selections committee, please come forward

this afternoon, michael and i spent 3 hours, did you get that...three hours, at the design center at our community. we picked out everything for our new home.

it was ridiculous and i'm just happy it didn't take any longer than 3 hours.

we picked out the look of the outside, paint, flooring, cabinets, counter tops, a million other things, the color of the toilet for goodness sake. it was fun and stressful and tiring all at the same time.

but, i think i can say, it's gonna be perfect. for us anyway. we designed our house to perfectly suit us.

from what barbara says, the should be pouring the slab in a couple of weeks. it should be finished about the end of july. then, we'll be open for visitors.

i'll be posting pics as they come.

giddy with glee!

we have a new address! it is a beautiful address.

it starts with some numbers and ends with a something cliff. i wish i felt safe enough to post it, but you know how that goes.

it's beautiful.

i'm so excited!

after much time in prayerful consideration

like um...one day, we've decided to do it!

okay, not really one day, but we seriously have decided to build our new home.

we're headed out to the summit (the community where we want to build) to put our earnest money down on our lot and get the ball rolling.

i've been so excited at the thought of a new home that i haven't been able to sleep soundly for a couple of weeks. now that it's come down to really doing it, i'm nervous! can you believe that?! is that normal or am i a total weirdo?

a few days ago i couldn't stop thinking about how it would feel to live in a house again, how i would decorate, how comfortable our guests would be when they came to stay with us, the babies that would grow up in that house and how jules would feel to have a back yard again.

now all i can think about is our "getting out of debt" plan, the house payment, a possible drive through early morning traffic, the lot we have chosen and the market the way it is right now.

i mean, we have things worked out financially, so i'm not really worried about that. it's just all of the other things that are trying to put a damper on my joy. michael is excited. i'm excited. we've prayed about this. we've thought and talked about this. i think we're making the right decision and in about 30 minutes i'm going to head out and prove that.

oh...jesus...

i would just like to say

in regards to that last post and it's comments,

duh!!!

valentine's day...are you serious?

i'm starting to believe that valentine's day is way over rated. now, i'm gonna sound like a hypocrite but, i want something.

i the biggest sucker for flowers and a sweet card, but what the heck do you get a man for valentine's day?!

it's ridiculous. valentine's day is good for women because it reminds their husbands to write extremely sweet things in a card, but for men...

any tips?

the opinions expressed in this post are not the opinions of this blog or it's author. they are the opinions of a woman going through a crazy moment of stupidity and hypocrisy. please do not hold it against me later. :)

goodie, goodie

how long has it been since you've had plain ol' blue bell vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on top?

me?

about 22 minutes.

it was so delicious. it reminded me of when i was a kid. long, hot west texas days. swimming pools in the summer. bike rides from the blanco state park to the convenient store where they sold blue bell by the scoop.

sometimes it's just good to feel like a kid again.

now, it's almost my bed time. that's the only part i hate about being a kid, an early bed time.

amazed once again

michael's sister, claire is engaged!

she and her fiance, bevan have been together for a few years and we are all excited to see them tie the know blissfully. i've been emailing with claire discussing wedding plans and having fun as girls do when planning a wedding. it's been great so far.

bevan competes in iron man competitions and is very good. he has an iron man in march and has now qualified for another in the netherlands. he will try for another in hawaii later in the year. because of all of these wonderful opportunities for bevan and some other things, they have decided to set the date for april 2009.

on michael's way home from work today, we were talking on the phone and i was explaining all of these things to him. he suddenly thought about the fact that the bride's parents usually pay for the wedding.

michael's parents have both passed away. bevan was so honorable, that he called michael and christopher, michael's older brother, to ask if he could marry claire. it was incredibly sweet and thoughtful.

michael had the amazing idea to call christopher tonight and suggest the two of them pay for their little sister's wedding.

how amazing is that? i have the most wonderful husband this world has ever seen. i love the way he takes care of people. i am so proud to be michael's wife.

to buy or not to buy

michael and i are looking for a new home. we think we've found a spot we like and we've definitely found a floor plan we love.

if we decide to go with this home, it's a little big for our family now. but hopefully, in the not too distant future (no i'm not pregnant) we'll grow into it.

we will have space to have family and friends come visit. we will have space to keep all of our furniture in one place, rather than an apartment and a storage unit. we will have enough space to keep all of our clothes in one closet (shocker! i'm still going to make him get rid of some of his, he has the big closet here!!!). we will have enough space to both be in the kitchen at the same time. we will have enough space in our back yard to let jules walk around with a leash around her neck.

as you can tell, he still has quite a bit of selling to do. i'm not quite sold on the idea yet! :)

we are trying to be reasonable and responsible in our decision.

so, yea, i think i'm ready to sign the papers.

okay, we are really trying to be prayerful and thoughtful and have been thinking about this for a while. i think we are planning to make a decision in the next couple of days regarding what we are going to do.

hmmm...

baby no. eight thousand three hundred nintey one

my team leader and fellow first grade teacher, rosemary is having her second son tomorrow. (this is like the millionth baby of people i know!) :)

ryan

great name, huh? it's so traditional but modern and totally perfect for this little boy i'm picturing. i'm really excited for her and can't wait to meet the baby.

today was the weirdest feeling just knowing today she was going to leave school like any other day but not be back for 7 weeks (including spring break). i'm feeling a tiny bit selfish wondering what i'll do the whole time she's gone. see, we're neighbors and if i ever have a question or comment or great idea for lunch out, i run next door and spill it. she really is a great help and i'll miss her being there. i can imagine though, that teaching with me probably doesn't compare too much to giving birth to a beautiful baby boy of your very own.

i'm praying now that labor will be good to baby and mama. i just know it will be.

organizing myself into a good day

i worked hard today. i taught all morning. taught a few new things for stations this afternoon and set to work organizing my room a little bit!

sadly, that kind of thing makes me pretty stinkin' happy.