Open House Continued:

Alright, I've almost finished my to-do list from the last open house post (that whole building a table thing hasn't exactly happened yet, but all in good time my friends).  That means, it's time to see the kitchen!

 

 View from the opening that looks out to the living room

 View of the other side of the kitchen...you can see the front door and the double doors to the guest room through the opening

More views of the stove side where the refrigerator, toaster, coffee pot, and microwave

 

Sink and dishwasher side...you can see the fireplace and t.v. in the living room

 My fun magnet I made for the dishwasher (thanks Pinterest)

 Happy refrigerator!  So good to see pictures of family and friends...

 ...especially friends we don't live near

 sink area

Another wider view...love our new kitchen rug!  The door at the back of the kitchen houses our new washer and dryer!  We feel so grown up with a dishwasher, washer, and dryer...grown up/spoiled...potato/potato (which is hard to read if you don't know that people pronounce them differently).

*True story...there was a girl who entered a pageant and sang "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" but had never actually heard the song before (how that happens I don't know)...well here are the lyrics:

You like potato and I like potahto,
You like tomato and I like tomahto,
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto!
Let's call the whole thing off!

 Anways, she didn't know that you pronounce them differently and just sang the same words twice for each pair of words in the song...yikes bikes!  So enjoy that...just a fun story for you*

Next Up:

Guest Bedroom!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

Happy 32nd Anniversary!

My mom and dad before they left for their honeymoon.

I am so thankful for my parents.  They have been such a great example of what a marriage should look like, and they are just two of the coolest people ever.  

At the zoo in Chicago

 

 Chicago

 Sue the dinosaur in Chicago

 They're so fun...San Francisco

Love you guys...keep rocking it for the next 32 years!

Our Open House!

So, since we still have a couple of things to put up on certain walls, I will show your our most completed rooms first!  Let's start with the living room:

Here's what you'll see when you walk through the beautiful bright green door:

There is a bedroom on the left when you walk in and the living room is on the right.  I love that the kitchen has an opening so you can see the living room while you're in there.

 Here's a view of the living room from the extra bedroom.  The front door is on the right and the kitchen is to the left.  I mentioned that our apartment has vaulted ceilings and a fireplace...you can see the fireplace there!

 Here's another view of the room...I'm standing in a hallway that goes to our bathroom.

In this picture you can see our vaulted ceilings and the dining area behind the living room.  

From this angle you can see the front door and our pretty gallery wall.  We love the way our new couch and chair look together with our rug!

This view looks behind the couch at our extra bedroom (which looks like a closet if the doors are closed) and the hallway I mentioned that takes you to the bathroom.

The couch up close.

Just watching a little Dodger baseball!

Here's our pretty new red chair!  And on our side table is our "Welcome to Waco" gift from Lynley and Danielle via The Warehouse:

 New Baylor/Waco coasters!

Tyler and I made a mantle for the fireplace!  It turned out great!

And the view from the couch...I absolutely love this room.

My next projects are:

1. Painting the table behind the couch
2. Building a new dining room table
3. Hanging things in the bathroom
4. Printing new pictures to put in our frames

Next up, the kitchen!!!

Home Sweet {and sweaty} Waco

 Goodbye Maddox Hall

On May 31, Tyler and I said goodbye to our sweet apartment in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and made our way to Waco, Texas.  It was bittersweet, and we miss our friends so much, but we are excited about this new chapter in our lives and so look forward to being closer to our families!  We had a very hectic apartment search, but with the help of mother, father, sister, and brother Aaron, we were able to find a place.

We live in a third floor apartment, which was a BEAST when we were moving in, but it has vaulted ceilings and a fireplace, so it's great!  It has been a crazy past several days...we moved into our apartment on Friday, unpacked and had plans to go to a baseball game with friends on Saturday (more on that later), ran LOTS of errands on Sunday, Tyler started class on Monday, more unpacking and hanging things on walls Tuesday, Tyler started his second summer class on Wednesday, and we are still stepping over decorations today! 

But...we are sooo close!  Almost everything is up on the walls, we are just trying to figure out what to do with those last few picture frames and knickknacks.  Once we are cleaned up and all of the boxes have been taken to the dumpster, I will definitely post pictures of our new home.  But until then, here's an update with some pictures that don't really have to do with the apartment:

I mentioned that Tyler and I went to a baseball game with some friends...we actually went to see our friend Shawn play.  Shawn is married to one of my besties {Lynley} and plays for the Albuquerque Isotopes, the AAA farm team for the LA Dodgers.  They happened to be playing in Round Rock {not too far from Waco} so we made the trip with our friends Danielle, Tate, Megan, Jordan, Nikki, and Lynley, just in time an hour early to see Shawn and the rest of the Albuquerque Isotopes!

Shawn wasn't the only celebrity we knew at the game.  Tate, Jordan, and Tyler were asked to be a part of the giant tricycle race during the middle of the eighth inning.  Don't believe me?  Take a look for yourself:

It was a close race but Jordan ended up with the win, even though the Isotopes didn't.  Despite the loss, we were celebrating the next night because Shawn got the call to the bigs!  He and Lynley flew out to Philadelphia to don their DODGERS jerseys!!! We are beyond excited for them, and have become big Dodger fans!  Can't wait to hear how things are going you two!

Lynley sent us a picture from her seat...UH-MA-ZING!

Monday morning came, and so did school for Tyler.  Here he is in his classic first day of class picture:

Since Tyler started his first graduate school class as a Baylor bear, I took it upon myself to attempt a Pinterest project.  And this is what happened:

BEAR CAKE

I was so glad when it was over and you could actually tell it was a bear.  Also, it was way too much cake for us, so Tyler took the upper half of the body to class the next day...his second day of school and already such a good sharer.

That's about it for now!  Hopefully tomorrow will be the day I post pictures of the new place...don't hold me to it though...but, if we can get the last couple of things on the walls tonight, then just maybe I'll will actually be able to give you a tour tomorrow.

This Is We...

We're not hibernating!  We're just exhausted!

The past few weeks have been filled with packing, last days of work, last days of school, packing some more, moving, unpacking, settling in, first days of school, and as much sleep as we can get in between all of that!  We're almost settled though...give me a couple more days and I'll have a big update on our new life in WACO!!!

Hamburger Help Us - Meal #1

In keeping everyone up to date on our Hamburger Help-Us week, I've decided to share with you some meals we've had on our new budget!  Here's a breakdown of our first meal (the prices reflect how much of the total cost of the product we used in the recipe):

Meal #1 - Pork Fried Rice

Pork Chops - $2.00

Rice - $0.87

Mushrooms - $0.76

Peas and Carrots - $0.32

Leek - $0.50

Egg - $0.17

Soy Sauce - $0.16

TOTAL COST: $4.78

Pork Fried Rice Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 servings of cooked white rice (cooled completely...making this the night before is best)

2 cooked, and sliced pork chops

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small can of mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped leek

1 1/2 cups of frozen peas and carrots

1 egg

2-3 Tablespoons of soy sauce

Instructions:

In a hot pan, saute 1/4 cup of chopped leeks,1 small can of mushrooms, and about 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas and carrots in a small amount of oil.  Move the vegetables to the side, once cooked, and scramble the egg in the middle of the pan.  Once the egg has scrambled, add the rice and sliced pork chops and saute until heated through and rice starts to brown a little bit.  Add the soy sauce and mix until incorporated.  Serve with chopsticks!

Hamburger Help US

In my last post I may have mentioned that Tyler and I will be on a bit of a condensed budget while we're in grad school.  I believe I mentioned something about Ramon Noodles and Macaroni and Cheese with cut up hot dogs.  So, Tyler and I are on a mission to eat every meal at home for as long as we can on a week's worth of groceries.  Since we won't have access to the Cafeteria or Chick-Fil-A on campus, we are working on using a week's worth of grocery money to feed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner for at least 7 days...here's our loot from our grocery trip:

Notice the large quantity of store brands...and don't forget the rice!  We'll try and keep you updated on our simulation week!  It's sure to be an exciting time here in Arkadelphia!

Baylor Bound!

That's right folks! It's official...starting this summer, Tyler and I will be Baylor Bears!!!  We have both been accepted to Baylor Graduate School.  We are so excited to be going back to school and especially to move closer to family and friends.  Waco is only a couple hours away (I'm not really sure who I'm clearing that up for) so we'll be half the distance to our families than we are now in Arkadelphia.

 Here's a little information about our graduate programs:

Tyler has been accepted to Baylor's Curriculum and Instruction program.  His program is actually only 14 months, and he starts in June, so he'll be done next August!  Which is crazy...but awesome since we're both trying to be full-time students..it will be nice for him to finish so soon.  This program is very flexible as far as working and going to school is concerned.  It is also a great program because it will allow him to have a lot of choices after he graduates.  He can go back into the classroom, he can become a curriculum specialist in a district, he can go for his principle endorsement, and he can be a reading specialist too!  Tyler and I are so fortunate to have both been accepted into programs that offer tuition remission along with a paid GA position. So Tyler will be working while he goes to school.

I have been accepted to Baylor's Higher Education and Student Affairs program.  Basically, it will prepare me for a job working with college students.  Admission to the program is dependent on your ability to secure a job on campus.  In February, Tyler and I made our way to Baylor's campus for my interview.  After an exhausting weekend of interviews, meetings, and orientation, and an even more exhausting week of waiting, I finally got the call!  I'll be an apprentice in the Student Activities office, and I'll be working with Campus Programs.  My program won't start until August of this year, and it's a two year program, so I'll be in school a little longer than Tyler.

Ever since we've officially made the commitment to Baylor, life has been very different.  It's been a crazy emotional roller coaster.  We've been so sad to think about leaving Arkadelphia.  Even though I'm sure most of you would think "I wouldn't be able to get out of there faster!" we are a little more hesitant about it.  Arkadelphia was ours.  It is where we made our mutual friends; where we found our first church, and where we had our first home.  It will be weird to leave it all behind and start over again.  But we are so happy to be in a new place with new friends and a new home!

Speaking of new home...we started our official apartment search this past week during our Spring Break.  On Monday this past week, my mom went with us and we spent the afternoon in Waco looking at apartment after apartment.  Since Tyler and I are on a very tight budget (full-time students = Ramon Noodles and Macaroni and Cheese with cut up hot dogs) it was a little difficult finding something in our price range.  However, the day wasn't a total flop.  We ended up finding two places that are good possibilities.  One of them is a bit out of our price range, but we can't stop thinking about it!  Right now, since we won't be moving until June, we'll just have to wait and see if it's still available.

So...now we're waiting!  Hopefully we'll have a home soon!  In the mean time, our family is planning our next vacation!  For a more detailed (and brilliantly told) story about the Carpenter Family Vacation 2012, you HAVE to read sister Kayla's blog: http://weirdfamilyandlife.blogspot.com/

All I have to say is...this family is so weird insane crazy AWESOME!!!