Challenge: Almost Accepted

I know I said I was going to do the whole March photo-a-day thing,

but to be quite honest:

this month's topics are LAME!

No offense to whoever created it, but really?

Worst topics ever.

Which is why I have decided to skip a few.

I will still list them for you...

but only so you can agree with me about how lame the are.

Day 20: Before/After

Here is Michael's care Before

and Michael's car after.

*Hint: Its not the same car.

Refer to this post.

Day 21: Delicious

Crave Cupcakes with Sister and Jonathan

Definitely Delicious.

Day 22: Kitchen Sink

Really?

Who wants a picture of their kitchen sink?

Not this girl.

Day 23: Moon

There was literally no moon.

Bor-ing!

Day 24: An Animal

We were at the zoo so we saw lots of animals,

but these were my favorite!

 Day 25: Breakfast

Poptarts.

My breakfast every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

Delicious, and easy to eat in the car.

*Slash, they aren't that easy to eat in the car...

which is why Michael is a little angry at me for all the crumbs all over my car.

Oops.

Day 26: Key

Speaking of my car:

I have had it for almost 3 years now,

and I still love it as much as the day I got it.

Day 27: Name

This is the new magnet I got in Galveston!

It matches the apron/towels that I got for our wedding!

Tomorrow's topic is trash.

Really??

We'll see if that happens.

Sister Visit

This past week my sister and her boyfriend, Jon, came to visit us!

Jon was on Spring Break from school, and Bailey used some vacation days.

We had SO MUCH fun!

It was a week full of touring Houston,

(which we only seem to do when people are visiting us, which makes it even better)

playing video/board games,

and just catching up with each other.

I have to say though, sister and I have very different sleep schedules, 

so I was a extremely little tired while they were here, but luckily I stole a few naps.

It was well worth it though! 

 They got here on Tuesday evening 

and within 30 minutes Jon had figured out how to put the hutch on my desk!

I've only been trying to figure it out since July!

Haha!

Wednesday, I took Bailey and Jon to the Galleria.

Jon was pretty impressed with the size of the mall,

but a little confused about why he was the only one in cowboy boots!

I guess the cowboys only come out for the rodeo here in Houston. Haha!

Next we went to the Williams Water Wall.

I had actually never been here, 

so it was a first for me in Houston too!

The weather was absolutely perfect, so after the wall we went to get cupcakes.

So yum!

Thursday, I had class :(

but Michael took Bailey and Jon to the Houston Holocaust Museum, 

and then to Lakewood, the biggest church in America.

Friday was our Galveston day.

Jon had never seen the ocean, so we did pretty much every touristy thing you can do.

1) We rode the ferry

 2) Went shopping on the Strand

3) Found a pirate ship

4) Spent the afternoon at the beach

Saturday, we got up and went to the Zoo.

It was a good thing we got their early, because it was packed!

After the zoo, we went to see the Hunger Games!!

It was so good!

I loved every minute of it!

It was one of the best book to movies I have ever seen!

We finished the weekend with dinner at Gringos.

However, Bailey refused to try to green sauce.

We had such a great time with Bailey and Jon this week!

We know how far of a drive it is, and how hard it is to get days off,

so we REALLY appreciate when our family takes time to come visit us.

It means so much, and we don't mind losing a little sleep because time with family means so much to us! 

Bailey and Jon - Thanks so much for coming to visit!

We love you guys and can't wait to see you again soon!!

1 Week, 3 Cars

I wish the title of this post were a joke.

We have been through QUITE the experience with Michael's car the past 2 weeks.

It has been so insane.

I have already shared some of the story, but in case you missed it, I will start at the beginning.

The Neon hasn't been awesome the past year.

It would overheat anytime you went over 70 mph for an extended amount of time.

Which meant that I couldn't drive it anywhere,

because I kind of have a lead foot. 

Anyways, Michael got hit while driving through a parking lot, and so it was in the shop.

 We had to wait to hear from the lady's insurance, and when we did we found out it was totaled.

This took us by total surprise!

We hadn't even considered that it would be totaled.

So we had 2 choices:

Say goodbye to the Neon and get $4800

or fix the Neon and get $2500, but the estimate was around $3400

We did NOT want to pay anything for this accident that was not our fault, 

so we took the $4800 and said our goodbyes.

We found out all of this on Monday, had sleepovers that night, were dead all day Tuesday, and were leaving for Tulsa on Thursday.

This meant that we had 1 day before we left to see what we could find.

Michael went Wednesday to look, and the next thing I know, 

Michael is picking me up in this.

 Unfortunately, within 1 minute of being picked up, I found about 3 things wrong with it.

Then, when we drove it home from church, and both the oil and coolant lights came on.

It get worse.

When we left for Tulsa the next day, we took it to our mechanic,
who later found some pretty major problems with it.

Michael was beyond disappointed. 

I was just angry.

Our mechanic took it back to the dealership,
and we let them know that we would be back on Monday to discuss it.

By discuss, we meant that they would fix it, or give us a new car.

After talking with the guy for a little while and telling him our concerns,
he told us that they had a replacement for us. 

We walked outside to see this bad boy:

Grandpa to the max!

But even after the first look, it was 10 times better than the Grand Prix.

Getting past the look from the outside, the inside was incredible!

Leather seats, all electric controls, 75,000 miles.

Its a 98, but it was obviously owned by elderly people because it is so well taken care of.

It was great!

We took it to our mechanic and he agreed - this car was in great shape!

BUT, when we got back to the dealership, they told us they had made a mistake, and we were going to have to pay $1000.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.

*Sidenote: I have been called a 'velvet hammer' before. 

I never completely agreed.

However, I now know that it is a spot on description of me. 

Michael says that I am the perfect combination of confidence, anger, and emotion.

And it might have gotten us a job or two in the past.

When they tried to pull the whole $1000 thing on us, I had to bring out the hammer.

Then the store manager was brought in, and there was even more hammering.

Mostly because he tried to lie to me about prices...

But I was actually a very nice hammer.

Much nicer than I thought I would be.

And it worked!

We got the deal, and got the car without paying any extra money!!

So here is our new car Gramps!!

 We LOVE it!!

It is a million times better than the Grand Prix and the Neon!

We definitely got the good end of the deal, and we know that God was working to provide for us in this difficult situation.

God truly has blessed us!

Where Did Spring Break Go?

I really think that Spring Break should be 2 weeks long.

The first week to do Spring Break type of things - aka everything but homework and other things you actually need to get done.

And a second week to do the stuff you were supposed to do but put off instead.

I feel so behind!

Things have been absolutely crazy with youth activities, road trips, car troubles...

I'm in stress mode.

But it will all be better tomorrow because my sister is coming to visit!

I'm so excited!

I wanted to do a quick post to catch up on my photo-a-day challenge, before I am too busy with Bailey and Jon. 

So here you go.

Day 14: Clouds

It was Wednesday, so I was at church

Day 15: Car

Michael's new car!!

(More on this in a later post!)

Day 16: Sunglasses

Just riding around Tulsa with little Miss Emily!

Day 17: Green

The worst part about living in the 'burbs' is that you have to keep your lawn looking good.

We got home from Tulsa and our yard looked awful.

Everyone else on the street had perfect lawns.

And we had to keep up...and get rid of the leaves we never raked.

Oops

Day 18: Corner of my Home

The coat rack corner.

Slash, the only piece of furniture in the entire room.

Day 19: Funny

I've hated on this movie forever.

I don't like Chris Farley.

I don't like messes.

Hence, I don't like this movie.

However, it actually was pretty funny.

The end!

Now, back to the school life.

Quick Trip

This weekend Michael and I took a very quick trip to Tulsa to meet our new niece, Kayley.

When I say quick - I mean super fast, blink and you miss it kind of trip!

We got there Thursday evening, and left Saturday morning.

It was fast.

And yes, we went to Quik Trip during our quick trip!

We were so excited to see all of our nieces.

 We love every second that we get to spend with them.

 I especially loved cuddling with the 1 month old, Kayley Elizabeth.

It was so weird to me that 5 years ago I was holding a one month old, Ashley!

I can't wait to see what Kayley will be like when she is her sisters' ages.

The girls absolutely LOVE their Uncle Mike.

Whether it is play time, or read the Bible time, they just love being with him. 

 It is so sweet to watch him playing with them and loving them.

On Thursday, we went out with Michael's parents and his grandmother to celebrate his birthday.

We went to El Chico, and it actually wasn't terrible.

Except for the time that Michael dumped a full glass of soda, and 2 cups of salsa all over my lap.

That actually was terrible.

On Friday, Michael and I spend the day with Krista, Emily, and Kayley at the mall.

Then we picked Ashley up from school and went to Toys R Us.

That night we all went to Incredible Pizza to celebrate both Michael and Emily's birthdays.

Kelsey even showed up for the party!!

I love that I get to see her when we are in Tulsa.

I just wish she would move to Houston already.

After Incredible Pizza we went back to the house to have cake and ice cream and Michael's green birthday punch.

Oh, and we watched every Whitney Houston music video ever created.

Now you're sorry you weren't there!

We ended the weekend with lunch at one of my favorites in Dallas.

Jakes!

Best fried pickles - EVER!

And really super good cheeseburgers and cheese fries!

Last but not least, this little guy was such a trooper while spending so many hours in the car.

It was a great weekend, but we are so glad to be home.

And in 2 days Bailey and Jon will be here with us!!!!!

No Sleep at the Sleepover

I had the girls sleepover on Monday night, 

and I think I am still recovering.

I just can't get enough sleep! 

Perhaps because I was awake for 26 hours.

Or perhaps my body knows that it is Spring Break, so it just wants to sleep all day every day.

The sleepover was so much fun though.

Like said we would...

We painted nails

 We played Rock Band and Just Dance

 We ate delicious snacks.

Day 12: Fork

We also played some pranks, which brings in many more forks

Our preacher mentioned that dishes were a woman's job this past Sunday,

so we gave him approximately 200 forks,

just to give him a little practice in cleaning up dishes.

It was perfect!

Some of the girls were also able to get the boys at the their sleepover with water balloons

because some youth minister accidentally got them all locked out of the church building.

Hahaha!

It was also perfect!

Unfortunately there are no pictures.

And we definitely didn't get any sleep.

I am very proud of myself though because I stayed up the entire night (until 10:30am to be exact)

and I did not have ANY caffeine!
I haven't had any soda in a month and a half,

so all I drank was water.

I was actually less tired drinking water than I was at the lock-in when I was downing Diet Coke.

Day 13: Sign

These were left at my house after the sleepover so I took it as a sign that I should play them as much as possible before giving them back. 

Now, I think I need a nap.

;)