Goodbye 2010

Wow, 2010 is basically over!! I can't believe it! This year has been crazy and brought alot of changes. Thinking back to the beginning of 2010, well I was pretty miserable. That is, I found out I was loosing my health insurance at midnight on new year's eve and I had just gotten into a car accident a few days before that totaled my car. It was pretty intense. So Dillon and I had a quiet evening of watching TV, hanging out with his brother and the dogs. I also had to open the bar the next morning so there was no crazy party going to happen anyway but still, I usually would have done more. It was an okay night but I was in no way looking forward to a better year since 2009 basically sucked!!

Well this time, looking back, I've had an amazing year. It's great how you can start the year feeling pessimistic and end up with, well, a glowing feeling at the end of the year. This year we started out living in Houston and working at a bar, really just waiting for the call for Dillon's job. Well, we got that call in June and everything changed on July 19th. We moved from Houston and Dillon started his training. My wonderful parents took me in so that Dillon could go to OKC and focus and I could basically spend 3 months traveling and playing Monopoly City with my Mom (the most wonderful game ever!). After an exhausting search we found a place to live in Abilene and moved there on October 19th. Come to think of it, the 19th was basically moving day for us this year. Now, we're living in the exciting town of Abilene and Dillon is doing amazing at this job. He's found the job he was meant to do and it's so fun to see that playing out for him.

With so many exciting things this past year (have I used the word exciting too much in this post) I'd have to say that the most exciting is obvious. We got engaged!! It's great because I have learned something, I got what I always wanted. I always said that I not only wanted to know I wanted to say yes but that I wanted to be more excited about being married than the wedding. Well, I got that! It must be meant to be!

So now we all know what 2011 will bring. It might not be a wedding yet (you all may need to wait until 2012) but it will bring wedding planning and hopefully a job for me to help pay for that wedding. Happy New Year everyone and cheers to you for a great 2011!!

Hooray!

What a great way to spend the holidays! As many of your already know I am engaged! Dillon asked on Wednesday the 22nd of December and it was great. We went to exchange Christmas presents and I gave him the complete box set of the television series The Wire, little did I know that was a completely small gift compared to his plan. Then he handed me a massive box wrapped in bright red paper with a big green bow on it. I ripped off the paper and started digging through the massive amount of packing peanuts enclosed to try and find what I then thought was probably a gift certificate or an ipod maybe at the bottom of the box. I kept digging and just wasn't finding anything. He then asked me "Oh, is it not in there? Where is it?" My response was something about trying to find it and I must be missing it in the box. His next response was "Oh, wait, that's because it's right here!" He then pulled out the box and opened it. He asked me, with a huge grin on his face, to MARRY HIM! Then the cutest thing was he said, oh wait, sorry, and then got down on one knee and asked me again! That was so great.

So, obviously, with the picture of the ring below I said yes. I'm in love with the ring, it's the 3 diamond style in white gold. The stones are princess cut because he always calls me his princess and he thought that's what they should be. I honestly had no idea that it was happening until he opened the box. It didn't come in a regular ring box so when he pulled the box out I thought it was maybe earrings or a necklace. He said that I starred at the box for a while but I really don't remember just sitting there. I remember saying yes and it all happening so fast!

So now we're enjoying the holidays with our families and we'll start making plans in the new year for what we are going to do and when. I can't believe it's finally here and it's going to be so much fun to plan our wedding now! Check out the ring below!!

I Know Them!

I'm so proud! Check it out, Matt and Melina's restaurant and food truck made it to the Wall Street Journal! They've been working their butts off getting this going and creating a huge following so check it out. They are so the people that I will someday get to say "I know them!" Well, maybe sooner than someday, maybe today!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704008704575638842201629742.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_LeadStoryNA

Oh Phone, Please Ring

I seriously don't think that I've starred at a phone this much since the last time I was waiting for a guy to call! We've been in Abilene since October 19th and I am still at this point basically a housewife. I've been applying for jobs since we first got here and I can't seem to get a call back. I really don't understand, I have a great resume and am a hard worker. Basically, I'm trying to stare at my phone and will it to ring. Too all the people of Abilene...call me for a job, please!

Lemongrass and Mirin!!

So apparently no one in Abilene uses lemongrass. While unemployed I've been having fun cooking in the kitchen. I figure while embracing my domestic-ness (I'm making up my own words too) I should have some fun with my cookbooks. It also has an added bonus of saving us money because it's always cheaper to cook at home rather than eating out. Well last Christmas my sister in law Connie gave me a cookbook called Cook Yourself Thin and I'm loving cooking out of it. Last night I made a healthy chicken parmesan with thin zucchini strips as 'pappardelle' pasta rather than eating it with regular pasta. All I can say is amazing! Well another dish I choose to make from this book is a dinner of fresh homemade spring rolls and sesame peanut noodles. This is actually what I'm making tonight. Well, for this dish I needed some fun ingredients like rice paper, lemongrass and fresh ginger. I don't think that lots of people know how to use fresh ginger and having only worked with it once before I'm one of those people. I do have to say though that I think it sounds cool that I'm cooking with it! Well to make this dish I also needed something call mirin and lemongrass. So after not finding it at my local Albertson's I set out on a mission to find them (I also needed to find the rice paper). After 3 more grocery stores around town I did find the rice paper but apparently no one sells lemongrass or mirin. I guess this is just going to be part of living in a smaller town. In Houston I think I would be able to find most of the ingredients at the local stores but here, not so much! Oh well, I do need to say thanks to Connie though for the fun dinners we've been having thanks to her getting us this cookbook. Love you!

Happy November

I can't believe that it's already November! This year couldn't be zooming by any faster. We are now living in Abilene. We haven't done a whole lot here yet, mostly I've been getting us moved in and job hunting while Dillon gets settled into his job. Their aren't alot of prospects here but I'm sure I'll find something eventually. Our apartment is nice which is a big help and I've been having fun making lots of dinners in the kitchen. Isn't that what I'm suppose to do as the house-

girlfriend I am right now? I should be on the show Real Housewives of Abilene, wait, no one would watch that! Well for now, I'm trying to enjoy playing around with this whole domestic woman thing until I'm back in the working world. I have even started doing yoga in my living room. Really I think that I might need a personal trainer to qualify for one of those TV shows. Oh, and lots of velour track suits that have been bejeweled and money to shop for lots of things that I don't need. I think that I'll be able to do without.

Well, that's it for now. I thought I'd share a photo that I love from my cousin Charlotte's wedding...

Finalizing Details

Happy Wednesday! Things here have been going so fast! I can't believe at this point I'm about to move to Abilene, Texas in less than a week! I really thought that 3 months in DFW at my parent's house was going to feel like a long time. No, it's not because it's me living with my parents again, I'm have a blast getting to hang out with my Dad and playing an endless amount of games of Monopoly City with my Mom. I have to note here that I am the champion of Monopoly City!! Back to real life though...I guess all of the traveling I've been doing has made this go by super fast.

Well last Thursday (I'm skipping over a whole trip to Chicago but that post will come later with pictures) Mom and I went to Abilene to find Dillon and I a place to live. Dillon and I had gone once before but had no success. After putting Mom through hours of house hunting and endless miles of driving around with me, we were unsuccessful in finding a house to rent. I should say we did find a cute home for only $800 a month but they wouldn't rent to us because we're not married and I am unemployed. Can't help but the the bible belt did approve of us living in sin together but whatever! So we switched our efforts to apartments. We found a great apartment called The Reserve at Abilene. It was built in 2008 so it brand new, has granite countertops, a washer and dryer and the complex has a sand volleyball court! The one sad thing is that now that we're in an apartment that dogs will have to stay in Houston with Dillon's Dad. :-( I'm really sad to not have our babies but it would be cruel to take them to an apartment when they are use to a house with a big backyard they can play in.

So now Dillon and I have made our plans and it looks like we'll be headed to Abilene on Tuesday (10/19). Today he takes the first part of his PV followed by the second part tomorrow and after that he'll be an air traffic controller! On Friday he and Evan will head back down to Texas (they are very excited about this) and my parents are throwing them a small party to celebrate their graduation. My parents are the best! We'll be down to Houston on Saturday to pack up the final things and headed out Monday night. Dillon will be driving the massive 24 foot budget rental truck, can't say I'm sad that Dillon will be driving this instead of me.

I'll follow soon with more!

The Great Grapevine/Colleyville Flood

Well I thought by moving away from Houston I was getting away from tropical storms and hurricanes. Apparently this is not the case though, they are chasing me. Yesterday and today we had a huge amount of rainfall from Tropical Store Hermine (pronounced "her mine" not "her mine e" like Harry Potter). As I learned from Tropical Storm Allison and a few others in Houston, tropicalstorms drop a HUGE amount of rain. Between all of these bands of storms we got around 6.25 and 6.5 inches of rain in less than 36 hours! This means huge flooding in the area and it was really cool to see so close. I should say it's cool for me because all of my stuff is fine but that's not the same for everyone. The pool in my parents' backyard almost overflowed!

I thought I would share some pictures take by Dad and I. These are right by our house along Pool Road.

America's Favorite Food Truck Giveaway

America's Favorite Food Truck Giveaway

So Matt and Melina are up to it again! Their food truck, The Gaztro-Wagon has been nominated. You can vote up to 10 times a day for them so help support. Voting ends September 10th. Please help me support them, Matt's food is awesome!

Changes!

Well it's been awhile since I've posted anything on here and I would say it's because I've been so busy with everything but as we all know I am pretty bad about keeping up with this blog. So now it's time to update everything.

I'll start with I don't live in Houston anymore! Dillon's job as an air traffic controller finally started! He will be in training for 3 months in Oklahoma City and I am up here for the week to help get him and his brother settled in their house. It's been funny. I've never been the housewife (maybe housegirlfriend is better) but I'm having fun. I've been unpacking things for them, making lunches for them to take to the academy and making dinner at night. Don't worry, this is not a permanent thing for me, I'm going to get bored really fast with it but it's fun for the week. On Sunday I'm heading back to Colleyville where I will be living for the next three months with my parents. Back in the nest! I think much of the time will be spent drinking wine and playing Wii with my Mom when she's town. In October we'll be moving to the lovely Abilene, Texas. It's a smaller town, about 130,000 people which will be a big change for two city mice! It's a new adventure though and should be fun for the 2-3 years we will be there. After that we can apply to move anywhere in the country we want to! That includes Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands so who knows where we will end up.

As for my business, I will be moving it to Abilene. For the next three months I'm going to try and work on drumming up business in the metroplex suburbs and trying to learn the market there and in Abilene. So if you know anyone getting married in any of those places let me know!

At restaurant show, street food is cause du jour :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Food

I can't begin to talk about how proud I am of my friends Matt and Melina in Chicago. Matt's created a movement for mobile cuisine in the city and it's

being recognized all over town! Below is a link to the article in today's Chicago Sun Times all about Matt and his company. Check it out!! Below that is my favorite picture from their wedding! Can you find me????

At restaurant show, street food is cause du jour :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Food

A Bright Spot Wedding

April was a crazy month filled with wedding madness. Bright Spot Events had a wedding on April 24th for a great couple in Rockport, Texas (near Corpus Christi). Everything went perfect and most importantly the bride and groom were super happy!! I have to send out a huge thank you to my Mom for coming in and saving my day! My planned assistant for the wedding had a family emergency the week before the wedding and I was going a bit crazy trying to figure out what I was going to do. Being the wonderful person that she is, my Mom stepped in and flew down to Corpus Christi that Friday and spent the weekend with me as my assistant. I have to say, it's a bit funny to introduce her to people as "my assistant for the weekend, Laurie." She also took some great pictures of the setup process and I've included a few here. Notice the tied ribbon around the napkins and the chair sashes...those were a result of hours and hours of work by she and I. She may never want to help me again, I worked her until her feet bled!!

Below is the link to my Bright Spot Blog for anyone who wants to read more about this colorful wedding.

Thoughts On A Bright Spot

THANKS MOM!!!

A New Car!

Well I have had many requests for photos of my new car so here she is. I bought a 2008 Scion xD. She's so cute, has great gas mileage and as Pam from The Office would say, has lots of cup holders! I think that she looks like she's smiling in the front too! I'm such a girl! I have to throw a shout out to my Carmax salesman. She's awesome so thanks Griff!!

Goodbye Car

Well I'm sad to say that my car has passed away. PJ the Jetta has been a good car but on December 27th she was rear-ended and pushed into another car, essentially we were smashed. So now we have said goodbye to a great car that saw me through many times of my life. She was the first car that I ever actually purchased and so I am said to see her leave me. Below are some photos of her at the junkyard when we said goodbye

So now I'm in the market for a new car. I've been shopping for one at Carmax so I can get something used and affordable. Guess we'll see what happens and I'll go ahead and post what I get when it's done.

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