One of those days...

Are you living a life of chaos? I can totally relate to this song... it was definitely a Monday! Love this new one by Franchesca Battistelli. Turn it up!

Cravings

Grocery shopping is not one of my favorite things to do. I find it exhausting. My hubs usually has to come with me if we are going to have any food for the upcoming week. We just got back in town from being gone all weekend and I really didn't want to go, but we have no food, so it was a neccesity.

Tonight we came home with a pretty interesting variety of stuff. I attribute it to that lovely time of the month that just arrived. As we walked down the aisles I craved all kinds of things... coke, blueberry muffins, grape gatorade, popcorn, strawberries for a protein shake that I want for dinner, and all the fixings to make banana pudding with fresh bananas and vanilla cookies. I have never made banana pudding in my life. It is a crazy thing what hormones can do to ruin a girl's plan to stick to the grocery list. My sweet hubby just went with it tonight. I am thankful for the sweet man that puts up with me even during that week every month that I do crazy things, and for the strawberry protein shake that is hitting the spot for dinner tonight. Here's to all you girls who know exactly what I am talking about and can maybe even relate... cheers!

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day! I am definitely a sucker for any chance to be romantic and sentimental. We decided that instead of gifts, we would go out to a really nice dinner. So, over the weekend we went out to a local restaurant whose Executive Chef had participated in my Signature Chefs event for the March of Dimes in December. I had crab-stuffed steak with garlic mashed potatoes and a big glass of wine. It was great!

On Valentine's day, Joey woke up and made us breakfast before we headed off to work and school. Then, he came home with a movie and big movie theatre boxes of my favorite candy. I have a thoughtful hubby!

Last year Joey started a tradition and cooked the meal we had at our wedding for me on Valentine's day. He did that again this year and it was yummy! Steak, au gratin potatoes, and green beans... He looks cute cooking, right? :)

And of course we used the china we got for our wedding. Love it!

Romantic dinner for two.

I made dessert, but was too full to eat it after Joey's great meal. We have enjoyed it this week though.

So, as you may have gathered, Valentine's day was full of lots of eating for us this year. We enjoyed making memories of our second Valentine's day as a married couple together. I am a pretty lucky lady!

Snow Day!

A winter wonderland in Waco.... okay maybe not quite, but we did wake up to a nice blaket of snow covering the ground and roofs outside this morning. So, you know we have been excited to see what our favorite snow puppy would do in the snow. The day is finally here and she is LOVING it! The snow started last night right before bed. Harley walked around chomping at the air trying to catch the white stuff falling from the sky in her mouth. She looked like a real husky with snow falling on her.

This morning we woke up to this

When she first went out, Harley wasn't so sure what had happened to her back yard. She just stood on the porch trying to figure out where the grass had gone and if she could step on the white stuff. I showed her she could walk in it, but she was still very carefull and walked around the edge of the yard to do her business.

She stayed outside for awhile and eventually wondered out into the snowy yard... and loved it! She has been out there all day.

Joey went out to run around and play with her for a bit. He slipped and landed on his butt his first sprint across the yard. She had a blast chasing him. He threw snow on her and she would run away, shake it off, and come back for more. I had fun watching my cute hubs and puppy!

Harley drug the frozen outdoor rug up the hill and has been digging, rolling around, plunging her face in, eating, and running around in the snow all morning.

Though she wasn't so sure at first, our snow puppy does indeed love the snow. And I also happen to think she is so pretty out there in it.

As you can see, I have gotten great use out of our long-distance camera lens this morning taking lots of pictures to remember this day. Stay warm out there, and enjoy the beautiful layer of white we have while it lasts.

*(Remember you can click on any of the pictures to make them larger.)

An eventfull weekend

On Friday, Joey and I packed up and headed to north Houston for the wedding weekend of Bobby and Anya. Joey was honored to be one of his groomsmen. Bobby was Joey's room-mate his freshman year at The Cambridge and is one of his close friends from A&M. Bobby was in our wedding almost a year and a half ago, and we were excited to be a part of his special weekend.

Friday night was the rehearsal at their venue and Joey was enamored with the fresh smell of wood that the new building had. He sniffed the air like a dog for the first ten minutes we were there despite my warning him that he looked funny doing it.

Saturday morning we got to watch Joey's brother, Matthew, play in a golf tournament in Magnolia before all of the guys in the wedding party met up for some male bonding time. I dropped Joey off at Bobby's parents house in the afternoon and set out to find the to the closest Marshall's, Home Goods, or TJ Maxx. I was thrilled to find a TJ Maxx not far away and headed there to occupy my time while Joey was shooting his first gun at the skeet shoot the guys were doing. I had time to peruse the store and paint my nails in the car before picking him back up to go get ready for the rehearsal dinner. We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner that Bobby's parents hosted at their house. I always love the intimate setting of hearing stories and toasts from friends and family that are closest to the couple at the rehearsal dinner. It was definitely evident that night that Bobby and Anya are very loved and that everyone agreed they are the perfect complement to eachother.

Sunday is when we encountered the unexpected. Joey took our car to the venue to help setup for the wedding while I stayed home with our family that we were staying with. He came home after lunch to shower and had to be back up there at 3 p.m. for pictures. We decided I would take him and drop him off so that I could have the car to load up after I got ready since our plan was to leave right after the wedding to come home. So, I got ready, loaded all of our stuff in the car, and said my goodbye's to the family. About halfway to the wedding our car started with some strange antics. First, the radio turned off. Then, the air conditioning spasmed a bit and the check engine light turned on. Not long after that, the airbag light came on and the blinker changed its rhythm. Though I was laughing because the car suddenly had a mind of its own, I was begining to get a little scared. I had to slow down to let a car in front of me turn and had a hard time accelerating back up to speed as the line of cars behind me grew. I prayed I would make it to my destination and texted Joey asking if he could call me even though the wedding was to start in 30 minutes. He called and I told him about sudden downward spiral of his beloved "silver bullet". I did make it to the wedding, but the men of the wedding party predicted a dying alternator which would not make it our whole trip back to Waco. We called Joey's dad and told him we would be returning sooner than expected.

So, after the wedding our great friends Cory & Lauren helped us unload our car into theirs and they gave us a ride back to our family's house. Early the next morning, Joey and his dad went to get the car to take it in to the shop. But, after being jumped to start, the poor silver bullet did not make it even a mile before it puttered out again. Joey had it towed to a shop that confirmed that we needed a new alternator which they did have in stock and could install that day! Hooray! Our car was back to life and we were able to leave Houston around 4:00 on Monday. Thank goodness for Rich and Megan who picked up Harley from the kennel so we didn't have to board her an extra night and even invited us for dinner when we got back since we had hardly any food to speak of after being gone for four days. Other than our car's bad timing that left us stranded in Houston for an extra day, it was a great weekend of celebration with friends that we loved getting to see and catch up with!