-78- Iceberg

A nightly routine for Chloe and Justin is that right before we go to bed, she meows and meows, meaning she wants fresh water. He always puts a couple of ice cubes in it too. Well, this morning before we left for church, he decided to give her some ice again. And by "some ice" I mean a miniature iceberg, as pictured above. She just kind of sniffed it at first, and then drank the water around it. What a diva cat.

Sidebar: I know her tray and bowls have dogs on them, but I have no idea why. Strangely enough, neither does Justin.

-77- Common Items

I'm realizing that these two items, milk and cereal, are almost always on my grocery list - and they're almost always the first ones written down, at that. I'm so glad I married a man who loves milk and cereal at any time of day as much as I do! It makes me smile. :)

-76- Haircut

I got a haircut this morning, something I've been threatening to do for about a month now but never went out to actually do it. This is a horrible picture to show the new 'do (because it really doesn't), but I thought Justin looked cute. :) Tonight was also date night, which is always fun and special. Unfortunately, I think I ate too much so my tummy didn't feel well for a while, but it's feeling better now.

-75- Flickering Fruit!

Tonight I decided to light a candle, because I haven't in a long time. I chose the tasty Juicy Apple scented one that sits on top of our bookshelf. And just for this picture, I turned all the lights off... It's so peaceful to enjoy a wonderful scent accompanied by a flickering flame!

-74- Smooth

Today was probably our last whole day off together, and we spent the afternoon the Grapevine Mills Mall. I love this mall because it's full of outlet stores, and their food court has some great options. In addition to their food, there are also yummy little snack places around the mall, and we stopped to get some gelato at this place because the last time we were there we vowed to come back and eat it. I managed to capture this shot before I ate it all. It was SO good. In this little cup there are three flavors: Bailey's Chocolate Swirl, Tiramisu, and Black Cherry Swirl. Eating gelato brought back great memories... I think the last time I ate it was in Greece!

-73- Vacuum Mishap

I vacuumed the apartment this afternoon. Just as I was about to pick up Justin's shoes, the vacuum sucked up one of the laces. By the time I turned it off (I'm still getting used to it...), THIS is what happened. I pulled it out and it was really hot and smelled like it had burnt. Tomorrow my mission is to find him some new shoelaces that at least sort of look like these...

-72- Bladder Control

This morning I went to get a pre-employment drug screening at this clinic downtown. Unfortunately, I didn't have to "go" as much as I'd thought, so I had to sit in the little waiting room next to the water dispenser, refilling paper Dixie cup after paper Dixie cup of ice cold water. By the time I was ready, I was also shivering. Glad I got that out of the way.

-71- Larger Than Life

On the way home today, we were on the same side of the highway as this Sam Houston statue. It's actually REALLY big. I was shocked when I first saw it yesterday and decided I had to get a photo of it today. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture just how large it is. Just know that those trees are pretty big...

-70- Fancy Faucet

We went to Houston for Justin's cousin's wedding this weekend. After the ceremony, we all drove to the ballroom where the reception was held. I visited the bathroom first thing, and these awesome faucets were inside waiting for me to "ooh" and "ahh" at them. They are the weirdest ones I have ever seen!

-69- The End of An Era

After a delicious dinner courtesy of JoAnna's Kitchen, Justin and I finished off date night with a showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. As you can see, we were the first ones in the theater. I made poor Justin arrive over an hour early to ensure good seats. I have to say, I think it was one of the best Harry Potter movies. Very dark, dramatic, and emotional. I can't believe that it's the end, though. It was hard enough when the book series ended, and now that the movies are done with, it's a weird feeling. (I'm a die hard fan, can't ya tell??) Don't worry, no spoilers here! Go see it and enjoy it for yourself. :)

-68- I Feel Like Such A Wife!

This afternoon I sewed the button back onto a pair of Justin's work pants, using my sewing kit for the second time. Unfortunately, I didn't have the right color of thread, but at least he won't be getting a clothing inspection!

-67- Wrinkle-free

Today I used our iron for the second time. There's something really satisfying about pushing out wrinkles in fabric - I don't know what it is!

-66- Misconstructed

The hand towel bar in our bathroom is just about 4 or 5 inches from the top of counter. Now that's what I call bad design. It's really awkward to dry your hands on the towel, plus, it almost goes into the sink. It makes this pretty towel we got as a wedding gift look absolutely stupid. Hopefully the next bathroom we have isn't quite so ridiculous!

-65- Cardboard Box

Up until a few days ago, Chloe would only lie on her little pillow bed if paper or something relatively flat was on top. We threw the paper away that was there because she'd torn a hole in it, so she went a few days without anything covering it. During that time, she laid everywhere else before laying on the bed. Today we finished off a box of cereal, so I unfolded it and put it on the bed to see if she would like it. Looks like my plan worked.

-64- Sewing Kit

My mom gave me this sewing kit for a wedding present and I have not had to use it until today. There are all sorts of goodies inside that I still haven't opened yet. Today I had to use the needle and thread to fix the hem on a pair of my dress pants. I'm so glad I had this, or I wouldn't have been able to wear the pants tomorrow!

-63- The Long Awaited Meal

This is a copy of the recipe for my mom's chicken and rice that she mailed me about a month ago. I have been wanting to make it for a long time, but the timing was never right (I either didn't have the right ingredients or didn't have enough time for it to bake - it takes 2 to 2.5 hours). Finally, tonight, I made it for dinner. It was so good! It reminded me of being at home for my mom's cooking. I hope that someday when our children are grown they will remember my cooking and look back with fond feelings of love like I did tonight.

-62- Cluck Cluck

Today I played this iPod game for the first time since graduating. It brought back many sweet memories of Rebekah and me at lunch before class, because she used to play it then and that's when I first downloaded it. Basically, you are given a set of letters and you have to make as many words as you can out of them. Just don't get a word wrong or the chickens will cluck at you - Bgok!

-61- Family Law Firm

Justin found this coupon/ad in a savings booklet that arrived in our mailbox this afternoon. Yes, sadly, they now offer coupons for divorce cases. This was sad, yet slightly humorous at the same time. Notice how they made the word "divorce" larger than the list of the rest of the other services. They sure knew what would get the public's attention!

-60- Fluffy Chocolate Banana...

COOKIES! These are the chocolate chip banana cookies I made today. They look chubby in the picture and that's because they are seriously fluffy. They are almost cake-like in texture. They're SO good and I have a feeling they won't be in the kitchen for much longer!

-59- Memories in Hardback

I worked on this little beauty of a photo book for a really long time (literally, a LONG time; I talked in my sleep about it - so says Justin). It is our wedding book that I got for free from Shutterfly.com (I had a coupon code for buying my dress from David's Bridal). I love love love it and I'm so glad it finally came in the mail today! It actually came really fast and it looks great. I'd definitely recommend Shutterfly for your photo book needs!

-58- Cookies 'n' Cream

This is my homemade cookies 'n' cream ice cream. Okay, not really. I did not make the ice cream, but I did smash up the Oreos and mix them all up in it. That counts for something, right?

-57- Squeaky Clean

I did a lot of cleaning about the house today: dusting, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the stovetop. It felt good to have a clean home afterward. It was also the first time I used our mop and bucket that we bought with one of the giftcards we were given for our wedding.

-56- A Special Visitor

Liz visited us for a lovely afternoon of In-n-Out food and good company. It was so nice to catch up with her, as we haven't seen her in a couple months. She will soon be overseas for about a year, so this was the last time we'll see her for some time. We were so happy to have this visit with her!

-55- Fresh Cherries

I bought Rainier cherries today because they're Justin's favorite. We shared this delightfully refreshing snack this afternoon when he got home. I love the coloring of these little fruits - so bright and summery!

-54- A Classic

This is the book I got at the used book store that we went to a couple weeks ago. I have never read it but always wanted to, and it was only $2 so I got it. So far, it's pretty good, and I look forward to finishing it.There are so many more classics that I want to read!

-53- Kiss Someone You Love

July 6th is known as International Kissing Day, so Justin and I felt it pertinent to post a picture of us kissing. I hate these kinds of pics, but I did it for the sake of the day. So go kiss someone today! And enjoy it!

-52- Lunch Date

Since I was in town, I of course had to meet up with my girls. Anna, Rebekah, and I decided on a Quiznos lunch date. Sadly, Anna was on lunch break so she couldn't stay long, but it was so good to see them! I'm glad we are not too far away from each other, but I miss them a lot and wish we still saw each other as much as we used to.

-51- Dunk 'Em

We got up early this morning to make the drive to Justin's parents' house. On the way, we saw a Dunkin' Donuts. We decided that we must go since we don't see them normally, so we made a quick stop and grabbed a couple donuts and some coffee for me. I got the cocoa Boston creme donut pictured here. It was so fluffy and tasted really good.

-50- Cute Ones

These are the sweet beings I get to live with (I couldn't say people; obviously Chloe is not a person). Sorry for all the cat photos lately; nothing else really has been going on!

-49- And Again

Okay guys. Same story, different day. I had my phone handy and she hopped up into my lap again! Yay! (Plus, this - and a few others like it - were the only pics I took today.)

-48- Audience

For date night tonight, we decided to play video games. Our favorites are racing ones, and Justin has a pretty good one. We used to race a lot when we were dating so this brought back sweet memories. I won't say who won, but chances are, Chloe here can tell you, as she was an alert observer of our races.