new year; same ol' peas

It's a little late but...Hap-pea New Year! I am sitting here watching an America's Next Top Model marathon {yes, I know it's trashy and I'm melting my brain cells, but I don't care}, drinking spiced tea, and cuddling with Georgia.

We had a very, merry, little Christmas, and it was lovely! I have pics, but the girls look less than glamorous, so I am not posting them until I get an okay from them! :)

Abby Pea is back in the saddle with school and her dancing. Competitions are coming up and officer tryouts! Yip-pea! Our teeny break is officially over! We are in a new year and have new goals. Momma Pea is just praying we keep it up! When everything is so busy and crazy, it's so hard to keep our focus on what's important. Keeping our eyes on the most important things; happiness, peace, love. We only have a couple of short years left with our Abby Pea. I pray they are full of blessings and love. I want her to remember this time in her sweet life as a wonderful time to look back on. My high school years were a blast and I remember them fondly! I want the same for my peas!

Anne Pea...is already registering for high school classes. Pour me some more wine now! How in the H-E-double hockey sticks am I going to have my two girles in high school?!? WTH? This is a stressful, crazy time for her. She wants to accomplish so much, yet she is afraid to. I have been there. I know we all have. When all of life's possibilities are staring you straight in the face; it can be exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time! She has so many gifts and talents God has given her. I only pray Jon and I can nudge her in the direction we feel she should choose because she is capable of it. 

Two times with two girls this week, I have said that I don't want my peas to be mediocre. They are meant for something greater than anything they could ever imagine! I don't even know their full potential, but God does! I want them to not be afraid of opportunity. I have been paralyzed by it myself and still am sometimes. I never want my girls to feel that way. 

And finally, King Pea and I are pretty much the same ol' peas. We both have jobs we love. It's such a weight off our shoulders. I don't talk about my job much here. I was so worried about loving it, but I do! I have a great schedule, work with great people, and enjoy what I am doing. Jon is working about 20-30 minutes away in Lewisville, and he loves it! The other day we had just woken up and he turned to me and said, "Isn't great that we both love our jobs?"

Yes, babe. Yes, it is. We have so much we can still work on within ourselves and our family. But, one little step at a time we'll get there!

My beautiful peas! And Georgia!

Our white Christmas! These are bad pics. It was cold and I was using my phone!

Abby Pea showing me the snow.

Anne Pea showing me...her bum!

Our silly, sweet family! This pic makes my heart happy!

dancing, running; running, dancing!

So much has happened over the last few weeks! I can barely catch my breath! The "new job" is now the "old job." The only words I have are, "I hated it." Moving on! I am currently seeking employment. I am doing some temp work with the agency that got me my previous Geomap job, and taking things one day at a time! This family needs prayers for Momma Pea to get a job! I have one in particular that I am waiting on and I really hope it is what God has planned for me! It would be perfect {in my mind anyway} and would be a fantastic long-term opportunity. So, keep us in your happy thoughts!

Anne Pea is a running fool! Her cross country meets are in full swing! She's been placing in the top 25-40% of runners (there are always so many girls out there)! Last week she placed 83rd, but that was out of about 250 runners! We're really proud of her tenacity! I have a feeling this will be her last year in cross country though. Sad face from Mom! I hoped she would love it and keep going throughout high school! It's crazy that we love getting up early on Saturday morning to watch her come in 83rd, but it is such a blast!

Abby Pea is a dancing fool! Football games are in full swing, and that means halftime shows and pep rallies! This coming Saturday is the homecoming parade and this Momma Pea is so excited about it! It will be in our historic downtown and will be so much fun! There will be pics! :) She just got her letter jacket today {a big deal, by the way} and she looks really cute in it! I can't wait to start getting patches put on it!

Anne Pea cheering for her teammates! 

At the starting line.

My runner pea! :)

Here she comes!

Anne Pea and her sweet friend, Cameron! (He's cute and sweet! Yikes!)

Abby and her friend, Megan, at a football game! Two sweet peas!

Abby cheering/dancing at the pep rally!

greener pastures?

What a crazy week and a half! I don't even know where to begin! I started my new job last Monday. That seems like it was two months ago! I am really unsure if it will work out. I usually have a great intuition about things and a great determination to "make it work," as Tim Gunn would say. I think my hunch on this one may have been totally wrong! I don't even know what to do about it. All I can do is keep looking and pray that God gives me direction on this. I have already learned a great lesson that maybe I'm not so smart after all and I have a long way to go before I know it all! There I said it! {That hurts!}

I have always been an advocate of "the grass isn't always greener on the other side" mentality. But, sometimes you just have to take a risk. You never know until you jump in with both feet. Well, I know that my feet need to keep looking and I need prayers for another opportunity to come my way. And, in case you're in the area, I am taking any and all photography appointments! I'd love to make that my full time job! So, it starts here!

Love to you all! I pray many blessings for you!

color-{me happy}-ado

It was back to work today after a refreshing trip to the mountains! I wish I could remember every detail to tell you about it, but I don't think I can. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if King Pea had been there. He would have loved every second of it like I did.

The first day we awoke very early (3:30 am; thanks, Dad). By the time I woke up again, there were (small) mountains around us. We set up camp at beautiful Vallecito Lake. I could have stayed there forever! It was really beautiful. It wasn't far from Durango; which is where we spent most of our second day.

We went into town pretty early to check out the downtown. I had to buy a car adapter for my phone charger. I didn't realize we would literally have no electricity! Downtown was super cute; I could have walked around there all day. We ate at a yummy local brewery, Steamworks. The food was good, but the beer was better!

After lunch, we went white water rafting! Okay, so the "white water" was a little lacking, but we still had a blast! It was my first time rafting and I can't wait to do it again. Every one in Durango was out on the river; some just tubing, others in kayaks. I was really wanting to kayak! (I'll have to go back for that!) Every one there is outside as much as possible. There were bikers every where (bicycle bikers and motorcycle bikers; mostly bicycle bikers though).

Anne Pea and Abby Pea had fun too! They've been rafting before (yes, I'm totally jealous) but this is the first time one of them got tossed! Abby Pea fell out of the raft once; I only had a ~mini~ heart attack. She was quickly saved, but almost fell out again! But, she managed to stay on board the second time. Our rafting guide was pretty cool; he did save my daughter's life after all. Anne Pea was a bit of a sour puss. I borrowed {okay, stole} one of her watches and wore it that day. Let's just say she didn't let me live it down.

We spent our last night at Vallecito Lake by playing games. Any one who knows the Barrett family knows we have to play marbles! That's also the night Mom and I went to Margaritaville, and it was a little better trip for me than it was for her! :)  Love ya, Mom! You have to let loose every now and then!

The next day, we headed back towards Pagosa Springs. We spent some time around another gorgeous campsite (no view of the lake though). I could hear the river at the campsite; that was nice. We took a closer look at the river and I did get a few photos.

That night we went into town to the hot springs. After a couple of shower-less days, we needed it! The hot springs were ah-(wait for it)-mazing! If you're ever in the area, you have to check them out! Here is a linky-poo (see how I made that so easy for you!). I highly recommend it, but wait until your last night. Although it was fantastic before our monstrous hike, it would have been well worth it to wait until the next night. {End commercial break} :)

The last day of our stay we went for our (as previously mentioned) monstrous hike. It was beautiful and I am so glad I had been working out more than normal for a while beforehand. I really don't know how my Daddy Pea does it, seeing how he never works out. It was well worth it though! 3.5 miles and about 1,000 feet in elevation up; and what goes up must come down!

Once we got to the end of our part of the trail, Dad and the girlie peas went fishing. I took pics (not with my camera; it's too big and I did not want to lose it in the river!). I used Dad's old camera, so I don't even know how those photos turned out. Anne Pea took a little dip by accident, bumping her knee in the process. She shed a few tears, but kept going! Mom found a small clearing by the river and spent time napping and reading a book. I went to join her as soon as I noticed clouds rolling in. I got half a tiny glass of wine down before the rain started! That was the end of the fishing. (Abby Pea did "catch" one, but when they were about to get it, he got loose. He lived to see at least one more day because he would have been our lone fish at our fish fry!)

As the lightning and thunder got going, we hoofed it pretty quickly down the mountain. The lightning struck pretty close at one point. We were saying our prayers before, but that really got us praying! Of course, God in His sweet mercy got us all down the mountain just fine. Abby Pea talked Mom's ear off the whole way down, so she wasn't as focused on the impending storm. Abby Babbles' babbling is good for something! :)

Seven mile hike--check!

We had pizza for dinner that night; all fish were spared. We got packed up as much as possible and then soaked our tired feet in our camper pedis. (Our dish buckets filled with hot, soapy water; scrubbies optional.)

We packed up the next morning and I was not ready to come home (though I did miss my King Pea, a lot!). I have always loved the mountains, but I am ready sell all my belongings and move there! (Haha, not really, well maybe, no no, we can't, but after the girls graduate, we've been known to do crazier things, I don't know, we shall see.)

We'll just get started by planning a camping trip up there next summer. Around mid-June, if any one is interested. You have to rough it though; taking tents, no electricity, and King Pea is definitely on the guest list this time. :)

peas gone wild!

Wow! Lots of changes have happened in the last month! I hope I can remember all of them! I'll start with the girlie peas....


Abby Pea became a varsity Marquette the week after Spring Break. Marquettes are the McKinney High School dance team. She is super excited! Of course, we are super pea-roud! As I type this, she is with her sister, dad, and Claire Emm (Abby Pea's sweet friend) are all at Six Flags for Abby's birthday. Her birthday was on the third, but with Easter weekend, she had to wait a little while. Speaking of her birthday, did I mention she is now 15?!? This queen can't believe her pea-rincess is 15! What's even more shocking, I had to sign her up for driver's education! My baby is going to be driving! Such an honor and privilege yet I don't want her to grow up so fast! Oh how I wish I could stop time!


Anne Pea is running like crazy in track! She's competed in three meets so far, running the 800 meter and doing the triple jump. She's doing fantastic and has amazing friends on her team! Her school has the best and fastest runners in the city. The season has only begun, so I will keep you posted on her progress. She's as sweet and awesome as ever, with a ton of sweet friends. I love my girlie peas!


As a pea family, we now have a new pod! On my birthday (29th again, of course), we moved into our perfect place. It's a townhouse (no yard work, yay!), there's a pool steps away, it's just the right size; not too big, not too small. I can't wait to get the girlie peas' rooms painted and fixed up so cute! There will be pics! But I have to get unpacked first....


King Pea is, at the moment, unemployed. But it's a good thing! His last day at Applebee's was on Thursday and he starts a new (hopefully amazing) job at Saltgrass in McKinney on Tuesday! He is really excited and I can already see the stress lifting off his shoulders. I hope this is a place he can make his "home." The schedule won't be as grueling, which is a huge blessing. He certainly could use your good thoughts and prayers for a while!


King Pea also was able to spend several days with his G.G. Pea! She's better and healing slowly. She likes to take her time! As of the last report I got, she's got her tracheotomy that is helping her breathing. She's able to breathe most of the day without help. She's eating soft foods and is sitting up more. She's going through physical therapy, but it's mostly wiggling fingers and toes. She is going through a little bit of speech therapy too. Jon said one morning he walked into her room, and she whispered, "Hi!" It was pretty exciting!


I think that covers the biggest changes in our lives so far! Whew! It's been a whirlwind around here. I miss our family and friends. We've been so busy and I know we are neglecting our loved ones! I've definitely neglected my blog! I can't wait to share pics of our lovely home with you and I would love for any of you to come visit! Just let me get unpacked first! Now where did I put that box of pics....

can split ends just be "in?"

I need a haircut! But, who has the time? And, I don't even know what I would do to it. Is it time for a change? I'm not sure.


Don't get me wrong, I love my long hair. It's got just enough wave in it to where I don't really "do" my hair. I can braid it, bun it, or ponytail it. But, it needs quite a trim. I mean, even my split ends have split ends! 


So, I think we should make split ends trendy. Okay? Okay. 


And, if any one has any super cute ideas, I am open to them!

bah hum love

Valentine's Day is always a bit of a bummer for me. So is Mother's Day. Let's just say I get the short end of the stick when it comes to any day that causes a restaurant to be busy. I think I can actually count on two fingers how many times we've shared a Valentine's Day together. So, my work family were my my Valentines this year!


We planned a yummy Valentine's Day luncheon for all of our employees. We had Italian food and homemade desserts. Everything was red and pink (and the boss pea does not like pink)! It was so cool to brighten our dungeon up a bit! :)


And...I also got a Valentine's Day card from a boy! We have a comedian at our workplace and let's just say, he got my personality to a pea!


In case you can't read it, it says:

Life is like a box of chocolate...

...Filled with Vodka!

It will get you drunk and make you fat. Happy V.D. (Valentine's Day)

There is also a fat, drunk, dead Queen Pea drawn on there! I laughed all day!

P.S.  King Pea was a sweet pea and got me chocolates! Dark chocolates! My favorite! Valentine's Day may suck, but I love my hubby and I know he loves me! We'll have our own Valentine's Day soon!

super whatever

Not really a fan of football. It's alright, but I'm not going to go all bananas over it or anything. But, I do like the commercials. And the yummy bloody mary I am consuming. I thought this would be a great time to catch everyone up on what has been going on in the Penprase pea pod. Well, there are only about two whole people in the world who read this, but they probably care about what our little peas are up to! 


Abby Pea is barely passing Spanish; and that's a good thing! Holy moly, she is trying to give this Queen a heart attack, I swear. She's still dancing up a storm, but her classes have been cut significantly since the beginning of the school year due to the difficulty of school. High school is no picnic and takes more work than she was prepared for! 


She has her ears double pierced now; that's the big change we've had in her little life lately. She's gotten to the stage where she is no longer affectionate towards us .a.t. .a.l.l. I have to steal kisses and hugs from her when she's not looking these days. I have gotten accustomed to kissing her on the back of her head on her hair. It usually smells nice. Other than that, she's an argumentative, sassy teenager. But, she's *my* argumentative, sassy teenager! God has definitely given her the gift of gab and debate and besides Spanish, she's super smart (Could she become a lawyer?! Egad!!). I keep trying to convince her to join the debate club, but she even argues with me about that! :)


Anne Pea is still my Sweet Nanner! She cleaned house for me the other day without us even asking her to do it. I am still wondering what it is she wants.... She's had a birthday party almost every weekend to attend. I just knew that Abby Pea would be our social butterfly, but Anne Pea is little Miss Pea-opularity! I love watching her interact with her amazing friends. She is the most accepting, loving teenager I have ever seen. God has given her a heart of gold and I love it!


On the piercing front, she's begging for double pierced ears, but I told her she had to wait until she was fourteen. So, guess what she wants to do for her birthday! As long as it's not a belly button ring, I can handle it! 


King Pea and I are hanging in there. We are praying for some direction and guidance. We are at some sort of crossroads we've never been at before. We feel there are some changes that have to happen in our lives, we just don't know where to go from here. It has nothing to do with our marriage. No divorces here! No worries for our relationship! It has taken me fifteen years to get him the way I want him! ;)


Just pray for direction for our family. We could use the extra prayer or two to give us wisdom about where God wants us to be. We will certainly pray for you as well! Love you all!

dirty dogs

I think I want to humanely euthanize my dogs. Not really. If you know me at all, you know I am a sucker for dogs! I love them all, in every shape, size, and hair length! But my dogs got in T-R-O-U-B-L-E yesterday! After Anne Pea got in trouble first, however.

It all started on my way home from work....
(Doodly-doot, doodly-doot, doodly-doot)

How it was supposed to go:
Leave work at precisely 5:00 p.m.
Arrive in McKinney at 5:30.
Pick up Abby Pea at Claire's at 5:35.
Pick up Anne Pea at Hannah's at 5:45.
Get home to let dogs out and let Abby change by 5:50.
Leave house at 6:05 to take Abby to dance.
Arrive back home at 6:25 to Anne Pea supervising the dogs.
Begin dinner and live happily ever after (or at least until Abby must be picked up at 8:30).

How it *REALLY* went:
Leave work at precisely 5:00 p.m.

Arrive in McKinney at 5:30.

Pick up Abby Pea at Claire's at 5:35.

Drive around Hannah's neighborhood for 20 minutes whilst calling Anne Pea 15 times, leaving one voice mail.

Pass Hannah's house six times without knowing it.

Lecture Abby Pea (she's the one in the car with me) about how this is the reason to answer the phone when Mom Pea calls. Always.

Leave Anne Pea to annoy Hannah's family for a while.

Arrive home at 5:55 and have ten minutes to let the dogs out and let Abby change. 

Actually watch both dogs do their duty, or doodie. This is important for later in the story. Meanwhile, receive call from Anne Pea explaining new phone is broken and no calls or texts can go in or out.

Leave house at 6:10 to drive like Danica Pea-atrick to the dance studio. 

Throw oldest pea out of the car (she rolls really well from a car moving at 45 mph) in the parking lot as not to be late to class.

Head back to pick up Anne Pea while realizing I'm running on fumes (driving around a neighborhood for an unplanned 20 minutes has ruined my plan to drive to work on fumes the next morning and get gas at lunch at the last possible minute; so I hate pumping gas, sue me).

Pick up Anne Pea.

Proceed to berate her all the way home for not thinking to call from another phone sooner (there's a 98% chance friend has a phone, too) and/or waiting outside friend pea's house. (Hello?!? I drove by there six times! I would have seen you!)

Arrive back at the house and walk into a garbage dump. Literally.

Dogs decided while I was gone for less than 20 minutes that it would be a terrific time to inspect the bottom of the garbage can. And everything in between them and the bottom of the can on the way down. 

Did I mention one of them pea-ooped in the floor? Icing on the garbage?

Yell, curse, and basically have a full on Tourette syndrome breakdown (flailing and kicking the air were optional but complimentary). 

Pick up garbage with Anne Pea while discussing the probability of humane euthanasia (I think I could pay our vet enough money; Teddy's lived quite a long, full life after all. Georgia, well, it was good while it lasted.)

Get a phone call from King Pea after calming down a bit. Explain entire story behind dogs' impending deaths. Get asked why all phone calls from me are negative and all include "bitching." (It's called venting, duh.)

As of today, I have reconsidered. The dogs have been spared. This time....

Our ragamuffin, Teddy. He needs a haircut! And a bath. (He's kind of stinky.)

Abby Pea and Georgia. Don't be fooled by that sweet, sad looking face. She's a brat! And so is Georgia! ;)

fifteen years and counting

King Pea and I are coming up on our 15th anniversary. I know, it gives me heart palpitations. I did learn from my Sweet Tina that the 15th anniversary's present is Metal Chicken. So, I now have less than nine days to find a big metal chicken! (Read the story of the chicken here. It made me laugh so hard I cried!)


He may not get a giant metal chicken, or anything for that matter. We don't usually celebrate our anniversary until February (tax refund!). We're pinching pennies this time of year! 


Wow. 15 years. I can't believe it! I was just telling Abby how we met and fell in love the other day. It seems like it was not that long ago! Yet, I feel like I've known him forever! And we still have our "young" moments. Why, just today I accidentally sent Anne a naughty text that was meant for him. Whoops! (She claims she didn't "get it!" Not buying it, however. It wasn't that naughty, I swear.)


Tonight, he made supper for the family. Chicken soft tacos (I ate black beans on mine instead of chicken. I'm a semi-vegetarian.). I think I'll keep him around for a while! 


Oh, we have our issues. We probably argue at least every other day. Don't think he's all that, ladies! 


Now, if he'll take Abby to dance tonight, pick me up some saline, and fill my car with gas, then he may just get some, à la text!

time for the holidays!

I don't know if I'm excited or terrified! The holidays are basically here! I am working on our Christmas cards and they are turning out really cute! Today is our Christmas photo shoot! I am about to browse for some photo ideas. I have a couple rattling around up there in my head, but I could always use a little help.


I have so many ideas for many different things! Too bad they don't all stay in my head!


Now I just need a few gift ideas...like for everyone I need to buy a gift for! Yikes! The madness begins!

if you like lip balm...

...So, I realize winter is around the corner and if you're like me, you need lip balm with you at all times. This is from Walgreen's, by Walgreen's and is so wonderful! Not as strong as Burt's Bees, but perfectly strong enough and very soothing! It smells yummy, too!


And did I mention it's only $0.62?! Crazy, I know! Look for it in the pharmacy section (I knew there was a silver long to hanging out there with my pneumonic daughter! Is pneumonic a word?) 

Okay, yes, I took this pic with my phone in my car. Not my best work; I know!

Anyhow, I'm a sucker for a bargain and this one's too good not to share!

how can it be november already?

November? When did this happen? My sweet Daddy Pea had a birthday yesterday. I don't know how old he is because I quit counting my birthdays at 24 (hee, hee).  


When people ask how old my peas are, I tell them how old they are. Then I have to explain how I was a child bride and was sold for some pigs. I was forced to have children when I was a wee pea. 


So, how did it get to be November already? Where has 2011 gone? It's almost over! I haven't even thought about Christmas gifts yet. What do I buy these peas anyway? I can't even read the 700 emails piling up in my inbox. Can I just get some more time? 


Just today, I'm driving home and my car warning light comes on. It says "Tire Maintenance." Then, not two minutes later, my gas light comes on. And I swear, five minutes from the house, my oil change light comes on. November is apparently the month that my car needs help! 


When I get time, I'll be sure to figure all this out. I will also post some pics from Halloween. The peas were so cute! I'll do it...in time!

this is what i get....

I am always trying to be funny. My peas inform me often that I am not. I have always wanted to be though! I love to laugh (I'm called Giggle Elf at work) and I frequently try to tell funny stories and jokes at work. They typically aren't terribly funny, but I have no problem laughing at my own material. 


Yes, I giggle, heartily, when I tell my own stories. I think that alone disqualifies me from ever being a real comedienne (I shall continue to live vicariously through Tina Fey and Amy Poehler). Darn.


So, today our Facilities Manager, Vaughn Bee, brought me a shipment I ordered the other day. As he was walking toward me with the box, I said, "Oh, those must be the mouse pads I ordered. You know, those little houses for mice?" 


Except right as he arrived at my desk, about the time I said "little houses," I rammed my bare knew straight into the corner of my desk drawer. Of course, I laughed. Not at my own joke this time, but to keep myself from crying and throwing up out of sheer pain. 


Vaughn Bee laughed. I'm still not sure if it's because of my joke or my clumsiness. That's what I get for trying to be funny!