Graduation and a 243

Graduation:

John is finally done with School!!!!

What more is there to say? We (especially John) have been waiting for this time to come. For those of you who don't know John, when he transferred to ACU he had two years of basics behind him so really he should have been done in about 2 or 2.5 years. Well, his advisers kept telling him to take classes he didn't need but then all of a sudden there were classes he was supposed to take and so on...so 3.5 years later he finally got to graduate this December! Yay! I'm so proud of him!! The poor guy has been going to school for about 7 years while working because he went to TSTC before CJC. I'm so proud of him for sticking with it and not giving up! I know he is relieved to be done!

Congratulations John! We are all so proud of you!

243:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and happy Christmas! This year we went to Austin to spend Christmas with John's familia. We had a really great time and got to play "Santa" for my niece and nephew. We stayed up late putting their toys together and setting them up under the tree. I have never had an opportunity to be "Santa" before so it was fun! 


....Well you are all probably wondering what the "243" in the title is all about...that's just describing the Christmas present John got me this year.

That's right... I got my very own rifle for Christmas! A Marlin 243 with a scope. And complete with matching bullets, camo coveralls, and camo boots! :)

I never thought I would be so excited to get a gun for Christmas but lately I've been wanting to go hunting with John. We are going to go deer hunting this weekend so stay tuned for that adventure! I was telling my mom how I never thought I would get a gun for Christmas and she said "it just shows you how one person can change everyone's lives" (referring to my brother getting a gun for Xmas as well) which is so true. My family was never outdoorsy until John came into the picture and now we go camping and hunting and everything else. But we wouldn't have it any other way!

My husband is the greatest!!!

Here are some more pictures from John and I's Christmas together:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
~from the Stephens

Happy 12-12

Yesterday was John and I's 2nd Wedding Anniversary. It's hard to believe we've already been married that long. Not to be too cliche but it really does feel like it was just yesterday that I was counting down the days til our wedding...crazy!

What's even crazier is that we have survived these last two years since we have been totally dependent on my cooking abilities. I must admit I didn't quite pass with flying colors in the cooking department but I didn't do so bad. I give myself an A-.  I did have my moments though. I only almost caught the kitchen on fire once while cooking some chicken. Me, well I'm a survivor. The chicken, well he was not as fortunate.

This year for our anniversary John and I decided to get each other camo coveralls. (Yeah you heard me right) And I have agreed to wear them when we go hunting.  I must have been in an exceptionally good mood that day when I agreed to this. We will have to see how that goes. Pictures to come later.

So there is this blanket I've been amateurishly crocheting for John over the past...4 Years! And this year for some reason I got really motivated to finish it so I wanted to give it to him for our anniversary because he has been anticipating this awesome blanket for quite some time now. So I started to fold it all up so I could wrap it for him and something strange was happening...for some odd reason the corners wouldn't match up, so I laid it out and here is what I saw...

...and no the side is not slanted because the camera angle. When I was crocheting I was apparently either making each row longer or smaller. So now the intended-to-be square blanket is a pyramid shape...awesome! It only took me 4 years to make that pyramid blanket...quite the accomplishment!

It was overall a great anniversary. Hopefully next year we can go somewhere since John will be out of school.

Happy 2nd Anniversary John! I LOVE YOU!