Wrapping Up 2010

It seems like it is hardly the end of 2010. The time has flown! And as usual, I'm left wondering where the year went. Here is 2010 in a nutshell...

January

-Grant flew to DC over New Years so I brought in 2010 Melson-style. My sister, Erin, her husband ,Chris, and I staked out a table at Fat Daddy's near their home in Grand Praire. Erin and I danced the night away while Chris watched on with amusement.

-This was the year that truly changed my relationship with Christ. I made two committments this year. 1)To tithe every single paycheck. 2) To spend every morning in prayer and in the Bible. I've never seen as many blessings, both financially and relationally, as I have in 2010. My trust in God has grown exponentially and I'm finding that life is much more enjoyable when I give my first-fruits to the One who gave it all.

February

-Grant and I began the great house-hunt! We targeted the Pflugerville-area due to a slightly lower cost of living. On Valentine's night, Grant & I bundled up and drove around Pflugerville on our own. We admired a cute little two-story that would eventually become our first home. The funny thing is, just two months prior, Grant had informed me that we'd probably have to wait another year to buy a home. After speaking to our financial advisor in January (the same month I started tithing), we found out we could afford our first home. Conincidence? I think not.

March

-Grant and I hopped in the truck and headed over to Houston for the famous Houston Rodeo with some of my best friends. We went to a Jason Aldean concert and, of course, sampled all the fried glory that a fair will offer. My personal favorite: fried cheesecake on a stick.

-March was the month of music for us. One night during Austin's "South by Southwest" music festival, we went downtown and listened to a hip-hop group from Brooklyn on a roof-top bar overlooking 6th Street. We left promptly as the next act was beginning. "Jake the Snake" had a a suspicious resemblance to K-Fed.

-At the end of March, Grant treated me to a Kevin Fowler concert at the Austin Rodeo. Due to the fact that the Austin Rodeo is much smaller than Houston's, I was able to meet and greet the local livestock and pick out which types I'll have on my future farm.

April

-Erin turned 26 and I couldn't miss such a big event! I drove to her house, along with a bunch of her close friends. We spent the day getting pedicures and then danced the night away at where else, but Fat Daddy's.

-Later in the month, Grant participated in one of the most impressive athletic events in the area...The MS150. Grant and our friend, Mike, rode their bikes from Houston to Austin in an effort to raise money for MS. I've never seen him as tired (or hungry) as he was after riding into Austin but the accomplishment was enough for him to decide he's doing it in 2011!

May

-The big event officially happened on May 3rd. Grant and I closed on our house! It was a very exciting day for us and we might've screamed and jumped around a little once we were safely out of the signing office. We started moving in that day and even made time to go pick out some new living room furniture.

-My brother, Ryan, spent his entire summer as a counselor at a camp in Arkansas. Before he left, he and Erin came to visit us in our new home. We made sure to show them a good time and took them to some local hot-spots around Austin. It was definitely hard not to have the baby brother around all summer, but they've got to fly the nest sometime!

-At the end of May, Grant and I made our way up to Wichita, Kansas for Mike & Veronica's wedding. Veronica's dad was kind enough to foot the entire hotel bill and we enjoyed three nights in Wichita, celebrating the newlyweds. We kicked off Friday with the bachelor/bachelorette parties, which seemed to keep meeting up all night. Saturday we enjoyed a day with the wedding party and a welcome-dinner that night. Sunday was the big day and what a wedding it was! Grant and I danced all night and still insist it ranks as one of our very favorite weddings.

June

-June started off as a very trying month for me. Upon returning from our Witchita trip, I caught some type of virus and was sick for about two weeks. I not only missed Grant's birthday, I missed our house-warming party. I told Grant to make sure the party happened because he'd been looking forward to showing off his new home. I was upstairs in bed the entire time, but I hear it was a blast!

-As our anniversary falls right after Grant's birthday, I was still sick. We made the best of it by ordering take-out and a movie. Our 4th anniversary was spent with both of us having pink-eye, which I'd given to him at some point during my virus. We enjoyed a dance in our living room and couldn't stop laughing at how disgusting our 4th anniversary turned out.

-My group of best friends from college decided that to celebrate ten years of friendship, we'd take a trip together. We decided on a gorgeous hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. In May, however, Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy and chemo. The plans changed a bit since no one would even think of taking the trip without Sarah so we brought the party to her in Houston. The change of plans didn't hinder our fun at all and it actually was the perfect example of how strong our circle of friends still is...since that first year at Stephen F. Austin State University. (Me trying on Sarah's wig. I look rough.)

July

-The weekend of July 4th, Grant and I drove out to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Every five years, Grant's family has a huge family reunion and this was the year! It was my first reunion as part of the family and I was able to meet an entire tribe of people who are related to my hubby. We spent lots of time by the pool, out at the lake, playing games, and I made Grant proud by participating in a watermelon-eating contest (which I was really forced into).


September

-Towards the end of September, Grant and I packed up the dogs and went camping at Enchanted Rock with Mike and Veronica. We found the perfect camping spot near the base of the rock, encircled with trees. We enjoyed our first bison burgers (highly recommend them) and spent Sunday morning hiking. There might have been a game of "Chubby Bunny" in there, which I won. But Grant just saw on tv how people have died from playing the game...so I've been forbidden from claiming anymore "Chubby Bunny" championships.

-The biggest news of this year...or of our lives...came the following week. Due to some suspicions, I took a pregnancy test and found out that our lives were forever changing. The Qualleys were adding a little one to the mix! We wanted to play it safe and keep things quiet, but couldn't resist telling our immediate family and some of our closest friends. Needless to say, the excitement spread pretty quickly.

October

-My college girls came into town at the beginning of the month and we threw Olivia a baby shower at my house. It was fun to have an intimate party and celebrate the sixth baby of our group of friends. It was also a fun time to announce the fact that the eighth would soon be on the way! (Number seven will be showing up in the spring to a very proud Cari and Matt.)

-The weekend after fun with the girls, Grant and I went to our second Austin City Limits Music Festival. Being one of the biggest events of the year in Austin, it's one we try to make when possible. I didn't know a lot of the bands that played on Saturday, but Grant and I did find ourselves dancing to some crazy music by Ozzomatli. (I know, Grant dancing?!?)

-We had our first ultrasound later in October and saw that, in fact, there was a little one just waiting to grow and make an appearance on an estimated June 3rd, 2011.

November

-This was a big month for Grant. We drove out to Pappalote Creek, outside of Corpus Cristi. We were there for the grand-opening of the windfarm that Grant has had a huge hand in designing. Grant strutted around like a proud daddy that day. I'm sure this day goes down as one of his most memorable and exciting.

-Before the Thanksgiving break, we had our third visit to the Dr. (I had a second trip later in October when I couldn't seen to kick a nasty bought of strep-throat that made most of October pretty miserable.) We had a sonogram and could see that we have one active baby! They took measurements of the baby and did some bloodwork and everything showed one healthy baby. The sonographer ventured to say that our little one looked like a girl, which got me on the "girl" train of thought!

December

-We had our big "revealing" appointment for the baby earlier later in the month. What the sonographer had already determinded to be a girl was, in fact, one healthy baby BOY! My sister was with Grant and I for the big appointment and all of us were in shock and completely delighted by the news.

This year has truly been a year of blessings and if I can add any words of encouragement for a fruitful 2011, it would be this...give your best to God because He will be faithful to return to you more than you could ever expect. Happy New Year!

16 Weeks...and Time to Find Out the Sex!

So here I am with only the second belly picture of my pregnancy and we're already at 16 weeks! I've yet to really "pop" but from what I've read, this little one should double in size over the next few weeks. I'm hoping to go back to work from Christmas break with an actual pregnant look.
Today we had our 16-week appointment and got to find out the sex of the baby! I originally wanted to wait until Baby Q arrives in June to find out what he/she is. That's how my parents did it so it seemed like a good road to take with our own. Grant, however, was a different story. He couldn't seem to stand the thought of waiting the entire nine months to find out. He said he needed time to plan and truth be told, he doesn't like to wait very long on surprises. I knew that finding out the sex of our baby would be an amazing moment no matter what. So I agreed with Grant and we told the Dr. to give us the good news.

Back in November, we had our 12-month appointment and our first sonogram. The nurse asked if we wanted to hear what the sex appeared to be. She got a very quick "YES!" from Grant, though I wondered how she would be able to tell so early. Sure enough, she pointed out what she said seemed to be a little girl. We were stunned, but happy. On the way out of the doctor's office, Grant grinned and said, "Well, I guess we're getting a little Harper." (My favorite girl name.) We went home and called our families to let them know that we had a very healthy and active baby on our hands...oh, and that it looked like a girl. Everyone seemed a bit skeptical that such a declaration could be made so early on. I have always been pretty trusting of what those in the medical field tell me so I went with it and started thinking about little Harper.

Today I brought Grant and my sister, Erin with me to the appointment. Erin came into town this weekend to visit and we made sure that the appointment was scheduled so that she'd be able to be with us on our big day. The PA, Kristin, came in and began checking out the baby as usual. She said the Little Q looked VERY healthy and that it was growing right on schedule...about 5 ounces in weight so far. "The weight of a quarter-pounder", as Grant so proudly pointed out. Kristin said that the baby was wiggling so much that she couldn't really get a shot of the goods, but she knew Dr. Seeker would be able to tell us what I was growing in there.

Dr. Seeker came in and was all smiles, as usual. (That man still LOVES his job, you can tell.) After lots of hugs and handshakes, Dr. Seeker got down to business. "So we think it's a girl, do we? Let's see if they were right at that sonogram." Less than a minute went by, he looked up at my sister and yelled, "It's a boy!" Erin screamed, I said something along the lines of "WHAT?", and Grant teared up. It was quite a fun surprise! Dr. Seeker then went on to show us what he very professionally coined the "little pecker and testicles". I'm pretty sure Grant and I sat through the rest of the appointment with our mouths open.

It really was the most amazing day! Erin, Grant, and I left the office and immediately took pictures to commemorate the moment. We then started calling family and friends who were beside themselves with glee. My favorite was my phone call to my brother, Ryan.

Me: "Hey bud, I just got out of my appointment. Are you ready to have a nephew?"
Ryan: "Whaaaat?"
Me: "Yep! It's a boy!"
Ryan: "This is great! I'm going to the toy store right now! Oh! I have all of those cartoon Batman dvds! We'll be able to watch them together!"

Something tells me Baby Boy Q is going to be spoiled rotten with a very proud daddy, two grandpas, and three uncles. For right now, though, I just need to concentrate on growing the little guy. :)


**Dr. Seeker and his PA both showed us tests that they ran at our 12-month checkup to look for abnormalities. The tests came back with what they referred to as an "A plus plus", something that they only see about twice a month. Little Q is already acing his tests...a man after my own heart.

A growing Family

One of the most exciting moments of the first few weeks of pregnancy was getting to tell my "Fam" girls that I was pregnant. If you know me at all, you know that I am a lucky member of a group of 7 girls who have been best friends since college. These girls have proved through the years, over and again, to be family to each other. So telling my group I was expecting was truly something special to look forward to. My mom and sister knew how big of a deal this was and kept asking me how I planned to make my announcement. I had no idea how to do it. (Sidenote: I joked to my mom that I wanted to bake my test into some banana bread and serve it to the girls. Funny or just mean?)

I found out I was pregnant on a Wednesday late in September and lucky me! The girls all came to Austin to throw a baby shower for Olivia who was due in November that following Friday. (Baby Davis was born right before Thanksgiving and is one handsome little guy!) Part of me knew if I didn't take the test, I'd miss the opportunity to tell the girls, in-person, my big news. They were there the night Grant proposed (minus Cari who was excused to honeymoon since Grant popped the question after her wedding). They were there the day we said "I do" (minus Emily who was in India but did manage to Skype me right before I walked down the aisle). I HAD to make sure I was able to tell my best friends about their future "niece" or "nephew" while we were all together. I owed it to them, especially after some long nights crying to them about how I didn't know if I was the mom-type. I'd broken through to the other side and knew they'd be thrilled.

Friday night after all the girls got into town, we sat and around talking. Some of the girls had wine, some had coffee. When I refused wine, Sarah was quick to ask "Are you pregnant?". My hasty and not-so-brilliant response was "No, are you?". Sarah gave me a very suspicious look. Either my quick answer was not believable or I was just an idiot for asking a cancer patient going through radiation if she was pregnant. Either way, I could tell Sarah was sniffing me out. (Another side note: When Sarah asked later why I lied to her, I told her it just seemed like the MOST anticlimactic way to give my news. "Are you pregnant?" "Yep." I couldn't do it.)

While laying around the living room, we decided to play a game. Nothing new for this group. We love games where we can scream and laugh and look ridiculous to outsiders. Our current favorite is "The Story Game". Each person gets 7 pieces of paper. They sit in a circle and each writes one sentence on the first piece of paper and then passes it to the person next to them. The person reads the sentence and then has to draw a picture representing the sentence. The next person sees the picture and has to write a sentence from it and so on and so forth. The final product ends up a lot like the game "Telephone". This is where my brilliant idea was born.

I wrote the words, "I am 5 weeks pregnant" on my sheet of paper. Then I tried to hide my smile as I slid my paper to Susan. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Susan read the sentence and then turn slowly to me with VERY wide eyes. As the other girls chit-chatted, she whispered, "Can I hug you???". I shook my head and went back to work on the paper in front of me, trying not to laugh. The entire game, I felt giddy and jittery and was ready for the big unveiling.

When everyone had their own set of papers in front of them again, the rest of the girls started to show off their "stories" and we all laughed at how ridiculous we are...not to mention, horrible artists. I went last and said, "I'm going to show mine backward because I think they're funnier this way." I could see Sarah and Emily, the game police, ready to object and I'm glad they stayed quiet for whatever reason. I slowly laid down my papers one at a time. (I think the final product was a sentence about a bearded pregnant man.) With my first paper, I simply said, "And this is what I started out with." I laid down my original sentence and there was a brief second of silence. And then an expolosion of screaming. The sound was deafening as the girls shreaked and came at me all at once. There was a mass pile of girls hugging me and Maggie barking and snapping, assuming they were hurting me. Then girls started crying and the rest of the night was filled with questions and baby talk.

I'm glad I waited for the perfect opportunity to come along because I don't think I could have planned a better scenario. (Though the banana bread would, obviously, have been memorable.) Even if my kiddo doesn't get the importance of this night, it will be a moment I hold close to my heart until we're all old and wrinkled.


*Me, Cari, and Olivia-the pregnant girls

It's official...

I'm knocked up! Hello Baby Q! I'm exactly 14 weeks today so it seemed like a good time to come out with it on blog world.

I had a inkling back in late September that something was going on. I took a pregnancy test on the night of September 29th. The test popped up almost immediately with a "positive" sign. I had to lean on the bathroom counter for support. I had not informed Grant that I was going to take a test so he was blissfully unaware that his life had just changed drastically as he climbed into bed. Or thought he was climbing into bed...

I called Grant into the bathroom and simply said, "Will you look at this?". I'll admit, there was more shock than joy in my voice only because IT IS THE WEIRDEST EXPERIENCE I'VE EVER HAD! He came in, looked at the test, looked over the instructions, and uttered one single "Huh". I can't remember exactly what I said but I'm sure it went something like, "I think I'm pregnant then." Grant's response, so classic, was "Well, we'll see what the doctor says." My response, "Grant, it's science. You can't have a false positive. You're a scientist...it's pretty black and white."

And that is the slightly ridiculous story we'll tell our child about the night we found out we were pregnant. Poor kid, he or she couldn't get anything a little more story-book. Not from the Qualleys!

The next morning we took one more test and began calling our immediate family. I think that's when it became more real and exciting for Grant. Getting to tell our family they'd be grandparents or aunts or uncles was a truly fun way to begin this journey with Baby Q.

*This picture was taken 3 days before the pregnancy test while camping at Enchanted Rock. Who knew!

More to come!

The Boudoir...

The place where the magic happens, the boudoir, the bedroom. Our master bedroom isn't feeling especially magical with the giant space and minimal decorations. What can we do? Hint: We have replaced our bedding with a purple set that seems to spice up the room a bit. Other than that, we've got a lot of space which is BORING right now. Help!

Fix-Up the Entry-Way

I just want to say a quick thanks for the input you all have been giving me. It really is helping to get my creative juices flowing. And those of you who know me are doing a great job at suggesting things that really would be in Ashley's house. :) I will be sure to post new pictures when your ideas are reality!

So my entry-way is a tricky one because of the high ceilings and funky wall-shapes. I had an idea to put a big collage picture-frame on the slanted way and then add an eclectic group of smaller pictures frames all around it. Sort of like a wall of pictures? It's one of the first things you see when you enter the house so I'd like it to be representative of Grant & I.

Oh! And since taking this picture, I did buy a rustic, metal sign with the verse, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". Grant was kind enough to put that above our front door. With that in mind, do I have too many square objects right at the front door?

This is one of my favorite little touches to the house but I am stumped as to how to use it. The sellers of the house had a few fake plants on this ledge, but that just seems like the easy way to go. I know I could use the ledge to display different seasonal decorations but how? Ideas?

Another view of the entry-way and ledge. I guess I've also got the wall next to the stairs to worry about decorating, as well. Geez!

Next on Let's-Fix-It...

So here we have a view from the dining room which faces the front of the house. A garden is what you're seeing from the window. This area stays pretty dark so I'm wary about putting up any heavy curtains.

This is the dining room view from the living room. Right now the dining room is more like "dog room".
Oh yeah...and "bike room". I forgot to take a picture of the lighting, you can brealy see it at the top of this picture. The owners installed some tract lighting, but the hardware is kind of flowery.
I've slowly started work on the downstairs bathroom. The lighting made these pictures look yellow. The wall next to the sink and bathroom is pretty big. It needs something...

An interactive blog...

I've decided I NEED HELP! I've come to seek the wise counsel of my friends and family for something extremely important. Ok, I'm being a bit dramatic. It's decorating advice. It's not exactly important but it'd help me out a whole heckofalot. And something tells me that a few of you out there will have some fun with this.

For the next week or so, I'm going to post pictures of different rooms in my house. You get to say what things we could do or get to spice them up. All I will say is that the theme of our house is "rustic". And I'll also say that I'm not too excited about the prospect of painting right now, but I might be willing to bend a bit in that department to add some life to our very white house. :)

Room #1-The Kitchen
Kind of boring backsplash, hence the Mexican plates above the cabinets for color.
Breakfast nook in the kitchen. My mom suggested swapping out the little lampshades. She also mentioned recovering the chairs.
Another view of the kitchen. The lab is NOT up for debate.

Room #2-The Living Room

So we've definitely added to this room recently. Besides the painting above the fireplace (Kirklands), we are trying to frame pictures of Austin and other rustic scenes that myself or Grant have actually taken. We'll add them to the right of the tv.

Grant has toyed with the idea of buying a cowhide for the floor. We saw a few different colors at a rustic furniture store down the road. Are we reaching a little too much with this? And yes, we have framed pictures of our dogs in the living room. Again, not up for debate and judge all you want. ;)
This is the view from our front entry-way. It looks slightly into the dining room and then on into the living room. Any thoughts on curtains or any type of drapery? (Is that a word?)

Ok, discuss! Next stop, the dining room and we'll take a trip to the downstairs bathroom...

Updated Pictures of the House...from two months ago!

So I've really fallen down on the blog...here are some "updated" pics from May 22nd. Less than one month since we'd closed on the house. The house is looking even better since these pics were taken. But as you homeowners know (and I seemed to be totally oblivious to in the beginning), it is one big work in progress!
More to come...sooner than later!

Why the swingset must go...

I'm not sure why the swingset makes my lab, Tex, so insane...but it's not worth keeping around!

Our New Home

Game room:

Master bedroom:
Hallway leading to 2 more bedrooms and 2nd full bath:

Dining room:

Looking into the living room:

Fireplace in living room (tv will go above it):

Looking into the (messy) kitchen:

Storage space in laundry room (connect garage to kitchen):

Patio with hot-tub:

Outdoor portion of the patio:

Two gardens (which we need to clean up):