My Sweet Husband

November 9th was the first day of my new job at RRI Energy. When I got home, my sweet husband had these gorgeous fall flowers waiting for me. It really means so much to me that Jason is so thoughtful. As far as work goes, I am starting to get settled in and adjusting to a new routine. It has definitely been a change, but I think I will learn alot along the way. Everyone in my group seems to be very nice and easy to work with. I look forward to the day when I have learned the company and figure out what I need to be doing.

O.A.R

A few weeks ago, Cale came up to Houston to visit and met Cody, Britt, Jason, and myself at the OAR concert. We all watched A&M beat Tech and then headed to Verizon Wireless theater to watch one of our favorite bands. Cale introduced me to this band many years ago, and I have loved them ever since. Listening to OAR was one of the first things that Jason and I discovered we have in common. We have been to see OAR every time they have come to Houston since we started dating. It is always a fantastic time, and this was no exception. The five of us are not all together very often anymore, and I truly cherish the time we get to spend together when we are. We all had such a great time hanging out together listening to wonderful music.

Two Weeks Notice

After a little over three years at Ernst & Young, I officially put in my two weeks notice today. After Jason and I weighed all the pros and cons, I decided to accept a senior financial analyst position at RRI Energy in their financial reporting group. I write this post with mixed emotions. I am super excited about this new opportunity and new chapter in my life but am also sad to leave Ernst & Young. I have been blessed over the last three years to work with incredibly wonderful people that made my job enjoyable (even during the crazy busy-season times when we were working insane hours). I feel like I have learned so much, gained many life experiences, and honed skills that will continue to help me throughout my career. I know that I will continue to learn and grow in this new position at RRI and am looking forward to the new challenges that are ahead. Please pray that I make a smooth transition (as I am not always the best with change). My first day is November 9th. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Weekend in Weimer

Our good family friends, the Crabtrees, hosted their 2nd annual birthday bash last weekend. My parents, Cody and Britt, and Jason and I all met in Weimer on Saturday night to enjoy the festivities. The weather actually felt like fall, and we had such a great time eating, drinking, dancing, and just catching up. The Crabtrees definitely know how to throw a fun party. We had dinner complete with fried ribs (which I am sure were calorie free) and BBQ. We then enjoyed dancing to music by Steve Wariner and his band. All in all it was a fantastic weekend!.

Me, Britt, and Mom showing off our boots!!
Girl Pic

Cody and his two girls

Cute pic of mom and dad

Brittany and I had to take a pic with Steve Wariner. He stopped singing in the middle of his song to pose for this pic saying he wasn't going to miss that opportunity. HAHA

Dancin' with the Hubby

50 and Fabulous

As some of you may know, my mom turned the big 50 in July. We decided that a girls trip was the perfect way to celebrate the occasion so we planned a trip to Chicago. My mom, her best friend Patti, and my Aunt Sherry all turned 50 this year so we decided that it was the perfect 4-some for the trip. We left on the Saturday before Labor Day and came back the following Tuesday. We all LOVED Chicago. There was so much to do, and the city was beautiful. During our short time in Chicago, we shopped the magnificent mile, took a walking food tour (one of our favorite things), went to see Jersey Boys, went up in the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), took an architectural boat tour, ate at several great restaurants, visited Millennium Park, walked around Navy Pier, and strolled through the Lincoln Park Zoo. A great time was had by all and many memories were made. Happy Birthday to some of my favorite girls!

Shopping Michigan Avenue

Dinner before Jersey Boys. We had appetizers and drinks at a cute outdoor restaurant across the street from the theater.

At the spice house we visited on the food tour.

On the boat tour down the Chicago River

Beautiful skyline

Willis Tower

The famous bean at Millennium Park

Mom and I outside the zoo

Hot Dog Social

Lani, Casey, Robin, Derek, Hannah, Neal, Jenn, Jason, Katie, Pam, Clayton


Jason and I just finished a co-ed softball league that played on Sunday nights at Memorial Park. A few months ago Jason came home and informed me that he signed us up for co-ed softball....obviously he was not aware of the fact that I had never played softball and that my skills are seriously lacking. Despite my abilities, our team had a good season, and we all had a ton of fun. I even got a couple of outs during the season...my batting skills left alot to be desired though. :) I ended up being really glad that we played in the league. It was such a fun thing for us to do together and something we both looked forward to each week.

Weekend Project

I will just start this post by saying that when it comes to decorating our house, Jason and I often have different ideas of what we think will look good/general styles. I bought our duvet below over Christmas in anticipation of buying a King-sized bed once we were married. I love it. Jason on the other hand has never partuarly cared for it. As he was willing to overlook the style of the duvet if I was happy with it, he was not so willing to put up with the fact that the duvet insert always got bunched in the wrong places, and it was generally pretty hot to sleep with. We tried to make it work for a couple months until he finally convinced me to at least consider getting a new comforter. Since we still had Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift cards from our wedding we set out in search for a new bedspread. We finally agreed on the green and khaki one below. We got it home, got it on the bed, and then realized that it blended in with our light khaki-colored walls. So we got the bright idea that we would paint our bedroom. Little did I know at the time that I would be making 5 trips to Lowes and testing out about 10-15 different samples before we found a color that we were both happy with. It took ALL day to move furniture, tape walls, paint edges, roll walls, do touch ups, etc, etc, but we ended up being really happy with the results. The room feels so different and much more cozy with the slightly darker walls. See the pictures below of our new master bedroom.

BEFORE

AFTER

Our paint supplies and multiple sample colors.

Me covering all of our samples patches with primer.

New bedspread with our newly painted walls.

Since Jason bought a new TV for our living room, we moved the one from our living room into our bedroom.