Thanksgiving

I know it's a little late, but my sister is bugging me about updating my blog and honestly-I can't think of anything else to blog about!

So here it goes.

I am thankful for-

my salvation in Christ
our church
my husband & very best friend, Rob
our families
our sweet Lorelei
my mac book
new friends and old friends
blogs
fountain diet cokes
fuzzy socks
our new home
my mom's breakfasts
Rob's job
DVR
green tea from our Keurig
craigslist
Scentsy
my education
MDO (mothers day out)

Thanksgiving Day Rob had to work, but L and I woke up and watched the parade! She loved it. To me, Thanksgiving isn't complete without a morning of parade watching in our pjs. We went over to Rob's family's house around one and spend the afternoon eating and chatting. Everything was perfect, except that my sweet husband had to miss it. But, he got a great dinner when he got home that night!

Now, onto Black Friday...an event in which I do not understand. I told Rob I did not think there was anything I needed to get up at 4 am to shop for (or anything I needed to stay up all night and shop for that matter), but that I felt like I was missing something...like I was missing out maybe. He told me it was the media message that tells me so and he is right. I don't get Black Friday and I don't like it either. I did go out Christmas shopping for a few hours in the afternoon of Black Friday, but that is because my sweet mother in law watched L and I needed to get some things done. But WHY O WHY does just after everyone finishes eating Thanksgiving dinner, everyone becomes completely crazy for Christmas and shopping? I mean that is absolutely nuts and unnecessary for a store to open at 10pm on Thanksgiving and stay open all night! When did this whole Black Friday thing start anyways?

Another First

There's firsts for everything in parenting...and today I was lucky enough to experience one of those firsts..

First throw up. But I can't say I was lucky enough for it to have occurred at home. Rather, it was in the car. On the way to gymnastics, which we have now missed for the 3rd week in a row. She was fine all morning and started suddenly crying near gymnastics. I started to smell something really bad. I mean really bad. Parked, went to get her out, and there is was. My first baby throw up experience. All over her. Face, hair, clothes. And all over the car seat. So I have just now finished cleaning and reassembling the car seat. (Not sure if it is difficult in all convertible seats, but definitely not fun if you have a Britax Boulevard...)

And I don't feel so good...

Secret Love

Some days I secretly love it when Rob calls to say he will be home later than usual because then I can sit my hiney on the couch and watch all the shows on DVR that he would never watch with me...tonight-Oprah's Favorite Things episode is on my list :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 29 & 30

The end of the challenge is here. Not that I actually "met the challenge" by blogging everyday, but I was definitely fun to read others blogs who participated in the challenge and to have something to blog about each day! You can go to Katie's blog right ----> here. She is the one who started this fun blogging adventure!

Day 30: A Picture

30 Day Challenge: Day 27-28

Before I catch up on the 30 day blog challenge, I have to tell you how I am excited about something.

In a blog post several months back I mentioned that I wanted to visit Nashville. There are several reasons I want to go visit there, but one of those reasons I didn't mention. I wanted to go hear Pete Wilson, pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, preach. He is the author of "Plan B" and the Pastor of the church in which Angie Smith, author of "I Will Carry You" attends. I have also written about Angie's book on my blog. Angie's blog is here and and interview with Angie (and husband, Todd) and Pete Wilson (pastor) is here. Well, imagine my excitement at church this morning when I read in the "Prestonwood Today," that Pete Wilson will be speaking at Power Lunch this week!! I am working on rearranging our schedules, so that Rob and I can go and hear him speak!

Day 27: Pets
Well, to be honest, I was going to blog about them yesterday when it really was day 27 of the challenge. But those two dogs were not on my "good list" yesterday, so I felt like if I blogged about them they wouldn't be nice words :)
Maggie is our first baby. She is 5. She is a westie and has a big attitude. She doesn't care for Lorelei much, so that is a bit worrisome.
Milo was an "impulse buy." Much unlike Maggie, we had not planned on buying him. We got him at the pet store because we couldn't walk out without him! He was just too cute. And he is cute. Really cute. He is sorta a pain, but he is the happiest little creature ever. As much as I sometimes think life would be easier without him, I can't imagine not having his cheerful little self around. Oh, and Milo is also a celebrity! He was in the 365 Page a Day Dog Calendar in 2009 :)




Day 28: What Stresses You?
-Being late. Others who are late and when I am late.
-Christmas shopping. Something about November 1 triggers stress!
There is lots more that stresses me out, but I can't think of those things right now. Instead I wanted to share a worship song from church this morning that I LOVE. Except I wish the girl who sang it at church was on here because I think she sings it best.

30 Day Challenge: Day 26

Day 26: A picture of your family

Well here is our family:

{Rob, Mary Beth, Lorelei}

And here is my "family of origin" (See I am pulling out terms from my undergraduate degree-I knew they would be useful!)

{Mary Beth, Natalie, Melanie, Mom, Lorelei, Rob, Poppa, Dad, Andrew--who is Natalie's bf, but practically part of the family}

And here is Rob's "family of origin"

{Tom, Shalinda, Mary Beth, Rob, Lorelei, Brooke, and Jacob-who is Brooke's bf}

And here is Rob's dad and step-mom

{Rob & Cathy}

Happy Friday, friends!

30 Day Challenge: Day 23, 24, 25

Surprise! I fell behind again on the blog challenge. If you want to hear excuses, I will tell you it is because I got the flu shot, which in turn, made me feel like I had the flu for a good 24+ hours. I am one of those people who gets sick pretty often (less often now that I am not teaching), so I get the flu shot every year. Well, this year if you haven't gotten the shot, I don't recommend getting it! It made my arm feel like it was going to fall off and I spent most of yesterday on the couch. Apparently it is because it now has the H1N1 stuff in it.

Day 23: Favorite Vacation
HONEYMOON!!! We got married Dec. 16 and headed to NYC the day after. New York City at Christmas time. Beautiful. Now, I can't say that NYC is somewhere I am dying to go back, but neither of us had ever been and we knew it would be a long time before we could afford to go again. Experiencing the city for the first time with my sweet husband was so much fun. We went to see Lion King, Mary Poppins, a movie and tv tour, and went to Good Morning America! It seems like forever ago. It was only 4 years ago, but I barely remember the time when we didn't have anything else to worry about in our lives except ourselves and the dogs.

Day 24: Something you have learned
I have learned...
to forget about the baby books and use your own maternal instincts
that being authentic and content with who you are is one of the very best traits to possess.
that "it is what it is."
that when I am having a difficult time liking or loving someone, to look at them through God's eyes and not my own
that lots of people were never taught proper etiquette
that "a moment on the lips & a lifetime on the hips" is very true unless you are very committed to loosing the weight
that I am not strong enough to resist junk food. It truly has to be out of sight for me. This is why I ask Rob to hide it.
that it is ok that the house is a mess when I go to bed or sit down to relax at night (I'm working on this one...)
to "run to the throne, not the phone" (yep, working on this one too..)

and today, we learned that if you leave your pooper scooper next to your garage, kids (we assume) will break it and throw it in the street. When I saw our crushed scooper (and a bag of dog poop) in the street this morning, I was mad. Mad that people do things like this. But then I just felt sorta sorry for them that they had nothing better to do than to play with dog poop :)


Day 25: iPod Shuffle
So I am not very good at iPods. (Note: I have a 1GB probably 5 year old iPod and don't ever plan on spending money for a nicer one.) I don't really know how to use it or upload songs to it, or use itunes, or any of that. So basically the iPod doesn't get used a whole lot. I am glad I have it because I use it when I work out (translation=2 times a year), when I fly (before flying with a baby of course), and when I plain just don't want to hear anyone else :) But if someone could give me tutorials on iPods and iTunes I would be forever grateful! So these 1st 10 songs that come up on the shuffle, were probably loaded on here long ago..
Here goes nothing..
1. Norah Jones "Don't Know Why"
2. Natasha Bedingfield "Soulmate"
3. Susie Suh "Your Battlefield"
4. Sarah Maclachlan "Ice Cream"
And that is where my battery died. I hardly ever use it, so it doesn't ever get charged :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 20, 21, 22

Oh dear I fell so far behind this weekend!

Katie's 30 Day Challenge, Day 20: Nicknames
Well, I can't talk much about my name without first going on a little rant. If you know me well, you have probably heard this rant. But here is goes...
My name is Mary Elizabeth, but all of my life, I have been called Mary Beth. No, My name is not Mary Beth Elizabeth. Notice beth is short for ElizaBETH! When I introduce myself as Mary Beth, please do not reply "hi, Mary." I did not just add in the Beth part for fun. It is actually part of my name. And when I sign an email "Mary Beth," Please reply by including the beth. I don't shorten your name, you don't shorten mine. And if you call me Mary Ann, Mary Jane, or whatever other name you decide you add on, I will not answer.

Rant over. On to nicknames.
Most common is MB. However, I do not like when people I hardly know call me MB. MB is reserved for family and close friends.
Other nicknames: Mar, sis, Mrs. Patterson (Another note: I will not answer to teacher and I tell them that no one is named teacher!), Beef, wife, momma.

Day 21: Picture of Yourself
Wedding, Pregnancy, & now!





Day 22: Favorite City
Well I am going to be a bit boring on this one. I don't really have a favorite city because I haven't done much traveling. But I will say that my favorite state is of course, the great state of

TEXAS