"Trey, can you make me a compost bin?"

Well, today's my 25th birthday. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, I was nice to hear from you.

I haven't had a chance to really celebrate. I'm relaxing at home and Cheyenne is in bed for the night. Trey is out of town for the night, working. I'll see him tomorrow evening, when he gets off. Maybe, I can talk him into making me cake. I've already dropped a hint earlier this week.

I think I've been watching too much Oprah and Sara Snow because, I've asked Trey to make me a compost bin--and yes this is my birthday wish. Oh, and remember that garden idea I had, well, I think I'm going to wait until next year because the type of garden I would like is going to cost more money than I'm willing to spend right now. I have wine taste on a beer budget. So, this season, I'm going to stick to growing my indoor herbs. It'll work for me.

I'm getting really excited about the compost bin, especially since Trey has agreed to make it. I'm actually surprised he agreed to it because he usually rolls his eyes when I talk about anything "green."

Hopefully, he'll build the bin this weekend. This whole week, when I threw away coffee filters and tomato tops, I thought if I had the bin...I could just chunk it in there.

A Few More Weeks

The school semester is almost over, so that means I'm busy, especially taking photos. When I come home, I still find time to take pictures of Cheyenne.



Cheyenne has discovered her feet. She loves to touch them and kick her legs. Soon she'll be crawling.




Okay, Trey and I are about to watch a movie, but first I gotta feed Cheyenne and put her down for the night. Goodnight.

Seminary Stride: A Fast Race

My Saturday morning started with a 5K at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I ran with a friend Amanda. This was her first 5K and we decided to run the race together.

I'm not use to racing with someone, but it was definitely a good thing. We ran the fist mile at a fast 8 minutes and 30 seconds. Once we got passed that mile marker we got into a steady pace and finished right under 28 minutes. This is the first race of the year, that was not timed with a chip, but if the official results are posted I will post them here. I'm estimating our pace per mile was 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

I think running with Amanda really helped my pace. Although, I was more aware of my running habits and had to refrain from saying, "Whoa," while running. It's a little weird, I know, but when I race I like to say "Whoa!" from time to time. I think I let one Whoa out and then decided I better not let it slip again. These little habits are common for runners. I've seen other runners spit and/or breath very loud and grunt.

This was taken a few minutes after we crossed the finish line.

We all look a little crazy in this picture.


After the race, we stayed busy the rest of the day. From there, we went home and I cleaned up to go to an Antique Mall to meet some women from the church for a light lunch, as Trey rushed off to band practice. Once we were done with that, we had an NFL draft get together at our house, with a few friends. And later that evening, we had a 2nd annual neighborhood BBQ party.

Even though our day was jammed packed, Cheyenne was such a good baby. I was very pleased. She was smiles all day long.

Reconnecting with Cheyenne

I enjoyed my time away, but it's so good to be home with my family. I missed Cheyenne so much and all that worrying about her not recognizing me was a waste of time. Trey did a wonderful job taking care of her. One night, he got off work late, but he still managed to keep her on her normal schedule. I was also very appreciative that he found time to post pictures on the blog.

Lately, Cheyenne has been sleeping in late and this morning Trey went to her crib to see how she was doing. He whispered for me to take a look. When I peaked in her crib, she was talking and touching the picture I posted of us. It was the sweetest thing. I was thinking about taking it down, but since she likes it so much I think I'm going to leave it.

While I was gone, Trey's parents took Cheyenne shopping. Trey said he picked this outfit for her. He likes the way she looks in blue.

I can't help, but notice that blue is the same Dallas Cowboys blue.

Other than reconnecting, I've been getting things done around the house, before I go back to work tomorrow.

Yesterday, I also had a chance to go running. I had an errand to run and instead of wasting gas, I figured I'd run to the Post Office drop box. Round trip, I think it was two and a half miles. It had been over a week since my last run. I was planning on running while I was in Las Vegas, but the Hilton charges 20 dollars a day to use their workout facility. Crazy! I took workout clothes for nothing, but my shoes did come in handy for all the walking. I told my boss it didn't feel right wearing running shoes for leisure walking, if she didn't think I was weird before I'm sure she's convinced now. I didn't feel safe running the streets of Las Vegas by myself and I'm sure Trey and my Mom appreciate that.

This weekend I have a 5K race, so later I want to try to do some cross training on the elliptical.

Las Vegas Photo Album

Go here, to view the entire Las Vegas album.

The NAB Conference

So, the trip to Las Vegas was great. The National Association of Broadcasters convention, kept me very busy, but I still had an opportunity to go to the strip and the Fremont Experience. I traveled with my boss and I'm glad she was with me because I don't travel a lot. It also helped that she had been there before.

Here's a picture of the strip.

This was at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, where I stayed.

The Sport Bar at the Hilton

And this is the Fremont Experience

The Bellagio Fountains


About the Convention:

You should check out the NAB website, it's pretty cool. You might recognize a few people who attended; Dave Ramsey, Kelsey Grammer, Bud Albers (Disney), Henery Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas), and Mary Tyler Moore.

I was originally signed up for the director of photography workshops, but once I got there, it was apparent I would get more out of the conference if I attended the NAB post production world conference track. I had 2 and a half days of classes, mostly on software education; Final Cut Studio. Final Cut Studio is a video editing software I use at least once a week. I've been using it for years and feel comfortable with it, but going to these workshops taught me how to utilize the entire suite. I focused on Color, Motion, settings and understanding metadata. I'm currently editing a video, so I can't wait to get back and apply this knowledge.

This might be something my department will send me to every year, so I'm exploring the idea, of taking the Final Cut certification class, next time around.

So, I spent the first few days in the classroom and the last day I walked the exhibit floor. There were all kinds of vendors: Canon, JVC, Panasonic, Arri, and my favorite exhibit Sony.

At the Sony exhibit. They had cameras out to where you could walk up and play.

I'm Back From Las Vegas

I got in this afternoon and I've been busy loving on Cheyenne. The trip was wonderful. I will post more about it later.

Missing Mommy

Tonight is Cheyennes first night without her mommy. Dominique is in Las Vegas. Right now Cheyenne is talking to her mom looking at her picture that Dom placed in her crib.

Good Night mom we love you.

Popeye and Sugarbaby

Story Time with Daddy (posted by Trey)

Reading Cheyenne a bedtime book.


I have been giving Sierra a bath all week in preparation of Dom going to Las Vegas.

Cheyenne at 5 Months

This one is my favorite. I will probably have this made in an 8x10 for her 5 mo portrait.


Her little Easter dress.


Behind our house, we have a field of bluebonnets.


After a while, she didn't like the flowers.

I like her bright eyes in this photograph.


Poor baby!


Now she's really upset.


Awwwww......


Those are my some of my favorites. There were a few I didn't post, but you can view all of them here. Trey will appreciate that. He's always picking on me for not posting all the photos.

I Exceeded My Google Account Picture Quota

I've been blogging since 2005 and I have finally reached my picture quota. My google account is full and will no longer allow me to upload to Blogger and Picasa (the 2 are linked together via Google). For those of you who have blogger accounts, I don't think you need to worry about running out of space because you probably don't post as many photos as I do.

So, I went ahead and opened a new Flickr account and will be using the free service to post pictures to this blog. A long time ago I opened an account with them, but I forgot my log in information. So, now I have 2 accounts with Flickr...joy.

It's a shame I had to switch because I really liked using Picasa. The good thing about Flickr is they allow 100MB per month. I'll just need to compress my photos before I upload, since I have a habit of shooting in high resolution.

I took lots of picture of Cheyenne in her Easter dress, so I will get those up soon.

Rollie Pollie

Today, Cheyenne wanted to roll over and over and over.


It seems like every time I capture her on video she farts.

Harley and Corky

Some of you already know that Trey and I have been trying to find our 2 Welsh Corgi's, Harley and Corky, a new home. I think we first talked about the idea when Cheyenne was in NICU. Now that we have a baby and we're both working full-time, it's hard to spend quality time with our dogs.

Before we had Cheyenne, I would go running with Corky frequently and walking with both of them on a regular basis. But since we had her, we moved the dogs from inside/outside dogs to outside. It's not that we were afraid of them hurting her, we were more concerned about their shedding.

The guilt of having them as outside dogs got to Trey and I, so we placed an ad on Craigslist. The main contingent; we did not want to separate them. It took about two weeks, but we found them a great home. We ended up rehoming them to a nice couple with two daughters (a 2 yo and a newborn). I think the mom stays at home, so I think their family will have more time to commit to them. We offered to give them the dog house, but they declined, so I bet they will keep them indoors.

Trey and I both agreed, we are done with dogs. We've been there, done that and now we can move on. And for the first time since being homeowners, we have a backyard that's not occupied by pets. Trey did yard work Saturday and we even planted a maple red tree. It's been nice enjoying the backyard and this time next year Cheyenne will get to run around and play.

This season, I'm thinking about planting a small vegetable garden, but we'll see how that goes. It may be too late, but hey it's worth a try. In the past, I've successfully grown cilantro, tomatoes and basil, but that was indoors (minus the tomatoes). I will keep you posted.

Our Easter Adventure

First of all, I want to say I'm thankful for the resurrection!

We took a family picture, right before we left to go to church.







So, I figured Cheyenne wouldn't stay in her dress all day, but I had no idea the moment I dressed her, she would spit up! She spit up one more time before we walked out the door. I didn't change her, I just wiped her down and hoped that would be the end of it.

After church, we went out to eat with friends and sure enough Cheyenne leaked her diaper and I didn't have any more in her bag! I really need to re-stock it more often. So, Trey had to drive to the house and pick up some diapers.

This is what she ended up wearing. I'm sure she was more comfortable in this sleeper, than a big dress.

It Took a Long Time Getting Here

Ever since I returned back to work, I’ve settled on working out on weekends. It wasn’t until this week, I attempted to do the impossible, work out during the work week. I managed to pull this off, Monday and Wednesday evening.

Cheyenne consistently goes to bed at a certain time, so I think I’ll be able to keep it up. This week, I've been on the elliptical, which is a nice change. I moved the machine back in the dining area, so I can watch TV and visit with Trey. That elliptical has been in every room of our house, but I use it more often when it's the dinning area.

On a side note, I’m really proud of Trey. He’s decided to take it easy on eating out, for lunch. Instead of eating out, he’s been brown bagging it. This week he’s been eating Kraft’s South Beach Diet wraps. I haven’t tried them, but he seems to really enjoy them.

I prefer to take my lunch and I typically brown bag leftovers. If we don’t have leftovers, then I might make a sandwich or rice and beans and top it with veggies. They are both fast and nutritional.

Yesterday, Trey asked what I thought a good snack food would be, to take to work and I suggested bananas. Bananas are great because you don’t have to refrigerate, you don’t need utensils, they are portable, super affordable, and most of all they are nutritional. He seemed open to the idea, but I think he would prefer something else. Any ideas? He works in the field, so he does not have access to a kitchen.

Lately, my favorite snacks have been Yoplait Whips yogurt and bananas. Mmmm. I think it’s yogurt time.

Where's the Bridge?

It's starting to sink in, that in less than 2 weeks, I will be in Las Vegas. This month, I've been mentally preparing myself for the trip.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to grow professionally, but at the same time, I'm not sure if I'm ready to be away from Cheyenne. My biggest fear---I'm scared that when I come back, she may not recognize me. It may sound crazy to you, but that's how I feel.

On top of dealing with leaving her, I have to consider travel while lactating. Everyone says a baby can tie you down, but nursing gives that phrase a whole new meaning. Now consider nursing while traveling without baby and it might be enough to throw a mom over the edge. Where's the bridge?

My travel arrangements call for a flight, so I called the airline and also referred to TSA regulations for traveling with liquids. After looking into it, I feel a little better.

I know Cheyenne will be fine. She'll be in good hands. Trey is really looking forward to their time together.

We were a Sight to See

We've had a pretty good weekend and I would recommend the movie Rendition. However, it was really annoying when the subtitles came on screen because it would freeze and we had to rewind the disc. Luckily, the entire movie was not subtitles. I need to contact Netflix because I'm not sure if it's because it's a faulty disc or our player is to blame.

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Saturday, Cheyenne and I spent the day shopping at an Outlet Mall, with the girls. We were a sight to see. Including me: five mom's and six kids (correction-7 kids). Talk about a lot of strollers! I was surprised, how well all of them did, even at the restaurant.

It was nice conversing with other mom's and I felt understood, if I said, "Oh, I'm going to step outside of the store to feed and change Cheyenne." I had such a good time. I think we're going to try to plan another day out. We're going to go to another outlet mall or make a trip to Ikea. I vote Ikea! But that will be a drive, on second thoughts maybe another outlet isn't a bad idea.

About the shopping, I didn't really buy anything I needed, well, that's not true...I bought a much needed belt. I really need new work clothes, especially pants. Most of my work pants are falling off my bottom.

Here are some pictures of Cheyenne before we went to church. Trey was serenading her on the guitar.


I'd say she's got a little belly on her. Wouldn't you?


When we went to church Serena gave Cheyenne this adorable dress. Serena made it and I think it looks great!

It looks good with or without jeans.


Cheyenne seems to like it.

Cutie

Pizza and Movie Night!

It's been a good day at work. I had a chance to finally update my professional blog with a recent project. It's hard to update that blog, when I have so many projects. It seems like as soon as I complete one there's already 3 lined up waiting for me to start.

At least it's Friday and I'm looking forward to some pizza and a movie. Tonight, we're watching Rendition. I haven't heard much about it, but I hope it's good.

Everyone have a nice weekend!

Driving Through Town

Yesterday, Jeremy, Elizabeth, Tanner, and Brodee were on the road and decided to stop by for a short visit. We weren't expecting them, so it was a nice surprise. I made dinner and we visited for a few hours, before they got back on the road.

Brodee and Cheyenne



















































Last night, Cheyenne slept okay. She did wake up twice. Once, I went to her and pacified her and the second time, Trey went to her and did the same thing. Didn't take much and she's was back to sleep. She decided to wake herself up this morning at 5 am. I brought to bed, while I got ready and she was just talking away to Trey; who was asleep.