Update: Part 1

Since the last time I posted, in October, Addison and I had our second Thanksgiving and Christmas together.  It was so much fun actually being in Abilene for both holidays, and getting to go from on house to another whenever we pleased.  It was also the first time that both Addison or I did not get a big Thanksgiving and Christmas break; and let me tell ya, it was rough.  People always told us to enjoy college as long as we could, and I think were now finally understanding that.

Sweet Laurel as the "Harlequin Doll" in the Nut Cracker.  She's amazing!

 Such a precious picture to me.  This is my Dad's little brother, Uncle David who is now in hospice. 

 We celebrated Annalee's 1st birthday!  We love this little girl like she is our own. 

 I took 3 days off from work to get my wisdom teeth out.  Glad I had Lucy to snuggle with.  

 Went hunting by myself for the 1st time.  (I have always gone with my Daddy)  So---we have a mountain lion on the loose at our ranch, and right before I left that evening to go hunting, my mom told me "watch out for the mountain lion."  The sun was about to go down and I was getting a little fidgety until the thing pictured below walked right across the creek below me.  Now, of course it was a lot smaller but still!  It scared me to death, I couldn't even hold my phone.  Why I didn't shoot it?  My scope was off since it was so close and well, I freaked out and didn't pull the trigger fast enough. Maybe next time...

 This picture is from google BTW. 

 Over Christmas, all the guys worked day and night to get this feeder filler up and running.  It helps feed the deer feeders a whole heck of a lot faster and is just pretty amazing that Addison and his family could do this.  My dad is pretty happy about it, to say the least.  

 We did a lot of hanging out at the ranch by the fire. 

 We attended FDLIC's Christmas Party.  It was the most amazing event we have probably ever been to.   We are so blessed to be apart of such an incredible company.  They are doing BIG things there!

I was also able to have some of my best friends over for a Christmas/New Year's get-together.  I was so happy to see each of them and sad for those who couldn't make it. 

Other than that, Addison is absolutely loving working at FDLIC.  Like I said before, they really are the most amazing company to work for and be apart of.  On January 1st, I became a Full-time (permanent) employee for First Financial.  They have been really good to me and I also feel very blessed to have such a great job.  On January 14th, my sweet momma had knee replacement surgery so I took about a week off in all to be with her and help her recoup.  It was really hard at first, but she is now getting better each and every day.  We thank God for watching over her the past few months.  She has been so strong during this whole process, which makes me love and look up to her even more.  She has also had some wonderful friends that have visited her on many occasions and brought her movies and food.  

On another note, Addison and I are re-doing our kitchen right now, which I will post about later.  My sweet mother-in-law has helped us the whole way, we couldn't do it without her.  We also got a new dachshund today!  She is 2 years old and we rescued her from Rescue the Animals.  "Millie" is not too fond of Addison or my dad right now but I think she will warm up to them.  Hopefully she will put off baby fever for a little bit. ;)  That's it for November-January!

I promise the next post won't be in 4 months!

  

Girls Weekend

I feel like I was just writing about September and now October is almost over.  Add and I have been goin' and blowin' for the past month.  Both of our jobs are going really great.  I actually sat down with my Supervisor today to talk about some upcoming changes and my actual internship that will start in December for school credit and I left really encouraged.  Addison is moving his way around the to the different departments and comes home with some funny stories everyday.  We went to the ranch 3 weekends in a row but this last weekend I went to Waco with 3 of my best friends for a girls weekend. It was so good to be with my girls with no worries.  I sure missed my hubby though!  

This crazy nice nail salon. 

Fav dessert from Cheddars--the Monster Cookie

This weekend we will finally be staying home!  We'll be celebrating my sweet MIL's birthday with family.  I'll finally have a little bit of time to get some things done, get the house semi-clean and spend some time with family.  That's all I got for now!

From Summer to Fall...

Just like that, we're already in full Fall mode.  Since it's been a long while since I've been able to post anything I'll share in a semi-quick long post on what September held for us. 

The first weekend in September we went to Abe and Court's in Corpus to visit for the first time since they've been married.  Addison's sister, her family and his parents also went.  We had such a fun time going to the beach, shopping, eating yummy food and being with family.  Courtney has decorated her and Abe's house so cute, it was so cozy and inviting and we can't wait to go back!

While I was in Corpus I got word that my sweet momma had to go into the hospital.  Long story short, she ended up getting staph on her face of all places and had to get two tubes put in.  Since she has an artificial heart valve everything is a lot more serious that it would be if she didn't have to have open heart surgery.  Poor thing had to be in the hospital for a week, and even though I had such a fun time in  Corpus, my mom was on my mind nearly the whole time.  By Monday, when we left Corpus, I was very ready to get home and go see her.  When we got back Monday night I stayed up at the hospital until as late as I could, though I started my first day of my first "real" job the next day, I couldn't stay too late.  We did get in a few episodes of the Kardashians though...

Tuesday, September 4, I started work at First Financial Bank in the Human Resources Department.  It has been the biggest blessing.  There are seven other ladies in the department, all so sweet and welcoming to the new intern...me. I originally went to the Director of HR and asked if I could do an internship with them next semester for experience but also to get credit for A&M so that I could graduate in May.  I mentioned to her that I needed a job or internship this semester as well.  She called me back a few weeks later and offered me almost a full year internship position with them.  After searching for a job for almost a month I was so ecstatic! That first week on the job I went up to the hospital after 5:00 everyday to see my mom.  We celebrated her birthday that Wednesday in the hospital and she got out Thursday.  

Anyways, my job is going really well and I love it.  There is so much to learn and a lot of responsibility.  Just when I think I am finally get the hang of it, the assign me a new task which is good because I am really learning the in's and out's and HR, if you will.  I work everyday 8-5; like I said...big-girl job.  It's definitely nice to have the extra income as well. 

For the next few weeks Add and I were adjusting to me working and having a much messier house during the week.  Weekends have now become my only time to clean.  Oh, did I mention I'm also taking two classes?  If someone told me that my Senior year in college I would be married, living back in Abilene, own a home, working full time AND taking classes I would think they were crazy.  It's a lot to handle sometimes but I feel so extremely blessed at the same time. 

Next was my birthday/Aggie ring celebration.  Ring day has always fallen within a few days of my birthday since I've been at A&M and this year was no different.  Usually when someone gets their Aggie Ring they are in College Station, wait in line with everyone else, receive their ring and take lots of pictures. When I went with Addison it was super exciting but I didn't think it was worth it to drive 4 hours for one night when they could just ship it to me.  I was still just as excited to receive it in the mail then waiting in line on campus.  The plan was for it to be shipped to my parents house on Tuesday and have a big double celebration at Perini's on Wednesday night, my birthday night, but I just couldn't wait.  Tuesday night we went to pick it up from the UPS office and couldn't wait a whole other day so my daddy slipped it on me and it fit perfectly.  

Gig'em!

The next day, my birthday, my mom planned a wonderful birthday lunch with some of the women on my mom's side at Hickory Street.  This was my first birthday in Abilene in 3 years!  

That night we went to Perini's to further the celebration and eat some yummy steaks.  

Thursday,  I went over to my in-law's house and Gaygay fixed a yummy meal and made me a birthday cake.  

Annalee enjoyed the cake too!

That weekend I lit my first fall candle of the season that my mom got me for my birthday, opened all of the blinds and got to work doing some serious cleaning!

We also started our newly marrieds class called, "Foundations." It is for couples that have been married 0 up to 4 years that want to set a good foundation for their marriage.  It's a one-year commitment and we meet twice a week.  We are very excited for what's to come!

And now to the most uneventful "Opening Weekend" we've ever had.  Opening weekend of dear season that is.  It rained the whole time.  The boys were the only ones that dared get out of the house, and now my washer is paying for it.  We did get to spend some quality time with family and friends; we celebrated Mike's birthday with a yummy cake I made him.

And because I can never get enough of the little girls in my life, I'll end with this sweetie wearing her new dress Add and I got for her...

Have a blessed week says Annalee!

Life Lately

So it has been a while since I've posted. Mostly because we haven't been doing too much these past few weeks. 
Last week I got to take my sweet cousins, Chandler (4) and Kinley (2) out for ice cream for their birthdays.

 I have absolutely loved getting to spend more time with these two and their brother and sister Carter and Laurel. Last Thursday night Add and I had all four of them stay the night with us so Keri and J could have a night off before homeschooling starts up. It was eventful to say the least. They immediately sat down for cartoons but that wasn't going to fly! I was there to play with them and entertain them. We played hide-and-go-seek for a good while, built a fort in our living room, cooked rice krispies and ate yummy pizza. We then watched a movie, got them all ready for bed and spent another 30 minutes trying to get the little ones to go down. I think they were just too excited to go to sleep! Our bedroom turned into one big pallet as all of them decided to stay with us in our room. Around 4:00 A.M. we got to experience what it would be like to have a little one in bed with us as Kinley wanted right in the middle! 

Like I've said before we've come to a pretty good stopping place on the house for a little while. We needed to take a break and so did our bank account. I'm sure our neighbors are wondering when in the world we are going to do something with our front yard. We'll get there one of these days but at the moment our ripped up bushes and dead grass will just have to do. 

When we got the entertainment center in our house my mom filled it with a few odds and ends that we had laying around the house (I let her do all the decorating) and she recently added to it. I'm still wanting to buy some old books, a mini plant, big baskets and little frames with family in them but for now this is what it looks like!

Update on job hunt:
Just a recap of what has been going on in the job hunt the past few weeks. I went in for an interview with First Financial a few weeks ago and was told that they didn't have a place for me at the moment but that I could fill my Internship requirements through A&M next semester with them. Well...they called back on last Friday and said that they got approved to hire an intern for this semester! I went in yesterday to fill out some papers, get background checked and drug tested. Crossing my fingers I passed ;) They should get back the results today and let me know when I'll start. This was a huge blessing for me and Addison. Even though I am enjoying my time being a housewife, getting to spend extra time with my mom, dad and rest of the family I am getting a little stir crazy and needed to feel like I was actually doing something with my days. I am beyond excited to start working in the Human Resources Department for First Financial. They are all so sweet and just as excited for me. 

Today, Add goes to Glenrose for a retreat for his work until Friday. I'll definitely be missing him but we'll reunite Friday as we head to Corpus Christi for Labor Day Weekend! We are so excited to see Abe and Court and spend some time at the beach. 

We hope you have a blessed week and a fun weekend!