Team "S" {Windows, Underpinning, & Injuries}

Well, Team "S" has been at it again! I'm not sure if I have told the story of where the saying Team "S" came from so here ya go...One day Clay and I completed something together and gave each other a high five and he said "TEAAAAMMMMM S" haha! So from now on, whenever something great or cool happens we always give each other a high five and say "Team S" (S=Simmons)

A few weeks ago we had the windows installed and they look great! It's amazing how something so little can make a huge difference in the way a house looks. This past weekend we finished the underpinning since the house is level and cold weather is on its way. Here is a picture of the front windows and the underpinning.

Another exciting, but more painful, thing that happened this weekend was the trip to the ER. I cut my hand while washing dishes and landed myself 9 stitches total between my thumb and index finger. Clay said that if I wanted to get out of doing dishes all I had to do was ask haha! It is starting to heal, but I have to see a specialist this week to make sure I didn't splice part of the tendon in my index finger so I'll let you know how that appointment goes. Here is a picture of my thumb...

In the meantime, this is Thanksgiving week and we are so very thankful for everything and everyone we have in our lives. We complain daily about the house and how much work we have to put into it, but at least we have a roof over our heads! We have learned to be appreciative of everything the good Lord has provided us. I hope you and yours have a blessed Thanksgiving!
More to come from the Newlyweds...

The Finishing Touches {Laundry Room}



Yesterday, we finished putting the finishing touches on the laundry room and all we need now is a door! Check out the finished product...have I mentioned how nice it is to smell fresh laundry again in the house =)
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Drop your drawers here...The Laundry Room is FINISHED!

Yes, it is true...I may be the only woman in this world that is excited about doing laundry again! I have been waiting patiently for months to have our washer and dryer installed into the new laundry room and today it finally happened. Clay scored major honey-do points today! The only thing left to do is hang shelves and decorate a little =)

More to come from the Newlyweds...



Our little getaway! {A well deserved vacation to San Antonio}



This weekend Clay and I were southbound headed towards a much needed vacation in San Antonio. Originally, we had planned a trip to Rockport for some fun in the sun, but had to cancel due to flooding in the area. After planning this trip in a couple days notice, I now consider myself to be a shotgun vacation planner. This comes in handy when you are married to Clay.

We headed out Friday and spent the first night touring the Riverwalk and eating the BEST seafood at Laundry's. We stayed at a hotel right on the riverwalk and close to everything...my idea so that we could walk everywhere. Saturday we woke up early enough to get in our morning coffee on the porch that overlooked the river. We wanted to get up early because we had so much planned for the day. We started at the Mercado...Farmer's Market...and in my opinion, if you have seen one vendor there, you have seen them all =) We stopped in at the famous restaurant "Mi Tierra" for lunch and had a great time!



Next, we went to the Alamo and toured most of San Antonio after that. One of our favorite stops was at "Buckhorn Museum" where we saw all sorts of mounted animals and a really cool gift shop.



Saturday night we stuffed ourselves at the "Fugo de Chao", which is a Brazilian Steakhouse. They bring around different types of cooked meat and you decide if you want to try it or not. My favorite was the filet mignon and we both agreed that the turtle cheesecake was to die for!!!



Sunday, we woke up early and headed east towards Luling. In Luling, I picked up some pumpkins at the local farmer's market and can't wait to decorate with them =) Then we headed to Lockhart for a BBQ crawl that we have been wanting to do since we ate at Black's BBQ for the first time. Our plan was to try the 3 famous BBQ places and just order a couple slices of brisket and a couple ribs for us to share at each place. Our first stop was Smitty's, the second was Black's, and the third was Kruetz, but they were closed on Sunday. We then continued to be food critics all the way home...winner Smitty's ribs and Black's brisket =) It makes my tummy smile!

Overall, the trip was the most relaxing thing I have ever experienced. This week has been the longest week of our lives that started out devastating and ended so great. I have the best time with my husband and we are just like best friends hanging out...I love it!! My birthday is on Wednesday and I don't know what we could possibly do that night to top this weekend, but Clay can probably do it.
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Men have different priorities...{Football game on the big screen}

Well, I have been meaning to post this story for a few weeks now. Mainly because every time I tell someone this story, they laugh and laugh and so do I. So here it is...

A few weeks ago, I was doing laundry at the in-laws (I have been doing mobile laundry because our washer and dryer has not been hooked up since we built our new laundry room) and Clay calls and wants to know when I will be home. I tell him probably in an hour or so and he is so very excited because he has a surprise for me. So in my mind, I am thinking...he has hooked up the washer and dryer!! I call my best friend, Em and tell her that I can't come by her house because I want to rush home to see what the surprise is (she agreed that he probably hooked up the washer and dryer). Well, here is what Clay's surprise was....

His idea of surprising me was moving our big screen tv from storage into our bedroom\living room just in time for the Cowboys game...for some reason I don't think he had me in mind while doing this =)
Even though this was not what I had in mind, I really have enjoyed the tv being in our room and will never try to guess what Clay has in store for me.
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God has a plan...

God has a plan for us and though we may not understand it at times, I have faith that things happen for a reason. Yesterday, Clay and I found out that we lost the baby at about 10 weeks. We are both devastated by the news and I honestly don't know how to move on. This is not a happy blog post, but somehow, it is helping me through this tough time. Please pray for our family and for our peace of mind.
More from the Newlyweds...

Long Time, No See!

Well, it is amazing to me how I am just getting around to blogging again. The Simmons' have been so super busy and I can't wait to share some pictures of our latest adventures. As far as the house goes, we have completed the pantry and almost have the laundry room wrapped up. I am IN LoVe with the pantry and we sometimes catch ourselves just standing and looking at it =)

I just love it!! Now that the pantry is complete, we can focus on finishing the laudry room. I hate to say it, but I think the laundry room will be more of a headache to complete than the pantry. The reason I say this is because we will first need to re-do ALL of the plumbing for the house before we can hook up the washer and dryer. It should be interesting...

Between working on the house and just everyday life, believe or not, we actually found (or made) time for a few trips recently. We have done a crawl to New Orleans for Jazz Fest, gotten our schnitzel on and traveled to Fredericksberg for Memorial Day and had a "thumpin'" time in Luling for the Watermelon Thump! Here are a few of the pictures from our trips.

New Orleans was a BLAST! We went with our close friends, Matt and Megan, and are so glad we did. I think this was honestly the most relaxing trip I have ever been on. We enjoyed Baton Rouge the first night and New Orleans for Jazz Fest the next. In Baton Rouge, we stayed with Matt's aunt and uncle who were awesome tour guides and made us feel so welcome! That night, we enjoyed a fun local festival...it's all about the dancing in Lousiana, a tour of the LSU campus to see Big Mike, and a WONDERFUL cajun dinner that is still making me crave their crawfish ettoufee. Needless to say, Baton Rouge was a blast. The next morning, we headed out for New Orleans for Jazz Fest. We have breakfast at Cafe de Monde and had the famous beignets...mmmmm! I have failed to mention that the entire time we were in Lousiana it rained...it poured, but I wouldn't have done it any other way. So while touring Bourbon street and all of New Orleans, we were troopers and sported our awesome ponchos and rain boots! When we finally made it to Jazz Fest, we got to see Juvenile, BB King, and Van Morrison...and yes, he sang "Brown Eyed Girl"...loved it! We took full advantage of the amazing food in Lousiana and did a food crawl through the concessions. We tried muffalettas, shrimp, fried green tomatoes and so much more! Here are a few pictures...

Our next trip was with my parents and we traveld to Fredericksberg for Memorial Day to enjoy the history, wine and great food! We toured the Pacific Museum and Reenactment, became winos after wine tasting and ate our weight in German cuisine, which also included a slice from the famous Fredericksberg pie shop. Here are a few pictures from the trip...

The most recent trip we took was with Clay's parents and family to Luling for the Watermelon Thump. We enjoyed all of the watermelon festivities, camping, Zedler's Mill, and local BBQ...mmmm Black's BBQ is the best! We even took a picture with the owner of Black's, who seems to be a local celebrity!