Lazy Weekend

     Our weekend started off with Kyle waking up to go to his first rodeo shift of the year. He worked all Friday and came home for about a hour to get cleaned up, and we both headed out to rodeo cook-off. While this is not my favorite thing to do, we did have a good time hanging out with Kyle's brother and sister in-law. We stayed out later than our typical 10:00 p.m., but we did find our way home earlier than most cook-off attendees because Kyle had to be back up at rodeo at 6:00 a.m. the next day.
      Now, this brings me to the lazy part. I woke up at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning thinking, "okay, what do I have to do today? ... oh yeah, I have NOTHING I have to do today!" So, back to sleep I went. I slept until 9:00 a.m.! After I confirmed that 9:00 a.m. was an acceptable time to get up, Bailey and I went into the kitchen, put on a pot of coffee, and made a bowl of Cheerios. To the couch we retired and there we remained. Our itinerary included catching up on the DVR and watching reruns of Dance Moms. I was pretty excited that I had nothing to do, and I was perfectly content staying on the couch with my sleepy bulldog.
     Kyle's Saturday shift ended at 5:00 p.m., and he was home by 5:06 p.m. He was pretty tired when he got home, but we decided to make a trip out to Cypress to visit his parents. We left the house in our sweat pants. Translation: Allie actually had to get out of her pajamas at 5:30 p.m., and put on something more appropriate... like sweatpants!!
     Kyle had yet another 6:00 a.m. shift this morning. I had pretty much convinced myself to keep my lazy streak going and didn't set my alarm to go to church. I knew I was going to feel super guilty about not going, but it is so hard to go to church without Kyle. Well, God's plans are always better than mine, and I was wide awake at 8:15 a.m.... which was the time I was to set my church alarm. I smiled when I saw the clock. Divine intervention. Sunday school and worship were great, and I didn't miss Kyle one bit.... well, maybe I did, but I'm glad I didn't let his absence stop me.
    Chicken is in the Crock Pot, laundry is in the wash, Restaurant Impossible marathon is on, and I am back in those aforementioned sweatpants.

A Valentine's Puppy

Flashback 3 years if you will. Kyle had always wanted an English bulldog. I wasn't too keen on them. I didn't dig the smushy, mean face, broad shoulders, and wrinkles. However, this was to be Kyle's dog, and how could I resist a puppy? It truly was by coincidence that when we called the breeder on Valentine's night that he said we could come over to see his bulldog puppies. Once we got to the breeder's house,  it took Kyle only seconds to know that the "bigger girl" was his dog.

I would be lying if I didn't mention that Kyle and I had immediate buyers remorse once we brought Bailey home. Thoughts like "what the heck do I do with her while I am at work" and "how do you potty train a dog" came to mind. But, a little too late, and really, it was already love at first sight. She was so sweet, loving, and playful... and she hasn't changed a bit.

We love you, Bailey! You are worth every penny!

Bailey the night we brought her home

Bailey the night we brought her home

Bailey the night we brought her home

Bailey the night we brought her home

Starting to get a little bigger.

Sweet, puppy eyes

Love her puppy face in this pic!

Those awkward teen years

Chillin' on the porch

She's either playing or sleeping. No in between for this girl!

Lazy bones

Bailey loves her Kyle!

They grow up so fast. :)

P.S. Everything I said I hated about bulldogs, I now love. Who couldn't love that smushy, sweet face. :)

Learning to Sew: Applique Onesies

     As lame as it may sound, one of the major reasons I wanted to learn to sew was because of all of the cute baby things I was seeing on Etsy. I bought my nephew and nieces a few gifts from Etsy, and I knew it couldn't be all that hard to learn. And, for the most part, it wasn't. I have only been sewing for about a month and half. The sewing class I took online has some decent tutorials, but most of my practical learning has actually come from YouTube and Pinterest.
     I was super excited when I summoned the courage (yes, courage) to applique my first onesie for my nephew, Miles. The Texas outline was pretty daunting because of all of the curves, but I prevailed! I am so happy that it came out exactly as I wanted!

     Well, I am not only blessed to have my cute, little Miles, but my other sister-in-law had a precious baby girl, Leighton, in December! I had so much fun sewing some girly onesies with some fun fabric I had bought on Etsy.

Front of "L" onesie

Back of "L" onesie

Front of "Heart" onesie

Back of "Heart" onesie

... I really should stop using my iPhone to take pictures...

    Major thanks to this tutorial at Sew Like My Mom! 

     I think my next sewing project will be to tackle a t-shirt quilt from all of my old high school church camp and cheerleading t-shirts! Thanks to You Tube, it doesn't look too hard!

Date Night: BYOB and Asleep at 10

     Kyle and I veered away from our usual Friday night Mexican food date, and we decided Italian sounded just right. Kyle got home from work at 6:00, and we were out the door at 6:15. Yes, we are one of those couples that eats early. I predict us being the old-farts at Luby's eating dinner at 4:00... What can I say? I eat lunch in a teacher's lounge at 10:28 a.m., and I refuse to wait for a table. Moving on...
     We headed on over to Collina's being that it is BYOB. We made a pit stop at Kroger unashamedly picking out two of the cheapest bottles of cab that we could find. Upon arriving to Collina's, we luckily scored a cozy little table for two, uncorked our bottle of wine, and ordered a Cesar salad and seafood pizza. Dinner was so yummy and the conversation was flowing with the wine that we couldn't pass up the waiter's offer for cherry cobbler and ice cream.
     Kyle and I were having such a good time at dinner that we could have sworn we had been there all night. To our surprise, it was only 7:45 when we got home. Kyle took Bailey out while I plopped on the couch and turned on Four Weddings. TLC suckered us in to the t.v. for an hour before Kyle and I decided that we better get our 20-something butts up and do something that didn't cause us to fall asleep so early on a Friday night.
     Off to the hot tub we went. We once again were having fun chatting and scheming that we thought we had been out there forever. What?! It's only 9:30? Oh, who cares... good night.
      

Pinterest Test Kitchen

I have been quite obsessed with using my Crock-Pot lately. It makes cooking so easy, and I don't have to worry about cooking when I get home from work. I have yet to try a Crock-Pot recipe that wasn't yummy.

Well, in my pursuit for a new recipe, I naturally looked for a Crock-Pot recipe that I had pinned on Pinterest. This Cream Cheese Chicken Chile was one of the simplest recipes to throw together, and it came out as delicious as I had hoped.

Cream Cheese Chicken Chile from www.plainchicken.com

Link to the recipe: http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/01/slow-cooker-cream-cheese-chicken-chili.html

Date Night: Fajitas, Cupcakes, and a Doggy Bath

     One night a week, typically Fridays, Kyle makes a point to take me on a date. He has even gotten as creative as affectionately referring to it as "Date Night." We go through phases were Date Night is just another fun thing to do that week, and there are other weeks when Date Night is truly needed. Tonight it was a need. Kyle has been super busy at work, and while I love my job, I have a tinge of fatigue right now. We haven't had as much time as usual to relax together because we have been so tired and busy. The beauty of Date Night is that it gets us away from the t.v., cell phones, and away from the apartment! It is always a good time to talk about things other than our daily work recap.

     Now, Kyle and I aren't particular about were Date Night happens. More often than not, we find ourselves meandering into the closest Mexican food restaurant. Within 45 minutes, we are at home in our jammies watching recorded television. Fridays are low key.That is how we prefer it. Nothing overblown or complicated.

This week's Date Night:

     We went out to Lupe Tortilla and had fajitas and margaritas... thankfully we didn't have to wait for a table. Kyle took me to Crave to get cupcakes since I have only bugged him about it every other day this week. Then, we came home and gave Bailey a bath. She is clean and ready for her 9:00 a.m. vet check-up! Now, to watch our recorded episodes of American Idol and watching some random find on Netflix... not to mention finishing off those cupcakes!

     It was a good Date Night. 

I really dislike bath time!

Lazy time on the couch.

Strawberry and Chocolate & Creme :)