It's another summer and we've found ourselves once again in the city by the bay, where Josh is selling for APX the next few months. I'm happy because I get to spend the summer with my family and Josh is happy because we're not in El Paso (where we could have been for the summer). In the end, we're both really glad to be here.
We moved a little over a week ago, so we're still in the unpacking stage. Getting settled into our new apartment has been no problem at all, considering it's at least twice the size of our last one. We actually have room for all of Josh's superman action figures and all of my shoes.
While Josh is off securing the world one house at a time, I am taking up the domestic role of housewife this summer. It's been a really nice break from school and work so far. I may not be the best housewife in the world (as I am currently blogging instead of unpacking), but I try. I'm getting better at cooking and I usually have dinner ready when Josh gets home, so that should count for something.
Now we're back in the city where we met almost a year ago. I don't think anything can top falling in love and getting engaged last summer, but I'm sure this one will be great too!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Finally!
I finally did it. As of May 15, I'm officially an alumni of Stephen F. Austin State University. And it's a great feeling!
Graduation was long, to say the least. The only thing I was concerned about during the entire ceremony was keeping my cap on. I naturally have a small head, and even with the help of bobby pins, that cap would not stay on. For the whole three hours, I just sat there pulling my cap back down on my head every time it slid off. And that is the memory I will forever have of my college graduation.
My parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece came up to Nacogdoches for the ceremony, so it was really nice to have everyone there. Afterward we took pictures, of course, and went to our favorite sushi restaurant, which we will dearly miss.
It was a good day!
Graduation was long, to say the least. The only thing I was concerned about during the entire ceremony was keeping my cap on. I naturally have a small head, and even with the help of bobby pins, that cap would not stay on. For the whole three hours, I just sat there pulling my cap back down on my head every time it slid off. And that is the memory I will forever have of my college graduation.
My parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece came up to Nacogdoches for the ceremony, so it was really nice to have everyone there. Afterward we took pictures, of course, and went to our favorite sushi restaurant, which we will dearly miss.
It was a good day!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Oldest Town in Texas
Right now I'm sitting in the middle of a dozen boxes trying to decide what to pack next. I hate packing. And for some reason I always leave it until the very last second. I've been saying for weeks that I need to start packing, and I just pulled out the boxes today. We're moving in four days- nice job Emily.
Josh and I will be the first to admit that we're not the biggest fans of Nacogdoches, but it's a little weird to be leaving after spending a long and memorable four years of college here. It seems like I'm just going home for the summer and then coming back for fall semester. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about graduating and leaving, but there are a few things we'll miss.
3 things we'll miss about Nac:
1. Friends- I've made some really good friends over the years, and now we're all leaving and moving on. It's a little sad. We also finally started making a few good friends in the ward here just in time to leave them behind.
2. Driving- It only takes about ten minutes or less to get anywhere in town. The grocery store is practically across the street and a tank of gas lasts for weeks. It's nice.
3. Hastings- When we have nothing better to do on a Friday night, we usually go to Hastings. You can find movies for 3 or 4 dollars. I think we've at least doubled our movie collection since living here.
3 things we definitely won't miss:
1. Social/night life- With hardly anything to do for fun in Nac, we usually stay in on the weekends. Most shops and restaurants close at 9 pm or earlier, so after that you're pretty much out of luck.
2. Shopping- The mall has five stores and the hottest shopping spot in town is Wal-Mart-- enough said.
3. Allergies- I never got allergies until I moved to Nacogdoches. Every spring, there is pollen everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Your car will literally turn yellow. I've been congested for the last two months and I'm ready to breathe again!
So, we're ready to have all of the amenities of a bigger city again. We're leaving a few things behind, but we'll be happy to settle down and find our place in the world. As for now, I need to get packing!
Josh and I will be the first to admit that we're not the biggest fans of Nacogdoches, but it's a little weird to be leaving after spending a long and memorable four years of college here. It seems like I'm just going home for the summer and then coming back for fall semester. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about graduating and leaving, but there are a few things we'll miss.
3 things we'll miss about Nac:
1. Friends- I've made some really good friends over the years, and now we're all leaving and moving on. It's a little sad. We also finally started making a few good friends in the ward here just in time to leave them behind.
2. Driving- It only takes about ten minutes or less to get anywhere in town. The grocery store is practically across the street and a tank of gas lasts for weeks. It's nice.
3. Hastings- When we have nothing better to do on a Friday night, we usually go to Hastings. You can find movies for 3 or 4 dollars. I think we've at least doubled our movie collection since living here.
3 things we definitely won't miss:
1. Social/night life- With hardly anything to do for fun in Nac, we usually stay in on the weekends. Most shops and restaurants close at 9 pm or earlier, so after that you're pretty much out of luck.
2. Shopping- The mall has five stores and the hottest shopping spot in town is Wal-Mart-- enough said.
3. Allergies- I never got allergies until I moved to Nacogdoches. Every spring, there is pollen everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Your car will literally turn yellow. I've been congested for the last two months and I'm ready to breathe again!
So, we're ready to have all of the amenities of a bigger city again. We're leaving a few things behind, but we'll be happy to settle down and find our place in the world. As for now, I need to get packing!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Countdown...
I've been counting down the days until graduation for weeks and it's finally almost here (11 days to be exact)! And in case you're wondering, I'm beyond excited. College has been great, but I'm definitely ready to move on.
To share my excitement with the world, I decided to make my own graduation announcements. The typical university provided announcements just aren't that attractive. When I first told Josh that I was planning on making them myself, he doubted my crafting abilities and said "You're not Katie!" Katie, my sister, owns every kind of scrapbooking supplies imaginable and has made everything from invitations for my bridal shower to bows that match every one of our niece's dresses. I do tend to talk about projects that I never actually start, so Josh did have a point.
Then I did what I always do when I take on a new crafting endeavor: go to Hobby Lobby. I stocked up on patterned paper and envelopes and I was good to go. It only took a few hours to print, cut, and put everything together. And in the end, they turned out pretty good!
Josh was even a little impressed.
To share my excitement with the world, I decided to make my own graduation announcements. The typical university provided announcements just aren't that attractive. When I first told Josh that I was planning on making them myself, he doubted my crafting abilities and said "You're not Katie!" Katie, my sister, owns every kind of scrapbooking supplies imaginable and has made everything from invitations for my bridal shower to bows that match every one of our niece's dresses. I do tend to talk about projects that I never actually start, so Josh did have a point.
Then I did what I always do when I take on a new crafting endeavor: go to Hobby Lobby. I stocked up on patterned paper and envelopes and I was good to go. It only took a few hours to print, cut, and put everything together. And in the end, they turned out pretty good!
Josh was even a little impressed.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Heroes
When I say there's nothing to do in Nacogdoches, I'm not exaggerating. There's really nothing. We usually end up spending our evenings making dinner, cuddling on the couch, and watching a movie. We don't have cable and I'm getting tired of our movie collection, so lately we've been watching Netflix on wii. And that's how we discovered Heroes.
To say the least, Heroes is now one of our favorite TV shows. I guess you could say we're addicted. As soon as we both get home from school and work, we sit in front of the TV, grab the remote, and turn on the next episode. The storyline is intense and surprising and the end of every episode leaves you with a cliffhanger and a "To be continued..." So obviously, we have to keep watching. Sadly, it consumes hours of our day (so I'm pretty sure I just made us sound like couch potatoes). It only took us about a week to watch the first season and now we're probably going to make record time on the second.
And that is the story of how we became obsessed with Heroes.
What can I say? It's a good show.
To say the least, Heroes is now one of our favorite TV shows. I guess you could say we're addicted. As soon as we both get home from school and work, we sit in front of the TV, grab the remote, and turn on the next episode. The storyline is intense and surprising and the end of every episode leaves you with a cliffhanger and a "To be continued..." So obviously, we have to keep watching. Sadly, it consumes hours of our day (so I'm pretty sure I just made us sound like couch potatoes). It only took us about a week to watch the first season and now we're probably going to make record time on the second.
And that is the story of how we became obsessed with Heroes.
What can I say? It's a good show.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The P-A-R-K
Poor Lilo is cooped up in a tiny one bedroom apartment all day. She dreams of having her very own backyard for running around, sniffing fresh air, and of course, doing her "business". Until then, she has to settle for trips to the park (Also known as the p-a-r-k when Lilo is within earshot). We try to take her as often as possible, but when her parents get busy with work and school, they can sometimes neglect her.
When we do make it to the park on a bright sunny day, Lilo is beyond excited. She acts like Christmas has come early. As soon as we let her out of the car, she runs, jumps, and pees on every patch of grass she sees. Her park adventures usually begin with playing frisbee and end with splashing around in the creek. Then she is one happy, wet dog. With green grass under her paws and a red frisbee in her mouth, Lilo's world is complete!
When we do make it to the park on a bright sunny day, Lilo is beyond excited. She acts like Christmas has come early. As soon as we let her out of the car, she runs, jumps, and pees on every patch of grass she sees. Her park adventures usually begin with playing frisbee and end with splashing around in the creek. Then she is one happy, wet dog. With green grass under her paws and a red frisbee in her mouth, Lilo's world is complete!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Joy of Cooking
I've never been much of a cook, but luckily for me Josh is. He usually takes over the cooking, but sometimes I like to try to be domestic. Josh is always more than happy to tell the story of when I cooked a pizza with the cardboard still underneath. (In my defense, the directions said to take out the cardboard. So I did- I took it out of the cardboard box.) Besides Cardboard Pizza, my other specialties include Lumpy Chicken Alfredo and Super Salty Beef.
Cooking in our tiny kitchen is always an adventure. We have a refrigerator that thinks it's a freezer, a scorching hot oven, and an overly sensitive smoke detector. So our milk is iced, our food is burnt, and our apartment is filled with loud beeping. If you're in a hurry, our oven is perfect: just bake anything at a lower temperature and for about half the time. Then it should turn out right.
Although I'll admit I can't cook, I love to bake. I'll make anything from brownies to a 3-layered cake. I've found a perfect banana muffin recipe that I've been loving lately:
Banana Crumb Muffins
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 bananas, mashed
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1/3 cup butter, melted
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon butter
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.
*allrecipes.com
Mmmmm.....tasty!
So if you're eating with us, make sure Josh is cooking dinner and I'll make dessert!
Cooking in our tiny kitchen is always an adventure. We have a refrigerator that thinks it's a freezer, a scorching hot oven, and an overly sensitive smoke detector. So our milk is iced, our food is burnt, and our apartment is filled with loud beeping. If you're in a hurry, our oven is perfect: just bake anything at a lower temperature and for about half the time. Then it should turn out right.
Although I'll admit I can't cook, I love to bake. I'll make anything from brownies to a 3-layered cake. I've found a perfect banana muffin recipe that I've been loving lately:
Banana Crumb Muffins
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 bananas, mashed
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1/3 cup butter, melted
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon butter
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.
*allrecipes.com
Mmmmm.....tasty!
So if you're eating with us, make sure Josh is cooking dinner and I'll make dessert!
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