2012 Resolutions
#1--Call family more often.
I'm going to call my grandma Barbara every month on the first and Marshall's grandmother every month on the 20th.
#2--Reach Goal and become a Lifetime member with Weight Watchers.
30 pounds to go!
#3--Pray more.
I have a little notebook that I keep in my purse. I write down things to pray for and need to make more time in my day to send positive energy their way.
#4--Write 366 cards, notes or letters this year.
5 down, 361 to go!
#5--I want to have drop-dead gorgeous arms and core by the end of the year.
I'm going to do the 12 minute Ab Circle DVD everyday and spend two 10-minute boxing sessions a day with my husband.
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Monday, December 26, 2011
Tears of Joy
For us, Christmas isn't measured by how many items you received on one's wish list, but by the combination of moments throughout the day that make one happy. Based on this, I had a very wonderful Christmas.
We drove to Cypress in 2:35 on Saturday--record time. It was raining the entire time, and we haven't seen that much rain in a long time (merry Christmas, Grass and Trees). Shortly after arriving, I realized that I had forgotten our basket of items, which included the rosemary dinner rolls I had stayed up baking the night before, our homemade applesauce, and my salad for dinner. I cried. I can't believe I forgot it on the kitchen island. I wasn't going to be able to stick to WW very well without a salad. Click the "panic" button. Marshall was sweet enough to offer to take us to the grocery store and pick up a replacement salad and rolls, which we did.
Before dinner commenced, we opened crackers, put on our paper crowns, and read the jokes that came with them. Marshall's parents put a lot of effort into the meal, and everyone enjoyed it immensely. Afterwards Marshall and I took a nap, then as a family we watched A Christmas Story. When it was through we drove around the neighborhood and looked at Christmas lights. I love looking at Christmas lights, especially when you can see decorations inside the house through the windows. I like seeing other people's trees too. I have no idea what time my husband came to bed, but I was asleep by 11pm. My body got me up Christmas morning, bright and early, and the ripe time of 6:30am.
My father-in-law made us breakfast, and then Marshall woke up. Afterwards we opened presents one by one. Santa brought me a book of card game rules, an ornament, a pinball game with a prize inside and electronic kitchen timer that can track 4 different things at once. Joy gave me an amazing set of boxing targets and ladies' gloves. I've wanted these so I can do cardio and strength training indoors. Jeff gave me a Le Crueset skillet that looks amazing for stir fry vegetables! Marshall gave the the exact same timer (hehehe), fuzzy socks, and a gold plated venetian mask with diamonds on it. I absolutely love it! In fact, I wore it the entire way home to Austin yesterday.
After presents we cleaned up the now empty boxes and shredded wrapping paper. Joy and I looked through a digital scrapbook her mother had made of her time at BYU in the 1940s. We left at 2pm for Austin. On the way home, Marshall wanted to know if I still wanted to wait until Monday morning to open all the remaining gifts at our house (from my family and each other). Since we were coming back earlier than expected, we decided to continue Christmas when we arrived home.
I made french toast, scrambled eggs, and browned some left-over ham slices that was sent home with us. We lit the candles on our table centerpiece and had a nice little dinner. I had been craving french toast. Now I'm much better. :) The first presents we opened were the cat's stockings. They must have been good babies because Santa Cat brought each of them a can of Fancy Feast, something they had never had before. Maggie doesn't seem to like wet food very much because she didn't eat much of her turkey & giblet flavored treat. Misti and Santa went to town though!! Then I asked Marshall to open to other present that Santa Cat had given the Reeske Cats--it was a set of three Christmas themed picture frame ornaments with a picture of each cat in black and white already in it. Marshall thought they were adorable and wants to keep them out all year long because they also have a stand.
We opened our stockings first. Mine had two books and a gift certificate for a massage! His had new pens and a bag of his favorite cookie mix. Then we opened gifts from my family. My sister Rachael got me make-up and Marshall a three-step shaving package. My parents got Marshall a WW scale, which at first he thought was for me. I had to tell him it was for him even though it was a WW brand. It calculates BMI and body fat too. He's really excited. He also received a book light for late night reading. I received little baking loaf pans with size appropriate spatulas, mini tart/quiche pans, two mini bundt cake pans, WW chocolates, little cow clip magnets for the fridge, and an electric skillet. I can't want to go through my new WW cookbook and find recipes I can make in it.
Marshall loved all his gifts from me, and it seems his favorite is a sea sponge I picked up at Bed Bath & Beyond. He's wanted one that can really clean him up well. He liked the stand-up fan for the garage, new air hose, bamboo cutting boards and socks. I had written him a Christmas themed non-fiction story, and it came with a gift associated with the narrative. He opened the story, but read it later that night. Then he opened the present and was baffled at the wooden yo-yo. Later that night while we were in the first living room reading, I saw him get to the end of the story and pick up the yo-yo. He finally understood, and absolutely loved it. It even made him tear up, and I've never been able to do that before!! He brings me happy tears all the time, but I've never been able to do it to him.
My husband spoiled me this year for sure. He got me all the books on my wish list including a woman's health one that my friends had recommended. We now have our own Apples to Apples game too! I have a new bird house that is a wooden cabin that has a sign "Moose Lodge" and another towards the bottom that reads, "No bears allowed." I love it so much. I was the second to last present I opened, and the package was too big to contain a bird house. I was starting to wonder if I was going to receive one at all! He also got me a rack for inside the pantry door so I have even more storage. He's going to bolt it down for me today. His last gift was completely unexpected. He refurbished his '08 white Mac notebook for me that had liquid spilled on it months ago and wasn't working. I can lay my Dell 1200 laptop that I bought in September 2005 for college to rest. I was so shocked and completely overwhelmed. I had never received such a gift on Christmas before. We had a wonderful time having our little Christmas at home together.
We wanted to watch the Muppets Christmas Carol, but it wasn't on Netflix--can you believe that?! I think I'm going to look for some classic Christmas movies on DVD and start a nice collection for us to watch each year.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well!
We drove to Cypress in 2:35 on Saturday--record time. It was raining the entire time, and we haven't seen that much rain in a long time (merry Christmas, Grass and Trees). Shortly after arriving, I realized that I had forgotten our basket of items, which included the rosemary dinner rolls I had stayed up baking the night before, our homemade applesauce, and my salad for dinner. I cried. I can't believe I forgot it on the kitchen island. I wasn't going to be able to stick to WW very well without a salad. Click the "panic" button. Marshall was sweet enough to offer to take us to the grocery store and pick up a replacement salad and rolls, which we did.
Before dinner commenced, we opened crackers, put on our paper crowns, and read the jokes that came with them. Marshall's parents put a lot of effort into the meal, and everyone enjoyed it immensely. Afterwards Marshall and I took a nap, then as a family we watched A Christmas Story. When it was through we drove around the neighborhood and looked at Christmas lights. I love looking at Christmas lights, especially when you can see decorations inside the house through the windows. I like seeing other people's trees too. I have no idea what time my husband came to bed, but I was asleep by 11pm. My body got me up Christmas morning, bright and early, and the ripe time of 6:30am.
My father-in-law made us breakfast, and then Marshall woke up. Afterwards we opened presents one by one. Santa brought me a book of card game rules, an ornament, a pinball game with a prize inside and electronic kitchen timer that can track 4 different things at once. Joy gave me an amazing set of boxing targets and ladies' gloves. I've wanted these so I can do cardio and strength training indoors. Jeff gave me a Le Crueset skillet that looks amazing for stir fry vegetables! Marshall gave the the exact same timer (hehehe), fuzzy socks, and a gold plated venetian mask with diamonds on it. I absolutely love it! In fact, I wore it the entire way home to Austin yesterday.
After presents we cleaned up the now empty boxes and shredded wrapping paper. Joy and I looked through a digital scrapbook her mother had made of her time at BYU in the 1940s. We left at 2pm for Austin. On the way home, Marshall wanted to know if I still wanted to wait until Monday morning to open all the remaining gifts at our house (from my family and each other). Since we were coming back earlier than expected, we decided to continue Christmas when we arrived home.
I made french toast, scrambled eggs, and browned some left-over ham slices that was sent home with us. We lit the candles on our table centerpiece and had a nice little dinner. I had been craving french toast. Now I'm much better. :) The first presents we opened were the cat's stockings. They must have been good babies because Santa Cat brought each of them a can of Fancy Feast, something they had never had before. Maggie doesn't seem to like wet food very much because she didn't eat much of her turkey & giblet flavored treat. Misti and Santa went to town though!! Then I asked Marshall to open to other present that Santa Cat had given the Reeske Cats--it was a set of three Christmas themed picture frame ornaments with a picture of each cat in black and white already in it. Marshall thought they were adorable and wants to keep them out all year long because they also have a stand.
We opened our stockings first. Mine had two books and a gift certificate for a massage! His had new pens and a bag of his favorite cookie mix. Then we opened gifts from my family. My sister Rachael got me make-up and Marshall a three-step shaving package. My parents got Marshall a WW scale, which at first he thought was for me. I had to tell him it was for him even though it was a WW brand. It calculates BMI and body fat too. He's really excited. He also received a book light for late night reading. I received little baking loaf pans with size appropriate spatulas, mini tart/quiche pans, two mini bundt cake pans, WW chocolates, little cow clip magnets for the fridge, and an electric skillet. I can't want to go through my new WW cookbook and find recipes I can make in it.
Marshall loved all his gifts from me, and it seems his favorite is a sea sponge I picked up at Bed Bath & Beyond. He's wanted one that can really clean him up well. He liked the stand-up fan for the garage, new air hose, bamboo cutting boards and socks. I had written him a Christmas themed non-fiction story, and it came with a gift associated with the narrative. He opened the story, but read it later that night. Then he opened the present and was baffled at the wooden yo-yo. Later that night while we were in the first living room reading, I saw him get to the end of the story and pick up the yo-yo. He finally understood, and absolutely loved it. It even made him tear up, and I've never been able to do that before!! He brings me happy tears all the time, but I've never been able to do it to him.
My husband spoiled me this year for sure. He got me all the books on my wish list including a woman's health one that my friends had recommended. We now have our own Apples to Apples game too! I have a new bird house that is a wooden cabin that has a sign "Moose Lodge" and another towards the bottom that reads, "No bears allowed." I love it so much. I was the second to last present I opened, and the package was too big to contain a bird house. I was starting to wonder if I was going to receive one at all! He also got me a rack for inside the pantry door so I have even more storage. He's going to bolt it down for me today. His last gift was completely unexpected. He refurbished his '08 white Mac notebook for me that had liquid spilled on it months ago and wasn't working. I can lay my Dell 1200 laptop that I bought in September 2005 for college to rest. I was so shocked and completely overwhelmed. I had never received such a gift on Christmas before. We had a wonderful time having our little Christmas at home together.
We wanted to watch the Muppets Christmas Carol, but it wasn't on Netflix--can you believe that?! I think I'm going to look for some classic Christmas movies on DVD and start a nice collection for us to watch each year.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Milking the Moment
Merry Christmas Readers!!
It is early on Christmas morning, and I'm sitting at the kitchen table with my mother- and father-in-law at their home in Cypress, Texas. The living room next to us is dark, but the ornament tree is gently glowing in the corner like a modest queen over her servants at hand. Before going to sleep, there were our 12 presents plus about 6 that were there already. Now there must be double that amount! Santa was very generous this year.
Now my father-in-law is making me egg-in-holes for breakfast. It's a slice of English toasting bread with the center cut out and an egg in the middle cooked over easy (Marshall prefers an over-hard egg in his). My mother-in-law is doing her morning crossword in the Sunday newspaper across the table from me. My husband is still asleep. His dad is going to go wake him up when he's through cooking. Then we can all transfer to the living room and open our stockings. This is our Christmas morning thus far. More updates to come!
It is early on Christmas morning, and I'm sitting at the kitchen table with my mother- and father-in-law at their home in Cypress, Texas. The living room next to us is dark, but the ornament tree is gently glowing in the corner like a modest queen over her servants at hand. Before going to sleep, there were our 12 presents plus about 6 that were there already. Now there must be double that amount! Santa was very generous this year.
Now my father-in-law is making me egg-in-holes for breakfast. It's a slice of English toasting bread with the center cut out and an egg in the middle cooked over easy (Marshall prefers an over-hard egg in his). My mother-in-law is doing her morning crossword in the Sunday newspaper across the table from me. My husband is still asleep. His dad is going to go wake him up when he's through cooking. Then we can all transfer to the living room and open our stockings. This is our Christmas morning thus far. More updates to come!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Onto the Next Pack
Tuesday was my 25th birthday, which meant that the traditional package of 24 candles was one short of what I needed. Here's my birthday cupcake pyramid.
You can see the lovely birthday cards that I received from coworkers, Marshall's grandmother, my parents, brother and love-of-my-life. My parents-in-law sent flowers to my work. My grandmother sent me pecans from her tree in Florida. They are so delicious!
Mom got me a griddle. Making multiple breakfast quesadillas will be so much easier now!
I was able to leave work at 12:30pm and have the afternoon to myself. Marshall set me up with a 60 minute massage. After I had lunch, I went to JCPenny and found 3 three shirts plus a necklace. Everything was on sale plus I used two $10 coupons. In total I spent less than $11--woohoo! Next came a quick trip to Walmart to get ingredients for my birthday cake. I made it to my massage appointment at 3pm. I love massages. If I could afford to get one every month I will. Until then, the hubby and I will have to use our own massage table at home more often.
I wanted to go to the Driskill Grill for my birthday dinner because it was fancy and I had a $25 gift certificate. The Driskill Grill is now my new favorite "fancy" restaurant of choice. The atmosphere, service, and food were mind-blowing! I was a server for 4 years, and I'm a hard judge on servers because I've been there. I was amazed at how good our server Scott was. We of course shared that it was my 25th birthday, and guess what they did for me!
The general manager Charlie even took a picture of us in front of the adjoining Driskill Hotel's Christmas tree in the lobby.
When we came home, I had one last present and one last card to open. I bawled at how sweet Marshall's card was. I told him I purposely didn't wear mascara because I was going on a date with him. If there's a chance he can make you sentimental in a happy way, he will. Well, he gave me a clarinet! I haven't been able to find my old one, and Mom hasn't had time to look for it in Oregon. I can play again! I have to basically start from scratch, but I'm so excited to fill our house with music.
I had a wonderful birthday, and an astronomical amount of well wishes from friends and family all over the country and world! I felt really cherished, which was best of all.
December Plans
Here's a little update about what is happening for us (so far!) for the rest of December:
*12/16--Marshall takes a tour of Lufkin Industries in Lufkin, Texas. He's stopping by Cypress to crash at his parents' house then coming home Saturday afternoon.
*12/17--Christmas part at Leslie & James' new apartment. Bringing a bottle of malbec wine.
*12/20--Sarah's work Christmas party at the Highball 1-4pm. Half a day of work plus bowling and fajitas. Good times, right?!
*12/24--WW meeting for Sarah, then we're on the road to Cypress to send Christmas with Marshall's parents.
*12/25--Merry Christmas! Marshall gets to find out everything I got for him!
*12/26--Drive home to Austin. Off of work.
*12/31--No plans for New Year's Eve, but hoping something will be brought up at the Christmas party on Saturday.
*12/16--Marshall takes a tour of Lufkin Industries in Lufkin, Texas. He's stopping by Cypress to crash at his parents' house then coming home Saturday afternoon.
*12/17--Christmas part at Leslie & James' new apartment. Bringing a bottle of malbec wine.
*12/20--Sarah's work Christmas party at the Highball 1-4pm. Half a day of work plus bowling and fajitas. Good times, right?!
*12/24--WW meeting for Sarah, then we're on the road to Cypress to send Christmas with Marshall's parents.
*12/25--Merry Christmas! Marshall gets to find out everything I got for him!
*12/26--Drive home to Austin. Off of work.
*12/31--No plans for New Year's Eve, but hoping something will be brought up at the Christmas party on Saturday.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
What You've Been Waiting For...
Hurray for our the annual mRs Christmas photo! This year we recreated our first date picture by wearing the same clothes and striking a similar pose. The inspiration for this photo came from my weightloss and being able to fit into the dress again, which I bought in July 2007. Wow, huh?!
I mailed out Christmas cards on Friday, so they should be arriving on Tuesday for most people I think. I really hope everyone likes them and appreciates the "homemade" aspect of them.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Christmas Cards
Here is this year's assortment of Christmas cards!
I was inspired to make my own Christmas cards this year by Pinterest and my friend Jazz Kirkham, has her own creative card business. I bought a package of 50 cards and envelopes at Michaels on sale. I also purchased a pad of Christmas scrapbook paper, stamps and ink. When you open the card, the top half has our Christmas letter. It's very short, only three paragraphs, and not the novel it normally is. The bottom half will have our picture, which we can't take until the 30th at least. We're going to recreate our first date picture because I can fit into that dress again. Here's the picture from July 13th, 2007.
Yesterday I took it to a dry cleaner & tailoring business to have the zipper replaced. It's costing me $25 because it is an invisible seam. It will be ready to pick up on the 29th, so we'll take our picture November 30th. I'm so excited! I won't be able to wear the dress for much longer due to my weight loss, so this Christmas picture is going to be extr special to me.
Here's our Christmas picture from 2010.
This was taken September 1st, 2009, and we used it as our Christmas picture in 2009.
Here we are on our porch when we lived in Jacksonville in 2008. This was our first holiday season together because Marshall, my handsome Navy boyfriend at the time, had been deployed August 07-January 08.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
What November Means
What does November symbolize and why?
Season
Is it the illegitimate child of Ol' Man Winter? It's technically an autumn month but with snow, naked trees, grey clouds and the first mug of hot chocolate, it seems more like the official kick-off to winter. I use to loathe the month of November when I was a child because everything just looked dead and lifeless with the brown trees against the dull steal colored sky. Nothing exciting seemed to come with the new month. It was another countdown to a single day. Why couldn't there be other exciting days in November besides Thanksgiving? Well, I take that back. Every at my school looked forward to being off the Friday after Thanksgiving too. :)
Feelings
Grateful. Thankful. Humble. Meek. Gorged. Eager. These are just some of the adjectives we feel throughout this 11th month. We are grateful for our families, our jobs, God's blessings. We're thankful we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food on our plates. We humbly bring ourselves to say our feelings this one time a year because it no longer is taboo to share something sentimental. We gorge ourselves on turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, deviled eggs--you name it. We whip out our wallets for anything that has "pumpkin" in it because it is just so damn tasty. Then we become eager for Christmas shopping and decorating. So eager in fact that we now start listening to Christmas music at least a week before T-day.
Harvest
I think harvest decorations are cute, but believe that the average person is so far removed from actually working hard all year long for the food they grew themselves to harvest it in the fall and be satisfied knowing that they won't go hungry over the long winter. I love the rich hues of harvest colors and they make me feel very cozy and maternal, like I want to gather laughing children inside and we all read a book by the fire.
November is an unique month and each person will have his/her own opinion towards it. I just like thinking of all the different possibilities.
Season
Is it the illegitimate child of Ol' Man Winter? It's technically an autumn month but with snow, naked trees, grey clouds and the first mug of hot chocolate, it seems more like the official kick-off to winter. I use to loathe the month of November when I was a child because everything just looked dead and lifeless with the brown trees against the dull steal colored sky. Nothing exciting seemed to come with the new month. It was another countdown to a single day. Why couldn't there be other exciting days in November besides Thanksgiving? Well, I take that back. Every at my school looked forward to being off the Friday after Thanksgiving too. :)
Feelings
Grateful. Thankful. Humble. Meek. Gorged. Eager. These are just some of the adjectives we feel throughout this 11th month. We are grateful for our families, our jobs, God's blessings. We're thankful we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food on our plates. We humbly bring ourselves to say our feelings this one time a year because it no longer is taboo to share something sentimental. We gorge ourselves on turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, deviled eggs--you name it. We whip out our wallets for anything that has "pumpkin" in it because it is just so damn tasty. Then we become eager for Christmas shopping and decorating. So eager in fact that we now start listening to Christmas music at least a week before T-day.
Harvest
I think harvest decorations are cute, but believe that the average person is so far removed from actually working hard all year long for the food they grew themselves to harvest it in the fall and be satisfied knowing that they won't go hungry over the long winter. I love the rich hues of harvest colors and they make me feel very cozy and maternal, like I want to gather laughing children inside and we all read a book by the fire.
November is an unique month and each person will have his/her own opinion towards it. I just like thinking of all the different possibilities.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Ready for Halloween?
I'm almost there!! I'm hosting a Halloween party at the house on the 29th, and all my new friends from meetup are invited. I'm working on decorations here and there, but got a lot accomplished this long weekend. Here is what I've been able to complete so far. Let me know what you think!
I'm very proud of my bats.
This is our new entertainment center.
I'm very proud of my bats.
A nice Halloween bouquet.
The witch shrine with candles lit.
Close up of the bling letters.
Door wreath!
Upclose.
I'm covering up all our picures with Halloween themed silhouettes.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Marshall's Birthday
Marshall turned 28 on July 28th (golden year), and I got him the second Flight of the Concords CD. He was actually thinking of getting me the CD just because. Ha, I got to it first!! :p The following night Marshall's dad came up from Houston as a surprise to Marshall, and we all three went to a murder mystery dinner downtown. We all had self-imposed aliases: Marshall and I were Jeremiah and Agnes Frownski, and Jeff was Popeye. He really enjoyed that one, lol. We had a great time and will probably do it again next year when they do a new mystery theme. Here's a picture of us from our night out.
Monday, July 25, 2011
End of July
Last week was very busy for me at work. I think I worked something like 50 hours, even pulling two 12-hour days back to back. We had a big audit by a huge potential client (has anyone heard of Samsung before?!) on Thursday, so we were frantically trying to get our shop looking marvelous. I think we pulled it off, lol. I won't know if Samsung liked what they saw and will be sending us business anytime soon, but at least all the craziness is over.
This past weekend I went to San Antonio to spend Saturday night with a friend from North Dakota as it is her birthday this upcoming Wednesday. We went to dinner, and I got to play with her 11 month old daughter. Of course we talked non-stop. It was nice to take a drive away from the city.
On Sunday I went grocery shopping while Marshall slept. All summer he's been preparing meals, cleaning, and doing house projects while I've been at work. I decided I would take something off his list while he slept. This week for dinner we're having:
*Lasagna with eggplant, vegetables, and ground turkey
*French onion soup
*Eggplant Parmesian
*Lemon chicken with stir fry pasta
*Grilled chicken breasts with fruit salsa
*Cobb salads
I also started working on presents for Melissa's baby shower that I'm hosting on August 7th. So far I made a receiving blanket that doubles as a towel and 2 bibs. I need to go get some more thread so I can finish up more sewing projects for her. :) I'll post pictures when I have everything completed.
Tonight has a relaxing night. We watched Sunday's episode of True Blood together. I made pico de gallo while Marshall put together the lasagna. Can't wait to have some in a little bit! Tuesday night I have a personal training session at 6pm. Wednesday is free at the moment, and Thursday is the big day--Marshall's 28th birthday! I have one present for him that he's going to love. His bigger birthday present is a murder mystery date downtown on Friday night. Shhh, he doesn't know this but his parents are coming up from Houston as a surprise. We haven't seen them since April, so it will be a really great evening with the four of us together.
Saturday I'll go to the gym after my WW meeting, but other than that the weekend is still wide open. Sunday is our one year anniversary of our wedding in Idaho. I can't wait until we move there in 8 years, lol. :p We haven't decided on what we'll do on Sunday together yet. I guess we better get crackin' on that, huh?
July is always a good month, but I feel that the end really signifies the beginning of the climb towards the holidays. Kids will be counting down the last few days of summer while parents save up to buy school supplies. Then it's all about dec'ing out the house for Halloween. We'll probably stay in Austin for Thanksgiving since I want to run the Turkey Trot 5K on that morning, and I've volunteered to work the day after Thanksgiving incase my co-worker Emily wants it off. Then of course the big event of my birthday is next--I'll be 25--followed closely by Christmas and 2012. This year will be another good one for us, but I can't wait until '12 because then we're closer to Marshall being finished with school...and babies. :D
This past weekend I went to San Antonio to spend Saturday night with a friend from North Dakota as it is her birthday this upcoming Wednesday. We went to dinner, and I got to play with her 11 month old daughter. Of course we talked non-stop. It was nice to take a drive away from the city.
On Sunday I went grocery shopping while Marshall slept. All summer he's been preparing meals, cleaning, and doing house projects while I've been at work. I decided I would take something off his list while he slept. This week for dinner we're having:
*Lasagna with eggplant, vegetables, and ground turkey
*French onion soup
*Eggplant Parmesian
*Lemon chicken with stir fry pasta
*Grilled chicken breasts with fruit salsa
*Cobb salads
I also started working on presents for Melissa's baby shower that I'm hosting on August 7th. So far I made a receiving blanket that doubles as a towel and 2 bibs. I need to go get some more thread so I can finish up more sewing projects for her. :) I'll post pictures when I have everything completed.
Tonight has a relaxing night. We watched Sunday's episode of True Blood together. I made pico de gallo while Marshall put together the lasagna. Can't wait to have some in a little bit! Tuesday night I have a personal training session at 6pm. Wednesday is free at the moment, and Thursday is the big day--Marshall's 28th birthday! I have one present for him that he's going to love. His bigger birthday present is a murder mystery date downtown on Friday night. Shhh, he doesn't know this but his parents are coming up from Houston as a surprise. We haven't seen them since April, so it will be a really great evening with the four of us together.
Saturday I'll go to the gym after my WW meeting, but other than that the weekend is still wide open. Sunday is our one year anniversary of our wedding in Idaho. I can't wait until we move there in 8 years, lol. :p We haven't decided on what we'll do on Sunday together yet. I guess we better get crackin' on that, huh?
July is always a good month, but I feel that the end really signifies the beginning of the climb towards the holidays. Kids will be counting down the last few days of summer while parents save up to buy school supplies. Then it's all about dec'ing out the house for Halloween. We'll probably stay in Austin for Thanksgiving since I want to run the Turkey Trot 5K on that morning, and I've volunteered to work the day after Thanksgiving incase my co-worker Emily wants it off. Then of course the big event of my birthday is next--I'll be 25--followed closely by Christmas and 2012. This year will be another good one for us, but I can't wait until '12 because then we're closer to Marshall being finished with school...and babies. :D
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas 2010
This year Marshall and I spent our first Christmas with just us in our new home, which we closed on 12/22/09. The past two years we spent Christmas at his parents' home near Houston.
For Christmas Eve, we made dinner together, had some wine, opened one gift each from my parents, watched It's A Wonderful Life together on the couch and then went to Circle C to look at the Christmas lights. Before we left, we brainstormed what would be the craziest decoration we would see. I said Santa in a sleigh with reindeer on the roof. He predicted a topiary wrapped in lights. We couldn't decide on a clear winner from what we saw. One house had a dancing angel pig (yes, with wings and a halo). The other was a 6-7' tall blow up white mouse in a blue hat and sweater that was inside the house, taking up all of the front window. So, which is crazier: a blow up mouse in a house instead of out in the yard, or an angel pig doing a jig?
I woke up at 6:30 Christmas morning. The medication Marshall takes knocks him out for a long time when he takes it late, so he didn't rise until closer to 11:30! Trust me, I tried waking him up earlier, but it didn't work. We opened out stockings followed by other gifts from Santa. Then we opened the presents for the cats from Santa Cat. Next we opened each other's gifts, then those from our parents. Lastly the gifts from our neighbors Amy and Carlos. Before we started to really clean up, I surprised Marshall with one last gift, well, two actually. He had no idea about them! I had written him a short story that I gave to him along with a rosemary bush. The story explained the meaning behind the plant. He thought they were wonderful and loved them. :)
The rest of Christmas day we relaxed. I started reading one of the books Marshall had given me. Later I went over next door and watched the kids open their presents from us. Their teenager loved the jewelry we got her, and EVERYBODY thought the telescope we got for the other three kids to share was awesome!! We got Amy and Carlos a 12 pc dinnerware set that matched the red theme they have going on in the kitchen. They were completely surprised and loved it!
For dinner I made a huge lasagna with ground turkey, diced up eggplant and chopped green bell peppers. It was amazing!! I think that is how I am going to do them from now on. It came out flavorful and perfect. After dinner we began rewatching our favorite TV series Stargate. We started over with watching the first shows in season 1 (hint, we've seen every episode in SG1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe).
This morning we cleaned up a bit and are continuing to enjoy a relaxing Sunday. It is a crisp, blue sky kind of day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we go to the gym and I do my Cardio Dance Party group class. I think of it like baby Zumba because the moves aren't overly complicated, but it has the same upbeat music. On Tuesday we both go to Yoga at the gym, but this time I get to bring my new purple yoga mat that Marshall got me for Christmas! We are committing ourselves to going to the gym more often. I'd like to participate in at least three classes a week. Hmm...I think I will continue this topic in a new post...
For Christmas Eve, we made dinner together, had some wine, opened one gift each from my parents, watched It's A Wonderful Life together on the couch and then went to Circle C to look at the Christmas lights. Before we left, we brainstormed what would be the craziest decoration we would see. I said Santa in a sleigh with reindeer on the roof. He predicted a topiary wrapped in lights. We couldn't decide on a clear winner from what we saw. One house had a dancing angel pig (yes, with wings and a halo). The other was a 6-7' tall blow up white mouse in a blue hat and sweater that was inside the house, taking up all of the front window. So, which is crazier: a blow up mouse in a house instead of out in the yard, or an angel pig doing a jig?
I woke up at 6:30 Christmas morning. The medication Marshall takes knocks him out for a long time when he takes it late, so he didn't rise until closer to 11:30! Trust me, I tried waking him up earlier, but it didn't work. We opened out stockings followed by other gifts from Santa. Then we opened the presents for the cats from Santa Cat. Next we opened each other's gifts, then those from our parents. Lastly the gifts from our neighbors Amy and Carlos. Before we started to really clean up, I surprised Marshall with one last gift, well, two actually. He had no idea about them! I had written him a short story that I gave to him along with a rosemary bush. The story explained the meaning behind the plant. He thought they were wonderful and loved them. :)
The rest of Christmas day we relaxed. I started reading one of the books Marshall had given me. Later I went over next door and watched the kids open their presents from us. Their teenager loved the jewelry we got her, and EVERYBODY thought the telescope we got for the other three kids to share was awesome!! We got Amy and Carlos a 12 pc dinnerware set that matched the red theme they have going on in the kitchen. They were completely surprised and loved it!
For dinner I made a huge lasagna with ground turkey, diced up eggplant and chopped green bell peppers. It was amazing!! I think that is how I am going to do them from now on. It came out flavorful and perfect. After dinner we began rewatching our favorite TV series Stargate. We started over with watching the first shows in season 1 (hint, we've seen every episode in SG1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe).
This morning we cleaned up a bit and are continuing to enjoy a relaxing Sunday. It is a crisp, blue sky kind of day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we go to the gym and I do my Cardio Dance Party group class. I think of it like baby Zumba because the moves aren't overly complicated, but it has the same upbeat music. On Tuesday we both go to Yoga at the gym, but this time I get to bring my new purple yoga mat that Marshall got me for Christmas! We are committing ourselves to going to the gym more often. I'd like to participate in at least three classes a week. Hmm...I think I will continue this topic in a new post...
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Christmas Picture
Monday night we took our Christmas picture. I was able to complete 75% of our Christmas cards and mailed them out today. I'm finishing up the others tonight. We've received one so far, and hope to see many more in the weeks to come. I always enjoy putting our Christmas cards together with our letter and picture. It's really something reserved for grown-ups. It was one of the first adult things I really took pride in. We hope everyone enjoys our little news from the Reeskes in Austin!
Rolling into December
We had a great Thanksgiving at Marshall's parents' house. My cousin Gabe came over for the afternoon and enjoyed the meal with us. Then he spanked the pants off us in Hearts with his jack of diamonds rule! It was fun though. I don't think I've ever seen my mother-in-law laugh so hard as when Gabe was telling jokes.
The following Saturday Jeff took me on Joy's Spyder for a ride up to Montgomery, Texas. Here are some pictures of us getting prepped.
I haven't been this bundled up in a looooong time.
Don't I look sassy?! This is Jeff getting all of his gear on so we can hit the road!
Yep, this is Spydi-Girl, my mother-in-law's Can-Am Spyder. It's made by the same company that produces snowmobiles if you couldn't tell. This bike is really loud and attracts lots of attention, mostly thumbs ups and waves. Oh, and other bikers stare at it quite a bit. Can you see the spider web design between the front wheel and Jeff's leg? Apparently there are three other spots on the bike for a similar design. Marshall is going to try and make some to sell to all of Joy's Spyder riding buddies at the big rally in April.
We returned home on Sunday the 28th. The rest of the week flew by pretty quickly. Marshall pulled our Christmas boxes from the attic and we started decorating. Here's our tree!
Normally this is the Cat Corner where the papasan chair, scratch post, toy box and other cat business necessities are stationed. Now the tree is there and the cats cannot get to their window as easily. I think they are ok with giving up rights to the window in exchange for the close proximity to dangly entertaining pieces on the tree. Sometimes we hear them playing ornament soccer.
Here are our stockings. I bet you can guess whose is whose. ;D
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Pumpkin Man
Pumpkin Man, summoned from the scariest of Halloween pumpkin patches, will be watching over the candy rations tonight as trick-or-treaters come in their costumes and ring our door bell. You can tell how frightening Pumpkin Man is by the look on the other pumpkin's face.
This our first Halloween in our own home, which we've had for 10 months now. Last year we were at the in-laws' house in Houston, and the year before that we lived in an apartment in Jacksonville; no little kids came to visit us there.
Marshall wanted purple lights, so...we got purple lights. He strung them up between the ballisters of our (remodeled) porch, then stretched spiderwebs across the front. Our 6 young neighbor kids next door that it was awesome!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Turkey Surprise
So far it's been a great Labor Day weekend, and we will have one more day to go--hurray! Jenn and her boyfriend Joel came up from Corpus Cristi to spend some time with us. While they were on their way from San Antonio to Austin, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things including a bouqet of sunflowers for their room because they are Jenn's favorite. They arrive, and this is the first time we are meeting Joel. We're chatting in the kitchen as I'm preparing ingredients for fajitas for lunch. All of a sudden Jenn blurts out that she and Joel went down to the courthouse on July 9th and got married. Marshall and I were stunned! Then I noticed that she had rings on her left hand, which I had to inspect. I believe they said they were just temporary and that custom ones were in the works. Both are in the Navy, which is why they live so close to us, but there is a good chance that they will be moving to San Diego within six months. Frown-y face.
My surprise for them was that I was going to be cooking a turkey and that the four of us were going over to our neighbor's house for a Thanksgiving style meal. Both Jenn and Joel love to eat good food (which is why Jenn likes to frequent our house), so I knew they would be all for this idea. Dinner went well although I over cooked the turkey and it came out dry. Now I won't mess it up for Thanksgiving in November though. We really enjoy spending time with Amy and Carlos next door, and the first time we had dinner at someone else's house while living in Austin. :D
Sunday morning we went to Waffle House for breakfast because we didn't have any more clean dishes in the house after cooking on Saturday, plus I didn't have anything prepared. Afterwards, Jenn, Joel, and I went to the outlet mall in San Marcos. We spent 2 1/2 hours walking around the plaza style set-up, and that was only half of it! Overall it primarily had clothing stores, which doesn't do me any good because I dispise clothes shopping. None of us had been there before, so now it's nice to finally say, "yes, I've been there." We said our good-byes; they drove off to hang out in San Antonio, and I drove home to see Marshall. I spent the rest of the day taking it easy and finishing up my book I'd started a couple of days ago.
While we were eating our salads for dinner, we were making a 101/1001 list for our lover boy cat Santa Ana. Some of his tasks are:
My surprise for them was that I was going to be cooking a turkey and that the four of us were going over to our neighbor's house for a Thanksgiving style meal. Both Jenn and Joel love to eat good food (which is why Jenn likes to frequent our house), so I knew they would be all for this idea. Dinner went well although I over cooked the turkey and it came out dry. Now I won't mess it up for Thanksgiving in November though. We really enjoy spending time with Amy and Carlos next door, and the first time we had dinner at someone else's house while living in Austin. :D
Sunday morning we went to Waffle House for breakfast because we didn't have any more clean dishes in the house after cooking on Saturday, plus I didn't have anything prepared. Afterwards, Jenn, Joel, and I went to the outlet mall in San Marcos. We spent 2 1/2 hours walking around the plaza style set-up, and that was only half of it! Overall it primarily had clothing stores, which doesn't do me any good because I dispise clothes shopping. None of us had been there before, so now it's nice to finally say, "yes, I've been there." We said our good-byes; they drove off to hang out in San Antonio, and I drove home to see Marshall. I spent the rest of the day taking it easy and finishing up my book I'd started a couple of days ago.
While we were eating our salads for dinner, we were making a 101/1001 list for our lover boy cat Santa Ana. Some of his tasks are:
- Meow so much that the humans throw mice.
- Meow so much that the humans give me tuna.
- Meow so much that both of them want to pet me.
- Take 10 naps in a single day.
- Play fight with Misti at least once a day.
- Meow so much that the humans open a window.
- Spend 15 hours on blankets.
- Rinse and repeat until they equal 101!
Needless to say we were busting up laughing!!
Monday is going to be my first non-working Labor Day that I'm getting paid for. I kinda like it. :)
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