Modified September Plans

We added another vacation to September. Yep, this brings the count to 2. Marshall has a Navy hearing in Washington DC on September 14th, so we'll be in DC the 12-15. His ticket was picked up by the Navy, but I had to pay for mine. I didn't want him going alone, especially since it's a pretty nerve wracking ordeal. We've also wanted to travel to DC together.

We're still going on our car trip to NM at the end of September for the Intl Balloon Festival. Dang, September is going to fly by!

Hostess

I recently hosted a baby shower at my house for a friend at work who is due with a girl at the end of September. We had california rolls, lumpia and edamame. I even made Weight Watchers sangria. For dessert I made rice krispie treat cupcakes with strawberry frosting. I added sprinkles and a strawberry 'A' for Alice, the baby's name. Her middle name is going to Sakura, which is Japanese for cherry blossom (hence the theme). Here are the pictures I remembered to take of my prep. I made the mom-to-be bibs and receiving blankets, and got her some things that she'll need on the first day home (aka diapers and wipes).

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.

Wedding Anniversary

July 31st was our one year wedding anniversary! We had such a beautiful wedding in Idaho last year.

All the bouquets together.

The bridal party (yes, that's Jenn skipping).

Planting our unity tree.

The alter.

Sealed it with a kiss.

Uncle Jet doing the Airplane!

Marshall's parents got us a present to celebrate!

Here's Marshall getting excited about what's inside.

It's a bottle of champagne and 2 crystal flutes that have our names and wedding date on them. I have the best mother-and father-in-law. :)

Home Decor

While Marshall's been solarizing the backyard this summer, I've had my own house project to do. I painted our great room (living room, dining area, and kitchen) yellow. I added copper and white curtains to the living room windows. The papasan chair pillow is red. The cats love the curtains! Although their claws have gotten suck on the threads of the white oness, they've done really well at not damaging the copper ones. Eventually we will replace the carpet with hardwood floors.

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

Back from vacation

I had a great 4 days visiting my best friend Heather in North Carolina last week. I flew out on Wednesday morning and came home on Sunday afternoon. Yes, that means I've only worked 4 days this month so far, lol. I had a great time though. I got to meet her friends, so now I can put faces to names. I got to see her house, which she's had for just over 2 years now. I met her pets Baron and Milo. Most importantly we had time to talk, ramble, giggle, and even cry happy tears. She introduced me to spaghetti squash and beat me 2 out of 3 games of Scrabble. We got our hair cut and had pedicures (isn't that the definition of Girls' Weekend?); I even colored my hair. It now has a slight red tint to it. She helped me style my new shorter hairstyle, which my husband calls my pixie cut. It was a complete surprise for him, hehehe.

I hadn't seen Heather since my wedding almost a year ago, so this was really fun. It meant a lot to me that she was part of my bridal party and flew all the way to Idaho for the weekend. I'm glad I got to take a turn and visit her this time. :)