The Weekend of Firsts

Andrew and I shared a lot of firsts this past holiday weekend.

1. Hosting our first married Thanksgiving with both sides of the family
2. Dealing with our first house crisis
3. Putting up the lights on our house and pulling out the Christmas decorations (pictures to come!)
4. Lighting up the first fire in our home

We have zero fireplace tools so Andrew improvised and tried to make it as manly as possible to make up for not having the proper tools to handle the broken sprinkler pipe situation.

Whatever works. :)

Christmas Lists

I recently told my dad I knew I was growing up and becoming more of a "real" adult because of the items I had been writing down on this year's Christmas list.

I still have a few of the normal items I probably had several years ago like gift cards to buy myself clothes or a new coat, etc. but I also have really grownup items.

1. Space heater for my home office (I mean this is the epitome of my dad. I might as well call myself Larry.) :)
2. Sheets for our bed (I feel like my grandma got these pretty frequently for Christmas.)
3. Gardening gloves (preparing myself for spring landscaping projects around our house!)
4. Travel coffee mug (coffee = adult)

But, my dad really made me realize even though I'm growing up I'm still a child because he said when you get to be his age, all you want on your list is for your kids to be home with you. And maybe a new sweater. :)

I'm really thankful to have such great, supportive parents. And, I will be home for Christmas.

Still Outnumbered

Before Andrew's side of the family had to head back to Hiawatha on Thursday afternoon after Thanksgiving dinner we took a family photo. I think it turned out really cute. We used the bench Andrew made me for our 2nd-year anniversary (when we were dating in high school) and set everyone around it in the backyard of our house.

We even got Zach to kind of smile, but don't ask him to smile with his teeth showing or his eyes close. I told him to practice for next year.

Anyways, I guess Ruth, Lori and I better get used to always being outnumbered by the boys because Luke and Lori found out on Wednesday that their baby due in April will be a boy!

We are really excited to buy cute little blue boy clothes. My brother Noel and sister-in-law Hillary are expecting their second daughter in March so it will be fun to have "one of each kind" as Andrew says. :)

Happy Belated Turkey Day!

What a great week! Andrew and I had so much fun having our families visiting for Thanksgiving. Preparations started really as soon as we moved in back in late July as we set out to accomplish several little house projects before the big day.

The countdown really began though on Sunday once I picked up our Honeysuckle White 21 pound turkey and started to let it thaw out for five days in our fridge. The week went by so fast as we finished up last-minute projects, grocery shopping, etc.

On Wednesday evening after work we started a whirlwind of cleaning and cooking. My mom suggested making several dishes before Thanksgiving Day to free up my oven a bit and make things less chaotic. Plus, several of these things taste even better reheated after all of the flavors have time to blend.

So, on Wednesday evening I made:

1. Cranberry sauce (which was a new recipe and turned out sooo yummy)
2. Stuffing (from scratch - yes, this involves making biscuits and cornbread from scratch so it was pretty intense, but I just don't like it any other way)
3. Candied yams (yes, from scratch - it's Thanksgiving and that's the way they should be!)
4. Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake (one of Andrew's favorite holiday desserts)

Andrew's parents, his older brother Luke and girlfriend Lori, plus his younger brother Zach arrived a bit after 10pm, and after a couple of hours of chatting, I was pooped out.

We got up pretty early on Thursday morning and started the turkey. Throughout the day I continued to apply my Autumn Spice Glaze, plus work on setting the table, setting out appetizers and snacks, working on the remaining side dishes and dealing with a broken sprinkler pipe.

Yep, we even had to turn the water off for a while during my cooking escapade. Not a happy camper. Apparently, when a referred landscape guy came to winterize our sprinklers, he hit a pipe which caused it to leak and flood our yard. Thank goodness for the handy Butch Moore and Sons crew because the boys got it plugged and the water back on in time for dishes. And to use the restroom. Ha. What a nightmare. I'm sure the sprinkler guy appreciated my frantic not-so-nice calls and messages on Thanksgiving, which I do feel a bit bad about, but please don't rupture my sprinkler pipe the day before I'm cooking for a house full of people and eliminate my water supply.

Anyways, everything turned out soo good. And, I timed things perfectly! Andrew's mom helped out quite a bit, as did my Aunt Jan from Fort Worth, and then once my mom arrived about an hour before the big show we really got everything together (potatoes and gravy, rolls, reheating stuffing and yams, plus continuing the turkey). Success!

We had great food, great conversation, great weather and even eventually water. Such a fun time!

Check it off the list - Andrew and I hosted our first successful Thanksgiving as a married couple.

I made the first complete big turkey day meal...

He carved his first turkey...
And, we really appreciated everyone traveling to visit. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!

Wedding Pictures

I think I previously mentioned having a fun idea to fill a wall in our newly painted guest room. A few weeks ago, Andrew made me stick to my guns, and we created this super cute wall collage of immediate family wedding photos.
It's so fun to go in and look at the creepy similarities between my grandpa, dad and brother, my mom and me and Andrew and his dad. We're still hoping to collect a few more and add them once more family weddings take place, but for now, our little guest room wall will suffice for our "family tree". :)

These pictures of the pictures aren't good quality, but aren't old wedding pics just the best?

My dad's parents:
Andrew's parents:
And, my parents:
And, we re-purposed an old black table into a white night stand for the guest room. Guest room is finished! For now...

Your Trash, My Treasure

Andrew may soon get tired of me enlisting his help for random DIY projects around our house, but until he does, I'm going to continue to pile them on.

And, to my defense, it was his idea to go to the garage sale down the street. :)

Found these chairs in need of some definite TLC, three for $5 just around the corner. I'm sure the previous owners thought, "who is going to buy these?" and I thought, "what a steal!".

Yep, all of them used to have wicker seats with huge holes in them. This is what they looked like after we removed the straggling wicker pieces (Step 1).

Step 2: Have your hubby purchase plywood from Lowe's, use a jigsaw to cut to the correct shape and then router the bottom to fit snuggly into the seat hole.

Step 3: Purchase fun printed upholstery fabric and quilt batting for the cushions.

Step 4: Cut fabric and batting accordingly, tightly wrap around the plywood insert, adhere with heavy duty staple gun, screw entire piece to chair and tada!
Franklin is always such a big helper. :)
We also purchased an arm chair for $5 at the same garage sale that just needed updated fabric on the cushion (used to be wild animal print that just doesn't go with my decor).
I think I'd like to paint these chairs white eventually, but for now, we got these chairs updated in a day and now have four more places for people to sit on Thursday for turkey day!

Thanksgiving, Here We Come!

As many of you have already heard, Andrew and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year for both of our families. We volunteered because we thought it would be really fun since we just bought and moved into our first house at the end of July. And, I still think it will be fun. I get really excited for entertaining, and I'm really pumped to actually have an excuse to buy flowers for centerpieces on our table.

However, it is so much work! Most self-induced because our families are casual and no one's expectations are out of control. But, we really thought it would be a good motivator to get lots of small projects around the house done so we used Thanksgiving as our end goal-date to get our list of 20+ projects completed.

After a great time in Kansas City at Vanessa and Chris Calcara's wedding (woohoo!) we knew we had to be productive on Sunday to prepare for this week. I still have laundry and lots of cleaning to do, plus a second round of grocery shopping, but we are getting so close to being ready!

Here's what we've accomplished so far (check out the links for previously posted pics):
1. Sand and paint $50 Craig's List table and chairs purchase
2. Clean windows and blinds (what a chore, especially when it's clear the previous owner ignored this yearly to-do)
3. Paint exterior shutters and front door
4. Hang K-State flag on porch (still hanging proudly even though our FB season is over)
5. Install solar sidewalk lights (even did this myself since it was so easy!)
6. Hang window pane and insert pictures in guest room
7. Hang family wedding pics in guest room
8. Line bathroom drawers and organize (I'm a nerd, and I actually had fun doing this.)
9. Garage door/family room kick plates (had to cover up the old cat/doggy door)
10. Insert threshold separators (is that even the correct terminology?) in entryway and between living room and family room
11. Get the purple dragon, a.k.a. Andrew's massive truck in our garage (it fits, but just barely!)
12. Purchase a dehumidifier for our basement (what a difference it makes, no more smelly basement!)
13. Clean the basement (have to get ready for the guests...)
14. Organize front closet (and tear out the original yellow super smelly shag carpet lining the bench)
15. Sand bathroom door (closes now without a hitch)
16. Salvage $5 garage sale chairs
17. Rake leaves, clean gutters, rake leaves, clean gutters, repeat, repeat, repeat. :)

Not to mention, the five rooms and hallway we painted after moving in, installing a new garage/backyard door, work, cleaning out the fridge and freezer this weekend, attending weddings, K-State home football games and trying to have a life besides our house.

The only things we have on our "to do by T-giving!" list are:
1. Winterize our sprinklers
2. Purchase a second garage door opener for Andrew and program the exterior keypad
3. Touch up the paint in the guest room
4. Touch up the paint in the living room

So I think we're going to make it. It will be crazy at our house over the next three days, but I am really hoping we can be done. Wish us luck!

Frank's Big Day

After much dilema...okay, that's a lie. I always knew this was going to happen. Andrew was the one fighting it for Frank's manhood's sake.

Today is Franklin's big day. He's in for surgery. The surgery. Snip, snip. I had to drop him off this morning at 7:30am, and I did feel bad leaving him there, but I think I almost felt worse that we couldn't give him breakfast this morning because I know how much he loves his meals. Ha.

And, I totally got manipulated into getting him micro-chipped while's he's under today. The first check-in woman asked me, and acted like I was crazy when I said we didn't want to get it done. I'm pretty sure she sent in the second check-in woman to ask me again to make me change my mind. I stuck to my guns, but then on the way home I felt like a bad puppy parent and called them to let them know I changed my mind. I mean, it's not that expensive and easier to get done while they're already out so it doesn't hurt them as much. And, I kept thinking what if he got lost and we never saw him again?

I'm such a sucker.

Anyways, it is really weird around the house without him. I keep walking to the back door and remembering he's not outside, but at the vet. I wonder if this is what empty-nest syndrome is like? At least it is just a small dose...he should be ready to come home at 5pm today. And, from what I've heard, he probably won't even know what hit him. Or snipped him. Or however they do it. :)

Here Comes the Bride...

I'm so excited for a short work day, all thanks to Vanessa and Chris, who are tying the knot this evening! Can't wait for the festivities to begin. :)

Weekend Recap

Andrew and I had a BUSY weekend, but a good one, too.

Andrew had to work until midnight on Friday night. Boo. BUT, it was his last weird shift ever! Thank goodness. I did not sign up to be at home by myself every night. So glad this is behind us. I packed up myself and Franklin for the weekend and went to bed after reading for a bit. I know, I am exciting. (Side note, I'm reading The Pact by Jodi Piccoult...so good! She has to be one of my favorite authors.)

Saturday arrives too early and we are on the road by 7:30am heading to Manhattan and hopeful for a victory. Wrong. We NEVER leave a game early, and with three minutes to go Andrew had had enough. Saturday afternoon we drove to Hiawatha, spent some time with his fam, and then I left Frank and Andrew at the farm and went in to play with our niece Quinn.

Wake up Sunday morning, go to church, head to Andrew's parents for lunch. Back into Hiwatha for Quinn's 2nd birthday party and then depart for Wichita at 6pm.

Franklin had a blast on the farm, but came home filthy and with a bad case of diarhhea. Oh, the joys of being a "parent". He managed not to have any accidents in the truck, but we did have to pull over twice so he could relieve himself.

Woke up this morning to a nasty smell (hmmm, this sounds familiar...anyone remember Halloween 2006?!). Franklin is not over his case of the poops so Andrew and I had to clean up a mess (laundry, cleaning the floor and hosing off the kennel) and give the dog a 6:30am bath. Fun times!

Despite that, it was so nice being back in Hiawatha around family. Here's some cute pictures of Quinn at her party. She was so funny to watch open presents and hear her squeal and giggle with every Dora or Ariel present she discovered. Christmas should be so entertaining this year!

Quinn after finishing Dora cake and ice cream.

Halley and I taking a timeout from our cake and beverage waitress duties.

Quinn getting the hang of what this is really all about. :)
Lucas and Quinn going for the big gift together. Who knew the kitchen set was assembly required? Good luck with that, parents. :)
Quinn loving on her baby Ariel doll.

A Case of the Mondays

Andrew and I had such a good weekend with our friends in Manhattan that I think it made Monday even more of a reality check than normal.

Franklin woke up barking in his kennel an hour earlier than we usually get up. He NEVER does this.

It rained this morning so when we went for our daily morning walk, he was filthy by the time we got back home.

Work was full speed ahead the second I woke up and checked my Blackberry. I literally couldn't keep up with emails. This NEVER happens to me.

I finally went to buy the printer/scanner/fax machine that my agency wanted me to get months ago. I picked out the wireless printer with Andrew's help over lunch and came home to set it up. Three hours later I couldn't figure out why the wireless feature wouldn't work. Three hours and one minute later I figured out I had gotten the wrong printer. It's not wireless.

Franklin has discovered there is a whole new world of fun things he is not supposed to play with on our end tables, dining room table, desk, anywhere just above his head that is fun to jump up on and snatch things away to play keep-away from us.

It rains and is dreary pretty much all day so Franklin is stuck inside to terrorize me. He continues to hump me (but NEVER Andrew) 10+ times a day.

Back to the office store to pick up the actual version of the wireless printer I intended to purchase the first time. The sales clerk tells me it's not the same price. Finally they look in the ad - it is the same price.

Drive home with Franklin hovering on my lap as I try to stay in my lane through the dark, rainy sky.

Setting up the second (and hopefully the final) printer/scanner/fax. Franklin is sleeping. It's 9pm, I am almost done with work today which means I will soon be in my bed. Which means tomorrow will be here soon, and I can start over.

And, maybe with a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Sbucks. :)

The Hairrow

This weekend was Vanessa's bachelorette party in Manhattan. It was so fun to be back in the Ville with all of the girls. We even ran into Bill.


Vanessa got some great lingerie (which we then named appropriately) from all of the girls, but I especially think Chris is going to like the Hairrow, a special Pi Phi piece. He seems excited. :)


What a beautiful day for tailgating and for a WILDCAT win!
Love you Vaness! Can't wait for your big day!!

Comments Needed

Andrew took Franklin to the vet this afternoon to get his blood work done for his surgery. You know, the one. Well, he didn't want to get it done because once things are all said and done it will cost about $300. Which is expensive, I realize. But, it's also convenient because we know and like the vet. I refuse to go all over town trying to find someone to do it cheaper. So, I tell Andrew to take care of it. Either we just suck it up and pay for it, or he finds an alternative.

So, the boys come back from the vet, Andrew has decided we will not be getting rid of Franklin's jewels. He wants to breed him.

What?!

Family Photos

I found this amazing website where you can upload your own photos and create personalized holiday greeting cards. So, I told Andrew we should get a head-start this year and take our family photo this weekend while the weather was so nice outside.

Ugh, it was so hard with Franklin! I think we have one good one out of the many that we took. Here's our "bloopers" reel. :)


He was pooped afterwards so we had a little snuggle time in Andrew's man chair.