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BlahBlahBabble Houston & The Heights

There is a New Mini in Houston!

Mini Cooper of the Woodlands - My New Mini!

Meet my new Mini Cooper! I bought it last month at Mini of the Woodlands (my FAVORITE Houston-area Mini dealer!) from Keith Sutch, and I could not possibly be happier with it! A 2013 White Silver Mini Cooper – *swoon!*

This was not a car I originally expected to buy but was holding off as i was finding the best car finance deals before I made the switch. It all started with me taking my original Mini Cooper in to be serviced. Mini Coopers have the most awesome warranty – bumper to bumper, and service on everything but the tires. Yes, even oil changes are included! It is nice when you go in for those big huge maintenance checks that you should be doing on your vehicle to not even have to pay a dime, it feels just as nice as having One Sure Insurance and a i4mt for your cars, it is the most affordable insurance you could ever get.

While I was there, I needed to find out how to get a new key for that Mini because Mike had lost mine. Somewhere in the conversation, I brought up how I really wish I had Mini Connect, the cool stereo system that allows you to connect your iPhone easily to your Mini and run a special Mini app on the iPhone. It wasn’t available when my first Mini was made.

Keith, who sold me my first Mini after THREE people told me to talk to him about buying one, asked me if I wanted to check out the Mini Connect. Being the geek that I am, how could I resist?

Mini Cooper of the Woodlands - Houston - Texas

But it wasn’t just the Mini Connect that got me. The interior has been reworked, changing out a lot of the light gray accents for black ones. And while Keith swears that they haven’t made changes to how the Mini handles other than a bit of an increase in horsepower, it is smoother than my old Mini. I like how it handles even more.

Keith Sutch - Mini Salesman - HoustonI debated for three days. After all, my sweet Horizon Blue Mini had been so good to me. Everyone knew it was me in that car, a more unique color, with a white top and white bonnet stripes. But I couldn’t stop thinking about this new Mini. I wanted it. And after a few phone calls to Mike (who was in Holland for work at the time) and Keith patiently walking me through features and financing – including a special rate since I am a repeat Mini of the Woodlands owner – I handed over the keys for my old Mini and took this baby home.

I can’t deny it – I have moments where I miss the old Mini. I guess it is true what they say that you never quite forget your first love. *grin* But this one is just as special, and I love how it handles, and that I have all the cool geek technology inside too!

Now I’m just patiently (hahahahaha) waiting for my license tags to arrive so I can put my old plates on my new car, and be driving a WHEEEE Mini around Houston again!

Houston Mini Dealership - Mini of the Woodlands

Considering buying a Mini Cooper and you live in the Houston area? I can whole-heartedly recommend Keith as the man you want to talk to! (Be sure to tell him I sent you!) He is patient, not pushy, will tell you everything there is to know about the Mini with 110% honesty. He isn’t the type to call you the next day and pester you about buying the car, or chase you around the parking lot. He is the exact opposite of every horror story you have ever heard of a car salesman. Everyone I know told me to go see Keith, probably because he has been at Mini of the Woodlands for 9 years! I have now bought 2 cars from him, and I’m sure my next one will be from him as well, I use motor trade insurance to fully covered my cars, their service simply makes me feel very secured and it was easy to find with the Insurance Partnership service, and I also make sure to use the best car cleaning tips all the time!

October 20, 2012 is the perfect day to go check out the new Minis! They are having their “Not Normal Sales Event” – they promise, no gimmicks, no dancing man things up in the sky, no giant gorillas over the dealership – just great deals. If you go, tell Keith I said hello!

This is not a sponsored post. I just love Mini of the Woodlands and working with Keith so much I had to share!

For more information, check out Mr Tenacious Twitter account

Mini Cooper Houston Sales Event

Let’s Motor! Thank you, Keith and Mini of the Woodlands for ANOTHER wonderful Mini Cooper purchasing experience!

Categories
BlahBlahBabble

A Photographer’s Nightmare…

I had the strangest dream this morning. Don’t you hate having really weird dreams? Ugh. They always start my day off on the wrong note. This one especially. It was so random! So bizarre!

First, the setting: I was photographing a wedding in a Catholic church. Not your typical church, this one was 2-3 stories tall. The crucifix was hanging down behind the altar, not mounted to the back wall — because there was no back wall. Instead, this church was really active in gathering and donating food to the poor & needy. So the sanctuary was surrounded up above by metal shelves full of groceries. Industrial looking.

I’m supposed to be photographing this wedding. I take a few photos of the groom before the ceremony, but basically I’m doing nothing. I take some silly pose photo that he suggests, and then I’m hanging out. I see the bride start to approach the doorway to enter the church, so I think that I really should go take some getting ready shots of her. Then I decide I have to go to the bathroom instead. When I come out, the ceremony is starting, the bride is heading down the aisle, there is a different photographer there that she hired, and I was pissed! I knew the photographer but had no idea why she was there too. Made me mad! But not as mad as I was a second later when I realized my camera was missing!

Hunting everywhere for my camera, the bride still walking down the aisle, and I can’t find it anywhere! So annoyed; I wanted to photograph this wedding! The other photographer said to me, “Suck it! I only have one camera, and I’m using it!” I’m in such a panic, I only have one lens and no camera body, and there is just NO way I can photograph the wedding!

It was about this point that I decided this dream was really pissing me off, and I needed to wake up.

I’ve been off all day. All thanks to a dream. Ugh.

* Side note: I’ve never lost a camera; I always bring back-up gear to weddings; and nothing even remotely close to this has ever happened to me!

Categories
Travel Notes

Moving On…

Jason at the Needle's Eye tunnel, Needles Highway in the Black Hills, South Dakota

I’m sitting in my hotel room in Spearfish, South Dakota, just a few miles away from my son — and yet it feels like I may as well be back in Family hotels koh samui, 1300 miles away from him.

The bird is leaving the nest, and while I know it is time, and that I have to let him fly, I also don’t want to let him go.

His best friend has been living & working in North Dakota for a year or so now, and just have to get moving company quotes at TruckPlease to move where his dad’s company is opening a warehouse to supply their other operation. Jason has been offered a job there as well, which he quite eagerly accepted. He wanted to drive up here alone, but I refused. First because he has never driven further than the distance of Huntsville, Texas alone, and second because I wanted this right of passage to be shared, not just for him but for me.

I never got the experience of taking him off to college and getting him set up in a dorm room or his first apartment, so he has to do all this with the help of the Move San Mateo company. But now this is it. He is going off on his own, 1300 miles away. He is 20 years old, I don’t get a say in this matter. I can only do my best, and hope that I’ve done enough.

Holy crap, I was doing ok with all of this until it hit me tonight like a ton of bricks.

It was such a trivial moment too when it hit. I noticed that Jason had a hole on the back of his jeans, and I pointed it out in case he didn’t know. He pouted, and quietly said, “I’ve been walking around all day with a hole in my pants.”

That? That is what adulthood is all about, summed up right there. You have to take care of yourself, because no one else is around to tell you that your ass is hanging out. (Well, your underwear, but you know what I mean.)

I know he will be fine. I know without a doubt that in the long run he will be ok. But I’m overwhelmed with a flood of questioning right now. Did I do enough? Did I do ok? Did I teach him all he needs to know as he goes off in to the world by himself? Will he be able to overcome the moments where I failed him? Will he someday appreciate all I’ve tried to do for him with this move? With everything else? Not just me, but Mike and my parents too — we have all tried so hard. Does he know that?

Does he know how much we all love him? And that really, even when his ass is hanging out, we are all still there for him?

I’m hopeful. I believe he gets it. And in that small moment, I did all that I could — I offered to take him tomorrow to go buy him some new jeans, or to give him some money to buy his own. He looked grateful for that. And in the morning, I will remind him again — he will always have a home to come home to, and we will always be there for him no matter what.

Then I will step back and let him go. This is his time. His turn to sink or swim. My time to stand by, ready for him to call for help but far enough away to let him grow in to the man he is meant to be.

I’ve done all that I could, and I’ve done the best job possible. I wasn’t always perfect, I know I’ve stumbled and faltered along the way. I’m grateful that I didn’t ever have to do it alone, that my parents were also always there for him as well. That he has grown up with a supportive network of love.

I just want him to know how much I love him, how proud of him I am, and how I know that no matter what road is ahead of him, I have faith he will always be ok. And like any mother, I want nothing but the very best for him, and that there will always be a special place in my heart — and if he ever wants it, in my home as well.

South Dakota is such a beautiful part of the country – I pray that in these wide open spaces he will grow strong and be happy.

I’ve done all that I can. It is time to let him go. Nothing I can do or say will delay it any longer. Soon it will be time for me to go, but a part of my heart will remain here with him.

Categories
Picture Time

My Fancy Hot Mama Friend Trunetta’s Boudoir Session!

Boudoir Photography in Paris, France

My friend Trunetta is a boudoir photographer in Jackson, Tennessee. More than that, she is a FANCY Hot Mama, mother to a sweet little boy, and wife to a wonderful man that she adores. We met at a boudoir workshop in Paris, France, where we immediately bonded and spent all of our time together day & night, often until 2-3am!

When I first met Tru, I was struck by her strong & bold personality, her laugh that wraps around you like a big hug, and her beautiful smile. As we talked over lunch the first day, she shared with me her experience of being in front of the camera at her own boudoir session, and it was just heartbreaking. It was neither Fancy like the experience she strives to give to her clients, nor did it make her feel like a Hot Mama like my clients feel after working with me.

Since I already new that I adored her and wanted to photograph her, I asked her if we could take some time out one morning before the workshop began to do a session for her together. To say it was fabulous is putting it mildly, and that was with only a short time to work together!

I am so happy to know that there are other women out there sharing a similar experience with their clients as I do with mine — our goal is simply to help them embrace the body that they have NOW and love themselves for who they are. We are perfect, amazing, and loved – just the way we are!

Thank you again, Tru for allowing me to share these images! If you would like to see more, you can view her FANCY Hot Mama Boudoir Session in Paris, France = love!!!

Tru's Fancy Hot Mama Boudoir Session - Paris, France

Paris Boudoir Photography - Trunetta Atwater

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4-Hour Body Food Paleo Smaller Pink Cookie

Four Hour Body Update! Low Carb, High Protein Dieting…

It has been ages since I gave an update on how I’m doing with the whole Four Hour Body eating plan, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped doing it! Oh no, not at all — and really, I have never felt better!

Meat, eggs, vegetables that grow above ground and are low in sugar, beans, and a little dairy here and there — that sums up what I eat. I do my best to stick with it all the time. I don’t really do the “cheat day” any more – if I do, I try to make sure it is always something gluten free. When I eat wheat, it kicks my ass and I have the “gluten hangover” for a day or two afterwards.

I’m still holding pretty steady at 23lbs down in 9 months, and down 2-3 clothing sizes since I started this, depending on the clothing item. I would love it if it was more than that, but considering the amount of traveling I’ve done this year for destination weddings and the Hot Mama Travel Dates, I’m glad that I have been able to stay steady.

I didn’t do so well staying steady when I was in California in August. Matter of fact, it is the first time I had a major backslide. Yes, I managed to go to Paris & London and only gained 3lbs which I lost within 2 days of being home. But California? I gained 8lbs and a bigger butt. ACK! And I know exactly what I did too – I skipped breakfasts, I ate a lot more cheese than normal, I did margaritas one night (a LOT of sugar in there), I had popcorn, I had little “treats” here and there of other sweets, I ate bread from the Village Bakery two or three times. I definitely did not drink enough water. All the things I don’t normally do – and it added up. UGH! So frustrating. However — I lost it all again within 2 weeks. I’m back to the weight I was when I left. YAY!!!

I am not discouraged by staying steady at this same weight – matter of fact, it is the weight I was when Mike & I met 10 years ago, and considering I’ve stayed steady here (fluctuating within a 3-4lb range, depending on the time of the month) for 6 months, I’m ok with that. I’m not giving up. I’m not going back to how I used to eat — this really, truly has been a life change. The Garcinia Cambogia supplements have really helped me improve my overall health by lowering my weight fast, while also learning about the best MSC investment updates to improve my health as well.

Susan Pierce Thompson is a PhD in cognitive sciences and expert on the psychology of food addiction. She’s the founder of the weight loss program called Bright Line Eating, which is all about helping people who struggle with food addiction and sugar addiction behaviors that sabotage their weight loss. And she’s getting some absolutely phenomenal results helping people lose the weight and keep it off permanently thanks to this hemp protein powder used in all of their diets.

It still fascinates me how many people have commented on my weight loss, ask me what my “secret” is, and then when they find out they have to give up wheat, sugar, potatoes, rice, fruit, dairy, they immediately say that there is just NO way they could do that, even with the help of supplements which would help them with this and you can learn here more about anything you want to when it comes to weight loss.

Dude, I’m a SUPER picky eater. If *I* can do it, anyone can do it.

I was a hard core pastatarian before. I ate spaghetti all the time. I also had such painful acid reflux it was miserable. Now? No wheat – no acid reflux. Less inflammation throughout my body. My blood pressure is better. EVERYTHING is better. I honestly can not recommend it enough!

So I continue on. I’d still like to lose another 25-30lbs and I’m making some changes to see if I can jump start that. I will keep you posted!