13 Years Since Our First Dance

Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of the day Andrew and I became a couple.

It was a Friday night. We went to a church dance for single adults. I called his roommate to make sure he would be there that night. Then I got all fancied up, and headed to the dance with my brother. When Andrew got to the dance, I pretended I just barely remembered his name. Which went way over his head...and we talked for a while before he asked me to dance. We danced the rest of the night together. How could he resist? The fix was in! After the dance, I invited Andrew back to my apartment to play Skip-bo. My brother said he would meet us at the apartment. He wisely hung out with some friends before coming home. We played Skip-bo, Andrew told me very sweetly, that I was cute. I was glad he noticed. Then we stayed up all night talking. It was so fun!

The next day, I had to go to Houston to help my mom with some things, and I knew I would be trashed from staying up all night. Andrew offered to drive. Now it was my turn to not be able to resist! We enjoyed the weekend with my mom.

At one point we went to get some dinner with my mom. While he went in ahead of us, my mom tells me that she thinks this boy is head over heels for me. I was not convinced. We enjoyed our drive back to Dallas. On this drive, he told me that he would be referring to me as his girlfriend. I had no problem with that.

I love our whirlwind relationship. It was such a fun and confusing time. Who falls in love in a weekend? I guess we did.

And the winner is....

Remember when we did that play last year as a family? The Best Christmas Pageant Ever...


Well, the other night they had an awards ceremony for all the plays in the 2007-2008 season. Monkey won Best Actor in a Cameo Role - Jr. Division, for his role as Hobie Clark. He was sooooo thrilled! I won Best Actress in a Cameo Role for my role as Mrs. Slocum.


We had the best time doing the play in the first place. This is just icing on the cake! I hope to participate more in our community theatre in the years to come. I think I will be too unavailable until after the baby is around a year old. I hope we can attend some performances this year, just for fun.

Tickled Pink!

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting a girl in January!

We had the ultrasound today and couldn't be happier!

We're Having a Baby!

We are thrilled to announce that we will be welcoming a new baby to our family in January. Right now the little baby looks kind of ummmmm organic, hee hee. Can't wait until Baby starts to look like a real baby.

Homeschool Library Builder

If you are looking for next year's curriculum, you need to check out Homeschool Library Builder (you can find the link in my sidebar).

This is a great little company, with lots of good deals on books. I just ordered and got free shipping with the coupon code HOORAY. They always have a sale going on. AND if you link them from your blog you get $5 of book credit. GO FOR IT!

If you order something, tell them Alana sent you, and I will get book money.

See...and you thought I was just letting you in on a great deal. Didn't you know it is all about ME?

Something for Music Lovers

In addition to being stand up comedians, we listen to music like maniacs.

Recently we found a really cool music site with free music and quality sound. It is www.pandora.com

You choose a song or artist you like and set up a "radio station" for that artist. Then the site will play music in that artists style, including music from that artist. It works on an evaluation system, you tell it what you like or dislike, and it will play songs based on your ratings.

Enjoy!

This is Friendship

Ok, so I got a call from my dear friend Margaret. I do canning with her, she helps me organize my home, I help garden at her place. We help each other out... Today she calls and says, why don't you come over for a couple hours, I have some brush I want to clear. I say ok. So I quick find a sitter for the Puppy. Then I pack up the kids, a picnic, and all workbook stuff to be done today, and we were off.

The kids are all set. Puppy at the sitter, and Mouse and Monkey are having a picnic up near the house at Margaret’s.

So we start clearing this brush. Then about half way through the brush clearing, she tells me we are going to cut down a tree. We are talking a ginormous tree here! In total shock, and just seeing how cool that would be to blog about, I say ALRIGHT!!! Feeling like a superwoman for real now!

Well we went to sawing on that tree with the chainsaw, and it starts to go down. We are waiting for the big BOOM! But guess what? No dice. The top branches hung on 3 other trees. We were bummed. It didn't go down. So tonight a storm is coming. We are sure hoping for a good wind. If not, that is going to be a doozy of a job.

Sorry no pics. Just think really big white oak just laying on a few trees, but not falling, and still stuck on the stump!

Notes to self:
Next time wear long sleeves.
Stay out of firing range of the DR. Huge bruise on leg from wood chip. OUCH!
Start working out on a more regular basis! That is some hard work girl!

After that, Margaret tells me, "So, you gonna do 30 minutes on the treadmill?" I think she is out of her ever loving mind!!! But guess what? I did it! YaY me!

Cool Scrapbook Paper

My friend Heather Preckel from the FIAR boards is starting a new venture. I hope that you will frequent her site and support her in her new venture. She is super talented and very cool, as is the new paper line she has created.

Good luck Heather!

Some Things About Me

Random Things about me:

I love art. I especially love Art History.

I went to school for two years at SMU, sometimes I have a desire to return to school, mostly I just think how thankful I am to not have to live the student life anymore. Also, I never cheer for the Stangs...I am a Longhorn fan! I bleed orange baby! Just kidding, I really don't care one way or the other. But if SMU and UT were playing, I would still go Orange.

I like all kinds of music. I listen to music almost every day. I like rap music too...who woulda thought...but I have to change the channel most of the time, because I hate it when songs have dirty words...I can listen to The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but only in small doses. I love the Dixie Chicks, Train, Daughtry and Nora Jones. I really love late 80's alternative and some 90's music. I normally do not know words to songs, I just kind of mumble and stutter until I get to some words I know.

I enjoy long trips through the countryside. It brings back sweet memories of travelling with my late grandparents. I love them and miss them so.

I secretly hate holidays. All of them. Except my birthday...that one is the best. No better day than when you are "The Birthday Girl"!

Rubrium Lily (Stargazer) is my favorite flower. Their scent is heavenly and they are beautiful.

Oh yeah, I love to color. I love a nice new box of colors. I just recently bought the 96 box and dared my kids to touch it. Some things are just for mama, right? My husband thought I was a loon when we first got married and I sat down for a nice night of coloring. LOL!

I spent New Year's Eve 1999-2000 playing Age of Empires with my sweetheart. No bunker hunkering for us...we just sat on our duffs and pretended we were Kings/Queens of the world. Nerds unite!

I want to be an actress when I grow up.

When I was younger I loved to go to concerts. I have seen the following in concert:

The Cure - Dallas, TX 1989
Depeche Mode - Dallas Tx 1995
Violent Femmes*
Crowded House*
Tripping Daisy*
Eve's Plum*
Pearl Jam - Austin, TX 1995? Can't remember when. But it was crazy!
Michael McLean - LDS composer/singer (which of these things is not like the others?)
Dixie Chicks, Indigo Girls, Ben Folds - Charlotte, NC 2003

*all from Edgefest 1994 Dallas, TX

That is all for now...gotta leave some mystery!

Merry Christmas - The Ugly Cry

Last night my in-laws surprised me with the perfect gift. I cannot believe it! I have not received a gift this thoughtful in a long time. I also have not had one of these since I was around 6. I hate to show you this picture, but if you look really hard, you might see how excited I got.

I have been looking for a bike at thrift stores and garage sales for a while. I found a baby seat to attach to the future bike a couple months ago. Today my husband installed it. Tomorrow morning we are all due a nice bike ride.

My MIL is the hostess with the mostess! She is also a fine baker. Here are some shots of her beautiful cookies and her lovely display.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

I have been making a huge effort to declutter and reorganize our school/living room. I have also been waiting patiently for the Desk Apprentice from Staples to go on sale. I have waited a very long time. Probably a year. Well, I looked yesterday, and not only was it on sale, there was no shipping!!! So, I grabbed it for my gift this year!

Well, Staples is in a class all to themselves on customer service and delivery! I got the Desk Apprentice today! We have already loaded it up with school supplies! The kids were so funny looking at the box and making sure we had all the necessary supplies in ours. Monkey was disappointed we didn't put any file folders in it. We may have to accomadate him.

I am so excited! I spared you all the photos from every angle. You can thank me later!