Top 10 of Summer 2013

Today is the last official day of my summer for 2013.  Where has the time gone?  Since I didn't post summer happenings as they occurred, I thought it would be appropriate to post a "top 10" list to highlights some of the bigger events of the summer.  This is not a ranked list in order of significance, but just a general list of the most noteworthy or exciting events of the summer.

1.  Oklahoma City Trip
In June MeeMee and PaPa participated in the 42nd annual National Square Dancing convention in Oklahoma City.  Mom and Dad traveled with them for the festivities, and Bryan and I joined them for part of the weekend.  We also visited the Oklahoma City bombing Memorial.

 The memorial has an empty chair to represent each victim who died that day.  The children had little chairs.  The memorial was very well done and really made you think about what happened that day.

 Here's Dad and PaPa sitting by one of the walls near the reflecting pool.

 Here is MeeMee and PaPa dancing...can you see them in the middle in the teal outfits?  It was a wonderful event and was so much fun to see them dance.

2.  Bill and Lou (Bryan's aunt and uncle) and Grandmother came to visit us for a few days and see our new house.  We had a wonderful time and were grateful for the somewhat milder temperatures.

 Adi was a big fan of sitting on the couch with Aunt Lou.

 Here's Bill and Bryan enjoying the FC Dallas game on 4th of July.  The 0-0 tie was not too eventful, but the fireworks were fun.

3.  The Cactus.  Lou gave us a cactus as a house-warming gift.  She said it only blooms once a year and had already bloomed for this year.  I thought that was kind of a bummer, but it would be cool to see it next year.  Well, a couple of weeks after they left I noticed 3 little "growths" on it.  Less than a week later they grew more and finally bloomed!

 Here's the flower...isn't it beautiful?!  The blooms only last for a day, but 2 more little growths are starting so we may even get more flowers soon.  Very cool!

4.  Settling into the House.  Okay, so we've officially been in the house for a few months.  But moving and getting a house all set up is a long process.  We got a new fence on 2 sides this summer, Bryan built a shed in the backyard, we've been through 3 lawnmowers (long story), we got a new dishwasher, both bathrooms got new towels/bathmats/shower curtains (thanks to lots of money at Bed Bath and Beyond), and most of the rooms have curtains (again thanks to lots of money at Bed Bath and Beyond).  There is still a little bit to do and we are probably not winning any home decor awards, but we love the house and it definitely feels like home.

 Here's a photo of fence construction day...new metal posts.

 Here is Adi peeking through the old fence to spy on the neighbors.  This side had lots of holes and the other side was falling down so we decided the time had come for a new fence.

5.  Summer School.  Okay, so we experienced a first as teachers...Leah taught summer school at the local college.  It was a class for future teachers (mostly elementary school teachers) so it was fun to work with future teachers and help them get ideas for what teaching will really be like.  Plus, the extra money was helpful (did you read #4 above?).  I'll be teaching the class again this fall so it was good to go through the whole course in the summer with another teacher before I do it by myself this fall.

6.  The Perot Museum.  I'm not a huge fan of H Ross Perot...but his new museum in Dallas was cool.  Several of my students and friends had mentioned that it was cool, so we took a trip to see it. 

 And of course we took a selfie.

7.  We are the Champions!  That's right, Bryan and I played in a mixed doubles tournament and we won!  Our new neighborhood was celebrating its 25th anniversary with a bunch of activities including a mixed doubles tournament so we entered.  We were in the 3rd flight, but it was fun and we had good matches.

 Bryan's first tennis trophy. 

8.  Lots of Sports.  In addition to the tennis tournament, Bryan was pretty busy with sports this summer.  Softball, bowling, and 2 soccer leagues.  Hey, I was busy teaching a couple of nights a week, so it kept him busy.

9.  San Antonio trip.  We made a weekend trip to San Antonio to visit Mom, Dad, Avery, and Christina.  We had a wonderful trip and even survived the heat and the crowds for no-tax weekend.

 Avery and Christina at dinner on the riverwalk.

 Mom and I in front of the Alamo.

 Christina and I outside the Natural Bridge Caverns (a great summer activity by the way because the temperature is always a balmy 70 degrees in the caverns regardless of outside temperatures).

 A couple of pics in the caverns.  Sorry the one of mom and dad is blurry.

10.  Relaxation.  For teachers, the grind of the school year can be really tough.  You never really get caught up on sleep and there is always a mental list of stuff you have to do.  Summer is a time to catch up on sleep, exercise, and relax with friends and family.  We were so thrilled to get to see family and to just hang out and play with Adi more than we get to in the school year.  I got quite a few miles of running in and some pool time in the new neighborhood.

Update of the Year

Ok, so I realize it has been almost a year since my last update...my bad.  I promised myself that I would keep up with the blog so family and friends could see what we were up to and we would have it as a record for ourselves later.  But, there really has a been a LOT going on "back at the Beck's" over the last school year.  New house, new car, new jobs, training for a half marathon...whew...I'm tired just thinking about it and I've already lived it once.  There were quite a few nights with very little sleep.

 We spent Thanksgiving at home this year, and were thrilled that all of Bryan's family made the trip to spend the holiday in McKinney!  Bryan begged Grandmother to make one of her delicious apple pies...and it did not disappoint!  Here Bryan and Janet are sneaking in to check the progress of the pie while she makes it.

 No post would be complete without at least one picture of Adi.  She discovered toilet paper a couple of months ago.  At first she just snuck into the pantry to pull out a roll and tear it up.  Eventually she realized she could carefully grab the end of the roll in the bathroom and pull it all through the house!

 I spent the winter and early spring training for the Dallas Rock n' Roll half marathon with Team in Training.  They are a wonderful organization that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and train participants to run marathons/half marathons.  It was a wonderful experience and I would love to do it again.  After the craziness of moving finally settled I got back on track with training and am still running 2-3 times a week.  I'd love to do another half marathon or even train for a full...we'll see what happens.

 I didn't quite make my goal time, but I was still thrilled to complete the race and was pleased with my results.

 In April I traveled to Abilene for the ACU tennis reunion.  Here is Hutton performing at the dinner that Saturday night.  It was a lot of fun to see some old teammates and catch up with everyone.  I also got to stay with Andi, Matt, and Ryan which is always fun.

 Here is one of the last pictures of our old house while it was still "ours."  We loved that house...and we spent a wonderful 7 years there.  It was kind of sad to leave it, but we are excited about the next chapter of our lives in our "new" house.

 Between moves (out of one house and into the other) we went to the Kenny Chesney/Eric Church concert at Cowboy stadium.  Bryan gave me the tickets for Christmas.  At the time we didn't realize the concert would be in the midst of moving...but it was a great break from all the moving craziness and a really fun night.  I have to say that Eric Church was my favorite part (no offense Kenny).

And here is our new house!  It looks a little different now that we've been in it a few weeks...more flowers, new fence, our "stuff" mostly unpacked, and most of the rooms have curtains now.  We are loving it!  Adi and Val like it too, although Adi is less than thrilled with the floors...she has a hard time getting enough traction to run as fast as she would like.

In the midst of the house shopping/moving process, I had to say goodbye to my car of 12 years.  She and I had been through a lot, but I am loving my new car.  Also, I had a few crazy days of interviews and meetings for a part-time job teaching at the local college.  I still have my regular teaching job, but working with college students this summer has been fun too.

I will do my best to stay more up to date on the blog.  I'm already organizing a post for "Top 10 Events of Summer 2013" so stay tuned.

Relaxing Weekend

After a couple of busy weeks back at school and a big vacation last weekend, this weekend was a much slower pace.  We cleaned the house, took care of grocery shopping, and caught up on sleep.  Sunday afternoon we were happy for football to return and even grilled out some burgers.

Adi and Daddy relaxing and watching football.

Love the fire pit!

First time I've ever seen a praying mantis "in the wild".  It was hanging out in our backyard.

We were washing out Adi's doghouse and saw another praying mantis hiding in it.

The best part of the fire pit...Smores!  Don't feel too sorry for Adi...she got a marshmallow.

We call this one "Senior Portrait."

Viva Las Vegas

 The Ticer clan traveled to Las Vegas over Labor Day weekend to celebrate Mom's recent milestone birthday.  We had a fabulous trip!  Here we are outside the Bellagio waiting for the dancing fountain show.

This is at the MGM Grand.  We took in a couple of shows while we were there.  Ka (a Cirque d' Soleil show) and David Copperfield.  Both shows were good, but I think David Copperfield was everyone's favorite.

 The shopping was also awesome.  At the Nike store they had a mannequin dressed out in every NFL uniform!  Very impressive, and a fun way to get pumped up about the new season.

Dancing fountains at the Bellagio.

Here we are squeezed in for a couple of group shots before the David Copperfield show.

                           Here is Bryan under the glass flowers in the lobby of the Bellagio.

 I'm posing with Bumblebee and Allan (with Baby Carlos) from the Hangover.  Ok, so we didn't realize until after the picture that you were supposed to tip them...rookie mistake.  And below is a picture of me at Coca-Cola world beside the wall of coke from all over the world.

Here is one of me in the gardens at the Bellagio.

 Here is Dad with the birthday girl outside the Bellagio.  It was a great show of the dancing water.

 Here's Bryan near the wall of M&M's at M&M World.  They even had his new favorites...raspberry M&M's and the dark chocolate and mint M&M's.

 Since the MGM is famous for it's boxing matches (and the movies/lion logo) we took a pic of us duking it out beside the ring containing the gold lion.

 We checked out the shark reef at Mandalay Bay.  Here Bryan is checking out the octopus.  Below, Mom, Dad, & Avery are waiting for the sting rays to swim by so they can touch them.

 We had such a great time!  It was fun to check out the sights in Vegas, but the best part was being together.

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLL!

Okay...so I realize it is quite a shock to see me in a soccer uniform instead of a tennis uniform.  Here is what happened.  Bryan is playing on an coed indoor league (1 keeper, 3 guys, 3 girls play at a time).  We got to his game last night and they only had 2 girls.  Approximately 4 minutes before the start of the game, Bryan informs me that they will have to forfeit unless I fill in as the last girl.  I know, right!?  So I step up as wife of the year and fill in.  They scrounge around and find extra shoes, socks, shin guards, shorts and a jersey and tell me to take off all my jewelry (I didn't even know that was a rule in soccer).  Did I mention this all happened in 4 minutes?  And, since most of the team members are soccer coaches they of course have all kinds of extra gear to get me suited up and quickly explain that instead of hiding in the corner near our goal and trying to stay out of the way...I will be hanging out near the opposing team's goal!  What?!  Thank goodness they are patient coaches and can kind of coach me along and are so nice when I mess up (you know...not making contact when I kick at a ball or getting right in the way when they take a shot...minor mistakes like that).

I quickly realize why they want me by the other team's goal.  1--it keeps me out of the way during the all important defense.  2--There is no offsides in indoor soccer so I literally hang out by the other goal and try to run around and act like I know how to play (the other team had this big guy defend me the whole first half before they realized I had no idea what I was doing and he could be better utilized somewhere else).  3--if by some crazy stroke of luck I happened to toe poke (new soccer term I learned) a shot into the goal we would get two points instead of one (girl goals are worth 2 points).

The game is tied at 1-1 at the end of the first half.  Midway through the 2nd half there is a wild frenzy near the goal I am attacking (okay...so maybe I AM NOT attacking but the team is).  Anyway, suddenly the heavens opened and music played and time stopped.  I looked down and the ball is right in front of me with the goalkeeper over to the other side of the goal.  I kicked with all my might and for the first time ever I actually made contact, solid contact, and rocketed the ball into the back of the goal.  WHAT?!  The crowd erupted, fireworks exploded, and I ran to midfield and slid on my knees as I ripped of my jersey Brandi Chastain style!  My team ran in to hoist me up into the air like the true Olympic hero I was.  Oh wait...that last part didn't happen.  But I did score a goal, the team did cheer, and we did take a commanding 3-1 lead (remember my goal counted for 2 even if really just proved that "even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then" as my dad would say).  Full of confidence, I had an assist a few minuted later.  Okay, actually I was trying to shoot but rocketed it off the wall instead and one of our guy players rebounded it into the goal.  But I'm still counting it as an assist.  The last few minutes of the game showed me prominently "whiff" a ball when I was wide open.  The ref actually said to me, "Wow, I felt that breeze from here."  Oh well, pride cometh before a fall right.

I was very hot, tired, sweaty, and thirsty after the game even if it was only a 40 minute game.  I guess team USA will not be contacting me for the 2016 Olympic team.  I also guess my spectating days of Bryan's coed team are also over...I don't think I can risk a similar situation again.  Better to go out on top.