The Snuggie

This cracks us up. They look like monks!

Gotta love those infomercials.

And So This Is Christmas...

In all, this year was a pretty good Christmas for Matt and I.

We began Christmas Eve at my sister Kristi's house where we enjoyed the company of the Sister Missionaries, ate delicious Mexican food that was catered in, had yummy desserts, and were overwhelmed with an awesome gift basket from the Dickinson's that included all the things Matt and I love and needed.

(Sadly, we apparently didn't take pictures of this fun night besides this one below.)

Christmas morning we woke up early and opened the few presents that were under our tree. Posed for a picture in our matching pajamas.

Gave Tucker his stocking.And then quickly headed out the door to enjoy Christmas breakfast and open some gifts with Mom and Dad in Rowlett. Matt got a whole bunch of presents he loved, wanted and needed including every tool he could ever need, electronic Monopoly (His favorite), A to Z game (another huge hit), brain puzzlers, candy galore, and a bunch of movies.

I received cake decorating supplies that I've been wanting and needing in order to fulfil my creative urges (and Matt's cravings), some super cute pajamas, and box of 600+ hand written I Love Yous (one for every day we've been married) from Matt. :o)


After an hour at Mom and Dad's we headed to Tyler to visit Matt's family and for some reason there we no pictures taken there either. However, we had an enjoyable time watching "The Office", playing "The Office" game, and Matt made good use of his "A to Z" game with all of his family.

We now have taken down our tree and are enjoying the rest from all the Christmas rush. We're so grateful to everyone who made this such an enjoyable Christmas for us and look forward to the day that someday we can reciprocate the kindness and generosity that was shown to us.

Graduation Day!

So the day finally came. After 8 years of learning, what have I become? A doctor? A lawyer? No...I've learned that I'm extraordinarily slow at learning. (This is obviously Matt by the way) Last week I crossed the stage to receive my B.S. in Finance diploma. My dad later asked me if I felt any different and I said "No." To be honest with you I don't think I've learned a whole lot. Yeah, I can calculate the present and future value of money, I can tell you the internal rate of return of a project, etc etc...but I still don't feel like I've furthered my "marketable skills", as my dad would say. So that's why I'm seriously thinking of going back. I'm thinking I should start my M.B.A. this fall. Is it because I think, "Yes! That will give me the marketable skills I need to support my family?" Well yes. But mostly because I'm a glutton for punishment...

Me after crossing the stage

Me and my mom
My mom, me, dad and Paul My smokin' hot wife, me, Judy (mom-in-law) and Richard (dad-in-law)

Working on Christmas Eve

I am very productive at work; just ask my boss. I get a LOT done in a day.

However, there are those days when it is just so dang hard to sit still and work! Those days are generally holidays when no one is there except me.

This Christmas eve there were actually 3 of us for a few hours before it became just me again. This is what we did in our time together.

Let this be a lesson to the person who took a week off of work to "bag" themselves a "buck" at the "huntin' lodge". She will be unwrapping layers for a LONG time Monday morning.
I'm sure she will take this as a sign we missed her...but that's not so much the case. When she unwraps that keyboard she will see that her keys now spell out "Romo Sux" because she talked about the stupid Dallas Cowboys one too many times before she left for "huntin'".

This is also another piece of work my roomie Niki and I did a few weeks ago. It's wooden man that we dress up for various holidays when we should be working. For Christmas he was transformed into none other than an elf sporting striped tights, elf ears, and hair. All made by office supplies.

Gingerbread House Fun!

Here are pictures of this year's houses!

This is Matt's...but I posed with it.

And this one is mine!
Like my upside down waffle cone tree? I did.

Feels Like Hanukkah, Just Like Hanukkah...

Today is the first day of Hanukkah! So before our sundown feast, we slipped on Tucker's festive blue fleece and headed out to take pictures with the giant menorah!

I wish we had a 3rd person to take our pictures together.
After that, we kicked off our shoes to reveal my lovely dreidel socks....

Prepared our feast of Lentil Soup and Star of David breads...

Matt poured the Kedem...

Which I enjoyed the most.

And I finished off the night snacking on Chocolate Biscuits...My favorite!

Here's to a great first day of Hanukkah!

It's Hanukkah Time!

Okay, okay now I know we're not Jewish and Judaism couldn't be farther off from our belief system...but that can't help Hanukkah from coming in as my 3rd and final very favorite holiday!!!

Before I show post pictures tonight from our most excellent Hanukkah party that will begin at sun down. I would like to first explain why this holiday ranks as my 3rd favorite holiday.

1) Christmas is one night...and then its over! All the fuss, shopping, and stress and in one 24 hour period its over and all that work you did barely gets remembered! That's a silly in my opinion. However, the celebration of Hanukkah is filled with not 1, not 2, but 8 crazy, fun filled nights! That's 8 parties in a row! Who can argue with that?!

2) Kosher Food. Kosher food is a friend to me! I am totally down with their beliefs on a lot of food and them not using the same oven/grill that cooked dirty meat to cook their own food. If meat ever makes it into my house, there will be separate knives meant for that so that I never use that same knife for my food. This is why my parents kitchen always had my utensils...and their utensils.

3) The Chahunaka Song! Everyone loves it!

4) Yiddish and Hebrew words! Not only do they sound cool, they're fun to say! "Yarmulke"..."Menorah"....you can't help but smile as you hear them!

5) These guys. Because they're super nice in the grocery store.

6) And for no reason whatsoever besides the fact that this cracked me up when I ran across it looking for a picture of a rabbi...this picture of a cat in a yarmulke makes me love Hanukkah that much more. Ha!

I love this blue and white holiday!

Themed Meal Night Is Back!

That's right! Themed meals are back! I don't know why it has been so long since I've created one...perhaps I had baker's block or something.

This week it was all about Matt, so we watched "The Princess Bride" and ate "Fred Savage Cabbage Stew"!

I know not many people like cabbage, but this was deeeeelicious AND was perfect for the cold weather we were having.

Graduation Breakfast...15 Hours Late...But Still Good!

Friday after work I went to Einstein Bros Bagels to pick up Matt's favorite breakfast so he would have plenty of energy for his graduation the next morning. When I got there I found these awesome candy cane bagels! (They look like a dog rawhide, eh?)

Unfortunately I had a long night of nausea and Matt was just plain tired, so we ended up waking up too late to enjoy this little Christmas miracle in bagel form for breakfast. But never fear, we had it for for dinner...as well as a pint of ice cream (sorbet for me)! I admit, it was not a very healthy dinner, but it was a meal fit for a graduate!

I highly recommend these for your breakfast pleasure!

Free Date Night!

Tonight Matt and I went on a date.
It wasn't planned, it just happened and it was so much fun!

We first did a little shopping with a reward I was given at work for doing double the work of everyone else....holla! Shopping was so great because NO ONE was out due to all the sleet and bad weather. We had all the stores and holiday sales completely to ourselves...even at Target!
After shopping, on our way home Matt suggested we look at Christmas lights. I suggested we get hot cocoa for the ride. We purchased our hot cocoa with a Starbucks gift card I found in my wallet from my old boss Kelly at AntiqueLand 6 or 7 years ago and were on our way.
The light displays in the neighborhood we picked were so cool! One yard's lights danced to music on the radio. Another house had mannequins in the window acting out a holiday party (like Kevin's trick on Home Alone to keep out the bad guys). The same house had giant horses and a mannequin child on the balcony helping up Santa. And there was so much more! We will have to go back and take pictures of this stuff!
The whole night was so much fun and all we did was drive in the sleet (we pretended it was snow), sipped cocoa, and gasped at lights! We should definitely try getting out of the house more often! And the best part of all this was that our whole date night was free!

What a great ending to a manic Monday!

Round 3

Matt woke up on Saturday morning to tell me he had ANOTHER kidney stone. The last one was on July 6th at 2:30 in the morning, so I was very grateful that he held out until 9am this time. However, the pain and screaming was much worse on me this time than the last...I don't know how many more of these I can take...and I'm not the one passing them!

Once Matt got his IV started and some drugs in him, he was a happy camper and nodded off. I watched some animal shows on the television and within a few hours we were out of there and home by 12:30pm. Once home, Matt passed the little devil at 4:30pm! A new record!

I was very pleased to have it all over and done with so soon and I know Matt was too. We're crossing our fingers that this is the last one for a while.

Our Humble Animal Themed Tree

I just wanted to post a picture of Matt and my 1st Christmas tree together and our 1st Stockings. Matt wanted a big one...I think this one did the trick.

Our Tree doesn't have garland yet, but that is coming in the mail. I wanted wooden bead garland and finally found some for dirt cheap. Yay for World Market again!
Now all it needs are gifts under it....maybe next year.

He Did It!

Matt officially had his last day of school today!

I'm so excited for him! I can't imagine what a relief that must be, but I hope I feel it too one day.

Here are pictures from my lame-o attempt a celebrating.

Celebration cake!
Excited Matt!

Sipping on bubbly.

(I know our alcohol-free champagne is in a wine glass and that's really tacky, but my fancy, special occasion, T&Co champagne flutes were way too high in the closet for this dwarf to reach, so we pretended and used these.)

I can't wait to see him walk across the stage and get his diploma!

My Only Attempt at Decorating

So this is about as far as my decorating has gone in this apartment. I framed 3 pictures we took in Pisa, Rome, and Venice and hung them in the dining room and now I feel done.

I don't know where all my motivation went? Maybe it's just this time of year...but I don't see much else going on these walls.

Tucker's Christmas

Tucker got his Christmas present early this year. A gingerbread house with 3 squeaky toys hidden inside! He's in heaven.

Christmas Tagged!

I was tagged by the lovely Sonia!

5 Favorite Christmas Movies:
Home Alone
Surviving Christmas
Family Man
Elf
A Charlie Brown Christmas

5 Things that Happened Yesterday:
I stayed in bed all day long
I watched an E! Special on Cults, Religions, and Mind Control (It was spooky!)
Matt made me dinner
I didn't go to sleep at night
I chatted with my mother for an hour

5 Things to Look Forward To:
A vacation
Matt finishing school on Thursday
Matt getting a new job
Paying off debt
Christmas being over, lol

5 Things on my Wish List:
A safari in Africa
Some cozy pajamas
New earrings
A new wardrobe with lots of little embellishments, pearl buttons, and sparkly things on all the clothing. :o)
A posh urban loft in London.

5 Things I Love About Winter/Christmas:
Sweaters
Winter Coats and Scarves
Fleece Pajamas
Having a few extra days off of work
Getting pomegranates at the grocery store

People to Tag:
Lisa, Kristi, Amber, and Janeen

Time to Count Down!

Today Matt and I hung our advent calendar!

I'm so excited about it because I think it's so cute! I can't wait to begin the countdown to Matt's favorite holiday!

Each day is a little stocking, hat or mitten! Now I must go fill them with candy!

Lindor Truffles, Airheads, and little German airplanes! I love World Market!

Let Me Do Your Christmas Lights

While waiting at a stop light today, this guy was on the corner advertising on a sandwich board his services and phone number for putting up Christmas lights. Wouldn't you like him to climb upon your roof and mess with your electricity?

No more numb butt!

Our furniture is here! Hip, hip, hooray! It feels so nice not having to sit on the freaking floor!

I promised Matt that we'd have pizza and watch "Iron Man" (boooooooring, I guess that's what I get for renting "The Love Guru") when it arrived as a way to celebrate. So as you can see in the picture, Matt's pizza is all laid out and ready for the movie.

Tucker wasn't left out either, he joined in the celebration too. The pizza man brought our pizza AND a treat for Tucker too! How nice was that? And how dangerous is that? I mean, carrying dog treats in your front pocket is kind of asking to be bitten. Eww!

11th Thing the People Upstairs Might Be Doing...

11. They purchased bunk beds at a discount price because they don't have the ladders. Therefore they have to cannonball off the top each time they need down.

Tucker on Perfume

So when we were moving in, I was unpacking my perfume and sprayed some on some tissue that was sitting on the ground.

Tucker took that opportunity to roll in the tissue and inhale a large amount of it all.

This apparently is what happens when dogs sniff perfume.

By the way, we don't sleep on the ground and I didn't kick Matt out of the bed. Our livingroom just furniture had not yet arrived, so this is what we were sitting on to watch movies.

Late Halloween Pictures

Here is a picture of Matt's 2nd pumpkin. He created the lettering himself and was so proud that he asked every trick or treater if they liked his jack-o-lanterns...no matter what their age.
After asking dozens and dozens of children which pumpkin they liked better, the one on the right won.

Tucker's Move

This is a little video of Tucker doing his part to move on moving day.

Top 10 Things I Think The People Above Us Might Be Doing

10. Training for the long jump in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Go India!

9. Practicing to be the first Indian version of the Von Trapp Family Singers.

8. A daily chore of checking every single hinge on every single door, cabinet, and toilet seat to make sure its not sticking by slamming it shut.

7. Infant bowling.

6. Playing a very disappointing game of "Trust Fall"

5. Not learning their lesson that the tile is slippery when exiting the tub.

4. IWF- Indian Wrestling Federation

3. A little bit of this:



2. Goat herding.

1. Trying to drive whitey and her little schizo wiener dog crazy!

Tucker and I are seriously doubting our patience and tolerance level in this new apartment environment. We miss our ear ringing silence.

Our New Ward

Today we attended our new ward here in Plano.

I still have my guard up; as I always do; but so far, so good! Everyone is SUPER nice and outgoing. I've never met so many people all at once and never had people line up in a line just to shake my hand. It was overwhelming! I almost felt like a celebrity or something, we couldn't move down the hallway because we were surrounded by people asking us questions.
There were a few people I recognized from my old ward I attended as a teenager and Matt even recognized a family he knew from Tyler. As we talked to people, there were a lot of connections made to other people we knew too.

Our biggest fear was separating from each other to go to priesthood and Relief Society, but when it came that time Matt found that his class gets cookies and I found 2 different people asking me to come and sit with with so that I wouldn't be by myself! I found a friend in a lady who urged me to sit on the back row with her so she could point out everyone and give me the scoop on each and every one of them, which was very helpful in helping me remember people and a lot of fun!

It was really nice being around people again who love their ward and who couldn't wait to come and tell you how great of a ward it was to be in. I haven't heard anyone say that since I was a kid and lived in Athens. I think we're going to like it here.

Moving, Amish Life, and Throbbing Pain

Well, we've moved to Plano and are still trying to find places to put everything. I don't know where all this stuff came from, but we've got so much crap all of a sudden!

So far we have no cable, internet, telephone, or sofa and that makes for a lot of nights spent sitting on the bed, reading books to each other and playing solitaire. It's almost like being Amish. I'm handling it okay, but Matt doesn't seem to be coping so well. Luckily Verizon fit us into their busy schedule and will set us up next Thursday and get us back to 2008. However, we're still without our Chofa and Chair until the 22nd, so the floor will still be our hangout.

On Monday I developed a very bad throbbing pain in the top right of my mouth. It was so bad, I didn't sleep the entire night. I thought it to be a tooth ache since it was near my gums, but after taking off work Tuesday and spending money we don't have at the Dentist taking x-rays and running tests, they could find nothing wrong. I spent another night without sleep, drinking 11 bottles of water (the cold water swishing in my mouth was the only thing that would numb the pain for a few seconds at a time), and peeing 1,000 times. The next day at work, the pain only grew worse and worse as I drink another 12 bottles of water for pain and peed probably 2,000 times. Finally that night I went to the doctor to see if it was some type of allergic reaction to the steroids, antibiotics for my sinus infection, or arthritic pain killers he had given me a few days prior. After quickly ruling that out, a head x-ray and more poking around, the doctor couldn't figure out where the pain was coming from either. Eventually he declared it a type a virus that was relative to bells palsy (without the paralyzing and numbness of course) and put me on a viral medicine. I also had my dad and Matt give me a blessing so that I could get some rest and I think that has helped a lot. So far I've only had 5 waters today!

We've taken pictures of our move and I wanted to post them, but since this connection is so SLOW, I'd never get them up. Hopefully I'll be able to post them next week and be able to show off our new dining room table. I'm especially proud of it and proud of all the building Matt did putting everything together. He's pretty handy!

More to come next week!

And So It Begins...

The first pumpkin of the season has now been carved!!!

I picked out this design today because I thought this guy had a smashing grin.Matt then with his skillful non-arthritic hands carved my lil ghost pumpkin into a work of art! He's so good! I wish I could have helped.I can't wait to put him on the front porch to greet our trick or treaters.My co-workers got a little testy with me because I hadn't followed through on the week long Halloween celebration I had been planning for 4 months, so the past two nights I've been whipping together Halloween Brownies and tonight Halloween sugar cookies....I thought the Bride of Frankenstein was a good idea at first, but it turned bad soon after I finished the hair and tried to make a mouth.Then I thought a bat would top off my creations until I realized that I couldn't tell my bat apart from an owl....so I wrote "Bat" beneath my icing illustration and called it quits.Maybe no one will notice him in there and hopefully this will get my co-workers off my back!

Only 2 more days until Halloween! EEEEEEEE!!!!