Christmas

We went to Houston for Christmas and had a great time! We were with my in-laws but we did get to see my parents and grandparents for dinner Saturday night. My mom cooked for us and it was yummy! It was so fun catching up with Pops & Dorrie and of course, its always great to see my parents.

While in Houston we spent time hanging out, baking, eating, drinking homemade hot chocolate, shopping, playing games, doing puzzles, visiting with friends & family, and planning a surprise engagement!! Laura, Anthony's sister, got engaged on Christmas morning and it was so much fun to be a part of it. She was completely surprised!! On Christmas Eve, we put two huge boxes under the tree--one for Laura and one for Tara. Tara knew about the plan but had to act as if she was very curious about the huge boxes that were under the tree. Well, on Christmas morning before we came downstairs, Jon got in the box that was labeled for Laura and hid there all while we were opening gifts. This was going to be the last one she opened and she would go before Tara since she is older. When she took the lid off, Jon stood up, got out of the box and proposed!! Since we were all in the room, I was able to take lots of pictures while it was happening. We were all still wearing our pajamas and had no make-up on! His family came over for breakfast and to celebrate the engagement. After meeting Jon's family and visiting for a while, we got ready and headed over to Sugarland to spend the rest of the day with more family. There were 17 of us, and we enjoyed a fabulous Puerto Rican meal. Anthony's grandmother is from PR, and it has always been a tradition in their family to eat Puerto Rican food on Christmas day. It was such a fun day and great to see lots of family.

I've posted some pictures from our time in Houston and the engagement but they are not in any kind of order. Blogger is giving me a hard time today so I just posted them in whatever order it would let me.

The newly engaged couple! They are planning for a summer 2008 wedding which will be here before we know it! All the cousins on Christmas day. For years I've been the only in-law (since we are quite a bit older than everyone else) so it will be fun to add another one to the mix.
Laura about to open her box!
The girls after church.
The 4 of us before taking a nap in Rob & Tina's bed. Actually, Anthony just got in for a picture but the rest of us slept for a good 2 hours!
After church.
Jon down on one knee!!
The boxes set up and ready to go.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

CHICAGO!!!

We had a WONDERFUL time in Chicago! Although it was very cold and we got quite a bit of snow while we were there, it is still home to us and we love it up there. We got to see lots of old friends, eat at some of our favorite places, go shopping, enjoy a few shows--basically everything a big city has to offer. We visited our old neighborhood, Hyde Park, and it was weird not to be living in that high-rise building right on the lake, but just visiting. The trip was exactly what we needed and we are already planning our next trip to the Windy City. I think we will wait for it to warm up just a bit before we return. Although, the snow and cold weather definitely put us in the Christmas spirit. Here are some pictures from our trip...

Dinner at Petterino's before seeing Wicked for the third time. We were practically singing along with the actors since we've seen it so many times.

Marshall Field's (now Macy's) on State Street...its 9 stories high and one full city block of the same store! I've literally gotten lost several times in here and you could spend several hours here too.

A little group playing& singing Christmas music outside the store...these are the best Salvation Army volunteers I've ever seen. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing street performers on a regular basis.

Dinner with our great friends, Trevor & Alana Thompson. We can't wait for them to move to Texas so we can be closer to them.

and then the snow began to fall...

It snowed several inches on Saturday and here is what it looked like on Sunday...sunny and 19 degrees! We didn't realize it was going to snow this much and weren't prepared with the proper shoes. Oh well!

Someone won't be riding their bike to work!Michigan Avenue at night. We stayed at the Inter Continental right on Michigan Ave. right across from Nordstrom. It was perfect! My hubby loves to find good hotel deals through price line.

Hyde Park on Monday morning...still snow everywhere. I do love the first big snow of the season because it is so white and pretty. Just give it some time and it will be mostly black from all the cars and buses.
Daley Plaza and the big Christmas tree. I asked a lady to take our picture and she was in a huge hurry so she didn't take time to look at what she was taking. I guess we'll have to try again next year to get us with more of the tree.I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and wonderful holiday. We are heading to Houston on Friday to spend Christmas with the Shoemakers. I'm looking forward to being with my in-laws. I love them so much!!

What Would Jesus Buy?

Anthony and I went to see this movie over the weekend, and it definitely got me thinking. Its a documentary about a Pastor and his choir who travel around the country around Christmas time, trying to prove to the world how commercialized Christmas has become. It was amazing to see how much people spend on their kids and I was shocked to see that lots of people go into major debt around the holidays because they buy so much. It makes me sad that the religious side of Christmas gets pushed aside so Santa can be front and center. Don't get me wrong, I think the idea of Santa Claus is so fun for kids, but he has nothing to do with why we celebrate this holiday. I've been listening to the Josh Groban Noel cd over the past several weeks, and I highly recommend getting it. They are all religious Christmas songs and he's got a great voice.

Dallas 1/2 Marathon

On Sunday, I ran in the 1/2 marathon...it was COLD and WET!! I finished with a time of 1 hour 54 minutes and have been pretty sore the past few days. Anthony came out to watch, and since part of the course ran right by our house, he just rode around on his bike to see me. There was a good amount of runners but not very many spectators. I am trying to decide what marathon I will run in 2008. My goal is to run one every other year, so we'll see if that plays out. Here are a few pictures from the race...

We leave for Chicago on Friday morning very early and I couldn't be more excited. It is going to be frigid but it will just make it feel more like Christmastime. I will post all about our trip when we get back. We don't get home until Monday night around 11:00!

pictures

SOME PICTURES OF BABY CLOTHES I'VE MADE/SOLD:

I couldn't get all of them to turn the right way, sorry for having to turn your head to see some of them. I've also made lots of picture frames, note cards, burp rags and big initial letters to match people's nursery/room.

A few pictures from Thanksgiving
Shaelyn, Jackson and Elizabeth...can you tell who the two blonde kids belong to? They look just like their dad! My sister-in-law Suzy is pregnant with their third child. Elizabeth will be a big sister in March/April (my sister, Kara is pregnant with a boy).Brother and Sister

The kids had their own table for the meal and they were seated very early. I went around to each of them asking what they were thankful for and they each took turns praying. It was too cute! My oldest nephew, Barrett, is in the middle of this pic.
My precious niece, Brooklyn. I couldn't get this one turned to face right. She is wearing a dress I embellished and was such a good model!

SISTERS

I know Thanksgiving was one week ago, but I still haven't updated so here it goes...
We had a great Thanksgiving in Austin with all of my immediate family--we are up to 15 and soon we will be 17!! The kids will soon outnumber the adults, which is a scary thing. Anyway, Anthony and I drove down to Austin last Wednesday and were there until Saturday. We ate lots of great food (my sister Kim did a great job) and enjoyed spending time together. Its always fun to hear what everyone is thankful for and I love that the kids are getting old enough to be able to participate. We all have so much to be thankful for, and God has blessed us in so many wonderful ways. A few things I am thankful for this year:

• My husband--We got engaged right around Thanksgiving (its actually 4 years ago TODAY) so I always like to reflect on our relationship and see how we've changed/grown. I love him more today than ever before and I love our marriage. I never knew being married would be this fun or fulfilling. I am thankful for him for so many reasons, but in particular this year I'm thankful that he finished law school, passed the BAR, and has a job that is going really well so far. He worked very hard the last 3 years to earn such an accomplishment.
• MY FAMILY--I am blessed with two wonderful families and am so thankful to be close to both. I miss Chicago everyday, but I am thankful to live closer to our families because we get to see them more often.
• MY JOB--I have learned a lot during the 2 months I've been working with the kids in the after-school program. I love going there everyday and being around these kids. Being around them everyday warms my heart and has opened my eyes to what really is important in life. As Christians, we are called to love the poor, and I pray that I am able to show them love every time I'm around them.

Alright, back to my update...The girls went shopping early Friday morning (this has been a tradition in my family since I can remember) and some of the guys played golf, despite the cold and feeling under the weather (this is a new tradition and so far its been freezing cold every time). On Friday night, we celebrated mine and Suzy's (my sister-in-law) birthdays and Barrett & Shaelyn performed for us. I think my nephew, Barrett, might be a rock star one day...he does a pretty good air guitar. Saturday was by 26th birthday but it wasn't much of a birthday. I woke up around 3:00 am sick to my stomach and was up every hour "hugging the toilet". Anthony was also sick and up some of the night. We just layed around my sister's house that morning until Anthony felt well enough to drive us back to Dallas. We left around 1:00pm and got home around 5:30. It took a lot longer than usual due to all the post-holiday travel. We got home and I went straight to bed and slept pretty much until the next morning. I did get up for a few hours around 10:00 and watched a few tv shows I needed to catch up on then went right back to sleep. Anthony was asleep most of the evening/night as well.

Since I was feeling so bad on my birthday, Anthony wanted to wait to give me my present until I was feeling better. We went out for a late breakfast on Sunday and he gave me my gift...a trip to CHICAGO!!! He's planned the whole thing and we go in 2 weeks. I was so surprised and am very excited. We have both really been missing "home" lately and I love this time of year there, so its coming at a perfect time. He got tickets to Wicked (this will be our 3rd time but its our favorite), Second City, and Handel's Messiah (we've done this every Christmas we've been married). We'll have time to see friends, eat at our favorite places, shop, go to a museum or two, spend time in our old neighborhood, Hyde Park, and perhaps even visit campus. What a wonderful birthday gift and what a thoughtful hubby I have!!

I will post pictures from the holiday soon and will also post some of my recent "projects". I finally got them uploaded to the computer.

Crazy busy...

Sorry for the delay with posting. Things have been a bit crazy the past few weeks! Here is a quick update and sorry I don't have any pictures...

I got a new part-time job with Junior Achievement and I just started a week and a half ago. I work Monday-Friday from 8-12 then tutor my kiddos in the afternoons. I am enjoying my new job but am still learning and adjusting to all the changes. I am still loving the after-school program I'm working with and have really gotten to know the kids. I do have off this week since DISD is out for Thanksgiving break. It's a nice break!

Last weekend we went to Oklahoma to see our good friends, Jordan and Kelci Brock. We didn't get out of Dallas until 7:00pm on Friday, but it was a great trip and its always so fun to see them. We ate lots of great food and enjoyed some nice wines, and stayed up way too late talking. We love being only 3 hours away from them!

This past weekend I drove down to Houston for a few "parties" to sell my craft items I've been working on. It went really well and I sold a lot of stuff. On Thursday, I was at Tina's from 12-8 and people just dropped in all afternoon. It was a good way to have a party instead of trying to cram everything in in just a few hours. I had lots of baby/kids clothes, burp cloths, picture frames, homemade cards, and a few other items for sale. I also took orders and will be quite busy trying to get things made in time for Christmas. On Friday, I went up to my mom's school and set up in the teacher's lounge. It was another successful day and it was fun to meet the students and the other ladies she works with. I came back on Saturday afternoon and Anthony and I had a date! We went to dinner and to see Bee Movie; I was disappointed with the movie especially since I think Jerry Seinfeld is hilarious. We saw him in Chicago perform stand-up and it was too funny. It was a cute movie but I'd wait for it to come out on video if you haven't seen it yet.

We are going to Austin for Thanksgiving this year and I'm excited to see my family. All 15 of us will be there and I'm sure there won't be much down time. Its been a while since we have all been together. I love Thanksgiving--its my favorite holiday. Its such a great opportunity to think about all the blessings we have and to share with others what we are thankful for. I have to admit, I do love all the food and spending an entire day eating whatever you want and however much you want. I hope you all enjoy your holiday!

Fun weekend!

HOCKEY
On Friday night, we went to dinner and the Stars game with our friends Brannon & Meredith. Brannon also just passed the BAR, so it was a fun night of celebrating. Dinner took longer than expected so we only got to see the 3rd period of the game (and most fans had left already), but it was still fun. It was my first hockey game to ever see live and I enjoyed it. With only 10 seconds left in the game (and the Stars down by 5 points), two players got into a fight! I was excited since that is a huge part of hockey! Too bad I wasn't able to get it on camera. It was pretty funny and a good last bit of entertainment.

SURPRISE DINNER
On Saturday night, Anthony and I went to dinner before the symphony. Anthony's Aunt Diana called me that afternoon to get the details on when and where we'd be eating because she wanted to do something special for Anthony since he passed the BAR. Well, she decided to get Granny & Gramps in on the surprise too, and they decided they would pay for our dinner and have a bottle of Champagne brought to us as well. I knew what to expect but Anthony had no idea so I was trying to convince him to splurge and just order whatever he wanted (those were instructions from the relatives). We had a great dinner and the food was very good! We were running a little late and didn't want to be late for the symphony, so after we finished our entrees Anthony told the waiter that we were just going to skip dessert and to bring the check. A few minutes later, the owner, our waiter and another helper come out with a special dessert with a sparkler going off and the Champagne. They told him who it was from and congrats on passing the BAR. Anthony was very surprised and we decided to enjoy the dessert and just be a few minutes late to the symphony. Luckily, we weren't far from the symphony center and only missed the first measure. We had a great time at the symphony and have tickets to go again at the end of the month. I'm glad it all went as planned and that he was surprised. Thanks Diana & Jack and Granny & Gramps for making our night even more special!! We're blessed to have such wonderful family who care a lot about us.