Heading Out Tomorrow

Tomorrow I leave for Seguin with work. We have a screening there and I have to do some observation on Thursday. It'll be a nice break from sitting in this office/house so much but I'll certainly miss the hubs.

I get to spend the night with Samantha! Isn't that just convenient??? :)

Looking forward to some sister time and a night away. I'll drive straight back Thursday and be back in time for dinner. Then one more work day between me and the weekend. I am loving the weekends these days. It's most likely because Phillip gets weekends off now too. It feels like we're grown-ups.

Did I also mention that Grace is coming to see me in the middle of August? Or that I get to head back to La Vernia with the whole family next weekend to celebrate my nephew's 16th birthday? Did I mention that him being 16 makes me feel really old. I have been an aunt for more than half my life. Crazy. And now he's old enough to drive a car. Scary guys. Scary.

Our Top 5 Best Purchases. EVER.

I have been meaning to write this blog for some time. We keep a running list of our "best" purchases. It's a mental list but I figured I'd share it with all of you. These are the top things that we have spent unreasonable amounts of money on and don't make any apologies for. These things have changed our lives... for the better.

In no particular order...

Feather Down Mattress Pad
This was our first huge purchase after the wedding. Remember this post? Heaven in the Form of Feathers and Threads?? Yeah. That purchase. The life changer. And!!! Did I mentioned it survived a trip to the cleaners this summer before moving into our new place? I'm definitely not trusting that thing to anyone else now. It cost an arm and a leg to get cleaned but worth it, obviously. When we get a king sized bed, we'll need an even nicer and more expensive topper. And all of you guests will get to enjoy this topper that has changed our lives. Seriously. You will never go back to any old mattress topper. Ever again. Trust me on this one. Worth the high price tag. Approximate cost = $100 on sale.

Our Dog - Murphy
Enough said. He has changed our lives for the better. As tough as it is some days to raise this seemingly toddler dog, we love him. So much. He brings so much joy to our lives and now that we even have a nicer and bigger place for him to roam and enjoy, he is even more fun to be around. He was expensive since he is a purebred, but definitely worth every penny. Approximate cost = $300 not including new puppy "supplies".

Feather Down Duvet
This was a recent purchase. The heat of the summer brought about a husband begging for mercy from our beautiful, but heavy, comforter. I love our comforter, but finally did have to concede and let him win for the summer. Again, it's freakin' hot outside! So we bought a much cooler feather duvet. It isn't fancy - we'll save the more expensive one for when we get a king bed. But it was still more than we wanted to spend - or needed to at the time. It is glorious though. That's the beauty of feather... It is cold when you want it to be and warm when you need it to be. So wonderful. Can you tell we love feather down things? I got a pillow to match Phillip's at the same time as our mattress pad. Pure joy. Approximate price = $40 for the "cheapy".

Expensive Sheets
Do you see a theme with our purchases? Sleep is a high priority for us, as many of you know. We bought sheets at the same time as our mattress pad and have loved them ever since. Don't get me wrong, we did go through at least one expensive set before finding the one so it can be costly. But once we found them, we have been in love. Again with the theme of staying cool in the summer and warm in the winter, our set is glorious. As soon as we have the extra money to spare, we will be purchasing another set or two. Approximate price = $90 on sale.

Bed
Ok, so this was sort of a gift. We used wedding money on it. But I love that bed. It is beautiful and we did bargain hunt for it. It was a gift from Phillip's grandmother and we greatly appreciate it. Again, with our theme, sleep is important to us. Without this centerpiece of our master bedroom, nothing would look as elegant as it does. It is a beautiful queen bed frame from cherry wood. We were able to get a really good deal on it, and now every piece in our bedroom matches it. A great bed we will have for the rest of our lives. We will never give that up. Ever. Approximate cost = $250.

So what are your top 5 best purchases?

Dog Days of Summer

They are officially here, y'all.

It is so hot outside. Unbelievably hot. We have an extreme heat advisory for the foreseeable future. Yesterday it was 105 and today it should get p to 106. Heat indexes are 108 and above.

Miserable.

So it has everyone in a hot funk. And terrible moods.

And we are staying inside as much as possible. And closing all of the blinds we can. And keeping Murphy inside as much as possible.

Thankful for a working AC and that our lawn still looks nice and for not having to pay our first electric bill just yet.

Cabo Pictures

Obviously, I have finally gotten around to getting pictures up on the blog. Here is a collage of pictures from our trip, as promised!

Home Sweet Home

As promised, here are pictures of our house! Of course, everything is in progress. Our bedroom picture was taken right as we moved in. There is no picture of my office yet because I'm still working on it. And I apologize for the blurry pics. But here they are!

Getting Everything in Order

Finally, after two weeks of living here, we're settling into our lives. In a way, I feel more like a newlywed than I ever did our first year of marriage. We are out on our own. We have to figure it all out without our parents. We're calling them more to ask about fevers, sprinklers, recipes, exterminators, and insurance. We're actually mastering keeping a house cleaned, puppy happy, laundry done, projects completed, and the fridge full. It's like we're grown ups now. On our own.

My office is going to end up being the last room finished. I still need furniture - namely a second workspace/bookshelf. Plus there is nothing on the walls. We just need time and money to complete it. But I am getting things done. I'm getting to dive into work projects I haven't had the space to complete. I'm getting to be more organized with it than I ever have been. It's making me more productive. Hopefully I'll even get into a nice little routine.

Phillip was sick yesterday. Really sick. He is never sick. But yesterday he actually had to leave work early (his first day at that) and come home. He slept for 3.5 hours. He never takes naps. He was running a fever of 101.5 at one point yesterday. Did I mention he is never sick?? We got him checked out at the minute clinic by our house since it was after hours and our doctors are back in Bedford. They tested him for strep, but his fever was breaking before we left the office.

He is feeling much better today and is back at work for his first full day. I can't wait for him to get home to let me know how it went. So far all I've heard is that he has two major projects already. That's great news!

Working Hard

This week I worked really hard for the company. I mean really hard. I worked a booth at a convention, played chauffeur to a co-worker, and had a screening yesterday. I am so exhausted. The house is a wreck. I slept for 12 hours last night.

So today will be catch-up day. I need to go grocery shopping for a few things, go by my thrift stores again for more house finishing touches now that I won't have Phillip who gets tired of the whole thing by about store number two. Then it'll be cleaning, laundry, and getting ready or the not-as-busy week ahead.

For me at least.

Phillip starts a new job on Tuesday! Hooray! It's another temporary job, but it'll still boost his resume even more and hopefully open more doors for a future long-term career. Gotta love the whole "being a college graduate and newlywed at the same time" thing.

Mexico Tried to Steal My Identity

You read that right.

As much fun as I had in Mexico (it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!!!), this afternoon I was hit by some news from my bank. Apparently my debit card number was stolen, made into a new card, and someone attempted to go on an expensive shopping spree in New York.

Yes. People like this do exist all over the world - even in wonderful Cabo. :(

And to make matters worse, tonight I had the realization that it most likely occurred in the airport when I purchased lunch. I now remember they held my card behind the counter longer than usual. However, I am also up late tonight with the even newer realization that they asked to see my drivers license too. Yes. They may have copied my license too. Ugh.

Luckily, my bank caught all of this before any transactions could even be approved. They knew I was in Mexico but knew I wasn't in New York (and also knew when I was going to return from my trip). Let this be a lesson that you should always always ALWAYS tell your bank when you go on vacation - even if they are an awesome bank that keeps close tabs on you anyway.

Tomorrow I will be making lots of phone calls - back to the bank about the license situation, to the American-based restaurant chain I ate at, to the DPS to see what I need to do about my license, and possibly to someone who can write this on my credit report to prevent further identity theft.

You know, they say when you are a theft victim that you feel violated and that is completely true. Even though this was a [hopefully] prevented crisis, I still feel used and dirty. Like it was partially my fault. And tonight I've been going over every detail of that transaction to see what I could have done to prevent this from happening.

And I hate that this was the ending note to such a wonderful vacation. I hate that this memory will be included with all of the great ones from that week. Not fair. Identity theft is awful.

All Moved In

We are all moved into our new house now. It felt like it was going to take forever until we looked up and suddenly realized we had finished the last box. Funny how that works.

So now we settle into our cozy lifestyle in Argyle, Texas. It is a nice town that is very quiet. I particularly love listening to trains and cows while sitting on the back porch playing fetch with Murphy. He LOVES this new place. A living room twice the size of our old one and an enormous back yard. We have also never seen him this calm inside as a result. We just might have a good dog, everyone. Except that he doesn't like people. His one major flaw.

We need about a million more pieces of furniture, but we'll get around to that. A book case, bar stools, large cushioned ottoman, console table, and kitchen chairs to name a few. Those are just things we need, too. We'd also like to upgrade our dressers and expand our outdoor furniture inventory.

We got a grill yesterday! Woohoo! Phillip is quite the grill master too. We had our first dinner guests last night and I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did. Steaks/Mushrooms, potatoes, corn on the cob, and beer/wine alongside the Rangers game. Sounds like a great Friday night, no?

Tomorrow we start visiting area churches. I'm ready to get back into that habit and to find a good group of people to spend time with up here. There are three I really want to try. I'll let you know how that goes.

Back in the USA!

Hello bloggers! We are back!!! AND!!! I am currently blogging from our new living room in Argyle.

Things are going to be hectic for the next few days. I need to catch up on work, unpack, and get these great Cabo pictures posted on Facebook, the Rigby's website, and of course this blog.

Phew. So much going on.

I promise I will publish tons of pictures and give you huge elaborate summaries of my latest adventures as soon as I can sit longer than 2 minutes at a time.

Just wanted to check in to let you know Cabo was great, our new house is great, and I haven't forgotten about you. :)