Good Things in 2011 - My friend Abby used to do monthly posts listing good things from each day of the prior month. These posts were always encouraging to read, and I have to imagine that it is encouraging to write them as well. I'm going to copy this idea from her blog.
January 1 - My husband cooked a great dinner while I took a nap!
January 2 - Michael surprised me with donuts for breakfast.
January 3 - Fun times playing Mario Kart on the Wii with Michael.
January 4 - Michael got a new tool chest for the garage.
January 5 - Dinner at Potbelly's with our Bible study group. (Everyone was able to make it for the first time in a while. This was the first time our group had all been together since it grew to 21 with the addition of Avery.) Also, Parenthood is back...great show!
January 6 - First time meeting with our other small group after the holidays. It was good to see everyone!
January 7 - Had dinner and watched the Cotton Bowl with Brett and Kristen
January 8 - Had dinner and played 42 with Tim and Stephanie. It's great to have yummy dinners cooked for you two nights in a row!
January 9 - Snow!
January 10 - After a long but productive day at work, we got the last of the Christmas decorations down, and I enjoyed a relaxing evening watching the championship football game (and napping!) with my husband.
January 11 - Yummy strawberry muffins for breakfast, courtesy of Michael.
January 12 - I got to talk to my brother for a while on my way home work. It's always great to catch up with him!
January 13 - Michael went on an after-dinner Braum's run...best chocolate shakes ever!
January 14 - Six years ago today, Michael and I went on our first date. We had a low-key celebration tonight...corny dogs and tater tots at home with a movie. :o)
January 15 - Ran for the 2nd time since the marathon on December 13, 2009...first time since last June. It felt good to get out and run with friends even if I am starting from scratch. Unfortunately, we locked ourselves out of the house when we left to go run so we had to call a locksmith to meet us when we got home. Also, today is PaPa's birthday...83 years old!
January 16 - Great Sunday! After church tonight we had great discussions with Tim and Stephanie, followed by fellowship, a nice spaghetti dinner, and a great game of Sequence...a great continuation to a year of more eating at home and playing games! Stephanie even liked the game. :o)
January 17 - Michael had the day off, and I came home tonight to a clean house! So nice! He even scrubbed the kitchen sink. I didn't know it was possible to get it that clean. Thanks Sweetie!
January 18 - After working late, I came home to an awesome dinner and enjoyed watching Parenthood with Michael. Love that show!
January 19 - Cookies for breakfast! (I'm embarrassed to admit that this isn't that rare of an occurrence.)
January 20 - Fellowship night with our small group. Jessica made amazing chicken spaghetti, and we had a great evening just talking and catching up with everyone.
January 21 -Movie night with friends from church...sort of. Our movie was double booked and got canceled, so we ate dinner at Luna de Noche and went to Starbucks. The rest of the group went to a late movie, but we're too old for that! Since our movie was canceled, they gave us all free movie passes. :o)
January 22 -We used our free movie passes from last night to go see Little Fockers...not the best movie ever, but it was okay...a free date night was fun!
January 23 - Rough start to the day, but it turned out to be a good one...ending with dinner out with family friends that we haven't gotten to see in a while.
January 24 - When I left this morning, it was much colder than I had expected it to be, and my car was covered in a thin layer of icy frost. However, Michael had scraped my front and back windshields for me when he left for work so that I wouldn't have to. How sweet is that? To top it off, we found out Aaron was in town, and we got to have dinner with him and my parents tonight. Nice surprise!
January 25 - Go Mavs!
January 26 - Bible study - great dinner and good fellowship, followed by a nice run.
January 27 - Michael drove me to work. It's fun to carpool in the mornings!
January 28 - Outback and Yogurtland with Brett and Kristen. The food was good, but the company was even better!
January 29 - Bobsled Tim...he's kind of a big deal!
January 30 - Relaxing but productive day. (Also, Michael got three Nixons CDs for a total of $14.04...he was pretty excited.)
January 31 - Pay day!
January 31, 2011
January 29, 2011
Fun with the Hixons
Tonight, Jessica and Michael had us over for dinner. Jessica made a salad, asparagus, and pork chops with a wonderful apple chestnut puree. Seriously, I think that I could have eaten the whole bowl of puree by myself. It was so good! It was like a delicious gourmet apple sauce.
After a wonderful meal, we rounded it out with cream puffs for dessert. She did a great job on the pastries, and the chocolate hazelnut filling had Nutella in it. Can't go wrong there!
We hadn't spent an evening with Michael and Jessica in a while, and it was great to visit and catch up with them! To top it all off, we got to play Sequence AND Farkle! :o)
After a wonderful meal, we rounded it out with cream puffs for dessert. She did a great job on the pastries, and the chocolate hazelnut filling had Nutella in it. Can't go wrong there!
We hadn't spent an evening with Michael and Jessica in a while, and it was great to visit and catch up with them! To top it all off, we got to play Sequence AND Farkle! :o)
January 23, 2011
Today...
Here is how our Sunday morning went...
This morning, we got up to go to early service. This is almost always the plan on Sunday mornings; however, it seems like a lot of weeks (especially lately), we haven't actually made it to early service. Instead, we'll get there for just in time for class, or go to late service. We were excited to actually be headed out to make it to early service. Even though we were headed out the door, we were still running a few minutes late. (For those of you that know Michael, you know that he was a little frazzled to be running late...and those of you that know me, probably already know that it was my fault we were running late.)
Michael was driving my truck this morning and got in, forgetting that I didn't have a garage door opener. (It stopped working a couple of weeks ago, and we haven't replaced it. Just so no one thinks that Michael is terrible for not letting me have his garage door opener, he did offer and even push a little. However, it made a lot more sense for him to have one since he is almost always home when I get home. I can shut the door and get out in the mornings without a problem.) As he was getting in, I reminded him that I didn't have one, so he was going to get his. However, he didn't have his truck keys. I have a key to his truck that I got out of my purse to give him, but I don't have a "clicker." Supposedly using the key to unlock the door will disarm the alarm. It didn't work this morning, though. As soon as Michael opened the door, the alarm went off. I'm sure our neighbors were excited to hear that early this morning!
Michael went running into the house to get his keys to turn the alarm off. When he came back out he turned the car alarm off, but he realized that his garage door opener was in the house. At this point, he was frustrated and just closed the door and ran out to the truck like I have been doing every morning. The thought was that we'd go in through the front door when we got home.
Wehave had a storm door on the front door that we can't couldn't unlock from the outside. (We don't didn't have a key for it and even if we did, the key hole on the outside has had been filled in.) We used to keep it locked, but since my garage door opener stopped working, we've been leaving it unlocked so that I could get to the front door if I got home when Michael wasn't there. Yesterday, we had the front door open and the storm door closed. We usually lock the storm door when this is the case and just unlock it when we close the front door. At some point last night, Michael checked to make sure that the front door was locked. When he did this, I had the thought that we may have left the storm door locked, but I was sure we'd have the door open again today, so it wasn't a big deal at that time...fast forward to this morning. We are backing out of the driveway, Michael has just shut the garage door without a way to open it, and suddenly I have a fear that we have also left the storm door locked.
Michael didn't want to fret about this all through church, so we pulled around to the front to check the door. Sure enough, it was locked! The first thought was that we had a locksmith number handy (since we had to call when we locked ourselves out of the house last Saturday...totally different circumstances). The second thought was that a locksmith wouldn't help...we had keys, we just couldn't get through the garage door or the storm door to use them.
It appeared that the only way to get into the house was to break glass. We called a couple of window/repair places to see if someone could come out and cut a hole in the glass to get inside without making a huge mess...no such luck! We evaluated our options and decided the best thing to break would be the storm door. We've been wanting to replace the handle/lock anyway (for obvious reasons...so we could have a key for it). Plus, we could still lock our house up if we couldn't get repairs made right away. Lastly, we could break it without glass getting all in the house.
We went to Home Depot and Lowe's to price storm doors and replacement glass and also to buy a hammer since we didn't have anything to break the door with. While we were there, we also bought a glass cutter thinking we might could score the glass and only break out a section of it. We did look a little strange walking around a home improvement store, all dressed up on a Sunday morning...like we had dressed up just to start a project or something.
We got home and just as Michael was about to bust the door out, it hit me that we should document this day. (After all, it would be funny later, right? I must admit that by this point, I had already laughed several times...Michael, however, had not.) Here we are as it's starting to set in what's about to happen.
Once the door was unlocked, I got in the car to drive it around to the back. When I did, I saw that I had a recent text message from Tim, "Hot blueberry pancakes if you are home." As tempting as that was, I called Tim to tell him what happened and to say that I didn't think Michael would want to leave the glass mess on our front porch. When I got in, I told Michael about the text and the call. He simply asked, "Did you ask him if he has a shop vac?" Michael went to go change clothes and get to work, but he quickly turned around and asked if I wanted to go eat pancakes. He said that he needed a few minutes to get away from it and calm down.
We walked down to Tim and Stephanie's house and had a nice breakfast as we compared our chaotic morning to their laid back but productive one. As we were leaving, Michael asked Tim if he had a shop vac, and he did. This was a small victory, but one that made clean up a lot easier!
We now have a clean porch (we have been needing to sweep leaves away for a while now) with no storm door that can keep us from getting in our house. We'll have a new storm door before long that we will be able to use our keys to lock and unlock. It will also have a screen, which I think we'll enjoy in the spring and fall! Also, a little too much follow through on the swing will motivate us to paint the front door, which has been on our to-do list anyway.
At the end of the day, we have a lot to be thankful for.
This morning, we got up to go to early service. This is almost always the plan on Sunday mornings; however, it seems like a lot of weeks (especially lately), we haven't actually made it to early service. Instead, we'll get there for just in time for class, or go to late service. We were excited to actually be headed out to make it to early service. Even though we were headed out the door, we were still running a few minutes late. (For those of you that know Michael, you know that he was a little frazzled to be running late...and those of you that know me, probably already know that it was my fault we were running late.)
Michael was driving my truck this morning and got in, forgetting that I didn't have a garage door opener. (It stopped working a couple of weeks ago, and we haven't replaced it. Just so no one thinks that Michael is terrible for not letting me have his garage door opener, he did offer and even push a little. However, it made a lot more sense for him to have one since he is almost always home when I get home. I can shut the door and get out in the mornings without a problem.) As he was getting in, I reminded him that I didn't have one, so he was going to get his. However, he didn't have his truck keys. I have a key to his truck that I got out of my purse to give him, but I don't have a "clicker." Supposedly using the key to unlock the door will disarm the alarm. It didn't work this morning, though. As soon as Michael opened the door, the alarm went off. I'm sure our neighbors were excited to hear that early this morning!
Michael went running into the house to get his keys to turn the alarm off. When he came back out he turned the car alarm off, but he realized that his garage door opener was in the house. At this point, he was frustrated and just closed the door and ran out to the truck like I have been doing every morning. The thought was that we'd go in through the front door when we got home.
We
Michael didn't want to fret about this all through church, so we pulled around to the front to check the door. Sure enough, it was locked! The first thought was that we had a locksmith number handy (since we had to call when we locked ourselves out of the house last Saturday...totally different circumstances). The second thought was that a locksmith wouldn't help...we had keys, we just couldn't get through the garage door or the storm door to use them.
It appeared that the only way to get into the house was to break glass. We called a couple of window/repair places to see if someone could come out and cut a hole in the glass to get inside without making a huge mess...no such luck! We evaluated our options and decided the best thing to break would be the storm door. We've been wanting to replace the handle/lock anyway (for obvious reasons...so we could have a key for it). Plus, we could still lock our house up if we couldn't get repairs made right away. Lastly, we could break it without glass getting all in the house.
We went to Home Depot and Lowe's to price storm doors and replacement glass and also to buy a hammer since we didn't have anything to break the door with. While we were there, we also bought a glass cutter thinking we might could score the glass and only break out a section of it. We did look a little strange walking around a home improvement store, all dressed up on a Sunday morning...like we had dressed up just to start a project or something.
We got home and just as Michael was about to bust the door out, it hit me that we should document this day. (After all, it would be funny later, right? I must admit that by this point, I had already laughed several times...Michael, however, had not.) Here we are as it's starting to set in what's about to happen.
Scoring the Glass (which turned out not to make any difference whatsoever)
Breaking the Glass (which resulted only in minor injuries)
Once the door was unlocked, I got in the car to drive it around to the back. When I did, I saw that I had a recent text message from Tim, "Hot blueberry pancakes if you are home." As tempting as that was, I called Tim to tell him what happened and to say that I didn't think Michael would want to leave the glass mess on our front porch. When I got in, I told Michael about the text and the call. He simply asked, "Did you ask him if he has a shop vac?" Michael went to go change clothes and get to work, but he quickly turned around and asked if I wanted to go eat pancakes. He said that he needed a few minutes to get away from it and calm down.
We walked down to Tim and Stephanie's house and had a nice breakfast as we compared our chaotic morning to their laid back but productive one. As we were leaving, Michael asked Tim if he had a shop vac, and he did. This was a small victory, but one that made clean up a lot easier!
Once the excess glass was broken out, there was quite a mess. Michael did a great job cleaning it all up, though!
We now have a clean porch (we have been needing to sweep leaves away for a while now) with no storm door that can keep us from getting in our house. We'll have a new storm door before long that we will be able to use our keys to lock and unlock. It will also have a screen, which I think we'll enjoy in the spring and fall! Also, a little too much follow through on the swing will motivate us to paint the front door, which has been on our to-do list anyway.
At the end of the day, we have a lot to be thankful for.
- I'm thankful to have a house that I can get locked out of.
- I'm thankful to have friends down the street who
- provided us with breakfast,
- gave us a much needed break to gain perspective and get motivated to start clean-up, and
- lent us their shop vac, which made clean-up much easier than it would have been without it.
- I'm thankful that we are blessed to be able to replace our storm door since we enjoy it so much.
- Most of all, I'm thankful to have a husband who willingly took care of cleaning glass up and removing the old door.
January 22, 2011
Remind you of anyone?
This afternoon, we were watching Parks and Recreation on Demand. We paused it at one point, and this still shot from Despicable Me is what was on the screen. I just started laughing because it looked like Michael to me...the hair, the glasses, the eyebrows. It actually looks A LOT like his "mii" (his video game character on our Wii).
When I told him why I was laughing, he smiled and said that it really did look like him because he used to lie on his stomach and read just like that. We got a pretty good laugh out of it!
January 15, 2011
Happy Birthday PaPa!
Today is PaPa's 83rd birthday! I went to visit him and MaMa and wish him a happy birthday. Mom brought a cake, and we sang Happy Birthday to him, which I think he enjoyed. I know we all enjoyed the delicious cake!
Gaylon and Danny had bought supplies to make pot holders. They are supposed to be crafts for six-year-olds, but somehow, we had seven adults struggling to complete one. Mom took it apart enough for she and I to figure out how to fix it. It ended up turning out alright!
Happy Birthday PaPa! I love you!
Gaylon and Danny had bought supplies to make pot holders. They are supposed to be crafts for six-year-olds, but somehow, we had seven adults struggling to complete one. Mom took it apart enough for she and I to figure out how to fix it. It ended up turning out alright!
Happy Birthday PaPa! I love you!
January 14, 2011
6 years of fun!
Michael checking in...
Just wanted to put a quick note up letting the world know that six years ago today, a first date happened. It was that night, at Mi Cocina, over a giant plate of tacos and enchiladas, that I figured out I had an awesome girl. Yeah...it was a first date...but she went taco for taco with me and then she actually smelled a basketball in my truck on the way home and claimed she "missed that smell."
Nothing but fun times since...
Love you Sweetness!
Just wanted to put a quick note up letting the world know that six years ago today, a first date happened. It was that night, at Mi Cocina, over a giant plate of tacos and enchiladas, that I figured out I had an awesome girl. Yeah...it was a first date...but she went taco for taco with me and then she actually smelled a basketball in my truck on the way home and claimed she "missed that smell."
Nothing but fun times since...
Love you Sweetness!
January 9, 2011
January 8, 2011
Dinner and Dominoes
Sunday night I got a text from my friend Stephanie. It started with "2011 will be a year of healthy eating, Holy living and money saving for us..." What a goal for 2011! I think ours should be the same. It sounds like a simple statement, but it has challenged me to really think about changes for us in 2011.
To accomplish the healthy eating and money saving, she and Tim have proposed that we have many more nights cooking and eating at home together and then playing games (as opposed to our usual catch-up time at a near-by restaurant). I like eating out, but I'm not opposed to fellowship nights at home. I actually like the relaxed atmosphere that comes with that. In fact, growing up, most nights when we went out to eat with friends, dinner was followed by us all going to one family's house for the remainder of the evening. In the craziness of our busy lives, I miss not having as many of those low-key nights. As a bonus, most of you know that I LOVE games, so I was pumped to hear that part of the plan. This was an added treat since Stephanie is not a big game person - one of my resolutions should be to change that by the end of the year...I think this is my chance!
To start out the new year according to plan, we went to their house tonight. We had yummy lasagna for dinner and then played some dominoes. Even though Stephanie hasn't necessarily come around on all games, she has recently starting enjoying 42. Somehow, I missed the boat on the 42 craze at A&M, and I didn't learn to play until close to graduation, which could have been very bad. (***See side story below.) I haven't had a lot of practice, but I'm getting better and enjoying it more each time we play.
All in all, it was a great night! We had wonderful food and enjoyed the fellowship while working towards accomplishing goals set for 2011. Tim and Stephanie, thank you for a fun evening! Maybe next time we'll host, and I will choose the game. I have to show you how fun games can be. :o)
_____________________________
***Side story - In 2000, I went on AFCO (Aggies for Christ in the Orient), an 8-week trip to SE Asia with a group from Aggies for Christ (AFC). I went over late because I stayed home for my brother's high school graduation before meeting up with the group in the Philippines. When I got there the big 42 tournament was already underway, so I was exempt. I tried to watch and learn, but I just didn't get it. It's a good thing I wasn't in the tournament, or I probably would have been the one stuck eating balut (a fertilized duck or chicken egg with a very small and disgusting bird in it). - I'll hopefully find and add a picture soon.
I did learn to play a while after this trip, but I wasn't very good and didn't have much practice. Then in 2003, shortly after my graduation from A&M, I actually narrowly missed being the biggest loser in the 42 tournament on my South America trip with AFC. Like the tournament on the previous trip, we had it set up bracket style, but rather than winning to move on, the losers moved to the next round. The ultimate losers (those who lost ALL their games) had to eat one of the local delicacies, lovingly chosen by one of the missionaries and bought from the local market. Thankfully, my partner and I won our very last game!
Getting ready to start the last game.
I don't think I'll be playing for these kind of stakes again any time soon, but at least I'm getting my practice in!
To accomplish the healthy eating and money saving, she and Tim have proposed that we have many more nights cooking and eating at home together and then playing games (as opposed to our usual catch-up time at a near-by restaurant). I like eating out, but I'm not opposed to fellowship nights at home. I actually like the relaxed atmosphere that comes with that. In fact, growing up, most nights when we went out to eat with friends, dinner was followed by us all going to one family's house for the remainder of the evening. In the craziness of our busy lives, I miss not having as many of those low-key nights. As a bonus, most of you know that I LOVE games, so I was pumped to hear that part of the plan. This was an added treat since Stephanie is not a big game person - one of my resolutions should be to change that by the end of the year...I think this is my chance!
To start out the new year according to plan, we went to their house tonight. We had yummy lasagna for dinner and then played some dominoes. Even though Stephanie hasn't necessarily come around on all games, she has recently starting enjoying 42. Somehow, I missed the boat on the 42 craze at A&M, and I didn't learn to play until close to graduation, which could have been very bad. (***See side story below.) I haven't had a lot of practice, but I'm getting better and enjoying it more each time we play.
Tim and Stephanie went to Muenster earlier today, and we had lots of yummy cheeses for an appetizer.
Finishing preparations for dinner
Dinner was delicious!
Even though I didn't get a great picture, we had a lot fun hanging out and PLAYING GAMES!
Oscar and Izzie wanted to join in the fun.
Even though it probably didn't play into the healthy eating, the cookies we made were delicious!
All in all, it was a great night! We had wonderful food and enjoyed the fellowship while working towards accomplishing goals set for 2011. Tim and Stephanie, thank you for a fun evening! Maybe next time we'll host, and I will choose the game. I have to show you how fun games can be. :o)
_____________________________
***Side story - In 2000, I went on AFCO (Aggies for Christ in the Orient), an 8-week trip to SE Asia with a group from Aggies for Christ (AFC). I went over late because I stayed home for my brother's high school graduation before meeting up with the group in the Philippines. When I got there the big 42 tournament was already underway, so I was exempt. I tried to watch and learn, but I just didn't get it. It's a good thing I wasn't in the tournament, or I probably would have been the one stuck eating balut (a fertilized duck or chicken egg with a very small and disgusting bird in it). - I'll hopefully find and add a picture soon.
I did learn to play a while after this trip, but I wasn't very good and didn't have much practice. Then in 2003, shortly after my graduation from A&M, I actually narrowly missed being the biggest loser in the 42 tournament on my South America trip with AFC. Like the tournament on the previous trip, we had it set up bracket style, but rather than winning to move on, the losers moved to the next round. The ultimate losers (those who lost ALL their games) had to eat one of the local delicacies, lovingly chosen by one of the missionaries and bought from the local market. Thankfully, my partner and I won our very last game!
I had to study/practice every chance I could get.
Getting ready to start the last game.
The last game was pretty intense.
We had some great coaches helping us out! (Almost 8 years later, I could still use that reminder sometimes.)
Thank goodness this wasn't me!
I don't think I'll be playing for these kind of stakes again any time soon, but at least I'm getting my practice in!
January 5, 2011
Happy Tool Chest Day!
We don't have a ton of tools, but we have enough that when Michael was organizing the garage, we decided it would be a good idea for him to buy a big tool chest to keep everything organized (and to have room for new tools as they are purchased for projects). I love having things organized, and nothing bothers me more than having to search for something because it doesn't have a place or isn't in its place.
We still had money that Michael's parents had given us as a wedding gift, so I told him that we should use it and get a tool chest for him. (Afterall, most of the wedding gifts we received were things I was more excited about than he was.) Michael went back and forth between a nice big tool chest and one that was a little smaller but had a built-in radio. In the end, he got his stereo set up in the garage and decided that he'd rather have the bigger one with more storage.
Once he had decided on a unit, he had a hard time finding it in stock anywhere. Then last night, I got a phone call at work. When I answered, Michael just yelled, "Happy Tool Chest Day!" Paula had found a store in Allen that had it in stock, and Michael went and got it after work. He was so excited, and it was fun to see him so proud of it.
It is very heavy (the bottom portion weighs 250 pounds, and the top weighs 150 pounds), so my dad stopped by on his way home from work to help Michael unload it.
After getting it in the garage, the wheels were attached to the bottom. Then the top was set on top on the bottom part.
Tonight, Michael cleaned out the spot where it goes. It looks nice. It's now in place and ready to be filled with tools! (I guess I know what Michael will be getting for his next birthday.) Thank you Mike and Paula!
We still had money that Michael's parents had given us as a wedding gift, so I told him that we should use it and get a tool chest for him. (Afterall, most of the wedding gifts we received were things I was more excited about than he was.) Michael went back and forth between a nice big tool chest and one that was a little smaller but had a built-in radio. In the end, he got his stereo set up in the garage and decided that he'd rather have the bigger one with more storage.
Stereo Set-Up
Once he had decided on a unit, he had a hard time finding it in stock anywhere. Then last night, I got a phone call at work. When I answered, Michael just yelled, "Happy Tool Chest Day!" Paula had found a store in Allen that had it in stock, and Michael went and got it after work. He was so excited, and it was fun to see him so proud of it.
It is very heavy (the bottom portion weighs 250 pounds, and the top weighs 150 pounds), so my dad stopped by on his way home from work to help Michael unload it.
The bottom being lifted from the back of the truck
The bottom piece made it to the garage! (That was the hard part.)
The top piece is unloaded
After getting it in the garage, the wheels were attached to the bottom. Then the top was set on top on the bottom part.
It looks good!
The first tool is added.
Tonight, Michael cleaned out the spot where it goes. It looks nice. It's now in place and ready to be filled with tools! (I guess I know what Michael will be getting for his next birthday.) Thank you Mike and Paula!
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