Valentine's Day 2014

I worked in a Hallmark store throughout high school and then when I went off to college they would let me come work when I came home at Christmas. I loved Valentine's back then, but something changed. I guess maybe from working there for so long I feel like I just started seeing it as such a corporate holiday. I mean, why do you have to have a day that you get guilted into showing others that you love them? As a result of that, Adam and I have never really done the whole Valentine's thing. I remember one year when we still lived in Arizona that we went to our favorite restaurant, Pappadeax's Seafood Kitchen, and we were shocked to see what a large crowd there was, as it was a random weeknight. We then realized it was Valentine's Day, haha!
Anyways, since having Sadie I have become much more of a Valentine's fan! Especially now that she is older and starting to understand it. Last night she and I put together her teacher gifts, including the cards that she chose very carefully for each one. She then helped put together all the Valentine's for her classmates, which included dog tattoos and skittles lol! She is such a trip!
We wound up having leftover dog tattoos, so after her bath she got a whole row of tattoos on her arm, haha! After I got her to bed, I made some heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes for her for the morning. I am SO not a morning person so I had to do this the night before and just have ready to quickly heat up. :) I also ordered her a shirt that I found-purple with a horse on it! Something that combines her two favortie things in the world! I got her gift all wrapped up and her card together, and then headed off to bed.
This morning I got up and got myself ready, then got her pancakes out. I got her up and took her to the table, where I had everything waiting for her. She was so excited!

These shots are from my new Canon G1x, which is a top of the line point and shoot, but I am still trying to figure out the nitty gritty on it, so these are not the best photos. Anyways, enjoy though!

After breakfast, she got dressed in her new purple horse shirt, and we headed off to school. Adam had dropped off all the teacher gifts, Valentine's, and the bananas that we brought for her class party, to save me from having to figure out how to lug all that in with just one arm. She was excited to show her teachers her shirt, so had an easier time with me leaving her today. (She'd been home with me for a week and a half following surgery, so we really got used to just hanging out. Her first day back, Thusday, was really hard on both of us!)

Today at the office I made chocolate covered strawberries, as they are one of our favorites, but especially Sadie's. Well, I went to Super One yesterday to get bananas for her class so picked up strawberries there as well. Not a good idea-it was slim pickings and the basket that I wound up with turned out to be more bad than good. Bummer. To top that off, I did not take into account that the work microwave would not let me adjust power while melting the chocolate, so I wound up burning the chocolate. Needless to say, NOT my best batch of chocolate covered strawberries ever. Sadie was still excited when I waked in the door with them, though, and had one right away.

Today was a hard day for me pain wise with my shoulder. This morning when I got out of the shower I attempted to wrap my hair in a towel, as I always do, and accidentally pushed too hard with the left arm, and really hurt myself. It set me off for a pain filled day. So, Valentine's to me is having a husband that let me crawl in bed the moment I walked in the door, cooked dinner, and is now entertaining her. THAT is what love is.

Hope however you celebrated, it was a good one!                                                                                                                                                       

Christmas letter 2013

Thought I'd share our letter on here this year. Enjoy!

Dear family and friends,

We can’t believe another year has come and gone! January started another busy school semester for Adam. Each class he takes gets harder than the last. We are so proud of him! He was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa and is currently finishing up a physics 2 class. He is also still working at the credit union, so it keeps him away a lot, which has been hard. 

Sadie continues to attend Trinity Lutheran School and is learning so much! We cannot believe how grown up she is becoming. Every day she discovers something new. She is such a sweet girl with a very tender heart. We just love her to pieces!

I continue working at the bank as well as shooting lots of weddings. It keeps me extremely busy!

Here are a few highlights from our year:

In February I flew out to Arizona for one quick day and night and spend a very fun afternoon with one of my best girlfriends, and then surprised my dad by showing up for a birthday dinner. It was a lot of fun! At the end of March and the first week of April I went to Italy with my friend, Dory. We met up at JFK and flew to Milan together where we met up with our friend Priya, who lives there. We enjoyed going to The Cinque Terre, Verona and then back to Milan. From Milan we flew up to Norway to visit my cousins. We got to go to cousin Jan Viggo and and Solvar’s house in Elverum. It was so neat to see their home and experience small town Norway. They cooked for us and made the most delicious meal! The next day we went to my cousin Viggo’s flat in Oslo. My cousin Julia and her boyfriend also flew in from Trondheim  for the weekend. We had the most amazing time and I cannot wait to go back! Adam’s mom was kind enough to come up and help with Sadie while I was gone. 

In April when I got back from Europe, we took Sadie to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr because she had about 7 ear infections over the course of 6 months. We decided that tubes would be the best thing, so on April 29^th, she got tubes. It has since been great, as she has not had one infection since!

May and June were busy for me with wedding season, including one in Jamaica! It was a whirlwind quick trip but was so much fun to photograph! Adam took summer classes so between my wedding schedule and his classes, we were very busy! We made it through those crazy couple of months, and then in July my cousin Viggo and his girlfriend Nora came from Norway to visit us! We had a blast showing them around Dallas and East Texas!

In August Adam participated in the annual Texas International Fishing Tournament.  Sadie drove down with him and I got to fly down after work on Friday thanks to his grandparents! We had a very fun weekend. Sadie sure does love the beach! Sadie and I flew home Sunday afternoon while Adam drove.

Come September we celebrated my birthday by having a few friends over, then went into major planning mode for Sadie’s 4^th birthday (September 29^th). She requested a “Purple Painting Party” because a rainbow one just would not do. J I worked very hard to create the perfect day, and she had a blast! Oma and Grandpa (my parents) came out from Arizona for the occasion and were a lot of help. The day after her party we got to go to the East Texas State Fair. We all had a great time, especially Sadie!

Of course, two days later it was October, which began another crazy Fall wedding season for me. Ever since Sadie was born Adam’s birthday has gotten a little overlooked, as he and Sadie are just 6 days apart, so I decided to throw him a surprise party. His parents came up and his dad had the job of distracting him so Pam and I could get everything ready. Well, Johnny fell asleep and then took his time getting Adam out of the house so Pam and I literally had 45 minutes to transform the house from hanging out mode into party mode! We were so funny running back and forth from room to room! But, with the help of some very dear friends, we pulled it off! He was very surprised and happy to have a birthday celebration.

I finished out the crazy October wedding month and then before we knew it, November was upon us. On November 11^th Adam and I celebrated our 7^th wedding anniversary! Yes, you read that right-7 years! Hard to believe! My mom flew in from Arizona for the weekend to babysit while Adam and I got to go to our aunt’s house in Granbury. It is a very cute little town and a relaxing getaway.

For Thanksgiving we got to have my dear friend Dory here and her wonderful boyfriend, Mike! What a great time was had by all! We feel so blessed to have such great friends! We are looking forward to staying here for Christmas this year. As much as we will miss everyone in Arizona, work calls and it is nice to not have to do the holiday travel craziness.

We truly hope this letter finds you well. We are looking forward to some exciting changes in 2014! To keep up with us all year long please follow our family blog at www.thecareyhaus.blogspot.com

Lots of love, Marissa, Adam and Sadie

7 years and not a bit itchy!

On November 11th, Adam and I celebrated 7 years of marriage. We have been together for 8 years now. That is hard to believe! We always try to do something special for our anniversary and this year was no different.
We actually had plans to go to a castle in Mingus, Texas, which is about 45 minutes West of Fort Worth. It is a hunting castle, but very nice, so was a place that I would not mind going to. I found it about a year and a half ago and booked it back in April. Of course, we didn't know Adam's school schedule at that time and it never occurred to us that he would wind up having class Monday morning at 8 am. He is currently in Physics 2, so it is not the kind of class you miss. The manager was nice enough to let us reschedule, although we don't know when we will go.
At this point, we had already booked a plane ticket for my mom to come babysit, so we decided to ask our Aunt Amy and Kim if we could use their lake house. They were kind enough to let us stay at their place for a night. It is located on Lake Granbury, which is about 45 minutes South of Fort Worth, so about a 3 hour drive from our house.
Adam went hunting Saturday morning, so we got a later start than planned, but that was ok.
We arrived at their place around 4 and got settled in and checked out what was currently the "lake."

 

After getting settled we called a local winery to see how late they would be open. They stated that they would be closing in 10 minutes. The winemaker, Tiberia, overheard and invited us to still come on out. First of all, he is one of the nicest people we've met in our travels, and the wine he makes is fabulous! We tasted a couple whites, then a rose, followed by some specialty reds. They had a private birthday party going on that evening for a friend of the winemaker, and ironically a large majority of the people at the party were from the Tyler area. Every person there kept inviting us to stay at the party. We actualy wish we would have! They seemed like a fun group and the food probably would have been better than where we ate (more on that in a bit)!

Here are a few photos from the winery.

 

Following the visit to the winery, we looked up the steakhouse that everyone recommended and that had overall good reviews on Trip Advisor, and made a reservation for 8:15. We headed to the town square to walk around. I love having an anniversary near the holidays since it means lights and decorations.:)

We learned that the clock tower in the photo above is the sister clock to Big Ben. How cool is that?! There are only two like them in the world, and one is right here in Texas. 

As we walked around Adam saw a sign for a "Ghost and Legend Tour," so we asked how long it lasted. It was starting at 7pm and would last one hour. This was the perfect thing for us to do while we waited for our reservation. We learned a lot of really neat history and learned about some possible ghosts that hang around. (We find that stuff pretty interesting so it was fun for us). As you can see from the photos above and below, I opted to shoot without flash, as I felt like it made it a lot cooler. During the tour we walked all over the town square and saw an old house where they have seen a little girl in the window-crazy! I took a photo of the house, but no such luck. :)

 

They also took us by the old jail that was still active until 1976, I believe! That seems pretty recent!

 

After our tour we headed over to dinner. We each just ordered a glass of wine and both decided on steak. It was not up to par at all with Maestro's, Fleming's or Ruth Chris, but their prices reflect that they are. Adam says he's had better steak at Texas Roadhouse, so you can imagine our disappointment. But, oh well huh? At least we got a free dessert out of it! :)

This photo below is why I need a good point and shoot to carry around! Only the dessert is in focus, haha! I can't expect a server to know what to do with a 5k piece of equipment though. Lol!

  The next morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast on the square and then toured the inside of the jail.

 Following touring the jail we walked around the shops, and bought Sadie some candy and popcorn from a very cute shop in town. (Again, opted to shoot these without flash as well, this time because I didn't want to be that annoying person in the tiny shop with the giant flash!)

After that we decided it was probably time to head back and get packed up. We had one last look at the clock before heading out.

We headed back and got packed up and made a quick stop at a lunch place that Aunt Amy recommended. It was super yummy. We got on the road and arrived home to a pretty table with hand picked flowers and a sweet card from our Sadie girl! It was a quick weekend away but very fun and relaxing!

Happy 7 years, Adam!

What's in a ring?

I never dreamed I'd be one of those wives that got a different wedding ring. I felt like there was such romanticism with always having your original ring, no matter what. Well, this past December, for whatever reason, I started getting a horrid allergic reaction to my ring. I don't know why, although have yet to take it in to be re-rhodiumed so that could be the problem. Ironically, our entire marriage, I had been asking Adam to get me a ring just like his that I could have as a right hand ring, and he happened to surprise me with one for Christmas. His ring (and my matching one) was special ordered from Dublin, Ireland, and literally came in the DAY BEFORE our wedding! Yikes huh? I love it and how unique it is and really wanted one to match. Well, it has now become my wedding ring as of the last few months. Like I said, I never dreamed I'd be one of those wives, but I actually really like it. It is very special and I love that we have matching rings.

 My original ring

My current ring, that matches Adam's

"I don't know how she does it"

Lately I feel like Sarah Jessica Parker in the movie, "I don't know how she does it." I really do. I think Adam feels like that too. Adam works full time 45 minutes away and is also going to school to be a mechanical engineer. I am beyond proud of him. He just finished Cal 3 with an A, and has just started physics. It is a one month course, so is a lot of work. He is getting up at 5 and heading to work and then going to class from 1-5:40 every day. The class is grueling so he needs to spend a lot of time studying as well, which means a lot of time away from Sadie and me. Right now it is 10:45 and he is still gone studying. It's a very hard time of life. I would give anything for him to be able to go to school full time and be done in 2 years. As it stands right now, we don't know how long he has left. I HATE it when people ask me how long he has left. When you can only take one class at a time, maybe two, we are looking at 12 years if he can't get on with the co-op program through BP or another oil company. I am sure he will, but I really hope it happens sooner rather than later.
The sacrifices that he makes extend to Sadie and me as well, in that we don't see him much. Not many people know, but I have a full time day job in addition to running my photography business. Yep, I finally said it-I work. I have this fear that if my photo clients knew that I work that I won't have time for them, so I have kept it very quiet. I am a banker by day. I really like what I do, and feel like I make a huge contribution to our family by doing so. It's definitely wearing on me though doing both. I work 40 hours during the week and shoot basically every weekend, and in summer on weeknights after work many nights. I try to squeeze in a workout each day and spend time with Adam and Sadie. I also like to have a clean house. I truly don't know how I do it all.
To give you an example of a day in the life....today up at 5:30 when Adam was leaving, back to sleep until 7, lay with Sadie to wake her up, feed her breakfast, pack lunches, get her to school, get to work, get on conference call, fill in at my old office until 4, drive to my main office and work until 6:30...get home around 7 and run on the treadmill while Adam cooks dinner, eat dinner, Adam leaves to go back to school while I take Sadie swimming, showers for both of us, Sadie bedtime routine of brush teeth, Nasonex, story, cuddle, say "goodnight and I will be back to check on you..." head out to kitchen, do dishes, wipe counters, go back to check on Sadie, then finally sit down for Marissa time, and Adam is still gone....
While I will always always always remember the important words my dad said to me, "don't wish your years away," at the same time, I can't wait for this season of life to pass. I am ready to spend time with my husband again without us being passing ships and rarely seeing one another.

2013-the year of travel!

It's always fascinating to me how in December when you think about the year ahead, you may or may not have any plans set in stone. I had no idea what fun 2013 would bring as 2012 came to a close! January was kind of low key, then in February I had an impromptu one night trip out to Arizona, spending the afternoon with my best friend from forever, and then surprising my family for dinner that evening! So fun!
I'd been messaging back and forth with my cousins in Norway for months about trying to get out there, when one of my other closest friends suggested we go to Italy over Easter. We had been trying to do a girls trip for the past 2 years so of course I jumped on the idea! She has met my cousins so it also made perfect sense for us to spend a few days in Norway. I got back about 3 weeks ago, and what an amazing trip it was! (I plan to blog this in another post all by itself!)
Now I'm back and looking at the months ahead and still have so much fun in store for the rest of the year! Right now we are busy planting our garden and doing some improvements around the house.
In June in addition to weddings here in Texas, I'll be heading to Jamaica to photograph the sweetest couple ever! I can't wait! Then in July, my cousin Viggo and his girlfriend are coming from Norway to Texas! We are so excited to have them and show them where we live. In August Adam will fish the Texas International Fishing Tournament and we will all head down for that! I'll probably fly and Sadie and Adam can drive. Come September we celebrate my birthday on the 7th, and then Sadie will turn 4 on the 29th. I already have her party set for the 28th! My parents will hopefully come this year as well. October will be another busy wedding month for me, as well as Adam's birthday. November 11th we will celebrate 7 years of marriage. We will be going to Greystone Castle for 2 nights, where Adam can hunt and I can workout and lay by the pool if the weather is nice. :)
For thanksgiving my good friend Dory will be coming from Costa Rica! Then of course, Christmas is right around the corner from that! I'm excited to say that we are staying home for Christmas this year. It will be really nice to have Christmas morning in our own home.
I truly can't believe how many fun things are in store the rest of this year, and how quickly time is flying! :)

Christmas 2012

 

 I love Christmas. It has been my favorite time of year for as long as I can remember. This year was HECTIC to say the least. Because I am a crazy person, I decided it would be a good idea to throw my sister a baby shower 3 weeks before Christmas (which I will cover in another post). The shower was in Cleveland, which meant traveling via air twice in a short time span. I felt like we pretty much got home from the shower, unpacked, did laundry, repacked, and headed back to the airport. Lol!

We spent Christmas in Arizona, and it was whirlwind. We flew out on Sunday the 23rd bright and early. Got in around 9 and my aunt Mary Ellen was at the airport waiting for us. We went to breakfast at IHop then headed back to the airport to pick up our bags, as they had to go on a later flight. We then headed to my grandparents house in Scottsdale where I had a photoshoot scheduled for noon. Crazy right? It was for one of the sweetest families. I have known them since high school so it was a lot of fun to see everyone. We even made due with the harsh noon lighting by finding some good shade in the back. As soon as the shoot was over I showered and did my nose treatment (I have been having to do this crazy antibiotic nose inhalation for a month now because I can't get rid of a sinus infection with oral antibiotics). Then Adam, Sadie and I all took a nap together before everyone started arriving for the White Elephant party. The party started around 5 but people started to arrive around 4 I think. After the party we headed up the mountain to Payson, where my parents live. The next day was, of course, Christmas Eve. I was very happy that we got to spend it in the pine trees instead of the valley. We did our usual Christmas Eve dinner at my grandparent's house up there. Christmas morning everyone kind of slept in. My mom made her famous biscuts and gravy. We ate and then opened gifts. Sadie had a lot of fun! That afternoon while Sadie napped Adam and I got to go on a hike. It was pretty with lots of snow on the mountains. In the meantime, our neighbors on both sides were sending us photos of our house and street-a white Christmas at home in Texas. We were pretty bummed to say the least! That night my mom hosted Christmas dinner. My aunt Mary Ellen and cousin Shannon drove up, and grandma and grandpa came over. The next day we went to visit Aunt Norma and then headed out to the cabin where there was LOTS and LOTS of snow. Of course, I forgot my camera, so the photos I do have came from my iPhone. My parents have done an amazing job expanding and remodeling. The boys made a fire and we all had hot chocolate. Sadie and I took a nap. We woke up and headed back just before dark. The 27th we went back down to the valley for the annual family Karaoke party at cousin Ron and Vicky's. Before that, we stopped at grandma and grandpa's house for a car so that Adam and I could go see our friends, the Kelley's. Sadie was going to go with us, but had been wanting to go for a boat ride for days, so she stayed behind while Adam and I headed off. We had such a great visit with Karly and Carl. They are the best of friends and we are so thankful for them. We quickly had to get to the karaoke party, so off we went! Had a great time catching up with my cousins and trying to talk them into a Texas visit. :) After the party, we headed back up the mountain to Payson. The next day it was back down to the valley for Adam and me, as I had an 8th grade class reunion. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone, and it seemed like we all picked up right where we left off. Crazy! Adam and I got to stay at my grandparent's place that night which was so relaxing. The next morning, grandma and I headed out to Mesa for another shower for Sara, then got back to the house in just enough time to pack and get to the airport to catch our flight back to Dallas. Our flight got delayed, which put us home at about midnight. We got in and got Sadie to bed while Adam and I set up "Christmas morning" for the next day. I think we finally got to bed around 2am! The next day we had our own little Christmas, which was really nice. For New Year's we had a handful of good friends over, including Sadie's friend Molly. They had a blast playing together. That is pretty much our holiday in a nutshell. Here are some photos of the week! Enjoy! Happy New Year!

                                                 Hanging out with daddy on the boat dock

                                   This was my dress when I was her age-my mom made it!

                                                               Beautiful AZ Sunset

                                                       Seeing grandpa for the first time

                                            Nice shot of Aunt Mary Ellen and Shannon

                                        Sadie in her typical fingers in her mouth pose

                                                                   White Elephant

                                       Uncle Carl, my grandpa Dalton, and Aunt Wyleese

                                               Christmas Eve, pretty fog in the distance

                                                                 The boys grilling

                                        Rice Krispy treat train my mom and Sadie made

                                                    Uncle/cousin Logan singing to the kids

                                                 These ducks went everywhere with her

                                                               Singing before gifts

                                                      The ducks even help pick wine

                                                     Best family shot we could get

                                                  Grandma Lainie and Grandpa Dalty

                                                              Christmas morning

                           Opening princess stick on jewelery from Shannon and aunt Mary Ellen

                                                 Daddy gets to wear a princess necklace

                                                            Turtle from Aunt Norma

                                                   "Christmas morning" at our house!

                                                                       At the cabin

                                                          Playing with cousin Shannon

                                      Photo that the neighbors sent of our house on Christmas :(

                                                       With my sweet girl at the cabin

                                   And finally our street on Christmas, sent by other neighbor