Things Micah learned

Micah going to Saudi for an early visit was hard and long for me but in the end it has turned out to be a very good thing for many reasons.  He was able to get an idea of life on the compound, our apartment, and Saudi in general.  Before his trip, we had debated over several household items that I wanted to bring but he did not such as our couch.  After being in our actual apartment for 4 weeks he has agreed that we need to bring our couch and after sleeping (or not sleeping) on our bed he has agreed we need to bring our mattress.  It's funny to me because in my mind these things were going no matter what but at least now it is not an argument waiting to happen.  


Another great aspect is that Micah was able to measure EVERYTHING.  He actually designed me a detailed floor plan.  I know what you are thinking because I thought it too...."what a nerd".   But even though I made fun of him, I am very grateful to have it.  Now I can figure out curtain sizes and lengths and other random decorating issues.  The compound does actually supply curtains and bedspreads but the tend to look like this:

Needless to say, I am not so interested in that so they will be changed.  

Finally, and probably most importantly, Micah was thoughtful enough to measure the inside of our closet/wardrobe type things.  There are no actual closets in our apartment.  Not only did Micah measure our closetish thing but he even researched and found some awesome drawer/organizer things that will fit perfectly inside.  Isn't he so thoughtful!  Not only did he think of it but it was his idea to go buy them and let me just say they are not cheap.  But look how cool:

These are "Elfa" drawers and we bought them at the Container Store.  We bought 2 of this size and 2 smaller that should fit perfectly in one half of our master closet.  I also bought a really cool under-the-bed plastic thing that is a drawer so that I can put it at the edge of the bed and have daily usable space.  I probably should have bought more than one of those....

Anyways, thats the news on our current preparation.  The house should be going on the market soon so that should make for some interesting posts.  Just fyi here is a picture of our closetish thing:

Micah's Birthday Weekend

Typically Micah's family comes to visit for his birthday.  This was scheduled this year as well but then he ended up being sent to Saudi so plans changed.  Micah's family came this past weekend for his birthday celebration even though his birthday is actually February 25.  We had a great time celebrating and seeing family.  


We spent Friday just hanging out at our house and enjoying some time together.  Micah cooked us some delicious Gumbo while Marvetta and Jackie made great birthday cake for desert. Saturday we headed out to the Houston Livestock show.  We weren't sure how much Kate (our niece) would enjoy this but she had a great time (I think).  She would get upset at us when we would take her away from the animals.  I got to show her the rabbits but she didn't understand why we wouldn't let her touch all the animals.   Kate also had her first taste of fair food....sausage on a stick. 

Sunday we were all able to go to church together and then to T-Bone Tom's for lunch.  We had a large group of our friends from church there which was a lot of fun.  It ended up being a little warmer than we had expected and Micah even ended up with a sunburn, but we got some cute pictures out of it. 

After lunch we headed to Galveston for some water fun.  We brought the dogs, Max and Gizmo and I think they enjoyed it more than anyone else.  Unfortunately Kate was a little tired and at the time did not enjoy the sand but we are hoping that will change by their beach trip in May.  The water was still freezing cold and Gizmo was still not too interested in getting in it as usual. We spent a couple of hours hanging out on the beach.  

Thanks to our amazing family for a great weekend.  We love you!

Rodeo and Garage Sale

This past week has been very busy.  Last Sunday I finally hit my breaking point with Micah being gone so I packed my bags and Gizmo and we headed to my parents house.  Although staying with them took me 3x as long to get to and from work it was worth it.  There is something to be said for having people to talk to at night and not always eating alone.  Gizmo and I stayed with them until Thursday night.  

Thursday night my parents and I went to the Houston Rodeo.  I hadn't been to the rodeo since being a little kid so it was fun to get to go again.  The carnival part is enormous but all we did was walk by all the rides and attractions.  Then we went and looked at all the animals.  We were a little late so most of the animals were being put away for the night.  But we (I) got to see Kenny Chesney!  I put the I in parentheses because I don't think my parents really cared that much about Kenny but I sure did.  The Rodeo isn't a full on show but it was more of just a taste of Kenny.  We had a great time. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Our move date has been set for sometime early May or at least that is when Micah will be leaving.  As I sat down and started looking at our calendar I realized how many weekends between now and then are already "filled" with something.  Then when you have to coorelate with someone else (Mom) that takes away even more weekends.  So I realized at sorta the last minute that I would have to have my garage sale THIS weekend.  Well somehow we got it organized and even had Susie and Darrell join in.  We weren't the most organized but we survived.  I listed the garage sale for 8:00am but in typical fashion when I opened the garage door at 7:15 someone was already there to shop.  Overall we did pretty well. Thanks again to Mom and Dad for all of their help.  I would not have made it without them.  

Micah will be home Tuesday night.  It's finally almost over.

Gizmo the Beast

Gizmo has been having some...anxiety issues lately.  Since he was brought into our family we have either left him in his crate or in a small room with a baby gate when we were not home.  He was perfectly fine for 2.5 years.  Now all of a sudden he is flippin out.  First it started with breaking free from the baby gate.  While breaking free he tore up our door frame which is not good when you are trying to sell your house.  Then I decided to leave him in his crate.  The first day I came home to find his crate 2 feet back from where I left it and the towel it was sitting on was magically inside the cage.  The second day however....well take a look, particularly look at the lower bars.

Thats right, my 12lb. dog somehow bent metal bars.  My dad was not able to bend the bars back. No he did not escape and he did not get stuck in the bars and there was no blood but this was the last day I left him in his cage.  After this he had won the battle and I left him free. However, I knew this solution couldn't last so I inlisted the help of the dog whisperer (from his book) and started some of his stuff.  To start with I got him a new cage.  This is his cage that he will be flying in to Saudi.  So far he has been MUCH happier in his new cage.  Why? I have no idea.

Sine You've been gone

I know my posts seem to be few and far between but life is just not as excitng without Micah here. He is doing great and has done some amazing measurements of our apartment for me and of course has taken lots of pictures. He posted some on facebook so if you are friends with him you can see them there. 

Since Micah has been gone I have been keeping myself very busy...maybe too busy.  For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to get started on some of the house stuff to get it ready to be sold.  Job 1 was painting the upstairs game room which started out orange and black.  Let me just tell you, painting over orange and black is NOT an easy task.  On Monday I did 2 coats of primer working from 4:00pm-8:45 straight. Then on Wednesday I did 2 coats of paint.  I chose white because I wanted it to be very neutral.  I am finally finished. Here are the before and after pictures.

* I couldn't find any pictures of the before on this computer so I had to upload one from my facebook

Once I was done with the finishing touches on Thursday afternoon I was able to relax a little.  My friends have been taking good care of me and inviting me over for dinner and out to movies.  I am very thankful for my friends and don't know if I would have survived without them. 

Today I finally decided to give Gizmo a hair cut.  His hair was SO long.   I can't even remember the last time I gave him a hair cut....I'm thinking it may have been Thanksgiving.  Well, as with most things, when you procrastinate it takes you a lot longer.  Gizmo's hair cuts usually take me 2 hours but today it took me at least 3!  He looks so much better though and he is all ready for Spring.  Look at how much hair I cut off of him!

   

I had to switch to orange for this part but I am sad to see that blogger doesn't have an appropriate OSU orange.  I watched the OSU basketball game today against the #1 ranked Kansas and all I have to say about that is GO COWBOYS!

Be My Valentine

I made it through my first weekend with Micah gone.  He is safe and sound in Saudi and even getting to stay in our future apartment. It's nice to have insider information to help with the packing.  I have been able to talk to him every day and he is very busy with people on the compound.  

For my first weekend I headed north to the DFW area.  On Friday night I went to my lovely friend Anna's house near the Fort Worth area.  We went out to dinner at the delicious Babes Chicken and spent the rest of the night hanging out.  A freak snow storm had blown threw on Thursday so there was snow everywhere.  Gizmo did not really know what to think of it.

Saturday morning I headed a little further north to Denton, TX for my beautiful neices' birthday party.  Bailey turned 8 years old!  I can't believe she is already 8.   Her birthday party was at a pottery painting place where each kid was able to paint their own piece of pottery.  I decided to join in the fun and painted some myself but I wasn't very good.  Bailey was a great party host and was the most spoiled birthday girl I have ever seen. I gave her the "awesome" peace sign hat, I'm not sure if she really liked it but she humored me.

 

 I was also able to see my adorable nephew Coleton walking and running around.  He has the cutest PJ's I've ever seen.  The back says "New Sheriff in Town"....Check'em out:

On Sunday (Valentines Day) I headed back south to my home.  It was sad to spend Valentines Day without my Valentine but I made it through. Micah was a great husband who did give me my Valentine card and present before he left so I reread my card.  I hope you all had a great weekend and were able to spend Valentines day with the ones you love!

When the boys are away....

Just so everyone knows, Micah is there and safe.  He is in our future housing getting it organized and measured for me. Tonight was my second night with Micah away.  So far I'm doing pretty good but that is probably because I have had plenty of things to keep me occupied and because it is very early in the 4 weeks.  In order to keep my spirits up I was thinking of the Pros of some alone time.  Now, I just want to say that in NO way would I rather be alone and I would VERY MUCH rather have Micah here but you may as well think positive. So here it goes:

1. I was able to hang out with Anna tonight!

2.  I can get lots of stuff done at home

3. My house will stay clean

4. I will see lots of girly movies & have quality girl time

5. No worrying about cooking

6. When the boys are away the girls will play

7. ........ I'm already out of things

*The Cons out weigh the Pros 1000000/1