Winter Wonderland...in Dallas?

Okay. I realize it's February and it's supposed to be cold but that doesn't make this morning's weather conditions any less surprising. Below are photos of our street, our house and the drive out of our neighborhood on my way to work- (click on collage to view larger)

 

Crazy, isn't it?! And it's only going to get better (or worse, depending on your point of view). The snow hasn't stopped since I left this morning, so I'm excited to see how everything looks this evening when I get home!

Stay safe (and warm) out there! :)

Sleep Over!

Chris had a business trip in Utah from Sunday through Wednesday night. Now, most of you know that I'm quite the paranoid, scaredy-cat under normal circumstances. Add me being alone in a new, oversized house and you've got a completely irrational chicken on your hands. Not good.

So Sunday I attempted my first night alone in our house. Needless to say, it did not go well. I think I slept a combined two hours. I kept hearing little noises here and there and then Shamrock would want to go outside just as I was finally falling asleep.

I was so worried I was going to have to deal with this for the next two nights on my own, when my friend, Patricia, came to the rescue. She offered to stay at my house with me! I didn't want to inconvenience her, but, at the same time, I really wanted the company. I told her she didn't have to come over, but she insisted she was fine with it, so I happily accepted her offer.

Thankfully, she spent Monday and Tuesday night with me and Shamrock. We ate, watched TV and chatted until bedtime. It reminded me of being in college when I used to do the same with my roommates. Fun times. :)

I can't tell you how grateful I am Patricia came out to McKinney to keep Shamrock and I company...and calm our fears about being alone. Thanks, Patty!!! :)

Patricia and I at the AMX Halloween Party last year

More Rooms, More Problems

So, I knew going into it that furnishing our house would be a daunting task. What I didn't know was

1. how much furniture actually costs
2. how many pieces are really needed to fill a room
3. how many different styles there are
4. how none of them are exactly what I'm looking for... :(

I've been driving Chris nuts with the decorating (or lack thereof) of our house. I can't seem to make up my mind about what to do in each of the rooms! I'm totally overwhelmed and not sure where to really begin. Poor Chris is ready to get moving and I'm dragging my feet because I'm so indecisive.

Christopher asked if we could please try and make some progress this past weekend and I begrudgingly agreed. So furniture shopping we went...

Surprisingly, we made a few decisions! We purchased a console table for our hallway and we selected our dining chairs and bedroom furniture. Now we're just waiting to see fabric samples for the chairs and then, once that's done, we'll place our order for both.

Even though we have SO much more to do, I feel like some of the weight has been lifted. My next move is to pick the fabric for the drapes and the paint color for our bedroom so we can have at least one room done. Wish us luck!

Moving On Up...

I mentioned I would work to catch up on the updates, so here's one attempt to keep my promise. :)

On May 28th, Chris and I met Mary Jane Carlino (our realtor) to sign all the papers to close on our house. I was a little nervous since everyone said there were a zillion papers to sign and that unexpected requests can sometimes come up, but we were pleasantly surprised...it wasn't too bad!

Looking everything over...

So, after months and months of looking for our first home, Chris and I were finally able to sign the papers to make our home legally ours! :)

Our first photo as "official" homeowners
Of course when you get a new place to live, the inevitable must occur...moving. Ugh...after years of moving in and out of apartments, the one thing that kept me going was knowing this would be the last time I would have to move for AT LEAST five years (at least, that's the hope).

Chris and I were lucky to have the help of my parents and many of our friends with this move. We rented a U-Haul truck, loaded it up and headed from Dallas to McKinney within and hour and a half and unloading the truck took a little over half an hour...not too shabby if you ask me. :)

Our full U-Haul truck...it was supposed to be enough for a three bedroom place. Obviously, they were wrong since Chris and I moved from a one bedroom apartment...

Some of the moving crew- My dad, Shamrock, Chris and our friends, Adam and Justin- before we began unloading the truck

Almost the entire moving group-our friends, Justin, Adam, Gene and Mary Jane Carlino, my parents, Shamrock, me and Chris- in front of our new house. Missing from this photo are Casey, Stephanie and their daughter, Arabella Holland (they helped load, but made it to the house after we finished unloading)

Since they didn't make the group shot, I still wanted to show the Holland family since they were such a great help that day. :)

Miss Arabella

Arabella, Casey and Stephanie Holland

Thanks, again, to all of our friends for all of their help with our move! We really couldn't have done it all in one day without you! :)

Thank you, Mary Jane, for all of your hard work on getting us our first home. Even though we made you look at what was probably over fifty houses (no exaggeration there) you never made us feel like we were putting you out. You were a great realtor and we can't wait to give you more business. :) Thanks, also, to both you and Gene for your help moving as well as for all of the wonderful things you've done for us...we are truly grateful.

Thank you to my parents for driving all the way from Corpus just to come help us pack and be there for our big move, along with cleaning the apartment. It really meant so much to have you both there for this milestone in Chris' and my life. Thanks to Christopher's mom for your help with cleaning, too! Because of everyone's efforts on Sunday, we were able to clean that entire apartment in three hours flat. :)

Productive Weekend

May 1st- 3rd:

This was a nice, productive weekend for us. First, we kicked off the weekend by heading over to the movies and watching "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past". After the movies, we were invited to meet up with some of our friends at Top Golf. I wasn't planning on going anywhere after, so I stuffed myself with popcorn, chocolate covered almonds, two $.99 bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and a large pickle at the movie theatre. Needless to say, I had a tummy ache afterwards. I told Chris he should go out and I stayed home, slept off all my stomach issues, and made a spreadsheet for all the things we'll need for the house when we move in (see, I was productive). Chris had fun with our buddies, Adam, Justin and Rozz, playing mini-golf and going to one of our fav little bars, The Loon, for some cheese fries and a couple of drinks. :)

Saturday morning, we met Suzanne at Sur la Table for a book signing for Curtis Stone's new cookbook. If you don't know who Curtis Stone is, he is the star of "Take Home Chef" on TLC. Suzanne heard about the signing and thought Chris and I would be interested in going. It was really neat! The store prepared several recipes from the cookbook for us to enjoy while we were waiting. For those of you who really know me, you know how much I love food, so having snacks made the experience even better. ;) Curtis signed our book, had a brief conversation with us and even took a photo with the three of us-

We were told they have famous cooks/chefs there all the time, so I can't wait for the next book signing! Thanks for the invite, Suzy Q- Chris and I had an ab-fab time! :)

After, Chris and I did some shopping and watched "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Then it was time for another gig (May is a packed month for gigs...we have four scheduled!).

This show was for a private Cinco de Mayo party in Wylie, TX. Unfortunately, the weather did not want to cooperate and we ended up not really doing much at the show. :(

Sunday was where the word "productive" really fits in for us. Chris and I went to the new house to sign some more papers and give Chad the coach light we purchased. We measured all the windows so I can start getting drapes for a few rooms and we met one of our new neighbors! After wrapping up everything we needed to do in the house, we went to Sears to look at their refrigerators and washers and dryer sets. We found the fridge we wanted, but decided to wait and see if the price will drop any further. We did, however, buy our washer and dryer; our first major purchase for our new home! :)

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!!! :)