november, so far

It's mid-November. Which is a bit unreal. The leaves have changed and are falling from their branches. Caramel and cinnamon and pumpkin have made an annual appearance. Oddly, we've had two nights of frost that claimed my beautiful fall mum. But these frosty mornings make for a beautiful drive to work. The fields are shimmery with white that disappears as the sun makes an appearance.

Never one to wish time away, I'm always excited for November. Days are cooler, which makes for cozy clothes of tights and sweaters and boots. And nights come sooner, which makes for cozy nights with soup and hot chocolate and pajamas.

Over the weekend, I made the decision to decorate my mantle for fall, making the change from Halloween. I debated since I'll decorate for Christmas in just a couple of weeks, and I'll be gone for about five days. I didn't know if the effort would the worth it. But you know what? It was. I did very little, but it's nice to have the change from Halloween. And it makes my pumpkin-scented candle even sweeter.

On Sunday, J and I headed to Dallas for a concert. We thought we bought tickets to a Lord of the Rings concert. You know, they'd play some of the themes from the movie for a couple of hours, and we'd head home. Then I decided to read about it the night before. We actually watched the movie while an orchestra and choir performed the score. SO MUCH BETTER than we ever expected. We both caught things we'd never noticed before. And it was my first time to see LOTR after watching The Hobbit, so even more things made sense. So, so good.

Before the concert, we were able to meet up with our sweet friends, Steven and Christine and their daughter, Luci Belle. We hadn't seen them in months. Let me tell you two things. One: if you live in Dallas, you must check out their farmstore, Urban Acres. They're open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And it's adorable and local and organic and fresh. Two: we had the best lunch that was cooked by Steven, all with ingredients from Urban Acres. Butternut squash soup drizzled with balsamic vinegar and grilled cheese on amazing sourdough bread with a fig jam and two kinds of goat cheese, perfectly grilled with just the right amount of butter. I chose to dip my sandwich in the soup, and it wasn't a bad decision at all. I attempted to recreate this meal last night, but the cheese and fig jam weren't the same. I'll be back in Dallas for Christine's baby shower this weekend, and I intend to purchase exactly what I need at Urban Acres.

This picture is stolen straight from Urban Acres' Instagram. Look for the chicken on the red building. You won't miss it. See the guys on the left side of the building? They're installing a deck. You can grab a sandwich for lunch and eat on the deck, and then follow it with a scoop of Jeni's Ice Cream.

So, that's our November, so far. I feel certain there will be more to share as the month continues.

the second time we went to austin

You might remember that I gave Jeremy a trip to Austin for his Christmas gift. I was so proud of coming up with such a creative gift that was SO HIM: a tour of Shiner Brewery, trapeze lessons for him, a ghost tour, good restaurants. I had so much fun planning it. Though we're almost a full four months from Christmas, let me tell you about my gift from him.

Our tradition for now is to open gifts from each other on Christmas Eve. I was dying for him to open his gift. I made cute little cards with hand-sketched pictures: a beer bottle, a trapeze bar, the logo for Uchiko. As proud as I was of throwing this gift together, the cards MADE the gift. But he wanted me to open my present first. And I don't argue when someone wants me to open a gift. Imagine my surprise when I pulled an envelope from my stocking with "A Weekend in Austin," written on the front. I was so very confused. I don't have the best poker face, so I'm sure that my confusion was evident. Not to mention, it completely overshadowed any excitement.

My reaction was not what he expected, I'm sure. I fumbled through thanking him, looking at each part of my gift, knowing that when he opened his gift, he would understand. Though my gift to him was cuter, his was no less impressive. He is such a great gift-giver, and this one was no exception.

Thankfully, our trips to Austin were a month apart. And quite different. We drove down to Austin in time to make the matinee performance of The Lion King. I've wanted to see it for several years, but haven't had the chance. We were wowed by this musical! The puppetry and costuming, choreography and music is phenomenal. It totally lived up to it's hype.

After The Lion King, we headed to an early dinner. For some reason, we'd both decided on Mexican food. Though I'm sure there are hundreds of Mexican food places in Austin, we decided on a restaurant that's more familiar to me, Serrano's. (Only because I knew exactly where it is and where to park.) When I organize trips to Austin for my students, we always eat at this restaurant, but always order fajitas. This time, though, I decided to stay away from safe options like fajitas and enchiladas. Instead, I had fried oyster tacos. And, oh my gosh, they were great!

The next day, Jeremy had tickets for a food tour along South Congress in Austin. I was only mildly excited about this, hoping it wasn't a bust. And, perhaps, wondering if it was such a great tour, why didn't I come across it in my planning his trip? Boy, was I wrong. This was the highlight of our trip, and included several restaurants that I'd wanted to try. You should know that when I talk about this in person, I've been likened to Stefon on Saturday Night Live. It's actually a compliment.

We met our tour guide--and owner--from Austin Eats Food Tours at Jo's Coffee. He had an option of iced or hot coffee waiting for us, along with morning buns from La Patisserie to munch on while we made introductions among the 15 or so members of our group. Then we headed off to our first restaurant stop: Snack Bar. We were able to meet the owners who were so very passionate about their restaurant. We tried the Tamago Yoko; the description is in the menu picture below. It was so very different from anything I've ever had, and I loved it. It's highly likely that I'll eat almost anything with a fried egg on top. Snack Bar is a restaurant that we'll return to the next time we're in Austin.

Jo's Coffee | Snack Bar

Our next stop was up a slight hill at Guero's. We were seated around a grill where corn tortillas were being made. In front of us, plates with halves of tamales and queso. (If you're not from Texas, "queso" is cheese dip, not just the word for "cheese" in Spanish.) We also had mini margaritas made with fresh-squeezed lime juice. Which made me feel a little better since we were downing them at 10:45am. It's close to fresh-squeezed orange juice, right? Then they wrapped up some warm corn tortillas that we shared as we walked out the door.

Guero's

After Guero's, we headed to Hopdoddy. I claim the hamburger as my favorite food, so I was super excited to try this restaurant! It did not disappoint. Before the food came, we were able to order an adult beverage (Dutch treat). Jeremy and I shared a Black Cherry Hard Lemonade; it was refreshing for the 70 degree January day outside. The burgers that arrived at our tall tables were perfect and paired with Kennebec fries and three dipping sauces; my favorite sauce was horseradish honey mustard. For dessert--because who doesn't need dessert at this point--we had a mini caramel & sea salt shake. They were heavenly. 

hopdoddy: the classic burger

Honestly, I was a little concerned at this point that I was too full. But we continued on our journey to The Woodland where we had shrimp and grits. This was only my second time to have shrimp and grits; the first was in Savannah which clearly has the market on shrimp and grits. Again, these were delicious. I mean, really, if we'd just had one thing that wasn't good, we'd have been much better off at this point. After a peek at the menu, I decided that if we returned for a meal at The Woodland, I'd order the butternut squash ravioli. That's right up my alley.

And then? We had a bit of a break. The guide apologized for a delay, but I think that we were all happy for some down time. Actually, I'm pretty sure the break was caused by Texas liquor laws. Since our guide was about to buy local beer to drink at our next stop, he had to wait until noon to make the purchase. (We all know that purchasing alcohol before noon on Sundays is frowned upon by the Lord.) Once the beer was packed to go, we headed to our final destination: the food trucks. I was so excited.

Our first food truck was Hey!...You Gonna Eat That or What? It may have been my favorite stop of the day. We had a Shiner Bock beer battered Monte Cristo with cherry-fig jelly for dipping. To say that I wanted to lick the remaining jelly from the little cup would be an understatement. 

Our second food truck and final stop of the tour was Little Big Mikes. It's a personal pan pizza place and was new to the food truck scene. We had thick slices of Veggie Mac & Cheese pizza, covered with caramelized onions, macaroni and cheese, and sriracha aioli. It was delicious, but at this point, I was overly stuffed. So when I took two bites, and then dropped the rest of my pizza, I was only a smidge disappointed. I'm sure it was the Lord preventing me from being even more gluttonous. 

clockwise from top: local beer, Hey!...You Gonna Eat That or What?,

Monte Cristo with cherry-fig jelly, "i love you so much" outside of Jo's Coffee

Once the tour ended, we strolled along South Congress. Since it was "my" trip, Jeremy willingly went into a couple of junky antique stores before we headed back to the hotel to read and sleep off some of the food. For dinner, we decided ice cream would be enough. And it was. 

As wonderful as I thought Jeremy's trip to Austin was for him, this was for me. We had such a memorable time.

a christmas gift for him

My sweet husband is difficult to buy for. If he wants something, he buys it. But he rarely wants anything.

(I, on the other hand, buy the things I want [that fit into our budget] and have a list a mile long of things I'd also love to have. Anthropologie or West Elm bowls, earrings, anything with a monogram, pens, slippers, mittens: the list really never ends. I love cute stuff, especially for my house.)

Back to Jeremy...for Christmas last year, I did a year of dates. He loved it, and it was lots of fun to put together. Twelve dates plus an extra since it was a leap year. Or since I couldn't narrow it down to one date in February. Whatever. Blue Man Group was in town on Leap Year Day. What better way to celebrate?

This Christmas, I felt a little overwhelmed at the thought of a gift nearly as creative. Since he was taking off the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, I decided to surprise him with a trip to Austin. When we first married, we took little trips pretty often. But busyness and life set in, and we chose to stay home during any free time. I knew that he'd love a few days away, though. So the planning began...

[Whenever we go on vacation, I scour Living Social and Groupon for the city we'll visit. The daily deals often include reduced rates for transportation, shows, restaurants, and lots more. I've gotten some really great deals, especially for our week in Chicago last summer. New things are posted every day, so a quick look at lunch every day can save lots of cash. We like to use our saved cash on nicer restaurants while away.]

To start our trip, we detoured just a bit so that we could drive through Shiner, Texas and visit the Spoetzel Brewery. (This was actually part of a birthday present that I gave Jeremy a couple of years ago, but we hadn't done!) It was so much fun! You receive four FREE tasting tokens to taste some of what they had on tap. The tour isn't very long, but you get to see the conveyor and the copper brew tanks.

reflection in the copper tanks

There isn't much to do in Shiner other than tour the brewery, so we made our way to Austin with one other planned stop in Gonzales, Texas. Gonzales is home of the Gonzales Memorial Museum which houses the "Come and Take It Cannon." The cannon is important in the beginning of the Texas Revolution. You can read more about it here or here. We toured the small museum and refreshed some bits of Texas history. (You know we take a full year of that in school, right?)

outside the Gonzales Memorial Museum

Then we headed to Austin! Our first night in Austin was a blast. We stayed downtown. (Thanks Dad for the hotel room!) We were able to walk to dinner. We found Parkside on 6th Street. Amazingly, we got in without a reservation. I had the yummiest oysters and sweet potato soup. Weird combo, but so good! The sweet potato soup had bits of toasted marshmallow on the bottom of the bowl. Just divine.

After dinner, we headed to a ghost tour. Before you get all worried about our salvation, you should try one. It's fun to hear even more history of a city with spooky stories thrown in. We love going on these tours when we visit major cities.

The next morning we had brunch at Magnolia Cafe (an Austin institution) before we drove out to do Jeremy's "big" Christmas gift. I found a one-hour trapeze session for him. He had so much fun and was so good at it! I loved watching him from the ground and videoing each turn he had to fly. They recommended he come back for the two-hour session.

 the 30 ft ladder to the trapeze platform

i wouldn't even think about climbing it

my super-talented + cute, amateur trapeze-artist husband

flying through the air, upside down

After trapeze lessons ended, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We are huge Top Chef fans. The winner of last season, Paul Qui, is from Austin. We were desperate to hit up his former restaurant, Uchiko. Y'all. It was phenomenal. I actually don't know if I will ever eat sushi that good ever again. Ever. Unless it's at Uchiko.

Before we left the next morning, we headed to Gourdough's for donuts  Although they have a brick-and-mortar store, we visited the Gourdough's food truck. They make the donuts to order and have the craziest, most decadent combos. Donuts are too sweet for me in the morning, so I opted for a breakfast taco at the truck next door. What a perfect set up!

We had a wonderful time in Austin, and it really was a perfect gift for Jeremy. There was a great mixture of activities and relaxing in the hotel room and eating great food. Next I'll share my gift from Jeremy...

a year of dates

This post has been in the works since, oh, December 26. I've meant to post, but then I needed pictures. And then I didn't like the pictures I took, so I needed new pictures. Let's just pretend that it's not 6 months until Christmas and that I take decent pictures. Okay?

From our early dating days, I knew that Husby loved experiences over things for gifts. For past birthdays, I've given him weekend trips, zip line passes (that I hated with every fiber of my being), and even a day at home with absolutely no interruptions and only good food. These things make his heart happy, and that makes me happy. (Except for the zip lining. That meant my heart almost exploded.)

Last fall, I stumbled on this blog where she gifted her husband with a year of dates. I knew that I wanted to do this for Husby's Christmas present. Wouldn't you know there are a few web sites dedicated to dates? And not just the dinner and a movie variety! I went through ideas here and here, making a list of possible dates. I even password protected a Word document once I had a complete list. And then I forgot the password. So I started all over.

Here's what Husby received for Christmas:

It's a stack of dates. Thirteen dates. I am fully aware that there are twelve months, but I love celebrating fun days, so I had to throw in an extra date for Leap Year Day. I cut pieces (to fit into a gift box) from a leftover cardboard moving box, and then decorated each piece of cardboard appropriately for the date, using paper, stamps, ink, pens and just a bit of paint that I already owned. Because I had planned for a couple of months, I had purchased a few gift cards along the way to be used for some of the dates. My goal was to be frugal in the execution so that I could spend more on the dates.

I'll post more details about each date. Here are all of the cards with a brief description:

1: ha ha comedy club, a comedy club in three acts with drinks & appetizers

2.14: hamburgers & capture my heart (Think capture the flag. I had Nerf guns and little stuffed hearts.)

2.29: blue man group

3: a mystery date (played an computer mystery game)

4: frisbee golf with a twist

   5: friday's for dinner; then to see The Avengers

6: restaurant crawl (a fancy way to say 'progressive dinner')

7: indoor camping (with a fire and the A/C, roasted hot dogs & s'mores, cards & snuggling)

8: italian date night. unfortunately, not in italy. :)

9: his choice!

10: dinner & a ghost tour in a nearby haunted town

11: pizza and a drive-in movie

12: a return to our 'firsts': first date (Barnes & Noble), first restaurant



730 days

730 days ago, I made a covenant to do life with this man.

These days have been wonderful.



I wanted to type a 10 point list about the things I've learned in marriage.

But I've only been married 2 years. 

I know that I'll learn so much more in the coming years.

And it's likely that I don't even know 10 things about marriage.

(Though I'm certain I had a 10 point list about marriage before getting married!)

So for now, I'll share two things I know about our marriage.

Laughing together is necessary.

Not just a chuckle, but a good, long, hard laugh.

Like laughing till tears come is a great thing for us.

Smelling his cologne.

Sometimes life just gets in the way.

We kiss quickly in the mornings before I jet out the door, and then return home just as crazed.

When we sit still with each other, I like to be close enough to smell his cologne.

Then, I know that we can connect.

These are my things. Laughter and cologne.

Maybe next year, I'll come up with something more profound.

Or maybe something else just as simple that makes our marriage work.

Either way, I know that I'll love my husband more and more.

Valentine's Getaway

Two weeks between posts seems a tad ridiculous, right? Do you ever have seasons of feeling overwhelmed? I certainly do, and hopefully, I'm coming out of that season. Thankfully, this has also been a season sprinkled with quality time with friends and making new friends. I love that part. I do. I just looked through my camera and wouldn't you know that I pictures from September that I haven't shared?! Maybe this week, we'll take a visit to the past and look at a few fun things. I think I'll start with the most recent. That makes sense, right?

For Valentine's Day, Husby and I take turns planning. He does one year; I do the next. It makes it easier, and it's TONS less pressure. This year we headed to Fredericksburg, Texas.

We live southeast of Dallas, so it was a 5+ hour drive. But totally worth it. See, we spent New Years with our super good friends, Patti and Brent. Patti mentioned that she was planning a secret trip to Fredericksburg for Valentine's Day. What started as a trip for those two turned into a super secret mission for us to meet them in F-burg for the weekend. Husby didn't know where we were going until the night before, and then didn't know we'd meet up with them until breakfast on Saturday. The reaction we got was fabulous! We had the best weekend with our dear friends. Our husbands said that the next surprise trip could be out of the country since we did so well with this one. Ha!

I arranged for us to stay at a private bed and breakfast, Carriage House on the Creek. It was more like a mother-in-law suite with vouchers for breakfast at area restaurants. Perfect! It was so warm and cozy, and our inn keepers (whose house is just in front of the garage/carriage house) were so helpful and kind. We'll definitely stay here again.

We arrived on Friday, both of us having taken the day off work. After we checked into to our B&B, we headed to dinner at Cabernet Grill--a recommendation from our inn keeper, Mitch. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint! I had a fabulous meal that was half an eggplant, scooped out just a bit, breaded and fried; then it was filled with blue crab and shrimp in an asiago cheese sauce. Yum! Husby had the best pork tenderloin we've ever tasted, along with three cheese grits.

On Saturday once we met up with Patti and Brent, we used our vouchers for breakfast at Rather Sweet Bakery. I had a breakfast sandwich, and it was so yummy! When I ordered, I was amazed by all of the baked goods. I was so close to buying a macaroon, but thought that might be excessive for breakfast. Imagine my delight when Brent decided to buy one for an afternoon snack. It was the best macaroon I've EVER tasted.

After breakfast, we headed to Enchanted Rock, which is a huge pink granite boulder. Patti and I climbed just a bit, and then decided that we weren't properly dressed, so we sat and talked and soaked up the first non-winter weekend we've had in a couple of months. Our husbands climbed and jumped from boulder to boulder, across caverns. Let me just say that wearing a denim skirt with tights and cute little tennis shoes doesn't lend itself to jumping and climbing. I thought that a huge granite boulder meant that it would be like a super smooth hill. I was wrong.



After Enchanted Rock, we headed to the Texas Wine Trail. We visited a few wineries, but they were SO busy that we didn't taste at all of them. Our favorite was Grape Creek Winery. We came home with a Merlot and Riesling from Grape Creek. We also visited a fabulous chocolate shop, Chocolat. They have liqueur filled chocolates. Not a creamy center, but actual liqueur. My free taste was on an Amaretto filled chocolate. I could have eaten a dozen!

Food was obviously a theme for the weekend, as it often is while on vacation. (And by vacation, I mean anytime we're out of town or off work for more than the weekend. Ha!) After Enchanted Rocks and wineries, we took a little break before heading to dinner at Hilltop Cafe. It was an abandoned gas station that was converted to a restaurant. Again, we had great food. Here are a few pics of us at dinner:

 

Then for breakfast the next morning, we used our vouchers at Sunset Grill, which was amazing! They have a separate Sunday brunch menu, and it did not disappoint. I had a wonderful black forest ham and brie panini. I'll eat pretty much anything with brie on it! After a little shopping in downtown Fredericksburg, we headed home. Although the weekend wasn't super relaxing, it was super fun. I loved the quality time I spent with my sweet husband and friends.

A (sort of) Quick Update

Mercy. Time is flying! I've been so, so busy at work that I don't have much free time, even at home. Things like cleaning house, cooking and doing laundry somehow trump blogging. Dang it. In the next two weeks, my 45 seniors will submit over 100 college applications. That's a lot. And it's not all.

Also on the docket: having my wisdom teeth removed this Thursday. Ugh. I've had horrible headaches the past few months, and we seem to think that this could be a cause, so we're starting with the obvious. I'd love prayers for a smooth procedure and quick healing. (See above: 45 seniors submitting 100 college applications by November 1. I have to be back at work next Monday.) My oral surgeon seems hopeful that things will go well. I'm hopeful that he knows what he's talking about. And do you know that the I.V. scares me more than the procedure? Ha! Oh, and I learned today that if you're a newlywed, and you keep a doctor's appointment a secret, co-workers think there's a baby involved.

Over the weekend, Husby and I celebrated a year of marriage. On day 364, I learned that he doesn't like Cheez-it's. On day 365, I learned that he's allergic to tissues, which is why he uses handkerchiefs. I'm most sad that he doesn't appreciate a Cheez-it. Poor thing.We went to the Big City [Dallas] to celebrate. Thanks to Hotwire, we had a pretty nice hotel room for the price of a Motel 6 (or Hotel 6 as Husby calls it). I'm for sure doing that again! I love a good deal. I'll share more about our trip later.

I was so, so happy last night when I read my September issue of Real Simple Magazine. Yes, I'm behind. (See above: 45 seniors/100 applications. They're my life.) I must say that just seeing the magazine peek out of the top of the mailbox makes me grin. But this had a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon in it! I swear I used to get 1-2 per week, but I've waited for about 7 weeks and didn't get a single one. I needed it to use with gift cards we received for our wedding to buy this:

It's the InStyler--a rotating hot iron. I can't use a regular straight iron because it singes my hair; I'm hopeful that this will do the trick. My hairstylist used one on me a couple of hair cuts ago, and I loved it. I can't wait to use it tomorrow.

Oh! Guess who I saw today at school... the prince of Saudi Arabia. Isn't that cool?! He was in town for some medical procedure (so goes the rumor). I thought that was pretty dang cool! That probably won't happen again. :)

And one last thing...today we celebrated a birthday at our house. We have a six year old. I just can't believe how time flies!

Crickett, at six years old, you are:

Able to tear the squeaker out of a new toy in less than 30 minutes.

Eating way too much. We actually switched your treats today so lower your daily calorie intake.

 I'm sure you'll be so happy about that over the next few days.

Waking me up at about 4am to get into our bed. (I have to lift you up since you're so short.)

Picking up your empty water cup and throwing it across the floor when you want more.

That sign language just isn't working.

Completely against any physical affection between me and your dad unless you're in the middle.

Okay, I just couldn't resist. Y'all have a great week. I'll be back more consistently at some point.

One Year...

This time last year, I was one day away from being a wife. It was a fabulous, cooler October day--much like today. I couldn't wait to marry my fiance. One year later, I'm still just as proud to be his wife. Our year of marriage has been fabulous. I love being with my best friend EVERY DAY. And isn't he just so handsome?!

27 Days...

...until we celebrate our one year anniversary.

Ten Months

What to Wear (or Not)

I think it's pretty evident by the last few posts that my life is a litle boring right now. It's just sad that I've been able to post without any real content. Lately my thoughts have been consumed with what in the world I'm going to wear while touring Eastern Europe. Sure, I love a sundress or summery skirt with sandals any day of the week and a little extra on Sundays. But they just don't seem to be the attire I should wear while walking 12+ hours a day.

I do own two (yes, two) pair of shorts. Both are denim and longer and cute-ish for shorts. (Husby still doesn't understand why he no longer is able to wear or own long, denim shorts since I can. I tell him that life just isn't fair. And until Lee jean shorts make a debut in GQ, he might as well just get over it.) Unfortunately, summer clothes are on their way out of the stores and pickings are slim. I tried on a few pair yesterday: yellow, white and light khaki. Um...not my colors of choice in anything, really. Needless to say, none of them came home with me.

Another issue? Comfortable shoes. I have super blister prone skin. If my feet just get near an uncomfy pair of shoes, they start blistering. Which means I'll need to rock tennis shoes during the long days of walking through cities. And I just don't like the look of tennis shoes with dressier shorts or skirts. It takes me back to my high school days when I was pretty much a fashion tragedy, and I just can't do it!

(Side story: when Husby and I were driving to Wisconsin in March, I didn't have room in my bag for my scrunchy boots. I put them in the back of the car, easily accessible for grabbing when we went into the hotel the first night of our trip. Only, I forgot to grab them. The next morning, I had to wear the tennis shoes from the day before into the hotel breakfast because Husby didn't see the need in going to get them for me. So I rocked a dress with leggings and tennis shoes. Although not crowded, I did get a few looks.)

(Side story to that: my two office aides shared with me that if you want to make someone feel insecure, stare at their feet when they're walking towards you.)

(Truth to that story: it's accurate.)

So you can see why I have no idea what to do. Comfort vs. fashion. It's obvious that I can't go to Husby for advice because he wants me to wear what's comfortable, and I want both. (I really think he's hoping I didn't throw the jean shorts in the trash. And maybe, just maybe, if he's supportive about my comfort, then they'll reappear.)

My solution so far:  wear sport/running skirts that I love so much. They have the little biking shorts for comfort, AND they look cute with tennis shoes. I can certainly take a couple of dresses or skirts to wear to dinner or whathaveyou in the evenings.

This weekend is dedicated to figuring out my attire in Europe. Here's hoping it's successful!

When I Said Yes

Over at Kelly's Korner, girls are sharing stories of their engagement. I decided to play along because I love our story.

I mentioned here that one of my favorite things is playing games. I grew up loving Monopoly (though I've never played with the houses/hotels), LIFE, Mall Madness (it came with the credit card you could swipe--I really enjoyed that part way too much), Clue Jr. and pretty much any other game I could get someone to play with me. Of all the games, LIFE remained at the top of the list. It's fun and easy, and it just doesn't matter how well you play, you may or may not win. And I could usually rope someone into playing it.

Fast forward 20 years. (Yikes, that makes me sound a little old!)

Husby is still the BF. We'd talked about getting married and bought a book with questions to ask your potential mate. We started strong and excited about really getting to know each other through these 101 questions; then answered about six of them. (And never finished the book since we decided we had actually talked about so many things already.) Then, I went to JUST LOOK at rings and FELL IN LOVE with MY RING. I called to see if I should go ahead and purchase it. For some reason, he wanted to be there when he bought an engagement ring for his future wife. And I just couldn't convince him otherwise.

A week later, he was in the big city to look at said ring. I left all of my information with the jeweler, but they lost my ring size. So he had to call to ask my ring size. And then I knew he was BUYING ME AN ENGAGEMENT RING. Of course, I figured I'd get it within a reasonable amount of time. I mean, which guy wants to hold onto a ring for that long? I can tell you. My future husband. He waited almost two months.

He wanted our engagement to be perfect and memorable. I just wanted to know I was going to get to marry him. (And I wanted to wear my ring desperately.) His plan was to propose on a hot air balloon ride. How romantic! (The ride was actually my birthday present from the year before, but had been postponed multiple times because of weather.) It was scheduled twice for the ring-giving, including on my birthday, but it didn't happen because wind conditions weren't perfect. Since my birthday plans were cancelled, I had to choose something else. We met a group of friends to meet at a local restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, I wanted to play a game with just the two of us: LIFE. That was the plan. Since dinner ran late, though, we didn't play the game. Two days later, he mentioned that he still owed me a game of LIFE. I was more than happy to play.

We set up the game board and started to play: spinning the wheel, buying auto insurance, graduating from college. And then I got married first. I made some comment about wondering who I would marry. Ha! Then he arrived at the STOP: GET MARRIED spot. I turned to the box top to grab him a little pink peg of a woman and asked, "Do you want a wife?" When I turned back around, he was on one knee with the ring box out. EEEEK! I was totally getting a proposal for marriage. Of course, I said yes after he did the asking. And then we stopped playing the game so that we could call and text the 3204817234 people that I'd promised to tell immediately.

It WAS the perfect and memorable proposal he wanted. And the proposal I discovered that I was so happy to wait for. He was so creative. I appreciate that so much!

Here are a couple of pics of our night:

And we finally got that balloon ride a couple of weeks later. I happen to think my ring looks absolutely amazing with a view of the city in the background.

Six months later, Husby and I were married. This week we celebrated our eight monthiversary. And a wonderful eight months it's been with him as my husband.

Friday Miscellany [on Saturday]

Because I often have random or boring weeks, I decided that a weekly miscellaneous post might be in order. One that doesn't require too much thought. Highlights of the week, if you will. And when catching up on my DVRed shows prohibits me from posting Friday Miscellany, I'll have this feature: Friday Miscellany [on Saturday]. Good, huh?

1. My friend Lindsey (and her husband, Brian) needs your prayers for a miracle. Folks, spread the word to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Lindsey is mid-20s and battling her second round of cancer. Now, if this were me, it would completely define my life. But it doesn't define her life. At all. Her life is defined by her love for our Lord. Her faith is amazing. Please join me in praying BIG prayers. Pray for her body to be healed of cancer. You can keep up with her story here.

2. It's a good thing for my laptop that I blog. Otherwise, we would have broken up. See, I upgraded to an iPhone, which is really like an additional appendage. I think I checked facebook 112 times in three hours, while catching up on the DVR. I needed to know if there were any new notifications waiting on me.

3. Husby has been sick for two days. He's stayed upstairs most of the time, so I've been in charge of the remotes. (We had a lesson on how to use the NEW remote for sound control. It's so confusing. I liked my 12-year-old TV. With duct tape holding the battery cover to the remote.)

4. As for the DVR. I caught up on What Not to Wear and Cougar Town. I act like I would follow fashion advice. Please, I actually thought at one point tonight, "I hope no one is filming me right now since I'm in polka dot pajama pants, 1 of 3 long-sleeved Racquet & Jog t-shirts, and my wool house boots." And that, my friends is a hot mess. A hot mess paranoid about checking her iPhone.

Y'all, I really like Cougar Town. It could be that it's only 30 minutes, and sometimes I have difficulty committing to an hour-long show. I've also loved Courteney Cox-Arquette since she was "Monica." And she's great in this. Of course, she's quirky, and I LOVE IT! And this right here is one of the funniest scenes the week: Jules is comforted by M&M Tea. And it made me want some. I talked myself into making some, but we don't have plain M&M's. Mostly because I only like peanut M&M's. Please watch it. Please?

5. At work today, one of my students asked me for the spelling of his middle name. He's 18, but since he "never uses it," he didn't know if it's spelled with a "-y" or an "-ey." I mean, it's perfect logic. Right?

I'm off to check my iPhone. (Okay, I've already checked it twice while blogging.) (I'll need an intervention in a week. The newness has worn off. This is pure addiction.)

Three Monthiversary

Today marks three months of marriage. And three great months at that!

Once we were done eating lunch, I declared that I didn't want to go home. We both love spending time at home, and given the option, we'll usually stay in. But today, I wanted to do something different; I just didn't know what the something different was. Husby thanked me for my ambiguity as I gave him the challenge of coming up with an activity.

(I really think that it helped spur him to come up with something once I mentioned I was in the mood for shopping.)

Since it was such a beautiful day, he suggested that we go to Tyler State Park. I agreed. Once we arrived and walked around for a bit, we decided that it would have been a great idea to change out of our church clothes. About an hour later, we arrived once again in jeans and tennis shoes with books, chairs and Crickett.

The three of us walked through the woods for about an hour. Of course, Crickett, being a hound, led the way with her nose to the ground. And she stayed on the trail the whole time. (She's just so smart!)

After our walk, we found the perfect spot of sunshine where we set our chairs and began reading. Currently, I'm set to finish Three Cups of Tea. The school where I work is doing an All-School Read with this book.

(I've wanted to read it for a while, but now that it's an "assignment", I don't want to read it.)

(And honestly, if it weren't required, I would have stopped reading it. It's just not well written. I think the contents would have been adequately written in 180 pages, not over 300.)

We read for quite a while, until it began to cool off, and we decided to head home. We ended our afternoon with a trip to Sonic.

Now, I'm about to start dinner. A friend is coming over, and we're having root beer short ribs with mashed sweet potatoes. I hope it tastes as good as it sounds!

Our Honeymoon, Redwood Edition

On our way from Sonoma Valley to San Francisco, we detoured to see the Redwoods. They were magnificent! As we drove up a winding rode, thick with fog, we arrived. It was late afternoon, so we didn't have to pay admission to the park. (A little perk since everything in California is so super expensive!)

As we walked into the forest, we thought that at some point dinosaurs might meet us on the trail. If not dinosaurs, then hobbits; the forest felt so old. The further we walked into the forest, the more we thought we heard bagpipes. And we both love bagpipes! Evidentely, we arrived just as the wedding of the park supervisor began, complete with bagpipes. It seemed so magical.

At first, we weren't impressed by the size of these trees. After all, we're from The Pineywoods of East Texas; we've seen tall pines. But the further back we walked, the taller the trees rose above us. We finally understood the scale when we saw a fallen tree laying on a hill. It was so tall that we couldn't see where the tree ended.

I know these pictures cannot accurately portray the beauty and majesty of this creation, but hopefully you'll have some sense of these grand trees. In the first picture, I'm standing next to the center tree. Look for the little white dot in the center at the bottom of the tree. You'll see how big they are in the second picture as Husby wraps his arms around the trunk.

And if you ever have the chance, visit the Redwoods!