Let Freedom Ring!

This weekend was a crazy one! First, we had my husband's football reunion game. It was pretty funny. It was the Classes of 1990-1999 vs. the Classes of 2000-2010. Needless to say, they got beat. Those young guys RAN all over them! The wives in the audience were cracking up at one point, when we looked on the field to see all of our men out stretching! After the game we went to my father-in-law's family reunion. For those that read the blog last year, have no fear, I didn't go fishing! We had a great time except for two things... (1) A roach crawled on my back in the bed and (2) A bird pooped on my leg. Why do these things happen to me? It is like the universe knows I am the big chicken of the group, so it allows it. When my husband found the roach, I panicked and made the decision that we were going to a hotel. In my psychotic fury, I just came to the realization that I am not one for the outdoors. Everyone there makes fun of me and thinks it is ridiculous (in a nice way, of course) but they just don't understand. I am not that girl. At one point I asked my husband if my neurosis bothered him and apologized for being such a handful. He responded with, "Honey, trust me, I knew this about you LONG before we dated." Well, there. At least he knew what he was getting into! I love my father-in-laws family. We have absolutely nothing in common, but just gel. They are some of the nicest people on earth. We got bored at one point, and decided to go to the caverns. BIG mistake; HUGE! I was wearing jeans and gold sandals with no idea that I was entering a mud bath. As we were climbing, or should I say sliding, up and down stairs and around sharp corners, the tour guide announces that if you see a bat, please don't swat at it... great... Now, I am freaking out about the mudslide AND bats. About another 20 minutes into the tour, she announces, "And over here is where the rat snakes are." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!??!?!?! I really am surprised I didn't cry. I've just come to the realization that I would rather walk the streets of South Central L.A. alone at 9pm, then ever come that close to nature again. What you see, is what you get. Some like the outdoors and some don't... I'm definitely in the latter group!!! (Oh, and P.S. I "toughed" it out and didn't get a hotel, but made my husband share a twin bed with me.... picture that!)

Have a good week! ~Amy

Snake Skin

We're back and I am BURNED! I had a really bad lapse in judgement the first day we arrived, and I am not sure why. I grew up on the beach. We took family vacays to South Padre and visited family in Virginia Beach every summer. I am not sure what I was thinking when I laid out for 5 hours with not one ounce of SPF. It paid. I have snake skin. I feel like a leper! Nobody wants to get near me for fear that my skin peels off and lands on them, and I can't blame them!

We had an AMAZING time, though. The Dominican was absolutely breath taking. As pretty as it is, we are still partial to Jamaica. People ask us what we did, and my answer is nothing. Literally, we did nothing. We read, sunbathed and slept and it was marvelous. My poor husband, he is such a trooper. I could not sleep at night due to my burn and would sit up at 1am and cry. He would try his best to reposition pillows, but it was awful... I have never been so miserable.

Funny story of our trip.... We are the couple that always gets professional pictures taken. This time, however, we were not prepared for Armando (a.k.a. the Latin Lover). Armando was a total machismo, and from Argentina. We arrived at 9:30 am on Saturday to begin the photo shoot. Since I was so sunburned, I was in a tube top dress with a multi-strand pearl necklace, my husband in linen looking like a drug lord! (Even Armando thought he did) We start out the shoot with Armando asking me to bend over a fountain facing him.... Really, Armando? Did I mention I was in a tube top dress? I was not trying to do a picture for breast feeding promotions!!! He kept insisting I do it, to showcase (in my best Latin accent) "Yoour beeuatiful large boo-soms". I finally just did it, to shut him up. Next, he was ready to shoot us together... He had my husband stand next to me and - prepare yourself- have him take my pearl necklace in his mouth.... Yeah, that is what I said... Now those who know my husband are probably laughing hysterically right now thinking of his reaction. I was of no help because I am whispering to him the whole time, "Use those tiiiiger teeeth". After that was over, we started walking to the beach. On the way there, he saw a palm leave type plant and insisted I crawl in, spread the plant over my face and let him "shooot my seeeductive eyes". At this point, we were both so shocked, scared, tickled, etc... we went ahead and did it. We arrive at the beach, starting to get a little annoyed and Armando says, "Now - are you redeeey for your nude peectures?" That was all it took. I looked at Armando and said, "Look. Nobody on this beach wants to see what I am working with underneath these clothes, not even me. That is not an option." Armando: "You are on bee-cation and a beeutiful couple. Let it loooose." I thought I was trying to be nice and get my point across, but now I am beyond annoyed. I look at him with my "Oh, no you didn't look" and said, "I ONLY WANT ONE *#(^$&# PICTURE FOR OUR CHRISTMAS CARD!!! DO YOU REALLY THINK A NUDE PICTURE IS WHAT I WANT TO SAY MERRY CHRISTMAS WITH????? Needless to say, we moved on... Here is the end of the story, which I find the most humorous. The final shoot, he wanted me to hold onto a post, and lean back looking at him. After all that we went through, he came over to fluff my hair. Now get this.... Armando looked at my husband and said, "Joo you mind eef I touch your wife's hair?" Really Armando? You've been talking about my "boo-som" all morning, and HAIR is what will set my husband off? I'll leave you with one picture -the only one that is appropriate for the blog! ;)

HA!!!!

Have a great weekend! ~Amy

Holy Hail!

So, today as we were looking at the resort we are staying at, we realized that men cannot wear shorts or T-shirts to any of the restaurants... My husband responded with, "I guess I'll take my suit pants..." (typical man answer)... As if I would let him wear his expensive suit pants on the beach. That brought us to a trip to JC Penney's. I never shop there, but have always heard that you can get clothes at a good price, and that is so true!!! We got him 2 shirts, 3 white shirts, 1 pair of pants AND 2 new swim trunks for the price of one of his regular dress shirts! S-C-O-R-E!



Let me give you a little back story into what happened today... My husband always picks on his mother for "alerting" us anytime bad weather is approaching. She is like our own personal radar. I personally love it, because I know I can ignore the weather and if it is bad, she is there. OR, if I am on the road, and away from civilization, I know if bad weather is where I am, she will call. Well, this last tornado incident is God's way of shaking that attitude he had! After shopping, we went to a restaurant in the mall to grab lunch. Right as our food came, his mother called to tell us bad weather was approaching about 20 miles east of our house. My husband looked at the radar on his phone and was starting to get worried. I said, "We better eat fast and head home." Before I finished that sentence, I looked up to see his plate clean!! I then said (jokingly) "Why don't you just leave me here and go get the car." Within seconds, he was gone! I shoveled my food down, paid the bill, and went out the door by the restaurant to see him in my car waiting. I got in and headed home. None too soon, I might add, because the Heaven's opened and hail came down. We were super lucky that quarter size hail is the largest we got.


After the storm moved south, we decided to finish our shopping and pick up dinner. In the parking lot, this is what we saw:

Yeah, that's hail.... Can you believe it? Some of our friends got the baseball size hail and it knocked out their windows, and possibly totaled their cars. What is with this weather??? We are just excited that in 4 days, we will be in paradise! Woo-hoo! ~Amy

Quick Update... We're OK!

21 (so far) tornadoes have hit Oklahoma today! Just a quick update for our friends & family not in Oklahoma, we are OK! After I was in the shelter at my office, for the better of 1 hour, Z called to tell me it was safe for me to drive home. Then, I didn't hear from him. His mother and I called and called and called and called. I started to get VERY worried. Finally, about 1 hour later, he called and told me that his boss came into his office because he heard on the TV that a tornado was close to their office. They went outside to check out the sky, and Z saw a debris cloud about 200 yards away. They rushed back into the office and took cover. The good news is, he & the rest of the staff are safe. Here is a picture of the damage... RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!!!!! Thank you Lord, for keeping them safe! ~Amy

He Loves Me

This blog is going to be long & mushy... just a warning.....

I'm a handful. That really just sums it up. I can be spoiled, loud, bossy, moody, crazy, crude, obnoxious, and really any other adjective you can think of. But, he loves me. He embraces the "13 Faces of Amy". It truly amazes me. When you experience a love like this, you know there is a God. We were just meant to be and would have never had found each other without Him.

The other day, I heard a song on the radio that made me smile. I think it is by K. Urban. The song is called Only You Can Love Me This Way. I wish we were getting married this May, because this would HANDS DOWN be our song. It sums Z up for me. Maybe I will serenade him with this song on our anniversary..... (Kidding)

Anyway, why this "kissy-kissy" blog? Because of this: So, everyone knows we have been talking about getting a new car. Maybe a Camry, or a Maxima. Well, my husband brought this home to me Tuesday night. Here's what was killing me.... We had a Bible study at my house @ 7, and my husband didn't get home until 7:10. Therefore, I didn't get to see my new car until after 8:30! After the Bible study was over, I immediately took it for a spin, and let me tell you, it is smooth... After driving his Tahoe, this feels like I am on a cloud!

So, as if that was not enough, I'm driving around the neighborhood and was like a kid at Christmas... I turned to Z and said, "I love it!" and then, just kidding said, "I really deserve this." His reply, in all seriousness, was, "Honey, you deserve so much more..."

So, why am I blogging about this? For this simple reason- I want to show the world it can be real. Sometimes when I am "off in space" I think to myself, I really got the man in the movies. You know what I am talking about... that favorite "chick-flick" you watch where the man is so amazing and you think *Oh, I want a love like that*. It can happen. If it can happen to yours truly, anyone is game! I remember my mom and I went and saw The Wedding Date after we started dating. In the middle of the movie when he said something like, "I think I would have loved you even if we never met" my mother turned to me and said,"that is how Z feels about you." That has always stuck with me and (Mom: brace yourself.... I'm going to say something that you've only heard a time or two) she was RIGHT!

For those who don't know "Our Story"...

About 3 months before I met Z, I ended a relationship with my ex-fiancee that was one of the hardest things that I have ever done in my life. I loved him so much that I thought I would never recover, I was addicted to him... One thing was for sure, I was NOT looking to date seriously AT ALL. I was heartbroken and hated men. I turned all my attention to my job and focused on climbing the corporate ladder. Then one day this little country guy was showing people at work a video on his extra large camera. All I heard was this awful clucking, or something, and I remember thinking, "What is the WORLD!?!" I walked over to where Z was sitting and it was turkey footage. I think he was a little embarrassed and shocked because (1) It was a turkey video and (2) I was his superior and busted him not working (not that I really cared...) Anyway, I remember thinking "Now that is a redneck...." I didn't impress him much at first either when a couple of days later he overheard me screaming at my landlord, in tears, because my apartment downtown had mice and I was not going to live in a place like that. Needless to say, COMPLETE opposites!

Long story short, we ended up going to a couple of the same social outings, got to know each other and fell hard. I was scared and was not ready for commitment, but somehow, it just fell in place. When Z proposed, 1 year later, my answer was, "I need to sit down." Z still reminds me of that every time someone mentions how we met, or wants the engagement story. Why was it "I need to sit down?" Because I had been down this road before, I was scared, scared, scared! But, (again God's hand) something just told me it will all be OK. The BEST decision I have ever made. I love him so much more than anyone else I have ever met. I can honestly say, 4 years is about to hit us, and I cannot remember one minute of any day where we have had an argument. It is so weird. I cannot explain it. Sure, there are moments when we are agitated, but we just work. Why? Because he loves me. He just loves me, and that is something that is priceless... ~Amy

The Countdown is On!

What a nice weekend! Friday night we went with our friends, the Brinlee's and the Tatro's to see Montgomery Gentry in concert. I only know 1 of their songs, but I love it so much I wanted to go. We had a great time! We paid extra for the "VIP" seats, and it paid off! We got about 3 feet from the stage!!What a NICE time!!!





After the concert, we played a little Blackjack and Slots. In true Amy fashion, I lost about $50 in 5 minutes... Thank goodness for my husband! After he lost about the same, he sat down at a Wheel of Fortune machine and won $164! Woo-hoo! We ended up leaving with a little more than what we came with! Hilary and I were cracking up, because the best part of the night is when we were listening to Jeff's I-pod and I came across "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha. When I turned it on, my husband and Jeff started belting it out like they were Mid-High girls! We were DYING it was sooooo funny!

My husband has been in a pretty intense jury trial all week, so it was REALLY hard to get him out of bed Saturday, and what a great day for it. 65 degrees and light showers all day, always makes for a lazy day. We watched a movie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, that I feel haunted me. The end of the movie was not expected, and I just cannot believe that Nazi's were so cruel, regardless of their beliefs of their country. Cruel, cruel, cruel...

Today we went to the Arts Festival, and I was disappointed. I bought one piece of artwork, but I felt that all of the booths had the same thing. Seriously, western art & pottery... that was all. I found something that I wanted to get my father-in-law for Father's Day, but my husband told me to wait. It was a picture on a canvas, that just absolutely reminded me of him. Oh well, I did get the artist's card just in case!

We are on a countdown to the Dominican! In only 18 days, we will be boarding a plane, and we CANNOT wait! This is a much needed vacay! We still haven't bought a car, and to be honest, it stresses me out. I will be in Hugo all day tomorrow, and probably won't be home until after 8. I told my husband, that it is up to him. He can go and pick whatever car he wants me to drive, because at this point my eyes are crossing.... Say your prayers, he has REALLY good taste... ;) These 50-60 hour work weeks have been brutal, but at least I will have so much comp time that I might not need to use any vacation days for the D.R.! I just found out that I have a meeting that I need to attend Wednesday at 9am (the day after we get back) and that doesn't sound too bad, except for the fact that we don't get in Tuesday night until 11:55pm! Oh well... this vacation will be so relaxing, that I will be ready for some action! Have a great week! ~Amy