Prep Work for Cold Days and Nights

So firewood at the stores is expensive. We saw a small bundle at HEB of about 6 small logs for $3.99. Wow! Thank goodness Tony's parents have land and have been chopping wood for us to have this winter.

When we went to have Thanksgiving with them Tony loaded up his truck and we brought it home yesterday. Today was the day to unload and we made a pretty good team.

Here it is in the truck.

Tony would bring it in the wheelbarrow like so:

Action shot so of course I like them blurry...

Then he'd dump them here:

My job was to stack them up away from the wood on our home so that hopefully if there are any termite buggies they won't find a new home in our home.

I think I did a pretty good job of stacking. I made it all the way to the last load before some tumbled but it was a quick fix. As soon as we finished it started to pour. The first cold front is supposed to come in tonight and from the sound of the pouring rain outside I think it's here. The good thing about a fireplace is it helps save you money on those cold winter days versus cranking up the heater. So you know we'll be having some fires going in this casa.

I really can't stay.....but baby it's cold outside....I got to go away....but baby it's cold outside... :)

The Reason They Call It Black Friday

Blurry, just like my eyes at this time.

You may have heard that Tony and I really, really wanted a new flat screen for our bedroom. We saved for it and agreed this would be our Christmas gift to each other this year. Ever since we got the Black Beauty in the living room my heart skips a beat when I pass its brothers and sisters at Best Buy or Sears. I'm in love with flat screens and I don't care who knows it!

So we decided this was the year we were going to fight the crowds and the darkness of morning to get the best deal for the TV we wanted. Of course there was lots of research online, price comparisons at stores the weeks before the actual sale, and all the other stuff that goes into making a large purchase in the Estes household.

So we set our alarm to 2:50 and I cried tears of exhaustion when it went off. We stumbled out of bed and into warm sweats and got in the car to head to Best Buy for its 5 am opening. As we were driving to the store we laughed at two scenarios: 1. no one being there at 3 am and 2. everyone in the city of Pflugerville there and waiting. What we saw was a happy medium.

Me thinking ok, a few people in front, not so bad...

This was the side of Best Buy when we showed up at 3am. Clearly some had been there overnight to get the first few spots.

At first it wasn't so cold. But the longer we waited (2 whole hours standing in line!) the chillier it got. I said a bunch of prayers for the homeless people out there because by the end of it I had lost feeling in my left pointer finger and I realized that even though it wasn't very cold the longer you're out there the more of a chill you get.

By 4:45 this was the line behind us. CRAZY!

As the doors opened we ran straight to our baby. We were able to get about a 40% discount off of the original price and that made us very happy!

Here she is about 5 minutes after being plugged in. She's a beauty! Also, here's a picture of Einstein bundled up in Tony's lap as he wraps a few Christmas presents.

Oh and one of Dwight on our new TV.

Christmas Time in the City...

Or the suburbs...

So yes, I'm aware that we've become one of those couples that crosses the line of decorating before the official time. We couldn't stand it though! Our friends Katy and Grant live behind us and last week we peeked out our back window and saw they had their Christmas tree up. Of course it got us in the spirit. So on Sunday after a lazy nap, Tony and I went up to the attic and brought out all the Christmas stuff we own.

Banister before...

Garland before...

Banister and garland after. This was an afternoon shot but it looks absolutely gorgeous at night! We're still not done putting the finishing touches on the garland because we want to put some red bows on it but this is a good start.

Living room window before...

With tree and lights...

Finished minus a star on top and a tree skirt.

Side view...

My view from the couch after a long day of work.

Tony's view from his side of the couch. Yes, Einstein has had a haircut since this picture. Poor guy could barely see under his eyebrows.

Of course you can see I'm also checking out new recipes while this picture was being taken. I'm hoping to try out a few new ones in the next few weeks so I'll post what I find. We also put up another larger tree in the office but I didn't get pictures of that one yet because it's really in the beginning stages of being finished. When we're finished with all the decorations I take some new pictures, but for now hopefully this is enough to get you in the holiday spirit! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

p.s. no clue why it decided to underline half of what I typed!

Babies, Bumps and Bottles

It's been a loooooong time!

A few Saturdays ago I helped host a baby shower for our good friend Laura. Laura is due in December (hopefully Christmas day!) and she and I used to work together (sadness in the "used to" part...but moving on.) We had a little trio last year with our friend Mary Ruth but that member sadly broke our hearts and moved away to be a good wife. To the tune of Frosty the Snowman I like to sing "She'll be back again somedaaayyy..."

Anyway, Mary Ruth surprised her and flew in from Virginia to be at the shower! And of course in the midst of the craziness of getting things ready, I didn't have time to delete pictures from my camera to make room for new ones. So unfortunately these are the only ones I got...not even a group picture of us! Just an excuse to see each other again soon I guess!

Some fall flowers and decorations for the day!

I wanted to get a picture of all the pretty food but the doorbell started ringing and it was a lost cause. By the time I had a chance to take a picture the food was half gone!

The one picture of Mary Ruth in it and she's looking out the window!

Lastly, the two baby bumps at the shower. Teeny tiny mommas!

It was a fun day and I'm so glad we got to see everyone! We finished the night with a trip to Trudy's which was delicious! We can't wait to meet baby Landon!

Before & After Mildly Extreme Home Makeover

After many weekends of hard work, deal finding, and magazine flipping here are a few house projects we've completed on our long list to make our house a home. It's been fun working together to figure out how a chair rail is installed, what the "right shade of maroon" is for our dining room and how our furniture works best for us. We've laughed alot, cursed a few times (me) and grown closer as a couple. We've got lots more in the works!

Office Before:

Office painted

Office with chair rail and old college furniture but minus plantation shutters (not that you can tell).

Office completed with plantation shutters. Now obviously it's not technically an office yet as there is no furniture in the room, but patience...

For now just enjoy the walls and windows...

Formal Dining Before:

Formal dining painted minus chair rail and shutters:
Partial chair rail, dining table, no shutters:
Chair set:

Formal dining with completed chair rails, shutters, and table with chairs.

Now all that's missing are the accessories...

Living room minus accessories:

Yes we've since fixed the fact that the coffee table and tv stand are off centered. :)

Rainy Sundays

It's been a while since my last post. So much has happened since that last post!

My mom and grandma are officially moved into their new home! After 2+ months of living out of our guest room she was very ready to have her own home and to have my grandma join her up here. They're adjusting well and having fun decorating their new home and exploring the big city.

This past week was in fast forward. We spent most of the nights after work unpacking the two huge PODS my mom filled up to move here. We also celebrated Tony's 26th birthday with a few dinners out and some very delicious Snicker's cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory (no pictures...sorry we ate it too fast!)

Today was a rainy, cold day...just like I like them. :) We started the day catching up on our dvr'd shows and after an hour or so of that forced ourselves to go to the gym. I'm so glad we did that because after some time on the treadmill and lifting weights our moods were uplifted and we were pumped to be productive the rest of the day. Thanks endorphines!

When we came home it was lunch time so Tony got to fixing his world famous grilled cheese sandwiches while I started making chocolate chip cookies (both excellent ways to celebrate a successful trip to the gym). Here's a blurry outtake from this event.

Yes the remote is next to the amazing cookie dough. That would be me catching up on Real Housewive episodes. Yay for the OC ladies coming back soon!

I could have stopped right here and never even put these guys in the oven. But I did...and they ended up looking like this:

Afterwards Tony got to painting touch up spots in our formal dining room and office. This weekend we finally painted the chair rail we installed many months ago. After waiting months to get the plantation shutters installed in our windows so that we could finish the chair rail next to the windows it is complete! Pictures to come soon! Here is a look at the hubby working hard!

While he was doing that I started prepping food for our meals this week. My latest adventure in being efficient is to cook as many meals as I can on Sundays so that the week is less stressful. Today it was prepping for beef stew tonight (great weather for it!) and making the lasagna ahead for tomorrow night. I'm loving the feeling of coming home on a Monday and just preheating the oven and sticking that night's dinner in for a little. Makes me dislike Mondays just a little bit less.

Anyway, here's the lasagna obviously before it hits the oven tomorrow night. Yes, still watching the dvr. Only then I think it was the Rachel Zoe Project. Tony's just ignoring it in the other room while painting.

We're off to take a nap on a day that's perfect for being lazy! Happy Sunday everyone!