Happy New Year!

I hope everyone reading this has a very Happy and Safe New Year's Eve! Here's to a fantastic and fun-filled 2011!

Oh, Maggie & Owen say Happy New Year too!

Thankful Thursday

This week/year, I am thankful for my health. While I am far from perfect, I have been lucky enough to have another healthy year free from disease and major problems. It is something we all take for granted until we are faced with someone who is not so lucky.

Throughout 2010, I watched a co-worker/friend lose her battle with breast cancer (she passed away in October) and just recently, I volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House with Laura on Christmas Day. Man, do those two things put your life and health into perspective!

More than ever, I am grateful to be in good general health. I need to improve in some areas, but I think I am on my way. It's something we should never take for granted!

2010 in Review

At this time of year, it's always good to reflect on the year and remember what happened and how much I have to be thankful for. It really puts the little complaints into perspective for me.

So here is my Year 2010 In Review (in no particular order):

• Adopted Owen, my sweet wiener puppy!
  
• Got in my first real car accident
• Trip to Amarillo - Cadillac Ranch, Palo Duro Canyon, Route 66!
  
• Governors Girls Weekend in Orlando
• First trip to New York City!
• Fell down the stairs and bruised my tailbone - most intense pain I have ever felt for a month!
• Laughed my butt off and had a fantastic girls trip to Hot Springs, AR
• Took a handgun class and shot a gun!
• Saw my first shooting star
• Had some amazing visitors throughout the year
• Learned how to stain wood and transformed my banister, 2 tables and all 3 bathroom's cabinets!
• Explored Texas - Waco, Crawford, New Braunfels, Gruene, Granbury, Canton, Salado, Amarillo
• Developed and strengthened several friendships and met "New Friend Laura"!
• Survived a Yankees/Rangers game in August when it was 100+ degrees
• Watched Mayce get married
• Honored with the distinction of being Mayce's baby's 'honorary' aunt! (due in May)
• Attended a "Friday Night Lights" Texas high school football game with Cindy - her alma mater (Trinity is ranked #1 in the nation!)
• Baked Christmas cookies for the first time in like 10 years (Thanks, Cindy!)
• Realized that I am a very lucky and blessed person - I have so much to be thankful for. :)
  

Out of Proportion

I saw this cartoon on KQ's Facebook page and I thought it was funny.....and then I realized that I could replace "elves" with "Maggie & Owen" and it would be funnier! They are officially off of tree duty PERMANENTLY. I care too much about how my tree looks. HAHAHA!

Change

When life is asking us to change,
we have two choices:
feeling the pain of the end or

feeling the joy of a new beginning

I saw this quote on a friend's FB page last week and I loved it (I have an affinity for cool and meaningful quotes, BTW - in case you haven't noticed!). As a person who typically resists major changes or is a late-adopter of change, this was hard to hear. I have definitely gotten better over time - and even made a series of HUGE changes by choice in the past few years......but my true nature is NOT to rock the boat or to fix what's not broken.

I often lament at what is ending during a change instead of looking straight ahead at the positives in the future. Part of this is fear of the unknown, part of it is grieving the past. But as always, God has done the most work on me during times of great change and I have gained the most confidence in myself and my abilities after I come out of a time of major transition. So why would I resist change if so much good comes out of it? That is the question of the day - I would love to know!

Maggie's Merry Christmas

And just to be different, I'm posting these weird pictures of my Maggie-girl on Christmas Eve. She's such a lady.....

Merry Christmas!

Slip-Slidin' Away

About halfway through the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, they have an ice slide! It's probably intended for kids, but I don't care - we did it anyway!

I think it actually looks like a pinball machine or something from the bottom.

PS - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the red ice piano!

Here are the ice 'shutes' where the people end up!

The ice blocks were amazing - maybe since I haven't lived in a cold place for a few years. I was just mesmerized by them! This is the stairway up to the top of the slide.

Cindy and Laura waiting in line on the stairs....

Laura and I with the ice blocks!

Finally at the top - this is a side view of the ice shutes....

Here's a girl starting her ride....

This is the view looking down - right before I went down the slide!

It was so pretty!

And at the very end, you go through an ice tunnel - VERY neat.

At the exit, there is an entire nativity scene carved in ice!

It was absolutely gorgeous when they switched the lights to blue - amazing!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM GRAPEVINE, TEXAS!!

Charlie Brown - in ICE!

I had never visited the ICE exhibit before, so I'm glad they had a great theme for my first time - Charlie Brown!

The ice sculptures were amazing and I loved every single one of them. Personally, I like Linus the best because I can relate to his obsession with blankets. :) (PS - Linus is made out of ice, but his blankie is not)

The colors and the ice carving was simply fantastic - just so neat to see!

I love the ice skates!

This is a close-up of the blue mailbox - I just couldn't believe they made all of this out of ICE in Texas!

Here's the mailbox in the scene. It's funny to me to see 'fake snow' made out of ice. LOL

Here's Cindy and I standing in line for our 5 cent psychiatric help - we need it!!

Even Christmas lights in ice!

It was SO cold in there (obviously) to keep the ice sculptures solid. They give you those blue parkas to wear when you walk through the exhibit. I also had a coat, sweater and shirt on under my parka!

They tended to so many details and it was so realistic!

I just loved this one - his spiky hair and musical instrument...

Here's me and my BFF Linus again. :) I wanted to steal his blankie!

These frozen ice artistic Christmas trees were so beautiful....

Here we are in our blue parka glory - Me, Laura & Cindy

I love his red shirt!

Tangled up lights in ice - sad face.....

Singing their hearts out.....

Everyone's happy at the end. :)

They even have popcorn on the ice tree!

And I love that they even got her freckles in ice!!

Texas On A Grand Scale!

Last week I went to the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan Hotel/Resort in Grapevine. I have been meaning to go for the past 2 years, but finally made it over there. Laura, Cindy and I grabbed dinner after work and then headed up to Grapevine to see Charlie Brown (this year's theme)!

The resort is absolutely stunning, so today's post is just pictures of the hotel/resort!

Here's the lobby where we came in - very "Texan":

And then you walk into this middle area - breathtaking and HUGE!!

It was so big and pretty in there - I could've just marveled at it all night.

Here's an Alamo-esque structure in the middle rotunda.....

And the gingerbread room.....

The lighting displays were just fantastic, and there were water fountains all around too. There's just something about 'water features' that mesmerizes me.....

Their trees put my little one to shame!

I loved this mosaic on the floor....

And what's a Texan resort without some cowboy boots?!

Here's the lobby again - as you pass from that huge area out to the front entrance.

This is Laura and Cindy by the front entrance!

And a look back into the crazy big area from the lobby.....

Cindy, Laura and I by the double-sided fireplace. SO COOL.

Even the parking lot was beautiful!