Birthday Preparation

It's that great time of the year when I get to celebrate my husband! It's no secret I get more excited for other peoples birthdays than my own!  This is the first birthday that's come around for us since getting married.  Next Saturday is Brad's birthday. 

I have presented him with a list of possible menus for his birthday party I will host for him.  I think he's leaning towards a taco bar fiesta night!  Good choice if that is his final decision for his party!
Just this morning he made his final decision on the cake.  He's given me a bit of a challenge.  I like a challenge though!  He wants a chocolate cream cake.  I've heard of chocolate cream pie but not sure I've heard of chocolate cream cake.  He described what he was hoping for.  I now have to figure out how to best pull this one off.  I was thinking a chocolate cake and a cream cheese type of filling.  He was thinking yellow cake with cream filling and chocolate icing.  He was describing it as a chocolate éclair in cake form.  I'll figure this out.  A chocolate éclair will have to be my inspiration...how fitting since we will soon be visiting France!

Brad worked yesterday which means he gets this coming Friday off.  And thanks to the Fourth of July he will get Thursday and Friday off.  Sweet!  It will be like a mini-vacation at home for us.  I'm certainly looking forward to it.  I just have to make sure I work hard the next 3 days so I can enjoy the time he has off as well.

The Airplane Tickets

We are preparing for our REAL honeymoon or honeymoon part 2.  Yay!  Soon after we got engaged when thinking about honeymoon destinations London quickly came to mind.  But we didn't want to travel there at the time of year we got married.  Plus we wanted to be able to spend more time than what we could have after taking time off for the actual wedding events.  It is now time to take our true honeymoon.  Orlando was great but it was not meant in my mind as the real deal this will be the real deal.

I followed all the tips for purchasing plane tickets.  I have a friend that used to work for a major airline and she has quite a few tips for buying plane tickets.  I always follow her tips.  However, we were a little undecided with all the destinations we were going to in Europe.  So we purchased one-way tickets to London through American Airlines. Thinking we could continue looking around for decently priced one-way tickets back to Dallas from wherever else we decided to go.  London was the sure bet, we've always had London in our plan.  Plus going into London from Dallas means there's quite a few direct flights.  Trying to go deeper into Europe from Dallas means there's some stops along the way.

I spent some time one afternoon a couple Sundays ago looking for a return flight.  I searched all different airlines.  There were plenty of flights, problem was they were ridiculously priced.  I quickly realized though the higher prices were the American owned airlines.  Light bulb moment....that's when I started looking at foreign airlines.  I tried Air France, KLM, and British Airways.  While on the British Airways web site, simply for the purpose of cost comparison I did a search for roundtrip tickets from London to Dallas.  What popped up?  The flight out of Dallas we were already booked on through American Airlines.  I had to do a double take as I stared at my computer screen.  British Airways obviously works in conjunction with American Airlines and was selling tickets for American Airlines flights as well.  Guess how much British Airways was selling the tickets for?  Half price!  Yes, you read that correctly...half price.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I thought I had made a mistake.  No way could it be that cheap to go from Dallas to London on an American Airlines flight by way of buying the ticket through British Airways. 

I instantly recalled seeing in small print on our American Airlines tickets that international flights are refundable.  Domestic flights are usually not refundable unless you pay extra but international flights are refundable.  So guess what I did?  The next day after discovering the same flight was being sold for half price by British Airways I called and cancelled our flight through American Airlines then booked our roundtrip flight through British Airways.  Because of the discount we bought two tickets for London and coming home from London for the same amount we spent on only one ticket going through American Airlines.

As Brad said...it's like the car buying experience all over again.  American brands have jacked up their prices.  I highly encourage people to look around and look around some more when buying airline tickets.  The cheapest way for us ended up being the roundtrip tickets from London to Dallas, it means we'll visit Paris during our time in Europe then return to London by train before coming home.  That's a non-issue to us since we got such a significant savings from buying the roundtrip tickets from British Airways. The flight to London is on American Airlines and our return flight home is on British Airways.  Still can't believe the savings!  I'd love to give our money to American owned airlines but I'm not willing to give them thousands extra.  We literally saved more than $2000. 

Weeknight Movie Night!

This week we spent a weekday evening going to a movie.  We sometimes like to go out for a weekday movie night.  It's fun to do something different during the week every once in awhile.

We went to see the new Superman movie in 3D Imax.  The Imax is so much fun to see a movie.  Superman was great. They must have had a large budget because lots of things got destroyed!  They did a great job with it. Lots of action. Before arriving at the theatre I worried about all the flying in the movie and the fact that it was 3D Imax, I thought it might bother me, make me feel dizzy. However, I handled it just fine.  We saw Jim Carrey in A Christmas Carol at the 3D Imax a couple years ago, I had to shut my eyes a few times with the flying around that he did in that movie.  I think I'm much more used to 3D and the Imax experience now though.

Even though I hadn't seen any of the previous Superman's it wasn't a big deal.  This one is the story of how Superman came to be.  The focus is Superman's life from infant to his mid-30's.  I didn't miss out on knowledge of previous Superman movies.  It had some good people in it too.  Nice to see Amy Adams in a more meaningful movie role versus being in a fluff role like she's done in the past.  She played Lois Lane but previously starred in Confessions of a Shopaholic.  Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, and Russell Crowe are also in the new Superman.

Any way it was a nice movie night out.  I love going to movies.  But we are somewhat picky.  It's a bit pricey to go so we like to have a few recommendations from people before we actually spend our money to go see a particular movie.  We're much more likely to rent a movie and have "movie night" at home then go to a theatre.  Although I have recently racked up a few movie nights as winnings from different bets we've made with one another so I need to cash in on 3 movie nights out soon.   

Pug Tales (part 2)

This is the donut bed story.  Thanks to Cody we have started stock piling beds.  As I've mentioned numerous times before...Cody roughs up his bed or a toy or a blanket every morning.  Now when we see beds on sale we tend to buy them.  They go in the closet as back-up for when Cody goes through the current bed.  I try hard to keep him from doing his roughing up the bed routine but I have other household tasks each morning, I can't watch Cody every second.  It's gotten better.  I've gotten smarter about removing the beds as soon as I get the boys up for the day.  But he tends to still find time to rough something up.

Brad got the boys some donut beds.  They look exactly like delicious donuts.  Complete with frosting and sprinkles on top.  Super cute!  We left the old beds around mainly out of laziness as we weren't in a rush to take them out. It was funny to see which boy preferred which bed, an old bed or a new donut bed. Cody went for the new bed his new daddy gave him.  Simon was all about the old bed. 

That's our boys!  Cody loves getting a new toy or a new bed.  He seems so proud to get new things.  Proud to tote a new toy around when he gets one.  Meanwhile, Simon is wondering why the change?  The old bed was just broken in and comfy in his opinion.  Simon hung on to a ridiculously old stuffed gorilla for years and years.  I just recently threw it away.  It's always funny to me to see them display their personalities so readily. 

I am happy to report, Simon has moved on from the old bed and now uses the new donut bed.  But the old beds have been removed.  I'm not sure how long it would have taken him to try out the new bed had his old bed not come up missing.  We'll never know because I'm not about to have 2 boys and 4 beds in our living room at all times.  No way!  The change was made and Simon must deal with it!

Texas to the Front!

Does anyone remember when the Suns were good?  I remember about 5 years ago when Nash was awesome. Marion, Stoudemire, and Diaw were all still in Suns uniforms.  I remember a playoff series with the Spurs where Nash was bloodied by Spurs Robert Horry.  The Suns ended up losing that series because so many Suns players came off the bench to aid Nash when he was violated by Horry.  Anyone in AZ remember that game? Remember that series?

Well as I watched game 7 of this year's NBA Finals this past Thursday night I recalled that series between the Suns and Spurs. Over the years there's been many TX teams to stand in the way of AZ teams.

Now that TX is my HOME, I cheered for the Spurs all the way through the playoffs this year.  Since the Mavs didn't make it to the playoffs we focused our cheering on the Spurs in this household.  On Thursday night while game 7 was going I even received 2 texts, one from a friend and one from a cousin telling me they were rooting for the Spurs because of their TX link to me!  Those texts made me smile!

Well later on that night I thought to myself, "man, life sure has changed!".  Five years ago while watching and disliking the Spurs an ENORMOUS amount, I never would have believed that in the future I'd be rooting for them. Nor would I have believed I would care as much as I now do about all TX teams. 

I'm now a Cowboys fan.  A Mavs fan.  A Dallas Stars fan. A Rangers fan.  I love watching the Rangers in the playoffs, baseball can be quite intense I've realized.  Oh I'm still a Cardinals fan.  No getting the Cardinals fan out of me but my overall thought process towards AZ teams isn't what it once was.  Texas is in the front now!  ASU and the Cards are right up there with the TX teams but other AZ teams have taken a backseat.

Life sure has changed!  Moving to TX has proved to be a great decision, as I found my true heart's desire on day one here! As I type that line I grin from ear to ear!  Hi honey!

Pug Tales (part 1)

The other day was the quite the day for me as a pug mommie.  Believe me with two pugs there's rarely a dull moment.  One is usually up to something and the other is quick to follow. 

At one point in the day I looked over to notice Cody balling his eyes out.  I consoled him as best I could. No clue what he was crying about!

Later on we were all three heading out for a walk in the late afternoon. As we came off the elevator another dog was there with his owner waiting to board the elevator.  Simon immediately took his defensive stance as the other dog invaded his personal space.  So there I was trying to refocus Simon and keep him from taking down this other dog.  Lots of angry, "I told you this is my area so get out" type of barking was being exchanged between Simon and the other dog. As those two are exchanging non-pleasantries I notice Cody is balling his eyes out again.  What are you pugs doing to me today?  One is ready to do battle with another dog for invading his space and the other is crying like crazy.  What the heck!

Then once we got home from the walk I realized I needed to run a quick errand before the business closed for the day.  I went into the closet to get something before leaving, Cody followed.  I raced out the door.  Upon returning home, as I placed my key in the door I immediately heard Simon sounding off, as I entered I was greeted by Simon but I only heard a muffled bark from Cody.  No Cody in sight.  I began to call out his name.  Nothing!  No acknowledgement.  For some reason I quickly thought to go towards the closet, there he sat in the dark.  I felt bad for accidentally shutting him in the closet.  However, he wasn't completely shut in there.  The doors were slightly ajar, all he had to do was push against them.  But he's such a fearful little thing that he likely didn't think of that. Simon would have.  Simon would have busted through the thing in moments.  Miraculously Cody was not crying about being left in the closet.  He had cried two other times during the day so I'm surprised I didn't come home to a tear soaked Code-Man and a tear soaked carpet.  Ha-Ha!  At least being left in the closet while mommie leaves would be a valid reason to cry.   

Oh I love my boys!  Some days it's somewhat funny to sit back on the couch at the end of the day and recall all the puggie moments that played out.  Rarely a dull moment!   Two boys with major personality!

As you may have noticed this post was titled "Pug Tales (part 1)", I'll try to add more organized "Pug Tales" posts from time to time.  Posts that are equally about the two of them. 

Simmie Goes For A Ride

Today I took my Simmie to the vet.  It was his first ride in the new Pathfinder alone with mommie.  I was so worried about the boys messing up our new vehicle that I went out and bought a crate that stays in the cargo area.  I'm wondering why I didn't think to crate the boys sooner than now.  Not that there was anything wrong with their previous accommodations in the Xterra.  The Xterra was a bit more durable in ways.  Especially the cargo area. 

One thing Simon truly loved during his first ride was the tri-level climate control.  There's AC in the cargo area because of the possible third row you can pop up.  So he sat there good as gold in the crate I positioned next to the AC vent. 

He's such a tough guy in all regards except for when he goes to the groomers or the vet.  He's a baby.  He likes being held at the vet's office.  And he even likes socializing. Granted his socializing is likely in hopes that the person he's befriending will give him a treat.  But hey at least he's being social.  Simon is friendly but not like Cody.  Simon is more reserved and takes time to warm up to people.  He's friendly after you get to know him. Although he'll instantly befriend you if you have food.  No food....no Simmie! 

When he's at the vet though I think it's a nervous yet slightly curious vibe that runs through him.  He's being friendly in an effort to check everyone out.  As if he's trying to see who is the doctor? And he's likely trying to figure out why he is even there. I always make sure I tell the boys before I take them to the vet, however, I'm sure they're apprehensive about why they're there since they don't feel sick. Hence they act a little different than they do otherwise.

At least both of my boys are good at the vet.  Some dogs are psycho. Both of the pugs just grin and bare it, so to speak.  No big issue with either of them.  Two good boys!

Intruder Alert!

Well unfortunately my mom's time spent here wasn't completely without issue.  This past Thursday my mom and I went out to a mall in the Arlington area.  We were going to do some shopping, some browsing, get lunch, and maybe take in a movie.  Before heading out for the Arlington area I texted my husband that we were leaving for the day.  Based on what occurred later in the day I felt as though my cell phone had been hacked.  Or could someone had overheard our plans?

While we were out at the mall we decided to go to a movie.  We were sitting in the movie when my husband texted me to tell me I left our front door unlocked and slightly ajar.  He had dropped by our house on his lunch break.  I was shocked that the door was left unlocked.  I don't leave doors unlocked.  Next thing I know Brad texts me to tell me things are missing, our place has been broken in to.  My mom and I rushed out the exit and through the parking garage to head to my vehicle.  I wanted to get home fast so paying to drive on the tollway was the way we went.  Brad had the locks changed right away, he was waiting for us to arrive home.

The boys were unharmed but didn't scare the robbers away.  The boys are sectioned off in the spare bathroom and the intruders had closed the door to the bathroom, likely to try and muffle the noisy pugs.  I'm sure the boys were making a HUGE amount of noise but they were securely stuck behind a baby gate so there was no threat of being attacked by two dogs.  Darn it!  The boys were certainly freaked out in the hours following the robbery.

All my jewelry was taken.  All my wedding jewelry is gone except for the bracelet I wore that day. I of course had my wedding ring on so that was safe with me. The jewelry I'm down to is my wedding ring and a couple bracelets that were hidden along with the pair of earrings I was wearing that day. I had a special occasion set of earrings in a cute box in a drawer, the same drawer they practically cleaned out however they some how missed that small box. I still have those special occasion earrings Brad got me days before he asked me to marry him.  I wore those earrings the day he dropped down to one knee! I'm glad the robbers didn't see that box. Maybe they got startled and missed that little red box. Other stuff that was taken: money, Brad's change collection, my Galaxy Note, and my mom's Galaxy Note. They certainly had a mission.  They were looking for specific stuff. They were rather clean as well.  I'm sure they weren't in our home long because like I said, the boys were likely making a ruckus! 

I must admit I feel like someone has been watching us closely.  They likely know what cars are ours in the parking garage. They may even know our dogs are not a threat because they're pinned up while we're gone.  They likely had a good idea of my schedule too.  I used to think we were safer living on the top floor.  Now I'm not so sure, I'm thinking top floor living means there's less people around.

So now what?  I have to be even more aware of my surroundings. The dogs have received their ticket to freedom while we are gone.  No more pinning them up.  Someone tries to come in our home again...good luck, because they will meet Simon's teeth super quick and Cody will get them with his ear piercing whine. We are also considering a security alarm.  It's supposed to be a secure building we live in, you have to have a remote to even access the building however people can get around that by following someone else in.  I kind of think the robbers likely live here as well.  They probably know the building well.  So a security system of our own makes sense, can't depend on just the building security anymore....obviously!  I'm of course super bummed 97% of my jewelry was taken.  Brad is of course equally bummed about losing his large change collection and cash.  I felt quite angry and super uneasy about the fact that intruders had entered our home for the first few days afterwards.  However, we can't do anything about it now. What's done is done!  Time to move on to the next point!     

Mom's Birthday!

This past Tuesday was my mom's birthday.  She arrived to Dallas on Monday to celebrate her birthday week with us.  We did some errand running as soon as she arrived. I've been a little behind with my errands since I haven't had a car.  At least my mom doesn't mind running around town with me.

Since the mom arrived we've celebrated her bday by taking her out to Cheddar's.  I baked her a chocolate strawberry birthday cake. We've gotten in plenty of shopping/browsing at malls.  I've taken her to two different malls.  Now the weekend is here and she'll get to spend a typical relaxing weekend with the newlywed Vaughns.

Weekends around here are filled with games, maybe a movie, some basketball watching, pancakes, and plenty of relaxing.  Should be fun!  Plus it's Father's day on Sunday so we'll have some time with my in-laws thrown in as well.

Here's some pics from Mom's bday

Mom Arrives Monday!

My mom arrives tomorrow.  She will be here for an entire week.  We'll be celebrating her birthday on Tuesday.  I'm looking forward to her visit.  We don't have anything extra special planned at this point.  I used to drive myself crazy planning things to do when mom came to town.  Now I'm much more relaxed about it.  She'll simply come to town and be apart of daily life for a full week. We'll have some fun going to movies, dinners out, and of course shopping along with other girlie things like getting our nails done.  Overall it'll be low-key fun!

Lots of new things for her to see.  The new Pathfinder of course.  But also our new place.  She hasn't been here since we combined households and now all live under one roof. 

Should be a nice visit!  I'm also looking forward to baking her a birthday cake!  I must add that her grandsons are excited too!  They are well aware Grammie's coming.  I'll get up early to get them off to the groomers so they're clean for Grammie! 

To my mom.....let me be the first as always to say.....Welcome to Big D, see in baggage claim!

Drum Roll Please.....

It came down to the Murano or the Pathfinder.  After much debate, lots of research, and weeks of waiting.....I'm happy to say we are the proud new owners of a......Nissan.......Pathfinder.  It was the Pathfinder all along that excited me the most.  It excited me the most just viewing it online. 

About a month ago we test drove it.  Problem was the test drive didn't go so well. The same day we test drove the Pathfinder we also tried out a Murano.  We started negotiating for the Murano.  However, I couldn't fully commit to the Murano and we ended up walking away.  After the test drive of the Pathfinder didn't go so well and we walked away from the Murano, I started researching like crazy to try to find something even better. 

Back on Memorial Day weekend our visits to GMC and Ford were both busts.  That's when Nissan  became the clear choice. But which Nissan?....my "dream" Xterra we had recently found in our area, the Murano, or the Pathfinder?  The Xterra was eliminated 10 days ago after I thought about how rugged the ride quality is.

I went into today with an open mind!  I knew I liked the Murano, it was the "safe" pick.  But I still wanted to give the Pathfinder another chance.  As for Brad, when we arrived at the dealership he was mostly focused on the Pathfinder because he knew it was the vehicle I couldn't erase from my mind, plus I had some solid reasons to choose the Pathfinder over the Murano.  I wanted to test drive both again before making my final decision.  Well, we never got around to test driving the Murano for a second time.  I fell in love with one particular Pathfinder on the lot and it was a done deal, so to speak. This time the test drive went very well!  I was comfortable in it.  Brad was even more impressed with the Pathfinder this time around too.  I think we arrived at the dealership around 5:00 and we were on our way in our new Pathfinder by 9:30.  It wasn't a super speedy deal but progressed in decent time.

We're happy!  We've replaced the crunched Xterra with a red Pathfinder that features dark charcoal leather interior.  Most importantly it is our first big purchase together! Woo-hoo!  It's also the first vehicle I've had that's featured leather.  At the push of a button our new Pathfinder can warm or cool the leather seats depending on the temp outside.  No matter what degree outside the leather seats can be adjusted so it won't be an issue as to the seats being too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer. 

As it appears I've got a fave car brand! When looking for the Xterra 8 years ago I looked at a few other brands thought Nissan had more perks in their vehicles so I went back Nissan.  Once again, we looked around and both of us liked the quality of the Nissan better. Man, I'm spoiled!  LOL!  From a Pathfinder to an Xterra and back to a Pathfinder!    

Rolling Down the Road!

We have yet to purchase a new vehicle. Just too much going on, it wasn't the best time for us to attempt to negotiate a deal.  So this coming Friday is the big day!  Brad has this Friday off.  If we can't complete the deal by the end of Friday then Saturday for sure!  Either way by the end of this coming weekend we will have a new vehicle. It will happen this time!

There I was this past weekend blazing down the road in my husband's sports car.  Yes, folks, Brad has a sports car!  It's sweet!  Wait a second....if you happen to be married to me or my mother, stop reading this post!  Really! Just skip over it!

As I was saying there I was rolling down the road testing out the speed of his sports car.  It has some serious zip!  I was blasting Kid Rock music.  Not sure why but a lot of times when I'm driving his car Kid Rock music is on the radio.  Weird!  I even drove a freeway that I knew featured a high bridge, that was the true test of it's speed.  It was like my version of Fast And The Furious!  As I sped over the bridge enjoying being up high above the city the thought occurred to me....why not a sports car?....Do the pugs need a cargo area?  They can ride shotgun!  Ha-Ha! 

Just kidding folks....no sports car in my near future.  We will be purchasing a family-friendly vehicle.  One that can comfortably fit us, the pugs, and a baby seat in the future.