Great BRIT

Be still my heart...

Bless you Candies!!!!

Anybody who knows me knows how much I love Brit Brit. I have a whole stash of magazines she's been on the cover of and it is one of my prized collections. She's just so beautiful - I could look at her all day.

I feel as though my Mandy knows me even though we've never met. I got this sweet surprise from her the other day - a postcard with my Brit Brit :) Thank you my sweetheart!

I admire that even though Brit hit rock bottom, she picked herself up and pulled through. Once upon a time Britney gave my heart hope. Anybody in a relationship knows things can get sticky sometimes. Marriage is hard. Philip and I have been married for 3 years, but been together for 9 total in August. Back in 2004 Philip was going to take me to her concert during her Onyx Tour for our 3 year anniversary. It was going to be in San Antonio and we were going to have a romantic weekend. Before the concert date, Britney busted her knee, canceled the rest of the tour and went crazy. Philip was bummed because he knew it was going to be the perfect

anniversary gift and I was so sad because I had been looking forward to it.

Fast forward a couple of years and Philip and I experienced what can only be described as the 7 year itch. It was such a hard, painful, depressing time for me. When her tickets went on sale for her Circus tour I remember I called Philip at work to see if we could go. I was really nervous to ask him. Things were very different than they were four years ago the first time round. He didn't say yes at first and his hesitation made my heart beat fast. When he said yes I felt a huge sigh of relief. The tickets went on sale in Dec. 08 and the concert wasn't until March 09 and that he had said yes gave me hope. I took it as a sign that somewhere in his mind and heart he was thinking that we would be ok when March came along. He was still planning our future. And so I fell in love with Britney a little more that day - because she gave me hope.

*Philip & I before the Britney concert March 2009 - I was one happy girl!

Things are a million times better now. We are at such a happy place. Relationships go through tests every day. These little trials and set backs make that bond that much stronger.

I pray that you will be able to find your way my dear. You remember the way you comforted me as I cried thinking I wouldn't be able to pull through all of that? But you always told me things were going to be okay and you were always there to support me. I say the same things you said to me then to you now. I believe in you. xo

Eye Candy for your Tuesday

Sweet Carrie left me a comment saying I needed to check out the latest issue of People magazine because of the amazing spread they had on my football players (can't wait to watch the Portugal vs Spain game this afternoon! I am pulling for Portugal now that my two top teams are out :( and a very cute seahorse pendent that made her think of me (thanks love!). Another pleasant surprise from this particular issue:

*sigh*

I have faithfully loved Tom with all my heart despite his sometimes odd behavior. We went to watch "Knight and Day" this past weekend and I loved it! :) Action (and Cameron Diaz at her best!) for the boys and Tom and a love story for us ladies.

Thanks Carrie for thinking of me and making me go pick up the latest issue of People!

I am....

DELIRIOUSLY happy!!! :) Happy to have my family here and to have the rest arrive this Friday. I cannot wait! Here are some photos from our weekend

*If I'm deliriously happy, then my parents are a million times more that. Here is happy Papa with his daughters (minus the youngest Maddie, she must have been in the living room when we took this!) Micaela, Me and our older sister Maria who lives in Italy is the mother of cutie pies Marina and Sophia)

*The Wilson's

*Silly Monkey Sophia

*after a HUGE lunch and being completely saddened by USA losing to Ghana, we all passed out on the living room floor in front of the TV. That's Micaela, Sophia, Maria, Marina and me

*Sunday at Samurai (Japanese restaurant) after church. That's us with our younger sister Madeline. Mind my hair - don't know why it's a mess! haha

*Philip's nephew Peyton had his 7th birthday on Sunday night so we took Marina to play with all the other nieces and nephew :)

*Marina

*Marina and Carly. I always love seeing my nieces play with Philip's nieces :)

*Me with grandmother. I LOVE Philip's grandmother SOOO much. She means the whole world to me

*Watching Nemo - Sophie could watch it everyday three times a day and never get tired of Nemo!

*hmm...maybe one day I'll have a photo like this with our own daughters :)

*Warms my heart

So although my two top teams are out of the World Cup (sad! I'm going to go for Portugal now!) it was an amazing and fun weekend spent with those I love the most!!! :) Can't wait for the rest of the arrivals later this week (first Chip on Thursday and then my brother Miguel and his family on Friday *I took a half day so I can go to the airport because I want to be there the second my darling nephew gets off that plane :) I love him more than anything else in this world! Hope you loves had as wonderful a weekend! :)

I'm grateful for....

Faiza over at It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day radiates sunshine and positive energy. I always feel so happy when I read her posts. She always makes me smile! Her blog is her gratitude journal. She shares and reflects all the things that bring her laughter and happiness. She reminds me that sometimes it's the simple thingsthat bring the most joy.

She challenged all of us to join her in creating a Top 5 List

of things you are grateful for over the next few days. Blog about it and link back here so we can share our gratitude with each other.

So here is a gratitude list of mine from the past 24 hours:

1. Today is the day that my nieces from Italy arrive!!!! I'm SOOOOO excited!! I'm grateful to be an auntie to these two cutie pies and grateful that my family will all be together soon :)

2. Good movies with good friends.

*Me & the Edward cup I just couldn't resist buying at the movies last night, ECLIPSE fever is setting in!!! That's another thing I'm thankful for....Opening night is just round the corner :)

Micaela, her bff Maria and I went to go see "Letters to Juliet" last night. I've been wanting to see this movie forever!! I LOVED it, it's SOOO adorable! Just a "feel good" type of movie that makes you believe in fate and destiny. I can't resist a good love story! And hot British guy in it - major plus!!! And beautiful Italy - another thing that made our Micaela very happy! :)

3. The 2010 FIFA World Cup

Every morning I make my instant oatmeal or bowl of cereal, pour a cup of coffee and watch the game online as I start my day. In fact, right now I'm watching the Portugal vs Brazil game. I love this morning routine and will be sad when it's over :(

*Screenshot of desktop

*Did I mention how much I love Christiano??? I LOVE watching him play

I'm excited for the weekend matches. USA vs Ghana Saturday and England vs Germany Sunday...it's going to be intense! :)

4. It's Friday which means casual day at work which means I get to wear my beloved blue jeans! It's the simple things right? :) I LOVE jeans! I love especially being able to wear my "skinny" jeans once again! :) WOO HOO! I loved this picture of Jessica Simpson - loved the vintage NKOTB shirt paired with the blazer and denim. My most favourite look.

5. Having a good laugh. I don't want to sound cheesy, but I'm grateful to hear Micaela laugh! Yesterday in the movie there was a part that had me and Micaela rolling because of an inside joke between the two of us. And you know when you get the giggles somewhere where you really shouldn't have them? Like at church? Well we didn't want to be rude in the theatre, but OMG it was so hard to control them! :) We literally sat there trying to laugh as silently as we could haha

I'm grateful it's the weekend and I get to spend a lot of time with my darling babies :) I simply cannot wait to hold my nieces!!!! :) I hope all of you have an amazing weekend! :) xo

Missing you still....

What makes me weak in the knees...

(besides a British accent...) is....CHEST HAIR!!!!

Nothing is sexier to me than a man with chest hair! I was laughing yesterday because my friend Katy posted this on my fb wall yesterday:

Katy This made me think of you, of course.http://thebolditali

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"A Field Guide To Bears" Poster Available Now - The Bold Italic - San Francisco

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I was like hmmm...bears are cute....but I don't collect bears or anything so I wonder what she meant by this....until I clicked on the link :)

Then I just started cracking up!!! Many of my girlfriends disagree with me, but I LOVE chest hair. LOVE it. It prob has something to do with the fact that Shawn Michaels was my first hard core crush and his chest circa 1996 made me wild with coming-of-age lust! :) haha Chest hair is def. my aphrodisiac!

Another thing that I absolutely love is a dimple in the chin aka a cleft chin aka a butt chin - I think it's SOOO sexy*I can't mention a dimple chin without a photo of John Travolta - don't you just love Grease?!

My perfect and ideal man is Gary Barlow from Take That fame:

*blonde, scruffy, dimple chin and BRITISH!!!!! Isn't he dreamy:
I think dimple chins look gorgeous on women too -

What makes you weak in the knees? :)

I love being an Auntie

I absolutely love being an auntie :) Nothing made me happier than getting to video chat with my most favourite person in the ENTIRE world....

*My nephew Mikey

He was the first grandchild to come into our lives. Since he was a little baby he has had my heart. We have just always had this connection. He is my darling, the apple of my eye! I love him more than anybody in this world. He is into WWE Wrestling which just makes me SO proud and I can't wait to watch with him.

*His seester Milen with my seester their Auntie Maddie. Milen looks EXACTLY like me when I was her age! Carbon copy really!

I haven't seen these two in four very long years. I can't wait to see them July 2! :) It will be a dream come true!!! I remember when I stayed with my brother's family they would wake up in the middle of the night and crawl into my bed. I slept in a little guest twin bed so one would be on my side and the other on my other side and it would get a little cramped. So to give them more room and make them more comfortable I would sneak onto the floor and let them take over my bed only to wake up in the morning to them both on the floor next to me :) How cute is that?? One night while they were laying with me I was in tears thinking the next time I see them they will have outgrown this. I just can't wait to hug them again! I can't wait to see how they interact with their cousins my other sweet nieces I am excited beyond words!

Thankfully since my nieces and nephew are overseas and I don't get to see them often, I do have some nieces and nephews in Texas on Philip's side :) Last night our nieces stayed the night with us. We had a great time! I'm a little sleepy though since they are on summer and stayed up late last night, but it was fun! :)

*With Carly and Cara - cutie pies! :)

“Only an Aunt can give hugs like a mother, can keep secrets like a sister, and share love like a friend.”

~ Spanish Proverb

I'm thankful for the relationships I have had with my aunties and am blessed to have the same type with my own nieces and nephews despite time and distance.

GAME TIME! :)

Today is a BIG and EXCITING day in Football for me :) The fate of England and the USA rests in today's game! I will be happy really either way if the boys or the lads go forward :)

SUPER pumped! I am attempting to watch both at work - see :)

*Top game is England and

bottom is the USA

I am smitten with the US Team Captain....

I love Carlos Bocanegra!!!!

I am going to be SO sad when the World Cup is over :( It's the same way I feel when the Olympics end - I just love it sooo much!

A Scrumdidilyumptious Weekend!

I LOVE Willy Wonka! It has always been one of my favourite movies of all time. I absolutely adored Roald Dahl books as a child (James and the Giant Peach is still my fave to this day!). One of my favourite memories from school was third grade when we had a chocolate day - we got to wear our pj's and bring a sleeping bag. My whole class camped out and got to watch Willy Wonka and eat chocolate all day. It was SO much fun! I hope they still do fun things like this in school for children :)

*Micaela and I called Gene Wilder "Rudy" when we were kids although I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps we saw him in a movie with that name? Even now we still refer to him as Rudy!

This past weekend Micaela and I went to go watch the play at the Wichita Theatre downtown. We enjoy going to watch plays at the two theatres where we live.

*The cast and crew did an AMAZING job!! The set was beautiful and the kiddos who played the main characters were so cute and talented. I think our favourite part was the Umpa Lumpas! The kids were so little and when they sang...oh my gosh it was so stinking cute! It made your heart smile :) *Our favourite little Umpa Lumpa!!! :) Micaela's old co-worker's son John was adorable!!!
*Our friend Erik's sweet niece Addy played a squirrel who sorted out the good nuts from the bad nuts in Veruca's bit. How cute is she?
*With the man himself...he did such a wonderful job of Wonka! I fell in love with the story all over again!

I sang along to all the songs - "Pure Imagination" being my favourite! I get goose bumps every time I hear it! Luckily AT&T is using it in one of their commercials so I get to hear it often :) And Micaela's favourite "The Candy Man":) We had such a good time!!! I'm so glad she came just in time to see it - we caught the very last show!

Sunday we went to church with our family and ate at one of our favourite places - the Jalapeno Tree in honour of our amazing dad on Father's Day. I love my dad so much and am so blessed to have him in my life. So many of the Postsecrets this week were so heartbreaking. I loved this one the most because I truly feel this way:We intended to be lazy and finish catching up on Grey's when I got a desprate call from my Lauren asking for our help. Her sister Mehle and her (two of my very best friends) are in the process of moving into each of their own places (so proud of Mehle - she is now a homeowner! and proud of Lo for her super cute duplex all on her own!). Mehle helped Micaela in one of her many moves so we were happy to return the favour. It was actually a bit fun being with our best gals :) You should have seen us try and figure out how to move a huge sleeper sectional out of the living room and through the door. It was a sight to see - even though it was a bit frustrating in the Texas heat we were cracking up!! Then getting it into the bed of Mehle's truck to drive it to it's new home which just happened to be my bff Steph's house - well that was a whole other ordeal! Added bonus: we worked off our huge lunch with all the heavy lifting and sweating we did! It was nice to spend time with our best girls :)

I FINALLY finsished all of "Grey's Anatomy" season 5. I BAWLED and BAWLED watching it! Especially the season finale :( Now I have to watch all of season 6 online so I can be completely caught up :) I can't wait to start! I don't know how I got so far behind and I'm glad I never gave up on this AMAZING show :) LOVE it!

Had a lovely weekend enjoying my twinkie! ;) This weekend will be even better because our nieces will be here :)