Girls Night In!

A few weeks ago The Hardline from The Ticket, a sports talk radio station, was coming to our most favorite place Chimy's for a broadcast. Dustin and our brother-in-law, Brent, are HUGE fans of the show and were dying to go. My sister-in-law Mendy wanted to meet up with them; so this means I got to watch our cute little niece for the night!

I was super worried because Morgan takes a little while to warm up to people. I was terrified when she woke up from her nap she was going to be so scared that it was me there. It was the complete opposite. After taking her everywhere she pointed to see if anyone else was home, she was happy and content to have a girls night in with her favorite and only aunt. I had so much fun spending time with this sweet little girl. We danced to music on the iPad, played with toys, and sat outside. I seriously could not get enough of her. Here are some cute pics from the night.

Happy 1st Birthday Morgan!

We had a fabulous weekend! Friday we had a quiet night at home in preparation for what was to come on Saturday.

In my very first blog post I wrote about mine and Dustin's niece being born. Well, Saturday we went and celebrated her 1st birthday! I cannot believe she is already a year. It has been so much fun to watch Morgan grow, and I can't believe how quickly the time is going. She is learning to walk and can already take a few steps at a time. She is not a performer though. In front of us she would only take a few steps, but once we left that night she was pretty much making laps. She loves to make noises and give sweet kisses. She isn't quite sure what she thinks of her Aunt Taylor and Uncle Dustin yet. We don't see her very often, so it takes her a bit to warm up. We eventually came to if her and I had a sink/table between us or someone was holding her next to me she was my best friend. Any closer and it was game over! I did get 4 kisses without even asking though! I can't wait to see her again.

 Dustin and I headed over to Mendy and Brent's house early Saturday and spent some time with his parents and Morgan before everyone came over. The house looked so cute! My mother-in-law has such an eye for creativity! It makes me super jealous of her. She and Mendy did a great job at putting everything together. The theme was Minnie Mouse and everything was pink and black which are two of my favorite colors. Once everyone got over we had cake and opened presents. Morgan wasn't quite sure what to do with her smash cake.

Dustin's parents stayed with the baby and we headed out for a night on the town. We love to go out with Mendy and Brent, and especially love to go out in Fort Worth. We had a great time!

Bring on the pictures!

 The kitchen set up for the party

 Morgan's chair ans smash cake

 This cake was SO good!

 Birthday girl!

 Morgan and PawPaw

 Mendy, Morgan, and Brent

 Uncle Dustin, Morgan, and Aunt Taylor

 Nana and Morgan

 Cruisin' in her new wheels!

 Morgan sitting in her chair we got her with her new sock monkey

 Trying to figure out what to do with this cake

 Pink!

 These two pictures crack me up!!! Morgan hanging out with her new laptop in her new chair

Mendy and I out in Fort Worth

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday. We spent our first holiday as a married couple in Abilene. I have to say that I was so sad not to be with my family. It wasn't that I was upset to be in Abilene with my in-laws. It was just I didn't want something big to happen that I was going to miss. We had a great time though. On Wednesday after sitting through some ridiculous traffic on I-20, Mendy, Brent, Baby Morgan, Dustin, and I finally made it! We hung out with the family and just caught up. Thursday we woke up and went over to Dustin's aunt and uncle's house. It was a lot of fun. I think in my head I had this whole "What if their family does it differently than mine?" question rolling around. It was pretty much the same and I loved it. The guys watched football all day, and I got to know Dustin's aunts and cousins a little bit more. Thursday night-Saturday morning we hung out at Dustin's parent's house. I loved getting to just hangout with the family. It was just so overwhelming how easily we just slid into this family routine.They have been a family themselves without me for awhile obviously. I just didn't know how it would work with someone new in. It seemed like I had been spending holidays with them for forever. Saturday Dustin and I drove back to Dallas and did Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house. I was so excited to get some family time on my side for a little bit. Even though my parents are right down the highway we still somehow only see each other once or twice a month. During football season, especially, it seems like we are just so busy with our season tickets and my parent's to the A&M games we don't get time together. My brother Jared, brother Josh's girlfriend Alexa, and both my  brother's friend Jared were in town for the holiday. Jared #2 and Alexa are so much part of the family that it felt like everyone was there.

The best part of our trip to Abilene... getting to spend time with Baby Morgan! Normally when Dustin and I see her it is for a few hours or just a day. We got about 2 1/2 days with her and I loved it! She is the sweetest baby and has the cutest laugh. Dustin and I have yet to get her to laugh, but I tell Dustin she is on strike until she gets cousins. Hint, hint. haha. No worries, no cousins for awhile. I somehow walked away with only pictures of Morgan, but she is so cute it didn't matter. Here are a few.

I love this picture of Morgan looking up at Dustin. She loves to look at him and touch his goatee. 

Lately...

I've been so busy that I haven't had any time to blog lately! School has of course kept me busy. My students are awesome this year and they make me laugh every day. Volleyball has kept me super busy with practice, games, working Guyer games, and scouting for Guyer. I'm still loving it though! I'm not sure how Dustin is feeling about it all though. Before we got married it was always okay that I worked so much because we never saw each other. Now that we are living together I think he has realized that I am never home. I'm up almost 2 1/2 hours before him and home 1 1/2 at a minimum after.

We have also been busy going to Tech games and watching the Rangers! We kept our season tickets this year, and have been having so much fun going to visit everyone. We went to the Texas State, A&M, and Kansas State game. I miss Lubbock so much! Here are a few pics of everything that has been going on...

 This is what you do when Tech and OU play at the same time at the Gahagans

We got to see our precious niece Morgan. She is 6 months today and I can't believe how big and cute she is. Love her more than anything.

Ferg was pumped to be watching Tech football in his jersey.

Mendy came to Lubbock with us for the A&M game. It was her first time since 2007 to come to Lubbock.

Best part of going to Lubbock is getting to see some of my best friends who still live there. Hanging out with Lauren at Rockies!

Lubbock has a new bar called The Roof at the top of the parking garage that overlooks the stadium. As expensive as it was, I wish we had this when I was there!

We ran into Josh Abbott and Roger Creager at the The Roof. It was a tan bit windy.

Watching Johnny Cooper at Raidergate Kansas State weekend

So funny story... lately I've been curling my hair with a sock. A great way to do curl with no heat and no time. I'll do a how to sometime soon when my hair is longer. It hasn't worked as well since I cut it. Well I found this other website that talked about curling your hair with twisty buns so I tried it. Dustin made fun of me the night before I went to sleep when I had about 20 buns sticking out of my head. He even warned me that my hair was going to look awful the next morning. Well 5am with no time to shower, my hair was a fright! I look like I have a bird's nest on my head. It was wild and out of control. I couldn't tame it at all. It finally fell a bit, and I just put it half up. Maybe I'll try again when my hair is longer.

Welcome to the Blog World!

    
      
      I'm officially welcoming myself to the blog world. I'm not quite sure if I have anything interesting enough to say that people will read, but ready or not here I am. I'm such a planner that this is a decision I've been thinking about for a long time. I didn't want to do something I couldn't commit to. Worried about committing to a blog? I've got issues. Especially if it became a decision that took me for forever.

      Wedding planning is officially almost over! At least with the big stuff which is a HUGE relief. I can't say that I am the best bride. I am so excited to be married to Dustin, live with him, call him my husband, spend my life with him, and just have my best friend around at all times. However, the whole planning everything was a little more difficult then I thought it would be. I'm such a planner that I thought that this would totally be my thing. I carry my planner around everywhere and keep it color coordinated. (Not so much recently since I'm having to add dates to it every 2 seconds) Normally though, I carry around my little markers in their separate pouch so that the color coordination is never messed up. You never know when you'll need the blue appointment color! Do I sound like a freak yet? Anyways, I was so pumped for wedding planning until I saw all it entailed! It has been more fun then it started out to be, but I'll be relieved with the day is here. With teaching, coaching, and keepin up with life it was just a little too much of added stress for me. Thankfully, I'm at the fun part where we do showers, engagement pictures, bridal portraits, bachelorette party, and seeing the RSVPs in the next couple months to see who can make it!I think the hardest part is that I'm just not a very good decision maker. I can always tell you what I definitely don't want, but not always what exactly I want. When I have to think that is something I'm sharing with my family and friends, plus, will be in pictures for the rest of my life, well just throw decision making out the window. I sound like a complete complainer. I'm super excited about it all though and can't wait for our special day to be here. Calling Dustin my husband is something that makes me smile. He is such an incredible man, and I'm so completely excited to spend my life with him. I'm even excited about the craziness that will come with it too. Combining our stuff, having those first moments when we realize I don't have a "home" to go to when we get in an argument, putting our different life styles together, becoming a part of each other's family just sounds like fun too.

     I'd also like to welcome Morgan Marie to the world! On Friday night Dustin's sister, Mendy, went into labor. This was something we had been expecting. Her original due date had been May 11, but Morgan was bound and determined to make her entrance into the world a little early. We were originally going to Abilene this weekend, but decided we would be too scared that we would get there and have to turn around. Turns out we were right! We headed out to Fort Worth at about 11:30pm Friday night. Well, Morgan was determined to have an entrance that would have everyone on pins and needles. After getting a few hours of sleep in the waiting room, we finally went to the truck where I slept in the passenger seat and Dustin in the drivers. I somehow fell asleep right away, but Dustin was up all night afraid someone would break into the truck. (My knight and shining armor watching over me <3) Finally, after a 7-11 breakfast stop, we went back into the waiting room and waited for Morgan to grace us with her presence that morning. She is absolutely adorable and I can't believe she is here! Even though I'm not officially her aunt until July 16th, I'm calling her my niece anyways! Dustin and I will be her only aunt and uncle. Brent is an only child and it is just Dustin and Mendy. I feel like this puts on so much pressure. I just want to be everything to her that all my aunts and uncles have been to me. I keep wondering what she'll call us. The "yl" and "Dust" can be sort of hard for a little kid to say. I wonder how she'll say it or if she'll turn to a nickname. I wonder what funny things she'll say and the cute faces she'll make. I just can't believe she is here. This whole weekend has just made me realize how excited I am to be a part of the Hotchkiss family. I have been so lucky with my soon to be in-laws.

Morgan was Dustin's very first baby to hold. Doesn't he look like a natural? Well, I guess that is enough rambling for now.