4th of July 2012

In light of us finishing our kitchen, we decided to host a small get together for the 4th of July this year. We invited a small group of friends to come and hang out for burgers and fireworks. It was nice getting together and welcoming everyone to our home. It was the first time we were able to introduce everyone to our little place since we moved in. 

Some decor :-)

Cupcakes, Flag Brie, and delicious cookies

Artie's sister and her husband joined us along with some of Artie's co-workers and mutual friends of ours. Here we are mingling :-)

The boys were exceptionally excited about having company over. Both of them are the sweetest dogs ever and are ever so willing to share their love with anyone and everyone!! Luckily for the boys, everyone is a dog lover as much as we are so they were in heaven!! 

Aren't my boys handsome?!?! <3

Being the game lovers we all are as well, a game of Taboo was soon underway!! Can you tell how serious this game gets?! lol I was not doing so hot on this round but managed to get great shots lol ;-)

Soon, one of my best friends, Grace arrived with her family. She has always been like a sister to me and I love her as one. She has always been there for me unconditionally and I am blessed to call her my  friend. These are her kids which I consider my niece and nephews <3 

JoJo (in white), Jr (in red), and last but not least Celi (in green) <3

The guys went off to the fireworks stand and brought back sparklers with tons of fireworks!! Sparklers are my favorite!!

Everyone of all ages enjoying the sparklers lol

Natalie, her husband, John, along with Artie and myself are all a part of a soccer league. We started kicking the ball around for fun while the others mingled and enjoyed the good food and drinks.

Some more pics of our guests and the fireworks that closed our night :-) 

Thanks to everyone that came out and spent the holiday with us. It is so wonderful to be surrounded by so many amazing individuals whom we call friends <3 

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." -C.S. Lewis

Kitchen Update

Our home needs a little renovating...well, to say a little would be an understatement. The home is an older home that was built in 1982. Mom bought the house in 2001 and from the looks of it, has not had much work done on it since. Mom never got a chance to do the things she wanted with it so we are now renovating it slowly. We decided to start with the kitchen because that wall paper was so awful!! 

Is that not the loveliest wallpaper you have ever seen? lol

Artie turned out to be quite the handyman!! We began with tearing down this wallpaper which turned out to be an adventure in itself. I peeled the wallpaper off, thinking what was the big deal?! It peeled off rather easily and I was thinking I was making good time when Artie comes in and looks around. 

Artie: "Babe, you have gone with me to Lowe's right?"

Me: "Yes, why?"

Artie: "What color is sheetrock?"

Me: "Grayish white"

Artie: "So, you still think you've hit sheetrock?"

Me: "Damnit!! lol"

Sure enough, not one, not two, but THREE wallpaper layers awaited me!! It was not fun at all and a lot of work but in the end, we did it!! 

During the process...Isn't my honey handsome?! :-)

We were torn on selecting a good color because the cabinets and the countertops are not being done just yet, so we needed to find a color that would match our blue-ish gray countertops and our current cabinets. We went with a gray color with some blue undertones. Initially, I thought perhaps the blue "theme" was being overdone but it ended looking very nice. Artie and I were both pleased with our choice. 

We also love the bead board look so we added that to the bottom half of the kitchen to add a little extra to it. There is a wooden table in one of the pictures that technically is not in the kitchen but we had a little get-together at the house so disregard that table at the moment lol. This is what our finished product, for now, looks like <3 Hats off to my amazing boyfriend and brother for their help and dedication on this project. 

I also did some work and this is my evidence shot ;-) 

Eventually, the cabinets will be redone by either being replaced or refinishing them. We shall see where the wind blows me on that one. :-) Good night world!!

Be blessed!! 

The Boys are Back!!!

So after much debate and discussion, Artie and I decided to board and train the boys. We chose a two week program over a four week program, mostly because we could not imagine four long weeks without the kiddos!! In honesty, it had a great deal to do with us having a great feeling after visiting the location and meeting the people. We went with Prestonwood Kennels and we could not have been more pleased. Not only were the trainers awesome but everyone who worked there, seemed to have a genuine interest in all the pets being boarded. Upon pickup, we were handed about 20 sheets of "progress notes" about their daily playtime, interactions, and behaviors which we thought was so neat...scrapbook material!!! We were not allowed to visit them during their two week stay but we called a few times and received thorough reports. It really put our minds at ease. 

So excited to be heading home finally!! 

My sweet spoiled baby!! 

I think Chauncy was most excited for his welcome home bone than us lol

Sweet Milton definitely has stolen our hearts <3

Having a serious talk lol

The bond between these two is incredible <3

Our boys are back!!! 

Training continues every day with them. Soon, we will be having breakfast in bed made by them lol jkjk :-) Notice Chauncy is still occupied with this bone lol :-) Until next time world!! <3 Be blessed!!

Annual 2012 River Floating Trip

For the second year in a row, a group of us have gotten together for a float down the Guadalupe River. Marie, Artie's sister, goes through all the hard work of putting this together and ends up creating one amazing trip with awesome memories. The lake house that we scored this year was phenomenal!! It was on Lake Dunlap which allowed us for plenty of sun and water time in the privacy of our own deck/pier. A few pics of the house...

Our awesome lakehouse

to the right :-)

to the left :-)

from our pier

our little pond 

We were able to score these awesome floats off of E-bay that sat approximately six people or 1300 lbs. It also had two built in coolers!!! It was pretty sweet!! :-)

Needless to say, it was one relaxing and enjoyable weekend!!

delicious brisket being prepared a la Nick :-)

Marie and myself

Lauren paddling away

loading up the coolers!! 

Nick

Lauren and Sherrill

my handsome being shy!! lol

"I'll jump if you jump!!"

Goofballs lol

Oh, the peer pressure ;-)

Waaaahoooooooo!!!!

Gorgeous

So relaxing...

<3

Calling it a night lol

Thanks again to Artie's sister, Marie, for one amazing weekend! Til next year!! :-)