Payless is the New Manolos

I absolutely love to buy shoes, because a) I don't have to take anyting off to try them on, and b) I still wear the same size that I did when I was 15. For all you shoe lovers out there, I highly suggest you take a quick trip down to Payless and check out their fabulous selection of super cute shoes. PAYLESS...who knew?!I purchased this pair this past weekend for $19. They are navy blue with little pink dots and actually very very comfy.
These little black patent peep-toed slingbacks were also a steel at $19. Super cute for summer all the way into the fall.

And these were my favorite finds of all. I have been looking for a cute pair of bone colored shoes to wear with my greens and blues, and haven't been able to find a pair that didn't look OLD. My luck changed this weekend at Payless (my new favorite store). I couldn't find a good pic online which probably means they are on their way out, but these little beauties were only $17...and they're Dexters. Remember Dexters? Remember Gap Khaki shorts and Dexters? Remember how expensive they were and how you could only get them at Dillards. Crazy how times change.

Show Us Where You Live Friday

So Kathryn.this friend of mine, has this friend who has been hosting Show Us Where You Live Fridays. Kelly (the friend of a friend) has an amazing blog, and although I have never met her, I feel like I know her just by reading about her and her family...that is a little weird, but hey we are in the 21st Century.

I LOVE houses, home decor, HGTV so you can imagine my excitement to get in on this wonderful idea. I have missed the past four weeks, so I will try to catch up over the next couple of Fridays.

This week is dining rooms. Most of you know that Jason and I moved into a little starter home in Kyle, Texas back in November. There is still some work to be done, but all in all, our cozy "first house" is shaping up quite nicely. We have an eat in kitchen so showing off the dining room and the kitchen is basically the same thing. The pics are a little grainy and dark because I had to use my bberry. Drum roll please...

These curtains came with the house. They are a little matchy matchy for my taste, but they work for now. Any thoughts on what type of window treatments to put on a window like this? Is a valance the only option that would work?

Since the lighting fixture hangs so far down, we really need something lower to the table for a centerpiece. I love fruit in pretty glass bowls, and this worked out perfectly. We received this bowl as a wedding gift and I found these very real looking fake pears at Target for $8. I like to change the fruit out each season.

This chabby chic red china cabinet is my absolute favorite piece in the entire house. We bought it before we were married and Jason housed it in his apartment until I moved in. It originally served as a bookshelf when we lived in D.C., but now I think it is the perfect quirky space for my china!

We also have this bar piece that holds our wine glasses, etc.

The big red berry arrangement is one of the centerpieces from our Christmas wedding. I can't believe it has been almost two years!

And now onto the kitchen...




I would love your suggestions. Can't wait to check out all the other dining rooms!

We've Been Discovered

It's official. Our blog has been discovered. I googled searched my name on the Internet to see if a specific story was posted where I was quoted, but I came across this! Anne Schroeder is a political blogger in D.C. She did a short story on Jason and I when we were engaged. Apparently she stumbled upon our blog back in February (how did I not see this sooner?). For those of you "outside the beltway" this means nothing, but to those of you in D.C....you know this is cool.

To clear the air, Jason knowingly ran 14 miles, and I want to write a book about MY experience in D.C. And by the lack of comments...we are boring as well.

The couple who blogs together stays together?

Back in January of last year we wrote about a cute CapHill couple both working for Rep. John Carter, who got married: Jason and Carmen Fenton.

And now, they share a blog: "The Fenton Spot: The story of a young, married couple leaving behind the excitement of national politics for life in a small town ..."

She hates it when he leaves and has to stay home alone. He unknowingly ran 14 miles the other day, and she wants to write a book about his experiences in D.C. Etc., etc.

By Anne Schroeder Mullins 02:00 PM
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Texas Top Ten

Hello Readers! Sorry for the temporary vaca from the blog. I have no excuse, except for the lack of time and motivation to do anything on the computer that I don't have to. (Excluding facebook, myspace, people.com, usweekly.com, popsugar and drudge...oh and the Austin American Statesman)

There is so much to update you on that I don't even no where to start. So we will just fast forward through the past months up until last weekend (I know I am even late on writing about last weekend).

I was in Winnie, Texas Friday and Saturday. Winnie is a small town on the southeast coast (Texas is not landlocked Jess!) and was seriously devastated by Hurricane Ike. There are lots of cattle in this area and so many of the ranchers fences, barns and houses were literally washed away. TSCRA was down there rebuilding some of those fences. I was down managing the press, not building fences. I heard a rumor that Bush Sr. was roaming around the area somewhere helping out too...but I didn't see him. Anyways it was a great event...see more here.

The real prompting for this blog came on Friday's drive. I realized that one of my favorite things about Texas is the speed limit. I was in the fast lane, going 75ish when this dude pulling a four wheeler behind his truck started riding my rear. I moved over to the slow lane and he passed me, but as he passed me, he threw his hand out the window and made some sort of hand motion. At first I thought he waved so I waved back...but the more I think about it, I think he was flipping me off. I thought Texans didn't flip people off while driving...

So in an effort to save time and sum up the last couple of months I have compiled a top ten list of the things I took for granted while in D.C. The first one being...

1. Friendly highway drivers, except for this dude of course...if he was, in fact, flipping me off.

2. The ability to drive incredibly fast on any major highway. (Speed limit in VA...60, and heavily enforced. Speed limit in TX...70, technically making it 75 and not so heavily enforced)

3. A garage for my car, and a yard for my dog who has learned to poop in the neighbors yard, which was great until they realized what she was doing.

4. The ability to attend weddings of college friends. It was so good to see everyone at Katy's wedding, especially the bride herself. Who knew you could lose such contact with people you once lived with.

5. Walmart and its cheap groceries.

6. A good old Southern Baptist Church where we can become members and get involved.

7. Cheap Mexican food...that tastes like Mexican food.

8. Red Dirt Music (courtesy of Mr. Fenton)

9. Being close to my best friend, Jason's best friend, and both of our families.

10. And finally...the ability to go to the White Deer Rodeo (All you bucks out there know what I mean by that).

Clearly we are happy to be in Texas...but I also miss D.C. a lot. I miss my friends, my bible study group and even my job. I miss being in the middle of all things political, but I am also grateful to be more removed, to gain a little perspective and enjoy just being a Texan.

Lizzie the wonder dog

Well folks, it's been a while since we updated anything. Many apologies.

As you all know, Carmen and I adopted a puppy about a month ago, Lizzie. There's a post about her down a ways when she's all sweet and cuddly and cute. Well, she's still sweet and cuddly and cute, but now she's over 25 pounds instead of 8. Carmen's very upset by this because it's hard for her to sit in her lap and sleep anymore. I, on the other hand, think it's the greatest thing in the world because 8 pound Lizzie couldn't do this.





And for those of you that want video, well we have that too.



As you can see, any doubt as to her lab heritage is officially gone. We headed down to the lake in our neighborhood this afternoon to see how Lizzie would do in the water. She was a little apprehensive at first, but then she found the world's most perfect fetch stick, and all doubts about the water were gone. When we left I had to physically carry her up to the trail to keep her from heading back in. After the success today, I'd say we're all but guaranteed to make many trips down there this summer.

I didn't die!!!

For those of you wondering about the wisdom of my decision to run 13.1 miles all at one time, I am proud to report that my body is still in one piece and I'm able to sit behind my desk and get work done today. Not once did I have to stop and walk and I was even able to encourage other runners to finish the route. The route is posted here...again, assuming I'm smart enough to figure it out.



The day almost started off with a disaster, and did in fact start illegally. Trying to get into downtown an hour before the race should have seemed like a bad idea to Justin and I. Unfortunately, it never crossed our minds that real runners would show up far in advance in order to park and get a little warm up going. Unfortunately for us, there were at least a couple thousand other non-real runners who were all trying to enter via the same 4 lanes at the same time we were. So what's the logical option? Take the first street out of town, even if that means going the wrong way on a one way street for 200 yards. Fortunately, no one was coming out of downtown Fort Worth, so we were okay. Our next bit of misery was trying to survive the travel to the start line in sub freezing temperatures (or at least sub-freezing wind chills). I'm fairly certain that the reason I didn't have the standard soreness in my knees to start the run is because I was numb from the waist down.

One would think these would be the only problems we would face before the race started. Unfortunately this is not the case. Who knew it would be so difficult for 2 guys that have known each other for almost 20 years to find each other if one went to the bathroom. Our grand intentions of running together were dashed before we even crossed the starting line. In spite of that, I actually had a pretty good run. I almost ate pavement because a teenager that hadn't trained for a 13 mile run (obvious because he was walking before the 4 mile marker) kept weaving back and forth as I tried to pass him but that was really the only problem along the way. I was really nervous coming into the race because my long runs had been cut short or non-existent for the last couple weeks because of travel and a hip injury. Turns out those nerves were unfounded. Not only was I able to run the entire route, but I was able to power through the hills, encourage others that were fading to keep going (it's incredible how important the support of the other runners is...this tight community of people that have never met each other really is amazing and likely the topic of another post), and somehow found the strength to kick through the last quarter mile at a significantly faster pace in order to finish strong and beat my goal time. That's right ladies and gentlemen, this kid beat his realistic goal of a sub 2 hour race by 5 minutes and beat his challenge goal of 1:55 by 7 seconds. And I'm not going to lie, knowing Carmen was somewhere in that last quarter mile ready to take pictures and cheer me on was entirely responsible for my sudden burst of energy...turns out she was right at the finish line so she got to see me cross ahead of my goal!

Now, I'm not going to lie...not getting up to run this morning felt amazing. My body definitely needed the extra recovery, but I can't wait to get out and hit the road tomorrow. If all goes well I'll be able to keep up my 25-30 mile a week base and be in a position to challenge myself for a sub 1:30 on the half this fall and go after a full marathon at the Cowtown next February. So for all those in the metroplex, mark your calendar to come hold signs and scream for me next February 27th, and Justin, check your inbox...there are more race registration dates and training plans waiting for you.

Sleepless in Kyle

So Jason is headed to D.C. for work on Wednesday...wait...did I say for work? Hold your applause until the end. I am so proud to announce that my husband is the new federal liaison for the Texas Department of Agriculture (which apparenly is quite a gig).

Yeah for double income! Boo for not having a stay-at-home husband (trust me girls it is the best thing ever).

He is so happy though, and I am so proud of him. We are even car-pooling again (for all you Carter staff out there). Way to wait for the job you want honey!

So back to the out of town part. I HATE staying alone. I get scared at night, and I don't sleep well, which makes for a cranky Carmen the next day. That is normal in D.C., because a) everyone is cranky and b) the streets are littered with murders and robbers just waiting for young women in their 20's to be left alone...overnight. My husband assures me that Kyle is much safer than Washington D.C., and we now have two guns instead of the typical one. Oh, yes and we have dog...who will bark if there is an intruder.

Yes, the dog. So everynight at about 2 a.m., Lizzie starts wimpering because she needs to go out and potty. So every night at about 2:03 a.m. I roll over and wake Jason up, tell him Lizzie needs to go out, and then go back to sleep. This morning, my husband informed me that when she wimpers early Thursday morning, it will be important for me to remember that he is not there and actually get out of bed and let her out myself. I figure I will be awake anyway, propped up in my bed, with the television on, holding one of the two guns ready to fire at anyone who walks through my door.

So he leaves tomorrow, which means by Friday, I will be drinking double coffee and barely making it.

Fly safe honey. I will miss you and will be ready for you to be home, but make sure you call before you walk through the door.