My sister's card...

Well, I have been super busy this week finishing up clients' pictures for Christmas and cards...and in that time I made my sister's christmas cards as well as mom's...hopefully I'll get to mine and Allen's card soon!....so what do you think?

Shelley's card

Mom's card

Cake Balls, I'm 27!!

I can't believe it---27! It's kinda funny, sometimes when someone asks how old I am, I have to think about it for a second before I answer. But I usually get it right...unlike Allen, who for some reason, on our honeymoon, thought he was 28. About the third time he told someone that, I stopped and was like...wait a second...no you aren't! You're only 27! Crazy boy...trying to grow up too fast! ;) Anyway, in April he did turn 28..and now I'm 27. 27. 27.27. I need to remember that for the next year...HA!

Anyway, I think life only gets better with each birthday. And this one was indeed the best so far! I mean, it was in fact, my first birthday to have a husband!!!(and the best one ever at that!) This year I used my birthday as an excuse(as usual) to have a party! Back in college I would have had some huge party where people have to park 3 blocks away and then walk...and while I'll ALWAYS be a party thrower(I just LOVE being a hostess!)...I have toned down the numbers since college...we just don't have room for 75-100...I don't even know how we fit that many people back then(I think it was just our HUGE back yard). Ok, this is random, but at one of our parties, my roommate's room was on fire and we didn't even notice!!(Don't tell our landlord, we never did!)...moral of that story...don't burn a candle in a wooden candle holder on a wooden shelf on your wall...I LOVE YOU LAUREN!! haha! ok...back to present time....I digress...
Anyway, yesterday was my birthday and we had some friends over for food and fun! A friend of mine let me try a cake ball she had made the other day and it was so delicious, I decided I had to make them for my party...they are FABULOUS!! I can't wait to make them again for Thanksgiving at my parent's house! You can find the recipe here. This blog has so many fun and delicious looking treats! I totally bookmarked it!

It was sooo easy, you just bake a red velvet cake...

Then let it cool, crumble it into a bowl. Mix it with a can of cream cheese frosting and roll it into balls(this can get messy). Then let them chill for a few hours in the fridge...

Then you just melt some chocolate bark and roll the balls in it and plop each coated one onto wax paper to harden...and get THIS!!!!

mmmmm....does it make you want to try it now?! It makes like 50 balls and cost maybe $5 total?? YAY!

Anyway, my dear husband, who also loves to try new things to cook(and I do mean cook...he's not so much the baker!) made some DELICIOUS meatballs...I don't have pictures, but just imagine yummy juicy maple-glazed meatballs...oh so good! We also made chocolate covered strawberries, which by the way, are my favorite fruit. Chocolate covered strawberries...remember that if you ever feel the need to give me a gift of any sort... ;)

OH OH OH! I almost forgot to tell you....Allen got me such a fun birthday present, and since this post is all about yummy foods, it fits right in...we've always talked about going to one of those cooking classes at Central Market but never have...but guess what, on December 1st, we ARE! He knows how much I love tamales(hey, i am from south Texas, what do you expect!?), and he found a Tamale Workshop they are having--YAY!! Isn't he just the best ever!? I'll tell you all about it after we go! We're supposed to learn how to make all sorts of yummy stuff...so Mom and Dad Ivey, looks like we're gonna make some Mexican food for Christmas this year? ;)

Sad Day...

Well...somehow Obama managed to deceive enough people and now he's our next president. It's disheartening...BUT, God is sovereign, so it's nice to know that no matter what, He's still in control!

So, life has been busy here on Vineyard Lane...but this last week Allen didn't have to work a single night! It was so nice to have him home...we finally hung the hammock out on the back patio, which made a great place for our sunday afternoon nap...then the night before last, Allen lit a fire in the chimenea and we sat outside in the chilly air enjoying the warmth from the fire and a nice beverage...it's just been nice!

We are looking forward to the holidays with our families--thanksgiving with the Schovajsas, and Christmas with the Iveys...and who knows what for New Year's!
Anyway, just thought I would post a little something since it's been a while...maybe next time I'll have some pictures!

Nice weather...and no patio furniture!!

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately...I think my last post talked about how much Allen's been working and well, he hasn't slowed down! And I've been swamped with work as well and other things have taken priority...but I promise I'll try to keep up with it better!
So about the post title...we have been having such nice weather lately and so we decided to look around to see if we could find some decent priced patio furniture...for our fabulous back patio...
Do you know that there is nowhere that has any patio furniture!! I mean seriously...it's not winter yet guys...and it's Texas. Give me a break!
So i'm guessing that if we want anything, we'll have to order it online.
After our disappointing excursions looking for patio furniture on Sunday afternoon, we came home...washed our cars with some new soap Allen wanted to try out with his pressure washer(it works great!) and pulled weeds...like 5 million or so...just in the front yard. And there's still more! I pulled another trashbag full today...they are some nasty little weeds!
It sure is nice though knowing that it OUR lawn we're working on...and not someone else's! God is good.
Well, I've got lots to do. I'm having a beginner's photography workshop so on top of everything else, I have to finish preparing for that! Should be fun!

Take care, we love you!

Hard working man!

So if you read this blog, you know Allen, and you know that he is just not a complainer and such a hard worker. I just thought I would reiterate that to everyone. He is simply amazing and the best husband in the world! This week he has been working day and night...literally. Starting last sunday afternoon, he left to work with Travis, was back that evening for about 20 or so minutes to say hey and change clothes...then was back out to work for the night...to return the next morning, sleep 3 or so hours, get up again, go to work at cellworld til 6pm...Casey and the kids were over on Monday so he got home and then had dinner with us before they left...then crashed at like 7:30. Exhausted, he slept through dinner, got up at like 6am the next morning, went to work at 7am, worked til 6pm, was home for a couple hours to eat dinner and then leave again for work with Travis, get home in the morning, sleep a few hours, go to work, come home a couple hours go to work with Travis again, get home in the morning, sleep a couple hours, go work til 6pm again....etc, etc. You get the picture. After a week like this, the closest thing to anything negative that I heard come out of his mouth was simply..."It'll be nice when this week is over."...He doesn't have to work this much, but he does so that we can pay off our debt...and save some money to hopefully have a baby in the near future...what an amazing man.

I am blessed beyond measure to have Allen as a husband. I love him more than I knew was possible and I never doubt his love for me. What a gift he is!


On a totally different note, if you don't keep up with my photography blog then here's a few pics of my precious nephew...from his 6 month shoot...too cute, huh?

Home for a while....sweetness.

So yeah. October is in a few days! I honestly don't understand how time goes by so much faster these days! Does that just happen when you get married? Anyway, September has been good! We went to california for a wedding/mini vacation and had a blast, fell in love with this yogurt place called Pinkberry (i think we went there 4 or 5 times in the 4 days we were there!)...played in some big waves(as soon as i figure out putting video on here, i'm posting a video of allen in the giant waves!), and had a great time with friends at a wedding on a yacht. fun times. Then like 2 weeks after that we were off to the booming town of Seadrift, TX to shoot the wedding of my dear Audrey--our families are super duper close and she's practically a sister to me and my other sisters. The wedding was outside as the sun set over the water...perfect. I'll have more photos of that wedding posted on my photoblog later this week, but here's one from her bridal shoot we did in august...just stunning! Anyway, my best friend came over with her kids today and she helped me decorate the house more! Such a successful and great day with her! I'll post some updated pics of the house soon! Anyway, we're not going out of town until Thanksgiving!...it'll be so nice to stay in town for a while! Love you all!

September!?

Ok, so September is halfway over and I don't even recall it getting here! I'm way behind on posting, but that should come as no surprise! Over the past few weeks, we have been home to Inez for our "Inez wedding reception" along with 3 photo shoots, had 3 more photo shoots upon return, had a small family of Louisiana evacuees stay with us for a week, had a mini-vacation and wedding in california, and taken care of our dear friends' almost-3-yr-old for a week while their new baby was in the hospital. And now we both have a cold. YUCK. So needless to say, blogging was on the backburner. You can however visit my photography blog for a view of all those photo shoots I've had. But for now, I'm going to curl up in bed!

We're done painting!!

Well guys...it took a little longer because it's been a crazy week...my mom came to town to help paint and to hang out...we started moving...i stepped on a screw that went into my foot...and we finally have the internet and phone hooked up! So... last night I finished the last room to be painted--now the whole house has new paint! These are just a few I snapped for those of you who have been begging for pictures!! Once we get all our stuff moved in and I get things hung on the walls and all that fun stuff, I'll take some "final" pictures...until then, enjoy these!!



This is the new studio--i'm on the hunt for some vintage cool looking couch...


Here's the new office--those are clothes for a garage sale on the floor!

I LOVE the barstools!



That tv looks Tiny!...it's actually sitting on our end table...but we haven't moved our other tv and haven't decided on an entertainment center...






So I have to say that this tub is heaven...even Allen is a huge fan!!

This is our unfinished guest bathroom...it's finished now, but I when I was taking these, I forgot to take a pic of it and the sun went down, so the lighting stinks...but not to worry...more will come!



I have to say that God has totally blessed us in providing such a wonderful house! We absolutey love it!! It's way bigger than we had been looking for and very open and we are just down the street from some good friends...Such a blessing! thanks to everyone who helped!

I know...it's been a while!

Well, I've been a little off the radar on here...because we've been soooo busy!! We ended up closing on our house on July 14th--5 days early, but worked out very well because of some crazy details that came up. There is so much stuff that goes into closing on a house...who knew! But I think the calls have finally stopped--no one calling saying, "um, we just emailed you some pages that you forgot to put your middle initial on when you signed. Please fax them to us and overnight the originals back." Which is odd because one of the papers we signed was giving them permission to do things like add an initial or whatever if we happened to miss something. Weird. What the point of that paper? Anyway, all that done--It's OURS!! I spent about a week cleaning--not your typical cleaning...I mean scrubbing baseboards, cabinets, drawers, doors, doorframes...FLOORS...every surface of this house has been scrubbed, cleaned and sanitized. I don't think the people who lived in it before EVER vacuumed(thank goodness for the amazing carpet guy that cleaned the carpet) or mopped or dusted...or cleaned period. All that's left to clean is the tubs and showers, but you'd be amazed at it now if you'd seen it before. Then a week and a half ago, we started painting! Now I've painted a room before...and a bathroom. But never a whole house!! It's quite a job! My mother-in-law is loves to paint(she should be on one of those home shows!) and she came over last monday to start painting with me...Boy did we get a lot done in just like a day and a half! I'm hoping to be completely done by the end of the week--I'm so ready to move in, but I want everything to be done first!! Anyway, I'll post some pictures later today of the progress!!

The House :)

I promised a few pics of the house...Here's a few I snapped!

The charming front.

The entry way looking back at the front door--the office on the right with the french door, and closest to the front...will be my studio!

My future studio/meeting room...minus the chandelier of course!!

Need I say anything? Bubbles will be nice... ;)

The master bedroom...we need to hire Stanley Steemer!

Ahhhh....granite!

We love the open concept!

Our back patio! Can't wait for some fall evenings with outdoor dinners!

Well, that's the house! Pray everything goes well in all the closing and within a month we'll be homeowners!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

Can you see my excitement? Haha! As most people close to us already know, we've been waiting for about a week and a half to hear back about an offer we put on a house....and the verdict is....YES!!! They came back yesterday and asked for best and final offers. There was another offer on the house as well and so what were we to do? Offer more? Keep our same offer? We REEEEALLY wanted this house, but it could just be a game to try and get us to offer more money. Not having any idea what the other offer on it could be, we just upped our offer to their asking price, which was only $900 more than our original offer, and we got a call this morning from our realtor saying they'd accepted it with a few minor changes...only about a $300 difference....so we accepted back and YES! We're waiting on paperwork and such and our closing date is July 18th!!!!
I'll have a few snapshots from the first time we looked at it, so I'll try and post them later!

Was that a big catfish?

So Allen and I went on a bike ride around our neighborhood tonight. There's this little creek that runs through the area and a nice bike/walking trail that winds around. Well, as we passed over part of the creek, I saw something moving through the water. I hollered back at Allen, "did you see that in the water? Was that a big catfish?!" Now keep in mind this is barely a creek....there was only water at the one end where we crossed--about 2 feet deep maybe--and the rest of it was dried up. Anyway, being the curious monkeys we are, we turned around to go check it out...we stared in the water for a while trying to find what I had seen and finally Allen says, "is that a BEAVER!?" He poked in the water with a stick and out from the culvert came a creature....a beaver! Does this surprise anyone else? I don't think I've ever seen a beaver before that one....weird.

Ahhhhh......

So this weekend Allen made the decision to go to the river! So off to Leakey we went for a relaxing weekend with the family. The Frio was pretty low so Allen and I only actually floated down the river once--too much walking! A few others floated a longer float the next day, but us being so white, we decided not to be in the blaring sun all afternoon! Just where our cabins were on the river there was a little spot in the water where we could put our chairs and just hang out in the water...mom, dad, teri, and carlton even set up their table and played dominoes in the river! Shelley and Corey came with little Corbin, my little nephew, and he is sooooo cute! I can't believe he's almost four months old! Anyway, it was a great little getaway with family and hopefully next year there will be more rain!!!



mmm...we definitely weren't counting points over the weekend!




enjoying the ribs and more!


Daddy and Mr. Carlton relaxing after some good food!


Corbin REALLY wanted some ribs--but he's got a ways to go before that!


...the domino table!

Isn't he just sooo cute!? We had some fun with him and the watermelon--haha!

Waiting....

So our offer didn't actually get in until Monday morning, but as far as we know there aren't any other offers on the house!! So now it's just time to wait and pray they accept our offer! So if you think about it, give a shout up for us. We're just trying not to think about it so that it's not so hard...in a couple days we're going to leave for either the frio river for my family vacation or to lubbock for allen's 10 yr. high school reunion(he hasn't decided which he wants to go to more yet!)...so if we haven't heard by then, at least we'll be distracted for the weekend! Anyway, not much else going on--have a great day!!

Scratch that--

Soooo...yeah. Last post said that we were going to wait to buy a house...BUT, we came across a really good deal and if all goes well in the morning we may be putting in an offer! So pray that if this is the house He has for us that all will go smoothly!! I will let you know what happens!

Putting a hold on it...

Sooo, some of you know that we have been house searching for the past several weeks, but after prayer and consideration and advice, we have decided to put the home search on hold. We found out our lease continues on a month to month basis once it is up in August, so we are planning on working hard core over the next several months to knock out a huge chunk of our debt before we get a new house. Who knows, it may only be a few extra months that we are in our house, but we've decided to get aggressive on our debt so that we are in a much better position when we do get one....
That's about all our news....for now... ;)

Welcome to our blog!

So we have decided to make a blog--and here it is! We hope to keep up with it and keep those of you up to date who care to know what's up with us. Please leave us comments and keep in touch!
We'll start with some pics from the wedding!!