monday, november 22

it is only fitting that the final post of the 365 blog be a picture of us on our 2nd anniversary.

we were only together for the time it took to load the car and drive to louisiana so this is the only picture i could take.reasons why this photo is so great for today:
1. i actually achieved taking a photo of us.
2. lee is actually smiling a real smile and not a goofy face. apparently, i need to snap a picture whenever lee is on the phone to get a natural shot.
3. i didn't try to wait until the next day to snap a picture...this is us in our element, doing life....what this blog is all about.

what a fun year of blogging! this was a tough project, but i'm glad i saw it through to the end. thanks for reading to those who followed all year.

sunday, november 21

as always, we finished off our time in college station this weekend with a trip to rudy's for breakfast before tiffany and aaron left town. lee: always the jokester :) (seriously, aaron was happy to be with us)

saturday, november 20

we continued with our plans to go to college station to celebrate katy and tiffany's birthdays. we met up with tiffany, aaron, and katy at wings n more and hung out for the day before the big a&m/nebraska game. the girls decided to try a new bakery in town that was rumored to have good cupcakes. i think i have spoiled my cupcake taste buds because this pumpkin cupcake was decent...but it was no crave pumpkin cupcake!

friday, november 19

we were supposed to see harry potter and the deathly hallows with zach, erin, emily, and walter, but we got stuck behind a major wreck that shut down both lanes of traffic leaving houston for over an hour. when we finally decided we would not make it on time, we turned back around and saw it in kingwood instead. i suppose i could have taken a picture of the posters in the theater but didn't so here is a shot of us afterwards.

thursday, november 18

tonight, lee gave me my anniversary present. i was completely surprised with diamond stud earrings. aren't they beautiful?!

wednesday, november 17

we decided to give each other our anniversary gifts early this year because neither of us wanted to wait until the actual day to exchange gifts. i was so proud of myself for thinking of such a fun gift for lee. with his golf hobby becoming more of a daily ritual, i decided a round of golf at a course he would never play at on his own would be a nice gift. now, he can play a round at redstone golf club where the shell houston open is played.

tuesday, november 16

have you tried the blue bell spiced pumpkin pecan ice cream? you should if you haven't. it tastes like what fall should taste like. yum!

monday, november 15

the perfect meal on a cold day and getting home from work late is something that has cooked all day in the crockpot. here are our porkchops for the evening. what might not look exceptionally appealing to the eye was very delicious to our tastebuds.

sunday, november 14

we went back to crave cupcake today but a new location. with the cooler weather setting in here, i decided to try the pumpkin cupcake, and i was very pleased with my decision.

saturday, november 14

lee proudly invested in a new set of irons and a new putter today. now that he can get free range balls at our local golf course, he has really improved his game too.

friday, november 12

a work week is always ended on a good note when we, as coworkers, can hang out at happy hour and just enjoy each other's company without worrying about school-related things. thank goodness for yummy chips and salsa ;)

thursday, november 11

lee has a special relationship with a family that he worked closely with during his time at cho-yeh. thier son is in high school now, but lee has known him since he was very young. mitch invited lee to his school play, and luckily it worked out that lee got to go. he said mitch was awesome in one of the lead roles for othello.

wednesday, november 10

lee had a science conference this week in downtown houston. he got a few shirts to support science and this one that has to do with a program they use/are going to use. lee would do better at describing it, but i believe it is a great method of teaching students new science vocabulary and recognizing how difficult brand new words are to them.

tuesday, november 9

after battling with a watery, itchy eye for several days, i finally went to the eye doctor to have it checked out. turns out, i had a type of bacterial infection that probably came from something in my contact case. no contacts and drops 4 times a day for me for a week!

monday, november 8

we bought a new cook this, not that book with awesome recipes that are mostly 350 calories or less. one of the recipes we have found very delicious is the shrimp quesadillas. i was proud to successfully achieve the right crispiness on the outside and still maintain all of the shrimp, veggies, and cheese on the inside when i flipped them. we had enough for dinner and lunch the next day!

sunday, november 7

on a good sunday afternoon, i can typically be found on our couch clipping coupons from the paper. call me an old lady or lame or whatever, but i enjoy saving us money when i can. it is no trouble to buy a paper or cut a few coupons, but it is nice seeing my total go down at the grocery store for doing practically nothing!

saturday, november 6

i was very proud of all of my cleaning and cooking efforts for our guests on saturday. even though it was not a big deal, i still enjoy making our home presentable to guests. i had a very cute food spread, if i do say so myself, for all of us to enjoy throughout the game. however, i only managed to snap a picture of some of the oreo balls at the end of the game (and the reflection of my phone, evidently). i always get so excited about food i almost always forget to take a picture of something before i eat it. ha!

friday, november 5

so, we invited some of my co-workers and their significant others over to watch the lsu/alabama game with us on saturday...which meant i had to spend all of friday night cleaning and getting things presentable for company. no, our place was not in terrible condition but definitely needed some improvements. the main improvement was decluttering our sunroom that had just become a catch all for the random boxes we had never fully unpacked. let me also add that i typically fall asleep on a friday night at 8:30 because i am so exhausted from the week. NOT THIS FRIDAY NIGHT! i worked so hard on unpacking the remaining stuff and finding places for it all to go. i got the sunroom down to only our plastic storage tubs (and the tv box), and lee's sports memorabilia finally got its time to shine. i was proud of my efforts for his side of the sunroom. the bookcase was even put together by me as well!

thursday, november 4

we bought toy story 3! but, we have not watched it yet...hopefully, whenever we get another down weekend, we can enjoy our new flick and see for ourselves why everyone thought it was such a great film.

wednesday, november 3

another cold front moved through today...so much that it looked quite wintry outside. this was a definite sign that we needed cracker barrel for dinner. a new one opened little about a quarter of a mile around the corner from where we live. chicken and dumplins' hit the spot on a cold, rainy night.

tuesday, november 2

lee said he gained some really good insight into some swing adjustments from the golf digest he bought for airport reading. i think a subscription may have been started because of this issue...

monday, november 1

with the first installment of the last book about to open in theaters, i knew i needed to reread harry potter and the deathly hallows again. i could already tell from the previews that there were details i had forgotten. the first-time through was such a whirlwind of reading page after page that i enjoyed the second time through to really catch all of the details.

sunday, october 31

i tried to get a shot of a beautiful fall tree from alabama and this is all i wound up with. too bad i couldn't get a close up of the beautiful red, orange, and gold leaves on the trees in the foothills of the mountains in birmingham.

saturday, october 30

my wonderful family...4 generations together.

friday, october 29

my two oldest friends...
and my baby brother's high school football senior night

thursday, october 28

gotta love the parking lots at the airport and their shuttle rides to and from. we were very thankful for the parking spot 2 to hold our car during our trip to alabama.

wednesday, october 27

our turkey burgers are just too good to only be shared (or eaten) once.

tuesday, october 26

going back to work was more because i had and not because i really felt 100% again. however, these awesome immunity system-boosting cough drops made the day a little more bearable.

monday, october 25

after driving home from louisiana getting sicker by the mile, i had to actually take a sick day and stay home from school. i do not like taking an unplanned day off of work, but i suppose feeling like you have been hit by a truck is worthy of an unplanned sick day. i slept most of the day away and worked my way back toward good health while not working.

saturday, october 23

jonah put this birdhouse together, with the help of uncle lee, while we were visiting for the weekend. he is such a smart kid...passionate about everything he sets his mind to.

friday, october 22

every friday, we are blessed with free panera breakfast (and donuts and kolaches but i don't count those) from our administration. in case you didn't go during the month of october, panera made their very own ribbon bagels in honor of breast cancer awareness month. i love good food that is also for a good cause.

thursday, october 21

my cheerleaders had their last football game of the season tonight. to go out with a bang, they decided to prepare a halftime routine for both games. they did a great job. i snapped this picture from my phone while they performed for the first game.

wednesday, october 20

lee got a new hybrid club to improve his golf game and set of clubs today. he can use it on or off the fairway (hence the name, hybrid). he is very proud of his improved game because of it.

tuesday, october 19

my sister got me an awesome birthday present in the form of a university of alabama alumni car tag frame. i have wanted one since i graduated from undergrad at ua. shh, don't tell the state of texas about my tags.

monday, october 18

after some delays from the good ol' postal service, my birthday present from my family finally arrived. i was pleasantly surprised with a new purse!

sunday, october 16

one of my wishes for fall was to visit a pumpkin patch. even though they are typically geared more toward kids, i thought it would be fun to visit one and take some pictures. luckily, katy knew just the place in college station (bryan?) to fulfill that wish. complete with a hay maze, fresh produce market, the LARGEST pumpkin in texas, and huge array of pumpkins to choose from, this pumpkin patch far exceeded my expectations!

saturday, october 16

as if spending a weekend in college station is not always fun, this particular weekend i was lucky enough to get to see some old friends from college and pine cove (the camp i worked at for two summers in college). one reunion in particular that just barely happened was with my friend pair. pair was a bridesmaid in our wedding, and i have known her since my junior/her freshmen year. i am so proud of what she is doing this next year with the Forge program at pine cove (a year-long Christian leadership program).

friday, october 15

if i had known it would disappear, i would have taken a picture sooner. sadly, all i have to show is a blank wall above the bookcase in my classroom. once, there hung a gorgeous alabama crimson tide flag, but sometime this week, it was removed from my wall. i do not know who took it or why it was taken, but it has not returned since.

thursday, october 14

i normally don't like to put pictures of just myself on the blog, particularly, this close-up, but i did get a pretty drastic haircut so i thought it would be important to document it. i actually sent this picture to my sister so she could see the new 'do several states away, and i had also just come in from working out. i also hate taking a picture of myself. ok, i will stop...

wednesday, october 13

part of our shopping on my birthday included a stop at ikea. that stop turned into a pretty productive trip, and we decided to invest in two new chests of drawers for our bedroom so lee's clothes would not have to stack up on the floor anymore :). we love them...especially the small hidden drawer inside the top drawer. trust me, it's there.

tuesday, october 12

it did not last long because of how yummy it was, but here is a before shot of the birthday cake katy made for me. a peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting, topped with peanut butter m&m's. yum.

monday, october 11

i had a day off of work, as did katy. so, she stayed in town to go shopping with me! i had a special surprise email savings code at the gap outlet. typically, when i can/want to go shopping, i do not find anything worth buying. luckily, today was a different story and i was very much able to spend birthday money!

saturday, october 10

i was very blessed with a wonderful birthday this year filled with lots of kind words from family & friends and day a spent with my wonderful husband and our great friend, katy. we had breakfast (and dinner) at one of our favorite houston restaurants, went shopping, ate cupcakes, and went to see a movie.

saturday, october 9

this is how we watch multiple games at once on a saturday. we really do love football this much.

friday, october 8

don't you wish you could have capped off your high school homecoming week with a picture with a taco bell sauce packet? well, too bad you aren't my cheerleaders then.

thursday, october 7

an early birthday present arrived from emily, walter, and the kids today: nicholas sparks' new book!!! i love it, and it is so different than most of his recent work.

wednesday, october 6

lee has found a favorite "after-school" past-time: the driving range and the occasional quick round of golf at kingwood cove. with it not getting dark until nearly 7 o'clock, he can get in plenty of golf after he gets off work.

monday, october 4

fall is one of my favorite times of every year. lee particularly enjoys the fall because one of his favorite fruits is available in stores: honeycrisp apples. these apples are the sweetest out there. if you can still find them in your stores, try one!