"What were you thinking?"

"What were you thinking, crazy Louisianan driver?"
Drivers in this state drive much differently than Texan drivers do. In a crazy way. No one here is in a hurry. Ever. No one honks. Ever. No one seems to know what traffic lights mean. Ever. I am not a perfect driver. But I have places to be, will honk if someone is about to hit me or is sitting at a green light too long, and I know what red, yellow, and green mean. I have a little example. A situation that has been repeated too many times. It's a miracle I have not been hit. The other day I was driving home from work. There is one light between the church and our apartment. The light had turned green before I reached it and another car was already going through the intersection in front of me, so I didn't need to brake or anything. There was a pretty long line of cars in the oncoming lane that were waiting to turn left. Their light was obviously a "go only if it's safe" green light and a few cars were able to go in between me and the car in front of me. But as I pulled into the intersection, a little white car decided she wanted to go too. I slammed on my brakes and laid on the horn. She was maybe three feet from the front end of my car and I was halfway through the intersection. And she had to nerve to give ME an ugly face. Can you believe that?! I don't understand these people. They think that they can drive anywhere they want, however they want, whenever they want. Like I said, it's an absolute miracle I haven't been hit by a person thinking they are queen or king of the world and own the roads. Sigh.

"What were you thinking, Jake?"
So I haven't informed you all of the happenings in Bachelor world in a while. Sorry, I know you've been biting your nails. Ali did call Jake to see if she could come back because her job gave her more time once she returned to San Fran. Jerks. And he said no. He wanted her to come back, but he just "didn't think it was a good idea." Ummm... what?! It was so apparent that he liked her the most from the start. There's no question in my mind that she would have won had she stayed. I get his point that she left and the others stayed, fairness and the fact that it's a game with rules. But he said he was there to find love and all's fair in love and war, right?If so, then he would have let her come back. At the end of that episode he let Gia go. Second mistake. They had the Women Tell All last week and it was very entertaining. Chris Harrison had Ali come up and asked her a few questions. She told him that if she could go back, she would do things differently. She had thought that if he really loved her, he would come find her. After all, it was just a show. Amen. So now he has to choose between Vienna and Tenley. He better stinkin' pick Tenley. I will probably puke if he picks Vienna. We will find out Monday night. I am so excited because we are watching it in the Media room at the church, having dinner there, and dressing up : ) My favorite!

Obsessed

I want to decorate our house. Apartment. This place that we live in. It still looks so drab to me. Along with our list, and it's definitely OUR list, of major replacements, I have my own growing list of small touches I would like to add to our home. One of my current obsessions right now are these shelves from IKEA. I want to put pictures in huge frames on them with groups of candles or large vases.

We also desperately need a full length mirror for our bedroom. I almost killed myself trying to stand on our swiveling desk chair so that I could see in our bathroom mirror how my new shoes looked on my feet/with my jeans. Thus, the use of the word desperate. I love this mirror in black from Target.

I found this blog the other day and instantly added it to my blog list over on the right. It's only fueling my decorating obsession. I like a lot about their house. I'm not a fan of their bedroom and some of the stuff is a little too modern for me. But I like the clean, sleekness mixed with little flourishes here and there that soften everything.

And the photographer at Chad and Tressie's wedding posted pictures of her house a while back because they are trying to sell. It's super cute, but probably too many different and brightly painted walls for me. I like the overall style though.

I told Nathan last night that I didn't feel like our living room really reflected who we are. He looked at me and said, "What?"

The Week in Review: Tuesday to Tuesday

Tuesday: We celebrated Nathan's birthday with dinner at PieWorks (where we went for my birthday too) and he loved the pants I got him from J.Crew. He had said not to get him anything he didn't need, and around the time of his birthday, there wasn't anything he needed but hockey gear, which I am not anywhere near qualified to buy. But I remembered that he had given a pair of pants to Goodwill right after we got married and had mentioned he should replace them. Then he forgot about it. Voila! A perfect surprise present : ) I was so disappointed though because they were just the tiniest bit too tight in the waist and just the slightest bit short--I had to guess on the size. They could have worked but there's no sense in paying for a pair of pants and not having them fit as perfectly as possible. So they are somewhere between here and a warehouse. I hope they arrive soon because they looked so good on him!

Wednesday: I went shopping at Old Navy after work. I had a little bit of money left over after buying my shoes and wanted a few new items in my closet, especially since we were going to Abilene that weekend. I like having new things while on a trip. Don't know where that came from... Seriously. It's not like we got new clothes before a trip while growing up. Mom... Dad... A little help? Anyways, below is what I got, minus the earrings and bangles--couldn't find them online. All for under $40. Plus the cashier lady told me they have a 10% military discount the first four days of every month. I love being a military wife : )




Thursday: Working late. Very late. Laundry. Packing.

Friday: I was graciously allowed to leave at noon on Friday to drive to Abilene. I love driving/riding in the car with Nathan. If one of us isn't asleep, we talk about all kinds of things. We don't get a whole lot of time to do that anymore. Just sit and talk for hours. Ate dinner and watched the Olympics at Nathan's parents' house. Went to The Warehouse with Matt, Hailey and Heather. FYI Abilenians: The new location is not the same. In a bad way. Anyways, it was so good to see H & H. I wish we could have seen Matt a little more but he was super busy with Sing Song and MCAT class. Boo.

Saturday: We went to Sing Song. It was enjoyable. I always tear up just a little when we sing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You." Sometimes my heart aches for my college days. Not that I could leave all that my life is right now, but that I could somehow have both lives simultaneously. Pointless to think about since it's impossible. I'm just so grateful for my entire experience at ACU.

Before leaving for Sing Song

My husband is SO handsome!

Matt, Me & Nathan--they won!!

Heather & Me after the show--they won too!

After Sing Song we ate at Lytle. YUM! We LOVE that place! We were afraid the wait was going to be ridiculous because of the massive Sing Song crowds, but it was only a 15 minute wait. Being a party of 2 is fabulous when everyone else needs tables of 15 : ) We had a little bit of time to spare after dinner, so we drove by my old apartment downtown. It's so weird because we both had the same sick feeling. All I can remember about living there, other than that it was an awesome place to live, was that it always seemed like I was missing Nathan or dreading the hour he would have to drive back to Shreveport after a really short visit. That year was probably one of the most difficult. Other than high school, when my mom and I fought all the time. I was a punk. Anyways, then we got to see Haleigh in "A Servant of Two Masters" at McMurry. She was so great!! I love to watch people do what they love to do. Like Nathan and the weather. And the play was hilarious!

Randy (Nathan's dad), Tacie (Nathan's mom), Haleigh (Nathan's sister), Nathan, Me, Shannon (Nathan's sister), Blaine (Shannon's friend)

From there, we went over to Chad and Tressie's. Kristin, Tara and Lara were there too! It was nice to see old friends. And Tress told us they are having a BABY in the fall!!!!!!!!! I still can't help but smile when I think about it!! I am so stinking thrilled!!!!!! They are going to be great parents. And they are going to have awesome photos of that little one : ) By the way, I kept having dreams a little while back that she was pregnant. Just sayin'...

Sunday: We just hung out at the house before driving back super late to Shreveport. Shower. Bed.

Today is only Tuesday and I have already been super busy at work the past two days. Usually the craziness doesn't come until Wednesday. It hasn't been unbearable and I honestly prefer to be really busy than to twiddle my thumbs. I think Nathan and I are going to see Valentine's Day on Friday night. I had totally forgotten this week is a little weird and that he gets to be off Friday night. Normally this week he would work Mon and Tue, be off Wed and Thur and have to work Fri, Sat, and Sun. But not this week!!! I just about screamed when Nathan reminded me he is working Thur night instead of Fri night. A weekend night is always much longer than a week night : ) It's the little things that make me so happy.

I {heart} Valentine's Day!

And not just because I have Nathan. I have always loved Valentine's Day. Candy, flowers, Valentine cards, pajamas and sometimes flowers from Dad. And college days meant dinner out with the girls. What's not to love?? It's just much sweeter now that I do have Nathan.
Last year on Valentine's Day, Nathan was in Biloxi, Mississippi. I was in San Antonio for the weekend doing wedding things. In fact, I ordered my wedding dress that day : ) Nathan surprised me by shipping a really cute jacket to my parents' house that arrived that morning. I absolutely loved it but it turned out to be just a smidge too small, so I ended up returning it. But the point is my then fiance was so thoughtful.
This year, I woke up to red roses and M&Ms on my nightstand. That man is still so thoughtful! And I don't have to return anything this year. Absolute perfection.
We decided to order pizza for lunch. Yes, we slept in until noon... And they had a deal. $10 for a large, heart-shaped pizza. We had never heard of such a thing!
Nathan's birthday is in two days! I think I am even more excited than he is : )

Snow in Shreveport!

Nathan and I had a "date" night last night. It had been snowing literally all day but nothing was sticking to the ground. We picked up Chick-fil-A and took it back to our apartment. We sure do love us some chicken and waffle fries! We then watched "Up In The Air." Parts of it made us raise our eyebrows, but it was entertaining. Nathan was getting sleepy and we were out of soda, so he decided to grab one from the soda machine by the pool. He had been gone no more than 5 minutes when he called me and said to put on my warmest clothes, bring his scarf and gloves, and meet him outside. It had continued to snow and had finally gotten cold enough to let the snow stick to the ground. It was SO beautiful! We just walked around our apartment complex for almost an hour taking pictures and enjoying the beauty of it. I have only seen snow once before, in Abilene during college. But it looked nothing like what it looked like here last night. It was much thicker and a whole lot whiter. And last night it was so peaceful. It was almost midnight, so there was hardly anyone out and no cars on the road. Just the snow falling.










I have to brag on Nathan and his spectacular weather forecasting skills. Everyone I work with at church knows that Nathan does meteorology for the Air Force. So Donny called yesterday afternoon and asked me, "So, what does Nathan think of this weather?" I thought it was just a joke. Everybody always asks him and I questions like that when they know he does weather. So I told him I wasn't sure but I had been just about to call him at home to ask him. Donny said, "Really? Ok, great! Let me know what he says." Then I realized he wasn't just joking. Apparently he was trying to make a decision on whether the church would be open today or not. Both school districts had already cancelled school for the day. He said somewhere had reported the temperature wouldn't drop below 33 overnight and wanted to see what "our local expert" thought about it. So I called Nathan up and he said it was definitely going to be 32 or lower and that it was going to snow all night. And he sure was right! Donny told us that due to the weather (uhh... Nathan's forecasting) we didn't have to come in until 10am today. My husband is so smart! : )

Yesterday = 7 months of wedded bliss!
Tomorrow = Mardi Gras parade
Sunday = Valentine's Day
Tuesday = Nathan's birthday!

Sports & Romance

Saturday night Nathan and I went to the Mudbugs game. Shreveport's minor league hockey team. They were playing the Texas Brahmas. Nathan has been twice before and I have been once. I'm not a huge fan but I can enjoy a Mudbugs game. The atmosphere is so very different from the professional baseball and basketball games I have been to. Hockey is rough. And the fans are rougher. The "cheers" they do are great. They go something like this: "He shoots, he scores, you suck!" The typical "Go team!" song where you normally sing "nah nah nah nah nah Hey! Go Mudbugs!" they have changed to "nah nah nah nah nah nah Hey! You suck!" And the best part is when the Mudbugs are coming out of a Power Play which is when one of the opposing team's five players gets a penalty and has to sit out for 2 minutes. That means they only have 4 players, while we have 5. The announcer will say, "And the {opposing team name} are back at full strength!" The crowd follows with "And they STILL suck!" Even the little children get in on it. I can't bring myself to say any of it. I still sing "Go Mudbugs!" and I simply clap when they score. But, despite the bad sportsmanship, Nathan and I love watching them play.

Sunday was the Super Bowl. We watched it with Allison, Alex, John, and a bunch of Alex's family. It was so fun to cheer with people who are and have been true Saints fans. Don't tell any of our Texan family and friends! We even won the little pool everyone had going. Twenty five cent system but we got $6.25 for having our initials on the winning scores : )

Ali left on her own accord in last night's episode of "The Bachelor." Her job said they would fire her if she didn't come back, so she had to choose either staying and losing her job and maybe ending up with Jake, or leaving and keeping her job and definitely not ending up with Jake. It was sad! She was definitely my favorite and I really thought she was going to stay. They hinted at her coming back though and I hope it's true. I realized I don't really like the other three. Especially Vienna. No one likes her. Anyways, I hate that I care even the tiniest bit but I do. Nathan laughed at me a little bit when I was telling him about it last night. It's ok, At least I didn't shed any tears. We guessed there are 4 more episodes left. 3 until we find out who he picks. I can't wait to see what happens! ABC has got me hooked, darn it!

Shoes. Salad. Sandra Bullock.

I just bought THE cutest shoes online! Allison had a pair of green ones on a few weekends ago and I couldn't stop staring at them. The cutout instep... The sweetheart toeline... I just had to have a pair. I have been wanting to get a pair of closed toe black heels for a while since the only pair I wear are peep toe. It doesn't feel right to wear them in winter. Anyways, they are sold out everywhere. DSW only had 3 pairs left online yesterday. I checked the DSW here just to see, but they didn't even know what shoe I was talking about. After scouring the store, I came home, kissed Nathan goodbye as he was leaving for work, and let my fingers fly as fast they could to dsw.com. They should be here late next week or early the week after that. I can hardly contain myself!
I don't even care that I just spent 2/3 of my monthly allowance on the 5th day of the month.

I am now going to enjoy my Greek salad from McAlister's--the BEST salad I have ever had. E.V.E.R. And watch "All About Steve." Nathan said he heard it was rated the worst movie of the year. Pretty bad... But I can't help it. I love Sandra Bullock and I am a sucker for romantic comedies, even if they are super ridiculous. Here's to a fabulous Friday night! Now if only Nathan wasn't working...

Say what?!

I like words, especially when they perfectly describe something. However, there are a few words that I absolutely hate. I never use them and wish they had never been created. If I were the censor committee, they would be on my {bleep} list.

HUBBY

I guess it sounds too babyish. I don't want to associate my man with anything childish, thank you very much.

PREGGERS/PREGO

I'm not sure why I have an aversion to those words. It's something about the feeling they bring about. Kinda slimey or something. You can be assured that I will politely request to not be called either while pregnant.

{It's actually bugging me that they are staring at me from the screen right now.}

When In Rome

I saw "When In Rome" last night with the girls and John. Loved it! I went in expecting it to be pretty cheesy (the reason Nathan was glad he was working and did not have to see it), and while there were parts that were definitely cheese worthy, I was laughing out loud throughout the movie. It was light-hearted and humorous and left me with a good feeling. It made me want to relive the first parts of when Nathan and I started dating. And also our wedding. Mostly our wedding. It's one I definitely want to watch again.