Baby Birds

The lawn folks cut back a bunch of trees and bushes around our house earlier today, and afterwards I went out to see what all they had cut, and I found this exposed nest. I took a picture of it from the side, and then held my phone up to get a shot of the top of the nest, and was surprised to find two little babies in the picture (I am short)! It seems I woke them up and they started squawking at me.

 the cats love that window for bird watching

I wanted to leave them alone but I watched them from inside, and discovered that they are cardinal chicks, and mom (light brown) and pop (bright red) were not far away. I grabbed my actual nice camera tried to get some interaction pictures at a distance, but the parents didn't want to go close while I was out there. I watched them for a while and watched some more from inside. Through all of this I learned I should really use my camera more. It takes good pictures, especially outside. The iphone is just so darn convenient, and the camera on it is really good for a phone.  I also learned our neighbors have Dish network. I hope the birdies do alright! I'll keep an eye out for them but we leave early Saturday morning. Remind me to tell you the story about my siblings and I, freshly moved from CA to PA, trying to save a near-dead opossum by our house one morning before the school bus came to pick us up (what do we do? Go get dad! Stall the bus!). We did not know how rampant road kill was in PA, nor how little people care about opossums, and have since been desensitized. 

 {above} Cardinal mom {below} Cardinal pop

 I also noticed three other large nests in the tree in our front yard...

 Mom cardinal feeds some tasty grub (taken from inside)

 Hux wonders what I am doing at his bird watching post.

Dad cardinal visits

S.

Thursday Thoughts (10)

{one} I was cleaning the stove yesterday and the cats were not helping out.

{two} I just want it to be next week already. I'm all anxious and haven't been sleeping well this week because I want to just be doing wedding things, but I don't have much more I can do from here. I finally got started on my vows, though! It's more of a letter I guess. I'm not sure how these things are supposed to go so I just started writing. I do what I want! I was writing mine on my notepad that friends gave me after I got married (which inspired this blog title), and they also got some for Kyle, but I think stationary with wedding moose is not most appealing to an Army man, but I suggested he write his on his notepad, because that would be super cute to have our vows on our matching married paper. Dork.

I've filled the front and back of my page so far!

{three} I feel so bad about leaving the cats while we go up to PA for the wedding. Even though they are staying at a nice pet resort. I hope they still love me. :(

{four} When Kyle and I moved here, we could not find ice cube trays, so we had to order them from Amazon. Dumb, right? We were in Wal Mart the other day and came upon an endless supply of ice cube trays for the Everyday Low Price of $1.93. Sigh. People use ice in the winter, too! It's Texas, it doesn't ever get that cold!

{five} I am recently in love with these little Finnish birds by Sanna Annukka . They are sielulintu which means "soul bird," believed to protect a person's vulnerable soul when they are asleep and dreaming. It is a symbol of good luck, happiness, and protection. I kind of have a thing for Finnish birds. I was given a cool bird necklace by one of my host families, and when talking about potential tattoo ideas for me, Kyle and I have tossed around the idea. I certainly would love one of these wooden birds for my home, and possibly as tattoo inspiration...ja minä rakastan Suomi paljon.

{six} Whaddaya think of the new header and button, made by the lovely Joelle? It's just what I wanted- something simple but that would add a little fun to the page. Thanks Joelle! If anyone wants to swap buttons, let me know! :)

{seven} Kyle doesn't much like texting, so it should say something about how much we love Liam Neeson that I received this text this morning.

{eight} Wedding is a week from tomorrow. eeeeeeeeeeeeee so excited. Accuweather forecast for the 15th in State College used to show scattered rain, and today it says 78 and bright sunshine. So we will see. I think my ideal (keeping in mind it is summer, because my ideal would be fall and cool weather) would be 70 and sunny, but I think, no I know, I'd even take some rain over blistering heat and humidity. I hate it that much, and umbrellas can be so cute in pictures. I played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz as a child, I do not want to relive the "I'm melting!!" scene on my wedding day. Also I wouldn't want my skin to be green.

{nine} Bloggy friends- anybody interested in doing a (probably wedding related) guest post/feature next week while I am in the midst of wedding week? Kendall will be telling us all about her May 20th wedding, and I'd love to hear about your wedding experiences too!

-Mrs. M

Huxley Always had a Thing for Sitting on Computers

then April 2011 and now May 2012

-Mrs. M

Wedding Day Essentials

I've been thinking about putting together a little day-of bag, of just-in-case items and extras it would be a good idea to have handy through the day. I was talking about this yesterday with our wedding photographer Jana, and she shared a story about saving the day the other week with her Tide to Go pen, when some bright pink flowers left their mark on the bride's gown before the start of the ceremony. Yikes! Here's what I've come up with. 

{1} button down shirt so you don't have to pull things over your hair and makeup.

{2} Small purse to have a few things with you at your table (of course all the rest of this stuff will be hauled in my usual purse). {3} A pair of comfortable shoes in case. 

{4} Medicine! Especially as I am prone to ailments and headaches in much less stressful times. I will probably take some in the morning regardless of how I feel. {5} Mints! {6} Granola bars, or some food. Because I have a feeling I will not feel like eating and someone should force me.

{7} Chapstick. And makeup for any touch ups. {8} Little tissue packets. Less for crying and more for anything else, but I think I cry if other people cry, so we will see. {9} pins and other hair necessities.

{10} Water! {11} Alcohol. I think mini bottles of alcohol are just adorable, and I think it'd be fun (necessary) to take a drink before this whole thing goes down. Liquid courage; I don't like people staring at me. {12} Tide to Go stain remover pen! Accidents happen. 

Do you have any other suggestions for items to add to my bag? Someone said a bottle of nailpolish to match your color, but I am pretty sure having wet nails when you have no time to wait for them to dry (I mean really dry to the point where nothing can smudge or imprint on them, that takes hours) and a million things to do is worse than a little chip.

S.

Awesome in Finnish

I went on a bit of a Finland-related pinning kick a little while back...

S. 

Lately in Photos

choice snack as of late, Hux napping, tasty mushrooms, side yard tree is in bloom

new purse, tasty salad, feet, Hux on the fridge

summer skirt, hanging outside the house while Kyle works on his bike, strawberries!

picking a new blog header, backyard times

flower for my hair (maybe), foods

the only downside to baking is we can never finish it all before it goes bad. Darwin's new favorite thing is the kitchen sink. wedding day bling and table numbers

stir fry, flowers falling from the tree, we used to get this in Pittsburgh- it is delicious, our kitties are weird. 

S. 

Kayaking on Lady Bird Lake

On Friday we took advantage of Kyle's random day off, and after hemming and hawing, headed to Austin to go kayaking on the river through the city. They call it Lady Bird Lake, but it is more like a river, so we call it that. We stopped at a couple REIs first to get Kyle a new pair of shoes, and made our way down to the river, parked and looked for where the kayakers were coming from. We spotted a rental place close to where we parked, and hopped in a double. I take the blame for the double- we were going to get singles but then at the last minute I thought it'd be fun to try a double. Well...it was still fun but...a little frustrating trying to paddle with two. The double kayak should probably be some sort of marital test or something. The water was calm, but I do not trust my luck to bring my phone or camera onto the water, so there are no pictures of the hours we spent kayaking, but we had a great time in the sun and saw a lot of wildlife: lots and lots of turtles, swans, ducks, geese, herons, a topless lady, hipsters, unruly teenagers, and countless runners (everyone in Austin runs along the river, so it would seem. in minimal clothing.). The weather was perfectly hot for running your hands through the water, or dunking your hat in if you are Kyle. It was awesome, and made me so happy.  We will just get singles next time I think. :) We made the wise decision of getting mango ice after returning our kayak and ate it while walking back to our car and watching people on one of Austin's many bridges. I think this was the most I've enjoyed the city. Anyone who comes to visit, we will have to take you there to kayak. Actually you should probably just stay in Austin; it is way cooler than Temple.

omg baby Vibrams. 

 We started back behind this bridge (the other side) and kayaked under several bridges and to the big buildings of downtown Austin you see there. 

 Dinner at Uncle Billy's. 

S.