emotions for me...I have been given the opportunity to "spread my wings" a little and have become the Account Manager for several of his accounts. This is great for me professionally, but the drive to and from Dallas is really going to suck. So...please pray that this will be a great opportunity for me and that will outweigh the fact that I will possibly be driving to Dallas once a week!

Jaxon and Lauren Update

Jaxon and Lauren are 3 months old! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone by; however, so much has happened in the last 3 months. The most significant, in the Jobes' lives for sure! While Tam was still on maternity leave, a pipe in the house burst and flooded the house. Naturally, it was a day that John was out of town so Tam had to deal with everything by herself and the MIL. I went to help as soon as I found out and after 2 hours solid of moving furniture, sucking up water and moving office files, I was exhausted. They had to completely move out of the house and into a hotel for a week and a half while there house was packed up, "fixed" and then moved back. Through it all, Tammy was amazing - she has changed so much since the birth of the babies - much more "go with the flow". I loved having them in the hotel because it was only about 5 minutes from me so I could stop by often. They are moved back into the house and Tammy started work last week. The babies are in a transition nursery that JP Morgan provides downtown so she can go check on them during lunch. John had to go to California last week for 2 nights so I stayed with Tam and the kiddos. It was an eventful week. Our great-aunt, Alice, passed away so the funeral was Wednesday. We made the trip to Brenham for the funeral and to visit with our grandparents and aunts and uncles. Jaxon woke up in the middle of the night both nights, and I was able to get him back to sleep with me (guess I did a good job as a "nanny")! Jax was running a low grade fever and ended up at the doctor on Friday. The doc said it was nothing major - congestion and low grade fever. It was so much fun to spend some quality time with them. They are so precious and are really good babies!

Blogging break is OVER!

HA! I am going to do my best to start posting more again! I finally connected the internet in my apartment - yes, I have lived here for over 4 months - so I am ready to blog on my new desktop (that I also got about 4 months ago)!!! Stay tuned...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my family and friends! May the Lord richly bless you throughout 2009!

Blessings from Above!

The Lord blessed my family with 2 of the most beautiful, healthy babies on December 29, 2008. Tammy and John welcomed Jaxon Charles and Lauren Elizabeth into the world at 4:14 and 4:15pm. Jaxon weighed 7 lbs, 4 ozs and Lauren weighed 6 lbs, 4 ozs. We cannot believe that Tammy was able to carry around that much weight to 37.5 weeks!

Jaxon is a mini-John in the looks department. He makes faces that are exactly like John. Lauren is more petite and delicate...still looks a lot like John, but has a little more of Tammy in her. These babies are such blessings! I cannot wait to watch them grow up and spoil them rotten! :)

Merry Christmas!

This year Christmas was a little different for me. I have always enjoyed going home and spending time in Victoria for Christmas so it just didn't feel right this year to not go home. Tam was so pregnant and her doctor told her she needed to be pretty much confined to the couch or bed if she didn't want to go into labor before the 29th. My parents came up the day before Christmas Eve and we had the Plemons Family Christmas that night. Like always, my parents spoiled us way too much!

The next day, Mom, Dad and I went to Rosenberg for the Stern Family Christmas. It was Reggie & Valerie's 1st time hosting and they did a fantastic job. It was a great day of family, food and gifts. I know that I am so blessed to have the ability to spend time with my family, especially my grandparents and cherish the time we have together. We were so tired when we got back to my place that we settled in for the night. Not going to church was so hard for me...another tradition I did not get this year. I was very disappointed, as the Lord is the reason for this joyous season and I have always loved Christmas Eve services. Hopefully next year is more "normal" and we will get back to all of our family traditions!

Christmas Day, we cooked a late lunch at Tammy & John's with John's parents. We had a beautifully decorated table with overflowing stockings! It was great to spend the day with Tam and John before the babies come. Poor Tam was getting really tired and it is hurting her more and more to stand up. I know she is soooo ready for the babies to be here!

Houston Victoria Girl's Christmas!

What a blessing to have such great girlfriends! This year we had our 4th Annual Houston-Victoria Girls Christmas! It is so much fun to get together with everyone's families and hang out! It is hard to believe that I have known some of you for over 25 years! It is amazing how well all of the guys get along and allow the ladies to chit-chat and exchange gifts! This year was a little crazy with 9 kiddos, but oh, so much fun! I love all of you and your families and cannot wait to get together again! For everyone not in Houston, I wish we could have gotten together over the holidays, as I missed seeing you ladies and cannot wait for this summer's girl's weekend!

Special thanks to the Kotlarz's for hosting this year!

December 29th!

Lots of you have been asking so I just thought I would go ahead and post it here! Unless something changes, I will become an "Aunt" on December 29th. Tammy is still feeling good, just large! It has gotten increasingly hard for her to get up and down and move around so she is now on moderate bed rest. The c-section is scheduled for 12.29 unless the babies decide they want to meet everyone sooner! We are just praying for them to stay in as long as possible so that they are born big and healthy!

Sad News.

This week we received some very sad news. John's beloved grandfather, Pop, lost his battle with cancer. Pop was an extremely interesting, honorable, good man...one I am very privileged to have known and had in my life. He served our country and eventually worked his way from the floor to the top at General Dynamics. He will be greatly missed, but I know he is in a much better place and was overjoyed to be reunited with the love of his life and his son!

Cheryl & Jeremy's Couples Shower

What a full weekend - friends, family, food and lots of celebrating!

Saturday night, Kara & Frank and I threw ANOTHER twin baby shower - this time for Jeremy and Cheryl! It was so great to see friends that we hadn't seen in awhile and celebrate the Schneider Twins! Of course, Cheryl is the cutest little pregnant lady I have ever seen - looks like she just has a basketball sticking out of her! :) Enjoy the pics...

I LOVE THESE BOYS!!!

It's Official - I HAVE MOVED!

YEA! After two years of living with Tammy and John, it was time for me to move on and get out of their house! It was a great 2 years and I have a closer relationship with Tammy than I have had in a long time and a closer relationship with John than I have ever had. We all came to rely on each other a lot!

I have moved into a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom apartment that I absolutely LOVE! Now if I can just finish getting all this stuff settled and into the right place and the place decorated for Christmas (my absolute favorite time of the year!), I will be a very happy girl! :) Once I am settled (who knows when that will be), I will post some pics and PLEASE come visit anytime!

Tammy & John's Couples Shower

Well...Hurricane Ike ruined our first date for a baby shower for Tammy & John, but thankfully we were able to reschedule. It was not an easy task with everything going on this fall, but we were so thankful to spend the evening with family and friends to celebrate the upcoming arrival of the Jobe Twins! Over the last few months, it has become very evident that God had a plan for Tammy & John and He has been working on his schedule and all I can say is that He is truly blessing them now! They have gotten so many wonderful, beautiful things from family and friends and Tammy has had a very easy pregnancy so far. Makes you realize He does know what He is doing! Here are a couple pics from the shower.


After watching Tam & John play this game where they had to complete "baby tasks", it became evident they have a LOT to learn (but what new parent doesn't???)! I cannot wait to watch them become a mom and dad!

Luke Bennett Scarborough is Here!

My good friends Mandy and Stuart welcomed a precious baby boy into their lives on November 13th. Luke Bennett weighed 6 lbs 13 ounces and is 21 1/2 inches long.

Congrats Mandy and Stu...Luke looks absolutely perfect! I cannot wait to meet him and smother him with hugs and kisses! (Caroline too!)

LOTS TO POST...NO TIME TO DO IT!!!

So...lots has been going on, but I have been too busy to sit down and blog about it all! I promise to get caught up this weekend because I have ABSOLUTELY NO plans and am so, so excited about it!

Cramer's Married!

My good friend from college, Amy (aka Cramer) got married in Dallas this weekend! Amy and Doug met in Dallas, and once again, I have been reminded at what a small world it is because I knew Doug at A&M. We were friends through other friends and never really knew each other very well, but I am so happy that Doug and Cramer found each other! It is easy to see that they completely adore each other. It was such a beautiful wedding and Crame was an absolutely stunning bride!

Party pics from the drive from the church to the reception...




The Texas / Texas Tech game was going on during the reception and the guys were dying to watch the game so...they left to watch football, giving us a lot of great girl time! As always, it was fantastic to hang with the girls...especially Jen since we see so little of her.

Congrats Cramer and Doug! I am so happy for you both and I am so glad I got to spend your special day with you! I wish you all the best that life has to offer. May you have a lifetime of happiness, love and lots of laughter!

Happy Halloween

Today was a whirlwind...between work, a haircut, nails, packing, etc...it felt like all I did was run from one thing to another. This evening, I met up with the Koltarz's when they were finished trick or treating and man do those two boys know how to make an "aunt" happy! While Kara tried to put on their pj's, Parker, Carson and I played tackle! It was a bunch of giggles, pushing, tickling, throwing in the air and kisses! Tomorrow, Kara, Frank and I are off to Dallas for Cramer's wedding, while Kris stays with the kiddos. I will post pics on Sunday and there will probably be lots! Hope everyone had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Twin Baby Shower #2

After my parents picked me up in Hillsboro on Saturday, we were off to Fort Worth for Twin Baby Shower #2! John's mom's side of the family has Family Showers that are a tradition - there is the Family Wedding Shower, the Ladies Family Shower and the Baby Shower! All of the cousins get together and put on these showers and they are always a good time. John's family is so gracious to welcome me, my mom and dad, as if we are part of their family!

One thing is for sure...these twins are so spoiled already...and they aren't even here yet! :) This is a picture of the gifts after they had been opened...unbelieveable!

Tam & John got a lot of their big stuff and crib bedding, as well as some precious blankets, clothes, kitchen items, diapers, etc. Mom even out did herself with this horse with A&M saddle bags! The saddle bags were filled with tons of A&M stuff...t-shirts, outfits, nightlights, piggy banks, socks, etc. It was too cute.

And...here is the car I gave them...it was filled with all kinds of Nascar stuff...particularly #88 Dale Jr. plate sets and sippy cups! These poor children!!!

I also made John a Daddy Diaper Duty toolbelt...it turned out really cute and John was a good sport when they wanted him to put it on. It has everything he will need to change two babies' dirty diapers!

After the actual shower, we enjoyed a BBQ - Mom, Dad and I sat outside and enjoyed the fantastic weather. We then watched the Aggies bring home a victory! The home where the shower was held (one of Linda's cousins) was unbelievable! The decor is amazing and the game room and media room were so much fun!

Sunday morning, we enjoyed breakfast at John's parent's house and then we were on our way back to Houston. John and I unloaded the car and we were pretty much bums the rest of the afternoon. What a great weekend!