Oklahoma and More...

The night before thanksgiving Jacob and I stayed up baking pies… Yes, WE. My husband is an amazing pumpkin pie maker. All from scratch. Well, I make the crust, he does the rest; Cut the pumpkin, cook it, and peel the skin. I sure love my man of many talents ;)

His finished product

My favorite way to make apple pie, with cinnamon roll crust!

Mmmm :)

We had a blast in Oklahoma spending time with Jacob's family. Shopping, family, food, and so much more fun! Not to mention spending some time on the farm. Tractor ride included ;)

It's funny to think that last time we were in Oklahoma, for his granny's 80th birthday, and all I could dream about was being engaged to him, and now a little over a year later here we are married :)

How cute is that kid!?

Tractor riding

This was only my second time to Oklahoma, but I love it more and more each time I go!

Us with Granny

And Granny let us take home this sewing machine from her old house. I like it not only because it's cute, but also because it's been in the family. She said Jacob's aunts used to use it. No pictures of it open. But I love it!

This is Jacob's brother and his family. They surprised us with their arrival for our wedding and have been here since. We're sad to see them leave, but I guess we have to share them with other family ;) I'm still hoping they'll find their way back to Texas though. Haha.

The week after we got back from Oklahoma, Jacob and I purchased our Christmas tree. It's my first real one and I love it!! Well, not the little needles everywhere, but everything else about it. And really I just love decorating for Christmas in general!!

Our first Christmas married and my first real tree!

All decorated and even some presents underneath :)

In some other news…

A year ago yesterday, Jacob and I got engaged. It's crazy to think how much has happened in this last year. Unfortunately I'm a very impatient person, but I'm grateful for such a loving and patient husband who reminds me to keep an eye on the big picture. And I can't wait to see where we'll be in another year. There is so much ahead, it's all so exciting. I mean can you blame me for being impatient? ;)

On Friday I took a test at work to become a senior technician. It was so nerve racking (sp?). My boss and I had been talking about it since before the wedding. But things got so crazy it got left alone. And then I finally mentioned it to her again and within the week she emailed someone from the district and got a reply back that someone else was taking it in about 2 weeks and I could join. I felt so unprepared and had no idea what to expect with the test. The lady from our district office in Austin could tell how nervous I was. But I PASSED. And now I'm officially a senior technician. Kinda exciting :P

And then I have random pictures from my phone that I always love to share. Enjoy!

On one of our date nights Jacob wanted to spoil me, so we got ceviche as an appetizer. Yum! But we still like Kristys better :)

My brother and his wife like to play a little game called where's Jacob when they drive around town. Much like where's waldo… but with Jacob, on his moped. The other day Jacob fell asleep on the bed and then I went in to clean the room and threw the covers on him. When I came back in a few minutes later it reminded me of their game. Where's Jacob? (His head is in the top left corner incase you really don't see it. Haha.)

A week ago we went to Katy for the afternoon and spent a little time with family. Henley was playing shy. One day she'll like us though. Lol. And I can't believe how big she is!!

And this past week I got to watch baby Bella. She loves Leia!

Leia used to bark on command, she's become a bit more stubborn these days though, but Bella just loved it when she did.

And I couldn't help but take a picture when she wanted to play with the lights :)

I wore her and Uncle Jacob out that night. They were both out by about 8!

Sometimes we find Leia on top of the log stack in our backyard. Normally she sees us right as we're about to take a picture and jumps down. We caught her this time though.

It must have just been too bright. Jacob said she was looking straight at him for about 15 seconds. Then I walked up and made some noises and she jumped down and ran to the door.

We sure love our puppy. We love living close to family. And we love that the rest of our family really isn't that far away. Mostly we love each other, and what the Lord has in store for our future. 

In all honesty I probably won't post again until after Christmas. So Merry Christmas  :)

Today

I've mentioned my church before... or other activities dealing with it. But I've never formally mentioned it. So if you didn't already know, I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Or as most people are more familiar, I'm a mormon. For more information visit lds.org or feel free to ask me any questions.

So today started out well. We had stake conference. And even got to sleep in an hour since we normally meet early.

My plan was to go home, make lunch, make cookies, and then visit teach, and head over to Jacob's parent's house for the rest of the evening.

When we got home it was HOT... Seriously. It felt better outside than in. And that's saying alot for Texas. Even in the 'winter'. But I still cooked. And it got hotter...

When I got back from visiting teaching and before we went to his parent's house, Jacob took a walk out to the A/C unit... it was the dog. THE DOG.

Fortunately it was something Jacob could fix. We are now sitting in our cool house and couldn't be more grateful.

I'm still upset with the dog though. (Only for the rest of the night)

And that's about it for our day... but here's some pictures :)

I got to hang out with this cutie all night

And just to sum it up here's our 'thankful' board ;)

I wrote A/C, and a husband who can fix it, NOT the dog (today at least)

And Jacob wrote cookies

This Week

This past week has been great, but also hard.

Last Saturday Jacob and I went to the Houston Temple, along with his parents, and my mom met us there. It was a beautiful day. And seriously the best way I could think of to spend my morning.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning/preparing for my brother and his family.

On Monday my brother Stephen, his wife Caitlin, and baby Isabella came into town. And my dad came up for the day to bring my mom who was staying a few nights.

I had to work.... This is the hard part I mentioned.

Tuesday Missy and the twins came up. Stephen and Caitlin found an apartment.

And I had to work again...

Fortunately, I worked early Tuesday and late Wednesday so I could at least spend some time with them.

Wednesday we helped Stephen and Caitlin move in, and her parents came and helped.

Then I went to work...

I worked late Wednesday and early Thursday.

Thursday Billy, Kris, and Brody came for the day. After they all went to lunch, Missy and the kids went home to Dallas, and Billy's family and my Mom went back to Katy... all before I even got off work.

SO... It's been a great week. My brother's family came back to Texas, and they found an apartment (less than a mile away from us might I add) and I had much more family come into town. I enjoyed every minute I could with them.

But I had to work the rest of them time.

I'm grateful for my job. It really helps us out. We would not make it financially if I didn't have it. And when it's not so crazy, I actually enjoy my job.

But when I have half my family in town, some of which I didn't even get to see, it makes me really hate my job....

And now for pictures. Because my post just wouldn't be complete if I didn't have some of those ;)

This is about the most I've 'decorated' for thanksgiving... I was surprised Jacob decided to go along with it. And also very happy. Lol.

This week a couple nights have gotten down in the 40s so we decided to let the dog in. She has now gotten used to it and gives us sad eyes through the door until we let her in. ... And last night I caved, even though the temp. was just fine for her to be out there.

Last saturday at the temple.

Texas waffles = the best waffles

Playful Bella

The kids all the loved the puppy.

Through the glass at least. Haha.

Alyssa still tells me about how last time she visited Leia jumped on her and made her cry. 

Jacob likes the scare the dog. She normally just flinches. But the other night she jumped on the couch and into my lap. It was pretty cute.

And the Esquivel's even joined in on my 'decorating' ;)

Trunk or Treat 2013

It's been a very long week of work. Not only has it been CRAZY busy, but I put in some overtime Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. And still had work on Monday and Tuesday. So my day off today was so relaxing, and much needed for sure. First I slept in, because I didn't have to worry about work, duh. Then, I cleaned. So sad to say but I have never been so lazy with house work, like ever. Even when Jacob and I were dating and engaged my house has never been as bad as it has lately. But it's clean now, and I plan on keeping up with it better. Silly husband and work distracting me all the time. And then I ran some errands, had lunch with my husband, and went last minute halloween shopping. And you're thinking oh halloween is tomorrow, yeah that's last minute but it's not that bad. No, I went shopping for trunk or treat TONIGHT, aka I left the house around 1 to run errands and we had to be at the church by 6. It was supposed to be easy. Jacob and I were going to be Mario and Luigi. He already had overalls, so I just needed some and to get red and green shirts and hats. No big deal, right? Wrong. EVERYONE was last minute shopping. I couldn't find hats anywhere. And finally around 4:45 I found a red shirt. So... we had to improvise. I ended up going as Mario, and Jacob went as a mechanic. His was easy because he had just gotten home from work so he just didn't change. And right as we were walking out the door he started saying something about well if you didn't throw away that red hat you could've used it. I didn't.... SO we found the red hat and it completed my costume. Yay. Now for pictures ;)

So we recently got a sam's membership. And just incase you're wondering... this is what $20 worth of candy looks like. I wasn't planning on that, but thanks sam's, thanks.

Our bedroom

Excuse the empty frames, pictures pending ;) Haha

Seriously, I don't know how we managed to fit all of our stuff in here. I thought mine barely fit.

el baño

I've never had so much storage in my bathroom, I love it. Hehe

Our breakfast area/laundry area (behind the doors)

And I have a real kitchen, and not just a hallway like my old place

At trunk or treat

And if you're wondering what everyone is always asking lately, how's married life?, well here is it...

Absolutely amazing. I love that our home is together. And that he never has to leave me at night. He is so good to me. He continually amazes me with little surprises like making dinner, or helping clean, and other little things that just tell me he is thinking about me. And I love it. Especially because it's well known how lazy he can be. And it's only been a month. Being married is the absolute best. Especially because I have my best friend constantly by my side. Because it's also been hard. I always like to believe I was supporting myself, but my parents did help alot. And now I'm supporting two people, well plus his income, but it was a hard transition. Not only do I know have to watch my own habits, but his too. I HATE worrying about money, and it hasn't been easy so far, and I don't expect it to be easy for a while. Especially if one day we're gonna throw kids into the bunch. But I couldn't be happier with the one I've chosen to go through it all with. Always there to help, support, and lift me. I feel so lucky to have him as my husband.