The Macies' Story: March 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Yard: Phase 1

The easiest thing to tackle that would leave an impression was the side yard along the street. It was a big dirt patch with nothing in it. We have planted several trees, some that are strict green leaves and some that are fall color ones. Also, the dirt that used to be there is now rock. We spent several hours shoveling and pouring rock along the side of the house! I have to admit, the side yard looks a lot better now. Now we're on to tackeling the front yard. We'll keep you posted!

Our trees and us moving rock!

As we were hauling rock, Halo was going crazy in the backyard trying to get to us! This is of his little nose trying to get through a small hole in the fence.

Yard: The Beginnings

The yard on the house we bought was less than desireable. The only good thing about a house that doesn't have much of a yard is that you get to scult it to whatever you want. And that is what we are doing...making it what we want as best as we can. Over the last six months we have been doing work on the inside and outside. I'm not ready with pictures of the inside yet but here are some of the outside. Here are the beginnings of our yard endeavors:

The front yard had grass at one time but when the bank took over ownership, they let the yard go. Now we have dead grass that won't come back to life. The tree that was originally in the yard was dead and we have replaced it with a live one that will hopefully grow big and tall.

The backyard leaves little to speak of. There isn't anything really but dirt and a few weeds.

The side of the house along the street was just this big dirt patch. We didn't have anything there until recently. We have planted trees along the fence. It's going to be a lot of fun watching them grow over the years.

Halo Macie

It has been brought to my attention by more than one person that I don't really have anything on our blog about a very big part of our little family: our son Halo. He is a malti-poo we bought the first year we were married. We bought him from a breeder in Texas and they put him on a plane to Nevada. The funny thing is, he's not the dog we originally ordered but we loved him so much from the first moment we pulled him out of the kennel that we had to keep him!

His birthday is April 25 and this year he will be 3 years old in people years. He may be full grown but I will always refer to him as a puppy. He may be a puppy but he is very much a part of our family!

His favorite thing: the wind blowing in his face!

With a face like this you can't help but smile!

Spring Break: Part Three

Day at Casa De Baerwaldts

With spring break quickly coming to an end we knew we had to squeeze in as much as we could. Sunday the 22 we packed up a few fun things and headed off to Ferntucky to go spend the day with two very close friends: My bestie Erin and her husband Dan. Our original plans were to go golfing, go back to the house, BBQ, and follow it up with games of all types. The weather however did not cooperate with our plans. It was so windy and chilly that we scrapped the golfing plans ( a bummer too because it would have been interesting to see how I did since I've never been golfing before!) and substituted them with bowling and kept all the rest of the plans.

The bowling alley in Fernley is really nice! It has a pro-shop where you can get new equipment or yours worked on. There is a play place for the youngsters and a small arcade for everyone. It also has a very nice grill and super comfy couches for chairs. There's a sports bar for the adults and the sound system is pretty decent. The bowling alley has 21 lanes, programmable bumpers and best of all: IT IS SMOKE FREE!

(Below are the Baerwaldts: Erin and Dan)

Bowling was pretty fun. If we had done a competition here's how the winnings would stand:

If we had done individuals: Dwayne would have won (of course....no surprise there)

If we had done couple vs. couple: The Macies would have won (only because of Dwayne)

If we had done battle of the sexes: The Boys would have won ( Mostly because of Dwayne but Dan didn't do too bad)

So after bowling we went back to house to start making dinner. The boys were supposed to do the grilling but they were too involved in Rock Band so Erin and I had to do all the cooking. They were pretty funny to watch though. They kept trying to look all professional and not look at the TV but...they had to especially when they started to miss notes! They weren't however so fun to listen to! They both attempted to sing the songs but I have got to tell you....IT WAS TERRIBLE!

Look at the amount of concentration all over Dwayne's face!

(This picture I found really funny because Dan was really wanting to sing and play guitar so he propped the microphone on the couch and knelt down to play and sing!)

Since the boys were sooooo busy, we started the cooking.

We made a very nice dinner of red potatoes, salad, cheesey bread and steaks. It was so yummy!

After we had all eaten our fill, we decided to play games as a group. We played one game of The Price is Right on the Wii, and then followed it up with a few rounds of Mario Cart. I am terrible at this game and so is Erin so the boys kept kicking our butts! It was pretty hilarious and a lot of fun. The picture below we took with the camera on a timer of us all playing a round of Mario Cart. The facial expressions say it all!

Time Together

After our day with the Baerwaldts we continued on to Reno. We had decided to have a date night of sorts and do some shopping the next day. We checked into our room at the Atlantis and went downstairs to do a little gambling. D played 21 for a little while but ended up not doing too well. After that we went to guest services to see what comps we had. We had a little so we used it to get some Gelato. We like getting dessert there since it's always delicious! We played a few more slot machines and decided to call it a night and went back upstairs. They've been doing some remodeling and the rooms were really nice.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast. Then we ventured out on the town to do some shopping! We bought a whole bunch of stuff and spent a lot of money on some much needed stuff (and some not so needed stuff too). After all the shopping was done we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Olive Garden, for lunch. Then, sadly and all too quickly, the week was over and it was back to the grind!

Spring Break: Part Two

Okay, so in Part One I mentioned that we didn't go anywhere super exciting but that doesn't mean we weren't busy! The main reason we stayed close to F-town was work. We were both working over spring break....boooo!

So yes, these places are where we spent a greater part of our week: working!

Then came the weekend! My cousin Matt Jr's Birthday was on St. Patrick's day, March 17, and he is now a teenager! His birthday was celebrated on Satruday the 21st so it was off to Reno we all went! More fun, food and of course cake! Video games were at this party too and there was baseball in the street with us "older" folks playing Uno inside at the kitchen table. It was yet another nice day of family.

The birthday boy with his cake (above) and presents (below).

Below the boys (Matt Jr--the birthday boy and Dwayne) are playing baseball in the street

My cousin Sylvia in her stunna' shades while we play Uno

Me and D at Jr's Party

Spring Break: Part One

March 14 through March 22 was Spring Break for both Dwayne and me. I'd like to write about how we took a super nice and long trip to somewhere exciting but....I just can't because....well...because we didn't. I will tell you about all the other things we did during our week off from school.

Spring Break: Part One

March 14 was my grandma's birthday. We had her party at my mom's house with all the family there for pizza, cake, ice cream and games (Outburst to be exact). It was a good time.

Melanie ( my sister) and My Grandma, Jody the birthday girl for the evening

Halo, waiting and wondering where his cake and icecream are.

Me and my Uncle Shane, playing with our super cool techie phones!

The next day, March 15, was my mommy's birthday. Dwayne and I hosted her party over at our place and it was another day full of food, games and family. D had set up all the different video game systems throughout the house complete with Rock Band on the PS2 and bowling on the Wii. For the adults at the party we played a few rounds of Yatzee at the kitchen table. It was a really nice day and we were able to have a great party for my mom!