Good Things in 2011 - September

September 1 - Michael got a new truck tonight!!!
September 2 - Mike and Paula came over tonight to have dinner and watch our wedding video.  I think this was the first time I've ever gotten to cook for them, which was exciting for me.  We also enjoyed watching the video with them.  Each time we've watched the video, we've noticed something fun (or funny!) that we hadn't noticed before.
September 3 - Allie's first birthday party.
September 4 - Breakfast with my brother and parents and lunch with Stephanie!  I love time spent with family and friends!
September 5 - Labor Day!  Any Monday that I don't have to work is a good day.  :o)
September 6 - I could get use to this cooler weather very quickly.  It's like fall is actually on its way!
September 7 - I cashed in on my first anniversary coupon (a few days late), and got a 20-minute foot massage when I got home from work.  It was wonderful!  Now if only there was a way this could happen every evening...
September 8 - We started Equipped Disciple 1 tonight.  I think this is going to be a great class!
September 9 - Marble Slab followed by a fun game of 42 with Tim and Stephanie.
September 10 - DU Banquet...we didn't win any raffles this year, but we came home with a few auction items.  My favorite is the Christmas Santa statue!  We also got a wine rack with a fun gift basket and a neat dart board.
September 11 - First worship service in the new auditorium...it seems huge!  Also, today was the annual fall/football kick-off, complete with Michael's yummy chili.

September 12 - I woke up to find a sweet note that Michael left on my mirror.  What a great way to start the day!
September 13 - Indoor rock climbing at Exposure with our Foundation Group.  It was a blast, but another reminder that I am not 16 any more!
September 14 - Survivor returns.  I am excited for shows to be starting back up!
September 15 - Candy for dinner!  (Not just any candy...Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis.  I had never seen these before, but they were amazing!)
September 16 - Christmas Garage is back! 
September 17 - We FINALLY ordered vertical blinds to go over our sliding glass door in the dining room.  I can't wait to say goodbye to the sheet that's been hanging over the door for the past 14 months!
September 18 - We enjoyed Seasons of Gray after church this morning!  We ended the evening with Pillsbury Cherry Turnovers courtesy of the Avances...yum!  (Well, technically we ended the evening running home in the rain to shelter the new truck from the hail that was on its way.  Even though it sounds bad...and it was as we didn't want hail damage on the new truck...at this point, I didn't even mind running home in the rain.  I was just glad it was raining!)
September 19 - Productive day at work.
September 20 - Taco Bell's Bacon Ranch Chicken Flatbread Sandwich is delicious!  (Just don't look at the nutrition!)
September 21 - Apples of Gold started tonight.  I am excited about the group of ladies that I will get to spend time with over the next seven weeks.  I can't wait to get to know them better!
September 22 - More rain and cooler temps (high of 78 degrees)!
September 23 - Michael and I had the day off today to finish getting the house picked up and cleaned up for guests.  It felt so good when we were done!  We also had a great time at Brett and Kristen's rehearsal dinner.  What a great day!
September 24 - After breakfast with several of Michael's college friends who stayed with us last night, we started getting ready for the wedding.  It was the most beautiful, perfect, and fun evening!
September 25 - Day of laziness!  After having Whataburger for breakfast (always delicious!), I pretty much watched TV all day and relaxed.  I did get 6 or 7 loads of laundry done and change all the sheets, so I didn't feel too bad for lying around all day!  :o)
September 26 - Less than three months 'til Christmas!
September 27 - Parenthood...I look forward to this every week!
September 28 -We have blinds in our dining room!
September 29 - I can't believe my baby brother turned 30 today!  Happy birthday Aaron!!!  (One gallon of gas to drive to Whataburger...$3.49.  One breakfast taquito...$1.99.  Running into Tim Duncan while wearing your Mavs' championship shirt...PRICELESS!!!!!  I must say, a birthday doesn't start much better than that!)
September 30 - Happy early birthday to me!  My co-workers decorated my office and brought me a cake today to celebrate.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving – September (Steak)

Michael got his fourth shipment when we got home tonight.  He had forgotten that it was coming, so I snuck it from the porch into the kitchen.  When he walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, he was really excited!

He got two 8 oz. ribeyes and two 6 oz. filets.  I can't wait to try them!

I'm sure at some point this fall, we will be trying this recipe for "Autumn Spiced Sirloin."  If that's not something my husband would get excited about, I don't know what is!

Four down, eight to go!

June – Hot Sauce ü
July – Ice Cream ü
August – Beer ü
September – Sirloin ü
October – Pizza
November – Peanut Butter & Jelly
December – Coffee
January – Jerky
February – Tea
March – Salsa
April – Lobster
May – BBQ Sauce

Weaver-Koch Wedding

Brett and Kristen had a beautiful wedding last night.  Michael and I are so glad that we got to be a part of it!

Kristen was so calm today and really seemed to enjoy the whole day.  Her meticulous planning kept everything running smoothly and pretty close to on time.  We were only about 10 minutes late leaving her house for the church building!

All the details she planned were amazing!  From the bridesmaids' matching flowers and nail polish, to the detail on the cake, to the blue uplighting in the reception hall it was all gorgeous!

The food was delicious, and the desserts tasted as good as they looked.

Bride's Cake

Groom's Pumpkin Pies

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the evening, but I don't think anyone enjoyed it as much as Brett and Kristen.  It was all as it should be!

Congratulations Brett and Kristen!!!

Brett and Kristen's Rehearsal Dinner

Brett and Kristen's rehearsal dinner tonight was so much fun!

We started out at the church for a quick and painless rehearsal.  It turns out we are all good at walking and lining up.  :o)

The church is beautiful!  Everything is going to be so pretty tomorrow night.

Marie did an amazing job on Kristen's bouquet for tonight.  It was 100% Kristen!

Dinner was at La Hacienda Ranch.  The food was delicious, and the service was great!  (This was the third event I have attended here, and I highly recommend it.  Their service is fantastic!)  More importantly, we had wonderful company, and it was a great evening of celebrating Brett and Kristen!

Salmon Dinner

Last night we went to Bob and Lynn's house for a wonderful dinner with great company!  Mom, Dad, Bob, and Lynn went fishing in Michigan and caught some great salmon.  Bob and Lynn had us all over last night to eat some of the salmon.

Lynn had the dining room table decorated with various fishing props and pictures from their fishing trip.  It was all so cute!

The boys had fun playing in the balls at Mimi's and Granda's.  (Although they really wanted to play with the boat on the table.  HA!)

I didn't get pictures of all the food, but it was wonderful!  Bob made three varieties of salmon: maple and brown sugar, pineapple sake teriyaki, and salmon croquette.  We also had a great salad, fruit, mac & cheese, and brussel sprouts.  This was my first time to have brussel sprouts.  They were pretty good.  It's just proof that fried bacon, toasted almond slivers, and bacon grease can make anything taste good!  :o)  We followed it all up with a yummy lady finger cake...delicious!

Once we finished eating, Carter sat with RhoRho to have his dessert...an ice cream sandwich.  It was his first one, and he was mesmerized.  That is some good stuff!

Bob and Lynn, thanks for having us all over!  Michael and I enjoyed the evening with everyone!

BIG News - Update

I posted earlier about Michael's BIG new truck that he got a couple of weeks ago.  He drove it home that first night and had it for his trip to CS, which he was very excited about.  However, there were a few things that he knew he wanted to do to it.  Earlier this week, he had a bed liner sprayed in.  They did a great job, and we're glad that we don't have to worry about scratches in the bed!

He also wanted the front bumper caps changed out for chrome ones, and he I wanted assist steps added.  Those parts had to be ordered, but they finally came in, and he got them changed out today.  It now looks complete!

Michael has been one very happy boy over the past couple weeks!

Exposure

Last night we went rock-climbing at Exposure.  I hadn't done indoor rock-climbing in a long time...it was a lot harder this time around than it was the last time I did it!  We had a lot of fun, though.  This was several people's first time to climb, and everyone did great!

We got instructions and tested out the equipment.  After the girls climbed, the boys demonstrated their skills.

The Avances

The Derians

The Foxes

The Jacksons

The Pangburns

Thanks Chris and Alaina for planning a fun event for our group.  You really came through with the Gatorade and candy bars...clutch!

Seasons of Gray

This morning at church, we heard about a movie by Watermark Films.  It is called Seasons of Gray: the life of a modern day Joseph, and it starts this coming Friday.  It is playing at AMC Valley View.  If you live in the Dallas area, make plans to check it out!


Seasons of Gray movie trailer from Chris Mano on Vimeo.

Down at the River

Back in July, we had a fun time hanging out with our friends at the Frio River for the weekend.  Thursday night, we enjoyed the trip to Austin with Kevin and Holly.  It was so good to catch up with them!  I think we only listened to one song the whole way there and just talked the rest of the time.  Of course, it was also great to see the Hixons when we got to Austin!

After spending Thursday night at Michael and Jessica's place, we got up and had breakfast at Magnolia Cafe with Kevin and Holly.  Those were some of the best migas I have ever had!  We also had a wonderful chocolate chip pancake.

The four of us went to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend.  Then we met Michael and Jessica back at the condo, and we all headed out to the river.  I don't know what all the boys discussed in their vehicle on the drive down, but they were in rare form when we arrived.  It was so fun to let loose, act silly, and just hang out with friends all weekend.

Jessica's parents have a family property on the Frio River, and it was perfect for the weekend.  It is an old summer camp that her family used to run, so there was plenty of space, and we had A/C in the sleeping cabin along with nice restrooms!

Even though the river was too low to float as originally planned, we had a great time!  Friday evening was pretty laid back, with a quick dip in the river, burgers cooked over the fire, and some horseshoes for the boys.  Jessica's parents came out for a little while on Friday night to bring the four-wheeler and have dinner with us.  It was fun to see them!

Saturday, we had a very full, but somehow also very relaxing day!  With only one full day to spend at the river, we managed to do a lot of fun things while we were there.

We...

-Swam

-Shot Skeet

-Played Games

Jessica's awesome nunchuck move landed the ladder balls in the tree.  Then the boys got a horseshoe stuck in the tree trying to get the balls down.  Jessica came to the rescue by getting the volleyball pole to rescue all the stuck equipment.  I'm not gonna lie, it was worth it.  First of all, her move was AWESOME!  Although, we did make her promise not to try it again!  :o)  Secondly, this little adventure provided about 15 minutes of almost uncontrollable laughter.

We needed a break from the heat and went to the cabin to play games.  After an intense game of Farkle, the boys played Risk on the iPad while the girls played Skip-Bo.

-Napped

-Took Turns on the Four-Wheeler

-Swung

-Fished

-Snorkeled

-Watched Animals

-And of Course, Ate Like Kings

Sunday consisted of sleeping in a little, packing and cleaning, breakfast, and loading up to head home.  On our way back through Austin, we got to stop and see the progress on the Hixons' new house.  I love it!

Michael and Jessica, thank you for planning and hosting such a fun weekend.  We definitely need to do it again when the daily temperatures no longer exceed 100 degrees!

The best part of the weekend was that Thursday night, we found out Kevin and Holly are expecting their first baby.  Congratulations guys!  We are so excited for you!