New Addition to the Niño Family

Before any of you get too excited..our new addition is a car--for Danny. I doubt if any of you have been in his 99 Ford Contour lately......it is pretty beat up and about to fall apart. We were going to wait another 6-8 months--but why? So, I called this guy I know at Rod East Volkswagen--Earl--and voila----we bought a 2007 Volkswagen Passat today...25K miles --black with black leather....very cool looking I must say! Danny is overjoyed --so that is fun!

I am so tired..last night was GNO. Tina, Courtney, Kristin and I went for sushi---I had 3 glasses of wine and then Tina and I took Kristin to Waldo's for darts and simply to experience the place. I got home at 12:45am I think. So, I will have to blog about my trip to Kansas City and fun happenings this week another time.

Real quick though-had a nice time with Debra, John and Olivia. I am so happy I was able to make the trip and spend some time with them. Remember--they lost their precious Logan to SIDS on June 5. Please continue to pray for them---for a new normal, comfort and peace. I love you guys! I met Debra in the Spring of 1988 and we became good friends quickly. Here are John and O hanging out--we were prob all watching THE LITTLE MERMAID! :-)

Check out this video...HILARIOUS!!!!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/10234/saturday-night-live-annuale#s-p1-st-i2

Movies

The last 2 months I have rented several movies. We have Blockbuster through the mail and I love it!! We've had it about a year now and it is so worth the $20 a month. No going to the store, 3 movies at a time and you can keep any movie as long as you wish. We had Bambi for 6 weeks!

Here are several movies I would recommend:
Sweet Land
Gracie
Bella
P.S. I Love You
Pride
The Bucket List
Catch and Release
God Grew Tired of Us

Tonight was GNO. We went to the ROARING FORK. Really good service, food and ambiance. Only down side is that it is loud and you cannot hear well when trying to talk with your gal pals around the table. Maile, Tina, Adrienne, Michelle, Michelle's Nana, Judy and Courtney were all in attendance. I do believe everyone enjoyed their meal, and of course we enjoyed all the laughs!

Off to bed now peeps!
2 Timothy says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

If I Were Brave

A couple of months ago I stumbled upon an artist named Jana Stanfield. Anyone heard of her?! I love many of her songs. One of my favorite of hers right now is titled If I Were Brave. Listen to it.....you can find it on itunes or on her website. And I have loved Selah for a long time and even more now since I have been reading Angie Smith's blog...her husband is in Selah. An old song of theirs is titled All of Me. It speaks to my heart everytime.

Let's go a different direction. I went with our community relations gal from work to a "Building Believers" lunch at GSABA. I am an active member in this organization since going back to work. You take your lunch and hear a great speaker and praise God for all things! One can offer up any special intentions. We went to Quizno's beforehand and got salads. While in the joint...one of my favorite songs from 2000 was Mambo #5..and it was playing. I told Debbie, "I wanted to walk down the aisle to this song..." but Fr. Jimmy said, "uh no Susan!" She loves the song too! Download it from itunes..I just did!!

And after the lunch meeting, we went out to Anaqua Springs to see a house that is being built....one of our soon to be insureds.......$10,000,000 home kids! It will be most impressive and quite possibly the most expensive house in San Antonio..which I personally think is not a good thing really. And on the way...we were almost in a major collision on I-10...but God saved us..and we totally believed it!!! Praise God for watching out for us!

And check out A-Z Wineworks, located in Oregon. Coach Popovich (or as I call him Coach Pop) invested in this winery a few years ago and they made a special pinot noir for him to distribute to his friends and for charities. You cannot buy it in the store. It is called Rock & Hammer. (click the link and read the article on how he named this wine) I got a bottle of it yesterday from Moe..Pop's exec asst. She and I had lunch at Aldo's...on Charlie and Gary! Then we went back to the Spurs practice facility to get the wine. She said A-Z makes a nice pinot noir that is sold in stores. They make others of course...try it and let me know what you think, so we can let Pop know! He actually had a hand in helping to make the wine not sold in stores,. fair warning--he has a healthy palate...so you know!

Paul is a funny kid!

Aunt Alleson, Uncle Tom and Lauren gave him navy blue crocs for his birthday. He wasn't too sure about them at first, but now he wants to wear them all the time. This morning---as I was sleeping in my bed..he crawled in holding his crocs and asked me to help him put them on. He has been wearing them all morning with his pj's!

He and Danny went for a walk last night--with the crocs on of course--and this is what Paul's face looked like when they returned. If you're wondering..YES, he got a bath before bed!!!

Oh and Tonie (my hair stylist) suggested Danny and I have another baby...what do you think?

Much Better Hair!!!

Brutal honesty--I have not like my hair for 5 weeks...since the last cut. I told Tonie that today. I should have gone back to have her do something different, but I survived. So, it's really ok. She gave me a sleeker look today and I do love it! Here is the side and back. I cannot show you the front..b/c I had no makeup on and all that jazz! I certainly wouldn't want to scare anyone! Pam--it's getting shorter and I know you prefer my hair like this.....So, I watched a really good movie while Paul was napping. PRIDE. My favorite movies are sports related and have to do with coming together....determination, persistence, hard work, dreams. Like Field of Dreams, Hoosiers, Glory Road, Seabiscuit, The Rookie, etc. I highly recommend PRIDE. Rent it and settle down and enjoy!

Danny is at work studying in his office. Paul is now awake and watching Jungle Book. I was thinking of taking him to dinner somewhere and driving thru Hill Country Village to look at the deer. Cheap entertainment and Paul loves seeing the deer!

I am reading a fun beach book called The Pact. Combination of Sex and The City and Agatha Christie. If you have ever hated a friend's boyfriend, fiance or husband---read this book! :-)

Off to play with my little man...probably trains, or blocks or cars......

4th of July Weekend

Hello Peeps---

It is difficult to find the time anymore to blog. I liked it better when I wasn't working...... Speaking of work, tonight we get paid--yeah!

I never got around to blogging about our trip to MI in May. Mom and Wayne's home in Crystal Mountain is beautiful and we had lots of fun playing cards, walking the resort, climbing the sand dunes, golfing and playing ping pong, pool and dominoes. Paul had a great time on the Plasma Car and all the cool toys Grandma and Grandad have in the basement. Danny and I even got to sneak away one night for a romantic dinner at Arcadia Golf Club. Right on Lake Michigan with the sunset. Really nice and great food! I took Danny and Paul over to Frankenmuth for several hours before we made our way towards Detroit to visit some of my family. We had a grand time and then on our way to the airport Monday morning, I took a detour to Southfield, MI where I lived from age 5-10. I hadn't been there in YEARS..so I wasn't sure if I would remember where to turn into the old neighborhood. I am good and found it no problem! I even made my way around and saw Brent McConnell's house...my best friend Anne Marie's home..our old house..Paul Wosachlo's old home...and several other friends from Evergreen Elementary. It was a great vacation and much needed.

So, now it's time to blog about my brother's visit last weekend. He, Alleson and princess Lauren arrived around 11pm Thurs night. I picked them up and took them downtown to their hotel. Friday morning took Paul and I to the Riverwalk and had brunch with the family. Here is a pic of Paul and Lauren on the Riverwalk after we had eaten.

Then it was on our way to The Wildlife Ranch in Garden Ridge. Paul LOVES animals and he loves the drive through safari we have just 30 min from downtown SA. Super fun and one of the best parts was that the zebras were along the road. That is the closest I have ever been to an zebra!

Paul did not wish to nap when we got back to our house. Oh wait--he did fall asleep in the car..oh, as we were about 10 min from home! We then BBQ'd and ate a nice holiday dinner. Paul would go to bed early--so no fireworks for him. Danny stayed home with the lad and put him to bed. The four of us went to The Westin at La Cantera to watch the Fiesta Texas fireworks. Great view and really nice weather...rather odd really for July in South Texas!

Sat morning brought a trip to Sea World. They opened at 9am and we were in the gate at 9:10am. There is so much to tell you about that day..but I am tired and need to get ready for bed. I will finish this entry tomorrow. Let's just say-we stayed 10 hours! Paul and Danny stayed about 8. Paul was pooped. Shoot, his Mama was pooped! A ton of people of course since it was a Sat on a holiday weekend. We did see 5 shows though and the highlight of the day was that Lauren was IN the Believe Shamu Show. Yes, on stage, on the jumbotron and smiling pretty for the audience. She had to answer a few questions too....so cute--and very memorable!!

I leave you with this.....

I recently caught a repeat of a Sex and the City episode and one line in that show has stayed with me for weeks. In this particular episode, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) decides to move from Manhattan to Paris to be with her new self-consumed artist boyfriend, Aleksander Petrovsky. When she gets to Paris and gets settled in, Aleksander is constantly busy and stressed about a new gallery project. Carrie is new to a foreign city, doesn’t speak the language or know anyone and is trying to wait patiently to spend some time with her new boyfriend. One day, the two had planned to meet his ex-wife for lunch. After the ladies were stood up because of a “pressing issue”, his ex-wife told Carrie that Aleksander’s famous words are “as soon as I get done with…” She explained he never actually “gets done” with anything. His life is scattered and fluid; he rarely finishes anything. He tends to keep everyone waiting.

Living in the tunnel of the future with the “as soon as I get done with the budget project, raising my kids, getting my college degree, losing weight or any other fill in the blank” means we are always looking ahead but are rarely in the present moment. There are always things to do. The question is what are you sacrificing in the process?

Bottom line: Don’t delay living your life. It’s unfolding right before your very eyes.