Yes, another flower girl!

An unborn flower girl, that is. Leslee (aka Gina) and Brad found out that they are having a little girl, Avery Lanae! I am sooooo excited! Seems like everyone I know has been having boys so it'll be nice to have a little girl around. I can't wait to meet her!! Sounds like she's already got her daddy wrapped around her little finger. I mean, come on, who buys a Daddy's Little Girl bike license plate ALREADY?? I think it's hilarious!!

So sweet

You know when you have those days and you just wake up in a crummy mood. Well, that was how today started. I have so much to do before Christmas and I'm still in school!!! It's absolutely ridiculous that we don't get out until tomorrow, the 21st!! I've also been grumpy because I just wanna go home...to my Shiner home. For some reason, I get grumpy if I stay here for 3 whole weeks in a row. Shiner is relaxing and laid back and it makes me happy. I'm happy in Wharton with Nick, but I don't get to see him much so I get grumpy. Well, just as I'm grumpily getting into my car, because he gets to stay at home and I don't get to be with him, there's a note in my car with some cash telling me to get my nails done. He is so AWESOME! He snuck it in my car last night because it needed to be moved. Of course, I'm in a wonderful mood now. He's the best guy in the world!

Happy Birthday, Jilly!

Today my little sister turns 23. Now this really makes me feel old! I remember feeling like I was getting old at 23 and now she's 23! 26 sure is going to be a doozie for me. In reality, I know it's not old, but just weird to be almost 30. This morning, as I was doing calendar with my kiddos I asked them why today was special for me. I told them it was Jill's birthday and they got so excited. We called her and sang her Happy Birthday on her voicemail.

HAPPY 23rd JILLIAN!

Happy Birthday, Nicky-Poo!

Happy birthday yesterday that is. I never made it to the computer yesterday to type a birthday post, so better late than never. I think that this had to be his best birthday ever. Even though I've only been a part of 3 of them in his lifetime, I know it was a grand one! I bought him 6 different gifts, so I made his birthday last from the beginning of December until yesterday. Every few days he got to open a present. We did this because I can't stand presents sitting around unopened! If they're mine or anyone elses, I want them opened right away! He was just as anxious as I was and went along with the birthday month celebration. I made him open the presents so that they progressively got better...mag-lite, plastic sawhorses, ladder, halogen work lights, John Deere garage stool, and a big tool storage thing. He LOVED all of them! I had lots of fun buying everything too. Usually he's hard to buy for because I have no idea what kinds of tools, etc to get him. Basically, I went through Sears and Lowe's and picked up whatever I thought was cool. Since we'll have our house soon and he'll have a workshop I figured he needed snazzy new things. We had our church Christmas program yesterday evening, which was sooooo good and then we all went out to eat at Wharton Steak and Seafood. After we ate, we went back to the house and had cake and Nick opened his gifts from his parents and grandma. Nick, Jake, Sarah Beth, and I then got into a heated game of Phase 10 Master's Edition until 10. By then it was time for bed and the last of his birthday's as an unmarried man!

Exciting Weekend!

Friday evening Nick and I drove to San Marcos and stayed in his old apartment, which is now Jake's. We got to San Marcos around 8:30pm and headed straight to the outlet mall since they were open til 10. After the little bit of shopping we got in, I took him to Logan's for his birthday. Logan's was one of our favorite restaurants in San Marcos. We stayed there til about 11:30 and then headed back to the old apartment for the first time since he moved out. It was very sad!! Since October 15th, 2005 we spent most of our time at Nick's apartment. It was where "we" started! May 29th we got engaged, the beginning of June Nick moved out of his apartment and I moved out of mine to be in Wharton. The last time we left his apartment it was empty. Even though it was an apartment, it was like our first home. So many memories! Now that Jake is there it is completely redone. We reminisced for a while and hit the sack. We woke up around 8 to get more shopping done. We hit up the bookstore to restock our wardrobe with new Texas State gear and then had lunch at Herbert's, another fave! Makes me hungry just thinking about it!

We did a little more shopping and headed to Lockhart to look at travel trailer for me. Believe it or not, we bought our first house! Well, Nick bought it for me for now and he'll move in once we are married. I'll end up living in it for about 6 months. His parent's house should be finished by June. The house on wheels is pretty awesome. It's a 32 foot fifth wheel Dutchmen with a super slide. It's not brand new, but it's good enough for what we need it for. I'm going to do some remodeling inside to freshen it up a bit. We're already talking about where we can take it on vacation this summer....Grand Canyon or Graceland.

Relieved

As Jake and I got to talking about the 76 days, we realized that there was no way that was right. We figured it up and decided that there are 108 days until the wedding. Maybe I typed the wrong date in my myspace countdown clock. I'll have to check it and fix it ASAP! Wonder why I would have put the wrong date? I guess it was a good thing that it was wrong because it definitely motivated me. I got a pretty good hunk of the wedding list done yesterday during my conference period. Thank goodness for that hour and a half break in the middle of the day.

Freaked myself out!

Last night I was doing my normal routine. Check email, myspace, craigslist, and facebook while Nick is in the shower. I was looking at my profile on myspace and freaked out when I saw that, as of today, there are only 76 days until the wedding! That's not long AT ALL! Lots of people say that a year is too long to plan a wedding, 10 months is close enough to a year, and it has flown by.

Now that I am panicing, I've decided to really get on the ball. Over Christmas I'm going to bust my tail on invitations and addresses, and try to finish up all of the decorations.

The WORST thing about getting married....

Is finding all the addresses! It's amazing to me how advanced our technology is these days...seems like there has to be an easy and safe way to post and get addresses. If you'd like to help me out, email me your address. Or even better, if you have recently gotten married and have a list already created, email me that!

jenchumchal@hotmail.com

Happy 13th Birthday, Jaacer!

It's so hard to believe that my baby brother is a TEENAGER! Where has the time gone? I still remember the exact moment that Mom and Dad told us they were expecting. I remember rushing to school in the 6th grade to tell my BFF (at the time) that a baby was on its way. I remember the minute Mom's water broke. (TMI-I know!) It freaked me out! I remember the stressful amnio tests and other tests Mom had to go through to make sure all was well. I remember the phone call saying it was a BOY! I remember the first time I held him and when Jill freaked out and didn't want to. It's so crazy that it was 13 years ago...seems like yesterday. Sometimes I wish he was still that cute little bundle of joy, innocent and sweet! He's rotten now, but it's nobody's fault but our own. He's the baby AND the only boy. We tease that he has 4 moms along with a dad that spoils him more than we do.

This weekend Jaace shot his first buck with Dad. I'm sure it was a moment that Dad has been waiting for his entire life. The deer was really a horrible one, but he wanted to shoot it so bad. Dad, of course, gave in and let him try shooting it. He must of thought he would miss it, but instead he nailed it to the ground.


Jaace and Dad with his first deer.


This one will win the big buck contest, for sure.


Jaace taking a typical teenager photo. Notice in the above picture the tounge hanging out of the deer's mouth. You can't see it very well on here.

Christmas Goodies

The Christmas shower was sooo much fun. I laughed so much that I went home with a headache. I got lots of great Christmas goodies too. I wish I could use everything this Christmas, but I think I'm going to wait until Nick and I have our first Christmas together as a married couple.


Here's a rundown of the awesome gifts:
Alicea-metal rustic cross and 2 rustic ornaments
Aunt Judy-rustic wreath holder, grapevine garland, metal star with cranberries
Jenna-3 snowmen in sleigh
Aunt Karen-rustic metal reindeer and metal angel
Sarah Beth-wooden Santa Claus
Debbie-(couldn't make it because she is studying for finals AND she lives in Fort Worth) 4 rustic ornaments and Recipe for a Merry Christmas plate
Aunt Beverly-3 bell rustic door knob hanger
Dawn Machacek-dueling guitar playing Santa and reindeer (inside joke)
Aunt Barbara-3 rustic jingle ornaments and 3 rustic flat ornaments
Aunt Carolyn, Jennifer, and Heather-candy cane spoons, snowmen plates, and matching mugs from Williams Sonoma
Nikki Nerada and Glo Hagens-Jim Shore Santa musical figurine and box of 12 Days of Christmas Jim Shore ornaments
Mom, Momma Popp, Jamie, Jill, Mamo, Grams, and Mamaw-Willow Tree Nativity Set
-Shepherd, camel, and sheep
-Creche (nativity stand)
-Ox and Goat
-2 Metal star back drops
-Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus
-3 wisemen

Christmas Shower

My sisters, mom, and me! They have been so amazing through all of this wedding stuff. I love them all very dearly. They have made every moment so special.


Cupcake tower


Sarah Beth and me! She's my "hopeful" future sister-in-law. I love her.


5 of my 10 bridesmaids.
Jamie, Jill, Alicea, ME, Sarah Beth, and Jenna


The hostesses of the Christmas shower...Glo Hagens and Nikki Nerada.


The food was delicious. We had a couple different types of quiche, mini sausage wraps, various dips, fruit, and yummy Mimosas!


Where's Jenny? This makes me laugh! Alicea gave me a cute rustic cross and ornaments and a bag full of tissue paper!


Me and my Grannies! Unfortunately, Grandma Popp couldn't make it because she had to go to her brother's funeral.


My mommas!


Here I am opening presents. It's so much fun opening presents, but kinda weird when everyone is staring at you.


Some of the guests watching as I open presents.

BINGO!

After making the strudels we decided to all go to bingo with Mamo. None of us won anything! :( Bingo is REALLY stressful and makes me angry!

More strudel-making pictures

Nick decided to show up and help make strudels as well. He wasn't very happy with me putting flour all over him, but he got over it rather quickly and decided to laugh about it.


I think we were pretending to do be busy here. I'm sure he's making some wise comment.

Me, Jamie, Mamo, and Mom



Awww...he's so cute!


The boys hard at it. We decided that men make the best dough rollers. I didn't try, but they were better than Jamie and Mamo. (I'm gonna catch heck about that!)


Mom saved the wishbone from the turkey for Nick and I. Matthew REALLY wanted to do it so he helped me and we lost! Wonder what Nick wished for...


Matthew making his first strudel.


Little Rob making his first strudel.

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The finished product! They were super YUMMY!