Nothing New

There isn't anything new to report. I've been keeping VERY busy with all the wedding planning. It seems like things are FINALLY coming together. I'm getting more excited every day.

We had some roof work done this week. I'm not really happy about that. We have a list of priorities and a new couch was next. I'm not really sure how the roof jumped ahead of the couch without me being notified??? I wonder if anyone will notice if "Spare Bedroom Remodeling" jumps ahead of "Finishing Dylan's Office?" Or "Jessica Spa Day" gets in front of "Trip to Home Depot."

We had a leak in the back room so we had to get the roof repaired and now we need to get the ceiling fixed, lovely. So much to do so little time. Doesn't everyone know I'm planning a wedding? I don't have time for these little problems.

We also had our heater checked because it wasn't working. They tell me the heater runs on gas and we don't have gas service. Hmmm, didn't think about that! So I pay some guy $80 for nothing and then call the gas company. They come out turn on the gas and then try to get the heater working. Still nothing. The guy makes his way up to the attic to see if he can find anything obvious...well, I guess the heater guy UNPLUGGED the Heating/AC unit and the only visible outlet is too far to plug it back in. That causes a slight problem. To make things worse, a few months ago we had insulation put in the attic so the attic is FULL of insulation, about 1 foot high all the way around. We have 2 choices, call the guy and have him come back and plug the unit in since he unplugged it for no apparent reason, but this means one of us has to stay home from work OR we can go play detective and try to find the outlet ourselves. Either way its a pain and we paid the guy to create this problem!!!

TGIF.

Halloween

I know I'm a little late! We had our first Halloween in our house and it was so fun! Beth and Keith came over for dinner and every time there was a little tricker-treater at the door we all freaked out and got so excited. It was a lot of fun handing candy out. The kids were so cute.

I didn't get to see the boys trick or treat but Vic sent some pics. They are too cute! Its a little blurry but its all I have. Vitross was Superman, obviously and Tyler was the guy from Halloween, he isn't wearing his mask in the pic. The other two kids are David's girlfriends. The little one is hidden in the skeleton outfit.

Weekend

We had a fun but busy weekend. Yesterday we went to Tross' football game. They played great! Vitross improves so much every year. This year he loves playing defense. They have him playing QB and he's a receiver. The games are a lot of fun.

After the game we had a friends engagement party. They are getting married in February and Dylan is in the wedding. We had a really good time and it was nice to see some old friends.

We went to a Halloween party later in the evening. That was where the fun was. Its always entertaining to see grown men and women dressed up in costumes, trying to have normal conversations.

Dylan had a football game this afternoon and they won. He scored a touchdown! YEAH!

He will live

Dad made it through surgery. I guess the Dr. said there was more damage than they originally thought. The whole septum was shattered so he said he repaired it, "The best he could." I'm with Barbara and not sure I like how that sounded, but we will see how he heals. Hopefully he will be able to breath out of his nose now. Thats the ultimate goal. I still haven't talked to him, he was sleeping when Barbara called yesterday afternoon to say he made it, and probably sleeping when I called him last night or maybe he just didn't feel like talking.

Its probably best that we don't talk for a day or 2, he is GEERRRRUUMMMPPEEEEE when he isn't feeling well, and having to sleep upright for 2 days will make you grumpy no matter how you feel.

Dad

Most of you are aware that Dad broke his nose a couple weeks ago. He damaged some of the inside that needs to be repaired so he can breathe. He is having out-patient surgery today so please say a little prayer.

Registering

Registering Sucks!

Dylan and I went to Home Deport this weekend to register. I would not suggest registering at Home Depot to ANYONE, EVER! We were excited. We show up thinking that we are getting one of those scanner guns and we will just walk through the store scanning what we want. HAHAHA, not so much. This store and ALL other Home Depots are totally out dated! Our excitement was shattered when we were told we had to get a pen and paper and write down every SKU by hand, then bring it back up to the desk and they will enter it into the system. WHAT?!?!?!? We were like, your kidding, right? No, they weren't.

Many many hours later, we bring them our 20 sheets of paper (not really but it felt like it) and they keyed it in. As she is keying it I'm having small talk with her, asking if the SKU's are the same, nation wide, you would think they have to be since some people will probably buy things online or in another store. Well, I assumed wrong. They are not the same numbers, so then the wheels start turning in my head. After asking a few more questions, she tells me that if you register in the store, the gifts can only be purchased in the store. If you create a registry online, you can only buy the gifts online. They are totally seperate entities. What kind of thinking is that??? So basically, if you live in Egypt you would have to go to your local Home Depot buy the gift, then mail it on your own. Or if we registered online, you would have to go online, order your gift, pay for shipping, and hope it arrives on time, even if you live next to or inside of a Home Depot Store.

We are driving home after our 3 1/2 hours there and decide...SCREW THIS. So we have wasted all day in Home Depot, but at least we know what we want and need. We are now canceling the registry and going to Sears. Home Depot needs to come to the 21st Century, then we will think about shopping there again.

Engagement Party

We had an Engagment Party saturday night at my Mom's house. We had a really good time and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as well. Here are some pictures.

Ashley with Dylan and his parents

Vitross break dancing

Mom giving a toast

Dylan and Casey

Dylan and his parents

Liza, Ron, Me, and Dylan

Lauren, Pais, Fahmi, Casey, Me, Tiffany, and Cook

Monica and Andrea

Ashley and Gab

PJ and Christy

Ryanne, Christy, me, and Gab

GET YOUR PASSPORTS

Dylan and I have set a date. We will be getting married on July 19th in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. If your planning to come GO GET YOUR PASSPORTS NOW!!!

More details to follow or check out the wedding website for updates, look under the Friends and Family Link.

Cars

Dad's been asking for some pics of the new ride(s)
-Silver one is Dylan's...its the same as his last car but a different color. It was dark when I took the picture as you can tell so its not the best picture.
-Black one is mine.

How Bout Dem Boys!

Oh my Goodness...Did you see that Cowboys game last night? We stayed up till the very end and it was a GREAT game. It's been a REALLY long time since I last got this excited about a football game! GO COWBOYS!

The Lion King

I went to see The Lion King last night with Vicki and the boys. My favorite part was The Circle of Life song.

It wasn't over till 11pm! Seeing that that is WAY passed the boys bed time (We had no idea it was going to be that late!) they both fell asleep about 2 songs from the end.

I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to others, if its ever in your town!

Another Session

We went to another Pre-Marriage Counseling Session. This week we discussed Conflict (Fighting) and In-Laws.


There are people in there taking notes. I just sit and listen and absord what they say. I wish I could see what they were writing. I would also like to know when and if they will ever go back to check their notes. I didn't take great notes when I was in college and had to take tests so I knew there was no point in taking notes now. Plus, if we are really fighting or having issues, the last thing I will do is consult my notebook...unless of course I wanted to smack him with it.


Fighting fair...isn't that an oxymoron, anyways?

Get Motivated

Went to the Get Motivated Seminar yesterday at the AAC. One of Zig Ziglar's things. Lots of speakers on investing, sales, leadership, motivation, Jesus, and just life in general. Basically people trying really hard to sell sell sell. We heard from Colin Powell, Goldie Hawn, Zig Ziglar, Bill Bartmann, Steve Forbes, Phil Town, Tony Romo, Avery Johnson, and lots of others. I really enjoyed Colin Powell's presentation. He was the only one that wasn't really trying to sell something and just talked about making the world a better place. There were also a few fillers, like the guy that won the latest America's Got Talent...he is a ventriloquist (sp?), and the lead singer for Santana. They were good entertainment. I was sent for work. Beats sitting at my desk all day. There was losts of loud music and fireworks and booms so it kept me awake.

I didn't buy anything, which of course was Dylan's first question when I got home.

College days are over

Wednesday Dylan and I had our first Pre-Marriage Counseling Session. Its a group setting and they talk about something different every week. Last week the topic was Communication. What I learned: I'm perfect...Dylan needs LOTS of work. ;o)

Friday Dylan and I went to dinner with Beth and Keith at Gloria's.




Saturday afternoon, Dylan's sister came in town with 10 of her friends from Oklahoma State. They all had tickets to the Dave Matthews Concert and asked if they could stay the night at our house. Our house isn't that big! Luckily we had 2 extra beds and 2 air mattresses. We had to do some rearranging of furniture but we fit them all in. This was everyone heading to bed around 4:30 in the morning.




Needless to say, Dylan and I can not hang anymore. I'm not sure why we thought we could or even tried. We got up around 10 to cook breakfast for everyone before they got back on the road. Once everyone left about an hour later, Dylan and I decided to take a nap. We only got up again for dinner and are now heading back to bed. What we learned from the weekend: We are old and out dated. We can't hang and just need to stop trying.

NY, NY

Spent the weekend in New York. I had a Conference in New Jersey on monday for work so I figured I'd hang out for the weekend. I got to see some old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. I had a lot of fun and always love visiting The City.





When I got back last night Dylan picked me up in a brand new car (brand new to us)! Its really nice. We had to drop it off to have a scratch fixed and a spoiler put on but when he gets it back tonight I'll take a picture and be sure to post it.

Blinds

We had our blinds installed this evening. The things we get excited about when we get older! They look GREAT and make the whole house look so much better.

Now the neighbors won't think we are white trash anymore since we took down the sheets.

FREEDOM RUN

Ran my first 5K yesterday, it was the 9/11 Freedom Run. Finished in 40 minutes, 20 seconds. For those of you asking if that is good or bad...its HORRIBLE! Basically I averaged a 13 minute mile. I didn't even want to finish. I wanted to quit after the first 100 yards, if it weren't for my running buddy, I definitely would have. I did walk a little cause I couldn't breathe! My legs were ok for the first half, I just needed to get the breathing down. Once I got the breathing figured out, my legs started to go.

Tip: Don't start with a 5k if you haven't run in over 5 years. I would suggest a brisk mile walk and work your way up. Baby steps is the key. Clearly I didn't get that memo before signing up for this run!

I'm wearing flip-flops today at work cause I couldn't bare the thought of walking in heels!

Weekend

Dylan's parents were in town over the weekend. It was a very nice visit. There was lots of yard work going on that I tried to stay out of. Dylan has been working hard on the lawn. When we moved in it was all weeds. When I say all, I don't mean some. Anything that was green in the front or back yard was some kind of weed. So, he had to kill the entire yard and start from scratch. Its really coming along and looks great! He also trimmed the tree so the grass under it can get some sun and grow. He is just turning into the quite the little yard guy!

On an unhappier note, I ran up on a curb monday on my way to work. Not only did I pop my tire with a huge hole that can not be patched, but I bent the rim and will now have to buy a new one before anyone will put a new tire on it. GREAT! To make it worse, when AAA came to fix it, he asked if I was sober when it happened...What kind of question is that??? It was 8am!!!

I would hate to end this on a bad note sooooo... Dylan heard from the insurance company yesterday and will now get himself a brand new car! That is great news considering we were afraid we wouldn't get as much as was still owed on the car. I'm not sure it all adds up though. I'm driving a 96 Mustang with a donut for one of the tires and he is looking at brand new cars to purchase. Oh well, I guess he deserves it.

Water Leak Update

We got the shower fixed this evening. It only cost $80. We were told by another plumber, not the one that fixed it, that it would cost anywhere betwee $300-$350, sight unseen. That was a crock of you know what.

Now I can shower without asking Dylan to go turn the water on, like we are living in the 19th Century!

CRASH!

Dylan totalled his car yesterday. Some @$$hole ran a red light and Dylan smashed right into him. Thankfully Dylan is ok and so was the other guy. There was a cop right behind Dylan so he made the report right there and it was definitely the other guys fault. Dylan T-boned the guy. So scary to think that 1 second in either direction could have totally changed the outcome.






Looking on the bright side, he is thankfully ok and now he gets a new car.


Thought for the day: When someone gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fun weekend. Sunday we went to a concert in The Stockyards. There were about 10-15 bands playing but I only cared to see the last 2. It started at 1pm and went till after 12 midnight. Thankfully we didn't go that long! We showed up around 8:30 since the band I wanted to see was on at 9. We saw Cross Canadian Ragweed and The Black Crowes. The black Crowes came on at 11 and they were awesome! Well worth the wait!

Monday we went to the Texas Tech vs. SMU game. Tech of course killed SMU but that was expected. We left at half time and watched the rest of the game at a bar with some other friends.

I didn't have my camera with me all weekend, I forgot it every time! Pretty bummed about that.

College Football

We took Tyler to his first college football game today. TCU vs. Baylor. Not the best game to take him to for his first but whatever. Dylan went to Baylor and since TCU is about 2 minutes from the house we figured it would be fun. Baylor got killed but Tyler seemed to have a good time, thats really all that mattered.

AHHHHHHHHHH, SICK 'EM BEARS!