Thursday, July 31, 2008

A New Star



Monday, July 28, 2008 at 3:09 p.m. Zoii entered the world and helped to make it a better place. She weighed 7 pounds 9 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She is the third child for my sister Vickie. She is so cute, but has the Housley hands and feet. Zoii takes up most of her time right now with sleep. She does not cry much at all. When she was born her hair stood up in a mohawk and its hard for her Mommy to comb it and keep it down. She is the little sister to Beulah who is 6 and Zeth who is 4. Mommy and baby are both doing well and at home resting.

A love of a lifetime...


Ray and I will be celebrating 15 years of bliss on August 8th! We have been together since I was 12 and he was 16. We married on August 11, 2001, so our 7th wedding anniversary is coming up as well. I have been truly blessed in my partner in life. God really did create the ideal partner for me when he created Ray.

I moved around a lot as a kid due to my dad's job. We always moved between the same states, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, but no matter where we moved we always returned to Texas. It was in 1993 when we moved back to Texas for good. We moved into a lovely neighborhood and Ray lived two houses down on the same side of the street. He came over one day to hang out with my brother and we talked every day for two months. One night we were sitting in my Dad's boat talking when he asked me to be his girlfriend and we have been together ever since.

Ray proposed on September 18, 2000 in Galveston, Texas on the beach on a moonlit night. He got down on one knee in the sand and held my hand and gazed into my eyes as he asked me to be his wife. We are looking forward to celebrating this big marker in our lives.


A Barking We Will Go...


I have a 3 1/2 year old English Cocker Spaniel. He is gorgeous and his name is Reggie Kyle Pheris (if you are an Aggie you will totally understand where we got this name). Well, Reggie has always been a very sweet, quiet dog who really doesn't bark much unless you turn on the vacuum or blow dryer. We have new neighbors next door and they have two dogs. I let Reggie out to play in the backyard, and a little while later I hear this dog barking and it keeps going for a bit. So I go outside and I find the source of the noise is my dog. He is running up and down the fence between our house like his tail in on fire. He stops intermittently to sniff or do a little whining sound then jets off again up and down the fence. He keeps this up for a couple of minutes and will not come to me when I call so I have to finally go over and try to catch him to bring him inside so all the noise will finally stop. So now he sits at the back door with a sad expression on his face, acting like his world is coming to an end.

An Indian Never Dies, He Just Fades Away...


My grandfather Burl Franklin Savell passed away on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. He was 70 years old. He was a wonderful man who was full of life and loved his grandchildren to the ends of the earth. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in May 2008 and we had planned on visiting him on Monday, July 14th, but God granted his wish for peace and to be in pain no longer. So we made the trip to Philadelphia, Mississippi and stayed for 3 days visiting with family and friends who gathered to say goodbye to a great man. He was known as Papaw to his grandchildren (10 of those) and great-grandchildren (13 of those). He used to always tell my mom that Indians never died they just faded away. He will be forever missed.

We took my 4 year old nephew Zeth with us on this trip and he was a blast of freshness and happiness for all who were around him. He really livened the place up. He was a great passenger the entire way there and back, which was around 8 hours one way. Zeth had a ton of fun playing in the open yard with all of his cousins. He knew he was going to Mississippi and once he met my Grandmother, known to us as Mamaw he started calling her Mississippi. So the entire time we were there and on the way home if he could not have his way he would say "I'm gonna tell Mississippi and she will be mean to you". My Mamaw thought this was great!!

Viva Las Vegas!


We went to Vegas June 25 - June 30 and meet up with our friends Jason and Melissa. This was our third trip to Vegas in 6 years. Our first visit Ray flew us out their for my surprise 21st birthday gift and we stayed at the New York, New York Casino. Then, in December 2006 we went with friends Jason and Melissa and stayed at the Polo Towers.

This trip we stayed at the Planet Hollywood Casino. It used to be the Aladdin Casino. It is my favorite out of all of the casinos on the strip. Ray got us upgraded to a suite with a view of the strip by doing the $20.00 bill trick. It was a very spacious room with a huge bathroom. I spent more time in the room than Ray. Planet Hollywood is also connected to a large shopping mall area with many shops, boutiques, and restaurants that you can walk to without ever leaving your own casino. Plus there is a little Mexican restaurant where you get the best breakfast deal in town.

Ray tends to do better at this casino than any other on the Strip. Ray took $300.00 to play with and came back with $1800.00 not including the $300.00 of playing money. He had a great time playing with Jason. They both entered a poker tournament and Ray stayed in the longest this time; Jason stayed in their last tournament longer when we went in December 2006. When I would call it a night around 11:00 p.m. he would continue on into the wee hours of the morning. I did play a bit more this time around. I try to play a bit more with each trip. I think I'm starting to make Ray proud with my knowledge of the gambling world since he grew up with poker as a constant at every family function and holiday event.

We had a wonderful time! It was great to get away from home and just focus on the two of us for a change. We saw the "O" Cirque Du Soleil show, David Copperfield magic show, Wayne Brady comedy show, and tried to go to all the casinos that we have not been to or the ones that Ray does not have a $1.00 poker chip from. He is now collecting those and has a total of 49 in his collection.

We meet up with Jason and Melissa at least once a day to eat lunch or dinner. We loved getting to spend time with them they have become one of the best "couple" friends that we have. We miss them since they moved away.

My sweet hubby bought me a "Just Because I Love You Gift"! A lovely pair of Tiffany Somerset Hoop earrings (sterling silver). I love them!!

Summer Fun!

This summer sure has gone by fast! With each year that I get older I feel like the years go by faster and faster. I decided to work summer school this year for the first time and I truly enjoyed it. I was able to spend some more time with two friends, Laurel and Wendy that I worked with this past year who are moving away and I will miss them both very much.

The work week was Monday - Thursday. I wish the regular school year could have four day work weeks. The kids were great, and they loved the four day school week just like the adults. I worked more with power points, media clips, and movies and saw wonderful results with the kids. They stayed on task more and seemed genuinely interested in the material.

I also got to work with a wonderful principal Jason and counselor Stacie. They really made my experience with summer school positive and enjoyable. They are the most giving and supportive people in those positions that I have ever worked with. I look forward to working with them this upcoming 2008-2009 school year.