Guilt

When we got home from church today there was a new hole in our backyard....

Deacon swears he knows nothing about it...

The Nursery- Part 1

Back before Kyle & I even knew we were pregnant, I had started compiling ideas for how I wanted our nursery to look.  Mostly, I read through people's blogs and stole other their ideas.  That's how I roll. Kyle & I decided to avoid an all out panic sometime around October that we would tackle the nursery slow and steady and hopefully have it done well in advance. That is also how I roll.  Which as a side note I have recently learned at church is my idol- control.  But that is another issue and another blog post. 

So, our first nursery project was paint.  We want the room to be fairly gender neutral, so we decided to paint it in subtle tones of tan and white.  The room was actually already tan, so all we had to do was add the white.  I got my idea from one of my favorite blogs 'Young House Love'.  Check out this post to see what we were copying.

Kyle & I spent hours (I wish I was exaggerating) taping off the room.  I'm not sure why I thought it wouldn't be that hard to paint stripes on a wall. But I was sorely mistaken.  After about a week of taping for a few hours each night.  We were finally done.  This is of course when the tape started falling off the walls that we had taped earlier. So then we had to re-tape.  But finally all the taping was done and Kyle was able to paint. 

Here's the room now:

Next up on our project list- paint the crib.  I really like the idea of having a fairly neutrally colored nursery with a painted crib and white bedding.  What color we paint the crib is a different story.  We're going to wait until we know if little Vegas is a boy or a girl to decide that, so only about 5 weeks until we can start our next project.

-Stacie

Deac's Texas B'day

Today is our sweet Deacon's 5th birthday! It's hard to believe that it has been five years since we went and picked him up from the breeder.  Poor kid has been through alot with us since then.  He's had to suffer through losing his status as an 'only child' and endure the multi-flight trip overseas to his temporary home in Edinburgh.  Not to mention all the dressing up and forcing him to dance around the house with Kyle.  Have I shared too much?  You may not want to be our friends anymore...

He's been there with us through most of our marriage and we really love him. Which is why we made him dress up in this awesome hat and look 'Texas' for his birthday.  I'm sure he counts his lucky stars every day that he ended up with us yawhoos. Kyle & I are dorks and even sang happy b'day to him this morning!   I know, I know- we won't do this when we have our real child. But, you may be surprised.  I have always had a special place in my heart for animals and dressing things up (case and point- the flamingo currently in our front yard). 

-Stacie

Vegas baby!

The Sale family is getting ready to go from just the two of us to the three of us!  Kyle & I are very excited to share that we’re having a baby! My official due date is November 2nd- but I am hoping for my much desired Halloween baby! So fingers crossed!!

Until we know if baby Sale will be a baby girl or a baby boy we have lovingly named the fetus ‘Vegas’.  Vegas (we’ve decided to refer to the fetus as her instead of it) and her mommy (that’s me- weird!!) are doing well.  Since I'm through the first trimester, the nausea and extreme fatigue seem to be diminishing. Now we move on the fun stuff- baby belly! We’ll keep you posted with pictures and updates when we have things to share. 

Till then!

-Stacie, Kyle & Vegas! 

First Class Experience!

I've been an absentee blogger, thanks to Stacie for carrying the load, my apologies for the long silence.  It's me, not you faithful blog follower.

We have a new attraction that just opened in Austin called Gold Class Cinemas.  Ultimately it's like if first class air travel and the movies had a baby.  The theatre is set-up to only seat about 40 people.  All of the chairs are uber comfortable microfibre recliners with a shared table.  When you arrive at the theatre you are greeted into a swanky lounge / bar area where a waitress takes your initial drink order as well as appetizer and entrée selection.

Not too Shabby!

After enjoying the ambiance and drinks, guests are ushered into the theatre where the servers bring food, more drinks and dessert while you enjoy the movie.  Just like flying first class this experience comes with a pricetag but have no fear, the Sale family didn't spend a dime (ok, we tipped the waitress).  We learned that prior to officially opening, Gold Class was running training for their newly hired staff.  We jumped at the opportunity to go to a free show, enjoy free drinks and a free meal.  Free is good!

Hard to tell but this isn't us -but this is how we roll!

I have to say that the experience was great.  I'm not sure they convinced me to return and pay $29 per ticket (per person, seriously!?) and another $40 - $60 on food and beverage but I'm glad we went.  At least I can say I experienced it and reflect on that experience next time I'm at the $1 theatre with the unwashed masses!


-Kyle

Our East Coast Whirlwind Weekend

Last Friday morning at 04:00 hours, Kyle & I embarked on the start of our east coast whirlwind weekend trip (try saying that ten times fast)! We tried our best to pretend that we are usually awake at 4 am, much to the utter confusion of Deacon & Mercedes who decided it was was a better idea to keep sleeping (this proves they are in fact not stupid, but very, very smart dogs).  At 5 am we were in the car driving to the airport to catch our 6:30 flight- what were we thinking?  Not sure, but thankfully our flights were on time and we arrived in Richmond, VA at 12:30.  Just in time to eat lunch in the car and get dropped off at my Grandmother's house for our bowling date. That's right- Kyle & I went bowling with my grandmother (who by the way is the sweetest Southern grandmother that you could ever even imagine).  Bowling with your grandmother is actually a very entertaining pastime and Kyle & I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My only regret, aside from being the only one not to get a strike, is that I do not have any pictures of this blessed event! You'll just have to imagine it in your head. 

After bowling, we went to dinner with my parents at one of our favorite spots in Richmond- 'Bottoms Up Pizza'.  Kyle & I have been known to be serious gluttons, which is why we love Bottoms Up so much. Each slice of heavenly pizza that you order is the size of a quarter of a pizza.  And not just any pizza- you can choose from toppings like crab meat, shrimp, artichoke hearts, broccoli, peppers and on and on and on. It really is a pizza experience more than anything else.  But, not to let anyone down, we may have ordered nachos to accompany our pizza.  I know, I know- my theory is that we each have a repressed fat kid inside of us just begging to come out. And every once and awhile he does.  But sometimes we are good. Case and point- both Wednesday and Thursday nights this week we ate salad for dinner.  Yep, just salad.  How about them apples for you!


Okay, back to the trip.  Friday night, Kyle & I celebrated our anniversary by staying at the hotel we had our wedding reception at- 'The Jefferson'.

Isn't it dreamy? This is the point in our day when we get on our hands and knees and thank the good Lord for family connections!  We had a great time pretending that we were fancy enough to stay in the hotel on our own two feet. Then, to further our inner fat child, we ate some decadent dessert.  Why not at this point?
Saturday we spent hanging out with parents and relaxing. My mom made her delicious egg rolls and strawberry rhubarb pie and we watched the slightly disturbing movie 'Law Abiding Citizen'. 

The pie in all her glory

Now comes for the whirlwind part of our weekend. On Sunday morning we got up at 6am and left the house by 7am for the five hour drive south to Rockhill, South Carolina to see my cousin Alyssa's senior basson recital.  She is graduating next month from Winthrop University with her degree in music.  Here are a few pictures of the trip:

Some Wisteria along the way

My grandparents made the trek from Richmond too

Family photo op!

The grande finale of the recital! Go Alyssa!! (note: they did not wear the costumes for the entire recital)

Us with Alyssa post-recital!

My older brother Jonathan & his wife Valerie at dinner afterwards

My cousins Alyssa & Alanna and my Aunt Liz!

After the rectial and a wonderful dinner, we got back in the car for the five hour drive home! We arrived back in Richmond at 12:30 am and went to bed for a few sweet hours before the alarm went off at 4:30 am to head back to the airport again!

Unfortunately, our trip home was not as uneventful as our trip there.  Our flight attendant overslept ( I will not mention on this wholesome blog the names Kyle & I came up with for him- what can I say, we need Jesus!), so our Richmond flight left late and we missed our connecting flight in Chicago.  Needless to say, we eventually got home and have spent most of this week trying to recover. It was fun though and very worth it! We don't have any trips planned until the end of May now and for that I am grateful!

-Stacie

Easter Visitors

This past weekend, we had more visitors! Kyle's mom, sister, brother-in-law and nephew all came to visit us for Easter!  It was Marek's first trip, so we were especially excited to have him come visit.

Aren't they cute together?

Uncle Kyle!

 They all arrived on Thursday afternoon and from that point on we pretty much proceeded to eat ourselves into a stupor.  Austin has a plethora of delicious food to partake in and we, of course, didn't want our visitors to miss a bite of it! We ate burgers, fries, shakes, bbq, ribs, pizza, tacos, chick-fil-a, frozen yogurt, donuts....are you disgusted yet? I am shocked that I am still able to button my pants. Apparently, my metabolism is a bit faster than I thought! Aside from all the eating, we also visited the Capital building on Friday afternoon.  Heather is a history buff so we knew she'd be interested.

In front of the Capital building 

We also spent some time exploring South Congress Street which is home to an eclectic mix of stores and eateries in downtown Austin.

South Congress Street

Eating pizza on South Congress

And of course, I had to have a few photoshoots with precious Marek for my class (and personal collection).  All in all it was a great visit! 

Not to leave anyone out, we're headed off to Richmond tomorrow morning (at a very ungodly hour) to visit my family for the weekend and attend my cousin's senior basson recital. She will be graduating from Winthrop University (South Carolina) in May with her degree in music (what can I say, we are a musical family!).  Should be a great trip! We'll post pictures all about it next week.

Stacie