Who knew?

Who knew that buying a teeny-tiny piece of property would take 4 months? Caddy-corner to our house is about a half-acre piece of property for sale. We called the lady about the land in August. It may have been earlier than that, but I don't quite remember. She was asking a pretty penny for the small lot, but we thought it would be a good idea to get it. Firstly, Nick wants to build a big barn and it would be the perfect, central location to all of his pastures. It would also be right by the house so he and I could go back and forth as we pleased. Secondly, it would keep anyone else from buying it and doing who knows what with it. We have haggled with this lady to the point where we were about to hang it up and let her not have money to "fix her damaged roof caused by Ike." The story goes on and on, but I'll keep it short.

1) Broke down car so she couldn't come meet with us to show the property lines.
2) Ike came and made a whole in her roof.
3) Had patches on both of her eyes so she couldn't see the contract Nick mailed her. (It's ok to laugh because I got big kick out of that one too!)
4) Took the contract to a bank and the people told her it was "suspicious" because there were lots of blanks in it. (That was because it was a cash deal. We didn't need bank info or a lawyer.)
5) She didn't want to pay the seller cost! Helllooooo?!??! You ARE the seller!
6) She has some man call Nick and he tells the whole deal. Finally, a little bit of progress after that until the guy says she needs more money or we will have to pay the taxes. Sorry....the taxes are YOUR deal!
7) After that, Nick was supposed to take a half-day off to meet her at the title company. He decides to hold out until he gets a call from her. He calls her that night and she said she was having car issues.
8) A few days, maybe weeks later, the title company calls and says she brought the papers!
9) Nick gets a call yesterday saying that she will be here today to sign the papers!

I never knew that buying anything was so much trouble and stress. Nick is very excited about getting his barn up and I'm excited about him getting his tools out of my garage! I'm also kinda pumped about putting a girly touch to it. Hanging up some rustic signs and such. I'm currently working on talking him into making a cute porch on it so we can have a little party barn. I'm also excited about this land purchase because he won't be adding on to the current shed in my yard, which will leave the perfect spot for a pool. I'll have to talk til I'm blue in the face with that one, and still not win!

Christmas Traditions

I'm not an Aggie, but I'm all about traditions. Several years ago I bought a pickle ornament that you are supposed to hide in the Christmas tree. Whoever finds it first gets a special gift. Last year was the first year I came across the pickle BEFORE Christmas. I bought a Jim Shore Santa and hid the pickle. Whoever found the pickle had to buy the gift for the following year. I think we agreed that each year we would give another Jim Shore statue. Jamie ended up finding the pickle last year and I think she already has the pickle gift bought for this year. I can't wait since this will be my first year to play. I LOVE Jim Shore and I'm sure whatever statue she bought will look great on the shelf with the 4 others I already have.
Last years "Hide the Pickle" search.

A few days ago Nick and I were talking about other traditions we would like to start. Of course, there are lots that we want to do when we have our own family, but we wanted something for this year. We decided that we are going to do a 12 Days of Christmas gift exchange. Starting on December 13th, we are going to exchange a small gift everyday. The tricky part~each gift must symbolize a memory from the past 3 years we have spent together. I'm so excited to see what he comes up with. We've already talked about a few ideas just so that we were on the same page. Both of us had brought up memories that were almost forgotten! Hopefully I'll be good and blog about each gift.

Christmas is in the air!

We are starting to celebrate Christmas early this year. Mainly because it's our "first married" Christmas together and our "first" Christmas in our "first" house. We are so excited about all these firsts that we already have one decorated tree up along with two trees that aren't made for decorating. We plan on getting our "main" tree after Thanksgiving so that it's not dead by the time Christmas actually gets here. I took a few crappy pictures last night with the point and shoot camera. I'll post some better pictures when the house is completely done. Tomorrow we plan on putting the lights up, which, I'm afraid will be a huge chore.
I'm in love with this Nativity Scene! It was a gift from Mom, Mom-In-Law, Sisters, and Grandmas at our Christmas Shower that took place almost a year ago.

It's an artificial tree that I put up once in one of my apartments. It was too good to part with so it's making its appearance in the kitchen.

Here's a view of the living room. The main tree will be in front of the window.

One thing I can assure you of....

Is that my family knows how to have a good time! This weekend was Papa Ed's 85th Birthday celebration at Vlastenec Hall. We all had a BLAST, to say the least. I'll let the pictures show the evening.
~Papa and me~
I have a VERY good, clear memory of my childhood. Most of the stuff is irrelevant, but it sticks. To explain this a little better, I can remember the name of the lady that sold us our first weiner dog from Victoria YEARS ago. Therefore, I remember LOADS of things about my grandparents. A few things that I think of when I think of Papa is how he would pick on me when I didn't get my way. I was VERYYYY spoiled so if I didn't get my way, I stuck out my lip and stomped my feet. He would mimic me and I couldn't help but stop crying and start laughing.
Another memory is his Levi Garrett chewing tobacco. Unfortunately, we promoted his bad habit and would give him a case for Christmas. He always carried his spit can with him. When I was about 2 or 3 we had to take Mamaw to a doctor's appointment in Houston. While we were sitting in the waiting room, I told him not to forget his "piss bucket."
Also, when I was little, Dad and I would wake up and go to Mamaw and Papa's for breakfast on Saturday's. This is definitely a thing of the past these days. Back then, I'd be up by 6am to go get my "coffffaaay!"
Mamaw and Papa's two favorites! (That's according to the boys!)
~Dad and Papa~two of a kind! Both are always full of jokes.

~The family clowning around~

~Busted~ Nick and Uncle Wayne-He's not our uncle, but we pretend that he is!


~Mamaw and Me~


~Mamo and Me~


I'm not sure!



Dancing with Mamo!


Singing sisters!

Nokie and his favorite cousin! ;)

Aren't they cute?

Mom and Dad-Aren't they cute, too?

New Prez in the House

Last night, Barack Obama was voted in as the 44th President of the United States of America. Politics really aren't my thing, but I did do my job and voted. Even though my choice wasn't the winner, my choice won Texas and that makes me proud!

Fun Times

Good times! Good times!

I'll never be able to resist another Halloween Party! We had so much fun this weekend even though it was a whirlwind. Friday night we went to the Halloween Party in Shiner. Saturday we went to San Marcos for the football game. We tailgated first and went to Herbert's after the game. Sunday we gave River Pub another chance and thankfully, they redeemed themselves. We did a little bit of shopping and headed back to Wharton. Last night, we were old folks. We were in bed by about 7:45and crashed by 8:30pm.

The Mickey D's-Jill and Thomas as McCain/Palin

Being silly!

Jamie and Robert as Sumo Wrestler and China-woman

Mom and Aunt Karen as the "Crazy Old Couple"

Dawn and Scotty-Devils


Ryan and Hailey as Johnny and June

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne AKA Pat and Shirley Chumchal




The Popp's-our first tailgate party since we've been married.


Jill and I at the tailgate. Looking a little terrible from the night before.


SBG and me