Olympics!

I am watching the Opening Ceremonies as I type this. Wow! Those drummers were amazing. I love the Olympics. And the timing couldn't have worked out better. Since I'm still looking for a job, I'm home all day to watch the events. My favorites are gymnastics, volleyball, and diving. But I'm going to try to branch out this year and watch some different events. Maybe badminton? :)

We had a great time in Chicago with Darby's parents. I'll post more about our trip when I get pictures from Darby's mom. Naturally, I didn't take many. (That seems to be quite a theme with me).

First Impressions of Urbana/Champaign

Pros:
Green everywhere!
Beautiful parks
Sidewalks
Panera

Cons:
Humidity!
No Blue Bell ice cream :(
No parking around campus (where a lot of the good restaurants are)

Darby and I went up to UI today. Whoa! It is huge. I thought, "I'll just go up with Darby to the Science Building; then I'll wander over to the library." Ummm...no way was I going to be able to find the library. As far as the eye could see were science buildings. And of course I hadn't printed out a map beforehand. I could have wandered around for a while, but it was too hot. Luckily, I spotted a Starbucks :) We did get to go in the Engineering library, which was about as big as the ACU Library, which serves the whole campus, not just one department. We're not in Kansas anymore!

It's a very beautiful campus, though. I wanted to take some pictures, but seriously the humidity made me not have the energy to lift my camera (well, that and maybe the fact that I was inexplicably alert from 4:30-6 a.m. today.) Plus, I didn't want to be the country bumpkin taking pictures of the big college!

We're going to Chicago with Darby's parents tomorrow. Woo-hoo!

Hello from Illinois!

Well, we made it, thanks to a lot of help from our parents. We learned an important lesson: whatever size U-Haul you think you'll need, get one size bigger. We had the U-Haul totally stuffed, and the back of my car was piled so high that I couldn't see out the back. Plus, we had to put a few things in the back of my Dad's truck. It all worked out, though, and amazingly nothing got damaged. I am so grateful that our dads were able to go with us to help us load and unload. The move would have been so much harder, if not impossible without them.

We are settling into our new house in Urbana, which we love!! The house is only two years old, and it's just so cute. Plus, it's so much bigger than our apartment, and there's plenty of storage space. I just keep walking around saying, "I can't believe we live here!" I'll definitely post pictures once we have everything set up. We've made a lot of progress, but we still have a lot of work to do. Luckily, we live about 1/2 a mile from Wal-Mart, so our frequent trips don't take up too much time :)

We went out to eat last night at a really good pizza place near campus. They have Chicago-style stuffed pizza. It was huge! I could only eat one slice, which is very strange for me. Right now we're at the Urbana Public Library using the Internet. Our Internet is going to be hooked up on Wednesday. Urbana is a cute little town. There's some really pretty old houses downtown and lots of parks. Illinois is much, much greener than Texas. And everyone was right: there's A LOT of corn. There's a huge cornfield right by our house. It reminds me of when I was little because there was a cornfield by our house in Hewitt, too.

Well, I better get back to work. We miss all our friends and family in Texas! I'll post more on Monday when we have Internet.

Well, tomorrow's our last day in Abilene. This week has been bittersweet. We're very excited about moving to Urbana and settling into our new house, but it's hard to say goodbye to everyone in Abilene. I'm not particularly attached to the town itself, but I sure have made a lot of good friends here. I had my last Book Club meeting on Thursday; went out to eat with my aunt and uncle Saturday; Darby and I went over to our friend Aaron and Laura's house to play a game on Sunday; I hung out with Erin and Em last night; and I went out to lunch with my Student Life ladies today. That's a lot of goodbyes! Plus, tomorrow night is our last night at Westgate. That's going to be hard. We love all the people at Westgate, and we've just recently started to get close to a lot of the young married couples. I know we'll find another good church in Illinois, and I'm sure we'll make new friends, but it's hard to say goodbye to all of the great friends we have here.

My mom came in today to help us finish packing and cleaning. It's so nice to have her here. She and I watched 27 Dresses tonight while Darby was hanging out with a friend. A chick flick and pints of Blue Bell ice cream with my mom...pretty fun night! Both of our dads are coming in tomorrow night. It's really happening!

T Minus 7 Days

In exactly one week, we will be on our way to Illinois. It's so crazy! The last month has gone by so quickly. We're both busy packing, finishing stuff up for work, and squeezing in last-minute visits with friends.

Here's a couple pictures of the mess that is our apartment. (I took these pictures several days ago, so it is MUCH worse now).


The holding area. We now have about 25 boxes stacked in that tiny area of our living room.


The Goodwill pile. It has also grown considerably. I just want to make one trip, so I'm waiting until the day before to make a Goodwill run. (If you see something that you gave us in this pile, please do not be offended; we are pretty brutal in our paring down!)

The mess is kind of stressing me out, but I know it's only temporary. We're actually doing really well on our packing. We packed up almost the whole kitchen last night. That's always the most difficult room, so I feel good about our progress.

Fat Tuesday Reunion!

All of my Fat Tuesday gals got together at Lake Travis this weekend to spend some time together before Kalyn and I make our big moves to the Midwest. We stayed in a condo on The Island on Lake Travis, which was so nice. We spent a lot of time talking, swimming, and, of course, eating. On Friday, we went to downtown Austin and walked around. Then we headed over to The Oasis for dinner. If you ever are in Austin, definitely eat at The Oasis. It was such a beautiful restaurant; the view of the sunset was amazing, and the food was really good, too. It was a great relaxing weekend, and it was so much fun to spend time with all the girls. We're definitely going to make the reunion a yearly thing.

Google Maps definitely failed me on this trip, though. Erin, Em, and I were riding down together, and I looked up the directions for us. I thought some of the roads looked kind of small, but I figured it would be fine. Well, we ended up on this tiny country road for about 25 miles. Erin was driving, and she has a big fear of getting stranded on a country road, so she was really nervous. It was getting dark, so that added to the tension. But, we made it out, finally. The map was correct, but we looked up another route for the way home. It was a much better road, and MUCH faster. So, lesson learned...if the road looks tiny on the map, it is tiny.



Em, Kalyn, Carolyn, and Erin


Carolyn at the Austin Museum of Art. They had a little family room where kids could make their own art projects. So naturally, we had to participate.


Me, Erin, and Carolyn being dumb at the State Capitol.


Me, Erin, and Brittany at The Oais.

Penny Pinching

I'm finding it kind of funny all of the news segments and magazine articles that are being written about saving money now that the economy is not so hot. These are the most popular tips I hear/read:

1. Buy generic brands at the grocery store.
2. Walk/carpool as much as you can.
3. Eat at home rather than eating out.

Seriously? Can people not think of these things themselves? Also, what if you have been doing those things for a long time? Is there no way for you to cut back on your expenses?

I've found a couple of more creative ways to save money. One of these is making my own cards for birthdays, weddings, etc. At $3-4 a pop, store-bought cards can really set you back. I enjoy crafty things, so I've started making my own cards. It takes a little more time, but since it's something I enjoy doing, I don't mind. I buy boxes of 50 blank colored cards at Michael's for about $7. I use scraps of paper and stickers leftover from my scrapbooking, so the cost is very minimal. I'm estimating that I save on average $8-10/month. It might not be a whole lot, but it adds up. Plus, I get the satisfaction of creating something myself and personalizing every card.

What about you? Do you have any creative tips for saving money?

One Year

It's hard to believe it's already been one year since Darby and I got married. The past year has gone so quickly. In other ways, though, it feels like we've been married much longer. It's hard to remember what life was like before we were married. The past year has been the best of my life. I love being married to Darby, and although our wedding day was so much fun, I am so glad we are through with that phase and into our actual marriage.

Below is a picture of the mini-scrapbook I made Darby for our anniversary. Each page highlights a different season of the past year. I had a lot of fun putting it together and thinking about all of the fun memories we've had.


(Am I a dork for taking a picture of my own scrapbook? Probably so. What can I say? I was proud of myself.)

We were going to go to Cypress Street Station (a nice restaurant in Abilene) on Saturday night, but they were closed for the holiday weekend. So we ended up going to Olive Garden, our old standard, instead. I was kind of disappointed about Cypress Street, but Olive Garden was still a great meal, and we're going to try to go to Cypress St. right before we move. We're not doing anything too fancy tonight since our weekend in Dallas was part of our anniversary celebration. We'll go to Starbucks after dinner because we have a free coupon. And we'll eat the pieces of wedding cake my mom saved for us. I don't have high hopes for cake that's been in the freezer for a year, but we'll see! Whatever Darby and I do, we always have fun. I am so thankful for this past year and look forward to many, many more.

Happy Birthday, Darby!

The love of my life was born 23 years ago today. We've known each other almost half of our lives and been together more than a quarter of our lives. We've had so many fun memories over the years, and it's incredible to me that our journey is just beginning. I could go on and on about how great he is, but I'll spare you readers the mush, and just say that I'm so blessed to have him in my life.

We technically already celebrated our birthdays together, but, of course, I still wanted him to have a few special things on the actual day. We went to Sharky's for lunch and had red velvet cake with peppermint cream cheese frosting (his choice...I cooked the cake a little too long. Grrrr... But he assured me it still tasted good). Tonight, we're having one of his favorite meals (cheesy stuffed shells), and there's a homemade ice cream night after church. Perfect timing, huh? I'm making dulce de leche ice cream. I hope it turns out! It stinks that Darby has to work today, but we're both looking forward to the long weekend!

Why spellcheck will never replace editors...

A sign spotted on the door to my apartment complex workout room:

We apologize for the incontinence; our office will be closed Saturday, June 28, 2008.

Yummy Cake and Mexico

Good choice, readers! The cake was delicious. However, after I chose it, I heard from several readers who said they liked the chocolate one but just didn't vote. I think you all learned an important lesson: make your voice heard! :)

I was gone June 12-18 on a mission trip to Mexico with my church in Waco. It was a really great trip. We divided into two groups and went to two churches each. While the adults attended seminars, we entertained the kids. All of the kids are always so sweet, and they were so excited to get their bubbles and boxes of crayons. One day, we got to take the kids from Casa Sonrisa (a children's home) to the park. That is always one of my favorite activities. Even though most of the kids I had gotten to know in previous years were no longer there, I made friends with some new ones.

My Spanish wasn't too bad, but I could definitely tell I hadn't used it in a while. By the end of the week, it was getting much easier. I really need to try harder to practice regularly.

I really love the Mexico trip. I hadn't gone on the trip in four years, although I did spend six weeks in Torreon three years ago. I decided to make it a priority to go in the future. It is so fun to see the same people at the churches year after year, and I love being able to talk to the kids in Spanish. Also, it was great to spend time with my mom and brother. (My dad was supposed to go, but he ended up having to go on a business trip instead).

Here are a few pictures from the week. I couldn't find my camera charger, so I don't have that many, but that seems to be the story of my life.


Me sliding with a girl from Casa Sonrisa. I fell at the bottom!


My mom, brother, and I with Juan and Marta Meza (the preacher and his wife). My mom and Marta are so alike. They love each other so much, even though mom doesn't speak Spanish, and Marta doesn't speak much English. It's really sweet.


My brother painting a room in the preschool Marta is about to open. I could not show the picture of me painting because I looked so gross! Painting in a non-airconditioned building in 100-degree heat does NOT agree with me.

All in all, it was a great trip, but I was sure ready to see Darby when I got back! It was hard being apart for a week. I think he had the worst of it since he was stuck in Abilene all alone working. I appreciate him for being so supportive of me pursuing my interests. He really encouraged me to go, even when I got nervous about being apart for so long. I am a lucky girl! I got to spend a week in Mexico and was able to come home to my wonderful husband, 2 more days off work, and birthday presents!

And the winner is...

Raspberry White Chocolate Cake! Thanks for your votes. They helped a lot. I will be eating the cake in just a few hours, so I'll report back. I'll also blog about my trip to Mexico. But there's no time now. I've got celebrating to do!

Decision 2008

Okay, all you blog readers (all 2 of you!), I need your help. I have a very important decision to make, and I can't do it alone.

I need to decide what cake I want my mom to make me for my birthday. I know, I know, it sounds kind of silly, but believe me, I have thought about this a lot. I LOVE dessert , so this is a big decision. There are so many cakes that sound good to me, but I don't make cake very often because I don't want to end up eating the whole thing by myself. So my birthday is an opportunity to enjoy really good cake without guilt. Here are the ones I'm thinking about. Leave me a comment letting me know what you would pick.

1. Raspberry White Chocolate Cake



2. Chocolate Banana Cream Cake



3. Caramel Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting



Thanks for your help! :)

Happy "Birthiversary" to Me and Darby

This weekend, Darby and I celebrated our birthdays and one-year anniversary all at once. It's a little early for all those things, but Darby was in a wedding in Dallas, so we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were already there. We stayed at the DFW Hyatt Regency, which is where we stayed on our wedding night. It's a great hotel, but we did have one complaint. Their cable doesn't include TLC!! (Somehow, we didn't notice that on our wedding night; I guess that's a good thing!) But, now that we're an old married couple (haha), watching "Flip That House" is one of the things Darby and I look forward to most on vacations. From now on, we're going to have to get a cable listing from any hotel before we make reservations!

On Saturday night, we went to Medieval Times (Darby's birthday pick). Darby had been a couple of times when he was a kid, but I had never been at all. It was a lot of fun. The show was pretty cheesy, but the food was good, and we had fun cheering for our knight. The funny thing was that our guy must have been new because he kept losing all the contests. It was hilarious! Darby commented that Medieval Times wasn't quite as fun as he remembered it being when he was 10. :) Gee! Who'd have guessed?

On Sunday, Darby took me shopping at Grapevine Mills mall. What a sweetheart! He waited patiently while I tried on the whole Ann Taylor Factory Store. I got several cute shirts, including some button-down shirts. (If you know me, you know that is a huge victory). Darby also got some nice-looking polos at Old Navy. I love how when guys need a new wardrobe, they can just go out and buy six of the same shirts in different colors. Perhaps I'll get there soon. (See this post). That night we went to The Melting Pot fondue restaurant (my pick). If you ever get a chance to go, you should. It's pretty pricey, but such a fun atmosphere, and the food is great! We were both so full when we got out of there.

The whole weekend was absolutely wonderful. Darby and I had so much fun reminiscing about our wedding day and thinking about all of the great memories we've shared since then. I am constantly reminded what a blessing it is to be married to my best friend. I enjoy all the time I spend with him, even when we're just hanging around the house, but it sure is nice to be able to get out and enjoy the "high life" for a weekend.

Summertime!!

Well, summer has officially begun. We've had two days of 100-degree heat. I always forget how hot it can get! But that's okay, because I LOVE SUMMER!! Here are just a few of my favorite things about the season:
1. Swimming - Darby and I love going to our apartment pool, when we can manage to find a time that it's not swamped with kids. I think I am the only young woman who actually likes to swim, though. Anytime I see girls my age out there, they are just laying out. Don't even get me started on how dumb that is. I even see people using tanning oil, which is crazy with all we know about skin cancer. Ladies, pale is pretty! Repeat that 10 times. (Unless you are dark-skinned naturally; that's pretty, too).
2. Long days. I love that it's still light at 9 p.m. It helps this old lady stay up until a reasonable hour.
3. Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino at Starbucks - After three long years, it's finally back! However, I don't like that they put chocolate whipped cream on it now. Whipped cream should be white! Just like my skin :)
4. Cajun Cones! When Darby and I go walking, we stop and get a sno cone and then keep walking. We burn the calories as we consume them; that's how we keep our trim figures. It's all about equilibrium.
5. Weddings. For the past three years, every summer has been dominated by wedding stuff. 2 years ago, I was in Whitney's and Kalyn's weddings. Last year was my wedding, of course, and this year is Darby's turn to be in 3 weddings. I have always loved going to weddings, and it's even more special to me now that I've made that commitment myself. Plus, it's a great chance to see friends who have scattered for the summer.

Freedom!

I am wearing the same shirt today that I wore to work on Monday. This is a big step for me. Normally, I try to space out my clothes-wearing, especially if I'm wearing it to the same place. But this morning, nothing in my closet appealed to me except this shirt. I put it on and then realized, "Oh no, I wore this on Monday." But then I thought, "So? Who cares?" It's not like anyone is really going to notice, and if they do notice, what does it matter? Of course, I've known for a long time that it doesn't really matter what you wear, but I've never been able to let go of that self-consciousness before. Now I have so many more possibilities! I love not caring!

Congratulations, Darby!

Darby graduated from ACU last Saturday. His parents, brother and sister-in-law, grandpa, aunt, and my parents came in for the ceremony. It was a pretty long ceremony because the president of Madagascar was there (kind of crazy!) Afterwards, we went to Lytle Land and Cattle for dinner, which was a lot of fun. On Sunday, Hannah, Darby, and I took our parents to Copper Creek to celebrate Mother's Day. It was so fun to get to spend time with both of our families. I just wish Matt could have been there (I guess Senior prom is a good enough excuse). I have a couple of pictures below. I need to get some more from my mom and Debby.

Darby and his parents. His dad hooded him.


Me and Darby. I am so proud of him and can't wait to see how well he does in grad. school!

Princess Peach is Back!

Last week, Darby and I got Mario Kart for the Wii. It is so awesome! You use an actual steering wheel to drive. The courses are quite a bit harder than the older versions of the game, so it's pretty challenging. But there are extra characters, special boxes, and carts. Now, I have the option to be Baby Peach. She's just like Princess Peach, but tinier! I love it!

Darby's graduating tomorrow! Woo-hoo! I am so proud of him. He has done so well in college (with a super-hard major), and I know he has great things ahead of him in grad. school. I'm excited to start the next chapter of our lives.

I still love radio

Today when I was going home for lunch, the song "Shimmer" by Fuel came on the radio. I've had that CD for about seven years, and when I got my iPod I transferred that song to it. So I hear the song every few weeks or so. But I got so excited when it came on. There's something more fun when you just happen to hear one of your favorite songs instead of knowing that you caused it to happen. I'm the same way with movies. When I was younger, we owned Sound of Music. But whenever it came on TV, I would get so happy, even though I could watch it any time I wanted.

I know that entertainment is moving towards total customization, so you can always watch or listen to whatever you want whenever you want. And often that's a really good thing. But I don't want to lose the joy of turning on the radio and just happening to hear a favorite song.

Things I've Thought about Blogging in the Past Two Weeks...

but obviously haven't

1. Finding a house to rent in Urbana, IL. It's a 3 bedroom/1 bath, and we've already signed the lease. I'm so excited! I don't know what I'm going to do with all that space!

2. The return of new T.V. shows - I was missing The Office so badly! There came a point when even I was tired of watching seasons 1-3 on DVD. The new episodes have been really good so far. I can't believe Jim already has a ring for Pam!

3. The Texas Library Association Conference in Dallas - That's right - I am officially a nerd. The ACU library paid for any students/staff who are interested in going to library school to attend. I heard some interesting presentations, got to stay in a super-nice hotel (The Magnolia), and got free books. All in all, it was pretty good for my first professional conference.

4. A fun weekend in Dallas after the conference. Darby was visiting a friend in Austin, so I spent time playing games, watching T.V., discussing controversial subjects, shopping, and eating yummy food with the always-generous hosts, Kalyn and B.J. Gensic. Then, I drove over to Garland to visit with Grandma and Aunt Katina, eat even more food, see Uncle Al, Aunt Lea, and Amy, and watch Enchanted (which I wouldn't recommend). It was great to see friends and family, but I sure missed Darby!

5. The series finale of Oprah's Big Give. I loved that show! Although it does seem kind of strange to be competing against each other to see who can help people more. Especially at the end, the contestants were fighting with each other more than they were actually helping. But they still did some awesome stuff, and my favorite guy won.

9 Months

On Monday, Darby and I celebrated our 9-monthiversary. I don't know why, but 9 months seems like a much bigger milestone than 8 months. Maybe it's because that's the length of time you're pregnant? I guess we could have called it, "Let's celebrate the fact that we didn't get pregnant on our honeymoon" day, but that's a little wordy. Anyway, I know we're still new to this whole marriage thing, but here are 9 lessons I've learned about marriage in the first 9 months:

1. Traditions matter. Darby and I have lots of little traditions. Every Sunday we go to AM Donuts before church. Every Monday, we watch Headlines on Jay Leno. Every day at lunch, we watch an episode of The Office or Friends. We just recently started walking to Peet's every Saturday morning to get 99 cent lattes. None of those things are a very big deal, but it gives us something to look forward to during the daily grind. I think people sometimes think that they'll start traditions once they start a family, but it's important to realize that just the two of you are a family, also.
2. When you have someone else sharing your bed, it's guaranteed to feel at least twenty degrees hotter at night.
3. Believe people when they say you have to plan dates when you're married. I always thought, "That's silly. We'll be spending so much time together after we're married." Imagine my surprise when I realized that every married person in the world actually knew what they were talking about! Darby and I spend more time together than most married couples, but it's easy to not really do anything. When we were dating, we'd go to the park, go to Starbucks, rent movies, go out to dinner. Now, we do a lot of sitting around the apartment. Our relationship is so much better when we actually go out, even if it's something cheap or free.
4. If you can, do the grocery shopping together. I enjoy shopping so much more when Darby's with me. Plus, he can help me carry everything into the house. Same thing goes for laundry. We both HATE doing laundry (especially since the dryers in the laundry room don't dry), but doing it together makes it slightly more bearable.
5. In general, save as much as you can, but splurge on vacations. This goes for single people, too, of course. On the two vacations we've taken (our honeymoon to Niagara Falls and Santa Fe), Darby and I have eaten at nice restaurants and gotten dessert and coffee, which we wouldn't normally do. It makes the vacation so much more fun, and I'd much rather spend money on a trip than just on a daily Starbucks or something.
6. Hang out with your girl/guy friends. I'm in a Book Club, Supper Club, and a Bunco group, all of which meet once a month. It's so fun to have "girl time," and I always come back home with more energy and eagerness to talk to Darby. Likewise, he really enjoys getting together with his guy friends. We're each other's best friends, but we definitely can't be each other's only friend.
7. The world really doesn't end if you go to bed angry. Although ideally I agree that conflict should be resolved as soon as possible, sometimes that just doesn't happen. So we can either spend all night fighting and getting more tired and emotional or we can go to bed, wake up, realize we were wrong, and apologize. I prefer the second option.
8. If you only have one bathroom, you better grab it the second you get home from a long car ride.
9. Be silly. I love making Darby laugh. I have no rhythm, so when catchy music comes on TV, I start dancing really crazily. Now, Darby requests "the dance," and he cracks up every time. Sometimes he laughs so hard that he starts laughing at his own laugh and crying. Then, I start laughing. There's a good 15 minutes of entertainment right there! Really, though, I love just having fun with Darby. It's great to know that he still loves me even when I'm making a fool of myself.

Sweet Surprises and a Decision

On Friday, my sister called me at work and asked if I could come over to pick up my wedding DVD; she said that she had something else for me, too. Darby took me by her house on our way home, and I was surprised with these:



Sorry they're sideways. I don't think there's a way to rotate the picture after I've uploaded it. Aren't they pretty? She found the vase at a garage sale and thought it looked like me, so she filled it with some bright flowers.

Darby and I went back to our apartment, and when I walked in, I was greeted by these:



My sweet husband had gotten me flowers "just because!" He and Hannah hadn't planned it, but they ran into each other when they were at the store buying their flowers. What a coincidence!

Two bouquets in one day! That made my week!

In other exciting news, Darby and I made a decision about grad. school this weekend. Before I let you in on the big decision, I'll tell you how it all went down:

In December, I found out that I had been accepted to:

I was glad to have at least one acceptance, but it wasn't my first choice because it's an online program, and I'd rather go in person. The plus side was that I could do it from anywhere.

In January, Darby was accepted to:

Side note: Don't they have an awesome mascot? He was very excited because Georgia Tech's a great school. We were relieved to have at least one option for both of us. (Him at GT; me doing the online program at UNT).

In February, I was accepted to:

UT! Woo-hoo! But we were still holding out for UW.

In early March, Darby got a rejection e-mail from:

That was a sad day because we had both really wanted to go there. But we knew something else would work out. A couple of days later, I got a letter saying that I had been waitlisted at UW (not that it mattered any more, anyway).

About a week later, Darby got an acceptance e-mail from:

We were very happy! Illinois is an awesome school (despite their lame mascot...Illini, are you kidding me!?!) I started getting really nervous about whether or not I would get in. I waited and waited for my letter. Finally, the Tuesday after Spring Break it came. I didn't get in. That was tough. I knew UT was still an option, but I also knew that Darby would really rather go to Illinois. I started feeling better when I realized that if we did decide to go to Illinois, I wouldn't necessarily have to start the UNT program and could reapply to Illinois next year.

We kept waiting for Darby to hear from UT. He called and they said it was the Circuit Design Committee that was holding everybody up. (Of course, that's the committee that affects him.) When we hadn't heard from them by last Friday, I asked Darby if he wanted just to go ahead and commit to Illinois. Of course, he did, but he wanted to make sure I was okay with it. If I were single, I would definitely go to UT, but I want him to have the opportunity to live out of state, which is his dream. Plus Illinois' program is better than UT's. And it's a really great program for me, too, if I can ever get in! We're both glad to finally have a decision, and as of today, we still haven't heard from UT, so I'm glad we didn't wait around.

So, bring on the long johns. We're moving north!

Santa Fe

I meant to post these pictures early last week, but I lost the cord that connects my camera to the computer. It had fallen behind the desk. Grrr...

Darby and I had a lot of fun in Santa Fe. The weather was gorgeous. Sunny and in the 60's every day. We stayed in a little casita, which was really fun. We really enjoyed watching cable TV :)

This was our bed. The flat screen TV swings out from the wall on the right.


This was our little kitchen. We enjoyed making hot cocoa and eating our yummy desserts from Cafe Paris.

We ate at so many good restaurants in Santa Fe. Our favorite was definitely Cafe Pascual's for breakfast. It's a famous Santa Fe place that has really great omelettes and breakfast quesadillas.

Our favorite day was the day we went hiking. We did a 7.5 mile hike up to a 9,500 foot peak. It was challenging, but not too bad. It took us about 4 hours, and the worst part was that I needed to go to the bathroom for about three of them.

This is the first picture we took when we got to the top. We couldn't figure out how to get the camera to work, hence the looks on our faces. When we saw this, we laughed so hard. We tried to take a better one...


I'm not sure if we succeeded. Oh well!


This is the view from the top. The town of Santa Fe itself wasn't that pretty (everything was brown), but this view was great.


Here's me on the way down. We had to walk down a bunch of slushy snow. I fell...twice! I think this was before I fell the second time.

Overall, it was a great trip. We both enjoy the same activities (eating, going to museums, walking), so we're good travel companions. It was definitely hard to come back to work. I can't wait until we can go on another trip!

The Blog Fast is Over!

Well my 40 blog-less days are over! I have to admit that I might have cheated a little. At first, I was only allowing myself one blog, 3191, which is a daily photo blog. I considered that a little different than a blog because it doesn't have words and is intended for a wide audience. After about a week or two, I started reading cooking and organizing blogs. I just didn't let myself read any personal blogs. Although I wish I could have stayed away completely, I was pretty satisfied with the experience. My productivity definitely increased, which made me feel better about myself. And the blogs I missed the most were those of my friends, not the random ones I read. I think I can cut out a lot of those completely, so I don't feel like such a stalker. I also enjoyed taking a little time every day to pray a prayer devoted specifically to one person. I think I will continue that. All that being said, I am glad to be back, and I look forward to returning to blog-reading, perhaps with a little more moderation.

My New Passion

I have become obsessed with getting rid of stuff. Knowing that I'm about to move inspired me to evaluate what things I have that are actually worth packing and unpacking. I HATE packing, so this is great motivation. However, I think I might be going a little too far. I mean, so far, I haven't gotten rid of anything really valuable or sentimental - mainly just old clothes and unnecessary trinkets. But I find myself constantly thinking, "What can I get rid of?" Sitting in church on Sunday, I was taking a mental inventory of all the items in my closet, trying to decide whether to keep them or not. I'm scaring myself.

I keep thinking that once I get my clutter under control, I'll be able to stop worrying about it. But now I'm wondering if I'll ever feel like it's under control. Is this a never-ending project? I don't want to turn in to one of those people who gets rid of everything and doesn't even have any pictures of their family. I get a high every time I find something to give away. What will happen to me when that high is gone? I'm an uncluttering junkie!

Evaluating all of my possessions has really made me think about the underlying problem, though. Why do I feel the need to acquire so much stuff in the first place? How much money could I have given away if I hadn't used it to buy things I would end up discarding in a few years? Or what one or two really nice possessions could I have in place of the million cheap things that end up breaking or wearing out? It's an interesting exercise. I'm definitely trying to evaluate every new thing I bring into my life from now on. I don't want to feel overwhelmed by my things and feel like I'm always in need of more space to store them. I want to be able to truly enjoy the things I have, and I think that starts with having fewer things.

Seattle-less

Well, Darby found out on Wednesday night that he didn't get in to UW. I'm still waiting to hear, but now it doesn't really matter. We were both pretty bummed because that seemed like the best option for both of us. But we know that we can be happy wherever we go.

We knew it was never a sure thing that we would move to Seattle, but it was still hard not to get our hopes up. For months, when I've pictured what our lives will look like next year, I've almost always pictured Seattle. Now, I don't know what to picture. If we both get in to UIUC, we'll be thrilled. But that is somewhat unlikely, given the competitiveness of the school. I'd be more than happy to go to UT, where I've been accepted. But Darby really wants to live out of state. He'd prefer Georgia, which would mean I would have to do the online program at UNT. So even though we've eliminated one choice, it seems like we have even more decisions to make. I'm trying not to worry too much about it. Maybe we will both get in to UIUC, and it won't be an issue. But it's still hard to let go of Seattle. Every day, I have to remind myself that we won't be living there. I didn't realize how much I thought about it until I found out it wasn't going to happen.

Of course, I know that there would have been downsides to living in Seattle, as well. The main ones being the distance and the cost of living. Plus, I told Darby, "Now we can just go to Seattle on vacation and not have to worry about school while we're there." I'm not totally certain how much God is involved in every circumstance. That is, I don't know if I'm ready to say that God influences the decisions of university admissions committees. But I do believe that he has a plan for us. I'm hopeful that we will be able to look back and see how he guided us to a particular school.

HILMM - Part 6 to The End

Wow! I didn't realize how long it was going to take to tell mine and Darby's story. I'm getting kind of bored with it, so I'm going to condense the rest of our story into a timeline. Even condensed, it's still pretty long, so you might want to get comfy.

July 25, 2001 - Darby and I officially become "boyfriend and girlfriend"

November 5, 2001 - We have our first kiss after watching Shrek at my house. (Yes, almost four months after we started dating; Darby was a little shy).

January 31, 2002 - We say "I love you" for the first time. I actually say it first.

February, 2002 - We start talking seriously about getting married in a few years. What were we thinking?! We were 16!

2002-August 2003 - We spend countless hours together - eating Frostys (Frosties?) at Wendy's, going to the fountain park downtown, watching movies and playing games at each others' houses, talking at Starbucks, riding bikes on the dam, jogging together after church, wandering around Wal-Mart because we had nowhere else to go.

August 2003 - I leave for my first year at ACU. Being apart is hard. I go to Waco a lot, and Darby comes to Abilene. We see each other about every other weekend. At first, these weekends are wonderful, but we begin to fight increasingly frequently.

December 8, 2003 - We break up. Even though I kind of saw it coming, I am crushed. My friends and family are very supportive, though, and I have a good Christmas in spite of the situation.

January 1, 2004 - We get back together after spending time together at the church New Year's Eve party. I like this line from Seinfeld. "The first break-up never takes. It's like shaking a vending machine. You have to hit it again and again." (my paraphrase)

Spring and Summer 2004 - Darby and I are kind of in a holding pattern. Our relationship has improved enough for us to hold on but not enough for us to be really happy. Not that there weren't good times, though. Darby sent me tons of sweet cards and e-mails letting me know how much he loved and missed me. I went back to Waco for his senior prom, and we had a great time.

August 18th or so, 2004 - After an emotional summer in Waco, we break up again, this time for good (or so I thought). It is a less emotionally wrenching experience than the first break-up because we both realize how toxic our relationship has become. We agree to remain friends, and Darby assures me that he's still happy with his decision to start ACU. We leave separately the next day.

September 15th or so, 2004 - Darby and I meet on the benches outside Moody Coliseum "just to talk." We confess that we still love each other, and we both admit the mistakes we made before. We begin to get together secretly because we're embarrassed to let people know that we're back together again. We spend way less time together than we did before, though. Both of us are cautious; we know that this is our last chance to make it work.

Thanksgiving, 2004 - Everyone knows that we're officially back together. Actually, most people figured it out long before that. We weren't too sneaky.

2005-2006 - We rebuild our relationship, and it's way better than high school. We spend even more hours together walking around campus, playing Scrabble at Starbucks, hanging out with the Westgate college group, doing homework together, cooking for each other, watching Flip That House marathons (oh, the good ol' days when we had cable).

June 11, 2006 - Darby proposes while we're walking in Nelson park.

July 7, 2007 - We get married. Finally! It was quite a six years, but definitely worth the wait. Because we had already been through so much together, the transition into marriage was pretty smooth. Of course, we have our fights, but it seems that we got most of the kinks worked out in high school and college. And we definitely didn't go into marriage with the illusion that the other person was perfect :) Looking back, Darby and I sometimes can't believe that we actually made it. We were both so immature when our relationship began; when we got back together the second time, it was basically starting a new relationship because we had changed so much. I think we are lucky to have already spent such a big portion of our lives together. There were things we might not have had to go through had we been more mature when we met. But, I don't think we would have grown into the people we've become without each other. Each of us definitely tempers the extreme qualities in the other. I can't wait to watch the rest of our story unfold; it will definitely have twists and turns, but we know that we'll face them together.

HILMM - Part 5: The Longest Two Weeks of My Life

After our hand-holding episode, I wasn't quite sure what to do. Darby and I hadn't really talked about any future plans. When he left Daniel's house, I said bye hurriedly, wanting to avoid any potential awkwardness in front of our friends. A couple of days later, I decided to call him to see if he wanted to go play putt-putt with a bunch of people from church. I left a message at his house but didn't hear back from him that night. I was kind of disappointed, but I figured he was already out with friends. (This was before everybody had cell phones...ah, the good old days).

I didn't hear from him the next day either, which I thought was kind of weird. Then, he wasn't at church on Sunday. I started asking around and found out that he had left for camp...for two weeks. I was so upset. He had told me that he was going to camp on Friday, but for some reason I thought he meant the next Friday. I was kicking myself for not telling him goodbye or at least solidifying things a little. I felt sure that he was going to fall in love with a girl at camp and forget all about me. (I was pretty dramatic back then...perhaps I still am). I expressed my concerns to his friend Cody, who made me feel a little better. He said, "When Darby likes someone, he's in it for the long haul." Still, I worried and worried, counting down the days until he came back.

The day he got back, he called me. The first thing he said was, "So, Cody told me you were afraid I wouldn't like you when I got back." I admitted that I had been worried. He said, "Don't worry. The whole time I just prayed and prayed that you would still like me." He had even written me a song at camp. We talked for a long time, and I felt good knowing that we had made the leap to actually talking about how we felt about each other.

When I look back, I laugh at how worried I was. I mean, it was only two weeks, but it sure felt like a lifetime to me at the time.

HILMM - Part 4: The Fireworks

Well, after our rock show encounter, several weeks passed with no real progress. Darby and I talked at church, but he wasn't making a move. Pretty much everyone in the youth group knew about our situation at this point. So on the 4th of July, a bunch of my friends were going to watch fireworks at Baylor. One of my friends, Kristene, decided that if Darby and I weren't going to move forward, she would push us forward. She asked Darby if he wanted to come with us and told him that I liked him. A little embarrassing, yes, but I guess it did the trick. He rode with me to Baylor because he had just gotten his license two days earlier and didn't feel comfortable driving downtown. (I had had my license a whopping two weeks!) He did bring his CD collection along for the ride and made me listen to quite an eclectic mix, including a bagpipe CD. I thought his unique taste in music made him seem cool and interesting. (Darby brought this up to me a few weeks ago and said he's embarrassed by how nerdy he was back then.)

While we watched the fireworks, I tried to keep my hand available for holding, but Darby didn't seem to get the hint. Afterwards, we went over to our friend Daniel's house. The guys were shooting off their own fireworks, and I was scared. I acted a little more scared than I really was, though. My strategy worked because Darby put his arm around me to comfort me and later while we were sitting on the sidewalk watching the fireworks, he held my hand! Finally! After about a month of dancing around the issue, we seemed to have finally both acknowledged our feelings for each other. I was so happy; I could not stop smiling the whole way home and all the next day at work.

But two days later, my happiness turned to tears.

To Be Continued...

HILMM - Part 3: Chicks Dig Guitarists

So after our less-than-stellar first date, I decided that it wasn't going to work out between me and Darby. I told my mom that I just wasn't interested in him in that way. I figured that he probably felt the same way, since I knew he had sensed the awkwardness on our date. We still talked at church, though, and things seemed to go back to "normal."
Darby and his friend Cody and another guy Keith had a band called Serna. Darby was the lead singer and guitarist. My group of girlfriends and I decided to go to their show at Trinity Lutheran Church on June 14. I stood in the front and watched him sing, and I had to admit, I still thought he was pretty cute. What girl can resist a lead singer? After Serna played, Darby and I sat on the pull-out bleachers and talked and talked. I can't remember what we talked about, but I do remember that at one point our knees accidentally touched, and I felt absolutely giddy. It was so easy to talk to him when we weren't in a "date" setting, and he made me laugh a lot. I started reconsidering my decision to remain just friends. But I didn't feel like I could ask him on another date or anything. Plus, I was embarrassed that I had changed my mind in just 12 days. Was I being fickle? I decided to just wait it out and see what happened. I could tell he still liked me, so I was hoping he'd take a chance and ask me out again.
Did it happen? Tune in next time to find out...

Darby playing with Serna. What's not to love?

HILMM - Part 2: The First Date

Okay, fast forward almost four years. It's the summer of 2001, before my junior year of high school. Darby and I have been friends for the past four years, but not really close friends. We talk at church and get along, but we don't ever spend time together outside of church activities. Recently, though, I've been surprised to find that I might actually like Darby as "more than friends." My heart beats a little faster when he's around, and I look forward to seeing him at church. I'm still hung up on the age thing, though. Even though he's only two weeks younger than me, I don't like the idea of dating someone in a lower grade.

I can tell that Darby kind of likes me, too. He singles me out a lot at church, and we have a great time talking to each other. One afternoon, he, Cody, and I are up at the church working on camp t-shirt designs. Darby mentions that he wants to see the movie A Knight's Tale. Knowing where this is heading, I say that I want to see it, too. He asks if I want to go the next Saturday, and I agree. I'm still not totally sure if this is a date, though. Maybe he's invited other people, too. Or maybe we're just going as friends. I'm not even sure I want it to be a date, since I haven't decided how I feel about him.

On Saturday, June 2, he comes to pick me up. (Well, technically his parents come to pick me up; neither of us has our licenses yet). They drop us off at the theater, where he pays for my ticket. At this point, I realize it is a date. After the movie, his parents pick us up and we all go eat at McAlister's Deli. Talk about awkward! Our first date was a double-date with his parents! They dropped me off at my house, and I thought, "Well, that was a bust." Things just felt forced between us. I figured we'd go back to our friendly relationship at church, and nothing more. Not exactly an instant love connection.
So how did we end up together? Tune in next time to find out. :)

Blog Fast

I've given up reading blogs for Lent. I don't say that to brag. In fact, I think it's kind of pathetic that blog reading is a big enough part of my life for it to be a true sacrifice to give it up. It started out okay when I was just reading my friends' blogs. But then I started reading about friends of friends of friends. My list of blogs I follow almost daily is a mile long. It's definitely time for a break. And I'm going to try to spend some of the time I would spend reading praying for the people instead. I just wanted to let you know, so those of you who have blogs know why I'm not commenting on yours.

I will still be updating my own blog, because the time I spend doing that is minuscule compared to the time spent reading others' blogs. Maybe next year I'll give up my own, as well. So if you want me to know something about your life, call or e-mail me. And I'll look forward to catching up in 6 weeks! :)

How I Landed My Man - Part 1: Let's Start at the Very Beginning

In honor of Valentine's Day, specifically my first Valentine's Day as a married person, I thought I would go back and recount how Darby and I met, fell in love, and got married. We dated for six years, so it's a pretty long story. I'll divide it up, so you don't get too bored. Here goes...

Honestly, I don't remember the very first time I met Darby. His family moved to our church when I was in 7th grade and he was in 6th grade. I'm sure I was introduced to him one day at church. The first memory I have of him, though, is when we both went with the youth group to South Texas Youth Conference in San Antonio. It was a couple of months after he had joined our church. I thought he was pretty cute and funny, but I didn't have a "crush" on him. I thought he was "too young" for me. That one grade really makes a difference :) Strangely, my sister actually had a HUGE crush on him. (Don't worry...that ended long before Darby and I got together).

I don't think we really talked all that much that weekend, but I remember him acting crazy with his friend Cody (in the picture below). He seemed like he would make a good friend. I definitely could not have guessed then that in 10 years, I'd be married to this cute new guy.

Chase, Darby, Cody, and Hannah (my sister) - April 2008

More to come...

1,2,3's of my life

I saw this on one of the many blogs I read and thought it was cute.

1. bedroom in our apartment
2. wonderful younger siblings
3. months until Darby graduates...woo-hoo!
4. possible cities we could be living in come August
5. years I have lived in Abilene
6. weeks until Spring Break!
7. months of marital bliss (on Feb. 7)
8. miles I can ride on a bike in 30 minutes (a stationary bike, that is!)
9. minutes I snooze every morning
10. years I have known Darby

Also, I just have to brag on my husband a little bit. He just got his acceptance letter to Georgia Tech, the 7th ranked engineering school in the country! Woo-hoo! That's not our first-choice school because I wouldn't be able to attend an on-site program there. But it's still really good news. And if our other schools don't work out, we'd both be perfectly content to move to Atlanta. It's exciting to know that we at least have one option.

Another Book Meme

I love answering questions about books. I found this on Superfast Reader's blog (link on the left) and thought it looked like fun. The quiz is really directed towards book reviewers, so I omitted some of the questions. Thinking about books is so fun! The formatting on some of these questions is a little funky. I couldn't get bold and italics to work right for some reason.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I wouldn't say I "irrationally" cringe away from reading it, though. I'm just not sure I could take such graphic descriptions of violence. I am really disturbed by violence in books and movies, and I think I would be especially disturbed by the senselessness of that particular crime.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?
Lena from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, and Clare Abshire from The Time Traveler's Wife. All are amazingly smart, savvy teenage girls. (Clare is a teenager for a big part of the book). I would just want to sit down for lunch with them and find out what makes them so confident and independent. Who do they look up to? What did their parents do right?

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

A Tale of Two Cities. I actually borrowed it from Darby about 4 years ago with the intention of reading it, but I've never gotten around to it. Whenever it came up in classes, though, I would usually nod along, like I knew what people were talking about.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalize the VIP)

Hmmm....if the VIP were female, I would recommend The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. For a male, I would recommend Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Both are "fun" books with compelling storylines, but they make you think, as well. I think both could convert a non-reader to a reader.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

I'd say French. There's a lot of good French poetry that just can't be translated well.

A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favorite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

Hmmm...I actually really prefer softcover; they're easier to handle. I would have every book that could be considered "classic," as well as the Pulitzer and Booker prize winners for every year. There would be plenty of windows to let in light; I like lots of light when I read. There would definitely be a fireplace and big soft blankets to curl up in. I would have my own personal Starbucks barista to mix me up a perfect latte whenever I wanted. And I would definitely have one of those rolling ladders. I've always wanted one of those.

I've met my match

Those of you who know me know I LOVE desserts, especially chocolate and ice cream. And the only thing more fun to me than eating dessert is making it, then eating it. I've never really understood when people say desserts are "too rich." There ain't no such thing. I'm the girl who eats chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake. However, I got a new cookbook for Christmas, and I think the author just might have me beat. The title is "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth." It definitely sounded like my kind of book. But when I started flipping through it, I noticed that almost every recipe calls for at least four sticks of butter. And these are normal sized recipes. That's a little insane, even for me. I told Darby, "That's the kind of thing you order at a restaurant, so you don't know how much butter went into it. You should never make it for yourself." Last night, I was in the mood for a fun dessert, though. I flipped through and found a recipe for triple chocolate ice cream sandwiches. It was actually one of the most reasonable recipes in the book, as far as butter content goes. And they were GOOD! Chocolate cookies with semisweet chocolate chunks sandwiched together with Blue Bell hot fudge sundae ice cream. But I couldn't even finish mine! (Don't worry; Darby polished it off, so we didn't waste any). And the author had recommended using a dark chocolate ice cream instead. That woman is out of control. There's also a recipe for a cheesecake milkshake in the book. Hmmm...maybe I should give her another chance :)

Update on Uncle Mark

A member of their church started a journal for my aunt and uncle here. If you're interested in his progress, you can check it out. He is still improving, slowly but surely. In her latest post, my aunt mentioned that he doesn't remember the accident. Each time he wakes up, she has to tell him what happened and where he is. The nurses have said that he probably won't remember his time in ICU, which she considers a blessing. Thanks for praying for him and his family. They have been blessed by the prayers and compassion of the church family that surrounds them and the Christians they know are praying across the country.

I feel like I'm back in high school

This weekend, I went to a training session to become an SAT instructor for the Princeton Review. I spent Friday from 5-10 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. learning how to teach an SAT prep course to high schoolers. It was intense, but actually pretty fun. Basically, the trainer taught the class to us exactly as she would teach it to high schoolers, and we took notes. We then were each assigned a lesson to teach to the class. I have to go back next weekend and do the same thing. In the meantime, I have a huge book of SAT practice problems to complete. Aaahh! I haven't done homework in a year! I guess this is good preparation for grad. school. I really wish I had done this training before I took the GRE. I think it would have helped me with my math score. This weekend, I relearned so many things I used to know!

On a different note, please keep my Uncle Mark and his family in your prayers. He was hit by a car while he was jogging on Thursday evening. Thankfully, he is in stable condition now, but he has some pretty severe injuries and a long recovery ahead of him.

Spoiled

I realized this week that I have been spoiled by working at the same place that Darby goes to school. Every day, we ride together in the morning and walk together until I get to my office. At noon, he comes to meet me for lunch, and we drive home and back together. At 5 p.m., he comes to my office and we leave together. This week, though, he's been working from home, so I've had to drive by myself. I still go home for lunch and see him, but I miss our little 5-minute rides in the car. Then, I started thinking, "What happens when we get real jobs and leave in the morning and don't see each other until 5 p.m. or later?" I know that 's what most people do, but it seems so sad to me. I hadn't thought about how lucky we are to get to see each other so much during the day. I'm definitely going to stop taking it for granted before we have to switch to a more "normal" routine.

No thank you!

Darby and I just finished writing our thank you notes. As I was writing them, I thought about what a silly tradition it is. I don't mind writing them at all, and I do try to be sincere, but how meaningful can you really be in a few lines? And with postage increasing so much, it's expensive to send them. When I get a thank you note from one of my friends, I open it, read it quickly, and then throw it out immediately. Occasionally, if the card has a pretty picture on it, I'll cut the front off and reuse it for scrapbooking. But, generally, the card goes from unopened to trash in under a minute. Is it really worth it? It seems especially silly when the person gave you your gift in person. Shouldn't a heartfelt thanks at the time suffice? I'd much rather get a "just because" note or a detailed e-mail than the compulsory thank you note. Of course, I'm not going to stop writing thank you notes or anything. I know they mean a lot to some people. But if I ever give you a gift, feel free to skip the note.

Christmases 3,4,5, and 6! (and Erin's wedding)

I think the theme for mine and Darby's Christmas break was "Tour of Texas." We drove from Abilene to Waco to Fort Worth back to Waco to Garland back to Waco to San Antonio and finally back to Abilene. It was kind of crazy, but we had a really great time. It was so nice that we were able to work it out to be at all of both of our families' Christmas celebrations. It might not be so easy in the future if we end up going to grad. school far away. So we lived it up this year. We ate a ton, played lots of games with my family, introduced his parents to the Wii, and saw four movies in the theater! And we still managed to make a few Barnes and Noble trips, of course!

Here's a few random pictures. I'm really not good at remembering to take pictures!

The guy "frousins" or "primigos." We're a bilingual family :) I'm actually not sure if Darby's officially allowed to be a frousin.



The girls. We take this exact picture every year, and we're always wearing red, green, or white. We are pathetic.


Me and Darby with my cousin Corrie. She loves Darby. The girl's got good taste.

My friend Erin got married in San Antonio on the 29th, and I was a bridesmaid. The wedding was beautiful and everything went really smoothly. We had our makeup professionally done, and I can't even recognize myself in the pictures! I almost never wear makeup, so having that much on was kind of a shock. At least I didn't have to put it on myself, though.


Former roomies!


Tough bridesmaids!

After the wedding Darby and I stayed an extra night in San Antonio. We ate at Paesano's, a really good Italian restaurant on the Riverwalk. When we got back to the hotel, we were psyched because Flip That House was on. It's one of our favorite shows, but we never get to see it because we don't have cable. Yes, we are officially old people now (as if our puzzle hobby wasn't enough). On Sunday, we went to the Buckhorn Museum and ate at Casa Rio. The museum was really cool...they have tons of taxidermied animals. It doesn't sound that neat, but I promise it is. Well, that was our Christmas. Tomorrow it's back to the grind. :(

Christmas #2

Darby and I celebrated our Christmas on Thursday night since we're going to be out of town until New Year's. I made dinner for us (Paula Deen's beef bourbon and onion-cheese bread), and we ate on our china. After dinner we opened gifts. I already knew what his gift was to me - staying an extra night in San Antonio when we go for Erin's wedding next weekend. But, we also decided to fill each other's stockings, so that stuff was a surprise. I got him a game he really wanted called Ticket to Ride and some Wii points. Below are some pictures of us with some of our stocking stuff. I guess I didn't realize that my hair was in my face. :)





After opening gifts, we went and looked at Christmas lights and then went to Starbucks for some gingerbread lattes. When we got home, we ate apple pie that we had gotten for free at United with a coupon. Free pie! Woo-hoo! It was a great first Christmas. And it's not over yet!

Christmas #1

Darby and I went to Arkansas this weekend to celebrate Christmas with his mom's side of the family. It was a whirlwind trip. We flew out of Abilene at 8:30 Saturday morning and got back in at 8:30 Sunday night. His parents generously offered to pay for our plane tickets and a hotel in Searcy, so how could we refuse? It was fun getting to spend time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had a big get-together Saturday night. There was so much food; I'm still full! I've only been to Arkansas once before, and that was a long time ago, so it was neat getting to see some of the scenery. We went to Harding on Saturday night; they have a huge Christmas light display every December. It was beautiful; there were lights hanging from the trees, which made it look very magical. I wish ACU would do something like that. This weekend was the kick-off of our many Christmas celebrations to come in the next ten days. Holidays get crazy once you're married!

Now that all my grad. school applications are turned in (finally!), it's really starting to hit me that I'll be going back to school. I'm excited because I'm a nerd who actually likes school, but I will miss my free time in the evenings. I've enjoyed being able to cook more, scrapbook more, and read more. I want to set some goals for the 8 or so months of freedom I have remaining, so I don't look back when I've started school and wish I had gotten more done in my time off.

1. Finish my wedding scrapbook. I got off to a good start this fall, but Christmas gifts kind of derailed me.
2. Continue to stick to my plan of baking at least one batch of bread per month. I am trying to overcome my fear of yeast breads.
3. Read at least 6 books that I owned prior to this year. I keep buying or borrowing new books, and I never get around to reading the ones I already own.
4. Seriously clean out my closet/dresser. I'm pretty good about weeding out clothes that I know don't fit anymore, but I need to take EVERYTHING out and really evaluate which clothes I actually wear. I know I have some things that I haven't worn in at least two years and some things that I probably shouldn't have worn in the last two years :)
5. Invite more people over for dinner. I love to cook, and cooking for a group is usually more fun than cooking for two. But I rarely invite people over - mainly because I don't want to have to clean the house AND cook. I need to stop being so lazy, though.

Well, I think that's a pretty manageable list. It helps me to put my ideas in writing, so maybe I'll actually follow through with them.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I began getting the Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving, but I didn't get everything arranged until this weekend. Here are some pictures:


Here's a wreath that I made. Well, I tied the fabric bows onto a store-bought wreath. This is actually hanging on the inside of our door because I was afraid it might get stolen if we hung it outside. (I might be thinking a little too highly of my handiwork). I realized in looking at this picture that the top of the wreath looked weird; I've fixed that now, so you can all quit making fun of me behind my back. :)


Our cute stockings! We ordered them from Pottery Barn. Since we don't have a mantle, I hung them from the bar.


Our Christmas tree. We don't really have room for it, but I really wanted to put it up. So it's kind of just in the middle of our living room. Oh, well! It's still very festive. And we even have some wrapped gifts under it. I did some wrapping this weekend while I was avoiding finishing my last grad school application.

I also have a little shelf in the dining area that has Christmas stuff on it, but I forgot to take a picture of that. I love decorating for Christmas, and I am so excited about mine and Darby's first Christmas as a married couple!

Santa Fe, here we come!

Well, in about three months. Darby and I decided we wanted to take a little trip together over Spring Break this year. We had so much fun on our honeymoon and are really wanting to travel a lot together before we have kids (which will hopefully be a very long time). Right now we can't really afford plane tickets, so our destinations were limited. Neither of us has ever been to Santa Fe and we thought it sounded like fun. We'll be staying in a little guest cottage near the Plaza. It's much cheaper than a hotel and is decorated in the "authentic" Santa Fe style. It has a full kitchen which means we can cook our own meals rather than spending tons of money on eating out all the time. I just made the reservation this week, and now I'm getting so excited!

Thanksgiving Highlights

- eating a cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera with Darby's parents
- used book shopping at Golden's (even better, we got to use his parents' credit)
- doing all of our laundry for free!
- having my brakes fixed by Darby and his dad
- getting two throw pillows that Darby's mom made out of his grandpa's old ties
- PUMPKIN PIE!!
- Black Friday shopping with Mom and Hannah ($14.75 jeans at Old Navy!)
- dinner at Cracker Barrel with all 4 of my best high school girlfriends
- many rounds of Outburst with my family
- a visit from my crazy cousins on Saturday night
- having Darby help decorate our Christmas tree for the first time
- eating at Double Dave's with both of our families after church on Sunday

All in all, I thought mine and Darby's first major holiday as a married couple went well. It was a little hard to adjust to not seeing my family on Thanksgiving Day, but I am blessed with great in-laws who make me feel welcome and loved. The difference in our two houses is incredible, though. It's kind of like My Big Fat Greek Wedding (I bet you can't guess which family is which!) We are so lucky to have families that are both wonderful in different ways.

The end of an era...

Every year, sad as this may be, I feel like the Christmas season has begun when Starbucks releases their holiday menu. I know that technically you can get a peppermint mocha any time of the year, but I only like to order it when it's "official." On Saturday, Darby and I went to Starbucks, and it was all decked out for Christmas. Of course, I got really excited. So much red! So much glitter! I noticed they had added a new drink to the Christmas menu...a peppermint WHITE chocolate mocha. Of course I had to try it. However, when I got it, I couldn't even drink all of it because it was SO sweet. My coffee-addict husband has converted me to the dark side! Now I actually prefer regular coffee with just a little milk and sugar. I know it's a good thing nutritionally and monetarily, but what's Christmas without peppermint mocha?

A nerdy Halloween

Darby's friends decided to host a little Halloween party this year. Of course, we had to go all out on our costumes. Darby came up with the idea of being Tetris pieces, since we both really like that game. He worked so hard on our costumes, and they were awesome! They turned out much better than I had imagined. Everyone loved them, but we couldn't keep them on for very long because they restricted our movement and vision so much. Plus they were hot! We had a lot of fun; I'm so lucky to have a husband who's willing to spend hours making crazy costumes for us!


Me and Darby


Me


Darby