Serving Home

After we moved out of our former home and into my parent's home I took a blogging break minus a few family posts here and there.  I spent the summer praying and obsessively talking to my husband about our family blog and the possibility of starting a new blog.  I kept thinking about what I wanted to blog about and even though "food" seemed an easy choice there are tons of food blogs and it didn't encompass the new home we were about to have and what we wanted to do with our home.

What is it that we want to do with our home?  Well, this is "the home" which means we aren't going anywhere for a good while.  This is it.  No more checking the MLS listings and counting out pennies to see what we can afford.  Our new home has enough room in it for us to grow and expand as a family (no I'm not pregnant) and have room to entertain.  But not just entertaining.  Entertaining with a purpose.

For awhile Korey and I have been talking about using our home to bless others.  For example, we've already signed up to host DNow in November.  Actually, I signed us up before we ever moved in.  Crazy, I know.  I grew up going to DNow as a youth in our church and I have fond memories and it's always been one of my desires to be able to host.  We also really want to get to know our neighbors, invite them over for dinner, and build a relationship with them in the hope that we can share God with them.  Both of us have been overseas to share God's love with people but we feel a burden for us to just go across the street and get to know people.

All this to say that I decided I wanted to start a blog about this process.  I wanted it to be separate from our personal, family blog which is not going away.  So yes, I will have two blogs and no, I don't know how I'm going to keep up with them when I work full-time outside of the home and I'm a parent to a toddler.  But try I must.

What's in the blog?  Well, because I like to multi-task there will be a chronicle on decorating, organizing, entertaining, and feeding others.  It will be about how I make our home a place to welcome others.  I don't claim to know everything or even have the necessary skills.  I'm just jumping out into the deep end and seeing what happens.

Our family blog is hosted on Blogger but after doing some research I started the new blog on Wordpress.  All.By.Myself.  Without paying a designer.  And I still don't think I know what I'm doing.  But somehow I managed to go through all the steps to get it to where it is today.  Oh and let me just say that Wordpress and I almost broke up a couple of times.  I told Korey somedays it felt like I was walking into a BioChemistry class and being asked to take a test on something I knew nothing about!  It was exhausting, people.  And I still have a long list of things that need to be tweaked, added, or fixed on my blog.  I see why blog designers charge the prices they do.  You deserve it!

With all that said, join me as I blog here and at my new place, Serving Home!

Korey's Surprise Parties

Yes, parties is plural!  Korey does not like to celebrate his birthday so I did what any good wife would do...I threw him a surprise party times two!

The first party was on a weeknight.  We met my family at Freebird's.  It was dark and I only have one picture of him from that night after my camera battery ran out.  So just take a moment to imagine his surprise...

Ok done!  Now on to party # two.  Korey spent all day Friday and Saturday at an art conference.  He got to meet with an art director from Simon and Schuster and show him his work.  This was an opportunity for him to meet face to face with an art director to see his portfolio because most of the time he sends postcards with samples of his new work to different publishers so you never know if that postcard gets buried in a stack of mail on someone's desk.  He also attended writing sessions because he would love to one day write and illustrate his own book.  So while he was working on his dream I was running around like mad to get ready.

Korey actually got home 30 minutes before the guests arrived so I went ahead and told him what was going on.  I had already cleaned and cooked so he didn't have to worry about that.

Here's our first set of guests that arrived.  Luke and Christy and their two daughters, Lucy and Jillian.

Ronnie and Luke are enjoying their second bowl of chili.  Ronnie is about to graduate from DTS.  It's taken him 7 years because he's been working and enjoying having a family.  I told him we'd have to have another party to celebrate.

I was a little worried that the older girls wouldn't want to play with all the baby toys we had but they entertained themselves!  And actually I don't have pics of them because they were off playing their own game.

Below is Jenny, Ronnie's wife watching the kids play.

And then little Miss Jillian decided that she needed to fit into the smallest space possible.  Go figure.

We also ate pumpkin pie for dessert, one of Korey's favorites, and chocolate chip cookies which I made for the kids.

Our Saturday

We started the day off bright and early because a month ago we decided to have a garage sale.  We have gone back and forth about what to do with some of our extra furniture since we keep going back and forth on whether or not we're moving.  Well, we're staying so the furniture is going.

  Korey and Hunter are about to greet one of our customers.  Since we had mostly a Hispanic audience I told everyone in Spanish that my husband spoke their language.  One guy speaking in Spanish, said the English word Mexican, as in "You speak Mexican?"  Haha

As the minutes crawled by, and no one wanted to take our awesome stuff, we had to find ways to pass the time.  Korey and Hunter played while...

I took pictures.  Isn't he handsome?

Korey's friend, Kacy, came over....

and Korey told him stories.

Hunter drank a Dr. Pepper....(kidding)

and then we got a tour of our neighbor's garage.  He builds model airplanes.  I never try to be too nosy about what's in his garage...

but when Korey's friend, Joel, showed up they got into aerodynamic discussions and who knows what else.  Joel can get anyone to talk.  Later, Joel and I discussed Blogger and HTML code. 

After we cleaned up from the garage sale, the guys invaded our house to watch football.  So I retreated into the kitchen and made dinner for a friend.  Recipe post coming soon!

Austin

We spent Valentine's weekend in Austin to see a friend of Korey's who had a baby in Oct. Here was my date for the weekend. He inadvertently scratched himself across the face and looked like he just needed a patch over his eye to complete the pirate look. We are sitting at the counter of the Magnolia Cafe to eat lunch in downtown Austin.

Here I am getting ready for our dinner double date. Korey stole my camera...

and he made me pose for pictures. P.S. I found this shirt at a consignment shop in the maternity section for only $3 and change!!

I am officially 17 weeks here in these pictures and I feel like I'm looking so big!

Here I am with the hubby at the Clay Pit in downtown Austin. Love the tandoori chicken and naan!

Here are Esme (short for Esmerelda) and Javier. Javier and Korey grew up together and Javier was a groomsman in our wedding. Esme is always laughing so she's always fun to be around.

After dinner they took us to a place somewhere in a shopping center in Austin called Viva Chocolato. We sat outside because there was a guy singing opera inside and the place was small so it was LOUD. They sell lots of truffles and they average $3 each! Crazy for a tiny piece of chocolate.

Here is Javier and Esme splitting a dessert. Korey and I got one and it was so moist and chocolatey!

Here is baby Carolina with her daddy and Korey. Can you tell she has her dad's hair?

On our way home from Austin we stopped in Cedar Hill to see my old college roommates because my friend Jayme had driven in with her family from Bryan. So the three of us got to reunite for a couple of hours.

Here is Jayme, her husband Israel, and Carleigh.

My other roommate Jennifer and her husband Glen.

The three of us! We all went to high school together and both of these girls talked me into going to A&M since they were already going. I don't regret it at all!

I'm sure we were laughing at one of the guys in this picture.

Funny, but I don't remember doing this but it's the Aggie thing to do when you're a senior. Ooohh baby bump is showing. Am I really going to get bigger? Yikes.

Regina's Wedding

Here we are at my third event of the month! I guess Korey didn't take any pics during the ceremony because all we have is pics from the reception. Here's the two of us.

Me, Regina, and Janai. She got married at Prestonwood BC so this Christmas tree was in the lobby/reception area.

Me and Janai

Congrats Regina!

Regina's Asian Themed Lingerie Shower

December was a pretty packed month for me and that didn't even include any holiday parties which I had to miss out on. For three weekends in a row I first hosted a lingerie shower, then a baby shower, and then I was a bridesmaid in a wedding. And then Christmas came! I'm worn out!

I helped to host my friend Regina's lingerie shower with my friend Janai. Since Regina and I both spent time in China I went with an Asian theme. By the way don't ever google "Asian lingerie shower." The results are scary!

Korey drew this for me below. It is a game we played where each girl was blindfolded and had to pin a heart on what we dubbed "Lord Byron" so he could be kissed. And I'll just leave the rest unsaid!

This is our bride-to-be, Regina.

Don't you love the Christmas decorations mixed in with the lingerie stuff! Yet again, Korey was my hero when it came to decorations. He created the name banner over the mantel.

And of course the underwear line mixed in with the chinese lanterns.

Luckily, I had just received a handmade tipao (pronounced chee-pow) in the mail from one of my Chinese friends who lives in China of course! It was beautiful and a perfect outfit for the day. What you can't see are the little tiny knots that slipped through little loops on the outside of the dress that Korey had to fasten for me. It was definitely a chore to get on but so pretty and my favorite color!

This is me, Regina, and Janai a fellow bridesmaid.

Tuesday Night Lights

On Tuesday of this week we ventured off to The Shops at Legacy for a girlfriend's bday. We ate at Fireside Pies and then stopped by at Pacuigo and then sat around this fountain while the bday girl opened her gifts. Here's Korey...probably contemplating how awesome I am!

I took this one without the flash.

Me and my friend Janai (not the bday girl)

I've never been to Vegas but a friend said the fountain reminded them of the Belaggio's. As the fountain shot up water, the colors would change. We ran into some friends who live over there and their 1 yr old LOVED this fountain. FYI if you need a source of entertainment for your little ones.

In other news we have recently taught our dogs NOT to jump on the couch...and hang out there...and sleep there...and declare that the spot they are in is THEIR spot. I armed myself with treats one afternoon and 24 hours later Korey and I were amazed that they picked up on it so fast after we had let them get away with it for over a year. Of course, we still have random incidences where they think they just have to jump on the couch or they look at you with a puppy dog face and one paw on the couch, sweetly trying to convince you that they belong there. But overall, so far so good. I told my mom and she wanted to know if I could teach them not to lick her feet when she came over.

July 4th In Austin

For the July 4th weekend we went to Austin to celebrate Korey's friend, Javier, and his bride Esme's wedding. Here they are at Le Condesa. We ate Mexican food that was considered coastal. Except for the ceviche (like sushi) it was delicious!!

Here is the happy couple cutting their cake.

Doing the traditional thing...

We spent July 4th day celebrating their wedding all day long. We ended the night at Mighty Fine burger where they have a hand sanitizing system that Korey is trying out. I am a firm believer in hand sanitation but not of this kind!

We stayed at a super-cool hotel that Korey found a deal online. Here we are goofing off. Note the TV in the background.

And here is Korey showing off the 42 inch plasma HDTV that was in our room. It was awesome!! You could see this thing from anywhere in the room.

On Sunday morning we met for brunch at Central Market. Korey ate his breakfast, then finished mine, then ate some of Javier's. Ugh!

Here is a pic of the intellectual highlight of my trip. Meet Patricia and Max, husband and wife. Patricia (Javier's sister) is an anti-trust lawyer with the Federal Trade Commission in D.C. and Max is a law professor at a university. I'm sure they got annoyed with all of my questions. But they did introduce me to REI the outdoor store which was really neat. Oh and Max is training for a 100 mile marathon. Yep, that's right. I didn't even know they existed!

Awww...the happy couple.

After brunch and REI we ventured off to Barton Springs to swim. It was so stinking hot in Austin that it was a welcome break from the heat.

After Barton Springs we went down the street to Chuy's for drinks and food. Javier and Korey grew up together so here they are showing how comfortable they are around each other.

Cooling off under the fans and A/C at Chuy's...

Mucho fun in Austin!