Tickled Pink!

On Saturday friends and family showered Jenny & Bobbi Jo with lots of love and goodies! Since Clayton and Jenny aren’t telling the name we joked about the name Bobbi Jo when she first told us she was pregnant and it has been a family joke ever since. Mainly because my sweet MIL thinks it’s a cute name!

Jenny’s friends from college threw her a nice shower in Topeka. Good food, fun games and lots of presents!! This baby is spoiled and we’re going to keep on spoiling her when she gets here!! Having a girl in the family is hard on the wallet because everything is so darn cute! But that’s what Aunts are for....right?!?!

We have less then 2 months until this baby girl makes her appearance into this world. We can’t wait to meet you Bobbi Jo! Aunt Lane loves you very much!!!

Create a slideshow

Happy Birthday Mom!

Wednesday my mom celebrated The BIG 5-7. Yep that’s right mom I just told everyone your age!! It seems like yesterday I stuck this sign in the yard and we had people honking all day long! Ha!

The plan was to meet in Lawrence tonight for dinner but Friday and Saturday she was fighting the flu so we decided not to meet up and get everyone else sick. I was home for the weekend for Jenny's Baby Shower and was planning to head back but then I got comfy on the couch and we spent the evening in our pjs. This morning she was back to her old self, which meant she was up for shopping. We hit up our favorite Thrift store, MAJ-R Thrift in North Topeka. It takes time to search through everything but we always come out with some good finds! 

Porterfield’s put together these beautiful flowers that they delivered to her school. And all of us chipped in and bought her a digital camera. It was pretty funny teaching her how to use it…I think she is getting the hang of it.

Happy Birthday Mama! Glad to hear you enjoyed your special day! Thank you for being a wonderful mother and my best friend! Love you lots!

New Toy

With Eric working for Enterprise Brian got a nice new toy for the referral. We have been enjoying our new iPad. Or should I say I have! Brian isn’t much of an Internet browser like I am but he has enjoyed playing on it as well. I will say I don’t think I would have spent my own money on one but this works for now as I save for a new laptop. I have loved using it in the kitchen, as most of my recipes I find are online and playing my favorite game Words with Friends is like 10x the normal size!

Thank you Enterprise!

Holiday Party

   Last night we enjoyed a fun night out at the Enterprise Holiday Party! This year it was fun to have Heather and Eric there along with seeing everyone from last year and meeting lots of new faces.

   We were kind of disappointed with what they had planned. Last year the food was delicious and they had a casino with lots of prizes. Must be the budget cuts because this year it was like a wedding reception with bad food. Just dinner and dancing with lots of us hanging out around the bar and photo booth. We did get some good pictures to add to our photo booth picture collection.

   Heather and I got a steal on our dresses. Of course I told myself I wasn’t going to buy a new one but I couldn’t pass up at Leopard Print dress for 26 bucks! I even had a gift card so that means it was $0. And I found black patent pumps at Target for $9. What?!? I never find good deals like that! So in total I sent $9 bucks on my outfit. Kudos to me!

   I found Heather’s dress at Von Maur. After lots of picture texts back and forth I found this one-shoulder black dress with bluish gray peacock feathers on the side and up the back. Too bad you can’t see it in the picture! Should have had her stand on the other side but anyways it was super cute and classy and fit like a glove! Bonus it was marked down from $90-$23.

   It ended up being a fun night to get dressed up and enjoy a Saturday night out with our good friends. Crazy to think 10 years ago Heather & I were getting dressed up for our High School Semi-Formal together and now we are married going to work parties with our husbands!

Caught up....

FINALLY!!! Even though things were so busy over the holidays I did make time to sit down and blog but just saved them to add pictures later. I love taking pictures but I hate uploading and editting them. So I kept putting that off until I had way to many pictures on my camera and over 10 blog posts without pictures! And so what does a girl do on her day off….upload lots and lots of pictures! It took most of the day but I’m glad it’s finally done and my blog is up to date! You can say I have learned my lesson!

McNeil's Movie Night

Hubby came up with the great idea of having a weekly movie night. We used to watch movies all the time but now we are stuck on our DVR. Maybe giving up TV should have been my New Year’s resolution. Ohh scary! Or at least cutting back….something to think about.

Last night we rented Moneyball, lounged in our pjs, had pizza and a glass of wine. It was lovely and you all must see that movie! Brad Pitt…yes please!

Levi decided to pass on the movie and just catch up on some Zzzz’s with Mom!

Stayed tuned for next week’s pick…… I wonder if I can get away with a chick flick! It’s all about taking turns right?!?

Happy Birthday Mama-to-be

Last night we met everyone in Lawrence to celebrate Jenny’s birthday! Next year we will have a beautiful baby girl here to help her Mama celebrate!

Mr. Evan sure did have the giggles! Grandpa is just sooo funny sometimes!!

Happy Birthday Jenny! Hoping you had a wonderful day! Each year can only get better and better! Thanks for being a wonderful SIL and friend! Love you bunches!

T-Town Style

Second Saturday was spent in Topeka this month. We also were celebrating Julianna’s 25th Birthday and the news that Shannon and Trent were having a baby boy! Tortilla Jacks was the place for dinner. I’m not complaining of my $5 meal which I truly enjoyed! We headed back to Heather’s to meet up with the boys before heading out. It was so great to see some of my favorite Topeka boys.



We stopped by Quinton’s for a few drinks and then headed over to Bull Frogs Live to dance the night away. This has become a favorite place in our group. Everyone just goes out and has a good time or you could say Brian goes out and dances with anyone and everyone. He sure does make me laugh and I’m so glad he fits in so well with all the guys! They just love him! It turned out to be a long night but one we just laughed about the next day!





Happy Birthday Jules! Welcome to the club! Being 25 sure has been better than I thought! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow!

Baller

Aunt Cyndi and I headed to Lawrence yesterday to see Ali play basketball. My mom and Annabelle met us there. This was my first time seeing her play and she is such a good ball player. They didn't win but her coaches were impressed she even got to suit up for Varsity!

Belle and I left early so I could see her cute apartment! Hoping she will be living in KC later this year after she graduates! We stopped and had dinner at our favorite bar Jefferson’s for some yummy burgers and fried pickles before heading home!

Back to the grind

Ugh! I was doing so well on the road to a healthy lifestyle and then the holidays hit. It was when I made cookies with Emily is when I got off track. I stopped tracking because I didn't know how many points a cookie was and I wasn't just eating one or two. I decide to weigh myself right before leaving for Christmas. I was surprised that I had maintained my weight by the horrible food choices I was making. But of course I threw everything out the window when we were home for Christmas. Lots of good food and lots more goodies had me steering clear of the scale when I got home.

I went to my first WW meeting of the year on Monday. Holy smokes throw out all my info from 6 months ago everything is new again. I was sad to see a gain on the scale but nothing to dwell on just have to get back into the routine. Brian was doing great too but fell off before Christmas. I know he feels horrible at the weight he is at but I can't force him to do anything. I know he is back to tracking his points so if we can keep him from blowing it on booze and bad food choices on the weekend I think he will be happy with the outcome!

Nice reminders to getting back on track!


Lane: 7 pound gain
Total Weight Loss: 18 pounds

Sweet 16

My Mini Me turned Sweet 16 yesterday. I can’t believe she is all grown up and driving! We headed over to Aunt Cyndi’s to watch the KSU/KU game on Wednesday. Wishing there was a better outcome but it was still fun to cheer them on. We gave Ali her present early. Once basketball is over I will take her to get her upper ear pierced. She had been bugging her mom for awhile so she gave in when I asked her which made for a fun present.

I printed off an ear, punched an earring through it and put a spring on it so when she opened up the box it would jump out at her. It didn't take long for her to figure out what it was.

I still remember when my mom and Aunt Cyndi took me when I was 6 to get my ears pierced. I think I was in 7th grade when I got them doubled pierced. My belly-button and upper ear I did when I turned 18 and my nose on Spring Break when I was 19. The last 3 the parents weren't too thrilled about but they were something I wanted and hey...I didn't need my parents for it which made it even more fun.

Hoping someday I will have a little girl that I can take to get her ears pierced when she is ready! Every girl needs to have some bling!

Happy Sweet 16 Alison Joy!!! Always be smart! Always be safe! We love you!

Go Cats!

It has been a fun ride with the Wildcats this football season. We were hoping for a W on last night at the Cotton Bowl but unfortunately they lost to the Razorbacks 29-16. I had everyone over to cheer on the Cats and my only requirement was they had to wear people. This was quite hard for those Jayhawk fans. But Levi didn't complain!Brian wanted to have tailgate food so he grilled brats. Aunt Cyndi brought over Sweet Potato fries and I made 7-Layer Dip, which was amazing. See recipe below. It was such a nice day it kind of seemed like fall. I had leftover ribbon from NYE, which cost me a dollar to decorate. It's so easy and cheap but makes for fun party decor. Our K-State blanket and some purple & white cupcakes are the perfect little touches. The last time the Wildcats went to a bowl was in 2006. We were able to go with friends and stay with my Aunt Julie in Houston. It was such a fun trip! We look so young and thin back then!!! Even though we were sad we weren't able to go this year we still had fun cheering them on at home! EMAW!!!

7-Layer Dip
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
1 cup guacamole (I used 2-3 avocados mixed with some onion and lime juice) *Enjoyed it much better than the pre-made stuff*
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup black olives, drained

DIRECTIONS
1. In a 9x9 or 8x8 serving dish, spread the refried beans. Layer the guacamole on top of the beans.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream and taco seasoning mix. (I think the taco season is what makes the dip!) Spread over the layer of guacamole.
3. Sprinkle a layer of Cheddar cheese over the sour cream mixture layer. Sprinkle tomato, green onions and black olives over the cheese.

Our New Year's Resolution

This is the year I won’t be adding losing weight into my New Year’s resolution. Well scratch that. I guess some of my goals pertain to helping me continue on my journey but for once I’m not setting a number or a deadline. I started in August and with some added holiday weight I have still managed to keep myself 20 pounds lighter and Diet Coke or any pop free. Still can’t really tell you why I’m doing that! LoL We sat down on NYE and made a list. I’m hoping by next year I will have completed/stuck too each one of these! Same goes for Brian! It feels like 2012 is going to be a good year!

Lane
· Learn how to sew
· Learn how to use chopsticks
· Read a new book every month
· Attend WW weekly no matter gain or lose
· Exercise at least 3x/week
· Complete my wedding album
· Organize all photos saved on my computer and put in albums

Brian
· Hit golf balls every month
· Track WW points
· Gym 3x/week

Together
· Keep to chore list
· Stick to monthly budget
· Weekly date night
· Continue saving for our first home

Ringing in 2012

After the Levi drama we didn’t really have the extra cash to go do anything so we opted to celebrate with a game night in our pjs. Heather and Eric weren’t doing anything so I invited them up along with Addie. We dressed up since friends were coming over but it didn’t take long until we were in our comfy clothes! We just did lots of appetizers and drinks. The boys made Yahtzee into a drinking game which was quite entertaining along with the game of Guesstures. Eric’s brother Kyle and his girlfriend joined us to ring in the New Year. It wasn’t a wild crazy party but we had a great time and didn’t have to worry about driving which is always nice.

I wish I could say I just laid around the next day but one of my aunts decided to plan Clothier Christmas on New Years Day…and then she decided not even to come. Sore subject!! We won’t ever be doing that again because there were quite a lot of tired hungover people there. I can’t complain of the good breakfast we had and the Bloody Mary which helped me get through the day. But it was rough!

I was in my bed at 3 slept like a rock until Hubby woke me up at 6 because he was bored. Ugh…if you know me I LOVE MY SLEEP and could have slept till the next morning. Oh well! We watched some more episodes of FNL and ate leftovers. Nothing exciting but right up our ally! Wishing he was still off because I loved our time together! Back to reality! Happy 2012 Everyone!

Create your own slideshow design

Sick Puppy

After enjoying such a wonderful Christmas weekend we were greeted with a unpleasant smell when we woke up the next morning. Levi wasn’t feeling too well and he let us know all over the family room floor. If you know Levi he doesn’t bark at all so when he needs to go out he just stares at us. So I’m sure he was staring at us beforehand but I’m sorry pup we were sleeping! We gave it 24 hours and after a sleepless night of letting him out what seemed every hour we called the vet. We made him sleep in his crate that night and he would knock on it when he needed to go out. We both woke up saying we are NOT ready for kids!

The vet did some X-rays and blood tests. The blood test came back normal but the X-ray revealed that his intestines were inflamed/infected. The vet first thought it was maybe from eating the mulch but after a few more days he figured it was probably from a rawhide bone. There will be no more of those!We picked him up later that day. You can see our Puppy doesn’t feel too hott…

There was lots of this going on when we got home!

I wish I could say that was the end of it but Wednesday was the worst. We had been calling the vet on every little thing. Oh god I hope we aren’t going to be those parents! He had started throwing up….I don’t think my carpets could take anymore. It was EVERYWHERE! Thank god Brian had the week off and for my mother calming me down. It was a rough week and I just felt horrible for him!

We brought him home on New Year’s Eve so he could enjoy the party with us. He slept mostly in his bed but rang in the New Year in style. I think we are in the clear but who knows with this guy! Thanks for everyone checking in on Levi! It means a lot!