November Updates!

So we have a few things, good and bad, to post!
First, a few weeks ago, our house was hit by a bad storm. It caused power outages in Altus and damaged and destroyed some barns and other buildings in Blair and also blew the west side of our metal roof off, along with our satellite dish. The pictures of the damage are still on my camera but every pice of metal had all the screws still attached.  Michael has reported it to our insurance guy and has ordered new metal for the entire roof, which will have to be redone.  Oh and also we got a new dish.
Secondly we have gotten to view our wedding pictures which some are on Facebook now and are waiting for our CD of all 400+ pictures so we can get them all printed.  I am currently working on our wedding announcement which will be in the paper probably Sunday the 21st. Here are a few of the best!!!

Also I got offered a better paying job at an architecture firm here in Altus working as an administrative assistant, basically a secretary, but also helping draft proposals, contacting clients, tracking appointments, etc.  I am starting tomorrow, my day off at the hospital, so I will know more soon.
I am working at the hospital on Thanksgiving day but Friday, Michael and I are going to Perkins, Oklahoma to visit his family and have a late Thanksgiving with them : )  We are both excited about going to visit them and spend our first holiday together with that side of the family.
Well Michael and I can't think of any other updates at this time.
Will post again in a few weeks!

Our Home and Home Improvements

Michael bought our house almost two years ago this December. It is a cute 2 or 3 bedroom house, but we have it set up for a 2 bedroom at the moment with the 3rd as an office, a dining room, large living room, kitchen and 1 bathroom. Michael and I put down laminate wood floor throughout the office, living, dining, kitchen and hallway. Also we gutted the bathroom getting new bathtub, toilet, vanity, sink, light fixture, and faucets. Also we laid tile floors and tiled the shower ourselves. The entire house was painted and after a water leak in the bathroom we were forced to get new carpet for the bedrooms. We are constantly updating and adding items to the house. This year we bought a gas fireplace with mantle, tiled the front entryway to the living room, installed new glass and wood front doors and new screen and wood back doors, metal roofed the house, and added a lower large step to the front porch, among other things such as building a new barn and starting an arena for Michael to rope in. Also we added a garden to the west of the house and enlarged my flower bed on the south side of the house. Oh also we bought a small magnolia tree and a wisteria vine. Not sure what is next, we have several ideas and plans for the house such as expanding off the north side of the house to enlarge the laundry and mud room, enlarge our master bedroom and add a bathroom to it and possibly add a carport for our vehicle. Also on the outside of the house we hope to rock the bottom half of the house, retrim the windows and doors to match the metal roof, enlarge my flower bed again and have a cemente curbing placed around it and a concrete walkway around the house toward the back. Whewh... ; )

Our Honeymoon

We had an amazing time on our honeymoon, once it actually got started! We woke up the morning after the wedding, packed, and met Michael's out of town family for breakfast! It was great to get to sit and talk to everyone, outside the craziness of the wedding. After breakfast and goodbyes, we had to finish cleanup on the reception site with the help of Michael's aunt and two great family friends. After this short cleanup we returned home to finalize packing, switch vehicles and head West! We drove to Amarillo, arriving around 3pm, checked into a motel, dropped luggage and our Papillon, Bella, off and went to the mall to look around and buy a few things. After this we went to the Saltgrass Steakhouse and had an amazing dinner and drinks, although we had to sit at the bar because the restaurant was so busy. We woke early the next morning, packed, and Michael and I went to visit one of his leather supplier's store in Amarillo, which are also long friends of Michaels. After this and taking Bella to PetCo, of course, we were headed West again! We stopped for a mexican lunch in Tucumcari and proceeded on to Taos. We arrived in Taos at 5:30ish, New Mexico time. We found our rented adobe house easily but were rudely awakened by what we had been fooled into renting. It was, no exaggeration, only 10 feet wide, and two stories tall. We were lead to believe we would have a private courtyard with hottub to enjoy, but the courtyard is the entryway to ONE of the houses touching ours. The house touching the other side had a loud barking dog and multiple views inside the small house. The living room measured possibly 10 foot by 20 foot, possibly, and had a flatscreen television with a screen smaller than my 15 inch laptop screen, and one chair and a loveseat to sit on, thats it! I bawled, after I got over the initial shock of being furious. Luckily we spent on hour on the phone and internet, searching for anything but a hotel, that would take dogs, and found a sweet lady who, on her time after work, found us a GREAT 2 bedroom house in town for us to stay from Monday evening till Thursday morning. It had a huge living and dining room combo, with a very large kitchen, a laundry room, pantry, office, large master bedroom with his and hers sinks and a nice stand up shower. It also had a small grill and large front patio and a small fenced in yard for Bella. We had fun in Toas, on Tuesday we drove out to the Royal Gorge, then walked around the square, and Michael grilled at home for dinner. Wednesday we drove around town, exploring outer area shops, ate lunch at a little sandwich place, then that evening it rained so we drove around the Enchanted Circle, starting with Angel Fire, then stopped in Eagle's Nest and found Russian Sage plants that I'd been looking for, then on to Red River, and back to Taos. Michael grilled pork chops for dinner that night! It was wonderful sitting on our large patio, in the cool air, grilling and having drinks, with the beautiful view of mountains in front of us. The next day we woke early, cooked breakfast and packed up and headed to Albequerque! We were so excited for a new adventure! Albequerque was great! We ate out on a patio at a great mexican place then shopped the Old Town shops, finding nice people and great jewelry! We found Michael a beautiful new handmade wedding ring. That evening we started the drive back to Amarillo but only made it to Santa Rosa, where we rented a La Quinta, which if you didn't know, is Spanish for bring your dog ; ) We ordered pizza in the room and relaxed! The next day we drove to Amarillo and finished shopping and picked up leather, then had lunch at Michael's favorite, Logans, then headed back home! We were all so happy to get back home! We got to come home to a spotless house thanks to Lynda Moreau, it was a great homecoming.