Changes are here

Go HERE, please.

Sorta smart

Maybe if Brett wrote more often, this blog would be at a genius level.

Homecoming Weekend

We've been MIA the last few days because we headed down to G-Vegas (Greenville) to participate in the fun homecoming events! It's about an 8 hour drive, but the drive wasn't at all bad because we had Richie and Liz to help entertain us and do some driving.

Going to Greenville is always really fun. The downtown area has been built up so much; we could walk anywhere we needed since we were staying in the Westin Poinsett. "The guys", who include Brett, Richie, Tyler, Coogie, and Kyle, all made the trip, so we spent much of our weekend hanging out with all of them. On Saturday, we tailgated between 2 places; I can't remember a time when I didn't tailgate with Kelley's family, so it was important that we got to hang out with them. We perused the bookstore, drove around the grounds, reminisced at the baseball field, saw lots of friends on the FU mall, and actually stayed to watch the entire football game. They put on a great show and beat Elon, who is 1st in the conference! Go Paladins!

The weekend was very hectic, but it was a good hectic: full of lots of friends.

3 of the guys & the girls:
Kyle, Amanda, Richie, Liz, and us!

We *heart* baseball.

Roommates!
Moi, Kel, Kiran, LP

Not a one

It's 900pm, so I think that the ghouls and goblins are back in their homes. And we didn't have one single trick-or-treater! Oh well--that just means we get to eat the candy instead!

Do you have any fun trick-or-treat stories? I told Brett about the dentist down the street who gave away toothbrushes. What a treat to go to his house, huh? And one year I went to a house that was giving away donuts.

Happy Halloween!

Movie weekend

Hey, Kids,

It's Saturday evening, and I thought I'd give a little update on our weekend activities. It's been a busy 2 days, it seems. The next few weekends are going to be packed as well.

I left school very early (3pm!) on Friday. It had been raining for about 2 days, the weather had turned cold, and it was just one of those days that I couldn't stay at school any longer. My body was itching to be home! After piddling at home for a bit, I graded papers until Brett got home and we went out for dinner. We ended up at this great Mexican place. Dinner was excellent, and I even ordered dessert! I can't pass up plátanos fritos. Once we got back to our house, we popped in Evan Almighty. Did you know that God is an environmentalist? It was actually a cute movie.

This morning I made a test for my Spanish II students. They are going to be thrilled, I am sure. I'll be gone on Friday, and I decided that the best thing for my sub to do is give a test to my classes!

This afternoon we headed out to one of Brett's coworker's place for a housewarming party. They live in a cutie house. We cooked out and hung out. Now we are catching the baseball game before we head out to the movies. A late movie. Can't remember the last time we did that! ¡Hasta mañana!

My brother

He's been a cyclist for a long time now, and this year has gotten a bike where he lives overseas. Several times a week, he treks through the city and up into these crazy mountains (they peak around 6000 feet). It's a 4 mile incline; sounds fun, huh?

What's really funny, though, is that half the time, he passes these old trucks loaded down with their supplies. And he's wearing the spandex, so you know he gets some surprised looks. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

Honey, I'm hooooome!

Yesterday was Engagement Day! That means it has been 4 years since Brett surprised me with my big ole diamond and asked me to be his wife! We aren't one of those crazy couples who celebrates every milestone in our couple life, but we do like to acknowledge and reminisce about this one, because he did such a great job with it.

We didn't have plans for the day, so when Brett got a major project at 5pm and told me he was going to be working really late, it was fine with me. I called him about 10pm to let him know I had to go to bed. Then, 5 mins later, he walked through the door with roses! He had already been on his way! He came home to put me in bed and then do work until after midnite. Isn't he the greatest?

Weekend List

The last two days have been filled with errands, fun, and relaxation. For your listing enjoyment, here are some of the things we did over the weekend, in no particular order:

1. slept late (hey, 8am IS late for us!)
2. cleaned the house
3. gave Brett a haircut
4. went to Costco
5. shopped at the outlets
6. found our way through a corn maze
7. picked out a pumpkin
8. washed and dried laundry
9. watched the Redskins win
10. took a nap
11. went to my school's homecoming game
(I must interject here. Brett came down to the metro closest to my school & my friend Sarah and I picked him up and went to the game. I'm interested to see some of my students on Monday, because I saw a number of them, and I'm pretty sure that they figured out that the guy with me is my husband. I had one girl whisper to me "Is that your husband?" and when I responded "Yes." she gave a very enthusiastic thumbs up. Apparently, he's very nice to look at; I think my cool factor just went up for every 10th grade girl who saw Brett and made the connection that he's mine!)
12. listened to the rain
13. ate pizza
14. visited a church
15. changed the sheets

And now we are off to grill some dinner and enjoy the last few hours of weekend bliss. I haven't done a lick of schoolwork since Friday nite, which may explain why this weekend has been so great! We are off to the last full week of October!

MAiZE

Saturdays are the best days ever! They are absolutely incredible!

This afternoon, we enjoyed a bit of fall fun. We headed out to the Leesburg Premium Outlets. Brett has been in need of a new suit, so we went to get a good deal on one at Joseph A. Bank, his store of choice. We had great success! He's gonna look so snazzy!

The Leesburg outlets are the best outlets. They truly have every store imaginable. My favorites there include places like Yankee Candle, Crate and Barrel, Banana Republic, Gap, Ann Taylor, and Coach. And can I just say that I have to be the most self-controlled & money-conscious woman in the world. Because despite the fact that I was lusting over many clothes and cute sweaters for cheap at Banana Republic, I didn't spend one penny while there because it's not in the budget for the month. I'm practically a saint.

Brett had to get me out of there before I crushed under the pressure, so we headed 5 miles north to the real activity of the day: a corn maze! I've wanted to do this for a long time, and it turned out to be a perfect day. We went to the Leesburg Corn MAiZE. They have several acres of corn stalks carved into a design. And it's your job to get from the beginning to the end. We rocked at it.

After we found our way out, we walked over to the pumpkin patch and picked out a lovely little pumpkin to put on our porch. It was fun!

Praise for Kerith

Isn't she cute?

This is Kerith, and we've been praying for her for a long time. Now it's time to rejoice! She's finished her second round of chemo and gets to live a normal life! You can read about her story here.

Officially licensed

Back in September, things at work were especially crazy because I was trying to get all my paperwork in order for the new job. Being one of about 24,000 employees in my county meant that it was a slow and vague process. I found out that a deadline I had of September 30 had been moved to the 15th. It was already the 8th when I was finally given this notice. So, I scrambled and begged and prayed hard that I could get my stuff in to the licensure office. I had my things, but I was relying on some people in NC and TX to get their jobs done. When it all came through, I was thrilled!

Today I finally got my certificate! And, it turns out that instead of the 3 year provisional license I thought I was getting, I got the 5 year renewable! This is wonderful to me because it means I don't have to take all the language tests that are so daunting! I'm SO happy!

And now I'm officially licensed to teach in Texas and Virginia! Wohoo!

My book meme

I stole this idea from my pal Courtney. I really do love to read, but when I'm working, I never have/make time to do it. Last year, the lady at the Houston library knew exactly who I was because I was in there so often. I didn't underline those on my To Be Read list because I would read almost every one. I have lots of reading to do, though! Where's that library card?

Here’s the meme:
Bold those you’ve read. (That didn't work on mine, so I'm changing the color)
Italicize books you have started but couldn’t finish.
Add an asterisk* to those you have read more than once.
Underline those on your To Be Read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: A Novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote* (in SPANISH, thank you very much!)
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey*
Pride and Prejudice*
Jane Eyre*
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma*
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner (I'm in the slow process--I just need some time!)
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (I guess seeing the play doesn't count, huh?!)
The Canterbury Tales*
The Historian
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo*
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility*
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

How many have you read?

Back to reality

I spent this weekend being completely loved by my FU roommates. On Friday, I flew down to Charlotte, where Lauren and Kelley picked me up. We headed up to the mountains of North Carolina where Jill lives. The four of us enjoyed good food, a beautiful hike, fun stories, great memories, and meaningful conversation. There is no comparison to be with these girls who know me so well. I'm sad that I don't get to be with them more often, but I love those times when we are together. I'll get to see them again at homecoming in a few weeks, and, most importantly, at Jilly's wedding in December! Here's a pic of Kel and me; more to come later. For now, it's back to real life and school. Sad!

Now it's over

Man, you have no idea how wonderful it was to have the day off! Did anyone else besides us? It was a great day for me, because although I spent much of the day doing productive or semi-productive things, most of them had nothing to do with school, which was fabulous! We even took time to walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. If these 90 degree temps would give way to fall, it would make the walk more pleasant! I'm very grateful that we had the extra day to relax. Now let's hope that the rest of the week flies as quickly as the long weekend!

The weekend isn't over!

It's 10pm on Sunday nite. I should be in bed. Instead, I'm just getting home from dinner. And I'm not stressed about getting into bed late. Why? Because I DON'T HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!! Do you know how thrilled I am? I can't even express.

Yesterday we spent most the day majorly cleaning our house. It was much-needed, and now it feels so good to have it all spick-n-span. I enjoyed an afternoon nap, we grilled hotdogs, and we finally watched a Netflix movie we've had for about 4 weeks. Have you seen The Illusionist? It's really good, actually. Now that I've seen the whole thing, I'm tempted to watch it again in order to catch some of the things I missed the first time. Nothing is as it seems.

After church today, the Redskins put on quite a show. It's always much more fun to see your team play when they play well and win! Then, after doing some grading and quiz-making, Brett and I picked up Pam from her hotel. She is the secretary for B's old boss and has been in town for a conference. We brought her back to see our casa, where she ooh-ed and aah-ed and made us feel like we had a great place. And she brought me some fun handtowels and hotpads for our kitchen!

We finished the grand tour and headed to our "downtown" area to have dinner. Dave met us down there. He worked in Houston with B and now works at the same place now. We had a great time catching up with one another. We ended up dropping both of them off afterward. I liked dropping Dave off, because he lives in the city, and we got to drive by all the monuments while they are lit at nite. I love seeing them at nite. The city is always quieter and less hectic, so I love being able to drive with leisure and marvel at these amazing sites. We live in a really neat place.

So, now I'm off to bed. I can sleep in tomorrow, if I like (which won't happen; I can't anymore!). Then I have some school stuff and some non-school stuff, such as finally getting that haircut. Ciao!

Changes are a -comin'

Well, since I won this fabulous contest in which I get a new template, you know that there will be some changes. The girl who designs this template will do an amazing job, and I want to make sure that I will keep it for a long time. So now begins the debate as to whether I should keep the current theme or move on to something different.

I like Pura Vida. And I like consistency, so that makes me want to keep this one. But at the same time, my new idea of Girl out of Texas is very "me" and would make a great theme (You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the girl.). I'd still post all about my adventures with Brett, because, obviously, he is my life. And I'd probably even give him permissions to be a poster on "my" blog for the few times that he wants to post. So, what do I do? You can vote at the right for the next week.

I WON!!

Remember this? Well, check this out.

Now the hard part: do I keep Pura Vida as my name and theme? I've got a good, new one picked out, but it's more "me" rather than "B and me". What's a girl to do?

El primero de octubre

It's the first day of the month, so I feel the need to post. Here's what October 1 means to me:

• Roommate Weekend is this month
• One week until our first school holiday (Columbus Day, FYI)
• One month until Homecoming at FU
• I can justify buying candy corn
  
• I survived the first full month of school
• We've lived in our house for almost 2 months
• Fall is here
• Primetime TV is back (mainly The Office)
• Seven + months since my last haircut
• Only 2 months until December, Christmas music, decorations, and good tidings
  
• The 4th anniversary of our engagement day
  
• I can go out and buy a pumpkin to put on the porch stairs
  
• I can get my fall-ish decor out of the downstairs closet to display in the house
• Five more months til my birthday :)

That's all I got. Feel free to add to the list.

Now we need the weekend

This time I don't have any fun, random activity that we did this weekend. Seriously. On Friday, Brett was called on to do a huge project with a deadline of 9pm tonite. He's been working so hard all weekend (even getting up at 630 this morning!!). Since he was being so productive, I took the time to be so as well by catching up on a mountain of grading, taking a nice walk, ironing a bazillion clothes, and doing laundry! Exciting stuff, huh? We did get to church, though, so don't go thinking we are a bunch of pagans. :)

After working so hard all weekend, we feel like we deserve our real weekend. Makes sense, doesn't it? The good thing is that weekends like this won't be the norm for Brett; he'll have slow times and crazy times at work, so we'll just go with the flow.

Happy October (almost)!

Why I love my house: reason 1

My new mail waits on my foyer floor.

I want a new template

Old Town Alexandria

Over the weekend, Brett and I went out and did something neither of us had really done before: we walked around Old Town Alexandria.


Old Town is an historic area on the water of the Potomac. There are lots of cute shops and even more restaurants and cafes. You can take ferry rides down the river or walk around to see all the boats that are docked. There's a nice park there, and we enjoyed walking down the streets of upscale townhomes. You could also peruse a couple of the museums and historic buildings around, if you have time.


The picture above is where we ate dinner. We treated ourselves to a nice, leisurely seafood dinner. The Chart House is right on the water, and since the weather cooperated, we got a seat next to the railing of the balcony.

Can you see the Capitol?

So, if you are tired of the whole DC tour, come visit us and we'll head to Alex.

Wonder what we'll find to do this weekend?!

Mums the word

Pam wins. When I see the word "mum", the first thing that comes to mind are the homecoming mums worn and coveted by thousands of girls. It wasn't until I went to college, though, that I found out these are just another Texas thing. Those of you who have no clue what these are, you need to go google "homecoming mum" and look at the images. They are amazing.

Imagine: at least a 6-inch silk mum with about 50 yards worth of ribbons that dangle past your knees. Add to the ribbons your name, your date's name, your school and the year. Also, you'll have plastic footballs and megaphones on there. Some ribbons will be braided. And if you are an upperclassman, namely a senior, it's highly likely you'll have at least 3 mums AND a small teddy bear. And yes, you pin this to your clothing and wear it like it's the coolest thing ever. And there is a boy version, too.

Since I didn't go to a school with football, I never actually participated in wearing, but I do remember making these with my mom for all of my brothers' dates. And I've decided that since my high school has homecoming sometime soon, I want to wear a mum. Maybe I can get the other Spanish teacher from Texas to start this tradition with me.

Go here for some images of mums. You HAVE to look at them on the girls because they are so big!

Mums

Another survey for my people.

What comes to mind when you see the title of the post? Brett and I were having a conversation about mums tonight. That might sound strange, but for some of you, I know you'll understand why. I'll explain later.

Back to School night

Tomorrow is Back-to-School Night. That means that all the parents come to school at 700pm. At 705, the bell rings and they have to go to their child's 1st period class, where they spend 10 mins. They continue through the entire schedule, getting to meet all the teachers and see what class is like.

All the veteran teachers in my department are freaking out about it. I'm not. Should I be? My teacher friend next door (also new, also coming from private school) agrees with my opinion: is it really that terrible? The veterans seem to think it's this huge, life-changing event or something. For me, I figure the parents will come in, I'll tell them about our class, and they will go home. And if they try to corner me with a parent/teacher conference, I'll just tell them to buzz off...I mean, send me an email and we'll work out the details. =) I'll report back some nite to let you all know how it went. Go ahead and be praying for me!

Catching up

Now that I'm working all the time, I have to spend my weekends catching up on all the things that I neglected throughout the week. That would include laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, grading, lesson planning, and so forth. However, we did make sure that we got to enjoy some fun together by going to the Nats game last nite. We had really great seats--just 9 rows back from the 1st base line! That's the way to go, man; very cool. It was Hispanic Heritage Night, so, lucky for Brett, he had his own little translator next to him! And I actually enjoyed the whole Hispanic night because I got to learn lots of baseball words, which I didn't know beforehand.

Anyway, it was a good time, and the weather was perfectly fall, which is exciting! Now I'm off to grade and then I may let myself finally go do some of that back-to-school clothes shopping I meant to do before classes started.

Bedtime survey

Bedtime has become very important to me. It's 7 minutes before 9pm, and I WILL be on my way to getting ready for bed by the time it hits 900. I am grumpy and annoyed in the AM anyway; even more-so when I don't sleep enough.

This new bedtime is such a change. Last year, we were getting into bed a lot later. Do you realize that, technically, I could come home and watch the last afternoon soap opera because classes are done so early, but I have to miss The Office because I can't stay up past 9pm?! That's insane, people!

So, I'm taking a survey of bedtimes. Your job is to comment with your bedtime! Good night!

Work, work, work

We both did that all day because today was Brett's first day of work! This is the first time in our married life that we've both been officially employed (I will admit that, technically, I am not employed. HR is a bit slow and has yet to give me the paperwork and this mysterious thing they call a contract. Apparently, they are quite satisfied having me come to work each day without signing me on. They swear that I'll be paid; let's hope so.)!

He had a wonderful start and is looking forward to being at his firm. They've already got work lined up for him, including a deadline! No loafing around there!

It'll probably take us a while to get used to a new schedule. I go in so early and get to come home early, relative to when Brett would probably get home, so we're going to have to figure out a routine that would give us more than just an hour in the evening together! Here's to having fun in new jobs and new routines!

Saturday

Saturdays are absolutely incredible when you work the entire week!

Last nite, Richie and Liz came over & we grilled out. They stayed way past my (new) bedtime, but it was no problem, because it was Friday! I got to sleep in (relative to the weekday) and spend the major part of my day avoiding schoolwork and enjoying a day off. Brett went down to the District to do some volunteer work while I went to the grocery store.

When you move to a new city, one of the hard things about it is figuring out your new stores. Where do you go for the oil change? Household items? Fast food when you don't want to cook? And, most importantly, groceries? I think I'm going to go to 2 stores to get groceries. That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But, I have a new love for Trader Joe's. It's one of those quaint, natural stores that has exorbitant prices on some stuff and great deals on others: like 19 cent bananas. Can you believe that? So, I get certain things there because I save a bundle. Plus, the people there are way nicer than the other store, and they have a lot more cashiers open so I don't have to wait as long.

After groceries today, I did some productive and not-so-productive things. And for dinner, Brett and I went out! It's been a while since we did that together, so it was nice. We have this great little downtown area about 1 mile from us that we love! When we got home, we put in Night at the Museum. It's cute and entertaining. Now it's bedtime. Tomorrow is a busy day!

Our House

Enjoy some pictures of our house.

The bedroom:


My office:

Basement:
Patio:


Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Spare bedroom/Merritt's office:


Living Room:


COME VISIT!

First Day of School

It came. I went. We survived.
It's time for bed.

New York

I just got back from a fantastic weekend with my dad in New York to see the Yankees. He is an old time Yankees fan and he loved seeing the stadium and eating at Trattoria Trecolori. Check out some of the pictures....


Eating dinner at Trattoria Trecolori:


You'll notice that this picture is eerily similar to the same picture that Merritt and I took in NY in 2005. That's because we ate at the same restaurant and sat at roughly the same location!

Cleaning the mess

You know how you have days when you don't really check the email, and then somehow you don't check or reply to messages again, and then all of a sudden you have a bazillion emails in your mailbox? So, you have those bazillions in there and it just seems overwhelming and as though you'd never get to the bottom of the pile, so you don't bother. And then a few days later you finally just have to do it. That's what I've been doing. I'm down to 13 from 68. Yay for me!

Well, while I was going through my emails, I found some really fun pictures that my family took way back in July (disclaimer: my brother didn't email them to me until about 3 weeks after the trip, so it's not that it's been sitting in my inbox for 6 weeks). Brett and I couldn't go on the vacation, so they wanted to let us know we had been missed. I have the greatest family in the world!


This weekend while I was working, Brett's mom came over and did all kinds of work in my yard! It's amazing! She bought new plants for us, and painted our patio furniture, and transplanted some existing plants we had. I didn't even know you could do that. It's like she played musical plants with our back yard! And now it's all pretty and pruned! I'm so glad that I have someone with a green thumb to get my yard looking nice....and someone who can eventually teach me how to do something other than water the plants. But, that's for another season; for now I'm satisfied letting her plant and replant, and I'll water when she tells me to!

Obligatory Post

I feel like I should post something, because I have definitely been lacking since we moved. I can't even believe that tomorrow is the first day of September; that seems unreal to me! Labor Day weekend is supposed to mean a 3 day weekend, but I'm going to end up making it into a 6-day work-week! There are about 100 teachers that are signed up to go in to school tomorrow to finish up and get ready for Tuesday, so I don't feel too bad. All the FL (foreign language) folks are coming in, too, so I won't be alone! While I'm slaving away earning the dough, Brett's off gallivanting in NYC with his dad! They just went to a Yankees game and are hanging out in the big city for the weekend. So, that's all my news for now. More later!

Mom's Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday! I think that she is the most fabulous Mom in the whole world. She's absolutely wonderful! Over the years she has been much more than just "mom", though: chauffeur, supporter, encourager, adviser, cook, cleaning lady, errand-runner, listener, challenger, comedian, example, fashion consultant, book recommender, host, and confidante, among other things. People always say that I am the spitting image of her, and I love that; but the greatest compliment I get is when they tell me that I act just like her, because she's an incredible woman of God whose example I want to follow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Grillin'

As I left work yesterday and called Brett, he announced that he had bought a grill and was going to make me dinner! I immediately tossed aside my list for the grocery store that included ingredients for some new recipe that sounded good the nite before but no longer was appealing, and I bought the fixins' for "hangabers" as Mom always called them! And, man, were they good! So juicy and scrumptious! We got to sit out on our patio and eat dinner, enjoying nice weather. Props to Tracy for sending us these awesome placements for eating on our patio! I can't wait until Brett's next grilling escapade. If you have any easy recipes that you love, please email me; we're looking for dinner and veggie recipes to try out!

Sugarland video

Flip Flop Summer Tour

Last night, Brett and I went to a fun concert! He surprised me with these tickets on our anniversary, so we have been waiting for a month to attend. The Flip Flop Summer Tour included a performance by Pat Green, Sugarland, and Kenny Chesney. I'm a huge PG fan, ever since he started out as a measly Texas Country singer. And, of course, I love Sugarland and KC.

We left Brett's parent's house about 6pm after visiting with them for the afternoon. They live about 3.5 miles from the concert site, so we figured we'd be there around 610 or so by taking the backroads. At 730 we finally got there!! There was a bit of traffic.
Our lawn seats worked out well, except that it meant we got rained on for part of PG and part of KC! We didn't mind, though; it was a fun experience! Because we were very wet and weren't in the mood to suffer through 1.5 more hours of traffic, we left the concert a bit early to avoid the traffic and drunk college kids! That worked out perfectly!

I shot a video of Sugarland while we there; it's shaky and not perfect, but you get the idea!
Actually, it won't upload, so I'll see about putting it up later.

Another meme

Kelley tagged me!

Four jobs I have had:
1. Hostess
2. Dental assistant
3. Old Navy know-it-all (with Kel & Sarah & Erin...anyone else?)
4. Spanish teacher

Four Places I have lived:
1. San Angelo, TX
2. Madrid, Spain
3. Winston Salem, NC
4. Greenville, SC

Favorite TV shows:
1. The Amazing Race
2. Travel Channel shows
3. The Office
4. The morning traffic report

Food:
1. mint chocolate chip ice cream
2. CFA
3. Chili's chicken crispers
4. Nutter Butters

I would rather be:
1. at the beach
2. shopping with an unlimited account
3. cruising with my girlfriends
4. zip-lining in Costa Rica

Favorite movies:
1. Bourne movies
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
3. The Waitress
4. The Importance of Being Earnest

I'm tagging:
Katie and Liz (clearly I need more blog friends!)

House husband extraordinaire

That's who Brett was today! While I spent the day working, he completed all kinds of errands, taking care of all those things I didn't want to deal with. Then he cleaned the bathrooms. AND THEN he made me dinner! Don't you wish your hubby was as great as mine?

Vacationing in the DR

Here is the summary I know each of you has been waiting for: our vacation!

Of utmost importance is the fact that it was an incredible vacation! Our all-inclusive package allowed us the use of kayaks and a few other activities, but we literally sat on the beach each day reading. Before we knew it, the sun was going down and it was time for another dinner! So lovely! I took tons of pictures of the water because every time I wanted to capture how beautiful it was, I never thought the picture was just right! There are 7 restaurants, a theatre (for live shows and movies), tons of quaint, inside and outside, piano or saxophone bars, plenty of chairs, couches, and places to relax. We also got to get massages one day! What a treat!

Day 1, Wednesday:
5:00pm - arrive to hotel; they upgrade us for free to an ocean-view!
5: 15pm - get to room and admire nice digs; move to balcony and stare at blueness of ocean
5:20pm - change into swimsuits--there's still plenty of daylight!
5:22pm - make our way to the beach; sit; read - this sets the tone for the rest of the week
7:45pm - go up to shower & head to dinner

Day 2, Thursday:
9:30am - wake, forego showers (why bother?!) and don swimsuits and coverups (no little string bikinis in the dining room! though I will say that we saw our very fair share of too-tiny suits [on both men and women] and toplessness while on the water)
9:55am - eat breakfast, which includes crepes, eggs, omelets, churros, bread, cereal, yogurt--whatever you want, it's there!
10:30am - stake claim on beach chairs (actually, there are tons of places on the beach and even latecomers will find spots); Brett moves his chair into the direct sunlight; I move mine to make sure no sun hits me (I don't tan, I burn; and I burn splotchy at that, so why even try to tan when I know I'll just end up burning in weird areas and then hurt all week because of it!); read
11:30am - walk over to bar to get a drink, take walk along the beach, go back, read
12:45pm - walk to pool area, shower off sand, jump in pool (the pool must have been about 3 football fields long--absolutely amazing!)
2:00pm - eat lunch, head back to chairs
4:00pm - drinks anyone?
7:00pm - go to room for showers and then to dinner
9:30pm - watch show in the theatre

Day 3, Friday:
See Day 2, Thursday. There was probably some variance: we may have gotten crazy and gotten in the pool at 12:00pm instead of 12:45pm. And we didn't watch a show after dinner but sat on the balcony.

Day 4, Saturday:
This was the day Hurricane Dean was directly south of the DR. We woke and ate breakfast to torrential raining, extreme clouds, and great winds. By 11:30am, the rain had stopped. For the remainder of the day, we actually sat at the pool and read. The winds remained about 40mph for the duration of the day, but there was no rain. The beach had eroded such that there was about a 4 foot drop-off, but we enjoyed walking up and down and the beach with the crowds of people who were wondering when the weather would get worse. It never did, thank goodness!

Day 5, Sunday:
See Day 2, Thursday. I believe this was the day we walked down the beach and I found a coconut. Palm trees line the beach, so that's not unusual. Also, I had to start a new book. After dinner we played a game of chess with pieces that were about 1.5ft tall.

Day 6, Monday:
9:30am - wake up, eat breakfast
10:30am - shower and pack
12:00pm - check out and shop for souvenirs in the stores on the campus
1:10pm - head to airport
4:25pm - leave for home

So there you have it! Enjoy the pics in the slideshow. If you have any questions or I left anything else, just comment! We highly recommend the DR. Our hotel was great-not luxurious, and the food was good- not excellent, but we feel that we got our money's worth and it was exactly what we wanted. We could have been more active, but for this trip, sitting around reading sounded better to us. It was a wonderful time, and I'm sad that it's over! But now it's on to planning our next vacay!

A preview

Today was hectic, but that should come as no surprise! We ran a number of errands and continued to get the house in order. Our couch and chair were finally delivered and we bought a rug, so our living room is now actually livable! It helps make the house feel like home. My goal tomorrow is to finish organizing the guest room, do the laundry, and get ready.

I have to get ready because on Thursday, I start work! You probably read that last Tuesday I had 2 interviews. While in the DR, I was offered 2 jobs! Praise the Lord! Both are part-time, though the one I will have has the possibility of turning into full-time (please pray for that!). I'll be teaching Spanish I and II at a high school. I'm scared and excited and feel all out of practice all at the same time!

Here's a preview of some of the fun pictures and beautiful views to come. Ahhhh...Serenity.

Yep....

We're home. Things are still extremely hectic, so that's why there are no updates. Maybe tonite when I feel I wouldn't be productive anyway, I'll have some pictures and descriptions. Thanks for tuning in!

And away we go!

I know we've been a bit spotty in our postings lately. Trust me, there is good reason. Did you know that my guest book already has 3 separate entries in it? That means that we've had at least 3 (the exact number is 4, by the way) guests come and stay at our house. We've lived here less than a week! Funny how no one wanted to visit us in Houston....

Anyway, so that's been going on. And we're still unpacking boxes. And today I had 2 interviews. Yeah, 2. Crazy! Please pray that something would materialize. I feel a bit bad interviewing and then telling them they can't get ahold of me for the next 6 days! And why's that?....

...because we are GOING ON VACATION!!!! We're hitching the 551am bus at the corner of our street and heading out of the country (we're just taking the bus to the metro and the metro to the airport; thought I might clarify in case you thought we were taking the bus all the way to the DR!).

So, we're off. And I'm not taking my computer. And neither is Brett. There's lots to catch up on still and will be even more when we come back. But, it'll all have to wait, because I'm going to relax! Talk to y'all next week!

Sad

Marty is on a plane home right now. Sadness. He was an absolutely amazing help to us as we drove up here to Virginia and as we got the house into working order. He's a good painter and is a rock-star at putting together furniture. Both Brett and I enjoyed getting to have so much time with him! Now we are looking forward to next summer already when we'll see him next!

Thanks, Mart, for all your help!

Settling

We're still here. And our furniture arrived, too! Apparently houses made in the 1940s have much smaller front doors because our sleeper sofa absolutely would not fit; some guy walking by got to keep it for free, and we are getting a new couch! That's been the only big surprise so far, and we can handle that! It's been absolutely exhausting but fun to have our own place that we can make feel like home. I will post pics and more info as I have time, so keep checking back.

Painting

Thanks to Jo, Charlie, and Marty, painting our bedroom went much more quickly than we thought it would! Here are a couple of pictures of the process. Now we are all set for the furniture to arrive early tomorrow morning!

Before

DuringAfter

Home at last!

Yes, we did make it out to Virginia! Our drive here was completely unremarkable, which was exactly what we had been praying for. My brother Marty came with us, and it helped tremendously to have a third driver between the 2 cars! We arrived to Charlie and Jo's home on Monday nite and came out to our place Tuesday morning. Brett carried me over the threshold as we entered our first home!

Marty's been here with us at the house doing what little organizing we can with the things we currently have, putting together a TV stand and cabinet with Brett, and painting our bedroom! It's been such fun to be here in our new home, even though it doesn't have all our stuff! But don't worry--there is a sleeper sofa and carpeted floors, so we are making do with those each night.

Now that we have internet, I'll be able to post some pics and such as we have the time. Tomorrow is DMV day; wish us luck!

Sunday results

-cars driven: 2
-stops made: 3
-state-lines crossed: 2
-songs listened to: 500,000 (that might be an exaggeration)
-state license plates sighted: 30
-miles driven: 698.8
-hours driven: 10:05
-arriving to Nashville, meeting up with Marty's friends, eating at Jason's Deli, and getting to relax in the hotel: priceless

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

I would like to wish a very happy day to my favorite father-in-law! I probably shouldn't say exactly how old he is (I want to remain in his good graces!) but I will tell you that he is quite excited about some of the benefits that come about with this particular birthday. He's going to go out to a fancy dinner tonite, but is waiting to do the real celebrating when we are back in town next Sunday! We can't wait! See y'all soon!

Packing

I've got three guys in my apartment doing all my packing while I'm sitting on the computer. It's weird. I feel like I should be doing something, but when I asked if I could help, they said no. Part of my wanting to jump in is the control-freak aspect of my personality, but my guess is that they are probably a lot better at packing my stuff than I am (and they are definitely faster!!). I suppose I should enjoy it on this end because I'll be doing lots of lifting and moving on the unpacking end of this journey.

The Salesman

Here's Brett improvising after he sold his desk today! Our packers come tomorrow and our cable and internet get turned off, so we'll see if we can do posting before we leave.

Finishing up

Yesterday was my last day up at the church; today I gave a test to my tutoree and finished that job. Tomorrow is my last "free" day here in town that I have to run errands and do all of those things that I wanted to do. I've got so much swimming around in my head that I'm not sure what I even HAVE to get done!

In other news, I got a new cell phone today. I told y'all about dropping mine last week. I was very relieved when it arrived today and I was actually able to get it to work. You see, I bought it off eBay. After doing my research, I found out that it was only a bit more expensive to buy a completely new phone there than it would have been to fix my screen (according to the estimate). And whose to say that it was only the screen that needed fixing?

I'm not a big eBay-er, so I was a bit nervous about the whole thing, but it worked well. The only thing that isn't perfect is that the charger I was sent is not an American one; at least I was given a converter to go with it! Random. Now I have a working phone and most of my phone numbers back! AND I downloaded a really fun ringtone! I'm tired of having to use Brett's phone to call myself, so y'all should call me so I get to hear it!

Adios, Houston

In just a few days we will be leaving Houston for good. In honor of our upcoming departure, I have compiled a list of things we will and won't miss about this town of 4 million.

Things I won't miss (in no particular order):
1. The crime
2. Insanely aggressive drivers (that guy was not waving when he passed me when I was going 75 in the 65mph zone)
3. Humidity
4. Lack of seasons
5. Traffic, when we do get stuck outside the loop
6. Our apartment (it's not horrible, but I'm ready for my house!)
7. Electricity prices
8. Pot-hole filled right lanes throughout town
9. Mandatory valet parking at the restaurants
10. Blood-sucking mosquitoes


Things I will miss (in no particular order):
1. Sonic Drive-In
2. Bluebell Icecream
3. Thunderstorms
4. Lots of rain
5. Living "in the loop" & not having to deal w/traffic
6. Bluebonnets
7. Proximity to family
8. TX plates on my car
9. The fabulous restaurants
10. Grace Bible Church
11. The Galleria
12. The downtown skyline, at nite especially
13. The rodeo
14. Seeing people in big trucks, boots, and cowboy hats even when it's not at the rodeo
15. Really good country music stations
16. Brett's short commute to work
17. Great shopping nearby
18. Central Market's Iced Chai
19. Having a maintenance man when there's an issue w/the apt
20. Access roads

Happy Birthday, Mike and Matt!

Even though you both tried to drown me in the pool one time, would put me in "the cave", and tortured me endlessly, I am so glad that I have the two of you as older brothers! You've both been such great examples to me, and been ones I call for help or guidance. I hope that it's a great day! Love you both!

Splat Design Contest

I want a specially designed template by this gal, so I'm playing along! Thanks, Alicia, for letting me know about the contest. I was wondering when there would be another one!

Today's list

Things I did today:
-Woke up screaming at 545am. I guess I was having a really intense dream, because when the thunder boomed, I immediately started screaming. Loudly. And long. And I broke a fingernail in the process of covering my ears with my hands. Rough way to start the day. Brett had to reach over and assure me that I had been dreaming & it was just thunder.
-Dropped my phone. This happens more often than I want to admit, but this time, my phone wouldn't work. I found a store and the guy was able to get it to turn on, but my screen won't display anything. I can receive and make calls, but if I don't have your number memorized (that's basically everyone except Brett and Mom), you won't be hearing from me for a while, since I can't search my address book.
-Tutored. Just one more day and my work there is done.
-Did laundry all afternoon at the Driver's house. Brett was able to sell our washer and dryer last week while I was away, which meant that I hadn't done laundry for about 2 weeks. The washaterias nearby are a bit sketchy, so Ginger was kind enough to let me bum her machines for a few hours.
-Dozed off while watching the news and woke up confused as to whether it was day or nite, Friday or Saturday.
-Sat at Starbucks sipping a chai latte with my hubby.
-Watched Breach with Brett holding my hand tight. Good movie.

Tomorrow is our last Saturday here in Houston. It's hard to believe!

Girl Time

Most of you know that last Wednesday through Monday I was out in Greenville visiting Kelley. It's always good to be with her because she gets me. We pick up where we left off and have absolutely no trouble being real with one another. Our week involved things like going to the pool (where I showed off my major diving skills-did y'all know I was a diver? seriously.), running to the grocery store, hanging out with family (a side note--the Fitz family is the greatest; they have made me feel like their daughter since I met Kel at FU and I LOVE, LOVE getting to spend time with them as well), eating icecream, napping with Kiran, house-hunting, and just being together.

An extra perk was that I also got to see our roomie Lauren. She just moved to G-Vegas and was able to hop on over one afternoon when we called. Then over the weekend, Sarah drove from Charleston and Katie from Raleigh. What fun! Saturday morning we spent walking around the lake at Furman and that nite we ate in downtown Greenville while Jonathan watched Kiran. Downtown Greenville is the neatest downtown ever.



That's a quick overview of the week I was there. It doesn't do it justice, but I tried. As I get older and move and form new friendships, it makes me value these girls even more. These four are girls I have known since that first week at Furman. We all lived on the same hall and immediately became friends. And although I have some good friends now and will have ones in the future, there's something special about these girls who I shared bathrooms and halls and life with during those years.

And for Kelley: my trip was MAJOR! =)

Loved extravagantly

That's the way that my wonderful husband makes me feel. I am loved extravagantly. Let me tell you how great he is:


1. When I got home from the airport Monday, there were red roses waiting on our table! That means that a) he went to the store, b) he cut the rose stems, and c) picked out my favorite vase! How fabulous is that?

2. He also gave me a fun gift: our framed wedding pics. We have had 2 11x14 portraits sitting on a bookshelf for the last 3 years, and I've really wanted to frame them. He went out and did it for me!

3. On Saturday, August 25, we have a fun date! Brett surprised me with tickets to the Flip-Flop Summer Tour. That means we get to see Kenny Chesney, Sugarland, AND Pat Green!! I can't wait! It'll be a good Texas-ish thing to do while I'm in VA missing my homeland.

4. We got dressed up and went to dinner at a nice restaurant. This was our first visit to Escalantes. The weather was nice enough to sit outside, enjoy some drinks, and have a relaxing dinner.

5. He bought me a house! The deal went through yesterday!

So can you see why I feel so loved? He made me feel like a very special bride!