Lately...

I have been wanting to move to maybe Washington or Oregon. It's just so pretty up there, and the opposite of Texas. Also there are whales. Otherwise I don't know much about it.

I am looking forward to grad school! The long days and long nights, the papers, the research, the conversation, the books, notebooks, lots of blue pens handy. I love school.

I am looking forward to being tan again come spring. About an hour in the bright Texas sun should do it.

Kyle rode his motorcycle about the neighborhood! It was pretty exciting, once I stopped being less of a nervous wife. Kyle writes about it here.

I am tempted to straighten my hair, but I shouldn't/won't. 

I am loving our dining table and chairs.

On a related note, the kittens do to, and I've been trying to keep them off the table. And from climbing on the screen door.

Huxley also managed to get up here, by jumping from the counter below. Pretty impressive.

I have been thinking about future babies, a little bit. 

I had a great catch up phone call with Abigail. 

I have been updating my google calendar. I'm more of a paper planner kind of person, but life just looks so neat and clean on the computer, color coded chunks of time.

My vibrams are coming apart a little, particularly the right big toe. This makes me sad. I had to borrow Kyle's today for my workout. Maybe I should get a new, sturdier pair, something with more of a grip as well, as I tend to slip around a bit on our floor. Mine are first generation, basic, simple vibrams, and there are so many new versions now. Hmm...

these sound kinda perfect, actually

I am looking forward to the military ball on Thursday, kinda. So long as my hair doesn't act foolish. I am curious to find out what this event is even for.

Also looking forward very much to the Gomez concert in Dallas on Saturday! :) :) I have been wanting to see these guys live for a few years now. They also have In-n-Out burger in Dallas; we my have to make an extra stop. It's a West coast thing.

Words with Friends. Addicting. I am not great at it.

Kyle discovered this recipe for peach whiskey barbecue chicken, via  The Pioneer Woman. I spent some time browsing a bunch of her recipes and they seem pretty amazing.  We're going to try this in the next week or two.

And we've been getting some wedding things done. More on that tomorrow!

Weekend Times

This weekend was pretty chill. We:

Watched Contagion. It was an enjoyable film. Kyle kept saying "whoa, he's in it?!" and a little later "oh it's her!" followed by "and that guy?!?"  I wished it kept going; sometimes I don't mind when a film just ends and there are questions and story lines yet resolved, but I wanted to know more. *Spoiler Alert* Where does the French lady go? Does Morpheus ever get the disease? What are the long term side effects of the vaccine? How does society recover? Etc. 

via

Kyle took his motorcycle course and now knows how to ride! Pretty exciting.

We got both kittens to come outside and played in the backyard for a while, taunting the six dogs in surrounding yards.

Huxley finally dared to come out, as the neighbor puppies came to the fence. There was a brief standoff. 

Huxley ran away. 

spazz in the kitchen window

next door pups!

Ate our first meal at our dining table!

I made peanut butter cookies.

Kittens were kittens.

I hope you had a nice weekend! Kyle has today off, so we're doing our usual weekend errands today- laundry and groceries. And I think we're going to find a parking lot for Kyle to ride his bike around, so he can get used to his bike (they used a different kind in the class).

Huxley Likes our New Chairs

The Week in Photos (and some words)

Some things:

- a day in Round Rock, shopping at IKEA, meeting up with friends, Joe's Crab Shack

- IHOP brunch

- it snowed a little bit in Texas

- laundry

- application done!

- Valentine's

- working on wedding invitations

- made granola

- wine from friends

- kittens kittens kittens 

Kyle has a four day weekend, though much of it will be spent at his motorcycle course. 

It is exciting that he will finally be able to ride his bike! 

We finally got some chairs for our table today! I am sitting on one now, at our dining table, with a cup of tea. I like it. 

I really miss my friends.

And family.

I would like to be playing Settlers of Catan right now. 

Have a good weekend!

Green and Gold

Next Thursday Kyle and I are going to a military ball. I would tell you more about it, but that is really all I know about it. Oh, and I'll be eating the chicken. I don't know what this ball is for. I don't know what will be happening there, where it is, what time it starts. Sigh. BUT, despite all that mystery, I finally know what I will be wearing! I got this gold dress before I went wedding dress shopping. I bought it online, a risky move, because I loved it so much, and hoped that even if it wasn't the dress for my wedding I could maybe wear it to another occasion. It is a beautiful dress, and a bit too long (because I am short), and a little bit too big in some places, so I didn't think I would be able to wear it without getting it altered. Fast forward four months to February, and I am panicking about finding a dress and going to this stupid ball. After not finding a dress after a whole Saturday afternoon browsing the premium outlets in Round Rock, I decided to try on this gold dress again. To my excitement, I didn't fit as badly as I thought it had! Any dress I would be able to find in the next week would likely be too long anyway. I will make it work!

dress: Blue Velvet Vintage

clutch: ModCloth

earrings: ModCloth

The dress came with a gold shawl for the shoulders, but I might add a little black cardigan or bolero jacket. And you probably noticed, the ensemble is missing shoes! I've been online shopping all day for some shoes, and I haven't yet decided on a pair. This morning I was leaning towards these blue pumps, but I have since decided on green accents, so perhaps a black shoe would be best. With green it's hard to tell online exactly what the color is. Any suggestions? Here are some I'm looking at.

top left: endless.com

bottom left: endless.com

top right: Ruche

bottom right: endless.com