Our First Home

So, I have some great news! Finally, after looking at what seemed like a million houses we found the perfect starter home. Last Friday I went with our realtor and the last house we looked at I decided that that was the one. It was wonderful 3 bedroom, 4 bath, original  hardwood, craft room, original mint green, blue, pink, white tiles in all the bathrooms in excellent condition, and it was a BIG house. After careful consideration over the weekend we decided that as old as the home is and as big as it is that we didn't want to worry about the upkeep of it for a first home. I mean just the time I finished cleaning the last room I would have to start all  over...not appealing.

We have always looked at open houses on Sundays even when we weren't looking to buy. So this Sunday was no different. We beefed it up this Sunday instead of our usual 2-3 houses that we want to see just because we are curious we had 11 on our list. The first house we went and looked at was in an area that we told our realtor we most definitely didn't want to be in and we didn't even want to look. It's just that the subdivision is out of town a little bit and farther away from the grocery store..haha. Basically, living out there would change our whole routine.

So needless to say the first house we looked at that day, in the area we didn't want to be in, is the one that is now going to become our first home. We walked in an I instantly knew that it was the one. It's a smaller home but with all the necessary amenities that we want. Plus you can't beat a deal when they tell you that they are leaving their fridge, their new electrolux washer and dryers, and the huge giant tv over the fireplace. The house was built in 2009 so it's right at 3 years old which hopefully means one thing....low maintenance. The owners also have added a security system with cameras.

I go this morning to sign the official contract. The next ten days are going to be full of getting the inspection done, making sure that the bank has all of the million documents they need, and anticipation. Our apartment lease is up May 31 and we close on the house May 18. That will give us a solid week and a half for me to go in and deep clean the house and get it prepared for our stuff.

I stole the pic off the realtor's website so I could give y'all a sneak peek. I hope that I can keep myself from driving by there everyday and having them think I'm some sort of stalker.

Roundin' Up The Snakes

Well as most of you know Brandon and I are from a tiny town in west Texas called Sweetwater. Most days we don't even claim this, but there are the rare occasions that the "oh yeah, we are from Sweetwater..you know where the World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup is," conversation happens. It's like we use the "Roundup" as some grand, magical, defining event for Sweetwater. 

Having grown up there and lived there for 12 years this was only the 2nd "Roundup" that I can remember attending. Let me just say it was less than impressive. The one time I went when I was little I remember seeing piles and piles of snakes in the coliseum and the smell is something you never forget. This year I think Brandon told me they only rounded up 1,500 lbs when usually they round up 6,000 - 7,000 lbs a year. Seems like our experiences with snake hunting this year (we only caught 4 total) was not just our location. I think the recent fires had a lot to do with the turnout this year.

Here's a recap of our Saturday:

1) Britni gets up and runs 4 miles at 7:30 - gets chased by dogs and rained on
2) Jared and Tanya meet up with us and we venture to the coliseum
3) Find good parking spot
4) Decide to ride bus because it is running - takes longer than if we had just walked to the door
5) Paid $16 a couple to get into the colisuem
6) Saw Aaron Watson look-a-like, maybe 10 snakes, and a lot of rednecks (World's Largest Redneck Roundup)
7) Go outside to eat extremely unhealthy food
8) We order...they give our order to someone else..finally we get our food
***it's been raining this whole time***
9)  Walk to car..feeling guilty about eating bad food...feeling guilty about spending $16 to see basically nothing
10) Nap time
11) Dinner with the Monday's at Lumberyard...waited an hour for our food
12) Went to dance..got asked by some guy if I wanted to dance, with Brandon sitting right next to me..awkward
13) I consumed zero alcohol - so I drove home

Needless to say in the words of Jared Monday "we will be good for another five years."

The "Roundup" didn't quite live up to our expectations but we tried to make the most of it as indicated by the pictures below..

Miss Snakcharmer

 Getting all the meat out

 Tanya with her giant corn dog

 Brandon calling me out for taking such classy photo of him

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!!

P.S. we put an offer on a house this morning so I'll keep y'all updated as soon as we hear something! 

Hobby Lobby - 40% off - gets me everytime

A couple of weeks ago I took some of Kristen's (Brandon's sister) prints to Hobby Lobby to get them framed along with my bib from my first 5K. We have had Kristen's prints for a long time and I have felt incredibly bad that I haven't had them framed and they have just been stored away. I've been "too busy."

They were ready to be picked up today. After my work dinner I ran over to Hobby Lobby to pick them up. This was a bad idea for numerous reasons. The sign outside Tractor Supply (right next door) said "baby chicks are here," so of course I asked Brandon if I could get one to which he replied "uhhhh." Keep in mind we live in a one bedroom apartment. This trip was also bad idea because Brandon wasn't there to focus me on my mission. The next thing that happened was the glaring 40% off signs on the Easter decor right when you walk in. With the size of our apartment I don't really decorate for any season/holiday but these little guys were too hard to resist. I also rationalized that all of them except for the bunny can be kept out year round (heck, I might even leave him out). I got all of these adorable guys for $11.97. Right now I just put them on a tray that I made. You can find how I made the tray here

Finally I made my way back to the framing, after having to tell myself "no more" on every isle that I came to. I picked these three prints and my bib up. The first pic are prints that Kristen did. The middle one with the green frame I believe she did all in pencil. I went with the green frame on this one because the eyes of one of the girls is green and I thought it would really bring them out. I have no idea where we are going to hang them, but I'm sure we will find the perfect space for them. Keep in mind that she is a tattoo artist and has the ability to just dream up all these things. That is one talent I can't even comprehend.

I'll keep y'all posted when I figure out what I'm going to do with my new little guys and Kristen's prints. I'm going to put the bib in my office at work.

We are headed to Sweetwater this weekend for the Roundup. I'm sure I'll be back on Monday with a blog of all the good times and shenanigans that Brandon, Jared, and Chris get into while Tanya and I are thinking "ohhh noo.."

Our Weekend With Kyle

After sitting in front of my computer for what seems like forever (5 mins) I can't find a good way to start out this blog, so I'll just jump right in.

Fortunately, I've always been one of those people who didn't know anyone that was serving in the military and by anyone I mean family and friends. It has never been a reality for me and I can honestly say I've never completely valued the sacrifice these men and women make. However, Brandon's brother, Kyle, will be leaving for Afghanistan this month and as much as you try to put it out of your mind, it is a hard thing not knowing if you will ever see him again and you really begin to value what is being given up - the sacrifice that is made. Kyle is a Navy Corpsman, and I can't tell you all what that entails except that he is a medic - essentially he is assigned to a "group" (I think the proper term is Unit, but not sure) of Marines to take care of them. This has pretty much been all Kyle has ever wanted to do and for the most part he lacks what most of us call fear and has an extraordinary protection instinct. Knowing that this is what he has been called to do helps us to rest a little easier.

So our weekend with Kyle was perfect. The boys drank, laughed, made fun of each other, shot guns, and ate...a lot (to all the above). Normally I would be telling Brandon, this is your last beer, or don't eat that, or don't say that (I promise I'm not that nagging, all the time), but how can you tell your husband to stop enjoying spending time with his brother. I halfway expected them to get into a wrestling match right there on the floor like typical boys, but Brandon being as smart as he is probably knew he wouldn't have stood a chance.

Michelle cooked up a storm. Friday night it was steak, potatoes, and all the fixin's, and red velvet cake. Breakfast Saturday was omelets, bacon, 2 kinds of sausage, and bagels. For lunch/supper we had Michelle's famous (well I think it's famous) Gumbo and chocolate chip pie. After this Kyle said "no more food mom."

Here are some pics from our weekend:

 Kyle, while we were out shooting...

 The boys enjoying licking the beaters from Michelle's chocolate chip pie

Brandon acting innocent...like I didn't catch him licking the spatula..

 We couldn't have asked for a better weekend..If Brandon and I ever cross your mind, say a quick prayer for Kyle. He is sacrificing more than we could ever understand, but then again that's just who Kyle is. 

Wednesday Night, Date Night

Not too long after we got married we realized that we had to start making time for each other. The week after we were married I got a promotion at work and moved into the department head position of Circulation and Brandon started school in August. As if me working 40+ hours before the promotion was hard imagine taking on a whole new set of skills and tasks, as well as trying to be a wife, keep the apartment clean, prepare every meal for my husband, etc. Then once Brandon started school he was busy from sun-up to sun-down.

With all this came the institution of  "date night." I feel like we are one of  "those" couples now, you know the couple that has to set aside time for each other on purpose not just because. But alas, that is what our lives have come to. So this means two things for the Birds..."date nights" and no children (except Buckwheat).

Most of our date nights consist of "where do you want to eat," "no, I don't want that," "okay your turn to choose," "no I don't want that, you choose," and so on until we agree on a place. Dinner is usually followed by Fro-Yo (B hates when I say that..he doesn't understand why I won't just say frozen yogurt). And that is our typical date night. Nothing fancy or extraordinary. Sometimes we even spice it up with a movie.

However, this week we got a little crazy...

As we are driving around Brandon keeps needling me on where we are going. I had already decided on Outback (strange, because I don't really even like it that well), but wasn't going to tell him that. I didn't want to give him an opportunity to say no. Mr. Gatti's happens to be right before Outback so I jokingly said we are going to Mr. Gatti's. He thought I was serious, so that's where we ended up - WE NEVER EAT THERE AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL AGAIN. The food is not as good as I remember it being when I was a kid, and it probably wasn't even good then.

We purchased 40 tokens and got 10 free which is 50 tokens for $10 which is $0.20/token..Sheesh. Brandon wanted to purchase more because he used all his tokens before me (we split them 25 and 25). I said no of course, not at $0.20/token. Now I know why my parents always said no. So we played the ridiculously lame games that we enjoyed every minute of, fed our tickets into the "ticket eater," and picked out prizes. Brandon had 126 tickets, I had 127. I didn't want to combine them because I wanted to pick out my own prizes.

Brandon feeding his tickets into the "ticket eater"

Our prizes..I went with a bunch of small things: finger puppet, two erasers, a pencil, a ball, and some sort of toy with suction cups all around it

Brandon went with baseball stuff..imagine that

I highly doubt we will ever have another Mr. Gatti's date night, but hey it was different than the norm.

Date night ended with Brandon working on homework and me cleaning and doing laundry...so see we are "those" people. I'll leave you with the picture below which is the reason that Buckwheat is the only kid worth having...because he helps me with laundry. (sorry for the scary eyes)

I wonder what next Wednesday holds...

My first 5K

I have been excited for this race for the last month. A 5k is 3.1 miles, definitely not a marathon, but nothing to sneeze at either. I ran sprints in high school, open quarter, mile relay, and 200 meters. My anatomy classes in college taught me that you're muscles are either made to run sprints or long distance, not both. With those two things combined I've been telling myself (more like using the excuse) that it just isn't possible for me to run long distances. Oh sure, off and on over the last 10 years I've given a go at it, but always found some reason to give up - the weather, I'm too busy, I can't do it, etc.

However, shortly after the beginning of the year I just started running. It wasn't a New Years resolution, as I don't believe in making New Years resolutions. I think you should resolve every day to be better than the last in all aspects, so what's the point of making a resolution one time a year on a given date? I started running every other day and probably within a week I had decided that I was going to run the 5k at Cowtown Marathon. So I signed up for it, and for the last 6 weeks I have followed a training schedule without skipping a beat no matter the day, no matter the weather. I think my mom finally realized I was serious when I was up at 8 am in 29 degree weather on a Saturday morning, running 4 miles.

The week before the race I took it easy on my running on Monday and Wednesday, took 2 days rest before the big day, and stayed well hydrated and well nourished. Oh, I forgot to mention that I've almost given up sweets and alcoholic beverages entirely. Not the easiest of things since I love cheesecake, brownies, my whiskey, and craft beers.

The morning of the race I was up at 4:45, after not sleeping a wink or so it felt, and headed to Ft. Worth from my parents at 5:30. My parents, Brandon, and I sat in the car and waited as the cars flooded into the parking lots. Around 7:45 I decided it was time to get out, start stretching, and warming my muscles up. I found Michelle, Brandon's mom, and we lined up together. Below are a few pictures before the race - and yes I look crazy in the most of them, between the cold temperatures, being nervous, and adrenaline I was not focused on trying to be cute.

Michelle and I crossed the start line and finish line together! Definitely a memorable first race. My official time was 34:59. My previous best time when training was 39:02, so I bettered myself. I placed 151 out of 349 females in my age group and 2035 out of 5051 overall. Well in the top half of both categories. The winner in the female division had a winning time of 21 minutes and some change. After only a month of training, I'm definitely happy with my results. I had set my goal at 36-37 minutes and I beat that.

Running is not something I'm setting about doing to win races, I did that in high school. It is something I'm doing solely for me, for self-satisfaction, for accomplishment. Everything else in my life I do to compete or be the best. Most weeks I devote more than 40 hours a week to my work/career. I try to devote as much time to my husband and becoming a better wife (most of the time falling short) as I can. In general, everything in my life is centered around being the best. Running is something I do not have to be the best at; it is something I can do for myself, that no one can take away, and the only person I have to compete with is myself.

I once thought how does someone make the time to have a great career, a successful marriage, and still find time to devote to themselves..the answer as my husband as always told me is..."you make the time" (seems pretty simple, huh)

My closing words of wisdom, I suppose. No matter what you set out to do you can do if you put in the effort. You have to overcome the limitations you set on yourself, you have to overcome what you are told you can and cannot do, and you have to overcome the busy world. If something is important to you, you will make the time.

Future goals: I'm starting to train for a 10k, then a half marathon, and next year I will run the Cowtown Marathon with my mother-in-law.

Thank you for all the support..My husband for taking off work, making me a sign, and believing in me, my parents for always always believing in me and supporting ALL of my crazy ventures, my mother-in-law for pushing me the last quarter of the way, Ann, Jay, Rachel, and Ian for staying after Ian's 10k and cheering us on, and Zollie for always being encouraging and directing us towards the celebration beer...which I did not have.

What a Wonderful Weekend

As promised, here is my Monday blog.

What a wonderful weekend we had. It's an odd sensation to be in your mid 20's and you suddenly get a whole new family that you have never had before. This is much the way my husband felt back in 2010 when he gained a new part of his family. However, when they are as wonderful, caring, warm, and kind as they are, you soon forget that they have only been a part of your life for a couple of years.

I said all that to say this: We had the absolute honor and pleasure to attend Shane and Scarlett's wedding this past weekend, and what an amazing wedding it was. I won't recap all of the details because I feel like they aren't my details to share and I can't possibly begin to do the wedding any justice withe mere words. It was in essence, magical. Two things though: my husband was so excited with the beer-bearing donkeys and at one point in the evening I turned to Brandon and said "this is when every girl is comparing her wedding and it just falls short." Now don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of my wedding and it was everything I could have ever hoped for (except the flowers, but don't get me started on that) - I was saying it more as a WOW moment than anything.

Brandon and I stayed in this adorable little Inn called "Wimberley Inn." This cute little bag filled with wine, beer, water, altoids, hand sanitizer, yummy goodies, and kleenex greeted us upon or arrival. In the file it is upright, but for some reason when I stick it on here it is sideways - just tilt your head to the side and imagine.

It was up to date yet had a vintage flair to it. This was my favorite part of the room. How many times did I actually get to lounge in it...once, for 2 minutes..bummer.

And some views from the front porch and out the back window.

Sunday morning we slept in till 8:30 (yes that is sleeping in to us). We met Zollie and Michelle in downtown Wimberley to have breakfast. We made a short stop in Fredericksburg so I could satisfy my sweet tooth with a Sweet German Pretzel. Look how excited Brandon was...again..imagine that he is straight..

We went to Enchanted Rock with Zollie and Michelle since Michelle is considering a Biathlon where you run, bike, and then climb Enchanted Rock. Sounds fun terrible right? Lunch at the brewery and then we headed home.

So that was our wonderful weekend!

To top things off I FINALLY recieved this in my e-mail this morning..So it is officially official even if it is sideways..

**agenda for the week - find out why pics look straight in their file and then turn out sideways on the blog**