lately....

My sisters and I all went home for Fathers Day....it was such a fabulous weekend. We haven't all been home in a while, and it was even better to have absolutely nothing on the agenda. L and J showed up after they watched Denmark in the World Cup...and they looked so cute in their outfits I had to take a picture of them! Aren't they cute?!??!

We had a fabulous weekend - eating on the patio, and spending lots of time lounging around in the pool, and hanging out with Mom and Dad. Too bad I didn't take any other pictures! The rest of the Lippe Clan came over on Sunday and it was fun to get to hang out with all my aunts and uncles. 

Here's a shout out to Pappa Lippe - Happy Fathers Day from your FAVORITE DAUGHTER! 

This week has been really busy - between bible study, Junior League and then trying to hang out with friends, well, its been a lot of fun. This week we went to Pinot's Palette and painted....and had a fabulous time. Here is me, K and L in our great little aprons...which we all know that I need because I would totally probably paint myself in the process!

It was a lot of fun -- hanging out with the girls, drinking some wine, and painting....it was totally fantastic. It was funny at times - you want me to do what?!?!? yeah, about that....

But it turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself! And in case you are wondering - its cherry blossoms....

And here are the three girls....and our paintings. Try not to compare it to the original that is on the wall....its about 100 times better than mine! ha! 

just to show you...

I work out with my trainer on Saturday's by myself....and usually after the first 30 minutes, I am dying...thinking - how am I EVER going to make it another 20 minutes?!? Today was no exception....my whole body and my clothes were wet....even my towel was SOAKING. There was no where else for any of the sweat to go. I took a picture just so you could see for yourself....

I was holding up my pony tail so maybe you could see -- my hair was soaked straight through - and even my PONY tail was soaking wet.....like I had just got out of the shower. If only you could have seen my arms and legs glistening too. SO DISGUSTING.

When I walked into Starbucks right after I finished, the barista took one look at me and said "having a good morning?" with this look on his face like wow - you look awful! Thanks, mister. I just got my butt kicked and all I wanted was my coffee and oatmeal....and for the pain to go away. And you know the pain always gets worse on day 2. Looking forward to that tomorrow!

And you ask - what did she make you do to look like that - well, let me tell you...

• 20 squats with a 30 pounds of weights in my hands doing bicep curls (2 times)
• 20 side lunges with eight pound weights in each hand doing bicep curls (2 times) 
• 20 front lunges -- where you stand still, one leg goes back into the lunge then comes up front into a knee raise -- holding 8 lb weights in each hand doing shoulder excercies - raising the weights from your side straight up shoulder heights. (2 times)
• 20 of these "holding a 10 pound weighted ball with straight arms - turn to the left, turn to the right, touch the floor and jump and take that ball above your head". (two times)
• 1 minute of "high knees" - tapping the top of the bench. Yeah, about that.....(two miserable times)
• 30 second side "planks" - on your side, your forearm holding up your body...so you are "parallel" to the floor with only your one foot and one arm touching.....(three miserable times on each side)
• 15 of the hamstring machine...whatever you want to call it...(2 times)

And then she told me to go upstairs and do an additional 15 minutes of cardio to try to "work out" the pain that was already shooting in my legs...thanks for that. 

And to think I pay for this...ha, ha.

The ultimate dinner party....

My sister had let me know that there was a great gift card in her Dallas JL auction...a $1000 Papas gift card...and I decided to start stalking it. The moment before the auction ended, I placed my bid (I'm not dumb - I didn't try to run it up right before the end) and we ended up getting it for $700. The perfect thing is - that there are 7 of us in our "dinner party group" and they were all in. 

So we (6 months later) finally set a date to go to Pappas Steakhouse and celebrating us being together, a new house, a new baby and new jobs! We always have so much fun when we get together -- but usually everyone else around us doesn't have nearly as much fun as we do. Ha, ha.  And last night was no exception -- but they put us in the corner in a side room where all the noises carried....especially the "Karen Kackle" as they call it. I tell them it is their fault - if they didn't make me laugh so hard, we wouldn't piss everyone off! 

We were excited that the D's got a babysitter for their sweet son so we could play....it was fun to get to celebrate their new son! 

Dinner was absolutely fabulous....as we would only expect. Don't you worry - I kinda ate well...everything without butter...and only had a few bites of the other sides...but the peach cobbler and the prosecco, well, that was my cheat for the week!!! But we ate well, we drank well and we laughed a TON.

At the end of dinner, the boys decided they wanted to top if off with some whiskey / bourbon (whatever it was). Below was T trying to steal the bottle...I had a taste - it was FANTASTIC.

And here is FD with our waiter...who was fantastic...discussing the only single malt made in the US....somewhere in Colorado supposedly. They were cracking me up getting into the full details of how its made and going on and on... Our waiter -- well, he was so great. At one point he said he was going to set my plate down and push it to me....my response (of course) was "PUSH IT REAL GOOD"...to the amusement of the table....and even better, he started rapping for us. I mean, fantastic.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening...I should have told my trainer that we didn't need to do abs today -- after our three hour dinner and laughing my butt off, well, it wasn't necessary. 

So I leave you with the dinner party group - The J's, me, The C's and the D's. They are just so. much. fun. I heart them!

Colorado....

A group of us ran off to Colorado this past weekend....the trip was to go for a conference, but of course, we were going to try to pack in as many things as possible. CC, LM and I headed out of town and we met up with my friend HS from Colorado. We got in town just in time for the Astros / Rockies game. The weather was FANTASTIC and our seats were right behind the Astros dugout...did I say third row? yep. If not the weather, and the great game, getting to see all the players up close was absolutely worth it! ha, ha.

The next day we went up to Estes Park and went to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was absolutely Gorgeous. The weather held up for us and we got to hike around and see lots of great scenery! Below, the Alluvial Fan - one of the waterfalls right when you get into the park.

One of LM's things that she REALLY wanted to see were animals....and we got some fantastic shots. You know when there are animals around when all the cars pull off on the side...because everyone wants to take pictures. Here were some elk that were just hanging out...sunbathing in a field just by the road. Their antlers just look so cool - because they have fur on them!!!

And when we were hiking, I made a new friend...we saw him and were taking pictures - then as I walked along the path he kept on running around my feet and along the rocks trying to keep up with me. It  kinda freaked me out! ha! Can you see all the stuff in his mouth and that he is holding an acorn in his hands? He was REALLY cute!!!

We went up to another area in the Park - Bear Lake and started hiking from there. There was another lake about 1/2 a mile away, Nymph lake....and did I mention that first 1/2 mile went up about 225 feet? Yeah, that hike was really like just climbing stairs the whole way. But it was soooo gorgeous. Here was a picture of one of the streams coming out of the mountains and one ofthe lakes running down the mountain. I wish I could have just sat by this for a while...it was so beautiful and calming!

After we hit Nymph lake, we went up to one more lake - which was about another 1/2 mile away and I'm sure up another couple hundred feet. When we got there, the snow was packed down...it was awesome.

Here is Dream Lake....by the time we hit that lake, it was 2:00 and the storms were starting to roll in - so we hightailed it back down the mountain. And when I say hightailed - I mean, almost RAN down the mountain. We didn't want to see what a storm would look like up there...

Here was a picture of the trail we were on...yes, that is a sheer drop with no railing...or rocks...or anything. And yes, I am afraid of heights. Dont think I wasn't hugging that rock on the left!!!

and here was the view from one of the vantage points on the mountain...with the beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds...before the dark ones that rained on us came in!

We spent Friday night and Saturday at the Deeper Still conference -- which was put on by Lifeway and was absolutely AMAZING. The speakers were Kay Arthur, Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer -- who each in their own way spoke to us. It was awesome to have such great speakers and to be with some amazing girls where we could dissect and discuss everything we heard, learned and what really spoke to us.

And after the conference, we went out to celebrate our last night in Colorado....

...with some bubbly, of course! And a fabulous meal. Here is CC and I at dinner...I loved getting to spend some good quality time with her!

and here is LM and HS and I....I am SO glad that HS got to meet these two girls and get to hang out with us...I think it was what all of us needed, all in different ways, but it was a great trip!

a fabulous weekend....

just a little something until I get back....a  fabulous time in Colorado.....kinda sad to get back to Houston!

some good news....

We've officially been seeing our trainer now for about 2 months. It has been a GREAT 2 months, but also, well rough at times. Our trainer doesn't cut us any slack....EVER.  My favorite RH quote came from this exchange with the trainer:

Trainer: Man, R, you sure are sweating!
R: Thats not sweat - thats my whole body CRYING!

And today it was replaced with:

R: thats my whole body SOBBING!

Yep, my body was sobbing today too - and I am totally feeling it already. But it really is a great feeling.

But back to the point, in the last two months I had only lost 6 lbs.....and let me tell you, when you are working that hard, and not seeing results in that number - well, it is a little discouraging. Everyone keeps saying, you'll see it - don't worry. Well, I KNOW, but being an accountant and liking numbers, and numbers MEAN something to me - I needed to see it in numbers.

So this morning, I made her measure us to see our progress just over the last 2 months.....so here are some numbers, the amount my body has decreased in inches:

Neck - lost 1/2 an inch
Forearm - 1/4 of an inch
Waist - 4 inches
Hips - 1 1/2 inches
Thigh - 1 1/2 inches
Calf - 1/2 inch
The chest and bicep were the same - HOWEVER, she did the caliper which measures the body fat in my arm, and let's just say this - when my nutritionist saw the number change this morning - her jaw dropped. It was a HUGE change - which means there has been a big increase in muscle there....and subsequently a decrease in fat.

And my favorite -the decrease in total percentage body fat -- 2.4%.

Yep, I think that is pretty good news if I do say so myself. AND if that doesn't sound good - I pretty much dropped another size in clothes....how's that for progress?!? (Now I wish I had taken measurements when I started a year ago.....that would make our jaw drop for sure!!! Oh, well).

That pretty much made my day....or my week. Maybe even the last two months....and makes it all totally worth it!

And some other not so good news. My hometown flooded again today...and my parents old house more than likely flooded again - as the street that runs next to their house had water rushing down it at last report. I am PRAISING GOD that we don't live there anymore and that he blessed my parents with a house away from the water that is absolutely fantastic. But I feel awful for the family that bought it and will have to go through that for the first time.

There is a lot of destruction and a lot of people who were impacted. My aunt and uncle are even stranded at their house right now - but hopefully the damage will only be to the yard and dock. I can't even imagine having to start out the summer like this - anticipating having fun on the river, having the kids at home - and all of a sudden losing all the boats, houses, and for some, everything you own.

It sucks - trust me - we went through it 3 times in the old house - losing almost everything the first time around. I can never forget that smell, the feeling of dread, finding your stuff ruined and realizing you lost everything and you can't get it back....the only good thing that came out of it was the feeling of community with your neighbors, family and friends and the LOVE that grew in my family from going through something so awful. So, please keep all of the people impacted by the flood in your prayers...they definitely need it!

Memorial Day Weekend.....

We started off Memorial Day weekend here....can you guess what we went to do? Yep, you got it. B-I-N-G-O. There is this fantastic hall in the Heights in Houston that has bingo on Thursday nights....and about 90% of the crowd is between 21 and 35. And pitchers are $6....and you can bring your own liquor or wine. Yep, now you see why the crowd is so young. So a group of us went to go and play for the evening.

Here is CB and I with our Dobbers....and here is CC trying to use her dobber inappropriately -- on CC. Yes, he probably deserved it. I had a mark on my arm for about 2 days due to him using his dobber inappropriately. It looked like I got a tatoo of a half green moon on my forearm.

It was a BLAST and a perfect way to start out memorial day weekend. although, we didn't win - BOO. But I think we will be going back -- it was fun and the hamburgers were FANTASTIC!

On Friday, the O's and I went off to Seguin to play for the weekend. We ran home really fast and then we went off to San Marcos. I totally had self restraint and only got necessary clothes and a wallet...the fact I came back with no purse, is well, almost a miracle!!! We then went and met up with KV at the boy's favorite restaurant, Tortillita in Schertz / Cibolo, and then we went back to Seguin for a slumberparty. It was so fun to get to hang out and stay up late watching movies and drinking and just being silly. Then the boys requested a midnight run to Taco C...which I probably haven't done since college and off we went. (I'm sure my mom was wondering why the hell the door was opening and closing at midnight, but I mean, the boys were hungry - what were we going to do...

The next day we spent almost the ENTIRE day in the pool. It was FABULOUS. The weather was perfect and all the flowers (and the whole vegetable garden) mom planted, so the backyard was the perfect place to be. The Magnolia tree by the pool was blooming....it was GORGEOUS. And the bees were out too (look closely, you can see one getting lunch!)

And the butterflys were everywhere too. This one sat really still and actually let me get pretty close - it was pretty fantastic!

And here are some of Mom's tomatoes....we picked some and had them for lunch and breakfast in our omelets. And there were SOOO many of them.

And then we went off to San Antonio so we could see KV's parents new house....and since we were there we ran over to Nordstroms Rack and I got two pairs of shoes...I was in HEAVEN. I wish I could have bought more!!!

Then we came back to Houston and on Monday my friend MG and her sweet husband and daughter E were in town and we went out to lunch. Here is my FAVORITE picture....the boys playing with E to try to keep her smiling. It was SO cute. She really fell in love with RC and the whole time was flirting with him. It was so stiking cute.

Here are all the girls with Baby E from lunch. It was so great to get to see the G's and to get to hang out for a bit. It was a great way to end the weekend...to get to spend it with some of my favorite girls!

Song...

I heard this song and it spoke volumes to me. So much has been going on that I can't (and won't) even begin to blog about...its just way too personal and heart wrenching for me and lots of tears have been shed....but I'm praying for healing, for friendships to be mended, and for God to show me where I need to be...and who I need to be. 

I think this song spoke to me so clearly because this is where I WANT to be....I want to find the answers...to see things so clearly. The only thing that I know I see clearly right now is that God loves me...SO VERY MUCH. And He has his arms wrapped around me and every step I take, he is right beside me holding my hand....helping me get back to where I need to be. 

In the Moment, Sister Hazel

If you wondering where I've been all evening. If you think that I've drifted off. I'm leaving here I've finally found the answers. Don't Worry, I'm not lost.

I'm in the moment, the one where nothing matters and everything's alright. I'm seeing things so clearly now and you're the reason why I'm in the moment. And I'm alive. I'm alive.

I've been restless and you have been so patient. And I've carelessly wasted my time. But you left the door open and you kept the light on. You waited for me to arrive. 

I'm in the moment, the one where nothing matters and everything's alright. I'm seeing things so clearly now and you're the reason why I'm in the moment. And I'm alive. Well I'm alive. I'm alive

I'm finally comin' round and now I see every road is taking me where I want to be. And I want to be. 

I'm in the moment, the one where nothing matters and everything's alright. I'm seeing things so clearly now and you're the reason why I'm in the moment. And I'm alive. Well I'm alive. I'm alive.