That's right, I am spending my first night alone since becomming a wife. Will and I decided on a whim around 6pm tonight that he would to go Waco for the night. His cousin is the new rush chair for TKE - Will's fraternity - and he did a great job bringing in the largest pledge class the Baylor chapter has ever had so tons of the alumni were going down to participate in all the bid night rituals. So he went. And I stayed. No girls allowed.
I do enjoy a girls night every now and then though and so far I'd say it's been a success! I got drinks with some girls during happy hour earlier (technically Will was still around for that but it was all girls besides him so whatevever). Then we went to dinner with Will's parents and some friends to a seafood restaurent. Unhealthy food - check. Nat accompanied me to Target after for some girl talk and shopping and I bought a chick flick - check! Now I am relaxing at home in my pj's having just caught the end of "One Fine Day" and am now watching "Sense and Sensibility." Two great classics :)
I'm only dreading the actual sleeping part. See, I truly am all alone tonight. Toula had to spend the night at the vet tonight because she became less of a woman today poor thing and they have to keep her over night for monitoring. I get to pick her up at 9am tomorrow and you better believe I will be there at 8:59! Anyways, I've never been very good at being home alone at night. I get very paranoid and usually end up leaving more than one light on and either A) sleeping in bed with the light on and the door open or B) sleeping on the couch with the TV on. I physically can't fall asleep shut up in a room not knowing what's going on around me when I'm alone. It's actually rather pathetic, but I've been this way since high school. In Waco if all my roomates happened to be out of town, I honest to God also kept a knife next to me. Tonight will probably be Will's gun. It's just how I am. I made Will promise me when we were engaged that he would not accept a job that requierd him to travel a lot. Thankfully, his job doesn't take him anywhere. Dodged a bullet there!
There may be a part II to this later if I'm still awake....which I probably will be...with all the lights on.
I miss my Willbur...
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Guilty Pleasure....
Tonight was the premiere of the show, Toddlers and Tiaras, on TLC. While I don't condone parading your daughter around in gallons of makeup and bedazzled outfits, I have to watch because some of them are just so darn cute! And in this particular pageant, both the children and their mother's were competing which is hilarious. Pageant mothers are already crazy but give them the chance to have their own crown and watch out!
Maybe I like it because it takes me back to my pageants days. Or rather, day. When I was four my mom put me in a local beauty pageant and I LOVED IT! I remember it was just a few days after my fourth birthday and they sang me happy birthday on stage and gave me a glittery batton. I didn't win -- not even close -- but I remember having so much fun twirling my dress around on stage and waving at my parents. That may be why I didn't win, I wasn't very poised. ha.
But wasn't I cute??? Check out those bangs.
xo
Maybe I like it because it takes me back to my pageants days. Or rather, day. When I was four my mom put me in a local beauty pageant and I LOVED IT! I remember it was just a few days after my fourth birthday and they sang me happy birthday on stage and gave me a glittery batton. I didn't win -- not even close -- but I remember having so much fun twirling my dress around on stage and waving at my parents. That may be why I didn't win, I wasn't very poised. ha.
But wasn't I cute??? Check out those bangs.
xo
Monday, January 26, 2009
Weekend Update:
Friday night Will and I were invited to our friend Lauren's apartment for couple's night. It was so much fun and definitely the first of many to come! I'm already planning our turn as an Office themed game night complete with finger sandwiches a la the "finer things club" and maybe some Jello molds? Who knows.
Saturday and Sunday were mainly spent in a little east Texas town called Grand Saline. One of Will's family members passed away so we were there attending the viewing and funeral service. Everything went really well, except...the poor music leader was completely TONE DEAF. He was belting out those hymns like there was no tomorrow and oh, it was awful! It's one of those things where it's so bad, it's sweet. And bless his heart, as bad as he was you know he's got himself a first class ticket into Heaven! For us, that's debatable. We had to hide our faces in our hymnals to keep from busting out lauging.
Sunday night we saw the highly anticipated Slumdog Millionaire.
It. Was. Amazing. Just go see it. You will not be dissapointed.
Sunday was also me and Will's 8 month "anniversay." We didn't celebrate or anything, but it is crazy to think we've already been married 2/3 of a year. Time flies when you're having fun!
Saturday and Sunday were mainly spent in a little east Texas town called Grand Saline. One of Will's family members passed away so we were there attending the viewing and funeral service. Everything went really well, except...the poor music leader was completely TONE DEAF. He was belting out those hymns like there was no tomorrow and oh, it was awful! It's one of those things where it's so bad, it's sweet. And bless his heart, as bad as he was you know he's got himself a first class ticket into Heaven! For us, that's debatable. We had to hide our faces in our hymnals to keep from busting out lauging.
Sunday night we saw the highly anticipated Slumdog Millionaire.
It. Was. Amazing. Just go see it. You will not be dissapointed.
Sunday was also me and Will's 8 month "anniversay." We didn't celebrate or anything, but it is crazy to think we've already been married 2/3 of a year. Time flies when you're having fun!
8 months ago. sigh. I miss the beach
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Applause is Nice, But it Don't Buy No Red Beans and Rice!
William and I had a wonderful mini-vacation in the Big Easy! Here's a little taste...
Friday
We left around noon and had a pretty easy drive down -- Will drove six hours, I drove two -- I'd call that even. The best part of the drive had to be rocking out to "2 Legit 2 Quit" while driving over the bayou. That's what happens when you forget your Ipod.
When we get to New Orleans, our trusty GPS starts leading the way to our hotel. I had typed in the address correctly but little did I know there are THREE Lee's in N.O. -- st, ct, and cir. We were staying on circle but the GPS randomly chose Lee Steet. Which happened to be in the ninth ward. Which we arrived at at about 9pm. Not the smartest move we've ever made.
Eventually we made it to the hotel and were unpacking in our room. Then I casually ask, "Babe, where's your suit bag?" Mind you this bag had all of Will's nice shirts for the weekend and our church clothes we packed as we had planned to go to mass at St. Louis Cathedral. Scratch that idea. We left the suit bag at home! Luckily Will had packed a couple t-shirts and he had his Northface so he wouldn't freeze. Later we hit up the Banana Republic...
I'd say the theme for this weekend was forgetfulness.
Saturday
We woke up early and walked to the French Quarter to have breakfast at Petunia's. It is the cutest little pink restuarant with the best french toast you will ever have. Like I said earlier, the diets were off!
Afterwards, I spent the morning trying to recall one semesters worth of photography class two and half years ago and take some blog-worthy photos of the french quarter. I'm not sure I succeeded but I'll post them anyways. Any tips would be appreciated. I hope one day to be able to call myself an "amateur" photographer, if only to be able to take cute pictures of my children. I brought along my dad's SLR camera so I could work on my "skills" but the only problem....it's a Canon AE-1 from the early eighties and he lost the flash. Soooo it was hit or miss, but I think a few might have some potential.
After lunch at Mother's, we strolled through the Garden District. Gorgeous! We also drove out to the Degas House. He is my favorite artist so that was my special treat :) Degas lived in N.O. for a short while and this was the only house he lived and painted in that he let visitors come into his studio and view his work. And now it's a B&B! I'm pretty sure it should be a museum, but who am I to say.
That night we ventured down Bourbon Street. Bad Idea. It started out with one innocent hurricane and Pat O'Briens. Let's just say the next morning got a late start.
Sunday
We slept. A lot. Finally we got up and about and headed over to Magazine Street which is lined with cute boutiques and restaurants. We had lunch there and drove it rather than walked-- it's six miles long! We headed back to the F.Q. -- oh yeah, after a nap -- and just strolled until dinner at Deanie's.
That night we took a Haunted Tour of the French Quarter which sounds really hokey but it wasn't at all! It was more a history lesson with some twisted tales thrown in the mix. No ghosts or goblins jumping out of the woodwork...New Orleans has such a seedy past it doesn't need any special effects to be creepy!
After round two at Cafe Du Monde we called it an early night. I wonder why.
Monday
Up early and back to Petunia's for our last morning in N'awlins. We checked out of our hotel early and then headed out to City Park.
City Park is a massive park with the largest collection of mature live oaks in the country. It also has a golf course, amusement park, botanical gardens, etc. that make maneuvering this area kind of confusing. So needless to say it took us about an hour, seriously, to find one specific tree, the famous Duelling Oaks. While the Duelling Oaks used to consist of two massive trees, only one is left standing today and it is massive! Beneath these trees was where many Creole men came to duel in order to protect their honor in the early-mid 1800's. I love Louisiana oaks; their limbs drape all the way to the ground, and it's crazy to think that some of them have been there for 600+ years!
We took a detour on our way out of town and back through the 9th ward so I could see it in daylight. While driving it at night was not the safest thing we've ever done, it's perfectly safe during the daytime. It's very sad to see so many houses, four years later, still untouched with X's on the doors. However, you can see the progress being made with all the rebuilds popping up.
Because we got a later start than expected, the drive home was long and tiring. We got home around 10:30pm, left the untouched suitcases on the floor, and crawled into bed.
All around, great weekend! I'm posting pics on a separate post because this post is long enough already, and I hate maneuvering pictures around all this text!
xo, Lynds
Friday
We left around noon and had a pretty easy drive down -- Will drove six hours, I drove two -- I'd call that even. The best part of the drive had to be rocking out to "2 Legit 2 Quit" while driving over the bayou. That's what happens when you forget your Ipod.
When we get to New Orleans, our trusty GPS starts leading the way to our hotel. I had typed in the address correctly but little did I know there are THREE Lee's in N.O. -- st, ct, and cir. We were staying on circle but the GPS randomly chose Lee Steet. Which happened to be in the ninth ward. Which we arrived at at about 9pm. Not the smartest move we've ever made.
Eventually we made it to the hotel and were unpacking in our room. Then I casually ask, "Babe, where's your suit bag?" Mind you this bag had all of Will's nice shirts for the weekend and our church clothes we packed as we had planned to go to mass at St. Louis Cathedral. Scratch that idea. We left the suit bag at home! Luckily Will had packed a couple t-shirts and he had his Northface so he wouldn't freeze. Later we hit up the Banana Republic...
I'd say the theme for this weekend was forgetfulness.
Saturday
We woke up early and walked to the French Quarter to have breakfast at Petunia's. It is the cutest little pink restuarant with the best french toast you will ever have. Like I said earlier, the diets were off!
Afterwards, I spent the morning trying to recall one semesters worth of photography class two and half years ago and take some blog-worthy photos of the french quarter. I'm not sure I succeeded but I'll post them anyways. Any tips would be appreciated. I hope one day to be able to call myself an "amateur" photographer, if only to be able to take cute pictures of my children. I brought along my dad's SLR camera so I could work on my "skills" but the only problem....it's a Canon AE-1 from the early eighties and he lost the flash. Soooo it was hit or miss, but I think a few might have some potential.
After lunch at Mother's, we strolled through the Garden District. Gorgeous! We also drove out to the Degas House. He is my favorite artist so that was my special treat :) Degas lived in N.O. for a short while and this was the only house he lived and painted in that he let visitors come into his studio and view his work. And now it's a B&B! I'm pretty sure it should be a museum, but who am I to say.
That night we ventured down Bourbon Street. Bad Idea. It started out with one innocent hurricane and Pat O'Briens. Let's just say the next morning got a late start.
Sunday
We slept. A lot. Finally we got up and about and headed over to Magazine Street which is lined with cute boutiques and restaurants. We had lunch there and drove it rather than walked-- it's six miles long! We headed back to the F.Q. -- oh yeah, after a nap -- and just strolled until dinner at Deanie's.
That night we took a Haunted Tour of the French Quarter which sounds really hokey but it wasn't at all! It was more a history lesson with some twisted tales thrown in the mix. No ghosts or goblins jumping out of the woodwork...New Orleans has such a seedy past it doesn't need any special effects to be creepy!
After round two at Cafe Du Monde we called it an early night. I wonder why.
Monday
Up early and back to Petunia's for our last morning in N'awlins. We checked out of our hotel early and then headed out to City Park.
City Park is a massive park with the largest collection of mature live oaks in the country. It also has a golf course, amusement park, botanical gardens, etc. that make maneuvering this area kind of confusing. So needless to say it took us about an hour, seriously, to find one specific tree, the famous Duelling Oaks. While the Duelling Oaks used to consist of two massive trees, only one is left standing today and it is massive! Beneath these trees was where many Creole men came to duel in order to protect their honor in the early-mid 1800's. I love Louisiana oaks; their limbs drape all the way to the ground, and it's crazy to think that some of them have been there for 600+ years!
We took a detour on our way out of town and back through the 9th ward so I could see it in daylight. While driving it at night was not the safest thing we've ever done, it's perfectly safe during the daytime. It's very sad to see so many houses, four years later, still untouched with X's on the doors. However, you can see the progress being made with all the rebuilds popping up.
Because we got a later start than expected, the drive home was long and tiring. We got home around 10:30pm, left the untouched suitcases on the floor, and crawled into bed.
All around, great weekend! I'm posting pics on a separate post because this post is long enough already, and I hate maneuvering pictures around all this text!
xo, Lynds
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Stream of Consciousness
Hello H2o, goodbye DC. I'm trying to let go of my addiction to Diet Coke; I always feel better when I drink water and tea so I've decided to limit myself to only having DC at casual restuarants because 1) I refuse to quit cold turkey and 2) DC from the fountain is heavenly. Way better than from a can. I took a 33 oz. bottle of water to school today determined to finish it. I got halfway through. Baby steps...
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Will sent me an rather spirited text earlier today about a discovery he made. While we don't pay extra for OnDemand, our cable company routinely rotates in various shows for us to watch for free in hopes that we will add it. And Will discovered there is a fitness section with abs, yoga, cardio, etc. episodes. He has been bopping up and down in front of the T.V. on our exercise ball ever since.
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The school semester is back in full swing for me. Well, as full swing as substituting can be. I worked three days last week and have completed two of three scheduled days this week and am hoping for at least one more. I've been making friends with some of the teachers which hopefully will help get me some future jobs -- and it's nice to have someone to talk to during recess :) On a ridiculous side note: One of the little girls in my class today told me that she got her teacher a Juicy Couture robe for Christmas. Ok, seriously!? I know the school district I sub for happens to be in a very affluent area of Dallas, but that takes the cake for teacher gifts. Stupid HP for not hiring first year teachers! Ah, I digress.
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Will sent me an rather spirited text earlier today about a discovery he made. While we don't pay extra for OnDemand, our cable company routinely rotates in various shows for us to watch for free in hopes that we will add it. And Will discovered there is a fitness section with abs, yoga, cardio, etc. episodes. He has been bopping up and down in front of the T.V. on our exercise ball ever since.
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Anyone familiar with this cookbook?? It truely is the only cupcake compendium you'll ever need.
Tonight I was craving something sweet. Oh wait, that's every night. And day. Anyways, I tried the applesauce and cinnamon cupcakes. More muffiny than cupcakey, but they did the trick.
Mmm, tasty. With chopped pecans and raisins. I might need a second third.
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Is it really only Tuesday? Why is it always when you're anticipating something the week leading up to it lasts an eternity and then when it arrives, it's gone in a blink? I cannot wait until Thursday...because....Thursday means....a new episode of The Office! I cannot tell you how long I have been pining for a new episode of Officey-goodness. Well actually I can. 1 month and 1 day. And counting. Dwight, Michael, Jim, and Pam - you never cease to amuse and disgust me :) Will and I got into it a few months ago and have since then aquired every season as well as adopting "that's what she said" into our daily vocabulary.
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I guess I'll end my blabbering here. I was going to attempt to post my first video, the one of me and Will getting rid of our Christmas tree in a rather illegal ingenious way, but neither of our laptops will upload it from the DVD. Frustration. Oh, how I long for a Mac....
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
xo, Lynds
Thursday, January 8, 2009
I Love
KOLO .
I am absolutely smittin with these cloth-covered creations. If you don't know Kolo, you and your photos are missing out. Kolo has albums, scrapbooks, photoboxes, etc. and they come in a variety of sizes and bright colors. My wedding photographer recommended them to me when I was putting together an album of my bridal portraits and now I am hooked. They are so great because they are so simple yet so versatile. They are very clean which I love; your photos each get their own page and the sleek background makes them look very professional. I know scrapbooks are still popular, but to me photo albums seem so archaic so I love how modern these little guys are!
Kolo has a blog I was browsing earlier with tons of creative ideas, and I am now racking my brain for something album worthy just so I can buy another Kolo! I had thought about making an album for Will for our 1st anniversary which I still plan to do, but that would be more for his eyes only (if I can muster the courage). Plus that would call for one of the larger portfolio style albums and I'm in love with the new Riva album which is smaller. It comes with framed inserts so you just slip the pic in and voila! I think I may make an album of our honeymoon because we have some great pics that I have been playing with via photoshop and would love an excuse to actually print!
Anyone with kiddos or hubbys or is just a little too picture happy -- jump on board! Now I must get back to photoshop so I can finish my PSV pics and get my album.
Kolo makes me smile :)
xo, Lynds
I am absolutely smittin with these cloth-covered creations. If you don't know Kolo, you and your photos are missing out. Kolo has albums, scrapbooks, photoboxes, etc. and they come in a variety of sizes and bright colors. My wedding photographer recommended them to me when I was putting together an album of my bridal portraits and now I am hooked. They are so great because they are so simple yet so versatile. They are very clean which I love; your photos each get their own page and the sleek background makes them look very professional. I know scrapbooks are still popular, but to me photo albums seem so archaic so I love how modern these little guys are!
Kolo has a blog I was browsing earlier with tons of creative ideas, and I am now racking my brain for something album worthy just so I can buy another Kolo! I had thought about making an album for Will for our 1st anniversary which I still plan to do, but that would be more for his eyes only (if I can muster the courage). Plus that would call for one of the larger portfolio style albums and I'm in love with the new Riva album which is smaller. It comes with framed inserts so you just slip the pic in and voila! I think I may make an album of our honeymoon because we have some great pics that I have been playing with via photoshop and would love an excuse to actually print!
Anyone with kiddos or hubbys or is just a little too picture happy -- jump on board! Now I must get back to photoshop so I can finish my PSV pics and get my album.
Kolo makes me smile :)
xo, Lynds
Monday, January 5, 2009
My Resolution
Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work, hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, rest, prayer, meditation, and one well selected resolution.
Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkle of play, and a cupful of good humor.
-Anon.
(Thank you, Pottery Barn.)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Years Old Wive's Tales courtesy of my mom's best friend Renee:
- You must eat at black-eyed peas for luck
- You must eat cabbage for wealth
- You must eat ham for health
- You must take down your xmas tree by New Years Day or it's bad luck
and my personal favorite....
- You mustn't wash any clothes or you will wash someone out of the family!
- You must eat at black-eyed peas for luck
- You must eat cabbage for wealth
- You must eat ham for health
- You must take down your xmas tree by New Years Day or it's bad luck
and my personal favorite....
- You mustn't wash any clothes or you will wash someone out of the family!
Not Your Average New Year
Our new year was an interesting adventure. We had a plan for the night and great friends to spend it with. Which we did. Except for midnight. That came and went without notice at the Emergency Animal Hospital. Oh, what a night!
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I posted earlier this week about Toula not feeling well. Wednesday she had diarrhea that morning but was no longer vomitting so our vet said to give her a small dose of Kaopectate. We did that and a few hours later we finally let her eat for the first time in 24 hours. So of course she scarfed her food down in 2 minutes. That seemed to perk her up and she was acting like her normal peppy self when our friends arrived.
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We had reservations at Sambuca that night which was great food wise, awful service wise. I get that it's new years but they were bringing us our food at lightening speed and not being very polite about it. Within the first 30 minutes of the meal we already had drinks, appetizers, salad, and our entrees had arrived. I mean, come on! The boys were not happy to say the least and had a talking to with our waiter. So were able to enjoy our main course at a normal leisurely pace. The food was heavenly though and we did not let it deter our good spirits for long.
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We got back to our apartment and planned to do what we do every New Years -- change into pjs, make drinks, watch movies, and play games! When we walked in the door Toula didn't jump up and start jumping/licking/running like normal, and I noticed she seemed to be actually struggling to even stand. Will commented that she was stretchy really big so I figured that was what that was.
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Fast forward to about 11am as Will and I were preparing to take Toula outside. We grab our coats and leash and call for Toula. She has been lying in the dining room and when she tries to stand up I could see her back legs trembling under the weight. She gets up and starts to stumble lethargically toward the door. I panic and grab her and start stroking her trying to figure out what is wrong as she clings to me with a death grip. We take her back to our bedroom and Will calls his parents. They debate calling his cousin at this time of night and decide instead to take her to the Emergeny Animal Hospital which is closer. We tell our friends to keep having fun and out the door we go.
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We reach the animal hospital around 11:40ish, fill out paper work, and get her in an exam room. Poor baby is shaking violently and I can't even put her on the table :( I notice it's almost midnight so before the doctor comes in I look at Will and say, "Happy Anniversay." um, WRONG. "I mean, Happy New Years." I was clearly no longer in a New Years state of mind! The doctor pretty much came to the same conclusion we did - severe dehydration. She checked all of Toula's muscles and reflexes and determined that it was not neurological as she was aware of all of her limbs and it didn't seem to be physical pain because she never wimpered. She had no fever, and her heart and lungs were good. There were two serious issues to consider but were going to require xrays and bloodwork to be detemrined. We discussed if this needed to be done immediately or if it could wait until today when we could go to our normal (and free) vet. She gave us the green flag to wait so we headed home around 1am.
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Our friends are so sweet and waited for us so we had a belated New Years toast and took some pictures when we got home. That was about the extent of our celebration and we spent the rest of the night waking up every two hours to feed Toula water and pedialyte. We woke up early this morning, showered, and were preparing to drive straight to Rockwall to see the vet. Then, our little stinker decided she was fine and hopped up on all fours ready to play! We took her out to the courtyard where she proceeded to run and jump all over the place like nothing had ever been wrong. BIZZARE! We are monitering her today and Will is going to take her in to the vet tomorrow just to be sure. We decided not to bother him on his day off if it was no longer an emergency.
Mayra, me, Joanna
Jon, Will, Jorge
Me and Will at like 10pm, I just liked the hat
Happy Belated New Years! at 1am
How New Years really went down, haha
Will and Toula tired out from a long night
It was a long night, but I'm thankful we're all happy and healthy in 2009! I have a feeling this wont be the last New Years we spend like this as I'm sure everyone with children has had a similar situation. It was kind of reassuring to see how well we work together under the stress and worry, and I can confidently say that Will is going to be a great daddy someday :)
Cheers to a (now) healthy pup!
xo, Lynds
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