Rock Out!!!

Is it sad at all that me, Rob, Andy, and Ashley spent our entire Friday evening playing Rock Band on the XBOX 360?

No, it's great fun, actually. You should try it someday....

Leaving you with thoughts of someday making it big:

This Made Me Laugh...

It's a work in progress

Bear with me... I'm working on it!

We are experiencing techinical difficulties...

Please bear with me as I take some fantastic ideas I got from Julia and Suzanne to make my blog look creatively fantastic. Don't be alarmed...

We Have a Foundation!!

They poured our foundation yesterday!!! Now it's really starting to become real! I have a visual of how our house sits on the lot. This is very exciting!!! I have a ton of pictures. I know they aren't much to look at, but I'm trying to take a lot to really document the process. All of the directions (i.e. right/left) are from the stance of the front of the house. So if I say this is the right side, that means it's the right side as if you were facing the front of the house.

The back right corner (aka kitchen and breakfast room)

Our Backyard (the street you see is the court behind us) I'm standing in the VERY large part of the back yard

The back from the court

The right side

Back right corner (again)

Front right corner (aka garage)

Front right corner - our garage (I'm facing the front of the house now)

The front - right side of pic is garage, middle is front porch, left is 3rd bedroom/office

Front again - garage

Full front - garage right, porch middle, office/bedroom left

I hear it goes really fast from here, so be expecting lots of updates!

Small Disclaimer

I added the link to a new blog I came across while browsing a friend's blog and added to my "Blogs I Currently Stalk" list. It's called "Baby Rabies."

Disclaimer: I am not pregnant. I don't plan on getting pregnant for a very long time. Please don't start rumors and please don't ask.

Thanks!

By the way, that blog is absolutely HILARIOUS!

Christmas!

Real quick, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of our Christmas tree! I LOVE our Christmas tree. It is SOOOOO beautiful. These pictures do not do it justice.

With the Flash...

Without the flash...
(yes, it really is that bright!)

Merry Christmas everyone!

:::Sigh::: It's over...

Well, my weekend of heaven is over. Technically, it was over yesterday, but I had a good day yesterday, so I won't count it. I'm currently sitting in the library at Lindenwood fuming over the fact that they are raising tuition and room and board again and thinking about how the heck I'm gonna pay the extra money out of pocket.

See, there are few things that I take pride in. However, one of them is the fact that I scored a 30 on my ACT allowing me to attend Lindenwood University on a full ride academic scholarship. The stipulations of this scholarship are that I have to pay a $300 "student family contribution" (a.k.a. we call it that to get free money out of you) and $120 in activity fees. This is what I pay to go to school, and I can handle it. I work enough to pay it off every semester (on top of books and bills). Well, this past semester they upped that $300 to $500. OUCH. I'm afraid of what it's gonna be next semester. I really don't want to have to take out a loan. Pray for me.

On a lighter note, I had a great Thanksgiving weekend filled with family and fun. The food was wonderful on Thanksgiving day and it was so nice to spend the weekend with my family and not have to worry about what "I have to do tomorrow." We stayed up all night on Thursday rocking out on Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band and went shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, getting our traditional Starbuck's Hot Chocolate at 4:00 in the morning and heading to the mall. I got all of my Christmas shopping done! Woo-hoo!

I also splurged a bit and bought myself a new MP3 player, which I absolutely love:


On Friday we went and saw our hole for the house (see below)! Very exciting! Then we had a really fun evening with some friends and went to see "August Rush" which is quickly becoming one of my favorite movies.

This movie has an absolutely amazing soundtrack which I am currently listening to on my brand new MP3 player. The movie is just beautiful - dialogue, cinematography, music, acting. I loved it!

Afterwards we went to Ariake Japanese Steakhouse which is always a good meal! Sunday I stayed at home and relaxed all day. It was such a great weekend....

Back to reality! But, on the bright side, it's officially the Christmas season!!! I love Christmas! I'll have pictures of our gorgeous tree up soon.

It's over...

What a fantastic weekend! I got to enjoy spending some quality time with family and friends. Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic - as usual - and we

A Fun Night

Rob and I just got back from a really fun night with a couple of friends from church. We went and saw August Rush (quickly becoming one of my favorite movies

Ladies and Gentlemen...

WE HAVE A HOLE!!!!!

Check it out!

I know the pictures are kind of hard to see, but if you click on them you can see them bigger (the same goes for most of the pictures on my blog - for future reference)







Oh, and here's our *NEW* street sign. We will live on Springfield Dr.

Pretty exciting!

It's 4:30 AM

Let the madness begin! Woo-hoo!

This Spoke to Me Today

I get a daily Bible verse on my Facebook page and today's really spoke to me:

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:16-19

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember to take a moment to remember what you have to be thankful for.

For me, it's:

• Rob (and our love)
• Family
• Friends
• Being blessed to get to go through college on a full ride scholarship
• Our house
• A wonderful "new" family
• My puppy!

And too many more to name! I thank God for health, happiness, and safety. I thank God for the numerous blessings this year. I live a wonderful life that I wouldn't trade for anything - and that's a lot to be thankful for.

Have a great day everyone!

Finally...

I get a bit of a break! I feel like I've been going non-stop for the past three months (oh wait, I have!) and I finally get a break! I have no school or work until next Monday, thank you public schools! Although, that does mean no pay... :( What can I do though?

I'm contemplating getting another job. I really need the extra income, but I don't need to stress myself out any more. I just pray for guidance!

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving because its a time to finally relax and enjoy the gift of family and friends, love and laughter. It also ushers in the holiday season and you can't forget black friday!

Yes, I'm one of the crazy people in the mad rush line at Best Buy at 3:00 in the morning. What can I say? It's a rush! I love a good deal, and I love the out of the ordinary feeling I get staying up all night and standing in the cold drinking Starbuck's hot chocolate. Mmmm...

But it'll all be over soon enough... I know this is kind of a hodge-podge entry, but I'm in kind of a hodge-podge state right now. With more homework on the horizon and a weekend of fun and activities I'm kind of in a limbo.

Now I'm off to look up cookie recipes! I'm going to visit Casey - my future sister-in-law - and baby Isabella tomorrow!

Oh, and here's a picture of her - my new niece! She's trying very hard (and succeeding) to become the third love of my life... :)

Welcome, Isabella Rose

Proud Parents: Jeff and Casey

October 28, 2007

9:37 AM

8 lbs. 7 oz.

20.75 inches

The Other Love of My Life

If you know me, you know I have two (well, three) true loves. Oliver doesn't count because he's not human - though I love him like he is. Anyway, Rob is, of course, my first true love. But I have another one. He's become so much a part of my life that I feel like I'm going to lose a little part of me after we get married and I move out. This little two year old trooper is a miracle in our lives and is truly the highlight of my day. His name is James and he's my nephew. James' story is a long and hard one to tell, but once I do you will understand just how much this little guy means to all of us.

James was born on July 4, 2005 (firecracker baby!) and weighed only 4 pounds.

James and Papa - His outfit in this picture is a newborn size. He was so tiny!

Before he even arrived we had all been told he had a congenital heart defect and, we laugh about it now, at one point they thought his organs were switched (i.e. his heart was on the right side instead of the left). Well, we prepared for some time for what we would all be facing in the coming months and years. We were told that he would need surgery to correct the two holes, small valve, and extra arteries running blood to his lungs. We were also told that this surgery would need to occur within days after his birth. Well, James set out to prove us wrong from the very beginning.

Come to find out, his organs weren't switched and he wouldn't end up having his first surgery until he was around 7 months old. We were also told that he would be a "blue" baby when he was born - having a blue tinge to him because of oxygen deprivation. Well, he was born 3 weeks early and came rolling down the hall in his incubator pink as can be and sucking on a pacifier. We followed him to Cardinal Glennon (aka miracle workers) and waited for him to get situated. He was so tiny!

Well, after almost a month in the NICU (which I say everyone should see at some point in their lives, it's a very humbling experience) he finally came home. Then the fun started. He had acid reflux (BAD) and therefore had a hard time gaining weight. So he was on special high-calorie formula which we had to add vegetable oil and a thickening agent to (yuck) as well as several different medications. This was life for the first 7 months.

Before his first surgery - we didn't realize how sick he looked :(

No scars yet!

His first surgery - our little trooper!

Then came the first surgery. That was hard! He did great though. And afterward, he was off and running, literally. He started crawling and eating and gaining weight. We were so happy!!! But, unfortunately he needed one more surgery. Once again, he came through that one with grace. We couldn't have been more proud of him!

Post-surgery - showing off his scar

Check out my new chub!

Surgery Number 2 (this one was a lot harder)

Post surgery 2 - James and NeNe

Always into mischief

James and Oliver

James and Aunt NeNe

It was like he was given a whole new life! He grew and grew and is now a healthy, happy, two year old boy doing everything two year old boys love to do. And I love him. Purely and simply. We have learned so much from him in his short life and he is so strong! He is currently in love with tractors and trucks and LOVES watching Cars and Curious George on TV. He and Oliver are two peas in a pod and I can't wait to take him swimming in the subdivision pool!

Buyer's Remorse

I now understand what buyer's remorse is. I about had a little meltdown yesterday when we went to visit the lot in daylight. The house is not going to sit on the lot exactly how I pictured it would and the fence has to be a certain amount of feet from the street so our backyard will not be as big as I had hoped... With a nearly 15,000 sq. ft. lot, I was picturing a HUGE lot. Well, after looking at the plot plan and seeing the house staked out, I was depressed. I felt like I had made the biggest mistake of my life, I was second guessing the color choices we made, and I knew that it was too late now to back out. Well, apparently all home buyers go through these feelings at some point in time (at least I hope so).

So, we talked about the lot and the backyard and came up with some really good solutions to our "dilemma" while making the best use of the humongous lot we got for such a great deal. We aren't going to fence everything we can, instead we are going to fence a small part of the backyard - for Oliver, of course and make use of the huge side/back part we have. It's nearly 100 feet from the back corner of our house to the street at one point.

So, I feel really good about our decision now and I'll leave you with some pictures of the lot and the stakes from yesterday's visit!.

If you look really closely, this is a side view of our yard. There are small stakes in the ground on the left half of the picture.

That's our house!


Here's Rob and I standing in our backyard. The stake next to us marks where the breakfast room will be!

E-Pics slideshow

I wanted to share a slideshow of our engagement pictures from Clary Pfeiffer. We received our prints in the mail yesterday... they are gorgeous!

Enjoy!

Furniture

We got a JcPenney's home catalog in the mail today and I am currently drooling over quite a few things. I could seriously decorate my whole house out of this single catalog.

I am currently in love with platform beds (and this comforter set)


Oh, and dining sets...

This is my favorite!


And I have been eying these shelves for the living room wall for months!


Although I don't think it will fit where our TV will go, a good entertainment center is a must!


Okay, enough drooling for now. I need to get some sleep!

Bummer.

We went to the lot today (the house lot, that is). I've got nothing for you. Because there is nothing there. No hole. No concrete. Just grass. And a few stakes. I was just slightly disappointed.

But hey, it's Friday!

We also got our engagement pictures today! Everything evens out in the end, right?

Today's the Day!

They are officially supposed to start building our house today. I really want to drive over to the lot and see what's going on but by the time I get out of school and get home from the Circus tonight it'll be dark... :(

I'll definitely be posting pics as soon as we do go see it though! But for now I'm going to meander over to my math methods class. Have a great day everyone!

Our House

Back in August, we had this random call from a friend inviting us to go and look at some detached villas that were in our price range. That is the phone call that started it all. Rob and I have been one of the fortunate few to be blessed enough to BUILD our first house. It's nothing fancy - a starter home, if you will - but it's perfect. I'll be blogging a lot about our house in the future (just to give fair warning) because they start building it tommorow!

We have so many ideas and plans for the house, I just pray God provides us with the finances to make it happen. Here it is - an ugly drawing of the outside of our house.

We're building with Vantage Homes. Our house will have a light neutral colored brick, with a taupy colored siding, a brown roof, and an adorable grayish-blue front door. I can't wait to see it all finished.

But, on to the fun stuff. The inside. The house has three bedrooms, two baths, and, well, here's the floor plan:

I'll go ahead and share some pictures of the inside:

Great Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom
(Which I secretly wish was bigger)

Foyer

Breakfast Room

Kitchen

But not with this color cabinets (yuck)

Great Room - In a different display showing the breakfast bar

Kitchen - with breakfast bar and our cabinet color

Our house will have 9 foot ceilings with vaults in the great room and breakfast room. We'll have vinyl flooring (to start) and carpeting throughout. I can't wait to start decorating! It will be so fun!

Rob and I have been looking for an "inspiration piece" around which to base a lot of the decoration in the house on. We came across this painting:

It has two pieces that can be placed on either side that expand the picture in either direction. We've found some other equally great pieces though too!

We've started a list of things we'd like to do after the house if finished, though I don't know how quickly they'll get done!

• Fence - right away for Oliver!
• Landscaping around the yard (we're a corner lot - see below - so we need some privacy)
• Paint
• New floors to replace the vinyl (probably wood or mock tile)
• Finish the basement - with a bathroom, laundry room, sewing room, and game area
• Stamped patio in the backyard

The list goes on and on, but that's all I can think of...

I can't wait to post pics of the house being built, but until then, here's a picture of our lot and our sold sign!

The Playground

And, leaving you with thoughts of glorious summer days...

THE POOL!!!