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... (: