UPDATE!!!

Here's an update for you! Grandaddy is doing much better...the Dr.'s overreacted and everyone else in the family reacted. My mom asked the Dr. on Sunday night if it was ok for my Granny to come see him in the morning and the Dr's response was he thinks it will be TOO late! WHAT? So anyways...PRAISE GOD...he is back with Granny and doing ok. His regular Dr. saw him Monday morning and he said he did indeed look bad but it could be 2 days, 2 weeks or a year. For now we are all relieved and thanking God it wasn't it his time yet.



This leads me to this amazing song I just put on my blog! I have become even MORE into Nickleback because my nephew, SHAYNE LOVES them!! This song really hit home for my feelings on my Grandaddy and on our current situation. With us moving to Vegas, people think we are CRAZY for leaving coorporate world, chasing dreams, not having 401k, insurance, etc.....BUT we LIVE with NO regrets....we have chosen this path and are SOO excited!! It is a bit scary but we are embracing it and going with it!


Like the LINE in this SONG, " EACH DAY IS A GIFT AND NOT A GIVEN RIGHT!!! Leave NO STONE unturned, LEAVE your FEARS behind.....and TRY to take the PATH less traveled BY!!"


We are LIVING by this and it is SO true...each day is a GIFT from GOD....DON'T take it for granted...tell your loved ones you love them, enjoy your family and loved ones, and LIVE LIFE!!!!


Have a great rest of the week and weekend!! We are off to SA to visit family and I am off to see a friend that I haven't seen since I was 18!!! SOOO excited!! She has been a blessing to me since returning to my life...I will have tons on pics from this weekend!!


Also..be on the watch out for SUPER exciting news and PICTURES and a BLOG about my recent trip to LA!!


XOXO
Noelle♥

TOTALLY THANKFUL for all the prayers and my GRANDADDY'S recovery and being back with Granny. God is good and he is in control. Thank you Lord! :o)

Prayers for my family please.....

Granny and Grandaddy at our wedding 5 yrs ago.

This is a first for me. Don't really even know what to say really. Tonight around 9:30pm my dad called me and said he had just got home from Corpus and that the move of my grandparents to a more 24 hour care facility went well, but Granddaddy's blood pressure had dropped significantly and he was rushed the ER by EMS. He is not doing well. The Dr. has told my family that his body is shutting down and they gave him 24 hours.

A little background....my grandparents had to move out of their home almost 2 years ago and they moved into a smaller home. They still needed constant care. Granny needs someone to make her take her medicine and use her oxygen and grandaddy needed someone to help him get around, get to the restroom, oxygen, etc. Slowly...things have been getting worse....they have both taken a couple bad falls and they recently went to 24 hour care at their home. It just wasn't working...they needed to be somewhere else where an RN could take care of them and get all the care they were needing. So this weekend was yet another move. Everything was fine and Granny did really well with the transition but not Grandaddy. I talked to my sister tonight and she said that maybe now that Granny was being taken care of that he felt like he could go. They have always been together, ALWAYS! I'm not quite sure how to deal with this....I've NEVER in my life had someone pass away that was family or someone that I was really close to. I feel like someone has hit me in the stomach. Please pray for my family and most of all pray for my Granny. I don't know how she will deal with this.....Brian and I will be heading to SA this week and then on to Corpus. I will try and keep u guys updated. Thank you so much for the prayers. (sorry if I'm rambling or not making any sense..)

XOXO
Noelle♥

Grandaddy and Granny with the 3 daughters ( my mom is in the middle)

Granny and Grandaddy Christmas '06 (the last Christmas in their house)

(their house with the Christmas SNOW in Corpus Chrsiti,Tx)

TOTALLY and TRUTHFULLY THANKFUL!!

Today as I sit at my friend's apartment in LA and do ABSOLUTELY nothing...I am thankful for the ability and opportunity to travel to see one my best friends. I am ALSO thankful for one of my very good friends and her family. We don't get to see them much but her and I had a VERY long conversation today about family, church, God and life. Her husband wasn't so sure about believing in God but lately he felt like something was tugging at him. He has been listening to a local pastor on podcast and I think God is doing work in his life. She was saying that they wanted to get back into church and start going again as a family.  We talked about how much of a difference it is when you decide to include God in your everyday life. I AM SO guilty about not doing this on a daily basis. I get caught up in everyday life, busyness, and just not stopping to talk to God. I am working on it. Brian and I are very guilty of not finding a church home to worship at every week, we KNOW it needs to be a apart of our life we just need to do it! This is one of the reasons I started doing my TOTALLY THANKFUL blogs to be reminded of God in my life and to be thankful for the things in my life. I really want to stay grounded in my life and remember where I came from. I am TOTALLY THANKFUL for my friend and her family and for God doing work in their lives. They are ready God......Brian and I have handed this journey to Las Vegas over to God.  He is in control and we are following. Thank you Lord for being a pat of my life and giving me a WONDERFUL family and friends.  I am SO grateful!!

XOXO

Noelle♥

(sorry no pics today!)  :o(

OH how I♥ ADAM!!

NEED I say more?? Is there ANYONE else on American Idol?? Seriously...I was SO bored this week with everyone except Allison and Adam. I swear...he is JUST amazing!! I still say he reminds me of Edward from Twilight!! Alright girls....WHO IS READING OR HAS READ the TWILIGHT Series??? OH MY GAWH!! I am NOT done..but LOVES IT! Anyways, back to Adam...they are people who don't like him and I just DON'T get it....HE is AMAZING!! He will there til the end if not win the WHOLE darn thing!! SO...as you know I am rooting for ADAM all the way to the end.

Speaking of American Idol...who are TOP 3 favs to make it to the finals?? Here's mine!

1. Adam

2. Allison

3. Danny

GO ADAM!! YOU ARE TRULY amazing and HOW in the world did NO one pick you up before American Idol?? That totally blows my mind! I just LOVE his presence, confidence, his amazing voice, his smile and his looks of course!

Ok...totally OFF subject but check out these GORGEOUS and amazing SHOES that I will OWN someday even if I have to buy them off ebay! lol My husband shakes his head everytime I talk about the Christian Louboutin's shoes that I want!! Seriously...HOW fabulous are these?? Now if I just convince my husband and if I could actually walk in them!! lol I would do it though....I would put blisters ALL over my feet for these shoes!! Wouldn't you?? NOW these are some FIERCE shoes!!

Much love to everyone!!! I am leaving for LA tomorrow for 7 DAYS so I will try to keep up with the blog while I'm gone!! Have a great week!!

Totally Thankful for my faith in God and trusting in him that things will work out as planned. Totally Thankful for my NEW EYEBROWS....(got them done by Christi Harris tonight), NO WAXING, NO TWEEZING, NO THREADING, LASER, etc...LOVE THIS TECHNIQUE!! As soon in O Magazine!

XOXO

Noelle♥

Sobbin' over Marley.........

Brian comes home tonight and has like 4 movies in his hand. We don't rent movies often but I figured since I was leaving for LA in 2 days that he was renting movies to watch while I was gone. I asked him what he got and he holds up this:

Of course I was SUPER excited because I have been wanting to see it but we just haven't gotten a chance too. For those who don't know or haven't scrolled down on the right side of my blog and looked at pics...we have the CHOCOLATE version of Marley...a Chocolate Lab named Sierra Madre Saydee Dixon. Yes...she has 3 names..LOL. She is our baby girl. We mostly call her Sissy girl.....and no not because she is scared of things...more like a daughter like term..like some call their daughters sissy. Anyways...she is our furry child, we love her SO much. She goes everywhere with us, sleeps in our bed on my husbands head or smack in between us. Now Sissy Girl did have her "Marley" moments when she was younger BUT nothing like the things Marley does...but we can relate to alot of it. Thankfully Sissy was never a chewer of anything much except her rawhides...YEAH!

She is now 5 years old and sweet as ever. She follows you wherever you go, sleeps, loves the water, loves treats, know when you are coming home, loves to lay out in the backyard and LOVES to give LOTS of kisses. She is SO spoiled and we LOVE her SO much...I can't even tell you.

Here is our baby girl: Sierra!

So, back to the movie...WOW...it was SO cute and had so many great moments where I'm like, Yeah...I remember Sierra doing that. I will say that I cried SO hard at that movie....I looked over at Brian and he was crying too. After the movie was over Brian looked at me and said, "I'm SO glad we didn't see that in theaters!" I guess he was right because I would have been a HOT MESS with makeup running all over the place.

If you have a dog or a pet that you LOVE with all your heart and truly is a part of your family you will really LOVE and appreciate this movie. I have heard that the book ends differently from the movie but I'm not sure because I haven't finished the book yet. So...Please if you are a HUGE animal lover like me, GO out rent the movie, BUY it....it IS super cute and great for the family!!

XOXO

Noelle♥

Totally Thankful and EXCITING NEWS!!

Today I am Totally Thankful for the ability to give to others. I will write more about this later...but here's a bit of a SNEAK PEEK....glam R baby will be starting a couple new things and the proceeds will be going to a family that is need. I am SUPER PUMPED about this and am thrilled to be able to do this for this VERY special family.

Like I said I will give more details soon, so keep an eye for it....I hope to be able to raise awareness and some financial freedom for this family. Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Easter!!

Speaking of giving...what is one of your favorite charities or organizations to give to? Also...just for clarification, giving is NOT always a monetary thing....we can give our time, our special talents, a meal, a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a place to stay, or anything else you can think of. Thats what makes giving sop AMAZING...because no matter how much money you have or don't have...you can always give something in return...SMILES are free right???

Have a great week!!

XOXO
Noelle♥

Totally Thankful!!

Totally Thankful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May everyone have a blessed weekend!!

Totally Thankful to spend the weekend with my hubby.

NEW BLOGS TO POST SOON and some NEW OUTFITS!! WOOHOO!!

XOXO
Noelle♥

Totally Thankful Wednesday!

Totally Thankful for my FABULOUS FRIENDS. I don't think you all know how much you will be missed. I have made some AMAZING friends in Dallas. These girls are inspiring, positive, have a zest for life, adventurous, FUN, caring, loving, giving, listeners, trusting and most of ALL some of my greatest friends! OH how I will miss you all!! What will I do without them? I am TOTALLY THANKFUL for these girls today!

Whew..that's 2 days in a row...YEAH ME! :o)

XOXO
Noelle♥

Totally THANKFUL!

I was at our final LDI class tonight for Junior League and we had a guest speaker. LDI is a leadership development training class if you don't know! :o) Anyways, something the guest speaker said struck a chord with me. She talked about being THANKFUL everyday. She said that she has a gratitude journal that she writes in every night about the things that she is thankful for from that day! She was saying how much it makes a difference in her day, week, life! It hit me....I don't sit back and really think about what I am thankful for everyday, so I thought...well I don't have a journal...BUT I have a BLOG...PERFECT!! I took out my pen and jotted it down on my hand so I would remember to blog about it! I am going to try really HARD to post something I am thankful for EVERYDAY! This will be such a challenge for me, but I am up for it! Even if I don't post a regular blog I will at least post a thankful blog!

OOOHHHH...I am SO excited about this....SO...what are you thankful for??? I would LOVE to know! Feel free to start your own TOTALLY THANKFUL as well!! :o)

Here's mine for today or Tuesday!

Totally thankful for my amazing hubby and my computer. :o)

Now..its your turn!! :o)

XOXO
Noelle♥

Birthdays....a little late!

I just realized the other day that I never posted about my 30th birthday! This was a SUPER big deal for me only to realize it wasn't so bad after all! :o) My hubby did all the planning for the party and did a fabulous job! All I told him was that I wanted a fabulous cake and for all my friends to be there. My birthday was December 16th, by the way...YES...a little late! HE HE

SO...my best friend from LA flew in for the festivities and Brian planned a nice dinner at one of our favorite places, Buca di Bepo in Frisco. Mmmm...Italian! I had a great time and the majority of my friends where there...some couldn't make it but I understand!! I was completely overwhelmed by all the gifts I received...it was SO unexpected! I had an amazing time and turning 30 wasn't so bad after all! :o)

Here's some pics from the festivities!

One end of the table!

Amy and Russ

my Hubby and one of my oldest friends from Dallas....Megan!

Sarah and her fiance, Brian.

My fabulous gay boyfriend Phillip (in the blue)...lol and hi friend, Cloy.

Brian, my hubby and Jen P.

Can you tell I love this crown? Amy and Russ and her 2 precious girls gave me this Juicy Couture Piggy Bank...isn't it perfect? Of course I loved it. The darling cupcake card that came with it said this..."Noelle, We love you very much! Please use this gift to keep all of the money you make and don't forget about us when you are at the top!!" Wow...so cool..of course I teared up a little...I just LOVE them and love that they have so much confidence in me and my business!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Yummy CHAMPAGNE and Godiva from my dear friend Patti! I SOOO LOVE champagne....she knows it too!! :o)
A Juicy Couture Gift Card and a super cute Koozie that says" 30 and FLIRTY!" from my awesome friend Taylor! Love her!!

The WHOLE group shot!!
me and all the Jr League girls!! Love them ALL!! :o)

The Fabulous CAKE! Not only was it a Tiffany Box, but it was also leopard on the bottom layer AND it was red velvet cake which is ONE of my favorites!! My husband seriously ROCKS! He is the BEST ever!!
ALMOST too pretty to eat! Almost! :o)
I ♥ my CAKE!

Love the little TAG!
me and the fabulous Amy!


From L to R: Patti, Amanda, Me, Jen R., Cece and Trisha with the scarf! :o)

Taylor and I

Brian and I at the front of Buca

The after party....Lea (my best friend from LA!!), Cloy, Phillip and me!

me and my best friend all the way from LA!! LOVE HER!!

Us being silly at the end of the night!!

Monday morning after my party, my precious niece was getting her tonsils out and I promised that I would be at the hospital. So...I took Lea to the airport at 5am on Monday morning and I made the trek to San Antonio...I made it in record time...I was trying to get there before she woke up from recovery. Anyways...I ended up staying about 4-5 days and her and I hung out alot....she couldn't talk so we played games and she wrote on her dry erase board! :o) My actual birthday was that Wednesday so my sister cooked dinner on my birthday! My dad, mom, Nonnie, Shayne, Mads and Tam were all there to help celebrate! 30 is NOT so DIRTY after all!! LOL

Bday dinner at my sister's!

Shayne, Mads and me before dinner..

Thanks for letting me share about my 30th birthday even though its like 4 months late!! :o) I will eventually get really good at this blogging thing!! Does it take anyone else like 2 hours to post SO many pictures??? Geez....

Anyways...here's to another busy week and next week I am OFF to LA for a WEEK to visit my best friend Lea....WE have TONS planned so I am SUPER EXCITED!!

XOXO

Noelle♥

Home sweet Home in Vegas??

I NEVER in my life thought I would bring those 2 words together, EVER! Home and Vegas.....it is still very surreal but quickly happening. I can honestly say that I am happy about it but still really scared at the same time. I am completely trusting in God on this one though, Brian and I both are. This trip to Vegas was pretty emotional for me. It was SO exciting and SO fun, but it was also crazy driving around KNOWING that we were going to live there....WOW...what an emotional rollercoaster. We sat at the Bellagio the last night we were there eating dinner on the patio and watching the amazing fountains and I was just thinking that wow...I am going to live this...we can come here and have a super nice dinner ANYTIME we want...Vegas is like another world....there is NOTHING like it. I don't think I will want to live there forever..but it will be fun....IF ONLY I can TAKE ALONG my family and friends!! Man...that is THE hardest thing for me! I build such close bonds with the people I love the most...it is SOO hard to be so far away and not to be able to drive to see my parents over the weekend, for my niece and nephew to be only 5 hours away, to be able to drop everything and go to my sister's store....to have lunch with my BEST girls, dinner with my Jr League girls, going out with my fabulous gay friend Phillip, shopping with friends....UGH! This is the HARDEST part of all....BUT....I KNOW you ALL will want to come visit and YOU BETTER...DANG IT!!! Our DOOR is always open....Speaking of doors....WANNA SEE PICS OF OUR NEW HOUSE????????????

Ok...here's a little background on the house before I show ya pics!

The house is about 4 miles from the strip in a secluded perfect neighborhood. It is a 24 hour guard gated and that was very important for us. We wanted to be close enough to the strip but far enough so Brian can escape from the strip world. The neighborhood is quiet, has TONS of trees, a pool, tennis courts, walking trails and a clubhouse. Our house is a little strip of a street with about 8 houses in this rectangle. The house was built in 1978, its 3330 sq ft. , 3 bedrooms, 3 bath, an upstairs patio area, 2 outdoor living spaces downstairs, a built in BBQ, mini sink, fridge, pool and spa. It is the perfect house for entertaining and for that we are SOO excited!!!

So...here are the PICTURES for you!! There are alot...so bare with me! :o)

This is the courtyard and front doors to the house...the courtyard is closed off by an iron gate.

This is the the front doors taken from the inside of the house by the stairs.

This stairs going up to the catwalk and the beautiful chandelier.

The Kitchen

The Pantry and the Double Ovens

The eating area and the family room with built in bookcases and the TV stays.

The main wall in the living room...love these funky light fixtures...there is also a matching chandelier.

The dining room with the matching chandelier. This is ONE of the SEVEN sliding doors that go to the patio in the house...there are 5 doors down and 2 doors up.

The old skool fireplace and the poker room/lounge/bar is to the right.

The downstairs bathroom...sorry the pic is BLURRY!

The original staircase...love the wood and the iron on the stairs.

Part of the hallway upstairs, love the wood beams and the color of the walls.

Part ONE of the outdoor living space. The patio is completely covered and is HUGE! It has a BBQ grill, granite bar, tiled counters and lots of cabinet space with a fridge.

YEAH...love the outdoor speakers and all the space!

View of the pool and other patio from the upper patio!

Another view of the pool and patio.

The upstairs guest bathroom.

The HUGE guestroom...we could fit like 3 queen beds in there!

The Master Bedroom...nice mirrors huh?? lol

Master Bedroom Fireplace

The hallway to the Master Bath...the closet is on the right.

Master Bathroom

Upstairs Patio...it wraps half way around the house!

Another view of the patio upstairs

View from the upstairs patio

View of the Strip..wonder what it looks like at night???

The view from the upstairs hallway

View from the top of the staircase!! :o)

Hope you enjoyed seeing our house!! We are SO excited! If you have ever been to our house now you would understand why we are SO excited about all the space and the outdoor living areas. Our house is SO small now and there is NOTHING in our backyard...so we are BEYOND thrilled about this house!! We also wanted to get a house that was big enough for all our family and friends to come VISIT!! We love to entertain, so that was important too......HEY FAMILY....THANKSGIVING in VEGAS?????? SAY you will come!!! Love you guys and thanks for letting me share our EXCITEMENT!!

PS: did I tell you this was the SECOND house we looked at??

XOXO,

Noelle♥

Peace, ♥, Couture!!