a Vacation BEFORE a Vacation? Oh that's just crazy!

But it's true! Tomorrow morning we are headed to Austin to see my oldest friend, Nichole Varner. Clarification: SHE is not old, our friendship is. Literally we have been friends since toddlers. Anyways, Nichole, her boyfriend Eddie, Nichole's cousin Erica and her husband and Nichole's little sister Natalie and her beau will all be joining us for a fabulously fun day of wine touring in Fredericksburg this Saturday. Dang we are so stinking lucky! The day is destined to be a thrill as those three girls are probably the funnest women I know. Casey and I have recently been thinking a trip to Fredericksburg would be right up our alley as :

A. I love Wine

B. its a relatively close destination for fun
C. I love Wine

D. My husband likes to make me happy

And with Nichole celebrating her birthday this past Wednesday, it just seemed like a Great idea to do all together. Don't worry - although we know it will be a crazy day, we are being responsible and having a limo drive us to and from the wineries. I guess with age, there really does come wisdom.

So to Recap :
Crazy girls + A limo + Winery Tours + husbands/significant others who are super fun = a day to remember!

So excited!!

Other awesome highlights from our life :

• We got confirmation this week that Casey was the number one salesman for Citibank in the NATION for the month of August. That's right - think of all those Citibank's you see in New York, etc. My husband beat them all in sales for the month of August. I was so proud that I put the sale sheet on the refrigerator with a big "A +++ " written on it. He's such a rockstar.
• One of my friends at work is pregnant and we found out this week that she is having a little girl. It has been so fun watching her pregnancy develop and now that she is having a girl its even more special. After being blessed with Emily this summer, I have been exposed to the amazing sweetness of little girls and am so excited for LeeAnna to get to experience the waves of pink that are coming her way.
• Casey's mom and Grandma took a well deserved vacation this week to Destin, Florida (there favorite place) They made it there and back safely and we are so glad! Also glad they got a chance to get away and relax together.

Nichole and Kristi at their best. Always Silly

The 1600 Report (1600 Pensylvania Avenue that is)

PRESS RELEASE:
It is official Ladies and Gentleman! We are headed to Washington, DC. And we are headed there soon! Next Wednesday we are flying out of Houston and will spend 4 tremendous days exploring our nations capital (and we are SO PUMPED). Upon return on Saturday I fully expect to weigh 5-7 pounds more (from the delicious food I plan on consuming) and have some seriously sore feet from all the walking I'm sure we'll do. Casey and I both really enjoy seeing the historic landmarks at the places we've traveled thus far and so what better place to be to explore all the history a girl and boy could dream about ? Why, Washington, DC - that's where!
Casey has two more weeks of vacation to kill this year, so his lovely wife will be joining him on one of those weeks and we decided to travel to a place neither of us have been before, but really want to go. (For the other week, I am selling him to the highest bidder-just contact me if you are interested. Ok, I'm kidding.)
Because it was sort of a last minute trip, we got some really great deals and will probably still be able to afford to bring home souvieners if you play your cards right. :)
My fabulous parents have agreed to take us to and from the airport and keep the dogs while we are away. In exchange, we will probably have to give up our first child but we'll contemplate the consequences later...No really, we are so thankful that my dad is officially retired and is willing and able to help us out on our random adventures. We realize how lucky we are to have traveled all the places that we have this year and are just so excited to knock another location off of our "bucket lists"

So, Don't worry American Citizens : Team Krasey is headed to Washington, DC to straighten out the government. When we return next week Social Security will be fixed, Health Care will no longer be "Obama Care" and the Washington Monument will be crack free.

.........and if not, we atleast got to have a little vacation together and enjoy the beautiful weather in a place where the high is only 70 degrees. I mean, what else do you want from us?

Farewell Weekend

I'll keep this short and sweet since it's Monday and my brain isn't quite running on all cylinders yet...

Highlights from the weekend with Team Krasey:

• We were actually in town this weekend! Don't get us wrong - We LOVE our family and friends, but every once in a while you just need a break from packing your bags, you know?
• Neither of us had to work - Hallelujah!
• We got to sleep in ! (however our bodies tricked us into waking up at 8:30am)
• ESPN's College Game Day was on and we watched the entire 2 hour broadcast
• Eggo Waffles for Breakfast on Saturday
• Aggie Game Day! -let's not talk about the game, let's just reminisce over the nice weather, tailgating with friends and enjoying campus. Seriously, Don't talk about the game.
• Church on Sunday was inspiring
• My husband made some KILLER grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch
• 2 hour nap. Oh yeah, I said it - TWO HOURS
• Everything we cooked for dinner on Sunday was fried. That's awesome- I don't care who you are
• Favorite Shows came on : The Good Wife and Boardwalk Empire.
• In bed and asleep by 10:30

Stay tuned for other exciting news later this week :
I'll give you a hint - We are going on vacation to a place on the East Coast. Starts with a "W" and ryhmes with Bashington  :)

Married Life is the Bomb

Me and the Man of my Dreams

Warning : If you don't want to read some major cheesy-ness : please skip this post. Enjoy the cute picture above and then press the red X in the upper right hand corner of your screen. But if you feel like indulging me, read on....
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Oh good! I'm glad you stayed!
So, it occurred to me recently that Married life is soooooo great. (imagine me saying that in a totally valley-girl accent) "Like, uh, soooooo great!"
The second revelation that I have had is that what makes married life so great is the person to whom I got married to. He spoils me so often and our love is so great that I'm sure I don't acknowledge what a blessing it is way too often. But when I am still for just a few minutes (this rarely happens) and I have a chance to reflect, it's worth a shout of praise! God gave me a good, good spouse. Sometimes when things are so good, you forget to say "thank you" You just bounce down the golden road and smile like you are in a parade, and if you are like me, we sometimes don't acknowledge those every-day blessings. Well that stops today. So here it is: I'm shouting it from the proverbial mountain top :

Thank you God for my spouse and for my marriage!

Here is what I imagine the Lord saying to everyone who has gone through the whole dating game gamut : "Child, I know you think this person is great, but if you only knew what I had in store for you, you would quit being so stubborn and just drop it."
And so to be on the other side of that it seems so refreshing and fitting to just breath a big sigh of relief and be thankful that we didn't settle. To be thankful we ended up together, to be thankful that we are smart enough to invest in one another. And to be thankful that after over 3 years of being together we still haven't killed each other  :) 

Our Weekend in Numbers

0. Number of books on CD that Casey and I listened to on our car ride over to Pflugerville. We ALWAYS listen to a book when we are traveling, but for some reason this time I decided we didn't need one for the short drive. My decision was met with a firm pouty face from my husband, but he survived.
1. The place that Emily holds in her big brothers heart. You should have seen how sweet Noah was being to her this weekend, lots of un-prompted kisses and snuggling. Such a good boy
2. Number of precious little baby girls who got baptized on Sunday at Liz and Mike's Church. Both of them had such cute little dresses on and they made the whole congregation say "ahhh"
3. Number of burp cloths I estimate that Emily went through before church
4. Number of bags of Candy corn that my mom bought me. Candy corn is my favorite candy of all time and she always spoils me this time of year with gifts of sugar :)
5. Number of pictures you will find below documenting our fun weekend
6. Number of football games we watched yesterday - gosh I love Football Season!
7. Number of hours I got to sleep before Noah woke me up to watch a movie at 7:18am. Don't get me wrong, this was a great accomplishment for him to sleep in this late, but after staying up late visiting with the family the night before, Aunt Kristi was a bit tired. (note: my husband stayed in bed until 9:30 - lucky dog!)
8. Number of pieces of cake that I wanted to eat at my sister's house yesterday (but refrained!) We both LOVE butter cream frosting and the cake they ordered in celebration of Emily's baptism was covered in it. Mmmmmmm.....
9. Number of people who slept over at Liz and Mike's on Saturday. Thank you guys for hosting everyone and also for having a big enough house to do so!
10. The score I would give for this weekend (based on a scale of one to ten obviously) We had a great time visiting with everyone this weekend - It was great to see Mike's family as well as the Laneman's. Also, it was a great reminder of the blessings that God has given us. When we were sitting in church together as a family I was struck with how often I fail to thank Him for everyday blessings like that. The fact that we were all able to come together and honor Emily was so special and warming to the soul.
11. Number of times I had to hand Emily off to my mom. Don't get me wrong : She is a good baby, but when she gets mad, she is MAD. And Aunt Kristi tends to get flustered when I can't make her happy... plus my mom has a crazy magic touch on children and can make them stop crying in an insta-second.
12. Number of Dinosaurs that Noah can name by memory. (like the full scientific name, not the short-cut names that people usually say like "t-Rex") He can also tell you if they are meat eaters or plant eaters. Probably the cutest thing ever.
And last, but not least....30. Number of points the Texas Aggies scored over Idaho in the game on Saturday. Whoop! We are SOOO excited to be in town this weekend to be able to go to the game. We play Oklahoma State - first conference game so its going to be an important one to win.

And here are the promised pictures:


This is Noah's Life right now- Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs!



Uncle Thomas holding Emily - you can tell she adores him already!

Noah giving his little sister a sweet kiss on the cheek

Look at that pretty girl in her pretty dress!

Noah did so great for the pictures! Thanks Buddy!

Another One Bites the Dust

Move out of the way work-week, you can't hold us back anymore. Toot! Toot! Weekend : here we come! (In background some man with a deep-voice yells : "ALL ABOARD!")
Want to know what Team Krasey is doing this weekend? I thought so! Isn't it crazy how I can just read your mind?

So, this weekend is going to be special because our niece Emily (see adorable picture below) will be getting baptized on Sunday in Pflugerville. Mike and Liz have asked that Casey and I be the God-parents to little Emily so we have a special responsibility on that sweet life that we are honored and humbled by. The whole Tilton gang will be at my sister's house this weekend for the event, and it will be so great to see everyone at the same time. You see, for one reason or another, life always keeps it where one or two of us can't come to certain events so when all 5 of the "original" Tilton's and their families are in one place at the same time - well, it's worth celebrating! (And in our family we like to celebrate with wine and snacks! yumm yumm!)

Last weekend was with the Zimmerman's and this weekend with the Tilton's - not a bad way to start the month of September off. We Loooooove our Families.

Only sad part is we will be missing the second home football game of our beloved Aggies. Really, when you compare the two (baptism v. football game) it's easy to see which one holds precedence, but still - we love our Aggies! I heard somewhere today that we are expected to win by a large spread, so hopefully that will be the case. Plus our I-phones are super handy in keeping us informed of game stats.

Both Casey and I had a pretty decent week : We both won our fantasy football match-up for the week, nothing really dramatic happened at the work places and we both made it to the end of the week safe and with our sanity entact. I call that a success! I'm assuming that when we have kids, our weeks will be measured in milestones that the child reaches (for example: so and so started walking this week, or so and so ate her first jar of baby food, etc.) but as for now, our weeks are nice and calm, and rarely something ground-breaking to report. I will say that I made some killer Verde-enchiladas last night that were note-worthy. Not to brag or anything...

Other than that, we just had our usual evenings of reading,playing X-box, watching movies,playing with the dogs, and over-all just lounging at the house. Yes, life is good in the Zimmerman household.

From our house to yours :

Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend full of friends,

fun and whatever else suits your fancy.

Until next time, feast your little eyes on this doll we call Emily Marie. She's gauranteed to bring a smile to your face

Told ya.

Weekend Recap

This weekend we traveled to the booming metropolis of Winnsboro - and once again the entertainment did not disappoint. Not only did we have the class reunion to attend, and my father-in-law to keep me on my toes, we also had some excitement on Sunday as a grass fire ignited less than a mile from Casey's sister house. Let me immediately clarify why it was "exciting" : No homes were damaged nor anyone hurt - (didn't want you to think I was some sort of sicko or something...)
Thankfully the fire men had it all under control within a few hours, but me and the nieces still got to go to the site and watch the firemen in action. It was a profound experience to say the least. Casey and his dad took a separate vehicle with shovels and supplies in case they needed to help and the girls stopped to fill up an ice chest with water to give to the firemen. Luckily, the firemen had the fire under control and were just handling "hot spots" by the time we arrived on the scene, so the Zimmerman guys didn't have to jump into action. (Of course us girls stayed at a safe distance and stayed in the car) It's safe to say that it added a little excitement to our normally calm Sunday afternoon. But as I sat in the SUV with the smallest of the girls (Kennedy Kate) on my lap and the other three in the back seat, I was able to really comprehend what dire need our state is in for prayer. The vast difference between the sweet sounds of giggles in the car versus the destruction that was just outside the windows was astounding. The closest major threat of fire to our house is over an hour and a half from our home (In Bastrop) so my head has been in the sand somewhat about the damage that is terrorizing our state. But just within the last two weeks both Casey's sister and my sister have experienced fires in their area that were too close for comfort. With the grass and trees being so dead and dry, firefighters are working overtime to beat the quickly spreading flames - and after watching it first hand, my eyes were opened.

Dear Firemen: Thank you for leaving your families on a lovely Sunday afternoon and racing into danger to save your neighbors land and home. Thank you for being willing to put on the heavy gear and stand in blazing heat all for someone you might not even know.

You are inspiration.

On a lighter note, We had a great time at Casey's high school reunion ! - it was actually a lot more fun than either of us thought it would be. He graduated with a class of 90 people and I think there were about 35 of them in attendance. They did a great job of entertaining us while we ate and visited. There were awards given for "most tattoos", "highest degree of education earned", "most kids", etc. We won the prestigious award of "Most Recently Married" Since we've been married over 2 years, that kind of surprised me, but hey - at least we won something. Apparently, his classmates were on a faster track than we are, as some of them were on their 3rd child! 10 years, 3 kids - no matter how you do the math - it's been a very busy decade for some of those folks!
We took some photos for your viewing pleasure ...

Family photo! Nobs, Sam, Mom and Dad

Now that is one good looking couple!

Casey and Whitley - these guys have been friends forever

A group of the alumni