Martha Stewart Homes

Today I went to see the Martha Stewart/KB model homes that are built in a nearby neighborhood.  Each home is designed by KB homes, with Martha's help and then exquisitely decorated.  I felt like I was walking through a page of her magazine, and loved every minute!  If you want to drool like I did, go to:

http://www.kbhome.com/martha/

I want to be Martha....minus the jail bit. 

Laura in the News...

Recently I was interviewed for an article at work and when they said a photo was needed I knew just who to ask to play the role of a patient. Laura!! She did a great job and got to visit me at work for a while. We had tons of fun! Thanks for your help Laura!

Taken from:
Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital Health Highlights for Parents

Giving Children a Helping Hand in the Hospital
When you go to the hospital, you expect to receive excellent medical care. But if you’re a child, you may need a little more than that. Hospitals can be frightening places for children. That’s where Child Life specialists come in. “Any healthcare experience can be stressful,” says Sarah Rowe, certified Child Life specialist at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital. “We focus on children’s emotional health and provide an outlet for them to talk about their feelings and fears.”
Services Specifically for Kids
The work of a Child Life specialist can cover a lot of ground, depending on the child’s age. Specialists may take kids to the playroom, do arts and crafts, watch movies or just hold hands.
For younger children, medical play can also help reduce anxiety and provide an outlet to express fears. These kinds of activities may not make an injury heal faster, but they make the hospital experience much better for children.
“We had a 9-year-old girl come in who had cut her head on the playground,” recalls Rowe. “She was in tears and very anxious about having stitches. We talked about why we do stitches and how they would help her cut heal. And then we stitched up her teddy bear together. I showed her how to do it, and then she did it herself. By the time she left, she said, ‘This hospital is fun!’”

Sarah Rowe, CCLS uses medical play techniques with a patient.

Support Where You Need It
Many hospitals now recognize the importance of support services for children. Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center offers patients a team of Child Life specialists. Additionally, Memorial Hermann is the first health system in southeast Texas to provide Child Life specialists closer to home at three community hospitals: Memorial Hermann Katy, Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center and Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital. Additional Memorial Hermann locations plan to add Child Life specialists to their teams in the near future.“Emotional health sometimes gets overlooked in healthcare, but Memorial Hermann is so conscious of it,” says Rowe.“Families have told us there is nothing else in this area like the services we’re providing, and they really appreciate it.” ■

Bricks Bricks Bricks...

A completed brick picture will follow, but here's how the house is looking! There's a stone detail that you can see the start of if you look closely.

Need I say more about why I love being an aunt???

ish-cago

This is overdue but.....here's a recap of my trip to Chicago. AKA my new favorite city!

Arrived Thursday June 12, my 24th birthday. We had planned to go to the Cubs/Braves game but someone accidentally gave our tickets to the wrong people and we couldn't afford what the scalpers wanted. So we went to The Cubby Bear which is a great sports bar across the street from Wrigley and had lunch while we watched the game on big screens.
Next stop was getting pedicures to relax and catch up.
Then we headed out for some Chicago deep dish style pizza. It's more like cheese with a bit o crust. Tasty though!

Rachel and I both had early flights that morning so we took it easy, went back to Kristyna's apartment and hung out. She was so sweet and had party hats and a cake to celebrate my 24th!! Oh and she had also bought Rachel and I Cubs t-shirts to wear to the game! I loved it!! I have the best friends....
Friday was our tour day. We got up and went to Kristyna's office to see where she works at PCI. Classy place.
We took a river/lake tour of the city which was really fun and allows you to learn about some of the architecture and get great views of the skyline from Lake Michigan.


We checked out Millennium Park and got to sit in on a Beethoven symphony and chorus rehearsal. It was gorgeous!

Next we took a lunch break at a really great sandwich place.Then walked down Magnificent Mile for some window shopping,
went to the 96th floor of the John Hancock building to the Signature Room for drinks and a view of the city, then went to get some Garrett's popcorn before heading back to Kristyna's office to change clothes. We bought tickets from a guy named Paulie who we found on Craigs List so we could go see Wicked. So we got dolled up and hiked over to the Theater, found our seats and were so excited to see the show!

A few minutes into the first act it turns out we're in someone else's seats...because Paulie didn't really buy the tickets he sold us, and we got kicked out of the theatre after the first act. Sad day. However it was a great show and I'd love to see the 2nd act so I know how it ends!
So, we went for some hot dogs at the uhh....colorful....Wiener Circle and then headed back home.
Saturday we got up and went to the beach in the morning to lay out and relax. Turns out people in Chicago are crazy about the beach, and on the 3 days a year it's nice enough to lay out half the city comes to Lake Michigan to hang out on the beach. Too bad the water was about a jillion degreees too cold.
We went back home to shower and get dolled up again so we could go to dinner and celebrate my birthday.

Kristyna took us to Cafe Ba Ba Reeba which is a tapas restaurant with a really fun atmosphere. Plus the food was so good!

Next we met up with some of her friends who were having a surprise at Haray Caray's sports bar across from Wrigley Field. This was a really fun place too and it was fun meeting some of her Chicago friends. Later her boyfriend came so we could meet him, and we all went to a place called John Barleycorns to celebrate my birthday with some dancing!!
Finally we had to head home and get a few hours sleep before flying back to Texas. It was such a fun trip and I've decided on a 5 year plan which coordinates my move to Chicago.
Kristyna & Rachel-
Thanks for such a fun weekend and an amazing birthday trip! I love you guys and miss you too much!!!

House Update

Even though it's my most often blogged about subject, I havent updated recently about the house progress. Here's a picture of the frame and roof.

Sheet rock was completed in one day.
Garage door was installed this week.
Stone has been delivered, but there's a holdup on the brick that I picked. So right now it's just sitting tight....looking pretty.