Today my dad said he wanted to buy me a present, so he took me to Fry's and told me to pick out anything under $200. I went straight to the kitchen aisle and considered a professional-grade food processor, but after seeing the new "Vac then Steam" mop, and much, much deliberation between the two, I decided on the steam mop over the food processor. Fry's didn't actually have any for sale despite the one they had on display, so we ended up driving all over time looking for that steam mop. We finally found it at Target! It is AWESOME. I'm completely in love with it. Thanks, Dad!!
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Today I got a shipment of shoes in the mail. Humina humina humina.
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Weird picture, huh? Back on August 11, we made tiny tightrope Joel for Owen's picture wire, so we decided to make tiny tightrope versions of everybody's. This is the picture they took of me (doing a "handstand" on his wire). We tried many times to actually do a handstand and it did not turn out well. Turns out laying down was a much smarter idea.
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Today we had lunch with Jack's taekwondo students at Posados. We always have such a fun time with them. Erin Gilkerson is getting so big! And she didn't hate me as much as she did when she was an infant this time.
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Jack cracks me up when he gets up in the morning. He gets down with Maggie and plays with her on the floor, and she gets so excited to get our attention each morning!
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Today's picture looks quite similar to yesterday's, but this morning Jack got up and was so tired that he just laid down and fell asleep on our bathroom floor. Poor boy.
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Jack showed up at work today with this sweet little treat, and I was in a meeting. So he had to stand outside all sad until somebody else let him in. Poor guy. But he's a sweet one.
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I really love my new flats from Target. They kind of hurt, but I can't stop looking at the cute little ruffles.
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Today we went to Nacogdoches for the weekend, and we stopped by Jack's old taekwondo school in Lufkin to visit his instructor, Master Olford. They are so nice, and it was fun seeing the school where he grew up and learned to love taekwondo.
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When we showed up at Jack's parents' house this weekend, we got to meet their new kittens. This one, Dora, is very friendly.
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Today Jack and I walked through a field to his grandparents' house and I stepped on a bull nettle. I had no idea what that even was until today. Jack actually offered to pee on it. It did not take me long to turn that offer down. Evidently ammonia works the same way, because when they poured the ammonia on it, it didn't hurt anymore. But that was not fun at the time.
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Nature is definitely not my friend this weekend. Today, a 40-foot tree fell right before we were about to leave town and landed right on my car. Smashed the whole back of the driver's side. We got it home, but it is definitely NOT in good condition.
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We dropped my car off at the Body Shop today, and fortunately, my parents are on a cruise this week, so I could just use my mom's car until I get my rental from the insurance company. Despite how much of a hassle this thing is, we were very fortunate that this was available and that Jack didn't get hurt in the accident (he had just been loading the car moments before the tree fell).
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Today at work, we had our final DISC meeting. It's a personality assessment and we've been learning a lot about each other.
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We're still taking care of Filbert while my parents are out of town, and I think I've finally given up on keeping him off the couch.
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Today we got to go with a bunch of taekwondo people to BJ's Brewhouse, home of the Triple Chocolate Pizookie and the chicken buffalo pizza. Holy yum.
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Today I washed everything - the dogs, the floors... everything. I was hesitant to let them back out after the house was looking and smelling so good.
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So, THIS is new. Filbert is used to sleeping with my parents, so when he's at our house, he automatically jumps up on our bed at night. If we keep him off the bed, he cries all night, so we have kind of given in and let him start sleeping up there. Of course, then Jack says that Maggie is sad and allows her on the bed too. I think this is a slippery slope we're headed down.
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Today is one year since my friend Will died. There was a small gathering tonight as his gravesite and his parents house. Some things will always seem wrong.
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Today we had a shoot for a couple different Insight videos at Eric's house. I made jello for a Video Insight. It was pretty fun.
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Today was Greg Allen's birthday, so we headed over there tonight to celebrate with them. We adore that family.
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Today, we were in the car with my mom and Jack that his middle name was "awesome." I said "Oh, is that what the 'A' stands for?" (His real middle name is "Alan") and my mom said "Oh, I thought that 'A' stood for something else." Ha!
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Today I learned how to make banana chocolate chip muffins. Oh my cow. So good.
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Jack thinks he broke his foot today sparring a kid. Fantastic.
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My friend Nikki came over and had dinner with me tonight! We had a lovely time visiting, and then she showed me what she had been learning in her dance class. It was entertaining.
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We had this great idea to bring in caramel apple stuff at work since we had some apples, and then we ended up also bringing in a bunch of other junk that was way more fun to eat than apples. It was a little counter-productive to the whole "healthy" thing.
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Today we had lunch at Taco Diner at work. They have the best brisket tacos in the world there. YUM.
Later tonight, I dropped the lasagne I was about to bring to someone. Fortunately, it was salvagable, but that wasn't so good.
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I have the best husband ever. I'm throwing a surprise party for my friend Angela tomorrow, and Jack spent the evening helping me decorate the house for it. What a stud.
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Angela's shower was a lot of fun, though we had a lower turnout than I had hoped (I guess Dallas was a long way for a lot of people to travel!) We did have quite a fun time, though, and her best friend Melanie even flew in from Colorado for it. That was a big surprise for her, and I think she had fun.
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Today I took some bridal portraits for Angela. She is so lovely, and we had such a fun time taking them!!
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Today Melanie had to go back to Colorado, but it was so nice to have both of them here and let them see each other and plan their weddings together.
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Today Jack came and had lunch with me at work. It was so nice talking to him!! I feel like I haven't talked to him in forever, so it was nice to connect again.
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Since I started biking for BikeMS every year, I have started staying behind bikers that I see for as long as I can to protect them from the crazy drivers on the road. It's easy to be patient when you've been in their shoes.
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I finally put a few decorations on top of our cabinets instead of using them as a storage space, and I'm pleased with the outcome. It certainly makes it a little warmer in my kitchen.
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Our morning: waking up at 10 with windows open, a very excited dog getting up and cuddling on the bed, and then pancakes and coffee together. Happiness is blurry.
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Later tonight, we had dinner at Grimaldi's, our favorite pizza place, with my parents outside as we listened to the live band out on the grass. This day was perfect.
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Jack has been craving the buffalo pizza at BJ's, so we treated ourselves to that tonight. And of course, no trip to BJ's is complete without a triple chocolate pizzookie. YUM.
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Today at work we had a lunch out by our new land, and then the whole staff walked all the way around it to really see it. It was a nice idea, but we ended up exhausted and hot (and had all worn the wrong shoes to be trekking through a field). Chris particularly had a hard time with it, evidently.
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Tonight was the BikeMS awards party, and my buddy Jimmy came back in town for it (he moved to Florida after last year's ride). It was so fun seeing him!! This is him and next year's Team HP captains (me and Neta). We have some BIG shoes to fill!!
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PUMPKIN SPICE FRAPPUCINOS ARE BACK AT STARBUCKS! YES!
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We spend a lot of time at work drawing things nobody else will understand, but storyboarding like this is an important part of executing our concepts flawlessly.
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Tonight we had a pretty long video shoot, and part of it was spent with me hanging out of the backseat of a moving car with a very expensive camera. This is low-budget video production.
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This weekend we have a LOT of people in town, but there all here to paint our house for us! How sweet! We have Jack's parents, aunt and uncle, and grandparents all staying with us. It's defnitely a full house. Today was lunch at Chuy's.
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We still have a full house, and are enjoying visiting with everybody (and having a fabulous newly painted house!)
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The dog has officially made herself quite at home on the bed. And if she gets in bed before me, this is what I have to look forward to space-wise.
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Today we were so excited that my car was ready at the Body Shop (they have had it ever since the tree fell on it about a month ago). It took forever to get it handed over since they had to verify some insurance stuff. When I finally drove off, there was an airbag light on so I had to take it back and get that fixed. So close.
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Today I had another video shoot for work. I'm really enjoying getting out to shoot videos.
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Today I went to my parents' house and they gave me some gravy that my dad had just made for my dinner. And then I dropped it in the driveway. It was messy.
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Today was my last day in town before I go to Florida for 10 days, so Jack took me out to Macaroni Grill for a date. We had the best time playing pictionary with the crayons on the table and visiting over delicious pasta.
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Today was my first day in Florida with Ellyn. We had such a great time. She had to work, so I wandered around Safety Harbor (the town where she works), and then after we went to a pub where we 1) ate homemade beef jerkey and drank wine, 2) saw Joey Fatone and 3) Found his signature on the chalkboard in the bathroom. It was quite a classy evening.
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Last night at work, somebody egged El's van, and today while she was driving, she coined the phrase "peering through the egg," which we felt sounded very deep and philisophocal.
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It's day three with El and the kids in Florida, and this kid is pretty darn cute. We spent the day taking kids everywhere they needed to go and playing. It's exausting living the life of a mom. Not for me, of course, since I don't contribute at all, but still. It does look exausting.
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Tonight El and I got away and went to dinner and to the beach. We had a blast doing cartwheels on the beach after eating too much and then attempting to climb a peir that I thought was a barge. We also finally actually got a picture of the two of us. So now we can prove that we did indeed see each other this week.
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Tonight while the big kids were at Awana, Ellyn and Mara and me and the little kids went to the mall. Evany's diaper pretty much exploded on me, and then we went into a tattoo parlor with all the kids and I knocked over a giant display. I totally belong there. For dinner, we had sushi, and Seth actually tried it and liked it. It was so funny watching him eat sushi.
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Today I had to say goodbye to my buddy Ellyn when she dropped me off at our hotel in Orlando, but later on Jack arrived and we began our weekend together. It was nice to be back together with him after being away for a week!!
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Today Jack competed at the National taekwondo tournament here in Orlando in the Master's ring. With red letters on his back. How cool is that? And! He got second in weapons and third in forms. What a stud. Later, we went to Magic Kingdom and had a blast riding rides that made me feel totally sick over and over and over. It was a long, tiring, totally fun day.
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Today Jack and I rented a car and headed to Universal Studios, but first we stopped by the Apple Store at the mall nearby and bought my new iPhone 4! I have been researching the phone I wanted for a while and as much as I hate Mac products, the iPhone was pretty much the best option for me.
Later, we had a blast at Universal Studios, and looked super-cool in our 3D glasses on during the Spiderman ride.
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Today, Jack and I did Disney HARD CORE. We got a park hopper pass and started out at Animal Kingdom, and then on to Hollywood Studios, where we proceeded to ride mostly the same two rides over, and over, and over, and over. I don't even know how many times we rode the Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror, but I was quite sick by the end of the day. We had a blast.
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Today was the travel day from HELL. We ended up sitting on several planes for HOURS without leaving the ground, then having a bunch of flight delays and cancellations as well. Finally, we were re-routed from Florida to New York then back to Dallas. It took 21 hours and it was EXHAUSTING. We have never been so happy to be home.
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Tonight Amie and I chatted on Skype while listening to the new Taylor Swift CD together. Good times.
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FINALLY. It's goodbye to my rental car, and I have my own car back after almost two months (and $10,000 that the insurance company had to pay!). Note to self: don't let trees fall on your car.
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Oh, the cute. I snapped this picture right before I went to bed tonight, and it is now one of my favorites of all time. I love my little family.
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Tonight my mom and I played with the front-facing camera on our new phones (I got the iPhone and she got the Evo). We are so cool.
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My brother came into town today for the Ranger's World Series game, and so my mom and dad and I went to meet him for lunch before we got to go to the game. It is always fun to see Shane and Cassandra.
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I was cooking chicken in my double boiler tonight and forgot all about it. The water boiled out and totally burned my pan. In my haste to get the pan off the burner, I took out my oven mit, set the hot pan on top, and completely set the oven mit on fire. It's a shame - I really liked that oven mit. And that pan.
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This dog is cu-razy. But okay, he's kind of cute.
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Today was voting day, so Jack and I met at a voting place and waited in line for an hour and a half to vote, then had lunch together. Despite the long wait, we had fun talking that whole time.
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THE RED CUPS ARE HERE AGAIN!! Jack and I made a special trip at 10:45 after he got home just to get a gingerbread latte. It was MAGICAL.
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Well, I think all the rules have officially gone down the drain, because now the dog is on the couch too. And man, is it fun to have her up there. She's so cuddly. Jack and I spent the evening together, red Starbucks cups in hand, visiting and cuddling with each other and the dog. This is happiness, right here.
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Yes, I still write appointments on my hand. I am 14 years old.
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If Jack comes with me to the grocery store, you can bet that we'll end up with something that's not on the list. Tonight, it was sushi. And it was actually a really good treat.
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Tonight, Jack got up and cooked us a really nice breakfast of eggs, bacon, and biscuits and gravy. What a sweet guy!! I love Sundays with him.
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It is so cool to see things with "Master Candidate Jack Hornbuckle" on them. I am so proud of him.
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The taekwondo people totally saved my bacon at work today. We had to throw together an impromptu outdoor meeting thing, and we had no battery-operated speakers. The taekwondo people had one and let me borrow it, and it was awesome. Thank you, taekwondo!
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Today I had some coupons for Prevacid put together for a ridiculous awesome price. I was so proud. The Target cashier gave me all kinds of trouble, but at the end, I got a great deal anyway.
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Today they started building the giant Christmas tree near my work. When it's at this stage, it looks like a giant cage, so my friend Joel likes to joke that they keep a cougar in there. We always get pretty excited when the "Christmas Cougar" comes back.
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My geraniums are blooming. Which I find kind of hilarious, since I haven't watered them since... um... I don't know.
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Tonight we had free tickets to a minor league hockey game from my work, so a bunch of us went out to dinner and then to the game. It was fun to hang out with all my work friends, including the Wildmans.
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Jack made me breakfast again this morning. I could really get used to this!
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Just another letter addressed to "Master Candidate Hornbuckle." You know. No big deal.
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Usually Maggie gets up when I do, but I guess both Jack and Maggie were pretty wiped out this morning because neither moved when I left. Glad they got THEIR sleep!
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Today I got this present in the mail. This is what the card said. No name, but I knew exactly who it was from! (My brother, Shane)
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It's finally getting cooler, so the jackets that we got from Grandma Barbara are coming in handy. She had the best taste. I absolutely love this denim one.
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Today when I got home, my mom came running out of the garage holding this little turkey head that she cut out with her new skil saw. She was so proud. It was cute.
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Tonight Jack and I hung out at Watters Creek, and tried on a few hats at Eddie Bauer. Clearly, we are not hat people.
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My mom finally finished her first Skil saw project - this cute little pumpkin turkey. She did a really great job on it!
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I finally got my Starbucks gold card. Which made me feel kind of important. Like I'm part of a cult!
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Tonight after work, Jack met me at the dollar movies for $.75 day since he was off work. It was so much fun having a date in the middle of the week with him!
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Today Jack stopped by my work and took me to lunch, then stayed for 2 hours longer after I went back to work and worked on our puzzle. He's a quirky one, for sure.
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Happy Thanksgiving!! We spent the day at my parents' house, enjoying a nice meal and some football. We have much to be thankful for.
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Today we headed to Nacogdoches for Jack's family's thanksgiving, and Jack always gets pretty excited when he gets to see his Uncle Jack, who lives in Chicago.
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Today I made mashed potatoes for Jack's family's thanksgiving, and the guys peeled my potatoes for me. They sure do come in handy!
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Today Jack and I got home from Nacogdoches and got all our Christmas stuff out. We decorated the tree, drank hot chocolate (with candy canes that melted!) and watched Elf! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!
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Tonight was the Wylie Christmas parade with Jack's taekwondo students. It was fun, but COLD!
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