Our House!!!!

So last I left off, Chris and I had decided to put in an offer on a house we had been looking at for some time. It took our families giving us their blessing and approval to help us feel like we were making the right decision.

Tuesday, April 14th:

Chris and Mary Jane had already put the terms of the offer together and were making sure most of our requests were met. Once we felt comfortable, we set the time to meet with the builder's sales associate. Chris and I met Mary Jane at the builder's sales office to meet with Chad, the sales associate, and sign a contract.

It was a little shaky for a while because I didn't understand everything that went into an offer and all the little fees that can be tacked on. For a minute there I was seriously thinking of just tearing up the contract and walking out, but this house was one of the few that met most of our criteria.

At that point, I decided not to be a "flake" and sign the papers. I'm always nervous when it comes to making long-term commitments. Something about saying I will do something and not have an option of taking it back without consequence is so difficult for me. I totally get that from my dad. ;)

But when all was said and done, Chris and I signed the contract, it was accepted and now we're on our way to buying our first home!!!! We're scheduled to close on May 22nd (the Friday before Memorial Day).


*Photo courtesy of our friend (and soon-to-be neighbor), Elaine, who happened to be driving by with her husband, Geoff, and offered to take our picture. Thanks!!! :)

Easter Weekend!

Hmmmm...obviously I like to write about events that happened weeks ago. ;)

April 10th- 13th:

Chris and I drove to Corpus Christi on Thursday night to get into town early Friday morning. We never look forward to the actual driving part, but it does give us time to just talk to each other without any distractions. This was perfect timing as Chris and I were still thinking about what we should do with the house in McKinney. We decided we'd see how we felt after the weekend ended and decide on the ride home.

In Corpus, we spent most of our time with my family. Friday we went to a victory party for my mom's friend, Larry Elizando. He was re-elected to the city council. Congrats, Larry! :)

On Saturday we celebrated Easter with family, my Aunt Cookie and Uncle Manual, my cousin, Alex, and her husband, Dustin, my little cousin, Allison and my Uncle David. I know...we were a day early, but Allison was driving back to San Antonio on Sunday and we didn't want her to feel rushed, so we celebrated early so everyone could relax and enjoy themselves. We kicked off the day with a barbecue. Everything was SOOOO yummy!!!

After eating and chit-chatting, we started watching "The Ten Commandments" (an Easter tradition). Later that evening, my Uncle Horacio came over and set up his karaoke stuff so we could all sing along and have our little private karaoke club! :) It was great because everyone had a chance to sing whatever we wanted without waiting in line for other people. Plus, it gave all of us a chance to sing things we normally wouldn't because it was just us, so who cared it we didn't know it or sang it totally off key- we're all family! :)

Below are photos from our day and big sing-along:

Chris and I on our first Easter as a married couple! :)

My Aunt Cookie busy in the kitchen
Jason, my mom and Uncle David before the feast!

Dad cutting up some meat

Chris rockin' out!

Alex and Aunt Cookie

Mom and Dad "So Happy Together..." :)

Uncle Horacio- The Karaoke King!

Singing sisters, Allison and Alex

Uncle Manuel and his dancing toy singing "Wild Thing"

The ladies jammin' out...and Aunt Cookie stealing the show. ;)

Dad and I singing our duet, "Unforgettable"

On Sunday, Chris and I decided to visit the T-heads and get a few shots down there:

The bird Chris would NOT stop following~

Near the water

Chris by the gulf "Los Barcos" exhibit- The "Nina" replica
Photos Chris took of pelicans :)
My favorite of the day...

The main goal for the day was to spend some time with his sister, Jamie, her husband, Matt, and their kids, Julianne, Tyler and McKenzie. Tyler is Christopher's godson, so we had a special Easter basket for him that we needed to deliver. Included in his basket was a Spiderman kite, a 3D crayon set and a TON of candy. All of the kids loved the goodies and were very excited to play with us. Chris took on Tyler and Julianne with a few games on their new Wii. Julianne pretty much owned Chris on their first few games of Wii tennis, but he got better towards the end. And Tyler showed his Uncle Christopher how to be a boxing champion. :)

After visiting with Christopher's family, we headed back to my parents' home, ate and hung out with my family.

Chris and Shamrock

Mom and Dad

We left CC on Monday (yup, we took another day off for that) and made our way back to Dallas. It was during our trip back home that we decided to put in a formal offer for our house! Stay tuned for more updates!!! :)

Still Catching Up...

Saturday, April 4th:

Chris and I didn't have anything in particular planned so we decided to take a side trip to Rockwall, TX. For those of you who have never been to or heard of it before, Rockwall is a cute, little city near Lake Ray Hubbard in the DFW area.

To be honest, during the past three years I have lived in Dallas, I have never been on that side of the metroplex. It was a surprisingly short trip (approximately 20 minutes), which made we really sad that we've never thought to drive out there before. Driving into town, it was easy to spot the place I was most interested in visiting- the Harbor at Rockwall.

We parked our car, put Shamrock in his carrier bag (that's right, he got to tag along with us) and just walked around the area taking in the sights. After spending some time by the water and seeing the whole area, we were ready to eat. There were a few restaurants with GREAT views of the water, but they were all pretty packed (or not the type of food I was in the mood for). We decided to eat on the patio of a Mexican restaurant, El Potrillo De La Sandia, which faced the water fountain. The food was pretty good, but the people-watching was even better. :)

Chris and I didn't have our camera with us so I'm just going to post a few photos I found online to give you an idea of what the area looked liked:

Sunday, April 5th:

Chris and I spent our morning house-hunting and then met his mom and Mary Jane out at a property in McKinney. This was a house we had shown my parents the weekend before and my mom had fallen in love with. Chris and I weren't too crazy about the exterior, but really liked the interior (the size of the kitchen, in particular). Before we made any decisions, we wanted Christopher's mom to see it, too. We got the thumbs up from her, so Chris, Mary Jane (our friend and realtor) and I went to speak with the builder's sales associate.

After getting a better idea of what it would take to purchase the house, we decided to take some time to think it over. We also had our friend, Ryan, coming into town for a visit, so we needed to head back home so we wouldn't keep her waiting. :)

We love Ryan's visits. She has started coming into town about once every other month. We've been pretty lazy on her last few visits about taking her to "Dallasy" restaurants, so this time we tried to make mealtime more interesting. We went to a Greek place, Ziziki's, on Sunday, which was pretty good. It was a first for Chris and I to eat Greek and we both loved it. Pita's are my new best friend. :)

Monday (because Ryan was nice enough to grace us with her presence for a second night) we tried Cyclone Anaya's. Anaya's is a Mexican restaurant with a trendy, more upscale feel than what you would expect from a Mexican eatery. We really enjoyed eating there. So much so that we invited Angeleque and Hunter to join us there two weeks later!

Next time Ryan visits, we'll take some photos so you can see her beautiful face. Maybe even get a few shots of her at Cyclone Anaya's. ;)

Parents Weekend!

March 26th- 29th:

We hadn't seen my parents since Christmas, so they decided to make the trip up to Dallas to visit us. I took the day off on Friday, so my mom, dad and I slept in (a little) and then shopped for a little bit until Chris joined us in the afternoon. We enjoyed an afternoon movie ("Knowing") and then went to Northpark for MORE shopping. ;) At the mall, they had a red carpet display, so we thought we'd take advantage...

Mom and Dad on the red carpet

Chris and I

Chris and I have been scouting houses recently, so we took my parents out Saturday morning to see some of the neighborhoods we liked. We had a great time driving around and checking out all of the houses, but more importantly enjoyed the quality time we all spent together. :)

Saturday night Genepool Band performed at the Irish Rover, so we spent the evening there for some food, fun and great music. I have to admit, performing for my parents always makes me a little nervous. Overall, though, I think the band performed well and my family had fun. It was also Dan (the bass player) and his wife, Sheri's, 10th wedding anniversary so all of Dan's family made it to the gig, too. It was truly a family night at the Rover! :)

Below are a few pictures from the show:

Mom and Dad at the gig

Christopher Gene, Dan and True jammin' out!
Singing with the band

The entire Genepool Band!

We were so glad my parents were able to make it up to visit! I'm so happy they had a chance to see the band, see the houses we were interested in and just be there to spend time with us. We can't wait until their next visit!!!

Love you, mom and dad!!!! :)

I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother, Jason, who turned 26 on Wednesday and to my best friend, Jamie, who turned 28 today!!!

Hope you enjoyed your special day and ate LOTS of cake!!!

Shamrock's 6th Birthday! :)

As you can see, I'm going a little out of sequence with our updates. I promise, once I get caught up, everything will go in order. :)

Tuesday, March 17th:

St. Patrick's Day isn't one of my favorite days just because of the color green or my love all things Irish... it's ALSO my furry son's birthday!!! That's right! My adorable, little Shamrock is now in his sixth year of life. It really seems like he's been here forever, but when I say the word six out loud I can hardly believe it's been that long!

This birthday was extra special for Shamrock because he got to spend the entire day with his daddy. :) Chris had a day left from 2008 that he hadn't used, so he chose Shammy's big day as his day off.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon so Chris and I decided to take Shamrock on a picnic during my lunch break from work. Chris and Shamrock picked me up from work, we picked up our food and grabbed some chicken nuggets for Shammy and all headed to a park. He had a great time sniffing and peeing everywhere and really enjoyed his chicken nuggets- he ate all five of them!

For Shamrock's last birthday surprise, Chris stopped at Sprinkles Cupcakes and picked up two "doggie" cupcakes for him. :) All in all, I think he had a great day...or at least we hope he did!!!

Below are some photos of him on his b-day~

Shamrock on the table during our picnic lunch

At first Shamrock was a little hesitant to try one, so he went for the plate first...

When he finally realized what they were...he went for it! Look at those crazy eyes!! ;)

Like most dogs, he got a little protective of his birthday treat and thought Chris and I were trying to take it from him so he tried to run off with one in his mouth!

Shamrock wasn't the only one to get a treat. Chris was sweet enough to pick some up for us, too. Since it was St. Pat's Day, they had two special flavors available. The one below is dark chocolate with Bailey's Irish Cream cheese icing with a perfect little clover to top it off. YUM!

We didn't have milk on Shamrock's birthday, so I had to save my cupcake for later. Ended up eating it after our Ft. Worth trip and it was sooooo good! :)

Past Weekend Activities...Part II- Our JAM-PACKED Weekend

Friday, March 20th:

It was our friend, Suzanne's, birthday, so we all went to celebrate her special day! Suzanne invited all of her friends out to Victor Tango's for a few drinks and then dancing at the Candle Room. Everyone had a blast- the birthday girl especially. ;)

Chris and I with the birthday girl at Victor Tango's

Adam, Kyle, Suzanne, Chris and I at Victor Tango's

Suzanne getting some love from the boys...

Chris and Suzy Q at Candle Room

Everybody shakin' it!

Angeleque and I at Candle Room


Saturday, March 21st:

After our big night out, Chris and I slept in and prepared for our big photo shoot of Mattie (see 2 posts below). After the shoot ended, Chris and I spent a little more time at the Arboretum and then headed home to get ready for dinner. We met Mandy, Torey, Suzanne and Kathleen at Cafe Madrid for some authentic Spanish tapas. It was so nice to be able to have a nice, relaxed dinner to catch up with everyone. Thanks to Kathleen for having a layover in Dallas that night to make the dinner possible. :)

Group shot: Kevin, Torey, Kathleen, Suzanne, Mandy, Chris and I right before we left Cafe Madrid.

Sunday, March 22nd:

It was a GORGEOUS day, so Chris and I decided to take a little day trip to Ft. Worth and try out the famous Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant. We sat outside on their beautiful patio and took in the great weather. I have to say, the atmosphere (not the food) is what makes the restaurant so interesting. The food was good, don't get me wrong, but what makes the trip worth it is the patio. That combined with the weather made it greatness and I can't wait to go back! :)

On our way to the restaurant, we saw signs for the Stockyards and I mentioned to Chris I'd never been there, so we decided to check it out after lunch. I was really surprised! The area was so cute! We spent about an hour just taking in the sites and snapping a few shots. Below are just a few of the photos from the day.

I have to say, this was one of the busiest weekends Chris and I had in a while! We loved every minute of it, but we were pooped by then end of it, for sure. ;)