Celebrating 30 Years... for both of us!

So I really had planned on making an epic Golden Birthday post. Umm... notsomuch. I didn't even *post* on our birthday.

*sigh*

We did have a great day though... baby or no baby. ;-) We decided to hit up Torchy's, which is one of our favorite places in Austin. I was so glad my bff, Camille (who flew in from Rhode Island!!) could be there too. She finally got to have some Tex-Mex, and it was her first taco on corn tortillas. Umm... yes. I would say she's a Tex-Mex virgin, for sure! ;-)

Then we went to Big Top, which we LOVE. Jeremy and I hadn't been there in quite a while, so it was great to go! Jeremy took this neat photo of the chocolate cases:

We didn't get candy though (shocking, I know!), but we mainly go there for the old-fashioned soda fountain. Camille got the most delicious limeade EVER (Sonic who? ;-) ), Jeremy got a cherry limeade, and I got a coconut Italian creme soda... all of which were amazing! :-) And I may or may not be having a serious love-affair with anything coconut right now. Just sayin. ;-)

Can't have a birthday without cupcakes, right?! I was stoked that we were able to stop by Delish, which has gluten-free cupcakes... just for me! Okay, not *just* for me. Tee hee. But wow, they are DELISH! (No pun intended.... okay, it was intended because I'm not one to actually *say* "delish," but they really were delicious! :-D )

Jeremy and I didn't even get a photo of us together on our 30th birthday on the 30th. LOL. We'll try to remedy that today... four days later. No worries. :-) But Camille and I *were* able to get a photo. Yay!

I did get one recent shot of Jeremy. Umm... I'm not sure what he'd say about me posting his bum (a very nice bum, mind you ;-) ) for all of the internet to see, but this photo is just too funny...

He doesn't *usually* climb in their carrier (our euphemism for "crate" ;-) ), but he did this to cuddle with Ruby... and it was too funny when he did this the other day. I had to take a photo. Amber is looking on, saying, "What the heck is going on around here?!?!" Tee hee. :-)

So... that was our birthday! Yay! I usually do a birthday post about how Jeremy and I were born on the same day. You can see last year's here. But this year, I just wanted to show pictures of what we did. Fun, yes? ;-)

And... no baby yet. I'm really not worried or stressed or anything. Don't worry. I mean, yes, I'm getting uncomfortable, but not miserable. I am feeling chubby and pregnant at this point. LOL. But it certainly doesn't feel unmanageable or "I'm ready to be done!" No, nothing like that. Just patiently waiting. :-) Yes, I can't WAIT to meet this sweet baby. He/she will arrive when he/she is ready! :-D

As for the Texas heat, and this summer being on its way to being our hottest ever... I can honestly say it's not fazing me. LOL. I LOOOOOVE the heat! Seriously, every day, I just spend time hanging out on our porch. I love it so much. :-) It doesn't feel any different to me... you know, having this extra 42 pounds or whatever. It still feels glorious. And I'm not all *that* strange. Camille feels the same way. At least we're in good company! ;-)

And since I haven't shown photos of the baby's room in its completion yet, I thought I'd share some art I made. :-) I know there are tons of these on the internet... usually done with hearts or butterflies, like this one here. But I thought doing it with Mickeys would be wicked cool. :-)

This is the "if it's a boy" version:

And the "if it's a girl" version:

It's actually the same piece of art, but the peach Mickeys are covered up with charcoal Mickeys. Tee hee. :-p These were just SUPER quick photos I snapped. I'll take better ones when I post photos of the room.

The room is *pretty* much done. The side table doesn't have knobs/pulls. And two of the containers in the closet don't have labels (*gasp*). And the mobile above the changing station isn't done. But really, that's it! I'm SOOOO excited to show you the room! I'm loving how it turned out.

Soon. Very soon. :-) I'll try to get hubby to take them tonight... providing I'm not like... you know, giving birth or something. ;-)

Lusting After PaigeBooks.

Okay, she's my friend, but I'm not biased!... Paige's books really are AMAZING! And Paige is celebrating her 1000th (!!!!!!) blog post by giving away TEN of these babies!

Here are my three favorites:

(seriously? aqua, yellow and WHITE?! this one has Reyanna written all over it...)

You should totally head on over there and enter to win! No, I'm not getting any perk for blogging about this (psh... I wish! ;-) ), I just thought it was awesome and had to share!

Visiting Jason's Ranch.

I totally can't believe I forgot to post these photos!! ACK! Sorry... they are a bit old now. I won't even tell you how long. LOL. :-p But it was COOOOOLD, so it wasn't recently. ;-)

Anywho, I met Jason when I was 16. He was 8. I was an elementary teacher's aide for a class next door to his, and one day the total-sweetie-that-he-is held the door open for me. I signed "thank you very much!" to him, and he FREAKED OUT. LOL. :-D I'm talking *jumping-up-and-down* excited! Heee!

I was, seriously, like one of only five people he'd met (in his life!) who could Sign, and that stoked him out. (Yes, we lived in a VERY small town.) I became his babysitter and Sign Language translator at church after that (no, I'm not a certified translator; I've just always loved to Sign), and I continued doing that through college (whenever I was home...). Now he's grown and graduated from college too. (How did THAT happen!??!?)

He invited me out to his family's ranch (only two hours north of me) one day, and I jumped at the chance to see him!

{You may or may not be able to tell that I'm wearing... like... four VERY warm layers.}

We jumped in the ranch-vehicle-thingy (yes, that's it's technical name) and headed out to meet and feed the cows...

They heard us and came running. They knew it was time to eat, I guess! ;-) They had some HUGE longhorns...

And some little baby guys too... (awwwww!)

He asked if I wanted to get out and help feed. Umm... no. I'll stay in the vehicle *away* from the stampeding cattle, thankyouverymuch. :-)

I'm pretty sure this caramel-colored cow loved me...

Or the camera? LOL. Not sure, but she (he? she?) was *always* looking at me, and honestly, trying to get as close as possible to me! LOL.

See?! Love, I tell ya! ;-)

Then it was time to feed the goats!

SO funny... when we came around the corner (before the goats heard us), we noticed one goat on top of another goat. *ahem*

"Are they doing what I *think* they're doing?!?!??"

Umm... yes. And even a stampede of other goats could not break them up! ;-)

After the dust had settled, so to speak, the poor white goat got pushed all around. Err... yeah. Caught in the act! ;-)

They composed themselves and joined the others. I'm sure their date resumed later when the "kids" were asleep. ;-) (Kids. Get it?! Get it?! Tee hee. :-p) Ahh... good times.

And one last photo of the cutest goat I'd ever seen...

Seriously, wanted to take him home!

But not really because goats eat things like... umm... shirts and blankets and... scrapbooking paper, I'm sure. :-p

And that was my day at the ranch! Hopefully, I'll get to go again. It was pretty fun! :-)

Re-capping the Last Month.

I've been meaning to post these photos and things from the last month or so, but haven't gotten around to it. :-p We have had SUCH a busy February/March!

We ended up getting ONE day of snow in Austin. Amber was in HEAVEN!

Poor Ruby had a growth on her eyelid, we had that removed, and two days later, she had to go in for emergency surgery because an ulcer *in her eye* developed and then burst. They had to sew her eyelids closed for a couple weeks. Poor thing. :-( She's doing SOOO much better and healing nicely. The doc thought she'd lose her sight completely, but it looks like it's coming back! YAY! :-)

Then Caroline came to visit! We had so much fun! We ate, shopped and took photos. That's about it. LOL. :-p (Okay, I DID scrap one page. LOL. :-p)

Two days after Caroline left, Paige came to visit! Of course, she brought along cute, little Fox!

She came for our baptism (and was awesome enough to take this photo [with two missionaries] afterward), and it was SOOOO nice to have her here. :-) We had such an awesome time!

Then the weather got SUPER nice... like 70s and 80s every, single day. And Kissa? She is LOOOOOOVING it...

She spends ALL day outside, just sleeping on our deck. She never leaves our backyard. LOL. You know, unless of course Jeremy is on his iPhone because Kissa *loves* that thing. ;-)

Okay, not really... she just loves cuddling with whichever one of us is sitting on the couch. LOL.

And that's about it. :-) Oh, and I *did* finish our laundry room... finally. LOL. I'll post photos soon. Promise. :-D

Stepping Back Into Blogging.

Three weeks?! Can that be right?! I haven't blogged in THREE weeks! ACK! Okay, so a run-down of what's been going on in my life...

1. I actually haven't scrapped at all, but I've been doing other projects around the house... painting, altering, organizing. It's great! And coming along well. This is my new trash container for on top of my nightstand. Hey, if it's going to be on your nightstand it's gotta be CUTE!

I got it on clearance at Ross (because the top had broken off, and there was a hole). It was $2. I spray painted it this antique white, and then I drilled a hole through the top, and added this Anthro drawer knob. I LOVE how it turned out. The cutest trash ever! :-)

2. My hours at work have been doubled. That's not saying much, however. I'm working just under 30 hours now, but it feels like a lot. LOL. It's still fun though, so that's a great thing! :-)

3. Jeremy has been sick, SICK, and I've been well. 'Tis strange, yes. Thanking God I'm healthy, so I can take care of that poor sickie. :-)

4. A cat got hit by a car in front of my house and died. I had to break the news to the owner (after I found a poster for said cat). We both cried. It was sad. Poor little Beau.

5. Then the next day, I witnessed (and gave the 911 emergency person a play-by-play for about ten minutes) a car out of control (at 70 mph on the highway)... ending in a bad crash. The guy WALKED AWAY unharmed. Seriously, I'm pretty sure Angels guided his car the whole (nearly) 7 miles. (And thankfully, kept this truck from NOT rolling on top of my car.) At the end, Angels also picked up his car (with only the two back wheels) from an inclined grassy null, and placed it back on the highway, facing me. CRAZINESS. This was VERY traumatic... to say the least. Sheesh.

6. My work is home to the most caring, understanding, compassionate, and FABULOUS group of people EVER seen in a workplace. Ever. This was a breath of fresh air after my near-death experience on the highway. My boss gives great hugs. Just sayin'. :-) I could not have made it through work without them.

7. The weather is SO nice! 70s and 80s EVERY day. It will be like this now till October, and I.AM.STOKED! Mmm.... love me some Texas weather! Ruby, Amber and Kissa are spending LOTS of time outside. Kissa is so funny: She just sits on the deck the whole time... doesn't wander off at all. I love seeing her enjoy the sun. :-)

(This picture just makes me laugh. I love this kitty!)

8. FINALLY found a great doctor after mine moved away. FINALLY! It only took eight months... LOL. Had several "ah ha!" moments at my appointment yesterday. YAY!

9. Babysat for a FABULOUS family with two little girls (aged 8 and 5). They are SO awesome and SO fun that I didn't want to put them to sleep... because I'd miss them. LOL. My biological clock is now in over-drive. (Note to God: I'm ready whenever you are! ;-) )

10. Hubby and I decided on a boy's name... if we ever have a boy. Providing he *looks* like this name, he will receive the name. Nope. Sorry. It's a secret. But it's cute. With a cute nickname to boot! Hint: It's a Disney character. :-)

11. Went to visit my friend Bethina and her new baby, Elissa. Had SO much fun with her and the kiddos. I need to visit more often. How cute are they?!

Sean, the oldest:

Bryce, the middle:

And new baby, Elissa Grace:



She is SUCH a good baby too! I was there for four hours, and she barely fussed at all. And talking to Bethina, I am now officially wanting to have our kids in a birthing center, as opposed to a hospital. There is SO much I didn't know! And to have a birth that *I* want... and what *I* say goes?! No IV?! No sterile, uncomfortable environment? I can get up and pee? Or walk around if I want? Be in any position I want? Yes, please! :-D

If you're having a baby, and you haven't already, look into a birthing center (also 1/4 the price as a hospital) and a midwife/doula for your birth! :-)

Umm... okay, that was a lot of stuff. I'll try to update more often.... with progress of the house and my projects. I'm having fun organizing and decorating! :-D