Back but maybe not for long.

I cannot say for certain I will stick it out this time and actually last blogging for more than a week or so but what the heck. Notice that I do not say WE. I doubt Andrew will find himself here very often but you never know! He is an amazing working machine!

Thanksgiving has just passed. We had a wonderful time at mom and dad Escobar's house. Lots of family, lots of food, lots to be thankful for. Of course I miss my family like mad back in GA. I do like thanksgiving, but I must admit that I really like the day after. It is the day after when it is truly safe to start decorating for Christmas. I don't go overboard, but I do enjoy it very much. If I had the time and money to go overboard, I would!

Yesterday was not only great because I could fully indulge in my holiday decorating, but AUBURN WON THE IRON BOWL! I can't talk about the game. Just thinking about how close it was sends me back into panic mode. YES WE CAM!

Nic, this ones for you:

WAR EAGLE!

The SEC National Championship Game is next Saturday. I am so sad/angry that I will be on a plane during the middle of the game. I don't know how I am going to function. All this means is that Auburn will have to take the lead and take it early. A big lead. Enough for me to be able to board the plane and KNOW that it is ours. Ak. I am on a 8 hour flight to Berlin so it isn't like I'll be out of the loop for just a few hours. I have to stop talking about it actually. I'm getting anxious. Too late to get on a later flight? Yup.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving Holiday! Happy Christmas decorating and don't forget... Yes we CAM! All the way to the National Championship!!

Laney

future mrs. oyola party

We recently went out on the town to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Morgan and Steve. I had forgotten how to party. I am in bed by 10pm most evenings and when I was told the car would pick us up at 2am....well I wondered if I would make it.

We had SO MUCH FUN and time FLEW by. OK - on the longest walk ever in the bitter cold at around 1am I was beginning to feel a bit sleepy. Still, to not feel it until 1 was a big deal for me so i give myself a pat on the back!

Here is our bride to be and also the winner of Miss. America, Morgan:

Our group as a whole:

*I need to give you a bit of background on why we are where we are. Someone left their ID at home. (cough, Josie) So, basically we were REJECTED from Beauty Bar for dance funness so headed around the corner to a local pub. However, Morgan would not give up on dance mania 2010. So, we became strategists and created a full proof plan to get us back into beauty bar. Given we had made a pretty big scene the first go around, we had fears.

Our Plan: Josie would become Lane Escobar. All that was necessary was a pony tail holder and a head band for this was my hairstyle in my ID. Done. This time we don't go in as a group. Adie and I head over and get in. Moments later I leave telling the mean door guy that I have to step out for just a quick sec! Josie is waiting for me to pass off the ID. She moves ever so slyly with her new hairstyle AND wearing a different coat for extra disguise into the door and flashes the door guy MY ID that he had looked at only 5 minutes ago. She's in! Whew. Now, can i get back in?! Yes. Done with complete ease. Then send texts to all other girls saying coast is clear! yay! Let the dance party begin!!

Ok back to photos...here is our rockin group for the evening:

Morgan dancing the night away:

And we all get a little sweaty:

And now time to head out to catch the path (that was not working) walk in the bitter cold for what seemed like an hour and eat our hair:

All a perfect evening to celebrate THIS SATURDAY'S WEDDING for Steve and Morgan!

Love you both like mad!!

home of team escobar

Lots of folks (especially our families and far away friends) have been anxious to see our new home. I have finally taken some photos to share with you. There is still much to be done but it will take time. I think we will be here for a while!

We share this home with one other person but we have our own entrance which is really nice. Welcome to apartment B!

Foyer is on the first floor:

Come up these stairs to the 2nd floor:

Where there is a spare bedroom (clearly not done):

The master bedroom:

The kitchen:

View from kitchen:

Cute hallway to a bathroom:

And to another guest bedroom:

Up the staris to the main living/dining area:

with a guest bathroom:

and our unfinished office/play room (yes, there is a dirty cup right there):

Ok there you have it. Our new digs.

escobar party goodness

Hello to all!! We recently had our 2nd annual Escobar Christmas Party! Honestly, I am in NO mood to write so I have just posted some photos for you to enjoy. It was a wonderful, wonderful time!!!

Me and Adie

Girls

Team Escobar

Adie, Madison, Sean and a foreigner we saw on the street.

Liz and Nikki

John and his love bird

Romine Family

Watching game time begin

Me and Nic

Andrew playing air guitar? with Vin, Steve and Tina

Still a terrible blogger.

Laney

terrible blogger

I have proved to be a terrible blogger. But as I sit here at work, bored to death I will give it another go. My boss has been quite the world traveler lately and without him the days go by very slow. I look forward to his return so I can be busy and overwhelmed again!

We just finished up with Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a wonderful one! Andrew and I went out to PA to his sisters and had an amazing time. We don't see family enough so it was very special. I am so thankful. I have a great job, a beautiful home, a husband that loves me and treats me like a queen and I have a family that has shown unconditional love to me always. My husband said to me the other night "I could die a very happy man right now." And I can easily agree.

I have begun reading another Francine Rivers book. It seems so appropriate for this time of year. It is called A Lineage of Grace. It is the story of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. As I write this, I am thinking about these women, what they endured, their love, their faith, their absolute passion for God and for Jesus. I know I have mentioned before that I am not very gifted in reading of scripture. No matter how much I pray for focus, for the words to jump off the page and stir my heart and my soul, it just has not happened. So I thank God for gifted women like Francine Rivers who tell these stories so beautifully. Yes, she might take one too many liberties but I stick close to what scripture says. But oh to be able to sense their pain, their joy, their love and desire for everything that is right and true....is magical.

These women, all of whom are in the lineage of Christ make me want to be better. These women went through some serious crap and rarely (if ever) complained. I think that so far Rahab and Bathsheba are my favorite. Rahab showed me that we can be forgiven of anything if only we believe and repent. No matter how ugly it was. Bathsheba's story taught me (most of all) that even the Godliest of men and women will sin. Not one of us is above anything. While we will all fall, we must not let ourselves grow bored. Anyway, get the book. Read it.

It is Christmas time. I love Christmas time. I love the smell of cookies, Christmas trees, pinecones. I love the shimmering lights on a tree. I can't think of a more cozy time. I hate that it only lasts a month. Tonight we are going to get our tree and I can hardly sit at my desk I am so excited! We’ll get all the ornaments on and then hopefully sit on our sofa and watch Christmas vacation. Oh! Most of you may know but we ended up calling the sofa doctor www.drsofa.com and they were AMAZING. Our couch was in pieces at one point but you can’t tell now!!! All I can say is that we better stay in this house for a while so we get the money’s worth!

Will write soon! Or maybe not… who knows.

Laney

the woes of moving.

Team Escobar has a new home! It is a really beautiful old house with tons of character and charm. It also has its share of problems. However, all of them can be fixed. Our landlord rocks and is taking care of everything. A leak here a leak there, non functioning doors, accessories that fall off the wall...whatever. We can deal.

Our biggest problem....our love seat and sofa do not fit up the stairs into our living room. Andrew knew this would be a challenge and knew even more he did not want me there when they were trying to move them. I would have been NO help in that situation. I would have either been crying or taking a sledge hammer to the wall. So he sent me and the girls on our way to buy fun things for the house. Standing in the middle of anthropologie purchasing my dream bedding, I got a phone call from Andrew. He said, "I am just gonna be honest with you they are not going to fit." I had a mild panic attack. Our 1 year old stunning leather sofas will not fit into the living room. They tried...even ripping trim out of the ceiling looking for an extra inch. "What are we gonna do?!" (Picture Tom Hanks saying this in The Money Pit) I voiced my frustration on facebook and was advised to call Dr. Sofa. Yes, Dr. Sofa (http://www.drsofa.com/). They are furniture surgeons! They are also expensive as heck! $700 bucks to take apart our sofa, move it, and put it back together. We might as well buy a new build it yourself sofa. ugh. WE ARE NOT GIVING UP.

We have one last final option.

move these sofas:

into this window:

in front of this house:

to make this room:

complete.

I had a chat with our landlord about this last night. I think he might actually be down for it...i think. We just need some long sturdy ladders and good rope and slide those suckers up to the window!

Will let you know how it goes!!

Team Escobar

OH! Yay! Morgan and Steve are Engaged!! Love you both and congratulations!!!!!

Birthday Time and Apple Picking!

We are getting old. So old that we basically forced ourselves to get OUT and do something fun for our birthdays. Not that we don't normally, but to stay out past 10pm was a really big deal. I was dead tired by 930! Morgan and I had a joint party this year. She turned 25 and me 28. I love being 28. It is a good, strong, solid even number. I think it is going to be a great year!

We got some folks together and when to John's for pizza, then headed out to go dancing.

Birthday gals:


Birthday gals with creep zombies at Loop Lounge (weird):

Dancing machines:

This past Sunday we had a super fun apple picking outing with our church. We did not pick one single apple, but it is the experience of being there that counts! We did eat delicious apple donuts. SO GOOD. Here are some pics from our day.

Lady apples:

Man apples:

Pig and Sheep (after we forced all of the little children out of the way so we could play):

I felt like a little kid again. It was such a blast.

Chrissy and Jay as pig and sheep:

They are too cute.

In line for hot dogs: (Anthony looking really proud of that one apple)

Laura and I:

Posing with apples:

Next year, perhaps I will actually pick an apple!