Reilly Reality

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

2011-12-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

The BEST time of year is here!!! Here are some of the best things about this time of year!

1. You have to buy Michael Buble's Christmas CD! Best Christmas CD ever!!! His remake of Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is SO good!!! We listened to it about 5 times on our drive home from NJ!

2. Having friends over for dinner! Nothing better than decorating your house for Christmas and then inviting friends over for dinner! It gives me a reason to make my mom's apple cobbler which is so yummy!!

3. Set up the Christmas Trains! This is the first year for us to do this, but it is so awesome! Chris' grandpa used to have this exact train set up every year as Chris grew up. It was one of Chris' favorite things about Christmas and he claims to have played hours every year with the train.
Funny story about this...for about a year or so Chris' mom, Elaine has talked about giving us the train. Now, I didn't know that the train was a holiday train that goes around the tree. In my mind I was thinking it was a set of train cars that are used for decoration year round. Chris was so excited about getting the trains, which I never understood!! I never said anything because I could see that Chris and his family was really into the trains so I just went with it and figured I could deal with train cars decorating my house if it made all of them happy. Well, I can't explain my joy when Chris took the trains out and explained that it is a Christmas thing for around the tree. Then it got even better when he set it up and I could see how awesome the train is!! We had so much fun sitting on the floor like 12 year olds messing with the train! What I love most is the sentimental value of the train. Pa was a really important person to Chris and as Chris set up the train he would recall things Pa would say and do. He did a few impression of Pa and it was just so special! Now that I am tuned into the trains I cannot wait to have kids someday who get to play with the great-grandfathers trains!

4. Listen to nothing but Christmas music!

5. Simmer cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange slice and all spice in a saucepan! I do this all of December!!! Smells like Christmas!

I melted!

2011-12-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

Sarah sent me this picture. This was from Lucy's school and it is the list of things Lucy is grateful for. This made my entire life!! Lucy and I are best buds and I totally know that, but to see this really got me!!

The reason that I have such a great relationship with them is because Sarah and Adam are so great and talking about family and because we skype and face time often. Thank you to Sarah especially for allowing me to have this special and close and one of a kind relationship with her kids! I love them so much!

NJ for Thanksgiving

2011-12-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

Chris and I drove to New Jersey for Thanksgiving this year, we brought Diddy with us too! It was a rainy drive up there so it took us about 19 hours...yikes! But once we were there we were so happy to be there and just enjoy Chris' parents! We always have so much fun with them and we both love our time in NJ!
When we got the Camden (aka Diddy) got out of the car like a different dog! The cold weather was welcomed by her and she just lost her mind running all around chasing squirrels and enjoying the Reilly's big back yard! Tom and Elaine were nice enough for allowing Camden to come which helped us avoid boarding her.
We watched the parade, ate delicious food, told funny stories and did some work around the house. Elaine does so much for everyone in the family and as usual she took the best care of us ever! Tom is the best story teller and I could listen to his stories forever! He had a hilarious sense of humor and I am usually laughing all the time!
The Gearys came over for Thanksgiving dinner and it was great to see them too! Their little guy is 18 months and could not be any cuter!!! He has a great sense of humor too and has the sweetest and cutest expressions. He had wonderful manners, entertained all of us and had the entire family's attention every minute!! We loved it!
Beth and Ryan made such yummy sides for Thanksgiving and I think I ate the most ever at this Thanksgiving!
I am so ticked at myself because I don't have any pictures from our trip. So picture this...laughing, eating, drinking, repeat, repeat, repeat!

She is a great traveler!

New Car

2011-12-07T02:00:00.000-08:00

So I have known for years that I was due for a new car sometime soon. I drive a 1996 Jeep Cherokee with 186,000 miles on it. I really don't drive too much so as crappy as the car is, it doesn't really bother me...until someone else comes in town and I have to explain the following:
1. No I can't turn the A/C to high...for some reason it stops blowing beyond medium
2. Sorry I only get 1 local radio station because well I don't really know
3. Ooops, no you can't get in the car's back seat using that door because it doesn't open from the outside
4. Oh yea and the opposite door in the back seat doesn't have a handle on the inside so you can't really close the door unless the window is open
5. That's okay, it just feels like it will die when the car shakes like that. It only happens a few times a week.

When the Nuses came to town Sarah apparently felt that it was time for a car intervention and in a matter of 3 minutes she convinced me I had to get a new car before we drove to NJ for Thanksgiving. This conversation was on Friday and then Saturday we found a car and Monday we were leaving town in my new car!!
Shopping for cars was pretty funny because as the salesman would ask me what I wanted here was my list:
1. Keyless entry...haven't had a clicker for my car ever and I really want that!
2. Radio that works normally
3. My lofty request was a sunroof.
Beyond this I was just happy to have a car!

It was so fun and I feel so lucky to be driving this car. I really would have taken any car, but things worked out so perfectly and I was actually able to get my dream car!!! It was meant to be!

Random fact...I have driven 4 cars since I was 16 and 3 of 4 of them were green.

Little Green June Bug! Great car for years!

Pinch me!

Nuses Visit Florida!

2011-12-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

We had the best visit from the Nuses this November! They were here for about 5 days and we had a blast every single minute! Lucy and Lola are so sweet, have great manners and are hilarious!! Hank is the easiest, happiest baby and is just so wonderful to be with! Sarah and Adam of course are the best and we have fun with them no matter what!
We went to the park, went to the zoo, watched OU and OSU lose :(, celebrated Lola's birthday, celebrated Unc's birthday, had a cake fight, Lola and Fave had a birthday date. played in their playhouse and just had a blast!
Here are some pics from their visit!

Lola LOVES Unc, but was so shy for the first 48 hours. I think there is a bit of a crush going on!

Wings on as we play outside of course! Lucy and Lola's imagination are incredible!

Lola loving the cardboard playhouse we got for them for their visit! This was a huge hit and was hours of fun!

Are you kidding me Hank?! Could he be any cuter?!

The sweetest little face, smile and laugh!

My onion goggles! I love them even though I look like a dweeb! Normally, onions kill me for like 30 minutes! Not with these sweet shades though! It was s gift from Chris so he is the one to blame!

Adam and Hank!

Unc and the girls posing for a pic.

Lola and fave touching a snake at the zoo, while Lucy and Sarah looked at us like we were nuts!

See how fun it is to give Chris gifts!! He is so fun!

Lola and I headed out for our birthday shopping date. Every year I take the kids on a shopping trip so I get special time with them and they get to pick out their own gift! I love this tradition!

Chris and I with ourGod-child!

Bear, Lo and Fave at the Zoo!

Fave, Lo and Unc at the zoo! She loves the 1, 2, 3 swing!

The gentlemen enjoying the zoo.

Could Lola have posed anymore?! So adorable!

Shoulder rides as we walk through the pirate park!

Lola's birthday cake! It was really cute at one time until I let Lucy and Lola stick their fingers in it. I love being the Aunt ;) Anything goes!

Happy Birthday to LOLA!

So we decided not to eat another cake after eating Chris' birthday cake a day earlier. So hmmm...

what should I do

with this entire cake?!!

hmmm....

hmmmm.....

Okay a bite for Lola

now what?!

hmmmm

......

How about hit Sarah in the face with the cake?!!! Sounds good to me!

I knew payback might happen. I didn't expect for this type of precision though!!! Nice shot Sarah!

The kids thought we were nuts!!! I mean, we were!! I think a cake fight is good for the soul!!!

Happy Birthday Chris

2011-12-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

November 17th Chris celebrated his 31st birthday! We had so much fun because the Nuses were in town and were here to celebrate with us! Chris got so spoiled by everyone and had a great day! He got OSU gear, a Keurig coffee maker, new travel coffee mugs, new backpack, new running shoes and some iPhone accessories. It was a little ridiculous how spoiled he was by everyone! He is so great at receiving gifts and was so grateful!

Chris was able to come home for birthday lunch, we had Publix subs for lunch which is a household favorite. Publix is the grocery store in Florida and thay make the most delicious subs. Then Lucy helped me make Uncle's favorite for dinner...Lasagna! He is like Garfield, I swear! The man could eat Lasagna morning, noon and night!

The birthday boy in his new OSU gear!

The cake I whipped up! yea right ;)

Lola was happy to dig into Uncle's cake!

Lola may rival me as far as love for "Uncle"! She is in love!

Chef Lucy

It was so cute, Lucy asked me for a bowl and about 15 spoons and she stood on a stool and stirred a bowl with pieces of apples, tortilla chips, salt and whatever else I gave her. Then after about an hour of her mixing with me she asked me for a plate so she could "put Uncles special birthday dinner at his spot!" Along with her plate of random foods she also set a half eaten apple and a coors light at his spot. About an hour later I moved all of it and then she came by and "Oh my gosh!!! Where is Uncle's birthday dinner?!" She was so concerned! She is so sweet!!!

Anniversary!

2011-12-03T14:45:00.001-08:00

Time to do some catching up on the blog!

Chris and I celebrated our 4th anniversary a few weeks ago on November 10th! I love celebrating our anniversary so much! We had a lunch date and then went to a nice dinner overlooking the beach! Chris had called ahead so we got the red carpet treatment, which was so fun and surprising! For some reason rose petals on the table impress me?! I guess I am easy to please, but it was just fun because the chef gave us a special appetizer and dessert just because of our anniversary and then there were rose petals on the table. Slightly cheesy, but I totally ate it up!

I can't believe we have been married for 4 years! It has gone by like a flash! I am happier in marriage as every day passes and I cannot believe how lucky I am to be married to by best friend!

I snapped a shot of my cute date!

So Over Blogging!

2011-07-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

I know I need to blog, but I really don't want to!! I am not sure why, but I am forcing myself to do this so I don't forget what a wild summer we have had!

It started with me traveling for about 40 days out of 45 days in May and June! It was mainly work related - recital in Corpus, 1st annual franchise convention in Tulsa, princess camp back in corpus and also some family time in Tulsa and NJ.

Here is a snip from Sarah's blog which is much more descriptive than I can handle right now!

Megan came into town and it started with our Tippi Toes dance recital. It was a hit to say the least! We had prepared for a certain number of people but when the show began we had over 1400 people watching our kids dance - we were surprised and shocked!! Loved how all the kids were so supported!

Next came our flight to Tulsa to host our first Tippi Toes Franchise conference. Megan and I took Lucy and Lola and spend 2 weeks in Tulsa preparing for the meeting and training franchise owners. We have a fantastic group of women with 9 franchises across America! It was fun to have most everyone together to get to know each other, exchange ideas and talk shop. After that was over we headed the next day back to Corpus to host a full princess camp. We held 2 camps and enjoyed every minute. We were lucky enough to have one of our new franchise owners come to Corpus to learn the ropes, she was so helpful along with some of our amazing Tippi Toes teachers.

Chris was able to see all of his Tulsa friends while we were in town which was awesome as usual! I don't think Sarah and I could have made it through the Tippi Toes convention without Chris!!! He was so incredibly helpful and I am so grateful to him! Our parents were incredible as usual and I just love being back home with them! We spent some QT with Gannon, Lucy, Lola and Ella (Hank wasn't here yet)!

Then once I was back home Chris and I spent some time up in NJ. It was a great trip as always! Chris and I are officially addicted to home improvement projects so we forced ourselves on Chris' parents and ended up putting in a few windows and a new front door while we were there. I learned so much! Who knew I would ever be a part of window installation?!! Not me!! I also learned how to make pizza crust which was the highlight for me!! Tom helped me through it and I was relieved to see that the crust turned out just right!! We got to see Mason who has grown and changed so much since I saw him earlier in the spring. He is the center of the family and we all love every minute of it!!

So July as been much more laid back for us which was much needed! We just had Lauren and Daniel Rew come to visit which was fantastic! It felt like a vacation for Chris and I because we were at the beach for 2 days and just enjoyed the company of the Rews! They are easy, funny and laid back guests which made for a wonderful few days!!

Other fun stuff this summer...

My BF and BP (business partner) Sarah had her 3rd baby, Harry Hank Nuse!! He was born on June 29th and it perfection!!! He is totally adored by his big sisters and of course by the rest of the family! It is killing me not to see Hank, but with skype and facetime on our phones I luckily get to see more of Hank than you might think!

Chris and I are trying to teach ourselves how to surf!!! We both suck, but are having fun getting up for a few seconds here and there!!

We have gotten to spend more time with Nick and Katie! Nick is the assistant coach with Chris and Katie his is girlfriend who recently moved to town! We have been having each other over for dinner a lot this summer which is a nice change of pace for us!

I think we will be putting our house on the market...I guess now! We are coming up on 2 years in the house so we are ready to move on and find another house that needs some TLC! I will be sad to move from this house, but I am definitely getting used to the nomad lifestyle of flipping houses and coaching!

Coaching in the summer time is crazy because coaches around the country are changing jobs which makes for constant conversations about friends moving, jobs changing, etc. We know that this is how the majority of our summers will be for the rest of our life so we are completely used to the unknown and now thrive on it and just get ready for anything!!

Okay, so my blog was totally boring and you can probably tell that all of this was really more for the scrapbook and less for your entertainment!!! I will try to be better and just be happy you don't have to read Limp Diddy anymore!!

Nothing Worse than a Limp Diddy

2011-04-29T08:55:00.001-07:00

That's right, a limp diddy is one of the most pathetic things I have ever seen and Chris and I didn't know how to react! We had never witnessed a limp diddy and felt horrible about it. Now get your mind out of the gutter, because I am talking about Camden's sprained tail :(

This past Sunday we went to the ocean with Diddy because swimming is by far her favorite activity. It was great other than the fact we couldn't take her off the leash, but she stayed in the water for probably 30 minutes straight (side note she also relieved herself in the ocean which left Chris and I wondering the etiquette for when your dog defecates in the ocean)?

Anyways, we had a great time and headed home and nothing was strange until the middle of the night when Camden woke us up by trying to get underneath Chris' nightstand. She was obviously upset and was trying to get in our bed and her tail was not he normal curly Q tail? The only other time Camden flipped out in the middle of the night was in Cincinnati when our fire alarm had a low battery so it was beeping. Camden woke us up again shaking and completely flipped out. To this day we can't watch Income Property on HGTV because of the little beeping noise it makes. Sorry...off track again...

So eventually she laid back down, but then the entire next day she was super depressed and her tail wouldn't curl? This was earth shattering to us because a curl tail is what makes Diddy, Diddy! We didn't panic and by the evening after researching what was up we assumed that she sprained her tail somehow. We woke up on Tuesday to a slightly more curly tail and then on Wednesday she was fit as a fiddle!

Who has ever heard of a sprained tail?!! So weird! No worries though, we no longer have a limp diddy at our home and in the future we will know that Limp Diddy just needs a few days to recover to her old curly Q ways!

Limp Diddy (sorry taken on my blackberry)

Normal Diddy Tail

Diddy swimming - she turns 6 on May 3rd

And all you people with kids can go ahead and tell me I am a loser for posting about my dog! It's okay, I know it!

Going through the blogging motions :)

2011-04-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I have been MIA as far as my blog goes and I really don't have much to chat about, but am hoping if I just post something that this will trigger me to get back into blogging. Here is a quick update:

Chris is doing great and is almost through is 6th year of coaching! The players love him, he is a great coach and the weather has been great for ball games! This time of year I am always ready to see the season end because that means Chris' insane hours will normalize and he will have more balance between work and home! I really like having him around for some reason ;)

Tippi Toes is going great and really that is why I haven't been blogging much. With the Shark Tank episode, work has been extra busy and Sarah and I have been working with several franchise prospects around the country and then still doing our normal routine with all other aspects of Tippi Toes. It is recital time and princess dance camp time which is so fun, but tons of work! It is the craziest and most exciting time of the year.

One thing that has really been on my mind lately is how much I wish we lived closer to friends and family. I go so long without seeing the people who are most important to me and I just think that kind of sucks! Two of my best friends have recently lost a family member and I just texted and left voicemails instead of getting to hug them and bring them dinner. Then another friend is having a girls party and I will miss out on that...waa waaa. Then Ella and Mason just turned 1 this past week and Chris and I can't be a part of those celebrations which stinks!! So if you live close to family and friends I hope you enjoy it and take advantage of it because it really is a wonderful thing! Now if I could just afford a private jet, I could stay in sunny Florida and hop on the jet to get to the people I love!!! Anybody know a good jet broker?!

Holy Shark Tank!!!

2011-03-17T16:13:00.001-07:00

Ready or not here comes SHARK TANK!!! This has been such a whirlwind week starting on Tuesday when Sarah and I found out that the date we would be appearing on the reality show would be March 20th instead of April 15th like we originally thought!

It is so much fun preparing for our nationwide primetime debut on ABC! Interviews with bloggers, newspapers, magazines, organization, news channels, etc are so fun because it is our chance to let everyone in the country know about Tippi Toes - which is our ultimate goal.
The support we have gotten from our family and friends has been incredible! Emails, texts and calls telling us they will be watching or that you have told your own family and friends means more than you know!

We are so excited for the watch party that will be at Qdoba in Tulsa and Sarah will be having a watch party at the Hooks stadium in Corpus - with only 5 days of notice we managed to still find a place to have watch parties which we are thrilled about! Our awesome franchisees are also having watch parties in their own cities!

Newspapers around the country are running their Tippi Toes stories tomorrow so pick up your Tulsa World, Corpus Caller Times, Post Bulletin Rochester or Orlando Sentinel to see the Tippi Toes story!

The other great thing about our upcoming episode on SUNDAY at 8pm CST on ABC is that the other entreprenuers featured on the episode were friends that we made while shooting in LA in October. We can't wait to see their expereince in the Shark Tank!

While Sarah and I already know the outcome we have no idea what it will look like edited together since we were in the "Shark Tank" for about an hour in reality, but we know only about 4-8 minutes will be shown.

Okay, enough of posting on my blog...gotta get back to work!

Coach Reilly

2011-03-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Being a coach is certainly not a typical job. Chris' hours, schedule, work attire, work culture is so different from the typical corporate or 9-5 job. Most days he puts in 10-12 hours of work, most weeks are 6 day weeks and I don't remember the last time I saw Chris wearing a tie. His office is in a field house and is steps away from a batting cage and the baseball field.

Chris gives everything he has to coaching and his players and fellow coaches. He loves what he does and although I am biased he is really great at what he does! He is the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator so basically he coaches with the pitching staff and also leads the recruiting of high school players.

One of the things I am most amazed by is how much time and energy Chris puts into learning, researching and studying the game, other teams, other coaches, etc. He is hungry for knowledge even after nearly 6 years of coaching and is never stagnant with his views or coaching style.

I am proud of Chris, his work ethic and his accomplishments (which I would love to go in to, but in case he ever checks this blog I am going to hold myself back so he doesn't kill me for bragging any more on him). He is just the best!

Space Shuttle Video

2011-02-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Space shuttle Discovery launched for it's last mission. In Florida the coverage is major for these events. It was exciting yesterday because as they were counting down they only had like 90 seconds to fix a computer problem or else they would have pushed the launch back. It was sort of intense and you could tell the local news anchors loved every minute of it!

There were over 300,000 people who traveled to Kenndey Space Center area to watch the launch so apparently I am not the only geek who thinks this is super cool!

I took a video on my camera which does not do it justice, but still I thought you might like to see it! Watching it live there is a huge red fire ball in front of a massive stream of smoke. The launch location is about an hour south of us and as the shuttle is passing over head it is going about 3000mph!

Sunburn Learning Curve?

2011-02-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

I cannot deny that after 28 years of getting sunburnt, I still haven't learned!!! Sunburns suck!!! Sitting at Chris' game on Saturday I actually convinced myself that since it was only February, 2 hours in the sun wouldn't really burn me...what an idiot!

2 things I should have considered before not putting sunscreen on: 1) I am so white that I am almost blue 2) Using absolutely zero sunscreen in Florida is never smart!

And even if I considered those two things, but still went sunscreen free why didn't I recall back to last summer when I got sunburnt and for 3 days couldn't comfortably sit, sleep, shower or move!!!

You know the saying, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me," I wonder what the rest of the saying would be if it started "Fool me 103 times"...maybe something like "ah forget it, you'll never learn"

I am just stating my stupidity and hoping that making these statements will push me to wear sunscreen this Saturday at Chris' game...we'll see!

Here are some sunburn pictures to remind those of you who are not in Florida and can't remember how much sunburns hurt right now, Sunburn Pics

The NEW Tippi Toes Blog

2011-02-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

Sarah and I have started a Tippi Toes blog! We are really excited to share the inside stuff about Tippi Toes. So many of our friends and family have supported us over the years and this blog will give a new perspective on Tippi Toes as a business!

We will post everything from profiles on our incredible franchisees to tips for parents to help keep their family healthy to funny stories from inside the dance studios around the country!

Unlike what I do on my normal blog we will have regular postings probably about 3 per week! Check it out at, http://tippitoesdance.blogspot.com/

Daytona 500 Insanity!!!

2011-02-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

There is really no way to explain what happens to the city of Daytona Beach when "race week" and the Daytona 500 comes to town. Insanity!!

I was actually hoping to get tickets for Chris and I this year, because how can we live in Ormond Beach 10 minutes from the most famous race track and never go to the big race?! So the other day I went to try to buy our tickets at the ticket office...big mistake!! I had no clue that various races started on Thursday - they day I went to the ticket office. So instead of zipping in parking right by the door like you normally can and going right to the front of the line, I was greeted by an extra hundred thousand people or so...yes I said HUNDRED thousand people!!! I parked across the street and had to lie and say I was going to run into Marshalls so I could get a temporary parking pass since otherwise the spot I was parking in was $50.

So I was thinking...okay whatever...still this would be a fun thing to do! Ummm...where to start! First off as I was waiting in the line I realize "Crap! My hair is not permed, I have no facial hair, no jeans shorts and my t-shirt does not have a picture of a man's face on it! I look like an absolute outcast!" I know I sound like a snobby brat, right...oh hold on!

Then I go to get our tickets and hear from the nice lady helping me, "That will be $265 dollars!" HOLD THE PHONE! WHAT?!! I quickly said okay, what are the cheapest seats I could get. She points to the reject seats and said I can get 2 together for only $140. Then I said what about the fanzone? She says that is an additional $95 per person plus you have to have a regular ticket! So that would be $340 for Chris and I.

So that quickly I went from a judgmental brat to the poor girl who is too cheap to pay $140 for tickets to an event that I really just was going to for the experience! Who knew people are willing to pay that for tickets to watch cars race around a 2 miles circle 500 times...I think I would rather go for a kick in the pants, Thank you!

So here are a few interesting facts I learned on my trip to Daytona 500 ticket office:

1) Nascar fans know how to party as I witnessed hundreds of people drunk on Thursday morning at 11am.

2) You have to have some dough to go to a nascar race!

3) The best seat for watching a race is actually a nose bleed seat - so you can see the entire track

4) Nascar fans love their jean shorts, perms and facial hair

5) I am totally entertained by this industry

6) To each his own

7) I love baseball, basketball and football and cannot yet add Nascar to my list of favorite spectator sports

8) About 250,000 people are actually inside the Daytona 500 speedway watching the race - the place is massive to say the least

SHARK TANK!!!!

2011-02-10T13:59:00.001-08:00

Finally after 6 long months of holding this secret in we can finally scream it from the mountain tops...or from the beaches :)

We had been fans of the show the first season and casually my brother in law Adam sent in an email telling them about Tippi Toes during the spring of 2010. Well, we were contacted back in late August about starting the selection process to appear on Shark Tank which is a business reality show that airs on ABC. We started a grueling paperwork process and video submission process. We kept being so excited as we would make it to the next round of qualification. There were 55,000 applicants so we felt like our chances were slim, but we thought...why not try?!!!

The month of October was so intense!!! We knew we were close to making the show, but still didn't know for sure. They finally told us for sure the before we were supposed to board a plane headed for LAX!! The suspense at the time felt lethal, but looking back it made it so much fun!!

We were put up in a fancy hotel near UCLA and were in LA from Thursday until Tuesday. We worked so much preparing, but we also managed to squeeze in a Laker's game, a drive to Santa Monica, shopping and house gawking in beverly hills!!! So fun!!!

On the day of shooting we had some time with hair and make up and we were on the Sony lot which Adam Sandler was also on at the same time (I never saw him though).

We met some fascinating entrepreneurs and made some great new friends who were also in the Shark Tank running!

Being in the Shark Tank was thrilling, overwhelming, terrifying, surreal!! The Sharks are not what I would call warm and they are not there to be kind - only to make money. You will have to watch to see what happened when we were in the tank!

After leaving LA we were told that they filmed 100 of us and that only a fraction would actually be aired on the show. Well we just found out that we have been selected and that on April 15th at 8pm CST our time in the Shark Tank will be aired!!!

We are having watch parties all over the country so hopefully all of our family and friends will watch together across the country!!!

Sarah and I have had so much support along the way from family and friends and we are grateful for that!! Regardless of the outcome we are still loving Tippi Toes and the fact that this is my job is always astounding to me!! I believe in what Tippi Toes offers. I am challenged by our job. I never feel like I am working and I think I might be addicted to my job!

My Grandma gets Press!

2011-02-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

My 92 Year old grandma is awesome! She is known as Gram and here is a story about her that will help my friends to get to know Gram! One other funny Gram sotry! the other day she said she met the wife of the Kansas City head coach. Gram said, "She knew so much about me. Do you think she Googled Me?" I almost lost it!!! I loved it!

http://www.neighborsgo.com/stories/65855

All over the place!

2011-02-04T11:48:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have a day or two where you have really great things happen and then really crappy things happen leaving you feeling confused about what in the heck is going on?!

So on Monday I was having just a bad day...not a big deal, but just little things here and there were not going well. Finally, I decided about 5:30pm I had to get out of my home office and take Diddy on a bike ride. Diddy and I have been on countless bike rides and she and I LOVE them! Bike rides are awesome and always make me feel great! So we were heading back home and as we turned down our street, my phone dings with an email message. So as I am riding my bike, holding Camden's leash I started reaching for my phone...go ahead and call me an idiot!!! Next thing I know Camden sees a squirrel and I am laid out on the sidewalk!! I crack up now thinking about how ridiculous I looked! As I am laying on the ground I look up to see to neighbors staring at me in disbelief! "Are you alright?" I play it cool and say yes even though my leg and foot were stinging and burning! I get back on my bike and pedal away...oh wait my chain came off my bike so instead I walk my gimp leg, bike and unruly dog back home. I ended up with a ripped pair of jeans (my favorite and best jeans :( ) a skinned knee, foot and toes. I call it a road rash - Chris calls me a wuss!

So the next day was my 28th birthday! I woke up to the smell of pancakes and my sweet hubby brought me in heart shaped pancakes and on the pancake was the number 28 written in M&Ms! Yes I am a candy junkie! I had the best lunch with Chris at Ocean Deck, one of our favorite spots right on the ocean! It was delicious and beautiful! While the rest of the country was getting record ice and snowfall we were gazing at the ocean!!

I am feeling great at this point and then I am about 2 blocks from my house and take off my seat belt and get pulled over for not wearing it! I always wear my seat belt and it was random that I took it off early, but honestly what kind of a jerk gives someone a ticket on their birthday for not wearing a seat belt! I was so nice to him at first and actually thanked him for being on the street because people are always speeding...a lot of good that did! Now I wish I would have told him he is a loser and should be spending his time giving tickets to people who are more deserving than me!

Then I remembered the guy who offered Chris and I weed as we were sitting at a stop light on our way to lunch! That guy probably did not get a ticket on February 1st, but this dangerous criminal did!!! What a crock!!!

Life is Good!

2011-01-02T10:13:00.001-08:00

It's been a busy 6 weeks since my last post and it was all fun! We traveled to Tulsa for Thanksgiving and went to the bedlam football game, I traveled to Kansas City to help our newest franchisees get started with Tippi Toes, the Nuse family visit us in Florida and we went to Disneyworld, we visited Chris' family in New Jersey and celebrated the holidays!

Since I am so far behind I will use some pictures to catch you up!

Here is Thanksgiving in Tulsa with the Lowery/Marchal/Nuse/Reilly Family! We had Thanksgiving at my parent's house, we celebrated Chris' 30th birthday, Lola's 1st birthday, went to bedlam in Stillwater and had such a great time playing with the kids! With 4 kids that are 3 years and under it was so entertaining and it is crazy to see how fast the kids have grown up already!

Cooking Thanksgiving!!

Bedlam Football Game in Stillwater with my sisters!!

Chris' 3rd 30th birthday celebration. He was over the celebration of himself by this point...can you tell?!!

We did Christmas gifts for the kids and Gannon got some help from Unc trying out the new skates!

The best part of being "Fave"...the snuggles from Lucy, Lola, Gannon, Ella and Mason!!!

I will do anything for these kids!!!

Oh and so will Unc!!!

Lola and Ella - 4 months apart and cute as can be!!!

The Nuses just gave us the news that they are having baby #3!!!

Here are pics from our time in New Jersey!!! We had a blast and celebrated Mason's first Christmas which was awesome! We also got about 18 inches of snow which was so beautiful and I loved every minute! We got spoiled rotten with gifts, food, love and hospitality from Beth and Ryan and Tom and Elaine!! Thank you so much!!!

Mason, Fave and Unc!!!

Mason and his mom, Beth!!!

Yes, Mason really is this cute!!!

No this is not a picture from a magazine...this is Beth and Ryan's living room! Best tree ever!!

The Snuggie Man!!

Tom teaching me how to cook stuffed shells (Chris' favorite). Tom looks good in pink right!

Christmas morning!

Unc and Mason snuggling and smiling!

So Beth is Martha Stewart and this was the gift she made for Mason's preschool teachers. She made 12 different types of cookies and decorated each of them. We aren't talking about chopping the cookie dough out of the plastic sleeve we are talking about delicious gourmet cookies!! How does she do it...I am still trying to figure it out!!!

This "meticulous gene" runs in the Reilly family...as you can see I do not have this gene and am smart enough to be a good cheerleader and not an active cookie decorator!!

An Event To Remember!

2010-11-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

You might be thinking the Event I am talking about is Chris' 30th birthday which was this past Wednesday, but no I am talking about the enchanting Lexus commercials that I wait for every December! I totally LOVE this commercial and I have dreams of wrapping a car up for Chris some day with the big red bow!!! Seriously, this commercial has been running for years, but when I hear the music I get to excited and know that 1 - it's Christmas time and 2 - that the skinny blond lady on the Lexus commercial is getting another silver Lexus from her charming handsome husband :)

On the same holiday note, I do like Thanksgiving and I would never want to skip the holiday, but I am all for skipping Thanksgiving decorations and going straight to Christmas deco! I actually put our Christmas stuff up tonight because...why not?!! It's close enough and looking at a lighted Christmas tree just puts me in a good mood! I have started to sing Christmas songs and will now re-activate my Christmas playlist on my ipod!!! I mean, who really likes a cornucopia more than a snowman? Who likes brown, orange and tan more than silver, gold and red? Who likes the song 5 Little Indians more than It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year? Who likes the smell of meat and gravy more than cinnamon and pine needles!!! Please, do I need to say more?!! Christmas is so much cooler than Thanksgiving!!!

I don't want to graze over Chris' birthday, but I do sort of feel like this blog has turned into a homage to Chris Reilly! Doesn't it seem like I am always talking about how great he is on this blog?!! I adore him, he had a wonderful birthday and got lots of calls, texts and birthday wishes! He is handling the big 3-0 well and we are looking forward to the next month of visits with family!!!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-11-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

Three years ago today was the best day of my life! It's insane how quickly time flies by when you are always with your best friend!

It's funny looking back because I think, "Man, I didn't even know Chris when we got married!" Are you waiting for me to take that comment back? Seriously, we had been dating long distance for all but about 6 months of our relationship and were married about 3 years after meeting! Luckily, the stuff we did know about each other was meaningful and important and getting to know all the details has been a blast.

Things I didn't know about Chris until AFTER we got married...

1. He is incredible with kids

2. Chris LOVES a standard routine

3. He is so thoughtful and rarely says things he doesn't mean (I tend to exaggerate way more than Chris)

4. If he doesn't know an answer to a question he will study and research until he is an expert on the topic

5. He is funny all the time

6. He doesn't like to sit at a restaurant with his back to the door. (His NJ side coming out strong with this trait - what is vinny bambino gonna come in and whack him?!)

Things he didn't know about me...

1. How much I enjoy staying up late at night

2. If we are going out on a date I want a solid hour to get ready!

3. I need a flippin card on a holiday! Period!

4. How much I like to talk a topic to death to prepare for every outcome

5. If he doesn't call me back within an hour I assume he has been in a car wreck or someone has kidnapped him (you know all those kidnappers who search for the 6'6" men to snatch :)

6. I don't really do leftovers

Yes, we had some idea about these things, but the magnitude only became clear over months of living together! If you asked me 3 years ago I would have told you I knew most everything about him, but that is the beauty of marriage! The becoming one, understanding, listening, unconditional everything! My favorite thing about being married to Chris is that my favorite person is always around! Since being married to Chris I have learned how to let go of things quicker, be more careful with my sunglass, cook, tile anything, laugh when there is nothing to laugh about, be accepting of others and I have improved my geography skills (I had to look on a map to find NJ when we first met). Crap, did I just say that out loud?! Look those of us from the big states just kind of lump all those little states together...sorry Reilly/Geary Family!

I love you Chris and am so proud of our marriage! It is the greatest and I feel so blessed every single day of my life because of you!!!

This picture is wrong on so many levels! Nice hair Megs and nice goat Chris! YIKES! April 2005.

Great Summer of baseball 2005.

Right after our engagement in NYC. December 2006!

Parties before our wedding! Summer 2007!

November 10th, 2007! Bliss!

Old People

2010-10-24T19:50:00.001-07:00

Okay, so two funny stories that made me laugh in the past 24 hours.

Today, Chris and I worked on some landscaping and so I made a quick trip to Lowe's. I needed to be in and out because we had a Home Owner's Association Block party today at our house. So I was waiting in line for about 5 minutes (which is pretty long if you really think about it) and as the line begins to move this 75 year old woman with a few things in her hands looks at the 5 of us in the line and says, "Okay, how pathetic do I need to look so you will let a sweet old lady in line?" WHAT? So you are 75 years old and you think that gives you a different set of life rules that includes you not having to wait in line?? Wait, are you serious? Does that kind of thing work with people? Oh yea, it worked with me. Me being the people pleaser and since she basically already stepped in front of me I said, "Sure go ahead." Then immediately starting wondering at what point in life do people start thinking they can expect special treatment just for living longer? I mean I totally get respect for elderly people and I am the first to help an old geezer if they need help at the grocery store or something, but when this lady basically demanded special treatment I got SO annoyed!!!

Quick other point, I really can't stand line-cutters!!! Age doesn't matter...line cutters suck! Something comes over me when I see people cut in line at the store, in traffic, wherever! I think it is my competitiveness plus rule following comes alive and makes me want to do everything possible to squash the cutting attempt! Yes, I am the lady in the car who tailgates the person in front of me to be sure no one tries to come up on the side if there is a lane ending or construction ahead! I am also the person who will stare at the lady who cuts in front of me - only for them to be blissfully unaware that I am staring much less knowing they cut in front of me! For some reason I still stare because it makes me feel better!

So let's talk about the other inappropriate things older folks say...

A neighbor couldn't come to our party today so he came over to let us know they wouldn't be attending. While he was he was at our house he asked me a question about our neighbors "So do those people not have enough money to fix their blinds?" I started laughing because I thought he was joking, did he really just say that? I quickly realized this 70 year old man was dead serious!

Chris and I were at a neighborhood bar in Cincinnati a couple of years ago and an older guy started talking to us, long story short he looked at me and said, "I bet you played sports. You have a good build." Oh yeah, I did some body building and competed in dead lift competitions you little jack hole. Note: Never tell a woman she must have played sports because she has a "good build". Translation for that comment in a women's mind: You have broad shoulders and look kind of butch and tough.

Another funny story comes from our little block party. So we have been in our house for just over a year. At our HOA meeting in February there were only about 5 people there and we had to pick roles for residents to take on in our HOA. At that meeting in the winter they looked at me and said "Do you want to be the treasurer or party planner?" Ummm...let me think abo...PARTY PLANNER! Is there really an option when those are my two choices?

So that is how and why we threw this party this evening. We invited the 30 households and just had a great little cookout. The party was great and after about 2 hours there were only a few of the men from the neighborhood left (all in their 60s). This was one of those times when Chris and I really started having fun! Something happened and next thing I know these men starting giving TMI (Too Much Information)!! Talking about how stoned they used to get, how much they used to drink and one old 65 year...wait for it...wait for it...mentioned how he used to...wait for it...take his clothes off all the time in college while drinking and would streak around his frat house!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING? I have seen this guy for one year and have probably spoken to him 10 times and then this story comes out of him! He kept going on and Chris and I couldn't even look at each other! We were cracking up and kept catching either other's eyes and just tried to keep a straight face!

Another neighbor then threw in "Yeah, I used to role a joint before every class and I got straight A's, then I stopped smoking and got a B"

Another neighbor responds with "Oh yeah, French class was so much better to go to when I was stoned...I really don't know how I passed or graduated for that matter?"

There was just something hilarious/disturbing about how these guys were talking - you know when people laugh through their stories then it makes you laugh more!

By the way, we don't live in some shady area! After reading this blog it sounds like we live in a trailer park!

I am cracking up thinking of this story and I don't think a blog can do this justice!

MLB Playoffs!

2010-10-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

What can I say, it's nice to have family with connections!!! Adam, my brother in law is the Vice President of the Corpus Christi Hooks AA minor league team. He came to Tampa last week for meetings at the minor league headquarters and all thanks to the baseball gods the Rangers were playing against Tampa Bay in game 5 of the division series. Adam got Chris and I ridiculous tickets that had us sitting with the wives of the players! We had such a blast and the best part was the company of Adam who is probably the easiest, coolest and most entertaining person to be with (don't tell him I said that, I want to keep my brother/sister relationship with him which includes us razzing each other all the time. Did I just say raz?)

As you can imagine there were several notable people at the game besides the players. Florida Governor was sitting near us, Misty May Treanor the pro sand volleyball player who is a familiar face from the Olympics and then some guy name Nolan Ryan?!

I had a wonderful conversation with Ruth Ryan in the bathroom line. It's always great to strike up a conversation with an mlb icon's wife while you are waiting for your stall!!

The Rangers won which we were pumped about! Adam, Chris and I went and celebrated at a bar right outside the stadium. We were able to break out some very rusty dance moves which was fun and Chris and Adam were able to get their picture with Craig Sager. No, you shouldn't know him and even after I tell you who he is, you will not care at all! He is the "sideline" announcer for TBS MLB coverage...see I told you! Who cares?! However, it was really funny to see Chris and Adam get excited about meeting him and actually talking to him for about 10 minutes while he had a drink with us.

We had a great random Tuesday night in Tampa and we are so grateful to Adam for thinking of inviting us! An MLB postseason game was on my bucket list so CHECK!

Here are pics which are much more entertaining than the stories!

Chris and I after the game! How awesome were the seats! The vibe at a post season game is so so much different than a regular season game! Awesome!

This was the best pic I could get of Adam and Chris. They get together and it is sort of like to 10 year old boys so typically one of them is making a face!

Chris and the one and only...umm...uhh...what's his name? Greg something?!

Totally, changing gears and for the ladies...have you heard or seen the DKNY Cozy? So we went to the outlet mall about and hour away and there was a new DKNY opening which I was totally unaware of, but basically they were having huge opening day sale and I got a Cozy and it is the coolest thing ever! Now those of you who know me, know I would NEVER pay full price for...well anything, but this sale was enormous and after getting trained on this piece of clothing I was sold! Just telling you because it is worth a look! You can wear it at least 12 different ways that are legitimate and cute (youtube as tons of how to videos)! For you colder weather peeps it is worth a look, if you can find one on sale get it! (it is crazy expensive like $195 regularly) If I spend $195 on a piece of clothing then I better be able to wear it 12 different ways and shoot for that matter it better dispense some money too!

Oh yea, I have a blog!

2010-10-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Did you think I forgot?! It has been a while since last posting and I am not really sure how to jump back into blogging! So how about a bunch of random thoughts?...

I was traveling for a couple of weeks and was in Tulsa watching my niece Lucy be a flower girl in a family friend's wedding! She was precious and actually galloped down the isle in her pink, tulle dress with ballet slippers on. Adorable! You can see a more complete story about that on my sister's blog, Nuse Blog! While I was in Tulsa I got to see my parents, my sisters, Adam, Gannon, Ella, Lucy and Lola plus my best friends Jen, Liz and Kate Ormsby! There is nothing like best friends from home!

We also went to Kansas City to help my Gram do some car shopping! It was really fun and she looks adorable in her new VW Beetle! Yes, my Gram is 92 years old and retired her 1987 Chrysler Lebaron for a New Beetle! Gram has only driven Beetles and this is her 5th one! Her Lebaron was a big change and she is so happy to be back at home in a bug!

It is always fun to be in KC with tons of family. My mom was born and raised in Kansas City, MO and so we have lots of aunts, cousins and second cousins to catch up with! They are so fun and I am by far the most quiet if that tells you anything! Most people don't consider me quiet or shy, but compared to my fun and crazy KC family I am pussy cat :)

Switching gears...

How awesome is this time of year?! Our weather is in the mid-upper 80s and in the upper 60s at night! The daily rain showers have pretty much stopped and most days I wish I could work outside. Then I remind myself that as beautiful as the weather is I still don't want to work with a bunch of lizards running over my laptop! Still not used to them!!!

This time of year is also awesome because it is post season baseball and college football is starting to get serious! We will officially be watching every minute of MLB through the World Series. That is how I show my love and dedication to my husband. I know that Chris will definitely want to watch the first 4 innings of the games until he falls asleep with the remote in his hands and sitting straight up! His 4am mornings are still going strong so making it to 10pm is a big deal for him. I actually don't mind watching all the baseball it is just the quantity that I am amazed at! I swear the man has a gift at discovering channels with a baseball special on. Anything from the life story of someone random like David Eckstein to how to make a baseball glove to history of stadiums to of course baseball games. I know more about baseball than I ever imagined! I watch games differently than I used to and being married to a pitching coach I blame everything on the position players who screw things up for pitchers! (If you told me 6 years ago that I would ever type that sentence I would have told you you were nuts!!!)

This weekend is my father-in-laws birthday so Happy Birthday Tom!! You are a wonderful dad and father-in-law and I just wish we could see you all more! Tom has inspired me to try out more recipes and he gave me a cookbook that I now love! America's Test Kitchen for Two is so awesome and I actually am building a list of "favorite recipes". There is another sentence I never thought I would type in my life!!

Life continues to be sweet and I am looking forward to the holidays already! Lots of fun things ahead!

Am I getting old...

2010-09-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night Chris and I went to St. Augustine for a concert! St. Augustine is an hour north of us and is the oldest city in the country! It is really cool and quaint and I will suggest to all future visitors to take a trip there next time they visit us! We went for an O.A.R. concert which is a band I have liked since high school.

We had an awesome dinner at a new eclectic restaurant called The Floridian. It was a funky little place with awesome food and I think I had the best salad of my life and I even loved the fish Chris ordered! So dinner was awesome and then we headed to the concert.

First let me set it up a bit! So Chris knows and likes OAR too, but I am definitely more of the fan. I could tell he was happy to go, but more so because he knew I wanted to go which I appreciate! Anyway, he had made a couple comments about how we were probably going to be old at the concert and that there were going to be a bunch of high school and college kids there. Well...that was not the case.

We quickly realized that most people were between our age and about 45. We thought oh okay fun! Then you start seeing what people "our age" look like at a concert. Here is what I discovered!

You know you're old when...

You are embarrassed for the people who are singing and dancing to the music - because they look ridiculous!

You know you're old when...

You go to a concert where the average age is about 40

You know you're old when...

You see 40 year old man dancing with boat shoes, a beer belly and the famous white man's over bite (you know the white man's over bite as demonstrated in "When Harry Met Sally")

You know you're old when...

You see guys with backwards hats on and think how young they must be!

You know you're old when...

You are yawning during a rock concert

You know you're old when...

You look at your husband and he is rubbing his forehead and looks bored during a concert. (In Chris' defense when he realized I was looking at him he quickly put on a happy face and started a head bob as if he was loving the music)

You know you're old when...

You are excited that you got a good parking spot which will allow you to miss all the traffic after the show!

You know you're old when...

You get a headache after 2 drinks

You know you're old when...

You lean over to your husband to say "Could you understand what he just said?" and neither of you have a clue.

You know you're old when...

You are at a concert that people brought their children to

You know you're old when...

You wish all the drunk people would settle down a bit

So now having said all of this, obviously I know I am not really old, but it was one of those times when you think "Okay I am in a different place than I was last time I was at a concert!" I love the place I am at and Chris does too!

I loved having a great parking spot and I loved the lovely dinner before the concert and I loved people watching at the concert! I think all the 40 something men who were jammin out spilling beer all over their loafers with not socks on are probably wonderful people, but they still looked like jackholes trying to relive their 20s!! Sorry! Truth hurts! ;)

I will absolutely go to another concert because I love music and I love that atmosphere! I think I will just be a little more prepared and will be a little more picky about who I go see! Here is my list of concerts I really hope to go to someday!

1. James Taylor

2. Jay-Z

3. Ben Folds

4. Kenny Chesney

5. Brad Paisley

What a RANDOM list!!!

PS - This background is to acknowledge that it is still full swing of summer down in Florida! Mid-90s everyday and still hot! I am not complaining at all, but it is just weird watching football and seeing people in sweatshirt!!! We are still about 2 months from sweatshirts here! Crazy!

1 year of Blogging and Football Season!

2010-09-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

September 5th marked one year of blogging for me! I would say for my family, but the truth is Chris never reads or has anything to do with the blog. He just supplies me with the wonderful, funny, weird and entertaining material!

Over the past year we have moved into a state, moved into a new home, Chris got a new job, my business sold 5 franchises, we visited New Jersey, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Florida, Nebraska and Utah, we killed one poisonous snake, saw 1 alligator, saw countless lizards, rode our bikes and took walks on the beach, went to 3 weddings, went to the college baseball world series, hiked and biked on a mountain, went up in a light house, had 1 niece and 1 nephew born, became godparents, and finished our home renovations!

We have an awesome life and I love my husband, family, friends, job and dog!

This year is already full of hope and dreams and I can't wait to see where 2010-2011 will take us!

Okay, bla bla bla let's get serious and talk about college football!! Thank god it is football season again and we can settle in on Saturday mornings to watch Kirk Herbstreit flash is white smile and Lee Corso act like a Jackhole and make cheesy predictions! The weather will start cooling off (or least for everyone else reading this blog outside of Florida) and the leaves will start to drop! College gear will start to emerge with sweatshirts and flags on cars appearing everywhere! The stupid sweater vest from Tressell, cute visor on Stoops, coke bottle classes on Paterno and spikey hair form Gundy are welcomed signs of the football season! There is nothing like College Football and at our house we have so many teams to follow that we can literally watch football from 11am-11pm on Saturdays! We have the Sooners, Cowboys and Nittany Lions to cheer for and with that group it is easy to be fans! This weekend will be huge for at least OU and Penn State as Penn State plays Alabama and OU plays Florida State. I know I will be clued to the tube, which is sort of weird because my husband will be at practice. Is that normal? What is wrong with me? Actually, there is nothing wrong with me, but I do have 2 brother in laws who might have a college football problem! For the sake of these 2 men let's call them Bryan and Badam! Bryan is a Penn State Alumni and this is his first season to cheer on PSU with a precious 5 month old baby - we will see what words Mason picks up by December:) And Badam an OU alumni has 2 young girls and he has been know to throw hats and rip off his shirt during the game and then will not put them back on if OU plays better. So I guess since I keep my clothes on and only occasionally yell at the tv...I am doing okay!

Boomer Sooner!!!

WE ARE PENN STATE!!!

Go Pokes!!!

Rose Nylund Sighting!!!

2010-08-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Confession...I love Betty White/Rose Nylund, Blanch Devero and the rest of the gang! I first starting watching Mary Tyler Moore in middle school so that is when I started with enjoying Betty White. Then came The Golden Girls!!! I watched them just about every night in bed in college and thank god for the WE, Oxygen and Lifetime channels because I can continue to watch The Golden Girls anytime I want to (seriously it is always on)! I mean you cannot deny it is a funny show! I have been harassed over my love of the Golden Girls, but they are worth it!

What is the point of this story? Great question!

On our way home from New Jersey Chris and I finished a quick dinner in Atlanta airport when Betty White and her hubby (I think) walked right past us!! Them walking past us meant I immediately changed direction and followed her all the way to the end of the terminal!

She was wearing a total golden girls outfit...bright blue suit with a pair of low matching heels. Same hairdo as she has always had (plus a little bed head)! I loved it!

So after just following her and then staring at her for a bit, we saw a total loser run over to her asking for a picture! I was jealous and also realized I didn't want to be that person...waaa waaa!

So I left Betty White alone and left with my dignity, but no autograph or picture!

Still it was a thrill to see Betty White in person!

In closing...

Thank you for being a friend. Travel down the road and back again; your heart is true you are a pal and a confidant...da da da... and if you threw a party, invited everyone you ever knew, you would see the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say thank you for being a friend.

**This ugly background was the closest thing I could find to the Golden Girls Style!

Mason...Man of the Hour!

2010-08-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

Our sweet nephew Mason Thomas Geary was baptized a little over a week ago in New Jersey! Chris and I were so excited to be able to attend the baptism and Chris is Mason's godfather! He now holds a household record of 3-time godparent! Impressive!

Chris and I got back to Florida on Wednesday from Park City and flew out Friday to start the partying for Mason's Baptism. Beth and Ryan Geary hosted a perfect weekend as usual and basically Chris and I ate and drank like a King and Queen while getting lots of snuggles and play time in with Mason!

Beth is in a league of her own when it comes to hosting! Seriously, she puts Martha to shame! We had breakfast, lunch and dinner at Beth's house and one meal was better than the next. We are talking homemade blueberry muffins, Lemon and Lime Bread, Lasagna to die for, cupcakes that should have been entered in a competition and that is only the list that I can remember! Everything tastes sooo good and she does all of this while preparing to have basically a weekend long party at her house! She and Ryan have a beautiful house that is decorated meticulously, but is still so comfortable and warm!

While Beth puts Martha to shame Ryan puts...hmmm...Bob Vila to shame?! Sorry Ryan, I am trying to think of a contractor who is awesome...how about Mike Holmes to shame?! He has worked on so many home projects that we have all lost count and the only way Ryan knows how to complete projects is perfectly! His work is impeccable! From tiling to flooring to design to construction...the Geary's are amazing!

Chris' mom Elaine is also a wonderful host and chef as she brought Blueberry Pie and Yummy little Cheesecake squares with cherries on top...no seriously there were cherries on top ;) Elaine and Tom host Chris and I at their house whenever we are in New Jersey and they always make us feel so welcomed and loved! I love our late night conversations with wine and cheese and I feel like that is a really special time for the four of us! I get to hear stories about Chris which I love and we usually spend most of our time with Chris' parents laughing! They are wonderful!

So, what the heck did I bring to the table...Mad Gab!!! Trust me you would rather me bring Mad Gab than Blueberry pie!!! My enitre family makes fun of me for being the "game nazi", but what can I say...I love games! Beth has joined me with the love of games so I don't have to awkwardly ask anymore if anyone wants to play because Beth will just tell everyone they are playing! I love it!

We had such a great time in New Jersey and Mason is just precious! He smiles and laughs and is so easy to be with! His disposition is incredible and I truly did not see him cry all weekend! He was baptized with another little boy who was not nearly as tough as Mason! We all enjoyed the fact that Mason was the only baby tough enough to take the holy water on the forehead without crying! What a man!

We love you Mason so much and can't wait to watch your grow up!!

Megan and Chris with sweet Mason!

Playtime with MTG!

The gorgeous Geary Fam!

Fave and Mason! Isn't he precious!

Umm..hello magazine ad?! After Chris and Ryan did the dishes they found some time to play with Mason as well! I love this picture!

Utah!

2010-08-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

My entire side of the family spent one week in Park City, Utah and we had a blast! My parents and sisters and their families were all able to make the trip and so there was a total of 12 of us! We stayed in a beautiful townhouse that was very comfortable for all of us! We have been back in town for about a week so I am a little behind, but I couldn't go without mentioning the trip!

We did everything we wanted to while we were in Utah! The main event for the week was celebrating my mom's 60th birthday! We made a video for her with lots of pics of her and the grandkids and of her life over the past 5 years with 3 weddings and 4 grandchildren! We also did a skit/roast/presentation of the 60 things we know and love or maybe know and make fun of about her!!! She was a great sport and I think there are so many good things to say about my mom, that even her roast turned into why we love her! A few examples of why we love my mom...She calls Camren Diaz - Carmen Diaz every time!!! She will offer to cook you anything as long as you request pork tenderloin prepackaged, Stouffers lasagna or taco soup! All of our friends who know our mom adore her and sometimes come over to talk to her rather than us! She works her tail off and loves her job! She supported us in everything we did growing up and still does, She loves our dad!!!

Beside the bday celebration we mountain biked, hiked, went to an outdoor concert on the top of a mountain, the boys golfed 3 our of 6 mornings, went rafting, took gondola rides, went on nature walks, shopped, went to an art fair, went to the pool, played tennis, Chris and I toured the Mormon Temple in downtown Salt Lake City, played games and just has some major quality time!!!

It was certainly a busy townhouse with 4 children under the age of 3, but luckily everyone of us in the house was ready and willing to play!! It was great to get so much time with Gannon and Ella and Lucy and Lola! Chris is the best "Unc" and the kids love playing with him

Headed up the mountain for a hike in the gondola with Lucy and Lola!

The Nuses and Reilly's heading out to mountain bike! Sarah and I turned our bikes in early to shop and the boys probably had way more fun without us!

My awesome dad!

Mormon Tabernacle

As we stopped to check out the Olympic Park where the 2002 Olympic Ski Jump took place! What a view!

On the mountain!

Gannon and I playing in a fresh spring! The water was so chilly!

Horseback rising day for the kids! Gotta love Lucy in those pigtails!

The night of the outdoor concert. Chris and I had an awesome dinner/date night!

The family pic! The Marchals on the left, Jennie holding Gannon and Matt holding Ella; my parents in the middle; the Nuses on the right Sarah holding Lucy and Adam holding Lola; the bizzarly tall Reillys in the back :)

The family on a "hike".

Fully bearded Chris with sweet Lola! Stage 1 of facial hair show!

Lucy and Unc in a major conversation...Stage 2 of the facial hair show!

GAME NIGHT!!! Can you say Chubby Bunny? We stuffed our mouths with as many large marshmellows as possible and had to say Chubby Bunny after each marshmellow was stuffed in our mouth! It was gross and hilarious! Jennie won with 8 large marshmellows. Seriously, try this - 8 is ridiculous! Note: Chris' disgusting mustache! Stage 3 of the facial hair show!

The Reilly's night to cook! Sun-dried tomato burgers, grilled asparagus and corn on the cob!

Not about Animals!

2010-08-01T13:40:00.001-07:00

My family is getting ready to go on a trip to Park City, UT and we are so excited and my mom made a really great point...maybe I will finally have something to put on my blog other than stories about wild creatures in Florida! Great point mom!
Good thing I have a better topic to discuss on my blog...My Incredible Husband!!!
Chris is seriously just the greatest husband! Over the summer he has had a more flexible schedule so we have been able to spend lots of time together and everyday I find a new reason that I love him! He is one of those types of people who never complains, is unbelievably helpful and is the funniest person I know!
He has put a lot of time and energy into our house and thanks to him we have all new floors in the house after learning and researching so much he was able to do the job on his own! Re-doing 900 sq ft of flooring is a humongous task that Chris breezed through because of all of his research, dedication and attention to detail. He amazed me through the whole process and was very sweet to his assistant who is not quite as handy!
On top of that, this weekend he surprised me with new granite countertops and fixtures in the kitchen. No, I am not kidding! Who does that...surprise their wife with a new kitchen? I am so lucky!!! I am out of town on business and Chris spent the weekend working on the house and installing new countertops. He is so selfless and I honestly feel bad for the rest of the women in the world because they don't get to be married to him! (Not that sorry, because I am not willing to share ;)
We have spent time riding bikes together, body surfing at the beach, working on the house, going out on the town, going to the Daytona Beach Cubs games and just loving life together!
I love you Chris and I know how lucky I am to be your wife!!!

Baby Raccoons?

2010-07-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Has anyone ever seen baby raccoons? Of course not! I never thought about baby raccoons until this morning when Chris, Camden and I were on a bike ride through our neighborhood park. Camden was not on a leash and was just running alongside of Chris and I and all 3 of us were shocked when we came around a bend in the sidewalk to find 3 little baby raccoons!! They were probably 3-4 pounds each. As you all know if you read my blog, I am not a big fan of wildlife, but seriously this was the first time I thought a raccoon was cute! The 3 babies were huddled up together and didn't move as Camden trotted up to them. I panicked thinking, 'Great! Chris is going to have to pull a bloody raccoon out of Camden's mouth.' Oh wait, that's right Camden is all bark and was actually chased away by a 3 pound baby raccoon!

Chris and I were trying to call her away from the raccoons since we both assumed they had to have rabies, sadly Diddy doesn't always listen so it took the raccoons hissing at Camden and curly their backs like a cat. Did I mention Chris was on his bike and was chased away by the 3 pound raccoon as well?!! You can sort of see it in the Blair Witch video below. You will see a little raccoon running towards Chris and then you can totally tell he hauls butt out of the way! Yes Chris, 6'6" 230# pedaled his little bike away from the 3 pound raccoon as it clumsily pranced over to him. I of course would have done the same thing, but I was too chicken to even go near the raccoons. It just made us laugh that Chris was so quick to pedal away! Seriously, what were they going to do to him?!!!

Camden doesn't get much pub on our blog because I don't want to be the weird dog lady, but seriously she is the best dog ever! She snuggles like crazy and would rather sit on your lap than anywhere else. She loves to play with other dogs as long as she is not on a leash (if she is on a leash near another dog she gets a little psycho). Here is a funny video of her helping Chris in the yard! We just love her so much!

On another note, I am so excited about my upcoming business trip to Corpus to work with Sarah and meet with our franchise consultant. Tippi Toes is so much fun right now especially! We are working closely with our 4 new franchise owners and it is such a blast to see all these women be so successful and feel so fulfilled with Tippi Toes! My excitement about the trip probably also has to do with Lucy and Lola who are Sarah and Adam's precious girls!!! I skype with them almost everyday so I just can't wait to get my hands on those sweet girls! Take a look at how cute they are, here is her blog link, http://whatsnewnuse.blogspot.com/

Lizard Poop

2010-07-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer:

If you are a busy mom without time to shower or think then this blog might drive you crazy. No I don't have kids and yes I just spent 10 minutes writing a blog about lizard poop. This is for total comic relief. Go ahead...judge me!

Elaine, my mom-in-law, brought up a great point to me a few months ago that made us all laugh and made us think. The point she made that stuck with me is regarding squirrel poop. (For the record we also talk about religion, politics and philosophy so it's not like we focus on rodent poop a lot so don't think down on Elaine and I!) Anyway, her question is where is all the squirrel poop? I mean we see probably 50 squirrels a day, but how many times to you get upset over stepping in a pile of squirrel poop?...never! Ever since then I have felt weird about walking around our yard barefoot because I am sure I am stepping in the invisible squirrel poop!

Keep that story in mind...

The other day I go into one of our extra bedrooms and I notice a lizard on the bed. Yes, it's gross - I am not used to lizards in the house - I hate it - people in Florida are weird and don't think its a big deal - they gross me out - this is not okay with me! HOWEVER, I have been here for almost a year so this is probably the 5 or 6th lizard who has made it inside (including the 2 that ran across Elaine and Tom's bed and Beth and Ryan's bed on their first visit to Florida...lovely). So I see this lizard, but have other things to do so I leave it in there and just hope it dies. Well, a few days later I go in there and see it is snuggled up under the decorative blanket I have at the end of the bed. It is literally as if it got tucked into bed with it's body under the blanket and its little head resting on the bed...awww...ummm NOT! So I decide this reptile is way too comfy in my house so I go get the broom to shoo it out the front door. Well after 10 minutes of chasing the darn thing around the room...I surrender. I just can't handle spending more than 10 minutes on a lizard - had I just man-ed up I could have picked it up, but let's be serious - that's just not going to happen!

So then next day I go back in the room and notice what appears to be the smallest amount of poop on the bed. Imagine dried bird poop - got it? Okay now think about it if it were the size of the a Nerd (the candy). That's what I found on the bed. Not in 1 place, not in 2 places, but in 4 places on the bed!!! It's like I chased this thing around the room and then it decided to pay me back by pooping all over!!!

Back to the first story...I have decided that squirrels must poop and they must just cover it with dirt or something because if I can clearly see lizard poop then I must just not be looking hard enough for squirrel poop!

Deep thoughts,

by Megan Reilly

Wedding in St. Augstine

2010-07-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Chris and I traveled up I-95 about 45 minutes to St. Augustine for Maggie Horn's wedding. Maggie and I went to school together from kindergarten really through college. It was so great to see Maggie and finally meet her new hubby! I haven't seen Mags since our wedding and her family and I just had lots of catching up to do! Seeing Maggie and Wendy (another childhood friend) brought back so many awesome memories from childhood and one great memory from college!

Here's the story from college which was re-counted several times on Saturday...

Maggie and I roomed together at OSU and after a couple nights of us seeing Chris out at the lovely bar scene in Stillwater we finally spent one night talking at the world famous saloon (not really, but it sounds cooler that way) in Stillwater, OK - Murphy's. Maggie, Chris and I were sitting at a table over the course of the night and basically Chris and I were just flirting the whole time. Well, at Murphy's when it is 2am they start playing New York New York which is our sign to leave. As that song was wrapping up Chris had STILL not asked for my number so Maggie, being even more impatient than me, said "Are you going to ask for her number or what?" And the rest is history!

Chris remembers that story a little differently and swears it was all apart of his "game"! I stand by the fact that I am so lucky that my husband doesn't really have "game"!

Anyways, the wedding was great! We danced and had a blast and also found the perfect get-a-way! St. Augustine is the oldest city in the country and it was so cute! I felt like we were in another country and plan on going back for a long weekend! If anyone is planning on visiting us St Augustine is definitely worth checking out!

Chris and I have a couple of more weeks at home before I head off to Corpus for work and to play with Lucy and Lola and then from there our family is headed to Park City, UT for a family vaca! If anyone has been to Park City and has any suggestions I would love to hear them!

Wendy Selman and I; She was a bridesmaid and her and her boyfriend stopped in Ormond before the wedding weekend for dinner with Chris and I on Thursday!

Don't we have enough pics of us together smiling?

Take 2...

Me and my cute date! He wore his seersucker suit! I mean can you think of a better time for a seersucker suit than a summer Florida wedding! He looked great!!!

I Suck at Blogging!!!

2010-07-02T13:24:00.001-07:00

Okay, so yes I have been busy and traveling, but mainly I just was not in the mood to blog! Sorry! If anyone is even following this anymore I thought I would just catch you up through pictures! It has been a wonderful spring and I hope these pics catch you up a bit!

My dad and Chris in heaven because they are eating the ultimate seafood platter! My mom actually tried some alligator, which we were all stunned to see! Way to go mom!

My parents at the top of the lighthouse! Beautiful! Aren't they cute!

My parents in front of the lighthouse! This was a big day for my mom because after knee surgery in January she climbed the 215 steps to the top!!! There is no way she could have done this before the knee surgery and I am just so proud of the time and energy she put in to her long recovery!

Chris and I waiting in the line at Rosenblatt Stadium for the College Baseball World Series! So fun and yes we were soaking in sweat!

Matt Schwagger met us for the 2nd game of the day! He and Chris played together with Baltimore and they haven't seen each other since then! He was nice enough to let us stay the night at his home in Lincoln! We missed meeting his wife and 11 month old little boy, but it was great for Chris to see him and for me to meet him!

Chris and his biggest fan...my Gram! My gram is totally in love with Chris and actually just calls him, "Wow!" Seriously! We have decided that Chris reminds Gram of her late husband, Big Tom. He was tall, slender, athletic, had dimples and could whistle and so can Chris! They talk sports together and we had the best time with Gram! She definitely treats him like the favorite. It's kind of ridiculous, for instance Gram planned on lunch at an Italian restaurant...she said to me "I know you don't really like Italian that much, but Chris does so we are going to Carmens." Okay Gram, Thanks! Guess I know where I stand...about a mile behind Chris ;) I actually love their relationship, but seriously I don't want to know who she would choose...me or Chris!

She is 92 and is frustrated that she can't play golf more often. She plays 1 or 2 times a month, still has poker night with her friends and meets her two girlfriends every Saturday for dinner...Yes, my Gram has a way more active social life than we do!

Things I don't have pictures of...

We spent time in Tulsa and went out with Chris and Katie Butterfield, Kate and Terry McElroy and Liz Ormsby who are some of our best friends in Tulsa. It's one of those things where the girls can talk for 4 hours without looking for the guys and they are the same way. We sat at a big table for dinner, but about half way through I forgot they were there! I love old friends!

I was working in Tulsa for about a week and was able to catch up with two of my best girlfriends Ashely and Tiff! We met back in college, but don't get together nearly as much as we would like! Every time we are together it is like no time has passed!

All of our friends have beautiful children and it was so awesome to catch up with them. Katie, Ashley and Tiff have little girls who were actually able to come to our Princess Camp in Tulsa so it was so fun to get to know their sweet little girls in a totally different way!

Chris' schedule is much more flexible in the summer so we were able to get away for the KC/Omaha trip and he is usually home by 6pm every night!!! We have sold another franchise in Tulsa bringing us to a total of 4 franchises sold in total! My work is busy and so exciting and I could not love my job more!

Life is so awesome and we are enjoying the summer! I will try to improve my blogging skills!

Meeting Mason!

2010-05-13T14:20:00.001-07:00

Chris and I just got back from a wonderful trip from New Jersey! We got to meet Elizabeth and Ryan's precious little boy, Mason! We were so excited to get to meet Mason and spend some quality time, holding, playing and ooohing and awwing over him! He is so sweet and easy going and Beth and Ryan are awesome parents and make it look so easy! Beth is such a natural and still managed to host everyone for Mother's Day! Mason definitely knows his mom and dad's voice and is tracking so well and we even got some cute little smiles! Chris and I loved every second of it!

We were also able to spend time with Chris' parents which is always fun! They spoil us with delicious meals which we look forward to not to and usually talk about for weeks! Chris helped Tom and Elaine on a siding project and we couldn't help but have some fun as you will see in the video below!

Since Chris grew up in New Jersey we also want to keep up with his friends who still live there so we grabbed dinner with Jaime and Ryan Molchan and then we were also able to catch up with Jaime and Josh Schuck. It is always fun to hear Chris' friends talk about their college baseball days! It makes me realize that even if I met Chris when we were both freshman in college I think we would have been inseparable...there are some really fun stories!!

Mason and Unky/Uncle/Hunky

Mason and Fave

Proud Papa and Mason

One of Tom's delicious meal

One last visit from Mason at Tom's Office

Cracks me up everytime!

Snakes, Space Shuttles and Sonic BOOMS!!!

2010-05-02T08:14:00.001-07:00

Ah, the joys of living in Florida!!! So about 2 weeks ago I was getting ready to go to the grocery store and before I open my front door I notice some black thing on the door step as I look through the glass window next to the front door. At first I thought that some old piece of tire was carried to the front door step by the wind, but WOW how could that piece of tire be so long a skinny and curled up like....HOLY CRAP....thats not a piece of tire thats a flippin' SNAKE!!! I immediately get the goosebumps and feel like it is crawling all over me!!! I call Chris, who is conveniently, at work and tell him there is a huge black snake on our doorstep. His response, "Alright, well just get a shovel and chop it's head off." Cool as a cucumber. Who in the world does Chris think he married? I am not Jeff Irwin's wife, I am not a crocodile hunter and frankly I am not a really big wildlife lover! I tell him he is nuts and that the only option was for me to leave the house! Luckily, I could go through the garage because had that been the only way to get in and out of the house I would have just stayed inside the house all day!

I went to the store and came back to find it had moved off the front door step, but was still in front of the front door. It's head was up the entire time I saw it and I just had to ignore it and stay inside and by "ignore it" I mean work for 20 minutes then go check on the snake and repeat 10 times! So eventually the snake was gone, Chris never saw it but I sent him enough pics from my phone. He of course immediately researched what type of snake it was and became an expert on everything BLACK RACER!

In my mind, this snake sighting was an isolated event and since living here for 8 months I hadn't seen another snake on our property so I thought, "Okay, saw a snake, I live in Florida, whatever." SO WRONG!!! About 3 days go by and Chris and I were getting ready to go up and play tennis at the nearby park. We were going to walk so we have our rackets and tennis balls and I was heading out the front door with Chris following and I stop before opening the door and tell him there is another flippin' snake. He thinks I am joking and tells me "You're not going to get me! No way is there another snake in the same place." I say, "You're right it is in the bed of the rock garden." He looks and says he can't see it and still thinks I am lying!!! (You can tell me joke around and play pranks on each other a lot!) I stop him before opening the door and specifically point it out to him...the goosebumps set in!!!

Then Mr. Cool Calm and Collected goes into the garage for a shovel. I get out my camera so I can watch him be so brave and stare at the snake for 5 minutes then lean on the shovel for 5 minutes then get ready to kill for 5 minutes. Pretty soon I realize he is not so comfortable with just getting the shovel and killing the snake!!! Anyways, long story short he slams the shovel into the back of the snake and kills it!!! Thank goodness!!! Disclaimer: Not knowing if the snake was poisonous or not we had to kill the snake because we do not want to take any chances.

I now cannot open my door without surveying the area first. I am not kidding! I do not walk anywhere without scanning the area first! The best way to get rid of snakes is cats and basically, I would rather live with a few snakes then have a cat!

Another fun Florida thing is getting to see the space shuttles cross over the sky as they launch from Kennedy Space center which about an hour south of Ormond Beach. Chris and I saw the Space Shuttle take off in the beginning of April as we were headed to the airport. At first, I thought I saw a UFO then we realized it had to be the Space Shuttle! We saw the blaze of fire in the sky then we actually saw booster thing separate from the space shuttle. It was pretty amazing. Then a couple of weeks late the space shuttle was coming back to earth (doesn't that sound crazy?!) and again I was able to go out in our front yard and see it fly over head again. Luckily, my neighbor also came out to watch it and he directed me which way to look and warned me about the sonic boom. This was all new to me, but when the space shuttles breaks the sound barrier there is a huge boom. I could not believe the sound of the sonic boom! It was so loud and totally awesome to witness!

Then about a week later we were at the Daytona Cubs baseball game and we saw a rocket pass over head which was full of supplies for the international space station. It is just amazing and interesting to hear so much more NASA news and witness something as cool as a space shuttle taking off!

As an aunt I now also think that if the boys aren't into Disney and the Princesses then we still have space shuttles and snakes! What more good Gannon, Mason, Lucy and Lola ask for?!!!

The only guest we have ever turned away!

The first snake on the door step

The blaze of fire from the space shuttle

Chris the brave hubby killing the questionable snake in our garden!

Did you think I forgot?!

2010-04-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

Well it has been over a month since my last post and I am not really sure why. I will try to remember all the high points over the last month. Tom and Elaine came to Ormond Beach to see Chris in action! It was a well deserved break for them as they are always working hard either flying across the world, running Tom's law practice, working on their rental property or most importantly getting ready for their first grandchild! Chris and I loved having them down to Florida and I think they loved the sunshine and baseball time!
Next was a trip to Cincinnati for some Tippi Toes work for me as Chris continued to be busy with baseball season.
The most exciting news over the past month would have to be the birth of Ella McCartney Marchal AND Mason Thomas Geary!!! Jennie (my oldest sister) and Matt had Ella on April 8th and both girls were healthy and happy and now Gannon has a little sister! Then on April 12th Beth and Ryan had little Mason and we were blessed again with a healthy baby and mom! I traveled to St. Louis from Cincinnati so I was able to meet Miss Ella as well as see my family!!! It was so great to get to play with all the kids and they are just growing up and changing so much and I know in no time Ella will be in the mix with the "big" kids! It is always great seeing my sisters and parents and we just never get enough time together!!!
Chris and I can hardly wait to head up to see Mr. Mason next weekend!!! Beth and Ryan are new parents, but seem to already have everything under control. No one ever had any doubts that Beth and Ryan would be awesome parents and it is easy to see that Mason already has his mom, dad and grandparents wrapped around his little finger!!!
Chris' baseball season came to an end last Friday. It was not the greatest season, but Chris' still loves his job, helps young men become better players, students and people plus he can usually manage to squeeze a foosball game in everyday at work...things could be worse ;) Now that the season is over we have been like little kids and go play outside every night...tennis, golf, basketball, walks, etc. The weather is just awesome so we can't help ourselves from going to the park around the corner and taking advantage of all the fun things to do! By the way I beat Chris 2 this week in tennis which always feels good because you can imagine how he kicks my butt in basketball...drives me nuts!!!
The only other event is that we have officially pulled up all the tile in our house and are living in a house under construction! We have no floors, no base boards and have started re-painting! That's right more before and after pictures to come!
Anyway, it has been an incredible month with so many blessings!!!
Here are some pics...

Handsome Mason Geary - 6 days old here.

Gannon Waiting for his little Sister, Ella!

Gammie and Pa Pa with their joys! (at least for now that is what they are being called!)

The 2 cutest thumb suckers, also the only time they were not fighting over this darn car!

Lola at 4 months and Ella at 2 days!!

Me and Miss Lola...she's always in a cute bow!!!

CAUTION! UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

A day on the golf course with the cutest golfer!

Lucy, always smiling!!! Precious!

Matching little Ella and Lola!

NJ Shower and St Pat Party!

2010-03-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a wonderful week and it stated with my trip to Bound Brook, NJ for a baby shower for Beth! I was without Chris since it is baseball season, but I had the best time with his awesome family! Elaine and Beth and I spent Friday preparing for the shower on Saturday. I learned that I better not quit my day job because arranging flowers and tying bows are not my strong suits! It was quite comical by the end of the day because Beth (like her brother) is meticulous and I...well...am not!!! Beth whipped out the most beautiful centerpiece in 10 minutes and 3 hours later I was able to copy what Beth did and it still didn't look at good! Elaine was busy cooking for our traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage for Saturday night. After a fun day with the girls Tom cooked a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. His cooking is so delicious and it was my first spaghetti and meatballs ever! Seriously!
Saturday Elaine threw a beautiful shower for Beth! Elaine had everything arranged at the cute yet chic restaurant and all of the ladies had a great time! It was so fun to meet some of Beth's friends and also see some of the Reilly's friends who made the trip to Tulsa for our wedding. It was a great day! Beth looks awesome and is a very pretty prego chick! We can't wait to meet the little man in mid April!
It was a wonderful weekend and I loved spending time with Reilly's and Gearys!

I got back in town on Sunday and we just had a St. Patricks Day party last night! Friends of Chris' from work came over and we had about 12 people celebrating with us! Everything looked really cute and festive, but my camera still doesn't work so you will have to take my word for it!

On top of all of this fun stuff, we are welcoming Jen (my BFF) and her hubby tomorrow for 5 days of fun in Florida! Hopefully, I will get my camera working soon so that we can have some fun pics with the McElroys!

New Franchisee!

2010-03-10T14:48:00.001-08:00

I got back on Saturday after going to Corpus Christ, TX where TIppi Toes sold it's 2nd franchise! It was such a wonderful trip and Sarah, my sister and business partner and I were so excited to share our love for our business with Jim and Tara Cassman who will be taking Tippi Toes to Rochester, MN!
It was a fun and work-packed trip and we couldn't be happier about our new franchisees! Sometimes I have to pinch myself and remind myself that I am working when I am doing Tippi Toes! It is so exciting and it is thrilling to see others believe in our business. I LOVE TIPPI TOES!

I of course was pumped to spend more time with Lucy and Lola and I finally got Miss Lucy to like dill pickles! So if you don't know I have a weird obsession with dill pickles! I am very particular about the flavor of dill that I like. The more a pickle makes your face pucker the more I will like it!!! I have been trying for about 5 months to get Lucy to like dill pickles by randomly having her taste a hamburger dill pickle, well finally we went to my fav bbq place in Corpus Christi and I hopelessly gave Lucy the pickle to taste and after a squinted little face she got after it!!! Ahh!! It was a beautiful thing! How can you not love dill pickles! Maybe Lucy will be as strange as me and be given jars of pickles as gifts...yes I have received that as a gift more than once!

Chris, being the handy man, has fixed my camera so hopefully this will be the last pictureless post!

Got the Video!

2010-02-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of my niece Lucy repeating her dad and practicing saying Uncle!

Fun with Fam and Friends

2010-02-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

I got back in town on Sunday from one of my oldest friends, Ryan Craft's wedding. He married an awesome girl, Lauren Flynn in South Bend on the 13th. I was really bummed to be dateless, but I knew when the wedding was set for during the season I had no shot of bringing Chris with me.
It was such a fun weekend for lots of different reasons. I was able to visit my best friend, Jen McElroy in Chicago and check out her and her hubby's new home. Jen has impeccable taste and she did a great job with making her apt feel like their home. Jen, Dan and I had a great time catching up on Thursday night and I really love spending time in any big city (I think in my next life I will live in Chicago or Manhattan).
Anyway, the rest of Jen's family came in town and we all made the drive on Friday to South Bend. The whole weekend was beautiful and part of the celebration was at the college football hall of fame so I was able to channel some Sooner Love which was awesome (maybe it was a good thing that Chris and I weren't there together after all)!
It was basically a high school reunion for me. It was interesting to see tons of old people from high school. I was amazed at how some people were exactly the same and then how others were completely different. It is really hard to believe that I am 1 year away from my 10 year reunion for high school. How did that happen so fast?
Jen, Dan, Liz, Kate and Terry and I did a lot of dancing and my feet were sore for about 2 days because of course I will not take off my high heels no matter how bad my feet hurt or no matter how much taller I am then EVERYONE else!
The weekend ended with a baby shower for Kate McElroy who is another one of my best friends and is the sister to Jen McElroy (they married brothers which is why they have the same last name even though they are both married...no it is not incest!) It was so great to be a part of the celebration for Kate, Terry and Baby Ella!
The best thing about the weekend was coming home to Chris! I missed him so much and I was looking forward to a couple of weeks without traveling! Work has been busy because we are ordering recital costumes for our students and we are working on a new franchising system so Sarah and I are busy!
Baseball season is in full effect. It has been rough since the 2-0 start, but they have no started conference play so hopefully they will turn it around. Let me just say these 18 year old boys have no clue how lucky they are to have a coach like Chris who is so dedicated to them. He is so committed to them and really wants to help improve their ability and help them mature and anyone would be lucky to have Chris as their coach! I am not biased at all!

So my camera is still broken and I haven't taken it to get fixed, but I do have a video that Hiney (Adam, Sarah's hubby) sent to us. This is a video of Lucy saying Uncle which is one of Chris' nicknames. I hate the idea of Uncle Chris or Aunt Megan, so I don't know how he now has that as his name. Oh well, when you see this video you will see why we keep up with the Uncle nickname! As a side note for those of you who don't know Chris played for the Baltimore Orioles and that is the hat Lucy is wearing.
...Wait can someone tell me how to post a video? Sorry, I can't figure it out!

No Hitter & a sick family

2010-02-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Chris had his first regular season game and the Falcons won 1-0. The really amazing part is the Chris' pitching staff did not give up a single hit!!! For those of you not totally emerged in the baseball world may not know that this is a really really big deal!! This is a little info for you... Throwing a no-hitter is a rare accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff: only 263 have been thrown in Major League Baseball history since 1875, an average of about two per year.
I am so excited and proud of Chris even though he of course down plays this event! Well, it's my job to celebrate it so I have some balloons and baseball player cutouts all over the house to celebrate when he gets home.

On a totally different note, I would like to request some prayers for my family. My mom is still recovering from her knee surgery, but is doing well. It is just going to be a long recovery for her so extra prayer strength for her would be awesome. Also, my sister, Sarah, has spent the past 36 hours at the hospital with Lola her 7 week old baby girl. Sarah found out on Tuesday that both of her girls have RSV, Lola has bronchitis and Lucy has a double ear infection. On top of that Adam, her husband was out of town from Saturday - Wednesday night. Lola was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday because at her young age there are extra precautions and her breathing was not always perfect. This was day 2 in the hospital for Sarah and she has not left Lola's side. Lucy has been at home with close family friends and then Adam came home last night. The prognosis for both girls is good, but this whole process was/is obviously scary for everyone, especially the Nuses. Both girls have to do breathing treatments, take meds and hopefully in a couple of weeks this will all be behind them! Sarah and Adam send me pics on their phones throughout the day which I love and it gives me a huge smile to see Lola smiling big in her little hospital crib and Lucy dressing up like a goof ball with an Orioles hat for her favorite Uncle Hunky! Over the past couple of days several of Sarah's friends kids have also found out they have RSV so their whole group of friends will be settling down and sterilizing everything for at least a month or so.
Anyway, prayers of strength for my entire family would be so appreciated!

Birthday and Bowling!

2010-02-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I celebrated my 27th birthday! Chris and I did our main celebration on Saturday. First of all he surprised me at the airport! He was supposed to have a game, but it got rained out! I was going to the luggage carousal and I left my carry on bag just behind me, when I turned around I was annoyed that some guy was unaware of his personal space and was standing at my bag...oh wait that is my cute husband!!! I was shocked and so excited to see him!
That night we went to a Japanese steak/sushi place for the hibachi experience and it was so so good! I love those places! Next was out for drinks and dancing! I swear we thought we were in a flashback to Miami Vice tv episode! The crowd there is to say the least eclectic and it is the best place to people watch! You have 70 year old women in plunging neck lines and black sequins, 80 year old men in white fedoras and then you had Chris and I and then some college age kids (do I call them kids now?!). Anyways, it was really fun and entertaining and if you come to visit us both of these places could be on your itinerary!
Chris spoiled me for my birthday with a beautiful diamond necklace and his co-worker is a wonderful artist and Chris had him draw a picture of the Mayo hotel which was the site of our wedding reception. It is so cool and I just love it! My camera is not working, but I will post a picture of the drawing when I get it working.
Sunday we had a lazy day, but I did manage to whip my husband on the tennis court! I really love beating him in sports any chance I can and tennis is about the only time I have a shot at beating him!
Monday was my actual birthday and he served me a bagel and Dr. Pepper in bed. Yes, that is my favorite breakfast!!! Chris was again supposed to have a game, but it was rained out so we decided to go bowling! So here is the funny story of the week! Chris and I had been bowling for about 40 minutes and he was killing me by the way! I was getting ready to throw my pink ball down the lane and Chris goes, "What's on your foot?" I look down to see a thong of mine coming out of my pant leg!!! Yes, that's right a thong!!! I raced back to my seat and tried to discretely pull the thong from my leg and stick it in my purse!
Now if you are thinking I am weird or something it was just one of those things that I wore the same jeans the night before and I threw them in my closet; when I picked them up to put them back on I didn't see the undies and I just slipped the jeans on.
Wouldn't you know that my thong didn't come out while I was walking to the car, or into Moe's for dinner, or into the bowling alley...nope it comes out when I am walking up to the lane in front of all the other bowlers!!!!
I hope you enjoyed that story! Since I am pretty sure only girl friends and family read this I thought the thong talk would be acceptable!
You are welcome for not posting a picture for this post ;)

Traveling...

2010-01-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

When I travel, I always make at least 2 stops. I don't know why I do this, but I guess I just decide to get in the traveling mode and try to knock out a few things at once! I spent 1 week in Cincinnati last week, working with my teachers, checking on classes and just making sure the Cincinnati franchises are going well. After a week in hotels and Subway it was wonderful to fly in to Tulsa so spend a week with my parents!
My mom had her left knee replaced yesterday and so I am here as Nurse Reilly. She did awesome and her surgeon was really happy with his work! She got up and actually walked yesterday and continues to heal and make progress! My mom's pain tolerance is crazy!!! The nurses and techs keep asking her about her pain and they can't believe how happy and cheerful she is! Everyone who comes in and works with her says she is doing really great which is uplifting for all of us, but especially my mom. My mom is looking forward to being able to walk pain free which will be the first time for her to experience pain free walking in about 15 years. My mom is the best and she is the easiest patient ever so I am really just looking forward to us playing cards, watching Law & Order, Idol and catching up as she recovers!
Another great thing about traveling back to Tulsa, is I get a chance to see my awesome friends! On Sunday night I went to dinner with Kate and Terry McElroy and Katie & Chris Butterfield. They are just the greatest friends and it is amazing that we are able to pick up with each other's lives as if we see each other all the time! The 4 of them are so fun and funny and I really feel like Chris and I miss out on so much by living far away. Maybe everyone I know and love will just move to Ormond Beach....I know Keep Dreaming! I am also looking forward to getting to see Ashley and maybe Tiff this week! Both girls are my 2 best college friends from OU and OSU and while they are both busy with precious little babies and kids, my time with them is always special and our friendship means so much to me! They are those type of girlfriends who you don't have to do anything fun or exciting because our conversation and time together is already such a blast; but if you do throw our hubbies and some cocktails in the mix then we just know the night will be talked about for years!! My friends are awesome and I cherish my time with them!
Sorry for no pics, but it was either me working in Cincinnati or my mom in a hospital...wooo hooo!
Can't wait to get back home on Saturday! I miss my awesome husband!!!

Back to Blogging and Ormond Beach

2010-01-17T22:25:00.000-08:00

I have taken a bit of a break from blogging, but am back!
Chris and I had a wonderful holiday season! It was great because we were able to be in NJ with Chris' side of the fam and spend time with my fam in Texas as well! One of Chris' good buddies, Ryan Molcahn, got married right before Christmas in New Jersey. Chris was the cutest groomsman and spent the entire night on the dance floor! It was one of the best weddings we have ever been too and we were both sore the next day after all of the dancing! A big snow storm came through on the day of the wedding so Chris coined a "snow angel" dance move on the dance floor. It was a hit and caught on with some other groomsmen, unfortunately no pics were taken :(
We celebrated Christmas with Chris' family and were spoiled by them all! Elaine and Beth, Chris' mom and sister, should just buy all of my clothing! They are the type of gift givers that you love because everything they pick out is perfect for me and I honestly dress cuter because of them!
Next we flew home and basically hopped in the car and drove to Corpus Christi, TX. Yes, you read that correct...Drove to Corpus!!! I love road trips and especially with my awesome husband! We talk about everything...what would you do with 100 million dollars, where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 15 years, what is the best part of your job and on and on! I love it! Camden was a trooper and pretty much sleeps and then looks out the window!
We spent about a week in Corpus with my entire family in and out over that time! We had a wonderful time and managed to be entertained by the kids, play games, play golf, tennis, basketball, had a gingerbread house competition (we got 3rd out of 4) and cooked! It was a wonderful time because we were all getting to know Lola Nuse better since she was only a few weeks old at the time! She is precious and is such a sweet little baby!
One of the best parts of time in Texas was Lucy and Gannon! They were so funny together and love each other so much! They danced together, imitated each other, laughed at each other and totally entertained us!!! Their sweet little laughs are infectious and when I think about them I just want to squeeze them! It is really hard to believe how old they already are, but it is so much fun to get to know their little personalities!
Another one of the highlights was the fact that my hubby surprised me with NEW GOLF CLUBS!!! So fun! I was shocked and we were able to play on Christmas day! It was so awesome to have my own clubs!! I got Chris his first and only pair of real cowboy boots! I think it was equally a gift for me because he looks so cute in the boots! He loves them and seems to be turning over a new "country/camo/cowboy" leaf!?!!!
Once we got back home we both jumped back into work! Chris had "hell week" which meant his alarm went off at 3:40am and they had practice at 5am and 11am and then he would get home around 6pm! You can imagine how exhausted he was, but he loves coaching so much that the early mornings and long hours don't bother him! I am lucky to have a happy husband who loves his job!
I am trying to take a little pressure off of Sarah while she enjoys being a mom of 2, so I am a little busier than normal, but I love knowing that Sarah and I are able to help each other out when needed! One of the perks of being a business partner with your sister!
Up next for us is baseball season and a little traveling for me. I am currently in Cincinnati for Tippi Toes and will then head to Tulsa to be with my mom as she has her knee replaced. She is anxious, but I think this surgery will change her life and I am so happy to be able to be there for her to help her recover!
Here are some pics from the last month or so!

Lucy at Tippi Toes Chris in his new cowboy boots!

Lucy laying on Camden who is laying on Chris who is in Lucy's chair!

Gannon keeping everyone laughing!!!

All my favorite kids!

Yes, she is following along perfectly, while smiling!!

So chris was having a tea party with gan and lu and somehow Chris ended up with a golf ball in his real coffee cup!

Taking out my NEW golf clubs!!! SO fuN!!!

Busy Being Aunt Fave!

2009-12-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple of weeks I was visiting Sarah and Adam in Texas as they welcomed baby #2, Lola Caroline Nuse! She was born on Dec 7th and she is precious and perfect!!!
I am known as "Fave" (thanks to Liz Ormsby who I stole this idea from!) to my neice and nephew and I must say that really beats being called Aunt Megan!!! I spent the week with Adam, Sarah, Lucy, Lola and my parents were both there as well!
I was lucky enough to be at the hospital as Adam came out to announce..."It's a Girl!!!" There is nothing else like that moment of not knowing the sex of the baby and then the big surprise/shock of finding out! I was sure it was a boy, but clearly I was wrong! I now can't imagine life without little Lola!
Mom and baby are both happy and healthy! Lucy is in love with her little sister and gives her kisses all the time!
For all of you moms...WAY TO GO!!! Not being a mom myself, it is magical to see my sister in action! The amount of love that she gives to her girls is amazing! Not to mention how hard moms work to keep life happy and wonderful for their kids! It really is incredible!!! I can't believe there are not more holidays for Moms!!!!
I just arrived back in Ormond Beach yesterday and Chris and I are headed out this weekend for Ryan Molchan's wedding in New Jersey! Chris will look so cute in his tux and I can't wait to dance with him! We will have an early Christmas with the Reilly's which is a special treat because we usually have to switch every other holiday, but with the wedding this weekend in New Jersey we are able to have had Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations with Chris' family!!
Once we get back to Ormond after the New Jersey wedding we are driving to Corpus Christi for Christmas with my family! Since Sarah just had Lola we are having Christmas in Corpus so we can all be together! Our family keeps growing and at this rate we are going to have to invest in an air mattress company!!!
We are driving to Corpus which means we will be able to bring Diddy with us!! Camden and Wrigley (Nuse's dog) get along really well and will have a blast together!

Totally unrelated to this post...my mom got me a shirt that said "I'm busy...check my blog!" It made me laugh becuase I am not a big phone talker and since I live away from EVERYONE I really do love checking other's blogs and I love knowing that my friends and family are up to date with our life! So for anyone who is reading this who I have not talked to in a while, just know that I really like keeping up with you and I love that we are still connected!!

Here are some fun pics from time with the Nuese!

LUCY CAROLINE NUSE

12/7/09

7LBS 5 OZ 19.5"

I HOPE I LOOK LIKE THIS A FEW HOURS AFTER DELIVERY!!!

LUCY KISSIN LOLA

LUCY LOOKS TICKED, BUT WE WERE HAVING

A BLAST DOING ALLIGATOR IN THE HOSPITAL! (AT LEAST I WAS!!)

A FUN NEW TOY FOR LUCY! I HAD NO CLUE CUTTING THE HOLES OUT WOULD BE SUCH A BIG HIT! THE BEST PART WAS THEN LUCY WAS PASSING OUT KISSES THROUGH THE HOLES!!!

Fun with Family!

2009-11-29T19:46:00.000-08:00

We had the best time over Thanksgiving holiday as we welcomed Chris' parents and sister and brother-in-law into town! Tom, Elaine, Beth and Ryan were gracious guests and we had a blast with them! We all cooked together in the kitchen on Wednesday, listening to music, sipping wine and just catching up. We got the desserts and some other basics for Thanksgiving prepared and Ryan and Tom made us the best Chicken Marsala and Rice and Peas...I think it is safe to say that is one of Tom's specialty and it has become a family recipe that will be passed on!! Thursday we watched the Macy's Parade and then headed to the beach! It's pretty awesome to go to the beach on Thanksgiving! We also toured Daytona State's baseball facilities and then went back home to start eating. We had Thanksgiving dinner around 5:30pm and then played Apples to Apples and pretty much laughed the entire time! I highly recommend that game! We said goodbye to the Gearys on Friday and then we all pretty much crashed back at the house (I know I sure crashed, who knew so much cooking would be so tiring).

For my first time hosting Thanksgiving I think everything went pretty well! The turkey was great thanks to some help from a co-worker of Chris' who told me how to brine a turkey, it made a huge difference! We are of course still eating left overs and will probably still be in 2 months!

The week went by too quickly buy it was wonderful! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Time to gear up for Christmas!

Our trip to the beach on Thanksgiving!

Here is LeRoy before we cooked him! That's the name I gave our Turkey...is that weird?

Here is our Thanksgiving Table! I clearly went for a non-traditional Thanksgiving theme..Purple Sparkle!

Beth and Elaine helping out at usual in the kitchen! I don't know how many dished Elaine did over the week, but it was such a huge help!

I swear I didn't make Elaine do the dishes the entire time!

Game time! It was such a blast and I got some great action pics of everyone cracking up at Ryan's hilarious comment!

Before and After

2009-11-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

I finally have a few before and afters! Chris' family comes in town tomorrow for Thanksgiving so I thought it would be the perfect time to take some pics!

Breakfast Nook Before Breakfast Nook After

Before Living Room After Living Room (different angle)

Dining Room Before Dining Room After

Before Kitchen - totally stripped! After Kitchen

I've got some others ready to go and will post those in the next couple of posts.

I am grateful for all 2 of you who I think read this on a regular basis...Sarah and Jen! I am of course grateful for anyone who reads this and for all of my family and friends! I a lot of times think about how lucky I am and try to be grateful in the moment. My life is so great because of my family and friends and that is what life is all about! Happy Thanksgiving!! Gobbble Gobble!!!

Happy 29th Birthday Chris!

2009-11-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Chris' birthday yesterday! He is the greatest, sweetest and best man and husband and I love celebrating his birthday! He started the day by power washing the back patio, which those of you who know Chris understand that power washing is about the coolest thing to tidy, type A, Mr. Chris Reilly! I made him the breakfast he requested and then he was off to work for the day!

Apparently, his team has a tradition of singing for the birthday boy and then tackling and beating him up! He came home with some bumps and bruises, but I think it is stuff like this that makes him love his job! BOYS!!!

His birthday dinner request was fish and chips. Seeing as how I DO NOT eat fish, this was a bit of a challenge, but he did have beer battered cod, boiled and seasoned shrimp, snow crab legs and homemade potato chips plus of course a birthday cake! As he was eating his fish and chips and I was eating my taco, he kept telling me to stop making that face! I guess I was making a face as he was digging out meat from the crab leg. What can I say? The smell of the fish was enough to cause me to make a face!

We had a wonderful day and now are gearing up for the Geary's and Reilly's to come in on Tuesday for Thanksgiving!

Birthday Boy with his birthday meal!

Chris' baseball cake!

Chris listening to me sing!

I knew I was marrying a smart ass and he never misses an opportunity!! I was cracking up!

Chris being a joker as I take pictures!

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Us!

2009-11-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Chris and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary! We had a great day and really made it special! We both got up early (I guess we were both excited to start the celebration!). I made french toast and pancakes and then we headed to the park with Diddy and played catch with the football while Camden kept trying to jump in the lake (she is not allowed to in Florida because of gators...yikes!!!).

Chris headed to work and then I went and picked him up for a quick lunch at Chili's! It's always so fun to break up the day with a lunch date!

I was really excited to start cooking for dinner, on the menu was...Lover's Beef Burgundy Filet, Twice-Baked Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans with Mushrooms and crispy onion rings. I know you are wondering if you are on the right blog!!! This is a new found activity that I really enjoy doing! I have been cooking a lot more and it turns out I enjoy it and if you at least sort of follow recipes they work and taste great! I like to look for good new recipes and just give them a shot! I think this started by living with Tim and Colleen because she cooks every night so I had to step up my game while we lived with them. Also, since the Reillys and Gearys will be in Ormond Beach for Thanksgiving I want to be able to make some good lunches and dinners and obviously I need to be able to cook for Thanksgiving! Anyway, I am in to cooking now and really enjoyed cooking for our anniversary!

Pic of the chandelier which was our anniversary gift to each other!

Camden was hoping we would be clumsy during dinner! NO Luck for her!

Busy couple of weeks!

2009-11-08T18:21:00.001-08:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks for us. I was out of town for 12 days which was too long to be away from Chris and Diddy! I spent a week in Cincinnati to check up on classes, teachers, etc and then went to St. Louis for Halloween. Halloween was unreal in St. Louis! There were about 150 kids who came to Jennie and Matt's house so you can imagine it was so fun! Lucy was the cutest cupcake and Gannon was a precious pig! Of course the rest of us had to dress up too, so my mom was a scarecrow and I was her crow, my dad was a clown, the Nuse's were a Baker, Oven and Cupcake and the Marchals were the H1N1 pigs! All very festive and none of them were store bought! My family also did a murder mystery game. Sarah turned 30 on November 30th and this was a part of the celebration! Sounds weird, but it was so much fun! We dressed up and basically read scripts and were in character all night!!!

After a great time in St Louis I headed to Corpus Christi with the Nuses. Sarah and I recorded a video of our dances for our franchisees so while it was a quick trip it was a blast!

I love spending time with Gannon and Lucy and of course the rest of my family. This would have been an even better trip if I had Chris with me, but we are looking forward to the Reilly and Geary families coming to Ormond Beach for Thanksgiving and then a trip to Corpus for Christmas with Chris, Camden and me!

While I was gone my hubby was busy at work! I came home to be surprised with our office painted which finishes our 6 rooms of painting! He also ordered our anniversary gift as a surprise and we put it up yesterday! We got a cool chandelier that we both really loved and we thought would be a perfect gift for our 2nd anniversary which is November 10th! Chris also just completed their fall schedule of games and only has a few more weeks of practice. His schedule is so busy right now and he is at the office at 5:00am 3 days a week!!! I don't know how he does it, but he LOVES it! His pitchers threw a no hitter this past Saturday which was a perfect way to end the fall season!

Pics from time with my family!

The cutest kids in the world!

Our Murder Mystery Night. Jennie was an over the top preachers wife, I was a big chested trashy barmaid and Sarah was a tough local cop!

Lucy and I at the park near Jennie's house. Gannon and Lucy love it!

Gannon and Lucy holding hands as we head back from the park!! They are so in love with eachother!

First Visitors!!

2009-10-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Lucy just came for a week of fun in Florida!! Chris and I had such a blast with them and already miss them! Luckily, I will see them and the rest of my family next Friday! We have lots of fun pics from the week with Sarah and Lucy! Here were a few highlights in my opinion... Lucy running to me with open arms when she first saw me at the airport...awww!! Chris coming to the stands and taking Lucy from me during his game so she could hand in the dugout Our visit to Uncle Donalds Farm Lucys smile, dimples, laugh, snuggles, and the fact she is constantly giving out kisses Lucy learning to say Fav...as in aunt fav, thats me (thank liz ormsby!) Here are some pictures from the awesome week!!!

Kermit in da house!

2009-10-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

We had our first visit from one of our many reptile friends in Florida! It started because we are trying to finally give Camden a doggy door, but we are not exactly sure if the doggy door we have that fits into the sliding glass door will work. It is not a perfect fit, but she loves it so we are trying to make it work!
Anyways, a frog jumped in the house when we were messing with the doggy door. Let me be clear these are not Okalhoma green frogs; this thing was nasty! White, beady eyes, suction cup feet and can jump like well a frog!!! When this thing jumped in the house Chris and I looked at each other like, oh gees, now what! I played the sexist thing and told Chris he had to deal with it and it worked! Camden checked it out and was not really interested then Chris got a huge box and was shaking the blinds in hopes the frog would fall in. I think he managed to capture it without having to touch it!
It was quite a commical 2 minutes at the Reilly house! I can't believe how many lizards there are here and the frogs come out at night! It is still warm and sunny here though so I can deal with some lizards!

Uh oh!

2009-10-03T10:57:00.001-07:00

So we have been working on the house as much as possible and we are seeing some progress. I wanted to show something that we have done, although I do not know if this change we made will be staying long!
So I have always wanted a really bold color front door! I mean really bold! So we move into this gray brick house with no shutters and no wow factor at least from the street. Ahh Perfect! I can go for my bold front door! Well, I have gained some confidence on the colors that I have picked out in the past so I just went for it with the front door! I wanted a fuschia door because I had seen a cool one before and still think about it to this day. After looking at about 20 colors I choose - Majestic Orchid! I mean it sounds pretty right?!
So Chris puts the first coat up and honestly I don't know if any other man would continue to paint based on the color the door was with the first coat of paint...I mean hot pink! It gets better with the 2nd coat and finally matches the paint chip with the third coat.
Now since finishing the front door about a week ago and I am still not so sure I can handle this bold door! What sent me over the edge was the cable guy joking about walking in the Barney door!!!!! Go ahead you can laugh!!! Little shrimp wouldn't know good taste if it came up and wripped his ugly little camo baseball hat off!!!!
Anyways, I wanted to show you want it looks like! We are far from being finished as far as a bigger outdoor entry rug, landscaping and outdoor light. I don't want to re-paint until I add the rest of the touches to see if it helps me like this crazy bold barney door! PS If you come to our house and call it a Barney door in front of Chris I will kick you back out the Barney door! Just kidding!!!!
We can't wait for visitors!!! We aren't too proud to beg!!!

Moving Day!

2009-09-23T19:39:00.001-07:00

We are finally in our own house!!! After 8 weeks of living with Chris' boss (yes I said 8 weeks) we have moved in to our Ormond Beach home! Moving day was hilarious!! The pictures really explain it all, but I never imagined that moving in everything we own could have happened in about 1 1/2 hours, but leave it up to 20 baseball players and about 10-12 pick up trucks and it can be done!
I was standing right inside by the garage door and front door directing the players to rooms based on what they were holding...it was awesome!
They moved fast and did manage to damage a few things that we really were hoping they wouldn't, but what are you gonna do?!
Anyways, I am anxious to get some before and after pics up, but I don't have any afters ready yet!
So far I have painted the kitchen, set up the kitchen, Chris put all the appliances in, we have set up all the beds, dining room and living room furniture. I have set up our bathroom and my desk is up, but other than that we have crap everywhere! I have added some pics of the madness so you can see!
Chris was working all weekend so I was on my own at the house which is when I did basically everything I listed above. I am so annoyed though, with the amount of jobs that I can't do myself! Chris is so handy and I love it, but I wish were more handy!
One of my biggest fears, Chris getting electrocuted while working on some wiring, it has already happened twice so I guess I don't need to worry about that anymore. Apparently, since he is so tall the shock just gives him a little jolt :) So far we have both been able to laugh about his shocks!
More updates will be coming sooner than this one!

First Blog!

2009-09-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we don't have kids. Which means we have zero adorable pictures of kids trying rice cereal for the first time, or walking for the first time or wearing sunglasses - are we still allowed to blog? I am going to give it a try and see if I can make Chris or Camden take really cute pictures doing all of the above and maybe it will be as cute as all of your kids! They are pretty cute but I don't know if they can pull it off!!!

The real reason I am starting the blog is because I check to many blogs and love just staying connected. Also, my sister Sarah showed me a book that was a compilation of all of her blogs over a year and it was the perfect way for me to avoid ever having to scrapbook! Not my thing!!!

So just a quick update and starting point for everyone! Chris, our dog Camden and I just moved to Florida at the end of July. We were in Cincinnati for 2 years; Chris coached for Univ Cincinnati and I started Tippi Toes. Tippi Toes is still going on up there, but Chris has started a new job at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach. He loves his job down here and is happy to be in the south and to be the recruiting coordinator! Tippi Toes will probably debut here in January!

Chris and I are actually living in his boss' house until we can move into our new house on September 18th! Tim and Colleen (chris' boss and girlfriend) are so kind to open their home to us, but after a total of 6 weeks we will be ready to move into our own home!

I think that is all for now. I could go on, but just wanted a little intro for the first time!