Life with the Riley's

Good Day to Run

2012-01-27T18:11:00.001-06:00

2012 is the year of the Olympic games. In London! Since I won't be making the trip across the pond this summer, I attended the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston w my friend, Amy.

The top 3 men and women make up the US team. The men averaged a 5:50/mile pace and the women weren't far behind with a 6:20/mile pace. It was SO cool to see these athletes run 26.2 miles to compete for spots on the Olympic team. Just WOW!

The reason I really went to Houston was to cheer on a friend as she ran the Houston Marathon. She was SO sweet to invite me to spend the weekend with her.
The next day I cheered on my aforementioned friend, Amy, as she ran her 9th full marathon! I made some signs and rooted her own as she pounded the pavement for 26.2 miles.

Pre-race pic

I know she wasn't completely impressed with her time, but I am thrilled for her! Anybody that can run 26.2 sweaty miles is awesome in my book. I'm so proud of Amy for the woman that she is and the incredible athlete she has become. Seriously, she trains harder and runs with so much heart that it's inspiring.

Even Big Bird runs marathons. Can you imagine running that far in that suit? I bet he was dying under there!

During some of our down time we partook in some of the fun tents inside Olympic Village.

Don't we look like power lifters?

Fun weekend with a fun friend! Congrats on your 9th race, Amy!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2012-01-27T17:39:00.001-06:00

T and I headed to Houston to ring in 2012 with our cousins, Stacy, Kellye, Scott, and Emily Brown. As you will see below, we always have fun when we visit the Brown's!!

Emily organizing a group pic

This is what happens when Emily hijacks your phone.

On new years day, we were invited to go with Stacy and Kellye to watch the Texans play. I was pumped. It was my first EVER NFL game. I'll be honest, I'm not a huge NFL fan (I mostly prefer collegiate sports) but if I'm offered free tickets I won't turn it down.

Our seats were awesome. We were own the 15 yard line and about 13 rows up!

Halftime fun with Kellye

The Riley's at halftime.

This shows just how close we were!

Stacy, Kellye, and Trav

Told ya our seats were up close and personal. so neat!

Kellye and I are tough stuff.

My BFF, Erin (or Ernie as I call her) at the post-game tailgate. Read her blog if you like good humor and clever cartoons. Seriously, you'll thank me later.

After the post-game tailgating we headed to Stacy and Kellye's and played polish horseshoes. Haven't heard of it? Neither had I. It's a game Stephen and Erin introduced us to and it is So. Much. Fun. I have no pics of us actually playing, but I did snap some pics of us playing with Erin and Stephen's precious new puppy, Henry.

Stephen and Erin

Kellye and Henry

Rebecca and Henry

And that is how we ended 2011 and said hello to 2012! So thankful for the many blessings, peace, and health in our lives.

Remember The Alamo

2012-01-19T20:50:00.001-06:00

Baylor defended the Alamo by beating the Washington in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Mom and Dad were gracious enough to buy all of us tickets, and we got to spend a wonderful night together and root the bears to their first 10 win season in what feels like FOREVER.

Best parents EVER loving time with their Grandson.

Kourtny, Jackson, and Trent

This guy did SO well during the game and managed to stay awake the ENTIRE game. He's a true Bear fan.

Want chills? Listen to Lee Greenwood sing 'God Bless the U.S.A' and the National Anthem

RG3's last time to run out on the field in his Baylor uniform.

My main squeeze. Not the best picture, but I sure do love my red bearded hubs.

Baylor proud crowd. Green and Gold was everywhere!

I can officially say that I have been to every Baylor bowl game since 1981. I know it's not saying much, but I'm proud of my love for the green and gold.

I was sad to see this historical season come to an end, but it was something I'll never forget. I even got Travis (who is a Baylor grad) to admit to officially being a Baylor fan. Go Bears Go!

Here Comes Santa Claus

2012-01-18T19:04:00.002-06:00

I'm a little behind in my blogging, but fret no more because I'm about to blog my little heart out.

A week before Christmas my brother, Trent, and his super fabulous wife, Kourtny, and our precious nephew, Jackson, came to visit us for a weekend! This was there first trip to Boerne and to see our house.

I wasn't so good at capturing any group pictures, but I did fill my quota of nephew pictures. I just can't get enough of Jackson. Did y'all know that he's the world's cutest and smartest little boy? I bet you also didn't realize that he will be 2 in May!!! Where did the time go??

Anyways, we spent the weekend sleeping in, playing with our dogs, meeting friends to see Santa for the 1st time, and seeing Uncle Travis in an awesome Christmas production our church put on.

Sweet Jackson in his overalls his cool Aunt and Uncle gave him.

Meeting Santa for the 1st time was a little overwhelming for the little man. That's his friend, Jake, that went with us.

Still hating Santa, but it's too funny not to post.

Even having dad in his lap isn't helping.

Sweet Jake riding the reindeer at Bass Pro Shops. Best part: it's FREE!

Playing on the 4 wheeler was a lot more fun than seeing scary Santa!

Our church put on a fabulous Christmas production that was a drive-thru story telling of Christ's life in 8 different scenes. Each car was given a CD that narrated the story as you drove thru each scene. Travis had the privilege of portraying Jesus (one of 4 for his scene) in scene 6 that showed Jesus being tortured on the way to being crucified. It was a really powerful production that reached over 1700 people in the Boerne community.
Here's a little clip of Travis. He's the one carrying the cross. I know it's hard to see, but tilt your head sideways for a few seconds and you can see my little handsome actor at work :) I am so very proud of him for taking on this role at our new church. He was able to make some new friends and I think he really enjoyed it.

The weekend came to a sad end when Trent, Kourtny, and Jackson had to leave but we had a wonderful visit!

I have zero pictures from Christmas, but we had an awesome time here in Boerne/San Antonio with the Riley clan AND my parents came down, too! It was so fun having both sets of families together on my favorite holiday of the year. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful parents and we all had a great Christmas together!
T and I realized it was our first time since college that we didn't have to pack/travel for a holiday. It was SO nice to stay at home. What a difference it makes!

Home For The Holidays

2011-12-23T16:58:00.001-06:00

Since we moved to Boerne Travis has wanted to build a new set of dog houses for our pups. We left our old dog houses at our old house and the dogs needed new homes.

In the beginning, Travis created a frame for house #1

After framing was complete, he added siding and flashing.

Then we cut out the hole for the door.

Then comes the metal roof! Getting close!

We took a break because Parker wanted to cuddle!

All done!

So proud of Travis' hard work. The dogs and I thank him very much!

Christmas in Dixie...

2011-12-15T16:32:00.001-06:00

Errrr Boerne.

First Christmas in our First House.

First Fire

First Tree.
Meet Doug, the Douglas Fir.

He's full of life and a little crazy on the bottom. Perfection to us!

First set of Lights

Since that pic was taken we added white lights around the front porch. It's beautiful if you ask me.

I absolutely love making all these memories in our new home, new town, deep in the Hill Country.

We are indeed richly blessed this Christmas season as we celebrate the true reason: Christ's birth!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

Come The Fount of Every Blessing

2011-12-01T16:06:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving 2011.

We spent Turkey Day at my parents house with Trent, Kourtny, and Jackson. We pulled in late Wednesday night, but this cute kid below was still awake waiting to say hello!

We had an impromtu family photo session Thursday morning.

Jackson did a GREAT job of cooperating for pictures and he LOVES to say cheese. LOVES.

Thursday night we headed to downtown Ft. Worth to see the Christmas parade. The parade began with a bunch of Elvis' riding mini-motorcycles.

This picture does NOT do it justice.

Saturday night we all headed to Jerry World to watch the Baylor Bears take on Texas Tech at the Texas Farm Bureau Shootout.

Jackson came with us and made it through the ENTIRE game without one fit. He's a true Bear fan.

The world's largest HD TV screen FULL of Baylor fans cheering on the Bears to victory.

Did ya notice the score on that score board???? Well, the final was 66-42. Sic 'Em.

Look at NiFlo stepping in for the injured RG3. We won't even discuss how RG3 was so horribly taken out of the game. It. was. Dirty. Ugly.

Thankfully he is OK and will be able to play in the final game of this season when we take on the Longhorns in Waco.

Trent and Kourtny

Aunt Nat and Jackson

Sadly, the weekend came had to come to an end and we all headed home. We had a wonderful time together eating, laughing, relaxing, football watching and being thankful for all of the blessings and love that is in our lives. God is good. We are blessed with wonderful family, friends, jobs, school, good health, and a precious nephew.

Deep In The Heart Of Texas

2011-11-28T09:33:00.002-06:00

Our friend, Alli, flew into Texas for a long weekend visit at the ranch while on the hunt for her first deer.

Alli arrived on a Thursday afternoon and we immediately headed to town to scarf down some Mexican food and enjoy Happy Hour.

Friday morning we packed up the car and headed up to Llano.

We stopped for lunch at the Burger Bar and shared a true to Texas meal:

We ate it ALL. It was yummy! Clearly, eating healthy was not a top priority this weekend.

Friday afternoon/evening Alli's dad and brother joined us followed by our dear friend, Jaran, and her hubby Michael.

We spent Saturday morning walking around the property and snapping these fun pics:

Jaran on the rocks

Boys. Lovely.

Handsome Hubs.

Exploring

Hunting is hard work. Haha. We had late nights catching up and sipping wine, so getting up at 5:45am to hunt was hard!

Jaran and MW

Saturday night Alli shot her first deer (a doe!). She dropped and then got up. We searched and followed her blood trail (we looked like we were on CSI-we looked pretty legit) that night AND the next morning but we never found her. We are fairly certain she jumped the fence and went to the ranch next door. BUMMER!!

We headed back home Sunday afternoon and stopped at Dairy Queen for a sweet treat.

It was an awesome weekend that I hated to see come to an end! I can't wait for Alli's next visit do she can officially shoot and find her first deer AND have pictures to prove it!

I See Antlers Up On The Wall

2011-11-07T08:09:00.001-06:00

November 5th 2011 is a day I won't soon forget. I made history...not really, BUT I'm going to live up this moment because I can.

I shot my first BUCK. It was an 8 point and only the 2nd deer I've ever shot! The 2nd gun I've shot, too.

On 11-1-11 I drove up to Llano after class to make sure the timer was working properly on the feeder and to install the trail camera.

Friday the 4th we headed up to the ranch after T got home from work. We hunted Saturday morning and saw some bucks at the feeder, but none big enough too shoot. We decided to check the camera to see what had been visiting the past few days and we had over 500 pictures.

My handsome guide

I immediately noticed this guy visiting daily, named him Bucky, and called him mine.

We hopped back in the blind around 3:30 as we knew he had been visiting daily around 4. Well, at just 3 minutes after 4 guess who walked on up like he owned the joint??? Bucky!!!

My heart started racing, T handed me the rifle, told me to slow down my breathing and relax. I watched him through the scope for a few minutes until I had a clear shot. The next thing I knew I had pulled the trigger and I saw him fall over. He didn't even have a chance to run away. Dropped him!

I couldn't wait to get out of the blind and go se him up close.

This is what we saw when we walked up:

Next we had a photo shoot that looked like this:

Above you will notice Bucky hanging from the gambrel. I took care of what happened next and practiced my anatomy knowledge and then we took him to the processor. Fresh venison will be hitting our freezer in 2 weeks!

It was a great experience and such a fun, fun day with Trav!! I couldn't have done it without him. He encouraged me and cheered me on!

Bucky might not be the biggest deer, but he's my first buck, a hill country deer that has survived this drought, our ranch isn't huge, and we aren't high fenced...so, with that I think I did pretty good!!

My favorite picture:

The Chill Of An Early Fall

2011-10-26T16:07:00.000-05:00

Cooler Nights. Shorter Days. Red and Orange Leaves. Leaving the windows open during the day/night.

It can only mean one thing in Texas: Fall is coming!

Last weekend Trav and I had the honor of being in our friends wedding, Sara Steinle and Trey Cook.

Rehearsal Dinner LOVE

The wedding took place on her parents ranch in Pleasanton with the reception following the The Pearl Stable. Great venue if you're in the SA area. It was awesome. Mariachi band followed by country band, delicious Mexican buffet, cocktails, dancing, scrumptious cake.

The beautiful bride and Alexi, bridesmaid

Bonnie and Sara

Bonnie and Sara breaking it down

Tambourine Time

Micah and Heather

First Dance

The back of my do. Who knew it was so expensive to have your hair done in Boerne? It cost me 85 bones.

James and Travis

James being James

Self Portrait

The love of my life

Travis and the Groom.

Mr. and Mrs. Cook are now off to enjoy a week in the Bahamas. We had a great time at the wedding and were so honored to be a part of it! Here's to a wonderful life together.

In other news, Jackson, our nephew, went to the pumpkin patch last week.

"Mom, I want a pumpkin THIS big"

"I'm the funniest guy around"

Father and Son time.

That's What I Like About Texas

2011-10-25T16:21:00.001-05:00

I know, I know I'm a horrible blogger, BUT let's be honest nobody is lining up to read this blog.

The Riley's have been BUSY the past few weeks, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been fun!

Last weekend my sweet friend, Amy, drove down to visit us AND take me to a UT football game. She's a lover of all things burnt orange (Baylor green is by far the best color) and an alumnus of Bevo's school. Now, we know I don't wear orange and they were playing OSU, so I chose the neutral color of green. I was easy to spot. The only girl (or guy for that matter) wearing Baylor gear.

We found our seats then headed down to the concession stand to load up on nachos and coke. We chowed down on our football grub, watched the horns play a great game, and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. I love catching up with friends. Especially this one...she's sooooo special to me. It's true!

I took Amy for a walk in our hilly neighborhood and showed her cardiac hill. I'm pretty sure it could rival some small mountains in Colorado. It's steep. We saw deer and just overall enjoyed the cool morning together.

I hated to see her leave, but I certainly hope she returns soon!

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Through The Years

2011-10-03T16:35:00.000-05:00

6 years ago we started dating.

Here is a stroll through memory line with Mr. Riley:

Our 1st documented picture together

April 2006

Turner Falls, OK Sept. 2006

2007

Wedding Day!

Beardless Travis! This has only happened TWICE since I've known Trav.

Christmas Party

We mean business. Don't mess with us!

St. Lucia

Icing fight.

I love looking back at old pictures and taking a stroll down memory lane! God is GOOD, we are BLESSED, and living life in LOVE is one of the greatest feelings EVER.

Roll On Highway

2011-09-13T14:45:00.000-05:00

Visitors. Have I mentioned just how much I LURRVVEE friends coming to visit? Well if I haven't, here it is: I. Heart. Company. Head south on US281 and come on!

There, I said it.

Marci, one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world (since the 6th grade), and her hubs, Kyle, came to visit us over the weekend!

M and K have 2 precious, precious little girls and they came sans children--ready to have fun, relax, and sleep in!

Friday night we took zero pictures, but we spent the evening on our front porch enjoying fajitas, country music, and cold beverages. It was heaven. We managed to stay up until after 10pm, too!

Saturday we started the day by visiting downtown Boerne. The boys came with, but soon departed after they realized we would be shopping.

$10 for these gems. We tried them on and they inflicted pain just standing there. No, thank you.

Post lunch we headed back to our house and had a mini photo shoot at the not-so-full-we-need-rain Guadalupe River.

We ate dinner in Helotes at El Chap. Food, drinks, and company were great!

After dinner we headed to the famous Floore's Country Store to hear Cody Canada and The Departed. Cody used to be the lead singer for Cross Canadian Ragweed. They broke up, and now he's doin' his own thing.

The boys and their Lone Star Light. Everytime these two get together, they realize they have more in common. They like a lot of the same weird things (peanut butter on pancakes/waffles) and both have an infinite love for hunting.

Have I mentioned how much I love my friend? She's the best. We can go weeks without talking, but we always pick up without skipping a beat. I'm so blessed to have her as a friend!!

We finally got a group pic and it's a pretty good one!

I hated to see M and K leave, but they had to get back to their girls...although, we did try and find some houses for them to buy in Boerne...someday, riiiiggghhht????

I can't wait for our next 'reunion' to M Bar M, or is it Our Little Patch of Blue Skies and Butterflies??

Saddle Up Your Horses

2011-08-18T14:28:00.001-05:00

We've got a trail to blaze....wah, oh, oh.

Does that song line bring anybody else back to the early 90s??

This post has nothing to do with riding our horses, but I am finally going to show picks of Casa de Riley with our goodies in it. Our street does have the word 'Saddle' in it....

Here goes it:
Paved driveway from our front gate to the house. No more dirt roads and muddy tires for us!!

View from front porch

View from porch take 2. That's our outdoor toilet...kidding. It's our well house. Fancy, eh??

The most relaxing spot. Heaven.

Come on in and I'll give you a tour!

After entry way you can go straight to living room or right to office or left to hallway. So many choices!
Living room goes first on this tour

Back to the office

The hallway I previously mentioned leads to guest rooms and bathroom.

Now on to the kitchen:

Behind kitchen is the utility room:

And the master bdrm

Yes, that TV appears small but we don't watch much in there

There you have it! That's most of the place. Please, no judging on my decorating skills just yet...we've only just begun. There are rugs to buy, curtains to hang, artwork and nicknacks to come!!

Hope you like it as much as we do!

Some Like It Hot

2011-08-10T10:45:00.001-05:00

You might think this post is going to reiterate the fact that it's hot outside, but nope I've got something even HOTTER.

**viewer discretion is advised. Some pictures may be seen as graphic**

About 8 weeks ago Travis and I were invited to spend the weekend with our friends at their family ranch in Goldthwaite. We jumped at the opportunity to spend the weekend with our dear friends and soaking up the summer on the banks of the Colorado River.

It was all fun and games until I, Natalie not so graceful Riley, miss-judged the hitch on the back of the Mule (4 wheeler) and my left leg came in contact with the exhaust for almost 45 seconds.

I didn't realize my leg was burning until I got up and saw a big patch of white and some charred skin. I immediately ran into the house and washed the burn. (side note: our friends parents were there and thankfully Mrs. McKenzie is an ER nurse and she knew just what to do). She removed "cut away" the dead skin, applied aloe, and a silver based burn cream.

Turns out I'm now a 2nd degree burn victim.

Below are pictures of the burn as it healed. Like I previously mentioned, some may seem graphic but it's real.

Day 2: most of what you see is the burn cream

Day 3: starting to dry out

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 14

6 weeks later

As you can see it had improved over time, but it appears that I'll be left with a scar. I'm using Vitamin E and loading it with sunscreen anytime I'm outdoors.

I'm not going to lie, it was the most painful injury I've ever had. I was laid up in bed for 5 days after the burn, because I could barely walk without pain.

I'm so thankful that it wasn't any worse and that it healed without infection.

Some Beach Some Where

2011-07-26T07:31:00.001-05:00

Last week I had the privilege of joining my parents to the white sandy beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama. We've been making annual visits to Gulf Shores for about 8 years, well we didn't make it last year due to the oil spill, but y'all get the idea.

This year was a bit different bc Trav had to work(new kid at work doesn't have enough vacay) and Trent, Kourt, and Jackson had a work conference in NC--so it was just me, mom, and dad!!

I had THE best time. I hated that the rest of the clan couldn't join us, but I had some great one-on-one time with my parents.

Here are some pics of the trip:
First day was rainy and overcast

The view of one of the 5 pools

Perfection. Beautiful beaches.

Crystal clear water

Me and my silly hat so my head won't burn. Yes, those are rainbow umbrellas. We have 3 and love them!

Nightly fireworks outside the condo

Mom and Dad at the marina. Go eat at LuLu's if you're in the area. She's Jimmy Buffet's sister. Great food. Greater atmosphere.

Pic of sailboat. Random, but next summer T and I will be on a very similar boat sailing around the BVIs!!!

Dad and I playing mini golf. Mom schooled us and had 4 hole in ones. Who is she?!?!?!

Look closely and you'll see Charlie the crab. I thought he was cute.

I missed the hubs, so I made this

That's all I have, but what a wonderful week! We walked the beach every morning--at least 2 miles, so I came back without gaining an ounce!

Now that I'm back at home and reunited with the hubs, we are settling into the new house! God is good and we are blessed.

Home-Home, On The Range

2011-07-15T08:14:00.001-05:00

Well, if any of our readers are still there--bless you! What a summer it has been!

It's been full of house hunting, house inspecting, buying, traveling, swimming, jet skiing, 2nd degree burns on my leg, packing, moving, BUYING a home, unpacking, and finally getting settled in our new place!!

After almost 4 months of living apart, and the stress of buying a home we were both VERY ready to be settled...and settled together!

God revealed our dream home just days after we cancelled the contract on the first house. This house had everything we could have ever wanted in our first home AND it had more acreage AND a paved driveway!

This 2nd house was not a cake walk either. The first appraisal came back almost 50k lower than the agreed sales price. Normally that's good for the buyer, BUT you can't find any house for that price amount in this area. So, after enough bargaining from our mortgage guy he was able to get us a 2nd appraisal---this one was just right.

Closing on the home was surreal. It went by so fast and handing over that cashier's check for our down payment was something I'll never forget. T and I had been saving for years and it finally paid off...literally!

The house is in Boerne which is about 20 minutes NW of San Antonio. We are in a great subdivision that has private access to the Guadalupe River. So, come on down and visit us!!

Here are some pics of the place.

* please note these are the pics the sellers took* I'll post pics of our stuff soon!

Looking from our place to our front gate

The beautiful driveway leading up to the house

The front door

The House

Garage is currently used as game room and has a pool table

Office

Kitchen

Living Room

Bedroom

That's all I have for now, but I promise to post more soon!

The dogs and horses seem to be adjusting well and we are learning the Boerne area. I LOVE shopping at HEB again. Feels like home.

If you made it through this long post, you deserve a treat----or a free stay at Casa de Riley!

The Incredible Edible Egg

2011-06-26T20:42:00.001-05:00

Y'all, went to my folks house Friday to play with the nephew and see the family. Saturday morning mom treated us to a make-your-own omelette.

You're probably thinking what is so cool about that, right?

Well the omelette was prepared AND cooked in a Zip Lock bag!!!! I'm being serious, y'all !!

It goes a little something like this:

Fill pan with water and place on stove. Bring water to rolling boil.

Obtain your Zip Lock bag and crack 2 eggs into bag. "scramble" the eggs by mashing the bag with your fingers.

Once the eggs are "scrambled" to your liking, add your fav omelette fixins.

Next, seal your bag and be sure to remove all air and make sure your fixins are mixed nicely between the eggs.

Add your omelette in a bag to the pot of boiling water. Let the omelette cook for 13 minutes.

Finally, remove hot bag from pot and open the bag and place your omelette on a plate!!!

My omelette broke in two when removing from bag, hence the line down the masterpiece.

It's so good, easy, quick and fun for a group! Just be sure to label your bag so you don't eat somebody else's omelette!!

Let me know if you try it! I was skeptical the ENTIRE time...thinking the bag would melt, but no it works like a charm!!!

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Feelin' Hot! Hot! Hot!

2011-06-08T15:45:00.001-05:00

We are barely into June and the temps keep climbing! If it's this hot in Aubrey, I can ONLY imagine how hot it will be in San Antonio this summer! Wowzas. I hope I can handle a south Texas summer.

To help combat these hot temps and soak up the small amount of time left at our Aubrey house, I've been letting the dogs swim in the pond. They LOVE it and could stay all day of they were allowed.
Coon and Parker

Coon, Maggie, and Roscoe

The Fab Four

Just a couple of weeks left until the big move!

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Pack It up, Pack It In

2011-05-30T18:11:00.001-05:00

So, now that school is out and the house search is back in high gear again the daunting task of packing has begun.

Hubs came home this weekend to get this party started. While, our current house isn't huge the two of us have acquired an enormous amount of belongings.

This is our Goodwill pile:

The first trash pile:

And the current living room turned designated packing area:

Now the weekend is over and I'm left alone in a mostly packed house that looks like a hoarder lives here!! Can't believe I have to live like this for the next month!!!

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School's Out For Summer

2011-05-18T18:39:00.001-05:00

I made it! Finals are over and now I'm a free woman. Yee-haw.

Out of my 4 classes I only had to take 2 finals, but they were both pretty challenging. Thankfully I finished the semester on the honor roll. Thankyouverymuch!

The weekend before finals were over T and I met up at the lakehouse on Horseshoe bay. It was a great weekend of R and R.

View from back porch

View from new restaurant, On the Rocks. Good food!

My love and I

The deer I encountered while on my morning stroll

That same weekend we got some not so good news on the house. It needed 3 new ACs and after going back to seller they were not willing to budge AT all so we decided to terminate contract. It was a HARD decision to make, but we both know it was the right one.

It turns out the sellers have multiple liens on their home, delinquent on HOA dues, and property taxes so more than likely mortgage co would have never given us the money and could have never closed!

So, now we are at square 1 again trying to find a house. You would be surprised to find out how many subdivisions WITH acreage homesites do NOT allow horses. Frustrating, but we trust in God's provision for our future.

Back to summer: last weekend T and I met up again...this time at the ranch in Llano.

We slept in, ate at Coopers, floated in the Llano River, and sat in the swing overlooking enchanted rock. It was a wonderful quiet wknd with my love.

So stinkin' peaceful.

Being silly

And for a random pic:

Can yall believe Jackson will be 1 in less than 10 days?!?! That kid is precious. He runs everywhere, can tell you and show you how old he is, says several animal names and sounds and is as cute as a button!!

His 1st bday party is memorial day wknd, so a blog post is forthcoming.

Until then, I will be traveling to SA to resume the house hunt and spend some more quality time with T!

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Tick Tock Ya Don't Stop

2011-04-28T12:02:00.001-05:00

Time is moving by SO fast. I kinda wish I could hit the pause button and soak it all in, but it's not an option.

The Sunday before Easter Travis met with our realtor to look at some homes. T fell in love with a house and said I MUST come see it. Since I'm a student I couldn't just take off work and I'm trying to be good, so I didn't just want to skip class. So, after classes Tuesday I packed an overnight bag and drove to SA. We looked at the house that night. I also fell in the lurrrvvee with this place. We submitted an offer that night. I don't think either of us slept too well. We were both too excited.
Wednesday morning, I drove back home. The bidding war began and lasted all day. Thursday morning we both met in the middle and we had a signed contract!

The home inspection is scheduled for today, 04-28, and if all goes well we should be closing by June 3rd.

In the meantime, I have 2 lab tests, 1 microbiology test, and 3 finales to study for. I will also be responsible for packing up the house!

My plan is to focus on school and once that is over I will focus all of my time on packing!

We would love your prayers during this process: that the remainder of the home-buying process goes smoothly and that I can be dedicated to my studies. I'm finding it to be difficult to study with all of the excitement!!

No pics of the house will be posted until everything is finalized. All the i's dotted and t's crossed! After that, I promise lots of before and after shots bc it is in need of some new paint colors! The current owners really like orange. A lot.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blame It On The Rain Part II

2011-04-17T09:30:00.001-05:00

Here is photographic proof of the damage that nasty, nasty storm left in Cross Oak Ranch.

Keep in mind, this is less than a mile from our place.

Roof Damage

Trampoline blown across street

Busted windows now boarded up

No more fence

More busted windows

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blame It On The Rain

2011-04-16T13:53:00.001-05:00

A few nights ago, our area was pounded with golf-ball sized hail and 75 mph winds during the middle of the night.

The transformer blew around 11:15pm and power was not restored until 5:30 the following day.

The storm was terrifying. I thought our house was going to fly away, or the windows would be shattered. I took shelter in Travis' closet with a bottle of water, a flashlight, and my phone. I was trembling and I could feel the tears form in my eyes. The wind was making these whirly noises ( ones you imagine when tornadoes are near by), the hail was pelting the windows and house so hard I was sure they would break or we'd have a leak somewhere.

While I was seeking shelter in the closet, I was on my knees praying for my safety and protection from the elements. I was alone and scared, but immediately felt a sense of peace after praying.

When the storm finally passed, I crawled back into bed and tossed and turned the remainder of the night. Without electricity, it got a little stuffy inside.

Well, the next morning I went out to survey the damage and the only damages I found where a tree that had been blown over into the pond. No harm done. The house, my car, our dogs, and horses were all fine!!! What a wonderful blessing to know Gods protective hand was surrounding me.

However, the subdivision 1 mile up the road from us, wasn't so lucky.

The damage in this hood is extensive. I counted damage on every house on 2 streets I drove. There were several contractors filling the streets, and people are slowly getting back to normal.

I feel so thankful, blessed, and comforted knowing He was watching over me while I was alone in the house. Not sure I could've handled damage by myself. God is good!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Walk Like A Man

2011-04-14T11:21:00.000-05:00

Our precious nephew, Jackson, is a walking machine. That kid will walk ALL over the house and is even starting to run. He will be 11 months at the end of April. Where has time gone? I seriously can't believe he is about to be 1!!

Jackson at 10 months. Don't you just love those BIG blue eyes?

At his 9 month appointment he weighed in at 21 lbs and 10z and had a height of 29 inches. He can say several words including: mamma, dadda, ball, dog, na ( I think that's for Aunt Nat) and several others. He recently learned how to give a high-five and if you ask for one, you'll be glad you did. He slaps his hand to yours back and forth several times with the biggest grin and loudest chuckle. It will melt your heart. He has also learned how to clap and he thinks that is pretty neat, too :).

This is a recent video of Jackson showing off his mad walking skills.

I'm so proud of this little guy and honored to be one of his 3 aunts and 2 uncles! He is one loved boy, that's for sure.

Movin' On Up

2011-03-27T16:22:00.000-05:00

Movin' on up...but not to the east side.

We are moving to San Antonio!

The home of the mighty and awesome San Antonio Spurs, the mecca of Mexican food and margaritas, and my fav: in the heart of the hill country!

To sum it up in 500 words or less, here it goes:

2004-2008 Travis worked as a Superintendent for a large production builder (starts with a P and ends with a ulte).
After surviving 5 rounds of layoffs, he was finally given the 'boot'
God is always faithful, right? Well, about 2 weeks later Travis was given an incredible opportunity by some great friends ( you know who you are) to work as a catastrophe insurance adjuster. So happened, Hurricane Ike hit about this time which immediately supplied T with some work.
He was gone for a couple of months and when the storm cleared, he came home.
2009 was a pretty calm year- no big natural disasters or big storms (hail, hurricane, tornadoes, etc.).
2010 was a different story. Still no huge storms, but we were blessed beyond measure and God provided again. T worked in the DFW area doing daily claims for a few months and was then asked to work a storm in Minnesota. He left for Minnesota in June, worked a storm in Chicago from July-October, and was back in Minnesota in November. I saw him 4 times during the 6 months he was gone.
All while T was gone, he was (and me too) very thankful for the work he was given and the opportunity as well, but he hated being gone from home for so long and living in a hotel, alone in a city with zero friends. We spent many nights praying for God to bring us the right opportunity, wherever that may be.
T still had a passion for building, but knew God was using this insurance adjusting career as a great stepping stone and learning opportunity.
Fast Forward to January 2011, T was dreading another year of traveling and being far away, so he started putting out resumes and hitting up any connection that might lead him to an interview. T's Aunt Debbie put him in contact with a guy (Jim) at a large commercial construction firm in San Antonio. At the time, they did not have any openings, especially for a guy with only residential construction experience. Jim said he would ask around and see what he could do as he knew Aunt Debbie so well and felt like Travis was a good guy.
So February is here and there was some bad flooding in Indianapolis, so T packed up his bags and headed up north for more adjusting work. 7 days later T had written 50 claims and was able to come home! Only one week apart. Glorious!
While he was in Indy, Jim called and said he might have an opportunity for him and to call him when he gets back home.
T had an interview on Monday, March 21st and was offered the position as Quality Control Manager with MapCo. MapCo mainly does governmental projects with the Army Corp of Engineers. We are both so thrilled with this opportunity! He will even have the opportunity to transition into Superintendent/Project Manager position within the next year.
He starts on March 28th. That is just 7 days from when he had his first interview. God is good and always provides and is faithful. He might do things in His own timing, but He will direct you down a path if you submit to follow His will.

So that's where we are now. Travis just left for San Antonio and starts the big job TOMORROW! I am not able to join him right now since I'm a student again. I finish on May 12th, and will then move to SA. T will be living with his parents for the next couple of months while we look for a residence. Notice, that I will get to pack our house alone...anybody else think that's unfair?!?!? :)

We ask that you pray for us over the next few months as we adjust to this new life in a new town. Specifically, that we can find a new church home, a house to live in with some acreage for our horses, and to make new friends.

This will also be the farthest I have ever lived from my parents...eeeek! I know I can do it, but I am super close to my mom and dad. I am comforted knowing that our time spent together will be that much more special.

That my friends, is the life of a Riley.

Crazy Like You

2011-03-27T15:41:00.000-05:00

Three years ago on March 15th, I said "I Do" to the cutest red-bearded guy in the world. Clearly, that's just my opinion, but I consider myself pretty durn lucky to have been blessed with such an incredible, patient, kind, loving, hard working, determined, cowboy of a husband. He rocks my world.

One of my good friends from Baylor, Josh Grider, is an extremely talented singer/songwriter. He had a band in college named Riverside and changed the name several years ago to, The Josh Grider Band. Makes sense. Well, he wrote a wonderful song a few years ago for his precious wife, Kristi, and it is a song that has meant a lot to Trav and I over the past few years.

Crazy Like You
By: Josh Grider

Well people sing songs all the time
Bout fallin in love and losing their minds
But it ain't love that drive folks mad
It's livin this life day in, day out
Tryin to figure out what it's all about
The who's, the when's, the where's, the why's, and the maybe's

I say everybody's crazy so what you need to do
You need to find somebody crazy like you
Someone you can fuss and fight with
And when you make up, then you can love all night with
Someone who shares your particular point of view
Oh their bound to be crazy, just make sure they're crazy like you

I looked high, I looked low, looked far, looked wide
B'for I looked in a mirror and I realized
I spend my time lookin for the wrong thing
A perfect insane would be so mundane
A man like me, I'm subject to change
And I'm lookin for someone who's track's'll fit my train

I say everybody's crazy so what you need to do
You need to find somebody crazy like you
Someone you can fuss and fight with
And when you make up then you can love all night with
Someone who shares your particular point of view
Oh thier bound to be crazy, just make sure they're crazy like you

I found me a girl and she's five foot four
And I never found a girl that I adore more
We are in tune and out of touch with all the same things
And she's as wild and mean as a deep blue sea
And pure and sweet as honey from a bee
And I love her to death, cuz that girl's crazy just like me

I say everybody's crazy so what you gonna to do
You need to find somebody crazy like you
Someone you can fuss and fight with
And when you make up then you can love all night with
Someone who shares your particular point of view
Oh their bound to be crazy, just make sure they're crazy like you

That is us in a nutshell. I have had the best 3 years as a Riley and I wouldn't change it for the world. God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.

Nothin On But The Radio

2011-03-16T10:21:00.001-05:00

T and I just returned for our 3rd annual trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with T's cousin and her hubs.

This year was a little different because T had been working some storms in Indianapolis and didn't think he would be able to join us.

Well, T finished all his work and got on the road around noon Friday and started his trek down south for a 20 hour journey to Houston!

Friday night I went to the rodeo with the cousins to hear Lady Antebellum. They were great! They put on a great show and can sing great live. So worth it!

It wouldn't be the rodeo if we didn't have a corndog, so after Lady A we indulged in the yummy treat

T finally made it to Houston around 4am after downing several Red Bulls and coffee. He climbed into bed and was up for the day around 8. Not much sleep for my road warrior.

Saturday was a big rodeo day! It included the steer auction with all proceeds going to college scholarships. The grand champion sold for $350,000!!

After the steer auction we headed over to Reliant for the rodeo and to hear Gary Allen. He was even better than Lady A! His band was awesome, the sound was clear, and everybody on key. Great show and would recommend him to anybody.

Cousin Stacy and I

Stacy and Kellye

Some interesting boots I saw on the escalator. Meow and purr. It's clear they are custom boots, but really?!

My best friend, Erin, and her hubs also met us at the rodeo Saturday night and we all had the best time. So glad to see everybody!

If you've never been to HLSR I suggest you make plans to go in the future. They have a great carnival, fantastic rodeo and concerts after each rodeo. This is the last week and the headliners are Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown band, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, and Jason Aldean. They bring the heat. Seriously, make plans to go next year-- you'll be glad you did!

Posted from my iPhone

Patty Cake

2011-02-23T10:06:00.001-06:00

Patty cake
Bakers man
Look at my sweet nephew
He can now STAND!

That's right y'all, Jackson Dean cannot only crawl, he can stand up own his own, and is about to start WaLKing!! This kid is not even 9 months old.

I just want to kiss him all over. He's so stinkin' cute.

I'll let you be the judge, too:

Playing golf with the clubs we gave him

Look aunt natty and uncle t-rye I can stand!!

Isn't he the studliest guy?

We think so.
- Posted from my iPhone

O Where, O Where

2011-02-21T10:34:00.001-06:00

Have I been?

Right here:

And here:

Round 1 of tests is almost complete. After tomorrow, I will have taken 7 tests, 2 quizzes, 1 Excel assignment, and 1 lab within ONE week.

Thanks to a lot of this recently, all of my tests were pushed together.

Look carefully and you can see the dog bowl that is completely covered in snow. We had about 5.5 inches.

We were stuck in the house for 4 days with all that junk and saw 6 accidents on the little FM road in front of our house. People think they can drive on ice and they just end up making fools of themselves.

So other than studying and being snowed in we have been homebodies and haven't traveled once this year!!! It's so so nice being able to go to your home church on Sundays.

Weekend traveling will pick up again as the Houston Rodeo is about to start and we need to visit Llano, too!
- Posted from my iPhone

Rocky Mountain High

2011-02-03T16:12:00.000-06:00

Trav and I packed up the truck and drove 12 hours to Winter Park, Colorado the first week of January. We met 3 other couples and stayed at a great house across the sreet from the slopes.

The snow was fresh, fluffy, and not icy which made for PERFECT skiing conditions. If only I was a better skiier. Truth is, I stink. It's a shame I am such a terrible skiier and my parents took us skiing nearly every winter since I was 5. I like to go slow, wedge, and ski greens...nearly flat. I despise big steep hills, because they scare me. My real problem is that I'm afraid of falling and getting hurt, so I figure if I go slow and easy, then I won't fall, right?!?!?

Travis, however prefers to live on the dangerous side and loves any type of thrill seeking adventure. (remember, he rode bulls in college bc it was FUN!). He likes to ski the bowls, do tricks, and even the dreaded, ACL tearing moguls. He will usually ski 1 or 2 runs with me before becoming too bored and then he will venture off to the other side of the mountain and do the 'scary' stuff.

That's why this trip was perfect because we had 8 people skiing ( 9 on one day bc my dear friend Alli came up from Denver one day to ski--with Travis--she's too good to ski with me) and we had a large variety of skiiers.

We capped off our trip with a visit to the Fraser Tubing Hill which is a MUST DO if you are ever in Winter Park during the snowy season. We tubed for an hour and had a blast!

The worst part of the trip was the drive home. It stunk every bit of the way, because we knew as soon as we arrived at our house we had about 6 hours to rest before we had to load up again and head to Houston for the annual Riley extended Family Christmas.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

2011-02-02T21:23:00.001-06:00

It all started late Monday night. The temps began dropping into the teens with 30mph wind gusts
along with thunder sleet, snow, and freezing rain.

It is now Wednesday night and the temps are STILL in the teens and the roads are a solid sheet of ice.

This is the road in front of our house.

A 2 inch thick chunk of ice from the street.

We saw a truck spin out and end up in the ditch. T offered to help but the guy declined. Guess he was embarrassed. 4 hours later a tow truck came and pulled him out.

Because of these nasty roads we've been stuck inside the house since Monday night. Going stir crazy! School has been cancelled Tuesday-Thursday!

I made a big pot of venison chili to cope with these frigid temps. It was so so good!

Temps will remain below until Friday when the high is expected to climb to a whopping 33 degrees and a chance to receive 2 inches of snow.

Where is my warm Texas sunshine?!

- Posted from my iPhone

I'm Going Going

2011-01-30T21:16:00.000-06:00

back back to ~~Cali Cali~~ SCHOOL SCHOOL.

FULL TIME!

That's right, effective 1-10-2011 I quit my wonderful job at GS where i worked for appx. 4.5 years, made some fabulous friends, and learned a whole lot of useful information. In fact, I took over 44,000 calls during my time there (this is why my phone is always on silent...can't stand to hear it ring!). I hated to say goodbye, in fact, I didn't even say goodbye to everybody because it was too hard...instead I sent a mass goodbye email to the room.

I am now fortunate enough to be a full time student pursuing a degree in Nursing. In approximately 2.5 years I will be a R.N.. This has been a dream of mine for several years, and Trav and I were able to make that dream a reality.

I am taking 14 hours this semster:
Anatomy and Physiology I--lots of memorization in this class, with a throwback to high school Chemistry
Microbiology-- so stinkin' hard and a lot of homework (reports, case studies, journals, labs, etc.)
Developing Psychology--online class--so far so good
Statistics- really awful teacher. He wears jeans, Under Armour shirt, and dew rag each day and says the word 'honestly' and 'you know' at least 200 times in the 80 minutes I'm in class.

It is a little weird going back to college at almost 30, but I feel that I have a different grasp on college and a much better idea of how to study and I definitely have the time for it now! In case you were curious: The new trend in college students is to wear sweat pants with Uggs or flip flops with your favorite t-shirt, not to brush your hair, and lather on the eye liner/mascara/eye shadow. I have not joined this trend, but I do love wearing jeans and sneakers to class each day!

I could use all the prayers I could get this semester as I return to 'college mode', attempt to pass Micro, and tackle my way to becoming a nurse and fulfilling my dream!

I Wanna Rock!

2011-01-21T17:24:00.000-06:00

The first weekend in December is always reserved for the Dallas White Rock Marathon. Usually, my brother and I run the half with my dad, but this year neither of us stepped to the challenge so my sweet dad ran the race 'alone'.

Travis and I had been given tickets to a Dallas Stars game the evening before the race, so we took advantage of the situation and spent the night in the city!

We met my mom at mile 3 to look/cheer for dad and we got there and were able to see him breeze on by!

After mile 3 Travis was ready for some breakfast, so we drove by Krispy Kreme and T ordered himself a DOZEN donuts...he ate 5...yes, 5 sugary fried pieces of dough and the other 7 he passed out to runners! Can you believe we had people take him up on his crazy, yet hilarious offer? I believe it was around mile 8 that he was passing these out.

We then met my dad at the finish line where he finished the grueling 13.1 miles in below freezing temps in 2 hours 20 minutes! I think that's pretty incredible for a 61 year old. Way to go JimDaddy! Next year I will be back in the race and Travis even said he would run....

So This Is Christmas

2011-01-11T15:39:00.001-06:00

Christmas 2010 was our Huey Christmas and was spent at my parents house in Fort Worth.

We were able to spend Thursday through Sunday and got to witness our precious nephew, Jackson, experience his first Christmas. So so fun!

We all had a wonderful time together....just wish I had actually taken pictures.

I know I mentioned having Jackson over Christmas was fun, but the real highlight was seeing the expression on my dad's face when he got his gift from mom: a Trek road bike!

Dad started running daily in 2001 and has now decided he liked to start biking to "save" his knees. Mom had been telling dad a bike was not in the picture, but little did he know she had been to the bike shop in Fort Worth and got a special bike for dad!!

He road 7 miles the first day and I don't think the grin ever left his face. It was precious! Not sure if I have ever seen him this giddy.

Daddy riding down the street

One very happy JimDaddy

We had a wonderful and special Christmas with the Huey side and celebrated with the Riley's a few weeks later!

You Ain't Nothin' But A Hound Dog

2010-12-28T13:48:00.001-06:00

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

2010-12-23T19:06:00.001-06:00

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

2010-12-18T21:16:00.001-06:00

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

2010-12-12T20:38:00.001-06:00

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....

2010-12-10T08:13:00.001-06:00

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

2010-11-30T13:34:00.001-06:00

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

2010-11-30T11:21:00.000-06:00

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

2010-11-11T22:22:00.000-06:00

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

2010-11-10T09:45:00.001-06:00

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

2010-11-01T06:52:00.000-05:00

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

2010-10-28T17:00:00.001-05:00

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

2010-10-27T16:50:00.000-05:00

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

2010-10-18T20:47:00.000-05:00

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

2010-10-18T14:21:00.000-05:00

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

2010-09-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

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

2010-09-10T08:16:00.000-05:00

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

2010-09-07T18:02:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-25T07:05:00.000-05:00

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!

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

2010-08-20T20:13:00.000-05:00

I now realize that statement is true. More. Than. Ever.

Travis has been traveling out of state for work for 8 weeks now and this is the first time that I have seen him. This is the longest that we have been apart, but thanks to email, texting, and cell phones we have found a lot of time to talk and be thankful for each other.

Me and Trav just after he proposed.

I currently have the pleasure of visiting Travis in Chicago for several days. We plan to eat deep dish pizza, go to a Cubbies game, Shed Aquarium, Navy Pier, Millenium Park, Michigan Avenue, and any other touristy thing that we can do.

It definitely hasn't been easy having him away from home, but I am more thankful than ever for a husband who is willing to work in a strange environment so far from home, dealing with difficult people, and rarely take a day off to relax. He is a Saint IMO and I am truly grateful for the sacrifices he is making for us.

I've been in Chicago for less than 24 hours and I've learned this so far: deep dish pizza is amazing and extremely filling. Who knew that one slice could do you in for a day?! Chicago-ans are not near as polite as Texans and have no idea what southern hospitality means. They also do all of their road construction in the summer since it is so cold in the winter so traffic is a nightmare. I miss Texas, but am soaking every single second together with my wonderfully handsome husband!

September 2009 FW Stockyards

Travis- Thanks for 'taking one for the team' and working so hard for us and so far away from home. You are a wonderful husband and I am so extremely thankful for you and all that you do!

Fishy Fishy

2010-08-14T21:17:00.001-05:00

I have a whole new respect for cake decorators after the challenge I took on earlier today.

I volunteered to make a cake that resembles Nemo for a competition at work. What was I thinking? I love to bake, but decorating is def not my forte nor am I artistic at all.

I found several websites that offered instructions on how to make Nemo and instead I just blew up a picture (as seen in the background) and did my best to copy it.

It doesn't look great but I'm giving myself a B for trying. Decorating cakes takes a lot of patience and time. It took me almost 2 hours to ice that sucker. I worked up a sweat. Now I completely understand why intricate cakes can be so costly. I am worn out but I did have fun!

Pizza, Pizza!

2010-08-06T16:48:00.000-05:00

The hubs is in Chicago for work and had his first taste of real deep dish pizza today. He said it was A-mazing and loved every bite of it.

Doesn't that look good?

I wonder how long I'd have to run on the treadmill to burn that sucker off?!? Probably not even worth it then, right? I'll just tell myself that anyway.

Kangaroo Song

2010-07-30T17:46:00.001-05:00

Mom and I were shopping along Main Street in Fredricksburg the other day and we saw a playpen, but there was no baby inside. Instead there was a six month old kangaroo named Sheila!! They are getting her acclimated to people so that she can be used at a zoo. We even got to pet her precious head.

She was so cute and so comfy in her little bed.

Busy Bee

2010-07-20T12:59:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I attended a baby shower for an 'old' Baylor friend and co-worker and attended the wedding of a dear childhood friend. Thankfully both events occured in Dallas so little travel was involved.

The baby shower was great and Miss. Caroline is going to have a lot of cute toys and clothes to play with when she arrives in early September. Her mom and dad already love her so much. I can't wait to meet her as she has been prayed for daily.

The wedding was bea-utiful. The ceremony was wonderful, centered on Christ, and the bride and groom were so so happy. I loved seeing Brittany, the bride, turn and just smile at all of her family and friends that were in attendance. The reception was held at a neat venue downtown...the food was great, the band was full of energy, and the cakes were beautiful. The videographer of the wedding did something I have never seen at a wedding before and I loved it. He had filmed the guys and girls getting ready throughout the day, shot the wedding, and the first part of the reception. Then he somehow had time to do some editing of that footage and threw it all together for a little 'day of' video that was shown at the end of the reception. You can see the video here. How cool is that?

Sunday I was supposed to be headed to another baby shower in Fairfield, but I broke our shower. Yes, while attempting to turn the water off at the end of the shower I apparently turned too hard and broke off the knob to the cold water. (go ahead and laugh at me now) I was running late and I couldn't get a hold of Travis, so I had to figure it out all by myself and I missed the shower. I now know how to turn off the water supply to our house and replace the knob to the shower valve.

Red, Red wine

2010-07-12T17:46:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Travis and I headed down to Llano for some r and r with his parents. It had been WAY too long since we had seen them and we were thrilled to finally spend a wonderful weekend together!

Saturday morning we headed up the road to Fredricksburg, Texas to take a little visit to Texas wine country. We decided to visit Becker Vineyards because my best friend, Erin, went to high school with the Becker's son Joe. Did ya follow that? You can find their wine at most any grocery store/wine store in Texas, it's good, AND budget friendly.

The best part about the story is that 3 months ago I couldn't pay Travis to pick up a glass of wine and now he's offically a wino. He loves it and I'm so proud that his taste buds have grown expanded to more than just beer.

If you are ever in the Fredricksburg/Marble Falls area, I urge you to check out the Texas vineyards. They are all friendly and pretty good too!

Now that we've experienced the little Texas winery division, we are ready for Napa.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

2010-06-21T17:32:00.000-05:00

Travis and I headed out Friday night for dinner at Texas Land and Cattle to celebrate surpassing 100 claims at work. This doesn't mean a lot or make sense to most folks, but I'm very proud of Travis for working so hard! We have been blessed with a good spring so far and are very thankful for all the work that has come his way. He's still learning a lot as an adjuster, but is enjoying every minute of it and I think he's done a fabulous job.

Trav, Thanks for being willing to take on this challenging job that has you traveling to all parts of Texas. You are doing a great job and I'm so proud of you. Keep up the good work!!

Two Week Update

2010-06-16T17:50:00.002-05:00

I know you are probably getting tired of all these Jackson updates, but he is so stinkin’ cute it is hard not to share! I love how alert he is. He is always wanting to see what is going on. What a wonderful blessing this little guy is to our entire family. He is definitely loved very much!

Clean as a bean.

Stretched out

Holdin'

2010-06-08T08:50:00.000-05:00

I did it. I finally got my hands on Jackson and was able to hold him Saturday and Aunt Natty fell in love with this little guy.

Jackson's adorable jungle themed room:

Sweet baby Jackson

Jackson and Trent

While I was in Waco I had the pleasure of meeting one of my friends that i met 11 years ago when we were working at Laity Lodge Youth Camp. We were bunk-mates and both went to Baylor and have remained friends all of these years. Debra just got engaged and is getting married Novemver 20th in Austin, so we met in Waco for lunch at Ninfa's and walked around Spice.

Debra's middle name is Jean and we found this laying out and had to snap a pic.

Debra, I'm so happy for you and Travis (Yes, she's marrying a Travis, too) and can't wait for the bachelorette party in September and wedding in November!

Memorial Day Fun

2010-06-08T08:15:00.000-05:00

We packed our bags, grabbed Matt and Rachel, hooked up the 5th wheel (Fred) and we took off to Lake Texoma for Memorial Day weekend. We found a great RV site that was right on the lake, it had plenty of good fishing holes, a swimming pool, and lots of trees to give us some shade from the heat.

This was our first time taking Fred out for fun. Travis has used him for work purposes, but this trip was purely pleasure. We had an absolute blast and were so excited when Matt and Rachel agreed to go on this semi-white trash adventure. It turns out, we weren't really WT at all.

Fred

The view from our camping spot

We ate, fished, swam, drank, went on a walk, had a campfire, made smores, and played a lot of Ladderball. This game is aka Redneck Golf. It's actually really fun and turns out the girls are REALLY good at it and the boys, well...not so much.

Rachel and I after our intense morning run

Trav and me

Tired of fishing and taking self-portraits sounded like fun

The heated rivalry between the guys and gals...

Matt enjoying the campfire-that guy searched for the perfect smores sticks all.day. long

Rachel and Matt: thanks so much for agreeing to come with us! We had a great time and can't wait to get Fred back on the road and go camping somewhere else. Next time we'll be renting a boat though.

The Beach Blues

2010-06-07T17:51:00.000-05:00

It appears that our summer plans will be changing due to the gulf coast oil spill.

Since 2003 ( I think) my family has spent 1 week of the summer at The Beach Club in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We typically go the last week of July and stay for 7 nights and have the best time walking on the beach, collecting shells, going crabbing at night, swimming, laying out, sleeping in, golfing, eating at our favorite restaurants, and the list goes on.

The main club house at The Beach Club

One of the 5 swimming pools

And my personal favorite: the beach

Due to the devastation that this oil spill is causing, we are starting to look elsewhere for vacation plans. Since we will have little Jackson with us we are limited as to where we can go: no flying and no car travel over 12 hours. So now we are looking at Horseshoe Bay, Lake Travis, and even some places in Colorado. The must haves for our vacation place: at least 3 bedrooms, pool, golf, and other fun outdoor activities.

So, if y'all can throw any suggestions our way...we'd appreciate it!

Jackson Dean Huey

2010-05-31T19:18:00.000-05:00

He is here! My precious little nephew was born Friday May 28th, 2010 at 4:51pm weighing in at 8lb and 4 oz and 20.5 inches long.

It was a long day at the hospital, but both mom and baby are doing GREAT. Kourtny was induced at 5:30 that morning so she was in labor for almost 12 hours and was a champ!

Kourtny giving Travis the 'look' to stop taking pictures

Here are some pictures of the little guy:

Aunt Natty checking things out

Sisterly love. Kourt and her sisters Kait and Skyler

SuSu and Jim Daddy waiting for Dr. Rister to come tell us the good news!

Trent and Kourt with Jackson

SuSu loving on Jackson

Jim Daddy getting his turn with Jackson

My little nephew: Jackson Dean Huey

Sadly, Travis and I have not been able to hold Jackson yet. After the grandparents had loved on him the nurse said it was time for Jackson to go back under the warmer so he wouldn't get cold. She said we would need to wait until tomorrow to hold him and Travis and I were going home that night. Thankfully, I will be in Waco this next weekend and I will get to hold that precious baby boy.

Jackson, your Uncle T-Rye and Aunt Natty love you very much. We cannot wait to watch you grow up and see what God has in store for you!

Tick Tock...

2010-05-26T18:43:00.001-05:00

My nephew, Jackson Dean Huey, is scheduled to arrive on 5-27-10, but
it looks like he wants to come on his own terms so an induction has
been set for Friday 5-28.

Aunt Natty and Uncle T-Rye are very excited to meet our first nephew!
We have been praying for him for 9 months and will continue to pray
over him throughout his life. We know the Lord has great plans for
Jackson and his parents. It's safe to say that he's going to be one
spoiled little guy! He's the first grandchild on both sides of the
family and will have 3 aunts and 2 uncles ready to love on him!

At this point it's a waiting game and we pray that Kourtny has an easy
delivery and Jackson is a happy and healthy boy!

School's out for Summer and updates

2010-05-19T10:15:00.000-05:00

My first semester of school is officially over and I passed with flying colors. Go Nat! I will not be taking any classes this summer because they did not coordinate with my work schedule, so I'll return in the fall.

Here's an update of what's been going on:

* I FINALLY got my precious, Barney, back after spending two weeks in the car hospital getting repaired. He's now back and as good as new. I had a brand new GMC Acadia for the rental. It was a great car, but quite costly for that poor kids insusrace: $1,100 for two weeks. OUCH!

* Travis has been super busy with work, but loving every single minute of it.

* My nephew, Jackson, has still not made his apperance into this world, but if he's not here by 05-24-10 the doctor said he negotiate a deal with Kourtny to get him out.

* Travis and I had the Schafer's over to our house last Saturday night for dinner and drinks. We gave them a little tour of Aubrey and capped off the night by playing several rounds of Catch Phrase. The boys think they won, but I don't see how that can be true.

* Sunday night, 05-16-10, I got a phone call from my parents saying that my precious Nana had passed away. She was 92 years old and would have been 93 in September. She was my dad's mom and last living grandparent and we will lay her to rest Friday morning in Waco. This is a sad time, but also happy knowing that she is rejoicing in Heaven with our Father. She was a wonderful grandmother and loved any time she could spend with her grandchildren. (The handsome man on the left in the picture was my sweet Grandaddy-mom's dad- that passed in October of 2008).

Finals!!!

2010-05-07T15:17:00.001-05:00

This weekend I’ll be head first into my Psychology book! I’ve got my first and only final for the semester. I’ve got a 20 minute online test to take and then I have to write a psychoanalysis about myself. I started writing the paper in April and it’s actually turned out to be a fun assignment. I guess school gets fun when you’re older?! Ha. I think I just like the project because I’m writing about my life and how I can apply basic psychology facts to my life. It’s pretty interesting.

After Sunday afternoon I’ll be able to cross-off my first semester on the road to be Nurse Natty! It’s been a wonderful first semester and now I’m ready for more. Bring. IT. On.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

2010-05-02T18:34:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Travis and I packed up our bags and headed southbound 35 to visit with some special friends and shower our soon-to-be nephew with some love!

Travis woke up way to early Snday morning and went fishing with Kyle and I slept in and went on a nice little jog through the country. When Trav came back we still had some time to kill, so we found a kite and took it flying. Who knew flying a kite could be so much fun?!

This is a picture of Jackson's changing table and that Kourtny's dad made. There is a built-in desk in Jackson's room and he made this to fit on top. How cute! Kourtny's sister painted the letters in his name to be hung above his crib and the rest is just pieces of his bedding.

The yummy shower food and the precious baby buggie made out of a watermelon! One of Kourtny's aunts made that

According to Kourt's doctor, Jackson might be arriving a few weeks early as he's measuring to be a big boy! His scheduled entry date is 05-27-10, but could be as early as the next couple of weeks. SOOOO excited to be an Aunt!

Another Friday Night

2010-04-22T17:44:00.000-05:00

Last Friday night we headed out to Funky Town to celebrate Travis' birthday and the end of tax season (one friend is a CPA) with some friends.

Nothing like a self-portrait while getting ready to go. I was actually ready before Travis was!

We started the evening eating at the new Coopers BBQ and then headed across the street to hear Chris Knight play at Billy Bob's.

The boys: Blake, Matt, Trey, and Travis

Me and Rach

THE Chris Knight-the boys are obsessed with him. This was the first time the wives were allowed to attend a Christ Knight concert with them.

The boys thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Rachel and I decided to be the DD's for our guys so they could be sure and fully enjoy the concert...and boy did they. When the concert was over Rachel and I ran 200+ yards in the pouring rain to get our cars and go pick up the boys who were dry and waiting at the door.

It was a great Friday night with friends!

A real Manic Monday

2010-04-20T17:24:00.000-05:00

What started off as a great Monday ended horribly, horribly wrong. I had a fantastic day at work, not too busy and not too slow...just right. I even got in some quality studying time for Psychology (I had a test coming up). My usual routine is to change into my workout clothes before leaving the office. Joel (my carpool buddy) and I head home for the day and I begin contemplating 'Do I want to go workout or do I want to just go straight home and take my test early for school?". I decided I'd be a good student and go home and take my test and save the gym for later.

Ok, so fast forward about 40 minutes to when I am about 1/4 of a mile from the house. I have just turned off Hwy. 380 and I'm headed south on FM 720. I put my blinker on early (as I always do bc people fly down this one lane road) and I begin to turn into our drive way. There was a little blue Pizza Hut delivery car behind me and a white Explorer behind that. Well, apparently the Explorer was not paying attention and when trying to avoid hitting Mr. Pizza Hut he decided he would veer off the road and into the grass/ditch. This caused the Explorer to hit me exactly as I was turning in the driveway. He hit the right-front corner of my car and the front bumper goes flying about 15 feet on the other side of me and the Explorer goes all the way through our brick pillar that holds a gate and a metal fence. WOW. I was in complete shock. scared. shaken up. I called Travis and told him that I got in a wreck in our front yard and to come up.

The Good Part:
1. Noboday was hurt. not a single one of us or any of our horses. I know it sounds petty to mention the horses, but they are expensive and worth more than my car. HA!
2. The other driver had insurance and everything will be covered...even paying to fix our broken fence
3. Had my car been a few inches further into our drive way my car would have been damaged far worse than what it was and I probably would have been hurt.
4. My sweet and wonderful husband was there to take care of EVERYTHING. He is my rock and so incredible. I love him
5. My precious husband wrote his own estimate on the cost to fix our fence. awesome. I love him even more for this....

The Bad Part:
1. My car, Barney, is my pal. I've had him for 5 years and we have logged over 136,000 miles together. We spend 2 hours together every day. He lost his face last night and is in need of a face lift. Unfortunately, he's not worth much and I really don't want him to be totaled. Our goal was to drive him until he dies...he's not dead, just injured.

My precious Barney and his front bumper

2. The other driver is going to be grounded for a very long time. His daddy was NOT very happy when he came to the scene. I hope he's ok. :)

His Car and the old fence, gate, and brick pillar

So, that was my the end to my nice Monday. It took over 2 hours for the State Trooper (who was awesome) and the tow truck guys to get everything squared away. So, I didn't get inside until 9 to take my test, but I passed and got a decent grade! At least next time when I'm wondering what to do, the decision to workout will win that race. Hands down!

Cold Hearted Snake

2010-04-15T11:07:00.001-05:00

Look what the in-law’s found at the ranch?!?!?!

Yuck-o. Say no to Rattlesnakes.

Mr. Snake was hanging out in the firewood pile and my sweet father-in-law (FIL) found him when he was moving some of the wood! SCARY! I think I would have screamed a little. Ok. A LOT. Thankfully my resourceful FIL let Mr. Snake go to snake heaven and he is no longer a visitor at the Riley Ranch.

I will now be wearing my boots when I go to Llano. No more flip flops for this gal! I guess that’s why my motto is Safety First.

All in a days work

2010-04-08T08:35:00.001-05:00

This past Monday I had the honor of accompanying my hubs to work. So

off we went to East Texas (Sulphur Springs). We had 5 houses to look
at, so our morning was booked.

The first house was a smaller one story with a fairly flat roof so I
climbed on up with hubs. I even got to help draw the roof and look for
damage. Go me!

The 2nd and 3rd houses were not that interesting so I stayed in the
truck and read my book. Side note: you have got to read Lone Survivor.
It's about a Navy SEAL being the only survivor through a terrible
fight in Afghanistan. It's a true story, too!

On to the 4th house we go. For my own safety and well being I opted to
stay in the truck. This place was a little bit sketchy. I mean,
several pit bulls tied up and angrily barking, lots of old car parts
and bikes rotting and rusting in the yard, a moldy double wide, and a purple ice
cream truck that had its windows knocked out. Scary. I locked the
doors when hubs got out and put my wedding rings in the console. I pretended to read my book, but was watching my surroundings. I even spotted a hammer in the pocket of the passenger door of hubs' truck and I was prepared to use it if necessary. I'm pretty sure there was gang paraphenalia on the property, too. We got in and out of there pretty quick! Safe and sound. phew.

The 5th house was back in DFW, McKinney. This was a larger home with an extremely tall and steep roof. I elected not to climb this one, but I did hold that ladder for hubs. You can see him below. He couldn't even walk on the roof, climbing only on this steep sucker.

Thanks hubs for putting your fear of heights aside for your career! You are loved and appreciated very much!

How Sweet it is to be...

2010-03-26T09:27:00.000-05:00

In the Sweet 16!!

Tonight the Baylor Bears face off against a very talent St. Mary’s at the NCAA Sweet 16 regional tournament in Houston.

Unfortunately, we could not make the trip down to Houston because of my work calendar being full. BOO. However, our sweet Aggie and Kansas State friends, Rachel and Matt Schafer, will be joining us…let’s just hope they actually cheer for Baylor. Ha.

I’ve been going to Baylor Basketball games since I was a newborn. Literally. I can remember going to basketball games before we had the Ferrell Center and there was no air conditioning inside the HOT Coliseum…we’ve come a long way since then.

I’ve never been more proud to be a Bear before. In fact, I’ve been wearing some shade of green/gold all week, just to support my Bears.

The women have also made it to the Sweet 16 and face off against the dreaded Tennessee Lady Vols Saturday night. Go Lady Bears!

There are only 5 teams that have both their men and women in the Sweet 16!

“We’ll fling our green and gold afar…”

B-A-Y-L-O-R

Baylor

Bears

FIGHT!

Just Another American Saturday Night

2010-03-20T15:26:00.000-05:00

Our 2nd annual trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was
another one for the memory books.

During the weekend we saw:
Brad Paisley- always an awesome performer
Blake Shelton
Ate the best corn dog. Ever.
Saw somebody buy a lamb for $190,000
Had some great quality time with Travis and his cousins
Danced until 1am at The Hideout

We are already looking forward to next years trip! If you haven't been
to the Houston rodeo, you've got to check it out!

Snore Fest 2010

2010-03-04T09:42:00.000-06:00

Last night hubs and Coon dog were having a ‘Snore-off’. Whoever can snores the loudest…wins!

It didn’t wake me up (thankfully), but when I was getting ready this morning and the boys were still slumbering, it was like a competition was being held in the bedroom. I wish I could have recorded it because it was hilarious. Thankfully hubs only snores when he’s stopped up, but Coon dog usually snores every night (just not this loud).

The winner is…hubs!!!!

Small Town Saturday Night

2010-02-21T15:12:00.000-06:00

The hubs and I had a quiet weekend. We did a lot of nothing and it was
wonderful. In fact, after doing our Saturday chores we watched 3 movies.

We made popcorn to make it feel like we were at the theaters and we
used our new handy popcorn holders that my Santa left in our stockings.

I couldn't have asked for a better Sarurday night at home, cuddled on
the couch with the love of my life, and a yummy batch of popcorn. Life
is grand!

Oh, and we might be getting more SNOW next week. I thought we lived in
Texas.

Scroll Down

2010-02-15T18:49:00.001-06:00

I've finally started to catch up from my lack of posting.

Scroll away!

Blogger Trouble

2010-02-15T18:47:00.002-06:00

I'm having problems placing pictures on the blog. Can anybody help me?

It will occasionally let me drag/move the picture to the desired location, but once I've done that it will not let me add any more words to my post, nor will it let me move any other pictures.

HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPP me, pretty please.

For now, please disregard the out-of-order placement of pictures.

SNOW!

2010-02-15T18:37:00.003-06:00

We all know Texas weather is unpredictable. One day it can be clear and 70 and the next cloudy and freezing. Well, this past week we experienced some very rare weather conditions. We woke up Thursday morning to a snow covered pasture....and it kept snowing for approximately 20 hours. We had a total of 12 inches of snow at our house!

Thankfully Thursday was my day off from work, so I was not out in the weather. Travis and I spent the day playing in the snow and we even made a little snow man. We used pickles for the eyes, a pretzel stick for his nose, cheese for his mouth, and celery stalks for his arms. About 20 minutes after we were done the horses decided they wanted to check out Mr. Snowman. They proceeded to EAT his arms, eyes, nose, mouth, and then stomp on him until he was flat. It was pretty entertaining to watch from the window.

By Saturday afternoon most of the snow had melted away and we are just left with some extremely soggy and muddy land. At least it was beautiful while it lasted!

Puppy Update

2010-02-15T18:32:00.003-06:00

One of Travis' best friends, Trey, bought one of our Redbone puppies last fall. Duncan is now 4.5 months old and growing like a weed. Thankfully, we get to see Duncan about once a week since we hang out with Trey pretty often!

I had a little photo shoot with Duncan last time we went over. He's such a doll and pretty handsome, too!

A Night Out with Friends

2010-02-15T18:24:00.003-06:00

Several weeks ago we rounded the troops up and headed out to Fort Worth for some good food and fellowship at Joe T Garcia's. They are well knownacross the metroplex for their wonderful outdoor atmosphere, food, and strong margaritas.

We had 11 people and had a great time getting together with old and new friends!

Bad Blogger Award

2010-02-15T18:21:00.002-06:00

I'm giving myself a 'Bad Blogger' Award. I know I'm not as regular as most of my blogging buddies, but I feel that I have slacked.

I've been busy with school and I am still recovering from being sick a couple of weeks ago. School is going REALLY well and I'm liking my classes a lot. I still have time to hang out with Travis, perform well at work, and have time for friends! Now that will probably change once I'm a full-time student and actually in Nursing school, but for now I'm doing well at managing my time.

A Good Recipe for a Cold Winter Day

2010-01-22T16:08:00.001-06:00

I’ve stumbled upon a fabulous recipe for all of these wintry days we’ve been having. I would like to thank Southern Living for this yummy and EASY recipe.

Hands-on Time: 30 min.; Total Time: 40 min. Deli-roasted chicken, cream of chicken soup, and canned biscuits make a quick-and-tasty version of this favorite. One roasted chicken yields about 3 cups of meat.

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

· 1 (32-oz.) container low-sodium chicken broth

· 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (about 1 1/2 lb.) (I bought a rotisserie chicken and took the skin off)

· 1 (10 3/4-oz.) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup

· 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

· 1 (10.2-oz.) can refrigerated jumbo buttermilk biscuits (I’ve used the Pillsbury wheat biscuits and loved it)

· 2 carrots, diced

· 3 celery ribs, diced

· I added a bag of green peas because I don’t eat carrots and wanted some veggies

Preparation

1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; return to a low boil.

2. Place biscuits on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat each biscuit to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

3. Drop strips, 1 at a time, into boiling broth mixture. Add carrots and celery. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent dumplings from sticking.

Enjoy!

Baby Huey

2010-01-22T07:45:00.001-06:00

Well, the verdict is in and come May 27, 2010 (approximately) we will be the proud AUNT and UNCLE to Jackson Dean Huey.

That’s right…it’s a BOY!!!!

The great thing about this is that we get one more person to keep the Huey name alive. We don’t have many men in the family, so this is exciting news!

Travis and I are so excited to have our first nephew and be an aunt and uncle.

We cannot wait to meet him! If I know my brother, little Jackson will be decked out in camo when he’s born.

Jackson, we are so excited to watch the family grow and look forward to your arrival. We already love you so much! Uncle T-Rye is already talking about taking you hunting/fishing and riding horses. We look forward to making lots of memories with you!!!

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes!

2010-01-20T16:18:00.001-06:00

That’s right folks, changes are a happenin’ in the Riley household. Hold your horses….no, we are not having any babies.

However, I have finally decided to answer a call that I have felt God putting on my heart for quite some time. You see, I love helping people. Always have. Always will. I’ve always wanted to help sick people, but I ended up with a Business degree from Baylor and it didn’t really allow me to do that.

As of Tuesday, 01-19-2010, I have started my trek into becoming a NURSE!!! I am taking 2 courses this semester so that I can fulfill my pre-req. requirements and then apply to nursing school. This process will take approximately 2+ years. I will continue working while I take my pre-reqs and then I’ll go to school full time!

I can’t even tell you how excited I am that I am finally diving into something that I am so passionate about and know that this is where God wants me. I know I have a long and hard road ahead of me, but I’m truly excited to see what God has planned for us.

Say some prayers for me as I dive in to a whole new world…I’ll be doing a complete 180 from financials to biology/anatomy! It’ll be a rough start, but I know I can do it!

The Great Cupcake Pan

2010-01-18T18:51:00.002-06:00

For Christmas I got a giant cupcake pan from Williams-Sonoma. It is fabulous. I had the pleasure of trying out the ginormous pan for my dear friend, Sara's birthday. Sara is dating one of Travis' best buds, Trey Cook. Sara and I are pretty much 2 peas in a pod.

I had a blast making this cake for such a wonderful friend! Sara, I hope you had a fabulous birthday! It was so fun surprising you, too!

Blogger isn't cooperating with me when posting pictures. It won't let me move any pictures like it used to, so for now you get the pictures in reverse order.

The birthday gal getting ready to cut into the cake

Trey and Sara

A work in progress. Made from scratch: red velvet and vanilla cupcake

The beginning of my 'masterpiece'

This is my new favorite piece. It was very easy to use and the final product turned out great and tasted great, too!

Happy New Year

2010-01-18T18:43:00.004-06:00

A little belated, but here's a quick re-cap of how we rang in 2010.

We spent the evening sipping wine and champagne, eating some delicious food, and having a White Elephant gift exchange with some of our closest couple friends. Kim and Casey Fretty were the wonderful hosts this year. They have a beautiful home in Richardson.

Sara and I posing before going over to the Fretty's

The hubs and I

And the camera never came out again that night...ha!

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-08T20:50:00.001-06:00

We spent Christmas in San Antonio with Travis' family this year. We
had a wonderful time visiting, eating, relaxing, sitting by the fire,
eating and the BEST part was giving Travis' parents one of our
puppies. We had been potty training Ginger since 6 weeks and even
taught her to ring a bell that was attached to the back door when she
has to go outside. Ginger is adjusting to life in San Antonio and her
parents are also adjusting to life with a puppy!

I hate that we missed the snow at home, but loved my time with the
Riley's.

This picture is of Rusty(Travs dad) and Miss. Ginger.

A cold winter day

2009-12-29T16:04:00.000-06:00

I think today marks the 3rd time this winter that it has snowed in
Aubrey. It's pretty unusual for it to be this cold and snow much, but
I'm not complaining. I love having an excuse to sit by the fire, drink
hot chocolate, and cuddle on the couch with hubs.

Life is good!

Alamo City Christmas

2009-12-23T17:10:00.001-06:00

Travis and I are headed down to San Antonio to spend Christmas with his family. We will be there throughout the weekend. So, if any of my SA friends are in town, we’d love to come and say hello.

Merry Christmas and safe travels to everybody driving to spend time with family and friends!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T05:34:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Love,

The Riley's

I survived the Rock

2009-12-15T17:51:00.003-06:00

Warning: lots of pictures below.

This weekend we ran the race. We all finished and are all here to talk about it now, but for a while I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. I was doing great until about mile 6 when I started cramping in both calves and could barely run. I could walk fine, but was not able to run at all. This means, I had to walk the last half of the race. not fun. at. all. I was ready to call it quits, but knew I couldn't if my 60 year old dad could run the entire 26.2 miles!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. They are in no particular order, as blogger would not let me move any pictures.

Post race lunch at Campisis

Congratulating Daddy on a job WELL done

Daddy crossing that finish line. The clock says 5:34, but it was really 5:20 due to the long time it took us to cross the starting line

Dad coming down the home stretch...almost there!

Team Jackie: this is a 23 year old former A&M student who was hit by a drunk driver and now suffering from permanent brain damage. A team formed in her honor and pushed her through the race!

INSPIRING: disabled athletes who won't let anything stop them!!!

Trent getting close to the finish line

Resting up the night before the race!

Run The Rock

2009-12-11T13:59:00.001-06:00

It’s here. It’s here!!!

The annual Huey family extravaganza is here! And by that I mean our annual run at the Dallas White Rock Marathon. This year is a little different because Daddy will be running the FULL 26.2 honkin’ miles, Dr. Raley will NOT be running due to a hurt knee, Trent and I will do the half, and the rest of the clan (mom, Travis, Kourt and Trish Raley) will be supporting us from the sidelines. The best part of the race is the post race lunch at Campisis. That place is fabulous. It is yummy in your tummy Italian food.

Wish us luck as we run another race and add another page to our annual Huey tradition!

'I've been everywhere man'

2009-12-04T16:43:00.001-06:00

“I've been everywhere, man

I've been everywhere, man

I've crossed the deserts bare, man, breathed the mountain air, man

Travel I've had my share, man

I've been everywhere

I've been to:

Waco, Hico, Hondo, Navasota, Winnsboro, Jacksboro, Hillsboro, Santa Rosa,

Austin, Houston, Galveston, Texarkana, Frisco, Buffalo, Conroe, Corsicana,

Goliad, Groesbeck, Glen Rose, Red Oak, Post Oak, Live Oak, Lone Oak, no joke”

Remember that song? It was a Johnny Cash original, but somebody made all about Texas. Hubs can sing every line of that song without skipping a beat. I don’t know if I should be proud or worried…ha!

I feel like Travis and I have toured Texas and that’s because we have been! We have been on the road every weekend since October. We went to Waco for Baylor Homecoming, went to Llano 4 different weekends to hunt with friends and family, Fort Worth for Thanksgiving with the Hueys, and then we’ll hit the road again to Rusk/Maydelle (East Texas) for a weekend with friends, and then off to San Antonio for Christmas with the Rileys! Sorry for the lack of posting, but we’ve been out of town so much, that when we are home I just want to crash and try and get caught up!

We will be in town this weekend and then next weekend is the big RACE! Dad will compete in his first FULL marathon and the lazy children(Trent and I) will run a measly 13.1 miles and do the half marathon. I’m hoping I can complete the race without too much pain. Hubs and I were feeding the horses yesterday and Miss. Sloan accidentally placed her 1,000 pound self on top of my right foot for a good 15 seconds. I know have some purple toes, but I’m going to push through and finish that race…mainly because I’ll be too embarrassed if my dad runs 26.2 miles and I can’t run 13.1…ha!

I hope everybody is now in the Christmas spirit with the little bit of snow we all seemed to get within the past few days! 3 weeks from today and it’s CHRISTMAS!!!

A Llano Weekend

2009-11-16T16:16:00.003-06:00

Two weekends ago we headed to the ranch with some new/old friends. See, I've had the pleasure of re-connecting with an old middle school and high school friend, Rachel Lanier Schafer and her hubs Matt. Rachel is the 'old' friend and Matt is the new friend.

I'm pretty sure Travis has found a new best friend as he and Matt chatted the entire weekend about their hunting adventures. It was a wonderful weekend and each of the guys got lucky and got hogs (with their bows!).

Rach and Matt trying to play with the cows

Rach and Matt on top of the rocks while walking the property

A picture of our fire on Saturday night

This was after our Catch Phrase victory over the boys (Pole Safe, anyone?)

Rachel and Matt- Thank you for joining us for a fun-filled weekend in Llano. We can't wait for y'all to join us for another trip: more Coopers BBQ, Catch Phrase, and "real-life" hog hunting.

For Sale

2009-11-09T13:21:00.001-06:00

The puppies are now 7 weeks old and we have sent a couple off to their new homes. We still have a couple of puppies left (male and female), so if you know of anybody wanting/needing a precious Redbone Coonhound puppy…send them our way! $175…all have had their puppy shots, loved on daily, and have UKC papers on them.

Travis says we can’t keep them and I don’t know why. Ha!

Exciting NEWS

2009-10-29T15:39:00.003-05:00

Travis and I are proud to announce that we are going to be an Aunt/Uncle!!! Trent and Kourtny are expecting a little nugget. We couldn't be any happier for them and can't wait to welcome a new member to the family. If only Kourt could go a day without feeling nauses or throwing up. Let's hope this morning sickness ends soon--she is miserable, but such a trooper.

Trent and Kourt after the wedding

Trent and I skiing Winter Park the day before his wedding!

Trent and Kourt at Christmas circa 2006 (I think)

Mom and Dad have already picked their Grandparent names and are thrilled beyond belief:

Mom: Su Su

Dad: Jim Daddy

They feel tht anything else sounds 'old'. Ha. I would like to be called Aunt Natty and Travis Uncle T-Rye.

Congrats to Trent and Kourtny on being blessed with sunch a wondeful gift from God. Love you guys so much!

Sharing a Blog

2009-10-22T07:59:00.001-05:00

The following blog I am about to link you to will bring you through a whirlwind of emotions. It covers the good times and bad times we all encounter in life, but one thing that sticks out so freshly in my mind is this couples complete faith, trust, hope, and LOVE for our amazing God.

If you have a few minutes and a kleenex box (or two) I encourage you to read this blog and take some time to think about the wonderful words this couple was able to write while facing challenges and hurdles that I hope none of us have to face. I can say that this blog has definitely made my relationship with God stronger and even more thankful for the life I have.

Here it is:

http://bandssullivan.blogspot.com

4 weeks old

2009-10-18T18:28:00.002-05:00

The litle pups will be 4 weeks old tomorrow, Monday 10-19-09. I can't believe how big they are getting. They had their first taste of formula and puppy food today and seem to be loving this transition. They made a mess eating, but they LOVED it. I can't believe we will see some of these guys go to their new homes in just 2 weeks. It makes me sad, but I love to see other people fall in love with Redbones the way I have.

Here are some new pictures of the pups: