Catching up...

A LOT has been going on since my last real post.

My Bonnie-onnie got married! Bonnie and I have been friends since childhood. We grew up together in church, took some of the same dance classes, and ran with the same crowd in high school. She and her new hubby Sam have been dating for almost ten years! They met our freshman year of college and have basically been together ever since. The wedding was at the Wildcatter Ranch in Graham, TX. It was very beautiful and scenic. I was so glad to be on hand for their special day. I know they are going to have a wonderful life together!

I also ended up spending a night in Dallas on the way to the wedding, which meant some quality time with my cutie patootie niece. She will be 2 in just a few short weeks, time sure does fly. We enjoyed some time at the park and went to lunch while I was in town. I'm looking forward to spending more time with her when I'm home for the 4th of July.

Fast forward a few weeks... and here we are in the present. Trying to wrap up things in the Corrections office, as my last day is Tuesday. I'm so sad to be leaving this office, I've had the most fun here! I adore everyone that I've worked with and have learned so much in such a short time. I'm not sure where I'm headed next, but I do have a job interview next Wednesday. It's for a Chief of Staff position in the Capitol. There were 30 applicants and they are interviewing 14, so should be interesting. For some reason I just have complete confidence that everything is going to work out. It's much better than being frantic and freaked out about not having a full time job.

I went to Lufkin this past weekend for Father's Day. Spent some quality time at the lake with my parents, and enjoyed an outing on the barge and my daddy's cooking. I also got to meet Baby Braxton for the first time. He's still SO tiny! He's a month old and probably doesn't even weigh 8 lbs. Blake is adorable as a daddy. He was even threatening to fire Amanda as the mother because he didn't think she did a good job at burping him.

On the way back I started having some car issues. With my man car trips the last few weekends, I've had a problem with my car running hot after being on the road for more than 2 hours. My dad decided it was a leak in the heater cord and he bypassed the heater on Monday before I left for Austin. Apparently that just escalated the problem because I had to stop five times on my way back to put water in my radiator. It's at the mechanic now and they're replacing the thermostat. Hopefully that will fix the problem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because that's the cheapest and easiest thing to fix, but we all know I'm never that lucky.

There's a lot going on in the next few weeks. I'm headed to Houston this weekend for C.A.R. South Central Regional meeting. While I'm there I'm staying with Kathryn and Noel who will hopefully find out the sex of Baby Siegling on FRIDAY! I'm headed to Lufkin for the 4th, then moving apartments on the 5th and flying to DC on the 7th for DAR Continental Congress. Then hopefully I will return to Austin with some idea as to how I'm going to pay my bills!

Some of the cutest stuff ever...

My cousin Brook and her friend Sunny have gone into business together! Right now they're making adorable wall hangings that are perfect for nursery and children's rooms (and even adults). You can check them out on etsy.com at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7508180&ga_search_query=sunnyandbrookdesigns&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

They are also on ebay as SunnyandBrookDesigns. Check it out! You won't be disappointed : )

More blogging to come later. I didn't realize it had been so long... not sure where the time has gone!

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Eric Scott is 2 today! He's growing up so fast. Here's to hoping this year is much easier than the last two, you've earned it!

Session came to an end on Monday. I am welcoming the return of free time, and also starting the job search. And maybe finding more time to blog, we'll see.

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile. A lot has happened since my last post!

Ella turned 4! I can't believe it, she's getting to be such a BIG girl.

I have a new baby cousin! Braxton Blake Perry was born on May 19, 2009 a little after 5 pm. I hear he's a cutie, and can't wait to meet him the next time I'm in Lufkin.

I signed my new lease for a one-bedroom apartment in my current complex starting in July. For those of you not in the know, my roommate is engaged. Second roommate in a row to get engaged to a guy after dating him for less than 4 months. I think I might be a magnet. I'm sure once I'm living on my own my cats will be next in line.

I updated my resume and sent it out in search for jobs since my current one will be ending soon. So far there haven't been any bites, but I'm optimistic that something will come along soon. Everyone is too wrapped up in the train wreck that is the House Floor to be the least bit concerned about what is going to happen AFTER Session.

Smokey has finally stopped peeing on my bed. Instead, she pees on my clothes. Guess that's what I get for leaving them in piles on the floor. I'm sure Ganny is just laughing at me from heaven right now.

You can just hear the bills dying...

Tonight at midnight is the biggest deadline of the Session for the House... consideration of House Bills and House Joint Resolutions on second reading. We have a 23 page calendar, which they have been working on since 9 am... and we are on page 6. If we make it to page 10, I will be highly impressed.

I am actually impressed with how fast we got through our Committee hearing this morning, we were in and out in an hour! If we hadn't finished testimony on the three bills we were hearing we would have been forced to come back after the House adjourns after midnight. Not exactly my idea of fun when I got to work before 7 am.

Went home for Mother's Day. I have pictures from Ella and Eric's birthday party, but I keep on forgetting to upload them. Enjoyed my time with the parentals, especially my yummy dinner that my daddy made on Saturday. For Mother's Day I took pizza and flowers to the lake. And then took a 2 hour nap. It was quite nice.

And now back to work.

A case of the Tuesdays?

I don't think today is going to be my day. A few things have already gone wrong, but I won't bore you with the details of my job. I will share that earlier this morning I went up to the cafeteria to get a Diet Dr. Pepper and as I walked out the door to return back to my office I realized I probably should pay for my drink.

That is all.

Sunday Funday!

It's been a nice little Sunday, if I do say so myself. I can't remember the last day I spent that did not involve work of some sort. With the end of Session less than a month away, committee work is starting to slow down. The House was in session yesterday, and that included passing out our largest bill... the Texas Youth Commission / Texas Juvenile Probation Commission Sunset bill, and all went well. So I definitely earned a break from work today!

I started out my morning with a little personal training with Sam. I had cancelled my Wednesday session because allergies attacked me hard (not the swine flu), and I was so conjested that bending over to touch my shoe gave me a headache. After training I met up with my dear friend Elizabeth and some of her friends for brunch to celebrate her recent engagement. It's finally started to happen that my high school friends are getting hitched. There's been a wedding or two in the past 10 years (Happy Anniversary to Cameron and Deacon!), but now it's becoming more common.

After brunch I stopped by Bunker's to let the dogs out since he was camping this weekend and I am an excellent dog-sitter. I then headed to the grocery store to stock up on some healthy food. I can't remember the last time I bought groceries, could have been a month ago. I don't get to eat at home much with my long work hours, and I've used that excuse to not always eat the best. Depending on the day, I've gained about 5 lbs this Session. I know that 5 lbs isn't anything to freak out about, but when you've worked as hard as I have over the last year and a half, and you realize that 5 can easily become 10 and so forth, you take 5 lbs seriously! So I'm going to eat better this week.

I then enjoyed the sun and laid out by the pool for about two and half hours with a book! It's been months since I've read a book! I've made the conscious effort to not indulge in non-work related reading, because it would be too distracting. So it was nice to spend some time in the sun with a book. I followed up my pool time with a little quick cleaning of the apartment.

Then I headed out to Brushy Creek for a run! It's been way too long since I've gone for a run, and today was too beautiful not to. I was impressed because I had convinced myself that I have gotten way more out of shape than I actually am. I did an easy two and a half miles... gotta start back up slow. I am determined to run at least 3 times a week, hopefully I can stick to that.

Now I'm watching my shows (Cold Case and In Plain Sight) and then I'm going to relax in the tub with my book and a glass of wine before heading to bed. This relaxing day is going to be just what I need to have a great week. : )