Memorial Day at the Ranch

We took our first vacation with my family for Memorial Day and headed out west to a dude ranch resort. Total Texas Move, right? We rented a house at a ranch in Bandera where they had a water park, golf, horseback riding, putt-putt and probably some other amenities I can't recall.

Connor went up a day early with my mom and stepdad so that he could go to the Memorial Day parade in Bandera. He loved it, and has toted around his red, white and blue beach ball they threw him like its a prized possession. On Saturday, we all arrived at the house, along with the crazy storms that hit Texas that day. We spend most of that day inside playing pool, sitting on the back porch and playing games.

On Sunday, we hit the water park! Connor loved the water slides and the bigger kids enjoyed either laying out or floating the lazy river. Alex (10) had the best time with Connor on the slides and swimming. She is so great with the littles! That evening, we had a round of family putt-putt which was fun. 

Parker spending some quality time with Daddy!

Leslie, Mom and Heidi bonding during the rainy day!

After the failed attempt to ride a pony. Remember how much he loved it at the rodeo? Apparently, he forgot.

My birthday cookie cake got a little squished!

We can't wait to go back next year!

Pigeon Ford: Family Vacation

Hey, it's me again! Doing my bi-annual blog post. I was creeping around on some friend's blogs tonight (Sam, Tiffanie, Katie, Sara...I'm looking at you) and then decided I might as well post, too.

This month we celebrated Jeremy's folks 40th wedding anniversary with a family trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Never heard of it? I hadn't either until we started planning. It's in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. We stayed in a beautiful four-story cabin with a breathtaking view. We had a great time.

Before we joined the family for the week, our little family of three spent a few days (including Jeremy's birthday and the 4th) in Nashville. As a lifelong country music fan, I soaked the country music capital in. Literally...since it rained everyday we were there. My favorite thing we did was tour the Country Music Hall of Fame. We had Carrie Underwood/The Band Perry tickets to the Opry, but we didn't last long there because the munchkin was ready for bed.

After Nashville fun, we headed to the smoky mountains and we stayed in Pigeon Forge Ford for the week. We had a really great time with all of the Ford's. We went to Dixie Stampede, drove through the park, had a picnic, and lots of other outdoor things. Connor mostly enjoyed crawling, as he was still pretty new to being so mobile. He also had fun "playing" with his one year old cousin, Dominic, as much as babies actually "play".

Here are a few pics!

Go ahead and swoon over his adorable 4th of July smocked outfit! I had the camera out while we were waiting in line at the Hall of Fame!

We went all the way to Nashville to ride the carousel at the mall. But look at the smile on his face! We were killing some time before the Opry!

With his 91-year old great grandmother, Mimi in Rocky Mountain National Park! What a view!

He loved sticking his hand in the water trough at the picnic and splashing!

Playing in his outdoor playpen his Nana and Pops brought for him. See the orange ball...that's what made him finally start crawling, instead of just rocking back and forth, reaching his arms and belly flopping!

The Ford's. And yes, we are wearing matching t-shirts. Why not? And of course they are purple & gold!

Adore this picture of my boys!

Our Italian Vacation!

J and I just took a dream vacation to Italy. We started in Rome, then went to Florence, and our last stop was Venice. It was absolutely amazing - beautiful weather, museums, churches, and fabulous food (we especially loved the pizza)! We had a great time. It's so nice to get away together and just be together, uninterrupted and not distracted. We don't get enough time like that! Anyway...here are a few photos from our trip! Enjoy!

The Vatican - see the top right hand corner of the building - that's where the pope comes out and waves to his people weekly. Not when we were there, though...


On our 3 hour tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum - so fascinating to think about how long these buildings have been around!

Here we are in Florence, enjoying happy hour (at 3 in the afternoon, no less)

After a delicious dinner in Florence

We loved eating pizza for lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY!


Sunset at Michelangelo's Piazza with my hubby :)


Our swanky hotel room in Venice - we had to climb 75 steps to get to it! Holy moly!


The Rialta Bridge - the most famous bridge in Venice! Venice was amazing - its just a big labyrinth. No cars, you can only get around by boat. It's incredible.

St. Mark's Square - where all the action happens at day and night. It was fun hanging around here at night when orchestras were playing and people were just calmly wandering around. So peaceful!


I know....how cute are we, kissing in our Gondola?

Ciao...

That's right, blogging friends, we are heading off to Italy in less than 24 hours. It's a dream vacay for J and I and we are really excited. We'll spend the first few days in Rome, then a few days in Florence and then end the trip in Venice.

Can't wait to share pictures when we get back!

And I can't wait to use the phrase "when in Rome..." excessively over the next several days. Sorry, J.

Ciao -
Brittney

Spring Break 2K11

I spent my Spring Break in Scottsdale, Arizona, with two of my best friends - Hannah and Leah. We work together at SBS - Hannah is the technology whiz of the school, and Leah teaches 2nd grade and coaches cheerleading with me.

Why Scottsdale, you ask? Because we wanted somewhere hot, and not packed with crazy, college Spring Break-ers! It turned out to be the perfect destination!

We spent the week laying out, getting massages, eating at fabulous restaurants, shopping, reading, watching the Bachelor finale (yay, Emily!) and doing some drinking! It was so much fun and we met some really nice people there - including some minor league baseball players!

Here are a few fun & crazy pics from the week!

Great trip with two of my absolute favorite people!

Brittney

It's Almost Spring!

10 Things I'm Excited About this Spring:

1. Spring Break girls trip with these two! We are headed to Scottsdale to max and relax at a resort! I hope to come back without bags under my eyes and very tan!


2. Wearing my white jeans! (after Easter, of course)
3. Italy with Jeremy - our dream vacation! We are headed to Rome, Florence and Venice!
4. Taking long bike rides...hint, hint, Jeremy...
5. Nice afternoon jogs at Memorial Park.
6. Spring shoes! And pedi's!
7. Maybe seeing these people....8. Beginning and ending our bathroom remodel project!
9. A scrapbooking weekend with Jenna Fones!
10. My birthday!

Until after Spring Break -
B

Where did August go??

Is it really the end of August? Sheesh! That means its practically Christmas (at least according to Hobby Lobby it is!). Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to this month:

Hanging out with family and friends at White Linen Nights!

We went to Denver for Jeremy's friend, Quinn's wedding!
It was beautiful! Another pic from the fun wedding weekend!

Other miscellaneous August activities:

• I GOT INTO THE HALF MARATHON! Yes, you read that correctly! I'll be running 13.1 miles in January! I'm so nervous/excited! I've been training since May, and ran my first 3 miles this past weekend and it went great. I seriously felt like I could've kept going (but I was happy to stop!). I'll keep you posted on my progress!
• Football season has begun! SBS started last Friday and LSU begins this weekend! We'll be heading to Atlanta for the Chick-Fil-A kickoff game (LSU vs. North Carolina). I'm SOOOO excited!!! Geaux Tigers!!!
• I got great news last night - my brother and his wife are expecting their first baby!! Soo excited to be another Aunt! Come April 2011, I'll have 5 nieces/nephews! Holy Moly!
• We had the chance to spend QT with our Compass friends this past weekend and had such a great time out at Cedar Creek! We love our St. Luke's friends!! They are such a blessing to both of us!!
• Work has been CRAZY busy - but I love it! I have the opportunity to work on major SBS events this year, and though its been stressful, I really enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you planned something thoroughly and it all goes well! I like it :)
• What am I reading? I read several books in July (The Alchemist, Bitter is the New Black, Heart of the Matter, and Perfect on Paper). My favorite was Perfect on Paper - a great chic lit book with a lot of heart! Loved it! Book Club is reading a book about the Salem Witch Trials...not sure about this one yet, TBD!
  
• What am I watching? Drop Dead Diva! Tell me you are watching it!! Best show ever - the lead actress has this uber confidence that is so compelling! I love it! Too bad the season finale is sitting on my DVR from last night....
• What am I not doing because I'm blogging? WORKING!! Gotta go people, duty calls!

Love, love!
Brittney

Our Mexican Siesta

We took a break from settling into the house - read: unpacking boxes, moving heavy things up and down the stairs, doing major yard work in the heat of July, etc., etc., etc., and went on vacation to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We went to an all-inclusive resort for 6 days and had a great time! By the end, we were ready to get back and pick up where we left off on the house! I never knew settling in could be so busy (or expensive - seems like I'm at Target, Lowes, Pier One, BB&B, or Container Store at least once a day)! Shopping is such a drag....er, wait, who am I kidding?!? It's a blast "having" to spend money to "get settled in the house!"

Back to the point of my post. We had a great time on the trip. The resort was really nice (except for the food - we are pretty spoiled with yummy Houston food). We had lots of pool time to get super brown (or red), did a bike tour, took dance lessons, went to the beach, sailed a Hobi sailboat, drank fruity frozen drinks, slept an insane amount of hours, explored Playa del Carmen, played bingo (and yours truly won in a three-way tie; to determine the winner of the tie, we had to do a dance off, and drum-roll....I won that, too; I think the move that sent the audience over the edge was when I danced and rapped the words to Ice, Ice Baby....oh, yes I did!). Anyway, here are a few pics from the vacay!

I love the Caribbean!!! One of the (many) things Kenny Chesney and I have in common :)

After dinner one night - curse you man behind me for ruining my cute picture (and he's copying my pose - how rude)!

Jeremy out in the water!

After playing in the pool all day!! The resort had a fabulous pool the size of umm...I don't really know measurements, but the size of a really large pool!! It had two swim up bars, a bridge to get from one side to the other, a massive waterfall, fountains, two hot tubs and plenty of lounge chairs and cabanas. Amazing!

We went into the city of Playa del Carmen one day to explore the town - wasn't too much to see, but I posed by this "authentic" Mayan ruin just to feel like we were seeing something historic! What-ev-er!!

I made some time for water aerobics while we were there!! I'm the big girl in front doing a terrible high touchdown (and I call myself a cheer coach?!?) But, hey, isn't the pool pretty??

Here's my mention to you (again) that the food at our resort was TERRIBLE! We even ordered room service once to see if it was better, and it was...TERRIBLE! Here's evidence that they even messed up a pizza! Yuck! So, my worries of gaining lots of weight on vacation were over when we realized the food wasn't worth gorging on (except for the cinnamon sugar french toast at breakfast...mmm...now we're talking....)

The view outside our room! Ahhh....the peacefulness of vacation!

That's about it! We had a great time, but now its back to reality for the Ford's.
Hasta la vista!
Brittney

PS: I forgot to mention to you that I left one important item at home - my strapless bra! 85% of the clothes I took to Mexico were strapless, or required a strapless bra! UGH!!! I had to be creative with safety pins - a la Dallas Cowboy cheerleader style - until I found my strap perfect (yes, they work) at the bottom of my makeup bag. But, seriously, I forgot the most important undergarment a girl needs in the summer, and I was unable to wear a few outfits. I even tried to wear my bathing suit top as a substitute, but that didn't work. Major fail, Brittney. Major.

A Weekend In the Keys!

Last weekend, Mom took me to Key West, Florida, as an early birthday present/mom-daughter getaway! We had a great time, like we always do! Key West is beautiful. It was a mix of Cape Cod meets the Caribbean (two of my fave places). We stayed on Duval Street (which was like Bourbon St. meets the Bahamas), in a beautiful hotel that is the tallest building on the island! We had Key Lime Pie (I had mine in the form of a chocolate-covered ice cream bar), did some sight-seeing and had a great time! Here's a run down of our unforgettable weekend!

Friday Night - well, it didn't start off as a weekend in paradise; due to the outrageous storms in Houston, we were delayed for 5.5 hours! Luckily, Mom's a member of the President's Club, so we weren't absolutely miserable! Needless to say, we departed IAH a little after 1 a.m. We were crawling into bed at our Miami hotel at 5:30 AM. Take a moment and let that nugget sink in!

Saturday Morning - Left Miami at 10:00 AM (do the math, I woke up at 9, that's 3.5 hours of sleep) and made the beautiful, albiet L-O-N-G drive to Key West. Seeing the beautiful ocean was breathtaking! Great conversation kept us going the whole way!

A shot of the Atlantic Ocean from my passenger seat!

Saturday Afternoon - Arrived in Key West and immediately went to tour Ernest Hemmingway's home, which was so interesting. And, we saw one of the six-toed cats! Left there, and did some exploring of Duval Steet (i.e. shopping and happy hour)!

Hemingway House

Saturday Night - The big thing to do in Key West is go to the dock and watch the sunset...so, when in the Keys...Anyway, it was really fun, the whole environment at the "Sunset Celebration" was upbeat and family friendly - vendors, food, music, jugglers, dancers, etc. After the sun went down, we headed to dinner at a fun place and heard a band playing (side note - they were totally crude, but a tad funny, too)

Just before sunset at Mallory Square!

Sunday Morning - Went to breakfast at Blue Heaven (Kenny Chesney's fave restaurant in Key West) and it was sooo yummy and such a cool place! After breakfast, we took the trolley tour around the island, which was really interesting! After that, we headed to our rent car so we could go to Miami and do a little exploring before my flight home. However, OUR CAR WOULDN'T START! So, the traveling woes continued and we were delayed 2 hours.

Blue Heaven! I've now eaten somewhere that Kenny has eaten! Woo Hoo!

Sunday Afternoon - Lunch in Miami at a restaurant (er, bar) that was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Though the food was delish, it was surely a dive; sorry Mom!

It was a great trip, and such a memorable weekend with my precious Mom! I only wish it could have lasted longer!!

2009: A Year In Review

I got this blog idea from my friend Sara - enjoy!

January: Got my first new car, which 4 days later I managed to ding up by hitting the air conditioning unit outside our garage. It's getting fixed this week!

February: Had a romantic Valentine's Day seeing Legally Blonde! Went to Dallas with junior and senior cheerleaders for playoff game and had fun! Took Dog Training 101 with Charley and he graduated with honors!

March: Traveled to NYC - had a blast with our cousins Brian and Erin, shopped, drooled over a Coach bag I thought I needed (but alas did not get, and that's okay), saw Wicked, went on fun movie and TV tour of NYC. Didn't see any celebrities, but maybe next time! My beloved blind Pomeranian I got in college, Bruiser, passed away unexpectedly. First devestating animal loss for me.

April: Went to Boston for the first time for a marketing conference with fabulous co-worker Shari and we had a blast! Loved the city!! Started scrapbooking again! Joined Twitter!

May: Turned 25! Went to Sedona with our friends Sara and Cliff and had a wonderful time! Such a beautiful part of the country! Went to see my boy Kenny Chesney in concert! Joined a Sunday School class at our church and started making new couple friends!

June: Went to float the Frio River with a group of friends and had a great time and minimal sunburns. Our nephew and godson Brayden was born a month early! Just before Father's Day!

July: Had our first anniversary! Celebrated Jeremy's birthday on vacation in Boston! Went to Red Sox game, Cape Cod, Plymouth, Duck Tour of Boston and much more. Had a great time! Went to Scrapbook Village with my BFF Jenna and was blown away by all of her new scrapbooking tools. She became my scrapbooking hero! Took my first cake decorating class!

August: The girls dominated cheer camp once again, started my 3rd year of working at SBS, went to George Strait concert with my BFF, my Mom.

September: Started traveling for LSU football; had fun tailgating and winning games again! Brayden was baptized and I attended my first Catholic baptism ceremony.

October: Fell more madly in love with my husband! Struggled with decision to go back to school (specifically Law School), realized that's not where God wants me now, so I'm sitting patiently and obeying his plans! Dressed Charley up for Halloween as a bumble bee - I loved it, Jeremy rolled his eyes, the dog was indifferent, he just liked the excessive attention! Hired a fabulous assistant cheerleading coach!

November: Experienced my first cheerleading drama - and hope to never go through any again! Glad I survived! Thanksgiving in Houston, then headed to BR with my parents in tow to watch LSU beat Arkansas :) Finally!

December: Took cheerleaders to first competition and they won 1st and 2nd place! Enjoyed a busy Christmas with our families, had a nice break off of work (which I'm still enjoying), stepsister Heidi got married, Charley ate his first chocolate candy and got a Cherry Eye in the same week, and got to play in the snow in Houston!

Had a blessed 2009 and I am looking forward to a great new year!

Frio Trip '09

We had a great time floating the Frio River last weekend! We went with Jeff & Lindsay and Matt & Kim and a few of their friends! We had a great time floating, cooking dinner, playing Rock Band (Jeremy), taking long naps (Me) and just hanging out! Luckily, we didn't get too sunburned! We can't wait to go back next summer!

Posing after dinner at a restaurant I can't remember the name of!

Me and Lindsay - I love this girl!

The boys playing Rock Band!

Sedona Trip

Jeremy and I just got back from a long weekend in Sedona, Arizona with our friends Cliff and Sara. Jeremy and Cliff have been friends since Kindergarten....isn't that amazing? I don't know a single person I went to Kindergarten with!

We had a great time together! They got married just 5 weeks after we did, so its fun having other newlywed friends! This was hopefully the first of many traveling adventures together!