Moving Day!

Shhhh! I've secretly snuck away to write a moving day blog. I should be packing but I can take 5 minutes out to document this day. Our apartment is a wreck. We have run out of boxes but not run out of stuff to put in them. This does pose a problem but we'll manage. Last night we went over to the new house and pulled into our garage. Some friends of ours are coming to help us move in about an hour and we have tons left to do. I'm starving but that's of last priority now :). So exciting!

Today! (No, I'm not advertising for Gallery Furniture) But yes Today! Today by the end of the day, we will be house owners. We'll have the KEYS to our own house. Wow. We close today in the afternoon and then we're going to take a few essentials over and get the keys. I'm taking a half day off of work today so that we can do this. So fun! This is how we feel....

PS this is NOT a recent picture. Can you tell?

You can't put me in a box

That's right! It's packing time! I have been a packing fool today. Call me crazy but it's actually kinda fun. Of course, we don't have that much stuff - so the job is not a big one. I keep getting these little waves of excitement. We're moving! Into a house! Our first one! We've filled our study with boxes and we're down to paper plates and plastic cups in the kitchen. All pictures, crosses, and other decorations are down off the walls and mostly in boxes. The only thing not boxed up is our clothes (I inevitably would pack something I'd want to wear this week) and a few basic essentials to cook with. It's bitter sweet I guess. Of course I'm so excited about our house, but I always get sentimental about closing a chapter whether it was my favorite one or not. Once its over, I can move on and enjoy the new spot but I'm always sad to end something. So this week, I will revel in the joys of apartmenthood. Free maintenance, small spaces to clean, and coziness. Oh how we have loved you Marquis on Eldridge. You have served us well.

Red Roses

I love Red Roses. They are so classic and romantic. Here are the ones Ben sent me at school...I just can't get enough of them!

Happy Valentines Day!

We celebrated our Valnetines Day a little early this year at the house above. Ben and I both had the day off yesterday (Friday) so we did our V-day night on Thursday. We went out to a Bed and Breakfast called Great Oaks Mannor in Richmond (near Sugarland). It was so much fun! It's an old house from the 1830's that was once in the downtown Sugarland and then moved out to where there was some land. Now its surrounded by a neighborhood and is near an elementary school. A couple bought it and redid it to make it into a B&B. There are six different themed rooms. We stayed in the room called the "Tuscan Sun". It had a Mexican theme to it which I loved! The colors and tiles and decorations were all from Mexico. It even had a jacuzi tub in the room. It was a very nice stay. Then, in the morning, they made us an amazing breakfast. We had strawberry french toast, eggs, sausage, fruit, and amazing coffee. It was so fun to talk, relax, and spend time together. Such a sweet, special treat. Ben also sent me red roses at school. He's amazing!

So, today we are really just relaxing. Ben played golf this morning and I hung out with my friend Lindsey - one of my roommates and good friends from college. She lives in College Station but came down for the day to hang out. We went to Anthropologie and then to the Cheesecake Factory for a fun lunch. We split a Snickers cheesecake. So delicious. Then we went to Old Navy. It was a wonderful day and has been a great weekend so far!

Life lately

Well, its been a relaxing weekend. On Friday night, we had our date night. We usually try to eat out either Friday or Saturday night just us. We've realized that date night cannot be at a fast food restaurant. One night recently, we went to Panda Express. It was less than Romantic, loud, and way too quick. So we went home, chilled a little and went out for dessert for a real date night. Anyways, this week, we went to Road House. Delicious! I saved half and had quite a lunch the next day.

Saturday, Ben played golf and I enjoyed a Lynn day. Those kinds of days don't come around too often anymore and they really catch me off guard when they do. At first I don't really know what to do with myself, but in the end, I enjoy the alone time. I cleaned out our study - it was full of junk, and mostly my junk. Ben is amazingly junk-free. Sometimes when I am tidying up and he is reading or something, I think, man, I hope he offers to help me clean. Then I look around and see that all the clutter is MINE. So I don't say anything until I've touched something of his, which usually ends up being never. Anyways, I watched You've Got Mail while I cleaned. I love that movie because all I have to do is listen and I can see the movie in my head because I've seen it so many times so its perfect for working to.

That night, our Bible Study class had a game night. It was super fun. I love games. Ben brought out the electronic monopoly game that we bought this week. He and 4 other guys played this game for the entire course of the evening! Such a feat of endurance. I played Scattergories and then Friends Scene-It.

Today was church and the sermon and Sunday School lesson were encouraging. After church, we had a fun lunch with friends and then we went to see He's Just not that into You. It was entertaining but I definitely don't agree with all their conclusions and viewpoints on relationships. Now, I'm just sitting here listening to the laundry dry and the swoosh every 5 seconds of my precious husband's golf swing. I love him so much! Soon we'll probably watch an episode of friends, tidy up, read some and get some rest.

Shadow of Colossus

I am coming to love reading. I never just loved it as a kid and definitely in High School and College I wasn't the biggest reader. I would read some Christian non-fiction books but even those would take me months to finish. In High School, I have to admit that for many books in English class I read the cliff notes instead and vowed to go back and read them in the summer to make myself feel ok about it. I'm still working on that promise. Who knows why I couldn't get into books. Well, getting married changes oh so many things and this is one of them. Ben loves to read and can literally sit for hours at a time and read. He doesn't fall asleep, he is not distracted...he just reads. Well, wanting to join in this with him, I have become a reader. I love fiction although I have to vary the type and intensity. In December, I finished the last of the Harry Potter books. Awesome books. Then I was without book for a while. Then just randomly, I went to the Christian bookstore and just took a chance with the one above, The Shadow of Colossus. I loved the Mark of the Lion series and this seemed similar. It's set in Ancient Greece and follows a young woman. It has a little bit of a love story to it but it's mostly focused on other events. It turned out to be awesome. So I recommend it if you're looking for a good fiction book to read. You can borrow it from me if you want!