Thursday, November 8, 2012

Nov.12, 2005

The day I met Ryan...

I really never thought I'd meet my future husband/soulmate on a blind date. I NEVER thought I'd ever GO on a blind date. But I love our little love story...

So our freshman yr of college - Facebook started up. Ryan always jokes we met through Facebook or if it weren't for Facebook we may have never met (I beg to differ!) but a good friend of mine in Strutters found Ryan through Facebook. She thought he was cute (of course he is!) and they started chatting online. She had been going on dates with other guys (not Ryan) and they honestly weren't going very well. She had this feeling I needed to meet this guy (Ryan) and that we'd be a good match. I'm thinking, "Are you kidding me?!" All of her dates turned out TERRIBLE and this was probably another one of those crazy guys and I was not interested AT ALL. Of course I thought he was cute and seemed nice but not how I wanted to meet someone. 

WELL - Ryan was pestered by my friend a ton and he started messaging me through AIM. (Yes...aol instant messanger) I could tell right away he was a nice guy and thought 'well maybe I'd be up for meeting him.' He got my number and he called and said we should go to dinner and actually meet!!! My gut told me to go for it. Why not...

He found out I loved Italian food and we went to Johnny Carinos. DELISH! Conversation never stopped and you could tell he was a family guy cause he talked about his parents, brother, and grandparents (grandpa especially). My roommate was friends with the girls across the hall from Ryan and his roommates...crazy right?.... and they went to the restaurant too and spied on us! Hilarious. My roomie went to the bathroom - purposely walking by our table - and I followed her cause I couldn't believe she was there! She asked if we were having fun and told me what a great guy Ryan was. I told her everything was going great and I think I kinda like this guy! 

We went to a movie after dinner and saw - The Weather Man - instead of Chicken Little and nothing else looked good. It was a HORRIBLE first date pick - Nicholas Cage and all the inappropriate and awkward movie topics you'd never want to face on a first date were in the movie. Hated it at the time but hilarious memory now. 

I HATE this picture of me... but love how handsome Ry looks.
Christmas 2005 - I think this was one of our first pics together.

The date went great (except for the awful movie) and Ry took me back to my dorm. I don't kiss on a first date so that didn't happen if you were wondering ;)

Ryan didn't call me for 2 weeks after that date! It's a big joke, but we eventually ran into each other on campus again (by God's great design) and we ended up going out again right before Christmas break.

I knew that Ryan was for me. I just KNEW. So being apart for a month over Christmas break felt like FOREVER. He said he'd come visit and I thought that was crazy! My dad actually sent Ryan a pass to fly from Houston to Dallas because he knew how much I wanted my family to meet Ryan. It was a wonderful trip and my parents loved him right away. The picture above is the first picture of us together that I can find. I think we went out to The Cheesecake Factory that night and I ended up meeting his Aunt, Uncle and cousins that live in Dallas.

One year later...love this picture below...
Trail of Lights 2006
One Year Later!
Love the nativity :)

November 12, 2005 was my last first date ever!
Look how far we've come!

It's a wonderful life!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Cowboy Landon - Halloween 2012

One of my favorite holidays as a kid - Halloween! Last year Landon was the CUTEST little lion and you can see pics from that here. I don't know how the idea got into my head this year but I was pretty set on Landon being a cowboy. We were going to go the frugal route and use a pair of jeans he already has (and fits into!) along with a cute gingham shirt and find a hat and boots. WELLLL... one day I went to the mall and a kid clothing store had these overalls and the hat to match. $20 bucks - BINGO! DONE.

Wish I had boots for him! He looks adorable though!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playgroup Halloween party... found a car to play with. Of course.

My favorite Halloween pic of him in his costume! (Besides the family photo)

Tons of treats- eyeing the food. I found some healthy options for him. 
Close up - love those cheeks
He decided not to join the group pic :-/ 
We practiced 'Yeehawww' and "Stick em up!" - yeehaww happened occasionally. 
Family Photo! Yay mommy is finally in a picture!!! 
I'll get more into the costumes I'm sure - I'm all about dressing up with the kids!

Megan and her little monkey girl! 
"Baby...baby...babyyyy' Everything is baby. 
Trick or Treatin'! 
It's a cat on top of a pumpkin - really cute... picture didn't turn out great. Good job Ry! 
We had a great Halloween! Our friends Ty and Megan came over with their little girl and Newlyweds Anna and Spencer came too! Anna was a cute crayon but I didn't get to snag a pic with her! Things got a little crazy with the trick or treaters coming to the house and then taking the littles out to trick or treat (really see the neighbors and get some candy). 

Poor Landon had quite the meltdown before bedtime - but I can totally see as an almost year and half year old how confusing it can be. Kids come to the door (he would rush to the door and yell at them) kids get candy, kids leave, close the door, open again, more kids, more candy, more yelling, close the door. Then we walk outside, see more kids, more decorations, cool lights and pumpkins, more costumes, go to the door, get candy, walk away, go to another door and on and on and on. Poor guy just about lost it when we showed back up at our house. Why are we home?! Oh wait more kids coming to the door?...booooo He did try the 'boo' thing. Oh goodness - anyway funny to think next year he will be 2 1/2 and might actually have an opinion about how he dresses up and know what's going on (somewhat)!

Hope you had a great Halloween!!!

It's a wonderful life!

Lake Conroe Trip

Gumpa and Mimi live on Lake Conroe. BEAUTIFUL! They have a great house and awesome spot on the lake. We went to visit the weekend before Halloween and there were tons of fun Fall/Halloweenie type festivals going on. Here are pics from the trip!

Serious carving
Moose has to be in the middle of the action always
Gumpa's free hand jack-o-lantern - Moose ate one of the teeth later. EWW! 
Walking to the corn maze
So I've been through corn mazes before...but only in daylight cause they're kinda freaky at night. Well this was the biggest corn maze I've ever done, or seen. Here's a bird's eye view..


Super cool right?!?!

Cow train - we couldn't ride it with Landon, and he was too small to do it alone. Oh well! Fun to watch!

The farmer and the cow

This was tricky! Turned out cute though!

Loves his daddy
Great trip! I'm starting to notice how few pictures I am in with him! HAVE to change that!

It's a wonderful life!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Buffalo Trip!

We've been planning a trip to visit my grandmother (Nana) for MONTHS now. Flights didn't look good, Landon wasn't feeling good - and then finally this month we were able to go! She just turned 84 and is a total spitfire and feisty woman. You'll never meet anyone like her. Love her!

She injured her hip around the time Ryan and I got married so she was unable to travel to our wedding- then pregnancy and Landon came shortly after and traveling with newborn was out of the question. I've been wanting her to meet both my husband and her FIRST GREAT grandchild. :) 

Here's her house - owned it since 1955... it's o.l.d. You walk in and it's like your time traveling - you'll see inside pics in a minute.

 Had to steal my brother's picture - 
REALLY bummed the little Corl family didn't get a picture in front of the House/Gautille sign. 

Here's Nana! Landon wasn't so sure about her right away and so she got some ice cream out hoping he might come near her... haha he did! 
(Notice the RED SHAG carpet. She has a rake for it.) 

We used to spin this chair as kids.... and I guess some things never change. Landon loved it. 

Happy to be off the airplanes! 

Lunch time and Nana reading "I Love You Stinky Face" to Landon. SO sweet. 

"And if you still smelled stinky I wouldn't mind. I'd tell you, 'I love you stinky face'" 
Who writes this stuff? she says. hehe

Husband of the CENTURY right here. He's the best. Love you.

Landon making a phone call and Nana and Ryan playing Horse. This woman is a SERIOUS card player... She's getting me hooked to that and bingo. 

He's mastering the fork! I'm so proud! Loves scrambled eggs. 

Nana being funny again - put chains on her walker to get Landon to come play with her. 
It worked! 

The last night of the weekend Landon said "nite nite nana - mwah" and gave her a kiss. I started tearing up and Nana was just loving it. 

We had a great time seeing her and catching up. She grew up in a very different time when men did not take care of the children and women never went to work after they had kids. She thought Ryan was remarkable with Landon and such a big help. (Which he totally is!) He definitely got her stamp of approval - she let me know over and over that he's a great catch. She was heartbroken she couldn't make the wedding and even showed us the outfit she bought specially for it. She was also glad I'm able to be home with him all day - she said...

 "Sara - do without to be home. You'll realize this is where the real treasure lies. In your family."

 Makes me cry just typing that. 

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be."
Matthew 6:21

It's a very wonderful life!