Good Things in 2010

February


1- Put an offer in on our future house
2- Learned a lot at my job training.
3- God showed me just how cool he can be. Remember?
4- Actually agreed on paint colors with Colton (although it will probably change)
5- Had a wonderful talk with one of my best and closest friends.
6- Beautiful bridal session with Colton and wonderful food at the Cheesecake factory.
7- Saw Mandy again, met Jack and had a great time watching the superbowl.
8- Saved $60/month by switching auto insurance companies. Every little bit counts.
9- First day at my new job. Thank you, Lord for providing.
10- Sweet night at home with the hubby.
11- Had an amazing day in the snow.
12- Colton sent me tulips to work, which helped with my awful day.
13- Hailey spent the night! Girl talk!
14- Thank you for Valentine's Day.
15- Received great news, that will be exciting to share.
16- We bought our bedroom set!!
17- Awesome Jack's Mannequin concert.
18- Spent the afternoon in the baby room at work. God is amazing.
19- Started packing and had a fun evening with the husband looking for furniture. So excited to have a new house.
20- Had another wonderful night with Hailey (and did excellent helping her in math this time)
21- Made a comitment to God today. We are excited to live in obedience.
22- Discovered the greatness that is 5 guys, burgers and fries! :)
23- Actually worked 8.25 hours at work!! Woohoo!!
24- Worked 10.25 hours today!! I am so thankful for these extra hours.
25- Starting feeling sick, but had a great hubby to take care of me.
26- Sick day. However, it was an excuse for a movie day with the hubby.
27- Found out that I will have my teaching certification very soon. :)
28- Saw Sam and Jen's new apartment and was able to spend some time with them. They also gave us a lot of boxes for our move.

Energy-less

Edit: No, the news is not that I am pregnant. haha. :)

This new job has kicked my butt. I literally have no energy left when I get home. Imagine that. Spending 8 hours with 4 year olds and not having energy at 5:30 pm. tehe.

Friday was a hard day. It was hard watching the snow melt away. Hard going to work for just a few hours. Hard day at work. Hard night at home. I did get beautiful tulips from my lovely Husband though.

Saturday, I worked in the morning and my beautiful sister in law came over and spent the night. We worked on math until late Saturday night. We also went to one of Colton's shoots. So much fun!

Sunday, we went to church and celebrated Valentines Day by seeing the movie at Studio Movie Grill (and all you can eat pizza).

Monday, I had to be at work at 6 am for a training in Arlington and didn't get home until 7pm. Whew! Long day. I did get some really exciting news I can't wait to share, but it will probably be this summer I can do it. (You can email me if you are curious, I just don't want to post it on the online world).

Tuesday was a lot better. The kids were rowdy, but I'm used to that. I had a schedule set up with lesson plans and it worked AWESOME!! Things are looking up. We also drove around downtown Wylie (so cute!) and looked at our house again. Then, we ended up at Rooms to Go and bought our BEAUTIFUL bedroom set. I am SO EXCITED. It is the one I have wanted for so long now...and it is ours!! Eeeeekk!!

Closing date is in 19 days!!!!!!

My next post may be more insightful, but I want to get things together for our concert tonight (Jack's Mannequin). I have been looking forward to this since December and it is finally here. Yay!!

no pictures post

I wish I had pictures to post, so that it would make this entry pretty, but I don't. :(
I cannot believe it is already AUGUST. Where did the time go? Colton and I have been busy with photoshoots and stuff, so I haven't noticed how fast the weekends go by. He was supposed to have three shoots this weekend, but two were canceled (family reasons). We did get to do one and we drove out to Keller for a children shoot. Fun!
We also went by colleyville to look at the venue for the wedding next weekend. IT IS BEAUTIFUL!! I can't wait. I get to wear my new black dress. Whee!
I went shopping with my mom this week and got that dress and then a plaid dress for $10. (Not together...the plaid was $10). It was a lucky day for me. I never get to go shopping, so it was a little exhilirating.
I made enchiladas (that we are STILL eating) Friday because I thought Hailey was gonna come over. :( She ended up staying home since Coltons Sat. morning shoot was cancelled and she didn't need to help him.
When we got back, we went to Steak and Shake with Sam and Jen (after attempting to go to the movies) and went back to their apartment to play games. SO MUCH FUN! I love game nights, so it was a blast for me.
As far as my diet and exercise plan...I haven't been very good this week, so I need to whip myself into shape again. haha.
Hopefully I'll have pics for my next post.

Catch up pics

Ok, I have been up to a lot lately and no time to post. So here will be some pics to catch you up. I have quite a few of our baby that I need to put up.





Top to bottom: Chuck's Valentine gift, Chuck and daddy, BATHTIME!! haha

I went to OperaWife's musical...Company. It was FANTASTIC!!



Also, Sam, Jen, Colton and I went bowling again...and I did MUCH better by the end... here are some pics.
























This weekend I have Jen's bridal shower and then Hailey and Taylor are coming with us to a comedy club. :) That will be fun... I won't forget my camera.

Ugh! Ok, I thought I had more time to post, but Colton got off work early and I have to finish dinner (Mixed veggies and chicken skillet) SO I will leave you with this pic of Hailey and me. tehe

Fooooooood

So the past week, I have been an extra good wife. For no other reason, then I got my hands on some good recipes and began to cook them. I thought I would be nice and share them with you...
Thursday---> i made Garlic meatball & cheese subs. Here
Friday------> I made BBQ muffins. :) Here
Saturday---> I made smothered chicken & greenbean skillet w/ homemade mashed potatoes here.
Sunday-----> Leftovers.
Monday----> I made BBQ pork tenderloin sandwiches. Here.
Tonight----> I am making taco soup. Here.

Now, here are my reviews:
Garlic meatballs...WOW! It was the perfect amount of sweet. Honey and garlic together? it sounds scary, but it rocked. Colton doesn't like sweet dinner foods too much, but he loved this. It made so much too. We had TONS of leftovers. (which by the way, it reheats well too).
BBQ muffins...These were great also. I don't think they were as good on leftover day, but the first day they tasted fantastic. I really like the BBQ beef recipe. I couldn't stop eating what didn't fit in the muffins.
The Kraft smothered chicken and green recipe is probably one of colton's new favorites. I am in love with the Kraft recipe books (Thanks amber!!) and website. They are so easy to make, and have all the nutritional info right there for you.
BBQ pork tenderloin was real good too. I brought some of the leftovers for lunch today, so I will tell you how they are. :)

I know, I pretty much rock (haha, just kidding)...but i have a whole lot more planned. Even a romantic Valentines dinner. :)

This Christmas...

I am so disappointed. I listened to all the Christmas radio stations since Thanksgiving and NEVER once heard N'Sync's "This Christmas". I am so sad about that.

Hmmm... where to start. I guess I will start our Christmas Extravaganza on December 23. I spent the WHOLE DAY baking, cleaning, and I made colton the best meal ever (haha, not really the best ever, but it was dang good). I made BBQ grilled chicken with sauteed mushrooms and onions, w/ a hint of garlic, corn, a fresh salad and a baked potato. =) Afterwards, Sam and Jen came over and we went bowling (I wish I would have gotten a picture of the scores bc it was quite funny). Sam literally scored 100 points more than me... (I think I had like 78 and he had 179 or something). Colton had a 150 and Jen even broke 100. The next game we all did worse...except me and I think i was a couple points higher.

Colton and me (I'm wearing glasses because my contacts are old and I need new ones. haha) Me and Jen, Sam and Jen

Then, we decided to go to Adventure Landing for mini golf. It was closed. So we walked around the cool Walmart in Plano. (How fun, I know). We rented House Bunny (cute movie!) & watched it at our apartment. I definately ate a whole pint of Blue Bell *silly me*. On Christmas Eve, I woke up and bathed Chuck, showered and made the cream cheese icing for my cheesecake. (It was INCREDIBLE!) i made a red velvet cheesecake w/ chocolate cherry mice candy.

My cheesecake & red mouth after eating it

We loaded up the car with what seemed like a month's worth of stuff for just 2 days and headed to Mesquite. We stopped by my parents house so they could see Chuck(since they haven't seen him in a while) and then we went to Colton's family. We unloaded everything, set up chuck's "house" and went to church with them. It was so nice getting to see so many people we haven't seen in a while. I miss it so much. I wish that we could go there now, but it's just too far away (oh yeah, and I work on Sundays). It was a beautiful service and an awesome building (it was Colton's and mine first time to see it). We had to RUN out of the service and get home to put the ham in the oven, get food ready and pick up Colton's PawPaw.

Hailey and me, Colton and me (both taken in the car on our way to church), Landon & me after opening gifts.

We ate ham, mashed potatoes, corn, dressing, giblet gravy, deviled eggs, and so much more. Then we exchanged "family presents" I got a cookbook from Landon, money from the grandparents and Colton and I got a giftcard to go get a couples massage at massage envy from Hailey and Taylor!! I am VERY excited about that. We gave Hailey a giftcard to Forever 21, Taylor a giftcard to the Buckle, Landon a giftcard to Best buy... grandparents got framed family photos, and parents got giftbaskets with cool stuff inside. Oh, and colton and I exchanged our ornaments this year. It is our new tradition. He got me a beautiful snowflake that simply had "2008" on it. I got him a silver heart that said "For Love, For Life, For Real, For Keeps". We wanted to start this tradition, that each year we will get an ornament for one another, Chuck, and once we have a kid, we will pick one out for them too. But, it has to be of something memorable from that year. =) We all got to bed pretty early since Santa was coming the next day. Landon and I woke up around 6 and tried to go back to sleep. Finally at 8, we decided it was time to wake up everyone... colton, Mr. Grumpy pants in the morning was a hard nose to wake up. we waited in hailey's room for the "go" and all went downstairs to see what Santa had left us. It was my first Christmas morning with the Bradshaw family, so itw as really exciting to see all the Santa stuff. I haven't had that in so long, since my family pretty much did stockings on Christmas morning and everything else christmas eve. Santa was good to Colton and I. we got our GPS, clothes, DVDs, and lots of other stuff. After all that, we hung out at the house for most of the day and went and saw Marly and Me. There wasn't a dry eye in the theatre ( I wish I had got some "after" shots at the theatre. haha).

One of our gifts from Santa was a framed pic of Chuck when he was little bitty, Chuck with his candy cane bone, Hailey and I BEFORE the movie

Colton and I packed up and went home.

That was pretty much the extent of our Christmas...it was a great time with family.

I must say...

the southern smokehouse burger from Chilis is INCREDIBLE and even better when you are starving. We went to Chilis last night to help my hunger and this giant thing is what I got...w/ a side salad. I definately ate it all...
all.

Just wanted a post to say WOW.

Week-In-Review

Monday-Wed...sick, sick, sick, sick, sick. The only time I left the house was on Wednesday night for work. UGH! I hate being sick more than anything else in the world.
Thursday- I still didn't feel 100%, but I had to go to school (I had a test in one of my classes). I went and it was nice to see my girls at school. Other than that it was kinda a crappy day. The three things I didnt study very hard (what I missed while I was gone) just happened to be the three essay questions on the test. GRR!! I think I totally messed up with the V stages. See if I ever forget what Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, (which was is the 70s Amber. You were right. Haha! I suck.) or Riggins vs. Nevada (was in 92) is!!! I was gagging on the way home from school (no idea why, just gagging and throwing up in my mouth). I got home to a beautiful candle lit livingroom/kitchen and plates and salad bowls set out with soft beautiful music playing in the background. It really felt like a movie fora brief second before I ran in the bathroom and threw up, just clear liquids though. I thought my spleen was coming out. Then, I felt much better. I went back in the living room to enjoy my surprise. Colton picked up that pasta from Pizza Hut (AMAZING BY THE WAY) and breadsticks. Complete with salad. I enjoyed it. Then, my second surprise... BLUE BELL Coffee icecream, oreos and chocolate sauce to that Colton "marble slabbed" together (tossed and mixed and all that).
It was so romantic and sweet and the most time we have spent together in a while.
Friday- woke up and made waffles with the mix that we bought at Williams and Sonoma (maple pecan) and used the extra for a small loaf of bread. Then I made Cream Cheese frosting to mix with the sauce. The extra frosting I put in the fridge to give to my parents with the bread. Then, Colton and I took Chuck to the vet (we had some good laughs at his expense). He got his third round of shots, and I guess the treat they gave him took his mind off the pain, but 30 seconds later he was screaming and whining (This was funny because it was the latest reaction I have ever seen). We picked up the strawberries and chocolate and I made strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream icing with chocolate covered strawberries on top for my dads birthday. Then we drove to mesquite. Delievered the goods and came home. I made a grand dinner of garlic seasoned chicken strips, baked potatoes, BBQ sautated onions, baked beans and salad. We ate and I worked on my Spanish homework (BLAH!!)
Saturday- Worked, met up with a family in a very nice neighborhood that I will now be sitting for on weekends (their family and others in the neighborhood) . Then I went to my Haute Facade appointment (see below) where I was treated to a makeover, champangne (although I just had the juice, no champange) and delicious orderves (sp??). Oh yeah, and they made me HOTT! Came home and crashed (after pulling out all the bobbypins and washing my face and teeth) Only to wake up this morning to know I DIDNT TAKE OUT MY CONTACTS so my eyes and head have been killing me all morning. So yes, i went to work, in public, with VERY minimal makeup and glasses.
I am one hott mama. haha
Oh, and because this post is so long...I need to update more so I dont have to cram that all in in one entry.

Why. Every week??

Weekend Wrap-up:

Friday: Colton and I went to IHOP (yum!) for a breakfast date. Then we went to best Buy to get accessories for his new camera. We took Chuck to the dog park (pics will be up soon I hope. we took them on his new camera and need the thing to dl it to the computer). That was so much fun. All the dogs were huge and were slobbering all over lil' chuck, but he did so good. he never tucked his tail in. He never even appeared nervous. I'm so proud of him. =D
Saturday: I worked... went grocery shopping. And came home and made a DELICIOUS meal. (smothered chicken breasts. Aka...grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, bacon and cheese on top), mashed potatoes, peas(for me), Glory Greens (for Colton), and french bread. Colton got called in to work early, so I officially started my new "work out" plan. It was so much fun, and man do I feel it this morning in my thighs. I took before pics so I can track my progress. I decided on this for two reasons
1. Becca's wedding is next month and I want to look good in my dress.
2. When I weighed myself last night I was the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life (and I wasn't wearing clothes!!)
OK, maybe three
3. I just want to be in shape and feel good about myself again.
Sunday: Here is where the title came in... I woke up sick as a dog this morning (why do we say "sick as a dog"?). My throat is killing me, my nose is running, I keep sneezing, and my head hurts. i am at work now and I just keep feeling bad. I have been able to get some homework done, so that is good.
It just stinks that the past two weekends I have gotten sick. GRRRR!!
Hopefully I can get home and get some rest tonight, which means I automatically have to miss out on day 2 of my workout regimin. Ugh!!

First attempt...slightly failed.

So I made my first bath of cupcakes. hehe. Its a lot of fun baking from scratch. I accidentally put in too much butter in the batter.
I should have kept them in the oven a little longer so they weren't as fluffy.
With a glass of milk they taste pretty delicious, I just need to work out a few kinks...
tonight we are making chicken...let's see if we can do that the right way.

=)


Here's a picture:


yellow cake chocolate frosting


Please excuse the kitchen mess. haha

Yummy cupcakes!!

A wonderful friend got Colton and I a giftcard to Williams & Sonoma and we finally got to use it. We got Maple Pecan bread mix...Maple Pecan sauce...grilling sauce (spicy beer battered I think)... and a WONDERFUL cupcake book. No lie it has EVERY cupcake imaginable with endless possibilities. It teaches you how to make all sorts of frostings/fillings/toppings. My mouth is getting happy just thinking about it.

Yesterday wasn't the best day. It was actually no where close. I wrecked Coltons car. =( Well maybe not his car, but his bumper. *sighs* He wasnt very happy.

School is going alright. Spanish is kinda kickin' my butt. (It would help if I had access to the class the day it started and not two days late...and then I cant get into the "Spanish Club" which apparently has some of our mandatory assignments).

back to my homework.

All about me...kinda

Trying to pass the time at work so I can go home and make delicious Dorito casserole. HURRY UP 6 O'Clock.

Favorites:
Color: hmm..this one is complicated. I like all shades of blue and green. But I LOVE "black and white"
Animal: Non-domestic: Polar Bear Domestic: Dog (specifically Siberian Husky)
Movie: The Notebook, Sixth Sense, Moulin Rouge, Aladdin, many more
Book: The Bible
Magazine: haha. I read the People and US weekly at work all the time.
Song: I hate answering this question. I love all songs.
TV Show: ONE TREE HILL!!!! I like The Closer, Boy meets world, Friends
Food: Hmmm, I love Italian and Tex Mex food. =)
~~~
Right now...I am:
Watching: A little girl sit against a giant eraser reading a book.
Listening: To people speak back and forth in Spanish. GA! I wish I payed attention in class.
Creating:A wonderfully entertaining blog entry. Ha! =)
Doing:"Working"
Thinking: Of how to make it through the next 2 1/2 hours!
Reading: What I type to make sure I spell everything right