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.