39 days until...

I'm very excited. I love the Olympics, and look forward to them every other year. Well, let's be honest, I look forward to them all the time, once this one's over at the end of August, I'll be anxiously awaiting the next Winter Games. It doesn't hurt that the 3 different countries I've lived in have all hosted the Olympics at/around the time of my living there. I missed the Sydney games by a couple months, but my dad got to go. I'm jealous of my father- he's made it to two different games- the Summer in Sydney, 2000 and the Winter in Turin, Italy in 2006. Very jealous. I'd like to make it to London for the 2012 games. That's my goal. We were happy to find the US trials for the Track & Field and Swimming on television last night. Swimming is one of my favorite events, and Zach's partial to Track & Field, so we were both contented to sit and watch 2 hours of it. I think the Olympics is the only time ever that I'm more interested in watching sports than my husband!

I'm spending the day in Sugar Land today with my Mummy! I'm glad she's got Mondays off now, she's not tired from working all morning when I get into town and she's always ready to spend girl time together since we don't get to very often. My poor mother is swimming in a sea of testosterone. I've got to take her the box from my new phone (my old phone wouldn't hold charge, so I was stuck driving 45 minutes to and from 'Caldwell' with no phone... on a road with little reliable traffic. Not cool) I got for an early birthday present. She's so good about rebates, and always gets those things filled out and sent in quick as a flash. So I owe her the bar codes off my box, but I'm taking the opportunity to go into Houston to get my hair... done. I won't say what I'm having done because I just won't... but you'll see soon enough! I'm going to a whole new place in the Rice Village that my friend Sherri from Fencing class uses. I'm just looking forward to not going someplace in College Station, to be honest with you!

Zach starts a whole month of Anesthesia today. Every one of the fourth years has to take two Anesthesia rotations, and so Zach happened to get his back to back. Yawn, but on the bright side, he won't have any SOAPs to do, so he usually won't have to be into the clinic before 8:00 am. Thank the Lord for that, my poor hubby does get run down when he's pulling 11 hour days! In addition, Zach has his first rotation with his good friend Chris Merren. These two boys are naughty funny together, and I know Zach's looking forward to getting to see Chris regularly again. Chris is one of my favorite friends of Zach's- he's the most incredibly decent guy you could ever hope to meet.

We're gearing up for a big Fourth of July weekend! The Kennedy/Franz family reunion is happening on the 5th up at Aunt Darlene & Uncle Kirk's ranch in Brownwood. We're bringing along Cory and Lindsay and I'm so excited my two best friends will be there too. We're extra, super excited because Zach's cousin Bo, who's been in Virginia since October, is going to be back and we're so excited to see him. It should be a weekend full of family, friends and fun! We're looking forward to it, and Jethro and Shiner even get to come too! What a load we're bringing to Brownwood-- look out the Clarks are coming! Lily has to stay behind (and I'm nervous about leaving her) because we just can't figure a way to bring her along. Poor baby. I'm just praying we get some rain before the 4th.

We haven't had rain in College Station since May! Can you believe that? I'm dying for a good thunderstorm. Not only is that my favorite kind of weather when I'm at home (not when I'm driving and ESPECIALLY not when I'm out at Heather's I think), but we also are desperate for the hydration. Our weeds in the back yard are dying, haha! Zach hasn't had to mow the lawn in... 3 weeks! And we all know that in this part of Texas, this time of year, that's really saying something. Nothing is flourishing, I can't keep my plants watered enough... it's so frustrating. We get teases of weather- a few rumbles of thunder, flashes of lightning, spattering of raindrops for a few seconds but nothing substantial. It's bringing me down.

Okay, so that should be plenty until after the 4th- right? I hope everyone has a wonderful *short* week!

working girl

I've finally found the time and energy to sit down and tell you all about work. To say that it's been a learning experience would be putting it lightly. In my two days for working with Heather, I have realized what I want out of the profession and how I want to achieve it. I have already gotten better at icing a cake- Heather's taught me a lot already about that. Essentially, I've learned that having the right tools makes all the difference. An icing tip is a God send- and a long pastry spatula makes getting the sides smooth much easier.

Heather's experience is fairly limited, she's taken a few classes at a place in Austin in order to learn the basics and some fondant work, but not too much, and other than that she's self taught. I was hoping to learn so much more this summer, like how to make gumpaste roses or how to decorate with fondant- not just cover a cake... but that's okay because while I won't be able to learn these things from her, Heather has made me realize that I want to go to pastry school, I want to make my cakes something much more grand than what she's been taught to do. I want to be able to make a seven tiered cake, covered with fondant with fondant drapes and gumpaste roses. I want to learn how to work with sugar so I can make 7 foot tall sugar sculptures. I know what I want out of it now, and I'm glad for it. All in all, you can not achieve what I want to achieve off of a few classes.

Having said that, I won't give away any of Heather's other secrets (though she doesn't really see her education in the field as a secret). She's a great, fun woman and I do enjoy the work. It's fun to work with cakes and icing and fondant all day, and it's rewarding to see a cake come together. We did a bunch of cakes in these past two days- Thursday we did a 3 tiered square wedding cake in butter cream, a three tiered wedding cake in white fondant, a four tiered wedding cake in pink fondant, a 3 tiered anniversary cake in buttercream and a baby shower cake in buttercream with pink and chocolate fondant accents. Friday we put together three groom's cakes and got the fondant cakes painted with luster dust and decorated almost in full. Heather won't travel more than 3 cakes high so we couldn't finish the pink cake- it was my favorite this week. The white fondant would have been except that the cake was going to have maroon ribbon around each tier-- maroon and white, give me a break. The pink cake had white buttercream scrollwork and then was going to have pretty gumpaste orchids all over it that were white with pink centers. SO pretty, I wanted to see it finished- I'll have to wait for pictures.

So that was my two days in a nutshell. It's enjoyable work and I will say that after being around cake and frosting for hours on end, the last thing I want to eat is anything sweet- so I thank pastry work for that! I'm just glad to be doing something so that I'm not sitting around the house all day alone anymore. Jethro's having to adjust, but I think it will be best for all of us that I do have two days at work and the rest of the time I'm home with the babies. It gives me a chance to relax and get things done for myself too- and for Zach. If I had to work 5 days a week, I can tell you that I don't know how our house would get cleaned or our laundry done because I've been beat coming home both days. Okay, so that's that and I hope you all enjoyed hearing about my little job!

pips please!

Happy Monday!

I know what you're thinking- she's crazy. I'm literally counting down the days until I drive to Caldwell for work on Thursday. I've never looked forward to work like this before and we've got a heavy load this week. I'm ecstatic to be starting something productive. I feel like I'm going stale sitting around the house so much!

This past weekend was the first in a month where we haven't had some sort of company at all. It was strange- we're almost used to having one or both sets of parents over and we didn't much know what to do with ourselves. We had to stay at the house on Saturday because Zach was first on-call so he had to be able to drop everything, throw on his doctor clothes and rush to the clinic if need be. Luckily- he only got an informational call and wasn't needed at the clinic so that was nice.

We had a wonderful Sunday. Poor Jethro had an accident... wait- those two sentences shouldn't come one after the other! Haha! If you know my poor boy, you know he hasn't pottied in the house since he was very, very young so we know it was an emergency and he couldn't help himself- but he was kind of a catalyst. We ran out of Incredible carpet cleaner the last time Shiner pottied in the house (I actually DO have two potty trained dogs- it's rare for this to happen!) and so when Zach went looking for some we didn't have any. So we made a trip to Pet-Co to get some and decided against going back to the house for a while. We got lunch, we saw A MOVIE...

Haha...it was very good. I was very happy- I am on a total comic book hero kick right now, so I was really pleased that the movie was well done. It was millions of years better than the first attempt at a Hulk film, and I love Edward Norton and Liv Tyler so they can do pretty much whatever and I'm happy. Robert Downey Jr. was in it, for a second, and that made me smile too. Also, since I haven't mentioned MMA for a while, there's a point in the film when Banner (Norton) is in Brazil and he's sitting with a Jiu Jitsu master and he's trying to learn how to control his breathing in order to slow his heart rate so that he doesn't 'turn.' Well, the 'master' he's sitting with is none other than Rickson Gracie (Pronouced Hickson), the son of Hélio Gracie, the man who is credited as the father of Mixed Martial Arts. We were so excited- of course I was quite impressed with myself that I even recognized him as a Gracie, but since I know of his brother Royce I guess it makes sense. We appreciated that detail, movie makers, we appreciated it! (Aside: Speaking of MMA fighters in movies, Gina Carano is going to be in the upcoming film Blood and Bone, along with a number of the other American Gladiators. I noticed a name I recognized in the cast-- the character Pinball in the movie is being played by none other than Dante Basco who played Rufio in Hook! THAT made my day. Friggin Rufioooo! Bangarang Rufio! I will say that when we go see that movie. That's another reason to go right there! ...back to the main thought...) After the movie, we went to the book store and then came back to let the dogs in- but I had set Zach's mind going and he was craving Ninfa's for dinner so we left them inside and headed out. All in all, we had a really relaxing, comfortable day.

Zach starts Equine Internal Medicine today- he is sad to leave Zoo Med behind. He has had so much fun, and I know he's happy that he's got another Zoo rotation. I think at first he wasn't excited about having to repeat rotations, but knowing it's Zoo that he gets to go back to has made him happy. So he's back to the Large Animal Clinic... he's got only two more rotations before he heads to his externship!

I'll be eager to get back to Sugar Land in August. I have to say, this is our first summer in College Station and I'm going to say I prefer summers a little bit closer to the coast. Do you know this is the farthest away I've ever been from the coast since I was 4? I was born in Oklahoma which is pretty much the middle of the friggen continent, then I moved to Norway at age 4. I used to drive past the coast every day on my way to school. Then we moved to Sugar Land when I was 10 and then to Melbourne, Australia 2 1/2 years later. We could walk to Brighton Beach from our house. Then after a year and a half there, we moved to Perth, Australia, where I had a view of the Indian Ocean from the balcony of my house. Then back to Sugar Land. And now College Station. I must say, I miss the ocean. Wow- that was a jaunty little jog off topic! I guess it's just one more reason to start a "house-in-the-Bahamas (or Florida Keys or anywhere tropical)" fund as soon as we're able. I've already told Zach we'll have to figure something out. Poor guy.

Well, I'm afraid that's all I have for today. I think I'll just leave you with a picture that makes me smile. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...

The Pips


(or Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.)

on a break...

So I'm on a break from the heavy bag and I thought I'd do this while everything's fairly fresh in my mind, and before my fingers swell up and my joints stiffen. Seriously, though, I love working out on that heavy bag- I actually don't want to quit my workouts early, and for me, that's a really big deal! *Quick Question: does anybody else do all their blogging from the HTML window? Just curious* So here you go...

Your CURRENT favorite things:

My favorite day of the week is: Friday- because Zach's not on call.
My favorite neighbor is: the guys across the street with the metal band- they rock.
My favorite magazine is: the latest Playboy sucked so... In Style?
My favorite hair product is: something to tame frizzies.
My favorite appliance in my house is: my iPod stereo thingy... it's the best.
My favorite ice cream flavor is: the always faithful, cream flavor.
My favorite work out is: my heavy bag (10 min), yoga ball (10 sets), heavy bag (20)
My favorite movie is: BBC/Masterpiece Theater's Sense and Sensibiliy- so good.
My favorite place to nap is: on the blue couch- it'll put the non sleepy to sleep!
My favorite animal is: the snake- she hasn't worried me today and she's shedding.
My favorite website is: UFC.com- even if Dana's annoucement wasn't too big.
My favorite TV show is: American Gladiators and Doctor Who.
My favorite channel is: HGTV. I love Candace Olson.
My favorite song to work out to is: Driving with the Top Down (Iron Man soundtrack)
My favorite album is: Iron Man soundtrack... gets me in the mood to box.
My favorite playlist is: "Stefanie's Random Songs She Likes." Sums it up?
My favorite read is: Anne of Green Gables
My favorite food is: Pizza- I'm on a pizza kick right now.
My favorite non-alcoholic drink is: Water or Raspberry/Apple Vitamin Water
My favorite alcoholic drink is: Vodka in HEB's Apple/Pear Italian Soda.
My favorite toy is: our Wii, especially Wii Sports!
My favorite word is: job- because I have one now!!!!!
My favorite athlete is: Forrest Griffin- he hasn't dissapointed me yet. & Gina.
My favorite actor is: Robert Downey Jr. & Shia LaBeouf- favorite performances lately.
My favorite actress is: Freema Agyeman. Seriously wish Martha wasn't engaged!
My favorite person to hate is: probably anyone on The Hills- I can't stand anyone but Audrina and I just feel sorry for her.
My favorite person to miss is: my kiddos at Camp- especially Hunter!
My favortie place to eat is: Fish Daddys- firecracker shrimp please!
My favorite relative is: my grandfather, he has me worried!
My favorite song is: DamnKid - DJ Boborobo (name that album!!)
My favorite item of clothing is: my ProElite.com tank!
My favorite laundry detergent is: Honeysuckle and...guava?
My favorite shampoo is: BioSilk.
My favorite body wash is: Pomegranate & Mango Softsoap.
My favorite perfume is: Laila: The Essence of Norway. Seriously. THANKS MOM!
My favorite soda brand is: Coke-because they make diet coke.
My favorite author is: Libba Bray & L.M. Montgomery
My favorite director is: Clint Eastwood- I choose a side! Haha.
My favorite reality star is: Holly Madison. I adore her.
My favorite photo is: The one of me, Zach and Jack Sparrow in the Bahamas.
My favorite kitchen utensil is: my huge knife!
My favorite vegetable is: carrots- I have two pounds in my fridge!
My favorite fruit is: the apple. Yum. Frozen grapes are yummy too.
My favorite sweet is: ice cream. It's hot and I want ice cream all the time.
My favorite flower is: fuschia & hydrangea & hollyhock & delphinium & the canna lily
My favorite hobby is: my garden- I have pretty flowers.
My favorite thing to do at work is: everything, I'm betting- cake decorating!
My favorite nail color is: Midnight in Moscow (wearing Light My Sapphire though)
My favorite razor brand is: men's Schick Quatro Titanium.
My favorite shower setting is: the full blast one-I got a new shower head, hooray!
My favorite jewelry is: my 3 rings, my 2 pairs of earrings and my Swarovski pendant
My favorite store is: Target & proelite.com's shop & Sephora.
My favorite indulgence is: staying up late and sleeping late in the morning!
My favorite splurge is: a bottle of Smart Water when I go grocery shopping.
My favorite budget maker is: HEB brands on all but chips, cereal & soda, food wise.
My favorite chore is: laundry & vacuuming. I love my dyson vacuum!!
My favorite DVD is: Topper and Topper Returns (1 disc)
My favorite music video is: the one for Beat It by Fall Out Boy
My favorite internet video is: Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr.'s video they made to promote Tropic Thunder for the MTV Movie Awards- so freaking funny!
My favorite gossip source is: People.com
My favorite medicine cabinet item is: Vick's Vapo-rub. I have a jar by the bed- sometimes I fall asleep with it in my hand. I travel with it.
My favorite beauty item is: probably Too Faced First Base Eyeshadow Base- but I don't always wear eyeshadow with it, it's pretty alone and makes my skin soft!
My favorite facial cleanser is: Proactiv.
My favorite lotion is: Victoria's Secret, Pure Seduction Hand & Body Cream
My favorite pair of shoes is: My Havaianas, esp. my brasilia ones
My favorite lip balm is: Rosebud Perfume Co.'s Minted Rose Lip Balm.
My favorite daily ritual is: my shower and toilette routine at night.
My favorite body part is: my hands, complete with bruised, raw, bloody knuckles. I love that!
My favorite hair style is: I love Gina's hair, and I can't wait to get mine cut again- August, hurry up!
My favorite poet is: Lord Byron, that naughty, naughty man! And Tennyson. And Shakespeare. And William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. I like English Poetry.
My favorite cosmetics brand is: Too Faced at the moment.
My favorite sunscreen is: the one I got last summer that's orange and purple oil and you shake it together and it smells heavenly... I have no idea what it is!
My favorite outdoor activity is: Working in my garden or sitting in my little pool while the dogs play.
My favorite driving route is: the one to the Houston Premium Outlets, not because of the destination but because of all the beautiful trees and rolling hills- if it were April, I'd say the one to Sugar Land because of the wildflowers along HWY and FM 359!
My favorite bathing suit is: one that looks good! Haha, I like my pink Burberry one at the moment.
My favorite classic film is: hard to narrow down! I love: Bringing up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Casablanca, Topper, Singin' In The Rain, Pal Joey, Anchors Aweigh(Away? Can't remember), The Shop Around the Corner, Sabrina, My Fair Lady, Gigi, The Holiday... I'm forgetting like fifty. The Women, All About Eve, All the old Frankie & Annette movies (Beach Blanket Bingo, Beach Party, Bikini Beach Party, Pajama Party... How to Stuff a Wild Bikini), The Opposite Sex, Good News, Easter Parade. I think that's enough for now!


I hope you all had fun learning a little bit about me- at least, about me at the moment! I'm happy to say that I have gotten a job up here for the summer- I'll be working for Heather Taylor, the owner/operator/head of Taste of Heaven. I'll be decorating cakes all summer with her and I couldn't be happier! She made Jason and Charlene's cakes and she's doing the cakes for my friend Salinda's September wedding! I might get to help decorate my friend's wedding cake! How crazy is that? Well, I'm excited and I'm anxious to start learning about the business, and to start getting some real world experience under my belt. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures on here of cakes I've decorated! I will be sure to post about my first day at work (next Thursday) and tell you all about it!

tidbits

So I got the latest In Style magazine (which isn't common- I usually get my magazine fix from our Playboy subscription) and in it they had the neatest new charity project. Wear Your Music --you can go online and buy bracelets made from the guitar strings of various celebrities. They have tons of different people, and you search by celebrity. We, go figure, didn't find anyone much to our liking, which is lucky, I suppose because they're rather highly priced. But isn't that the coolest idea? If they had our favorite musicians, I would have to think very seriously on a pair for us.


I've been haunting Must Have Bag online- apparently she's getting ready to have a big sale and I'm hoping to see some low prices. These bags are so pretty and all made out of leather- and they're so cheap compared with what a single Coach bag costs- I'm wondering why I'd want to pay for a fabric bag when I can get two leather ones for the price of one Coach. Oh I know, it won't have the little Coach hang tag, but who cares? Sometimes it gets rather monotonous to be one of very many out carrying the same bag. I'm just hoping Alex at MHB is going to mark down the spring stuff low enough that it's reasonable to find one for a summer bag. I need leather during the summer, so I can just clean it with a little bit of water when it gets sweaty-- fabric just makes no sense because it absorbs everything. So there- my little purse rant. Some women like shoes and have hundreds of pairs- I like purses and at the moment I'm having trouble finding one I want to carry every day.

I've got to go to Home Depot today to get some plumber's tape-- we went yesterday to get mulch for my flower beds and I'd been wanting a new shower head- the one that we have right now is just crap. So we found a great one, put the tape in the basket as well and then nobody noticed that it fell out somewhere along the way- we didn't pay for it thankfully but we still need it. After Roger and Steph left, Zach and I ran to Target and HEB close to us to try and find some but neither place had it- HEB frustrated Zach because they had shower heads and plumbing needs, but no tape. He couldn't understand why a store would carry part B but not have part A which is needed to install part B. That's how he explained it. But I'm excited to go back to Home Depot today because I want to write down the specs on a faucet I've found there. Like I tell everyone, I've already planned out my future kitchen- but I've been on the lookout for a faucet I love that will work with the style. Well I've found it, and I love it! It looks a lot like this one- but less expensive (thank goodness, or Zach would veto in 1 second!) and without the in counter pump.

So my dad leaves for Qatar again today- we don't know when he'll be back because he might have to make an emergency trip. My grandfather's going to have to have bypass surgery and I know dad wants to be there to help Grandma out as much as possible that week when the surgery takes place. The poor woman will need someone to sit with my Grandpa to make sure he does what he's supposed to while she goes and gets food and showers and gets some sleep. I'm anxious to go with my dad, I haven't gotten to see my Grandparents since my wedding, and I'm eager to see him soon. We're waiting to see when the surgery will take place because they've got to get his blood sugar under control and they've got to see about his lungs before they do the procedure- but the surgeon has said that since my Grandma has caught him feeling bad right before he's ready for a heart attack (twice! Twice she's saved him from a heart attack!) that he's not sustained any damage to his heart and that really will help him out a lot. So we're thankful for that. I'll keep posting as I hear news about him from Grandma- she's so good at keeping us informed.

Did you guys like the pictures from Jason and Charlene's wedding? I was looking back and I didn't seem to get any good ones of Charlene's face- my mom tried one time but she was being shy and turning away from the camera. But that's okay- I understand! It's rather uncomfortable to be the center of attention like that and have fifty cameras in your face for it. It was a beautiful wedding- but it was hotter than ****. You know, weddings outside are beautiful. Weddings outside in central Texas in June are just... miserably hot. But we all handled it rather well- my dress didn't really stand the heat. It was rather artfully crinkled cotton and by the end of the night, the back of my dress that I had been sitting on was pressed flat. I was most unhappy, but managed to get it back to rights once we got home. I felt for Roger- he had to sing in a full suit out in the heat and by the end he was his own water feature. But it cooled off a bit for the reception and the whole evening was a pleasant one. We did the War Hymn (obviously) and that was lots of fun because I was next to Aunt Loueva and she was having a blast with it-- we did have some t-sips in the crowd who'd boo and what not, but she's ready and able to give it right back to 'em with a vengeance. Funny woman.

Well, I best go. I've got things to do and a rather exciting phone call to make this afternoon. Hopefully I can post good news very soon! I hope everyone has a wonderful week-- you can leave me some comments... let me know what you want to hear about, pictures you might want to see... anything? Yeah- I'm envious of Meredith for her comments. But she's got a baby to write about, and I've not so... you know.

a little of this...

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend. Zach started Zoo med on Monday. That's turned out to be an exciting thing! I love hearing about the new and different animals he's been dealing with. He didn't get home until 6pm on our anniversary (more on that later), but at least he wasn't on call. He was on call on Tuesday, and didn't even get a chance to get home before his phone rang- some lady brought in an armadillo. He was second on call yesterday but thankfully his phone didn't ring. He was lucky enough to get home extra, super duper early today, so that was nice. He's been seeing such a variety of pets, he saw a parrot today (forgot which- African maybe?) and a Bald Eagle on Tuesday. Yeah. He worked on a Bald Eagle- how freaking cool is that?! He's dealt with ferrets, tortoises... there was a hawk he got to see... it's been exciting!

Monday was our anniversary, and although we didn't get to spend too much time together due to Zach's late hours at the clinic, we still got to have a nice evening. We went to Fish Daddy's for dinner... we had been planning on going to Cafe Eccell, Eccell Steakhouse or Christopher's World Grille for dinner but we decided that we'd rather get more food for less money- we were being cheap. Besides that, the Eccell group is so expensive and I really like La Bodega best but that's not the kind of place I wanted to go for our first anniversary. Zach was a dear sweetheart and got me a beautiful Tanzanite and diamond ring-- it's stunning. Tanzanite is super, amazingly rare and beautiful. There's only been one vein of the gem found (I'm going to go all Geologist on you) and they've not been able to find the circumstances that produced the vein again. They have already mined out the best quality of the gem, so they're getting down to the last little amount of it and what they're pulling out of the mine right now is a pale blue- which looks something more like an aquamarine. The best tanzanite gems are a rich, blueish purple color. Some can be so dark they look like sapphires-- beautiful stones. I'll post a picture of it too, it's so hard to describe, and it's just too pretty not to share! I must admit, we looked quite nice going out for dinner! I'd found the most fabulous silk dress and ordered it on a huge sale- I'd been hiding it from Zach so he would be surprised and then he unintentionally dressed to match. I have to brag on us when we look nice because we rarely dress up. We'll have another opportunity this weekend when Zach's cousin gets married- I have another fabulous dress to wear to the wedding from the same place I got my dress for our anniversary, but different designers, and not as dressy.

This is the typical "nice" photo taken at our house, in some way, Jethro must make his presence felt. And excuse the black bar- I had to find some way to make my art "blogger friendly!"

You have to excuse my finger looking so fat, I took this right after a thirty minute round with Mr. Everlast, the heavy bag!

So for Zach's birthday, I decided to get him something we'd both been wanting for a long time. I ordered him a heavy bag stand and we went and bought a heavy bag from Academy. Well, we had company in April, so we didn't take apart the guest room until after they left, and then Zach's been so busy, it's been hard to find time to get in there to set it up together. Well, finally, I got motivated and took down the guest bed myself, stored away all the stuff I'd been keeping underneath it and managed to get the room ready for the heavy bag. I managed to get part of the stand put together myself, but there was one piece that was so badly bent that I had to wait for Zach to finish it. We managed to get it all put together one weekend- we even went to Home Depot to get sand bags to weigh it down so it doesn't tip. The stand comes with these nifty weight pegs that you can put standard lifting weights from a bench set on to keep the stand stable, but they're expensive- so I'd read online that one man kept his steady with sand bags for $2.50 each from Home Depot. We liked that price better. They may not be pretty, but they function just right. We're so happy with the result. We've got quite a little room set up- to be honest, I'm ready for that bed to go away, but it's fine where it is for right now. We don't use anything else we've got in the room except the heavy bag- and I use it way more than Zach. It's funny, my favorite body part has always been my hands. They're dainty and slim, my fingers are long and slender and my nail beds are deep so I just have great hands (being honest) and I've always prided myself on having pretty hands. Well, boxing does NOT lend itself well to pretty hands, and I'm actually proud of getting done with an hour long workout and having my knuckles swollen and red and rubbed raw. It's rewarding. Especially when you go to HEB and the person checking you out notices your "boxer knuckles." Is that weird?

This is the guest room... when it was still a guest room!

And after... I hung my foils on the wall, my fencing mask is out and Zach's... well, I can't even begin to spell what those are, but they looked cool with my foils so I hung them up too. Don't you LOVE my pink boxing gloves?

The bed... against the wall. We're waiting for a lot of promotional posters to be stocked/released to decorate with. I'm not going to work too hard- it's not a room for everyone, after all.

My friend, Mr. Everlast. That's 100 lbs of sheer... hard weight!

Is it bad that I'd wear that every day if nobody cared?

Well, I think that will cover it for a couple days. I've got to get ready for my in-laws, they're coming up tomorrow to spend the night because we're going to the rehearsal dinner tomorrow and then the wedding on Saturday. An aside: One of my favorite fighters, Matt Hughes is fighting in London on Saturday- to watch it live on Pay-Per-View, it starts at 2pm. The wedding starts at 6:30... we're trying to figure out if we can swing ordering the fight so that we (yes, I'm finding a way to justify it!) have something to do before hand. Right. So let's all be thinking about Matt Hughes and sending him our good vibes. The dude's a beast- I'm fairly confident he'll be fine, I mean look at his record (below). And then he gets another shot at Matt Serra and that's what I want to see! Hooray! And Dana White's got a big announcement to make about the UFC Thursday next and I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear what it is- I'm hoping Dana's decided to jump on with EliteXC and start showing some big fights on national television. Okay, so enough of that, have a great Friday and Saturday, we'll see you on Sunday, probably!

i stole from amanda... my 5 things

5 things under $5 that I cannot live without:

1. Vick's Vapo-Rub

2. Hair ties that don't crease your hair (they do exist!)

3. Nail Polish Remover

4. Sonic Happy Hour drinks

5. Rosebud lip balm

5 ALL TIME Favorite Movies:

1. Kelly's Heroes

2. James Bond (all except Die Another Day)

3. The Philadelphia Story

4. Singin' in the Rain

5. The Fifth Element

5 baby names I love

**Aside: NONE of these are the names we have picked out- I will NEVER AGAIN repeat the names I've picked!!**

1. Hallie Michelle (can't use this one, wanted to though!)

2. Lesiel Maria (I know, I know...)

3. Gemma

4. Alistair Riley

5. Tabitha

5 people who have influenced me in a positive way:

1. The 'rents

2. Zachary

3. Cory

4. Lindsay

5. Gina Carano (she inspires me!)

5 things that are always in my purse:

1. Wallet

2. Minted Rose lip balm

3. Trident Original gum

4. A Dr. Linney pen

5. My keys

5 Moments that have changed my life

1. Growing up in Norway

2. Marrying Zachary

3. Living in Melbourne & Perth, Australia

4. Realizing I want to go to Pastry School

5. Getting my scuba license

5 obsessions I have right now:

1. Our heavy bag & using it daily

2. Mixed Martial Arts (don't believe me? see below!)

3. Hating my house

4. Summer Movies

5. BBC's renditions of Jane Austen's novels, esp. Sense and Sensibility

5 places I would like to go

1. Norway *sigh*

2. Egypt

3. Prague

4. Venice

5. Monaco for the Formula 1 race!

5 Celebrities I hate to admit I keep up with:

1. Hugh Hefner & his girlfriends

2. The Jolie/Pitt clan

3. Roger Clemens (how far can he fall?)

4. Kimbo Slice (was it rigged or not!?)

5. The Wentz's

5 Most exciting things about this summer:

1. Zach's new adventures

2. Seeing BO KENNEDY at the family reunion

3. Great UFC fights

4. My daddy being home twice!

5. ?? Zach's externship. Wow, what a boring summer!

5 Goals I am currently working on:

1. Eating healthier

2. Teaching my dogs "down"

3. Keeping my plants alive

4. Being better about laundry

5. Getting into Gina's shape

5 People that come up most often in my Normal Conversation:

1. Zach

2. Lindsay

3. Gina C

4. Jethro, Shiner and Lily

5. My Dad because he's home now and will be again in August!

happiness is...

Today we are celebrating our first anniversary. Instead of writing an overly mushy post about how much we love each other (because you all KNOW we're not that kind of people), we'll just leave you with some pictures of our happy day. We hope that everyone enjoys them!

Our entire wedding party

Waiting to go into the Reception

"The eyes of Texas are upon you/that is the song they sing so well/ SOUNDS LIKE HELL!"

Saw varsity's horns off!!

A favorite teacher from HS.

The best man and his wife, a sweet couple who just celebrated year 3!

My sweet cousin and her hubby- who will be celebrating their anniversary next month!

Enjoying the party- check out the MC in the bottom right-- he had a blast!!

A sweet couple who we forced to catch the garter and bouquet. We love them very much.

Finally, a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Roger and Steph, who ALSO are celebrating their anniversary today!! It's a Clark thing, haha!

weigh in

Hello everyone! Last night was a big one in our house- the Mixed Martial Arts company Elite XC (XC for eXtreme Combat) debuted the sport on national television. We were over the moon excited. Of course, I would have much preferred it if the UFC had done it first, because I prefer their fighters, their style and their octagon vs. the circular cage of EliteXC. But nonetheless, MMA on the televison that isn't 6 months or more old or cost us a ton of money is very exciting. So I asked Zach to add his thoughts-- Zach's blogging debut!-- you'll find Stefanie in the itallics and Zach in bold. Enjoy. We're a bit... enthusiastic.

Oh, Elite XC. Yikes. If anyone had any question about who does this whole MMA thing the best, it's the UFC. The production and presentation of the event last night was seriously bush league compared to what the UFC puts out. It would have been much better for the sport if this would have been a UFC event rather than an Elite XC one. Having said that, there were some good fights. It was also great to see one of our favorite fighters, Gina Carano, fight live. So here's my thoughts on the fights.

Brett Rogers vs. Jon Murphy

Well it was over quick. Brett Rogers put Jon Murphy down in a minute. Not too much else to say about it. Boring, one sided fight.

I liked Jon Murphy in this fight. His nickname is "Man of Faith" and he's such a good person- he's overcome a lot and he's used God and competitive fighting to banish his demons. It's admirable. Too bad his performance was... less than stellar. So that was one fighter down that I liked... but it wasn't a big deal.

Phil Baroni vs. Joe Villasenor

Phil, please retire and stop subjecting us to your stupid antics and poor fighting. Another boring, one sided fight.

Oh my. The instant I saw Baroni in his red, sparkly, bedazzled get up that he entered the arena in, I knew who I was rooting for- Villasenor. Good thing too, because Baroni was all swagger until his tacky stuff came off (complete with ugly chicks tearing off his shirt-- classy, way to make the sport presentable) he looked like a scared puppy dog in the cage. What a loser-- there's a reason Dana dumped him. Good call, Dana.

Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young

Gina's in the black trunks and black top. She's punching Young. Duh.

This was the fight I was excited to see, and it didn't disappoint. Definitely the fight of the night. Gina rocked the freakin house! Kaitlin Young is a good young fighter, and she fought hard, but was flat outclassed by Gina in this fight. If there is a female MMA fighter in the world with better, more dangerous striking than Gina Carano, I would like to see her. Kaitlin Young's striking ability got hyped up alot going into this fight by people who basically just don't like Gina Carano and wanted nothing more than to see her lose. The fact is that Young had a 3-2 amateur Muay Thai record. That's not bad, and she did land a couple of good shots, but Gina compiled a 12-1-1 professional Muay Thai record and was the first American woman to win a Muay Thai championship in Thailand. Advantage Gina. At the end of the fight, Gina was relatively unscathed, and Kaitlin looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to her face. Gina caught alot of flack going into this fight about her shortened training camp due to her filming American Gladiators up until 3 weeks prior to the fight. It did look like this may have affected her conditioning a bit, but Young was sucking just as much wind as Gina was. At the end of the day, Gina dominated every aspect of this fight, and all the people who talked all their crap about Gina get to eat that crow right up and enjoy it this morning.

Okay, so what is there to say that Zach hasn't already said? Obviously, we were overjoyed at the outcome. I was nervous at first, especially since Gina looked so nervous before the fight started. Poor girl could hardly find her way back to her corner for the fight to start. But as nervous as she looked, it was nothing compared to her dad-- but it was cute and refreshing to see a parent supporting their fighter child, while at the same time looking like a presentable member of society. Add to that the fact that he played football for the Cowboys (hate them, love the state, duh) and that makes it even cooler. So the fight... Gina tore it up. Young did not. End of story. I wish I could find a picture of Young's face to show you from the end of the fight- she looked... astounding. I've read the "bump" growing under her eye from Gina's hits described as an orange, a mouse and a tumor. Gina was humble and declared her love of the sport and hopefully left few people to speculate about her passion for fighting.

Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith

Fantastic fight with an unfortunate end. These guys put on a heck of a show. Both men came out firing, and it was a back and forth battle the whole time. This would have been fight of the night, but in the 3rd round, Lawler accidentally poked Smith in the eye, and the doctor stopped the fight without even giving Smith the 5 minutes he's supposed to get to recover.

Hm. So. This was fantastic while it lasted. I've got to say- I'm a bit disgusted with EliteXC. Lawler had Matt Hughes in his corner-- Matt Hughes, arguably the best Welterweight fighter ever. But since he's not EliteXC, since he fights for the UFC, they didn't even mention it. That's a big dang deal! The thing is that if you really want to introduce the SPORT of MMA to the general public, atleast acknowledge that there are other (better) fighters out there. I was annoyed. Plus, I would have liked to see how Hughes looked, since he's got a pay-per-view fight next Saturday. But I digress. Lawler looked good, Smith looked good, the fight was entertaining and interesting and I'm just sad it ended the way it did. Shoddy calls by the doctor... I think next time they want to put the fights on national television, they should do it in Vegas, where they know what the heck is going on with MMA and the way things work. Friggin astounding.

Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson

Do you like Kimbo landing that punch? I mean... not landing that punch? Doesn't he look like a wannabe Mr. T?

Wow. Just wow. Kimbo got exposed in a large, large way. Like I've said from the beginning, he's nothing more than a big, strong guy who punches really hard and has no technique at all. I don't dislike him, I think he's a decent guy who deserves alot of credit for using MMA to turn his life around. He's just not that good of an MMA fighter. He basically got mauled for 2 rounds by a mediocre fighter. Then he landed some good shots early in the 3rd and the ref pounced on the opportunity to stop the fight and give Kimbo the win. God help Kimbo if they ever let him fight a real heavyweight. This chump would be a cellar dweller in the UFC heavyweight division.

Do I have some opinions on this!? Kimbo Slice is a big, fat, stupid joke (but he's not really fat). The guy is 34. THIRTY FOUR. That's old. Look at the rest of the fighters that were featured. Well, Baroni is 32, but he needs to go away as well. But seriously, this guy is 34 and he was fighting in his THRID MMA fight- Baroni was at least fighting in like, his 20th or something. And this is the man that EliteXC wants to pin its hopes and monetary dreams on? It's a joke! To get him to the point where he's going to be ABLE to compete with the likes of fighers in his weightclass outside of EliteXC (because they won't give him fights that he could loose, thus he's fighting chumps), it would take years and years of training. He has no style, no clue and no ground game. Thompson is not a great fighter, but Kimbo Slice sure made him look like the better fighter last night. I think it's disgusting and disrespectful to the rest of the fighters that this guy is the main ticket fight. If he was in the UFC he would not have been the main fight, he might have even been on the undercard- which is where he should be! Nobody with only two professional fights deserves to be highlighted in such a fashion. The Lawler/Smith fight should have been the main fight- and even though it ended in no contest, it was at least a respectable representation of what MMA really is. Also, Thompson should have won the fight- the judges gave him the first round, the judges (save one, who obviously hasn't got a dang clue) gave him the second round. Kimbo is a worthless fighter and EliteXC needs to start shopping for a young guy who can actually perform to the level they're hyping him at. Bad show, Kimbo Slice, bad show.

I also have to add a little aside: James Thompson's ear is the nastiest thing I have ever seen in an MMA cage. I thought he had his mouth piece over his ear when he made his entrance it was so gross. Cauliflower ear=nastiness, Thompson, get it taken care of.

Closing thoughts from Stef:

I sure am glad that MMA is making its way into the spotlight a little more. It's enjoyable and exciting and it's so easy to pick your fighters and support them with your heart. But I'm also glad that Dana White has done what he has for the UFC, I only wish he would swallow his ego a little bit and notice that women have a place in MMA- look at the card last night. Gina performed and presented everyone with the best fight of the night. OVER four other fights, all male. Whatever- at least Dana only signs good fighters, and I would have given anything to have been a fly on the wall when Dana watched Kimbo suck it up last night. I have a love/hate relationship with Dana White, but right now, I love him. He has the best fighters, he keeps the best fighters, and he makes the best fighters produce, and keep producing. Look who he's pushing now- Rampage Jackson, Forrest Griffin, Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Georges St. Pierre, Wanderlei Silva, BJ Penn. Who does EliteXC have who can TOUCH the talent of these guys? Oh, that's right. Gina, and some of the other women they have signed. Hm... interesting.