Thanksgiving

I have alot to be thankful for in life, and although this is somewhat of a generic post, I thought it would only be fitting to spend some time talking about the many blessings I have in my life. So in no specific order...

I am thankful for Layne. I am thankful for all the joy that he has brought into my life, and for the laughter that never seems to end. I am thankful for his support and encouragement, his patience and understanding. He is my soul mate, and is the greatest gift God has given to me.

I am thankful for my family and friends. I have an amazing support group in my life of people who know me, who I can be honest with, who are always there, and whose love is unconditional. I am SO thankful to have them in my life. They are a unique group of relationships... family by blood, family by choice, childhood friendships, adult friendships... I am blessed to have you all in my life. I don't know where I would be without you, and will never be able to express my gratitude for everything you have done.

I am thankful for my job. However crazy that may sound, I am. I love what I do, even on the days where it gets the best of me. I am thankful my career is in an industry that has stability right now, and that I work for a company that has no job security concerns.

I am thankful that I finally have a home in Dallas. Although I've lived here for 2.5 years, it wasn't until I moved into the house that I finally found my home here. With Granny's furniture, some hand me down decorations, and a lot of hard work for the renovations, the house I live in is more than a house, its my home. It feels like me, and their are pieces of my roots all around me. It's perfect.

I am thankful Stephen lives in Dallas. I don't think I need to elaborate much since this is something I've touched on before, but I am thankful Stephen is with me. He is protective of me, he calls me out on my BS, and he is my only person from home I have with me in Dallas. I also love watching him and Layne become good friends.

I am thankful for college football, even when LSU does have a 4 L season. It's a passion, and I'm lucky to have the sport for entertainment. I'll be even more thankful when they move to a playoff system.

I am thankful for the gift of life. Losing people I love has reminded me of what I truly have to be thankful for... every breathe, every day. I'm thankful for the sunrises and sunsets, the birds and squirrels I watch in the backyard, the old couple that walks down the block everyday at the same time I'm driving to work. I'm thankful for the little things that make me and my life experiences unique.

Everyday, I think about how lucky I am, and have to remind myself that it isn't about luck. I am incredibly blessed with amazing people in my life, who have filled my days with love, laughter, and fun. If you're reading this blog, you're one of them. Thank you for everything you have added to who I am and the life I lead. I am truly thankful for your presence in my life, and will be thinking about you all over the Holiday weekend while I'm with family and friends back home. Happy Turkey Day!

Salvation Army Angel Tree

I work for a GREAT company. Yeah, we're all stressed out. We have considerable amount of responsibility for someone our age. "Our age" averages out at 27 right now. There are pros and cons at any office environment, but yesterday we got to focus on one of the many pros. One of our community activities we participate in is the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program. Last year, we donated money. As a perk, the company gave every employee an extra day of vacation to use in the first quarter of the year. This year, we did it a little differently. Every employee donates what they can. It's secret. Only the manager knows who gives what, so there is no need to feel awkward about it. Then, the West Rockies Region started the afternoon off at Abeulo's. I'm not a fan of Mexican, but I really did have a good time with everyone. Then it was off to Target to shop for our Angel. I was given $100 to shop for Antwone, a 1 yr old boy who needed shoes and wanted educational toys. It was an interesting experience, and really reminded me of how fortunate I am. I may want things, but I need for nothing. I enjoyed shopping for my buddy... and was most excited about the baller tennis shoes and the harmonica I got for the little man. Yes- they now make harmonicas for the +18 months age group so kids learn to play music at a young age. AWESOME. We finished shopping for our 12 Angels, and then off it was to Blue Goose for Happy Hour. Not only did we have fun, but it felt good to give back. The company lost money giving us the afternoon off to do this, but I know we all gained something from it. My Mom adopts a family with her group of friends every year, and I think it's an awesome idea. So thanks to Merit for the reminder of the real reason behind the Holiday Season... and the afternoon off!

Amira and I- One of the accountants I work with and an annual attendee of the Panty Party

Nic, Nic, and Me... Two of the other engineers in the West Rockies Region

The People I Spend ALL Day With- The West Rockies Region

My Bachelorette Party

I am spoiled. Since we were in town for McQ's wedding, my sister put together the most amazing bachelorette party. I couldn't have dreamed of something more perfect for me. As the facebook invite said, "If you love the Tigers, and you love Mitzi too, come celebrate at the tailgate, before she says I Do!"

Layne even got a little Aggie representation of his own. Never mind that we start it with Geaux rather than Gig 'Em. It's what we call compromise. And the theme of the bachelorette party, which I had never even thought of before, was 55 days until Gameday! That's right, the most important kick off of my life is on January 10th, 2009, and we spent all day celebrating the good times to come.... by having a good time. I love a good Louisiana Saturday Night!

My Dad and the Lovely Brides to Be... less than 7 months now for Abby and Doody!

And for those of you who haven't had the pleasure (and yes, I mean pleasure) of experiencing LSU, I thought I would show you a picture of my second house of worship... Tiger Stadium... also known as Death Valley. It was COLD on Saturday, and the crowd wasn't as strong as usual for the rescheduled game, but the Tiger fans who did show up showed up in style.

We made a special trip to the liquor store, just to purchase a round of jager bombs. What started off as a small group wanting to get tanked turned into a large group doubling the trouble. For those of you who don't know this about me, I've been waking up on Saturday mornings in the Fall for the past 7/8 years and starting off my day with the statement, "It's gameday, bitches!" Amy (I think it was Aimes) gave a wonderful toast, ending in "55 days till Gameday, Bitches!" (how appropriate) and there went an entire bottle of Jager. Like that. Even Dad got in on the action.

I loved having Abby and Amy with me throughout the day. They are so different, yet so similar at the same time. Personality wise, you'd think they were the sisters. Until you party with Amy. And then you realize that there really isn't anyone quite like her. She's in a class of her own. Layne of course, is the center of our attention here. He hangs with the crew like a champ. Some outsiders would be overwhelmed walking into such a large family that knows each other so well. Not Layne. He fits right in. For the sake of his career, I've decided to withhold the pictures of his 30+ second keg stand. What can I say? My man is a man who can party like an 19 year old.

Like I said, we missed Stephen all weekend long. And we didn't take this picture to rub it in that he wasn't there. We just wanted to let you know that amidst all the drunken debauchery... you were on our minds. It just isn't the same when we aren't all together.

Another great shot of my personal Mecca...

We lucked out and were able to all sit together at the game. It was BRUTALLY cold. And we played terrible. We didn't see the comeback. By the time LSU started to fight for the W, we were nice and warm inside Bogie's, enjoying Ladies Free drinks until 10pm. As you can see below, we were in the mood to share, and loaded up the table with beverages for the first part of the evening.

I had a great time. A wonderful time. I was in heaven just being around my people. Everytime I turned around, I was surrounded by people who I know and love, who know me and love me. It's a great feeling to have, and something that I dearly miss being in Dallas. That's okay though... wedding season is officially here. And this was the perfect kickoff to the next two months. Again- thanks to everyone who made this possible. You made me feel so special. Thank you for the time and the effort, and for going out of your way to make this happen!

1st Lt. and Mrs. Christopher Martinez

My first friend I made when I went to LSU was Lauren McQuiston. She was tall (6' 0"), full of spirit, and really warm and welcoming... until we realized our high schools were State Final Volleyball Rivals (4 years in a row, St. Joes and MCA met at the end). McQ is one of the many reasons I joined Zeta. Abby and I owe her alot for showing us all the good about being Greek. There was once a point in my life when I told my sister I was joining a sorority, and she hung up the phone on me. Yes- the same sister that is now that sorority president. McQ is a big reason for us being there. The first time my parents met Lauren was Mardi Gras 2002. I will never forget the moment in a state of drunken intoxication that she wiped out on the floor in front of the whole fam. My grandpa got the giggles so hard. McQ is a friend who is close to the whole family- she's spent more time with Abby in the past two years than I have. She's honest, a hard worker, organized, fun to chill with... she's a great friend. And on Saturday, she married the man she's loved since she was 16 years old. Congratulations and best wishes Friend Face! You were beautiful, your night was wonderful, and I can't wait to talk to you all about it.

J Todd... My grand little sis came in town for the wedding with her fiancee Gregory. It was wonderful to see her, and her engagement ring. I forgot how much I miss my girlfriends from college. It was WONDERFUL to spend the evening with everyone.

Abby, Gregory, Doody, Mom, and Dad were all there. We missed Stephen a bunch this weekend, but we're really proud of how committed he is to succeeding at basketball. He had to stay in Dallas this weekend, and it wasn't the same without him.

Layne looked great, as usual... sporting his nifty tie that always gets loads of compliments. My dress, if I may say so myself, looked awesome on me. I got alot of compliments all weekend long- gotta love that!

We danced, and we danced, and I've never danced so much in one night in my life. I had a blast- as you can see from above. We did our sorority skit rendition of "It's Raining Men" together, and all the Zeta's laughed so hard our sides hurt. It was an amazing night. I'm glad I was able to see so many friends, and I'm glad I was able to share it with my family.

The Martinez Family will now reside in Abilene, Texas- Chris is stationed there for the Air Force. Only a 2.5 hour road trip away is one of my best friends from college. You think we travel often now? Haha... I won't be able to stay away from my girl. Looking forward to seeing your new home soon!

Quick Update

This past weekend was ABSOLUTELY fabulous. I had an amazing time with my friends and my family. I haven't been so happy and laughed so hard, well, since I was in ATL with my family and friends. Seeing a reoccurring theme here? I'll be blogging about the weekend activities over the next few days. Right now, I need to focus on getting through the day and catching up on sleep. I can't hang like I used to, although I sure did try. A few quick shout outs...

1.) My Friend Face, McQ...now known as Mrs. Martinez: you were a beautiful bride. I am SO happy for you. Please come home from Jamaica soon so I can gush all over you. Welcome to the great State of Texas. We're lucky to have you, and I am looking forward to seeing much more of you over the next few years.

2.) Abby... you spoil me. My tailgate bachelorette party rocked my world. It was better than I could have possibly dreamed it would be. I know you have had so much going on with school and ZTA and your own wedding. Thank you for the time and effort you went through. Saturday rocked my world.

3.) Doody... I'll spare you the sappiness. Thanks for manning the grill like a champ. You didn't have to. I appreciate it so much, and look forward to spoiling you and Abby in the VERY short term future.

4.) Mom and Dad... there aren't words. You are too good to the four of us. And to Layne too- If you keep serving him fresh shrimp, he's going to turn into one.

5.) Amy... thank you for flying in to be there. I saw you in October, I'll see you twice in November. December? Definitely in January. That's more than we see each other in a year, much less 6 months. I love it!

6.) Thank you everyone for coming out for the day on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who sat in the brutal cold. Thanks to everyone who made it out to Bogie's. And thanks to everyone who survived the late night at Greg's.

7.) And last but not least, G Baby: You are always so good to Layne and I when we're in town. Thanks for taking care of us. Thanks for the late night party. Let me know how much damage we did to your grocery supply. We owe you.

Bridezilla Took Over

I consider myself to be a relatively easy bride to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I have my moments. But for the most part, I don't care about most things. Flowers, dresses, shoes, jewelry, hair... not important to me. I love Layne. On January 10th, I'll be his wife. The rest is really just details. But today, I definitely reared my ugly head. At a stranger. In front of 20+ other strangers.

We fly out of town tonight for a long weekend in Louisiana. (I love November and December because I see so much of my family and friends, and with the wedding, it makes it even better.)

So you can imagine, it's a short work week. Layne has a big presentation on Monday, so he's been working crazy hours. Who works 11 hours on a Sunday? Don't answer that. I can think of some immediate family members who do. Back to the point. So I've been trying to bring my A+ game to get us packed, organized, and on the road. There are no more regular trips back to NoLA. Now we're bringing things back home for the big day. The to-do lists have been a mile long, and I had finally worked my way down to the last step- bringing the invitations to the post office. Easy enough you'd think, especially since the post office is across the street from my office. But that was not the case today. Somehow- despite the fact that all the invitations are the same, stuffed the same, no extras... some weigh more than others. And as a result, they need more postage. No big deal, because homie at the post office has a scale and can weigh them for me. Only he wouldn't, because the line was so long. So he instructed me to use the electronic scale on the other side of the building, which wasn't working. I'd put an invitation down, and it would say $0.42. Same invitation again, but this time $0.59. So I got back in line since the first man who helped me was at lunch, waited another 20 minutes, only to be told I wasn't using the machine right, and had to zero it out before each weigh in. Same problem still existed. So rather than get back in line, again, I waited for the 2nd person who helped me to get done with their customer. And when I caught her eye, she called me over. She kindly helped me weigh out each invitation, and while she was doing so I was putting the extra stamps on invitations as needed. Deep breath. Almost done. And then, I lost control.

The customer next to me got done, and the next person in line came up.

USPS Employee: Sorry about the wait sir. It's been a crazy day.

Random man (Loud enough so the entire line could hear): Not your fault sir. We can't all jump in front of the line.

Me: Silent. (My head had whipped around in disbelief.)

USPS Employee helping me: She didn't jump in front of the line sir.

Random man: Whatever.

Me: Well don't you just look like an ass for assuming that I jumped in front of the line. I've been here for over an hour. I've already sat in this line twice. The reason I did that, is because I was trying to be considerate of everyone else in line and went and used the scale in the other room. Only the scale is broken. And when I sat in line the second time and told them, they told me I was using the scale wrong, only I wasn't. So don't you look like a fool for causing a scene.... Whatever.

And as I took my debit card back and grabbed my purse, one little old lady in line clapped for me. I didn't look back, but I have a feeling the rest were just looking at me like I was nuts.

Outlaws

What's an outlaw you ask? Well, an outlaw is the term I made up to group my in-law's significant others. For those of you who haven't been formally introduced, here are the Court outlaws... Chad (Christine's husband), Scott (Sabrina's boyfriend), and Me (Layne's fiancee... duh).

2 Months and Counting!

Happy -2 Month anniversary to us! I have been counting down till our wedding day month by month, but the time has finally comes to switch to a daily countdown. Only 61 more days until Layne and I make the promise of our lifetime, and we can't wait!

Layne, I am so excited about becoming your wife. Thanks for being patient with my inability (and lack of desire) to cook. Thanks for putting up with my bridezilla moments. (Good thing we're only doing this once.) Thanks for having just as many (if not more) opinions as I do, I love that you care. Thank you for everything you do. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world, and could not ask for more. I can't wait to share the rest of our lives together. The good and bad, the big and the small. You are my person, and I love you.

"Don't force me to leave you. Don't make me turn back from following you. Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God." RUTH 1:16

Annie and Tyler's Wedding

First, I need to apologize to my blog readers. I'm a fake. I've stolen these pictures from Ben's blog. For those of you who read both- SORRY! I'm going to be getting a new camera soon, but in the meantime wanted to share the weekend with everyone from back home.

This weekend Layne and I took a day trip to Austin, Texas, for our friend Annie and Tyler's wedding. Annie is a good friend of Layne's from Economics, spring semester, his freshman year. Tyler was our mortgage broker. They met the same time Layne and I did and got engaged right after us. It's been fun to share the different stages of our relationship with each other. The wedding was beautiful, and we couldn't be happier for our friends. Can't wait to watch the marriage grow!

My future sister in law Brina (62 more days) and my co-outlaw Scott

Layne's Best Friends Post College, Ben and Jess

Me and My Sugar Daddy



Have fun in Playa del Carmen!

Only one more wedding to go before ours, my college roommate and sorority sister, Lauren McQuiston (aka Friend Face). She is going to be marrying 1st Lt. Christopher Martinez this Friday, so we've been busy getting ready for the long weekend. We'll be back in Louisiana Wednesday night, taking engagement pictures, setting the wedding menu, the rehearsal dinner and wedding, and then my co-ed bachelorette tailgate party on a Louisiana Saturday Night! Here's to another great weekend... and getting everything done beforehand so we can enjoy it. Hope to see everyone soon!

Mean Green

I'm going to play the role of a proud big sister and take a minute to brag on my little brother. (Sorry Stephen- don't be mad. I couldn't help myself!) For those of you who don't know my brother Stephen, he is number 2 out of 4. He graduated from LSU this past May, and moved to Dallas to pursue his dream of becoming a professional NCAA referee. I've always admired Stephen for this. This is his passion, and he's good at it. He's dedicated, committed, and pushes himself to excel in his career.

Last night, Stephen was assigned to referee at The University of North Texas, the same DIVISION I athletic program that played football against LSU this year. It was his first DI game of the season, and I speak for the whole family and our friends when I say how proud we are of Stephen.

He got home late last night (late being post 10pm), and walked into the house in his slacks and button up shirt. He looked sharp. That's the way referee's roll in the big league. Listening to Stephen talk about the game, the facilities, all the extra accommodations they had for the ref's, well, it was awesome to hear him so excited.

And while I know it was a small step, and the game wasn't the biggest he'll ever ref, I know the small step was a step. Several base hits score a run too. So here's to my little brother. For another base hit in his career. We are so proud of you... for believing in yourself, for having the courage to chase after your dreams, and for pushing yourself to be the best you can be. You deserve all the good life is sending your way. Thanks for letting us be apart of the ride.

(And you thought it was bad when I got emotional and gushed over you in the living room. Haha.)

Our Pretty Princesses

I know most of you don't keep up with the others blogs I have links to on my page, so I wanted to share this picture of Reece and Addison from Halloween. I couldn't resist. I LOVE these kids! Now imagine the pink dresses are white and tadaaa.... here are our beautiful flower girls! Could they be any cuter?

Only 67 days until I become their Aunt Mitzi!

Vote!

Go vote. Vote for McCain. Vote for Obama. I don't care who. (Actually, I do, but I'm not going to get on that boat). More important that who your candidate is, is the right to vote and your choice to use it.

Sorry if you're sick of the election and the polls and the robocalls you've been getting for weeks. The parties WANT you to be tired. They don't want suprises on election day. So suprise them. Go vote. Let's show up in the masses. Tell you neighbors. Tell your family. Tell your friends. GO VOTE!

I'm tired of hearing my friends say that the government doesn't do anything for them. It doesn't address issues important to our generation. Go vote. Let them see the impact we can have on an election, and they'll pay attention to our issues for the next go 'round.

And let me just give a little shout out to my Mom and Dad right now: Thank you for taking me down the street with you when you went to vote when I was younger. I remember those days. And without using words, you showed what it meant to uphold your civil duty and to be a responsible citizen. Thank you for teaching me how important that is.

GO VOTE!

A Happy Halloween...

Halloweens in Dallas have always been a blast, thanks to the amazing party planning efforts of Ben and Jessica. They've hosted this party for the past five years, and after this year are passing the torch along to the next group of hosts/hostesses. They out did themselves. (To read more about the party, and to see the AMAZING food and decor, and see more pictures, check out Ben's blog- the link is to the right). Our costumes were last minute, but they came together really well. A referee, a Mavs player, and a Hornets fan. There are some funny posed pictures of Layne and Stephen going at it with me breaking it up. If you have them, pass them along!

My housemates!

T'ing him up! Party Foul!