Shawn's Turn

4 jobs I have had:
1. Worked at a concession stand
2. Mowed yards
3. Worked at a freight dock
4. Teaching Assistant

4 Films I could watch over and over:
1. Dazed and Confused
2. The Gladiator
3. The Godfather
4. Black Hawk Down

4 Places I have lived:
1. Irving, TX
2. Nacogdoches. TX
3. Alpine, TX
4. College Station, TX

4 Favorite TV shows:
1. Seinfeld
2. Cheers
3. King of Queens
4. Everybody Loves Raymond

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Brownies with Ice cream
2. Pizza
3. Steak
4. Pappasito's fajitas

4 Websites I visit everyday:
1. MSN.com
2. TexasHuntandFish.com
3. FoxSports.com
4. Google.com

4 Places I would love to be:
1. Home doing nothing
2. Colorado
3. Jamaica
4. The Hill Country

4 Favorite Colors:
1. Red
2. Maroon
3. Blue
4. Green

I've been tagged!

Well, actually I was tagged several days ago, but am just now getting around to doing it.

4 jobs I have had:
1. Office Assistant
2. Fence Painter (My dad was trying to teach me about hard, manual labor. I painted this long white fence that went around the ranch house one summer and each time I would finish it, my dad would say I think it needs another coat. I think I painted it at least 10 times. I had many summers like this where my dad would find something unappealing for me to do.)
3. Cost Accountant
4. Accounts Payable

4 films I could watch over and over:
1. I don't have any. For some reason I do not like watching movies over and over again.

4 Places I have lived:
1. College Station, TX
2. Somerville, TX
3. Bryan, TX
4. I think 3 cities is pretty good considering I have lived in the same place my entire life.

4 Favorite TV shows:
1. Friends
2. American Idol
3. King of Queens
4. Seinfeld

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Pappasito's fajitas
2. Any kind of Blue Bell ice cream
3. Cake Icing
4. Chocolate Pecan Cookies

4 Websites I visit everyday:
1. Lots of blogs
2. Netflix.com
3. MSN.com
4. KBTX.com

4 Places I would like to be:
1. Jamaica
2. Colorado
3. Las Vegas
4. With Family

4 Favorite colors:
1. Maroon
2. Red
3. Blue
4. Pink

Since everyone I know that blogs has already done this I tag Shawn.

Happy Birthday Lauren

Happy Birthday Lauren!!!

I can't believe you are already 4,

you are growing up so fast.

We hope you have a very fun day.

Love,

Aunt Dana & Uncle Shawn

Getting Started

We finally have our house plans and are working on a few last things before construction on our house begins. We had a culvert put in this week for our driveway. Once we have a silt fence installed then the clearing of the lot can begin. Hopefully, we will start actual construction in about a month. That mainly depends on the rain though. Oh by the way, if you aren't interested in our home building experience then just ignore these posts. I'd like to have this experience documented to be able to look back on this in the future.

Here is a picture of our culvert. Exciting, huh!

The Hill Country

We had a great time in the Hill Country, even though it rained several inches during the beginning of our trip. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was neat. The main house was an old plantation home. They served a three course breakfast that was very good.

We went to some neat shops in Fredericksburg. Once the rain stopped, we went to a wildlife management area to try to take pictures for Shawn's publication he is writing on turkey habitat. All of the rain caused many of the roads to be closed on the way there, but we made it by taking a back way. We got about 3 of the 4 miles into the management area and saw that the road was underwater. At the end of the 4 miles is where the turkeys roost, so we missed the best part. Fortunately, we were still able to get some good pictures.

We also went to Wildseed Farms. We saw lots of beautiful wild flowers and had some great chocolate fudge and honey toasted pecans.

We had a really great time and would love to go back.

We are headed to the Hill Country

Shawn and I are getting out of town and heading to the Hill Country for the weekend. Shawn needs to take some pictures for a publication he is writing, so we are going to a management area to take pictures of turkey habitat. Exciting huh!!! It won't be all about work though. We found this cute bed and breakfast to stay at and we are going to go to the shops in Fredericksburg.

Learning to Faux Paint

The faux clinic went well. We decided to go ahead and get some paint and a piece of sheetrock to practice.

First we primed and painted the base coat.

Then we tried 3 different options for faux painting.


The first is called ragging off. You paint the glaze on and the dab it off with a rag. This is our favorite.

The second is similar to ragging off except you use a plastic bag instead of a rag. I think it is more consistent than the first one, but we like the look of the first one better.


The third one we tried making the glaze darker and then did the ragging off technique. I think it looks ok, but we like the lighter one better.


Overall, I was very surprised at how easy it was. I think we need more practice at making it more consistent and less blotchy in areas, but I think that will come with practice. I would like to start with something small like at bathroom before we try to tackle a living room.

Bridal Portrait

Finally, over a year after our wedding my parents received the bridal portrait from our wedding. It actually is a picture of both of us. I didn't take bridal portrait pictures before the wedding, we were just going to try to get a good one the day of the wedding. Well, I didn't like any of the pictures of just me so we went with the best picture of the two of us. I think it turned out beautifully. My parent's hallway is now complete with portraits from all three of us kid's weddings.

Faux Finishing

This weekend Shawn & I are going to a faux painting clinic at Home Depot. We are hoping to be able to faux finish some of the rooms in our new house. Has anyone tried this before? Do you have any tips?

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July tomorrow. We are at the ranch hoping it doesn't rain, so we can enjoy a day at the lake and pool. Today Lindsey and I took the boys swimming for the first time.

Don't they look adorable in their swim outfits.