One Last Project (for now)

I must say, decorating and filling our home is exhausting. So we have one last project we are working on and then we are taking a looooong break! It is great because we really don't have much else to do, but this one last project is important to us. Plus its a fun one! Currently, our TV hangs above our fireplace and there is a nook to the right of it where a TV can be placed. We filled the nook with a console and can't seem to find the right item to hang above it. Finally, we decided that shelving with family pictures would be perfect! I found these Holman Ledges from Pottery Barn.

Now we are going to frame old black and white photos of all different sizes from both my family and Adam's family to place on the ledges. This project is very near and dear to my heart. I cannot wait to have a wall filled with old pictures of our parents, grand parents, and so on. It brings me so much joy! Right now we are in the phase of collecting all of the pictures. So, it may be a while. Until our "masterpiece" is complete I wanted to share with you some of my family's photos. I am lucky enough that my graphic designer brother has retouched and made digital copies to many of our family's old photos. Thanks Nic!
Do I even need to explain who this is below? :)
The Perez family in Cuba, my Abuelo is the dapper young man seated in the suit.
The Perez family in Cuba (my dad is the blondie).
Young Victor Manuel Perez (Dad).

My mom, looking good!
My mom as a tot, no wonder she is such a horse lover!
My maternal grandmother, Julia. Just glam!
My maternal grandfather, Fran.
Three cuties! Mom, Aunt Marcia, Uncle Jay.

Making a House a Home- Decorating Ideas

In between all the fun with family and friends, Adam and I have been working on making our house feel like home. Of course, with this comes a lot of projects. PAINT: As soon as we moved in we painted a few rooms in the house and thought this would allow us to stick to the builder's paint in the other areas for a while. Needless to say, it didn't take long before grew to hate our builder's paint. It was in all major, common areas of the house. It just seemed cold and was too flat. Our walls were getting marked up too easily! We decided to throw in the towel and paint the ENTIRE house. As much as we wanted to paint it ourselves, it was a huge job! So we decided to call on Andy Keister with Grace Painting. He is a fabulous painter, very trustworthy, and inexpensive. I highly recommend him, if anyone needs his digits. In the entryway, kitchen, breakfast room, family room, laundry room, and hallways he painted SW Latte. Which I LOVE!! In every bedroom (except the master which we already painted) he painted SW Nomadic Dessert. This is one shade lighter than Latte. I need to post pictures of the house soon. I am so happy with the finished product. Here is an example below of SW Latte in another home. I absolutely love the warmth in this color!
Currently we are working on furnishing the formal living area at the front of the house. This is the last room that really needs work. It is a very small space off of the formal dining room that I intend to keep open for entertaining, so I am working to create a nice sitting area for guests. My idea was to have two ivory arm chairs around an end table. Anytime I look at decorating magazines and books, I am always drawn to Ivory upholstered seating. Check out the picture below I found online that gave me this idea. I just love these Ivory chairs. Also, I know that I need a rug to warm up the space- visually and literally (its all tile). I am always drawn to cowhide rugs. I just love them in a non-western setting! I think it adds a nice surprise to the room. Plus, my country boy of a husband was all over that! See these examples below I used for inspiration.


So of course, I naturally turn to my usual furniture/decorating "go-to" spots for the chairs I envisioned. Nothing just right for the price! Reluctantly I visited Overstock.com. Much to my surprise I found EXACTLY what I was looking for at half the price of what I fell in love with at Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn. I ordered two of these Ivory Manchester Club chairs. I cannot wait for them to arrive. Oh and did I mention that shipping was $2.95??
Last, but certainly not least I found the perfect pedestal end table at Ballard Designs and ordered a beautiful black and brown cowhide rug from Ebay. Now, the only thing I need are some snazzy throw pillows on those chairs and my "sitting area" is complete!

This month!!

As I mentioned we have been extremely busy over this past month. Since Emily's engagement party, here is what we have been up to!

The weekend after the engagement party we headed out to Ft. Worth for a family get together with my mom's side. It was a blast! We were there to celebrate my Uncle Jay's life as it was the one year anniversary of his passing. It was a great time spent with loved ones. Here are some pictures of all the good times we had:

The following week my amazing brother who is now a transitional deacon and less than a year away from becoming a Catholic priest- came to bless our new home. It was Tuesday- his day off. So I took full advantage! It is so rare these days that I get my bubby to ourselves so it was definitely nice. I made some yummy jambalaya with French bread and Adam and I enjoyed having him. After dinner, Victor blessed our new home. While he was at it, I half-jokingly asked if he would bless Ruby. He turned the page of his book to the page that said "Blessings for Animals" and sure enough our litte Ruby was blessed as well. Check out Deacon Victor in action!

Now we are almost all up to date!! Most recently, this past weekend we headed down south to Surfside. We rented a big beach house with some dear friends. There were about 16 adults and 6 kids. We all had a blast and the kids definitely kept us entertained! Here are some pictures from this past weekend. Adam and I had such a good time.

The guys:
Missy and me:
Adam and Matt:

Missy and Luke (Luke kept us in laughs all weekend long!):

With sweet Gracie:

Me, Jess, Missy:

That is all for now! I apologize again that it has been so long. We are all caught up now and will be updating the blog regularly again. Much love to you all! xoxo

Engagement Party

First of all, I am so sorry I have been such a bad blogger this month. We have been out of town a bunch and very busy. And I thought this summer was going to be relaxing! I am back to it now and will be much better with posts:) That being said I have tons to update you on!

As many of you know, my sister-in-law Emily is engaged to be married this year on December 18th to Ruty Aki. The Vyvial's threw them a wonderful engagement party Saturday, July 3rd in Schulenburg. It was held at the family's country house where Adam and Emily grew up spending weekend trips. It was perfect! It was the perfect mix of country and Hawaiian! Rusty is part Hawaiian, and his family provided some native Hawaiian foods. It was so neat. Unfortunately- my camera battery died! I was so mad about it. This something so rare! So stay tuned for pictures, my mother-in-law has a ton. I will post once I get them. The party took place outside and everyone dressed up in Hawaiian gear. It was great!

Adam and I spent that night out in Schulenburg with the fam. It was so great to spend this time with family. The next day we went to the annual St. John's Fourth of July Picnic right down the street from the country house. Adam has grown up attending this picnic each year his whole life, so this is something we never miss. This is a tradition I look forward to carrying on for our children one day. It was a blast as always- but soooo hot! The Shiner Hobo band was there playing some Czech favorites and the food was delish! Can't wait until next year!

Relaxation

Last weekend was GREAT! For the first weekend in I don't know how long, we were actually able to relax. Friday night Adam and I went to a yummy dinner at Texas Roadhouse, came home, and were in bed by ten. We sound like an old couple, but we needed it so bad. Saturday afternoon we went to a Cinek/Stokr family reunion from my mother-in law's side. Then, after the reunion we went to mass so that we could sleep in on Sundy as long as we wanted. I think we will make this a normal thing. Saturday after mass we grilled out and rented a movie. The weekend was perfect and for once I can really say I am very rested this week. Did I mention Adam is home now for good? I think this also contributes to my feeling rested. I sleep much better with him at home:) Here are some pictures from the reunion. It was in Freahlsburg, TX where Adam's grandfather's grandparents are buried. It was so neat to learn about all the history (and of course spend time with our family).

Jess in Houston

First off, I have been a terrible blogger. I am so sorry it has been so long! Time has been flying by. Here is what we have been up to...Two weekends ago, Jess Heck came to visit us! We had such a wonderful weekend, but it was WAY too short. For those of you that don't know, Jess is my best friend from college and now lives in NYC. She was also my maid of honor in our wedding. She is such a special person to me and Adam too. We miss her already. Jess arrived on Friday morning, so I took the day off and we shopped and had lunch in Houston. Friday night we went to dinner with friends and then out for drinks. Saturday we went to a pool party and that night we had a BBQ at our casa. Adam made some yummy burgers. It was all a blast, but went by too fast. Thanks for coming J! We love you!

Halleluiah!

..is all I have to say! After a long 18 months of travel Adam is FINALLY finished! Today, he received an email from his boss that said July 5th he will be back in the Houston office as an..wait for it, wait for it..an oilfield SALES REPRESENTATIVE! He will be home for good! I'm not sure if I know what to do with myself I'm so excited:) The entire time we have been married, Adam has been traveling as a part of this sales training program. It was hard, but both of us know this job is such a blessing. The knowledge and experience he has gained in this program will help him be a very successful oilfield sales rep. It was difficult at times, but it was most definitely worth it. Now, I look forward to his/our future and watching him grow into this sales position. I am more than thrilled for Adam to be home (more than anyone will know). Besides all the time I will now have with my hubby, there are so many little things that make me excited about the end of this travel. So, I thought it was appropriate to create a David Letterman-style top ten list of the things that I am excited for. And, I apologize, there are more than ten things. Least to greatest of course:

• 16. A weeknight exercise buddy. Something we have discussed for the last year. Now we are going to get a plan in gear! Watch out!
• 15. I can finally grocery shop for the two of us, knowing that he will be here. Of course when I only grocery shop for me (lettuce and lean cuisines), Adam ends up coming home early for the weekends and I have nothing to feed him.
• 14. I don't have to water the grass anymore.
• 13. The neighbors won't be wondering about our "situation" (the man is there sometimes, and the woman is there all the time).
• 12. Routine (I am very type A, so routine is my thing).
• 11. Adam can finally go to the dentist and the dermatologist.
• 10. I don't have to water the grass anymore. (Oh wait, I already said that)
• 9. The Ram will be clean! With all the travel and life out on "jobs" his truck is dirty inside and out. (mud on the truck and smelly hard hats and boots in the cab).
• 8. No more fast food and eating out every meal for him. Makes me worry about his health!
• 7. No more packing every Sunday night and no more living out of a suit case. (I get tired of seeing that old duffel in the corner of our room every weekend. And when he is gone there is a mark on the carpet where it sits, even after vacuuming).
• 6. I won't feel the need to check every room, closet, and bathtub before I go to sleep (I watch too many movies).
• 5. I don't have to lock my BEDROOM door at night anymore (what can I say, I get scared).
• 4. Ruby will be happier and get more play (Adam rough houses with her much better than I can).
• 3. We can finally enjoy weekends, we always have to cram so much into the weekends since he is gone during the week.
• 2. I finally get to cook for my hubby regularly and feel like a real wife.
• 1. Last but not least, I will be with my love ALL THE TIME! Something I have only dreamed of!