Movie Marathon

(Pics to come when Blogger stops acting up)

Whew....what a whirlwind of the last couple weeks. We spent the holiday season in Michigan with my family (with a quick layover in Denver to see the Emmons'). It was so nice to be home and REALLY relax. We had snow for Christmas, which is all I ever wish for. As always, when I fly, my flights never go as scheduled (Chris is an unfortunate accomplice in my bad luck). Our flight home was delayed for hours, putting us home in El Paso at 2 am. Even with all the snow here, and the short work week, I feel like we are still catching up at home (yes, we had almost five inches of snow in our yard in El Paso, Texas). Because of this, we had lots of errands to run this weekend. We got up early Saturday morning and went to have the Camry serviced (this is not part of the date night - but Chris did buy me a mocha to soften the blow of waking up at 7:30 am on a Saturday). After that, we ran to Under Armour so Chris could redeem a gift certificate he got over the holidays. Then, with all the snow, we decided to drive up through McKelligon Canyon. It was freezing, but really pretty. From there, we headed back home for a movie marathon on the living room floor (it ended up turning into a three hour nap - much needed!). We tore through Netflix like no one's business. Finally, we got up, got ourselves together and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and to catch the end of the football game (MSU men were playing too - BONUS!). Since the game ended up being a blow out, we headed home, set up the hookah and had an awesome night in....with more movies!

As I get older, I realize more and more about myself and feel less and less of a need to change myself (i.e. if 25 years of life hasn't made me a morning person yet, it's just not in the cards for me). I prefer being a homebody. I love Sundays when I don't have to change out of my pajamas, I enjoy getting into bed a little early just to read. I like quiet and I cherish nothingness. Chris, on the other hand, enjoys socializing with friends. He likes to be out, doing things. So far, our date nights have seemed to be a pretty good mix of the two.

Since Chris had the last date before Christmas, and this past date, I have agreed to double up for the next two weeks. And, yes, they are already planned :)

Happy 2013 everyone! May you drop weight, bad habits, negativity, debt, bad relationships, guilt, or whatever your resolution was!

Graduation

Okay, so this post is really late. Last week we didn't necessarily do a proper date night because I graduated from UTEP! That's right, Master of Leadership Studies with a concentration in Health Administration. Needless to say, it was a hectic weekend. I had ceremonies on Thursday night and Saturday morning. That mixed with Chris' last weekend of regular season fantasy football tied up our schedule. We did celebrate my graduation by going to the State Line BBQ with some friends for lunch after the ceremony last Saturday. After that, Chris and I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up a huge floor mirror that my parents bought for my graduation gift. After that, we grabbed some Starbucks, then headed home for relaxation and a movie marathon. This coming weekend is going to be another crazy one getting ready to leave for Michigan. Merry Christmas everyone!

ChristKindle Market

Okay, so this post is a little late. It has been one crazy week. This past weekend was my date night turn. Crammed in between all of our obligations, I only had a window on Saturday afternoon :) We jumped in the truck and headed to San Elizario for the annual Christ Kindle Market, a German tradition. Mix German tradition with a border town and you get a very unique experience. There were a ton of tents, shops and galleries that we browsed through. Chris surprised me and bought me a lazy susan with sunflowers inlaid in stained glass. It is beautiful, and the new centerpiece on my kitchen counter! We ate lunch at the El Bandido Cantina. Chris got a burger and I had some of the best enchiladas I have ever had! A couple Mexican beers topped off the meal. The weather was really nice and we were able to explore a little more of the town. San Elizario also happens to be the last town on the Mission Trail and we snapped a couple pictures of the outside of the Church. San Elizario itself was a very strange mix of obvious poverty and high-end art galleries. It was a quintessential, dusty, West Texas border town.

We had a fantastic day. Since Chris didn't find anything at the market, we stopped by DSW on the way home so he could pick up a new pair of black boat shoes (his new favorite style). It was a wonderful afternoon, and we may just be making a trip back to the El Bandido for some enchiladas in the future.

Pictures from Hayley

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Movie Night

So this past week was a crazy one. Coming off of Thanksgiving, we were both exhausted trying to get back in the swing of things (case in point: our suitcases stayed packed all of last week because we were too lazy to unpack them). Thursday night we had plans, Friday night we had plans, and Saturday we were exhausted. A dirty house mixed with homework equaled some much needed relaxation. Chris and I decided to spend our date night on Saturday night watching movies at home. Dinner consisted of homemade pizza, and we snuggled in for the night with the Christmas tree lights on.

We have been WAY behind in our movie-watching. We used to go see new movies all the time in theaters. Now, by the time we get around to having time to watch them, they are already on DirecTV. So we knocked out "The Watch," "Lawless" and "Expendables 2." All of them were thoroughly entertaining. "Lawless" was fantastic. "The Watch" was weird, yet entertaining (with Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill, it's hard to go wrong). "Expendables 2" was everything we imagined it would be...a lot of violence, shooting, explosions, and cheesy lines. It actually turned out to be a pretty perfect date night! With the holidays coming up and school winding down, we may be having a couple more of these unplanned, casual date nights in the near future!

Bowling!

  So since this past weekend was part of the Thanksgiving weekend, we celebrated our weekly date night with the Rebello family :) Keeping in mind we had a wide age range, Chris and I decided bowling would suit everyone nicely. I researched bowling alleys in the Gilbert, Arizona area and Brunswick Zone XL came up with good reviews. We even had dinner in a nice little restaurant outside the bowling alley called Pockets. Everyone was really friendly, the atmosphere was very family-friendly, and the adults even got to partake in a couple pitchers of beer. Blaise and Derek both held their own, and I think they each even had a strike or two! Chris and Dad went head-to-head for the best score. I broke one hundred in the second game, which was a huge feat for me! There was a stretch in the second game when Derek, Erin, myself, and mom all had a strike, making four strikes in a row! We ended up squeezing two games in our 2 hour time allotment. Just as we were finishing, cosmic bowling started. It looked really fun, but we were all becoming a little tired. This was another great date night that we got to share with those around us (Erin's 3rd date night!). Next date night is up to Chris, he's had a long break so I'm excited to be surprised again! Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving.

Gun Show + Coffee and Kahlua

So this was our first date night in awhile! So glad to have Chris back, and glad to get back to date nights! I went ahead and planned this weekend again since Chris was gone for the last three weeks. On Saturday there was a gun and knife show at the local El Maida Shrine. The event was packed! It took us forever to find parking. There was an entrance fee, and then we immediately bought raffle tickets (I don't remember what the gun was that was up for raffle, but Chris was excited about it). There were a ton of booths crammed into the auditorium. Some showed guns, some showed knives, and still others were completely unrelated (jewelry, antiques, etc.). We walked around for awhile and Chris ended up buying a cleaning mat for his M&P .40 that shows how to break it down. On our way out, we stopped at a quilt booth for the Wounded Warrior Project. With a donation you could sign a square that would be made into a quilt and donated to a wounded warrior.

After that, we headed home because Chris had to take care of some issues with his phone. We took a nap, then headed out for part two of date night. There is a parking lot on post behind the colonel's houses that overlooks the valley of downtown El Paso and Juarez. I wanted to wait until it was dark out because I think it is a beautiful view at night. We made some coffee (and added a little Kahlua) and sat on the tailgate and just took in the view for awhile. Every time I run by this spot at night, I always think about how nice it would be to just stop and take in the lights and the sound of the distant highway. After this rendezvous, we headed to Freedom Crossings to meet up with some friends at Shamrocks for drinks. It is sooooo good to have Chris back!