You Ain't Nothin' But A Hound Dog

On Decemer 19th my precious Redbone Coonhound, CoonDog, turned 5!!

We didn't have a big party with his fellow canines, but Coon did get to spend the entire day inside lounging on his 'bed' and ate a large bone.

Here are some pics of his first 5 years of life:

The morning Trav gave Coon to me


6 weeks old



4 months old- medium sized CoonDog



1 year old





CoonDog on his 5th birthday


Happy birthday sweet Coon!!

Baby Love

Mom and I needed new 'dos' for Christmas, so we headed south on 35 to Waco and got our hair did.

Well, a trip to Waco wouldn't be complete without seeing my sweet friend, Marci, whom I've been friends with since 6 grade! Marci was scheduled to have her 2nd child (Kinsey) around the 9th of January, but Miss. Kinsey decided to surprise us all and came a few weeks early on Dec. 17th!!

All that to say....not only did I get to see Marci I got to meet sweet Kinsey Mattison Davis AND play with Karlie (Kinsey's big sister).

Kinsey sleeping in my arms


Nat and Kinsey. Such a sweet baby. She slept the entire time I held her. I think she was milk drunk, but I'll just pretend she was comfortable with me.


Nat and Karlie. Karlie put on her Cinderella dress and was decorating her gingerbread house, so she wasn't all that interested in taking a picture with me, but when she saw the forward facing camera on the iPhone her mind changed. :-)



So thankful for my little visits to Waco and seeing my sweet friend!

Ice Ice Baby

No, this is not a tribute to Vanilla Ice, but rather a little documentation of my visit to the Ice exhibit at the Gaylord in Grapevine.

I met my sweet friend and her precious baby for a girls day while our husbands were hunting.

This years theme was Charlie Brown and it was really awesome. I have no clue how those extremely talented artists work in 9 degree temps for 3 months preparing this exhibit.

The parkas they make you wear really do work...just wish I had thought about my gloves. My fingers were a little cold. Lesson learned.

Here are all the pics:

J and I waiting for our turn


E and sweet J


The beautiful trees made of ice


Sweet Linus


One of my favorites. I love all of these colors.


Some of Charlie's crew.



I saved the best for last. They had a giant nativity scene carved out of ice and the sound system was telling the story of Jesus' birth. Loved that they portrayed the real reason for Christmas!!







Such a fun afternoon with a sweet friend! I hope we can make this an annual tradition!


By the way, kids 3 and under get in free!

Bring On The Rain

Ready to take on the next rainstorm with these new rain boots. Really hoping for rain soon, but I don't think it's on the radar for the next 10 days.

I think I might just wear them before it rains because they are so cute!


- Posted from my iPhone

A, B, C, D....

Now I know my ABC's
Next time won't you sing with me?

Our baby "girl" of the equine form has been dropped off at school.
Lucy-1 day old


Lucy and her mom, Sloan


She will be with the trainer for the next month being "broke". Which means she we will be able to ride her when she graduates!!

Travis has done a great job getting her ready for school teaching her to load in the cattle trailer (which she loves). If we leave the trailer doors open she will walk in and stay there. Travis also got her to wear a halter and loves to be on the halter and go on "walks".

This is the first time Lucy has been away from her momma and she was a little sad and confused when we dropped her off.

This is Miss Lucy as we dropped her off.


I can't believe Lucy is almost 3 and ready to be a big girl! Let's hope she graduates, because her trainer already called and said she has an attitude problem.

Posted from my iPhone

New York Pics

I'm currently sitting in a big room fulfilling my civic duty of jury duty. While I wait for the case to begin I thought I'd post pics I have on my phone from New York

Mom and I headed to DFW


Traffic. There is a lot of it in NYC. And what's with the honking?!


View from our room


Serendipity. So stinkin' good.



View from our hotel bar.


View from the boathouse in Central Park


Magnolia Bakery. Yum!


WICKED!!!


The End!

- Posted from my iPhone

New York, New York

Here is part II of our trip to the Big Apple:

Friday and Saturday we spent most of the day sight-seeing and shopping. We saw China Town, Flat Iron District, Greenwich Village, Central Park, etc. You name it, we saw it.

Friday night we saw the 2009 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Billy Elliott. I highly recommend it if you want to see some INCREDIBLE dancing done by an 11 year old. I mean, it is out of this world AND it's based on a true story. So so good!

Saturday night we had 4th row seats to Wicked and let me tell you it was also AWESOME. Loved every single second of it.

We also ate at Magnolia Bakery on Saturday and had some of the most delicious cupcakes EVER.  If you ever watched SATC then you wil remember that the show made this little bakery famous. The line was out the door, but I think it was worth the wait.

Pictures to come later as blogger is not cooperating with me.

Live from New York

I am currently in the big apple celebrating my mom's 58th birthday. Happy Birthday, SuSu!!!

We are staying in the middle of times square at the Renassiance and it has fabulous views.

We were greeted at the airport by our sweet driver Renzo. He even had a sign with our names, so i felt famous. We walked around times square after gunsight some tasty desserts at the famous Serendipity. The frozen hot chocolate was as good as I had imagined!

We also walked in Central Park, shopped at Tiffany's, and did some other light sightseeing.

Tomorrow we head out bright and early on a tour of the city and will cap off the night seeing Billy Elliott.

Stay tuned for more!

All The Single Ladies

A few weeks ago I attended the bachelorette party of one of my favorite friends, Debra. She is marrying Travis (not mine) on 11-20-10! I have known Debra for 11 years now. We met while working at the best camp: Laity Lodge Youth Camp and were bunk mates. We then re-united at our time together at Baylor and have been friends since.

We celebrated Debra's 'Last Fling' in Burnet, TX at a gorgeous lake house on Inks Lake. We had a great weekend full of relaxing, swimming/floating in the lake, Mexican food at the ONLY restaurant in town, and finally finished up the evening at THE bar: Pardner's...no knives or spurs allowed. If you ever find yourself in Burnet, please check out this bar. The people watching is incredible.

The Baylor gals at the party:

Deb and Jaran

Most of the gals at Pardners

The wonderful HEB cake Jaran and I picked up for Deb. It was a last minute decision, but made for some great late night snacking.

Debra Jean, I can't wait to see you walk down the aisle and marry your best friend. You are going to be a beautifiul bride and you will get to move down the alphabet and be an 'R' just like me!

Crawl Before You Walk

Folks, we've got a crawler on our hands. Jackson started crawling in honor of his 5th month birthday which was 10-28-10. Below is a video Trent and Kourt took while he was going after a water bottle.

Horse Play

It was a normal fall morning. I was headed out the door and up our long dirt driveway to cross the cattle guard. I notice Travis' roping horse, Sloan, standing in front of it. She usually moves when you get close, but I noticed she wasn't budging. I got out of the car to encourage her to move it or lose it and realized her two front legs were STUCK in the cattle guard! Total panic mode set in bc Travis was at the ranch in Llano.

After getting a hold of the vet he came over with one of his assistants and they worked to free Sloan. Please keep in mind this is 6 in the AM. Early!!! They pulled her left leg up very easily, but then didn't have a place for her to out it down without her going through the cattle guard again. I drove back to the house and flung a piece of decking and we used that so she could apply weight on her freed leg. The right leg wasn't so easy. They greased it up and tried and tried and tried. Sloan was SUCH a good girl...never freaking out and remained calm the entire time. It got to a point where the vet thought he was going to need to get a torch and cut apart the cattle guard, but finally her right leg became free!! Praise. The. Lord.

They walked her down and she was fine. I hope y'all know what a blessing this is. Most animals that incur this type of injury end up with broken legs and need to be out down. Sloan is sore and swollen but didn't suffer any long term or lasting injuries. This is our best, most well trained, wonderful tempered and mild mannered, champion roping horse. We would have been devastated if anything happened to our girl. God is good.

If you're wondering why our gate was open, well I'll tell you that it's because in the 5 years Travis has had our house our horses have NEVER tried anything like that or even gotten that close. We will now be shutting our gate. Lesson learned.

I would also like it noted that I never freaked out, only became teary eyed once, and handled it like a country girl. I'm finally getting used to this country stuff.

And that my friends is the life of a Riley.

We'll Fling Our Green and Gold Afar

We ventured down to Waco last weekend to attend Baylor Homecoming with our friends. I love Homecoming more than anything. I've only missed 1 homecoming since I was born. I love all things about it: bonfire, Pigskin, parade, seeing friends, and the football game. I have so many great memories from Homecoming that I love going back and creating more!

Travis, Jeff McKenzie, and James Newman (holding Judson McKenzie) in front of their prize winning KOT float

Please note that is the only picture I took the entire weekend. I'm not sure why it's blurry here, oh well.

This also marked a very special game for our football team. This was game #6 and winning that sixth game made us eligible for our first bowl game since 1995!! You see, I bleed green and gold. It's true. Really.  I've been to every bowl game that Baylor has been to since I was born and Travis has never been. Baylor WON Saturday's game 47-42 vs. Kansas State. It was a nasty day outside. Travis and I only watched 93 seconds of the game due to a thunderstorm that came through and cause a nearly 2 hour rain delay. We were lucky enough to run into our good friends, Kyle and Marci, on our way to hide from the impending storm and they let us seek shelter in their Suburban during the lightning delay. Well, after waiting it our for almost 2 hours my hubs grew impatient and was ready to go (he doesn't yet bleed green and gold even though he went to Baylor) so I obliged and we headed out on the road.

I hated that we left early, but we didn't have ponchos and umbrellas are not allowed at the stadium, so we were better off listening in the truck as we drove back home. We had a great game offensively, but our defense is struggling. This Saturday we face Texas in Austin, but we actually have a shot at winning this game and IF we do our record will be 7-2. Go Bears Go!

Whatever bowl game Baylor gets invited to we will be there.

Sic 'Em Bears!

Honey, I'm Home

15 weeks

2 days

22 hours

+
900 miles of separation

= TOO long to be apart.

Travis has been out on the road working all summer. He started off working a storm in Minnesota and then moved down to Chicago where he spent a majority of his days. During our time apart we saw each other on 3 separate ocassions and talked on the phone for what seems like a gazillion hours, and sent countless emails and texts. He even sent me flowers in August!

When Travis first got called out I just thought he'd be gone for a few weeks. I never realized that he could be gone this long or that God would choose to bless us with so much work this year. We are truly humbled and blessed by the graciousness He has shown us this year.

Being apart isn't easy and it's not something either of us enjoyed, but we knew it had to be done in order for T to get some good work. I know it's cheesy to say this, but I fell more in love with T while he was gone and definitely learned to appreciate all that he does while he is away. He was working 18+ hours a day 6 days a week, living in an extended stay hotel by himself, eating dinner alone, and working in areas where your safety is compromised.

T- thank you for doing all that you do and working so hard for us! You are an incredible husband with a wonderful work ethic. I love you so much, hubby!

Happy Birthday To You

The weekend of October 2nd we celebrated 90 wonderful years of life for Travis' grandfather, Charles Marshall Riley, more commonly known as Grandpa Chuck.

The entire Riley clan (which is about 30 people) gathered along with 30 of Chuck's friends for a wonderful party at Uncle Rick (Chuck's oldest son) and Aunt Marilyne's home in Houston. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner catered by Demeris, two beautiful cakes made by Uncle Robin (Chucks 3rd son), and a bar stocked full of beer, wine, and sodas.

The entire Riley family (minus Megan who is 35 weeks pregnant and couldn't make the trip from Colorado)

One of Travis' cousins, Kellye, and I thought it would be a great idea to make a memory book to give to Chuck at this party. I emailed all of the Riley family and had them submit their favorite picture and memory and we took that information and put it into a scrapbook. When we gave him the book the look on his face was priceless. He was grinning from ear to ear and had fun reading the stories aloud for the entire family to hear. (This was my first time scrapbooking and it was fun, but boy is that time consuming! )

I love being a part of a big and close knit family like the Riley's and I am so thankful that I get to be apart of this wonderful family! Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Giddy Up Giddy Up 409

I like to consider myself a brave person most of the time. Living in the country you never know what you are going to come across. This is why we have a loaded shotgun next to the bed. We sound like rednecks, but I promise we aren't.

I recently had a run-in with a 4 foot long water moc. in the backyard while going to feed the dogs. What did I do? I pretended to throw things at it so it would slither away, but he wasn't afraid of me. He just sat there and played dead. I gave up and went inside and when I came to check an hour later he was no where to be found. So, the rest of the night I was terrified he was going to crawl up the toilets, so I did what any brave girl would do and close the lids with books. It's o.k. to laugh at me.

The next morning I get ready to leave for work and there is an 8 inch long lizard hanging on to the inside part of our screen door. I slammed the door, re-opened it and was armed with one of our horse's training sticks. I tried knocking the lizard off and he almost ran inside. I slammed the door again and called it a loss with the reptile and left for work out the back door.

A few days later I encounter the same problem with the lizard. This time, I didn't want to feel defeated and only safe exiting and entering through the back door, so I grabbed my trusty bottle of 409 and squirted the guy until he was completely covered. He didn't move. I grabbed the horse training stick again and touched him ever so lightly and he fell onto the ground leaving an imprint of his 409 soaked body on the deck. I left for work thinking I had won this battle, but when I came home he was no where to be found. I found him a day later laying in the dirt, but haven't seen him on the porch since.

I'm considering this a victory against that little guy and I have now reclaimed my front porch and door!

If you were wondering where Travis was when these shenanigans were taking place: Chicago. I sent him a picture asking for help and I could hear him laughing from Illinois.

I'll mess with the horses, dogs, spiders, and roaches, but I do NOT do any kind of reptiles. Gross.

To any future reptile thinking of messing with me: Watch Out--I'm prepared with 409...

Kiss Me In The Dark

Back in June we bought tickets to attend the Margarita and Salsa Festival in Waco. These weren't your average tickets...these were the big VIP tickets and a night full of fun, food, drinks and excellent music provided by Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers Band, and the Eli Young Band. If you know my hubby then you'll know he's a little on the frugal side, so getting him to spring for the nicer tickets was a big deal.

Well, luck would have it that when it was time for the concert he was stuck in Chicago working a storm. I was sad that he wouldn't get to see some of our favorite people in Waco and miss out on a fun night and lose money from the ticket, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from going and having a good time. So, I made the solo trek down to Waco and my sweet friend Marci allowed me to tag along with her for the evening.

Even though the food wasn't great...or just not enough of the food...we still had a great time. We lucked out and our table was right next to a huge fan and we were kept cool the entire evening. Marci surprised me with a backstage pass and I actually got to meet all three bands! Thank you, Marci (and Kyle)!!

Eli Young Band

Randy Rogers Band

Wade Bowen

Pam and Marci

It was a wonderful evening and hopefully we will both be able to attend next year!

Shower The People You Love With Love

A had the honor of co-hosting a shower for my sweet friend Katie Hagemeier Justice. She was my cube-mate at work for a little over 3 years and when she got married to her hubby, Chad Justice, he whisked her away to his new office location in Orlando, Florida.

I went from seeing her everyday 10 hours a day to going over 12 months without seeing her. Thankfully we were able to talk alot via email and numerous phone dates.

Katie and Chad are expecting their first child in November. Her name will be Avri Marie Justice. Isn't that cute?

We held the shower at the yummy Breadwinners in Dallas. It is a must-have for brunch locations in the DFW area.

Katie and her fabulous cupcakes from The Cupcakery

The adorable diaper cake

Katie and her Dallas gals

I can't wait for November to get here so that I can meet sweet Avri Marie! I know Chad and Katie are going to be the best parents and they already love her so much.

Chicago, Chicago

While I was visiting Travis in Chicago, we took advantage of our time together and toured the city on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was spent touring Navy Pier, riding the Ferris Wheel looking over the beautiful and ginormous Lake Michican, having a drink at Harry Carry's, riding the train to Union Station from the burbs where we were staying, walking the Magnificent Mile, taking a stroll through Millenium Park and, enjoying a water taxi up the river to view the sites. We also managed to sneak in a Cubbies game on Sunday. Although they lost, we got to see the manager, Lou Piniella, coach his last game before retiring.

We ate the famous deep dish pizza twice as we had been given several recommendations from our friends. After the taste tests it was decided that we preferred the pizza from Lou Malnati's over Giordano's. Don't get me wrong both were EXCELLENT, but Lou's took first place.

Here are a few pics of the weekend:

A big kiss for the hubs after 52 days apart

Frist Stop: Navy Pier

Well, we tried the Aquarium first, but there was a 2 hour wait...no thanks

We stopped for a drink here...so fun!

Taking the water taxi up the river to Michigan Avenue

In front of Wrigley Field!

And that my friends was my quick trip to Chicago!