Movie Marathon

Gabe and I took advantage of the dreary/chilly weather and caught up on some highly rated movies on Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes (our go-to website for movie ratings).

My favorite of the mix - adrenaline-packed!

Thrilling AND uber-intense

A must-see drama

Complete.Waste.of.Time.

Super scary - Gabe made me watch

A documentary about street art that's fascinating

Calling this weekend a Movie Marathon might be an understatement.

I did check other things off my list like crossfit, cleaning, and more!!

Thirsty girl

"Good thing my face is small enough to fit the the cup as I'm a thirsty girl after working with momma today!" - Harley aka Monkey

Happy Friday readers!

Sugary cereal overload

This is what happens when Gabe goes to the grocery.  Oh, and he picked up two gallons of milk to go along with it, haha!!  At least it all was on super sale, but oh my goodness sugary cereal overload. 

Have any of your husbands come home with ten boxes of cereal when he went in for one?!?  It makes me laugh everytime I think about it as he was so proud of his  bargain shopping to get his cereal fix ;)

There's a first for everything

‎Warrior Dash:

"Mud crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run from hell."

I just signed up for the Warrior Dash, July 16th in North Bend, WA!!!  Ohhh yes, Gabe is in on it and another 25 of our friends.  It's going to be incredible .... mud and all!

Larry Bird Birthday

The GabeCassNate Celebration is one we always look forward to as the three of their birthdays are just days apart.  We celebrated with for the fourth year in a row with great friends as Gabe turned 33, his big Larry Bird birthday!  Umi Sushi was the location of choice by the birthday girl, which is hands down the tastiest sushi in Seattle.  If you haven't been before, check it out.  Great for large parties as we had 20 in our group.

Such a fun group of girls

A few of the men

GabeCassyNate

*Before the Trophy Cupcake taste test

1...2...3... GO

Love you sweet boy .... just as much as I did the day I married you!

Smith Office 2011

The one room in our house that really needed some TLC was our office.  I have dreamed about a beautiful hutch for along time now to hide cords, file important bills/papers, and just overall organize my life.  It would be an understatement to say marketing material has taken over the office and the bills in the kitchen drawer needed to be relocated to their own filing cabinet.

With much delight, we now have beautiful new office furniture that hubby and I moved in last weekend.  My little trusty Outback came to the rescue as we don't know many people with trucks (a HUGE difference from the south), so we had to make do which involved breaking the pieces down.  Moving is just exhausting, but the end result was absolutely worth it in this instance.

After four trips and a ton of heavy lifting ... Voila.

All those deadlifts came in handy as I held my own moving!!

Now, I need a modern rugs for the office to make this room complete!!

Let the shopping begin.

*Here's a random question.  Do you call the room above ... an office or a den?  My best friend calls it a den, and I am curious if that is just a northwest thing!

Seahawks Sunday

You don't want to miss out on this article, it's how our church rolls!

Google Image

I love my church, I love my Pastor, and I love my congregation!

Oh and ... I LOVE THE SEAHAWKS!!!

Go Hawks - We need a WIN!

GO SWA!!!!

I am a proud to say Southwest Airlines has been my go-to airline for the last 17 years ... every since my mom was hired with them!!  She is a flight attendant based out of Dallas and has enjoyed every bit of flying for them as it is an incredible company who cares about their employees AND customers.  She's never going to be allowed to retire (if I had a say) as I like the flight benefits living in Seattle when all my family is across the country.

My family grew up spotting "red bellies" in the sky :)

I just came across the story that melted my heart about the pilot who held the plane for a murder victim's family.  Grab a tissue as it is encouraging for a company like SWA to be proud of their employee in a situation like this.

Elliot says, "I’m sharing a trip that was saved amid tragic circumstances by a compassionate pilot and an airline that supported his decision to hold a flight."  

*You can read about it here, here, and probably NUMEROUS other sites!!

Protein Shakes

I've finally jumped on the protein shake bandwagon .....

A majority of my fellow crossfitters indulge in an after workout shake, so I finally decided to give it a shot.  There are a gazillion options to choose from and most people are biased to the one they so take ... and two of my dear friends at the gym rep ON (Optimum Nutrition).  I trusted them with the Platinum Hydro Whey, and got samples of the Turbo Chocolate, Strawberry, Cake Batter, Vanilla, etc.

The Platinum Hydro Whey is the "Gold Standard" and has 30 grams of high quality whey protein, only 2 grams of carbs, and all in just 140 calories!!  It's perfect for me since I am not a huge meat eater like the hubby.  A cheeseburger every now and then is plenty, and my diet mostly consists of chicken and turkey.  So, this yummy beverage works for me!

Extra protein for recovery and to rebuild my muscles

is now in my daily regimen with this fancy shaker bottle :)

New look for a new year

When I was a young buck, I wanted glasses .... that wish came true in 5th grade when I ended up actually needing them after squinting to see the board.  A few years later, I oddly dreamed about contacts, braces, etc. (not sure why).  It's funny how you want what you don't have, and then once reality hit I was ready to kick them all to the curb.  Next thing, yes I want lasik - LOL!

Until then, I have to deal with crappy vision insurance that is as bad as it comes.  It allows me either glasses OR contacts each year.  Even then the 6mth contact supply and in-network Walmart glasses to choose from are nothing generous or glamorous, so I was on the hunt for cheap glasses from a company I could trust.  Sierra at Ocean Dreamers posted about GlassesUSA.com, so I thought I'd let the searching begin for a practical pair of eye glasses.

I was really daring, and thought I'd just try it out as the glasses are a fraction of the price.  I went with a safe bet and hoped they would fit my face .... and they did.  Hubby gave me a thumbs up :)

I am loving my new glasses!!

Prescription glasses with my prescription lenses for $120!

*With my recent order they gave me a code for 10% off my next order - and even you can use it too since I get to share it with all of you.  Use Blog10 at checkout and let me know if you find a pair!  Maybe .... I will check out their prescription sunglasses next!

In 2011- May you

 In 2011 ....

May you always make the right moves

May your cup runneth over with love

May you always find shelter from any storm

May you find the perfect diet for your soul

**this face makes you want to pass on the sausage

May you find the perfect balance in the company you keep

May you have as much fun as you can before someone makes you stop

May you manage to make time for a siesta

May your accessories harmonize with your natural beauty

May you always know when to walk away and know when to run

and may your friends always bring you joy

Thought this forward from my Paw Paw 

was too cute not to pass along and applicable to us all!!

Beat the odds- AGAIN

After spending 5 days with my family, I had to get back to Seattle to relieve our dear friends who took care of the pups while we were away and back to work/reality.  One of the positives about flying standby (space available) ... Gabe made a spur of the moment decision to spend a few days with his brother.  I would have loved to stay and play with them as well, but with the crazy weather conditions on the east coast and thousands of flights being canceled ... I just knew I couldn't risk being stuck in Dallas for another week.

After flying solo to Seattle, I woke up the next morning ......

to SNOW!!  Had no idea there was even a chance.

Which then turned to ice!  I may have slipped walking the dogs.
Not so great for myself in sales driving all over town.

It made for a VERY cold week, me calling maintenance out on New Years as our heater does not seem to be working in a proficient manner, and layering with my electric blanket throw I love!!

Then, the goal was to get hubby home before New Years Eve, but it wasn't going to happen as I'd expected so we made do apart to ring in the new year.  More on that later!!  Last night, I pulled up SWA and saw once again that the flights from Dallas to Seattle are sold out with one flight option.  Ahhh, not what a nonrev wants to see, but thank goodness Gabe is patient and doesn't get worked up flying.

Lots of chicken scratch to find a route with backup options 

as we always prepare for worse case scenario.  

I am happy to report that my hubby is about to land ... I might have missed my calling in flight reservations as I  made a CRAZY route work from Dallas to Tulsa, Tulsa to Denver, Denver to Spokane, and Spokane to Seattle.  Momma said this might be the last time we nonrev on the holidays.  

I'm game for it as we beat the odds again and always seem get lucky, even when everything is completely sold out and overbooked!!!  I'm not gonna lie, I'm glad  I can now finally relax with him home to start out 2011!

Christmas TX style

This Christmas was spent with my family in Texas as Gabe and I rotate holidays each year.  It was a true blessing to spend a good chunk with so much of my extended family as majority reside in Dallas, with my grandparents being driving distance :)

Excited to make it to Dallas with no problems flying standy on SWA

**Thank you Momma for your flight benefits.  We appreciate it SOO much.

Gabe, the Brooke clan, and Griffin

Happy girl with Gracelynn Gayle

Christian (12) is incredible at keeping GB entertained.

Gracelynn is teething, but never once made a peep!

Paw Paw with one of his great grandbabies

The men cooking up some deer sausage from Daniel's kill :)

My beautiful Aunt Debbie

Jojo (my brother) and his sweet bride 

Pa can get GB to eat anything ... green beans, check!

Cutest thing ever, Paw Paw had been HO HO HO'ing with his Santa hat on, and Griffin said "Pa come down the chimney!"  LOL.

He's thinking, Ohh man more pictures.  Loves his Uncle Gabe!

A man I admire more than he'll ever know.

It's CHRISTMAS!!!!  

So cute with their pajamas - Move to Seattle please!

Yay for Momma and her new iPad, I'm super jealous!

The real party begins with the Cornells, Lugars, Brookes, and the Smiths!!

Granny Gayle making her biscuits and gravy, loved by us all.

Grandmother Joy in town from Oklahoma

Precious -- Sharp as ever and thankful for it!

So special to have BOTH of my grandmothers in town at once!  Thank you, thank you, for traveling to Dallas   as I am so thankful for you two.

Gabe went MIA and walked up to him reading to GB.  

I can't wait till he is a dad ;)  tickles my heart!

GG - My role model in life, always smiling and never complains.

Framer for sure ... 

One day I hope to have a kid on each of our hips!!!!!!

Gracelynn's first jewelry from Ninnie (my mom)

After looking at all of my photos, I realized I go camera crazy when my niece and nephew are around.  Have to catch up with documenting since I'm not there all the time :(

Arrie, thank you for being so flexible with doing Santa at mom and dads and for our slumber parties.  It's exactly what I needed as our time together is truly so valuable.  Xoxo  

 

The highlight of this Christmas was watching home videos.  My dad spent a gazillion hours transferring old VHS to DVDs and it was a perfect ending to every evening with memories from growing up.

Hope your holiday season was filled with family, friends, and loved ones.