behind again...

I'll admit, I have NO excuse for being this far behind.  I have a long list of blog worthy events in my life... yet I have not made the time to actually post them.  Please accept my sincere apology.  Volleyball is now over, and I will make every effort to post more regularly.  Especially about football playoffs - my hubby and his boys are district champions, the first victory on their road to state!!  Go Lions!!

I'm heading to the metroplex today - with the puppies.  The first round play-off game is in Springtown, an hour or so from my folks' house.  I'm also taking a personal day tomorrow - woo hoo, mini vacation - to spend some time with my parents since I barely ever see them anymore.  :(  The hubby has to stay in Brownwood to work all weekend, boo.

Let's start today's recap with my birthday... umm, October 26.  :)  I can't honestly say that I remember all my previous birthdays, but I can, without a doubt, say that this one was one of the worst.  It started with a great trip to the doctor's office... and some great medication - that didn't work.  It ended with a 4 hour school bus ride to Big Spring, where my volleyball team lost - and then a 4 hour school bus ride home.  Yuck!!  Overall, terrible birthday... day.

Ty and I celebrated my birthday the night before - lots of presents came my direction.  WAY more than I expected... I don't know how he did it all without me knowing.  He's just that super!!  He got me some great books - historical fiction, i.love.it.  He also got me Zelda for the Wii and a new phone cover, a girlie pink & black otterbox.  :)

I was also lucky enough to celebrate my birthday AGAIN... on Saturday, October 30.  We went to a delicious steakhouse in Buffalo Gap - called Perini Ranch!  It was incredibly good!  I'm not much of a meat eater most days, but the fried catfish was to die for, honestly.  I can't wait to go back again.  Ty's folks, sister and brother-in-law went with us - it was such a good time.  Here a few pictures of our trip...

Thanks Lang Gang for a great night of fellowship and food.  YUM!

Pumping Carving Isn't Just for Kids

I knew going into marriage with mr. coach lang that he had NEVER carved a pumpkin before - I also knew that our first Halloween together would change all that.  :)

This past weekend we jetted (or just drove really) to Edom, Texas where my parents own a cute little lake house.  We both had a weekend off, which hasn't happened since early, early August - and hopefully won't happen again until late December; so we took the opportunity to get a away and just relax.  It was glorious!

This is an old picture - that tree on the right, GONE!

the view from our dock never gets old!

Besides the sleeping, relaxing, and watching movies... we also had a little surprise for mr. coach lang... pumpkin carving!  I'm not sure he was as excited as I was... but he was a great sport and we carved some pretty fantastic pumpkins.

digging in for the FIRST.TIME.EVER!

my turn... and yes, that's my tongue.  :)

super concentration - sharp knives, yikes

Mr. coach lang and I did the carving, but we had help.  

Chico

Gunner & Sony - they're hard to see, Sony is under the arm rest

the final products

And we wouldn't be Texans without a little Ranger shout out!!  ANTLERS!!

Basically, we had a great weekend.  It was so nice to have NOTHING to do - we don't get that much.  While we'd love to enjoy another relaxing weekend away together - we're more than happy to wait until December, so mr. coach lang and his football boys can bring home some rings - and another state championship.

Choctaw...

I promised to catch up... so here's catch up post #1.

A few weekends ago I drove up to Durant, OK with my parents for a concert.  We l.o.v.e country music in my family... so when my dad heard commercials for "The Front Men" he had to buy us tickets.  We stayed at the Choctaw Casino and Resort - and it was fantastic.

We arrived at the casino early enough to do a little gambling... not much, I'm a teacher/coach - I absolutely do not have money to lose.  :)  haha.  The casino was FUN!  I haven't been to anyplace like this before - I didn't know what to expect.  There weren't nearly as many people as I expected, and the slot machines (yes, I played penny slots all weekend, go big or go home, right?) were SO confusing!  Half the time I didn't know why I was winning... I just knew that when the machine dinged - I won, and when the machine didn't ding - I lost.  Either way, it was fun... and I came out a whopping $7 ahead.  I think professional gambling is definitely part of my future... or not.

The concert started at 8 - my parents like to be early, everywhere, every time - so naturally, we were early - which left us a little time to take pictures.  

(hook'em)

(our seats)

(my beautiful mom and me)

Dad was the photographer for most of the concert - so he didn't make the pre-concert pictures.  After sitting in the freezing event center for what seems liked hours (much closer to 20 minutes) the lights dimmed and our three front men took the stage.  :)  I was amazed at their voices, they were incredible - it sounded just like the radio. 

The Front Men are the lead singers of 3 well known country bands - Alabama, Restless Heart, and Lonestar.  Alabama isn't together anymore simply because they chose as a group to retire and spend time with their families.  Restless Heart still records and still tours.  Lonestar still records, but not with their original lead singer, he split to work on a solo career and spend more time at home.

The Front Men

Randy Owen - Alabama

Larry Stewart - Restless Heart

Richie McDonald - Lonestar

The concert was really great.  I knew the words to every song they played - and I mean every word to every song.  :)  The show wasn't nearly long enough for us, despite their 3 encores... we just couldn't get enough.

Hopefully we'll have the chance to head back to OK for another concert too.  I'm thinking this one - after my hubby wins the Texas 3A Division 2 State Football Championship.  :)  Go Lions!!

I promise to catch up...

I know, it's been a. long. time!  I apologize.  I have LOTS of pictures from the last few weeks - so I'll slowly but surely catch y'all up.

First and foremost though... my best friend is pregnant!  I'm so excited to announce FINALLY that Sandi and Ryan are expecting - May 22, 2011.  My early vote is girl! - I reserve the right to change this vote at a later date.

Sandi sent me a picture of her first sonogram - God is amazing.  For your viewing pleasure - baby J.  :)

(sorry for the blurring of names...)

Sandi is a little over 9 weeks along... she breezing through her first trimester with just some nausea, but nothing too terrible.  Please send up special prayers for baby, mommy, and of course, daddy.  Looks like I need to make a Montana trip this summer.  Woo hoo!

Ty and I have talked babies... but we're not ready just yet.  I have to admit though, this gives me the baby bug FOR.SURE!  :)  

Homecoming 2010

Just when I thought I had outgrown homecoming... my sweet husband goes and surprises me with a mum!

awww... Coach Lang.  :)

  

So stinkin' cute!  I love it... and him.  :)  Good luck Lions and Lady Lions!!

Our Weekend

Let's start by defining "weekend" in coaches' terms... the limited hours we have without our athletes and colleagues on days that start with 'S'.  For Ty and I - this usually means Saturday late afternoon starting about 2:30-3, church Sunday, and then we end with another few hours starting about 5:30-6.  N.I.C.E. I know.  This weekend was no exception... but we made the most of our time together.

This weekend was the 10th annual Brownwood Reunion - AKA - huge deal in town.  I'm talking they close half the city off for a midway, venders, races, and concerts.  We scored our tickets early for a mere $10 - this is for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - concerts included.  Obviously we weren't planning on getting the full use out of them, but the headliner Saturday night was Kevin Fowler - love him!

We walked down to the vendor section of the Reunion a little before supper time on Saturday night.  I didn't know what to expect, but I was surprisingly a little disappointed.  I was hoping to find something cute to commemorate our first Brownwood Reunion - I found nothing.  We took one rather quick spin and decided to get a drink for the walk home.  Our choice - fresh squeezed cherry limeade.  Sounds delicious - tasted awful.  I am not a spitter - I never spit, but I spit the entire walk home, trying to get the awful taste out my mouth.  Gross and unladylike, I know, but I just could not handle it.

We ate a little supper then headed down to the train depot for the Kevin Fowler concert.  WOW - there were a lot of people there.  We snagged some pretty decent seats... and sat down to wait.  At about 10:20pm we were surprised with a nice fireworks show in honor of our troops.  We were impressed, well done Brownwood.  The concert was pretty good - we enjoyed it.

Hope you had a fun filled weekend!

A New Addition...

No, sorry to disappoint, but we are not expecting.  I am, however, very excited to announce that Ty and I have adopted a precious little four-year-old boy in Zambia - Michael.  We adopted him through Father's Heart, A Family Legacy Mission, and it was SO easy, and 95% of our money goes straight to Michael.  Incredible, completely incredible.

Michael

Recently, Ty and I have really struggled with giving and serving - we both want to give and serve more than we financially and physically can.  For us, adopting Michael fulfills both needs.  Our sponsorship opens up lots of opportunities for Michael - including, daily discipleship and counseling services, regular health assessment and intervention programs, food and other basic necessities, educational assistance and tutoring services, micro-economic development programs for their caretakers... and most importantly, Michael will learn about Jesus Christ and biblical principles that will help him grow and mature.

There are also numerous opportunities for Ty and I to travel to Zambia, do some mission work, AND meet Michael.  This of course will take some saving on our part - but we've already started that process too.  We can't wait to get to Africa!!

Please add us (if we aren't already) and Michael to your daily prayer lists.  Pray that God will use us to impact Michael's life positively.