Um...wow...

Did I really NOT post anything for three and a half months? Oops. My bad. Seems like this summer has just flown by. Lots of swimming, Seaworld, work, more swimming, more Seaworld, more work. Oh, and a couple weeks of having two nephews visit thrown in there, too.

Girls got out of school on June 4. Andrew was on a trip to Michigan at the time of their last day. My work schedule changed from days to evenings so that I could be home with them during the day.

The second week of summer was reserved for Girl Scout Day Camp. This was the first time that both girls got to be in a unit. They got thoroughly dirty and were both wiped out at the end of each day. Excellent.



In July, my two nephews, James and Solomon, came down to San Antonio for a two-week visit. They "enjoyed" the heat. Hehhe...both went home with a nice dark tan and lots of memories. I took them to Seaworld while they were here. They also swam more than I think they have their whole lives. They got to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk and ate at Schilo's Deli, which has the best food ever.


Nice, loving brothers.


Sharks at SeaWorld.

My sister got us Annual Passes to SeaWorld, so we've been using those like crazy. I think we've got every week since we got them. That place rocks. I think my favorite thing is the Believe show, which is with the killer whales. Totally love it and could see it three or four times a day.

Anyhoo...summer's over now. Girls went back this morning. Sarah's a third grader and Cora's a big bad 5th grader.

I've also got a new job. I'll be working at Time Warner Cable starting on Sept 15. I'll miss Target and all the people there, but it's time for me to move on to other things.

I'm excited for the future!

Just Rollin' Along

Well, the Texas weather has hit full force. We were out shooting on Sunday and Andrew really got himself burned. He forgets he's not in Michigan, and the Texas sun really got him. Poor guy is actually purple. Ouch. He'll not make that mistake again any time soon.

Cora had her track meet yesterday. She was in the Running Long Jump. It was a pretty big meet, with about 10 schools participating. She had a really good time. It was fun to watch her enjoy herself. They didn't really teach her proper long jump technique, but none of the kids really did it correctly. Didn't matter though; they all had a great time.

We all went to a local soccer field last week and kicked the ball around a little. Sarah was totally in her element. There were a few young boys there also playing, and they began playing with Andrew and Sarah. They were really good to include Sarah and help her by giving her pointers about playing. They were really great players, so she took their advice to heart. I can't wait to get her into a league this fall.

This is Lisa. We've known her family for a few years, since Lisa began shooting. Andrew is her coach, and we miss them terribly. We saw them a couple weekends ago in College Station for the Texas Shootout, and her mom asked me to shoot her senior portraits. So, we walked around College Station and got a few. Isn't she gorgeous??




Anyhoo...off to go eat lunch with Cora. I'm making it up to her since I'm not able to go on her field trip with her tomorrow...stupid job...

Have a great week!

Untitled

Nope. No snappy title for today. Not feeling that hot and am just lazing on the couch today before I have to go to work tonight. Luckily it's only 4 hours or so, but do you realize how many folks shop at Target at night? Yeah, I'm grateful people so shopping, or I'd not have a job. Since this is America, I can good-naturedly grumble a tad, right? You betcha.

Cora got her hair cut last night. She was getting tired of being so hot on her neck all the time, so she had it chopped. Very short and cute.




This morning we curled it and she went to school excited because she looked like Alice from Twilight. Sigh. Such a little diva girl. I curled Sarah's hair a bit, too and she went to school happy also.

Our first Easter in TX went well. It was beautiful and hot outside. The girls and I took a trip downtown to HemisFair Park and also mozied on down to the Alamo. We were lucky to be in one of the rooms of the Alamo when the tourguide began telling the story of the battle. Very cool. The girls also found a sprinkler to run through to cool off. Yes, it was that warm outside.

I've been shooting fairly well lately. Made some pretty big changes in my form so have been working on that. Texas Shootout is next weekend. Should be a good time.

Check It Out!

Simple Sweet is out at Sweet Shoppe Designs. It's a wonderful new E-zine!

Ahhh...

I love Spring. Ok, I admit it. Texas never really has a winter. I love Spring anyway. The weather gets even warmer and the days are getting longer. I really love Daylight Savings Time. We've been shooting outside for the past few weeks. I forgot how hard it is to shoot in the wind. I think we've got my arrows tuned correctly. Now I just have to figure out my form. Andrew and I are shooting in the Texas Shootout in a few weeks up in College Station. I'm going not to win, but to have a great time shooting outside and getting some great tournament experience. I definitely need more of that.

Andrew is in Paris, TX taking a Community Coach Course, which will basically make him a Level 3 Archery Coach. He says he's learning a ton of really awesome stuff, and he can't wait to get home and make me his guinea pig. Nice. I'm excited to learn some new stuff though. Should be fun.

Our tournament in Louisville was a great time. We got to see a lot of friends from Michigan. Cora shot wonderfully and took the National Title. I had a hard time, however. Completely my fault; I just let my concentration wane for a few seconds. That's all it takes. Learned my lesson, though, and have been working on a lot of things for next year. Some craziness happened to Cora though. There was a girl on her bale who was at her first tournament. On the second practice end, the girl pulled out an arrow and hit Cora in the head with the nock of the arrow. Yeah, it hurt, but Cora let it go. A few ends later, the same girl pulls out another arrow and slashes Cora across the face with the nock. Archery is usually a VERY safe sport, but if someone doesn't know the etiquette, things can get dangerous. Cora was writing on the scorecards and never even saw it coming. It's just one of those things, but I'm sure the girl learned really fast the proper way to pull arrows.


Cora recovered really well, and shot a personal best. We were really proud of how she handled herself. Her maturity and composure is amazing.

She's also going to audition for the school talent show. She's going to sing "This Is Me" by Demi Lavato, and she's going to sing A Capella. Very cool.

Welp, I'm off to get ready for work. Have a great weekend!

Tomorrow

We leave for Louisville tomorrow afternoon. It's a 16 hour or so drive, so we plan on pushing straight through. Hopefully we'll get there early enough to rest a bit before Practice With The Pros Friday night. At the very least we want to go to the venue and see all our Michigan friends! We are SO excited that we get to see everyone. I anticipate lots of shrieks and hugs.

Cora got her bow yesterday! FINALLY! Thanks Craig! It's a tad heavy for her, but once she shoots it for a bit she'll be fine. We'll go up to the club today and get her ready for 10 yards.

Not much else going on around here. Just wanted to post a quick update.

Later!

Whirlwind Couple Of Weeks

It's been busy around here the past couple weeks. On February 21-22, Cora shot in the TFAA State Championships in Temple, TX. She not only won her division, she broke the record by 118 poins. Yeah.

February 27-29 we were in College Station, TX for NAA Indoor Nationals. For indoor, the tournament is split up into regions and there are about 13 locations to shoot at. This gives everyone in the county the opportunity to shoot without having to drive too terribly far. After all the locations have shot, the scores are compiled and the master results are produced.

Andrew shot at 6 PM Friday night. His injured shoulder did NOT let him shoot well. The really bad thing was that he didn't have time to rest before he had to shoot his second day at 8 AM Sat morning. Overall he didn't do as well as he wanted. I'm really proud of him for shooting, and more importantly, for finishing. Many people shoot badly the first day and just don't show up the second day. I think that's really pitiful.

Anyhoo...Cora's turn was at 1 PM Saturday. We were SOOOOO proud of her. All we've ever told her was that if she focuses, tries, and shoots her form we're pleased as punch. She did that this weekend. Because she actually shot her form, she got tired pretty fast. See, we've been trying to get her to shoot a more efficient and stronger form for about two months. This was to ensure she was using it consistently and she wouldn't get tired. She has been fighting us on it. FINALLY, the week before the tournament, she starts using her form and shoots a crazy great personal best at league Thursday night. By Saturday, she was tired. So, her score doesn't reflect how well she performed under pressure. She was focused and did her thing. We were VERY proud. She found out firsthand why we wanted her to begin training earlier. She did NOT like gWe don't care if she ever wins anything.etting beat by girls she usually destroys. She has been really resolved to practicing and getting it right.

It was my turn to shoot on Saturday night. I'll admit it. I was nervous. It was difficult to calm down and be relaxed. The first half of my game wasn't that great. The second half was much better because I was relaxed. Still not as good as I've been shooting. I shot again on Sunday at 9 AM. Sunday wasn't as good. Overall, not a terrible outing, and it was MUCH better than last year's debacle. For the most part, I was happy. Luckily, this past week I've found a huge problem with my shot. For some reason, I wasn't getting into a solid anchor point on my face. Once I fixed that, my groups tightend up considerably. I know that was a problem at the tournament. Sigh. At least now it's fixed.

Now we're off to Louisville, KY on March 13-16 for NFAA Indoor Nationals. Yeah, different organization than last weekend's Nationals. We were going for just Cora to shoot, but I've been doing so well that Andrew convinced me to register as well. This is Cora's third year competing at this tournament and she's taken second place the past two years. This year it's hers. She's excited to shoot.
Another bonus of going to this tournament is that we'll get to see a lot of our friends from Michigan. Many people from Flint Bowmen are also coming to shoot, so it'll be a Flint Bowmen reunion! We're all really excited to see everyone.

Phew! As you can see, we've been busy. After this weekend, we're all getting our bows set up for the outdoor season. First outdoor tournament is the Doinker Texas Shootout in College Station. I'll be there.

Blah

I feel blah today. I'm sleepy, hormonal and just plain tired. Got the girls off to school this morning and am sitting here drinking coffee. We have to shoot tonight, so I think I'll just veg out here for a while. I might go out later and get tournament snacks for Andrew and the girls for their trip this weekend. Cora's shooting the TFAA Indoor State Championships in Temple, TX. It'll be a good practice for Nationals next weekend. I don't get to go since I have to work. Nice.

I want to get Sarah something fun to do while she's at the tournament. Poor kid has to endure two weekends in a row of boring tournaments. She has to amuse herself while we're all shooting. I might buy her High School Musical 3 and a few cool coloring books. She's such a trooper. She deserves some fun stuff to play with.

Speaking of archery: I shot a personal best yesterday. It's been a while since I've done that. Seems like I'm finally in a groove. Hopefully I can keep it up through Nationals. Practice arrows are totally different than tournament arrows, so as long as I keep my brain out of the way and let my body do what it's been trained to do, I'll be fine. I'm excited.

I love this photo. Sarah took it a few weeks ago. I'm a bit out of focus, but she did a great job.

I need more photos of me with my girls. I think maybe we'll have a session soon.

I was telling Andrew last night how utterly gorgeous our girls are. It's amazing how easily people fall in love with them. Not only are they beautiful, but they have wonderful personalities. It's fun to watch them interact with people. Most of the time people forget they're only 9 and 7. A lady at the club said the other day that talking to Cora was like talking to a little adult.

We bought Cora a new riser. It's a new 21 inch riser from Hoyt, and we're hoping it gets here soon. We ordered it two months ago, but since it's a pretty uncommon length (they're usually 23 or 25) it's taken them a bit to make it. We're told it got mailed to the distributor and our dealer should have it soon. Where's our riser, Craig??? :)

Cora's will be black. We still have to get limbs for it, but those won't take long to get in. She's outgrowing her old bow and needs a new one to keep up with her. Poor kid needs a new quiver, too, but that's another story. I can't express how incredibly proud I am of Cora. For her to be so composed and mature while she's training for a long-term goal (Olympics) is amazing. She has road bumps, fights us tooth and nail about practicing. At the end of the day, she decides to make the effort and put the work in. When/if she decides she's done for good, we'll support her. I think she loves the thrill of competition and the satisfaction of mastering something. I want to be like her when I grow up.

Friday

Yeah, it's Friday. I have the day off, and am just sitting here watching the Today Show and surfing the net. Andrew's in bed sick, and I'm not sure when/if he'll get up. Poor guy. He's been sick a lot since we've been in Texas. He's committed to shooting the National Archery tournament in a couple weeks, and I think maybe the stress of that might be getting to him. I hope he has fun, but I think he's going to be more frustrated than anything. Since he injured his shoulder a couple years ago, he's had a really hard time keeping it strong and it's affecting his shooting. He hates that he can't be as consistent as he used to be. I like that he decided to shoot such a competitive shoot, but I hope he can keep the right perspective. I'm really proud of him for giving it a "shot". Heh...

The weather in Texas has been wonderful. I love the fact that it stays warm here. That's the only thing I hated about Michigan; the 5 long months of winter. I always looked forward to the spring/summer, but it never lasted long enough.

I miss my dad. As we prepare for our tournament, I wish every day that he was here to see us. He'd be tickled pink to watch Cora do so well. I know he's watching, though, and I know he's proud of us all. He would be our biggest groupie and would follow us to all the different shoots. I have a photo of him on my quiver, and I have a few of his favorite songs on my iPod. These things make me feel like he's close and helping me succeed. Let's kick ass, dad.

Work is going ok. Things are slow, and the hours are hard to come by. But at least I have a job, and for the most part, I'm able to find enough hours a week to make it work. Someone always calls in, and someone always needs extra help in their department. I've had a lot of fun working at Starbucks. I love making drinks and talking to the people who come in. We've been told that our drinks taste better than the drinks in a company-operated store. I know why, too. We don't resteam our milk like I've seen other baristas do in other stores. There's a definite difference in taste when milk is resteamed. Yuck. At our store, we use fresh milk for every drink. Yeah, we're hoity-toity at OUR Starbucks. *Giggle*

I was just thinking today about how blessed we are. Everyone's going through some tough times, and who knows when things will improve. I count my blessings every day. My girls are healthy and happy. We're able to spend time together, even if it's mostly at the archery club. The little things are definitely being counted right now. We're lucky.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wow...

I SO need to blog more. Seems like I'm hardly on the computer anymore. Nationals are coming up in 2 1/2 weeks, so we've all been training for that. We're also going to Louisville, KY for NFAA Nationals in mid-March. Cora's the only one shooting that one, but we're all going to visit all our friends from Michigan who will also be there. It'll be a nice reunion!

Not much else going on here. Still working. Still hating it. Guess that's par for the course, eh? Tough times around here, so I'm lucky to have a job.

Anyhoo, we're all doing well. Can't ask for much more than that.

We Will Rampage!!!!

Ok, maybe not. We did go to the Rampage game Friday night, but by the end of the first period, Sarah was feeling horrible. She sat on my lap and put her head on my shoulder for the entire intermission. By the middle of the second period, she was throwing up. Needless to say, we left the game early. They ended up winning 2-1 in OT. GO RAMPAGE! We'll definitely plan on going again. Sarah was sick for the weekend and Monday, but is feeling better now. She's coughing a little, but getting better.

I'm sick now. Nasty cough, nasty head congestion, feel like crap. Did I get to stay home from work? Nope. I worked Monday and Tuesday, all day, feeling like crap. I totally lost my voice yesterday, but I got through it. Got to do something different at work besides Starbucks, so that was cool. Everyone was freaked out because I didn't have a black shirt on (uniform for Starbucks). I had a red shirt like other Target employees wore. I was SO asleep by 9 last night. Watched American Idol. I always watch the preliminaries, then get bored when the competition starts.

Ok, I think I'll go lay on the couch and sleep. Later!

Friday, Baby!

It's a wonderfully sunny and warm day here in San Antonio, TX. Man, I love it here. Everyone is freezing their scooby-doobies off in Michigan, and I'm here working on my tan. Nice.

I just got us tickets for a minor league Hockey game tonight. The San Antonio Rampage play the Milwaukee Admirals tonight. The girls and Andrew went to a game a few weeks ago and had a blast, so I thought we'd all go this time. Should be pretty fun. I've never been to a hockey game, so it'll be a new experience.

We had a wonderful and family-filled Christmas. Andrew's mother and sister flew in from Michigan and we all converged in Fort Worth and filled my sister-in-law's house to capacity, especially after her brother and his family go there. Fourteen people jammed into their house. No problem, though. We all had a blast hanging out. We spent a couple days there, then came home with Andrew's mom and sister. They stayed here for a few days. We took them to the Riverwalk and the Alamo. It was the first time we'd seen the Alamo as well. I didn't realize it was right in town. For some reason I thought it was a bit more secluded. We ate lunch at Schilo's Delicatessen. EXCELLENT food! My mother-in-law saw fit to order a plate of cow tongue. Nice. Anyhoo, if you're ever in town, be sure to stop there for a bite.



Andrew, his sister Lara, Sarah, and his mom waiting to cross the street.



The Riverwalk

Yesterday, Sarah and I played hooky and went to the park. This kid is so fun to hang out with. We happened upon a half-decayed deer carcass. "SWEET!!!", she yelled.







Just sent off our entry fees for Indoor Nationals next month. While Cora was practicing today, she shot a personal best, only two points away from her next rank of Master Archer. She was quite excited. I'm excited to see how she does this year. She's grown so much, physically and emotionally. A HUGE confidence booster happened last night when leagues started at the bow shop last night. She's the only kid shooting, and she asked Staten Holmes to be her partner. He was like, "Well, of COURSE I'll be your partner". She shot really well all night and had a blast. For those of you who don't know, Staten just made the US World Team and will be competing in Poland in March, representing the United States. Congrats to Staten!

Ok, enough of my rambling. Gotta go pretend to clean the living room.

Have a wonderful weekend!