Team Burley in the house! =)

Today we had our March for Babies walk at White Rock.  In all honesty we couldn’t have asked for a better day.  The weather was beautiful and it was so inspiring to see all the people and families there celebrating for the same wonderful cause. It was such a wonderful way to start our day -- with such great friends at hand!  Brian and I feel so blessed. 

 We ended up having a great turn out and had 22 walkers and as a team, Team Burley, raised $2,020! Can you believe that!?! We would have never in our wildest of dreams thought we could raise that much money in such a short amount of time!  (I had made a team goal of $500 and was nervous about reaching that!) Thank you so very much to all of you that donated in Landon’s honor. I know many of you are far away, and we wish so bad we could have walked with you this morning, but we were thinking of you all and are so very thankful for your generosity even though you’re miles away.  We have the most amazing friends and families and we just want you all to know how much we love and appreciate each and everyone of you! 

The walk couldn’t have come at a better time. Landon’s due date was this week as well, and I really feel like this wasn’t a coincidence. God always knows what he is doing, doesn’t he!  This was a week to remember and honor our little baby and we did just that.  I had been dreading this week for months and to be completely honest, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It made me realize I think I may be more at peace with it all more than I realized, and I think seeking God’s guidance has really helped me through it all.  And this walk was a beautiful way to end the week.  I truly think getting involved with the March of Dimes, and especially participating in the Walk for Babies really has helped me with the healing process, and I am very grateful for that.

A big THANK YOU again for all of you that were so very generous! We could have never raised this much without you and I can’t tell you how much your love and support means to both B and I!  Also, just a side note, and I am so excited to share, but for every dollar you donated 77 cents goes directly to the cause. This is so amazing!  March of Dimes truly is a wonderful organization and I hope this makes you feel even better about the donations you have made! =)  Also, I had to share some pictures from this morning!  As you can tell we were the blue team!  We were the misfits because a TON of teams had fun, cool team t-shirts…BUT we had bandanas! (that’s right!) haha! We were so cool! But, now, we’re all already looking forward to next year’s walk and what our team t-shirts will look like! Haha! All suggestions are welcome!=)  

March for Babies!

It's a little more than 1 week until our Walk for Babies is finally here!!  B and I are getting so excited and want to thank all of you that have already donated and will be walking with us at White Rock! You all have been truly amazing and your love and support means more to us than you know.   

There is still time to sign up and/or donate.  It's such an amazing cause. And like they say every little bit helps! Just click on the link below if you want to check our page out.  =)

http://www.marchforbabies.org/jburley08

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by researching ways to prevent premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality.  They do this by hosting educational classes, research and various community service events throughout the year, the March for Babies walk being one of them!   

Thanks again and can't wait until the 21st! Now we just have to get a good pair of walking shoes and hope for good weather! =) 

Viva Las Vegas Baby!!

This past weekend was Paige’s bachelorette weekend in….yes, that’s right….. the one and only Las Vegas! (can you believe it!?!)  Now for those of you that don’t know, Paige and I have known each other since 3^rd grade and have remained close ever since.  We’ve been through it all together and there wasn’t a second of hesitation when she said, “So I’ve decided on Vegas, you think you’ll be able to make it!?!” Ummmmm....all I could do was scream YES! Like I was going to miss this!! Our little Paige is GETTING MARRIED!!! So exciting.

We had a great group of girls.  It was a mix of high school and college friends and we all got along wonderful.  The first night we got in we all grabbed dinner, then had Paige’s shower.  It was a blast seeing Paige open up all her ris-kay gifts and then we played many many games having to do with a little feature that happens to be only on the male body!  The next day we had a fun pool day and got to hang at our cabana all day long, sip on some cocktails, and get to know Dallas our pool waiter.  His name was Dallas Hallas…I’m not even joking! Poor guy….it was so funny because you just couldn’t only say Dallas; you had to say his entire name every time you asked him something. AND, then by the end of the day all us girls decided he probably needed to marry a girl named Alice just to make the family complete! (Haha! Ok, I’m done talking about Dallas Hallas now…but it was just too funny!) Oh and I forgot to mention Paige’s Maid of Honor gave her a list she had to complete by the end of the weekend.  So Paige was able to check many off this afternoon. Some included asking guys to participate in a handstand contest in the pool, swim around in little kid floaters and get a guy to put her name on his chest with permanent marker….just to name a few! It was hilarious watching Paige check off the list…but I’ve gotta say she did great…they were all checked off by the time we went to bed Saturday night!  

Saturday was our big night out. We hit up a couple different clubs, but they were so packed that we ended up just going back to a bar in our casino and ended up having the best time ever!  There was another bachelor party there so we hung out with them and get this…one of Paige’s things to do from the “list” was to make her bridesmaid do whatever she wanted.  She made us get up at 3am in the middle of the casino and sing the YMCA! It was so funny!! (We were HORRIBLE!) And the reason I know we were horrible is because one of our new friends recorded it, put it on You Tube and sent it to the future Mrs. Ritter to pass onto her friends! Can you believe that!?! We were so bad and the funniest part was no one at the bar/casino was even fazed by this….like it was totally normal we were up doing this!  So yes, I’m on You Tube…always wanted to be a You Tube sensation so here is our chance!! Haha! (and no I’m not sending you the link….it was so horrible…I said what happened to “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!”) 

Well, it was overall a great weekend! My travel day Sunday was a bit rough I have to admit, but it was totally worth it and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!  It makes me miss my friends so much though. I feel so blessed to have stayed so close to my high school girls and value their friendship more than they know.  There is something about reminiscing about the good ole days, that just makes you feel happy!  And yes, I’ll admit Paige and I did whip out some Elkhorn Antler cheers and maybe the fight song too! Hahaha! Go Antlers!  Can’t wait to see my E-town girls again….at PAIGE’S WEDDING!! Woohoo! Let the count down begin….

Sunny Phoenix? Well, finally!!

So this past weekend I met my mom and sister in Phoenix (well technically Scottsdale), just for a fun girls trip! We were so excited to just lay by the pool, get some sun and relax.  Well, if you can believe it Phoenix had record lows and was rainy and cold for part of our trip, but we made the most of it and still ended up having a wonderful time.  Omaha was actually warmer than Phoenix, can you believe that!?!

We got lucky and found out that Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West was not far from our resort at all, so ended up going to tour it on our rainy day.  It was so cool and had amazing views of the McDowell Mountains!  Taliesin West was huge. It housed Lloyd’s private residence. Where he actually lived until he passed away. Also, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture is in session for 6 months out of the year here as well.  The drafting house, as they call it, really took me back to the good ole days of studio at K-State. Oh the memories, trace paper everywhere, thorn up models, and empty coffee and pop cans everywhere you looked! Haha!  Since it was cold for 3 of the days we did much more shopping than expected! But, that’s ok, we weren’t complaining too much.  =) On our last day though we got pretty lucky weather wise and were able to lay by the pool as we had hoped all along! It was beautiful and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky!  We all got to relax, have a cocktail and get some rays! All in all, we had a very memorable trip.  We had some much needed girl time and I don’t know what it is about moms, but you always feel so much better after being with them.  I miss my mom and sister so much already but we’re already talking about where we should hit up next year! I think it’s official-- we’ll be making this an annual trip. Yay!

Going Local!

 

So, you’ve heard about our juicing extravaganza, well if you can believe it, we’ve continued, and each have at least one juice a day if not more.  If any of you have tried it, you know first hand it can get pretty expensive because you need all fresh produce and of course our goal was to have mostly organic and as local as possible.  Well, you all know my husband! Ha-ha! He was wanting to shop at Wal-Mart, while I was opting for the Whole Foods route…so we decided to meet in the middle…and our local farmer’s market it was!  And to be honest, first of the year I really started to read labels and realized that these organic cherry tomatoes I’ve been buying for months, were actually a product of Mexico, then certified organic in California, distributed in Ohio and then sent to my local grocery store where I bought them in Dallas. I was baffled when I read this! How can this be good! This was another reason the farmer’s market was on our “must do” list for 2012!

 

So, we decided to make this our Saturday morning routine….just grab a coffee and take a stroll down to the market.  It’s actually really fun, especially since the weathers been so nice out and it really does feel good to support the local market.  And Brian gets to use his charming personality to bargain with the farmers, we save money and it’s a great time just for the two of us to hangout and talk after a stressful work week.  I’ll have to let you know how long we last on this new routine…I’m hoping we’ll keep it up, and am all about going local this year! Woohoo =) 

Burleys take State!

Last weekend Brian and I headed up to Wichita to cheer on his brothers at the State-wrestling tournament! It was a very exciting weekend that started out really early for us on Friday morning. And when I say early good ole Brian had us up at 4:00AM to get dressed and out the door so we could make it for the first round. (And did I mention Brian isn’t a morning person? So this was amazing that HE was the one waking ME up and saying, come on, let’s go…I’ll drive first shift. This is normally me…total role reversal! haha!)  He was so excited for his brothers and had been talking about this all week.  It was really sad though, because we unfortunately missed Chris’s first match by minutes….after all that. =(  So sad! But, long story short we reached Wichita around 10:45 and were able to run in, grab a seat and catch Greg’s first match.  And our wrestling weekend began!

Chris and Greg had quite the fan club! There were some GB high schoolers of course, then Brian and I drove up from Dallas and Uncle Bob, Jackie and Lisa made the road trip from Omaha as well! The trip was fast and furious but it was great seeing everyone as well!

Ok, and just had to add in this pic of all the boys together…it was just too good not to! It’s hard to get them all in the same place let alone for a picture. So cute!

Greg is a sophomore, making him a two time state placer.  He ended up placing 3^rd in the 132 pound weight class!  All his matches were so exciting to watch. He ended up going into double overtime in the consolation semi-finals and won! He had us jumping out of our seats and I told Gui I’m not sure how she does this every weekend! It’s so stressful at times; you just can’t even sit still! 

Chris is a junior and a three time state placer.  This year Chris took 2^nd in the 120 pound weight class.  He won in overtime in the semi-finals match, which took him to the State finals for the second year in a row! (woot woot!) Chris is so fun to watch and always keeps you on your toes! (which isn’t a surprise if you know Chris at all!)  He did an awesome job and even the students in the stands were chanting “Chris Burley”....fun atmosphere for sure!   

Brian and I are so very proud of both Greg and Chris.  It’s such a huge accomplishment to just make it to State let alone place and then to come home with 2^nd and 3^rd is just amazing!  Chris and Greg both not only excel in athletics but academically as well.  They are outstanding students and Brian and I just love hearing about all the various clubs and groups they participate in, in addition to the various sports they are involved in at GB. They are such well-rounded men and it’s been so fun watching them go through their high school years so far.  I already can’t wait for next year and our annual road trip to Wichita to cheer on the boys! Congratulations again Greg and Chris! We love you! 

Cousin Matt hits the Big D!

We are so lucky! My cousin Matt came in town to visit us for a long weekend. It was so much fun and was much needed for both parties. =)  Right after I graduated, I moved to Kansas City where Matt lived and needless to say we hung-out alot! And of course, that meant that Brian and Matt hung-out alot too! Haha! The three of us have many many good memories.  Some of those include calling our Grandma Greene, I guess you could say a little tipsy,  on Saturday afternoons while we were enjoying the awesome roof deck patio at O'Dowds on the Plaza or just having movie night and hanging low key on the weekends (did I mention they both like the Notebook!? I was so lucky and didn't have to argue much about the movie choices!)  

 It was great having Matt in town.  We did some shopping (I mean we do live in Dallas..gotta get your shopping in while you're in town), worked in a mini pub-crawl in Uptown and then of course did our share of movie watching!  Overall, we had a great weekend and it made me miss my cousin lots. We've both moved on from Kansas City- Brian and I in Dallas and Matt in Des Moines but those couple years in KC really were special and created a friendship that I'll cherish forever! 

 Matt can you move to Dallas please?