Brown Eyed Girl & Her Beau

With a moo moo here....

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

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

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 :)

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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

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

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!

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

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!