Date Night, Work and Beer Brewing

I've come to realize that Kyle and I have very little time together before he likely heads out. I'm in school through the first week of May, he's gone in May for training in Louisiana, I'm gone at the end of May for my trip to DC, and he'll be going to PA for some of his leave in June.  So anyway, it's important to make time in our busy schedules for fun activities, funtivities if you will. I think our collective favorite movie is Jurassic Park, so of course we had to go see it in 3D. I'm not sure if technology has just really progressed, or I had some bad glasses in the past or what, but 3D is much better than I was expecting. Usually it makes my eyes go bonkers until half way through the movie, but this felt more subtle, even wearing the glasses over my regular ones. Anyway, Kyle and I both highly recommend JP 3D. Afterwards, once we got over the surprise of it being bright out at 6pm, we went to The Gin for dinner, stocked up on some drinks and snacks, and went home. We are simple people, who like good food, dinosaur movies, and each other. Side note- I guess prom season is upon us(?) as we saw a bunch of overly tanned girls in neon dresses clomping around the restaurant, accompanied by their be-cumberbuned dates.

Sunday was spent doing work, preparing for an interview, laundry, groceries, and Kyle brewing another batch of beer. As our usual Sunday evening show, The Walking Dead has finished for the season, we watched Taken 2, which was pretty awesome except that the ending/credits song was that dumb song from the Internet Explorer commercials. Oh, Kyle is also planning on building a chair to take overseas. Like you do. The cats were super into the big bag o' leather Kyle brought home. 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Wish List: Travel Tech

On my trip to Boston, my iPhone 4s ran out of battery for the first time ever, more than once. I was taking a lot of pictures with it all day long, so that just about did it. I'm heading to DC in May for another trip, and I've been looking into making some tech purchases that better accommodate travel, as well as my busy school/work/internship schedule that demands I be away from home for sometimes twelve hours. Also, I like shiny new toys. :)
So there's a battery case, and an external battery plug in. I'm leaning towards the external, as it has more power, and could be used for other tech items. Which brings me to the iPad. I didn't think I would ever want or need one, but now I do. I thought my laptop I got last Christmas (2011) was so light and small compared to the one I had previously, but now that I've been carrying it every day to school, work and internship, it is certainly not light. Also, the battery is horrible and lasts maybe an hour and a half, so the power cord also has to come with me. For travel, such as on my Boston trip, a laptop is just not very convenient. Again, it's heavy, and it takes up too much space when luggage is limited. An iPad would fit comfortably in a "personal item" bag (my purse), and could be brought around town as well. The aim is not to be completely wired in at all times, but it is important to me to have access for communicating with my (likely soon to deploy) husband and being able to work on some things on the go.

Mophie Juice Pack Plus and Rechargeable Battery (or less expensive version)
Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation External Battery
iPad4

I will for sure get an extra battery, I'm just deciding if I want to will take the plunge further into Apple heaven (hell?) and get the iPad. Any input from current users? GB size I should get? Suggestions for a good case if/when I do make the purchase? The tech world is abuzz with talk of a new iPad being released this month, so I'll wait and see what happens.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

All I Ever Wanted

via

- From the desk of Mrs. M

The Week in Photos

 reenlistment/ Mooyah/ dinner/ kittens

 home of the best chai/ napping friends/ napping cat and husband/ new helmet

haven't hard boiled eggs in maybe ten years/ Kyle playing with Huxley/ playing in our big backyard

cupcakes delivered to a friend/ Saturday night popcorn/ Hux in another bag/ Easter Sundays are for lit reviews

taco night/ tic tac night/ welcome, April/ starting the day at the hospital

sink kitty strikes again/ delicious salad. Blue and Gold= Pitt/ rainy day snail

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Hello April

I'm not sure how it's April already, but I sure am glad it is. Only one more month of school left! Unfortunately Kyle will be away for training during the month of May, but I also have my Washington, DC trip that month. But back to this month. I imagine it will go by very quickly; there's a couple presentations mid-month, and wrapping up a couple projects for the semester. And then, I will be half way through grad school! Hooray!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Why Poverty

I found this interesting animated (though not exactly for kiddos) video by Why Poverty?, covering the history of poverty and outlook for the future. It was published this January, so very recent, too. If you have an hour, it's an interesting watch. Warning- it's not particularly cheerful or hopeful, in fact when the credits started rolling I just said "That sucks." But, often with these topics, that is the unfortunate reality of our current situation. So, better to learn about it than ignore it, I think!



- From the desk of Mrs. M

Reenlistment Ceremony

On Wednesday, Kyle re-signed his life away to the Army for another two years. So, yes folks, that means we'll be in Texas until at least April 2015. It also means we will likely experience a long separation starting sometime this summer. There was a cute little ceremony and nice words were said about Kyle; I also got an appreciation award (well, Sarah T. McPhearson did), and awkwardly took pictures while the soldiers were doing their soldier thing. Kyle perfectly planned his reenlistment so that he'd have basically a five day weekend (since you get the rest of the day and the next day off when you reenlist, and he already had Friday off). Smart guy, my soldier. 

After getting our names on the papers fixed, we celebrated with lunch at Mooyah, a burger place Kyle recently discovered and wanted to take me to.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

The Best Chai

Today I had the best chai I've had in a long time. My teacher let us out early from class (also gave us donuts and said we only have to do 2 of the 5 remaining weekly logs; so nice), and my friend Brittney asked me if I'd like to grab a coffee! It sounded like a great idea to me, and I think I needed it more than I knew I did. We hopped over to Outdoor Waco, which I haven't been to before. We had a nice chat with the barista man about social work and he asked what the one thing I want to do as a social worker is. Thursdays we are in class from 8 am to 5:35 pm, so it was nice to get out of the building briefly. And now I know where to go when I want a chai break!

Also, this is what we entered the building to- Melody, Olivia and Brooke passed out asleep. Such is grad school, I suppose. :) 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

The Week in Photos

my jam/ she has a good taste in shoes/ last to leave the building/ oops

stir fry/ dinner date/ Hobbit!/ JJ

springy skirt (also doubles as a fall skirt)/ Library time again/ blue for the weekend/ mm cider

look into the light/ "we did our taxes!" yogurt/ important/ bird watching

stocking up on cat things/ weekend lunch with Kyle/ study and tea time/ Kyle's planned our lives until we're 30 ;)

Huxley paws/ delicious grilled chicken salad/ love this cutting board/ take the pledge

haven't looked at my Facbook "favorite quotes" in a while/ actually made breakfast/ ready for the day/ talkin' about hunger

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Going Back to DC!

I can now announce I will officially be going on a Baylor/THI trip to Washington, DC in May, focusing on hunger in America! 

Stops Include:

The White House

Michelle Obama's Garden

The Capitol

Share our Strength, No Kid Hungry

Bread for the World

the Monuments

and a whole bunch more.

Oh, and maybe meeting Michelle herself. #FLOTUS. No big deal. She said as she nearly cried when she found this out. 

I'm going to start a blog series about it. Sarah Does DC: Hunger in America, or something (got any good, catchy name suggestions?). I will document all stops on the trip, lessons learned, people met, monuments gazed at, as well as some events and info leading up to the trip and reflection afterwards. I've learned quite a lot already just from working for THI for a month now, and I've got a couple hunger-related projects in various stages of planning, including a viewing and discussion of A Place at the Table at Baylor. 

Technically it is a "mission" trip, and my reasons for doing social work and trying to be a good person and helping people and all that draw no motivation from the writings in an old book or any God but rather the simple fact that we are all human, so I'm not sure what that aspect of the trip will look like for me, but how could I not go on this trip. :) I'm so excited to learn more about hunger hands-on, advocate for those experiencing food insecurity in our country, and return to a city I'm rather fond of.

- From the desk of Mrs. M