i absolutely love decorating for the holidays, and this year was even more special because we are celebrating our first christmas in our new home!
i'd love to add more, but i think we have a great start this year! i am sure my decor will grow as we celebrate christmas in this house year after year :)
the day after thanksgiving, ava and i headed to the airport to pick up nana & papa!
we were so excited that they were finally here! the weekend consisted of lots of quality time!
we watched ava ride her scooter,
decorated for christmas,
gotten into trouble [and nana beat ava's winning streak!],
painted the garage [okay, so maybe mom & dad painted while i supervised. worst parents ever :) ] ,
had dinner with uncle eric at on the border,
ava and nana in their cowboys boots :)
and had dinner at brad & sarah's!
we also did some shopping, including a trip to target every day they were here :) mom & i even visited two targets in one day [in my defense, i was searching for my bookshelves! ] they do so much for us, and did so much for us while they were here. while they were on vacation they were helping us put our house together. i am so glad that we got to share our home with them :) we had the best time having them here, and were so sad to see them go. i'm already trying to talk them into moving here, or at least coming for christmas! ha!
there are many things i am thankful for. and while i am not going to list them all out, i will say, i can't imagine a better way to spend thanksgiving than with our people :)
one of the best things about the housewarming party is that my sister, britni, flew into town to help us celebrate our new home. its been too long since i saw her last, and even longer since she's been to texas. a much deserved & awaited visit!
she flew in late friday night, so the fun didn't really start until saturday. she helped me run errands, and then helped with the housewarming party. it meant so much to me to have her there!
on sunday we just hung out. we ran to the grocery store [target everyday that she was here!ha!] and played with ava. aunt brit and i didn't stand a chance against ava playing trouble!
we met up with uncle eric for dinner at texas roadhouse :)
on monday we spent time just to the two of us shopping while ava was at school. we headed to sarah's to say goodbye to her and preston too. after ava went to bed, we tackled putting together the new tv console. [pretty sure i owe her a bottle of wine for that one!]
before we new it, it was tuesday morning --- time to head back to the airport :( we so loved having her here, and wish so much that she was closer! three days was just not long enough --- next time better be a week :)
the best sister-in-law/best friend threw us the most perfect housewarming party on 11.10.12!
the decor was perfect. she hung our house progress pictures on a tree on the island, had vases filled with green apples, and the most adorable house cookies! we also had sausage balls, adorable fruit cups punch and wine for guests :)
the hostess with the mostest :)
"this is a gift card"
we are so lucky to have such great best friends who we also call family!!!
the saturday before halloween we met up with our favorite emerson's for a fall festival. the kids had a great time, and the adults ate bad for you great tasting food!
on sunday, we headed to the in-laws for a halloween cook out. the kids had fun playing in the back yard!
--------------------------------------
we were so glad to finally be close to brad and sarah so that the kids could trick-or-treat together! they were the cutest little pirates i've ever seen :)
we went to paulette & dave's house first, and dave was sure to give the kids a big trick-or-treat welcome :)
after circling the neighborhood, it was time to survey their loot!
a little r. kelly, anyone? i can't help but think of that song whenever i think of ava's new school mascot. with the move to another town, that also meant another school and district for ava. she [and i] were sad to leave schell and all her friends, but she was also really excited for this new adventure!
the first day started with a special breakfast of donuts, of course!
she was nervous & excited as we pulled up to her new school for the first time.
i was so overwhelmed after meeting the staff and learning that ava's first day would be with a substitute, but girlfriend took it all in stride. she came home and happily reported that she made 4 new friends, but couldn't remember their names :)
another first at the new school is riding the public school bus! she's always went to a daycare after school, but we are trying after school care at her elementary school this year [a big thanks to sarah who agreed to keep her over school holidays/breaks so that we could do this!]. school doesn't open until 7:30, so she's riding the bus. she seems to really like it --- and has only missed it once [can you guess who was responsible for her that morning? cough-JUSTIN-cough.]
the new school has been an adjustment the past 6 weeks, but she is slowly but surely getting the hang of it. new teacher, all new friends, and first ever grades has given us a few bumps, but i know she is going to do great here.
way back in late spring/early summer, justin and i starting tossing the idea around of buying a house. to be honest, i've been tired of renting for a few years now. justin would have said in that apartment for forever, but agreed to let me start looking. i called sarah, and she guaranteed me that our home would be in mansfield if she had anything to do with it. i knew how much i would love to move close to them, but also didn't think it was a reality. so i started researching homes & neighborhoods in richardson. i was so defeated. everything i liked in our price range was not in the best neighborhoods/school districts. that was obviously super important. i was already giving up the house hunt. then sarah called so excited because she found the "perfect" neighborhood in our price range and in our desired school district only 5 minutes from them. i held my breath and agreed to go with her to see it. i loved it. so much so that we talked justin into going to look that afternoon. before we left that night he shocked me when he asked the salesman when we could put down our earnest money and signed the contract! after a few bumps in choosing finishes/lot/price, we signed on the dotted line on May 20!
ava was her normal self and acted so nonchalant about the whole thing.
It seemed like they were never going to start construction, but they broke ground right before we left for destin!
we went by the house after we returned from vacation, and were so excited to see the beginning of our house!
things seemed to fly after the frame went up. brad and sarah would drive by on the weekends we couldn't make it down so make sure we were right on track.
before i knew it, it was closing time! we officially became home owners on october 18.
the boys were in charge of moving us out of the apartment because i had a work event the saturday after we closed. don't worry --- i did my work packing before the move!
we met the boys at the house and started unloading the u haul and cars. we had everything out in an hour thanks to everyone who helped [thank YOU sarah, brad, crystal & greg!] and sent the boys to brad and sarah's with the kids. it was about that time that i was done. i'd been up since 4:30a.m. thanks to my work event, but sarah convinced me to keep going. thanks to her, we had EVERYTHING unpacked and put away when we woke up on sunday morning. it may have taken until 1 a.m. and lots of caffeine, but we did it!
i took the first few days off of work to get some more things done around the house. my biggest project was refinishing our hand-me-down table. it was a pain, but i'm really happy with the way it turned out!
the turquoise stand was another little project!
as with any new house, it is definitely a work in progress! we've made even more changes since these photos were taken. i have to remind myself that rome wasn't built in a day. we are so glad to have found our first home sweet home!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
