a piece of history

well, this has been an interesting week. it doesn't feel like monday was memorial day. this week has been a creeper, even with all the different things i had to do to fill it up. lets start with inventory. tuesday night we had our second inventory of the year. this was actually a re-do of the last inventory we did in february. apparently the last one didn't work, so we did it again. geez! so technically this was my 5th time to do it, b/c i helped 3 other stores do theres the first go around. that calls for a raise or something, right? lets hope it worked this time...

wednesday was really the icing on the cake of the week. i got do something that doesn't happen everday. i was invited to the Cowboys Years of Service Luncheon and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Cowboys Stadium. Lunch was amazing! it was held on the second level plaza of the new stadium, looking over the field. all the important people were there. ya know, jerry, steven, charlotte, wade, and so on. They recognized people who have been with the company 5-30 years. lots of appreciation for them. they also recognized Rich Behm, the man who was paralyzed in the practice facility collapse. He was there. everyone stood and applauded him, it was super touching. i admit, i shed a tear! then after the lunch was over, we all went outside to the main plaza and they had the ribbon cutting ceremony. lots of former players, including, micheal irvin, rayfield wright, mel renfro, bob lilly, jay novachek, and so on. the "ribbon cutting" was more of a lever they pulled that set off a fireworks display and the largest sliding glass doors in the country opened up! then we all went inside the stadium for a reception. it was super cool. here is a link to the ceremony, skip to the last few minutes where they pull the lever, its the coolest part!

Dallas Cowboys Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Fat Friday was fun this week. We grilled hot dogs at my dads. You know me, i love a hot dog! So, i was happy. Then we went and played putt putt. probably one of my favorite things to do, right behind bowling. i won! this was kinda shocking, because i didn't really think i did that well, minus the hole in one on the 18th. it was fun to rub that in bills face, since he's the golfer of the family. hehe!

Bill is about to be super busy at work. They said goodbye to one of their operations people this week. she is on active duty in the army, and she was called to be deployed. she leaves in a week for training, then she goes to afganistan. she will be gone for a year. at the moment it doesn't look like they will be hiring another person, so bill will be taking over all her accounts, doing initial cleans, and teaching training every other week. he is so dedicated, and very driven so i know he will be just fine. just a little more stress than usual. please pray for him and his work, i know he would appreciate it. also, say a little prayer for Nancy (the one who is being deployed) that she has a safe and succesful trip. God bless her for her service!

we are being pretty lazy today. we gave lucy a bath, washed cars, made a trip to The Dump (an off price furniture store here), went to kroger (yes bill went with me!), and now we're watching the Colonial. 3 way play off!

Here are some pics from the ribbon cutting...

opening the doors to the stadium

me, drew pearson, and mary

new cowboys stadium


jerry speaking at the years of service luncheon

memorial day weekend

so a week ago today, my best friend on the this earth, Lori Lee, emailed me and told me her and her hubby, who just happens to be bills best friend were thinking of coming to visit over memorial day weekend. que excitement!!!! everything worked out perfectly. they drove down saturday afternoon, i got off work around 2:00. we went to a restaurant called sambuca. wonderful food! plus they had a live jazz band. all around good time. saturday lori and i had the perfect girl day. we went to all my favorite places! whataburger for breakfast (of course), ikea, home goods, target, dsw! ahh, it was perfect. the boys went and played golf while we were on our girly outing. for some reason they decided it would be fun to WALK 18 holes of golf. i don't know about yall, but i thought the whole reason you played golf was so you could drive the golf CART! right? needless to say, they were pooped! good thing we were planning on just cooking out and relaxing at the house. i made corn on the cob, baked beans, burgers, potato salad, and strawberry pie. not to brag or anything, but i think i am really good at making burgers. its so easy too! ground chuck, paula deens house seasoning (S&P, garlic salt) and worchteshire sauce. perfect burger right there! ok, if you've never had strawberry pie... you have not lived. its my all time favorite thing ever. my g-ma made it, my mom made it, now i make it. its super easy too. i'll put the recipe up later. its the perfect summer dessert. or if your like my mother and i, we eat it for breakfast too! anyways, today we got up and went to the sears outlet, aka scratch and dent. its the perfect place though. you can get basically new appliances that have "cosmetic damage" for nothing, and there's really nothing wrong with them. we've already purchased our cooktop from there, and plan on updating the rest of our appliances in the near future. lori&trev wanted to go b/c they just purchased a home as well. after that we grabbed some lunch, and they hit the road.

i hate sayin goodbye to friends. especially lor&trev. this weekend was so much fun. and several times i forgot we lived in different states, it felt so natural for us to be together. when bill and i got engaged, i was so excited about doing newlywed things with them. i've talked about this before in the blog, so i wont go into it much. but, it soooo hard to make new friends here! especially when you have great friends like L&T! anyways, i love them so much, and as bill says, i got my friend cup filled back up the last 2 weeks. it was so nice having friends come visit.

okay week ahead. had to close tonight, and have inventory (again) tomorrow. wednesday i'm off, have to go to the eye doctor. not because anything is wrong, or that i'm having trouble seeing. i have actually NEVER been to the eye doctor, or had my eyes checked. figured it might be time. then that afternoon i'm going to the Cowboys Years of Service luncheon at the new stadium, followed by the ribbon cutting ceremony. should be fun, lots of media, past and present players. i'm crossing my fingers that jason witten will be there! :) i can't believe may is almost over! my bday MONTH is almost here! woo hoo!

P.S. i took NO pics this weekend. horrible, i know! bummer...

pics from bff weekend

bill and i at the wedding. beautiful setting!

all the girls with the groom.

all the girls on the leitzke ranch

bffs in big d!

BFFs in Big D

So, this past weekend my best friends came to Dallas to visit. It only
took them a year and a wedding to get them all down here! We had an
amazing time together. Friday night we went to a restaurant in the
Knox-Henderson area called The Porch. Amazing!!! The mac and cheese
was to die for. Then we went to a bar in Addison and hung out for a
while. It was so good just catching up. We have all lived in seperate
cities for about a year and it's been hard to all get together at
once. Bill says that when were together we are all about 100 decibles
louder than usual. Probably true since I lost my voice that night.

Since we haven't seen each other in so long, we didn't go to bed until
5am! So we just lounged around and ordered pizza on Saturday. Then we
drove two hours to re Leitzke ranch for Aaron and Christines wedding.
It was so beautiful. The rain held off and it was unusually cool for
Texas in may. It was good to see a lot of other people that we haven't
seen in a while. Aaron was my senior prom date in high school, so it
was kinda funny to see him get married. They are such an adorable
couple. He definitely found the right girl for him to let him wear
camo in his wedding! Not to mention she wore camo manolo blahniks!
Love it!

I hated saying goodbye on Sunday. My friends are such a huge part of
my life, and it's so weird to only see them several times a year. We
all agreed that even though we have new friends and will make new
friends, we are each others "forever friends." aww how sweet! Anyways,
I love them and they better not wait another year to come see me!

So, I have another amazing weekend coming up. Lori (MOH/BFF) and
Trevor decided Monday they are coming to Dallas. They will get here
Saturday evening and stay until Monday. I am super excited! I hope it
doesn't rain so we can have a cookout on Sunday.

American idol finale is tonight. Go Kris Allen!!!! I soooo do not like
Adam glambert! Screaming is not singing, just FYI. I unfortunately
have to work late again. I had to fire someone today at work. I hate
doing that! But this was necessary. Sleeping on the job is definitely
not acceptable here. Oh well.

I'll post pics of the fantabulous weekend later.

Allison Davis
Sent from my iPhone

food for thought

As I was doing my daily routine of checking my facebook today, I ran
across a friends status that was about a friend of hers getting laid
off today. Several people had commented on it, and one in particular I
found quite thought provoking. It read,"Working for Christ: recession
proof, great benefits, duties tailored to your skillset, contiuing
education, an awesome retirement plan, and He always has openings."

What a great reminder in these "tough economic times." I don't think
there is anyone who doesn't know someone who has been laid off,
struggling to pay bills or a mortgage, or who is just cutting back to
save up. God says He will not put us in any situation we can not
handle. There is a time and a season for everything, and what a great
reminder or word of encouragement that quote can be.

It is sometimes hard to see past the day to day routine of get up,
work, come home, cook, clean, bed, get up and do it again. But if we
just take the time to remember we aren't really doing this for
ourselves, we work to please Him. I myself am often guilty of this. So
today I am praying that whenever I start complaining about my job, or
am not always happy with it, that God provided this job for me. He
gave me the skills and ability to do my work, and has provided me with
an income and benifits to provide for my family. I do feel for all the
people who have had to experience job loss, forclosure, or anything
else. I pray nothing but the best for them.

On another note, I think this would also be a good time to pray for
our country. Our economic status, our relationships with other
countries, pandemics, natural disasters, whatever it may be. We are so
lucky to live here, and that God has given us a free country to live
in. The power of prayer is amazing!

Ok, that's my soap box today. Today is the hubbys birthday! He's 26!!!
He's not too happy today though. He had to go out and clean a building
last night and didn't get home until 2am. If you know bill, that is
WAY past his bedtime. I think he might be grumpy today. Hopefully the
cake I made last night will cheer him up. Butter pecan with
buttercream icing! Yum!

Allison Davis
Sent from my iPhone

I'm a pretty big deal

Not to brag or anything, but for the last 2 weeks my store has been
number one and number 2 for percent increases, based on last years
sales. Ok, so I'm only up by $300-$400, but for a company that has 30+
stores all over Texas, in malls like Grapevine Mills and the Galleria,
off season, and nasty weather for an outside mall, I'd sat I'm doing
pretty darn good. I don't get any special prizes or anything, so just
thought I'd do a little bragging, and pat myself on the back. Thanks
in advance for the congratulatory responses. :)

Something else to raise a glass to, tomorrow is bills one year
anniversary at Jan-Pro DFW. It's also his birthday! He has adjusted so
well with this job. Going from working outside in all sorts of
weather, and being on his own schedule, to wearing suits and managing
a while division of a company. That's quite an achievement. I'm so
proud of him and all his hard work.

Ok, one more thing that I can hardly control my excitement for. I am
on day 4 of working 7 days straight so that I can be off Friday-
Sunday. Why? Because my 3 best friends in the whole wide world are
coming to visit! This is there first trip to see me in Big D, and I am
beside myself. I've been planning there visit for like 3 months. Just
need Friday to hurry and get here!

One last thing. Just wanted to say a happy mothers day to all the
moms. Especially my mom, mother in law, and step mom! I know a lot of
new moms and moms to be, so I hope your 1st moms day was fantastic!

Allison Davis
Sent from my iPhone

The Big White Tent

This past weekend tragedy struck the Dallas Cowboys. Something called
a micro-burst, which is basically an upside down tornado, struck the
Cowboys practice facility. The practice facility was built in 2004 and
is basically a metal structure covered by fabric and is supported by
air. Many of the NFL teams have facilities such as these to practice
in when it's cold or bad weather. Coaches, players, and media were in
the bubble when the storm hit. There are videos on YouTube, and news
websites if you haven't seen it. It's pretty amazing. They say it
happened in about 3 minutes. The lights began shaking, walls
trembling, then down it came. The structure trapped many people, they
had to be cut out if the wreckage. Fortunately, no one was killed.
However, the accident didn't come without injury. Many people came out
with large gashes, dislocated extremities, and lots of bumps and
bruises. The most critical of the injuries involved a scouting
assistant. He severed his spinal cord and this caused permanent
paralysis from the waist down. Another coach fractured a vertebrae, he
underwent surgery Monday. He is expected to be ok. And a trainer
fractured his tibia and fibula in his right leg.

This accident really has sent a wave of emotions through Valley Ranch
and beyond. A company wide email from the desk of Jerry Jones really
put it all in perspective. He mentions, while there are not enough
words to express all our sympathy to those that were critically
injured, true team spirit was proven that day. People that had known
each other for less than 24 hours came together as one to lend a hand,
help, and protect there teammates. This is what our team needs. While,
the accidents outcome will rear it's ugly head for years to come, we
have hopefully seen a new light.

Please be praying for these families. It will be a long road to
recovery. If you want more information about what happened, go to
Dallascowboys.com. I specifically like the article by Mickey Spagnola
called "what happens when the walls tumble down." it's sort of a
moment by moment account of what that day was like.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Allison Davis
Sent from my iPhone

i love lucy

wow! what an eventful past couple of days. my in laws got in town friday afternoon with a HUGE, i'll repeat HUGE, uhaul truck. Our house actually looks kinda full now. i just need some more accessories, but no rush. i'm just glad to have furniture! so, for the past couple weeks bill and i have been seriously talking about getting a dog. we wanted to rescue a dog, and we had talked about a basset hound, and daschunds (weenie dogs). but i had found a sweet little dog named ava on the adoptions website, and we decided we wanted to go look at it. so we called and they were having adoption day at PetSmart, but by the time i got to talk to anyone little ava had been adopted. we decided to go anyway and look at the other dogs. well, little Freckles, Avas brother, was there as well. Love at first sight! Decision made in about 10 minutes, and an hour later we're out the door with a puppy, crate, food, and toys in tow.

She's an Australian Shepard Labrador mix. They are also called "Shepradors" or "Aussiedors." We call her Lucy. She could not be any sweeter. She was the runt of the litter, but who doesn't love the runt? We brought her home, and she slept all afternoon. It was storming all day, and she never cried or got scared. She is already good about letting us know when she needs to potty. When we put her in her crate last night, she cried for about 2 minutes and never heard a peep until 6am! I mean can we say perfect? I'm just waiting for this phase to end, and I wake up one day and my sweet little puppy dog is bouncing all over, chewing on my shoes, and scratching at the door. Keep your fingers crossed. She's a little shy and timid right now. We took her on a couple little walks today, and she gets nervous around the cars. But she is super curious and we encourage her a lot. I think we'll make good parents! :)

Since the puppy came home, I haven't gotten much decorating done. I'm too consumed with her! But, hopefully I will get things in order, and get some pictures hung before my friends come in a couple weeks. Side note: I'M REALLY EXCITED MY FRIENDS ARE COMING!!! I have to go back to work tomorrow...UUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not excited! I had too much fun being the housewife this week, and actually getting to hang out with Bill and my family. One day, one day, I just keep reminding myself.

K, here are some pics of the pup. Enjoy!