Merry Christmas!

I'm having a hard time believing Christmas has already come and gone this year. Also, where did ALL of December go? I feel like we were just celebrating Taylor's birthday last week. I'm not sure why, but getting into the Christmas spirit was hard in Del Rio. The temperatures only dropped below 60 during the last week of school and we were all so busy that we didn't have time to do anything holiday related. Of course Taylor and Conor's year-round Christmas tree in their living room helped a little.

I flew home to my parents house on the 17th and jumped right into shopping. It's so much more fun when your options go beyond Wal-mart! Kirsten and I also started the week off right with massages and pedicures. Definitely what I needed after a stressful semester of teaching! I once again went with sparkles on my toes. I chose the big sparkles this time though and may have overestimated my commitment to the sparkle. They were so big that I actually had to peel a couple of them off of my pinky toenails after they had turned into razor blades.

The week leading up to Christmas flew by faster than ever before because of all the running around we did. We packed in grandparents visits, more shopping, lots of sleeping in (LOTS), and even some baking.

I made some oreo-peppermint truffles for the first time. Actually, it was my first truffle ever to make. I wasn't a huge fan of the result, but they were a big hit at our family Christmas so I'll go with success. I thought they were a little heavy on the peppermint and lacking in other areas that I couldn't pinpoint. Also, I am not good at eyeballing 1-inch sized truffles so they ended up rather large and more difficult to eat. I almost destroyed a mixer and a food processor during the process. It turns out that you can't crush an entire package of oreos at once. Or add cream cheese to them afterwards. My bad. Aiding in the almost disaster was my little brother. I specifically bought a package of oreos for my truffles and set them aside with all the other ingredients I was going to use. They were on the counter for maybe 12 hours, max. Somehow Jesse managed to eat all but 3 oreos in that time period. How can someone eat that many cookies in such a short amount of time? Luckily we had a spare package in the pantry that he had not managed to track down. He has a problem.

We had a really good Christmas at our house this year. Especially my parents. I'm no longer a poor college student and can afford to do things like bring them into the latest century of electronics. I bought them an Apple TV which will allow Dad to play his Angry Birds from the iPad so everyone can watch him dominate those birds. (his words, not mine) We'll see how often it's used, but I think they will enjoy it once they figure it out. They also got a blu-ray player. Not because they wanted better quality movies from their new tv, but because Dad was tired of switching cables out to watch a movie on their old DVD player. I wish I was joking.

Jesse and I also had fantastic Christmases. He got some sort of gun and then stopped opening presents so I guess he likes it. I don't know what 18 year old little brothers want so I gifted him with an IOU "one of anything you want". He picked a knife of some sort. Awesome. I was hoping for a new pair of jeans or something. His second favorite gift was a lighter shaped like a gun. As if he wasn't enough of a pyromaniac already, he now has the ability to shoot fire at candles. Thanks mom!

I think Mom and Dad are having a hard time with me getting married next year so they went a little overboard on the gifts. I'm going to roll out of here with a new suitcase filled with presents instead of clothes. I've been drooling over my new camera as well. I love it more than I love candy. Dad told me that it counts for Christmas/Birthday/Wedding, and I'm perfectly ok with that!

I'm off today to spend New Year's in Lubbock with Taylor and his family and I can't wait! I'm just so sad that the break is flying by so fast. It will be time to head back to work before I know it. I'm hoping to keep relaxing and enjoy these last few days with my family-to-be!

Fun times in Del Rio

Ok so I'm going to catch my blog up on all happenings between our engagement and now. So put your reading pants on and get ready. It might be really long. Or I could get bored and cut it short with a promise to continue later. Who really knows where this might go.

At the end of October, we went to a wine party. It was lots of fun to get dressed up and dance to Britney Spears and Spice Girls. It brought back so many memories of my childhood. The songs, not the wine. That would be disturbing.

{Hanging out with our good friends, Craig and Angela}

 {Our host for the evening!}

{This was mid-Britney. We got a little excited. Also, please take note that we are the only ones dancing.}

In early November, we went to another wine party. This sounds like how we spend all of our weekends, but it's not. These are just the only times I bring out my camera. Also, this is the only picture I have where all four of us are together. And where Taylor and I are together. Someone took my camera midway through the party and I ended up with lots of pictures of people I don't know. 

{Next up was Thanksgiving! I spent a few days at my parents house and then headed to Lubbock with Taylor for actual Thanksgiving day. We did lots of relaxing and eating as usual and even got to see Joe Ely in concert!}

 {The great whipped cream debacle of 2011. You can't see it but Kristofer was covered in it. It's not really a Verett Thanksgiving until someone makes the whipped cream canister explode.}

{Happy 24th Birthday to Taylor! We celebrated on a weeknight at Chili's. A true Del Rio celebration.}

{It wasn't a birthday present, but Taylor bought himself a new truck! We call her Black Betty Deux or Black Betty Deuce. Her name hasn't been finalized yet, but she is an exact copy of his first truck, just updated!}

{My school gave out lanyards to teachers as Christmas presents this year. I guess that living by the border makes people assume the spanish version of your name. I have corrected them about a million times, but I still received this. I didn't know whether to be upset that my school doesn't know my name or laugh because this is pretty typical of personalized gifts that I've received. I decided to laugh because in a few months it won't really matter anyways. I'll have a brand new name!}

{I found my wedding shoes this past weekend! I know this is not important news whatsoever, but I love them so much that I felt the need to post this picture.}

So, that's all the events I have in pictures which basically means these are the only events that took place in the past two months. I'm only kidding. I just can't remember anything else. I'll be back soon with something fun. Maybe. If something fun happens. 

A quick note...

In just a little over a hundred days, I will get to marry my favorite person in all the world. I can't wait!

Thanks to Jenna Miller for some of the best pictures ever. 

It's been a while...

Oh my gosh I need to stop being such a terrible blogger. Sorry for my absence. I started a new job and it turned out to be crazy person overload so instead of blogging when I get home, all I want to do is rock back and forth in a corner by myself. I'm kidding. Really I'm just terrible at time management. Still. SURPRISE!

So it turns out that wedding planning is not lollypops and rainbows. I mean, I am way excited to be married and have Taylor stuck with me forever. It's just that I would love for that day to be next weekend and to have this whole thing magically done for me by then.

I am TERRIBLE at making final decisions. I think lots of things are great, but I have anxiety attacks about saying yes to even the smallest of details. I'm all..."BUT WHAT IF I CHANGE MY MIIIIIIND?" And yes, I do include that many "I's" while saying it in my head.

When I picked out my dress, I actually had a panic attack. I used to laugh at people who did that! Who knew it would feel like so much pressure. I tried on a dress that I was just so-so about and of course it's the one my mother started crying over. So...that made it easier to choose. Not. In the end, I went with my gut - and the one that has pockets. At least one of us had that "this-is-the-dress crying moments" even if it really wasn't the dress.

Also, I am petrified of something going wrong. I haven't had any crazy pre-wedding nightmares, but I do have visions of wrong sized wedding dresses and misspelled invitations. Perhaps it has something to do with control issues? Duh, of course it does.

I've found that the "wedding industry" is a crazy, crazy little world. I mean, how on earth was I supposed to know that you should order wedding dresses like four years in advance? And that if you are only going to wear something one day of your life, you are supposed to pay triple for it? These are the things that nobody tells you about weddings. And this is also why wedding planners exist. If I could find a load of money, that would be my first purchase.

I didn't really mean for this post to be so wedding-licious. In case you're wondering what that word means, I just made up a definition after I made up the word. It means that I took over this blog with all of my complaining about wedding decisions. So there you go. Go forth and use it however you please.

Other happenings in my life include a trip to Frost, a trip to Lubbock, and a lot of fun with friends in Del Rio. Not that Del Rio added anything to the fun, that just happened to be where the fun took place. I will maybe update on those happenings sometime in the future.  It depends on whether I lose my mind over wedding invitations. And I just brought that full circle so you're welcome.