Brian & Shelby Lewis

Crafty Moment

2010-12-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

So, I'm up to my arse in items that I have to complete before Christmas, but I took a time out to do something that I've been wanting to do for the past couple of years for my own home. I had the standard "NOEL" stocking holders that you can find almost anywhere. The shiny silver stood out in all the wrong ways on my mantle. Not to mention my stockings are from dollar tree from a couple of years back. I've never wanted to embroider the stockings with our names because, let's be honest, the thread and time it would take cost more than the stockings themselves. So I decided to make a knock off of a stocking holder I saw on pottery barn's website a couple of years ago. It was really easy & cheap! I think to make over all 4 was about $15. Here are some before & after pics...P.S. Happy Thursday!:

I am thankful for...NO MORE TECH HOME GAMES!!!

2010-11-29T21:14:00.001-08:00

For any of you who really know me, the last home game is usually a day of mourning and not of celebration, but since I took over the Jones stadium I have had one hell of a quarter at work. I am excited for a much needed break from organizing the food needs of the Tech chef who feeds a few thousand people every home game! Although, I will say that thanks to the Handley's we had club seats for the very last game of the season...I think I could get used to those seats pretty easily:)

I have still been crafting, but that is also about to take a hiatus. I have SOOO much stuff that I want to get done for my own home & for Christmas gifts that I am just going to have to say "No" for a while on craft requests! Consider it a vacation from my second job! I will try to post some of my goodwill finds that I have re-purposed in our "new house". I will eventually stop saying "new house" once we have been here at least a year and it is fully decorated. As of now, saying "new house" makes me feel just a little better that there are so many unfinished projects!

On a more "scroogie" note, I did the math on what Brian & I will need to spend in order to purchase all of the necessary Christmas gifts this year & I almost threw up! I am even making as many of the gifts as I can for the little ones in an attempt to save. Thank goodness I have been socking away money to my BEK credit union all year for just this reason. We draw names on both sides of our families for the adults, so that alone is $200. I guess I feel like some of the spirit of Christmas is lost when you get a call saying "I drew your name for a $50 gift this year, what do you want... where can I buy that?" What happened to putting thought & time into a gift? I'm not tooting my own horn but I try to make mental notes all year on what I can get people. From comments they make while window shopping to complaining about something that would make their life easier. I try my best to not ask out-right what someone wants for Christmas. If I draw your name and you draw mine & we tell each other exactly what we want and where to find it, why don't you go buy what you want for yourself & I will save $200 in our household. **I warned you, I was feeling a little Scrooge-esque** I am waiting to get my tree from my sister's apartment, once it's put up maybe my mood will change! *sigh* As for now I wish you a Happy Monday!

Another attempt at Blogging!

2010-08-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I have had some nagging guilt in the back of my mind about not blogging in OVER A YEAR! YIKES!! Life just gets crazy, as we all know too well. So, now that I'm the busiest I've ever been, I've decide to add one more thing to my plate! I actually think that my entries on here help me keep perspective and relieve stress & Lord knows I need some of that right now! Brian & I are officially Lobos and have (somewhat) settled in to our new home in Levelland. We are literally 90 seconds from the country club and with really affordable memberships Brian is in golfer's heaven! I have been spending most of my down time (yeah right, what is that?) filling craft orders and working on getting the house together as I can. Work is going great for Brian. He is with Edward Jones investments (which prompted the move) and he has been a top 5 performer, in his category, every month but 1 since he started selling. I have been slammed with my job. I took over the national accounts position at Ben E. Keith and I work with restaurants from Colo. Springs to midland odessa and everywhere in between. Just a few I take care of: abuelos, hooters, pei wei, rudys, cotton patch, etc... I just took on the Jones football stadium at Texas Tech working with their head chef to provide food for the suites/press boxes & club levels. This has been the root of most of my stress as of late because it is such a huge undertaking. Enough for one person alone & I have about 30 other restaurants that I handle. My craft orders have been consistently growing, which is amazing, but I sometimes feel like I am burning the candle at both ends! I can't imagine how I would manage with little ones! Hopefully I can find some balance after football season! Well, I'm going to try to be more consistent with my posts! I love blogging and keeping up with everyone! Have a great Monday night & we will have more soon!

No Doubt & Ruidoso

2009-06-15T21:09:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post some pictures & thoughts about my latest trips! I headed to Dallas for a girls trip to see No Doubt! Ashley & I rode down together & Elvira met us on Saturday. Stephanie Holloway lives there and met up with us. We stayed at Trevor's house (B's bestie) and my good friend J. Blessing met up with us. I have been a no doubt fan since I saw them at the fairpark in 8th grade with the Goo Goo Dolls & Bush! I was front row, down & dirty as Gwen stood & sang on a speaker above me! It was awesome! This time being 10(ish)years older I knew the experience wouldn't be quite the same but it was definitely a blast! We were really late getting to the concert which I regret in hindsight but I still had so much fun! Beers were $12!! After the concert we met up with our guy friends at barcadia & played life-sized jenga... a definite first. B stayed home to help his uncle tile his kitchen, but it was still a fun trip. I wish I had some pics from the actual concert :(. Then, the weekend before my birthday (June 5-7) B took me to Ruidoso. We stayed at the Ellis' cabin, which was awesome! We went to the horseraces... I was up about $5 until the last race when I bet on a long shot to win & it did! I bet $2 and it paid $42... not a bad return. Then that night we cooked out at the cabin avoiding our $100+ birthday dinner reservations. I told B that I would rather spend it at the casino :). I have gambled a few times before, I like blackjack & craps but this weekend I learned roulette! It was fun & I won about $90. It was such a relaxing & much needed trip! The booth is going pretty good. I have acquired outside interest and have been asked to paint some canvases on consignment for a woman that has a holiday happening booth & I painted a canvas for a local photographer's studio. She also has some of my baby clothes on hand for her clients! It's only been 3 weeks so I can't complain! I am going to post some pictures, then off to bed! Goodnight!

Some moments at the Gingerman before the concert.....

LIFE-SIZED JENGA! (excuse some of the graffiti)

A couple of horses at the track

Some pictures of the cabin! So cute!

on the way to the casino

The Quirky BIrd

2009-05-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well, once again I have not posted in awhile... I have been busy filling up my 20 square foot booth. My mom came up this past weekend and helped and B's mom helped me get my booth covered in fabric. What great ladies :)! My small booth is officially open at KK's. Right now it is primarily baby girl items, but I hope to expand soon & do more home decor items. My website is www.thequirkybird.etsy.com if you want to check it out or forward it along to someone who might be interested! Hopefully someday I can transition out of corporate & into something that allows me to be my own boss! For now I will post a few picture of the booth!

w...o...w....WOW!

2009-04-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

I have not posted in FOREVER! First thing's first. I am attaching a picture of my catch in beautiful Guatemala! We went to Puerto San Jose, in all honesty, it was very poverty stricken with the exception of the beautiful lodge that we stayed at. People would walk to streets with machine guns! Our lodge was very secure and the staff was wonderful! I wish I had the time and space on here to post everything. We visited Antigua (not the island) before we left & it was AMAZING! Nothing in the city has changed in 500 years...the streets, the buildings, monasteries...VOLCANOES! It was definitely a life experience that I will keep with me forever! Let's see...Since then we have been busy with baby showers, bachelor/ette parties, weddings, etc.... One of my high school best friends is having a baby at the end of this month! I am so excited for the arrival of baby Sophie! Other than that we have been pretty low key since my last post. I have been painting....the most recent is a family name canvas 12x24....email me or call me if you are interested...I'll post a picture at the bottom. I am going to try to keep my blog updated! As for now, I am starting a movie with my wonderful hubby & our pups!

outdoor bar in guatemala...at noon on a monday

our lodge

The Marina

My Pole!

My fish! An 80 pounder...we also caught a 450 lb. Marlin! (I only have video of it)

Volcano in Antigua

An old monastery they made into a hotel/restaurant

The lovely mom to be & her hostesses

Shannon's Loot

my canvas

Off to Guatemala!

2009-02-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

Well friends I am leaving in about 5 hours to start my long trip to Guatemala! I am excited and anxious just because I don't know what to expect...that's why I love to travel! It is going to be so nice to just turn my cell phone off and be customer-free for a week. I haven't had that luxury since the honeymoon. I will miss my hubby & my puppies so much! I will post pictures as soon as I get back!

Blissful Boredom

2009-01-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I think my title says it all. We have been on the move for so many weekends that it finally caught up to me this weekend! However, I have had absolutely NOTHING to do....with the exception of answering customer phone calls at 7:15 on a Sunday morning, but at this point that is a given. Being bored is not usually my thing, in fact normally I am on the brink of insanity if I am not on the move. BUT I am getting the hang of this sitting around doing nothing thing for the time being and I think that it is WONDERFUL! Granted I will probably have to entertain myself in someway next weekend, but for now I am enjoying a glass of wine and "Horton Hears a Who". I will be traveling to Guatemala two weeks from today for a fishing trip that I won for a sales contest through my company. Who knew selling so many tomatoes to Chick-fil-a & Jason's Deli would send me out of the country. Normally, I am not much of a fisher-woman but any excuse to travel for free and be sans laptop and cell phone for 5 DAYS is welcome. I will definitely be posting pictures from that trip! Until then, I am just not that sure if I will have much to blog about....and for now, that's a great thing! Take care!

5 Christmases!

2009-01-04T17:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a few weeks due to the insane amount of traveling we have endured since my last post. We started at Nana's house for the Bessire Christmas on the 23rd, then Slaton with the Lewis clan on Christmas Eve, then traveled to Amarillo that same night to be with my family. We came home on Christmas Day because B had to work the following morning. We packed up Saturday the 27th and spent a couple of days in Plainview with B's family until sunday the 28th. We were then home for work for 3 days then back to Amarillo with our friends Tad, Tanner & Mary for New Year's Eve. We woke up the next morning and drove from Amarillo to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl on the 2nd. We got home on the 3rd and Brian left this morning (the 4th) and will be gone for 5 days visiting San Antonio, Houston & Dalhart for work. I am already missing him but I have to say that it is very nice to be home! ALL of the Christmases were wonderful and we enjoyed seeing everyone so much! We are definitely blessed with some amazing family. As for the cotton bowl.... let's just say the trip was doomed from the beginning. First of all, I THREW OUR TICKETS AWAY! Yep, FOUR cotton bowl tickets, in the trash. It was a complete accident, but we had so many USPS envelopes from online gift ordering that it was thrown away with the rest. We replaced them, not sure what we would have done if they were just our tickets, but they were Tanner & Mary's also and we had made arrangements to go together, so it is what it is. An expensive lesson learned. I will try to post some pictures from all of the events in a later post. I didn't have my camera a lot of the time so I am waiting on copies from Mary. I hope you all had a safe & wonderful New Year & I will post pictures soon!

Christmas Decorations!

2008-12-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

We finally put up our decorations for Christmas! I was so excited, B was probably scared that his wife had reverted back to being 12. I made him start a fire, we put on Christmas music & I had hot chocolate....oh yeah then when we were done we watched Elf for the 1000th time. I think he was just glad that it wasn't "Meet me in St. Louis", one of my favorite all time movies that is a MUSICAL! That's when I fell in love with Judy Garland! She was so beautiful! Okay, enough of that. I hope you all have an opportunity this year to lose yourselves in Christmas! It's harder to do the older you get, but I don't think I will ever grow tired of it all!

Our little christmas tree!

OU Weekend :(

2008-12-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well, we made the trip down to Norman for the OU Tech game. Most of you know how that turned out....Besides the actual game we had a blast! One of my best friends, Jean lives in OKC so we stayed with him at his downtown apartment. I have to say that I enjoyed the city a lot more than I thought that I would. We went out the night before the game. It was cold, but it was good to hang out with everyone again! Sunday (after the game we don't speak of) we visited the OKC Bombing site. It was pretty amazing. Sadly, this was not my first encounter with a memorial like this. My family went to NYC not even a full year after Sept. 11th. The amount of people and the heaviness in the air was indescribable. This was eerily similar just on a smaller scale. It is hard to put these horrific acts into perspective until you witness the scale of it first hand. The visit put us behind on getting home, but it was definitely worth the lost sleep. There are so many pictures that I wanted to share but I had to pick a select few. I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

Me & B

Ty was a little excited the night before the game

Walking with Jean in Bricktown with the crew in the back

Brian thought it would be funny to wear just his long johns at tailgate....it wasn't.

That little white dot is the outback blimp.

Walking into the game

The stadium was massive!

In the game...this is the last pic from that sad night :(

Downtown Bricktown, it was beautiful!

Message on entryway of the OKC bombing memorial

They built a chair for each person killed....

The smaller ones were for children (the 2nd floor was a daycare)

Memorial Fence outside of the federal building

On the fence, recently added...

Shootin' Stuff

2008-11-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

We spent a weekend with the Bessires out in Sylvester, TX, getting back to nature. It was really fun and I experienced a lot of new things. For one, I shot my first hand gun. Yikes! Is it weird that I am more afraid of handguns than shot guns? I like to talk with my hands...a lot.... and I just know that when I have a small gun in my hand I'm going to forget about it, start waiving it around and probably shoot someone in the leg, if I'm lucky. So that was a huge thing for me. I also shot clay targets for the first time! This was more up my alley since the shotgun was so heavy that I would never forget that it was in my hands. The next morning I felt like I had been in a losing bar fight though and was bruised up from the recoil of the shotgun... I don't even know if that's the right term. We fed their cows and donkeys and rode four wheelers all day saturday. I bonded with a cow, it was pretty awesome. We stayed up and played poker, which Bets insisted that we all wear hats to play, and sat around the fire pit catching up. It was really beautiful out there. I don't think I will be shooting anything living anytime soon ( I make B take spiders outside & not squish them), but it was a trip that I am looking forward to making again!

Me & B

4 Wheelin'

Feeding cows

The Donkeys

Target practice

Crazy hat poker

Wrapping up the weekend.....

O.S. Who?

2008-11-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

My parents came in for OSU weekend! We tailgated and went to the game. Me & Mom's feet hurt so bad after the game! All in the name of looking good I guess. If you call looking good walking back to tailgate with your shoes in your purse and your socks covered in coke & peanut shells. We were all so tired that we called it a night after the game. Poor Brian had an awful time trying to come pick us up! What a sweet guy to deal with that traffic so we didn't have to walk. We slept in this morning which was AMAZING & went to grab lunch before they left town. It was nice to spend a weekend with my family, and we will spend next weekend in Midland with Brian's side. We are VERY excited for OU weekend even though we will be the enemy, I think it will still be a good time. I will post again after this weekend at the ranch!

The Family (sounds like the mob)

Me & B

Me, Dad & Ash ( I made her dress! It's cool to see something you made out in public!... I'm weird, I know.)

Me & Mom

Scoreboard

Halloween & UT weekend

2008-11-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun weekend. Trevor, Stephanie, Tad and Blessing were all in town and we had a few people over for some costume fun. The game was AMAZING! I am so glad that we did not sell our tickets after all. I love spending that time with Brian because it is something that we can do just the two of us (and 55,000 other people). We will be going to the game tomorrow, my parents will be in town and their tickets are on the row behind us so more than likely we will be able to sit together. My friend Jean has free season tickets at OU through his work so we will be making the trip to that game and staying with him. On the off week we are heading to the ranch in Midland then after the OU game is Thanksgiving so we pretty much have a full month! As soon as we know it, it will be Christmas! YIKES! I will have more pictures to post soon! Have a great weekend & Wreck 'em!

Me & B, that light spot on the shirt makes me look pregnant!

Terry Reno 911, yep he wore skates in the house....

Me & Steph/Audrey H.

Ironman & Tad

Me & Ash

Me, B, Blessing and Shawn

Band before the game

Stadium before kickoff

Scoreboard

Me & B

Wreck 'em!

Pumpkin Carving!

2008-10-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Brian & I don't have kids yet mainly because we are still kids ourselves.... but that doesn't mean that we can't still have some Halloween fun! Brian's birthday is Halloween so it is always a good time. We have been super excited this year because we knew that it fell on a weekend and on UT weekend at that. We have a lot of friends coming into town so we will be hosting a Halloween party Friday night. I would tell you our costumes, but sadly, we are nerds and like it to be a surprise at the party. We seem to be notorious for always having a hilarious costume. I love to craft and like handmade things so our costumes are usually one of a kind. I will post the best from the years past and this year's costume later this week. Tonight was pumpkin carving. Brian was like a little kid, I think he finished his a good 30 minutes ahead of mine and then I pouted enough until he finished mine. I used the time to start "decorating" (that was my excuse anyway) and managed to hang one spiderweb on the fireplace. You know you have a good hubby when he will carve a pumpkin for you. After we were finished he immediately left to United to buy 2 more pumpkins. I convinced him to wait until later this week to start on his new creations. I hope you are enjoying the fall weather as much as we are & I will have much more to post soon!

My handsome Hub

The 2 he rushed out to buy...it was cute. I hope he doesn't read this, he'll kill me!

My Pumpkin... an homage to TTU Red Raiders....Wreck 'em!

Brian's Pumpkin

My Hubby doing laundry while I blog & take pics....whatta guy

Mr. Opie Sanchez....he's kind of an emotional dog...wouldn't look at the camera

Miss Mia, I had to hold a treat under the camera for this one...

I Heart Wordles......

2008-09-22T22:38:00.001-07:00

A little late....

2008-09-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

THE WEDDING!! It was so much fun and as everyone says it went by SO FAST! I think that the ceremony turned out even better than I could have hoped for. The musician we hired was amazing! We hadn't heard him sing before the day (crazy, I know) so when he started I was very impressed! The only set back was during the unity candle he was supposed to sing a song called "this I promise you" by Ronan Keating (it's awesome! check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om5QiTX47QI ) that we had sent him the link of, well, I guess there was a small miscommunication and he played "this I promise you" by Nsync! Most of you who know us know that we aren't exactly boy band people, but he pulled it off. Dustin, Ally & Kristin all read at the wedding like pros and we couldn't ask for 3 better examples to read. The reception was fun, just a little stressful. I am a control freak and it was too hot, too many lights were on, the martinis were hot and there wasn't enough room to dance.... but toward the end of the night none of that mattered and we had such a great time! My dress is destroyed, hopefully when they heirloom it, it can be restored. Our friends and families all made the night so much fun & I hope everyone had a good time. I don't think that I have ever been as exhausted as I was at the end of that night. I honestly don't have that many pictures from the night but I will put a few of what I have on here!! I need to gather up more pictures that aren't the professional ones then I will post more!Thanks again to everyone for everything! We truly are blessed!

Spa Day!

2008-08-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

The day before the wedding before the rehearsal dinner I took all of my girls out for a spa day. I have to say that it was definitely needed! I left there SO RELAXED and I don't know what I would have done Saturday if it weren't for a little TLC the day before ( and a few mimosas!). Brian sent out some flowers that said, "I can't wait until tomorrow" ....what a sweetheart. We had fun gearing up for the rehearsal and all of the ensuing craziness.

Bachelorette Party!

2008-08-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

My Bachelorette party was so much fun! We made it a little black dress party and everyone looked great. I definitely drank a little more than I should have but it was still fun. The night started with a lingerie shower at Kristin's and then we went to Shannon's for games. They asked Brian 10 questions and video taped his answers, I got 8 out of 10, not bad if I say so myself and one I was cheated out of because neither Brian or I knew the answer. Then we hopped into the limo and went around terrorizing the town. I must say that I hate digital cameras because there is way too much evidence floating around! I will post some of the ones that are from earlier in the night. Thanks to everyone for making that night so much fun!

opening gifts!

at shannons

in the limo

singing with the band

being serenaded by a strange stranger

my mom & sharon

2008-07-19T20:18:00.001-07:00

Garage Sale Time!

2008-07-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

I am capital E- Exhausted! We just wrapped up our second day of our garage sale and man was it a lot of work. Pricing, folding, unfolding, stickers, haggling, packing, unpacking, etc.... On the upside we made some money and got rid of A LOT of stuff! Our mom's and Brian's dad helped us out a TON this weekend. We would not have been able to pull it off without them, that's for sure! Catholic Family Services will pick up the rest of the items on Monday and we may actually get to park in the garage for a change. We have been collecting stuff for months for this weekend and you could tell just by looking in the garage. We still have a lot to do but we are that much closer to being done! The next couple of weeks are going to be crazy! I can't believe that the wedding is 2 weeks from today. My bachelorette party is next weekend and that is just going to fly by. Before we know it we will be in Mexico! Well, I am off to bed. I think the puppies are just as exhausted as I am with all of the weekend excitement! Goodnight!

The Wedding is Crazy Close!

2008-07-15T09:25:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that the wedding is in a little over 2 weeks! We just returned from Houston where Brian was a groomsman in one of his best friend, Craig's wedding. It was so much fun but made me kind of nervous because it was almost like a mental run through for me. If that makes any sense at all..... We finally booked our honeymoon and for once procrastination has paid off because we got a really good deal on a 5 star hotel in the Riviera Maya Mexico. My parents stayed at the exact same resort a couple of years ago and said that it is awesome. We will be there August 3-8. I can't wait. Unfortunately when we return there will not be much time to rest yet again because my friend Shawndi is getting married the very next day! Then the next weekend is my annual sales banquet and the next two weekends are occupied as well! I think we may have some down time between September and Brian's birthday....hopefully! Thanks so much to anyone who has helped or just put up with our craziness & we are going to have so much fun at the wedding!

Bachelor Party!

2008-07-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Yikes! Brian leaves for his bachelor party in about 12 hours! I can't believe that it's already that time. It really is cliche but the time from the engagement until now has just flown! I think that my parents and I are going to Plainview to watch fireworks tomorrow night with the Lewis'. Other than that I REALLY need to catch up on thank you cards that have just piled up! It's a good thing to have to complain about though! We feel very blessed to have the friends and family that we do! One of our friends, Jason Robertson is playing with his band tonight, so I think we are going to go support them for an hour or so. I will post any pictures I have of this weekend and any (suitable) pictures Brian has from his weekend soon!

FIRST POST!

2008-07-02T23:23:00.000-07:00

So, as you can see by my post time I am up way too late! I have been cleaning/organizing for hours today and I took a break. I check out Dustin & Ally's page every once in a while to see all of the awesome pictures she takes of Taylor and hear about all of the cactus cutie craziness. Well, this time I was inspired to make myself & Brian a page....that was about 2 hours ago! I get wrapped up in this stuff pretty easily. I am going to go to go ahead and go bed, but I will be posting pictures from all of the wedding events and keeping you guys updated on everything very soon! Goodnight!

2008-07-02T23:19:00.001-07:00