Monday, March 31, 2014

How could March already be over?!?!?!

Is March really over? It's hard to believe that we are a quarter of the way through 2014. I know it's really cliche but WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!?!? This past week was just as busy as every other week except there were some BIG things going on!

Monday night was Scholarship dinner at the Delta Zeta House. One of the Alumna baked and decorated this gorgeous cake for the event. It tasted just as good as it looked! If you're needing a cake made, I highly recommend her! You can visit her website HERE.

On Tuesday night, I got the call that I had been waiting for! My nephew was on his way finally! He was born at 9:43am on Wednesday morning. My sister-in-law and the baby are doing super. I got to go visit the little man on Wednesday afternoon and I couldn't take my eyes off him. He is perfect and so tiny. I'm pretty sure he is going to be one spoiled little baby! 


Houston also had several large fires this past week. One of them was a 5 alarm fire at an apartment complex that was under construction pretty close to where I live. This is a picture one of my friends sent me. It's a pretty scary site but I am so thankful that nobody was injured.
This is what's left of the complex :(

Friday was a super emotional day for me. I gave my 2 weeks notice at work and I was a mess. My coworkers cried and then I cried and then we all cried together. I'm excited about my new opportunity but also sad to leave such a great work place! More on this in another post!

I'm going to be traveling during the week for my new job so I decided that I need to do some things I've been wanting to do in Houston since my time will be limited. So a group of my friends and I went to play TopGolf. If you don't know what that is, it is basically a really cool driving range. After a FOUR HOUR wait, we finally got to play. It was a lot of fun and I had forgotten how much I like golfing. I would definitely go back but probably not on a Saturday night. The wait was really too long.  





Sunday morning was spent with the new man in my life. He's now 5 days old and has changed so much. I, of course, had to be the mean Aunt and trim his nails and rip a band-aid off of his foot. His mom and dad were both chicken. He wasn't too happy with me but I know he still loves his Aunt Catherine :)


And here's a look at my Monday morning commute. Clark sits with his head resting on my shoulder every morning on his way to Grandma and Grandpa's house. He looks so pathetic!

And then like that, March is over and we are moving on into April. Summer is just around the corner and I am loving the weather! 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Happy (Belated) Birthday Clark!

Clark turned 2 on March 11th!!!! And being the busy mom I am, I forgot to post about it. Actually, I'm not really sure when Clark's birthday is since he was a rescue. But it was on March 11, 2013 that my dad brought home the sad looking dog in the picture below. And he has come around full circle and is now pretty much the love of my life. He has changed me in so many ways and I couldn't imagine my life without him. No matter what is going on, he is always there and is such a good cuddle bug. It's been a fun filled year and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Here are some of the things Clark loves and does not love-

  • cuddles from his momma and grandma
  • going to the park with his grandpa
  • treats, particularly raw hides and busy bones
  • sleeping on my his bed
  • he dislikes staying in his crate for long periods of time, getting baths, and going to the vet. 

Here are some picture of Clark throughout the year-


He likes to be comfortable
His friend Miley
She likes him a lot more than he likes her
His first sweet potatoe treat.
He no longer likes these. 
His Halloween costume
He was not a fan of it
One of his happier car rides
We were probably leaving the park

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Rodeo: The Final Round

My rodeo adventures part 2! For recaps of the first 6 shows I saw, click HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This past week was a whirlwind of rodeo shows. I went to 6 shows in 6 days! It was awesome but I was exhausted by the end of it.

Tuesday, March 18- Robin Thicke with my roommate, Kourtney. We did a Cabernet wine tasting before hand. I had no idea I like wine so much :) We also got to sit int he front row since this show wasn't sold out. At Reliant Stadium, sitting in the front row doesn't get you all that close. But it was still fun!
A Robin Thicke look alike!


Wednesday, March 19- Florida Georgia Line with a guy friend I've been on a few dates with (which after some thought will not be continuing). This show was almost sold out so we had to stand. It was still fun and the whole stadium stood up and sang their last song "Cruise." It's pretty cool to see 75,000 people singing a song!




Thursday, March 20- I went to a Wine Seminar with some of the Rookie women on the Wine Sales Committee. It took me 1.5 hours to park at Reliant. At one point, I thought about turning around and going home. But I really wanted to see Blake Shelton. I went into the stadium with some of the other women but they didn't want to sit. So I went and found a single seat pretty close to the front and had a great time singing along to Blake. Blake even brought his wife, Miranda Lambert, up to sing "Home" with him. He by far put on the best show I saw this year! I would pay money to go see him again!

Friday, March 21- I took my friend Erin with me to Easton Corbin and we had a blast. Erin hadn't been to the rodeo in a really long time so we had to ride the ferris wheel and another hang glider type ride. We also ate yummy BBQ. And then got pretty good seats for Easton Corbin. 


Saturday, March 22- I took my friend Becca with me on Saturday to The Band Perry. We started off the day at a wine tasting where we sampled all sorts of white wines which was much needed because it was HOT outside. Becca had never been to the rodeo so we got some food and then went to look at the animals. Most of the animals had already left but we did see some piglets and we saw the judging of the dairy cows.

Sidenote- dairy cows are anorexic looking. Apparently, they don't want them to be fat because then they don't produce milk. They produce fat instead. I had no idea!

We then went into the concert and had great seats for the show. I saw The Band Perry last year and they were just as good! Afterwards, we went to the Hideout to get some adult beverages and listen to another band. We even did some line dancing and I was reminded about my two left feet. It was a long but fun day!



Sunday, March 23- Sunday was the last day of the rodeo and I was a little sad for it all to be over. But I had pretty much had enough rodeo for the year after seeing 12 shows. I brought my mom with me to see Zac Brown Band. We got some garlic fries and lemonade before we went in and then went to watch some of the rodeo. I was worried we wouldn't get seats because it was a pretty crowded show but we got lucky and sat the entire time! ZBB was a great show and a fantastic way to close out the rodeo!


So now that Rodeo 2014 is over, I am so glad I joined a committee this year. It's been something I wanted to do for a long time and it was totally worth it. I'm already making plans for how I'm going to meet my sales goals for next year! It was also a little sad because this is the last time it will be called Reliant Stadium. They are changing the name :( So goodbye 2014 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I had a blast and need a few weeks to recover! Looking forward to what you have in store for me next year!





Friday, March 21, 2014

Work Trips are the Best!

Last week I went to Baton Rouge to present at a conference for work. It was a fun 3 day trip and I did a little bit of sight seeing and A LOT of eating while I was there. I wasn't sure where to eat so I posted on facebook asking what were some of the hot spots to go to. And my friends didn't disappoint!

The first night I was there, I drove around LSU and looked at the campus. It is a beautiful campus! I snapped a quick pic of Tiger Stadium where the football team plays. I would love to go to a game there!
I also drove around Greek row to look at all the houses. There is a Delta Zeta chapter there and I would love to see the inside of their house. One day I may get the courage to just go knocking on their door and ask for a tour :) The also have special parking signs for their advisors to use on meeting nights. I would love one of these at UH since parking is a huge problem!
After my LSU tour, I ventured over to a place called Sammy's Grill. They had super yummy Cajun food. I ate red beans and rice and crawfish. And of course had my favorite beer- Abita Purple Haze. It has raspberries in it so it doesn't taste like beer.

On Wednesday, I presented in the morning and then did a site visit for one of our work affiliates in the afternoon. I had just enough time left in the day to hop on over to Nottoway Plantation to do a little tour. I missed the inside tour by about 5 mins but the lady was so nice that she let me walk the grounds for free! I quickly snapped some pics of the house and the Mississippi River. I had to climb up to the top of the levee to get the last picture. I understand why the levee is there but it's sad to me that you can no longer see the river form the plantations. If you are ever in the Baton Rouge area, I highly suggest this plantation. You can even stay the night there!


On my way back into town, I saw this lovely street sign and needed a picture. If I wasn't by myself, I'd be in the picture too. So just imagine me standing next to the sign!
I was starved by the time I got back into town so I went to this place called The Little Village. It was soooo good! They are known for their bread so of course I had to try it. I got some roasted garlic to go with it. I also got a caesar salad and them lemon chicken. All were delicious and I would definitely go back again!


On the way back to the hotel, I drove by the Louisiana State Capitol. It's a gorgeous capitol and it looks lovely at night!
Thursday morning I woke up and presented at my last session and then headed out to go home. I stopped at this tex mex place my friend had recommended called Superior Grill. Since I was on a business trip, I could order more food than I normally would . When eating tex mex, queso is a must and I figured the fajitas were a safe bet. I was all good but not wonderful. I probably wouldn't go back given the fact that there are so many other places I could go. But it was quick and not super expensive so I'll take it. Then it was back to Houston just in time to go to Maroon 5 that night!