MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

I wanted to wish all you Beautiful, Awesome bloggers a very Merry Christmas! I'm enjoying my family and still basking in my moment being engaged to my most wonderful man in the world. I won't be blogging until some time after Christmas. Be safe if you're traveling or just driving back and forth between familiy and friends.
I'm sharing some of my favorite Christmas images.
God Bless!

Big Toy Run and more

This weekend was the annual Big Texas Toy Run and it was frickin awesome!  A group forms in Ft Worth (West)and another group forms in Dallas (East)- then both groups arrive in Grand Prairie at the same time. The route is on Interstate 30 and the exits , on ramps and the right lane is shut down specifically for all the motorcycles for 20 miles and for a full hour (1 pm to 2 pm).  People pull over and bring lawn chairs on the medians and side of the roads on both sides to watch all the bikes go by.  It’s such an incredible thing to see with all the different kinds of bikes, paint jobs, and many bikes decorated their bikes like Christmas trees.

 The fee was 10 $ a bike and you have to bring a new unwrapped toy. There was estimated around 15,000 bikes total that showed up for this event. That’s A LOT Y’all!!!  All the money and toys go to many great charities in DFW metroplex.  It was an all day event  and it was my first time to come from the Ft Worth side. I’ve always entered from the Dallas side but we joined some of our friends that live in Ft Worth for breakfast and so we spent day there.  There was even some yummy food trucks in our location.

On Sunday I participated also in the annual Christmas party and church services at the Gainesville Corrections Facility. It’s a boys prison up in North Texas and the CMA groups have the 3^rd Sunday’s of the month to do both church services. There are 2 dorms that are connected by a lobby room in each building and we are given 2 dorms who get to celebrate and have a Christmas party. There are around 9 boys in each dorm so we have food and gifts for 18 boys. We bring in pizzas, cookies, and sodas for them to eat and their gifts are 2 pairs of socks and a journal to write in. I used to be very involved with this ministry a few years ago and was a mentor to 2 boys and held a bible study  once a week. When I started traveling with my job  more ,I had to give up my volunteering at the school.  I make a point to attend the Christmas party so I can visit with them and sing Christmas carols. We have a lot of fun and I know some of these boys don’t get any visitors at all.

So here are a bunch of pictures of the Toy Run and the entrance to the boys facility.

Dallas merging in with us Ft Worth group

Canam Sleigh

Our toy

Annual T-shirt

Who knew Storm Trooper's play at Toy Run fundraisers?

Happy Tuesday and God Bless!!

Bloggers Unite- Day of Silence

Blog Ornament swap

Happy Friday Y'all!!! Today i'm linking up with  Autumn who hosted a Christmas ornament swap at her blog  Mrs. In the Making.  I got paired up with Chloe who blogs at All That Good Stuff and more.
One thing  I really enjoy about blog swaps is meeting new people and finding new blogs to follow. I've really enjoyed reading Chloe's blog and getting to know her.
She sent me the sweetest package that included my favorite Christmas word Joy, and two red ornaments that have an "H" and my other fave word Believe.

 Thank you Chloe for being a great swap partner and thank you to Autumn for hosting this.

HUGE Giveaway and EVEN more HUGE News for me!

Happy Thursday Y'all! I am participating in one of the most awesome giveaways over at Taylor's blog
Goings on in Texas. Seriously she is giving something away EVERYDAY! I have the cutest red Santa water bottle that i'm giving away. Go over now and play.
Oh but wait- before you go over there and i need to share with you the most amazing exciting news that i have...... Wait for it.... You may need to sit down for this.....

I said YES!!!! My most amazing boyfriend in the whole wide world proposed last night and he's now my FIANCE!  Of course i have a funny story and i'll tell you all about it but i cant right now. I'm still swamped at work and i want to absorb all my excitement for a little while longer from last night.  So stay tuned!
Now go over and try to win some awesome stuff. I'll be seating here smiling from ear to ear looking down at my left hand.
Big Hugs my beautiful bloggers!!

12.12.12 Linky Party with Nicole

Happy Wednesday y'all!! My sweet friend Nicole over at Three 31 created a linkup party for today's date of all things TWELVE.
Isnt it cool that there will never be another date like today? So many people are getting married today for that whole coolness factor. How cool if today is your birthday?!
You can link up with your fave 12 things of the year, your fave 12 pinterest ideas, 12 recipes, anything but in quantity of 12.
I want to post my favorite 12 pictures of My Honey and me. I love him so much and i pinch myself to see if i am really this lucky and blessed. My year wouldnt have been what it is without him in my life!
Excuse the repeats because i used some of the same pics yesterday in my vacation post.

Part 2 - My vacation with the love of my life

Hey y'all, how's everyone doing today? Yesterday sucked so I wont even talk about it and plus i'd rather think back on my fun vacation in Galveston Texas. As mentioned in my previous post, Todd and I drove to Galveston for a nice long weekend away from Dallas. We thought about it and it's the first time we've been out of town alone and stayed in a hotel since we've been dating. We took the Harley to Oklahoma and stayed with my brother a few months ago but it doesnt count because we stayed with them.
We got a late start heading that way because unfortunately Todd had to make a few sales calls to wrap his day up before we could leave. I was sad that it may be dark by the time we got there and i wouldnt be able to enjoy the beach but i drove like a determined woman and got there in enough time to watch the sunset.
One of the perks i have with traveling so much with my job is that i get to keep my airline miles and my hotel points. I used most of my Hilton points this stay and it was so worth it. We booked our rooms at the Hampton Inn and it was directly across the street from the beach. I couldnt have asked for a better location. I was so excited because they also upgraded me to a suite that had a big room- with a living area and bar with microwave, refrigerator and sink. One thing we also made time for was the hot tub outside near the pool area. Oh that was the most awesome relaxing thing to do before we went to bed!
We walked on the beach EVERY morning and also every night. The beach is magical for me and it's truly my happy place.  You know for only 5 hours away, i've got to go more often.
When we left Galveston that Sunday ,our vacation still wasnt over yet. We had tickets to the RUSH concert with Todd's best friend Rob in Houston. Again, i used my Hilton points and got us a room at the gorgeous Hilton of America's downtown.  I originally had a room with a balcony overlooking the skyline but we got into Houston earlier than planned and our room wasnt ready. I was grateful that Hilton let us check in so early that i took the next avialable room and it didnt disappoint. It was on the 17th floor and it still had a great view. We had a few drinks in the lobby bar and chilled before we met Rob and his wife Karen for dinner. We ate dinner at the coolest Tex Mex restuarant that used to be a movie theatre. It was called El Real and they played old black and white westerns on the screen. The best part was that RUSH performed at the Toyota Stadium that was directly across the street so we just walked over and didnt have to mess with any parking at all. We had so much at the concert and it was my first time to see them play. RUSH is Todd's fave band ever so he has lost count at how many times he saw them play. The best part was seeing Todd visit with his best friend Rob. There's nothing better than hanging out with your most closest friend ever. This was my first time meeting Rob and i was so nervous but i think i passed the test. We all got along great and we had so much fun hanging out before the concert, at the concert, and afterwards too.

Taking the time out to just focus on each other was really needed for Todd and I. It gave us lots of time to enjoy one another and talk about all things big and small. I'm glad we did this and i cant wait until our next trip wherever and whenever it will be. 
I have to share one of my most embarrassing moments with y'all though. There happened to be a Wal-mart walking distance from our hotel in Galveston and Todd forgot to grab his bathing suit. We walked over there and for whatever reason i looked down and burst out laughing so hard. I had on 2 different flip flops on and it made me think of those hysterical WalMart emails with all the crazy clothes people wear. I cant believe i did that and the best part is that we had come back from having dinner so i had them on at the restuarant before we walked to Walmart. Now the sad part is somewhere between Galveston, Houston, and home i lost my other mate to my cute black Harley Davidson flip flops and i'm so bummed!! Oh well.
Now here are tons of pictures but not all of them or we would be here for days....

The night we arrived- had drink from fishing pier

A tradition i do everytime im at beach- pic of feet in sand

Galveston Pleasure Pier

At night -Pleasure pier

Yep- me at Walmart with 2 mismatched shoes

View from Hilton hotel room

Night time view from room

My honey enjoying drink in Hotel lobby bar

Gorgeous light in the Hilton lobby

El Real Tex Mex movie theater

Western movie playing in background

Getty Lee- ugliest man in rock and roll

In the Hilton lobby before concert