a year in review

I decided to take a look through our photo album to reminisce about the past year. you see, i like to take lots of pictures. i feel that pictures are the best way to document memories. when i am old and grey i want to a bookshelf full of photo albums with nothing but all the sweet memories i made in my life.

so here we go...

New Years Eve- Bill and I didn't make any plans. We just finished our 1st Christmas as a married couple, and it was a busy one. Working in retail, that is our busiest time of year, not to mention that football season is still going. Also, we had family in town visiting, so NYE was really just a time to relax and enjoy each others company. We went to a restaurant near our apartment called Maguires. We didn't have reservations so we sat in the bar. It was fun. Then we just watched the countdown in our pj's. I don't think we stayed awake much longer...

Valentines Day- Another 1st in our marriage. Our 1st married V-Day. I bough Bill tickets to go see the Dallas Stars play. The NHL hockey team for Dallas. It was WAY more fun than i had imagined. I would never sit and watch hockey at home on tv, but being at the game was pretty intense. They play at the American Airlines Center which is in Victory Square downtown. This is also where one of the local news stations has their studios. So after the game we went and stood by the windows, like many do after hockey and basketball games. We waved at the camera and had our 3 seconds of local fame. :)

Deer Accident- On a trip to LR to visit friends and family we were driving home one night after being out with friends and we were hit by a deer. I know this sounds opposite of what you would imagine, but i'm being serious. For those of you that know Rahling Road in LR, AR, you know what I'm talking about. We were in my car, Lil Red. It all happened so fast, that it was sorta a blur. All I know is I saw the deer out of the corner of my eye, I ducked my head, and BOOOM! Ran straight into the back passenger side of my car. Thank goodness Bill was driving, because I was freaked out after all of it. So... $1000 deductible later, my car is shiny and new.

One Year Anniversary- We celebrated our 1st anniversary on April 19th. We had just purchased our 1st home (i'll get to that in a sec.) so we didn't really want to make a huge deal and purchase each other big gifts. But, Bill surprised me and decided to get granite countertops installed in our new kitchen! Happy Anniversary to me! We celebrated by eating at one of our favs, Cantina Laredo, then attempted to eat some of our wedding cake. Not so good, but loved seeing our cake and remembering our wedding day. I got Bill a framed copy of my bridal portrait. I think it might have been a little more for me, than him, but whatev.

New House- Thats right, Bill and I are homeowners! After a long search we finally found the house we loved. We closed on the house one month before we had to be out of our apartment. This gave us plenty of time to get whatever painting and other work done at the house before we had to move in. Boy it was a lot of work! We spent every night after work, every day off, basically every waking minute that we weren't at our day jobs, working on the house. We mostly did a lot of painting. And the big project, the kitchen! So to save money on the counter tops we did all the demo of the old ones ourselves. And, if you're gonna have shiny new counter tops you can't have Formica back splashes and dinosaur age appliances. In goes a new back splash and thanks fam for helping out on the new stove top! We are really enjoying our new home, and loving fixing it up.

Girls visit- My BFF's finally came to visit me in Big D. They all made the trip because we were going to a friends wedding. Its always fun when we all get together. Bill says I get about 50 decibels louder when we're all together. That just means we are having a good time. The wedding was fun too. Its time to come back friends!

Lucy- We have a new member in the family. Lucy Dog! We adopted her from the humane society. We're not totally sure what breed she is, but its definitely some sort of Australian Shepard mix. She is our child. She needs lots of attention and she gets it. She will be 1 in February. We love having her around!

Cowboys- wow, i've gotten to do a lot of amazing things this year with the cowboys. I was able to take many tours of the construction of the new stadium. I was invited to the years of service luncheon and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new stadium. We got season tickets again this year. This has been too fun. Getting to be a part of history is amazing. Working for the Cowboys has provided many perks, and Bill and I both are so grateful for all of it. I also moved to a new store. At the end of August I moved from Firewheel in Garland to Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. This is good for many reasons. Its a bigger store with more inventory. Its a higher traffic mall, not to mention nicer. And, its closer to home. Its been a lot of fun working at the new store.

Destin Vacation- Bill and I took a trip to Destin, FL in July with his family. It was so nice to get away and relax. The beach is my favorite place. We had great weather throughout the entire trip, enjoyed some shopping, and of course, the great company.

Southwest Classic- I am a sucker for traditions, and here a new one starts. The Texas A&M Aggies and the Arkansas Razorbacks are playing in a 10 year match up called the Southwest Classic. It is played at Cowboys Stadium every year. This year was the 1st match up. This tradition is especially meaningful because my cousin is an Aggie, and my family are Hogs. Such a fun family rivalry. We hosted a tailgate this year, and for the next 9 years too. Tons of food, fun, and friends. The only downfall this year was the rain. But that didn't stop us. We hope that it gets bigger and better every year. I can't wait. Oh yeah, and the Razorbacks stomped the Aggies. Sorry cuz!

Halloween- This year Bill dressed up as Billy Ray Cyrus and I was Miley Cyrus. This was totally last minute, so our costumes weren't quite the effort as last year, but still fun. We went out with a couple we met at one of the Razorback watch parties. Lots of fun!

Thanksgiving- Holidays seem to come and go a lot quicker these days. This one is no different. I am so concentrated on the day after Thanksgiving that it is hard to enjoy the holiday itself. I planned the managers tailgate again for the Thanksgiving day game for the Cowboys. It wasn't quite the effort as last year either, but still a fun time. Cowboys won, so all is good. We had thanksgiving dinner the night before with my dad, step mom, aunt, uncle, and cousin. Black Friday was a success as well. We opened at 6am and it was steady all day long.

Christmas- We just enjoyed a lovely Christmas with family. I won't go into much detail because I just wrote about it in the previous post. I can't believe this was our 2nd Christmas as married couple. Soon enough it will be 20 and we wont know where all the time went.

Shew... what a year! 2009 was a good one, but I am looking forward to all that Twenty-Ten has to offer. Thanks to all that made 2009 great, and here's to a happy 2010 to you all!

a very merry christmas

This was me and Bill's second Christmas as a married couple, and it was nothing short of wonderful. We enjoyed spending time with my Dad, step-mom, and her family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Then, Bills family on Christmas day. They made the trip from Little Rock and spent a couple days with us.

Believe it or not, we actually had a white Christmas here. They said on the news that Dallas has not had a white Christmas since 1926! It was amazing. It was no blizzard or anything, just an inch or so. But, definitely enough to make everything look pretty, and of course, the roads dicey.

Bill and I are so blessed. We got WAY more than we could have ever asked for or wanted. If you will remember a previous post of mine on October 12, I made my Christmas list. I was lucky enough to receive a lot of those things. One of those things, which I think is my favorite gift this year, is a gift certificate to the Viking Cooking School. Bill got this for me. I can't wait to pick out my class and for us to go together! Bill also did a little clothes shopping for me, and got me 2 things from Anthropologie. I was amazed at what he picked! One thing was too small, but hey, that gave me an excuse to go to Anthro! Which we did Saturday night, and of course, I found more things that I wanted, and went ahead cashed out the gift card I got there as well. :)

I also got my Reebok Easy Tone shoes. Boy am I pumped about these. I sure hope they work, because any excuse to not have to work out is an A+ in my book! I also got a really good start to my Christmas dish collection. My dad and step mom got me the Pottery Barn 12 Days of Christmas Dishes. They are SOOOO beautiful! And, Bills family got me some of the plates and mugs from the Pottery Barn Reindeer collection. I LOVE them!

We still haven't had Christmas with my mom and step-dad! I love dragging out the holiday as long as possible. hehe! They will be coming to visit in a couple weeks and we will celebrate Christmas AND the New Year. Can you believe its almost 2010? Where does the time go?

Anyways, thanks to everyone that made this Christmas special. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with friends and family, and I hope 2010 brings you lots of blessings!

Me, Bill, and Lucy dog on Christmas

Lucy in the snow on Christmas morning

our house Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

a cowboys christmas: 2

Bill and I got to enjoy our second Dallas Cowboys Christmas party last week. This event is could possibly be what a majority of the Cowboys employees look forward to most. Yeah, getting season tickets is major privilege, and super fun, but its not like I'm down on the field chatting it up and shootin' the bull with the players and personnel during the game. This is an intimate event, well as intimate as it can get with around 500 people. Its not out of the ordinary to bump shoulders with Tony Romo, or do a conga line with Wade Phillips here. Actually its probably going to happen, as you will see from some of my pictures below. This year was no different than the last, Jerry sure knows how to throw a party. Of course, this year we had it at the brand new, amazing, beautiful stadium. Tons of food, sushi bar, dessert bar including mini gingerbread ice cream cones, and or course, open bar. Nothing short of GRAND!

Me and Lori (manager @ Galleria) with head coach Wade Phillips

Me and Lori again

Me and Bill with Jerry Jones

Lori, Bill, and Me with Terrance Newman & Demarcus Ware

Tons of fun, as usual! Can't wait for next year!

collections

usually around Christmas time, birthdays, or any time you need to purchase a gift for someone, you try to come up with a gift that they will truly like. something meaningful. something maybe that they collect or that is a hobby of theirs. so, i always start to wonder... what do people think of when they want to purchase me gifts?

thinking.... thinking... uhhhh... oh yea! no.... hmmm... thats right nothing comes to mind.

i've decided that i need a collection. everyone needs something they collect for Christmas time, right? well, i really love unique ornaments. i've tried (and haven't been too successful) at purchasing ornaments when bill and i go places together. it does help if you actually go places. we'll work on that later. i want to collect ornaments for different phases of our lives together. ya know, to tell our story. right there on our Christmas tree. good idea! if you need ideas, i really like the Merck Family's Old World ornaments. Beautiful.

ok, here's another idea... Salt and Pepper shakers. i actually have a pretty good collection going already. i think they are so fun! you don't even have to use them, just set em out on different occasions to look cute. i always though it would be cool to have one of those hutches with the glass doors with a collection of something in. another good idea. check out the Salt and Pepper Shaker museum.

one more. pigs. i think they are so cute. maybe it has something to do with my obsession with my razorbacks? now, i don't necessarily want pig or pig-like things all around my house, but ya know some unique thing that makes you think, "allison would love this," that would be nice.

now, if you really want to go all out, i would love a true collection of cowboy boots. everyone needs at least one good, nice, true pair of cboots in their closet. but in my case, i mean you could have a pair for every day of the week. LOVE these Arkansas boots.

so now you know what to get me, if your every in a bind and you know i will love it! gosh, i feel like i'm always telling people what gifts then need to get me... i promise i'm not greedy.

tomorrow is Christmas eve, yall! can you believe it? i made it through the holiday season, with only a few minor breakdowns, and hardly any angry customers. yeah! here's to a very Merry Christmas to you all!

Love you mean it!

tis the season

i want to apologize to all my blog followers, all 7 of you, for the lack of posts lately. just haven't been in the blogging mood much. to tell the truth, i've been pretty busy. busy at work, busy christmas shopping, busy trying to rest/take a breath when possible. i am very thankful, though, that i have felt more of the christmas spirit this season, than last. thank goodness, because it gets really tough the closer we get to the big day. i solely blame this on the fact that i work in retail. i digress...

what is it about christmas decorations that make your home feel so cozy? all the little twinkly lights, and shiny ornaments. bill also surprised me last saturday by hanging lights on our trees outside while i was at work. its so happy! i'm pretty satisfied with our tree this year, other than the fact that we now have 10 foot ceilings in our home and our 6 1/2 foot christmas tree looks a little dwarf-like. still love it though. here is a pic of our little tree.

don't worry... there are plenty of presents under there now. none with my name on it yet. (bill you better get on that)

we've got a lot to look forward to in the next couple weeks. the boys are back in town this sunday. they play the chargers. we've got a tough december ahead of us, and our track record has never been the best for december. right now we're tied for first in the NFC east with Philly. we (i say "we" like I'm on the team or something) have to win this one if we want a sure shot at the playoffs. on the 21st we'll be attending our second Cowboys Christmas party. this is the event that everyone waits for. can't wait! hopefully i can get some great pics to share with everyone. then its christmas! we'll spend christmas eve and christmas morning with my dad and step mom. then, bills family will be coming in christmas day afternoon and we'll have christmas dinner with them at our house.

i hope everyone enjoys this Christmas season. Don't get wrapped up in the shopping and stress, and remember, as cliche as it sounds, the reason for the season. Happy Holidays Yall!

where i left off...

i survived! i made it through another Black Friday, or as I like to call it, "DoomsDay." i wont lie, my week was pretty crazy, like i told ya it would be. but, the actual black friday, wasn't as bad as i expected. we were very busy, which was good, but i was never overwhelmed. i guess i'm just adjusting to it. i'm glad its in the past though...




i was a little dissapointed in our thanksgiving tailgate. it seemed unorganized and like no one was really into it. i always have such high expectations, especially when i go out of my way to plan it. i guess i just need to relax a little. it was fun, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't what i had hoped for.

the group at our thanksgiving tailgate (i look goofball)

what else is going on?

-this morning it snowed in dallas. thats right, SNOWED! it was crazy. it wasn't just flurries either, it was straight snow! that was a fun surprise to wake up to.

-i got to open my first christmas present yesterday. this is the one that has been sitting so pretty in my house for about a month now. it was from my inlaws, aka Santa. its something i've been wanting, and am so excited about using this holiday. the reindeer plates and napkins from Pottery Barn. See this post for more details and a picture!

-Tiger Woods is not as clean cut as we all thought. I, personally, am secretly happy about this. I'm not really a Tiger fan, and I knew there had to be some skeletons hiding in his closet. Boy were they! 3 affairs at once...DANG! Boy's been B-U-S-Y! I hate if for his wife and children, and that cute little labradoodle, but i could have called this one.

-Whats with these people that were/were not invited to the State Dinner at the White House? Why are they getting so much publicity? Why is this "ruining their lives?" Is there not more important news in the world? Someone didn't do their job correctly, fire them, and lets get over it! :)

-tomorrow is my first "real" day off in about 10 days. i am super excited! although, i have a list of things to do, it will be nice to be away for a minute. probably gonna pull out some of the christmas stuff, and thats happy! plus i'm gonna try and finish my christmas shopping!

see ya soon!