Brown Eyed Girl & Her Beau

2011 Motto

2011-01-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

One weekend while Aaron and I were doing some shopping in a quaint little area near our house, I stumbled across the sign below. I actually saw several signs with all sorts of sayings. But this one really stuck with me. I browsed the store for a while, falling in love with most of it, but kept going back to this sign. It was exactly what I needed to read at the time. So I bought it and decided that I would bring it to work and hang it in my office so I could be reminded of it daily. I spend most of my time here anyway, so it made sense. I look at it every single day. Over and over.

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."

How true is that?? I feel like I spend so much time wanting more and more. The new style, the new shoes, the new bag, etc. Without even focusing on what I have and realizing that at one time, I wanted all these things. And now I have them. In my closet, in my house, in my marriage, even in my garage. The sign isn't extremely profound, but it is a great reminder for me to be grateful of all the things I've been blessed with. Be content with my life NOW. Stop focusing on the future and the "wants" of the world. It's easy to lose sight of how good we have it sometimes. It's easy to compare our lives with what we see on other blogs, tv, or what our friends and family have. But in reality, we all have it pretty good.

So I resolve to make this quote my 2011 motto. To be thankful and content with what I have in my life now.

Happy new year friends!

Best adventure of 2010

2010-12-31T10:45:00.000-06:00

The year is coming to a close and the new year is quickly approaching...very quickly, so I figured it would be nice to do a recap of one of the most wonderful family vacations I've been on. The most wonderful place I've been period.

We are so fortunate that my parents asked us to tag along for their 30th anniversary trip. That's just like them too. They would rather have us all together, as one big family, then on a trip just the two of them. I think this trip brought us all closer and made us all realize how blessed we are to have been placed in this family. It's always hard to come back from a trip with loved ones. I miss waking up in the morning, walking down stairs and seeing everyone's faces sitting at the table, sipping coffee, Chelsea making her famous spicy scrambled eggs, giving each one a good morning hug. It was just so perfect.

It was a great 7 days together. In paradise. We couldn't have asked for more. The food was delicious, views were breathtaking and the company was out of this world!

All in all, between my dad, sister and I, we took a good 2,000 pictures. Obviously I won't be posting all of them but I will do my best to give a recap in one post. We'll see how long it is when it's all said and done...

Starfish Beach and lunch at Rum point (almost daily occurrence..)

Best. Night. Ever. Dinner on the beach followed by dance party!

Margaritaville (Georgetown), 7 Mile Beach, topped off with best incredible dinner at Edoardo's

Turtle farm, Smith's Cove (amazing snorkeling) and a little BTHO t.u. from the hubs :)

Lunch at Cracked Conch, mmmm.., Hell!, and my boo driving our sweet ride

Sting ray city, Rum Point, photo ops and more eating

Ahhh, just going through the pics is making me relive it all! We had such a great time and rumor is, there's plans to go back soon. Very soon! :) Thank you mom and dad for letting us tag along!

This year has been a whirlwind from the start with Aaron being laid off in January and slowly recovering from all that came along with it. But in the end, it has been an incredible year and we have been TRULY blessed. It was nice to finish the year off on a positive note and with the ones who mean the most! Can't wait to see what 2011 holds for us all. No matter what is thrown at us I know we will be able to make it through and come out on top!

Hitting the Islands, Mon!

2010-11-19T09:56:00.000-06:00

Ladies and gentlemen (well, dad and Aaron) we are Grand Cayman Islands bound! I could not be more excited!! My lovely, amazing, wonderful parents are taking the kids and their SO's with them to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary! How cool is that? My parents are such a great example to my sisters and I and we could not be happier for them. We're heading out this weekend and will be gone all week. (Holla for no Thanksgiving family drama of who's house we spent more time at...) It's going to be incredible.

My parents have rented a house on the beach. Our backyard is sand and ocean. Heavenly! Apparently, courtesy of double J (sister's boyfriend) our backyard backs up to some pretty sweet coral and marine life. The house has a pool too, you know, in case you get tired of frolicking in these crystal blue waters...

We will also be hitting up Stingray city. Sister sent us the stingray down low in hopes to alleviate any fears. I'm not sure if it worked or not but I will attempt to swim with the little devils!

We will also make our trek to Hell. Eek! You heard it right. The fam is going to Hell...well, at least the Caymans version of Hell.

Next up is Rum Point! It's walking distance from our lovely little house. That way we can stumble home as opposed to driving :)

I can't wait to come back and post pictures of our amazing family vacation!! Let's hope I come home with a tan. We also plan to take our Christmas card pics on the beach in santa hats :) Sooo excited!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Remember all the things to be thankful for. It's been a crazy year in our household but it's also been a very blessed year.

Pumpkin Overload?

2010-10-12T20:24:00.001-05:00

What better way to come off a month+ long blogging break than to talk about pumpkins?!? I mean, we all love pumpkins and tis the season for the round orange balls of cuteness.

Well I think this year I might have gone a little overboard with my orange decor. And we haven't even done our annual pumpkin patch pickin'. Aaron is going to start tossing the pumpkins out the door if I bring anymore in the house so I'll be stuck to decorating the outside.

Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year. I wish it felt more like Fall today...high of 90 doesn't really scream October by any means but that's what we get for living in Texas, right? Also, it's worth mentioning that I glittered the pumpkins below. Yep, yours truly. Found this little craft idea on Martha Stewart, as well as all over twitter world, and they were super easy! I have about 4 more to glitter this week too. I might be taking them down to the neighbors as I don't seem to have any more open spots for pumpkins!

Happy Fall!

Gym, Tan, Laundry...or just Laundry (pups pics!)

2010-08-23T21:26:00.002-05:00

Update: Prints below are from Etsy sellers K9ArtGallery and DogArtStudio. Love!

For a while now I have been wanting to add a little something to our laundry room. I figure it's the cheapest room to update for the time being. I don't know if that's how it will end up but that is the plan! I wanted a room in our house to be bright and cheery. And I think my little laundry room is probably the only room I could make bright and cheery without Aaron thinking I'm trying to "girlify" our house too much!

So my first step to this process was to search for some fun and unique art prints of our dogs. I turned to my old faithful for this task: Etsy. You can pretty much find whatever you are looking for there! I immediately began searching "white Labradoodle prints" and "golden retriever prints". Lo and behold I found 2 perfect matches! I put them in my basket, checked out and the rest is history.

I got them a few days later and fell in love! They were so perfect. Next was the task of finding the perfect frame. Now, I'm still doing this on the cheap so I was going to have to do a little searching. I wasn't about to take these prints that were all of $12.50 each and pay in the upper $100's for frames! So after church last Sunday, the hubs and I went to Garden Ridge. After searching all 4 aisles up and down and again we finally found 2 frames that matched! Do you know how hard it is to find two matching frames on 4 aisles of mismatched frames thrown everywhere?? Gotta give it to my hubs, he was a trooper the whole time! He was slinging frames left and right! Of course, the one frame I liked was the one that was the hardest to find.

Ahhh well, it paid off! Each frame was $14.99. The total of this little project was under $60 for both prints and frames. Not too bad!

And now for the final project!!!!

Next step will be picking a color for the walls, thinking a light acqua blue or a yellow. Maybe even orange? I think we'll have several options painted in little squares on our walls! That is our project for the next weekend or two. The final touch will be to add cabinets above our washer and dryer. I've seen them pre-built at Lowe's and Home Depot. Super easy and not too expensive either!

It's funny because I had chosen this as my Summer project and the Summer is at an end and here I am just beginning... I guess we will shoot for mid Fall?

nPort Resort

2010-08-04T21:26:00.004-05:00

Ahhh, what a weekend I had! I spent Saturday in the lap of luxury. It was amazing. My two fave girls came to my area and we had a spa day at an Aveda institute! We started off with facials which were incredible and ended with mani/pedi's. We were all so extremely relaxed after our facials. It was such an experience. But the mani/pedi's were a bit on the awful side. Something that should have taken an hour for both, at most, took 2+ hours! I was tempted to grab the dang polish and start painting my own nails! My patience level is not cut out for that apparently...We all agreed that we will stick with our little ladies at the regular nail salons. But it was still so much fun to spend time with these girls for the morning!

After our spa day we hit up Lauren's parents new house. Or shall I say resort? It was amazing! Her mom has spent so much time designing their home and the detail was out of this world. It's incredible. I was in awe as I walked from room to room. My favorite room had to be the kitchen and the beautiful back splash. Hand painted tiles from Italy! Ahhh, it is even more gorgeous in person. Now I didn't go around taking tons of pics because I wanted to actually be asked back, but Lauren has some pretty awesome pics here I didn't want to leave to be honest. It was a great escape from reality and Lauren's mom had a delicious lunch ready for us along with mango margaritas! Perfect day!

And guess what?? We are going back this weekend too! More pool time and a dinner to boot. How sweet is that?

St. Arnold's Brewery

2010-08-03T20:54:00.002-05:00

So it's been a while, eh? I know, I know. It's been 2 months actually - this is what my wonderful friend Lauren pointed out to me today. I'm a horrible blogger! Little did I know people were actually reading this thing and were expecting me to post more than once every 2 months. Sorry, mom! I will be better. I hope. And I have so much to catch up on! But for now, we will talk about beer. Because, let's face it, alcohol is always a friendly subject.

We live in H-town, and we have a brewery and apparently it's the place to be these days. We've been now twice - two weekends in a row! No, we don't normally visit breweries two weekends in a row but it was a special month I guess. When we first arrived we saw kids carrying fold out chairs, pizza boxes and their own personal beer glasses. Immediately we knew we had screwed up but we made our way inside. It was a blast but I wouldn't recommend going on an empty stomach... The chairs people were bringing in were due to the fact that the place was jammed packed and unless you got there 3 hours before the tours started, you weren't going to be sitting down unless you had your own sweet fold out chair with the color of either maroon or burnt orange...

That was our first experience. We went back the next weekend and this time we actually brought some food. Good ole' KFC came to the rescue. Still, no chairs though. But we had a sweet zebra blanket, courtesy of my sister, Chels.

Here are some pics from the exciting weekend! They had a Rolls Royce painted with the brewery's logo. So, of course we were all over that.

The whole group in front of their big metal tanks that housed the beer. There's a better term but I've had some wine and can't remember what it is

I wasn't going to post this because my legs look ridiculously white and frog-like compared to my black sister - I must say that Chels had just gotten back from Aruba, so of course she's freaking tan!

Ballin' in the Rolls Royce. Take that P.Diddy!

If anyone has stuck through this 2 month gap and is still reading, I appreciate it! If it's just my mom and friends, then that's OK too. I'm going to keep it going because I truly have missed this little blog :)

The Name Game

2010-06-03T13:29:00.000-05:00

I hate to admit this but I have had the worst time figuring out how to log into my blog now that I no longer have a blogger blog. You see, when Lauren gave me a makeover; which I love by the way and am so glad to have a friend that will tell me "you're blog is lame and needs a face-lift ASAP."; but it took away the sweet sign in tool at the top of the page. Now I have to go to google homepage. Click on the "more" tab, then click the "even more" tab and finally arrive at the "blogger" button. It's exhausting, really. I guess I could say that's the reason I've been such a slacker in blogging?? But truth be told I am just really lazy and life hasn't been all that exciting lately.

So the other day when I was trying to find my blog, I typed in a url that I thought was mine. When the page loaded I noticed that it was in fact totally not mine. But same name. Obviously the url wasn't the same but all it lacked was the "www." business so it was basically the SAME. I thought for a second my blog designer Lauren was playing a mean trick on me. To which I immediately Gchatted her and was all "what the heck did you do to my blog, Ski!" She of course had no clue what I was talking about. I explained to her what I had come across and she laughed! Now, I'm not one to be all whiney and "someone stole my blog name" bularki. Because, let's be honest, my name isn't that original and if were really being for reals with each other, most aren't. I started my blog on a whim. I needed an outlet since my husband was always on this weak Texas ATM website, which is basically a blogging website for boys. Pretty sure he would just love that I've referred to it as a "blogging site for boys"!

So I didn't really give myself a lot of time to come up with a catchy name. I talked myself into blogging on a Friday night and then early Saturday morning I did my first post. Moral of the story: Don't pick a blogging name on a Friday night after a couple glasses of wine or you'll wind up in my position today.

Which is

I need a new name!

I'm extremely confused and not sure how to go about doing this. Here's the deal. I'm in that transitioning phase. Ya know, the one where you've been married for over 2 years so you're not a newly newly wed, you've already moved into a new house and aren't going anywhere for a good 15 years, you've grabbed up a couple of dogs, one being a doodle and one's a golden, and the babies aren't going to start popping out for a while. A long while at this point. Sads. So where does that put me? I'm not really a newly wed. And I'm not a momma. So no names can come from that. See, this is tough stuff people! It looks like I've got some thinking to do.

Any and all help is appreciated. I'm pretty sure my dad would chime in with Punky Brewster which was my nickname growing up. I pretty much was PB. Loved her hair. Her style of clothes and the way she mismatched her sneakers. My poor poor parents. And look! She has a golden too! Maybe it's meant to be....

My little boo

2010-06-02T09:54:00.001-05:00

Today is the last day of school for my little sis, Gabrielle. She has completed 3rd grade and is growing up way too fast! Gabby not only finished 3rd grade but she did it with all A's! In fact, she's never made a B! Definitely not following in my footsteps, but I'm pretty sure she'll be better off :)

I was going through my old computer and started pulling up pictures and came across these below. The first few were taken on her 5th birthday! What a doll is she?!? I am in love with her smile in the first one. I remember it so well. She just made you want to squeeze her cheeks silly and smother her with kisses. This little girl is so much of my heart. I remember the night very well when my parents took me and my older sis out to dinner to lay the news on us that they were pregnant. I hate to admit it but I was not happy. Chelsea, she was ecstatic! Me, I felt a lump in my stomach and couldn't even finish eating. What did this mean for me?? What was going to happen to our family of 4? All the selfish thoughts a 16 year old has. But as my momma's belly grew and time passed I knew it was going to be an amazing thing we were experiencing. I was in on the labor/delivery and it was so incredible - great birth control by the way for a 16 year old ! ;) My mom was so brave and so calm. Not mean at all like you see in the movies! Then out came my little sis - 12+ hours later. She was beautiful! I loved her so so much. And still do! I'm so sad that she is growing up so fast. She'll be 10 in September! But I'm so thankful that I've been able to see her grow up. We're close enough to where we can have sleepovers or play days. I don't ever want her to think I'm not there for her if she needs me. I love my little boo!

Below are a couple of pics when we were dress shopping for my wedding. She was so excited and looked like a princess in each gown she put on! It was really cute to watch her come out in the long gowns and pretty dresses. She pranced around and loved every minute of it! I miss that part of wedding planning. It was always so fun when my mom, Gabby and I got to go to the vendors or dress shopping together! She got to experience the intense planning process at such a young age :) She didn't seem to mind the cake testing though!

Love you little boo!

Workin' Man

2010-05-24T09:05:00.003-05:00

Today my wonderful husband starts his new job!! Yes, you read that right. After a long 4 months of unemployment, he has been offered a job! Hallelujah :)

I would be lying if I said this hasn't been a struggle for us but I feel like we've learned a lot about one another and how each of us handles things. I feel so blessed that God walked us through this little life lesson and that we made it! The one thing that amazed me is that Aaron never seemed to give up. He knew he would find a job. It just took longer than we expected.

We've got a lot of recovering to do now. Building our savings account back up, paying off my taxes, credit cards, etc. But we made it through the tough stuff and we will make it through this too!

Our family and friends have been amazing through out all of this. A special shout out to my parents. Could not have done it without them.

Below are some pics of the Mr's graduation day (2 1/2 years ago). He graduated on a Friday and started his work journey with his ex-company the following Monday. Now he is on to the next step in life :)

Love you honey!! Thank you for being such an amazing husband. I'm so proud to be your wife!

Lazy Saturday Mornings

2010-05-18T10:15:00.001-05:00

This is one of the faces I wake up to on Saturday mornings. She is quite adorable, yes? We normally don't grant her bed access unless it's on the weekends, and even then, she's lucky if she makes it passed the warden...me

As you can see, she's quite tired. {yawn} or maybe bored.

"Why is this thing in my face at 8 in the morning??" "You know dad and I like to sleep in till at least 10!" And this is totally true. The dog gets irritated if she has to get out of bed before 9. As does Aaron who has come more than accustom to sleeping in late during this span of unemployment...

That's better.

Obviously he's not a fan of the camera either. Would this be the "talk to the hand (paw)" pose??

This is one tired pup. I don't quite know how he got on my bed to be honest. He's not allowed. Sheds way too much for my liking. That's why he's shedder chedder. But one look with those eyes and his daddy melts! Why this doesn't work for me I'll never know.

He's so ticked right here. I picture him saying so many colorful words that I can't post on this blog ;) And look, he's in my spot! How convenient. Oh Chedd!

What a life these kids have. Now how much sweeter would this be if it was two real kids?? Aww pretty sweet. But not nearly as quiet I bet.

Here's the big bear. He is in his deep slumber. Totally doesn't even realize that I'm taking this only to post it on my blog the next Monday. Oh the joys of a deep sleeper!

And yours truly. Gotta love the $5, 5 year old, Old Navy sleep tank

Mmm, breakfast. This is what Saturday mornings are all about. Fun times with the pups and a sleepy hubs!

Now, can someone please reassure me that we are not the only family that allows our pups on the beds occasionally?? I did tell A that they might be banned from our room after seeing how hairy our wood floors get! It's a non-stop cleaning process with these two. Especially the orange one. He looks cute but that dude sheds like no other.

I will now be back to regular posting! As you can see, my wonderful and amazing friend Lauren gave me a blog update :) She is just awesome. And fast to boot. She is really getting good with her Photoshop and has some extreme talent! She is such a sweet person and I am so thankful for our friendship. This pic was taken on her wedding day almost 3 years ago! Love ya Ski!

New Look, New Beginnings

2010-05-16T18:06:00.000-05:00

Hi! This is Lauren over from Life with the Rudys and I am surprising my good friend Nicky T with a new look for her blog. She hasn't seen this design yet and doesn't exactly know that I was planning on writing a post for her so I hope she likes it and isn't mad :)

I wanted to give her something fun and bright for a few reasons. One, Nicole is such a happy person and needs a blog design that reflects her personality. Two, I'm hoping a new look will give her the motivation she needs to start posting more often. And lastly, because her and A have had a couple of hard months and I'm hoping this cheers up her and makes her smile :)

Here's to a new look and new beginnings with your blog and your life! Hope you like the new look :)

-Ski

Everthing happens for a reason

2010-05-04T10:46:00.004-05:00

Those are 5 of the hardest words to hear. Most likely you've heard them when something bad has happened in your life. Your boyfriend breaks up with you, you lose a loved one, your car breaks down, the loan on your first home falls through, you or your spouse loses their job, etc. Those words are hard to swallow when you have gone through something painful. Sometimes they seem so nonchalant and to almost roll off someones tongue. We've all said it before and probably felt pretty good about ourselves after saying it. We feel like we've really helped out the person in need. As if we always have the right thing to say. But when you're on the receiving end it's a different story. You wonder if the person really understands the state you're in and just how discouraged you are. Not that you needed to hear something extremely profound, but "everything happens for a reason" doesn't exactly call for an immediate mood change.

My knee jerk reaction, as I'm sure most peoples knee jerk reaction, is to turn negative when I hit a bump in the road. I know better than to let my emotions get the best of me and think the worst but I still allow the worry and anger and fear set in. After 10 minutes or so I calm down and bring myself back to my "God has a plan" mantra. But those initial 10 minutes can be futile.

This is all stemming from Aaron's job situation. He has been working hard getting his resumes out and staying on top of any job openings for the last 3 months. He had one promising job but it was in Austin. And he has yet to hear a solid answer on it. You can imagine our excitement when last Thursday he received an email regarding a job interview at a different company here in Houston! It had been 3 months and he finally received a bite on something!! It was a happy day! Fast forward to this morning. The morning of said interview. He gets an email saying they will have to reschedule because the manager is not able to meet with him today due to jury duty. Is this for real? My automatic reaction was they must have found someone else and they are letting him down easy. They won't reschedule and the job search will have to continue! All negative, see? Now I do realize that jury duty is common and it does happen. It's just tough to accept another set back.

What's worse is I had told everyone, in my sheer excitement, about the interview (that wasn't) so now I would have to send word that it was not in fact happening today. Of course my emails, chats and calls weren't exuding positivity. I was down. But leave it to my momma to send me back a powerful email that really made me stop and think:

Wow...I am so sorry honey. When I saw the subject on my phone I thought this can't be good news. But it isn't bad either it's just a delay. Another opportunity to trust God that He will not forsake you and He won't. Jury duty happens (Hey, I think we should make a tee shirt that says that!) and it won't last forever. Maybe the guy will get sent home today and he can schedule it for Thursday. Think positive and thank God for another opportunity to trust in Him and remember God loves you and so does Robert Schuller! Love you!!

She's good, right? Kind of corny with her t-shirt comment, but she's good :) "another opportunity to trust God that He will not forsake you" I love that she put it that way. I never see the bad things in my life as an opportunity to trust God. In fact, sometimes I get angry at the big guy. But today, I am going to think of this as an opportunity to continue putting my faith in God and trusting that He knows what path we need to be on. Maybe the interview will be rescheduled, maybe it won't. I have no control over it. But the one thing I can control is my faith.

Thank you all for sticking through the last few mopey posts. I am in fact a fun person and not everything is gloom and doom! I just wanted to share a piece of my life on here so in three years when I am sitting at home taking care of our babies and Aaron is at work at his amazing job with a great company I can look back on this and smile :)

With a moo moo here....

2010-04-01T21:43:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we were lucky enough to get invited to the farm. Lauren's in-laws farm to be exact! Nothing like a little country living :) We had so much fun! It was really nice to get away from all the highways and city living. We arrived on Saturday morning and the ladies loaded up and went antiquing while the men stayed behind and did manly things. I didn't really know what to expect while perusing the old artifacts but we actually ended up stumbling across some descent stuff. It wasn't antiques, but still good nonetheless.

When we got back to the barn, the cows were out and about. Now, I love me some farm animals! Love love! After a few rides on the gator (which by the way, Lauren is kind of a scary driver...) I took after the cows. Literally stalking them in the field. The dogs loved them too. The cows however were not quite as fond of the pups.

We ended the night playing a few rounds of cornhole and then had some steaks. Such a fun time!

I hope we're invited back again! I think the cows miss me :)

Privacy please

2010-03-22T10:32:00.000-05:00

With Aaron's recent unemployment there have been many questions asked that I'm not sure how to answer. You know the questions where you feel like people might be overstepping their bounds a little. Money questions are never fun and it always throws me for a loop when asked. First came the unemployment questions: How much does he get? Can you all survive off your check and unemployment? Does unemployment cover what he was making at his prior job? Now I dont know if these questions are asked out of concern or nosiness, but how much information is too much to share? I was raised in a family where I knew nothing about how much either of my parents made. We just didn't discuss that. I knew we got by and I never went without and that's all that was really supposed to matter. Was I curious? Heck yeah I was. But I didn't dare go to my dad after dinner and ask him what he was bringing in on a monthly basis! I don't know if this was good or bad, but it's left me a little guarded when others ask me questions like that. I normally share everything, but Aaron would prefer I not. He doesn't like talking about how much we paid for our house, what our mortgage payment is a month, how much we make, what we tithe, bonuses, etc. And I completely agree and respect that. I know I have been one to open my mouth on more than one occasion on some of these points. It's hard not to sometimes and I'm not the type to say, none of your business.

When Aaron got offered the job in Austin, the questions started rolling in about how much they offered him. I think this is incredibly out of line personally but some people don't get it. What does it matter to anyone else how much he's getting paid? Is it so they can compare it to their own salary? My coworker does this to me a lot and I now see it as pure immaturity. She asked me on the spot how much I was making, has asked me how much my bonus/raise was, and most recently what my share is in a new deal my company is offering. I tell her it's personal or private and it's not something we need to disclose but she won't take that for an answer. Of course she found out what I made and it happened to be a little more than her and it was all down hill from there. That's why you don't discuss this stuff! It does nothing but cause problems. She now compares everything even our work ethic and I feel she thinks she does more than me and works harder, therefore she should be getting paid more. Some things are just meant to be private. I would NEVER ask someone how much they are making. If it's offered up, OK, fine. But to flat out ask someone about their salary or benefits is crazy to me. When I worked contract for my old company, if you were to discuss your date rate with your peers it was grounds for termination. You better believe that was something that was never discussed in our offices.

So I ask you, blog world, how do you handle questions like these? What is an appropriate answer, without sounding rude? Or maybe you are the type that doesn't see anything wrong with sharing this information? I'd love to know!

From my computer to yours

2010-03-18T11:02:00.002-05:00

Just a few tid-bits from N&A.

I hope that one day I can look back on this part of our lives and laugh. A lot. Right now, not so much.

Aaron is still on the job hunt. He has been blowing and going getting his resumes out there - much like the little engine that could. I'm impressed that he hasn't torn all of his hair out sitting at home for the last 8 weeks (crap that's a long time). He's not want to revel in the fact that he's at home all day, as I might. He hates it in fact. But it has its perks. Like picking up my shoes from the shoe doctor, my prescriptions from the pharmacy, clean house, etc. The pay sucks though.

He did get a couple of job offers. One in Dallas. One in Austin. Where are all the Houston jobs, people?? The one in Austin is the only one we are considering. It's a great job and something he would love to do. We are still waiting to hear back from the company on a finalized start date but during the interview he was basically told the job is his if he wants it.

Great, right?? I mean, it is a job. But it's 2.5 hours away. And I can't leave my job for certain reasons. I'm kind of locked in on a deal that I can't really pass up right now. It's all great news on both ends, but it's a lot of decisions to make. Can I be apart from my husband M-F and see him on the weekends? I'm sure a lot of people would be OK with that. I even am when I go look at our bank account and get a big dose of reality.

BUT, Aaron is my bud, were like BFF's. He's who I lean on when I have a crappy day at work. I'm not necessarily close (distance) to my friends/family. I have some great neighbors, but I doubt they want to see me every single night. We did it in college, so I know we could do it again, but that's not to say it won't be rough. I've talked to everyone under the sun about this and gotten their advice on what they would do, but in the end it's our decision and we need to make sure it's what's best for the two of us.

Plus side to Austin job: Money!, We love it there, I'd be able to go shopping again, I could control the TV (alhough A would argue that I do this already) and I might lose a lb or 2 since I wouldn't be cooking manly meals. I could go on the Special K/Lean Cuisine diet like Lauren :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news:

We joined a small group a couple of weeks ago and so far it is amazing! We absolutely love it and our group is so much fun. We hosted at our house last Sunday. I had all sorts of nerves going on but it ended up going great and I am now realizing how important it is to have something like this in our lives. Why did we wait so long to do this?? Obviously we were a little scared to take that next step in being more involved in our church. It's slightly branching out of our comfort zone. We enjoyed going to church Sunday morning, worshiping with our amazing praise group, listening to the words of our pastor and then heading out the door for lunch. But with this group we are actually meeting people and forming relationships with couples that are in the same stages of their marriage as we are. Pretty exciting, indeed!

I love my pups. I seriously think after our latest addition, Mr. Chester, my baby fever has been cured. Can a dog really do that? I was all gung-ho to have a bambino and then we got our little cheeto and now my fevah is drained. I know I still want babies, but I really wanted them about 6 months ago. It better come back, I'm not getting any younger here!

Well, that's all I got. I'll quit boring you with randomness and let you get on with your lives. Hope everyone is having a fabulous week!

Rub a dub dub

2010-03-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

Two pups in a tub! I don't know what it is, but these dogs love to jump in our tub. There doesn't have to be water in the tub, they just get in. Strangest thing ever! They love this large porcelain bowl :) And they are pretty cute sitting there.

So stinking adorable!! And they stayed that way forever! I don't get it. Oh and little known fact, Daisy (our giant-looking white dog) weighs 41 pounds and Chester (the little orange chunk) weighs 57 pounds!! Can you believe that?? Me either. He's just this little booger, but the dog has some meat on his bones! Were convinced Daisy doesn't eat because she wants to maintain her girlish figure.

House Husband

2010-03-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

I think he's enjoying staying at home and cleaning the house wayyy more than he's leading on. Yeah he wants a job and all, but he looks pretty happy being my cleaning boy :)

What.A.Fruit! And that is all were going to say about that.

Love you baybay!

Celebrations!

2010-03-05T09:26:00.003-06:00

Oh February! The shortest month of the year filled with so much fun! February is the month of birthdays in our family. My mom's is the 9th, sister's the 17th and mine on the 29th - Leap Year! Now I don't have pics from my birthday because I left my camera at the house, but I do have pics from my mom and sisters! The whole fam came out to our area and we had a fabulous meal at Fleming's Steakhouse. It was incredible! We came back to our house and had cake and champagne. So much fun!

I also wanted to give a big shout out to my little sister, Gabrielle!! She is such a doll and I talked to her this week and she told me how much she loves reading my blog and how she has gone back to the very beginning and read every single post! How stinking cute is that??? And she's 9!!! She can use the internet, find my blog and knows her way around it better than I do!! She is my sunshine and I love her to bits! Here's to G-Unit!!

Boat shoes

2010-03-03T08:40:00.002-06:00

So Aaron has these shoes. Some call them boat shoes, sperry's, top siders - pick your poison. Well friends, they're hideous! They just happen to be my least favorite pair of shoes he owns. And he wears them EVERYWHERE. I've had to put my foot down a few times. When we got married and made our little house a home, he assured me that they were "for mowing only." So I felt pretty good about allowing him to keep them. You know, because I rule with an iron fist and all. But as the months passed, I noticed that wasn't the case. I began seeing them more and more. And then he would wear them out in public. I can barely stand to see them when he's out mowing, but then he wants to wear them to the grocery store?? Nuh-uh!

Now don't get me wrong, boat shoes aren't all bad and can be done tastefully. They can look nice if they aren't 5 years old and have been worn to float the river, wash the truck, mow the lawn, etc. When he wears his saggy baggy butt (sorry hun, but those need to go too) Levis with them is when I draw the line. I wish you all could see his feet actually in them so you can get the real picture of what I mean. I keep trying to devise a plan so that I can sneakily throw them out without him noticing. I can't use the "well, looks like the dogs chewed up your shoes, babe." because even they won't go near them! I contemplated just chunking them but that wouldn't be very nice...would it?? I don't see him letting go of them freely either. Looks like I'll be stuck with them. And the Levi's.

Don't they look like they smell too?? I mean, they just look like they would smell like rotten fish or something, right? I certainly didn't get that close to sniff it out but I'm sure they reek!

I tried to switch up the pics some to make them look descent, but it's not happening!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!

2010-02-09T10:45:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful, caring, humble, selfless, beautiful, amazing, God fearing, momma I know!! You bring so much joy to my life and so much encouragement. I love you as high as the sky and as deep as the sea! Thank you for being the woman you are today. You mean more to me than you'll ever know. I love you!!

Never want to "Leav the Beav"

2010-02-08T20:30:00.001-06:00

Last week we were lucky enough to go on another ski trip with some fabulous friends of ours to Beaver Creek, Colorado. Lauren's dad has quite the hook up at the condo we stayed at and we were able to score a free stay out of the deal! We have gone skiing together a few times now and this was our first trip out of college. I have to say that my fear factor has climbed quite a bit since being out of school. I no longer am as easy going down the slopes! In fact, I'm quite terrified at times. There was a couple of times while sliding down the slopes doing what was coined the "electric (ski) slide" that I thought to myself "Why don't we take beach vacations together?!?!?" It didn't help that the first day we ended up going down a blue turned black slope and I watched Ryan, Lauren's husband take a pretty good fall. Nor did it help that poor BC hadn't seen much snow in a while therefore leaving icy slopes :(

I pictured myself swooshing down the mountains like a professional snow bunny and well, that just didn't happen. But everyone else did awesome and we all had a complete blast! I love the village area. It is like something out of a movie! Absolutely incredible!! I feel so lucky that we have gotten to visit not once but twice! We also enjoyed several nights in the hot tub with a beverage after our long days of skiing. Perfect way to recover!

And now I leave you with some pics. Several pics actually, of our wonderful vacay! Thanks again Rudy's for the invite!! It was a blast and we loved spending time with you guys!

minivan time

"montanas"

sweet drawings - Aaron's (on the left) an over-achiever.

And that's all I'm saying about that.

Ryno and Ski!!

BayBay and me

Derrick and Tyler

Big A in all his ski gear glory

Pit stop on the mountain!

last day so we had to get in our model shots....

when the man on the left blows his "ricola" horn,

the man on the right brings out delicious cookies! Awesome!

"leav the beav"

Head on over to Lauren's blog to check out her post too! And speaking of the oh so fab Lauren, she redesigned my blog for me!! I know you all noticed how it transformed from the shabbiness it was before to ultra chic!! She did so great and it took no time at all - well, I take that back, she worked her booty off doing it but she was so fast! I love love love it! I still have to add some stuff to my links above, but it's such an amazing start! I have an actual blog design now :)

I also want to say a huge thank you to you all for the insanely sweet and thoughtful comments on my last post. It means the world to me to be able to come here and lay it all out to you all and get such great support! You all are amazing!

When my world is shaking.....

2010-02-03T12:39:00.000-06:00

Heaven stands.

Well friends, it appears the lay off bug has hit my husbands office and he caught it. Friday the 22nd the Mr. went into his office thinking it was a regular work day and left at 3:30 with no job. Neither one of us were aware of any layoffs at his company so you can imagine we were both pretty shocked. To say the least! He had made it through last years layoffs so I guess it was time. They went from 20 employees to about 7 all in one day. Needless to say I don't see the company lasting too much longer. It's best he got out when he did. It's just hard to accept that right now.

I do feel like this is the best thing that could happen to him. He was kind of stuck in a position he didn't love and wanted more out of his job. That being said, it is still super hard and scary to go through. And for a guy, I can only imagine the stress he must feel.

I have to say that I am in awe of how God works and how at peace the two of us are about this. I think Friday we were both in shock. I was a mess. A MESS! But when I came home and hugged my wonderful husband I knew it was all going to be OK. I had this incredible feeling of security come over me - I can't even describe it. I feel like God has a wonderful plan for him and it will be a job that he has dreamed of! He worked with some great guys that have been more than willing to contact other companies and put in some amazing words for Aaron. My husband is one of the most dedicated workers I know, besides my dad, of course. He has such a great work ethic and it always amazed me at the hours and time he put into this company. I never felt like it was appreciated like it should have been, but he kept on working as if it didn't matter. He's extremely loyal!

That being said, the last couple of days have been tough. We went on a ski trip to Colorado, because, well that's what everyone does when they get laid off, right? It was planned and mostly paid for so we went and had a great time! I'd be lying though if I said the 'no job' thing wasn't in the back of my mind the whole trip. We got back this last Monday and it's all setting in now - we really do only have one income. It wasn't just a bad nightmare. I am doing my best to keep the faith and know that God knows what He's doing. But then I have days like today, when everything seems to go awry. Aaron gets discouraged because he hasn't heard back from companies, I get angry because I can't buy my favorite salad for lunch that I've missed oh so much and opt for a pb&j instead (I know, real problem right?) and thinking of all the things that need to be done now. All the while trying to keep a positive attitude and not allow myself to freak out. It's hard holding it together. Tension is definitely high. But the last thing I want to do is make Aaron upset or feel like this is all on him. We are a team - *Pectoral Powers! Remember sweetie?? ;)

I hate not knowing what the future holds. I'd love to know our plan and know that this path we're on will lead us to wonderful things. Waiting is so hard; blind faith is tough. But I know we have to stick with it. God has never given up on us and I know He's not going to start now. We will make it through and it will only make us stronger, relationship wise and faith wise.

I do have to mention that my family and friends have been amazing through all this! My parents kept our pups for us while we were in CO and when we got back mom had bought a ton of groceries for us to take back home! I cried when I saw it, cried the whole way home from their house and then cried more when I unloaded it all to see how much stuff she had bought! She not only bought necessities for us, i.e. bread, milk, toilet paper, etc. but she also bought us luxuries like beer, cokes, all sorts of meats and breakfast food too! It's hard not to feel blessed when you have people like that in your lives! We are now set for a good 2 weeks at least! Love you momma!

I promise to post something positive and upbeat next time! I have so many pictures from our ski trip that I can't wait to get downloaded and posted! Have a great week everyone and happy hump day!

*our highschool name we had for each other - he had pecs, and I had, well you know.

13.1 Recap

2010-01-19T16:17:00.004-06:00

This past weekend was like any other weekend. Get off work Friday, hang out with the hubs, and wake up early Saturday to go to race expo to pick up my packet, go to lunch with friends for Lauren's birthday, and check out the new 4Runners at Toyota dealership. You know the usual.

Except it wasn't!!!!!

This weekend was one of the MOST memorable weekends. After 6 months of training I was finally going to complete my goal of running 13.1 miles! How insane is that?? It was last May/June when Lauren and I went to lunch and out of the blue she said "you should run a half marathon!" I said, "No, no, WE should run a half marathon!" I had been running for exercise purposes only at that time. 3 miles here and there. No big deal. Well Lauren planted the seed in my little brain and from there the idea blossomed. She of course agreed to join me in this adventure - I think she was a little more pumped about this than me - as did two of our other friends Alison and Mark. This won't be that bad, right? I mean we're all in this together.

As the months passed by and the miles started increasing, I almost second guessed my decision. Maybe a couple of times actually. It was rough. 3 miles was now 7, 8, 9, etc. Those longer runs didn't seem to come as easy to me as I had hoped. There were days when I would come back in from a 9 or 11 mile run and feel so sick. I wouldn't get off the couch until 3! Part of my problem was not really knowing what to eat while I ran. I would try out new things and they would NOT work for me at all. But it was always very empowering to go over to my schedule and "X" off one of those bigger runs. What a feeling that was! I felt like I had really accomplished something!

As the training progressed, the 13 miler crept up on us. I decided to run that one with Lauren. We had been running all of our runs separate but we knew we were pretty much the same pace. That was probably one of my best runs I had had up to that point. It felt so good and I never felt like I was drained - physically or mentally. We finished 13 miles in 2:02.40. We both looked at each other after and said "you know what that means!" Knowing how competitive each of us is, we wanted to try to break 2 hours for the half. That was each of ours secret goal. :)

13 mile Before/After shot - stole this from Lauren :)

chocolate milk! best recovery drink ever!!

my poor feet and legs. they took a beating.

Fast forward to this weekend. What a blast!! Saturday we all met up and headed to the expo to pick up all of our goodies. I kept telling myself to take it all in. There was so much to see and it was really awesome to be there with all the runners - and to be one myself! We picked up our packets and shirt and walked around for a bit. After grabbing some cowbells and posters we headed out. It was Lauren's birthday on Friday so we went to lunch and then went home so we could all get some rest for the big day.

Running group! Me, Lauren, Ali and Mark

Me and my partner - Ski!

4:00 am came extremely fast the next morning. I had gone to bed at 9 and slept the entire night so I felt pretty good and rested. I had all my stuff laid out the night before so I wouldn't be rushed. The chip was on my shoes and I was ready to go! We made our way back to Lauren's where we all met up and then had the boys drop all 4 of us off! I really wasn't nervous. I was actually pretty pumped! We listened to a few jams on the ride over and I think it got me in the zone ;) We got inside the convention center and hung out for about 30 minutes; stretching and using the lovely port-a-cans! Then we made way to the start line!

Awesome signs Aaron made us all! The one he's holding reads:

"You better pick up the pace if you want some C-Lubes"

I about died!!! C-Lubes?? Maybe, CLoubs. Oh and he so

funnily puts a 2 hour time frame in order to get my "C-Lubes"

This is when the adrenaline starts pumping! They have music playing and you're shoulder to shoulder with 20,000 of your closest friends. All these maniacs out here ready to sweat their brains out to run this thing! Oh, it was an awesome feeling my friends. I did several "woo-hoo's" and "holla's!" That's when the gun went off and we were on our way to dominating 13.1 miles!

The first couple of miles were slow. Weaving in and out of people to get to a less crowded area. I feel like we spent the first 3 miles doing this. But it went by so fast! The first 6 miles flew by. Before I knew it I was looking down at my watch and we had already been running for an hour. We were checking off miles right and left. We were able to see our wonderful support group at mile 4.5. That was so awesome! I am so happy that all of our families came out to cheer us on! I almost got a little teary eyed when I ran by and saw all the signs and heard all the encouraging words! Aaron had stayed up making us all signs the night before (see above). I wasn't allowed to see them until the next day and they were hilarious! I also loved the ones my mom and little sis made. So cute and sparkly!

momma, chels and gabby :)

Lauren's, Ali's and my mommas - aren't they adorable??

Little sis of mine, Gabby - love her!

Lauren and I kept trucking along. Each mile felt faster. I think it was mile 9 or 10 that I started getting weak. My arch of my right foot had been hurting since Saturday and was acting up again. My legs weren't too tired, but I just felt drained. We started making our way back downtown and it felt like the longest stretch. The course was relatively flat, but we had a lot more inclines than I was anticipating. I was used to running on the sidewalks of my neighborhood so the hills were getting to me. I started losing my pace and I would speed way up then slow down. At mile 12 I had a "vurp" - you know a vomit burp. Egh, not a nice feeling. Totally burned!! I have never thrown up after a run, but after the vurp, I felt like I might. We were so close and I knew there was no giving up. We pushed through and sped up a little through the last mile. We had several turns in the last stretch so I couldn't get a feel for where the finish line was. That annoyed me! I wanted to see it so I could know I was getting close. After the last turn I finally caught a glimpse of the big blue arch! Ahhh!! Almost home :)

We had one more family sighting and that really helped kick me into gear! We made it this far and I wanted to go out with a bang! The announcer was there at the end along with all the cameras and I did a fist pump and a woohoo and I heard "Alright Nicole!" The announcer called my name! Holla!! Then I raced on in to the finish line. This is when I ran smack dab into some old man that had come to a complete stop! I totally jacked the dude! Whoops. Yeah so my finish line video is kind of funny!

obviously I was a little excited here :)

so close you can almost taste it!

Final time: 2:02.40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was more than happy with our time! Lauren and I finished the exact same time so that was pretty sweet too! We started this thing together and we were going to finish it together. How close were we to breaking 2 hours though?!? Now I know what my goal will be if I decide to challenge myself to another 13.1! ;)

after the race pics!

me and my boy :)

the 13.1 group! So proud of all of us!

After the race, we met up with all of our families and then went to have mimosas and brunch! It was such an incredible day! All the training, sweat and tears that led up to race day were totally worth it! I'm still a little on the sore side today but nothing too bad.

mi familia at Cyclones for bottomless mimosas!

PS I have the best family ever :) I just love them. They were

amazing and I couldn't ask for a better support group!

Next up is a 10K race in February that the fam and I are running in together! Should be fun and hopefully a breeze from the half. I'm going to try to continue short runs here and there. I probably won't be waking up extra early on Saturdays to get in 11 miles though. I'm ready for a break and to reconnect my relationship with the elliptical! Poor thing has been sitting dormant for the last 6 months!

I love the shark

2010-01-11T21:24:00.002-06:00

This last Sunday, the hubs and I went on a little shopping extravaganza. I know, I know, saving money is our new mantra for 2010. But I had several gift cards burning wholes all in my wallet so it was like shopping without spending, right? Right. Except for the $75 I went over on at Target, but we won't go there. I keep hearing all sorts of good reviews about the Shark steamer. Whether it be the mop or the portable steamer, it's been all good! I needed a little kick in the tail to get me motivated to clean and I figured this just might be the answer. Oh boy! It was the answer all right.

We got home and I wanted to take it out of the box immediately but I forgot that I had to do one little thing first. Take down ALL my Christmas decor. You heard that right. We were 10 days into January and it was all still up. Pathetic! So I conquered that task and then had to vacuum which took about an hour. Since we got that stinking cute little sausage Chester (our Golden) I have noticed a TON of hair everywhere. We literally vacuum every other day. It's sick. And have I mentioned that our vacuum sucks??? And not in the good way that it should. The sucker clogs every 2 minutes. Meaning I have to clean out the vacuum nozzle thing where a small clump of hair lies and then start again. So that took half my afternoon. Then I remembered that I had to get in a 5 miler. Seeing as my race - my first half marathon - is NEXT SUNDAY!! The whole time running, I'm dreaming up all of the places I can clean in our house with my fancy schmancy steamer :)

I get back and finally am able to dig into my goodies. Just as I thought, this thing is like magic. I cleaned my stove, microwave, trash can and fridge (all stainless) and my granite! Wow. I love this thing. I kept asking Aaron "what should I clean next??" It was too fun to put down. So I went on into the living room. The thing dusts/steams too!!! I cleaned our leather chair and couch and then dusted all of our wood with it! OH MY WORD. I think I'm in love! And there's a shower attachment that will clean your grout too!! Do you know that I spend an hour + every 2 weeks cleaning our disgusting shower grout and tile??? You probably didn't, but you do now. Aaron thinks it's ridiculous, but this is the place you are supposed to go to get clean! I don't want to see mildew and mold! So I thought I was done, but I ventured into our bathroom and cleaned off our marble and sink area! Ahhhh! So fresh and so clean, clean! And no harsh chemicals - HA I sound like an infomercial. I do have to admit that when I was cleaning Aaron's sink I picked up his soap dispenser and the boy hadn't screwed the top back on after he refilled with soap so the jar drops out of my hand and took a huge chunk out of the marble around his sink!!!!!!!!! That sucked. But he didn't yell and I didn't yell so I think we're still good?

SO long story short, well kinda, go out and buy the Shark Portable Steamer!!

I also picked up another item that I plan on reviewing for you this week: Target brand whitening trays. I am on day 2 and so far so good. I have been taking pics of my teeth, but I'm not sure you will be able to tell a difference. I definitely have but it's hard to see on camera! I'm hoping for shiny white teeth on race day! Gotta smile pretty for the cameras :)

Christmas Fun

2010-01-03T14:13:00.001-06:00

Can you believe how fast Christmas came and left us?? I have to admit I'm a little sad that it is all over. It was such a whirlwind leading up to it with shopping, decorating, cleaning, shopping, and more shopping! I have so many pictures so I hope I don't bore you all. If I even have any readers left...I was informed by Lauren last week that I only posted twice in the month of December!! I used to post twice in one week if not more. What is wrong with me??? I need to regain my zest. I will try harder now that we are in a new year :)

We had an awesome Christmas this year, once again. I feel like as I get older every Christmas has a little more meaning to it. It's not about what I'm getting or how much, it's about who I'm spending time with. It's about realizing more and more the true meaning of Christmas. The gifts that come along are just an added bonus. :)

Aaron and I went to one of the 13+ Christmas eve services our church was having. They started on Tuesday afternoon and continued on until Thursday night. I'm not sure how my pastor and his wife did it but it was amazing nonetheless. I don't think I say this enough, but I love our church! We both feel like we have found our perfect church home and I thought it would take many months, if not years of looking. Aaron told me the other night that he feels like our church is one of the main reasons God put us out in the "burbs". I completely agree and never really thought of it that way! I snapped some pics of our service to let you all have a little peak into our church. It was such an amazing production I had to get some shots! These first shots are our from our first attempt to go to Wednesday night church. We got all dressed, headed out the door and ran into some major traffic. So instead of being 30 minutes late we turned around and decided to go on Thursday. I also changed up my outfit the next night and it was really cute so I'm bummed I didn't get any shots of the two of us! Oh well..

One of the huge Christmas trees along with some snow they had brought in. There was also a life nativity but I didn't get any pics of that.

Snow falling inside and an amazing drum show! And these were kids on the drums too. They did awesome!

We were lucky enough to have Avalon (Christian singing group) join our church so our music is pretty amazing! I love our singing group.

Our pastor was doing a hand painting of Jesus while his son came up and talked to us. It was such a great finished product!

We went ahead and opened presents Christmas eve morning since we had decided to spend the night at my parents house. We thought it would be fun to have our own little celebration together. I have to say, Chester was pretty excited about his present! I've never seen a dog unwrap a gift so fast! He got a rubber tire from Old Navy and Daisy got a pink rubber bone. She was not nearly as amused with the "unwrapping the present" part.

We then made our way to my parents house where my mom had a feast going! She made chili relleno enchilladas - oh my goodness they were good. And as our appetizer, she made a delicious thick queso (I know it's called something fancier than that but I can't think of it right now!) that you put in warm flour tortillas. Talk about mouth watering! YUM!

My dad received one of his gifts that night. My mom got him the Nikon D3000 with both lens'! He was super excited. We are both photography nerds so we took a pic of each other taking a pic. Looking good pops! :)

Christmas morning! I think I was up before my little sis! I was pretty pumped to get the presents going. It's getting more fun to watch other people open their gifts! I love the reactions.

Momma had more delicous food for us Christmas morning. A breakfast casserole and coffee cake. Now you can see why I might have put on a few lbs over the last few days!

I had to show one of my favorite gifts my mom received from my dad! Is that not beautiful? I am in love! My dad always gives the sweetest gifts. He called me a few weeks ago and left me a message about wanting to get my mom some David Yurman. I swear I was just as excited for her as I would have been if it were for me!! I love helping him pick out gifts and I think he did a great job on this one!

Aaron and I before heading to celebrate with his family. I love Christmas and feel very fortunate that both families live within 10 minutes of each other, but it also makes for a VERY hectic day of going back and forth. We had breakfast and presents with my family Christmas morning, then went to A's family around noon, had lunch at 3, opened presents with them and then headed back to my parents to have Christmas dinner at 6. It was a long day filled with a lot of food! It is nice being able to see each family on Christmas though!

And last but not least, here is our Christmas card! It's not my favorite but I wanted to find some way to incorporate the pups in our card and they were not very cooperative when we went to have Lauren take our pictures - That is another post I missed getting out!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and had a good time welcoming in the new year! 2009 was great and I can only imagine what 2010 has in store for us!

My Daily Reads

2010-01-01T08:25:00.000-06:00

Life with the Rudys - My most favorite blog (& friend) ever :)

P-Dubs!

2009-12-11T10:21:00.004-06:00

P-Dubs, aka PW, aka Pure Wow (my personal favorite), aka Pioneer Woman came to Houston last Saturday. When I found out she was coming out with a cookbook I was on top of the world! I love this woman and anything she does seems to be a huge success so I was pretty pumped. I woke up bright and early that morning to assure prompt arrival to Lauren's house. All the boys were going "camping" which entailed them going to Austin, staying in a hotel downtown, and sitting at multiple bars until the wee hours of the morning. Not what I imagined when they said they were going camping, but it gave us girls a weekend of fun, so I'm good with it! Lauren and I left her house and made the trip to the book signing. It was held in a very unique location. Kind of like a little market for organic foods. Totally random for a book signing. We walked in and were told we needed a ticket in order to get her to sign our books. Kind of like a golden ticket I guess, except ours was lime green and it put us in 11th place! No bueno. There was approximately 20-25 people in each color group and we were color 11. Hmm, I immediately whipped out the iPhone and started calculating....25 people in each group x 1-2 minutes of chit chat x 11 groups = A LONG TIME! We were looking at anywhere from 4-6 hours. In line. For a book to get signed. Hmmph. We took a moment to pull ourselves together after PW talked and re-evaluated our priorities and shopping ranked #1. Sorry P-Dubs. :(

So we went on to our next adventure and hit up Highland Park to get some Christmas gifts bought. We had a complete blast. I bought/spent way too many/much ornaments at Crate and Barrel. Good thing for that separate account I still have or A would have killed me! Sorry honey :) It was the perfect day. So cool and crisp. Before we headed back home we stopped at PF Changs for a little afternoon cocktail to re-energize us for our night ahead of baking!

After sifting through the beautiful glossy pages of PW's book, we felt inspired to make something! I think the wine had a little something to do with our new found love of baking as well! We decided we'd attempt sugar cookies. How hard could they be, right? Boy were we wrong! The rolling of the dough, cutting out the shapes - especially when the dough you're rolling out is not 1/4" thick like the recipe says, *coughs*, Ski, *coughs* and don't even get me started on the icing part. "What were we thinking" crossed our minds a few times that night, but then we would have another sip of wine and just laugh. I have to tell you the funniest part of the night is when Lauren handed me her sugar jar and the sugar had somehow crystallized and hardened inside of the container! She then lets it slip that she's had this sugar since she got married....over 2 years ago!! I was dying! It was so funny watching her dig it out over the trash can. It was stuck in there good!

Cheese! I love you

Don't ever let me wear an apron over a cable knit sweater again. Thanks.

2 year old sugar!!

might be a little thinner than a 1/4" thick ;)

comfiness is key

Whoops, wine spillage. Now that was funny!

PW!!

When all was said and done, we had a pretty amazing weekend. Our cookies weren't the prettiest, but as Lauren said (about 50 times that night :)) "It's not how they look, it's how they taste."

Thank you Lauren for letting me stay with you!! I had the best time. And thank you boys for going on your "camping trip" so we could have a fun girls weekend :)

Also, head over to Ski's blog and check out her post and extra pics!!

Snow Day

2009-12-08T10:53:00.005-06:00

This weekend was a blast! It all started on Friday when it started snowing, in Houston mind you (!!!) and I received an email allowing employees to leave work due to the "deterioration of weather conditions." Don't you love how people in Texas, especially my area kind of freak out about snow. We don't see it that often people so heck yeah it causes some anxiety! It also causes early release on a Friday which is A-OK with me!

I didn't get much done that morning because I spent the whole time with eyes glazed over staring out my office window. I haven't seen a lot of blizzards in my day, but I think you could call it a blizzard - for Houston at least. My sister dared through the rough terrain and rescued me from work. Yay! We went to her house and did what most people would do; took pictures, lot of pictures. I did grow up in Oklahoma so I'm not totally googly eyed for snow, but it was pretty dang exciting. We tossed her cat around the bushes and made him pose. He loved it, obviously.

When Aaron finally got off work we decided to head over to Rainbow Lodge. This was the perfect place to spend a snowy afternoon. And they had 1/2 price glasses of wine for "Snow Day." Dangerous. I also indulged in the most delicious sandwich I've ever had. A Panini with prosciutto, goat cheese, roasted red peppers on ciabatta bread. Amazing! But the night didn't end there. We headed over to a new restaurant/brewery and did a beer sampler. It was tasty. As were the mini burger sliders and fries. :) Yes, I ate again. A few hours had passed since my sandwich, so I gave myself the green light. But enough about food. Let's see some pics! Onward and forward.

And now I leave you with this last image of my little reindeers. We were trying to get some poses out of them for our Christmas cards. We didn't use this pic, but I thought it was hilarious how Daisy had her paw on Chester. She stayed like that for a good minute too. They are BFF's for sure!

I will also be doing a full recap of Saturday/Sunday. It's too good so it needs a whole post of it's own! I'll give some hints: Pioneer Women, cookbook, shopping, vino, and sugar cookies. Not sure about that combination, but it was a ton of fun!!

Running through my head

2009-11-24T09:33:00.000-06:00

This last weekend I woke up at 6 in the morning to run the 11 miles that my schedule deemed I run. When I went to let the dogs out I was greeted with rain. And it was cold. Running 11 miles in the cold and rain?? Hmmm. So I waited, had my breakfast, texted Lauren a few times "are we really doing this" "what are we thinking" "i hate this!" - ya know, the normal texts back and forth at 6:30 in the morning! I will be the first to admit that I was scared out of my mind about this run. I had ran a couple of 9 mile runs up to this point but for some reason 11 just scared me. It was double digits! I know it was all mental, but I was freaked out. Aaron sat me down and gave me a little pep talk and even said a prayer for me. I thought that was sweet of my boo! As I was about to leave he hugged me one more time and told me I was going to be great and I kind of melted down. Yes, I kind of got sad and weepy. I think some of it had to do with the fact that he was leaving me all day to go watch ATM play Baylor. So he wasn't getting home until 8 that night! All day alone after an 11 mile run = me not getting off the couch until 3.

I got out there and did it though. I did great for the first 8 miles or so and then I decided to try cherry flavored sport beans. It was all downhill from there. And not the good downhill as in running down hill. Nope. I'm not sure if it was the sport beans but something gave me the worst heart burn I've had in a while. I have to run 4-5 more miles with this pain??? You've got to be kidding me! I had several instances where my mouth started watering like it does right before you hurl. I was also burping up my peanut butter toast at the same time. Lovely, right?? This slowed my pace a bit. I had one mile left when I looked at my phone and saw a text from Lauren: "Woohoo just finished!! Call me when you get back!" I texted back "One mile left and I'm dying still running tho" And then I got "You can do it girl! Run NickyT run!!" And with that I picked up my pace and pushed on through my last mile! I knew I couldn't give up. I finished my run in 105 minutes. Not my best time, but not too bad after all the pain. Now, I'm normally pretty pumped after my runs and proud of myself but I was not too pumped after this one. I felt nauseous. I hate it when I feel like that after my long runs. I showered - which by the way is quite painful when the underside of your boobs are chafed! and laid on the couch. I did not get up until about 3. I tried to eat but nothing really sat well with me. I was miserable. And alone! Woe is me. Ha! But I did go get some shopping in around 4. I hit up Ann Taylor, Banana, and Pottery Barn. I also treated myself to a little non-fat Peppermint Mocha from Sbux! I think I'm getting close to drinking my weight in those. So good!

This weekend is a 10 mile run. I know I can do 10 if I did 11, right?? I'm just really ready for the tapering to begin. I loved running at first but now I feel like it's more of a job. I have to make my runs in order to reach 13.2. And I refuse to walk so there's that added pressure too. Also, our training has been going on since July. So I might be a litle burned out. I'm to the point where I am so ready for January 17 to be here so I can be done with it and be able to enjoy a nice 4 miles run instead of 11!

Below is some running gear I used. I normally run with a bottle of water and pack away pieces of power bar into my pocket of my running shorts, but I decided on this run I needed something more. I broke down and bought a water belt. I felt like a nerd, but was glad I could free up my hands some. It did weigh me down, but I'm hoping I'll get used to it.

Nike hat (essential on a rainy run), sport beans (never again!) and ironman belt (total awesomeness...)

A couple of weeks ago my sweet husband went in to Academy to get himself some hunting gear and picked me up this watch. He surprised me with it that evening. He's a keeper :) I love it! I was having a hard time with my other watch b/c the face had cracked and it was hard to read the time. I always tell Aaron "it's the little things that make my heart melt" and this definitely did just that.

Horrible pic, but I wanted you all to see that I was in fact still standing after my run. The smile is so forced and I look sick but I guess that's what you expect after a long run.

Happy Thanksgiving week!!! I could not be more excited. One more day of work and then I will be gourging myself on turkey and all the fixins'!! My mom is flying to Oklahoma to pick up my grandma and flying her back today so I will get to see her this week too! Love it. I hope you all enjoy your time with your family and remember all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for :)

"Playing the Piano"

2009-11-20T13:56:00.001-06:00

Another installment of FHPF with a little story :)

A couple weeks ago Aaron and I had the opportunity to babysit for my little sis, G. My parents were going to dinner in our area so we offered to watch her. We always have fun when she's over and she and Aaron are crazy together so it makes me laugh. Well, as you know, we have 2 dogs. Daisy, our labradoodle and Chester, our golden retriever. Chester is about 5 months old now. It must mean he's a teenager in human years because that little sucker is a horn ball! Well Gabby witnessed this a few times while she was over; sorry mom and dad :-/ she might have a few questions for you all; and said "Oh look, how cute! Chester is playing the piano on Daisy." I about died laughing! I asked her why she thought that and she said "because he's moving his paws around on her like he's playing the piano." Hilarious!! I figured this was some code word that the parentals had taught her in lieu of "humping", but it was actually something she made up on her own! How funny is that?? So now that is all I think about when I see our little horn dog on Daisy's back!

And as if you all weren't able to visualize this for yourself I decided to post a couple of pics. I always catch him in the act and all I have near me is my phone so the quality isn't too hot but you get the point! You can tell from the pictures how much Daisy enjoys this special bonding time :) Oh and the black thing on the ground is one of my dresses they knocked down in all their commotion and yes, there are sheets on the floor waiting to go in the wash. Our closet was not photo ready when I took these!

I don't even know if this is suitable for blogs?? Please don't report abuse on this!

FHPF!!

2009-11-13T21:20:00.002-06:00

I bet you thought I forgot about FHPF! I'm sure the peeps that are involved in the picture below wish I had.... ;)

Now it's a little blurry, because, well let's face it, we were all having a little too much fun. We were in a small town, at a Catholic church dance hall (??) and the "kitchen" was stocked full of drinks. Dangerous, much? So what do we have here?

Ski - in the red. She's happy, really happy. In fact she's giving me a "cheers!"

AliB, she's a little confused. Wondering why I am snapping pics instead of shaking my groove thing on the dance floor, I'm sure.

And Aaron. Well, he looks to be in pain. It could be from the 12,000 times he decided to run and slide on the wooden dance floor. He actually tore up his knee pretty good, not to mention completely ripping his jeans which was actually hilarious to all of us watching. He was channeling Tom Cruise in Risky Business, I guess.

There it is! The second week of FHPF! Hope you enjoyed :) Have a great weekend everyone!!

Heaven in a box

2009-11-10T14:05:00.001-06:00

Ya'll, I have discovered an amazing treat. I'm talking delicious perfection! I saw them in my mom's pantry when I was there last and knew I had to try them. This last weekend at the store I just so happened to see them staring right at me! I knew it was fate and I had to make them mine. My word am I glad I did! Here, I give you RITZ Fudge Covered crakers (crackers, cookies, wafers??? I dunno.) They are just little round discs of amazingess. The combination of the salty cracker covered in a delicious fudge is almost too much to handle! I can NOT control myself when it comes to these. I packed 5 today for lunch. 5? Seriously! Is that necessary? I did give one to my coworker though. She best not come in here asking for another or we might have a problem. I can't find these online anywhere for a pic, so I had to rely on my trusty little iPhone. By the way, I have an iPhone, did you know that? Well I do. And I love it. And quite frankly I don't know what I did before this cute little handheld computer! I was slow to convert, yes. That's how I am, remember? You try it out first, then I'll tag along. :)

Do you want to know what makes me so sad about my Heaven in a box?? Those 2 little yellow words "Limited Edition." Why do they do that to us? And how do I know how long "Limited" is? Should I go out and buy a pantry full of fudge covered discs?? Maybe.

And you know what's even better - put these suckers in the fridge! Wow. I'm telling you, don't walk, RUN to your local store and get you a box. They won't disappoint!

Happy Happy Tuesday!

FHPF!!

2009-11-06T08:14:00.003-06:00

Happy Freaking Hilarious Picture Friday!! Mr. Chester in his Halloween costume!

(Sorry for the poor quality....pics taken with Iphone)

He is one HOT dog!! Don't ya think??

Happy Friday!!

TB Love

2009-11-05T11:03:00.001-06:00

Last month I got one of those amazing emails from Tory Burch: "Fall Sale 40-60% off" So I hopped on over to see if there was anything that I just had to have. And of course, I found something! I saw the Julianne wedges and fell in love. Love, I tell you! I went with the black patent. Why not go for the fun metallic patent, you ask? Because I'm my mothers daughter and we are very practical people. I could hear her saying "You will get more wear out of the black" What she really means is "you're not ballsy enough to pull off the metallic pair"! And she's right. I'm not. For heavens sake, I am just now, as in today, busting out the tights trend. What am I, like 2 years behind?? Yep, pretty much how I roll. This girl is not a risk taker. I admire those of you who are. I would much rather someone else make a fashion forward decision, me see it and say "that's so cute!" and then try it myself two years later. Now that you all are bored with that, why don't you take a look at my pretties!

These pretty much pull any outfit together. I love wearing them with skinny jeans. So cute! Trust me when I say that these are quite possibly the most comfortable shoes I have ever slipped my feet in! They fit perfect and I can wear them all day long if I have to. And I've had to! Now I kind of want the suede wedges too, but those are not 60% off at the moment so I will be waiting!

Hope you are all having a fantastic week so far! Mine has been pretty stellar. Yes, I did just use the word stellar. Work has been good. I joined a gym this week! Holla to losing some much needed lbs!! I got to hang out with 2 fabulous ladies last night over wine and pizza. We had some great conversations, as always :) Today is my Friday!! Woohoo! I am taking off tomorrow to hang out with my awesome Momma and little sister G (or G-unit if you ever see her on the streets) and we are going to the Junior League holiday market!! So excited! The weather has been perfect all week so I'm looking forward to being off tomorrow.

Also, I'm tossing around the idea of starting a new segment on Fridays called "Freaking Hilarious Picture Friday" or FHPF for short. I have some funny, slightly embarrassing photos that I've been combing through and I thought that would be kind of fun. What do you think?? Lame?? Or AWESOME? ;)

Have a great Thursday ladies!!

Breakfast Sandwiches

2009-10-27T08:05:00.002-05:00

The other day I stumbled on this fabulous website called the Food Gawker. Ya'll this site is pretty incredible! I found several recipes that I have used since and this one was so simple and a definite pleaser so I had to post about it. We are normally in a rush in the mornings, I mean who isn't these days? There's not a ton of easy grab n' go food that will keep you full until lunch and that is also somewhat healthy. Well I saw these breakfast sandwiches and knew I had to try them. I made them last Monday night and they smelled so good we almost had them for dinner. Here's the recipe : Breakfast Sandwiches. I've never made eggs in the oven or in muffin pans for that matter so this was a first. I wasn't too sure how they would turn out, but I was pretty happy with the end result!

eggs

turkey bacon (also used sausage patties)

english muffins (you can use biscuits too)

throw bacon on muffin

add egg with cheese*

wrap sandwich up with saran wrap

sausage and bacon english muffins

12 breakfast sandwiches!

*FYI: I sliced the eggs in half because they were about half the size of the english muffin. They didn't fit too nicely, so I just went ahead and sliced them so they would fit a little better on the muffin. You could also use miniture bagels and the eggs would probably be perfect. I also did the same with the mini sausage patties. They were pre-cooked so that made it much easier.

I put 6 in the fridge and the other 6 in the freezer. I made them last Monday night and we still have about 4 or 5 left! It's been so easy to just grab them in the mornings and either nuke them before we leave for work or zap them in the microwave when we get in the office. So perfect and so delicious!! I got 2 BIG thumbs up from the Mr. on these! They didn't take more than 30 minutes to make and assemble. Super easy and you have breakfast for 12 days! Enjoy ladies :)

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-26T13:15:00.000-05:00

This weekend was awesome! It was busy but we had the best time. I wanted to show off some pics we got while visisting our local pumpkin patch. We took Daisy last year - see here - and she LOVED it. We got some really good pictures of her so we knew we would have to take Mr. Chester this year. I mean, it's only fair. We left big sis at home though. We both felt so bad doing this because she loves car rides. You say "Daisy, you wanna go on a car ride!" and she goes beserk through out the house jumping around! So we had to sneak little Chester out. It was really pretty intense, but I think it worked. I can't believe we are having to sneak around our dogs! What has our life come to? Anyways, we got to the PP and there was immediately a swarm of kids around him. He is quite the cutie, so I can understand :) But one kid in particular kept jocking in on my shots with my little man! Hello, where were the parents with this one?? He was literally in several shots with me and Chester, except for the one I posted without him in it! I do believe we got a few cute ones though. Of course, Aaron took the best one and he has since bragged to me incessantly how he took the best shot and I'm the one that's supposed to know how to use the camera better. Whatevs! It happens. I'll let him gloat for now. Behold our second annual pumpkin patch pictures (say that 5 times fast!)

See the kid!!! He was everywhere I tell ya!

This dog loved him some hay! He would not stop rolling in it.

Framer!! Yes this is the one A took. Props to you A!

loved this barn....

Aww, I love it! A little poppa, son bonding :)

the loot!

I hope yall had a good weekend! It was beautiful here all weekend. Now it's raining here today. No fun, but at least it held off for Monday, right? It's been a great day so far. Both bosses are out of the office and I just got back from lunch with my main squeeze! Can't get much better than that.

No more drama!

2009-10-13T13:28:00.000-05:00

Mary J. said it best

I've been thinking about this topic for a while and seeing as it has become a more normal occurence since being at my new job I thought I'd share. At my prior job, I worked with a majority of men. Now, I am lucky enough to have a few women around the office and actually work directly with one of them. We've become really close and I respect her tons. There's just one thing. Sometimes women can be a little moody. I know, shocker! I feel like maybe I was desensitized to this matter after working with all men and kind of having to shift my thinking process and hormones around to fit that environment. Not that I'm an over emotional person to begin with, but I feel like I started thinking more like a man after working with all men. Make sense? I'm normally a "go with the flow" kind of gal. Well, the same can not be said for some I work with, unfortunately. I don't know what it is, but when someone of authority asks me to do something my normal response is "sure." Now, some could say I'm a weenie and I need to let someone know when enough is enough, but I would just rather not cause any drama and deal with it. I've never been pushed to the point to argue back with my boss and I hope it doesn't happen. Well work friend (WF) does this. A lot. She tends to get rather riled up and kind of freaks out when she reaches her point. Which is totally understandable, but sometimes I think it's a little coo-koo! And I don't mean little freak outs, we're talking loud, to the point where me and a few others in our offices can hear her. The other day when it was happening I had to walk over to WF #2 and talk with her because I didn't want to hear it anymore. And then when the freaking out is over with, the tears start rolling along with the "I'm going to quit, I can't do this anymore!" Imagine hearing that within your first 3 weeks of being at a new job! Talk about "what in the world did I get myself into??" Now, I love this girl. Honestly, she has the best heart and is the sweetest person ever, not to mention a riot! She is a a single mother so I know she has a LOT more stress than I can even imagine. But I'm worried that all the men that work here might think we are all crazy! "We" being women. Men don't seem to tolerate a lot of whininess and complaining. I should know, I'm married to one! I just hope they don't group me into being like that. I know I can get my feelings hurt pretty easily and I have gotten upset about work things before but I normally just make Aaron listen to it :) I can't imagine blowing off at my boss! She has worked here longer and seems to be closer with both of our bosses so I'm sure that's why she feels like she can say certain things to them or act a certain way. I just worry about what others think (i.e. VP or Pres) as they are walking down the hall. There's just a lot more drama here than I've ever dealt with before! Also, when WF #1, 2 and I go out to lunch it is a constant gossip session. It's always limited to 2 people in our office that they both dislike and I get to hear it all! I get so tired of it sometimes. Can't we all just get along?? I understand being irritated at someone pushing your buttons, but to waste an entire lunch hour talking about them! You've obviously allowed them to get under your skin and they've set up shop for a while. If I don't like someone, I certainly am not going to sit around and spend my time talking about them. That does nothing but piss me off more! I guess as long as I keep doing what I'm doing and try not to get wrapped up in it all then I'll be fine.

I know you ladies have some work drama too! How do you deal with it? Sometimes we all need to do a big Woohsah! Come on, do it with me "woohsah, woohsah!" All better, right?

Semi-interesting post (with a recipe!)

2009-10-12T11:37:00.000-05:00

Hello again!! Wow, I've missed this blog and all my readers...that is if I still have any since I've been a complete slack! I don't even want to go over how many days since my last post. All I know is that it was in September and that is way too long ladies! Sidenote: Whenever bloggers take long breaks I always think they're pregnant. I don't know why, but it's been kind of a running theme in blogland. FYI, I am NOT pregnant in case any of you think the same weird thoughts I do. I've just been a terrible blogger! Sorry!!

This past weekend was a little wild and crazy. My husband is an Aggie. I don't know if there are many ATM readers on this blog, but they are pretty die hard football fans. This past Saturday ATM played OSU. OSU and I go way back. I was born in Stillwater, OK and I have a slew of relatives that attended OSU. In the past I have cheered for OState, since that's what I was told to do or I would be thrown out of the Will! But this year, being the first game we've attended since being married, I decided to support my Aggie husband and I semi-cheered with him. I didn't full on cheer and holler because my sister was sitting next to me, cheering for Ostate, and I was worried about taking an elbow to the rib from her. So I was calm and kept my composure. Poor Ags lost. Either way, I was fine with the outcome! Then we went on to tailgate. And it was quite the tailgate. We had a huge turnout despite the fact that it felt like friggin Alaska outside! When does it ever get that cold in Texas in October? Oh that's right, when I go to a game wearing a very thin sweater (no worries, the Aggie bookstore was there to help as we dropped almost $200 on fleeces between Aaron and me!), and flats where the wet grass and cold air seeped in without a problem. I may or may not have gotten frost bite on my toes. Regardless, we had a great time and it was nice to let loose and have some fun with all of our tailgaters!

Sunday morning I woke up and did my 8 mile run. Yes, you read that right. I ran EIGHT miles! Some of you may remember that I am training for a 1/2 marathon! 8 miles is the most we have done so far and it felt great to cross that run off my schedule!! I felt amazing for the first hour or so and then hunger pains hit and it was downhill from there. I'm actually surprised I was able to keep going. It was the weirdest pain and made me nauseous. I knew I only had a little less than 2 miles to go so I pushed through. But man did I feel awful when I got home. I didn't get sore though so that was a plus. The miles are getting up there which means the race is approaching faster and faster! I never thought I would be able to run 5 miles straight let alone 8 and I did it! It just goes to show that running is a huge mental game and you can do it if you believe it!

I finally got up from the couch around 1 and made cheesy chicken corn soup. It is delicious and an absolute staple around the house when Fall arrives. It's been a favorite of mine and Aaron loves it too now. I decided I would share the recipe since it's one of the easiest soups and it made enough so that we could freeze it and eat again this week! Who doesn't love that?!?

Cheesy Chicken Corn Soup

3-10 3/4 oz cans cream of chicken soup

1-14 1/2 oz can chicken broth

1-16 oz. Pkg frozen whole kernel corn

2-C chopped cooked chicken

1-10 oz Rotel

1-8 oz Velveeta cubed Cheese - I used reduced fat and it tastes the same

1- garlic clove minced

1/4 t pepper

Stir soup and broth in a dutch oven (or big pot) until well blended; add corn and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over med heat. Reduce heat and simmer stirring often 30 min or until smooth and heated through. You can serve or let cool and pour into containers and freeze up to 1 month.

Serious deliciousness in that soup right there! I'm almost craving it right now. Wish I would have packed it for my lunch! I threw a few tortilla chips on top and served it piping hot! I'm sure Frito's would be good too or whatever you can think up!

I hope you all are having a great Monday. Not sure if "great" and "Monday" really go hand in hand, but nonetheless! It's dreary and rainy here and I wish I was back in bed.

Mi casa es su casa

2009-09-29T10:02:00.001-05:00

This weekend I did a little shopping for the house. I had made up my mind that I was going to re-decorate my mantle area so I was on a mission. I was so not in love with what we had and I felt like it was just kind of thrown together without much thought. I was going to go the Pottery Barn route, but thought I would hit up our Marshall's Home Goods first. Umm, have you all been to a Home Goods before?? It's pretty amazing. I took some PB magazine clippings for ideas and 2 1/2 hours later I was standing in line with a basket full of stuff! I went with a whole new theme or style for the mantle than what we had before. I absolutely LOVE it!

I figured while I was snapping pics I might as well invite you all into my boudoir as well :) We got the Morgan bedding from PB for our wedding (white) and then added on some zebra pillows and shams. Then I saw the Simone bedding that came out this Fall and just knew it would be the perfect pizzaz to add to our room. Ya know, liven it up a little. Aaron was very skeptical of my idea, but I ordered it regardless. Now that it's all put together he understands that this little lady just might know what she's talking about. It's probably my favorite room in the house now! Love Love! We painted the back wall or accent wall a deep brown when we first moved in and I think it really makes the bedding stand out. We also added some of our wedding pics above the bed. This was done completely on the cheap. Michaels frames and I printed up the pics (8x10). The two French doors go into our bathroom. I will show that on another day when it's a little cleaner :)

More goodies that I picked up at Marshall's. I love the copper pumpkin. I can't wait to get our real pumpkins this weekend at the pumpkin patch! We took miss Daisy Mae last year with us and she loved it so this year we are going to take mister Chester. Can't wait!

I just HAD to get this for A when I saw it. He always talks about wanting to go visit Ireland, aka his "homeland" and this book was too pretty to pass up. He of course loves it. And has spent some time perusing the pages and telling me where he is going to take me. One day soon, hun!

I hope you all are having a fantastic week!! I feel like there is so much going on right now and I'm trying to get it all out and posted but the new google picture upload is not my friend....or else I'm just really dumb. Needless to say, this post took me FOREVER to get up and running. I could not seem to figure out the whole placement of the pics. It's kind of weird. Aaron has been on me about waiting too long to blog so I tried doing it last night and 10 o'clock rolled around and I was no further than I was when I started! I'm hoping I will learn all the tricks as I go.

G's Birthday!

2009-09-21T09:36:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday was my beautiful little sister's 9th birthday! I love this little girl so much and I had the best time celebrating with her. She spent the day bike riding with some friends on her new sweet purple bike; which I don't have a pic of, but it was pretty awesome, and swimming. Later, at her request, we went to a little Italian restaurant that just so happens to be the same restaurant Aaron and I had our rehearsal dinner at. She has loved this place since the first time she took a bite of their delicious macaroni and cheese. You can tell from the pics below that she was on cloud nine the entire night. Check out her adorable peasant top and skinny jeans! I had to get her some dark skinnies! She LOVES them. And my mom bought her some stylish black flat boots which completed the outfit! The kid raked in on outfits. Lord knows she didn't need any more toys or games so we were all instructed to go the clothing route, which I happen to love! She has such a fun/funky style right now. Reminds me a little of me when I was her age. I loved the mismatched high tops and sideways ponytails. She also has dreams of being a fashion designer and has actually sketched out some stuff and pulled out pages from magazines as her inspiration. The girl is going places!

crazy girl! mmmm....
dad will hate this pic of him but look how

happy G and my mom are! Too cute!!
cheesecake and cookie cake! what a lucky girl!
black flat boots
silk bubble DKNY dress I found for a steal! She's totally going to rock it

with her skinnies and one of her many pairs of high tops I'm sure :) Gabby and Chester Cheeto

I love you little sis and I hope you had a great and memorable birthday!

9 years

2009-09-16T10:52:00.000-05:00

On September 16, 2000 at approximately 11:45pm, my now husband asked me to be his girlfriend. We had met the year before in Biology class. I was the new kid. No one and I mean no one wanted anything to do with me. The girls at our high school were pretty horrible. He asked me to come be his science partner and told me to come sit at his table. From then on we were great friends. He asked me if I wanted to take drivers ed with him that Summer and of course I said yes. I loved hanging out with him. We were pretty much inseparable that entire Summer. He came to me one night and asked if we could talk. He told me that he liked me and had for a while. I was so nervous and excited at the same time. A couple weeks later we had some friends over and were watching movies. He had to leave by 11:50 in order to make his curfew of midnight. We were the last 2 left in my parents game room. I could tell he was nervous. He sat me down and asked me if I would be his girlfriend. Seriously one of my most memorable days. He gave me a kiss, a real kiss, my first real kiss to be honest :) and I walked him out. I could not stop smiling. I remember running into my sister's room and telling her all about it. It all seemed like a dream, as corny as that sounds. He called me as soon as he got home and we talked until the wee hours in the morning, because that's what you did when you were young. From then on we have been a team. We got caught trying to skip school together. He walked me to all of my classes daily and said goodbye with a kiss. I remember getting so excited when he would hand me a letter that he had written in one of his classes. I actually have 2 Dr. Marten's boxes full of all the letters he wrote me. He would always include some illustration with it too. I called him Aar-Bear so he would draw a bear wearing the same clothes that he was wearing on that day. Cutest thing ever! He came over to my house and hung out every night and weekend. I went to his football games and cheered him on as loud as I could. I was such a proud girlfriend! I still get butterflies thinking back on all of this. Such fun times! We've been going strong ever since. Even with going to different universities. No breakups. I'd be lying if I told you it was easy during college. There were times I'm sure we both wondered if we could make it. Luckily we were close enough so that we could see each other on most weekends. Even though we are married now and have our wedding anniversary, we will always celebrate September 16. It's a very special day to both of us. I received an email from my amazing husband that he has made us dinner reservations tonight at one of our favorite Italian restaurants in our area. I could not be happier! I feel so lucky to have literally married my best friend and to have such fond memories to look back on. I love you so much A! Happy 9th Anniversary!!

What were we thinking?

2009-09-08T13:39:00.004-05:00

We got another dog! Can you believe this? I can't. We've had the fella for a week and 2 days now and the fact that I'm just now getting around to blogging about him should tell you something...He's a little turd, but I love him. We were on our way to church last Sunday and A made the split decision to go visit a breeder 2.5 hours away and buy a puppy. Men! Of course, I didn't say no because I didn't want to be blamed for crushing his dreams. He is a golden retriever and his name is Chester. Now I have to say that this was ALL my husbands idea, name and all. I mean, who really names their dog Chester? We've already heard the grade school name "Chester the molester" from about everybody we tell. So if you could spare me from having to hear it again, that would be great :) The name is starting to grow on me a little. You have to understand though that I love nicknames, love them! And I'm having a hard time coming up with one for him. Chesty doesn't really work. After all he is a boy. I'd like for him to keep some of his manliness in tact if at all possible. My husband has come up with "Chester bester" which honestly, can it get any worse than that?

This whole experience has opened my eyes to the fact that I am no where near ready for little babies! I love my sleep and the fact that I haven't had my full allotted amount makes me very cranky. He's gotten 100 times better since the first couple of nights we had him. The crying and barking was driving me half insane. I can not wait for the day when he decides to stop peeing/pooping on my nice living room rug in which I step in because I have not yet adjusted to the fact that we have a little runt that goes every 30 minutes. But I do have to say I am pretty smitten by our little guy. He is the sweetest thing ever and such a little lover! He loves to cuddle and loves to give kisses. So I guess that makes up for all his messes.

Daisy is in the process of adjusting as well. She's not sure what to think about this new little sausage running around. She has beaten him up a few times. We keep telling her that it's likely he will be bigger than her one day so she needs to watch it.

There it is! Our crazy life just got a little crazier. Our house feels slightly like a circus at times, but it keeps things interesting.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! I promise to be a better blogger as soon as I learn how to juggle all of this.

Pour some sugar on me

2009-08-25T14:02:00.001-05:00

Last night, as I kept biting on my lips, I thought to myself "I could use a good lip scrub!" The only thing is I didn't want to go buy one. I figured I could just come up with something around the house. Saves money and it super convenient! I mean, have you seen the price tags on lip scrubs these days?!? You're lucky if you can get one for under $25. I don't know what the deal is, but sometimes my lips peel. It doesn't matter that I live in the humidity capitol of the world! They have no moisture and become really dry. As I sat there thinking about how I could make something work, still biting my lips mind you, I grabbed my Burts Bees and our sugar bowl and went to town. I took pics along the way to show you all a step-by-step process. I, however, forgot to take a before pic! So you can't get the full effect, but trust me, it worked.

*supplies

* pour a dime sized portion of sugar on a plate or flat surface
*dip chap stick/lip balm in said sugar *like so
*apply to lips in a circular motion - you may want to do this part
over a sink since the sugar tends to fall off as you scrub.
Also, when done, wipe the sugar off your lips and follow
it with some sugar-less lip balm. So soft!

*excuse the dazed and confused look. It was late, I was tired

See, how easy was that? And my lips felt great afterwards! My lip balm has a mint flavor so it made them tingle which felt awesome. I will probably do this a few times a week in order to keep my lips kissably soft. You know, since that's important and all. The only thing I would do differently is get a separate tube of balm to use for the sugar part. I noticed that mine still has some sugar stuck in it even after cleaning off the tip of my tube. Other than that, it was easy and it worked great!

I scream for ice cream

2009-08-20T13:16:00.003-05:00

source

I love ice cream, there I said it. I have not had ice cream in my freezer in months! Last attempt to buy good ole' Blue Bell was shot down by Aaron with "we don't need it." Well sure we do! I need that cold creamy fix after my dinner like he needs a cold Coors Light with dinner. Come on!

Fast forward to last night. I was promised a trip to get ice cream. You have no idea how much I looked forward to that all day long. I think I even told Lauren about it Tuesday night on our run. I'm sure she thinks I'm crazy. I've been training for the 1/2 and last night was our night off from running. Perfect, right? I googled to see which shop was closest to us. Cold Stone was the closest. Great. As much as I love ice cream, I really can't stand Cold Stone. I don't know why, I just have never liked it. At all. I searched for Marble Slab - my LOVE - and found one inside our mall. When I told A the options, he seemed more interested in the one outside the mall. You even say the word "mall" to the boy and he starts sweating. So I thought it wouldn't hurt to give CS another try. Well we get there and seriously waited in line for 15 minutes. Not starting off too good. I ask if they have marshmallow topping (oh come one, like you've never had it!) and she of course said "No, but we do have mini marshmallows" in her chipper high school voice. Listen chick, that's not the same. Not even close. So I'm irritated, tell A to order and I will try to decide what I want. Aaron leans over to me and says "you're pissed aren't you?" I love it because he knows me so well. And yes, I was not happy. So I order some coffee ice cream with heath or some crap. I got the smallest size and the dude fills it all the way to the top where it is over flowing. The second I got to my car it was leaking all down the sides. Of course we failed to pick up napkins. I sat it down in my cup holder, because I can't drive and hold this stupid messy cup at the same time. As soon as I pull out of the parking lot, ice cream has dripped everywhere. I WAS MAD. First off, it's not even good ice cream, second, I am going to have to detail my dang car now! So what did I do? I pulled into a gas station and tossed it. This is after a few choice words with A, because obvi this is his fault. He is the one, after all, that seemed a little hesitant about going into the mall for Marble Slab. He chunked his too, more or less to prove a point to me I'm sure. He offered to go to the store to get me some ice cream but at this point I was in no mood. I was angry. Like ears red and burning angry.

Then I got to thinking how stupid this sounds to be so angry over ice cream. I was seriously pouting. How ridiculous is that? I think I had my hopes up and my mind was set on some delicious ice cream and when it turned into a disaster I freaked. I slept on it and woke up feeling silly. I think Aaron thinks I'm crazy. But I also think he needs to understand the importance of ice cream to his woman! We laid around this morning and snuggled before getting out of bed. All was back to normal. It's amazing what sleep can do. I swear it must be hormones. And as we were in the closet getting ready this morning he said "What's your favorite Blue Bell ice cream?" Hmm. Does he have something up his sleeve? Or was he just curious? And I didn't even answer, because I can't choose just one. But rocky road is a good start. :)

I'll get you my pretties.....

2009-08-19T10:44:00.004-05:00

and your red soled shoes too!

I am so ready for Fall! Our summer has been hot. Not that this is different from any other summer, but I'm not a huge fan of 105 deg weather. I can't wait to bundle up in cute clothes and jackets! But, we have a few more months before that happens. There have been plenty of Thanksgivings where we are sitting out on my parents patio, drinking wine, in our shorts. Not to mention watching my husband put up our Christmas lights in a tee and shorts. A girl can dream, right? I thought I would list a few items that I am hoping will end up in my closet this Fall. A few I have already picked up :) You'll notice that Banana Republic is a common theme amongst my list of must haves.

{fun and flirty accessories! love them all and NEED them - BR}

{blazer (bought) -BR, leather ruffle jacket -Victoria's Secret}

{Silk paisley dress dress (bought it! belting it and wearing

as a tunic with below skinnies)

slate colored shirt dress,

and pebbled colored satchel (LOVE) - BR}

{pencil skirt - BR}

{skinny jeans - seriously amazing fit!

Bought them last wkend. BR}

{Christian Louboutin Horacioa 120 (I WILL own these)

cheaper version - BR "Jacky" pump,
Corso Como ankle boots - Piperlime}

So ladies, what is on you Fall must have list?? Don't tell me I'm the only one that is creating these superficial wish lists!

A meal he's sure to love

2009-08-13T10:09:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday, the Mr. and I had no plans so we decided to hang out at the house and make dinner. You see, Aaron has put me on a little thing he likes to call a budget. "A what?" you ask. I know, I had the same reaction. So we've been trying to cut back on the eating out. I figured I would try my hand at a restaurant style meal. I looked through my recipes and I found the one for Chicken Saltimbocca. I've made this before and A loved it. It was super tasty the second time around and it's actually pretty easy for as good as it is. As I was making the chicken and the sides (asparagus and mashed potato's) I asked Aaron if he would make the lemon Sprinkles cupcakes that had been sitting around. He willingly agreed. After being asked a zillion questions like "why does it ask for one egg and 2 yolks" "what is the zest of a lemon", etc. I knew my cupcakes might be in trouble. He cracked me up because he's so by the book when following recipes. Normally I just toss in vanilla or salt and beat the batter until I see it's no longer lumpy, but not Aaron. He was super precise....or so I thought. He then went on to make the frosting, which led to a whole other list of questions, but I didn't mind because it was fun having him help! After dinner, I went to pull the cupcakes out of the oven and they looked a little funny. They were sinking in the middle and they were a little on the hard side. I didn't think much about it. I let them cool and then checked over the frosting which looked like runny batter. This can't be good. I tried to recover it by adding more powdered sugar and whipping it to try to thicken it, but it never really looked like frosting. I decided, what the heck, I'll dab a little soupy frosting on them and have a little taste. Ehhh. I'm not really sure what happened with the whole cupcake/frosting process, but I give him an A+ for trying! I was a little bummed because the lemon cupcakes are my favorite and they are $14/box!! Oh well. It was a perfect evening regardless. And now I leave you with the recipe. Enjoy!

CHICKEN SALTIMBOCCA WITH COUNTRY HAM - I used Prosciutto

Serves 4 to 6

4–6 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
16–24 fresh sage leaves, plus more for garnish
8–12 paper-thin slices country ham, prosciutto, or Serrano ham (about 6 to 8 ounces total)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more if needed
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup Marsala or port
1/2 cup chicken stock or low-fat, reduced-sodium chicken broth
Coarse salt

1. To prepare the cutlets, place a chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound to slightly over 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Place 4 fresh sage leaves on each cutlet; top with 1 or 2 slices of ham and press lightly to adhere. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate to set, at least 10 minutes.

2. Place the flour in a shallow dish and season with pepper (no salt is necessary because of the salty ham). To cook the cutlets, heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Working with 2 pieces at a time, dredge both sides of the chicken in flour, then shake off the excess flour—the chicken should by lightly dusted. Without crowding, add 2 pieces of chicken to the skillet, ham side down first, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a warm platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Repeat with the remaining chicken, adding more oil if necessary.

3. To make the sauce, pour off any excess oil from the skillet. Return the skillet to the heat. Add the wine and Marsala and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits. Add the stock and increase the heat to high. Cook until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, garnish with fresh sage, and serve.

How 'bout a little cheese with that wine

2009-08-05T10:48:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago the Mr and I decided to have a wine/cheese night at the house. We've visited a couple of new wine bars in our area and I thought, "hey, I can totally do that for half the price." I went to a local market, Hubbell and Hudson, and picked up the goods. I'm pretty much in love with this place! They have the best selection of cheeses and meats. Love it! Now when I shop at fun places like this, I tend to go a little overboard. I could taste the cheeses as I was picking them out. I loaded up my cart with 4, maybe 5 different cheeses, prosciutto and some other meats I can't pronounce, an assortment of crackers, fruit, wine and dessert. And of course I grabbed a bunch of tulips on the way out. Who doesn't love fresh flowers?

{the meats}

I loved the assortment I picked up. Now, will I be able to remember what they are for our next wine/cheese night? Probably not. But it was good! One was like a big pepperoni, but with a much more distinguished name, of course.

{mmm, brie, how I love thee}

Seriously, slap some of this deliciousness on a cracker and follow it up with a couple of grapes and you have a heavenly explosion happening in your mouth. A doesn't like brie, so that leaves more for moi!

{the vino}

{dessert 1 - raspberry mousse with chocolate filling}

{dessert 2 - best chocolate on chocolate cupcake ever tasted}

{dessert 3 - white chocolate/chocolate mousse cake -
yes we had 3! I couldn't decide....}

Now wipe that drool off your computer screen and go have a wine/cheese night of your own. You won't be disappointed, believe me! Oh and you know my comment above about being able to duplicate this for half the price of the wine bars? Yeeaaah, notsomuch. It was just as much as the wine bar, but we have had 2 meals out of it and I did get those lovely tulips which we did not receive at said wine bar, so it's totally worth it.

OrangeBeautiful

2009-08-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

I found these gems on Paper Crave (which by the way is an amazing site for all sorts of fun paper, party ideas, etc.) and fell in love! I mean, how couldn't you? Who doesn't love a little letter press and the packaging is uber chic! Most stationary or greeting cards come in those cheapy clear plastic boxes. You know, the ones that fall apart the second you open them. I doubt this packaging is going to fall apart. Take a peak below. Believe me, you will find ways to justify needing this for your immediate future.

You can check out more treats here or go shop their Etsy site where you will find more awesomeness:

I will make you fishers of men.....

2009-07-29T20:21:00.004-05:00

....if you follow me :)

Anyone else remember that one from Sunday school? Well I figured I should get to posting the remainder of our vacation pics. We had such a great time while we were there and I had to show you some of the beauty that we were able to see. My dad scheduled us a private offshore fishing trip and it was a blast! I had never been before and I think every girl should try it, at least once. I have to tell you that the views on the way out to our first stop had me on a high. It was so amazing how beautiful everything was. I literally could not take my eyes off the ocean, the sky, the sights all around. I normally try to steer away from waking up early on trips, but we were out of bed by 5 and on the boat by 6. Which made for some nice sunrise shots. I never realized how obsessed I was with lighthouses, but 100 pictures later, apparently I am. But hey, I don't see this stuff everyday. On the boat was me, sister Chels, dad, cousin Jarrett, uncle Winston and Aaron - also the order of pics below.

the barracuda I caught...no big deal, just the biggest catch of the day.

my honey, doing his usual: rum/coke, listening to iPod, chillin' on the deck

(part of the family) family pic: grandpa, me, grandma, great uncle Paul, aka the coolest guy around, dad, sister and Momma - FYI those are cover-ups, not dresses, we were headed to the beach.

Oh to be back on vacation. It wasn't long enough, not that they ever are. I miss the ocean. I love the ocean. I have since I was a little girl when my parents would take my sister and I to this very beach. Our condo was actually right across the street from my grandma's house she grew up in. It's such an adorable home. We used to stay there when we would come to visit my great grandma. We've made this trip more times than I can remember. This time was so special since all of my dad's side of the family was able to join. I know these trips are numbered as we all get older and lives change, but I am glad that I was able to make this one. It was nice to wake up and my family all be in one space together again. My mom up, settling into the kitchen like she's lived in this place for years, making a wonderful breakfast and coffee, dad drinking said coffee, sitting on the balcony staking out our spots on the beach, sisters sleeping in because after all this is vacation, and me soaking it all in. It was just like old times. I miss those old times. But, I'm a grown up married person now. Which I love, believe me. It is just hard to forget the family times though, when that's all you knew for so long. But we did make many more great memories and I surely won't forget them!

Last time

2009-07-28T17:19:00.002-05:00

This is the last time I change up my blog with one of those freebie backgrounds. I am in the market for a makeover and I can not wait! Now I just need to put together some ideas of what I want. Definitely something cleaner and let stuff going on. I want it to be happy and cheery too! And not too busy because then it will take away from the material, and we all know how good my material is ;)

So if anyone has some great suggestions or someone they know who does fabulous work, point me in the right direction!

Flo-Rida

2009-07-24T16:02:00.001-05:00

So I figured that I needed to start posting our vacation pics. I mean I have been back since Sunday! Plus it's going to take a few posts in order to show the extent of the trip. You know me and my camera never part so I have a load of pics :)

We flew into Orlando Wednesday morning, picked up my aunt and cousin, stopped for some food (and drinks) and then drove into Daytona! We were greeted by the rest of our family that had already arrived. We had a pretty low key first night. We hit up one of our favorite fried shrimp spots, Boston's, for dinner and called it a night. Oh and did I mention that we got to see the space shuttle take off from the beach?? Well, we did! It's been a while since I've been there for that but it was pretty cool. That sucker was fast though! By the time I got my zoom lens on my camera it was already going through the clouds :( You can see it in the last pic.

Now, I'm doing this in segments so make sure you check back so you can see all the pics of me in my bikini! Psshhhh, riiiight. I might have to work some magic with photoshop before I do that.

Happy Friday!

Oh Baby

2009-07-23T12:39:00.000-05:00

My lovely husband sent me an email yesterday informing me that he needed a gift for a baby shower they were hosting at his office today. Umm, ok. Talk about short notice. We rode into work together yesterday which meant that I got to wait around for him to get off. I'm not one that enjoys waiting, but I sucked it up. I knew there would be an Italian dinner and some wine in my future so that held me over. After dinner we ran into Target where the couple was registered. Normally I would have gone into a cute boutique and picked up a wondeful baby outfit because I'm obsessed with children's boutiques. But with such short notice I had no time to be creative. So we printed the registry and went shopping! As we were looking through the baby clothes I could hear Aaron and his "aww's" as he was browsing. He then came up behind me with a big hug and whispered "let's have a baby." Eeek! Now, I think that is adorable!! And I know we both are dying to have kids...one day. Just not quite yet. But it's so easy to get caught up in all the baby fever when you're standing smack dab in the middle of baby heaven! We were seriously like 2 kids in a candy store. We had our bounce and plays picked out, the little vibrating seat that our little ones will drift off to sleep in one day, and our baby girls pj's that said "I love daddy." I'm sure people thought we were nuts! We decided we needed to get busy with picking out a gift. I think we went a little overboard. We kept grabbing things for the shower left and right. I knew we had racked up quite the bill and was a little worried to go check out. We grabbed 2 bottles of Fetzer on the way up that were $5.99 (you can't pass that up people!) and the total was just short of $100! Did we really just spend over $80 on a shower gift? Whoops! Aaron was a little shocked to say the least. Especially considering that he rarely works with this guy and I've maybe met him once. Oh well! It's all for the baby, right! So we finally made it home around 10 and I was exhausted! I went to bed and can you guess what I dreamed about? Yep, I was pregnant, standing in our bathroom where I get ready every morning and my water broke! It was the weirdest dream and was so real that it made me nervous! The funny thing is that I didn't even have a baby belly. I looked like me, no bump, but my water broke? Maybe it was my body telling me that I needed to go to the bathroom :)

Oh and I was going back through my posts because I noticed that I had reached my 100th already and completely missed it. You wanna know which post was numero 100? This ONE! Cue twilight song. Kind of crazy. Not to mention the fact that my grandma relayed to me about 15 times a day while we were on vacation that she wanted me to give her some great grandchildren. Not even kidding! She said I will have twin boys and a little girl. Oh and she'll outfit the nurseries too. As long as I have them by January 17 of 2011. Oh Memaw! All I could do was laugh!

No dice

2009-07-20T13:24:00.001-05:00

Last week I went shoe shopping. It had been a while since I had gotten some new "work" shoes and my current ones were looking pretty bad. I have an obsession with Antonio Melani shoes. It started several years ago and it's grown deeper. They are only available at Dillard's so I went on over there after work. I was trying to be quick since I had to get home, pack for our trip (which by the way was so fun and I'm so sad to be back :( - post to come!) and come up with something for dinner. I tried on several pairs and came across one that I liked the looks of. It was black, which is what I needed and they looked pretty cute. And bonus, they were on sale! After picking out my outfit for today (black dress, yellow cardigan) I decided to go for the new black shoes. I opened the box and there they were in all their shiny patent leather glory. I put them on and they didn't feel right. I could barely fit into them without my feet looking like they were sausages! Aaron said "I like them, they're cute" as I was walking around trying to make sure they weren't cutting off the blood supply to my feet. I checked the box, 8 1/2, then the shoes, 8 1/2. Then I start wondering why on earth I got these if they were so tight! It dawns on me that I was in a hurry and probably tried them on, walked to a mirror, took them off, put them back in box and bought them. Apparently I should have kept them on for at least 5 minutes so that I could really feel the pain. I went ahead and wore them today in hopes that I can stretch the leather out a bit. I think they are feeling better....either that or my feet have gone numb.

I did however end up with a great pair that really are insanely comfortable and so cute! They almost had a "walking on air" feeling. It was awesome! And since I'm doing a lot more walking now that I'm downtown, I need cute shoes with a little comfort. I've already worn them to work and they still felt great! I could tell as I got into the afternoon they were rubbing a little more, but nothing like the black ones! No big deal, I could handle these.

Sorry for the boring post. I don't have any pics downloaded from our trip yet, so this is all I got! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!! It has been extremely hard trying to get back in the swing of things after being on the beach the last few days. Especially knowing that the rest of my family is still there until Wednesday! It also doesn't help that my mom emails or texts me pics of what they are doing. So sad!

Yeah, I mow

2009-07-12T12:23:00.001-05:00

Can we talk for a second about how deathly hot it is?? If you live in TX or any surrounding states in the South you know what I mean. It's been over 100 with 189% humidity for the last few weeks and I'm already sick of it! I break a sweat the second I walk out the door. It's gross. So yesterday, I took a break from the 16 and pregnant marathon (does anyone else feel like they're promoting teen pregnancy??) and went to take Aaron some water while he was outside mowing - really just thinking I was going out to get some sun. I figured if I was already in a sweat I might as well get my tan on. As I watched Aaron come through the backyard with the lawnmower, I thought to myself "I can do that!" I mean how hard is it to mow? Plus it's a great workout I'm sure. I mean, as long as you don't pass out. So I asked him if I could take over for a sec. He nervously said "Ok?" I don't think he liked handing over one of his "man tools" to me but he obliged. I think he was also nervous about the fact that I was a) in a dress and b) barefoot - my mom is gasping right now I'm sure! So I took the bull by the horns, or mower by the handle and went to town. I did pretty good, only stepped on a few of Daisy's landmines, eww, note to husband: please scoop before you mow next time! I get to the middle of the yard and am sweating like nobody's business and I look up and lo and behold there is my husband with this goofy grin on his face holding my camera and snapping away. Apparently he had been doing this the whole time! He then says with a chuckle "You have to blog this!" I had no idea this was going on until I looked up (last pic) and saw him with my camera. You may think that was a smile, but it was really the look of death! I finished up my area and handed it back to him. I looked disgusting! But I felt the need to document this as leverage for our next fight, which will happen, on womanly versus manly duties of the house. I mowed sweetie, which means you can now vacuum and do the laundry! Although, my left shoulder is a little sore and I might have some blisters on my hands. Maybe I'll stick to my indoor cleaning after all.

Oh yeah and yesterday we *almost* bought a puppy! We left church and went to lunch and on our way out the parking lot there was a woman selling lab puppies. We immediately fell in love with a yellow male. He had a white tipped tail and white paws. Precious! My husband, who has been trying to convince me that we need another dog, fell in love. I mean he was hard core smitten by this dog. I'm normally not one to go looking for dogs off the side of the road but the second he saw them we had to stop. A held the one for a while and then said to the lady, without notice "How much are they? $200. "Do you take checks?" Cash only. Did he really just seal the deal without my input?? So we get back in his truck to go find a bank. That's when I knew I had to be the rational one and remind him about our Florida trip this Wednesday. "Oh crap!" he says. I say that we need to call the kennel to make sure they will take care of a 7 week old puppy. And she gives me the news that I know will break A's heart - they have an age minimum of 4 months. :( So, I had the be the bad guy and let my poor husband down. He had already picked out a name for him too. Not even going to say what it was because it was absolutely ridiculous. Just know that we will not be choosing a Zodiac sign for our dog's name! Egh! The whole ride home he was quiet. We got home and he said this, no lie "My heart hurts." I'm thinking I might have to check and see if he still has cajones or not? HA, kidding babe.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! It's a short week for us. We leave for this Wednesday!! Holla!

Painters

2009-07-09T15:04:00.002-05:00

2 weeks ago my lovely husband started painting our kitchen while I was out shopping. He told me that he was going to surprise me on which green he chose because we couldn't decide on one. I got home and I initially loved the color. However, at night it was so lime green it almost glowed! I felt like I was inside a margarita glass. Not a bad thought, but you don't want that on your walls! Here is the first test color - margarita green :)

We both hated the bright green so the next day we got together and picked up another color. The man at the hardware store promised us that this next color would be the perfect tone for a kitchen and it was "the most popular color choice." Yuck! I hated it the second it went on, but we decided to paint the whole kitchen just to be sure. It reminded me of a creamy mint or sea foam green. It was just awful! But I felt so bad for Aaron since he had painted so much already. We decided to keep it on for a week - PTL we had no guests - and change it the next weekend.

This last Sunday we started at it again. Aaron went back to the store and picked out a new green. And this time it worked! It's the perfect green shade. It's a little deeper than it shows up on pictures. But I really love it! It flows really good with the living room too. Our house is so open, which is nice, but then you have to make sure each room has similar colors. So it makes it interesting! And yes, we still have the blue tape on the walls. We have to do some touch ups so we are keeping it on until we are completely done!

I do believe we are done with painting for a while. This kitchen kicked our butts trying to get it perfect so we are taking a break! And speaking of a break, Aaron and I are heading to Florida next Wednesday for a family vacation!! I could not be more thrilled. We have so much planned already and I am ex-cited! My dad booked us a deep sea fishing trip so I'm pumped about that. I've never been fishing in the ocean so it should be a fun experience. I can't wait to get a cute Columbia fishing shirt and dress the part :) Of course I turn our fishing trip into something about clothes....

Red, White & Blue

2009-07-08T21:02:00.002-05:00

I had the best time this last weekend! My parents hosted a neighborhood party and they had quite the turn out. Aaron and I got over there early so we could get some pool time and help with the food and set up. My mom and dad did an awesome job! They worked on the house for this party for several weekends leading up to the 4th. My pics don't even do justice, plus I took about 200 so I had to skim down for the blog. It was great to be with the whole family! I had the cutest dress to wear but as I was balling watermelon the red juices splashed all over the white part of my dress so I had to change. Hence the reason for Aaron wearing an apron/bib since he took over my job.

We got back on Sunday and painted the kitchen...again! I will post pics later on how that all turned out. It looks awesome now! Love it!!

I hope you all had a very happy 4th!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T10:16:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th of July! We are heading out to my parents house for some pool time and lots of fun!! My mom and dad are hosting a neighborhood party this evening. The food on the menu sounds amazing! I will have loads of pics I'm sure :)

battered and bruised

2009-07-02T16:18:00.002-05:00

So in the last 2 weeks of working my new job I have ran into my desk several times. In the same spot on my thigh! Now, I love my new office and the fact that I have not one, but 2 desks, but something has gotta give here! The desk is just in a bad spot. This happened last Monday and Tuesday - over a week ago now. The small top bruise was from Monday and the huge one underneath happened Tuesday. It bulged out like no other and literally brought tears to my eyes it hurt so bad! After a week I figured it would look a little better. Nah!

{taken Tuesday the 23rd} {taken Thursday the 24}
{taken last night!}

It's ridiculous how nasty this thing is! And just yesterday I ran into my desk with my other leg. This is going to look great with a bathing suit this weekend. I'm going to have to convince my family that I am not being abused - HA! Maybe a tan will help?

Tid Bits

2009-06-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

I started my new job on Monday and I love it!! I could not be more happy with how things turned out. It's a job that I am excited to wake up early in the morning for!

Speaking of waking up, I am still trying to get used to this whole "early to work" gig. I get in at 7:30 and it's actually not as bad of a transition that I had thought. It does take me a couple cups of coffee to get me started, but I can handle that.

I am pleasantly surprised with my commute. It only takes me about 35 minutes to get downtown from where we live. I hop on a toll road everyday and I literally fly the whole way here. Seriously, if you don't drive over 75 people will run over you. Kind of scary!

The women I work with eat salads every day for lunch. I love that since I am used to working around men who only ate fried chicken or Mexican food. Hopefully the salads will help with a little weight loss?

Speaking of the ladies I work with, I absolutely love them!! My mentor, boss, trainer, whatever you want to call her is amazing! She is super cute, smart and has the backbone I wish I had. Working on that issue....

I haven't cooked a real meal in over a week. It's killing me! I love to cook, but have fallen in this lazy rut and I need to get out of it. Let's not even talk about how I have let our laundry and house work pile up around me. Honey, can we get a maid?

Aaron thinks my new job is sexy. He says I am so professional now. I think he finally thinks I'm a cool chick! Maybe cooler than him?

I've finally gotten over my cold. It only lasted 2 weeks!! I have been able to go running again since I can breathe, but now our weather has reached 100+ temps, so that is another adjustment.

I am going to (see, I said I am going to, not I am planning on, or I was thinking about) run the half marathon in January so I am starting the full on training in a week or two. I have to do this! I'm not going to let our horribly hot weather stop me!!

When Aaron and I went running the other night we came across a snake. I was informed by my snake tamer that it was a copperhead. Aaron is absolutely terrified of snakes. He picked up a very long stick and started prodding at it. It didn't really do much but piss the snake off, so I ran and got the shovel and in minutes it was dead. He was a vicious little sucker!

That same night I was woken out of my wonderful sleep by Aaron flailing around in bed and screaming like a girl. He nearly fell head first off the bed. I grabbed his arm, to try to catch him, but he yanked away from me and jumped out of bed yelling and screaming! I immediately knew he had had a dream about the above snake and thought it was in our bed. Such a wiener! So my heart is racing, he's still in a fog and has no idea how he got on the other side of the room. I was not happy to say the least! It scared the heck out of me!! We did laugh about it the next day :)

So that's it folks! This is what's been going on in my world. I am super busy, but I love it. I do miss blogging/twittering though. I am going to do my best to make more time for all of it. Just because I have a new job doesn't mean that I can't make time for this little ole' blog of mine! I've missed reading up on everyone and am slowly catching up!

Happy Thursday!

Baby Wise

2009-06-18T14:19:00.001-05:00

This last weekend I spent hanging out at my parent's house. While I was there, my mom handed me a certain book and told me that it would be a good read pre-baby. She said it's the kind of book that you would want to read before you start trying so that you can be somewhat prepared when the time comes. I thought it seemed like a pretty good idea. No, we are not planning on trying anytime soon, but the book was there and she passed it on to me :) Also, I need to clarify that my mom is not the forcing baby issue. At all! Even if I wanted her to want a grandbaby soon, I don't think I could do it. Not that she doesn't want a little Nicole running around, but she just had her own baby 8 years ago and is still in the midst of raising my little sis, so her grandma instincts haven't quite kicked in yet. Which is fine by me. I'd rather her be OK with us waiting a couple of years than talking about grand babies every time I see her like a certain MIL I have. Just sayin'.

So you can imagine the shock from Aaron when he saw this book lying on my bathroom counter the other morning. I didn't even really think anything about it and just laid it on my counter when I got home. He got out of the shower and went over to get q-tips from my jar and stopped dead in his tracks and said "WHOA! What is that? Is there something you need to tell me, Nicole??" I about died laughing. I guess since he saw a book lying on my counter that means I'm preggo? Only a man! Just like a guy friend from high school thought that if he took Midol for a headache it might give him a period! Seriously!!

Times they are a changing

2009-06-16T10:29:00.000-05:00

Yes they are indeed...in the job world at least. It's been a little crazy the last couple of weeks. I applied for a job a couple of weeks ago and didn't get it. When I first applied for it, I didn't think it was that big of a deal whether or not I got it, but once I was told no, I was a little upset. Rejection hurts people! So I took off that Friday to go relax and hang out by the pool with my family. That night my dad came home saying that one of his ex co-workers had called asking about me and wanting my contact info for a job opportunity. My dad said "When one door closes, God opens a window." Did He ever! I sent my resume in last Monday, went in for a lunch interview last Thursday and they want me to start next Monday (22nd)!! Super fast and crazy. I have been with my current job for 2 years and have enjoyed it so much but am wanting something more. A different setting, challenge, and career opportunity. The new job definitely has all 3! I will be going from working at a small office in the suburbs ("field office") to working downtown in a high rise building. I will have a whole new set of responsibilities and I will finally be at a place that offers benefits and vacation. I am doing a test drive with them for 2 months contract to make sure I will mesh with all the employees and then they will hire me on as an employee. And of course they will like me! I mean, who wouldn't? I kid, I kid!

I'm pretty excited about the fact that I will have my own office with a window. You don't even want to know what my office looks like now. Maybe I'll take pics and show you a before and after. I feel like an adult now. I'm a little nervous about going to work downtown, with all the hustle and bustle, but I'm very excited about all the shopping that is so close to me :) They have an underground system here and there are tons of shops, malls and restaurants there. You never have to go outside!

So that my friends is why I've been a little MIA for the last week. A lot of worrying, stressing out about the interview, praying about making this big move, etc. going on. I've also been sick since last Thursday and am still battling the runny/stuffy nose combo, sore throat, coughing sinus stuff. I spent this last weekend at my parents house. My mom took care of me and I realized how much I miss that. I had a mini breakdown when I came back home because I was back to taking care of myself. Growing up is hard!

Aaron spent the weekend on a fishing trip with a few co-workers. He brought home tons of fish so I can't complain. Fish fry, anyone?? He thinks he's a "hunter/gatherer" now since he went and caught our food. He was walking around the house all cocky asking me if I thought it was hot that he brought home so much food for us. Ha, boys! Actually, honey, I would think it's hot if you bring the food home, cook said food and clean up when it's all done :)

Everyone loves a snow cone

2009-06-09T16:58:00.001-05:00

I took Friday off to go hang out with the family! I was able to spend some time with my mom, little sister and big sis. It was a great day! I thought I would give you all a little glimpse into what we did. There was lots of pool time, water balloons, dueling doodles and admiring mom's amazing hydrangeas. It was such a relaxing Friday off. Loved it! And to top it off, my pops took us out to eat at Cyclone's - amazing Mexican food. So we ended the evening sipping on margaritas.

Saturday morning Aaron and I woke up early and headed for the local farmer's market. We had so much fun! We picked up Daisy some pretty fun treats that she happened to love. We headed to an ice house for lunch and had some of the best burgers I've had in a while! It was the perfect afternoon. We decided, as if we weren't feeling fatty enough, that we should stop for some snow cones on the way back home. They had a stand set up at another local farmer's market so we hit up 2 in 1 day! I must say, the snow cones were pretty delicious!! Have you all ever tried cream on yours?? They add it on the top of the snow cone and it tastes so good! I'm sure it adds a ton of extra calories, but as you can see, we weren't really counting any that day :)

We also saw the Hangover this weekend and it was hilarious!! I do have to say that I think we had more kids in this movie than in the movie Up. It was ridiculous!! Who takes their 3 and 8 year olds to a R rated movie?? I know babysitter costs have gone up, but come one people! Oh and can we talk about how HOT Bradley Cooper is, please? Wow!

Happy Tuesday! It's been a long week already and it's only been 2 days. Aaron and I are going to a class tonight at our church called the Quest. It's a 5 week course about making your money work at home, staying close to the one you love, but more importantly "What men need to learn about women" - pretty excited about that last part! I'll be sure to relay any good information I get out of it which I'm sure will be a lot.

It's like butta...

2009-06-03T15:44:00.000-05:00

The newest addition to our family arrived last night. I left work a little irritated (I hate not knowing what I'm doing) and got home to see that Daisy had chewed up her bed...again! I'm about to put a 'for sale' sign on her and tie her to a light pole. Aaron would die if I did something like that to his baby girl though so I dare not touch her. Sometimes I wonder if I'm going to be the mean parent and he's going to be the nice one, ya know. Sorry, I meandered a bit. On to our new arrival. I went to the front door to check for any packages and I saw it! I think I might have screamed and then skipped on into the kitchen to open her up! OH.MY.WORD. It's even more beautiful than it was in the pictures, and soft, so soft, like butta! And it smells heavenly of Italian leather. Mmmm! I immediately starting taking out all of the fluff paper and then put it on. It had found it's new home. Right there on my left shoulder. Perfect fit! I inspected it for a good 10 minutes to make sure it was up to par and then began taking pictures. This is a big deal ladies! I don't know about you, but I don't have nice handbags popping up on my door step everyday. Plus I wanted to be able to share my excitement :) That's what it's all about, right?

Sneak Peek!

So there she is. Isn't she a beauty?? Perfect color for summer. Beats my black suitcase of a bag (seriously, it's huge) that I got from Banana 2 years ago. I told Aaron this was an investment. I hold on to my bags for years. I don't go buying one every time the wind blows. He doesn't see it as an investment though. And just between you and me, I don't think he's a fan of RueLaLa either. He was sitting with me as I was looking to see when "butta" would arrive and saw all of my many purchases. He, and I, kind of freaked out when counting up all of my purchases. It was not a pretty, let me tell you. So I'm grounded. For 3 weeks to be exact. Well 2 now, since that was last week. I've done pretty good so far. But so help me if the Rue puts up a certain red soled shoe boutique in the next week or 2. There's not enough willpower.

Oh and I have to post about our lovely meal we had last night. It was dee-lish!! I got the recipe here. This site has tons of great light recipes. We love spicy foods and this had a bite to it. Not sure if it's supposed to - I may have added some extra red pepper flakes - but it was amazing! We couldn't stop eating it.

Happy hump day all! The week is half way over! And don't forget to run tonight since it's National Runners Day and all. Also, don't forget to go to Sonic and pick up your free root beer float from 8pm-12!! After you run, of course :)

Best.Invention.Ever

2009-06-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

I was given this amazing invention from my lovely mother at one of my wedding showers. It is the best wine opener I have ever come in contact with and it's cordless! It operates either on batteries or you can put it in it's charging dock and you're good to go. We keep ours on the dock to assure it never runs out :) And of course it comes with the foil cutter too. It opens the bottle in a matter of seconds! It can be tricky at first for some that aren't used to it, but you'll get the hang of it in no time. All you have to do is hold the "down" button so the screw goes in the cork, then you will hear it reach the end of the cork, continue holding the "down" button and pull up. The cork will come right out! To get the cork off the screw, push the "up" button and it swivels it's way down! Lickety split!! They have them in all different price ranges ($20-50). We have the Emerson brand and the Waring Pro....yes 2! We got one at Christmas from my aunt. That way we always have a back up, right?

Oh, sweet spine of mine

2009-06-01T16:29:00.002-05:00

{not my x-ray}

This morning I had my most dreaded dr.'s appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. Basically, my spine is in the shape of a backwards "S". They caught it too late and it was already bad. Normally, you can wear a brace for a year (fun!) and it will re-correct itself, but mine had already gone too far and was told that I would most likely need to move forward with the surgery. The surgery being a Harrington implant (aka, rod in my back). Just the thought of going under the knife to have a stainless steel rod implanted in my back completely freaks me out. Not to mention all of the risks that come along with it. I have seen a few other spine doctors since I moved here. I actually saw one of the first surgeons to operate with the rod and he basically said that my spine was balanced and he didn't think it was necessary to do the surgery yet. I went back 3 years later and it had progressed a little but was still told to wait. My curves were in the upper 40's - I believe the top was 47 and the bottom was around 48-49 degrees. I was on the verge of having 50 degree curves and I knew what that meant. I was terrified each time I would go in because I didn't want to hear the dreaded words "We need to move forward to the next step" kind of thing. I scheduled my appointment last week after having some pretty intense pains in my foot while running. My left foot would fall asleep around 2 miles and it was almost unbearable. It tingled and hurt at the same time. Now, I know this is common with runners, shoes being too tight, but I was worried it was coming from a nerve in my back or a problem with one of my discs. Plus, it had been a good 3-5 years since my last back appointment so I figured this would be a good time to get in. I was fine until I had to sit in the waiting room for what felt like forever! I took a million x-rays and then played the waiting game. My lovely husband came along with me to this appointment. He knew how insanely scared I was so he decided to take the morning off to be my support. We prayed about it and I kept saying mini prayers as I was waiting. Boy, was I glad he was there! I almost had a melt down when he said he was going to have to leave. He had a doctor's appointment scheduled this morning too and it was time for him to go. Right before he was about to walk out the Dr. came in. Whew! He first walks in and says "Sooo, looks like we've got some scoliosis here." Reeeeaaallly? Docs and their humor! He then put my x-rays up and showed us the damage. It looked pretty much the same to me. I was waiting to hear the numbers and was almost sure it would be in the 50's, when he said "Your top curve is 36 and lower curve is 38." WHAT!!! That was what it had been on my very first appointment 11 years ago! How could that be?!? I asked him if it was possible for the curve to lessen - I was seriously speechless! It's amazing what the Lord can do. That's the only way I can sum it up. I know it was not something I did. Over the past 11 years, it has progressively gotten worse and today it was back to what it was when I was first diagnosed. You have no idea how happy I was! I know I can trust God and that He has all the answers and knows what's best for me, but it's so hard not to get worked up and scared over situations like this. I have to keep telling myself to have faith and He just proved it in my appointment today! I feel so very blessed!! I was told to come back in another 3 years and he would check me again. He said he thinks I'm fine. No worries and definitely no surgery. He even said he doubts it will get much worse. All morning I was fearing the worst and had no idea I would be leaving my appointment with a huge smile on my face! Now, that my friends, is the power of prayer!!