I married Santa...

I married Santa and ya know what? He's pretty dang cute!

Thanksgiving- Always be grateful

We don't have very many Thanksgiving traditions beyond avoiding family drama, but making the dogs pose for ridiculous pictures is a tried and true tradition at its best. We're thankful for eachother, our pups, our wonderful careers, our house, and our amazing friends!

November 1st = Christmas Planning

In Sarah's family the Christmas planning starts right at the end of Halloween. Sure, we don't skip over Thanksgiving in holiday celebration, but with family scattered across the globe its good to start the planning phase early. Because of this, the Burney side of the family creates Christmas wish lists early, and what better place to have easy access to our wants than on the blog. Plus- if any random blog hoppers see what we want and love us enough they can buy us stuff to. Gimmee Gimmee! 'Tis the season.
Usually our wacky lists give a strange look into the inner workings of our minds, you might learn more about us, and this is also a good place to tell us what YOU want for Christmas in the comments.

SARAH:

*Monthly Idea books (as seen HERE) for the classroom. Sarah already bought Oct, Nov, Dec, and January. But has promised to not any from Feb-Sept.
*Scary or Mystery Books. Now that she is graduating and will be able to read non-textbook literature, these are the genres of her choice. No preference on author/series, since her collection of these books is currently limited to R.L. Stine. *snicker*



VINCE:
DOGS:
Charlie Bears
Petsmart Giftcards
Endless ear scratches
Plushy toys that squeak (the more they annoy the humans the more these toys are loved)

October means Murder Mystery Dinner!

One annual event we look forward to each year is Petrie's Murder Mystery Dinner. Sarah has hosted many of these types of parties in the past, so its nice to be in some where she isn't planning (and cheating by reading the revealed murderer early). Here's our costumes this year for Death of a Highwayman:

Sarah is a barwench who is friendly with all the men, and Vince is a highway man who lets his wife (played by Shannon- yay!) do all the fighting and tough stuff for him.

Last year's costumes:

Sarah as Little Red Riding Hood, Vince as Sherlock Holmes, and Benny as Long John Silver.

We sadly didn't remember our camera for the first one. Sarah was an alchoholic 20s flapper and Vince was a loveable traincart hobo.

Second Honeymoon at DISNEYLAND!

I love this man of mine, hes young at heart and spoiled me for our second honeymoon!

While we don't vacation often, when we do the hubs goes ALL OUT! We flew first class to and from California and went all out in between. I don't think there is any desire/want during the trip that he didn't fulfill. We ate at fancy resteraunts, bought fun souveniers, and had the time of our lives in Disneyland! Hubs surprised me with a character breakfast but we also ate at Blue Bayou inside the Pirates of the Carribean ride- seated right next to the water! To see the new World of Color show at California Adventures Vince planned a dinner package where we got the fanciest meal of our lives and after VIP reserved seating. The only thing between us and the actual water of the show was..nothing! We were RIGHT THERE in the first row and we got wet- but luckily had ponchos! AH.MAZ.ING.

We got our photos taken with some of our favorite characters like the Queen of Hearts, Tigger, Eeyore, Baloo, etc..and of course MICKEY! Mickey was the first thing we ran into on our first day. What a way to start a vacation!

11 days and counting...

We will be at the Happiest Place on Earth in just eleven days- I can't wait. I feel the blogs been a bit neglected since we've been so busy this summer getting every ounce of fun in we can before "the semester of doom" starts- when Sarah is teaching 3rd grade, finishing her teacher work sampling portfolio, and taking grad classes at night!

There aren't any pics of our recent adventures.. family BBQs, swimming, han

ging out with friends, gaming, date nights, etc. So just imagine a big happy smile on our faces and that will be the mental image we can leave you with.

Heres some pics of us from our last Disney adventure (DisneyWorld)

Required Post

It's father's day. I hate it as much as mother's day. But I guess its a requirementin in the blog-universe to discuss it. So here goes:

My dad blah blah blah dadness blah blah required photo:

Yeah, you can tell I'm his kiddo. I have SO MANY of the typical "Burney genes" my sass, height, and redhair come from the Burney genepool- well the redhair I have when I haven't dyed it a million times. (my dad used to be more auburn..his beard was always a bushy mountain-man red)

His name is H.R.D. it means His Royal Dadness. Salut!

We're going to...

We're going to DISNEYLAND!

July 9-July 13

Now the question is... where can I fund us matching Hawaiin shirts so we can travel in style?

You know we could totally rock this look!

Memorial Day Weekend

Another blogpost already? Woohoo- aren't you lucky readers? Reader? How many people actually read this thing?

Memorial day weekend was grand because Vincent had Friday-Monday off so we got to have a four-day date-a-thon. Friday morning we went to the early showing of Pirates of the Carribean (#4) in IMAX 3D. I would normally never pay the outrageous price for those tickets but we had two free movie passes from my awesome penny pinching and deal snagging. It was AWESOME and we both highly suggest if you're going to pay for a movie ticket just go ahead and get the uber ticket and see it in IMAX 3D. Usually the large screen and/or 3D gives me a headache but it was really smooth in this movie. And also get some popcorn..that buttery goodness probably took three years off my life but dang it was yummy.

Friday night we headed up to petries to play a new game Vince tried out at CityWideGaming Weekend that is still in early production phase. The game is really good and the designer/creator is looking for startup funds to get it officially going.

Saturday we slept in, played Pirates of the Carribean Lego game on the Wii and had a nice brunch out at Famous Daves. Mmm BBQ! We actually had our goofy rehearsal dinner catered by Famous Daves- it was fun to have something goofy and so informal followed by a fancy shmancy formal wedding and reception the next day. Then we reflected on our 4.5 years of marriage that brings us to the present where we're still that goofy couple hopelessly in love with eachother. We spent another evening at Petries playing a few games but this time headed out early to get back home and just cuddle up reading books and magazines with our pups included. We seriously have the words most cuddely dogs.

Sunday I ditched my cutie husband and went to a craft day at a friends house. In Utah I always wished I had more creative and artsy friends to have a day like this with- but wow here in Colorado these gals are SUPER creative! I was seriously in awe watching them all work on their creations. Then there was me who sat with my mixed up boxes of scrapbook supplies trying to get a few pages together but was SO unorganized from the packing/moving- I haven't seen my art stuff in over 18 months. Welcome back into my life, you wonderful little papers and toys! I promise never to leave you again. I was gone most of the day and came home to a content husband who had been working on Petrie's website and talking to his California friends online.

Monday (oh my goodness this post keeps going!) we had the family BBQ for Memorial Day. Good food, good games (I won trivia persuit with Ben on my team), and the opening of the POOL! Woohoo- Summer is HERE!

CWG at Petries!

I have a gazillion words about how great CityWideGaming was this year. But since we all need to catch up on sleep from 2 days of non-stop fun here's just some pics of your two favorite game hosts.

We ran Munchkin, Catan, UberCatan, Betrayl at House on the Hill, Killer Bunnies, Civilization (well we planned to but UberCatan ran long), and Sarah and Shannon did the last event- The Pajama Party PartGames! PartyGames included Telestrations, Thanks-A-Lot, and Balderdash to name a few! SO FUN.

Family Portriat

Last weekend Vince's family decided it was time once again for the much dreaded (by the kids) family photo. I'll post some more, but for now heres a nice one of just our family- dogs included. I love how Penny is so proper up on that little stool, its just too cute!

Belle of the Ball

This past Saturday we went to a charity steampunk ball that raised money for an artist who had fallen very ill. Steampunk is "the history that never was" mixing victorian styles with technology- lots of clocks, gears, etc. Here is a quick pic of part of my costume- the bustle!

I will need to track down someone who snapped a pic of my full outfit at the ball. With so many amazing costumes cameras were going off all night. I did get awesome shots of others but forgot to lend my camera to someone for my own pict

ure. Here's one of my favorites I captured of Vince:

And as I was getting ready I even let Frank in on the fun. I called him "Professor Von Pugsnort"!

*pic coming soon*

A Very Berryman Easter pt.1

Greatest man in history, had no servants, yet they called him Master. Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him..... He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Growing up I remember asking our elderly neighbors what the Easter Bunny brought them and the old couple told me that the Easter Bunny (and Santa..) don't visit houses without young children. I thought this was horrible, and I still remember it so clearly- I guess it scarred me for life. Well, I'm proving those old crazy geezer wrong because ALL the holiday spirits/characters/etc come to our house throughout the year. Why should kids have all the fun?

This was my masterpiece I created for Vince for Easter. Shown here in the basement- that big brown blob in the lower left is our beanbag... I know in this photo it looks like exploding carpet since it matches. This project took the largest spool of thick string I could find, over 250 easter eggs (including ones with suction cups on mirrors, glow-in-the dark, hanging from the ceilings, etc), small candies, and a lot of getting tied up and tripping as I created it! It went all over the house and was an amazing mess of Easter Web. (Maybe the Easter Spider came instead of a Bunny..?)

Here's Vince at the start of the "trail". Since there is no way I could do this with him at home I did it while he was at work on Saturday and so his Easter started a night early. He was given the instructions to use the Mickey basket (cute, isn't it?) and follow the string in order, no cheating. Frank and Penny were very willing to help- especially since any Easter Eggs falling off the line meant "floor-candy". Don't worry- they didn't get any and there was no chocolate! We are VERY careful about puppy safety!
I love this picture because, as pointed out to me by a friend, it looks like the eggs are planets against the dark wall and the light is a bright sun! Also, you can see a hint of amusement and frustration on Vince's face as he realizes "what- there's MORE in the basement"!
Next time I want to use a brighter string and more eggs. Of course, for how long this took I don't think there will be a next time. Maybe down the road if we have kids, or neices/nephews, or for any of the kids who have "adopted" us... but not for a few years!

So heres the end shot of Vince and his loot. The candy from the eggs, small toys that were hiding in some of the eggs, goodies wrapped up in the web, and the giant nerf gun that was at the end. Not pictured: A build-your-own-mini-wooden-TARDIS kid and one of those toy snakes that grows in water. I think I did pretty good with a $20 budget. And a whole holiday with no boardgames (Sorry, Petries).





If you're wondering why I am not in a single pic its because 1) Who do you think took the photos and 2) Vince is currently putting together my Easter. He needed extra time since he works and I'm a sneak who would have searched the house for clues. More to come. Stay tuned.

$20 Easter Challenge!

Because we've been spending a lot of money to get the house back together our Easter is being done on a budget. This year our Easter challenge is to make each other's baskets with a limit of $20 each. This sounds like a lot but it really limits someone (cough, Sarah, cough) who likes to go overboard- VERY overboard- with holidays.
You'll just have to stay tuned to see what we both come up with. Vince has expensive "toy taste", but Sarah would be happy with some tacky pink nail polish, fuzzy socks, and a pair of wacky earrings.

Moving and Interior re-decorating

We're moving! Kind of..

Its actually more accurate to say we're moving BACK.

There has been a lot of blood sweat and tears poured into our house. We wanted to upgrade to something bigger and better but we're waiting out the housing market. We feel overly blessed with what we already have- a nice 3 level house that is completelty ours! I'm thankful our finances are strong and we were able to buy a house that met my criteria as newly weds.

My house must-haves:

-open kitchen with bar opening to a room we can entertain in

- a fireplace (for Santa, of course!)

- skylights (this has changed, I ended up hating them in the bedroom- no dark room sleeping in)

- a fenced yard,

-a garage- no carports when you live in a winter wonderland

I'm thankful to never have had to have have a landlord, apartment, or rent- unless you count college dorm life and living in a sorority house. That being said the house is empty currently so I'm going to take my time redoing the interior decorating as we get back in. Here's a preview of the main level bathroom- we use it as a mudroom. I have a weird fascination with "theming" bathrooms. This one, of course, is MICKEY MOUSE! It's amazing what a few nice accents can do. Not pictured is the matching trashcan and wall art.

We're not in Kansas, Toto...

We were up until 2am or so last night after a hot night of gaming. Did I just say hot gaming? Oh dear I am a geek! Now I'm up at 8am on my favorite sleep in day. Why? The wind outside is blowing like we're in the middle of a tornado. Check out from the picture our current gusts in Colorado! I have a great excuse for my naturally crazy hair today.

We have plans today to go window shopping/price comparing for a new king size bed then some team practice for the Party Game Show this upcoming Saturday. Go TEAM HAMMER!

Photobooth Fun

I think I may be addicted to the "photobooth" feature on Vince's MAC. At one point I was going to do a daily photo them mesh them together and made a cool slideshow/video. But that became a random mess of sometimes having 30 photos a day then not having any for 2 weeks...over the course of 5+ years! It does make for a cool slideshow, but not exactly the excitement of a day-to-day one. Especially when I'm usually making a funny face and acting silly.

That being said here is today's Mac self portrait. We moved the computer so now the lighting makes all the pics a bit muted and fuzzy.. but my hair and makeup look good so enjoy. However, the chubby face and odd expresion need some work. And I have a big nose, lol.

House Full o' Sick People!

Teaching in a new school I am exposed to all kinds of germs, and luckily have the immune system of a superhero to avoid getting a bunch of what has been going around (H1N1, colds, flus, pink eye, strep, etc...) however, a megabug going around I just couldn't fight. Its been everywhere. I'm pretty sure I got it from the student- every class has one- that can't leave his fingers out of his green-boogery nose, coughs without covering his mouth, sneezes in a way that spreads to other states, and the one you just wanna dunk in a hot, soapy shower. Poor kid, he's also my glue eater.

So this is what our week and weekend has looked like:

Laying on the couch (usually in PJs, but he got dressed today) with the dogs snuggled up. The pups enjoy everyone being snuggle-ready, but they are are really antsy because no one has walked them or had the energy to play with them much. We're also going on day #5 of the Dokupon Kingdom marathon. (its a wii game)

Please send some chicken soup!

Happy St Pats!

We had some fun plans for the holiday- but getting sick wasn't one of them. We were going to Disney on Ice with some of our fav. people and Sarah had some fun planned for her class. But since we're doped up on cold medicine the best we can do is leave you with this photo of Sarah being a leprechaun at age 5-7(?)

Jeff Dunham LIVE!

For Christmas one thing I got for Vincent was a set of tickets to see Jeff Dunham live. Sure, I got the tickets in December and we had to wait until March to see the show- but I get priority odering on tickets so I got us in RowC, center!!!

We were very excited to have our tickets:

I gave Vince an Achmed (the dead terrorist) talking bobblehead along with the tickets, and at the show we got the matching Walter talking bobble head. (And a character scarf, and a talking Achmed pen, a talking Walter keychain, and a Achmed hoodie jacket... we had as much fun shopping the merchandise cart as we did at the show!) Say it with me now: "I keel you!"

Bobbley Heads:

The show was great, all new material (well at least new to us- none of the old jokes off the DVDs or Comedy Central specials) and even "Guitar Guy" was there. We saw Achmed (and new- his son!), Walter, Peanut, and Jose Jalapeno on a stick! I'm actually glad they didn't include Bubba Joe or the other less-funny characters like the weird pimp guy and the superhero. Excellent Christmas present and date night!

Brrrrrr its COLD!

I know its a bit blurry- this was taken with my cellphone camera at about 3am when I got the text that the district was closed today. Not for snow, the roads are clear! No- this was because of the COLD not being safe for children, or anyone, to be out in! Wish Vince had the day off as well. See our high is -4 and the low is -19.. .but thats not including windchill. Someone please send me some hot cocoa!

We Got Spirit Yes We Do!

It was Spirit Week at the school I'm at and so heres two selections of how I've been getting into the spirit this week:

Crazy Hair Day!

This took about 90 minutes of crimping, lots of teasing, pink glitter spray, and included four ponytails

Decade Day!

There was a lot of flexibility in this one but I went for the Hippie "Peace, Love, and Happiness" thing.

I'm enjoying the new class, school, district, etc WAY better than her last experience! ... if you couldn't tell it seems to be a better fit for my crazy personality!

I actually DO make money ONLINE!

Just wanted to let ya know I have a new blog y'all should check out. Its about how I make money, product test, and get free things online. No gimmicks or weird things, just how I use some of my spare time and get some extra income. Nothing I'd live off of, but nothing shabby either. It prob saves us $300/month and brings in enough to do ALL our Christmas and Birthday shopping for free.

Check it out: Moneybug2011.blogspot.com

Happy 28th Bithday, Vince!

Its hard to believe this handsome man is such an old dude now! Vince celebrated his 28th Birthday with a Mickey Mouse and Catan themed celebration. Sarah surprised him with the 25th anniversary wooden edition of the Catan board game and matching Catan-inspired cake, and he even got his biggest birthday wish of all: SNOW!

Happy Birthday, Vince!!!

Happy twenty-eleven!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 !!!

Thats not a creepy picture, not at all. Hope everyone had a great celebration to ring in the new year. We partied at Petries playing Catan and Disney Cranium and Sarah discovered there is such a thing as Cinnamon Shnapps (she didn't have any, she just made the discovery). We don't have any New Years traditions except one: The New Years Kiss! Same thing every year- Sarah attacks Vince. The picture is the result of such a kiss-attack:




Any New Years resolutions? Vince refuses to make them, Sarah makes funny ones excpet this year she added a real one: no more soda. The hilarious thing is after she declared this a company contacted her to product test sodas.

cheers to another great year!