Happy 1st Birthday, Rudy!!!

On December 22, my sweet kitty Rudy turned the BIG ONE!!!  I didn't get to give him his favorite people food- cheese, but I promised him I owe him when I can get some.  He LOVES shredded cheese (when he gets to eat it, usually by accident!  Ha!)  I don't ususally let him eat people food, so that will be a special treat for him.

Rudy has been such a joy in my life this past year.  When I lost my two cats, Holly and Harmony, I never thought my heart won't let me love another kitty so soon, but my heart had other plans!  I like to say Rudy was my last gift from Holly and Harmony.  My theory is that when Holly died on December 20 last year, he went up to God and said, "God, I know that Harmony is going to be joining me really soon, and Mommy is going to be so sad, so could you please send her another sweet kitty that will love her as much as we did?"  And God replied, "Holly, I actually have one scheduled to be born on December 22 that would be perfect for her!"  And as we all know, God's will is perfect!! :-)

It is so hard to believe he was once this little!!  This was the first day I met Rudy on January 18, 2010 at three weeks old.

And now, he's a big boy!!

I could not ask for a sweeter, more well-behaved, fun cat!  He snuggles with me in the mornings and when I'm sitting in my recliner and he gives the sweetest kisses!  Also, he makes me laugh all the time.  He is also very sweet to other people, even kids, which is great!  Katie kept Rudy while I was in LA, and Rudy let Drew love on him and lay on him.  Rudy also gets along great with other cats, too!  Katie's cat Ripley came to stay with us in October when Katie and Ed went out of town, and they did so well together!

Rudy and his buddy cousin, Ripley relaxing on my couch  It looks like Mr Rip has made himself at home...

He LOVES to try to drink out of the toilet when I'm not looking!  Silly kitty!!!

Playing with the Christmas tree.  Naughty, naughty!  He's actually gotten in trouble several times for doing this.  Caught in the act, buddy!!!

This picture absolutely cracks me up!!  He lays in this position all the time!  He's between the couch and the back cushions of the couch.  It looks like he might fall through!

I know this sounds like a crazy cat-lady post!  Ha!  But I think pet-owners can brag on their "kids" too!

I hope you had a great birthday, Rudy-boy!!!  You have truly blessed my life!!

Katie's Baby Shower (11/20/10)

On, November 20, Me, Megan, Megan's mom, Julie, and Becca hosted a baby shower at my house for Katie and Lucy.  It was really fun!  Lots of pink and green this time around. :-)

Here's Katie with the food table

The beautiful diaper cake Becca made

Katie and Becca.  Becca is due with Hudson a few days before Katie

The beautiful, yummy cake made by my coworkers', Angie's and Leah's mom.  She makes GREAT cakes!  The cake had Lucy Catherine's initials on the other side.

All the presents!!!  Katie got SO many clothes!  Lucy will be set for awhile!  Katie has forbidden anyone to get anymore clothes!

Lucy will be here any day now, and I cannot wait to meet her!!

Race for the Cure 2010 (October 16)

On October 16, I walked in Race for the Cure in honor of my dad's sister, Kathleen.  Aunt Kathleen died in 1996 of breast cancer, and I have always wanted to walk in Race for the Cure, but have never been able to until this year. 

Then, two weeks before the race, I got a pleasant surprise.  My friend and former suitemate from Ouachita Baptist University, Kim was coming down from Russelville to the race with her six-year-old daughter and needed a place to stay, so I messaged her on Facebook and offered my house, so she came and stayed with me!!!  I hadn't seen her in ten years!  It was great to hang out and catch up!

Here we are before the race

Here we are after the race with some friends of theirs from church, Jennifer and her daughter, Katelyn, and Kim's sweet daughter, Natalie.

Trip to Los Angeles (September 13-17)

On September 13-17, I went to LA for some training for work.  After work, of course I had some time to do some sight seeing with my coworkers from the other VA Recruitment and Staffing offices.  I hung out with two ladies from the Topeka, Kansas office and a girl and guy from the Indianapolis office on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  The Indy guys had a car, so that was great!

Tuesday night, we went to Tinsel Town, AKA HOLLYWOOD!!!!  It was AWESOME!!!  I was completely starstruck, I'll admit!  I didn't see any celebs, but being at Grauman's Chinese Theater where all the hand- and footprints are was pretty darn close

Here is one of the Grauman's signs

Here is the Grauman's building

Here is Michael Jackson's and Bruce Lee's stars

Here is Glen Campell's star.  I had to get a picture since he was from Arkansas!

Star Wars hand- and footprints

Okay, anyone who knows me knows I am  HUGE Harry Potter fan, so I freaked out when I saw this!!

Me posing with the Potter prints!

A cuople more cool prints

Then, we ate at the brand-new Hard Rock Cafe.  It was good!!

Rebecca (from Indy) with a guy with the craziest mohawk EVER!

The famous Kodak Theater

The next day, we all went to Santa Monica Pier.  They actually filmed part of Forrest Gump here.

View from the pier

Me with the Pier sign

Another pier view

The famous Ferris Wheel

Of  course we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp!!  It was good!  They have these sings at the table that say "Run, Forrest, Run!" on one side if you want your waiter to pass your table, and "Stop, Forrest, Stop!" if your waiter needs to stop and do something for you.  That was funny!

Tom Hanks actually ran on this beach in the movie!!

It was a really fun trip!!!  I really want to go back!!!!

Updates FINALLY!!!

Okay, as I promised you about, oh, three months ago, here are the updates starting from WAY back in the summer!!  WOW, I'm bad at blogging... :-(

First of all, Katie and Ed found out that they are having a..... GIRL!!!!!  YAY!!!  We are all so excited!  Katie told me, Mom, and Dad over the phone, and then later that week for Ed's mom's birthday she wrapped up a girly outfit for her to open and that's how Ed's family found out.  Ed's family is super excited becuase Ed has four brothers, and the Hill's have two grandsons, so this is the first girl for Ed's parents.  I have a strong feeling she'll be SPOILED!!!

Here is Ed's mom, Pat holding up the girl outfit

Here is Ed's dad, Ed Sr. holding the outfit.  He will be wrapped tight around little Lucy Catherine's finger for sure!

Also, this summer at a conference for people with visual impairment that the VA had a job booth at (which I worked) I ran into my vision teachers from high school, Sandee and LeAnn, who I haven't seen in FOREVER!!

I love these ladies!  I have great memories of them from high school and it was great to see them!  I hope we get to hang out and have dinner and do karaoke soon!

Then, the BIG EVENT of the summer.... my nephew Drew turned the BIG ONE on August 24!!!!!  He had a great golf-themed party on August 28 that was so much fun and filled with lots of friends and family!

Here is the dining room all decorated

The yummy cake

Drew with my parents, Grammy and Papaw, who drove up Saturday just for the party from Madison, Mississippi and left the next day at lunch.  Such a nice treat!  And, yes, Mom's hair is PINK!!

My homemade Mac and Cheese that I made especially for Drew because that's one of his favorite foods!

Drew opening his very favorite present from Ray and Julie (Juju) Harvey, my best friend, Megan's parents, a dump truck!  Megan's twins are two days younger than Drew, and their party was the weekend before.  Her son, Brody got that same dump truck and Drew LOVED it!  He squealed when he opened his own!  It was the cutest thing!

Here's a cute video of Drew feeding his mommy and daddy cake!

He also loved the balloons just as much as the presents, I think.  I had a cute video of this, but blogger is being weird and won't let me upload it!!  Grrr!!!

Finally, we ended the summer with a Labor Day weekend trip to Dallas to visit my brother, Brian, his wife, Jennifer, and Thomas (14), Kevin (12), and Madalyn (6).  We went and ate lunch with Madalyn and Kevin at school on Friday, and then Saturday watched Thomas play Freshman football.

He's number 85.  Unfortunately, his team lost. :-(

Kevin and Drew at the game

Then, Sunday we went to Brian and Jennifer's church, Stonebriar Community Church, and heard Christian author and their pastor, Chuck Swindoll preach.  It was a great service!  I loved their church!  I which I lived closer so I could go there!

Then, Monday, Thomas's high school (Denton Guyer) played Cedar Hill High School at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.  Thomas played in Marching band.  My family used to live in Cedar Hill when I was in first-third grade, so if we'd stayed there, I would have gone to Cedar Hill High!

Here's the stadium from the road

The inside of the stadium

The HUGE teletron

Me and Madalyn at the game

The band

I had a fun summer with lots of friends and family!