The definition of a Southern Winter

January-March are some of the most unpredictable months I've ever experienced in Arkansas. First of all it started out looking like this....

Then we had such beautiful weather (75 degrees in February) that the hubs and I went to the race track. In the picture below I had on a short sleeve dress and *almost* wore flip flops. Oh I long for those days again...
Just to prove that it was so nice out, I have a sampling of the race track. The weather might have been fantastic, but our betting strategy was not. And the casino there is a rip off. I've won more money in Vegas than I have in Hot Springs, Arkansas. *Sigh* I guess not everyone is cut out for the cruel world of horse racing gambling.
Then the weather reverted back to the top picture. Expect this time it dumped about 6" on us. I can't even remember the last time that happened. I think I have baby pictures somewhere to prove it happened but that's about it. I do however remember being trapped inside when we had the worst ice storm in history back in 2000. This is how ill-equipped Arkansas is to handle something like this. We had a state of emergency, most places had no power, we had no sand/salt trucks, and we had to ask our neighboring states for help. I think we were rendered helpless for about a week. For Snowmaggedon '11 we had few sand/salt trucks but most of the time I see them plowing, the plow is up. Hey buddy, it's gotta be down to work! We're definitely not pro's at this by any means. Welcome to winter in the South!So what all of this means to me is A) crappy weater. B) No one, and I mean NO ONE, is coming to look at our house. C) this is good because we have no foundation on the new house. D) I got so bored I made brownies from scratch! SCRATCH! I didn't even know I knew how to do something like that. Most everything I make is out of a box or frozen. I was pretty proud of myself when they came out tasting like food...any yummy food on top of that. I also swear that I might of gained 5 pounds by eating everything in my home while I was trapped there for two days.

In my time on snow house arrest I made the following observations about our living style.

• We're very cold natured people. We have some of the biggest blankets ever
• We keep only junk food in the house (bad idea)
• Laundry always needs to be done
• Dark hardwood, cat, winter weather DO NOT mix
• the dishwasher is always full

And all of this mess is created with just the two of us, plus a cat. I can't imagine what would happen if we added to our family....

But alas I am free!!! Snow, snow go away. Save your accumulations for the North! And Mother Nature, I live in the South for a reason....let's get it together!

Side note: two more weeks until warm weather and the beach! Wohoo!

Happy 2011!!

Happy New Year a couple of weeks late! New year, new home in the works! Wohoo! Over Christmas and New Years we finally listed our house and all we need now is a buyer. Anyone in the market for a slightly used house? :) Things in our neighborhood generally sell well so I'm not too worried about it but it would be nice to have it finished and focus on our new house. A week or so before Christmas we met with our build

er to go over which trees we might be able to keep. We back up to a greenbelt which is awesome so we'll always have some greenery around us. Once all of that was decided they cleared the lot and then end result was this:

Not much to look at now, but in 6 months our beautiful new house will sit on that lot. This week we met with our builder again to go over some design items on the inside. At the end of this meeting, he informed us we really needed to pick a brick! Apparently our house will be framed in about 4 weeks. Crazy! So this weekend the hubs and I are scrambling over to Acme to find the perfect brick for our house. Only one problem....we have no clue what we want. Well I have some ideas but the hubs doesn't necessarily agree with my choices. I'm sure we'll come to a happy medium though. So, what's the rush on brick if he doesn't need it for another 4 weeks? Well, here's the kicker. They don't just have tons and tons of bricks on hand...you would think otherwise if you drove to the back of the building. Apparently, they have to be shipped in. Depending on the brick we choose, it will either take 2 weeks to come in or can take up to a month. I guess better early than late.

As for Christmas and New Years, everything went splendidly...minus the whole bugs in the tree situation. Apparently, we picked the one tree on the lot that was infested with tiny bugs. This led to them dying and falling on to the tree skirt and presents. The tree was also extremely sappy and dripped on the skirt and presents. Next year, new skirt? Yes please! I have a few I would like but they come from Pottery Barn and are around $100. I think I'll stick with Garden Ridge. New Years was awesome! The older and wiser we get, the more we realize we really don't want to be out with a bunch of drunks. So we had a "party" at our house. I use the term loosely since it was 2 other couples and us. But hey, we had a good time and even made it to midnight. This is a BFD in our household since most of the time we're zonked out by 930!

Now is just a waiting game. Waiting to see if our house sells, waiting to see where we'll move if it does, and waiting for the house to be finished. Realistically, it can be finished in about 3 months. Are we ready for that? Not too sure. But I know I'm definitly looking forward in 2011! It's going to be a great year!

Christmas 2010

For Goodness Sake Christmas Card

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New car and pending vacation

Well today I say goodbye to my Pontiac G6. It's a little bittersweet. It's been a great car for 3.5 years but sadly they no longer make the Pontiac and my car is out of warranty. Recently something went wrong with it and luckily it was covered under the Powertrain warranty. But this got me and the hubs thinking...maybe we should just trade it in and get a lease vehicle. I pretty much drove everything European under the sun. The Infinity was high on the list, but the hubs didn't like that it was rear wheel drive. Cross it off. Next was the Volkswagen CC. It was an awesome car but the lease rate wasn't right. Hold off for negotiations. Next was Mercedes. The C300 was so common looking. Hyundai actually makes a car now that looks just like it for a lot less than $500 a month. And this car had nothing in it. Big fat X! Finally with a little convincing we went back American. I stopped in to see my good family friend and car salesman at Everrett GMC and he and the hubs convinced me to drive the 2011 Buick Regal. Just to be clear, I used to have one of these. It's what I traded in 3.5 years ago for the Pontiac. But boy have things changed in 11 years! Lol! This one looks more like a BMW 5 series than the granny car I had to drive after wrecking a new car when I was 16. It has heated seats, leather, XM, a moonroof, all the gadgets a girl could want, minus Nav, but I never go anywhere so who needs it! So my car payment will be about $2 less than what we're paying now and everything is covered under warranty for 4 years. But the good news, in 39 months it goes back to the dealer so I don't have to worry about it. I feel like it's a good financial move for us. You don't want the unexpected to happen with a car and be out of pocket hundreds to thousands of dollars. Especially while building a new house...which we signed our real estate contract this weekend and will be meeting with the builder to get a final rendering!!! I'm so stoked! I really can't wait to move, which once again will be bittersweet, but I will have a backyard and more closet space and room for furbabies and other babies! I'm just really excited for the next step in our life together.

As for vacation, 5 days of work left! Which reminds me....I must make a packing list, pronto! I crazy like that, but I can't forget anything. I'm super excited to go to DC because I've never truly been. On a college trip in HS we went to Georgetown and got to roam around there for a bit. And it was amazing. I loved everything about that town. So I'm excited to get to go into the heart of DC and see Lincoln and the Washington Memorial, and the Vietnam Wall and all the good stuff that goes along with it. But I'm also excited to go shopping!! I might have a slight shopping problem, but nothing premium stores can't cure! So on Sunday I will be leaving on a jet plane for our nation's capitol and helping to pull us out of this recession! I do what I can. :) Then the week after we get back I get to go get my Christmas tree! Oh my where has the year gone!

1 Year!

The hubs and I made it to our one year anniversary! Not that there was ever a doubt that we would. Now I don't have another theme anniversary to prepare for until our 5 year. The 1 year was the paper/clock anniversary. I had a really cute idea until the hubs spoiled it. It initially started out that I would get him stationary as his paper gift and then when he thought that's all he got, I would surprise him with this particular brand of pen he likes. It's ridiculous for a pen if you ask me but to each their own. Instead, he did get the pen since he figured out he was getting one and I made him a "today is" calendar with each day having a reason on why I love him. Needless to say he loved both gifts.

Now on to me!! He went with the clock approach. I got a new watch that I love and a new giant clock. My old one from Target broke somehow (it won't keep time) so he replaced it with a big one from Pottery Barn. I absolutely love it!!

We pretty much took it easy all weekend even though I did go out and test drive new cars. Mine has been having some issues lately so we're weighing our options. Do we wait for it to go kaput or do we trade it in and lease something else. So far I'm like the the VW CC but the lease pricing isn't quiet where we want it. Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens on that front. But for now, my car is out of the shop and running like new! (knock on wood)

Lastly, last night we went to dinner at Arthur's, which I highly recommend. Great ambiance, great service, and just a great celebration place all around. When I ordered dessert they wrote "Happy 1 year anniversary to the Verbos'" in chocolate. It was pretty cool! Then on home to eat one year old cake...this was the part I was least looking forward to. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. The wedding cake retained most of it's flavor. However, the grooms cake was pretty rough after a year. We took a bite of each and promptly threw them out!

All in all, it was a great weekend and it's been a great 1 year anniversary. I'm looking forward to many more to come, but the 1st will always be the biggest and best milestone.

Game on!

So it's finally here...we've all been anticipating it for months on months. That's right, it's finally College Football Season! Yes, to me it's a season and I can't wait. This weekend is the first LR game and the hubs and I have our tickets and now are praying it doesn't rain. We can't miss this one since we won't be here for the AR vs. LSU game. I'm pretty upset about it since I haven't been in a few years, but he gave me two options. One go to the AR vs. LSU game...or two go shopping at King of Prussia the day after Thanksgiving. For those who don't know, it's only the largest shopping center (based on square footage) in the US. Mall of America is technically the largest but doesn't have as many retail stores. They win sheerly for the theme park, which I think is cheating. So bring on the shopping. Ok so that may make me a fair weather fan, but Crate and Barrel is just irresistable to me, especially on Black Friday...and I may have a small shopping problem. While we are up that way for Thanksgiving, we'll be stopping off in DC. I can't wait to take in the shopping, I mean sites, while we're there too! It will be a nice little three day vacay for me and the hubs and hopefully we'll get to celebrate our 1 year anniversary somewhere nice while we're there, even if it is two weeks after the fact.

So overall, the Hogs look pretty good so far. We did play what I call a cupcake team on Saturday night, but somehow our crappy kicker seemed to do better for himself. Maybe he went to kicker camp over the summer or something. Last year he cost us TWO important games. One was FL, the other LSU. We CANNOT let that happen again this year. So here's to hoping for a good season!!!

Over Labor Day, the hubs and I labored away on our yard. We starting to do small things to make our house stand out from the others and our yard is one area that definitely needed some work. When our builder cut the land, he didn't grade it right so the water pools in the backyard in sections and kills the grass. One such area was where I had some really nice grass growing and thought it would survive, but alas the gutter killed it all with the water. It doesn't help that our "lawn maintenance included" gardeners suck! I would fire them, but oh wait, it's built into our mortgage. So over the weekend, the hubs and I made three trips to Home Depot. We made little rock gardens. One along the fence where the grass won't grow and the other to pseudo-extend our patio. Looks pretty spiffy if you ask me. We also did it in the front yard where the other gutter was. I went out one day and the grass was completely gone and it was creating a mud hole. No more of that. New rock and mulch garden and new boxwoods down the side of the house. It took about two hours and like I said three trips to Home Depot but I think it was totally worth it. The house will most likely go on the market in March so here's hoping that something moves betweeen now and then in our neighborhood. Approximately 5% is up for sale now, but the competition is pretty weak if I say so myself. Maybe I'm biased, but I guess we'll find out come March!

Moving on

We finally found flat land in Little Rock!!! I never thought it would happen and almost had a meltdown over spending more money to build on a crawl space. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it. Well a few weekends ago our builder spent three hours driving us around town until we finally decided on a new neighborhood in Chenal. I was a little iffy about it since it just opened last year and they haven't had any takers, but our builder had a meeting with Chenal Properties and apparently things are turning around there. They have 3 prospective pre-solds and he agreed to build a spec home next to us so we wouldn't be all alone in this subdivision. Hopefully it will be the jump start the neighborhood needs. It really is the perfect location for us. It's a smidge further for the hubs to drive but it's only 3 miles from my work. Wohoo! Also, we can have a doggie friendly backyard. I can't wait. It might be a couple of years (unfortunately) before we get a dog though. Apparently starting a family takes priority to the hubs and he doesn't think I can handle a newborn,a puppy, a cat, and him all at once. Ok he might have a point, but honestly I'd rather have the puppy. Easier to potty train. :) So hopefully after the beginning of next year we'll be breaking ground on our new house. Honestly, I'll be sad to see our current house go, but we've just run out of space. The hubs broke ground on it before we got together so it was supposed to be his bachelor pad. Then I come along and completely change everything. He even changed the closet plans to include a built in shoe rack just for me! That's how you know you're loved! Even though I would love one day to have the closet that Big built for Carrie in Sex and the City. I already have the shoes all I need is the closet! Is that too much to ask? :) So other than looking through house plans and trying to decide what we want to do not a whole lot has been going on. Things have definitely been slower this year and that has been a nice reprieve to the constant running around that we did last year. Planning a wedding will definitely suck the life out of you. It's been nice to just enjoy our time together and not have to worry about keep appointments and deciding random details. I plan on keeping the hubs forever because I would never have another wedding...and it's an added bonus that I happen to adore and love him. But it looks like things will pick up speed as the rest of the year goes by getting started designing a new house and then in the fall we're planning a trip to DC since his fam is over that way. It's always nice to throw in a mini-vacay with a mix of holidays. There is just one more thing I'm looking forward to...FOOTBALL SEASON!!! Hey U of A, can you send me my tickets now please? Go Hogs!