February is almost gone?

So that means less than two months to the wedding- da da dum! (As a matter of fact - 46 days until we walk down the aisle!)

So what have we been up to... February 9th was our first wedding shower (girls only) and it was a lot of fun. I was new to the 'bow breaking' tradition (Every bow that you break when opening a gift at a wedding shower means you'll have one baby, ie: break 5 bows = 5 babies.) So of course my mom was yanking at all the bows trying to break as many as possible but I broke NONE. I'll save all my bow breaking for the couples shower in March. The shower was great though - the hosts Carol, Cheryl and Gia thought of a cute idea - everyone was given a sheet of paper where they were to write advice relating to money, children, in-laws, sex, vacation, cooking, cleaning, etc. With all that advice I know Blake and I will make it to at least our 5th anniversary. Just kidding! I think the best advice was from Becky Jamison - for cooking: 'Never start, restaurants are great,' for cleaning: 'Always hire a maid.' :-) Thanks again to the hosts and everyone for coming!

Blake and Jason went to a deer lease with an old friend from Clear Brook, Jason Silva, this past weekend. They went out there with the intent to shoot some pigs but came home empty handed. Instead they came back with a lot of mud - I think they spent most of the weekend mudding on some 4 wheelers.

Jason had the smallest 4 wheeler...

Poppin wheelies

Karate moves

Is everyone enjoying the beginning of crawfish season? We've (and when I said 'we' I mean Matthew) have already cooked some twice - once at our parents house and then once again at the Limas' out in Baytown. We also went and ate boiled crawfish and oysters on the half shell this past Sunday at Sam's Boat on Richmond. We're warming up our hands so their ready to peel lots of crawfish at the couple's shower.

What else - oh ya so I know it may seem like a little thing to some people but we finally FINALLY have a kitchen table. WOO HOO! We're not eating Japanese style anymore on the floor in front of the tv watching Blake's DVR recording of Two and a Half Men. We bought a draw leaf table and 6 Queen Anne chairs at the Westheimer Antique Flea Market. We just need to re upholster the chairs - but we got a great deal! We had our first meal at the table tonight: salad, beer butt chicken and spicy spinach. Our little apartment is coming together.

The clock on the wall was a gift from Aunt Dianne at the shower

Antique school desk - gift from Mom

On a sad note - a friend that I swam summer league swim team with and also swam with at Clear Creek passed away recently, Candace Caudel (married name Candace Austin.) She passed away unexpectedly and left behind two daughters and a husband. Please keep Candace and her family in your prayers as they work through this difficult time. Candace loved her country music and was a sweet girl with a huge heart.

Yes, We're still alive!

So someone has been teasing me lately (SALLY) that it's been too long since we've posted so WE'RE POSTING OK? We've been DROWNING in wedding planning since the New Year; when it turned over to 2008 and I couldn't say, 'Oh the wedding isn't until next year!' I got a little frantic. So things are coming together... Blake and his boys have all their clothing (I thought they were going to go without pants for a while there) and the bridesmaids' dresses have come in. They're super cute. And I went for my last dress fitting this past Friday!
So as far as updates go - we all survived New Years. Sara Kramer and Luke Schmidt both came in town and we all went with a big group to a new bar called Open City to ring in the New Year. We had fun getting all dressed up and made it home in one piece.
Towards the end of January - Chris and Aerica drove in from Austin one weekend so Carol, Gia, Madelyn, Aerica, my mom and I could all go to the Galleria to shop for flower girl dresses. We got lucky that day and got dresses and pants/shirts for the ring bearers. The trip wasn't so lucky for Chris though... he got really sick but thankfully everything worked out ok.
Blake got back from the first of his TWO Bachelor parties this Sunday. Mark Arceneaux, Andy Greek, Jason and Blake all went to Vegas for this past weekend. I don't know much of the details but I know they had a fun time and Blake made some money betting on some horse races. Their connecting flight to leave on Sunday night was coming from Seattle so they were delayed leaving and Blake didn't get home until 3 that morning.
We've also started taking dance lessons! We're taking private/group lessons at Fred Astaire dance studio off Memorial. Our instructor's name is Stephan (Steph-ON) and he moves his hips better than me (which isn't saying much). So we now know the rock step, rumba, tango, and salsa. All we want to learn is the two step - but they told us that's the most difficult step and we're not ready for it. HA!

Here are some pics from New Years... at least the ones that are G rated. :-) The invitations for the wedding have gone out so I hope everyone is making their plans! We're getting excited!!

The first night Kramer got in town we took her to the Firehouse for a concert. From L to R: Alicia, Matthew, Kramer, myself, and Blake.
All the girls from L to R: Jennifer, Kramer, Kellie, Kate, Haley, myself, and Carla.

The girl who keeps me sane at work - CARLA!Blake and I with his close friend, Jon Herrington. All the boys, L to R: Luke, Jon, myself, Blake and Jeff.Lauren and Travis.Kellie and Luke - we were all dancing queens that night. :-)Kramer and IJeff and his girlfriend!!

Happy Belated 2008!