Catch up

Well, I need to catch up on what's been happening in our world. Jax our first born puppy turned 3 last Monday. He got to stay home all with his Daddy and play outside...what more could a dog ask for?! Kody and I went to Willow Springs, MO when I got off to test drive a Tahoe and then ate up there while we were there. Willow is like 20 minutes away. When we got home we gave Jax and Bo their birthday treats. 2 years ago on Jax's first birthday we went ALL OUT. We were living in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, MO and Kody took Jax to Happy Tails K-9 School each week for obedience classes. We were able to use the room where they had class for a full-blown party. I made invitations and mailed them out to his favorite dog friends. He was pretty playful with other dogs when he was little. I made bone shaped dog cookies and cupcakes for the humans. He blew out a candle and ran like a mad man playing with all of his friends.

Last year there was an ice storm....and this year it was just cold! Here are a few pictures from his first birthday and then this year...

Jax and his favorite motorcycle shop in Cape...

This year... It started snowing late Thursday. I figure we have around 8 inches. Some spots there are some pretty big drifts. Yesterday I was stuck home all day by myself with the dogs and got pretty stir crazy. I should have cleaned but just didn't feel like it. I watched the Proposal, played Wii forever, and caught up on some e-mails. I was REALLY ready for Kody to be home by the time he FINALLY got here at 6. He was supposed to get off at 3:30 and had to work longer. We went to my parents house for dinner and my PaPa, Debbie, and Tara came over. We had yummy soup and Texas Sheet Cake...and then played Apples to Apples. I won twice! Here are some pictures of the snow yesterday....and my dirty floor, which is the real reason I despise any weather besides DRY! Our Private Road is pretty covered...there's just enough tracks for cars to go through. Bo's favorite game....chase Jax.

Yes, this whole post was mainly about our dogs. Maybe we need to have some kiddos to talk about! HA! See my nasty floor? This is why I cannot stand rainy or snowy days...even after we wipe them off, they sneak in and make their mark.
Friday night we met Ashley & Josh at El Charro's for some yummy Mexican. We had a good dinner and a nice visit. We were afraid we weren't going to be able to eat there because so many places were closing early due to the weather, and they said they would probably close around 7. We made it and were still there at 7:30 and they were still seating people. I think everyone was stir crazy and it was only a few hours into the storm! :) Afterwards we drove around for a little bit, looked at cars, and then headed home. Maybe I will update later. I think Kody and I are getting ready to head to town and eat brunch somewhere. Then we have to make a trip to Wal-Mart and Big Lots. I'm getting soooo excited for my St. Louis trip this coming week!!!!! Have a great Sunday!

Show Us Your Life--Fashion Tips

Anyone who is reading this and knows me well is probably laughing. They are thinking, Mallory has style? Ha! Well, I'll be the first to tell you, I'm not beating down any little trendy boutiques doors every Saturday morning, or spending tons at Dillards everytime I venture to Springfield. I will say that my fashion or style, whatever you may want to call it is simple and timeless. Yes, I said it, timeless.

I have lots of black, white, and gray outfits that can be mixed and matched with almost anything. Most of my every day winter clothing is jeans, boots (usually Uggs, but I've taken a liking to Cowboy Boots--Tony Lama), and a solid long sleeve t-shirt. That is usually topped with a scarf of some sort scarf. I love solid colors, because you can mix and match them so easily. I am also a fan of mixing the RIGHT kind of browns & blacks. Even my husband thinks this is nuts. I can pull it off though. I love to look through fashion magazines, but I'm always perplexed and think, I would never wear that! Then a few years later when the trend finally hits West Plains, I am on it! ha!

Just wanted to partake in this Show Us Your Life...even though I may not be fashion's best friend!

I heart Fridays

I love a good Friday and today it is snowing! Now that would only be fun if I were at home doing something productive. Instead I'm at work with not really much to do. We were supposed to get quite a bit of snow last night and it kept getting later and later and later. Finally Kody said, you better go to bed, I think you're going to work in the morning. I woke up about 2:30 and it had started sleeting but I knew it wasn't doing enough to keep me home. SOOOO I'm at work, but probably will go home early afternoon.

I hate to say this, but I'm just killing time here at work. Lots of stuff going through my mind...I want to go home and play Super Mario like a big nerd, our nephew Drew had tubes put in his ears today--hope that went well, it's FRIDAY (can I get a yee-haw?!), we're going to eat Mexican with the Hamby's tonight (another yee-haw!), I'd like to be at home organizing my basement storage closet (got a little messy after Christmas decorations), I want to clean my floors, but this snow has put another damper on that, I need to change the sheets, I NEED A NEW CAR ASAP, vacuum downstairs & upstairs, etc, etc. etc!

We are still car shopping as you can see above. I have tons of people looking for us a car. I hope we find something in the next couple of weeks. I look like a MAN driving Kody's big Dodge Ram diesel. Plus it's a pain the rear buying groceries and loading them in that dog hair infested vehicle. I am only complaining because I can...I'm thankful I can drive his truck and he's driving my brother's old truck...I just am ready for my OWN car.

I'm sooo excited about next weekend. I'm going to visit Jess Ladd in St. Louis. I will also see my brother, Alex and sister-in-law Kaci and bro-in-law Luke! YAY!! I was going to just go Saturday morning early and come home Sunday...now I'm going to leave work early Friday and get there in time for dinner...that way I have more time to see everyone. Jess and I are going to shop on Saturday and just hang out. I have promised her a trip to STL for the longest time and with the wedding and winter weather, it's been tough. Hopefully next weekend will be ok weather wise. Kody will head east to Jackson for the weekend to help Kyle with his basement and spend Super Bowl Sunday there with his family. He isn't big into sports like his Dad & brother are, but he'll enjoy the game, food, and drinks!

We had lunch yesterday with my father-in-law, John. He was on his way back to Jackson from Springfield, MO and stopped in WP for lunch. We had a nice visit, talked about our taxes and my upcoming car payment. (He's a banker so we like his advice!) I wished we could have seen Teresa, but she was busy at home keeping Drew baby! I can't wait til we have kids and they can go stay with their Jackson grandparents in the summer for a couple of weeks. How fun! Swim, hang with Grandma & Grandpa, mow the yard (kids love that), play with their cousins, go to Kentucky Lake, etc. FUN!

I need to blog about Jax's birthday. I took some pictures of him and Bo and their new bones they got. They are these big hard bones (they usually can't eat) filled with a peanut buttery substance. They lick for hours...and the PB is gone right now and that was Monday night when they got them. Last night I was trying to do my BL Wii workout and Jax will stay downstairs and watch or just be with me. He stays out of my way and when I get on the floor he never bothers me. Well, BO was down that last night. Bo is such a crazy boy, always wanting attention and love. He was in my face the whole time, I kept saying this isn't a JOINT workout, go upstairs! Finally he chilled out but parked it right in front of where I was doing my workout, so I had to scoot over. They keep us on our toes for sure.

I'll maybe blog later with Jax's pictures. Tomorrow night we're going to my parents house to have some good soup and play Apples to Apples. :) Last night they came over for Taco Soup. LOOOVEEE that stuff.

Have a great day, stay warm wherever you are!

Reflections

I'm going to participate in Ashley's reflections post! Just basically a just because post!

I enjoy reflecting on my life, it's been a wonderful life and I know I only have better things to come!

What I think of the Past
-My past has been great, it's shaped me to who I am today and I am grateful for that.

What I'm experiencing in the Present
-Loving life & my marriage, it's good to be an Old Married Lady.
-Car shopping, although it's never fun to spend a crazy amount of money, it's fun shopping and knowing I need the car regardless!
-Sunshine!

What I'm anticipating for the Future
-Lunch with my father-in-law
-A snowstorm...dun-dun-dunnnnn!
-A new car!
-Spring & Summer
-Being a Mom
-Seeing Kody be a Dad
-Continue a great life


Won't you play with me?
(i.e. do a similar post on your blog so I can read your little life reflections!)

Hopeful for NO Snow!

This crazy winter weather is getting the best of me. Originally I needed to visit the grocery store since I didn't go this past weekend. Well, it didn't happen Monday night because we went out of town to look at a car, Tuesday I had to go home and let the dogs out, and so I planned to go after work. After the talk of maybe 10+ inches of snow and ice before that, I figured I needed go during lunch before the mad rush hit. Well, the rush may also be there at 5, but my heavens it was PACKED today at lunch. I think 80% of people in my zip code were at Wal-Mart. Of course I get irritated when they are farting around looking for gosh knows what! Move or it lose it, this girl has to be back to work in 10 minutes! haha...I did get it all done and I'm SOOO glad that job is over.

Tonight I'm making one of our favorite pasta dishes. It's extremely easy. I have rotini noodles and boil them. I pour most of a jar of whatever kind of spaghetti sauce in it, cut up Hormel Turkey Pepperonis in it, and add cheese on top. I bake it for about 15 minutes, just to melt the cheese really good. It's so yummy. We'll have some garlic bread and a veggie with it. :)

Tomorrow night I am going to make a big pot of Taco Soup. I'll prepare that tonight and just turn on the crock pot tomorrow. We're supposed to go to dinner Friday night with Ashley & Josh. They don't know it yet, but we've gotta go to El Charro's...we've got a gift card that has to be used by February 1st! I've craved Mexican this week so that will be great to get that fix out of the way!

After I worked out at lunch at Curves they gave us goodie bags for Customer Appreciation Week. It had random samples and coupons in it, but it also had a great, new snack! They are like bags of chips called Rice Works. The flavor I got was Sea Salt. They were excellent. They look like wheat Doritos. Very yummy...may have to buy some at WM next time I go........oh gosh, do I have to go back there?!

Tonight after I do my Biggest Loser workout I think Kody and I are going to have a movie night. I have a couple of Netflix movies I've gotta get watched & sent back. We love Netflix!! I'm hopeful that the weather doesn't get too bad! I'm planning a trip next weekend to St. Louis to see my favorite Jess Ladd!! Can't wait!! I'll also see my brother & sister-in-law & brother-in-law too! :) I'm pumped!!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

I forgot on my weekend recap to post about our Sunday experience in church. We try to get up and go to early service, 8:15, most Sundays, although it doesn't always happen. Since we spent Saturday night with the Judds, they do go to our church and go to Sunday School. They talked up their class and Kody was willing to go. I about fell in the floor. He will go to church, but hasn't been willing to go to Sunday School. (BABY STEPS.)

Well, we went to church and Hannah (Brian & Courtney's little girl) sat with us until the kiddos were called back for Children's Church. After the service I just casually asked Kody if he'd go and he agreed! Courtney & Brian said that their class is currently watching a video on marriages and men & women. She said it was hilarious. It's also the youngest adult class there. We were the youngest couples in there, but everyone else was between our age and 40. It was hilarious and a lot of fun. Hopefully we can try it again sometime soon. I invited Ashley & Josh, so maybe they can even come. Afterwards we went to Ziggie's for brunch and then headed home. It wasn't extremely cold, but was rainy so we spent the day inside lounging around. I watched the Pregnancy Pact and updated my blog & facebook with pictures. We had homemade pizza at Mom & Dad's and then watched Role Models. That was about it for our Sunday! :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Jax!

Our sweet puppy, Jaxon "Jax" Thompson is 3 years old today. I remember when Kody started begging for a puppy. We were not married, but knew we would be one day...so I had to like the dog too. He wanted a German Shepherd and all I could think about was how mean they look. Boy was I wrong.

Tecumseh, Missouri is about 30 minutes away from where we live. We were living in Cape Girardeau at the time, but had just been to Florida with my family and Kody saw this ad and wanted to go when we returned to West Plains. The ad was for new German Shepherd puppies. We got there and of course the puppies were adorable...what puppy isn't?! We also laid eyes on Jax. At the time he was small and 4 months old. Kody fell in love. He seemed really playful inside the barn he was living in and we were excited to get him home and start a family with him! I must admit that my nerves were pretty trying after we got Jax. He was a really shy dog at first (still is) and cried a lot when Kody left or when we put him in his kennel. We stuck with it and he's a wonderful dog...even after I yelled a few too many times at him! :S! He's SO loyal, sweet, protective, patient, and anything else we could ask for. He's also pretty good looking for a big boy I think! He loves to run, have treats, do obedience work (he did school for 1 1/2 years), ride in Daddy's truck, go to Jackson to see his cousin dogs, play with his best friend Bo, and be by his Momma's side all the time. He poses great for the camera, so he definitely takes after his Mom and knows I love to take pictures!! They keep me company and are the best practice for children you can get....without renting out a kid for a week or two! Go ahead and say it....if I'm this bad with our pets, what's children going to be like?! That's why I'm saving this year for a big, nice camera......LOTS of pictures will be coming by then!

Weekend Recap

We've had a great weekend. I am always sad to see them go, but realize they normally come around pretty quick. Then I think about how fast life really flys by. :(! It's been a great one though and like always I'm already looking forward to next weekend. We will finally be reunited with the Hambys!

Friday night Kody and I came home and hung out for a little while. We went back into town to my parents house. Kody was due for a guys night with my Dad, Brad, and Brad's son Sam. They went to eat at Colton's and rode down to the river. They had a great time. My Mom and I went to Susan & Brad's house and celebrated winter birthdays with some of the At Home crew. We had a fun time and watched Sordid Lives. Interesting and funny....low budget film too. Kody was waiting for me at my parents house and we were home by 10:30.

Saturday Kody worked and so he was gone by 6 am to go meet some co-workers for breakfast. They always meet early on Saturdays for breakfast at the Ozark Cafe. I went last week and it is really good!! I was supposed to go drive a car and slept a little late! Whoops! ;) I just slept 30 minutes late and wasn't late for work, but just to drive the car. I worked and that was about it for during the day. Last night like I said in my last post, we met Courtney, Brian, and Hannah Judd at the Fish Shack for dinner. It was so good like always!!! They came back to our house and we played Wii. The guys played the Big Game Hunt 2010 for awhile while the girls were upstairs coloring with Hannah!

Then the 4 adults played Super Mario Brothers.....HAHAHA! You can play up to 4 players, but unlike the Old School Mario, you all 4 play at once. Talk about confusing. Nobody set any high records, but we had fun. Hannah would play when she wanted to, but she stuck to coloring for most of the night. We did play a game of bowling and Courtney blew us all away! Kody knows all the secret spots in Mario, so he was showing Courtney where to go! Hannah enjoyed our selection of candy that I keep handy on the bar upstairs in our kitchen. She made several trips upstairs for candy, fruit snacks, or more pink lemonade. We told her we're ready for a sleepover and I think she was game!! She looks soooo much like her Mama!!! Hannah loves our dogs. Bo of course is all over her or tries to be. Jax stays back but will lay down and let her pet him. Hopefully Bo will settle down soon before we have any babies...he is a wild man!! Jax will be a good big brother, probably very protective I'm sure.

How could you not love this sweet face?!!?!?!?!?!!!

Saturday Night!

I just love the weekends. I wish they were 5 days and I worked 2. Today I worked for awhile at At Home then came home and picked up the house a little. We're going to dinner at the Fish Shack with our friends Courtney & Briand Judd. They have 2 little kids, Hannah-4 and Hunter-1 1/2. Hannah is tagging along, but Hunter, who's into everything his Momma says, is going to Grandmas. We're going to eat and then come back and play Wii....I'm excited for a low-key night.

The Pregnancy Pact is coming on Lifetime tonight. I've got that set to DVR. It's about all those teen girls that got pregnant together in high school. I can relate to that, although none of the people I graduated with planned on it. I will probably watch that tomorrow afternoon. It's nice and RAINY here...ughh, yuck. I hate rain. We do not need it right now either it's already wet out. My dogs paws get way too muddy and they aren't able to go run off their extra energy. They have been pretty good and so has Kody to whipe off the boys's paws.

Just wanted to say hey. I will probably post tomorrow. If you all have an extra minute, please say a prayer for a classmate of mine from High School. Mindy Hughston was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in her brain. That was right after she had her little girl, who is now 4. She got through that okay and starting getting her life back. She was diagnosed again not too long ago with it in her spine I believe and in maybe some organs. Now she is fighing an infection in her colon I believe and she's very weak and in a lot of pain. From her sister's updates on facebook, she is in more pain that she has been ever...even with all of the chemo/cancer problems. She wasn't strong at all because she was still having treatments. She's in a children's hospital right now fighting it, but they are saying it will be a very long, difficult process and she will be in ICU at least 7 days. Please pray for her, her husband, little girl, and family. I know she is a strong soul, but not sure how much more her body can take.

Thanks!

Show Us Where You Live--Where do you shop?

I love to shop! I'm excited about this post, but unfortunately there aren't many places in my hometown to shop for clothes.
I find the majority of my clothes for work (which I have to dress up--business casual) at Macy's. I love Macy's! I normally am the black pants type of girl, with black flats, and then a cute top or jacket. I love jackets...my favorite brands are INC, Jones New York (they have great jackets), Style & Co., and occasionally I will find cute tops in Charter Club. I am a BIG clearance shopper and never spend full price on an outfit, unless it's for a special occasion that I have to have it right then. Normally towards the middle to end of the season Macy's will have these brands 75% off at least...last weekend I got 2 new tops from Macy's and the Joseph.A brand for $7.50 each!! I was lucky enough to visit Macy's in New York City during Christmas....AMAZING! I also spend quite a bit of money at the Estee Lauder counter. My mother-in-law's best friend manages it, Sally Walker is your Estee go-to girl! Double Wear foundation is the best. I also really love my foundation brush that I paint my make-up on with each morning. Best $30 I ever spent. Double Wear is a 16 Hour Make-up and you don't have to touch up during the day at all. I love the Double Wear powder over it....I actually am obsessed with all Estee Lauder products!

I like how plaid is coming back. I love plaid! I bought a orangy, plaid button up shirt and it looks so cute with a brown cami under it, jeans, and boots. Jeans fit me weird and I love Silver jeans (which you have to pay full price!), and a.n.a from JCPenneys. I think it's nuts to buy jeans that cost $100+...maybe I just think that because I don't have that kind of money to spend on 1 piece of clothing. I'd rather buy 2 pairs of shoes with that! This isn't the exact pair, but I have some new Franco Sarto black heels...LOVE them!

Typically though, if I am not dressed for work I have a solid color (black, red, gray, white, etc.) long sleeve t-shirt from the Gap (love those) and jeans. I'm a plain dresser, but I like to think that is always classy. In the summer that just gets switched to khaki capris and your basic t-shirts. I love my Yellowbox flip-flops too!!

If I am not shopping for clothes, I love Target. They have everything you need. Registering there for our wedding was a blast, that took 3 hours!!!! I love our bedding...

I also love Kirkland's Home Store....I found tons of things for our home here. They are really reasonable and have different things.

Of course, I have to say I love to shop at Southern Hills Jewelry--My Dad's store. Currently I'm obsessed with Kameleon Jewelry, http://www.kameleonjewelry.com/ It's really cool stuff. You have a sterling silver necklace, bracelet, ring, earrings, sunglasses, etc...and can change out the middle pop into whatever pop you have. I have a few different pops and they all work in any of the jewelry. Someday I will wear my red & black pop in my necklace and the next day in may go in my ring. Love this stuff!

We also have several cute gift shops in town. At Home Market is my favorite, and that's where I get my Vera Bradley & Yellowbox fix!
Currently, I am carrying the Bowler Bag in Carnaby...I also got the new Turn-Lock Wallet in Carnaby for Christmas. I love the Bowler bag and the wallet!! Sorry for the little wallet picture. It's great and lots of room to organize...just like the purse. My new favorite is Sittin' in a Tree!