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A Renaissance Woman

7/31/09

Dinosaur World - Glen Rose, TX

After our big evening at Medieval Times we decided to let the boys pick something to do on the way to San Antonio. They chose one of the pamphlets from the hotel display for a place called Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, Texas.
You can take a walk on a path to see more than 150 life sized dinosaurs.
They ran from one dinosaur to the next roaring.
The boys loved it!
Our baby girl is walking a lot with help.

But when she gets tired, Daddy is there to give her a lift.

Dinosaur World also has a nice big play ground for the kids to enjoy.
They all played until the big dig! All the kids get to dig for fossils. After they dig for a while they get to pick out 3 fossils to keep. Our boys have a nice collection of shark teeth. They also have a small dinosaur museum too. If you are in the area this will be a hit with your kids if they like dinosaurs and the gift shop has really cool keep sakes.

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Freebie Friday - Week 18


Are you hosting a #contest? Great! Post it here on Freebie Friday. What better time to search and enter contests than on the weekend? Sign in so that others can find your giveaway. I will be hosting Freebie Friday each week from now on so be sure to drop back by. Now go grab your tasty beverage, sit back and relax and contest hop with me!

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Flash Back Friday #54 - KISS



Since I stopped gaming I've been able to catch up on my dvr. I've seen a lot of Gene Simmons over the past week which makes me flash back to the days of KISS. I grew up with KISS. I was the little sister to two teenage boys so that should explain everything. My brothers had all their albums and my mom even bought them an oil painting of the band. The album covers were just so fun to look at because of the make up. We always wondered what they looked like without all the paint. They had a good gimmick going. It's always funny to me that this particular song Beth came from the band. It's so memorable. Enjoy!
http://christis-blahblahblog.blogspot.com

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7/30/09

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament

It was the adventure unlike anything we had ever experienced! I had heard about Medieval Times but never had the chance to go and here we were in Dallas right down the street. Our reservations were for 7:30pm and they suggested we get there at 6:00pm. Tip if you don't order the royal package your going to wait a while for those tickets. They took our photo as soon as we got in the door. The gentleman on the right is one my hubby's vendors. He's more like a family friend because we have shared so many dinners with him and he has watched our family grow in the past three years. As you can see in the photo our toddler was NOT in the mood for any of it. He had been asleep in the car and was very cranky. After the group photo we waited and waited engulfed by medieval merchandise. Our little boys were begging for swords and our baby was whining for food. Just when we thought we were going to lose our minds they let us in to find our seats! We were in the "blue knights" section. We found our seats and we were served tomato bisque soup by a wench! Our beverage choice was Pepsi, water or tea (no milk for the kiddos!). Then they brought us some garlic bread. Our baby girl was eating everything she was so hungry. Then the show began and we were introduced to our knights.

Our sweet little princess here was given her very first red carnation.
It's ok though because it was given to her by a knight in shining armor. Our "blue knight" that we had been cheering for during the evening. It was really sweet! We have to find a way to press it for her so we can tell her about it when she gets older. Meanwhile we feasted more on roasted chicken, spare rib and herb roasted potato and a pastry of the castle for desert. The kids were very entertained and it was well worth the wait. Warning: It will smell like horses at first but you get use to it. I was worried at first it that was going to be an issue while eating. lol - It was ok.

Here are the boys enjoying their blue and green swords after the show. If you have never been to Medieval Times it's an experience you are sure to remember. They have 9 different locations. Overall a great evening.

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ROAD TRIP! - 1st Stop Dallas

Our road trip started out Thursday morning. You didn't know that because I already had my posts done so you wouldn't miss me! Pretty clever eh? This is the very first time that the five of us have traveled together. Here are our little people on a bear at a truck stop, Bucee's. I'm glad I snapped this photo before they got really cranky. After four hours in the car they were done!

Before we left I asked around to see what there was to do in Dallas. I got a few suggestions @jmcnichols campisi's is the BEST pizza and @oldsillybear there's a children's museum at Fair Park. We didn't make it to either of these places. But we did make it to....

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Thursday Thirteen #77 - Guilty Pleasures

During the meme Aloha Friday there is usually the famous question of what are your guilty pleasures (usually meaning on tv). This week I thought it would be fun to own up to thirteen of mine.

1.) Gene Simmons Family Jewels
2.) MTV's 16 & Pregnant
3.) Kathy Griffin - My Life on The D-List
4.) NYC Prep
5.) Any of The Real Housewives series (Atlanta, New Jersey, Orange County, NY)
6.) Rescue Me
7.) America's Best Dance Crew
8.) So You Think You Can Dance
9.) The Biggest Loser
10.) Flip This House
11.) Millionaire Match Maker
12.) The Fashion Show
13.) Desperate Housewives

Some of these shows are just ending their series and some are coming back soon while others are on right now. I really like to keep my drama on tv!
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7/29/09

Wordless Wednesday - Antennas

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7/28/09

What Would You Do?

It's a lovely Sunday morning and your husband is sitting next to you. He smiles at you and says "I want you to read this" and he hands you the bible pointing to the following passage.
Ephesians 5:21-33
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[b] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (passage from biblegateway.com)
After reading this passage What Would You Do?

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Tip The Scale Tuesday - Week 14



Whoo Hoo! I lost a whole pound this week. Now I'm right back where I was 2 weeks ago. I'm gaining and losing the same five pounds. It's soooooo frustrating! I stopped my EA Sports Active some time last week or the week before. I need to start that back up again. Gaming isn't really condusive to working out at night. Honestly I'm surprised I didn't gain weight this week. We had so much cake over the last few days with my Uncle Joe in town. I've been eating terribly and not keeping up at all with what I've been eating. It's so hard for me to keep up some days. This past week I do remember a lot of cake, popcorn, cheetos (mmmm) and then came the tummy aches. Junk food is no longer my friend. When I started paying attention the junk food stopped and when I stopped paying attention the junk food started again. The problem with that is my body is VERY unhappy! I felt so sick yesterday. I don't think I've had a smoothie for a week. Family crisis = falling off the wagon and chaos. I'm guessing I don't respond well to stress. lol - Oh well better luck next week. I do like the new Zumba class that I've added to my workout. It's so much fun!

I just deleted my post for Week 13. Arg! lol

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7/27/09

Uncle Joe - Take 2

My Uncle Joe had another artery unclogged today. He's doing a lot better but will be in ICU over night. It's been a very long couple of weeks and the stress level has been really high. My family though has been a really great support network. We have all been helping out where we can. Maybe now we can all breath a little bit easier. I hope so....really I do.

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7/26/09

Back From The Depths of Hell

My "Sorority Life" is over. I left the building and stopped playing the game. This past Thursday I wrote a post about all the current stresses in my life and this game was one of them. It occurred to me that my game playing had gotten out of hand after I had to turn my Facebook profile on private. I'm a business woman, a blogger, a mother and wife. I started the social media to help spread the word about what I do. I compromised that by playing a game.

When I began to sell everything I had on the game and remove people (sisters) from my house I began to get all these messages. What did I do? Why did you remove me from your house? The emails came next and this was...

my response:

It's NOTHING personal. I removed everyone. I just grew my house too big too fast and I couldn't keep up. It just stopped being fun. I couldn't keep up with the slappers and non slappers and the spies in my house. The game I created just wasn't the best use of my time. Some sisters are angry but most understand. I've seen in the feed several times sisters that want to leave because of the drama but they don't leave. Everyone says, it's just a game, but then they will leave terrible messages on others WBs (white boards). Then they say if you remove me without talking to me first I'm going to put you on the burn list, but it's just a game. lol
They warn - put your FB (Facebook) profile on private or they can find you and if you have personal information they can mess with you, but it's just a game. lol
I'm a small business owner, a blogger, a mother and that is why I created the fb (Facebook) profile to begin with, to network. I have compromised all of that for this game. Not a smart move on my part. I had no idea. I really hope that more sisters understand. It's just a game but one that was becoming too unhealthy for me. I may come back some day but it will be under a different FB (Facebook) profile. Some people have nothing better to do than mess with others. lol - Thank you so much for being my sister. A real sister. :)

Her response:
Oh I understand yeah their definitely are some crazy people. I should of started a whole different FB page also. The whole bad mouthing people is so crazy some people don't know how to keep SL & RL separate. But you stay strong & I wish you all the Blessing's in the world & I'm here if u need me.

Thank you also. You are one of the nicest women I've met on FB & I'm glad I got 2 be your sis & chat w/ you :)

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Oh yes my dear friends people are serious about their online games. For two weeks I stayed up till maybe 2am gaming with my husband right beside me on his WOW character. Neither of us wanting to pay attention to or deal with the real list of things we need to do. I stayed up until 4am removing people from my game and removing them from my friend list. I felt the biggest weight lifted off of my shoulders.

I then went to church today and the service oddly enough was all about willful sin. Those in power and what they do with that power. I realized my part in the game. There I was stirring the gossip pot. There I was making spreadsheets of who not to let in my circle. I allowed this game to get to me. There isn't a person playing that game that hasn't been changed. It's fun but it really can be negative. At least it was negative for me. I longed for my fellow moms that I know. I longed for just blog hopping. There is drama among bloggers at times but in the game the drama is every second. I feel better and I'm glad to be back in my own little comfort zone. Maybe after time has passed they will forget the sister who removed 2,000 sisters from her house and left 3 million up for grabs. Maybe then I can turn my Facebook profile off of private and get back to business.

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7/25/09

Today's Quote

You wake up in the morning, and your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions. No one can take it from you. And no one receives either more or less than you receive.

- Dr. Thomas Arnold Bennett

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7/24/09

Freebie Friday - Week 17


Are you hosting a #contest? Great! Post it here on Freebie Friday. What better time to search and enter contests than on the weekend? Sign in so that others can find your giveaway. I will be hosting Freebie Friday each week from now on so be sure to drop back by. Now go grab your tasty beverage, sit back and relax and contest hop with me!

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Aloha Friday #53 - Stressed?

Kailani at An Island Life has created this really fun idea. If you are interested in joining in, please visit her site for more details.

Today's question is:
I just created a Thursday Thirteen list of my latest stresses. What's currently stressing you out?


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Flash Back Friday #53 - Me, Myself and I


De La Soul's song Me, Myself and I was out when I was in my early 20's I think. It was just a song that made me feel free. I loved to play it really loud in my car driving on the Houston highways. Ah good times.
http://christis-blahblahblog.blogspot.com

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7/23/09

Thursday Thirteen #76 - Stress


photo courtesy of www.wolfescape.com

I'm really experiencing very high levels of stress. What about you ask? Let me list it for you in a Thursday Thirteen. Ready? Let's go...

1.) Debt - I know, who isn't in debt right now with the economy and many people in fear of losing their jobs?
2.) CPSIA - The new labeling chaos that goes into effect next month. Will the XRF still be a testing measure for manufacturers? Will we have to have 3rd party testing? I think we do. I have research all the dates again.
3.) Taxes - I'm late on my filing for personal and business and it's a nightmare.
4.) Gaming - I'm getting stressed out by the new games I'm playing. It's becoming a love/hate relationship.
5.) My Uncle Joe's recent heart attack. It's got my whole family thinking about their own mortality.
6.) Keeping up with my blog. I love to blog but some days I just can't seem to get a lot of time to get a post in.
7.) My Google Reader - I use to have a lot of time to read blogs but now I don't. I'm not sure what happened. In exchange I'm lacking visitors.
8.) Memes - I haven't been blog hopping as much for those either. It's hard because my....
9.) I've outgrown my computer. I could do so much more if I could have a computer that multitasks with me. I'm listening to music, blogging, I'll have twitter up and I will have facebook up to play a little and let's not forget my email in case I have to fill an order.
10.) Email - I had to reset my email on Facebook. When I started gaming I got over 2,000 new friends and climbing. My inbox was bananas!
11.) My eating habits have started to fall back into their old patterns. Ugh!
12. My husand is reading over my shoulder. lol - that's stressing me out.
13.) I don't have any Big Red in my house. I wish I had one. :(

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7/22/09

Wordless Wednesday - Book Worm

7/20/09

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey - Over The Top



We had the pleasure of seeing the "Over The Top (blue tour)" production at the Reliant Stadium in Houston. We were unable to attend opening night as previously posted due to scheduling conflicts. Thankfully we were able to attend the show on Friday thanks to Mom Central and Feld Entertainment . This was the first time that our toddler and baby had been to the circus and they loved it!

My husband and I were talking about how great the pre-show was from a marketing perspective. They allow the children to come to the floor and meet the acts and have them sign autographs and see the animals up close. This is the part they are still talking about. That was a lot of fun for us too because I remember getting autographs from the clowns as a child. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was my first circus too. Isn't that neat how it has come full circle? Now, I had the opportunity to take my own children.

Also what we found to be a great benefit is that they changed their set up from a three ring circus to one ring. That to us was such a better way to see the show because we could focus on one thing at a time. The last time we saw the circus it was about 7 years ago and it was in the summit which is now the home of Lakewood Church.

Wait till you see all these acts! If after you watch the slide show of photos I took please go to their site to see if they are coming to your area click here. If you are in the Houston area there is still time to catch this great show. You can see a schedule of dates and times here with a money saving coupon. What are you waiting for? Take your kids to one of the most memorable shows in the world.

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7/19/09

Hey Joe!

Some of you may have been following along this weekend about our family emergency. My Uncle Joe (who is now the eldest male in our family) was here visiting from San Antonio. He and his wife (Aunt Sandy) were about to go out of town with my mom and grandma. He was at my mother's church to give a guest sermon. At some point during this sermon he experienced a heart attack. None of us knew this at the time because it was just a pain in the right shoulder, a sort of "I don't feel right" kind of moment. They took him to the ER and sure enough this is what was found.
My Uncle Joe has his own church The Word Church in his area of town. He has married my brother and his wife. He has married me and my husband. He's here in this photo waiting on me to finish my walk.
As you can see he is more than just an Uncle. Our church prayed for him, his church prayed for him, our family prayed for him, and you guys out there on Twitter and Facebook prayed for him. Thank you - that's a lot of prayers. We visited him after church and they were moving him to ICU. Shortly after they performed the procedure to unclog one of his arteries that was 100% blocked. He has another that is 60-70% blocked. The hospital he is in is taking very good care of him. We went to see him again after the procedure. He was talking to me and telling me he felt so much better and that they relieved him of his pain. Now we wait some more to find out what the next step is and the moral of the story...
You know your own body and when something doesn't feel right don't ignore it. Better to be safe and over protective about yourself. I know that you have been praying for him but I also ask that you pray for my Aunt Sandy, my mother and my grandmother. They need strength, they need some peace. This past 48 hours has been very scary for them. They need to continue to stay strong during this time. Thanks for reading.

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7/18/09

Today's Quote

'Twas her thinking of others that made you think of her.

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning


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7/17/09

Freebie Friday - Week 16


Are you hosting a #contest? Great! Post it here on Freebie Friday. What better time to search and enter contests than on the weekend? Sign in so that others can find your giveaway. I will be hosting Freebie Friday each week from now on so be sure to drop back by. Now go grab your tasty beverage, sit back and relax and contest hop with me!

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Aloha Friday #52 - Shall We Play A Game?

Kailani at An Island Life has created this really fun idea. If you are interested in joining in, please visit her site for more details.

Today's question is:
I've been talking all week long about getting sucked into the online game vortex with World of War Craft and Sorority Life on Facebook. What's your favorite online game to play?

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