Ring Ceremony

Friday night was a special night. Pops, Landrie and I went to Abilene to attend the Ring Ceremony. The HSU Alumni Asociation gives all of the graduates a senior ring. They have a ceremony where they are presented.

Even thought we have had kids at HSU since 2000, this was our first time to be in the chapel. I have seen it from the outside many times and have always admired the stained glass window. It covers the entire front of the chapel.

The rings at HSU were designed just for their students. They have different landmarks from the campus and traditions on them. One tradition is that freshmen get beenies that they wear the first week around campus. Janelle and her friend Derrick are pictured here with the beenie.

Landrie and Janelle are with the bell. After you receive your ring, you walk across the stage and ring the bell. I got it on video, but it wasn't very good.

Janelle also has a job, YEAH!!! She is going to be a Nanny/Personal Assistant for a good friend. They are a wonderful family that she met at Fellowship Church about 5 years ago. They have two adorable children and are expecting their 3rd at the end of May. KC plays for the NFL in New York, so they have a house here and one in the NY/New Jersey area. They will be living up north during the season and here in the summer. We are very excited for Janelle.

We are one step closer to graduation.

Bernardo Sandals & Ruby's

Being that I am a flip flop girl year round, I have always loved Bernardo Sandals. I just read about a neat partnering with Ruby's on University in Ft. Worth.

Between April 2nd and 11th, if you take a new Bible to Ruby's, you get $20 off a pair of Bernardo Sandals. The Bibles will be donated to the Union Gospel Mission and Safe Haven.

Sounds like a win-win situation for everyone!

Book Club

I am in a book club. One of my best friends started it because she wanted to sound smart. There is something sophisticated about saying you belong to a book club. Don't worry, I'm not saying I'm smart. The group has read about 10 books, and I think I have actually read 3, maybe 4. I have bought most of them and they are on my nightstand. They just get trumped out by People magazine.

Last summer we read a Barbara Delinsky book, "The Secret Between Us". We are currently reading another one of hers right now, "While My Sister Sleeps".

Barbara Delinsky came to Ft. Worth last month and some of the girls in our group went to see her. She was very nice and we enjoyed getting to meet her. There is something about meeting the author and hearing about what she wrote that makes a book more personal. The night we met her she had just found out that "While My Sister Sleeps" made the New York Times Best Sellers list.

For our meeting next month, she is calling in for about a 45 minutes discussion. It should be fun.

Party Week

Life has been very uneventful around our house lately, and that is not a bad thing. I'm not complaining. Just not much to blog about. Last week was a party week. Since the pictures downloaded backwards, I will start with the last one and work my way back.

Hayden, my great niece, turned 5 on Sunday. She loves Spider-Man, so she had a Spider-Man party. This is the first time I have seen a pink Spider-Man cake.



Sunday afternoon, Karsyn and Landrie went to a Princess Tea Party for Elle. Not only did they include the little girls, they also invited the mothers and grandmothers. They must have worked for 3 weeks on the decorations. It was really cute. They even had Ariel come and tell stories and play games.

Thursday night, we went to a surprise engagement party for my niece Leasha and Geoffrey. They met in 8th grade and are both about to graduate from college. Leasha was totally surprised.

Today, I started planning Janelle's graduation party.

My Favorite Older Girls - The Cousins

I always post pictures of my favorite 2 little girls. Here are my favorite older girls - affectionately known as "the cousins" (my 3 daughters and my 4 nieces). They have all grown up together and it is so much fun to watch them now with their own children.

Four out of the seven are married and they have 8 children between them. Now that is crazy when they all get together. They usually do that on Thursday afternoons.

$150 in Gift Certificates for $12

That's right. If you haven't read the post below, find out how you can too.

I bought one for La Joya on Wednesday, and then this morning I decided to check the list again. I found 5 more restaurants that I thought would be good to try. And why not when you can get a $25 gift certificate for $2.

Today, I got them for Simply Fondue, T-Bones Steakhouse, Park Cities Prime, Isabella's Italian Restaurant and Rafain Brazilian Steakhouse. I hate to go to a restaurant and spend a lot of money and it not be very good. This is a great way to overcome that. If the food is not that great, you haven't lost much. I am a little embarrassed to show up with a coupon, but hey, if they are offering them, they don't mind you using them. It is a great marketing tool for the restaurants.

I will write about them as we try them.

Fantastic Deal

Jennifer sent me this link yesterday. I checked it out and it is a great deal. You can buy gift certificates to your favorite restaurants for a reduced price. I looked through the list and there were not a lot of restaurants that I frequent, but I did find La Joya, which is a restaurant we really like.

The deal is that you can get a $25 gift certificate for $10. If you put in the promo code MENU, you can get an 80% discount. I tried it and it worked.

That means, I got a $25 gift certificate to La Joya for $2. Not bad at all. Check it out.

Happy Birthday Jordan

Monday is Jordan's 25th Birthday.

I have been teasing Jordan lately about her age. For some reason, she is having a really hard time with turning 25. Oh, to be 25 again. I guess I should say, oh, to look 25 again. I don't think I want to go all the way back there, just wish I had the face and body I had at 25.

If the jumpsuit she is pictured with looks familiar to you, it is because it belongs to Elvis. She went to Graceland a couple of months ago to visit her friend and she was so close and had to visit Elvis.

Jordan is so fun. Jordan does everything to extremes. She is a hard worker and loves her job. She loves her family, and she lets you know it all the time. I don't think there is anyone I know that gets more excited and is more appreciative than Jordan.

I love you and I hope you have a great birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Jennifer

Today is the first of many birthdays for Jennifer. She is 29. She can probably get away with saying she is 29 for the next 10 years.

She looks very young for her age. She is a high school teacher, and she is often mistaken for one of the students. Jennifer, enjoy it while you can.

Jennifer was the easiest of all of my children. She made great grades, didn't get in any trouble and never even talked back to me. She even graduated from college in 3 1/2 years. The only problem I have with her is that it is hard to think I have a daughter that is almost 30. That means I am old.

She is a great teacher, wonderful mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend. She has been such a blessing in our life.

We Love You and Happy Birthday Jennifer!

New Restaurant - Tre Amici

We tried a couple of new restaurants this weekend. One was just okay. I'm not going to write about it until I give it another visit. While we didn't think it was that great, it has potential and is worth another chance.

Saturday night, we went to Fruia's Tre Amici. It has been open for a couple of months. I had read a couple of reviews in the paper. They were really good reviews, but there wasn't anything about them that made me want to give it a try. At the time, I thought, just another Steakhouse. It is a steakhouse and seafood restaurant with an Italian flair. It is owned by the previous manager at Pappa's Brothers Steakhouse.

What changed my mind was an email. In my opinion, it was a great marketing ploy by the owners. We received an email from the restaurant with a $50 gift certificate. Now that talks. Why would we not give it a try?

The first thing we noticed when we arrived was how friendly the staff was. The owner was at the door to greet the patrons and he was very nice. Our waiter, Joel, was also very nice and not "stuffy" like waiters can be at upscale restaurants.

We started the meal with house cured salmon. It was so good that I have been craving it all week. I even went to Market Street yesterday and bought some and have had it for lunch the past couple of days. There were two types of bread. The best part was the dipping oil. It had red pepper flakes that gave it just the right kick with tons of Parmesan cheese and topped with some olives. Very unique and very good. I was full after the bread.

Pops had the filet topped with a crab cake and Bearnaise sauce. He said it was one of the best steaks he has had in a while. I had the short rib, which was also great. We had a side of four cheese mac and cheese. It also had a little kick to it.

We were so full that we were going to fore go the dessert, until, I saw Strawberry Shortcake on the menu. We had to try it. It was one of the best I have ever had. It looked and tasted like Tres Leches cake with strawberries between the layers. Yum. It was so good that I am going to try to recreate it for Jennifer's Birthday on Friday. If it turns out half as good, it will be great.

We will definitely be going back to Tre Amici.

A BIG Change Is Coming

So, I have rules around my house. In the past, I have written about my Christmas rules. One of these days I need to write about my everyday rules.

We go out to eat every night. We usually go around 6:30. That is because one of my rules is that we can't come home while it is still light outside. Who goes on a date and comes home before dark? That is not a problem in the winter, but it is in the summer.

I was watching the news last night and realized that Daylight Savings Time starts on Sunday. I am not ready for that. That means, we can't go eat dinner until 7:30. That is a big change. That means I will have another hour to kill in the evening.

I am not too excited about that, but it is what it is and I will just have to adjust. That is adjusting to going to eat at 7:30, not adjusting to coming home before dark. That just won't work.