Happy Birthday, Allan!

A bit has happened since I last updated this. I started getting sick again and so I am officially no longer doing sales. Luckily for me, a job just fell right into my lap. I am now doing office work Tues-Fri at a competing pest control company. I find it very funny. Source, the company Allan is working for, is way better. I'm hoping Preventive, the company I'm working for now, doesn't put me on the phones. I'll tell all their customers to go to Source because it's better. But for now, I'm only processing paperwork so it's all good.

Allan got home a week ago and just happened to get home on his birthday, June 20th. To celebrate, we went to a sock hop. I knew that everyone there would be doing the poodle skirts and the rolled up jeans with white t-shirts so I decided we'd go a different route and go in 50's prom attire. I started to make myself a prom dress, but then got a job and just didn't have time to finish it so wore a dress I already have. The real prom dress is still in the process of being made. I bought Allan a white suit coat and bowtie and we looked awesome! Whitney even did my hair for the occasion.

When we got there, I was absolutely right about everyone else dressing up in poodle skirts and rolled up jeans with white t-shirts. We really stood out with our awesome costumes. One person even told me that if there was a costume contest, we would definitely win. And not only did we stand out with our costumes, but apparently with our dancing too. Everybody there only knew east coast swing so we looked pretty good with our Lindyhop and got told so several times. It was such a great night! Doo wop is my favorite music and we both love dressing up so it was a great way to celebrate Allan's birthday and his being home.



The other way we celebrated Allan's birthday was a surprise party that Whitney and I both threw for Allan and Peter since their birthdays are only one day apart. We told them we were taking them somewhere cool and put blind folds on both of them. We then drove around the neighborhood for about 15 mintues and then came right back to the apartments. When we took the blind folds off, all the sales guys were there! It was awesome! Below is a picture of the whole group at the party.



We had hot dogs cooked on the grill and chips, soda, etc. But I think the best part was surprise was the surprise cake that we got for them. We got Rosa, my wonderful mother-in-law, to help us out and she sent us a picture of Allan & Pete when they were younger. I think they're about 7 and 10 in this picture. We then got it put on a sheet cake at Walmart. It turned out great!



We then put 24 candles on Pete's side and 27 on Allan's side. We tried really hard to light them all, but even with about 5 people trying to light the candles, the wind was too much so they each only blew out about 5, but hey, it was still fun. We didn't have nearly as many people show up as we anticipated so there's TONS and TONS of cake and hotdogs left. If anybody's interested, feel free to come to Houston to visit & eat some!

The Gulf Coast

Allan left yesterday afternoon for his two week military training stuff. I hate this part of the year. Luckily, he took Monday off and we spent the whole day together. We went to the Gulf Coast. It was a blast! The water was so warm and the weather was perfect! There was a bit of a breeze so there were some pretty awesome waves. We loved running out into them and trying to jump over them.  We would also put our backs towards them and try not to step

forward when they hit us. We failed miserably at that part. After our eyes started stinging because of the salt in the water, we decided to build a sand castle. Allan thought it would be cool to make it in the shape of a star. This picture is of Allan starting our star sand castle.

This is me helping Allan with the castle.









TA DA! The finished "castle." Allan was so proud that he got the top of the tower in the middle to stay. The edges don't line up and so he thought it would fall but it didn't. YAY!

Allan looking all hot after sitting in the sand. I can't believe how much sand we brought home with us! I'm still finding it in the shower. 

After the beach we came home and then went out to dinner at a local BBQ place. It was a cafeteria type place but it was absolutely delicious! Allan is already talking about going back again for some good ol' Texas BBQ.

But all good things must come to an end, right? So Allan is now gone until June 20th, his birthday. At least he's not going to be gone for his whole birthday, just a part of the day. Below is a picture of my handsome hubby in his uniform. Gotta love a man in uniform!

Good Dancing

Last night Allan and I went dancing and it was pretty cool. We convinced Pete and Whitney and even Johnny, the sales team leader, to go with us. It was only our second week going and apparently we've already made a name for ourselves. They started playing some wicked fast music and doing a jam (a dance where only one couple is in the middle and everyone else forms a circle around) and at one point, one of the dancers there told us to go in the middle. So we did! I almost died after, but it was pretty cool that even though we'd only been there a couple of weeks, they already wanted us to go in.  Both of us also got told numerous times that we're good dancers. It was such a boost to my confidence in my dancing. Granted, Allan gets told that all the time. :) Still, it was a great experience. 

Quilts Galore!

Recently I've really taken to quilting. Before I got married I had started a few quilts and only finished one. Now, I've finished quite a few. I don't know what changed, but all of a sudden I have a lot of patience for it and really enjoy it. Here are some pictures of the quilts I've made.

This first picture is of my sister holding the quilt I made her for her graduation present (and finished almost a year after). It's a random shag. It has everything from cows to rockets. She had to put the squares in the order she wanted them in because I kept trying to find some sort of pattern and just couldn't do it. It drove me crazy. My sister is about 6' tall so this is a fairly decent sized quilt.



This quilt is the one that I started back in high school and although it's not completely finished because I still have to get it quilted and bind it, etc., the top of it is done & I consider it a huge accomplishment. It's purple and green and is HUGE. I really like it though. The squares in the middle look white, but are actually a light lime green.




This next one is a baby shag that I made for our friend, Jess. Or rather, for her baby. I love it! I definitely have a thing for animal quilts for babies. Allan actually helped me sew it because he wanted to say that it came from both of us. 

This next one is the quilt that Miranda asked me to help her make for her new niece. It's also a shag but instead of squares, we did it in strips. We whipped it out in just a few hours and it turned out great, if I do say so myself. :)





This next one is one that I made for my niece, Abby. It's the first quilt I've finished that isn't a shag! So in other words, my first binded quilt. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hope she likes it.




I have definitely saved the best for last. This quilt is the first applique I've ever done. Originally I started it to give away, but after putting in SO MUCH time, energy, effort and money, I just couldn't give it away. So I'm keeping it for when I have a little girl. It is certainly the most extravagent quilt I've done. I absolutely love it. The pictures really don't do it justice. And although this one isn't finished either (still needs to be quilted and binded), I finished the top and therefore it's being put on the blog.