Day at the Ranch

Instead of hitting up all of the Black Friday sales, we spent our day after Thanksgiving at the Family H Ranch. I think that was a much better choice by far.

There was wildlife...

The deer are basically pets. They don't get startled by much.

Mama and baby.

This little bunny was pretty spoiled too.

Cute 'lil guy.

There was relaxing...

The boys.

Jase, Preston, Uncle R.

Preston, Michael, Uncle R.

On our way down to the fishing hole.

There was shooting...

Jason was the best shot.

I tried. Wasn't too good.

Kelley was a little trigger happy. Hehe. :)

Jordan shooting at cups.

And there was fishing...

Getting ready.

Kelley and Preston.

Cute Preston.

Preston and Jordan.

Jase Face.

Debbie.

The crew. The tank was incredibly low and nobody caught anything. But we tried. :)

Christmas Decorations

In the little time I managed to pull myself away from our week-long free HBO and Cinemax movie channels this weekend, we put the Christmas decorations. I'm looking forward to enjoying them over the next month.

Our new Christmas tree.

Radar looking very serious posing next to the tree.

Our little Christmas tree in the living room.

Nativity set, Advent calendar, and stockings - one for me, one for Jason, and one for Radar.

Snowman table runner.

Fall flowers are out and Christmas berries are in.

View of the Christmas tree from outside. If you look closely, there is also a poinsettia wreath and a couple of yard decorations.

Also on the docket this weekend: 2nd ever Houston Re-Market, darts at Ferryn & Steve's, Aggies BTHO Nebraska, & Harry Potter. I meant to get some work done as well, but that didn't quite end up happening. Looks like it will be a long two days before my Thanksgiving break.

Radar Gets Groomed

One of the biggest disadvantages with moving from The Woodlands to Houston was that we no longer could use our groomer. Melissa was great with Radar. And more importantly to us, she came to the house to groom him. Since Radar doesn't do great with other dogs, it was always so stressful for both him and us when we had to make trips to the groomers every six weeks. So when we moved into the new house, I decided that we should try to start grooming him our self. It hasn't been easy to say the least, but he has been patient with us as we stumble through the process. He doesn't look great, but it works.

Me making finishing touches in the tub. From this angle, it looks like my hair could use a good grooming too.

I tried to get some after shots, but he was soooo tired from the whole process. This is his, "Oh no. Please leave me alone," look.

"I really don't want my picture taken right now."

"I'm just so sleepy."

"I'll just ignore you and go back to sleep."

Garden Update Three

The cooler weather has had an incredible affect on our garden. Hope you enjoy a few updated pics.

The small garden. The only thing I am worried about is that our broccoli and cauliflower haven't flowered yet. It is getting HUGE, but no vegetables yet. I hope they actually produce.

Cabbage.

The big garden. Swiss chard anyone? How about some chives?

Another view.

And now it's time for some close-ups.

Mint.

Cilantro.

Peas.

Beets.

Come on, Radar. Wake up. I know you aren't thrilled about being my model, but someone has got to do it.

More mint. Mojito's anyone?

Getting Into the Spirit

Thanks to Veteran's Day, I had the day off. And since Jason did not, I had the day off to myself. I used it to go check out Christmas decorations. Jason should be happy I tackled this venture by myself since it ended up taking me nearly 4 hours. In Meyerland, there is a Hobby Lobby, Lowe's, Target, Kirkland's, and Wal-Mart all within a mile of each other so I price shopped before I made any decisions. In the end, nearly all of my purchases were from Hobby Lobby since all Christmas decorations were 1/2 off.

As we are finally settled into a house of our own, we decided it was time to purchase a full-size tree. Due to our limited space in this house, I went with a slim 7.5 foot pre-lit pine. It really wasn't a great day to be running around town because it was raining cats and dogs, but my new car handled loading the tree in the rain a breeze. It literally took about 0.3 seconds to flip the seat down and slide it in. Impressive.

Seriously, impressive enough to take a picture.

Here's the loot I ended up with. Most of that is just ornaments for the tree, but I did get a couple of decorations for our front yard. We actually have no outdoor outlets, so we won't be able to put up Christmas lights. I figured we could put our Christmas tree in our sun room so people can see it through our front windows. I think I'll still put our small apartment tree up in the living room so we have something pretty to look at in the evenings.

The loot.

Close-up.

Jason wanted to know if we are putting the tree up tonight, but I think we should wait to at least the weekend before Thanksgiving. Have to appreciate all of the holidays before jumping straight to Christmas.

I'm really looking forward to both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Only 8 more days of work before we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving. I can't wait!

What A Weekend!

I think I am just now caught up with sleep from the past week.

Thursday night Jason and I went to the Of Montreal concert at Numbers. We've watched them three times now, and I can't say that this was my favorite show. I haven't been that impressed with the latest albums, and since I've seen them before, the shock from the stage performance has worn off. (For those of you lost, Of Montreal is an indie band whose shows are very much performance art where there are multiple actors on stage at a time.) However, the opening act, Janelle Monae, was incredible. That girl put on an awesome performance and I wouldn't doubt if she has her own tour soon enough.

Janelle Monae

Of Montreal

Saturday morning I drove up to Dallas to see a bunch of my friends from my CMTP class. They were in town for a conference for work, and it was really great catching up with them. In all, about 1/4 of our class was in town. We met up for brunch at La Duni and then had dinner at Mattito's. Both were great!

It was amazing to catch up on what all has happened since we left San Francisco just 8 months ago. We've had engagements, marriages, babies, house buying, etc. And even though we are spread across the country and are working in all sorts of different groups within our Company, we are all basically at the same point in our careers and can relate to so much of what each other deal with on a daily basis. It's really nice to have that support network.

CMTP Gals

I also got to catch up with Trey & Mel on my Dallas trip. I spent a relaxing afternoon with them on Saturday (Aggies won! Whoop!) and met up for breakfast at Bread Winners on Sunday.

And my weekend adventure isn't done yet...

Sunday was our friend Sal's 30th birthday. He had a Pedal Party on Sunday afternoon to celebrate. Having to physically power your way up Washingon Ave. proved to be a ton of fun. Well, I say this as if I actually contributed to our team.... my legs were actually too short to pedal, but I provided moral support!

Pedal Party Crew

Jason & I

Sunday evening I settled into bed with a book that Trey and Melanie let me borrow. I actually stayed up reading until I finished the book. Now I'm 80% done with the second of the trilogy. Series are dangerous for me... I tend to get wrapped up in them. Anyhoo... I would recommend The Hunger Games for anyone looking for a good adventure book with a dystopian flair. (Think Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, etc.)

Halloween Costumes

What did Jason and I dress up as for Halloween, you ask. Banged up bicyclist and disgruntled wife. Oh wait, that's real life. I swear - injuries never look as bad on film. But, believe me, it's not pretty.