Happy St. Patrick's Day

Because we know someone that's Irish and don't like to get pinched, we celebrated today! ;)

Hope everyone had a Happy St. Patty's Day!

Last Minute to Los Cabos

A few weeks ago Aunt Debbie's family's spring break plans were changing and extended an unbelievable trip to the McDaniel family.

Friday afternoon we jumped on a plane and headed to Los Cabos, Mexico! We arrived about an hour late, after our pilot told us he was turning the A/C off because we were low on fuel... UMMM WHAT???? I guess he was prepping us for the warm Cabo sun!

Serrano, our driver/friend for the weekend, picked us up and gave us the low down on the different areas of the city and answered a few questions. We soon arrived to our palace! I can't even describe how beautiful this casita was. It is tucked on the side of a mountain with views overlooking the beach/gulf and city of San Jose. Here is what I was looking at all weekend!!!!!

Lounging by the pool

Palmilla Golf Course

A must have shot. I'm rocking my new flip flops Josh & Makenzie sent me from the Dominican!

Robby and Aunt Debbie at the Casita

Friday night we dined at a steak and seafood house in Cabo San Jose and browsed in a few shops close by. We headed back to the house and spent the rest of the night relaxing in the hot tub. We had an early morning on Saturday. Aunt Debbie, Lonnie (Robby's cousin), and Robby had a tee time at the Palmilla golf course. It was close by and provided perfect photo ops for me. I couldn't stop capturing the beauty around us.

A few practice shots before the real deal

"That can't be the hole on the other side of the canyon!"

Lizard

After they finished their round we headed back to the casita to meet Sammy and Diana who had just landed. We took the "limo" (6-person golf cart) down to the beach club and enjoyed lunch and the views. We relaxed by the pool for a few hours then headed to Cabo San Lucas to Edith's. The atmosphere was very intimate. The restaurant was very open and smelled amazing. We spotted LeAnn Rimes (she is a country singer) with her new boyfriend Eddie.

Sunday we had a date with 18 tuna and 2 squid. We started early and headed about 20 miles off the coast. Everyone started out fine; then came the sea sickness. First it was Robby. Then it was Diana. Somehow the rest of us managed to avoid it.

We couldn't believe how many fish we caught! They ranged from about 20 lbs. to 45 lbs. in size. We were able to take about 1/2 of them home. We left the rest behind, as well as the squid (about 30 lbs. each), for the captain, 1st mate, and their friends/neighbors. While we were out we spotted hump back whales, porpoises, and sea lions.

Hump Back Whales!

Porpoises showing us the way

Lonnie as Captain!

Steph, Lonnie, Robby, and Sammy reeling 'em in!

Uh, oh...

Don't worry - he rallied!

Go Aunt Debbie & Sammy

Diana giving 'em heck with Aunt Debbie cheering her on

Wahoo!

Diana and Aunt Debbie enjoying the ride.

I'm getting it!

Got it!

Sammy's squid!

Sleepy Sea Lion

We got back to the casita and cat napped until dinner. Those yellow fin really took it out of us! For dinner we went to a sushi restaurant called Nick San. We were the only people there, except for LeAnn and her boyfriend, Eddie. I'm not kidding you. Out of all of the places to eat in Cabo, we run into them 2 nights in a row! We kept joking how she was following us. I think she was looking for Sammy.

Monday morning we just laid around the house and packed up. We managed to get a few last minutes of sun before we had to head up to the airport. We were sad to go, but were excited to get back to our pups.

Thank you for a WONDERFUL time Aunt Debbie! Those are some memories we will never forget!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Amanda turns the big 2-6 today! We hope your day is filled with happiness:)

Love you!

Spring is finally here...

I love this time of year. Just when everything is really looking dead you start to see tiny specks of green. Last weekend we gave our trees in the back a little TLC. I pulled up the grass around some of the fruit trees and replaced it with top soil and mulch. Robby followed me with fertilizer and water. We noticed a lot of new buds and leaves about to pop. Everyday while playing with the pups, we have been checking on the new growth's progress. The other day Robby came inside with a few pictures...

Bartlett pear tree

Gulf Ruby plum tree

Gulf Ruby again

Now we just need to spruce up our front yard. It really needs help! I think a lot of our plants died during the multiple freezes (even though we covered everything), but I don't want to pull it all up until we know for sure. Until then, we will just enjoy our pretty tree flowers and cross our fingers for fruit!

Before & After (Back Patio)

Our patio when we moved in.

Several months back we had an extension to our pack patio poured. We wanted enough room for a patio table and chairs, a few plants, a dog house, and the grill.

I took this photo this morning. I had already cleared the plants and furniture, but you can get an idea of the portion of patio added and stained.

The next step was some sort of patio cover. I didn't want to completely shade the patio area because we do get a lot of light in our house from the two windows on that side, but I did want to provide some cover from the hot Texas sun come summer time. In my house growing up we had a huge pergola in our backyard covering our patio. We used the space all the time and that's kind of what I was envisioning at our house. We had several people come out and give us quotes for the cover. Then we decided we were going to take on the project ourselves. Then we planted a bunch of trees in our backyard and realized it might be better to have someone help us. So, back to the quotes. A few months later...

We love it! What do you think? I have my fingers crossed that Haribo and Maple have lost interest in "tasting" everything in our backyard.

30 Day Shred

For the past month I have been working out with Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser. She has a work out video called "30 Day Shred" and it's killer. The work out takes about 25 minutes and you are supposed to do it everyday for 30 days. Their are 3 levels on the DVD and each one gets progressively more difficult. I thought level 1 was ridiculous when I first started and said, "No way it can get any worse." Well after 4 or 5 days, it became easier and easier. I quickly went through level 2 and then bam!, level 3. I wish I would have spent a little more time with level 2, because I was starting to get a bored with level 3 by the end of the month. Not that it was getting easy (that was not the case at ALL!), but it was just getting too routine.

I would strongly recommend this workout video. I have tried a few in the the past and they wouldn't hold my attention. I think that is because they were too long. 25 minutes (including the warm up and cool down) is a deal. That is something I can do everyday. I have definitely become stronger. I can do a real push-up now:)

I am planning on taking a week off to enjoy the sunshine (hopefully) and get some good running in, then get back to Jillian.

Pros: All you need are a set of weights (3-5 lb. depending on your starting strength), a DVD player, and 25 minutes a day.
Cons: You have to listen to Jillian Michaels telling you not to "phone it in"... she gets a little wearing, but she is motivating.

Oh, I think you can pick up the DVD at Wal*Mart for around $10, if you are interested.

The Great Urban Race

Thanks SO much to those who donated to me:) I raised $175 for St. Jude!

My teammate Liz blogged about our race and took lots of great pictures. Check out her pictures here! Also, you can scroll down (on her blog) and see the delicious meal we cooked together the night before - yummy :)