HoUsE hUnTiNg

So... Big News on the Howard front... we have officially started looking for a HOUSE!! We just started really looking this past weekend. Our lease for the house we are in now is up the first of March, and we would like to go ahead and buy a house instead of renting - a.k.a. - paying someone else's mortgage. It is so exciting, nerve-wracking, heart wrenching and FUN looking for a house. We've already found one that we have completely fallen in love with. It's SO HARD not to want to move in RIGHT NOW. I feel like the biggest brat because I just want to keep saying "I want it, I want it, I want it!!" However... a house is such a huge commitment and I really need to SLOW DOWN and THINK about what we are getting ourselves into. I just cannot wait for Brian and I to actually OWN our first house... painting, decorating, and knowing that this will most likely be the house that we will raise our kids in! SO EXCITING!

I ask you all to pray that God gives me patience! ha... for instance... I've been at work for TWO hours now and I haven't gotten A THING done yet. I would post pictures of the houses that we love but I don't want to jinx anything... If we get serious about a house then I will post pics I promise!

On another note... Brian's mom comes into town tomorrow night for a visit! We are really excited to have her. No real big plans actually... just relaxing and hanging out. We are going to the Cards game on Sunday... that's all I know.

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!!

On days like today...

Sorry no pics, but I had to blog. I do have pictures from when Chad and Cory were here and I promise to post them.

On days like today I really wonder why I chose to work in the "Corporate World" instead of following some of my other passions like preschool work or even music. I love everything about the business atmosphere... how driven everyone is and how I truly feel I'm learning something and making a difference everyday. However... there are days like today when I really question why God has me here and what his plan is for me. I feel like I have a pretty tough skin and most things I don't let bother me but something just got in today that really hurt you know? I'm probably not making any sense, but I didn't want to go into the entire story about it all. I like my job... but sometimes the people just aren't very... well... nice. In almost all of my ACU business classes they talked about how the business world is tough and not a very nice place at times... boy they weren't kidding.

Suck it up and move on. I'm just going to stick to what I believe is right... people can like it or not.

Anyway... thanks for listening to the babble. Shout out to my buddy Gretchen... Happy Birthday!

I promise to post pictures soon... hope everyone is having a great week!

The Twins are coming!

The twins are coming tomorrow! Chad and Cory have been two of our very best friends all through college. SO excited to see them... We saw them back in May at Jerica and Chandler's wedding but that feels like ages ago for some reason. They get in tomorrow night... I have to work on Friday unfortunately. They've got an early morning tee time... I hope to be off work early, but we'll see how that goes. It's end of the month and things always get crazy here around that time. Friday night we've got some great seats at the Cards/Phillies game. Saturday we might get an early nine holes in since I won't get to play with them Friday then I think
we are going to head to the wineries. There are 20 or wineries
within 20 minutes of our house... breath-taking views and great
wine... what more can you ask for?? Saturday night is kind of up
for grabs but I'm sure we'll grab dinner and head out on the town
of Washington, MO Exciting stuff.

Keep them in your thoughts for safe travel. I will try and take a
bunch of pictures. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Fun with the Fam...

So we had SUCH a great weekend with Brian's family, but I gotta say, I'm exhausted. Friday I had to work of course, but Brian and the fam went golfing and then grilled out at the house for lunch. After I got off work we all headed to the Cardinals game to watch them beat the Padres (we took the series 4-0). Saturday we had breakfast at the house and then headed to Grants Farm. Ulysses S. Grant lived there at some point in his life and now it is owned by the Anheuser Busch family. It's sort of like a mini zoo. The goat pictures below are from Grants farm... those little guys were SO cute. They give you bottles to feed to them. They kept nibbling on Brian and Brad's pants... But anyway... it was a lot of fun. Saturday night we went to my parents house for a BBQ, and Sunday we just hung out until it was time to take his Dad and brother Garrett to the airport. Brad and Janelle (Brad's girlfriend) didn't leave until yesterday night. So all in all it was a great weekend... it was good to see everyone and really get a chance to catch up.

Last night Brian and I went and saw Batman with my mom. We all thought it was really good. It definitely lived up to all of the rave reviews I've heard so far.

Ok well short post but lots of pictures for once! Enjoy!! Hope everyone has a great week... and hey at least it's not Monday!

St. Louis is grieving the loss...

The inevitable has happened... around here it's huge news, but some of you probably haven't heard or just don't care. ha. Anheuser Busch is no longer "The great AMERICAN lager". A couple of days ago a company from Belgium called InBev bought Anheuser Busch for $72 a share. For weeks there have been talks of this happening. There were plenty of petitions and protesting, but in the end it just came down to greed and money. St. Louis has been known as the home of Budweiser ever since they began. Apparently the headquarters are going to remain here in St. Louis, but it won't ever be the same. Many people will lose their jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if some people who swear by the Busch family brand put down their Bud Light and go for other tastes. It's all this town is talking about... everyone is seriously crushed. I had no idea it would have this sort of effect on people. It's obviously not about the beer... its about the legacy the Busch family has created here, the Clydesdales, the flying eagle (it's a billboard) as you drive down hwy 40 from downtown after the Cardinals have won yet another game at BUSCH stadium... It just goes to show that no amount of tradition and legacy can stand up to the big bucks and people's love for money. Sad.

On a much happier note... Brian's family gets in tonight!! His Dad, his brother Brad, Brad's girlfriend Janelle, and his 9 year-old (I think) half brother Garrett. We are SO excited to have them. Brian NEVER gets to see his family and I feel SO terrible about that. His dad lives in LA so we really only see him once or twice a year. I cannot imagine only seeing my dad once or twice a year... it would kill me. Tonight we are all just having a home cooked meal at the house once everyone gets in. Tomorrow I have to work unfortunately, but that will give Brian a chance to hang out with them. I think he plans on taking them golfing and grilling out at the house. Tomorrow night we are headed to the Cards game... always a good time. Saturday we aren't too sure yet... there are so many fun things to see and do in St. Louis... we wanted to let them decide. We could go the FREE Zoo (which by the way is the second best zoo in the nation...), take a tour of the Budweiser Brewery (while it's still American-owned!), head to the Science Center, Grants Farm... the possibilities are endless. Whatever we do I promise to take lots of pictures. I've been slacking on that for quite sometime now.

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!

Howard Update...

Hello there... so it's been quite sometime since I've posted. Time has been FLYING by these past few weeks. I complain at work that the days go by so slow, but they really don't. It will be Friday afternoon before I know it. Or at least I hope so...

So let's see... what's new? Well not a whole lot really. We had a good weekend. Friday we went out to dinner for my Mom's birthday... Brian and I got her a really nice knife set from Williams-Sonoma. She needed new knives so badly. Saturday Brian went out job hunting traveling from Fire House to Fire House. He filled out applications and dropped his resume off. That's about all we can do except pray that something comes up. It's such a competitive business. Once you are in you never leave so it's hard to find openings. He starts Paramedics school in August so that will be about another year and half of school. I'm so excited that he's doing it, but we aren't going to get to see much of each other during that time period. When he's not in class, he'll be up at the hospital working on his clinical hours, or working. BUT... it's only a year and half and I'm SO proud of him. He's truly living out his dream of becoming a fireman/paramedic.

Sunday we went to church and played a round of golf. Brian and I have been playing a couple times a week for the past couple of months, and I must say it has really improved our games. I'm so glad that it's something we both enjoy and can do together. We are going to Hilton Head, SC in September with my family and I cannot wait to play golf on some amazing courses.

On another note... I feel like Brian and I have seen quite a few movies/shows lately that I wanted to recommend... or not recommend to you...

Hancock.... FUN summer movie. I always look forward to summer because of movies like this. It was funny/sad/heart-warming etc. I think the ending could have been a bit more in depth, but again I say... it was a fun summer movie. Worth seeing in the theaters for sure.

Wall-e. We saw this on Saturday night with my parents. Really cute - as I'm sure you imagined it would be. I heard some reviews that said it was better than any Pixar film ever made. NO - Toy Story... all time favorite. Not sure they could ever top that, however, it was cute. Not sure if I would say that's its worth seeing in the movie theater though.

THIS was a GOOD movie. Seriously... VERY suspenseful. I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie. Brian and I bought this movie a week or so ago, and I'm so glad we did. It is so different the way they directed this movie... they literally show the first 15 minutes of the movie several times from different vantage points. A MUST rent/buy.

Brian got me into this show... we bought the first two seasons this past weekend because they are about to start up a new season on FX this fall. SO GOOD. It pays A LOT of tribute to 9/11, and you just don't see that much anymore... it's sad. I must admit there are a few racy scenes... sort of like Nip/Tuck, but not THAT explicit. We plan to watch all of the first 3 seasons before season 4 starts up here in a few weeks. We seriously watched like 7 episodes yesterday alone... ha ha.

OK well that's all for now. I am the biggest movie dork, so I'll keep you posted if we see anything else in the near future. Hope everyone has a great week!

Bye Bye Mustang, Hello TV!

Hello there... first of all... if you go to www.photovideoimage.com ,click "Wedding Site", then click "Galleries" up at the top... you can see our wedding album... its under "Carrie and Brian". I think most of you have probably seen it already but if you haven't, enjoy! We get to pick the real thing up this weekend... FINALLY. So excited about it.

We sold the Mustang this weekend!! We put it up for sale right before we went out to Gretchen's to swim and we got a call while we were there from a guy who wanted to buy it! We got the cash on Sunday and bought a new TV shortly there after. haha. We've been wanting a new TV for our bedroom for quite some time now... we bought a VIZIO 37" flat screen and I LOVE it. With Brian's Playstation 3 the HD is flipping amazing. I don't know what we ever did without high definition! haha. It was weird seeing someone else drive off in the car I grew up driving... I will miss that car, seriously. I had some great memories with that thing. Not so much the 5 speeding tickets I got while driving it, but you know all of the other stuff... haha.

This week at work has been especially stressful... I have been covering for a lady that is out on vacation and my job has just been ridiculous for some reason. Anyway... Brian could tell that I've been super stressed out and tired so today he sent me this text...

“I just want you to know that I’m the luckiest guy in the world. You are the best wife and the best person. There is no way I can ever match how amazing you are. I am just happy I was the lucky one that got the pleasure of marrying you. I think about you all the time no matter where I am at and I wouldn’t want it any other way. You are the love of my life, and I’ll love you forever! Have a great day baby and I can’t wait to see you tonight!”

How sweet right? Definitely made my week soooo much better. I love my hubby :) He's always so excited to see my when I walk through the door at night. I'm a lucky woman I'll tell ya...

Ok well it's ALMOST time for me to get out of here. Enjoy the rest of your week!