Don't fence me in , well yeah please do

So, after nearly 4 years of living here we finally broke down and had our entire 2.5 acres fenced in. We never did so because we didn't want to invest the money in our house if we weren't going to stay here. Steve recently had many job offers, one was back home in Louisiana. After much consideration, we decided to take a position at Schlumberge in sugarland, Texas. It is nearly an hour commute and worth it to keep our 2.5 acres. Sugarland is full of planned communities that we would never fit in with all of our cars, much less the racecar and 44 foot trailer. Besides I don't want to be able to stick my hand out of my window and touch my neighbors house. So, Steve has been commuting now for 2 weeks in our little diesel bug commuter car that gets 54 miles to the gallon.

Our fence has been up about a week now and we are absolutely enjoying the privacy and it even blocks the wind. I'm glad to not worry about Iggy getting sprayed by a skunk again and the huge jackrabbits eating my veggies in my garden. Here are a few before and after pics. They are a little mixed up but you will figure out which is before and after.

Speed boat shore excursion in Cozumel.





After the excursions.





Costa maya.





We had a great cruise. Way too many more pics to post 3 at a time on this blog. More posted on facebook.......

Cruise to western caribbean

Pics of our room. I took them so that I could get ideas for the race car trailer living quaters. It's about the same size.

Security guard snoring

Iggy mans his post by the front door during the day while I work. He won't come in my office with me as long as Steve is not home. I guess he feels he needs to protect me or alert me when anyone comes to the door. If Steve is here, he lays by my side on the floor in my office. I went in the kitchen to get a refill on coffee and heard him snoring. Guess he fell asleep on the job. He's so darn cute!

Ready for my vacation

Steve's mom has been talking about a family cruise for years. Her dream is finally coming true as we all are going on a cruise this summer with Steve's immediate family. I am very much looking forward to it as Steve and I have not had a 'real' vacation since our honeymoon 5 years ago.

By real vacation, I mean more than a 3 day getaway or something that is not race car associated. We go to florida every year for the PRI show. We do go to disney and other attractions while there but the entire trip is racing geared. We take 3 day getaways to places like San Antonio for fun, but thats not enough days to melt off the work stress. We are more than stressed out by work and I think it's very much time for some relaxing time to get away and forget about it all.

Steve's parents are funding the trip as far as the rooms. We are responsible for paying for everything else. I'd say thats a pretty good deal! Basically, we have to pay for shore excursions and any alcoholic beverages. Woot! I can NOT wait!!!

Great quote

"For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
 For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
 For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
 For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
 For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
 People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
 As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others."
— Audrey Hepburn

God is good

Today I am thankful for many blessings in my life. Blood pressure is steadily at 119/74. woot! There have been a lot of prayers that God has answered for me lately and I am very thankful. Especially for my cousin's husband who broke his back in an accident and could not walk. After surgery, he is walking and progressing. God is good and I feel very comforted today by Him.

Zumba!

We took some group photos after class one day. Of course, not many people want to brave photos after two hours of working out. So, the die hards as our instructor calls us braved it. We don't look too horrible. They were also trying to spell YMCA. There were disagreements about where the Y should be. For some reason, some people thought the camera would be backwards and the A should be on the left. I said it should be on the right. Notice, they were so confused we have two A's and two C's. Where's the Y and the M? LOL!

Look out Blue Dog, here comes Carla Wood

A friend of mine started painting for fun. She has been posting pics of her whimsical paintings of animals. Of course, I wanted to buy every one she made. Instead, I asked how much for a couple of my dog. She is talented beyond her own knowledge. I gave her pictures of Iggy and told her what I wanted and she did a fantastic job. I picked them up this past weekend while in BR and paid her for them. Now, I need to get them framed. Hopefully, I can make it to hobby lobby sometime soon.

Family Genetics Caught Up With Me

After 4 months of intense workouts of zumba 4 times a week 2-3 hours a day, losing 10 pounds and dropping two dress sizes, my blood pressure suddenly was extremely high at 154/102. I don't even have a primary care physician here and have lived here for nearly 3 years. That goes to show you how often I'm sick.

So, I was recommended to a great nurse practitioner. She put me on a low does of blood pressure meds and it was still high after two weeks at 140/98. Last week, she put me on a fluid pill, which I did not know is used for the treatment of high blood pressure. Made sense after she explained it. Now, I can happily say my blood pressure is steadily staying under 120/80. This mornings reading was 117/77 WOOO HOO! And, to make it even better, I've lost another 5 lbs in the past week without even trying thanks to the fluid pill.

Heart disease runs rampant in my family and it is so scary when the doctor tells you it is the silent killer among women. I had no symptoms AT ALL, which is very typical. The only reason it was caught was my annual checkup at my obgyn. She was floored that as actively as I work out that it was that high. She said unfortunately, sometimes genetics carries more weight than lifestyle. It scares me that my dad's brother died at the age of 40 of a massive heart attack. When I was young, that age seemed so old. Now, at 34, that's not so far away. This was a wake up call. Hopefully, with continued treatment it will stay under wraps. I do have to say though I don't feel as anxious when having a stressful day at work. I feel like someone gave me a Valium or something. ha ha.