Wedding Idea

Steve and I went to a wedding this weekend and they had a really good idea for decorations. When we got our invitiation they requested that a wedding picture from our wedding be sent to them so they could display it along pictures from other married couples that would be in attendance. When we got there they had picture boards that were covered in fabric and ribbons set up on a table with the pictures placed on them. It was pretty and it made me think of different ways you could do this.

I think the most romantic way would be to put the pictures in different frames and place them on a table with a bunch of candles and rose petals or table settings. You could even use plastic risers to make them different hieghts. Maybe adding small placeholders describing the couple and when the wedding was.

I was also thinking that you could get some pretty ribbon, or string if the wedding is more casual, and hang the pictures from it with some cute clothes pins. You could place them on a few different walls. Not sure how you could add names and dates to this, I need to think on it a bit.

This would be a great idea for wedding anniversaries as well only using wedding photos of the couple and their kids/grankids.

I thought this was a sweet idea and wanted to pass it on for people who may be planning one of these types of events.

Oh! Here is what Steve and I sent in to be displayed:







We weren't sure what type of photo she was looking for and I know I would have like some that weren't super traditional. She ended up using all 3 because not at lot of people participated.

Tumbling in a bus

This weekend was my niece Sydney's 4th birthday. 



Isn't she cute?  For the occasion, Steve and I, along with his mom, drove down to Corpus Christi so we could attend her birthday party.  When we got there Friday, as usual, the girls (Sydney has an older sister named Emily) were acting very shy and did not speak to us much.  I hate that we don't see them much because it always takes a day or so for them to open up to us.  Saturday, while we were preparing the house for the party they came around.  Sydney was really excited about her party and kept asking me when the Tumblebus would get there.  I kept asking the girls what the Tumblebus was because I could not fathom what it could possibly be.  I couldn't imagine a school bus holding gymnastic equipment and have enough room for kids to use the equipment.  A few kids started showing up and finally the bus arrived.  The party was on.  The kids ran inside and I followed so I could check this thing out.  Turns out it is perfect for kids 3-6 years old.  They started on the right hand side of the bus.  They would flip on the rings then run to the wall and climb up it.  On the other side of the wall was a trampoline for them to jump on then the would cross to the left side of the bus where they would swing from bar to bar on the monkey bars and then slide down the slide.  Once they did the slide they had their choice of hopscotch or a balance beam and then it would start all over again.   I was amazed.

The party lasted 2 hours but the bus was only there for an hour.  The people that owned it live across the street from my sister-in-law and said that once they were down with their other party they would bring it back and park it in their driveway.  Once it was back our nieces and the neighborhood kids played in that thing until the sun went down.  Sydney didn't even care about any of her presents!  That night we just hung out.

 

The next morning the girls were a little cranky from having such an eventful day Saturday so it was back to not really talking to us.  As we were leaving we were trying to get hugs from them.  Emily hugged us without much of a fight but Syd wasn't giving Steve or his mom one for anything.  When I walked over to where she lying on the couch and bent down she reached up and grabbed me around the neck and squeezed.  That's my girl!!  She totally made my weekend with that hug.

Trying it out

I am trying out the new feature on Blogger that lets you e-mail posts to your blog. Forgive me if it comes out weird. Two things that I think will be good about this feature:

1. When I am posting at work it will look like I am actually working
2. Spell check will always be on

So another birthday has come and gone. Nothing major happened but I think a good time was had by all. Tuesday night Steph, Jarrod, Carrie, and Matt came to the house for some BBQ. We made fajitas and sausage. It was delicious! Steph provided the cake - chocolate cake with cookies and cream icing with vanilla ice cream on the side. YU-UM!!! Wednesday night my PPD friends treated me to happy hour at Baby A's. I was pretty toasty by the end of the night and woke up Thursday (my actual birthday) to my first hang over ever, yes I am that lame. It was my birthday present to myself. I pretty much felt like I was going to vomit all day and greasy pizza at lunch didn't help. Steve had made us reservations at III Forks but we had to cancel because there was no way I was going to be able to eat. Instead, we went shopping for our niece's birthday present.

This weekend we are headed to Corpus for Sydney's birthday party. She is turning 4 and they have rented a gymnastics bus. I don't really know what it is but she and her sister are waaaaay excited about it. I'll try to get some good pictures to show y'all. Hope everyone else has a fabulous weekend!

Update: This worked but it had the confidentiality statement at the bottom that goes with all of my e-mails so I had delete the post and re-post it.

We finally finished the yard! Yay!!

Friday I went to Lowes and got the rest of the flowers and got some for the backyard too. A couple of days ago Elaine would not stop barking no matter how much Steve told her to stop. He gave up and brought her inside and put her in her kennel. The next morning when he let her and Gizmo out he found the hibiscus plant that I had gotten for the deck had been knocked over and eaten. We are thinking that Elaine was barking at some critter and keeping it off the deck. When he brought her inside, the animal must have gotten on the deck and eaten my plant. I was really upset because 1) it was kinda expensive and 2) it had 5 blooms on it that were about to come out. I bought a huge terra cotta pot to put it in so that it can’t be knocked over anymore and that will hopefully keep this from happening again. After repotting the hibiscus, I planted a rose bush next to the deck and a jasmine bush in the back corner of the yard. I am super excited about the jasmine. Once it blooms it should make the backyard smell really nice! After working on the backyard I moved to the front. I only got through planting the geraniums before the sun went down.

Saturday morning Steve and I got up early and got back on it. I finished planting the rest of the begonias, spread the left over dirt and then spread the mulch. Steve collected a bunch of stones while the house was being built. We used them as decorations in the flower bed. After we were done it seemed like something was missing; we decided that a birdbath would look good and some solar lawn lights. Off to Wal-mart, Lowes and Home Depot again! We got the birdbath from Home Depot and just one light from Wal-mart so we could see how it looked before we decided on them. Here is finished product:



The begonias are the ones in the front with no flowers. We had to prune them right away because they were wilting from sitting in the garage for so long before being planted. They should come back pretty quickly though. Other than that I am really happy with the finished product and so long as everything lives it was totally worth all the work!

Owning a home is hard

I have been working in the yard for the past 3 days and am so tired! We are re-doing the landscaping out front. It is times like these that I think maybe our apartment wasn't so bad after all.

Friday I had the afternoon off so I decided that I would get a jump start on things and get all of the flowers. I went to Lowes and got Knock-Out Rose bushes and Begonias in various shades of pink along with some lawn edging to keep the grass from growing into the flowerbed. As I was looking around I saw that the Hibiscus trees were on sale so I got one of those for the deck. I also found some window boxes that could be hung on the railing of the deck so I got those and some Annuals (Feather is what their tag said) in a bunch of different colors to go in the boxes. I was so excited about the plants for the deck that I started working on those as soon as I got home. While I was working I realized that I didn’t have enough potting soil so I ran up to Home Depot and got some more. While I was there I found some super cute pillows too. The deck is really starting to look fun!





Saturday we woke up later than we wanted to so we tired to hurry through the last few errands we need to run before getting to work. We let the grass grow way too far into the flowerbed that the builders created so we went bought an extension to Steve's weedeater that would make it a tiller and then went to Geo Growers for some organic soil. We got home around noon and got busy. First we pulled some bushes from the flowerbed that the builder put in. We decided to pull the ugly bushes that were around our utility box and put these ones in. Then, while Steve was tilling the flowerbed I was moving some Lillies that have really sprouted away to each side of the garage. When I first planted them, there were only 3 flowers so I put them on the left side of the garage; now I have over 10 so I moved some to the right side of the garage to even things out. As Steve was finishing his first pass of tilling, the tiller stopped working. He had hit a piece of brick buried in the soil and it had logged itself in-between the blades and we think that caused the gears to burn out. Ugh! We had to pull the rest of the grass by hand. This took the rest of the day. Around 6 we started getting really tired so we planted the rose bushes because they seemed to be drooping, cleaned up all of our tools and called it a day.

Sunday morning we got up at 8 and head back outside. It was freezing!!! I continued to pull grass while Steve started digging the trench for the lawn edging. At about 10 I was an icicle so I came inside and made us breakfast. Steve finished the edging and then came in as well. After breakfast we read the paper and got ready for Shawna and Oliver’s wedding reception. It was so pretty! It was exactly what I pictured an afternoon wedding to look like. After the wedding we headed back to Home Depot for more lawn edging and it was back to work for us. As I was planting the begonias I realized that we had made the new flowerbed bigger than the old one and needed more flowers. I decided to line the front of the flowerbed with them and then find something else to put between them and the rose bushes. I got through almost all of them before it got dark.

Last night I went out to finish the begonias up but it was windy and cold again so I didn’t. Hopefully tonight the weather will be nicer so I can finish up. Friday I am going to buy geraniums to fill in the rest of the flowerbed. I am not going to take pictures until we are done so keep your fingers crossed that it will be Friday!

Soda Drinkers Anonymous

I think I am addicted to soda. Or maybe the bubbles. My parents were in town last week which meant that I had to have Coke in the fridge for them. I, of course, then feel I need to help drink them. It always starts out at just 1, then 2, then before you know it, I am drinking them like I should be drinking water. Sometimes I am not even thirsty! It is very sad. On Sundays, when my parents leave, I insist on drinking the rest to get rid of them. Once the are all gone I go through withdrawls. Last night, all I could think about was soda. Luckily, laziness out weighs my addiction or you can bet I would have been at the gas station buying a 20oz!



And I wonder why I can't seem to stay on Weight Watchers...

Praying for good weather

Steve, my dad, and my grandpa built a deck in our backyard this week.



It took them 2 days. My dad said the hardest part was the walkway from the patio to the deck itself; they re-did it 3 times. I helped a little. Mostly moving dirt from the holes they dug to other holes in the yard dug by Elaine. I also made the fountain myself. It is that stack of 3 flower pots towards the left. You can find the instructions on Casasugar.

We got the furniture on Saturday from Wal-mart.



It is not quite as bright as I wanted but I plan to spice it up with some cute throw pillows and an outside rug. You can't really see them but we have lights around railing that make it really nice for sitting in the late evening. If the weather stays as nice as it has been I plan on sitting out there every night!

How long will it last?

I lost again this week; 2.8lbs making 10.8lbs total in 6 weeks. I am below my original WW weight so I am happy. Just another 20 to go!



I am really surprised I haven't gained yet. I know I shouldn't jinx myself but I can't help but think it. Especially since I really thought I would lose much due to the Pure Romance party and Valentine's Day. I keep wondering when it is going to happen.

I am really going to focus hard these next couple weeks. My mom is coming up on March 5th and I would really like to lose another 5-7lbs before she gets here. She is not very supportive when it comes to WW. She will tell me good job and then remind me that I didn't keep it off last time. Isn't she sweet?

Sweetness

My husband sent me flowers today for the first time ever in the three years we've known each other!



Excuse my messy desk, but aren't they pretty?! The flowers, not so much the arrangement, I did that myself and don't really have the knack for it. I was so excited and share! Happy early V-day everyone!!

Weight Watchers, week 6

Another 0.4lb lost.



I am trying not to get frustrated about it. As soon as I got home I was greeted by my favorite monthly visitor so I am blaming it on her.

Omigod!

This post is kinda long; I actually did a lot for once! Friday Steve took me to see Legally Blonde the Musical.



I loved it! It was my first time ever going to a musical/play and Legally Blonde is one of my favorite movies so it was perfect! I was surprised to see so many younger people there. It was slightly annoying actually. That is my only complaint. The music was great, super upbeat and fun. The stage decorations were amazing. You almost forget you are watching a play. And the costumes!! O.M.G. Her pink sparkly shoes were phenomenal. I was totally memorized by them. I have been trying to find out who makes them so I can get a pair for myself! No luck so far.

Saturday, we ran errands. Well, I did. I dropped Steve off at Third Base to watch the OSU basketball game with some friends and then went to the mall and to BestBuy to return some stuff. While I was out I finished up his Valentine’s gift. I got him a panoramic picture of the OSU football stadium online and needed to get it framed.



I could have bough it already framed, but $150 was a little more than I wanted to spend considering I just spent that on his birthday. So I got just the picture for $50. Guess how much it cost to get it framed? $167!!! For the frame alone!! WTF?!?!?!?!?! And that is with a 50% off coupon! I had no idea how much it cost to get stuff framed. So much for saving money I guess. That night we barbequed and did our taxes. More annoyances. Steve and I decided that we would apply for the first-time homeowners’ credit so that we could pay off my car. As we began to do our taxes, we realized that we were going to have to pay taxes on the sell of his town home last year. That took the whole $7500!!! We keep having to tell ourselves that at least we are not having to pay. It is super depressing though. After that we watched season 3 of Entourage.

Sunday we got our first delivery of the Statesman. I love the Sunday paper! Mostly because I like to find all of the good deals in the ads. BestBuy was advertising the Wii Fit so we got dressed and headed straight over. As we were walking in we saw a lady walking out with one and another lady walking towards the register. I was kind worried that maybe they were all gone already. Luckily there were a couple left when we got to the aisle so we grab one and a cute pink cover.



After that we went to Rudy's for lunch and then to go see our second Oscar movie – Benjamin Button. I liked it but I don’t know if it is what I would consider Oscar quality. It was really long, and Steve had a hard time staying comfortable so he kept shifting in his seat. If you haven’t seen it, I would wait until it comes out on DVD.

When we got home we painted the bathroom finally. We comprised on the color – I got to use my dark purple if I only did one wall. It was probably a better idea because I do my make-up in there and I don’t want the color to bounce off the walls and make me use too much or too little. We painted the wall that the shower and tub are on. Since it was just one wall we got the small can of paint. It wasn’t enough so we ran out and couldn’t finish. I am going to get the rest of the paint tonight and finish. I will take pictures and post them later.

I think this will be a good week. Work is finally starting to quiet down, and Sharla’s happy hour and my party are giving me something to look forward to. Hope everyone else has a good week too!

And the countdown continues!

I lost another 1.2 pounds this week!!!



I am so glad. I was really feeling down about the small loss last week. I think I am just expecting it to be so much easier this time around since it is the second time. On one hand it is because I am finding more foods that I like and I am more willing to try new things. On the other hand, I still just don't want to do it. I don't want to think about what I am going to eat every day, I don't want to choose grilled chicken over pizza. That part is not easier, it almost seems harder. I keep having to remind myself of how great the results were. I never felt so hot, I had never felt hot period, as when I did the first time I did this. I was telling this to Steph over the weekend, and telling her that knowing that should be motivation enough to keep it up. So why isn't it?

Call me!!

I got a new phone today!! The BlackBerry Pearl II, in pink of course.



I know what you're thinking - Why didn't I get the iPhone? I just really am not that into it. Yes it has cool applications and it is a touch screen but I think it is just too trendy for me. I don't need to do all of that stuff on my phone. All I need, or at least wanted, is a phone with full HTML and a QWERTY (or however you spell it) keyboard. The Pearl doesn't have the full keyboard but it is close and I thought it was easier to use than some of the others I looked at because the keys are bigger. So far I am really liking this phone. And I got a great deal on it. It was only $100 with my upgrade and then they gave me a $50 mail-in rebate! Woo hoo!

Steve and I saw The Reader last night.



I can't decide if I like it or not. It was not at all what I was expecting. Have any of you seen it? Did you like?

What a week!

I know. I suck at the blog thing. I do so well for awhile and then I just pitter out and stop writing. In my defense, work has been crazy busy and I wanted to upload pictures from last weekend but they are at home and I keep forgetting to move them to my work computer.

Last weekend was great. It was Steve’s birthday Friday. During lunch I went and got him his birthday present – a new grill.



Some friend from work helped me get it home. He left work earlier than I did so I had to tell him to stay out of the office because that is where it was hiding. When I got home I wheeled it into the living room and brought him in with a blindfold. When he took it off, he was super excited. We went to Wahoo’s Fish Tacos for dinner. It was my first time there; I wasn’t super impressed. Then to the Paperwork show where we got to spend time with Shawna and Oliver. After that we went to the Alamo Drafthouse for the Master Pancake version of The Matrix.

Saturday we stayed in bed until 4:30!!! It was awesome. We watch crappy TV and cuddled and slept and it was the perfect way to spend some quiet time together. We got up and met Carrie and Matt at Salvation Pizza for dinner.



It was ok. Not as good as we were hoping. I don’t recommend it. After pizza, we went to Amy’s and got some ice cream. That was delicious!

Sunday we went to Steve’s parents out in Rockdale for lunch and the homemade cookies his mom made him for his birthday.

This week has been so stressful. I had file reviews to complete before Wednesday for a transfer to the client, a client in town for an audit, and my review looming over my head all on top of my normal day to day stuff. I came in Mon-Wed at 7am just to make sure I was getting everything done. I have been stressing so much about everything I end up with a zit and a cold sore. Boo! On top of that, I only lost 0.4 pounds on Monday. Double boo!

I am happy to report my audits were completed on time, my client was happy with what they saw in the files, and my review went well considering everything that happened last year. Now I can look forward to a quiet relaxing weekend with no stress. Happy Friday!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Today is Steve's birthday!!









To celebrate we are going to go to dinner, then the Paperwork show, and then to the AlamoDraft house for The Matrix presented by Master Pancake (Mr. Sinus).

Happy Birthday my Esteban! I love you!

Another pound bites the dust

I lost 2.8 pounds last night! That makes a grand total of 6 so far, 24 to go! Check out my chart:



The star means I have lost 5 pounds; you get one for every five pounds lost. 2 more pounds until I hit my 5% goal (a new thing in Weight Watchers now) and until I hit my original WW weight. I am going to start working out this week so hopefully that happens next week.

Did you miss me?

Sorry I have been totally MIA this week. Work was so busy and I was exhausted when I got home at night.

Let’s see, what happened…

Monday, I went to WW. I lost 3.2 pounds!!! I was so excited! When I got home, Steve and I took my measurements and then I copied the Four Fat Chicks and took my Biggest Loser picture. Advert your eyes if you’re weak stomached.



Eww, gross.

Tuesday, we didn’t do anything. Wednesday was bowling. I did ok and we won 2 games. Thursday was quiet as well. Friday we went to Rudy’s and had dinner with my friend Adrian. I hadn’t seen him in a while so it was nice to catch up.

Saturday was the PPD Holiday Party. That morning I went to my sister’s so that she could do my eyebrows. She is the only person that seems to understand just how much work they need. Whenever I get them waxed at a salon I come home feeling like they are still bushy. Then I went to get my hair cut. I just got a trim and added bangs. Then it was off to the party.

They weren’t serving dinner this year so we went to Manuel’s for dinner before hand. We met Amy & Johnny, Angie & her friend Susan, Alma & her date, this guy Jake & his date, and another co-worker named Kelly. Our reservation was for 7:00 but half of our party didn’t show up until 7:30. Luckily, they sat us before everyone got there but we waited to order. I was starving by the time the food came. When we got to the party they informed us that it was open bar until 11:00. Woo hoo!!! Of course, open bar was only beer and wine, but it was still nice. Everyone in our group gambled except for Angie, Susan, and me. We were bored waiting for everyone to finish so that we could dance. Once they were finished half of the group left to go downtown and the rest didn’t want to dance. Steve and I ended up getting in an argument making the night end on a very sour note. I think I had put too much stock into it being really fun. And to top things off, the only picture we took came out alittle blurry.



Today we are watching the Eagles vs. Cardinals football game. I think I am going for the Eagles, I really like Donovan McNabb. Hope y’all had a great week!

Ahhh Monday...

...my least favorite day of the week.

And what a week to come back to! I don’t think I told y’all but the studies that I was covering for at work officially became my studies last week. It has put a lot on my plate but I think I am handling it well. The person who I was covering for came back to work today and I was told not to say anything. It is the middle of the day and I can tell management still hasn’t told them anything. They are answering emails and even came up to me to get an update. Luckily, this person is the brightest bulb in the lamp so they didn’t think to question my extremely vague update. I hope the managers talk to them soon because it is about to get awkward around here.

Steve and I had a good weekend together. Friday we had dinner with his parents at the UT Club where I made the biggest WW mistake. On Friday’s they have a shrimp happy hour. It is all you can eat cocktail shrimp and cheese. During the day I made sure to look up the points for shrimp but I couldn’t remember what else we ate with it. Looking at the cubes of cheese I thought they were probably only 1 point for 2 cubes. When we got home, I realized that I was waaaaaaaaaay off! It is 3 points per cube!!!! And I had 14 cubes!!!! 42 points just in cheese! Oy! On Saturday I ate as few points as possible so that I could still have something yummy at Carrie’s birthday dinner. I was able to do so; I just couldn’t have any cocktails. We had a great time and Maudie’s and ended up moving to the party to Carrie and Matt’s house to play Wii. It was so much fun! Sunday we went shopping for curtains. I found some I loved at Bed Bath and Beyond but they didn’t have the size I needed at the store so I am going to have to order them. Aren’t they pretty?



Tonight is my first weigh-in. I am thinking even though I was so careful this week (other than the cheese) I probably won’t lose much. Aunt Flow will be here any day now and I always gain 3-5 pounds. Wish me luck!

It's finally the weekend!

This has been the longest week! I would have thought that being as busy as I have been at work it would have gone by much faster. Oh well, 3 more hours and I am free!

Steve and I don't have any big plans this weekend other than Carrie's birthday dinner on Saturday. She is having a joint celebration with her friend Salissa at Maudie's up North. I have been saving all of my bonus points for that dinner!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Back in the saddle

So here we are, Day 1 of Weight Watchers. It is becoming very bittersweet. I was really excited before attending the meeting but once I got there I was so ashamed that I was doing it again. It is such an admittance of failure to be there, in the meeting, counting points. And I can't believe I let it get this bad. The whole time I was slipping I kept saying so long as I don't go over 150, then 155. After I hit 160 I just stopped thinking about it altogether. I am trying to use all of these thoughts as motivation. I made a poster to put on my mirror that has this picture of me:



I put a caption underneath that says "You've been there, you've done that, you CAN do it again". I know it is lame but I really think it is going to help.

On a higher note, I am doing great at counting my points today. In fact I have only had 4 all day. This means I can still have a good snack later and a fairly big dinner. Plus tonight is our bowling night and I will earn 5 points just doing that!

Feeling blah

I am so irritated today. I have been covering for someone at work for the past two weeks. And I use the word covering loosely as what I really did was completely catch them up on what they should have been doing all along on top of the mountain of work I had on my study. When I came into work this morning there was a sense of relief knowing that all I had to focus on were my 3 studies and no one else's. I wrote this person an email this morning listing all of the things I did while they were out. An hour or so after I sent it, my manager emailed me saying the person was in a car accident while on vacation and she isn't sure when he is coming back, didn't anybody tell me? No, no one told me!! What the hell is wrong with my department that people don't relay that sort of information? Especially when they have known for a week! It's not that I mind doing the work; I would just like to know that it needs to be done.

At least I had a great weekend to look back on reflect on during my frustration. Saturday, Steve and I met Steph and Jarrod at Firebowl for lunch. We always have such a good time together; Steve and Jarrod are so a like in their randomness that you never know where the conversation is going to go. Sunday was Carrie's birthday. We met up at Seattle's Best, our favorite coffee, and got pedicures. It was so nice spending time together; I hadn't seen her since the Paperwork show in November! Other than that, Steve and I cleaned all weekend. It is so nice to have the house back to normal and un-Christmasy.

This week - Weight Watchers! Steph and I are going to our first meeting tomorrow!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great time during their celebrations. Steve and I stayed home and watched TV. While waiting for midnight, we watched Robbie Maddison (an X-Games person) jump the Arc de Triomphe in Vegas. It was pretty amazing.



When the ball dropped we had champagne and threw confetti at each other. Nothing spectacular but we had fun. The next day we went to Steph's for brunch. Steve and I always seem to be the first people to the Mackay's house for parties and even though we showed up 30 minutes late, we were still first.

After we left Stephanie and Jarrod's we went home to watch football. Well Steve watched, I kept walking around the house thinking of all of things we still need to do to it. I am always inspired to decorate after leaving Steph's. I think my next project will be curtains in the living room or finding something for the entrance way.

We don't really have anything planned for this weekend. We will probably just finish taking down the Christmas stuff. Oh, and grocery shopping! I am starting Weight Watchers again. I am actually kind of excited about it; we'll see how long that lasts! Ha ha!