Wedding HoopLa

Thanksgiving was wonderful! This is the first time ever that I did not spend the holiday with my family, but at the same time I did spend it with my family. My new family. It was a Copeland Thanksgiving, and it will be a Jimenez Christmas, with the Copelands as well, in San Antonio. I know that sharing the holidays is important, I just wished that Thanksgiving & Christmas were two days each so Dave and I could see everyone. Then I also realize that we are very fortunate to live so close to both of our sides of the family!


We weren't going to decorate for Christmas this year, at least that was what I had kinda submitted to. Every additional ounce of our budget has gone towards wedding expense, and with Dave’s new job transition his regular paychecks won't take effect until Jan 1. Needless to say, our budget has been very tight for November and December. That is okay though, we are rich in many more ways than money. Health, family, God, employment, love, each other, roof over our head.

Low and behold though, Dave got an itch to get our Christmas decorations out! He got the tree down from the attic last night, and I pulled out what little decorations we do have and plan on finishing that up tonight, and then picking up a few little things that strikes up my fancy this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend.... it’s going to be very busy for me! Bridal portraits on Saturday and Bridal Shower on Sunday! Wooohooo, and I have to drive to San Antonio both days, so that is the part I'm not looking forward to. My veil is in San Antonio and I need it for my portraits in Austin on Saturday, and then my Shower is in San Antonio Sunday afternoon. So lots of running around and lots of business to take care of! On top of that, I still have not found what I want to wear to my bridal shower...so some shopping must also occur tonight! Oh, and we bought my wedding jewelry tonight. LOVELY. Love it. It is a sapphire pendant earring and necklace set. It matches the dominant wedding color perfectly...& it is also my something blue!!! Something old = mom's veil, something new = wedding dress, something borrowed = ?, something blue = wedding jewelry.

Everything really seems to be falling into place.  We really need to do our Christmas shopping for our families, niece & nephew and wrapping gifts, ect.  I'm pretty sure I know what I would like to get Dave, but he knows what that is already so I still want to find something to surprise him with.

It is suppose to snow today here in Austin....but we all know how that goes! 

Sooo behind

So much has been happening lately in life. It's like one thing after another. I really can't keep up with my blogging because I feel like we have be on the go non-stop. So I am going to try and get to wear we are right now.

1) We got in a car accident! It was scary and crazy, but no one was hurt, other than our car and the other drivers' car. The Jeep was taken to the shop and luckily it was not considered totalled and we get it back brand spanking new today/tomorrow! We are very fortunate that Dave and I both work downtown and less than 2 miles away from one another so car pooling, as we usually do, just continued, but in his car M-F.

2. Jae, Claudia and Ava came into town for a weekend! It was a whirlwind weekend and just kinda spontaneous. They were originally planning on traveling to San Antonio in mid-November for my Dad's 50Th birthday, but they just couldn't make it then with their work schedules. We were so lucky to be able to see them before the wedding since we will all be spending the holidays apart.

These pictures aren't wonderful because they are mostly from my mom's iPhone, but they capture a little bit of the weekend. We were able to see relatives from both sides or our families so it was fun!

3. Our first Halloween in a house and handing out candy occurred. We carved a pumpkin the week of Halloween and then had Dave's parents come over for dinner and the UT v. OSU game while trick-or-treating was going on. We had a really good time with the Copelands and I love when people come and visit us at home. I was actually excited about the number of trick-or-treaters that we had. A lot of people around here were either doing carnivals or church events rather than going door-to-door. We still have about half of our candy bowl left over, but that is just because I was over zealous about being candy this year. This is a picture of Hillbilly Bill, inspired by the vampire Bill off of True blood, and then at the last minute Dave wanted to make him a hillbilly.

HILLBILLY BILL

Carving of the pumpkin and Hardin looking for pumpkin scraps.

4. Thor's toe was removed. The. entire. toe. Gross and sad, I know. He has had some problems with this particular pinkie toe for the past year. The toenail flipped off one hiking trip and has since never grown in correctly and either become infected causing him to limp for a week or so, or like this last time was so irritated (not infected) that he licked a spot on the toe raw. Each time this has been happening it costs about $100 in vet bills for the visit and any subsequent medication, so the vet recommended we just amputate his toe. Ohhhhhh, I have probably been more miserable about it than he has been.

Thor's surgery was on Monday morning, this picture was taken Monday night when we got him back home. He was soooo dopey, the only other time I have seen him like this was when he was going through his whole giarradia stomach problems. So, I got down next to Thor to pet him and just make sure he and I were going to be okay and I fell asleep for a good half and hour. My lovely fiance took that opportunity to watch his science shows and take pictures of us :o). He seems to be doing okay, he has not been putting pressure on that foot at all, but really seems to hop along with 3 feet very well. The vet tech predicted that there should not be a change in his gait once the toe actually heals, but only time will tell.

5. Dave has a new job! Better and permanent and with benefits and good. Ahhhh, this was such a relief for us. He will be working for the Railroad Commission for the State of TX as an Engineering Specialist. Sounds really exciting, huh?? Yay! Phew. I cannot express the sense of relief and pride I had for Dave when I found out. He is so deserving of this position.

6. Dave and I are playing on a fall co-ed rec softball league and had our first game last night! We lost 3-9, but we still had a really good time and this team seems to be a little bit better and in the right league level than our team last year. We only have 5 more games left this season, but I'm really pumped about them! Kelly is also playing this year and has asked a couple of her friends to play so it really looks like we are going to have a good time.

So that is a pretty up to date of all the things that have been going around here. Really each event felt like it could have used it's own blog, but there just doesn't seem to be the time for that right now.

IBM 10K

What a wonderful weekend!!! Friday after work Dave and I went on our "date night." We went ring shopping at the Lakeline Mall. I was able to find the ring I loved in after only the 3 stop! I love love love it. Dave got fitted at one of the stores and I ordered his ring on Sunday from Tungsten World online. I also had out wedding date enscriped in the ring in ComicSan font. We went back and forth about this, I wanted it to be enscriped in a nice cursive font, elegent, but Dave wanted Comic type font because he loves comic books. What a big dork, but he won because it is his ring, afterall! So following shopping we had dinner @ Fuddruckers. Believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever eaten here, and it was so-so.

Saturday we layed extremely low and spent most of the day with Dave's dad, Reese. Reese brought over a massive amount of barbeque for lunch & dinner. We watched UT Football, drove to the spot where we were running the next day just for a run through, saw Whip-It and ended the day by watching a couple of boxing matches on Showtime. It was an overall very enjoyable day and Dave & I had a good time hanging out with Reese.

Sunday morning, Dave and I headed out for our first race together! It was SO much fun. I really enjoy that now I have a lifetime running partner. We did so much better than I anticipated, too. We ran an average 10:30 minute mile for the 10K and finished our race around 1:07. I'm so glad my parents & sister were able to make the race, too, because I completely forgot my camera that morning. Mom got some good pictures.

This is Dave & I right before the race started @ 8:00 a.m. It was a cold morning in Texas!

Right after the gun went off!

This was around mile 4, finally some downhills allowed us a chance to smile and enjoy the run.

Finishers! Yay! After the race.

We are still in the middle of our training program and the next official race on the books for us is on February 14, 2010. Austin 1/2 Marathon!

Identity Crisis & Wedding Planning Updates

So, I knew long ago that when I got married, without a doubt I would take my husbands name. When I met Dave and found out his name was Copeland I was pleasantly surprised because that is a really nice last name. I'm really excited and honored about changing my name, however at the same time I can't help but feel a little sad about losing Jimenez. I love the last name Jimenez because it's mine and my parent's last name and it embodies the Mexican heritage that I come from. I've been throwing around the idea of hyphenating to Jimenez-Copeland, but that seems really silly and I always give people the eye slant when I hear a hyphenation. I know, I don't mean to judge, but it just happens. Plus, Dave does not want to hyphenate our children's last names once we are blessed with children, so then I realize there would not be a point in my hyphenated last name. I've also thrown around the possibility of dropping my middle name and putting Jimenez in it's place, but I really like Marie as my middle name.

In the end, I know I will simply change my name to Copeland and drop Jimenez. I'm I am really so excited about it, I just need to learn a new signature! Also, I hear legally changing my name can be a pain in the rear, but it will be so very worth it. Amanda M. Copeland, has a nice ring to it, no one will ever suspect the mexican lady whom it belongs to.

We are going to look at rings this weekend and I'm pumped! I found a ring that I feel in love with at the Zales Outlet in RR, that was really reasonably priced for the quality. I love the vintage look of any wedding ring and because my engagement ring is a solitaire I feel like I have so many options. I think I may want a solitaire ring enhancer, or a wrap, but I'm worried that on days I just want to wear my wedding ring, I won't have that option & will need to get another ring. Hmmmm, so that may work in my favor. I also am pretty sure that D and I have picked out his ring, but he needs to be sized so that I can order it. Everything is becoming so real as the time is flying by. I know that I complain a bunch about the things that must be done, but occassionally I step back and try and enjoy even the stresses of planning. Many years later, I hope that I will look back and remember this time of planning our wedding and starting our lives together fondly.

Oh, something else that is WAY cool, is that my dress has gotten altered and is ready to go for my bridal portraits on December 5th!!! The portraits are going to be taken in Austin around 3 in the afternoon in hopes of getting some nice twilight pictures as the sun goes down. Dreamy, I know. I hope that we can take some at the capitol and then also on S. Congress there are some really neat buildings and a cool Welcome to Austin mural. My veil is my next big focus. I will be wearing my mom's veil that she wore for her wedding almost 30 years ago. It was exactly what I wanted before I even so it in person. I had seen lots of pictures of the veil, but it looked SO eighties. However, when I saw it at my parents house several months ago, I loved it. It needs some restorations and some serious TLC on the lace, but my grandma seems pretty confident that it will be wedding ready for me. I'm really looking forward to wearing it and then to keep it in our family in hopes that one day I can pass it down.

Oh, also! All out-of-state wedding invitations have been mailed....Yay!

Exciting Halloween

This blog may be a little premature, but I just can't help being really excited for our first Halloween in a house together!!! And then Thanksgiving, and Christmas and New Years, OH MY! Then of course...dun dun dadunnnn, The Wedding.

I've mostly all of a sudden gotten really excited about Halloween because this means that we will be able to stay at home and pass out candy to all of the kids in our neighborhood! Yay! Also, Halloween is on a Saturday night this year so we should hopefully get a steady traffic flow of kids. Dave suggested we even dress Thor up as Frankenstein. How funny would that be. He may scare kids away though, so more than likely he will stay in the backyard.

This weekend Dave is going to College Station for the OSU v. A&M game. Go Cowboys! My parents are going to come down on Saturday to keep me company and hit up some stores. I am hoping to get my Halloween decorations this week. I'm only looking a couple of things because however ever much I want to go all out for the holidays this year, any extra ounce of money we have for extras is going for wedding related items. Things I'm looking for:

1) 2 good sized pumpkins for carving. I want to carve one and one for Dave.


2) A fun door decoration, or possibly even a scary door cover. Ohhhhhhhh.

3) A candy bowl


4) Halloween candy, however, I'm pretty sure that if I can hold off and wait till the Saturday morning of Halloween I will be able to start getting the discounted candy.


5) Ideas and recipes for a Halloween themed appetizers, dinner & dessert. I may try and have a couple that we are friends with over if they are not working/going out. If not it will just be a fun dinner for Dave and I.
I think when the weather really starts to change I get excited about the holidays. This morning was cooler than normal, even though last night when I went to bed it was 89 degrees out still!

I'm also more excited about the holidays this year because our wedding is shortly after and this is our last holidays as single people and this transition to a married couple has been exciting in general. So hopefully I do not go overboard with the Halloween stuff and still have energy and money left for Thanksgiving and for Christmas!

Working around the house Saturday

Saturday started out with an awesome 5 mile jog with Dave & Thor at 6:30a.m. Then we got ready, and headed out to the grocery store for the upcoming weeks meals and really stuck to our list and bought almost ever single item with a coupon or the item was on sale. Yeaaa. With the combo loco deals and all additional coupons we saved $24.75. By far the most we have saved on any single grocery trip. That made me happy. We then came home and had a late breakfast around 11am which consisted of any and all leftovers we had in the fridge.

Prior to heading out to the store when I was doing an inventory of our fridge & freezer to see what we needed to buy I realized that my frozen rotten banana stash was getting out of hand, I had about 6 rotten bananas stashed in the freezer. Time to make banana bread, found a recipe and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the only ingredients I was missing was sour cream, cinnamon, and walnuts. Yay. So I made banana-walnut-raisin bread from scratch and it came out really good! Dave even liked it and he is the biggest critic. Success.

Dave worked on replacing airvent things and hanging up our last picture frame. He also worked on putting up our "nightstands".

We just have not been able to find nightstands that we want so Dave suggested doing these shelves for now and eventually getting real nightstands. I'm happy with them so far. We need a bed post next. All in due time.

Thor & Hardin were very helpful today too, they stayed out of the way :o).

High & Low

Something that I heard on the radio this morning jogged a childhood memory of mine was the show was playing the game High-Low.

Many people know this game, you tell your daily "high" thing of the day and your daily "low" thing of the day. My mom use to ask us ours quite regularly growing up. I think this is such a great game for families and even couples to play with each other daily, if possible. For us it really helped open up to talking about our day and also helped reflect on it a little bit.

I'm going to try and make a bigger effort to initiating this game with Dave so that it will hopefully continue on once we start a family. So anyways, yeah, play High-Low with your loved ones.