On the eve of the year ending I am no longer a Peterson...officially! This afternoon I officially had my last name changed to my husband's. I'm a Vaughn! It was important to me to make time for the name change this afternoon, as I want to start the new year as a Vaughn.
I will have to start practicing writing Vaughn. I've had to write it a few times today. But there's a lot of thinking that goes into it now. Writing Peterson has been second nature for many years. I'm sure I'll mess up a few hundred times in the coming months. Likely start righting Peterson then have to switch to Vaughn. At this point I'm not sure how easy it will be to change a "P" to a "V", I'm sure I'll master it though if I should mess up.
They ask a lot of questions about your parents and other pertinent info when changing your last name. Which is to be expected. Oddly enough when it came time to discuss my dad, the lady handling my name change told me that his name had been entered into my record incorrectly back in the year I was born. On my record they have his first name as his middle name and his middle name as his first name. This didn't create a problem for me today, but it is quite interesting that my parents did not catch that mistake years ago or were not informed of the mistake so they could have changed it. The lady that worked with me today said it was clear to her it had been that way since I was born and my record was established.
I will say it was a bit surreal as I sat there and the lady said my new full name outloud a few times. She said it with just Vaughn and then also stated I could have it changed to Peterson-Vaughn. After I officially said I wanted just Vaughn she then said it outloud a couple more times. It was slightly weird hearing a new last name yet I couldn't stop smiling! I'm a Vaughn!
Now the biggest question of all is, what are the boys? Are they still Petersons or now Vaughns? Cody Peterson or Cody Vaughn? Simon Peterson or Simon Vaughn? I asked them which last name they wanted and they are still mulling over their options! I have a feeling the boys last names will automatically be changed when I do their licenses next time they come due. I would think once my last name gets changed in the system so will theirs. Same goes for their vet office, once my name is changed in their system I would assume the boys names will change too.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
The Weekend Begins!
This will be a fun yet slightly busy weekend for us. Brad's extended family always gathers together for a big Christmas celebration around Christmas but never on Christmas. I always look forward to the extended family Christmas.
This Sunday all will gather for that special Christmas. We still have to get 2 gifts for the gift exchange. The gift exchange is fun and unique. You draw a number then wait your turn to go get any gift under the tree. Once you open your gift you can choose to keep it or take someone elses gift that has already been opened.
I will spend tomorrow evening making things. We will be taking my crowd-pleasing spinach dip, rocky road cake, and festive rice krispie treats. Brad is hoping I change my mind on making the rice krispie treats "festive", he likes them plain. Maybe I'll have time to do a small plain batch and a festive batch. I got the idea to make rice krispie treats back at Thanksgiving when I noticed there was a lack of easy to grab treats for the kids in the family.
For tomorrow, my goal is to get a couple household chores, grocery shopping, and gift exchange shopping all done by 3:00. Can I do it? I hope so. Sun Devils play at 3:00 our time followed by two Texas schools in bowl games. So the running around part of my day needs to be done by gametime!
We also have the Mavs game to go to on Sunday. Not to mention that very important Cowboys game will be played. Lots going on! Go Cowboys!
This Sunday all will gather for that special Christmas. We still have to get 2 gifts for the gift exchange. The gift exchange is fun and unique. You draw a number then wait your turn to go get any gift under the tree. Once you open your gift you can choose to keep it or take someone elses gift that has already been opened.
I will spend tomorrow evening making things. We will be taking my crowd-pleasing spinach dip, rocky road cake, and festive rice krispie treats. Brad is hoping I change my mind on making the rice krispie treats "festive", he likes them plain. Maybe I'll have time to do a small plain batch and a festive batch. I got the idea to make rice krispie treats back at Thanksgiving when I noticed there was a lack of easy to grab treats for the kids in the family.
For tomorrow, my goal is to get a couple household chores, grocery shopping, and gift exchange shopping all done by 3:00. Can I do it? I hope so. Sun Devils play at 3:00 our time followed by two Texas schools in bowl games. So the running around part of my day needs to be done by gametime!
We also have the Mavs game to go to on Sunday. Not to mention that very important Cowboys game will be played. Lots going on! Go Cowboys!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Snowstorm Update!
The snowfall was lovely! I'm not sure that's how Cody would describe it! Yesterday I didn't go anywhere. My SUV was covered in snow and had icicles hanging from it. I also knew the roads were likely a bit of a mess. We had a few items we needed from the store but I didn't feel like venturing out by myself with snow and ice on the ground.
Cody and Simon each had a few Bambi moments while out on their walks. It's funny to watch the boys walk thru the snow. Simon just plows through it, same way he trots through a rain puddle. Cody on the other hand delicately prances through the snow with an irritated slightly puzzled look on his face. The funniest is when Cody has to step on ice, his face questions whether the ice will hold him and I'm convinced he hates the sound of stepping on it. I don't like that sound much either. It kind of sounds like someone popping bubble wrap. Although the sound of a car driving on ice is much worse.
We thawed out a bit today. The temp made it up to 40. It started out in the 20's. When I walked the boys it was 27 degrees out. I can remember my first winter here, I couldn't handle anything lower than the mid-30's when walking the boys. And those 30-something degree walks that first year were quick, just enough time for the business. Now in 20-something degree temps I still take the boys out for all their usual walks. Yay me! As long as it's just cold temps and snow on the ground I'll try my best to brave it. I would never do the full walks in dangerous conditions.
Cody and Simon each had a few Bambi moments while out on their walks. It's funny to watch the boys walk thru the snow. Simon just plows through it, same way he trots through a rain puddle. Cody on the other hand delicately prances through the snow with an irritated slightly puzzled look on his face. The funniest is when Cody has to step on ice, his face questions whether the ice will hold him and I'm convinced he hates the sound of stepping on it. I don't like that sound much either. It kind of sounds like someone popping bubble wrap. Although the sound of a car driving on ice is much worse.
We thawed out a bit today. The temp made it up to 40. It started out in the 20's. When I walked the boys it was 27 degrees out. I can remember my first winter here, I couldn't handle anything lower than the mid-30's when walking the boys. And those 30-something degree walks that first year were quick, just enough time for the business. Now in 20-something degree temps I still take the boys out for all their usual walks. Yay me! As long as it's just cold temps and snow on the ground I'll try my best to brave it. I would never do the full walks in dangerous conditions.
I Shake My Fist At....
...the NFL schedulers! Are you ready for this story? As a Christmas gift I purchased 2 tickets and a parking pass for the Dallas Mavs vs. San Antonio Spurs rivalry game for my husband. Before I purchased the tickets I checked our schedule, I even checked the NFL schedule.
This Sunday is the last day of the NFL season. According to the schedule I have ALL games are daytime games no Sunday night game listed. The Cowboys were scheduled to play at noon. Good, no problem buying tickets to the Mavs....so I thought back in November when I bought the tickets. Well guess what? Just my luck this past Sunday it was announced the Cowboys game has been moved, it will now be the featured NFL Sunday night game on NBC. On Sunday evening when the announcement was made I made quite the comment about my irritation over the schedule change which Brad didn't understand since it was still 2 days before he would open the Christmas gift containing the Mavs tickets.
On Christmas morning once he opened the gift with the tickets he quickly asked, "what time do the Cowboys play, isn't it a night game?"....Yes, honey the stupid NFL changed their game time! Picture me shaking my fist!
Okay so the Mavs game starts at 6:30 and the Cowboys at 7:20. Basketball goes quicker than football so the Mavs game will be over in time for us to get home for the majority of the 4th quarter, provided there's no overtimes for Mavs-Spurs! While we are at the Mavs game I'm hoping to have someone text us score updates of the Cowboys. The worst part about it is that the Cowboys game is SUPER important, win and they are playoff bound! I feel bad that we'll miss such an important game but Brad is excited to go to the Mavs game! It will be my first Mavs game ever! We'll have fun, I just regret we'll miss a majorly important Cowboys game. Brad has handled the schedule issue much better than me.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas!!
Here in big D it has just started to snow! Snow is falling fast and furiously. Woo-hoo! Another white Christmas! It has snowed each Christmas I've lived here.
Since I could not find time to send out Christmas cards I decided to do an open Christmas card to all on the blog.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful time celebrating this special day. And as a special treat I will feature pics I planned on sending in the cards here. This is the first time I've ever put a pic of us up on the blog. I felt it was fitting for a pic to be featured of us on our first Christmas as a married couple!
Once again Merry Christmas to all, from the Vaughns!
Since I could not find time to send out Christmas cards I decided to do an open Christmas card to all on the blog.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful time celebrating this special day. And as a special treat I will feature pics I planned on sending in the cards here. This is the first time I've ever put a pic of us up on the blog. I felt it was fitting for a pic to be featured of us on our first Christmas as a married couple!
Once again Merry Christmas to all, from the Vaughns!
p.s. Aren't the boys cute in their tuxes? They were ready for the wedding!
Preparing for Christmas Eve!
Since getting back from Orlando we have been super busy! I've made numerous trips to my place to get things so that the boys and I can be at Brad's place comfortably before we officially pack up my apartment. I think the boys have clued in somewhat!
On Saturday night we were anxious to find a Christmas tree. We went around to a few places with no luck, as they were sold out. Unlike Phx, Dallas doesn't have a Christmas tree
lot every mile or so. We get trees at Home Depot, Lowe's or a grocery store. And also unlike Phx, they order only what they believe they can sell....no surplus! That's not just for trees! I've certainly learned since moving here....buy it when you see it!
So we got the tree Saturday night but we didn't get it in place and ready to decorate til Sunday. After the Cowboys game I headed off to the grocery store to do the Christmas Eve grocery shopping while Brad decorated the tree. He saved a few select ornaments that he knows I truly love for me to put on the tree. Sunday night I baked until 2 in the morning. I baked a pecan pie, a chocolate cake, and 4 mini coffee cakes.
We hosted Christmas Eve late in the afternoon. It all went well! Dinner turned out great! And a good time was had by all! The only small issue was no water for part of the evening due to a main water line in the complex needing immediate attention. Water finally came back on so I just barely finished the dishes. I should say we just finished the dishes. Brad helped, we make a good team. Us hosting Christmas Eve would have been extremely difficult if it wasn't for our great teamwork! Even while the water was off we had teamwork as we held a
water bottle pouring water on each others hands while we washed up. Lol! It kind of felt like we were camping.
On Saturday night we were anxious to find a Christmas tree. We went around to a few places with no luck, as they were sold out. Unlike Phx, Dallas doesn't have a Christmas tree
lot every mile or so. We get trees at Home Depot, Lowe's or a grocery store. And also unlike Phx, they order only what they believe they can sell....no surplus! That's not just for trees! I've certainly learned since moving here....buy it when you see it!
So we got the tree Saturday night but we didn't get it in place and ready to decorate til Sunday. After the Cowboys game I headed off to the grocery store to do the Christmas Eve grocery shopping while Brad decorated the tree. He saved a few select ornaments that he knows I truly love for me to put on the tree. Sunday night I baked until 2 in the morning. I baked a pecan pie, a chocolate cake, and 4 mini coffee cakes.
We hosted Christmas Eve late in the afternoon. It all went well! Dinner turned out great! And a good time was had by all! The only small issue was no water for part of the evening due to a main water line in the complex needing immediate attention. Water finally came back on so I just barely finished the dishes. I should say we just finished the dishes. Brad helped, we make a good team. Us hosting Christmas Eve would have been extremely difficult if it wasn't for our great teamwork! Even while the water was off we had teamwork as we held a
water bottle pouring water on each others hands while we washed up. Lol! It kind of felt like we were camping.
The Honeymooon Review!
We had a great honeymoon part 1 in Orlando. It was nice weather all the way up until our last full day. But here's the most interesting part....our main focus in choosing Orlando was Epcot center. After reviewing the Epcot brochure we both decided we weren't interested. So no Epcot! In the brochure it seemed as though it has become eateries and short films. Eateries dedicated to a certain country's food and films dedicated to certain countries.
We went to the Magic Kingdom one evening. We rode a few rides then stayed for the holiday parade and fireworks show. The fireworks show was the main thing I was interested in seeing, I knew it would be awesome. We also visited Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. It was okay. But certainly not my fave! It was overly crowded and not much to do. They would have certain shows going on at specific times, so the crowd of people would go to those shows, and once those shows let out it was a massive influx of people into the Disney streets. Chaos!
On Thursday we decided we needed a break from the theme park action and took a day to just do random things. We took a bus to another resort area and walked around. We had lunch on the Disney Boardwalk at the ESPN restaurant. Brad quickly noticed the restaurant's Dallas Cowboys memorabilia so he liked that! We then rode the ferry. And after being on the water in the ferry we decided to rent a boat for a little while. We both took turns at the helm of the boat. Yes, I drove a boat for the first time.
On Friday we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park. As we had decided to forego Epcot and instead try out the Animal Kingdom. Disney's Animal Kingdom is like a big zoo but a bit more upscale. There's plenty of live animals to be viewed. But there's also some added attractions. We went on the water rapids ride. I should mention that on Friday the high there was 60 degrees. Not exactly river rafting weather! But I wanted to go on the river rapids ride super bad. So I convinced Brad to go! Poor guy! He got a little more wet than I did. Neither of us regretted going though! Soon after the water rapids experience I suppose it was payback time...I convinced him to go on the rapids and he now wanted me to go on the Everest rollercoaster with him. Yes, folks I went on my first rollercoaster. I was terrified! You know how they snap photos of you on certain rides then try to sell you those photos? Well we looked at our photo when we got off the rollercoaster. Brad is happy as a clam, laughing away...as for me, I'm as close to him as I could get with my head leaning into his chest and my eyes closed in terror! Geez, how embarrassing! I think that was my first and last rollercoaster! It is nice to say I've been on one now but I just don't enjoy that sort of thing. We then went on a few more rides one was similar to a rollercoaster. So I suppose one could say I've been on two rollercoasters now!
I was thinking that Saturday would be a nightmare to come home, with it being so close to Christmas. Surprisingly it wasn't bad! The great thing about Christmas time travel though is there's a few days to get there. People could choose to travel Friday night after work or Saturday or even Sunday. It's not like Thanksgiving where it's a rush to get to the airport on Wednesday after work for so many people. It took us only about 20 minutes to wait in line at security.
Our absolute favorite area to spend time in was Downtown Disney! I don't think we skipped a day of going there! It had shopping, it had movies, it had great restaurants...oh and I must mention it had a Giradelli's Ice Cream Shop. Awesome sundaes! We even sat in the freezing cold Friday night to eat sundaes. Friday was quite cold for Florida. They were starting a 3 day cold snap on Friday. As we kept saying to one another about Friday's cold temps...it's just preparing us for the flight home to Dallas!
We went to the Magic Kingdom one evening. We rode a few rides then stayed for the holiday parade and fireworks show. The fireworks show was the main thing I was interested in seeing, I knew it would be awesome. We also visited Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. It was okay. But certainly not my fave! It was overly crowded and not much to do. They would have certain shows going on at specific times, so the crowd of people would go to those shows, and once those shows let out it was a massive influx of people into the Disney streets. Chaos!
On Thursday we decided we needed a break from the theme park action and took a day to just do random things. We took a bus to another resort area and walked around. We had lunch on the Disney Boardwalk at the ESPN restaurant. Brad quickly noticed the restaurant's Dallas Cowboys memorabilia so he liked that! We then rode the ferry. And after being on the water in the ferry we decided to rent a boat for a little while. We both took turns at the helm of the boat. Yes, I drove a boat for the first time.
On Friday we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park. As we had decided to forego Epcot and instead try out the Animal Kingdom. Disney's Animal Kingdom is like a big zoo but a bit more upscale. There's plenty of live animals to be viewed. But there's also some added attractions. We went on the water rapids ride. I should mention that on Friday the high there was 60 degrees. Not exactly river rafting weather! But I wanted to go on the river rapids ride super bad. So I convinced Brad to go! Poor guy! He got a little more wet than I did. Neither of us regretted going though! Soon after the water rapids experience I suppose it was payback time...I convinced him to go on the rapids and he now wanted me to go on the Everest rollercoaster with him. Yes, folks I went on my first rollercoaster. I was terrified! You know how they snap photos of you on certain rides then try to sell you those photos? Well we looked at our photo when we got off the rollercoaster. Brad is happy as a clam, laughing away...as for me, I'm as close to him as I could get with my head leaning into his chest and my eyes closed in terror! Geez, how embarrassing! I think that was my first and last rollercoaster! It is nice to say I've been on one now but I just don't enjoy that sort of thing. We then went on a few more rides one was similar to a rollercoaster. So I suppose one could say I've been on two rollercoasters now!
I was thinking that Saturday would be a nightmare to come home, with it being so close to Christmas. Surprisingly it wasn't bad! The great thing about Christmas time travel though is there's a few days to get there. People could choose to travel Friday night after work or Saturday or even Sunday. It's not like Thanksgiving where it's a rush to get to the airport on Wednesday after work for so many people. It took us only about 20 minutes to wait in line at security.
Our absolute favorite area to spend time in was Downtown Disney! I don't think we skipped a day of going there! It had shopping, it had movies, it had great restaurants...oh and I must mention it had a Giradelli's Ice Cream Shop. Awesome sundaes! We even sat in the freezing cold Friday night to eat sundaes. Friday was quite cold for Florida. They were starting a 3 day cold snap on Friday. As we kept saying to one another about Friday's cold temps...it's just preparing us for the flight home to Dallas!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Fine Dining
One of our fave things when vacationing is to try out new to us restaurants. On Wednesday night we hit the jackpot for restaurants. We tend to look for unique spots where there's a little extra being offered aside from the food.
Our hotel is lakefront. Just steps from our room is the edge of the lake and on the opposite side of the lake there's plenty of shops, restaurants, and entertainment. Docked in the lake is a large boat that is actually a restaurant. Brad loves seafood and I've definitely become more open to seafood since he came into my life. So off to the Crab House restaurant we went.
We had a perfectly placed table where we could look out over the lake. As we looked over the menu my eyes were instantly drawn to the filet mignon. But my eyes were quickly diverted once I saw the price of the filet mignon. Never in my life have I ordered a $45 entree. After a little bit of convincing from Brad, I ended up ordering the super expensive filet mignon dinner. Brad ordered his ultimate fave for seafood...crab legs.
Tonight is our last night here. For dinner we've already discussed we might have to visit the docked boat Crab House one more time! It was definitely a fine dining experience two honeymooners need.
Our hotel is lakefront. Just steps from our room is the edge of the lake and on the opposite side of the lake there's plenty of shops, restaurants, and entertainment. Docked in the lake is a large boat that is actually a restaurant. Brad loves seafood and I've definitely become more open to seafood since he came into my life. So off to the Crab House restaurant we went.
We had a perfectly placed table where we could look out over the lake. As we looked over the menu my eyes were instantly drawn to the filet mignon. But my eyes were quickly diverted once I saw the price of the filet mignon. Never in my life have I ordered a $45 entree. After a little bit of convincing from Brad, I ended up ordering the super expensive filet mignon dinner. Brad ordered his ultimate fave for seafood...crab legs.
Tonight is our last night here. For dinner we've already discussed we might have to visit the docked boat Crab House one more time! It was definitely a fine dining experience two honeymooners need.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Honeymooning!
We are currently on our honeymoon. We are calling this part 1 of our honeymoon. Our first choice was London for our honeymoon. However, since we married in December we decided London didn't have desirable weather right now. We'll wait til late Spring or early Summer to go there.
We are in warm Orlando. We packed nothing but shorts and short sleeves. This is a great place for a December honeymoon but I can't imagine having these warm temps around Christmas every year.
We're staying in a Disney resort. We chose not to rent a car and instead depend on Disney bus transportation. At first I was a little frustrated not having a car out in the parking lot but by the time this afternoon rolled around I was getting adjusted. It would be more of a hassle having a car and dealing with finding parking at the theme parks.
Our resort feels like an apartment complex. It's quite spread out, lots of buildings, and our room is like a studio apartment. We're in an area that is close enough to the theme parks yet has some other attractions nearby that appeal to adults a bit more than kids.
We went to Downtown Disney last night. An area filled with shops, cool dining options, and entertainment that offers some nightlife. Last night we stayed out late at a movie.
This afternoon we went to Disney World which seems to go by just the title of Magic Kingdom now. Disney World appears to refer to the group of theme parks in the area. We stayed long enough to see the 9:30 pm fireworks show then came back to our resort. I did have to buy a sweatshirt as it was a bit chilly out at that hour. So I have a new Disney sweatshirt to help mark this ocassion.
We are in warm Orlando. We packed nothing but shorts and short sleeves. This is a great place for a December honeymoon but I can't imagine having these warm temps around Christmas every year.
We're staying in a Disney resort. We chose not to rent a car and instead depend on Disney bus transportation. At first I was a little frustrated not having a car out in the parking lot but by the time this afternoon rolled around I was getting adjusted. It would be more of a hassle having a car and dealing with finding parking at the theme parks.
Our resort feels like an apartment complex. It's quite spread out, lots of buildings, and our room is like a studio apartment. We're in an area that is close enough to the theme parks yet has some other attractions nearby that appeal to adults a bit more than kids.
We went to Downtown Disney last night. An area filled with shops, cool dining options, and entertainment that offers some nightlife. Last night we stayed out late at a movie.
This afternoon we went to Disney World which seems to go by just the title of Magic Kingdom now. Disney World appears to refer to the group of theme parks in the area. We stayed long enough to see the 9:30 pm fireworks show then came back to our resort. I did have to buy a sweatshirt as it was a bit chilly out at that hour. So I have a new Disney sweatshirt to help mark this ocassion.
Our Wedding
We got married this past weekend! Woo-hoo! The wedding was awesome. It was magical!
I was so busy in the days leading up to the wedding. Running here, there, and everywhere. By the time Friday rolled around I was pretty much done with everything, just waiting for the day.
On the day of the wedding the time went by fast. I never imagined it was going to take me as long as it did to get ready. Traffic was horrible getting to the Gaylord. I was about 20 minutes late as I was supposed to arrive at 3:00. By the time the wedding time rolled around I still wasn't ready. The plan was for me to make my grand entrance at 6:10 but I didn't appear until 6:30 maybe 6:35. I know my mom was quite irritated I was running so late. But oh well! It was actually a good thing I was late because traffic was so bad, it gave more people a chance to get there.
We attracted quite the crowd as lots of people passing by that particular section of the resort had gathered to look in on our wedding. I must say I was completely calm the entire time. No nerves at all! I said my vows with a confident smile on my face. That has been the theme with my relationship with Brad...calmness! I was totally calm on our first date too! Being with him from the very beginning has felt as natural as blinking my eyes! It was kind of funny though that Brad and I both said we had people around us that weren't so calm yet we were calm. My mom wasn't calm. And certainly had lots of angst in her voice leading up to wedding time. And for Brad it was his brother that was more on edge than him.
The food was excellent! Exactly as good as I hoped it would be. Our cake turned out well! We had a 3 layer cake. One layer chocolate with bavarian cream filling. One layer red velvet with cream cheese filling and the top layer was my special request layer, I requested white cake with champagne infused in the cake and the filling....Awesome!!
People truly seemed to enjoy our wedding. Lots of dancing. Many people that I didn't anticipate cutting loose on the dance floor did.
It was a great wedding! We were both very happy with how our wedding turned out. The Gaylord certainly made us feel like celebrities too. We checked in through the celeb entrance. We had security at the wedding. And we stayed in the most awesome honeymoon suite a person can imagine! The type of suite that commonly accomodates A-listers like Madonna and J-Lo.
I was so busy in the days leading up to the wedding. Running here, there, and everywhere. By the time Friday rolled around I was pretty much done with everything, just waiting for the day.
On the day of the wedding the time went by fast. I never imagined it was going to take me as long as it did to get ready. Traffic was horrible getting to the Gaylord. I was about 20 minutes late as I was supposed to arrive at 3:00. By the time the wedding time rolled around I still wasn't ready. The plan was for me to make my grand entrance at 6:10 but I didn't appear until 6:30 maybe 6:35. I know my mom was quite irritated I was running so late. But oh well! It was actually a good thing I was late because traffic was so bad, it gave more people a chance to get there.
We attracted quite the crowd as lots of people passing by that particular section of the resort had gathered to look in on our wedding. I must say I was completely calm the entire time. No nerves at all! I said my vows with a confident smile on my face. That has been the theme with my relationship with Brad...calmness! I was totally calm on our first date too! Being with him from the very beginning has felt as natural as blinking my eyes! It was kind of funny though that Brad and I both said we had people around us that weren't so calm yet we were calm. My mom wasn't calm. And certainly had lots of angst in her voice leading up to wedding time. And for Brad it was his brother that was more on edge than him.
The food was excellent! Exactly as good as I hoped it would be. Our cake turned out well! We had a 3 layer cake. One layer chocolate with bavarian cream filling. One layer red velvet with cream cheese filling and the top layer was my special request layer, I requested white cake with champagne infused in the cake and the filling....Awesome!!
People truly seemed to enjoy our wedding. Lots of dancing. Many people that I didn't anticipate cutting loose on the dance floor did.
It was a great wedding! We were both very happy with how our wedding turned out. The Gaylord certainly made us feel like celebrities too. We checked in through the celeb entrance. We had security at the wedding. And we stayed in the most awesome honeymoon suite a person can imagine! The type of suite that commonly accomodates A-listers like Madonna and J-Lo.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Happy Birthday Cody!
Woo-hoo, today is Cody's bday! His mommie baked him a cake and he's got presents. I haven't let him have his presents yet. It's always fun for me to see which toy he appears to like best. Typically he runs around from his toy to the toy Simon was given seemly confused as to which one he prefers.
While baking Cody's cake Simon was doing all he could to get in on the action. When I went to put the cake in the oven there was little Simon trying to stick his head on the side of the oven door. I had to quickly block him with my hand so he didn't get burned. Geez! He's a nut!
Baking the boys cakes for their birthdays is always great fun for me. It's a fool-proof recipe and no pressure to be perfect. Pug birthday cakes always get rave reviews! Lol!
While baking Cody's cake Simon was doing all he could to get in on the action. When I went to put the cake in the oven there was little Simon trying to stick his head on the side of the oven door. I had to quickly block him with my hand so he didn't get burned. Geez! He's a nut!
Baking the boys cakes for their birthdays is always great fun for me. It's a fool-proof recipe and no pressure to be perfect. Pug birthday cakes always get rave reviews! Lol!
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
We Got Rings!
We got our rings! Here's the story of the rings. One of us had a very easy time finding a ring. One of us needed some time to think about it and time to look around a little more. One of us picked out a ring so fast last Wednesday night, that the person may have set a record for fastest ring selection ever.
Now guess how it all went down? Which one of us took our time and which one of us set a record for fastest ring selection? Go ahead and ponder it a second or two.
We walked in on Wednesday night to the ring store, the sales lady walked us over to the womens eternity bands. I thought I wanted an eternity band before I got engaged. So I was interested in seeing the eternity band selection. I wasn't too enthused after trying one of them on my finger next to my engagement ring. We spent about a minute and a half looking at the eternity bands. I then wanted to see the enhancers. Over to the enhancer case we walked. I glanced down and saw my ring! I pointed it out to the sales lady she pulled it out of the case as I was anxious to try it on my finger with my engagement ring. After slipping it on my finger I was done! I had found my ring! It literally took me 3 and a half minutes to find my ring. Brad's head was spinning it happened so fast! He then encouraged me to try a few more rings but I already had my mind made up. Done!
Next up was the mens rings. I think Brad tried nearly every single ring in the case. He tried all different metals too. He was searching hard for his ring but just wasn't ready to make a decision. We ended up leaving Wednesday night with only my ring on order. After looking a little bit more online he was ready to return to the jewelry store this past weekend. He had his selection narrowed down and after trying his faves plus one other ring on he made his decision. My ring was ready to go home and his ring they prepared on the spot. His was a perfect fit, no sizing needed to be done.
So we officially have our wedding rings! And I bet at the beginning of this post no one thought I would be the one that set the record? My enhancer ring is the perfect compliment to my engagement ring. And his ring is the brushed look not the shiny look, he was anti-shiny for his ring.
Now guess how it all went down? Which one of us took our time and which one of us set a record for fastest ring selection? Go ahead and ponder it a second or two.
We walked in on Wednesday night to the ring store, the sales lady walked us over to the womens eternity bands. I thought I wanted an eternity band before I got engaged. So I was interested in seeing the eternity band selection. I wasn't too enthused after trying one of them on my finger next to my engagement ring. We spent about a minute and a half looking at the eternity bands. I then wanted to see the enhancers. Over to the enhancer case we walked. I glanced down and saw my ring! I pointed it out to the sales lady she pulled it out of the case as I was anxious to try it on my finger with my engagement ring. After slipping it on my finger I was done! I had found my ring! It literally took me 3 and a half minutes to find my ring. Brad's head was spinning it happened so fast! He then encouraged me to try a few more rings but I already had my mind made up. Done!
Next up was the mens rings. I think Brad tried nearly every single ring in the case. He tried all different metals too. He was searching hard for his ring but just wasn't ready to make a decision. We ended up leaving Wednesday night with only my ring on order. After looking a little bit more online he was ready to return to the jewelry store this past weekend. He had his selection narrowed down and after trying his faves plus one other ring on he made his decision. My ring was ready to go home and his ring they prepared on the spot. His was a perfect fit, no sizing needed to be done.
So we officially have our wedding rings! And I bet at the beginning of this post no one thought I would be the one that set the record? My enhancer ring is the perfect compliment to my engagement ring. And his ring is the brushed look not the shiny look, he was anti-shiny for his ring.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
December Has Arrived!
It is now December! Which means....I can now say....this month I'm getting married! Can you believe it? December has arrived. Our wedding date is exactly two weeks away. Oh my gosh!
It's very exciting. I've been super busy all week trying to get things done. I've figured out the menu for the reception dinner. It took quite a bit of configuring. I thought I had it decided, easy-breezy, then I gave the groom a choice of the final entree. After giving him a choice of an entree to add, I realized the meal wasn't exactly right. So back to the drawing board I went. Working on the menu until 1:30 in the morning on Friday. But it's done! I did my best to "marry" AZ and TX flavors! I like customizing things, I didn't want to just pick something the resort offered. This wedding needs to reflect us, in my opinion! Next up is that awesome cake! The cake will be a different type per level. So that means 4 different levels, 4 different types of cake. Now per layer of cake there's a different filling. I need to choose 4 types of cakes and 4 different fillings for those 4 cakes and each cake level must go well with the main frosting that will cover the entire cake. Wish me luck! It'll be fun!
This week I also had great pleasure in assisting my soon to be nephew as he figured out his suit for the wedding. He was at the store on Thursday afternoon and each time he tried something on he sent me a picture of it to ask what I thought. It was fun to help him! I also made the last few wardrobe selections for our little mini flower girl and my bridesmaid.
It's very exciting. I've been super busy all week trying to get things done. I've figured out the menu for the reception dinner. It took quite a bit of configuring. I thought I had it decided, easy-breezy, then I gave the groom a choice of the final entree. After giving him a choice of an entree to add, I realized the meal wasn't exactly right. So back to the drawing board I went. Working on the menu until 1:30 in the morning on Friday. But it's done! I did my best to "marry" AZ and TX flavors! I like customizing things, I didn't want to just pick something the resort offered. This wedding needs to reflect us, in my opinion! Next up is that awesome cake! The cake will be a different type per level. So that means 4 different levels, 4 different types of cake. Now per layer of cake there's a different filling. I need to choose 4 types of cakes and 4 different fillings for those 4 cakes and each cake level must go well with the main frosting that will cover the entire cake. Wish me luck! It'll be fun!
This week I also had great pleasure in assisting my soon to be nephew as he figured out his suit for the wedding. He was at the store on Thursday afternoon and each time he tried something on he sent me a picture of it to ask what I thought. It was fun to help him! I also made the last few wardrobe selections for our little mini flower girl and my bridesmaid.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Rings and Dancing
Tonight the plan is to shop for rings. How much bling do I want? Not sure. Mostly concerned about it complimenting my engagement ring.
It will be interesting to see Brad try on rings. He's not into jewelry but is excited to finally have a wedding band on his left hand. I'm not a huge jewelry fanatic either. I wear a minimal amount but due to the fact that I am such a minimalist for some reason when it comes to my wedding ring I want it to shine! It needs to exceed my minimalist nature when it comes to jewelry.
We also plan on practicing dancing tonight. We've danced with each other but not in a serious way. It's been in a more playful and funny spur of the moment type of thing. I don't believe dancing is my thing. I do watch Dancing With The Stars sometimes and I even own 2 DWTS's dance fitness videos. However, I'm not delusional enough to think that helps me out with my dancing abilities! Wish me luck!
It will be interesting to see Brad try on rings. He's not into jewelry but is excited to finally have a wedding band on his left hand. I'm not a huge jewelry fanatic either. I wear a minimal amount but due to the fact that I am such a minimalist for some reason when it comes to my wedding ring I want it to shine! It needs to exceed my minimalist nature when it comes to jewelry.
We also plan on practicing dancing tonight. We've danced with each other but not in a serious way. It's been in a more playful and funny spur of the moment type of thing. I don't believe dancing is my thing. I do watch Dancing With The Stars sometimes and I even own 2 DWTS's dance fitness videos. However, I'm not delusional enough to think that helps me out with my dancing abilities! Wish me luck!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Continuing to Plan the Wedding!
Lets see, what have I been up to...well during the last few days I've ordered a lot of stuff for the wedding, including our wedding day cake server, flute set, and guest book. We're actually not doing a "guest book". I did some research on alternatives and found something more appealing to me. In the recent days I've also been working on wedding menu and chosen the photos that we for sure want from our engagement photo shoot. I still have to work on the cake. It keeps getting pushed back to make time for more pressing things.
This week we plan on shopping for rings. Brad is rather excited about being able to wear a ring. I'm excited too. My engagement ring is so pretty, I just want something that compliments it well.
Another big task for this week is choosing songs for the dj to play at the wedding reception. That should be fun yet time consuming. We also need to practice dancing! I'm not worried about Brad, I'm actually more concerned about myself. He can hold his own. I'm worried about getting nervous to dance in front of so many people. Stage fright! Doing the first dance in front of everyone I can plainly say makes me the most nervous at this point. I dance! But I dance for fun and in not in serious manner. Slow-dancing as the center of attention for a few minutes makes me slightly nervous.
This week we plan on shopping for rings. Brad is rather excited about being able to wear a ring. I'm excited too. My engagement ring is so pretty, I just want something that compliments it well.
Another big task for this week is choosing songs for the dj to play at the wedding reception. That should be fun yet time consuming. We also need to practice dancing! I'm not worried about Brad, I'm actually more concerned about myself. He can hold his own. I'm worried about getting nervous to dance in front of so many people. Stage fright! Doing the first dance in front of everyone I can plainly say makes me the most nervous at this point. I dance! But I dance for fun and in not in serious manner. Slow-dancing as the center of attention for a few minutes makes me slightly nervous.
Turkey Day Review!
Our Thanksgiving was lovely. A good time was had by all. A bit of a smaller crowd than usual at Brad's family Thanksgiving. The weather was perfect. Not cold, not warm, simply perfect. My pecan pie was a huge success. I actually never got a piece of it. I had a bite of Brad's slice but that's it. At some point during this past weekend I did give thought to baking another pecan pie just so I could have a piece this time! Perhaps I'll have to bake another one for Christmas we'll surely want more than one dessert on hand when we host Christmas Eve.
What happened to the Cowboys? Man, was that a disappointing game or what? We were driving back from the Thanksgiving meal when we heard the score on the radio. We both looked at each other in disbelief as they reported the halftime score to be 28-3. We got back in time to watch the 2nd half.
I have to admit I did horrible on my football picks this week. We had to have them done earlier than usual and so I rushed quite a bit. It showed! I even picked the Cardinals to win! I truly thought they would break out of their slump! Wrong again! Better luck this coming week! The best part of the weekend in the world of sports in my opinion was that my Sun Devils beat the Wildcats. I was dancing around the living room as I watched that game, singing a little song about how the Sun Devils will now be bound for a better bowl than U of A. Ha Ha!
So did anyone go Black Friday shopping? We did. Brad had to work on Friday. He normally takes a vacation day for Friday but due to our wedding he's saving his days. After he got done with work for the day we went out in the evening to do a little shopping. We were quite successful! We also went out Saturday to shop by the end of the weekend we were able to mark some people off our combined Christmas list.
What happened to the Cowboys? Man, was that a disappointing game or what? We were driving back from the Thanksgiving meal when we heard the score on the radio. We both looked at each other in disbelief as they reported the halftime score to be 28-3. We got back in time to watch the 2nd half.
I have to admit I did horrible on my football picks this week. We had to have them done earlier than usual and so I rushed quite a bit. It showed! I even picked the Cardinals to win! I truly thought they would break out of their slump! Wrong again! Better luck this coming week! The best part of the weekend in the world of sports in my opinion was that my Sun Devils beat the Wildcats. I was dancing around the living room as I watched that game, singing a little song about how the Sun Devils will now be bound for a better bowl than U of A. Ha Ha!
So did anyone go Black Friday shopping? We did. Brad had to work on Friday. He normally takes a vacation day for Friday but due to our wedding he's saving his days. After he got done with work for the day we went out in the evening to do a little shopping. We were quite successful! We also went out Saturday to shop by the end of the weekend we were able to mark some people off our combined Christmas list.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Turkey Day Preparations!
Tomorrow is turkey day! Better known as national wear your stretchy pants day! Does anyone remember the Friends episode where Joey went to change into his stretchy pants so that he could eat more of the Thanksgiving dinner Monica had made? Friends made some good Thanksgiving day episodes during the shows run. Remember the Geller Bowl?...where they all played football in the park, got locked out, and as a result their turkey burned up. That episode was sibling rivalry at it's finest! Some televison channel should run a marathon of all Friends Thanksgiving episodes tomorrow!
We are going to Brad's family Thanksgiving. They have a pot luck affair for all their family holiday get-togethers. We signed up to bring a green bean casserole, a pecan pie, and my 7-Layer Dip with some chips. I love making all three of the items we signed up for. Well, actually there's not much I don't like to make! The difficult part about making a pie though is that it's more of a cross your fingers and hope it turned out well type of item! With a cake or brownies or even cookies you can taste the batter but that's not exactly the case with a pie. It looks great! I just pulled it out of the oven a few minutes ago. Simon was the master sous chef. I kept "dropping" pecans for him to eat. Pecans I came across that didn't look pretty enough for my pie went to the sous chef!
Thursday will start very early for me and the boys! Did you hear that Cody?....you need to get up EARLY. Cody is a night-owl, loves to stay up late and mornings are not his favorite unless it's a reasonable hour. There's literally been Sunday mornings before church that I'm leashing Cody up and he's struggling to keep his eyes open. Sometimes he even sways a bit as if he's ready to collapse to the ground from all his tiredness. We have a reasonably long drive to get to Brad's cousin's house so that's partly why the day will start so early. I have the dip and the pie ready to go. But tomorrow morning I have to make the green bean casserole plus take care of the boys, the morning will go by fast.
Happy Turkey Day to all!
We are going to Brad's family Thanksgiving. They have a pot luck affair for all their family holiday get-togethers. We signed up to bring a green bean casserole, a pecan pie, and my 7-Layer Dip with some chips. I love making all three of the items we signed up for. Well, actually there's not much I don't like to make! The difficult part about making a pie though is that it's more of a cross your fingers and hope it turned out well type of item! With a cake or brownies or even cookies you can taste the batter but that's not exactly the case with a pie. It looks great! I just pulled it out of the oven a few minutes ago. Simon was the master sous chef. I kept "dropping" pecans for him to eat. Pecans I came across that didn't look pretty enough for my pie went to the sous chef!
Thursday will start very early for me and the boys! Did you hear that Cody?....you need to get up EARLY. Cody is a night-owl, loves to stay up late and mornings are not his favorite unless it's a reasonable hour. There's literally been Sunday mornings before church that I'm leashing Cody up and he's struggling to keep his eyes open. Sometimes he even sways a bit as if he's ready to collapse to the ground from all his tiredness. We have a reasonably long drive to get to Brad's cousin's house so that's partly why the day will start so early. I have the dip and the pie ready to go. But tomorrow morning I have to make the green bean casserole plus take care of the boys, the morning will go by fast.
Happy Turkey Day to all!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Tux Shopping!
This past Saturday was tux shopping day. I trusted my groom to choose his own tux. His parents and brother went with him while I stayed behind with his sister-in-law. I didn't want to see him in a tux yet! I want our wedding day to be the first time I see him in a tux.
Yesterday my soon to be mother-in-law called me to encourage me to go to the tux shop and check out what Brad had on order. She saw what he got but wasn't in agreement with what he chose. Her biggest concern was the color shirt he chose.
So today I went to the tux shop to see what had been chosen. I didn't like a single thing he picked. I changed everything but his shoes! I changed the tux style, the shirt, the tie and the vest. He had chosen a mismatched tie and vest set. Now in his defense he did have the right colors I had originally told him were his choices. However, after seeing what the colors look like in person I wanted to opt for a different overall look. Well at least it was easy to change his wedding attire. When we saw each other tonight he quickly asked, "now what am I wearing?". Yes, he was aware I had spoken with his mom and was going to the tux shop to check out the colors for myself.
In hindsight I should have gone last week to select the main color instead of giving him the option of 3 different colors to choose from. Well at least I haven't seen him in a tux yet! I only saw the tuxes on display.
Yesterday my soon to be mother-in-law called me to encourage me to go to the tux shop and check out what Brad had on order. She saw what he got but wasn't in agreement with what he chose. Her biggest concern was the color shirt he chose.
So today I went to the tux shop to see what had been chosen. I didn't like a single thing he picked. I changed everything but his shoes! I changed the tux style, the shirt, the tie and the vest. He had chosen a mismatched tie and vest set. Now in his defense he did have the right colors I had originally told him were his choices. However, after seeing what the colors look like in person I wanted to opt for a different overall look. Well at least it was easy to change his wedding attire. When we saw each other tonight he quickly asked, "now what am I wearing?". Yes, he was aware I had spoken with his mom and was going to the tux shop to check out the colors for myself.
In hindsight I should have gone last week to select the main color instead of giving him the option of 3 different colors to choose from. Well at least I haven't seen him in a tux yet! I only saw the tuxes on display.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The Response of the Boys
As more and more wedding stuff keeps appearing I've noticed a slight difference in Cody. I'm convinced he gets it! Now he has no clue what a wedding actually is but he's definitely clued into the fact that something special is going on. I think he can sense life is soon to change. Cody has always had good intuition.
As for Simon...he's clueless! He sees the items that have appeared. He hears the conversations but he doesn't stop to think about things. As long as his daily routine isn't interrupted he doesn't contemplate anything else that might go on in life.
We shall see what Simon's reaction is when I start packing up things and getting rid of things. The other night I went through my place pointing to items that we'll keep and things that have to go...Cody was right there by my side doing his best to figure out what I was doing. Meanwhile Simon was off getting some zzzz's.
As for Simon...he's clueless! He sees the items that have appeared. He hears the conversations but he doesn't stop to think about things. As long as his daily routine isn't interrupted he doesn't contemplate anything else that might go on in life.
We shall see what Simon's reaction is when I start packing up things and getting rid of things. The other night I went through my place pointing to items that we'll keep and things that have to go...Cody was right there by my side doing his best to figure out what I was doing. Meanwhile Simon was off getting some zzzz's.
The Final Countdown Has Begun!
Let the final countdown begin....30 days from now is the wedding. It's super exciting!
Early this evening I was out shopping for wedding decor. I bought all they had of a few select items. I felt bad for the lady that had to ring up all I had in my basket. Another sales associate came over to help wrap the many items up. First time I've bought that many delicate items at one time. I think as far as decor though we're about done. I have a couple more things to pick up and that's it.
I definitely have done a lot this week to get things together for our reception. I still have yet to finalize the dinner at the reception and we have to choose a type of cake. Well actually maybe a few types of cake. I want a different type of cake for each layer, or at least that's my plan right now. We'll see after we go to our cake tasting. Busy times!
Early this evening I was out shopping for wedding decor. I bought all they had of a few select items. I felt bad for the lady that had to ring up all I had in my basket. Another sales associate came over to help wrap the many items up. First time I've bought that many delicate items at one time. I think as far as decor though we're about done. I have a couple more things to pick up and that's it.
I definitely have done a lot this week to get things together for our reception. I still have yet to finalize the dinner at the reception and we have to choose a type of cake. Well actually maybe a few types of cake. I want a different type of cake for each layer, or at least that's my plan right now. We'll see after we go to our cake tasting. Busy times!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Wedding Shower and Mom's Visit
Our wedding shower is tomorrow. My mom arrived yesterday. So other then going to the wedding shower, which I'm very excited about, there's other tasks to do during my mom's visit. Those tasks include shopping for an outfit for her to wear to the wedding, plus looking around for possible decor items. It should be fun yet a bit busy!
While we were out shopping today I bought a new dress for the wedding shower. I didn't exactly plan on buying a new dress, I simply wanted to take a quick peek at a certain designers line of dresses and instantly zeroed in on a dress that would be perfect for tomorrow. As for finding my mom a mother of the bride outfit, we'll continue looking.
So far the weather has been easy for my mom to deal with. She's not freezing! She is enjoying seeing the changing colors of the leaves on the trees. The large tree out in front of my living room windows is filled with red, gold, and wine colored leaves. Some cooler temps are coming. Monday however is supposed to feature a high temp in the 50s.
While we were out shopping today I bought a new dress for the wedding shower. I didn't exactly plan on buying a new dress, I simply wanted to take a quick peek at a certain designers line of dresses and instantly zeroed in on a dress that would be perfect for tomorrow. As for finding my mom a mother of the bride outfit, we'll continue looking.
So far the weather has been easy for my mom to deal with. She's not freezing! She is enjoying seeing the changing colors of the leaves on the trees. The large tree out in front of my living room windows is filled with red, gold, and wine colored leaves. Some cooler temps are coming. Monday however is supposed to feature a high temp in the 50s.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Wedding Colors Revealed!
By now everyone that knows us has received their wedding invitation. The reveal of the wedding colors is out. Most will notice the gold and silver snowflakes and the silver bell all in front of a charcoal backgound. Basically our colors are gold and silver. I'm using the dark charcoal color as a "base color". I thought the deepness of the charcoal would best highlight the gold and silver. I think I considered nearly every color that was out there. I probably even considered a few that have yet to be invented...;)
It was time consuming to make the invitations but I love the finished product. I also loved that my groom picked up on the use of the silver bell. That silver bell will be an added theme at the reception. We won't go crazy with the silver bells but a few here and there.
So why gold and silver? I loved the idea of how easy it would be to get decor items in December to go with it. I also like things to match and making the ballroom that we've rented blend well with our colors was important to me. I didn't want colors that might clash with the carpet in the ballroom. The gold and silver color scheme was the first one I thought of. It seemed Christmasy, wintery, yet it was different/unique, not in your face Christmas red and green. Even while flirting with other color schemes this is the one I kept coming back to. It felt perfect for us.....why?...because I couldn't lose sight of the fact that silver is one of the Dallas Cowboys colors and gold is one of ASU's colors....something Texas, something Arizona! I'd also like to point out the AZ Cardinal's logo features a cardinal with somewhat of a golden-toned beak. Lol!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Say Cheese!
First things first....It is now November, which means I get to say....I'm getting married NEXT month! Woo-hoo! December is no longer a far off month!
Today was picture day for us. We met with our wedding photographer to do a special engagement photo session. We did the photo session at the Gaylord Texan where we'll be getting married. They've already started putting up their Christmas decor. The first background we used for some pics was that of a blue and silver Christmas tree.
I was a little nervous about the photo session. But it went well. It was fun to do. Not as embarassing as I thought it would be. I just pictured tons of people watching us, yes, there were people around but we weren't as on display as I was worried about. It all went well!
We did a special set of pics that I had an idea to for. I hope those special pics turn out well, because they were likely my faves to do. I have a special way I want to display those particular pics at the wedding. Fingers-crossed they turn out great!
The Gaylord Texan is so huge we felt like we had walked a bunch after it was all done. We walked to numerous areas of the resort as we sought unique backgrounds for our photos. By the time we were done it was nearly dinnertime and we were starving. We decided to go to the sports grill in the resort. We sat there and watched TCU on a big screen as we dined on rather traditional Texas fare! I had some awesome barbecue! TCU went to double overtime, they won! We weren't about to leave until the game was done! Fun afternoon/evening! I loved it!
Today was picture day for us. We met with our wedding photographer to do a special engagement photo session. We did the photo session at the Gaylord Texan where we'll be getting married. They've already started putting up their Christmas decor. The first background we used for some pics was that of a blue and silver Christmas tree.
I was a little nervous about the photo session. But it went well. It was fun to do. Not as embarassing as I thought it would be. I just pictured tons of people watching us, yes, there were people around but we weren't as on display as I was worried about. It all went well!
We did a special set of pics that I had an idea to for. I hope those special pics turn out well, because they were likely my faves to do. I have a special way I want to display those particular pics at the wedding. Fingers-crossed they turn out great!
The Gaylord Texan is so huge we felt like we had walked a bunch after it was all done. We walked to numerous areas of the resort as we sought unique backgrounds for our photos. By the time we were done it was nearly dinnertime and we were starving. We decided to go to the sports grill in the resort. We sat there and watched TCU on a big screen as we dined on rather traditional Texas fare! I had some awesome barbecue! TCU went to double overtime, they won! We weren't about to leave until the game was done! Fun afternoon/evening! I loved it!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
The boys decided to dress up in costumes. Cody is a lion and Simmie is a monkey.
I love how in the first pic Simon acted as though the head part of the monkey was weighing him down. They were both good sports as mommie dressed them and snapped a few photos. I believe the photos can be enlarged if you click on them.
We saw trick-o-treaters out super early this evening but after coming home from dinner no one has arrived at the door looking for candy. Cody was funny as he noticed the weird costumes kids were wearing as I walked the pugs before dinner. Plus one kid was making some crazy sound effects which creeped the Code-Man out a bit. We have very little candy around here so it's probably a good thing no one else has come by.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Long Week!
This week made me wonder how and why people have large bridal parties. It's not easy coordinating things for everyone. Plus it's stressful being concerned if the right size, the right color, and the right item we want will be in by December 15th.
On Tuesday I took my dress to be altered. It won't be done until December 4th. It was awesome to be able to wear it for an hour as the alterations specialist pinned away and discussed the changes I want made to it. For one of the items I wanted changed I was told I could go with the French style or the American style...which one do you think I picked?....French, of course. Got to have a little Frenchness in the dress. ;)
The bridesmaid dress has been ordered in my first choice of colors. But sadly the flowergirl dress I wanted isn't possible to get by December. The color I wanted is a special order color that takes 8-12 weeks. I just never dreamed it would take that long. Oh well! Last night I cruised around online looking at other options. I narrowed it to 2 dresses and will let the flower girl's mom make the final choice.
On Tuesday I took my dress to be altered. It won't be done until December 4th. It was awesome to be able to wear it for an hour as the alterations specialist pinned away and discussed the changes I want made to it. For one of the items I wanted changed I was told I could go with the French style or the American style...which one do you think I picked?....French, of course. Got to have a little Frenchness in the dress. ;)
The bridesmaid dress has been ordered in my first choice of colors. But sadly the flowergirl dress I wanted isn't possible to get by December. The color I wanted is a special order color that takes 8-12 weeks. I just never dreamed it would take that long. Oh well! Last night I cruised around online looking at other options. I narrowed it to 2 dresses and will let the flower girl's mom make the final choice.
Friday, October 26, 2012
50 Days To Go!
Alright folks it' only 50 days til our wedding day. So good luck reading much on this blog that doesn't pertain to the wedding. Ha ha!
Oh here's something non wedding related, Brad won the football pool at his work. So we have won a total of 4 times so far this year. People should certainly fear us! ;)
I continue to put the finishing touches on our registry. It's not easy deciding what you want. Some added pressure to think ahead as to what we might want in our house. Hopefully getting a house is not too far in the distant future. I added one item today that I can hardly wait to hear people comment about. I couldn't help myself when I happened upon this particular super cute and somewhat funny item. I won't say what it is, I'll let people see for themselves.
Oh here's something non wedding related, Brad won the football pool at his work. So we have won a total of 4 times so far this year. People should certainly fear us! ;)
I continue to put the finishing touches on our registry. It's not easy deciding what you want. Some added pressure to think ahead as to what we might want in our house. Hopefully getting a house is not too far in the distant future. I added one item today that I can hardly wait to hear people comment about. I couldn't help myself when I happened upon this particular super cute and somewhat funny item. I won't say what it is, I'll let people see for themselves.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Wedding News (part 9): We Registered!
We have registered. We registered about 10 days ago. I have since then added another registry at another store. We are registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond as well as Macy's.
I have been pouring through the registry trying to bolster it a bit. Our wedding shower invites go out very soon. So I need to have a good selection of items in the registry for people to choose from.
We are combining two households so we actually don't need a lot. However, it would be nice to upgrade quite a few items or start fresh in some areas. We definitely need bathroom stuff. Both of our places are suffering in that area. Dishes and a new cookware set are a must. I'm really shocked I haven't upgraded my cookware set before now. I've spoke of it numerous times but have yet to get a new one. I think another serious want in my book is luggage. A few matching luggage pieces would certainly be nice. Some upgrades in the bedrooms is a desire too, table lamps and comforter sets mainly. We registered for two comforter sets, one for the master and one for the guest room. We each chose one. I chose for the guest room and Brad chose the master bedroom comforter set.
At first it was a little weird walking through the store with the scanner to scan the items we wanted. Brad worked the scanner, that was his job. We got into it a bit. I think the best advice we got was from a store associate whom told us to treat it as a your "wish list".
In the last few days as I continue to add to our registry I keep reminding myself of that advice. It's a wish list. If we get some of the items on there great if not that's okay we can choose to go purchase the items we don't get or we can pass on them. We're definitely trying to get things that match. We both have households with quite a few mismatched items. Getting things to match up is the goal!
I have been pouring through the registry trying to bolster it a bit. Our wedding shower invites go out very soon. So I need to have a good selection of items in the registry for people to choose from.
We are combining two households so we actually don't need a lot. However, it would be nice to upgrade quite a few items or start fresh in some areas. We definitely need bathroom stuff. Both of our places are suffering in that area. Dishes and a new cookware set are a must. I'm really shocked I haven't upgraded my cookware set before now. I've spoke of it numerous times but have yet to get a new one. I think another serious want in my book is luggage. A few matching luggage pieces would certainly be nice. Some upgrades in the bedrooms is a desire too, table lamps and comforter sets mainly. We registered for two comforter sets, one for the master and one for the guest room. We each chose one. I chose for the guest room and Brad chose the master bedroom comforter set.
At first it was a little weird walking through the store with the scanner to scan the items we wanted. Brad worked the scanner, that was his job. We got into it a bit. I think the best advice we got was from a store associate whom told us to treat it as a your "wish list".
In the last few days as I continue to add to our registry I keep reminding myself of that advice. It's a wish list. If we get some of the items on there great if not that's okay we can choose to go purchase the items we don't get or we can pass on them. We're definitely trying to get things that match. We both have households with quite a few mismatched items. Getting things to match up is the goal!
Wedding News (part 8)
Lots going on with the wedding plans. It's fun planning a wedding. But a little stressful at times too. Right now I just feel pressure to meet certain deadlines so to speak. There's a definite time table for getting things done when planning a wedding.
I couldn't find invitations to suit me but I did find an online design studio so I took to designing my own. It took forever! I really didn't know what I was taking on when I started. Then the first invitation I designed was nice, somewhat fancy. When we added all the necessary extras like RSVP cards the price was more than either of us was willing to spend. So earlier this week it was back to the drawing board for me. That was on Tuesday that we decided we needed something else. I started over late Tuesday night with a new idea and a new design. I barely got anything done but at least I started. By the time Friday rolled around I dedicated some late afternoon time to the new design in order to finish up. It has now been sent off to the printers and is being printed. Woo-hoo! Big relief! I like the new design better than the first one I did and I was able to cut down on the overall price.
All the pricing and different things that go into a wedding has been an eye-opening experience. Before I started planning my wedding I was quite puzzled how people spend so much on weddings. I've heard some ridiculous prices that people have spent. I now understand it much better. Some people just get to going with the planning and don't want to stop or they get caught up in what guests might like versus what they really need to do for their own wedding. As a friend of mine told me weddings nowadays are all about out doing someone elses wedding. Just look at the show on TLC called Four Weddings. It's a competition among 4 brides, all about who has the best wedding. The winning bride at the end of the hour long show wins a special honeymoon for her and her new husband.
I hate to disappoint but we won't be trying to out do anyone elses wedding. Quite frankly we are lucky that we haven't attended any wedding in recent months so no wedding is fresh in our minds. When planning a wedding the best advice I have so far is to not get caught up in the madness and over spending the wedding industry wants you to do. Always remember you're starting a marriage, a life with someone...best to not start out that marriage with a bunch of unnecessary overspending at the wedding. Oh and another eye-opening thing...the scams. The wedding industry is huge. And they all want your money. I can't tell you how many times I have received a phone call telling me that I have won something and all I have to do is come meet with them to claim my prize. Thank goodness I'm not stupid enough to fall for the scams!
I couldn't find invitations to suit me but I did find an online design studio so I took to designing my own. It took forever! I really didn't know what I was taking on when I started. Then the first invitation I designed was nice, somewhat fancy. When we added all the necessary extras like RSVP cards the price was more than either of us was willing to spend. So earlier this week it was back to the drawing board for me. That was on Tuesday that we decided we needed something else. I started over late Tuesday night with a new idea and a new design. I barely got anything done but at least I started. By the time Friday rolled around I dedicated some late afternoon time to the new design in order to finish up. It has now been sent off to the printers and is being printed. Woo-hoo! Big relief! I like the new design better than the first one I did and I was able to cut down on the overall price.
All the pricing and different things that go into a wedding has been an eye-opening experience. Before I started planning my wedding I was quite puzzled how people spend so much on weddings. I've heard some ridiculous prices that people have spent. I now understand it much better. Some people just get to going with the planning and don't want to stop or they get caught up in what guests might like versus what they really need to do for their own wedding. As a friend of mine told me weddings nowadays are all about out doing someone elses wedding. Just look at the show on TLC called Four Weddings. It's a competition among 4 brides, all about who has the best wedding. The winning bride at the end of the hour long show wins a special honeymoon for her and her new husband.
I hate to disappoint but we won't be trying to out do anyone elses wedding. Quite frankly we are lucky that we haven't attended any wedding in recent months so no wedding is fresh in our minds. When planning a wedding the best advice I have so far is to not get caught up in the madness and over spending the wedding industry wants you to do. Always remember you're starting a marriage, a life with someone...best to not start out that marriage with a bunch of unnecessary overspending at the wedding. Oh and another eye-opening thing...the scams. The wedding industry is huge. And they all want your money. I can't tell you how many times I have received a phone call telling me that I have won something and all I have to do is come meet with them to claim my prize. Thank goodness I'm not stupid enough to fall for the scams!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Two Simon's!
I learned something today about my Simmie. Yep, after all these years I'm still learning things about him. He's quite the unique pug!
Today I was taking things out of my apartment. As I walked out the front door didn't shut all the way or he's learned to open doors. ;) At the time I had no clue he was outside. At this same time a woman walking a dog was coming down the walkway. As I came around the corner there stands Simon chatting it up with the woman's dog. I instantly ordered him up the stairs while I apologized to the woman. She replied by telling me how cute and friendly he is!....cute and friendly are not usual words to describe Simon when he goes outside as he is rather territorial. He usually thinks of the area just outside his apartment as his domain too. So cute and friendly to describe Simon is unusual.
His niceness puzzled me for the moments afterward. However I have figured it out...I think! I'm thinking it has to with his leash, his mommie, and overall surprise. When Simon has been surprised or feels the need to defend he quickly takes action. In this instance today none of those elements existed. He knew mommie was okay and he wasn't surprised or feeling threatened. Therefore he was friendly as can be.
What was Cody doing this whole time?...just barely peeking out the door. He's the good one! Before today I've always thought for Simon to get along with other dogs he has to be in the other dog's domain or on neutral ground like the park or at daycare. I guess there's two Simmie's when just outside his apartment...beast-mode Simmie and as friendly as can be Simmie.
Today I was taking things out of my apartment. As I walked out the front door didn't shut all the way or he's learned to open doors. ;) At the time I had no clue he was outside. At this same time a woman walking a dog was coming down the walkway. As I came around the corner there stands Simon chatting it up with the woman's dog. I instantly ordered him up the stairs while I apologized to the woman. She replied by telling me how cute and friendly he is!....cute and friendly are not usual words to describe Simon when he goes outside as he is rather territorial. He usually thinks of the area just outside his apartment as his domain too. So cute and friendly to describe Simon is unusual.
His niceness puzzled me for the moments afterward. However I have figured it out...I think! I'm thinking it has to with his leash, his mommie, and overall surprise. When Simon has been surprised or feels the need to defend he quickly takes action. In this instance today none of those elements existed. He knew mommie was okay and he wasn't surprised or feeling threatened. Therefore he was friendly as can be.
What was Cody doing this whole time?...just barely peeking out the door. He's the good one! Before today I've always thought for Simon to get along with other dogs he has to be in the other dog's domain or on neutral ground like the park or at daycare. I guess there's two Simmie's when just outside his apartment...beast-mode Simmie and as friendly as can be Simmie.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Cell Phone Issues!
I was having issues with my phone on Sunday. By the end of the day on Sunday the phone was seriously in freak out mode. I tried everything to get it to reset. I kept it on the charger all night because it was not holding a charge at all.
By the time Monday rolled around it was no longer able to determine what timezone I was in. It was also clear that no texts were coming into the phone any more either. Needless to say I had to make a trip to my cell phone carrier's nearest store. I had to leave my phone with them for the afternoon. At the time that I left it with them it was unclear if it could be fixed or not. However, I was quite certain my phone was going to be determined a done-deal! Sure enough I was right. I had to get a new phone. I had that other phone since late June. This is the first time a phone has gone bad on me. All other phones I've had have become outdated before I give them up. Apparently the different antennas inside the phone malfunctioned and killed my phone! That explains why it couldn't even figure out it was still in Texas.
I got the same phone I had before. They gave me this bologna line about how they have a 3 day waiting period before issuing a new phone to someone that needs theirs replaced. Whatever! Who is going to wait 3 days for a replacement phone? No way! That is just one of those bologna lines they give you nowadays with certain retail merchandise. They always try to make it sound as though they are doing you the favor....um, no cell phone carrier, I'm doing you the favor by being your customer. There are numerous options out there! Customer service these days is something else! As I type this I have just thought of a person that would be sooooo nice and accept that it would take 3 days for them to re-issue her a phone. I won't mention names. But she lives in Phx and she calls the pugs her "grandsons". ;)
By the time Monday rolled around it was no longer able to determine what timezone I was in. It was also clear that no texts were coming into the phone any more either. Needless to say I had to make a trip to my cell phone carrier's nearest store. I had to leave my phone with them for the afternoon. At the time that I left it with them it was unclear if it could be fixed or not. However, I was quite certain my phone was going to be determined a done-deal! Sure enough I was right. I had to get a new phone. I had that other phone since late June. This is the first time a phone has gone bad on me. All other phones I've had have become outdated before I give them up. Apparently the different antennas inside the phone malfunctioned and killed my phone! That explains why it couldn't even figure out it was still in Texas.
I got the same phone I had before. They gave me this bologna line about how they have a 3 day waiting period before issuing a new phone to someone that needs theirs replaced. Whatever! Who is going to wait 3 days for a replacement phone? No way! That is just one of those bologna lines they give you nowadays with certain retail merchandise. They always try to make it sound as though they are doing you the favor....um, no cell phone carrier, I'm doing you the favor by being your customer. There are numerous options out there! Customer service these days is something else! As I type this I have just thought of a person that would be sooooo nice and accept that it would take 3 days for them to re-issue her a phone. I won't mention names. But she lives in Phx and she calls the pugs her "grandsons". ;)
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Red River Rivalry Day!
It's Red River rivalry day here in big D. The Red River rivalry game features the Texas Longhorns against the Oklahoma Sooners and is played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas adjacent to the Texas State Fair grounds. The game is just now getting under way as I sit here on the sofa watching and typing this. It should be a pretty good game as these are both ranked teams, #13 playing #15.
I've still never been to the Texas State Fair which runs the month of October here. I've heard mixed reports about the Fair. Some think it's the greatest thing ever to go check out while others don't see the need for it. Maybe one of these days we'll go.
Oh man, here's some play by play....Oklahoma scored as they were kicking the extra point the kicker did a little stutter step then kicked the ball by then there were Longhorns closing in on him. As he kicked it the ball never got up in the air instead it was scooped up by a Longhorn whom ran the distance the other way. Stunned silence has fallen over the Oklahoma side of the stadium. One minute their celebrating a touchdown the next minute Texas has the ball and is running towards their goal! Ha! Ha!
Since moving here this has become one of my fave college football games to watch each season. It's similar to watching an ASU-U of A rivalry game. Yet a little different since Texas Longhorns do not call Dallas home. It's two great teams meeting on neutral turf in Dallas in each year. Making up a classic duel! I love how the stadium is divided down the middle, half Oklahoma fans and half Texas fans. You would think Texas would have more fans since this is the state of Texas. But Oklahoma is so close to the Dallas area tons of OU fans make the trip each year.
I've still never been to the Texas State Fair which runs the month of October here. I've heard mixed reports about the Fair. Some think it's the greatest thing ever to go check out while others don't see the need for it. Maybe one of these days we'll go.
Oh man, here's some play by play....Oklahoma scored as they were kicking the extra point the kicker did a little stutter step then kicked the ball by then there were Longhorns closing in on him. As he kicked it the ball never got up in the air instead it was scooped up by a Longhorn whom ran the distance the other way. Stunned silence has fallen over the Oklahoma side of the stadium. One minute their celebrating a touchdown the next minute Texas has the ball and is running towards their goal! Ha! Ha!
Since moving here this has become one of my fave college football games to watch each season. It's similar to watching an ASU-U of A rivalry game. Yet a little different since Texas Longhorns do not call Dallas home. It's two great teams meeting on neutral turf in Dallas in each year. Making up a classic duel! I love how the stadium is divided down the middle, half Oklahoma fans and half Texas fans. You would think Texas would have more fans since this is the state of Texas. But Oklahoma is so close to the Dallas area tons of OU fans make the trip each year.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Fog and Wedding Registry
When I woke up this morning I immediately noticed how dark it seemed outside. Before going to get the boys up I peeked outside to see the dense fog. Dense fog in October? Despite what the weather report was for today its been cloudy and foggy for much of the day. The sun never came out to completely burn off the fog.
I am pleased to report Cody survived the cold snap this past weekend. He did however shake his little fist at the fogginess of today. So far I haven't needed to turn on the heater. The space heater is sufficient for now. I love being able to get away with no heat or a/c on. It's common for us during the change of seasons.
Tonight our big plan is to go register for wedding gifts. I made my own list of items I can think of that we need and/or want. Plus I have a checklist from a wedding site. I know Crate and Barrel is popular for people to register at but I've actually never been in one. But I'm considering registering there. We definitely need at least two places or three to register at to give people a choice. And I already considered the fact that our wedding guests are spread out in a total of 5 states therefore store choice is important. We'll at least get the main registry done tonight we can add to it online once its set up. Happy shopping to us!
Oh this is slightly funny well at least to me.....as I was cruising around online making my list of items we definitely want to register for I was distracted by the pet link. When I was nearly done I clicked on the pet link section. Then spent quite a few minutes looking at pet beds. I did consider for a brief moment to register for 3 pet beds. But I quickly decided that's likely not appropriate. Lol! However all three of our pets will be getting new beds once we are all under one roof. Leave it to me to think of the pets too!
I am pleased to report Cody survived the cold snap this past weekend. He did however shake his little fist at the fogginess of today. So far I haven't needed to turn on the heater. The space heater is sufficient for now. I love being able to get away with no heat or a/c on. It's common for us during the change of seasons.
Tonight our big plan is to go register for wedding gifts. I made my own list of items I can think of that we need and/or want. Plus I have a checklist from a wedding site. I know Crate and Barrel is popular for people to register at but I've actually never been in one. But I'm considering registering there. We definitely need at least two places or three to register at to give people a choice. And I already considered the fact that our wedding guests are spread out in a total of 5 states therefore store choice is important. We'll at least get the main registry done tonight we can add to it online once its set up. Happy shopping to us!
Oh this is slightly funny well at least to me.....as I was cruising around online making my list of items we definitely want to register for I was distracted by the pet link. When I was nearly done I clicked on the pet link section. Then spent quite a few minutes looking at pet beds. I did consider for a brief moment to register for 3 pet beds. But I quickly decided that's likely not appropriate. Lol! However all three of our pets will be getting new beds once we are all under one roof. Leave it to me to think of the pets too!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Cold Temps and Football Watching
As predicted the chilly weekend has arrived. It's been a beef stew and cornbread type of day! Although that's not we had for dinner. But I'm likely going to have some hot cocoa later. I'll need something to warm me up after walking the boys. Overnight temp is supposed to get down into the 30's, so Cody will certainly have a sweater on tonight. As we discussed earlier these are late October temps that have come early.
As I type this we are sitting here watching the Texas Longhorns game. Bevo the longhorn is sitting in the corner on the sidelines. Having a bull on the sidelines in the corner doesn't seem like a great idea to me. What happens if a player runs into him? I mean, it's a bull. Bevo isn't going to move fast and bulls aren't known for being shall I say...cordial.
No Cowboys game, no Cardinals game....what's a girl to do?...We have the Steelers game followed by the Broncos. Definitely more excited about the Broncos game! I'll admit though I'm actually looking forward to Monday night's game as opposed to any of the Sunday games, Texans play on MNF. Hopefully they play much better than the Cowboys did when they were featured on Monday night football last week. Geez, was that painful to watch!
As I type this we are sitting here watching the Texas Longhorns game. Bevo the longhorn is sitting in the corner on the sidelines. Having a bull on the sidelines in the corner doesn't seem like a great idea to me. What happens if a player runs into him? I mean, it's a bull. Bevo isn't going to move fast and bulls aren't known for being shall I say...cordial.
No Cowboys game, no Cardinals game....what's a girl to do?...We have the Steelers game followed by the Broncos. Definitely more excited about the Broncos game! I'll admit though I'm actually looking forward to Monday night's game as opposed to any of the Sunday games, Texans play on MNF. Hopefully they play much better than the Cowboys did when they were featured on Monday night football last week. Geez, was that painful to watch!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Wedding News (part 7)
Lots to report! We have a minister! We have a photographer too! So a few key things have been booked. My mom and I went this past Tuesday to meet with the photographer we have now hired. Photography is definitely very pricey! Which I'm willing to splurge since the pictures will be the only physical reminder of the wedding day. At the same time I want a fair price, I'm not willing to shell out $8,000 for pictures! And don't think for a minute I'm exaggerating that price! There really are photographers trying to collect $8,000 for a wedding. I think once you mention it's a "wedding" the price doubles with a lot of vendors!
After much debate, numerous moments online looking, and one trip to actually see the dresses in person....I finally made a decision on the bridesmaid dress color. It is up to the bridesmaid to choose the dress. I set 3 guidelines: it must be a long dress that goes to the floor, it must be modest, and it must be in the color I selected. Other than that I'm open to whatever is chosen by the person wearing it!
I have also decided on the little flower girl's dress. My decision of putting the flower girl in a dress with color is not the popular choice. As the traditional choice is to have the flower girl all dolled up like a mini-bride in white. Perhaps if our bridal party was a bit larger I might go for that. But since our bridal party is so small I would prefer for the flower girl to match the bridesmaid not the bride! Therefore, I'm going away from tradition. She will wear the same color as the bridesmaid but will also wear a sash that will be white. See what I'm doing?...I'm flip-flopping tradition! Most would put the flower girl in white and a sash that matched the bridesmaid. I'm flip-flopping it....flower girl dress with color to match bridesmaid with a white sash to blend in with me, the bride!
Me....the bride! I like saying that! It's finally my time to be the bride!
After much debate, numerous moments online looking, and one trip to actually see the dresses in person....I finally made a decision on the bridesmaid dress color. It is up to the bridesmaid to choose the dress. I set 3 guidelines: it must be a long dress that goes to the floor, it must be modest, and it must be in the color I selected. Other than that I'm open to whatever is chosen by the person wearing it!
I have also decided on the little flower girl's dress. My decision of putting the flower girl in a dress with color is not the popular choice. As the traditional choice is to have the flower girl all dolled up like a mini-bride in white. Perhaps if our bridal party was a bit larger I might go for that. But since our bridal party is so small I would prefer for the flower girl to match the bridesmaid not the bride! Therefore, I'm going away from tradition. She will wear the same color as the bridesmaid but will also wear a sash that will be white. See what I'm doing?...I'm flip-flopping tradition! Most would put the flower girl in white and a sash that matched the bridesmaid. I'm flip-flopping it....flower girl dress with color to match bridesmaid with a white sash to blend in with me, the bride!
Me....the bride! I like saying that! It's finally my time to be the bride!
Various Thoughts!
I've been keeping busy. My mom left on Wednesday. So after her visit the last couple of days have been spent catching up on other aspects of daily life.
After hearing the weather report for the weekend Cody is currently wondering why he didn't try to slip into his Grammie's suitcase before she headed back to Phx. The weather has been lovely, perfect temps all September long! We've been enjoying temps in the low to mid-80's consistently. However by tomorrow we will experience a drop of more than 30 degrees. Cody has already requested I get his sweater ready. I have experienced 20 degree drops in the temp a few times since moving here, but this is the first time I remember the temp dropping an entire 30 degrees. Here's the worst part for Cody-man, the 30 degree temperature drop is only the daytime temp...by evening it will be even colder. The space heater is likely coming out of the closet come tomorrow.
Yes, I watched the Cardinals game last night. I was disappointed they didn't win. Then again I didn't expect them too. They were away and they were going into St. Louis with an undefeated record....of course the Rams were going to give them their "A+" game! Did anyone notice the Rams coaching staff and training staff had hunter green on? That bugged me all night long! The Rams do not have hunter green as one of their team colors so why the hunter green shirts for the coaches and trainers? Weird!
The baseball playoffs start tonight. The Rangers play...that's what we'll be watching! I'm all ready, I've got my Rangers gear on!
After hearing the weather report for the weekend Cody is currently wondering why he didn't try to slip into his Grammie's suitcase before she headed back to Phx. The weather has been lovely, perfect temps all September long! We've been enjoying temps in the low to mid-80's consistently. However by tomorrow we will experience a drop of more than 30 degrees. Cody has already requested I get his sweater ready. I have experienced 20 degree drops in the temp a few times since moving here, but this is the first time I remember the temp dropping an entire 30 degrees. Here's the worst part for Cody-man, the 30 degree temperature drop is only the daytime temp...by evening it will be even colder. The space heater is likely coming out of the closet come tomorrow.
Yes, I watched the Cardinals game last night. I was disappointed they didn't win. Then again I didn't expect them too. They were away and they were going into St. Louis with an undefeated record....of course the Rams were going to give them their "A+" game! Did anyone notice the Rams coaching staff and training staff had hunter green on? That bugged me all night long! The Rams do not have hunter green as one of their team colors so why the hunter green shirts for the coaches and trainers? Weird!
The baseball playoffs start tonight. The Rangers play...that's what we'll be watching! I'm all ready, I've got my Rangers gear on!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Busy Birthday Weekend!
How sweet it is! This is my birthday weekend. My mom arrived on Thursday. So we've been keeping busy.
We went to a baby shower for Brad's cousin yesterday. Then afterwards myself along with my mom and Brad's mom went over to Gaylord Texan to look around at the site of our wedding. While standing there in the middle of the space where the ceremony will take place we brainstormed about possible decor options. The resort starts decorating for Christmas the first week of November, so once early November comes we'll have a better idea as to how much decorating will actually be needed for the ceremony.
Last evening Brad organized a get-together to celebrate my birthday. He ordered in lots of pizza from our fave pizza place. Then we had cake and ice cream then played games. A good time was had by all.
Thanks to my soon to be husband I am the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy tablet! Woo-hoo! To make this post I am using my Galaxy tablet for the first time. So sweet! Such an awesome gift from my sweet man! He's so great, he's done a lot to ensure I have a good bday.
p.s....Thx a bunch honey, I love you!
We went to a baby shower for Brad's cousin yesterday. Then afterwards myself along with my mom and Brad's mom went over to Gaylord Texan to look around at the site of our wedding. While standing there in the middle of the space where the ceremony will take place we brainstormed about possible decor options. The resort starts decorating for Christmas the first week of November, so once early November comes we'll have a better idea as to how much decorating will actually be needed for the ceremony.
Last evening Brad organized a get-together to celebrate my birthday. He ordered in lots of pizza from our fave pizza place. Then we had cake and ice cream then played games. A good time was had by all.
Thanks to my soon to be husband I am the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy tablet! Woo-hoo! To make this post I am using my Galaxy tablet for the first time. So sweet! Such an awesome gift from my sweet man! He's so great, he's done a lot to ensure I have a good bday.
p.s....Thx a bunch honey, I love you!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Wedding News (part 6)
Lots has been going on with the wedding plans. I would say the wedding plans are definitely in full swing! Last week I spent time checking on photographers. Photography is certainly a bit more expensive than I thought it would be and it's a whole lot more expensive than my fiancé thought it would be. It is the main physical reminder of our wedding though so it's one area I'm willing to splurge on a bit. Within reason of course!
The other area I'm willing to splurge on is the cake...Come on folks, I love to bake. So you can bet a high dollar amount our wedding cake will be sensational! Prepare yourself! Nothing less than 4 tiers! I have decided to design it myself. I have yet to take to the drawing board though. That will come later. I designed the cake for my mom's birthday party, it turned out quite well. Fingers-crossed the wedding cake design fits the vision in my head.
As for this weekend we seriously need to decide on a minister. It's been a bit of a lengthy endeavor. For the last 3 weeks I've hoped that by the end of each week we would have it figured out. It hasn't gotten figured out yet. I'm extremely hopeful that by the end of this weekend it will be squared away!
The other area I'm willing to splurge on is the cake...Come on folks, I love to bake. So you can bet a high dollar amount our wedding cake will be sensational! Prepare yourself! Nothing less than 4 tiers! I have decided to design it myself. I have yet to take to the drawing board though. That will come later. I designed the cake for my mom's birthday party, it turned out quite well. Fingers-crossed the wedding cake design fits the vision in my head.
As for this weekend we seriously need to decide on a minister. It's been a bit of a lengthy endeavor. For the last 3 weeks I've hoped that by the end of each week we would have it figured out. It hasn't gotten figured out yet. I'm extremely hopeful that by the end of this weekend it will be squared away!
Long Night and I Shake My Fist!
Yikes, my Simmie-boo-boo was sick last night. If only he could resist his urges to look at the outside as a buffet! It was a long night! I've been tired all day as I was up taking care of him until 2:30am. Cody stayed up too! Simon is better today. He only got half of his normal breakfast amount plus a pepto bismol tablet. This is funny...I threw the pepto bismol tablet into his food whole. He got to the bottom of the bowl and I noticed the tablet was still there, he then looked up at me. I said, "Eat it, Simmie!". He leaned back down to his bowl and gobbled it down. Lol!
Now for what I'm shaking my fist at....I'm shaking my fist at the new PAC 12 network. No one can see me right now but trust me my fist is up in the air shaking in protest! I just switched cable companies a few months ago, I was excited to finally have Fox Arizona and the NFL Network. However, starting this week it appears all ASU football games will be on the PAC 12 Network. Only being offered to viewers that live in a state that has a PAC 12 school. Well that's not me, so I'm out of luck for subscribing to it. Grrrr! If you want your own network then go ahead and get one but at least make it so the whole U.S. can get it if they choose to subscribe to it. So frustrating!
Another thing I'd like to shake my fist at is the NFL Monday night game schedule. The Seattle Seahawks get a Monday night football game and my Cardinals don't. What gives? I'm not saying the Cardinals deserve to play on Monday night as that night is reserved for unique match-ups and elite playoff contending teams. Much like the Cards I would not place the Seahawks in the elite playoff bound category. They were very similar to the Cards this pre-season, they hadn't named a quarterback until days before the season started as did the Cards. Odd choice for the Seahawks to be on MNF. Then again, they do have great fans and it's a fun city to broadcast from I'm sure.
Alright I'm done with all my frustration for today!
Now for what I'm shaking my fist at....I'm shaking my fist at the new PAC 12 network. No one can see me right now but trust me my fist is up in the air shaking in protest! I just switched cable companies a few months ago, I was excited to finally have Fox Arizona and the NFL Network. However, starting this week it appears all ASU football games will be on the PAC 12 Network. Only being offered to viewers that live in a state that has a PAC 12 school. Well that's not me, so I'm out of luck for subscribing to it. Grrrr! If you want your own network then go ahead and get one but at least make it so the whole U.S. can get it if they choose to subscribe to it. So frustrating!
Another thing I'd like to shake my fist at is the NFL Monday night game schedule. The Seattle Seahawks get a Monday night football game and my Cardinals don't. What gives? I'm not saying the Cardinals deserve to play on Monday night as that night is reserved for unique match-ups and elite playoff contending teams. Much like the Cards I would not place the Seahawks in the elite playoff bound category. They were very similar to the Cards this pre-season, they hadn't named a quarterback until days before the season started as did the Cards. Odd choice for the Seahawks to be on MNF. Then again, they do have great fans and it's a fun city to broadcast from I'm sure.
Alright I'm done with all my frustration for today!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Fear Us!
Who strikes the most fear in our soon to be combined family? Is it Simon? It's certainly not Cody! Storm can be on the defensive when kids are present. She's not a fan of the younger generation. But otherwise she's meek and mild.
Possibly it depends on what it is. When it comes to defending his mommie...count on Simmie! When it comes to playing ball...fear Cody's skills! When it comes to tuna...get out of Storm's way! When it comes to picking football games....fear the soon to be married couple!
My fiancé recorded his first football pool victory of the season this past weekend. That's right folks we have recorded back to back victories in my fiancé's office pool! Brad didn't even need to wait for the Monday night game. He had already racked up enough victories by the time the Sunday evening game was being played! Good job honey! Fearsome football picking duo!...that's us!
Side Note: The Broncos game, what a game! I mean yes, it was horrible at the start for the Broncos but the fact that they came back just goes to show you how experienced not to mention skilled Manning is. Atlanta letting the Broncos back in the game exposes their weaknesses!
Possibly it depends on what it is. When it comes to defending his mommie...count on Simmie! When it comes to playing ball...fear Cody's skills! When it comes to tuna...get out of Storm's way! When it comes to picking football games....fear the soon to be married couple!
My fiancé recorded his first football pool victory of the season this past weekend. That's right folks we have recorded back to back victories in my fiancé's office pool! Brad didn't even need to wait for the Monday night game. He had already racked up enough victories by the time the Sunday evening game was being played! Good job honey! Fearsome football picking duo!...that's us!
Side Note: The Broncos game, what a game! I mean yes, it was horrible at the start for the Broncos but the fact that they came back just goes to show you how experienced not to mention skilled Manning is. Atlanta letting the Broncos back in the game exposes their weaknesses!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
With A Smile On My Face!
With a smile on my face I will mark the Cards pick wrong! Woo-hoo! So glad they won! I can't stand the Patriots! I almost dislike them as much as the Steelers. But the Steelers beat my Cardinals in the Super Bowl so I've got a bigger reason to not like them!
We've been watching the Philly-Baltimore game. A very chippy game! Lots of litle squabbles and pushing matches. Good game! It's a long game. Still going on opposite of the Cowboys. We're channel flipping!
As I type this the Cowboys game is starting. I don't root for Seahawks like I used to when I lived there of course. But I don't root against them either. I'll be more for the Cowboys today obviously! Since it's Seattle I am looking forward to the city sights the network shows when they go to commercial break. I enjoy seeing the glimpses of a place I called home once a long time ago. Seattle does have some pretty sweet looking uniforms now too! So far not so great for the Cowboys today! Cowboys are in a hole and it's early on! Where is the team we saw opening night? It's early, time to catch up.
We've been watching the Philly-Baltimore game. A very chippy game! Lots of litle squabbles and pushing matches. Good game! It's a long game. Still going on opposite of the Cowboys. We're channel flipping!
As I type this the Cowboys game is starting. I don't root for Seahawks like I used to when I lived there of course. But I don't root against them either. I'll be more for the Cowboys today obviously! Since it's Seattle I am looking forward to the city sights the network shows when they go to commercial break. I enjoy seeing the glimpses of a place I called home once a long time ago. Seattle does have some pretty sweet looking uniforms now too! So far not so great for the Cowboys today! Cowboys are in a hole and it's early on! Where is the team we saw opening night? It's early, time to catch up.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Our Anniversary Weekend!
It was 3 years ago tomorrow that my fiancé and I had our first date! We will be doing the same thing that we've done each September 15th since then, which is to go to the same restaurant we went to on our first date. So we'll be dining at Uncle Julio's a Mexican food restaurant. Yum! I will also be enjoying my annual strawberry margarita!
This September 15th, means it's exactly 3 months until our wedding! So that makes the date even more special. Brad pushed just slightly for December 15th because he believes it will make it easier for him to remember those two dates on the calendar! I'm sure he'll have no problem remembering. Partly because I don't keep any of my excitement for certain special dates to myself! ;) Oh and one more note about tomorrow, it's about to be the wedding anniversary of Brad's cousin. His cousin is set to marry tomorrow afternoon. Brad's family has 2 weddings to attend exactly 3 months apart! That just happened. We didn't know what date specifically his cousin chose. Not that it would've affected our plans anyway, it's 3 months apart.
I'm so excited to give my anniversary gift to Brad. Lots of thought went into it! I had the idea for his anniversary gift for awhile. Then I was trying to decide if I should give it to him on our annivesary or wait til the next occasion on the calendar. When it comes to gift giving I'm typically a step ahead of the process. I already have ideas for his Christmas gifts now. I'm pretty lucky, gift ideas come to me rather easily for most everybody I shop for.
This September 15th, means it's exactly 3 months until our wedding! So that makes the date even more special. Brad pushed just slightly for December 15th because he believes it will make it easier for him to remember those two dates on the calendar! I'm sure he'll have no problem remembering. Partly because I don't keep any of my excitement for certain special dates to myself! ;) Oh and one more note about tomorrow, it's about to be the wedding anniversary of Brad's cousin. His cousin is set to marry tomorrow afternoon. Brad's family has 2 weddings to attend exactly 3 months apart! That just happened. We didn't know what date specifically his cousin chose. Not that it would've affected our plans anyway, it's 3 months apart.
I'm so excited to give my anniversary gift to Brad. Lots of thought went into it! I had the idea for his anniversary gift for awhile. Then I was trying to decide if I should give it to him on our annivesary or wait til the next occasion on the calendar. When it comes to gift giving I'm typically a step ahead of the process. I already have ideas for his Christmas gifts now. I'm pretty lucky, gift ideas come to me rather easily for most everybody I shop for.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Cody and Storm!
I have often said Cody could make friends with a tarantula. Trust me, he could! My big puggie man is super friendly. He seems to get offended when people walk by him and not acknowledge him.
He was certainly my pick to be the pug that Storm the cat would prefer. We have recently noticed that Cody looks for Storm as soon as he arrives at my fiancé's place now. It's not that Storm and Simon don't get along because they do just fine in the presence of each other. However, with Cody and Storm it's a little different, Cody makes more of an effort! Simon is all about Simon!
There was one incident in recent weeks where Storm rounded the corner on full speed not knowing that Cody was on the opposite side of the corner. She ran smack into him! Neither cared too much! She seemed apologetic with her meow and Cody wasn't offended one bit! Another incident featured Storm sneeking up to Cody as he was drinking. He was fine with her being right there and in turn she was fine with him unknowingly lashing her with his big wet tongue once he got done drinking. I'm still surprised she didn't have a problem with him accidentally hitting her with his tongue. She's a freak about water though! Her focus was likely getting to the bowl when he was done. And hoping he didn't drain it!
Both Storm and Cody share a passion for suntanning! They both look for the places in the apartment or out on the balcony where the sun hits. This weekend Cody was curled up in his bed sleeping in the sun. Storm noticed he had quite the prime location. She soon decided to curl up next to him. When I walked by I almost couldn't believe my eyes to see the two of them laying directly next to each other. They've laid close before but with a short distance between. This was the first time they were next to each other. Did I get a pic? Nope, darn it! Cody woke up as he heard me and then he followed me! Oh well, I'm sure it will happen again.
We're just glad all of our animals get along! I think the way we introduced them all to each other was key. We slowly over time let them warm up to one another. Slowly letting them see more and more of each other. There is no doubt that when we all are under the same roof the 2 pugs and a cat will be comfortable with it.
He was certainly my pick to be the pug that Storm the cat would prefer. We have recently noticed that Cody looks for Storm as soon as he arrives at my fiancé's place now. It's not that Storm and Simon don't get along because they do just fine in the presence of each other. However, with Cody and Storm it's a little different, Cody makes more of an effort! Simon is all about Simon!
There was one incident in recent weeks where Storm rounded the corner on full speed not knowing that Cody was on the opposite side of the corner. She ran smack into him! Neither cared too much! She seemed apologetic with her meow and Cody wasn't offended one bit! Another incident featured Storm sneeking up to Cody as he was drinking. He was fine with her being right there and in turn she was fine with him unknowingly lashing her with his big wet tongue once he got done drinking. I'm still surprised she didn't have a problem with him accidentally hitting her with his tongue. She's a freak about water though! Her focus was likely getting to the bowl when he was done. And hoping he didn't drain it!
Both Storm and Cody share a passion for suntanning! They both look for the places in the apartment or out on the balcony where the sun hits. This weekend Cody was curled up in his bed sleeping in the sun. Storm noticed he had quite the prime location. She soon decided to curl up next to him. When I walked by I almost couldn't believe my eyes to see the two of them laying directly next to each other. They've laid close before but with a short distance between. This was the first time they were next to each other. Did I get a pic? Nope, darn it! Cody woke up as he heard me and then he followed me! Oh well, I'm sure it will happen again.
We're just glad all of our animals get along! I think the way we introduced them all to each other was key. We slowly over time let them warm up to one another. Slowly letting them see more and more of each other. There is no doubt that when we all are under the same roof the 2 pugs and a cat will be comfortable with it.
Opening Week of NFL!...I'm a big winner!
I started this new football season off right! I won the football pool at my fiancé's work and our separate pick sheet. Yay me! My fiancé and I pick the games and then bet something each week. So we compete in his office pool plus we compete against each other on a separate pick sheet. I'm a double winner this week! I don't get into a habit of changing many of my picks for the 2 different pick sheets but he enjoys mixing it up a bit.
Could opening week have gone any better? The Cowboys won and the Cardinals won plus the Broncos won. Now I don't consider the Broncos as "one of my teams". But I keep a close eye on them since my mom is a HUGE Peyton Manning fan!
Oh and the Sun Devils played on ESPN so I watched that game from beginning to end! Loved every minute of it! I'm still getting used to the abundance of maroon they are sporting these days. It wasn't that long ago that the color they promoted the most was gold! I know because I still have shirts hanging in my closet from the over promotion of gold!
Could opening week have gone any better? The Cowboys won and the Cardinals won plus the Broncos won. Now I don't consider the Broncos as "one of my teams". But I keep a close eye on them since my mom is a HUGE Peyton Manning fan!
Oh and the Sun Devils played on ESPN so I watched that game from beginning to end! Loved every minute of it! I'm still getting used to the abundance of maroon they are sporting these days. It wasn't that long ago that the color they promoted the most was gold! I know because I still have shirts hanging in my closet from the over promotion of gold!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Who Was That Team?
Who was that team that played the Giants last night? Will the real Dallas Cowboys please stand up? Both of us were saying if we had known that Cowboys team was going to show up our picks would have reflected it. The picks we turned in for the football pool at my fiancé's work did not have either of us choosing the Cowboys.
The team we've seen in recent weeks through the pre-season had me thinking this was going to be a long and very frustrating Cowboys season to watch. After last night's game I've got some renewed hope! The Cowboys obviously didn't want to show their cards during pre-season. Which is understandable! First week and the last week of each season is the hardest to pick. Some teams show up big time during the pre-season making their fans have a false sense of hope for the season then fizzle quickly as the real competition begins. Then there's other teams that you have no idea what they will look like once the season begins, the Cardinals and the Cowboys fall into this catergory in my opinion.
I seriously hope the Cowboys team we saw last night is the one that can consistently be seen throughout the season. We'll see! Fingers-crossed! Now next up is the rest of the NFL, who will come to play this Sunday? As a diehard Cardinals fan I just keep my fingers-crossed for them to improve from last year and for them to stay competitive. If some definite improvement can't be seen then Whisenhunt might need to hunt for another job!
The team we've seen in recent weeks through the pre-season had me thinking this was going to be a long and very frustrating Cowboys season to watch. After last night's game I've got some renewed hope! The Cowboys obviously didn't want to show their cards during pre-season. Which is understandable! First week and the last week of each season is the hardest to pick. Some teams show up big time during the pre-season making their fans have a false sense of hope for the season then fizzle quickly as the real competition begins. Then there's other teams that you have no idea what they will look like once the season begins, the Cardinals and the Cowboys fall into this catergory in my opinion.
I seriously hope the Cowboys team we saw last night is the one that can consistently be seen throughout the season. We'll see! Fingers-crossed! Now next up is the rest of the NFL, who will come to play this Sunday? As a diehard Cardinals fan I just keep my fingers-crossed for them to improve from last year and for them to stay competitive. If some definite improvement can't be seen then Whisenhunt might need to hunt for another job!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Kickoff!
Woo-hoo! September is finally here which means football season has arrived. I did my picks last night! Hopefully my fiancé has not noticed that I did not pick the Cowboys to win tonight. Yikes! I know that's horrible of me! I have to be realistic! Defending champs in their home stadium....it's a tough game! Plus the Cowboys are without a couple big name players!
Tonight my fiancé's dad is coming over too for the game. I'm making jambalaya again. About a month ago I tried my hand at jambalaya, it turned out well despite the fact I messed up a bit. I put too much rice in it. This time I will do it correctly! I'm looking forward to the game and the jambalaya. I love giving myself a new challenge with a meal and then working some to perfect that new meal.
I have yet to find a NFL schedule I like online. I have one site that's been reliable in the past. But this year they've changed their format and I'm not so sure about it. Well I have to get going it's time to walk the boys!
Tonight my fiancé's dad is coming over too for the game. I'm making jambalaya again. About a month ago I tried my hand at jambalaya, it turned out well despite the fact I messed up a bit. I put too much rice in it. This time I will do it correctly! I'm looking forward to the game and the jambalaya. I love giving myself a new challenge with a meal and then working some to perfect that new meal.
I have yet to find a NFL schedule I like online. I have one site that's been reliable in the past. But this year they've changed their format and I'm not so sure about it. Well I have to get going it's time to walk the boys!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Wedding News (part 5)
I continue to plan our wedding. We finally have the colors decided! They won't change this time!
Now that I've fully figured out the colors, I'm working on deciding how the colors will be represented. How they will work together. I'm enjoying looking at floral arrangements along with other decor ideas. Once I firmly decided on the colors my little brain has been regularly flooded with ideas for decor and table linens. For the next couple of months my greatest pasttime is going to be daydreaming about our wedding. As it should be! December will be here quick enough.
Not only have the colors for the wedding been decided but also the colors of the wedding shower. We will be having a wedding shower instead of a traditional bridal shower. The wedding shower means the groom is invited to come! It will be a mix of men and women not just women like a bridal shower indicates. The colors for the wedding shower will be....drum roll please.....red, black, and white.
Oh yes folks, I will be getting my red one way or another! As everyone knows red is my favorite color. My original idea for our wedding colors was to have red plus a color I will not name right now. However, that color plus red are the colors of one of the Cowboys rivals. Well we can't have that! That reason plus a few other reasons eliminated the use of red at the wedding. Yes, we could have had red, black, and white for the wedding but the color scheme we have chosen for the wedding will definitely have more options plus it makes sense for us as a couple. I will reveal the color sheme in the blog but not quite yet. For now the only color scheme reveal is the wedding shower colors!
Now that I've fully figured out the colors, I'm working on deciding how the colors will be represented. How they will work together. I'm enjoying looking at floral arrangements along with other decor ideas. Once I firmly decided on the colors my little brain has been regularly flooded with ideas for decor and table linens. For the next couple of months my greatest pasttime is going to be daydreaming about our wedding. As it should be! December will be here quick enough.
Not only have the colors for the wedding been decided but also the colors of the wedding shower. We will be having a wedding shower instead of a traditional bridal shower. The wedding shower means the groom is invited to come! It will be a mix of men and women not just women like a bridal shower indicates. The colors for the wedding shower will be....drum roll please.....red, black, and white.
Oh yes folks, I will be getting my red one way or another! As everyone knows red is my favorite color. My original idea for our wedding colors was to have red plus a color I will not name right now. However, that color plus red are the colors of one of the Cowboys rivals. Well we can't have that! That reason plus a few other reasons eliminated the use of red at the wedding. Yes, we could have had red, black, and white for the wedding but the color scheme we have chosen for the wedding will definitely have more options plus it makes sense for us as a couple. I will reveal the color sheme in the blog but not quite yet. For now the only color scheme reveal is the wedding shower colors!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
The Long Weekend!
I'm happy to report the Cody-man is much better! I have declared him fully healed from his stinging episode. Poor pug has slept the last few days away due to the allergy meds he's been on. Yesterday was the first day since his stinging that he's had enough energy to return to playing. Today he's been a bit of a playing machine! He's getting caught up on play time he missed!
We've been busy watching plenty of US Open tennis coverage. Thank goodness I have Tennis channel at my place because it's been the only channel that featured the evening matches this weekend. Last night the plan was to channel flip between football and tennis. But the Alabama vs. Michigan game played in town at Cowboys Stadium was a blowout. Judging by all the Alabama fans I saw around town I'm thinking it was similar to an Alabama home game!
I've got to end this one quick as we have decided to watch a movie. We're working our way through the Lord of Rings movies. I've never seen them. My fiancé has and he doesn't mind watching them again so I can get caught up before the Hobbit is released. We recently heard the Hobbit will be released the day before we get married so we likely won't see that one opening weekend!
P.S.....welcome to September! This is certainly one of my fave months! It means Autumn is on it's way! And at the end of the month I'll get some birthday cake! Have a good Labor day!
We've been busy watching plenty of US Open tennis coverage. Thank goodness I have Tennis channel at my place because it's been the only channel that featured the evening matches this weekend. Last night the plan was to channel flip between football and tennis. But the Alabama vs. Michigan game played in town at Cowboys Stadium was a blowout. Judging by all the Alabama fans I saw around town I'm thinking it was similar to an Alabama home game!
I've got to end this one quick as we have decided to watch a movie. We're working our way through the Lord of Rings movies. I've never seen them. My fiancé has and he doesn't mind watching them again so I can get caught up before the Hobbit is released. We recently heard the Hobbit will be released the day before we get married so we likely won't see that one opening weekend!
P.S.....welcome to September! This is certainly one of my fave months! It means Autumn is on it's way! And at the end of the month I'll get some birthday cake! Have a good Labor day!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Grab Him and Go!
Oh man! What a day! A day that featured the first ever emergency trip to the vet. I was walking the boys this morning at the very end of the walk just before heading up the stairs Cody lets out a squeal, like a pig. I look down he has his paw raised as high as he can get it. I immediately think something is in it so I check it over. Nothing! I then think he must have stepped on a nail. Due to the roofs being done there's nails all over the place. I'm constantly kicking them out of the way so the boys don't step on them.
I carry him up the stairs put him down inside. I continue to look him over. His paw is getting puffy and changing colors. I call the vet. The vet suggests I bring him in right away. I started to take time to put my make-up on but as Cody continued to whimper I quickly decided to simply grab him and go.
At the vet's office he was a pill. He crawled under the chairs and then sat there with his paw in the air. Looking as pathetic as a dog can look! The vet took a quick look at him yet was unable to determine what was wrong with his paw. They brought in a doggie microscope and a nurse held him down as the vet soon determined he had been stung by something. As a result he had a large stinger deep in his paw. They had to work on his very puffy paw for quite a few minutes to get the stinger out. Meanwhile, as I look on I'm doing my best to not pass out. Trust me it was not a pleasant site!
The great news of the day is that Cody has survived whatever stung him. I seriously thought he was injured by a nail, never did I think he had been stung. I truly believe Cody thought it was over for him. He looked so scared and petrified. He's been put on children's Benadryl for the rest of the week to ward off any allergic reaction. So it's safe to say Cody will be getting some extra zzz's. Benadryl makes him sleepy!
Here's a side note that's interesting....Simon hates being left alone. He whines and cries when I try to take Cody and leave him behind. Not today he didn't! There was no issue at all. He was totally content being left behind. I think he must have known Cody needed some help right away and mommie was taking Cody to be helped.
I carry him up the stairs put him down inside. I continue to look him over. His paw is getting puffy and changing colors. I call the vet. The vet suggests I bring him in right away. I started to take time to put my make-up on but as Cody continued to whimper I quickly decided to simply grab him and go.
At the vet's office he was a pill. He crawled under the chairs and then sat there with his paw in the air. Looking as pathetic as a dog can look! The vet took a quick look at him yet was unable to determine what was wrong with his paw. They brought in a doggie microscope and a nurse held him down as the vet soon determined he had been stung by something. As a result he had a large stinger deep in his paw. They had to work on his very puffy paw for quite a few minutes to get the stinger out. Meanwhile, as I look on I'm doing my best to not pass out. Trust me it was not a pleasant site!
The great news of the day is that Cody has survived whatever stung him. I seriously thought he was injured by a nail, never did I think he had been stung. I truly believe Cody thought it was over for him. He looked so scared and petrified. He's been put on children's Benadryl for the rest of the week to ward off any allergic reaction. So it's safe to say Cody will be getting some extra zzz's. Benadryl makes him sleepy!
Here's a side note that's interesting....Simon hates being left alone. He whines and cries when I try to take Cody and leave him behind. Not today he didn't! There was no issue at all. He was totally content being left behind. I think he must have known Cody needed some help right away and mommie was taking Cody to be helped.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Oh the Irony!
Last week I contacted Pastor Bob. Well actually I never spoke to Pastor Bob I instead talked solely to his wife, Diane. Anyway, I badly wanted Pastor Bob whom was the pastor at the church I grew up going to, to be the pastor performing our wedding ceremony. I was willing to pay for him and his wife to fly to Dallas and I was also willing to pay for them to stay at the rather NICE resort in which we will be married at. I had run some rough figures as to how much I was looking at if I wanted Pastor Bob to come to Dallas. I determined it would be roughly $1,200. As it turns out Pastor Bob is unable to do the ceremony. I'm glad I at least tried to get Pastor Bob even though it won't be possible.
Then a day or two later I needed to talk to my apartment complex about the lease terms they are offering me. My lease is up on the 31st. They are offering lease terms of 7 months to 12 months. Well, obviously even the shortest lease term offered of 7 months is not going to work for me since there's only 4 months until my wedding. I need a 4 month lease. I explained the situation to the office staff. I asked for a 4 month lease first. They said no. I then asked if they could extend my current lease, they said no. Instead they told me I will have to do "month-to-month" for the next 4 months. When you have no lease and are on "month-to-month" basis it means you pay the market rent rate plus an extra fee. That extra fee acts as a penalty fee to help force people into a long term deal! Time for the calculator!...Lets add it up, I'll be paying market rent, plus water/valet trash service, plus the extra fee for not having a long term lease...all adds up to $300 extra for the next 4 months. Now lets take that math a step further....$300 multiplied by 4 is how much? $1,200! Don't you just love life! That $1,200 is the amount I had earmarked for Pastor Bob and Diane to come to Dallas instead I'll be spending it on extra rental fees.
Some might say, oh the irony of it all! Others like me see the hand of God working in the situation. Not that I need my faith reaffirmed but when things like this happen it makes me look at the situation in awe!
That being said I still find it pretty darn rotten of my apartment complex for not being willing to offer a 4 month lease to someone that is getting married. I have a pretty good reason for not wanting a 7 month lease afterall. Unfortunate that they have seen my situation as a way to make an extra $1,200 over the next 4 months.
Then a day or two later I needed to talk to my apartment complex about the lease terms they are offering me. My lease is up on the 31st. They are offering lease terms of 7 months to 12 months. Well, obviously even the shortest lease term offered of 7 months is not going to work for me since there's only 4 months until my wedding. I need a 4 month lease. I explained the situation to the office staff. I asked for a 4 month lease first. They said no. I then asked if they could extend my current lease, they said no. Instead they told me I will have to do "month-to-month" for the next 4 months. When you have no lease and are on "month-to-month" basis it means you pay the market rent rate plus an extra fee. That extra fee acts as a penalty fee to help force people into a long term deal! Time for the calculator!...Lets add it up, I'll be paying market rent, plus water/valet trash service, plus the extra fee for not having a long term lease...all adds up to $300 extra for the next 4 months. Now lets take that math a step further....$300 multiplied by 4 is how much? $1,200! Don't you just love life! That $1,200 is the amount I had earmarked for Pastor Bob and Diane to come to Dallas instead I'll be spending it on extra rental fees.
Some might say, oh the irony of it all! Others like me see the hand of God working in the situation. Not that I need my faith reaffirmed but when things like this happen it makes me look at the situation in awe!
That being said I still find it pretty darn rotten of my apartment complex for not being willing to offer a 4 month lease to someone that is getting married. I have a pretty good reason for not wanting a 7 month lease afterall. Unfortunate that they have seen my situation as a way to make an extra $1,200 over the next 4 months.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
My Deep Fried Stuffed Avocado!
I love Mexican food! Of course, I'm a former Zonie! I have to love Mexican food! Mexican food and Zonies are like peanut butter and chocolate....they naturally go good together!
Now for me to talk about a menu item on my blog you must understand it had to be unique! Recently I had something new at a Mexican food restaurant, a deep fried stuffed avocado! It's a new menu feature. I was in the mood to try something new so I did. I have no idea how they deep fried it and kept in tact but they did. Then again this is Texas where they aren't afraid to deep fry anything. The Texas State Fair even features deep fried butter sticks! Leave it to Texas to figure out how to deep fry a stuffed avocado.
How they stuffed the avocado is another mystery to me! Deep into the center of the avocado was a chicken filling. A filling similar to that of what would be inside a chicken enchilada. It was awesome! The entire thing from beginning to end was amazing. The crispy shell on the outside the yummy avocado with a gooey chicken enchilada center...a definite winner.
Different, unique, and tasted great. It had all the qualifications in my opinion! I just hope enough people are brave enough to try it for it to stay on the menu. We don't go out to Mexican food that much but when we do happen to go to that particular restaurant that stuffed avocado could be my new go-to menu item!
Now for me to talk about a menu item on my blog you must understand it had to be unique! Recently I had something new at a Mexican food restaurant, a deep fried stuffed avocado! It's a new menu feature. I was in the mood to try something new so I did. I have no idea how they deep fried it and kept in tact but they did. Then again this is Texas where they aren't afraid to deep fry anything. The Texas State Fair even features deep fried butter sticks! Leave it to Texas to figure out how to deep fry a stuffed avocado.
How they stuffed the avocado is another mystery to me! Deep into the center of the avocado was a chicken filling. A filling similar to that of what would be inside a chicken enchilada. It was awesome! The entire thing from beginning to end was amazing. The crispy shell on the outside the yummy avocado with a gooey chicken enchilada center...a definite winner.
Different, unique, and tasted great. It had all the qualifications in my opinion! I just hope enough people are brave enough to try it for it to stay on the menu. We don't go out to Mexican food that much but when we do happen to go to that particular restaurant that stuffed avocado could be my new go-to menu item!
Where Do We Live?
Where do we live?....Is likely the first question that came to the boys minds by the end of this past week. Shuttling the boys between our two homes was the norm last week.
My apartment complex is putting new roofs on all the buildings so I didn't want to be there too much as our building was one they were focusing on last week. When the 3 of us were at my apartment I was rather impressed that the boys didn't bark as much as I originally thought they would. However, the noise level of a new roof being put on your place of residence is enough to drive any human or human with fur nuts! Not to mention the mess! It's been such a mess around our place: nails, tarps, and roofing shingles being tossed around. So back and forth the 3 of us went between the two homes. Shuttling the boys around might continue this week too. Since next up for the roofers are the buildings next to ours. The noise and mess will continues!
As I mentioned previously the Texas Tennis Open was last week too. So our schedule was a little off some of the days last week. To get to the Open I had to get the boys walked sooner and fed sooner. Simon has no objections to eating dinner earlier than usual! The Tennis Open was lots of fun! They made quite a few improvements from last year making the tournement more enjoyable for players and spectators. Plus we were blessed with awesome weather!
I think September temps came a little early. I still think we might get one more heat wave but then again September is fast approaching so maybe not. We had a few slight sprinkles yesterday and it's currently raining now as I type this. Thanks to all the rain in recent weeks we are nice and green here in big D!
These pics were taken as I rushed around getting ready to take the boys over to my fiancé's place. They barked at the noise of the roofers when it all first started then they got used to it and settled down. I did not get used to it! It's headache causing noise! As you can see Cody was super settled down! LOL! Oh this is funny, before leaving our place I took the boys out on the balcony to brush their coats. Every time the nail gun sounded on our roof above us Cody ducked with extreme fear in his eyes. He probably thought he was about to be shot!
.jpg)
.jpg)
My apartment complex is putting new roofs on all the buildings so I didn't want to be there too much as our building was one they were focusing on last week. When the 3 of us were at my apartment I was rather impressed that the boys didn't bark as much as I originally thought they would. However, the noise level of a new roof being put on your place of residence is enough to drive any human or human with fur nuts! Not to mention the mess! It's been such a mess around our place: nails, tarps, and roofing shingles being tossed around. So back and forth the 3 of us went between the two homes. Shuttling the boys around might continue this week too. Since next up for the roofers are the buildings next to ours. The noise and mess will continues!
As I mentioned previously the Texas Tennis Open was last week too. So our schedule was a little off some of the days last week. To get to the Open I had to get the boys walked sooner and fed sooner. Simon has no objections to eating dinner earlier than usual! The Tennis Open was lots of fun! They made quite a few improvements from last year making the tournement more enjoyable for players and spectators. Plus we were blessed with awesome weather!
I think September temps came a little early. I still think we might get one more heat wave but then again September is fast approaching so maybe not. We had a few slight sprinkles yesterday and it's currently raining now as I type this. Thanks to all the rain in recent weeks we are nice and green here in big D!
These pics were taken as I rushed around getting ready to take the boys over to my fiancé's place. They barked at the noise of the roofers when it all first started then they got used to it and settled down. I did not get used to it! It's headache causing noise! As you can see Cody was super settled down! LOL! Oh this is funny, before leaving our place I took the boys out on the balcony to brush their coats. Every time the nail gun sounded on our roof above us Cody ducked with extreme fear in his eyes. He probably thought he was about to be shot!
.jpg)
.jpg)
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Rain, Tennis, Acorns, and Brownies!
It was a rainy day here! It started as I took the boys out for their morning walk! Made me wish I had gotten out of bed sooner. Cody was likely thinking, "not this liquid stuff again!". It has been a rather drizzly August, kind of odd. I wonder if we are approaching or have made a record for rainfall in August.
I will be heading to the Texas Tennis Open tomorrow night with my fiancé. I'm excited! The rain today stopped just in time for the tennis tourney tonight. Lucky! I decided on going tomorrow and also to the final which is on Friday night. Of course I can't miss the final! I already got my Texas Tennis Open visor out sitting on my table, it's ready to go! My sweet fiancé bought me a visor at last year's tourney. Don't worry folks I'll be stylin' as I sit out there in the sun! I checked the weather report...it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. No rain in the forecast for the foreseeable future. At that news Cody does a dance!
Acorns have started to fall! It is Simon's fave time of year when those start to drop down on his head! They aren't ripe yet but he doesn't care. He's all about eating things he technically shouldn't eat. It's so hard getting him to walk up the hill outside our place during acorn season because he's so busy with his mouth hanging wide open as he sucks in acorn after acorn. He's a vacuum!
I've spent a good portion of the evening thumbing through recipes. I love casually reading recipes. I've been looking mostly at brownie recipes tonight. I need to make brownies for a gift. My special brownie pan had to be tossed as it had become overused. I've been trying to do without a brownie pan but my preference is for a designated pan for brownies. I might have to go replace it before making my next batch of brownies. It's driving me nuts not having one!
I will be heading to the Texas Tennis Open tomorrow night with my fiancé. I'm excited! The rain today stopped just in time for the tennis tourney tonight. Lucky! I decided on going tomorrow and also to the final which is on Friday night. Of course I can't miss the final! I already got my Texas Tennis Open visor out sitting on my table, it's ready to go! My sweet fiancé bought me a visor at last year's tourney. Don't worry folks I'll be stylin' as I sit out there in the sun! I checked the weather report...it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. No rain in the forecast for the foreseeable future. At that news Cody does a dance!
Acorns have started to fall! It is Simon's fave time of year when those start to drop down on his head! They aren't ripe yet but he doesn't care. He's all about eating things he technically shouldn't eat. It's so hard getting him to walk up the hill outside our place during acorn season because he's so busy with his mouth hanging wide open as he sucks in acorn after acorn. He's a vacuum!
I've spent a good portion of the evening thumbing through recipes. I love casually reading recipes. I've been looking mostly at brownie recipes tonight. I need to make brownies for a gift. My special brownie pan had to be tossed as it had become overused. I've been trying to do without a brownie pan but my preference is for a designated pan for brownies. I might have to go replace it before making my next batch of brownies. It's driving me nuts not having one!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Football and the Weekend!
Woo-hoo I have NFL Network! I knew I would love having it again! My previous cable company here in big D didn't offer NFL Network so I've been living without for 3 long years. It's been somewhat painful too! So glad I now have it especially since this season the NFL Network will have Thursday night games starting week 2. So for the entire season this year there will be Thursday night games as opposed to previous years where Thursday night games don't start until December(after college football ends). Typically college football has a feature game each Thursday night, this will be interesting to see the NFL and college football going head to head on the most popular TV night!
While tuning into a bit of the Cardinals game last night I couldn't help but notice all that lovely red! The background behind the goal post has black, red, and white. I had to take the opportunity to tease my fiancé about us having black, red, and white as our wedding colors. Oh and I threw in the suggestion of cardinal birds on the cake! He laughed it off with a simple reply that we have to include gold! Gold would of course represent the Cardinal's beak. Ha! Ha! Actually though I have come to realize in all my wedding colors research that black, red, and white is a fairly popular choice for 2012 weddings.
The Texas Tennis Open started yesterday. We likely won't make it to any matches until Monday. I'm not sure which days I'll end up going but my fiancé hopes to go every day of next week. The matches start late in the afternoon and go until 10 or 11 at night. The Tennis Open will be our nightly entertainment come the new week!
I think we've had more than our fair share of rain for August. Kind of odd that August has featured thunderstorms. The other night while my mom was still in town we had a super noisy storm that roared all night long. When I tried to take the pugs out one at a time in the rain. Each pug got to the bottom of the stairs looked around then decided to quickly run back upstairs. I guess neither of them had to go that bad to brave the storm! More rain due in tonight and tomorrow. The forecast calls for a real soaker! We'll see!
We recently realized we haven't watched a movie in about 3 weeks. Which is out of the ordinary for us! The Olympics and playing Kinect games when my mom was here took up most of our evenings. This weekend we will try to fit in a little movie watching!
While tuning into a bit of the Cardinals game last night I couldn't help but notice all that lovely red! The background behind the goal post has black, red, and white. I had to take the opportunity to tease my fiancé about us having black, red, and white as our wedding colors. Oh and I threw in the suggestion of cardinal birds on the cake! He laughed it off with a simple reply that we have to include gold! Gold would of course represent the Cardinal's beak. Ha! Ha! Actually though I have come to realize in all my wedding colors research that black, red, and white is a fairly popular choice for 2012 weddings.
The Texas Tennis Open started yesterday. We likely won't make it to any matches until Monday. I'm not sure which days I'll end up going but my fiancé hopes to go every day of next week. The matches start late in the afternoon and go until 10 or 11 at night. The Tennis Open will be our nightly entertainment come the new week!
I think we've had more than our fair share of rain for August. Kind of odd that August has featured thunderstorms. The other night while my mom was still in town we had a super noisy storm that roared all night long. When I tried to take the pugs out one at a time in the rain. Each pug got to the bottom of the stairs looked around then decided to quickly run back upstairs. I guess neither of them had to go that bad to brave the storm! More rain due in tonight and tomorrow. The forecast calls for a real soaker! We'll see!
We recently realized we haven't watched a movie in about 3 weeks. Which is out of the ordinary for us! The Olympics and playing Kinect games when my mom was here took up most of our evenings. This weekend we will try to fit in a little movie watching!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The Bridal Show!
This past Sunday I went to my first ever Bridal Show. It was held at the resort in which we will be getting married at. Perfect opportunity to also take the time to show my mom around the resort. We first went to the plaza where we will say our "I do's". Then we made our way to the ballroom. We just simply peeked inside the ballroom. That was important to me to see again since I'm still debating our color scheme.
After we went exploring a bit we then went into the exhibit hall where the Bridal Show was. I got a button to wear that says "Bride". Kind of fun wearing a button like that! Inside the Bridal Show there were booths after booths set up of different vendors services. Despite the fact that I have the cake bakery chosen already my mom and I still hit up the bakery booths that were giving out samples. In all we sampled 3 different cakes. One of the cakes we sampled was almost as big as a real slice of cake! The other 2 were more like a sample should be. Yummy!
My main mission while at the Bridal Show was checking out booths of different invitation businesses, florists, and bridal jewelry. Sadly there was only 1 invitation booth and no bridal jewelry. There were a few florists. We also collected some info on rehearsal dinner catering, decor ideas, and tuxedo info for my fiancé. Oh and we looked at a photographers book of a wedding which had a great color scheme demonstrated for a Christmas wedding. I actually held my camera phone up to those photographers pics to take a few pics of my own. Definitely helps me picture things when I can see a similar color scheme in action in another wedding.
Certainly a fun experience. I hope to go to another Bridal Show as my wedding date gets closer. That of course depends on how many more things we might need lined up, what type of vendors will be present, and when the next Show is. I would assume though that at some point in the Fall there will be another show of some kind.
P.S......I would like to point out that today is August 15th....exactly 4 months until our wedding!
After we went exploring a bit we then went into the exhibit hall where the Bridal Show was. I got a button to wear that says "Bride". Kind of fun wearing a button like that! Inside the Bridal Show there were booths after booths set up of different vendors services. Despite the fact that I have the cake bakery chosen already my mom and I still hit up the bakery booths that were giving out samples. In all we sampled 3 different cakes. One of the cakes we sampled was almost as big as a real slice of cake! The other 2 were more like a sample should be. Yummy!
My main mission while at the Bridal Show was checking out booths of different invitation businesses, florists, and bridal jewelry. Sadly there was only 1 invitation booth and no bridal jewelry. There were a few florists. We also collected some info on rehearsal dinner catering, decor ideas, and tuxedo info for my fiancé. Oh and we looked at a photographers book of a wedding which had a great color scheme demonstrated for a Christmas wedding. I actually held my camera phone up to those photographers pics to take a few pics of my own. Definitely helps me picture things when I can see a similar color scheme in action in another wedding.
Certainly a fun experience. I hope to go to another Bridal Show as my wedding date gets closer. That of course depends on how many more things we might need lined up, what type of vendors will be present, and when the next Show is. I would assume though that at some point in the Fall there will be another show of some kind.
P.S......I would like to point out that today is August 15th....exactly 4 months until our wedding!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)