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!

Wedding memories

It's fun to have an anniversary because I get to reminisce about our wedding day. Here are a couple of random things about our wedding that I've thought about today:

-A photographer from the local newspaper was out at Furman that day and asked for my name in case he published a picture of my photographer taking pics of me; I don't know that it was ever published
-The salon where I was to get my hair done had to shut down due to fumes; thankfully, my girl came to the hotel instead of ditching me
-I had breakfast with my dad that morning
-My florist was in the hospital all week, including the wedding day
-About 10 mins before the ceremony our pastor told me he hates public speaking; that might explain why he forgot to tell us to face one another when saying our vows. Maybe Brett's technically married to the pastor?
-I didn't need alterations on my dress.
-Our getaway car was a 1956 Rolls Royce.
-Our moms wore almost the exact same dress, and it was totally unplanned, other than the color.
-I ate lunch at Atlanta Bread Company with Kelley. I was wearing my jeans, shirt, and veil. And people didn't believe me when I said I was getting married!
-Brett ate lunch at Carson's with all his FU buddies; they were in their tuxes.
-I commented to Brett during the ceremony, "This is the shortest ceremoney EVER!"
-I didn't follow the whole "Something old, something new..." thing; I had some parts, but not all.
-The out-of-town bags for our guests included a stamped and addressed postcard. We received them randomly for weeks afterwards and even got blank ones!
-I never met the lady who made our cake.
-It started to rain on our way to the bed and breakfast.
-I still haven't developed all the pics from the disposable cameras. Nor have I organized the candid shots from people into an album.
-I wish I had a reason to wear my dress all the time...or at least once a week!
-We got to take fun pictures with our wedding party and also of the two of us.
-I had so much fun that day!

Oh, how I missed thee, Internet (sort of)

For the last few days, I've been very MIA because I've been visiting Kelley. Last time I visited Kelley (in India), I posted all kinds of stuff, but this time, ironically, she doesn't have any internet in the house where they are living temporarily. It's been kinda nice to be away, but I have to admit that when I walked up the stairs in the airport and saw the "Free hi speed wireless available" sign, I got pretty excited! Such a great way to waste time and catch up on the 37 new blog entries I had to read!

I'm about to hop on my plane, and get home to my fabulous husband! I can't wait! Be looking for lots of fun posts over the next few days! So much has happened and will happen in the upcoming week!

Missed me?

Dear Blog,
I'm having good fun hanging out with Kelley, Jonathan, and Kiran! I've gotten to see LP, Sarah, and Katie, too! I'll be back tomorrow nite and will post pictures and details at some point! Don't miss me too much! =)

Oh, and by the way, I was craving a drumstick for some odd reason (see poll). And no, I am not pregnant.

IDK my BFF Jill

There will be about 1/2 of you reading this blog that see my post title and immediately start smiling because you know what that line comes from. For the other 1/2, I'll provide the video. It's taken me several months to figure out that I totally have a friend named Jill, and I should, and now do, go around saying this line at least 20 times a day. But, in order that my husband doesn't get too jealous, I've modified the phrase: IDK my BFF Brett! Maybe I'll start preceding all friends with "IDK my BFF".


We just got back from dinner with IDK my BFF the Drivers. They are fabulous people and have been great friends to have here in Houston. We will definitely miss getting to see them.

I'm leaving tomorrow to go see IDK my BFF Kelley. And IDK my BFF Lauren. And IDK my BFF Sarah and IDK my BFF Katie. Wohoo! Yay for girlfriends! I'm very sad to be leaving IDK my BFF Brett for so long, though! I'll post as I can!

To our wedding guests

This post is for those of you who were at our wedding. Do y'all have any pictures of Brett and I together that are on your computer and can be emailed? I have a number of pics of me and the bridesmaids before the wedding, but really don't have any good pictures of Brett and I TOGETHER! And I'd like some. I have a ginormous stack of pics in a box, but we don't have a scanner anyway, so I can't do that. If you have any, please feel free to email them to me! Gracias! Here's one of the few I have: Brett looking at his watch, wondering when the honeymoon starts...I mean, when we get to see all our friends and family and thank them for coming!

Rain: I'm obsessed

I find that when the dark clouds come, the thunder rolls, and then then the storm passes over, I am highly disappointed. I think I have an obsession with thunderstorms and rain.

Today as I was driving to tutor, I could see that for a portion of my drive I was driving right into the storm. I don't like driving in rain, but I was happy to see these fantastic, ominous clouds building up. Storms in Texas really are amazing to see. If I had my camera, I would have taken a picture (I got this one from the internet). I figured that once I turned north on my drive I would avoid the driving in the rain, but would get to enjoy it once I came home to the apartment. No such luck. By the time I came home, it was sunny and perfect. That's great, but I missed the rain! And I was really bummed.

So, although we are moving to a Washington, I have concluded that I am one of the few people who would love living in Washington State, amongst the cloudy weather and almost daily drizzle. People here in Texas are tired of all the rain we've been getting (which I understand because it's flooded so many places), but, in general, I can't get enough!

One down, two to go

Hey, Kids,

Well, we made it through yet another weekend. Because I know you are all wondering, here are some of the things that we did: ate grilled cheese sandwiches, browsed at Crate and Barrel (this is my new favorite place, by the way), enjoyed the evening at Starbucks (it was actually cool enough to sit outside!), watched several episodes of The Office, ran errands, took a nap, went to CFA, and wandered around Borders. That might sound like a really boring weekend, but it was actually really fun! One of those had-to-be-there weekends to understand the fun.

You might have noticed a new and fabulous feature on our blog: a poll. It's a new thing that Google has added, so I thought I would give it a try. It looks as though you can only vote once, which I think stinks. I'm not sure, though. We'll see what happens with it over the next few days.

Have a great week!

Why CFA is the greatest

Chick. Fil. A.

It's like that friend that you can address by his/her initials. I have a couple of those: KFC, LP, EMU. It just works. CFA.

Brett and I went to eat there tonite, compliments of a birthday gift card he got. While there, we concluded (though we already knew this) that CFA is the greatest food place ever. Here's why:

1. it's clean: the restrooms, the restaurant, the workers, everything
2. nice people: the workers are ALWAYS nice. They always tell us it's been a pleasure to help & make us feel like WE are making THEIR day by coming in.
3. good service: it's a fast food place but they come around and fill your drinks, ask if you need anything else, throw out your trash, etc.
4. good food: enough said
5. the cow is there on Wednesdays
6. you hear great music like Ace of Base on the CD they play ("I saw the sign...")
7. they are closed on Sundays: I will admit sometimes I hate that when I crave it, but I love that they stick to that rule.
8. milkshakes: you have tried them, haven't you?
9. CFA calendar & the fabulous coupons
10. their hilarious advertising

There you have it. Ten reasons why we love CFA. The one here is so close to us, which is something I will miss in about 3 weeks.

Cured!

Obviously, I don't need a 12 step program. I've heard that admitting your addiction is the first step, but apparently for me, it's the only step. As soon as I admitted that I was addicted (see below), I lost all ideas! Sorry for the absence lately; I'm sure that I'll pick things back up shortly.

In all honesty, I'm probably not cured. It's highly likely I will relapse in the next day or two. There are only a few reasons why I wouldn't post for several days at a time, oh faithful readers:
a) out of town
b) no internet
c) lousy week
d) strike due to lack of comments (yes, I do this)

You can probably guess which one it was this time. But, my husband took me out to Pei Wei, I still have flowers left over from last week, and today I got a manicure so my nails look good; things are looking up!

I'm addicted

But I already knew that.
60%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Home again

We're back from our fun weekend with the fam. The next time we go up there, it will be on our way out of town and to our new residence. Kinda sad. We've loved being able to drive up and down to see my parents and Mike, Jeni, and Madi as frequently as we have. I think since August 2006, we've been up there at least 10 times!

Marty's here!

Uncle Brett, mind if I borrow these?

Sherwood, our beloved family cat
(my parents might say "beloved" is a strong word
since they actually have to deal with her all the time!)

Tomorrow morning I have a phone interview for a teaching position that y'all can be praying for. Gracias!

Overflowing

It's only 830pm, and I'm ready to get into bed already! Most of the fam has been around for the day, which, of course, is fabulous! We all spent the morning playing with Madi, watching Backyardigans, playing with beads, and splashing the water outside.

Mom, Dad, Marty, Brett, and I took a quick trip down the road to see the lake nearby. In case you are on another planet and haven't heard about the flooding in Texas, I'll refresh your memory. There's been tons of rain and it's flooding in all different parts of Texas! The picture is of a home right on the lake.

For the afternoon, we got all the boxes from the attic that were labeled "Merritt". My parents have a rule that once their children buy their first home, any and all "valuables" should take up space in the child's attic (or basement in our case) and not their attic. We had great fun reading through my poetry, seeing my ACT scores (I'm practically a genius, by the way), fishing through high school yearbooks, reminiscing with college photos, and setting up the Barbie kitchen. I narrowed the field from about 16 boxes to 7, thankfully! It was fun to go through and see all this stuff I had collected. I wore around the school tie I wore from 4th-12th grade just for kicks while I was sorting.

In the end, I kept (among other things) just a few Barbies who still had decent hair and movement, and, of course, I'm going to keep all of my Pooh Bears. What would you be keeping of your childhood toys?

Results of my 3 yr old disposable camera

I told y'all about my improvisation when my camera died; I really needed to make sure we had pictures of Brett's birthday. CVS made me a CD, and these are some of the pics. I had just 4 from the wedding on there, and none with either Brett or me in them.
Considering that it's been about 3 years since it was used, and the fact that it's a disposable (they still make those???), the pics aren't too terrible. Now I should go out and use the other 4 I have sitting in my closet!

Fireworks!

The rain finally stopped and we were able to enjoy some fireworks! Since B's workplace is downtown near the big 4th celebration they have here, we went to the roof of his building to watch the display! It was a great place to be! The view into downtown was probably better, but we loved how the sounds really reverberated off all the buildings. Here's some video. It took me FOREVER to get this downloaded, so I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll give some pics tomorrow.

He's Ba-aaaaaaaaack!

I'm very excited to announce that my younger brother has officially landed (according to the website--I haven't actually talked to him) in the good ole US of A! He hasn't been here since last August! I got lucky and was able to see him for a few hours one day in January, but it's always good to have him home for a few weeks. Since he can't visit my blog while overseas, he's gonna have some major reading to catch up on! The only bad thing about his being home is that I must return these goods in the picture to their rightful owner: hat, GameCube, and iTrip...and there's probably more around here. Small price to pay for having Marty home, though!

Happy Independence Day!

I think that the 4th of July is probably one of my favorite holidays. That's mostly due to the fact that I have some great memories from celebrating it. I've been to the Navy Yard in Chicago, The Mall in D.C., Iwo Jima in Arlington, and a few others. But my favorite memories are the ones when our family would have lots of people for the day. We started with a swim party, had a little basketball thrown in there, hamburgers, hotdogs, more swimming, sparklers, and then the finale was running back and forth on our long driveway to watch the TWO fireworks displays that we could see from the house! We are tentatively planning to watch them tonite in Houston, but if it keeps pouring like it has been for the last 6 hours, I don't think we'll be doing much! Happy Fourth!

Closing in on Closing Date

The slide show is for my hubby, because he's dying to buy a big, cool TV like that one. So, darlin', now you can watch one all the time!

I earned a camera yesterday & flower today

Here are the first few shots with my new camera. I am going to have to spend some serious time figuring things out. And now I don't know whether to use the Canon computer software or my iPhoto. Decisions, decisions.

In the first one, I told my Little Canon (LC) that I wanted only the color blue to show up. How cool is that?


And in this second picture, I'm putting on my best model pose for Brett and LC. (Actually, he said that since I was posting an "ugly" picture of him, I had to do the same for me. I think I win the award, though.)


Besides the fact that I LOVE having a new camera, today was a hard day. When said incredibly fabulous husband came home today after working out, all he had in his hands was a bouquet of flowers!!!!! Isn't he great?!

He decided that I deserved flowers because a) my day was really hectic and he could tell I was worn out, and b) there aren't as many teaching positions open today as I thought and he could tell I was discouraged. So he made it all better by bringing me a surprise. I love him!

Yay for July!

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It's July! Isn't that fantastic? "THIS month" sounds so much better than "next month".

Well, the reason that we think "THIS month" is particularly wonderful is because we celebrate our anniversary! Yay for us! However, we have been anticipating this July especially because this is the month we finally close on our house! Yay for us--again!

And what's really amazing is that these two major events will happen on the same day! And we didn't even pick the date!

So, raise your glasses to July! It's gonna be a good one!
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On a completely different topic: here's The Daily Grind for today:

We went to church this morning & then had lunch at the apt with my parents, which was great fun. I love having my parents visit! That was such a wonderful surprise!

This afternoon, B and I made our way to Circuit City. This seems to be our weekend activity. But this time, we actually bought something! Since my camera went ca-put this week, we knew we would have to get a new one in the next few weeks (I'm a little obsessive about documenting our lives in picture and wouldn't last very long without one). Since my brother is coming home in about 3 days, I really wanted to have it for the upcoming weekend. And now I do! I got this great little Canon that will probably take me four days to figure out how to use. As soon as I figure it out, I'll post a few random pictures and you can rave about what a fabulous photographer I am. OK? Perfect.

Later, gators.