Celebrate we will because life is short but sweet for certain

Abilene may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this is the place that I call home.

We live in a simple townhouse in a simple area full of kind people in a simple city.

Once a month the people of Abilene gather downtown to celebrate at Art Walk. All of the museums stay open late so that everyone can enjoy the art, there are booths set up on the streets selling baked goods, jewelry, fresh lemonade... People are selling things to raise money for local charities and to fund mission trips a lot of the time so it feels good supporting their causes.
There is live music on street corners- guitars, drums, bag pipes. There are shows, displays, and all kinds of things to enjoy with the other members of the city.

On this particular night there was a fund raiser for AISD and we got to enjoy a delicious crawfish and shrimp dinner with a sweet tea to wash it all down. While we sat and enjoyed dinner the kiddos from the elementary schools performed songs for us! It was such a blast... I love this place!

Here are some pictures from that night...

Us in our crawfish hats!



Diggin' in!



One of my favorite moments that night... Cooper Cougar being denied a hug by a three year old! LOL!



Bag pipe entertainment!



Army men?



Old lady belly dancers!



Some guy performing 80's tunes!



Jump Rope for Heart!



We had a great time at Art Walk Arpil, 2011...
Can't wait until next month!

A night of celebration!

We are so blessed to have been able to celebrate a wonderful Friday night with some of our best friends in the world. We all met up to eat dinner at The Brick Oven and then headed over to the Abilene Civic Center to celebrate Brent graduating from fire academy! It was such an exciting night for him and we were so happy to be there for him and celebrating with him. We watched a video of their schooling, them training, putting out fires, testing, just so much stuff that they go through to become firefighters. To protect us. How blessed are we all to have such wonderful people who go through such training so that we can sleep at night?
I always admired my Daddy for being a firefighter, but I was much younger and don't think I ever realized the risks associated with the job. Now that I'm older and can see what they go through, wow. I can't believe that we're so lucky to have these people on our side. Thank you to the firefighters out there protecting us daily, thank you to their spouses who back them up and let them do their jobs for us (Darling Bria), and above all of those- Thank you, Lord, for creating such strong, courageous men and women who are fighting for the lives of your people.

This is the firefighter,Brent and his gorgeous bride, Bria!



I'm going 6th grade on you- BFFL!



After we went to the graduation we all headed over to Cody and Melissa's house to celebrate and enjoy one another's company. The dogs were having a blast (Doc wants to marry Trigger), we were eating cake balls that Melissa did an amazing job at making, drinking wine that was made in 1933 ;), and talking about everything under the sun.

Best girl friends a girl could ask for! Love me some Bria and Melissa!



Some of the things our husbands say and do just crack me up... Girls- How lucky are we that God provided us with such men?! I couldn't ask for a better husband who pranks me all the time and keeps me laughing and for our friends who treat us like little sisters and pick on us. What a life we have!

This is them "posing"... I'm not sure what they were attempting, but if it was looking like a bunch of nerds- mission accomplished.



well, in case you don't know me very well, I'm typically ready to be curled up in my bed around 9:30 so that I can get a good 8 hours of beauty sleep and not be a cranky pants in the mornings... Not tonight!! I looked at the clock at it was 3:00 in the morning!

We must talk a lot to not realize all of those hours passing... What a blast we had together. Guess that's why our lifegroup always runs about 3 1/2 hours. We all talk too much! LOL!

Dallas and I headed home and hit the hay... unfortunately I had to work that morning at the golf course so I didn't get but about 4 hours of sleep. I was pooped!
It was a nice day at the course though, so I can't complain. The fun that we had was worth it...

Congrats again, Brent! And thank you, God for this wonderful life that you've provided us with. We know we don't deserve it, we deserve nothing, but you are so amazing and bless us beyond belief. How I love being yours!

Sunday, Funday? Sunday...we missed our plane day.

We woke up to a lovely morning in NY on Sunday and Dallas really wanted for us to be able to walk around Central Park together before left...I mean, who knows when we'd
get another chance to do this!



We decided to walk since it was so nice outside. It was kind of one of those crisp air, kinda chilly, but pleasant mornings. We walked around 20 blocks to the park and it was gorgeous out there. I didn't expect it to be what it was...
There were people with their babies out running, people with their dogs at the dog park all playing together, artists playing music, families enjoying the morning together. It was just a beautiful, happy place to be. In fact, we actually passed a hill where there were a good 25 dogs just running around like crazy together and having a ball. These people love their dog time... so much that I actually spotted a woman walking up with her dog--- in a stroller. This is her...



There were so many neat spots that we walked up on while in the park. Just beautiful gardens with blooming bright flowers, old bridges, a little information center that looked like a little cottage hidden in the trees. It's a very interesting place and it was a very nice, quiet way to part with New York... It's very peaceful there, which was a nice change from Times Square the night before!



Dallas and I just walked, talked, laughed for a good while out there before we realized that we were both a little hungry. I guess we had walked off that massive cheesecake we had for dessert the night before!

Dallas had seen that this place called Waffles and Dinges beat Bobby Flay on Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network and decided that we needed to find these guys. We had to look on the internet to see where they were on this particular day (they're street vendors) and it was about 20 blocks from where we were.

We looked at each other, knew we'd be cutting it close as far as leaving on time, but we both smiled and took off in the direction of the waffles.

We walked so fast that my side was hurting! LOL! I think us working so hard to get there was half of the fun.
We finally arrived and were only 3 people back in line. YES!
Deciding on what flavor toppings was the hardest part, but the man who runs the place said ,"I recommend you, speculoos...is so good, you love it."
The woman beside us asked what this stuff was made with... His reply, "is made with...ahhh... is made with love."

Okay- not that you convinced me with your description, but anyone else who convinces people that food taste better cooked with love is a friend in my book. I shall try your speculoos. Speculoos and whipped cream, please!



Oh My Pajamas! This stuff was absolutely the most delicious waffle I've ever had in my ENTIRE life. I'm not exaggerating... and I realize I exaggerate everything, but seriously- not exaggerating! THE BEST!

Dallas and I were walking at lightning speed while sharing this waffle and mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-ing at how good it was every time we took a bite.

If you're ever in New York you must go to Waffles and Dinges in the yellow van/bus.



We raced back into the hotel, got our bags and headed to the subway. We were making great time, we were on schedule and things were going according to plan... until the train station.

Note to all NY tourists: The train station changes its scheduled times on weekends!

There wasn't a train that was going to get us to our airport on time since it was a full half our behind the usual schedule! AAHHH! What do we do? We've never done this before!

Dallas called and it cost us $100 to switch flights... not to mention that now we'd be going all the way to the other side of New York to another airport.

We had literally walked around 80 blocks that morning, traveled 45 minutes to Newark with our luggage by subway, bought non-refundable train tickets, and now had to take another subway (with all of our luggage) another hour and a half to the new airport! AAAHHHH! No way this is happening. Thank the Lord for my husband who also realizes that we can't control the world and we just laugh in the face of messed up plans. What else can you do at this point? :)

We made it to JFK and finally got onto a plane and were headed directly to Austin, Texas. Home, Sweet home.

We landed and as soon as we got off of the plane we realized that it was a good 30 degrees warmer in Texas than NY and there was humidity in the air. People were smiling at one another and men were holding doors for ladies and everyone was just happy... Man, it feels good to be home. I missed you, Texas. Sure we have our fair share of cranky people, but at least we've got manners and respect and realize the value in one another.
I love being able to call this place home...


Until we meet again, New York...

Where do the hours go when you're in New York??

Saturday morning... did we sleep in after the lack thereof the day before? Heavens no! We're in New York!

We we're pretty excited about our Saturday- it was a no plans, totally wing it, do what we want type of day and it was AWESOME! We woke up and went to the "fancy continental breakfast" that was at the hotel.

I had a bagel like a true New Yorker. Yes, I wore a towel on my head to breakfast. :)




After we ate breakfast we packed up our bags and headed out to the Hilton hotel that we had booked for that night. It was such a breath of fresh air once we made our way into our BIG luxurious room after being in that matchbox for the past two nights. We did have a mini bar in our room and I requested a price list and a room service list just for fun- no way were we going to spend that much! Anyone want a $10 peanut butter & jelly sandwich? How about a $5 kit kat? No? No takers? Well, I didn't want a peanut butter & jelly, so we decided to do what any tourist would do- walk the streets and figure it out when we got there.

We decided to head down to Soho since it had been suggested to us by so many friends... um, MY FAVORITE part of NY. I Love that place. It's so fun and cute and interesting and unique. I just enjoyed it so much down there. We saw the funniest little places to eat (remind me to tell you about the rice pudding place), the bakeries with the eclairs in the windows that looked so delicious, the pet store with the precious pups, the lychee yogurt place (mmmmmm)... all so wonderful to go into and explore.

Oh, and I got to take a picture with a lion...



We took a friend's recommendation and ate at Lombardi's Pizza which is apparently the first pizzeria in America. I'll tell you what, Pizza places all over the world can take a lesson from these guys! They know what they're doing...
We got a small pizza with extra mozzarella and pepperonis. The cheese was just so melty and strung out when you took a bite into that perfect crust. The pepperonis were just crunchy enough around the edges where they kind of curl up a bit and they melt in your mouth. Oh my gosh... we devoured that thing!





I'm horrible and can never remember the events in order... I think right after we left Lombardi's we headed to the Subway to head to Battery Park.
It was beautiful there. The people looked like they were out of a movie just sitting on park benches over looking the water and having coffee together. Tourists posing for pictures and looking at the statues. It was just such a great thing to see. We checked out Lady Liberty from FAAAAR away- we weren't very interested in her. Is that okay? I hope so...
We strolled by the water and came upon some performers in the park that were hilarious and such entertainers. They acted out their show, danced, and lured in the audience with their charm. The place was just gorgeous and we really enjoyed the bit of time that we got to spend there together.



We hung out there for for a little bit and realized that it was getting late in the afternoon. We were planning on heading to the Museum of Natural History until Dallas googled it and realized it closed in 1 hr.

We were clearly sad about this news...



So instead we decided to head to Chelsea's Pub and take a tour and enjoy the pier.
There was a huge driving range that was 4 stories high and people were just hitting off of the ledges into a huge net that was out in the water. It was pretty neat. We saw people's yachts docked there and watched the sun getting ready to head down over the water. Our tour was short, but so fun. It was a one room tour considering they only brew beer for a few places including their own pub, but learning the process from a native Texan was interesting. We were clearly his favorites since we share a love for the great state of Texas! We had one of their beers "Chelsea's Blonde" and it was delightful. Way to top off our afternoon...



It was our last night in New York so we really wanted to do up dinner... We spent a good hour back at our hotel room trying to figure out where to go. We googled, read reviews, threw out names and ideas and finally decided on a place called Room Service. We left the hotel and walked the streets of New York to our destination.
When we got there we were blown away by the atmosphere. It was the neatest restaurant I'd seen there! It was all semi-moderny painted in blacks and turquoise with sleek chrome seating. There were walls with unique mirrors all over them and then when you looked up you realized the entire ceiling was covered in them as well. They just looked like they had been picked out of antique stores, painted with black frames and hung. No rhyme or reason. Beautiful. Then, in the center of this place was a HUGE gorgeous, lit up chandelier in a case that stole the show.
After we got over how unique this place was we got seated and had to decide from the elaborate, wonderful menu. We got chicken dumplings, sesame tofu, shrimp, and spring rolls for appetizers. Oh gosh what a start to dinner!
I sat there and enjoyed my delectible lychee mojito while Dallas sipped on his Sapporo.
Our dinner came and I had the shrimp pad thai and I can't recall what Dallas's was called, but it was fantastic as well. We were getting stuffed and having such a great time together. We were sad to head out of there, but the experience was so great that it's burned into my mind forever.

While we were out for our last evening we decided that it was the perfect time to explore Times Square. WOW! That place is jam packed with people, it's lit up so bright, buzzing with the sound of people's voices and people asking to draw your pictures or sell you tickets to comedy clubs. It was almost overwhelming trying to take in everything that was happening down there!



The buildings are beautiful at night when they're lit up and the advertisments are scrolling and changing and there are flashing lights everywhere and everything just becomes a blur as it's whizzing by you. What a place to see!
We went into the HUGE Toys R Us just because it was there and looked fun and we're nerds... it was awesome. I would love to be a 5 year old in that place.

Wait, I kind of was.



Dear Times Square,
You are kind of crazy, but incredibly fun and quite a place to spend our last night in New York. Thanks for being awesome.
Love, The Paulks



It was past midnight at this point I think and as we were walking I was telling Dallas we hadn't had any cheesecake yet! Bria said we have to have cheesecake!!!
So, we headed to the place that she told us to go- Carnegie Deli.

This cheesecake was GIGANTIC! And oh my stars, covered in huge strawberries that were just perfect. The cheesecake just turn to creamy deliciousness when it hit your lips. Stick a fork in me- I'm done. Call it a night and tuck me into bed. That just ended it off perfectly!



Back to the hotel we went after our long last day in the city... we're headed back home to the best place on the planet, Texas, in the morning.

That's a whole different adventure for another day.

The Creek and The Cave... in New York?

Let's face it... I'm lazy. I still haven't posted the rest of New York!!!
Geez Louise, Britain, get it together!

So I told everyone about the Today Show and how awesome the whole experience was, yes, even the freezing weather added to the occasion and made it fun... You will NEVER hear me say that EVER again. I dislike cold weather with a passion.

So after Dallas and I ran around Rockefeller for a while we decided to visit the 9/11 memorial site.
Wow.
It was such a crazy feeling as we were walking up those streets approaching the site and I realized that these were the exact streets from the pictures 10 years ago. I recognized them, I pictured the people's faces, I remembered the smoke and rubble everywhere from the pictures... it was really an emotional thing for me to see in person. I remember being devastated when it occurred and I didn't know anyone there, I had never been to NY, I just felt heartbroken for the people suffering there. Their loss was so great and those emotions came flushing back. I'm glad I got to go there after all of this time and see them creating new life where such a tragedy occurred.
We also visited the chapel where the firefighters, police officers, medics, and volunteers would go pray and find rest. It was a beautiful place and it was so neat to think of all the prayers that were said there on behalf of humanity at that time. Not prayers for our friends or our family members, or about new jobs- but prayers for a nation, for healing, for hope and peace to people that didn't know one another from Adam. What an amazing thing...



After seeing this we went to another church, walked down Wall Street, saw the NY stock exchange, took pictures with George Washington and and just tried to squeeze as much sight-seeing as we could into the few hours we had before the show.
I generally would have been pooped at this point, but we were in NY...this place doesn't sleep right?!

This George Washington petting Dallas.



We headed back to the hotel to get all fancy pants'd for the show... Which dress do I wear? Which necklace with it? What's my first pet's name and what street did I grow up on? What's your favorite vegetable?
We were attempting to get dressed and learn last minute facts about one another before the show... we laughed and figured, well, if we don't know it by now- too bad.
We made it to the HUGE hotel where the show was filmed on the second floor... weird. I know. We got to meet with the three couples that were filming the show after us and with the two couples we'd be competing against. Every single one of these people were a blast! We were headed into the studio! We got our microphones wired through our shirts and bras and pants and shoved into our dresses- those things are crazy- and we headed onto set! We had such a great time hanging out with all of them before filming began.
"Everyone get a glass of champagne, toast to a great day and to winning and let's go!"
The time flew by. The audience was a blast, the questions were ridiculous and embarrassing, and every one's answers were hilarious and often way too much information... This is definitely a day that is going down in the history books for us! We, unfortunately, cannot say if we won or not, but we can tell you what a blast it was for us and to watch Game show Network to see us! PS- Sherry Shepherd is hilarious and just precious. Meeting her was awesome and I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm adorable.
I'm just sayin'. ;)

By the time we made it back to the hotel after the show were both just exhausted. We had, after all, been up since before the sun and traveled through a good majority of NY at this point. Did we eat today? Oh yeah, Seattle Deli. Eh, it was alright. But it was now time for dinner... I love dinner time. And I was ready for a drink and some good food!

We ended up at this restaurant/comedy club/bar downstairs/trendy place. It was awesome! It was called The Creek and The Cave and it's my favorite place to eat... wonder if I'll ever get to go back. We had DELICIOUS mexicany food upstairs and enjoyed the brick walls with trendy paintings, the water served in wine bottles, and the awesome music mix they had playing... After dinner we headed downstairs to the bar to grab a drink and took that into the theatre for the comedy show. This thing called "kickball" was about to start and it's a group/audience improv show and it was HILARIOUS! Whoever wanted to volunteer from the audience, which was everyone but about 5 of us, went up and were picked by four team captains to be on their "kickball teams". Then each team went up individually while everyone else watched from the audience as they did improv on a random topic for a solid 15 minutes or so. It was a riot!




Man, what a night it had turned into... we were having so much fun that the sleep deprivation had been pushed to the wayside and we were laughing and joking around all the way home.

Dallas was calling me Chatty Kathy and then decided he felt like he looked very studious that evening... This is us reflecting those things...



Then we saw the bed...
My brain went into nigh-nigh mode and I was done for! So long for now NY- we'll see you in the morning!!

I feel like Meredith will want to be friends...

Part 1 of Day 2 in NY! That means the Today Show!

Oh how the sound of an alarm clock at 4:45 in the morning can make a girl cringe...
Until she realizes it's going off so that she can get to the Today Show extra early to meet the cast and hopefully be on TV!

So, I woke up,gleefully leaped out of bed, pushed the ON button on my tiny baby coffee pot that hotels provide and started getting dolled up for the show. Of course, as all girls know, when you're excited about looking great for something important you almost always happen to smash your mascara wand to the bridge of your nose. Yep, I knew it was going to happen, I did my best to avoid it... but no such luck. As I was putting on my 8th layer of masacara, ta-da! MASCARA FAIL!
I huffed at the black smudge on my face, licked a tissue, cleaned my nose and knew it would be cake from there.
Oh wait, how could I forget? Dallas is still in bed!
It took me 4 "wake up, darlings" to try and get him out of bed nicely and then on number 5 I had to bust out that look that I learned from my Mama that says, "I mean business...you better get with the program, buddy."
Clearly the Today Show is not on the top of his totem pole. BUT IT IS MINE!

After attempting to both finish dressing in one tiny bathroom, maneuvering around one another's junk on the counter, avoiding faces in one another's armpits or me burning him with my straightener- We were finally ready to go.
I still needed to make my sign for the show so I borrowed a sharpie marker from the kind Indian fellow at the desk and purchased a HOT pink sign from another kind Indian man at a little store on the way to the


subway. Once we made it to our station I proceeded to make my sign (in the subway) that said, "Al, Let me deliver your famous line!"
I was ready. Bring on the Today Show.

We made our way to Rockafeller Plaza, which was amazing, and had to ask for directions to where the other crazy people stand in freezing weather at 6am for the Today Show filming... he pointed- we went.
I finally could see it- the other crazies standing and waiting- my heart jumped into my throat and I got butterflies! I sped walked over and found a spot on the very front row where Meredith, Al and Matt would surely see me!


After watching the show for a while I realized that they were finally about to film in the window directly behind where Dallas and I were standing.



I ran over to grab my spot so that I would finally make my Today Show debut. Oh yeah- it happened!!!

I was on my favorite show!! Can you believe it! aaahhh! My Daddy said that when my littlest brother, Matix, who is 6, saw me he said, "look, Daddy, Britty is blowing me kisses on TV!" and blew kisses back to me. Sweet boy that I love so much...




I turned around to Dallas and could see that he was genuinely excited for me. He stood out in that freezing weather with me so that I could experience this. Luckiest girl alive? I like to think so. :)

Finally part of the cast came out to meet everyone and film a bit of the show outside- thats when I spotted them coming my way... And this is when I began flailing my arms like a crazy woman and yelling Al's name so that he'd see my sign. He made his way down and I shook his hand and asked if I could deliver the line- he said, "you never know- it could happen."



Well, it didn't end up happening, but I didn't mind! I still got to meet him... And that was awesome!
Since he had already seen my sign I decided to make one more "Britain-ish". I sat down on my knees in the middle of Rockafeller Plaza like a four year old and busted out a sharpie.
This is what my new sign looked like...



After a while the rest of the cast was coming out and this meant Meredith! I just think she's the greatest! And again, I began acting like a 12 year old girl at a Bieb concert...

She walked right down my way and we made eye contact and both smiled. :) I think that instantly made us BFFs. Maybe I'm slightly crazy.
She shook my hand and she stood there and talked to me for like 30 seconds. She's so stinking sweet and so beautiful and oh my applesauce the heels she had on were fabulous!


The only thing I really remember is me telling her how wonderful she is and her telling me that I was beautiful. Cut, That's a wrap. Send Britain home to Texas and this will go down as the best trip in history.

We took a picture, not her best, but it still captured the moment and I turned to Dallas and said, "k, it's cold- we can go now."



We did stay around a little bit longer and both got some face time on the show- Dallas was so kind and sweet about standing out there with me. He deserved to be on the show too!



After all of this craziness subsided we walked around Rockafeller, took some pictures and people watched and then headed indoors for a coffee stop together. My cheeks were sore from smiling, my fingers were frozen stiff, and it was time to go explore some more of this huge city!




This was all from between 6-9 in the morning and it had already started off as a fantastic day! We still had plenty of time to kill before we filmed the Newlywed Game later in the afternoon... The rest of our afternoon still to come!

Texas! We missed you OH so much!

Well, we are back from New York! We actually got back on Monday, but it has been a crazy, busy, never ending week... So, here we are- and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

First off, we packed up and left our house on Wednesday night to stay at my mama's house (she took care of Doc for us while we were gone).

Don't leave Texas without yer boots...



Then on Thursday morning we headed out at quite appoximatley the butt crack of dawn and headed to Austin to the airport. Our flights were great... no screaming babies or smelly passengers. Winning!
We connected in Chicago where our flight was delayed by an hour, no biggie, and we headed to New York. We arrived in the BIG APPLE around 4 and from there we took trains, subways, and busses with absolutely crazy busdrivers who improperly use their horns constantly. We wouldn't have actually had to take the bus, but someone caused us a little detour (wrong address put into the subway app. by my darling husband). But, we finally made it to our itty bitty teensy weensy hotel room around 8:30. Please, do the math. That's 15 hours from leaving mama's to getting to our hotel! I was SICK of public transportation at this point.

We got settled in and checked every nook and crannie for bedbugs (I am terrified of them!)
and we decided to spend the last few hours of the night around NY. Oh heavens... I already thought this place was nuts, but then we got on our first subway to head to dinner.
We quickly learned that if there is an empty subway car, that means something is wrong in it. Yep, found that out the hard way and entered one and discovered a man COVERED in poopoo. He had pooped his pants, it ran down his legs and was all over his shoes. Oh my grannies... I couldn't believe my eyes. I think at this point I told Dallas that I hated New York and never ever wanted to come back.

So at the next stop we switched cars on the subway and headed to our destination which at this point was unknown...
We ended up in the city walking around looking at the beautiful buildings, the neat stores, the street vendors selling falafel and hallal, and enjoying our time in the city. Things were starting to look up. We finally found a little place that we thought we'd enjoy eating at called Astros... yes, Dallas is an Astros fan. Dallas got the Philly Cheesesteak and I had a HUGE clam po' boy- they were so delicious. First meal in New York- Success!



I can't exactly remember the order of things happening, but at some point that night we went into the Apple store and saw all of the nerds loving on the new Ipad 2s and messing with gizmos and gadgets- it was pretty neat, I'll give them that. We really just couldn't believe how big everything was and spend our night strolling the city streets marveling at what everyone had been telling us about. We got back to our hotel around 12am I guess and headed to bed so that we could wake up to go to the TODAY SHOW to meet Meredith, Al, and Matt!