10 Years and Counting! (updated with photo of murder mystery)

Mr. Swizz's Dad & Swizz's Mom
Request the Honour of your Presence
at the wedding of their daughter Swizz
to The Rev
October 16, 1999
at First Presbyterian Church
Houston
Dessert Reception to Follow

(Our wedding invitation)

I've never been very good at surprises. I love GETTING them, but giving them is another story. For one, I'm a HORRIBLE liar. Deception just doesn't come easy to me.

For our 10 year anniversary I told The Rev that he wasn't allowed to plan anything. "Um, Okay," he said. You could just hear the anxiousness in his voice. Maybe a little tension? He's typically the one to plan special occasions; he relishes planning and surprising, so letting go of this control was huge for him.

I planned a FABULOUS anniversary weekend at The Gaylord Texan, a resort in Grapevine, Texas. And he was actually surprised!

This is the view of the resort from outside.

This is the "lobby" or atrium inside the hotel.
What you can't see are all of the miniature trains that ride around the lobby!

Friday night we arrived at the hotel. This was our actual anniversary so I planned a very special dinner. A "romantic" murder mystery dinner at the Riverwalk Cafe inside of the resort.

Here is a photo of us with the cast of the murder mystery!

Saturday we met JMonster, Grammy and Pops (The Rev's parents) in downtown Grapevine for a fun Butterfly Festival. Grapevine is a quaint old town with a Main Street and adorable shops. There are also TRAINS! After watching the butterfly release we headed over to the trains so JMonster could explore. The trains travel between downtown Grapevine and The Stockyards in Fort Worth. A round-trip ride, with a stop in Fort Worth for lunch and shopping, lasts about 5 hours. We didn't get to do this trip but one day we plan on heading back to do it...JMonster insists!

Saturday evening we headed to The Glass Cactus, a nightclub there on-site at the resort. Many guests visit there, but it is also an attraction for people from the surrounding areas. We didn't end up staying...I'm such an introvert that the crowds of people I didn't know, coupled with no tables or chairs being available (they all had reserved signs on them) made me uncomfortable.

All in all it was a fabulous anniversary weekend away!

When we got home, a good friend of ours sent us a copy of the vows that were written by our friends and said during our wedding ceremony:

The Rev & Swizz: we are gathered here as your family---whether by blood or by Spirit---celebrating a process of transformation that is nothing-short-of divine. Right before our eyes, all that is the old Rev and the former Swizz is about to vanish, never to be seen again, because in this moment---in this very room--- God has given you a precious gift, which we are privileged to watch you both unwrap: the chance to begin life all over again. As eyewitnesses to this miracle, we pledge to you both our support: we will lift you on our collective shoulders, which are strong enough to carry you and broad enough for you to cry on; they will heave with laughter as we share your joy, and slump with sorrow when you are broken. As eyewitnesses to this miracle, we pledge to you both our love: not as those who have invented it, but as those who have been graced with it from the Father, who acknowledge its most-perfect-model in the sacrifice of the Son, and who have known its power which comes through the Holy Spirit. God has already given you His blessing---we echo that with our AMEN!

Dental Emergencies revisited

Yep, we had another dental emergency in our household yesterday. JMonster hit the very same tooth he almost knocked out last time. This time it is chipped and looks like it has a fracture running across it. (Sigh)

Tomorrow we go to see his NEW pediatric dentist for the first time. We had planned on getting a cleaning appointment, but now we'll do both.

Cross your fingers that the damage is minimal and my baby won't be toothless until he's 7!

A small thought on Obamacare...

I LOVE the Discovery Health Channel. I can watch most of the shows any time of day (although I typically only watch TV in the evenings and only for an hour or so).

The other evening my sister and I were watching a fun show called Deliver Me. It is a great show, but this isn't about that.

AFTER Deliver Me came a show about Homebirthing. This is a trend here in the US and overseas where pregnant women deliver at home with NO SUPPORT. Their husbands (or "partners") are there, but no mid-wife, doula, doctor, etc...

This isn't a debate about homebirthing.

Will you get to the point already? :o)

One of the first segments of the show was of an ob/gyn office in Great Britain. The waiting room was MASSIVE and pregnant women were EVERYWHERE! Most of them looked like they had been there for quite awhile and were digging in for the long haul.

All I could think as I saw that room is HERE is socialized medicine at its best. Long waits. Large waiting rooms filled to capacity.

AND PEOPLE ARE CHOOSING THIS.

Choosing to take away choice.

Ironic, isn't it?

When we were in the ATL...

I thought I'd share a few photos of the visit to Atlanta in August. Mostly we spent time with neighbors and just hung out around the house. JMonster did do a white trash bit and ran around in the sprinkler system in his undies. Here are the pics to prove it. Too cute!







SPINNING!

Loving life!

Run! Run!

I think this one shows the story of our lives.

Girl's weekend

So, I never did an official post of our girly weekend in downtown Fort Worth. Here are a few fun pics of the fun!

We got our tosies done

Flat Baloney! (And some random dude hitting on everyone?)

Fun Friends

More fun friends!

Twinkies! But can you guess which is which?

Seriously!?! We're all together and everyone is texting?

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was this girl (okay, technically she was a woman, but that makes her cringe so we'll use the term girl loosely here. Follow me now, people...) and she started a blog.

She started this blog to get her thoughts out of her head so her hubby wouldn't be vomited on as he walked through the door (once again, technically, she didn't REALLY vomit on him. Just words. But lots of them. All the time.) and so she could feel heard just a little bit.

But then she moved. Across the country. And lived with her manic sister. Who is also ADD. (Just testing! She doesn't read my blog, so now I get to talk about her in whatever fashion I want! And she can't say a darn thing!)

And now her blog has gone to pot (are we talking marijuana here? I think not. When we say gone to pot, what do we TRULY mean? Anyone know?) and she is sad that all of the things she has wanted to write about and show are still locked inside of her head.

It's time to take the key and unlock the door. And allow her to spew all of those stories, photos, and rantings en masse. All at once. In the span of just a few days.

BECAUSE SHE NEEDS TO!

Are you ready for the onslaught? Be sure to wear your rubber boots, raincoat, and carry your umbrella. It's about to pour...

Out of the mouths of babes!

JMonster says the darndest things.

They come out of nowhere and tickle you to the core. Here is one of his most recent. (I'm putting this on here now since it has to do with our move and it is happening NOW!!!!!)

JMonster was talking to The Rev a couple of nights ago. He wasn't using ichat since the internet has been disconnected in the house in Atlanta, but was doing the old fashioned phone discussion. JMonster was walking around my bedroom and just chatting up a storm (which is unusual on the phone...he tends to talk a lot, but loses interest on the phone).

He sits down on the floor next to a box...a moving box I have filled with pieces of cedar planking I removed from inside the drawers of a dresser I gave to my younger sister last week.

I hear JMonster announce "Daddy! We now have some boards so we can build our house!" as he opens the box and pulls out some of the cedar.

Can you hear me laughing out loud as I roll around on the hardwood floors?

If only building our house could be that simple!