Happy Anniversary

Well this past weekend we celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary! Some of our friends from church had won a one nights stay at the Marriott in downtown Kansas City and were't going to be able to use it so they gave it to us! We had such a great time. We spread out our celebrations throughout the weekend since we had some other commitments at church and this is how it all panned out...

On Friday night we went to Jack Stack Barbeque and had the most delicious dinner (thanks Gary and Dianna!) We had chicken covered with barbeque meat, their famous barbeque beans and cheesy corn bake. Chris even ordered some bread pudding for dessert! Then we went down to Crown Center to check out all their holiday decor. It was really pretty ...but REALLY Cold!!

On Saturday I went to church for choir rehearsal in the morning and then met Christopher at the movies! We saw the Bee Movie...pretty cute. Then we came home and packed up and headed to the Marriott! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the Lord's anniversary present to us on Saturday was a fresh blanket of Snow! It snowed big flakes all day and then stopped just in time for us to head to dinner on the Plaza. We ended up eating at the Classic Cup Sidewalk Cafe (thanks Dad and Jenny!). We were going to just stop in and get an appetizer while we waited for our table at another restaurant...but it was so charming and the food was so amazing that we just stayed there! They even gave us a free anniversary dessert!! My pick this time...yummy Chocolate Fudge Cake!

This morning we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant. The breakfast was part of the free one nights stay. It was so good.

All in all I'd say we had one very memorable, blessed First Anniversary. We weren't really sure how much we would be able to do but the Lord just blessed us and took care of all the details. We are so excited for the many, many more anniversaries to come...













This was the view from our hotel room...




We didn't buy gifts...just cards. I think we should invest in Hallmark. : )

Let It Snow!

Or maybe I should say...Let It Ice...We got a few inches of snow last Thursday night and then this weekend we've gotten some snow/ice. The ice is the not so fun part! But anyway it gave us a good excuse just to stay in last night. We ordered some chinese food and rented March of the Penguins!






Currently it is a chilly 19 degrees!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

We are almost done putting up our tree...we have fluffed the branches...

Put the lights on...

And added the ornaments...

And all we are missing is a great big angel for the top!

The Finished Product!!

Creche and Espresso

Well we have sure been busy these past weeks since we've been home from Thanksgiving! Last weekend we had Creche at our church which was a really cool experience. They set up a little town on the front lawn of the church and people from the community come and can tour Little Bethlehem. They go through the bakery, the fabric shop (JoAnn's if you will), and finally it ends up at the manger with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. And of course no manger would be complete with out live animals!

Last weekend we also were able to get Chris's Christmas present...an ESPRESSO MACHINE! He is loving making latte's for me with it!! It's nice to be able to drink something warm considering we have had COLD COLD weather. It snowed on Thursday and still has not melted. I don't think either of us have ever lived somewhere were it actually snows before Christmas!

Chris is so, so excited about his new toy...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night Christopher and I had the privilege of serving Thanksgiving dinner to the men at the Kansas City Rescue Mission. It was really neat to just sit and talk with these men, even though it was a little hard for me to think of things to say. But the point is we sat and ate with them. I hope that those men felt loved by us.

They served the meal at two different times since there were so many people. So the first go round we served and the second time we actually got to sit and eat with them. It was really great to see the different families who were there from our church. The WHOLE family, not just Mom and the Kids. Kuddos to those families for instilling servant hood in those kids.

Tonight we have a potluck Thanksgiving dinner at our church so I am about to run to the grocery store to get everything I need to make my Nazarene Potatoes! (Thanks Dianna!) And then it won't be too long until we are home with our families for Thanksgiving!! Yay!

So I think its fitting to say that the Holiday Season is upon us and let the festivities begin!

Eggnog

Today after I got off work I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things for our dinner tonight. I passed by the cold section and saw some Eggnog and thought "Ouhh...that sounds good! And that would be a fun thing to surprise Christopher with!" (Since we are both Christmas fanatics). So I come home, haul all my stuff in and Christopher starts helping me unload the groceries when I say "Wait! I have a surprise for you!!" So I very slowly and dramatically pull out the Eggnog with a "TaDa!" Well Christopher is very happy about it and tells me as he puts something in the fridge and pulls out his very own carton of...EGGNOG! Yep, you guessed it...we had both gone by the grocery store today and both thought "Ouhh this would be a nice thing to have!"

So I guess married minds think alike?



And did you notice we both got "Lite"?

Spuds 'n' Stuff

Last night at our church we had a Women's Ministry event last night called "Spuds n Stuff" and it was really fun! We had a baked potato bar and then broke into smaller groups and made different crafts. It was really nice to get to know some of the ladies at church. I chose to make Christmas Ornaments and they turned out really great! Here's a few pictures...

Haircuts

To "christen" our new blog I thought I would start by giving some insight into what "everyday" life really is like here in the Branigan house...


This is what Christopher does after he trims his hair...yes, we bought clippers and he has been giving himself haircuts since about June.

A Change...

Well, when I started this blog I had hoped that my wonderful girlfriends would all jump on board and start blogging too so we could more easily keep in touch with eachother...well that hasn't quite worked out like I planned so...

I have decided to give my (now our) blog a facelift and dedicate it to the journey of our life. Our ups and downs as we journey through marriage and seminary here in good ole Kansas City. Also, I hope to use this as a journal so that we can look back one day into the early years of our marriage and really remember what it was like. I hope I'll do better at keeping up with it.

So here's to a new season...a new chapter of our lives.

A Little Update...

Well, I had hoped that all of you great girls would get in on this and that it would be a good way for us to keep up...and I see that has not gone over too well. However, I still have hope...so I will keep blogging.

We have had a really great past couple of weeks. My parents came in town and we went to some really great restaurants around town and had a wonderful time. We went swimming alot with Taylor which was fun. Last weekend we went to Oklahoma City for a wedding that Chris was in and it was great. We got to do all the rehearsal stuff and be there for the whole weekend. We stayed with our old pastor Clint and his wife Bridget. It is so great to be around them. Its really encouraging to hear their ministry and marriage ups and downs. It gives us some real encouragement in both areas. And...this coming weekend we have another wedding to attend! We are really excited to get to come home, and we get to fly so thats a total bonus. I am really looking forward to seeing my family and Chris's family. It will be so good to be home.

Things have been getting better everyday here in Kansas City. We met two new couples who also attend seminary!! Yay for new friends. It was our friend Adrianne's birthday last week so her and her husband and our two new couple friends all came over to our apartment and we had ice cream sundae's and went swimming in our pool. It was a blast.

I would love to post some pictures from all of our fun adventures lately...however, our internet is not working at our apartment since our neighbors moved out. Oops. Now we know where it was coming from though...

God Bless Texas

It has become more evident to me lately just how great of a state that Texas is. Absence makes the heart grow fonder? I think so. So yes, I am going to be the stereotypical Texan and have an immense amount of pride for my home state. I will now list a few of the pro's for you:

1. The Barbeque
2. That people wear cowboy hats with their regular attire...to work, to church etc.
3. Your Texas Rangers!! (They may not be that great of a team, but everyone enjoys going to the games...dollar hot dog night anyone?)
4. Swimming Pool's in backyards. (Its all community pools here...even in the richest of neighborhoods.)
5. Did I mention the Barbeque?

I'm sure I could think of many many more. Also, I think you can judge a state's greatness factor on the amount of songs written about it. I can think of at least five songs written about Texas just off the top of my head. How many songs do you know about Kansas? Right. So for those of you that still obtain your Texas driver's license....say a little prayer of thanks today.