Monday, December 22, 2008

Are You Ready for Some Football?

One great thing about not having kids is we can pick up and go at a moments notice. This weekend for instance.

Jaime bought 15 raffle tickets earlier in the week to the Cowboys game on Saturday for $40. I was completely unaware of his purchase, but who ever wins raffles anyways. Jaime woke me up early Saturday morning to see if I wanted to go. He had gotten a call late on Friday night that he had won. I had gone to bed early with a migraine.

Did he really think I was going to say no? I have been telling him all season that I wanted to go to an NFL game. Neither of us have ever been to an NFL game which is weird to me. We have been lucky enough to go to a ton of NBA and MLB games, but never an NFL game.

Dallas here we come. I was really excited and it was only better because it was the last game at Texas Stadium. We left the house with no plans except for the game. We didn't have a place to stay or any idea how it would all work out.

It totally worked out. On the way to Dallas we found a really nice hotel called Aloft that was really close to the stadium for $79. I didn't know you could find clean hotels for that cheap anymore. The best part was the hotel had fitted sheets. I was in heaven.

We took a cab to the game, which worked out perfectly. We were dropped off at the front door and ready to go. We were very prepared for the cold weather and boy did it get cold. We had great seats. You would think since we won the tickets that they might not be so great. We sat in the end zone 36 rows up. You can't beat that for $40.

The game was great! I am not a huge NFL fan. It is football so I will watch it, but I really don't have a team. I have players that I like to keep up with, all whom have played for Tech. Of course I did root for Dallas because that is who Zach Thomas plays for.

I have to admit one of my favorite parts of the game was the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. I watched the making of the DCC on CMT and I loved it. I love watching it every year. I had to check out all the cheerleaders and see which ones I knew. Once I found the ones I knew I had to watch them to check on their progress.

The Cowboys didn't win, but it was still so much fun. I got to see my first NFL game. After the game there was a farewell ceremony. It was really neat. There were a ton of former players there including Emmit Smith and Michael Irving. At the very end they took down all the championship banners down and turned off the lights. It was kind of sad.

It was really sad when we had to stand in the cab line outside for 45 minutes in the freezing cold. It was probably about 30 degrees, but with the wind felt more like 20. It was a little cold, but well worth it.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

And a Good Time Was Had by All

We had David and Wendee and the kids over for dinner last night to celebrate Wendee's birthday and Christmas. Wendee will be 21 on Monday, but will not be around to celebrate with us. We also figured it was a good time to celebrate Christams with our wonderful friends.

We had a wonderful dinner. I made salad, mac & cheese, baked potatoes, fruit salad, steak, chicken and the best dinner rolls ever. It was my first time to make steak and it was a crowd pleaser. I used my parent's marinade and cooked the steaks on the stove with a grill pan. They were delicious. Cooked to the perfect temperature. I was very proud of myself. A few more times and I think I will have it down.

After dinner we did birthday. I got Wendee a red and black shirt for her birthday. It looks like something she would wear and it will be perfect for the Cotton Bowl. Maybe I should just get her and David Tech shirts for the cotton bowl so no one will be confused on who they are rooting for.


After birthday we celebrated Christmas. I got a warm up suit that I picked out one day Wendee and I were shopping. We didn't buy it that day because Wendee had a coupon at home. She went back the next day to buy it and ended up giving it to me. She is so good. I love it because it is the perfect size and color.

They also got us this wonderful Tech windchime. I have really been wanting one, but never stopped at the mall to get us one. I am so excited. I would have put it up last night, but we don't have a hook to hank it on. I will put that on the list of things that need to be done. (Dad, when are you coming to work on the list?)


We had a wonderful evening. Thank you David and Wendee for the wondrful presents.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Mission Accomplished

My goal for today was to start wrapping presents and put a dent in it. I am happy to report I finished all my wrapping. I feel like I got so much accomplished today.

Now I am really ready for Christmas. I never put packages under my tree. We never open any packages here so I feel like it is a waste. I end up messing up the tree trying to get the presents under the tree and then getting them back out. I finally just gave up. We only open packages at our parents houses so I separate the packages according to which house they are going to.

We have two guest bedrooms so it works perfectly. The only little problem is no house guest will be allowed until after Christmas. I doubt that will be a problem.

I have two presents that I have ordered that should be here by the end of the week. I also have one package that is M.I.A. I have no idea where it is, but I will continue to look for it. Other than those, I am done. Hopefully I won't have to fight the crowds to buy a replacement present. Package, come out, come out wherever you are.

Not only did I get everything wrapped, I also got the wrapping closet cleaned up. Most people would call this a guest closet, but not us. We have very few guest and a lot of wrapping items. The wrapping items won out.

I wish I had a bag of Hershey's products in the wrapping closet to keep me busy while wrapping, but I don't. It is the bag that holds all the tissue paper. It's a good idea thought.


I cleaned out the wrapping paper. The two buckets were over filled and I realized there were rolls in there that I had not used in years. I also had rolls that I have had for a few years and never even opened. Those rolls will go to a good family somewhere. Now I have room so that I can some new paper. I love wrapping supplies!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Bunko Christmas

Last night was our ladies neighborhood Bunko Christmas Party. It was so much fun. We actually did not play bunko because we had to many other things on the agenda. We had to eat and exchange presents. Next month we will get back to the Bunko.

Just so you know, I looked up on the internet how to spell bunko. Basically I found that it can be spelled bunko or bunco. The two spellings have the same definition. I prefered the way the b-u-n-k-o looked so I went with it. If it is wrong then I will use b-u-n-c-o a few times in the post to even it out.

It was super cold here yesterday so I was all bundeled up to go to bunko. We all wore our Christmas pajamas to Bunko. Mine were cute, but not very warm so I had to wear lots of layers as you can tell.

Back to bunco. We all brought a food dish and there were 17 of us. You can't even imagine all the food we had. I took banana pudding because that is my fall back. It is super easy to make and takes about 5 minutes to make and 2 of that is stiring the pudding. It all comes down to the fact that I am lazy.

We ate and ate and ate and then finally opened presents. You will never believe it, but I drew number 1! That means I got to go first and then at the end go again and choose from all the gifts. I was so excited. I drew what I wanted right off the bat.

Aren't they so cute. Slim wore these boots last month to bunco and I went on and on about how much I loved them. Wendee and I were shopping at Target and I kept telling her I had to find some slippers like Slim's. Well that was Slim's secret gift tonight. I had no idea, but I was so exicted when I opened them. I was so excited that I put them on right then hoping that no one would take them. Good news, they made it home with me.

Wendee was the life of the party so she is in every picture.

Wendee and Slim excited

Wendee and Lisa

Tara, Wendee and Natalie

Our wonderful hosteses, Melissa and Wendee

Mrs. Kathy and Wendee

Vicki and Wendee

Wendee and me

We really did plan for Wendee to be in every picture. We thought it would be fun. It was fun to us and that is all that really matters.

Natalie got the cuttest apron that said Naughty or Nice on the front. I don't think she got to keep it in the end.

We had a great time and all got some wonderful things. Can't wait till next time.

The other exciting news here at the nest is I don't have to work tomorrow. I get to sleep late. Don't call me, I will call you!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Christmas Tour 2008


Welcome in. Glad you could join me for a tour of my house. I am also glad this is only a photo tour and not a real tour. My house is a mess right now. This way I can crop all the photos of the mess. Just imagine my house is spotless and ready for guest.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Partly because of the decorations. I hope you enjoy.

This is our mantel as you can tell. I love the Santa and the sleigh. My mom has mine and Jaime's stocking that grandma made for us. I got these stockings the first year we were married. Someday I will take our stockings from my mom.

I love my Christmas tree!!! At first I did not basically because I am opposed to change. Now I love it. It looks much better in my living room because it is taller. I also love that it has more lights. It so pretty!
This is just a close up of some of my ornaments. My favorite ornament is the red one that says "Jesus is the reason for the season." I got the ornament in New York at a church gift shop. It means so much to me.
I like this picture because you can see my first Christmas ornament on the upper left corner. It has my name and birthday and weight and height. It is really sweet. All the information is putt on with stickers. It is a little cheap, but it means a lot to me.
My Christmas tree from the other side. I didn't want you not to see the entire thing.
This is my favorite wreath. I got it from my friend, Dacia. It is red and green feathers with the little red ornament hanging in the middle. So cute.
These are our other stockings. Paula gave these to us and I love them. Everyone needs a Texas Tech stocking!
Just in case you couldn't tell it was a Texas Tech stocking.
This is my nativity scene. Grandma gave it to me so it means a lot to me. I love pulling it out every year and just looking at it. It really does remind me of the reason we are celebrating. It is also interesting to look a the box it comes in and the picture on the box. I have to look at the picture every year to try and figure out how to get everyone on the little wood platform it comes with. It is very tight quarters on that piece of wood.

Finally, a picture of the living room. You can see how the place is laid out. I am sure you were wondering. You can also see my little Santa Clause and Snowman. They are so cute. Basically, everything in my house is cute. I don't know any other adjectives.