Those There are Some Keepers!

RED METAL CANDLEHOLDERS AND RUSTIC CANDLES

My mom spotted these candleholders at a store called Fant's in Guntersville where my grandparents live.  It is this old hardware store that was converted into a general-type store a long time ago under the name Hammer's.  There was this big uproar in town when they changed the name, but they have really updated their inventory since the switch.  My mom knew I would have to have them, and of course, I totally did!!  I got the candles from a big interior design place in town called Spice.  The best thing about the candleholders is that they are reversible and can be used as large vases for centerpieces, etc.  

CUPCAKE TREASURE BOXES

I got these four cupcake treasure boxes from Fant's, too.  They were only like $5.25!  I couldn't believe it, so I bought one of each kind.  The tops are made out of acrylic or something, so they are pretty sturdy.  At the moment I am displaying them in my Taste of Home cake stand (another reversible find) and dome in the middle of my dining room table.  Eventually they will be in a baby room, but until then I want to show them off!

 

OLD POTS

My dearest wish is that at some point David and I will get the inside of our house under control so we can focus on the yards.  The big copper pot was given to me by David's mother, and I found the little blue ceramic enamel pot while digging through my parents' storage unit last weekend.  Eventually they will both have beautiful plants in them in my backyard.

POLKA DOT VASE

Yesterday, in a separate trip from when I bought the candles, I went to Spice and the shops on the floor above and one of the booths was going out of business.  I don't think this vase was something she actually sold, I think it was a prop of some kind.  Anyway it was like $20 and I thought is was a little funky, but I have yet to find a home for it.

RUSTY OL' KETTLES

I don't know why, but I particularly love antique kettles and pots.  I have a really old enamel ware coffee pot that my mom got me at an estate sale, but the two below are recent finds.  The first one was purchased from an antique vendor from the shops yesterday, and it is really cool because the metal has this green sheen to it.  I suppose that is a sign that it could be toxic or something, but I am willing to wait it out.  The second one was a gift from my grandmother when we went to Alabama last month.  I think she is trying to get rid of some of the excess around their house, and knew I would love anything cast iron.  It is SUPER heavy but really cool.

ENAMEL WARE TUB

I saw this beauty and immediately knew I had to have it to display hand towels and wash cloths in my guest bathroom.  It will therefore serve two purposes: making some extra room in the extremely crowded linen closet and adding that touch of rustic that I love so much.

MY SPIFFY NEW HAT

Gotta save the best for last.  ALSO a find at the shops, it was just laying there on a table with other odds and ends, and I put it on and I was suddenly like Frosty the freakin' Snowman.  It just fit.  My head is really awkward shape and hats never fit me, but this was definitely love at first try-on.  And it happened to match the outfit I was wearing that day perfectly, so I had an excuse to wear it around all day.

A Conversation with My Mother on the Phone…

Mom: “Well, I think I have convinced your father to buy me a new light fixture for over the kitchen table. Do you think David would help him install it?”

Me: “Sure he can. I am excited! It will look so much better.”

Mom (with a smirk in her tone; we have been scheming about this for weeks): “Now all I have to do is convince him we need to replace that fluorescent light over the island.”

My Dad in the background: “What IDIOT suggested that?!?! That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. That will be so expensive! Only an IDIOT would suggest doing that!”

Mom: “Mary Beth suggested it.”

Silence in the background...

Me: “Tell Dad I dare him to read 30 issues of Country Living in a row and not come up with a better idea for that light over the island. If he can do it, he wins.”

If you want to piss my Dad off just mention the fluorescent light fixture over the kitchen island. If you want to piss me off read 30 issues of Country Living in a row and remain devoid of fabulous ideas for home improvement.

Looking Forward to a Vacation!

Well, it is official -- David and I booked our flight, car, and hotel for a trip to Gulf Shores! Gulf Shores may seem like kind of a weird choice, but the beaches are beautiful and it is where my family has always gone for beach vacations. It was really hard to make myself reserve everything because I normally am happy to only travel when it has to do with work or is a family vacation, and David and I spend our money on other things. The thing that really made me decide we need to make the commitment and go was that I realized we have never been on a vacation just the two of us in the history of our relationship! We didn't get to go on a honeymoon because we were both still in school, so this trip is definitely a long time coming. We are actually staying in a condo, not a hotel, and the pics below are of the actual unit we rented. AND I am super-excited because I remedied my previous gripe of not having a good camera today! I ordered an amazing Canon PowerShot that is exactly like Jennie's and it is great because I know I will love it since I have been coveting hers since she bought it and I know the picture quality is great. Although Dave laments spending money I think he was excited to get a really nice camera, too, since so much of our house is dedicated to pictures of family and friends. I absolutely love being surrounded by our memories!













Going back to my previous post, David and I did actually get a lot of good work done last weekend. I LOVE it when the house is clean, and I have been making some progress on getting the little decorating touches taken care of. I am really excited because I have some fun projects lined up for the next couple of weekends that are going to help put the house together even more. I am at my parents' house this weekend because it was my mom's birthday yesterday so we celebrated last night and then David's family is coming over tonight to celebrate. David and I bought my mom a new coffee maker for her birthday and we have been drinking the fancy new coffee made by the fancy new coffee pot all day long. It is so cool, I want one now, but if I got one it would bring my coffee maker count to three, which is a little embarrassing. While I am here this weekend I really had planned on going to Target to buy some picture frames since the Target in Waco, which I love but was lacking in this particular area this time, had the ones I want but I SWEAR every one was horribly scratched or dented. And they are black, so you can totally tell! Heights has a brand new fancy Target, but unfortunately this weekend is tax-free weekend and people are out in droves. This town is absolutely nuts.



Anyway, I am off to figure out what I am going to do for dinner since we are getting barbeque for everyone else. Perhaps I hear Subway calling my name?

Here Comes the Weekend!

Whew!  Today is Friday and we got back from the AL late Monday night.  I am so glad that as an adult I can really appreciate why we go to Alabama, and I had a fabulous time doing not much of anything!!  My sister's boyfriend Chris went with us, and despite them not having all that much in common, he and David got along really well and I think Dave appreciated not being harassed by a bunch of bossy southern women all weekend.  Not that he didn't get harassed anyway, but at least he had an ally.  The tally of the trip includes...

2 ~ four-mile walks by the lake

20 ~ Issues of Country Living Magazine read (twice as many new decorating ideas concocted, much to David's chagrin)

Who Knows ~ Cups of coffee!

2 ~ Fishing lines untangled

23 ~ Hands of cards

11 ~ Rows of knitting completed

112 ~ Pages read in my book

And untold delicious fresh vegetables from my grandfather's garden.  Even though I was upset because I didn't think I would be able to get good pictures, I used my mom's camera and it seemed to work out fine.  

I love going on vacation but I hate the way it makes me feel at work the week after.  I never feel motivated and I regretfully take too many breaks in the name of "recovering."  This week wasn't as bad as it could have been, but I am really glad it is the weekend, which brings with it the hope that I will magically become motivated to get some stuff done.  I think David and I are seriously going to take a trip for our birthdays and our two year wedding anniversary, so before we can do that I have got to get all the other birthday gifts figured out.  This time of year is always hard because EVERYONE'S birthdays are in August and September.  Jennie and I are going to do a little shopping tomorrow so I am hopeful I can make a dent in it.  

David messed up his thigh muscle playing softball last night, and he literally can barely walk.  He is loving the fact the he legitimately can't get up and switch 70's Show DVDs, give the dog more food, move just slightly to the left so he isn't taking his half of the bed out of the middle, you know, things that require movement.  Lounging is an art to him, and he is definitely getting some practice.  Right now he is beside me being hairy and snoring and trying not to move.  I have big plans for the weekend, so he better walk it off.  

I wish I were waking up tomorrow to a covered back porch with a view of the lake, but instead of pining away I will wake up early and make steps towards making my own house the haven I desperately want.  Wish me luck!!

Going Back to the Mothership

Today is Monday and my family is going to Alabama on Thursday.  I am deeply regretting not getting my act together and buying a really nice camera before this trip.  My grandparents' house is gorgeous, and it makes me sick to think that their house and land might not always be where we go to when we want to remember our roots.  Thus the reality of changing times and the people who I always thought of as full of vitality and life growing older.  It is wholly unfair, but I can't do anything about it except make time to go there and soak it in before it is gone.  I really want to capture it in photographs, but my camera is just not very nice.  The camera I want is almost $2,000, so I guess I better start saving.  In the mean time I will try my best with the camera I have.  I am not bringing my computer on this trip, so I will be MIA for a while after Wednesday night. 

These are some pics from our last couple of trips...

I am thinking about joining Twitter.  Not that I need another excuse to use the internet and my phone constantly, but it looks like fun.  I have been delving deeper into the world of fer-serious blogging the past few weeks, and am super jealous of the women who got to go to BlogHer a couple of weeks ago.  Here is my first twitter:

I fit into a size 8 jean, trouser, and skirt at the GAP today.  That hasn't happened in about 5 years.  Oh, and I bought all of them.

A Beautifully Crafted, Supple, Durable Dilemma

As has been established, I am now a vegetarian.  I have been a vegetarian for one month tomorrow, and it is going smashingly.  I have more energy than normal and just feel good in general.  What I have come to realize over the past month is that giving up the meat was the easy part.  The part that is going to kick me in the ass is living without wonderful, beautiful, soft, hypocritical leather.  I L-O-V-E LEATHER.  Unlike my past food intake, I have the evidence of my former lifestyle all around me in the form of wallets, car seats (It must have taken an entire cow to cover the inside of that car.  Sorry Bessie!), planners, PURSES, watches belts and most importantly, shoes.  And it is not even the having the leather that bothers me, it is the not being able to purchase leather anymore that is sad to me.  It is the best feeling in the whole wide world to go into a beautiful store and pick out a beautiful, well-made purse that you know is going to last you forever, and drop that credit card like a ton of bricks on the counter.  Is that materialistic?  Yep.  Is it only that good if the purse is Italian-tanned, tumbled leather?  Absolutely.  

OK, so where is all this pent-up leather-loving coming from, you might ask?  It has been pointed out to me on several occasions that I am being a hypocrite if I choose to continue buying leather products and wearing leather now that I am a vegetarian and claiming that part of the reason I became a vegetarian is for the animals.  Well, people, it is partly for the animals, so I am going to have to suck it up, huh?  I can't do anything about the things I have bought in the past, and I refuse to throw away literally thousands of dollars of beautiful, hand-picked things because of a lifestyle change.  I have chosen to severely limit my leather purchases in the future, with the main exception being my shoes.  I have horrific feet problems -- of course they are enormous, fallen arches, horrible cramping, etc. -- so it is really impractical to never buy a pair of Borns again, for example.  Here is the thing.  My feeling is that I do not have to have meat in my diet to be the healthiest I can be, and in fact eliminating it might make me more healthy, but in order to justify spending money on items like high-quality purses and shoes that are investments and will last a very long time, leather is the best quality material available.  Therefore, if you see me out in public with my enormous red leather purse, it is not necessary to point out to me that it was, indeed, made out of a cow.  I know.  Thanks.  I don't need to justify all of this, it is just something that I have been asked several times, especially by people who know my affinity for shopping, so I just wanted to explain where I am at.

ANYWAY, let it be known that I have discovered Death Cab for Cutie.  They are pretty amazing.  I hate their name and I feel like a total dweeb saying it, but their music is so ethereal; deep yet simple, I wish I had not resisted them for so long.  I bought Transatlanticism first, and I recently bought Plans.  My favorites so far are We Looked Like Giants, Passenger Seat, Someday You Will be Loved, and I Will Follow You into the Dark.  Granted, I have only listened to Plans once through, but those are my initial feelings.  The thing is, I ALWAYS find my self strangely attracted to weird guys in weird bands who make weird music.  I have an emo disease of some kind.  I had to say that to preface my next new music love.  PLEASE DON'T DISOWN ME AS A FRIEND!  It's.....Metro Station!  Miley Cyrus's older brother's band!! AHH!  I simply can't help myself.  It is just my thing.  The way he looks has facilitated my like for their music.  It is just a surface love, not a deep love like Coheed or anything.  Their song on the radio is Shake Shake, which you might know.  

I can't embarrass myself any further.  Ta ta for now:)

It is a Miracle of Some Kind

Well, I am actually updating in a timely manner! Like I said, it is a miracle of some kind. I just got home and dinner is in the oven. While I am waiting for the food I am flipping between Jon and Kate + 8 and That 70s Show and wishing Dave was home and we were eating dinner. I wanted to update and give the fun news that I passed my 10 lb mark in Weight Watchers this week! As of Monday I weighed 149.2 down from 160. Yay! It was really rewarding to hit that mark. As for the vegetarian change, it is going really well too! I honestly have not missed eating meat at all, but I will admit the thought of never eating El Con's soft chicken flautas and the occasional Arby's roast beef sandwich makes me a little sad. But I think it is for the best, and I just think of all the pros when I am feeling sad about foods that used to be my go-to comforts.

Something else that I wanted to share with everyone is a change that David and made a while ago -- we gave up bottled water! It was kind of hippie-ish, but Dave played along and now a lot of our friends have joined on in! Now, I think in most places, for instance, my parents' house, they don't need bottled water because the water naturally tasted great, but here in Waco it tastes horrible! It is simply called Waco Water and everyone knows that it is rank. It affects the soft drinks, the tea, the coffee, you name it, so I always used to use bottled water or the filtered water from our fridge. About three months ago I decided that we were being super wasteful with our daily bottled water consumption, so I did some research and ordered us BPA-free water bottles by CamelBak from REI. I had never heard of REI before, but apparently it is a BFD, and they had a great selection of BPA-free bottles. I admit, they kind of look like sippy cups for grown-ups, but they work really well and don't leak or anything. Dave and I were the first to get them, then my parents wanted them, and then Jessica and Jennie from work got them too! I am just glad we are reducing the water bottle waste:)



So today my music obsession might seriously surprise some of you. I LOVE the NEW New Kids on the Block!! You have to understand, I grew up at the very end of their reign and more in the Hanson, Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync craze, even though I never really swooned for any of them. My sister on the other hand was obsessed with all of them plus the Spice Girls. I was into Alanis Morrisette, Savage Garden, The Wallflowers, and people like that. The point is that the NEW New Kids on the Block are SO tacky-licious, so over-the-top ridiculous, that I just have to love it. The slang! The beach! The voguing! The synchronized dancing in matching outfits!!! It is too much to handle. I absolutely can't get enough. I think I have an illness of some kind! Help!

You MUST watch if you haven't experienced it yet!

Doin' it for the Animals, and My Colon....

TMI? Then don't read on. This post is long overdue, as I don't make it a priority to update this thing. I have, however, made it a priority in my life to change some things about myself and my life in general that I have been meaning to do for a really long time. The first major thing that I have done for myself is to lose some weight. Now, every time I tell people this they look at me like I am nutso, which I do understand because I did not look overweight necessarily, but I am a firm believer in things being relative, and relative to my health and weight when I was in school I had become the most unhealthy I have been in my life. The history of my weight is that I was pretty chubbums in middle school, and the very end of my 8th grade year and the summer before my 9th grade year I lost it all. And my all I mean I had NO body fat. I was as tall as I am now, which is 5'10", and weighed about 109 lbs. I am not 100% sure how I was mobile. It was an extremely awkward skinny, not a good skinny. Then as high school and college went on I progressively gained weight and I was at a steady 135 for a really long time. I wore between a size 8 and a size 10, which seems kind of big, but I am super tall, so I need the length associated with those sizes. I never felt big at all wearing a 10. So by the time I finished college and got married I weighed about 140. I was totally happy with that, but in the time between finishing school and now I gained about 20 lbs. This was mainly due to the fact that I went from being very active with school and work to sitting at a desk in front of the computer all the time and not changing my eating habits at all. I was not really unhappy with my weight except for the fact that the clothes I was so used to wearing were not fitting me anymore, and I did not want to have to buy all new clothes in a size 12. So that is why I chose to lose some weight. I decided to do Weight Watchers. The idea of keeping lists and weekly weigh-ins was appealing to me, but going in to meetings was definitely not, so I chose to do the online program. My starting weight was 160, and my target weight is 139. I have lost almost 10 lbs since I started, and I am really happy with results, pace, etc.

The next thing I have done that I have wanted to do for forever is become a vegetarian (hence the title of the post). I know that may sound kind of funny to say I have wanted to do that for forever, but I was not in a place in my life where I had the freedom and money to make that choice until recently. I am not a PETA member or anything yet, but I do have extreme compassion towards animals and I don't think eating meat fits in with that mentality. I have officially been a vegetarian for one week now, but before that I slowly went off of red meat to make the transition easier. This switch has fit in well with Weight Watchers, and David is not yet malnourished, so things are going well. I bought some books to help me out, and I had my second veggie burger ever yesterday for the 4th of July, and it was super tasty! I am just really excited about this change, how it will impact my health, and I am glad I am doing it now because it is really important that when I do become pregnant I have healthy habits in place and I can teach my kids healthy habits and compassion towards animals. Here is where the TMI comes in: as some of you may know, I have had digestive issues for a really long time now. I think most people do, but they are too embarrassed to say anything. Well, I am not, and the #1 benefit of the Weight Watchers and the vegetarian thing is that they are highly fiber rich. Not only has this helped me lose weight, but it is totally preventive for things like colon cancer (which my family has a history of). It is super important people! Get on the fiber trian!

The third thing I have done is just get my shit together in general. I have always wanted to be one of those people that gets up really early, gets ready for work, maybe runs some errands on the way there, still gets in by 8:00, has their morning coffee, goes to the farmer's market, etc. Before about a month ago I was one of those people that couldn't get my ass out of bed before 7:30, got to work after all my part time people were already there, couldn't be bothered to set up the coffee maker the night before so it just never got done and the last filter I used would be moldy the next time I checked, NEVER made it to the farmer's market, insisted on taking a shower in the morning because I was too lazy to do it the night before, etc. etc. Today, that person pisses me off. The main part of all that that makes me upset at the way I used to be is the whole getting to work on time thing. I am amazed I wasn't reprimanded in some way. It is definitely unacceptable to get to work at 8:55 in the morning when you expect your part timers to be there by 8:30! So I made some changes. They weren't motivated by one thing in particular, but they all add up to a better me. I started taking my shower at night most of the time, and I don't bother blow drying my hair, I just let it air dry over night then flat iron it in the morning. This leaves plenty of time for me to get up about 7, put my make up on, flat iron my hair, get dressed, take DJ out, get my lunch together, and turn the coffee make on (which I now religiously set up the night before) by 7:45-7:50 ish. Sometimes it is a little later than that, I definitely still have those days that I am dragging a little, but that is the usual routine. I get to work at an appropriate time, sometimes I go to the farmer's market (it is on my way to work for cryin' out loud), sometimes I skip the homemade coffee and go visit my friends at Starbucks, it all just depends. The point is, I am excited and feel like I have entered a new phase in my life. Dave, bless his heart, is so supportive and has graciously tried, and I think genuinely liked!, my tofu salads, vegetarian lasagna, and other dishes I am experimenting with. I still encourage him to eat meat if he wants whenever we do dinner separately or when he goes to his parents' house, but my hope is that as we do this thing together his dependency on meat, especially red meat, will lessen. I don't want him dying of a heart attack when he is like 40 or something!!! Not something I want to have to worry about. Anyway, I will hopefully keep this updated on the progress I am seeing with my weight and vegetarian lifestyle. Now that I feel like I have a grip on some other stuff, maybe this blog will become a priority too. Wish me luck!

Summer is Almost Here and I Just Can't Believe It

Well, it has been absolutely forever since I have posted! I will now tell the lie I always do and promise to update more often. Since a lot has happened I will discuss each thing in its own little paragraph...

MY DAD CAME HOME FROM IRAQ
Oh yes he did! He has been home since the middle of February and I really think we have all enjoyed just being a family as opposed to having to worry about the strict division between the kids and the parents. My dad had a while off right after he got back, and for now he is working he regular job until he switches to Inspector General in a few months. He also bought the first new vehicle for himself in probably over 20 years a few weeks after he got back. He has always wanted just a basic F-150, and he negotiated the crap out of the people at the Ford dealership in Temple until they gave him the exact one he wanted for the exact price he was willing to pay. He traded in the ENORMOUS old F-150 that he bought off the lemon lot a long time ago and has never looked back. He is super fancy in his new truck and is happy not to be in the war zone for the moment.

I BOUGHT A NEW CAR
RIP Mustang. You were incapable of comfortably seating more than two people (and that may be a stretch) and you were voted most likely to overheat on the way to work and have the check engine light come on. BUT, I loved that darn Mustang as my high school/college car. It was awesome, and was not a problem until my commute to work increased by 20 minutes. Oh, and the government decided to overcharge for gas. That definitely played a role in the demise of the Mustang. So what did I buy you might ask? Well, only the cutest little red car ever! I would never even have thought about it, but I am so glad I gave Nissan a chance. I got a Sentra! I love it so much. I have all the cute little bells and whistles and it cost less than $20,000. Yay!

I WENT TO OKLAHOMA CITY
Dave and I drove up to see a magical event called Coheed (my favorite band) opening for Linkin Park (David's favorite band). We also drove up to see Jessica and her fiance Jason in their new place in Ardmore, OK. It was really fun! I had never been anywhere in Oklahoma really except for driving through when I was eight and going up briefly for David's grandfather's estate sale. The drive up was really nice (lots of rocks and strata!) and while we waited for the hotel check-in time we went to a really nice mall to pick up a few things I needed from stores we don't have here. Namely the Apple store and Franklin Covey. Loves! The concert was later that night and the next day we went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial before driving to Jess and Jason's. I got to see where Jess works now, and we had a really nice dinner and breakfast the next morning. I can't believe their wedding is so soon! Ahhh!

I WENT TO HOUSTON
Jen, Stephanie and I went to Houston to see the Lucy exhibit. The big draw was that we actually got to see her real bones as opposed to the replica that has previously been circulated in traveling exhibits. It was really fun, and I mainly had fun hanging out with Stephanie and Jen! It has been so long since we ALL have been together, so we were super sad Liz couldn't come. The hotel was fabulous and maybe the best part was The Cheesecake Factory for breakfast the next morning! Sorry Lucy, but millions of years of evolution ain't got nothing on eggs benedict with spinach and fresh tomatoes. Joking! But it was really yummy!

I WENT TO GALVESTON
The Texas Association of Museums was in a fancy hotel in Galveston this year. The conference itself was not spectacular; the session choices were extremely limited and I didn't really feel like I learned a lot of new stuff. However, I have never been to Galveston before for an extended period of time and it was amazing! We ate a ton of great food, were right on the beach, the hotel pool was heated, and the night events were fun. Jack and I ate at this amazing restaurant called Palms M&M and later went shopping were I found beautiful handcrafted jewelry by local artists as well as a great antique. I know I am not technically supposed to have more fun than work, but sometimes that is just how it turns out. And by the way, I worked my booty off the first day because I did a half-day seminar about blogging, podcasting, etc. with a few other very talented web people from different museums. It was received very well and I really enjoyed presenting about technology. People want to know so badly but are so afraid of the money! Not at all how it has to be...

I WENT TO DENVER
OK, so this is my most recent trek and therefore freshest in my mind. Now, unlike Galveston and last year's American Association of Museum meeting in Chicago, I greatly enjoyed the actual conference. I liked Denver the city OK, but I did not like the extremely dry air and the fact that it was snowing when we got there and on the day we left, but not the days in between. Joy and I used an entire bottle of lotion between the two of us because of the dry air, and I had altitude sickness that left me with debilitating stomach cramps for days. I will just skip to the absolute BEST part of the trip, which was when I randomly decided to go to a session entitled Technology and Museums: Are the Inmates Running the Asylum? The answer is an obvious "YES!" I go in and immediately realize it is going to be a much more laid-back session, and it was just that. There were about 200 people in the room, and on the big screen was a Jeopardy-looking board with different titles in the squares, each of which had smaller squares that were the buttons to different examples of that category on the internet. The point was that the audience could just shout out a category they would like to see an example of and the presenters would click on a funny example. There was a category called Too Much Time that was picked a couple of time throughout the session, and towards the middle someone picked it and Holly Witchey (one of the kick-ass presenters) said "These girls may have too much time on their hands, but they are two of the most talented women on the internet. Mary Beth, this is for you." And then she played TWO of mine and Jessica's video blogs for everyone! I was absolutely floored. They stood up and clapped for me after they were over and made me stand up and point myself out to everyone. I went up to them afterwards and they said they all freaked when I walked in the room before the session started. It is definitely one of the most surreal moments in my life, but also the most rewarding. Nothing else even close to that amazing happened while we were there, so I will just leave it at that. Oh, Jack thought we were eating sushi next to Stephen Spielberg, but he was grossly mistaken.

Well, wrapping up a long couple of months of traveling is really nice. Work is crazy getting ready for this big event we have coming up, but hopefully it will calm down soon. Again, I will try to update more often!!!!

2008 in Full Swing

OK, so over the Christmas break I typed up a big blog on Word and was then going to copy and paste it into here once I had taken pictures of the Christmas gifts I got, but that never ended up happening because my grandparents got here and baby Ben was in the hospital, and it was just crazy. So here is a brief synopsis of Christmas...

My grandparents are crazy. My grandfather has been through many painful surgeries to get his physical health back in shape, which have all been successful, and yet he refuses to go get hearing aides that work. So he can get around just fine and has lots of energy, but can't hear a damn thing. I am sure this situation works out for him 85% of the time because he is all the way across the southern United States alone with my grandma most of the time, but the other times when people want to talk to him or he wants to be involved in conversations you have to yell everything and repeat it three times. Then there is my grandma, who can hardly get around anymore, but can hear EVERYTHING, and is critical of everything anyone does or says. This time they were here she also had a horrible case of constipation, which may be TMI but I don't care, because YOU aren't the one who she tried to force to drive through the HEB pharmacy drive through and make the pharmacist go to the shelf and get her two enemas. She didn't a prescription for enemas, it just would have taken three years for her to walk in, buy them, then walk back to the car, so that is apparently what she does now. I REFUSED to do it and she got all upset, so my mom had to go back to the store and buy them. So sorry, mom, but I am the one who two days earlier to her to Dillard's to shop their Christmas sale so she could buy the absolute tackiest, cheapest looking angels and Santas ever. All very frustrating. Their visit was not all bad, I do love them both very much, and otherwise Christmas was pretty good. For Christmas I got a beautiful necklace from my sister, a new pea coat, and my first ever cashmere thing -- a red scarf. David had also been taunting me because he bought me something that I didn't ask for and didn't know about, which is pretty rare with us, and I was going crazy because I couldn't seem to guess what it was. It ended up being a beautiful map of the Rhine valley of Germany made by the royal cartographer in 1736 (i think that is the right date). I mean, it is actually that old, so I was very excited. It has the large map in the middle with the detailed close-ups of the major cities all around the edge. I am afraid to touch it and am DEFINITELY not taking it to Hobby Lobby to have it framed, so for now until I can find someone who does archival quality framing it is still secure in its travel pouch. Those are the highlights of my Christmas presents and Christmas in general.


This is the necklace my sister bought me. The pics of the jacket and scarf aren't working...

So my dad did not get to come home in early December, which we were all sad about, but he is coming home for good on February 15, so we are all very excited. It will be nice to have him home so the long process of things being normal in the sense that we are all in the same country can commence. The thing that is occupying my time three out of four weekends this month is my friend Stephanie's wedding. Two weekends ago I went to her bridal shower/bachelorette party, which was a lot of fun. The shower part was at her sister-in-law's house, where we played games and had drinks and ate food. The people who were there were 90% people who I have been in school with since at least middle school, and several of them longer than that, so it was really nice to catch up and have fun with people who have known you for so long. After the shower part we went to Starlight Station in Killeen for some dancing. I was not really sure what to wear, so I dressed up, which was fine for the shower part, but I was wearing heels, so at the dance hall I couldn't really dance. The floor is like a bowling alley lane and I am 5'10" flat-footed, so 6'2" Mary was not well balanced. Being so tall intimidated all the boys there, plus I was way overdressed, so no one would dance with me. I will def have to go back when I am wearing my dancin' shoes. The reason I wouldn't just rush back is because the cigarette smoke in there triggered an allergy reaction that I have yet to get over. Yesterday was the first day I have been able to get my contacts in since that night. It was really fun, though, and yesterday was Steph's bridal brunch, which is like the old lady shower, that I went to with my mom. And next weekend is the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and wedding, so it will be a whirlwind.


So the day after the bachelorette party Jen and I drove up to Fort Worth to see Atonement!!!!! We were getting very impatient because it had not come to Waco yet, so we made the trip to a real city to make sure we didn't miss it on the big screen. SO worth it. It is an AMAZING movie. So beautiful, incredible story, incredible acting with Kiera Knightly and James McAvoy, who is mine and Jen's newest obsession. Just amazing in general. If you have appreciation for amazing movies definitely go see this one, I promise it is not at all what you are thinking. It is in Waco now, and we went to see it again last weekend. I am in love...

Oh my God!!! I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet. Over Christmas, but not really for Christmas, I got an iPhone!!!!!!! I love it love it love it. It took me not time at all to get used to it, and it so worth the money because it is almost like buying a computer...when things are updated with it or changes are made you just update your existing phone, you don't have to go out and get the newest model like every other cell phone. I have already downloaded the software update the Steve Jobs presented at MacWorld, where you can switch around your icons and it had GPS and stuff. David really wanted one too, but he is not allowed to have them at work, so he just got an LG. Not and iPhone, but a BIG improvement over the last one he had that was literally falling apart.


Voted sexiest phone ever

OK, so of course I must discuss my newest musical loves. I recently fell in love with Jason Schwartzman all over again when I found his new solo project Coconut Records, which is just fantastic. Go to www.youngbabyrecords.com and click on Coconut Records to check it out, but really you should just download it on iTunes. So then I remembered that Robert Schwartzman is Jason's little brother, and also the lead singer of a band called Rooney, which I have loved for some time. I have just never bought their albums, though, because I just don't buy music a lot. So the other day I downloaded Nighttiming by Coconut Records, Rooney's two albums, as well as the new James Blunt album, which is really good. I am officially in love with the Schwartzman brothers, even though I am pretty sure they wouldn't be as tall as I am even if one stood on the other's shoulders. But that is neither here nor there. Check out Nighttiming, it is hilarious and quirky and fun.





Well, that is about all I gots. I am about to go back to Waco and prepare for the craziness that will be Friday and Saturday. See ya!

Pie Safe!

Here are some pics of the rather large piece of furniture we bought this weekend! I love it not only because it actually is old, but because it looks like it has been beat on for 100 years.







As promised, here are some pics of the fab new purse I bought. I am not sure why red things on my camera look more orange, but rest assured that I am not walking around with a bright orange bag.



And...here are some of just the Coach glasses. I wear them almost every day!

Oh, Holidays...why do you torture me so?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Sorry it has been so long since my last blog, but things have been truly nutso here. The holidays are always a crazy time for my family, but it seems like it has been worse than normal lately. The combination of our first year of marriage, resulting in my mother-in-law losing her shit two Christmases in a row, and the fact that my dad just happened to be in Iraq those two Christmases, has made things definitely interesting. This Thanksgiving was pretty good. My mom was too intimidated to do the turkey thing by herself without my dad here to do all the dirty work afterwards, so we got a smoked turkey from Clem Mikeska's in Temple. It was an unexpected hit! We have eaten almost all of it! That probably has to do with David being at my parent's house with me again this year, which has caused the aforementioned shit-losing. *sigh* Oh well. All in all, pretty OK for my dad not being here. However, he does get to come home on December 7, 8 and 9, so we are all pretty excited about that. It is so short, but a lot more than almost everyone else who is over there gets, so we are extremely thankful.

What else has been going on? Well, let me start where I left off last time. Last week was The Bachelor: After the Final Rose, where Brad had to face Jenni and Deanna, BOTH of whom he dumped in the final episode. Even for an extremely good looking guy who can't seem to find a non-hooker in real life, I had hope for him, but when he a) didn't flat-out pick Jenni, b) he didn't even pick the one left over, and c) he ended up not wanting any type of relationship at all with either of them, I realized he was a lost cause. What the hell, Brad? For a show that is supposed to reassure me of my own superiority over people who need to go on shows like that, I was feeling WAY too many real emotions. For now it is back to movies on knitting night!

Well, last weekend Jessica came down from Oklahoma and we went to a Coheed concert in Austin! I hadn't seen Jess since she left in July, and it was so so nice to catch up. She is doing really well teaching and planning her and Jason's wedding. We had a blast going to the concert! It was at Waterloo Park, which is right off I-35, so we found the venue then went to try to get some dinner. We were determined not to just have Whataburger or something, although the Austin Whataburger did provide an extremely valuable bathroom break when we got into town! You have to be on your toes to navigate Austin traffic. We found a restaurant called Marakesh on Congress, and it was so so good! We got a Baklava to go and had it when we got home later that night, and it was heavenly. So there were two bands opening for Coheed and that started at 5:00, so after dinner we parked and strolled on into the park about 7:30. We had perfect timing, because Coheed came on at 8:00, which gave us plenty of time to claim a spot and buy some merch!!! I got an AMAZING t-shirt, which I will post later. I am not into wearing your fav band all over you, but this shirt is really nice. We also got some more of the graphic novels. So Jess and I went to Warped Tour this summer, but they only played like 6 songs, so this was her first real concert and was really small and cozy, with environmentally conscious pissed off emo people everywhere. People were recycling like mad! It was super fun. Every time I see them is reaffirms for me the reasons why I love em. Go Coheed!









So earlier this month Ben was baptized, and I officially became his Godmother. He was such a good boy!!! He didn't cry or fuss or anything during the service. Before he was born it was daunting to think of having responsibility for any part of his life, but I think it will be a breeze just because of the way he is. He is super cuddly, too which is always a bonus! Pics below say it all about how special the day was...







I shall end today with a moment of silence for The Office, as the last episode until the strike is over aired last week...................................................................................................................................

And also tell you about some fun stuff I have purchased. You know I gotta!!! Well, in all seriousness, I am done and done with Christmas shopping, and it is SUCH a relief! I LOVE giving gifts, and Christmas shopping is always a mixture of fun and stress because it is like everyone having the same birthday or something! I think David and I are going to buy an HD Tivo for our joint gift this year, although I feel I am more excited than David is. We also signed up for Blockbuster Total Access, which is like Netflix but better because you can return the movies to the store. We have gotten some good ones so far, and I am waiting for Hairspray and Shrek the 3rd at the moment. After much trouble with the eye doctor, I also got some new glasses. AND........They are Coach!! I am in love with them and want to wear them with everything whether they match or not. They are tortoise shell brown with etched Coach C s on the sides. Loves! I also got a new purse. It is fossil, which I haven't revisited in the purse department for a while, but I LOVE it. I was prompted to purchase it because my wonderful new franklin was getting all scratched up in the big red bag I was carrying that Laura gave me for my birthday. I love it, and I definitely need the room, but it had no dividing pockets or compartments, which drives me crazy no matter what I am talking about. The new one is super soft red leather, of course! There is one other big purchase David and I actually made today, but I will wait to post about it until I can get to it to take some good pics of it.


I will post one of just the glasses when I get a chance...

Happy Holidays to everyone, no matter what you are celebrating!

Like, OMG I Love to Shop

I don't talk like that, OK people!! However, I feel as though my recent blogs have been about my "stuff" rather than about actual things that are going on in my life or the world or whatever. While this makes me feel superficial, I am not naive enough to think that I am not superficial at all, because I certainly don't hide the fact that I love to buy stuff and online shop and own more shoes "than I can wear in one season" as David would say. To quote Darrell, I have a "sweet, nerfy life" and I know it and am thankful that I have the luxury of blogging about the little things in like that make me happy. So, sorry if I am offending you with my materialistic content, but I loves it, so back it off.

Anyway, I am HAPPY to report that my friend Jen, who I blogged about two blogs ago when she bought her Franklin, started a blog!!! Click here to check it out!!! I am going to add it to my sidebar very soon so you can visit her blog whenever you want. Yay for continuing the blogging revolution! Also, tonight was my knitting group's meeting night, and I would like to comment on our fun fun time. Knitting started as Laura and her friend Elizabeth getting together to knit and watch The Bachelor. And by watch The Bachelor I mean they made fun of it, and since they always TiVo it they would stop it when their laughter at the extreme corniness drowned out the show. Well, I joined in on this about 3 episodes out last season, and when it was over we just watched movies on knitting night. Well, the new season started last Monday, and it is so so much fun. The people on this show make any superficial rambling I do look like philosophy class. My picks for the winner already? Deanna and Jenni are the only two worth being with at this point but Stephy might prove herself. The best one is "Body Shot" as we call her now, who let Brad the "Texas Gentleman" take a body shot off of her then proceeded to tell him how she was a Christian who really believed in morals and faith and blah blah blah. What a stupid liar, mainly because she then ran topless down the beach while everyone, including Brad, looked at her like she was psycho-slut. People, don't go on TV to find "true love" OK!!! Because believe me, my crazy knitting friends and I will DEF make fun of you while we pause you on TiVo in the most unflattering positions.