A new Ford girl...

 Ever since I can remember I've always been told I was the first girl born into the Ford family for 60 some odd years. So pretty much everyone had boys up until me, so I was some sort of "special baby." (Or at least I sure did think so) Last week my cousin's wife, Elise, had baby number 2 and guess what...it's a GIRL! We went to welcome Lainey Elizabeth to the world on Friday and she was SO precious! I held her for almost the entire hour we were there (Kris held her for about 90 seconds or less). I've had a dose of baby fever for some time now, but it's officially in full swing now after laying my hands on her. What does this mean...we will see! Check out how cute she is...

Our first vacation stop...

I am getting too excited about the Mr. and I's vacation plans that are getting closer by the day. We had a slight bump in the road this weekend that changed our plans, but now we are going to be able to go to LA for 2 extra days! When we got the opportunity this weekend I jumped on it so we would have more time to visit my favorite Southern California town that I once lived...San Clemente!

A few stops we have planned while in town...

• A few LA Dodger vs. Detroit games to see some of the Mr.'s ex-players who are now in the Major Leagues (after all this is the original reason we are going).
• An appearance on The Price is Right!
• A hot dog at Pink's
• In-N-Out burger (Kris has not experienced this place due to the large crowds in Frisco STILL)
• Spending time with my long-time friend Michelle (who lives in Cali) at some of my favorite San Clemente spots.
• Possibly touring Universal Studios.
• A drive down the PCH.
• We are definitely going to hit up some of the local LA tourist spots (while living in Cali I never really did any of that).

We will see what we actually get accomplished while we are there, but it is promised to be a jam packed 5 days of soaking up those beautiful California rays and catching some of the sunsets that I miss so much! You just don't get the same effect here in TX. If the Mr. and I were to ever move out of state...California would be my only choice!

I'll leave you with this for now...can't wait to share about the rest of our summer plans!

I stole this post from this great blog. She always post things I absolutely adore and this is one of those things! I just wish I would have seen this amazing idea 1 year ago before my wedding. We did something different for our guest book, but this is so adorable! What a great alternative since you never really know what to do with a guest book anyway, but you could frame these beauties and have them in your home. I hope I can inspire someone to do this!

Balloon Fingerprint Guest Book

Tree Fingerprint Guest Book

Being healthy...

Lately we have been working on making our bodies healthier by adding better foods to our diet and exercising as much as possible. No real schedule to this, just do more than we have been and do it better!

Is there a reason for this?? Yes...there is! Kris has been dealt the genes of having to deal with high cholesterol (thanks FIL) and he has to take cholesterol meds now because of it. In order for him to come off these meds, he has to lose some weight and eat a MUCH better diet. When we were dating I used to cook for Kris and his friends a lot and it was never exactly healthy meals...in fact they were probably some of the worst meals you can think of. For example some of these things were fried chicken, hamburger helper, enchiladas, chocolate cake, cookies...just to name a few. We ate out A LOT and probably drank more than we should have. Those were pre-engagement days, so once we sealed the deal things began to change. I no longer needed to feed him to get my way into his heart...I had that one taken care of, so we started to slowly watch what we ate. Now that we have a real health reason to eat better it is a lot easier than before, so I have the challenge of finding healthy/extremely flavorful/GOOD meals for my husband. He is not necessarily picky, so that makes it a little easier and I will eat pretty much anything. I thought I'd share some of our favorite recipe finds lately starting with this one:

Spicy Turkey and Yam Tacos

 This was unbelievably good...we were a little skeptical at first of the pairing, but it was a great combo of sweet and spicy. We love spicy, but 4 jalapenos would have been WAY too spicy for even us, so we only used 2. One thing we cut out is flour tortillas and used green onion whole wheat tortillas from Market Street, but you can use wheat, corn, or really any kind you like. The fresh cilantro and tomatillo salsa was key, so don't leave these out; we have fresh herbs in our back yard so I try and use them whenever I can!

 

Rules...

I found these and thought I'd share...they are pretty spot on and now make me feel bad for my last post. Ha!

Rules for coping with your Coach/Spouse
1: Prepare to communicate frequently about schedules. Then, prepare to scrap it all and juggle things on the fly. It's going to take considerable effort to coordinate your normal family commitments with the district game schedule. So flexibility and patience will be vital if you hope to avoid missing kids' dental appointments and talent shows because he forgot the local college scouts were going to be on campus to recruit that day. This can be extremely frustrating, and leaves many coach's wives feeling that their spouse is selfishly putting his job and athletes before his family. Try to remember that much of your spouse's work requirements are set by other people, so he often cannot avoid late hours and weekend work. Though this sort of flexibility is part of life with a coach, you have the right to ask and expect him to choose time with family over work when the choice is his to make. If he will do that, you'll find it a lot easier to deal with the occasional family trip that has to be canceled due to an unexpected bid in the playoffs!

2: If you are already sports savvy, great! If you're not, try to learn the basics about the sport your husband coaches. Most coaches don't care if their wife knows enough to fill in for the local sports announcer or only enough to know which team to cheer for, what matters to them is that you care enough to learn about something that is important to him.
3: Even if you don't share your husband's enthusiasm for the sport, appreciate his commitment to the kids he coaches. That's probably part of what you love about him, anyway! Most coaches genuinely care for their athletes and work extremely hard to help them be successful.

4: Understand how important your support is to him. When a game is not going as well as he hoped, or when his team's just clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, he's probably going to want to know that you're in the stands to cheer him on. Just as you would like him to be present at important moments in your life, try to be present for his.
5: Respect the superstitions and traditions that make him feel prepared, no matter how crazy you think they are. If he won't wash his "game socks" all season or insists on a pre-game breakfast consisting of a footlong chili cheese coney and key lime pie, just try to go with the flow. Some coaches feel that breaking traditions are dangerous in the midst of a winning streak or in the face of a losing one, so provided it doesn't potentially harm your guy (and provided he's willing to stash those socks in the garage and not the house!), don't sweat it.

6: Talk early and honestly about how he likes to handle both victory and defeat. You might think that a big win would automatically open your husband up to talk about his excitement and confidence after the game. For some, a win does just the opposite; it creates tension about securing the next win. On the other hand, when even the lucky socks don't produce good news in the win/loss column, your husband may want to immediately move on to planning for the next game where others may want to re-hash the loss over and over again. You'll want to know what your coach needs from you.
7: Find and nurture your own interests, career and hobbies. You'll find at any level of coaching that you will spend a significant amount of time either alone or with your kids without their father while he is at practice or at games. Don't spend that time resenting his absence, instead treasure that time as your own to do with as you wish.
8: Learn to collect praise and to ignore criticism. Coaches find early in their careers that their every move is subject to scrutiny from a variety of sources. At every level of coaching, your community will feel justified in both their praise and criticism of your spouse. It's a fact of coaching. So, in order to cope as a coach's wife, you'll need to develop tough skin.
9: Learn to bite your tongue. While everyone else may feel entitled to discuss your husband's performance, you'll never have a good opportunity to fire back. As great as it might feel to respond to difficult fans when they are critical of your husband, you'll never do your coach a favor by indulging yourself with that one well-placed come back.

Story of my life...

So once again playoff are upon us...Kris' team made the playoffs in baseball and they start this weekend!

Please don't judge me for this next part...Sometimes the thought goes through my head that I wish my husband didn't coach for such an athletic school, because football season and baseball season last FOREVER when they go into the playoffs. It just means that until they are over I can't make any weekend plans. The games fall on Thur-Sat and it's best out of 3 games so you don't know if you will win the first 2 or have to play 3. If you do win in 2 games that doesn't mean he gets to come home and spend the weekend with me...nope...that means a scouting trip to wherever the heck in Texas the next teams are playing!!

Don't get me wrong I do absolutely LOVE being a Coaches Wife...I enjoy all of it, but there are times when things like this go through my head when I am trying to plan for things. Instead I have to keep it all up in the air and hope everyone understands!

Here's to counting down the days until our real vacations begin (trips to po-dunk rural little Texas towns for the playoffs don't count)...43 days until North Carolina and 63 days until JAMAICA for the big ONE yr Anniversary!!!

GO RAIDERS!!!

My thoughts on the Royal Wedding

I have not been crazed about the Royal Wedding, but I did watch by dvr throughout the day and there are a few things I must admit I am quite jealous about.

First: The HATS or "fascinators" as the fashionistas would call them. The are all beyond fabulous and I wish it was common for us to wear things like that to weddings...how fun! Some of my favs...

Second: Her dress was absolutely STUNNING! If I didn't get married in 98 degree humid beach weather I would have loved a dress like this! I love the lace, the train, the veil...

Third: Can I please get married (again) at the Westminster Abbey? It's Gorgeous! The details of the structure, the lighting, the indoor trees...I am in awe of this place.

Lately...

It was brought to my attention that I have been neglecting my blog lately, so I've been writing this post since Tuesday, so that should tell you how busy this week has been! I am always thinking about things I'd like to put on my blog, but I am never around a computer at the time and then those ideas just slip away. So that explains why it's been almost a month since I've posted. It's not like I've really busy with anything in particular, but I have barely any time to just hang with my hubby and that I don't like. Baseball season is coming to a close, and we play the last regular season game on Friday and it happens to be the determining game of whether they go to the playoffs...can we say pressure? Mostly this means I either get my hubby back very quickly, or there might be a few more weeks of games that are take place on Thur, Fri, and Sat...yeah! I love being a Coach's wife don't get me wrong, but by this time of year I am ready to have a week with out a game. We have some fun trips planned this summer so I am counting down the days!!

So I made it through lent without any chocolate, and I really haven't splurged a whole lot, but I have found a great new chocolate item that I LOVE! Kris and I have been eating MUCH better (salads for lunch and protein shakes for a post work out snack) and I feel great because of it!

So this is it...tastes like reg chocolate milk, but WAY better for you! I could drink this all the time, but I won't go that far. Instead I just mix it with my protein, a little ice and a banana for an amazing snack!

Another thing I've been doing a lot of lately is running! I've always enjoyed running, but I never really had a goal in mind when I was doing it...run until I get tired and that's about it. My good friend, Chelsey, who is also an avid runner challenged me to a 5k with her a few months ago and I brushed it off thinking no way I could run that with out stopping and that was that. I didn't end up running with her and she stopped hassling me about it. Then I decided that I was ready and wanted to do it! There was a 5k in Frisco about a month ago and we ran...with out stopping and walking too! We've decided to run a few more before we move on to a 10k, but that's the ultimate goal!

I don't want to overload this post, so I will save the rest for next time!

Rules for a Happy Marriage...

These are my sweet grandparents...

(taken a little over a year and a half ago)

And these are the rules that have kept them married for 60+ years...

Just wanted to share this with you. I've always loved this little treasure that hangs in their bedroom, and now that I'm married it touches home even more. Kris and I don't have any spoken rules to our marriage really, but we actually do follow these for the most part. I am working on getting something special made with these words for our home.

Weekend trip...

I spent this weekend visiting my lovely grandparents in St. Louis. I love going to visit and staying up until way past my bedtime talking to my Papa Ed. He has had such an interesting life and has such a huge impact on mine. His love for my Grandma Dolly is out of this world. She has Alzheimer's disease and for the past 10+ years he has been by her side protecting her and providing for her while she has slowly begun to slip away. Alzheimer's is one of the most terrible diseases and I don't wish for anyone to have to go through it with a loved one. My grandma is in the final stages...she hasn't known who we are for several years and although we still believe she has her cognitive moments; for the most part they are gone. It is so hard on my Papa Ed, they have been together for over 60 years and even though Dolly has been in a home for almost 4 years now he still is sadden by the loneliness in his home. He goes to see her almost everyday and sits with her for hours. Kris and I were married on their 60th wedding anniversary, July 10, 2010...can you believe a marriage can last that long? You can imagine why you would be lost with out the person you've been with for 60 years of your life. It breaks my heart and I wish there was something I could do to fill that void but there isn't and there never will be.

My Mom and I visited from Thur-Sun and it was never above 40 degrees AND it snowed over 5 inches 2 of those days. I took a few pics to show you...

I NEVER leave St. Louis with out having these things:

IMO's Pizza- It's HEAVEN in a box! They only have IMO's in Missouri it's delicious!

Lions Choice roast beef sandwhiches and Maulls BBQ (these are Kris' favs too so I had to bring him some home):

This is a new one, but we have ordered from Potnar's Fish and grill the last 2 times we have visited and I think it has become a new staple. It's a whole in the wall place that serves a HUGE serving of catfish and a bunch of other yummy goodness. Since it's lent we made this our Friday meal! (no pics sorry)

Playyy Ballllll....

It's spring break which would normally be a great thing for a teacher, but in the life of a baseball coach it means you are extra busy! Kris has had 1 full day off this week and the rest have been filled with practice and games. They have a BIG game tonight to kick off district (even tho they already played 1 out of place disctrict game so far) against Rider...then tomorrow we get to play at the Frisco Rough Riders field!! I am also so EXCITED because my friend Wendy got me a super cute new Bling shirt for Baseball and Football!!

 I found a cute comic and poem about a coach that I wanted to post.

I am a coach.

I coach the team for one common dream,

Yes I am the coach of one fabulous team.

I coach the team so that they may win,

I hope they can do it again and again.

I am a coach.

I am the coach of all victories,

If we barely squeak by or win with ease.

I am also the coach of the times we get beat,

Whether it's the 10-run rule or a 1-run defeat.

I am a coach.

I coach through good times, I coach through bad.

I coach when happy, I coach when mad.

It's like a marriage, for better or worse,

I coach when last, I coach when first.

I am a coach.

I coach the aces, I coach the fast,

I coach through arguments where aspersions are cast.

I coach the healthy, and those who are in pain,

I even coach a fan who is partially insane.

I am a coach.

I coach them to field, I coach them to bat,

The beauty of defense; grace on the basepaths.

"Cut down on the errors and hit the line drive,

This is what will keep the dream alive."

I am the coach.

I am the coach of this big beautiful machine

Leader for the Freshman, JV and Varsity team.

I am the coach, the best in the land,

Yes, I am the coach of this one motley band.

I am the coach.

I am the coach, this group of guys are great,

With all of their talent, maybe they can win State!

"How bad do you want it:" I ask the team,

"Let's go out and win it! Let's capture our dream!"

Playyyyyyyy Balllllll!!!!!!!!!!

One week

So it's been a whole week with out chocolate and I have to say that is has definitely gotten easier. I think I can do this now... I will do this! I have had a few temptations...homeade mint chip ice cream that we made before lent that I was not able to finish, brunch at Bonnie Ruth's with there amazing looking chocolate goodies, and of course the girl scout cookies are still calling my name, but I have somehow managed to overcome the temptation. I have also been successfully eating salads for lunch for almost 3 weeks now and I honestly thought that alone would help me drop some lbs, but apparently NOT!

My Mom has been in town and she is helping me with a hand full of things including getting my house all decked out with spring flowers and planting herbs and vegtables. I have never been known to have a green thumb so I am going to do all I can do to keep these things alive this year. It's usually the 100+ degree weather in July when things start to get bad and that happens to be when we go on vacation as well. My favorite plant is definitely the sweet potatoe vine plant and I just so happen to find an awesome looking one at ROOT Garden Center in Grapevine. Mine looks something like this but has the darker purple colored vines in it as well.

40 days and 40 nights...

So today was day 1 of lent and I decided to give up chocolate this year. I have done this several times before and have both succeeded and failed miserably at it. This year I plan to succeed, although day 1 was HARD and it's not even over yet. I have started to eat salads for lunch every week day in hopes that alone will help me drop 10 lbs (probably not going to happen) but I can always hope right? I will throw a few work outs in (hopefully at least 2 a week) and maybe that will do it. Anyway...back to the chocolate...it was so hard not to eat the chocolate that I keep at my desk...I think tomorrow I am going to have to hide it for til Easter because looking at it is WAY too hard. I will also have to let Kris eat the rest of my Fiber1 bars because I did not realize that I  bought the one's with chocolate in them. This might get ugly... (:

The wonderful Vera...

I know you are probably thinking Vera Wang when I put this, but no...I am obsessed with Vera Bradley! Every time I get an email I am so excited to see what's new! All these items scream SPRING/SUMMER and I am super excited to purchase them ASAP! 

I've always wanted a cute umbrella, and fortunately for me my Momma just bought me a cute white and black one so this won't be at the top of my list, but I do think they are adorable!

I REALLY want one of the beach towels preferably the pretty one I have pictured above, but any of them will do!

This is an e-reader sleeve and will make my Kindle oh so happy! It has a black case right now, but this one is so much prettier!

                                               

Morning thoughts

I have gotten to the point where I am not posting as much and I am trying to work on that. Kris has started baseball season, so he is extremely busy with that these days. My Mom has been in town visiting, so she has been keeping me company while Kris is at games.

I came across this blog early in the week and I find myself thinking about a lot of things while reading her sad story (read and you will understand more). Kris and I can't wait to have children, but reading things like this scares me to death. This is one reason why I never want to leave my child with a stranger and would love to have family who is able to stay with my child when I am working, so I can only hope and pray when the time comes that this will be possible. I know that even in these circumstances unexpected things can happen, but at least I will be assured things are being done how I'd like and they couldn't be in a more loving environment. I know I will be paranoid and as I read things like this it makes it even worse and we don't even have children yet. I guess I won't know for sure until the time is here...just some things to think about.

Hope it's a good Sunday for everyone...I started mine with a nice run and a strata! Yum!


We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are.
Calvin & Hobbes

Birthday Boy

It's Kris' birthday today...which also means it's been 5 years since we first laid eyes on eachother. I must say I dropped the ball on this birthday for some reason. I am normally the best gift giver and I couldn't come up with anything this year. We are going to get to go to dinner tonight for a big juicy steak (this is still a surprise for him). I originally was going to be with my Dad tonight, but the plans changed to later in the week, so I get to spend tonight with the birthday boy! If I think of taking pictures I will, but the odds are low on this actually happening.

Movies...

 I am never one to watch a whole lot of movies...at home or in the theaters. When you are stuck at home for almost 4 days then movies are a must! We usually order from Netflix, but since that was not going to be a speedy delivery this week we needed to use Redbox (which we conveniently have at a store at corner of our neighborhood).

                                                    :Eat, Pray, Love:

 I can't honestly rate this one, because I have yet to finish it, but from what I've watched so far it's pretty dull and very slow. I LOVE Julia Roberts, so I plan to finish it before I send it back, but it's over 2 hours and most of those kind of movies are hard to get through and I haven't heard a whole lot of good things about this movie, but I still wanted to see it regardless.

                         :Easy A: 

This was a very cute movie. I did fall asleep for a minute or 2, but if you have ever watched a movie with me then you know that is a pretty normal thing. If you liked the movie JUNO (which I did), then it is definitely worth your time.

                                                :Grown Ups:

 This movie was funny and all that you would expect from an Adam Sandler film. It had a good story line and it ended nice and sweet; with some laugh out loud spots in between. It defininitly had a good base with all the actors you can find in this movie.

  :Social Network:                            

This movie was so over talked that I HAD to see it. I heard the good and the bad, but, I wanted to judge for myself and I was interested in the story of how FB came about and all the lawsuits that came with it. I also was interested in seeing how they portrayed Mark Zuckerberg. Let me just give you a brief synopsis...Zuckerberg is a total Ass and treated friends, colleagues and anyone else he comes in contact with like they are scum compared to him. He didn't become this way because of inventing Facebook, but it defnintely magnified his terrible personality. I am convinced he is truly this person in real life. It's amazing how FB has grown and how much money this 20-something guys is worth. If he wouldn't have screwed so many people over then he would have even more money.

Snow day #4

So excited to have finally figured out how to create my own custom blog appeal! Usually I am seeking the help from my creative/extremely talented coworker (and friend) Kelsenator/Big Red! Not this time! I even figure out how to add a custom signature too! Create one of these sigs here or find some trendy backgrounds and other blog goodies here That's what I've done so far on this snow day #4! Actually, that's not true...I made snow ice cream...french toast...and watched Gromit play in the snow a bit. He was not ever still enough for pictures. I did venture out to work yesterday, but the drive was awful (even tho I had a chauffeur).