MarchSnow

The anticipation of Christmas has been very exciting this year!  I have a short post to offer today because we've got lots stuff to do! I want to tell y'all about our visit to the Pocket Sandwich Theatre !  This is a cute local theatre that serves food during a production of a play!  Jordan and I went for the first time earlier this month to see Ebenezer Scrooge !  I really enjoyed the premise of having dinner and a show, but I actually give our experience 3 out of 5 stars.  I'd go again but I felt fidgety and claustrophobic. The acting was pretty good and the atmosphere was very welcoming, but I felt very uncomfortable in the chairs.  We shared an ice cream sundae and the food seemed pretty good. All in all, not a bad experience. Bottom Right: This was the Pocket Sandwich playbill booklet.  It was actually put together very well and I had a great time reading about the actors and actresses during intermission.  Praise to the actor who played Scrooge.  This

December has been a busy month.  One of the activities we've been working on is our new backyard fence!  When we first moved into our house the fence was pretty run down.  We managed to perk it up with a fresh, thick coat of stain and a few extra nails here and there.  The fence was holding up okay but there were lots of rotting boards and our gate was limping along. In October we finally decided it was time to replace it. After weighing the pros and cons between doing it ourselves or using a contractor, we decided to go with a contractor.  We have 150 linear feet of fence and neither of us wanted to embark on a project where we had very little experience.  We proceeded to compare contractors and get several quotes.  In the end we decided on a 7 foot, board on board, metal post, cedar fence.  It cost a pretty penny, but I'm very happy with the results; and we went with a contractor that was very responsive with great attention to detail. Here are a few "before&q

I'm thrilled to share the news that my "little" brother is ENGAGED!  Wahoo!  Last weekend Scott proposed to Elizabeth in Fort Worth and Jordan and I are honored to have been there for the big moment.  I have about 25 some-odd pictures of this special day to share! We all got together at Scott and Elizabeth's house to kick off Elizabeth's birthday and then headed to Sundance Square to see the city tree and do some light window shopping. Top Left: Elizabeth, Mom, and Me at S&E's house. Top Right: You know you're in Texas when there is a huge store dedicated to furs!  The 3 of us girls had a ball trying on hats, coats, capes, scarves, hand muffs, etc. I loved this combo hat/scarf creation. Bottom Left: Mom and Dad in front of Santa's sleigh!  The weather was rainy that weekend but cleared up that afternoon. Bottom Right: Sundance Square marker in the cement. Top : Elizabeth, Scott, Jordan, and I in front of a giant ornam

Last weekend Jordan and I had a blast at the lake.  My family and the community helped to organize a parade around the lake neighborhood!  This is about the 3 rd time we’ve done the parade and each year the crowd grows larger and the decorations a little brighter!  I’ve got pictures to help you visualize the parade but it was an awesome display of hillbilly lights and fun. Before the parade, all participants met at the community pavilion and so we snagged a few sunset pictures while we waited for the corral to arrive.  I just love this top picture of John and Remi next to their float.  It’s a boat with a Christmas tree strapped in!  Elizabeth made the best comparison calling it a Who-Ville tree since it was whipping in the wind and looked topsy-turvy! The parade started off very well and I did my best to take nice pictures.   Top : This is one of my favorites of the parade line.  You can see it going back down the road and the Who-Ville tree (in red lights) looks g

Oy…I’m a few weeks behind posts and I’m just now finding time to write about our Thanksgiving festivities!  This year, Jordan and I both have different jobs so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect for the holiday.  As it turns out, we both had lots of flexibility and time off so that made our break fantastic! Let me jump right in to it!  This Thanksgiving Jordan and I traveled to San Antonio to see his side of our family!  It was great to chase the kiddos and catch up with everyone.  While on our way to SA we stopped at this little place called “The Country Store”.  We were both starving and this place had 5 stars on Yelp.  As it turns out, The Country Store was A-mazing!  It’s owned by the Amish and they make everything fresh right there in the store.  I totally enjoyed browsing through their isles of canned foods, packaged candy, and spices. They have a deli in the back of the store that serves specialty meats and cheeses so Jordan and I ordered sandwiches! These ar

I have some joyful news to share about my brother, Andy!  I decided to wait a while before posting anything in this forum because, well, family first, y'all!  It's official, Andy and Christina are engaged!   I first met Christina last Christmas (Dec 2014) and immediately loved her.  She and Andy make a beautiful couple and I'm so excited about their future together! You've seen pictures of this lovely couple on our blog before, but I wanted to take a moment share a few of my favorites!  I'm just so happy and proud of Andy! Pictures just moments before and after he popped the question!  Pictures taken in NY - Summer 2015 Pictures taken in NY - Summer 2015 I love all three of you SO much!  Congrats you crazy kids!

The last couple weeks have been great!  Jordan and I have been busy as ever but the weather has been beautiful and we've enjoyed all kinds of holiday festivities.  I only have a short post for today because I need to get ready for our Thanksgiving! I have a random hodgepodge of unrelated pictures to share.   Left : I love the flexibility a laptop allows.  I work on my laptop all the time in bed.  It's comfortable, the bed serves as a large "table" to spread out papers and such, plus , Abby can snuggle near me (and happily snores).  Jordan took this picture of us girls last week.  I'm chugging through the never-ending mail while Abby snoozes nearby. Top Right: I had a wonderful lunch a while ago with my friend, Wendy.  This lady is such a sweet friend and gave me this etched wine glass as a belated birthday present!  It's perfect!  Thank you Wendy! Bottom Right: On the topic of beverages...my coworkers and I have been making fun of the Starbuck

Every Fall my company hosts a Chili Cook-off!  It started 9 years go when I first joined the company and my department at the time wanted to spice up the season while also fundraising for a local charity.  I've since moved into a different department, but I was excited to see that this year's cook off was one of the best we've ever had!  The committee did a Texas/Cowboy theme and it turned out fantastic! These are various pictures of the decorations.  Mom would be proud that they incorporated Mr. John Wayne! There was a LOT of competition this year.  The crock pot wars have varied over the years but, this year there were 20+ chilies entered! Top Left: Each entry has to come up with a creative name for their chili recipe to keep the voting anonymous.  I got a good kick out of this particular entry called "Don't Touch My Willie, Chili" and decorated with a bandanna and braids.  It's the perfect savory blend of Willie Nelson and Kevin Fowler

This week has been strange for Jordan and I.  Our work schedules are a little skewed because we made and unplanned trip to see some family in the hospital this week.  Not to worry, everyone is fine and all is well!  I had prepared this post about our Halloween festivities so you'll have to forgive my tardiness in publishing! Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, which is SO nice compared to past years.  It also happened to be the day TTU played OSU in football so we had our OSU friends, Mallory and Nathan, over for the weekend! I got a little carried away with the food... Now that the weather is cooling down, it's easier to fire up the oven to make baked goodies. Top Pictures: This is Mom's jalapeno pepper jelly served with cream cheese and triskets!  Her jelly is a fantastic blend of sweet and fire flavors and makes an excellent appetizer.   Bottom Left: I branched out a little and made green chili pinwheels for the football game.  This was basically cresc