New Bedroom Furniture

One exciting thing has happened since the last post... we received our new bedroom furniture! We ordered the Java Bed and two nightstands from Storehouse, and it arrived on Monday. It is such a different feeling sleeping so high up on a real bed, rather than with the mattress/box spring on the floor! We love it... our next step is to buy the matching dresser. We had to wait and see where one would fit in the room with the bed and night-stands in; now we just need to take measurements to verify the one we want will fit, and soon we will have a complete set! We also need to get some pictures up on the walls so they don't look so bare, and buy a rug for the edge of our bed that extends the whole width of the bed. But, for now, this is a HUGE improvement.

Nothing very exciting is going on in our lives right now. Just working and getting caught up around the house now that we're back from the trip and getting settled in to married life. Thought we'd share some more photos of the trip just so that we would have something to update the blog with!


Lauren and Phil on our wedding day -- before the ceremony

Jennelle, Greg, Lauren, & Phil at the ferry dock as we leave beautiful St. John

Lauren with the moms before the ceremony

Bride and her father before walking down the aisle

Phil and Jack on the sunset cruise

Robin, Phil, & Lauren before dinner at Lime Inn

Phil, Greg, Carol, Felicity, Lauren, Larry, Jeanette, & Jennelle on BVI excursion boat after a full day of visiting the Virgin Gorda Baths and snorkeling in the caves in the BVI

The happy couple... and if you look closely, you can see iguanas in the background!

Mr. & Mrs!!

...and we're off!

Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7:26am as we travel to St. John for our wedding! We arrive in St. Thomas at 4:54pm to check into our hotel and get situated, so that Thursday morning we can personally appear at the courthouse and obtain our marriage license. This will be the final step in assuring that our wedding ceremony on Sunday should go smoothly! There are other details like getting my dress and Phil's suit steamed, getting hair/makeup done, etc. but as long as we have our marriage license and show up to say "I Do", we will be happy.

We will be sure to take tons of photos of the trip, and share them upon our return. Wish everyone could be there to join us!

Happy Spring!

This is a photo of our front door. Doesn't it just make you feel so welcome? My salesperson, Debbie, gave me the wreath for my birthday, and it makes such a wonderful addition to our new home! Perfect for spring-time.

... apparently we're not the only ones who feel at home when they see the wreath. Earlier this week, we noticed that a little birdie had taken residence in our wreath, building a nest and all. Then today, we realized that there are three little eggs inside! They look just like the Robin's Egg candies that are in the stores for Easter...

You should see us every morning... we have to tap on the window so that the bird flies away before we open the door to leave, so that we do not run the risk of it flying inside our house! We have to go through a similar process when we come home every day as well. It's an interesting little game we play with her. Come to think of it, we should probably name the little lady. Any suggestions?

A few of the Chandler Chicks participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this past Saturday. As always, it was a wonderful experience for a wonderful cause. And these girls are such fun to hang out with so the walk was lots of fun!

On Saturday afternoon, my wonderful bridesmaids hosted a shower for me at Patti's home in San Antonio. First came the super cute invitations courtesy of Dana, and the other girls got together to plan the food, decorations, etc. There were pink flowers on the table, pink cupcakes, pink cookies, blackberry wine punch, and lots of my other favorite things. We had a wonderful turnout and I had a great time seeing everyone and of course receiving fabulous gifts (that we have already unpacked and begun using!). We even played a fun game where the girls had emailed Phil a list of questions about me to see if the way he answered was the way I would answer. He did a really good job which either means a)we know a lot about each other, or b) I am very predictible. Either way it made for a fun afternoon. Thanks to everyone involved!

On Friday evening, Phil and I hosted dinner for 6 guests. My mom was in town this week for my birthday and bridal shower, and I wanted to have my bridesmaids over for dinner the evening before the bridal shower they were hosting on Saturday afternoon.

Dana came in from Dallas and brought her Maltese puppy, Bella. Her and Cooper had lots of fun playing in the mud puddle in our backyard that afternoon (which Dana didn't really appreciate since she had to bathe Bella afterwards due to the mud, sticks, and "trees" in Bella's fur after they were done playing!). Then Jennelle and Greg brought their dog, Oreo, over so we remained entertained all evening watching the puppies run around and play with each other. Cooper is about 6 lbs and Bella is about 3 lbs, while Oreo is about 30 lbs, so it was an interesting dynamic! But, they each puppy ended the evening with all their appendages so I think it turned out quite well. :)

Dinner was also very nice-- my mom made a salad and yummy dessert, and Phil and I made spaghetti and garlic bread to accompany them. If I do say so myself, it all turned out great and a good time was had by all.

Pictured above L to R: Amanda (holding Bella), Jennelle, Lauren, Dana. Not pictured: Lena, Mom, Phil, Greg, Oreo, & Cooper.

FInally! Photos of our new home! Well, at least a few rooms. Of course, it is always a work in progress but here are a few photos as of today. This one is a view of the living room taken from the dining room.

View of living room as you walk through the front door.

View from living room through dining room and into kitchen.

Take the Quiz: What Age Do You Act?

You Are 31 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Okay so now that my 23rd birthday is coming up, should I be worried that the age I act is 31?! Maybe that just means that I am so very mature and responsible, much more than most 23-year olds! Or maybe the quiz found out that I am in bed by10:00 every night...

Happy birthday to the twins!

Bridal Shower

This weekend was our second bridal shower, graciously hosted by Sabrina, a friend of the family who I have known my whole life. She is a wonderful hostess, and I had such a wonderful time! It was great to visit with friends and all the talk about the wedding has me so excited! I absolutely cannot wait!!

Philip got a new car today!!!! It's a 2004 Toyota 4Runner with about 28k miles. It's the "Limited" edition so it has all the bells and whistles... leather seats, sunroof, power everything... very nice. So much easier too, now that we have a house and are making quite frequent trips to Lowe's.

House update

So it's now Saturday and the schedule has significantly changed. When Robin & Jack arrived on Tuesday, they recommended that we refinish the hardwood floors before we move all of our furniture in the house. So yesterday instead of finishing up painting we began sanding and filling the floors, and today Philip & Jack should be able to apply the first coat of polyurethane. Tomorrow they will apply a second coat, and likely move everything from the apartment to the house on Monday after we get off work. But I am so excited about how great the floors are going to look that I don't mind the revision in our schedule; I think it's definitely going to be worth it! It is very hard work, and Robin & Jack have been fabulous helping us out, working long hours to get everything done before we have to be out of our apartment on Tuesday. We have two coats of paint in the master bedroom and one coat in the living room and second bedroom. Jack is painting a second coat on those two rooms this morning (you would be amazed at how fast and great of a painter he is!!!). Everything is coming along well and I cannot wait to see the finished product! Photos to follow...

Home Sweet Home

This week is an exciting one for us! We are closing on our house and moving in to our first home together! This past weekend, with Robin's help, we selected paint colors for each room in the house, and Robin & Jack are graciously planning to come to San Antonio this week to help us beautify the house with fabulous paint colors. However, I'm not going to share the paint colors so that everyone will make plans to come visit us and see the new home! (Although it is very likely that I will get really excited and start posting photos, so don't fret.)

Here is what our hectic week looks like:

Monday: Walk-thru at new home with realtor 5:30pm
Tuesday: Closing at title company 12:00/Robin & Jack arrive/Purchase interior wall paint
Wednesday: Robin & Jack help us paint while we are at work (and Lauren in Dallas for business trip)
Thursday: Robin & Jack help us paint while we are at work
Friday: Phil & Lauren both take off of work to help finish up painting and get the house move-in ready
Saturday: Rent U-Haul and move everything from apartment to new house
Sunday: Clean apartment/Begin unpacking

I am sure the following week will be spent unpacking, unpacking, unpacking... and, well you get the idea. But we also need to do some furniture shopping so that we have some of the important things like a Floormate, bed, dresser, washer/dryer, lawnmower, etc. We have quite the long wish-list of things we want to buy (flat screen TVs, laptop computers for wireless internet, dining room set, etc.), and of course, donations are gladly accepted. ;)

Wish us luck! We look forward to getting all settled in the upcoming weeks so we can begin to host visitors, and maybe even a fun house-warming party!

Merry Christmas!

This year, we are spending the holiday in South Padre with Lauren's parents. The temperature is in the 70s, so I guess that means we won't be having another white Christmas like last year! But despite how amazing that was, the warm temperatures are admittedly great.

Yesterday, Phil and Larry hit the golf course and Lauren and Jeanette hit the mall and downtown Brownsville... sounds like a perfect day, doesn't it!?! Although, I do have to admit that the malls were VERY crowded, just as to be expected on December 23rd... but we braved the crowds!

Another exciting bit of news in our life is the house we put an offer in on this week. The seller couter-offered, then we counter-offerred their counter-offer, and they counter-offered our counter-counter-offer. Confused yet? We are calling our realtor today to accept their final offer and once we get back to San Antonio, we will sign the necessary paperwork to begin the 10 day option period. We can't get our hopes up too much, after what happened on the last house we went through this process with, but it's still pretty exciting. Check out our photo album to see pictures of the house. It's 2 bedroom/1 bath and we plan to build on a master suite about a year after we purchase the home, where the rear deck is located presently. This house is our Christmas present to each other this year, so even though we don't have something under the tree to unwrap, I think this means we are both getting a big gift this year!

Anyway, we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and we hope that Santa is good to you!

Last weekend, Phil & I traveled to Houston/Boling to visit his family for the holidays. We arrived Friday evening after leaving early from work, and got to see his mom's house all lit up like a Gingerbread house. She won the decorations contest last year and definitely gets my vote again this year!

On Saturday, the three of us drove in to Houston and had lunch with Felicity and her boyfriend Karthak at Molina's. Yummy Mexican food and it was great to see them and hear about their new puppy, Sam (who we can't wait to meet!). We then drove to Crate and Barrel where we planned to spend our gift certificate that we haven't used since LAST Christmas, but after driving through the parking lot 3 times, we decided against shopping. We headed to Amity & Randy's house where we hung out with Drew until Amity and Randy got home from the play they had been watching. Amity called after the play was over, and I was very vague on the phone so that she didn't know we had invaded her home, so they were surprised to find us already there when they arrived. We hung out and Phil and Randy (and Drew!) got to play sports in the backyard until dinnertime.

Around 5:00, we went to Collina's Italian Cafe for gourmet pizza. It was great food, but I have to rave about the desserts! We ordered an apple crisp, brownie sundae, and tiramisu. That was the BEST BROWNIE dessert I have probably ever in my life had. And that says a lot, because brownies are pretty much a separate food group in my diet. We took a long enough break from eating to let Amity take this photo of us, but I think by this time the brownie was gone (or else I would not have let them pull my focus away). There were 7 of us at the table, but I definitely had over 1/2 of the brownie dessert (sorry about that!).

After dinner, we drove by Blake's school, St. Thomas Episcopal, and a nearby neighborhood with Amity & Randy's dream home in it. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Boling, where Philip promptly fell asleep and Robin and I stayed up and baked fun-shaped cookies with sprinkles and all! They were very fun to make and even more fun to eat! Overall, it was a very fun weekend and we can't wait to see everyone again in January!

Lauren & Phil spend their last Thanksgiving apart... next year, we start splitting holidays. Thanksgiving with her family and Christmas with his! Hope everyone had a great holiday! Check out our photo album for more photos from both of our Thanksgiving vacations.