LOTS going on in the D'Imperio household...

We have done a LOT of work on the outside of our house recently, and today we did most of the landscaping. Here are some pics:













If you want to see anymore, you'll have to come on over and sip tea on my new patio (see last post)!

Our Patio!

I have been so excited about this project since we decided to build our house. We knew we always wanted a patio. No deck for us. Too much maintenance! The patio was something we decided would do after we were in the house a year, the ground had time to settle, and the grass time to grow....plus we needed to save some money to be able to pay for the project. My husband isn't the type to start a project and not complete it fully...so we can't build a patio, and then wait to save money for the furniture (which, by the way is ridiculously expensive!). We have to have the furniture and EVERYTHING complete so when the patio is finished, we can use it right away. I can get used to this! So, we shopped for a long time for furniture we liked, and wasn't that expensive, but wouldn't break or wear out too soon. We found our table and chairs, gazebo, and wicker...now to form the patio. My husband worked so hard digging out the base...with my help of course. Well, after day one of constant wheelbarrows of dirt dumping, my body was screaming. The next time it was time for more digging, he called my brother. They finished the bull work, and then Anthony framed it. Stone came, and I really tried to help with that, but after one wheelbarrow I was finished. That stuff is HEAVY!!! So, I was the moral support. He finished and scheduled the pouring of the concrete. We got to choose a color, which was fun. Then they poured. Again, my husband worked so hard with some friends of his that new how to do the job. We got to put together our furniture yesterday, and placed it on the patio. Next week my husband's friend returns to cut it, and see if it's cured enough to drill into it to bolt our gazebo. Can't wait. Get ready for a patio party at our house!!! Here are some pics:

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been wanting to post for some time now, but just don't seem to have much to say, or any pics to post up with it. So, I have decided since I am totally procrastinating the cleaning of my house, I'll write a little something on here.

Today is our first married Valentine's Day ever. Anthony has already gotten me a dozen roses. They are BEAUTIFUL on my table, see:



and...




He is so sweet. He's working days today, but when he gets home we will be going out to dinner at this Italian (surprise, surprise) restaurant:



Romeo's, for dinner. I can't wait. We were supposed to have our rehearsal dinner there, but ended up changing to a different place...so I've been waiting for a long time for this.

We aren't big Valentine's Day celebrators. My husband gets me flowers regularly, he always has, even when we dated. I get beautiful flowers, different kinds, about once a month. It's always a surprise, and it always makes me fall more in love with him. A little too corny, I kinda thought that after I wrote it, but it's true. I love Anthony with all that I am. I never thought it was possible to love someone so much. When we were dating we watched this show, or movie, or something...but the line in it was "you are my breath". Instantly, we looked at each other and laughed and said "don't worry, you will NEVER be my breath". We learned in marriage counseling how never to think that your spouse "completes" you. It's so true. I am not half a person without Anthony. I can still function, I still have meaning and worth. I don't need him to breath. BUT, I do know that when we aren't together, I can't wait to be with him. There's a part of me that feels empty when he's gone for 3 nights every 10 days. I miss him. He is my BESTEST friend ever. While he'll never be my breath, he sure does help me breath easier, and while he doesn't complete me, he sure does make me feel complete. I love you babe, with every cell of my being! Happy Valentine's day Anthony!!!

2009

It's here. The new year has arrived, and everyone is scrambling to make or keep their resolutions. Me...I don't even attempt. I figured that if there's something I want to do, change, improve, take out of my life, I don't need the rolling over of the calendar year to do it. My husband and I read either from the bible or from our devotional every night before we pray and go to bed. Our current devotional has a discussion section at the end. So, we've gotten into the habit of discussing things in our lives, whether blessings, family, our marriage, our personality flaws, etc, whatever it is and disecting it in a brief conversation before we then pray and drift off to sleep. Each day we take into consideration something (or in my case many things)that I could work harder at. It always seems though, that when I wake up in the morning, I've forgotten to put it to practice yet again. I don't need a new year to help me struggle through keeping a resolution in my routine, I need a miracle! We are who we are right? Emotional, non-emotional, sarcastic, sincere, caddy, dedicated, lazy, the list goes on and on. How does someone work at correcting a personality flaw, or a bad habit, or an unhealthy routine? Practice? A drill sergeant? I always wanted to get back into the habit of working out like I did when I was in school. Sometimes I go a week, sometimes I go a month, sometimes I go a year! That's with anything, getting up a bit earlier to study more of the Word, to pray more often, to pray less selfishly, to become more involved in my church, to not be a work-a-holic, etc...but it always seems to end up like it began. Me trying, and me failing.

As my husband and I plan a family, things are only going to get busier, life is only going to have to be spread a little thinner, time is only going to go by faster. How do you make it allwork then, if it doesn't work now? People do it though. I see people doing it every day. How?

I want to make it all work. I want to be successful at time management, relationships, and character development. I guess you could call that my New Year's Resolution, or how about my January 2nd Resolution, for I'm pretty sure it will change, or be added to/taken away from over the next days...weeks...months.

Anyone else make New Year's Resolutions? Or Daily Resolutions? Anyone have any secrets they can share at how to make them last?!

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2008

Well, there have been quite a bit of festivities going on this Christmas season. It has been so busy, it's kind of overwhelming to blog about it all now. There is so much, so I will just have to summarize, and maybe post a few pictures.

It all started on Wednesday the 16th of December. Anthony's mom, sister, sister's beau, and niece flew in to Rochester to start that side of the family's Christmas. We had a lot of fun eating and laughing and visiting for a few days before we had the "official Christmas" on the 20th. We hosted it here, so 14 people eating and laughing and opening gifts in our house. It was so wonderful. We always thought our house was so big until we filled it, it got small quick, especially the kitchen. It was a lot of fun though. Great family, great food, and great fun! His family left on Monday the 22nd. We did Christmas eve with Anthony's brother and family, and Anthony's dad. More great food. I think I ate my weight in fudge and cookies. Oh My Goodness! We got to watch the kids open their presents. It was a lot of fun. I love watching them tear into their presents, and then listen to their witty comments on how cool or not so cool their presents are. They sure were spoiled this year. Christmas eve we came home and had to do our "newlywed Christmas" because Anthony was working days :o( So we set up the video camera (thanks Lenae!), I know, CHEESE, and went to opening our presents. Anthony spoiled me of course. He always does. He is so good to me. Christmas morning we saved one present for eachother because I still wanted to open something together on our first wed Christmas, but since he had to leave for work at 6:30, it had to be quick. So he went off to work and I just layed around for a bit. When he got home we went to my Grandma's house in the B-lo. We had a quick Christmas there, where thanks to a loving family member who gave us the Flu for Christmas, we spent the rest of our weekend in bed so sick.

So, that's the holiday in a nutshell. I will try to attach a few pics to show the time we had with family. I need to get better at keeping up on this so I dont' have so much at one time to post!

Hope all your Christmas' were wonder-filled. The greatest gift of all came in the form of a baby. Lying in a manger. Wow. Just remember that gift all year round.

I win!

Tonight was the 4th annual P4K Christmas party. It was a fantastic time. After months of planning, and literally days of shopping for it, it was a blast. We had dinner catered from Taste of Texas, and after we had a wreath decorating contest. Then it was yummy snacks, a cozy fire, and games all around. After clean up, it was a 14 hour day with P4K. Fun, but definately exhausting. Here are some pics from the night...and before you ask, yes, Becca and I are wearing matching outfits. We do every year for the Christmas party, she always wears green, and I always wear red.

















The pictures don't even do justice to all the festive fun we had, but I can try!

I am not as quick at posting as some...;o)

This past friday, Anthony and had our first tradition as a married couple of decorating our home for Christmas. We had a few decorations already (and by we I mean me), and we went out and bought a few new ones to complete the Christmas "touch". We decorated the house while listening to Christmas music til almost 2am. While we were outside wrapping the columns on our porch in red ribbon and hanging giant red and silver ornaments, we looked across the street and our neighbors were out setting up their Christmas decorations as well. We thought we were the only crazy ones decorating into the wee hours of the night! Here are a few pictures of the decorations:


Our Nativity set


Our basket of cinnamon pinecones


Our balcony in the foyer


Our stairway



Our front porch/door

And last but not least, the front door...



Now I know this is getting a little long, but I would like to share one more part of our Christmas decor...my most favorite part..the Christmas tree! We went and got our tree last night, and decorated it tonight. I am so excited to have a real tree, it's been so long. I had so much fun picking out just the right one, setting it up, trimming it, and then putting the finishing touches on it. Here are some pictures of it:










And just for kicks...



May your holiday season be a blessed one, from our family to yours!