Rodeo Run

Today has been a culmination of a lot of work and planning. The company I work for has put on the Rodeo Run for 23 years now. It is a 10K & 5k run followed by a parade throughout the downtown of Houston. This has been their biggest year ever at 12,500+ runners. I have actually never been until this year and some how I ended up being one of the captains of the volunteers. As you can imagine it takes many volunteers to put on such a large event, some 1,400!

This year I was asked to organize the Hoopla Teams. They are groups of people stationed through out both running courses to cheer on the runners. The groups have themes, noise makers and music. There is even a competition between them for a grand prize and trophies. This year there were over 23 teams, 350+ people, that participated.

It has been a long planning process since November. So I was definitely ready for race day to get here. :) My good friend, Shannon, did it last year and graciously offered to help me out. She took on a new challenge this year but was still there to ask a lot of questions to. I don't know what I would have done without her.
I arrived early to check teams in, giving out banners, last minute t-shirts and breakfast food. Once that was complete, I headed to my work group's Hoopla Team to check out their set up. It was so fun to see Lubricant's representing! They had 7 huge blow ups along the side of the road.
Some girls from my group in front of one a blow up. This is one of our brand new products we just launched.

Shannon, Me, Tammy and Rachael

Afterward, I hustled back to the finish line so I could see my husband and friends run. Lindsey was the first to finish, but she was so dang fast I couldn't take a picture quick enough! So I just got the back of her. :)
I thought these ladies were cute.
You can see my husband, Ryan, and his friend Mark here. Ryan heard me yelling for him at this point through my bull horn. Ha!
Looking good!
I really wanted to run this year but wasn't able to with the responsibilities I had. I'm hoping to next year!
I had to show this picture of this CUTE little girl. She helped me out with the bull horn. I was starting to lose my voice.
Quick picture with Linds after she finished. She is a rock star!
We ran into a coworker, Austin, who finished the 10k with some ridiculous time.
Ryan, Mark and I were all trying to head over to the 10k finish line to cheer on our friend Brittney. There was quite the crowd as you can imagine with 12,500+ runners!
We got to see her finish but I couldn't get my camera out in time. Boo! We couldn't find her after the race because of the crowds. We did some how run into our friends, Larry & Rachel. They are so stinkin' cute!
I had to get Ryan in line a few times that day. :)
Ryan & I by the stage where we announced the Hoopla Team winners.
Ryan took this picture of downtown on our way home. (We were stuck in traffic.) Isn't it gorgeous? You can see Minute Maid park to the left. The event was held in their parking lot.
This has inspired me to sign up for a half marathon this year. Anyone of have suggestions as to which one I should sign up for? It could be anywhere in the states. I think it would be fun to run one in a neat city.

Shred Update

Ok guys, I'm going to keep it real. I did not do very well for the first 10 days. I probably only did 5 days of it but I did get in a few days of long walks. I don't really have a good excuse other then I did have company for a few days. All that said, I didn't lose any weight (no surprise). However, I am going to work extremely hard to finish strong, and I am even going to cut out non-diet soda.

My husband & I went biking today, and we are about to do level 2 of shred together. :)

V-Day Part 2

Picking up where I left off... After the brewery tour, Ryan & I decided to show our friends the Rice Village shopping near the Rice Campus. That area is so gorgeous because of the the big trees that arch over the roads. We stopped for lunch at one of our favorite places to eat in Rice Village, The Black Walnut.

Of course, on the way home I had to make a pit stop at my new fav, Crave Cupcakes. I think Janet & Nathan were happy we stopped too. :)
After such a busy morning, we decided to relax before our night out. A new dinner & movie place had opened up recently in the Town & Country shopping area and we wanted to check it out. It's called Studio Movie Grill. We went to see Valentine's Day (what else!). I had to get my tickets way in advance, especially because there were 6 of us going.

It's always fun to be served food and drinks while you are watching a fun movie but I wasn't too impressed with their service. Oh well. The boys actually liked this romantic comedy! It was pretty cute.

Ryan & I

Brad & Lindsey

Janet & Nat

The next day we slept in and woke up to some gorgeous 60+ degree weather! It really felt like spring already. We ended up going on an over two hour walk!
I'm so ready for things to start greening up again.
The boys were on their never ending search for alligators and snakes.
This took a lot for Janet to get this close to the water by this sign. I don't blame her!
I didn't get anymore pictures of their visit from this point. Nathan had to fly back to Bartlesville on Sunday so Ryan, Janet & I decided to make dinner and rent a movie Sunday night. Janet stayed for a few more days to work and left Tuesday. We miss them so much and it was such a blast to see them again. Ryan & I need to plan a trip back to B-ville soon!

V-Day Weekend Part 1

YHappy Valentine's DayY

(I made these rice crispy treats back for the Super Bowel game.)

On Friday, Ryan & I had some good friends come in town to visit us from Bartlesville. Before they got here, I had lunch at Logan's Roadhouse (mmmm... bread) with some wonderful girls from my office. They are so much fun and I'm so lucky to have great girls to work with.

Me, Shannon & Kristen

Our friends, Nathan & Janet, got in after work and shortly after picking them up from the airport we introduced them to Freebirds. We hung low that night because everyone was pretty wiped from such a long day.

Bright and early the next day, I could not wait to share my love of Shipley's donuts with them. I think I got them hooked too. :)

Then we had to work off what we just ate so we took them to Memorial Park to walk the popular loop. We made a pit stop at the country club to grab a few pics. We made another stop so the boys could admire the cars.

Ryan & Nat

Me & Janet

Nathan & Janet have only been to Houston for work so they had never really explored the city. So Ryan & I took it upon ourselves to drive them around to some fun areas of town. We are always trying to come up with fun ideas and different things to do. One of our ideas came from my coworker who suggested taking them on a brewery tour. None of us had ever been on one and I thought Nat & Janet would really enjoy it.

Apparently, the brewery (Saint Arnold) had moved locations so we drove all over to find it. Once we finally got there, we were lead into this huge room here hundreds of people were just congregating. Many of them brought their lunches and games to play. It was pretty interesting and a great place to people watch.

Unfortunately, there was not a tour at their new location. You could see the brewery from the windows but it was still fun just to hang out with our friends. They were good sports about it.

Nat & Janet

Ryan & I

I have so much more fun things to share with you all from our weekend. However, I am getting sleepy so I will post Part 2 soon!

Birth Announcements!

Two of Ryan & I good friends had their baby within days of each other! They don't know each other but it was definitely fun for us to celebrate two big days in a week.

Joel & Elizabeth welcomed their first baby into this world on February 10th.

Annie Catherine was born weighing 7lbs 9oz. What a cutie pie!!

Our other good friends, John & Malinda, welcomed their first born on February 8th!

Ethan Mathew O'Hara was born weighting 7 lbs 12 oz and 22 1/2 inches long! He is a tall little guy!Ryan & I wish we lived closer to be there there to congratulate each of them in person. We are so happy for them and can't wait to meet the little ones in person. :)

How did I get so lucky...

...to have the best in-laws in the world!! Sweet, sweet Emily and her thoughtful mother, Susan, sent me the best care package ever this week. I had no idea that these ladies had been scheming to make me my very own apron! They even made coasters to match.

Here I am showing off my amazing, thoughtful, to-die-for gifts.
Susan even gave me this adorable cupcake pot holder that she found. She knows me oh so well. I just melted when I saw it. Do you think Ryan will let me have a cupcake themed kitchen??

Here's a close up of my very own personalized name on the apron. That seriously looks like my handwriting! How did she do that?? I also like this shot because you can see the screen print that Susan did on the very left hand side fabric. She created the birds and vines. Could she be more talented??

I love them so much and have everything on display. They are just to pretty to be put away! Go say hi to my mother-in-law here.