Welcome to our World...

So Chris and I have stepped into the world of pre-parenthood. We got a puppy last week! His name is Bear and he is a Chocolate Lab. We love him so much already. We have now had him one full week, which feels like about 10 years. Here are some things we've noticed about him so far:
- He sleeps alot (except at night).
- He is very playful in the mornings. Definitely a morning dog.
- Playing fetch comes naturally.
- He growls in his sleep.
- He is learning so quickly about housetraining. (Only had a few accidents).
- He doesn't really understand discipline. He thinks its the greatest game ever.

One of the funniest things is each morning when Chris wakes up. All I hear for about 10 minutes until he gets dressed is "OWW!!! Ouch Bear!! Owww!!!!" Apparently Bear likes biting Chris's legs, fingers, toes, arms...etc until he gets all his clothes on. We're working on this...

Things you need...

When you are on your 3rd snow day off from school...

All necessities here...obviously. A warm bowl of tortilla soup.

And a warm husband to snuggle up on the couch with and watch movies.
(Movies Watched include: Up, Fiddler on the Roof, Emma, and The Proposal)

So we went back to school this week on Monday for a teacher work day, the kids came back on Tuesday and we have been home ever since. In a way its just like a realllly long "winter break". We have made it out of our apartment once to go to the grocery store to get some more "necessities" but other than that we have been just hanging out and trying to stay warm. We did take down all of our Christmas decorations on the first snow day and I did clean this place pretty well but there is just only so much cleaning you can do.

One exciting thing that has happened is Chris throwing his leather glove into the dumpster while throwing the trash over last night. (Now, don't forget we're in the single digits with wind chills in the negative teens). If it was me I would have shed some tears, called it a loss and marched myself to Target for a new pair. But not my husband : ) So Chris comes back in, tells me he lost his glove and immediately begins fashioning a retreiving device to go BACK into the cold to get his glove. Here are some pictures to document the "incident":

The good news is...HE GOT IT! The bad news his he almost fell into the dumpster while trying to get it.

Snowed In!

Well sort of...it is snowing, on top of all the snow we came home to ( I think about 8 inches) and we are too chicken to get out and go anywhere. So for us that equals...snowed in!!

I have been updating the blog all morning...3 new posts to prove it!!Chris wanted to get the snow off our patio table.. his tool of choice, our dust pan.

Thankfully we ran all our errands yesterday so we can just lazy around in our jammies today and enjoy the snow!!

White Christmas in Texas

Chris and I had a wonderful Christmas at home with our families. We even had snow on Christmas!! These pictures are backwards....so we'll just start that way and work our way forward!

In Houston, Abby and Jillian helping Grandma make angel biscuits

Jinga was a hit!! We played many many times, I wasn't so good at it...


Getting ready to open presents on Christmas in Houston.

Passing out presents to the little cousins. They were SO excited!

Getting ready to head to Houston for a few days...(see they are all backwards)

Chris opening his stocking at the Branigans house on Christmas morning. No stocking is complete without Texas shaped peanut brittle.

This is what we woke up to on Christmas morning...in TEXAS. It was my first white Christmas in my entire 24 years.

Christmas morning at the Branigans.

Chris opening his Bible Glo from my parents on Christmas Eve.

Rizzo played in the snow so she was getting warm and dry from Steven and Jenny.

Christmas Eve at the Penlands...snowing!!

Taylor, Kathy and Chris eating Christmas Eve dinner.

Dad, Jenny and Taylor eating Christmas Eve dinner.

Chris and I on Christmas Eve before heading to my house.

Dianna and I decided to make puppy chow! Good decision because puppy chow is so yummy...bad decision because once you make it you have to eat it!

So there are some pictures from our Christmas adventure in Texas. We had a great time being with our families in Arlington and Houston. We enjoyed many meals and laughs together and can't wait to be home again soon.

Teachers in Tacky Sweaters

Crazy I know...teachers never wear things that are tacky.

We had our 2nd annual Tacky "Holiday" Sweater party on our last day of school before the break. We had a half day and went to lunch at Cactus Grill. My class gave me lots of wonderful cooking goodies from Williams Sonoma which I can't wait to use!!

Shelley and I...spreading the Christmas Cheer

Me, Becky and Shelley

3 years...

Of wedded bliss : )

This weekend Chris and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. I know 3 years doesn't seem like that long...but it feels like quite an accomplishment. Some days are hard and some days are easy but there is no one I would rather journey through this life with.

We went to Independence, MO and did their historical Christmas Tour of Homes. We toured the Bingham-Waggoner Estate, the Veile Mansion and then the old jail/marshalls home. The Veile Mansion was by far the most beautiful. It was built in the 1800's and they had it decorated beautifully for Christmas.

For dinner we ate at Cafe Verona which is downtown on the square. It was amazing. I had a lemon/basil/shrimp pasta and Chris had the lasagna. They even gave us a free dessert because it was our anniversary!

We stayed the night in a hotel and Chris even brought me breakfast in bed in the morning. I don't think our weekend could have been any better!!

And just for fun...here we were 3 years ago...

I am so thankful for my husband and our marriage. 3 years down...many, many, more to go. : )

Haul out the Holly!

Which is exactly what we did this weekend! We put up all our Christmas decor on Saturday. Its nice this year living in a bigger apartment because we actually have a little room to put up our tree! And it sits nicely in between two windows which I am loving!

Chris started off the morning making us some egg-nog lattes! YUM!!!

Here we go....

Chris has a "method" about putting the lights on...imagine that...

Placing the angel on the top! My favorite part!!

The finished product!

Don't worry...Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus will be here soon! We are picking them up when we go home to Texas for Thanksgiving!

We hung our stockings...err...off the bar with care.

Thanks for stopping by! Merry Chrismas y'all!!