Girls Weekend/Boys Weekend

A few weekends ago Ryan and I got the chance to spend some time with friends. Ryan got the chance to hang out with his buddies Matt, Rodney and Dan in Omaha and I headed to Kansas City for a weekend with the girls- Stephanie, Betsy, Jenna and Kelly. While I have plenty of pictures to share from my weekend full of girliness, Ryan has one fuzzy cell phone picture that I'm not sure would even upload onto the blog. I guess that's the difference between boys and girls weekends, huh?

Anyway, the girls had a blast in KC. My friend Kelly lives in downtown KC and it was just a short drive to the power and light district where we had dinner and drinks and a heck of a good time. We also spent most of Saturday doing what girls do best and shopped til we dropped. While we had the best of intentions to go to the outdoor mall, there happened to be a freak spring snowstorm so we decided indoors was the best way to go! Nothing beats girl time with a glass of Riesling, a bounty of chips and dips and good ol' girl chat! I have a feeling this will be a tradition for years to come!

Betsy and Me- The Lincoln and Omaha Girls

Kelly, Stephanie and Jenna
(MO, TX and IL)

Just getting ready for a night out on the town!



Just havin' a good time :)

It looks like a house now!

Our front porch

Ryan and I were absolutely excited when we visited the house with my parents last week! It is really starting to look like a house! The framing of the house is just about finished, which means that this week they will be installing the front door and windows to the house, do a rough in of the plumbing and HVAC systems, and a rough in of the fireplace. We couldn't be happier with the progression of the house, and to see it go up so fast, makes us so excited to start thinking about all of the things that we will get to do in the house this summer. As I mentioned above, my parents were in town and wanted to see the place, and when we visited last Thursday we got to meet some of our neighbors! They seem like really nice people and have small kiddos that look like a ton of fun! This process is going by quickly, by the time we know it, we'll be moving in!

The front of the house...still pretty muddy, but it looks like home to us!

Dad, Mom and Ryan in front of the fireplace

Framing

Its been one week since we've visited the house, and WOW what a difference a week makes! Last week, we saw the cement walls go up and the waterproofing complete. Now, the framing has begun and there is a clear view of a house now. The muddy yard is a bit of a deterrent in getting into the house, but that didn't stop us! After finding a strip of land that had a mix of sand and gravel in the mud, we kept our feet pretty clean and jumped into the kitchen. Its fun to see what kind of views we will have from the windows of our kitchen and our master bedroom. The builder's project schedule shows that the framing will be done around March 22nd, so there will be an even better view of the house then! We can't wait to share more pictures with you!

He's Ready for his Close Up

In January, Ryan was contacted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to be their cover man for the MBA program. After a great interview, a fabulously flattering photoshoot, and a couple months of mounting anticipation the interview has been posted and the advertisement has been made!
Check it out here:
mba.unl.edu
and see Ryan rock his interview! Kind of makes you want to be a part of the MBA program, doesn't it?!

I'm so very proud of my husband! Way to go Ryan! I'm sure college kids all over will be inspired by your experience :)

Under The Weather

Just as the snow started to melt and we could see the mangled mess of yellow grass underneath the gravel, it started to snow again this morning. I guess that's our luck for living in Nebraska...its not truly spring until the snow says so! There has been a bout of sickness that seems to surround us. Ryan has been sick for the past week, and so have my parents and brother, co-workers and friends. Thankfully, I (Amberly) have somehow avoided getting the snifflies, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that my immune system can hold out. Hand sanitizer, orange juice and keeping my distance has helped.

In the past week, Ryan has gone through 2 bags of cough drops, 1 bottle of tylenol cold medicine, countless kleenexes, and we're already on our second bottle of dayquil. Sickness, sickness, go away, and never come back another day! Hopefully you're all staying nice and healthy and like us, hoping for spring weather to come very soon.Tylenol Cold & Flu works wonders. Ryan highly recommends it.

Walls and Waterproofing

Our house continues to make progress day by day! When we returned home from San Diego, we decided to go take a look at what had happened since we'd been away. It was amazing to see walls where dirt had once been! Its still a tad on the muddy side (hence my polka dotted boots), but its really starting to look like a house now. Within the last few weeks, the walls have gone up, the waterproofing has been completed, the plumbing has begun, and the lumber for framing has been delivered to the site. Ryan and I are trying our best to not frequent the house everyday, so we can see progress as well. But we'll make sure and take pictures next time we visit and share those too!

There have been moments where we realize that this is truly real. I remember the day the contractor told us they were going to dig, and I motored out to the site on my lunch break to take pictures and sent them to Ryan. Driving around the corner this past weekend to see our house address had been spray painted on the side was another one of those moments. It was OUR address on that house. And this big beautiful hole in the ground was going to be our home, the place where we will one day start our family!

Standing where our garage will be.

Our New Address:
19827 Chicago Street
Omaha, NE 68022

Congratulations Jason and Brieanne Martir!

On February 24th, members of my family (me, ryan, mom, dad and jared) left for San Diego, CA! We were headed there to enjoy the festivities of my sister's wedding weekend! This was the first flight ever for my dad, and even though he had to deal with a bum ankle in a bubble cast and crutches, he did a mighty fine job, and seemed to enjoy the plane rides. When we arrived in San Diego, we met my brother Tyson there with his girlfriend Meggan and of course my sister, Brieanne. It was nice to sit and relax, have a nice dinner and get a good night's rest before the wedding fun began! Not only did we meet my sister's fiance's family (The Martir's) but we attended bachelor/bachelorette parties, a performance by Jason's band, and hosted a welcome dinner before the big day arrived.

The ceremony spot was gorgeous, a park by the water with a view in the background of downtown San Diego. My sister looked stunning as she walked down the aisle in her white dress, head adorned with none other than a white feather. (she's a birdkeeper) We all had a blast at the reception!! My mom said it best the day after the wedding, " It all just went too fast." Isn't that the way it always goes? Hopefully the next time the entire Thomas family is together time will slow down just for a moment.

Congratulations to Jason and Brieanne Martir, the newest Mr. and Mrs!!

Dad's First Plane Ride!

The Whole Group
Tyson, Mom, Jared, Dad, Brieanne, Ryan, Meggan

And at the Moxy Bullets Performance

Father and Daugther walk down the aisle

The Ceremony

The Cake
(Great job Mom!)