**MY FIRST HALF MARATHON**

Seawall Half Marathon - Galveston Island, TX

Saturday, November 20, 2010

2:18

Will there be another Half Marathon to come in 2011...?

Kansas State University: Berney Family Capital Project Fund

My parents donated a large sum of money to Kansas State University, which was presented at the Kansas State vs Oklahoma State game on Saturday, October 30th in Manhattan. This fund will provide support for the renovation and maintenance of the Kansas State Welcome Center in Memorial Stadium and the initial construction of the Kansas State Basketball Training Facility.
http://www.kstatesports.com/genrel/103010aaa.html

Jason, Alli, Landon and I met up in Dallas to fly together to the "Little Apple" for the game. We arrived Friday night and went to Kites in Aggieville with mom and dad and all stayed at Prairiewood. Saturday morning, grandma, mom & dad, Jason & Alli and Landon & I went to a breakfast reception at President Kirk Schulz's house then we went to another athletic reception before we went to our suites for the game! In between the first and second quarter, we went on the field to present the "big check." I am so proud of my parents and I cannot wait to see the project on the K-State campus when it is complete!

Curd Family Cruise - Mexican Riviera

After 2 full weeks of back to back travel to different universities for campus recruiting, boy was I ready to take a personal FUN vacation!! : ) There were nearly 50 in our Curd/Morgan group traveling on the 7-day Carnival Splendor cruise from L.A. Longbeach to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. We left on 10/10/10 and spent the first couple days at sea getting settled in our rooms, navigating our way around the ship, playing at the casino (or really watching for me, ha!), enjoying the hot tubs and lido deck pools, playing miniature golf, dinners at the Gold Pearl dining room, 24/7 ice cream, all-you-can-eat buffets and just enjoying the beautiful weather with yummy Piña colada's and Cruisers. : ) Late at night on our last night at sea on our way to Puerto Vallarta, we received a message over the PA system of someone jumping overboard, so we stopped the ship for about 8 hours so that they could search for the person, who turned out to be a new crew member. Unfortunately the man was never found. More details are in our cruise director's blog: http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/10/13/a-very-sad-day/ We arrived to Puerto Vallarta at 2:30pm rather than 8:00am, but it all worked out as carnival worked to get our excursion rescheduled for that afternoon!

Puerto Vallarta: We took a boat from the port to Nuevo Vallarta where we had our Dolphin Signature Swim excursion. WOW! We were able to hold the dolphins, pet their belly, kiss them, dance with them, take a belly ride and watch a show at the end of all the dolphins doing tricks for us! Interesting fact: Dolphins never sleep! They let one half of their brains sleep at a time so that they get the rest they need, but are still conscious at all times. We then looked around a few of the shops and relaxed with some coronas on the patio at a local mexican restaurant before returning to the ship.

Mazatlan: We took a tour of the city of Mazatlan then went to Stone Island for an all-inclusive day on the beach. We had an authentic mexican lunch, all-you-can-drink at the bar, boogie boarding, banana boat ride and an ATV ride along the beach.

Cabo San Lucas: We took a boat ride to Lovers Beach to spend the afternoon. What a beautiful place!! I have never seen waves this big in my entire life. We went snorkeling and played in the waves. Then we had a mexican lunch with Pacifico's and hung out at the local party place, Senor Frogs, for some music and Piña colada's before getting back on the ship to head back to L.A.

You will be missed...

Duane Coast: December 5, 1982 - September 16, 2010

To every thing there is a season, a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. - Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

Benton County Fair

"Children make you want to start life over." -- Muhammad Ali

Landon, Austin, Tanner and I went to the Benton County Fair on August 21st while it was in town for a few days! Can't go wrong with some freshly squeezed lemonade, GREAT people watching and the smile on Tanner's face as he played on the toys with his dad and uncle Landon... just a couple more inches to go and he will be able to ride the kiddie rollarcoasters - Next year!! : ) 

House Pictures- Updated!!

I know many people have been asking me to post pictures of my house, decorated. I'm obviously still not completely done, but this will give you the idea! I need some visitors to motivate me to finally get to the finished product (wink wink)! : )

IILC Video

**IILC 2010**

I attended the International Intern Leadership Conference (IILC) this year from Monday, August 2nd through Sunday, August 8th. There were over 1,400 interns from 13 countries. I was asked to be on the SWAT team which helped with the planning, registration day and pep rally, decorations and general session table goodies, random Q&A, signage, game night, general session microphone running... really most of the "behind the scenes" help that people assume "just got done somehow." : ) I had so much fun with these 5 SWAT girls: Jen Nixon (McLean), Jen Sell (Philadelphia), Dawn Thompson (New York), Natasha Stough (Chicago) and Natalie Kuns (Chicago).

We all received a free pass to the Walt Disney World park of our choice on Friday night of the IILC conference. I went to dinner on the Disney boardwalk and then on to Magic Kingdom... boy, did it bring back childhood memories of the annual Berney Walt Disney World trips!! : ) It was SO good to see all my Dallas girls again since I moved EY offices!  

Todd's visit Bentonville

Dave, Lisa, Brian & Kyle came through Bentonville on their way home from visiting the Groens in South Carolina for the 4th of July holiday. What a great last minute get-together!! We all ate at Dink's (of course) and Landon gave everyone the grand tour of the restuarant and the smoker, etc then I gave them the tour of my first home in Bentonville. Hopefully they'll make it back this way soon for a longer trip!! : )

God Bless America (and fireworks!)

4th of July weekend in Arkansas!!

What a good 4th of July weekend, 2010! I moved into my new house in Bentonville, Arkansas on Friday, July 2nd. Landon welcomed me to my new home with a cooler filled with tasty beverages -- best bottle of champagne!! We had a toast to my "one-way trip to Arkansas from Dallas"... what a good feeling after making the 712 mile round trip drive many a times! Saturday, we started the morning off right with some waffle house and then I jumped into my huge stack of mail while the cable guy set up my internet and cable... then off to a fun day of shopping for house furniture, decor and a new TV! We then grabbed some BBQ on the patio over off the University of Arkansas campus and then went to see Twilight: Eclipse.

4th of July!! Indie woke up to a spoiled birthday treatment of a belly rub from me, a back scratch from Landon and a romp around her new backyard - this was her *golden* birthday (4 years old on the 4th). Landon and I went to Atlanta Bread for my favorite Vanilla Nut coffee and then on to church. They had a good service including a presentation of the colors, an appreciation for all those that have spent time in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard and Coast Guard and even some red, white and blue confetti shot out into the congregation! That night we went back to the church for an AWESOME fireworks show by the water and the crosses -- it was seriously like a 20 minute straight finale tied in with music. Right before the fireworks show, 79 people were baptized!! We bought our own fireworks and shot them off outside my house for my new neighbors! : )   

..Bittersweet..

I'm always used to taking a new step in my life as everyone close to me seems to be doing the same thing. When I moved to Norman after graduating from High School, everyone else was doing the same. When I moved to Tulsa for graduate school at OU-Tulsa after graduating from OU, everyone else was moving on from college as well. When I moved to Dallas to start my career with Ernst & Young, everyone else was starting careers and moving along to new things at the same time. Now, I am the only one making a big step at this point in my life and moving to a new city (and state) and to a new house and to a new office and to meet new friends. Thank goodness for Landon and my parents being nearby!! : ) Today, July 1st, was my last day in the Dallas office, One Victory Park. I had my farewell lunch with all my work girls at Poblano's (Sam- thanks for introducing me to the yummy world of Poblanos fast food mexican!) I'm so used to setting up farewell lunches for the interns on their last days-- strange to have one for myself!! I cleaned my desk and packed it all up then went to Steel for some sushi with the 'rents, then of course Yumilicious frozen yogurt for dessert! : P

Tomorrow, July 2nd, is the BIG moving day! Start bright and early with a Rockstar roasted light coffee to pack up my 3-story apartment in uptown Dallas into the Uhaul to drive the 356 miles to my new house in Bentonville! I will unpack and get settled just in time to enjoy the 4th of July holiday weekend (and of course miss Indie's *Golden* birthday- 4 years old on July 4th)!

Going away party in Dallas..

Had my going away party last night in Dallas, twelve days before the big move! A few of my favorite girls took me to dinner at Gloria's and brought me unexpected gifts.. a fun goodie bag and a large 4 picture matted frame with some of our best memories and then everyone signed it at the party - thanks Morgin, Natalie, Jenn and Danielle! : ) After dinner a group of us went to 300 for some bowling and drinks (which later was free due to the broken AC in our area, ha!) We then went to Blackfinn for some drinks on the patio. I love my group of Dallas friends and will definitely be back to visit! : ) One more weekend here and then it's *officially* off to Bentonville, AR!!!

CLOSING DAY!!

Tomorrow is the big day...

If someone would have asked me 7 months ago if I thought I would ever be leaving Dallas to move to Arkansas AND be buying a house.... I would have said HA! No.. What a journey of changes these last few months. It is starting to become real to me now, especially after pulling out that cashier's check for the down payment, ha! It really is a learning process and I had no idea how much detail went in to buying a house.... putting an offer on a house and negotiating the offer, signing contracts, home inspection and a follow-up inspection, settlement statement, termite protection plan, getting home owners insurance, setting up the security system, house title, payment, getting furniture and of course moving! I truly am lucky to have my wonderful boyfriend and my amazing parents by my side through it all (I could not have done it all without you three!!)

My car is packed up with my first load from Dallas to Bentonville and I will be leaving in the morning to drive to Arkansas to close on my house -- 3:30 PM CST! What better way to celebrate than with a 5 day Memorial Weekend and to see my parents and Landon?! : ) .........36 Days left in Dallas!!!

Home Inspection Day..

Updated house pictures (thanks Landon!)

"SOLD"

New Home Owner!!!

THEY ACCEPTED MY OFFER ON THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!! : ) I am officially a new home owner of 3503 Windy Way Ave in Bentonville, AR!!

...Movin' Along...

So.. I have never done a blog before, but since two of my favorite people suggested I start one about my upcoming journey.. here we go! : ) This will hopefully be a good way to stay connected and feel closer to friends and family through all the miles!

After completing my undergrad at the University of Oklahoma in Norman and then completing my Masters degree for Human Resource Management at the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa, I moved to Dallas, TX to work for Ernst & Young in the Human Resources department doing Campus Recruiting. I have been living in Uptown Dallas for about 3 years now, working at EY in Victory Park and I am loving every minute of it! However, how exciting would life be without big life decisions and taking a chance on things?!

I have made two very big decisions...

Decision #1: To move to Bentonville, AR!!
My sweet boyfriend, Landon, whom I have known since 1996 (14 years, wow..) moved to Bentonville in January of 2010 to open Dink's BBQ (YUM!) and after making the 11 hour round trip drive about every other weekend and wishing I could see him every day of the week and not being able to because of the distance, I have decided it is time to take a leap of faith and make the move!! I brought the idea of transferring to the Rogers office up to my boss in mid-February, had another meeting at the end of February, another meeting in mid-March and then again today when I got the final "OK" to transfer. YAY!! There are many challenges with this transfer and things to grow accustomed to, but needless to say, I am a happy girl and so thankful for this opportunity and everyone's support!

Decision #2: To buy a house!!
Who can pass up an $8,000 tax credit for being a first time home buyer?! Not me!! Not to mention after looking at houses in the past in Dallas, it seems crazy not to buy a house. A 4 bedroom house in Arkansas costs basically the same as a studio loft in Dallas (plus Indie can have a big fenced-in back yard now). I will keep you all updated on the move and will post pictures of the "soon-to-be" house when that is finalized!

http://www.bentonvillear.com/

"If you only look at what is, you might never attain what could be."