a cougar weekend.

hope y'all enjoyed your weekend! we sure did as we spent it with family cheering on our cougs in austin. hubs and i have been looking forward to this trip for quite a few months now, and it was {almost} everything we could have hoped for. just wish our cougs would have won...!

after a delayed flight, a missed flight, and then a night in a shady atlanta motel, we finally arrived in dallas 15 hours later! we were so eager to see my family and they were even more eager to see us. i'd been keeping the gender of baby m a secret since i wanted to tell them in person, so they just about died with anticipation and were happy when we finally arrived!

early the next morning, we all caravanned down to austin together. it was a hot, and i mean hot, day down there! so hot that my sis and i just might have been scheming of ways to get back to dallas asap and hit up the spa. but once the sun went down and the cougs got into their groove, we couldn't have been more happy with our decision to stay. even though we lost, it was a great game, and i couldn't believe how nice and cordial the texas fans were. but honestly, who could be too surprised... texas is the greatest place on earth! am i right or am i right?

so. darn. hot! cooling ourselves off before heading back out into the sun.

super bowl xlv.

i've been out of commission the past couple days since we've been busy partying it up in d-town. if you remember back in october, i became the luckiest girl when i won this. the day finally came that hubs and i got to go to the big game, and the whole experience was more than i could have ever imagined!

we arrived at the stadium around 2pm with tickets in hand for the official nfl tailgate party. i felt very special as we got to listen to some amazing live music {maroon five. keith urban. nbd}, gobble up delicious food, and rub shoulders with some vip's.

we were then very anxious to grab our seats in the stadium as to not miss christina's aguilera sing the anthem. let's just say, we should have carried on at the tailgate a bit longer...YIKES! not her finest moment. i guess she's going on the list right behind michael bolton and rosanne.

and then there was the game. ohhh the game. it was such a blast. i dressed for the steelers {reason to remain unpublished}, but to be honest, i really didn't care who won. all i know is that the jets didn't make it, so i was cheering for whoever was ahead. :)

and for my most favorite part of the whole game—the halftime show!! i was so excited to see the black-eyed peas {not to mention i sat with tad hamilton on the plane to dfw. ow ow} but i was even more surprised to see slash and usher perform. it was an incredible experience.

i won i won i won!

i'm going to the super bowl - for free! in dallas! with my husby!

last week, i came home to an unexpected fedex package at my door. 

upon opening, i found i was the grand prize winner of a super bowl sweepstakes

that i had entered a few months back. 

what the WHAT!?

who does that even happen to?

not only do i have 2 tickets to the super bowl, but i also get 100,000 AA miles, 

2 pre-game party tix, 2 gala tix, and $1500 cash. 

and even better, the game is in dallas, so i get to see my family!

it's ridiculous!

but let's be honest, i should have seen this coming ever since

i won disney on ice tickets in the 5th grade.

Rise and Shout!

say hello to our newest cougar!

yesterday was such a wonderful day as sydney found out she was

accepted to byu! she's worked her butt off this year and even took the act three times

to get the score she wanted. she definitely deserves this, and I am so proud of her!

{she'll look good in cougar blue, don't you think?}

ps :: sorry boys. she's already taken by one of byu's finest athletes.

pps :: he leaves for his mish soon, that'll be your prime time to pounce!

a weekend to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for all the new and fun experiences we get in this city.

I am thankful we could make it through the masses to experience our first {and last} Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I'm thankful Rachel Ray led me along the way in cooking my first Thanksgiving meal at home. And what a success it was!

I'm thankful that after a messy kitchen like this...

...there were two willing boys to clean it up.

And last but not least, I'm thankful that the Cougs could pull through against the Ute's this year! Go BYU!

rise and shout the cougars are out.

While Todd and I flew out to see my family in Dallas, we all knew the real motivation behind the visit...the BYU vs. OU football game.
And what a game it was!

Pre-game pep rally and tail-gate party

What a stadium! You could fit the Statue of Liberty upright and close the roof! Not to mention it's all glass!! {must be a lot of dizzy birds outside}

What a daunting sea of red. It would have been intimidating leaving without a win, but the OU fans were great sports. Nothing like the Utes.

Happy family. Even more happy in our cushy seats in the suite!

i'm coming...

This last week I decided to take a break from this little

blogosphere. I've been home in good 'ole Plano Texas

visiting the fam for Labor Day weekend.

Todd and I fly back to the big city at 6am tomorrow and I've got

just so much to tell you about. We've had so much fun!

Get ready for some great pics!

{Now back to the family!}

ps. GO COUGS!!!