Confessions of an Enginerd

4 months

2012-02-14T11:55:00.000-06:00

leilybug is 4 months old today!

everyday daddy and i discuss how much FUN you are, little lady! you are oh so happy and this month you started laughing. it's not uncontrollable giggling fits yet, but it's definitely laughing and it cracks us up.

your favorite activity right now is simply floor time. whether you're on your tummy or your back, you are happy as a clam to watch the ceiling fan, watch mommy and daddy shuffle around, and try to roll over. you can roll from your belly to your back easily but are still trying hard to get from your back to your belly.

you love your puppies and try to touch them sometimes. that freaks dexter and kylie out a bit, they're not ready for you to do anything but lay there.

the dogs are probably scared because they've noticed that everything you grab ends up in your mouth now haha. this makes mommy and daddy think you might be teething.

i might cry when i see little teeth pop up in that mouth. i love your smile just the way it is.

for some reason you are kind of over your playmat and really prefer to lay on a blanket more than anything. you are still entertained by your mobile and the jumperoo becomes more fun each week. it seems like every time i put you in the jumperoo you discover something new about it.

you had your first ear infection and cold this month. it made us sad to see you miserable and having a hard time breathing. but the medicine kicked in and you recovered. after that passed, you went back to being mommy's good little sleeper from 8pm - 5am. then on saturday and sunday night you were up every hour of the night crying. we think it might've been teething or the so called "4 month sleep regression." last night you woke up at 1am and 4am. i hope this is a quick phase, you are much happier after a solid night's rest.

you have become long and lean like your mama and are so tall that you are in 9 month sleep and plays. they are way too baggy for you, but you can't stretch your legs in the 6 month size. otherwise you wear both 3 and 6 month clothing. you are still too small for new 6 month clothing, but the hand-me-downs from cousin ava that have been washed and shrunk a bit fit you.

we love your cooing and jumbled baby babble. we also crack up when you blow raspberries, which is basically your favorite pastime. you could sit in your rocker all day and blow raspberries if we let you. (mom's camera died in the middle of taking this video, waah!)

that's all i can think of right now, we love our smart, beautiful little girl so much and are excited for what the next month will bring.

weigh in: week 1

2012-02-13T18:46:00.000-06:00

let's just start with the facts, shall we?

pre-pregnancy weight (2/8/11): 144.2 pounds
weigh-in day #1 (2/6/12): 149.1 pounds
weigh-in week #1 (2/13/12): 144.0 pounds

yup, five pounds out the door and officially below my pre-pregnancy weight. my work pants are practically hanging off of me now so i need to find a belt. let's talk about how weird that is- the concept of wearing a belt. it's easily been a year since i've had that luxury! i think these first five pounds were water weight simply from swapping all the crap for nutritious food, so we'll see if i lose much this week. yesterday i woke up too late to eat breakfast so we went to lunch at double dave's and i may or may not have gorged. i ended up eating carrots and corn for dinner because i used almost all of my points at lunch. i know i have flex points for a reason, but i was actually still full from lunch and only needed a little something to keep my metabolism working. that was probably my worst day of eating thus far, i've been good about balancing fruits, veggies, and meats in other meals.

i'm looking forward to cooking this recipe for baked broccoli mac and cheese tomorrow night. although i think it will end up being baked mac and cheese with a side of broccoli because science forbid i actually cook a vegetable INTO a meal. jake's idea of a vegetable is a potato. and only a potato. which is why i'm thinking i'll cook these sesame chicken tenders with mashed potatoes on thursday. i'm sure i'll add some peas or corn to my meal. there are recipes for "skinny" mashed potatoes so shhhh don't tell jake that's what i'm intending to make. he might not be happy knowing i'm using reduced fat everything. ;-)

i've also let myself enjoy the little things here and there. there's a new cupcake shop near our house called gigi's cupcakes and i've allowed myself to eat half a cupcake twice a week. i'm saving my treat for wednesday because i've been dying to try their black forest and raspberries and cream. they are both only available on wednesday. that's how they rope you in, only have certain cupcakes available certain days. i'm pretty well-behaved on mondays because it's what i call "cream cheese day". almost everything has cream cheese frosting which i don't like. i'm all about the buttercream!

all in all, i'm pretty happy with the results of eating healthy and using weight watchers. i haven't lost enough weight in my bum or thighs to be down a full pant size, but i'm hoping i will in the coming weeks. so far so good.

weight loss, chicken, squash, and pigtails

2012-02-09T13:27:00.001-06:00

first, i've lost 3 pounds. since sunday. i didn't see that coming. this weight is falling off, i can only assume my body has been in need of some fruits and veggies for awhile now. i was worried my breastmilk production would decrease, but it's actually been increasing. perhaps the intake of water over soda and oatmeal over peanut butter toast was exactly what i needed. i feel way less lethargic and way more energetic. it's crazy how losing only a couple of pounds can make you feel.

second, i made an amazing chicken cordon bleu recipe on tuesday night, only 5.5 weight watchers points! paired with green beans and a roll, it was a meal under 10 points. you can find it here. jake loved it as well (shocking, he usually hates new recipes) and requested that next time i make it, i stuff some jalapenos in his as well. sounds like we have a winner there.

third, i made spaghetti squash last night and was pretty bummed that i didn't like it. i hated squash as a child and hadn't given it another shot in 20 years. i wanted to like it so badly, i've heard great things about it. i tried the squash plain, with salt, and then another batch with brown sugar. i think part of it was the consistency. i've never been a fan of shredded-like veggies, i.e. the cabbage in eggrolls, coleslaw, etc. i'm still going to try acorn squash, butternut squash, and yellow squash. unless of course they have the same shredded consistency, in which case i hope one of you would stop me now so i don't waste money.

fourth, how precious is this child!? we are so lucky!! i can't believe she's going to be 4 months old next week. those pigtails kill me.

that's all for today. have a good one, everybody!

goodbye preggo body

2012-02-07T07:07:00.000-06:00

it's been almost 4 months since i gave birth and i still have 5lbs to lose to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight. i was lucky that i lost the first 30lbs quickly, but these last 5 are residing in my stomach, butt, and thighs. it's time to evict them. i've been able to wear most of my pre-pregnancy pants, but this weekend i tried on a pair of jeans that were a size bigger than my pre-preg size and they wouldn't button. those bitch ass pants are the reason i'm ready to drop the weight. i also saw my sister-in-law this weekend who lost 25 pounds over 6 months. seeing how she met her body's potential has motivated me to meet mine. i know i'm capable of losing a few pounds if i stop stuffing my face with cupcakes and opt for more veggies with dinner. it was like two slaps in the face of "hey! you! get a move on with those thighs!" i've iced the facial red spot and started up on weight watchers again.

and ya know what? i am already feeling better! within a day i lost a pound. all i did was cut my chinese food lunch portion in half, eat corn instead fries with dinner, and boycott the sweets in the breakroom. i'm sure it won't be as easy to lose the remaining poundage, but my stomach already feels less "bleh". i'm opting for weight watchers because i like that i don't have to give up things i love and if i'm still hungry after a meal, i can chow down on as many apples, carrots, etc. as i want (fruits and most veggies are 0 points!) i also like that the point system accounts for breastfeeding. pretty sure i couldn't survive the 21 point target i would have to succumb to without breastfeeding. thanks to leila i get 35 points, and it's a good thing because i am using every bit of those 35 points.

i don't intend to work out, partially because i refuse to make the time if it means cutting into the few hours i get to spend with leila and the hubs each day. maybe i'll take the dogs and/or leila for a walk now and then, but right now it's too cold for that. i don't go outside unless it's above 70, preferably 75! (seriously, it's why i never moved back to iowa.)

in an effort to hold myself accountable, here are the numbers:

pre-pregnancy weight (2/8/11): 144.2 pounds
weigh-in day #1 (2/6/12): 149.1 pounds
weigh-in day #2 (2/7/12): 148.2 pounds

goal: 140 pounds (maybe 135, we'll see how i look/feel at 140)

i plan to weigh myself weekly and possibly blog about it weekly or bi-weekly. wish me luck!

baby is better

2012-01-31T20:37:00.000-06:00

my sweet girl went to bed a bit ago and i'm not quite ready to do the same. i'm very glad leila was back to her old self again today, she had been sick since thursday. daycare sent her home because she had a fever so we went to the pediatrician and found out she had a little bug but also an ear infection. i was sick a few weeks ago, then jake caught it and was out of work for 3 days, then leila fell victim too. luckily the ear infection was in its beginning stages, we think we caught it before it started causing our girl real pain. since leila was sick on friday one of us had to stay home with her. unfortunately i used up most of my post-maternity leave personal time when i was ill which means the responsibility fell to jake. it was the first time they've spent a whole day together without me. i don't know how the opportunity never presented itself prior to friday, but aside from me running to pick up a pizza or head to the bank, it simply never had. although my love bugs were both sick, they had a good time together. i think jake is way more confident in his fathering abilities now and i looove reaping the benefits of that! he's definitely been an active father the past few months, but since friday he's taken it to a whole new level. one of the things he said when i came home from work on friday was that he was surprised by how much free time he didn't have while watching leila all day. that was something that surprised me on maternity leave as well. it took a few weeks to find a balance of caring for our child, keeping the house clean, and getting personal tasks done. i commend stay at home moms for sure. i used to think that was an easy peasy cop-out (sorry sahm's, not trying to offend you!) but it is a ton of work! i don't know how they do it and stay sane. or perhaps you all go a little crazy and prefer not to tell us working moms? ;-)

speaking of work, i should finish getting ready for bed so i have enough energy for work tomorrow. i'm glad i finally finished a blog post over here. i've come up with several topics in the past few weeks but once i start writing something i get bored with it. the only thing i don't seem to get bored with is talking about my daughter. shocking, eh!? my single and childless friends are probably dying for me to shut up but i can't help it, she and jake are my world. i hope everyone has a great week!

stupid thing

2012-01-22T16:35:00.000-06:00

so last week i tried to change my background to a blogger template and the sidebars moved to the bottom of the page. i just tried deleting all of them and adding back with hopes that perhaps it was one picture or link causing the problem, but am having no such luck.

anyway, i don't have time to add them all back right now (the about me, followers, etc.) since the issue doesn't seem to be fixed, so please bear with me as i await some help from the blogger gods. also, if you know how to fix this issue, let me know! it's annoying!

3 months

2012-01-16T12:34:00.001-06:00

happy 3 month birthday, leilybug! (ok, i'm 2 days late)

you are such a little girl now and growing fast. you smile every 2 minutes and i love that gummy grin. sometimes you'll be in the middle of nursing then look up at me and a smile spreads across your face. milk tends to spill from your mouth and it cracks me up.

holding your head up is no big thing now, your neck doesn't falter anymore. when you're on your tummy you do mini-pushups the whole time. you drool like crazy from the effort, but you do well.

you've always enjoyed bearing weight on your legs so we went ahead and tested your jumperoo this week. it says 4 months and older, but we put a pillow on the ground to make up for the 4 inches you have to go to touch the floor. so far you stare at everything and occasionally grab a toy. your grip is strong. since you don't have a problem holding your head up you do great in the jumperoo.

your favorite toy is your playmat. the mobile, lights and dangling toys keep you occupied for ages. you have a mobile for your crib now which you love a lot too. whether we're upstairs doing laundry or downstairs washing dishes, you've got flying monkeys and hippos overhead making you smile.

you've been sleeping from 8 or 9pm - 5am for awhile, but last week you suddenly started waking up between 12 and 2am for a feeding. i think that was thanks to a growth spurt and/or congestion, hopefully it's behind us.

you've gotten taller and are in 6 month sleep and plays now, but still 3 month regular clothing. this week you discovered that your hands can go together as well. apparently this is a developmental milestone and soon you'll be batting at objects more.

since your last update you celebrated your first christmas. you looked precious in your little dresses and got plenty of fun presents, including the playmat, mobile, and jumperoo i mentioned.

{ on the road for christmas, mesmerized by the flowers from your infant-to-toddler rocker chair }

{ first christmas eve at nana's! }

{ first christmas day at mimi's }

you still adore music and try to sing with it. when your playmat and mobile are going, the squealing and cooing are nonstop. when daddy and i talk to you, you talk back lots as well. we try to help you along, so when you say something like "ooooo" we reply with "i love you too, leila lou." or when you say "aaaaah" we tell you "mama wants to visit the bahamas in her pajamas." i think we get a bigger kick out of the rhyming game than you do.

the rolling from your tummy to your back continues, but you aren't the least bit interested in rolling from your back to belly yet. mostly because you're distracted by the mobile or whatever else is overhead.

the swing and carseat remain on your bad list for the most part. some days the drive to and from daycare is fine, other days not so much.

we love you more than the earth, moon, sun, and stars, leilybug. happy 3 months to you.

back to work

2012-01-08T14:21:00.000-06:00

after 12 weeks at home with my baby girl, i had to return to work last week. the transition has been surprisingly smooth, but still sad. i had several episodes of "mommy brain" while i was on maternity leave, so i was glad that upon my return to the engineering world i still knew how to use the terms "hydrograph" and "temporal distribution" in a sentence. i wish i could work part-time instead of full-time but it's not in the cards for us right now. i'm glad to be working though, i'll admit i was beginning to get a bit stir crazy, and leila and i had both been missing out on social interaction. there's not much adult conversation when your only companion is a baby who squeals at the sight of a moving mobile, lol.

if i stayed home for good i know i'd be terrible about scheduling playdates and making sure she was spending enough time with other children too. i would be completely selfish and keep her to myself! :-) now i know that she's surrounded by kids of all ages, which will help her learn faster. there is one baby girl at daycare who is a month older than leila and i keep telling myself they'll be little daycare bff's. when i was in daycare, my best friend was a boy named joshua. even at 26, i still remember him and how much fun we had together. i'm hoping leila has the same experience.

being back at work has taught me a thing or two about priorities as well. i've always been a pretty efficient worker, but now i know that the sooner i finish something the sooner i can go home. i've completely altered my daily schedule to ensure quality time with leila. i wake up at 530am now so we can play and do chores together before work. then after work she takes a nap in my arms and we hang out some more. she's exhausted in the evening though, which is why i prefer morning playtime. of course we make time for daddy too. :-)

anyway, back to work wasn't as bad as i thought it'd be. i miss our monkey tons and can hardly wait for our next weekend together!

2012 resolutions

2012-01-04T18:22:00.000-06:00

i completely forgot what my resolutions were this past year, so clearly that means i failed them. i looked back on them earlier this week and discovered that they were to "power off two nights a week" aka turn off my cell phone and just enjoy time with the hubs. yeeeeah, that didn't happen. nor did "cook twice a week". unless you count heating up chef boyardee on the stove. in which case, yes, i did a great job there!

this year i have two resolutions.

1. become a professional engineer
this involves taking an 8-hour exam in october and lots of study courses prior to that. i have a feeling it's going to be difficult juggling leila's first birthday with the exam, but i need to make this a priority so i can go further in my career.

2. become more water and energy efficient
i have the most dreadful habit of putting a load of laundry in the washing machine after work and then forgetting to put it in the dryer. i'll then discover the load 2 days later and have to re-wash it. sometimes this cycle commences two or three times for one load of laundry. it's extremely wasteful of both power and water, i need to curb it! on the same token, i have a tendency to leave lights on throughout the house to remind me that i need to go back in that room for something later. i.e., i'll leave the laundry room light on to remind me to put stuff in the dryer, but most of the time i won't notice until it's time for bed at which i point i think i'll do it in the morning. never happens!

those are my super boring resolutions for the year. i just needed to document them so that i'll remember what i didn't achieve in another 12 months time, ha.

2 months

2011-12-14T12:03:00.000-06:00

hi baby love! you are 2 whole months old today. this is my favorite age so far, you are both fun and cuddly, best of both worlds.

your big accomplishment this month is that you are lifting your head up like a pro. when you are exhausted before a nap you go back to resting it on your shoulder, but when you are awake and getting up from a nap you can see the world a lot better with your head up. { the uber talented cole made that cupcake hat for you! }

your legs are stronger than ever, your favorite activity is standing up on our laps and laughing when we make faces. you plant your feet down and have a ball.

those strong legs also make mama lose sleep sometimes! you inchworm your way all around the crib at night. it's pretty cute because no matter where i put you, you always end up with your head pressed against the rails in the corner closest to me. you wake up frustrated that you can't go any further. i love that you are oh so determined to get near me. i don't love when it happens at 1am and i have to get up and help you.

but usually it's not 1am, lately it's 4am! which means you've worked your way up to sleeping 7-8 hours during your first night stretch, then another 3 hours to 7am, and lastly another hour or two to 8 or 9am. you tend to get up for the day after that. i find time to shower and get ready during that last hour or so.

your naps are only 45 minutes, but they're very predictable and that allows me to get things done. i always know when you're going to wake up. and when you wake up, you just lay in your crib moving your head around and squealing. you rarely ever cry upon waking up. heck, you rarely ever cry at all! like i said, you are super predictable and thank goodness for that.

you saw your first movie yesterday at the alamo drafthouse. except you slept the entire time, so i'm not sure we can really say you saw it. but big thanks to the drafthouse for hosting baby day showings, otherwise i'd feel guilty taking a baby to the movie. luckily you gave me no reason for guilt.

when we go places you are oodles better in the carseat. but only if the car is moving and we're listening to your baby einstein lullabies. dad took a permanent marker and wrote on the cd "blow daddy's head off lullabies". he hates them! but we love you and they make you happy, so we tolerate it. when you are on the verge of crying we play mozart's piano sonata in c over and over again. it's your favorite!

your cute noises have evolved from grunting and are now squeals. you smile and laugh and squeal when we make funny faces and noises like kissy lips and sticking our tongues out. most of the time that i stick my tongue out you do the same. copy cat! :-)

you are still rolling from your tummy to your back, but every time you do it you freak out and start screaming. it's actually pretty funny to see you do it, sorry to laugh.

you still don't like your swing, but we've found success in the rock n' play! when mama needs a few minutes to wash up dishes or get the diaper bag ready you are willing to sit in there for about 10 minutes, but sometimes up to 20. you stick your hand in your mouth and gaze around you. admittedly, your gaze tends to go toward the tv because i have it on all day. i'm soo excited for you to get your jumperoo, play gym, and mobile from your grandmas at christmas. i can't wait to see how you react to all those sights and sounds.

i'm really sad that i have to go back to work in 3 weeks. these have been the most joyous 2 months of my life. i love spending time with you! sometimes i get bored when you're napping because i'm tired of cleaning and doing responsible adult things. i want you to be awake and making faces with me. when daddy comes home from work he immediately steals you from me and is bummed when you're napping too. you're the best thing that's ever happened to us. love you bunches, leila!

the outfit in your 2 month photo was actually my outfit as a baby. it was the first dress i ever wore and i'm so glad nana saved it all these years. here is a comparison of the two of us wearing the same dress, 26 years apart. i will keep it for you to have when you are an adult and hopefully you will give me a granddaughter that can wear it too! :-)

5 baby sanity savers

2011-12-08T02:02:00.001-06:00

These past 8 weeks have been the greatest and most anxiety filled of my life. Around week 5 my ob-gyn prescribed anti-anxiety medicine to help me cope with my fear of SIDS. I ended up working around my fear instead of taking the meds by making some purchases. (Who says shopping can't cure anyone!?) I never thought I'd be the mom who lost sleep over everything but it wouldn't be motherhood without a little irrational hysteria. ;-) These are the 5 singlemost wonderful items we have for Leila.

1. Angelcare monitor
This was a purchase made around week 3 for $40 from Craigslist. Once I accepted that L was never going to be happy sleeping on her back I invested in this. It's basically a pad you place under a mattress that detects your child's movement,including their chest rising and falling with each breath. If your child stops breathing for 20 seconds, an alarm sounds. We've only had one false alarm, and L was in a very deep sleep with shallow breaths. I wouldn't have thought she was breathing upon first glance.

I realize in a "true" case of SIDS a monitor won't necessarily save a baby, but I feel like knowing within 20 seconds gives time for resuscitation efforts (all new moms should know CPR in my opinion!) if your child is suffocating or something. I'm able to get things done now because I'm not constantly checking that L is breathing. The Angelcare monitor checks for me.

2. Video monitor
We registered for a video monitor and my mother purchased it for us. I believe it's called summer infant day and night or something like that. The video monitor is an extremely worthwhile investment, especially in a two-story house. L naps and night sleeps in her crib in our bedroom. During the day I can shower, eat, etc. without feeling the need to walk in and check on her every 6 minutes to make sure she's ok. Sound monitors are fine, but you never really know what the baby needs if you can't see them. L is very very vocal. She rarely cries at night, but girlfriend grunts and moans like no other. I would go berserk without having the monitor to show me the issue. Is she moaning because her face is pressed into the breathable bumper? Is it because she's working out some gas and will fall back asleep when she's done? Is she just plain uncomfortable doing a face plant into the mattress? I can determine the necessary response time with the monitor. I know if I need to head up asap or if I can finish that bowl of cereal. You might not think it's a big deal, but being able to finish something is a rare treat with a newborn!

Even though L's crib is in our room I use the monitor at night as well. It is a lot easier to snag it off the nightstand for a peek at her grunting than actually getting out of bed. Getting up and down = exhausting. I think video monitors are amazing stress relievers!

3. Breathable bumpers
We didn't initially register for breathable bumpers because we planned for L to sleep in a playard in our room. She ended up sleeping her longest stretches in her crib, I think because the mattress is so firm and feels safe to her. I spent one of her naps disassembling her crib in the nursery and another reassembling it in our room. It was a daunting task and I wasn't sure I wanted to do it but in the end I decided 6 months of peaceful sleeping in our room outweighed an hour or two of manual labor. I swore she was going to lose a limb her first night in the crib. She is everywhere! She moves at least 2 feet in any direction in her sleep. She really likes sleeping with her head pressed against the bars, what a goober! Because of this, she needed bumper protection.

Our bedding set came with regular bumpers to protect tossing and turning babies like L from hurting themselves on the crib slats, but I wasn't comfortable with the suffocation risks. Enter the breathable bumper. I found these were the same price at Target and BRU at $30, but I could use a 20% off coupon at BRU. Now I sleep better knowing that crazy kid isn't going to hurt herself at 12am when I'm not watching.

4. Ceiling fan
I have done oodles of research on SIDS since L was born. Damn smartphones and 3am feedings. ;-) Studies have shown that having a ceiling fan where the baby sleeps reduces the baby's risk of SIDS by 72% (or maybe it's 73%). It's published in several places if you'd like to check that for yourself. Scientists believe the ceiling fan connection with SIDS is that the air circulation reduces carbon dioxide build up around the baby's face so they don't breathe in the trapped air they've exhaled causing death.

You can get beautiful easy to install fans for under $100 from Home Depot or Lowe's. My neighbor showed me how to install the fan in our bedroom last week and yesterday I successfully installed a second one in the living room. Before L moves to her nursery in the spring I will install another one in there. It took my neighbor about 30 minutes but it took me about an hour and a half. A worthy investment of time and money if you ask me.

5. Babesafe mattress cover
I admit this last one is going to sound silly to many of you. There are several theories about the cause of SIDS, such as carbon dioxide build up previously mentioned with the ceiling fan. Others believe that the combination of body heat and chemicals in mattresses (and other baby contraptions) mandated by manufacturing standards cause a toxic gas to form over time, which causes SIDS. Sources say that there have been zero SIDS deaths in New Zealand, where they have done the most research, when babies use this mattress cover. Not to say there have been no infant deaths using the cover, such as those related to suffocation in the crib. But there haven't been any SIDS deaths, aka unexplainable and sudden. You can buy babesafe covers online for $40 with free shipping. I think there could be legitimacy to this theory simply because I'm open to hearing any theory on this unexplained syndrome. $40 is not a high price for peace of mind.

So there you have it, the reasons I get sleep at night and accomplish anything during the day. It's not good sleep because I know I will be fearful of SIDS until this kid is like 2. But they have helped me cope with anxiety issues and make the most of my precious time with my precious girl.

turkey day weekend

2011-11-29T17:17:00.000-06:00

today has been peachy keen, i think leila is going through a growth spurt because she has been sleeping like crazy. she usually only naps 45 minutes, but today has been sleeping in 1-2 hour intervals today, in her carseat, in my arms, anywhere. i'm always calling her my little big girl because she's so little but is doing big girl things. when i'm holding her and she lifts her head to look all around the room it is so sweet, but such a big girl thing to do! she's not my newborn anymore. :-(

we had a fabulous turkey day weekend. we had family here and the meal was delicious. we are beyond thankful for our daughter, she's the light of our lives. here are some photos from thanksgiving.

we did lots of black friday shopping last week, probably too much, lol. but now we only have about 4 gifts left to buy, woo hoo! saturday morning my mother-in-law called and asked if she could babysit leila for the afternoon. we took her up on the offer and went on our first date since the munchkin was born. we saw the movie immortals and i thought it was great. i love greek mythology and the duke of suffolk (henry cavill for those of you who haven't seen the tudors, gawd i love that show) so it was good to me. it was lovely to have someone call offering to babysit, and it was even lovelier to enjoy an afternoon with my love! when we got to my mother-in-laws she was hanging photos of leila around her house, it was precious. i'm sure if either of my moms lived in austin they would steal her all the time, but sad panda, they live so far away!! we get to see everyone again at christmas. we'll have 3 christmas celebrations- eeks! does that mean leila can have 3 christmas dresses? ;-)

well i better go, the little one should be up soon, she's been napping waaaay too long. have a great day, all!

packers and bears

2011-11-21T16:40:00.000-06:00

leila finally fits (well, they're a bit baggy) into her football onesies. we'll be alternating between the packers and bears until she's old enough to make her own decision...

when she'll obviously be choosing the bears.

contrary to what her dad thinks.

1 month

2011-11-14T12:31:00.000-06:00

dear leila,

you are one month old today and i have mixed emotions. part of me is very excited and part of me is very sad. you are growing up fast and are turning into a little lady before our eyes. but i love experiencing each and every milestone with you.

in your first month you've learned how to roll from your tummy to your back. you don't do it everyday, and i'm not quite sure you consciously know you're doing it, but you are nonetheless!

dad and i love playing a game we call "boing" with you. we stand you up on our laps and you push yourself up. when you put your weight on your legs we say "booooooing!" and put you high in the air. that game makes you so happy, it's adorable.

you enjoy staring people down, sometimes i feel like you're trying to win a staring contest. you focus intently on simple things like lines on a shirt or the corner of a wall.

you make the cutest sounds aaaall the time. when you're nursing, you make grunting noises and this little "uh" sound like you're trying so hard to get latched back on or drink the milk faster. your grunts are my favorite though.

you have lots of body movements that are fun too. you stretch your neck like a bird while you sleep then flop your head right back down. you also flail your arms when you're frustrated. it's like you're saying hey! hey! look at me! while waving your arms.

we've started a bedtime routine that works like a charm. dad and i give you a bath at 8, then i nurse you and you fall asleep right away. you sleep 5-6 hours, then i change your diaper, nurse you another 15 minutes, and you sleep another 3 hours. mama doesn't let you get up for the day until at least 730 though, so after the long sleeps you wake up every 45 min and i force you to keep going, lol.

when you sleep you sometimes start smiling and it melts our hearts. other times you start crying in your sleep, as if you're having a nightmare. that makes me want to cry too! what could you possibly be having a nightmare about yet?

you hate the swing, carseat, and every other contraption. but you love napping tummy down on your dad, me, or your boppy. once i even got you to nap on your back in the boppy, that was exciting. we have to make sure you're sound asleep before taking you anywhere otherwise you scream and scream in the car. this weekend you cried and screamed for 25 straight minutes, it was unreal!

despite the crying in the carseat, you are a wonderful little baby. you are just rather spirited and tell us what you do and don't like. there's nothing wrong with being opinionated, it just makes you your mother's child. ;-)

mommy and daddy love you soooo much, leila! we're looking forward to many more months of your sweet ways.

Bonding with breastfeeding

2011-11-11T05:31:00.001-06:00

I'm writing this post from the blogger app after nursing my baby at 530am. I love technology! Anyway, Leila is fast asleep and I was just admiring my baby girl's smooth skin and bright blue eyes (they haven't changed color yet), thinking about how much I enjoy breastfeeding. I prepared myself for the chance it wouldn't be successful or I would hate it, but I am very glad that wasn't the case. Some days the nursing is a bit of a nuisance, like when I'm shopping and Leila needs to eat so I have to nurse her in the car. But for the most part, it's the most special part of my day. For 20-30 minutes I can soak in my daughter. She usually falls asleep while nursing and makes the funniest faces trying to fight off sleep. I hope women who bottle feed have the same experience. The times I've given Leila a bottle I haven't felt as connected, it's interesting. Now I sound like such a hippie!!

I never had much of an opinion on breast vs. bottle but now I can't imagine any other way. I can't imagine choosing bottle. Breastfeeding is natural, and having this little human quite literally attached to you is the greatest feeling. You feel needed and wanted, this tiny thing is dependent on you for survival in every way. I love it, I really do. I still respect women who choose to bottle feed and definitely respect women who were unable to breastfeed for a variety of reasons. But I'm positive the closeness I feel with Leila is a direct result of our feeding bond. It makes me wonder if there is a correlation between bottle feeding and increased postpartum depression. I'll have to look that up.

Alright, well I just wanted to share our special relationship, especially for those preggos who are debating breast vs. bottle. I vote breast!! And if you'd asked me that a month ago I would've said I could give a shit less, lol. Well I better try harder to go back to bed now. Good night / good morning! :-)

PS: Leila is 4 weeks old today. Where is the time going!? I swear a month of pregnancy felt way longer than this.

weekends with leila

2011-11-06T18:53:00.000-06:00

this weekend has been so nice! friday night jake and i took leila and the pups for a family walk. the weather has been gorgeous here. saturday morning jake asked if i wanted to go somewhere and surprised me with a trip to a craft fair. he normally hates that kind of stuff! we bought a neat handcarved wine rack and planter box from a guy and jake picked out a new hat for leila.

after the little street fair we went out to eat for the first time since leila was born. of course we went to jake's favorite restaurant, pluckers. after lunch we went home, hung out with the little one, and went for another family walk. then jake's mom and her fiance came over. leila hadn't seen mimi since the weekend she was born and hadn't met popo yet. we'll see them again soon, probably at thanksgiving. my family is coming up from victoria and now i think mimi and popo will be here too. i'm usually such a planner and have every part of the meal planned by now, but leila takes up so much time that i haven't had a chance to figure it out.

i love that she takes up a lot of time though, i love when she falls asleep on my chest and i just stare at her for an hour. i love wrapping her up in the sling while i bake banana bread so she's close to me. i love our new bedtime ritual where jake and i give her a bath then rock her to sleep. she's been sleeping longer and longer since we started the routine. last night she slept 6 hours straight, nursed for 15 min, then slept another 3 hours. i hope she keeps this up! except then i'll probably never be able to wake up for work again with only 8 hours of sleep. she's spoiling us. speaking of sleep, i hear her waking up from a nap right now so i better jet. i guess my blog is turning into the daily activities of the baby and me, but that's life now! and i wouldn't have it any other way. :-)

milestones and photographs

2011-11-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

leila rolled from her tummy to her back today. at 2 weeks 5 days old. i was downright shocked when it happened because i thought babies were 3 or 4 months old before they rolled over. not leila, she is an over achiever and didn't waste any time accomplishing her first milestone. :-)

speaking of the little birdie, here are all of her newborn photos (i know you've seen a few of these already, but you get to enjoy them again hehe).

the photographer was amanda with swell chick photography and she clearly does amazing work! although she lives in san marcos, she travels as well. she came to leander (where we live, a suburb north of austin) with her van packed to the brim with blankets and props. she found the room in our home with the best lighting for the photographs and went to town setting up. she was very understanding when leila didn't think photo time and nap time should coincide, and allowed me to get the baby fed and back in a deep sleep. i really cannot speak highly enough about both her and her work. but of course the photos speak for themselves!

if you have a facebook page, please "like" swell chick photography.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Swell-Chick-Photography/119820848123929?sk=app_201143516562748

and if you are looking for a talented photographer for any sort of session whether it's newborn, engagement, senior pics, or anything else, check out her website. she has very very reasonable rates.
http://www.swellchickphotography.com/

we are beyond in love with these photos, as are all of our family and friends. pretty sure i'm going to have to hire amanda to photograph our LIFE. :-)

little bitty baby

2011-10-31T18:08:00.000-05:00

leila has been so much fun the past couple of days, her personality is growing and she's only 2 weeks old! i've started to figure her out, so to speak, although i'm sure she's going to do a complete 180 anytime now because i said that. i've been deciphering what her cries mean and taking time to enjoy her company. she is sleeping 8 hours a night in a 9-10 hour time frame, which is GREAT! it's usually 3 stretches, but i'm okay with that. ever since we switched her to tummy sleeping it's been a world of difference. it is so much easier to wake up with her at 1am when we've all slept peacefully for 3 or 4 hours. her fussing and grunting has also decreased since we made the switch. knock on wood for that one! admittedly, i let her sleep on her tummy the first half of last night, then i made her sleep on my chest because i miss our cuddling time. i love her little head on my chest and butt in the air. she's so innocent and peaceful and will only be like this for a short time. i have to take advantage here and there. :-)

speaking of her personality, she had some newborn photos taken yesterday and her silly sleepy self was shining through. here are some photos.

the second photo always makes me laugh. she stretches her neck while she's nursing, burping, everything. someone said she looks like a little bird in that photo and i have to agree, it's exactly what she looks like. i love her plump little lips and sparkly blue eyes. some days i think her eyes are getting darker and might turn brown, but then they shine blue all over again.

i'll post the rest of the newborn photos in the next few days, they are adorable. i'll also be enlisting yall's help on the birth announcements.

happy happy halloween!

2011-10-30T20:29:00.000-05:00

happy halloween!

we hope your halloween is enjoyable and that your mum doesn't dress you in something you hate.

xoxo the enginerd family

accepting the baby you've got

2011-10-26T14:49:00.001-05:00

leila is almost 2 weeks old now and of course it's been a learning experience. the things i thought would be difficult and prepared for the worst on have been easy. and the things i never gave a second thought about have been all sorts of hard.

for instance, i prepared myself for a baby who wouldn't take to breastfeeding. or that my milk wouldn't come in. or that i just couldn't handle the stress. i knew that if i had to resort to formula feeding, i'd be totally okay with that, even if it's not ideal. and guess what, i have a baby that latched from the first moment, boobs that keep on giving, and patience for the time it takes to nurse. breastfeeding has been both easy and rewarding. (knock on wood!)

i even anticipated sleep troubles. jake and i decided early on that during the first three months (while i'm on maternity leave), i would be the one to get up with leila in the night unless i really needed his help. he takes her for a few hours after work so i can get 2 or 3 hours of sleep to prepare for the night, then he takes her again in the morning so i can finish up my 8 hours. he gets 8 hours, i get 8 hours, leila gets even more, we're all happy. i don't see any point in two of us getting up since all she needs when she wakes up is nursing and i'm the one contributing the boobage. we are trying to avoid bottles (even with breastmilk) as long as possible. i know every couple is different, this is our way and it works for us.

i knew there would be some nights where she was inconsolable, possibly from gas or colic or just plain throwing a tantrum. and there have indeed been those nights. i thought our little girl had acid reflux, but after talking to the pediatrician it's more likely gas and/or colic. she never goes back to sleep well after her first night feeding. she squirms and grunts and thrusts her head from side to side. i gave her mylicon drops and they didn't work. last night i gave her gripe water (per the pedi) and it worked like a charm. she was not fussy at all after her night feedings!

she naps very well during the day and sleeps long periods at night, so much so that i don't feel the need to sleep when she sleeps during the day.

but there's a caveat to that, one thing i did not prepare myself for and has been the hardest lesson of all.

my baby hates to sleep on her back. she will only sleep on her tummy.

bestow the bad mom of the year award now.

during the day, i don't mind that she falls asleep on my chest or on the boppy pillow with her tummy down. i can plop her up on the counter while i bake banana bread, sit her next to me on the couch while i blog, do whatever i want and monitor her. but at night this scares the shiznit out of me. for the first week i was convinced she would only sleep in someone's arms or on their chest. then this weekend i realized that wasn't it, she simply liked sleeping on her belly. i have been trying every method google has to offer on getting her to sleep on her back. the pack n play, the swing, the bouncer, the rock n play, the carseat, the stroller. swaddled in those locations. swaddled with soothing sounds in those locations. swaddled with soothing sounds and vibrations in those locations. it seems like every other nap and night stretch has been spent trying all the different methods. but they never last more than an hour. 90% of the time only about 10 minutes. it has been frustrating and i've shed a lot of tears over it.

after trying the carseat / stroller recommendation from the pedi leila started crying so loud and miserable. then i started bawling too and said "leila, why can't you just sleep on your back!? why are you doing this!?"

then it hit me.

i have to accept the baby i've got.

even though sleeping on her tummy poses a higher risk of sids, so does formula feeding. so does being african american. so does smoking. so does co-sleeping. so do blankets in the crib. leila wasn't born thinking "hmm, i better sleep on my back because it will reduce my risk of sids." she was born with her own personality, her own body, her own comforts. and as a mom, i have to accept it.

i talked to her pediatrician today and she said that leila needs good sleep to grow. she said to keep rotating the swaddle / white noise / different contraptions at nap time with hopes that at some point leila will take to one of them. the more she's exposed to them, the more likely she is to sleep in one. hopefully sleeping on her tummy is temporary, but it's also damaging if she only screams and cries on her back. she's way too young to cry it out.

i know that i have secretly judged my friends that co-slept and/or let their baby sleep on their stomach. now i understand why. because once you have a baby, you don't get to decide everything, your little one does. you can do your best to steer them in the right direction but first you have to accept your baby for all their good and bad traits.

leila's head of brown hair, her scrunched up faces, her grunts, and her button nose were so easy to love from the first moment. it's loving your baby, even when they make you cry very hard from breaking the sids rules, that makes you a mother.

ps: i probably should've posted a much perkier blog about how much i love my baby now that i'm back to CoE. but i kind of hate the people who act like raising a child is unicorns and rainbows. it's not. 90% of my day is total bliss gazing at my sweet baby girl, and those posts will come. but the other 10% is equally important, and i think it's good to be honest about it.

i'm back. er, well, we're back

2011-10-25T16:07:00.000-05:00

well i'm no longer pregnant which means i'm coming back to my roots at confessions of an enginerd. although let's be realistic, this is going to turn into a baby enginerd blog since jake and i are obsessed with our child. i'll try to post things other my kid's face, but i can't make any promises. i contemplated starting a whole new blog about our new life as a family, but that seemed excessive.

and with 3 months of maternity leave, i'm sure my posts are going to be excessive too.

so let's all welcome the newest member of confessions of an enginerd, baby leila.

we'll write again soon! :-)

Leila Diane

2011-10-17T15:01:00.000-05:00

Leila Diane

October 14, 2011 at 6:52pm

7 lbs, 11 oz

19 3/4 in

gender reveal week

2011-05-24T12:45:00.000-05:00

my dearest bloggers,

i am sad to say that i've caught the bug. the baby bug. since becoming pregnant, i've lost all interest in any blog topic not relating to the bun in my oven. i've tried to spare you dear readers that like me a mere year or two ago, wanted to vomit butterflies and unicorns every time i heard about someone's baby plans.

as such, i'd like to direct any interested followers to

preggoenginerd.blogspot.com

that is where i've done almost all of my blogging these past few months and will likely spend subsequent months. please update your google reader subscriptions / follower links for updates.

we should find out what we're having on thursday so this week i'm doing a little gender reveal series about the nursery options, names, etc. all leading up to finding out what we're having.

i've already posted the nursery alternatives today. enjoy!

happy anniversary

2011-04-25T11:46:00.001-05:00

happy anniversary to my husband, who still sends sweet messages daily, comes home with ice cream when i've had a bad day, and is the funniest person i know. i feel like such a lucky girl to still be this in love after 8 years together. i'm looking forward to our anniversary trip / baby-moon in two weeks! oj, love.

http://confessionsofanenginerd.blogspot.com/p/our-wedding.html

usually i'd post some photos of our past 2 years together or a montage of our wedding day. but i think these photos are a little more us. not great, but always goofy. :-)

nesting at casa de enginerd

2011-04-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

all i think about these days is the baby and the house. my friend sarah pointed out that i was "nesting". which really is a legitimate point.

these are some moderately inexpensive changes i'd like to make to our downstairs before the baby arrives. and i'd actually like some opinions on them. i promise we're not doing anything that will make our house overdone by any means. no crazy fancy granite counters or brazilian wood cabinets. just little things to personalize the house and make it feel like our own as opposed to a cookie cutter subdivision home.

dining room

keep in mind the paint color of the living room from this photo...

and now take a looksie at the dining room... (except i have cute new curtains that i bought at ross last weekend)

so imagine a chair rail along the wall of the dining room. i was originally thinking we'd paint below that living room green color below the chair rail, almost to tie the rooms in together (and so the living room isn't the only painted room in this house).

something similar to this, but our beige color is less peachy.

{ photo from roomzaar.com }

then hubby suggested we possibly do wainscoting instead. i hadn't wanted to do green on top because i thought it'd be difficult to tie in with the dining-kitchen arch.

and yet, we kind of love something like this.

{ photo from handman-pro.net }

then possibly to avoid the kitchen-dining arch, maybe we could keep beige on top, and do green on the bottom with the white trim to pop.

i think i like this best, but without that funky design in the squares

{ photo from porterhousedesigns.com}

the cost of any of these shouldn't exceed about $30 for the chair rail and square trim, then maybe $20 of white paint for the second option. we already have leftover green paint in our garage, so no expense there.

kitchen

we want to add a backsplash above our counters. this is part of the kitchen where we'd put it.

we thought about doing something with color, but really can't come up with a good color to match the counters and beige walls. hubby doesn't like red, i don't like blue, we already have green downstairs, and i dunno, i think we should go neutral. maybe something like these for $11 per square foot-ish at lowe's

{ photo from lowes.com }

here's a closer look at the counters (and more of the potential backsplash area)

then of course, there's going to be the fabulous nursery to decorate in a few short months! but in the meantime. anyone does the wainscoting or backsplashes themselves? any preferences on the ideas we have?

baby enginerd

2011-03-29T20:26:00.001-05:00

after 7 years together, 2 years married.

after 7 months of trying, 2 months on clomid.

baby enginerd is due october 16, 2011.

we're very excited to welcome baby enginerd aka pumpkin aka bean aka jillybean aka whatever other funny names we've all come up with.

and i'm really excited to finally be able to blog again!!!! i kept starting posts and alluding to the pregnancy so i had to stop. "oh this weekend we went to target and picked up some vases for the house along with some cute little onesies. doh!" :-)

i'll try not to bore you all with pregnancy talk, but i really can't wait to be a mom (almost as much as hubby can't wait to be a dad) and have loved every moment of being pregnant so far. so you're going to have to bear with me if there's a tad excess posting on the nursery, bi-weekly update, and random preggo q&a posts. i'll probably keep the more personal (read: tmi) pregnancy-related posts on a separate blog. speaking of...

it's been really hard to blog and keep this a secret, so i've had to take my blogging elsewhere since last summer- preggoenginerd.blogspot.com

that blog is not for the faint at heart. you click that link knowing there are moderately anatomical posts and knowing that sometimes i was a bit frustrated, happy, sad, nervous, etc. we were trying and trying to get pregnant to no avail. a couple of my friends said we should stop "trying" and just let it happen. they said that tracking your basal body temperature and ovulation (sorry if you have conceptually virgin ears!!) were adding stress and not conducive to getting pregnant. but i'm an organization freak and wouldn't listen. in my gut, i knew it was right for us to do fertility tracking and didn't think it would hinder anything.

despite what some friends said, tracking was an excellent choice. after a couple months i noticed patterns that inhibit conception. if you speak fertility, i had delayed ovulation and a short luteal phase. with a short luteal phase, you could be getting pregnant every month but your body can't sustain the pregnancy. you'd never know. i took my charts to my doctor and he agreed with my assumptions. he recommended i start on clomid right away. i was pregnant within two months!

if you want to know more, like i said, you can check out the other blog. but i wanted to post the short version of our experience to say that if you find yourself in a similar position, you're not alone. it's hard to go through month after month without success, while people around you are announcing their pregnancies every other week. it's demoralizing and quite frankly, it sucks. but if you have a pro-active doctor and an optimistic attitude, i'm convinced you can overcome any fertility hurdle thrown your way.

a couple of my friends were rather rude about our infertility, talking about how i'd gotten pregnant before and how i should've never had an abortion because it probably messed things up. that is absolutely not the case. i was pregnant over 7 years ago. hormones change, bodies change, especially when you've been on three types of birth control and had several life changes. first term abortions do not have any medical bearing on your ability to conceive down the road. multiple second trimester abortions, sure. but for those of you who are harboring that sort of secret and wondering if it's why i personally had difficulties, i can assure you it's not and you have nothing to fear. (ps: i'm not a doctor, so you should speak to your own physician about your specific situation)

now i shall step off my soapbox to get to the real fun.

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!! WEEEEEEEEEE!!

help jackie save orangutans

2011-03-15T11:40:00.000-05:00

sorry i've been MIA for almost a month... i've lost my blogging inspiration and can never think of anything to write about. we have stuff going on, but it's little to do with the house, vacations, or cute shopping finds. so i'm plum out of topics!

BUT

i reeeeeeeeally need you guys to do this for my friend jackie. i've known her since junior high, when she was in love with mickey dolenz, we were aces at mock trial, and her cello and my violin were orchestra badasses. she is a passionate, caring, incredible woman and would be a great candidate for this project. so PLEASE go and vote for her, i beg of you!!

from jackie's facebook event page:

Seconds of your time can help me go to Borneo to save orangutans! Please?

For those that don't know, I have been working closely with orangutans for almost 4 years now and have found my life's work and passion. Orangutans are amazing animals but their numbers in the wild are dwindling.

I am applying with this video to go to Borneo for 5 months to help wild orangutans:
http://gg.tigweb.org/tig/deforestaction/52181/

...But in order to be picked, I need you to vote for me! It only takes a few seconds. Here's how:
Follow the video link, click on "DeforestAction: Project Borneo", which is next to my name, in blue. Scroll down the thumbnails of all the entrants. I am toward the top. Just above the thumbnails, is a blue Login to vote now. Click on that. Log in, then click on my thumbnail. Scroll to the bottom and click to Submit vote.

I know logging in is sometimes a pain, but this project means a lot to me and I would be forever grateful if you would vote.

If I get picked, I will not let you guys down. The forests of Borneo and orangutans are worth saving for so many reasons!

Thanks so much to all who already voted.

Help get the word out, please invite friends.

videos from mexico

2011-02-24T20:08:00.002-06:00

my friend kat posted these videos on facebook last night and i loved them so much i had to post here as well. i had completely forgotten that while we were on vacation in mexico last september kat took it upon herself to record several of our shenanigans including daily recaps, a tour of our room, and funky food encounters.*EDIT: when i first posted this we didn't have the hidden food video, but as of 8:30pm, it's been added

so i thought it'd be neat for all the people who i've never met to kind of see how i am. sooo in case you don't know me in real life, i'm pretty much exactly like i sound on this blog. a few of my friends (kim lip, rachie, etc.) always say they love reading confessions of an enginerd because they can picture me saying all the things i post here. for instance, you know all those times i say "lol" excessively? i'm truly laughing out loud when i type them, or at least giggling. i have a bit of a giggling problem actually, i think almost everything is funny and laugh at dumb things. i also talk really fast, but i can't help it because i have to keep up with my brain, which is consistently moving through 14 topics a second.

so anyways, now that i sound completely obsessed with myself (my apologies for that, i swear i'm just trying to shed light), here are a couple of videos of the real jill.

ps: it took me a few hours of messing with firefox add-ons and such to figure out how to take videos from facebook and get them onto youtube, but victory is finally procured!

{ recap of our first day in mexico. please note that i'm drunk here }

{ tour of the room. ahem, sober tour of the room }

{ hiding food }

i'm sure half of you probably think i'm a complete lame sandwich now, but oh well

ps: mad props to kat, the talent behind the camera. i wish we had a couple videos of her, but she seems to have "misplaced" the day 2 recap, which i distinctly remember recording! :-)

living room makeover... sort of

2011-02-23T18:26:00.000-06:00

we've been working on our living room makeover for the past couple of weeks and are so close to being done, but i still can't post pictures. sorry! i really want to have a completed room with curtains, a bit more art, and a new light fixture before i post.

BUT to hold you guys over, i'll post pics of a few bits and pieces. oh, you're not actually dying to see what we've done? fine then. ;-)

after we got back from vegas, we decided to use a portion of the winnings to buy hubby's nazi zombie chair! (any of you with husbands who play call of duty understood that) there is a little furniture warehouse a couple blocks from our house that we stop by from time to time. they don't always have what we're looking for, but this time they had the perfect chair for our living room. the guy at the warehouse said it came from macy's and although i didn't believe him at first i found it online and hot damn, we got it for a steal! i don't know if it was a floor model or overstock piece or what, but the luke living room chair retails for $1,399 at macy's and we bought it for $400.

{ photo from here on macys.com }

like most of our furniture choices, this took a solid year to accomplish. we wanted a chair that wasn't poofy and also wanted it to be leather. as an after-thought we're sort of wishing it had an ottoman, but that's what coffee tables are for, haha.

now our predicament is that we went from a completely beige room with a good furniture layout to a room with loads of dark colors and a furniture placement crisis.

we've put the chair at an angle where the bookshelf used to be. however, now the wall with the wedding canvas looks bare, like there should be something under the canvas perhaps. i'm hoping that if i put up some large cream curtains the wall will look lighter and fuller, but i have yet to find the perfect curtains. our current light fixture doesn't give off much light which wasn't a problem when our room as oh-so bright all the time. but with the new dark tones, it's not cutting it. i'm having a hard time parting with $200 for a friggin light fixture, so if you guys have any suggestions on where to buy cheaper (and still good quality) light fixtures, let me know.

{ you can see the wall color and flooring pretty decent in this pic. and yes, i'm working VERY hard }

{ work in progress }

{ beer is clearly an installation necessity }

{ see, i told you i was working }

{ the pups were gated in the kitchen while we worked, they looked too cute napping together }

we are throwing hubby a 30th birthday party in april, as well as a baby shower for some friends i believe, so my goal is to have the living room completely finished by then. we hadn't planned on needing to change so many items but now that we've started, we can't stop! ah, the life of homeowners...

viva las vegas

2011-02-21T07:43:00.002-06:00

we celebrated my sister laura's 24th birthday in vegas and had a blast. it was really great to see everyone, we hadn't seen my parents since july so it was a much-needed family trip! here are some photos and captions of the goings-on in sin city.

although really, we didn't do much sinning there. hubby won over $1000 in hold'em tournaments and cash games. i won $60 on the slot machines. i watched ava one night so laura and andrew could go out. we walked the strip during the day (which, honestly, was a smidge boring). we had fun not being at work. i think that basically covers it.

{ andrew, laura, hubby, me, my dad (aka grandpa) and ava having drinks our first night in vegas }

{ the ladies of the fam on the slots. by the end of the trip i was struggling with a severe slot machine gambling problem, i was obsessed }

{ who says you can't have fun taking your baby to vegas? ;-) }

{ we stayed at caesar's palace, these were our half-naked mascots }

{ pretty fountains at caesar's palace }

{ view from the eiffel tower at the paris hotel and casino }

{ another view from the eiffel tower }

{ the rupiper clan at the fountain }

{ and now just ellie and aaaaandy }

{ lunch at carnegie deli in the mirage, with pastrami sandwiches the size of your head }

{ see, i wasn't lying. for scaling purposes, truly the size of your head }

{ meanwhile i opted for grilled cheese. some of us have self-control }

{ action shot of the fam walking down the strip, minus me and mom }

{ love this pic of the five of us at the mirage volcano }

{ black and white polka dot twins! }

{ mama and baby }

{ dinner at the venetian, ava was slightly obsessed with staring down my spaghetti. hilarious }

{ laura, mom, and dad at the venetian }

{ ava looked away of course. laura says it looks like andrew and i are a couple and this is our baby. sadly (well, not-so-sadly) my own husband was busy placing 7th in a hold 'em tournament and winning us money }

{ the whole family in vegas }

{ me and the hubs. i'm literally allowed one normal smiling photo of him per trip. unreal, i'm a photo whore in comparison }

{ grandma, grandpa, and ava }

{ the fam again }

{ i was ridiculously excited for this picture. hubs was ridiculously embarrassed by my enthusiasm }

{ this is why my hubs and andrew should not be allowed in gift shops together }

{ the rainforest cafe at mgm. we didn't eat here, but hubby had never even heard of this place! so strange to me, we went to the one in chicago quite a bit growing up }

{ my nickname growing up was jillybean. seemed fitting to take a photo with the jellybean statue at new york new york }

{ i was the only one brave (or weird) enough to pet the stingrays at mandalay bay }

{ i like the colors in this one, laura's shirt matches the jellyfish }

{ after i won $20 on my first spin at these slots, andrew and hubs proceeded to lose another $20 trying to have the same luck }

{ playing with uncle while we waited for the monorail }

{ fountain show at the bellagio. the bellagio was hubby's favorite of the hotels, i wish he could've seen this but again he was out winning us money at poker lol }

{ so since my husband couldn't go, my niece happily obliged. but it's obvious her aunt took her out, not her mother. i left her hat at the hotel and used a cardigan to keep her head warm, haha }

{ volcano show at the mirage }

{ hubby bought this shirt and literally 10 minutes later laura came downstairs sporting a baby bjorn. if only we'd put a hat and hubby's sunglasses on ava! }

jane austen check-in

2011-02-18T21:26:00.000-06:00

it's been a whirlwind around these parts. still trying to catch up on life since we skipped town for vegas last week. we haven't unpacked, we haven't made it to the dry cleaners or pharmacy, and we haven't even finished our floor installation from two weeks ago! well, we installed the floors, we just have to put down the quarter-round trim and tile-wood transitions. we've been home a couple of days and all we do is come home from work, eat dinner together, hang out a bit, and fall fast asleep.

however, i finally made 70 pages of headway in emma. which is possibly my least favorite jane austen book ever. more on that in a bit.

as part of my goals for the new year, i signed on for the 2011 jane austen challenge. specifically, my goal is to read all of jane's books and 3 jane austen inspired novels. last month i went to half price books and picked up northanger abbey and a couple weeks ago i went back to snag emma. i missed last month's check-in, but i'm finally posting for the second one. so here are my thoughts so far...

*northanger abbey - rating: 8/10

{ photo from reviewthatbook.com }

i enjoyed this book for its simplicity. boy meets girl. girl yearns for boy's affection. girl makes conniving friend. obnoxious jerk (and brother of conniving friend) falls for girl. conniving friend promotes the courtship. girl still yearns for first boy's affection. obnoxious jerk continuously tries to ruin things. conniving girl is breaking hearts elsewhere. girl makes sweet friend with first boy's sister. first boy's family falls in love with her. first boy falls too. boy and girl live happily ever after.

that is indeed my type of book. straightforward plot, happy ending, likable characters except for that arrogant dipshit jerk who lies and deceives and thinks he's funny but totally is not. yup! i loved it. sometimes i'm just not much for delving into the deeper aspects of books. i had heard northanger abbey was meant to have a gothic on-edge feel to it, especially because the main character catherine loves gothic novels. but honestly, i didn't feel that. i just felt like it was an easy-to-follow love story and i enjoyed picking up after a long day's work. what's not to enjoy about that?

emma on the other hand...

*emma, as of page 70 / 473 - rating: 4/10

{ photo from waterstonebasbookclub.blogspot.com }

first of all, this book is long. like, i got through 8 pages on the plane ride to vegas before deciding i should nap. then i got through 5 pages on the way back before deciding i should nap. and let me tell you, i'm not usually one to choose naps over books.

i wasn't very intrigued with this book until emma and mr. knightley began to quarrel about harriet and mr. martin. (i mean, whose favorite part of pride and prejudice isn't the tumultuous ride of elizabeth and mr. darcy's affections? it's the best stuff of jane's work!) also, i'm a dialogue reader. i like to skip over all the details about who was wearing what and how they glanced across the room. i like to read the conversations. is anybody else like that? so no wonder i couldn't get into the book until 3 pages of dialogue were dumped on me.

but now that i'm into the book and really gaining an interest in the characters, i kind of can't stand emma and harriet. emma is a delusional spoiled brat. and harriet is a delusional unspoiled ignoranamous. but really, harriet's delusions come from emma's encouragement. so double whammy for emma. am i supposed to dislike the heroin of the book so much? is she not supposed to be a heroin? am i supposed to at least think she's charming and endearing? because um, i don't! i'm confused on how i'm supposed to feel about this book. mostly it just annoys me.

that's all i have right now. emma seems to think mr. elton is in love with harriet and i can tell she's way off base without even having read this before and without being able to recall seeing the gwyneth paltrow movie when i was 11. he's in love with emma, duh. it's not rocket science and if she weren't so delusional, she'd see it. (right? i'm not making that up?)

ok, end rant! i can only handle emma in doses, so it's looking like it'll take another month for me to finish this one. then i'm going to need something more like northanger abbey where everyone is lovable and happy. any suggestions?

wedding gift season

2011-02-09T10:20:00.001-06:00

spring is almost here and with that, comes the beginning of wedding season! we've got a wedding in shiner at the beginning of march, another in victoria at the end of may, and at least three in september and october. that doesn't even include the invitations we haven't yet received, those are just the ones i know of because people have been requesting our address.

i adooooore wedding season, but my very favorite part isn't eating cake. it's not wearing a pretty dress. it's buying the gift! i usually purchase "theme" gifts for weddings and try to throw in something personal as well. one of my favorite gifts from our own wedding was from my friend sara. we used to hang out almost everyday our sophomore year of college and would always bake something. one of our best experiences was trash bag puppy chow. so as a wedding gift, she gave us a huge mixing bowl from crate and barrel along with all the ingredients to make puppy chow! i laughed so hard when we opened her gift, i'll never forget it.

before that day, i would always purchase really basic registry items as gifts. i still stick to the registry, but i know how much i loved the personalization of sara's gift, so i try to do the same for others. the wedding we'll be attending in shiner is for a friend i went to victoria college with. engineering wasn't a high demand major at vc, and there were only 6 of us in engineering physics and differential equations with hopes of becoming engineers. we dubbed ourselves the enginerds. (in case you ever wondered where this blog title came from, that's when it began)

so with jonathan's nuptials on the way, i thought it was only fitting to purchase this shirt:

{ photo from sumosamtshirts.co.uk }

actually it's not that exact shirt, but it's very similar. they used to sell shirts like this in ecj (the civil engineering building at ut) so mini-me casey (ironic because she's like 6' tall) bought a black one from one of the student organizations for me. i know jonathan is going to crack up when he opens his gift! i'm also planning to buy the couple a few items from their registry, probably something like a cake pan, spatulas, and mixing bowls so they have everything to bake a cake. :-)

the other personalized wedding gift i recently purchased is for my dearest nichole. it's a custom decoupage recipe box from etsy seller giftsandtalents. the recipe box below is one the seller and i designed for my kitchen about a year ago.

the one for nichole is going to be perfect because it's customized to her style! her kitchen has red walls and her wedding colors are red and turquoise. she has the cutest little lovebirds theme to go along with the wedding. seriously, i'm dying to post a picture of her invitations right here and now so you can see the theme in action, but alas, it's her big day so i shouldn't spoil the surprise for everyone else. anyways, i told the seller these things and she came up with a design using these papers:

{ paper from acherryontop.com }

on top there are going to be red and white lovebirds like these:

{ photo from etsy seller giftsandtalents }

there will also be matching dividers to go with the set. i'm going to find some corresponding recipe cards online and jot down some of hubby and i's favorite recipes in the gift as well. maybe if nichole has some good recipes, she'll eat at chuy's less. jk. :-)

i'm working on some special gift ideas for jennifer, keli, and sara's weddings this year too. what kind of personalized gifts do you guys give people? i need some more ideas!

EnginerdArt on Etsy

2011-02-04T23:14:00.002-06:00

so what happened is this.

i posted my little blog about crafty frame art. i posted some pics on facebook. people liked it, asked if i could make them some and they'd pay. i said yes. an etsy shop was born.

if you'd like to support this little shop, it's

EnginerdArt.etsy.com

my first custom order was for a childhood friend, natalie (by the way, she has a blog about her total home makeover, you should check it out). she told me she was decorating her guest room with sage walls and had recently purchased this duvet from west elm:

based on those colors and our conversations, the following art was created:

the next two custom orders i have in the works are 2- 8"x10" coastal themed patterns for a beach house and a few 5"x7" framed pieces for a dark yellow kitchen renovation. ok, i'm exaggerating. the first is for my mom who doesn't really have a beach house, she just lives in a beach town. and the second is for another childhood friend who actually did recently renovate her kitchen, but has some blank space to fill. it's not like my art was an integral part of her plan, lol. but even though they are friends and family, i promise they are not simply buying to be nice, this art is good, pretty stuffs!

i've posted a few items in the shop that are ready to ship, but am also accepting custom orders! let me know the frame sizes and general colors / themes you're interested in and we can work together to make something unique for your home. or if there is a particular fabric you see in the ready to ship section or previous custom orders, i'm sure i have enough fabric left to do something for you. lastly, if you see something in one of the larger sets that you'd only like one or two of, individual pieces are available.

happy shopping!

here is some of the work i've posted so far, with more to come within the week:

{ modern red and white framed art - set of four }

{ pink and brown floral framed art - set of four }

ps: at some point i plan to get a much better camera that can take better photos. we're installing the new floors tomorrow, hence the terrible concrete floor in the background, oops. :-)

let it snow!

2011-02-04T10:45:00.003-06:00

while my hometown in iowa was getting record 17-18" blizzard depths and a snow day, we got a whole entire inch of snow in austin! this is only the third time i've experienced snow since moving to texas 10 years ago. last year we had something like half an inch while at work, but it melted by the time we left.

around 830pm last night, the flurries started hitting leander and when i woke up at 2am, it was still going! then when i woke up at 6am, there was STILL snow in the air.

and after all that, we ended up with this.

this was the first time our pups saw snow too. like i said, last year's snow came down and melted all within a work day so kylie never got out to see it.

{ "umm... mom... what is this white stuff? }

{ alright, let's check it out a little closer }

{ dexter gets brave and kylie is still deciding }

{ we made it mom! but what happened to our stuffed animal toy friend? }

{ my mom asked me to make her a snow angel, they didn't get any snow in port o'connor }

{ our sweet ass snowman }

{ kylie and dex frolicking down the road }

it's not even noon and we're having a blast so far! although sadly, it's already starting to melt. i pink puffy heart that a mere inch of snow gives us a day off in texas, whereas it takes a foot and a half for a day off in iowa, ha.

crafty projects

2011-02-01T11:28:00.001-06:00

i've been a crafty lady lately and wanted to share a few projects that have graced the walls of our home.

the first project was for our office. we've been trying to "theme" a few of our rooms without you know, having an obvious "theme" to the rooms. nobody likes a distinct zebra room full of white and black striped walls and zebra-fabric pillows. except possibly sara-hubb. but then there might be a hot pink couch in her zebra room soooo moot point.

we're trying to give the office a bit of a "beachy theme". i know, i know it's been done. but we're planning to wait the walls a dark navy blue then also try to keep it simple with a few prints we've purchased on vacation to key west, etc. plus display hubby's shark teeth.

have i ever mentioned that my husband is obsessed with sharks? when shark week is on tv, our booties are plastered to the couch. when we honeymooned in jamaica, we drunkenly signed up to feed and swim with sharks the next day.

it suffices to say that shark souvenirs must be purchased on all beach-related vacations and now we have a small collection (ok, fine, we have two) of shark teeth. we're working on increasing that number. we wanted to display the teeth somehow and hubby suggested that we frame them. so off we went to aaron brothers to find a good shadow box frame and start the project. also, i should point out that this method is by no means fancy, nor did i follow any directions. i just sort of winged it, ha.

shadow box shark tooth frame

supplies

shadow box frame - aaron brothers
posterboard - aaron brothers
wire - target
paper cutter - michael's, but already owned from the wedding planning days

directions

cut posterboard to the size of the shadow box interior.

poke holes in the posterboard with wire and thread wire through, leaving a strategic gap in the front for placement of the teeth.

place shark teeth in the wire openings

twist wire to secure and tape to posterboard (ghetto, i know, but i didn't want it protruding and moving about

admire!

another art project i undertook a couple weeks ago was one i learned from miss kate. incredibly easy and inexpensive, but looks professional. seriously contemplating opening an etsy shop to sell these items. i think you could put letters on them and make for fun name art in a nursery.

framed fabric art

supplies

11"x14" black frames - hobby lobby
8"x10" opening mats for frame - hobby lobby
several pieces of fabric for the openings - hobby lobby (i'm a big fan of those little sets of scraps they sell at the end of the aisles. brilliant for coordinating the prints!)
fabric glue - hobby lobby

directions

place glue on the back of the mats

adhere the mat to the fabric, making sure your pattern is even along interior edges and is pulled firmly. trim excess fabric.

put the mat and fabric in the frame

i made the first round of framed art (above) for my niece ava's room. i had purchased this set of fabrics when laura got married, so i could make some centerpiece linens using one of them.

i've had the remainder of the coordinating fabric in my craft bin and concluded it would match ava's nursery with the similar bold colors.

then i made a set for myself to adorn our stairway because it's beige and boring.

i hope these projects can inspire you guys to perk up your home in inexpensive ways! i love knowing that we have some neat homemade items that nobody else in the world has.

ya know

2011-01-24T08:37:00.000-06:00

you know those sundays when your football team loses and then you have to get a shit ton of work done so you stay up until 1230am working on an important deadline?

but then aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the work you did gets lost in some sort of file corruption?

yeah, that was my day yesterday / what i'm dealing with this morning.

F.M.L.

also excel, what is the point of saving temporary files if i CAN'T FREAKING OPEN THEM.

i seriously hope computer services can recover my work...

big girl pants

2011-01-21T07:49:00.000-06:00

well... a new chapter in my life has begun... i've put on my big girl pants... and i've started DRIVING.

when we bought our house last march i was forced to start driving to and from the bus station. after a few weeks i started venturing out to buy doughnuts on saturday morning or hitting up hobby lobby when i had a half day. i even drove into austin a few times on the weekend to catch up on work.

then on monday, i got to the bus station and nobody was there. it suddenly dawned on me that it was mlk day and the buses weren't running, but we don't have the day off in the consulting world. i realized i was going to have to tough it up and drive to work. i was pretty intimidated thinking that i'd have to fight austin traffic. lo and behold, i don't! my office is in the arboretum and the traffic doesn't generally start to back up until north of braker, but my exit is oak knoll. it only takes 22 minutes for me to drive to work from leander. people act like leander is so far away but my coworkers that live in central austin (around koenig) take the same amount of time to get to work.

i've driven to work everyday since then, mostly because i had to go to the field a few days and a company truck was not in my future for those trips to the project site. let's recap what happened last time i drove a company truck four years ago.

{ i put a huge ass dent in another truck while trying to park the firm's }

i also sideswiped another truck trying to back out of that mess. i'm still shocked i didn't get fired.

that first accident took place in the parking garage of our office complex. since then, i've been petrified of parking garages. when we are forced to drive in one (while i'm a passenger, obvs) i hold onto the oh-shit-handle, close my eyes, and hold my breath. i'm convinced hubs or my dad or whoever i'm with is going to misjudge distances and hit someone.

oh wait, that's just me that has god-awful depth perception.

so yesterday i drove to work again because i had a meeting downtown early in the morning. i got to the offices and the parking lot was full. i drove around the lot for 10 minutes waiting for someone to leave but no luck. i was running late for my meeting at this point (and i'd even gotten there 10 minutes early!) and saw a sign for additional visitor parking in the garage. my heart plummeted as i realized the only way i was going to get to this meeting was by overcoming my greatest fear- the parking garage.

or as my husband said on facebook "2nd greatest fear, her 1st is that they stop selling girl scout cookies." HA.

anyways, I DID IT!! not only did i successfully not take out any vehicles or lives whilst driving up the ramps of the parking garage, i went all the way to the top because there was only parking available on the roof.

it's been a big week and i'm really proud of myself! i owe capmetro a thank you for not running buses on monday, otherwise i would've never done this. i'm still going to take the bus on days that i don't have meetings or need to go to the field, but for now i'm excited that driving on my own to work is even a possibility!!

london!? paris!? madrid!?

2011-01-15T12:41:00.002-06:00

we've been toying with the idea of a beach vacation come summertime, but last night hubby said "have you ever heard of malmo, sweden?" i said i hadn't and why on earth are you asking. apparently he saw it on tv and thought it looked neat. i'm guessing he saw some blond bombshells with legs up to his eyeballs, but hey i'm not judging or stereotyping. haha.

basically now i'm obsessed with going to europe this summer. hubby has never been to europe and we think it would be neat to go together. i've only ever been to london with my family.

so the thing is... you can basically fly ANYWHERE in europe from london and it's like $100! want to spend two days in copenhagen? $100. madrid? $70. dublin? $100. paris? $100.

how have i never heard of this!? flights to dublin in june are $1200 each. flights to london are $1000 and then i can catch a $100 flight from london to dublin 2 days later. umm yes i would like to save 100 bucks by visiting two incredible cities. duh.

moral of the story, we're still in the planning stages and haven't decided exactly where we're going to go whether it's beaches, castles, or just replacing our living room furniture with our budget, but here's what we have on the europe shortlist.

london

dublin

{ photo from ballybegvillage.com }

paris

{ photo from brittanica.com }

madrid

{ photo from traveldk.com }

copenhagan (malmo is next door)

{ photo from denmarkemb.org }

we would only be able to visit london + one city (unless you guys think otherwise) because we'd only have a week off. i'd like to spend a bit less time in london and more time in another city, but i get freaked out about possible flight difficulties. and if we were delayed a day in paris, we could potentially miss a flight back to the states. you know?

but this is all conceptual! i wanted to know if any of you have done this. neither of us have been jetsetting around a continent before and don't actually know the most feasible way around this.

do we do something like:

wednesday afternoon - leave austin
thursday morning - arrive in london
thursday and friday all day - hang in london
saturday morning - leave london
saturday afternoon - arrive in copenhagen
saturday and sunday all day - hang in copenhagen / malmo
monday morning - leave copenhagen
monday afternoon - arrive in london
tuesday morning - leave london
tuesday afternoon - arrive in austin

or do we pay an extra $100 each to leave austin saturday and come back on a sunday so we could have an extra day?

that sounds like equal parts flying and touring. is one week long enough to hit two cities? the flight is only about 2 hours from london to copenhagen, so that's really not a ton of flying i suppose.

we've never done anything like this, nor contemplated anything like this, so please let me know if you have any tips! especially all you expat bloggers that live in european cities now... i'm talking to you sirena, melizza, and brandi!

home improvement

2011-01-13T21:03:00.001-06:00

we are taking on our very first home improvement project at the end of the month! since we moved in almost a year ago we haven't done any painting or even put up any friggin curtains. but we are attempting to do something big...

install wood floors!

has anyone does this before? admittedly i've never even seen it done, but i did watch some youtube videos and hey, i'm engineer, so perhaps we're ready? haha. actually some of our friends and next door neighbor have done it, so we'll have some experienced assistance.

we originally wanted to get hardwood floors, but we discovered that the floor beneath our carpet is straight concrete so it was going to be near impossible to put in real wood floors. we're going with pergo laminate instead. which after spending an hour browsing the flooring aisle of lowe's, we decided was a fabulous choice anyways. very conducive to rowdy puppies! (especially a specific rowdy puppy named dexter who thinks carpet is for his personal chewing pleasure!!!!!)

{ pergo vera mahogany laminate }

imagine that flooring taking over this room...

we're also thinking we might paint after we tear up the carpet but before we lay the wood floor. our current front runner is valspar's "montpelier olive". do you think an olive green would be too dark for the room with the addition of the wood floors? other color suggestions?

we could've had laminate floors installed during construction of the house, but decided the price was too high for something we could do ourselves at half the price. guess we'll find out if that's an accurate thought process come the first weekend in february. i'll keep you guys posted!

movie reviews, wanna see's, and no thank you's

2011-01-12T09:18:00.000-06:00

the holiday season has brought some great movies and we've seen a few. however, there are still a ton more that i want to see and a crap ton more i have zero desire to check out.

reviews

black swan - 7.5 / 10

{ photo from fandango.com }

ok, here's the thing. someone told me this movie was like requiem for a dream meets fight club. which automatically made hubby and i stoked because we effing love both of those movies. so we got to the theater and it was packed. someone ended up sitting directly next to us on either side. you know what's awkward? watching mila go down on natalie while mere inches from a stranger. i felt uncomfortable even looking at the screen for fear that the person next to me would think i was a total perv. self-consciousness aside, we left the movie thinking it was overrated and giving it about a 6 / 10. by monday afternoon i'd upped my score to a 7.5 because i found myself thinking about the movie and piecing little schizophrenic scenes together here and there. the movie wasn't bad for a lack of good acting, natalie, mila, and the woman who portrayed natalie's mom were sensational. but overall i think the movie was a little too shocking in all the wrong the places, making for a more uncomfortable than edge-of-your-seat experience.

true grit - 8 / 10

{ photo from fandango.com }

i feel like the gods of movie critics are going to shun me for not giving this a 10 / 10, but i can't do it. was it entertaining? yes. was jeff bridges utterly brilliant? yes. do hubby and i now say "ay-dios" a la matt damon? yes. do we pink puffy heart the coen brothers? yes. but was it all sorts of oscar-worthy amazing? no. it was a good movie, i will say that. and maybe i would've liked it more if i'd seen the original (my dad didn't make me watch john wayne movies with him, we were all about 007 in our house) and knew what was coming. but that's kind of how i felt about the whole movie- that i knew what was coming. there wasn't really a climax and i didn't feel attached to the characters. the young girl actually drove me a bit nuts with her sassy attitude. i'm usually a fan of that, but it seemed really forced. so that's that, i felt like true grit wasn't all i was dreaming for.

tron: legacy - 9 / 10

now you are all free to criticize my taste in movies and never listen to me again. "she gave true grit an 8, but tron a 9!?!? she has no class." i'm not going to pretend to be an oscar movie snob, i just call it like i see it. i'll tell you that i didn't want to see tron, i thought it looked weird and like a funky sci-fi poser. but alas, hubby and i made a deal. if he'd see black swan with me, i'd see tron with him. and shocker of shockers, he ended up choosing the better flick. the actors were phenomenal. this garrett hedlund guy has a huge future ahead of him, olivia wilde is probably the hottest chick to sport a black body suit, and jeff bridges is a legend simply for being able to play two characters as diverse as kevin flynn (tron) and rooster cogburn (true grit). the movie was so neat and fascinating at all times, i didn't want to leave. i kept wondering who was going to survive which battle and loving the battles themselves (i.e. disc throwing, motorcycle-ish racing, i know these aren't their technical tron names but whatevs). and i kept wondering who was going to narrowly escape this, that, or the other. the only downside to this movie was the cgi of young kevin flynn. i don't normally care about cgi, but from the opening scene i was like wait, that looks like a faux jeff bridges. is that a? no, it can't be. that would just be weird. but it was. i guess in an effort to have a young version of him, they created a cgi jeff and it was pretty poor quality. i would've rather they slapped some makeup and hair dye on old jeff, it was that bad. it was just a shame because the rest of the movie was so fascinating and the effects were really really great. so overall, very cool to see in theaters, my husband even went to see it a second time on his extra day off.

wanna see's

the king's speech

i'm convinced this is going to be a terrific movie because it has colin firth and a plot the follows the british monarchy. that's all i really need to know to fully believe i'll love it. i keep waiting for colin firth to land a role with oscar potential and i'm told this is possibly the one! he's had a few good ones, but i'm crossing my fingers this is "the one". i'm going to try to take a half day on friday to get some things done - oil change, take my coat to having the lining replaced, etc. and am toying with the idea of going to see this by myself. it's not the type of movie i can see hubby tagging along for.

the tourist

i'll wait for this to come out on dvd, i only want to see it because i'm in love with johnny depp and angelina jolie. call her a homewrecker if you like, but i love the woman as both a person and actress. has anyone seen this though? i haven't heard anything about it

no thank you's

season of the witch

this movie looks awful. when nicholas cage did national treasure, i really thought he was going to make a comeback. those movies were actually pretty awesome for us history nerds. but he keeps choosing craptastic looking movies and those are not conducive to a comeback!

the green hornet

i want to want to see this. seth rogen, christoph waltz, and cameron diaz in an action-esque comedy-esque movie sounds like it could be worth watching. but every time i see a preview for this, i keep hoping i'll want to see it, but i never do. it looks like it's trying too hard and i'm reeeeeally over all the superhero plot movies.

the dilemma

dear vince vaughn, please try to play a different role with a different sense of humor. i might start watching your movies again. xoxo jill

country strong

this is another movie with the case of casting gold and plot dung. gwyneth, once the classiest most elegant woman in hollywood in my book, does not look or sound the part of a rehab country singer. i saw her on glee, i know she has a good voice. but it's like pushing a square peg into a round hole, i don't see it. i love leighton meester aka my style icon, and based on tron, i really think garrett hedlund is a good actor. but i don't know, there is something about this movie that seems way off base and i have no desire to see it.

what were your favorite holiday flicks?

ava visits austin

2011-01-10T09:37:00.006-06:00

last month my sweet niece ava had her first visit to austin! laura and ava stayed with us for a fun-filled week and it was both a ball and a shock. i volunteered for some ava watching duty while laura slept and that was interesting! i learned about trying different things to soothe her, learned how to burp her, and learned how to feed her too. she is such a good baby, laura and andrew totally lucked out.

we had a terrific time together everyday. one night ava and i did laundry while mom got a night of trashy tv and vino. one day we all watched a corny chic flick on abc family (christmas cupid perhaps?). another day i took off work early so we could meet nichole for lunch, then laura got a massage while ava and i shopped. we journeyed to college station to look at christmas lights and see uncle jarrett and aunt wendi (they couldn't travel to arkansas when she was first born). it was a busy week, but a fun one!

also, let me add that ava loved it here and told me that when she graduates from high school, she's going to attend UT and hang out with auntie jill all the time. even though i'll be like 43. oh gosh, i can't even IMAGINE a 43 year old version of myself. scratch this conversation, it's freaking me out.

so here are some photos from miss ava's visit!

{ moooooom, where are we? }

{ dexter and kylie were trying to figure out this new creature }

{ auntie jill and ava }

{ mom and ava }

{ nichole gave ava the cutest little christmas ornament }

{ worn out from shopping }

{ fro-yo! }

{ visiting cousin addi and uncle jarrett in college station }

{ i kind of stole ava a lot that week... }

{ aunt wendi napping with addi and ava }

{ addi swinging her baby dolls, she loved watching ava swing too }

{ laura and addi }

{ addison helping ava open her christmas gifts }

i hope laura and ava can make it down to austin again soon (ok, stinky andrew can come too, jk), although it likely won't be for awhile because they're moving to iowa next month. insert tears here, waaah, iowa is too far! anyways we'll see them in exactly a month when we're in vegas together, but then hubby and i won't be in iowa again until my bestie keli's wedding next fall, so if i have to wait another 10 months to see ava, i'm glad it was after a full week of quality time. i miss you, pumpkin!

survey of the year

2011-01-06T11:38:00.000-06:00

I saw this on Mandy's blog earlier this week and liked reading her responses, so why not steal it? (also, pretend like I wrote these responses on like, December 31 in terms of tenses. I was kind of awful at switching back and forth between being in 2010 and 2011 as I wrote)

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?

Paid off our credit card debt

Bought a house

Celebrated our first wedding anniversary

Got a real Christmas tree (cough fail cough)

Hosted a family holiday

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I did pretty well with them, accomplished one, failed one, half-assed another. I have higher hopes for this year's resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that my sister had a baby in October. (PS: If you aren't already following her blog, you should be...

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully, no. We did not attend a single funeral in 2010.

5. What countries did you visit?

Mexicoooooooo! Which I'd actually never visited before. I've traveled to Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, Jamaica... and even lived 3 hours from Mexico for 4 years. Never made it there before this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

A healthy body.

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

October 29, because that is when my niece Ava was born. Also March 23, the day we closed on our house.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Definitely buying our house! It was such a strenuous journey. First, we put earnest money on the house so they could start building. Our home is in an area with USDA financing for a $0 down loan, so we figured we'd pay off our credit to get a good interest rate and be set. Nope! We didn't qualify for the USDA loan because we made too much money. Then we suddenly had to come up with a down payment on the house. Which wouldn't be a big deal because we'd saved so much money, BUT we'd already spent most of that money paying off credit! Thank goodness for fathers. My dad stepped in and gave us the down payment. Another struggle along the way was learning about liens. There was a lien on our credit that we wanted to pay off and have removed, however the company that filed the lien had gone bankrupt and was no longer in business. When there is nobody to pay, it becomes a difficult legal journey full of tracking down court documents, sending certified letters, calling judges, etc. I learned a lot about the legal process during those months of getting the lien released, and we're eternally grateful to our friend Nathan who was in law school and helped us interpret the codes so we wouldn't have to pay huge lawyer fees. Coincidentally, I met Nathan when he started dating my coworker Jessica and this weekend they are getting married! We're so excited for their wedding. :-)

9. What was your biggest failure?

I don't have it in me to talk about this. I know exactly what my biggest failure was and has continued to be. Hopefully in time I can talk about it publicly and not be so obnoxiously vague (I truly apologize for that). But rest assured my marriage is happy and everyone else in my family is great. So don't worry too much.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I was struggling with an illness throughout the late summer and fall, and was finally diagnosed in mid-December. I've already started my first course of treatment and we're hopeful that it will make all the difference. Again, sorry for the vagueness. I'm not to a point where I'm comfortable discussing it with anyone outside of my immediate family and closest friends right now.

11.What was the best thing you bought?

Dexter! He has been the funniest little addition to our family. I love when I'm looking for him and finally find him in the laundry basket, or when the four of us are laying on the couch together, that he is always on the very top of the cushion laying behind my head. One of our couch cushions has actually lost its fluff at the top and is permanently indented with Dexter's curled up body shape. Although they had a rocky start, Kylie and Dexter are now the best of friends. I'm so glad Kylie has someone to play with while we're at work.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My sister Laura, for sure. She is juggling her new role as a mother with being an amazingly supportive sister and great wife. I'm so thankful she will get text, call, tweet, gchat, e-mail, whatever communication works best at that particularly moment when I need to lean on her.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled?

Ohhhh the usual.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Furniture for the house and a second car payment. We bought a new coffee table, 2 end tables, dining room table, and guest bed for the house. We keep saying we're going to buy an armchair and new couch next, but it looks like the money we've been saving for that fund will be for hardwood floors instead. Since we moved to Leander, we also decided it was time for a second vehicle. I still take the bus to and from work, but now I drive the Civic to the station and Hubby takes his truck to Lakeway. He's always wanted a truck (and an Audi but THAT'S not happening anytime soon haha) so we were glad we got such a great deal at Round Rock Nissan!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Christmas!! We started planning to host the holiday in August, so the moment Hobby Lobby released their Christmas decorations, it was ON. I bought a strand of garland just about every time they were running 50% off the decor. Cookie platters, materials for a centerpiece, and lots of other fun stuff. We also had a great time putting lights up for the first time. Although it's January 6th and we still haven't taken them down... haha. We are a bit lazy now.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?

Hmm, I can't think of anything.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder?: Happier!
ii. thinner or fatter?: The exact same
iii. richer or poorer?: Richer in so many ways :-)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Spent more quality time with the dogs. After we got Dexter and both of the dogs were accustomed to being potty trained in the backyard as opposed to on walks, I stopped taking them for 2 walks a day. Now it's more like once a week and I feel terrible about that. I know they have each other, but I need to be better about my quality time with them.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Complaining about working late, haha. I do love my job, it's great. And I don't mind working over 40 hours when our workload demands it, I need to stop complaining when that's the case. :-)

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Christmas was exactly as planned. My family came up from Victoria the day before Christmas Eve. We ordered pizza and drank wine together. Then we opened gifts and talked until the wee hours of the morning. Christmas Eve we all hung out while Hubby and I cooked our little feast. It was such fun to have all the kids running around and the dogs too, Jarrett and Wendi brought their two pups. Then everyone left and we dropped by my mother-in-law's to give her and our nephew their gifts. We came back home and lounged on the couch watching Christmas movies. The next day we got up and went to see True Grit. After that, we opened gifts while watching yet more Christmas movies! It was a great weekend.

21. What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2010?

Ohhh, that's tough! Not necessarily publicly embarrassing, but Hubby likes to play practical jokes at home and I always fall for them. Like he has a fake roach that he plants around the house for me to find. Under the sheets, on my keyboard, in my stocking. I'm always shrieking and dropping things when I come across it haha.

22. Did you fall in love in 2010?

More than ever! Love my husband. (Even though he's a Packers fan.)

23. No idea what this question was.

24. What was your favorite TV program?

Modern Family and It's Always Sunny. We watch these shows every week and are always cracking up at them. They're so funny!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Absolutely not, I don't hate anyone.

26. What was the best book you read?

I can't choose just one. The Kite Runner really affected me, it was amazing. Twenties Girl was the best laugh I had all year. God is Not Great is wonderful for anyone who else that enjoys reading about the ridiculousness of religion and its history (generally stolen from various other religions, thus proving theirs completely unoriginal and utter bullshiz)

{ photo from honoluluweekly.com }

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The Glee Station on Pandora. Weeee! I love it!!

28. What did you want and get?

Oh gosh, everything!

29. What did you want and not get?

To not deal with any medical problems, but I still have high hopes for 2011.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

Probably the latest Harry Potter movie. It was really good, I cannot wait for next year.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Hubby threw me a surprise party! It was my 25th and the party was so special, I'm flattered that so many friends drove in from other cities to attend, and that my bestie Liz sent taco pizza. I had a great time.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Why do the answers to all these questions seem to deal with my freaking illness!? Again, not having medical problems.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Cardigan. Headband. As exhibited in the following photos (yes I'm aware that it appears extremely self-absorbed to input a zillion pictures of myself. But I'm here to prove a point. I wear handbands and/or cardigans almost everyday) :

34. What kept you sane?

Gchat with Laura, Nichole, and Selina!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I was pretty damn impressed by Jeff Bridges. He's always been a fabulous actor, but we loved him in both Tron and True Grit, a hard feat to accomplish in such diverse films if you ask me.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

In a positive way, everything going on with gay rights. I have been so pleased with Obama's actions while in office, his efforts in both social and healthcare reform are going in the books as major accomplishments. The repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell is a major first step to gay rights in the military. Iowa (my homestate) has legalized civil unions, and that was a very proud day indeed.

37. Who did you miss?

As usual, my family. It sucks living in a city without any of them here!

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Although I met Megan at the end of last year, she easily became one of my best friends this year. She is my clone!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010?

Be the best version of yourself and the truth always comes out. A lot of my friendships have been strengthened this year, especially when I focused on being crazy goofy sweet Jill, rather than the dressed to impress version of myself. Sometimes it's difficult to struggle with situations where you feel like people aren't judging you correctly or are only hearing one side. But I learned that if you are patient and stay true to yourself, the truth will always catch up with those people. And when it does, you'll be in an even better place than you were before, despite the suffering.

shake me up, judy

2011-01-05T10:48:00.001-06:00

after spending the evening jamming to the iron city soul shakers, belting out such lines as "mama! it's plain i'm not fancy!" at the top of my lungs in my little civic while running errands, i decided it's time to blog about one of the best album purchases i've made this year. the title track, shake me up, judy is one of my favorites for the short drive from my house to the station. it's the perfect tune to give your day a jump start. the richest one is great after a long day at work.

please do yourself a favor and download the shake me up, judy album by the iron city soul shakers from amazon or itunes RIGHT NOW.

margaret moser named this band the "best new local act" in the austin chronicle and i couldn't agree more. they frequent several locations around town and although i have yet to see a live show, i am dying to see kristi whip around that blonde hair and give me goosebumps with her vocals!

i promise i'm not just saying all of this because my friend { / coworker / lover of all things classic novels } kristi is the lead vocalist for this group. she is TALENTED beyond your wildest dreams. if you don't believe me, listen to shake me up, judy and yenko tuned on amazon.com. they'll convince you of your need to bust out the ipod and purchase the whole album.

jane austen 2011 challenge

2011-01-05T10:33:00.000-06:00

i almost died when my cousin kara told me about the jane austen 2011 challenge.

do i love to read? YES.
do i especially love reading jane austen? YES.
do i live for jane austen inspired books so i can know the future of the bennet, bingley, darcy, and wickham households? OF FREAKING COURSE!

(off topic: i sincerely wish there was a great gone with the wind inspired novel. one where rhett and scarlett live happily ever after of course. i have yet to find one)

i am definitely partaking in the jane austen 2011 challenge, hosted by blogger a faithful journey. (ironic, i know)

i'm planning to read all six of jane's novels: sense and sensibility, pride and prejudice, emma, persuasion, northanger abbey, and mansfield park. in addition, i'm planning to read 3 jane austen inspired novels, although i haven't decided which ones yet.

as soon as i finish house rules this week (sensational so far), i'm going to head to the library for the kickoff of this challenge. if you'd like to participate, go here and add your name to the list. looking forward to talking books with some of you!

happy hour reminder!

2011-01-03T16:32:00.000-06:00

hey guys,

just wanted to remind yall that this wednesday is the "sirena is stateside happy hour". if you don't know sirena, you should. i ran into her at the grocery store last week and almost knocked people over with my cart just to say hi. the girl is that fabulous. whether you're part of the usual blogger gang, new to austin blogging, or heck, if you don't blog at all and live in the vicinity of austin, you are more than welcome to come out and join us for happy hour! we are a fun group, i promise.

here are the details and hope to see yall there:

sirena is stateside happy hour

wednesday, january 5, 2011

5:30 - 7:00pm

chuy's near the arboretum

11680 research boulevard

(aka 183 and duval)

{ from a few other HH's where sirena has been in town }

willkomen 2011

2011-01-02T08:11:00.000-06:00

why i have recently taken a liking to german words + years is beyond me. possibly because while driving home from lunch on friday hubby and i had a battle of foreign words. does anyone else do this?

our conversations go something like:
hubby: gracias
me: bitte
hubby: silencio pendeja
me: halt den mund arschloche
hubby: chupa mi pena
me: nicht mehr du hurensohn

maybe don't google some of those phrases... we think it's funny to get more vulgar and rude as we progress. sometimes we both speak spanish, sometimes it's spanish versus german. my german is sucky with the exception of phrases like "you're welcome" "what is your name?" and "i am in school" lol. so that's where our conversations are limited.

well you guys didn't bargain for all of that! anyways, i've devised my list of resolutions for the new year, so it's time i write them out and am held accountable for failing at least one of them this year, if not more.

power off two nights a week
we generally go to dinner twice a week and while we're in the car i'm usually texting my sister or talking to my mom or updating my twitter. this drives my husband CRAZY. we'll get to the restaurant and i'll hang up and he'll say "oh are you going to hang out with me now?" my goal is to stop doing this to hubs at least twice a week (obviously i will try more often that, but baby steps!) by turning off my phone two nights a week. or strategically leaving it on my nightstand until i go to bed and need to make sure no emergencies have occurred during the hiatus. i want to be better about spending quality time with my hubs, pups, and even myself, by not checking my phone every time a little "ding!" sound comes from it.
cook twice a week
i loved this one so much last year that i'm going to do it again! i'm definitely in need of some new recipes, but i got a new cookbook for christmas and a new dining table in october, so that's really all i need to feel inspired to whip up some scrumptious sit-down dinners.

*side note #1: when i originally drafted this on january 1, i had a list of 3 resolutions and #2 was "touch my toes" because i wanted to keep up my bikram yoga efforts. within a day i've discovered that i have to give up bikram for awhile for health reasons. a week into starting it back up again and i already have to stop. i can't find any other yoga classes in cedar park or leander, so i'm bummed. anyways, i guess 2 resolutions will be sufficient.

*side note #2: when i told my husband my resolution was to touch my toes he thought it was due to my foot phobia. i absolutely hate touching gross clammy feet (even in yoga this was difficult for me to accept) and even more i hate when other people, including my nieces, try to touch them. bleh!

anyways, i think these are pretty realistic goals that will make for happier, healthier, and more peaceful living in casa de enginerd. good luck with all of your resolutions as well!

auf wiedersehen 2010

2011-01-01T08:52:00.002-06:00

it is now officially 2011! ok, that's a little obvious to everyone. but i'm still stoked for it! we are going to have some exciting times this year, i'm so sure of it. we're going to vegas next month, several of my best friends are getting married, i'm sure i'll have a new niece or nephew or two, and hubby and i are looking forward to another year of marriage and life together with our pups.

last year i proclaimed that i'd just had the "BEST DECADE OF MY LIFE!" and 2010 was equally fabulous! so here it is, 2010 via monthly photo review. the proof is in the pictures my darlings.

january

rang in the new year on a sunset cruise in KEY WEST

explored alligators and swamps in the EVERGLADES

march

bought our FIRST home

april

celebrated HUBBY'S 29TH with our HOUSEWARMING PARTY

hosted my PARENTS' VISIT from iowa to see the new casa

celebrated our FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY in dallas

may

saw our FAVORITE MUSICIAN ben folds

celebrated my BABY SISTER'S 18TH in victoria

hosted LAURA & ANDREW'S VISIT from arkansas with a trip to KRAUSE SPRINGS

june

spent a day at the VINEYARDS for my DAD'S VISIT

visited a college bestie in HOUSTON

followed by an ASTROS GAME

welcomed a new FAMILY MEMBER, DEXTER

july

threw a BABY SHOWER FOR LAURA & AVA with my sisters

vacationed in IOWA during bixfest

vacationed in CHICAGO for our 7 year anniversary

had a CELEBRITY SIGHTING of jennifer connelly & paul bettany whilst in chicago

august

visited the TEXAS BEACHES

september

vacationed in CANCUN with my bff kat

october

spent a day at the PUMPKIN PATCH during STEPH & SARAH'S VISIT

welcomed our NIECE AVA during a trip to ARKANSAS

celebrated HALLOWEEN as my DISNEY ICON, BELLE

november

celebrated THANKSGIVING at my brother's home in COLLEGE STATION

december

had a wonderful visit from LAURA & AVA

toasted another great year at my firm for our ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY

celebrated my 25TH BIRTHDAY with the DRAFTHOUSE and a SURPRISE PARTY

hosted a fun CHRISTMAS at our home

we had a busy year and are hoping for more of the same in 2011. enjoy the new year everyone!!!

downton abbey

2010-12-30T15:37:00.000-06:00

raise your hand if you are 25 going on 75!

or if while visiting family and talking about tv shows, only your grandfather is interested in discussing the latest masterpiece theater with you.

no? nobody else?

crap.

well, if you are a closet period piece lover such as myself- actually, i must interrupt. i'm not a closet lover at all, my coworker kristi and i talk about jane austen, charles dickens, and the latest masterpiece theater on a weekly basis. also kat and i took an entire box set of jane austen movies to mexico with us. i'm a loser.

back to it. if you are a closet period piece lover, you need to set your dvr to start recording the newest masterpiece theater starting january 9th! and check out these clips of downton abbey!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/index.html

dame maggie smith's "what is a week-end?" line clearly shows that this is going to be a winner. also, i spy sense and sensibility's edward!

{ best portrayal of sense and sensibility, um, ever

photo from bbc.co.uk}

time to put the nerd away for awhile... hopefully at least one person is as excited about downton abbey as i am!

surprise party!

2010-12-29T21:25:00.001-06:00

so my 25th birthday was on december 19 and it was an amaaaazing week of celebrating. on tuesday, i met with several gal pals to see love actually at the drafthouse. we drank butter beer, danced along with hugh's "golden oldie for a golden oldie" number, and booed every time that slutface secretary came on the screen. i mean what?

{ mandy and me. thank you for the headbands! you know me oh so well }

{ the only person i know who can recite love actually verbatim with me and quotes it in real life. literally, we quoted the "are you going to dip in yogurt?" line today while shopping at pottery barn at lunch }

and megan even made me a necklace and earrings from the glass studio. hopefully she's going to start her own etsy store soon, she makes the cutest frames, serving plates, and jewelry. so talented!

friday evening i got off work and hubby picked me up at the station. a bit out of the norm but he said he wanted to run errands and it really did make more sense for us to take one vehicle. we went to target and petsmart, then hubby asked if i wanted to go to hobby lobby. at this point, i should've KNOWN he was up to something! he NEVER willingly goes to hobby lobby with me. i need laura to come down from arkansas or nichole to venture up from south austin in order to have company at good ol' hobby lobby. i bought a cute little platter, we drove through some neighborhoods to look at christmas lights on the way home, then arrived at the casa. i walked in and started talking to the dogs as usual "come here little puppies! let's take down the gate my sweets!" then hubs told me to go to the garage because my gift was in there. and...

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!

it was full of our closest friends! and a nxnw keg! and crap ton of wine! i was shocked. then he told me to open the garage freezer, which was a bit odd. but in there was...

hold on...

wait for it...

TACO PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

aka my favorite food in the whole entire world! when we go to iowa, i literally eat that shiz every single day. my bestie liz, had 3 pizzas from happy joe's shipped all the way from iowa for my surprise party. thank you again times 842 liz! { if any of my fellow iowans in other states didn't know this feat was possible, go here and ship some to yourself! } hubs popped the pizzas in the oven, topped them with lettuce, tomato, and happy joe's chips, and a few minutes later, the bestest pizza ever appeared in front of us.

as if the surprise guests and surprise pizza weren't enough, the ever fabulous pink cupcake to my green cupcake { don't ask, we have a history of baking when we hang out } came down from lubbock for the party!

{ i think i look like a creeper, but sara thought it was cute so we went with it }

anyways, the party was amazing! we stayed up crazy late drinking and playing wii. here are a few of the photos from the evening.

{ sara and garland, cannot wait for their wedding in september! }

{ the greatest neighbors that ever existed. sharon and her husband patrick hand us trays of margaritas over the fence on a regular basis. it is bomb! }

{ getting our vino on }

{ pat, jake, leslie, and ruthie, our original austin friends }

{ music soulmates. jen and i share a deep love of regina spektor and kate nash }

{ searching for the pickle }

{ corey and melissa came up from victoria to celebrate too }

{ drunken boys. remind me again why i married a packers fan? barf! }

{ s-hubb crashed so kylie took the opportunity to spoon with her }

{ meanwhile, garland and i duked it out on wii bowling until 3am. it was a tough fight, but gar was victorious at the end of the night }

all in all, hubs did a great job of ringing in the second quarter century of my life! i love that boy.

an atheist's response to christmas celebrations

2010-12-22T08:12:00.025-06:00

for the past few weeks i've been receiving e-mails, messages, etc. asking why i celebrate christmas even though i'm a staunch atheist. (we're not talking like, "i don't believe in god"... we're talking more like, "not only do i not believe in god, i despise religion on the whole and most of the books i read are about proving religion wrong and why it's bad for our society.") so yes, staunch atheist.

anyways, i figured the time has come to re-post last year's "why i celebrate christmas" response. so here we are.

an atheist's response to christmas celebrations

{ originally posted here, only a few edits below }

a couple days after posting my christmas wish list i got an e-mail from someone asking me an intriguing question- "you have blogged about your atheist beliefs alot and i was wondering if and why you celebrate christmas." i've gotten a lot of e-mails before, "how do you watch true blood online?" "how is your sister doing?" etc., but this was the first genuinely personal question anyone has asked. at first i was a little offended, then decided it was super legitimate and wanted to address it. i felt it was fitting to respond to jennifer now.

first, yes, i do celebrate christmas. it is such a rare occasion when we're able to get the entire family together. the extra days off help make traveling to be with them easier.

second, why i celebrate christmas. i actually like to ponder the question "why not!?" obviously i don't celebrate the religious aspect. since discovering that i was truly atheist, i have never attended a christmas eve service with my family. i won't be a hypocrite about it. you hear the phrase "jesus is the reason for the season!" a whole lot this time of year. but it's simply not true.

"the season" has been around longer than "jesus" being "the reason".

first, thank you in advance if you think it's okay for non-christians to celebrate the christmas season, i appreciate your openness. that's you cousin kara. :) this is moreso my defense to people who disagree. it's actually offensive to me that anyone is capable of being selfish about it. if you think jesus is the reason for the season and that atheists should not celebrate christmas, i suggest you purge yourself of the things jesus and the church did not invent for your holiday. get rid of the traditions that have been around longer than "christ's birthday".

that christmas tree? completely pagan. obviously i'm not pagan (so i'm not saying i can do it and you can't! lol), but i'm suggesting that if i should not celebrate christmas traditions, you should not celebrate pagan ones. jeremiah 10: 2-4 basically says decorating trees is for heathens, yet it also implies that pagans treated the trees as idols. regardless, it's obviously a pagan (read: heathen) custom. not christmas-y christian.

mr. santa claus? way to take away from jesus's thunder. if jesus is the reason, why are you telling your kids about the fairy tale of santa claus? actually i'm pretty sure he's based on a bishop or something, but that's not the point. if i shouldn't celebrate christmas because it's about jesus and i don't believe in him, then you should chuck santa out of your fireplace. tell your kiddo that god is bringing you presents. isn't that what people say? if you believe, you are showered in gifts and blessings. tell him/her that not getting the flu was his christmas gift, courtesy of the big man. seems like that would line up a bit better with fundamental christian beliefs. less materialistic idolatry, more invisible man working behind the scenes. (ps: not speaking ill of materialistic idolatry. i'm a big fan of giving and receiving gifts in the name of a single day.)

virgin birth? unoriginal. the story of the virgin birth and manger and all that jazz does nothing to convince me that mary was impregnated with the son of god. why? because it's been done before! it's seriously not creative anymore guys. is a story in a fictional book (aka the bible) about an "angel" visiting mary REALLY what people base their belief in jesus on? c'mon, it's been done. from god is not great: how religion poisons everything by christopher hitchens, "...and the greek demigod perseus was born when the god jupiter visited the virgin danae as a shower of gold and got her with child. the god buddha was born through an opening in his mother's flank. catlicus the serpent-skirted caught a little ball of feathers from the sky and hid it in her bosom, and the aztec god huitzilopoctli was thus conceived. the virgin nana took pomegranate from the tree watered by the blood of the slain agdestris, and laid it in her bosom, and gave birth to the god attis. the virgin daughter of a mongol king awoke one night and found herself bathed in a great light, which caused her to give birth to genghis khan. krishna was born of the virgin devaka. horus was born of the virgin isis. mercury was born of the virgin maia. romulus was born of the virgin rhea sylvia."

the date december 25? a sham. december 25 isn't christ's birthday. it is the day people celebrate christ's birthday, which is more than likely in the spring or fall, nobody fully knows. first, in olden babylon, there was a big feast celebrated on december 25. then in rome, the winter solstice (aka saturnia) was celebrated. the pagans celebrated the sun god this time of year. it wasn't until a couple hundred years after christ's death that someone in rome decided december 25 should be the day to celebrate jesus's birthday.

my bff liz aka "the bible smackdown queen" because of her extensive research in religion and religious history, said it herself (in layman's terms): "Yep! Jesus' birthday is actually in the spring, which makes waaaaay more sense because it's all about rebirth, right? They changed it to the solstice because they wanted the pagans to worship Jesus and Mary, who have a lot of similarities to a pagan god and the Goddess."

mistletoe, holly, ivy, etc.? magical powers. everyone loves a plant with magical healing powers (aka mistletoe) or one that can defend you from ghosts and demons (aka holly). although i do think the legend that holly sporadically came out of the ground as christ walked the earth (post-death of course) is precious. kind of contradicting, either gets rid of ghosts or came from one. tough choice. but please remove these from your wreaths and/or hallways please.

so, what i'm trying to say is that i celebrate christmas for time with my family, the spirit of giving, beautiful decor, and jolly music. i don't care what the origin of the little bits and pieces of christmas are. i care that they came together to form this incredible and beautiful holiday!

i don't think atheists should be left out of celebrating this season because christianity borrowed some traditions and an essential date from pagan ritual.

meeeerry pagan-stealing holiday, my friends!

my life is a christmas movie plot

2010-12-21T11:46:00.002-06:00

as i was telling my friend sj this story the other morning, she said "i feel like this is a christmas movie plot".

anyways, remember how incredibly stoked i was about our REAL christmas tree this year!?

pretty, right!?

um, now my friend is about 14 shades lighter. i knew we needed to water the tree, really i did. every morning for the first few days i'd fill the stand. then i noticed that when i was filling it, a lot of times it still had water from the previous day. so i thought i could just do every other day.

and then when laura was here two weeks ago, i didn't think anything of the fact that i'd forgotten to water it thursday and friday. then saturday we went to college station. when we came home on sunday i was like, oooooh shiiiiiiiiiz. my tree is dying.

so i did some googling and everyone said we needed to cut an inch off the bottom so it could take water again. i pondered this, realizing that we don't own a saw.

then we thought, well if the sap has dried out and it just needs water to be able to get in, surely we could drill holes in the trunk, right!?

we subsequently realized we don't own a drill. or maybe we do, i don't speak tools. but what we have is an electric thing that puts screws in the wall. i don't think we have "drill bits". we ended up putting screws into the trunk and taking them out to make holes.

and our tree is still dying. maybe one might consider it dead now. it's so sad looking...

sigh. next year we will be better!

food quirks

2010-12-15T09:43:00.000-06:00

my sister has been visiting for the past week, sorry for the lack of blogging. also today i was feeling rather uninspired so i trolled my draft posts to find out that i could wrap up today. oddly enough, i started this one on 12/12/09. almost exactly a year old. that's partially why it struck my fancy.

moral of this story: i am a very plain eater. i prefer "plain" over "picky" because to be quite honest, i just enjoy foods in their natural state, not smothered in a bunch of shit. i'd also like to point out that we don't get to choose our taste buds. it is seriously not my fault that my food options are limited. so here you go, my major food quirks:

i don't eat beef
absolutely refuse to eat it. it's not even that i'm an organic hippie (admittedly, i could kind of care less about that, i'm not convinced), it's that i think beef is worse for you than it is good for you. when i see red meat, all i see is saturated fat sitting in your stomach, unable to digest. you won't have any luck trying to convince me otherwise. i dare you to take beef out of your diet and tell me you don't feel healthier and haven't lost weight. because i promise you will. it happened to my dad, it happened to my husband, it happened to me. i haven't eaten beef in almost 3 years and i don't regret it one bit. there is plenty of iron of turkey, pork, shrimp, and potatoes.
i'm allergic to onions
i am allergic to the onion family and it's difficult. i can't eat an onion ring without breaking out in hives and throwing up in a parking lot. (true story, thanks tgi friday's) i can eat the occasional queso that has onion chunks mixed in, as long as i avoid the onion chunks. i guess the amount of cheese, milk, etc. outweighs the onion juices or something. this also means i can't eat chives and can only have garlic in very limited moderation. this makes for difficult recipe making.
i don't eat mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, bbq sauce, or *gasp* RANCH
i can't stand almost all condiments. for some freakish reason i love french dressing, but outside of that i like everything dry.
i don't like mayo because it tastes like spoiled milk.
i don't like mustard because it tastes like a garbage can .
i don't like ketchup because it tastes like sweet n' sour spaghetti sauce. well, actually, i can dip the occasional french fry, but i don't like it on anything like sandwiches or with chicken.
i don't like bbq sauce because it tastes like ketchup and vinegar which just, ew.
and i don't like ranch because it tastes like seasoned spoiled milk.
i don't understand why restaurants don't put these things on the side. most people don't like at least one of the above. i think they should ALWAYS be on the side. they'd probably waste a lot less food with people returning sandwiches because it's difficult to take the condiments off.
i don't like cream cheese
i know what you're thinking. surely jill, the queen of sugary sweets, loves cheesecake. no my lovelies, i do not. i hate cheesecake. i can take a bite and enjoy it for about 0.14 seconds, then it hits- the after taste. cheesecake has a very bitter after taste in my mouth. not just cheesecake though, anything cream cheese based. i had a bite of italian creme cake at a wedding, not knowing what it was made of, and the squeamish look on my face offended the bride. i didn't know! they all taste bitter to me.
i don't like sour cream or guacamole
these are a staple of mexican sides and i can't eat them. they taste disgusting to me, plain and simple. my favorite hash brown casserole is made with sour cream and i had to make severe alterations to the recipe to make it to my taste bud liking. i don't enjoy either.

now that you know why it's difficult for me to order in many restaurants, i'd like to discuss what i do eat.

fresh vegetables with a little butter
i looove green beans cooked in a little butter and salt. or corn on the cob. or a baked potato with a bit of butter and cheese. or grilled asparagus with a little buttery goodness. i can totally pass on things like a sour cream baked potato, cream of corn, cream cheese jalapenos, or any other fatty veggie alternative.
turkey, pork, or chicken dry
if meat is cooked correctly, it shouldn't have to require some sort of funky sauce on it. it should be delicious without it. have you ever had a pork loin cooked correctly? amazeballs. have you ever subbed in turkey for ground beef in your recipes? healthier alternative and you'd never know the difference, especially because of the seasonings usually included in those sorts of recipes.

looky there, i enjoy foods in their natural state. i can even do veggies without the butter, it just happens to make them a little better. if you look at it that way, i think it shows i'm not the picky one. i don't require 700 additional calories to make a food taste good to me. i like things nice and simple!

c'mon wednesday!

2010-12-06T13:12:00.001-06:00

i can't wait for wednesday to be here! laura and ava are coming to stay with us until monday. i can't believe she's making the 8 hour trek with a one month old, but i'm not complaining because it means i get to see my sister and niece. we have so many plans already. i do have to work, but am planning to take a half day on friday. we are going to go shopping (where i plan to buy every cute onesie in sight) and out to eat to celebrate my birthday early (hmm, not sure she knows that, but we are lol).

i also booked her a massage for friday afternoon, and i'll watch ava during that time. the poor girl gets hardly any rest, you new moms are amazing. i know she has a husband that helps, but i want to give her a relaxing afternoon of LAURA time. i hope she loves it.

saturday we're planning to drive to college station to go see my brother. i swear, if i see him this weekend that will be twice in two weeks and i'll see him again at christmas. 3 times in a month will seriously be a record. they have a really great light display through a park, so we're going to sing carols and drink hot cocoa and take in the lights. i went a few years ago with my sister-in-law wendi and it was beautiful. i'm excited to do it again.

anyways, that's all! i just want wednesday to be here so i can spend lots of time with my sis and niece. we have spent so much time with our families this year, it's unreal.

actually, that reminds me. remember how i mentioned that hubby and i were saving for a trip to nyc or vegas?? well i was talking to my dad this weekend and he asked what our plans are, and it turns out he is taking us on a family vacation to vegas in february. the only thing better than going on vacation is going on a vacation you don't have to pay for, haha. now we might spend that extra money on installing hardwood floors in the living room. decisions, decisions!

holiday treats

2010-12-05T09:16:00.001-06:00

i have already planned the dinner menu for christmas eve with my family, but have not yet finalized what desserts to make. growing up, my grandmother in iowa always had a ridiculous cookie and candy tray that we'd dive into halfway through opening presents. when i say ridiculous, i mean there were at least 10-15 different items, and at least 20 of each item...

...for 10 people.

this year we are having 8 adults and 2 children in our home for christmas, so i'm going to attempt a master dessert tray. i'm going to try to keep it to about 8-10 desserts though, because my sister-in-law is bringing her amazeballs pudding concoction (i must find the recipe for it, you won't believe pudding has ever been so good until you've tried this!) and hubby insists on having a cheesecake because that's his favorite (even though he knows i hate cream cheese...). so anyways, i'm limiting it to 8-10 treats on top of the pudding and cheesecake, otherwise i'll go into a diabetes coma after everyone leaves and i'm held hostage with 100 pieces of delicious treats and leftover cakes. i'll probably just take leftovers to work though.

soooo this year, our holiday treat menu is looking as follows:

seven layer bars

my stepmom has been making these for me since about 2nd grade. hands down, my favorite holiday dessert

{photo from thepioneerwoman.com }

rocky road

the linked recipe might not be the same as my texas mom's, but the picture looks about right, lol. anyways, she makes us all a huge tin of this every year and is bringing some to christmas.

{ photo from cookiemadness.net }

owl eyes

this is a dessert my great-aunt eleanor (who just celebrated her 90th birthday in october!) has always spoiled us with. our family traditionally uses circular pretzels and then we put 1 red or green m&m in the center. obviously this isn't a treat confined to christmas, you can use any colored m&m anytime of the year.

{ photo from beantownbaker.com }

pretzel turtles

i've never tried these before, just found the recipe online this weekend and thought they looked right up my alley.

{ photo from allrecipes.com }

homemade frosted sugar cookies

i don't have a recipe for homemade frosted sugar cookies...does anyone have a good one they can send me? i'm going to buy cookie cutters this week. :-)

{ photo from mccormick.com }

chocolate covered peanut butter crackers

my friend jennifer suggested this recipe and it looks delectable. but it's only a runner up in case i can come up with something better.

{ photo from bakingandboys.com }

that is only 6 holiday treats i have in mind, i want at least 2 more. what are your holiday favorites? i'm thinking i'd like to do something with candy canes and possibly almond bark? but i don't have a good recipe for that. also maybe peanut brittle? is that easy to make? it looks like it might be difficult...

so please start suggesting your favorite cookie and candy tray treats! christmas eve is less than 3 weeks away and i'm trying to get as many groceries beforehand as possible. i'm hoping to bake about 2 desserts per night the week of christmas eve so i can have them all ready. man i am soooo stoked for the holidays!!

an assessment of my resolutions

2010-12-01T13:55:00.000-06:00

december is here! december is here! my very favorite month of the year!

my birthday!
christmas!
christmas parties!
christmas potlucks!
joyous music!
holiday bonuses!
new year resolutions!

ok, maybe that last one isn't quite as merry as the others, but the new year is rapidly approaching so that means it's time to assess the goals i set last year and think about what accomplishments i'd like to make next year.

so let's start with my new year failures.

1. run a 10k
PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH. every year i learn my lesson on this. quite simply, i'm not a runner. i like to go for a jog about twice a month and that's it. for a few months i was going to the gym after work but then i started having to work a lot of overtime so that plan went down the drain. i really just wasn't meant to train rigorously for running. i'm still in great shape, so apparently i'm doing something right though!

i did quite a bit better on my second goal.

2. cook 2 fresh meals a week
i kept up with this most of the year and found several recipes i enjoyed! i think 2 meals is a week is plenty sufficient because we usually ate leftovers of my meals once a week, plus hubby always bbq's on the weekend and we have those leftovers. i've been keeping track of some of my favorite recipes here, and i think my favorite discovery this year is a toss up between chicken pot pie casserole and pork chop hash brown casserole. this from the girl who detested casseroles growing up.

then there's the goal that i blew out of the water.

3. increase my credit score 50 points
with each of the three credit bureaus i increased my credit score 38, 51, and 99 points! i learned that credit cards aren't checking accounts and paid them off. instead of charging our vacation to chicago this summer, we saved for it. we are planning to take another vacation in february to possibly new york or las vegas, and again will pay cash instead of charging. i stopped spending money on frivolous things like purses. i have a "brown purse" and a "black purse" and i've had them each for 2 years now. i don't need a dior or a louis vuitton to be symbolic of my status because things like that don't show anything about a person except how they prefer to spend their money. which isn't to say it's bad to buy those things, especially if you have excess money to do so! i just mean i'd rather go to little rock for the weekend to see my sister, or buy my family awesome christmas gifts, or purchase a new dining room table. when we stopped keeping up with the jones', we stopped charging dumb things and now our credit scores are great.

on a deeper level, i've also learned that it's not what you have that makes you who you are or better than anyone. (not learned as in i didn't know this, because of course i've always known this, but we saw it in action this year and it still held true). when we stopped spending money the way we were, we didn't lose any friends. nobody thought we were less cool. nobody judged us for being fiscally responsible. it's really not how big your house is, how many cars you have, or how many people you can convince to take your side in an argument. houses, cars, and people don't define you. how you take care of and treat those things and people defines you. i have more fun keeping my home clean and decorating it with christmas lights than wondering if i should buy a bigger home so that i can be better. we don't need anything bigger, our home is perfect for us. now if we had 6 munchkins and larger incomes, okay, it's totally legit to upgrade! and i have more fun hanging out with the people i love and sending spontaneous e-mails to my best friends checking up on them than taking time and energy to put others down and manipulate people into hating each other. the "thanks for thinking of me!" and inside joke text messages mean a lot more than the "oh my gawd, i can't believe xyz" messages. i used to dread responsibility and being an adult, but it's actually really great when you've got a good grasp on things! i hope everyone is able to learn that lesson, especially in times such as this. the economy isn't great, but christmas and the spirit of giving is! as henry david thoreau once said, "be true to your work, your word, and your friend." lessons to live by if you want happiness. :-)

pickles + starfish + ladders in trucks = holiday decorating

2010-11-29T07:50:00.003-06:00

3 straight days of nonstop eating, shopping, and decorating for christmas. HELLS YES. this is going to be our first christmas in the new house, so we were really excited to put up lights. we wanted to have plenty of lights, but not go overboard because hello, we have a 30 year mortgage and don't need them all in one year! so with our $200 budget, we bought icicle lights for the garage and doorway, 2 lawn reindeer, 3 lawn trees, a mini tree, and miscellaneous other lights.

{ staking the deer }

{ for the record, i helped with all the assembly, hanging, and staking! }

{ we only had a 4' ladder, so to hang the lights over the garage we had to put the ladder in the bed of the truck. some might think this is ghetto fabulous but i like to think it's creative engineering }

{ our house is in the holiday spirit }

{ the right side of our yard }

{ the entry, i love our little snowman signs in the bushes }

the outdoor lights were one adventure, our holiday tree was another. i grew up with fake trees, presumably because my allergies are bat shit crazy. i'm allergic to grass, i think that speaks volumes. so every year hubby begs to have a real tree and i always chicken out and say no. but this year we decided to go for it! now i understand the purpose of tree skirts. they're not just for nice decoration to cover the base, as i once thought. they also absorb the water you spill when trying to hydrate your tree. and they do a smashing good job of collecting all of the needles that fall from the tree.

overall, i'm really pleased with our decision to have a real tree. it looks so much better and fuller than the fake trees we've had in years past. plus when i was hanging lights, the branches were soft. i thought they'd be itchy and poky, but they weren't. if our tree dies or i start breaking out in hives, i might be concerned. but so far so good!

{ our tree before when we first brought it home }

{ the finished tree, i love it! }

there are few things better than listening to bing crosby and andy williams while stringing lights on a tree and reminiscing over ornaments. we had so many great laughs over the history of some of them. i took pictures of a few of my favorites.

{ after i moved from iowa to texas, one of my best friends andrea sent me these starfish ornaments for christmas. we had an inside joke where we called each other "starfish", such dorks. anyways, these ornaments reminded me of all the friends i left when i moved down here 10 years ago. i'll never regret my move, and while i've outgrown a lot of my old friends, i miss several that i'm still close to }

{ laura gave me this sisters ornament when she worked at the hallmark store. so funny and cute! }

{ we partake in the tradition of hiding the pickle in the tree. whoever finds the pickle first gets an extra present. my grandmother always hid one and laura and i would scour the branches to be the first! i think it's a german tradition although my northern family is norwegian }

{ in davenport, we have something called "the festival of trees" every november/december. it is incredibly fun and they have great craft tables for kids. when i was about 8 years old we made these clothespin reindeer. if you have kids and live in the quad cities, you must take them to the festival of trees every year! i have a ton of fond memories there }

{ another festival of trees craft. when i had my own first tree, my mom mailed me all the ornaments from my childhood. they crack me up, i'm glad she sent them! }

there are more decorations strewn across the house, including my usual addiction to garland. here are a few photos of those.

so what are your holiday traditions? real trees or fake trees? pickle hiding or any other fun ornament activities?

thanksgiving in aggieland

2010-11-26T22:27:00.001-06:00

we really can't seem to get into the groove of a thanksgiving tradition. last year we stayed home (thanks swine flu) but were supposed to go to hubby's cousin's, the year before that we went to my mom's, the year before that was hubby's mom's, the year before that was hubby's aunt's, the list goes on and on. seven thanksgivings of never visiting the same place twice in a row. so why on earth should this year be any different!?

since my brother was on-call thanksgiving weekend and couldn't travel to see the fam (and 2 hours to college station > 3 hours to victoria > 4 hours to port o'connor), hubby and i thought it'd be great to spend the holiday there. plus, okay, it's possible i'm working really hard on operation let-us-kids-steal-a-few-holidays-from-my-parents and this was prime example setting.

anyways, jarrett and wendi cooked an awesome meal, we spent hours playing with my niece addison, we laughed like crazy, scoured the black friday ads, and my brother even gave us a dvd of our wedding ceremony and reception. we had no idea our day had been recorded and it was really special to watch it this weekend. i pink puffy heart my big brother! and thankfully, we weren't murdered whilst supporting the horns in aggieland.

{ celebrating addi's 2nd birthday a couple of weeks late }

{ checking to see if there is more in the bag, ha }

{ she adored her tinkerbell dress from auntie jill, auntie laura, and the uncles }

{ addi loved the hat as much as the dress and insisted on wearing it all night, including while she ate dinner }

{ my bro, the master chef. surrounded by all of wendi's fine cooking too }

{ auntie jill and addi }

{ addison and uncle }

{ those eyes!! also, at this point she had spilled on her dress and chose not to put clothes back on. kiddos are so funny }

{ piggy back rides with her fun aunt }

{ more piggy back madness }

{ she is so dang happy, ALL the time }

{ singing in her microphone in only a diaper and my shoes. and she's been running around so much at this point that her diaper is falling off haha }

{ time to read before bed. addi is soo smart. she knows all of the animals in her book and the sounds they made too. my favorite is "that's a snake! ssssssss" }

{ sharing wrappers with uncle before it's time to go }

we really must visit college station more often. it's not as terrible as i thought. then again, we only went to my brother's house, soo perhaps the maroon and cowboy boots are a little crazier in the outside world! who knows what turkey day will bring next year, but this year i'm so thankful we were able to spend it with our loving family. hope you all had a fabulous day as well!

giving thanks

2010-11-24T09:26:00.002-06:00

it's here, time for the quintessential blogger thanksgiving post. last year i had thankful friday every week of november, and this year i haven't touched on the things i'm thankful for very much. but i did say thanks for things almost everyday of the month on facebook, so i'm going to cheat and regurgitate those. i got more creative as the month went on, once i got past the typical family and friends stuff. :-)

today i'm thankful i live in a country where i have the right to vote. (ignoring the part that i'm a democrat in texas, so usually my votes don't exactly count)
today i'm thankful for my three nieces and nephew, addison, sarah, ava, and joshua. happy 2nd birthday, addi! i love all those kiddos. :-)
today i'm thankful for good books. i've started re-reading the harry potter series to countdown to the new movie. harry potter, boxcar children, little house on the prairie, babysitters club, goosebumps. all the series that shaped my childhood, i loved them!!
today i'm thankful for my fantabulous coworkers! especially megan, josh, and amanda, without whom i would surely go insane. no, really, you guys put up with my nonstop talking and more-regular-than-it-ought-to-be-complaining so well, it keeps me sane. many thanks!
today (and everyday!) i'm thankful for my husband. everyday is full of happiness and laughter for us, he is so sweet, funny, clever, and handsome! i'm going to have to take full advantage of these attributes this weekend because i'm going to lose him on tuesday when the new COD comes out!!
today i'm thankful for football! i love my chicago bears and our sunday bbq and football tradition at casa de enginerd.
today i'm thankful for my brother and 3 sisters. whether stephanie is throwing me out a window at naptime, jarrett is serving "lemonade", i'm watching mary-kate and ashley movies with laura, or ashley is going to "rip your little eyeballs out", we had a fabulous childhood together and i wouldn't have it any other way!!!
today i'm thankful for my mothers! thanks for being there for the big things like my soccer games, track meets, school musicals and talent shows. as well as the small things like scratched knees, slumber parties, and lemonade stands. love you both so much!
today i'm thankful for rudy's breakfast tacos and bosses who spoil us with them every week!
today i'm thankful for our country's selfless veterans and all of their service to keep us safe over the centuries.
today i'm thankful for my beautiful besties liz, keli, sarah, rachie, and kelly. we started as mckinley magnificats and i still love you girls in adulthood! can y'all believe we've been best friends almost 20 years!?!?
today i'm thankful for my pups kylie and dexter. when i come home from a day at work, we come home from dinner, or even if i take a 10 min walk to and from the mailbox, those two are always waiting at the front door with their tails wagging and tongues out. their love is unconditional, and we love our baby pups to pieces.
today i'm thankful for husbands who cook! breakfast tacos this morning, pork ribs last night, and later today is grilled chicken and brisket. i am way too spoiled.
today i'm thankful for elf, love actually, and all the other fantastic holiday movies i can watch again. i just like to smile, smiling's my favorite!!
today i'm thankful prince william and kate middleton are finally engaged. not that the british monarchy has much to do with me, but they're so flippin cute.
today i'm thankful for my smartphone. without it, how could i know the weather, keep a grocery list, read blogs, post on facebook, budget our cash, check movie times, laugh at chuck norris jokes, update my fantasy football team, track packages, and be notified of my optometrist appt 15 minutes before i'm supposed to be... there when i had completely forgotten about it? not possible.
today i'm thankful for vino + big bang theory + last night's modern family. this is the life.
today i'm thankful for thanksgiving potlucks at work. oh my science am i FULL!!!!
today i'm thankful for slumber parties. you are never too old to watch movies and giggle with one of your high school bff's until 1am! thanks for always driving in from houston to go see harry potter and twilight, kat.
today i'm thankful for my dad, who is my biggest hero and honestly the most supportive, generous, and amazing dad anyone could ask for. i'm also thankful for my stepdad, whose brave victory over cancer and new outlook on life makes him an inspiration to all.
today i'm thankful for cake. which i just ate for breakfast. fabulous.

today i'm thankful for my sibling-in-laws wendi, daniel, andrew, and steven. i don't know why yall married into this crazy family, but i'm glad you did and that we're all so very close. i love you like my own brothers and sister. :-)

i hope everyone has a very happy thanksgiving tomorrow!!!

old man brits that i lust after

2010-11-23T14:09:00.000-06:00

let's talk movies.

i saw the latest harry potter this weekend and i was pleasantly surprised by its wonderfulness! no plot spoilers here because i've already had ample movie dissection with kat, liz, and garrett, so no worries.

i've had opinions on all of the movies and felt like they each had their own dynamic. i understand when a movie is missing details of books, because you know, you can't fit 10 hours of reading a 600 page book into 2 hours. one has to look past that when going into a movie based on one the best book series of all time.

one and two - very magical but almost too much like the books because they were all plot, no emotion.

three - dark and emotional, but missing way too much plot. no quidditch!? blasphemy.

four - my 2nd least favorite book so i knew i wouldn't love it from the get-go but i do enjoy ogling at edward cullen when he's not so damn pale and constipated looking (a la twilight)

five - perfect balance and plenty of sirius, my favorite character, favorite book, favorite movie.

six - for some reason i couldn't get into this one. i loved the book, but the movie felt so melancholy. yes, it's a dark time, but i felt like they were too artistic about it being so solemn.

seven part 1- lovely! well done, old chaps! except the part where ginny is a little seductress. "zip me up?" really!? what have you directors done with witty, feisty ginny? i don't want serious, lustful ginny, capishe?

i saw that gary oldman is listed in the credits for part 2 and i am majah stoked for this. never mind that he is my dad's age. and that he looks plum awful when left to his own hair and clothing devices. but as sirius black, i am in LUST with him. it is unhealthy how much he preoccupies my mind after watching movies 3-5. and by unhealthy i mean awkward and inappropriate for a 25 year old girl.

{ photo from saradobie.wordpress.com }

actually i'm only 24. but i will be 25 in a few weeks. and for my birthday i'm going with a group of friends to the alamo drafthouse girlie night showing of love actually!

{ photo from movieberry.com }

more stud muffin old men brits for me to swoon over! hugh grant dancing around 10 downing street! colin firth wooing the portuguese girl in france! mark (whose real name i don't know) sulking / strutting / looking scrumptious walking away from kiera knightley while dido plays in the background! alan rickman! liam neeson! i almost melted just now.

if you'll be in austin december 14, let me know and i'll send you the evite to the birthday event. i think i got most of my blog bff's in there, but might have forgotten a few.

alright, back to work now. lunch breaks are not nearly long enough these days. wish i could go hang out on the playground for an hour like the good ol' days! cheerio dahlings!

bonjour! bonjour!

2010-11-19T09:57:00.000-06:00

i know this is waaaay late, but i was so proud of my halloween costume that i figured a late post was better than never.

my inspiration:

{ photos from fanpop.com }

and the final costume:

belle from beauty and the beast

i came up with this costume the day before we were supposed to have our halloween dress up for work. i put together this dress from my firm's annual dinner:

add a white collared shirt, piece of white fabric, black flats, and blue ribbon for the hair, you have this:

betty crocker and belle

we have a really fun office, so many people wore costumes! except josh was the only guy to dress up so major kudos to him.

the fun group in the office

anne and amanda as cats

cat and lobster

pocahontas and belle

rebecca the ladybug, tina the lobster, and jessica the cowgirl

but halloween is over and thanksgiving is less than a week away! we're going to spend the holiday with my family in college station. my brother has never hosted a holiday, which is shocking because he's an excellent cook. and his wife makes the best desserts too! mmm i'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

holiday card quandry 2010

2010-11-16T18:47:00.002-06:00

i've been sick since sunday and have mostly been lying in bed with a washcloth (head) and heating pad (stomach). then today my boredom got the best of me and i brought my laptop to the recovery room (bedroom).

where i proceeded to scour over hundreds of photos on my computer in search for one to grace our yearly holiday card.

pssh. fail. it's this time each year that i remember my husband hates taking photos. did we get a good one in chicago? nope. key west? kind of. miscellaneous other beach trips? zero. i think i've convinced hubs to take a photo of us and the pups for the card, but he said he'll only do it if he can drop a few pounds. i have high hopes that he'll reach his goal and we can take a family photo but if not, i have a few cards on standby.

i'm not in love with the key west photo of hubs and myself, although it's the only decent vertical pic i possess of the two of us. and i think my face could use some sort of matte effect in the close up. but all in all, these are pretty decent back ups in case we can't get a good family photo. and people will probably be obsessing over the colorful punchy designs surrounding us anyways.

i love all of the shutterfly christmas cards this year. more specifically, i'm very pleased that you can narrow your search by christmas cards or simply holiday cards. since we're atheists, we try to avoid using the word "christmas" and instead opt to celebrate the holiday cheer. very pc of you, shuttefly! kudos! :-)

do you guys have any favorites of these!?
*also, i'm not going to be a weirdo and actually put "enginerd family" and "hubs"... i'll appropriately fill out those fields in the real cards! i just try not to post our last name or my husband's name on here if i can help it. :-)

anyways, all of the aforementioned cards came from shutterfly, my go-to for all things personalized photo. for all of our nieces and nephews i make a photo book celebrating their first year for their first birthday. the past two i've done were with shutterfly and i'm never going to use anything different.

as thank you gifts for our parents after the wedding, i made each set of parents a photo book of our favorites from our wedding day. we were able to change out several photos throughout, to highlight the family who was receiving the book. i loved the custom cover of this one, it fit our day so well!

also, truth be told, like any bride i was a tad narcissistic after having my bridal portraits done. i didn't want to have a huge 4' tall canvas in our living room of me in a bridal gown, but i did want those gorgeous photos to get a bit of recognition and not be lost files forever. sooo it's possible i made a 5"x7" photo book of those too.

i've never made holiday card with shutterfly, so i'm excited to try it out this year! and if you'd also like to receive 50 free holiday cards from shutterfly, you can sign up for the special blog promo they're doing this year! go to this website, fill out the form, wait for details, post about the shutterfly holiday cards you're in love with this season, then receive them!

sirena will be stateside!

2010-11-13T08:27:00.000-06:00

yayayayayayay!! sirena of on an island in the sun will be in texas for a few weeks around christmas! we all know what that means...

HAPPY HOUR!!!

mark your calendars for the following:

sirena is stateside happy hour

wednesday, january 5, 2011

5:30 - 7:00pm

chuy's near the arboretum

11680 research boulevard

(aka 183 and duval)

hopefully that time frame will allow anyone getting off between 5 and 6 to have ample time hanging out. also we usually set up ending times like 7pm, but stay way later!

i'll post a few more reminders when that date approaches, but consider one wednesday night in january booked my dears! i'm soooo excited to see you rena!!!

i've been...

2010-11-11T21:01:00.000-06:00

...working my ass off.
...spending all my spare moments relaxing by re-reading the harry potter series and watching all of the movies in preparation for the newest movie next week.

that's it. that's my life now. hopefully i'll be back to blogging soon, i just don't have any spare time whatsoever. the end of the year is upon us, and tceq is requiring dam owners to have emergency action plans submitted before the year is up. this means i'm working like crazy to get several dam breach models running and writing eap's. i go to bed dreaming about inline structures and hec-ras unsteady state errors. and cedric diggory. (read: edward cullen. read: robert pattinson)

please send positive thoughts my way that i survive the craziness that is dam eap season. i'm just thankful i have a job with work that interests me. i still love going to work everyday amidst the pressure! enjoy the upcoming weekend everyone. :-)

welcome baby ava!

2010-10-31T18:14:00.003-05:00

i'll save my halloween and new dining table posts for later. i figure that anyone who follows my sister's blog and isn't friends with either of us on twitter or facebook is possibly DYING to hear about the birth of little ava lisabeth rupiper. who, i would like to add, is a mini laura ann rupiper! and i would like to take credit for that gorgeous middle name of hers. when we would play house growing up, laura's daughter was "allison" and mine was "lisabeth". i had completely forgotten about it until laura asked if i minded if she used it for ava's middle name. of course i didn't care, it fit so perfectly, she just IS an ava lisabeth. my sister has a gorgeous baby girl with a gorgeous name and i wouldn't be happier! i just, you know, have to brag about my personal touch on her name. ha.

well, quite frankly, i'm not going to blog about the birth. because as hubby said "i think i learned more about pregnancy this weekend than i ever needed to know." to which i responded "i think i learned more about labor and delivery than i ever needed to know." let's just say that on friday afternoon, we had no idea what "dilated" meant. by sunday we knew what it meant, and laura and her husband andrew cleverly acted it out (thankfully with hand motions, not with actual like, anatomical parts) for us in the delivery room. (but i will say she was induced, did not have to have a c-section, and gave the pushing part a "0" on the pain scale. total champ.)

so i will gladly pull my auntie card and simply post the stats and all of the photos of us doting on precious ava! the first set of photos are mine, but andrew's mom has a super fantastical camera so i stole most of the later ones from alicia's (laura's sis-in-law) facebook! enjoy!!

ava lisabeth rupiper

october 29, 2010

at 5:10pm

8 lbs. 0 oz.

21 inches

so it turns out i'm not psychic

2010-10-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

well i was kind of hoping that i have psychic dreams because a few months ago i had a dream that my coworker and his new wife were at our office and there were children frolicking around. i told him the following morning and that night, his wife took a positive pregnancy test. booyah!

but alas, i'm not psychic enough. i had a dream two weeks ago that laura would have her baby on tuesday, october 26th at 3:14am, weighing 6 lbs, 4 oz. now it's wednesday and ava still isn't here. which you know, is probably for the better because the rest of my dream involved being held captive at a cray-cray church against my will and finding out about my niece via facebook. glad that part didn't come true. aren't dreams weird sometimes?

anyways! laura will be induced on friday morning if ava doesn't make her appearance before then. i'm excited for a day off of work, a little weekend getaway and seeing our family. not quite as excited for the 8 hour drive thing. or that our dining table is supposed to be delivered on saturday but we won't be here so i have to convince a neighbor to fill in. or postpone a week.

so if i'm not blogging for the next few days it's because i'm in little rock welcome niece #3! wish laura luck, and if you've had a positive experience being induced (i.e. no c-section) visit her blog and leave a comment. she needs encouraging words. :-)

boo! fall is here!

2010-10-24T10:33:00.001-05:00

ohhhh october, how i love thee.

you make apples more delicious by allowing me to douse them in caramel. and nuts. and chocolate chips. and butterscotch chips. there are no rules when it comes to coating a caramel apple!

my home is now adorned with jewel-toned flowers, pinecones, and pumpkins.

and the pumpkin patch yielded the perfect pumpkin for our front porch. hopefully there will be some carving in casa de enginerd this week.

however i don't feel like our home is quite ready for halloween yet. i put jack o' lanterns in two of the upstairs windows, but i want trick-or-treaters to be dazzled by our home! i was thinking about lining our sidewalk with pumpkins and maybe putting some styrofoam graves in the yard. possibly hanging some orange lights in the bushes and trees.

martha stewart still advocates tombstone yard decorations! i was sincerely hoping they weren't too 1990's these days, because i loved them growing up. think i could whip these up in a week?

{ photos from marthastewart.com }

and again, martha makes my vision look realistic. although quite frankly, i don't know if i want to carve THAT many pumpkins. i was thinking more like buy them and line the sidewalk.

i think this looks like a really fun idea. one of my neighbors has something similar in their window. i had to do a double take when i saw it on my way to work the other day.

does anyone have any fun halloween crafts up their sleeves? are you guys decorating your yards to gear up for the trick-or-treaters?

sweet time at sweet berry farm

2010-10-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

i don't know if i'm a tradition junkie (or a holiday junkie the way these posts have been going), but i've been trying to find a version of an iowa halloween tradition here in texas for years and am finally victorious!

thanks to my 3rd grade girl scout troop, no fall is complete without a pumpkin patch and corn maze. there are several other things that encompass my "fall must-do activities" list (which is a blog of its own) but those are near the top. we used to visit a place called pride of the wapsi, where we would take a hayride to the middle of a genuine pumpkin patch, cut our pumpkins off the vine, then spend an hour wandering through corn walls to find our way out of a maze.

this year my sister and niece (stephanie and sarah) came up from victoria to see if sweet berry farm is the central texas equivalent of pride of the wapsi. we had a lovely weekend! here's a review:

there were a zillion and one adorable photo ops for moms (or aunts) and their kiddos.

while i was a bit disappointed that this pumpkin patch didn't offer the opportunity to cut the pumpkin straight off the vine, they did have a lot of pumpkins in various shapes, sizes, and styles. and they were all pretty well organized.

the petting zoo was cute, and they even offered pony rides for kids a bit older than sarah. we'll make sure to do that next year!

they also had photo ops for civil engineers who wanted to pose in 72" CMP culverts because they're huge nerds.

the hayride was fun, especially for kids. they had displays of scarecrows throughout and some moderately steep hills that all the kids were gasping "weeeeee!" down.

one thing i've never seen before, but really enjoyed was the field of wildflowers. it was $1 to fill a cup with as many flowers as you'd like! we were surrounded by beautiful shades of red, orange, gold, purples, and pinks, very pretty!

i didn't get a chance to partake in the corn field maze because the lady said it would take around an hour and a half. i didn't want to leave steph and sarah to do their own thing for that long, but it looked like a lot of fun and there's no way i'm passing it up next year. i believe they also had a kid version of the maze.

{ photo from sweetberryfarm.com }

they also had more kids activities like face painting, pumpkin painting, and balloon animals. i secretly wanted to build my own scarecrow but didn't have an extra $15 in cash to do so. what else... oh! they had some scrumptious pumpkin ice cream there. that was definitely a highlight of the day.

overall, we decided this is going to be something of a tradition for our family every fall and i know sarah will love it more and more every year as she grows, the way i did when i was a kid. i will say that kids aged 4-8 will probably get the most out of this place.

also i couldn't help but share a few more photos of us hanging out with miss sarah! she loved the life-size doll auntie jill bought for her and she was easily entertained by hubby being on the other side of the back door, lol.

future feasts and fiestas

2010-10-18T08:27:00.006-05:00

i have been all sorts of yippy-skippy-holiday-lovey-dovey for the past few days because after almost two years of searching (it's been almost a year since hubs and i even semi-agreed on a table), we finally bought a new dining room table!

our checklist:

clean lines, nothing ornate
vinyl/leather cushions for our tushes
no glass or granite
dark wood
extension leaf for times with lots of guests
fit our 117.5" long dining room with the extension and chairs in
under $1000 since we're paying cash

that simple little list took us ages, but rooms to go finally provided the piece of wood to serve as both our holiday feast surface and glorified mailbox.

it's not fancy schmancy because that's not at all want we wanted. we wanted clean contemporary meets traditional meets comfortable. our dining room is also a small-ish space, so we wanted something that wouldn't overload it. but something that was neutral / simple enough for any type of decor or wall color we want to change down the road.

{ our current dining room situation }

we still like our dining room table (as evidenced by its similarity to the new set), but it's small, very basic, and a bit beat up. we opted to buy the new set with only 4 chairs because we won't need all 6 very often. we're going to keep our current dining room table and chairs so we can use the 4 chairs from it when we do have lots of people here. we can also move the wine bar into the hall under the green photo frames when we use the extension.

{ the new set - photo from roomstogo.com }

christmas is only two months away and that will be our first big gathering to break in the new table. this will possibly be the first and only year we host christmas in austin, as we're still trying to hash out how to divvy up the major holidays between everyone. we haven't decided if it'll be christmas day or christmas eve, because we're trying to work with the whole in-law thing. but regardless, i am super duper happy to have this table in time for the holiday season. who knows, maybe next year our lovely table will be the host of a thanksgiving meal. i can't wait for many years of family merriment to happen here.