New Appliances...Make A Girl Very Happy :)

Well after 6 years of marriage and doing the laundry with a machine that when it runs, makes the whole house shudder...I finally got a new Samsung front loading washer and dryer set today from Lowe's. We sold our old ones with the house so we wouldn't have to "move" them, but in reality it was a plan I secretly "devised" so I could get new ones (Sorry Honey) Since our microwave has to stay with our house...we had to get a new one of those too, and thanks to Poppy for working out a sweet deal with us, since its going to stay in the rental after we leave. Yippie for us!!! Andy and I don't usually have a whole lot of extra money laying around, so its tough for us to make these big purchases. I try to think everything through and decide whether or not I am making the best and wisest choice. I really appreciated the salesman we had at Lowe's...I feel like I am a front loading washer and dryer expert after he got a'hold of me. Even though it was a lot of money spent...I think we made a good choice...and I think we now have a quality, quiet and energy efficient washer and dryer!!! They are set to be delivered on July the 3rd...and I did my last load of laundry in the clunker last night!!! Here is what they look like...

We also purchased the rising storage drawers that go underneath the machines...afterall...a girl can never have too much storage. I couldn't find the exact microwave online, but I think we all know what a microwave looks like and if you've seen one, you've seen them all. We are also gearing up to paint the duplex this week. The current renters will vacate on the morning of the 28Th, so that means it will be time to get to work. We close on July 7Th so we are going to have about a week and a couple of days to get all our painting done, the carpet laid and the bathroom shower re-tiled!!! Busy Busy, but all worth it in the end. I wonder how long it will be before we are all settled in...hmmm...it could be a while. This weekend is going to be a fun one for us. I get to travel to Lubbock to see my best friend and her hubby. They recently bought a new home and they are having a Luau in their back yard with their closest friends. I think its going to be a lot of fun and I cant wait to share the pictures. Till then...the post's will be few and far between, because we are fixing to have to pack up the computer soon.

Perini's, Happy Anniversary and Happy Father's Day...

What a busy agenda this weekend...spending time with family and friends and just having a great time. We have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for this weekend. We went to Perini's on Saturday night...because that was the boy's choice for their Father's Day dinner. If you will remember back to my Mother's Day post, that is also where us girls chose to go too. We are a Perini Loving family. My sweet cousin Bren and her boyfriend James came over to watch Jolea for us while we were gone. That means that Andy and I and Grammy and Poppy all got sit at the table together the "whole" time for dinner...and that hasn't happened in a long time...it was really nice. Bren and James said that Jolea was an angel baby while we were gone and that she thoroughly enjoyed using Bren as her own human jungle gym. It was past her bedtime when we got home so she jumped in the bath and got her a nighttime snack and then off to bed she went. It was so nice outside we decided we would have a "game night" out on the deck. We played Taboo first and I must say the girls kicked some rear...we actually didn't even have any competition!!! It's always such a sweet victory when the girls beat the boys!!! Then we played the DVD game Scene It and that was a lot of fun too, till the end of the game when the boys ended up pulling off a crazy victory...but I still think they cheated :) We stayed up entirely too late...and we didn't even manage to get up for church this morning...Oops!!! Its Father's Day today and our Anniversary, but those two things are special enough for their own post...so more on that later. Here are a few pictures from dinner last night.

Yummy Prime Rib Before:

Yummy Prime Rib After:

Refreshing Sangria:

Mom and Daughter

Grammy and Poppy

Family...I adore these people

Just Sign On The Dotted Line Please....

Its really embarrassing how "boring" the last couple of weeks have been. I haven't even been able to blog because it has been so uneventful around our house. Now don't get me wrong, we have been really really busy, but nothing blog-worthy has been happening...that is for sure!!! I am really happy to announce that we have a closing date set...and all we have to do now is sign on the dotted line. We are officially closing on July the 7TH at 8AM. I don't think its even hit me that we are moving back to Abilene yet. My life is about to get a whole lot easier...no commute to school and I will have a Wal-Mart at my fingertips which is enough to make me all GIDDY on the inside. Did you know that in Anson at the Lawrence Brothers grocery store, a can of green beans was almost 2 dollars? That is highway robbery, but they are the only store in town and they can get away with it. It has always been such a hassle to go grocery shopping and then lug it all the way home...and on top of that, we could never buy ice cream in Abilene because it would melt long before we got home...and if green beans are 2 dollars can you imagine the cost of Blue Bell ice cream? YIKES! I cant believe I am blogging about green beans and ice-cream...but I told you its been boring lately. So that's it in a nutshell!!! Lots of things going on this weekend...hopefully I will have pictures to post. Its mine and Andy's Anniversary (6 years) and Father's Day and Andy's brother Jansen is coming down for a visit. Stay tuned...and have a great Wednesday.

So...it's not the best picture...but at least I found one that would work :)

Say Cheese...

These are the professional photos that we spent a small fortune on!!! I knew I was going to be a sucker for these...but I don't gamble, so this was mine and Grammy's play money and we chose to spend it on memories that would last us a lifetime!!! Cha-Ching...jackpot for us!!! Its also nice to be able to get pictures of our whole family...and we can only do that when "someone" else is snapping the pictures!!!Enjoy!!!

I Love this man (most of the time :)

I have been packing up the house all night long and I have the first load ready to go tomorrow. For those of you who don't know, we are going to move into some rental property of my parents for now, till I get done with school. It just makes sense...and we are so Thankful that my parents are willing and able to let us live there. (Maybe we will get a discount on the rent...wink wink) I will post pictures of our new home...as soon as we get there!!! I love changes...and I think this is going to be a good one!!! Happy weekend to everyone!!!

My Dad Is A Loser...

I am proud to announce that my Daddy is the Gold's Gym Biggest Loser for 2009 and the recipient of a 1000 dollar check. That's Right! He lost a whopping 52 pounds in 12 weeks...and he looks totally fabulous. He wasn't thrilled at the idea of having his pictures posted on my blog, but I am so proud of him and I wanted everyone to know how hard he worked...and the pictures tell the story. He has joined the Fit Camp at Dyess...and gets up every morning at 3:30, then after an hour of that, he heads over to Gold's Gym to train with his trainer and do cardio!!! He didn't just lose the weight, he changed his lifestyle too. Now for most of us, the thought of getting up at 3:30 in the morning to work-out is.....well.....just a thought, but he LOVES it. For as long as I can remember he has always been the hardest worker, no matter what he was doing and I knew he was going to win this contest without any doubts...and so did he. I know he feels great...and I think he looks 10 years younger!!! What a great lookin' Poppy!!! Way to go Dad we love you!!!

Check out those abs :)

Vacation Is Over...Back To Reality

Oh goodness time flies when you are having fun but...have I missed blogging lately. Its almost like I am having withdrawals or something. So allow me to fill you in on the Ward Family vacation aboard the Carnival Conquest. First of all I will say...I think I need more of a vacation now, then before we actually left. For those of you who thought I was CRAZY for taking a toddler on a cruise...you were RIGHT. Jolea is only 19 months old so she falls just short of the 2 year minimum age limit to be enrolled in the Camp Carnival program. This program would have been AMAZING if we would have been able to take advantage of it. They have activities, and crafts planned all day long on all "at sea" days and they offer late night "babysitting!" at night. Well, as I stated earlier, we fell just short of 2 years old, so the only time Jolea could go to camp was between the hours of 12p and 2p...which translates into...not enough time for Mommy and Daddy to have adult time. She cried nearly every single time we dropped her off, but by the time we went back to get her, she was having a ball. The camp workers were really great, and they just thought Jolea hung the moon :) Too bad we missed out and the next time we go on another cruise she WILL be old enough. Overall we had a good time, but I do think she was just too young for such a big adventure. When I think about it, I am glad she was with me, because if she wasn't I would have worried about and missed her way too much to actually have a good time. One of her favorite things about the whole cruise was climbing all the stairs. Grammy and Poppy literally climbed the stairs with her for a solid hour one night while Andy and I were eating...needless to say she slept really good that night. We had a nice little system worked out so that Grammy and Poppy ate at the "early"dining room sitting and Andy and I were on the "anytime" dining, so we took turns having baby duty which worked out really well. The food on the boat was my favorite thing...there was always something to munch on...and we ordered room service almost everyday, just because we could...and it was FREE. Jolea lives on corn dogs and green beans, so she was practically starving by the time we got home, because we couldn't find either of those things on the boat. The waiters around the pool were great...they always had your favorite fruity drink ready and they waited on us hand and foot. I love how they knew all of us on a first name basis by about the second day. Our stateroom was FABULOUS with a big ocean view window and alot bigger than I had expected. We were joined with Grammy and Poppy so that was even better. Jolea had free roam of two rooms instead of only 1 so that was an added bonus. Every inch of this boat was super clean. The crew worked round the clock and you could practically eat off the floor if you needed to. It was great. Our beds were turned down for us every night and sweet Jolea always had an m&m cookie on her pillow in the crib. We were supposed to make stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, but because of the Swine Flu we had to postpone the stop in Cozumel. I was really disappointed in this because the boys missed out on some of the best diving in the world...from what we hear. Jamaica is not one of my favorite places at all, but we did find a beautiful beach called Doctor's Cave Beach that was perfect for us. It wasn't too busy, it provided lots of shade for Jolea, the sand was beautiful and the waters were blue. Jolea even took a nap on the beach...if you can believe that! She is fearless about the water...she got away from me once on our way out to the water and she took off running right in on her own. It was very shallow of course, but she showed no hesitation at all...which is a good thing and a bad thing I guess. We did a little shopping after the beach and lunch and then headed back to the boat. A huge storm hit right as we were loading the boat, but thankfully we got on just in time. It was really nice to see and hear the rain. There is only 1 word for Grand-Cayman...GORGEOUS. Its a very wealthy island and although it has its slummy parts, the places that we saw were so quaint and beautiful. The water is crystal clear...I mean you can see all the way to the bottom when you aren't too far out of course. Its aqua water...and its beautiful. The boys did a 2-tank dive in Cayman and they weren't thrilled with anything they saw. I think they had really high expectations of this dive and they were a little disappointed. We hit Senor Frogs and did some shopping in Cayman as well. We made out with some AWESOME Coach purses, wallets and sunglasses. Pure Bliss :) Of course we are such typical tourists and we came away with some great t-shirts and other things. After Cayman it was back to Galveston and we had a few more days at sea to enjoy. Being on the boat was so much fun. Its unreal how big it was and how intricate the details were and how beautiful it was on the inside. Some of the things we enjoyed the most on the boat were the casino, the shops, the piano bar, the disco, the wine and martini bar, 24-hour pizzeria, room-service and of course the POOL. So without further jibber-jabber, please allow me to show you some of my favorite pictures from this vacation. I have no idea when the Ward Family we be able to go on another vacation...but I know that we cant wait!!!

(As always to enlarge each collage just click on it)

There will be even more pictures to come if you can believe that because I really want to share with you all the professional photos that were taken on the boat. There are some really cute ones. I also wanted to share that Andy and I are thrilled to have our house officially "under contract!" We are waiting to set a closing date...and then we are back to Abilene. Andy is also the new Defensive Coordinator at Hawley...so the Lord has richly blessed us and answered our prayers. More to come...