Visitors!

Codi & Mom came to Dallas this week to start looking for prom dresses.. .that is so weird to me. My baby sister is old enough to go to prom. Here's some pictures of my favorite dresses.

It was great to have them here, as always. We got to eat, see movies, and relax. We went and saw 2 really hilarious movies: Did you hear about the Morgans & It's complicated. I also found a dress for Symphony Ball (I think). Neiman Marcus had their dresses on sale plus and additional 30% off, so I got a realllly nice dress for a great price. I was pleased as punch!

Today is NYE... and I am working. The good news is that Chris & I are celebrating our anniversary tonight. Hector's on Henderson! Whoot whoot!

&&& I love my husband because.... he welcomes my family into our home with open arms and a smile on his face.

Merry Christmas from the Family...

We survived!! a 9 hour drive, 4 hours of sleep, & 5 Christmases later we are home free....

We left for our Christmas trip home last Wednesday evening. Little did we know that it would take us a whoppin 9 hours to get back to Amarillo. Once we hit Vernon so did a horrible winter storm. At one point in time Chris was driving 15 miles/hour. The conditions were so bad that we contemplated stopping and getting a hotel in Memphis and waiting for the roads to clear... until we realized Memphis has no hotels. Chris said he has never felt so "unsafe" being on the road.Needless to say we arrived in Canyon at 3:30 AM (we left Dallas at 6). No complaints here... just makin memories!

Christmas was fabulous. I couldn't have asked for a better time with our families. We truly are so blessed. We got to go to Las Brisas for Christmas Eve supper, Christmas Eve service at my parents' church, see Nena and Grandad, play countless hours of Beatles rockband, eat eat eat, & play with my nephews. Perfection! I just love Christmas. I love giving gifts, being with family, and the joy it brings out in everyone. I wish every day could be Christmas.

&&& I love my husband because... when I had a minor panic attack on Christmas Eve he calmed me down, ran last minute errands for me, and never complained once. How did I get so lucky?

Ode to Ash

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Ashlee, had a birthday on Sunday. I felt it appropriate to dedicate this post to her!

We met in 6th grade... I'm not sure how or where, but once we met we were inseparable. We spent every waking minute together. We thought we were twin sisters. We bought matching lime green fuzzy sweaters and the plaid pants that matched. We bought awesome trapper keepers and wrote Ash + Shay= Lylas on the front. We spent every weekend at each other's home and her family became mine and mine became hers.

We cheered together for 5 years. We battled the awful junior cheerleaders and plotted our revenge... (to this day the most evil thing I have ever done)We spent more time on a yellow dog together than most sports teams. We rejoiced as we made "All Stars" and worried for our lives when Desiree made the squad.

We went through boys, boys & more boys... We shared details of our first kisses (mine Landon hers Chris--- who knew her first kiss would be my husband??!!) We traveled to Hereford to hear Trinity boys play in a band. We hid from Caylan as he stalked my parents' house to see if Ashlee is there. We both squirmed because our mother insisted that Lance was the perfect boy for one of us, we just didn't see it.

We had inside jokes galore... and still do.

She is one of my best friends and I am truly greatful to have her in my life.

&&& I love my ASHLEE because... she is the one who introduced Chris & I.

Christmas Crazies

This weekend I went out to finish up my Christmas shopping... & I immediately regretted my decision. This time of year brings out the crazies in everyone. Stress levels are high, time is running low, and patients are worn thin, hence the Christmas crazies.

One of my best Christmas crazies stories was from last year:

It was the week before Christmas & Chris & I were just wrapping up some shopping at Northpark. As we walked down the isle in search of my car, I realized that a car was following us. It was super crowded and spots, especially the good ones, were hard to come by... they wanted our spot. So I turned around and pointed to the direction of our car, to ensure they were able to get it.

As we approached our car another SUV drove up behind us and a young SMU girl jumped out. She then went and stood at the hood of my car, waiting for us to back up. I was thinking, what the heck is this chick doing? As we we pulled out she proceeded to stand in the middle of the spot.

About this time the nice little mother/son duo that we promised our spot to pulled up. As they did the girl yelled, "This spot is saved." She stood there & stood there until finally her friend pulled up in the SUV & the mother/son left defeated.

This whole situation spurred a debate between Chrisand I:

Is this ok or not?
Either way, it was entertaining.

Merry Christmas from the Joneses.

&&& I love my husband becase... he knows when to stand up for himself and when to just let it go... something I should learn from.

Bad Livi

Evidently Ollie's is acting out from being left at home alone all day.

&&& I love my husband because he cleaned up all of these & tried his hardest to remove the blue ink stain from the carpet.

Btw... Ollie & Ox went to daycare today with hopes of running off some energy.

The Holidays are here again!

Tree up, check.

Gifts purchased, check.

Vacations planned, check.

Radio tuned to Christmas station, check.

Presents wrapped, check.

Christmas cards in the mail, almost check.... workin' on that one.

We are ready for Christmas at the Jones household. It feels great to have all of our gifts purchased by December 8. This year I did the majority of my Christmas shopping online, which has worked out great. This time of year most stores are offering free shipping with a qualifying order, so I took advantage. I will say it was quite embarassing to have a note on our mailbox stating we had 5 packages to be picked up in the apartment office.

My favorite person I've shopped for this year was Beatriz, our 3 year old Angel Tree girl. She wrote on her info card that she loved Dora the Explorer, so I might have gone a little overboard (pj's, houseshoes, 3 toys, a tent... ALL Dora). It was fun buying for a little girl... I NEED A NIECE!!

I went to Canyon last weekend since Chris is in the big middle of finals.

I am in love with this time of year.. it's the best.

&&& I love my husband because he is so dedicated to his studies. 4 exams, 2 weeks, 12 textbooks, 1000 + hours studied. I couldn't do it.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

&&& I love my husband because he helped me put up all our lovely Christmas decorations... and never even complained once!

Inside of this card says,

"You always said you got shit for Christmas"

*cough cough*

I cannot shake off my cough.... I left work early a couple weeks ago not feeling well & it's only gotten worse. The cough has been lingering for nearly 2 weeks & it is officially WORN OUT ITS WELCOME! After laying in bed coughing last night for nearly 2 hours I took 2 Benadryl in hopes of getting a good nights sleep. This morning I gave in & purchased some cough drops (they taste better than they actually work). Chris keeps trying to persuade me to go to the Dr, but I will not go. 2 reasons :

1. I don't want to take off of work

2. I hate going to the doctor

So now I'm just waiting it out hoping that it will go away & checking my symptoms on WebMD... They narrowed my illness down to common cold, pneumonia, or asbestos exposure... hmmm...

In other news Mom Codi Nena & Grandad were here this weekend. We shopped, ate, shopped, ate... always fun!!

&&& I love my husband because he spilled Diet Coke all over he and my mom at PF Chang's on Saturday... Once a klutz butt always a klutz butt.

&&& I love my husband because

I got this email this morning

Me writing you 1.5 years from now

Hey wife,
Our offer on the house below was just accepted. They agreed to $XXX,XXX since it's been on the market 1.5 years. I'm really excited to move in and have a yard! I'm so excited both of our companys are letting us work from Amarillo. Oh yea, don't forget to call my my mom about the symphony guild; you start working with the events committee next month. Also, don't forget to call the moving company about packing and loading our things for us; we need to be leaving by 8:00 a.m. if we want to make it to Amarillo in time to pick up our new used boat. Finally, remember to make a that cinnamon cake for the going-away party being thrown by all of our friends from church and all around dfw that we've made in the last 1.5 years. Oh yea, did you get that link to the news article about Underwood; sucks that got caught for fraud. I almost feel bad that half of them are going to jail and the rest are unemployed.

Is it Christmas yet?

One would think with this 80 degree weather that it was spring time, but no, it's mid-November. Running my air conditioner inside in November is ridiculous! We have an awesome fireplace in our bedroom, which I'm pretty sure will never get use at this rate. HURRY UP Jack Frost... I miss you!

I'm not gonna lie... I am ready for the Holidays. It's true, it is the most wonderful time of the year. I have already scoped out all the Christmas decor at Target and Hobby Lobby & plan on going to Garden Ridge during my lunch break today. For the last 2 weeks I have begged Chris to let me put out our Christmas decorations, but he keeps telling me, "Just wait until after Thanksgiving." He's right & I know better than to decorate before Thanksgiving, but I am so anxious! This is only my second year to get to decorate for the Holidays, so I am pumped.

I'm thinking of adding a twist to my tree this year. I have a large base of gold and red ornaments & want to add some pizzaz to our tree.

Here are my options:
1. leopard accents or

2.LIME GREEN! I am leaning more towards lime green simply because there are more options available.

We shall see....

&&& I love my husband EVEN THOUGH his closet is a wreck 2 weeks after we deep cleaned it...

Dirty Dogs

Best photo of October

TeeeVeee

Everyone knows that fall is the best time of year for television... especially in the Jones household. Between Chris and I and 5 nights of good shows our DVR is working overtime.

Mondays start out with Dancing with the Stars, which HAD a decent cast until my 2 favorites (Louie & Melissa) were voted off last night. Stupid judges. After Dancing comes 2 Monday night staples: One Tree Hill & Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl is possibly my favorite of all my shows... Who can resist Churck Bass?? And to end my Mondays is the always dramatic, somewhat annoying, publicity seeking John & Kate Plus 8. Yes I still record it, but I fast forward through Kate's "I'm the best mom in the world" pre planned monologues.

Tuesdays beging with Dancing with the Stars results and ends with The Biggest Loser. Somewhere in between falls 90210 and Melrose Place. I'm not completely sold on Melrose yet, but still find myself sucked into the plot.

Wednesdays... GLEE GLEE GLEE!! Best new show of the season. Also on Wednesdays is Nip/Tuck, an old favorite (Oh how I miss Nip/Tuck Tuesdays from college).

I have found a new Thursday night favorite... The Office! It is simply hilarious. Working in an office has seriously made me appreciate Michael Scott's off the wall comments. (Fax it like it's hot, fax it like it's hot). And then there's Grey's, which isn't my favorite by an means, but I can't seem to give it up.

Also somewhere in the mix are So You Think You Can Dance & House Hunters... It's exhausting....

&&& I love my husband because he likes Chuck Bass as much as I do. :)

Sometimes a photo says it all

&&& I love my husband because he spent Sunday morning/afternoon helping me organize our closets. Oh, the little things in life!

86 Years & Still Kickin'

The 4 of us (Me, Chris & the dogs) ventured to Robert Lee, Texas... population 812... on a good day. We don't make it down there are often as we would like, but it is sooo nice when we do. I love getting out of the big city as often as possible.

This weekend was my Grandma Millican's 86th birthday, so all of Nena's brothers and sister gathered on Saturday night to celebrated. There were probably 30 of us there, which was a pretty good turn out.

My mom & I swear she is the spitting image of Yetta from the TV show The Nanny. She not only looks like Yetta, but there are a lot of similar personality traits. They are both very sassy! She's like our own little honkey tonk version of Yetta.

One of my funniest memories of my wedding includes Grandma Millican. I didn't actually witness it, but in this instance the picture said it all. There sat Grandma Millican using her napkin as a bib in the middle of my beautiful wedding reception....

&&& I love my husband because... #1 on his iTunes recently played list is Party in the USA. :)

My little Man

Oxford is growing by leaps & bounds! The little guy is HUGE!

When we picked him up on Sunday we were amazed at how much he had grown in a matter of 2 days! We went to put his collar on and had to loosen it to fit around his neck.


Ollie & Ox are getting along great! They chase each other around the couch, wrestle & cuddle (only when they don't know we are looking).


&&& of course I love my Husband because... He takes Oxford out at 4 AM & lets me get my beauty sleep :)

24 Candles

Dinner @ Glorias on Greenville
Got my new car!

Hubbs :)

& a new keychain for my new car keys

the cube decorated

&&& I love my husband because.... he makes me feel so special on my Brithdays!

Mr & Mrs Smith

Taylor & Clayton are married!

This weekend we were in OKC for Taylor & Clayton's wedding. It was such a great weekend. We arrived in OKC around 5 on Friday, just in time to get ready for the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner at Nonnas. It was such a nice dinner at a beautiful resteraunt. Chris & I had never been there before, but always wanted to, so we were excited.

After the rehearsal dinner the bridal parties & spouces went to Tap Works in Bricktown for a few drinks. However, once midnight hit we had to take Taylor back to the hotel so that she wouldn't see her groom on her wedding day. This was so tough for Taylor. Since Clayton has been living in Kansas City she rarely sees him, so to not be able to speak with im for an entire day was a difficult task.

Saturday during the day Taylor pampered us. We were all given monogramed matching pajamas & got our hair did. It was nice to have everything come to us at the Bridesmaid suite in the hotel. We were able to relax and not have to rush around from place to place.

The wedding was b-e-a-utiful. Her colors were reds, oranges, brown, & some green (fall colors). It turned out prettier than I could've ever imagined. She also had an awesome old school rock band that played stuff from Bon Jovi to Eric Clapton to Michael Jackson. It was so fun that the reception didn't wind down until around 1AM! The last song the band played was Faithfull by Journey, which ended in everyone at the reception seranading the couple with, "Whooooa whoa whoa." :)

Overall it was a fabulous weekend. It was such a blessing to be a part of such a beautiful wedding. I am so incredibly happy for my friend.

&&& I love my husband because...

My friends love him as much as they love me

O.C.T.O.B.E.R. Halloween is coming near.

• Since my last post:
  Chris didn't get the job at Underwood (still a sore subject, but when God closes a window he opens a door, right?)
• We got another puppy, Oxford.
• We discovered the most fun place EVER, Top Golf
• Taylor is about to become Mrs. Clayton Smith
• I am getting a new car!!!

Ok, so our new puppy, Oxford aka OX, is the fattest, sweetest, orneriest puppy I have ever met... & I am in love. He is such a sweet addition to our little family. He and Ollie get along famously and are already the best of friends.

Taylor gets married this weekend! Taylor gets married this weekend! I had such a blast at her bachelorette party last weekend & am so excited to celebrated her marriage this coming weekend.

Top Golf= Awesome fun. It's like bowling & the driving range mixed together. You're outside, playing golf, buckets of beer & good friends. We went with Wally & his rommate & had a blast.

Chris has been back twice since then.

Ps... I beat the boys :)

My car should arrive between 6&7 tonight. Wahoooo. The X-Box was having some major issues (overheating in cool weather, or in a drive through) & instead of sinking more money into it we decided to just trade it in. Sooo I am the proud owner of a black 2010 SE Pathfinder.

I've decided to add a new portion of my blog entitled, "Why I love my husband." I often times find myself thinking, "& this is why I love my husband." So why not share, right?

&&& I love my husband because he surprises me with dark chocolate & a snuggie after a long night out with the girls :) Here's a photo in case you've never heard of a snuggie (it's a blanket with arm holes :))