Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Our first!

This past Wednesday night Chris and I had our first pre-marriage mentor session! I was a bit nervous about it and I think Chris may have been too. However, it was really fun. Our church has this wonderful mentoring program that they recommend each couple go to. The couple we are paired up with seem very much like Chris and I. They are pretty fun and I am looking forward to learning more from them.

For the first session you have to complete a "compatibility test"! I kind of laugh about this....I mean heck we have already decided to get married, don't you think we are compatible? So this compatibility test is really more of a test to see where we are not as strong! You know areas that we may have differing points of view! Well it was 200 questions long...and we had to agree or disagree to every question. Some of the questions were very funny, some serious, and some that were no brainers! I think Chris and I did pretty well on it...however, we will find out in about 2 weeks.

Other than the test, we also did a lot of talking. Mostly the talking was about how Chris and I met. Why we liked each other at the beginning and so on. Funny thing is....Jan asked each of us when we knew we LOVED each other! You know I can't say that Chris and I have ever really talked about that with each other. I mean we both can remember when we first said "I love you;" and why we love each other. However, I really have never told him at what exact moment I fell in love with him. I found that interesting. I mean this is the man I am about to become one with and I never told him when I felt that way.....

If your interested I will share; and if you haven't told your significant other the moment you realized you loved them...Do! Tell them, and if they know then revisit it! For those of you who really know me (not just blog friends) you know that Chris use to come by the school all the time. That is when I started kind of stalking him. Then it took my assistant principal to really "hook us up" outside of school. But when did I fall for this wonderful man? Well you see in July of 08 Chris asked me to take a trip up to Minnesota with him. We were going to visit his family and then drive back his sisters new car! The trip there was a blast meeting his whole family for the first time. Watching how he interacted with his brother and baby sister made my heart melt. I also loved that he and his father were pretty much the same; actually it made me laugh a lot! Our time with there flew by fast as we visited with his family and friends. He introduced me to many new things....a juicy lucy (hamburger stuffed with cheese...very messy), the Mall of America, and a Forth of July wearing a sweatshirt and jeans (it was very chilly). Once our time was up we loaded up Whitney's car and hit the road.


4th of July


Enjoying a quick stay in Nebraska

This is where my love for him began....to really show its self! As Chris and I made our way from Minnesota to Fort Worth we had a blast. We really got to know each other there. We chatted about everything, jammed out to the radio, and enjoyed the views. That trip was amazing I mean we crossed through 6 states on the grand journey! As we made our way back home I began to think about the entire week with Christopher and how happy I was to be apart of it. I mean I was truly happy. I think at the moment...I realized I was in love with this man. I mean we spent over 12 hours in the car together, plus a week with his family and I couldn't imagine anything better. I realized I wanted to be lucky enough to spend the rest of my life with this man. I wanted to make that trip a million times if it meant feeling the way I did then. Still today I can love looking back at all of our pictures from the journey; it makes my heart melt every time. Better yet, I do get to spend my life with this man and feel that love everyday. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful man want me to be his one and only.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Why didn't I know?


I mean some of you already married gals should have given me a little heads up here! This weekend my good friend Wiggs and I headed out early to take care of some wedding needs. The most important one was my invitations...

AHHH yes, invitations seem to be even harder than finding the dress. I really have been looking for the perfect one for about 3 months now. I knew the moment I got engaged the save the dates I wanted. However, invitations are another thing! Okay we are off track here!!!

Back to why you married peeps never told me how to handle a BRIDAL SHOW!!! After spending about 2 hours looking at invitations (poor Wiggs, she is the best ever). We headed out to our next task, the Fort Worth Bridal Show!! Let me set this up...I really have not been too HIGH MAINTENANCE on wedding things. I mean I would consider my self pretty low key and just a normal bride. As Wiggs and I entered the event we wondered how many CRAZY BRIDEZILLAS we would run into. Well little did I know that this was a whole new world.

From the moment you walk in people are yelling "Bride to Be" come over here, did you sign up for.... Okay of cores Wiggs and I just kind of walked around taking things in. I mean since I am having a destination wedding I do not need as many things as they were offering. However, when I stopped to fill out a few give-away items I almost got plowed over. I mean there were these 2 girls that took me out...

They not only took me out, but they had their own system. The had brought in a sheet of Avery labels with all of their contact info on it. I mean it was crazy! I began to watch them more as we walked about....they would just take a label slap it onto a give away card and walk on. They hardly even talked to any of the booth workers. This leads me to two questions: Are those brides really there for the resources or just to maybe win a prize? Why the heck didn't I think to take in labels with all my info on it? Their idea is good, but I can't say they were doing it correctly.

The bridal show was definitely a different experience. One that made me very happy (again) to be doing a destination wedding. Oh and did I mention the best part!!! I found an amazing husband and wife team there, who are probably going to make my invitations! YEAH YEAH YEAH! My invitation nightmare may be over!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Little B's Baptism


Isn't he the cutest ever!!!

This very snowy weekend brought us more than just fun in the snow. Actually it was also the weekend Abby had picked for Little B to be baptised. Well when my sister planned this grand event I do not think she could have know what the weekend would be like. They arrived here late Friday. Saturday they were scheduled for a class in the am for the baptism. However, the church had NO POWER!

Therefore that lead us to enjoy a nice time here in Fort Worth with the family and good friends. Abby had asked her good friend Tally and Carter to be the God parents. They too drove in for the event here in Dallas. We took all the kids to the Fort Worth Science Museum. The boys had a blast and we ran them so much they both slept well!

I love the how he is really into the train here!



I think he only smiled in our picture...and it is not be cause of me; but Tris (as he says Chris)

The next morning my mom, Chris, and I all got ready to head out when Abby called to tell us that thankfully the church had power again. We had all really decided since everyone was in from OUT OF TOWN, B would just be baptised in the dark! Glad to see we didn't have to do that!. The baptism was wonderful! Little B did amazing he didn't even fuss once! Chris and I are happy that we got to be apart of such an important event in Little B's life. It was a wonderful ending to a very interesting weekend here!!!

of course Little Bear and I had to have our picture taken too...

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Snow Party (part 2)

....as I left off we had a very chilly evening ahead of us. All four of us bundled up and made it through the night to only to be woken up by Chris at 5:30 am. He and Winston are early risers you see. They had gone out to do the potty break, when the whole place was covered by more snow. I think by the end of it we had 12 inches every where! It was beautiful looking outside. The glow from the snow was amazing.....we actually wished it was in our house lighting some paths! From there we talked about how we were very bummed the power was not on still....then I declared I was going back to bed.



the front of our house at 5:30 am...our poor sweet tree!
the road in front of our house
After a couple more hours of sleep we did finally get up and around. We really had no choice but to PLAY IN THE SNOW! I mean really it was not getting any warmer in our house...and well we needed to charge our phones too. So we bundled up and took off! First stop was to grab some gas. Then we were off to the park! I really wanted to get some pics of the beautiful snow before we lost it all. We went over by the botanical gardens. The park looked so clean and fresh. Hardly anyone had been out yet...the trees though they were very sad. Many of the trees had just fallen over and been up rooted by the weight of our very "wet" snow. Winston loved running free all over the park. He was our little bunny just jumping around every where.


the view from our neighborhood

my boys enjoying the warmth of the car

isn't this pretty

they loved it...the freedom
my favorite one...look how beautiful it is
After the park we headed over to the museum area. The trees there really didn't do as well either. We found some fun areas to run and play. A few of the artistic people had already been up building snow figures. They were pretty cool...way better than Chris or I could have done.


the artistic ones...
can you find my sweet pup amongst all the down trees
he had to see if it was really water
no matter how much the snow sticks on...he just can't stop playing
After letting Winston enjoy the snow we did need to warm him back up. What better place to go than Petsmart!!! We enjoyed walking around the store checking everything out. Winston really loves to go up there too. Every time he runs straight over to the training room looking for Angela our trainer. He was sad to see no one was there! Once the little guy had dried off a bit we went back home. By this time I was getting pretty hungry, as was Chris. We dropped off our pup added some blankets to Bob and then ran to grab some food. We enjoyed a nice WARM lunch. I think everyone looked at Chris and I kind of crazy when we walked in wearing SKI clothes. But heck we had to keep warm any way we could. After enjoying our lunch we headed home.


our little cowboy, enjoying Petsmart

We began to plan the rest of our day and where we could take the animals or stay for the night. Heavens knows I was NOT spending another night freezing cold. I had called my vet to see if I could board Bob for the night. Thankfully they did have an opening. Then we were going to take Winston to Petsmart for doggie day camp. At least there he could play and be WARM. We were going to catch a movie with some friends and then deiced from there. As I pulled onto the block we were OVER JOYED to see. LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS!!! The neighbors lights were on and so was our porch light. It was the happiest moment of our day!



the best moment of the day....power
Whew we didn't need to ship off our babies or pack up for the night. Instead we could shower and go to the movies clean! (HUGE SMILE HERE) Oh and did I mention that my sister and family were coming to town today! That's right we had planned on enjoying the evening with them. However, I told them it depended on the power situation. YEAH we had power so they could come over too! They rolled in around 4 just as the house was starting to feel warm again. The kiddos could not believe the snow. I think Abby and Brian were pretty amazed too! We tried to do dinner with them, but guess what. ROSA'S (their favorite place ever) had no power either...so off to Dallas the headed. All in all from no power to power it was a fun couple of days with Chris, Winston, and Bob! Although we all agree nothing is better than sleeping in WARM beds!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Snow party (part 1)

Okay so I am starting from the 4:00 pm NO POWER part of the storm!! If you are lost you can go back and read here. On my way home from school I was just in AWE of how much snow had covered the area. When I got home I was greeted by a sweet little puppy that LOVES to play in the snow and Chris.

We had discussed that we really wanted to enjoy the snow, however were worried about not having power to warm back up. However, since the message from Encore said it would be back on at 4 we went ahead and had a snow party. Well our party had to hold for a moment, while I dug through my drawers looking for my snow gear. Since I have moved I don't really remember where everything is located. Especially not snow gear you don't need in Fort Worth. Once I was dressed we were off to play.


Chris and Winston with their first snow ball for our snowman...

Our first task of course was a snowman. This was the perfect snowman snow...it was so moist. The snow just rolled right up so easily, it was super. The hardest part really was picking up the enormous ball of snow for the middle and head. Oh and then a certain fiance and puppy had just finished of the carrots on Wednesday night. Well we had to make do with what we had, 2 limes and a banana!! I think our rather large snowman looked super! Winston really liked him too.


After building the snowman I wanted to make a snow angel. I mean everyone has to make a snow angel, right? Then Winston loved catching snowballs. He was so cute. Oh and did I mention that Winston doesn't really RUN in the snow, he hops like a bunny. I think it is because the snow is so deep. It really is the cutest thing I have ever seen. (Once I can up load videos I will, I am sure you will be waiting right?)



then for fun...our names in the snow!!
We enjoyed our little snow party for a little over an hour then headed back in. Sadly we headed back into a POWERLESS house still. I mostly felt bad for poor Winston. I mean he loves playing in the snow. We had to limit his snow for the rest of the night since we didn't really have a way to dry him off. You know towel drying is not enough when there is no heat. Bob well she was not too pleased about the chilled house.

However, she did just fine...I gave her some extra blankets to curl up in. Our real snow party began on Friday....stay tuned for some AMAZING pictures of the area!
Chris pushing over an extra ball of snow we had made! 

Did I mention that Chris bought me the most beautiful flowers too!  He picked them up on the way home from work...we worried that the lack of heat would hurt them.  However they have done just amazing really!

Keeping with Momma M...

Well her past few questions and such have been about marriage. Since we are not married just yet (only 133 more days). Then well as you read in my last few post we had no power for 2 days...So I was more than thrilled to have power last night to get my Momma M post ready!

Today's post is your favorite pictures with your LOVED one! Well hum....FAVORITE is hard to do! I mean I tell my little 6 year olds in class all the time that FAVORITE is just one. However they never seem to have just one! Like them I do not have just one, or just one LOVE!

Here are my first loves: My sweet niece and nephew...they have been around a little longer than Chris. Oh and my sweet niece, we we are very close. You see I graduated from college in December, which is great not as long of a convocation and such. However, finding a job then not so great. Plus my sister had just had this darling little baby girl! I was lucky enough to have a super sister who let me stay home and watch their new precious angel. She still needed to work a few months before "retiring" or becoming a stay at home mommy. Lucky me!!! I got to spend every day and night with my niece and make sure she was safe and sound for my sister and brother-in-law.



My other favorite two pictures are of Chris and I! The first one was taken this summer at a friends wedding. We were having such a blast and it was captured just so! Then of course I really love all of my engagement photos! I mean they are AMAZING! However out of all 100 this one is one of the top 3. Chris' good friend was the photographer and does amazing work. We love him so much we are taking him with us to the Dominican Republic for the wedding pictures. You can see is work here! You can see all the other top engagement pics here.


Friday, February 12, 2010

Snow makes everyone happy...

the front of our school

or at least it does for little 6 and 7 year old kiddos! While driving to school I knew it was going to be an interesting day. Kids get so excited, especially when it snows. Back in December we had a few flurries on the way to school. My kids just knew there would be tons outside when they left. They were sad to see nothing!



However, today was different that is for sure. The forecast was for just 1 -2 inches and NO ACCUMULATION! WRONG!!! As my kids came to school they were very jazzed. Instead of our normal morning writing I let them write about the snow and everything they could dream of doing in it. I of course unlike some of my teacher friends had all but 3 kiddos. Yep 21 showed up, I was very surprised too! I am very luck to not only have had all my kids; but we could keep on with our day just like normal. You know if a lot are missing it is pointless to teach something new, to only have to reteach half the class when they come back.

A. Smith and I enjoying the snow! Poor A. Smith, they are in a portable!!


Through out the day my kids and I enjoyed watching the snow fall from our classroom windows. As the flakes grew so did their excitement. Every time we left the room they just gazed out the back door to the play ground (my room is right next to the recess door). My newest little boy, who had very little English abilities, kept asking "recess today please, please." It was so cute, but NO we can't go outside they are not dressed for it!

We enjoy the snow too..


Finally after being frowned upon by many of my coworkers, I did let them touch the snow a bit. The reason I didn't want to is because many of them barley bring jackets...let alone gloves and hats. Plus this was a very "wet wet wet" snow! On our way to specials, I let them do a quick run out and back into the room. That way they all got to enjoy the snow. I mean yeah it is not every day we get this much snow.


Burton and I loving the snowball fights

Since the snow was continuing to fall FWISD sent the buses to pick up early. Thus allowing them extra time to make it safely to their stops. This little change caused our class to shrink quickly, oh and that parents were flooding in to get their kids. They were all worried about dismissal being to icy and such. So my 21 kids quickly faded to about 6. The 6 that were left were fully prepared for cold weather. Jackets, hats, and gloves....guess what that meant?

They loved it... I have some amazing pics, but can't post due to the safety of the kids!!!
SNOWBALL FIGHT! Yes, we all went out and had the best snowball fight ever! Of course we had a few safety rules, but man what a blast that was. The 4 of us teachers right next to the back door sent our kiddos out for some good clean winter fun. I love seeing how excited they get. The joy that they got to experience was worth all the snowballs I took in! Yes, I didn't mention the "don't throw snowballs at the teacher rule" like my other co-workers did! Heck everyone should enjoy a little snowball fun. After the snowball fight this is what I walked out too!
What a fun thing to do...clean off the 6 inches of snow! It was funny because people here don't carry ice scrappers in their cars. I have never NOT had one on hand, and some times even more than one! Got to love those people who park in the garage (and use that as their reason not to have a scrapper).

The ANGELS SANG today!!!

HALLELUJAH.....HALLELUJAH............It was the best song or sight I had seen in 2 days! Okay I have really enjoyed the snow (all snow fun will be in the NEXT post!). However, when the POWER in our house WENT BACK ON today at 1:00 pm I couldn't have been happier. Actually 2 of my neighbors and I were jumping for JOY in the street!! I have officially decided that I would really like not to CAMP OUT in my house again!


6:00 am THURSDAY morning!

Here's how it all got started....THURSDAY morning, Winston woke up around 3 needing a potty break. I got up put on my coat, then opened my door...........and WHAT did I see, but already about an inch of snow. From there I was back to sleep to be woken up again at 6 by my alarm for school. Yeah...we had school! (yes I wanted to go to school, I hate making up snow days) As I left for work there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground! For Fort Worth that is AMAZING!!! Of course as most of yall know it continued to snow ALL DAY...never let up once! This was so crazy, I mean yeah in Amarillo we got snow like this, but not in Fort Worth. Needless to say just as school is dismissing I get a text from Chris!

"Well my car got stuck trying to get in the garage, a man helped me out. Take Linden home. Oh and we have no power. The neighbor says its been out since 11 AM" Wouldn't you want to leave your very nice warm school to go home after reading that? NO! So I call, Chris declares that the power company says it will be fix by 4:00 pm. I kind of wait around and clean off the now 6 inches of snow off my car and head home.


4:00 pm after school, with no power!

4:00 pm rolls by and NO POWER! We call the 1888 number again to see that it still says 4! My dear friend Julie was kind enough to offer up her house. However, Chris said we could stick it out!!! Sure enough we WAITED, WAITED, WAITED, and WAITED! Come 8 pm still nothing...then the 1888 number no longer says 4, but just gives some B.S. conformation number. What you do with this conformation number? We still don't know. I mean you don't have power to look on line and see how things are going. Every time you call you get an automated systems...seems stupid to me! Well Chris, Bob, Winston, and I piled on the clothes and blankets and buckled down for a long night!

I had on um 4 shirts, 4 pairs of paints, and 4 blankets. Winston and Bob had a few blankets on too! Chris had one many layers and just swore the hat on his head was keeping him the warmest. We spent the night chit chatting and just wondering if the power would come on. I lit all the candles we had for some extra light. We imagined what all lights we had turned on, but not realized (you know it is just automatic that you turn on lights when entering a room). Chris took a shower by book light (attached to the shower curtain); then I used it to read some! I also enjoyed watching people, trying to get up the hill by our house....they all ended up backing down and going around.


a little fyi...tea light candles work best for light, but burn out faster



bundled up ready for bed

Finally we headed to bed with hopes of power in the morning....5:30 am rolled around and still nothing. However it did snow more!! Everything looked beautiful outside...and just amazing really.


our house at 5:30 am FRIDAY after 12 inches of snow (our poor little tree)

Then around 10 we thought we would get out. We drove around to find the "power trucks" never saw any near by. Therefore making us believe we would never see power today! Finally around 12 we went to lunch to warm up some. After lunch we headed home...as we pulled onto our street we saw the most WONDERFUL thing....LIGHTS! Finally at 1:00 pm on FRIDAY!! Our motion light lit up as I pulled into the driveway. The neighbors back light was on! JUMPING FOR JOY...we ran in to find MANY LIGHTS on, the radio on, and the HEATER!!!! Yeah Yeah Yeah!! Our day was really looking up! I hope the rest of you have power and can enjoy the warmth I am soaking up now!!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Would you like a tour


of the RAHR Brewery? Chris and I were invited by one of my friends to join them this weekend. We began our day at the Yucatan Taco Stand....If you have not gone, you really should. I love their nachos!!! They are HUGE, Chris and I both can eat them and still have extras. We all met there and enjoy a nice lunch before heading over to the brewery.

Let's do a little back track shall we....Last summer Chris and I toured the COORS brewery with my family. It was amazing. I mean you walked in and got to see every step in the process to making their beer. Little Bear even enjoy watching how it was made. Now Chris and Brian enjoy the end the most, you know where you get to drink the beer.

Back to this weekend, we finished up lunch and all headed over to Rahr. I personally didn't realize where Rahr was located. It is so close to us, and I had no idea! We began to search for a spot to park. Realizing that this may be a little busier than I thought...after 3 blocks of cars and not one place to park. Finally we found a spot and made our way to the brewery. Okay...REALLY, REALLY, REALLY!!! We are greeted by a man in overalls and a pony tail. At that moment I think, this is NOT like Coors!

Chris pays our money and we walk in! Then you get handed 2 choices for glass cups. I picked the cute one. After that I ask Chris, so what now? Well apparently you get in line for BEER of course! Our little group makes our way to line, orders up the beer. You have 3 to pick from....then we just kind of stand around! After about 20 minutes I ask the question, "So where is the tour??" Little did I know I was on the tour!
the gang enjoying a few

(look behind us...that's the whole tour!!! lol )
That's right WELCOME to the TOUR!!! Stand in a warehouse and just drink...AKA TOUR THE BREWERY!!! Didn't you know that? Regardless we did have a blast just hanging out and drinking our beer. Now it is not my idea of an adult beverage, I like the fruity ones...but it was fun! I guess if you are looking for a place to hang out and enjoy a good "tour" head on over! Or heck, Chris and I may open up the back garage and began our own tours!
Jeremy and Chris enjoying the brews!!!