Happy Birthday to You...

Happy Birthday to my sweet, amazing, wonderful fiancé!

I hate that I am not there with you (I left for San An today to take my dance kiddos to their national dance competition) but wanted to give you a little blog shout out!

Ricky and I haven't shared very many birthdays with each other even though we have been dating a little over 6 years. His birthday fell on the Miss Texas Pageant the first 4 years we were dating and on this nationals for 2 others, so the ONE birthday of his we were together I threw him a big surprise party. And my bday is 11 days before Christmas, or final exam week for SMU law school (my last 4 birthdays) and undergrad the one before that. So Ricky if you are reading... I am totally due for an awesome surprise party this next year, wink, wink...

As I prep for the LONGEST day of competition tomorrow I couldn't help but think about my special man on his special day. It was literally love at first sight as I saw him across the room and asked to be introduced by a mutual friend 6 years ago and here we are, planning our wedding. I could not imagine my life without him or picture a more perfect, wonderful man to spend my life with. He is the calm in my storm, my voice of reason, my reason for love and he makes me laugh...

And when I am 80 I can't think of any two better things to have shared with your life partner, love and laughter.

I am so thankful for him and to celebrate another wonderful year of his life.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses...

Hello Blogworld, sorry for my short term hiding. I have had a crazy last month, but am almost done... I promise!

I don't think I have touched base since before Memorial Day! Wow! So bad.

Well my fiancé was working on a big trademark project for the BBB so he was taking out laptop into work everyday, excuse 1 why I haven't been able to write.

Then for Memorial day we headed to the beach with some of our dear friends, Ricky's Best Man and his girlfriend Erica, for a much needed weekend getaway. It was a blast, but also served as excuse #2.

Then we put our house on the market, #3...

I had my recital... so amazing but seriously like 4 days of nothing but work. #4

Then I had a week off whoo-hoo.... But Ricky has been studying for the bar, so while I was pool side and off lunching with friends he was working on the good ole computer. #5

And then I had the most insane week of my life. We started back summer dance, had nationals rehearsal and had Miss Texas Dance Troupe rehearsal.(excuse #6, #7 & #8)

So today and tomorrow I will be wrapping up the Miss Texas biz, Wednesday I will leave to take my kids to nationals for a week and THEN I will be WHOLE HEARTEDLY BACCCCKKKK! Whoo-hoo! I can't wait. Maybe, just maybe we should do a giveaway to celebrate my return!

HELLLLO JUNE!!!

Wow... it feels like forever since I have been here. Don't hate me, sorry! These last few weeks have been crazy for us. Ricky has been working on some important stuff regarding trademark laws for the BBB and has taken our laptop to work almost every day, boo. Not to mention we have been getting the house ready to put on the market TODAY... and having done it for the first time I think it is more work than actually moving... and I am over it! ha!

However, we did have a wonderfully refreshing weekend away with some great friends and were able to celebrate 6 years of dating bliss together. Whoohoo! So glad that we will be newlyweds during the so called '7 year itch'! I promise a full recap later this week of our trip to the beach with Ricky's Best Man Jon and his sweet, sweet, sweet gf Erica!

I am a little overwhelmed with all of the fun, exciting, exhausting stuff going on in June... here are a few of the highlight... hope we get though it and that I have a few moments to blog between them all!

June:
June 1st - House on the market!
June 1-9 - Last 2 weeks of dance!
June 13 & 14 - DCJ Recital!
June teens... - Ricky study's for Bar Exam, summer dance starts, Find a home, book a wedding band, REALLY start the wedding diet...
June 30 - Ricky's 28th Birthday (and I really old enough to be with a 28 year old?! I’m in denial about my own age I think!!!), Miss Texas Pageant, Divas National's Competition


Whoo- that's all for now! Here is to a slower month than May! ;)

Happy Holiday!

Sorry I have been a little MIA AGAIN!!! My darling fiance has been working up a storm and has been needing our laptop at work; we have been preping our house to go on the the market on the first AND we are on a little holiday weekend get away. I promise to be better and have plenty of updates when I get back!

Happy Holiday and Happy Weekend-Away to celebrate my sweets and my 6 year dating mark!

My Dog Ate What?

Now before you criticize me for the crap that I was watching on TV last night let me fist say that it was REALLY late and when I say there was NOTHING on, trust me... nothing!

SO... in the wee hours of the morning last night I stumbled across an interesting title in the TV line up guide "My Dog At What?" on the National Geo Channel. Seeing that I have a Beagle I can def relate; so I clicked on the channel and soon found that these dogs ate my little goat... I mean puppy to shame.

This episode was pretty strange including a dog that had eaten 27 pacifiers’ (he belonged to a family with triplets)! Or another one who ate an entire corn (without chewing it up) including the knife holders that were stuck into either side!

Well my doggies have never eaten anything that weird, but my girl dog can eat!

Let's do a little edition of "My Dog Ate What" featuring my dainty little Daphne!

Here goes:

4 dozen chocolate chip cookies
A Cost-Co size Cinnamon Role (serves 24)
A bag of Pistachio’s, including shells... that came back up
Then she ate them again as I was rushing to get the cleaning supplies (just last night)
A Christmas Rum Cake (she slept the rest of the day after that)
Corn on the Cob (except she chewed it up and it didn’t have the holders in it)
Anything of the bottom shelf of the pantry when mommy or daddy accidently left the door open, opps
And LOTS of trash…

Oh and our other little boy dog ate squeak once and was in the hospital for 2 days… he was fine though after it ‘worked its way’ though his system. Sweet thing!

I know there is much more that I can’t seem to think of right now…
And just think, she is only 3 years old…

This is the story of how our beautiful little puppy…



That became a garbage disposal dog...


It’s a good thing we love her!

So friends have your dogs eaten anything weird and lived to tell about it?

MIA

Sorry I have been a little MIA lately... We have been trying to get our house ready to put on the market June 1st and needless to say there are a lot of little details that seem to keep popping up... oh that and IT'S ONLY MY CRAZY TIME OF YEAR WITH RECITAL LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY!!! But no biggie :)

I did find time to blog about this fab giveaway for one of these totally cute frames; check 'em out here!

Friendship

"Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil."
-Baltasar Gracian (1647)

It's All in a Name

Isn't it weird how everyone just sort of 'fits' their name? Have you ever met someone and thought... you just don’t look like a ________.

When my parents were trying to think of a name for me they had Jordan picked out for a boy and Sarah Lee picked out for a girl... thank goodness for my Dad who brilliantly came up with the idea to use Jordan for a boy or girl. Even though I am sure it would have been fun to hear "Nobody doesn't like Sarah Lee..." a bizillion times a day every day of my life; I love my name and feel like it is very fitting, but of course I am a little biased.

When my parents finally decided on Jordan for either sex people certainly had their opinions. From what I hear my aunt use to tell my mom what a horrible name Jordan was for a girl; my mom used to explain to her that she wasn't naming me to be Miss America, she was naming me to be a bank president. Did I ever mention I did pageants for 10 years ;)

Well, NOT THAT I AM PLANNING ON HAVING KIDS AAANNNYYYTTTIIIMMMEEE IN THE NEAR FUTURE; but now that I know who I am going to marry it is fun to talk about what our kids names will be. But it is hard being a dance teacher because the kids you teach can either make or break a name for you. For me it's really just girl names, but I feel bad for all you regular teachers out there bc it's probably both boy and girl names for y’all! But seriously, if you have a name picked out that you love and then a student comes in with the same name that always picks their nose or is ill behaved then it totally ruins that name for you! It's hard people - these are my future kids here!

So anyway, cute little Keegan at the studio, please stay cute and if anyone comes to enroll a child named Parker, please - oh pretty please, do not let them be a nose-picker!

So is there a funny story behind your name? Do tell?!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Late Mother's Day to my awesome mom! Yes, I know it is a day late - but we did spend all day together... at a dance competition! Whoo-hoo! Oh well though, we swept the competition so it was a great gift to my mom! Her dance won top senior solo, and top small senior group; mine won top large senior group, and top production number; and another one of our teachers (and one of my BFFs & MOHs) had her dance selected for the chorography showcase with 3 other dances. We also had dancers that won most talented and most ready to be a professional! So needless to say, it was a pretty fab mother’s day at competition.

My mom and I always celebrate Mother's Day by having High Tea at the Adolphus. It is wonderful and so so calming; something we both could use a little more of in life! We started several years ago when I took my mom and grandmother for the first time and we liked it so much that it stuck. Last year was the first time that Mother's Day tea happened without my grandmother being around, but we love the tradition so we kept going; but in her honor this time. I truly love this event and I know we will continue the tradition for a long time! I am already looking forward to having my own little girl who can join us with this event... even though that will be a LONG while before that happens! :)

I also got my first mother’s day gift from one of my dance kiddos... sweet little Lollipop Lauren (whose solo won 1st overall mini solo the day before). Love her - and she knows the way to my heart because I got a wonderful little pedicure from her. Thanks Lauren!

This is her performing her cute little solo... Lollipop!


It's true I have a ton of kids; Doug & Daph and about 300 little dance kiddos!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone that is a mother so something or someone (kids, dogs, husbands, students, fill in the blank)!

Fabulous Friday: Doug & Daphne

With Mother's Day just around the corner I wanted to dedicate this week’s Fabulous Friday to my little fur children, Doug & Daphne. Having never had a pet growing up I had no idea the amount of love and joy that a dog could bring to your life. Well let's just say that they have far exceeded any expectation I ever had for a furry four-legged pal.

Ricky and I got Doug about 4 years ago. His full name is Douglas Haffell (the glass half full is you say it really fast), we knew from the start that he was a very optimistic dog! We rescued him from the SPCA - he came from a home were the owners had over 300 dogs. Now the only house I've been in with that many other girls was my sorority, I didn't pity him. But seriously, he was severely neglected and had to scavenge for food & water daily.



I'll never forget the first time I saw him; Doug was #218. I wanted a Jack Russell so bad and apparently the previous owners had a thing for them too, because on the news they said that all 300 dogs were JR's. So off to the pound we went to pick out a dog. And there he was, the one non-JR... but he was so cute. We took him to a private room to play and I asked my then boyfriend, how do you know if he (the dog) is the one (not knowing that eventually they would both be 'the one'). Ricky said ‘whichever one you pick up and take home is the one.’ I thought it was kind of heartless at the time, but now I think it is so true. So after a few weeks of rationing food for himself our sweet little Doug finally realized he would keep getting meals 2x a day for the rest of his life. Years later he is still very timid, but such a cuddle bug! And now he loves his food and eats fast... enter Daphne...

After we had Doug for about a year he was suffering from severe separation anxiety very badly so our vet recommended that we either get Doug a playmate or put him on Prozac. So enter Daphne (Daphne O'Deal - Daph O'Deal). Our sweet little 'mini' beagle, or so we thought. We brought home a little 8 week, 3 pound beagle and she was the perfect playmate for our little Doug. She was the perfect size friend for Doug for about the first 3 months... then our mini beagle grew into the 30 pound, alpha dog we now know and love.



My sweet little girl dog grew into a huge bully of her big bro... but we love her none the less. It actually works out fairly well, with Doug being such a scaredy cat.



Our little pups are best buddies; they will often play for hours and even cuddle together when sleeping. But the thing that makes them so FAB is the love they have to give. My life would not be the same without these little pups! There are always there to offer unconditional love for me and lots of wet little kisses. Seriously, dogs are WOman's best friend!

Respect

"Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners."

- Laurence Sterne

Monday's... boo

Today sucked.

Yes, my life could be much worse and I am very grateful for everything and everyone in it. However, in my own little dramatic world, today totally sucked.

I am going to go to bed and will re-start my week first thing tomorrow morning.

Who needs Monday's anyway...?

Welcome to the Jungle!

Well I went today and I was in heaven... to be more specific a leopard and rhinestone heaven. Seriously, they have totally channeled my heart with their new spring line of goodies. As I walked in I was greeted with the most wonderful array of leopard print 'sleepwear' (in case dad is reading) and workout clothes.

Among my favorites were a pair of A.MAZ.ING fold-over yoga pants. Now I know that to most of you yoga pants are not exactly exciting right, but I am a dance teacher so this is like work clothes for me. The best part about the heavenly pants are that the fold-over part was brown leopard with little pink details and this cute rhinestone writing on the back. Perfection. I loved them so much I bought them in capri and full length. Now let's just hope the fiancé isn't reading the blog today because I promised I wouldn't bring home any more dance pants... but come on - they were leopard and rhinestones... I couldn't resist.

They also had this beautiful silk leopard robe. Now, I already own a leopard robe, actually two... but this one is totally different. It is silk and sexy, not warm and cozy like my other two. I was thinking how perfect it would be to get ready for my wedding in with the addition of a cute little monogrammed K or Mrs. K... But I resisted... for now. I just had prioritize which was more important right now... having electricity for the next month or having the cute little robe. Sadly, TXU won out.

There are so many other cute leopard and animal print things that VS has to offer right now. Here are some of my other fave's:



















So... if you love leopard or me… run on over to VS and snag some before it is all gone!

Love it!

Funny Fiance

This is a direct quote from my sweet hubby-to-be. So cute. I am one lucky girl.

Each year, I pick up on subtle signs that I'm getting older. Like last year, I only really mowed the lawn because I had to. But this year, damnit, I want to have the best looking yard on the block... and I'm not going to let a little crab grass get in my way!

God love him :) haha.