July 31

The fact that this photo beat out a picture of Vicks Tissues for today's picture of the day means that I'm pretty much the most incredible wife ever. Just saying.

So today was Jack's competition at the annual Texas Twister, one of the largest regional taekwondo tournaments in our organization. He tied for third in forms, so he had to do it again, which resulted in his complete exhaustion and this awesome picture of him not being able to breathe. Alright. Maybe I'm not the most incredible wife ever.

He ended up with a third in sparring and first in forms. Not a bad day for a guy who couldn't catch his breath after his second form!

July 30

I'm finally feeling well enough to clean my super-messy house today. Thank goodness, because it was getting BAD. Mostly due to the fact that the dog uses my carpet as her personal litter box. No more. Today I vacuumed, scrubbed the spots with Folex, shampooed my carpet, and sprayed that "dogs hate peeing here" smelly stuff (that I'm not really sure actually works), and I've decided that this behavior ends now. Game on, little dog. Game on.

July 29

This photo can only be explained with this string of tweets that I sent during the event:

1:20 a.m. - My husband is freaking eating a chocolate pop tart IN BED at 1:30am!! Crumbs EVERYWHERE. And refusal to brush teeth.

1:21 a.m. - Single ladies wishing they were married? Remember this moment. Boys are gross. Really, really gross.

1:23 a.m. - Also, they do things just to bother you intentionally. Show no weakness!!

1:25 a.m. - Also, it's in my contract to tell you that he does nice things too.

He did end up brushing his teeth, eventually. And yes, there were chocolate Pop Tart crumbs in my bed for several days afterward.

July 28

This is the best picture of the day I could muster today. I stayed home from work today with a fever, chills, aches, nausea... all signs pointed to the flu. Fortunately, the fever broke pretty quickly and I felt better by the end of the day.

Jack acted like I had leprosy and wouldn't come near me since he has a tournament this weekend and doesn't want to get sick and miss it. He did, however, bring me popsicles, so I guess I can forgive him.

July 27

Jack got a haircut today. I asked him to show it off for the picture of the day. This is what I got.

June 26

It's Sunday, so that means a CVS run! I love getting good deals on stuff!

We did a lot of nothing today, which is a welcome change from the running around we normally do. Tonight, Jack and I watched "Aladdin" together! It was pretty fun to watch it again and remember all the songs (which we both still totally remembered)!

June 25

Our friend from Canada, Darlana, was in town this week, but we didn't get to see her much because she was working, and she's leaving tomorrow. Tonight, we went and had dinner at On the Border with her and my parents. This is a quick picture my mom snapped of our little family in front of our house before dinner.

July 24

Cherries were 99 cents a pound at Kroger last week, so I brought about a bazillion of them. This led to the decision that I should actually do something with them, which led me to here, standing in my kitchen with the most beautiful made-from-scratch pie in the world. Unfortunately, it didn't taste quite as beautiful. But that's okay. We'll just remember how pretty it is, okay?

July 23

My in-laws are in town!!

July 22

Staples, Walgreens, and CVS were having ridiculous deals on school supplies this week, so today I went crazy getting stuff for the school supply drive in Murphy! (I only wish I hadn't had to pee SO BAD when I was stopping by THREE different stores on the way home from work! Oh man, I've never shopped so fast.)

Everything pictured cost me $15. Oh yes.

July 21

The only thing better than a trip to Starbucks to get a drink in the morning? A trip to Starbucks to get a drink when they give you a free pastry too! I got the blueberry scone. Yum.

July 20

Kroger today - Spent $78, saved $120. Love it. (There's also a bunch of water not pictured!) There is such a feeling of accomplishment when you plan, strategize, and work hard to get great deals on things!

July 19

"Ooooo, life's so sweet right here in the passenger seat..."

Jack and I took a different route to College Station this time, which took us through a bunch of much more scenic little towns on a two-lane road instead of the boring not-so-pretty I-45. It was also faster! Since we enjoyed the trip up so much, we took the same route home. We have so much fun together in the car on these little road trips!

Also, Jack picked out these sandals for me, and I must say, he did a nice job! I love them.

July 18

This weekend, we headed to College Station for Kyle and Michelle's wedding (one of the last of the B-Co buddies to get married. What are we going to do after they're all married off?)

This wedding had a very different dynamic to it. Since the last wedding 9 months ago, seven couples from the group have had babies. Seven! (Also, it's possible that up to three of them were conceived during our wedding weekend. You. Are. Welcome.) Five new ones (and seven kids total) came down for this one.

They were all adorable and fun to look at, but it really changed the dynamic of the group, and fast. The group's kid-count went from five to twelve this year. The size and focus of the group changed so quickly that it was almost hard to recognize it (though these guys can still pick up right where they left off - they are family).

Moms were holding squirming babies and dads were scrambling to grab pacifiers, bottles, and blankets. Vocal octaves were raised and baby talk was used. Spit up was attended to and cries soothed.

It was different.

As sad as it was to see everyone cut the evening short to get their cranky kids to bed rather than tell the same corps stories over and over late until the night, it was kind of interesting to see the transition. It's pretty foreign to us, since we're still in the "stay up late" and "go wherever we want whenever we want" stage, but it was interesting none the less.

I have no doubt that these moms and dads are and will be fabulous parents, and I love the thought of all these kids growing up together (and later, ours too!), hopefully growing as close to one another as their parents are.

It's nice to be a part of this group. Even if they are growing up.

July 17

Today I got to meet up with my new friend, Jessica, before she left town. To be completely honest, I was a little nervous about meeting her, since she had already been reading my blog. Assuming she had liked what she read, I had standards to live up to! Assuming she hadn't liked what she read... well, why did she agree to meet with me?

Anyway, as soon as I met her, I was comfortable with her, and we had a lunch so pleasant that I didn't even realized that it had been two hours! (Also, it was at Chuy's. Mmm. Enough said.) I'm so glad we got the chance to meet!

July 16

The first thing in the morning, I won a gift certificate to a BBQ place in a Twitter radio contest. Then, I made plans with my new blog friend, Jessica, to have lunch tomorrow, which I'm excited about. Then, I found out that Tip Junkie will be featuring me again tomorrow! I also finished my video I had been working on at work! Today was a great day!

July 15

No need to applaud.

I'm no hero.

I just did what any girl would have done in this situation.*

Okay. You can applaud a little.

I'm leaving it there until morning. If it's gone at that point, the freaking out will commence.

Ps - I laid in bed for a while that night, wondering if I should go put a weight on top of the glass to keep the gecko from getting out. And then I couldn't help but laugh as I pictured the tiny gecko lifting the glass and 3-pound weight up and escaping.

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*This situation, of course, being that her husband was already in bed, grumpy, and would no doubt be less than thrilled to get up and catch a gecko for her at 2 a.m.

July 14

I get home fairly late from work, so unfortunately Maggie doesn't always get a walk. One of the great things about summer, however, is the longer daylight! So when Maggie stared out the window longingly this evening, I took her on a little walk around the block! She was so excited!

July 13

Life is just a......bowl of cherries!! I bought about elevendy-billion cherries since they were on sale for 99 cents per pound at Kroger, so today after work I spent some time pitting them so I could freeze them.

July 12

Tonight was "A Chorus Line!" These tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals have been so much fun. We really liked this one. We are also loving the opportunity to dress up and have a nice little evening out together. We love date nights!

July 11

Oh yes, she can use a drill. (You know, after her husband shows her how. And she only broke one drill bit. Just one.)

Today was a super-productive day for the Hornbuckles! My project was creating an organization system for my jewelry, and Jack hung a brand new ceiling fan in our bedroom (which has substantially improved our Texas summer evenings!!) We felt really good about our progress!!

July 10

We had a pretty productive day today! I feel like we didn't stop running until about 10 p.m.! Jack and I ran errands until 3, when he had to go to work, and I went back out to do a few more errands and a little much-needed clothes shopping while he was at work. When he got home, he took me out on a date to Red Lobster (yum!), and then we came home to a relaxing evening of TV-watching. I love date-nights (and off-Fridays)!

(By the way, in this picture, I look like a spaz because I was trying to get Maggie to back over. Jack was watching the Rangers game.)

July 9

This morning, Jack and I both had to get up early (me for a doctor's appointment, him for work), and after this weekend's cleaning spree, Jack has been really diligent in doing the dishes every night and making the bed every morning. This morning, Jack had the bed made by 7:30 and still had a little time to collapse on it and wish that he could crawl back in!

July 8

Today I made a brisket and potatoes in the crock pot. Even though I didn't burn it this time, the brisket was way too fatty (evidently you're supposed to trim it up first? Who knew?) In the middle of eating dinner, Jack looked at me sympathetically and said "Sorry it sucked." Gee honey, that's okay. Thanks for the apology.

July 7

Remember the stuff I listed on Craig's List the other day? We sold one today! This super-nice family came to pick up our Xbox today. The little boy saved his money for an Xbox, found a great deal on eBay, waited for it to come in the mail, and when it arrived, it was broken. When Jack heard the story, he felt really bad for the family and told me I shouldn't have charged them. He even tried to figure out how we could get their address to send the money back. He's such a sweet guy.

July 6

Maggie learned a new trick!!!!! (I know, this is what deserves five exclamation points? Exciting life, Mandy.)

Anyway, Jack looked at me like I was crazy when I made squeaky noises over and over as I squeaked her football toy, trying to teach her how to squeak the toy on command. That was an hour well-spent, because now, when I say "Maggie, EEE!" she runs over to her football and squeaks it. It's really pretty cute.

July 5

Today was a super-productive day for the Hornbuckles! We spent today cleaning the house (making up for the embarrassingly lazy weekend!), and this afternoon we picked up the Wildmans from the airport and went to dinner with them! (a.k.a, the only time we got out of the house today!)

Later tonight, I tackled Jack's "office" storage room full o' crap. I did manage to condense the junk, get rid of a few things, and list a few other things on Craig's List to get rid of, but Jack will have to do the rest, since it's his crap!

July 4

Happy Independence Day!

Today was another nice holiday together. We slept until 1 p.m. (!), hung out for a few hours, then went to my parents' house for dinner, did a little shopping, and watched some fireworks. All in all, it was a fantastic day. I really treasure the time we get to spend together!

July 3

It's a holiday weekend! It was so nice to sleep in today, make blueberry cheesecake muffins, get a few things done around the house, and relax! Jack had a private lesson, but after that was over, we went to Fry's and got some software to speed up my computers (they're old and slow!) for free after a rebate! After that, more relaxing and running the software while we watched Wall-E (very cute movie!)

July 2

We have ANTS!

It's really irritating (they're here this time every year), but I'm counting my blessings that they're sugar ants rather than fire ants. They're only around our sink, but that means that it's very important that we don't have any food around there and that we do our dishes. Fortunately, I have a super-awesome husband that does them most of the time!

July 1

Today at work my friend Erin and I made a card for our soon-to-be new "neighbors" - our fulfillment center is moving to our headquarters from a different location, so we wanted to welcome them! We had some fun with construction paper - I felt like a little kid again!