Happy Thanksgiving

I am so blessed and my future in-laws had everyone at their house in College Station before the t.u. game. My family and Jessi's parents were all invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Cooks. Even though our Aggies lost, they played hard, and we all enjoyed our time together.

Some of the girls in the kitchen

The Cooks and the Burtons

Enjoying the beautiful back yard and porch

My parents

Bobby, Kacee, Cary, me, Dad, and Mom before heading out to "beat the hell outta t.u."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The last few weeks....

I've been bad about blogging; sorry. There is no rest for the bride-to-be.

The last few weekends have been busy with family and friend time, a friend's wedding shower, Aggie football games (even though it's been ugly), and enjoying time outside.

A few weeks back, we went with John (Cary's brother) and Jessi to take Jamison to Dewberry Farm. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed yummy food.

Jamison LOVED the goats! Uncle Cary said he's getting J a gate for Christmas. It was fun to watch J scream and shake the gate back and forth!

Fun on the slide with Mommy!

Aren't I cute?

Uncle Cary and almost officially Aunt Debbie

The Cook boys hanging out at our house

I have also been out wedding dress hunting, I mean shopping. Wow, what an experience! There are so many dresses out there.

Mom and my old roomie, Christine, went with me last Tuesday to several bridal salons. I took Tuesday off from work and tried on lots of dresses. None were that great, but at least we found what looks best on me.

This past Saturday while Mom was out of town, Christine, Jessi, and I went to one more bridal salon. I have found two dresses that could be "the one!" Mom will return from Silver Bella today, and Thursday we will go and show her the dress. I'm hoping the dress selection will help me get the ball rolling on other decisions. Everyone tells me that the dress dictates everything else.

Oh! And not only do I get to be Aunt Debbie to sweet Jamison, but he has a SISTER on the way! Jessi is due in April with a baby girl. Now I will have a nephew AND a niece! Once I finally decide on bride's maid dresses and colors, we'll have to find Baby Girl a tiny dress to match! She'll be 3 months old at the wedding.

We're Engaged!

This weekend Cary and I went to Gruene, Texas in the Hill Country. Cary had never been, so we planned a weekend get away. The weather was perfect. Friday night as we were relaxing on our room balcony and enjoying wine, Cary got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I of course said, "YES!"

After calling our families and sharing the exciting news, we went into Gruene and enjoyed dinner together. Below are just a few pictures from the most amazing and perfect weekend ever.

The view from our balcony at the Gruene River Inn.

Us down by the river where we stayed.

The front of Gruene River Inn

Baby Love

"Aunt Debbie" finally got to go see my best friend's little girl, Emerson Kate. She is adorable and is so good! I got there on Saturday and tried my best to help out Magen and Mike, the sleepy parents. Emerson is so cute and makes the funniest noises while she is sleeping. Some times she sounds like a little goat- it sounds like the beginning of a cry, but nope, just being a goat!

The Schott family
We were all on our way out to Emerson's first party- Sunday afternoon one of Magen's coworkers had a house warming party. Emerson did wonderful, of course, being passed around and being adored. The day before she was great while we watched the A&M game at Plucker's.

Aunt Deb had to leave Monday, but Magen promises to try and send me pictures as often as possible. Isn't Emerson cute? I dressed her today while Mommy got showered/dressed.

Oh! And happy two year anniversary today Magen and Mike. Your love has created a beautiful little girl!

It's official!

My brother, Bobby, and Kacee were married Saturday night. The beautiful bride and charming groom are off in Hawaii now.

The ceremony was wonderful and a good time was had by all at the reception. It's always fun to dance the night away and enjoy family and friends! (My legs are still hurting from all the dancing- proof of a great reception.)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

My school received free Astros tickets for the teachers this past week from one of our business partners. Monday (Labor Day) Cary, me, Tim, and Lindsay all went to the game but not without first having lunch at the original Ninfa's. Yummy! An extra perk was that Ninfa's runs a free shuttle from their place to the stadium. No parking fees! The games are just not the same though; they use to be so much fun. HOT players, winning team, etc. It's just not the same.

Earlier that weekend, I attended my future sister-in-law's bachelorette party in Gruene. We all had a good time even though the river flowed very slowly! Nothing beats dinner at the Gristmill and live music at Gruene Hall.

This weekend Cary is at Jason's bachelor party in Tampa. I'm sure they all will be making the most of it. ;-) While he's gone, Mom and I are going to see Grease at the Hobby Center!

Next weekend I finally get to attend an Aggie football game. (Missed the first game due to the bach. party) I can't wait!!!!!

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore....

For those of you that know me, you know I'm not the most creative person. My old school suited me well, as there were no big hallway bulletin boards and the 4th grade wasn't into "being cute." Last week at my new school, I walked down my hall to find the rest of my team working on their hallway bulletin boards. Let's just say the first words in my mind were not, "Oh goodie!" My mother, and even my brother, are very creative and talented but I'm more like Dad. I joined in anyway and started making trunks, leaves, and grass with the rest of them. Below is a picture of my bulletin board. Our school-wide theme this year is "Capture the Adventure of Learning" so we are going with a safari theme. I do have to say our team T-shirts are very cute- zebra print! Our bulletin boards say "Wild about 3rd Grade." We have the students' pictures up and we'll post their work underneath throughout the year. At least I don't have to change out the whole board! Next year I think I'll drag Mom up there with me. Below are some shots of my classroom. I love my room- very roomy and carpet! One request would be dry erase boards instead of chalk, but I don't think I'll be writing on the board that much anyway. This is the view of my room from the door looking to the back.
Standing in the back by the computers and looking up front.

The view from my desk up front to the other back corner.

Baby Shower

Magen and Mike will be parents soon, so some of us got together in Austin to celebrate. We had a couples' shower at Magen's and Mike's house with tons of food, drinks, and sweets. Fun was had by all. I can't wait for this little girl to get here!

Magen and Mike (the parents-to-be)

Mommy-to-be and the hostesses
LauraLee, Magen, Christi, me
The parents-to-be and the gang

Boys playing washers all day; Cary enjoyed himself. He and Nick were on a winning streak.

Finally!

We finally decided on and bought a coffee table!!! It's mango wood- I love the color. We got it at Gallery Furniture, so naturally it was delivered today as well. Yea!

This past weekend there was a bridal shower for Kacee at Melinda's house thrown by some of Mom's friends. It was a nice shower and nice to see old family friends. Saturday night some of my aunts and uncles stuck around for dinner at my parents' house. It was nice family time. (sorry I don't have any pictures- Mom hopefully will forward me some)

Last weekend was Cary's nephew's first birthday! He's such a big boy! We love watching him grow and playing with him. Here is a picture of the proud uncle and the birthday boy.

Friendship

Brooke Shields spoke at Michael Jackson's memorial service today. She brought tears to my eyes as she spoke of their friendship over the years. Laughter was a huge part of their friendship.

Take time today to thank God for the friendships in your life.

Cabo golf

Golf in Cabo was beautiful! Cary had played two courses out there on a previous trip with Tim. This time he played Palmilla. The first 9 holes he played were on the desert side and the last 9 were on the ocean side. I think most of these pics are from the ocean side. We found several houses on the course for sale... if only we had 3 million laying around!

We found a coconut that I was determined to break open- good thing we had golf clubs! Once we finally got it open, I was not impressed with what I ate and drank.

My official caddy duty...

Some of my critter friends
This guy met us on the first tee box

When I saw this roadrunner, I felt like I was back in California- when I was little we saw them all the time. I also saw a quail, another California friend of mine, but didn't get the camera out in time.

More lizard friends

There are chipmunks all over the place at the golf course- like squirrels here. The golf carts in Cabo are gas powered though, so you can hear us coming a mile away. Every time I got close enough to take a picture, the chipmunk would run away. You can kinda see one at the bottom right of this pole.