Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

Last weekend, our entire family was able to go to the Smith's lakehouse to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. We had such a great weekend, relaxing, and just getting to hang out.

Every morning, the deer would come out and wait under our porch for us to feed them. One morning (when I didn't have my camera ready - of course!) there were 8 deer out there at one time. It was so cool. The next morning, I was able to get pictures of two of them. Here's the baby girl deer. And the buck. (I think that's what they're called when they have antlers, right?)Ken, Ross, Jessica and my Dad feeding the deer. Look at him, waiting for more bread!At one point, a cat wandered up. The deer ignored him for a little while, but ultimately tried to stomp on him. Too bad he missed. (I hate cats.)Saturday we spent the day at the lake. We rented a big pontoon boat, which was so much fun! We even talked my dad into getting in the water - which, if you know my father, wasn't an easy task.

Here's Logan, sitting in his life jacket so he could float. Good idea! :) And my brother, with a plethora of floating devices. Logan, my dad, my mom, Nancy and Ken, all bobbing in the water. Jessica, posing before jumping into the lake. Jessica jumping from the other end of the boat. My mom and Nancy. My turn to jump!Jessica was so sweet to order cupcakes for my dad's birthday! They were "The Beatles" cupcakes, my dad's favorite band. The first box had a couple of records, a guitar, and a music note...And the other box had John, Paul, George and Ringo, along with some British Flags. We didn't have a birthday candle, so he blew out a lighter. :) Happy Birthday Dad!!The next day, my mom had to head back to McKinney for Dr. Warren's going away party, so I got to go with my dad and the Smiths to the Jersey Boys show. Before the show started though, we ate at this great little restaurant that we'd never heard of. I ordered Hummus for everyone, and my dad actually tried some. (And he liked it!) We had so much fun getting to spend time with our family and friends. Thank you, Ken and Nancy for letting us hang out at your lake house! Can't wait to do it again!

A Baby Shower for Jacqueline

Rachel, Marcy, Lori, Allison and I hosted a baby shower in McKinney for Jacqueline last weekend, and we had so much fun! Baby Henry is due Sept 22, and we can't wait to meet him. Jacqueline's dad painted letters for Henry's room, and Jacqueline brought them to help decorate the table. Henry got tons of great loot!...including a UT onsie. Philip will be stoked about that. :)I LOVED this little bath robe and slippers set. It was adorable. I got to talk with Maria, who I haven't really seen since the beginning of college. We both went to TCU after going to high school together. It was great to catch up!You gotta have a potty!!Jacqueline explaining how the "fuzzy buns" cloth diapering system works. I also loved this sweet rocking horse Henry got from Pottery Barn Kids. The hostesses also got Jacqueline a neclace with Henry's initial on it. Jacqueline with her mom, Mary, and Philip's mom, Ruth. Both grandmas can't wait for Henry's arrival!Another picture with the Hostesses and the mommy to be. And of course, we had to cheese it up a bit. :) Notice the heart on her tummy. For favors, we gave out flavored popcorn from a little store in downtown McKinney called Mom and Pop-Corn. It was blue raspberry and vanilla. Sounds strange, but it was super addictive. Jacqueline, modeling her new "H" neclace. And of course, I had to post a picture of the beautiful Hydrangeas we had. They're still looking beautiful, sitting on my dining room table.

We had such a good time, celebrating the next phase in Jacqueline and Philip's life! We love you guys!

Mommy Make-over

A couple of weeks ago, my mom mentioned that she liked my eye-shadow, and was asking about what kind I use. (M.A.C. Love it.) She was talking about wanting to try out some silver/grey shadows, so I offered to come over and try my best to give her a make up make-over. Granted, I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to make up... but like all girls, I have fun playing with it - especially now that I have all the fun brushes and about 12 different eye shadow colors. What started out as a girlie make up night ended up turning into a family get together, which was great! Ross, Jessica, and of course Logan came out to my parents house and I cooked my now "famous" rosemary baked chicken, with roasted rosemary potatoes and steamed asparagus. Apparently it was a success, since I saw all empty plates. :)

Jessica was our "Before" and "After" photographer for the make over. Here's "Before..."And "After"... I'm clearly not a professional make up applier (there's gotta be a better word for it than that...) but I thought it looked pretty good! Definitely heavier eye make up than she normally wears, but I told her it would be good for all those dates my dad can take her on! With her eyes closed (on purpose) to show off those smokey eyes! Logan and Ross waiting in line for their make overs. Nah, just dessert. :)

3Hundred

A couple of weekends ago, Logan and I went to 3Hundred with Mike and Leanne. 3Hundred is this place with black light bowling, an arcade, pool tables, and a bar. Like Chuck-E-Cheese for grown ups. My fancy bowling shoes...

Leanne, getting ready to bowl...Mike's turn...Leanne... I tried to take this picture without the flash, but that didn't turn out so well...Me bowling - I did alright!Logan was really, really good. He even beat us all playing left handed. :)

We had such a great time "playing" with our friends. Mike and I even competed in a game of Dance, Dance Revolution. Would you believe he beat me??? Who knew Mike was such a Fred Astaire! ;)

The Village Theatre

I was thinking today about how when you meet a new person, you initially never know what that relationship will turn in to. I don't just mean guy and girl romantic relationships - but any relationship. Upon first meeting someone, you never know if that person will eventually become one of your closest friends, or ultimately just an acquaintance whose name you can't even remember. When I stop and think back to when I first met some of the people closest to me, I think it's really neat to remember how those friendships started, and then grew.

This made me think about how my grandparents met. (I'm talking about Mamaw and Papaw, my dad's parents.) They actually met when she was 16 and he was 18 while working together at what was then called The Village Theatre, in Highland Park Village. (Now it's called the Regent Highland Park Village Theatre.) I got online and found a picture of The Village Theatre from 1948, right around the time they would have been working there. And here's a picture from inside the theatre that same year. Years later they ended remodeling, and in the process removed the balcony and divided the theatre up into 4 smaller theatres. Papaw worked as an Usher, taking tickets and leading people to their seats. (He's not in this picture, but these are they types of uniforms they wore then.)And Mamaw worked at the concession stand. (Nope, that's not her either.) How cute is that though? The usher and the "candy girl" began dating, got married, had two sons, and have been happily enjoying each other's company for the last 65 years!Here's a recent picture of The Village Theatre. I love that even though it opened in 1931, today it looks exactly the same! You don't find that often in this part of the country. In cities like Boston, everything is a historical landmark of some sort, so the buildings remain standing and well cared for year after year. Unfortunately in Dallas, you just don't see that very often.
While I was trying to find these pictures online, I read that they actually closed this theatre last fall. Apparently they are remodeling it, and some places said the theatre will reopen, while others said it will become more high end clothing stores. What'd I tell ya - Dallas just doesn't keep the good buildings around.

Either way, I think it's cool to think about my grandparents meeting and falling in love there so many years ago. :)

My new "office"

I've worked in the Congenital Heart Surgical Unit (which is the cardiac ICU for kids) at Medical City Children's Hospital for about two and a half months now, and so far I'm loving it! About a month ago, we got to move into our brand new unit! It is SO nice. A few days before we moved the patients in, all the nurses had to come in for training on our new equipment. I got there a little early, and took a few pictures and thought I'd share them.

This is the main nurses station area of the unit.
Same area, but a few steps back, looking at the patient rooms across from it. At the end of the hall, looking into a patient room. This is inside one of the patient rooms. All the blinds were closed in this room, but basically all of the rooms have the back wall full of windows, which is nice. The two things hanging from the celing on each side of the crib are called "booms". This is where your main monitor is, and where the majority of your electrical outlets are, where you plug in your suction, and pretty much anything you'd need. It's nice to have them because they are completely adjustable, and can move pretty much anywhere in the room. This makes it possible to orient your room in any direction you want, depending on what equipment you need to make room for. So instead of having to always put the head of the bed against a certain wall, you can put it wherever you want, and move the booms to fit your needs. SO nice! This is the other side of the room. I didn't get a good picture, but my nurse friends will know what I'm talking about. Below the TV is our supply cart. They are twice as wide as they were in the old unit, so we can store more supplies directly in the room instead of having to run to the clean utility room to get them. They lock, so we can also keep our patient's meds in the drawer, including narcotics, so again, it prevents you from having to run all over the place to get what you need. The wooden cabinet on the wall is a wall mounted computer, so you can chart in the room. The window to the left of the TV is where the nurse can sit and chart outside of the room, and still be able to see in. This is nice if you have two patients next door to each other, so you can see them both at the same time. Although there's also a window between each room so you can always see your patient next door. This is the view of the unit from outside that room we were just in. That's all the pictures I have of the new unit. Everyone loves being able to work in such a nice new area. If any of my Children's friends are interested in a tour, I'd be happy to take you... especially if you'd consider coming up there to work with me full time! ;)