Things You Should Know About My Weekend

1. I knew ahead of time that it was going to be awesome because Grant's parents were coming to town! We hadn't seen them since Christmas so this was a long overdue visit. They arrived late Thursday night (they drove from New Orleans) and we pretty much went straight to bed as soon as they got here safely.

2. Friday I had to work so Grant's mom visited a friend that lives in town while Grant and his dad played golf.

3. I worked till 6:30 and met them for dinner at Yardhouse. If you live in the Houston area, YOU NEED TO GO TO YARDHOUSE. It's probably one of our top 5 favorite restaurants. There is a creamy tomato bisque that makes me all emotional.

4. Saturday we went to a baby shower for my cousin Katie and I got to see Grace, Scarlett, and Juliet. They were in matching purple twirly dresses and it was a bit too much for me to handle. (If you're new to Jen the Newlywed, you can see photos of Grace, Scarlett, and Juliet in the sidebar to your right). There was strawberry cake there and I was just thrilled about that.

5. After the shower, Grant's mom and I went to the outlet mall in Cypress. This was her first time there and we had an excellent time. We shopped while the boys played golf for the second time.

6. Something happened while we were there that I will now refer to as "The Shoe Incident of 2011". I'm slightly embarassed and also slightly proud to say that I came home with FIVE pairs of shoes yesterday. FIVE. Please pray for me. I couldn't stop myself.

7. Grant's mom got a jacket in Chico's that was normally $60.00 for FIVE DOLLARS AND NINETY-NINE EVER-LOVING CENTS.

8. I LOVE THE OUTLET MALL.

9. We were so exhausted from all the successful shopping that we just came home, ordered pizza, and watched a movie with the boys. We watched "Life As We Know It" with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. Super cute movie.

10. Yesterday morning when I woke up I realized that I was losing my voice. Not sure why...I wasn't shouting/singing/sick/congested or anything but my voice was going. This normally wouldn't bother me too much except for the fact that I knew I was singing a MAJOR song on Sunday morning at church that requires me to have my voice "full-throttle" if you will. I went on vocal rest for Saturday night and prayed that when I woke up Sunday morning it would all be alright.

11. When I woke up this morning, it wasn't alright.

12. I prayed in the shower that God would give me just enough voice to make it through my song.

13. The first run-through of the song did not go so well.

14. Something happened around 9:00 (30 minutes before the service) and, although still quite raspy, I could hit all my notes and with just enough power!

15. Jesus is worthy of all glory, honor and praise.

16. I love to sing.

17. After church, we took Grant's parents to the Cadillac Bar for brunch and JEN PUT DOWN SOME FOOD. The amount of food at their brunch is overwhelming and wonderful and I can refuse nothing. I want it all, thank you very much.

18. I love Diet Coke.

19. After that, we had to give hugs and kisses and say goodbye :( We know that Mom & Dad have to get home safe and get on the road early, but we sure love having them here. They are such a blessing!

20. I drove to the hospital to hold my new little friends, twin boys Marco and Massimo. My friend Laura just had her baby boys on Friday afternoon. She now has THREE little boys!! They are so so precious and they look just alike. I loved snuggling with them and visiting with Laura and Sergio. Such beautiful baby boys... what a gift!

21. After that I took my friend Liz her birthday present and some coffee from Starbucks. We sat in her living room and chatted about our weekends while sipping coffee and playing with her baby girl, Lily. It was such a nice afternoon :)

22. Then I came home and began my Sunday evening date with the couch, a blanket, and the remote. ME LOVE IT.

23. Had a long, fun talk with my BFF Lindsee this evening. She is all kinds of wonderful.

24. I'm laying in bed, blogging to you people and I am ever so comfy.

25. THAT IS MORE THAN ANY OF YOU PLANNED ON READING AND I APOLOGIZE. I'm gonna go stare at my FIVE new pairs of shoes now.

Mercy.

Please Don't Make Me Go Back to Work Tomorrow

Oh, I love weekends like this one.

Weekends where you have dinner with new friends.

And you hold a cute, blue-eyed baby boy.

And you eat chips and queso.

And you sleep in.

And you have lunch with your best friend.

And by "lunch" I mean CHICKEN AND DUMPLINS with some SWEET TEA.

And you spend some quality time at Target.

And by "quality time" I mean a fabulous bag on clearance for $12.98!!

And you do some leisurely grocery shopping.

And you bake brownies.

And you go to friends' cute trendy apartment and eat homemade chili and play a hilarious game and laugh till you cry.

And you wake up and go to Sunday school.

And you celebrate in church and sing new songs.

And you go out to lunch after church with precious friends and their precious baby girl.

And you lay on the couch and take a nap.

And you do laundry.

And you make dinner in a crock pot.

And you have a clothes-folding party with your husband.

And you write a blog.

And you go to bed :)

Since We Last Spoke...

There is just so much that I have to say that I have to do the thing I always do and put them into numbered paragraphs. There's just no way to make this flow as a narrative so it has to be in list format.

I feel like I need to apologize to all of you for the lack of creativity that has been going on around here. I'm sorry. I'm working on it. But, for now, you get numbered paragraphs.

1. Thursday night Grant came home with a present for me. A Sprint Evo 4G. It is leaps and bounds beyond my blackberry and I'm so happy. And addicted. And I can't put it down. Grant is so sweet and I squealed like a 9 year old girl getting to meet Justin Bieber.

2. Friday we went out to my parent's house for burgers. It was so much fun. Lindsee came out for a visit. When she left, my niece Grace shut the door behind her and said "She was very very nice". I agree. Lindsee is very very nice.

I had to take a picture of this moment. Grant (in the beautiful hunting hat) was giving fishing tips to Grace. Grace is using a pink fishing pole. In my parent's swimming pool. Wearing a party dress. And heels.


3. Saturday I slept in (holla!) and then drove up to church for the "Band and Singers" retreat. We ate yummy bagels from Panera, worshipped, workshopped, played "Minute to Win It" games, ate Mission Buritto for lunch, and then played this crazy game that my partner and I WON. And what did we win? WE WON A $25 GIFT CARD TO TARGET THANK YOU VERY MUCH. The options. The choices. The decisions. I've decided on Christmas decor for my home. Bless.

4. Saturday afternoon I slept for a long long time and watched "The Millionaire Matchmaker" which is a train wreck that you can't look away from. It's shocking and horrible and I have so many opinions for all of these people that I can't even begin to write them all out. I could start an entire new blog and fill it up for three years full of opinions I have for the entire cast of characters of that show. At the end of each post I would have a 5 second video clip of me sitting on my couch, shaking my head and saying "What is wrong with people?".

5. My ankle is not as healed as I originally thought and I may or may not have taken a step backwards with the cute boots I wore Saturday night. Oops.

6. Saturday night was date night. Sadly, we were both a little bit snappy and didn't really enjoy our evening till about 3/4 way through when we both decided to start over and smile at one another. We saw "Due Date" which I don't really recommend. It had funny moments but definitely was not my favorite.

7. AND THEN WE DID SOMETHING CALLED DAYLIGHT SAVINGS FALL BACK DAY AND THAT MEANS WE GET AN EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP AND JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW.

8. Church was so nice this morning. We got to class early and visited with a new couple. We had an excellent teacher who taught us all about being patient. I am sooooo good at being patient. Then we went to church where Pastor Gregg taught a sermon titled "He Must Become Greater, I Must Become Less" which I totally don't need to hear because I am super good at humility and submitting to His will. Or, truthfully speaking, the sermon (nail) was very timely for me (hit me on the ever-loving head).

9. Immediately after church I had a parent meeting for the Kids' Choir. Just in case you haven't been here to read in awhile and are thinking "Holy Moly, did Jen the Newlywed have a baby that is now in the 1st-5th grade that she is going to parent meetings for and I totally missed it?!?". No, no you didn't miss it. I have no babies. I am, however, a co-director of the kids choir and we had a parent meeting today. In a room that was freezing cold. And the people in the hallway had pizza that smelled so good that I almost ate my notes.

10. Grant and I decided to go home for lunch and see what we could whip up. Grant grilled hot dogs. We had no hotdog buns. So I toasted some bread and we had a hot dog sandwich. With Fritos. PURE CLASS.

11. We went to the gym and I worked out my abs and they are now abs of steel. A really loose, cushy steel.

12. Grocery shopping trip to Randall's. (Your Remarkable Store). We got lots of fruits and veggies. When we went down the macaroni and cheese aisle I touched all of the beautiful boxes and told my babies that I missed them and that I think of them every day.

13. Grant made us dinner. Whole Wheat Penne pasta with grilled chicken, broccoli, carrots, garlic, and olive oil. And I made Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, because, as previously stated, I AM A CLASSY GAL.

14. I did two loads of laundry. Well, 3 loads of laundry if you count the sheets. We love sleeping in freshly washed sheets. They smell so good.

15. We took the puppy dog on a long walk because it could not be more beautiful outside.

This blog post must end now before I start telling you all the meals I will be eating this week and how they compare to all the meals I wish I was going to be eating this week.

Long live carbohydrates.

Labor Day Lounging

Let me tell you what kind of weekend I have had.

I HAVE HAD A PERFECT WEEKEND.

It has been like a vacation!

This is largely due to the fact that I have been relaxing and napping and laying on couches and laying in beds with big comfy blankets. My soul is happy.

Let me break the weekend down for you:

Friday night the husband and I had a very fancy date night at Chili's. There's not much I love in life more than the queso at Chili's. I have a very close relationship with queso and Chili's queso and I may be the closest. We had a very special moment when our precious waiter was putting my plate down in front of me and he did the "accidental boob graze" and it was just all kinds of awkward.

Saturday morning we woke up and I made pancakes. I wish they were fluffier but, oh well. Then my dad came over and took my Grant away. They went hunting for 2 days with my uncles because they enjoy guns and camoflauge and things like that. So after I hugged and kissed him goodbye, I headed out to Cypress to spend some quality time with my mom. We had lunch at Newk's (HELLO POTATO SOUP) and then drove out to the outlet mall.

I got TWO pairs of shoes at Nine West. Both are great for work. And I found my black pumps! They are not pointy-toed but they are super cute and I think they'll work. I also went to Ann Taylor Loft (GLORY) and used the gift card Lindsee gave me for my birthday. I got a shirt and a pair of earrings for free :) Thanks for my Happy Birthday, Lou!

After we conquered the outlet mall, we went and picked up my sister Jaclyn and my niece Grace to get our toes down. Jaclyn and I got a pedicure. Grace got her toes painted and she was very intense and took the whole thing very seriously. She got her toes painted pink and also got a white flower.... she was so excited. A woman in the nail salon told Jaclyn that we were creating a monster.

I got my toes painted in my favorite OPI color called "I'm Not Really A Waitress". I am just ever so classy.

I left my mom's house and met Lindsee, Missy, and Amanda in the HEB parking lot where we witnessed a crime and became detectives. A tow truck was backing up and hit another pickup truck, causing alot of damage. He continued on with this business and we sat in that parking lot and stared at him until he finally did the right thing and wrote a note for the driver of the car he hit.

After we had done our civic duty, we went a-bowling. I was very impressed by Missy and Amanda's bowling skills. They have the spiritual gift of bowling. I bowled 2 strikes for the first time in the history of my bowling career. I also witnessed Amanda giving Lindsee a bowling lesson which was a highlight of the night for me. "It's LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT".

Then Missy met us for dinner at Texas Roadhouse (a typical choice for a girls' night dinner) and WE PUT DOWN SOME ROLLS. God bless the cinnamon butter. Being the grown-ups that we are, we all decided to get salads and steaks. Or, not. We all got Chicken Critters. Grown-ups, y'all. Grown-ups.

Missy took some fabulous pictures! I stole them off of her blog. Isn't she a great photographer?

I had such a great time with the girls! Then I came home and stayed up as late as I can which is what I do when I'm home alone without Grant. The later I stay up, the more tired I get and the easier it is for me to fall asleep. Sadly, I woke up several times throughout the night with bad dreams. :( I HATE that.

Sunday morning I got up and went to church all by my lonesome. Pastor Gregg preached a GREAT sermon and then I came home and got in comfy clothes. I ate Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (may His name be praised) took a nap, and lounged on my couch all afternoon. I watched a lifetime movie starring Kelly Preston. I watched The Holiday (see the blog post below about that movie) and I also got sucked into a marathon of The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo. OH MY GOODNESS. I am now obsessed with that show. I love how she says things like "Ohmigod I am totally obsessed with this cape. This is the best cape ever. I can't handle it. Something just happened" with ZERO expression or enthusiasm in her voice. It's hi-larious.

And then I went over to see Jim, Liz and baby Lily girl. We ate Subway and went and got frozen yogurt and solved all the world's problems.

And then I came home. And then around midnight my husband came home in all his hunting gear and I made him take a shower.

And then this morning we had a breakfast date at Cracker Barrel. GOD BLESS OATMEAL AND BROWN SUGAR.

And then Grant went to play golf and I came and laid in bed and it's raining and it's perfect and peaceful. We've been doing absolutely nothing all day. I love me some rain.

I totally feel like I've had a vacation!!

Too Tired for Paragraphs

Friday

Grant golfed.

Grant hung out with friends from college.

I had coffee and pie with Liz at House of Pies.

And it was good.

Saturday

We both slept till 10:00.

Had breakfast at the bagel cafe.

They put one pound of cream cheese on my bagel.

I had to scrape some off, which is a form of blasphemy.

We went to a store called "The Bike Barn" as Grant tried to convince me to get a bike.

I just kept saying things like "I like the teal one" or "these handle bars are awkward" or "That looks like its from the 70's. It's cute".

We went to Home Depot for 11 hours.

We went to Ace Hardware.

We came home.

We cleaned the house.

We went to see "Dinner for Schmucks"

We came home.

I watched "Police Women of Memphis" cause it makes me laugh.

And it was good.

Sunday

We went to Sunday school.

We went to church.

We had brunch with Grant's college buddies at Cadillac Bar.

Mexican food buffet.

Magical.

Delicious.

Healthy.

Sorta.

Chips.

Queso.

Unlimited quantities.

Heaven.

Came home.

NAPPED.

Glorious.

Went to my parents' house for dad's birthday.

Swam with Grace and Dean.

Gave Dad his birthday present.

Gave Mom & Dad their 36th anniversary card.

Ate a cheeseburger.

And chips.

And macaroni and cheese.

Loved on Grace and Dean all snuggled in their pajamas.

Played piano.

Came home.

Went to sleep.

AND IT WAS GOOD.