Sandra's New Year Resolution

Every year I write down a few things I would like to work on or accomplish. Last year I wrote down 5 resolutions and I accomplished three out of the five. One of them, I have to ask John how I did, it was "to be a good wife and mom." The other one I didn't do so well, it was to attend Mass regurlarly...with the birth of Sofia, I was not very good at it. Hopefully this year my attendance is better than 2008's.

Ok. So, what I did accomplished this year was: Run 3 5K's, well I ran more than that! so, Check! Maintain the same job for 2008, I kinda job hopped a little bit and so I decided to stay at HNTB, it does help when you like the company that you work for so this one was easy to keep; and the last one that I accomplished was to be in good shape, this one was hard but I did it! So, below are my resolutions for the new year.

2009's Resolutions are:

1. Go to Mass Regularly and give more to the Lord.

2. Be a good Wife and Mother

3. Keep Fit (Run the Half!)

4. Finish what I Start! (this will be the hardest, but I'm tired of looking at things I never finish!)

5. Cook more (or at least learn to cook all of my Mom's recipies, this is the second hardest!!)

So here they are. I think 5 resolutions are good enough for me. I don't want to overwhelm myself with too many of them or I won't keep any.

God Bless!

-Sandra

RIP Cowboys Sept. 2008 - Dec. 2008

One word to describe our last game of the 2008 season: Embarassment.

Final Score: 44-6.

While watching this miserable game, I was asking myself, "who's getting fired tomorrow?" Let's start with the Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who is the first loser in this team. The new owner should hired a general manager, fired the head coach Phillips, bench Romo, tape T.O's mouth and get rid of all the thugs that Jones hired this season.

Seriously. Ugh! I hate it when I hear the phrase, "well, there is always next season."

At any rate, right now I'll forget about the Cowboys and watch the Steelers take it once again all the way to the Superbowl.

This will be my last Cowboy's post until next season. Maybe the Mavericks will show up all of the sudden and take the shame and embarrassment that the Cowboys have brought to this city.

-Sandra.

Heart of the Adventurer

Here are some of the things I got for xmas. This is the newest Salvatore book; The Pirate King. I love the way he writes I feel like I'm there in the heart of the battle, with the smell of the sea and the thrill of the Hunt. Arrr!!

I also got the first 2 seasons of the Heman cartoon series. Good stuff man! I used to love He-man when I was growing up. Classic battle of good vs evil.

A Romo jersey, I'm wearing it today and hopefully I get to wear it for at least one more game before I have to keep it my closet until the next season begins. Incidentally, it happens to be my first actual Jersey that I have ever owned. Score!!! Thanks babe!

I didn't get this book, but I did want to point it out, because after looking at my bag of goodies I realized the truth of this book. That deep within the heart of every man there is a desire for adventure, danger, and something worth risking life and limb for. The book is a good read and I highly recommend it. It explains how God designed us this way. Look at the world these days, its so tamed, and it has domesticated us... so to speak. But just imagine when the earth was still wild and untamed and man ventured into the wilderness, conquered it, tamed it, and protected it. *Sigh*

The good news is that we still get to get our fix, via camping, hiking, and building. Not to mention we can live vicariously through the hearts of the Heroes we read about and characters we play in video games. We can still carve out the lives for a families via our work, but even life behind a desk can't quench the fires of a man's heart.

-John

Meat Maddness

What a great xmas it was this year! We celebrated the birthday of our Savior, and got to spend some time with our famillies. We decided to pull a double dinner, one on xmas eve, and one on xmas Day. Very Hectic! But it was worth it, we are still trying to recover. I don't think I'm up for roast for a while. Geez!!! We originally wanted to do prime rib, but we had no idea what it would cost to feed 24 people. So we went for a nice roasted beef instead. It still turned out well and no one complained. I had no idea how much I had to buy for that many people, so I consulted the all knowing Internet. I found a site and it recommended about a pound a and a quarter per person... that was about 32 lbs of meat. I cleaned out Sam's whole sale club, and had people pointing at my cart in amazement. On xmas eve we began cooking for the first wave of Family, and filled the whole oven with succulent meat. About 16lbs of it, and we had more than enough drippings to make a killer mushroom gravy. My mother in-law did a fantastic job seasoning the meat, it was melt in your mouth good. Fresh out the oven and about an hour before the guests were to arrive we began to carve the meatopia. We filled 2 huge trays with this carnivores dream and it became apparent that maybe the internet was wrong on how many pounds we needed per person. By the end of the meal we barely made it through 1/2 of the first platter. Well, the bright side is that we didn't have to do much for the next wave, we just stored the meat back in its drippings and heated it up. It did taste even better the next day, but even after the second wave we still had a bunch left over, which became dinner in the evening of xmas, breakfast tacos the next day, lunch, and dinner tacos and we still....... had leftovers. My sister in law graciously took the last bit and I was more than happy to see it go......I guess in the end it is better to have an abundance rather than people fighting over a piece of meat. I'm done with beef for a while and I don't even want to think about cooking that other 16lbs of beef anytime soon.

-John

AND MORE Christmas Cards!!!!!!!

The above card is from John's Auntie Molly, George and their beautiful daugther Megan!

and this precious one is from Kathy Juderjahn. Isn't Charlie a cutie...I love this picture of him!

Christmas at the Seaman's Continuation....

This is the second part of Christmas at the Seaman's. We hosted John's family on Thursday for lunch and everyone had a good time. Here's the pics and videos! Sofia with her cousins, Ziera and Aisha Seaman. I love this picture. This one is a keeper!

John passing out the presents.

Christmas at the Seaman's

This year we were honor to host not one but two back to back Christmas at our house. One on Christmas eve and the next one on Christmas day and we had fun doing it. Christmas eve was with my family and the next day with John's. Here's the pics!
Uncle (skinny) James Maloney. He's lost so much weight he looks amazing!

My crazy sis, Yesenia.

The Maloney's with Mima! (I love her hair)

To finish the night...I think it was about 1am, David brought 1800 Reposado and we all decided to have a shot. All I can say is that I slept good and I had no hangover! John has a different story to tell. -Sandra

And More Christmas Cards!!!

The beautiful Olivarez family! They are so blessed!

The Standokes Family from Hazlet, Texas! They are amazingly cute!

this one is from my uncle Robert, his wife Reina and my cousin David Huezo from New Orleans.

Cowgirls all over again...

Ok. What more can I say about this past Saturday's loss against the Ravens. ugh...I hate getting on and off the bandwagon like that but when your team sucks every other game and they play with no heart, they leave me with no choice but to. I think my emotions were saved due to The Cash's Christmas party we attended that same night. I think it was Holli's meatballs that saved the night...or the cheesecake? I don't know but after an up and down game and only two points behind we just couldn't crack another W.

Now, with Tampa Bay loss it seems we still have a door open for the last remainder wildcard spot that is IF we win. I'm not holding my breath on our last game against the Eagles, but maybe Romo will wake up and decide that he'll start earning his millions and make a comeback on our last game. Or just decide to be a celebrity boyfriend and call it a season.

I won't wear my Cowboys t-shirt on this last game...at the party, I was so frustrated, I took it off (yes, I had another shirt) and dropped it on the floor, twice! I had to put it on 'cause I got cold. But maybe it was the shirt that jinx the game...or maybe Romo jinx our team from day one. Feliz Navidad! -Sandra

Hazlet, Texas Visit

Yesterday, Sunday the 22nd, we went to visit John's relatives in Hazlet, TX just outside of Ft. Worth. I believe it took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get there. On our way there, we experienced the feeling of actually going out of town. First, we stopped at Sheila's and Kevin's house and their beautiful daughters Bailey and Shelby.

Then we stopped at Uncle James and Auntie Silvia's house. They live in this beautiful Ranch style house with lots of land. It reminded me of Murphy but this place was much better.

We enjoyed our visit and hope to visit more often. John really likes the country and I just like to get out of the house. On our way back home, once we excited 75 and got on Parker, I felt crowded. I can see why people move to the country, you don't feel so suffocated and tight. I was able to see the stars in Hazlet, in Plano all you see is planes. Thanks for having us over, we really enjoyed it oh, and thanks to Uncle James for the Tequila bottle, it will keep us warm at night!

Design Electric Christmas Party

The party was held at Charmelains in Addison. I finally got to drink a margarita since last year in May when I got pregnant. It was mighty good, so I ordered in another but by the time I got it, I was yawning and it went to waste. bummer. enjoy the pics!


the above pic was from last year's Christmas party...notice i was pregnant, I'll say about 7 1/2 months and tired! ugh...i don't miss this at all. I never understood the "pregnant glow look" I always felt the "pregnant morning sickness look."

what a difference huh! It only took a baby download, some running and tata! oh and good make up of course...I kept the tired look though...

John's co-workers!

More Christmas Cards!

The Maloneys! my three crazy nephews Andrew, Sammy and Anthony, my younger sister Wendy and my new skinny brother n law James.

The snowman card is from Granpa Williams and Margaret


The Noel card from John's Uncle James and Silvia Seaman


The Angel card from my Auntie Connie and Dennis from New Orleans

The Nativity card is from my Oldest sister Medith