Flashback Friday: Self Tanner

Okay, so I'm sure most of us (women) have used self tanner at some point. Well, my first experience was quite embarrassing. It was football season of my freshman year in high school, and although summer had just passed, I still felt like quite the weda (white girl). Well, I didn't know there are certain ways to rub self tanner in, so I applied it, went to sleep, and woke up in the morning with the WORST, ORANGE streaks on my legs. Not only were my legs full of streaks, but my arms were, too!! Pretend to rub lotion on your legs right now, and you'll see how my arms made contact with the lotion.

So...normally, I could wear jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt, and get by for a day (it was Friday). But oooh no, not only was it still above 90, but it was football season; thus, I had to wear my cheer uniform to school all day. I did have my jacket that I wore all day (in the HOT Texas-is-this-still-summer? day..). But I had no way to hide my legs. There they were, for the whole world to see, orange streaks and all.

"Rock Talk"

aka...Stone's vocabulary these days:

• "ma...ma.....ma ma ma...."= "mas" for more food. As you may recall, we are teaching him Spanish. --this is different from "ma-ma" which is me. :)
• "ur-rew-goe" = "here you go!" --his first legit phrase.
• "ae- ewwww" = "thank you"
• "oh-eww" while pointing out my bedroom door to the kitchen = "food"
• "oh-eww" while pointing at whatever I have= "give me that"

What? you think those last two are the same? His tone and facials are way different. I guess only we could tell on this one.

...more Rock Talk to come.

More about my fitness class...

One of my participants for Mommy (and me!) Sculpting works for our paper here in Lubbock. She also has a Woman to Woman blog on their website, and wrote this about my class:

http://blogs.lubbockonline.com/shelly/index.php?entry=entry080826-155033

I'm still trying to build the class, but so far, it's been very fun!

Flashback Friday: Kenny Chesney

Lauren and I (and her sister, Kristen) did everything together growing up, beginning when I moved into the neighborhood when I was seven. We share a passion for music (often sang duets in church, performed at cafes and talent shows, etc.). We particularly love country music. So when Kenny Chesney came to town, we were THRILLED!

We went to buy our tickets, and ended up in the nosebleed section. I mean, NOSE-BLEED. We were a little bummed, but it didn't stop us from being overly excited.

Just before the concert began, GM was there signing people up for their credit cards. They made a big announcement, "Come apply for your GM credit card, and get the chance to see Kenny front row when he comes out!" I have always loved entering contests (still do!), so of course I jumped at the opportunity. I ran down there, filled out an application, and handed it to the guy. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: What can I do to get you to make sure this application is called for those tickets?

GM Guy: (laughing) Sorry ma'am. That's not my call. That's my boss's call who is back stage and will draw the winner.

Me: Okay, what can I do to make sure you hand this application to your boss to call out?

At this point, he pointed to the boxes of applications and showed me how many they had to draw from. There were 5 HUGE boxes filled to the top with applications. Unreal. Needless to say, I was discouraged and returned to my seat.

Kelly Coffey, the first singer, came and went, and they announced the GM deal again. So I went down:

Me: How's it going?

GM guy: Sorry ma'am, it's really not my call.

Me: That's fine. So do you still have my application handy to give to your boss?

GM guy laughed histerically, probably thinking, "Is this girl for real?!"

....ma'am, I'm sorry, but look how many applications there are. It's NOT MY CALL.

Me: Ugh. Thanks, anyways. I'll be back.

Next on stage: Montgomery Gentry. They came and went, and again, GM announced, "Last call to get your tickets!..." So I ran down.

Me: Hi! It's me again. How's my application? Where is it? With your boss?

GM guy: REALLY, ma'am (still laughing, but totally annoyed) I have NO control over what happens.

Discouraged, I head back to my seat, feeling my nose start to bleed. A few minutes pass, and they announce, "Will the following people please report to the GM tent. You have won front row tickets for Kenny! ....Kendal Brown...." WHAT?! ME?! YEAH!!!

I ran down there.

GM guy: You, again. We already called the winners.

Me: It's me! It's me!! I'm Kendal Brown!!

GM: Yeah right.

Me: FOR REALS.

GM: HUH?! We need to see your ID.

Of course my ID was in my car with all my other stuff. As luck would have it, they do not let you leave and re-enter. So my next task: Schmooze the door man.

Me: Hi. I need to go get my wallet from my car. Can you let me back in?

Door man: No, sorry. Once you leave you can't come back.

Me: ooooooh, Come on!! I just won tickets, and I am the biggest fan, and I NEED to get down there. PA-LEASE!!!!

Door man: Okay, you hurry back. RUN.

So I did. And I got us tickets. And we went down and were front CENTER row and had the TIME of our lives, including signatures on our cowboy hats. I'm assuming GM guy helped me out and played dumb. Obviously, right?! My family and Cliff laugh because they say I have this kind of luck all the time. I must admit that I have had great luck. I always enter things like this REALLY thinking I am going to win. And sometimes I do!

Above: Kenny Chesney up close.

Below: Lauren and me at the conert. I am sooo bumbed that I can not find the picture of us with Troy Gentry (singer).

Below: Our trip to Seattle for EFY. This was around the same time.

Trip to Arizona

Finally I uploaded (and stole--thank you, Lynds and Jacki) pictures of our trip from this past weekend. Thursday morning (our anniversary!--see post below), we headed over to Arizona. Though very hot, we had a BLAST!! We love visiting family. This weekend was great--we got to see a bunch of family.

We stayed with my mom and had too much yummy food, did some shopping, and just had a great time! She got Stone some fun toys to keep at her place, and he had a blast with them. Because of the two hour time difference, he was up at 6:30 every morning pushing around his popping pusher toy. I don't have a picture of that toy, but here is the car he learned to balance up on.

Thank you, Mom, for the FUN weekend!!

Cliff says he loves taking Stone on trips because it seems like he has a development spurt every time we go somewhere. He takes everything in and learns something new.

My cousin Tyler, and his new wife, Brittany, were married on 08.08.08 in Idaho Falls (click here to see their beautiful wedding pictures). They had their reception this past Friday in Arizona, so we got to see a bunch of family.

Above: Lyndsie.Me.Ashley

Below: Jacki and Stone

Below: Mark (cousin) and Stone

Below: Whitney. Ashley. Me. Brittany. Lyndsie. Jacki.

While we were there, we also got to see my Grandpa and my aunt, Charisse (below). Stone had fun with their dogs (a little scared at first).

We also got to go to my church's temple in Mesa. This was my first time going through the Mesa temple. We went with my cousins.

Below: Cliff. Me. Brian. Lyndsie. Tyler. BrittanyThen, as a cherry on top, we got to see my Dad, Lisa, Kevin, and Marcy! We changed planes in El Paso and had an hour lay over, so they met us there to spend a little time. Perfect way to end the trip!

Below: Lisa. Dad. Stone. Me.

We were laughing at the picture below because of the height difference between our dads. Cliff's dad is sooo tall. I think this picture is great. Stone looks like he could be a grandson to both of them. Oh wait, he is.

This trip was much needed after the brutal summer semester and a busy work period for me. Cliff was able to recharge his battery for classes that began again this past Monday. He is really excited about this semester and the slower pace that a long semseter brings. So far, he LOVES his professors and is ready to go! A different feel from his first year.

Four Years of Bliss

Cliff and I celebrated our FOURTH wedding anniversary this past Thursday. I can't believe how time flies. I am married to the most romantic, fun, smart (among many other things) man! Cliff and I have had a blast these four years. Here are some "fours":
1) 4 Places we've lived...

1. Provo, Ut-Behind the BYU stadium in a SMALL basement apartment. This was our first place. We LOVED the location and our landlords. Once we brought Cliff's truck up, we had to find a new place (we were only allowed one vehicle parked on the road--some ordinance). And we were ready for more space...

2. Provo, Ut-South of BYU campus: We had a WONDERFUL duplex that we LOVED.

3. Salt Lake City, Ut: We lived downtown on South Temple--SUCH a FUN area. I was in walking distance to work, which was sooo nice. We were only there for a year, then...

4. Lubbock, TX: Where we currently reside while Cliff is attending Law School.

2) 4 Places we've been this past year...

1. El Paso, Tx: Where we both grew up. We've been lucky enough to go home several times this last year now that we are closer to home.

2. Corpus Christi, Tx: This was the start of our Texas Tour. We want to become more familiar with our state.

3. San Antonio, Tx: Part of the Texas Tour.

4. Phoenix, AZ: We've been there a couple times this last year. We got there on our annivesary last week.

3) 4 Facts from this past year...
1. Cliff started law school while STILL submitting finals/final papers for his undergrad at BYU (last August).
2. Our baby turned one!! And has been on a plane 6 times between moving and visiting family.
3. Cliff decided to get a dual degree (in addition to his law degree, he is working on a Masters in Personal Financial Planning).
4. I started Mommy (and me!) Sculpting.

4) 4 hobbies we'd like to focus on this year...

1. Photography-We both love photography.

2. Music-I play the guitar, but I find myself playing the same chords over and over again. I want to get better, and Cliff wants to learn.

3. Fitness & Health-Now that Cliff's grueling summer semester is over, we want to focus on good health!

4. Spanish-Cliff is fluent (and speaks beautifully), and it's time I learn more. We want Stone to grow up learning both languages. I worked in a Mexican Seafood restaurant in high school. It was owned by a Hispanic family who spoke just as much English as I did Spanish. Yes, it was difficult at times, but I learned the menu in Spanish and was able to speak to our Spanish customers. Since we've left the border, it's escaped me.

Flashback Friday: Missing Ring

Cliff and I were barely engaged when we were attending BYU-Hawaii. I never wore my ring to the beach, but I still happened to loose it (don't panic-I found it).

I lived in a house on stilts near campus. One morning, I was taking my shoes outside holding my ring between my fingers (why I just didn't slide it on my finger, I don't know). I set the shoes down outside, went back inside to grab my things, and as I was heading out, I realized I did not have my ring. I searched EVERYWHERE. I was in tears, and Cliff finally called me (he had been waiting for me at his place). I told him, "I really need you to come over." It was obvious I was frantic and in tears, so he rushed over. I told him not to be mad. This is number 3,456,978 why I have the best husband in the world. He wasn't mad!! Well, he didn't show it. :)

He finally went below the house to the HUGE pile of gravel, thinking perhaps it fell from above. He searched through the massive pile of gravel (like he'd really find it if that's where it landed), and I continued to search in the house.

After many many prayers, Cliff finally saw something sparkling from the pile of gravel. MY RING!! The diamond was barely poking through the gravel just enough to catch the eye. Cliff found the ring!! It had fallen from my fingers when I was placing my shoes outside.

It takes one time to loose your ring to NEVER loose it again. I guess I should knock on wood. I am so conscientious of where my ring is when it is not on my finger.

Tip: Make a place for your ring when you are NOT wearing it!

No pictures today, as we are out of town. An update on our weekend will come soon!

Summer Vacation

I kind of laugh at the title of this post (thought it's really not funny) because Cliff is in the middle of his summer vacation. Summer Vacation=9 days (4 of the 9 being weekend days). He also had a few days off between Spring semester and his first summer session, but you can hardly call that a summer vacation. We've enjoyed having Cliff home! And Cliff has been loving his break. This summer, his classes were particularly grueling. He is working on 2 degrees-JD (his law degree) and a Masters in PFP (Personal Financial Planning). These summer sessions kept him buried in the books, and now he is enjoying burrying himself into books for pleasure (he says it's way different). He made a goal to read one book for enjoyment this week, and he's half way through his second Dirk Pitt novel (600 pages each). He LOVES reading for pleasure, and has taken advantage of that this week off.

And we LOVE having him home! He's been a great help with Stone this week, as I have been extremely busy with work. We went out to lunch yesterday, we've been swimming, we've been glued to the Olympics (see post below), and we've just been chilling.

And here are some random pictures from this week. This first picture is Stone being VERY uncooperative eating his breakfast. He insisted on feeding himself, and this was the result.

Next, you see him trying to feed himself again (below). He pulled off this cereal bowl and spoon from the kitchen tabel (I had just finished my breakfast), and took it in to Cliff and said, "ma-ma-ma! (mas-mas-mas)". Cliff has taught him "mas" for "more". We really want him to learn Spanish growing up.

Flashback Friday: All You Need Is Scissors

Shannon had a mad hair dresser, and I was the cause of the grief.

Let me share with you one of the many memories I have with my best friend, Shannon.
It was a Friday night, and rather than out with our friends, we were chilling at my house. We were going through magazines, and Shannon found a hair style that she was determined to get. She cut out the picture, and I had a BRILLIANT idea.

"Shannon, if you're planning on getting it cut anyways, why not let me do it?? I'll cut it a bit longer than what you want, that way, if I absolutely mess it up, you're not out anything. You were planning on getting it done anyways!"

She actually agreed. Shannon has beautiful, shiny, blonde hair. It's also naturally curly, so the hair due we were going for was a cute beach due. Messy, curly...super cute. My brother's friend who happened to be over, even offered some actual hair scissors. I told her no thanks. Well, I did my job, and it turned out! ...Until the next morning rolled around...

Shannon woke up Saturday morning with a bad case of bed head. What appeared so cute the night before was a disaster that next morning with big chunks cut super short and long chunks hanging down. I guess her natural curl had been deceiving the night before.

To make the story even better, we had cheerleading pictures that weekend. The picture goes in the weekly football and basketball programs all year long, and it makes its way to the yearbook. ...which for a high school girl, a good hair due is a must. What were we thinking?! She made an emergency call to her hair dresser and demanded he meet her that morning. He was nice enough to oblige. The first thing he said was, "Is this the same girl that tried dying your hair, as well?" Oooh! Did I forget to mention? Just a couple months prior, we bought some brown dye and bleach, and thought we could do our own high lights and low lights. That, too, was a major disaster.

I think Shannon's sweet mom was mad (she should be, right?), but she sure never let me know. Her mom also used to tell me, "Kendal, I love you! But you are not welcome here after 11 because you are SO LOUD!" Her mom had so much patience for me. :)

The following are pics from our HS days:

And the last two are more recent:

Mommy (and me!) Sculpting in the Paper

You may recall I have created a fitness group for moms and their children (you can refer to this post). Classes begin next week, and I'm excited! I got a phone call the other day from a writer for the Avalanche-Journal (our newspaper here in Lubbock). She found my website (mommysculpting.com)in a google search and asked to do a small article on my class for the GO! Section. GO! is the Avalache-Journal's weekly guide to what's happening in town. It comes out every Friday with the paper. Here's the article, though you probably can't read it too well:

I need to thank my friend Whitney. I work closely with her on several of my accounts. She is a Public Relations Account Manager (I've mentioned several times, I work from home for an ad agency based out of Salt Lake). Well, she gave me some pointers on writing a press release, and so I wrote one, sent it out to the local stations and newspaper, and from that, I've recieved some interest in my class. My class has also been posted on community calendars, and it seems that each medium I used has sent someone my way. YAH for PR and advertising!

Flashback Friday: Blond Cliff?

I'll start off with stating the obvious. Cliff has a head full of dark hair. Growing up under the Texas sun (playing and swimming outside all day) often meant brighter blonde hair for me in the summertime. I didn't realize it had the same effect on darker hair. Well, at least that's what was thought at first...

The summer after his high school graduation, one of Cliff's jobs was cleaning the pool at a nice apartment complex a few mornings a week. His hair seemed to be a little lighter every afternoon that I'd see him. However, it was quite gradual, so I didn't think anything immediatly (kind of how my baby has grown up tremendously, but I don't realize it until I look at his pictures from this past year). I mentioned it to Cliff, and we concluded it must be the sun (but it seemed too dramatic to just be the sun).

Before we knew it, his whole head was about 10 shades lighter. It kind of reminded me of the dark head Franklin High School football players that bleached their hair. Each time my high school football team played Cliff's team, all our guys would bleach their hair (it was a football tradition every year for the rival game). It was kind of fun to look down on the field and see a line full of bleached heads. However, the majority of the team had dark dark hair, and therefore, it often ended up more orange.

Anways... Cliff finally went into his mom one day and said, "Mom, I think I'm sick or something. Look at my hair."

She then laughed and responded, "Have you been using Clay's hair gel??" (Clay is Cliff's little brother who is currently in Argentina serving a mission for our church).

Cliff said, "Ummm, yeah."

"Haha. Clifford, his hair gel has sun-in in it!"

So Cliff had slowly been bleaching his hair with Sun-In Gel. I tease him all the time saying he was doing it on purpose, secretly wanting to become a blond (which totally bugs him).

Here's the beginning of it (above). I wasn't purposly taking pictures of the progression, it just happens that I'm flash happy and have always taken a bunch of pictures, so I was able to go back and find pictures from the exact time.

Here comes the blond....

And there you have it!