Good to know we live in a good place.

Flower Mound Named a Top Spot to Move to in the United States

Flower Mound was recently named the sixth best place to move to in the nation and number one in Texas by Forbes in the "America's 25 Best Places to Move" list. To locate America's best places to move, Forbes considered cities with populations of more than 25,000 and the number of people in each town who were born out of state or abroad, moved from a considerable distance within one and five years, and relocated for a job. Other factors included population growth, family incomes, people in executive and professional jobs, price, size, and age of homes, changes in school enrollments, and the proximity of multinational companies. The publication noted Flower Mound's close proximity to DFW Airport, high percentage of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher, and convenient access to global employers such as ExxonMobil, Stryker Corp., American Airlines, and Texas Instruments as factors in the high ranking.

Check out the full Forbes story. (too cool)
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/07/relocate-relocation-cities-lifestyle-real-estate-affordable-moving.html

PT Cruiser

Just so no one thinks that I let the PT go without a fight....

The inspection was due and there were some issues that we have been putting off. She needed new engine mounts. She was overheating, even after we put more water and antifreeze in. She needed a tune-up really bad. The sunroof motor was dying. So, as you can see, she was going to cost a fortune to fix and once it starts, it doesn't stop.

Plus, I really wanted us to have something that we could use for our road trips, besides Mike's car. We needed something roomy and comfortable.

Don't get me wrong, the PT has been a HUGE part of my life since June 21, 2002. Mike surprised me with the Woodie after dinner with friends. There was a big white bow on the car and he had the keys in his pocket. It was the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. It was my birthday present and he had been listening to me rave on and on about this car for months. (See, they do listen.)

I was getting misty when I had to say goodbye at the Nissan lot. She has been a great car and has taken me many places. She has been to Virginia, South Carolina, multiple scrap-weekends, multiple girls-weekends, the Poconos, and just about every where in between. She was in three accidents. Accident 1: the hood, bumper, and driver-side fender replaced after a pickup truck backed into me. Accident 2: the hatch and bumper replaced after I was rear-ended by a pickup truck. Accident 3: the driver-side window was busted by someone mowing the grass, (glass EVERYWHERE, you can still hear some rattle in the door).


This is what she looked like in June 2002...
















This is what she looked like in June 2009...
















She WILL be missed...RIP Patriot Blue Woodie. :-(

UPDATE

I have neglected this blog for too long. I have had some emails telling me that I have not updated and that folks are tired of seeing the ice in Texas from January. Well...It is now June 14th, it was 100 degrees today, so no more ice roads.

I hope to post our TWO vacations on here soon. But for now, I want to boast about my new car.

THAT IS RIGHT!! A NEW CAR!!!

Saturday, June 13th, Mike and I went to Grubbs Nissan in Bedford (about 10 minutes from work) after breakfast and checked out the Muranos. We talked to a really nice salesman (I know, shocking) and he showed us what we asked for and then took us on a test drive. We were there until 3 that afternoon. After all of my 'haggling' we got the price we wanted and I got a beautiful car...err...suv. :-)

It is silver. It is a 2009. It is the SL, style with the Premium, Technology, and Leather packages.

It has some really cool bells and whistles:
XM radio, Bose 6 cd changer with 9 speakers and one of the sub-woofers is in the middle of the spare tire, ipod hookup, dual moon roof, nitrogen filled tires, keyless entry and ignition, bluetooth, multiple controls on the steering wheel, leather seats, more leg room than you can shake a stick at, lots of storage space, automated hatch, rear camera, and lots more.

Check out the official website for the Nissan Murano. http://www.nissanusa.com/murano

She is a beauty!!!

Ice in Texas!!!

January 28th....this is what happens in Texas after a little bit of rain....icy roads. The only thing stopping anyone from sliding...good driving and a bit of sand. No salt here. The over passes are the worst. Two of these pictures are from the overpass we take to work. The three lane highway is usually PACKED with cars. Not on the 28th. Around noon is when the ice was mostly gone, but if you were on the roads after dark, there was more ice. The next day, we had freezing fog. It took 45 minutes for us to get to work. It usually takes about 20. The temperatures stayed in the high 20's to low 30's for 3 days. Usually, it is about 50 or 60 in the day and around 35 at night. When the pump is running on the pool at night, that means it is 32 or below. That is the only way I know when it is really cold outside. :-)

Dallas Stampede

Saturday, November 8th.

The Supper Club girls had fun for 24 hours.

I met up with Heather, Laura, and Becky at Amber's house. Amber was very sweet for driving us into Dallas.

We started with lunch at Jake's in Dallas. They specialize in burgers. Then we headed to the W hotel. It is located across the street from the American Airlines Center. Laura and Becky headed to the Spa for manis and pedis, while Amber was relaxed with a massage. Janay, Heather, and I walked around the Stampede Marketplace to shop and took some pictures of the scenery from the hotel. I got a great shot of the horse trailers outside the hotel. Bobbi arrived around 5. We headed back to our rooms and got ready for the rodeo.

This was a professional rodeo. Check out the website. http://www.texasstampede.org/

I have seen the rodeo at the Fort Worth Stockyards, but this is NOTHING like that. These guys (and gals) were definately professionals. There was bareback and saddle bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping, barrel racing, muttin bustin', and a monkey that rides a sheep herding dog. Yes, a MONKEY!!! Please check out that site, even if it is just to see the monkey. :-)

After the rodeo events, the concert began....Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. I never heard of them, but I did like them and there were a few songs I would like to download from iTunes.

We were in a suite on the Platnum level at the stadium and we had food and drink galore. LOL

We hung out in the box and had a great time. These ladies are great fun and the sweetest to hang out with. We had a nice mix with the 7 of us. Laura, Becky, Janay, and I are married. Bobbi, Heather, and Amber are not. I am the oldest of the group. :-(

Breakfast on Sunday was at Bread Winners. That was an awesome place. The food was great and the building was cool. It as an old house, actually it looked like two old houses put together.

http://www.jakesburgers.net/ - Jake's Burgers
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1521 -W Hotel
http://www.breadwinnerscafe.com/locations_up.htm - Bread Winners

October Vacation

As you can see in my previous post, Mike and I went to South Carolina to visit our friends Barbara and Jack. I finished the front and back of a quilt and a gift for my folks (I can't say what, since they may see this post). LOL. :-)

We found out that the Hard Rock Park has closed and filed for bankruptcy. The saddest part of all that...it was only open for one season. It never had a chance. We bought the commemorative park guide that showed how the park came about and what type of changes occured during construction. From what I read on line, the park tickets were only supposed to cost about $50, but they charged over $100. They were supposed to have bands booked into the holiday season and now they have canceled them. It is really a bummer. The park was awesome and I would have loved to have gone back.

http://www.hardrockpark.com/index.cfm

Mike read 3 Patterson books while we were there and took many well needed naps. He and Sugar went for pretty many walks too. Sugar enjoyed the naps mostly.

Elaine's Quilt (in a week)

We finally had our vacation after very long projects, for both of us. We decided to have a relaxing vacation with our dear friends, Barbara and Jack in South Carolina.

I decided to take my sewing machine and a bunch of Hawaiian remnants that I bought in Hawaii last year. We set up a plan and B told me that we would have it finished by the end of the week. My words...what are you smokin'?

Low and behold...I finished it. Here is the front, back, and the tag.

The front is a bunch of remnants...and yes, there is a pattern.

The back is a bunch of remnats too, but they are all the same pattern.

The label is the name of the quilt, the occasion, and the creation date.

Koch's in Texas 2008

Mike's Mom and Dad drove down from PA and arrived September 19th. They stayed until September 29th. Unfortunately, I was out of town for 4 of the days they were here.

We went to a Rangers Baseball game on the 20th. That was our Father's Day gift to Rich. A little late, but that is okay. We were able to get Rich's birthday, Fran's birthday, and their anniversary in during this time too.

Mike and I still had to work while they were in town, so they would go out and about on their own or hung out at the house with Sugar and their dog, Baxter.

We did eat out, but Fran cooked some of the nights. She also made her famous broccoli salad. YUMMY!! One of the places we went to eat was Boi Na Braza. It is a Brazilian steak house. The guys walk around with skewers of meat and slice off pieces right at the table. It is definitely an experience.

We took the train ride from Grapevine to Fort Worth. We saw the cattle drive while we were down there. They had more cattle this time. I noticed one of them this time. The black and white Longhorn. He was kinda small, but his coloring was cool.

Montreal, Canada

Skyline from the 36th floor of the hotel. This is just one of MANY pictures of the skyline.






Ann, Michael, Elaine, and J. at the dinner on the last night of the conference.





September 21st to 24th, I was in Montreal at the Epicor conference with two folks from our IT department, Ann and J. We currently use one of the products by Epicor at GameStop and we were there to learn more about their other products and see if we could learn more about the current product. I have to admit, the sessions were not that useful, but the networking was great. I met a lot of nice people and I did learn a few things. So, I would say it was a successful trip.

Vegas Baby...

Well, actually, I was in Vegas for work. I went for our annual Store Conference. It was held at the Mandalay Bay. I was there September 6th to the 10th. Bobbi and I were sent to inform our store personnel of ways to decrease loss. We had fun when we had time to ourselves, but it was a lot of work and it was a LOT of walking. The Mandalay Bay is HUGE. They even have an extra wing that is called THEHotel. Yes, that is the correct spelling and it looks like that on the sign. It was very ritzy. After our meetings, we hung out with Josh and Chuck. I got to see a lot of folks from the EB side, which was a nice treat for me.



GameStop Nascar, Joey Logano




Josh and Chuck...acting like they are working. :-)





Elaine with a Lego Batman and Robin.





Bobbi and Elaine all dressed up to go to dinner at a French restaurant with the rest of the Accounting department.

Cleaver's in Texas '08

Elaine's folks were in town August 21st to 27th.

Since I was in the middle of a project, I was unable to take vacation, but I was able to work half days. I would get home around noon and then we would head out and tour around. Since it was still REALLY hot here, we did not get to do some of the stuff Mary wanted to do...like the zoo or the train ride. We had temperatures close to 100 and a few days over 100. Even with 'dry' heat, it is still really hot.

We ate out a lot. We ate at a couple of places that we went to last year, but we managed to try some new places this time. Of course we had to take them to our favorite places. Dad got to go to Shepler's and get some new shirts. We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not & Wax Museum. They did get in the pool one day, but they said it was too hot. LOL.

They were very glad to see Sugar and of course Sugar was REAL happy to see them.

WELCOME CHASE!!!

It has been awhile since I have updated everyone. And I am sorry about that. So, I am going to try to do it tonight.

First off, I wanted to mention that our niece, Jennifer, had a baby. On June 9th, at 1:20 p.m. His name is Chase Philip. 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and 21 inches long. He has a lot of dark hair, just like his Mom.

We are the very proud Great Uncle and Great Aunt!!

Sad day...

I love you Aunt Elsie!!!

The last of our June vacation

From Coatesville, we headed down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to see Barbara and Jack.
We surprised them by showing up the night before they were expecting us. Apparently, our emails never made it letting them know we were showing up early. :-) No worries though, they were ready for us.

During our stay, we went to Broadway on the beach to Tony Roma's for some really good ribs. B and I went to the outlet mall and shopped around. The new Hard Rock Park opened up and we hung out there for a day. It was a lot of fun.

This is the Led Zeppelin Roller Coaster..













This is one of the entry ways into the area for the Led Zeppelin Roller Coaster.













This is a 'bounce house' in the British Invasion area. Mike noticed the buildings look like faces. Pretty cool, huh?






Just had to take a picture of this place.... :-)

Visiting West Chester, continued

And the rest of the crew.....Martha, Jung, Melodie, Donna, Bob, and Ruth

Visiting West Chester

We went to see the West Chester office to catch up with the rest of the folks left from EB. There are only a handful at this office.

Some of the furniture looks VERY familiar.

Mark in his office.

Dawn in her office.

Raul in his cube.

Next stop of vacation, continued

We stayed at Tim & Gwen's for a few days and during that time, we visited friends and drove around to take in the old neighborhood.
We were hunting down some chew toys for Sugar that we can not find in Texas, so we went to the Acme in Exton. Low and behold, Mr. Dave was working. (imagine that!!) He hasn't changed much and I am glad. It was good to see him.



Melanie and Corey had a gathering at their house and we were the guests of honors. Mary, Sue, Dave, Kim, Jamie, and Bob came out to see us.







Of course, anytime food is around and Mary...she creates her wonderful Dream Torte. I was so excited when Melanie brought it out to the table. I threatened to just take the whole thing for myself. Thank you Mary!!!







And here is Kai hamming it up for the camera. This is his "I am really cute" pose. I can not get over how much he looks like Melanie and yet he looks like Corey. He is definitely their kid.

Next stop on our vacation

After we left the campground, we went to Coatesville and stayed with Mike's brother and his family. Tim and Gwen's daughter, Allie, turned 2 on June 2nd and here she is with the 'popper' that Uncle Mike and Aunt Elaine bought.



She also got a Mr. Potato Head, but the adults were having fun with that before she had a chance to. Here is my Dad with his 'creation'. :-) It came in a carrying case with about 30 pieces. My Dad kept saying that the Mr. Potato Head they had as kids was a real potato!!




Here she is playing with Jen. Uncle Phil was keeping her entertained and had her laughing. I love this picture. She was the center of attention the whole day. She really cleaned up with the gifts too. Such a sweetie.