BTW, we finally assembled our new patio furniture. We had to retire the old one that we got from Bed Bath & Beyond three years ago. Well, we didn’t really retire it. We just moved it downstairs in the walkout pit. It’s our smoking area. Just for the record, Brian and I are nonsmokers, but we had to create a designate a specific smoking area for our friends who do.

We love, love, love the new patio furniture except we kind of overestimated the size of our deck. Mostly Brian did. I knew that the walkout pit was larger than the deck and I kept telling him that, but he kept insisting that they were the same size. It wasn’t until after we put the new patio furniture out on the deck that he conceded.

These chairs are a lot bigger in person than they look online. They make Brian look like a little kid. We could almost both fit in one. LOL. They are super comfy, though. I can’t wait to start hanging out on the deck. Now, if the weather would just cooperate…

You are reading I’m So Ready for Summer. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

In honor of our first Christmas at the new house, Brian and I decided to buy presents for each other that we can exchange on Christmas morning. We never buy presents for each other because we usually just get a joint gift to each other or get a couples massage or take a trip somewhere and call it our Christmas. This year we wanted to do something different.

I get a kick out of being different so I wrapped Brian’s present in a Noodles & Company takeout box.

Brian wanted a new wedding band because his wedding band has gotten too big for his fingers since he’s lost so much weight. He wanted a tungsten wedding band this time around instead of platinum.

Merry Christmas, baby! I love you!

You are reading Christmas Morning. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

Ginger knows that Darcy and I both really like pomegranate cocktails like the pomegranate martini at Bonefish Grill so this gift is absolutely perfect. Brian was even excited about it also.

Isaac said he got a nuts gift package from Cherry Moon Farms also. I told him she must have selected gifts based on personality. Isaac is pretty nutty. LOL.

You are reading Christmas Gift From My Boss. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

Sometimes, there’s a house that you want to see over and over again. There was one clear favorite among all the houses that we saw this season — the house at 2103 Driftwood in Harbor Isle, entry #41. Not that we could afford it but, in case you were wondering, it’s already sold.

Besides the huge closet in the master bedroom (which actually has enough room for all of my stuff and Brian’s stuff — too bad the price is so far beyond our reach in this lifetime), my favorite aspect of the house is the view from the basement.

How many basements have you seen with views like this?

The basement doesn’t feel like a basement at all. But wait, if you think the views are fantastic from the basement, then you’ll really love the views from the screened in deck upstairs. Misty and I joked about grabbing a bottle of wine before heading over and just spending the rest of the afternoon drinking wine on their deck. “Don’t mind us. We’re just hanging out. Enjoy your tour.” LOL.

We couldn’t stay at our favorite house all day so we went and looked at some other houses. Misty absolutely fell in love with Watercress Village. What’s not to love about that place, though? I would move out there in a heartbeat if it weren’t for the West side location. Brian and I refuse to move out West because neither of us want to be squinters. Since we both work downtown, if we lived on the West side of town, we’d be driving in to the sun going to work and driving into the sun coming home. That’s just too much squinting for us.

Misty and I ended the day by getting manis and pedis at Nails & Beyond. It’s been a few months since my last pedicure so I really needed it. Misty gets the shellac/gel stuff, which takes forever, so we were actually the last two people at the salon. Brian had dinner ready by the time we got back home. Dinner was great, but I think the best part was when we found out that we had a light in the hearth room. We’ve been living here for almost two months now and we’d been complaining about not having enough light because the ceiling fan doesn’t have a light kit. Guess what. It was user error.

I can’t believe it took almost two months for us to figure it out. LOL. I’m happy that we have more light in there now, but sad at the same time. We have a few more light switches that we haven’t figured out yet. I just hope that it doesn’t take a year for us to figure out what everything does because that will be really sad.

You are reading Hanging Out With Misty. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

Check out Jay and Becca’s new patio set. I helped put it together. Well, just a little. Golden Boy actually did all of the work. LOL.

Jay and Becca got a really good deal on it. I’ll have to remember to check out sales around this time of year next year. Way to go, Jay and Becca. Great job on your nice patio set. What a find!

You are reading Jay and Becca’s New Patio Set. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

Put me on the list for one of these!

I got credit for volunteering for TEDxICT. Woot! Huge thanks to my friend Aharon for giving me the opportunity to participate. I have to thank her for letting me off early, too. I was initially going to stay until at least 10 pm, but she said everything was under control and let me go early. It was a blessing because Jan had a stemi and we had to take her to the ER last night. I’m sure that Brian could have taken her if I had to stay at the event, but I’m really glad that I was able to be there.

You are reading I Want One of These. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

Brian and I went to try on some shoes at Dick’s Sporting Goods over the weekend. I mainly wanted to see if he liked the fit and feel of the Nike Free Run+ running shoes before I ordered “his and hers” Nike ID Free Runs for us for Valentines Day. We haven’t decided yet, but I think that’s probably what we will do as we don’t really have a special Valentines trip or celebration planned this year.

As luck (or bad luck) would have it, I found a pair that I wanted. Why? Because they matched my 80′s Zumba outfit perfectly. LOL. Yes, I’m silly like that. I try to match my shoes to my workout clothes or my workout clothes to my shoes.

You’ll be proud of me, though. For someone who has no “will control” (as Brian calls it), I resisted the urge to add to my sneakers collection. I’m pretty sure these shoes will go on sale eventually. When they do, that’s when I’ll pounce on them. LOL. I mean, how many people really buy purple shoes?

Incidentally, if anyone out there is feeling generous, I wear size 6 in Nikes. Hey, I had to give it a shot. I did get a free Ladder Golf set a couple of years ago just by simply blogging about it.

You are reading I Want These Shoes. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

We were at Best Buy the other day over Christmas break looking for some new workout headphones for Brian. He got these really cool Skullcandy earbuds. For something under $20, they’re actually pretty good.

While at Best Buy, we stopped by the Apple section and played around with the floor models. Brian wants one of these gigantic iMacs. I had it in my mind that I wanted a 13″ MacBook Air. However, after playing with it and a MacBook Pro, I realized that I can get a much better computer for a lot less if I’m willing to compromise on thickness and weight. So I’ve decided, I’m going to start saving up to buy a MacBook Pro for my birthday next year. Add that to my list of resolutions. =P

Hopefully, around this time next year, I’ll be typing my resolutions on a MacBook. Gotta start saving!

You are reading Brian Wants an iMac Like This One. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

I missed the dedication this morning due to an important meeting with Carmen and Isaac. However, I did get to take photos of the electric vehicles when I first got to work this morning. I’m hoping they’ll let me drive one of these babies around next time. I found them intimidating at first. Unfamiliar things usually are. But after Matt’s presentation this morning, I actually kind of want one now. LOL.

I’m so impressionable!

You are reading Electric Vehicles are Here. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.

It’s not enough that your TV can Facebook and Twitter, now your refrigerator can do the same things too. Holy cow! Why? The ubiquity of the internet is getting out of control, don’t you think? Just a tad? LOL.

I actually shouldn’t say anything because, if I had a house and enough money, I’d probably have one of these. I’m such a sucker for this sort of stuff. I can just see us years from now, “We love our refrigerator. It works really great. Plays our Pandora music stations and everything. It just won’t keep the food cold.”

Now, what would be really cool is if the door of the microwave oven would double as a TV/computer screen. This way you can watch news or browse your Facebook while you’re waiting for your Lean Cuisine to finish cooking. Those Marie Callender’s chicken pot pies are the worst. They take like ten minutes to make in the microwave. You might as well cook something on the stove! LOL. With your new high-tech microwave though, you could use those ten minutes to browse YouTube or play some games. I think a microwave/TV/computer combo would be the number one must have home appliance for everyone. Whirlpool had a concept or prototype of this of some sort several years ago. I wonder why they never made it to the stores?

You are reading Apps, Apps Everywhere. Read more at A Well-Documented Life.