Measure your life in love....

As 2010 comes to a close and we celebrate another year gone by and the possibilities of the year to come, I wanted to share my all time favorite song. Right about now I typically put this song on repeat for about the next week. It's one of those songs that just touches me. It touches me deeply with a multitude of memories from the past... Some old, some very old.... it just reminds me that however rocky life can seem I've been a very lucky girl. I've had some wonderful people placed throughout my life so far to love me, guide me, and grow me and well, I'm just thankful for all of them. If life is measured by love, then I am one blessed woman! Happy New Year! See you on the flip side! 


Seasons Of Love lyrics
Songwriters: Larson, Jonathan D;

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love

Seasons of love
Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?

In truths that she learned
Or in times that he cried
In bridges he burned
Or the way that she died

It's time now, to sing out
Though the story never ends
Let's celebrate
Remember a year in the life of friends

Remember the love
(Oh, you got to, you got to remember the love)
Remember the love
(You know that life is a gift from up above)
Remember the love
(Share love, give love, spread love)
Measure in love
(Measure, measure your life in love)

Seasons of love
Seasons of love
(Measure your life, measure you life in love)

2010: A Year in Review.....

2010 for Tyler and I has definitely been one of those years that I think we'll both be glad to put to rest. It's not that it was a "bad" year, so to speak, but gosh there was a lot of change and with change sometimes there can be struggle.... and well, struggle would probably be the first word that comes to mind when describing the beginning of 2010.

It's no secret that our move from Florida to Texas has been extremely hard for me. I missed my friends tremendously and the little safety nest that Tyler and I had built. We had our routine- our "typical Friday nights out, our Saturday trips to Costco followed by an afternoon at the Yacht Club, and then our Sunday night dinners with parents...we had a pretty good thing going.

Texas was an abrupt shock to the system. Suddenly the once social butterfly was at home every weekend, catching up on my Tivo... Let's just say it got under my skin. My job was another issue. I worked in Dallas (which for those of you that don't know is about an hour and a half commute one way (due to traffic)) and well my working environment wasn't exactly stellar. It was really hard to make friends because I was spending so much time commuting. I couldn't go out for a cocktail after work with colleagues bc I'd have to drive home later and I didn't have any avenues to make friends in Southlake (where we lived) bc well, it's an unspoken rule that you must have 2.5 children to be part of the culture.... (yes, there is a tinge of bitterness in that statement).

All and all it just wasn't a good time in our lives. I was miserable, which made Tyler miserable, which made us miserable.... point blank, it was not a good situation.

Fast forward to about March/April when things finally started to look up. Tyler and I slowly began to make some friends and pull our lives together. We decided that Southlake just wasn't for us and decided a move downtown would really change things up. By the grace of God, we sold our house in something like 14 days... (nuts in this economy, right!?!?) and we're able to find a cute little cottage in downtown Fort Worth. We bought a scooter and began to meander around Fort Worth like we had in St. Petersburg.... it was beginning to feel "normal."And then (even more exciting!) we became pregnant with baby Ford and our lives changed even more. Suddenly, Tyler, my tummy, and I were a family.... Life was good.

And now with Tyler's promotion, our next move to SA (with the promise we'll at LEAST be there for three years), and the impending birth of our son, 2011 seems like it's shaping up to be a darn good year :)

Aside from the "challenges" faced in 2010, there were some great memories that make me smile when I look back and remember, here are a few....

 We got acquainted with a new City and "new" culture....

I met Emmitt Smith who I love and is as sweet as pie!! 

Two of my besties got married this past year....

We got to spend a lot of time with my brother and sister in law who also moved to Texas right around the same time we did. They lived with us for three months while their home was renovated! 

We made some fantastic and FUN friends!

And finally (and probably most importantly)

We spent some quality time on spur of the moment, mini-vacations to New Orleans and San Francisco 

 I hope you all had a memorable 2010 and are gearing up for a FABULOUS 2011! 

Grease 'er up!

(Fair warning- this post is a bit whiney :))

As I continue to grow, my skin is starting to get a little tight and Ford's kicks are starting to become visible on the outside.... (eek!). I'm starting to see skinny women on television in cute little outfits and silently curse them.... I'm told these are the joys of your third trimester (I'm 2 weeks shy, but hey... you get the point). Yesterday I found myself looking at old photos and came across this beauty taken two summers ago, let's just say I may or may not have taped this beauty to the fridge to remind myself that I WAS SKINNY ONCE... (argh!).......

In the meantime, I'm obsessed with this product. Dr. Oz recommended it (He's my new Oprah) for stretch marks, to prevent and to lessen and I use this stuff probably four times a day. In the hopes that once Baby Ford graces us with his presence my old body will return to me!

It smells GREAT and it helps with with the itchy belly too. To all my preggo girls--- GET THIS PRODUCT--- so worth it!! The one down side is it is a litttttlllle greasy, but I swear it washes out. T just likes to refer to me as his Grease Monkey now (lovingly, of course :)). 

Ok back to staring at skinny pics of me (I kid, I kid...). Have a great Thursday!   

This is not a joke...

As I entitled this blog entry, clearly, this post is not meant to be a joke... but as I'm writing the words, I am beginning to giggle. Maybe out of shock, denial, or maybe it's just good 'ole fashioned self pity, but...... believe it or not, Tyler and I are moving again!!!! ( To fill in those who may be in the dark- this will be our fourth home in a year and a half..... yikes!)

It's all good though! Tyler got a promotion and with the promotion comes more responsibility for him and a little more "mu-la" in the kitty at home! Just in time for our newest addition. Being Polly Positive- the timing is as good as it could get bc if all goes according to plan we can sell our home and find a new home by March giving me juuuuust enough time to nest and get my Nursery all snazzy. That said Tyler's company also has a pretty sweet relo- package meaning it's as stress free as possible. We'll have realtors and movers at our disposal; which is nice since I'll be in my third trimester throughout this process.

So where are we moving you ask??? We're off to San Antonio, TX! Home of the River Walk, about four hours south of where we live now and about 190 miles away from the Mexican border. So if you like tacos and burritos, you'll definitely want to come visit !!! We actually "almost" moved there about a year and a half ago, so the other nice thing is that we've done a ton of research on the area and already have a pretty good idea of where we want to live. So we shall see, keep us in your prayers as we kick off the new year on this roller coaster!

So, who wants to come hold my hand ??? ( Kidding, sorta :)) 

Deneault Family Christmas: Part Two

I'm back!

We had a BLAST in St. Louis, MO. It was just what the doctor ordered..... family! Unfortunately I am having a little technical difficulty with my big new Christmas gift... See below.....

I LOVE my new Nikon and it's perfect for baby... BUT I took all these pics in St. Louis and tried to download them all, only to figure out that I accidentally deleted them......ARGH. I guess that's why directions are important. That said I only have two stinking pictures of our whole trip! Double ARGH. 

On a happier note, MO was great. Tyler and I had a great time getting to hang out with his brother and wife, and their four adorable children. Susan and Conrad are great parents and their kids are just so well behaved. Deveney (their nine year old little girl) reminds me a lot of what I was like when I was a kid I loved to read, help my dad in the kitchen, and hang out with my family. Susan explained this is exactly what she was like as a kid which is why I'm sure we get along so well :).

Their three boys Conrad, Tommy, and Jack are all boy. They were so excited when Santa brought them a Wii for Christmas! Uncle Tyler and Aunt Crispin were in cahoots with the big guy and added Mario Cart to their big gift. Uncle Tyler was so excited to get it all set up so they could all play his favorite game! (I had GREAT pics of this...stupid camera). Tommy is definitely their most "adventurous" kid. I did manage to snag a shot of this little man up to no good.... heeheee.. What I didn't capture in the picture below is that their are about 20 kids behind me staring at Tommy thinking he is the " coolest kid EVER!! Clearly, his parents were not around while we let him construct this....

We also had a great time hanging out with the rest of Tyler's family. We saw Tyler's Mom, his Grandmother, and a few of his cousins. We also learned that one of his cousins, Emily is also expecting in July!!! Yay for babies! So excited for her! 

On top of all the great quality time we got to spend with everyone, Santa also delivered a gift for all, we got a beautiful White Christmas!!!

I hope you all had fabulous Christmas's, ours was certainly memorable! 

Meet me in St. Louis!

And we're off! Headed to St. Louis until Sunday to see lots of family that's LONG overdue!!! This trip is sure to be a blast..... Top 5 things I'm excited about.....

1. Seeing my other nieces and nephews, who are so fun!!! I haven't seen them in a year and a half and gosh I just can't wait to pal around with them! Shout out to Devaney!!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!

2. Hanging out with my other brother and sister in law. Conrad's HILARIOUS and Susan is one of those people I could literally grab a cup of coffee (or wine!) and talk to for hours and hours and hours.

3. Seeing the rest of the gang! My family is rather small, so it's overwhelming and yet FANTASTIC to be surrounded by all of Tyler's family members, all with different personalities, and stories.... LOVE IT!

4. Eating, eating, eating..... I've mentioned the Deneault's affinity for cooking, what I haven't mentioned is my brother in-law's affinity for baking....  (Tyler's Pepere (Grandfather) owned a bakery and Conrad definitely acquired this gene!) All I can say is WOW. I can guarantee that I will return to  Texas in a carb-induced coma!!

5. And if I'm not in a carb-induced coma, my heart may have trouble beating as the last thing I'm excited about is....White Castle, Lion's Choice, and Ted Drew's.... Don't laugh these are all fast food joint's that are no where to be found in Texas, or Florida for that matter! ( I'm preggo people, ALL I THINK ABOUT IS FOOD!!! :))

I will try to post at least once while I'm in MO, but just in case, have a fabulous holiday with your loved ones and I will definitely be posting Monday with lots of stories about our big adventure!!!

Merry Christmas! 

Deneault Family Christmas: Part One

Hi there!

Hope you all had fantastic weekends! Tyler and I are headed to MO for Christmas this year to visit with a bunch of Tyler's family. Our neighbor's the Southlake, TX Deneault's are staying put ( I would too if I had four cute little kiddos!) so we decided to have a mini Christmas this past weekend with them. As always, it was a ton of fun.

We goofed around....

We cooked 

We posed for a few cute pics

We played "elf..." 

And the kids, well.... they just did what they do best... Partied:) 

That is until, they passed out.... 

After the Southlake Christmas, we headed back to our humble abode for our special Christmas. We decided that rather than tote all of our gifts for one another up to MO, it made more sense to have a little Christmas of our own. I had envisioned lighting the fire, putting on some Christmas tunes and making a cup of coffee as we leisurely opened our gifts. But, after we came back from our first bout with Christmas we were EXHAUSTED; hence the lights are on, no coffee, no fire, no music etc. But hey we DID manage to turn the tree on and Tyler (of course) had his favorite Christmas movie on for the occasion, Elf! 

Santa was VERY good to me this year. I also outdid myself (thanks to Aunt Wendy!) :) But more on Christmas Gifts later, I've got to pack!

Have a great Monday, 4 days left 'til Christmas! Enjoy!