Christmas

This whole post is out of order and I'm too lazy to correct it, sorry!

Val got engaged over the Holiday- Welcome to the family, Lance! We are so excited for yall.

We had Christmas early at my parents house (on the 23rd) and then took off that night on our drive to Utah so that we would arrive on Christmas eve to see Steve's family. It was so much fun- lots of great times and too much good food.

Im so greatful for...

This season is such a great opportunity to really see all the blessings that the Lord has given you through the year. I am greatful for Steve and that he is able to take me to the temple and that we are only an hour away from San Antonio. I love this temple- it will forever remind me of the confirmation that I received a few years ago to move out here to Texas. Im so thankful for family, mine specifically. I really believe that we chose our families before we got here, I love them and am thankful for all their support and help that they extend. I'm so excited to see the other half of my family in Utah in just a few days!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all take some time to see how blessed you really are.

Thanksgiving, new countertops & new hair!

Steve came to me a few days before Thanksgiving and had this great idea to tile our countertops. I went along with it, not thinking that he would actually do it, but then the next day, we were at Home Depot choosing our tile! I was still hesitant, Steve has never tiled anything before, I think he may have helped his uncle once years ago. We bought all our tile and all the other stuff you need. We were going to start the day after Thanksgiving since we had all weekend off work. Thanksgiving was at our house this year for the first time. I was in charge of the turkey but since I had never done a turkey before, I decided to do Cornish game hens instead. They turned out so good!! Each person got their own baby turkey that they got to carve themselves, so cute. I even stuffed each one! Am I domestic or what! We had my family over, it was lots of fun with yummy food.

Friday morning, Steve got up early to start on our counters. I didnt get any before pictures, but it was just the normal ugly cream colored laminate that they had on all the counters in the mid 80s. You can kind of see how they looked in this first picture. Here are the progressive pictures with Steve hard at work.

Arent they beautiful?? I love them, and I love Steve for doing them! He did such a great job, I am really impressed. Thanks lovey, they are great!

I never did like my flat bob as you can tell from my earlier post, but then I came across this fabulous picture of a razored bob on Kimberly Caldwell. She is so cute, and I love her hair even more. I have gone to 2 different stylists to try and achieve this cut, and am still working on finding the right way to style it. I have never had this short of hair and I was really nervous, but I do like it! :) I may need a few more razored layers...

Friends & More puppies

Well, Lucy got knocked up again and nine weeks later we have 3 precious puppies! They are white, tan & black which is a nice mix- last time she just had 2 black ones. She started her labor around 4:30am and we were up with her till she had the last one at 7:30am- then we had work that morning- we all were so tired. They sure are cute, I know I will be ready to get rid of them once Lucy no longer cleans up after them .

We were going to go with some friends to a haunted house last night, but the line was insanely long! We went to eat at Johnny Carions (YUM!) instead and then went to a movie. They boys saw GI Joe and us girls went to see All About Steve- it was so random, but pretty funny otherwise.

I got back in touch with a couple friends from high school, we have been getting together once a week or so. Its so nice to be able to see friends after years of not keeping tabs and still be able to pick right back up where you left off. Good friends are hard to come by, so if you have them, hold them close and dear to your heart. My mom always tells me to be the kind of friend that I would want to have. Wise ole' woman :)

My ugly new bob

So, we've all been there, I guess... a bad haircut. You know when you see someone with a super cute cut and you think 'Oh yeah, I could totally do that too!' only to find out that you really dont have the right hair or face shape. I seriuosly feel like I'm 8 again. I'm going to start some prenatal vitamins, I hear that they help hair grow fast.

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Weekend fun!

My cousin AJ (from Utah) was selling security systems in Houston for the past few weeks and wanted us to come visit- I'm so glad we were able to take a little trip to see him!

Houston is about 2-3 hours away, so Steve and I and my brother Dalton took a little road trip. We got there Friday night and came back on Sunday. AJ had to work on Saturday, so we found things around town to do-

The Galleria Mall is 3 stories of shops shops shops! They have one in Dallas too that we went to last year with Steve's family. We seriously walked like 5 miles- so much fun. There is a big ice skating rink on the bottom floor that was fun to watch all the people fall down.

One of the sales guys was gone for the weekend, so he needed someone to take his dog out to go potty- I happily volunteered. Oh my gosh, this pug is the fattest thing ever, so freaking cute, the picture doesnt do her justice! She had a hard time breathing through her squished face, I wanted to take her home with me :-(

We dropped him off at the airport this afternoon, I'm sad we dont get to see him much, but I guess thats what happends when we all grow up and start lives of our own.

We went camping last haoliday weekend with some friends from the ward, I'll post those pics as soon as I get them from my friend. I didnt take any with my camera.

quick update!

Im so bad at blogging, sorry!

We are expecting a new house guest!! My sister Tawn was looking for an apartment just for 6 months- nobody will allow a 6 month lease, only 9 or 12. So, Steve and I offered her one of our rooms which will help all of us out. We can use some extra dollars each month and she will be able to save money and not have to worry about a lease. Win, win. :) She moves in Sept 1st, I'm excited for our late movie nights and added company for Lucy.

I've already started on my Christmas shopping- I'm pretty impressed with myself. Hopefully nobody will need to return anything, bc I think all the stores have a 90 day return period. oops!

I finished the Twilight series, finally!! Most people that have read it say they finished in a weekend- Its taken me 6 months! Its not that I'm slow, haha, I just dont get sucked into books to where I cant put it down. I'd read for a few hours and then put it down for a couple weeks... I'm pumped for New Moon to come out Nov 20th, you better believe I'll be @ the midnight showing! yipee!

Its still so freaking hot! I cant wait for Fall. I love Texas winters, they are like 60 degress! Today was about 102...eeek!

Master cleanser...

So, its way harder than you think! I was only able to do 4 days total, and lost 6 lbs. I was super pumped to finish the 10 days, and even passed up Johnny Carinos Italian at work on day 3. Ten days is just SO long, I will attempt it again in a few months. I really think its still a great thing if you can get passed the hunger- some people say they werent hungry after day 3, which day 3 was definately my worst day, I was just tired of the lemonade and wanted something to eat by day 5. Anyway, that was my progress. Let me know if you try it!

Master cleanse day 3

Today was pretty rough. You know when you get so hungry that you start to get in a really bad mood and super irritable? Thats the feeling I've had all day! The grumpiness started last night and hasn't left yet. I think I may have not added enough maple syrup (which has all the calories) to my lemonade today, so I was pretty low on energy too. I've lost 5 lbs so far, which might all be water weight, but 5 lbs is 5 lbs, right? I thought about maybe finishing the cleanse with juices and broth instead of lemonade, but I'm staying strong with the lemonade as of tonight, I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.
During my cleanse, I am taking a break from the gym. This is tough because thats where I spend most my evenings after work, now I have to keep occupied at home without using up too many calories. I hope tomorrow is better!

Master Cleanser Day 2

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the master cleanse aka lemonade diet, but basically it consists of pure maple syrup, fresh lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. You cant eat anything, youre only allowed the lemonade and water. Its a great way to wash toxins out of your body and to promote a healthier diet after the cleanse. I am going for 10 days which is the recommended minimum time. This is my 2nd day and I'm feeling pretty good. Yesterday my energy was down, but today its up above normal. I havent been too hungry, if I do get hungry, I just drink more lemonade. I dont know if its the cleanse or the lack of chewing, but the clicking in my jaw is completely gone. I have never been a victim of headaches, but this cleanse has a list of benefits, the major one being a reduction or total elimination of headaches and migraines. Check out the book if you havent heard of it, and if you have done this, let me know how it went...I think I'll need some encouragement through my 10 days. I'll post my progress and maybe some before & after pics.