Ten Truths

Ten Truths

The Rules:

• Tell your readers 10 things that are true that they might not know.


• Tag 10 other bloggers to do the same (not going to happen in my case cause most everyone has already been tagged but I'll try!)

Ok - Here it goes...

1. I am INSANE about lotion. You can ask my college roommate, Carrie. After I shower I have to head-to-toe apply lotion or it drives me crazy. I don't like dry skin, what can I say?
2. I can't completely start my day without my daily dose of Dunkin Donuts french vanilla coffee. If you haven't tried it yet, go get some... I haven't ordered coffee at Starbucks since.
3. I get really awkward when it comes to talking about money. My parents probably won't remember this, but I was probably 8 years old and we were over at one of my parents friends house from church and at the dinner table I asked one of their kids how much they got for allowance. Well, on the way home my dad told me you should NEVER ask someone questions about money, it was none of my business. I remember feeling embarrassed and I am 24 and still remember that event clearly. So, ever since then I try to steer clear of that topic. Especially as I have gotten older and people have different jobs, when people bring up stuff like salary and other financial stuff, I go into shut down mode. They don't need to know my personal info and I don't care enough to know theirs. :) Thanks dad, you taught me well.
4. I am starting "another" new job on Monday. When I was interviewing back in Feb. I interviewed for this position, however they couldn't do any hiring at the time. Well, they called three weeks ago and offered me the job and I couldn't turn it down. As of tomorrow, I will be a Client Advocate at CarisDx. Can I tell you how excited I am that I will NO LONGER be recruiting?! I'm very excited about this job and can't wait to get started. I feel like I can finally start my career, I've wanted to get into the "client services" side of healthcare for a while now, so, God is good, we'll see where He is taking me now :)
5. Alec and I LOVE to travel. I think more about where I want to go next than I do about buying a house or having kids. I get to check Las Vegas and Italy off my LOONNGG list of places I would like to go before we start a family. A few of the other places on that list are: Hawaii, New York, Boston and Switzerland.
6. I pretty much think Tucker is the coolest dog in the world. I know he is just a dog, but he's always happy to see me regardless of the kind of day I've had. I have to say, I wasn't so sure about having a dog when we first got him, but I'm not sure what I would do without him.
7. Every time I go to a wedding, it makes me want to re-live our wedding. I mean, I don't want to do all the planning and all that again, I'd just like to replay the day exactly the way it happened. Oh, and go back to Mexico for the week after also.
8. I'm a nut about cereal. My AM snack is always cereal. I usually switch between Kix (not berry berry because I can't find them anymore) or Trix. Yummmm...
9. I love baseball season. Don't get me wrong, football season is good too. The thing I love most about baseball is that there are SO MANY games. There is always something to watch after dinner. I'm a Ranger fan, win or lose...
10. If I could meet any professional athlete it would be Tiger Woods. I think he is awesome.

I think everyone has already been tagged, the only person who hasn't is:

• Allie

Maybe I can use this to get you to actually blog for once :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Our Story according to Me :)

Life at the Sowards' house has been fairly quiet lately and Alec, Tucker and I are really enjoying it. So, while things are calm, I want to to tell the story of how Alec and I ended up together. Why now you ask? Even now, I love to look back and read some of my previous blogs, and as time goes by I worry about forgetting some of the details about when we first got together. This might not be something that is interesting to you, but I want to have it in writing so hopefully I can re-read over the next 100 years we are married. :) Enjoy.

Fall 2003:

It was my first semester of school at ACU, I was beyond nervous about leaving my home and starting a new chapter in my life at a new school where I knew NOT A SINGLE SOUL! I also entered this new chapter with a boyfriend in tow, except that he would be attending a different school, but we were going to "make it work." On the first day of classes, I went to chapel with all my new found girl friends and after we headed off to the famous "Bean". I decided to get a sandwich and as I am waiting in line one of the baseball guys I had already met, Ben Maynard, walks up and says, "Chelsea, can Alec cut in front of you so he can eat with all of us?" I look up and there he was. I immediately noticed his amazing blue eyes and thought he was VERY good looking, but that was it. I said of course and that was the end of it. I saw him off and on that first semester. It was always really odd, I would be sitting in chapel looking around and even from across the gym I'd see him. I didn't think anything of it at the time, we really didn't talk. We would both play the same bowling game on our phones during chapel and after we would see who got a better score, but that was it. My first semester of college came and went...

Spring 2004:

The spring semester rolled around and I showed back up to campus a SINGLE LADY! I was so excited about starting this semester and being able to spend more time with my friends and meet new people. The first day of classes I signed up for a MWF 3pm English classes, after the first meeting I decided I needed to switch, so when Wednesday rolled around I went to a 12pm English class and guess who was in there? Alec Sowards. I LOVED that class. I always made sure to try and look really good on those days. I always looked forward to him walking in, he would wear this black baseball hat, the bill on it was still straight and it was cocked to the side a little. Sounds silly now, but I remember thinking he was so cute and shy. If anyone knows me, you'll know that my next comment is weird because as the semester went on I found that I could not talk to him. I would get all nervous and I don't know why. I remember a conversation with my mom, I was telling her that I met this boy but I couldn't talk to him. I liked to talk about him though. Enough so that one of my friends finally said that I could no longer talk to her about him until I talked to HIM. She did some detective work and got his screenname. Our first conversation took place on AOL instant messenger. We talked quite a bit and then he finally asked me out.

I remember that date like it was yesterday. I was so excited. He took me to Lytle Land and Cattle and it was perfect. It was a tough time to go on our first date because it was the end of baseball season and he would go on road trips and it was also the end of the semester so we were both, or he was studying quite a bit. I found myself really starting to like him, but I was afraid with summer so close that we would both go home and whatever we started would have to wait until the fall. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. We probably didn't go more than 7 days without seeing each other. I even went to Cabo with his family that summer. We were stuck like glue... and have been ever since.

It is weird to me because I swore I would never go to ACU and on top of that I didn't want to be like everyone else and meet my husband there, and Alec had never heard of ACU, he was there to play baseball. As we all know, it was all just part of God's plan.

We had such a good time at ACU and I'm glad that I was apart of Alec's life during that time. Some of my favorite memories are of baseball season. I LOVED Friday's and Saturdays. Rain or shine, near or far, I was going to watch my man play some baseball! I loved every second of it, it helps that I love sports, but there is something about watching the love of your life do something they love. I still close my eyes and think back to those days where I would get to the baseball game and see him our there, number 18... it was just this feeling of being so proud and loving him so much. Sorry, that was cheesy, but so true.

I also think about our Sonic/Cajun Cone runs. Every.single.day between 5 - 7 I would start listening for his truck. Once I heard him coming I would put my shoes on (sometimes) and run our to his truck and hop in and we'd go to Sonic or get a Cajun Cone. I always looked forward to that.

I could tell story after story of some the fun times we had in Abilene. Some people think it is crazy that we got married so young, or that we didn't get to enjoy college to the fullest because we were in such a serious relationship so young. I couldn't disagree more. Everyone is different but in our case I love that we got to share all of the crazy fun times together. I got to be there for every stressful paper, hard test, strike out, homerun and sickness and I love that.

I'm so thankful that I am Alec's wife... and I loved getting to re-live some old memories. I know I'll enjoy looking back on this one!

Hope everyone is having a GREAT short week!

Recap: One Year Anniversary

So, I am a little late but May 25, 2009 was our one year anniversary. Wow, time FLIES! I can without hesitation say that it has been the best year EVER. Alec is an amazing husband and I am so thankful for all that he does. We have so much fun together regardless if we are sitting at a game of some sort or going on our daily runs. He is my world and I love that I get to go on this journey with him. Alec, thank you for being so kind, loving, supportive, motivating and encouraging. I love you.

Now, here's a quick recap of our fun Anniversary/Memorial Day weekend:

The fun started Friday evening. We headed out to Plano to hang out with Brian and Carrie (I LOVE that y'all live here) and Carrie's parents were actually in town so we got to spend some time with them also. We love them and their new puppy Bailey, she is ADORABLE! We ate and hung out for a while before heading home.

Saturday during the day Alec and I both did our favorite things without each other. Alec played golf and I went shopping. He had fun and I got some cute stuff, so I'd say that worked out great. That night he took me to Pappa's Steakhouse for our Anniversary dinner. One word: AMAZING. It really was very good. We both had steak and it might have been the best steak I've ever had. We ate entirely too much but loved every second of it :)

Sunday we went to the Byron Nelson. We ended up at the 8th green and watched all the leaders come through. We both had a really good time. It is just fun to be there and get to see all the golfers up close. I also decided that I really like the golf clap, however, there are times that I think about yelling out or whooping or being "that" person that yells, "GET IN THE HOLE!" haha. We topped off the day with Uncle Julio's with Molly and Andy, it was good to catch up, we hadn't seen them in a while.

Finally, Monday rolled around. We spent the afternoon at one of my FAVORITE places to be on a sunny day, the Ranger game. The lost, pretty bad actually, but oh well. We were smack dab in the middle of a lot of Yankee fans. It's safe to say that if you like the Yankees, I don't like you. I'm kidding, I'm kidding (sort of). They really were awful. I wanted to say, "Welcome to Texas, a friendly state where we greet each other with smiles and don't use the "F" word in front of small children." haha. We ended up having a lot of fun, it was a great way to spend our Anniversary/Memorial day :)

I hope everyone had a great week, this time last year we were headed home from a week in paradise. (Playa del Carmen, Mexico) I could use another vacation like that right about now. We've had another great weekend, we are headed to the Ranger game again today... I love baseball season!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

This One is for Me.

It has been a while, I know... and really what I am about to blog about is really for me because I am going to want to look back in a couple of years and read this and laugh all over again. 

For those of you that know me, I'm a planner. I love to plan or more so, I love to plan things that  I know will make other people happy. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. Well, this past weekend was going to be a busy one, we were MOVING. Ah, the dreaded move, it was going to take place on Saturday. Saturday happened to also be Alec's birthday.... so what did I do? I plan a surprise party for the Friday before. I sent out the evite to all of our best friends and strangely almost everyone could come and on top of that, Alec had NO IDEA that I had planned a party. The plan was to go to his favorite place to eat, Pappasito's and then head back to his parents house and play games for a while. 

Friday came and I told him I was taking him to dinner but we were going to keep it low key since we had to move all day the next day, well, we walk into Pappasito's and tell the girl I had reservations for Chelsea, her response... "oh, table for 14?" Sooo... that is where the surprise ended, haha. Either way, he didn't know up till that point. Jordan, Jenn, Molly, Andy, Allie, Ross, Brian, Carrie, Geoff, Russell, Ashley, Alec and I were all at dinner. We had a great time and around 10pm finally head to his parents house. At this point, we should have just had cupcakes and gone to bed, but instead we stayed up until 3am playing card games..... GREAT IDEA!

We had to be up at 7:30 to get the U-haul, let me tell you, 7:30 was NOT looking good for either one of us. We stayed up too late, we might have had one too many drinks.... great idea Chelsea. The rest of the day sort of went down hill from there. We picked the U-haul up around 9:30 and got to the apartment around 10. Brian and Carrie were going to meet us there at noon so I had plenty of time to get everything ready to go, that is if I were moving faster than a snail. However, we just kept going.

Brian and Carrie got there and we think this is going to be ok. There are 4 of us and we got a dolly and furniture mover, but wait, the U-haul won't fit in the parking garage so we have to go down the hall, down the elevator, down another hall and outside?! Oh, and we aren't all feeling 100%. It started out ok...however, as the day progressed we noticed the sky get darker and darker and that is when the rain started. We were a good 4 hours into the packing process, we weren't about to stop there, so we once again, just kept going. By the end of the loading process we were drenched. Carrie and I looked like we jumped in the pool, that is how wet our hair was, at one point, we were all huddled IN the u-haul because it was raining so hard we couldn't even make a run for it. By the end of it I think we were all a little delirious, this probably isn't all that abnormal but Carrie and I at one point were running down the hall with squeaky feet, singing. I'm sure the residents LOVED US. It's really strange how much fun we were having while being miserable at the same time. haha.

Then, we made the trek to Irving, the U-haul, the mini, and the Jeep, packed full. Allie and Ross met us there, it took us 5 hours to load it, 30 mins. to unload it, haha. We literally pulled the truck up and we all just took off getting stuff out of the vehicles. Needless to say, Alec and I were dead asleep by 10....

only to wake up and have to go BACK out to Garland because the TV wouldn't fit in the Jeep and we still had some little stuff. Russell came to the rescue, he met us out there with is parents van and we got it all loaded up. We finally got EVERYTHING into the townhouse by 4 on Sunday. I did some unpacking, but headed back to the Sowards and went to bed, I was sore and exhausted. 

So, here is my shout out portion of the blog. First and most important, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEC! You are without a doubt my best friend and I love that I get to spend every single day of the rest of my life with you. I can't wait to celebrate 100 more birthdays (ok, maybe not 100, maybe 74). There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God that he blessed me with you in my life, as I always say, you are my world :) Hope you enjoyed your party.

Secondly, Carrie and Brian. There isn't a lot of people that would haul all of our stuff down the hall, down the elevator, down another hall, and out through the rain.... I'm pretty sure I tell Carrie this everyday, but I have no idea what I did before y'all moved to Texas. We love y'all and we owe you big time, as you said, I imagine there will be many more moves for both of us, the favor WILL be returned.

I know that probably wasn't as entertaining to read, but I just know I will want to remember it, so sorry! I will post a real one soon. We aren't settled in the new place just yet, have I mentioned I hate moving, there are a lot of boxes still left to be unpacked. I will tackle that this weekend because hopefully my parents will be staying with us :)

Hope everyone is doing great!!! Happy Hump Day!

Whoa, it's been a while!

I can't believe that over a month has passed since my last blog! I don't even know if anyone still reads this thing, but I will try to catch you up!

We've been VERY busy lately but things are really good. Work is going good for both of us, keeping us busy as usual, but once again, we couldn't be more thankful for the jobs we have. Here is what we've been up to:

SETH AND AMY CAME INTO TOWN! Alec and I haven't seen them since our wedding, so we were very excited to see them. We didn't get to spend a lot of time with them because of work, but it was SO good to have all of us back together again. We went out to Uptown one night while we were there to celebrate Molly being done with her COMPS (which she PASSED by the way!!). We had a great time and wish they would move to Texas :) 

Now, if you read Carrie Jo's blog these will look familiar, if not, here is a recap. She found this cake recipe online and we decided we wanted to try it out. Amazing huh?? I've documented it here because it is so pretty! Now, we added one very wonderful ingredient and that is Fruity Pebbles. That's right, we sprinkled fruity pebbles on the outside of the cake. We actually made it for Allie for her birthday party at Kona Grill and even the chef had to come out and get a piece! How cool is that?!

On a side note, this is a Weight Watchers cake. In NO WAY does Allie need a weight watchers cake, we didn't quite realize it till mid-baking. So, the ONLY sugar in the cake is the sugar that comes in the cake mix. There was no eggs or oil and the icing was cool whip (light) mixed with fat free sugar free vanilla pudding mix... and it was delicious. I'm not lying, ask the birthday girl. Nobody would have guessed!

Here are my two wonderful sisters at Black Finn for Allie's bday:

Alec and I recently had a great date night. He took me to Kenichi which is downtown and within walking distance to the House of Blues where the Eli Young Band concert was. The sushi was AMAZING (so was the Kenichi Cosmo) and the concert was probably one of the best I've ever been to. If you don't know who the Eli Young Band is, check them out on itunes, I haven't heard a song of theirs that I don't like. We had so much fun!

FINALLY.... We are moving!!! We have literally spent the last 5 weekends searching for a new place. Once we decided we weren't ready to buy, I got busy looking for places to rent. This place is exactly what we were looking for. It is a townhouse and it is, according to GoogleMaps, 2.8 miles away from work! I've been driving 65 miles round trip and starting May 1st, I'll be driving less than 6. Oh my goodness!! Alec is currently still auditing in the building across the highway from my office, so it will be great for him too. We are excited and can't wait, we will have a guest room so people can visit us! (Mom and Dad, I'm talking to you!)

Welcome to 6839 Verde!

I think we are caught up. I have today off (thank goodness) and I get to spend it CLEANING. Alec and I are waking up and driving to Abilene tomorrow. I am so excited. For starters I haven't seen my mom and dad in too long, I miss them :( We are also going to watch ACU play baseball. They are having a great season and we want to go cheer on the few that we still know that are playing. And finally, we are going to the Beehive for dinner. When we lived in Abilene we would dream about living in Dallas because there are SO MANY places to eat in Dallas, now, we CRAVE the Beehive, Perini's, La Pop, The Homeplace, and Copper Creek. I just miss Abilene and it is going to be nice to get away for the weekend.

Hope everyone is doing well! I'd say I am going to try and blog more, but there isn't a whole lot going on right now, haha! Oh also, I can't believe I didn't post a picture of Tucker. He is getting SO big. He is excited to move too. He needs more space to run around and our new community has a running/walking trail that he will love. He is doing great, we love him! (Just in case you were wondering :) )

Time flies when you spend no time at home....

I feel like Alec and I have been on the go non-stop for the past month! I won't lie though, it has all been fun and exciting stuff!

I'll start with the most exciting. Alec and I FINALLY said good-bye to his truck! We had been waiting patiently to find exactly what we were looking for and finally took the plunge and bought our first new car. It is a 2009 SRT8 Grand Jeep Cherokee. If you've never seen what it looks like, google it, I couldn't figure out how to put a link in and haven't taken any pictures. If you are into cars you will get why it rocks! This is another time in my life where I have to go back and tell my parents they were right. They were awesome enough to buy me two cars growing up and yet I can still remember asking for a new car and they always told me that it would feel so good to buy our first new car on our own. They couldn't have been more right. Alec and I have been working so hard since we graduated from college and it feels good to know that nobody gave us this car, it is OURS! I couldn't be more proud. :) Don't ask whose it is, we still don't know... we share :)

For more exciting news we have our plane tickets to Italy!!!! The only place outside of the US I have traveled to is Mexico, while I do love it there, I CANNOT wait to get to Italy. We are going September 16 - 23rd. I am looking forward to getting to go with Alec, the FOOD and of course the WINE! We are still in the planning stages for where we are going to stay while we are there but I know without a doubt we can't go wrong. If you have ever been and have some suggestions for places to stay, eat, see, etc. let me know!!

Other than that we've been enjoying Brian and Carrie living here and meeting them for dinner whenever we want, spending time with Molly and Andy and hanging out with Russell and Geoff now that Geoff moved back to Texas. All in all, things are good. Busy season is so close to being over (THANK GOODNESS) and I am starting to feel like I've got things under control at work.

Here are a few pictures from the last week:

We've got some fun stuff going on right now, I'm counting down the days till this Saturday though because.......

I GET TO SEE MY PARENTS!!! I miss my mom and dad :( I'm looking forward to getting big hugs from both of them and getting to talk to them without a phone up to my ear. I also get to see Brandi and Andrew, Alec and I don't get to see them enough either. So, I am beyond excited!

I hope everyone has a good week, at least Monday is behind us!!!

Busy Season and the New Job

Let me just start by saying April cannot get here fast enough. Busy season is every bit as "busy" as I thought it would be and then some. Alec and I are both so thankful to both have jobs right now, so I don't want anyone to think I'm complaining, but it's kind of rough right now. I wake up at 4:30 in the morning and Alec isn't getting home until around 11pm... so, you can easily see that doesn't leave much time during the day to spend with each other. It is a strange feeling to really only spend time with each other on Saturday and Sunday and those days FLY by, but there is an end in sight and we both know it is worth it. He couldn't possibly know how thankful I am for all of his hard work, it is definitely appreciated. 

As far as my new job is going, it's going great. I'm learning a lot. I am the one and only internal recruiter, we currently have 19 open positions.... so if anyone has healthcare experience, email me your resume, haha. It's a little overwhelming right now just because it stresses me out to have all of those open positions, but I'm working with a lot of great physicians and meeting a lot of great people, it's going to be a good experience and who knows where it will take me. I'm not going to lie, I'm EXHAUSTED! Last week it was all exciting and so I didn't really feel how tired I was, this week, it set in a little. However, if you read this regularly, before I lost my previous job my New Year's resolution was to workout in the morning, and I'd like to proudly say I hopped right back on it! My goal is to workout 3 mornings during the week and do the other two workouts on the weekend and so far so good. I'm proud of myself :)

As if work isn't enough right now, we are also starting our search to move. I HATE MOVING. I don't like anything about it, packing, unpacking, hauling stuff... I don't like it. However, it is ridiculous that both of us are driving so far away every single day. We are meeting with our realtor on Saturday and she has some places in the Valley Ranch/Las Colinas area to look at. We're really excited to find something new and MUCH closer to work. Our lease isn't up until June, so we have plenty of time to find something we really like.... I will try to keep you updated.

Life is pretty crazy right now, but God is good, I know that we'll make it through our first busy season and find somewhere to live... no need to stress out about it. A few random things:

a. I MISS MY MOM AND DAD! I think Christmas was the last time I saw them, that is terrible. We do have plans to head that direction after busy season to see them, eat at the Beehive, and catch some ACU Baseball. (I still get sad thinking about baseball season)

b. Brian and Carrie living here is every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be! It is seriously AWESOME! Last weekend we met them for drinks and stayed out until almost 2am! We just don't do that. I can't believe we lived in different states for so long, that will never happen again!

c. We might be doing something fun this weekend, I'll let you know next week if we did or not. :)

d. Alec and I are planning a trip to celebrate him being done with busy season, initially we were going to Boston... however, I can't take the day off we had originally planned on, so if anyone has a good weekend trip, let me know, I love suggestions.

Ok, I think I am done. I hope everyone is having a WONDERFUL week.... I can't tell you how excited I am that tomorrow is Friday. Have an AWESOME weekend everyone!!

Time for the Good News!

After hours of praying and more praying, I accepted a job offer today!

It is sort of strange how it all worked out, I did my summer internship for school with them and now I am back. The company is MedSynergies and great things are happening with them. It is going to be a learning experience and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for me there.

This job also changes things for Alec and I. He spends most of his time working in Las Colinas and now, I will also be working in Las Colinas. We live a good 30 miles away, so needless to say, a move will also take place. Our lease is up in May, so we've got to get busy looking for something in that area. We'll see what happens!

I hope everyone is having a great week, it is FRIDAY THE 13TH! Be afraid, if you believe in that kind of stuff. 

Exciting Times!

When I was initially laid off I was really upset. Because I loved that job so much?? Absolutely not, because it was part of my routine, I was comfortable there, and to be honest with you I said I was going to leave after a year, but I'm not sure I would have. I'm not one that adjusts to change quickly and easily, I like being in my comfort zone, even if it means being unhappy every day at work. 

Alec said all along that me being laid off was the best thing that could have happened to me. It forced me to get out of my comfort zone and go find something that I could actually enjoy doing. He couldn't have been more right. I'm not going to elaborate too much, but I am interviewing at a couple of places and I'm pretty excited about the opportunities that are out there. I don't like interviewing, it is awkward and uncomfortable, but I've realized that I worked really hard to get my degree, and I worked really hard at Professional Alternatives, and that I am a good employee. I spent the first couple of weeks networking and getting my resume out there, and now that interviews are being scheduled I'm getting really excited. So... I will keep you updated as soon as I feel comfortable or know something more about the jobs I am talking about.

On top of job searching I have also been doing a lot of reading. I am a book nerd, proud of it! I've read three books in the last month and have a list a mile long of books that I'd like to read. 

The last book I read was:

I have to tell you why I bought this book. I remember my dad saying he was reading this or had read it, and I think he and I like the same types of books. I'm not about to give a book review or anything, but I'm glad I read it.... it was sort of depressing, but I feel smarter for reading it. hahaha. 

My next book was:

I heard soooo much about this book, so I decided to finally read it. It's a great story and definitely worth reading. 

My favorite book so far:

I LOVE this book. Seriously, I've thought about just reading it again. It is a true story and it is so amazing how God works in our lives. If you haven't read it, go buy it and read it. It isn't long, but get your tissues, I found myself curled up on the couch bawling my eyes out. It is an awesome story!

If you have any suggestions for books to add to the list, please tell me!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Alec didn't have to work this weekend, so we had an entire weekend to spend with each other! It was great! Spent a lot of time with friends and nothing beats that!

I have to include this, I got a little grief for rooting for the Steelers yesterday. Most of the grief came from the fact that if the Steelers won, they would beat the Cowboys in the most won. Well, lets get one thing out of the way, the Cowboys didn't deserve that anyway, maybe, just maybe this will motivate them to play as a team and win another one. They need something to whip them into shape and make them play like grown professionals. So, here is why I am happy the Steelers won:

1. I had Hines Ward and Willie Parker on my fantasy team, Alec had Ben R. so we spent the season watching all of their games anyway. (If you don't play Fantasy football, you wont get it)

2. Mike Tomlin, he is an awesome coach and seems like an awesome guy. I think it is pretty cool that he won a SuperBowl.

3. As Coach Tomlin said last night, they may not earn "Style Points" but they get the job done... that is exactly how it should be!

4. Who likes Arizona anyway?? Maybe this will make Kurt Warner hang up his XXXXL jersey. 

Ok, I'm off of my sports soap box, but I had to get that off my chest!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!

Guess Who's Happy I'm Home?

As you all know, I am not working right now, and let me tell you, TUCKER LOVES IT! haha. Poor guys is going to be in a world of hurt when I start working again. 

So, here are some recent pictures of our little "child". 

He looks guilty, I'm sure he is.

Precious puppy, he loves that bone.

He doesn't get much attention around here.... hahahaha.

If you can't tell, he is ASLEEP. Alec whispers to me, "be quite and come look at this." and he was, out cold.

This is his toy basket, he loves it.

He really is so much fun and I'm not going to lie, it is nice to have him here while Alec works FOREVER. 

I've spent the week job searching, spending time with my sister, going to dinner with a friend, and it was a pretty good week. Alec only had to work until 8:30pm all week, a much needed break from the 10:00pm he was doing last week. Alec has really been pretty amazing through all of the recent changes we have gone through. He has been so supportive and I am so thankful for him. I can't imagine working working 60+ hours a week and he manages to do it with no complaints. I say it a lot, I'm a lucky girl. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful week, the weekend is practically here!!! We don't have any plans this weekend, hopefully just relaxing and spending some much needed time together. We are bummed, we have to miss my grandparents 20th anniversary, CONGRATULATIONS MIMI AND GRANDPA DON!!! We love you guys!

Have a great weekend everyone! 

The Job Search

I would first like to say THANK YOU so much to everyone who left encouraging words, it is nice to hear other peoples stories of the way that God works through difficult times, I know this is no different. So, thank you thank you!

I wish I had something exciting here to write about on the job front, but I more or less have nothing, which is discouraging to me, but I got laid off a week ago today, so I'm just going to stay positive and know that this is going to work out. 

So, in order to help keep myself positive, here are some things I'm really happy about today:

1. Carrie got the job here in Dallas, they will be living here in LESS THAN A MONTH. I cannot wait! 
2. The Steelers are going to the Super Bowl. Ok... Alec got me into fantasy football this season and even though our league is over now, I had Willie Parker and Hines Ward and Alec had Ben Rothlesburger. So... somehow over the season we took a liking to them. We both really like Mike Tomlin, the coach... and the Cowboys were embarrassing so, we are going for them. I'm not ready for football to be over though.
3. I got to spend all weekend with Alec, hopefully that will hold me over until Friday because he will be working late all week. 
4. I'm excited about my future job. I know that it will be FINALLY be something I enjoy doing!

That's really all I can think of today... but hey, that is better than nothing. 

I have a quick question.... I see everyone's adorable Blog headers, maybe I missed this but do you guys pay someone to do it, or can you do it yourself somewhere?? Help a girl out, mine needs SERIOUS help!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Please keep Alec and I in your prayers, with his long hours, and my job search, it would be greatly appreciated!!

I've had better days before....

Have you ever prayed about something and had God answer it a little different than you had imagined? Well, I have been praying about my job for quite some time. To say the least, it hasn't been a "dream job" by any means. However, it was a job and I was determined to stick it out until I figured out what to do about it. I had basically been praying, "Is this where I am suppose to be or do I need to start looking for something else?"

Well, He made it REAL clear to me yesterday. We had a financial meeting this past Thursday and management made very sure to let everyone know that we WOULD NOT be doing lay-offs. They lied, yesterday, the two most recent hires got laid off and I was one of them. To say that I was shocked doesn't even do it justice. I'm not sure what happened from Thursday to Monday, but that was what the business thought was best, which means to me, God wants me somewhere else. I have never been fired, and never laid off, so it stung a little... no matter how many times my boss said that it had NOTHING to do with my performance, I couldn't help but wonder what else I could have done. 

So, here I sit in my living room, still in my pajamas, wondering what the heck to do. My Mimi has given me a hard time for a long time saying I shouldn't work... well, I was only home a half day yesterday and was bored out of my mind.... not working isn't an option. So, once again I start a job search. When I found Professional Alternatives back in April I sort of just had to settle, I was getting married in two months and needed something ASAP. This time, I'd like to find something I really want to do. I am thankful for Alec's job and all of his hard work, he didn't get home until 10pm last night..... long day! He has been the best husband in the world through all of this, seems to have the right words to say to make me feel like I'm not a failure and it is going to be fine.

I hope everyone is having a good start to a new week and any prayers would be greatly appreciated, once again, I know God has a plan and the hard part is chilling out and not worrying about it till it all works out.

Back to Reality

The holidays have come and gone, right along with my vacation! To say that Alec and I were less than thrilled about going to work on Monday is a complete understatement! We were enjoying our time off and NOT ready for it to come to an end.... however, here I sit at my desk, trying to get this work week behind me!

Christmas was wonderful! We loved every min. we got to spend in Ballinger with my family! It was a relaxing time spent playing games, talking, eating, hunting, and just hanging out. It had been a while since we had that much time to spend out there, it's always nice to go "home".

The ski trip was also a lot of fun. I was pretty stressed out about the drive. We took Alec's truck, he's had it since he was 16... it is in ok shape, but I did not feel good about driving it all the way out to Angel Fire. However, it made it there and back in one piece, and now I'm ready to get rid of it! haha. The snow was awesome, the mountian was packed, and the new Sowards house in Angel Fire is perfect! We had a great time and I'm looking forward to going back soon!

Now, for the fun stuff!!! BRIAN AND CARRIE ARE COMING TOMORROW! Carrie is my other half. The best friend a girl could ask for and I haven't seen her since the wedding in May! They are coming into town for several reasons, a wedding, job interview, house hunting, and visiting us and other friends. It will be a quick visit, but just a taste of what is to come and soon hopefully! For those that don't know, we have been friends since our Freshmen year of college and have just gotten closer over the years. So to say that I am pretty pumped that she is moving back to Texas, much less the Dallas area, is an understatement. Alec and I are introducing them to Gloria's on Thursday night when they get into town, hope they love it, if not, they have the most awesome $3 margarita's and I know they'll love those! CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU GUYS TO GET HERE!!!

Alec started busy season this week, I hate it. As my mother says, you can do ANYTHING for 3 months. So, I'm going to suck it up and know that March will be here before we know it and we have a trip planned to celebrate him being done :) He has to go to Abilene on Saturday for another inventory count... boo! So, I'm just going to keep myself busy till he gets home.

Hope everyone is having a great start to a new year! Happy HumpDay!

The Best of 2008

Here is a look back of some of Alec and I's favorite memories of 2008 in pictures. Enjoy!!

The year started out with us both in Abilene, this is a picture at Perini's for his surprise birthday party! We had so much fun our last semester there!!

THE WEDDING! This is without a doubt the most fun day of our life! It could not have been more perfect!! 

The Honeymoon. We went to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and loved every single second of it. We'll never forget the week we spent relaxing after the whirlwind weekend of our wedding :)

This is at a Ranger game during the summer before Alec started work. We had a lot of fun doing stuff like this all summer.

Allie's graduation! We got to drive to College Station to see her become a Former Aggie. It was a pretty cool experience and we are so proud of her!

We went this fall to Abilene to watch the ACU football play-off game. It was pretty cool to see how many people were there and to go back to see them win!

Our FIRST Thanksgiving as a married couple. We have never spent a holiday together, I'm looking forward to many more!

The Becker/Bell wedding! It was so much fun! We had been looking forward to that day for a long time and it certainly lived up to the hype. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast!

Tucker! This is Alec's first dog ever! Can you believe that! It has definitely been a learning experience, he has been a great addition to our little family.

Christmas at the Becker Ranch! Again, our first Christmas together. Alec killed his first deer! Everyone was pretty excited, first deer to be shot on my parents land!

Last but not least, Ski Trip/New Years in Angel Fire, New Mexico. Alec's parents bought this house this summer and it is AWESOME! We had a great time skiing/boarding. The snow was great, most of the runs were open, and it was a lot of fun!! 

That is a quick look back on our year! We have been blessed in so many ways in 2008 and I am looking forward to what 2009 has in store! 

I have a few "New Years Resolutions" I am going to share (mostly so that I can look back in a couple of months and see how well I have done!):

1. Switch to AM workouts. When I say AM I mean 4:30AM. I love working out in the morning and being done for the day, so I am setting the goal and we'll see how it goes.
2. Be more patient! The puppy is helping with this process, I just get in a hurry and set my mind on something that I get irritated when things disrupt it, I'd like to stop that! 
3. Run a 10K. 

That's really all I have, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Years! 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN: 9 DAYS!

Can you believe that Christmas is 9 days away? I know I say this at the beginning ot 99% of my posts but the past few weeks have gone by so quickly.

Here are a few things that I am looking forward to during this Holiday Season:

1. We are going to pick up Tucker THIS Saturday. So, he'll get to spend his first Christmas with us! I'll have pictures.

2. We are spending Christmas in Ballinger!!!! I haven't been home since the 4th of July. That is ridiculous and I'm looking forward to spending a holiday relaxing and staying in one place.

3. Christmas morning breakfast and dinner. Is it sad that I am looking forward to food? Side note: We don't have turkey and dressing for dinner, we had that for Thanksgiving remember, the Becker tradition is to have steak and baked potatoes! I LOVE that tradition.

4. Alec and I's FIRST Christmas together! I can't wait!

5. Spending time with my family that doesn't include a wedding. haha. We've had two of those this year and while they are SO MUCH FUN! they don't leave a lot of time for good quality family time. Not to mention that my family is growing, so that just makes it that much more fun!

5. TIME OFF! I have a good 10 days off from work, much needed I might add.

6. SKIING/BOARDING! Alec's parents got a house in New Mexico, Angel Fire is getting blasted with snow so it is going to make for some great skiing!

I hope everyone is enjoying this colder weather. I know I am, I won't lie, I was wishing for a little more sleet/snow, it could have gotten me out of some work, but whatever. Ha! I am DONE with my Christmas shopping, the gifts are wrapped and under our tree. I'm just going to sit back, listen to some Christmas music and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!

Happy Tuesday!

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Bell

CONGRATULATIONS MR. AND MRS. ANDERW BELL!

I can't believe that the wedding has already come and gone, but I couldn't be happier that Brandi and Andrew are married! For those of you who have never had the pleasure of being around the two of them when they are together you are really missing out! They are hilarious and they couldn't be more perfect for one another!

The wedding weekend started on Friday morning. We met at the cutest little Tea Room for lunch. It was adorable. The house was pink! and the food was delicious! After that we went and got manicures and pedicures. It was a wonderful afternoon. That night was the rehearsal dinner. That was THE night as far as I was concerned. As the MoH, I had a speech to do that night. ANYONE who knows me knows that I stress, stress, and stress some more about talking in front of people and this speech was even harder for me because it was to two people I love a lot. I cried, but it came from the heart, so I guess I shouldn't be too embarrassed. We went back to the hotel, played some games and drank some champagne and hit the sack!

Saturday was the day of the wedding. We got up and got ready to go. Brandi was STUNNING. Seriously, she is beautiful all of the time, but Brides just seem to have a glow and she was no different. Her dress was amazing and she looked amazing in it. The wedding was beautiful and the words Rev had for Brandi and Andrew were perfect. It was quick and then... the party began! The reception was awesome and everyone had such a good time. It all just seemed to go by so fast, and then it was time for them to leave. That is sort of when it hit me... the day we've been waiting for for so long is over. My older sister is now Mrs. Bell and I now officially have a Brother-in-law. It was a perfect day and I will always remember how much fun we all had with them on their wedding day :)

Here are some pictures of the weekend:

This is the little Tea Room, Allie and I with the Bride!

My WONDERFUL Family @ the rehearsal dinner!!! We are growing!

Brandi feeding Andrew his Peach Cobbler. He requested my mom's Homemade Peach Cobbler over a grooms cake, he loves that stuff ALMOST as much as I do!

This is a picture of my mother on the dance floor, I needed to share this with as many people as possible. My mom is awesome and Allie and I both had SO much fun with her at the reception!

My hott date!

Me with my beautiful sister!

My new BROTHER! He hates when Allie and I call him that, that is why we call him that! haha

My daddy :)

I hope everyone is having a WONDERFUL week. It is Friday, the weekend is practically here!! I cannot believe that Christmas is around the corner. We are spending Christmas in Ballinger with my family and I cannot wait to get out there. We are also picking up Tucker so soon!

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!!! Christmas is almost here!

How the heck is it already December?!

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone. Time has literally been FLYING for us lately.

Thanksgiving was great. I missed seeing my family, but loved getting to spend time with Alec's. We were very busy, but had a great time. We ran our first 5K, the Turkey Trot, and loved it. It was a lot of fun and we are looking for another race to do, maybe a little longer this time. We had great food, did some shopping, and did I mention had great food :) The long weekend seemed to fly by but it was nice for Alec and I especially to get to spend so much time together.

This week has been jam packed. Alec has to work 50/hr work weeks til Christmas, I don't like it, but I'm going to be wishing for 50/hr work weeks come busy season, so I am just trying to enjoy every min. we have to spend together now. Tuesday night we went to Cafe Pacific, a really good restraunt in Highland Park to celebrate Ken and Deb's 30th Wedding Anneversary! How awesome is that, we all had a great time. Thanks again Ken and Deb for inviting Alec and I to celebrate with y'all! Tonight we have a Christmas party to go to for Alec's work and then I have to head home and pack for....

BRANDI'S WEDDING! I cannot believe it is already here! I promise to take lots of pictures. I know Brandi is going to be a BEAUTIFUL bride, her dress is amazing also! I leave for Temple tomorrow morning for a day full of fun stuff and the wedding is Satruday night.

I hope everyone is having a great week, the weekend is almost here!!!

Thanksgiving Top Ten

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope that everyone has a WONDERFUL holiday and enjoys spending time with their families!

In honor of this holiday I made a top ten things I am thankful for:

1. 
   
   My Faith: I know that without Jesus Christ I wouldn't have anything to be thankful for. He is AMAZING and I am so thankful that he died on the cross for us.


2. 
   
   Our Troops & their families: I am so thankful for the men and women that protect our nation. Their families are so strong and I just want them to know how thankful I am for all that they do!


3. 
   
   Health: My family has had quite the year when it comes to health. I can happily say that we are ALL doing great! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR OUR HEALTH!


4. 
   
   ALEC HUNTER SOWARDS: He is without a doubt the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I am so thankful for his patience, support, and love he gives me every single day.


5. 
   
   My parents: God blessed me with two of the most amazing parents and they have taught me so much. I am so thankful to have them as parents, to this day they are still so encouraging and loving, and I love them very much!


6. 
   
   Brandi and Allie: They are my sisters/best friends. I know that no matter what is going on in my life I ALWAYS have the two of them to turn to. I am so thankful for the relationship that the three of us have.


7. 
   
   My In-Laws: I could not have asked for a better family to marry into. Ken, Deb, and Kendell are amazing and I am so thankful to get to be apart of their family.


8. 
   
   My Friends: Alec and I have some pretty incredible friends. I am so thankful for all them. They are all so different but we always have so much fun regardless of what we are doing. God has put some pretty amazing people in our life!


9. 
   
   My Job: I am very grateful for the awesome company I work for. I may complain about work but they are very generous with time off and really stress and value family time. This is the perfect first job for me and I'm so thankful to have a job right now!


10. 
    
    345 River Fern Ave. #2324: I LOVE where Alec and I call home. I am just thankful to have a roof over my head and also feel very safe.

I hope everyone takes some time out of their busy day to stop and remember all of the things we have to be thankful for!

6 MONTHS!

6 Months ago today I became Chelsea Lynn Sowards. I can without a doubt say that was the best day of my life!

HAPPY 6 MONTHS ALEC! You are the best husband in the world and I've loved every min. of the past 6 months and can't even believe that much time has passed. I thank God every single day with you and look forward to celebrating many more anneversaries with you. You are such a blessing and I love being your wife!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, Thanksgiving is almost here!!

Happy Friday!

As everyone knows I LOVE FRIDAYS! My favorite day of the week because I know I have the weekend ahead of me! Here is what I have to look forward to this weekend:

Tonight:
Premire Design Jewelry Party at the Sowards! Elizabeth Draper is coming over with EVERYTHING out of the catalog to show everyone what is hot this season. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting some gifts out of the way tonight :)

Saturday:

Me, Alec, Molly, and Andy are waking up bright and early and driving to good ole Abilene! The football team is undefeated and their first playoff game is tomorrow at noon. So, we are making a little day trip to Abilene, Texas.

Our first stop is to see this little guy, Tucker, how cute is he!?

Then we are going to watch the Wildcats beat WTAM AGAIN! I love football and I'm pretty excited that ACU is having such an awesome season. Hopefully my parents will join us, I would love to see them.

Hopefully we'll get home in time to catch some of the OU vs. Texas Tech game. NEVER before in my 24 years of life have I ever said the words I am about to say, "BOOMER SOONER!" This is totally conditional and for this week only. I NEED them to beat Tech, so I hope they do!.

Alec has his 4th CPA exam on Sunday, so if everyone will keep him in your prayers, I know he'll be very happy when he is done with all of these tests and is a CPA. I'm so proud of him. I'm sure I'll clean, do laundry, and wait for him to get home.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend!!