So, right after our fourth anniversary was my 30th birthday. Ugh. Although I did turn the big 3-0, I must say that I haven't had such a fun birthday since I've been an adult. Our friends Andrew and Stephanie turned their house and yard into a fun Tiki town! They even rented margarita and pina coloda machines. What great friends! I can really say that I had a fun 30th birthday!
After my birthday we took a little overnight trip to Ruidoso, NM. Randy and I bought a camper this summer and decided to try it out in the mountains over Labor Day weekend. It was a great first trip! The weather was cool but not too cold and we were in a very wooded and scenic RV Park. Who knew we were RV People?! I think the "try-out" trip was really just an excuse for Randy to get to go to the last weekend of the horse races while we were in Ruidoso. Unfortunately, we didn't win anything there, but we did have a really good time. After we got back from the Labor Day trip, we put the camper to the use that we intended it for when we purchased it...TAILGATING! We made every Texas Tech home game a party by tailgating from Friday until Sunday. Leslie, Mary Jane, Shawn and Bobbie were with us every weekend, and lots of others popped in and out to enjoy good food, music and laughter before and after the games.
Somehow, in the middle of the football games, we also managed to enter the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce Brisket Cookoff. VistaCare, my work, actually entered but we didn't have anyone to do the cooking so they asked Randy to do it. And, I think that was a good idea since he won us first place! Randy was downtown by 2:00am to get started smoking the brisket. When he turned it in at 3:00 that afternoon, he was exhausted and kept saying it wasn't going to be very good. Of course, Randy is his own worst critic when it comes to cooking. They called out the third and second place winners, and he was already walking back to our smoker with his head hung low. Then they said VistaCare won first place, and all of a sudden he came alive. Out of 44 teams, he really had a reason to be proud! He's like a kid with his trophy. It's so cute...he put it on the mantel and wouldn't let me take it down until I put up my Christmas garland.
The only football game I didn't make it to was the last of the season: Texas Tech vs Oklahoma University. This was a hard one to miss for so many reasons. First, it was on Randy's birthday, November 17th. Like mine, it was also his 30th this year, and I was so sad I couldn't be there to celebrate with him! Andrew and Stephanie brought Randy a cookie cake and Shawn and Bobbie brought him chocolate covered strawberries. All in all, I do think that Randy had a good birthday even without me. I did get to stop by after the game in time to see him open presents though. I had made a commitment in the first part of the year to be the Merchant Chair for the Junior League of Lubbock's Holiday Happening and there was no way I could get away on Saturday. Holiday Happening is a huge Christmas show with 150 merchants and thousands of shoppers that the Junior League puts on every year. The money raised by Holiday Happening funds all of our projects for the year such as building public playgrounds, helping to feed kids that may not get nutrition on the weekends, and other worthwhile causes. I know I missed Randy's birthday to do something for a good cause, but it was still a very sad day for me!
After Holiday Happening was over I thought I would have a chance to catch my breath, but that was just wishful thinking! We had a Christmas party with about 50 of our very closest friends ;) on December 8th. Last year Randy and I, with Mary Jane and Leslie, decided to have a little get together that turned into a big get together and it just kept growing. So this year, we just planned for the big get together and it went much easier. The party really ushered in Christmas for me, and afterward I kicked into overdrive on getting presents bought and wrapped. Our goal was to have everything wrapped and ready to go by the Thursday before Christmas so that Randy and I could take a long weekend and stay in a friends cabin in Ruidoso. Fortunately, we got everything finished and were able to enjoy the time we had away with no schedule to follow or to-do lists hanging over our heads. We came home on Christmas Eve, and had my dad, his girlfriend, my brother and sister-in-law over for presents and Christmas dinner that night. On Christmas Day we went to Plainview to spend the day with Randy's mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law. Then on the 26th we left town to go to my mom's house in Trinity. We had a really blessed Christmas with all of our families.
That weekend we left my mom's house and drove down to Galveston for one of my friends weddings. It was beautiful! Hollie and Jake got married in the sweetest little church. It was such an old building with lots of intricate carvings and details. Perfect for a picturesque wedding! Then, the reception was fantastic. It was very much like our high school reunion, except that it also included some friends that graduated a couple of years before and a couple of years after I did. I really had a great time seeing so many of my La Porte friends again. Let's hope there's another wedding soon so we can do it again! ...Christina? :)
And finally, if you're wondering about the baby situation, here's the latest. We still have the two embryos that were frozen after my retrieval in May last year. We'll be doing the transfer sometime in the next couple of weeks, so I'll ask for your prayers. It seems that frozen transfers are not as reliable as a fresh transfer would be, but I'm not going to discount my chances. We've got two, and that's all we need. I'll let you know how it all goes and hopefully have some really good news in early February!
Well, now that the New Year has passed and we're into 2008, my resolution is to post on a regular basis. I might even get Randy to post once or twice. I'll add some pictures from the end of 2007 below. Happy New Year!
