I do heart TX/OU weekend

It's like a holiday weekeend for me. I took off the Friday before to preparefor the weekend. My stomach gets so nervous and excited, I just can't sleep! I know for months in advance the date...and when people say "oh, I'm doing x on 10/17" lands a response from me "don't you know that's tx/ou weekend"?

This year again was no disappointment. Getting tickets was a little more of a scare than it's been in the past, but my fabulous friend Stephanie has the biggest network of friends you could imagine, and she scored us some tickets for FACE VALUE. The tickets we got could have easily gone for $400/each. Granted, they were in the Sooner section....but, just getting in that game makes me happy :).

Friday night Jessica, Evan, Ryan, and Margaret came into town. We kicked off the weeekend by grilling out at home before heading to Who's Bad?--a Michael Jackson cover band at the House of Blues. Evan is still hoarse from screaming "I love you Michael!". Caleb busted some great dance moves as well. We get home about 1:30 in the morning and....

I'm so giddy I can't sleep! It's TX/OU weekend! I wake up off and on from about 4 till 6. I finally decide at 6:30 I can wake Caleb up. He wants to sleep longer. I wake him up every 5 minutes, singing Texas Fight!, The Eyes of Texas, prancing around with my horns up :). He tells me I'm like a kid at Christmas and finally gets up around 7. We're out the door by 7:30....off to enjoy the fair! Kick off is at 1100!!!

Catch a little of GameDay, catch a little quality time with Stephen and Ali, and get a burger and curly fries before heading into Sooner land. Tickets were great seats, 40 yard line. The fans were actually very respectful of us standing up singing The Eyes and the fight song. We didn't partake in the "OU sucks" chants, but other than that, we cheered on our boys, even though it was a mess of a game. I kept my tradition of drinking sprite, as I was so nervous! Game was over, we scooched to the UT section (the sooners were leaving=losers) to sing The Eyes. Since we won, we enjoyed the fair for a few more hours. Had some friend butter, not my thing but Caleb liked it. Dart was a disaster getting home, but got home, showered, ordered pizza and sat and watched more football with our friends. Fabulous day.

You would think it was over....but oh, no. We sure did watch the entire game AGAIN on Sunday on the DVR. Analyzed the plays. Then, we watched GameDay. It surely was a messy game, but a win is a win....and are those roses I smell?!

This may be my 2nd favorite holiday (after Christmas of course!).

Hook 'Em.

Fall, oh how I love thee

The fire is a blazing in the fireplace, Texas football is about to kick off, and Mr. Gatti's delivery man should be here any minute. Not to mention a 17 mile run this morning with perfect running weather (50s), market in the meadow (the neighborhood shopping expo), Caleb mowed the grass and is now shampooing the carpet, and the anticipation of OU weekend in just 5 short days. LOVE it.

Now off to watch my boys.....hook 'em :).

Summer of '09 in pics

I can't change the formatting and the pics posted in backwards order...so, here we go :)Caleb loved having fans come support him for 'Texas 2 finger' ultimate tournament in the heat of August....I haven't uploaded the 'action" shots yet, but Caleb played great!
Anniversary dinner at the Driskill! Chocolate treats and champagne, complimentary (as well as our room, room service, and club level lounge) of the Stephen F. Austin. Caleb surprised me and took us to our wedding night hotel for our 5 year anniversary. Long story short, he booked room #911 (our honeymoon room) and they gave it away, so they threw in all the above free! Fabulous weekend!
The Cavalier attempted to die ON our anniversary, but no sir-ee, it just needed a new battery. It's alive and kickin'!
Caleb completed his first triathalon with some friends from work. He had no training, had never swim a lap in his life, and did great. I sure hope our kids get HIS athleticism :).

(I JUST ACCIDENTALLY DELETED OUR PORT A PICS! WILL ADD LATER....but, just to keep the chronicle going, the whole Ratliff clan went to Port A to celebrate Mamie and Grandaddy's 60th anniversary. We had a great time!).
4th of July party at the Wood casa. I'd always wanted to "make one of 'dem cakes with the flag". After washing and cutting all the fruit, Caleb beat me to assembling to flag.
Finished patio!! Ready for our party!
Caleb is good--always gets me an ice cream cake for my birthday, just like when I was little.
Harrison turned 3 in June! He's getting so big, so fast! Love this little one :).
Patio is finished! Amigos and sno cones to celebrate! Thanks, Edil for all your hard work on our ENTIRE house!!
My first trip to the city dump to drop off concrete/bricks from the old patio. It was sooo stinky!

Caleb at work at the dump!

*We leave Friday for our 10 day road trip on the west coast! Seattle to San Francisco.....can't wait!

5 YEARS!

July 31, 2004--in so many ways I can't believe it's been 5 years, but in others, I really can't remember life before marriage.

From life at 1226 Baylor Ave in Waco to Uptown livin' in Dallas, to the last year establishing our home both working "real" jobs, I've had a blast. I remember at one of my wedding showers my bridesmaids made a video asking Caleb questions. One of the questions was "what are you most looking forward to about marriage?" and Caleb responded something to the effect of "we don't have to say goodbye at the end of the night and we just get to have fun together". Reflecting back, that is so true. I would definitely use the term "fun" to describe the past 5 years. Sure, we've had our struggles. We've learned a LOT about each other. We've learned compromise and sacrifice (during the first year I could not go to sleep if something was "out of place"; Caleb now wonders when Rosa is coming next because it gets to the point where he can't stand the mess!). But most of all, we've had so much fun. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. 5 years is just the beginning...

Summer of '09

What we're up to....

Julie:
-training for marathon #2=running workouts 5-6 days/week--lately been braving the treadmill as this Texas heat has become unbearable!
-looking forward to vacation Aug 14-23! we're finally doing our roadtrip from seattle to san fran!
-now on the "critical care" rotation at work= lots of intubated/sedated patients that don't need speech tx :). it's kinda slow, but it's nice for the summer!
-loves morning coffee on the new patio under the fan!
-is reading the "One Year Bible" starting from my bday this year (6/23) to next year


Caleb:
-had try outs and made Grit--the "A" ultimate club team=Tuesday night practice, Saturday practice, weekend tournaments every 2-3 weekends
-just completed a triathalon with NO training; is now into swimming at the gym
-doing more employment litigation at work--he doesn't love it, but the hours are pretty decent
-is still driving the Cavalier, although Julie is second guessing this car after all the car crash kiddos she's seen at work lately :(. On a side note, the Honda got hail damage last week and the Cavvy baby...of course, was under the garage at C's work!


We:
-just got back from a fabulous weekend getaway with the entire Ratliff gang at Port A to celebrate Mamie and Grandaddy's 60th wedding anniversary!
-are embarking on the big 5 year mark, July 31st--I'll try to devote an entire post to that one :)
-are loving life this summer. The Lord gives and takes away, and we're cherishing this time of "giving"....friends, family, house, low stress, great marriage, ahh.....

Picture post next!

Memorial Day....

So, I made a post earlier today regarding today as a day to sit by the pool, relax, and enjoy a backyard bbq. I just spent some time reading online about Memorial Day and now feel somewhat ashamed...Memorial Day is a day to reflect on those that lost their lives fighting for our country. I always think of "veterans" and "war heroes" as old men, but it's not that way anymore. These men have left behind wives. babies. siblings. parents. Check out this link:

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0604/temple.html

So although it's fun to be all "American" and go to the lake, hang out by the pool, and have a bbq, I encourage you all to reflect and be grateful for our troops, and those that have lost their lives.

On a quick note, I think Edil and Carlos enjoyed our "American" evening of a backyard bbq--and now they're hooked on washers :).

patio

The last of the "big" house projects is in the works! Edil and his friend Carlos are up here working on building us a patio. Picked out the flagstone on Saturday :). I have taken pictures to chronicle this project (including Caleb with the jackhammer and "Steve" from the stone shop riding down the alley in his forklift carrying our 4 tons (yes, 8000 lbs!) of stone). You know me though....have yet to post those pics, so they will come eventually. Today Caleb is doing a little work then has ultimate practice. I've spent the morning calling gravel places--and they also, like the rest of America, are taking Memorial Day off. So, I've now donned the swimsuit for the first time this season and am going to do some chillaxing poolside for the day! We plan on grilling burgers, eating baked beans, potato chips, and watermelon tonight. Yum!

Perspective

I love my job. I love learning something new every single day. I love to sit and hold babies that have tubes and monitors and everything else on them so it takes 5 minutes to position in my lap, but as soon as we are both still that heartrate starts to calm. I love to pray for my patients, and it's amazing how the Lord prompts very specific prayers for each child. I love getting to see kids talk for the first time after they've been in a coma and see not only the faces of the parents, but the light in the child's eye when they realized they just spoke with meaning. I love getting to help a new Mom feed their baby for the first time and the cameras come out and it's such a special, "normal" moment--even though the baby is 2 or 3 or 6 months old. I love getting to work so closely with brilliant people who teach me so much, yet listen to what I have to say and even ask my opinion. I love all these things, but most of all, I love getting to know the families. The stories. It's so so so hard to have your baby in the hospital, but I think at this time the families are most vulnerable and just share their hearts. It's such a blessing to me to just listen and see the way the Lord weaves in and out of each and every story and each story gives me such perspective. His creation. His sovereignty. Even in the sick, very sad cases of abuse, neglect, drug/alcohol use, etc He is SOVEREIGN. Autism. Cancer. Inoperable brain tumor. Coma. Rare genetic syndrome affecting ability to eat by mouth. Heart transplant. Nonaccidental Trauma (abuse). Trach/vent baby whose family has abandoned him after 5+ months of hospital stay. Those were the diagnoses in the order that I saw my patients today.

Tonight I was looking at the blog of one of my patient's families and a Mom shared this. It's so true, so I'll leave it with my blogger buds :):


Holland:

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip-to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?!" you say. "What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy!".

But ther's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would have never met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced that Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for awhile and catch your breath, you look around...and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away....because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But, if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things....about Holland.

-Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987

Swine Flu Special Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was talking to my brother on the phone last night, and the one thing that I really envy about Stephen is the fact that he goes on vacation. A lot. And I LOVE vacation :). Now don't get me wrong, he definitely works hard....but then he plays hard :). I'm not about the working so much, but I can definitely do the playing!

Anyway, he said that he got a "swine flu special" and he's going to Mexico for memorial day weekend at an incredible deal. So, as I'm sitting in outpatient today awaiting my patient to arrive for her evaluation, I just happen to check out these "swine flu specials" (not a technical term) online and WOA! I'm ready for Mexico! I'm not sure if Caleb is on board with it, but I'm in the beach mood now, just blogging in my bikini (haha, just kidding on that one!). I mean, no kids...no responsibilities at work (well, atleast for me).....what a perfect time to be spontaneous and just hop to Mexico for the weekend?! Who's in?!

Adios for now....the dryer buzz just brought me back to reality :)

Lots 'o pics!

These pics are in reverse order from May-Feb :). Sorry if that's confusing, I just wanted to get these posted and that's the way it formatted!

Camping this past weekend at Lake Mineral Wells with our community group. We had a great time....and for those of you that know me, it was really great company for me to have a great time camping :)

We went to a Rough Riders game as a volunteer celebration with our church. Here's Caleb with Joel ....he will be 1 on the best birthday of all, June 23 :).

Joel with cousin Noah at the baseball game. Noah's Mommy is in my Bible study (Joel's parents are in our community group). We love watching these sweet boys grow up!

And another precious little one who's growing up way too fast, Mr. Hudson, our nephew (17 months)
Here are all the boys (Caleb with Hudson, Harrison in green, Hayden shirtless) in the backyard! Caleb and I had a great time keeping our nephews for the night while Emily and Jeff celebrated her birthday downtown!

While we're on the subject of precious little ones growing up, here's 'lil miss Abby sporting her "I heart cupcake" shirt just for Steph who didn't make it to Bible study that night. This is for you, Steph....sorry I'm just now getting it to you :). Abby is almost 15 months.

The Arkansas Derby contestants (hmm...is that what they're called? probably not)....

Us at the horseraces for our getaway weekend :).

My wonderful friend Kate (in the middle of this pic) is going overseas to serve as a missionary in Marseillles, France. Chelsea and I hosted a going away party for her....we love you and miss you Katya!

My cousin Amanda came in with her 2 precious gals, Kylie and Payten, and spent the weekend with us back in March. Here's Miss Kylie at the Children's Mueseum

Caleb's Mom bough us the Ticket to Ride expansion set.....which has filled many of our nights these past few months. I guess Caleb won this night, but that's not always the case, as I can hold my own :). Thanks, Ava for the wonderful surprise!
Caleb's winter league team, "The Handlers" finished up in March. No worries, friends, club season just started this past Saturday, and spring league ends in about a month.....Caleb still gets his ultimate on a weekly basis :). Here's the winter league team:

We celebrated Connie's 50th birthday in Waco over rollerskating and fajitas at La Fiesta. Here's Jenny, me, Ali, and Stephen (and when one of the "5" grandkids isn't there, we always hold up a plate for the one missing....in this case, Lindsey (who has red hair, hence, the red plate). Haha, what a quirky, but fun family tradition :).


My Mom, Ali, and me with the birthday girl :)

Last but not least, a sneak peak of the remodeling Edil did upstairs in January. He did the gameroom, both bedrooms, and office in January and came back up a couple of weeks ago and did the bathroom upstairs. The patio in a few weeks, and then we're done ;). Still got to do the decorating....