Boot Camp & New Friend

So I'm finally getting around to blogging about my boot camp. One of my best friends, Lindsey, (who happens to teach workout classes) offered to kick my backside back into shape this summer. She has the summers off since she's a teacher and for the past three weeks, we have worked out every morning, besides Sundays, at 7:00 am! I'm so proud of us for actually sticking to the routine. It's actually a lot easier to get up that early when you know someone is waiting on you. I can totally tell a difference but the pounds are coming off slowly. I will not give up though, the pounds will come off eventually. :)

Linds has been amazing with mixing it up for me. Some days we do stationary weights, cardio weights, step, kick box, cardio machines and running. Man, did I luck out with her! I'm sad though because she will be on vacation for a few weeks, and I'm going to have to keep it up myself. I think we got off to a good start so that should help. She was my life savor! Can't wait until she gets back and I can tell her that I stuck to it. I just keep thinking about being in a bathing suit and it keeps me going.

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Brad & Lindsey finally broke down and welcomed their first child to their home. I'm excited to introduce you to Cooper!!

They finally realize how easy it is to love your pets so much that other people think you're crazy. :) Just look at this little guy!
Holla!

How can you resist this little face??
So glad they finally came over to the dark side. :) They're one big happy family now. It's been so fun playing with Cooper when we come over, and I'm proud to be his Aunt/Godmother.

Houston Zoo

I've always wanted to go to the Houston Zoo since we've lived here, and I finally got the chance a few weekends ago. Now, I know that Houston's Zoo isn't the best ever but it's still something fun to do.

I got my chance when Ryan was in charge of an intern volunteer event hosted at the zoo. He had to over see more then 50 interns pulling weeds and cleaning up while he supplied the drinks. Tough job. ;) In all seriousness, I wouldn't have wanted to be out there because it was freaking hot!! When they were through, Brad, Lindsey & I all went out there to meet up with him and explore the grounds.

I was surprised how active the animals were in this heat! The seals were putting on a show for us.
I always hate it when you just miss the trainers feeding the animals or showing them off. I wanted to see a seal jump up and hit that blue balloon looking thing.
I thought the zoo was very pretty and loved all the trees. It helped keep us cool.

It's KC's (our cat) long lost brother!!

These guys were the best! Earlier in the day, Ryan & the interns got to feed the giraffes and get right up close to them. I just love their expressions. They look like they're staring right at you.

Almost there Linds. :)

Now this little guy was to die for!! He may look a little psycho in the eyes in this pic but this baby elephant was so cute. He ran all over the place playing with anything he could get his trunk on.

Here's a clip of him playing with a metal drum.

Elephants are so fun to watch when they're active. This one cracked me up.

This clip was of some interesting looking bears that made us laugh too.

I can't go to the zoo without visiting the monkeys. They had all kinds to look at.

Ryan made a new friend.

We had a great time but I would recommend going when it's not a 100 degrees out!

Sweet Seats

I'm still falling behind on this blogging thing. Thanks for hanging in there with me friends. :)

So a couple of weekends ago our good friends, Mark & Brittney, were gifted with some Astro tickets for a Friday night game against the Chicago Cubs. They had two extras and invited us along. They were told that the tickets were pretty good and free, close parking was included... can it get any better?? So of course we were happy to tag along.

We didn't realize just how great the tickets were going to be. Our seats were just seven rows back from the Astro's dugout!

We were so close that we could see their facial expressions and even hear them yelling at each other. These were probably the best baseball seats I've ever had.

Thanks Mark & Brittney!!! You guys are too cool for school.

We even saw a fellow coworker behind us... poor Cubs fan. Love this picture. ;)

The girls, me & Brittney

The boys, pointing out Ryan's Royals shirt at an Astro's game. He had to represent.

The firework show after the game did not disappoint.

Brittney and I had fun checking out the wives of the Astro's players come out to watch the fireworks on the field. We love to people watch. :)
It was another great night and the Astro's won!!!

Ridiculously Talented Sister

I had no idea how influential my sister-in-law, Emily, was! Check out this LINK to see why.

She was asked to paint a mural for Kansas Senator Jim Barnett for his campaign race for Congress. I would say that's a resume builder if I ever saw one! That takes ridiculous talent to paint such a large mural and it turned out so amazing. You have to check out the video of her being interviewed by the local news station in the link posted above and see it for yourself how talented this girl is.

I'm so proud of you sister!! LOVE YOU!

The mural was too large to get in one picture. It goes down the whole wall. Watch the video! :)

New Orleans Part 2

On the second full day in NOLA we wanted to get an early start. This is us in front of the St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States.

We had heard a lot of people talking about the Beignet's at Cafe Du Monde so we had to try them. It wouldn't have been a true New Orleans experience without it. It was a pretty popular place, look at this line!!


Getting close, I was hungry!


Mark & Brittney scoping out where we were going to sit.


It was a neat experience but it was so crowded it took forever to get service at our table! Oh well, I'm glad we did it once. Next time I'll just get it to go. :) The Beignets were delicious. They tasted like a cross between a donut and funnel cake.


Afterwards, we made a trip to the aquarium to take a tour and see an imax movie. They had a great variety of species to see. I really wanted this blow fish to puff up but it didn't happen. Boo.

Ryan pretending to stick his finger in the piranha tank, of course. I love the water tunnels with all the fish and sting ray you can walk under. This little turtle was so cute!
Brittney was excited about the tank too.
The set up was so cool. It really felt like we were in a rain forest inside!
You can even see my hair was starting to curl. :) Mark and his beautiful fiance, Brittney.


The penguins were so cute. I think they were my favorite.

Love this guy. :)
Sea horses are so fascinating to me.
They even had a spot to pet the sting rays.

We also watched an imax movie about the wet lands and the hurricanes. It was so interesting. I really want to ride around in the wet lands now in one of those fly boats!

That night we got the chance to eat at the famous chief, Emerald's (You know... BAM!!), restaurant NOLA.
Oh my gosh, the food was to die for!!
The restaurant itself was amazing, it has three floors and we took an elevator to get to our floor. Our waiter was the best too!! Good ol' Thadius. He was hilarious and even gave us some free ice cream along with our desserts. I could completely recommend this place.

We has so much fun, New Orleans was definitely a neat experience. I would totally go again.