Guru Vandana Utsava

Don't worry, I can't pronounce it either!

One of our students, Nikitha, invited Krissy and I to a Guru Vandana Utsava ceremony this year. It is a part of the Hindu Education Foundation and it honors teachers as people who provide the light of knowledge for their children. It was a really cool thing to be a part of since American society doesn't exactly regard the teaching profession as an honorable job very often. Teachers are extremely important in the Hindu culture and they treated us as such. We got to watch the kids sing and dance between getting our names called to go up on stage to be honored. Afterward we had a traditional Indian dinner (delish) and Nikitha read our nomination letters that she had written to her Sunday school teachers about us. Too cute!

Nikitha looked adorable!

Her two favorite teachers! (Why do I look so dang tall?! I'm only 5'6"!!)



Animals, animals, animals!!!

I am not a needy or clingy person. Hugs are reserved for specials people and special occasions.

How in the world did I end up with not one, but two, NEEDY pets. Maybe someone is trying to teach me some sort of lesson... or punish me. :)

Tonight, I decided to share a few pictures of how I 'relax' and watch TV when I'm here with the furry beasts all by myself:

Mat, the slug, who's approach the cuddling is laying on top of you with all of his weight. Goober.

Blanca is a little more refined. She lays next to you and pretends not to care that she really wants to be next to you. She took his place as soon as Mat hopped off to stretch. Love her!

 Goodnight!!



Crap! I look like an idiot!!

So I signed up for an interval training class through USAFit Galveston a while back. It's a 12 week class that meets every Monday and Wednesday to run hills (aka the parking garage) and intervals designed to increase your overall speed. We're on week 9 and I'm seeing results! I want to sign up for the summer program as well. Anyway, tonight was Crazy Sock night. It's got rescheduled from last Monday when there was too much lightening to run. I have quite the collection of 'crazy' socks from all of the sock days we have at school. I decided to wear my argyle Halloween ones since they are the tallest and I LOVE argyle. I looked like this...

and paired my lovely socks with my running skirt and new bright orange top from Old Navy. (Side note: these tops are awesome for "fat"days. Just sayin'.)

Long story short, I WAS THE ONLY ONE IN CRAZY SOCKS! Figures everyone would forget but me. I looked like an idiot compared to everyone else. Good thing I don't really care and had a great hill run anyway. :) The socks were comfy and didn't rub any blisters thank goodness! 

All of the "crazy" days at school have prepared me to go out in public looking odd. Like going to Target and HEB after Crazy Hair Day - frizzed out all over and about three different colors!

Hopping Back on the Blog Wagon

Hey! I haven't blogged in a LONG time. Life gets busy once you get married, buy a house, have two pets, increase your commute from 10 min. a day to 90 min a day, and start taking running classes! (The sad part is that there are millions of people - mainly those with kids - that do WAY more than this everyday and still manage to survive. I need way to much personal time and sleep!

On to more interesting things... Pinterest Projects! Pinterest is the only website that makes me want to bake, binge eat, be crafty, and go on a diet all at the same time! Gee wiz!

I found this crazy brownie concoction and knew I HAD to make it for the girls at school last Friday. Here are some pics and the basic directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Get some break apart chocolate chip cookie dough and put 1-2 in the bottom of each muffin cup.

(If you put the dough - in the cup - in the oven for about a minute, it's easier to smoosh into the bottom of each cup.)

Next, put an Oreo, Reeses cup, Snickers, Almond Joy, etc. on top of the cookie dough. You can use any candy that you like. I think that the Oreos and Reeses are the best!

Finally, use boxed brownie mix (yes, mix it up like normal brownies) and put it on the top.

Bake for 18 - 20 minutes depending on your oven. They will look like normal brownies on the top.

Suggestions based on what I did:

-use a brownie mix without chocolate chips in it (too hard to make it spread out on top before baking)

 - use foil liners (much easier to get out of the pan after baking)

- it's ok that they will deflate afterward (the candy on the inside is smooshy)

THEY ARE AMAZING! The perfect thing when you need a sugar fix, one is enough!! No need to sit around eating an entire bag of cookies!

I'm Back!!

To keep it short, I haven't blogged in a REALLY long time and there's a lot to catch up on. I'll go back in the next few blogs to break it up and not make them so boring. :) Bring on 2012!!

Bridal Portraits

I took bridal portraits yesterday! It was so much fun! We went to Rice University to take the traditional pictures that would make my parents happy. This wasn't the first time I'd had my nails or hair done but I treated myself to getting my makeup done for the portaits and wedding. I went on the referral of my venue and went with My Makeup Rocks. Teresa did an amazing job! You can't see much of the hair in the pics but I'm sure you will in the bridals when I'm allowed to share those. (No, I'm not sharing any in case Nathan decides to check the blog.)

Here's the before...

...and the after! I wish I looked this flawless everyday! (Sorry about the flash!)

Creepy Uncle Moe

I got to pick up my wedding dress today! SO EXCITING! If you had your dress altared at Sew-It-Seams then you've met Ana. She cracks me up! I was told that after I put on my dress today that I would get some dress ettiquite lessons. Do-what?! I'm going to share a few of my favorites. :)

(She also thought Krissy was my younger sister! LMAO! I didn't have the heart to correct her!)

~

"Everyone thinks its funny when the guy drinks too much and ends up in the bed of a truck, drunk. Girls don't look good drunk and no one thinks it funny, so don't do it."

"There's always a creepy Uncle Moe who wants to cop a feel. Hold onto your wine glass for dear life to block him."

"You're going to need to pee at some point during the night. You'll need to get a plastic bag and a shower curtain."

"You'll need to be potty trained."

"You're boobs will be in your throat if I do that."

"I have made your butt look fantastic. Wow, I'm good."

"It's going to be tight. Beauty hurts."

~

I spent the whole time laughing. 36 days and counting! CRAZY!

SCUBA-dooba-doo!

Over the past 2 weekends, Nathan and I spent approx. 25 hours taking our Open Water PADI Certification courses. I am SO TIRED! We did the first weekend in a local pool and this past weekend in the Comal River. I can't wait to sleep in on a Saturday instead of waking up to sit in class. All tiredness aside, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go diving in Belize on our honeymoon! If you're interested in taking the classes, let me know and I'll tell you who we went through and what all you'd really need to buy. (Warning: It's expensive, but so much fun!) Here are some goofy pictures of our adventures in SCUBA. Enjoy! :)

There's ALWAYS time to stop at the Winery On The Gruene!

$2 for a four-sample tasting? Yes, please!

It actually felt warmer in the water than out of it.

The first morning it was 30 when we got there!

Wow. 'Nuff said. :)

Repeat Resolution

So I didn't exactly meet my resolution for last year. It's time to try, try again. The goal: to run at least 10 miles a week giving me a total of 520+ miles for the year. It will be easy when I still getting ready for my races at the beginning of year but it's the heat and my own laziness that get me in trouble over the summer. Running in Costa Rica may be interesting as well but we'll have to move there first, then I'll worry about that! Today I'll be putting in 4 miles. :)

Bad Blogger

As you fellow teachers know, things have been nuts lately. Upon our early release today, I came home and took a really good nap. It was awesome. Nathan and I took engagement pictures about a month ago and I wanted to share a few. We went with Mariam Khalili (someone we were in band with in high school). I loved her urban style and untraditional photos. I really didn't want the Olan Mills kind of pictures. I was looking for something I couldn't do myself. Mariam has been wonderful and did an amazing job. I can't wait to do bridals next and see how they turn out!

Little Nathan

My Dad is making a slideshow for Nathan and I's rehearsal dinner. I got the fantastic job of going through Nathan's mom's photo albums for pictures. Fun, right? It was, until I had to go through and scan every picture twice. The first time I went through them the scanner was jacked up and all 250 pictures came our crappy. (Why did I scan 250 pictures? I'm indecisive and also had no idea what my Dad was looking for. I also wanted them scanned so if I needed them for anything in the future it would already be done. Not to mention that if there was a fire or something at his parent's house all of those pictures would get destroyed forever. ) So I got to scan all of the pictures all over again. Yeehaw! Here are a few of my favorites...

Nathan's grandpa Walter

Blond hair!

Troublemaker :)

Panda. Very original. Panda was in a million pictures.

It's the overalls and sippy cup that up the cuteness.

Lazy lazy

Just finished taking a nap on a Friday night. Yes, it was awesome. Those kids wore me out! Now it's time to clean the apartment and begin packing for Illinois. I'm going to need some warm clothes. The highs for Thanksgiving Day are in the 30's. I don't think I'll be running in a tank and shorts like I did yesterday.

I'll have to do a real update soon, but in the meantime... I found a teal argyle blog background. I am in LOVE! More updates next week when I'm in Carbondale. They don't even have a Target within 40 miles! HELP!

Wordless Wednesday

Are you a rabbit?

For Red Ribbon week, everyone could dress up as their favorite book character on Friday. Most of the grades did things as a team. We had to think hard because with eight people on your team, a lot of books get ruled out quickly. We decided to dress as the different mice from the Kevin Henkes books. I immediately wanted to be Julius (a baby mouse) so I could go to Target and get adult footy pj's. (I'd secretly been wanting some for a while.) I made our ears so they would match the color of the mouse in our book. I got asked all day if I was a rabbit because of my white ears. :)

Back row: Chester's Way, Sheila Rae, The Brave, Julius, Baby of the World

Front Row: Weekend with Wendall, Wemberly Worried, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Owen, Chrysamthemum

Wordless Wednesday

October 2007

You Know You're a Texan When...

... you click on a 'cuisine' tab and get upset when Bar-B-Que isn't there. HA!

Poor thing. :(

Yesterday I was taking care of some wedding details and had to run in to Alfred Angelo for some bridesmaid stuff. While walking in I noticed the two girls who were ahead of me in line. (Warning: I'm an eaves dropper!) Here's how their conversation with the sales woman went:

Sales Lady: "Good afternoon. What can I help you with?"

Two Girls: "Do you have any pants suits?"

SL: "Hmm, let me see... We only had one and it's been discontinued. You could buy the sample if if fits. When is the wedding?

TG: "November 12"

SL: " Ooo. I don't know if we can get it cleaned for you in time. It would come in the week of the wedding. Would you like to see it?"

TG: "Sure. Why not?"

The sales lady proceeds to put out the most horrible pant suit known to man. (No wonder it was discontinued!) The girl didn't like it but was going to try it on because they were having trouble finding an ivory pant suit. I felt bad for her. I'm marrying a man and want to wear a dress. There are a ton of them out there. She wants to marry a woman and wear a pant suit and can't find anything. (And before you roll your eyes and think, "Well, if she was marrying a guy and wearing a dress she wouldn't have that problem," we supposedly live in a 'free' country and she should be able to marry whoever she wants. It's about equal rights and not judging others people! Moving on...) I figured that a store like Alfred Angelo would cater to all types more so than a boutique. Poor thing.

Big what?!

Anyone, seen the ads for or watched TLC's Say Yes To The Dress: Big Bliss? (Watch a clip here)I have issues with this show. 'Nuff said.

I have a veil! I wanted to borrow Jamie's for my 'something borrowed' but it wasn't the right color. :( You'd never think there could be such a difference in peices of tulle, but there are. Some of those things were. . . not me. I picked one that I had tried on when I got my dress. Two layers of ivory tulle with beading on the edge, simple. Anyway, another thing I can check off the list.

Always a Bridesmaid...

I found bridesmaid dresses! I need to thank my girls for letting me make them try on lots of dresses before finding one that I liked and that looked great on everyone. Thanks! Here's a quick snapshot of Lauren in the sample dress. We've ordered them in black/black. One more thing I can check off the list! Next up, a trip to Brickhouse to make see if Jamie's veil matches my dress and if not, ordering a veil.

They'll be great in the right color and once we take the straps up. They made them SUPER long for some reason.

A Major Award!

If you've ever seen the movie A Chirstmas Story then you know about getting a 'major award'. Today, I got mine!

That's right. I won something at a race. No, it wasn't a door prize either. I got 3rd place in my age group! Ha! Needless to say, it wasn't a big race but who cares! I saw other people in my group finish after me and yes, there were more than three in the group. It may be the only time in my running career that I get a prize so I may as well live it up. :)

The race was the Live Healthy 5k put on by Dickinson Beautiful. I won a pair or running socks valued at $15. WHOOP! They are fancier than my other socks that's for sure. They are labeled 'R' and 'L' since they're made differently for each foot. Goodness knows I wouldn't pay $15 for a pair of socks either. I might have to now if they are super comfy!