Today is the second day of two thousand thirteen.
New Years Eve was nice. Because my wife and daughter have been very ill, we stayed home and cuddled as a family. I made soup beans and cornbread. I made soup beans for a few reasons: 1. Needed a good way to use the ham bone from our delicious Christmas day ham. 2. Wanted to make something warm and cozy in the crock-pot because it's so cold outside and my girls are sick. 3. I am a southern woman!
While eating Soup Beans and cornbread and snuggling on the couch we were flipping through the channels on TV. We came across UFC. I have wondered what the hype was about; it seems as though UFC is bigger and bigger all the time. Bree wondered about UFC as well so we turned it on. It was pretty cool. I like the fact that it moves a lot faster than boxing. There are only 3 rounds and they move very quickly.
Around 11:15 PM on NYE, we turned on the countdown (Big D NYE Special). I had decorated the counters with glitter, wine glasses, and welch's sparkling grape juice. We also had New Year Party Hats!
We prepared our "Wine" glasses with our sparkling juice.
Ten, Nine, Eight.... my family is standing up together shouting the countdown.... Seven, Six, Five.......... party horns in one hand - wine glasses in the other...... Four, Three, Two ...... party hats still on and still shouting...
ONE - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
New Year Kisses all around. Yes, even when they are sick!
New Years Eve day, I contemplated, like all of you what my resolutions would be.
First and foremost, I set a resolution in my mind to be more positive. Unfortunately, I am often a glass half empty kind of girl and tend to expect and predict the worst from people and situations. So, I want to make a valiant effort to be more positive overall.
Second, I started a mental "Why Wait?" Campaign. If there is something that needs to be done around the house, why wait. This is just a mantra I want to keep going this year to avoid procrastination. Whether it is cleaning, organizing, or even finishing a book I have been working on - Why Wait?
Third, I would really like to lose weight. In 2011, I lost thirty pounds from September to November. Unfortunately, I have gained those thirty pounds back since then. With my new job, it will be a great time to lose weight as well. Fresh starts in all different areas ;)
Those are my resolutions! All three resolutions will improve me physically, mentally, and emotionally. All three resolutions would make me a better Mom and Wife. All anyone can hope for is to constantly be moving forward, right?
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Monday, February 14, 2011
Tulsa
This past weekend, Bree, Riley, and I went to Tulsa to visit Bree's parents. The drive was easy there and back. The roads were not crowded and it was a super pleasant drive. After going to Tulsa, I am happier than ever to be living in Dallas! As most of you know, my family and I lived in Tulsa for 2.5 years prior to living in Dallas and Bree and I both despised it then and, we realized, we still dislike it! It was great to see family: hanging out, eating, laughing, etc. Our dogs came with us and they were happy to see Grandma too. We got back Sunday around 4PM. When we got home, it was confirmed, once again, that our home we currently rent was being placed on the market for sale. We have lived in this home for 2 years and we really like it but the landlord has decided she wants to sell the home now. Now that we know the area of Dallas in which we really love, we are going to purchase a home when our lease is up. Looking for that forever home! Last night Bree and I exchanged some early Valentines Day gifts. I got a telescope; something I am so excited about... I have been wanting a telescope for a while so I am so stoked! I was a little less creative; I got Bree a spa candle, a one hour massage certificate, candies, and a new spice rack.
This morning we gave Riley her Valentines Day gifts. It was a gift bag filled with goodies including lotion, loofahs, nail polish, a GLEE t-shirt, some funky socks, and a few other things.
I am going to cook dinner for the girls tonight: stuffed chicken breasts, asparagus or corn, and sweet potatoes. I also have a little surprise for them after the dinner. ;)
Also, because we just cannot fill our schedules enough, Riley has Soccer practice tonight. It is the first practice of the Spring Season. I am excited for her...
And, of course, The Bachelor comes on tonight... which, I hope to watch. I am currently finishing up my day at work. I just took a little break because I really have not taken breaks today! Oh and before bed I want to squeeze in a little sky time with my new telescope
Happy Valentines Day to you!
This morning we gave Riley her Valentines Day gifts. It was a gift bag filled with goodies including lotion, loofahs, nail polish, a GLEE t-shirt, some funky socks, and a few other things.
I am going to cook dinner for the girls tonight: stuffed chicken breasts, asparagus or corn, and sweet potatoes. I also have a little surprise for them after the dinner. ;)
Also, because we just cannot fill our schedules enough, Riley has Soccer practice tonight. It is the first practice of the Spring Season. I am excited for her...
And, of course, The Bachelor comes on tonight... which, I hope to watch. I am currently finishing up my day at work. I just took a little break because I really have not taken breaks today! Oh and before bed I want to squeeze in a little sky time with my new telescope
Happy Valentines Day to you!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
SUPER BOWL: I love Football!
Less than an hour until kick-off and Bree is about to make some Chicken Mole for dinner. My throat is still killing me and my cough hurts too. I did my quiz for Collective Behavior and my final score was 10/10. Riley and I went and braved Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping.
Why I decided to go grocery shopping 3 hours prior to Super Bowl kick-off, I am not sure. However, what is done is done and, thank goodness, they grocery shopping is done! We should be good for a couple weeks.
I think I wore Riley out at the grocery because, as I write this, Riley has fallen asleep in the recliner. My poor little baby.
My predictions for today: I am ROOTING for the Steelers! Unfortunately, I think the Packers may take the win.
SDH....
Good Morning, it is Super Bowl Sunday!
Today, I awoke next to a beautiful woman. My wife. My favorite time is often just hoping for 5 more minutes to lay with her and hold her tight. We both awoke still sick today. We did a Yoga/Pilate's exercise video together this morning. Some of the stretching exercises felt quite good on my hamstrings and back.
Today is Super Bowl Sunday and, I have said before, I am rooting for the Steelers today! They are a good clean team and deserve another win. As I sit here at the dining room table, Bree is already whipping up some super bowl treats. I smell the crushing of avocados so I know there will be some fresh Guacamole involved. Bree is making breakfast too. Mmmmm. I love that Bree cooks and, more importantly, that she is good at it.
We are watching the movie "W." on Showtime right now and it only induces more sympathy than I already had for George W. Bush. How sad that he, literally, could not even understand a third grade lettuce analogy.
As the multi-tasker that I am, I am also about to take quiz for my Collective Behavior course. So, wish me luck. I hope that you all enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday with your friends and family as I intend to do as well.
SDH
Today is Super Bowl Sunday and, I have said before, I am rooting for the Steelers today! They are a good clean team and deserve another win. As I sit here at the dining room table, Bree is already whipping up some super bowl treats. I smell the crushing of avocados so I know there will be some fresh Guacamole involved. Bree is making breakfast too. Mmmmm. I love that Bree cooks and, more importantly, that she is good at it.
We are watching the movie "W." on Showtime right now and it only induces more sympathy than I already had for George W. Bush. How sad that he, literally, could not even understand a third grade lettuce analogy.
As the multi-tasker that I am, I am also about to take quiz for my Collective Behavior course. So, wish me luck. I hope that you all enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday with your friends and family as I intend to do as well.
SDH
Saturday, February 5, 2011
2011: Time flies and draws us with it. The moment in which I am speaking is already far from me (Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux)
It has been a while since my last update and, goodness, time flies! I believe the last time I wrote it was the eve of Riley's first day of 5th grade. As of today, Riley is almost done with the 6th grade. Riley continues to make all A's, although, it appears to come easy for her. Riley is growing entirely too fast and is quite a young lady now. With a size 9 shoe in Ladies, we already begin shoe sharing.
Bree and I both attend college at University of North Texas (MEAN GREEN; Go Eagles) and we are so close to finishing, finally. I should graduate at the end of July with BA in Sociology. It is a possibility, based on course availability, that I take my final course in the fall and graduate in December. Bree will graduate in December as well with a BA in Anthropology. We both enjoy our studies however, we are ready to have the extra time to spend on other things. We both go to school full-time and it is quite an obligation. We are both thankful to have obtained the large university, four year experience; especially at a nice, well known university. Like I said, we are ready to spend our devoted study time for extra time with Riley ....
New Years Eve 2010, counting down to 2011, we had family in town: Brenda and Phillip. We had cocktails and played Wii as a family. None of the 5 of us actually made it to midnight. We all hit the hay early!
Throughout January we have just worked on getting back into the swing of things. With Bree and I working, Spring semester beginning, Riley's school starting back, and cleaning up from the holidays, we stay busy.
Living here in Dallas, TX, I am not sure that my family and I expected much snow, however, we have already had two snow events this winter. The end of January there was a light snow dusting. This past week was a pretty severe winter storm. The Dallas area received a large amount of ice. The storm came in on Monday evening and a thick layer of ice covered the entire Dallas area. My office closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because the conditions were too hazardous for driving. Thursday my office was open again and it was also the Chinese New Year (it is the year of the rabbit). We convinced our boss to order in Chinese food so we did not have to drive in the ice to pick up lunch and also to honor the Chinese New Year. Thursday night, snow came. We got about three inches of snow on top of the ice. The office was closed again all day Friday and it continued to snow all day on Friday. I think, we ended up with about 5 inches of snow all together.
I was out of work all week, Riley was out of school all week, and Bree was out of her office all week as well. Bree worked from home during the week. In addition, UNT Campus was closed all week as well.
Today, it was above freezing for the first time all week and the ice finally melted away. So, hopefully, by Monday we will begin getting back into our normal routine.
Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers..... right here in Dallas. The event will be held at Cowboys stadium in Arlington. The locals (and even some non-locals) like to call it "Jerry World". I was really pulling for the Cowboys to have made it to the Super Bowl but, it did not happen. Ever since coming to Dallas, I have been a loyal Dallas Cowboys fan. My fandom was established in 2009. I believe that no person should be a "fair-weather fan". I will support my team through good times and bad times, good seasons and bad seasons, through player exchanges, and coaching terminations. I am excited about Jason Garrett taking over as head coach. We will see what happens. As for Super Bowl tomorrow, I am rooting for the Steelers. I know that they are NOT the underdog in this situation but I like the Steelers pretty well.
Right now, I am going to wrap this up and go to bed. Goodnight to all, and to all a good night!
Stephanie Dallas Hightower
Bree and I both attend college at University of North Texas (MEAN GREEN; Go Eagles) and we are so close to finishing, finally. I should graduate at the end of July with BA in Sociology. It is a possibility, based on course availability, that I take my final course in the fall and graduate in December. Bree will graduate in December as well with a BA in Anthropology. We both enjoy our studies however, we are ready to have the extra time to spend on other things. We both go to school full-time and it is quite an obligation. We are both thankful to have obtained the large university, four year experience; especially at a nice, well known university. Like I said, we are ready to spend our devoted study time for extra time with Riley ....
New Years Eve 2010, counting down to 2011, we had family in town: Brenda and Phillip. We had cocktails and played Wii as a family. None of the 5 of us actually made it to midnight. We all hit the hay early!
Throughout January we have just worked on getting back into the swing of things. With Bree and I working, Spring semester beginning, Riley's school starting back, and cleaning up from the holidays, we stay busy.
Living here in Dallas, TX, I am not sure that my family and I expected much snow, however, we have already had two snow events this winter. The end of January there was a light snow dusting. This past week was a pretty severe winter storm. The Dallas area received a large amount of ice. The storm came in on Monday evening and a thick layer of ice covered the entire Dallas area. My office closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because the conditions were too hazardous for driving. Thursday my office was open again and it was also the Chinese New Year (it is the year of the rabbit). We convinced our boss to order in Chinese food so we did not have to drive in the ice to pick up lunch and also to honor the Chinese New Year. Thursday night, snow came. We got about three inches of snow on top of the ice. The office was closed again all day Friday and it continued to snow all day on Friday. I think, we ended up with about 5 inches of snow all together.
I was out of work all week, Riley was out of school all week, and Bree was out of her office all week as well. Bree worked from home during the week. In addition, UNT Campus was closed all week as well.
Today, it was above freezing for the first time all week and the ice finally melted away. So, hopefully, by Monday we will begin getting back into our normal routine.
Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers..... right here in Dallas. The event will be held at Cowboys stadium in Arlington. The locals (and even some non-locals) like to call it "Jerry World". I was really pulling for the Cowboys to have made it to the Super Bowl but, it did not happen. Ever since coming to Dallas, I have been a loyal Dallas Cowboys fan. My fandom was established in 2009. I believe that no person should be a "fair-weather fan". I will support my team through good times and bad times, good seasons and bad seasons, through player exchanges, and coaching terminations. I am excited about Jason Garrett taking over as head coach. We will see what happens. As for Super Bowl tomorrow, I am rooting for the Steelers. I know that they are NOT the underdog in this situation but I like the Steelers pretty well.
Right now, I am going to wrap this up and go to bed. Goodnight to all, and to all a good night!
Stephanie Dallas Hightower
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Fifth Grade
Riley is SOOOOO excited to start 5th grade tomorrow. She went to bed at 9 and I went in to check on her at like 9:45 and she was still wide awake. She is definitely too excited to sleep. New school, new teachers, and new friends. She is sooooo excited. I think she is a smidge nervous too but I believe she is mostly excited too. She is so big now - it's crazy
Weekend
Hey there. Bree, Ry, and I got to watch the Cowboys game on Friday night. Excited that my new "home" team won the pre-season game 30-10 in the new stadium. We wanted to go so bad! The ticket prices were not too bad but the parking was triple the price of the tickets.... It's like $75 for parking around the new stadium. Isn't that crazy???
The television was probably a better view anyways. Sometimes your couch is the place to be for that stuff. No crowds or obnoxious drunk people. No traffic... and you can fall asleep as soon as you get sleepy.
Saturday was busy. Bree and I organized our 3rd meetup gathering for the meetup group Bree started. This month was BBQ in Frisco Commons. It was so fun and nice. LOVED IT. Lots of laughter and great convos.
After the meetup, we were supposed to go to the party at Ashley's house. The party was for Trish (for her birthday). When we left the park, I called Ashley, but she was not ready for guests yet. We decided to go on home and put the stuff from the BBQ away. I feel bad I could not make an appearance at the party for Trish, but once we got home to put away the goods from the meetup BBQ we were all too tired to get back out. While we were on the way home, I realized my wallet was missing!
I called Tom Thumb where I had stopped earlier for some last minute BBQ goods and I had indeed left it there. I had to drive back out to where the park was to the Tom Thumb Grocery store to pick up my wallet. I was definitely relieved and grateful that it was in safe hands.
After the bbq, we pretty much went home, put away stuff, straightened up a bit, and went to bed.
Hmmm... today.... we went to target. Got Riley a few clothes. Me and Riley both got our eyebrows threaded. We got Riley 2 pairs of jeans and a cute tee from Hollister. The line for the threading was crazy long. There was a guy getting threaded which I think is fanstastic. But, if you are having to hold your girlfriends hand then you are not cool enough - you are a pussy
Let's see - once we did all that - we saw "The Time Traveler's Wife" at AMC. Okay, just my thoughts, it is a really good movie but I would recommend to others to wait until it comes out on DVD. Not that it was not a good movie because, like I said, the movie is very good. I just think it was not quite worth $8 bucks a ticket kind of good.
Now, we are home. Bree made some bangin tuna casserole for dinner. We watched the Miss Universe pageant. I was really hoping to see someone fall, trip, or severely fuck up a interview question, but none of that happened tonight. We also watched Khloe & Kourtney - Taking Miami show.
The television was probably a better view anyways. Sometimes your couch is the place to be for that stuff. No crowds or obnoxious drunk people. No traffic... and you can fall asleep as soon as you get sleepy.
Saturday was busy. Bree and I organized our 3rd meetup gathering for the meetup group Bree started. This month was BBQ in Frisco Commons. It was so fun and nice. LOVED IT. Lots of laughter and great convos.
After the meetup, we were supposed to go to the party at Ashley's house. The party was for Trish (for her birthday). When we left the park, I called Ashley, but she was not ready for guests yet. We decided to go on home and put the stuff from the BBQ away. I feel bad I could not make an appearance at the party for Trish, but once we got home to put away the goods from the meetup BBQ we were all too tired to get back out. While we were on the way home, I realized my wallet was missing!
I called Tom Thumb where I had stopped earlier for some last minute BBQ goods and I had indeed left it there. I had to drive back out to where the park was to the Tom Thumb Grocery store to pick up my wallet. I was definitely relieved and grateful that it was in safe hands.
After the bbq, we pretty much went home, put away stuff, straightened up a bit, and went to bed.
Hmmm... today.... we went to target. Got Riley a few clothes. Me and Riley both got our eyebrows threaded. We got Riley 2 pairs of jeans and a cute tee from Hollister. The line for the threading was crazy long. There was a guy getting threaded which I think is fanstastic. But, if you are having to hold your girlfriends hand then you are not cool enough - you are a pussy
Let's see - once we did all that - we saw "The Time Traveler's Wife" at AMC. Okay, just my thoughts, it is a really good movie but I would recommend to others to wait until it comes out on DVD. Not that it was not a good movie because, like I said, the movie is very good. I just think it was not quite worth $8 bucks a ticket kind of good.
Now, we are home. Bree made some bangin tuna casserole for dinner. We watched the Miss Universe pageant. I was really hoping to see someone fall, trip, or severely fuck up a interview question, but none of that happened tonight. We also watched Khloe & Kourtney - Taking Miami show.
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