TGIF

Today was a good day. The obvious reason is that it’s Friday. The second reason is that today my managers took me out to a really nice lunch for my 1 year anniversary. I can’t believe that I have been here for a year. A year in the working real world sure does go by fast! A lot has changed since Day 1 of my job here. For one, my two mangers that took me out to lunch today are not the two managers who hired me so that tells you that there has certainly been some change in the office. Today I just kind of reflected on the last year and how much has changed and how much I have grown. I am definitely more independent and responsible (paying all bills is a high price to be an “adult”). I love the girls that I work with (shout out to those who read this!). I feel truly blessed to actually enjoy the people that I get to spend 40 hours a week with. I like enjoy my job, love my friends, have a wonderful boyfriend, and am overall loving life. Moving to Dallas after graduation was definitely the right decision (no offense my SD peeps, I still love and miss you!)

Random thought as I type this blog, whatever happened to TGIF? When I was younger, it was my whole reason to get through the tough week of 4th grade. I couldn’t wait to watch Full House, Family Matters, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Step by Step, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Sister Sister, and any of the other classic sitcoms that graced the 8-10pm Friday night line-up. What do kids do on Friday nights now? Play World of Warcraft or some crazy videogame? Hang out at the movie theater all night? What happened to sleepovers in celebration of TGIF? Any insight into this great conundrum would greatly be appreciated. Thank you.

Wii!

Now that I am not house sitting for my boss anymore, I am having some withdraws…Wii withdraws that is. While I was at his house, Casey and I had several Wii Mario Brothers Olympic Game tournaments. I was unstoppable in rowing and hurdles, Casey basically dominated in everything else (which unfortunately for me, is not unusual). We invited some friends over for a major tournament and it was a lot of fun. It was hilarious how intense we all got about it. Everyone was so serious about winning until you accidentally looked around at how everyone else looked while Wii “running” (basically you move your arms with the controllers up and down as fast as you can) and trust me…you would die laughing if you could have seen it. I videotaped a few seconds on my camera but am not sure how to upload it to my blog. After 2 days in a row of intense Wii cardio, my forearms have never hurt so badly in my life. If you have not tried playing with a Wii yet, go find one and try it…you will not regret it!

Can you feel the intensity?

I love how focused Casey looks...it's just a video game Casey!

Take me out to the ballgame...

In the past week, I have attended 2 Rangers games. Who knew the little tap dancer from San Diego would become a Rangers fan. I guess this is what happens when you get a boyfriend, huh? Our first Rangers game together was on $1.00 hot dog night. We went with Casey's good friend Bradley and his girlfriend Jennifer. Bradley and Casey both got 5 dogs (that was the limit) and ate all of them within the first inning. Our second Rangers expereince together was last night, we went to the Rangers vs. Yankees game and it was AWESOME! First off, my boss who moved to Illinois sold me her “Lexus Club Level” seats for a very nice price. We had a great view of the game and access to the nice “Cuervo Club” which is basically a nice bar/restaurant right behind home plate. The one major perk of the Cuervo Club was that we found the elusive "ice cream in a plastic Rangers helmet" that we thought had been eliminated. Casey was like a little kid when he found out we could order them and take them with us. So our souvenier from the game was 2 mini plastic helmets. Casey has requested to eat ice cream out of them any time we watch a Rangers game at my place. Oh, and did I mention we had our own waitress at our seats? No getting up to get our own hotdogs! Now that is the way to go see a ballgame! The only way our seats could have been better was if one of the foul balls had landed in our section. Casey warned me that we would do anything to catch a ball if it came our way which I think was his way of kindly saying "Head's up sweetie, I might have to push you down to get to that ball." The sections next to us had all the fun though. The one to our left had about 5 foul balls land in it and the one to our right had the Kiss cam camera on it during the 6th inning. No love was shown to section 220. The game itself was really good though. It was tied in the bottom of the 9th inning, bases loaded and the Rangers hit a home run…the stadium went crazy!!!

Our first Rangers game

Casey's face while finishing his 5th hot dog

Rangers vs. Yankees game

The awesome view from our "Lexus Level" seats!

Updates & Thoughts on Life...

1) I have finally given in and bought a gym membership at 24 Hour fitness. I’m hoping that paying for the gym will guilt me in to working out more. The classes are the main reason I joined. They are a lot of fun that you practically forget you are working out…although the incredible soreness and inability to sit down without pain is a great reminder.
2) I’m in LOVE!....with the Nintendo Wii. For those of you who have experienced the joy of the Wii, you know what I’m talking about. Casey and I played Wii Friday and Saturday night and had a blast! My forearms are killing me from Wii running, rowing, and table tennis tournaments. I think I might have found something for the Christmas list (hint, hint)
3) Classes have been on my mind lately. If there is such thing as the “1 year itch” after college, I am getting it for sure. I think I want to start taking some meeting planning classes. I’ve looked into it and I think it would be a lot of fun. I’m meeting with a counselor next Saturday so I’ll make an official decision then.
4) My top picks for SYTYCD (So you think you can dance) are Chelsea and Twitch. I very upset with last weeks results that sent Will (who is an amazing dancer) home. I’m afraid I might need tissue every week through the finale since I really like all of the final dancers.
5) Something I have been pondering and have brought up with the girls at work…What is the difference between frosting and icing? Personally, I feel the frosting is like what is on those cupcakes you get at Albertsons that have about an inch of fluff on top. Icing is more of a thin layer of sweetness on top of a cake. Any thoughts?

Going to the Chapel...

Last weekend was THE wedding and I finally have some pics to show everyone! I'll go into more detail later but here are a few pictures for now...

The Fam (potential Christmas Card #1)

The Fam (Potential Christmas Card #2)

**Feel free to vote on which pic you would prefer to see in the X-mas card this year :)

All dressed up for the wedding

Dancing the night away!

My Texas family

Out in the Country

To celebrate 4th of July, Casey and I went out to some land that his parents own in the outskirts of Commerce, TX. The actual city is called South Sulfur, TX (picturing it already, aren't you?) Yes, you probably have never heard of it and there is a good reason...there is NOTHING there, not even a stop light! I was a little nervous at first that I was going to go crazy by the end of the day. I kept asking casey how far it was to the nearest civilization (which to me apparently means where there is a Chili's since the question of the hour was "How far do I have to drive to get some skillet queso?") After being out in the country for about an hour though, it kind of starts to grow on you. I felt a country twang consuming my speech and found myself sitting on the front porch sipping some ice tea and playing dominos. It was actually really relaxing. We really didn't do much all day besides eat, sit on the porch or by the pond, play dominos, and dominate in horse shoes. When it got dark, the real fun began. People had brought an arsenol of fireworks and it took about an hour to set the majority of them off. Casey and I left around 11pm and they still had several boxes left to go through. I got to set one off though which was kind of scary and fun at the same time. By the end of the day, I am happy to say that I didn't go crazy and that I kind of like the country...in small doses of course.

Obsessed

"Hi, my name is Jenna, and I am a 'So You Think You Can Dance' addict." Man it feels good to confess that. Now I can embrace my obsession. For those of you who do not watch the show (Wednesday on Fox) you really should start. I've been making Casey watch it with me and don't tell anyone but I think he is secretly starting to like it. My favorite couples this season are Twitch and Kherrington, Katee and Josh, and my top favorite is Chelsea and Mark!!!!

Exhibit A of why Chelsea & Mark are the best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi4d1QyxczY&feature=related

Was that not the best dance ever??