MERRY CHRISTMAS

My wish to all my blogger friends, family and friends..is to have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
I hope Santa brings you everything that you asked him for this year!!!!

Love,
Danielle and Daryl

YAY Daryl......

Daryl is home from school. YAY!!!!! Even though I thought it was never going to end..the 7 weeks that he was gone...actually flew by!!!!
School was very stressful for him but it was worth it to him...He graduated at the TOP of his class..I am so proud of him.
He is now back at work, going thru the transition from oil field hand to supervisor....Daryl says that this is WHEN the REAL stress starts but I think he will do just fine!!!!

You Will be Missed....

Cerberus 11/13/1999 to 12/01/2008

I think this is the hardest blogs that I have had to write so far since starting this blog. Last week I had to say good-bye to one of my best friends....Cerberus. He passed away unexpectdly last Monday morning. I was just VERY grateful that I was home when he went.

I got Cerbs(as we called him or we also called him Berbus) we he was just 6 weeks old. He was so cute and he was the sweetest puppy. I would take him everywhere with me. When he got to be full grown, he looked mean but he was the SWEETEST..biggest baby there was. He did not have a mean bone in his body. I used to take him to softball with me all the time and people would be afraid to pet him cause he was a ROTTWEILER...but once they saw how gentle he was and how much of a baby he was they loved him.

Cerbs and I went thru many life changes with each other and during it all he was my best friend and my comfort thru many tough times in my life and never judged me and just LOVED me.

Cerbs, Daryl and I love you very much and you will be missed!!!

Gobble,Gobble

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is already here!!!! This year has flown by. It just seems like yesterday I was walking down the aisle towards my new husband and our new lives together!!

Daryl is still up at school so we won't be able to share Thanksgiving together but we talked about it and I am going to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my mom and the rest of my family. As Daryl put it best..we will have MANY Thanksgiving in our lives!

I hope that everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving!!

Also too please say a prayer for our soldiers who are away and can't be at home with their families for the holidays!

Great Poem that I had to share

One of my e-mail friends who happens to be a cousin sent me this e-mail with a great poem that I had to share...

BirthCertificates show that we were born.

ADeath Certificate shows that we died

Pictures show that we lived!

Havea seat . . . Relax . . . And read this slowly.


IBelieve...

Thatjust because two people argue,

itdoesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do love each other.


IBelieve

...That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.





IBelieve...

That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every oncein a while and you must forgive them for that.



IBelieve...

That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.




IBelieve...

That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.





IBelieve...

That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.





IBelieve...

That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.





IBelieve...

That you can keep going long after you think you can't.





IBelieve...

That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.




I Believe...

That either you control your attitude or it controls you.



IBelieve...

That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to bedone, regardless of the consequences.



IBelieve...

That money is a lousy way of keeping score.



IBelieve...

That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the besttime..



I Believe...

That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down,... will be the ones to help you get back up!



IBelieve...

That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry,.... but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.



IBelieve...

That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've hadand what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.



IBelieve...

That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others.

sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.



IBelieve...

That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop foryour grief.



IBelieve...

That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are,but, we are responsible for who we become.




IBelieve...

That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life Forever.



IBelieve...

Two people can look at the exact same thing.... and see something"totally"different.



IBelieve...

That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.



IBelieve...

That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend criesout to you - you will find the strength to help.



I Believe...

That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.



IBelieve...

That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.



IBelieve...

That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in, Ijust did.



'Thehappiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; theyjust make the most of everything.'

5 More Weeks

I have been so bad about updating our blog. I have some great news....DARYL GOT A PROMOTION with his job. He is going to be a Field Specialist..which means he is going to be a supervisor with Schlumberger.
Daryl has been working on making supervisor since we have been together(which is 3 1/2 years)

So your asking yourselves what does the 5 weeks stand for then? Well...to prepare for his supervisor position, he had to go to school for 6 weeks in Kellville, OK. He's been gone for a week now and he has 5 more weeks to go.

I am so happy for him and I appreciate all the hard work that he has done in the past 3 1/2 years cause one reason he was working so hard on getting this position is for us and our future.

I hope these next 5 weeks fly by.......

YIKES IKE

I survied my first hurricane since living here for 13 years. Hurricane Ike made landfall as a Category 2, at Galvenston and then continued upwards. I live 80 miles away so we didn't get any of the 100 mph winds or any of the surge BUT we did get 78 mph winds and LOTS of rain. Since living in Texas I have seen rain blow sideways but never from all directions, like it did with Ike.

Since I have never been thru a hurricane before..I did not know what to expect. I kept thinking it was going to be like the "Perfect Storm" with thunder and lighting..but as Daryl explained to me that there is no thunder and lighting in a Hurricane.

We were very fortunate and we only lost power for a day and we did not have any damage to our house. Our neighbors who live in the two story got lots of damage and they had some flooding in there house.

One of the reason that Ike was SO BAD was that is was like 571 miles across. Even my mom in Ohio felt the effects of Ike when it made it's way up there.....

Houston is starting to get back to normal...there are still 63,000 people in Houston still without power. CRAZY!!!

For Galvenston it will TAKE MONTHS even YEARS for them to rebuild but the people of the island are putting their backs into it and cleaning up to start the rebuild.

Check out this website.....

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

And Daryl and I want to thank everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers!

Locks of Love

Daryl and I aren't the richest people in the world but we try to give to some non-profit orginazations when we can. But there is one thing that I can do that doesn't cost any money and that is grow my hair out. Everyone knows how fast my hair grows and in fact it aggervates my hairdresser cause she will color my hair and two weeks later I am already having to have my roots done again...he-he Locks of Love requires a minium of 10 inches in order for you to donate..so I went to my hairdressar on Saturday and we measured it out and it was enough for me to donate...so after calming HER down and REASSURING her that this is what I want to do...it all came off. Here is a before picture.....(most recent picture of me with my hair down and long)

After(front)

Back

So if you can grow your hair and are looking for a orginzation take a look at Locks of Love.

http://www.locksoflove.org

1 Month

It has been 1 month since Daryl has quit smoking and I am so proud of him!! He has been smoking for about 11 years and he has talked about quitting a couple of times but never did it..but a month and half ago he went to the doctors and got a prescription for Chantex to help him stop and he hasn't had a cigarette for a month now.
Daryl has learned some things along the way too. He used to be "that guy" who would blow smoke in your face or smoke by you while you were trying to stop...well he got a taste of his own medicine when other people started to do that to him. And he is liking how he gave himself a raise since he is no longer spending $5 dollars a day on a pack....now he can afford to spend $11 dollars at McDonald's.

5 Year Anniversary

No it's not our 5 yr anniversary but it is Daryl's 5 year anniversary working for Schlumberger. Every year Schlumberger has a banquet for people who have been with the company for 5 plus years. Every year they have the banquet in a different city for the region and this year it was in Frisco, Texas.....So thanks to Schlumberger we got to have a mini vacation.(the banquet was on August 9Th..I'm alittle late in posting)

So we packed up the trailblazer and headed up 45 North to Frisco for our four hour trip. Daryl and I love to go on road trips cause we have a blast with each other.

Four hours later we arrived at the Westin in Frisco and it was a NICE hotel. We got ready and went down to the ballroom for the banquet. Well they had a photographer there and we got our picture taken..which came out very nice..but as Daryl calls it..it's our Prom picture since they were posing us like Prom pictures. The banquet was great and it was amazing to hear some of the people's stories and it was amazing to hear that some people had been with the company for 35 yrs....35 yrs!!!!!!!!, that in itself is amazing cause in this day and age people don't stay with companies very long.

Sunday morning we got up and headed 10 minutes down the road to visit Chris,Amy,Carley, and Campbell in McKinney. This was our first time going to Chris's house and we got to see their new floors....Chris and Amy the floors look great. We had a great time visiting with everyone and we enjoyed having lunch with them....Chris makes a AWESOME grilled cheese sandwich. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay very long cause we had to head back south, but we are planning on going to visit soon and stay longer.

Award

Thank you ancient one for the award!!!

Not home yet...

Just a quick update....my kitty is still not home. I have not received any calls from the flyers that I have posted around the neighborhood and none of my neighbors have seen him. I visited the local shelters on Thursday to see if he had been turned in but he wasn't there.
I want to thank everyone who has checked in to see if has come home. If anything changes I will post it here for all to see.

Lost Kitty

I know that many of you don't live in the same state as I do..so it would be kind of hard for y'all to help in the search of my lost kitty..but I'm asking for you to say some prayers to help bring my kitty home. (The lost kitty is the one on the blue pillow).
My Shitty Kitty(yes that is his name) has some kidney problems and needs to be on a special diet. He's been missing since Wednesday am when he snuck out the door while my roommate was leaving for work. Normally he would just go out side and come home later that day but he has not been home since.
My husband and I have been looking around the neighborhood every night when we get home and have posted lost signs all over. I've been calling local vets around the area and the shelters but still no one has seen him.
So please take some time out and say a prayer for my Shitty Kitty.

52 Saturdays, 52 Sundays

52 Saturdays, and 52 Sundays...those are the days that I spend with my husband. Why do you ask? Some of your know this and some of you don't but Daryl works for Schulmberger in the on land oil and gas services and they work VERY long days all over Texas. So basically this means that he is gone Monday thru Friday. That being said we treasure our Saturdays and Sundays together.

Please don't get me wrong..I am not complaining. I am VERY fortunate. I know that there are some couples that have a spouse that is deployed overseas and they would treasure the 52 Saturdays and the 52 Sundays that Daryl and I have together. Just sometimes it makes it hard on me, him being gone so much and at this point and time we are trying to start our family..and it's kinda of hard when one party is gone so much. BUT I know that it will pay off in the long run and that he works so hard right now for OUR FUTURE and he is doing this so that one day he can come home after work EVERY night and be with his family.

So for now I will squeeze every moment out of the 52 Saturdays and 52 Sundays.

Wedding Pics

Taking a break from all the dancing

Emily,Leon,Daisy,Jenn,Eddie and Me,back of Rene

Loyality

Eddie and me, Rene and Molly

Daryl being funny

Again being funny

Shaking our grove thing!!!

Molly and me

Me trying to figure out Leah and Brit are doing

Daryl and I's first dance as husband and wife

About to cut the cake

Cotton Eye Joe

Getting ready to leave for the cermony

Better late than never....

I was taking a walk down memory lane and came across the e-mail that I had sent out last March of how and when Daryl proposed to me and when I looked back at my blog..I noticed I never posted it.

So those of you who are curious....Enjoy reading!!!(He proposed to me on Saturday March 3rd 2007)

Daryl proposed to me Saturday night after giving me as he calls it “his insurance that I would say yes” See the attached photo.

I was having a horrible day on Saturday. It started out really crappy. I had gone to bed at 4:00 that morning because I had worked the night before at Danny’s and I had to get up at 9:30 to be at Brittmoore at 10:30. Well I went to let the dogs outside and there was a hole in the fence that they could get thru…so I had to play handy man and fix the hole before I could let the dogs out and before I could go to work. I was late to work which put me in a foul mood. Things got a little better though until the end of the day.

Normally I get out of there no later than 6:00 on a Saturday night but this was not the case for this particular Saturday. We had an awards party going on so I got balls to the walls busy at 5:30 and it was so busy that I couldn't’t trade draws with the night bartender until 6:15. So I closed out my drawer and dropped my money and by now it was 6:45. I was dragging ass but I stayed to help my co-workers out. I called Daryl at 6:55 telling him that I was still at work and that I would be home as soon as I could. He called me back and I had missed the call ,so I called him back and he told me to stay there that he was on his way up there to meet me and that we would go and get something to eat together. I was like ok and by the way Eric is here.(who is a friend of Daryl’s that he grew up with)

About 7:30 I went to hide for a few minutes. I was exhausted and I was to the point that I was going to strangle someone. I was hiding out by our grill when I hear Eric screaming DANIELLE,DANIELLE. I whined what does he want. I just want a few minutes of peace and quiet. So I got back inside the bar.(Ok let me tell you a little bit about Brittmoore icehouse, it’s an old transmission shop so it has the big roll up doors..ok I’ll get back to the storey now)

So I got walking back into the bar and Eric says Danielle come see your new car. I see Daryl standing there, so I come around the bar and he is standing in front of a green 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP(my dream car) I look at Daryl and then I look at the car and I look back at Daryl and he has this big grin on his face and he says it’s yours! I start screaming and running around the car and getting into it and out of it and screaming for my friends to come and take a look at it. I carried on for about 20 minutes. I could not believe what I was seeing!!! Everyone in the icehouse was looking at me. I calm down enough to take my friend Michelle for a ride and then my friend Amy for a ride. I was so nervous driving the car.

Daryl had been at the dealership all day getting the car and we had to leave Brittmoore to go and pick up his truck. While we were driving over to the dealership he told me how he got the car and with the extra money that he had left over he said that we would go look for rings. He then asked me “Will you marry me?” I was stunned. I was still in shock over the car that I had to ask him is that a marriage proposal and he said yes…so I told him that I would get back to him this coming weekend!!! Just kidding!!! I shouted yes!!!!

So on Sunday we went to Robbins’s Brothers and picked out my ring. I picked out the setting and Daryl picked out the center diamond. I tried this setting on and it screamed my name and I instantly feel into love with it. They had to set the center diamond and re-size it, so I wasn’t able to take it with me that day so I was a little disappointed.

I picked my ring up today but I have to wait for Daryl to put it on my finger to make it “official”. It’s killing me but it is also teaching me patience! Daryl won’t be home until Saturday..which Saturday can’t get here fast enough for me ;-)

I had no clue that I was going to be proposed too or getting a car!!

And as y'all know that we got married on April 4th, 2008!!

Nanny's 80th Bday Party

I surprised Nanny this past weekend by showing up for her 80th Bday party, that Aunt LeighAnne,Aunt Kelly, Aunt Linda and my dad,Doug, threw for her.

Nanny had no idea that I was coming for her b-day party. She had told me about it a couple weeks ago while we were chatting on messenger. I was originally going to send money for it but an opportunity came up so that I could go..so I jumped on a plane Friday am and headed to the wilds of West Virginia.

I meet up with my dad in Morgantown and followed him up to my Nanny's and he told her that he brought a vistor with him and when she saw me she couldn't believe that I was there. When she mentioned her bday party to me she thought for sure that their was not possible way that I would be there cause of getting married a little over a month ago. She said that I really made her day.

Nanny's party was held at the Moose and she had a great turn out. Nanny was so Happy that her family and friends came to help celebrate her 80th birthday with here. The food was great and everyone had a great time!!!!!

I want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Aunt Leigh Ann, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Linda and my dad for throwing Nanny her party. If it wasn't for all their hardwork there wouldn't have been a party!! THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!

We're MARRIED!!!!

It's done!!!!!!! We got married on Friday April 4th, 2008. A few things went wrong but it happens. Nothing that we didn't get past!!!
Everyone had a GREAT time and it was great to see family that came from all over to spend our special day with us.
I haven't gotten any pictures from guests but here is the link to look at the professional pictures.

www.semick.com

go to portriats and then choose Daryl and Danielle.

Enjoy!!!

Bridal Shower

My friends Daisy,Anna,Nina,Terry,Jenn, Diva, and Molly threw me a bridal shower on March 8th. I have such wonderful friends. I got a lot of nice things from everyone who came but the girls told me that I had to share them with Daryl.

One of the games that we played was Buzz Word Bingo and the ladies at the shower had to basically pay attention to what I said and if I said any words on their sheet, they got to cross it off. Well Diva would try to goud me into saying words so I had my fun with her. I would say every thing else except for the word she was looking for. I think I had more fun at that game than they did......

I remember when....

I remember when it was safe to go to school and you didn't have to worry about another student bringing a gun to school, to "settle" a problem or to take innocent people out just cause.
It breaks my heart every time I read on-line about the needless shootings that are going on all over America. My heart breaks for all the victums family and friends who are left behind wondering why did this person do this and did they even know my child, or was my child unfortunaltyly in the wrong place at the wrong time. But their children weren't "really" in the wrong place, they were in their classrooms trying to better themselves, get an education that they could take with them for the rest of their lives, something that they were paying for and what their class schedule told them to be on that particular day. But because some person decided that today was the day that they were going to go into a classroom,lecture hall or a cafeteria and just start shooting. That person took away everything from those students they killed and their families. The shooter took away their firsts, their first job after college, their first glimpse of their future spouses, their first kiss as a married couple, their first born child and so many more firsts.
My heart also goes out to the shooter's families. Most of the time their child was over all a good child. Now they are left behind wondering what could they have done to prevent this, did they do something wrong raising them and a general why? While they too should be dealing with their grief and trying to mourn their child they too have lost, they will be pursued and hounded with all theses questions from every news source out there, who found out where they live and they also will have to go thru hours of talking to law enforcement agencies from all over.
Every morning I worry about my brother and sister who are in college now. My brother jokes and says not to worry..his school has had it shooting(Kent State) but I still worry and pray that they will be safe during the day and that they will make it home from school but it starts over again the next day.
When will our schools be truly safe again...like when I was a child?

True Friends

Daryl and I had gone out to breakfast a couple of weeks ago and we ran into one of my co-workers and we joined them for breakfast.
We got on the subject of friends and my co-worker says that he bases "friend criteria" on this...If he were stuck on the side of the road at 2 am and he called someone to come and get him..that is a True friend.
That got me thinking and it's true. People that we call our friends..how many of them would come get you at 2 am..no questions asked???
I know that I'm that friend..I've proved it many..many times. But for me...there are few that I know that would get out of bed at 2 am. Looking at that has put a lot of things in prespective for me.
A true friend will be there for you no matter what. Will accept the friendship as it is..not what they can get from you. Won't get mad at you because you don't share their opinion but will love you because you have another opinion. Yes true friends get mad at each other but true friends have no problems saying their sorry if they are wrong and you will say your sorry if your wrong.
Now how many true friends do you have??

Manners

What has happened to them? Let me set the stage if I may.....

I work part time in a bar and yes I am there to take care of the customers but that doesn't give them the right to be rude...

I grew up showing respect and always saying yes,please,thank you, may I, yes ma'am , yes sir..you get the picture and if I didn't my mom would give me that look and I straightened up real quick.

And what gets me is the customers that I mostly serve are from the generation that it was all about manners!!!!!

How hard it is to say Thank you or please or may I instead of get me this or get me that. Or how hard is it to acknowledge a job well done. It doesn't have to be with money but a kind word works the same. Even though I am there to serve you and bring you whatever your little heart desires..it would be nice to hear THANK YOU!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year to the three people who read our blog..... :-)

I can't believe that 2008 is already here. 2007 just flew by too quickly. I had many exciting things happen to me in 2007. I got engaged, got a my dream car..2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP(which also was my engagement present from Daryl) got to travel to California,Maine and Michigan. Got to see lots of family members and be able to introduce Daryl to pretty much all my family.
I was truly blessed in 2007 and hope that the blessing continue in 2008.

I really don't make any resolutions because I am notorious for breaking them. I'm just going to keep on keep on cause whatever I'm doing seems to be working just fine.

May all your wishes and dreams come true in 2008. And I hope that everyone is as blessed as I am in 2008.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!