It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

Well, apparently I abandoned my goal of being a consistent blogger. I mean, I'm okay with it. School got hard, I got a little bored of it, and I stopped taking pictures for about 6 months. But today, I rejoin blog world...if only for the month of December and part of January (until school starts back).

With only two finals left, I am really beginning to get into the Christmas spirit. In fact, we have already had snow here in Houston, and Ryan and I decorated our Christmas tree today. We were kind of in a goofy mood when we bought ornaments, so it doesn't look as great as I had always imagined that my first Christmas tree would look, but it was fun nonetheless. We have a tree topper that takes up 1/4 of the entire tree because yours truly misjudged the size, red and gold balls, and an ugly stuffed Santa that Ryan decided would be funny to purchase. Oh well. I should put my pride behind me and post pictures of it, but I'm not ready to do that yet. Instead, I will present you with pictures of our lovely snow day.

This is the front of our house (yeah right, I wish). But it is pretty, isn't it?

We decided to do a little Christmas shopping that turned into shopping for ourselves in the merriment.

I am looking forward to my Mom coming to visit at the end of this week.

Oh, AND we are moving to a new apartment next weekend. It is bigger and better, and I will post pictures as soon as a have some. Merry 2 weeks before Christmas!

A Picture Says A Thousand Words--But I Don't Have One; Therefore, I Will Have To Type Those Thousand

For real though, this is going to be long.

I must say, I have been rather uninspired to blog lately. The reason being? Well, my camera broke. After 1.5 hours on the phone with Cannon and several dropped calls (in case you aren't aware, my apt has terrible service), I have a new part coming in the mail. 

Now, I am aware that the point of a blog is about words really, not pictures, but I happen to find that photos are the most interesting part of all blogs. But, until my new battery door arrives, I can provide you with no photo documentations of life's current happenings. Nevertheless, I will trudge on in blog world without photographic representation, but I understand if you don't read the blog posts lacking pictures...I tend to do that myself.

Today is Friday. I am very glad about that fact for several reasons:

One being Ryan. He is always so glad to see Friday. I am sure that I will be myself when everyday is not like Saturday to me (ie. I have to go to school during the week.) 

Reason two is that this Friday represents the end of the last week that I am home all day doing nothing. Bittersweet really, for I have learned to enjoy the solitude with endless possibilities...kinda. I begin orientations for grad school next week though, and I couldn't be more excited!

Reason three is that I get to see my parents tomorrow! My mom's birthday was yesterday, the 13th, and so we are meeting them to celebrate tomorrow night. It should be a very exciting time!

Reason four is that Ryan's cousins, Amber and Ashley, are moving in to Gardner Hall today at ACU. We had dinner with them last night and got grilled on all of the questions that I remember asking as a freshman..."So, how strict is the dress code...will i ever get a shower...did you ever get to sleep...what is freshman follies...what about the bean, is it scary?"

Oh the excitement buzzing around ACU this time of year. I must admit that I am living somewhat vicariously through them currently. I am consoling myself with the fact that I can retire to Abilene? (If Ryan reads this, he will veto that possibility promptly.)

Reason five, and I think this is the last one, is that we actually get to remain in Houston for the first weekend (with the exception of meeting my parents in Brenham tomorrow night) in I don't know how long. We are going to go to church and sleep in late tomorrow, and I am very excited about those two things. 

Although the weekends away have been well worth it. Last weekend in particular was spectACUlar (couldn't help it--former tour guide). 

We spent the weekend celebrating a very joyous occasion--Dustin and Courtney Koctar's wedding! But don't worry, she says we can still call her Flow. 

The weekend began with the renting of a Dodge Caravan...that's right, a minivan. Laura and Jon Hinson, Chris Corbett, Lauren Handley, Ryan and myself loaded up the van and set off for New Orleans. This was my first trip to the Big Easy, and i think I did most of the stuff you are supposed to do there. I went to Cafe Du Mond to have beignets--twice, bought Aunt Sally's pralines, took a walk down Bourbon street, had a hurricane from Pat O'Briens--the origin of the hurricane, went to a local jazz club, and stayed in the French Quarter--all within a little over 12 hours time. 

With pralines in tow, we loaded up the several passenger mini and headed for Nashville, TN--one of my favorite places on earth. The boys split off to Dustin's posse for the weekend, I met up with Courtney, her Nashville bridesmaids, and Jamie, Morgan, and Caroline. It was glorious. I had not seen them in quite some time! We did the normal wedding festivites. Very fun bachelorette party, rehearsal, perfect rehearsal dinner at Maggianos, had pedicures (by the same lady that does Dolly Parton's--if you know me, then you know who exciting this was). 

Then it was time. We went to the church and began getting ready. Courtney looked absolutely beautiful. You will have to find pictures on Facebook, because this is an instance where words cannot describe. The church was pretty and the reception was amazing! Great food, great cake--the cake was Courtney's mom's strawberry cake recipe, dancing, and just a really good time. Joey and Sydney were there, which also made for an exceptional evening because once again, it has been quite some time. We sent Courtney and Dustin off with sparklers to their honeymoon in Cancun! I am so so happy and excited for them. The wedding was just perfect, and Courtney--wow, like I said, absolutely beautiful!

And then we drove 14 hours home. I have never been as happy to see downtown Houston as I was at 1:30 on Sunday night. 

Impact Back to School Shopping

Last night Ryan, Grant, and I had the chance to be a part of Bammel's annual Impact Back to School Shopping trip.

We met the little girl that we would be taking shopping. Her name was Alexis. She was going into 4th grade, and she was adamant that she wanted to go shopping with us by herself. NOT with her little sister. 

We got to Wal-Mart, which happened to be Alexis's favorite store. She found some shoes that she just adored and some new uniform clothes. 

We got the typical school supplies such as pencils and markers, and then moved on to the fun stuff. She really wanted "one of those backpacks that hang by your side." Some know that by the name of a messenger bag. Alexis is a huge Hannah Montana fan, as well as High School Musical. We found a pencil bag, lunch box, and messenger bag--all Hannah Montana themed.

Our next stop--CiCi's Pizza. Believe it or not, ANOTHER favorite of Alexis's. She had about a half of a piece of pizza, a small salad, and about 8 cinnamon rolls. That's right, 8!  She cracked us up on the way home. The happy, talkative Alexis began answering all of our questions with a miserable sounding "uh-huh" and "uh-uh." I looked back and she was hugging her stomach. She said, "I think I ate too much. Hope I don't get sick on the way home." Ryan was very careful to drive smoothly and I advised her to sit by the window on the bus. 

She was such a sweet girl, and we loved spending time with her! 

A Weekend Away

Exactly what I needed because I have been so busy and stressed and overworked. 

Okay, that's not true at all. I have been on vacation pretty much everyday until August 19th, but it was a much needed break for Ryan. 

Andrew and Abbie Harmon invited us, along with 14 other people to their family's new lake house on Lake Granbury, which is a part of the Brazos River. We had so much fun!

Ryan and I had quite the drive on Friday to make it, but it was well worth it. By the time we got there Friday, everyone was pretty much winding down to prepare for the fun that Saturday promised us. 

Saturday morning we woke up to coffee and muffins prepared by Abbie. The girls made our way down to the lake to float for a while. One we considered our skin sufficiently damaged for the day, we went to the yard where Andrew and Abbie were grilling hotdogs and hamburgers and the guys were all playing washers. 

That afternoon, Andrew took us out on the lake in shifts. We got to see some beautiful homes (including one that Kenny Chesney is building) and knee board. Tanna and Logan were champs. Shealynn and I, not so much. Shealynn, however, was hilarious. And I have a HUGE knot/bruise on my shin, which I think warrants an A for effort. 

After boating, we spent the lazy part of the afternoon on the hammock and sitting under a big tree reading. The guys were still immersed in yet another game of washers. For dinner, Andrew and Abbie made wonderful steaks and baked or sweet potatoes. 

It was the perfect summer weekend with great food, great fellowship, and, as usual, hilarious stories to be told. 

Andrew and Abbie were the perfect hosts.  Above, you can see Andrew in action . 

Below is an intense game of washers. 

IMPACT

Another week of IMPACT is over. This was my third week to work with 5th graders. I never thought that I would enjoy that age group, but I really like working with them!

This week, we started with a book called Knots on a Counting Rope.  It is a story about a young child and his Indian grandfather. They talk about the 'dark mountains' that the child has to cross in life. The 5th graders got into groups and wrote a group story about a character who has to cross 'dark mountains.' We talked about symbolism and using it in a story.

On Tuesday, we talked about the tone and mood of stories. We compared and contrasted the mood in two different books about shortcuts. One was by Donald Crews entitled Shortcut. It is an ominous tale about kids that narrowly escape the train tracks with their lives after using it as a shortcut. The second was called The Secret Shortcut by Mark Teague. It was a lighthearted story about adventurous boys who get lost in the forest and conquer alligators and swinging vines while taking a shortcut on the way to school. And would you believe it; the two make it to class on time!

In comparing these two, we talked about how the dialog, illustrations, mood of characters, repetition, vocabulary, and other elements give us clues as to what the tone of a book is. 

And Wednesday, we had a relaxing class time. We started off with a book called Bigmama's. It is also by Donald Crews. It was a warm glance into what summertime was like at the authors grandmother's farm in Cottondale when he was a child. 

After reading and discussing this book, we had free reading time. The kids really seem to love this. I brought many of my books from home and let them read through them in groups, and then they were able to share with the class if they wanted to. I was lucky enough to get some pictures of them reading in their groups.

Wedding Cake

I decided that I did not trust the top tier of our wedding cake to still be good on our one year anniversary. 

So I did something that I always make fun of other people for doing and celebrated a one month anniversary. Let me be clear, I think "month" anniversaries are silly. I will only celebrate them in the form of years. It is too hard to remember every month and becomes overkill. We did it for the cake. 

And let me tell you, it was a good decision. Laura Dougherty made our cake, and she is spectacular. Not only are her cakes beautiful, but she does not let the taste quality suffer for aesthetic value. She somehow manages to make them both delicious and pretty!!! 

This is the cake in all of its glory.  

And here is what we had for our "one month" anniversary. 

Waiting an entire year for this is overrated. 

Official

Well, I am now an official Houstonian. No, I haven't changed my drivers license yet. I am sure I will get around to that someday. Even better. I have a library card! 

In Kaufman, obtaining a library card doesn't take an act of congress. On the contrary; one goes to the library, states an address, receives a card. 

In Houston, it is a horse of a different color. It took three tries before I got mine. My drivers license was not enough because it didn't state my new address. Try two: my lease agreement was not enough because it was "vague." What does that even mean? Third time was charmed by providing an official piece of mail from the county clerk's office in Kaufman to my Houston address with my marriage certificate enclosed. Hallelujah. 

The good news is that the library next to me is beautiful!

Also, there is this little cafe/bakery that connects to the library with an amazing brick covered patio. I am looking forward to a good lunch on that patio while reading a newly obtained library book.