Changes

Well, as promised, I've got news to share. Alan and I are house hunting! =) We're hoping to move the Houston area sometime next semester. Instead of Alan commuting, I will be the commuter in the relationship. My last two classes before I finish up my master's are both online, so I will be driving to College Station on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to teach my preschool class. I'm on the job hunt, as well. I'm hoping to find a preschool position with a local church for the upcoming school year. Needless to say, I'm stoked about looking for our first home. It will be so nice to own a home instead of rent one. I'll keep you updated on the house hunting front...

In other news, we're headed to visit Alan's family on Thursday this week for Christmas and cabinet building. Following that, we're on our way to visit my family to spend Christmas Day with. I absolutely LOVE Christmas and getting to see family! We've had our decorations up for a while (but we didn't get everything out this year), so I'll post pictures later.

Jen

Thanksgiving (and Christmas time)!!

So it's no secret to most who know me that I love Christmas! If I could listen to Christmas music all the time, I would! Shortly before Thanksgiving each year I am ready to put up my decorations. If I had my way, our Christmas tree would've gone up November 7 or 14. Alan, however, did not agree with me on this one, so I had to compromise. I put our nativity set out November 7 and waited to put the Christmas tree up on the 21. It is looking good! We still need more ornaments (most of them are the ball kinds, but I'm a big fan of the Willow Tree Angel ornaments and any other "fun" ornaments) and a tree topper, but that will have to wait until next year. I'm down to only one more present to buy and only a couple more to wrap. However, I do know the present that hasn't been purchased yet, which I didn't know even a couple days ago.

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year! I got to see my favorite nieces and nephew! We were all at Alan's parents house, which was a lot of fun! I didn't get too much sleep, though, but who wants to sleep when you can play with a 4 year old, 18 month old, and 9 month old? I had a blast playing with them and can't wait to start our family some day!

Only 2 more weeks until Christmas break for us! We're headed to Abilene for a week then off to spend Christmas with my parents in Texarkana! I'll get to stain some when we're in Abilene! Alan is going to re-do some cabinets for his parents, and since I can't help with that, I'll help with staining. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy staining. :)

P.S. We might have some exciting news in the next couple of weeks... You'll just have to stay tuned to find out more. :)

November

Is it really November 19 already? I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving, and then only a little over a month until Christmas! I've been bugging Alan to get the Christmas decorations out since we'll be gone for 2 weeks in December, but that hasn't worked yet. I did set up my Nativity set on our mantle, though! And this weekend we're putting up the tree. I can't wait to get into our own home so we'll have more room for it. I've already wrapped all of the presents that I've purchased, ordered the two presents that need to be ordered, and plan on shopping for the rest (or at least most of the rest) this weekend. I just LOVE Christmas time and I love getting everything done early!!

We took Christmas pictures when we went to Texarkana last weekend, but I do not look good in them. Too bad you can't crop me out! Alan and the pups look precious, though! So I guess we'll either have to take them again or just not send them out this year.

Well, I'll close with a picture of the finished cabinet (minus the doors that haven't been built yet.) Painted one too many coats on the left drawer, but you can't tell near as much when you're actually looking at it.

Full of pictures

I've finally gotten around to taking some pictures! I didn't get any from the very beginning, but this is a start. It has been a lot of fun getting to watch Alan build this. He has put a lot of time and effort into making this perfect. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Just the shelves!

Yay for drawers!

Alan, hard at work.

One of the drawers, after the first coat of stain.

We were driving home from Abilene several weeks ago and King decided that he wanted to drive Alan's car. It was too cute not to get a picture. He even looked at me! Ha

Look at me drive!

More pictures to come! I'll have to get some with me sanding and staining something... what a sight that is.

Wood Crafting

So Alan has decided to teach himself how to build stuff. His first project is to build me a buffet. Right now, it will go in our pantry/laundry room, but whenever we move, it will be able to go somewhere more prominent. I didn't get a picture of the before, but I will definitely get pictures of the middle of the process and then the finished product. I'm just deciding whether to stain it or paint it.

After he builds this, I've requested that he build me a bookshelf for all of my children's books. I want it to look like a house, with a pointed roof and everything! I can't wait to see how it turns out! Hopefully my sister will be able to paint it to look pretty cool. :)

I didn't have to teach today, but unfortunately I do have to go to class. :( I'm a bad student and didn't get all the reading done. Oh well. We have a guest speaker so hopefully that will take up quite a bit of time. We also have a video to watch, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll watch that tonight as well.

Have a great rest of your Monday!

First post!

So I figured I'd take the plunge. I've been contemplating starting up a blog since I've started reading them, but I honestly don't have much to blog about during this phase of my life. I figured this might be a good way for friends and family to keep up with us if nothing else. I'll end this first post with a couple of favorite pictures from our wedding. Enjoy!