Let Your Heart Be Light

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, it's not technically Christmas anymore but since I haven't gone to sleep yet, I think it still counts :) The last month I've had a hard time believing it was already almost Christmas and now I can't believe it's over! Time really does fly sometimes. It's easy to get caught up with the chaos of the season but at the end of the day all that matters is the memories that were made and this year was definitely memorable!

I didn't have any expectations this year. I didn't even make a Christmas list! My favorite part of this entire day was spending time with my family and my tortoises. The babies truly made this day extremely special for me. I am SOOOO happy to be their "mom" and just being with them was a gift. I can't adequately explain how much I love my tortoises. I honestly don't think there are enough words. Perhaps it borders on obsession but I cherish every moment I am with them. I dread the day they are too big to carry around or fall asleep on me and it's quickly approaching :( I know my heart will break in two but since we haven't crossed that bridge yet, I gladly let them crawl up to my neck and fall asleep, even if it puts me in the most uncomfortable position! It's totally worth it.

Hanging out with Sylv by the barn at night. Fun/weird times :)

Annual Reyes Family Dinner at Reata!

We periodically napped for hours while everyone else wrapped gifts. Lazy bones ;)

They LOVED being the main attraction!

Sylv. Again!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from Elmer, Shanelle and Sylvester :)

The Teachings of a Tortoise

Forget The Tortoise and the Hare- I have a much better story than Aesop ever told! Last night when I got to my parent's house for Biggest Loser Night, my pops and Crys had Bert, the smaller of our two big tortoises, in the front yard to play. He was roaming around the yard, trampling on the newly planted flower garden when we looked away for 2 seconds and eating whatever grass looked appealing to him. Basically he was having a fabulous time! If you don't have a tortoise you probably don't know how incredibly stubborn they are but let me tell you, once they know what they want- their minds are made up! Bertie kept trying to walk in dangerous places in our side yard and despite us yelling at him to stop, he kept going strong. To keep him from getting lodged between a tree and our fence, me and Crys stood side by side and blocked his way. We couldn't possibly have made a lesser impact on him if we tried! He grunted, and charged his way through. We had to move out of his way so that we wouldn't get pushed over and then pick him up and move him to a safer place. This was no easy task- he weighs about 90 pounds now and he's fast so the second I'd put him down, he'd go right back to where we took him from. He's also incredibly strong and he bruised my side because I wasn't putting him down fast enough and he wanted to be by the tree! It was incredibly painful as he was clawing at me but I am so grateful he didn't break the skin!

As I was pointlessly trying to block Bert's way for the upteenth time and hoping he would break this cycle on his own it dawned on me- we all need to be more like tortoises. So many times I might want something but a little obstacle pops up and I immediately make a new plan. I decide that it wasn't meant to be or I come up with some equally lame rationalization but the truth is, maybe I should have tried harder. I need to charge through with the fierce and relentless passion that comes naturally to my tortoises. Can you even imagine what a different life we would lead if we truly didn't let anything deter us from what we want? It's absolutley amazing the life lessons we learn from our pets.

This is NOT Bert but me and Ernie took this last week and so I had to share :)

Christmas in Cowtown

I LOVE being in the Junior League of Fort Worth. It has been such a fabulous experience so far and it has definitely kept me very very busy! One of our big events is in a few weeks so it's time to bust out the cowgirl boots and shop at Christmas in Cowtown! I have a yard sign in front of my house and my parent's house and I figured I should post about it here as well. It will be at Will Rogers from September 30th to October 2nd. I am really looking forward to it! I am planning to go with some friends but I also have to volunteer at least 6 hours there and I'm sure it'll be great fun!

http://www.juniorleaguefw.org/?nd=cowtown

Busy Bee

Wow. I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Lately my days have been spent running around like an absolute crazy person trying to get everything done. I am drowning in my to do lists. My weekends have been particularly difficult to manage because I over commit myself (typical!) and have literally every hour planned out. Since 90% of my life is in Fort Worth and I live an hour away, I also become a nomad every weekend- sleeping anywhere but home so that I can make the most of my time. Take last weekend for example- starting Friday night it was nonstop until last Sunday evening and it's a miracle I packed enough clothes for every situation since I'm a chronic under packer. If I was on facebook and if I was one of those lame status updaters, mine for last weekend would have read something like this: babysitting/errands with the kids- check, 4 volunteer hours at Double Expoure- check, tailgate- check, TCU vs. Tennessee Tech game- check, church- check, Flower Ministry (delivering flowers to homebound members from my church)- check, wedding dress shopping with Sar- check, family night- check, preparing dad's taxes- check.

On very rare occassions I amaze myself. It takes a lot to impress me and my ability to somehow manage everything that's thrown at me and make sure that all of my household duties are handled (pets/plants/landscape scheduling/cleaning, etc...) has been SO HARD but I have definitely impressed myself with my time management skills and that's not something that happens often! It's only Wednesday but I've been trying to mentally prepare for this upcoming weekend for a few days already. I don't think it will be nearly as extreme but that's what scares me. I just added 6 hours of volunteering to my upcoming to do list for the weekend and I have a feeling a few more things will get added onto my already full plate. Oh well. Such is life. Or at least such is my life these days...

Like a Melody in my Head

I've been on mom duty this week. I have missed my two favorite kids this summer A LOT- they've been gone and I've spent almost two months at their house without them so this was a fun reunion! It's amazing how fast I can go into "Mom Mode," especially since I'm not actually a mom. I've put on make up twice this whole week (trust me- this is HUGE for me!), haven't fixed my hair once and don't even pay attention to what I'm wearing at all. I literally grab the clothes closest to me when I need to get dressed to take the kids on their play dates and/or pick them up from their activities. Luckily for me, none of us are morning people so I've been able to sleep in every day- at least until 10. Sleeping in and not worrying about bedtimes has been fabulous!

Wearing (my) big sunglasses and LOTS of singing in the car- there's never a dull car ride for us!

Bells in a carriage. Hahahahaha!!!! She sleeps in the oddest of places!

Main Event and BOTH kids won 1,000 coupons from this machine!

Chef Shany and Chef Rachel :)

Chocolate chip cookies. Yum! We made our own Sweet Sammy's creations :)

Face Masks!!! Rachel had never been to Ulta so we spent our Friday night shopping for girly products. We bought headbands too that we're going to wear to church on Sunday!

My fingers have been worked to the bone the last few days. Me and Rachel are Crafting Queens and I got her hooked on duct tape crafts! We've mastered the art of flower making in a very short period of time and decided to name our flowers Rachelle. We've spent countless hours and many rolls of duct tape this week. I think a trip to Target to raid their duct tape supply is on our agenda for tomorrow, after we have lunch in bed. That's our new favorite thing to do since the 100+ degree temperatures have made outdoor picnics impossible. We love our bednics :)

Cutesie Tootsie :)

Ernie and Baby Elmer! SOOOOO cute!!!! Please notice Ernie's massive fat leg! OMG- I could squeeze it all day long :)

The Journey is the Reward

I finally decided on this year's theme for the Ladies Literary League and I am happy to announce that it is JOURNEYS! I looked through a lot of book club websites for suggestions but none of them sounded nearly as intriguing as journeys. I have spent the better part of the day reseraching books and reading countless reviews to incorporate into this year's schedule and it was not an easy task. Not at all. Last year we were an unorganized bunch and short on recommendations so I took it upon myself to plan out our whole year so that we might be more effective. Our "curriculum" is tentative, pending member approvement of course, but it is a pretty solid collection of books and I am quite pleased with the selections. Now that the theme and books have been picked, I have one more project before our meeting this weekend. Since our first year was so successful I have high hopes for this year and want to encourage all of the Leaguers so it's CRAFT TIME!!!!! I love few things more than making crafts and hopefully soon I'll decide exactly what I want to make to keep us all on track for the journey we have all started together :)

PS- Don't let my excitement about my book club fool you. I STILL have not read a book since before my birthday (more than 3.5 months ago) and that includes our August selection, Eat Pray Love. I have 5 days until our meeting and really hope that I'll be able to muster up some motivation to read before then. I absolutely can not start off this new book club year without reading our first book! Pretty sure that's the #1 sin for Book Club Presidents!