iPhone Photo Dump

It's been a while since I did an iPhone photo dump and I have some goodies!

Henderson made me this swing out of a pallet for our front yard!  I absolutely love it!  I think it would be so cute with a plush Santa and Mrs. Clause on it for Christmas!  :)

At the end of October, I went to Des Moines and this was in my hotel room.  Seriously.  And no, I did not try it out.  

In November one of my former KPMG Dallas coworkers got married, so Henderson and I headed up to McKinney for the ceremony and reception.  She was such a beautiful bride!

I went to a luncheon for the Salvation Army in November.  I was excited because I thought Wynonna Judd was talking, but she ended up performing!  And even better, George W. Bush made a surprise appearance!!  I almost started hyperventilating.  

I love iPhone Photo Dumps.  I'm almost caught up from the 2 month break in blogging!

Happy Birthday Isabella!

In late October, I drove down to Houston for Isabella's first birthday party. Mimi, Macey, and Abbey flew over so I got to see them too!  Saturday, Mimi and I did a little damage at Stein Mart and then headed over to Terre's to do some gift wrapping!

Sunday was the big day, and try as I might, I could not get her to take a picture with me.  So sad!

But I did get Macey and Abbey to take a pic!

And we even added Mimi in one.

She is such a cutie and I am so glad I was able to be there to celebrate her first birthday!

Fall Fun & Getting Crafty

Thanks to ice storm Cleon, I've got a little bit of time of my hands to catch up this here blog!  So, we're going all the way back to October. Yes, two months. But I wanted to post about my fall decor. Our mantle is quite possibly my favorite thing in our house. And I'm obsessed with making sure it is always appropriately decorated!

I made this wreath using deco mesh and burlap ribbon.  I then added a burlap bow (the burlap used in the bow was a little heavier weight than what I used in the wreath) and hot glued on some silk flowers I got from Hobby Lobby.  I love buying a few of the silk bouquets every season and cutting them up and using them all over the house, as you can see from the picture below.  

I placed them in the Peter's Pottery vase and ran them through the candelabra.  I also picked up the ceramic pumpkins at Hobby Lobby for half off.  

Henderson picked up a bail of hay at work and I grabbed the pumpkins at a local nursery.  The scarecrow was $6 at Walmart but so fun!  

We had a few friends over in October for a little tailgating party (which I have no pictures of), so we wanted to carve some pumpkins for the front porch decor.  I never took a picture of the finished products, but they ended up cute and Henderson and I had such a fun little date night at home doing them (complete with Sonic drinks of course).  

While I was at Hobby Lobby I found this shadow box for half off.  I've been wanting someway to show case our wedding goodies and this was just the ticket!  I have the nosegay bouquet my mom had, my garter, and various paper products from the wedding weekend.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Turning 27 was strangely anti-climatic.  As I told someone, since HK was already 27 most days I forgot that I was only 26.  In the past, I've always taken my birthday off work.  Since I just started at my new job and my birthday was on a Tuesday (not a Monday or Friday) I decided to just work through it.  But I have to admit, working on your birthday has it's perks!

Henderson sent the most beautiful arrangement of flowers!  Everyone had to stop by my office to check them out!  My friend Amanda sent me some Tiff's Treats (cookies delivered to your office hot).  And my coworker took me to lunch.  Perfect day even though I had to work!

After work, Henderson took me to Tuscan Slice and, of course, a trip to Target.  Such a fun middle of the week date night.

He also picked up this awesome Italian Cream Cake from Collin Street Bakery.  It was absolutely delicious!!  Then, I got to open presents!  So blessed to be loved by so many people!  It was a great day!  

Fair Time

Just like last year, we had to set a date aside for the State Fair of Texas, even if only to visit the new Big Tex.  Last Saturday was not the ideal day to go to the fair (it was cold and rainy) but it was our only open weekend during October.  So, we just bundled up and headed out!  On the way, I researched the new food offerings at the fair this year (Fried Nutella, Fried Thanksgiving Dinner, etc.) and made a game plan.  We ended up trying Fried Shrimp and Grits and a Texas Fireball (pimento cheese, bacon, jalapeno).  Both were quite tasty, but only something I could eat once a year!  I had to get some Twisted Tators and HK had to partake in a Fletcher's corny dog.  I didn't get to try the Fried Nutella - the line was super long.

After stuffing our faces appropriately, we headed to see the new and improved Big Tex.  Not such a great pic but it's better than last year, when I took a picture of his empty podium!

I had to check out the pig races.  So much fun, especially for the little kids (and me)!

This pig weighed over 1,000 pounds!

Then we headed into the barns to check out what the 4-H and FFA Clubs had on display.  They put on a neat petting zoo, complete with baby piglets!  When it got entirely too cold to stay out any longer, we headed to Alligator Cafe for some grub and to catch the State-LSU game.  We finished our dinner at halftime when State was only down by 5 points, but it got pretty ugly in the last quarter.  Here's to hoping we can pull out an upset some time this season!

Such a great day with my love!

San Antonio Weekend

Henderson had a conference Friday, Saturday and Sunday in San Antonio.  Since I just started my new job, I decided to fly down Friday afternoon instead of riding down with Henderson Thursday night.

I sent this picture to Henderson Thursday night saying how lonely I was without him or the dogs.  I'm not used to them being gone!  Henderson sent me a text Friday saying how much he was learning.  Nerd!

I ended up getting on standby for an earlier flight and got to SA about an hour earlier than usual.  I took a taxi to the hotel and met up with my handsome hubs.  We headed to the Riverwalk and ate at Landry's.  Delicious!!  After dinner we met up with the vet that Henderson worked for in high school.  He, his wife, and another couple met us at the Esquire for drinks.  Fun, fun night!

Saturday morning I slept super late, had room service and watched movies on TBS until Henderson came back for their lunch break.  We headed out to the Riverwalk for a quick bite and got caught in the rain on the way back.  When Henderson headed back to the conference, I took a cab to the mall and did a little shopping.  Even though I can do that in Dallas, it was still nice to do a little retail therapy.

Henderson made a reservation for us Saturday night at Texas de Brazil.  If you know us, you know how much we like meat and potatoes so this was right up our alley.  

Our hotel was undergoing renovations.  I hope they don't get rid of this old elevator!  This might be our only picture together from the weekend...sad.

The next several pictures are of the Riverwalk with the DSLR.  We took a boat tour on the river, but it was too dark to take any good pictures.  It was so entertaining and a steal for $8.25 each!

Before leaving Sunday, we headed to grab breakfast.  I loved dining right on the river!  Of course, we had to head to the Alamo.  They were doing a 5k around the Alamo, but we still managed to get through it without much trouble.  There are no pictures allowed inside the Alamo so I just have to two below.  They took our picture outside and it was such a great picture!  But they were $25, so I just bought my traditional Christmas ornament and got out of there.  

On our way back north, we had to stop at Cabela's, and, of course, a road trip isn't complete without a trip to Cracker Barrel!  

It was such a great weekend.  I can't wait to go back when Henderson doesn't have to be in class all day!  

Go Dawgs!

Mississippi State's first game of the season was in Houston against Oklahoma State.  Since it was so close, we had to go!

There was supposed to be a Dawg walk, but the bus drivers dropped the teams at the wrong entrances, so we didn't get to see the players.  

Our seats were awesome!  I could definitely get used to air conditioning and beer while watching the Dawgs play!

We didn't win, but it was still great to be there for the first game of the season.  We headed to Terre and Roberts house to spend the night and loved catching up with them!  

Sunday morning, Terre, Henderson and I met Priscilla and Isabella at IHOP for breakfast.  I loved getting in a little auntie/niece time with this sweet baby!  

Look at this face!

Since it was Labor Day weekend, we still got to enjoy a day at home to rest up for a short week.  Here's to hoping the Bulldogs pull it together and win a few this year!

Window Project

Another project that Mama helped me design while she was here, was a message board for our utility room.  I had a window that Charlcy gave my for Christmas a couple of years ago.  While Mama was here, we didn't have time to execute our plan, so I did it with a little help from Henderson.

I cut some chicken wire to size over the top two windows, and stapled it down with a staple gun.  I then pulled some burlap ribbon out that I had gotten from Paul Michaels and made a bow that I tied to the chicken wire.  I liked the idea of some texture on the ribbon, so I folded it down and stapled it inside the folds.

I used the mini clothespins to hang items on the chicken wire and a dry erase marker to make a grocery list and our prayer list/Bible verse for the week.  I love how it turned out!

Back Porch

While Mama was in town, I had something I called a "Mama Do List" and, man, did she do!  Wednesday morning we got up and worked on the back porch.  Henderson and I had kind of let it go.  It's hot out here in Texas, so we just opened the door and threw things out there.  Mama pulled out the shop vac and went to town on our back porch.  It's so much fun to be out there now!  

The beverage stand is from Willow House.  I haven't gotten to christen it yet.  The chair matches the other chair and love seat; they came from Lowe's.

I love this little pot I got at the jewelry store when I was at home.  I put some cacti in it to ensure they wouldn't die!

Wednesday night, after Mama had cleaned up the back porch, we got this patio set for a steal at Walmart thanks to it being the end of the summer.  We also got the display so we didn't have to put anything together!  

This little area is to the left of the french doors.  The Texas star was used at our rehearsal dinner.  The sewing machine bottom was my great grandmothers and the marble on top was my great-great grandmothers!  It's perfect for entertaining with.  I'm thinking a television would go perfect on this wall!

This is the rest of the set from Lowe's.  It's to the left of the table and chairs.  

Now, we're ready to party!  Just in time for football season!