Thursday Thoughts

Just thought I'd share...

I really need a spray and/or fake-n-bake tan. Don't hate, I am pale.

I started Weight Watchers on Wednesday at work. They have meetings and weigh-ins over lunch, and quite a few of my co-workers are doing it, too. It's kind of scary to start something new like this, but it can't hurt me, right? Now I am all about the point-counting.

Did anyone watch the SAG Awards? I just read who won online. Nothing stood out to me except Hugh Laurie won Best Actor for House (we were excited because it was one of "our" shows!).

I heard The City got renewed for a second season. Yesssssssssssssssss! I love Whitney Port & Co. I mostly love Whitney's couch. Seriously, watch for it. Beautiful.

Today I let my dogs in the backyard while I got ready for work and I couldn't find them out there when I was ready to leave. So I shook their food bag, which always makes them come running, and I heard Dixie barking from somewhere inside the house. Where was she? Somehow she and McLovin hopped our fence (because it's still broken) into a neighbor's yard and ended up back at our front door. What!! We really need a new fence.

I didn't think the Lost episode was great last night - it was fine and there were some Wow! moments, but we didn't even realize the end was the end. Next week's looks good, though.

I just got this delivered yesterday and I am looking forward to starting. Since I started late on reading the Bible in a year (one of my resolutions), I figured I could start late and finish early in 90 days! :)

Jeremy is busy on a project (no, really? yes, huge shocker!), so I am driving to Austin tomorrow to spend the night with Amanda. It will be a fun break from being home, and I'm also there to see Granmomo at her new place (retirement/nursing home) and to make a list of furniture I would like to have that she didn't take with her. I'll head back on Saturday after we take Granmomo to lunch.

I brought a ton of picture frames and a fake flower to my office and it already looks brighter!

I know I bought a ton of books to read in Telluride, but I am hooked on these now, thanks to my mother-in-law! I can't stop reading them! Seriously, the best mysteries! I've read The Woods and Promise Me and I am currently reading The Innocent...and funnily enough, they're making his book Tell No One into a movie coming out this summer and the main character's name is Dr. David Beck (that's my dad's name!!!! weird!!!!!).

Jeremy just found out he'll be participating in a moot court through his company for an advanced civil litigation class at UT in Austin. Very exciting! I hope to tag along.

And hiiiiiiii to Tony and Judy, who are chillin' in Hawaii right now until Monday, I think. They know us so well - they sent us a picture of a house they saw and asked us if we knew where it was from. Jeremy would have gotten it eventually, but I knew right off the bat - the house where Jin proposed to Sun in Lost (that looks like it's in Korea). But I'm sure they went to the beach, too! Hope they bring us back something cool!! :)

Shoes & Surgery

I'm a girl and I can pick my blog titles. Deal with it.

We'll go with surgery first...Jeremy's Uncle Dan had surgery today for prostate cancer (I'm fuzzy on the details because my husband doesn't ask the right questions) and apparently it went very well. He's out and we're all thankful for that! I suppose we'll know more in a few days or weeks, but now we're just glad he's safe and out of the operating room! Praise Jesus!

Now onto the shoes - I got an email from Macy's about their new spring shoes and I really really really really really really like these...

BCBG Girls "Alga"

Bandolino "Shari"

I just don't think we wear enough blue shoes these days!

If it's not going to be real winter anymore in Houston (because it's not), let's just move on to spring, get pedicures, wear cute sandals and find the perfect Easter dress! Right??

Jeremy worked all weekend, but we did make it to my co-worker's wedding (beautiful) and watched Tropic Thunder (hilarious!).

Just found out my BFF who lives in NYC, Adrienne, might be going to The. Most. Amazing. Fashion. Show. Ever. What show would that be? BARBIE! I think it is of utmost importance that Adrienne's employer realize I need to be at that show. And leave with a pair of the Barbie pink Louboutins, too!

Random, Random, Random...

Just kind of a potpourri of stuff going on here...

My bangs are driving me crazy today, so I have paper clipped them back. Yes, with a silver Office Max paper clip. Classy.

LOST premieres tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everybody get excited!! And check out Miss Caroline's blog for a hilarious post on it. I have only met this girl once but I love stalking her blog for her photography and wit, she cracks me up!

In other blog news, my BFF Becky started her own blog! I am excited to add her to my list of daily blog reads. She enjoys reality TV and celeb gossip as much as I do, so I am sure her blog will be quite entertaining.

We spent a nice weekend with Becky, too. We played games on Friday night (I highly recommend Cranium Pop 5, it's the best of Cranium without all the complexity of the normal game) and Saturday we went to Jason's birthday/housewarming party, which was so fun! Then we had brunch at Empire Cafe on Sunday, my fav. The weather was gorgeous on Sunday, so Jeremy and I hit a couple open houses in Briargrove Park and Walnut Bend (we're not moving, just for funsies) and weeded our front yard. We're such good homeowners, I know.

I did not watch the inauguration yesterday (drilling doesn't stop for speeches, y'all!), but I did watch GW's speech when he returned to Texas. I don't know a ton about politics, nor do I intend to make them a subject of this blog very much, but I couldn't help but love this quote (I am a native Texan, after all): "Nothing compares to Texas at sunset." Amen, GW, amen.

Also, Kelly (Harper's mom) has posted some updates and things are looking better - Praise Jesus! Harper's heart and brain look fine, so they're just trying to get her lungs in better working order. They might put her on ECMO if she can't breathe without 100% oxygen and they're planning right now on being in Tulsa for 4-6 weeks. Huge praises for that, and for all the love and support Kelly and Scott are getting from family, friends, church and bloggers! :) Let's continue to pray for them, her doctors and little Harper!

Please Pray.

My blog-friend, Kelly, had her baby Harper yesterday in Arkansas and Harper has had some serious difficulties breathing. They have flown Harper to a hospital in Tulsa and it sounds like she might be doing better than originally thought, but I don't think it's all over just yet. Kelly's husband and his parents are in Tulsa now, and Kelly will be heading there as soon as she's released from her hospital. She was induced yesterday, so I think many of us who read her blog were anxiously awaiting Harper's beautiful first pictures and then to read her posts were devastating. So PLEASE lift Harper and her family up in prayer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go to Kelly's blog for more updates.

God IS good.

I'm having snow withdrawal!

We made it back safely to Houston on Wednesday evening from Telluride (good thing I flew before this happened...I might not have gotten on the plane!!).

Telluride was so much fun! We had wonderful dinners in town each night, relaxed a lot, and really enjoyed the snow. I probably couldn't live somewhere where it snows like that, but I love visiting!

Despite my previous post about hating skiing, Jeremy and I both tried snowboarding for the first time! No, I'm not lying!

See? I really was out on the mountain! Only for a couple hours as I fell/crawled/scooted/kind of snowboarded down the Meadows run.

Amanda was nice (and patient) enough to teach us some snowboarding skills since she has taken about 5 private lessons!

Isn't she cute??

Jeremy picked up snowboarding really fast and even though he fell pretty hard, I think he had a good time and is ready to plan another trip for next winter! He's still limping around the house and the smell of BenGay is constantly clearing out my nose, but he'll be fine. :)

It is just so beautiful there and I hope we can go back next year!!

View from the gondola into Telluride

View from our condo in Mountain Village to the slopes!

A Beck tradition in Telluride - Crepes! This is my nutella-banana crepe...yummy!!

We have a fun weekend planned - my friend Becky is coming in tonight and we'll all get to hang out, and tomorrow night my other friend Pam is having a birthday/housewarming party for her boyfriend Jason. What fun! We will miss Adrienne, who is in NYC moving into her new big girl Brooklyn apartment...but I have to say I am glad to not be moving. :)

P.S. How much do I love The Office and 30 Rock?? SO much!! Thank goodness for new TV!

The Golden Globes!

I did not watch, since we were dead from snowboarding Sunday night, but I did catch all the fashion aftermath. I always have and always will LOVE formal gowns - my senior year of high school I even wore the Saks version of Julia Robert's gorgeous black and white number she wore when she won the Oscar for Erin Brokovich - so I get giddy for awards season and all the dresses!! These are my favorites from Sunday night.

Drew Barrymore in John Galliano (Retna Ltd.).

I know the hair is a bit much, but since it's Drew, I think it's all kind of tongue-in-cheek. And hey, I'm from Texas - I love big hair, y'all!

Olivia Wilde from House in Reem Acra (Reuters).

This dress is so ME.

Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab (WireImage.com)

I'm not a huge fan of hers but I LOVE this gown - the shape, the color, the ruffles, the sparkles, oh, I'm in love!

Christina Applegate in Roberto Cavalli (Retna Ltd.)

Now I do LOVE her! She battled breast cancer, had a double mastectomy this year, and was fabulous on Oprah's breast cancer episode. This color is gorgeous and her necklace is to die for. Literally.

More Fiesta Bowl

Not too exciting, but I did upload my pictures from watching the game at our place!

Kevin & Jeremy

The Harbisons - Justin & Emily (and Jeremy looks very stressed about the game in the background!)

We love our Horns!!

Kevin wore a "lucky" Michigan sweatshirt to bring the Buckeyes down! I think he was our good luck charm at the OU-TX game watching party we had, t00!

Sean & Michael

Yes, I took pictures of my TV screen! :)

Keep it Classy, Colt

Go to the 2:00 mark on this video. Not gonna lie - it brought tears to my eyes. As big and exciting as winning a BCS bowl can be, isn't it all about serving the Lord with your brothers in Christ?



...and don't worry Buckeyes fans (if any read this blog) - I did see that OSU player #1 suggested the prayer first. I'm not that biased of a Texas fan!

Scrubs Returns, My Life is Almost Complete!

One of our favorite TV shows, Scrubs, started up again on Tuesday night. It was on NBC for 7 seasons, but never got great ratings, so when it was cancelled ABC picked it up for an 8th season. I've never heard of something like that happening before, but I was excited it wasn't gone forever! Season 7 was short due to the cancellation and the writer's strike, and the "finale" didn't seem like a finale at all. So ABC has sworn to do a better job of marketing the show, etc. and Courtney Cox even showed up in the first 2 episodes on Tuesday night. It should be a good season. Once Lost starts then my life really will be complete!

Here's a video of the very end of the episode - at the 1:10 mark is a funny little thing they did during the end credits. Listen closely - if you're as TV savvy as I am, you will notice they mention "Nielsen's" (TV ratings), "Dr. Shaloub" (Tony Shaloub from Monk) winning all the "medical awards." This is the Scrubs I love.

Bookworm!

Thanks to Sarah's fabulous book recommendations, I just bought these from Barnes & Noble:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc by Loraine Despres

I can't wait to get started reading!

Colorado Prep

Jeremy and I, along with my sister Amanda and her friend, are leaving for Telluride on Saturday morning. I haven't been to Telluride in the winter in 3 years and I haven't attempted skiing in 7 years, since my senior year of high school.

We first visited Telluride in summer 2001. We went back Spring Break 2002 to try skiing as a family. Little Tyler went to ski school and was zooming around that first afternoon like a pro, no poles, no big deal. My mom, dad, Amanda and me took a private lesson. I was okay...I hated the boots (they forced my feet to flex and it's so uncomfortable!), the skis were so long and very awkward, and it just did not come naturally to me. We went up this little mechanical belt, got off and practiced going down a hill. (Hill = at most a 15 degree angle!) I still didn't like it, but you hear you have to try for like 2 days until you get it. So we decided we were ready to go down a green run. I HATED it. HATED. I felt like I was going so fast, no matter what. I skied in "pizza" position the whole time, no "french fries", and I still felt too fast. My mom showed me how to ski across the run in wide turns to slow me down also. I did it all, I just did not like the feeling. Finally I got sick of it and ran myself into a snow pile on the side of the run to stop. My ski popped off. That was it. Both skis came off and I hiked down that darn run carrying my skis and poles. And I was beyond irritated when I got down to the bottom and had to put my skis back on to ride the lift back up! The lift was actually okay except when I got off, I couldn't pull myself into standing position, so I skied a little crouched down then fell over. It was awesome, needless to say. I had had it. I popped off my skis again, dropped off all my gear and never returned to the slopes again. I still love visiting in the winter - the snow is so beautiful and there are plenty of fun things to do. Tubing, ice skating, shopping, getting massages, reading, relaxing...it's my kind of vacation! Like relaxing at the beach except no fish, salt water, or sand!

This year is Jeremy's first year to visit Telluride in the winter and even though he probably hasn't skied in 10 years, he can't wait to try it again! I promised I would try once more with him but I'm not 100% sure on that...I get mini-panic attacks when I think about being back out on the slopes. I am going to wait and see how I feel when we get there. Amanda will be there snowboarding, so Jeremy will still have a buddy. I know I should try again...

Anyway, my whole point is that since we haven't skied in forever, we both needed some new ski stuff. My ski pants didn't fit when I wore then in 2002 so it's a given they will not fit now and Jeremy got some hand-me-downs from his dad. Very nice...but very 80's! (Sorry Tony!) So we made the trek out to the outlets on 290 last night and it turned out to be very successful and cheap! We each got a new ski jacket for under $90, gloves for $15 and I got ski pants for $40. Such a steal! We are going to look totally hot on the slopes...even if I'm just eating a crepe and drinking hot chocolate! :)

3-0 in BCS Bowls!

Hook 'em!

Photo Credits: Kirby Lee/US Presswire

Way to go, Jeremy!!!!

I just wanted to say a quick CONGRATS to my husband, who has been studying very hard for the past 3 months for the first Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exam. He took the test this morning and found out he passed! One down, two to go.



I'm VERY proud of you!!

Also...today is the 5 (yes, FIVE) year anniversary of when Jeremy and I went on our first date for "salad and breadsticks" to the Olive Garden. We were both home for Christmas break from college, bored to be at home, so we caught up online (we met through mutual friends way back in June 2002 when I first moved to Austin) and decided to hang out. I was unsure if it was a real date or not (my dad so nicely told me it was) and I definitely thought I could only eat salad and breadsticks for dinner, which I did. We also saw the movie Big Fish and stayed out until 4:45am talking and enjoying being out of our respective houses. I remember telling Jeremy I was spoiled and intended to continue to be in my next relationship; Jeremy told me he always wanted a high maintenance, sorority girl. The rest is history!!

I love you, Jeremy, and I'm so glad for January 5, 2004.

Happy Anniversary & Happy 2009!

On the 30th Jeremy and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary! We were very low-key in celebrating this year, but that was fine with both of us. We're just mellow kind of people, right?? Jeremy had the day off, so he took me out to lunch (which has only happened maybe one other time, so it was a treat!). We decided on Cheesecake Factory, but got there about 10:55am and apparently they don't open until promptly 11am. What did we do with those 5 minutes? Check out the ice skaters? Sit in the car? Cruise around the Galleria? Window shop? Ha, no. We decided we'd trade in our 1st generation iPhone for 2 newer, larger 3G iPhones! Jeremy has been dying to get his hands on a new one, and I think the white ones are pretty, so that was our big anniversary present this year! Then we did have lunch at Cheesecake Factory! Since we'd had a big lunch, we decided to stay in that night instead of forcing ourselves to go have a big, fancy meal just because.

Our Presents - Flowers, Cards & New iPhones!!

December 30, 2008

December 30, 2007

December 30, 2006

Jeremy is taking the CMA Exam on Monday and has been studying like crazy, so we decided to keep it low key on New Year's Eve also. We sound so boring, but I think we both needed a relaxing break from work! We went to an early dinner at Cafe Red Onion and settled in well before any crazy drivers might be out (we were feeling a bit wary of drunk drivers this year because I just learned this story is actually my co-worker's daughter). We watched our 2 new Netflix discs of Weeds (Season 3) and watched the ball drop.

Now, of course I have to look back on 2008...

-Jeremy got his job with Lumin, now Duff and Phelps, which was obviously a blessing but has also been stressful at times with his awful hours sometimes

-I got promoted from an admin position to Regulatory Specialist, which has been absolutely awesome

-Our relationship went through some growing pains early in the year, but we are on the other side of that now and are happier than we've ever been :)

-We adopted the sweetest dog in the world, McLovin, who continues to surprise me with how sweet and smart he is!



-My mom and dad got remarried, which of course is a little weird, but it's nice to see them both so happy with their new families

-I got the Worst. Sunburn. Ever.


-Hurricane Ike. What more needs to be said? (We were without power for 16 days, lived with my in-laws without power for 16 days, spent a fortune on tree removal and have yet to spend another small fortune to replace our fence!)

-We got rid of the truck and bought our very first car together!!

I am sure there is much more, but I think that sums up a lot of our year! We are looking forward to a hopefully boring, mundane, quiet, hurricane-free 2009! Jeremy and I are continuing to enjoy our jobs; Jeremy will working on getting his CMA certification; and we're working hard on our house to get it ready to list in the Spring or Summer.

Resolutions? I am normally not a resolution kind of girl, but I did make one for myself for 2009. I am going to read the Bible in a year. I've read very few books in the Bible all the way through, so I think it will be a good "base knowledge" to have...my options are to read it straight all the way through, Old and New testaments together (like one passage from each for each day), historically (the order in which books were written), or chronologically (the order in which events happened, regardless of book). I'm thinking chronologically might make the most sense to me, for my brain. Suggestions? And yes, I know it's the 2nd and haven't officially started yet, but I can make up these 2 days over the weekend! I'm not sure if Jeremy has any resolutions or not yet - probably to pass this first CMA exam!

Our 2009 is getting off to an exciting start early - we get to watch our Horns play on Monday in the Fiesta Bowl, then we leave next Saturday to go skiing (or in my case...to go "staying inside by the fire") in Telluride!!!!!!!!! I can't WAIT to see snow, trying skiing ONE more time, and spend some quality time with Jeremy! I haven't been to Telluride in the winter in 3 years and Jeremy has never been, so I know we're going to have the BEST time!

The Becks, Telluride, December 2005