Spring Break---an eventful week!

I'm so blessed to work in the education field, as we still get a spring break. I'm also lucky Chet owns his own business, so he could take off too! :)

Sunday and Monday I repainted the dining room and painted our master bedroom. It felt so good to get that done!! Tuesday we put our house back together and cleaned/packed. Wednesday we drove down to Houston to visit our good friends Brittney and Sean.

Thursday we drove around downtown Houston and then decided against the zoo once we realized how bad of an idea it is to go to the zoo on Spring Break. So we chose to walk around the pretty Arboretum for awhile. That evening, sweet Britt and Sean took us to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to watch Pat Green. The rodeo was unbelievably HUGE---even bigger than I expected!! It was neat to watch a rodeo since it's been a long time since I've seen one. (Although, we did watch the saddest thing during the chuckwagon races: A horse fell and got trampled on by the other horses, and ended up terribly tangled. I think I didn't breathe for like 20 minutes while they untangled it and helped it. I felt nauseus and wanted to cry.) Other than that, it was GREAT though, and Pat put on quite a show!!!

On Friday, the boys played golf while Britt and I did some much needed SPRING SHOPPING at Kohl's and the Galleria. I had my first experience at the Cheesecake Factory and now have a new favorite restaurant!! We went to a cool restaurant/bar called Onion Creek that evening with Brittney's brother and friends.

Saturday we drove to Brady to visit my sister's family and some great friends, the Shuffields. We stayed until Sunday afternoon, which was NOT long enough at all! I get so sad every time I have to say goodbye to the Ballems!! :(

Overall, Spring Break 09 was AMAZING!

Master Bedroom

Dining Room

Ode to St. Paddy's Day!

THE RIGHT GREEN HAS ARRIVED!

So I finally LIKE a paint color we have picked. <> We were in Abilene all day on Sunday with Chet's parents, picking up their furniture and stuff for their new house. Since we were already at Lowe's, we decided to buy PAINT to fix our dining room and some to paint the master bedroom. I didn't start painting the first coats until 9pm, so wasn't finished until after 3am!! (Needless to say, I was a little grumpy at my hubby sleeping like a baby while I was painting away.) But because I was so excited to have an agreeable color of paint, I got up early and hit the paint rolling again. ;) These are pix we took last night after cleaning up the mess from painting two areas of a house at once.

I'm fully aware of the fact that I may be the one and only person to like this 'pea green', but I'm just happy Chet and I can finally not hate our dining room every time we walk in the house.

We chose beige for our bedroom to add some warmth. It really isn't that much of a change, but I love that the walls are not all white anymore.

Pictures from Austin

Austin, Lubbock, What a Week!

The Western Texas College TRiO programs attended the TASSSP conference in Austin Sunday-Wednesday this week:

Monday, my sweet boss Rachael, had a birthday. So what better way to spend a birthday in Austin, than to hit 6th Street?! ;)

Wednesday we drove straight from Austin to Snyder and Snyder to Lubbock for Thursday's GET MOTIVATED conference at the United Spirit Arena. [Well maybe I shouldn't say straight...haha...we took a slight detour!]

After being inspired by an amazing line-up of speakers, we ate dinner and arrived home last night....which means I'm EXHAUSTED! It was a lot of fun, but I think I am ready for a few more winks. ;) zzzzzzzz

Tomorrow I get a NEW DOO...thanks to my uber-talented friend Whitney at Lindsey's Day Spa in Lubbock.

SPRING BREAK NEXT WEEK MAKES ME VERY, VERY HAPPY! Chet and I are driving to Houston to spend a few days with our great friends, Brittney and Sean. Then we are driving to Brady to see my sis and her family! YAY! :)

Ruidoso

We spent the weekend in Ruidoso, NM with some of our best friends, Valerie and Jerrod Kerr. I've known Val since my first year at Tech, and we instantly became super close. We worked together at Cagle Steaks, lived together, went to class together, etc. We've been through a lot, but our relationship continues to get stronger. Val & Jerrod are such a godly, loving couple, and it was so refreshing to spend a few days with them!! Ruidoso provided plenty of *shopping*, eating at great restuarants, hiking breath-taking trails, walking, losing a few dollars to the casino...in other words, lots of fun. :) Chet and I both didn't want to work today...lol!