It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I Love Christmas!! Love decorating the house. Love having Christmas Lights up. Love that it was cold & felt like Christmas in Dallas! Mainly I loved that I took off 2 weeks of work.

We celebrated w/ Sean's family the weekend before since they would be in Arizona for Christmas. It's so fun to see the kids open gifts. Isn't Christmas really for kids anymore?

LOVE that my Aunt Joyce & cousin Christine came for the whole week of Christmas to visit. Miss having Christine around (one of my many old roommies). We had fun playing CatchPhrase, cards, decorating letters for our homes, shopping, Furmaniting my dogs, getting mani's & pedi's, eating & more eating....

Kristen & Kelly were in town as well with their 3 dogs, so at one point there were 7 dogs in my house. Yes, you read it right. 1 dog for each person in the house (man on dog defense). Below you can see I'm starting to lose it with Dallas.

Nobody puts Baby in the corner...

I hosted a girls night this last Saturday. We were all going to hang out, eat of course & then watch a movie. Jenny picked Dirty Dancing. There were many laughs as always. Jenny made sure we all knew that she could do the last dance scene. Yes, she still has it! Quite the dance moves Jenny (takes me back to your dance competitions in high school --GO ROXY!!!). I secretly just want to have a guy walk up & say "nobody puts Heather in the corner" but, really when am I ever in a corner. I can assure you I wouldn't be leaping off stages & jumping into the swan lift at the end --not even when I was 100lbs lighter. Last movie night we watched Some Kind of Wonderful. Next time, it's Girls Just Want to Have Fun. 

Probably my favorite part is how the girls come over, get settled on the couch & go for my smut magazines. I consider them "the real news". You may be familiar with them...Us Weekly & People. 

  

Nikki & Amy B, we missed you! (Nikki, I have a bone to  pick w/ you. You can't miss the next one.)

Season of Giving

I'll tell you with everything going on with the economy right now, I feel very blessed for all I have. It's made me be a little more grateful then I usually am.

This year I've tried to get back into more volunteer work and give back in the community.

I joined the Red Cross' Disaster Action Team (DAT) where we help in Collin County those that have been victims to fires, floods, tornado's, etc... I had the opportunity to work the shelters when Hurricane Ike hit Texas. Lots of displaced families up in the Dallas area from Houston. I sign up a week out of each month to be on call w/ the DAT team. It's from 6pm to 7:30am & when you get a call, you go out w/ 1 -2 others from DAT to respond to fires mainly. Sometimes its a quiet week, others you'll be called out a few times. We had 2 fires last week to work, one w/ an apt & the other was a single family fire. It's neat to be able to provide them assistance & be there for them when they've lost everything. Everyone be careful w/ the Christmas lights. They cause a lot of problems this time of year!

My favorite event I've worked this year though had to be this last Friday when we went to the Bonham Veteran's Hospital for their Christmas program. My friend Susan & her family are part of one of the local chapters & had asked if our Ward would be able to make 50 dozen cookies to help their chapter be able to give homemade cookies to the 350 vets. My ward was amazing because they had committed to all 50 dozen & actually made quite a few more. Each Veteran gets a bag & goes around to all these tables which has different chapters or associations there to give them goodies or items they need. A bunch of us go through with bags for those in the nursing home that can't come over & then they let the rest of the vets in. I have never been so touched by how humble & grateful these men & women were for socks, pencil & notebook, fruit cups, cookies, oranges, $1 coupon booklets, etc... They were thanking us & saying God Bless You to us! We thanked them for all their service & what they've done for our country. They're so appreciative for that! I know when I worked my first event which was a Carnival for Vet Hospital, I was shocked at how many young men were there. Quite a few of them are back from Iraq & they have not necessarily health issues but mental issues from what they've gone through. It breaks your heart. I will never forget that day & can't wait to do it again next year.

Susan is seriously one of the most generous & unselfish people I've ever met. She has been such a good example to me to get involved more in the community. Thanks Susan for your great friendship!!

Black Friday --First & Last

I'm a little behind which is why I'm not sure doing a blog is a good idea for me. But, here is my story on Thanksgiving.....
My parents, Sean's family & me went down to Austin to do Thanksgiving at Kristen & Kelly's house. It was a little chaotic w/ everyone in the same house but we had a great time. Kristen decided that we as a family needed to go out on Thanksgiving morning to walk/run in on one of the trails. You all should know Kristen is the only workout Nazi in the family. (I hung up my shoes after the triathlon....in my mind that workout last me the rest of the year) Most of us thought it would be a better idea to walk after our big feast--novel idea. We did have a good time though. Kristen had talked me into bringing my bike down to ride some trails. I did & it sat in the car the entire time. Classic.

(us getting ready to go thinking you would see the time-ha)

Lyssa & I had decided we were going to get up early & go to Kohl's for the big sale, among other stores. Kristen said she would go with us but wanted to go to the outlet stores that opened at midnight by her house. So, we decided to take one for the team so all 3 of us could go. We left the house at 11:30pm & I couldn't believe the lines at the stores!! The parking lot was a mad house. They had a band playing Christmas music though so that was nice. We got some good deals but I was a little disappointed. I went with a list of gifts to buy & only bought stuff for my self (stop the laughter ladies --I had good intentions). Classic Kristen, as we went into some of the stores to get gifts for the niece & nephews, she was T minus freakout. The moms w/ the strollers were throwing us both of the edge. Why aren't the kids in bed?!?!?! She said she was going to the front of the line to say she would pay full price if she didn't have to stand in line. The fun was clearly over for her.

So, it's about 2:30am & we decide it's not worth going home or we'll fall asleep. We really just wanted to go to Kohl's more than anything which opened at 4am. Kristen was done so we dropped her off & then went to IHOP (or I- SLOP) & there were quite the characters out that evening. AND...did I really need that meal after I ate like it was the Last Supper? NOPE.

We arrive at Kohl's after being lost by Lola (my GPS in the car). I couldn't believe the lines circling around the building. After we got in, Lyssa & I made a mad dash for the toys since they were 50% off. Lyssa got pretty aggressive --I was so proud! :). Well, we got lots crossed off the list (for others). It was well worth the trip to Kohl's. We stood in line for about 35 min to check out & then headed home (lost again). We arrived home around 6:30am.

I slept for quite a few hours but poor Lyssa was up w/ the kids. Yes, this is a plus for still being single. HA. I had a great time w/ Lyssa. We agreed we would skip the outlets next time & just get up early for Kohl's & maybe some other stores. I can honestly say that was my first all nighter where I was shopping.

Utah Bound --have to get my Amy time

I went up to Utah the weekend after the triathlon to see Amy, Erin, Emily, Lauren, Kari....I love going up to spend time w/ the girls. I was there mainly to see Amy's newest addition, Abram (Abe). What a honey!! So sweet & I can't believe how big Eli & Maeve are getting. 

We did the usual...shopping (mainly me), massages, eating, eating w/ friends and eating (Market Street Brunch is always a must!). I brought a haunted house to make w/ Eli & Maeve, which they seemed to enjoy. I had a blast though going to dinner w/ all the girls one night so I could also see Kari & Lauren's new additions --both boys. What is in the Utah water girls?

Hopefully you all can come this Feb to Dallas for the annual girls weekend? (yeah right!)

I am a Triathlete --ha ha

I know you all are thinking...yeah right. I'm not sure at what point this was a good idea, but my friend, Anne & I decided we should start training for a Sprint Triathlon. We figured if we trained & had a goal we might lose weight. I had to open my big mouth & then it turned to a family event where my sister, Kristen & her boyfriend, Kelly, decided to do it with me. We researched a beginner training schedule & were very disciplined until I injured my back. I believe God was telling me, "this has bad idea written all over it" but, no I kept with it.


Long story short...we orignially signed up for an event in September but Hurricane Ike came that weekend so it was cancelled. Again, a co-worker said this is God's way of saying since you won't use common sense, then I will intervene. HA. Don't think the Ike victims would want to hear that. We signed up for another event in October & at this point I was cussing as it got closer saying let's just get this thing over with!


My goal was to just finish & in one piece. I'm glad I did it. Thought I did better than I thought I would. The swim was my best part, but I will say I didn't enjoy it in a pool. The bike was harder than I thought ---who knew there were hills in Plano. At one point, I was trying to get up a hill in the lowest gears & yelled out to a volunteer on the side, "Am I even moving???". He replied, "barely". My biggest problem with the race was you couldn't use an Ipod and then you couldn't ride next to each other on the bike. I wanted company & was bored.

I finished in 2hrs & min. My sister asked me right after we crossed the finish line together, if I wanted to do another one. Are you kidding me? That's like asking someone after labor if they want to have another kid. HA. Don't think I won't be putting this on a resume. Someone might be impressed by it & think I'm a real die hard athlete. HA! (Ask me how many times I've been to the gym since....once).












Thanks mom, dad, Anne, Jenny & their kids who came to support me.

Canton Bound

If you're ever in the Dallas area the first weekend of the month, you should try to go to Canton, TX. I think it has to be the biggest flea market in the country. It's called "Canton Trade Days" or "First Monday". Any & everything you can think of is there. My sis-in-law, Lyssa had never been & has lived here long enough so, it was time to take her!

We had a great time & bought a lot of stuff --well, I bought more than her (are we shocked?). I got some additional furniture pieces for my family room, clock, holiday decor, arrangements, Christmas gifts, High Chair (at what point was that a good idea?) etc... I should only be allowed to go one time a year because I can do some serious damage.

See the pics with the cart that I brought with us....filled to the brim within our 1st hour. You should've seen the two of us hauling our great purchases to the car, trying to board a trolley with all our crap & then having to drive back to pick up more of our great buys. WOW! Can't wait to go again Sis! I had a blast.

Farewell to Amy B

One of my favorite people ever is Amy Barlow. (Amy, you'll be missed more than you know!! You were the nicest to me when I moved to this area & included me in the groups. I'll never forget your kindness. I've had so much fun with you over the last year. I don't know who I'll go see the late movies with now. HA. Love you to death!! )

You all should know Amy is the one who talked me into doing a blog & insisted that "Becoming Heather" should be the title. She was one who dragged me to that ridiculous movie.

We had a great dinner for Amy & Jeff before they moved to Florida. Great time at Maggiano's.

The Start of Becoming Heather...

Well, the time has come for me to start my blog. I haven't wanted to start this as I knew it would be a lot of work and I thought who wants to read just about me? The best part of reading my friends blogs is seeing the updated pictures of their families. I'm giving in to my friends who think I should do a blog as they think it will be entertainment. Laugh with me though friends...not at me. HA.

The title "Becoming Heather"...what's it all about, you ask? Well, I'm a sucker for romance films and happy endings! Some of my favorite movies have been based on the Jane Austen books...Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, etc... Well, a new movie was coming out based on the story of Jane Austen's life called "Becoming Jane" (I'll tell you now, I'm not a reader. I'm a movie goer. If there are cliff notes, I'm on it. So some of you are already thinking, shame on you for not reading these novels.). So, this called for a Girl's Night Out. If you've seen the movie, I'm sure you understand why I hated it. Bottom line, she never got married. Lost the love of her life only to run into him and his family at the end, blah blah blah... As the lights come up, I'm beyond distraught and I shouted to my friends, "why don't they just call it 'Becoming Heather'!". They laughed and it's been the joke since. I know, it was a dramatic moment and one I call "bitter table for 1".

I'm always trying to find myself & figure myself out. I think I've changed a lot over the years through the different places I've lived, life experiences, trips, jobs, friends & family, etc...so, either way, the title fits.