Still Christmas Around Here...

We celebrated our first Christmas in the new house, and although it was a little quiet with just the two of us, we had a really relaxing and enjoyable weekend. It was nice to just stay home together. Recently we have been super busy with work and church callings, so it felt like a vacation to stay home, haha. Kevin nicknamed our house "Meador Grande".

We didn't manage to get all the decorations out until December 11th...so I warned Kevin that all the decorations would stay out until January 11th to get the full effect. I love all things Christmas, and since we were gone the first weekend in December, we didn't get our tree until the following weekend. I also feel completely justified because the Latin folk keep their decorations out until the 6th of January for Three Kings Day.

For those curious few...that little critter is called a vicuna, and was a gift from Kimberly when she went to Peru. I thought he should grace us with his presence for the holidays. Doesn't he look cute by the pinceones, haha?
The beautiful carolers my very talented Grandma Stadtmueller made for me years ago.

Cali (the girl in the high-waisted red pants) hosted a holiday party that we attended. I couldn't find a funny sweater for myself, so I just opted for Christmas colors. But I did have green shoes on, so that's a little more fun, right?

We went to see The Nutcracker at the Ziff Opera House in downtown Miami. I hadn't seen the ballet for at least 10 years, so I was pretty excited. We (mostly me) enjoyed getting dressed up for something a little out of the ordinary.
Christmas Day we took a self-timer photo (to document the day of course), had Andre and Daleth for dinner, then were joined by more church friends for dessert and socializing.
Kevin's 30th birthday!!! Can you believe it?? I made creme brulee and allowed Kevin the honor of torching the vanilla sugar on top. We opted for 3 candles since ramekins are only so big!Like I said, I am still enjoying the holidays over here with my tree lights gleaming and a cup of cocoa on the coffee table. Only bad part is that Kevin is still at work (11 pm on Friday night) doing his year-end inventory. All I can say, is that he will be excited to be home for the weekend.

We have so much to be grateful for, most important being the birth of our Savior. I love the feelings associated with Christmas, the focus on family, and the generosity shown. Here's to a happy and healthy 2012!!

TRIKW- December 3rd

After several months of training and anticipation, Kevin completed the Key West sprint triathlon. It was windy the morning of the event, but overall Kevin and his friends had a great time and they all survived. It was awesome to be there and be part of all the excitement for the event. There were a few olympians participating, and a lot of hard core athletes. I was amazed to see a 9 year old and an 11 year old participating. That shows some courage! The open swim is what scares me, but they did awesome! I took this picture of Kevin a few minutes after he actually crossed the finish line and texted it to family members, especially since my mom was worried for Kevin's safety. I was actually standing along the sidelines about 200 yards (?) before the finish line so I could get a better picture due to the crowd at the end. As he ran by I was screaming his name and cheering. Apparently he didn't notice or hear me because he later told me that as he crossed the finish line, he was looking around for me, and he didn't see me anywhere. HOW SAD!! I had to explain that I was hoping for the best picture, and since we had no idea when he would be passing by, we were just keeping a close watch. As soon as we saw him rounding the corner, I took my picture taking position, and Daleth ran her pregnant self over to the finish line to snap a picture (which I don't have yet).

Here are the events of the weekend. First order or business, load up the bikes from our house down to Andre and Daleth's house. Once there, we put the bikes on their car rack to head down to Key West. Only after stopping for breakfast, of course! We all took Friday off work to give ourselves an extra day for the weekend adventure.
The boys wanted to attend the safety meeting, which might have been mandatory, but regardless was super helpful as they had no idea what they were doing. It was helpful for me too so I understood how the morning would play out.
The look of excitement and anticipation!
They had this amazing sand sculpture that was part of some contest on an HGTV show...along with the one at the top of this post.


The morning of the race. The boys dropped all their gear at the transition area, went to body marking, and came back up to the room to pick us up.







Kevin running past after the swim. He didn't even look at me for the photo op. Don't worry, I talked to him about this missed photo opportunity, haha. We were all screaming and yelling, and I got nothing. I guess he was focused :) The swim was tougher than they had anticipated due to all the wind.
Waiting in line to get his print-out of results. Overall, his goal was to complete the thing in under 2 hours, and beat Robby, haha. Robby joined last minute and was pretty confident that he would beat Kevin and Andre, so that was their main goal. Mission accomplished! Kevin finished at 1:53, and Robby finished about 10 minutes later. As soon as it was over, they were already talking about doing it again next year, and possibly a few events between now and then!!
Oh, I forgot to mention that we were staying at the Casa Marina, which was hosting the event. Let me tell you, this place was beautiful. It was located right on the water and had the most amazing hammocks between the pool and the beach. Andre used his points to get us a shared room, and we basically had a slumber party Friday and Saturday night.

After the boys showered up, we spent the afternoon at the pool enjoying the 80 degree weather. Definitely doesn't feel like December here, but I was grateful for the warmth and the time to just relax. That evening, we went to Hot Tin Roof in downtown Key West. We dined on their covered patio area where we watched the sunset and the yachts passing by. Dinner was delicious, then we strolled down Duval Street to catch their annual Christmas parade. We stopped for frozen key lime pie dipped in belgian chocolate and it did not disappoint. The parade, on the other hand, was a bit of a disappointment, but we enjoyed the company. Key West isn't necessarily the classiest place around, and there were some bar hoppers that were standing near us. Let's just say we were happy when they left!

Overall, It was a beautiful weekend and I was very proud of Kevin for his accomplishment. Until next time...

Now and Then

I figured I better post about Thanksgiving because Christmas is just around the corner. We had the pleasure of hosting this year, which hasn't happened since 2006. As I was loading pictures on my computer, I went back to see the pictures from 2006 and I definitely had a good laugh. Hopefully you enjoy them as well, hahaha.

Now...

Making the dinner preparations with the ladies. (The boys were off playing in the Turkey Bowl.) This year, Kevin made the executive decision that we were going to have steak for dinner instead of Turkey. Sounded fine to me, but as we were doing the shopping, it felt a little weird not to buy a turkey. So, we bought a turkey roast just so we didn't completely ruin the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I used an Ina Garten recipe for herb crusted turkey, and it was delicious. It is roasted over white wine and made the whole kitchen smell awesome. We also made bacon wrapped green bean bundles, easy peasy garlic rolls, mashed potatoes, salad, my mom's yams, and of course pumpkin pie for dessert. Oh, and the boys grilled the steaks for us. Everything turned out delicious and it was nice to all sit comfortably around our new table!

The boys were on dish-duty and they did a great job :)
After dinner, Jerry and Beverly gave us an early Christmas gift. We receive new Christmas books each year, which is so fun because it was also a tradition at my house. My mom typically bought a new children's book each year, and would read it to us during the week or so before Christmas. We had a sled sitting near the tree each year that would support our stack of books. (I purchased a cute suitcase to put my books in, since they are quickly accumulating!)

Then...

I remember being nervous to host that first Thanksgiving as we had only been married for 5 months and I didn't know Kevin's family well. If I remember correctly, Bev might have even sent Kevin a list of groceries to buy so I wouldn't be stressed out. I have such fond memories of that Provo house, and although we were crammed in the kitchen around a plastic folding table with mismatched chairs, we grew to know each other better and I loved that time in my life. I was a happy little newlywed, haha. Melanie and Jeff were just dating at this point, so obviously a lot changes in 5 years!

One thing remains the same; we enjoy time with family and Kevin and I feel so incredibly grateful for the many blessings that abound in our lives. We are lucky ducks :)

Making Progress

I have been waiting to post pictures of the house until each room was the way I wanted it...but I am coming to find out that this is a long process, haha. So, I figured I would share a few pictures of the way things are at the moment, and as we complete each room to our liking, I will repost :)

This is an old picture of the courtyard, and I actually purchased new flowers at Home Depot yesterday...but they are waiting patiently to be planted.

We purchased a piano about a month ago on Craiglist, and I have to admit, I love having a piano in my home. We ordered two chairs that will go where the blue ottomans are currently. (In case you care, they are the redgrave chairs from Ethan Allen, and will be upholstered in an ivory fabric with a geometric/celtic pattern.) We are still undecided on the coffee table, rug, and window treatments. Oh, and I want a big clock on the wall between the two windows.



The kitchen, obviously :) We have really enjoyed hosting BBQ's and dinners with friends in our new house. We love having the french doors leading out to the patio for when we grill. The boys normally end up huddled around the grill in the courtyard, and us girls chat in the house. I also love all the light that pours into the kitchen in the afternoon, but I really only get to enjoy it on the weekend!

This was our first purchase, even before the washer and dryer. I found this at the Ethan Allen floor model sale and was thrilled to find that it fit perfectly in the alcove in the wall. They were kind enough to place it in their warehouse until we moved into the house.
Although I was slightly disappointed to not have a full laundry room, I have really loved my stacked washer and dryer. I have to keep all the detergents in the bathroom next door, but eventually we might build a shelf above the dryer. (But then I would need a step-stool to get it!!)
The downstairs bathroom. The bathroom has a shower because there is a "bedroom" downstairs which we use as a den/multipurpose room.


The den, as I will call it, had a huge closet that ran almost the whole length of the wall. It had one shelf/pole that ran the length of the closet, and that was it. Not super functional since we weren't using the room as a bedroom, and since we were hoping to store all sorts of things in this room. Well, after careful planning and ideas from designer Kevin (we joke about this, but he actually has a lot of great ideas), the closet project began. It went from blah and non-functional...
to this...

You can't really see in this picture, but on either side there are shelves going back, and a bookcase on the right side as well. The closet is pretty deep, so you have access to the bookshelves, etc. Once the closet was built out, I was amazed at the amount of stuff I could fit in there. The best part was that everything was accessible and organized, just the way I wanted it. The cupboards below the TV house all my scrap booking gear, as well as my sewing machine and supplies.

We have nothing on the walls yet, but I do love that secretary desk and the alpaca throw/rug that Kevin brought back from his mission days in Peru.

I am not including too many pictures of our room because I am hoping to post shortly when our bed arrives. I have gone back and forth about this bed I really loved, and on Halloween, Kevin gave me the go-ahead and I made the purchase. I am dying to get it, and will post pictures asap. But for now, here are the closets and my little jewelry station outside my closet :)


The second bathroom upstairs, which is near the top of the stairs. I didn't include any pics of the second bedroom upstairs either because it currently is a catch-all for just about everything. The good news is that it will be organized in the next two weeks before family comes for Thanksgiving :)

The loft. I really love the loft, and our old couch fits perfectly up there. There is another alcove where the TV cabinet is located. I repainted the old cherry wood cabinet we had in Texas, and it took on a whole new life in the off-white I painted it :) I need to hang one more thing on that wall before I show a picture so you get the full effect of the before and after. I need curtain panels on the window, but I am trying to decide whether to make my own, or buy some at the store. I just haven't found any that I really love.
I am really happy with how this project came out. I wanted family pictures on the wall, but I also wanted a bit of color, so I created some custom mats :) Kevin was very patient with me as we hung all those frames so they lined up perfectly.
I hope you enjoyed the little house tour. We really love this house and have enjoyed the entertaining we are able to do with a little more space. Come and visit people!