Tis the Season

Although I have been denying the "readiness" for the Christmas season since the consumer market started pushing it on us in October, it seems the season is here in full swing and since it's actually December, I've decided to embrace it.

I spent the Sunday after Thanksgiving decorating a house that is my very own (well, mine and William's) for the first time. I got to do what I wanted…to an extent. See, my mom so graciously donated 3 huge Rubbermaid tubs filled with garlands, holly berries, Christmas ornaments, lights, wreaths etc, so I did what I wanted, using what had been given to me. I did, however, splurge on some new festive PB candles (thank you for all the wedding gifts that have allowed me to milk those gift cards for 7 months!), a few table runners and a tree skirt.

Since we have officially received our first snow, I decided it was time to bring my Christmas spirit to my blog world…so here goes!

Evidence that it actually did snow in Dallas…some build up in our backyard that lasted about 2 hours…



My dining room table arrangement


My Willow Tree Navitiy (one of my favorites and entirely gifted from my friends in Plainview at our wedding shower!)


The Buffet Arrangement (thank you mom for the red globes!)


The top of the entertainment center. I was bummed that the lights in this didn't work but too lazy to re-srting them. Also, the nativity here was a gift from William's bosses and was hand carved in Bethlehem from olive wood found outside of Jerusalem. I thought that was very cool!


Another little garland arrangement on the bookshelves


And finally...the tree. This isn't a great pic b/c the lights aren't on. Also, we were given a bunch of red and gold ornaments to use while we build up our own collection...but I think it turned out pretty nice for just using what we had been given!


I still need to do some work on the outside of the house and that might get accomplished this weekend, if my sweet husband can help me a little bit (hint, hint!!)

Our First Thanksgiving

William and I spent our first Thanksgiving as married folks with his family in Tyler and at the farm in Pittsburgh. We had a great time celebrating with family and I enjoyed learning a few new family traditions from William's side.

For example, William's mom's family had a tradition of having a glass of "Cold Duck" to kick off the thanksgiving feasting. Here's Meredith and I with ours (fyi, Cold Duck is a sparkling wine that was believed to be an expensive thanksgiving treat until Will's mom discovered it was $2.50 a bottle)



William's mom made a "California-style stuffing" using water chesnuts and mushrooms, which was delicious! She asked me if I knew how to make gravy, so that was my assignment for the meal prep! Here's me making gravy (although you can't really see the gravy...just my face!)


Here's the family sitting down for dinner (minus Jamal who was taking the picture)


I also contributed a couple of pies to the meal (and, was very proud that I even made my pie crusts from scratch! Thanks Mom!) They were a big hit with the Moharer and Spencer families throughout the weekend!

We left Tyler on Thursday evening and headed to the Spencer farm in Pittsburg. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out at the farm with Williams Dad, Aunt, 4 cousins, their 6 kiddos (all under age 10) and 8 dogs!! It was definitely a full house and there were plenty of funny stories and good times had. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures at the farm, so I can only tell you that we had a blast!!

Saturday, we packed up and headed back to Dallas to meet my family at Cowboys Stadium for the Tech vs. Baylor football game. Since my mom and dad went to Tech and my bro and I went to Baylor, it's a fun family rivalry that we've started to attend pretty regularly. William was a trooper and came to cheer on the Bears/Raiders despite having gotten up at 4am for three days in a row to go duck hunting! He did NOT, however, wear the green BU shirt I laid out for him. Instead, he wore neutral gray (see pic below)


Even though the Raiders got us in the end, it was a great game and the Bears made a good showing in Arlington. The Bears have played it down to the wire against Tech the past couple years...I think next year's our year to finally get the win. Here's a pic of our house divided...


I know this probably won't become a regular thing, but it was amazing to get in a little bit of time with all the families that William and I represent over this quick holiday weekend. We love them all and have such a great time with each of them. It was a great kick off to the holiday season and to celebrating as a Spencer! Love to all that helped make our first Thanksgiving a great one!

Who Needs Babies....

When you've got a snuggler like this!

Yes, that's Berkley asleep on her back snuggled up next to William and covered with a blanket. Pretty cute, and funny. She would have a hard road to adjustment if she wasn't our "only child."

Tweetly, Deedily Dee

Not too long ago, the words “tweet” and “twitter” were associated with things such as birds, Jackson 5 songs, the sound a whistle makes…etc, but most people today, when asked to do a word association with “tweet” would say the first thing that comes to mind is the popular social networking site Twitter.

I was recently pushed onto the bandwagon of creating a twitter account by someone in my company. We are trying to create a following on twitter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Texas vs. the Nation Challenge (@TexasvsNation, if you’d like to willing jump on our wagon). I was scolded for not having a twitter account and supporting my company and the game that we are all so proud to be a part of. (I guess giving my time, talents and efforts to working for the game and moving to El Paso, Texas for months at a time wasn’t enough to show my devotion to my job, but the twitter account was the final proof of my loyalty.)

I’m surprised to report that I’m not completely addicted to tweeting, twittering twitting… whatever it’s called. I’ve been a member for a few weeks and I think I’m having take-it-or-leave-it emotions towards the site. I have found some interest in following some of my favorite speakers/preachers (@MattChandler74, @JohnPiper, @villagechurchtx) as well as following reports about my favorite sports teams (@BaylorAthletics, @ESPN_Big12)…but as far as following the average person, I really don’t find it that interesting. I also don’t think there’s anything exciting enough in my day-to-day activity to post updates very frequently. I try and do a few updates a week, especially if I’m traveling , but I can’t think of anything that interesting to post every two hours.

If you don’t have a twitter account, I suggest trying it out for yourself. I don’t want to form your opinions for you…if you were a member and following me (@tjspencer09) I guess right now, you’d probably see this message:

@tjspencer09 just posted a pretty boring update on my blog about twitter…

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was Halloween...not one of my favorite holidays but it was going to be a pretty good one this year because William and I were signed up to volunteer at our church's Trunk-or-treat festival. We were on the "entertainment" committee and were in charge of running a game station. Unsatisfied with any of the proposed games, William of course decided we would bring own out for the kiddos to play. Tie-one-on was such a hit among the kids at our wedding reception, we thought that the church visitors would enjoy it as well.

Throughout last week, I found myself fighting off a cough that kept getting deeper and meaner and congestion that did the same. By Friday morning, I was feeling really crummy and finally headed into the doctor for some help. After a chest x-ray, flu test (again) and multiple comments about the "concern" the doctor had for the sounds coming from my chest, I was diagnosed with bronchitis, a relief compared to the speculations of flu and pneumonia that he was throwing around when I first went in. After getting a cortisone shot and prescription for a z-pak, he asked me what my plans were for the weekend. He quickly canceled my volunteer plans telling me that not only would I probably be contagious, I would also have about a 90% chance of catching the flu again if I was around that many kids with my immune system weakened by the bronchitis.

I was bummed as I dressed William up in his funny trucker costume and sent him to man our game station solo, but the weekend did have a saving factor.

No one ended up needing our company season tickets for the Cowboy game this weekend, and since Cowboys Stadium is basically a glamorous, indoor sports bar, (and due to the miraculous effects of steroid shots and Z-Pak's) I decided I would bear the burden and go to the game. My brother, sister-in-law and their brother in-law went with me and we had a blast exploring our new access to the field level club and watching the Cowboys kick Seattle.

William and I wrapped up the weekend with some couch time catching up on the episodes of Flashforward we had missed and eating pizza...my favorite Sunday night activities.

Miscellaneous Cooking

I know my posts haven't been very personal lately, but this is just too good not to share. Have you ever gotten home from work and started staring blankly into the refrigerator wondering what on earth you can make for dinner with the large amount of frozen chicken breasts you bought from Sam's, 2 lemons, some eggs, garlic and frozen veggies?? This is almost a daily struggle for me and I usually end up going to the store to purchase some ingredients for a yummy sounding recipe I've been wanting to try...

I always thought, what if I could just list the ingredients I have at home and then find a recipe that is just as delicious sounding without making another trip to the store?? Bingo. Recipematcher.com.

Type in everything you find in your pantry/kitchen, identify what you want your main ingredient to be (i.e. Chicken Breasts for a main dish or mixed frozen veggies for a side) and BOOM...over 100 (depending on your variety of supplies in stock) recipes pop up for you to try.

I'm trying out the Smothered Bacon Chicken tonight... I'll let you know how it goes.

http://www.recipematcher.com/

Technology drove me into a lake…

Despite my love for The Office and Michael Scott’s very convincing arguments against technology (shout out to my blog title), I have found some really exciting uses and improvements in the technologies I use daily lately.

First of all, I’d like to take a moment to try and convince all readers of this blog to create a Gmail account. As a former user of many different free email hosts including yahoo, hotmail, and msn, Gmail is BY FAR the best I’ve ever known. I love this little host so much that I have even abandoned my office email outlook account. How can you do that, you ask? Well, my Gmail is so smart that I can set it up to both send and receive all my work emails (as well as any other email accounts I might still receive messages to) into ONE central account. Your next question, wouldn’t that be confusing to mix all your work and personal emails into one inbox. The answer: No, because Gmail is so smart that is automatically labels incoming mail from my account formerly known as outlook AND automatically reply’s from the account that the email was originally sent to. Genius.

I have recently discovered Gmail “Labs”, which are a lot like applications for the iphone. My two favorites are the forgotten attachment detector and “Got the Wrong Bob?” The forgotten attachment detector searches your emails to see if you mentioned “attached, attachment, attaching” in the text and alerts you if you start to send such a message without the attachment. This has proved quite useful for me and has greatly reduced the number of follow-up “oops I forgot to attach” emails that I have to send each week.

“Got the Wrong Bob?” will scan any email recipient list that I make and alert me if I’m sending an email to William, my client that it thinks I meant to send to William, my husband. How does it know who I meant? It cross-references past email lists to see which “William” I usually send an email to in conjunction with Leslie and Taylor (or whoever else is in your recipient list). Once again, Genius.

My other favorite new find is the AT&T Uverse TV Mobile Remote Access app for the iPhone. From this application, you can manage your Uverse DVR…it does everything from deleting old recordings to free up space to searching and scheduling recordings of all shows starring John Krasinski or Tina Fey. Another genius idea that helps make life just a little bit more convenient.

So, despite the occasional failures of technology, I’d say as a whole, it’s a great thing. I may change my mind if it ever drives me into a lake though.

Intentional in Everything

Our lead pastor at The Village Church, Matt Chandler, just posted an entry on his blog that was very powerful in it's simplicity. He simply wrote out what he usually says during the "welcome" at each church service. This brought me back to thinking about my home church and our welcome. It usually consisted of the list of weekly activities and quick "We're glad you're here. Take a minute to let us know if you're a guest with us by filling out the card in the back of the pew and dropping it in the offering plate." This would be followed by about 5 minutes of shaking hands and greeting others, especially visitors, which I'm sure was more of a social hour and time to discuss which of the 2 restaurants in town people would be attending for lunch and if others would like to join.

There is nothing wrong with the way my home church did welcome. It was a small community and everyone knew everyone else, and it was a fitting welcome for FBC Plainview. But the way the Village tries to make every part of their service intentionally pointed towards turning hearts towards Christ is inspiring to me and makes me aware of trying to use everything in my life and every word that comes out of my mouth to intentionally glorify God.

Here's what Chandler posted.

“Good Morning. My name is Matt Chandler I am the Lead Pastor/Teaching Pastor here at The Village. If this is your first time visiting with us I want to welcome you. I am guessing that if this is your first time here you are in one of two lanes. The first lane is that you are a believer with a background in church and you’re new to the area or are just checking out our community. If at some point in the next hour or so your heart and mind are moved and you want to know more about us, you can fill out one of the cards in the seatback in front of you and either drop it in the joy boxes or, and this would be our preference, walk across the parking lot to the white portable buildings and there are some men and women over there that can answer any of the questions you might have about the church. The second lane is that you’re here today and you aren’t a Christian and don’t have a background in Church or not a recent one anyway. I want to welcome you. This is a safe place for you to have some doubts about what we are saying to be skeptical and curious. There are no doors that are closed for you here so explore as much as you want. Go to a home group, check out Recovery, help us mentor local students, hop on a plane to South America or Africa and help us, help others. As a former agnostic myself, I have a great deal of respect for the genuine seeker. If we can help answer any of your questions or serve you in anyway let us know.”

FOr the full blog post, click on the link in the side of this blog for the Village Church pastors.

Bargain Update

Occasionally I like to bring a little money saving news to the table on the blog. I know there are lot of sites like this one out there but I have found and used more coupons from AdPages.com than any other Dallas area bargain site.

I mainly use the restaurant coupons that come in their monthly mail out but today I checked out the website to see what the "additional offerings" were that their magazine claimed you could get on the web.

I particularly like the restaurant "gift cards" you can purchase at a discount. William and I love to go to Blue Fish for sushi but usually end up spending about $50 for that dinner. On www.adpages.com, you can buy a $10 gift card to Blue Fish for $2.50 or a $25.00 gift card for $8.75. One thing to beware of with these deals, they do come with a minimum order amount. The $10 card can only be used on orders of $35 or more and the $25.00 card requires a minimum $70 total. So, knowing we usually come in around $50, the $10 card is the best route for us and gives us a total discount of $8.50 on our meal.

It's not a big enough break that we can become regular patrons of some of our favorite upscale dining spots, but in the days of counting every dollar, it definitely helps. Browse the site to see if any of your fav's have offers available!

Bored and Boring

I have been a definite slacker on keeping my fans up to date on the Spencer life as of late. Partly, this is because I was sick and not feeling clever and witty enough to write. I also think it has something to do with the rain that has plagued Dallas for about a month now. It makes me feel sluggish and unmotivated to do anything more than the bare minimum to get by.

We really haven't been very bored or boring. Lots has happened in the past few weeks. We finally finished the deck COMPLETELY and will be celebrating with a cookout this weekend (that is,if the never-ending rain acts out of character and ends). We celebrated a couple of friends births with some fun outings including a dance studio turned VIP night club and swanky pizza party in the well known Bishop Arts District. We've had wedding showers, baby showers and some hang out time with family and friends. William has had between 1-3 soccer games every weekend (when the rain allows), and I've finally gotten started back up with my KLife small group (shout out to the coolest group of 9th grade girls I know!).

BUT, to make up for a lack of posting and lack of anything exciting to show in pictures, I decided to give you a virtual tour of my office today. Our lease is officially up our office space, but as of now, we haven't found a place to move to. My boss is definitely a lover a spontaneity, so here's where I've been working the past 3 years and 6 months...well, actually just a little over 2 years. We moved offices about a year after I started.


This is the reception area where you would wait to see me if you had an appointment and I was super busy. I decorated this area...the flower arrangement and all.


Then you would walk down this hallway where you could see pics from some of our company's greatest moments. I am even in a few of them. Very exciting.




At the end of the hall, if you looked to your left, you would see our conference area. Yes, that's a flat screen TV w/ satellite. Yes, it improves office productivity.



If you walked towards the TV, you would probably see Bret's office on your left. This was a legitimate action shot of Bret making things happen. You can't stage a picture this real.


If you walked towards the TV but looked to your right, you would stumble upon our boss' office. This is the huge, creepy fish that he caught in Cabo. It makes me uncomfortable when I'm in there.


Now, if at the end of the hall, you had looked to your right, you would find my office. If you were to walk into it and look left, this would be your view. That's the office calendar and an autographed Tony Romo jersey that was our "Christmas Bonus" in 2007. I will attempt a 360 degree virtual tour here...



Turn slightly to your right and you'll see my Sugar bowl poster and bookshelf (along with random boxes that for some reason MUST remain in my office)


Turning completely to your right, you would see this. My desk. Where the magic generally tends to happen. I have two computer screens, which is awesome for when I want to do work on one and watch news videos on the other. I'm a big fan of multitasking. I also have lots of fun little mementos, mainly drawn for me by my co-worker Erik's two daughters.

So there it is. This is where I spend about 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. If there's anything you'd like to see more of, feel free to pop in anytime.

Highlight Reel

Monday Night Football with the Dallas Cowboys

Last night, I attended my first “real” NFL game ever. In case you wondering what a “fake” NFL game is, I’ve attended two Pro Bowls and the Hall of Fame game, neither of which counted for anything other than pride/practice so I don’t consider those legit outings.

My company just happens to have 4 season tickets to the Cowboys inaugural season at Cowboys Stadium and last night, those tickets were mine. William and I thought long and hard about who to bring to this exciting event with our two extra tickets and decided that it was only fitting that we bring the men that brought us into this world and gave us a love of the game, our dads. My dad drove in all the way from Amarillo, TX to attend the big event with us and Mr. Mark Spencer came in from Tyler to share the evening as well.

From the mega-huge-monstrous-enormous HD video screen to the very posh “Cowboys Club,” the new stadium makes you feel like only the Highland Park elite are Cowboys fans, until the fan cam scans the crowd and reveals the same drunk, tatted up couple in Romo jerseys and foam cowboy hats dancing uncontrollably in the mid-upper deck.

Here’s a truly horrible picture of William and I down the aisle from our seats…did I mention that they were 2nd row on about the 47 yard line? Oh, yeah, they were. I am now spoiled for all future Cowboy events where I have to sit anywhere but on the 1st or 2nd row.



The afore-mentioned video board…this turned out to actually be kind of distracting. When you’re sitting that close to the players, you would think you’d rather watch the action going on right in front of you rather than up above you on the screen. My dad said once he caught himself watching the screen and then looking down at the field for the replay…oops.

We were actually pictured on this board sometime during the 2nd quarter for about 5 seconds. We appropriately smiled and waved and watched ourselves on the giant screen.


A couple of little offensive plays (these were probably not the 2 that actually resulted in a gain). Despite the lack of offensive charisma, the Cowboys won their first regular season game in the new stadium 21-7, and we were there to witness history.




Just a note to fans planning to attend games in the future, please allow 2.5 hours to get back to Dallas from the stadium if you stay until the end of the game. Arlington and the organization could really use a good civil engineer to figure out an exit strategy for the 100,000 fans that attend games. Anyone know where I could find one of those?

Oink Oink

This past week I have had the great privilege of suffering through the swine flu. There have been a lot of questions and concerns about this so I thought I’d address some of those for my blog readers today. I hope this puts everyone’s minds at ease about the truths of this almost “pandemic” illness.

Question Number 1: Do you really have the swine flu?
Answer: Yes.

Number 2: How do you know it’s not the regular flu?
Answer: Because my doctor said “You have the H1N1 flu, otherwise known as swine flu.” He’s a doctor so I took that as a pretty solid diagnosis.

Number 3: Have you started oinking/grown a tail/is your nose looking smooshed? (All these questions were mainly presented by my boss)
Answer: My cough sounds a little bit like an oink sometimes/not that I can see/yes, it’s a little smooshed but that could come from laying face down in my pillow for 7 days.

Number 4: What’s the difference in the swine flu and regular flu?
Answer: Well I think it’s a little more contagious and harder to get rid of…but really I think people are just more afraid of you so you get more time off and less interaction with people.

But, in all honesty, it’s been a pretty nasty week and I hope none of you contract this illness. (If you do, you cannot blame me because I was under complete quarantine the whole time I was contagious. William would be the only possible person who might get it from me.) The symptoms started last Tuesday and today is the first day I’ve really been up and moving around the house. My boss had been really supportive and insisted that I work from home this week and not come back until next Monday. That has really helped as the strength comes back slowly after being sick.

MVP in my life this past week was definitely William. Even though he banished me to the downstairs guest room and forced me to carry a can of Clorox wipes with me at all times (“please wipe off everything you touch”), he was an amazing caretaker and nurse. He made me food every night and came home from work for lunch most days to make sure I was drinking fluids and eating when I could. He also made sure I was entertained and had our friend Russell drop off a sack full of movies and TV on DVD to keep me occupied during the down time. (Because of his kindness, I’d like to insert a free plug for Russell’s store, EntertainMart. This kind of advertising usually costs big time. For all your entertainment needs at lower prices, check out one of their 6 locations across the country. http://www.entertainmart.com/).

I would also like to put in a plug here for hand washing, disinfecting, and keeping yourself away from the general population when you’re sick. I have friends with confirmed cases of strep, mono, and flu. Please do your community a favor and stay home when you’re sick. Oh, and get a flu shot. Believe me, it’s worth it.

Living a cool life

On any given day, there are hundreds of words that could describe the emotions, events, and occurrences in my life. This weekend, a common thread of “coolness” ran through everything we did. Here’s why…(in a brief, list format).

1.Friday night we enjoyed an amazing rehearsal dinner with old friends and new and drank some “cool” margarita’s and paid tribute to a super Cool couple in our lives, John Paul Schulze and Katie Booras.



2.After that, we returned home for a more intimate gathering of some great friends and hung out on our cool new-ish deck and patio furniture. Very Cool.

3.I woke up early on Saturday morning (kind of not cool) but the weather was so Cool (71 degrees), I decided to go for a run and it felt so good outside, I did my longest distance in quite awhile.

4.Spent the day relaxing and running errands before heading out to the Booras/Schulze wedding, where my friends had given me the honor of singing a little number about Jesus. Again, Very Cool.

5.The reception after was one of the most fun ones I’ve attended…and they had my favorite, mac n’ cheese, on the buffet. Super Cool.

6.Sunday, went to the new Dallas Northway campus of The Village Church for the first time. We’re very excited about our new church location and obviously I am going to describe the first service as very Cool. (http://northway.thevillagechurch.net/)

7.After sweating through most of the summer in our NOT AT ALL COOL upstairs bedroom, William installed a window unit for us!


We slept at a refreshingly COOL 68 degrees and, for the first time in our own bed(pictured below), were cool enough to use the comforter and cuddle a little.



8.Spent Sunday evening at the park where our REALLY COOL pup and I watched William play some soccer. My dog is undeniably cool, and my husband is as well.
(Berkley D. Spencer)


The only not so cool in my life is probably me, because of the cheesy-ness of this post. Oh well.

Calizona

If a state goes bankrupt and can’t see out of their deficit hole, shouldn’t another state be allowed to buy them out? I think it’s only fair. This is how American business used to run before we started relying on the Government to dish out more money to help those businesses who didn’t manager their profits well the first time.

My proposal? Let Arizona buy out it’s neighbor. They could tear up the tourism industry and their target demographic would be people who are really cold.

Defrost your soul in Calizona.

Finally!!

After 5+ years of dating, my good friends Alex Cammack and Kathleen Ross are finally engaged! Alex popped the question on Saturday morning during a beautiful sunset viewing at Kathleen’s grandmother’s house in Brady, Texas and then brought Kathleen back to Fort Worth for a day of celebrating with family and a surprise engagement party with friends that drove in from as far as Houston and San Antonio!


Because they are both little smartie pants, they will have to wait a little while to get married. Alex is in his 3rd year of dental school in San Antonio and Kathleen is starting her 2nd year of med school in Houston. The first time they will have a corresponding week off is July of 2011! We will all keep praying that an earlier window of opportunity would open up for the wedding but Kathleen has a great attitude about it and just kept saying "2 years isn't that long." I know the Lord will be faithful to them in this time!

The women of 408


Wanna Date 408? is officially out of business. Sorry to all the boys who never got their chance...



I love that we can share these exciting life happenings together! Can’t wait for the wedding celebration in 2011!!

Fourth and Long

Four months ago today, April 18, 2009, William and I stood together at the Church at Horseshoe Bay and promised to love honor and cherish each other for the rest of our lives. So, what have we learned in our 120 days (approximately, of course) of marriage.

First of all, time really does fly. It not only flies, it’s on one of those super jets attempting to break the speed of light. I can’t believe it’s already been 4 months, which is almost 6 months, which is like half of a year! (Reference here, one of my favorite Jessica Simpson quotes, “Twenty-three is old. It`s almost 25, which is like almost mid-20s!)

I would like to list a few of my favorite things about being married to William to honor this momentous anniversary.

1. He always cuddles with me in the morning. After he’s already been up, showered, eaten breakfast and read, he gets back in bed with me and cuddles for at least 5 minutes. This little routine is really helping me to fight back against my morning grumpiness (though it still gets the best of me some days.)

2. Praying together. We are easing into doing this more often but since we got married, it has really become a special time. My favorite is when we pray together right before falling asleep.

3. He takes care of the yard work. I’m not a big fan of working in the yard, but I do enjoy having a nice yard so before William came along, this was a catch-22 situation. Now, I can enjoy my nice yard without having to do too much of the work . (I do help, though. Sometimes.)

4. I’m really starting to enjoy our Sunday night routine, which (when we’re in town) usually consists of ordering a pizza and relaxing together. He’s even got me watching Entourage recently and I’m already hooked.

5. I love how he tries to pretend that my girly shows are so stupid but, when the finales come around, he has a favorite picked to win and tries to act very uninterested while inquiring about who wins (ex. He thought Brandon should win SYTYCD, even though Evan was really his favorite)

Most of all, I just love William and the fact that we get to walk through life together as a team. Because it’s verging on football season and it’s been the focus of my work lately, I am tempted to talk in football analogies. In my book, I got the number one draft pick in game of life and there’s no one I’d rather have at QB for our family than William. Thanks for being my husband and for sticking with me…four down and a LONG way to go!!

Weekend Recap

Better Late than Never

I know I promised a weekend recap from the Hall of Fame trip and I apologize to both of you who have been waiting anxiously for that :)

As I previously posted, I spent last Thursday-Monday in Canton, OH for the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction festivities. Overall, it was a great experience and something I would highly recommend that football fans do at least once in their lifetime.

I got in late Thursday night and settled into my less than clean accommodations at the local Comfort Inn. It wasn’t too bad but let’s just say I didn’t walk around without shoes on or lay on top of the comforters. There’s not a huge selection of luxury accommodations in Canton, Oh which led me to wonder where they were housing the superstars like John Madden and Roger Goodell who I’m sure never lay their famous football heads in anything less than 5 star accommodations.

We toured the actual Hall of Fame on Friday morning, which turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. My favorite displays were of course the bust room( pause for definition: Bust—a bronze replica of the face, neck and shoulders), where the busts of all the former inductees are displayed.

Bust Room


A former Dallas Cowboy Great and my friend--Randy White, HOF '94


Mike Singletary--Sic 'Em Bears


We also attended a dinner where they introduced all the hall of famers in attendance that weekend. I was most excited to see John Madden, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Bart Starr and Rayfield Wright.
There were tons of other events throughout the weekend but, since I’ve realized blogs are much more interesting when pics are included, here are some of the highlights from the rest of the weekend in pictures.

The Biggest Beef Rib I've ever seen. I could only finish half...


Cowboy Greats in the Hall of Fame


The Lombardi Trophy


So excited to see TO in a uniform that wasn't the Dallas Cowboys...and just a note, he was the only one not wearing the appropriate "throw back" Bills hat. Good luck New York.


Overall, I attended about 10 events and picked up a lot of good info for the job. I forgot to mention I was there for work, not play, but mostly just absorbed info and took mental notes on the events. Next year, I hope to return and take William with me. It would have been much more fun if I could have shared the experience with him.


Coming soon: The deck progression continues and a special tribute to the family pet.

HOF

As many of you know, I’m headed to Canton, OH this weekend for the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction festivities. I have mixed emotions about the trip. Excitement because it will be a very cool thing to attend and something most people never get to experience; Non-excitement because I’m going by myself and will attend most of the festivities to take notes on how my company can incorporate some of the HOF’s activities with our game week in 2010.

For all those that have asked, the 2009 Hall of Fame Inductee’s are:
BOB HAYES
Wide Receiver. . .5-11, 185. . .Florida A&M. . .1965-1974 Dallas Cowboys, 1975 San Francisco 49ers. . .11 seasons, 132 games
RANDALL MCDANIEL
Guard. . .6-3, 276. . .Arizona State. . .1988-1999 Minnesota Vikings, 2000-01 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. . .14 seasons, 222 games
BRUCE SMITH
Defensive End. . .6-4, 280. . .Virginia Tech. . .1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000-03 Washington Redskins. . .19 playing seasons, 279 games
DERRICK THOMAS
Linebacker. . .6-3, 243. . .Alabama. . .1989-1999 Kansas City Chiefs. . .11 seasons, 169 games
RALPH WILSON, JR.
Founder/Owner. . .Virginia, Michigan. . .1960-present Buffalo Bills. . .One of original founders of American Football League, Wilson formed Buffalo Bills in 1959
ROD WOODSON
Cornerback/Safety. . .6-0, 200. . .Purdue. . .1987-1996 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers, 1998-2001 Baltimore Ravens, 2002-03 Oakland Raiders. . .17 playing seasons, 238 games with 229 starts

Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game will feature the Buffalo Bills against the Tennessee Titans. For more information on inductees and weekend events, visit www.profootballhof.com, or just wait for my weekend recap next week.

The Golden Arches

Growing up, I remember consuming countless happy meals, cheeseburgers, quarter pounders and breakfast items from Plainview’s own McDonald’s. I loved Macky D’s (as my Dad referred to it). I loved the miniature ice cream cones, the milkshakes, the playground, and even consumed a few McRib sandwiches with my Granmommy and Grandaddy (“them’s good eats,” they would say.)

Somewhere around sophomore year at Baylor, I realized that my friends did not eat McDonald’s and thought you were kind of disgusting if you did. I also watched the film Supersize Me and feared becoming fat and developing heart problems if I continued to enjoy my quarter pounders and fries.

Last night, William surprised me by saying he was craving some McDonald’s. He asked me if I wanted to go. I took a minute to debate if this was some cruel test to see if his wife had an overweight, unhealthy craving inside that was just waiting for the right moment to bust out and ruin the physical attraction that he once had towards me, but then I realized that my husband isn’t much into testing me, so I said “Heck Yes! I want some McDonald’s!” And with that, I welcomed the golden arches and all its comfort and glory back into my life.

Will You Marry Me?

You might think that the pictures above are from a season finale of “The Bachelor,” but they are in fact some lovely snapshots from the night my amazing husband, William, proposed. Most people who read this blog know the story well, but just in case you missed it, I’ll give you the brief version. It all started with a hidden clue in my office on a Friday morning that began a scavenger hunt sending me in search of a “lost puppy.” Considering I had been begging for a dog for months, and that William loved to surprise me w/ creative mystery dates, this was not a dead giveaway for me. My journey eventually led me to a spa in East Texas near his family’s ranch where I was pampered with four hours of wonderful treatments. My final clue led me to his ranch house where I found a scene that was beyond romantic waiting for me and the perfect man with the perfect ring and the sweetest proposal I’ve ever heard waiting at the end of it all.

Why am I taking this journey down memory lane? Well, as much as I fought it this season, I was sucked into another “Bachelorette” series and watched week after week as slimy wanna be superstars fooled the girl and men like I’ve never met in the real world gushed about a semi-attractive girl and her amazingly perfect feet. In the end, Jillian, the Bachelorette, had three men with rings ready to get down on one knee for her. Fortunately, she didn’t let Bachelor number one make it to the proposal. He got as far as confessing he loved her before she cut him off and told him she was in love with another man.


Bachelor number two really got me. He had been kicked off the show the previous week but loved rejection so much that he came back and proposed as well. His proposal really got me…he said, “I think you are someone I could spend the rest of my life with.” I’m pretty sure that if William had used those words, I would have told him to go think about it and come back when he knew that I was THE person he WANTED to spend the rest of his life with. Not just someone who he thought might work out.

Bachelor number three actually got the “yes” and is now engaged to Jillian. In the “After the Rose” Episode, they actually said they are planning to get married within the next year or so. She’s going to move in with him in Chicago and see how it works for a while and then they’ll go ahead and get married.

So what is my point in all this? I feel like ABC and the “Bachelor/Bachelorette” reality series has really devalued the proposal. Since when does “Will you marry me?” mean, actually let’s keep dating and see if we’re really right for each other and, if at some point we decide we are, we’ll go ahead and get married. I can remember at least 10 proposals that have occurred on the series and only one has resulted in an actual marriage. Most have ended in break-ups and one actually ended in a nationally televised confession from a bachelor that basically said, “Ummm, when I said Melissa, I actually meant Molly…oops, let’s not get married and I’m going to need that ring back.”

When William asked me to marry him, he told me he loved me, I was THE ONE for him, and he was ready to spend the rest of his life as my husband. That’s a marriage proposal. Listen and learn all you future Bachelors and Bachelorettes. If you’re not ready to set a date, DON’T PROPOSE. Thanks

How Sweet It Is

Celebrity Tubing :)

We all four fit on the Jet Ski


The guys trying to be as cool as we are

Floating!

My neighbor, who is around 58-60 years old, told me last week that she and her three college roommates were headed to float the river for their annual "roommate reunion." I only hope that Georgina, Annette, Kathleen and I can keep pace with this tradition well into our later years. This past weekend, we had our 3^rd official reunion weekend and this time, we let the boys join in on our fun.

The four of us, with our significant others in tow, headed out to Possum Kingdom lake to spend a little time yachting on the "How Sweet It Is," skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, eating fattening foods, and just having a good time in general. I was particularly excited to see that all the guys seemed to have as much fun together as we did. I know it's rare to group together four guys who don't know each other that well and for them all to click and really get along and I feel so blessed that we all picked such awesome guys to marry/someday marry (shout out Kathleen and Alex). We even had trouble convincing them to stop having "guy time" and come hang out with us!

Every time I get together with this group of friends, I'm reminded how lucky I am to have been able to walk beside each of them through the ups and downs of college and I'm excited to continue to see our friendships grow and deepen over the many years ahead.

Next up: Group Ski Trip??

 

Decking and Decorating

This past weekend was the Spencer/Becton family deck building project. William has been wanting to build a deck in our backyard since we bought our house and this weekend, the months of planning finally culminated into a build project! My mom and dad came down from Amarillo with a trailer full or tools ( and some furniture for us!) and we devoted the entire weekend to building, eating and decorating.

William really started the project the weekend before last, digging post holes and setting posts in the concrete for our foundation. Friday afternoon, the actual deck construction began and the guys worked non-stop from about 6am to midnight Saturday and Sunday to get the project near completion. It was a brutal weekend to be working outside and I think they went through about 45 bottles of water and another 30 bottles of Gatorade in 3 days! The hard work paid off though and we now have an awesome deck to host some backyard parties! William has a few more hard days work ahead of him building the benches for our fire pit area and finishing out the top of the arbor but there is definitely an end in site!

My mom and I concentrated on food prep and did some indoor decorating and tweaks when we weren’t helping with the work outside (Yes, I really did put in some manual labor hours outside but not nearly as many as the guys!)

Overall, it was a fun weekend with family filled with hard work and fulfilling results. Shout outs to Matt, Kim, and Russell who put in some long hours this weekend helping out and to Justin who helped prevent William and/or my death with some hazardous heavy post setting last week.

Can’t wait to have everyone over to enjoy some backyard entertaining soon! Before and after pics will be posted asap.