Other life updates

Given that besides from my post on Monday I hadn't posted since February 1, I figured it was time for a miscellaneous catch-up post. So here, in no particular order, is a list of recent goings-on in our/my life.

I love hosting people at our house. We have now had the chance to host both family and friends at our home for dinner parties and I love that. It is great to use our house for that purpose and it also gives me a good excuse to try new recipes. This past Sunday we hosted our church's small group for dinner and we cooked jambalaya, apple crisp, and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Yeah, we eat well (don't worry, there was also salad. And french bread. Nothing like a well-rounded meal!).

I can't wait to get a dog! We installed a new back door on our house that has a doggy door in it, so now all we're waiting on is time. We were going to adopt a dog this week, but since we are hosting large groups of people this month, we didn't want to cause any possible issues if the dog reacts negatively. So we're waiting until we get back from our anniversary trip at the beginning of June. Just 3 more months!

I love my job. It is exhausting and challenging and several days I don't know if I'm doing what I'm supposed to (autonomy is a tricky thing) but I am happy. I have a lot of fun teaching my grad-level stats class. We all make silly math errors- nothing like teaching by example- and they help answer one another's questions. It is awesome to have a more interactive class than some of the ones I have taught previously.

I finally have stuff on my walls in my office. I would show you but I don't have any pictures of it AND I'm not going to the office until next week. But if you remind me I'll share it then!

Because all posts need a picture of some form. This is
from a wedding we went to last month. We clean up well :)

Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!

Let's not focus on the almost 2 months that I didn't blog and just focus on me being back now, k? :) It has clearly been a little bit busy around here, with the holidays and everything, but life is getting back in order now and it feels good to get back to the normal routine. 

First Christmas at our new house!

Christmas Eve dinner at my parents'. Note the huge snowman cake (it
was almost as delicious as the rib-eye my dad roasted)

Matt & I got to go to the Gaylord Texan for the huge ice display

Yes, it is all made of ice.

I was brave enough to slide down and it was really fun!

We had a great Christmas and were happy to spend it with both of our families. It was great to spend good quality time with everyone and good food was enjoyed, like always. After we got back from traveling, we had a week at home before Matt went back to work. We took advantage of that to do some much needed organizing and cleaning. One of the closets upstairs went from being an absolute wreck to being neatly organized and with room to spare. Wish I had pictures of before/after, but I'm just happy that it is so much better now!

For Matt's birthday, we went to see Star Wars. We loved it!

I survived my first semester as a professor and when all is said and done, I think it went really well. I enjoyed my students (for the most part) and received ratings that I'm happy with. I definitely enjoyed teaching more this semester than I had last spring, and I hope that will continue. I was able to have some really fun and enlightening discussions with my undergraduate students and I know several of them really enjoyed the class. I have some things I want to change the next time I teach these courses, but overall I was happy with how things went. 

Our New Years Eve consisted of homemade white chicken & herb pizza

And some amazing dessert (store-bought from Kroger's-- SO good!)

This semester will be different as I'm teaching 2 graduate-level courses, 1 online and 1 in-person. I think it will be a good semester and I hope to get to know the graduate students better. Research has been going well and I have been able to get several new projects started. I have been able to work on some really exciting collaborations with different scholars, both at and outside of my university, so I am excited to see where those take me. 

We have some exciting plans for this semester! My sister-in-law will be having her first baby any day now, so we're looking forward to meeting our new little niece or nephew. We will be adding to our own family and hope to adopt a dog in the next couple of months (no, no human babies anytime soon!). We have several house projects on the horizon as well, so it looks like I will have several things to post about here. I will definitely try to be better about posting on the blog this year, promise!

Random question for you: The first day of class is next week and I will be teaching my graduate-level statistics course on Tuesday. What random question should I ask the students? It can be an ice breaker, a get-to-know-you question, or anything. Looking for ideas :)

Life Lately

As my aunt (hi, Paula!) so gently reminded me, I haven't blogged since my graduation. This past month has flown by! Since graduation, we have traveled to and from Gatlinburg, TN, hosted our first party at our house, and experienced our first insect infestation. Nothing like being homeowners, right?

I will go into some more of these things in more detail, but I wanted to do a quick post to let you know I'm still alive and well. Even though I'm technically 'unemployed' this summer, I am staying very busy. During the week, I am working on both research and class prep. The weekends (and weeknights) are inevitably filled with house-related tasks, plus a few social events scattered here and there. 

Each of the other topics deserve their own post, but until then I'll leave you with some miscellaneous pictures.

Matt in front of Ramsey Cascades in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Our 4 year anniversary dinner

This was us on our 1 year anniversary, also at our B&B
in Gatlinburg. WE LOOK LIKE BABIES!!!!

Fast-forward to the present- we got
to see a panda at the Memphis Zoo!!!

Life Lately

Hello? Hello out there! Figured I should stop by since we're almost halfway through February. How did that happen, by the way? 

Here are a few updates on me since I haven't blogged in like, a month. Woops...

Teaching
I have been teaching my first class this semester and it has been going really well. The class is Crime & Justice Policy and it is mostly upperclassmen. The students are really awesome and definitely can get into the class discussions, which is great. Their first exam was today and the grades turned out pretty well so I'm happy! The next unit is talking about courts and corrections, so I'm excited to delve into an area that I'm more passionate about. Also, it takes SO long to prep for one 75-min class (at least 1.5/2 days). SO much respect and gratitude for those who teach all day!

Dissertation
I defended my proposal last week and got the green light to go ahead with the analysis! Now I'm working on that aspect. I need to defend by late March, which means I have to have it to my committee by early March. So basically I have about a month to do my analyses, write up the results, and write up the discussion/conclusion chapter. Bring it on.

At my proposal defense. Hello Powerpoint.

House
So we're officially in the 'pending' stage of buying our first home! I can't wait to go into more details, but that will have to wait until we close at the end of this month. It happened way faster than we expected but God's has very clearly guided us through this whole process and (hopefully) buying this specific home.

Miscellaneous Points

•  Super bowl. We made amazing deep dish pizza, completely homemade. Matt gets all the credit for the crust and he did a great job!

• I miss running. I was recently diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in my right foot so I've been trying to do my stretches multiple times every day. I have been able to run a little bit, but no more than 2 miles. Hopefully I can start building up the mileage again soon because the weather has been amazing lately here in Texas.
• Valentine's Day is upon us and instead of going out as is the stereotypical thing, we are going to stay at home. We're planning on slow roasting lamb shanks and maybe going out for dessert afterwards. It will be my first time cooking with lamb, so I hope it goes well!

I'm sure there are other things, but that sums up a lot of the big stuff. Figured I would at least put this out there so no one thought I had stopped blogging completely!

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?

Miscellany Wednesday

Well hello out there! Hope someone is still out there reading this :)

Figured I should resurface and let everyone know we are alive. The summer heat has really come upon us here in Texas but I guess it is July (dude, how did that happen?). To be honest, my lack of posting has been less to do with being too busy and more to do with not much blog-worthy things going on. With that said, here is a collection of random comments and happenings for you to read this hopefully-happy Wednesday.

• Comps prep is going well. Most of my days are spent reading (mostly) interesting articles. The days when I make flashcards are the most anxiety-provoking as I have 2 300-flashcards-holder boxes basically full already. Memorizing isn't going to be fun, but let's not think about that til later, k?
• We are prepping to leave for Washington, DC in a few days. Matt will go down first for his work-thing and then I will follow him a few days later. It is going to be a whirlwind couple of days that we're there. Unfortunately, there are too many things to see, too many places to eat, and not enough hours in the day to see them all. Oh well. We know that going in so hopefully we can still have a good time!
• Speaking of my husband- he got a promotion/new job! He applied for a new job within the same company about a month ago and found out last week that he got the job. He is really excited about the new job and I'm so proud of him! :)
• We went swimming in our new pool this past weekend and had a great time. We wondered why we had waited to long to do that and bought some cheap pool toys to play with next time we go. Because deep down, we're still kids.
• I officially started my half-marathon training. I went from running 2-3 days a week to running 4 days a week. My legs & feet definitely felt that transition last week but I'm still glad to be doing it. Ask me in about 2 months how it's going-- the answer may be different!
• Our Fourth of July was pretty relaxing. We went out to a movie and dinner beforehand, then came home and watched the NYC's fireworks show on TV. No crowds + AC + PJs made us happy!

There may be other things but those are the highlights. Do you have any DC tips or suggestions for us? We were fortunate enough to get tours of the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court. Plus I really want to go to the zoo so I can see one of these guys! Cross your fingers that we get lucky!

source

There's always a silver lining

On Friday night I had my first car accident (Because some people apparently don't know, PSA: red lights exist for a reason- you should stop at them). Fortunately no one was injured or anything, but the front bumper of my car was completely torn off, rendering my car un-driveable. Due to insurance complications, I wasn't able to take it to the shop and get a rental car until today. 

Bumpers aren't that important, right?

That made me car-less and thus completely home-bound on Monday. While it was unfortunate and meant I couldn't do my normal grocery shopping Monday morning when no one is there, it also meant I didn't have any distractions. I got so much done! It felt great to catch up on work and studying for comps. So many things were able to be scratched off my to-do list. 

And that's what I'll focus on. Instead of thinking about silly insurance companies and all such things, I'm going to think about the silver lining. 

Five for Friday

Well hello there! I figured I should come and say hi as it is a new month and all. How did that happen, by the way? I can't believe it's already May, especially as we just had another [mild] cold snap here in DFW. Had to break out the jackets and everything!

Anyway, on to our miscellaneous updates!

• I am done with 2 of my 3 classes. Just have to finish a take home exam in the third one and I'm finished for the semester. Matt has 6 more days until he is done and will have earned his Masters. He isn't going to walk or anything so we're just going to have our own celebrations. The first will be when he gets home that Thursday as I have an awesome dinner planned. Then some point that weekend we're going to go out and actually do something for the more formal celebration. Should be fun!

• Remember when my door handle fell off? Well I heard back from Hyundai and they are going to reimburse us the repair cost! Hooray for good customer service :)

• My aunt from New Orleans came into town this past week so we had a lot of fun hanging out with her for a few evenings. We got to go to a Texas Rangers game Monday (hey, everyone needs study breaks, right?) and even though the Rangers lost, we still had a blast. 

Amazing weather & view!

• Comps prep is really getting started now. The plan is to read and study for 8-9 hours/day during the week, work half the day on Saturday, and then take Sundays off. We'll see how it goes. It's definitely getting real now-- I even had a nightmare about comps on Wednesday night!

• May is going to be a busy one for us! We'll be celebrating Matt's graduation, making a quick weekend trip down to Austin, packing, and moving. No, we haven't started packing yet. We've been putting it off until Matt was done with school. Plus we don't have that much stuff so hopefully we can get it packed quickly.

What do you have going on this month? Any trips or graduations? 

Countdown

From today, Tuesday April 15 (happy Tax Day?), it is:

• 16 days until I am done with classes for this semester.
• 17 days until I start studying for comps full time.
• 23 days until Matt takes his LAST final. 
• 39 days until we move. 
• 43 days until our 3 year wedding anniversary. 

Wow this semester has flown by! It is hard to believe all those dates are getting so close. I threw the wedding anniversary in there for fun because it's crazy to think it's only/already been 3 years (but in a good way, promise!). 

Matt will only have to study 3 more weekends. That's it. But then my comps studying picks up big time. I've been working on my cite lists for the three exams and so far I have over 20 pages of single-spaced list of cites. It is most definitely a lot of readings but I have to think positively. It isn't things I have to read but things I get to read. Yes, that's how I'll look at it. You can help me with that in a few months when I'm going crazy, k?

I'm so excited for Matt to be done. We will have quite the celebration when he's done! He hasn't decided what he wants to do yet, but I imagine it will involve good food and gifts. We shall see! 

Right now life is in a holding pattern. Waiting for school to be done. Waiting to start studying for comps full time. Waiting to move. Waiting for summer travel to see our families. It is a lot of waiting. 

Oh, speaking of waiting, I did get my car door handle fixed in case you were wondering. Still waiting to hear from Hyundai if they will cover the cost but my fingers are crossed!

I know this is a random post, stream of conscious style, but that's my mind today I guess. Hope you don't mind!

Oh, and just for fun: 

I think I could use this work out tank... just kidding! Sort of... 

Funny story

So on Sunday, Matt and I were headed to the gym after church to go work out. As I go to get in the car, something weird happens. I can't get in. The door handle is in my hand. It had broken off from the rest of the door.

Great.

My poor door looks so sad...

Apparently I shrieked a little in surprise because Matt thought I saw a snake or something. Nope, far worse. I couldn't get in my car (well, without some difficulty). 

Of course the dealership I take my car (2010 Hyundai Sonata) to is closed on Sundays so first thing Monday morning I drive down there and see what they can do for me. After waiting about 10 minutes, they tell me they can fix it, obviously, but it will be about 2 days. Apparently it takes forever (i.e. 1-2 days) to paint a door handle. Once that is done, I bring my car back in and they re-attach it to the door. So right now, they're painting it and will let me know when they're done.

If you've ever wondered what a door handle looks like...

The best part about this? My car has 61,000 miles, almost exactly. This would have been covered by the warranty, but that warranty expired at, you guessed it, 60,000 miles. After doing some internet research and talking to the dealership, apparently it isn't uncommon for my model year of the Sonata to have this issue. So though it appears to be a known problem, they still wanted to charge me almost $300 for it. I asked the service guy if they could waive the fee or discount it since I was so close to the mileage and it didn't fall off because I'm rough on it, but apparently they couldn't do anything. Of course not. 

So close to 60K...

So I contacted Hyundai corporate. When in doubt, go big right? So about 3 hours after I send my email, they get back to me and say they will consider reimbursing me if I provide them specific paperwork because I'm a loyal customer and I've kept up with the maintenance of my Sonata. 

And that's where we're at now. I have to open my car door through the front passenger side for the next 48 hours and then wait and see if Hyundai will refund us our money. I'm happy they got back to me quickly and will think about reimbursing us but it is still silly. I can either get mad or laugh and I'm choosing to laugh, especially as I try to reach across my car to open the heavy door and get it to stay open when it wants to close.

At least that's what I'll remind myself of :)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes we still went to the gym. We're dedicated like that.

So, has this ever happened to you? Any other funny car malfunction? 

For the record, this is the first time since I got the car in 2010 that I've had an issue. I am otherwise very happy with my carand recommend their vehicles. This is not a paid advertisement in any form, just wanted to put that out there :) 

Five for Friday

I am so happy it's Friday. This week has been something else. Really, this month has and I don't think it's going to change anytime soon between Matt being super busy at work and both of us being super busy with school. Oh well, such is life. 

1) How is it the last day of January? I just don't understand...

2) For our dating-anniversary/Valentine's Day gifts, Matt & I bought ourselves the Roku 3. This is a huge upgrade from our old school Roku 1 we bought right after we got married. It's a lot faster and the quality is much improved. Plus we can watch some of our shows (hello Sherlock!) without having to plug in my laptop to the TV. It's the little things in life, right?

3) I have a late night class on Thursdays that doesn't get out til 9:45. Add in a 30-40 minute drive and that makes for a really unpleasant Friday morning. But we survived week 3 of this semester. Twelve more to go.

4) I have an appointment today to get fitted for my orthotic inserts. See, ever since I started running more, I've started having foot issues. At first the podiatrist gave me these mean evil steroid injections and a pad to put on my foot when I run that gave me painful blister. Clearly that wasn't going to work long-term so when I asked for another solution, he recommended the orthotics. So here's hoping they fit my shoes, they don't cause me too much pain, and I don't have to receive any more injections!

5) Don't tell Matt, but we had 3 vegetarian dinners this week. I'm not making us go vegetarian or anything (I love my dad's steak way too much), it just happened. The recipes were easy to make and turned out to be delicious-- win win! But before you get really worried, we're making up for it by having burgers tonight. Yum!  

So what are your plans for tonight? I hope you have a great weekend!

Thankful Tuesday

Unfortunately my T alliteration doesn't sound quite so good, but it is right before Thanksgiving and it is Tuesday. Plus, there are many things I'm thankful for, so there you go.

I'm thankful for an awesome husband who will gladly make pizza dough for me. Dough scares me but he did a great job for our homemade deep dish pizza (from my favorite cookbook ever). 

Look at him knead that dough! So impressive

Italian (chicken) sausage pizza--- yum!

I'm thankful for a family that is so supportive and loving. Plus they're taking us on an awesome trip to Disney World in less than 2 months!! So excited!

Plus my awesome aunt is taking me to see the Wizarding World of
Harry Potter! I'm game as long as there are no mashed peas [London, 2007]

I'm thankful for my TA/RA assignment next spring. No office hours and no grading next semester! Yay!

I'm thankful for cereal. I think I could eat it almost every meal of the day and not get sick of it. It's the simple things, right?

I'm thankful for this blog and its readers (that's you!). The comments are fun and it's nice to write something non-academic every once in a while :)

I'm thankful for music. Whether it's the Beatles or Switchfoot, it makes running that much better.

What about you? What are you thankful for?

Something a little different

I miss blogging. Really, I do. Just lately I haven't had much to write about as I can only talk about grad school so much and other things in my life are just a little too personal to share online. Then one of the blogs I follow posted this and I thought it looked like a great idea! So without further ado...

5 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
5) Disney! We are taking a big family trip in a couple of months and I'm so excited to go back. My niece will be going for the first time and I can't wait to see Disney World through a 5-year-old's eyes!
4) Matt's birthday. He doesn't want to make a big deal of it but you only turn 25 once and I'll have something up my sleeve...
3) The holidays. So much good food and family time on the horizon.
2) Consistent temperatures. I know, I live in Texas, what do I expect? This yo-yoing betweeen 50s and 70s is driving me (and my head) crazy.
1) Getting a dog. Hopefully next summer I will have a dog. I need it for my stress levels. Comps prep is creeping closer...

I need some Tower of Terror in my life

4 Things You Might Not Know About Me:
4) I'm a morning person. I try to contain it, but most days I wake up raring to go.
3) I constantly waver if I want to be a mom or not. 
2) I want to be able to cook more. So many good recipes out there, so little time.
1) I don't like working out per se, but I love the feeling I get afterwards and it makes sitting on a spin bike for 60 minutes so worth it.

Oh I would love to break out my pizza stone soon...

3 Shows I Love:
3) Mythbusters. Yay science!
2) How I Met Your Mother. The one show Matt & I actually try to watch live.
1) Once Upon a Time. Those creators of Lost got me again...

2 Things that Frustrate Me:
2) Traffic. 635's constant level of traffic is making our toll charges creep up but it's worth it for my sanity.
1) Family Court.

1 of my Favorite Words:
1) Puppies! All dogs are puppies in my book and the word just makes me so smile.

This pictures makes me so happy

Five Things Friday

I haven't written anything in a few weeks so I figured I should pop in. No better time too than to give a quick rundown of what's been happening lately.

1) How is it already October 11? I was emailing a professor yesterday and almost asked how the beginning of his semester was going. And then I realized we're halfway done. Can't be...

2) I will probably be taking my comprehensive exams a year from now as opposed to spring of 2015 as originally planned. This is pretty scary to think about though everyone tells me I will prepare enough and be fine. I will have to devote a later post to describe comps in detail, but let's just say it involves 6 months or so of studying straight. You get 2 chances to pass and if you don't, you're done. Talk about pressure!

3) I'm so looking forward to this weekend! We will be going to a friend's son's 1st birthday party and it should be a blast. Cute babies serve as a great study distraction!

4) I've been reading this book called Newjack for my corrections class and it's really interesting. Best part, it's written by a journalist so it's not as dry as some books I've read. If you're interested in the life of a prison guard, I would recommend it. 

5) It seems we are in the middle of the autumn baking season. Thankfully my husband is pretty awesome and is supportive of such endeavors. The hard part is picking what to bake...

This may be on the agenda...

So what does your weekend have in store? 

Five for Friday, catch up addition

Howdy everyone! Happy August. I know, I'm late. We're halfway through August already and this is my first post. Oops. We have had a few happenings and have a few more coming up!

1) First I have to brag on my amazing husband! He got a promotion last week and definitely deserves it! I'm so proud of him :)

2) We got to experience the amazingness of home-living when we house-sit for some friends who were on mission in Poland for a week and a half. It was pretty awesome having a large kitchen, master bath, and so much square footage (especially compared to our little 1-bedroom apartment)! Oh, and did I mention it was on the lake? This was our view.

3) Do you recall me telling you about Matt's mystery date and he would send me clues about it? Well, it is this weekend! Well, part of it. We are doing the fancy hotel stay this weekend and then the following weekend going to the nice restaurant (due to DFW restaurant week confusion). I know where both are and I am pumped.  

Omni Fort Worth, source

Not the location of our fancy dinner, but we still have to eat this weekend, right?
Uno's is just down the block from our hotel. Om nom nom! Source

4) The summer semester is OVER. Matt finished his last summer classes this week and we couldn't be more excited. He only has 4 classes to go and he has his MS! Intended graduation date of May 2014. Only 2 semesters to go...

5) Speaking of school, it starts soon. Aug 26th to be exact. I'm looking forward to having a schedule again-- our lives have been a little crazy these past few weeks-- but then again, that means exams and papers. Yay?

Don't some of my books sound awesome?

So what's going on with you? How have you celebrated August?

Five for Friday

I hope everyone had a great week! Ours was fine, nothing too exciting. We have been counting down to this weekend though!

1. My brother is getting married in 2 days! I'm so excited to go and celebrate with him! Isn't is new family beautiful? 
   
2. On Wednesday, I went to the mall to get some new shoes but that trip proved unsuccessful. I couldn't find good supportive, non-neon walking shoes. After my foot decided it hated me and 2 steroid shots later (ow!), I've been slowly replacing my shoe collection. I have some good athletic shoes & sandals, but wanted something more casual. Nope. Not this time. Any recommendations? 
3. Instead of buying shoes, I came home with a new purse. Dang Fossil and their sale signs! But it was 30% off, so I'm happy with that
4. A new toy came in that I've been playing with. I ordered a heart rate monitor I've been eyeing for a while so it's been interesting to see what my actual calorie burn is while working out. Wow those machines certainly overestimate! Anyway, I'll write more about it later when I get more used to it, but so far I'm a fan!

   

   source

5. When did we get halfway through July? I realized the other day that I'm 2 months away from being 25. Woah... it's crazy how fast life goes!
   

Do you have any weekend plans? Do you use a heart rate monitor while working out? Have you made these brownies I gushed about on Monday?

4th of July Weekend Recap

I hope all of you had a great time celebrating our independence! We had a fun time in Houston with my family and even got to relax a bit-- very welcome during this crazy summer.

Over the long weekend, we:

-Embraced our inner child and played with bubbles. Later Matt may have been shooting the bubbles with a water gun. Oh the joy of having nieces! 

We had to 'prime' the wands for the girls. Best idea ever.

-We helped my brother move into his new house. It involved moving a very heavy aquarium and getting it set up, but he and his soon-to-be wife found an amazing house!

-We ate well. Are you surprised? It involved eating burgers at a delicious restaurant called the Counter as well as making dinner on 2 separate nights for my family. 

My custom-made salad. So delicious

Matt's burger, complete with BBQ sauce, pineapple, bacon,
pickles, lettuce, and jalapeno jack. He declared it the best ever.

Pioneer Woman's Peach-Whiskey Chicken complete with
mashed potatoes and fresh corn on the cob

-We bought a car.

If only...

Anyway, what did you do this weekend?

Precious puppy picture to make you smile :)