Every year for Valentine's Day, we make or do something for each other. It keeps the simple and fun.
This year I tried my hand at a Candy Gram. If you are reading it and there are some KISSES missin, thats because they were taken by a puppy.
This is a close up of the bottom. I had to get a little creative with this one.
It was fun to find interesting candies like KRANKY?? and to come up with the right words. The possibilites are endless. Its a good idea for birthdays, bosses days, etc. If you are wondering what I got, here you go....
Its roots. Its a long, mushy story so I'll spare you the details but I'm a lucky girl!
I turned 27. 27. That sounds old to me….I know its not, but 26 didn’t feel this way.
I spent my birthday in a nice hotel in Austin for a conference. It is the first birthday I have spent away from
Neil in 6 years! Luckily, I made it and still managed to have some fun.
My coworkers/friends took me out. We
went to Pappadeux for appetizers, Thai House for dinner, and dessert at
the hotel! I managed to avoid the embarrassing songs, too!
Neil
has this tradition of sending me clues all day about what my present
is. See here for Last year’s clues for my iRobot.
This year there were a lot of clues:
1) James Bond
2) 21
3) -}carbon-{
4) dang dis nag is more
5) mrs. Ricardo is high
6) we’ll need it in 2069
Any guesses?? . . . . .
Its diamond earrings of course!
Two things: 1) yes this is a very lavish gift for us and I didn’t
believe it 2) I did guess correctly
Logic:
1) James Bond – Diamonds are forever
2) 21 – forever 21
3) -}carbon-{ - carbon with pressure = diamonds
4) dang dis nag is more = unscrabble the words and its diamond earrings
5) mrs. Ricardo is high = never got this one but apparently Mrs. Ricardo is Lucy. High like in the sky. Lucy
in the sky with diamonds = beatles song.
6) we’ll need it in 2069 = it will be our 60 year anniversary and the traditional gift is diamonds.
I came home and meet my sister and her fiance who drove up for the day to see me/Brittany Griner. I looked all over
for my gift but he took it with him...womp womp.
We had great conversation with meg and mark and dinner at Heitmiller then witnessed a slaughter at the game.
Sooo glad to see them!!! It was another great birthday with lots of love!
Everyday on the way home from work I listen to 1660 ESPN sports talk radio.
They have a trivia contest everyday but I never know the answer. Well the other day, they made an announcement that the first person that came through the door could get two tickets to the Baylor women's basketball game. Well, whaddya know. I happened to be literally down the street for a meeting when I got in my car and heard the announcement so I hurried over there. I barged through the door and over excitedly asked if they were still available. They were. I won the tickets!
Well this week they had a segment where you could call in and talk about the boy's basketball game that night. If you made it on the air, you were entered into a drawing to win 2 tickets to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. I called and after being put on hold for about 15 minutes, I was on the air. That was exciting! Then as we were on our way to the game I got the message that I won the tickets!
Waco has the Texas Sports Hall of Fame museum and they induct new hall of famers every year. The tickets run $200 each and include a reception and a banquet!
This year some of the inductees are.....
DREW BREES!
SHAQ
and
RICKY WILLIAMS
So, we will spend our Monday evening with those guys!
Being
a Pre-Med student and studying for the MCAT sucks up a lot of your
time. Between going to class, working
30 hours a week, and studying, a trip to the library with gummy bears
and a friend was a treat! Friend and I had “our” cubbies. It wasn’t
official but let’s just say that people sitting there got up when they
saw us coming….ya, we were that serious! Anyways,
Friend and I did not live together and her friends were not mine. As we
were studying for a genetics test, we were distracted by two of her
neighbors. On their way out, they exchanged hellos and goodbyes
and “I haven’t seen you in a while”s. Then the tall, handsome friend in a
black SUBLIME shirt, twirling a pen between
his fingers said, “stop by soon and bring your friend”. I’m sure I
blushed and I know I hid behind my cubby. But as they walked away I
peeked out in time to see him turn back my way and give a little wink.
**sigh**
He swears he doesn’t remember winking and surely he doesn’t remember what he was wearing, but I’ll never forget!
If you know him, this does not sound like him AT ALLL!!! He is never that courageous or cheesy but it worked
and the rest was history! 7 Valentine’s Days later and he still melts my heart!
As stated as 2013 resolution #1, we wanted to take a big trip this year. After considering the whole world...literally, we finally made a decision. We are going to...
THAILAND!!!
We plan to spend time in Bangkok and visit the beaches of Phuket also.
Why Thailand, we have been asked. Just a few reasons...
1. There is a mix of relaxation(Neil) and adventure(Margo).
2. Hotel and food are generally inexpensive.
3. The food!
4. Exposure to a completely new culture.
5. We have friends who have been multiple times who can help us with recommendations.
Needless to say, this will be an adventure! We always planned on an international trip before we had kids but I'm not sure we had anything this grand in mind. I am extra proud to be able to take this trip. While we did have some wonderful help with a ticket discount, a 10 day trip half way around to world is not cheap. We also want to be able to experience some adventure so spending money is a must. We are on teacher's salaries, basically, but this trip is being funded by my etsy store profits and for that I am sooo grateful!
Last month, the Mr. planned a date at the Dallas Museum of Art. This month was my turn. I wanted to do something that we had not done before and not too expensive. It just happened that the weather was so beautiful (sunny and 70) that it had to be done outside! So, we visited a golf course. My first thought was to play a short round but then reconsidered (: We didn't want to offend others around us. LOL
Anyways, we decided to hit a few buckets at the driving range. The golf course we went to reminded me of a duck dynasty-esque place but that meant there were not a lot of people and it was not intimidating. Anyways, it was pretty fun. I watched Neil hit a few and then it was my turn. I hit the perfect 100 yard-down-the-middle drive! Neil thought I bamboozled him into thinking I had never hit before...but...it was a fluke. None of the rest were that good!
I would do it again. Maybe work our way onto the course.
For $15, it was a decent date and the weather was perfect.
Afterward, we decided to go shoot some hoops at the school gym in our area. We've heard that you can get in on the weekends and sure enough, we found an open door. After about 15 minutes of one on one, we figured out how old we really are (: We were hurting! We spend a good hour there until we heard people driving up. We snuck back out and got to our car only to find a sheriff's car parked out front. But, I think he was sleeping...
So glad we were able to take advantage of beautiful weather. This is the sunset a few nights earlier.
I even did some reading on the porch swing AND our neighbors gave us fresh eggs from their coop!
I have made some that I think I should make. I've made some I want to do. But I am really excited about this years resolutions.
1. Take the trip of a lifetime!
We have been VERY blessed to be able to travel both in and out of the states. But we also know that this young marriage allows for more freedom, less responsiblity, and more capability that it will in the future and we want to revel in our time together as a young married couple. The planning has been fun in itself! Not many people can sit and research beautiful parts of the world for the "best" place to go. Australia? Alaska? Spain? Thailand? Morroco? We'll see!!!!!!!!!
2. Read the classics.
I have always been a reader but like most people, if it was not assigned in school, I passed on the classics. There are MANY of them so I have no number in mind but I want to read what inspires me. I prepared for this resolution by researching some books and in the midsts, I ran across the leatherbound collection of books from Barnes & Noble. Not only are the beautiful but many of them have multiple books in them.
I got The Chronicles of Narnia (I still don't know how I never read them but I'm halfway through already)
Wicked
Jane Austen - 7 novels (Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Northanger Abbey,
Alice and Wonderland.
3. Journal Daily
I got a 5 year journal that only requires one line a day and each day has room for 5 years. I thought I would be cool to see what I was doing on the same day 5 years earlier. Plus, its pretty so that inspires me :)
Not anything too drastic but all three resolutions will be memorable and certainly a great adventure!
I did and 2011 recap last year so I thought I would do it again.
I like looking back.
Traveled to New Mexico for NCAA tournament.
Made it to Kansas City for Big 12 championship.
Neil changed positions at work.
Sold too many mustache party supplies.
Took my parents to Gull Lake for the first time.
Started a second blog for New Year, New You Wellness program at work.
Redid 75% of all our floors in the house.
Planned a successful 5k.
Roomba changed my life (the robot vacuum I got for my birthday)
Neil met Sandra Day O'Connor.
Visited The Shanks in Chillicothe for the first time.
Paid off my school loans!!!! (and there were a LOT)
The Silhouette changed by little business.
Held the second year of BOUNCE summer camp for girls.
and too many beautiful, romantic, silly memories to count!
It was decided that we would coordinate a family picture since we have not done one in years.
So I set up my camera with the timer and ended up with some great ones!
What happened before this picture is another story in itself. You can tell that dad and Meg were laughing and Neil looks guilty. That pretty much sums it up.
This was a request from Meg but I like it because it shows each personality pretty well.
With 80 people at my mom's house for Christmas, it can't be boring!
But we are also a competitive bunch.
This year, I hosted a few MINUTE TO WIN IT games - Christmas edition.
We played boys vs. girls. I was hosting so I did not get pictures of all of them but here are a few.
Snowball nose: Without using hands you have to dip your nose in Vasaline then transfer cotton balls from one bowl to another. Girls won! Krissy was a cotton ball nose machine!
Christmas Cliff hanger: Each contestant is to blow Christmas cards across the table and make it hang off but not fall down....yes, its as hard as it sounds. No points were given :(
Gingerbread cookie monster: Start with a cookie on your forehead and without using hands, get the cookie into your mouth. She looks cute doing it but her husband shows what a winning face looks like.
Nutstacker: using a pencil, you have to stack 6 nuts (like nuts and bolts) on top of each other. Boys won but it was close.
Hung with Care: two teammates have to get ornaments onto a ribbon using only their lips...lol.
Also, the ornaments get smaller each time the get one on!
Neil and my sisters bf were nominated. They were great sports. And lets just say that from different angles, the ornament was not in view AND lots of pictures were taken!
They got two.
But the girls won! They got all three on with 20 seconds to spare!
We also played:
Conveyer belt: With a long ribbon at their waists, two players must turn slowly to get an ornament from one person to another. Didn't get a picture but here is a video of the Blueprint if you are interested.
Ornament fan: a set of ornaments is set up on the floor and using a top to a gift box, must fan the ornaments into a taped off square.
