"Early Marriage" Decor

Steve and I went over to my grandmother's today to look at a chair she was getting rid of, due to getting a new one. She had asked us if we wanted it. One of the first questions she said was, "Well, will it go with your decor?" I just laughed as I reminded her we had no set "decor" in the apartment. She replied with, "Yeah, I guess you're going with the 'early marriage' look." So true a statement, though. Our recliner, couch, entertainment center, dresser, (now) new chair to replace an older, existing one, and other select pieces of furniture we own are from our parents or were in our own rooms at home. I realized that although our furniture and things in our apartment are not all new, they sure fit the term of "early marriage" and were passed down with great love from their previous owners...owners who exhibit that love to us in so many ways.

It made me think that if able, of course, I'd love to go out and buy a new living room set, new bedroom suite, and nice, new things for our apartment (I'd love to be able to buy a house instead of our apartment). But, that's not what matters in this stage of our "early" marriage. Brand new furniture and decor wouldn't make Steve and I any stronger a husband or wife...just a broke husband and wife. :) It's all about putting your priorities straight. We do not ever argue about how much we love each other, religion, politics, how we want to raise our kids - in their schooling, in the church, giving them opportunities we couldn't have, how thankful we are for our families, places we want to travel, how much time we want to spend together, and how much we support each other. So, if at the end of the day, I can be curled up next to my husband, watching a tv show we have both agreed on, in a chair that was handed down from a grandmother who exemplified great love in her marriage, talking about our future and agreeing on the most important key elements...then, I'll take this "early marriage" decor and enjoy for as long as it's supposed to be mine.

Happy Birthday, Baby Brudder!

Today is Evan, my younger brother's, 18th birthday. I can't believe how fast he has grown up! Even though I was just 5 at the time he was born, there are moments about the night that he was born that I still remember so vividly. I was SO excited to be up late, at the hospital, waiting for our new family member...until I saw him. I remember leaping into my dad's arms to go into the room to see him and immediately thinking that he was so ugly and dirty! Haha. He was an adorable kid and has turned into such a handsome young man. Even though I swore my parents loved him more, we had our fair share of fights growing up, and we're nearly 5 1/2 years a part in age...I could not love this kid more. I'm a proud big sister! He has truly become one of my best friends - he always makes me laugh, and I know he's there for me for any and everything. My prayer is for his potential to shine through and for our relationship to grow stronger each day.

Happy birthday, Ev! You are an amazing kid, deserve such so much, and God has such great plans in store for your future. I love you...and your sissy is always here for you! Enjoy that Brooks and Dunn concert...you can still use that second ticket to take me! ;)

Spring Break 2010

Spring break was warmly welcomed into my life this year! It had been long awaited...spring break needed to come about two weeks prior to its actual arrival - the kids knew it, and I knew it...I'm still not sure what we were waiting for! :)

Our vacation started out great! Steve and I left for Houston on the first Saturday to visit the Granhaugs! We hadn't seen Amanda and Eric since December, and it was so nice to reunite with good friends. We were escorted to the Houston rodeo, where we listened to some Blake Shelton and ate yummy carnival food. On Sunday, Amanda and I had lunch with my old roommate, Valerie. It was SO good to catch up with her! We did a little shopping, while the boys went to the shooting range, and then Amanda had a bunco party at her house with teacher friends. FUN game - I need to find some ladies to play with! We really enjoyed our weekend and headed home on Monday.

Once back in town, we took Monday afternoon and night easy. On Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment, got a pedicure with my mom, did some spring cleaning, and had dinner with our good friends Janelle and Michael at Babe's. It was nice to catch up with them and eat some of the best comfort food around!

Wednesday was Sherri's day off, so we took full advantage of that! It was a beautiful day, so Steve took the boat out to the lake to make sure it was geared up for fishing season. Sherri and I hit up the Allen outlets - had to see the new Coach stock! We ended up in Frisco, eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory (oh my word - YUM!) and browsing through Barnes and Noble. We spent the last couple of hours of our afternoon driving through new housing developments just east of Denton, trying to cure (but only making worse) my house fever. Steve and I ended up eating dinner with the family and then came home to start on our new work out routine.

Thursday was shopping day with Mom! We went back to the Allen outlets...I got a couple of new tops, jeans, sandals, and a dress - all for school or just the spring/summer season coming up. It was a nice day out with Mom. Steve and I went back to his parents' house that evening to make a new dinner dish we really love and share it with the rest of the family.

Friday was a lazy morning, followed by a trip to the grocery store. After a short nap and relaxing afternoon, Steve and I went to Lewisville for me to do a little shopping with Ryann. Steve ran some errands, and then we all met back up for dinner at Abuelo's. (See - more good eating!) We came home and ended the evening with a movie night, that was long over-due.

Saturday was another lazy morning, but while Steve had to go help his dad install a new sink and paint a bathroom, I went shopping with his mom and Sherri. (I had to get my NEW MOON movie!) I hung out with Sherri at the house for the rest of the night - ust in time to see it SNOW! Yes, on our last day of spring break - it snowed! It was beautiful, but I'm ready for the spring weather to stay around.

Sunday was church, lunch at the Libicks' house, and relaxing at home - like normal. :)

Great break...ready for summer - and, now, just getting through the week back in reality.

Springtime Snow Day

Welcome, springtime. Welcome to Texas.

Yesterday, it was a beautiful, sunny day, with temperatures in the mid 70s, and I was finally able to bust out the flip flops.

Today, I have dug (back) out my scarves, gloves, jackets, and boots...because it's snowing!

What a way to end spring break of 2010!

Update on Life

Hello, blogging world! I am back and hope to be much better about sharing stories and news than I have been in recent months. My last blog post was from November of 2009. Allow me to (briefly) catch you up on the happenings since then!

November 2009 - I celebrated my 23rd birthday, and the very next day, Steve and I flew to Orlando to visit Sherri at Disney World. This was my first time to Mickey's hometown, and we hadn't seen Sherri in over three months! We had a WONDERFUL time, seeing Disney World decorated for the holidays and getting a very personalized tour from our favorite Disney CP! We, then, celebrated Thanksgiving with my family in east Texas, and decorated for our very first Christmas together!

December 2009 - I completed my first semester of teaching, had a Christmas celebration with my family, and then took off to Virginia Beach, VA to have Christmas with Steve's grandparents. It was not our first Christmas together that I imagined, and was my first away from home, but it was a nice visit. From there, we left and headed back to Orlando to spend some family time before they packed Sherri up and brought her home! We, once again, enjoyed the parks and holiday decorations. Steve and I flew back to Texas to ring in our first new year together on the 31st.

January 2010 - Sherri arrived back in Texas on the 2nd, and we were (and still are) THRILLED to have her near us again! We celebrated a belated Christmas with the Libick side of the family, and on the 4th, I started back to work. In this month, Steve and I hit the six month mark of being married, and he had his 23rd birthday.

February 2010 - Our life finally started to slow down and re-adjust to normalcy during this month. We did spend a lot of quality time together and have a date night for our first married Valentine's Day. We also experienced a solid 12+ inches of SNOW in the middle of the month and thoroughly enjoyed the winter olympics.

All of this brings us to March. Spring break finally arrived, after a long awaiting. It's been so nice to have time off from school (and with Steve). And, with (a very sad) three days left of spring break, I shall be back soon to update you on our week full of spring break fun!

New Look

I'm trying to get back into blogging and make my site snazzy, so check back soon for a better look and new posts! :)