We survived my sister's Bachelorette Party this weekend. There were 7 of us in Dallas celebrating her last weeks as Miss McNew. She will soon be Mrs. Ashford. Overall, Dallas was okay. We were expecting to have a crazy, action-packed weekend... and to our surprise Dallas was not a party town. It was hard to find places to hang out (bars/clubs)... Dallas isn't known for it's "night life." I should have remembered that Dallas was like that, because when my hubby and I came down in January for the Cotton Bowl, there wasn't alot to do (even on New Year's) in the Big D! But, we managed to have a good time with our own group, anyway. We got lots of cute pictures and I will be posting a lot of them soon on my myspace page! It's hard to put so many different personalities in one suite for an entire weekend... there's always going to be some drama (especially sisters). I love my sister, but we are complete opposites and it was obvious this weekend. I wanted to be a part of her whole wedding planning experience and festivities... so that she knows that I truly do care about her. We hung out in Dallas July 25-27. It's crazy how cool the Dallas police are. We made friends with two of them while we were down there... I have to say they are cooler than any other police I've met around the country! I think this is the last Bachelorette Party in our family for a while. Two down... several more to go.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tasha's Bachelorette Party in Dallas
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Sister's Bachelorette Party - Dallas Style!
I am leaving for Dallas (road trip!) early Friday morning for my sister's (Tasha's) Bachelorette Party. We are staying in an awesome hotel (and have a pimp suite) right on the main strip! I have been working with the tee shirt company for a few weeks now trying to design the perfect "theme" shirt for our trip. It's really cute! I get to pick them up tomorrow... YIPPEE! Anyway, I ALWAYS fly and I'm not used to "road trips", so I'm really crossing my fingers that I'm not miserable. The girls will be fun, but I get car/motion sick easily. Ugh!! We will be there July 25-27, so it is a VERY short trip... but, we'll definitely utilize our time! Her wedding is Septemeber 20th... so, it is right around the corner! I remember my big day last year... I was so happy when the day finally came... and SO HAPPY when all my hard work paid off and it was finally OVER. LOL!! I wish her luck!
After I get back from Dallas (Sunday), Kevin and I are going to Destin/Pensacola Florida next Wednesday. We have friends (Adam and Chandra) that are getting married Friday, but we'll be there most of the week absorbing the sun's rays and sipping on cocktails by the pool/beach!! We are staying with one of Kevin's Best Friends, Jason. He's a fun guy! Can't wait!!
I'll post pics and report our trip when I return! But for now, I have to run... too much to do before I leave town!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I HATE sweating!
Today we spent the day working at our new house. We laid sod and did more landscaping... things are coming quite along! Gosh... I cannot wait to move in, guys!! I'm so ready to be DONE with this project. I just keep telling myself that we're almost there... whew! Our friend Robert Baker came out today and helped Kevin with some of the landscaping (ie lighting down sidewalk). LOOOONG DAY!!! I get really irritable in the heat... heat and I don't work well together. I just keep praying for more rain (you know like all that rain that we were getting a month ago). Where are you now, rain??! My father-in-law finished the railing on both the staircase in the garage and the house... looking good! Can't wait to look at our new furniture and rugs in the house... one more final inspection Tuesday and we're ready to rock and roll! Hopefully we'll have a BIG house-warming party and everyone can come over and check the place out... AFTERALL, it only took us 9 MONTHS to complete! LOL
Friday, July 18, 2008
House Building Experience
Most of my friends know that my husband and I have been building a house since 3 months after our wedding last year. The house we currently live in is on the market (and has been for 8 months... ugh!). It's a gorgeous house and we'll be sad to leave it behind. :( The thing that irritates me the MOST about it is that the architectural appeal, colors, and landscaping is awesome... yet, everyone is "interested" and never make an offer. We have reduced the asking price of our home 3 times in that amount of time. Talk about complete frustration! We are clean freaks and anyone would be lucky to live in this home... Okay, so back to the house building. We have had every problem you could POSSIBLY imagine with every sub-contractor we have hired. It just really amazes me how lazy workers are these days... and most of them are dishonest. Throughout the process we have hired one sub-contractor to fix another sub-contractor's mistakes. Paying double for everything is NO CUP OF TEA, my friends! I could go on and on about lazy, overpaid sub-contractors, but I'll stop there. Just know that we have EXCEEDED out budget by FAR and have gotten our heads ripped off along the way. :) But, now that we are getting ready to move in (in about a week) and everything is how it is supposed to be, I can honestly say that it is close to my dream home and I love it!! Everything in our home is custom... all hand-selected by none other than ME, MYSELF and I... oh, Kevin helped a little in the designing process... mainly everything outside... landscaping, patios, sunrooms, sidewalks, retaining walls, rocks/colors, etc. Good job, honey! One thing I know for sure... it is true when they say to NOT jump into a BIG project (especially building a home) right after getting married, because it will test your marriage (like you could never imagine) and really put a strain on your relationship. We discovered the flaws in one another and realized that NO MARRIAGE is perfect, but it's how you balance the marriage that makes it fall in place and feel comfortable!! Those of you that haven't experienced this, yet... I challange you to build a house... and you'll start to see your relationship gradually change (not in a bad way... just discovering your expectations for one another and eachother's flaws)! Kevin and I didn't discover this until almost 5 years being together and 1-year being married. :) I'm glad we did, though... because now we have no surprises and our marriage has strengthened. To all my friends and family that are living in a fantasy world... it's nice to day dream, but realize that a marriage is sacred and something that the two of you have to work on every day of your lives for the rest of your lives!! But, it is all SO worth it! I'll keep you posted on the house... can't wait to move in and utilize everything we've bought for the house! Yippee!!
