I am Thankful for...

A lot things this year (in no particular order)
1. My mom's quick recovery
2. Wonderful boyfriend
3. Our beautiful home
4. Loving family
5. I actually have a job
6. School is going great
The list goes on and on...

We hosted some of Chris' family for Thanksgiving this year. It went really well for our first Holiday in our new house. By the looks of this mess I thought I would be in trouble but everything finished on time and everything was delicious!

We had enough food for an army! I cooked wayyyy too much food but I had no idea how to cook for 10 people so I just kept adding to my recipes. This will give you a hint at how I overcooked, I bought an EIGHTEEN pound ham for 10 people. I told my Nana on the phone and she said, "Well you really only get a 1/2 pound per person, so I bought 13 extra pounds. Oh well it was soooo delicious I froze the leftovers for later.

I made the ham, deviled eggs, whipped sweet potatoes with bananas and honey, green bean casserole, corn casserole (my new favorite dish), cranberry sauce from scratch, rolls, Pumpkin Cheesecake bars, Chris made the mashed potatoes from scratch which were extra fluffy and delicious and I loved every second of it.

                                      

Here is our feast!

The "Kid" Table

I can't wait to do it all again for Christmas.

I'm back-

So the semester is almost over [I have to take finals nest week] and I think I can finally breath. At least until January 12th (that's when class starts again).

So for those of you that haven't seen it- I would like to introduce you to our living room:

I'm really happy with how the gray walls turned out.

The TV is opposite the sofa. The black cat is from halloween  I have had these pictures uploaded for a long time and never got around to posting them. Everytime I would walk past the cast I would catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye or in the mirrors on that table and think it was real. Literally- every time. You would think over the one thousandth time I would remember that it was there.

The sofa table is my favorite piece in this room.

I saw on Etsy that moss terrariums were all the rage this summer and I decided I wanted for about one second. Then I realized that I didn't want to keep up with it, clean the vase, etc so I found these fake moss rocks and tossed them into this birdcage. I think a lot of people don't "get it" because everyone has to get a closer look at what's in there. It's kind of funny- but I like it so that's what counts I guess. :)

I love my owl lamp. Enough said.

Our huge dining room table that we have squeezed into both apartments finally has a real home. We upgraded our chairs when we upgraded our living space. The chairs that came with the table literally fell apart. It was embarrassing when guests came over and we had to point out 4 of the 6 chairs NOT to sit in.

Finally our picture collage in the entry. My Nana and Grampy had a picture collage in the hallway in their house when I was growing up and I always wanted to have one too. Mine is a little different spin on theirs (they never had a dress form hanging on the wall) but it's exactly what I wanted.

Our house is perfect for hosting. There is plenty of room for everyone to sit. I love it.

And the winner is...

NOT US. :'(

Our "Best Couple Costume" reign is finally over. We won three years in a row. We were beat out by Wolverine and Jene from X-Men. As Chris said- the contest was between the two hairdo's. Mine and Wolverine's. I must say my hair was pretty rad, but Wolverine looked like the real thing! This year was the year to win- the prize was a free night at the Radisson on the Riverwalk.

We should have won based on the fact that I spent at least an hour trying to get all the rats out of my totally teased hair! No regrets- I loved it! I would wear my hair like that more often if I could get away with it.

Chris was totally decked out. I painted his face and neck green, painted is hair black, and stuffed his jacket with batting. He even had "bubba" teeth. I kept finding it all over the house and yard all night long. I would pick it up, go find him, and stuff it back in every time.

My Nana has some close ups on her camera so as soon as I get them I will post more pictures.

Thanks to:

*Nana for my AWESOME tutu, I need to think of somewhere else I can wear that thing. And my little garter.

*Darci for saving me by loaning me a white corset. Free 99 is always the best price.

*Sara for my totally rad hair.  I got a lot of compliments on it!

*Mom for finding me some silver shoes to go with the entire get up.

Now it's time to start thinking of a costume for next year. Any ideas?

Jack-o-Lantern!

We finally got around to carving our pumpkin...whew we only have 3 more days left in October. I'm sure I'll light it up through the beginning of November if it still looks good.

Candelabra with batty love buttons flying by...

Part 2: Pretty Pretty Princess

I finally got my chair for my vanity. The first chair that they sent had a bubble in the plastic so I had to wait for another one. As you know I was using a dining room chair until this one arrived. I didn't really think about the fact that I needed a chair without arms- oops. I can't push it all the way under the vanity.

Jenny, my soul-office-mate, got me this hobnail jar as a housewarming gift. I love it. I need to decide what will get the boot off of the vanity because I like this a lot better! Thank you Jenny!

Rub-a-dub-dub

I'm so glad I decided to take on one more stripe project. I love how our bathroom turned out. Rhino and all...

I had left over blue from our bedroom and leftover gray from the living room so I decided to give it a go in the bathroom. We got the blue towels as a housewarming gift. They match almost perfectly! I can't seem to find anymore of them anywhere so I think I am going to get a few gray ones as well.

                                   

I picked up these prints at IKEA originally for the bedroom but then once I got the bathroom finished I realized they were a perfect match.

                                              

I saw this floor to ceiling shower curtain on a blog that I stalk and I HAD to HAVE it! Chris complains that it blocks that light and I agree, but shhhh don't tell him. I'm sure most of you remember our bathtub saga. Our salesman promised us a garden tub and they installed a regular sized tub. Very disappointing. Well you know me- I always get my way ;) so they agreed to change it out to a garden tub at no extra cost. Chris did most of the leg work to get them to agree to do so. I don't think he wanted to hear me whine about the tub for the next 30 years. 

                                   

And finally...our rhinoceros. I love him. Isn't it ridiculous? I know right now you are agreeing it is ridiculous, but I will have you know that it is backordered online until 12/1/09. So it's a pretty hot commodity.

So I'm a self proclaimed procrastinator...

So nearly a month laterrrrrr I FINALLY have pictures of the rest of our office.

I'm sure you remember my pillow inspired wall...

Well, here is its mate...

                            

In my defense- it took so long to get this side of the room done because I had to paint all of those frames and letters...just fyi.

I won that hideous yet oh-so-comfortable chaise lounge from a company party one year and Chris refuses to let me get rid of it. I have been collecting those frames here and there and my mom gifted us with the cute telephone picture.

I think I might want to paint the other walls, I just can't commit to pink-yellow-orange-OR chocolate brown. So I'm stuck.

Does anyone know where we can find some cute chairs for our desk? We prefer fabric (I could get past that if you have a great suggestion that isn't), no wheels, and they need to be one of the colors from the wall.

Hotel Brown Sugar

Ta-da! Here is our guest room. I'm not sure why I haven't posted this sooner since this room has been done for about a month now.

We decided to donate all of our old decorations to the guests. That way- I could get new decorations for our new room!

Chris and I have already spent a night in Hotel Brown Sugar while we were painting our room. We decided it would be best to stay in the guest room so we weren't sniffing paint all night long!

Eventually I want to paint this room. I just don't know what color yet so it might be a while. Any suggestions?

Happy Halloweenie

I was going to wait and put my Halloween decorations up after the Housewarming party, but I just couldn't contain myself. I put them out at about 11:30p on September 30th!

I love the little "spooky" and "beware" signs 

I scored on the $2.50 rack at Target.

Batty Love Buttons flying in my mums. 

The wings are on springs so they flap in the wind. Love it.

Sadly I can not find the rest of my rest of my Halloween decor. Who knows where to start...

What are you going to be for Halloween this year?

My Mom is now officially a ZIPPERHEAD!

I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone for your love, support, and prayers for my mom and my family over the past few weeks and especially today.

Her brain surgery started at 12:30p and it only lasted about an hour and half which is a pretty good sign. She is doing well although she is in a lot of pain. She told me in a slur that she has a headache from H-E-double hockey sticks. I can imagine so. There is an insicion about four inches long that starts at the base of her neck and goes straight up.

She will be in ICU for at least the next 24 hours but most likely for 48 and she will not be released until Friday.

Zipperhead: (as defined by urbandictionary.com)

A person who has undergone decompression surgery to relieve pressure on the brain stem and to allow the cerebral spinal fluid to flow properly. Ususally as a result of trama or a condition known as Arnold Chiari Malformation in which the brain can become herniated down the spinal cord. The resulting scar looks like a zipper up the back of the head.

Now you can imagine what her scar is going to look like.
Mom- I know it will be awhile before you get back on to the blog but I LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU and cannot imagine a day without you in my life. P.S.- they had a tshirt on zazzle.com that says "If you think my boobs are big you should see my brain!!" I think you need it!

But seriously thanks again everyone and now we pray for recovery.

Yum-O!

By request I have decided to go ahead and post my first recipe.

I found it on pickypalate.com (a blog that I follow, the blogger is always on the food network winning contests and stuff so I figured anything from her site would be good.)

Chicken Sausage, Broccoli and Parmesan Brown Rice Dinner

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb cheese filled chicken sausages, thinly sliced

4 Cups broccoli florets, steamed until fork tender

4 Cups cooked brown rice

1/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic; cook for 1 minute then add chicken slices. Cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is browned on both sides. Add broccoli, rice and parmesan cheese. Cook for 2 minutes or so, then season with salt and pepper to your liking. Serve and enjoy!

6 Servings

I changed it up a tiny bit and used 2 cloves of garlic, "Boil in a Bag" brown rice because I can't seem to cook rice just right, and frozen broccoli florets. You can really use any vegetables that your crowd likes (squash instead of broccoli).

The only problem with this recipe is that a lot of local grocers don't carry chicken sausage so instead of buying one pound at HEB I ended up having to buy THREE pounds at Costco. Which is fine I guess because I froze the rest so we can use it later since it is hard to find.

Other than that it was DE-LISH-OUS, well to me at least!

[disclaimer: this dish was not Chris approved- he had a cold and could not taste it 100%, he said it was bland but I forgot to salt and pepper to taste- so be sure to do that at the end.]

Pretty Pretty Princess

Well at least that's what I feel like sitting at my vanity.

The chair is on loan from the dining room until I can get my Lucite (clear) chair replaced from work. I special ordered one and when I got it home it was missing hardware and there was a scratch on it. Boo. I'll re post the true final product once it gets there.

Those are snazzy placemats from tar-jay that I put together to create a protective "desk pad".

I scored that little jewelry tree from Marshall's a looooong time ago and had forgotten all about it.

It was like Christmas unwrapping it.

My very own makeup aisle in a drawer. I love it.

Macy was pretty impressed, that counts for something.

Once again, the other side of the room is still "under construction". Hope to have the finalized sometime in the near future.

The Graduate

Chris finally graduated from his apprenticeship program!

"WHOO HOO, I hate that cheezer shirt."-Chris

I'm so proud of him.

[Poor guy dropped his diploma in front of everyone. They had to retake his picture. Haha. Chris is standing over me as I type this so I have his permission so we can laugh with him, not at him.]

For all the ladies

I am FINALLY able to park in the garage! Whoo Hoo! I never thought it would happen. We still need to get an actual garage door opener so we are having to use the good ole' elbow grease method but other than that it's pretty much the bee's knees.

Ta - daaaaa...

In case you are wondering what the little red octagon on a stick is it is my blinking STOP sign. So clever. When I pull into the garage I drive all the way up to it and it blinks when I "tap" it. Tap is probably not the right term for my type of driving but that's what it said on the box. I was sold. As I'm sure you have already figured out the only problem with this genius invention is that it is light and not screwed into the ground. I will need to get Chris to figure out how to make it a more permanent fixture otherwise I might just "tap" it all the way to the front.

My little "sky-on" safely tucked into the garage.

My vacant spot in the driveway. So exciting.

You're probably wondering what I meant by the title of this blog...isn't it every woman's dream to be able to park in the garage? So when it's raining your hair has a slight chance of still looking decent by the time you get to the office OR when its freezing outside you don't have to scrape ice off of your windshield with chattering teeth?

So if there are any guys reading this-- do everything in your power to let your favorite lady park in the garage. It is probably the highlight of the month for me at least.

Just a little to tide you over...

So it all started with a little pillow that I came across at the local tar-jay. [Well to tell the the truth it all started when Chris put his foot down and said it would not be smart to sand down our orange peel textured walls to apply wallpaper. sigh.] That however is a story for a different day.

So back to the business- I found this pillow and told Chris that I wanted to try and paint the same pattern in the office. He happily helped me tape off the wall. We of course had to use his version of measuring and leveling instead of my normal "eyeballing it" technique that he does not particularly care for.

After a few hours of taping, a few hours of painting, and a few hours of entertaining spectators (cody and rachel) we were left with the final product at 3:30am on saturday night, well sunday morning that is. The top left hand corner matches the pillow and the rest is our own little flavor.

I still need to get two matching chairs (that do not have rollers because having rollers on this THICK carpet is completely pointless) and figure out some type of cord management so our feet will quit getting tangled up under the desk. So what do you think? Pretty close or what?

It's so weird how little that desk looks since it is actually very large in person. I have to share the computer with Chris on Sundays due to the ever exciting creation of Fantasy Football Leagues and figured I would need extra space to do real work, like homework for example.

The computer and printer took up much more space than I had planned for but I am still pleased with my $70 steal at IKEA (aKa Home Depot for girls).

The other side of the office is still "under construction". I hope to have it completed by the end of this weekend, but Chris' graduation ceremony is tomorrow so I don't know how much I will get done before or after that exciting event! (no sarcasm, I am very proud of him)

If I do finish, I promise to post the finale on Sunday.

Home Sweet Home

As many of you know Chris and I closed on our first home on August 28, 2009- which means we have officially been living here for THREE whole weeks now. It seems like yesterday- I know that sounds cheesy- but I feel like I haven't been able to even enjoy our new pad since we have been on the move (no pun intended) since we moved in!

Between work, school, and homework it is hard to make sure that Chris is keeping up with his to do list that I have made for him. ;)

Anyway- I wanted to create this blog so that all of my out of town friends and family will be able to see everything my in town friends and family get to see in person (and mostly so that Nana and Grampy can stay up to date).

I will post pictures and such soon.