2012 is going to be a great year!

How do I know this you ask? Because I am still in my "life is full of possiblities" high from New Years Eve, but I can tell you that I really do belive this year will be my best yet.

Reason why this year is going to be awesome #1: Mr. A and I will be buying a house this year!

We are meeting with a mortgage broker next week to get pre-approved. We have asked our good friend Molly to be our Realtor. We went and looked at some houses from the street and picked out some neighborhoods we love on New Years day with the family. I just can't wait to get started on the hunt. I am so over apartment living.

We are going to be looking in the 78757 area of Austin, as well as south west and north west Austin. Milwood has been surprising to us and we have already found a house we love in the neighborhood. Oh boy! 

Reason #2: Many babies to be born... Not ours (yet)!

We have been blessed with a Niece and two Nephews and being and Aunt and Uncle is so much fun. This year is the first year our FRIENDS are having little ones and it is going to be awesome. Kelly, is due in March and Sarah (our great friend from Philadelphia) is due at the end of this month!!!! So much fun. We have several other friends pregnant as well. It is just going to a baby-full year! Can't wait for this new transition in all of our lives. Should be interesting.

Reason #3: Travel

Mr. A and I are planning trips to Philadelphia, and Alaska this year. We can't wait to visit friends and family and get out of Austin for a bit. This of course is all contingent on the home buying process.

Reason #4: We are debt free!

This year Mr. A and I are totally debt free. We only have my student loans to repay and I don't count those because they ultimately make me money as well. It is a great feeling to not worry about credit cards, car payments and everything else.

Reason #5: See reason #1!!!!!

WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE!!!!!!!! OMG! I can't wait.

Happy New Year to you all! Here is to a great year and a lot of fun!

Christmas Decor Preview

I am married to Santa's "Director of Awesome Things" - Santa needs to be able to find our house on the big night so Mr. A took it upon himself to get into decorating our balcony. This is what he has done to our balcony for the big day. If you are lucky you might be able to see it from space.

There is lots more where that came from. Will post next week.

My Christmas Wishlist - Just shoes for me please!

I was very lucky to get almost everything a girl could which for for her home for our wedding this year. This is a great thing but it also makes it very hard to come up with a non-ridiculous wish list for my family this year. (God I sound like bitch. Oh poor girl who has everything, boo freaking who.) 

Well turns out what I do need is lots of shoes. I have have been battling this annoying nerve in my foot for over a year now and I am going to finally have it taken out. YEA!!! But that means that I now can't wear almost 3/4 of my shoes. So I have asked for shoes and clothing for Christmas this year. 

Behold my dream shoes: 

Steve Madden Intyce 

They are simple and stylish without being too trendy. I am hoping to get these bad boys or some sort of equestrian boot to jazz up my "flats only" shoe needs. 

From Zappos - Clarks Pump in Pewter 

I feel these bad boys as much as they are plain in style will be a comfortable but cute option for work. I now have to have rummer soles on all my shoes so I am very limited on what I can wear. Annoying! 

From Zappos - Ugg Classic Cardy Boot 

A few years back my friend Janet got these. I have been envious of them since. I need a pair of throw on shoes other than freaking sneakers for the weekends. I am hoping these will be just the shoe for that! 

From Anthropologie - Crinkled Corona Mary-Jane's

Let's face it I am never going to get these shoes. But I love them. I want them and I think my feet would look fabulous in them. 

I have also wished for some new slippers with my new initial on them. I need rubber sole house shoes, because walking on carpet even irritates my foot. Awesome times. 

I hope you guys get lots of great and fun gifts for this holiday! 

Christmas time is almost here!

And I am just started to plan out our holidays for this year! (That rhymed I know!) Anyway, one thing I am always on top of is getting our holiday cards out. Mr. A and I have not done an official holiday card together as a family so I am especially happy about it this year. The pressure is on to make sure they look just right. Plus now that we are married we have to send them to both sides of the family and that means I have to send them to both sides of the family! I have been looking into our options and have decided that Shutterfly is the way to go! I have used Shutterfly before to make our fabulous guest book, and I have ordered holiday cards for my boss before with them. I know they come out so cute and fun! I have decided that custom made holiday cards (made by me of course) are just out of the realm of possibility this year. We have so much going on and this website takes out all the guesswork! They have so many great options for us and we love all of their products so this is a great alternative to the time consuming project it normally is.

I am totally loving their Christmas Cards, this one is a great possibility because I can use lots of pictures from the year (including some from the wedding of course) but still have our sentiment come through.

We do have many friends and family who don't celebrate Christmas though, so maybe a more generic holiday card would work best? 

And I love that I can spend some time Christmas shopping on their site too. They have really cute photo books and calendars, which are always a big hit with the family. 

I was thinking we could put together one for each set of parents as a gift. I know they would love to get something so personal.

I am so looking forward to working on this fun project this weekend! 

Attention all bloggers: Did you know you can earn 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly? If you post about their products and services on your bog you can get this free gift! It only takes a minute and the free cards are a great deal. Newlyweds budgets are tight and this is a big help this holiday season! So get started today! 

Where we are going, we wont need roads...

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As we get closer to the new year I am looking back at all that has gone on in the past decade and all the ways the world has changed. I remember in junior high reading about flying cars and all the things that would be different by the time I graduated college. HA! Flying cars, the FAA would love that! I remember in politics classes talking about how America was not ready to have a black president. That was only 5 years ago. Times have changed.

So with that I started to think what has happened to me in the last 10 years. I can't believe how much has changed in my life! I would like to take a moment to go over some of the highlights:

- I graduated high school, YEA HIGH SCHOOL
- I lived on my own in college in Philadelphia, where I knew no one
- Studied in Rome for a semester and traveled Europe
- I got my first apartment in Rittenhouse Square and was so "Sex and the City"
- Worked at City Hall in Philadelphia, for the now Mayor
- Graduated from college
- I decided after a drunken talk with my sister and brother in law that I should love to Texas, and did so
- I drove cross country with my mom in my 1995 two door jeep, so much fun
- I got my first job out of college
- Bought my first car, yea Saturn! 
- I found my first love, Harry, at the SPCA and have been obsessed with him since
- I got fired from what I thought was my dream job, but ended up much better off
- I met the man of my dreams
- Got engaged
- Became and Aunt two times over
- And am generally much happier than I ever could have imagined!

All in all I am blown away with all that has happened in the last 10 years. I just can't imagine how I got so lucky to have such great people in my life. I don't know what possessed me to move to Austin when I did not have a job or anyone other than my sister. I don't know if I could do it again honestly. I love my life here and I know with my fiance at my side I could do anything. But all alone and no job? WHAT WAS I THINKING!? Guess I knew good things would come.

Other food for thought as we go into the new year, where do you think you will be in another 10 years? What do you think the world will be like. That thought blows my mind. Honestly though, I know I have so much more to offer this world and the next ten years will be great!

***I am a little sad, I lost a follower today. Am I sucking at this blog thing? 

And I am back!

As some of you know around this time of year I go to see my sister and her family in Houston. I always kinda go MIA for about a week or two and get lost in the wonderful life of being a stay at home mom. My sister has two really cute kids, Annabelle and Declan. I don't post many pictures of them out of respect for her but let me tell you the are REDICK! I have so much fun playing with Annabelle and snuggling little baby Declan. I just can't take it when Bee (that is what I call Annabelle) tells me "I youuuu" (I love you in her words). I never want to leave them.

My mom and dad flew in from Alaska, yes Alaska, for the holiday so I got to see them. My mom is the most amazing mom I could ever ask for and I am so happy I got to spend some quality time with her relaxing and shopping. She is even cool enough to help me pick out some new panties that miss Amelia told me about from Nordstrom, Hanky Panky, and she told me I have to inspire my future husband! Here is what we picked out. We will see if they are as great as everyone says, if so I will buy more.

I love my mom. We got some wedding stuff done yesterday and I helped her find her dress for the wedding. I must say it is very "Mad Men" of her and I LOVE it. The picture does not do it justice. The best part of it is that it does not look like a mother of the bride dress! Check it out:

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My mom and I both fight our weight issues all the time. Last year she got to her goal weight and has since had some medical issues and gained a bit back. The both of us plan on doing WW together via online tools. I know she is going to look great in this dress!

The holidays were great and I am so bummed they are coming to an end. I am already looking forward to a great NYE party and relaxing next weekend with my Fiance! 

Behold: My New L-O-V-E-R

Ladies (and maybe one dude who reads this) I give you my new vacuum cleaner:

 It is the Lift-Off® MultiCyclonic Pet Vacuum, and it is AWESOME. I seriously love my new vacuum. Let me tell you a little bit about him (yes he is a he and no I don't really know why). He is not only a regular upright vacuum, no, he has a lift off feature so then I have a small hand held vacuum for those hard to reach areas. I love this. I can take the little part off and go behind toilets and furniture with ease. I then can attach it and suck not only the dirt out of the carpet in my home but of the home in the apartment below us. This baby sucked up so much dirt (which totally grosses me out when I think about it) that I had to empty the tray 3 times just after a basic run through the house. I can turn on and off the brush so when I am on hard floors the hair and particles I am trying to pick up does not spray everywhere. It blows my mind. I am so excited I am going to use this thing on everything when I clean the house this weekend.

I must thank my future mother in law for buying this beautiful baby for WF and I for Christmas. I am in love with it and cant thank her enough.