top five lessons i've learned this week

in no particular order:

1. don't ride your bicycle in the dark. or if you do, watch where you are going
2. make sure the water bottle is fully closed before throwing it in the gym bag with the cell phone
3. if you're holding the window on your car up with tape and you live in texas, the tape will melt to the window
4. being a girl in a work environment dominated by men has its advantages
5. let it go

Aunt Awesome

i'm trying it out as my new name. i think it is better than aunt amanda. of course, when brock is being silly he calls me auntie mandi. anyway, being the amazingly fun aunt i am, when i babysat on thursday brock decided to put on a special outfit (the picture of the back is equally hilarious, but ry won't let me post it):
brock showing off his muscles... i'm sure he'll appreciate this when he is in high school

Precious, but ornery, braxton

brotherly love

popscicles are our thing.

and since i'm an aunt, not a mom, we eat popscicles in our underwear

wrestling is our second favorite thing to do, losing only to playing airplane (which will one day cause me to go into cardiac arrest if brock gets much heavier)

me and brockers

and of course brax had to have a turn

concert

this picture was probably taken before i was born:

anyway, the point is, i went to a rick springfield concert on friday night. if you don't know who that is, he is the guy who sang "jessie's girl" back in 1981. i was a little worried since the 18 or so other people that i went with were all about 15 years older than me. but, i had a whole lot of fun. and i got to grab his hand when he stood in a chair that was right in front of where we were. by the way, he is 59 now and still looks good (had somebody not told me, i would have never guessed he was that old).

internship

friday was my last day at emler. it will be nice to not have dry skin and a constant chlorine smell.
i started at cooper yesterday. here are a few quick things that have happened:
--yesterday was spent listening to some really good speakers: for example, coach phil tyne (runs the tom landry center at baylor, was a strength coach for the chargers for 10 years), t.l. mitchell (coo of cooper who has written a couple of books on leadership and how it relates to fitness), the head nutrition of cooper, and the ceo of cooper concepts.
-- i met dr. cooper yesterday. a couple facts about him: besides his world famous clinic/research center/aerobic center, he has been asked to be the surgeon general three times, he is the reason that lays now has baked chips with no saturated fat, and he is not only responsible for getting p.e . put back into texas schools, but made it required that they all have fitness tests and then he funded the effort
--i not only got cooper polos, but i also got a nametag, security badge for vought, a parking space, an office, and a computer. that may seem dorky to you, but it makes me feel official
--i've learned a whole ton of information in the last two days
-- i'm going to be incredibly busy and have tons of responsibilities, which make me excited, but also nervous.. apparently i will be working with my supervisor on his projects but also doing my own
--i am destined to get lost at least once. vought is HUGE. literally, fifty buildings. the first rule i learned was to always carry my cell phone so when i get lost i can call for directions

** statistic of the day: 1 OUT OF EVERY 3 KIDS BORN IN THE YEAR 2000 WILL HAVE DIABETES**