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!

For every season...

This season has proven to be an interesting and difficult one. First of all it is hotter than ever in June. It's not even July yet and it's already up to 100 degrees on a sunny day. It kind of makes me long for last summer when we had all the storms and it was nice and cool. However, that didn't bode well for lake visits.
We had our first official lake trip a couple of weekends ago and everything went great. Since my parents have a boat, we kind of mooch off of them until we decide we want to buy our own. Last summer was definetly an experience on learning how to park it. But this time, the hubs was a pro! First try! I was so proud! It seems like such a small feat, but believe me it's hard to park those bad boys. So other than a small sunburn (albeit an odd shaped one) the lake was great. The water was a nice temp, but there was so much traffic out there you could hardly stay in one place and swim without getting taken over by someone's wake. I just hope it calms down soon. We did venture to a marina that earlier this summer pretty much got destroyed. I can't remember what the name of the storm was, but pretty much hot and cold collide over water and the result is horrible. It picked the entire marina up and threw it all over the place. There are crumpled boat docks everywhere and pieces of boat on land. It was pretty amazing to see and sad for the boat owners. I guess that's what you have insurance for though. Talk about a freak accident.
Other than that, last week we attended our first political "rally." All sorts of political big whigs were there and it was awesome to be a part of it. Hopefully one of the republican candidates for President was there...if all goes well in a few years. :) I didn't think I would be that interested in politics but I enjoyed hearing the different speakers and learn about the current deficiencies in our state government. Now I know it was a one sided argument, but it lacked the common mud slinging that you normally see. It was a refreshing change.
As for the hard part, the hubs lost a co-worker this week. His grandfather's business partner's step-son passed away at 25. It's been rough dealing with all the emotions that come along with it. I had maybe met the guy once, but what ate at me was the age. No one should ever die at 25! I'm 25 and I would go out kicking and screaming that I'm not ready. For him, there were lots of in office stressors as well as dealing with the emotions he felt on the loss. So in our household, the emotions have run the gamut from happy to sad, the crying. I must say though, that the memorial service was one of the better ones I've experienced. I enjoyed the celebration aspect of his short life, rather than the mourning side. I hope that when my time does come, people will laugh and get drunk at a wake and relish the time they had with me, rather than cry over the loss. So here's to life, no matter how long or how short it's definitely worth living for!

Always running...

Once this week is over I think me and the hubs will breathe a collective sigh. Last weekend we had Memorial Day, which included going downtown twice for Riverfest and staying out way past our bedtime (yes, we're old!), the hubs playing golf, and then a cookout with the grandparents. We were supposed to go downtown to watch the fireworks but got wrapped up in a Law and Order SVU marathon instead. Our collective thought was there will be more in about a month. Oh well. Then this week starts 4-ball...blah! I'm not a fan, but the hubs lives for this time of year. Thursday is the Seafood buffet, band, and drawing for the shoot out at the club. Last time we went together was our 2nd date. In that time period I got asked by people how long we had been married, why we didn't have children, why I worked, and the list kept getting more and more offensive. See, old rich people just have no sense sometimes. Needless to say after that rough patch, I agreed to go out with him for a third time. We just had to avoid the club at all cost. I personally don't think I fit in very well there. It's just a little stuffy for my liking. Maybe it's because I'm not a socialite or a golfer. So we'll see how round 2 goes tomorrow. Then Friday if he gets selected for the shootout we'll be back. Then I'm a golf widow! All weekend to lounge on the couch. Honestly it'll be nice to do nothing, but I may indulge in some pampering. I am way past due for a mani and a pedi. Even my car might get some, since I'm way past due for an oil change. Blah!!!! I'm too impatient to sit there and wait so I've been putting it off for a few months. I guess I'll have to break down and do it.
Also, last night we were at the club again. Jim Keet is running for govenor of Arkansas and the hubs wants to support him. He's kind of a friend of the family, so I tagged along. Honestly, it wasn't half bad. He has a lot of great ideas and I would love to actually see them implemented. But after we got home last night the hubs tells me he wants to run for office someday. I am not cut out to be a politicans wife at all. So not me. But I guess we'll just have to wait that out for a while. But in the meantime it could be fun to get involved even if sometimes all I'm searching for is a little down time.