It's about time...

Check out our new digs!

We've really been out and about our first few months here.
We went to a renaissance festival:

Where some had turkey legs and others were smarter.
We went to a rally:
After Thanksgiving day, we went to a christmas tree farm.
Neither Nick nor Shelby wanted to leave the TV.
It was cold... and Santa was creepy.

But grandparents make everything better!

Oscar was finally able to experience his first snowfall this week (3 inches)! He spent the majority of his time face-first in snow banks. He lasted about 15 minutes before he refused to walk because his paws were frozen. I know what someone is getting for Christmas!

Christmas time is here

This was across from our apartment tonight - christmas lights and ice skating! Nick has promised me we will go soon. For now, we are off to Austin for a very short trip. After that, I promise I will post pictures of our great new apartment (we've come a long way folks)!

In the past month...

We said goodbye to the shack (I think if we had waited any longer, we wouldn't have been able to get our stuff out of the shack's back door)...

and hello to our niece! We celebrated Shelby's one month birthday with cupcakes and photoshoots.
In an effort to recreate a picture of my sister in the same nightgown at the same age, Shelby got a little overwhelmed...
We made up for it by a trip to the Capitol (where she promptly peed in the Senate floor).
After an exciting visit, it was back to MS and AL. Then another long drive to DC for job interviews, apartment hunting, and celebrity spotting! We went to the National Book Festival where we heard Ken Follett. It was perfect timing as we had just finished watching The Pillars of the Earth. I had read the book awhile ago and, based on my hazy memory of it, thought the series did a great job of recreating the book. On our way out, we saw Spike of Top Chef fame. For lunch, we just happened upon his restaurant, Good Stuff Eatery. I had the farmhouse burger while Nick had Colletti's Smokehouse. It was by far the most delicious burger and fries I've ever had - and don't even get me started on the mango mayonnaise (and I don't even like mayo)!


Next week, we permanently move to DC (be on the look-out for pictures of our new apartment)!

3 days to go!

I decided to save the best transformation for last - the kitchen! I rubbed my fingers raw scrubbing this room when we moved in. It was a little sad and grey. With the addition of a sink skirt (sewn by my mom), a bright yellow pegboard (made by me before we moved), and some carefully placed tablecloths, we were able to make this room feel bright and cheery. While I definitely won't miss this space when we leave, I think we did a pretty good job of making it livable.
One last space: our back porch. It was very sad and ho-hum before. My amazing mom bought us the flowers (which have since shrivelled up and died in the 104 degree heat); the rest of the furniture was found in the house.
And, just to keep things in perspective, here's the other side of the porch:

the shack

Nick and I found this photo while searching through the Center's archives. It's hard to believe our little ole shack ever looked this good!

more baby

I hope you guys like babies because this just might become Shelby central! It's hard to resist posting every adorable picture that comes in of our new niece.

she's here! [updated]

Shelby Em
8lbs 6oz

Nick and I are so excited to be an aunt and uncle!!

It's been awhile

We have been amazingly busy these past few weeks. Not only has work been hectic but we took a short vacation to go to a wedding in Alabama. The fourteen hour drive was well worth catching up with old friends! Unfortunately, all my pictures turned out blurry. After the wedding, we met my mom and Nick's parents at Orange Beach. We didn't see any tar balls and could only faintly smell oil but you still couldn't get in the water. We spent one whole day laying by the pool and then it was back to Texas.

We boarded the pets at the local Canine Hilton. When we dropped them off, Oscar looked like this:
And this is what we picked up 5 days later. We would've thought we had the wrong dog if it wasn't for his crooked front teeth.
He's still adorable, just not quite as cuddly. At least now we don't have to spend hours picking grass out of his hair every time he goes outside.

3 years ago

the outhouse

Once again, we had great plans for this room but quickly ran out of energy. After scrubbing every surface, I was itching to paint the whole room white. I still think white would make the room (especially with the black rubber floor that was installed right before we moved in) but I was vetoed. Alas, the only work (besides cleaning) that was done in this room was by someone else.
As you can see in the before pictures, the tub surround was thin white metal that had begun to pull away from the wall. We suspected the mice were coming in behind the tub surround so our handyman came and ripped up the whole thing. There were a few holes where ants were coming in but none big enough for mice. He replaced the surround with Mgo board. If you squint enough, it looks like travertine.
He also replaced the garden hose-like shower head with a really nice rain shower head. Now we can imagine that we are in a Holiday Inn (just don't look down at the rusty tub and scary drain)!

We also added some lighting to the room. The only light came from the window and this bare bulb:
We clipped one of our old bedside table lamps to the window sill and voila! a spotlight right in your face every morning to wake you up!