The Side Yard Project

Brian decided he wanted to freshen up the side yard and make it so that he was no longer a muddy mess when working on the pool equipment. The side yard was basically dirt with a sprig of grass here and there. He wanted to level the whole area and replace the stepping stones and brick that were barely noticeable because they were covered in dirt after years of sitting in one spot. He removed all the bricks and stones, rented a tiller from Home Depot and set to work. The following day, we layed plastic over the entire area to prevent weed growth and then started putting the bricks and stepping stones back into place. The last step was filling in the rest of the area with river rock. After several trips to Home Depot to get more rock (approx. 40 bags total), we finally finished the side yard and I must say, it looks awesome!

Question: How long did we go without hot water?

Answer: 4 days!

We apparently had the one and only water heater made of it's kind. We were taking cold showers for 4 days while the home warranty company figured out how to the get the part needed to repair it. By day 4 I put my foot down and said that I would not take another cold shower. When we found out that the part was NOT going to arrive on day 4 (when they said it would) we said forget it and bought a new water heater. We probably could have waited another day (and another cold shower), but somehow patience wears very thin after 4 days of cold water. Below is a picture of the blessed water heater and the reason we are smiling again. :-)

Paint Yer Pottery

Our department at work had another great quarter so our Supervisor (or "SuperFriend" as she prefers to be called) rewarded us with a 'fun day'. We took a half day and went to lunch and then went to a place called Paint Yer Pottery - which is exactly what we did. I chose to paint a large serving bowl and I went with green and brown as my color choices. Our kitchen is getting a makeover with these colors and I thought I would make something to go with it. It was so much fun and I was so pleased with the outcome of my serving bowl.


So focused!


Final Product


All of us with our 'Masterpieces".

Cat Lady

I had surgery around the middle of March and I was home recovering for a little over a week. I think the cats knew that I wasn't feeling my best because they both came to sit with me at the same time. They never do that. They each will take a turn and sit with me, but they don't do it at the same time. Brian took a picture on his cell phone to document this momentous occasion. :-)

Texas Weather

First comes snow...then comes rain (about a week and a half later). And boy did it rain! We live across the street from a golf course and it didn't stand a chance against all of the rain that we got. The picture quality is horrible because I took it looking out the window, but you can see the 'river' that was a golf course.

Winter Wonderland

IT SNOWED LAST NIGHT!!! Brian and I were so excited to finally see snow this winter! The biggest snowflakes I've ever seen fell for several hours - blanketing our front yard in what looked like beautiful white crystals. There's just something about falling snow that brings a sense of peace and tranquility. That's one of the things that I miss most about living in Iowa, but I don't miss shoveling the sidewalk that's for sure. :-)


All bundled up!


This is what happens when it's 70 degrees
one day and 32 the next: Shorts, Sandals
and a Winter Coat! What am I going to do with him?

Valentine's Day 2008

I know Valentine's Day has come and gone, but I had to post pictures from our 1st Valentine's Day as husband and wife. Brian was so sweet. He sent me something at work 3 days in a row leading up to Valentine's Day. The first day went as Brian planned and I received a small vase of roses. I thought the florist messed up because I received them 3 days early and Brian just went along with that. The second day is when things didn't go exactly according to plan. By the end of the day I'd not received anything and Brian was in an uproar and calling the florist to find out what happened (of course I didn't know about any of this). Come to find out the guy in the mailroom at work was to blame. He didn't bother to deliver my gift until after I left work. I got home that night and in Brian's frustration, he told me what he'd planned and that the 'idiot mailroom guy' messed it all up! It all worked out though. I got to work the next morning and my pretty rose plant was waiting for me and that afternoon my final delivery arrived as planned - A Gund Bear and a box of chocolates. Even though it didn't go as planned for Brian - it was special to me.

My Valentine's Day plan for Brian was a scavenger hunt through the house until he found his gift. He had to leave the house for about 15 minutes while I raced around and put all of the clues where they needed to be. The clues were related to Valentine's Day and were hidden all over the house. He had to get the clues in a certain order or he wouldn't be able to find the next clue. He made it to the end and was given 2 tickets to see the Dallas Stars. I had so much fun with the scavenger hunt and I think he had a good time too.



Day One


Day Two


Day Three - Valentine's Day


Brian with his Scavenger Hunt clues and Stars Tickets