Keepsake!

Jon and I thought it would be a fun idea to start buying Hallmark Keepsake ornaments each year to commemorate significant events in our lives for that year. We had the idea quite a while ago, but unfortunately we didn't actually go to Hallmark until this past Thursday - less than a week before Christmas! Needless to say we didn't have a great selection.

I was hoping to find something like this:

But unfortunately it was sold out. However, I think the one we found suits us just as well!!!

It's called "Do It Yourselfer" so we found it very appropriate. Love it!

sick

I've been officially SICK for the past week now. A hideous cold has taken ahold of my head and it's been terrible. Thank goodness I'm finally seeing the other side of this cold and there's a light at the end of the tunnell. And thank goodness for Tylenol Cold!!!!

Hanes Family Christmas Party!

Last Saturday we had the Hanes Family Christmas party at our house. It was our first party at our new house, and we were very excited to have everyone here. It was so great to see everyone and we all had a great time. It was my first time meeting little Molly and I hadn't seen Braylen since he was a month or so old. They are too precious. And most of the family I hadn't seen since the last Christmas party I went to 2 years ago. All of the kids have gotten so big and we really enjoyed having everyone here. Unfortunately not one single person took any pictures!!

Jon did most of the cleaning before the party, as well as wrapping all of the presents which looked PERFECT, of course. He also made a beautiful green salad and two amazing cherry pies which were a huge hit! I did the rest of the baking, churning out sugar cookies, rice crispy treats, ghiradelli drop cookies, brownies, holly treats and of course - apple cake! Jane brought the dinner which was ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, and rolls. Eddie and Nancy brought Sy's fruit salad, Craig and Karyn brought drinks and homemade spinach dip, and Darryl and Cheryl brought drinks. We had so much stuff!!!! It was great.

We did the gift exchange and I was so excited to get a mini food processor! I had already thought about trying to make homemade baby food, so this will be perfect! Jon got a cozy blanket and The Bourne Ultimatum, so we are so excited to watch it. Oh! And Craig and Karyn asked us to open our gift from them, and we got a digital photo frame!!! We love it!

The whole day was great and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Vegas Visit!

Jon and I flew to Vegas last Wednesday for an early Christmas/late Thanksgiving/Birthday celebration with my parents, Wendy and the boys. We were so looking forward to a change of scenery and of course seeing and hanging out with the family most of all!!! The boys have both gotten so big, I couldn't stop staring at them! They are both so sweet and I miss them soooo much. I tried to absorb every minute of being with them.
Jon and I were able to steal some time away to go check out some of the newer sights on the strip including a few of the sites he used to send trucks to at his old job, and the site where The New Frontier used to be!!!! We also stopped by his old work and mine and said hi to a few old friends. Oh! And I also managed to squeeze in TWO trips to In-N-Out which was WONDERFUL!!! So yummy.
Thursday night we took the boys to Opportunity Village to see all the Christmas lights. It was freezing, but it was so much fun to see their faces light up when looking at all the lights.
One of the major accomplishments of the weekend was getting all of the tons of baby things home to us that have been building up at my mom's house. So many people including my sister have been so generous in giving us all sorts of necessities. We are still awaiting our 3 huge boxes to arrive that we sent to ourselves.
We had such a great time seeing everyone and exchanging gifts, celebrating birthdays. We came home exhausted but so appreciative of every minute of the time we had.
Jon turned 32 the day after we got home and slept most of the day because he had to work that night. I felt bad for him having to work on his birthday, so I went and picked up dinner from Johnny Carino's, one of our favorite places, and brought it to him at work. It was a nice treat for both of us.

Tobin!

Jon and I at the Bellagio

Holly, Wendy and Tobin

Wendy and her hat!!!

The gang and their hats

The boys got a sparkler on their birthday (cheese) cake!!!

Which Camden was absolutely fascinated by.

The painting is DONE!!!!

Jon has worked SO HARD and finally - the painting is DONE!!! We are so happy with how everything has turned out. We still have the hallway to paint eventually, but we've crossed it off our list of things to do by Christmas. The things he has done all look great.

One of our walls in the kitchen, looking through the arch to our niche - Jon picked out the statue!

Dining Room - dark brown on the bottom and a light beige on top.

Living room - Jon hanging up our sconces.

We've also put up the Christmas tree and decorations. It's been a bit of a struggle to not want to go out and buy a boatload of new decorations to fill up this house we now have. But so far I've resisted and I think I'll do okay until things are on clearance after the holiday. We did finally get to put up our tree that we haven't seen since we bought it half-price the day after Christmas last year.






Jon put the Christmas lights on the house today and they look FABULOUS!!!! I need to take a picture of them -- coming soon.

Oh, and we've both had our first door-busting Black Friday shopping experience. We jumped out of bed at 3 and were out the door by 3:30 all ready to go. Kohl's was absolutely INSANE and we failed by not having a real plan for our day. But we made it through that madness with a few treasures and headed over to JC Penney for a few more things. Overall it was a good experience, and I'm ready to do it again next year! However, Jon is anxious to stay home with the baby. Here's a picture of us before we left the house.

Wow - Time to play catch up!

There are so many things I've wanted to blog about in the last month and a half. I've been keeping a mental list of them, but if you've ever been pregnant, or married to someone who's pregnant, you know how the brain is the first thing to go. I do know that my list consisted of discussing the Big State Fair of Texas, Texas/OU weekend, my birthday, painting....

But now it's Daylight Savings day, and I'm waaaay too tired to discuss any of this. Except maybe painting which we're in the middle of. Jon has completely finished the baby's room, with the exception of the pink or blue stripes that will be painted on, and possibly the wainscotting that might or might not be installed. He's also finished the bedroom which looks FANTASTIC! Two shades of green, chosen completely by him. He did great. Now we're in the middle of painting the kitchen and dining room. I'm not so sure about the colors this time, but we're going to give it another couple days and finish a few more sections before we completely decide.

We've got to have the builders out to inspect the floor this week. We've developed some serious grout cracks and cracked tiles in our kitchen and master bath. And this afternoon I also noticed a crack in the ceiling on the same line. Ahhh... the joys of homeownership!!!

We did manage to get the office a little more put together with all of our books now put away and our new filing cabinet being used in full force. I still have to clean out the junk from the guest bedroom that was transferred there when we started painting the baby's room.

Of course, I will be updating the baby blog. Click here for updated info!!!

New blog!

I've started a new blog for the baby. See it here.

Painting!

We spent all day Saturday painting. The nursery and the living room are almost done - just need to cut-in at the ceiling line. And Jon's TV has remained paint-free through it all! Woohoo!!! I knew I would be unable to lift it again in my present condition, so we wrapped the heck out of it with plastic. And it has survived beautifully.

Thank goodness!

I've posted a few pics and will post more once they're done. Hopefully this week after Jon's work week when he's able to finish painting. I'm not allowed on the ladder, which I'm fine with. I get freaked out on the second rung.

We LOVE the colors. Can't wait til it's done! Here's the living room.

Milk Chocolate

The red room is no more!! It took two coats of primer and a very patient Jon, but it is all gone. And the color about to go on?? Milk Chocolate! Seems as though we're getting the unborn baby off to a good start in this family of chocaholics.




Here is Jon starting the monstrous project.
And he's done!!!! At last!!!

Coming May 2008

This about says it all....

Mom, Crocs, and Cows

Mom visited!!!!!! We had such a fun time with her, and it was so great just to hang out. The overall purpose of her visit was to get her expert opinion on paint color and a few design things. But that became kind of secondary, of course, once she got here. We managed to run her pretty ragged since I wanted to make sure to we didn't forget to do something!

She did exert her influence in one major area - we are now Croc people!!!! She bought us each a pair and she left us an extra pair that didn't fit her very well. I need to take a picture of our new footwear. I will post soon!

One of the things we almost forgot to do while she was here was go to Southlake Town Center. I knew she would love it there because there are several painted cows scattered about. We hit Nestle Tollhouse (dessert first!!!), then Barnes and Noble, then Cheesecake Factory. On our way out, we found a parking spot and walked around to the various cows and took some fun pics.

I can't express how great it was to have her here, especially during such a memorable time that's going on for Jon and I. I truly can't wait for her to come back for another visit!!! And all the rest of ya'll too!!!! Get on down here!!!!

Taxes, headaches, and camels - oh my!

Okay, so Texas has a tax-free weekend every year. It's meant to give parents a break on back-to-school shopping for their kids, so all clothes, shoes and school supplies you buy from Friday thru Sunday are tax-free. I had never heard of this before, but apparently the idea is catching on around the country. We took advantage and hit Target - our favorite - and got Jon a few new shirts and me a new pair of jeans. Gotta love Target!

We had a slight change in the weather. The tropical storm Erin brought in some rain and wind and it's set off my sinuses. I had a huge headache all day yesterday and woke up with it still this morning. Jon was stuffy as well, so we weren't very exciting. But we did manage to squeeze in a game of "I Love the 80's" before he went to work. He beat me - but I think he'll readily admit that I gave him a few answers out of pity because I was kicking his butt for most of the game. Note to self: Never feel sorry for your competitors when playing I Love the 80's. I'm ready for a rematch.

And finally - I am so excited for my mom to come visit. Just a little over 2 weeks until she'll be here! I'm really looking forward to someone else seeing where we live. Not just the house, but the neighborhood, and the different roads leading to it. For instance, off the main highway on the road we take to our house, there is a taxidermist and a wild game processing place (the butcher you take the deer you just shot to so he can slice it up for you). So random! Also, on another highway we both take each day, we pass a big farm with rolling green hills, streams, bison, cows and sheep. The other day I was driving home and I saw a CAMEL on the farm!!! an actual camel. Probably one of the things I would least expect to see on a farm, especially on a farm in Texas!!!

Weird.

We did it!

One goal of mine in this house has been to get both cars parked in the garage. Yesterday we put a few boxes of Christmas decorations (and a few more of my boxes) up in the attic and I got to work rearranging what was left while Jon mowed the lawn. Soon it was done!!! I was so happy to have accomplished that little feat - and in 100+ degree weather! Of course it required moving a few of the random objects I had no idea what to do with into the house - still with no idea where to put them. But I guess I'll figure that out with time.








I did tell Jon something I will probably come to regret in the future. I drive through my neighborhood and see the garages that are open and either half-full or completely full of stuff with no room to park both cars. I said that if we ever have too much stuff where we can't fit both cars in the garage, then we have too much crap. We'll see how that goes...



Also, an update on the house. Jon did install the handle on the back door and the ceiling fan in the living room. He also replaced the lightbulbs in the lights that were out in the backyard. He's been doing great with keeping up with the yard work and all of the other joys that homeownership brings with it. We managed to get his computer set up in the office yesterday. We find ourselves having some extra furniture we don't need, and missing a few pieces we really need. So it's been challenging trying to make our current things work for now until we find the things we like. We did come up with one quick fix - we have an end table that doesn't fit in our living room right now, so it made its way to the office. We don't have a coffee table in there, so yesterday I was looking at it and Jon and I flipped it over and screwed off the bottom feet and shelf. And VOILA!!! A perfect-height coffee table is born!!! ahhhh - gotta love it!



The office is on its way to becoming the "Man Cave". Jon's designated room for all of his toys and pictures that I don't care for. And the thing he's most excited about - his deer antlers. And me, being a good wife, hung those the very first thing yesterday. There's a lot of work to be done, but at least the Man Cave is off to a good start.

Cake!!!

Tuesday night we finally remembered to eat our cake. Here is the progression of how it went. I've documented it because it was as amazing as it was on our Wedding Day.

Held up pretty good considering it's been in 4 different freezers and 3 states in one year!


I snuck a swipe of frostin! I'm not a frosting person normally - but this was AMAZING!

Master Cake Cutter!

All dished up and ready to go!

That's the face of a happy Newlywed!

I actually thanked Jon for marrying me so that I could have this cake a year later. I was hoping more chocolate would be in my teeth for this picture.

Two clean plates!! Yes, we had a second piece right afterwards.

One year! We made it!

Well, we made it to a year! We celebrated Saturday night and tried to "surprise" each other. Jon wouldn't tell me where he was taking me to dinner, but I figured it out. Melting Pot!! He did try to confuse me by driving all around Grapevine in order to throw me off - and to kill time. Turns out we were early for our reservations. We had a fabulous meal and a really great time enjoying the chocolate - you can never go wrong with the Melting Pot dessert.

First anniversary is traditionally paper. So of course Jon got me a keyless remote entry system for my car!!!! Makes perfect sense to me! I actually loved it and he was just so happy to get me something completely unexpected. I love that for our first anniversary he got me something completely practical - totally me!!!






There is also a modern take on anniversaries, and the gift for "modern" first anniversaries is a clock. I didn't even know this when I bought Jon his gift - more than 2 1/2 months ago!!! It's a watch he's been wanting for the longest time. I actually wanted to give it to him as a wedding gift, but was too broke. First anniversary ain't too bad! He figured out what his gift was ahead of time, but didn't tell me. I'm just glad he never saw it - hard to hide something for that long in the close quarters we had been living in! And yes - he made me take this series of pictures below...

This is a terrible picture, but we had to take it anyway for posterity's sake. Darn flash!

Here's a picture we took on our actual anniversary. We needed one for the anniversary book Lucille gave us as a wedding gift! Jon brought me these flowers on Friday, and had a card for me every morning for 4 days. I love his cards. The bouquet had lilies and roses just like my bouquet!!! We also re-enacted the "kissy-face" picture from the wedding, but they didn't turn out so well. Maybe I'll get brave and post them.

What a year it's been. I'm not sure we can top it - or that we'd want to!! Such a blessed feeling knowing we were celebrating moving into our first house just as we were celebrating our first year of wedded bliss. So surreal - and we thank God for every second of it.

Although we DID forget to eat the cake.... I can't believe we forgot the cake!!! I made it such a huge priority to have Jon get a cooler and dry ice so we could transport it from Vegas. His parents made plenty of room in their freezer for the thing, and it had even already made its way to our new house! And we forgot it!!! Oh well... we're just prolonging the celebration. :)

Moving right along!!

It's been a busy week!! We closed one week ago today - and time has flown! With the exception of Jon's bike and golf clubs, which are still at Don & Jane's house, everything has been moved! Things are slowly finding their places as I unpack. Jon has been working overtime so has not had much time to do things. But he's made a really good dent in projects. I'm posting pictures of all the things we've done and continue to work on...

Jon hung a new storm door in the back. It still needs a handle, though. And best of all... it's got a doggy door! The dogs took a while to get used to using it, but now they're pros.

Don and Jane graciously hired a company to install a garage door opener for us as an anniversary/welcome home gift. After watching them install it, I'm SO GLAD Jon did not attempt to do this himself.

Jon removed the chandelier from the office and installed this ceiling fan.

And moved the chandelier to the entryway!! It looks fabulous!

We've even started organizing the garage!

Though it's still a work in progress....

Jon's work bench.

And my first order of business.....

BUT I had to be fair....