Birthday Recap

Though my birthday was 13 days ago, I'm just now getting around to recapping it. It has been a busy few weeks and though the number of things I have to do isn't getting less, sometimes you just have to blog anyway. :)

Along with getting to go to the Texas A&M football game, I had a great birthday! I started off by running 7 miles (my longest run ever at that point). I know that doesn't sound like a normal way to start one's birthday, but when one is training for a half, you gotta fit in those long runs! After I cleaned up, I did some work through lunch time, then took the rest of the day off. I enjoyed a $1 salad from Which Wich (yay for birthday coupons), did some shopping, and then just relaxed at home until Matt got home. Matt was able to leave work early which was awesome, and enabled me to open my gifts that much sooner!

My family knows me very well and gave me some great gifts, including these beautiful prints I have hanging over my desk. I love these verses and they give me great peace and encouragement while studying.

Yay comps studying! But look at the prints behind the monitor

These came from this shop on Etsy. LOVE them!

My dear friend got me these beautiful
flowers and look, they're still alive!

After opening gifts, we headed out to dinner to Grimaldi's. Our pizza was absolutely delicious, but we were way too stuffed for dessert! Guess that's what happens when 2 people eat a large pizza... woops! We weren't going home right after dinner so we didn't want any to go to waste. Makes sense, right?

Gotta have a cheat meal on your birthday-- so worth it!

We then headed to Main Event for some bowling. I know I haven't bowled since my undergrad days, and the scores certainly showed that. Regardless, it was a fun activity and we had a blast!

Matt considering his next bowl...

Hard to tell, but that is a ball trying to knock down a 7-10 split.
Yeah, that didn't happen.

So that about summed up my birthday. It was relaxing and I'm glad I got to spend so much quality time with Matt. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

Birthday Weekend Shenanigans!

Though my birthday isn't until tomorrow, this past weekend Matt & I headed down to the Houston area to visit my family and go to an A&M game! It was so nice getting to celebrate my birthday with my family in person for the first time in what seems like forever. My dad grilled us some amazing steaks on his new grill and we also had some delicious smoked ribs. My parents were able to go to the game with us and we really enjoyed getting to see campus and the new Kyle Field! Though it was a late game (kick off at 8 PM!), we enjoyed getting to see our Aggies beat the Rice Owls that night! 

We didn't get home until late Sunday evening because we had a get-together with our church's small group at some friends' condo in downtown Dallas. Between the authentic St Louis BBQ pork steaks, delicious ice cream pie, and the amazing view of the skyline, it was a great way to end our amazing weekend!

The delicious steak that cannot be beat.

Our last minute birthday ice cream cake! So good :)

Have to get our picture with Sully!

The new student section side of Kyle Field. SO different but I like it a lot!

The new Aggie War Hymn statue

Love this picture of the four of us!

One of the reasons we went to this game was to take part in the Young Alumni Tailgate.
Some of those in attendance were former yell leaders, so they
led us in a mini-yell practice before the game.

Inside the stadium!

View of the new screen from our seats in the third deck of the south end zone

And gotta have a picture of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band!

View from our friends' condo in downtown Sunday night

We got to go onto the roof and get some more views of
downtown-- looking towards the American Airlines Center

It was quite a weekend, but I had a lot of fun! As for my actual birthday, it will involve doing some studying in the morning (because comps), relaxing in the afternoon, then we'll see! 

Hope you have a great week!

Life Update

I know my posting has been sporadic at best, but that's because my life mostly consists of studying for comps. I figure you really would rather not hear about incapacitation effects (or how hard they are to estimate) or proper model specification. Sure, Matt & I do make time for fun things, especially on weekends. Our Labor Day weekend was especially exciting-- between painting (see post below this one), having friends over, and going to a friend's house for a backyard BBQ. Oh yeah, and watching Texas A&M BTHO South Carolina! Whoop! Here are some other random happenings and thoughts I figured I would share:

• The less I have to do, the less productive I am. Note this post. I have a few other things I could be doing, like writing flash cards, clearing out some emails, or getting ahead on reading, but none of them have to happen today. This is a new habit of mine and I'm not sure I like it. After this post, I'm going to do... something. I'll figure that out later :P
• We get to go to an A&M game in the next couple of weeks! We haven't been to College Station since 2013 and we haven't been to a game since Fall of 2011-- it's been too long! We got tickets for my birthday and I'm SO excited! 
• Oh yeah, my birthday is coming up. That's crazy. I've just gotten used to saying I'm 25, what gives?
• Comps are officially less than 3 months away. I've been feeling the first rounds of panic and I don't like it. I'm very thankful for a husband that reminds me to pray and listens to me talk for hours about comps. 
• I get the chance next week to go interview those formerly incarcerated. I'm very excited about this opportunity to not only hear their stories in person but also expand my research skills. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit nervous as well. Gotta practice my poker face.
• I'm making jambalaya with some Andouille sausage from New Orleans tomorrow night-- thank you, Paula! Too bad I can't get NOLA French bread to go with it...

And because no posts are complete without pictures, here are a few things from my birthday wish list:

I would love this above my desk; source

Yes, I really want an ice cream cake. source

                                           

See above; source 

So I think that about does it. What are your plans for this weekend? Do you also tend to procrastinate when you have fewer things to do?

Birthday, a Day Late

Hello everyone!

Let's not mention my unintended blogging hiatus, k? Life continues to be crazy. Let's stick with that. 

Anyway, yesterday was my 25th birthday! Matt unfortunately had to work but as I didn't have classes, I got to enjoy a day to myself. However, before Matt left we opened gifts. Yes, at 6:15 in the morning. Can you blame me? I didn't want to wait all day! I'm very blessed by my family as I loved everything I received, including this cookbook. I'm fairly obsessed with my Cooking Light magazine so this is pretty perfect! Matt was also pretty excited by this one as it means more baked goods for him. Win win!

source

After he left, I went to go work out and found this fun surprise on my heart rate monitor:

My own little birthday cake! How fun is that? I got a good work out in, did a little bit of school, and then headed out to treat myself to lunch. I had received several emails offering me free food for my birthday, so how could I resist? I ordered a delicious salad from Which Wich (I highly recommend getting their gyro as a salad-- you can even convince yourself it's pseudo-healthy) but of course didn't get a picture. Sorry. 

After lunch, I walked around Central Market and didn't buy anything. Why did I go? I could and I really didn't want to do work. I then headed to Academy, hit up their clearance racks, and bought some work out clothes I've been needing. Finally I went home and did a little bit more school work. After a professor got on to me for working on my birthday, I walked away from my computer and relaxed before Matt got home from work. 

Once he got home, we enjoyed dinner at a local Italian place, got fro-yo, and watched the airplanes take off at an overlook for DFW airport. Pretty good way to end a birthday! 

Birthday Celebration!

As I said in my last post, this past weekend we celebrated my 24th birthday! Matt did a great job planning it and we had a really good time! Highlights include receiving a gorgeous purse, attending Midnight Yell in Dallas, and of course spending quality time with my husband & brother. But, as I know we all like pictures, here is my birthday in pictorial form. Warning, there is a lot of pictures.

If you don't know me by now, you should know I'm a foodie. Matt took me to the same place we went last year on my birthday and that was 100% alright by me-- Chef Point Cafe! Our entrees did not disappoint and neither did our beverage selections. We had mini apple pie for dessert which was a perfect end to our meal!

My entree- roasted duck with orange sauce. So, so good. Yes, this is from a gas station

Matt insisted in getting a picture of the birthday girl

Matt's choice: better than sex fried chicken. Their name for it, but it was definitely amazing!

So we forgot to get a picture of dessert... I apologize!

After we finished eating, we waddled out of the restaurant and headed to the mall. Matt's big gift to me was the purchase of my very own 'fancy' purse (read, costs more than $30). It is hard for me to spend that kind of money on myself, but he insisted. So this is what I picked and I absolutely love it!

source

Continuing our shopping expedition, we next went to a grocery store. Exciting, I know, but we need to pick up supplies! Matt planned on making me a chocolate cake for my birthday so we had to buy some ingredients. On our way home, I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season. So good! I also did something very anti-me. I got it fully caffeinated (I know, I live on the wild side). I typically don't drink caffeine, but tonight was a special occasion as I had to stay awake until midnight!  

Why, you may ask? Well, Texas A&M, my alma mater, played the SMU Mustangs ponies in Dallas on Saturday, and before away games, A&M has midnight yell somewhere in the host city. Don't know what midnight yell is? For complete history, go here, but basically it is where us Ags get together to practice our yells the night before the football game. Kind of like a pep rally, but way cooler. Anyway, this was the first time for me to go to a midnight yell that wasn't in Kyle Field, and though there was no mug down (boo), it was still a good time!

Downtown Dallas skyline

Yell leaders, chattin it up before it started

Some firefighters showed up. They're standing on the ladder behind the building

Leading us in a yell. 

We had a great time and ended up getting home a little before 1 AM. We went straight to bed, but that doesn't mean I went straight to sleep. Ha. Let's just say I'm still recovering from that adventure. It was worth it, but I'm not jumping at the bit to do it again!

Saturday involved doing menial grad school-related tasks as my brain was working at 50% and then 'assisting' Matt as he made my cake! We used one of his mother's delicious recipes-- Sour Cream Chocolate cake! It is the only thing I will eat sour cream in because it just makes it so moist, delicious, scrumptious, etc. LOVE IT. Anyway, here is proof that my husband did most of the work:

Nothing much better than homemade chocolate cake + homemade chocolate icing

That about sums up the most exciting parts of our birthday celebration. I got some good shopping money from my family and I cannot wait to have time to go spend it. The weekend was a busy mix of school, birthday happenings, and eating, but I wouldn't change it. Well, maybe take out the school work, but we can't have everything! 

Anyway, I wanted to say a special thank you to my amazing husband who planned all of the fun we had! I very much enjoyed every part of it and I love you!

Lindsey + Scotty

Today is my dear sister (in law)'s 21st birthday!! Yay! Happy birthday Lindsey!

She, along with her mother and one of her brothers, came up for the weekend so it was great getting to spend time with them and celebrate her birthday. In lieu of getting her a birthday card, though, Matt wrote this, pretending to be Lindsey, writing to Scotty McCreery. You know, of American Idol/adorable country singing star fame. Don't know? Watch this:

Dear Scotty,

This is Lindsey, Lindsey XXXX (but soon to be Lindsey McCreery of course). I was wondering…

1) Do you have a Scotty? You should. Maybe two or even three.

2) Will you marry me?

Also, I love you THIS big. You may notice that is a very big font (an 80!), that is because I love you a lot. Even if you don’t want to marry me, I figure I can still marry a card board cutout of you. I would mount an iPod dock behind the cardboard face, if seems like it would work fairly well. Anyways look forward to hearing from you soon!

Love,

Lindsey




So again, I wish a very happy birthday to the sister I have always wanted and I hope Scotty gets his letter :P

Christmas Recap

Well, after having a little over the past 2 weeks off, the husband went back to work today. Let me tell you-- Love is waking up at 5:30 so you can have breakfast with him. Anyway, though his Christmas vacation is sadly done, I still have two weeks left of mine! Which means I can finally catch up on my to-do list, including blogging. 


We were gone for 9 days in order to celebrate Christmas with both sides of our family. We put over 2,000 miles on my car, but had a great time doing it so it was worth it.


We left DFW to go to Houston, by way of College Station to visit some friends and have delicious BBQ. The following day was Matt's birthday, so we had some delicious deep dish pizza at Star Pizza, walked around Hermann Park & Rice University [residence of the fattest squirrels ever], and had dinner out with the family. 

Such good pizza! Was definitely full after one slice, though 

Fat squirrel!

We had to help my brother finish up his Christmas wrapping, including this HUGE gift for my mom. Let me show you the amazing tackiness of it all.

Yup. Pretty bad. She had NO clue what it was, so success :)

We had an amazing Christmas dinner, including the best steak I have ever eaten in my life. Seriously. Nolan Ryan beef, cooked by my dad. Not typical for Christmas, but there were no complaints by my family! We then attended the Christmas Eve service and opened gifts!

The gifts under the [midget] tree

Yum... SO good!

The aftermath

The day after Christmas, Matt & I packed our bags (again) and started the 11 hour trek to El Paso. Only is Texas, right? 

It somehow all fit on the first trip...

Yes, that does say 527 miles until the next exit

It's hard to read, but the speed limit is now 80 MPH

Look! It's a Hershey's Kiss!

Some of the wind turbines of West Texas

We had a great time with his family and I enjoyed getting to talk to his extended family for pretty much the first time ever-- the wedding does NOT count. We also went to some museums, such as the Border Patrol Museum, and had an adventurous drive up one of the mountain.

A cactus garden

All too soon it was time to drive home, though. We drove through more West Texas wind farms and eventually made it back to our place.  

It was a great first Christmas together and we were both happy to get to spend so much time with our families! Hope all of you had a great Christmas, as well.