A Boy on his Birthday.

This weekend was Neil's 26th birthday!!!

In an effort to be low key we had a nice family outing with my parents.

We met down in Austin and started the day with a nice Kayaking trip. We had never done it but

  I enjoyed it. Sadly, there are no pictures to prove it. I didn't feel comfortable with my camera that close to the water : /

Afterwards, we went to this AWESOME mexican restaurant called VIVO and opened gifts.

This card was from my sister...think about it, think about it....

its an IPOD...lol.

My parents got him a new wallet which was definitely needed. His was starting to smell bad.

 They also got him a memory foam pillow. I have one and he steals it every night! So I know he'll love it.

 He opened my gift before we left, mainly because I didn't want to haul it down there.

 We had to put it together and it took a bit, but it turned out beautifully.

 After adding a few things we already had, it got really cozy real fast.

 I added an inscription plate for him "Grow old with me, the best is yet to be"

Its already gotten good use and it looks beautiful. Lewie likes it too.

 Of course no birthday is complete without ice cream and cake..so we had ice cream cake!!

Happy Birthday to you , Neil!

Easter in Ohio.

 This was a rare Easter for us. We got to spend our Easter in Chillicothe, Ohio. The Shanks family is from there and we got to spend our holiday in the open farmland with beautiful 60 degree weather. We got to be and meet family that I had not yet met. We had a wonderful brunch, lots of food, kiddos and puppies running around, bonfires, banana boats, easter baskets, and a beautiful memorial for Grandpa Shanks.

Egg Toss in action

  

The traditional family picture.

 

 The guys worked on Grandpa'a old tractor and got it working! I think its beautiful.

 Visiting with Grandma Shanks was a blessing that does not come nearly enough in our journeys.

 And I had to throw in this picture because I think he looks so handsome and I love that it is his grandpa's tractor.

Hope your Easter was as blessed as ours!!

New Light.

So we had an "incident" the other night. I was doing push ups on the floor and this clock fell off the wall. Apparently the nail slid out...and the same time I was on the floor. Weird, I know. So it fell off the wall, hit the lamp and crashed on my leg leaving light bulb everywhere, a cut on my leg and a broken lamp shade.

 I took this opportunity to make a little switchero. I had this left over lampshade so I went with it...

and i love it.

The cream color really lightens things up, makes it feel like spring. 

It has some rouching that adds texture and "cuteness" that I have to reign back on with a hubby around :)

I guess it was a happy accident.

An OK 5K.

The Community Play Day & 5K I planned for work was this weekend. The 5k was the main event and we had over 150 people sign up!! 100 was my goal so I can say it was a success. And while we planned on having Melissa Jones as our guest speaker she was not able to attend, HOWEVER...I had three special guests come out.

The 5k went off without a hitch. It seemed that  everyone enjoyed the route, the shirts, and the weather. Everyone got a free shirt, grocery shopping bag, fruit, and lots lots more! It was great to see families, kids, dogs and strollers on the route. Apparently, some 5ks have rules against that.

We also had other events:

Cooking Demonstrations

Three healthy recipes were demonstrated and available for taste testing.

 Bounce House

 Rock Climbing

 Jousting

 Zumba in the street!

Of course the road was blocked off but we had a GREAT instructor and a good turnout. 

Imagine walking by and seeing 20 people dancing in the street... :)

FREE bike rentals

The company brought out some bikes and people could borrow them to go riding on the nearby trails.

 Velcro Wall

carnival games, basketball, peddle cars, bungee run, and a good time. 

All events were free, and we thought it turned out really well.

It was a lot of work, and stress, and worry but in the end it turned out well.

We are planning for the next one in September!

New Mexico. The Extras.

We did have some down time between games so we got a chance to take in the sights. 

I already mentioned that the weather was wonderful so we tried to stay outdoors as much as possible.

The first stop we made was at the Petroglyph Monument. 

It was a hike through volcanic rock trails that had etchings/carvings made by Native Americans.

Some were near the path and some were up the hills. Either way, it was a great walk and made for good conversation.

We then went to Old Town Albuquerque for lunch. Its like a town square with art galleries, shops, restaurants, and a beautiful church - San Felipe.

We ate lunch at a really cool place with a southwestern menu. We ate outdoors and embraced the Southwestern feel of the buildings and live performances.

We made it to the zoo too! Hey, that rhymes.

A zoo with mountains in the background, beautiful weather, and cute animals.

There were lots of trees with carved designs in them, like this one, and it made me want to go home and DIY it.

As you can see, we had a great time. It was the perfect time to get away from work and leave our responsibilities behind for some quality time together.

Maybe we will see you again next year Mr. March Madness.

New Mexico. The Pit.

The tournament games were at THE PIT. 

We were impressed with the stadium, the weather, and the outdoorsy-ness of the city.

It feels like a pit in there with the floor deep in the center.

They also keep the lights on only near the court so it feels like a cave. And it was LOUD!

Both games were nervously exciting. We also got to see two other games that were close ones.

It was nice to see lots of traveling Baylor fans wearing neon shirts like our new jerseys. Some like the new jerseys and some hate them. I think that they play with more pazazz and confidence so if they like them, I like them.

 Most of the seating was good. The first game we sat midrange but the second game, we were 9 row from the floor! We lucked out with these. We bought them from a guy on the street and boy was I nervous. I thought I would get in there and row 33 would not exist! LOL. But I was pleasantly surprised.

 In case you missed the last game, Brady Heslip made 9 3-pointers!

We had so much fun!

Stay tuned for other things to do in Albuquerque.

New Mexico. The Drive.

 Its nice when Spring Break and March Madness collide.

This year our Baylor Bears played in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

After a random trip to Kansas City to watch the Big 12 tournament, another 10 hour drive didn't seem too bad. Neil was on Spring Break so we took the chance to follow the team around.

We passed through a small town called Chillocothe, TX while mom and dad Shanks were in Chillocothe, OH! More on that later.

 

We drove across Texas, listening to the Hunger Games audiobook and taking in the scenery.

On the way back we stopped at this random place. Out in the middle of a field, out in the middle of nowhere (exit 60), stood 6 cars in the earth. They were all spray painted and if you were lucky, you could find a spray paint can laying around that still had some juice.

We even spotted this Baylor graffiti.

The trip was uneventful, thankfully. We got to spend quality time, listen to a book, eat prepacked snacks, and take in a beautiful view of God's work.

Spring has Sprung

Spring has officially sprung at the Shanks'.

The Bradford pear trees we planted in October of 2010 are in full bloom.

This is the close up of the flower.

This is a closeup of the flower.

This is our little tree. Neil says its growing but I am not sure so I took a pic with it so I can compare next year.

These are the best flowers. We do nothing to them and they bloom every year!

I love when all our grass is this beautiful green.

Although we have had a mild winter and it has been in the 70s since February, we are enjoying this weather. We have been eating our dinners outside on our porch, we catch up in our rocking chairs, and we have been playing in the grass with our puppies.

T-shirt Quilt

We got to spend some family time in San Antonio this past weekend and I delivered a Texas State T-shirt Quilt too!
This is for my dad's best friend's daughter :) Hopefully she and her new baby like it.

Do Work.

So I work at the Waco Health Department and we just recieved a few large grants so we (the 3 emplopyees in our department) have kicked it in gear and started work on large scale projects. Because I spend most of my time at work, I thought you might like to see what we have been up to.

The most pressing event is COMMUNITY PLAY DAY & 5K - It is a FREE event for the whole city. The free 5k will go through the farmers market and runners will recieve a tshirt at the end. It will feature guest speaker Baylor Women's Basketball Great Melissa Jones as our guest speaker and lots of fun - kayaking, basketball, running, cooking demos, etc. I am the chair of this event so it seems bigger than it probably is.

 The Eat Well Waco Dining Guide is a brochure with 40 local restaurants and lists all the healthiest items at those places. We have now put it online and are working on a Spanish version as well. click to see it live.

This is a new series called Doctors on Call. This topic is childhood obesity. We have a doctor come out to a church and make a presentation not only on obesity but on how it is affected by their culture (hispanic) and then there will be a Q&A session and cooking demonstration. It will be bilingual and the cooking will be a healthier spin on a tradition Mexican dish. We will also host future ones in different populations.

We have also started going strong on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Somehow I get a lot of this responsibility (probably cause I'm the youngest around).

We are also working with the march of dimes to do parenting classes and other activities to reduce infant mortality by 5% in certain zip codes in 20 months.

We are also working on offering free tobacco cessation programs and strengthening our smoking ordinance in the city.

Everyday is different and I love that!