Wooden Anniversary...

Tom and I have been married for 5 years as of the March 19th. The 5th anniversary is the Wooden Anniversary.

Friday afternoon, I left work early. I stopped by our house, packed a weekend bag, and gathered our toiletries. I loaded up the truck, and left to pick Tom up early from work. I arrived at Tom's work around 430 and texted him:

Me: Can you leave early?
Tom: I'll have to find out... Yes.
Me: Then come on!
Tom: You're already here?
Me: Yup! Let's get this weekend started! I love you!
Tom: Lol
Me: Are you smiling?
Tom: Kind of...

Tom knew I'd planned SOMETHING for the weekend, he's known that for a few weeks, he just didn't know WHAT I had planned. Tom got into the truck and we were off...

The hotel that I had booked a room at was right around the corner from Tom's work, so we drove over. It was at that time that I told Tom what was in store for him for the weekend... He didn't even realize there were clothes in the back! lol!

He had a huge grin on his face! It was so adorable! We got to the hotel, and checked in, and then grabbed our stuff from the truck and took it to our room. It was nice - top floor - river view. Very nice... we stayed at the Double Tree, and Tom was excited because we got chocolate chip cookies at check in lol!

Anyway, so we dropped off our stuff, and then headed out to dinner. We went to Red Lobster - had a couple drinks, some lobster and shrimp, stuff mushrooms, and cheddar bay biscuits... nom nom nom...

This was a Sunset Pina Colada - It was awesome!!

After dinner we had to go back to the house, because I fail at packing lol! I forgot to pack Tom a couple of Tshirts, some socks, and I forgot to grab our clothes for the wedding we were attending Saturday afternoon... Tom said I was fired from packing ever again lol!

Anyway, after we picked up the forgotten items, we went back to the hotel. It was nice to have satellite to watch lol. We don't even have cable at our house. So we watched some Discovery Channel and Food Channel lol! We also had some good old fashion celebrating... lol (I'll spare you the details lol!)

Saturday, we woke up kind of late and walked down to the River Market for some lunch at the Flying Burrito. It was really good. Then, we decided to walk across the river, which I've never done... because I don't like heights, or fast running water lol! Anyway, we walked to the North Little Rock side, down to Dickey Stadium, and then back across the Broadway bridge. It was a nice walk, except I was in flip flops lol!

Anyway, after our walk, we went back to the hotel, (a little more celebrating), then showered and hung out until we needed to get ready for the wedding. We watched some more Discover Channel, they were running a Dirty Jobs marathon. Neat show, some of his jobs were just nasty though lol!

Then, we got dressed and ready for Keith and Bethany's wedding. Keith is a friend of Tom's. He's also the real estate agent we used when we bought our home. Bethany is a great girl, super sweet. She is family of one of the clients at the massage center I used to work at. I'd only seen her in passing, until our house warming party. She's a doll though! I wish I'd taken a picture of the bride and groom. She was gorgeous and he was just smitten! hehe! I did snag a couple of pics of me and Tom:

We clean up pretty nice, don't we?

Seriously? Can't keep a straight face to save his life...

Anyway, we had a lovely time at the wedding, spoke with a few of Tom's co-workers, and other friends of Tom's. He seemed to enjoy showing me off lol! We ran into one of his old co-workers, who left after a year and a half ago. He didn't get to see Tom during his transformation (weight loss), and was really taken aback when he ran into Tom. It was cute. haha!

Anyway, had a really good time at the reception. After which we wound up running to Arbys for some roast beef and potato cakes (yummy!). Then back to the hotel room. We watched some more Dirty Jobs.

Hanging out in the hotel room.

Again, can't keep a straight face to save his life...

Then, we fell asleep, but not before filling out our room service card. I know, I'm a goob, but I've never had room service before. Anyway, so we ordered breakfast to be delivered at 9 a.m. That was a neat experience. AND EXPENSIVE!! haha! But sooooooooo good!
After breakfast, we showered, and got repacked so that we could get out on time for check-out.
Then, we headed out to grab lunch before heading home. We went to US Pizza Co - quite yummy! Then back home.
I cleaned up our bedroom, dusted everything from the ceiling to the feet of our night stands. I vacuumed, and threw away some stuff. Then, I changed the sheets on our bed, and ran laundry. A LOT of laundry. While I was doing laundry, I got interrupted:

She's just so darn cute!!

Anyway, we went to dinner, then the grocery store. Now we're just waiting for bedtime!

I hope you guys had a great weekend! I know I did!

<3 Jess

So, I joined JibJab

LOL!

Yes, I joined JibJab!

How fun is that??

You should join! It's GREAT!!

Miserable...

This is the only friggen week this entire year that I DON'T want to be sick... Well, this week, and the week of worlds. Anyway...

I'm sick. I've got the coughy, sinus-ey, fever-ey crud everyone else has had, but, I am one of those - when i get a fever - which is NOT very often at all. I go home. No sense in getting everyone else sick, right?

Well, so here's the thing, I seem to be the only one at work that feels that way. there are A LOT of people at work, who just work sick - which is fine if they'd do their work at home, and like tele-conference it in or whatever. but to purposely come to work, when you know you are sick and quite possibly contagious - WTF?

Anyway, so I'm sick, and this week I was going to finish up all of the last minute stuff for Spring Nationals. I wanted to have it all done by Wednesday so that if I needed Marissa's help with any of it, i'd have her available. But now, it looks like I may have to ask her to do it - depending on what her schedule looks like.

The real #1 reason why I don't want to be sick this week, is Friday is my and Tom's 5 year wedding anniversary... I spent $250 on an anniversary surprise for him, and now, it might be $250 down the friggen tube. All because some people couldn't go to the doctor - or just stay home when they realized they weren't well. Grrr.

Ok, I'm done ranting... Tom's making me some coffee... maybe that will help me be not such a witch. The biggest problem I am facing right now, is that because I haven't had enough sleep, my nerves are shot and i've been crying for the past half hour or so, and can't stop.

Anyways,
I'm out
<3 Jess

Two things:

1. I always want to go shopping when I'm broke - whats up with that??


2. National Geographic Traveler contributing editor Andrew Evans (@Bus2Antarctica) snapped this photo of a rare black penguin during his travels around the world to Antarctica. He wrote that it’s a "rare melanistic trait that’s practically undocumented" on king penguins.


K. That's all for now!!

It's been too long...

Sorry It's been so long - here's the low down...

We've been SUPER busy - at work and at home!

This month we have two big things:

First, my and Tom's 5 year anniversary! March 19th, 2010! I can't wait! I have a surprise weekend awaiting my doting hubby! We have a wedding to go to on Saturday - :) - Perfect event for an anniversary weekend, right?

Second, Spring Nationals for ATA in Las Vegas - don't get all excited... I don't get to go lol! Maybe another time. lol But I handle all of the registration - eek! so i've got to finish that up so everything goes smoothly. That's the week after our anniversary. Should be fun!

February FLEW by!

We had Nikki's 7th birthday:


Nikki and Kayla went to Pink Bliss in Little Rock, and got to have a little pink and purple princess make over!

Nikki and Kayla had a photo shoot - aren't they adorable?

Then, we had Kayla's birthday:

[ok, now my blogger is messing up! GRRRR!! Oh well, I'll post the pics on my facebook if you're interested!]

For Kay's birthday we did a slumber party and then a party on saturday afternoon!

Tom and I didn't do anything special for Valentine's day, because our anniversary is so close, but the girls and I did decorate our office. It was super cute! Lots of hearts every where! It was a busy month - but this month is going to be a LOT busier!!

Gotta head to bed! Y'all have a great day!

<3 Jess

Playing Catch Up

Ok guys, sorry for taking so long for an update - I just knew it would be a long post, so bear with me! gunna have some pics too... I think lol!

End of year at work was CRAZY! Too much to do and not really enough time, but we managed! After work on New Year's Eve, Tom and I went to hang out with Kandi and her crew at Sherry and Lanny's place in Mayflower. We had a really good time!

Me and Kandi - First pic of 2010!! (I love my bestie!!)

Kandi, Me, and Mom - spending New Year's Eve with them is the ONLY way to ring in the new year!!

I kissed my husband at midnight. It's going to be a good year Tom - I just know it (Do I look tired or WHAT??) The green ring around my head is a glow stick necklace - I thought I looked cool, lol!

We had a bonfire, and counted down to the New Year! We had a blast! Maddy was the only kid who didn't make it to midnight - but she's four - can you blame her? When we got home from celebrating, we started a load of laundry, and took a shower, then crashed.

We woke up Friday, the 1st, packed all of our crap, loaded the car, made one last pass through the house and then we were on our way to Texas - I felt bad, we didn't even spend any time with our kitties before leaving!! We did make sure their food bowls were full, my sis checked on them the whole time we were gone, so we weren't too worried.

We got stopped in Nacogdoches (sp??) [hereafter dubbed "Nac"] to say hi to Marti and Rudy. We weren't staying in Nac on this trip - we'd spent the last two trips there. But, we got to stop by, and visit a little, stretch our legs, borrow the restroom, and then we were on the road again... That was a 5 hour trip, after our short stop in Nac, we had another 3 hour drive to Houston - or well, just north of Houston to Kingwood. We got to visit with Lila and Karl, Sam and Mimi, Carol (Mimi's mom, who is quite possibly, the coolest grandmother I know!), Samantha, Ian, Mandy, TJ, and some of Karl's family. PLUS! Pepper, Sandy, Cashew, and Peanut (the four legged family members!)

It was a good night of talking, catching up - a lot of "Wow, you guys look great!" which is always nice to hear. We played some Wii, some pool, and some pinball. Then, around midnight, we crashed. Well, I crashed - Tom stayed up talking with TJ until like 3 in the morning. lol.

Saturday, the 2nd, we left Kingwood and headed to Austin, so that we could spend a couple of days with Tom's dad and stepmom, Pam. That was sooooo much fun! We spent that night trading christmas gifts, I think Tom's favorite is our new Pressure Cooker! Sunday, we went to the Salt Lick outside of Austin - VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY good food!! I got a HUGE pulled pork sandwich, and Tom got a HUGE plate of ribs. I was very full afterwards! lol! Monday, we went to Fredericksburg.

It was officially the farthest West I've ever traveled. It's a great little town, a little "touristy", but perfect! If I could pick a little town to live in, it would be just like Fredericksburg!! We found some cute shops, one of which was a kitchen store. Tom and I picked up some fresh coffee beans to grind in our coffee pot and an asparagus peeler. hehe!

Tuesday, Dad and Pam had to go to work, so we headed back to Austin. We had heard a rumor that the headquarters to a website we like was in Austin, and we had a couple of addresses to try, but we never could find it... bummer!! But, we did get to see the capital building, downtown Austin, and the University of Texas - Go Longhorns!! We wound up going to TJ's bachelors pad lol! It's him and a few other guys who live in this HUGE house. It was awesome! They have a "Darth Vadar Bathroom" lol Because it's all black - or well, mostly... lol! Anyway, awesome house! We went and did some shopping in austin, went to lunch with TJ, and then headed back to Kingwood. That night we got to yack and hang out with Tom's Aunt Lila - she is so freakin' cool! We stayed up talking until too late, and Lila had to work the next morning. Sorry Li!!

Wednesday, we did something I've never done before in my life... we went to the Gulf of Mexico - now, while I understand that the Gulf is not TECHNICALLY the ocean - it is. It is ocean water, for as far as you can see. i've never seen the ocean. This was a totally amazing experience. The water just kept going... It was COLD! The wind and the water! I put my foot in the water, i felt the sand, and then, I tasted the water! BLECH!!! It was salty and nasty! lol! I picked up some sea shells and we got chased by some sea gulls! I hate birds! blech!! lol!!
Tom, trying hop back our of the water! lol! Like I said, it was COLD!!

Me, in front of the Gulf - my hair is flying like CRAZY. I couldn't keep it looking nice lol! And yes, I'm rockin' the Longhorns hoodie!! Woot!

I wrote in the sand - JH 2010. Cuz I was there - yo. lol!

Anyway, when we decided we'd frozen enough, we went to Gaido's for lunch - Tom's Dad suggested it. It was a little pricey - but very very good. We brought back leftovers lol! We had taken Ian with us to the Gulf, he seemed to have fun with us - we're all just big kids lol!

We got back from the Gulf, and hung out at the house, played some more Wii, then we had dinner with Lila's crew. The Championship Game was the next night - and we knew we were going to go shopping on Thursday. So we didn't stay up TOO late. lol. well, not too late for us - we kept Lila up past her bedtime - again lol!

Thursday, Tom and Ian and I cleaned Lila's kitchen before heading out for the day. Basically, it was a "Thank you" for letting us stay with them. Then we went to Whataburger for lunch, yummy yummy! I got a burger, a shake and some french fries... I only got the fries so I could dip them into my shake lol! Yummy!! I wish we had a Whataburger in LR. oh well! Probably better this way, huh? Anyway, after lunch, we hit up the Dillards Clearance store - it was in a decaying mall... and we could tell why they could dub it a CLEARANCE store... they had some FUGLY clothes in there! There were coral colored pants... FOR MEN! eek!! I did find a cute sweatshirt top for Kandi - I was aiming to find one for me, but no luck there. We did go and walk through the mall for a little bit, that was fun too. Ian definitely makes for a fun trip! LOL! We went back to the house, did dinner, and watched the Longhorns-Alabama game - sad times, sad times!

Friday, we got up early, so that we could say bye to everyone before we headed back to LR. We had done laundry on Thursday, so we had everything packed. Then, we hit up a pretty good donut place for some Kolaches... yummy! Then, it was back to the road. We hit Nac up again while we passed through, stopped in at Marti's and at Mimi's. Then, it was back on the road again. we were ready to see our kitties... poor babies.

We got into Bryant around 5 - so we stopped to mooch dinner off of them, and see my neice and nephews. had a good time. Then, we got home and unloaded the truck... I was surprised to see how much we actually HAD with us! Our poor babies, they just kept looking up all wide eyed at us like "Oh wow, you're home!" and of course, they were up our butts the whole evening! But it was ok, we'd missed them too!

Saturday and sunday passed in a blur. Then, almost immediately, it was time to go to work Monday morning... Yeah, definitely a Monday. and the week has almost passed in a blur... Now it's the 15th of January and I can't believe how fast it's gone!!

So how has y'alls first two weeks of January gone?

<3 Jess
PS. More pics to come on facebook when I get the chance - or the motivation! lol!!

Holy Bananas!!

Ok, so it's 12:07 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010...

I've had six full days of 2010 and it has been FANTASTIC!!

I'm going to do a full blog about what all we've been doing while on vacation - but that will have to wait until we get back.

I did want to jump online and wish my big sister HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I hope her day goes really really well!

Love you sis!

Love,
Jess