The Year of the Tiger

Hello, 2010! Well, we made it - one more year behind us and a new one underway. We kicked off the year of the Tiger with Raiders and Spartans, a friendly game of football between our Texas Tech Red Raiders and Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl. We headed to San Antonio to support our Scarlet and Black and we had a blast! Tailgating with friends was so much fun - brats, dogs, beer and port-a-potty lines. We partied the night away (the game lasted past midnight!) and finished with an early (very early) breakfast at Denny's.

2010 began with a bang,

but how wonderful was 2009?

We...

Began our first full year of married bliss (wink) :) and celebrated at Texas' best wineries.

Saw Celine Dion in concert with my sis - and we sang our hearts out!

Got to visit Lubbock and test out my new skiis in Santa Fe for our Valentines Day roadtrip.

Welcomed our nephew Jackson Davis Johnston into our crazy family.

BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOME!

Visited Amy and the Windy City of Chicago for the first time - and we had a BLAST!

Got to re-live Spain when I went with my mom to Alicante - que divertido!

Celebrated a wonderful 4th of July at the coast, and Rick and Carolyn's new condo.

Expanded our family by getting Tess, our precious lab pup.

Attended the Tech vs Baylor game at the NEW Cowboys Stadium.

Got to witness our nephew being baptized.

Celebrated the engagement and marriage of some of our best friends.

Survived the Red Raider football season - some ups...and some downs...

Got to end the year on an exciting and very promising note.

Last year was full of highs and a lows, but life continues to move forward and we are facing the future with much promise, hope, and excitement. What a blessing to have the people, opportunities, and experiences that 2009 brought! 2010 brings many new challenges and many new endeavors our way, one of which includes facing the reality that turning 25 means we are one step closer to turning 26, which means it's all down hill from here...or so they say! :) We really are looking forward to the new year and all that is in store for us and have been so blessed. We can only hope that 2010 will be as kind to us as the previous years.

Happy 2010, everyone! Here's to a great year.

Christmas, Wrapped Up

Man, what a week! We had such a wonderful Christmas with both families over the course of four days, and even though I was horribly ill, it was one of the best Christmases ever; we started our happy holiday with an engagement! Blake and Amy (Troy's bff and his gal) are officially engaged! Blake's mom threw a party for them and it was very nice - catered food, a bar, live musicians - Pegs definitely knows how to host a shindig! It was great seeing our friends and celebrating such a wonderful couple as they begin a new journey together (and it also makes us happy that our engagement has come and gone and is safely in the past!). Cheers to B-oyter and Classic Amy!

We trekked to Fort Worth on Christmas eve, through snow-filled roads and winds resembling those on the West Texas plains. We made it just in time, and loaded in to my parents' lake house, all warm and cozy.

Christmas eve was perfect as mom and I baked cookies, we all sat in the kitchen decorating them, and ended the night playing Wii. Santa was very good to us this year and we are so thankful for the thoughtful gifts :) Some of my favorites were: My Uggs, Tech Snuggies, my new wallet, TWO garden gnomes, and my slippers. Troy seemed to really love his camo Crocs, new boots, wallet, and DVDs. Thanks Santa!

Later Christmas day, we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for some more family togetherness. Tess got to meet the rest of the furry members of our family (Brinkley, Buster, Boss, Rambeaux and Molly), and I think she was overwhelmed...until Grandma gave her her first rawhide!

We headed to Tyler the day after Christmas, after a yummy Mimi's breakfast with our faves - Cliff and Rach. It was so good to catch up and they got to meet Miss Tess for the first time. Troy's mom outdid herself, as always, making delicious breakfasts and dinners for everyone and keeping our bellies full of Christmas goodness. It was a great visit, and another great celebration with family. I just loved watching Jackson open his presents - it never gets old...

Still sick, we headed back to Houston for a week of complete laziness, and it was great! We watched Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, and nearly three seasons of Weeds. Time off is nice, very nice. And I am just starting to feel better (after a painful shot and many, many antibiotics later), though Troy seems to have caught the bug now :( We are desperately trying to ward off further illness and a trip to the doctor, in an attempt to have a good end to a great week and a half off (minus the Mike Leach debacle, but we aren't discussing that).


Here's to a wonderful Christmas!

Just Carryin' On An Old Family Tradition

Every Christmas, I look forward to re-visiting our holiday family traditions, and attempting to make some of our own. Though driving across the state of Texas seems to be about the only real tradition we’ve started since our relationship began, we always seem to find time for celebrating the things that keep us young at heart and bring back such wonderful memories with our friends and family:

Our Christmas season usually kicks off right after Thanksgiving, at the tree farm. Troy used to always go with his Dad and Carolyn (and siblings) to pick out their Christmas tree and I have been lucky to be included in three of these adventures! It is a lot of fun, driving out there, riding the wagon to go chop down your tree, hauling it over to the “shaker” and driving it home in the truck. Davis and Isabella are always a hoot when we go, and we have gotten some great family photos over the years.

Troy and I both share the memory of books at Christmas. His book of choice is The Night Before Christmas in Texas, That Is, by Leon A. Harris. It is a very cute Texas twist on the classic The Night Before Christmas. Troy talks about how his mom read him that book, and he loved it because it was about Texas!

For as Long as I can remember, my mom and sisters and I read the classic Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. This was before the major movie was made. We would sit around the tree, or sometimes in bed, in quiet anticipation holding that little jingle bell as my mom read, just waiting to give it a ring. Mom gave us a collector’s edition a few years ago, and we have the book on tape, DVD, hard cover book, and our own little silver bell. I still like ringing that bell.

Chili – enough said. That is one that makes Troy smile. He loves him some chili and he loves thinking about how his mom and grandparents always made chili to eat on Christmas Eve. We got to eat it a few years ago when we spent Christmas at his mom’s and man, that is a tradition a girl can get used to! Dang good chili! Chili fest is usually followed by a round of games with siblings – a tradition that both our families share. Whether Pictionary or Scattergories, Trivial Pursuit or Balderdash, Guitar Hero or Charades, we all have a blast laughing our butts off. It is one of the funnest times and the best holiday memories we both share and look forward to each year.

Another fun tradition that Troy has helped me keep alive is cookie-making. Now that one takes me back………….way back. We have always made homemade Christmas sugar cookies right before Christmas. We cut out fun shapes, bake them almost as quickly as we could cut them, and then dive into the sprinkles and homemade icing. They usually looked terrible, but they taste great and it is always so much fun. I have fond memories with my mom’s best friend and her kids on our first Christmas after my parents’ divorce, memories of this tradition with our new siblings (boy did we make a mess) and memories with kids that celebrated Christmas with us when they didn’t have much. This tradition has grown to include Troy’s family the last Christmas we were at his mom’s house and it was really great. His grandpa even sat at the table and decorated with us! I suppose this tradition inspired me to love baking, but most of all, it always brings us together.

Happy holidays everyone! Here’s to making, keeping, and enjoying traditions!

Oh What Fun

Last weekend we got to babysit Jackson, and it was very much needed (for us). He is so cute these days, just growing and moving about. Right now I just laugh at his cute grin and open-mouthed kisses. Must to my sister-in-law’s dismay I’m sure, Jackson most definitely satisfies any baby fever that creeps up for us. Just look at this cute boy!

We played hard that night, and Jackson was a trooper! He loves watching and playing with pretty much anything. Troy had a grand old time laying on his back and tossing one of Jackson's toys in the air, and Jackson seemed to love it too. So I laid him down and they both just laid there, watching the ball go up and down, up and down....

Tess also came along for the babysitting trip and got to meet Dixie, Taylor and Lindsey's dog, for the first time. To say they loved eachother is an understatement. They ignored us pretty much the entire time and just played together. They did check in on us every now and then though...

Saturday, we attended another Christmas party - this one hosted by Troy's co-worker. It was so much fun and we definitely had some flashbacks to the good ol college days (enough said!). Let's just say that his co-workers are way better than mine! We wrapped up Christmas shopping this weekend as well, which usually never happens this late because I hate the rude wait-until-the-last-minute-so-that-I-am-completely-stressed-out-and-in-complete-disregard-for-others shoppers that seem to flood the malls right before Christmas. BUT we had to get some things and it turned out to be a successful trip. Sunday was great because we got to do our Christmas with Rick and Carolyn. We went to eat a traditional ‘Davis’ dinner – Mexican food – and then went back to their house for ice cream and Carolyn’s peppermint fudge topping. SOOOO GOOD by the way! It was fun to watch Jackson open presents and play with all of the fun stuff he got. Experiencing Christmas through a child’s eyes, well, it is just something that I really haven’t gotten to do before and it was great. Really great. We had a very nice time and as always, Santa was very thoughtful. Thank you!!!

This week is somewhat hectic (but hey, what week isn’t). I made cookies and rocky road fudge last night, to hand out to coworkers for a holiday ‘thank you’ and to bring to our parents’ houses for Christmas, then concocted my ‘famous’ chicken parmesan for a delayed birthday dinner for Troy. Thursday was his actual birthday and we went to Brian O'Neils for happy hour. There were lots of people there to celebrate, which was awesome, and we had a great time. We wrapped up the night with a German chocolate cupcake and presents :) Who doesn't love that?! Tonight he is having a men’s happy hour at a little cigar bar. That means lots of wrapping of presents, packing of suitcases (for our trips to DFW and Tyler), and any last-minute errands for me and Tess. We have some exciting plans for Wednesday and then, we are on the road again… off to Fort Worth for Christmas #2 and then to Tyler for #3. We sure do love getting to see everyone in our big Texas triangle (thankfully, much smaller than when Lubbock was the starting point)!