have a happy weekend!

I'm off to San Antonio with my mom, cousin and aunt for a girls' weekend!
May your weekends be happy & relaxing!

nostalgia {part 5}

Our first Fall together was nothing short of magical :) In September, we decided to go back to our "old stomping grounds" to see Baylor's opening game. We had so much fun re-visiting with friends and walking on the campus again. We stayed with my great friend Ashley and had a ball all weekend!


The ride home, however, topped the charts of my top 10 favorite memories with Ryan. We got caught in the worst traffic EVER on I-35. Literally, we were sitting in the same spot for about 3 hours. So what do you do? If you're us, you have a picture session.The pictures all started out very innocent...




...And then we got a little loopy from being so bored and confined.





....And then we got a LOT loopy.




Ryan even almost ate the steering wheel...

Seriously, the best time in traffic I've ever had.

At the end of September we went to the State Fair together. Ryan had never been!!! The weather was perfect, and we had such an amazing day together.









We spent some amazing weekends together.
Here's an exerpt from my blog on 10/6/06.

On Saturday morning, I woke up pretty early (9:15ish because I can't sleep in now that I'm an adult), and I was just watching tv with Scout in my pajamas... then all of a sudden I heard a knock on my door, which was weird because nobody comes over that early. Well I opened the door, and there Ryan was in his pajamas and glasses, holding a box of Krispe Kreme donuts and a Starbucks coffee for me. It was the greatest surprise!!! We spent all day together... we walked about 7 or 8 miles with Scout along the canals near my apartment, then grabbed lunch. Then Ryan put together the last two dining room table chairs, and we went patio furniture shopping. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time driving with the windows down, and looking at fun furniture and playing with pumpkins.

In October, we went back to Waco for Baylor's Homecoming!! Again, such a great time catching up with friends and hanging out with our fellow Bears.







By November, we were both pretty much a part of each other's families... Going to every family function together was such a blast, and it was really great to get to know his family so well.
Of course, he fit into my family perfectly.

We spent Thanksgiving with each other's families as well, and we had so much fun (and food)!




We spent the rest of that Fall doing what we do best... living life together.



coming up next, {part 6} our first Christmas, our first plane trip and *secrets*

nostalgia {part 4}

Well, we were official. And it was awesome! We told all of our friends and family, and they were like, "Uhhhh yeah..." Haha. I guess it wasn't as big of a newsflash as we thought :)

For my birthday, Ryan threw me a big party with ALL of my friends (college roommates, lifelong friends, high school friends, etc.) on the weekend before my birthday. It was SO much fun to have everyone I love in one spot! It was so sweet of him to arrange everything... Just one of the MANY ways he totally spoiled me!



My actual birthday was on a work day. Ugh. Don't you hate that!? But, Ryan made it as special as possible by meeting me for lunch and bringing me daisies. Amazing! He kept blowing me away with the way he treated me...

That night when I got home from work, I walked into my apartment to see this:

new hangers (I'd been complaining that I needed some), GORGEOUS flowers, a Starbucks gift card (the key to my heart) and homemade cupcakes he made that day! UMMM HI. I loved him.
We got all spiffed up and went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. It was awesome. This is us in front of my mom's house so she could take pictures :)


What an INCREDIBLE birthday. I couldn't believe that I deserved it!

The rest of the summer was spent going on dates and spending amazing quality time together. Yes, we were in love. I mean, we'd been friends for so long, and now here we were in a fairy tale!





coming up next, {part 5} our first fall together! homecoming, road trips, state fair and thanksgiving :)

nostalgia {part 3}

Thankfully, after only 2 months of job searching, I got a job at Neiman Marcus as an online freelance copywriter. It was such a cool first job to have, and I was really excited to get an apartment of my own and move out to Las Colinas for my first "big girl job". Ryan helped me move and set everything up... It was the first time I saw how great of a team we were!


This picture always makes me laugh. I wanted to be sneaky and take a picture of Ryan as he turned the corner, and he ended up surprising me by having that silly bandana over his face.


Before we knew it, it was July 4th, and I was going out to his family's lake house for their annual July 4th tradition. I'm not gonna lie... I was a little intimidated to meet his ENTIRE family, but that was by far the best July 4th ever. I had so many firsts... shooting fireworks, jetskiing, playing horseshoes... I called it "extreme dating" because I kept doing new things every time I hung out wit him!







That night, driving back from the lake house was when I finally said "Okay, I'm ready to be official." and he said "Really!?!" :)
We were official! And I felt like this:

But who were we kidding? We had been official for a LOT longer than that. Oh well :)

Coming up next, {part 4}, my birthday, and summer coming to a close.

weekend wrap-up...

I seriously can't say enough words about how great this weekend was. It has been such a long time since Ryan and I have had so much quality time together, and it was awesome!

Friday: Ryan got to leave work at 6pm which gave us our first friday night date in months! We got all spiffed up and went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. The wait was like an hour, but we needed the catch up time anyway. As always, the food was awesome, and we took our sweet time. After dinner we went to the dollar theater to see a movie (which is now TWO dollars on weekends! This economy..... Still, I'd rather pay 4 dollars than 20!) What a great night!

Saturday: The spa that's 5 minutes away was having a 1/2 off deal a couple weeks ago, so I decided to book a morning massage, manicure and pedicure for Saturday. Little did I know that it would be the best possible timing after having such an insane work week. The whole morning was just AMAZING, and I wish I didn't like it so much, but I do! Ryan is SUCH a sweet husband for letting me do that. It was just what the dr. ordered :)

I spent that afternoon doing housework and hanging out with my favorite boy dog.

Since I had the ingredients, I decided to make homemade chocolate chip cookies. I changed the recipe a little, and it totally made them better! Ryan was super happy to have a house smelling like cookies when he got home :)

Apparently I hadn't been in our backyard during daylight in about a week because I was shocked to see the leaves on our arbor! How pretty!





That night, Ryan and I went on ANOTHER date!!!! We tried out a new pizza place down the street, and overall we were impressed. We topped off the night with ice cream at Ben & Jerry's.
This is Ryan trying not to smile.


Sunday: We missed church and spent the day doing stuff around the house. It was SO nice to just hang out and have a low-key day. Ryan was just content to sit on the couch and watch football while I was content to read and/or blog :)

I made a pallet on the floor in our bedroom and someone just had to snuggle.


Again, just an incredible weekend. Couldn't have asked for anything better.
I hope y'all are enjoying my nostalgia posts! It's really fun to re-live those memories!

nostalgia {part 2}

The day after graduation, we both left Baylor for good and went back to our respective homes (my mom's in Dallas, his parents' in San Antonio). We didn't know what we were going to do that summer. It seemed like all signs were pointing towards a long-distance relationship which of course is not ideal.

Well, as luck (or God's will) would have it, Ryan's dad got a job in Allen, TX (about 25 minutes from my mom's house)! Since his dad needed to start his job right away, he moved into an apartment while Ryan's mom put their house for sale in San Antonio. So Ryan decided to move in to his dad's 1-bedroom apartment and try to get a job in Dallas...all while sleeping on the couch. That summer, we spent 99.9% of our free time together. It was amazing.

Ryan met both of my parents, and of course they loved him. He spent a lot of time with me at my mom's house, and he got to meet the dogs and cooked dinner for my mom and me one night (topping it off with coke floats of course).

Most guys would run away if they broke their almost-girlfriend's mom's kitchen cabinet...
Not this guy.

We hung out a lot at my dad's house, too.. Just enjoying the summer and trying to have fun before getting jobs :)

Ryan drove to San Antonio to be a groomsman in his friend Derek's wedding, so I flew out there to be his date. He picked me up from the airport, and I remember coming down the escalator and seeing him with purple & yellow daisies and a mocha frapuccino. That's when I fell in love. Haha, not really but I was blown away by how well he treated me.

Anyway, I got there just in time for the bachelor party which included shooting guns at a shooting range. Not only was I the only girl, but I had never shot a gun before. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience. To this day, Ryan says that's when he started falling in love with me because he loved that I could be a girly girl and then go out and shoot guns with his guy friends :)

The wedding that night was super fun... And we had a lot of fun with bubbles :)

That was the first weekend that I really got to know Ryan's family. His brother Peter was already giving me a hard time, so I knew that I fit in pretty well... :) We drove back to Allen with Ryan's dad, and had a great time on the 6-hour trip.

That whole summer, Ryan was constantly doing amazingly sweet things, and I had a little trouble accepting them. I was always such an independent person, so it was scary that I started to depend on him!

Coming up next, {part 3}, i get a job, move into my own apt., and we become official!

nablopomo nostalgia. {part 1}

So, I've had the best day... And the date night was amazing, too (more on that later). Just now, as I was reading with the dog on my lap, I decided to look at old pictures on my laptop... This isn't something new. Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with pictures, and I could spend an entire day looking through old pictures and reminiscing. Anyway-- as I was looking at old pictures of Ryan and me in the early days of our relationship, I realized that I never really blogged about those times. I had a blog back then (starting in 2004) but for whatever reason, I didn't post every day, nor did I post a lot of pictures.

So... since this is nablopomo month, I thought it would be cool to catch everyone up on the early days of US, before we were The McCradys. So if you're interested in learning how we came to be, look out for my nostalgia posts this month :)

To start, these are some pictures from literally the first WEEK we started casually dating. Although, I think we were kidding ourselves by calling it "casual". If you've read the "Our Story" on the left, then you know we'd been friends for a long time before actually dating. But somehow, some way, the day of Baylor graduation was a turning point for us. While we weren't "officially boyfriend/girlfriend" (hehe) until July 4th, we were definitely exclusively dating staring on graduation day.

Here are pictures from the evening of Graduation day. We went to our friends' graduation party and then went to the Lake Waco dam. This dam would eventually be known as "our place" that we'd revisit on our trips back to Waco.

.... up next... {part 2} our first summer together.

plans.

Ryan gets to leave work at 6pm tonight!! Which means we can act like a normal couple and go on a Friday night date! I can't wait!

After the week I've had at work, this date night is much needed. Also, I'm getting a massage, manicure & pedicure tomorrow morning, and that appointment could NOT have come at a better time! I'm ready for work to calm down and stop stressing me out!

Have a great weekend everyone!

hodgepodge

work has been so crazy for the last 3 weeks, and now my google reader is overwhelming me.
yes, that's right. i have more than 1,000 posts to read. i think i may just delete them all and start fresh. there's no way for me to catch up.

for the first time in my whole life, i won't get to see my mom for thanksgiving (she's driving 8 hours to surprise my grandfather). but, she didn't want me to miss out on the tradition, so she arranged for our favorite, amazing smoked turkey to be delivered to our house on the week of thanksgiving! i'm so excited! we'll still have a great time with my dad and ryan's family, but i'll also miss my mom! so this is the next best thing to having her here :)

i've been having "heart flutters" for a few weeks, and i don't mean the romantic kind. i think it's stress-related or just too much caffeine, but i'm going to see a doctor because it's a little scary! i get them once or twice a day, and it almost takes my breath away. weird!

whoever thought it would be a cool idea to make these count as TWO servings needs to be fired. seriously!!?? don't you just assume that since it's in an individual microwave bowl that it's one serving? oh no... it's not.

that's all the hodgepodge for today!
nothing like total randomness to complete your day :)

scout & the pumpkin.

weekend wrap-up...

Friday: After work I went straight to the mall and met up with Steph & Cathryn for a girls' shopping night. I got 2 new jackets at Macys and then we got dinner at Cheesecake Factory! It was just so great to sit and talk with the girls... I'd been MIA lately because work is absolutely insane! After dinner we went to Old Navy and got some more cute stuff! All in all, a great girls night.

Saturday (Halloween): I woke up early and picked up Mom to spend the day in Canton! The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we walked around ALLLL day long looking at cool antiques and really cute little shops.

I went there with one goal: to buy a Christmas wreath. Well... After searching all day, I didn't find one. But, I found a cute Halloween yard decoration! Yes, I bought something I could only use for a few hours, and then put away for next year. Oh well, it's super cute!

That night, I just stayed at home and passed out candy to trick-or-treaters! I thought we'd have a LOT of kids, but we only had about 25ish. Therefore, we have a LOT of leftover candy! Not a good thing! Scout was so annoying and barked every time someone knocked on the door. Ugh!

It was fun, though, to be in our house for our first Halloween :)

Sunday: We woke up and spent a wonderful morning with our Sunday School class. Then we came home and had Ryan's parents over for lunch and to watch the Cowboys game. It was so nice to enjoy the weather outside and each other's company!

Scout was spoiled by his grandma, as always :)

After they left, we just sat relaxed, did laundry and got ready for the week. It was SUCH an awesome weekend. Gosh, I love weekends!

nablopomo!

November is NaBloPoMo month! (National Blog Posting Month) for those of you who are unfamiliar. Sooooo the goal is to try and post once a day, or 30 times this month! I did it last year, and it was super fun! I hope I can catch up this year because I am insanely busy at work. We'll just have to see! :) Happy blogging!

happy early halloween!

Today has been a fun day at the office... We had our annual Halloween kiddie parade with all the kids from daycare. They were soooo cute in their costumes. Almost made me want one so I could dress them up in adorable costumes...but then I realized that's not a good reason to have a child. :) Someday!

looove the peacock costume!!!

"itsy bitsy spider"

my friend Caren's twins... MaKena & Nick!

I'm super excited about Halloween this year, because it'll be the first time for us to have Trick-or-Treaters at our house! Can't wait to finally meet our neighbors! :) Hope y'all have a safe and fun Halloween!

weekend wrap-up...fall edition!

My oh my, what weekend!!! The weather was gorgeous for the most part, and we spent the whole weekend doing classically fall-type stuff which was awesome! Enjoy this massive post filled with lots & lots of pictures...

Friday...
I just chilled out at home because I knew this weekend would be crazy. Also, I had a pretty sucky week for various reasons, so it was a great night to just relax. I spent a lot of time with wedding TV shows and the dog(s).

notice anything different about this picture?
that's right, we were taking care of my mom's dog, max, for a week!
he & scout are great friends.

some backyard pictures....

Saturday...
I woke up bright & early to go help at Habitat for Humanity with our class! We had a great turn out, the weather was nice and cool, and we got to serve!

the boys laid grass and planted trees...while the girls did gardening and painting!

michael, courtney & david

our director, Paul!

laura (climbing really high on that ladder), me & michael

angella, laura, michael & me (that's an awesome face i've got going on.)

the drive home was very muddy & painty.


but it was such a beautiful day! i hadn't been to the "city" in such a long time... so it was great to see it! i've gotten so used to suburbia i guess!

After getting cleaned up and eating some lunch, I met up with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Annalisa. She and I go waaaaaay back to 6th grade, and we were pretty much inseparable from 7th-12th grade. For some reason, life got in the way, and we lost touch after high school, so 7 years later we finally got to catch up!!!! We gave each other the Cliff's Notes versions of what has happened in our lives over the last 7 years, and we had a great time. Can't wait to do it again soon!

That afternoon, I got busy cleaning in preparation for the pumpkin carving party we were having the next day (more on that later). I was hard at work for about 5 hours, so by the time I saw this in the washer, I was DEFINITELY not in the mood.

ummmm yeah. that's scout's bed that i washed because it smelled bad. apparently the zipper opened in the washing machine, and thousands of pieces of foam erupted.

awesome.

Sunday...
Ryan and I went to church, then got lunch at Rudy's, then set out to buy some pumpkins!!! We went to Market Street near our house, and we were super surprised to see all the variations of pumpkins out there!

i got a little carried away and decided we needed at least 6...

ooooh Fairy Tale pumpkins!!!




and here's where they ended up!!



when we got home, i started setting up for the pumpkin carving party.. woohoo!
we also put down a HUUUUGE tarp on the carpet so that pumpkin seeds wouldn't go everywhere.







who's the creeper?!

finally the guests arrived, and we had a great time catching up!!!

allison, brandon and baby avaree barton!

the men gathered around the tv...where else?!

hard at work carving pumpkins.


i'm sorry. my husband is the cutest thing ever.



our amazing creation!


fun friends!!!

i would just like to point out that we said to do a "crazy picture", and nobody is doing it except my husband.

he. is. awesome.

yet another not-really-crazy picture.


courtney & chris!

david & amber!

us!

marc & kacie!

we were exhausted at the end of the night.
we were even too tired to use the tarp as a slip-n-slide....




All in all, a fabulous weekend.

Have a good week!

Ryan answers your questions!

The other half of the McCradys that y'all hardly get to hear from has finally answered all the questions you asked!! And... I may have added a few little comments here and there. So enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity!
Here he is...the husband, Ryan McCrady.

Jen's brother: what is the answer to the ultimate question... of life, the universe and everything?

That’s a big question, bro… Of course Jon would ask that question. Jeez, the first question off the bat. I think the answer for every question should be “my wife.” That way I’m safe. Her, and chocolate.

Lil’ Woman: How do you feel about blogging and about blog friends?
I really think that blogging is just an extension of social networking, which is cool. Also, I am continually impressed that so many people find our mundane life in any way interesting.

Allie-mac-fallie: what you know about the price of eggs in China...
Guess it just depends on how many hens you have laying them.
{note from jen: i cracked up when he said this. no idea why.}

Mom: What was the coolest car you ever got to test drive?
2009 Porsche.

Nicki: How often do you think back of those good ol' Reagan High School Marching Band days? :)
I don’t really, because it’s hard to express to non band nerds how band nerdism works.

Ashley: Favorite book or movie?
Book: Count of Monte Cristo.
Movie: depending on what day you ask me, it’s Van Wilder or Taken.
{note from jen: he has a man-crush on ryan reynolds.}

Short southern momma: where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Helping my wife through labor. (Jen is horrified that I’m saying that.) Realistically… living in this house with my wife, the dog, and hopefully a couple kiddos.

Nikki: 1. What do you love MOST about Jen?
I love that my wife is everything that I’m not. She’s smart, she’s organized, she’s a planner, and she puts up with all of my crap. And there’s a lot of that.

2. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
26.
{note from jen: apparently he's tried, and this is the actual number. i'm skeptical.}

Katie: 1. What did you want to be when you "grow up"?
A Toys R Us kid.

2. How did you know Jen was the one?
I knew my wife was the one because I could open up to her without feeling like I was being judged, and she was wiling to do new things like shoot guns and put up with my family. Not many people can do that.

katie+bret: Ryan, do you really love Scout?
Depends on what day you’re asking. Today, yes. However if you’re asking me last night when he was whining while we were trying to sleep, then no.

Lindsey: What is your fave part of being married?
Being able to wake up next to the person that I love most in the world.

Brown Girl: how do you like your steak cooked?
Medium.

Lyr: where do you see yourself in 10 years? How would you like life to pan out?
I would like to have a successful career with a wife who’s happy. Happy kids and a home that fits our needs.

Jen's dad: Did you really want a cat or did you use that as a bargaining tool to get an even bigger tv?
No I really did want a cat. But after seeing Scout with the kittens we babysat, we agreed that the dog couldn’t handle a permanent cat. Soooooo in the end, I may have used it as a bargaining tool. But I know that we can’t get a cat until the Immortal One passes on.
{note from jen: i knew it!!!!!!! and he refers to scout as the immortal one because he's positive he'll never die, and we'll never be able to get a cat or a big dog.}

Mandy: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I would go to Italy because I think the history there is fascinating, and to walk around that stuff would be really really awesome. Plus I love their food.

Becky: what is your favorite thing that Jen cooks for you and what is your LEAST favorite?
Favorite: Ryan’s Favorite Chicken (for obvious reasons).
Least: She doesn’t ever cook anything I don’t like.
{note from jen: good answer.}

And there you have it! Thanks for asking questions and involving him! I think he should blog more often, don't you!??! Have a happy weekend!

{he will kill me for posting this picture. oh well!}

autumn weekend wrap-up!

What gorgeous weather we had this weekend!!! This was definitely a classic Fall weekend, and we had a great time!

Friday
Ashley and I went over to Kristin's house to celebrate her birthday and help her decorate some autumn cupcakes for a big party! We had a great time catching up and being creative :) And the cupcakes turned out super cute! Kristin has taken up cake decorating as a new hobby, and she has all of the really cool tools and utensils to be legit!







Saturday
This was another Saturday of doing nothing. I kinda felt bad for staying in all day since the weather was so gorgeous out, but I just slept in, hung out around the house, and bummed around with the dog. This is what Scout did all day:


I also realized that we need a new power cord for our Macbook Pro. Yikes.

That night Ryan and I went to Outback for a dinner date. The food was great, but the company was better :)

Sunday
We went to church, and then went to the nature preserve for lunch with a few couples from our bible fellowship class. The weather was GORGEOUS!!

Here's Ryan with our teachers, Paul & Robin, and their daughter Courtney. Such awesome people.

After lunch, Ryan and I just walked around the preserve and took lots of pictures. It was just so nice outside, and it was really great to stroll around with each other.




I know these next 2 pictures are basically the same, but I couldn't choose.


After that, we came home and did a lot of yardwork and cleaning. Ryan and I yanked up a garbage bag full of weeds from our lawn (awesome.) and he mowed the grass while I deep cleaned our house and did a lotttt of laundry. It was a super productive day that left us exhausted. This is what Scout did with the newly washed towels.

He has a tough life.

have a happy fall weekend!

From our little pumpkin.

"have a six flags day."

Ryan and I decided to take the day off and go to Six Flags last weekend! We should have been mowing the lawn and doing multiple loads of laundry, but we said let's do something fun today! :) So we got bundled up (it was in the low 60s and cloudy) and drove the 45 minutes to one of my favorite places in the world. The rides were fun...A couple of our favorites weren't working which was a bit of a let down, but we got to walk on to about half of the other rides we went on! It wasn't crowded at all!

After several hours, it started to rain... So we went and got milk shakes & fries at Johnny Rockets and sat for an hour looking out the windows and people watching :)

Since we didn't want to ride any rides in the rain, we thought that would be a good time for Ryan to get his beloved Dip-n-Dots :) We huddled under an awning and I took pictures of him eating.


The rain wasn't letting up, and we had pretty much ridden all the rides we were hoping to, so on our way out I got my all-time-favorite park food: Funnel Cake. I justified eating this because we had walked for about 6 hours that day. Pretty much evens itself out, right?!??

Hot & fresh out of the oil. Incredible.

It's funny because looking back on this day, the highlight for me wasn't riding all the fun rides...It was walking hand-in-hand in the rain with the love of my life and huddling under awnings. When I asked Ryan what his highlight was, he said that it was the toothless guy sitting behind us on the Runaway Mine Train making random off-beat comments. I guess girls & guys have different memories. :)

P.S. Ryan is going to answer the questions you've asked!!
WOOHOO! Thanks for joining in on the fun!

one hundred.

Today is a big day for this little-ol-blog. We have 100 followers!

I certainly didn't start out blogging for the purpose of getting "followers" or a bunch of comments, but it sure is nice to know that you all care about our lives!

Since it's a fun milestone,
I think we should do something fun to celebrate.
Don't you think?
Here's the deal. I've been trying to get Ryan to write a blog post for months now.
He's only written two!! See them here & here.

So I think to celebrate this occasion, he should write a blog post & say hi to everyone! But, the thing is, I know the first question he'll ask is "What on Earth am I going to blog about?!?!"

So that's where y'all come in.
Would ALL of you readers write one silly question for Ryan to answer? It can be about anything!!! I don't care. It doesn't even have to be silly. It can be whatever you want. SO THEN, when he asks "What on Earth am I going to blog about?!?!" I'll be able to answer with, "Well, I have about a hundred ideas!"

So here's your fun activity:
Please and thank you!!!

weekend wrap-up.

This weekend consisted of sleeping with the windows open, rainy days, enjoying hot tubs, relaxing for hours and major major organization. Couldn't really get much better!!!

On Friday, we got a DVR and cable installed!! Woohoo!!! It is so nice having all of our channels back! That night, I met Steph & Cathryn at the Westin Stonebriar for a girls' night. We hung out in the room in our PJs and ate chips & queso (I tried to resist, but it was impossible) while we watched Scoop. Not our favorite movie but we had a fun time nonetheless. Later we went down to the hotel's hot tub and just talked and caught up. It was a fun night of relaxing with my best gals. (Didn't get a picture, but this is a favorite from last year.)

On Saturday morning, I woke up 12 hours after I'd gone to bed. WOW. 12 hours of sleep! I'd like to say that I did a lot that day, but in all honesty I laid around in my pajamas with the dog all day long. Literally. All. Day. Long. I just watched wedding shows on TLC.

That night I met some friends at Saturday night church and listened to a great sermon about prayer. After church we went to McAlisters with the Hilstroms and our teachers, the Grays. It was so fun!!

On Sunday, we went to bible fellowship class and it was announced that we are the new Prayer Coordinators for our class! And, I got to do one of my favorite things...I created a class BLOG, and I'm having so much fun updating it! :) After class, Ryan & I went to McAlisters AGAIN because nothing else sounded good for lunch! We came home and immediately got to work on organizing our garage. We hadn't done anything to it since we moved in 3.5 months ago, and it was in major need of some TLC.



We spent a few hours throwing stuff away, putting stuff into the attic and organizing everything in the garage. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing the guest bedroom closets because they were full of stuff we never use. It was an ALL DAY event, and I was soooo tired, but I'm so happy I did it. Now, we have a garage full of stuff to sell at a garage sale, and all of our closets are practically empty & organized! Woohoo!!


Next on the list is tackling our "junk room" filled with wedding gifts, and, well, junk....


Since we were both so tired from our "Fall Cleaning" day, we decided to hop in our hot tub for the first time! It was chilly and lightly raining outside, and the hot tub was absolutely perfect! We had a great time, and it was the perfect way to end the day.

I still haven't worked out yet. I was supposed to start on October 1st. I don't know what my issue is. I know that once I get started, I'll be fine, but I haven't worked out since April, and for some reason I'm procrastinating!! GRR!

the big weight update.

So as y'all know, I'm trying to get back in shape and lose the 20 pounds I've gained since being married. I was doing SO well the first 3 weeks, and then I hit a point where I was sick and tired of "health food", and all I wanted was a muffin.

Well, I didn't give in to the muffin, but I stopped tracking what I ate, and in turn I gained .4 pounds last week. Not a huge deal but my whole GOAL here is to LOSE weight. I've lost about 5 pounds total. So this week I'm back on track... I'm going to write everything down, I'm not going to use my flex points unless I absolutely HAVE to, and I'm going to start working out again.

Even though I dislike this girl with a passion, she kicks my butt.
So I'll start the 30-day Shred DVD again starting today.
But to spice things up, I'm throwing these 2 workout DVDs into the mix.
Anybody tried them?
I read some AMAZING reviews on Amazon, so I figured it's worth a shot. Do y'all have any other DVDs that you'd recommend for someone like me!? :)
I hate working out. So much. But it's pretty essential if I want to get in shape for the wedding and week in Florida in January!

Oh, and do y'all have any healthy recipes I could try?
I've been in a chicken rut.

people are good.

This morning was just like any morning... I was running late for work, but I pulled into the drive-thru lane at Starbucks for my morning latte (I've been using a gift card from Dad). It was taking forever but I was already trapped in the lane with everyone else, and I'd already ordered so I just sat there looking at the clock and thinking about how late I was going to be.

When it was finally my turn to drive up and pay for my coffee, the two people in the window smiled at me and a lady said, "It's your lucky day!" I asked why, and she said that the person ahead of me in line had already paid for my drink. I was so shocked and grateful, and I asked, "Why did he do that?" They said that he does that once a week for someone, and it's the highlight of their morning to be able to see the reaction of the recipient.

I left there thinking that that is the COOLEST thing ever. I'm going to start doing that. If it totally made my morning (and I have a gift card!) then I'm sure it would really make someone's day who's a little less blessed than I am. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me that people are good.

P.S. It was kind of awkward because I ended up at a light right next to the man who paid for my drink, and I didn't know whether to wave like an idiot with my latte or just let him be the anonymous man.
I chose the latter.

VACATION.

So, we're going to Sanibel Island, Florida for Ashley's wedding festivities at the end of January... Well Ryan & I decided that we'll stay for a few more days and make a vacation out of it! We are SO excited. We haven't been on a real vacation since our honeymoon (March 2008), so this is MUCH needed!

Quick question though. Have y'all been to Florida in January/February? Was the weather warm enough to really enjoy the beach? According to their averages, the weather is usually 65-75 degrees during that time of year. So I'm thinking that may be too cold to enjoy the ocean, but we could certainly relax in a heated pool right? And vacation is vacation. We're super pumped :)

hodgepodge

• A first for Texas weather...it actually FELT like Fall on the first day of Fall! What??! We usually continue having high 80-degree weather up until November, but this year God thought it would be nice to humor us and give us a dose of real autumn weather. Yay for 55-degree mornings and 75-degree days! I've been wearing scarves and drinking my lattes in the best mood :)

• I have completed 2 weeks of Weight Watchers, and I've officially lost 6 pounds! Not too shabby! My goal is just to lose the 20 pounds that I gained since I got married so that I can fit into the other half of my closet! Can I please get this waist & skinny arms back? Thanks.
• Speaking of Weight Watchers, I looked up (just for fun) Sprinkles cupcakes to see what the points value is for my favorite -- Red Velvet. Ummm. One red velvet cupcake is 12 points. I am allotted 23 points a day. Goodbye my love.
• I've been buying all of my fruits & vegetables for the week on Sundays and putting them in little snack bags so that I can just grab them in the mornings for work. One of my daily vegetables is celery. Does anyone realize that there is NO quiet way to eat celery? My poor friend Nikki gets to hear me chomping down every afternoon.
• Ashley & Ellory set a date for their wedding! January 30, 2010! Which is also my dad's birthday! :) They will be having a destination wedding in Fort Meyers, Florida, and I can't wait! Ashley, Kristin and I are going shopping for her wedding dress this weekend and having a slumber party at my house! Yay for girls days!
• The State Fair of Texas opens this weekend, and I have SUCH an urge to go! We skipped last year, and I'm really feeling the need for a good ferris wheel ride! :)
• A couple days ago, I went to Subway for lunch, and the guys behind the counter who were making my sandwich were staring at me. My first thought was that there was something on my face....or maybe I just looked good that day :) Well, finally one of the guys asked, "Is that your real hair color?" I told a little white lie and said "Yes" because I didn't want to over share that my natural hair color is just a blander, blah-er version of this so I get highlights every couple months. And then they said "Wow, it is like REALLY REALLY blonde. Like BLEACH blonde." So then I got all self conscious that I have hair that's abnormally blonde, so naturally, I called Steph and was reassured that it was probably just the lighting in there and I do NOT have crazy blonde hair. Anyway, weird moment of the day. Thank goodness for best friends.
• P.S. Can I get married to Ryan again? I'm hankering for some good wedding planning, and I'd like to wear this dress.

3 years ago today

I've been perusing some posts from my old (pre-marriage) blog...I've had that blog since 2004, and It's super fun to look back and reminisce on my college days. Anyway, I found this post about a great day exactly 3 years ago. Enjoy! (P.S. Check out Ryan's sideburns!)

Today's been one of the best days ever. Early early this morning, Ryan and I went to the Plano balloon festival, and we had a great time. Ryan had never been to one before, so he had fun. So did Scout... he found a lot of fun dogs (and ferrets) to bark at. After that, we got lunch at Jason's Deli, and then went on a long walk with Scout. The weather was about 75 degrees, and so we decided to walk along the canals near my apartment. Las Colinas has all these gorgeous canals with bridges and walking trails. There's trees everywhere, ducks, turtles, and little tunnels to walk through. We even relaxed and layed down on one of the bridges, which was really relaxing until Scout found a dalmation to bark at... All in all, I think we probably walked about 5 miles, and it was BEAUTIFUL outside. Then we ended up getting Sonic drinks and watching movies. It's day's like these that I'm so happy to be alive, and I'm so thankful for all of the amazing things God has given me.

Oh, and yay for a spontaneous girls day with Steph & Kristin! Nothing's better than shopping, Starbucks, manicures and pedicures :)

weekend wrap-up + happy birthday mom!

First off, I am now a hostessing machine. I absolutely LOVE having people over to our house now that it's all decorated! Secondly, I am quickly becoming a Fall-Decor Addict. Or an "FDA". I can't stop myself from buying pumpkin decorations. It's really a sick disease I think. Our house is already very warm-toned with reds, browns, tans, so fall stuff just looks awesome with it. I can't help it.

Anyway..... This weekend was fun and full!

::Friday::
As I was on my way home from work, Ryan called and asked if I could come to his work to pick up 2 six-week-old kittens from one of his coworkers because we were going to be kitten-sitting this weekend. Ummm yes. So I went and picked up the most adorable kitties named Luna & Samantha. I was a tad worried that Scout would freak out. And freak out he DID. Wowzer. Definitely clarified that we can't have cats for a lonnnnnng time.


We kept the girls in our spare bedroom which we lovingly call the "junk room" right now. Scout knew that they were in there, so he spent most of the evening pawing at their door and barking and whining. Yikes. The kittens were just fine though, and they've been the easiest pets ever! We let them explore around the house for a little while...Scout was outside and acting like we'd beaten him or something...



That night, another foreign object was introduced to our house.

Ryan's 55" LCD TV. He was like a giddy little boy. :) We christened it by snuggling up & watching a movie before calling it a night. I'm glad he was so happy to have it. I had been feeling guilty about not getting him the kitten he wanted for his birthday, so now I feel better!

::Saturday::
I went to get my hair done, and then I met Mom for lunch at Panera! After lunch we did a little shopping and then saw "Love Happens". It was really cute.
That night I met up with Courtney at Saturday night church and then we went to the Shane & Shane concert!!! These guys were amaaaaaaazing.
Such a wonderful concert and of course a great girls night with Court!! I just love her. We've only known each other for a little over a year, but it feels like I've known her forever!


::Sunday::
Ryan and I went to church, and our friend Matt (Courtney's husband) announced to everyone that she's pregnant!!! I just about FLIPPED out because I had spent the whole evening with her, and she didn't say a word!!!! She wanted to wait until he told our whole class, and I'm sure she was dying that night but it was just hilarious. I think I'm still in shock about it! :) They are going to be the BEST parents though, and I'm so excited for them.
That afternoon Ryan and I got the house ready for Mom's birthday party. Ryan did all the yardwork while I went to the grocery store and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned! We're a great team :) Everyone came over at 7, and we ended up having about 20 people there to celebrate! The men all gathered around the new TV and watched the Cowboys game while the women chatted of course. It was such a great night, and I think Mom felt really loved.











Notice the "25"...We reversed the numbers to make her feel better :)





After everyone left, we were exhausted. It wasn't a very relaxing weekend, but it was so great. We still have the kittens, and I don't want to give them back!! I'm sure Scout would be okay with that though... Have a great week!

two things.

1. I hate it when I open a can of yogurt and it splatters all over me.
2. I hate it when I run smack into Ryan's dresser at 6:30 in the morning, in the dark, thus stubbing my toe, screaming and waking my husband up.

These things may or may not have happened this morning.

hodgepodge

• My cousin Stephani got professional pictures of her daughter Bailey, and I just can't get over how beautiful she is!!! Probably helps that she came from Barbie & Ken :)
• I've been on a reading kick since the Summer. I think it has something to do with having 10 channels and no DVR. I read these 4 books in about 2 weeks and loved them! Easy, simple reads!
  
  

• Remember when I gave Ryan the kitten coupon for his birthday? Well due to his worries that Scout might eat it and that we're not home a lot to spend time with it, he has decided to wait on the kitten for a few years. Maybe after we have kids. Instead, he wants a 55" LCD TV. Isn't it amazing how a man's mind works? His reasoning is that if we can get this TV, then we can move the "smaller one" (40 inch) into the bedroom "so I can watch movies in bed". Well, twist my arm. He's picking it up on Friday. I love a good compromise.

• This Sunday we're hosting a birthday party for my mom! We'll have about 20 people over to the house--thank goodness it's finally decorated and situated! :) It'll be a fun time of watching the Cowboys game (good thing we'll have that new big TV!) and catching up with friends & family.

• Yesterday we celebrated being married for exactly 1 and a half years!
  AND we haven't killed each other yet! Double bonus! :)
  

Happy Wednesday!

a really good weekend.

Those of you who live in Texas know that it has been raining non-stop since Friday, and I'm actually LOVING it! The weather has been so much cooler here, and our yard is totally thriving because of it!

On Saturday, I had the BEST day. And I spent it totally alone, which is very unlike me. I woke up fairly early considering it was my one day to sleep in, and I decided to be productive. It was still raining outside, which for some reason made me super happy and relaxed. I went to the grocery store (got a latte inside), and spent 2 hours just totally enjoying myself at Kroger! It wasn't so much fun, however, to unload our month's supply of groceries by myself in the pouring rain. Although, I had nowhere to be, so I didn't mind it as much as I would have otherwise.

After I unloaded all the groceries into our kitchen, I did a few loads of laundry and relaxed with Scout. He was a big help.




Then I went out for no other reason than to shop for fall-ish stuff. I went to Target and found a cute rug and a pumpkin candle...


Then I went to Hobby Lobby and totally STOCKED UP on cute fall decorations!!! I had a gift card, too, so I only ended up spending like $16 there, and I got a LOT of stuff.







I also bought a cool hook thing to put in our closet for all my necklaces & scarves. It totally helped!!

Then I made a trip to Home Depot and bought some potted flowers to make our front yard look more festive for the fall! I LOVE the colors! Here's a few pictures of our front yard...



All around, a great afternoon!! That night when Ryan got home from work, we went on a date to Texas Roadhouse! This was a special treat since I've just started Weight Watchers, and I had enough points left in the day for one of their famous rolls, salmon and veggies!! :)

We had such a great time...

On Sunday morning (still raining) we went to church, and enjoyed a great lesson from Matt on Psalm 19. That afternoon I caught up on The Office Season 5 (woohoo! new season starting on Thursday!) while Ryan watched football. Then he helped me clean the house for our care group get-together. He actually doesn't mind vacuuming--I despise it--so he did the whole house as well as some yardwork! Who's a lucky wife?!?
He was so cute because he'd get agitated any time I'd walk over where he'd just vacuumed...



Last night's care group dinner was a success! We had just picked up a huge platter of Chick Fil A nuggets, and everyone else brought sides. We had a great time in fellowship and playing Apples to Apples together! Allison, a girl in our group, couldn't be there because she's going into labor any day now! Say a prayer for her!

Anyway, had a GREAT weekend, and I'm so happy it's FALL!!! (Well, in 9 days technically...)

wife of the year.

• i haven't cooked dinner for the two of us in over 2 weeks. {but, we've had leftovers from all of our meals with family, friends, etc. AND i'm on weight watchers now which means we basically can't eat anything the same anymore.} excuses. excuses.
• there is a HUGE pile of clean laundry that needs to be hung up, and it's growing by the day. the longer i wait to do it, the less i want to.
• i spent hours cleaning the whole house before karen got here, and yet i somehow "forgot" to clean our bedroom. because honestly, it's just beyond help right now.
• when i get home from work, i immediately change into my pajamas (not very flattering ones) and either read or watch netflix until ryan gets home. yeah, definitely haven't been one of "those" wives who get all dolled up for their husband's return and have dinner waiting on the table. he says he doesn't mind though. :)
  
• and lastly, this morning i ran out of my floral-smelling deoderant when i was already running late, so i grabbed ryan's old spice in a rush.
  
• so now i smell like a man.
  

just keepin' it real.
love,
wife of the year