Dinner out with friends

My moms group got together for a holiday dinner and gift exchange.  We sat on the patio at La Casa Blanca and enjoyed marg & chips/salsa.   Love this little group of friends.

Santa came early

My computer is way outdated.  It's from 2009 and that's like 100 in computer years.  My friend, Lori, gets an amazing Apple discount through her work 2x a year and the latest promotion was coming up.  I talked to Cory about it and I could get a great deal on a new MacBook with the Retina display and an Ipad Mini with 3G & WiFi.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a great deal on something I needed (& wanted with the Ipad mini).  Let me tell you that they are both amazing.  I'm in love with the screen size of my new computer and the Retina display is pretty amazing.  I also love the size of the Ipad mini.  It's perfect and having 3G on it is pretty amazing too.  Cory used it the other day showing houses and it's perfect for Realtors on the go.  I am officially all Mac'ed out over here and I love it!

Dinner out with friends

We started a dinner group that goes out once a month and each month someone gets to pick the place we dine.  This month's was Alex's choice, Arrogant Butcher, in downtown Phoenix.  It was so delicious.  They have these little pretzel nuggets dipped in cheese & a salted caramel pudding that's to die for.  Everyone's food was so good.  It was a great night out.  Can't wait for December's choice!

Torturing my husband

Cory always lets me pick the movies when we go out.  He's SO sweet like that.  He'll go see romantic comedies without complaining and is always up for anything as long as we can be out together, just the two of us.  I've been really excited to see this movie.

Cory was up for it since it got really great reviews, even though he really wanted to see some other movie with Liam Neeson lost in the Alaska wilderness.  I thought The Descendants was great.  It was funny and sad, and the acting was really good.  I could tell about halfway through that we were losing Cory.  He was bored out of his gourd.  I shoulda saved this one for my mom and me and taken him to the wilderness movie.  I promised him last night that he could pick the next 3 movies.  That will probably be for the next year because we seem to get to the movies only about once every few months.  We had a nice dinner at BJ's after and then picked up the kiddos at Grandma & Grandpa's house around 8:00. It was so fun to go out for an early date night and be home to put all the kids to bed.

The W

We went out for a work function last night to the W hotel in Scottsdale and it was pretty swanky.  We don't get out to Scottsdale much so this was a treat for us.  One of our lenders moved to a different company and celebrated the switch by throwing a party. Grandma & Grandpa were kind enough to watch the kiddos for us and we carpooled with my mom & dad up to Scottsdale.  It was funny because we had no idea what the event was going to be like and what we should wear.  My dad had a brown blazer on and Cory took one look at him when we got out of the car and said, "I'm not dressed up enough".  He had on the perfect outfit and looked great, but I'm sure that it wasn't very helpful of me to tell him that his shirt was slightly wrinkled after we already left the house.  If he said that to me we would be turning around, heading back home for me to change.  Sometimes I need to keep my thoughts to myself.

We got to the event a little after 7 and it there were a bunch of people we knew there.  Cory and my dad were so in their element with the schmoozing and making friends.  They had some OK appetizers and an open bar, which was nice, but I needed waaaay more food than what they had.  I was pretty much starving most of the night.  We ended up staying until midnight and the place was seriously hopping at that point.  My mom was in disbelief of everything she saw.  She just kept saying, "Is this what people do?!?  I am SO old!"


It was a fun night out, but it did make me happy that most nights I get to curl up with my hubby & kids on the couch in my pajamas instead of out frolicking at Scottsdale bars.

January Birchbox

First, a quick thank you to my friends that commented on my last post.  You warmed my heart :)

I've been meaning to post this one for a few days now.  My January Birchbox arrived in the mail about a week ago and it was a good one.  I'm always so excited when this little box arrives mid-month.  I can't wait to open it and see what goodies are inside.  

Inside was a sample of Viva La Juicy perfume that smelled lovely, Borghese serum to smooth out fine lines, Joeur body butter that is awesome, a full size Stila eyeliner that I'm obsessed with, and a sample Larabar.  The Larabar was OK.  Cherry flavor isn't really my thing but it was all natural and other flavors might taste better.  My favorite is the Stila eyeliner for a few reasons:  1) I don't usually wear eyeliner so this is a great excuse to put some on and experiment. 2) The texture is smooth and it glides right over the lid so I don't have to pull my eyelid taut just to get a straight line.  3) The color is kind of a dark olive.  Something I probably wouldn't have picked out but it's surprising how neutral it is.  I'm pretty excited about it.

Let it go to voicemail

When a random phone number calls me I am constantly torn between answering my phone or letting it go to voicemail.  Because of our business I usually choose the first option of answering, but there are those moments when I pick up the phone and think to myself, "Man, I should've let it go to voicemail".  Yesterday was one of those moments.

Friday is our only day off from school right now and we've gone back and forth with doing the gymnastic sessions on Fridays at 10am.  The girls really like it and we just got off an 8 week hiatus over the holidays  They've been happy to be back, but yesterday morning was a day that just wasn't working for us.  Ryder had a fever, I had a funeral for my dear friend's father I was trying to get to at 11:30, Cory was trying to save one of our short sale listings from going to auction at 10am, and to top it off the girls were so content at home and said, "We don't want to go to gymnastics today".  DONE, we're staying home.  I usually don't let them skip because the makeup policy is not the best, but I felt a sigh of relief when they said they didn't want to go.  We went about our day and I returned home around 2pm.  We were all happily playing outside when my phone rang.  I answered it and it was their coach from gymnastics.  This has never happened before.

Coach: "Hi Lisa, This is Coach from gymnastics.  Where were Reese & Ryan today?"
Me: "Well we had a really crazy day today and there was no one that could take them to gym class.  Maybe we'll do a makeup with open gym soon."
Coach: "I think they should do a make up with a class." (This is not their policy)
Me: "OK.  What are you thinking?"
Coach: "How about my Monday morning 9am class."
Me: (with hesitation) "Um sure, I think that will work."

Now most parents would be thrilled if they got a personal phone call from the gym coach inviting them to a different class to make-up.  I'm grateful that he took time out of his day to reach out and see if everything was okay, but now I've added an entire level of stress to my day on Monday and it's all because I answered my phone and then didn't have enough juevos to say no to a make-up class that day.

We have Bogusia come on Mondays and it's always my work and catch up on life day.  The girls wanted to do dance and their current session is on Mondays because we thought it would be great if B could stay home with Ryder.  SO, now I will be running out the door at 8:30 on Monday morning with the girls to get to gymnastics, and then change into dance clothes for our 10:30 dance class, then an hour to kill before school starts at 12:30.  Goodbye, productive morning and hello to chaos and running all over town.

I should've let his call to voicemail.

12 in 2012

1) A trip for Cory and that consists of getting on an airplane and spending 3 days away.  We've been talking about it for awhile and I want to plan something soon.  I think Seattle would be a fun place to go.  Or San Francisco.

2) Save up a significant chunk of change in the next 4 months.  We have plans for our house and we're working hard on socking the money away that we need.

3) More one on one time with each kid.  We started doing some date nights with our kids but it was hard to be consistent with Cory's soccer schedule and my obligation to the twins club.  My term is ending soon and we should have more free time to spend with each kid.  The goal is one date night a month for Cory and I with each kid.

4) Learning my camera & Photoshop.  I have ordered my new camera and it's coming soon.  There was a Groupon that just came up for a class and I've signed up for March 4th.  I'm really excited.  After that I'm planning on doing the Photoshop class.

5) This one is a rollover from last year, but I want to visit somewhere new in AZ that we haven't been before.  Ryder was a doozy in his car seat last year when we took road trips, so we were NOT jumping at the bit to hop in the car for extended periods of time.  He's gotten much better so we'll add this one back to the list.  I'd like to check out Tubac, Bisbee, & Grand Canyon.  Maybe not all this year, but that's the list I've got.

6) This one can tie in with #2 but I would like to spiff up the house with either a new coat of paint on the inside and redo the carpet in our living room.  It's time for a few updates, but the money plays a big role in making this happen.

7) Stick with my gym schedule of going MWF to the gym at 5:15am. I've been doing really good but got a bit derailed with the holidays.  I'm back on track, but I have to be diligent about staying with it because it's easy to get off track.

8) Take a new parenting class.  There is a speaker that came to our twins club last year to talk about parenting based on the premise of 'Love & Logic'.  It was great stuff and I would love to take a 6 week class for a refresher.

9) Do a couples Bible study with Cory.  We just started going to a new church and we've been pretty happy so far.  I want to get more involved and one of my goals for 2012 is to take a class that we can do together.

10)  Get 2 new real estate designations this year.   Before the girls were born I was on the fast track to getting my CRS designation.  It's kind of like getting a master's degree in the world of real estate.  I'm about halfway finished and I really want to receive that designation in the next year.  The only challenge is that classes aren't offered very often.  I also want to try to obtain my ABR (Accredited Buyer's Representative).

11) This one may seem so trivial and I feel kind of silly writing it down, but I want to try to not buy anything new until I absolutely run out of the current product or item.  Example is shampoo, face products, makeup stuff, etc.  I have SO much of this and when something new goes on sale I find myself digging up a coupon and making up an excuse of why I need it.  Our bathroom is overflowing with crap that is begging to be used up.  I also feel this way about clothes in the closet.  I've received some awesome hand-me-downs from my dear friends and I'm not buying anything new for at least 6 months, maybe even the entire year.

12) SLOW down and smell the roses.  A cliche, I know.  But I tend to go about 90 miles an hour and I really want our family time to be #1 priority.  We only have about 6 months before the girls go to Kindergarten and are gone all day.  I have a bit of anxiety about this but I know they will be ready when the time comes.  I just want to soak up this time with them and enjoy every moment together. 

Goodbye, 2011

2011 ….
 is it already time to say goodbye you? It seems like it was just a few days back we were greeting the new year and getting ready to celebrate Ryder's 1st birthday.  Now here I am again - same place, same time and looking forward to greeting another new year.  2011… you have been good to us.

Ryder boy turns one on the 7th.

He's such a happy boy and his party is so much fun. 

 We lose our sweet little Maddie in a tragic accident in February.  

This is the last photo we have of her, snuggled up in her favorite spot above Cory.

We plant a tree in her memory and it's blooming so nicely in our backyard.

 

Cory celebrates his 37th birthday and 

 our good friends, Brian & Claire (and their kids) come into town to celebrate.

Scott Berchman takes some of my most favorite photos of Ryder for his 1 year milestone.

 The girls take dance class, gymnastics, karate, & cooking class (not all at once) and they love it all.

 We get all the McCulloughs together to take photos at Easter time while everyone is in town.  

Poor Scott had his work cut out for him!  

It's always such a great time when we're all together.

We have waaaaay too much fun with our cousins when they spend the night.  

AND we are really good at making some fun messes.

 We road trip it to San Diego in July and we're packed to the gills.

 4th of July is such a wonderful time with friends and family.

 We take pictures of Ryder at 18 mos. at the cheapy portrait studio and he is the biggest ham in most of the shots.  What a character.

 First day of PreK at the end of July.
The girls love their school and their teachers are so wonderful.

 Cory and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.

 Girls spa trip to Sedona.

 Swim lessons with Ms. Mary for the third summer in a row.  

The girls are little fishies that love the water.

 

 Soccer starts and Daddy is the coach.  

We're busy every weekend during the fall with our fun new sport.

 I discover Pinterest in September and all of a sudden I'm totally inspired.  I become awesome crafty mom, a better cook, and my house is more organized than I ever thought possible (sorta).

 This takes the cake for extra activities.  Little DaVinci is such an amazing place.  The art classes the girls take are perfect for their creativity that's brewing.  They showed off their masterpieces in October.

The weather cools down and I'm out trolling for deals at garage sales when the girls have late soccer games.  I find some pretty awesome deals, including this school bus for $20 that sold last year at Costco for $130.

We go to Mexico in October for a long weekend.  The weather is gorgeous, the water is warm, and the best part is our cells phones don't work down there.  A great way to recharge your batteries.

We also get away to Pinetop to enjoy some cool weather in October.  

It's so nice getting away just the five of us.

 Halloween was a blast.  I love the kids costumes and how different the girls' choices are each year.  Ryder was the cutest Spiderman I've ever seen.

 Reese & Ryan turn five on the 15th of November.  

We celebrate at Airworx with a fun trampoline party.

 They also celebrate at school with ice cream sandwiches and homemade crowns.

 Thanksgiving fun.

 Mimi and Papa's Christmas card for this year.

 Ryder is such a funny little firecracker and we get to spend some nice alone time together while the girls are at school.  No wonder he is the world's biggest mama's boy.

 We start some new Christmas traditions in December...

 and continue some old ones.  Kati was adventurous this year.

 Everyone's got an obsession--the girls have JB

 and Ryder has the Ipad and his truck.

We count our blessings every day for all the wonderful people
in our lives that help us create such amazing memories.
Cheers to 2011 and here's to love, laughter, & happiness in 2012!

Behind the 8 ball

I have so much to blog about and feeling a bit overwhelmed on getting caught up.  So much has happened in the past 10 days and I've got some posts coming, but for now I'm just going to post about how behind I am with the blog.

The past few days I have been focusing my energy on cleaning out toys, clothes, and lots of other STUFF that we had lying around.  I was saving hoarding it for the next twins rummage sale but on Tuesday I couldn't look at it for one more second.  Alicia was here cleaning and I decided to give her what she wanted from the pile, I picked out a few goodies for Kyna's twins, and then I drove the rest to Goodwill.  It was cheap therapy and I'm so happy it's out of our garage.  I think if you've got the space you'll find a way to fill up the space, but I don't want that to be the case with our garage.  I want to be able to park 2 cars in our 3 car garage.

On another note I've finally saved up enough money to buy my new DSLR camera.  I was going to get a Nikon D90 but I've been such a good little saver that I'm going to spend just a bit more and get the D7000.  I found an amazing company out of IL that my friend referred me to.  It's called Abt and since they are only located in IL then I don't have to pay any sales tax and I'll get free shipping.  I'm ordering it tomorrow and hope that it will be here sooner than later.  I've really really missed having a good camera.

Pinterest party

Kyna, Karen, Misty & I had a little Pinterest Party at Kyna's house to celebrate the holidays.  I brought a few crafts to work on that really did not pan out.  Thankfully Kyna is Martha Stewart reincarnated and she had some backup crafts for us to make.  Ribbon bookmarks with charms attached.  They were so adorable and mine turned out great after Kyna and Misty helped me tie on the ribbon (I am SO bad with bows and ribbons!)  Kyna, please have a good laugh at my expense.

Anyhoo, the little bookmarks are awesome and I'm so excited to give them out to my family as stocking stuffers this year.  Reese & Ryan loved them when I brought them home and have been deciding who they were going to.  I can't wait for our next get together next month ;)

Remax Christmas party

We had our Remax Infinity Christmas party this past weekend at Casino Arizona. Cory and I didn't get to go last year because we were out of town so we were excited to go this year.  I have been fighting off a cold but I took a hot shower and was ready to go.  My dad rented a party bus that everyone crowded on and I feared for my life a few times in the 20 minute ride.

No joke, someone almost sideswiped us on the 101.  How could you not be scared when the bus pulls up and you see this sign on the outside?  Needless to say I rode home with my mom

Despite the crazy bus ride, we had a great time at the party and enjoyed our date night out without the kiddos.