MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday. He is 60 years young!

Then there were 3

My cousin had her baby yesterday. Her name is Lily and she is the most precious thing ever!

Ice

The whole fam loaded up and went to The Gaylord Texan to see the Ice Exhibit. It was pretty cool. everything inside is made of ice, everything. There were penguins, angels, manger scenes, sleighs, wreaths, slides. It was 9 degrees and FREEZING! They give everyone a warm coat. Here are so of the pics.

Prom Pic 2007
This guy was real, the kids were scared to sit by him. After looking back at the pictures...I wonder if that beer under him is his???

Christmas Party and Such

We went to Dylan's work Chrismas party on saturday night. We had some of his co-workers over before hand. I enjoy entertaining so it was nice. We had a few drinks and appetizers for everyone. After the Christmas party, we bought the Mayweather/Hatton fight. I was pretty disappointed once again the Mayweather came out on top. I just want to see that kid lose. He is just too cocky for me.

Kudos to Vicki

Vicki finished her first semester of nursing school today. She passed her test with flying colors!!! YEAH for Vicki! I really couldn't imagine being out of school for 12 years, then taking anatomy and physics right off the bat! That is very impressive.

Anywho, we had a celebration dinner at The Melting Pot, compliments of Dad. They even had a little note on the table when we got there that said Congrats and all the employees had signed it. I thought that was really cool. We had a really good time and enjoyed each others company. The picture of the drink was mine, it tasted as good as it looks!

'Tis the Season

We got our Christmas decorations up last weekend. It was so much fun. This is our first Christmas in the house so that was exciting. We also got a real Christmas tree. It smells soooo good. The picture of the house is not the best but at least you can see how pretty the lights are outside. We still need to get a tree topper but you get the idea.

Elf Yourself

A freind sent this to me. Its pretty funny. Try it for yourself.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9633588554

Fondue

We went to Simply Fondue just before Thanksgiving with a group of people for my friend Lauren's birthday. Love that place.

Giving Thanks

A Few Things I'm Thankful For:

Pizza, Makes a great meal for those nights I'm too tired to cook. I'm sure this will come in handy more so when I have children.

Friends that act excited about coming over to see your new house.

A fiance that makes me laugh no matter when, where, or why, even if its at myself and when I'm mad.

Annoying co-workers because this means that I have a job.

Carmen, for barking when people walk up to the house, it gives me comfort when I'm home alone.

Hard Times, whether it be emotional, mental, financial, or in love relationships, work relationships, family relationships, or friend relationships... it allows you to appreciate the good times.

Bottled water, because I hate the taste of the ice from our freezer.

My nephews, they remind you of innocence and let you act like a kid without telling you, you can't act like that anymore or that you are too old to play.

Elders smiling, whether they are sane or not...Make me think about all the years I have left to live and how there are so many things out there that I have yet to experience, and that no matter how old you get or look there is always SOMETHING to smile about.

My sister, she can't hold a grudge no matter what it is I've have done or said, and knowing that I always have someone to talk to no matter where I am or what time it is.

Whoever invented the daily planner - I'd be lost without it.

Teachers, they make you remember that there is always more to learn.

Books, for letting me escape from reality for a minute and be someone else.

My Parents, for saying "This too shall Pass," "Your not getting any younger,"Be Careful out there," "Find better friends," letting me make my own choices, staying up late at night listening to me whine or cry, letting me live with them, when I should be on my own, telling me to stop being a brat (which we all know was only like once in my life, but I thought it was worth the mention ;o)), and emphasizing morals, and family values.

Noticing an extra pound or two, it reminds me I have never had to go without food.

Girls Night, allows me to listen better, vent, smile, laugh, eat, drink, play, be goofy, and selfless.

I could go on and on, but these are a few things that I will be thinking of tomorrow as we are passing around the turkey.

I hope everyone has a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Poor Carmen

Well, it happened. Carmen got pepper sprayed by the postman. She isn't friendly with strangers. If you step in our yard and she doesn't know you she will run at you barking. She doesn't growl or snap, but I think the running at you part is what freaks people out. Its just a scare tactic. She will do the same thing to cats and then when she gets close she just stands there like, "Hey, you were supposed to run." I think she just likes to chase things.

Either way, Dylan was taking out the trash on Saturday and Carmen ran to the front yard. Dylan heard barking so he was calling her name, when he got to the front yard, the postman had dropped all his mail and Carmen was rolling around on the ground. Dylan grabbed Carmen and brought her inside. Once inside he realized that her eyes were really red and she kept rubbing them. So Dylan goes outside to find the postman. He walks up to him and asks if he hit her, the postman said no and was visibly shaken, he then pulls out the can of pepper spray and said he used that. Dylan said he understood why he used it and came back home. Her eyes were so red and swollen, I thought I was going to cry! I called the vet which was closed then called the emergency vet and asked if there was anything more we could do. There wasn't so we just kept washing her eyes out. After a few hours she was back to normal.

Lesson Learned: I'm going to be one of those moms that freaks out when my child gets a little scratch or paper cut. GREAT!

Manly Man

We had Vitross over the weekend. He was really good and we had fun. Dylan and Tross stayed up all night playing video games. He just loves loves loves Dylan.

Tonight after work Dylan mounted the TV in the bedroom. He is just so manly with his drill. ;o)

Veteran's Day

Thanks to those who have served!

Nothing New

There isn't anything new to report. I've been keeping VERY busy with all the wedding planning. It seems like things are FINALLY coming together. I'm getting more excited every day.

We had some roof work done this week. I'm not really happy about that. We have a list of priorities and a new couch was next. I'm not really sure how the roof jumped ahead of the couch without me being notified??? I wonder if anyone will notice if "Spare Bedroom Remodeling" jumps ahead of "Finishing Dylan's Office?" Or "Jessica Spa Day" gets in front of "Trip to Home Depot."

We had a leak in the back room so we had to get the roof repaired and now we need to get the ceiling fixed, lovely. So much to do so little time. Doesn't everyone know I'm planning a wedding? I don't have time for these little problems.

We also had our heater checked because it wasn't working. They tell me the heater runs on gas and we don't have gas service. Hmmm, didn't think about that! So I pay some guy $80 for nothing and then call the gas company. They come out turn on the gas and then try to get the heater working. Still nothing. The guy makes his way up to the attic to see if he can find anything obvious...well, I guess the heater guy UNPLUGGED the Heating/AC unit and the only visible outlet is too far to plug it back in. That causes a slight problem. To make things worse, a few months ago we had insulation put in the attic so the attic is FULL of insulation, about 1 foot high all the way around. We have 2 choices, call the guy and have him come back and plug the unit in since he unplugged it for no apparent reason, but this means one of us has to stay home from work OR we can go play detective and try to find the outlet ourselves. Either way its a pain and we paid the guy to create this problem!!!

TGIF.

Halloween

I know I'm a little late! We had our first Halloween in our house and it was so fun! Beth and Keith came over for dinner and every time there was a little tricker-treater at the door we all freaked out and got so excited. It was a lot of fun handing candy out. The kids were so cute.

I didn't get to see the boys trick or treat but Vic sent some pics. They are too cute! Its a little blurry but its all I have. Vitross was Superman, obviously and Tyler was the guy from Halloween, he isn't wearing his mask in the pic. The other two kids are David's girlfriends. The little one is hidden in the skeleton outfit.

Weekend

We had a fun but busy weekend. Yesterday we went to Tross' football game. They played great! Vitross improves so much every year. This year he loves playing defense. They have him playing QB and he's a receiver. The games are a lot of fun.

After the game we had a friends engagement party. They are getting married in February and Dylan is in the wedding. We had a really good time and it was nice to see some old friends.

We went to a Halloween party later in the evening. That was where the fun was. Its always entertaining to see grown men and women dressed up in costumes, trying to have normal conversations.

Dylan had a football game this afternoon and they won. He scored a touchdown! YEAH!

He will live

Dad made it through surgery. I guess the Dr. said there was more damage than they originally thought. The whole septum was shattered so he said he repaired it, "The best he could." I'm with Barbara and not sure I like how that sounded, but we will see how he heals. Hopefully he will be able to breath out of his nose now. Thats the ultimate goal. I still haven't talked to him, he was sleeping when Barbara called yesterday afternoon to say he made it, and probably sleeping when I called him last night or maybe he just didn't feel like talking.

Its probably best that we don't talk for a day or 2, he is GEERRRRUUMMMPPEEEEE when he isn't feeling well, and having to sleep upright for 2 days will make you grumpy no matter how you feel.

Dad

Most of you are aware that Dad broke his nose a couple weeks ago. He damaged some of the inside that needs to be repaired so he can breathe. He is having out-patient surgery today so please say a little prayer.

Registering

Registering Sucks!

Dylan and I went to Home Deport this weekend to register. I would not suggest registering at Home Depot to ANYONE, EVER! We were excited. We show up thinking that we are getting one of those scanner guns and we will just walk through the store scanning what we want. HAHAHA, not so much. This store and ALL other Home Depots are totally out dated! Our excitement was shattered when we were told we had to get a pen and paper and write down every SKU by hand, then bring it back up to the desk and they will enter it into the system. WHAT?!?!?!? We were like, your kidding, right? No, they weren't.

Many many hours later, we bring them our 20 sheets of paper (not really but it felt like it) and they keyed it in. As she is keying it I'm having small talk with her, asking if the SKU's are the same, nation wide, you would think they have to be since some people will probably buy things online or in another store. Well, I assumed wrong. They are not the same numbers, so then the wheels start turning in my head. After asking a few more questions, she tells me that if you register in the store, the gifts can only be purchased in the store. If you create a registry online, you can only buy the gifts online. They are totally seperate entities. What kind of thinking is that??? So basically, if you live in Egypt you would have to go to your local Home Depot buy the gift, then mail it on your own. Or if we registered online, you would have to go online, order your gift, pay for shipping, and hope it arrives on time, even if you live next to or inside of a Home Depot Store.

We are driving home after our 3 1/2 hours there and decide...SCREW THIS. So we have wasted all day in Home Depot, but at least we know what we want and need. We are now canceling the registry and going to Sears. Home Depot needs to come to the 21st Century, then we will think about shopping there again.

Engagement Party

We had an Engagment Party saturday night at my Mom's house. We had a really good time and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as well. Here are some pictures.

Ashley with Dylan and his parents

Vitross break dancing

Mom giving a toast

Dylan and Casey

Dylan and his parents

Liza, Ron, Me, and Dylan

Lauren, Pais, Fahmi, Casey, Me, Tiffany, and Cook

Monica and Andrea

Ashley and Gab

PJ and Christy

Ryanne, Christy, me, and Gab