Weekend Update: Twice as Nice!

Jay and I spent this past weekend in Kansas City in order to celebrate our nephew's first birthday. Jay's parents came over from Colorado, and his cousin and his fiancee live in the area, so it was great to see everyone and celebrate together.

The last time we saw Xander and Liam was on our wedding day. It's amazing how much changes in just 5 months! They are now like little men - smiling and giggling like crazy and almost walking. Their improved mobility and attention spans allowed us to read books together, play with toys and just goof off (this picture below is proof of the goofing off part!).

Liam and Jay bonded right away. Liam is a climber, very smiley and very loving! Todd and May think that between the two boys, Liam is most like Jay. Uh oh! We better watch out!

Here I am with Xander. Xander is just as smiley and loving as Liam though he's more of a climb under than over type. He is probably the one that is closest to walking though I do think that they are both going to be there very soon!

Of course the boys had to devour a cake to celebrate their first birthday! They weren't quite sure what the big deal was and were more interested in playing with the cake than eating it. Regardless, it was pretty cute watching them make a mess!

We love this photo of proud mom May and the boys having a good laugh together!

Besides the great time with family, we got to enjoy a dusting of snow on Friday night! We haven't seen it yet this year, so it was a nice treat.

Just another 6 weeks or so until we see the family again - this time it will be in Colorado!

New Suede Shoes

In preparation for our wedding day, Jay and I decided to take a few dancing lessons. We only had time for 3 short lessons before we headed to Vermont, but really enjoyed the time learning something new together. We had enough fun together that before we left, we signed up for a few more lessons to enjoy after we returned. 

In the rush of traveling and preparing for the wedding day we barely practiced, but I was so happy to have photos of us at least looking like we knew what we were doing! Here is a short video that Jeff & Tara captured of our first dance. Its funny looking back. I could critique our steps and speed, etc. all day, but one thing that I can't help but see is that we are both smiling and having a great time:

We have enjoyed learning the waltz, east coast & west coast swings, salsa, rumba, cha cha, and tango. Our instructor complimented us on how fast we pick things up (I'll give credit to Jay on this - his lead is what helps me remember!) and after six post-wedding lessons, we were admitted into their "Bronze" program for more intense training. Now don't get me wrong...we are in no shape to go out there and tear up the dance floor, but we are at least learning each dance on a deeper level. And in order to get to this level, we needed dancing shoes! Check them out: 

The reason that dancing shoes are so important is because they have a special suede sole that allows you to "feel the floor" better. I know it sounds odd, but man do they make a huge difference! I no longer trip or slide (as much) and am able to really feel confident about my steps. 

We have been going to lessons once a week since the wedding and look forward to that hour we have learning together. We both feel that taking the time to enjoy this hobby is an important part of our married life. It is something for just the two of us - something that is not watching tv, running errands or eating out. And someday, when we are old(er) and grey(er), we will kick butt on the dance floor during our children's weddings!

Happy New Year!

Jay and I spent New Year's Eve day with Tara & baby Alistair while Jeff was at work. We had a great time - made his baby dedication invitations, went shopping at Babies R Us, and grocery shopped for dinner that night. 

Alistair & Jay bonding

Later in the day we all went over to Kiera & Joe's for a nice dinner. I was so impressed with the table that Kiera had already set! It was beautiful - I'm sure her wedding planning experience was behind the creativity on this!! Everyone brought something to share and all the food was amazing!

Beautiful table

Me & my super cute husband. 

Jay had to work that night, so we took this pic around 10 before he had to leave (which is when Jeff was leaving work and on his way over to join us)!

Jeff & Tara celebrate 2009!

This is how I brought in the new year. Alistair was sleeping on me for over an hour! I didn't want to move!

McNeill Family

Jeff, Tara & Alistair stayed over at our place that night & we woke up and had a yummy Jay-made breakfast together while lounging on the couch watching football! Alistair was comfy upstairs on the guest bed. 

We hope that all of you had a very special New Year's celebration and that 2009 brings smiles, wonderful memories, health and happiness! 

Weekend Update: Holy Cow!!

Jay and I went to the gym late Saturday morning only to return to our neighborhood to see 6 or more police cars parked along the road. I also saw a guy standing on the bridge above the wash with a lasso...yes, a lasso. My first reaction: I have to get home to get my camera!! (and I really should have thrown on my new cowgirl boots as well for effect, but that was an afterthought).

I quickly returned to find out that there was a bull in our neighbor's backyard. It had first been seen literally across town (on the west side of Phoenix - we live on the east side) and was running along major streets as the cops tried to corner it. It eventually made its way into our neighborhood and in our neighbor's backyard through a gate that was left open. We got a good view of the bull from the golf course we live in the middle of. Most of these pictures are from standing at the tee box of hole 12 on Arizona Grand Golf Course. There are 2 guys I'll call "wranglers" that were trying to lasso the bull with no luck. It kept charging them as it was very scared and quite pissed off that they were ruining it's day of freedom. 

The bull is right in the middle of this picture. A wrangler is sitting on the wall to the right of it.

Bull staring me down :)

As you can see, the whole back of their house is windows, so they were nervous about it charging through the glass into this poor guy's house. 

Wrangler man with a red towel - just like they do in Spain!! I thought that was pretty funny. 

They had a horse trailer backed up to the gate in hopes of it running back out of where it entered.  

I talked with a cop on the scene who said they were hoping to get some gates to lead the cow out of the backyard safely. Apparently nobody had reported a missing cow so the owner who might have been the best help was unknown. They were also having a hard time getting in touch with veterinarians that could help tranquilize him until they got him to safety. I volunteered to call the Channel 3 "Tip Line" hoping that they could broadcast the story in order to maybe find the owner (or a vet) but never saw anything air on tv or online. I can't believe that a 3+ hour cow chase in Phoenix didn't make the news, but the new Light Rail opened that day and snagged the headlines I guess :)

Other than that we had a relatively quiet weekend...spending today at the bar watching football with the Ameriflight boys, Erin and Kelley. No work for me until Friday, so lots of shopping and sewing ahead!! 

A Married Christmas

Our first married Christmas has been wonderful. The festivities started a couple weeks ago when we decided what we were going to get each other....ready for this? Cowboy boots!! We have been talking about getting them for a few years now and this year everything fell into place.

Jay took me to Saba's during my lunch break a couple weeks ago to check out the options. Little did I know we'd find THE boots! Check out what I was doing at work soon after our lunch date:
I had a little photo shoot with my new boots this morning too - in case you want a closer look:
I love the stitching:
Beautiful, don'tcha think?

Now here's the sad part: Jay has "special" feet. No store in the area carries his size, so we found a pair online that we are hoping arrive soon. Cross your fingers that they fit!!


Our Christmas continued last night as we took a walk around our neighborhood to check out some of the lights and enjoy the cool, crisp air. Not the best picture of us, but Jay only gave me one chance!!!
Right down the street was a cul-de-sac lined by luminaries. So pretty!
I had to get a picture of Santa in his airplane.
We stayed up late to attend midnight mass which of course was beautiful and very uplifting. It was a packed house so we were glad we got there early enough to get a seat! The Christmas music filled the church and the spirit filled my heart.

We woke up this morning to rain. The lemons are hanging heavy on the tree outside our patio and the air is fresh and clean. What a perfect morning!
Like Tricia & Sean, we too enjoyed Orange Sweet Rolls for breakfast as we opened gifts from family. We watched the Polar Express (thanks Stacers!) and have been just enjoying our day together. Dinner is braising in the oven and the house is fragrant of red wine and herbs. Mmmmm.


We wish you all a very Merry Christmas full of sweet memories and special moments with family and friends. God Bless!



Love, Jay and Amie

Weekend Update

Friday night was my company holiday party which was a very nice time. We started with cocktails at the owner's house and then headed over to the Chart House for a delicious dinner and a White Elephant gift exchange. It was great to finally meet people from our Wyoming office that I hadn't met yet and for Jay to meet the people I work with. 

There were 2 party favors given away that night and I was one of the lucky winners! It is a "pad" of twenty-five $2 bills. Apparently my boss' banker puts these together and for tips, etc., just tears off a bill when needed. I thought it was very unique, a bit funny and plan on using them for the Salvation Army bell ringers this holiday season :) 

Saturday morning we got up early to help Kathy and Matt move after which we stopped by our favorite farm stand for some fruits and veggies before heading home for some rest (we had been up pretty late the night before). Jay ended up going out with the boys Saturday night while I finished up some Christmas shopping and wrapped most of the gifts.

Today Jay took me to the Westin Kierland resort to attend the Sunburst Ball. Our dancing instructor was there competing with a few students and teachers from our studio. We were both very surprised at the energy in the room! They were dancing to music like AC/DC and the Beastie Boys, not the type of music many people would think of for a ballroom dance competition! 

Our instructor Michael dancing the Hustle with his mom. 

Instructor David and a student from our studio - dancing the West Coast Swing

It was great to watch people of all levels compete (most in heats where there were several couples at several levels dancing at the same time). Jay and I came home inspired and practiced our moves a bit before finally settling on the couch for some Sunday Night Football! And here it is, Sunday night. Weekends are just flying by as our busy holiday season continues... 

Weekend Update

Our weekend started off with dinner at Buca di Beppo to celebrate Jay's birthday. Unfortunately, I had stayed home sick from work that day, so Jay had to deal with a stuffed up and sneezy wife for the night! Krista & Angelo, Kiera & Joe, Jeff, Tara & Alistair all joined us for some delicious Italian food. We were seated in the "Passion Pit" for dinner which meant that we were surrounded by some very interesting photos! They ended up being great conversation starters! 

Saturday morning, I headed up to Glendale for a 5-hour sewing class with Myla which was really nice (thanks to some help from DayQuil). We really enjoy these long sewing classes as it's a good time to catch up and learn new skills at the same time! I worked on making a button down shirt for Jay which turned out to be more of a two-class project that I will finish (and of course blog about) at a later date. Class wore me out for the day, resulting in a 5+ hour nap while Jay in the meantime headed out to his company's "unofficial" holiday party. I'm pretty sure it was a good time because I got a phone call for a ride at 12:15am! As much as I missed out on hanging out with friends, staying home was a good choice. I needed the sleep!

Sunday we both slept until 11:00. Lazy day, but very nice. We just watched some tv and eventually left the house to grab some pizza for dinner. I was craving something to eat other than soup! We had to stop by Jay's work to send off a plane (it was the first time this particular plane has flown out of PHX for the company so Jay needed to be there to make sure things went smoothly) before heading home...and then back to the airport because the pilots left the maintenance logs at the base after taxiing across the airport!! It ended up being kinda fun because we drove across the airport (literally - on the airport) to get to deliver the logs while the plane was being loaded by the DHL folks. We got to go inside and check out the cockpit - an offer I will never turn down! I checked out GoogleImages for a photo of the plane and the actual one that I'm talking about showed up (of course this pic wasn't taken here): 

Jay had a sore throat today so we've got him on Emergen-C hoping that it will fend off the sickness! This week we have dancing lessons and my company holiday party on Friday night. Christmas is just around the corner so we still have some shopping to finish up as well!