Labor Day...Not Too Laborious

Hello all!

Labor Day weekend came up so quickly this year.  Rob and I had been going 90 miles an hour the past few weekends, so we decided to rent a condo in Galveston and hang out for the weekend. We knew if we stayed in Houston, we would work on the house and not really enjoy the weekend and rest.  We invited my mom and took Jonah along. He loved being part of the action.

We got there on Saturday around 2:00 and waited for my mom to get there. Of course, Rob couldn’t resist catching a little football….no surprises there!  The condo also had a huge porch, so it was great to just sit out there and relax. 

My mom got there a little later and we caught up and then headed out to eat dinner. That night we just relaxed and headed to bed.

The next morning, we worked out and then hung out. I read, Rob watched more football, and my mom caught up on work emails. It was great to just relax and hang out. That night Mom made her famous ribs. My mouth waters just thinking about them. 

We enjoyed a great dinner together, and then turned on the A&M game. Unfortunately, my mom had brought the book, Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo and I had started it right before the game started. If you have read this, you know you can’t put this book down.  So, as much as like A&M football, I absolutely did not see the first game. This book was just too good. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has an afternoon to read. It is a really easy read and will encourage you in your faith tremendously.

That next morning, we hung out on the porch and then headed to the pool.

It was great to relax for a while. We headed back to Houston around 2:00. Mom came by and saw our house for the first time. I couldn’t help but think as she congratulated us on it, that my dad would have said the same thing. It was always so much fun to share good news with Dad. He made successes double the fun somehow. I know he is proud of us and all that we have accomplished since he has been gone. He also told me before he left, however, that even though he couldn’t be at our major life moments physically, that he would be there; it would just look and feel differently. I can honestly say that I know this is true. I have felt him on several occasions since his passing, and I know that he will continue to make life’s sweet moments even sweeter.

All in all, it was a great weekend. It was good to see Mom, good to get some good relaxing in, and good to see (or maybe just hear!) the Ags open their season with a win. You can’t beat that!

More to come!

Withdrawals...

It's official...I am going through summer withdrawals.  I know that it's October and I still have eight more months of working until sweet summer returns, but I just thought I would throw it out there. 

This school year is kicking my behind, so to raise my spirits, I thought I would touch on all of this summer that I didn't get to blog about. Put some sunscreen on and grab a lemonade... :)

This summer was the first of my teaching summers that I didn’t have anything major to work on. I had a lot of time to do lunch dates with girl friends, hang out by the pool, aaaaaand search for houses online. If you’ve ever done this, you know what a time suck this can be… It sure was nice though to have some free time to get stuff done around the house, stay on top of laundry, cook dinner regularly, and have energy when Rob got off work. It gave me a real taste of what being a housewife might be like. And I must say, it was pretty nice. 

Since I wasn't working during the day, there were a couple of times that I got to play with our nieces. They came over to swim a few times and they were so much fun. I am so happy that Rob and my children will get to grow up with these two cuties. They'll be such great cousins! For now, Jonah will have to do!

Jonah loves his cousin, Claire!

Beautiful girl at the pool. 

Price got to come in a few times while he was traveling to and from his internship. It was always fun to see him, even if It was only for a night. Below is a pic that I snapped at one of the Astros games.

We also had some great time with Rob’s cousins, Stephen and Teri, and their 3 beautiful children, Ava, Simon, and Lucy. They were visiting from Chicago for a few weeks, so it was great to see them several times. They got to come to Saturday breakfast one week, so I snapped a few pics there.

We got to see my sweet grandparents when we went to the ranch on the 4th of July.

Love this man!

 

Also, since several of Rob’s family members are in Houston, we get to see his side of the family pretty often. It was so good to see everyone every few weeks.

Isn’t he just too cute toting around a baby??

His nieces just love him. :)

Summertime also means celebrating Johnna Beth’s birthday J This year, we all came into town without her knowing and we surprised her at Lauren and Trevor’s with a house full of people that love her. 

The guys grilled burgers, the girls caught up, and we all fell in love with Cobalt, Sarah and Bill’s newest addition. 

How precious is he???

 

We love our Johnna Beth and are SO glad she was born!

On Saturday, the girls grabbed lunch and then Sarah and Bill had to split. Lauren, Johnna, and I then got pedicures at what must have been one of the sketchiest places that has ever touched my toes. BUT, we shared some good laughs and headed out. Lauren and I had both read The Help this summer and the movie came out that weekend, we headed out to watch it. It was fabulous, by the way, if you haven’t gotten a chance to see it. (The book is even better if you have even more time.)

That night we celebrated Johnna’s birthday with her parents and Robbie at the Black Sheep. Good times were had by all. Unfortunately, I was too busy eating to snap any pics of that evening. Boo.

The next morning, I headed out pretty early to get back into Houston. I was so glad that I got to be with such special people that weekend. I miss being in the same town as them. The year that we were in Austin together was such a fun time, and I think often about how wonderful it would be if someday we were all back together again. Maybe, just maybe, someday…

Well, there's just a little taste. Counting down!! Hurry up, summer!! 

More posts to come soon!

One.

Hi all!

So I know this is late (again!) but we just got internet at our new place installed on Friday. I can't wait to catch up all of your blogs. :) We have had a lot going on in the last few weeks with the house and with other things, too. I keep waiting for things to slow down so I can catch up with my posts, but school is just around the corner. Back to the monthly posts! :(

Anyway, Rob and I wanted to get away to celebrate our one year anniversary even though it was right in the middle of closing stuff. (Those boxes weren't going anywhere...) We really had an incredible time and would recommend Playa del Carmen to anyone that asks. I mean, how beautiful is this water??!?

Frankly, this vacay came at a great time for us. For those of you that don't know, Rob got a promotion at the beginning of the summer. He is now New Tech Global's Director of Marketing and Corporate Development. He had been busy trying to learn the ropes of his new role and also trying to keep his old position rolling as they have still yet to fill it. So it was great to have him all to myself for a whole week! We left on Friday, July 8th.

Happy to be checking in! :)

We arrived in Playa in the early afternoon, got settled in our room, and then explored the grounds of the resort. That evening, we decided to head into the city for drinks and a bite to eat. We grabbed our first fruity drink of the vacay (it was delish btw) and then walked along the beach.

We asked a man to take a picture of us and he insisted that we take a pic where we weren't just standing there...ha!

We got groceries that night and got all set up for the week when we got back to the resort. We had our first dinner of fish tacos (for those of you that don't know, we're both obsessed) and then headed up to the room for a relaxed evening.

The next day we went on an all day adventure that was a blast. We started out visiting the Tulum pyramids. The ancient remains were just incredible.

Can you see that little guy posing for us?

The remains backed right up to the ocean front, so we sneaked a pic there.

The rest of the day, we spent snorkeling in 3 different locations around the area. Our first snorkel was at the cenotes, which are underground caves filled with water. It was a really cool experience (but cold!). We had several flashlights and got to explore far back in the caves. After that we headed out into the ocean, where we got to swim with stingrays and sea turtles, which were my favorite. We actually got caught in a huge storm while we were in the ocean. We're talking lightening, big thunder, and heavy rain...it was crazy. Our 24 year old guide reassured us that we would be fine (Yeah, sure Enrique...) We did survive, but it was a crazy experience to say the least.

We grabbed some more delish fish tacos (and a marg, course) at a cute little restaurant on the bay after that. It was much needed.

Lastly we went to a lagoon in a national park where there were so many different types of fish. Rob could live all day in the water, so it was fun watching him enjoy the experience so much. We headed back to the resort after that and were so exhausted. We showered, ate dinner on the grounds, and had a movie night. It was a great first full day.

The next day was the 10th of July, our actual anniversary, and we decided to spend it poolside. We were both blessed to have such a positive wedding day experience, so it was fun to say the statement, "A year ago today we were..." all day. Such sweet memories :)

Our view all day...yes, please. Their pina coladas were to die for...

Two big sunburns later :), we headed to the room, showered, and got to watch the video that our good friend, Greg Boothe, put together for our rehearsal dinner. It was fun to watch it again. Thanks again, Greg!

That evening we went into town again for a nice dinner.

How cute is my date?

More fruity drinks :)

Can't wait to celebrate many more :)

We decided to just walk around downtown and enjoy some culture. And then... I found the spider monkey. How could I resist not holding this little guy?!? He was just precious!!

After a good stroll, we headed back to the resort and got to eat our cake topper. Yes, we CHECKED part of our cake topper in at the airport in Houston and it made it (in one piece) to our resort. This really is a whole other story on its own, but we were just so happy to have it. :) It was still yummy, dry ice packed and all!

If you were at our wedding, you know this payback was deserved... :)

After our cake we watched our wedding video for the first time. We are still so grateful for all of the friends and families that shared our day with us and made it so special. There were such sweet memories in that video...and a whole lot of booty shaking :) It was the perfect ending to our anniversary!

The next day we decided to spend in Playa. We shopped, smoked cigars (well one of us did at least), ate some yummy food, drank yummy drinks, and met the cutest little girl named Flor. I would have taken her home if I could have.

Rob and his cigar fellas.

Me and Flor...isn't she precious?

Playa has lots of bars with these swings as seats.

After a long day of walking around, we headed back to the resort and went for a night swim in one of their pools.

The next day was a big day in the Williams family. I got to try scuba diving for the first time :) Rob has gone several times and has been bugging me to get certified ever since we started dating. I just wasn't sure I would love it. (Actually, secretly I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like it.) I really enjoy snorkeling, but after about 45 minutes or so, I am ready to be back on land. I just wasn't sure about scuba. I am glad I tried it, but I think I can honestly say that I don't love it by any stretch. By the way some of the veterans that went out with us that day were talking, I know I won't get better conditions than were there. They said the water temperature and the clarity of the water combination are just unrivaled anywhere. I did get nauseous a little bit, but I think it was just a general lack of comfort that I experienced the entire time. I didn't like the idea of me being weighted down 40 plus feet under the surface of the water. And...I froze. I don't care what those other guys say...I was cold. And nervous. Pretty much the entire time. So, all that to say...it was beautiful, the fish were very interesting, the coral was stunning, and Rob had a blast. But I'll stay on land next time :)

Us on the boat after our first dive...

The next day we decided to take a 30 minute ferry ride to Cozumel. We enjoyed the ride over...there was a pretty legit band that sang the whole way over. I should have taken video of it. Thanks to my high school spanish, I understood about every 22nd word...thank you Senora Karthauser :)

When we got to Cozumel, Rob talked me into renting a motorcycle (I must have been one or three drinks in). He ate it up...kid in a candy store.

What was I thinking??

We snorkeled at one of the national parks where the snorkeling was supposed to be the best in the area. Chankanaab did not disappoint. Of course Rob spent the entire afternoon in the water. I finished a novel beachside with a drink in hand. It was a nice afternoon for all! :)

Us in front of the park.

We finished the afternoon at a well known bar called Wet Wendy's. Margs were in great form there. Loved it!

We grabbed another fish taco dinner that night on the resort and then hit the hay after a long day of exploring.

The next day, Thursday, was our last day on the resort. We decided to relax after all of our running around. Poolside was the only way to go. It was a nice end to a wonderful week. We can't wait to go back.

Happy ONE year to us! It was so much more than I expected. Love you boo! :)

We flew back on Friday and hit the ground running with house stuff, and we closed on that Wednesday.

Pics of the house coming soon! Much love to all!

Getting Crafty

Good morning all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July celebration! We spent ours at the ranch with Rob's parents and had a great time. Jonah thoroughly enjoyed himself and tried as hard as possible to get as dirty as ever. I'll post more on our weekend later.

Just wanted to post a little about some of the projects Rob and I are working on for our new house! Everything is going smoothly, so July 20th still looks like the magic date! We can't wait :)

I wanted to make a cork message board for our kitchen since we will have some big wall space to fill in our kitchen. I saw these boards from Restoration Hardware and loved them. (I'm also going to make a smaller chalkboard to go in the kitchen as well...I'll post when I finish!) Obviously I couldn't make one as large as those for our little house, but I wanted to try. We took our first of MANY "first home" trips to Home Depot and bought all of our goodies. :)

We decided to take it all to the ranch to work on it since it would be messy to do in our apartment. We were glad Rob's dad was there to help out as well. And of course we couldn't have done it without our #1 cheerleader... :)

Here are the steps that we followed.

First, we cut the tag board to fit the size we needed.

My handyman... :)

We then cut the molding to the appropriate angles so it would make a frame. (Harder than it seemed!!)

Next we cut and glued the cork down with adhesive (we used Liquid Nails) to the board and let it dry.

We then covered the cork with canvas and glued that down as well.

Last step was to frame the canvased cork with the molding and glue that down. We let everything dry for a good hour or so.

And...done! First project complete!

Hope to show you pics very soon of it in the new place!! :)

Happy Wednesday!

More soon :)