LBMM

Better with a smile

2012-03-12T18:32:00.000-05:00

I just tried to write a blog post, but I couldn't think of anything positive to say. I am so done with being in limbo and waiting for the rest of March to pass. Doesn't the calendar know that all the best things are happening in the last half? HURRY IT UP! (although spring break was VERY welcome.) I just need a dose of perspective to get out of my downer pants.

So instead of complaining about everything that I should instead be thankful for, I will leave you with this:

Source:

And now I'm off to laugh with my handsome, soon-to-be husband.

A Good Year for the Leaps

2012-02-29T22:24:00.002-06:00

Today is Leap Day. (duh) I can never remember if a Leap Year is the one with an extra day, or without. Now I know. I can't make any promises though that I won't stop and ask myself on February 28th, 2013 what kind of year it is. I can't even be counted on to have all of my belongings on me at a given time.

What a perfect year for a Leap Year, though. It's a little breathtaking when I actually stop to think about the GIANT leaps Taylor and I will take this year alone. Our wedding is 30 days away. THIRTY DAYS until a new last name, the beginning of a life with my favorite person, and an unknown and sometimes overwhelming change. I hope I'm awesome at it!

Also, (as if that's not big enough,) we'll soon be taking another leap into Taylor's first assignment out of pilot training. (Side note: didn't I just write this post yesterday?) It's a little hard to let go of control and be open to whatever comes our way, but in the end, happiness is a choice and I'm choosing to be happy with anything. How grown up of me, right?

One month from this Leap Day, we will have a place to call our new home and I will be not only a wife, but Taylor's wife. Wow. I am so ready to get there! And maybe get to open all of our wedding presents.

A True LBMM Story

2012-02-27T21:36:00.000-06:00

So, this past weekend was our wedding shower back in my hometown. I was so super prepared for this one, too. Last weekend, I drove straight from work at 3:50 and we were on the road by 4:15. Serious business.

This time though, I took the afternoon off so I could take my time and get all of our stuff together before we left. I even had the bright idea to go switch cars with Taylor while he was flying so that I could load everything up and he could just change and get in the car. Nope. I couldn't find his spare keys. That just so happened to be sitting on his desk in plain sight. I'm awesome. Regardless though, we managed to get on the road by 4:30 and I didn't forget anything that we needed.

A quick side note though: a couple of weeks ago, I ordered a dress online and once it came in, I was kind of undecided about the fit, so I just threw it into my clean clothes pile so I could ponder some more on it before I kept or returned it. Well, my roommate's housekeeper had other plans for my dress. She washed it. Tags included. I couldn't return it then so I guess my decision was made for me. It ended up being a really cute dress and I wore it to the shower so no permanent harm was actually done. End side note.

Ok, now back to my endless story. Since the shower was in the afternoon, we got to spend some quality time with baby Atticus and his parents. They are no longer known as Vic and Sarah. Only Atticus's parents. Taylor tried to talk us into letting him stay with the men while we went to the shower, but I knew he would be adorable and take the focus off of me, so I made sure he accompanied the ladies. He didn't disappoint, either.

After the shower was over, (which was fantastic b-t-dubs. I am so thankful to have grown up with so many kind ladies who helped put it together!) I was in charge of carrying the cake home...without a cover over it...in my lap. The trip back home was a success and I was so proud of myself for walking in heels over a cattle guard with a giant cake that I didn't even realize that I left my purse and all of my belongings in Taylor's Mom's car. It took me a whole 3 hours to figure out my mistake. I feel like only I do stuff like this. ALL.THE.TIME.

Taylor usually makes fun of me for leaving bits and pieces of my belongings all over the place and so the one time that I have all of my things in one place, I leave the whole purse somewhere it shouldn't be. Literally, all of my possessions. My glasses, my wallet, my car keys, my school keys, money, id's. ALL OF IT! I even made a joke earlier in the day that I was going to leave my purse in the car during the shower because chances are good I would set it down and leave it somewhere. Oh hey foreshadowing, there you are.

It didn't really make sense to have Taylor's mom drive back and meet us halfway to pick it up, so she overnighted it to me Monday morning. It has been quite the logistical nightmare since we got back. I couldn't remember at first where my spare key was for my car, so I had to drive Taylor's truck to work, and then I had to wait outside the base for him to come drive his own truck onto base because I am driving without a license and the military tends to frown upon letting people in without id's.

This is going to go down as one of my most embarrassing moments. EVER. Taylor said he wanted to be more mad at me than he was, but figured my trying to survive without my glasses for the next couple of days was punishment enough. Again, so embarrassing.

On our way back home on Sunday, we stopped in San Antonio to take in a viewing of the Blue Man Group. We bought some really sweet tickets that included Valet parking and some extra leg room in the theater. Last year we saw Wicked in the same theater, and there's not much I wouldn't have given for some extra leg room. Even my LBMM sized legs had a really hard time. The show was so fun, but probably would have been more enjoyable if I had been able to make out their faces.

After a quick stop at Taco Bell, our weekend was complete. We came home and unloaded our stuff and once again, it took all I had to not take everything out of it's box and just look at it. Excited countdown to our first home starts now!

A Reflection

2012-02-19T23:31:00.001-06:00

Oh hey poor neglected blog. I could have sworn I had written a few posts in the last couple of weeks, but then I logged in to my account and it turns out that I made all of that up in my head. What a loser. I'll just have to do my best at recapping the past few weeks of events because that's what I do best. I just like to let things really soak in so I can forget all the important details before I get around to documenting them.

My last post was about my latest attempt to make myself the opposite of lazy. It went well for a whole week and then we had some serious rain and I got sick with a life threatening cold. Just kidding on that last part. Kind of. I'm always a little overdramatic about cold season so don't actually fret about me. I decided that my best bet would be to hire a professional that would kick me into gear. That was such a great decision. I am in a constant state of soreness, but I have so much fun with my trainer that it makes it all worth it! (side note: that is not a sentence I thought I would ever write.)

Valentine's day was this past week and even though Taylor and I usually do at least a little something, we both agreed that publicly professing our eternal love for each other in a few weeks would probably suffice for this year. I actually got him a card, but somehow lost it before I could give it to him. I also made him promise not to send me anything at work because I knew my kids would lose their minds over a flower arrangement. We ended up making sandwiches for dinner and inviting a couple of friends over before we took part in our weekly "Trashy Tuesday Teen Mom" night. Once again, we do it big around here for Valentine's day. This is the second year in a row that I have actually made it through part of the day without realizing the significance. I don't know why I'm admitting all of this to the interwebs. Even when I write, I go a little overboard.

This past weekend was our shower and engagement dinner in Lubbock. It's a little strange for me to handle being the center of attention. I don't ever know what to say or do and usually end up being super awkward or saying something uncomfortable. Luckily I had lots of family around to be a buffer for my weirdness and we had a great time at the shower. I was blown away by all of the sweet gifts and words that everyone provided us. I feel really lucky to be marrying into such a great community of people and friends of Taylor's.

After we got back and unloaded everything, I really wanted to take it all out and play. And by play, I mean look at and organize somewhere. Having everything sitting in boxes is really going to stress out me and my need for order. I am so ready to finally be married and have a place for all of our things. Of course, that time could be as long as a year away so for now I just have to stare at piles of pretty things and dream of all the ways I can play with my new mixer.

Our weekends are booked pretty solid for the foreseeable future. Lots of driving and planning is soon to ensue. We have been enjoying relaxing weekends of literally doing nothing so I'll be mourning the loss of my free time for a while. Up next is our shower in the big town of Frost!

Run, Run, Run

2012-01-23T20:25:00.001-06:00

So. Running. It's definitely not my strongest talent. It ranks somewhere around picking dog poop up on my list of favorite things to do. So really, if I can avoid running, I try my absolute best to do so. In high school, I was lazy and got out of running by being a giant turd in athletics class. (Imagine THAT!) And then after high school and subsequent hip/knee/ankle injuries, I created every excuse not to run. I'll try to start up again every now and then, but afterwards all I can think about is how much it absolutely sucked. I'm just not good at running and it's not something I enjoy. BLAH.

Anyways, all of that to say...

I've decided to start a running program. Couch to 5k if we're being specific. My first "run" was tonight. If I'm being totally honest here, I wasn't that pumped up afterward. The idea is to alternate walking and jogging for like 30 minutes and then slowly work your way up to running a 5k but I got REALLY bored around minute 15. Plus, I dillydallied around after work and didn't get to start running until it was dark. Did you know that there are a total of 5 lights on around this base? The walking part of the program wasn't so easy when all I wanted to do was run away from the darkness.

I'm not posting about running so that I can be all, "Oh look at me! I'm running! I'm awesome at working out!" Really, I just want some accountability for myself. Plus, I paid for the dang app, so I'm going to USE it! Oh, and in case you were wondering (of course you were), my pretty new running shoes are taking some getting used to. I have a giant blister on my achilles tendons from them rubbing while I run. Hopefully they just need to break in. Otherwise, I have to wait 5 more years to start running again because that's when Taylor says I can have my next pair of tennis shoes.

If you want to do the workout with me, let me know!

MLK 2012

2012-01-16T20:57:00.000-06:00

We just got back from our annual trip to College Station for MLK weekend. I'm not sure if it could have come at a better time. Even though we just got back from Christmas break, this long weekend was majorly needed.

We got to hangout with some of our favorite people, love on the sweetest baby in the world, and eat some pretty awesome/ familiar food. (Hello Wings N' More.)

Since our current town doesn't have many options of the shopping kind, I took advantage of my old haunts during my college years. I'm sure you're just dying to know what I purchased (not) so I'll go ahead and fill you in! Yippee for you!

I bought some new work pants which is a not so fun way to spend money but I only own like three pair of them and as you might know, there are currently five days in a work week. Four if you don't count blue-jean Friday, which of course I do not because I take advantage of it every single week. It is extremely difficult to find pants of any kind in LBMM size so I did a happy dance when I found some that fit at Old Navy and splurged on two pair. They turned out to be 1/2 off their original price so really I guess 12.99 doesn't count as a splurge. Cue happy dance numero dos from LBMM.

Don't worry, I made up the difference by purchasing a new pair of running shoes. There happens to be a large event coming up in the next few months that requires the elimination of the muffin top I am currently growing. I am ok with the pain I will be causing myself every time I look at my pretty new shoes though. Also, I bought pink shoe laces because let's be honest here...what girl wants to work out without pink laces?

I finished my shopping spree with a new Aggie shirt and keychain. It's almost like I'm in college again and preparing for a new semester. If only...

Um, that really should not have taken up so much blog space. Sorry peeps.

Back to our regularly scheduled blog post now.

This is basically all I paid attention to the entire weekend. I am so glad Vic and Sarah don't mind me stealing their child when I visit. (They haven't told me if they do so until they do, we'll pretend they're ok with it.) He is almost too cute for words.

Singing into his hair brush. When he is famous one day, we will be able to show these pictures to the world. You're welcome, buddy.

Playing with Uncle Taylor. Maybe next time we'll talk him into changing a dirty diaper.

How do you improvise a wagon ride when it's cold and windy outside? You make one out of a laundry basket! Just as much fun - minus the no wheels equals extra work for mom part.

Kristofer's first Atticus meeting. It went well as you can see.

I already miss everyone and will be very disappointed tomorrow morning when I wake up and there's no smiling baby to play with. Thank goodness for all the wedding fun coming up so we can see our favorite people again soon.

Ringing in a New Year

2012-01-08T00:07:00.002-06:00

So, New Years. I guess this should be a post about resolutions and ways I'm planning on making myself a better person in 2012. Blah blah. I kind of lost the drive to write that kind of post after reading the other twelve million blogs that said the same thing. Everyone wants to stop gossiping about other people and eat more fresh veggies. I just want to get through one day without losing my glasses or car keys. If both of those things happened in one day, I could consider the year a success.

If I see the phrase "fresh veggies" one more time, I will voluntarily slam my fingers in a car door. It's as if shortening the word vegetable makes them better for you.

In a quick summary, 2011 was a great year. A move, a new job, and um, hello....Taylor and I got engaged.

So far 2012 is shaping up to be a pretty good year too. A wedding, Taylor will start his new career, and we will (hopefully) be moving out of Smell Rio. If our time on the border is extended, at least we will be together and close to family.

If I was on top of things, I would have a slideshow with pictures from the past year and the perfect song. I actually created one, but after it uploaded for 30 minutes, I realized that I had 20112 on the title page. I don't have the patience to do that again, so you'll have to settle for looking back at my blog posts from the past year.

I'm hoping the next few months fly by because I'm ready for our wedding to get here. I'm starting to have major anxiety over the little details. I just don't want the day to get here and realize I've forgotten to get my dress altered or that nobody shows up after I've stressed over all these silly details. Also, who let me plan a wedding for the week after Taylor gets his new assignment? All of these events culminating in such a short time is going to make me lose all my hair. So that's why I need these things to hurry up and get here, I've got too much time on my hands to worry over nothing!

Here's to hoping that in 2012 I don't lose my mind!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-28T01:22:00.001-06:00

I'm having a hard time believing Christmas has already come and gone this year. Also, where did ALL of December go? I feel like we were just celebrating Taylor's birthday last week. I'm not sure why, but getting into the Christmas spirit was hard in Del Rio. The temperatures only dropped below 60 during the last week of school and we were all so busy that we didn't have time to do anything holiday related. Of course Taylor and Conor's year-round Christmas tree in their living room helped a little.

I flew home to my parents house on the 17th and jumped right into shopping. It's so much more fun when your options go beyond Wal-mart! Kirsten and I also started the week off right with massages and pedicures. Definitely what I needed after a stressful semester of teaching! I once again went with sparkles on my toes. I chose the big sparkles this time though and may have overestimated my commitment to the sparkle. They were so big that I actually had to peel a couple of them off of my pinky toenails after they had turned into razor blades.

The week leading up to Christmas flew by faster than ever before because of all the running around we did. We packed in grandparents visits, more shopping, lots of sleeping in (LOTS), and even some baking.

I made some oreo-peppermint truffles for the first time. Actually, it was my first truffle ever to make. I wasn't a huge fan of the result, but they were a big hit at our family Christmas so I'll go with success. I thought they were a little heavy on the peppermint and lacking in other areas that I couldn't pinpoint. Also, I am not good at eyeballing 1-inch sized truffles so they ended up rather large and more difficult to eat. I almost destroyed a mixer and a food processor during the process. It turns out that you can't crush an entire package of oreos at once. Or add cream cheese to them afterwards. My bad. Aiding in the almost disaster was my little brother. I specifically bought a package of oreos for my truffles and set them aside with all the other ingredients I was going to use. They were on the counter for maybe 12 hours, max. Somehow Jesse managed to eat all but 3 oreos in that time period. How can someone eat that many cookies in such a short amount of time? Luckily we had a spare package in the pantry that he had not managed to track down. He has a problem.

We had a really good Christmas at our house this year. Especially my parents. I'm no longer a poor college student and can afford to do things like bring them into the latest century of electronics. I bought them an Apple TV which will allow Dad to play his Angry Birds from the iPad so everyone can watch him dominate those birds. (his words, not mine) We'll see how often it's used, but I think they will enjoy it once they figure it out. They also got a blu-ray player. Not because they wanted better quality movies from their new tv, but because Dad was tired of switching cables out to watch a movie on their old DVD player. I wish I was joking.

Jesse and I also had fantastic Christmases. He got some sort of gun and then stopped opening presents so I guess he likes it. I don't know what 18 year old little brothers want so I gifted him with an IOU "one of anything you want". He picked a knife of some sort. Awesome. I was hoping for a new pair of jeans or something. His second favorite gift was a lighter shaped like a gun. As if he wasn't enough of a pyromaniac already, he now has the ability to shoot fire at candles. Thanks mom!

I think Mom and Dad are having a hard time with me getting married next year so they went a little overboard on the gifts. I'm going to roll out of here with a new suitcase filled with presents instead of clothes. I've been drooling over my new camera as well. I love it more than I love candy. Dad told me that it counts for Christmas/Birthday/Wedding, and I'm perfectly ok with that!

I'm off today to spend New Year's in Lubbock with Taylor and his family and I can't wait! I'm just so sad that the break is flying by so fast. It will be time to head back to work before I know it. I'm hoping to keep relaxing and enjoy these last few days with my family-to-be!

Fun times in Del Rio

2011-12-19T23:09:00.001-06:00

Ok so I'm going to catch my blog up on all happenings between our engagement and now. So put your reading pants on and get ready. It might be really long. Or I could get bored and cut it short with a promise to continue later. Who really knows where this might go.

At the end of October, we went to a wine party. It was lots of fun to get dressed up and dance to Britney Spears and Spice Girls. It brought back so many memories of my childhood. The songs, not the wine. That would be disturbing.

{Hanging out with our good friends, Craig and Angela}

{Our host for the evening!}

{This was mid-Britney. We got a little excited. Also, please take note that we are the only ones dancing.}

In early November, we went to another wine party. This sounds like how we spend all of our weekends, but it's not. These are just the only times I bring out my camera. Also, this is the only picture I have where all four of us are together. And where Taylor and I are together. Someone took my camera midway through the party and I ended up with lots of pictures of people I don't know.

{Next up was Thanksgiving! I spent a few days at my parents house and then headed to Lubbock with Taylor for actual Thanksgiving day. We did lots of relaxing and eating as usual and even got to see Joe Ely in concert!}

{The great whipped cream debacle of 2011. You can't see it but Kristofer was covered in it. It's not really a Verett Thanksgiving until someone makes the whipped cream canister explode.}

{Happy 24th Birthday to Taylor! We celebrated on a weeknight at Chili's. A true Del Rio celebration.}

{It wasn't a birthday present, but Taylor bought himself a new truck! We call her Black Betty Deux or Black Betty Deuce. Her name hasn't been finalized yet, but she is an exact copy of his first truck, just updated!}

{My school gave out lanyards to teachers as Christmas presents this year. I guess that living by the border makes people assume the spanish version of your name. I have corrected them about a million times, but I still received this. I didn't know whether to be upset that my school doesn't know my name or laugh because this is pretty typical of personalized gifts that I've received. I decided to laugh because in a few months it won't really matter anyways. I'll have a brand new name!}

{I found my wedding shoes this past weekend! I know this is not important news whatsoever, but I love them so much that I felt the need to post this picture.}

So, that's all the events I have in pictures which basically means these are the only events that took place in the past two months. I'm only kidding. I just can't remember anything else. I'll be back soon with something fun. Maybe. If something fun happens.

A quick note...

2011-12-16T00:49:00.004-06:00

In just a little over a hundred days, I will get to marry my favorite person in all the world. I can't wait!

Thanks to Jenna Miller for some of the best pictures ever.

It's been a while...

2011-12-05T21:10:00.001-06:00

Oh my gosh I need to stop being such a terrible blogger. Sorry for my absence. I started a new job and it turned out to be crazy person overload so instead of blogging when I get home, all I want to do is rock back and forth in a corner by myself. I'm kidding. Really I'm just terrible at time management. Still. SURPRISE!

So it turns out that wedding planning is not lollypops and rainbows. I mean, I am way excited to be married and have Taylor stuck with me forever. It's just that I would love for that day to be next weekend and to have this whole thing magically done for me by then.

I am TERRIBLE at making final decisions. I think lots of things are great, but I have anxiety attacks about saying yes to even the smallest of details. I'm all..."BUT WHAT IF I CHANGE MY MIIIIIIND?" And yes, I do include that many "I's" while saying it in my head.

When I picked out my dress, I actually had a panic attack. I used to laugh at people who did that! Who knew it would feel like so much pressure. I tried on a dress that I was just so-so about and of course it's the one my mother started crying over. So...that made it easier to choose. Not. In the end, I went with my gut - and the one that has pockets. At least one of us had that "this-is-the-dress crying moments" even if it really wasn't the dress.

Also, I am petrified of something going wrong. I haven't had any crazy pre-wedding nightmares, but I do have visions of wrong sized wedding dresses and misspelled invitations. Perhaps it has something to do with control issues? Duh, of course it does.

I've found that the "wedding industry" is a crazy, crazy little world. I mean, how on earth was I supposed to know that you should order wedding dresses like four years in advance? And that if you are only going to wear something one day of your life, you are supposed to pay triple for it? These are the things that nobody tells you about weddings. And this is also why wedding planners exist. If I could find a load of money, that would be my first purchase.

I didn't really mean for this post to be so wedding-licious. In case you're wondering what that word means, I just made up a definition after I made up the word. It means that I took over this blog with all of my complaining about wedding decisions. So there you go. Go forth and use it however you please.

Other happenings in my life include a trip to Frost, a trip to Lubbock, and a lot of fun with friends in Del Rio. Not that Del Rio added anything to the fun, that just happened to be where the fun took place. I will maybe update on those happenings sometime in the future. It depends on whether I lose my mind over wedding invitations. And I just brought that full circle so you're welcome.

Well, that was fun...

2011-11-01T23:47:00.001-05:00

Taylor and I survived our first test as an engaged couple. We went registry shopping.

Is it just me or is that business ridiculous? I guess I should have thought more about how I want our future home to look like because once we got our gun, we had to make some big decorating decisions pretty quickly.

I have never thought about what color I wanted my bathroom towels to be or what kind of glasses I wanted to drink out of. It probably doesn't help that these are the decisions I agonize for hours over usually. So, you know, I was THE most pleasant person to be around while trying to make my mind up.

The hardest part was picking out dinnerware. First of all, DO NOT register for your wedding in the fall. All the stores already had their giant Christmas displays out instead of their regular dishes. We had like eight sets to choose from. Taylor and I both decided that we wanted something simple. No crazy colors or designs and apparently the plates have to be big enough for man-size portions. I wanted white with a design around the edge and the one plate I liked the most was the one plate Taylor despised the most. Oops.

We went back and forth to two different stores and after about an hour of giving each other death glares, we finally agreed on a set. Hallelujah.

The registry gun at Dillards was probably the worst piece of junk we have ever touched. It crashed before Taylor even scanned the first item and then again two more times. At one point, it looked like we had lost all of our hard work. And by hard work I mean picking out a hundred different kitchen gadgets. We would not have been able to go back and do it again. I would have lost what little sanity I had left at that point and Taylor would have decided not to marry me.

Speaking of the gun - Taylor wouldn't let me touch any of them. At one point I got to hold it while he inspected something else and I have to admit that I got a little power drunk with it. I managed to scan like 12 different things in a couple minutes time. So, I guess Taylor knew what he was doing after all.

We were both so relieved once our day of shopping was over. I like instant gratification and a couple of times I had to stop myself from picking things up and walking around the store with them like I was actually going to buy them instead of scan them. What a dummy! If anyone has any tips on things that we just HAVE to get, please please let me know. We are totally clueless! And by we, I of course mean me.

A few wedding notes

2011-10-27T17:21:00.003-05:00

So. Wedding Planning.

I totally get it now.

Although I would never throw a bouquet at one of my bridesmaids or sit down on the floor and start crying like a 2 year old (not yet anyways, we'll re-visit that last one in a couple more months,) I am this close to losing my mind!

A few engagement randoms

2011-10-17T16:53:00.002-05:00

I wouldn't be LBMM if I didn't include some random stories from our engagement!

*It poured on the day of our engagement. It also rained the day we met so I'm taking it as one more sign that we were just meant to be together forever!

*After Taylor proposed and we were driving back to Vic and Sarah's house, I finally remembered to call my mom and dad. They were both really excited for us but Mom just wanted to know whether or not I cried when it happened. Our conversation went a little like this:

Me: "Mom! Taylor just proposed!"

Mom: "Oh that's so great! Did you cry? How did he do it?"

Me: "He took me to the 202 building where we met."

Mom: "Well, did you cry? I would have cried."

*When I sent my family a picture of the ring, my brother replied, "well it makes your man hands look smaller so that's a plus." ~~He deserves a punch to the stomach next time I see him for that.~~ I mean, little brothers are so awesome!

*I walked into the house to show Vic my new bling and in all of the excitement, poor Atticus got startled and started crying.

*Later, our friend Katerina came over because our original plans had been to watch some movies for the night. Vic told us to think of a funny way to tell her that we were engaged, but the only thing I could come up with was to just see how long it took her to notice the sparkly rock on my hand. I did everything I could think of to put it directly in her eyesight but nothing was working. I remembered that the Lion King movie Taylor and I just bought was labeled "Diamond Edition" for some reason so I decided to hand Katerina the DVD and tell her it was the diamond edition and see if she noticed my hand. She just looked and me and obliviously said, "ok....why is it called that?" I was trying so hard not to laugh so I had to end the joke soon. I just said, "I don't really know, but I do know that there's another diamond on my hand!"

Lots of jumping and yelling later, we managed to startle Atticus for the second time in only an hour. I really hope he isn't traumatized through all of this.

*The night before Taylor proposed, we had actually been talking about the night we met and all the funny stories. I had no idea what was to come the next day!

*During our sushi date, I unsuccessfully tried to stuff an entire piece of sushi in my mouth. Looking back, I'm really surprised Taylor actually went through with proposing after that fine moment of class. Maybe I should take an etiquette class before our wedding. I would hate to do something like that again.

*I am so glad we got to celebrate with the same people who brought us together in the beginning.

And now I must plan. Toodles!

Once upon a time...

2011-10-16T19:49:00.006-05:00

Oh my, so much has happened since I updated this thing.

The biggest event of course being that Taylor asked me to marry him! Woohoo!!

Words cannot describe how excited I am to start this new chapter with Taylor. Thinking about getting married and actually beginning the getting married process are two completely different things. We don't have anything really set in stone at this point, but right now we are planning on sometime around Taylor's graduation from pilot training next spring!

I guess I'll go ahead and write down the story so I can have it documented even though I've already told EVERYONE I know.

The wheels were set in motion a couple of weeks ago when Taylor casually mentioned wanting to go to College Station for the upcoming long weekend. Of course I jumped at the chance to get in some Seidel time so I was fully on board. I thought it was a little weird that he kept asking me if I had taken off work for Columbus day, but a proposal was the last thing on my mind.

We arrived in College Station late Friday night and enjoyed catching up with good friends. On Saturday, Taylor and I planned to go on a date to a restaurant in Downtown Bryan that we frequented during college, however the Texas Red's Festival that we were unaware of had closed down all of downtown for Saturday. So instead, we just stayed in and had dinner with friends. On Sunday, Taylor suggested that we go on a lunch date instead of a dinner date. Sadly, Caffe Capri was closed on Sundays so we settled on sushi instead. I was not disappointed in our alternate choice. After lunch, Taylor said he wanted to get some ice cream in downtown Bryan. We normally don't go for ice cream since I am lactose intolerant but I went along with it because I secretly had a plan to drag him to the place we met in Bryan and take a picture out front. Little did I know...

We found a parking spot across from the Ice cream shop that ended up being closed. (Turns out all of downtown closes on Sundays.) I was not to be deterred from my plan, so I convinced Taylor to "just walk around" and hoped that we would walk up on the 202 building. Once we spotted it, I pulled out my camera and made Taylor take an emo picture of us since he has longer arms. His hand was shaking which I thought was really weird. I thought he was cold and being a baby about it.

Here's the picture. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. I'm not sure why Taylor was holding the camera so low either...

After our picture, we peeked into the window of the 202 building and reminisced about the night we met and our first dance. We said some sweet things and then Taylor transitioned into his proposal! I was so caught off guard that I couldn't do anything but laugh and cry. Because that's what I do when I don't know what to do.

Since everything in downtown was closed, there was obviously no one on the streets to take our "just engaged" picture. I managed to wrangle some straggler who may or may not have been homeless to take one for us though so don't worry. I just do what it takes.

Then we headed back to Vic and Sarah's house to celebrate and it was the most perfect night ever. Until our wedding that is! Paaaarty!

So much Canton, so little time!

2011-10-05T18:32:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, Mom, Katie, Kirsten and I had our annual October Canton trip. Our treasure hunt was a success! My planning of the weekend, however, was not a success. Holy tired eyeballs.

I left after school around 5 pm for a 6.5ish hour drive home. Mom, who wasn't even awake anymore when I finally got home decided to come in my room the next morning at 7:30 and announce that she was ready to go.

Um, nice to see you again too, MOM.

For once in our life, we actually got to Canton fairly early. Our first stop was of course Dog Alley. I do not actually want a dog. Probably ever again in my life. I do however absolutely love looking at other people's dogs and seeing puppies play around. Adorable. If I could stare at puppies, kittens, and babies playing all day long, my life would be pretty sweet.

Also, bulldog puppies are $1500 a piece? I think not. And why do the trashiest people sell the most expensive dogs? Sell one of those and go get yourself some new teeth! I apologize for the judging but COME ON.

I would also not buy a dog from someone who makes signs like this:

Out of all the words on this sign...that's the one they missed.

After we tore ourselves away from the cuteness and people watching heaven, we made our way over to the regular part of Canton. SO MANY PEOPLE. Everyone had wagons and carts to carry all of their children and treasures in so not only was it packed, but we were all getting run over every couple of minutes. Getting from one side of the aisle to the other was like playing a scarier version of Frogger.

There were also a ton of pregnant ladies wandering around. I've obviously never been pregnant, but I know that I get a little grumpy after walking around all day and I don't even have to carry around an extra 25 pounds around my midsection. You won't see me doing that. Ever.

One of my treasures that I picked up is a coffee table that happened to perfectly match a random end table I got at a garage sale last summer. Hello, it was fate so of course I bought it. 1/2 off I might add. I did some bargaining and got the seller down from $40 to $30 but when he went to ring me up, he said, "I told you $20, right?" Why yes you did, sir.

I didn't even have to work for that one!

Next time we take our annual trip, we will have to make it at least a 2-day event. There was so much that we weren't even able to get to. I'm thinking we should make friends with some people who have an RV and invite them along. If only Taylor's Aunt and Uncle read my blog!

After we got home - late again - I loaded up a bunch of things that I wasn't able to bring home on the plane after my last visit.

I joked that this photo is the only reason I still am even speaking to my car. There is a coffee table, countless random things and a rubbermaid tub. Plus my suitcase! I guess Hitler can stay around a little while longer. I let him know though that trunk space can be forgotten though if he has one more thing that needs replacing. Ok, so I don't really talk to my car. I just talk badly about it. All the time.

I finally got to sleep in for a little while on Sunday before making the drive back. I wish I could have seen Dad and Jess for longer, but inviting them to Canton would have been a mistake. Complaining takes on a new meaning with those two. Also, Dad has anxiety issues with big crowds. We may have had to visit a psych ward after a couple of hours with all of those people.

Even though my trip was crazy fast and I was beyond exhausted when I got home on Sunday, I'm so glad I decided to go. It's a good thing Taylor is driving this weekend, because we've got another long trip planned! This time for College Station. You should expect lots of adorable pictures of Me and Atticus because I'll of course be hogging him all to myself again. Sorry Taylor!

Where I've been...

2011-09-27T16:04:00.002-05:00

A couple of days ago, I counted up the number of weeks it had been since I blogged. Taylor told me that I'm not very good at this blogging thing and that I need to step it up. He's right. I just keep forgetting to get the pictures I need for my blog from his computer. Lame excuse, I know.

A lot has actually happened since the last time I stopped by. Unfortunately, the only people who read this thing already know all of my life events so you're all just going to have to relive them! Hooray!

So far in September....

Taylor tracked to the T-1 plane for his last phase of pilot training. Just in case you're curious, it's the plane in the picture below. Only a few more months until graduation! I'm so proud of him!

To celebrate the end of Phase II, Taylor's pilot training class had a big party. And those are the pictures I do not have. Maybe one day I'll get around to that. Don't hold your breath though.

The party was lots of fun, and there was even a bouncy castle. I missed out on the bouncy castle though because it deflated while I was there and then was magically re-inflated after I left. Story of my life.

The day of the track party was a whirlspin as my dad likes to say. I had a hair appointment in San Antonio that took FOUR hours longer than it should have. I know it had been a while since my last appointment, but I think that's a little excessive. Luckily, my friend Callen made the trip with me and we ended up making a crazy experience into a great day. After rushing back to Del Rio, we rolled up just in time for the festivities. P.S. I love living here and getting to partake in such activities!

In other news...I got a job!

I will be a part of the Special Education department at the local Middle School teaching...wait for it....junior high math.

My entire life has been spent avoiding math and now I am in charge of teaching it. Holy smokies. I am extremely excited though and cannot wait for my first day tomorrow!

Other than the big life events like new jobs and new planes to fly, it's been pretty boring around here. I don't even have any fun LBMM stories to share. I have just been enjoying my time with Taylor, getting over a cold, and not doing laundry. This weekend though, I'm looking forward to taking our annual Canton trip with my mom! If only I had more money to buy lots of treasures and more space to put them in!

Confessions

2011-09-05T16:08:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Taylor has been in Lubbock dove hunting and doing other manly stuff while I stayed in town for work. I missed him lots (gag, I know) but it was also nice to relax by myself for a couple of days. After work on Saturday, I came home and took a shower and then changed into my pajamas for the night. I kept thinking that my shirt felt really weird, but I couldn't figure out why. Later on I caught a glimpse of my reflection and realized that I had actually put my t-shirt on backwards. Even though nobody was there to witness it, I still felt like a big ding-dong.

Last night, I actually sat and watched the entire A&M game. I miss Aggieland so much. Oh nostalgia. The real life with all of these bills and responsibilities and such is way less fun than procrastinating homework. I should probably mention that as I was watching the game, I was simultaneously filling out my budget for the month. Now that was a reality check. Sometimes I wonder how I never managed to go broke in college and ate out ALL the time.

Apparently in Del Rio, the first weekend of the month is when everyone decides to come across the border and do their Wal-Mart shopping. I did not know this until after my visit to the Wal-Mart. I was so frustrated the entire time I was shopping and even though weekends are usually busier, this was outrageous. It was like in high school when the bell rang. Except instead of backpacks, everyone was using their baskets as bumper cars to get down the aisles. I just wanted to get my orange juice and get out of there with my achilles tendons attached.

In the parking lot on my way out of the store, I saw this giant tahoe with "She think my tahoe is sexy" written across the windshield. Think. Not thinks. I wanted to take a picture of it so bad, but just as I was getting my camera out, a family started to get into the sexy tahoe. It totally made up for almost losing my mind in the store.

The weather here changed in just a couple of hours' time. It went from 95 degrees to 78. I have just begun to accept that every day is going to be miserably hot so I didn't even bother to check my weather app before I got dressed. Also, I decided today that I was going to let my hair air dry and go curly. As soon as I stepped outside this morning, I had this weird moment where I was completely dumbfounded by what was going on. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I got 2 hours of sleep last night and things just weren't processing right or maybe it was because I couldn't remember what this kind of weather felt like. All I know is that semi-wet hair and the lower temperatures had me shivering as I was driving.

Speaking of the wet hair. After I got out of the shower this morning, I was getting ready for the day and walking in and out of my bathroom. In the house I live in, we have marble floors throughout the entire house. So as I was doing my hair, some of the water/product got onto this marble floor and as I was coming back into the bathroom, my foot found the puddle and I slipped. Ouch. Luckily I caught myself before an ER trip was necessary but there was a split second in there when I didn't think I was going to make it.

I'm refusing to use the title "randoms" again for a while so I'm getting creative in the meantime. Really the only thing I confessed is that I wore my shirt backwards for a couple of hours without realizing it. Clever, I know.

In other news, tomorrow is Track for Taylor's pilot training class. Phase 2 is over! We find out whether he gets T-1's or T-38's in the morning and then it's on to Phase 3 until next March/April! Almost there!

The Atticus Post

2011-09-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's already been a week since we were in College Station. I meant to write this post like a hundred million times but somehow this past week flew by before I knew what happened.

I have been dying to get back to see Vic and Sarah since the last time I saw them in May and then once Taylor got to visit them on his cross country, I had to make it happen. I am so glad I gave Taylor no choice and that we were able to make this trip happen.

So far, Vic and Sarah are the closest of all our favorite people to see. My parents live 6.5 hours away, Taylor's live 5.5 hours from here and everyone else lives in different states. We thought our drive would be easy peasy lemon squeezy BUT what we did not account for was the Friday afternoon 5:00 traffic in San Antonio through New Braunfels. We kept looking for a construction zone or an accident that would have caused SO MUCH traffic but all we ran into were some cars parked on the shoulder waiting out the nightmare. Taylor and I have always agreed that we will never live in a big city. All the Target stores in the world could not convince me to sit in that much traffic.

Also another minor snag in our drive was a teensy prank from our friend, Craig. Let's just say there were some wires crossed and SOMEBODY decided to play along and make Taylor think he had to stay for a late afternoon meeting. No worries because just 10 minutes later, we got it all straightened out. Taylor did however make Craig feel bad when he told him we had already driven 30 miles down the road and came all the way back once we got his message. We were actually only in the driveway so that was super funny.

Once we got to Vic and Sarah's, the baby loving began. I pretty much hogged poor Atticus the entire weekend and I'm not sorry at all. He is so cuddly and even when he toots, he is my favorite baby around.

P.S. I made that onesie for Atticus and Taylor totally tried to take credit for it because it had a plane. Um I don't think so Mister!

On Saturday, Whitney, Sarah and I ventured out to find Atticus some cute A&M clothes to get ready for football season while Vic and Taylor took Atticus on a Man-Trip to Lowes and Home Depot. We asked for pictures of somebody pushing a stroller or Taylor with the baby sling but nobody came through for us. I heard they took turns pushing the stroller though.

Before the guys left, Taylor tried out some of Atticus's slings. I think he outgrew this one...

Taylor's tasks from Vic for the weekend was to install a new fan and solve his squirrel/armadillo problem. He got the fan put up but the rodents were too sneaky to be caught this time around.

Even though Vic and Whitney cooked us up some excellent meals, we had to make a stop at Wing's N More. It was delicious as always. I miss you College Station!

;

Also during the weekend, Atticus rolled over by himself for the first time. We got it all on video and both Vic and Sarah were able to be home at the same time to see it! So exciting! I gave him extra some kisses because I was so proud.

We were so sad to leave on Sunday. Luckily, the trip isn't too long so we were able to have lunch and hang out a bit before we headed out. Atticus loves tv so Taylor and I let him hang out with us on the couch while his mom and dad got ready for the day. What a big boy!

;

We had such a great time visiting with the Seidels, Whitney, and Katrina. Kirsten and Katie even came into town! It was the perfect weekend to visit. Minus the fact that the weekend was only two days long. I would have preferred like 5 days.

Ok, here's some more pictures...because I never post pictures and now I have a million.

Weekends are good

2011-08-23T15:46:00.003-05:00

I went all of May, June, and July without a sunburn. Seriously. I was so proud of myself. I even almost made it through August before I got cocky and broke my streak.

Last weekend, a friend came into town on his way to San Antonio and stayed for a couple of nights. We took him out to our new favorite hangout, the Rio. Before, when we wanted to float the river, he headed to the "Bean Dip" where we had to think skinny to get through some of the low spots and always keep our eyes out for Bean Dippers jumping off of bridges overhead. Then, Taylor's class sponsors introduced us to the real river in town. Much better. We are usually the only ones on the water, and once you get used to the "refreshing" temperature, it is quite nice.

Anyways, back to last weekend. I swear I put sunscreen on. We did not have any of the spray kind this week though, so I chose not to reapply the lotion halfway through the float. Ugh, next time I'll suck it up and deal with the lotion! Baby steps people. Also, remember those pictures of my last sunburn and the weird tan lines? Still there. Except that it looks like I've got a skin disease now. My parents made me cover my arms because they said it grossed them out. Thanks family.

It's funny how when I get a sunburn, I cannot imagine what my skin felt like before and wonder if it will ever feel better again. Dramatic, I know. Don't worry though, this morning I forgot it even happened.

I finally got some good river pictures, but they aren't on my phone which means I'll never get around to uploading them. When will someone invent e-mail on a camera so I can just automatically upload them to flickr and my computer? Also, when will I stop looking for ways to make myself more lazy?

I love weekends. Lots of Taylor time, movies, eating food I don't have to cook, and usually a trip to the river. This coming weekend is going to be a good one as well. We are College Station bound on Friday so that I can squeeze some baby cheeks and Taylor can fix all of Vic's electronics around his house. I can't wait. Whitney will also be in town which is awesome because we haven't seen her since the last time we were in College Station together. IN JANUARY.

Home

2011-08-16T20:42:00.004-05:00

So. I am home from home. That sounds silly but I don't know how else to describe it. I guess Frost is still technically home, but Del Rio is starting to feel pretty permanent so I consider this home too now.

My flight into Dallas was pretty uneventful. Although there was a child in front of me who kept threatening her dad that she was going to drop his laptop if he didn't start listening to her. Good luck with her in about 10 years, parents! It sounds like you area already doing a fantastic job.

Also, when I got to the San Antonio airport before my flight, I had to go to the bathroom reallyreally bad and found out that they were having serious plumbing issues and there were no bathrooms. That was awesome.

Mom picked me up from the airport (after rear-ending someone...don't tell Dad!) and we met a couple of her friends from college for lunch at quite possibly the best Mexican food place I've ever eaten. Incidentally, the founder was also the inventor of the margarita machine. Me + Marianos = truluv4evr.

Oh, and we also stopped on our way home and saw The Help. Have you read the book? If not, get on that yesterday and then go see the movie. I laughed, I cried, and then I almost stayed to watch it again.

I can't remember what happened on Friday, except that I know I slept late and Mom made me a PBJ so it was obviously a success. Oh, and we went to Chili's where I ate my weight in food. I might have gotten a little tipsy on a long island iced tea as well. Classy!

Saturday was Jesse's first football scrimmage. I didn't really pay too much attention because my job was just to show up. Nobody told me to know the outcome. Is there even an outcome in a scrimmage? The team they were playing had the same color scheme so I gave up trying to figure out who was who. Bad big sister, I know.

After the scrimmage, Dad and Jesse ditched me for a rodeo so I got to spend some time hanging out by myself. Which means that I definitely raided the junk food. I am glad that I don't have anything like that in mine or Taylor's pantries because I would eat it all day long. Every day.

My dad and brother are big chick flick fans. Weird, right? Sundays are the chick flick lover's dream because there are a million of them playing all day long. Dad can't sit still very long so he would come in and out all throughout the movies and start asking questions. Hearing my dad ask about Sweet Home Alabama and The Holiday and my brother responding with who was in love with who was probably the highlight of my weekend.

Sunday was also my brother's 18th birthday. I can't believe he's old enough to be 18. I feel like someone who still only eats Oreos and Dr. Pepper shouldn't be allowed to be an adult yet.

Since I am poor, I decided to make dinner for Jesse's birthday instead of a gift. Also, I forgot to get a gift. I made tomato-blue cheese pasta and even though there was much groaning at the name from two family members who shall not be named, everyone loved it. You're welcome, family. Horizons broadened.

While I was in town, I was reminded of one of my least favorite parts of summer. Grasshoppers. Since we don't have any (I don't think) in Del Rio, I had forgotten they even existed. I HATE grasshoppers. I know that being 22 years old means I shouldn't scream when one lands on me. But I do.

I'm glad that I chose to fly in on a Thursday and fly out on a Monday because it gave me the entire weekend to spend with my family. As I was leaving, Mom told me she wants me to come back at least once a month. I do miss my family, but the plan was to move to Del Rio so I didn't have to travel as much. Duh, Mom.

The only pictures I have from the weekend are of Jesse blowing out his candles and I forgot to comb my hair or get dressed in matching clothes so those won't be seeing the light of day.

Brain Dump

2011-08-08T11:37:00.017-05:00

I decided to title this post, "Brain Dump" because I couldn't stand having one more "Randoms" blog title. I hafta switch it up sometimes. Maybe I should change the title of my entire blog to "Random" because that's pretty much all I talk about.

Last weekend, Taylor went on his cross country flight. Don't let that fool you, they didn't let him fly to New York or anything, just around Texas and to a couple of surrounding states. Anyways, one of his stops for gasolina was in College Station.

Vic was such a great host, he picked up Taylor and then picked up pre-ordered food from Wings 'N More and took Taylor back to Casa de Seidel so he could eat dinner.

Do you see where this is going? First he got to visit the Seidels, THEN he got to eat some Wings 'N More, and THEN this happened...

I'll admit it. I was full of jealousy.

I think Atticus loved his Uncle Taylor and I am counting down the days until we BOTH get to go back to College Station and visit the Seidel family.

After his short visit to College Station, he was back in the skies on the way to Oklahoma City for a night. The next morning, our friends Paige and Jacob taxied Taylor around town and even took him out for breakfast at ihop.

Guess who else he met?

Seriously? The only two couples with babies that we know and he got to see them BOTH in one weekend. And now we have to add Oklahoma to our list of places to visit because that baby is adorable and I have to meet him.

After his stop in Oklahoma, the trip got pretty boring because he stopped seeing babies and I was ready for him to come back and hang out with me.

P.S. aren't those two of the cutest pictures you've ever seen? They definitely make me melt!

While Taylor was off flying for a weekend, I practiced my sewing skills.

This project turned out great!

This project is one that I would like to forget I even attempted.

A couple of weeks ago, I headed up to San Marcos to meet Mom for a day of shopping. We hit up Target, the outlet mall, and even the HobLob.

Mom brought me a box o' goodies and included in that box were two magazines.

The date of our trip was July 28th. Most of the people in these magazines had already broken up or changed their hairstyle. While I was thankful for the gesture, I think Mom could have just thrown these away.

Also during our trip, I found this necklace:

Look familiar? It reminded me a lot of the necklace I made a while back. And even though this one was on clearance for $8.00, I knew I could make one exactly like it. So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought all of the supplies. Then I tried to make it. Who knew cutting out teeny tiny flowers from chiffon fabric would be so difficult. My necklace is still in progress. I'll let you know if I ever finish it.

I have approximately 49 projects half way finished. One of which was an outfit for Atticus that he has already outgrown. Awesome.

I think that's all of the random things floating around in my brain that I haven't blogged about yet. I'm going home to Frost this week. Somehow, I don't think Frost will be able to provide me with much material. Although I am looking forward to Mom making me food.

A Tutorial

2011-08-01T22:00:00.003-05:00

Today, I have a quick tutorial for you. I hope you're ready for this one because it's extremely easy.

The first step (take notes because this is the most important part) is to make the outstanding decision to wear jeans on a day that tops 105 degrees outside.

Secondly, you'll want to walk around outside for a while. Preferably to and from your car in the Wal-Mart and mall parking lots. This will give you plenty of inspiration for the upcoming steps.

Next you must go inside your house where your new rolling cutter is conveniently sitting next to your neatly folded jeans. (This is when the light bulb goes on in your head.)

That neatly folded pair of jeans that you've had since high school will probably have holes in the knees that are so big, you almost won't even need to use scissors to cut through them.

Line up the pant legs of your jeans and cut them at the desired length. Then put your new pair of shorts on and roll them up a couple of times.

You should end up with something like this and immediately feel super proud of yourself.

The last step is the best one. Go to your freezer and grab a popsicle while you congratulate yourself on being so awesome. Preferably grape.

I have to admit, I've been planning this for a while. I couldn't stand to cut up a pair of jeans though that I still wear, but once I remembered that I had these in the back of my closet at home, I had my mom bring them to me during our visit last week. Perfect!

I wish I had taken a picture of what they looked like before I cut them but I was in such a distressed state of mind from the heat that I literally completed this in 30 seconds. I kid you not, the holes in the knees were big enough that I could fit my entire leg up to my thigh through them. They were pretty trashy looking. I think I paid $14.00 for them when I was a sophomore. SEVEN years ago. Holy cow I'm old.

I am nowhere near the 90 pounds I weighed in high school so it makes me wonder a little bit what these jeans looked like on me back then if they still fit now. Thank goodness I hid from the camera all those years!

4th of July

2011-07-26T01:42:00.000-05:00

I guess it's time to reflect on our eventful 4th of July weekend. You know...3 weeks later. Whatevs.

We decided to drive to Lubbock with our friends, Ryan and Marie after Taylor got off work on a Thursday night. Not even an hour into the drive, we hit a deer. It sounds a lot worse than it actually was though. Taylor's truck, "Betty" took it like a champ. For the rest of the night, we were on high deer alert and it's amazing how many of them we saw standing right beside the road.

I can't really remember the order in which the rest of the events happened over the weekend, I just remember them happening.

One day of the weekend, we went to the farm and shot guns (OH BOY!) and rode around on the four wheeler and ranger. It wouldn't be a trip to the farm with guns if there wasn't a Mary story (or a couple) involved.

You should just know that this is the summary of what I did on the farm.

At one point, Taylor said I would probably be decent at throwing a clay pigeon with the plastic thrower since I was good at tennis. I attempted it and the next thing I knew, the entire thrower and pigeon was behind me. I hit Taylor square in the chest with it. What a horrible girlfriend, I know.

I only managed to hit one clay pigeon with the shotgun and just as everyone was congratulating me for finally "getting it", I had to break it to them that I actually shut my eyes and squeezed the trigger. Just luck, no skill. I hate being bad at things, but I really don't see myself ever having the desire to better my hunting skills.

There was even a tractor lesson for the Martelly's included with their farm tour.

Before we ventured out on the ATV's, I decided to reapply my sunscreen (I'm learning, folks) but really all that happened was some dirt smearing. I thought it was a tan, but after my shower I realized that I am still pasty white.

On our last day in Lubbock, Marie and I went to Target. It was such a beautiful, welcomed sight that I almost cried. I'm exaggerating, but I really do miss being in civilization.

Later, we all met up with some of our friends who just had a baby! The last time we saw Paige and Jacob, they had just gotten engaged and now three years later, they have a bambino. Baby Mason didn't join us for our Dairy Queen date, but I've seen pictures and he is adorable so I'll forgive him for flaking out on us. He probably had to do something important like sleep. I would have picked the nap too.

Also on our last night, we had a nice porch time with Kristofer.

You probably shouldn't be surprised that pictures like these happened. We can't help it.

Marie and Ryan love Verett Farms!

Luckily, our drive home was uneventful. I managed to sleep through most of it though so I guess I wouldn't really know. I know I left some things out, but that's what I get for being lazy and these are all the pictures I had so I know that we at least went to the farm and took some pictures on the back porch.

Who even knows

2011-07-13T01:35:00.002-05:00

Today was definitely...one of "those" days. The kind of day that makes you either laugh or cry.

Luckily, I laughed.

I woke up this morning thinking it was Wednesday. The cable guy is coming to Taylor's house on Wednesday so I decided to head over to base around noon so I could eat some of Taylor's food for lunch. Halfway there, Hitler started dinging at me that I had low tire pressure. "No big deal, I'll just check on it once I get on base," I thought. Wrong. I didn't know car dings could get louder and more obnoxious, but oh boy did it ever. I decided that maybe it would be a good time to pull over and give it a checky-roo. At this point, I got a little upset because not only do Del Rioans not understand the whole "Right Lane, Slow Lane" concept, they also missed the "switch to the other lane when there's a stranded motorist on the side of the road" memo. Um, RUDE.

Anyways, I got out to check my tire and it was flatter than a pancake and still whooshing air. I called Taylor on the off chance that he was home for lunch and happened to catch him with just enough time to come to my rescue. I wanted to take a picture of him changing the tire so I could be funny with it later, but then I got some situational awareness and decided against it. Probably woulda been a not so funny choice.

After some German car-Volkswagen rants, he got my spare on and sent me on my way back into town so I could get the flat fixed. As I was leaving, I asked if Taylor was going to still need me at the house by 1 so I could let the cable guy in. He looked at me kind of funny and said, "uh, yeah...tomorrow."

So...I was on my way to base for no reason and got a flat tire.

This past weekend, Taylor gave me a free oil change gift certificate at the Chevy dealership in town. He changes his own oil (la-dee-dah) so he didn't need it and Hitler was in need of some new oil. I have no idea who in this town is reputable and who isn't so I figured I might as well get a free oil change and have them fix my tire all at the same time. Boom. Two birds with one stone.

I was at the dealership for FOUR hours waiting on an oil change and a fixed flat. At one point, the mechanic came to the waiting area to ask me where a part was. Seriously. I mean, I know it was free and all but I feel like they could have made a little more effort.

After going stir-crazy at the dealership and explaining to someone why his rationale for buying a car was ridiculous, I was finally able to go to my original destination.

I decided to attempt to make baked buffalo chicken pasta for dinner tonight. It was almost my first cooking fail. (All my other fails have been baking related.) I think that when cooking and baking, you should not use fat free milk. It never thickens right. I used my milk disaster anyways and even 30 minutes past the recommended 25 minutes in the oven, the chicken was STILL not fully cooked. So I had to dig out the 30 or so pieces and put them in a skillet and then add them back to the pasta and stir it all up again. Everyone said they liked it, but once again...I think they were being nice. I'll get my real answer once I tell Taylor that I'm making it for dinner again. If he says, "um, maybe you shouldn't" then I'll know the truth!

I think my Keep Calm and Carry On homescreen on my iphone is really starting to rub off on me. I did not let ANY of today's frustrations ruin the rest of my day. It's either the phone or that I'm maturing. Who really knows?

Embarrassing randoms

2011-07-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

I know a lot of times I try to tell simple stories in a funny way, but lately...I don't even have to try. I just do things that end up being really embarrassing or really funny. Here are a couple of examples that will probably cause you to not be my friend anymore. Seriously, I am not making this stuff up. Sadly, there were usually witnesses to my "events".

***A couple of weeks ago, I was grocery shopping for both my house and Taylor's house. The only thing Taylor really needed was some sour cream so that he could make his famous Blue Cheese Dressing. I even wrote down "Sour Cream" on my grocery list. And then I came home with cream cheese. When Taylor looked in the refrigerator for said sour cream, I proudly pulled out my purchase and it took me a few minutes to understand the blank look on Taylor's face.

***This morning, my dad sent me a text way too early for my brain to process. I had just been dreaming about Taylor trying to get a hold of the cable company and so for some reason, I thought Dad's text was referring to the cable company.

What Dad really said: Hey I never heard back from you yesterday.

What I thought "Taylor" said: Hey I never heard back from Time Warner yesterday.

My response: That's really lame!

***This past weekend, we were in Lubbock visiting Taylor's parents. One morning I went to wake Taylor up and he told me, "I can't...I'm in wing tip". I thought he might still be asleep since this has happened before so I kind of laughed at him and continued talking. He then used his hands to demonstrate what wing tip formation is. I told him to get up a couple more times and then I left him alone. Later that night he was talking to someone else about wing tip formation when he suddenly remembered what he told me that morning. I love replaying Taylor sleep talking stories so of course I jumped at the chance to tell everyone what he said!

***My legs look like I got in a fight with a baseball bat. I don't really know why, but I'm pretty sure that I banged my knees together in my sleep and may or may not have kicked myself in the shins. Otherwise, I can't explain these bruises.

***I love popsicles. Especially the kind that you cut one end off and then eat. I don't know what they are actually called so that's the best description I can offer. Anyways, I love 'em. Yesterday, I was merrily enjoying one when I had to set it down for a couple of seconds. When I picked it back up, I did not pay attention to which end was open and so the entire popsicle spilled out all over me and the kitchen floor. Definitely one of my prouder moments as an adult.

***The other night, Taylor thought it was really funny to squeeze his feet into my flip flops so that I couldn't put them on and drive home. Best joke ever, I tell you. He wouldn't give them up so I decided to play the same game. I put on his tennis shoes and came back in the living room. I have to admit that walking out of the house in shoes twice my size while trying to act annoyed wasn't my most convincing act.

And to sum it all up, here is a picture that pretty much epitomizes mine and Taylor's relationship.

We ended up with some cute pictures, but that's for another post. Which will also include more LBMM stories. Of course.

Cooking adventures

2011-06-23T17:28:00.001-05:00

Am I the only person on Earth who despises grocery shopping? Although I hate how it all costs money, my biggest gripe is that I can't ever find anything! I just have to wander through the aisles hoping to find everything on my list. This usually causes major impulse buying. Because I have no self control and apparently an endless bank account.

For example: does it make sense that the syrup is on the same aisle as PART of the candy and not with the pancake mix? Not to me. Also, why are there two candy aisles? And why is there a rotisserie chicken stand in the checkout line instead of where they sell cut meat? NO SENSE

Someone needs to invent something that you could enter your grocery list into and it would tell you what aisle it's on. Of course that would cut out a lot of impulse buying for people like me. And we all know that Wal-Mart would never put convenience over making money.

ANYWAYS, the whole point of this post was so I could brag about my newly discovered love for cooking. Before, I always got a little lightheaded when I even thought of breaking out a pan or being near the kitchen. I've had some disasters in my day.

Fortunately, Taylor and his roommate have agreed to let me experiment with my cooking. So far no one has gotten sick or had to throw anything away so I guess I would consider it a success.

So far I've made:

*Bacon wrapped sliders with BBQ sauce --These were ah-mazing. And we had enough for leftovers for a couple of days!

*Bruschetta pasta - I got a double thumbs up from Taylor with this. He took all the leftovers and wouldn't share.

*Red Velvet cake - This was Taylor's Mamaw's recipe. I was NERVOUS to make this because of how hard I heard it was, but I suceeded and Taylor said it tasted just like he remembered. I have to give all the credit to his cousin, Kristi though and my friend Callen. Kristi provided some really helpful hints and Callen helped me with the cooked icing!

*Something else that I can't remember (Last week was a long time ago, y'all)

*Airplane shaped sugar cookies -- I am not sure I will ever make these again. Between the icing and the cookies, I worked for 4 hours. FOUR hours. It took a lot of strength to stay focused on this project. Cooking is not something you can get bored with and come back to later. They turned out really cute, but I did not feel fireworks when I ate them so I'm not sure I would do it again.

If you have any recipes that are your favorites...please share them with me!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:25:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Thanks for everything you do and loving me every day.

I love you!

Lessons in Moving

2011-06-17T17:29:00.000-05:00

1. When shopping in Wal-Mart, you must master the ability to grab something off the shelf as you are walking by. Do not think for one second you will be able to stop and browse. Del Rioans will run you over and keep on going.

2. Mom is not here to buy the "things only Mom knows you need". I have been to the store probably every day this week getting things that just happened to appear at my parents house.

3. Driving in Del Rio is a lot like navigating the aisles of Wal-Mart in Del Rio. People are either going reallyreally slow and driving in the middle of both lanes, or they are trying to run you over.

4. Do not make eye contact with the lady at the Sushi Bar in H-E-B. She will force you to buy a $12 box of sushi.

5. Meeting new friends is fun, but eating out for lunch every day can get quite expensive.

These are just a few lessons in life that I have come across in my first week in my new home. I absolutely love it here. Especially the part where I get to see Taylor every day!

When I lived at home with my parents, I used to wish for the day that a grocery store or any store was closer than 20 miles and now that I have a Wal-Mart less than five minutes away...I spend way more money. It's just so CONVENIENT!

I MADE IT!

2011-06-14T01:51:00.000-05:00

I am now an official Smell Rio resident. I almost can't believe I just wrote that last sentence because none of it feels real yet! Talking about making the move and actually making the move are two very different things.

Before, I was all..."OH EM GEE, I can't wait to be moved down here and get to see Taylor whenever I want and live 10 minutes away instead of 6 hours!"

And now I'm all..."WHAT DID I JUST DO?"

I know everything is going to be fine, but there have been a few minor panic attacks in the past couple of days.

I never ever EVER do anything this gigantic without first having a concrete plan. I kind of approached this whole thing though with the "it'll all work out" attitude. It's really hard, but I do have complete faith that God will provide me with exactly what I need. So if you happen to think about it, I'm going to need big, big prayers in the near future.

My mom had a few things to do this weekend so she stayed behind while Dad and Jesse came with me to help move my things. The fact that I said goodbye to Mom didn't really didn't sink in until about an hour into my trip and then about halfway to Del Rio, I almost hyperventilated once I started thinking about the reality of the situation. I am now 6 hours away from my parents, I don't have a job, and I'm in a new town. I had obviously thought of these things before I moved, but it still hit me pretty hard once the move was final and real.

I kept neurotically thinking that something was going to go horribly wrong and I would have to turn around and go back home. Fortunately, everything went smoothly...except that the drive down here took almost two hours longer than it normally does because my dad and brother travel like a couple of girls. We stopped FIVE times. Mainly so they could use the bathroom.

Once we FINALLY made it, we got all my stuff moved in and then relaxed for the night at my new home. Dad and Jesse left on Sunday after lunch and I was really glad that Dad held it together. I thought it was odd that he just said, "Ok, love you, bye!" and then left because normally he drags these things out and pretend pouts. I talked to him later and he said that if he hung around much longer, he might have lost it. He doesn't read my blog, but don't tell him I just outed him for crying on the internet. :)

*Being here is so incredibly surreal. I still feel like a visitor!

*Taylor and I are going to have to learn how to date like real couples. I hope he still likes me now that I'm here for good!

*I hope I find a yob soon. (That's job with a spanish flair. I think I heard it in a movie once. I don't know which one, but I liked it so I use it all the time.)

I already miss my family, but I know that I am going to have lots of fun on this great big new adventure.

Surprise...more randoms

2011-06-09T18:28:00.002-05:00

*Last week on my way to Del Rio, I got behind a dump truck carrying onions. Would you put a cover over a load of onions? I definitely would. Especially when the onions are precariously piled higher than the sides of the truck. The driver hit a bump and wouldn't you know it, a bunch of the onions started flying out towards me. I really wish I had taken a picture of this. I still can't believe it happened.

*I'm moving to Del Rio on Saturday. Which is TWO days from now. I don't have anything packed. I know where it all is, but it's not in suitcases or boxes yet. I may have to pull an all nighter tonight.

*Mom and I started refinishing a chest of drawers and another chest last night. Then we made Sangria and things got really fun. I was spray-priming the drawers from the chest and drinking at the same time and I somehow turned the spray can around and sprayed my entire hand.

*Remember when I talked about all the cavities I had to get filled? They're all doing fine, but I woke up on Tuesday morning and couldn't drink a glass of water without feeling like someone was drilling a hole in my tooth. So, I made an appointment to get it all checked out. I got there and the dentist said it wasn't a big deal and sometimes teeth just get sensitive. Really? Out of nowhere? I think that maybe we should take all my teeth out and start over.

*Along with my tooth debacle, I also woke up on Tuesday morning with a swollen eye. I have no idea what happened to it or why it started to swell, but it hurts. ALSO, my deadly-flesh-eating skin fungus went away. And then came back. I'm slowly falling apart. I guess the good news is that I haven't been beaten up by the copier at work lately.

*One day last week while Taylor was at work, I decided to eat a hotdog for lunch. I cooked it and then put my usual ketchup and mustard on top, but as I took a couple of bites I kept thinking that something about it tasted...off. I must have forgotten whose house I was eating lunch at because after I saw the ketchup bottle, it totally made sense why it tasted different.

*My dad got my mom a doggie door for their anniversary last month. How romantic, right? Last year he bought her a car and he knew he wouldn't be able to top it so he's back to buying things he thinks Mom needs. Anywho, he had someone come over to install it while I was out of town and then called me to say that the dogs weren't the least bit interested. Lily, our lazy dog, only wants to come in the door on to our back porch. Sam, our stupid dog, finally figured out that the door wasn't going to eat him alive and now he runs FULL SPEED in and out of it. I'm waiting for him to miss one day. My thought is that if Lily really needs in or out of the house, she'll figure it out.

I can't think of anymore random tidbits. I'll let you know how my packing goes tonight and tomorrow. At least this time, I can take WHATEVER I want and not have to worry about the what if questions. I think I'm going to leave most of my winter clothes at my parents house since it probably won't get below 105 until November in Del Rio.

My last "visit"

2011-06-06T09:45:00.000-05:00

Oh haaaay, I'm back. Again.

I would apologize for my week plus absence from blogging but I've been hanging out with Taylor all this time and I had to use my time and brain power for other things like being more awesome than him. I can only be awesome at blogging or more awesome than Taylor. Not both at the same time. Too much pressure.

But moving on...

I'm trying to prolong my stay in Del Rio by creating this post. I've got to go back home so I can pack the rest of my things and then I shall make the official move. When I say pack, I think you should know that I'll just be stuffing my clothes into a couple of suitcases and taking my bed apart. I might actually leave my folded clothes in my dresser and just throw that in the back of the truck. I think it's a good idea, except if the dresser flew out of the truck on the way back down here. Then I would be without dresser as well as half my clothes. DECISIONS.

This past week has been so much fun! It's like I'm finally getting to enjoy all those summers that I never had in college. I may not be able to handle going back to work once I find a job. I'm sure my Dad won't mind me being a mooch for an entire year...right? And since it's Del Rio, it will be like summer all year long. I like this plan.

When I arrived in the Rio last week, Taylor was still working so I got to hang out with Marie and Angela some. I watched Marie paint for a while and then she had to go teach a class so Ryan and I decided to make dinner for Taylor. Ryan actually did all of the work. I just watched and tried to act like I knew what he was talking about.

That weekend, Taylor and I went to the pool with Craig and Angela. The lifeguards got all power hungry on everyone though and wouldn't let people be in the deep end unless they were diving and then immediately swimming to the side and getting out. Instead of being able to jump into the pool to cool off, we had to wade around in the shallow end with all the kids. Um, rude. The good news though is that I did not get sunburned. I didn't get any sun at all actually. I guess this is what happens when you REAPPLY the sunscreen. I only got the memo 22 years late. No big.

This trip also included seeing THREE movies in theater. We saw Kung Fu Panda 2 (which I kept calling Panda Express 2), The Hangover Part 2, and X-Men. They were all really good. I haven't seen an X-Men movie since the 8th grade and I fell asleep in that one so I wasn't expecting a lot, but I enjoyed the new one. The Hangover 2 was the exact same as the first movie, but in a different location. Still hilarious. Kung Fu Panda was good. Taylor laughed the hardest out of anyone in the theater so that's a good sign.

We also went bowling over the long weekend. Remember how much I've talked about not liking bowling in the past? I haven't changed my mind at all. The only balls I can manage to throw down the lane are the 6 pound ones, so the finger holes are made for infants. I gave myself a blood blister on my thumb and I'm pretty sure my wrist broke. It healed the next day so no worries, but it was definitely broken for a while.

Craig and Angela...much happier to be bowling than I was.

Once Memorial weekend was over, Taylor had to go back to work. So I did a lot of absolutely nothing during the day most of the time. I actually did a lot of running. Please, stop laughing. Want to know what a bad idea sounds like? Running at 5 pm when it's 109 outside. The rest of the time I spent hanging out with some of the other ladies on base.

Thursday night, Marie had another paint class that I FINALLY got to go to. I was really scared that my painting was going to be horrible and that I would have to throw it away before the class was over, but Marie was a wonderful teacher and it came out pretty decent. Taylor and his roommate Conor even stopped by to entertain the class for a while after he got done flying.

Thanks Marie!

Don't laugh too hard.

I was pretty bummed that I missed Taylor's first solo. Luckily though he had another one this week and I got to attend. After I watched him fly though, I was going to Marie's art gallery so I happened to wear a dress out to the flight line. As soon as I arrived, the wind started blowing 900 miles an hour. I tried really hard not to, but I still ended up flashing everyone. Taylor's friends were really awesome to hang out with me while he was flying and take me out to the plane.

I was so proud watching Taylor fly. I held myself together because I didn't want to be THAT GIRL, but inside I was squealing.

This was right after the flashing when Taylor was laughing at me. I kept trying to tell everyone that it was a bad idea for me to climb onto the wing in a dress, but they didn't listen!

This past weekend, we floated the Bean Dip and for the second weekend in a row...NO SUNBURN. It was a magical feeling. We also made two trips out to the Veranda during my stay. I heart sangria!

This morning, I woke up extra early so I could make cinnamon rolls for Taylor and Conor. I found a recipe online that looked pretty easy and included using biscuits for the dough. They didn't turn out too great, though. The directions said to put them in the oven for 20 minutes and even though I only put them in for 13, they still came out almost burned. Also the glaze had the wrong powdered sugar to cream ratio. It just tasted like liquid powdered sugar on a biscuit. The guys said they liked them, but I think they were just being nice. I wasn't too big of a fan myself.

So that's pretty much my trip in a nutshell. I'm going to miss being here this week, but I'll be back soon for good! I can't wait! For now though, I need to pack and get on the road.

Here's one more of Taylor and me. I think we're cute but next time I'll put some shorts on before I ask someone to take my picture.

Packing Woes

2011-05-26T00:34:00.001-05:00

It's almost midnight. I leave in the morning for Del Rio and I have an empty suitcase sitting on my floor.

I HATE packing. It's not so much the pulling out my clothes and organizing them. It's THE DECIDING WHAT TO WEAR part.

I am the worst when it comes to minuscule decisions. Like what movie to watch or which song I want to listen to on my iPhone. And also what outfits to pack in my suitcase.

I usually play out all kinds of "what if" scenarios while looking through my closet. Actually, forget the closet. When I'm packing, I've usually just finished the laundry so I pick what goes into my suitcase and then maybe put everything else away. Sometimes I just leave it in a basket until I wear it. Go ahead, judge away.

Oh ok, back to my what ifs.

"What if we go on a date? I'll definitely need a dress."
"What if the weather cools down? I should bring a longsleeve dress too."
"What if I decide I want to work out? I guess I need socks and tennis shoes too now."
"If the weather cools down, I'll definitely need my cardigans. But which ones? Oh well, I'll bring them all."

Ok, I'm sure you get my point. I either end up with way too many clothes that I never need or I go polar opposite and try to minimize and end up with nothing to wear.

I always have way too many socks. I throw some in my suitcase and then forget and throw some more in until I have 4 pairs. Then I forget my tennis shoes.

My problems continue on to my other bags too. Yes, I said bags with an s. I have my suitcase with all my clothes, my computer bag with all my electronics (I sound like Taylor), and my other bag that holds my shoes and my toiletries. I like to bring options.

Which brings me to my next what if question: "What if I change my mind?" I know it will happen. I'm pretty fickle. When I'm packing, that sundress sounds like a fantastic idea. But when it actually comes to wearing the sundress, I suddenly decide that I don't like how it fits.

I also forget something every time I go somewhere. Usually it's important things like my toothbrush or deodorant. I hope I manage to always forget one or the other of those items. Both would be a bad situation.

So I guess what I'm basically saying is....I'm a mess.

I think you should know that since dating Taylor, my packing has become much less whimsical. I don't ask myself nearly as many what if questions. Plus, the constant traveling to and from Colorado with just carry-ons made me way efficient. There was no way on this planet that I was going to pay $25 EACH WAY just to have extra pairs of shoes. And I also had to learn how to accept that I wouldn't always have the perfect outfit for the situation. It was a hard lesson.

Now that I'm within driving distance though, I may have gone back to my old habits of overpacking. If it fits in my trunk, you better believe it's coming with me!

I'm only complaining because I know this packing business will soon end. Know why?

Because I'm moving!

Finally, Taylor and I are going to be in the same town. After 3.5 years of dating. It's going to be glorious. We may even celebrate with some Mexican food.

Here's one of my favorite pictures from Hawaii. I'm posting it because tonight's Cougar Town was filmed there and it made me want to go back!

Monday? Tuesday? Wednesday?

2011-05-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

Today was one of those days that felt like a hundred Mondays piled into one. And to make it even better, I thought all day long that it was a Wednesday.

I have been stressing all day to get all of my work done and thinking about the gigantic pile of laundry I needed to wash and pack so I could leave for Del Rio. (Is anyone really surprised that none of my laundry is done?) You shouldn't be. It comes out of a suitcase and goes into a basket until I am completely out of jeans. I actually thought I had lost some of the clothes that happened to just be in the deepest darkest corner of the laundry basket.

Life is rough when you have to share the washer/dryer with 3 other people. When Mom does laundry, my underwear usually ends up in Jesse's stuff and I get his t-shirts. Very unfortunate switch. So I do my own. And that's why it takes me 4 weeks to do it!

ANYWHO.

Today was long. Both of the copiers went down at work. I left my computer charger at home. I dropped the office phone and lost the battery for a good 10 minutes. I accidentally called someone Pedro instead of Paul. (If only his handwriting had been better!)

I guess the good news is that I am now ahead of schedule at work and because the copiers weren't working for a while I didn't get as many bruises. Although Paul didn't think being called Pedro was as funny as I did.

Even better news though is that I have extra time to do laundry!

Oh, guess what else happened today?

Taylor soloed the T-6 airplane! I'm super proud of him! So proud, that I stole some pictures from his facebook! It's ok though, he loves me.

Here is Taylor. All by himself in a plane.

Yay Taylor!

After their solo, they are thrown in a dunk tank. I don't really know the details or anything. I just like this picture of Taylor. What a face!

And now I must go tend to the rest of my laundry. Which I love a lot less than Taylor.

Randoms

2011-05-24T00:06:00.000-05:00

The past week or so of my life has been random, so I thought my post should be random as well. Pretty clever, huh?

1. A couple of weeks ago, I posted on Facebook about how I was getting beat up by the copy machine at work. Well, we got into another fight and I lost again. I bent down to fix a paper jam and didn't see the "foot" of the machine and banged my knee on it. I have a bruise the size of golf ball now! It's really attractive when I wear shorts.

2. The charger for my iPhone broke on Friday night. At like 1:30 in the morning when it was completely out of juice. And no, Taylor, it isn't because I mistreat my electronics. These things just happen! To me! I finally broke down today and bought a new one. My choices were a 3 ft cord (like what I had...way too short) and a 10 ft cord. I just unwrapped it and I have to say...it's a little excessive. I wanted a longer cord though and I guess that's what I got.

3. I got into some poison ivy last weekend. I think. I don't really know when or where I found it, but somehow I ended up with poison ivy. I have been keeping benadryl on it and NOT scratching it so I thought it should be healing somewhat. Wrong. It was spreading. Big time. So I went back to the doctor today and he said that I still have poison ivy. With "skin fungus" on top. Skin fungus sounds a lot like "flesh eating disease" but whatever. I wasn't going to put this on my blog because it's really gross, but then I realized that something like this could only happen to me so...here it is. Ha!

4. I found some reallysupercute notecards in the dollar aisle at Target. I love writing people notes, but it's really hard to part with my cute cards. So if you receive one from me, I love you a lot.

5. Does anyone else watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey? My mom and I are obsessed with it. Why is it so much fun to watch crazy people crash and burn? This probably says something about me...

6. During the really bad storms we had a few weeks ago, my mom's dog ran away. She was gone for like 4 days and those were some of the best nights of sleep I've had in a long time. Long story short, mom found her and now we all have to wake up multiple times a night to let outside. Now, every time there's a change in the weather, Lily loses what little sense she has and goes nuts. The other day it was raining and she was running from room to room whining. Then the thunder started and she jumped into Dad's lap (he wasn't a fan of this) so then she tried to jump into my lap. While very sad, it was also really really funny. Also, any time she happens to walk by our back door and sees the rain, she goes batshit crazy and we have to console her. Have I mentioned she's a dog? I never thought I would have to console a dog. This situation is growing increasingly disturbing.

7. Mom and I saw Bridesmaids this weekend. I already watched it with Katie, but since it was so good I decided to see it again with Mom. Very raunchy but hilarious.

I guess that's all for my random stories. I'm going to Del Rio this weekend so I'm sure I'll be back soon with some more stories about our adventures. If I come back without pictures this time though, I want someone to slap me.

Here's a random picture I found on my phone today. I was attempting to look like I was flying my dad's airplane when really I was sitting in the backseat trying not to throw up.

Snakes in a bucket

2011-05-17T01:54:00.002-05:00

My Monday started out pretty normal. It wasn't even one of those Mondays that you wish would magically fast forward. Just a regular day full of boring errands.

Then, it got all Murphy's Law Monday on me.

When I got home from all my running around, I was fully prepared to take a glorious nap. The dogs had decided the night before that it was my job to let them in and out of every room in the house so I didn't get a ton of the quality sleep I usually like to have. We should really teach them how to open doors. Or you know, SLEEP OUTSIDE like normal dogs.

Just as I was laying down on the couch I noticed the cat playing with something on the floor.

Turns out it was a SNAKE. Thankfully it wasn't a very big one, but holy cow a snake is still a snake. I called Dad who was out of town and his only suggestion was to hit it with something.

Did I mention that the snake was in the living room on our hardwood floor? I'm sure Mom would have loved me swinging wildly with a shovel at the floor.

So I did the next logical thing I could think of:

I slapped a cookie dough bucket over him and found a coffee table book to put on top just to make sure he didn't try to get out.

And then I sat and waited for Jesse to get home so he could take care of it. I skipped the nap, because I mean really...could you have napped knowing there was a snake alive in your house?

When Jesse finally got home, we attempted to come up with a plan. We failed miserably, but the snake didn't survive so I guess that's all that matters.

Just for laughs, here's our plan:

1. We found a cardboard box in the garage and opened both ends so we could put it around the bucket to create a jail so the snake couldn't get away once we lifted the bucket.

2. I put on Dad's boots just in case step 1 failed.

3. Step 1 failed and my reaction was to step on the snakes head. Jesse put the bucket back over him.

4. Jesse slipped a flap of the box under the bucket and scooted the whole thing to the door.

5. We tried to figure out how to scoot the box over the threshold.

6. Somehow step 5 happened.

7. Jesse threw the box and bucket out the door.

8. We guillotined the snake's head with a shovel.

Stupid snakes.

*Edit* I changed the last picture. Somehow I managed to upload the same picture twice and not realize it.

Baby snuggles.

2011-05-15T20:02:00.000-05:00

LBMM met Little Bitty Mini Atticus this weekend. He was just as sweet and precious as I could have ever imagined. Before Atticus, the only babies I've ever held have been older, more squirmy ones. I had no idea how teensy tiny newborns are. If he ever grows into his fingers and toes though, he won't be so Little Bitty Mini anymore.

I instantly fell in love with the little guy. He is such a pretty baby! (I guess I should say handsome since Taylor says boys can't be called pretty.)

'Scuse the closeup of my ladies. Every time I shifted the baby, my shirt came down a little bit and I was apparently unaware. My bad y'all.

This is my new favorite way to hold sleeping babies. Mmmm snuggles.

Thank you so much Vic and Sarah for letting me hang out at your house and hold your baby. I loved every minute of it! I can't wait to see you guys again soon.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T16:23:00.001-05:00

Dear Mom,

Thanks for ~~not killing~~ loving me even though I was a turd my entire life.

Love,
Mary

A weekend to remember

2011-05-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

Oh hello world. I'm back.

Can I just say that I hate that all of my posts start with the same thing? This time I've decided to just skim over the reasons I haven't blogged in a while as well as the catch-up. Bottom line: I was busy and didn't have squat to write about.

It's the Monday after an incredible news-worthy weekend.

No news of mine of course, I'm still boring as ever.

I'm talking about the Royal Wedding and the fact that the USA drop kicked Osama Bin Laden. But of course there is already an endless supply of reading material on both of these events to last us all a lifetime so I will just leave you with my opinion of both stories.

Royal Wedding: pretty dress. weird british hats. I'm sure it will be cool to tell my daughter one day that I was around for the RW but I'll probably be pretty useless for things like commemorative copies of People Magazine. Sorry kid.

OBL: I'm thankful Justice has been served. I'm also glad they dropped his body in the water. Can you imagine what the crazies (from both sides) would do to his grave? God Bless America. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones on 9/11.

I'm in the Rio this weekend and it's been a fun one. We have done a lot of eating as usual. I mean, I know we have to eat to survive and all, but when you're visiting somewhere it's like mealtime becomes more prevalent. I guess it's because it's a group thing and there are times and meeting places and carpools and all that fun. I enjoy it though. One of my favorite things ever is hanging out with friends. After orange juice of course.

I was also able to talk Taylor into taking me to see Water for Elephants. I read the book this week and really wanted to see the movie. Taylor is the only person I ever go see movies with so I knew this was my chance! He's the best bf ever so he agreed and we even got our friends, Craig and Angela to go as well. I liked the book better, but the movie was good too. Taylor even went as far as saying it was alright which is more than I expected from him.

After our movie, we headed to a Del Rio special called the Veranda. It's a wine bar type place with a patio outside and if you're lucky some live music. I fell in instant love with their Sangria. The music was pretty good too, minus the weird Lady Gaga covers.

I am terrible about transitioning into different topics so here's another one:

Yesterday I decided that I needed to clean Taylor's bathroom because, duh, boys are gross and I couldn't set my toothbrush down on the sink without second thoughts. It wasn't hard because there's only three surfaces in the whole bathroom but I must say it looks spectacular. Then I decided the toilet should get some attention as well. Big mistake. Do you know how old toilets in government housing are? Me neither. But apparently they are old enough to fall apart when you use a toilet scrubber on them. After it started disintegrating before my eyes, I remembered that two boys live in this house and probably don't really care that much so I called it good.

Today I have already fixed the internet and chased some majah dust bunnies away. I am on a roll people.

Oh...would you like to know the biggest news (in my opinion) of the weekend?

Welcome to the world sweet Baby Seidel. Who, since we now know is a BOY, is going by Atticus Vic Seidel. He is such a sweet surprise and I can't wait to meet him soon. As Vic pointed out, LBMM gets to meet LBMA.

Congratulations Vic and Sarah! I love you guys so much.

A Few Things

2011-04-13T21:39:00.001-05:00

Today was such a get things done day. I LOVED it. I didn't quite love the running all over town I had to do, but whatevs. Remember in school when the teacher would make everyone reach over their shoulder and pat themselves on the back? I totally did that once I was finished. No big deal.

I was doing laundry today when I got home from errand running and I noticed that there were like 30 pairs of socks in one load. Why do boys wear so many more socks than girls?

Also while doing laundry, I decided to be a nice big sister and gather up all of Jesse's dirty clothes in his room since he can never manage to get them into the laundry room. While I was in there though, I made quite the discovery.

He keeps his money in...a bucket?

Oh but that's not all.

Apparently he stores some in a box as well. I think we may have a future money hoarder on our hands. I wonder what his plan for all those $1's are though...

Remember when I said I wasn't going to take a picture of my sunburn? Well I changed my mind because my tan lines are too funny not to share.

Do you see the streaks on my upper arm?

Excuse the weird pose, but I wanted you to get the full effect. Only the top half of my forearm is burned. See the line? And it appears that I have fingerprints on my upper arm for reasons that I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!

In other news...

I cleaned my room today. It needed it in a big bad way, too. I have been traveling so much and I've been quite lazy so there have been like three laundry baskets full of clothes waiting to be folded plus a couple of unpacked suitcases and some dirty clothes thrown about wherever I felt like it.

Did I really just admit that?

I also needed to rearrange my closet and switch my winter clothes out with my spring clothes.

I've been showing off my hard work to my family all night. They weren't as impressed with me as I was though. RUDE.

My visit to Ikea the other day really made me want to add a few things to my room that I just KNOW would help my productivity. I'm going to work on Dad to see my vision as well.

I can't believe I have actually posted twice this week. I hope my get stuff done mood lasts for a lot longer. I love the feeling when I get a lot accomplished.

A nice day for a Bean Dip

2011-04-11T21:04:00.000-05:00

An LBMM post before midnight? Is this real life?

You better believe it! I'm in a get things done kind of mood so not only am I starting to write a blog post in the early evening hours, I am also doing it the same day I returned home from a trip. Look out people.

Does anyone remember this?

That is my leg and the inexplicable sunburn pattern from our trip to Hawaii last year. I THOUGHT I made a mental note to correctly apply sunscreen the next time I needed it. Apparently my mental note got erased because I did it again this year. Except on the upper half of my body.

On Saturday we decided to float "The Bean Dip".

We spent all morning preparing for this adventure. Literally. We went to Wal-Mart and bought their entire stock of tubes (including one for our cooler), sunscreen, and because I am useless I had to buy ANOTHER swimsuit.

(Even though Taylor gives me plenty of notice that we will be doing an activity that requires a swim suit, I always forget to bring one.)

I remembered what my last experience in the sun was like so I wanted to make ABSOLUTELY sure that I applied enough sunscreen. And because I did not want a repeat of last year's misfortune, I made sure that my legs were coated in sunscreen. What area(s) did I miss?
*my arms
*my stomach
*my feet
*my chest

I really thought I remembered to cover everything!! At least I don't have any blisters on my face this year though. It's all about looking for the positives.

I don't have a picture of my new sunburn because it literally took all the strength I had this morning to put my t-shirt on. Just scroll up and look at the pattern on my leg and imagine it on my arms. I'm not even exaggerating right now.

Our other adventures of the weekend included the best steak I've ever eaten, TWO movies because let's be honest here...what else is there to do, and of course lots of quality time with great friends. Marie made some really good enchiladas and a cake that I can't remember the name to. But it was delish as well.

P.S. You should really check out Marie's art blog by clicking on her name above.

This weekend trip seemed really fast for some reason. I guess because I usually drive down on a Thursday and stay until Monday. That extra day for driving really helps! On my way home today I stopped at Ikea in Austin which made me drool and want for a lot of things I absolutely don't need. Luckily I left with only a desk lamp for Taylor though so no real damage to my wallet was done.

Sweet Baby Seidel

2011-04-06T00:09:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, I made a day trip to College Station for Sarah's baby shower. I have been waiting for this day since I got the invitation a few weeks ago and I was so excited for it to finally arrive!

Of course I wouldn't be Mary if I didn't wait until the last minute to get something done so I made a mad dash to Target the day before I left. Unfortunately the Target I chose to go to was seriously lacking in the baby department. I couldn't find anything on the registry! I don't really know what a baby needs so I just started looking for things I thought were cute.

Helpful, I know.

In my excitement for the day, I left pretty Frost pretty early and ended up in College Station a couple of hours before the shower. I got to visit a couple of my favorite places though and headed over to visit with everyone before we left.

Unfortunately what happened next made the day not so fun. As we were all leaving for the shower, Merpaw, my grandma fell down the front steps.

Not to be melodramatic, but the next few minutes are not something I will ever forget. I don't like seeing people in pain, especially people I love so much. I could only think about how much I wanted to take away the hurt and undo what had happened. Thankfully the firemen and paramedics arrived in less than 10 minutes and were able to quickly get her to the hospital.

My cousin, Charley took my Aunt Carol (his mom) to the hospital to be with Merpaw while Sarah, Ana, and I decided to go ahead to the shower. Sarah was obviously the guest of honor, but I chose to go because I know myself pretty well and I knew that the worrying part of my brain would go into overdrive and I would work myself up into nervous breakdown.

I am obviously the person you should NOT call in an emergency situation.

Charley was awesome and kept us all updated while we were at the shower and let us know that thankfully nothing was broken!

Ok, I've relived that stressful couple of hours and now I want to focus on the fun part of the day!

Due to the above mentioned circumstances, I completely forgot I even owned a camera much less that I should use it at the shower. So Ana, if you're reading this...thanks for taking some pictures and I hope you're ok with me using them here!

These cupcakes are adorable, no? They match the invitations perfectly!

We played a game of baby bingo that we all won at once. Somebody didn't plan the making of that game very well! It took less than five minutes to play but it was still fun of course!

These are Sarah's wonderful hostesses, Katerina, Stacey, and Cady.

Ana, Sarah's Aunt, and me with the beautiful Momma.

Since Sarah's Mom and our grandma missed the shower, we thought it would be lots of fun to wrap everything back up and recreate the shower back home. It turned out to be really great because not only did they get to enjoy the opening of gifts, but we also included Vic and Charley which of course provided lots of comedic relief.

Here's Merpaw in good spirits during Baby Shower Round 2. So thankful that this picture was possible!

I am so excited for Vic and Sarah and cannot wait until Baby Seidel makes his or her arrival in May!

What I've been up to

2011-03-26T21:37:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything on my blog. I'm terrible!

I was going to try to update everything in order, but since Blogger is not my friend, the pictures went up in random order.

*On Friday, I got a pedicure. I haven't ever painted my toes any other color than red, pink, or purple. So this green was way different. I like it though, it reminds me of Easter!

*Want to know what it's like to drive to Del Rio? Besides the tiny towns, this is all you get after you leave San Antonio. I tried to take a picture of the waterless rivers, but none of the pictures turned out very good.

*On Thursday of this past week, Dad and I went to see how his plane is looking. He found something wrong with it a few months ago and of course once it was taken apart to be fixed, everything else needed fixing too. It's almost ready!

*See those two planes above? Those belong to Russe11 Stover Candies. Dad and I peeked in them for a few seconds and um, I would like to fly in one of these very soon, please!

*Also on Thursday, I decided to make a couple of crafts! Both of these took me less than 20 minutes a piece and turned out super cute!

I got the flower idea here!

*My 22nd birthday was last Saturday and luckily I got to spend it with Taylor in Del Rio! We've never spent my actual birthday together, so that was nice. Just another perk of Taylor being in Texas!

Taylor, Ryan, Marie and I went to Whataburger after I got into town on Friday night and we ended up staying until almost 1 A.M. (!) We decided to take a couple of pictures to commemorate not only the start of my birthday but also Marie and Ryan's first trip to Whataburger! They were big fans of the ketchup and the onion rings!

It's only been 5 days since I've been back from Del Rio, but it feels like much longer! I am already counting down the days until I get to go back!

Day 1

2011-03-14T15:16:00.002-05:00

Today is the day Taylor starts Phase I of pilot training.

I am so proud and also excited for him as he starts this incredible journey.

This phase is full of lots of academics and preparing for Phase II which will be the time he actually gets back into an airplane. Taylor's a smart kid so I think he'll be fine in this first phase. Especially because he has so many great friends with him in his class to study with!

If it were me and I had all those friends in my class, I would most definitely fail out of pilot training because I have zero group study skills. I like to turn group study time into "what did you do this weekend" time.

Also, another funny side note, last week I had a dream that I was in pilot training with Taylor and I had no clue how I had gotten there or what the heck I was supposed to be doing there. I was so sad because I didn't really want to be a pilot but I didn't want to fail out either. I also wondered how on earth I was going to learn everything in the classes that everyone else had already had time to study.

Thank goodness it was a dream! I'd like to stick to being Taylor's cheerleader for now.

Oh yeah...back to Taylor.

Even though I know it will be extremely hard on some days, I know that Taylor will be fine. He's the coolest kid I know, after all!

Good Luck Taylop-goo. I love you!

Where am I?

2011-03-11T01:56:00.000-06:00

After a trip from one end of Texas to the other, I am finally back home. It's weird how simply sitting in a car can wear you out almost as much as running a couple of miles!

Sometime last week, Taylor and I decided to take a quick trip to San Antonio so we could celebrate the start of Taylor's pilot training class. When I say sometime last week and quick trip, I mean that we decided on Monday to go, I left here on Wednesday, we checked into our hotel on Thursday, and we were back in Del Rio by Saturday.

Once our San Antonio plans were finalized, we decided to extend our trip to Lubbock. Since Taylor will be busy for the next year or so, he wanted to spend some time with his family. I got to tag along because I love me some Veretts!

SO, I left home on Wednesday and drove to Del Rio for the night and then we got up and headed to San Antonio on Thursday afternoon. After getting settled in, we walked to Sushi Zushi in downtown and oh my full belly. I ate so much that I barely made it back to the hotel before I slipped into a food coma. I have never had sushi that delicious and I'm counting down the hours until I can go back.

On Friday, we decided to walk a couple of blocks to the Riverwalk and the Alamo. Fortunately/unfortunately it was two days after the 175th Texas Independence Day so there were kids everywhere. I really had to restrain myself from telling kids to stop climbing the walls of the Alamo.

Luckily we were able to get a decent picture in front of the Alamo without too many people in front of it. While we were there, they were constructing some sort of shape with yellow roses.

On our way back through the Riverwalk to our hotel, we found a nice Ice cream/gelato shop. Taylor had plain vanilla and I got this pretty rainbow flavor. An older couple in the ice cream shop told the owner that they didn't need his help choosing a flavor because they go to Italy all the time and they KNOW gelato.

After our afternoon excursion, we headed back to the hotel and
napped until it was time for.....

Taylor and I thought seeing Wicked would be really fun and it also happened to be the last show during San Antonio so we didn't want to miss this opportunity. We were not disappointed! I loved it so much! I think Taylor even had a good time.

I may have gotten in trouble for taking this picture. They are strict at the Majestic theater! I just wanted to document the moment, people!

On Saturday we drove back to Del Rio for the night and then woke up bright and early for the long drive to Lubbock on Sunday.

There happens to be a stretch of 80 miles with ZERO civilization and I may or may not have had a full bladder the entire 80 miles. Taylor graciously stopped as soon as we found indoor plumbing though so crisis averted. Also, those 80 miles were full of twists and turns and no shoulders on the roads.

While we were in Lubbock, we met up with a couple of Taylor's friends for lunch, and got to enjoy some quality Verett time.

On Wednesday, we said our goodbyes and made the drive back to Del Rio. On our way back, we stopped in Ozona, Texas and found an indoor Sonic. Is that even legal?

I spent one more night in Del Rio before heading home on Thursday. As usual, I didn't want to leave so I took my sweet time getting ready to leave and before I knew it, 2pm had rolled around. Oopsie.

My trip home though was one of the more eventful. In Uvalde, I saw 7 Border Patrol officers and TWELVE regular police officers stopped at a car wash and arresting one person. Holy cow!

Then in San Antonio, there was a really bad wreck that completely blocked 3 out of 4 lanes so it took an hour to get out of the city. Plus, it was also around 4:30 and I think some of that was work traffic. Austin happened to be just as bad, but in two separate places. One delay was because a road light fell into one of the lanes. Just try to picture that. I'm not sure how it happened, but I do know that a lot of people lost their minds over it and forgot how to drive. I can usually make the drive from Del Rio to my house in about 5 hours, but this time it took me almost 8.

So, just to recap in case you got lost throughout all of our travels...Frost, Del Rio, San Antonio, Del Rio, Lubbock, Del Rio, Frost. I think that I spent a total of 30 or so hours in the car over the week. Although we had lots of fun, I will not be riding or driving anywhere in the near future.

I'm so glad I got to spend so much time with Taylor before I lose him to pilot training! Hopefully after I recover from my car aversion, I will be able to make another Del Rio trip soon. I'm already excited!

I hope this isn't for a grade...

2011-03-02T01:50:00.002-06:00

I know everyone is dying to know how my challenges are going. Ok, probably not but I'm going to tell you anyways because I want to.

I haven't had a soft drink since last week! I started this one earlier because I didn't really see the point in waiting until Monday. Water isn't so bad.

The exercising has been put on hold for now. We had major storms already this week so going outside is a no-go and I've been a little sick so I weenied out on that one.

I don't think I've fallen asleep before 2 AM this week, yet. I get really sleepy around 8 PM and then tell myself to hold out a little longer until a normal bedtime but I usually get my second wind around 10 and don't slow down until 2:30ish. TERRIBLE habit, I know.

I didn't do the meal plan thing either. Mom has started tennis season and Jesse is playing about twelve different sports right now so nobody's schedule has really lined up for dinner or grocery shopping.

My other big thing is that I have successfully avoided using Facebook and Twitter as much. I check it once in the morning and then log out until late afternoon. If someone sends me something, I can usually just respond through my e-mail. Of course I checked it quite a bit while I was in the waiting room at the dentist...but that doesn't really count. Right?

I know, I have already failed on 3 out of 5 challenges but maybe I should have picked a week to start these things when I wasn't so busy.

In other news though; last week I had SIX of my teeth filled because of cavities. I didn't go to the dentist at all while I was in college because I was hardly ever at home during the week, so I accumulated lots of dental bills. My dentist decided to do them all at once and by the end, I was ready to wring his neck. The whole thing took about five hours and my mouth was half-numb for two days. And now I can't even chew food on the left side of my mouth because it is still so sore. I think I'm going to have to go back because...OUCH. My teeth don't like ANYTHING touching them, not even water. I would like him to please give me another shot of that feel good stuff so I can eat.

Also in other news, I am driving to Del Rio today! Taylor and I are going to hang out in San Antonio this weekend and then we are driving to Lubbock next week! It will be busy, but really fun.

Challenges

2011-02-23T02:06:00.000-06:00

I've decided that it's time for me to make some changes in my life. Moving back home has allowed me to get into some routines that aren't much on the healthy side. It's nobody's fault but my own of course so it's up to me to make a change for the better.

I want to start on Monday because I feel like it's the best day of the week to start something new.

Here's a list of things I want to change:

1. Cut out soft drinks. It's going to be hard in a house full of soda lovers, but I always feel so much better when I don't drink them. Plus, a case of water is much cheaper than a case of Dr. Pepper!

2. EXERCISE. This is the biggest one for me. Last week I walked for 2 miles and afterwards, I could barely put one foot in front of the other. Obviously my hip/back problems aren't going to go away if I don't strengthen my muscles. I need to kick my butt back into shape.

3. Lots less social media. I spend countless hours checking my facebook and twitter. It's ridiculous. My facebook friends don't need me constantly checking in on them. I'm going to start logging out of facebook and twitter on my phone so that it's harder for me to check in really quick. If somebody contacts me, I get an e-mail and then I can get on and respond to them if I need to.

4. Meal Planning. We are all going in four different directions at our house so there isn't usually a set meal time or a set meal for any given night. Usually we end up snacking around for dinner or heating up something out of a box. We've tried the meal planning before and it was AWESOME. We all knew what was going to be for dinner, we had the correct groceries as well as the recipes so that anyone could make the meal. It took a lot of stress off of Mom and it also helped cut down on the snacking. Of course, we're still trying to get Jesse to eat something besides PB&J's and oreo's.

5. Staying up late. It's currently 2 AM and I have to be up by 6:30 tomorrow. Good decision, right? Of course I get all of my best thinking and creativity done at night, but I am exhausted the next day. Working from home allows me to sleep in, but it still affects me the rest of the day.

I guess I'll stop at 5. I'm really excited about making some positive changes and hopefully being more productive because of it.

I'm glad you're mine

2011-02-18T00:30:00.002-06:00

Dear Taylor,

Thanks for another awesome Valentine's Day. I can't believe there have been 4 of them already! Time flies when you're having so much fun. I love you lots and can't wait for many more love days with you.

Love,

Mary

Mine and Taylor's Valentine's celebration was a success. Taylor got me flowers and candy, and we successfully made dinner together. Then we exchanged cards with each other that basically said the exact same thing. Aw. We finished up our night of romance with a movie. We do it big around here!

I have no pictures from the weekend because, oops I did it again. I left my camera in my purse the entire weekend. My bad, y'all. I know everyone wants to see adorable pictures of Taylor and I though so here's a couple from the last time I saw him.

These are perhaps my new favorites because they're just so..y'know, us. This was mine and Taylor's first legal trip at the Dixie Chicken in College Station!

I had a blast once again in Smell Rio and of course it ended too soon. The day I left, Taylor had to be at work by 6:30 AM so I left after he was gone and he came back home after I had left. It was a sad time indeed.

Over the weekend, we celebrated a couple of birthdays, (Happy Bday Ryan and Cohan!) had a banana split at a real ice cream shop, and of course no Mary and Taylor visit would be complete without seeing a movie in theaters.

On Monday, the actual Valentine's Day, Taylor and I hung around the house and watched a lot of television. Since it was my last night in town, we decided to go out to dinner with some friends only to remember at 6 pm what the date was and that we wouldn't be able to get any reservations. So we settled on Chili's. Go us for forgetting the love day.

I can't believe that February is half over. Hopefully by this time next month Taylor will be starting pilot training! Fingers crossed!

********************************************************************

Also, if anyone reads this at all, I ask that you send up a prayer for my sweet Momma Too. She was diagnosed with cancer today.

Monday Randomness

2011-02-07T16:25:00.000-06:00

I have been terrible at blogging lately. Partly because I don't do anything worth mentioning on a daily basis, but mostly because I am so all over the place, that when I actually sit down to start blogging, I can't string two sentences together. I will start a post, then while trying to link to something or post a picture, I get distracted by a website, and then I realize I have wasted way too much time on said website so I go back to blogger, but by that time I have lost whatever I was going to write down.

I have also written some complete posts, but then I didn't post them. Sometimes I am too self conscious with what I write. Does anyone really want to read about my ten favorite sites to visit or what music I listen to? Probably not.

Somebody needs to invent something I can attach to my brain and it records all of my thoughts. Of course, it would throw out the dumb ones and keep the best ones.

Ok now for some randomness:

Last week I got contacts. Now, I know I am clearly not the first person to ever wear them, but I was still really nervous before my appointment. I had good reason too! After I received all of my instructions about cleaning and putting in my contacts, I had to prove I was capable of doing it on my own. Ten minutes later, all I had to show was watery eyes and running makeup. Finally, after I got one of them in, I couldn't even open my eye. All that effort and the dadgum thing was misshapen and I had to take it out. (Good practice for doing that though, I guess.) Thankfully everything worked out ok and all is right with the world. They took a while to get used to though. I think I even made the comment, "My eyes can see, but my brain doesn't know why!" Also, since I can't sleep in my contacts, the number of naps I take has greatly decreased. BOO!

Last night, I made this necklace:

I found it here. And yes, I used the same colors she did. The Walmarts does not have a great selection of fabric and it was either gray or Disney princesses. It was super easy and even though I think I may have used way more fabric than the original, it still looks pretty good to me.

The Angry Birds app on my iphone came out with an update just in time for the snow day on Friday. I may or may not have beat all 15 of the new levels. Taylor says I have an addiction. I say it's because I'm just that awesome.

Speaking of the snow day...I went outside for about 30 seconds to see how deep it was and then went right back inside. I don't like my fingers and toes being cold so when it snows, I prefer to stay inside.

Since I left my job as a Teacher's Aide, my new workspace has become a desk in my room. When we built our house, I don't think anyone paid much attention to the size of the bedrooms. Not that I live in a shoebox or anything, but there's not much space in here with a queen size bed, dresser, tv stand, and now a desk. Short of hanging my desk on the ceiling, I don't know what to do.

On Thursday, I am going to Del Rio for Valentine's weekend. Woo! I feel like it's been too long since I've seen Taylor.

I'm terrible at picking out gifts and Taylor and I are reallyreally boring so our Valentines date is going to be dinner and a movie at his house. My gift to Taylor will be dinner. I'm not sure that really counts as a gift since my cooking tends to be hit or miss but we'll see. I asked for candy. I'm really hoping for some nerds! I can't wait!

I think that's all the randomness I have for now.

Blogworthy

2011-01-24T00:48:00.001-06:00

I have been trying to think of something to blog about for a long time now. You see, I love writing and blogging, but I don't really want my blog to become a place where I have posts like...."today I brushed my teeth and clipped my toenails."

So I usually just wait something blog worthy to happen.

Fortunately, this weekend I made a trip to Waco to visit Katie and Kirsten. Kirsten has recently started working at one of my favorite Waco places, Spice. It's an adorable collection of shops in downtown that has lots of pretty things.

So, Katie and I decided to harass Kirsten at work and while we were looking for her, we of course had to do some shopping. That's when we discovered one of the shops was selling her display furniture for 50% off. A-mazing.

I found a supercute hutch that I just knew would be perfect in my room.

And it is! I love it and am currently in the process of trying to fill it with things and perhaps find it a new home in a different place in my room.

P.S. I do not like Blogger's photo posting. I just spent 10 minutes trying to put that picture in the right place!

Bye 2010

2011-01-06T02:29:00.000-06:00

Um, so I meant to write this post about 6 days ago. Obviously I really have my stuff together.

I was going to write a month by month account of what happened over the past year and all the fun I had, but then I slapped myself in the head and realized that's basically what I've done all year anyways with this blog. Derrr.

2010 was a year that will definitely be remembered forever. There was a 21st birthday, a trip to Hawaii, two graduations, Taylor moved back to Texas, and so much more. The people that were present through every big event and stressful moment are what really sticks out though.

As I look back on the past year, I am so thankful to have spent it surrounded by the people I love the most. I know that I would not have made it through my meltdowns in my last semester of school, or laughed nearly as much without them.

I don't really have words to explain how much everyone means to me, so I'll just leave you with this video instead.

OH NO YOU DI'INT BLOGGER!

2010-12-27T01:31:00.000-06:00

Well, I would just like to say that I had a REALLY funny post written about my last days at school, my long forgotten to-do list, and my laundry dilemma. Ok, maybe it wasn't all that funny. But I still wrote it.

AND THEN blogger decided to not save my masterpiece and when I clicked on the "post" button, I got an error message and my really funny post was gone. You just can't create that kind of magic twice so I gave up and ate four pieces of beef jerky.

I really wanted my last post for 2010 to be a winner, but it's 1:30 a.m. and I have to drive to the airport in the morning so I'm going to call it a year and move on.

Pose with a purpose

2010-12-13T22:01:00.000-06:00

Last time I was in Lubbock, one of Taylor's last remaining pairs of jeans got a hole in them. I've been trying to convince him since this summer that he really needs more than three pairs of jeans, but he was still refusing. So I took matters into my own hands and got the style and size from his pants so that I could begin the hunt for new jeans.

I soon discovered though that Taylor's preferred style of jeans was discontinued in the 2006-2007 time frame. Which obviously means that Taylor hasn't bought new jeans in 3 years. After this discovery, we decided that we could just look around Del Rio while I was in town this past weekend. Unfortunately the choices in the Plaza del Sol mall are limited so we left empty handed. Taylor was ok with this because he still has a pair of jeans left. They have a hole in the back pocket though so I thought I would continue with the search online.

Which leads me to the real reason for this post. As much fun as it is to make fun of Taylor for only owning one pair of jeans and for making the claim that once he finds a pair he likes, he is going to stock up on them, I can't fault him for being...frugal.

Anyways, I was continuing my search and as I looked through all the pictures of men in jeans, I started to laugh because of all the...stances.

Most of which included the awkward "weight on one leg and my thumb in a pocket"

Seriously, what is with the one thumb in the back pocket? These poses remind me of the awkward teenager standing in the corner at a party.

How about a power stance people? At least put both hands on your hips like you mean it.

Growing Up

2010-12-05T01:34:00.000-06:00

It turns out that at some point, we are all expected to "grow up" and start acting like adults. Of course there are those who choose not to accept this responsibility and continue to pretend they are still Peter Pans, but in general, it is assumed that once you reach a certain age, you should act accordingly.

Also, I think you start to realize you are making progress in the whole growing up thing when you start to reflect on your past actions as well as perhaps regret a few of them.

In my case, there hasn't been too much of a leap from irresponsible to functioning member of society. Of course I had the weeks when I didn't do homework, slept until 2 in the afternoon, and used an entire package of paper plates and plastic utensils just to avoid the dishes. But I did pay bills and somehow managed to get out of school holding a degree.

The things I reflect upon are mainly my emotions. Perhaps I will reach adulthood when things not going exactly as I plan doesn't make me see red and cause my bottom lip to poke out. It's true, I'm 21 and it still happens. Or maybe it will be when I stop fighting back tears when someone doesn't like my idea.

Pouting seems to be the main issue here.

Also, I think that once I accept that just because someone is at fault for something, it doesn't mean they have to be blamed for it, I will be in a better position to call myself an adult.

Eating habits probably play a factor in the process as well. At some point, the days of surviving on pizza rolls, ramen noodles and skittles must end. Cooking should involve more than just "assembling" and the "pull tab on box" directions should decrease considerably.

I'm not sure when I will completely reach adulthood or finish growing up, but I do know that I've got a long way. I know a few of the personality traits that I could live without though so in the meantime I'll be looking for ways to shed those.

The Great Thanksgiving Week

2010-11-29T00:18:00.000-06:00

I have returned from the land of beautiful sunsets and my favorite people once again. With stories of course!

I just have to preface this post with the fact that the picture below is currently the background on my phone.

Shortly into my journey to Lubbock on Wednesday afternoon, I found myself in a bit of a speed trap. It turns out, the State Troopers want you to drive 65 through Alvarado, Texas instead of 75. Also, as it turns out, there is not one 65 sign from Hillsboro to Alvarado soI assumed the logical speed was 70. I even tried to explain to the officer that I tend to live my life in a state of cluelessness about such silly details but he handed me a ticket. And then he searched my car because apparently he didn't believe me that I was driving to Lubbock for Thanksgiving and wanted to see my luggage. Rude.

Can you tell I'm actually pretty calm about this whole situation? I'm really trying to live by my iPhone background. Before, that last paragraph would have been in all caps and there would have been many exclamation points. I just included the Rude statement because it was true.

Also, I sadly felt better about the fact that I counted 14 other people getting tickets that day as well. How come I wasn't aware that the day before Thanksgiving was like Christmas to State Troopers?

BUT MOVING ON.

I arrived in Lubbock otherwise unscathed and after a delicious Whitney dinner, crashed in my bed. All that not getting upset really took its toll on me.

Even though I have the ability to sleep until noon in my own house, I can't manage to stay asleep past 8 o'clock at other people's houses. So I woke up bright and early Thursday to help get the cooking started.

Not. I crumbled the bread for the stuffing. Unfortunately that's all I'm good for in the Thanksgiving dinner department. Maybe next year.

Taylor's mom, grandma and sister did a fantastic job though and our Thanksgiving meal was delicious as always.

After lunch, Taylor and I immediately slipped into a tryptophan coma on the couch for a couple of hours. We hung out around the house for a few hours waiting for the A&M and Texas game to start and then as if being in Lubbock with Taylor for a week wasn't fantastic enough in itself, the Aggies beat Texas in Austin.

I was so excited that I decided to wear an A&M shirt all around Lubbock the next day. I even got compliments on it!

On Friday, Taylor got a haircut and the barber asked if I was his sister. Awesome. Then we had ourselves a nice lunch date at the place we had our first date in Lubbock. Good ol' Buns over Texas! After our date, it was Harry Potter 7 time! When Taylor told me that his mom had gotten us all tickets, I decided that I wanted to read the first half of the book again since I had read it about a year and a half before. But I forgot all about my plan and was kind of lost during parts of the movie. It was still great though and I can't wait for the next part!

That night, we all hung out at Kristofer's house and got to see Taylor's friend, Brett, whom he has known since 7th grade and attended the Academy with. It was a great night that may or may not have involved me doing pushups between the couch and the island.

We got up early on Saturday so Taylor and Kristofer could put the Christmas lights on the house and since that did not require my expertise, I did a lot of napping. Then, I watched some Pawn Stars with Taylor's dad and slid off one of the barstools which made him decide he didn't like the barstools anymore so he ordered some different ones. So if you liked those silver barstools, I'm sorry. But if you hated them, you're welcome.

We watched some more football the rest of the evening and even though Oklahoma's win over OSU helped put the Aggies in a 3-way tie for the Big 12 South, we didn't win the title. After I cared about that for 2.5 seconds, we enjoyed a nice night out on the porch listening to music and solving life's problems.

Sidenote- Kristofer and I decided today that there would be a lot less hippies and dummies in the world if we were in charge.

After church on Sunday, Taylor and I FINALLY got a couple of new pictures together!

Ta-da! We're cute.

I was so tired from looking cute that I took a nap while Taylor installed his new floor mats in his truck.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love napping? Easily one of my favorite things to do.

Unfortunately Sunday usually means it's time to head home so I packed up all my stuff and drove home with nothing to report. For once!

The week flew by and even though I'm totally not ready to go back to work tomorrow, there are only three more weeks until Christmas Break!

Surprise, another weekend update

2010-11-21T20:12:00.000-06:00

Right now I'm watching the American Music Awards.

Am I the only person who didn't know these existed? Or why they exist?

It seems like every other awards show that I've ever seen. So far I've only seen Rhianna, Enrique Iglesias and Miley Cyrus perform. I actually enjoyed Miley's song and I'm still wondering when Rhianna is going to sound like she does on her CD. Also, I had to look away from the TV when Pit bull was singing with Enrique. I felt so uncomfortable watching those hip thrusts!

Ok, if I don't stop now, I'll never be able to stop giving you a play by play.

My goal this week was to blog about mine and Taylor's 3rd year Meetaversary as well as something funny that happened that I can't remember now. Obviously I did really well meeting my goal.

And my new goal is to blog about something other than my weekends. I'll start next week.

Friday after school, I came home and made me a much needed margarita. Then Mom asked me if I wanted to go to the High School basketball game. Since I was feeling so much more relaxed after my drink, I decided it was a fantastic idea to go.

I was there about five minutes when the tequila hit. Luckily I didn't go LBMM or anything, but watching basketball was suddenly a lot funnier than I ever remember it being before.

While the basketball game was going on in Frost, there was also an Alumni Football game happening between Frost and Blooming Grove just a few miles down the road. Apparently it was the place to be. I decided against going because I prefer not to ever experience high school again. And I didn't want to watch a bunch of 30 year old men try to run up and down an entire football field.

On Saturday I got up bright and early to get my hair did. I decided to try out a new place this time and I loved it. My favorite thing in the world is to have my hair played with and obviously I got that treatment, but girlfriend also massaged my head. I almost fell asleep.

Then I realized I hadn't had a pedicure in a while so that was next on the list. I don't think I have to tell you how much I enjoyed that. After having my hair played with, getting my feet massaged is next on the list of my favorite things.

As if I hadn't spent enough money on myself, I also bought a purse. The good news is though that it was 60% off. And cute. Double win.

On Sunday, I slept in and stayed in my pajamas all day. Mom and I did some organizing in Dad's office while he is away hunting. And then I took a nap. I love relaxing Sundays. Even if I eat way too much junk food.

I'm sort of looking forward to Monday though because it's only a two day week! It will be like a Monday and a Friday put together. Then on Wednesday I'm heading west to Lubbock! I almost can't contain my excitement for the 6 hour drive. I can't wait to see some of my favorite people!

I already have Taylor's Christmas present. Is it ok to give presents a month early? I hope so because I'm really bad at waiting.

Oh, speaking of Taylor I have to apologize for what I said about him bugging me to unpack my suitcase. It turns out he was only bugging me because he had sneaked a present into my suitcase before I left and wanted me to find it before two weeks. It was the best Taylor card ever! What a sweet turkey.

Too much salsa in one trip

2010-11-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm back in Frost after a great weekend in Del Rio with Taylor. Once again the weekend felt like time was set to fast forward. Blah!

One of my favorite things about Taylor being in Texas again is that we can plan trips in a matter of days and not months or weeks! And plus they are about a million times cheaper! Jackpot!

I decided to take off work on Friday so that I could drive down on Thursday night after work and get another entire day with Taylor instead of spending Friday driving. After work, I started my 6 hour drive with my dad's truck loaded down with a dining room table and a dresser. Not even five minutes after I left though, it started POURING from the only dark cloud in the sky. I could literally see where the cloud ended and there was no more rain but there was a school bus in front of me and I could NOT get out of that stupid cloud fast enough.

The rest of my trip was pretty uneventful except for all the "do you even have a brain" drivers on 35. A guy tried to get in my lane while I was beside him and when I slammed on my brakes to avoid his dumb self, I got the bird. Um, RUDE.

Oh and then right before I got to Del Rio, I was managed to run over two raccoons at once. I'm going to leave that part of my trip out though to my dad and if he ever asks why the alignment in his truck is off, I will conveniently have no idea whatsoever.

As soon as I got to Taylor's house, we started unloading all of the goodies I brought him starting with the dresser first. I helped him get it halfway into the house, but then I left the rest of the way up to him while I got out a couple of boxes. After about five minutes, I realized Taylor had not returned from putting the dresser in his room so I went to check on him.

Apparently he was so excited about finally having a dresser that he wanted to immediately put all of his clothes in it. Um Taylor, who do you think out of the two of us is going to unload that dining room table still in the back of the truck?

Hint: Not me.

I did unlock the front door so he could bring the table in so that was my contribution.

On Friday, we shopped a little bit for some more things for Taylor's house. After two Ross trips and two Wal-Mart trips, we ended up with a set of pots and pans, some silverware and a hand food processor. To celebrate, we saw Megamind. For some reason, our 3D glasses were HUGE on both of our heads so even though I had my regular glasses on, I spent the entire movie holding the other ones on my head. Don't worry though, I did not let it affect my mood for once!

That night we cooked our second meal together! I found a delicious recipe for quesadillas that included chicken, bacon, avacado and cheese. Yum! We invited Craig over for dinner and then introduced him to Toy Story 3. The boys kept me laughing and so this time I didn't cry at the end. Thank goodness, because I'm embarrassing when I cry.

Our Saturday was spent watching How I met your mother on DVD. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love doing nothing but watching tv and wearing my pajamas. Hanging out with Taylor while doing those things only put the cherry on top.

Taylor got to use his new food processor that night when he made some salsa. Thanks Whitney for the recipe! And thanks Taylor for building up my spicy threshold so I could enjoy it!

My original idea was to wake up early on Sunday and leave so that I could get home at a decent hour. My one wrench in that plan was the fact that I hate leaving Taylor. So I decided to stick around a little longer and by doing that I got to hang out with Marie and Ryan for a little while. After some lunch at Don Marcelino's, I finally got around to leaving.

That last part is never fun at all. It's like the biggest kick back into reality ever. All the fun of the weekend suddenly leaves and you're driving/flying back where you came from alone to work or school.

Fortunately my trip home was uneventful. I did a lot of singing too loud and bad dance moved. You know, all the things you're SUPPOSED to do while driving.

And now I'm putting off my least favorite chore of unpacking by recounting the weekend before I forget anything. Taylor made fun of me this weekend for taking a week and a half to unpack my suitcase and I have no idea when or how he found out that I have a problem with that. I find it a little creepy actually.

Also, P.S. I actually took pictures this weekend. But until I find a way to put them on my computer with no effort at all, I don't think you'll see them. Maybe when I get Taylor to unpack my suitcase for me, he can do that as well.

The one that doesn't make sense

2010-11-07T19:25:00.000-06:00

Ah, another week down. Sometimes the weeks fly by and I'm surprised to find that another weekend has already crept up while others seem to drag on and on and on and . . . well you get the idea and it feels as if the weekend will never arrive. This past week was somewhere in the middle I think. Although thinking back on it, I can't remember much.

One of the main events of the week happened on Friday though. I don't know where my head was but somehow I managed to only put half of my make-up on, forget my lunch and forget my glasses! Forgetting my glasses was my biggest mistake because I found that I needed them the most. We did board races in spelling and math and I had to spend the entire time explaining that they had to write bigger because Ms. Vickery couldn't read anything they wrote! Then I had to drive to Waco after school and I found it extremely hard to read road signs or see at all for that matter. I never knew I had such a vision problem I guess.

I went to sleep last night feeling a little stuffy but somewhere along the way, I woke up with a head cold. One minute I was feeling fine and the next, I couldn't breathe and my voice is gone. Such a fun way to spend a Sunday.

One thing to always remember. Head colds show no preferential treatment. Got a big event coming up and no time to be sick? Head colds don't mind! They'll make themselves comfortable in no time and stick around for however long they want!

The explanation of head colds above has been brought to you by Sudafed. You're welcome.

This past Friday was Jesse's last football game of the season. Thankfully he survived and he is now looking forward to spending more time with his horses. He had such a great season and I am so proud of the little man. I don't know his exact stats but I do know that I heard his name very often on the loudspeaker for tackles so apparently he had a lot of those and I believe he also scored a touchdown. There were a couple of blocked field goals and some recovered fumbles in there as well. Pretty good for a 5'5 135 pound Junior I think!

What I'm most proud of though, are the things that his coaches had to say about him throughout the season. Football may not be his favorite sport, but everyone said that he put all of his effort and heart into every single practice and game. He's such a great kid!

And just because I can't give too much praise without a little embarrassment, I have a little story to share. When Jesse was little, he used to say THE funniest things that we still make fun of today.

One time during P.E., he got a little carried away during a game and pushed down one of his classmates. The teacher pulled him aside and asked him why he would do something like that. He thought for a minute and then said, "I don't know what happened Mrs. Williams, my brain just went LOCO and I pushed him."

Ah! Just one of many funny Jesse stories.

Now, after turning my blog into a Jesse shrine, my cold has made it impossible to think of anything else coherent so I will make this my shortest post ever and peace out.

Disclaimer: I apologize for the disorganization of this post.

I should really be better at this by now . . .

2010-11-02T00:05:00.002-05:00

Wow, so raise your hand if you think I'm a bad blogger.

Why yes, I would have to agree.

I promise I have good intentions and if you could see all of the drafts, you would know that as well. This new job thing though has really made it hard to stay awake, much less attempt to put coherent sentences together. And last weekend was the first time in a really long time that I had actually been at home.

I know, blah blah blah. I'm a weenie.

Ok so back to catching up!

My trip to Waco and College Station was so much fun. I met up with Katie in Waco on Saturday morning and did a little shopping at a cute store in downtown where I found a supercute jacket. After lunch, I headed down south to College Station to visit Amy. We didn't do a whole lot besides watching movies and eating nerd ropes. But my toenails are now a very delicious shade of purple.

In my last post, I listed all of the things I wanted to accomplish and places I wanted to visit. Unfortunately, H-E-B, Hobby Lobby, and Jamba Juice didn't make it into the weekend plans but I did get to Target and Old Navy. I loved it! My only purchases though were boring work clothes.

Also while I was in town, I got my car fixed. About a month ago, my driver side door decided to just not stay locked anymore. I could lock it initially, but then if I pulled on the door like I was trying to get into it, it just opened. So you know, TOTALLY SAFE. Then I tried to subscribe to satellite radio and it turns out, my radio was broken as well! Thanks a lot, Hitler.

So as I was preparing to drop loads of pretty pennies, I was informed that my warranty was not 36,000 miles/36 months as I had originally been told but instead 50,000 miles/48 months. SCORE ONE POINT FOR ME! Everything was fixed for free and I went on my happy way home. Then I decided I was too cheap to actually subscribe to satellite radio.

The next weekend, I met Katie again but this time Kirsten was with her and we went to the State Fair. I haven't been since I was 8 but I must say, it's not as fun when Dad isn't paying for everything. I managed to spend only a slight fortune and plus, I got to test drive some sweet cars!

Along the way through our State Fair adventure, we decided it wouldn't be complete without a funnel cake. However, this funnel cake stand was the only one we could find and we didn't discover it until we were on our way out of the park and had already stuffed ourselves with fried cheesecake and margaritas.

After eating our weight in fried food, we had two tickets left over between the three of us so we found the only thing we could afford. I would have rather wasted the two tickets rather than eat the pickle we ended up with. It was warm, not crunchy and as Kirsten's face says . . . just not good. Blah!

This was our view as we were leaving the park. It was a pretty sunset and although we didn't ride any of the rides, we enjoyed looking at them!

These are just some more pictures from the state fair. I of course didn't take pictures until we were leaving and the sun was setting, but I think they turned out pretty well. Thanks iPhone!

(Forgive me for going out of order, this is how my brain works.) The night we got into town, we stayed at Kristi's house. She took us out for sushi. I am ALWAYS up for sushi. This was called the "sweetheart roll" I sent this picture to Taylor and told him I loved him. Aww. And then he said strawberries on sushi is gross and totally ruined the moment.

We had a great time hanging out in the Dallas area and it was really hard to go back home to work. Thanks Kristi for letting us hang out with you! And thanks Hans for the delicious breakfasts!

The next weekend, I got to completely relax at home by myself. Mom was in Tyler with Merpaw and Dad and Jesse were hunting in west Texas. Besides having two really needy dogs that wanted my attention at all times, it was a wonderful weekend. I read two books and caught up on plenty of sleep. So great!

Almost completely caught up! I've only got a couple more stories, I promise!

Last week, I was driving to school and out of nowhere, my airbag warning light starts dinging at me and then it went off for a couple of minutes and then it just stayed on. Once again, thanks a lot Hitler! I figured this would be covered under warranty and so I thought I would just get it fixed next time I was in College Station. Then I looked down and realized I only had about 500 miles left on my warranty. AWESOME. So I had to find the closet dealership (hour and a half away) and leave work early to get it taken care of. It turned out that my seatbelt had malfunctioned and broken somehow so they had to replace the whole thing. Luckily I got it fixed and since my car now has 49,850 miles on it . . . I say a daily prayer that it holds together.

This past weekend, the whole family was home so on Saturday, we talked Dad into seeing a movie in theaters for the first time in who knows how long.

I take that back. Last year, he and Jesse went to see The Proposal in theaters for some reason.

So that's been LBMM's adventures since the last post. A lot of things have been fun, some frustrating, and others just plain re-donk-u-lous.

October was fun, but I'm looking forward to November because I get to see Taylor again! And it's our 3-year Meetaversary. Woohoo!

You're a mean one, real world.

2010-10-07T23:02:00.000-05:00

I have almost survived my second week of being in the classroom. I say almost because Friday isn't here yet and when Friday rolls around at school, there is just no telling what the day might hold. I so wish I could share some of the stories that I have but I do have ethics and morals and would never put anyone on the Internet who didn't ask to be put there. Except for Taylor.

One of the main things that I have realized while working in a school is that wearing comfortable shoes is a MUST. However, does anyone make comfortable shoes that are still attractive? The answer is no, they do not. So while my purple flats may go beautifully with my outfit, I am usually wearing my Sperry's. Which I have had since my freshman year of college and are in desperate need of replacing. I wouldn't even call them shoes anymore because they don't even really have a shape anymore. So if any of the three people who read this blog have cute/comfortable shoe ideas, please send them my way. I was grocery shopping and thinking about how much my feet hurt and then had a thought that I may need insoles. I almost broke down in tears in the middle of Wal-Mart because of all the "I'm really getting old" emotions. In reality I know I'm only 21 and just graduated college, but my feet, hips, eyes, and back all tell a different story. One of the kids in my class today told me that he was "really good at guessing people's ages" so I let him have a go at it thinking he would tell me I looked 15 like everyone else does. Nope, apparently I look like a 35 year old according to third graders. Also, please know that I went to bed last night at 9:00.

Can't you see now why all of these emotions are bubbling up?

So this weekend I have big plans to visit Waco and College Station for the FIRST TIME since I moved home. I make a mental list of all the things I miss about College Station on a daily basis because studies show that it's super healthy to dwell on the past. NOT.

But anyway, while I am there for my short visit I plan to do the following:

1. Visit Target, Old Navy, Hobby Lobby, and Hastings. ALL IN ONE DAY.
2. Have my choice of any kind of food I can think of.
3. Go to Jamba Juice
4. Go to H-E-B and not feel like there's a possibility of being mugged.
5. Drive somewhere and not see any tractors.

I'm even going to drive down Texas and University without cursing at the stop lights or traffic. THAT is how happy I am to be back in civilization again. Actually I'm sure that's not going to really happen. I can't control my road rage. I'm just going to go into the trip HOPING to not curse at the stop lights or traffic. That's a much more reasonable goal.

I can't believe that at one point last year I told myself it would be a great idea to graduate early. And then I even came here and defended my decision like it was still a good idea.

I'll let you in on a little secret though.

I only wrote that post to try to reason with myself. I knew back then it was going to be way different after graduation.

Yes I saved money and probably made the responsible choice but really I would much rather be taking naps after class and staying up until 2 than saving money. I would also really like to stomp my feet and pout right now too so you can go ahead and picture me doing that as well.

Or you could picture me making this face. Just with less chubby cheeks.

Laundry is not my idea of the night life.

2010-10-04T00:22:00.000-05:00

It's almost midnight on Sunday night and I'm still awake. Why you may ask? Because I forgot to do laundry until an hour ago. Now, if I was on top of tasks such as laundry this may not be a big deal. However, I was lazy enough to let ALL of the clothes I wear on a daily basis pile up to the point that I truly didn't have anything left to wear. I'm so mature.

This past week I started my new job as a Teacher's Aide. It was such a great opportunity and so far it's been fun. I do have to say though, it's the hardest thing I've ever done. And I'm just the aide! I came home and took a 2-hour nap every single day the past week. I'm not sure why, but it's been really hard to let go of my college schedule of going to bed around 2 and waking up whenever I feel like it. Being a grown up is tough, man.

On Saturday, I wanted to go to Canton. This is the first weekend all year long that I haven't been out of town doing something on the first of the month when the monthy First Monday trade days are held. I didn't think we were going to get to go because Mom had a prior commitment, but once it was over, we made a last minute decision to head East. It was fun of course and as always...very entertaining. We weren't there even 10 minutes before I saw a 60 year old woman wearing spandex shorts. When I say shorts though, I want you to picture bikini cut shorts. I also saw a two-seater motorscooter.

Mom and I have visited Canton once a year in the past 3 years and always in October. It just seems to be the one time it works out. I just don't see how people go almost every month! The same booths are there every single month and I'm sure there's only so many sights! It's lots of fun though to go with Mom. We don't ever buy much but we have fun people watching and shopping.

I'm hoping this next week isn't as tiring, because as much as I love napping, I'm just not getting anything accomplished after I get home from school. Which is why I'm still up waiting for the laundry to finish.

Laughlin Life

2010-09-28T01:09:00.000-05:00

So, I have returned from another trip without any pictures. I'm not even sure if I'm ever going to use my camera again! I would say that it's starting to feel neglected, but I think that by not using it, I haven't had a chance to drop it in a while, so it's probably thankful for that. (You know, if camera's had feelings and such. Which mine apparently does.)

When we found out that Taylor would be living in Del Rio, Texas for the next couple of years, I started looking for teaching jobs in the area. I didn't find one and I was really bummed out about it, but after visiting I feel safe to say that I'm kind of glad there wasn't an opportunity there for me. I love Taylor and some of our greatest friends are in Del Rio as well, but I just don't think I would have been happy there since I would have had to live off base and the actual town of Del Rio is about 10 miles away from base. The people there are very nice and the town isn't as bad as some people make it out to be, but I'll be happy to visit! If only Frost wasn't in the smack-dab middle of nowhere, it might be easier.

When I arrived in Del Rio, Taylor was puppy-sitting for some friends of ours. I was so excited to see this because as everyone knows, Taylor is not the biggest fan of dogs. Brady the maltipoo couldn't have been a better puppy to play with though. He only had one accident the entire weekend! When Craig and Angela came back on Sunday, Taylor was giving them Brady's behavioral report and it was one of the funniest things I have ever listened to! Two 2nd Lieutenants in the Air Force talking about a puppy and his poop schedule! I wish I had recorded some of their conversation!

I know I always say this after a Taylor visit, but it was nice to just relax for a while! We took naps, saw a movie, and tried out some new restaurants. One night, I even cooked for Taylor. In the almost 3 years that we've been dating, I haven't ever had a chance to cook him a meal! Thankfully he thought it was tasty and approved of my cooking skills.

We also had a few dinner parties while I was in town. One night, we went over to our friends Ryan and Marie's house to have pork chops (yum!) and then we had Korean food at Taylor's neighbor's house a couple of nights later.(also yum!) They don't have much furniture so we ate and played a board game on a cardboard box! Our "buffet" for the night was their ironing board. I had to talk them into washing their ironing board cover after all of the food was cleaned up because it was covered in food. I don't think bits of potatos and cake icing would look very good on a neatly ironed uniform.

Since Taylor arrived in Del Rio, he has been living in the on-base hotel waiting for housing to open up. He didn't think he was going to get anything until after he got back from IFS in Colorado but one day while we were having lunch he got a call saying he had a house! After a couple of days of paperwork, he got to put all of his stuff in his new home! I tried to get him to decorate a little since he's going to be there for a while, but the most he would let me do was coordinate his towels with his shower curtain.

The week of course flew by once again and before I knew it, I was driving back toward Frost. Taylor left the very next day though for IFS where he will be for a few weeks while he learns some basics of flying I think. I know he is studying his tail off right now and I know he's going to do great while he's there because he's really smart and really awesome and you can't go wrong with those two qualities!

life continued

2010-09-16T00:42:00.000-05:00

I'm so disappointed in myself.

Two days ago I had as I was making my 2nd two hour drive of the day, I came up with some pretty awesome subjects to talk about on my blog. I was so proud of myself and swore that I would go straight home after my trip and write about them.

It just so happened though that my trip included buying a new computer so after I got home, I spent the next 3 hours trying to install Microsoft Office and forgot all about my blog post topics until tonight. And now I can't remember any of them.

My short term memory has never been one of my finer qualities.

So instead of solving all of the worlds problems and being incredibly funny with all of my forgotten knowledge, I'll just bore you with my revelations for today.

*This afternoon I discovered that my car is broken. Again. Turns out, one of the doors on my car has decided not to lock anymore. I thought that it was some sort of thing to avoid locking my keys in my car, but Taylor did some research and determined that it may not be normal. I am grateful to even have a car and I know that complaining isn't going to fix anything, but I'm actually starting to believe that Taylor cursed my car when he named it Hitler.

*I just saw the new Axe body wash commercial. Inappropriate does not even begin to cover it. Please don't look it up.

*I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow. It always seems like my roots pop up out of nowhere. And then I'm on vacation trying to cover them up. You'd think I'd learn eventually. Hopefully my hairdresser doesn't cut off too much, because I'm still trying to grow out my hair and even a half inch too much will set me back two months.

*I found myself making a schedule of weekly shows that I will be watching starting next week. It was the most organized thing I've done since I graduated and that made me very sad.

I get to see Taylor again next week! This will be the third weekend in a row and that hasn't happened since last year! I really need to start taking pictures of our trips again because my blog is looking pretty sad. And I think my pictures are easier to read than my words.

You can't know until you go...

2010-09-08T00:58:00.000-05:00

So as I mentioned in probably my last 5 posts, this past weekend was my trip to Alabama to visit Taylor and Whitney.

I just have to pause for a second to laugh once again at all of the adventures we had over the long weekend.

Ok I'm back.

I'll just start at the beginning. In my excitement of getting to see Taylor, I always fail to remember that I permanently live at least an hour away from every major airport and that booking a 9:00 flight might not seem that early, getting up at 5:30 to be on time for that flight is ALWAYS early.

Before boarding this 9:00 flight, I started to notice that there were a LOT of babies sitting at the same gate and then I put two and two together and realized they would all be on my flight. And it turned out that they all sat within five rows of me. The little boy behind me sang about Elmo for the first 20 minutes of the flight and then whined the rest of the time. While annoying, it was nothing compared to the two other people sitting in the same row as me. Homegirl and her boyfriend decided to spoil my "getting to see Taylor" buzz and sat down beside me...with their DOG. Then, girlfriend took off her Prada shoes and put them in the seat next to her while she and boyfriend read Cosmo articles out loud and laid in each other's laps. Please tell me normal people don't behave like this in public.

After landing in Birmingham, Whitney picked me up and we headed down to Dadeville to meet Taylor at our condo for the weekend. As we were driving, I noticed that the signal on my phone was getting lower and lower and then finally went away completely just as we were arriving at the realtor's office to pick up the keys to the condo. This was just the first sign that we were about to enter the Twilight zone.

As we stepped into the office, I started counting cats. I counted a total of 5 that I could see and apparently there was a litter of kittens camped out on a chair. There was also a Chihuahua in the mix but I heard someone say she thought she was a cat too. Then the receptionist greeted us and I discovered she had no upper teeth. Signs number two and three.

After we got directions from nice, but toothless lady we headed towards our condo and ran right into sign number four. In the matter of two minutes, we heard all about "the college", "the anxiety", and her family's health problems. All in the most Alabamaian accent I could ever imagine. We nodded our heads and then continued our journey to the cabin.

Once we arrived, we found the inventory list for the cabin complete with ceramic rabbit with two broken feet. One of the things on the list that we actually did not have was the "phone with dial tone". I would have gladly traded the rabbit for the dial tone because we had zero cell service and no internet all weekend. It took a trip to the parking lot and standing on one foot to get a phone call out.

Please keep in mind this was all before Taylor arrived.

After further inspection of the condo, we discovered a spider web that spanned one entire wall, about 80 champagne glasses and an entire box of crab crackers. At some point in time, someone had tried to entertain in the condo with curtains that were falling down and stained by something I don't even want to imagine. The brightside to the place though was the wonderful screened in back porch.

On Saturday night, we even got to meet our neighbors. And when I say meet I mean we listened to them drink a few too many and then head inside for a nice knockdown dragout fight.

Sidenote-Whitney, the wonderful cook, had to make a couple of trips to the local Piggly Wiggly over the weekend. Taylor and I had the pleasure of also making the trip and having our minds blown once again by it's Alabama-ness.

And now I'll get to one of the highlights of the weekend. As we were sitting by the pool on Sunday afternoon, we heard the familiar Dukes of Hazzard opening notes. That's right, General Lee himself drove right past the pool. And then we were joined by his family members who at one point were jumping back and forth over a metal fence.

Sunday night, Taylor's friend Justin joined us for the night and we all enjoyed catching up. We woke up on Monday morning and drove back to Montgomery and Maxwell AFB where we got to witness in person the place where Taylor has been staying for the past few weeks. When we walked in, it was a cool 81 degrees and only climbed from there. I felt so bad for him! Only a few more days though!

Whitney and I stayed the night in downtown Montgomery before my flight the next morning back to Texas. Besides being on the world's smallest plane for almost three hours, my flight was (thankfully) uneventful.

As hard as it was to say goodbye once again to Taylor, I am pretty happy that he will be in Texas in just a few short days. As excited as I am though, my trip to Alabama was definitely one that I will never forget!

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures once again. Although my camera made an appearance, my blowdryer did not make it to Alabama and so the frizz was out of control and since I am in control of what goes on my blog, my bad hair will not be shown.

Merpaw's House

2010-09-01T08:30:00.002-05:00

This past weekend Mom and I traveled east to see my Merpaw. If you're wondering who Merpaw is, (which I doubt you are since everyone who reads this blog is family), but just in case--she is my mom's mom. Everyone else called her Memaw or Grandma and then I came along and made up Merpaw. Even my three year old self had naming issues I guess.

Anyways, it was a weekend that both Mom and I were free so we decided to spend the day in Tyler. I always love visiting Merpaw's house because that's where I take the best naps. I know I know, how rude to go and visit someone and then fall asleep at their house. But if you knew my grandpa who I think I get my nap skills from, you would totally understand. PawPaw could fall asleep anywhere faster than anyone! He also liked to stand in front of the TV, but that's another story for another time.

We spent the day napping, looking at old family photos, looking up recipes, and then I had to make a run into Tyler because I knew it was the only time I would be within 20 miles of a mall for a while. Pathetic I know, but you don't realize how much malls come in handy until one is an hour away.

Normally when we visit Merpaw's house, we make a trip out to Mario's Italian food. The owner, Moh has been a family friend since before I can remember. His staff even knows us because we've visited so often over the years! A few nights a week they have live music come in and play and it's just such a wonderful atmosphere. When Jesse and I were little, one of the singers used to sit at the piano with us and teach us how to play twinkle twinkle little star. I have so many great memories at this place and I love going whenever we have the chance! I even took Taylor last time he was in town and I think he liked it too.

We didn't have time this past visit to go, but when I was at the mall, I actually ran into Moh in Dillards! I guess a trip to Tyler just isn't complete without a little bit of Mario's.

In this picture: Moh, Merpaw, Me, Layla (Moh's daughter), Veroniqe (Moh's wife), and Mom. I think this was taken last summer. Back when I had long and apparently brown hair!

I can't believe I included a picture with a post! Hopefully after my visit to Alabama, I'll have plenty to share. Only TWO more days!

Somebody take the remote away from me

2010-08-27T02:44:00.000-05:00

I've gone and done it again y'all. I changed my blog background. Due to high demand from my readers (NOT), it was in need of a new, simpler look.

Actually, I think I want to change my hair style and changing my blog was the cheaper option. The only downside to switching everything around is the fact that I am the most indecisive person ever. And picky. Unfortunately those two characteristics don't normally play nicely together. At least not in LBMM's world. I'm not going to tell you how long it took for me to get the "simple look" that I am now sporting because it would totally and completely defeat the purpose of the "simplifying" process I was going for.

In other news, I have found time in my jam packed schedule to watch every bit of trashy tv I can fit into a week. I started off the summer watching the end of Real Housewives of New York and even though I was so thankful that it ended and I had decided not to love any of the people on it, I got sucked into watching the spin-off with Bethenny Frankel called, "Bethenny Getting Married?" I love her sense of humor and her many one-liners.

Then, one of my favorite shows ever from last summer came back on. Real Housewives of New Jersey is nonstop entertainment for me. I even got my mom hooked on it and now she asks every person we come into contact with if they have seen it. Of course no one else has as bad as taste in television as we do so they haven't even heard of it. I love this show because they women on it are so trashy and don't even know it!

Another couple of shows I have started watching this year are Teen Mom, Real World: New Orleans and Jersey Shore. I know I'm behind on the Real World by like...10 years, but I never even knew it existed until Taylor got me to watch it. I watched a little bit of Jersey Shore last year, but decided I would stick out the whole season this time. I'm so glad because it is filled with some of the best quotes I've heard in a while. Also, Taylor watches them at the same time and we discuss them throughout the episodes and it's almost like we're watching it together.

I've watched a couple of episodes of The Rachel Zoe Project and Bachelor Pad but I can only handle so much of Rachel Zoe's voice and her overuse of the word "BANANAS". The Bachelor Pad makes me laugh because I think that it is more logical than the original Bachelor show. We all know the people on those shows are there for the fame and whatnot so it's great they've decided to go ahead and give these contestants some prize money. It's still funny though to hear some of them say things like, "I want to win that money! Oh and of course find love. Yeah love would be nice too."

Of course summer wouldn't be summer without some Kardashian action. I still don't know why they are famous and have their own shows but they've sucked me in with their dramatic lives and I just can't stop.

I try to draw Taylor into my trashy tv but he just refuses and makes fun of me. He just doesn't know what he's missing! Watching tv with Taylor is so much fun because if it's a dumb show he has really funny comments and if it's a great show, we have deep discussions about it like we're solving all of life's problems.

Ok, so now that I've just dropped that knowledge bomb on you I'll leave you with one more unimportant-to-life tidbit.

Yesterday after a ridiculously difficult visit to Best Buy I decided to blow off some steam at Target. Actually I had already calmed down by the time I thought of going there, it just seems like a logical excuse. Anyways, I made a purchase that I never thought would ever in a million years happen.

I bought a pair of "skinny jeans." No, not the jeans you wear when you feel skinny, but the ones that are really tight fitting...everywhere. I have always been opposed to this style because thanks to 10 years of tennis, the size of my thighs is not something I prefer to draw attention to. But then I threw caution to the wind and tried on a pair. And y'all, I am in Love. They actually did the opposite to my thighs that I thought they would AND were just the right length for my LBMM size legs. I don't normally find jeans that I just love so I decided to add them to my closet. Then, the deal was made even sweeter because I found some extremely cute cardigans for FIVE dollars each. So of course I got two. After I found that deal, I thought I should quit while I was ahead. I mean, I don't think I could have found anything better than that so I called it a day. Ohh how I miss having a Target literally across the road from my house.

And there you have it. After re-reading that, I feel as though my life might lack some meaning. I promise I think about other things besides television and sales. Just last week I solved World Hunger. Ok, maybe not. But I did make some delicious enchilada ravioli and even my 17 year old brother got full so I think I did something right.

Looking Back...I Was an Idiot

2010-08-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I saw about 25 "They're baaaack" Facebook statuses talking about all of the students returning to College Station. After a quick thankful prayer, I began thinking back to my first semester at A&M and all of the happenings that ensued.

Since I had been accepted to A&M in May of my senior year, there weren't any spaces left for me in the dorms which meant I had to find myself an apartment. I totally ate that up because since I had a whole 24 hours of college credit from high school and I knew exactly what I wanted to major in and how long it was going to take, there was no way I was going to consider myself an actual college freshman. Nevermind the fact that I had yet to actually step foot on a college campus. So anyways, in my excitement to have my very own apartment, I bought everything that Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Target and Wal-Mart told me I should have to start college. And then I stuffed it all into a bedroom that was as big as my bathroom at home.

Sadly the part of college I was most excited about was the wardrobe. I could totally wear a t-shirt and FLIP-FLOPS every day of the year and nobody would care. So, on the first day of my college career, I put on my brand new maroon t-shirt and my beloved flip-flops, parked my car in the godforsaken West Campus Garage and started my 12 mile journey to my first class with all of my books in one bag. Not even five minutes later, I heard the screeching of bicycle brakes and the next thing I knew I was flat on my face. I think that event was enough to convince anyone on campus that I was indeed a freshman. So I picked up my pride and my 25 pound backpack and made my way to class, only stopping to ask for directions twice.

As it turns out, when one goes to college, they are expected to study and actually pass the classes they've signed up for. Somebody forgot to inform me about that minor detail and although I've forgotten what I spent my nights doing, hardly any of them were spent with a book open. I think there were a lot of trips to Harry's and The Hall involved though.

After four kinesiology classes and finding out that A&M had the audacity to require me to take 35 hours of science classes over the next four years while keeping an A average in said classes, I decided that maybe I didn't know what I was doing. And because I had yet to master the art of accepting responsibility I thought, WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE THIS? Then I remembered that I hadn't really given anyone the chance to tell me that because I kept assuring everyone that I had everything under control.

Somehow I managed to keep my transcript from that first semester out of my dad's hands and switched my major to something that required zero microbiology classes. Two and a half years later, I convinced the school to give me a diploma and release me into the real world. And in my true form, I have yet to embrace that fact and moved in with my parents. I think though that I'm ahead because in college, it took me moving out on my own and failing before I had to move home. So this way, I've taken out the failure part. And that folks, is some fool proof logic. You're welcome.

Always in catch-up mode...

2010-08-18T08:30:00.002-05:00

This week, my mom has been back at school preparing for the new school year to begin and I found myself getting sad that summer was coming to an end. Then I realized that my life schedule no longer revolves around semesters and that the year actually begins in January, not August. What an odd feeling! Sometimes I miss having the structure of a class schedule and the constant ticking things off of my semester To-Do list. I still have the constant To-Do list, but unlike in school where there's an eventual graduation, my work now is never ever going to be done.

Although I'm pretty bummed out that I didn't find a teaching job for this school year, I think that it's obviously not what I'm supposed to be doing at this time. I know that when the time is right for me, I'll find the right teaching job somewhere. I do have to admit though, seeing all of the "back to school" Facebook statuses from my teacher friends does kind of make me sad every now and then. But then I wake up at noon and I feel like it all evens out.

Last Saturday my little brother turned 17. I don't know how this happened because last time I checked, he was 4 years old. In true Jesse form, the only thing he wanted for his birthday was to go to a rodeo. We went out to eat beforehand with some family friends of ours and then as we were about to go to the actual rodeo, Jesse's friend Lane said he wasn't feeling too good. So, the girls all decided that he needed an escort back home and we successfully avoided the 100+ degree weather for the evening.

Last night as I was getting ready for dinner I realized that my dad had eaten all of the leftovers in our house and that if I wanted anything to eat, I would have to make it all over again. It's times like these that I wish that I lived in College Station again and didn't have to drive 20 miles for a meal. That and I miss Old Navy. I'm really hoping that my next stage in life will be kind to me and put me in a town with more than one paved road. And I hope it's soon. Not that I'm wishing my life away, just this phase of it.

I hate that I don't have any pictures to post, but my camera hasn't made an appearance since Taylor's graduation week. That's right, not a single picture taken all of summer! Hopefully I'll remember to break it out when I see Taylor and Whitney in just two short weeks! I'm going to Alabama for Labor Day weekend and I can't wait! I haven't had a Taylor hug or a Whitney meal in way too long!

Goodbye old life...

2010-07-18T16:46:00.003-05:00

After my graduation in May, I came to my parents house for a few days here and there while I did a lot of traveling. I guess I knew it would be my next move, but I had been hoping and praying that I would get a job offer and find a place of my own somewhere. On Friday though, I decided it was time to suck it up and move my stuff to my parents house. Until that point, I had a place that I could get away to and just relax. Now that I don't, it's really hitting me hard that for now, my parents house is my home again and I've been thinking about all the wonderful things I'm going to miss about living in College Station.

My top 5:

1. Grocery store literally across the street.

2. Any kind of food less than 2 minutes from my house.

3. Movie theater less than 5 minutes away.

4. Vic and Sarah!

5. Target and Old Navy.

When I decided to graduate early, I didn't really have a plan. I just knew that I wanted to not go to school anymore. I guess I thought that a job would just land in my lap and everything would work out like it always has.

After graduation, I was traveling so much and having such a great time enjoying my summer that I didn't really worry too much about not having a real job yet. I was still applying to school districts and crossing my fingers, but no word yet.

Then the "Do you have a job yet?" questions started coming and that's when I got a little stressed. I tell people that no, I don't yet but I'm still applying and they immediately follow up with their own advice about getting a job. I appreciate it, but it doesn't really help me all that much when everyone says the same things that I've been doing to find a job.

I have a hard time with failure and patience. Since graduation, it's been really hard to have faith that eventually the right job will come along, and peace about living at home and not on my own. I want to be ok with everything and sit back and enjoy the life I have, but this dream I had for myself after school keeps getting in the way. I have to work on these things so that I can be happy and enjoyable to be around.

It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!

2010-07-13T23:38:00.004-05:00

When I sat down to write this post, I noticed in my list of previous posts that I already had three drafts all basically saying the same things. Somehow, I just forgot to post them. Probably because I didn't want to have to title them. It's really a serious fear of mine. What if I title it something that has nothing to do with the post, but I think it does and no one gets it? Or what if I title it something that can be turned into an innuendo? Wouldn't that be totally embarrassing? I'm all about rational thinking.

Anyway, the main events going on in my three previous drafts were the following in quick summaries and minimal pictures.

Taylors Graduation:

1. I drove 6 hours to Lubbock on Friday night only to wake up and ride 7.5 more hours in the car with Taylor's parents to Colorado. My behind started to go numb!

2. Our hotel had this thing called "Manager's Special". Free drinks every evening from 5-9. FREE. Have I ever mentioned how much fun it is to be an adult?

3. We went to church at the Academy Chapel. Beautiful.

4. We got to have our picture taken with the Superintendent of the Academy. Super cool.

5. We got wind burned at a parade while getting to see some of Taylor's good friends, Ryan and Brett jump out of planes. Painful, but really neat.

6. Kristofer, Vic and Sarah's planes were all delayed because of high winds in Colorado so Whitney, Taylor's mom and I all got to go shopping while waiting for them. I totally got a cute top and some shoes. And a purse. Score!

7. Vic lost his wallet at the airport, but luckily it was found!

8. Taylor was commissioned into the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant. I may have gotten a little teary.

9. Taylor graduated and we got to see an amazing Thunderbirds show. It was a gorgeous day and I even remembered sunscreen for quite possibly the first time in my life. But the important part was that Taylor graduated.

10. We totally got to see an almost fight in the parking lot after graduation. Hilarious.

In between all of the events during the week, we had lots and lots of really good food and tons of fun with everyone who came. I was/am so proud of Taylor for his completely amazing accomplishment of graduating from the Air Force Academy!

Golden and Keystone, Colorado:

1. We packed up after Taylor's graduation and headed to the mountains for a weekend of relaxation and a tour of the Coors Plant.

2. I volunteered to be the photographer because I really didn't care that much about the Coors plant. It was neat to see everything, but it wasn't something I cared to learn about. Have I mentioned that I don't like beer? Yuck.

3. We got a sweet condo in Keystone that had an indoor hot tub!

4. Whitney and Vic kept our bellies full with delicious food as usual. It's good to have those two around.

5. Sarah and I made Taylor and Vic watch a "Say Yes to the Dress" marathon. They totally loved it.

6. Taylor ran over a boulder with his truck and the boulder won.

7. We learned all about Vic's fear of heights.

8. We wore shorts to the top of a ski lift. What an interesting experience.

Sadly the week ended and we had to drop Whitney, Vic and Sarah off at the airport before driving back to Texas where Taylor discovered my whistling pet peeve. After arriving back in Texas, I stayed a couple of days in Lubbock and then drove back home to Frost while Taylor began his summer working on the farm.

Now for the more recent stuff:

1. I preordered my new iPhone which took THE ENTIRE DAY but eventually worked out. I originally had an entire blog post for that, but decided it was weird and whiny so now it just gets a number.

2. I moved home for what looks like permanently. It was supposed to just be until I got a teaching job, but now it's July 14 and I have had absolutely zero leads. I keep telling myself that it's free in hopes that I'll like it more but I soon may need more to keep myself going.

3. I'm really thinking hard about what's been going on since I last wrote anything and I'm slowly realizing how boring I am. Hooray for me.

Last week I went to Lubbock to finally get to spend time with Taylor and what a perfect week I picked! It rained the entire week I was there so Taylor didn't have to work at all and we got to hang out almost the entire time! It was an adventurous week though! Lubbock ended up getting 10 inches of rain and at one point I was put in charge of navigating us through a flood. I thought they would have been better off with a monkey driving, but luckily I got us back to the house safe and sound. Then the carbon monoxide detectors started going off at Taylor's house and we had to call the fire department who came sirens blaring only to tell us they needed to be replaced. We had opened all of the doors and windows to let out the poison and so a few bugs got into the house. The next morning I was getting ready in the bathroom when a wasp started flying around my head. I turned around to go find a fly swatter only to run head first into the door frame. Hoping nobody would notice, I went back to getting ready only to have Taylor's mom come down the hallway wondering what all the noise was so I had to explain that it was only me, being an idiot. We also went to the family reunion, and of course, multiple Best Buy trips. Oh and we also saw Despicable Me. What a fantastic movie. I almost forgot the most important thing! Taylor decided after graduation that he was going to start a 60 day beard. This trip was my first time seeing the infamous beard in person and I have to say, I'm glad the military doesn't allow facial hair. Not that Taylor doesn't look handsome all the time, it's just that I find him more handsome without the facial hair. He likes it though and I guess it is his face so I support it! On Sunday, I had to drive home and I think I've said this before, but it really gets so much harder every time I have to say goodbye. Taylor really is the coolest kid I know! Who knew the first summer we've both had off in four years would be the one where we saw each other the least?! Not a fan, people. Not a fan.

How long until I have to grow up?

2010-06-07T23:45:00.004-05:00

It's been forever and a year since I've posted anything. I guess not needing distractions from math homework has taken its toll on my poor unread blog!

So sit back and prepare yourself, this is going to be long.

Let's see... since last time...I have graduated, Taylor graduated, I semi moved home, Taylor moved back to Texas, I've changed jobs, and I've gotten more sleep in the past two weeks than all of last semester combined. It's been cah-razy to say the least.

We'll start with my graduation! First of all, I spent the ENTIRE week leading up to the ceremony doing math homework day in and day out. There were even a couple of all nighters. By the Wednesday before graduation when grades were supposed to be turned in, I still had not heard from my professor on whether or not I would pass the class. So regardless of whether or not I would pass, my grades had not been turned in. I pretty much knew I would find one of those stinking little blue dots on the end of my tube.

Sure enough, it was there. After sitting through an hour and a half of my graduation ceremony, I was really tired and just wanted to hang out with my family since they were there. My department was the second one called and there were still about 25 more departments left! So since I didn't have a diploma in my dadgum tube, I left the ceremony.

BIG MISTAKE. Dad was NOT happy in any way shape or form. He thought I was going to get some sort of "ticket" because I didn't stay. So, after that the day was pretty much shot and I didn't get a single picture. I was so sad because I had looked forward to that day for so long and didn't have any tangible memories!

Luckily I have Vic and Sarah, who I love so much and who were so wonderful that they hosted my family and a few friends over at their house that night. Even though Sarah was preparing for a conference the next week! Seriously, I couldn't ask for better family/friends. After a rough day, it was so nice to relax and be around people who are hilarious.

Taylor was able to make it into town for my graduation, and I'm so glad he did! We had such a great time! And doesn't he look so handsome all dressed up? Those are actually Vic's clothes because all Taylor brought was a pair of jeans! I talked him into this outfit and Vic even let him keep the shirt because Taylor's arms are longer than his!

After my graduation, Taylor flew back to Colorado for a few days until everyone came out for his grad week. Yes, an entire week dedicated to Taylor's graduation. Turd.

That comes in the next post!

Make me a 'Rita, Mommacita

2010-05-09T12:19:00.004-05:00

My mom is the greatest. I don't know how else to sum her up. She loved me as a teenager, she helped me fix my mistakes, she kept all my secrets, she told me I was a turd when I needed it, and she made me who I am today. I am so proud to call her my mom.

This picture just makes me laugh because I think it's the epitome of mine and my mom's relationship. She's always running after me trying to keep things straight and I don't have a clue what's going on.

And I just love this picture. And Mom's bangs. SWEET!

Mom and I 20 years later on my Aggie Ring Day.

This is where Mom is happiest...making margaritas for the par-tay!

Thanks for everything, Mom! You're the greatest!

Sneez Sneez, go away

2010-05-05T01:34:00.003-05:00

I'm not in the mood to do anything productive, so I thought I would fill out a super fun survey!

5 names you go by:

1. Mary
2. LBMM
3. Mare
4. ??
5. ??

Three things you're wearing right now:
1. Aggie T-shirt
2. Purple boxer shorts (I match pretty awesomely right now, btw)
3. I'm not telling you what color my underwear is :)

Three things you want very badly at the moment:
1. A D in my math class. Oh pretty pretty please!
2. NO ALLERGIES
3. A job.

Two things you did last night:
1. Since it's 1:30 does last night count as two hours ago? If so, I watched Glee, parenthood, and HGTV
2. Took a two hour nap at 6 pm.

Two things you ate today:
1. Popcorn
2. Cereal

Two people you last talked to on the phone:
1. Mom
2. Haley

Three things you are going to do:
1. Go to bed soon, hopefully
2. Pass my math class, hopefully!
3. GRADUATE!

Two Favorite Beverages:
1. Orange Juice
2. Margaritas

I am still not technically done with school until Friday after I turn in my final test for one class and my final project for another class, but i'm finding it EXTREMELY hard to make any progress on my final project. It's optional, but if I want a decent grade in the class, I should do it. But I just don't wanna! Also, I'm still waiting on my grade from my math class. I'm not holding my breath because I ran out of time on the test and didn't even get to some of the questions, but I'm hoping my professor will show some mercy and pass me. I hate to be all, JUST GIVE ME THE D. But I spent 85 hours on this class and honestly, I feel like I worked my butt off for it. I hate hate hate not being good at things and it's really hard for me to admit that I'm not good at things. So telling people that I'm most likely not going to pass a class? It's torture. I usually don't even attempt things that I can't dominate but unfortunately, Texas A&M told me I had to attempt it. And that I had to pass it. I don't know what this place expects from me sometimes. I can't do it all.

Other than being completely unmotivated, I'm also getting sick I think. I hate being sick by the way. I get all wimpy and pouty and when everyone says I should go to the Dr. I act like I'm fine. It's because I hate the Dr. almost more than being sick. I feel like every time I go, they act like I'm wasting their time. I know it's just a sinus infection dude, but please medicate me and I'll leave you alone.

Hopefully it's just allergies and it will be gone in a couple of days.

Graduation and real life doesn't feel like it's only a couple of weeks away. I can't wait for it all though, if only I was going on some super fun adventure this summer!

Countdown to Margaritaville

2010-04-30T11:03:00.003-05:00

It's Friday. And that means two things. One, I'm done with attending college classes forever. And two, only four more days until I let my math final determine my future (more on that later) and two weeks until I walk across the stage. I hope I don't fall.

Last night as I was working on my math homework, I found a place where I could see how long I had worked on the program. My syllabus at the beginning of the semester said I should dedicate 3 hours a week to the class, which would equal out to about 48 hours at this point. Want to know what my time was? 85 hours. That's almost double the recommended time and I don't have ANYTHING to show for it. In other news, I like to beat my head against the wall sometimes.

Anyways, I'll be working on math for the next three days in preparation for the big final on Monday and then I may be paying a phone call to my professor and there might be tears involved. I'm just being honest here.

After Monday, regardless of how the test goes though, you will be able to find me at Happy Hour drinking Margaritas until I forget the whole thing ever happened.

Also, I've been thinking a lot about graduation. More specifically though, walking across the stage. I've done it before at my high school graduation, but that was in Frost. Where everyone knew me and had no doubt I would mess something up. Standing up when nobody else does is always fun. Anyways, I'm worried about walking the stage because um, it's in Reed Arena, where there are more than 150 seats and usually for graduation they're all full. What if I trip? Or go to the wrong person for my diploma? Or drop my diploma? Or shake with the wrong hand? Or get so excited, I decide to run across the stage? I know these are silly things and they probably won't happen, but really, anything is possible where I'm concerned.

Oh well, I'll just drink a margarita and forget it all happened.

On a completely unrelated note and because I just like to include pictures with every post, here's one of me, Haley, and Jaryn at another one of Haley's wedding showers. When I bought that dress I really thought it looked good on me. I'm hoping it's the way I'm standing, but I need to hit the gym again. Crunches here I come!

I wanna take yo' pitcha

2010-04-20T22:06:00.006-05:00

So I wrote yesterday that I would post some fun pictures from my recent trip to Colorado. I finally found my camera tonight, so here they are!

This was at the zoo overlooking Colorado Springs. It was so beautiful and this is one of my new favorite pictures of Taylor and I.

This is Taylor's favorite animal at the zoo, a lynx! They do have pretty sweet pointy ears so I guess I can see why he likes it.

It's a weenie dog of the sea! The otters were such good swimmers, Taylor and I are jealous of their skills.
I love this picture of Taylor, he is so cute! He liked feeding the giraffes more than I did.
I don't think Mr. Giraffe was too pleased with me stopping to take a picture. He wanted his cracker!

And now...pictures of the best hotel I've stayed in so far! Taylor's Air Force hookups are pretty much awesome. When Taylor booked the room, he reserved just a regular room, but I guess since it wasn't very full, they upgraded me to a "Distinguished Guest" Suite. We even had our own parking spot!

And I'm not letting Taylor forget that I'm distinguished. The Air Force said so.

I apologize for the order, I guess I added them backwards.
This is the KITCHEN! It was in the hallway between the living room and the bathroom. Just like my kitchen at home though, it didn't get much use.
This is the sitting area of the bedroom with a big flat screen tv. The room was huge!
Looking from the door, this is the other side of the bedroom. That bed was so comfortable and amazing. And the blinds shut out all the light. I slept until 11:30 on Saturday and when I woke up, I thought it was before dawn!
This is the living room area, it had two chairs and a couch. Not a love seat, a couch!

I should probably get out more.

Another TV!
We never sat in the living room. I wish I could have stayed longer to enjoy the whole suite, but I wasn't ever in the room except to sleep!

Too bad this was my last trip to Colorado before Taylor graduates and leaves forever! We've tried to reserve the on base hotel before but it's always been full. I'm glad I got to stay at least once though!

Silly Monkeys

2010-04-20T03:50:00.002-05:00

Tonight as I was taking one of a million breaks from my math homework, I caught up on one of my favorite TV shows, Modern Family.

If ya haven't seen it, please do that immediately.

It has to be the funniest show I've seen in a long time. Has to.

I don't know why, but it just tickles my funny bone every time.

And when I have kids one day, I hope they are all like the little girl that plays Lily. Seriously, that kid just hangs out like it's her job. I mean it is, but if all babies were that calm, I would have a million of them. Not really. Why am I talking about this? Moving on...

This weekend I got to visit Taylor in Colorado. I feel like a big ol' dork for saying this, but it just gets harder and harder to go a long time in between our visits. Even the 2.5 weeks since Hawaii was torture.

We had such a fun time, even though it was a relatively short visit. Normally I fly in on a Thursday and leave on Monday night. But neither of us had Monday off, so I flew out on Sunday evening and even though it was 4 days, it only felt like an afternoon. To me at least. I'm sure Taylor was ready to put me on that plane. I can be a handful.

Shocking, I know.

Not that it wasn't fun, it just went by lightning fast. Some of our weekend activities included a night out in downtown Colorado Springs, a bowling night, and THE ZOO.

Oh the Zoo was so much fun! We got to FEED THE GIRAFFES. They reminded me of cows. One even stuck his tongue all the way up his nose. I had a hard time feeding them, because I have issues with animals. I don't like getting animal slobber on me and I have a deep dark fear that they're going to take my hand with the food.

Anyways, after we left the giraffes with all body parts attached, we wandered around and visited the other animals. I liked the otters the best. I wish I could swim like an otter. They remind me of weenie dogs.

Weenie dogs of the sea. I like it.

I think Taylor liked all of the cats the best. Especially the Lynx because of its ears. If he could keep one as a pet, he would!

Towards the end of our visit, we got rained on just a little bit, but we ended up seeing everything and getting to our car just as it really started to rain. We saw the entire zoo in just under two hours. How do people stay there all day long? Or for that matter, go every week? Animals pretty much do the same things all day every day. Especially when they're cooped up in a cage their entire lives. We had tons of fun, but I'm not going to plan my next visit for a couple of years. The monkeys stunk too bad.

The night before the zoo, we went bowling with some of Taylor's friends at the Academy. I've decided that I prefer Wii Bowling. Like 1,000 times over.

If we were playing golf that night though, I would have beaten everybody by a mile.

Unfortunately we weren't, and my competitive nature had to take a seat once I realized there was absolutely no way on Earth that my ball was going to stay out of the gutter. I lost part of my thumb nail too.

Like I said, I prefer Wii Bowling.

Oh well, I provided the entertainment I guess. LBMM is always sure to come with the entertainment.

I'll have pictures of our zoo outing soon, but not until I find my camera in the abyss of my suitcase.

I should unpack sometime before May. We'll see though.

In other news, only 24 days until graduation. I want it to hurry, but I still have a ton of stuff to do so I hope it doesn't hurry. I've started applying for a few teaching jobs, so I'll be crossing all of my body parts hoping somebody wants me to mold the minds of their innocent children.

Update!

2010-04-11T00:39:00.006-05:00

Does anyone remember when I wrote that post about New Routines? Just to update you all on that process...it ended I think the week after that. I was doing really well with it by going to the rec center every day and then I got sick with strep or whatever it was and I didn't go for a week. And then I got busy with my alternative teaching stuff. So I got out of the routine and haven't been back since February.

I knew as soon as I put that into words that something would happen and I would stop going. But the good news is, I have kept up (for the most part) with the healthy eating part. I still don't eat fast food unless it is my only option and I don't remember the last time I had more than a sip of Dr. Pepper. Unfortunately I have visited the land of unhealthy, aka my parent's house a few weekends in a row and junk food just always tastes so much better here! Just cutting out carbonation and fast food though did a lot. I lost about 5 pounds, which on me is almost an entire size. It was really just all of that water weight that eating junk food and cokes adds. But I feel better and I'm really glad I have stuck with it. Being 21 doesn't really help too much though because alcohol still has a lot of calories! I haven't been overdoing it or anything, but I do like my margaritas at dinner!

In other news, only 33 days (HOLY COW) until graduation. I talked to my advisor last week and she said that I can walk the stage regardless of if I pass my pesky math class. So far though, it looks like I will pass it so not only will I get to walk the stage, but I will also get my diploma in the tube! I'm really excited about that because my diploma will say May 2010 instead of August 2010.

Also, I just found out on Friday that I passed my content exam for my alternative certification. I was ECSTATIC. When I started reviewing for the test and taking the practice exams, I really thought I had no chance. And then when I got to the test and started going through it, I still thought I had no chance. Thankfully though, I passed it! It only took 2 days for my scores to be reported. I thought that was crazy, but I'm glad I didn't have to wait 3 weeks to get them. I was happy to be done with the whole process and to hand my book off to Haley so she could take hers soon!

Speaking of Haley, today was her lingerie shower at Jaryn's house. Jaryn and her mom did SUCH a cute job decorating their house for it and it was a lot of fun. Haley got so many cute things, that I'm sure she (and Andrew) will enjoy! ;)

It's so weird sometimes to think that we are old enough to be throwing wedding showers for each other and that Haley is going to get married in just a couple of months! And that I'm graduating from college in a few DAYS. Below is a picture from the shower! I think we have a few like this from when we were in elementary school!

Now all that's left for me to do in the near future is find a job and figure out where I'll be living starting in August. Send up some good location prayers for me! :)

LOL, TFFN, OMG?

2010-04-07T20:08:00.002-05:00

For a while now I have been checking out sites like Lamebook.com that make fun of people for posting silly/stupid/weird things on Facebook. It's pretty entertaining and definitely passes the time at work. One thing I have been noticing though on the sites, the real Facebook, and especially comments on other people's blogs is that people are typing in short hand pretty often. Especially the older generation, i.e. my mom's age.

Thankfully my mother has no clue what any of it means and refuses to type in anything less than full sentences. Usually. Of course there are the senior moments when I have to ask what her thought process was.

Anyways, back to the short hand. I don't know what any of it means! I thought the teenagers today were the ones typing in code words. There's LMBO which I'm only guessing is the mom censored version of LMAO. Ones like that are the easiest to pick up on. But then there are the ones I haven't ever heard of. TFS? DH? There are so many more! I try to use context clues but they never seem to do any good.

While I know that reading other people's posts is useless, it is just something that I find entertaining. Older generations on Facebook still throws me off sometimes. I try to be much more careful in what I post and even though I've successfully shielded any unworthy eyes from my entire profile, I still go through a mental list of everyone who can see my profile just to make sure I'm not putting anybody off. Because making other people mad is my biggest fear.

In other news, I took my Content test for my alternative teaching certification today. I won't know the test results until next week sometime so if you think about it...send up some good thoughts for me to the test results gods! Haha thanks in advance!

Do I have to title this?

2010-04-05T00:05:00.003-05:00

I'm a planner. Having plans makes me relax entirely--at least until I deviate from or forget said plans. That happens more often than completed plans do.

I make plans for EVERYTHING. Sometimes they even help me fall asleep. Weird, I know, but some of my best ideas have hit me just as I was falling asleep. Unfortunately I haven't remembered them upon waking up in the morning. I only remember that they were the best ideas I've ever had.

My plans are like a security blanket to me. I make them when I'm stressed so that I can see on paper that what is stressing me is completely doable. I also make them when I'm stressed because I know that there are just SO MANY things going on in my head at once that I'm going to forget something really important. Not only do I like planning things, but also designing things. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a perfectionist and so I never can get it "just right". I have SO MANY IDEAS but they just never seem to come to fruition like I see them in my head. If only my art skills weren't limited to stick figures.

Speaking of SO MANY things going on at once, I have gone back and read a lot of the things I've written in the past and, oh my good grief. It's like following a rabbit! I jump from one topic to another in a paragraph and even sometimes in a single sentence. I've always prided myself on my writing abilities, but after reading other blogs for some time now, I know that it could use quite a bit of work.

I think what happens is, like I said before, there are just so many things bouncing around in my head at once that I want to get them down before they disappear. And trust me, they do disappear. Quickly. Perhaps that's why all of my english teachers had us make outlines. Sometimes when I'm doing something mindless, like sitting in class or driving, I start thinking about topics I could write about. Not just on my blog, but for fun. (Did I just admit to writing for fun?) I have these FANTASTIC ideas and they just keep coming, but once I actually sit down to write them they are gone, just like that.

Also, whenever I would write something for school, I could never think of anything good as a conclusion. If I had it my way, I would have written at the end of every paper, "And so this is the end of my story. If you want a conclusion, reread everything above." Fortunately, I stuck to what I had been taught, even if it wasn't the greatest conclusion you've ever read.

And so this is the end of my story. If you want a conclusion, reread everything above. (Good thing I'm not getting a grade for this.)

Oh, and here's a picture from Hawaii!

I miss Taylor!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2010-04-04T02:06:00.005-05:00

1990 at a family reunion

Today is my dad's 49th birthday! The past week he has been working himself up over the fact that next year he will be the big 5-0. I told him to go ask Mom what it's like since she's had a couple of years experience with that milestone and is still doing ok. (Some days.) Only kidding, she's great!

I don't really get too sentimental or mushy very often, but today as we were all in Tyler for our family's Easter dinner, my dad fixed Merpaw's air conditioner like it NO BIG DEAL. I started thinking about all the things he's fixed for me over the years and I wanted to beat my head on the wall for all the times I forgot to say, "thanks, Dad."

For as long as I can remember, Dad was able to fix anything and everything we could break. One time when I was a senior in high school, I got run off of the road by a trash truck and got stuck in the ditch. I called my dad and he literally picked my car up and put it back on the road. Seriously, how many people can say that?

Of course there have been, and knowing my dad and I, always will be times that we butt heads. And I have had my, "Oh my gosh, he just DOES NOT UNDERSTAND!!" moments while I'm sure he has resisted the urge on many occasions to pinch my head off. But he will always be the first one to help if I ever need it.

Sometimes I forget how great of a guy Dad is. He is always so willing to help anyone, he trusts everyone, he loves his family more than anything and the list could go on forever. Growing up with a dad who showed so much love and dedication, is something that I often take for granted and forget about.

2006 at a wedding

We fight and then fight some more, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't want any other Dad out there.

2008 at Dad's campaign

Hawaii

2010-03-29T22:46:00.001-05:00

So in case you are the one person on earth I didn't tell, I went to Hawaii last week with Taylor and our friends, Matt and Stephanie. A-mazing.

Minus the sunburn that attacked me on our first day. It looks like I had an allergic reaction to the sun. Is that even possible? Who knows, but the wonderful splotches and inexplicable tan lines sure are lovely. I found out that the UV index in Hawaii is 10+. That's 10 more than Texas. I felt like Wall-E when he is flying through space and charges up by the sun. If you haven't seen Wall-E yet, please do so now so I don't sound like too much of an idiot.

That night we also went to a magic show. We were a little skeptical about it at first, because let's be honest, it's a magic show. Those can get pretty hokey sometimes. During dinner though, the magician came to our table and wowed us with a few card tricks. We were sold after that! He didn't disappoint in the main show either!

On our way to the magic show!

Of course no trip to Hawaii is complete without doing the touristy things like visiting Pearl Harbor and the Dole Pineapple plantation. Pearl Harbor was especially special. I'm no history buff like Matt, but even I could appreciate the magnitude of such a memorial. We had a good time learning some of the details of what happened that day and exploring some of the artifacts left over. The greatest sight that day was absolutely the Arizona memorial. I would go back to Hawaii just to see it all over again. While we were there, we got to talk to a few Pearl Harbor survivors. Old men are funny in general, but these old men were also badasses. One of them, Herb, even had his own stack of Oreo cookies that he took everywhere with him.

Taylor and I in front of the Arizona memorial

Herb liked to "take pictures with the pretty ladies"

After Pearl Harbor, we visited the Dole Pineapple plantation. This place is not only where they produce a ton of pineapples, but it's also the home of the World's Largest Maze.

I've decided I don't like mazes. Taylor and I had fun though trying to find the different checkpoints. Trying being the key word.

The next day we decided to go snorkeling on the North Shore of the island, but unfortunately we picked the wrong day and the wrong beach. It was so windy and rainy. I gave up early because my lips started to go numb from all of the salt water I kept inhaling. Talk about gross.

Taylor kept exploring though and got to see some exciting remnants from past beach visitors. Things like towels, sunglasses, and tires (?) of course. He did see one fish though, I can't wait to see the monster once he gets his underwater film developed. After we unsuccessfully snorkeled for a couple of hours, we returned our gear only to have the rental guy tell us we chose the wrong beach.

I wasn't too worried about it though, because I was trying to regain feeling in my lips still.

After the snorkeling "adventure" we got back to our hotel and got ready for the Luau that night. My suggestion to anybody considering a Hawaiian vacation--if you don't like coconut, just don't go. That is their favorite addition to anything they serve you. I'm just not a fan! The dancers at the Luau were pretty neat, there was even a NINE year old flame twirler. I'm sure that's every mother's dream for her child. And there was even one of Taylor's potential flight instructors from Del Rio right across from us at dinner!

On our last full day, after Taylor and I took Matt and Stephanie to the airport, we rode on a catamaran (sailboat) around the island. It was so peaceful and gorgeous. We got to meet a funny old man who trades the captains on the boat burritos and brownies for free rides whenever he wants. What a life, huh?

This trip was so much fun! I got to spend almost an entire week with Taylor on a beautiful island in the Pacific Ocean with great friends. I got to experience some history and some new foods, and I got a memorable sunburn. I wish I could go back right now!

Oh, a funny story! I can't count the number of people who asked Taylor and I how long we had been married or if we were on our honeymoon. Talk about awkward. I guess that's what happens though when you visit a family resort. It was pretty entertaining to tell people that no, we weren't married or anywhere close.

And because I don't like to take myself too seriously, here's a picture of me on our last day in Hawaii with my birthday present from Matt and Stephanie, complete with terrible sunburn. It was too sweet of them to get me floaties!

Twin-Tee Won!

2010-03-20T23:04:00.002-05:00

Confessions

2010-03-16T15:11:00.004-05:00

Because I like to keep it real, I thought I would post some "confessions". These are just a few things over the years that I have done and have no idea why. And I think they're funny. And I like to laugh at myself. Because I think I'm hysterical.

1. When I was 10 I was grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with my mom and decided that I needed some lipstick. Trying to deter me from my purchase, Mom told me that I would have to pay for it myself. (I am my father's child-usually this threat works.) I wanted the lipstick SO badly though that I actually did attempt to pay for it with my own money. Along with a bag of skittles. The cashier said my total was something like $1.50 and the only thing my 10-year-old brain could think was, "yeah! what a great deal that lipstick was!" Then I got my receipt and saw that she had only charged me for the skittles.

I stole lipstick! I felt so bad about that for DAYS. And then again when I left my hijacked lipstick in the car and it melted. I don't think I ever wore it anywhere but the house. I do remember that it smelled delicious and tasted weird.

2. I locked both sets of my mom's keys in her car. At 10:00 on a school night.

Because I was 15 and TOTALLY needed a set of my mom's car keys in my purse.

It was the night before a pep-rally at school and I was trying on my cheerleading outfit to make sure it still fit from the week before. (honestly, I don't know why I needed to try it on.) I needed my shoes to complete the outfit, but they were in the car with the rest of my closet. So I went outside to get them and put my mom's set of car keys on the passenger seat while I looked for my shoes. Then I pressed the "unlock" button for the back door which actually turned out to be the "lock" button. Then I shut the front door and discovered my mistake. Dad ended up having to call a locksmith to drive TWENTY miles out to our house to unlock it and paid something absurd like $150. Which of course came out of my savings. And then I got the extra set of keys taken away.

3. When we were little, I used to play "cars" with Jesse. We had this big plastic mat that was an entire suburban city. Complete with Fire Station and grocery store. We had several different types of cars that we used to play with: the bigger ones that you could open the doors on, the tiny matchbox cars, and some random plastic ones. At the beginning we would line them all up and then take turns choosing the ones we wanted. Somehow I ALWAYS talked Jesse into letting me choose two at a time.

I think it all ended up fair though. If I so much as even got near one of his cars while we were playing, he would say my name just loud enough and just in the right tone for mom or dad to come in and make me go play somewhere else. Turd.

I'm sure there are a million things I'm missing, but honestly there's not a whole lot I got away with when I was younger. I still don't get away with anything. My entire life has been trying to figure out a way to dupe my parents and almost 21 years later...NOTHING WORKS. Maybe I should have spent all those years telling the truth.

Although, I probably wouldn't have all of the weird LBMM stories now if I had.

Also, here's a picture that I had taken last weekend while I was at home. Yes, it's a picture of me, but I don't have kids or pets and this blog really is all about me. Sorry.

Fool me twice, shame on me.

2010-03-12T17:52:00.003-06:00

I have this problem. When I go shopping, I always find so many pretty things that I want. I know how hard it is to resist the temptation of simply buying them all, so I rarely try things on. If I do happen to try something on though, I talk myself out of buying it for one reason or another. Then I force myself to leave the store thinking to myself how much willpower I have shown. Then I get home and kick myself because I look at my closet and all I see are jeans and t-shirts. (I'm the kid that always whined to my mom, "BUT I HAVE NOTHING TO WEARRRRR." It's a never ending cycle!

This past week I did just that. I found this really cute tube dress at Old Navy that would be perfect for Hawaii. It was even on sale! So I tried it on, and yes, it was a little long...but I have learned to overlook and deal with things fitting like that. It turned out to be really cute on and so I of course debated whether or not to buy it. In the end, I walked out of the store empty handed. Regretting it, I decided to go back to the store the next afternoon and go ahead and buy it. They didn't have my size anymore so the store ordered it from a different store in Houston. It arrived today and I have to say...

I don't like it as much anymore. I don't even know when I'm going to wear it after Hawaii so it's going to just sit in my closet like half of my wardrobe already does. I've already decided to take it back.

So the moral of the story is, if it's not worth it the first time, it's probably still not worth it the second time.

Oh and second lesson learned today. I need some self-tanner on my legs ASAP. I can't remember when these things saw the light of day!

Pretty Faces, Pretty Places

2010-03-08T01:08:00.004-06:00

These are just a few of my favorite memories from the past couple of years. I have had so many adventures and they just keep getting better and better.

Some Highlights:

The people. Every single one of the people in the video are special to me. Obviously, or else I wouldn't have let them in the video. DUH.

The places. Most of these pictures came from Texas, Colorado, and all the miles in between. With a quick detour to DC of course! The memories from these locations are ones that I will have with me forever.

The song. I'm a music fiend, snob, weirdo...whatever you want to call it. I spent 15 minutes picking a song for this slideshow because I like songs that have meaning and go perfectly with my mood or in this case, the mood of the pictures!

You don't have to tell me how weird that is, because I'm already painfully aware.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy! And if you were with me in the making of some of my favorite memories, I love you.

p.s. not sure what's up with the sound. but I spent 20 minutes uploading it...so it stays like it is. :)

Warning: Side effects may include over sharing.

2010-03-06T22:43:00.000-06:00

Are you all ready for a slice of LBMM's life? I know you're your fingernails are suffering in anticipation hearing about all of my new adventures so I'll just go ahead and get started.

The past two weeks for me have been...long. We'll just go with long because really it doesn't seem like February was just last week. I wake up every morning and think to myself, "SURELY it must be at LEAST April by now." Then I realize that I'm an idiot.

Anyways, a couple of weekends ago I went home to Frost to visit my family because I knew how ridiculous March was going to be for me and that I wouldn't get to see them until April. So when I get there on Friday, Jesse was laying on the couch mouth-breathing in the middle of the afternoon. He had come home from school early because he had a sinus infection. As it turns out, EVERYONE in my family had sinus infections.

The family that gets sick together stays together apparently.

Now, I only get sick a couple of times a year and when I do, it's a sinus infection. If someone else has a sinus infection within a 10 mile radius of me, I'll catch it. So needless to say, I was thrilled to be spending all weekend spraying Lysol on everything I touched. I started to feel the tickle in my throat on Sunday night. Then we had the wonderful weather change of the century that I'm sure helped speed things along. Finally by Tuesday night there was no denying that I had a sinus infection. (If you're still reading, congrats. I know how gross this is. Just keepin' it real.)

On Wednesday morning I went to the doctor because, let's be honest, I am the world's biggest baby E-V-E-R when I get sick. I need whatever will help me get better a.s.a.p. and OTC drugs usually don't cut it. I told the doctor my symptoms and that I had just spent the weekend with the Infected, so he examined my throat, stepped back and said, "Well, it looks like strep."
"Is it?"
"Well who knows, but it looks like it is."
I know my student health fees are going places, man.
So he gave me an antibiotic that would, "knock out whatever it was," and sent me on my way.

Luckily, the next day in class I had three rather lengthy assignments due. Which meant, strep or not, I had to go to class. I got everything turned in and then slept for the next 36 hours straight. No lie. The one upside to being sick is having the excuse to sleep whenever possible. Mmmm, sleep.

To be honest, I've been sitting here for almost 5 minutes trying to remember what else I did in the past two weeks. I actually think most of it was spent sleeping.

I discovered sushi! I had it once before while in Colorado but I was suffering from not getting my way that day and refused to enjoy myself. I can't believe I just admitted that.

Anyways, I feel like my world has opened up and I'm constantly suggesting reasons to my friends to go again soon.

Due to the length that this post already is, I'll sum the rest of my activities up in a list!
1. I got my oil changed. I like to keep things adventurous so I went about 7,000 miles before I finally got it done.
2. I had approximately three meltdowns due to my calculus homework. WHO'S idea was it to make that class mandatory? We need to have a talk.
3. I avoided fast food for two weeks. Until today, when I forgot to pack my lunch for my 8-hour teacher training.
4. I ordered my cap and gown and my invitations. Now, let's just hope I can pass my calculus class. All jokes aside, I'm seriously extremely worried about it. I work and work and work on all of the problems and I make it through the homework only to BOMB the tests. I don't understand where I'm going wrong. Just make the test questions like the homework! So, if you don't mind, I would appreciate ALL prayers for this class.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to focus all of my attention on The Incredibles.

Round and round it goes, where it lands no one knows

2010-02-22T22:57:00.000-06:00

I am so lost right now. I am graduating in 81 days and I have no idea where I'm going to move after that. I know that you're thinking, "81 days is a LOT of days!", but not to someone who likes to have everything planned out as far in advance as possible!

My parents have given me the option of moving back home so that I can work and save money for a couple of years. I like this because it would definitely be nice to be able so save a lot of money by not paying rent and grocery money, but I know that it would never work because for one thing, I've been living on my own for 3 years and it's really hard to go back home even for a vacation and not get back into feeling like I'm in high school again. I can't imagine trying to work and feel like that.

Then on the other hand I have the option of moving pretty much anywhere to find a job. My only problem with this option is that I won't know anybody and I'll be in an unfamiliar place with a new job. It's like moving to college except there aren't 8,000 other people going through the same thing with you.

Not only am I nervous about even being able to find a job, but also just what the future holds for me. What if I'm not good at my job? What if I hate it? I wish the road I'm supposed to take would show itself instead of making me go and find it. I know that it won't be easy, I'm not really expecting it to be. I just hope that I don't get to overwhelmed with all of the changes.

Usually when I tell people that I'm graduating a year early, they look at me like I've got snot coming out of my eyes. Then they tell me that I should stay in school as long as possible and enjoy the time I have here before I have to get a real job. Sometimes that hurts my feelings because of how hard I worked in order to graduate early. I also helped my parents out by saving them an entire year of rent and tuition. To me, that's more important than sleeping in a couple of mornings a week and going out late at night. I didn't really have the typical college experience to begin with, so I'm hoping that the transition won't be too hard after graduation.

I don't regret at all graduating a year early, I know it's going to give me some different challenges but I just didn't see a big enough reason to not do it. I'm scared about what the future holds, but I'm also excited to see where my road leads!

On top of things

2010-02-21T02:10:00.000-06:00

When I graduated from high school and moved out of my parents house, I decided to get a bigger bed and leave my toddler (twin size) bed back home. Obviously, this would leave me with a bed when I come home to visit and I wouldn't have to sleep on the couch, right? WRONG. My bedroom has turned into the "first one who falls asleep gets the bed", room. So that means I have to choose between the couch and being woken up at 6:30 when everyone else gets up or the upstairs bedroom that has the worst ventilation ever. Seriously, the rest of the house is 55 degrees and it's 84 degrees upstairs. Way to go on the bonus room, parents.

Anyways, because I value sleep more than low body temperatures, I decided to take the upstairs bed. This means having to go downstairs in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Guess what I found on my way down.

The cat sleeps on the bottom stair.

The cat would have been unharmed if my dad hadn't insisted buying the wall sconces with the bulbs that were on sale because they were being discontinued EIGHT years ago when we bought our house. Guess what, dad. Light bulbs aren't a renewable resource. Anyways, all the lights were out and my foot connected with poor Chloe's stomach. She's fine, but I had a mild heart attack when I realized that I couldn't see or catch my balance and was risking my life for my cat's life.

Then I couldn't remember why I went downstairs in the first place.

Shout-outs and Call-outs

2010-02-19T00:26:00.000-06:00

Some days I wake up annoyed with the whole world, while other days I wake up and barely notice life's little inconveniences. Today was the latter luckily, so I was able to able to come up with not just a "call-out" post.

*Aggie Ring office! I sent my ring off to be resized only 2 weeks ago and I got a call today that it was back ! They said that it would take anywhere from 4-6 weeks so I was super pumped to get that phone call today. Just this morning I thought to myself that it would probably be another few weeks until I got to see it again. NOT ANYMORE!
*Ace of Cakes-I like this show so much more than Cake Boss. One because they don't yell, and 2 because they are hilarious! Also, I'm watching the show as I'm typing this and being seriously entertained.

*Know-it-alls. Especially the ones that don't know it all. I can't learn anything in class when you are constantly interrupting the professor to correct them!
*Cold weather-I am running out of warm clothes! And I'm dreaming of my trip to hawaii where there will be warm weather. Oh, did I bring that trip up AGAIN? Sorry.
*Grocery shopping and laundry-I don't like these grown up things. Especially when THEY DON'T END.

Sometimes I just have to laugh at all the things that could potentially ruin my day. Like slamming my finger in my bathroom drawer. And the dog that lives upstairs. I can't let everything bother me!

95 days and counting...

2010-02-16T02:59:00.000-06:00

So this weekend was Taylor's 100's weekend! He found out that his base for pilot training will be...

...drum roll please....

TEXAS!!

I don't know why I even bothered to put this on here. Everyone already knows. Maybe it was for myself. I am so excited that Taylor will be living in Texas again! Same state dating, anyone? Hooray!

Anyways, after the reveal at dinner, we all loaded up our cars and headed to Keystone for the weekend. We decided not to ski this trip because A) I just dropped a crap-ton of money on my flight to Hawaii and my ski skills aren't worth the $75 half-day lift ticket. And B) I really did not want to have to check my bags because of all my ski gear.

Oh and my last ski run ended with my skis on opposite sides of the mountain. No thanks!

So since we didn't ski, we just got to hang out and relax in our condo on Saturday. It was the best Saturday I have had in a long time! I think it also went by the fastest too! In fact, the whole weekend flew by faster than it normally does.

On Sunday since it was Valentine's Day, we had a double-date with our friends Justin and Sammy at the movies! We saw the Valentine's Day movie (how fitting, huh?) and it was SO funny. After the movie, we went to different restaurants for dinner. Taylor and I ate at Pug Ryan's. It was super delicious and Taylor and I enjoyed making fun of our weird dining neighbors. (would you expect any different from us, though?)

After dinner we decided to hang out with the rest of Taylor's squad who had rented a couple of cabins within walking distance from ours. I have met some of these guys before, but haven't really gotten the chance to hang out with them. They were hilarious and so much fun!

This is Taylor with his friends, Craig, Mark, and Ryan!

And he's Taylor and I at the end of the night...with Craig, too!

Since I landed in Colorado on Thursday and we weren't leaving for Keystone until Friday night, I stayed in my usual Best Western Academy Hotel right outside of the Academy gates. As I was leaving, I realized that it would be my last stay ever in that hotel! Too bad, I didn't get one of the nice rooms for my last stay there!

Moving on...

I also realized as we were leaving our condo that it would be our last trip to Keystone as college students! How weird is that?!

Our next trip will be after Taylor's graduation with Whitney, Vic and Sarah. I can't wait for all the delicious food that Whitney and Vic are going to cook!

My flight didn't leave until around 7:30 on Monday night so Taylor and I decided to see a movie to pass the time in Denver. I picked When in Rome because I thought it looked kind of cute. (and in my defense it was the only movie showing that wasn't a boy movie.) It was the worst movie mistake I have ever made. Taylor even revoked my movie-picking privileges over it. Normally I like cheesy movies and disagree with Taylor about which ones are good or not. But we agreed this time...10 minutes into the movie! The plot was devised by a 17 year old girl I think. It didn't make a whole lot of sense and the acting was terrible!

Oh, sorry. This isn't a movie reviewing blog. My bad!

Anyways, now I'm back in Texas and counting down the days until Hawaii! I can't stop saying that! I've always wanted to go there but, never dreamed it would be this soon in my life! I am so excited and I can't wait!

I also can't wait to fly with Taylor for the first time! 8 hours on a flight with me! I sleep a lot on planes...and drool too. I hope he knows what he's getting into.

Flower Power

2010-02-05T00:36:00.001-06:00

This is my Valentine's present from Taylor! He is so sweet and I LOVE them! I got them a week early because I will be in Colorado for the actual Valentine's Day.

So I just thought I would show them off!

Taylor also sends a card every year with my flowers and they always make me laugh so much because they are just so Taylor. He writes them just like he talks!