Hess House Garage Sale

We had a garage sale this weekend! Actually, we hosted a garage sale for six different families; it was kind of incredible. Of course, like the crazy self that I am, I didn't get a picture of the garage sale sign or any of the people at the garage sale...

But I did get pictures of our friends' kids...

And then I let the kiddos take a few pics with the camera (on Auto), showing them how to point and click. Pretty impressive if you ask me... (but I'm sure they are pros at iphone photography by now so it's not much different right?)

We really did have a great time at the garage sale. We weren't ready to throw a lot of pic furniture or home decor items into the garage sale just yet, so mostly for the Hesses we had clothes, t-shirts, sneakers, a semi-functional sewing machine, some of Kyle's extra disc golf discs, our trusty old-fashioned lawn mower, and a semi-broken large glass table that conveniently came with the house because it was too heavy to move...

And the kiln, but the kiln didn't sell at the garage sale. So it doesn't really count. I'm going to try craigslist, but I figured we could take a chance at the garage sale. (For all of you how are wondering why I have a kiln, click here for the full story... For all of you wondering why I'm selling it, well, because I'm way too scared to plug it in and then not watch it for the entire 8 hours it needs to 'cook' pottery... I can barely leave my crock-pot on at home without worrying it will burn the house down...)

Anyways, luckily our friends had TONS of great stuff. I'm convinced it was their stuff and our great location that made the garage sale so successful. See we started with everything in our shop... it was stuffed.

Then the morning of the garage sale we moved all the big furniture outside.

Still though, no pictures of 'the grown-ups" or the crazy yummy barbecue chicken I made for us all to eat for lunch that day. I used my dad's barbecuing tips and my mom's potato salad recipe and the people were happy (happy tummies...).

Love living in a city that loves garage sales. Especially in a city that doesn't require us to purchase a permit for garage sales... which means there's no risk and all reward :)

And let's be honest, I just played with the kids all day and made lunch. And got a sweet desk chair that one of our friends was going to sell... Couldn't be more excited about the desk chair. (But more on that later I'm sure).

But anyways, you should have a garage sale this spring. Who knows what kind of money you could make on  the stuff you don't really even want anymore... or what kind of storage space you may gain :) Post it on craigslist, put up good signs (no one wants to get lost), and price everything (most people are afraid to say 'how much is this?').  And do it with friends, it was like a long fun hangout ending with profits and barbecue for us... #whocouldaskforanythingmore

Happy Monday.

Weekend Adventures: The Bull Wedding

So these weekend we hit up our good friend Tommy's wedding reception. He and his lovely bride Wendee got married up in Delaware about two weeks ago. But Delaware's far away from Texas where Tommy's family and a lot of Tommy and Wendee's friend live. So they threw two parties for their one marriage... genius idea.

We had the pleasure to attend, and Kyle was actually the DJ. He's multi-talented like that. 

I figured if my dance partner was going to be tied up playing the latest jams, that I better bring my fancy camera and take some pictures instead of awkwardly standing on the side of the dance floor, right?  And I got to pretend like I was a professional, walking around getting pictures of everyone. Except that there was a real professional there too. And I forgot to get a picture of the bride and groom... actually no pictures of the bride at all. The professional lady was following her around and I didn't want to look like a creeper... 

Note: If you are at a wedding taking pictures, be a sweetheart and don't use a flash. The flash can actually mess up the real photographer's pictures, especially during the ceremony!

It was a great celebration. See the groom worked with us up in Colorado for two summers and down here at camp in Texas the year in between. He has lots of camp friends. Then he brought Wendee up to Colorado last summer and proposed in front of the most beautiful mountains ever... we fell in love with Wendee that week...

So here are the pic, of the celebration, of our friends, of lots of dancing.

Some of the sweet ladies who were interns with Tommy down here in Texas. Aren't they beautiful?

Some more of our summer camp friends of the past and present...

Isn't this one great. Mostly because I love this picture and all the craziness in these people. Even though I know Madison (right) will hate it...

This would be some of our new favorite lovebirds. I just love how Emma's face lights up when she's dancing with Lloyd.

Isn't this one funny? Tommy, the groom, is the one in the middle of all the craziness... 

And then this one of some great Colorado ladies with the groom.

Then Madison and I just had to take a picture together... and the professional photographer photo bombed our picture. Which cracked me up... because I bet she gets photo bombed a whole, whole lot.

So we had a re-do.

Then I saw an opportunity to snap a classy pic of the groom. This one's for Wendee. Who doesn't want a classy, swag picture of their groom to look at all day?

It was a great night. Congratulations to Tommy and Wendee. Oh they are so fun, can't wait to see what adventures life brings them. 

And kudos to my sweetheart of a husband, who really is the very best wedding/barn dance DJ I ever met, and who surprised me with a fancy hotel room that night so we didn't have to make the late drive home that night. He's the best...

Any wedding parties in your weekend plans? Any pretend-to-be-a-photographer picture taking?

Family (Camp) Reunion!

 So when we're in Colorado we have this family called Family Camp. Our wonderful, funny, nerdy, outdoorsy counselors. We kind of love them like our own children... but like they think we're cool. ...I think.

This weekend they came into our little town and stayed in our little house. We did all the wonderful things Family Camp does.

Cookie eating (the plate is empty), Jokers and Marbles playing, and pecan cracking. (Okay so we don't usually pecan crack, but we did convince them to crack some pecans for us, lol).

Campfire sitting, marshmallow roasting, smore gooing, and laughing, lots of laughing... and girl talk ;)

Saturday morning pancake breakfast? Check. More Jokers and Marbles? Check?

Then we headed to Dallas to holler at the Taylors (and surprise Larry), and then we fired up a barn dance. Really. We were invited to a barn dance birthday party and we did a little two-stepping and tooty-ta-ing.

Good times. People I love. Getting us Hesses ready for some good times with good people this Christmas Season. Anyone else two-step this weekend?

We're Home

So after a wonderful summer of jetting off to Colorado every two weeks, and missing my husband the other two weeks... (and after taking a week off the blog to relax)...

we are finally home.

I say that in the best way possible for both worlds. We love our Colorado world, the people in it and the lives changed, and the way a family forms every summer. I miss seeing our sweet friends and Jennie's growing baby belly. There is nothing, at all, at all, to hate about our Colorado world (other than the fact that I gain 10 pounds every summer because of the yummy food!)

But it's good to be home. It's good to be able to cook dinner for my husband, and sit next to him on the couch for hours. I can look over and see him smile anytime I want and I love knowing he's home.

So we're home again (we have a lot of places we call home), and it's been good to see our friends. The Texas family that we got to pick out ourselves. While we've been gone many of them have been busy too: they have growing baby bellies too, they are moving houses, they are switching jobs... And it's great to know we have people to do that with. It was great to hear the "welcome back's" at church on Sunday. (Almost as good as the first day back at school, but without the homework, and the awkwardness).

After a wonderful summer, the fall looks even more exciting... I have a feeling it's going to be a lot more about community, and a little less about me.

That Morphy Thing

So while I hate that my husband and I are 763 miles apart... we have been having a good time down here in Texas...

Last night me and the roommate Lindsey found a little website called MorphThing.com

You know, those sites where you can morph your face with someone else (a celebrity even) and laugh at how silly you look. Or you can click "Baby Morph" and it makes a quite hilarious picture of what your future baby could look like.

So I figured I'd share.

First it asked us if we wanted to Morph with the President. Sure.

That'd be half me on the left and Lindsey's on the right...Hahhahahahha

Or me and Justin Beiber? (So moody.)

Then I figured I'd morph me and Kyle (so no one got jealous, lol). So I took these two pics (they had to meet certain specifications):

And this is what we got, lol...

 

I had no idea that Kyle and I looked so much alike! But then what about babies?

Oooops. Hopefully when the time comes to have kids we'll have better luck, lol. That kid looks scared.

If you have extra time this summer. I highly recommend it.

More to come on my adventures with Chip the Sewing Machine Salesman :)  See I'm working on that list.... so far: attempted #4, working on #8, failing at #11 due to the horrible taste of the water at work, and about to complete a portion of #14 this weekend!

Go ahead. Have fun today, and if you can, spend a few minutes being totally non-productive :)

Eat, Breathe, Sleep Thesis

I wish you would be interested in the one hundred million two hundred fifty four thousand seven hundred and eighty two pages I have printed and read in the past week.

But there is only so much that will entertain.

If you thought we dropped off the face of the earth, don't worry we're still here. Apparently in graduate school they call 'dropping off the face of the earth'  Thesis Proposal.

So there ya have it.

For those of you interested in something interesting today. We'll one of my most wonderful friends Elizabeth passed her RD exam today! Who knew! She is now an official Registered Dietitian "the Nutrition Experts"... (and she's the one in the middle, yep, sitting on top of the bulldog :)

Someday I'll get around to taking my exam... right after I stop eating, breathing, and sleeping all things thesis ;)

Today do something you enjoy very very much, because you never know when you'll get bogged down with a case of thesis and have to avoid those things a lot.

Gumbo Bread Bowls and Burnt Cookies

Just in case you thought I forgot to blog Christmas... don't worry. It's coming. But among all the luggage I'll have to find the camera.

So I wanted to share with you the rest of our pre-Christmas!

First was the OA "Christmas Eve" dinner! I mean what says Christmas Eve like gumbo in bread bowls with potato salad, board games, a Spice Drop Tree and reading the Cajun Night Before Christmas??  Well, I'll tell you what doesn't say Christmas: Fred Claus the movie... honestly the worst Christmas movie of all time, and it's hard to convince me that any Christmas movie would not be worth watching! But the OAs definitely worth hanging out with!

The OA Ladies and their bread bowls of deliciousness!

Just a little game of Sequence... and the mystery to figure out which color drop represents which spice. Did you know that spice drops were flavored after different actual spices?? I had no idea, but Karl's iphone did, and while I recommend 'mint', I'd caution against 'clover' :)

Okay check out Kyle's hand in this picture!
I mean it would be great if he were playing
(insert name of game where that's good here)!

Then for Round Two of Christmas Cookie Extravaganza! We had some wonderful Lindale friends over for some good (or burnt) cookies and a whole lot of laughs.  We planned on ending the night with a Christmas movie but after the previous night's Fred Claus failure... and due to popular demand we watched clips of our wedding care of Aunt Linda and Uncle Gordon, and scrolled through the first release of the Kelly and Malcolm wedding pics care of Jill Pfalser!

Jill and Clinton.
And this is why I love Jill... 

Kelly and Malcolm: AKA Crafty Crazy Newlyweds.

Tam and Mike: AKA Super in love and Almost! married!

Who are the people in your town that you love?

 Don't worry. More soon, as soon as I find the camera again, about
 - Christmas! All of the Christmases!
 - Cherries from Chick-fil-a...
 - and of course, the newest edition to my workout plans (Don't worry no big resolutions here).