It's Been a Long, Long Time...

So the last time I blogged, it was May. Seriously...May!?! I cannot believe that it has been so long, but we have had about a million things going on! Let's see, since May, Chris has graduated from OU, we have been to Disney World, Chris started his job at National Instruments, and we have moved from Norman, Oklahoma to Round Rock, Texas. Do you see now why I haven't blogged since May? Oh, and when we moved into our new house, it was absolutely filthy, so I have completely repainted the downstairs, and we got all new flooring throughout the entire house! Jayden has been taking swimming lessons, we bought a puppy, we have gotten involved in our new church, my parents came to visit, and Jayden and I went back to Oklahoma to visit family. We have been SO busy! I do believe that life is slowing down though, and hopefully, I will have a chance to update the blog more than twice a year!

I have actually been dreading this post because so much has happened since the last time I blogged, and I knew it would take forever to post about everything that we have been doing. So...I am going to post some pictures for you of a few random moments over the last few months, and then I am going to do some posts in the next week to get caught up. So, for your viewing enjoyment, here are some pictures of our life since May!

Chris, Jayden, and I at Chris' graduation-May 14, 2011

Jayden's first airplane ride-he loved it! May 15, 2011

Jayden and I at the Magic Kingdom-May 16, 2011

Painting the new house-I am painting it the darker color-June 2011

Boomer-Our new puppy! He's an Australian Labradoodle-July 8, 2011

Nonni and Jayden during our visit to Oklahoma-August 18, 2011

Jayden and Papa John on our Oklahoma visit-August 18, 2011

Papa, Jayden, and Nana during our visit to Oklahoma-August 21, 2011

On a different note, our extended family has been plagued with so much illness in the past few months. We have had three family members diagnosed with cancer since February. They are continuing to get better, but please keep them in your prayers.

Until next time...

Tomorrow's a busy day...

This is my Extended Hours week at work. This means that I work four ten hour days and have a day off in the week. Well, tomorrow is my day off, and it is going to be busy! I am actually kind of dreading it because it is going to be exhausting. My mom is going to come over at 9:30 a.m. to help me get through the day, thank goodness. I have a dentist appointment here in Norman at 11:10. I have an eye doctor appointment in Edmond at 3:00. This means that I will probably hit rush hour traffic on my way home. All the time in between, and I'm sure for a while after, we have to get our house in tip-top condition. The photographer from OpenHouseOKC.com is coming on Friday to take pictures of our house to put on the Internet, and it has to look PERFECT. No more putting things off, saying that we will take care of it later, this is it. These are going to be the pictures that everyone sees when they look at our house online. And first impressions are everything, so we have to get some great pictures. Keep your fingers crossed that we get everything done!

Mustang...Camaro...Dodsh...

Jayden is absolutely obsessed with cars right now. Whenever we are driving down the road, all you hear from the back seat is him calling out the names of all the cars that pass. And let me tell you...there are a LOT of cars on the road! He loves Mustangs, Volkswagen Beetles (Punch Buggy don't punch back!), Nissans, Fords, Dodshs (that is how he says Dodge), and Land Rovers. I'm actually really impressed with how good he has gotten at recognizing the different cars. Anyway, I just wanted to post about this because this is such a huge thing in his life right now, and I want to make sure that we remember it!

I'm so excited!

I have a new project that I am SO excited about! But guess what? I'm not going to tell you what it is! Not until it is finished. Once it's finished, I will tell you all about it, but just know that it is so exciting, and that it is going to be wonderful once it's done! Now I've got to go and work on it, or it's never going to be completed, because it's huge! Happy Sunday! :)

Bookshelves-Before and After

About a year or so ago, the inlaws gave us some old bookshelves that they weren't using anymore to help store all of my craft supplies. They definitely were not our style, but I saw great potential in them-and I truly appreciated the gift. Since we are getting our house ready to put on the market, we have been trying to make everything look perfect around here. So, we finally got around to updating the bookshelves! Check out the before and after photos. I love how they turned out!

This is one of the bookshelves before we began fixing it up.

Here they are pre-makeover...in all their blue and white glory!

Notice the ugly stain on the cabinet.

One last look at the before...and a side-shot of Chris. :)

Ta-Da!

Notice the stain is gone!

Love them! Much more our style!

The cute knobs we chose for the cabinet doors!

Well...I think they turned out really well! Now that we have all of our stuff on them, they look super cute! The total cost of this project was about $35.00 for paint, new hinges, and knobs. Not bad for a completely updated look!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe that 2010 has come and gone. It was quite a year. Possibly, the most difficult year that Chris and I have had since we've been married. Not because of our marriage...it is wonderful...but because for the first time ever, Chris and I had to live apart for most of the summer, as he worked as a roughneck on a drilling rig in Arkansas so that he wouldn't have to work his senior year of college. While this was so difficult, we have had a lot of great times this year as well. Here are some pictures from the second half of the year (where I totally slacked off on my blogging).

A picture of the drilling rig that Chris worked on.

Jayden enjoyed sparklers on the 4th of July in Arkansas.

We took Jayden to his first movie at the movie theater. We went to Toy Story 3, and Chris and I both cried. Jayden loved it!

Chris and I had season tickets for the first time to the University of Oklahoma football games. We had a great time!

A gorgeous sunset at one of the games.

We went to the State Fair of Oklahoma with my parents. We love the pig races! My dad bought a pig nose for Jayden. :)

We attended the homecoming of Oklahoma Christian University where I graduated from college in 2004. I wanted to show Jayden where I went to school since I don't know when we will be able to be back for a homecoming again anytime soon.

My mom and I did our annual Black Friday shopping trip. This picture was taken at about 4:30 in the morning!

It has been quite an eventful year. A little bad, but a lot of good. We have made memories that we will never forget, and have truly cherished time spent with our families. 2011 will bring some of the biggest changes in our lives yet. We are putting our house on the market this month to hopefully sell. Chris will be graduating! I will be quitting my job. (I have worked since I was 16, so this will be a huge change to be a stay at home mom!) We are going to be going to Disney World! Jayden will be flying for the first time. Chris will be starting a career and National Instruments. We will be moving to Austin, Texas. We will be getting a puppy after we move. Eventually, we will begin to try to add to our family. What a busy and exciting year that we have in store. We are extremely excited, a little nervous, a little scared, and kind of sad. We know that this is what we are supposed to be doing with our lives though, and know that God has a plan for us! Here are a few pictures from the trip that Chris and I went on to Austin for his interview in October.

A beautiful shopping area called The Domain.

The Domain.

Chris and I in Austin.

Happy New Year everyone! We hope that you and your families are blessed in 2011.

Stressed!!!

So we just found out today that mortgage companies in Austin won't even talk to us without a contract on our house here in Norman. And...we are supposed to go house-hunting over Spring Break. So...if we don't have a contract on our house by then, there really is no point to go house-hunting because it won't do us any good. Our house will be going on the market at the end of January. Please pray for a quick sale...something that really doesn't happen with the market the way that it is right now. And...if you know of anyone who wants to have this beautiful backyard, please tell them about our cute little house in Norman!

One of my Favorite Pictures

I took this picture of Jayden over the weekend. It's one of my favorites of him!

A New Yoga Pose?

Nope....this is what Jayden looks like when he wipes himself after going poopy! (Hope I haven't grossed you all out, but it was too funny not to post!)

This is what I have felt like...

...for the past week. Jayden has been really sick for about a week now. He is on SEVEN prescriptions. This does not bode well for his mood. In fact, my usually sweet little boy has become an absolute terror. And Chris is working in Arkansas. And he left for Arkansas the morning after Jayden got sick, so I have been having to deal with this little terror on my own. And Jayden hates his medicine and throws a huge fit every time he has to take it-for about 30 minutes. And he throws himself down on the ground and screams and cries if you even look his direction. And he refuses to go to the bathroom (which I totally don't get). And he doesn't like anything that I make him for dinner. And I'm tired and about to pull my hair out.

My saving grace has been my parents who have so graciously helped me through all of this and have let me stay with them several times, and for this, I am eternally grateful.

I have a confession to make.

I want to be Martha Stewart. Maybe I should amend that statement. I am very glad that I have never been to jail, and I definitely want to be known as a nicer person than she, but I long for her talent and skill. I read her magazine faithfully (folding down page corners of every idea that I love), look at her website, watch her show when I get the opportunity to do so, and google anything Martha Stewart related.

I so desperately wish that I could make a queen-sized quilt, four textured pillows, eleven fresh flower arrangements (with flowers from my own yard, of course), six homemade lemon lavender scented candles, a cute backpack or three for Jayden, a cherry cobbler (completely from scratch), and plan an outdoor party for 300 in one afternoon. How accomplished I would feel!

And I have definite Martha Stewart Craft Room envy. I think this picture explains it all...

Oh the things I could do in that room! A girl can dream can't she?

Well...I know that I will never be Martha Stewart, but maybe, if I keep on trying to create new things, cook delicious food, and plan parties, I will at least be Martha Stewart-esque!

Random Cooking and Craftiness

My love for cooking and crafting had disappeared for awhile (I think I got burned out), but it's back! YEA!!! I have been knitting, organizing photo albums, cleaning up my craft space so that I can be inspired, cooking delicious meals, dreaming of new projects that I can create, and sewing! The pictures below show just a couple of the things I have recently completed!

These are Cowboy Nachos. They are absolutely delicious. I guarantee you that you have never tasted nachos this amazingly wonderful. I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I love her. Chris loves her because of the food she inspires me to make. You will love her. I guarantee it.

Mmmmm....is your mouth watering yet?

My next project I actually finished today. It only took me about an hour and a half. If you sew frequently, it would probably take you about 20 minutes. What can I say? I'm trying.

Here are the supplies that I used.

And Voila! A Thomas the Train crayon roll for Jayden!

Cute little pockets for each crayon!

I love it! Jayden does too!