alayna turns five!

it's brrrrrr's turn...

tony finally got his wish for a brrrrr vacation. it was early january that set the month for tony and i's very first in-law-to-be vacation. we met my mom and dad in el paso and met up with his mom, sisters, cousin, aunt, uncle, and niece the following day. it was the first vacation for both sides of the family to take part in. the weather was so lovely now that i knew how to dress for it. i'm not a cold person one bit and cold weather is just a nightmare. but tony told me it was all about the layers. so i layered and layered and layered it on and voila! lovely weather! i just know if i lived in a colder climate i would be a scarf and vest obssessed freak. the drive from el paso to ruidoso took about two and a half hours. an half extra more because of a detour to white sands national monument. this was amazing! miles and miles and miles of white, and i mean white sand! beach sand can cause me to pout and whine but this sand was nothing like it. it rolled right off your skin, your feet, your shoes, your anything! we slid down some hills and it was so fun. the best part was seeing my dad slide down! it was crazy how you're driving along a deserted, dry, the-hills-have-eyes kind of road and then suddenly around the bend is nothing but evergreens. entering the adorable town of ruidoso with its shops and cafes, leftover snow on the sidewalks and huge mountains in the background was quite a view. tony and i shared a two bedroom two bath cabin that felt like a second home with my parents. his family shared a three bedroom cabin with the most amazing view of sierra blanco mountains. when we go back, we will definitely stay in a storybook cabin again, that's the name of the cabins by the way. it was so beautiful and the air was so clean and crisp. now i chickened out on the sleding and skiing. somehow i got a bad case of chicken fever. it hit hard and i didn't want to take the narrow winding road up the mountain twice so while tony and his family went skiing, my parents and i went shopping. it was a beautiful trip, definitely for those who appreciate nature. quite stunning for sure.

let it snow, let it snow...

well my, my. look at the snow my lucky little tennesseans received...

busy bee...

what a busy bee i've been. it is time to go back to work. my summer job of playing bum is officially over. last monday i started putting up my classroom with the big lovely help of mr. tony. boy, there's nothing like the smell of an empty school and the sound of potential bouncing off the bare walls. it's the most exciting time when there's so much possibility for the year. as far as sewing is concerned, i've made 8 curtains with each being a different color. it took me an hour and 25 bucks to find the most gorgeous colors i could find for my price range (one being an awesome three stooges one). i've also finished 7 schoolbags... only 15 more to go. ahh! anyway, it was great to go back and catch up with my ladies. there are lots of changes with the new administration. it sounds more structured and i think that's what the school needs. the new message for the school is loud and clear: "we mean business". excellent. friday i was dead tired. saturday morning (4 am kind of morning!) vanessa and i were in charge of water stop for practice. tony, mom, marisa, alayna, and nadia ...oh and tokyo, came out to help and the water stop was awesome. our theme was danny and his love for sports. vanessa's posters of danny and quotes were so motivating and helped the team get through their first 12 miles. so by saturday afternoon i was dead tired too. tony and i went over to my real house house (what i call my parent's house) and went swimming with marisa, alayna, nadia, and my bestest amiga melissa. even being dead tired, there's nothing like being with family. it was so much fun. the girls are crazy adorable. so after almost 3 hours in the pool, i was ready to drop dead. saturday night, tony and i watched some dallas cowboys and michael phelps earn his 8th gold medal. history in the making. moments later, i crashed. i think there was even a little drool. that's usually a sign of me being really really REALLY tired. but boy did it feel great. bzzzzz.

birthday girl...

happy birthday nadia! one year old, one year gone way too fast. my sister did good. i mean my sister did really good.... quite FABULOUS in fact. birthday balloons marked the trail to the house and even more balloons welcomed the guests to nadia's very first birthday. what a lovely day! beautiful skies, texas heat, crystal blue swimming pool, delicious food, a full house, tons of presents, enough candy for the next 5 halloweens, strawberry cupcakes, a pink pinata, and a lot of love. what more could a little girl ask for.

beachy day...

mama earth can spin quite fast. but she sure did slow down a bit when my sister's hubby came home for a two week visit from Iraq. she looked so happy! my parents, boyfriend, and i met up with them at port A for a day at the beach. dinner at snoopy's was so relaxing and the water and moment so enchanting. it was a family moment that i hadn't experienced since my brother passed. all i could do was smile. he must have been there because the moment was perfect. we were a family and a happy one too. here are my darlings playing at the beach.