Wide World of Colors

This year for lent, I gave up shopping on Zappos. (No, I am not catholic, but I always give up something for lent. It makes me stronger.)

I LOVE Zappos. Never has shoe shopping been easier. Free overnight shipping and free returns. Sort by color, sort by price, sort by heel height: comfortable strappy sandals, purple dressy wedges, 4" t-strap heels, you name it and you can sort by it.

Tomorrow, oh tomorrow is a blessed day. Tomorrow I can turn on my computer and I don't have to fight the urge. I can type w-w-w-.-z-a-p-p-o-s-.-c-o-m with fast fingers. I can browse, sort and purchase new shoes for spring. I think I'll even get up early and purchase before church services...... oh, I can't wait.

Happy Easter to all! May you enjoy that which you have sacrificed-

- Anna

Spring Flowers...

I love springtime. It is a chance to plant pretty colors in the yard. We seem to enjoy new potted plants in the spring and then they die in the heat of summer. So, for now, we are enjoying orange gerber daises, white, pink and purple pansies, and red and orange zinnias on the front porch.

iConnect with Dessert Night!

Meet the ladies of iConnect....

In January our church went through an expansion and shifting of classes and Marcus and I joined iConnect. It is a class of about 40 couples in their late 20s to early 30s. It has been fun to meet all of the new people in various fellowship activities.

This part Thursday night a large group of the women in the class met up for dessert night. We had 15-20 different desserts to sample and recipes to take home. It was yummy! For those who know my dessert portfolio, I took Seminary Pudding, a favorite recipe from Mary Neal. Thank you Mary!

2006 Scrappy Awards

I love to scrapbook. My system is to complete a book for each calendar year. Tonight, I completed the 2006 scrapbook. It consists of every day adventures, little weekend get aways and special times with Kyleigh and Cohen.

At the end of each year, Marcus and I stop and go through the book- not to reminesce or reflect on our year, but to count the major players and determine the annual scrappy winner.

Past winners have included Marcus (2004) and Marcus (2005). In 2005, he won by a narrow margin over the 2006 Scrappy Award Winner..... Kyleigh!

Those of you who spend any time with me know how much time I spend with my niece and how important she is in my life. (It should also be said that I love my nephew and he is just as important) For those quantitative people out there, she appears in the book 44 times. Marcus and I tied for second and Cohen followed in a close 3rd place.

Congratulations on your esteemed award Miss Kyleigh! Uncle Marcus is jealous and plans to reclaim his award in 2007. Watch out! :)

Anna

Vivo Our Birthday!

Long live the birthday celebration! Tiffany and I celebrated our birthdays Saturday night with Mom. If you haven't tried Vivo's in East Austin, it is worth a visit. The patios (where these pictures were taken) are beautiful. There are numerous decks and fountains. The restuarant belives in ingniting all of your senses. For example, the ladies bathroom sinks are filled with ice and rose petals..... apparently, the men's room is filled with graffati! Their food is wonderful, too!

We took a couple of pictures in the patio area after dinner......

Marcus, Kyleigh and I.... She was such a little lady at dinner. She drank her water in a wine glass and felt special! It was amazing to watch her be so grown up. I think it is happening too fast for me, and I'm just her Aunt!

Cohen on the other hand, was a 2 year old trapped in a high chair in a nice restaurant after having the freedom to run and play all day. The walks to the fountains as we awaited our food were a life saver.

Day 2 with Coco

Cohen got to have fun with Auntie and Marcus today....first..he had to wait patiently for me to return with the donuts....

Then we took pictures in the blue bonnets...

and finally we went to the park where Cohen practiced his Brett Favre imitation...

Fun stuff!

MJ

Rub A Dub Dub

One of my favorite times with Kyleigh was bath time. This weekend we are keeping Cohen for the first time and bath time with him is just as fun.







Cohen and Marcus discovered that our bath tub "bounces". The fun bath balls can bounce off the tile that surrounds the garden tub and splash back into the water. It was a good 30 minutes of laughs!





I love giving Cohen a little mohawk..... I'm positive it looks better that the faux-hawk Sanjaya sported on AI this week.

My Thirty One-derful Day!

I had a wonderful birthday celebration! Marcus and I went to dinner at Castle Hill Cafe. It was yummy! I had a southwestern green-chile lime salad... thanks for the recommendation Andrea... with blue corn empandadas. Marcus had a shrimp with poblano cream risotto. Plus, the bread pudding was to die for!

Thanks to everyone who sent me messages via snail mail, email, voicemail and text mail! It was a fun day!




Marcus surprised me the day before my birthday with these pretty tulips or "two-lips" as Marcus would say.











In addition to the new Tim McGraw CD (isn't he kind to release his new CD for me on my birthday!), I got this wonderful tray for reading and unfortunately working in bed.

Happy Birthday!

Here it is, March 29th...Anna's Birthday!

And for about 30 times straight...it is going to rain on her birthday!

You'll notice that Anna has already posted that it will be her birthday today......little faith in the hubby.....I did remember to post...but I just got up a little later.... ;P

Happy birthday sweetie!

MJ

Happy Birthday TIffany!

Happy Birthday to you-

Happy Birthday to you-

Happy Birthday Dear Tiffany,

Happy Birthday to you!

Love, Anna

..... yes, my sister and I do share the same birthday. She is the big 2-7!

Today I am Thirty One-derful! (Thank you Brandi for my new mantra)

There are more than 31 blessings in my life, so I do truly feel wonderful! Here's hoping 31 brings me even more blessings and all the things I am praying for....

Anna

PS According to Marcus' quick wit, next year will be thirty two-old! :)

Happy Birthday Alison!

Happy Birthday Ms Alison! You deserve a wonderful day and a beautiful year.

Your present is in the mail.... I promise!

Love,

Anna

tale of two weekends

Well this weekend, Anna and I had ourselves a little time seperate..with our co workers...(we don't see these people enough during the week...?)

Anna went off to the Lakeway resort...and had a nice relaxing time, getting a massage, escaping to Fredricksburg, and just lounging at the pool with her co worker Stormy.

I, on the other hand, had my co worker Keith come in from Houston, and we ran 6 miles in the cap 10K. Keith, I'm sorry. Tomorrow is REALLY going to hurt. Day two is always the worst.

Race pics to follow when the publish! Should be next week. Unless I look as bad as I really felt. Then...Sorry! no race pics! Maybe next year!


Word!

MJ

Bleepin' Red Raiders

Our interpretation of Bobby Knight after Tech's first round loss to BC: "What in the bleep was that bleep goin' on there? The refs are full of bleep. They wouldn't bleep a bleep if it bleeping bleeped them."

Marcus' feelings after seeing Tech lose and his bracket become a see of red scratch marks: "Why the bleep did I pick bleeping Texas Tech to be in the bleeping Sweet Sixteen. I should have bleeping known that if they thought we were going to win, we'd bleeping blow it.

Anna's thoughts on being the only person in the pool to have chosen Boston College: "Bleepin' Idiots!"

The Famous Keller Williams Events Team

This is a fun little picture the Keller Williams events team took before our big event in Las Vegas next month. Every KW department took a picture for the event's staff slide show. Pictured left to right are Cristina, Stormi, Andrea, Anna, Mary, Brandi, Andrea, and Cathy.

Aren't we perky!

Bill's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Bill!

Its been over 25 years that Bill and I have known each other and celebrated birthdays together! The latest one is 33.....that is Scottie Pippen's number when he played with Chicago in the magical Jordan era. Come on, this has to be a good year!

Anyway, we had a nice dinner with Steve, Bill and his clan, down at Romeos last night..

They've been charting Mac's growth against Steve....she is oh so close to the same hand size....

Everyone had fun, and Steve enjoyed his meal. Maybe too much.

Its also the first day of the new time change, which, because its 3 weeks early this year, has caused more havok on electronic devices than Y2K.

Well, at least I have my excuse to be an hour late for work....right?

Apology

I owe Kyleigh an apology. She did not give me the flu. I was sure that sharing Dippin' Dots with her on Friday night caused me to get sick. I just knew I had the flu.

After missing work for the 4th straight day on Friday, Marcus took me to the doctor and I do not have the flu. I do have a nasty sinus infection and seeped down into my throat. The cause is not from Kyleigh.

So, I'm sorry Kyleigh. I should not have called you a punk and vowed to never share Dippin' Dots with you again.

Love, Auntie

PS Medicine is fabulous! I'll be good as new by Monday.

Not Such a Pretty Picture

This looks pretty, but oh no it is not pretty! It is the FLU!

Little Miss Kyleigh gave me the flu! I've been home for 2 days now with a nasty cough, a runny nose and a voice that alternates between a growling monster and a young boy experiencing puberty. I think the worst of it is behind me and I hope to be normal tomorrow morning.

I do have to say that Marcus is the best doctor in all the land. He has made drink runs for me, offered to go get liquid Nyquil at 3:00 AM when I couldn't swallow the pills, and even worked from home so that I could have his round the clock care. I'm a lucky girl!

Anna

Yucky!

I had high hopes of great pics and exciting posts for the weekend. Marcus was out of town, so I had big plans with Kyleigh on Friday night and Cohen on Saturday night. Kyleigh and I were going to shop for shoes, eat ice cream, go to a birthday party with real live ponies, bake cookies, and do craft projects. Cohen and I were going to play in the park!

It didn't work as planned. Kyleigh woke up Saturday morning sick. Her stomach hurt so much, she didn't even want doughnuts with sprinkles. I knew something was wrong. She got worse as the day went on and I ended up giving her to her Mom on Saturday afternoon just before she threw up! Timing is everything! The change in plans prevented Cohen from coming home with me.

This morning, I woke up with a cold. I am coughing and feel like something is tickling my throat. Not good. I have a lot of work to do and a cold has not been scheduled into my busy week.

Yucky!

Anna

Happy 6th Birthday Miss Landry!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Miss Landry,

Happy Birthday to you!

Anna

(Landry's Mom Billye is one of my very best friends.)