Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Harper!

So over the last few weeks, we've been to 2 different weddings. Each very lovely, and each giving us a chance to see friends and family that we haven't seen since..well, last May when we got married.



Two weeks ago, Craig's friend from high school, Kevin Harper married his girl of a few years, Renee in a very lovely ceremony in downtown San Diego. We had so much fun in the gaslamp district and seeing The Hunts, Rob & Carmen, EA, Chris and his girl Autumn and The Bollig's. So good to see all of them and help Kevin and Renee celebrate their marriage. I imagine right now they are in St. Lucia having a wonderful time! Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Harper! We thank them for a wonderful time & for allowing us to be a part of their special day!

Here are the rest of the photos, I didn't post them all on the facebook account. See them here.

Tiger Time

Ah, the Masters is back tomorrow. The epitome of golf. The greatest tournament on the most beautiful golf course in the world--especially in HD. Someday soon I hope to get to Augusta, but until then, here's hoping Tiger takes care of business this weekend...

Photos from Vegas.. Craig was able to meet one of his movie favorites too!

Vegas Baby!

Did I mention we're going to Vegas this weekend? We're pretty excited to get over there and have a non-stressful time. I completed my project shipping target for Q1 revenue (whew!) and we've finally locked in a mortgage this week too. Looks like that might pull through. On top of that we're celebrating Craig's birthday on the 24th, our friends Kim's & Jill's birthdays on the 26th and on April 1st, and Shel and Mike's 11th wedding Anniversary with them.



We've got a lot of celebrating to do! Maybe we should have booked for more than the weekend!

I'll just have water?

When Nick was 6yrs I think, we went to the Dr. for his wellness check-up. He distinctly remembers the Dr. telling him, 'abosultely no soda' when I asked a related question about his diet. He has never forgotten this and likes to remind me of it when I open a can, causing me to cringe with guilt. I always tell them - its too late for me, but save yourselves!! Nick is tempted by a Sprite every now and then and Mallory would always rather have milk.

I probably don't need my son's pediatriction to tell me that soda is bad for you, some juices are full of sugar and to drink more water. I get it. I fully realize the power of water and I'm no stranger to it's magic. When I was pregnant with Mallory and not feeling well, water was always the fix. But soda is fun and fizzy, bubbly goodness: I'm addicted. On a stressful day, it's all I drink. I start at 8am and I crack them open as late as 11pm if I have to pull an all-nighter for work. On the weekends, and when I'm too busy to have major qtys of it, I find myself having serious headaches. Headaches of withdraw, you might say. I have heard this happens with coffee drinkers too, but I wonder if its this severe? Sometimes my dull painful headache will last for 3 days!

So, here I am, 6hrs into my no soda rule and on my 6th glass of water. I have a slight headache, but I'm hoping it will wear off. Wish me luck on my soda free journey.

Happy Birthday Craig!

Happy Birthday to Craig, who turns 31 today!!!

I love you very much and hope you have a wonderful day today! We're excited to help you celebrate at Z-Tejas tonight.

(You love JoePa)

More house photos...

Master bedroom, ... very pink and floral!

Combination formal living and dining room.

Casual family room.

Kitchen/ Island. Wish I had a better shot of this.

It's been an interesting week in home buying land. Lots of moving money around so that it's exactly where the bank wants to see it? And it doesn't help that the rules change overnight, literally. So anyway... we think the worst is behind us - there's really nothing else that can change so it looks like we're back on as home buyers at least from where we sit today. We think it will be a long 5 weeks until official closing!





We picked up some paint samples today, meaning that we're actually allowing ourselves to plan for this going well. For the most part we agree on the colors, but beyond that the thought of actually decorating an entire home is quite daunting. I will have to draw on other, wiser home owners for inspiration. Or do what I always do and buy lots of appropriate magazines!





Just added some more photos from the inside of the house, keep in mind that a very sweet, single older woman lives there now and look beyond it! :o) I have big plans for the kitchen, as I believe that's truly the heart of everyone's home. At every gathering I attend 'the girls' spend lots of time near the kitchen chatting and drinking wine. And even now, the kids gather in our kitchen to tell me about their day. So, big plans!

Quick Post

I will only type a quick blurb about what we've been doing, at the risk of totally jinxing it.... But, it seems as though we may have purchased a house this week. It started last weekend when we went to look at a house with an amazing pool area in the backyard, only to be disappointed by the actual house. We were perfectly willing to just live outside by the pool and outdoor kitchen areas, but our realtor reminded us that sometimes coyotes come down off the mountain and eat things they shouldn't. So, she took us by another property she was doing an open house for later that afternoon and it was really nice. It has all of the things we were looking for, including a pool. Our offer has been accepted and we have the home inspection scheduled for the weekend.

We're a bit far from completing the process on this, but it looks promising and this could be the easiest sale our realtor has ever made! So, more to come - and keep your fingers crossed!

Home to PA

Over the last week we've been in Pennsylvania celebrating our Christmas, visiting my parents and meeting our new nephew/cousin. We had a great time, very busy the whole time we were there. We always try to pack as much into the week as we can.

We went to brunch at the very nice Hotel Hershey, attended a hockey game for the Hershey Bears, took some family photos with my new camera and even pulled off a trip to see the Penn State campus. As soon as I download all the photos from the big camera and the smaller fun camera I will post them, but for now, I'm pretty proud of this shot of Alex. He's adorable, such a good sweet baby! He's very pleasant, only really cries when he's hungry or when his winter hat covers his eyes. He doesn't like being in the dark.

The kids had fun too, seeing their cousin, aunt and uncle, grandparents and even Great Grandpa. I think they are glad to be home, they were having a little trouble getting the winter checklist down: jackets actually have to be zippered, scarf tied in a fashion to stop the air from hitting your neck - not just look good, wearing gloves and making sure the hat covers your ears. Oh my goodness, I think Nicholas must've taken the fleece lining out of his ski jacket at least 10 times because he didn't want to look 'puffy', only for me to discover it and zip it back in. They just aren't used to the cold weather and all that it entails - that's for sure! It's quite a difference raising kids in a warmer climate, we have it much, much easier.

Christmas, Part II