Scenes From Texas

As I mentioned before, we had a bunch of guests in town for, and leading up to, Jason's graduation. During that time, we enjoyed a number of touristy South/Central Texas activities, including a day trip down to San Antonio on Mother's Day, with a pit stop in Gruene, where we listened to live music and drank beers at Gruene Hall. A little late, but I thought I'd share a few pictures:

Beers and two-stepping before lunch... I'm sure it's a Mother's Day J's mom will never forget!

A stop at the Alamo

And, San Antonio's famed River Walk where we ended the day with dinner... it doesn't look like it was 99 degrees and sweltering! Still, it was fun to check it out.

What about you-- have you had any quirky adventures lately?

He Did It!

Well it's been a whirlwind two weeks filled with guests, lots of nice meals out, some sight-seeing, and several celebrations-- the biggest of which was Jason's MBA graduation last Friday. Prior to the convocation, we had a little cocktail reception for our families who were in town.

Jason opened some well-deserved cards and gifts...

(Major wife points here... this is a signed and numbered print from one of his favorite street artists, selected by moi, that I am volunteering to have hung in our house somewhere. ; )

...and then afterwards, we loaded up the cars and headed up to the UT campus one last time. After a long ceremony (over two hours!), Jason was awarded his Masters in Business Administration.

It's a little blurry, but if you squint your eyes, that's J receiving his diploma.

We had planned our big graduation dinner for the next night, but still thought we would hit the town after his graduation ceremony (which was scheduled--rather awkwardly-- from 6-8pm and then of course ran late), but Mother Nature had other plans. When we walked into the auditorium at 5:30, it was gorgeous and sunny. When we left around 8:45, we exited the building into one of the biggest downpours I've experienced since we've lived in Texas. And since the auditorium was in the middle of the University of Texas campus, and our car was parked in a lot a good 5-7 minutes away, we had no choice to make a run for it. And, needless to say, we got absolutely soaked. It was so bad that it became hilarious-- and all of the 1,000+ guests at the graduation were in the exact same boat. Everyone running through the rain as fast as they could in their nice clothes. We ended up being happy we had no dinner plans. Instead we went home (my mom and I may have made a stop at the Whataburger drive through), got into our PJs, and played card games. A fitting end to a fun, crazy two years.

Congrats, J!

Children's Book Baby Shower

This past Tuesday, three friends and I hosted a surprise baby shower for our good friend Cassie. She's having a little boy in early September, but since they're moving to St. Louis right after graduation, we wanted to make sure we took advantage of her last few weeks in town to throw a party and celebrate her new addition.

Since she and her husband are moving soon (and don't need any more stuff to pack), we asked each guest to contribute to a gift card for one of her baby registries. That way, she can buy what she needs once she's settled. But what fun is a baby shower without gifts?? So, in addition to the gift card, we asked guests to bring one of their favorite childhood books to help start a little library for baby Z. Then we ordered a big LL Bean tote to hold all of the books. A few shots of the "baby book banner" we created, as well as pompoms and table decor. (Big props to my friends Alle and Erin for the creative genius-- and manual labor-- behind the decorations!)

In keeping with our outdoor venue, we kept it simple and streamlined-- paper plates and table cloths, fresh flowers in yellow, blue, and white, and a buffet of mostly make ahead salads and appetizers.

A few of the food items weren't out yet in the picture above, but I love how pretty and fresh the multi-colored salade nicoise looks. And here are two of the hostesses, Erin and Lauren, pre-shower.

Unfortunately, this is where my picture taking stopped. But the guest of honor was surprised, and I think everyone had a good time, so we fledgling baby-shower-planners considered it a success. And now that I've figured out how to make those poms, I'm totally using them again at another event!

Momentous Week

It's been a big week over at our house.

On Monday, I took my final blood test and then, on Tuesday, I received the fantastic news that my molar pregnancy is officially over. Dunzo. Kaput. It's been a long six months since my miscarriage, diagnosis, and surgery. Nearly two months of weekly blood draws, followed by four months of monthly draws. Many weeks spent feeling sad, angry, and a little bit (OK, at times, a lot) sorry for myself. Many more weeks spent trying to recondition myself for optimism and hope, while making sure to fit in at least 45 minutes of cardio 4 times a week, because my doctor said it would be the most effective medicine in battling my blues. Lots of life lessons learned-- most especially that I need to figure out how to be happy, or at least content, with the here and now because there are no guarantees for the future.

And now here we are a full six months later. I am (mostly) content with the present, and I'm cautiously optimistic about the future. I am blessed with a loving husband, family and friends who have been so supportive throughout this ordeal, and, as of Tuesday, a clean bill of health. As my doc said, we're closing this chapter of my life and hopefully never revisiting it.

Jason has also completed a huge chapter in his life-- last night he submitted his last assignment for business school, and just an hour ago he left his last class. Ever. It's kind of amazing to realize that we have finally reached the culmination of two years of blood, sweat, and tears (quite literally.) It's been a long road, but now here we are just two weeks away from his graduation. Don't get me wrong-- it hasn't been all bad. In fact, overall it's been a great experience. Jason has loved the intellectual stimulation and really enjoyed being back in an academic environment. He now has a clear vision and well defined path for the career he plans to pursue. We've also met some great friends and made a lot of fun memories along the way. And just being a part of the University of Texas community has been amazing. We are now both Longhorns fans for life. (Hook 'em!) I couldn't be more proud of the hard work he's invested in his education, and I am so excited to see where the future leads us.

Lazy Weekend

We (or, more appropriately, I) had a really lazy weekend. (My husband, on the other hand, probably spent at least 25 hours studying.) A month or two ago I bought a one-time house cleaning coupon from Morgan's Deals (a Groupon knock-off), and with our upcoming onslaught of house guests for J's graduation, I figured now was a great time to get my house spic and span. And it was sooooo nice. Back in my free-wheelin' single days, I used to have a house cleaner come twice a month. To clean my apartment. My studio apartment. As if 350 square feet was even enough space to make a mess. I hear some single girls enjoy massive collections of designer shoes. My drug of choice was apparently obsessive compulsive disorder.

But I digress... after we got married, got on a budget, and, oh yeah, my husband got laid off, I became our house cleaner of choice. And as we plan to stick to our Dave Ramsey budget and baby steps, I will continue to be our house cleaner of choice (with help from J of course... the man cleans a mean shower). But, for one weekend, it was such a treat to have it done for me. The windows, counters, and floors are all sparkling. And the best part was that while they were cleaning, I managed to tackle some other projects around the house to the tune of a refrigerator deep clean, pantry and linen closet organization, and seven, yes S-E-V-E-N, loads of laundry. Ahhhhhh, nothing soothes quite like a cleaning binge. (Satisfied smile.)

And now-- having started a post about a pleasant, relaxing weekend and then written a novel about house cleaning-- I realize I need to get some hobbies. But, never fear, the cleaning binge on Saturday morning allowed me to enjoy a nap on Saturday afternoon, followed by drinks out with friends on Saturday evening. And then on Sunday, my day consisted of church, a good circuit training workout, an hour by the pool with a novel, and dinner at our friends' Tylor and Erin's house.

Sadly, finals week prevented J from partaking in most of these activities. But-- I almost forgot the highlight of the weekend!-- on Friday night we enjoyed a special date night out at Jasper's, courtesy of a gift card J received from his sister for his birthday back in January. We wanted to save it for a special occasion and figured that it would be perfect for a "days-away-from-completing-grad-school" celebratory dinner before his parents arrive next weekend. And it was sooooo nice treating ourselves to a fancy dinner out for the first time in months (fancy restaurant dinners being another luxury we've given up in the past few years.) I have to say... when it's a special treat, we really enjoy it all the more. I loved every bite of my field greens and filet mignon (and bites of his prime rib), the wine complemented the food perfectly, and the molten chocolate cake with tres leches sauce was a delicious as it sounds. All in all, a perfect night, and hopefully a prelude to more fun celebrations as graduation nears.

What was the highlight of your weekend?