Day at The Range

Andy and I went to shoot our guns today.  Some family friends of Andy's family have land outside of town, and they have a little spot that we can use to shoot our rifles and hand guns.  We invited Andy's parents to go with us because it had been a while since they shot their guns.  Since we all plan to get our CHL (concealed hand gun license) once Andy has some free time after basketball season, we figured some practicing was needed.  Either way, we love family time!

I promise we aren't gun freaks! LOL

Andy's rifle shots from 100 yards - not bad!

 

Nick's Wedding Weekend

Last weekend, my cousin Nick got married, and I went to his wedding in Kyle, Texas.  OMG!  The venue was absolutely beautiful!!  It was very simple and so beautiful in its simplicity.  The ceremony was outside (thank you Jesus for no rain!), and the reception was indoors in what looked like a restored barn.  I loved the rustic feel and look!  The food was delicious and the dancing was fun.  I had a wonderful time with my family!

After the wedding, I headed to Shiner to spend the night with my mom, which was perfect mother-daughter time.  It was a very refreshing weekend, and I think it really helped get me out of my funky mood that I've been in lately.

On my way to Nick's wedding

Beautiful ceremony!

Mr. and Mrs. Nick Janota

 

Collin, Jillian and me

Me, Jocelyn, and Jillian

 

RIP Christmas Break

Stole that title from a friend... Her facebook status said:  "R.I.P. Christmas Break.  I am looking forward to spending time with your cousin, Spring Break."  Thank you Joy Sladek.  Well said!

Tomorrow Andy and I (and most teachers) go back to work.  I know several of my friends already went back on Friday.  Ugh for them!  Thankfully, we have no students tomorrow so we will have time to get back in the swing of things without them.  Unfortunately, my day will be crammed with meetings and finishing up my grades and probably no prep work for my classes.  But I shall deal with it just like I did last semester. 

Our Christmas break was filled to the max, and we enjoyed every single minute of it.  We definitely ended on a good weekend.  Friday we invited some of the coaches over after the basketball game, and guess what was on TV?  Yep, the Fightin' Texas Aggie football game!  WHOOP!  It was such a great game, and I'm thrilled we BTHO OU!  Thanks and Gig 'Em!  Sorry, got sidetracked...  We invited the coaches over and cooked burgers.  It was a great time of football, food, and fellowship.

Our fun coaches!

Saturday we slept in until about 11:00.  Yikes!  I know.  We rarely sleep that late; however, we were up until about 2:00am the night before.  Our bodies are at the age where we need at least 7+ hours of sleep to be able to function normally. (lol)  We took down the Christmas tree and decorations and did a whole lot of nothing the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Today we went to the Boat Show with Andy's parents.  I like going mainly because they have a little section of campers, and I always love looking at new campers.  The actual Camper Show should be coming up soon, and we'll go to that too.  I did find my (our) perfect camper!  It's a Fifth Wheel and bigger for whenever we expand our family.  Andy needs a bigger truck to haul it, so it will definitely be a while before we get a new one.  Plus, we still really love the one we have now.  Andy likes the campers AND the boats, go figure.  He had a boat mission this trip though... To convince his dad to buy a kayak.  I think he has him convinced, and now we just have to find the perfect one.

Off to the Boat Show...

Floorplan of Perfect Camper #1

Floorplan of Perfect Camper #2

Camping & New Years

Literally two days after Christmas, we had a basketball tournament in East Chambers.  Andy's boys didn't play well.  :(  His bus sounded like the waiting room at the doctor's office and his team was laden with injuries.  The good news though was that I followed the bus and got excellent gas milage.  Grant it, I drove 55-56 mph, but nevertheless, anything over 30 mpg is awesome.

Woohoo!

Saturday we packed up the camper and headed to Kemah with Andy's parents.  Thankfully, we found a house sitter.  Andy was worried about leaving our house for a few days, especially since there have been several break-ins on the Prairie in the last six months.  Plus, I am sure Lonestar enjoyed having someone around the house instead of being home alone the entire time.

We had already stayed at this campground in Kemah, and we wanted Andy's parents to see how nice it was.  Unfortunately, the weather was icky the entire trip, and the problems started the first night we were there.  I was trying to bake some cookies, but the pilot wouldn't light in the oven and the heater wasn't heating up the camper.  So, it's 8:00pm on Saturday night and we realize that gas is leaking out of our propane bottles.  Just lovely.  Thankfully, Skip from Baytown owns a mobile RV Service and drove to our camper that night and fixed our propane bottles!! Yay!

It was really cold in the camper without heat!

The first full day we were there the wind was probably howling at like 30 mph which made it even colder.  Andy and his dad played golf while his mom and I enjoyed some crafting and just talking about life. 

Made chili for the cold weather!

Maddie and Sawdust chillin' while we're crafting.

The second full day we were there was really dreary and eventually it rained all night long.  Andy went kayak fishing in the morning.  The conditions were perfect, but the fish weren't there to catch.  That afternoon Andy's mom and I went shopping at the Outlet Mall in Texas City.  I bought a few things for the camper, a couple of cardigans from Old Navy, and my biggest splurge was some riding boots from Famous Footwear with skinny jeans from Target.

My new boots and skinny jeans

Up close pic of the boots.  LOVE THEM!

Like I said, it rained all night long and all morning.  Poor Andy had to break down the camper in the rain.  It was so nice to come home to our house sitter knowing everything was taken care of while we were gone.

We didn't do anything big for New Years.  We did at least go to Chili's for dinner to have a "date" night.  Since Andy had been up since 5am, he fell asleep around 9:30, and I finally closed my eyes around 11:00pm.  Maybe one day we'll actually go out and party it up for the New Year.  We wish you and yours a wonderful New Year!!

Maddie LOVES camping!