Sing Song 2012

As mentioned in a previous post, we celebrated the twins' first birthday last week on Valentine's Day. Preston and I went to see a movie and when we came home we gave them doggie ice cream per a recommendation from a coworker.

 

Despite having given them each their own cup, they of of course wanted to eat out of the same cup. 

If you look closely, you can see the other ice cream cup in the background.

Last weekend was one of my favorite weekends of the year: Sing Song weekend. I always love to go back to Abilene, catch up with old friends and relive the good 'ole days. I miss it every time we go back. I do not, however, miss the stress of being part of the show. This year the girls' groups were incredible. Everyone deserved first place but Alpha Kai ended up taking the trophy and not only was it well-deserved, it was the first time they have won in Sing Song history. They were paper dolls and had about eight costume changes throughout the show. I'm not sure that has ever been done. Kojies were fireflies and won first in vocals and third overall but if they'd done that show in any of my three years participating in Sing Song I think they'd have won (we never won Sing Song in college). Their show was incredible. Siggies were fireworks and Gata were Elvis. The girls' acts really stole the show this year. They were phenomenal.

My cousin Chanea was in the Kojie act. Isn't she so cute?! Their skirts lit up when the lights turned off.

As for the guys, GSP also took first place overall for the umpteenth time this century. They're not very good at sharing. I honestly loved Sub T's show, particularly for their rendition of the State Farm theme song ("We are Farmers, duh duh duh duh duh duh duh"). I laughed for about 5 minutes following that line. Sub T's shows are meant to lighten the mood rather than impress. I don't know how they don't win first place in entertainment every year. At the awards ceremony as the Men's awards were announced, Sub T stood up to claim their first place victory in every category before the winner was announced (which was not them). It was hilarious.

My sister was a part of the Freshman Ushers and this is her dancing at the end of the show. By chance, our seats were directly in front of her!

Here are a few of the shows via YouTube...

Kojies

Alpha Kai

Gamma Sigs

Junior Class

Patti and Selma stayed with my brother Cameron for the weekend. When we got back Sunday Cameron told us he almost had to call to tell us they had run away. Apparently he let them out into my parent's backyard to go to the bathroom and they took off down the ally. He took off in a full sprint after them and found them squatting in a neighbor's yard at the end of the street. As soon as he found them they finished their business and took off back to my parent's house. No big deal. Normally if you take them out one at a time they're pretty good about staying close unless there is another dog, human or open front door on the street. Then you better have a leash. I have run into someone else's house to retrieve my dogs more than once. It's not my favorite way to meet neighbors but hey, it works.

This is Selma on the car ride home to our house. She is upset because she thinks we're going to the vet. I told her we weren't but she still threw a fit.

Monday night we went to the Mavs game with Chris and Amanda. The Mavs won and Amanda took pics on her camera but she's in Florida so I'll post those later.

Breaking News!

ACU announced this morning that they have lifted the ban on dancing in campus activities! This is a HUGE deal people. I went to ACU with full knowledge that there would be no dances and this did not hinder my decision to go but I do think it is and always has been a ridiculous rule. It will be interesting to see how they incorporate this updated policy. I know they are still trying to figure out how they can incorporate dancing into activities but at least it's a (dance) step in the right direction! Go ACU!!!

Current Dance Policy Statement:
Dancing is prohibited at ACU-sponsored events or events hosted by official student organizations; however, organizations that exhibit cultural expression through dance as a part of their organizational purpose may have performances by organization members as approved by advisors and the Director of Student Activities and Productions.

Revised Dance Policy Statement:
ACU is committed to creating a strong Christian environment, where students have opportunities for appropriate social interaction as young adults and develop lifelong relationships. Many forms of dance and cultural expression are embraced by our society, some of which are consistent with our Christian mission and values, while others are more likely to distract us from a Christ-centered life. Therefore, in keeping with the Christian mission of the university, only certain dance forms and venues will be considered for approval. Requests for events involving dance may be submitted by officially recognized ACU student organizations and must be approved by Student Life.

You can read about the press release on the Abilene Reporter News website here.
 

J Hilburn

This is going to be a long post but if you want to be the best gift-giver of all time you better read it.

Check this out:

 

                                    Before                                                                 After

Do you see the transformation? Preston has not lost weight. The only difference between these before and after photos is the clothes on his back. It's called custom clothing and it's revolutionary.

Ok maybe not revolutionary but I am going to be honest. I love these clothes on Preston and he loves wearing them. So to make a long story short, I have decided to become a consultant.

The company is J Hilburn. Preston and I have a friend from college who is a consultant. Preston began buying the clothes last year for the first time. We bought him a couple shirts and pants for his birthday and that was all it took. For Christmas, all he asked for from both sides of the family was clothes from J Hilburn and that is what he got. Now here me out. I would not have signed up to do this if I didn't really believe in it. I've never done Avon or Mary Kay or anything like this before because I REALLY have to like it to become a consultant. And I mean REALLY like it. I wear Mary Kay, that doesn't mean I want to sell it. In fact, one of the reasons I signed up is because several of my family members and Preston's coworkers started asking Preston who his consultant was because they wanted custom clothing and I thought, "Why don't I just do it?"

If you know me at all, you know I hate a good sales pitch. Hate it. Preston and I can't even watch The Biggest Loser (or The Bachelor for that matter) without gagging. The product placement is overwhelming and annoying to say the least and the acting is just a whole different story.

What I am trying to tell you is that custom clothing may not be for everyone and that is fine. Preston loves the clothes because he feels comfortable and knows he looks better. He also knows he is buying quality clothing that will last him a long time as opposed to his Walmart shirts that rip in a year. But do you want to know one of the number one selling points for Preston? NO MORE TRIPS TO THE MALL! This is priceless to Preston. Honestly, I know one man who likes the mall: my Granddad. Quality, comfort and looks may not matter to the men in your life, but if you told them they could choose between a root canal and going to the mall, it'd be a close call.

Last weekend we cleaned out our closets and he tossed out almost every shirt he owned besides his J Hilburn clothes and his Polos. I did not tell him do that. In fact, he thought I was going to be upset with him for throwing away perfectly good shirts.

Here are the features Preston likes on his custom clothes:

The option to have a hidden button down collar (they are over 20 collar options). This first picture is a store bought shirt without the button down...

With the hidden button down...
 

The option to make one cuff a little bigger so his watch will fit:

Before

After

                                       
There are four "fit" options: Classic, Tailored, Euro and Comfort. Preston chose Tailored because he hates the extra material along the body of store bought shirts. He is going to try a Euro fit on the next shirt he buys.

 

                                          Before                                                       After

He chose several other customized options like the shape of his cuff, whether or not he wanted pockets, the length of his sleeves and where he wanted pleats in his shirt. The greatest part about it is, every shirt he buys from here on out will have the same customized features (unless of course, he decides he wants a pocket or two next time).

I would say there is only one downside to buying custom. It takes about 4-6 weeks for your clothing to come in (less time for a shirt and more time for pants). Everything is hand cut and hand sewn (they use a sewing machine of course but the fabric is put through the sewing machine by hand). So if you wanted to buy this as a gift you'd have to think ahead. There is always the option of giving a gift card or you can do what my mom did and wrap a picture of what you picked out but I know my mom really wanted Preston to have something tangible to unwrap so in that case you just have to plan ahead.

Speaking of gifting, one of the great things about his process is that once he is measured, he can go online and order whatever he wants, whenever he wants, without having to go though me. The only time he would ever need to go through me would be if he wanted to change his custom preferences. He can also make a wishlist and then moms, sisters, wives and friends can purchase from his wishlist for birthdays, Christmas, etc.

So here's the process:

1. Guy gets measured by me. He picks his customized preferences and which fabric he wants for his shirt/pants. 
2. I order for him and have his first shirt/pants shipped to me.
3. 4-6 weeks later his order arrives and I bring it to him so that he can try it on. He assesses what he likes/dislikes and we make notes so that the next time he buys it will be even more perfect.
4. I save his preferences online and he is able to buy online whenever he wants. From here on out, whatever he orders comes straight to his doorstep. If someone buys him clothing as a gift, they have the option of having it shipped to them.

Interested in pricing? See below.  You can also go to the J Hilburn website to check out pricing and start building your first shirt. If you're interested or have any questions whatsoever, email me at shelbirene{at}gmail.com or respond on the comments section below.

*Side note: Ignore the colors of the labels for the shirt pricing below. These colors are used to identify different pricing groups but do not refer to the actual color of the shirts. Confusing? I'd say so.

Handcuffs and Valentine's

This post is a recap of the last three weekends really...it's for my own benefit so that I don't forget what happens in my life so feel free to not read it.

Saturday morning (3 weekends ago) was Anna Grace's Minnie Mouse birthday. If Brittany posts pictures I'll either link them or add them to this post at a later date.

Saturday night was my cousin's birthday. We stayed at Le Meridien across from the Dallas Galleria which was the perfect hotel for a girls night.  On our way to dinner we were headed to the restaurant and we spotted Khloe and Lamar (with three teenage kids...not sure who they were) walking into the mall as we were walking out. I recognized Khloe first just because she was the first one I saw but Lamar is pretty darn tall. He can't be missed. Even if you didn't know who he was, you'd assume he was a basketball player by his height. It wasn't seconds before they were recognized by nearly everybody. Ashton and I decided to stalk them from the second floor just to watch everyone's reactions as they all of a sudden realized who they had just passed. I honestly don't watch the Kardashians but since Khloe and Lamar are in Dallas now I can't help but want to watch.

So that weekend was all fun and games until I got the stomach flu.

It all started Sunday afternoon while watching the Justin Bieber movie (which you should see if you haven't. Say what you want but that movie made me a Belieber)!

This next part is TMI but it's life so if you want to skip this part the short story is: I got the stomach flu and threw up a lot.

Toward the end of the movie I started to feel a little nauseous. I thought it was from the Tolberone bar I had practically swallowed whole earlier in the day so I went to lay down for a bit. Minutes later, the toilet and I became best friends. For the next few hours, it was the same routine every hour: throw up, feel better, get the chills, put my sweatshirt/sweat pants/socks on, put every cover in the house on, sleep/drink water, hot flashes, take every cover in the house off, take my sweatshirt/sweat pants/socks off, throw up, rinse and repeat. After Brittany called to say that her sister was headed to the ER for the same flu (we were both at the party Saturday morning which is where we think we caught it), we decided to call our good doctor friend to ask what we should do. I was having trouble getting up from the floor of the bathroom by myself and by the third time I was just throwing up water and was VERY thirsty. Dr. Friend suggested we mix part Gatorade and part water and take very small sips. I tried that and it worked. I was sick again but did not throw up. I won't go into more detail there but the bottom line is, the Gatorade/water trick worked and I am so thankful for the advice. Thank you Dr. Friend (you know who you are)! Preston was so sweet to sleep on the floor (rather than the guest room) just in case we needed to make a trip to the ER. Thank goodness it never got that bad, though I kinda wanted to go to the ER just so they'd make it stop.

And may I just say this. How is it that mankind has developed a phone that can tell you where to hide a dead body but we have not yet developed a cure for the common stomach flu? Does that baffle anyone else? Could someone from Apple please get on that? Thank you.

I missed work that Monday and literally sat in bed/on the couch with the dogs the entire day. It's a good thing dogs don't catch human illnesses because it's comforting to have someone to snuggle with when you're sick and I wasn't about to be responsible for getting Preston sick. Though if you're an avid Rampy Chronicles reader you are well aware of his superior Rampy genes.

The next weekend I went to the training for J Hilburn and on Sunday we had a Super Bowl party at our house with our old small group. They brought their kids and we had such a great time. At one point we walked downstairs to find the kids watching movies and eating the candy conversation hearts out of my candle holders. It was awesome except I tried one later and it kind of tasted like a candle. This has not stopped me from continuing to eat my own Valentine's decor. Those kids were on to something.

And this weekend I attended a precious Valentines sip n' see for sweet baby Tripp on Saturday, I helped coordinate a wedding Saturday night, and on Sunday I witnessed an arrest at Target. One minute I'm browsing through the dollar section (no shame) and the next thing I know one of the employees and a security guard are throwing a guy against the wall. Not many shoppers actually noticed what was going on. I happened to be standing near the Target employee when she started running through the store which is hard not to notice. She waited for the guy to walk out of the store and as soon as the sensors beeped she confronted him and a security guard was waiting for him at the sliding glass doors. They handcuffed him and took him into one of the front offices and I may have been one in five people that actually noticed anything happened. I've been working retail for 4 years and have never seen anyone actually get arrested. And now you know where I came up with my title for this post. :)

One of my purchases at Target included the below chew toy for a certain Miss Patti. Patti has been a chewing machine lately so I decided it was time we invested in a good sturdy chew toy. At first she was skeptical but within minutes she was chewing away. So we went to small group.

When we returned home, we found this...

Shouldn't dog chew toys last longer than 2 hours? I mean come on!

Yesterday I received these at the office from Preston. When Amanda called to tell me I had flowers at the front desk I was slightly confused. I called him and asked if he realized he sent them a day early and he said, "Yeah! I wanted you to be the first person in the office to get flowers for Valentine's Day! Are you the first?!" I was.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, today is actually Patti and Selma's first "birthday". Since we rescued Patti and Selma, we actually do not know what day is their actual birthday but we were told it was probably some time in February so under pressure to pick a day at the vet I just went with Valentine's Day. Boo's actual birthday was Halloween so I decided the twins needed a holiday birthday too. I recently saw this post and think we might do the same thing for the puppies. Maybe it'll help with their fear of driving. They've been to the emergency room so much that they assume that's where we're going every time we get in the car.

 Happy birthday Patti and Selma! I took this picture of them this morning for a post on EBSR about what I am doing for Preston for Valentine's Day. Patti would not sit still, hence the blurriness.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Not Scary

I was just on Pinterest and saw this and had to share because I laughed out loud when I saw it.

Happy Monday!