We Have a New Entertainment Center! Well, Not Yet...

So after continuing our search for an entertainment center, we decided to go with the one from JC Penney's that we really liked. Too bad it's on back order until April! Oh, and we ordered some drapes, too! Those are on back order until May!

Funny thing: While we were doing research trying to find entertainment centers, we came across one at Pottery Barn that we really liked. We also liked the one at JC Penney's. When comparing them, we realized that they were the exact same! They both even come in black or mahogany. Take a look:



Which one is which, do you ask? The one from Penney's is on the bottom. It is also about $1,880 cheaper than the one from Pottery Barn! So this just goes to show--do your research!

New Pictures of Our House!

Here are some new pictures of our house! We still have quite a bit left to decorate. Most of the walls are bare, but I thought I'd show you our progress since we moved in.

This is the new entry table we bought.

Foyer

Living room

The fireplace. We're trying to find something to put on the other side of the mantle.

Kitchen

Dining room

The guest bedroom. We still need a comforter and bed skirt.

Guest bathroom

Our bedroom

Our bathroom

Shower

Garden bathtub

Not Our Weekend To Buy Furniture

Jason and I have been looking to buy an entertainment center. We've pretty much gone to all the furniture stores in Lubbock! We found one at Oak Express we really liked. After sitting on it for a few weeks and looking at a few other furniture stores, we decided to buy the one at Oak Express. So we go in the store, look at the entertainment center one more time, and tell the salesman we want to buy it. It's a 4-piece set and we think we understand what is included in the price. The salesman decides to go over it with us so we know for sure what 4 pieces are sold in the set. Turns out, you get the two towers with shelves that sit on the sides, the very top shelf and the tiny, little slab of wood that sits underneath the top shelf.

What's missing? The base TV stand! Which would be another $300-500 more! So we decided not to get the entertainment center. To help ease our disappointment, we decided to get an entry table we found at Kirkland's earlier that day. Jason and I loaded the semi-heavy table into our car and took it home. Jason cut the box open and we lifted the table out. All of a sudden, we heard a cracking sound. The base of the table was stuck in the styrofoam and was being ripped off the bottom of the table. So Jason called Kirkland's to tell them about the bottom coming off the table. They said they would refund us $50 or we could exchange for a new one. So we loaded the table back in the car, man-handled it through the doors of Kirkland's (while employees watched and didn't help hold the door), and asked for a new table. This time, they took the table out of the box and let us look at it. We got back to our house and put it in the entry where it looks great! We love it!

However, we are still looking for an entertainment center...!

What Will 2009 Bring?

I think it's interesting when you look back at the last few years. You can see all the big changes and milestones you went through. At that time, you had no idea what was coming. Jason and I have been through several changes, adjustments and transformations in the last few years:

2006 -- We got engaged. I graduated. I decided to stay in Lubbock and find a job so we could be together for our engagement. I moved in with Jason's parents.

2007 -- Jason graduated. We got married. We moved from Lubbock to Dallas. I found a job. Jason found a job. We made our first big purchase--a new car. We started to think about moving back to Lubbock.

2008 -- We moved back to Lubbock. We started living with his parents for what we thought would only be a few weeks. I started a new job. Jason started a new job. We decided to build a house--our second big purchase! We celebrated our one year anniversary. After six months of building the house (and 8 months of living with his parents!), we moved in.

What will 2009 bring? We are hoping for a much calmer year; time to settle and get comfortable before more big changes come--whatever that will be!

Jason and I hope you have a Merry Christmas
and a very happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jason and I stayed in Lubbock for Thanksgiving and had dinner with his family. Jason made the turkey this year! He tried a new recipe (brave of him after my disaster! but he is the better cook). Jason slathered the turkey with mayonnaise and seasonings.

Jason put the turkey in a brine the night before. He put the turkey in a bag and set it in a (clean) trash can to soak.

The turkey before it went in the oven.

Cooking...

Our second Thanksgiving!

Disaster Dinner!

So, I decided to try a new recipe recently....it didn't work! I tried a fried chicken recipe I've never made before. I also made a pasta side to go with it. The chicken was only supposed to take about 30 minutes in the oven, but I kept it in for longer because it didn't look done. I kept the pasta cooking so that it wouldn't get cold while I was waiting for the chicken to finish. That dried out the pasta. As you can see from the pictures below, the chicken--and pasta--did not turn out at all! Needless to say, we threw out the mess-of-a-dinner and went out to eat.

As you can see, the flour on the "fried" chicken, never set right, the edges are all burnt and I don't think the chicken is cooked all the way through--even after over an hour in the oven! Oh, and the pasta is really dry!

The Polar Express

A few weeks ago we went on The Polar Express train ride with our friends Jordan and Jessica and their kids Gavin and Madison. The train went all the way to the North Pole! Then Santa came on the train and all the kids got a little bell--just like in the book. The train was two stories and we all sat on the top. What I didn't expect was that being on the top story, and going as slow as we were, the train swayed back and forth a lot! Here are a few pictures of our adventure on The Polar Express!

Jason and me on the train

The North Pole

Santa, Jessica, Madison, Gavin and Jordan