The Meltons

To my husband...

2010-05-23T10:10:00.001-05:00

One Year already!?

May 2010

2010-05-06T15:35:00.002-05:00

So - this is a little late... but, it's... MAY!

How in the world has this year passed me by so fast?

Thinking back a year ago this time last year, it brings back so many wonderful memories... it makes me miss Mexico ha! But, more than that, it shows me how FAR we've come.

But, oh my gosh - it's MAY!

In less than 20 days now (17 to be exact) we will hit our one year anniversary! wowee!

And I thought it took forever for the wedding to come... now it's FLYING BY!

Me and my husband :)

2010-04-23T21:04:00.002-05:00

So Kelly is having another "Show us your life" Friday... and today's is all about how you met your husband :)

How fun!

It all started Memorial Day weekend 2005 :) Well, that's when I met him...

My Aunt and cousins had been pestering me (and Derik, little did I know) about meeting Derik and even going on a date with him. Now, my cousins are almost 16 and the other is a freshman in college... but this was 5 years ago... so they were about 11 and 14 ha! My 11 year old cousin was setting me up on a date - oh boy! I told her, well he can be the one to ask :)

So, back to Memorial Day weekend 2005... I had a bad day, I had to go to work EARLY to stock shelves (I only worked at that place for 2 weeks ha) so, going to work at 4am and getting done around noon was very tiring. My family made it a tradition of sorts to go to the lake and camp on Memorial Day weekend - for as long as I can remember... not so much anymore though. The last time we did this tradition was this specific weekend (2005)! I go to the campsite - tired and GRUMPY... and my mom said (with a smirk) "well, Aunt Cheryl said she invited Derik to camp this weekend" (haha) I said "Oooookkk?" she said, "well - what do you think?" and these were my exact words "Mom, whatever will be, will be" - little did I know :)

We saw each other every night after that weekend except one. He called me that night and said, "I wanted to know if I could take you out on a date tomorrow?" ummm YES! I still remember our first date. Awkward ha! We went to a restaurant and ate dinner, then we came to my parents house and watched a movie. He went to Texas Tech while I lived in Belton at my college (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor). We continued our relationship through the 6 hour drives and flights. And, the rest is history :)

We met ON Memorial Day weekend 2005
He proposed ON Memorial Day weekend 2008 - May 24, 2008
We were married ON Memorial Day weekend 2009 - May 23, 2009 :)

When we planned the wedding, that was not the specific reason why we picked Memorial Day weekend... but, once I figured that all 3 of these major events were (and were going to be) on Memorial Day - I knew it would be a perfect weekend to Marry my love :)

NEW BLOGSITE!

2010-04-19T20:21:00.002-05:00

www.brittneymelton.com

come check it out - this will eventually be my new home... I'll most likely be using this for my personal and business blog, so make sure and update your RSS feeds to the new site. I may continue to blog here for a little while, but not for long :)

Wildflowers

2010-04-15T18:06:00.003-05:00

Look at all the pretties :)

Toby's First Haircut

2010-04-05T19:32:00.003-05:00

Ok so... last Thursday our little guy Toby (aka Tobs or Tobster as we call him) got his first haircut - BIG BOY!

What was TERRIBLE about it was that they put a BOW in his hair!

a BOW!? - he's a boy!!!!!

Derik picked him up and saw this and asked the lady "why does he have a bow" - "Daddy" got mad - you don't put a bow in your boys hair!!! haha! So, the lady tries to make up for it. I mean, we live in central Tx and all... so she says "well, it's longhorn colors!"

First - it's orange and lime green?

Second - Derik is NOT a UT fan... far from it... he went to Texas Tech and pretty much has a hatred toward anything UT...

my family members are all UT fans - so yea, football season is real fun :/ haha!

My brother went with Derik and they took the bow OFF in front of the lady! haha! oh my gosh, I was rolling when I was hearing this story. You don't mess with "Daddy's" boy!!! haha!

Well, after he was all de-girlified... "Daddy" got a picture of him...

He's such a big boy now!!! :)

Saying goodbye...

2010-04-05T18:46:00.002-05:00

I had to say goodbye...

I hated our parting and I do not know what I am going to do without them for a whole 2 weeks...

I feel naked without them... like a part of me is missing.

They have been with me through some pretty important moments in life.

One has been with me since May 08 - May 24, 2008 (to be exact)

The other has been with me since last May - May 23, 2009 (to be exact)

*YES, I'm talking about my wedding rings...*

I had to drop them off at the jeweler to get soldered and I have to say that I really miss them!!!

They said that they would be ready in 2 weeks and I want them back NOW - it's only been 2 days!!! They said they'd call if they were ready sooner and I REALLY hope they are!

Did any of you ladies get your rings soldered? Did you miss them like crazy!?

Bye rings! See you in 2 weeks or less!

Last LAST Weekend :)

2010-03-17T21:41:00.003-05:00

ok, so this is a post long time coming... have I really not blogged since the beginning of MARCH!? Ummm hello, it is April next week! Is time flying by this fast for anyone else?

Ok so, in my last post I showed you our Toby :)

Here's some more shots of our little guy :)

Ah, Father and Son :) haha!

What's so funny is that we started calling each other Momma and Daddy when we refer to each other and to Toby. Like "Daddy, take Toby out to potty" haha we're weird!

THEN!

Last LAST weekend :) I got to see my best friends for a "Gender Reveal" Party. My Best friend (also named Brittney) and her husband are expecting a little one and I had not seen her yet :) she looked so cute!

The premise of a Gender Reveal Party is to tell us if it was a boy or girl. I think these are so fun and I've been seeing more and more of these around the blogworld :)

Here we are...

If you thought it was a boy = you wore blue
If you thought it was a girl = you wore pink

I wore pink
***
and I was right :)

It's a girl!!!

Ok... so they decorated all in blue and pink and when they told us the gender, they cut away the balloons that weren't what the baby was... thus the pink balloons left :)

I could not be more tickled "pink" for you guys!

Here's the whole gang...

LOVE YOU BRITT!!!

We brought Toby along for the weekend and he decided he needed the "big boy" bone... Britt and her husband have 2 big dogs and another one that is still more than twice his size :) so in all - 3 dogs... I guess he thought he was big too...

This bone is like THE size of him! haha!
My Hubby's been gone all week on business and I can't wait to see him tomorrow!

BECAUSE TOMORROW'S FRIDAY!!!

Blogworld... Meet Toby

2010-03-02T20:33:00.002-06:00

Derik and I got a puppy this weekend!
he's OH so cute!

first picture on the way home :) just got a bath!

silly boy!

pic with "mom"

I believe *someone* is spoiling somebody :)

see what I mean!? :)

FAV pic of him so far!!! :)

hey!

funny sleeping picture... he looks so funny :)

silly boy... Derik laid him in this bed and he didn't get his back feet in... so he just stayed like this - ha! goofy! :)

"momma" wore him out today... we had a lot of errands to run! :)

his new favorite toy :)

believe me... you will see more of Toby :)

Austin Snow Day 2010 :)

2010-02-26T20:11:00.007-06:00

It snowed in Austin :)

yes - we went from wearing shorts and short sleeves on Sunday (in the 70's ALMOSt 80's) and then Tuesday... it SNOWED! only in Texas people... only in Texas

Sorry, I'm still wearing glasses and extremely tired... Derik got the day off...
sadly - I am called in when there's a weather event... I work at a News Station :/

before (I thought this was a lot at first)

after (but this is a lot more!)

before...

after...

before...

after...

look at those HUGE snowflakes :) ha!

before...

after...

Derik's truck in the snow :)

I said "Derik, come outside and take pictures with me!!!" he said "no, I don't want to" - so I said "Derik don't be dumb :(" ha! and he did this -->

he still came out with me :)

silly boy!

US!! :)
again, pardon my non-made up self :/ YUCK!

Crosses :)

2010-02-26T20:03:00.002-06:00

It's collections week over on Kelly's Korner

Here are my collection of crosses - I've since added probably 10 CROSSES! This is an older photo :) ha!
I love them all :) I got a few for Christmas and some I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby.

The small ceramic colored on on the left on the top is from our Honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico last May... I hope to get one on every vacation we take. That'd be so fun and such a neat tradition.

Absolutely Beautiful

2010-02-22T20:40:00.001-06:00

Originally found here

Us as of lately :)

2010-02-19T18:32:00.003-06:00

us before our 1st Valentine's Date married :)

texting

2010-02-18T21:26:00.000-06:00

a text I just got from my husband:

"smores poptarts! You're the best wife ever :)"

haha!

I'm in the top 20!!!

2010-02-18T14:34:00.001-06:00

http://www.weddingchicks.com/vote/23991/23991/

I'm in the top 20!!! come vote for me to win a spot ad on @weddingchicks!!!

THANKS!!!

**update: I just found out that the top 6 receive a ad on wedding chicks!!!**
**help get me in the top 6 :)**

Sweet Spot Ad - COME VOTE PLEASE!

2010-02-16T14:50:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone! I would love your vote! I have an opportunity to win a sweet spot ad on WeddingChicks - so excited!!! come leave a comment on my ad to place your vote!

VOTE HERE!!! http://www.weddingchicks.com/vote/23991/23991

1st Vday Married & Shrimp Cocktail :)

2010-02-15T19:17:00.003-06:00

Well this was a crazy week as you'll see in my post below... Sorry for that but sometimes you just need to let it out there...

But this past weekend was a good one :)

For one... On Friday, I got candies from a co-worker because I had been covering one of his jobs while he tried to get his car fixed for a few weeks... Hey I'll take it! YUM sour gummy candy - my fav :) really!

He actually made my day because it didn't start out that great, I've been really emotional about everything lately!!! No good! So it was a welcome surprise. And you bet I ate those little heart candies... I let Derik have the others, because, I'm not a glutton or anything.

Then... While I finished up work... I started looking at puppies :) we really want a puppy, but right now Derik doesn't really want to pay for one :/ boo! So we're waiting until my Aunt and Uncle's dog has puppies. She said they'll give us one for free! YAY! :) They're little Shih Tzu's and that's what Derik grew up with, he loves them :) Look at what our future puppy could look like:

photo found: http://puppydogweb.com/

BUT these are the ones I found online on Austin Pet's Alive (GREAT organization!)

These aren't free... But LOOK! :)
Aweeeeee!

These are Border/Terrier Mixes...
photo from AustinPetsAlive

Derik said no :( how can you say NO to these faces!? Not possible!
The Austin Pets Alive site shows you where certain puppies will be if you want to adopt the next day... and there were 4 available Friday... Saturday night, 2 were gone... I said "Derik, you let 2 of those puppies get away!" hahaha!

oh - and - I JUST looked, and now they're all gone!!! "Derik, you let all 4 get away!" :) haha!

**
VDAY! (presents)

I came home that night to a candle lit living room and these on the coffee table :)

This picture was taken after the fact...

Derik chose these flowers because he recognized the "green flowers" from our wedding :) LOVE him! I then told him they were green hydrangeas if he wanted to know the real name :)

Regardless I LOVE them!!! :)

We then watched the 2010 Olympics opening ceremony - AWESOME!

**
VDAY! (dinner)

Saturday he planned a surprise dinner. That in itself is a feat for him... not that he can't plan things, but he can't keep things a SURPRISE! He's like a little kid and wants to tell me, or wants me to guess... He even drove down a street and did some loops to confuse me - hahaha! He siad "haha tricked you!" then we passed a Boston Market and he "pretend" pulled in and said, "this is where we're going!" This I did not believe, because he chose my outift and had me dress up, I don't think you get dressed up for Boston Market... haha! :)

I had an inkling of a fact only because every time he talks about wanting to go to somewhere nice - it's always Truluck's :) but hey, I'm not one to complain!

We didn't realize we needed a reservation - duh! what were we thinking :) So, we waited in the lounge and got a table within 10 mins!!! If we had put our name on the list for the main room, it was 1 hour 45 min wait! GO US!

It was an eventful dinner... I ordered something that I thought was something else... it was Shrimp Cocktail, but I thought it was more like Fish Daddy's Shrimp cocktail - if you've been there then you know... BUT it was just the REGULAR shrimp cocktail... Which, I know what that is, just not what I was expecting... Derik says "you know each of these shrimp is like $3" (the appetizer was $15...) this made me sad, he should not have said that... (remember, VERY emotional this past week) and I was kind of in a bad mood cause I thought he was mad at me... he wasn't, he just wanted dessert over appetizers... I told him that when he takes me out, he should just make the decisions so I don't mess anything up... I don't eat fancy a lot :) haha!

I also told him we need to discuss our "plan of action" before we order... then we know what each other is thinking...

Lesson learned :)

We then went home and watched the Olympics :)

TODAY - I had ~~made~~ Derik come do a Gold's Gym Body Pump Class with me... (it's weight-lifting to music) I think he thought he'd do good... but all day long he's been complaining of his back... I don't blame him, my back hurts too. BUT - now he can't get mad at me for not working out - that class is HARD! Now he sees what I do! He was proud :)

Lesson learned :)

haha

I don't know what it is...

2010-02-11T16:13:00.002-06:00

... but I have not been having a superb week... I have been in a FUNK!

I hate throwing pity parties, but that's what I've done almost all week long... I don't know what to do about it, but it is DRIVING me nuts!

I just am trying to get my thoughts in writing (typing) in hopes that it makes sense. Maybe someday I will look back at this and realize how far I've come...

It has been a week of up and downs for sure... crying - lots of it... the kind that leave you with a lump in your throat and if you don't just let it all out... it hurts! So, I let it all out... each day... and I probably will again today.

Mostly I'm afraid of failing. That I'm not "good enough" if there is such a standard made. A lot of where my headache/heartache is coming from is my photography business.

I SO want this to be something that can finally be my full-time job... someday... probably not anytime soon. I've been trying to figure this whole "bid-ness" thing out :) What are these steps? What am I supposed to do next?

I feel lost... so, how do I know what's next?

As Jasmine Star said... "It's just that I feel lost and I don't know how to connect the dots"

EXACTLY, Jasmine! EXACTLY!

It's all so scary and freeing. The unknown.
Stressful really.

I wish I had the words to describe what I'm feeling/thinking at any given moment right now but, I don't...

I've taken an excerpt from Jasmine Star's site... someone I admire and look up to because of her heart and her business... I love her... and when I feel down or feel like I'm about to fail... I hope I remember to come back and read this!

"The Value of Soap Operas:
Yesterday I sat at my desk and spoke into the phone while [her husband] sat on the floor typing away at his computer. That's when it happened. The quiver in my voice, the sting in my eyes. My nose turns red right before I'm going to cry, it's a dead giveaway. There I sat like Rudolph the Reindeer and tried to keep my ish together. I thanked the guy on the other end of the phone for his time and hung up.

I leaned my head back on my chair and fought the tears. I was fine until [her husband] reached up from the floor and touched my hand. Much like touching a full sponge, I leaked. As the tears fell, he promised everything was going to be okay. Not like all dramatic and soap opera-ish (cue the soft lights, the stringed music and please throw in a line that starts with By God I shall never leave you...). It was more like we've been here before.

It's just that I feel lost and I don't know how to connect the dots, I said.

...for the first time in a long time, I feel like my world is rocked. Strangely enough, this is how I started my photography business. And I'm feeling quite the same way. Lost, frustrated, worried, overwhelmed. I'm posting this blog entry because I want to remember. Remember the emotion that comes with risk and being on the cusp of success. Or failure. Oh that blurry line I so strongly detest.

I know there might be a few others who know how I'm feeling right now. Oh, Internet, I get you. I tangibly know the feelings of frustration and worry ... but I also know the emotion that accompanies risk: joy, excitement, and fear. I hope this post makes you feel less alone. Or, really, makes me feel less alone. Because if I was totally being honest, all I really want is for a random blog reader to find me in the street today and say By God I shall never leave you...

I kid, Internet, I kid"

Temporary Home...

2010-02-04T21:24:00.004-06:00

I absolutely love this song... I had to wipe away a few tears, but love that it reminds me that this is my temporary home :)

I just had to share.

*****BOO! - They took it off...*****

Simple Pleasures...

2010-02-02T19:45:00.004-06:00

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner had a blog post today listing her "Simple Pleasures" and asked us readers to think about our "Simple Pleasures" in life...

I thought this was too good to pass up... (I did agree with a few of hers and listed those as well)

***

Sitting under the stars on a warm summer night

Cuddling up in bed together and laughing

Coffee with a friend

A Saturday with nothing to do

Hearing the Dishwasher after the kitchen is cleaned

Reading a Book at night with the lamp on, tucked in bed...

Mail from a friend

Waking up an hour before your alarm goes off and realize you can still get more sleep!

McAllister's Sweet Tea

Lounging on a Beach somewhere

Knowing that you don't have any major responsibilities the next day

Coming home on a Friday night from work :)

Movie night with my husband, snuggling on the couch

A Clean Room

Clean Bed Sheets

Getting a shoulder rub from Derik :)

The feeling after a good workout (which hasn't been in a while!)

Having finished your days to-do list

Having a night full of your favorite TV shows

Having a picnic

Ebates and RetailMeNot

2010-01-28T15:45:00.003-06:00

Ok ladies - I just have to share...

Anytime you shop online USE Ebates and RetailMeNot - do it!

Ebates gives you cash back on your purchases (some up to 26% I believe) and RetailMeNot has TONS of coupons... if I buy something online, there's never a time I don't check one of these first.

Better yet, use them BOTH! Click to your store from Ebates and then find a coupon code at RetailMeNot before you checkout :)

Especially for all you DIY online shopping brides :) or just online shopping ANYONE'S :)

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Most Beautiful Wedding...

2010-01-21T20:17:00.000-06:00

EVER!!!

Why oh Why...

2010-01-20T21:24:00.003-06:00

when I take on Weight Watchers and start trying to work out more (more on that later) do the girl scouts come to me with COOKIES!!?!? yummy ones... like Thin Mints! WHY!?

I am not doing WW for MAJOR weight loss - I want to hopefully (*hopefully*) loose 10-15 lbs. That would make me very happy :) but 10 would be just fine... mostly just want to gain muscle and tone...

I visited the doctor for my yearly check up in August - and he said for my next appt (um hello, 8 months) he wants to see me with more lean muscle. Since becoming a newlywed I have probably gained a good 5-10 lbs. but I've lost 5 or so here and there.

I started WW and did it for like 1-2 months this time last year... it definitely helped, I probably lost 5 lbs. within the first month... BUT (big BUT) I need to incorporate working out like I did last year... I've been going to the chiropractor a lot these last couple of weeks and those days - I just don't feel like working out - know what I mean?

Will you be there to encourage me? I'm not starting out so hot on the working out part...

But no excuses - including yummy thin mints from cute little girls...

...More Than You Could Ever Possibly Want To Know About Me

2010-01-16T12:15:00.001-06:00

I saw this over on another blog and thought it'd be fun - thanks Jen! :)

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
I'm EXHAUSTED! haha!

2. How much cash do you have on you? let's see... $2 dollars and lots of change :) not much ha!

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? More

4. Favorite planet? Saturn - cause it has rings :)

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? A Number I didn't know, so I didn't answer (I believe it's the same person from India that thinks I'm his Brother-in-Law... annoying!)

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? the song "Chasing Pavements" by Adele

7. What shirt are you wearing? A Red long sleeved shirt

8. Do you label yourself? ummm sure... I don't know... I think I'm pretty boring most of the time - ha! I need to be more adventurous!

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? Bearpaw - sweater boots :) SO comfy feel like slippers

10. Bright or Dark Room? Dark... I always have the lights out with one lamp on at the house - we never turn on our big light hardly ever

11. What do you think about the person who is to your left? no one is on my left... I'm writing this at work (on Friday)

12. What does your watch look like? I don't really wear a watch ever... really ever...

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? sleeping/reading before bed

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? from hubby saying "Love u. How was dinner?" :)

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? I think they're called Valero now - and it's about 8-10 mins away or so

16. What's something that you say a lot? "ummm..." probably ha

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? Derik :)

18. Last furry thing you touched? my sweater hoodie - it has fur in the hood - haha!

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? Mucinex, and finishing up my infection medicine for when I was sick for about 3 weeks with a sinus infection, also that of Yaz :)

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? no film here - all digital

21. Favorite age you have been so far? 24-25... got married started living with a boy, and got a house :)

22. Your worst enemy? sleep - I always want it but I should not have it as much as I want it... also same goes for working out... want it, but can't seem to do it :)

23. What is your current desktop picture? snow and horses and a sunset - I'm at work... at home, my wedding bouquet :)

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? k bye...

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? A million bucks... we need to pay off some loans and get a new car :)

26. Do you like someone? My husband :) he's pretty cool... as I said to my dad when I was like 5 "I like you and you like me..." haha - no really my mom found a letter from me to my dad that said that - ha!

27. The last song you listened to? I don't even remember... probably Lady Gaga's "Romance" ugh hate that song... plays all the time!

28. What time of day were you born? 11:48pm - almost was born in August :) but, July 31st is so me :)

29. What’s your favorite number? well it used to be 7 - but now I'm loving 23... our wedding date! I see it everywhere all the time! It was how old I was when I was proposed to and how old Derik was when we married :)

30. Where did you live in 1987? Austin, TX

31. Are you jealous of anyone? jealous of people that have day-shifts... I work until 10pm EV-ER-Y-DAY!

32. Is anyone jealous of you? umm I wouldn't see why...?

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened? Senior in High School - in my PALs (Peer Assisted Leadership) class... we were watching when the 2nd plane hit live!

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? go to our Accountant's assistant and fill out a form and get my money back :)

35. Do you consider yourself kind? Yes

36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be? I would have to say ankle or top of my foot... but I don't want one...

37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? I am not "fluent" in Spanish per say - but I can definitely carry a simple conversation - so it'd be cool to know more... I think it'd be cool to know French :)

38. Would you move for the person you loved? MOST definitely! I'd go anywhere!

39. Are you touchy feely? sometimes yes and sometimes no - depending on my mood :)

40. What’s your life motto? I hate clutter... I really have no idea - it's the only thing I could think of...

41. Name three things that you have on you at all times? Wedding/Engagement Ring, Pearl ring that my husband gave me on our wedding day... and my iphone :)

42. What’s your favorite town/city? that's tough - I want to go to A LOT of places... but I guess I'll say Cancun - where we had our honeymoon :)

43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? I think a sweet tea from Chikfila - yum!

44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? To my friend Courtney on her birthday :)

45. Can you change the oil on a car? I do not think I could do that - there is always my husband or Jiffy Lube :)

46. What's one thing that you will never talk about on your blog? Video Games - my husband talks enough about it for me - although there will be the occasional mention of HIM playing them :)

47. How far back do you know about your ancestry? I think I have a little bit of Indian and a bit of English... that's all I really know - not a lot!

48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy? I got all cute-sified (yes a real word) when I took Derik on a surprise date to see Chris Daughtry in Concert at the beginning of December :)

49. Does anything hurt on your body right now? I CANNOT walk - my inner thighs are killing me... that's what I get for not working out in 653985 days! :)

50. What are you going to do now? finish up work (this is being posted on Sat but I'm writing it on Fri) and then going to see "Book of Eli" with hubby after work :)

Inspiration Board "Dos"

2010-01-15T19:59:00.003-06:00

Ok

#1... I'm bored at work
#2... I saw this done a WHILE back on BSB and thought it'd be fun
#3... I love any excuse to look at my wedding pictures again :)

So here it is...

my inspiration board that I mocked up way back in July 08

and here it is...

come to life at my wedding a SHORT 8 months ago :)

ahhh - sigh... love :)

Lisa Leonard Giveaway :)

2010-01-11T17:58:00.003-06:00

Check out this awesome giveaway...

I LOVE her jewelry!!!
go have a look :)

Long Night...

2010-01-08T16:00:00.003-06:00

Last night, we ~~did not have~~ had fun :) no really - we did~~n't~~...

We went to bed and were woken a few ~~long~~ short hours later (2:30am) by our fire alarm. At first we were a little groggy to realize what it was... and I said "Derik, are you awake enough?" meaning... "do you hear what I'm hearing? or am I crazy?"

YES - he said

After "touring" our home (there was no fire or smoke or anything that would make it go off that we could see/think of...) and the alarms were still repeatedly going off... we thought, "well maybe it's our heater kicking on and off that's causing them to go off, maybe it's too hot?" - we really had no idea.

So, we turned down the heater (on the coldest day in Austin in more than a decade), and blasted all the fans in the house... the alarm stopped.

Good... back to bed.

20 (or so) mins later... it goes off again! So, seeing as how it's the COLDEST day in Austin in more than a decade (did I already say this?)... we did not want to go in our garage to get a ladder. So, Derik got one of our dining room chairs... stood on that. Still, he could not reach it. So, he used the chair as a step up onto our DRESSER! He kept pressing the button and it stopped.

Whew - back to bed.

20 (or so)mins later... it goes off again! Derik (being very ~~mad~~ happy about this) once again makes the leap onto the dresser... takes the BATTERY out... pushes the button, the alarm stops.

ok... back to bed?

20 (or so) mins later... it goes off again! (see a trend?)... I'm exhausted. I feel bad for Derik because it is now close to 4:00 in the morning... he has to be at work at 8 (I don't have to until 1:30p) - we're very tired... he gets a random shirt and starts "fanning" the alarm... (while jumping up and down - quite hilarious now) it goes off...

Derik says - "Do you think we should we go back to bed?".... :( haha I don't know?

so, we go back to bed...

20 (or so) mins later........... yep............ so I said - "WHAT is the brand of our fire alarm... I'm looking this up on how to turn it off!" (of course I said this in a loving way...) I look it up - it says to press and hold the button (with the battery out) for 10-15 seconds... it will reset. Put battery back in... and it should stop. IT DOES!!! YES!..... BUT... it starts chirping every few minutes twice... like BEEP BEEP.... pause pause pause.... BEEP BEEP...

I say - "I don't want to, but we might have to go to the store and replace the battery - it's probably dead." ugh... ok... I slip on some sweat pants, hoodie and slippers (I know, bed head glasses and all - lovely) and we go to warm the car and leave.

It's now 4:30 IN the morning! We go to Wally World - well because Wally is open 24 hours... We get out in the cold (did I mention it was cold?) I walk into wal-mart (looking DEFINITELY like a Wal-Mart customer with my slippers and all - haha). NO one is there... it's dead... I say - "ok, there's the battery center - GO!" We are on a MISSION here people!!! Find a pkg of 9 volts... make our way to Checkout #5 - the lonely little check out lane light on in all of Wal-mart... and NO one is there! We waited for a few minutes before our lovely lady decided to show up.

"Sorry, I thought I was paying attention - haha" (in southern twang)
I was thinking in my head "Well you weren't - haha"

Anyways... we tell her why we're in Wal-Mart in the ungodly hour of 4am buying BATTERIES of all things... and she tells us HER fire alarm story (I didn't really need to know, but then again, maybe she didn't need to know ours...)

Make our way BACK out into the cold - it was one of those hurt colds that chills your bones you know!? And I was TIRED... we make it back home (our fire alarm didn't go off the whole time we were gone - ugh!) Replace the batteries... and we get back in our WARM bed...

at 6:15am - it goes off AGAIN! and no I'm not kidding... Derik is waving that little shirt like crazy to get that thing to turn off... All I kept thinking of was Pheobe on friends during her night with her fire alarm... hahaha! and I also kept thinking... "when Derik leaves in the morning (in just 1 short hour) how am I going to get up on that dresser if it goes off again!?" hahaha! oh my gosh!

Thankfully it stopped... and THANKFULLY - I never had to step foot on our dresser... it never went off again... but oh my GOODNESS am I exhausted... poor Derik, I hope he takes a nap when he gets off work!

The Year of 2009

2009-12-31T00:00:00.000-06:00

Oh my gosh WOW!

Is 2009 really really over!? it FLEW by! SERIOUSLY!

I was so excited for this year to start... SOO excited! And now it's already over!?

This year is very special to me. This is the year that I married my wonderful husband. We were married May 23, 2009!! I have loved everything about marriage. I love being a wife to my husband! What a JOY! What an amazing day that was! One I will cherish always!

We also bought our very first house and have begun making it a home. We love it!

I also had many many sessions and many many new events happen with my photography as well.

Take a look at 2009:

- Assisted in my first wedding
- Photographed 7 2009 Seniors
- Photographed 2 2010 Seniors
- Photographed my FIRST Wedding
- Booked a 2nd Wedding
- Photographed my first Engagement Session
- Photographed 3 Families
- Created many designs and logos... too many to count!
- WON a customized website which will be up and running hopefully before mid-spring! I'll let you know when it's up and running! :)

Thank you guys so much for supporting me! Thanks for reading my blog! It's been amazing to connect with some of you ladies!

It's been an amazing ride and I am so looking forward to what the next year brings :)

Whew...

2009-12-29T15:28:00.003-06:00

I am EXHAUSTED!!! seriously!

Derik and I counted them up... we had a total of 7 Christmases!!! is that even possible!?

Count 'em:

Christmas Eve Eve (or some say *Christmas Adam* :) haha) we went to Derik's family's and stayed the evening for Christmas. (1)

Christmas Eve we went to his Meme's from about 3pm-10pm and then made our way to my Aunt's at around 10:30pm and did not get to my parents house until 12am or after. (2)

Christmas Day we woke up around 7am and had Christmas with my parents and then made a bunch of lunch goodies and made our way to my Grandparents (Mom's side) around noon and then my other Grandparent's (Dad's side) around 5pm and got home around 10pm. (3)

Christmas Day After I started feeling bad... but we went to Derik's Mom's side of the family for that Christmas. 4pm-10pm and I was wiped!!! (1)

(7)

And because of all the craziness of the "said" 7 Christmases, I got sick! like terribly sick! I started feeling bad Saturday afternoon... Sunday was terrible, and Monday was even worse... I started to feel better later Monday evening. And, here it is Tuesday, back at work :/ ugh!

I do feel a lot better, if I didn't I wouldn't have come to work at all. But, I did, because I feel up to it. It's hard for my boss to find someone to cover my shift, so sometimes it's just easier coming in. But all in all - MUCH better from yesterday.

Lets just say it went from sore throat, to terrible headache + sore throat, to terrible headache + sore throat + congestion, to all of the above and throw on a little stomach virus! ugh! terrible!

Anyways... I'm glad to be back to my old self... I can't believe 2010 is just 3 days away! 2009 FLEW by - such a fun year but it went by too fast for my taste :)

What will 2010 hold for the Melton's?? :)

Finally... Christmas

2009-12-10T23:04:00.002-06:00

So I finally was able to take pictures of all of our Christmas decorations and our VERY first Christmas. AND Santa came a little early this year and gave us some cool things called Iphones :)

Which is what I used to take all these photos AND to write this post with too!!!! ENJOY!

O Christmas tree o Christmas tree, how lovely are your brrraaannnches :)

I was so excited for our tree. It is decorated in "my" green and coppers and golds and browns. Never thought I'd choose that but I love it!!! Can we keep it up all year long??

Newlywed stockings :) and do you see my snow friends down there? They were a present from my mother-in-law last Christmas

Another friend I got from Kohls with some wedding money. He was on sale so I had to get him!

We also made Derik a special tree specifically decorated TECH. What else of course :)

It even has various photos of us from the games while he was in school - FUN!

And we can't forget our outside lights :) we actually put these up the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving because we were oh so excited about CHRISTMAS!!!

And ladies, I'm proud to say we are FINISHED with our Christmas shopping!! Well you know except for those various odds and ends :)

Are you as excited as I am?? I LOVE Christmas!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

hp touchsmart 600 giveaway

2009-12-09T14:20:00.001-06:00

AWESOME GIVEAWAY HERE!!!

and HERE

oh and HERE

and how about HERE

and wait for it.... ok...
HERE

check it out!!! :)

OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS

2009-12-07T11:58:00.004-06:00

I promise to post some photos of all our Christmas decorations - it's just been getting really hectic!

BUT I did manage to order some Christmas Cards!!! What do you think!?

I'll post a photo of the actually card in hand when it comes in - it should be this week!

I can't believe it's already Christmas! AND our FIRST Christmas at that!

Blessed and Busy

2009-11-24T20:47:00.006-06:00

So as you can see, my blog was "overtaken" by the contest I was in last week :) haha! but you'll be glad to know that I WON! I actually got second by 9 VOTES! yeah, that's not very many, so they awarded us both... how grateful and blessed am I!?

I am now working with a designer to customize my website - which was my prize. And I'm in for a treat. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm very excited... but I know it's going to be a lot of work on my part and I hope I'm up for the challenge.

I am in the middle of a lot of projects, which includes the website, but I'm also working on a logo for a local daycare... just did an engagement session this past weekend, and a few family sessions to go all before Christmas! I think I can, I think I can... ha! no, I'm really excited about it all!

ESPECIALLY about the holidays...

I'm proud to announce... that we have already DECORATED our house for Christmas - early?? some may say no... my dad says I'm just anxious to decorate since we have a house :) ha! regardless, I'm ready for the holidays. I'm ready to take it slow... I haven't had Thanksgiving and the Day after Thanksgiving off in 3 years! IT IS TIME! I'm so excited to have Thursday and Friday off, so thankful and blessed by that!

I also have everyday off Christmas week (except I'll be working that Monday) - I also have New Year's Eve off - which also hasn't happened in 3 years! (do you see a trend here? haha) I am READY for a break and I am READY for some family time. Thankful for it all!

So, Our decorations - we put lights up on the outside of our house on Saturday morning :) YAY! Derik wasn't thrilled about it... but it only took like 30 mins. I put on the clips, he climbed on the roof and TA-DA teamwork! I love the lights :)

We (I) put the lights on our tree Sunday and found out we needed one more strand... I was so bummed out and I insisted that we go buy another box so I could finish the lighting... ran to wal-mart, problem fixed... then we went back home and finished the tree - complete with ornaments, beads, and picture frame ornaments of us :) YAY! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Derik has been wanting to order Texas Tech (where he graduated from) ornaments and make a special little tree for just those ornaments... so I decorated a smaller tree today and put it on our large kitchen window sills - complete with red and black ornaments - red/black/silver beads... and we will be getting our first 2009 Texas Tech ornament in a few short weeks :)

I will post photos (still in camera) soon! :)

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! - have I said that already?

We have completed about 1/2 of our Christmas shopping list and have decided to get each other IPHONES for our Christmas present - WAHOO! I have been wanting one since they first came out with the $599 price tag (I would NEVER have purchased one at that price, those people are crazy... oh man) We are still on our parents phone plans and this will be an easy way to transfer us onto our own... so excited :)

Do any of you have iphones? If so, what are your favorite apps, I'd love to download some fun/useful ones - any opinions on iphones themselves?

I WON!

2009-11-22T09:22:00.002-06:00

Hey blog friends,

The website contest I was in was so close that he decided to award the TOP 2 a website!

YOU ARE AWESOME!!! thanks so much for all the votes! Couldn't have done it without you!

So be on the lookout for a new site - I'll be posting here when it's all up and ready :)

Thanks,

Brittney

Keep Voting!

2009-11-18T15:36:00.002-06:00

http://mcpactions.com/blog/2009/11/15/vote-for-the-most-deserving-of-a-custom-website-25-off-smugmug-pro/

Keep voting if you can!!! Share with friends and family too! I need to be in first on Saturday to win :) THANKS!!!

HELP!!!

2009-11-17T14:11:00.001-06:00

Alright guys I have an idea... Help me get TONS of votes!!!

I know some of you have probably seen about the contest I am in - if you haven't voted yet - VOTE!!! follow this link below...

if you have voted and want to help me - post this link on your fb page... or forward it in an email to friends... if you have a blog... put it on your blog... whatever you can think of would SO help!!! I need any help I can get as I'm now down 100+ votes!!! AHH! so if you can... SEND SEND SEND, SHARE SHARE SHARE!!! I REALLY want to win this!!

http://mcpactions.com/blog/2009/11/15/vote-for-the-most-deserving-of-a-custom-website-25-off-smugmug-pro/

THANKS! ends Nov 21st

VOTE for me PLEASE!

2009-11-15T17:23:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! I'm so excited about this opportunity!

If you would PLEASE vote for me... I would be able to win an awesome custom designed website for my photography business... how cool is that!?

Just follow this link and vote for me! :) Contest ends Nov 21st!

http://mcpactions.com/blog/2009/11/15/vote-for-the-most-deserving-of-a-custom-website-25-off-smugmug-pro/

THANKS SO MUCH!!! Post this on your blog or tell all of your friends!!! I appreciate all the help!!!

Today has been a GREAT day!

2009-11-12T14:56:00.002-06:00

If you don't read this post... scroll down for a weekend shopping goody :) I promise it's worth it!

Ok... so today has been GREAT because...

1. I WENT TO THE GYM!!!! I haven't done that since May - BEFORE the wedding! oh my goodness... I felt very out of place, it's been forever... but it felt good. I just need to work out and I've been so lazy and have no motivation... it's ridiculous. I'm hoping this jump start of going to the gym will KEEP me going back.

2. I had a lunch date with hubs - and it was much needed :) I love seeing him in the middle of the day since I don't get to see him until I get off work at 10:30p!!!

3. I just bought a Canon 85mm 1.8. For you non-photog-ys (fun word I just made) it's a wonderful most beautiful lens. I just joined a photog forum and bought it from one of the ladies... awesome! can't wait to get it and play around!!!

AND NOW onto the shopping goody :)

just for you blog peeps that read my blog...

go HERE for 30% off Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic purchases in stores from now until Nov 15th (Sun) - you can also use it MULTIPLE TIMES!!! ahh! This offer is also good at Gap Outlet and Banana Republic Factory Store!!!

Just print and repeat :)
YOU. ARE. WELCOME!

Has it really been a week???

2009-11-11T10:42:00.003-06:00

since my last post!?

oh. my.

But, seriously this last week FLEW by! didn't it!? or is it just me??

Well, today is Veterans Day. I am so thankful for every member of our armed forces... both past, present and future... They have to be some of the bravest people I know. So Thank you! every one of you!!!

On this Veterans Day, my husband has the day off, I however do not... bummer.

Since he got COD Modern Warfare 2 yesterday - he'll be playing that all day... oh boy.

Next couple of posts I hope to show some of my Christmas decorations :) Don't worry... we haven't put up the tree yet... but soon :)

I also have a wonderful engagement photo session coming in a couple of weeks that I'm very excited for :)

We have lots to be thankful for!

Halloween 2009 with Friends

2009-11-04T20:58:00.006-06:00

I was SO looking forward to this weekend! We had some wonderful friends come stay with us in our new house :) and we got to hang out and go to a Jeremy Camp concert - woo hoo! It was so fun and MUCH needed... hope we can do these more often!

these first 2 pics are mine...

and these next few concert pics are Court's :) thanks Court!!!

awesome! :)

Britt & Kyle (Britt was my MOH!!!)

Daniel & Court - we missed them last year while they were overseas!!

me and my babe (and my new fav pic of us!)

the girls :) oh how I missed them :)

The boys...

don't know what they're doing - haha!

YAY friends!

Court took this one of Chuy's (YUM!) and the group pic below!

and this one... rock out with your guac out... see tshirt on lower right hand corner... :)

such a fun weekend...

Friday night was VERY memorable... I'll make that another post, but we had Halloween "visitors" and it was pretty intense!

Survey about me

2009-10-29T21:30:00.000-05:00

I've seen these all over the blog-o-sphere and thought I'd give it a shot :) something fun! and to be honest a little blog post "filler" when you're lacking in that area :)

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while your blogging?

Well to be honest, I do most of my blogging and blog reading at work (shh don't tell), so I'm not really eating much... if anything something from the vending machine... speaking of, I'm hungry and I'm going to get something. Be right back....

ok, I'm back and I got a Snickers (also, shh don't tell)

2. What is one thing you don't want to live without?

Beside the obvious family, friends and of course my husband Derik (what would I do without them, seriously!!) I would have to say fruit, I love fruit, and when it comes down to it... if I had to choose a strawberry over a chocolate cake - oh boy I would be having that strawberry! Better yet, just make it chocolate covered strawberries - yum! I would take a fruit dessert over any other dessert out there! I LOVE fruit pies/cobblers/cheesecake! YUM!

3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice?

Definitely between beach and mountains. Well I love the beach... and it's where I spent my honeymoon and I loved it. I've also gone skiing. But, I don't know. The Beach might get tiring where as the mountains change with the seasons... so maybe the mountains. Plus, I get to snuggle with my hubby when it's cold :) And who really would want to wear a bathing suit almost all year, NOT me!
4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty?

I absolutely hate folding clothes! I will wash/dry clothes. I'll even wash dishes, clean toilets, mop floors WAY over wanting to fold clothes! I actually talked about this on my facebook page just this day!

5. Who do people say you remind them of?

I have no idea. Derik once told me he thought I looked like Reese Witherspoon. I'll take that :) She's adorable!

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying home with the fam?

It all depends. I love hanging with friends, but sometimes I like my alone time. I love curling up on the couch and watching a movie with Derik.

7. What's your all time favorite movie?

Why so hard!? There are too many to pick!!! But I just recently saw "The Proposal" and I have never laughed so hard in a movie! loved it!!
8. Do you sleep in your make-up or remove it like a good little girl every night?

I used to be good, before we got married I took Accutane for about 1/2 a year and was very sure to wash my face! I washed my face all the time leading up to the wedding. But, since, I've really kind of let it go. I wash my face when I feel like it and in the shower... I need to get better at that seriously... not good for the face. And I don't want my face to be the way it was!

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn? What is it?

Well, I love anything creative. I love my photography. But, I think it would've been really fun to have studied medicine. Now, I would never have been able to do it... I'd be a bit squeamish with some things. But, I love taking care of people and how amazing would it be to learn about the complicated and intricate body of a human God created.

10. What's one strange thing you're really good at?

I have no idea. I guess I'm really good with creativity (as I said above) but, I really don't know a "strange" thing that I'm good at. Maybe cleaning? Since we've had our own house... I've been really good about cleaning. My dishwasher is never full. I always empty it and reload. So, therefore I don't have dishes laying in my sink all the time. We'll see how that goes in a few months/years :)

11. What first attracted you to your spouse?

I'd have to say his sense of humor and his athleticism. He makes me laugh so much. We get each other. He ran track and did long jump/triple jump for Texas Tech. Go babe!

12. What is something you love to smell?

I love candles. I never could have them in college. Dorm wouldn't allow. I didn't have many in my room at home, because my mom would be afraid I'd forget to blow them out. So, I barely ever lit them. But, now, I practically light a candle everyday! I am in love with Yankee Candle's Macintosh Spice... smells like the holidays :) I need to buy a new one already!!!

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people.

Gosh I don't know. Probably that I'm so detail oriented maybe... It sometimes bothers Derik when I want to get stuff done and he says we can wait some. But remember this post?

14. When you have extra money, what's the first thing you think to do with it?

Well, lately it has been saved. I'm saving up to buy a new camera. But, I really have wanted to go shopping lately! Good thing, because it's time to shop for Christmas soon!
15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher? What makes you laugh the hardest?

Depends on how "tickled" I am. Mostly a loud, I don't know, I'll listen next time :)

16. Where is your favorite place to shop?

Target. Banana Republic (Outlet). Ross. DSW (love me some shoes!)

17. What is one thing you would do more often if you had more time?

Relax. Take more bubble baths. Focus more on photography. Take one day at a time.

18. Are you a big spender or frugal?

I'd say frugal. Derik would have to differ. I only spend big after much much thought! I almost ALWAYS buy things on sale too!

19. Who is your favorite character of all time? (from a movie or a book, can't be real)

Gosh another hard one just like my fav movie! I'd have to say Haddassah from the Mark of the Lion Book Series by Francine Rivers. Amazing - I could read that again - thanks Britt!

20. Would you want to be famous?

I think I wouldn't want to be "famous" but I would want to be well-known. Especially in my photography. My goal is to one day go full-time with photography so that when we have kids I can be flexible with what we want to do!

Awesome idea and a little fun

2009-10-28T19:30:00.002-05:00

ok - check this out

what a creative "bride" idea - awesome!

and a little fun:

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Haha LOVE IT!

Jack-O-Lanterns and FALL

2009-10-28T14:27:00.005-05:00

Fall is FAST - seriously...

These past few weekends have FLOWN by and I miss them! Not because I want them back, but I feel like I've been flying each week... some weeks go by slow but then the weekend comes and I feel like I don't get enough time to sit and do what I would like to do.

I have MUCH to do with my photography business and have no room to breathe to do it. I do errands and housework in the mornings and sometimes I don't have time for a shower some days (sorry, ewww, but seriously). The reason why this blog hasn't seen much "action" lately either...

I am actually changing my business name to encompass more of what I want it to be. I am excited about it all, but it's a lot of work. I need to get a business license for taxing purposes, because well... I am going to make enough money to be making it a business (exciting, yet VERY scary for me).

So, it's all about one thing at a time, right!? ... I am not good at that.

When I want to do something, I want to get it done right away... I want it to be perfect right away... I am very detail-oriented and sometimes can't see the big picture. Better yet, I can't be patient enough and wait to see the big picture because I want it done NOW! I have much to learn!

But, thankfully these past few weekends my husband and I slowed down just a little bit and were able to start somewhat of a little tradition (or at least I hope it becomes one)

We went to a pumpkin patch!!!

and got pumpkins!!!

and I felt like a little kid again!!!

I loved carving pumpkins with my dad when I was little. And I even loved to pull all the "gooey" stuff out with the seeds...

Derik however - does NOT like this part. He's VERY squeamish to gross things like this... weirdo! :):):) haha!so he carved for us :)

And I feel like my house is homey and falley now :) Yes, I just made up those words...
Derik is the one that has "pimples" (that's what I call them) and mine is on the right
HAPPY HALLOWEEN - MMmwwahahaha! [insert spooky laugh]

5 Months!

2009-10-23T15:01:00.003-05:00

Seriously!??? we've already been married 5 months!?

I remember all my countdowns (here, here, here, here, and here) as if they were YESTERDAY!

it is truly flying by!

I'm going to be a little sad when hubby leaves me for 2 weeks in November - ugh! Praying I'll make it! But, I'm very excited to have friends come stay the weekend next weekend - we're all going to a Jeremy Camp Concert and I am oh so excited... pics for sure to come.

Also, we're carving our pumpkins this weekend - woohoo! :)

Happy 5 months to us! Half a year in a month - WHAT!??

Ummm... funny :)

2009-10-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

"I will seek and find you.

I shall take you to bed and have my way with you.

I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan.

I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.

I will exhaust you to ...the point that you will be relieved when I’m finished with you.

And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.

All my love,

The Flu

Now get your mind out of the gutter and go get your flu shot!

This is just TOO...

2009-10-19T16:30:00.001-05:00

ADORABLE!

read here

Show Us Your Life - What do you Make?

2009-10-15T21:34:00.005-05:00

Kelly's Korner is having another SUYL :)

This one is fun because so many woman (and maybe men) are showcasing their creativeness.

I have been LOVING my photography business (www.designsbybrittney.com) The name *may* be changing soon... WELL - I just recently started my "Christmas Special 2009" and have had a few inquiries - YAY! check it out here... If you're in the Central, TX area I would LOVE to photograph your fun family & friends :)

But, for anyone who see this and has a picture of their own that they would like me to create a Christmas Card for... here are my recent designs :)

I love them and am excited to get started :)

Cute Hubby

2009-10-14T10:43:00.004-05:00

Last time Derik had to leave for business, I kept one of his colognes and smelled it whenever I missed him. I don't know if that's weird, but it made it feel like he was just a little bit there :) I also left his pillows up on the bed so it felt like there was someone else in the bed - ha! Well he thought it was cute when he found out what I did.

Well...

Derik is gone on business (AGAIN) this week... but when I came home Monday evening... this is what I saw :)

I wish this would post sideways... but for some reason it won't!

It says:
"Hey Baby, I can make it seem like I'm here next to you. Sorry I have to leave you this week. Be very careful and call me/text me a lot every day. MWAH!!! - Derik"

and he put his cologne on his pillow and left the bottle for me...

and here is the "pillow Derik" he made for me - hahaha!

LOVE YOU BABY! come home soon!!!

Show us Your Life: Tailgates and Favorite Teams

2009-10-09T21:28:00.008-05:00

Before I knew Derik, I was a UT fan... because, well my family was. I was never an outrageous fan... I just went for them (and I still do, but I am neutral on Tech vs. UT game day).

My dad and Derik sure have fun with this. They are hardcore for their teams. According to my Dad, it's going to be a lifelong rivalry between them :) oh boy!

There are a lot more pictures of us at games, these are the only ones I had on my at the time :/

Texas Tech!!

This was when Tech beat OSU last year (they had an AWESOME season last year)
here is the score - 56-20
and you'll notice that they are 10-0 at this point...
this year however, well, we won't go there :/
the game
"The Goin' Band from Raiderland"

this is also us rushing the field when we beat OU a few years ago... here's to hoping for the same this year!!! :)

Also, I found this and thought it was fun :) I did not make it up, and I don't agree with ALL items listed, still it's pretty true :)

FOOTBALL IN THE SOUTH:

STADIUM SIZE:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

FATHERS:
NORTH: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.
SOUTH: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

CAMPUS DECOR:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

HOMECOMING QUEEN:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America.

HEROES:
NORTH: Rudy Giuliani
SOUTH: Archie & Peyton Manning

GETTING TICKETS:
NORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus.
SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus, make a large financial contribution and put name on a waiting list for tickets.

FRIDAY CLASSES AFTER A THURSDAY GAME:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, because they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the few hung over students that might actually make it to class.

PARKING:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

GAME DAY:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting 'Game Day Live' to get on camera and wave to the idiots up north who wonder why 'Game Day Live' is never Broadcast from their campus.

TAILGATING:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance from the Dave Matthews Band,...who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

GETTING TO THE STADIUM:
NORTH: You ask 'Where's the stadium?' When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it is the state's third largest city.

CONCESSIONS:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot on it, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room for bourbon.

WHEN NATIONAL ANTHEM IS PLAYED:
NORTH : Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

THE SMELL IN THE AIR AFTER THE FIRST SCORE:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, Gunpowder (from the cannon in the end zone), with a touch of bourbon.

COMMENTARY: (MALE)
NORTH: 'Nice play.'
SOUTH: 'tackle him and break his legs.'

COMMENTARY: (FEMALE)
NORTH: 'My, this certainly is a violent sport.'
SOUTH: 'tackle him and break his legs.'

ANNOUNCERS:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

AFTER THE GAME:
NORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.

SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker, while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, and planning begins for next week's game. Nothing else in the universe comes even halfway close to the glories of Southern football!

Decorating and the Weather

2009-10-09T10:16:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to do some decoration (still have lots of boxes to unpack though) and we've been doing yard work here and there. Well Central Tx has welcomed some much needed rain and we got some "fertilizing" in just at the right time.

ok so, this makes me laugh everytime...

My husband was going to wear flip flops and I suggested that he go change his shoes (so it wouldn't get all over him) and he comes out wearing... this...

that's his best man over there helping... but keep scrolling to see the beauty of his choice of shoes - haha!

Yes, this was my husband last Saturday...

THIS is today - it is POURING rain and making me ever so sleepy!

here's the mirror I spray painted - kind of a bad picture, but what do you think?

and if you look in the mirror... you can see the collage wall...

far away

up close

ok, so SERIOUSLY, what do you think... I've rearranged and un-rearranged tons of times and don't know if I like it... do you think it looks good?

I realize they are pretty much all pictures of us (and wedding/honeymoon pictures at that) but we'll change them out as we get other/&more pictures... do you think my picture in the middle is too overwhelming??

My mom said "they're pictures of just you two??" - does it look weird with only "us" pictures...?

Derik says that maybe if there weren't those circle frames, or if the circle frames were horizontal...?

Please - totally be honest!! I need help!!

I [heart] PB&J

2009-10-08T16:04:00.003-05:00

Tonight, Pam Beesley & Jim are getting married :) tee hee!

so excited! :)

YUM-O!

2009-10-07T19:01:00.002-05:00

Ok, so since getting a house (and my own kitchen) I've been really into looking at recipes. I'm not really good a cooking (I LOVE baking - but who doesn't?)... I only have like 2-3 things I can make "well" haha! And even then I can really only cook on weekends because of my work schedule! ugh!

Well, most of you may know about Kelly from Kelly's Korner... but what I did NOT know is that she shares a lot of recipes on her own recipe blog - I looked at this a lot tonight and wanted to email/print like ALL of them for myself... haha!

here's the link

Thanks Kelly!!!!

You can also find more recipes from her "Show us your Life" blog posts (I've done a few) - tons of ladies have linked their fave meals here and their fave deserts here... I'll link more if she does any holiday recipes or anything...

Happy Hump Day - ENJOY!!! :)

It's been a while...

2009-10-05T20:17:00.003-05:00

Gees - a week can sure get past you (and i'm over a week!)

But, not much has been going on... So, this post will be random musings as of late :)

Derik is going to be gone all week next week again (yes, again) and I'm not too excited about it

AT ALL!

What am I gonna do all week?

I need to work out...

Derik's mom had to go to the hospital EARLY Friday morning

She just got to come home today

She's ok, just had an infection and got very sick very suddenly

Derik's over there right now (at his parents) visiting

and I'm at work :/

wishing I were there

Saturday we fertilized our yard

It's funny what will get you excited as a home owner

RAIN!

It rained a lot this weekend...

and last week

and probably this week

I'm glad it's fall now

but I love me some summer

We had my family over for dinner on Saturday

we watched football

We went to church on Sunday and I'm getting excited about Operation Christmas Child already

and really just excited about Christmas already

and decorating already

and shopping for said decorations already :)

Sunday was lazy, we napped and watched the Cowboys play TERRIBLY

We went to my house to pack up more boxes of my stuff

WHERE DOES IT ALL COME FROM!?

Starting to think I need to garage sale some things...

our house doesn't feel as big anymore - ha!

I organized and unpacked boxes today

there's still a lot more

I'm ready for the weekend of October 30/31 and November 1 :)

more decorating :)

We were given a wall mirror a while back

I didn't like the color combo (gold/black)

I'm more of a silver girl

I spray painted it silver and we hung it

decided it was hung too low

rehung it

*TRIED* to make a frame collage on the wall

don't know how it turned out

Derik said it was "decent"

that to me means it was not good

he said - "no it was ok"

that didn't help

might rearrange frame collage on wall

or scrap it altogether

??

will post pictures about it sometime soon

maybe you can help

the end

I have to share...

2009-09-25T16:22:00.000-05:00

with you this awesome website...

it's all about designer home decor looks, but a copy cat version that is MUCH cheaper!

go look, now!

Brides - PLEASE don't do this!

2009-09-24T20:19:00.003-05:00

Bride's always seem to complain about their fiance´ not wanting to help with wedding *stuff* (not all, just some)...

well, I think this guy had a lot of input!

click photo to see original source

4 months!

2009-09-23T14:13:00.002-05:00

Happy Anniversary babe! I love you with all my heart. And although you are gone on business to Dallas this week... I can't wait until Friday when you come home! It's been lonely without you :/

These 4 months have been one AMAZING roller coaster ride. I think we've been through a lot so far in our 4 months :) - ha! But, I've LOVED IT! Getting married, going to Mexico, moving into my parents house... praying that you would get a job - and you DID! praying about apartments and homes and apartments and homes - and then FINDING ONE! Moving in and making the house our own!

I've loved EVERY second of it - the hard times and ALL the good!

Can't wait til you're home in my arms on FRIDAY!!!!

Paint Color

2009-09-22T18:38:00.005-05:00

Ok, So, I might need some of you blogger peeps help regarding paint color for our bedroom

If you didn't see it in my last post (see below) here is our bedroom

The bedding set is a navy/slate blue...

I was thinking of this color:

from Behr

It's called "Silver Hill"
We were wanting a gray/blue slate color and I think this works

*BUT*

Should we paint just one wall? 2? all of them?

Originally I was thinking just the wall with the headboard... but Derik thinks "why? it's mostly covered up anyways and the headboard is already a statement..." So, then we were thinking the wall on the left when you walk in. It's a long wall that we plan on doing a photo frame collage on... but then I feel like painting it all - but Derik thinks it'll be too dark in our room then.

anyone have any suggestions!?

Also...
We (Derik) wanted to paint a red wall in our office as an accent wall... and I like that idea, but I've heard bad things about red. I know it doesn't "resell" well, and we can paint then, that's no problem... but I hear it takes a lot of coats and sometimes red doesn't turn out right from "paint card color" to "wall color"... So, here's where I need your help again...

Here's the room:

We want to paint the wall with the window... and disregard Derik - I have NO idea what he is doing - haha!

Here's the colors:

from Behr

I originally spotted "Ruby Ring"... but Derik want it to be true Texas Tech red... so he chose "Licorice Stick" but I just think it'll be way too vibrant and bright - like a fire truck ya know!?
So - what do you think...? the "California Poppy" is in between these two shades - I think it's a little pink though...

any comments and help will be appreciated! thanks!

THE bedroom furniture and DECORATING!!!

2009-09-21T20:31:00.009-05:00

If you didn't get to see my crazy story about our bedroom furniture - go here!

But - as promised... here are photos of our bedroom furniture!

I should've taken pictures of us actually getting the furniture - but then, my camera would be DRENCHED!!!

yea, we had to get the furniture on the day when it RAINED THE MOST! It hasn't rained here LITERALLY since our wedding day - maybe once...

Texas (especially central TX) has been in the worst drought it's ever seen...

we would have to get it on that day.

Let's just say that it looked like that I had just jumped in a pool - fully clothed!

we were sopping wet!!

ok, here goes...

BEFORE

haha - laughable considering we were living out of suitcases... on a double bed (which we've been sleeping on since we got married, at my parents house and now here) with a measly blanket - haha!

LAST SATURDAY:

now this...

AFTER (with a little more work to come - ie paint)

It is HUGE!

I seem to have some weird spots on my camera :/

Also that Saturday, I had my dad and brother (along with his friend) over for waffles :) we used our waffle maker that a wonderful friend gave us - thanks Court!!! they were really yummy. My dad helped us take apart our toilet (so I could finished painting the bathroom - behind the toilet) and he helped us replace our kitchen faucet. The faucet we did have only sprayed like half-power of what it should've. It took FOREVER to fill up a bucket to mop. Now, the one we have is prettier and works great!

LAST SUNDAY:

this is the FIRST meal that I have been able to cook for my husband, and to cook in my very first and very own kitchen :) It was so fun and I can't wait for the many more meals to come...

Chicken Parmigiana :)

YUMMMM!

THIS SATURDAY:

Also, we had taken a few things back to Kohl's for store credit (and also had a gift card left from a wedding present)

Well, I saw an ad in a paper saying that this past Saturday was "early bird special" So, I convinced Derik to go that morning and he was ALL for it - I was impressed :)

We got a GREAT deal on some of these items!

Everything was 40% off OR MORE!

Here are the additions to the living room :)

These are actually supposed to be hung vertically, but we did our HGTV thing and hung them however we wanted - which was horizontal :) They are these metal wall art hangings - 55% off!!!

We also got a coffee table centerpiece (well any table centerpiece - we chose to put it there) and it's a tray with candles on it - 50% off!!!

I also need to add that we put a gorgeous clock in the kitchen leading into our bedroom... but I don't have a pic of that either. gorgeous clock - 40% off!!!

We also needed to get a blender and found one for $24.99 - I used it the other day and I like it a lot! :)

THIS SUNDAY:

Derik was gone for Football practice and I had some fun decorating... he was so proud of what I did and very impressed! he said I should be an interior designer - ha!

I already had all of these things stored in my closet at my parent's home... but I unpacked them and put them on the window sill. (and I've since changed it around some)

Here's what I did in our bathroom (notice it is FINALLY all painted!)

PRETTY! :) and I already had all of these items as well!

After all that I did Sunday evening... Derik wanted to have some fun and put up my collection of crosses... man, I didn't know I had that many!

I like I like :0

Here is our "M" that I bought last summer after we were engaged... I loved it and always was waiting to FINALLY put it in the place we live - well, here it is :) (I put these up Sunday afternoon too)

YAY for decorating...

Lots has been going on, but it's been SO fun!

next post will be about a possible bedroom color, and I need your opinion on it! k!? k.

Show us Your Life: Dinner Recipes

2009-09-18T20:56:00.006-05:00

Here is another "Show us Your Life" from Kelly's Korner

This week is all about Dinner Recipes - I'm looking forward to this, because I need to learn some :)

Here's one that's SO simple, but it's a great type of Fall meal and GREAT to watch Football with :) Which we will be doing tomorrow. I actually bought the ingredients this evening - ha!

Taco Soup

1 lb. Ground Beef (or I guess you could use Ground Turkey)
1 can Diced Tomatoes
2 can Rotel
1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 can Pinto Beans
1 can Corn (optional - I usually don't add corn)
1 pack of Taco Seasoning Mix
1 pack of Ranch Dip Mix (dry mix)
grated cheese
tortilla chips (I use TOSTITOS SCOOP! chips for maximum "scoop")

1. Brown the beef in large pot, once browned - drain beef and then add in Taco Seasoning Mix and blend into beef.
2. add in ALL other ingredients (juices and all) and stir and simmer until hot.
3. Serve with Tortilla Chips and top with cheese.

TA-DA - so so simple and really yummy :)

hope you enjoy :)

and just for fun here's a little dessert :)

Fruit Pizza

18 ounce package sugar cookie dough
8 ounce cream cheese package
8 ounce cool whip (thawed)
FRUIT (any kind you like)

1. Flatten dough into pizza shape on cooking sheet (pizza pan) and bake with cookie instructions. (makes a big cookie essentially)
2. Mix cream cheese and cool whip into bowl.
3. Once cookie is cooled, spread mixture onto cookie pizza.
THIS IS THE FUN PART!
4. pick ANY fruits you want and place in circles going into pizza.
**example: outer pizza circle strawberries, then peaches, then pineapples... then kiwi... etc.
5. Cut into "pizza slices" and serve!

YUM-O!

Can't wait to see what everyone else does :)

The Office - and "PUMPing that iron!"

2009-09-17T17:36:00.003-05:00

In honor of tonight's new OFFICE - watch this...

I kind of want to have my own bobble-head now - haha!

Also, I have a funny story to share:

I went to visit my Mom at her work for lunch today. She works at the high school that my brothers WENT too - they are both in college now. My youngest just started as a freshman and played football while in high school. Well, he's really "tight" with the football coaches at the school still. So, they let him come use the gym's weight equipment anytime he wants. Lucky guy :) haha - Coaches love him (and spoil him) :)

Well anyways, I'm eating lunch with mom and leave her office to head to work. I work 1:30p-10p (I know weird hours)... And while I'm walking out this teacher said - "HEY! where are you going, let me see your student id..."

Now, I get this ALL the time. The ladies at the front desk try and get me in trouble for bringing in outside food - people think I'm a student when I go visit my mom... but - I knew this teacher and they were just messing with me. So... in return I said "haha, I'm not a student here".

There were seniors with the teacher selling senior t-shirts, and this is what happened:
(and I hope you can hear senior girl#1's voice :))

senior girl #1: "oh giiirrrll, so you don't go to school here?"

me: "haha, no, I've been out of high school for QUITE a while now, why don't you guess my age" (because I seriously get this every time I go to that school!)

senior girl #1: "no, really how old are you??!"

me: "well you have to guess"

senior girl #1: "no, that's ok" (did she not want to upset me? how old did she think I was??)

me: "well, I'm 25"

senior girl #1: "oh wow, you're 25!??" (I don't know what she meant by this, good or bad?)

***this whole time there's another convo going on***

teacher: "guess whose daughter this is?"

senior girl #2: "whose?" (looks at me and back at the teacher)

teacher: "Mrs. ___'s daughter!"

senior girl #2: "oh my gosh yea!"

me: "yea, everyone says we look alike"

senior girl #2: "yea you do!"

***chiming in***
senior girl #1: "ooOOoo, so you're Alan's [my bro] sister!? Alan's your brother?!"

me: "haha yes, I guess you know him?"

senior girl #1: "ooOOoo yea girl, I saw him yesterday in the weight room - ooOOoo, he was pumping some iron!!" (all while she makes a bench press motion)

me: "haha, ok, so do you like him or something" (I was just seeing if she'd get shy...)

senior girl#1: "ooOOoo yea girl, he was PUMPing that iron" (haha oh my)

me: "ok, well I'll have to tell him you saw him, but I don't know your name" (thinking she wouldn't give it to me anyways...)

senior girl #1: "haha ooOOoo yea, tell him I'm Cameron and that I saw him in the weight room gettin' his work-out ON!"

me: "haha, alright I will"

***I walk out the door and I just immediately burst into laughter... this girl had no shame in "liking" my brother... she told me flat out she liked him, flat out what her name was, and flat out said ooOOoo like everytime she spoke - haha!

So, I tell my mom this story and she says:

mom: "Brittney, you can't tell him this!"

me: "Why not!? haha!"

mom: "Because!!!"

me: "Cause, he'll get a big head!?"

mom: "YES!"

haha... oh little brother of mine! haha! I couldn't help but share :)

Ideas for a Bride

2009-09-16T17:47:00.009-05:00

I just think these are such awesome ideas from these brides...

I read on BSB's Blog about Bryan and Katy's wedding (which looks amazing)

She shared with readers the song that her and her Dad walked down the aisle too. What a GREAT pick!

Beautiful - romantic - emotional... it's from the movie "The Notebook" (I'm sure you've heard of it :) ) and it's called "Main Title"

If any of you brides are contemplating a song - this is a good one :) even better - she had a harpist play it!

Another goodie I found:

The Key to Love

The key to love is understanding ...
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,
but those unspoken gestures,
the little things that say so much by themselves.

The key to love is forgiveness ....
to accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
without forgetting, but with remembering
what you learn from them.

The key to love is inside us all ...
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients
that will take you to its threshold;
it is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work ... but the rewards are more than worth the effort ...
and that is the key to love.

Anon

It's a poem that another bride had her father and (future) father-in-law read during the ceremony... so great!

Man - all these great ideas :) Enjoy!

Biggest Loser

2009-09-15T20:32:00.002-05:00

Oh my gosh - I'm watching biggest loser right now... and it's a tear jerk-er this year...

I love this show and can't wait to see how everyone does!

*** Makes me feel the need to work out too!! ***

We now have a bedroom set

2009-09-14T18:10:00.002-05:00

the drama that I spoke about is now over - or so we hope.

and now we have a bedroom set - not my absolute favorite, but it is very nice.

Just wish I could have picked it out myself, or I wish it was smaller, a Queen - it's a humongous king!

Pictures to come soon...

BEDDING SET DRaMa!

2009-09-11T19:23:00.001-05:00

Ok - so, this is long, but I will be brief... cause I almost don't want to talk about it at all! - ha!

Well, I am very grateful for D's parents in offering to buy us a bed set. Because the bed set they found (through a co-worker) is a very good deal. I won't say no to that.

But, it's not really my style of bed... I would rather something else... I'm sure it'll look just fine, but I haven't even seen it at all!

So, the drama of it all is this:

The person they are buying it from is going through a bad divorce. She just wanted quick money and really, she just didn't want the bedroom set anymore.

If we had closed on our actual first closing date (Aug 26th) then we could've come and got the furniture that evening. The lady had been holding it in her house (which she's trying to sell) as "filler" furniture. It would've been no problem.

But, since we closed almost a week later... we didn't get it that week.

Well, her husband had no idea that she had sold it... but, well, he randomly came in to get it last weekend and so, now....... he has our bedroom set.

The lady found out what he did and told D's parents... and ever since then it has been DRAMA! the husband didn't want to give it up... so we were going to go look for other furniture (which I would have rather done) But, it would cost more... which D didn't like...

well after his parents talked to lawyers (yes, it went that far) he is now giving it up (after LOTS of talking) and letting D's parents get what they actually paid for...

So, tomorrow, they will be going to get the furniture. I already told D that I wasn't going to get involved and that I would not be going...

Ugh! I hate this kind of stuff - it would've been so much easier in the beginning if we were just able to pick out our own furniture!!!

Thanks for listening to my frustration!

IF (cause I don't know what will happen tomorrow) we get the bedroom set... I'll post pics of it next week...

I hope I like it :/
especially after all this frustration and DraMa!!!!

Moving - in pictures :)

2009-09-09T09:38:00.013-05:00

Ok, here's the OVERLOAD of pictures from events of this past week

MONDAY:

I was at work at this time :( but as you can tell, it was REALLY dark when they moved all of D's college-stuff-from-storage into the house.

Here's my dad and bro

2 of D's Uncles

D and another one of his uncles (his dad is one of 5 brothers) and my brother in the doorway

THURSDAY:

(I don't think I took any pictures Tuesday/Wednesday... :/ oh well)

This is the first morning to wake up in our room. Bathroom through the doorway to the right.

(we're still waiting on bedroom furniture... but that's a WHOLE other post in itself - can we say DRAMA!?)

our big walk-in closet

Our bathroom - pardon the mess on the counter :)

The kitchen... going out towards the backyard

Ok... this isn't even all the trash... the next day, Friday, I unpacked more things from boxes... the pile of trash ended up going in front of our stove! and there's more around the other side of the fridge!!!

The other view... going into the living room

the living room (with all our laundry and more boxes) the passthrough is the kitchen :)

Our backyard, with a shed. They left us some yard items... but, I think we'll be taking them down :0

FRIDAY:

our MAJOR overhaul of trash!

and that's all compacted with boxes inside boxes... it was a lot!

and I was VERY tired!

wheew!

SATURDAY:

our living room all CLEAN!

I got the rug for my birthday this year :)

the other half of the living room. The door goes to the garage, and it's in a hallway with guest bedroom/bath on left and our office on right (on the other side of the love seat wall)

D in our office

guest bathroom - a-la Texas Tech for D :)

We put the curtain up that day.

our Kitchen, somewhat together... still a few boxes for other things we need to move

the door to the right is the back door...

cleaner :)

our REALLY tall bushes!

The one on the left, leading up to the front door, was the one that someone could so hide behind. It was kind of scary at night...

D figuring it all out :)

Mom came to help - thanks Mom!

I took this one this morning... because I forgot on Saturday... but LOOK - we can see our house :)

SUNDAY:

We had a basketball goal on the far left fence (close to the shed) I didn't want it, and it was kind of put in badly, it would sag/lean over... so, my brother (the he-man he is) decided he'd take care of it... haha

so, they pulled it out... and D came to help celebrate :)

hahaha oh my!

MONDAY (Labor Day):

here we are starting to paint...

Mom starting the baseboards

ta da!!! my brother and dad came to help finish... it looks so good "Toasted Wheat"

haha - if you haven't already guessed... my brother's a ham...

all finished... (with the living room that is :) )

Dad and Mom on Dad's B-day dinner :)

haha, this was right after we all said YEE-HAW!

Here's the bday YEE-HAW... sorry it's kind of dark :/

TUESDAY:

here's what I did in the bathroom... before I left for work.

(it's kind of hard to tell... but it's "Rainwashed Blue" now :) )

still lots to do, but oh so fun!

So... we have a HOUSE!

2009-09-08T19:51:00.002-05:00

This has been one long week and I'm sorry for the brief/non-existent posting last week.

Sit back, this is long post...

Ok, recap of last week:

MONDAY 8/31:
We really thought we'd close on Tuesday or Wednesday. After not making Closing on the 26th (the Wednesday before) and being told maybe by Friday... to Friday, them telling us not until next week and maybe not Monday... we were VERY surprised when they were ready to go Monday. They were frantically trying to make it all happen. I called my boss to see if I could come into work a little later or take an hour off to go to Closing. He said my co-worker was gone sick that day and that I would not be able to leave. To say I was bummed is an understatement! I was mad that we had waited so long and had the run around about when we'd close that I didn't want to push it back anymore! D was able to leave (his boss let him) and he had to drive in and get our closing cashier's check (because we hadn't been told the final amount yet).

They asked me, "can you make closing at 4pm?" - oh my gosh 4-5pm is the time when I most need to be at work. I have to help prepare any needs/graphics for the 5pm newscast and that would be pretty bad if I left during then - ESPECIALLY with me being the only graphic artist here at the time. So... I said that I could possibly make it at 5pm if someone covered my prompting (I prompt every day at 5pm) I asked the guy who I ALWAYS fill in for and he said "sure, you always help me out, so that's no problem!" PTL!!!! So, D came and met me at work and we made our way over to the Title office. Which, was like a block away from my work :) haha!

Closing:
quick and easy... took about 45 mins. - AND we were now HOME OWNERS! :)

That evening:
I was so so SOOO bummed that I didn't get to help move-in my own house that evening. I work 1:30-10:30pm M-F so there was no way I could help move-in... I had to get back to work. But, I made sure that D and I went in the house together and FIRST!!! It was so important to me... I mean... it's OUR house, and if I couldn't help move-in... please let me go see it with my HUSBAND!?

So, we picked up McD's (wonderful I know) and at our first meal in our house :) I had a happy meal :) tee hee!

D carried me over the threshold and I will always remember that. We twirled around in the living room a couple times - YAY!

We told my Mom to come over (and brother too - dad was still at work) to wait for everyone else to come over. D went to his storage shed and, along with my parents/bro, his uncles and mom & dad, helped us (well, I wasn't there of course) move-in all of our living room/dining room furniture/washer/dryer and all of D's stuff boxed up from college! Wheew!

After work:
We went to visit the house and bring a few more items over... I wanted to stay that night, but all of our stuff was still in my old room at mom & dad's. BOO!

It's still weird to transition from saying "my house" = mom & dad's to "my house" = no really it's my house :) haha!

TUESDAY 9/1:
We had water set up the week before (when we thought we'd be closing) BUT, electricity wouldn't be set up until this day. I went over and cleaned all the cabinets out (eww) and swept/mopped floors. My mom didn't understand why, since we'd be tracking and moving stuff in the rest of the week, but I just felt better to get it clean to MY standards ya know?! I just felt "icky". Let me just tell you that - it was HOT in that house! I sweated so much... it was like 100+ degrees outside people! It's TEXAS! BUT - I had a clean house :)

that evening:
D brought over a lot of our wedding gifts (which were still boxed up - I even forgot what we had gotten!) so I could unpack them the next day. I so wanted to stay there that evening... but, D said he wouldn't feel settled. He had a big day at work the next day, and all of our clothes were at mom & dad's and we'd have to pack things to shower/brush teeth etc. So, I was not happy about it... but I stayed at mom & dad's one last night.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my mom & dad very much and it has nothing to do with them... I was just ready to be on our own, by ourselves... in OUR house! That was what was important. But, we did bring some more things over and set up our makeshift bed for now.

WEDNESDAY 9/2:
D promised me we'd stay this evening so I was very excited! I brought over all our closet clothes and all our toiletries. I started washing towels (so we wouldn't get "fuzzies" from the new-ness, does anyone else know what I'm talking about?).

I started unpacking ALL our wedding presents - oh my gosh it was so fun!

I've never ever lived on my own with my own kitchen. Actually I've never had my own kitchen. Just mom & dad's. So, THIS was very fun. I really need to learn how to cook now. I hope I can make good food :/

We had the gas set up this day... But, they didn't do it while I was there, no, they decided to do it while I was at work. So, I had to call my mom (who thankfully left work and met my brother) to stay while the guy set it all up. Someone had to be there or we would've had to pay a fine and set it up another day. gees! :/

Also - our FRIDGE was delivered that day :)

that evening:
D went and got the rest of our wedding gifts for me to put up the next morning
Also...

Our parents helped us set up a few more things...

We stayed in OUR house... by ourselves! :)

THURSDAY 9/3:
TODAY WAS MY DAD'S 50th b-day :) :) :)

This was the first morning to wake up in our house :) I was too excited that I didn't really sleep well our first night - haha!

I finished almost ALL of the unpacking and washing of all of our wedding presents.

I also went to the grocery store because, well, we had NOTHING. We had to get all the basics, sugar... flour... salt... pepper... you name it, I got it :) well, ok, maybe not all of it, but a lot haha!

We also had the cable/internet set up that day... D was very excited about this :)

FRIDAY 9/4:
I made cookies in OUR stove :)

I invited my college freshman brother over for said cookies :)

I finished cleaning up and unpacking/washing the few items we had left from our wedding presents.

I compacted ALL of our wedding present trash the best I could for trash day.

I figured out what mailbox we were - #10 :) I had to basically try all the mailboxes til our key fit, because... well, we weren't told which mailbox was ours - haha!

that evening:
I rented movies to watch in OUR house :)

We took ALLLLL of our trash to the curb... oh my gosh (and yes I have pictures) it was a LOT!!! Trash day is on Saturday.

I was worried they'd charge us for the overage of trash.

SATURDAY 9/5:
D's mom & dad invited his aunt & uncle over :/ I wasn't too excited, but there's nothing I could do. I was happy to see them all, but just wish I could've invited them instead of the in-laws deciding to invite them over. Oh well! Wish I could've enjoyed our Saturday to ourselves. But glad to show off our house :)

The trash came and they DID take it all :)

We went shopping for a few things - like towel bars...

My mom came over and helped us trim our front bushes... they were SUPER tall and kind of a security issue - someone could've SO hid behind those...

We also trimmed our trees.

We ran to buy some lawn supplies and a vacuum while my mom finished the rest. She could've waited and she SHOULD'VE, but she didn't... we were gone like 45 mins. and came back and she was done! gees mom! way-to-go!

that evening:
We invited our first friends over! We hung out and watched football and ate some Freebirds.

I was ZONKED... I fell asleep hard!

SUNDAY 9/6:
We had all our family who hadn't really seen the house over for burgers. My mom and dad brought over their grill.

So, I hosted my first party :) It was fun.

We only have 12 cups... and well, we used them all.

We also learned that our fridge doesn't make much ice. Maybe 10 cups worth. So, college freshman brother ran and got us some :) thanks AL!!!!

I gave the tour of the house to my grandparents... they loved it and my Mema said that my kitchen is MUCH larger than her first kitchen was - haha!

We chilled and napped in our living room watching football.

that evening:
We had our first wedding to attend to, since we've been married. It was fun.

They had an anniversary dance, and well, we were out of the dance pretty quick. But, that's ok :) The DJ said "married less than 1 day" and then "married less than one year" and well... that was that :)

We watched another movie.

MONDAY 9/7 (Labor Day 2009):
Well, so much for people taking labor day off (well, I did... but it wasn't much of a day off)...

D went and helped his dad build us some desks.

My mom and I PAINTED the living room and mopped the floors. Tiring, but oh so worth it!

I LOVE the paint color of our living room - "Toasted Wheat"... feels really warm. The previous owners were smokers and my mom said painting would help cover up the smell. It doesn't always smell of smoke, because I've been using reed diffusers and candles non-stop... but I know this will help, AND I like it cause we could do and paint whatever we wanted :)

that evening:
Went to Logan's Roadhouse for Dad's b-day with everyone.

Dad had to stand up while our waiter asked the restaurant to give him a "YEE-HAW" for his birthday. Haha! Dad didn't want to get up, but, we all yelled (and yes I got a picture - and video). The man said he was turning 21 - haha!

TUESDAY 9/8 - TODAY:
I woke up and painted half of our bathroom... love the blue - "Rain Washed"

Ran to Kohl's to exchange some wedding presents.

Bought more Paint Rollers for the rest of the house. We'll be painting the rest of our bathroom later this week (with mom's help) and eventually we'll paint one wall a steel gray/blue in our Master Bedroom, and one wall RED (a la Texas Tech) in the front room (our office).

I changed our Postal Address to start receiving mail at our new address :)

I changed our Bank Account address and ordered new checks with our new address...

I need to change my DL (again)...

I'm LOVING our house!

Tomorrow maybe I will just chill and not do so much :) haha!

Next post will include all these pictures I've been mentioning :)

No Post Week

2009-09-03T20:08:00.002-05:00

I am so sorry I promised a post about the house... but I am just so exhausted! I'm so pooped and emotional and just need to go to bed - ha! I'm currently counting down 2 more hours until I can leave work!

I hope to give you a little sneak into our moving (I've been trying to document it in pictures) and the many MANY stories to tell.

oh the DRAMA!

2009-08-31T21:43:00.003-05:00

It has been a REALLY REALLY long day... much to say, but for now, I will let you know that we are...

HOME OWNERS!!!

Sharing the REALLY REALLY long story tomorrow... can only take so much today!

Ok - so DEFINITELY next week!

2009-08-28T20:32:00.007-05:00

I was SO very bummed to miss our closing this week... (haha, like you couldn't tell)

They said it'll be next week and I was hoping for Monday - I found out that they actually could've had it ready Yesterday or Today... but, they left today without it being finished.....

........As Stephanie Tanner on Full House would say.........
"How Rude!!!"

***by the way - that is SO how I wore my hair...
oh scrunchies [sigh]...
and those BANGS...
and that side-half-up-pony-tail...
yep, that was SO me***

So moving on... it is safe to say (because our Lender said so) that we will officially close BY next week!

It might be mid-week... woo hoo... So, here's hoping for Tuesday or Wednesday - we've already been told it's a no-go for Monday - boo!

I feel a little bad because Thursday is my Dad's birthday (shhh... it's a big one - the big 5-0) and I hope he's not too frustrated to be helping us move on his birthday. I think we'll be planning something for that weekend!? Maybe I'll be optimistic and say it'll all be moved in by Wednesday - ha!

That is, IF Closing is on Tuesday!

TGIF to all and HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!! We're floating the river tomorrow :) Maybe (maybe) I'll try and take some pics :)

Well...

2009-08-26T19:15:00.003-05:00

Today was supposed to be the day that we were moving. Getting our own place and getting things out of storage.

But, sadly.

We're not.

Right now, I would be unpacking all those wedding gifts (that I really can't even recall what we do have) and putting them in MY Kitchen. I would be putting our very first bedding set on the new bed (we're currently using my old one from home because size difference).

But, sadly.

I'm not.

It will happen soon enough... but I wanted it to happen today.
I so need patience right now!

But, sadly.

I do not... haha!

UGH! Can't we just CLOSE!? FINALLY!?

2009-08-24T16:39:00.006-05:00

I had a very lovely blog post planned for this day... you see... It was going to be about us FINALLY getting our own house and going to our closing and FINALLY get to receive the keys to our house and FINALLY getting to be able to live with my husband ALONE!?

Well, I have to scratch all that loveliness, because our closing is being pushed BACK! yes, back! not forward... BACK to when!? oh a WHOLE WEEK!

Now, I'm not trying to be "Debbie Downer" it's not like we lost our house or have to start over (oh, please let that not happen) but... I got a call from our lender saying we're good on our end, and we're approved. Our mortgage company just didn't send the paperwork to be approved by USDA on time. We've been approved for 2 WEEKS! and they hadn't sent it YET! so our Lender made a quick run to send it to USDA and they said it will take 5 days... so, obviously 5 days is longer than 2 which is when we would have closed. But, now we get to wait until NEXT WEEK!

I'm so frustrated that I could just cry!

We had it all planned out. We even called ahead for our utilities to be set up Thursday... now we have to switch it all around AGAIN! We had move-in plans all ready... Took off of work (now we have to change that) and I bought all these cleaning supplies today. Now we have to WAIT! I hate all this run-around/changing and am just ready to MOVE-IN!

We've been living with my parents since we've been married. And, while I'm thankful for them helping us, I am ready to be with my husband ~ ALONE!

[sigh] so so so ready!

VOTE - please and thanks :)

2009-08-24T16:36:00.003-05:00

I entered a Christmas Card photo contest over at Minted.com. I know I posted about it the other day, but now it's VOTING TIME.

Believe in Santa Holiday Photo Cards

Would you be so kind as to vote for my card please!? :)
and thanks!

This time next week...

2009-08-20T17:49:00.001-05:00

We will be LIVING in our OWN home!

My oh my - I cannot wait!

Derik's Bday - in pictures :)

2009-08-19T12:01:00.003-05:00

Well I showed you pictures from my bday weekend... so here's D's.

We kept it low-key and went to his FAVORITE restaurant - Pappadeaux's :)

Trying to get a good pic of us...

and then D starts singing :) haha! he *might* kill me if he knew I posted this - haha!

we splurged and got an appetizer - Coconut Shrimp YUM!
I also had a Strawberry Tea and it was SO GOOD!

Trying to get another good pic with the restaurant sign...

He was getting embarrassed because of people watching... oh well!

In other news...

WE ARE CLOSING ON OUR HOUSE - 1 WEEK FROM TODAY!!! woo hoo!
I'm so ready to have our OWN place!

My Real Wedding from The Knot

2009-08-14T21:39:00.003-05:00

check it out!

My Real Wedding from The Knot and The Nest.

Birthdays :)

2009-08-14T10:18:00.006-05:00

2 weeks ago was my birthday, and TODAY is D's birthday! I love that our birthday's are so close... it's kind of fun :)

Tonight we're going to see "The Time Traveler's Wife" - isn't he sweet to do that on his bday :) Well, we rented and watched "Wolverine" on my birthday... so it's only fitting :)

Since today's D's birthday... I just wanted to say a few things...

Babe - I love you so much - there are no words that I can say to make that anymore apparent... because I just really do love you. So, there! :) I hope that this birthday leaves you feeling loved and appreciated for all that you do for us. I can't wait to start our home together and cannot wait to get all settled and moved in. You mean the world to me. You push me to be a better person and are there for me to cry with when I need it. Happy 24th birthday babe! With all my love!

Well, on my birthday, I told D "can we just get away". I was feeling stressed about everything that has been going on and I just wanted a quiet evening to ourselves. So, that's exactly what we did. We went to San Antonio, TX and walked along the River Walk and ate... really relaxing.

Here are some pictures of our San Antonio River Walk excursions:

The first impression of the hotel was amazing! It's so cute inside...
It's an historic hotel: Sheraton Gunther (I've heard it is haunted??)
Now that D gets State rate for hotels... we were really excited to get a good deal :)

They even had this old school mailbox slot/shoot that went down all the floors at the elevator.
So, if we wanted to mail something, we would drop it down from our floor (8th floor) and it would land here... I thought that was really interesting...

our cute little room

this bathroom was tiny, but oh so cute... look at this old pedestal sink :)

another view of the room

us at dinner the first night... can't go to the River Walk without getting some good Mexican food... and that we did :)

Here's our chips and salsa (in a neat little contraption - both of us had salsa on our own sides)... we were being a little silly

see?

Our hotel... really fun little place... IT was about a block from the River Walk itself. Next time, we decided we'd stay on the river...

This was right across the street - The Majestic. They have some broadway plays come through... but none while we were there :)

love this pic of us at breakfast the next morning - YUM-O Cinnamon rolls that were the size of my face... I was mad that I didn't get a pic of them - they were huge! I wish D's head wasn't cut off though :(

pretty River Walk

pretty old church

cool looking art/statue...

of course - the Alamo!

a lady kindly took our picture :)

pretty little walkway inside the Alamo...

I'm taking D to his fav restaurant tomorrow - Pappadeaux's :)

I love birthdays :)

Show us Your Life: Favorite Vacation Spots

2009-08-14T09:54:00.009-05:00

Ok, so I know I already showed you my honeymoon... but there will be more fav photos :) and also, a trip to Winter Park Colorado - I LOVE SKIING!

love our resort so much! it was beautiful and such a wonderful place for honeymooners!

pretty pretty blue water!

Us at the entrance to Tulum
The next day we went to Coba - another Mayan Ruins in Cancun area... we actually climbed this!

no really, see, we climbed it!

Here's the view down...
Later that day at the resort... loved just laying around...

leaving Cancun... look at that WATER!

Now on to some colder weather :) My family went to Winter Park Colorado in March of 2008...
I really do love this place and skiing!

How great is our Creator!

us on the lifts...
All the boys (and me) Al, D, My dad (he's the one being goofy) and Kev

D on the slops

me on the slops... I know... my hat looks weird...

pretty views

We made a snowman... and seriously... look how long D's hair is!
He pretty much had an Afro

Here are a few videos of the guys trying to go by me as fast as they can...
I guess it's a guy thing - but they really didn't look like they were going that fast on video huh!?
haha!

The Morning of your Wedding

2009-08-13T20:55:00.001-05:00

I LOVE THIS:

first seen on Elizabeth Anne Designs

Naked Opie, Julie Dots ... breathless from William Gaff on Vimeo.

Etsy Home Finds :)

2009-08-13T19:19:00.010-05:00

Ok, so I in honor of getting a house :) come on AUGUST 26th!!!

I've been looking at some cute decorating ideas. I love Etsy and could probably look at it all day!

from savoiefairephoto's etsy store

Ok, how unbelievably cool... could I have a "Melton" please :)

from LynnCardwellPottery etsy store

*****ok, so update, I bought the leaves :)*****

I really love these little leaves... you could use them as candle holders... spoon rests or a soap dish... or my favorite - jewelry holder

from StudioMarlene etsy store

I love all these 12x12 prints that this girl has... so fun!

from fruitflypie etsy store

I also thought this little frog guy was super cute too... I can put him next to our kitchen sink and keep sponges/wash cloths in his mouth :)

Who knows, maybe I'll splurge and get 2 of these items :)
SOOO looking forward to being able to buy things for MY house!

After we got back from the honeymoon... we opened up ALL our wedding gifts. We got so many and are so thankful. They are all opened, but they are all being stored in my dad's study room. So, it's really going to be like opening them all over again when we move all our stuff to the new house! I've just about forgot what we do have... but I started making a list of what we'll need and can't WAIT to use all those Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards we got. D says I need to wait until we get started moving in (so we don't have to store all these items) - I can't WAIT! It's going to be like Christmas!!! :)

Just... Ready

2009-08-12T18:44:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I totally know that I have not done a regular "me" post in quite some time. I loved recapping the wedding and recapping the honeymoon. How could I not!? But, I just can't seem to get back into the swing of things. Partly because I don't feel settled. I love my husband so much, but I feel like we haven't gotten a normal "newlywed beginning". Not by our choice, just what we had to do.

I never mentioned it on here before because I just didn't know how personal I wanted to get since I didn't even know MYSELF what my own future held.

So, maybe my feelings right now just need to kind of be put out there. So, don't mind me if it's a little "woe is me" and I hate feeling like this, but, maybe it will help if I just try to talk through what I'm feeling. I most certainly think a year from now I will look at this post and say "God you are amazing" because how many times have I looked back at PAST blog posts and said the exact same thing. HE has blessed me beyond description, but I always seem to look at the negative. So, I'm going to get my feelings out and look towards an amazing experience.

Ok... here goes...

D graduated from Texas Tech University this past December (2008). We were so excited for this day to come, but didn't know that it'd be so hard to find him a job. Why, oh why, economy? So, he searched forEVER or at least it felt like it... and to no avail. I never doubted that he'd get a job and I most certainly thought he'd get a job before the wedding. Surely, he would right!? But, God had other plans. It was about a month before the wedding (or even the first week of May) that it REALLY really hit me. We could not live on my income alone, and we could not afford an apartment - WHERE are we going to live?

My parents and I went to visit the reception venue for one of our last meetings to decide on food and extras and just stuff. It was about 3 weeks before the wedding. I was totally calm about the wedding, I just was so scared that I did not know what my future held after the fact. I know that it's not normal for couples to not live together before marriage, but that is something we TRULY believe(d) in. I was ready to live with my husband and have our own place. To experience newlywed/married life. I have never really had my own place. I lived in the dorms in college all 4 years (would NOT trade it for anything) and I lived at home to save money while I worked (I've been out of college a little over 3 years now). I just couldn't possibly see what we were going to do. My parents offered that we could live in my room until D found a job. I felt so blessed that they would do this, but I was not excited about this option either. Oh my gosh how I was NOT excited. That truly is an understatement. I was super super stressed that my "dreams" of living with my husband when I got married felt squashed. I didn't see an end in sight and that is always hard for me. I am learning that I need to go with the flow and quit worrying about seeing the "end in sight" all the time, it truly crushes my spirit when I do that.

Well, God surprised us. We'd been living at my parents for about a month now, and D received a phone call saying he was chosen as pipeline safety inspector and he would be working for the STATE OF TEXAS, starting July 1st. The day I found out I started dreaming up apartments and I wanted to get one RIGHT away. No matter if he hadn't started his job yet, I was so inpatient it was crazy. I'm usually the patient one and D is not. Well, D was so patient and I didn't understand why - was he not ready to be on our own? We look at apartments and D decided to wait. Why, I don't know? I was just... ready! But, then the option of houses came about. You know - the whole $8k first time home buyers tax credit looked really appealing. I was all about a house, but in reality I could care less where we lived as long as we were on our own. I kind of felt like a kid still in her mom and dad's house and I didn't not feel like a wife, I kind of still don't feel like that yet. I am ready to be a wife and feel like a wife and not just to come home to my own house every night from work - I would think anyone would feel the same way.

Well, God surprised us again. After going through a whole ordeal of finding a house and then putting down interest money, only to back out because we weren't all that comfortable. To, searching and loving houses only to have contracts already on the homes. To, finally finding a house we could live in. I am patiently patiently awaiting August 26th. We will close and be able to FINALLY have our own place. I am just... ready!

God amazes me. Truly. I sit here typing this thinking of these past (almost) 3 months... how much HE has given us... how much I am thankful and how much I am mad at myself for getting so upset so many times. I literally could cry because I just am so... ready!

Again, so sorry for the "woe is me". Thanks for supporting me and, if you made it this far, well, you deserve a gold star. Thanks for always reading my blog and always commenting. It really is fun to see what other ladies are going through.

Show us Your Life: Wedding Reception and Honeymoon

2009-08-07T19:49:00.010-05:00

I'm joining Kelly's Korner this week to show my wedding reception and honeymoon. I could relive this day and week over and over! I LOVED that day!

Here are our Reception Decorations... I just wanted some really fun and elegant flowers...
The left were on the tables indoors, the right top were on our head table... and the bottom right were on our outdoor tables. We had a such a big group of guests that we had a ballroom and pavilion at our venue. We used the ballroom to eat and the pavilion for dancing :)

Mr. & Mrs. Melton!!!

Long story about our rehearsal day and wedding day.

I felt totally fine the whole week (a little "excited" nervous, but not "nervous" nervous) Well, my stomach didn't have a normal appetite Thursday/Friday before the wedding. I felt totally fine, just a little uneasy.

Running errands and finishing up things Friday... fine... At the rehearsal... fine... At the start of the rehearsal dinner... fine... I ate some salad and bread waiting for my entree... and then it hit me and I did NOT feel fine... so, long story short... I got sick - AT the table... so embarrassing!

So, Wedding Day... I felt uneasy the whole day. I think I didn't eat a full-full meal until Tuesday of our Honeymoon (which you'll see shortly) I was SO excited that it was finally here and that I was going to be D's wife... but I just didn't feel good the whole day. So, this is me trying to eat at dinner. I was cold. I did not want to get BBQ sauce on my dress, so, I know... not very "Bride-like", but I put a napkin in my dress like a bib... haha!

Dad is giving his speech and my uncles decided to stand up and "have his back", we were cracking up!

My cake :)

Cutting of the cake - excuse "the girls" :/

Fav pic of D... love that smile :)

Little bride and groom strawberries :) (which we didn't even get to eat :( )

D graduated from TTU :)

MWAH!

**

Now on to the HONEYMOON! :) :)
This is going to be a picture overload, only because I REALLY REALLY loved our honeymoon... I so wish I were there right now - haha!

We finally landed in Mexico after a delay in Dallas... I just wanted to get there!

still not feeling super well... tried to eat my fajitas (which were yummy) but my stomach just didn't want to eat :(

Margarita was yummy though...

AWESOME place to stay... totally recommend it! Riviera Maya, Mexico - Aventura Spa Palace!

MY FAV scenery pic of our whole trip... D has a fav I'll show in a bit :)

Fav dinner pic of us :)

Us on the catamaran getting ready to snorkel...

We also went jet skiing that same day :)

D's fav pic... which I also love... This is at the Tulum Ruins... it's rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and I totally agree!

Tulum

these guys were EVERYWHERE!

they eat this red flowers too... too funny :)

see what I mean... there's one above his head too (kind of a little) and then a huge one to the right of him

here I am with the big guy

Here is Tulum's beach... BEAUTIFUL!

SUPER SUPER tired that day... we actually got left at the beach by our tour and had to take a Mexico taxi... I was a little nervous - talk about a fun honeymoon story... haha!

we found our tour bus again. wheew!

They had these yummy coffee drinks they called "Mayan Coffee" we had fun and made coffee mustaches :)

our last day :( playing around with the water camera...

last night's dinner... this is my fav pic of us on our trip!

Last pic at the resort... can you tell we didn't want to leave?

Fitlab giveaway

2009-08-07T19:18:00.003-05:00

In honor of Fitlab's new website. Amy over at Chapters is giving away one of these bad boys!

This is from her blog post "We will be giving away a Polar F6 Heart Rate monitor, which tells you how many calories you've burned during your workout based on your height, weight, and age."

How AWESOME!

Now, will this get me back in the swing of things to work out? Man, I've been bad since the wedding... I would love the green one!

Show us Your Life: Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

2009-08-03T20:07:00.008-05:00

It's time once again (well actually I'm a lot late on this one) for Kelly's Korner and her Show us Your Life posts :)

I love these things :) I was mad I couldn't on Friday because I did NOT have internet... haha what did we ever do without internet people - really!?

Without further ado... here are our wedding flowers and Wedding Party along with our ceremony events :)

my lovely flowers :) I loved them - even if one of the flowers was the "wrong" one used haha!

me and my hot bridesmaids :)

2 of my BEST college friends... I wish I could see them everyday :(

strutting our stuff - haha!

Jo, Britt, me, Janeane, and Shan :)

pretty flowers :)

me and my dad - LOVE it!
The mother's/grandmother's walked in to Twila Paris' "How Beautiful" I told my mom I'd probably cry when I heard it playing... but I didn't! My Dad gave me some wonderful words that I will always remember!!!

D's expression :)

so great - love it!

Dad giving me away

and here we are :)

one of my fav ceremony shots... so much emotion I think!

unity candle

we had some fun moments during our unity candle song. We had the Newsong/Natalie Grant version of "When God Made You" - it is an AMAZING song and I am so glad I stumbled upon it many months before the wedding!

THE KISS!

YAY! Mr. & Mrs. :)

Here is the whole Bridal Party... haha!

Hope you enjoyed - see you this Friday :)

Fabulous K: Joy's Hope

2009-07-29T16:37:00.002-05:00

Continuing with Fabulous K's giveaway week...

These little pins are so cute - put them on a pillow, sweater, whatever - check out Joy's Hope here

Fabulous K: Small Words Giveaway

2009-07-29T16:36:00.002-05:00

Continuing with Fabulous K's giveaway week...

how cute would this be... I love love love the Classic Collection - check out small words collections here

Featured Wedding :)

2009-07-29T15:17:00.003-05:00

The WONDERFUL Budget Savvy Bride featured OUR wedding!

check it out :)

The finale...

2009-07-28T19:32:00.005-05:00

If you've gone with me all the way through our wedding photos - AWESOME! I'm so glad that you've journeyed with me. Of course, the "journey" is far from over.... I mean, a marriage STARTS at the wedding, not ends. So, even though I'm sad that the wedding is over, because it was of course the best day ever, I have so many great things ahead of myself (ahead of ourselves).

Starting with D getting an awesome job in June, starting in July, and us moving into a HOUSE in less than a month... God is amazing! I'm so thankful to all my readers, because I've truly loved blogging. I'm not stopping. Maybe just changing. I doubt there will be anymore wedding posts (unless I just really want to, or if it's for Kelly's Korner :) )

BUT - I can't wait to share with you all about our HOUSE - soon and very soon... maybe by the end of this week, I'll post something :)

Enjoy the last few :)

The bouquet toss:

those girls let it fall to the GROUND!

but here is the lucky girl who picked it up :)

Hubs :) tee hee - here he is about to slingshot the garter to the few single men :)

and THEY let it fall to the ground. It did make a quick stop at DJ's head... haha, so he's the one who picked it up!

Here we are...

of course... DJ needed to wear it and look manly

SWOOON!!!

We debated on whether to change clothes and then do our last dance, but how can you not keep wearing your DRESS!?? I had to dance our last dance in it. Then we made a quick change and made our way the car for our WEDDING NIGHT! :)

My brother threw some petals that weren't quite off the bud (it was actually a small rose bud still) and it pelted D in the head - haha!

he's looking to see who it was - haha! :)

My brother wrote something on the car that I didn't care for... leave a comment or message me if you'd like to find out. oh my - haha!

YAYA! oh my gosh we're really married and leaving on our HONEYMOON!

JUST MARRIED!!!!
MEXICO here we come!

Dance, Dance, Dance

2009-07-28T19:15:00.008-05:00

ok - so we had a TON of photos of all our different dances...

It was so funny, because D is not a dancer... and I'm not too much of one either, I love it, just don't go dancing often. But, D complained from the get-go (when he found out there would be dancing) that it was going to be too much dancing. He had SO much fun and actually said that it went by too fast - I TOTALLY agree! that day was the best ever :)

starting out... daddy/daughter dance:

My mom and dad took dance lessons for fun, and I was able to go to 2 of them. The dance instructor helped us choreograph a dance to Steven Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella" it was so fun and I will remember it always... everyone seemed to love it! including my dad!!! :)

a couple of spins :)

Now D and his mom's dance :)

They danced to "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts :)

this is my brother... he had WAY too much fun... as you will see in later pictures. He's such a HAM!

see... oh, but just wait!

Me with D's dad

I'm laughing because my Uncle is spinning my mom like crazy and she is not liking it - haha! :)

love the emotion of this one!

oh yeah - party line dances coming up :)

I think this is the cha cha slide :)

"now jump" - look at our faces coming down on the jump - hilarious! haha!

"how low can you go?"

"can you go down low?... all the way to the floor?"

"can you make it to the top?... like you're never gonna stop?"

This was a song (which took us forever to find the title of) it's called "Apache" by The Sugarhill Gang... we researched after the wedding because we loved it so much. There's a line that says "jump on it" and we all jumped around "lasso-ing" - oh too much fun! :)

again... with my brother - I AM CRACKING UP!

hahaha...

up next... bouquet/garter tosses, last dance, and getaway... my pictures are almost over! :(

the vintage pearl giveaway

2009-07-27T15:14:00.002-05:00

How absolutely adorable are these necklaces and charms!!?? I think I'm in love - may just get one even if I don't win.

Check out the fabulous k summer giveaway week starting today and ending Friday (which happens to be my birthday) :)