-231- New New Year

Yes, those are grocery bags, and yes, they are seat-belted into my front passenger seat. I didn't want them to roll around in the back of the car because that always makes me feel like I'm Mr. Toad, even when I'm driving perfectly normally, so I just brought them up front with me and secured them. Worked like magic. ;)

We are having friends over tonight to ring in the new year, so I had to grab a few things from the store. I wish I could celebrate in the normal fashion (with my nephew and nieces: dinner, movie, 7-11 Slurpees and mini donuts, The Three Stooges, banging on pots and pans and screaming in the driveway at midnight, the toast with sparking cider, and maybe even a dance party or two), but this year I suppose Justin and I shall have to start new traditions.

-230- Assorted Chocolates

We went to the movies with friends tonight to see We Bought A Zoo, the new family-friendly movie with Matt Damon. It was a different role for him, but it was a very good movie and both Justin and I agree that we will buy it whenever it comes out on DVD. If you're planning on seeing this, I warn you: it's a tear-jerker!

Oh, and to explain the photo above: obviously, we needed candy for the movie... and this is a stash we had from a previous trip to the theater. The Rolos are my favorite bit. :)

-229- Sorry

What the heck!

No photo again today...

-228- Slow, Fast

I started this book the other day, and today I was thinking about why I am reading it. I have read it a few times already, so I know what happens and that it does not take very long to read. I have decided that since the book I just finished reading took me so long to read (mainly because I only read it during some of my lunch breaks), I just wanted a quick, familiar read. Then I realized: I do this a lot, reading a quick, familiar book immediately after reading something that has taken me a while. Quite a pattern. It's almost like I need to prove to myself that I'm not a really super slow reader. Ha!

-227- Queso With Your Quesadilla?

I was at the store today and I thought this cheese was hilarious: "queso quesadilla"?! Haha! Cheese quesadilla? Really? I had no idea that's what a quesadilla was made out of... or that there was a particular kind of cheese used in it? Well, maybe here in Texas... because if I've noticed one thing about living here, it is that it is very difficult to find good Mexican food here, because it's all been Texified!

-226- First Nativity

This is another gift from Justin - my very first nativity set. I set it up today, even though it's the day after Christmas, to enjoy at least until New Year's, when we plan on taking down all the decorations.

-225- Gallop Gallop Gallop

I am pleased to introduce you all to Horse, my brand new Texas Rangers pillow pet! Justin knew I thought these were adorable and he managed to find one for me at the last minute and give it to me as a gift today. He went to several different stores until he found it. I don't know why, but I just LOVE it! I think it's because his body is almost less than twice the length of his huge head. And the way he stands so delicately on his four little feet is precious!

-224- I'm Dreaming...

It snowed today! It was a very light dusting, which didn't even stick, but it was still beautiful and it came down steadily for a few hours. We'll see if we have a white Christmas tomorrow!

-223- None

Well, apparently I was so enjoying this day off that I completely forgot to take a picture... yet again. I'm not so great at this. Ah well. It was a great first day of Christmas vacation!

-222- Nowhere, TX

We were on the road to Abilene tonight when I pulled out my phone and noticed that we were so much in the middle of nowhere that even my phone's weather didn't know where to place us! Usually it has a city location, but in this case, it only knew we were in Texas.

-221- Crumpled

These are the remains of my beautiful paper snowflake garland that I used for patio decoration, in hopes of adding a home made "edge" to my chances of winning the patio decorating contest that our apartment complex put on. Unfortunately, we didn't win (or place), but I enjoyed decorating and I thought it looked great. The snowflakes were definitely my favorite part, but what with the wind and rain lately, they got demolished and I just not brought them inside to throw away.

-220- That's A Wrap

Here's a glimpse into our toy factory, with my Head Elf at work (and the furry small elf asleep in the midst of it all, as usual). Christmas wrapping has begun!

-219- Fake Tree Replacement Smell

My parents sent us a Christmas gift box with some things we could open now and some things we have to wait until Christmas day to open. This was one of the "open now" gifts... an evergreen-scented candle and an adorable ceramic shade to go over it! I've never seen one of those before, but it's so cute, I may just leave it out a little longer than the rest of the Christmas decorations... Oh, and it smells great too - which is awesome since our little tree is fake.

-218- Mannequins

These are the creepiest mannequins I have ever seen. They were in Nordstrom's today, and it looks like they were going for the blind Rudolph look. I guess those hands to the head are supposed to be antlers. Anyway, CREEPY.

-217- Special Delivery

Our new washer was delivered today! You have no idea how excited I was for this! It's really neat and makes all these beepy noises and has all these buttons and lights... but most importantly, it works great and doesn't threaten to smash a hole in the floor with its feet (like our previous ones). Possibly my favorite part about it is that it plays a cute little tune at the end of a cycle as the signal that it's done.

We also did some Christmas shopping today. Fortunately for our families, we love them, and would never give them this fake mushroom-acorn-fern shadow box. I mean, really Target, does anyone even buy this stuff? Well, if it's not good for buying, we sure spent a good ten minutes in this aisle, mostly making fun of it. Please note Justin's "Really??" face in the above photograph.

-216- CANDY!!!

Justin went to a meeting for his work team today and brought home this lovely little treat bag filled with bite-sized candies. Just what we needed!

-215- Fresh Bread

Yes, baking again tonight! This was especially for Justin, as he LOVES banana bread. Good thing I do too (and that I had darkening bananas on the counter)!

-214- Rollin' Out

I spent my evening tonight making sugar cookies to take to the office tomorrow. First, I had to buy a rolling pin, which I actually didn't own until tonight! Pretty surprising, huh?

-213- Paper Tube

I found out tonight just how difficult it can be to wrap presents with a curious cat around! Chloe seemed to want to play with the wrapping paper tube, so I humored her and let her bat it around a few times.

-212- Boots!

I was walking through Target tonight and noticed that they carry Boots cosmetics! Boots is a British brand of beauty products that I hadn't seen since I studied abroad over there.

-211- Pretty in Pink

Today was my awesome sister-in-law Jill's baby shower. We are so excited for the arrival of baby girl Paisley Grace! She is due in January so we have a ways to go. The shower was really nice and it was fun to play those silly shower games. I won a door prize and got this pretty hand soap and lotion set. It's now sitting on my bathroom sink. Quite a nice touch!

-210- Cute As A Button

My mother-in-law's dog, Holly, has been wearing this sweater since we got to Abilene this weekend. I thought the little buttons on the side were so cute!

-209- *GASP*

I forgot to take a photo today! I can't believe I forgot again! Sorry guys. :(

In other news... We're in Abilene this weekend!

-208- Fresh Wrapping

I bought some Christmas wrapping supplies tonight (the purple is left over from a baby shower gift I wrapped this past weekend). Buying these things made me feel like an adult! I guess it's because I've always just used the tons of wrapping paper that my mom had stocked up in the garage, and now I realized I have to start out fresh.

-207- Spiraling

I made mac-n-cheese tonight, and I was so disappointed - I'd accidentally bought the spiral noodles instead of the original macaroni elbows! It didn't make as much and didn't taste as good as the regular kind. The texture was interesting though.

-206- Chuckles

I've been trying to catch up on Chuck tonight. I'm behind by the entire season! So I watched the first few episodes of this last season while making paper snowflakes for our porch. I must say, I enjoyed the first couple of seasons so much more than these past couple of seasons.

-205- Frosty

This photo was taken in Denton, just a little north of where I live. We didn't have frost on our cars this morning... but up there every parked car was caked with the stuff!

-204- Pitter Patter

Justin and I went down to the laundry room again today to wash the clothes... we waited in the car and listened to the rain hit the roof. This is one of the beautiful trees near the laundry room.

-203- Love Never Melts

My mom gave us this little blanket several months ago so that we'd be prepared at least with one homey Christmas touch. I put it over the top of our couch today and I love it. It's so sweet.

-202- Fog

It was really foggy today driving home... I was on a stretch of nearly empty highway (going my direction, anyway) so I decided to take a quick shot. There were parts of the drive where I could see even less ahead of me than this!

-201- Golden

And here's yet another post about cereal. I think I was just super excited this morning to eat my Golden Grahams. I don't normally buy them, so I suppose I wanted to capture the moment? Oh, look at me trying to make up excuses for my love of cereal... and multiple cereal posts.

-200- Lit Up

On the way home tonight, I drove down a boulevard that had trees covered in lights on it. I was stopped at a stoplight and noticed that I could see some behind me in my mirror as well as some in front of me. I thought it looked cool!

-199- Washers

I thought I wasn't going to have to use one of these types of community washers ever since I moved out of the dorms sophomore year, but it appears that our second used washer no longer works as it should - so I ended up at the apartment's little laundry room tonight to wash our clothes. Thankfully, our dryer still works so I didn't have to stay for that part of the job. This weekend we bought a new washer and it will be delivered in a couple weeks. I can't wait!

-198- Beware of Dog(s)

This might be weird, but I took this picture of the dogs on the patio of one of the apartments below us tonight before I got out of my car because I think it's funny that they're often out there, just watching passersby. So cute!

-197- Tots & Cherry Limeade

On the ride back home tonight we stopped at Sonic because I was really thirsty. I love their tater tots, so I couldn't resist!

-196- Skinny

Rebekah and I enjoyed each other's company and hot cups of joe at Starbucks this evening. Sadly, Anna couldn't make it, but we had fun anyway. Also, as is not uncommon, the barista spelled her name wrong on the cup.

I tried the skinny nonfat peppermint mocha - I figured that if I could get less calories with the same great taste then that would be a bargain. However, it was definitely not the same great taste. It was an awful fake sugar taste, kind of like Diet Coke (or any diet drink). From now on I will gladly consume the extra calories; they're totally worth the wonderful chocolatey-coffee-minty flavor!!!

-195- Chikin

According to this picture... chikin makes me merry! And that's quite true. We went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast this morning before getting a little bit of Christmas shopping done... but of course nothing crazy like the typical Black Friday shopping!

-194- Turkey Day

Gobble gobble! Aren't these socks cute? My mom sent them to me.

Today is Thanksgiving Day and I can't believe it's already been a year since last Thanksgiving! As usual, we ate lots of yummy food and saw family. I hope one of these days we'll finally be able to spend a holiday with my family in California, but it's always fun with this side of the family too. :)

-193- Wanderer

To be honest... I just took this picture while waiting for Justin to come home so we could leave for Abilene... and it was the only one I took today! It's just Chloe wandering around... as she does whenever she's not sleeping or pooping.

-192- Multitasker

My mother-in-law just got a new standing mixer, so she generously gave me the one she used to use. Let me tell ya, I never would have gotten everything I needed to get done tonight if I hadn't had it. I did laundry, made pumpkin muffins, ate dinner, and made sure all my things were packed for the trip back to Abilene for this Thanksgiving weekend. This thing is great for multitasking!

-191- Return to Sender

Ever since we moved in we have been getting all the previous residents' mail. Most of it was junk mail or catalogs, but this time it took the form of a small box that entirely filled our mailbox. I had trouble taking it out, but once I did, I laughed. It appeared to contain a container of baby formula - definitely the oddest mail ever.

-190- Pumpkin Spice

This yummy candle made our apartment smell absolutely and delightfully autumn-like this evening. I thought it looked nice with the two decorations behind it.

-189- Pain in the Neck

This is the box base of our little fake Christmas tree, which we set up and decorated today. I have no idea how Chloe finds this position comfortable, but she seems to really enjoy it. What a weirdo...

-188- Track Your Order

For date night, we rented Water for Elephants and ordered a Domino's pizza. When you order it online they give you this tracker that shows the different steps of the process and where they are currently. The step I captured in the photograph was the Quality Check, step 4 out of 5. I already loved Domino's pizza, but now I love it even more.

-187- Christmas Wish

I heard this morning on the news that Warner Brothers was going to be taking a leaf out of Disney's book and locking the Harry Potter movies in a "vault" come the end of this year. Amazingly, as big a fan as I am, I did not have all the movies, so I told Justin that all I wanted for Christmas this year were the rest of the movies. I got home from work and these were waiting for me. :) He forgot to get the first one, which I only have on VHS, but he's going to go get it tomorrow. They were only $5 at Best Buy (except for the second part of the seventh book - that was $15). I am one happy girl!

-186- PO. TA. TOES.

I made potato soup for dinner tonight and we had plenty of leftovers, as you can see. I got two different recipes from two different friends and couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I combined certain parts of each of them. Next time I'll have to add less water, but this did have a very nice taste anyway. I was also very pleased that Justin loved it. :)

-185- Taco Truck

We went to Walgreens this evening and saw this food truck in the parking lot. Can you say random?? I hadn't seen one of these things since the semester I spent abroad! (Of course, they didn't sell tacos in England...) If I see it again I may buy a taco or two just to test it out. Who knows, it may be delicious!

In other news, Justin and I have been married for 6 months today! :D I actually had completely forgotten until my mom texted me a happy 6 months. I can't believe it's been half a year already!

-184- Membership

Justin and I have had AAA car insurance and membership since just after we've been married, but they put my maiden name on my first card because that was what was on my driver's license at the time. I went into the office after I'd gotten my new license to ask for an updated membership card, and they made a copy of my new license and said I'd be getting a new one. Well... I never did get one, and never did bother to bother them about it. As you may know if you've been following this blog, we recently purchased a new car, which meant we had to add it to our insurance. I finally got my new card today!

-183- Over the Hump

So, Justin's mom took out his sisters' old dollhouse for the granddaughter to play with, and it has taken up residence in the extra room that we always stay in. Naturally, Justin and I poke around it a bit, exploring all the moving pieces and different dolls. However, he continued to play with it, arranging the rooms just how he liked them. I thought it was funny so I took a picture!

The title of this post refers to the fact that we are just over halfway through the year today! Day 182.5 is the official halfway point, but let's just keep it simple, shall we? ;)

-182- Who Else?

Obviously this photo depicts a wonderful Saturday night spent with my lovely friends, Rebekah and Anna. It was great (as always) to catch up and just be silly together. I love them so much!

-181- Naughty

And this is why we must cover our couch whenever we sleep or leave the apartment. This cat climbs on it! She knows already by now that I don't like her to be on it, so I caught this photo right as she saw me turn the corner and just as she was about to jump off. Little sneak!

-180- Warm, Brown... Hot Chocolate

Tonight we enjoyed nice warm mugs of hot chocolate, topped with mini marshmallows. I forgot to take a photo until after we had already finished drinking it, but that just goes to show that we just couldn't wait to slurp it down.

I also like this picture because it shows detail of our ceramic dishes. I love that there's brown in the midst of this blue!