10 Year High School Reunion

I didn't expect to be 10 months pregnant at my 10 year high school reunion! Even though I was EXHAUSTED and waddled my way through the party, it was such a fun evening at Hard Eight BBQ reconnecting with old friends! Hopefully I'll look a lot skinnier at our 20 year reunion.  Lucy was born 2 days later...

Megan, Jamie, Nicole, Me, Leah, Liz and Lauren...

Baby Womack and Baby Rives...

Mary Lee, Megan, Nicole, Emily, Leah, Amanda and Me...

C-O-P-P-E (double) L :: Everybody yell :: COPPELL!!

Random...

I need to buy a piece of green clothing for St. Patrick's Day 2011. I don't even have a pair of green panties.

We found a new Thai restaurant near our house that has great food. Our dishes were a bit spicy, but delicious.

Counting down the days until glee is back {April 13th}!

Still so excited that The Rectors are official residences of Coppell....their new house is a mile away from ours!

Went to see Dear John last week with my book club girls....I can actually say that I enjoyed the book and the movie.

I'm really loving cereal right now.

My husband (who is anti-social networking) has caved and is now Twittering.

We leave for Zambia in 64 days!

Thankful that the Lord has provided the perfect situation for our home and pups while we're gone.

Josh is shocked that I have absolutely no desire to join him on April 11th at 7:30am to watch the implosion of Texas Stadium.

Still amazed that Jake actually picked Vienna. Sad that we'll be in Zambia during Alli's reign as the bachelorette.

I've almost finished my second bag of Hershey's Eggs of the season....my favorite Easter candy.

Really not that impressed with American Idol's Top 12.

Busy blogging at work....check out our new blog! A little reason why PB&PT has been lacking lately. Sorry.

Ashamed that this is my 3rd blog post in a row with no pictures...so not like me.

Mailed in our census form today.

Looking forward to trying this quick bread recipe soon.

Extremely grateful for the blessings in our lives.

Blog Neglect...

I know it's time to update my poor, neglected blog when I start receiving emails from my family members asking if I'm sick or something! Thanks for checking on me cousin Paula....this post is for you!

All is well in our neck of the woods....work is really picking up for me with all of our Spring and Summer weddings on the horizon. Josh is busy with work as well getting ready for Camp LIFE this summer. I can't believe we leave for Zambia on May 15th!! We're are getting so excited and I think it's starting to really sink in that we are leaving in 2 months and we'll be gone for 8 weeks!! Yikes!!

Other than that, not much else to report. Sorry! I guess I'm boring right now.

I'm going to see Dear John tonight with my book club girls....we read the book last month. I hear that the movie is very different from the book, so I'm anxious to see it!

Have a great day!!

Record Snow Fall...12.5 Inches!!

It snowed big, beautiful flakes all day long yesterday! I've never seen anything quite like it before in Texas. A record setting 12.5 inches!! Here are a few pictures from the aftermath around our house....

Happy Friday....Happy Snow Day!!!

Snow Day!!

What a sight to wake up to! The snow was coming down like crazy when I first looked outside at 7am this morning...and it's still coming down 4 hours later! So fun! I'm working from home today....with a smile on my face because the view outside my window is so beautiful...and my coffee is so yummy!! What a great day! If you're out on the roads today, stay safe and warm!

Library Card...

After being inspired by a friend of mine in book club (thanks Erin!), I decided to make a trip down to the Coppell Public Library today to take advantage of my tax paying dollars and get my very own library card. I haven't set foot in a library since college....and I truly cannot remember the last time I checked out a book from the library. I must say, I was quite impressed by the Coppell Public Library....and the place was packed! Who knew so many people visit the library?! Unfortunately, the book I was looking for was checked out....Dear John by Nicholas Sparks....but I will definitely check back when we choose our next book club read. I can even access their online catalog from home to see if they have the book I want! Pretty fancy, Coppell...pretty fancy! Now I know why our taxes are so high.

Date Night...at Home

On Friday night, Josh and I had a date night....at home. It was so nice to enjoy a quiet and relaxing evening together. I made Mexican Lasagna for dinner...a delicious recipe from my friend Amber over at Chocolate Broccoli. A must try...Josh and I both really enjoyed it! It's flavorful, filling, easy to make and healthy! And we finally watched 500 Days of Summer. What a great movie!

OK, so Josh just informed me that this is a boring post and that I must not having anything interesting to write about today. Maybe he's right. So, I leave you with this....make the Mexican Lasagna recipe and watch the movie 500 Days of Summer.

That's all. Bye.

Everything is Different...

My favorite duo, Shane and Shane, are back with another amazing record....Everything is Different. If you need some new tunes, go download it. It's fantastic....good for the ears and soul!

Josh is in route home from Zambia!! He should land in London at 10:30am (Central Time). He has an overnight layover in London tonight and he'll arrive to DFW tomorrow around 3pm! Please say a prayer for safe travels. I can't wait to see his face tomorrow....it will be a good day!!

Cowboys vs. Seahawks

On Sunday, my sweet brother took me, Jill and mom to our first Cowboys game in the new stadium. It was amazing! We had such a great time. Our tickets were on the club level, which was very nice! To top it all off, the Cowboys played great and beat the Seahawks!! GO COWBOYS!!!!

Let there be light...

For my birthday Josh and mom gave me a beautiful new chandelier for our master bedroom....this is something that has been on my wish list for a while now, so I was very excited!! The electrician came on Wednesday to hang it up....I just LOVE it!! It's definitely a nice change and improvement.

Before...(this was a picture I took of our bedroom when we moved in 2 years ago)


After...



Thanks Josh and Mom!!

P.S....For those of you who are gasping at the thought of us not having a fan, don't worry. We DO have a fan...it's a MUST, of course. We have a table-top fan on Josh's bedside table. It's small, yet powerful and makes great sleep noise! I highly recommend it, that way you can have a pretty chandelier hanging over your bed instead of a ceiling fan! :)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

We finally meet...

Yep, last night was my very first visit to the Texas State Fair! It was so nice to finally meet Big Tex! We had SO much fun eating our way through the fair grounds...I can't wait to go back next year! Here are a few pictures from our visit with the Rectors...

I was so excited to finally try a Fletcher's Corny Dog...it was delicious!

Karen and I tasting the fried butter....it was not as disgusting as it sounds. It's really more like a fried roll with a small dollop of butter inside.

First class signage...

Fried Snickers...

Fried cookie dough...my personal favorite!

Enormous pig...I felt about that large after eating so much fried food!

Pig races...



Riding the super slide with Karen...I won.

I ♥ this picture...read why here.

Pallet Night...

Every once in a while at the Rives household we have what's called "pallet night." Pallet night takes place in the back room of our house, the TV room. We pull out the crappy mattress from our sleeper sofa and make a pallet on the floor in front of the TV with lots of blankets and pillows. Sometimes we do it because we want to....like when there is a good football game or movie on. Other times because we have no other choice...like when our air conditioning breaks (the TV room has a separate AC unit from the rest of the house). Our air conditioning broke on Sunday afternoon so pallet night it was!! (Thankfully, the AC was fixed first thing Monday morning and was covered under our warranty!) Pallet night always sounds like a great idea until we wake up in the middle of the night with 2 dogs in our faces and spring marks on our backs....when I say that mattress is crappy, I really mean it! We need an air mattress!!

Getting ready to call it a night...as you can see there is very little room left on that pallet for me!

Chloe and Kaci LOVE pallet night! Please excuse Chloe...she's exposing herself a little too much here.

So, I realize this was a very random (and some what pointless) post....but hey, it's Friday....so here's to randomness! TGIF!!! Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Fine dining in a gas station...

On Sunday evening Josh and I drove out to Watauga, Texas to eat at Chef Point Cafe, located inside a Conoco gas station. Yes, I picked to eat inside a gas station for my birthday dinner date! :) I have heard so much hype about this little dive that I wanted to finally try it for myself. And I must say....it was DELICIOUS. Seriously, the food and service was unbelievable. It was so funny eating a nice meal inside a gas station....half of the store still looks and acts like a convenience store. From where I sat, I had a great view of the Pennzoil display!

A little Chef Point Cafe history from their website...

Chef Point Cafe is the creation of Franson and Paula Nwaeze. The husband and wife team started looking for a way to open a restaurant in 2001, but most banks were skeptical about lending them start up capital because of their lack of experience and collateral. They discovered that they were much more likely to get financing to open a gas station and once they found a filling station under construction that came up for sale, they jumped at the opportunity...and the rest is history! A mixture of hearty American comfort food and Italian cuisine, the Chef Point Café menu includes such delectable culinary creations as crab cakes topped with roasted bell pepper, lobster bisque, and grilled sea scallops in garlic butter. Their success has been recognized nationally by Paula Dean and Food Network's Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.

If you're looking for a fun, new place to try out, you have to go to Chef Point Cafe. We had a blast and look forward to returning soon! It's definitely worth the drive out to Watauga!

P.S....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINA!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU TONS!!!!

Sweet Dreams...

Our master bedroom is the one room that we really didn't change much when we moved into our house 2 years ago....so, I've been itching to make it "my own" for a while now. I know it will be a process to get it where I want it, but I'm hoping to start with a couple of updates this month for my birthday. On my wish list is a new chandelier and carpet. I'd also love to eventually get new bedding, paint, wallpaper, shudders and accessories. My style has definitely evolved over the years and I still don't know if I actually know what my style is. But for the meantime, I'm really digging tranquil spaces that are traditional with a bit a whimsy, warm, well accessorized and clean lined....not sure if that all makes sense together, but whatever! :) Color wise, I'm loving a mixture of turquoise, khaki, browns, blacks, reds and whites. I was perusing House Beautiful this evening and found some amazing bedrooms....I'd be happy with any of them! Take a look...

OK, so I don't know if I would actually pick this one, but I thought it was funky and fun.

This one if from Wisteria's September 2009 catalog that I got in mail last week....I think it may be my favorite look....

Sweet dreams,
Mindy :)

"The only thing that separates us from the animals in our ability to accessorize."
-Clairee Belcher from Steel Magnolias