starting things up again...

well, it's be a while.

hello, blogging universe!

let's see, since my last post i have: gotten married, gone on a fabulous honeymoon, moved into a new house, got a puppy, got a job, quit a job, and start my second year of grad school. quite a bit, right? no wonder i didn't keep up-to-date on this whole blog thing.

so it's baby steps. baby steps to re-enter into this world and hopefully this time do a better job. so, the news of today's blog is that i'm back, and that kevin got a job! woo hoo! he hasn't been working for about six months now, so we're both incredibly excited that he's going to be the new basketball coach at shorewood high. as for me, year two of the masters program has been a little bit crazy! i'm working on three research projects right now--that's right, three--and trying to get things done for my thesis too. on top of that, i've had to dig in to phd applications which are, as you can imagine, thrilling. but a busy life is, for the most part, a good life and i can't complain. i have things to do, an end goal, an amazing husband, and the best puppy in the whole world.

love it.

BAM!

I am SUCH a legit grad student now!

My very first publication... granted, it's only a book review, but still! I am so excited :)

I only have one more day of class until I am officially halfway through my Masters degree--totally crazy! That shocking realization, combined with the fact that I am a mere 24 days away from becoming a Mrs., means I have been a totally crazy person lately. I'm so looking forward to summer and unplugging and unwinding and throwing away my to-do list. Of course, summer also means moving and a million different weddings to attend, so I'm sure it will be crazy in its own way.

Anyways, wish me luck and will me to survive. I'm so close!

a few photos from the past two weeks...

ahh... another blog post. the past two weeks have been incredibly busy! last weekend, i spent time in spokane working on the wedding. kevin and i went down to the county courthouse and got our marriage license--yay! i have pictures from this exciting event... though, in all honesty, they aren't very exciting. we also met with the florist, the rehearsal dinner venue, and crossed a million other items off my still incredibly long to-do list! so great.

this weekend, i'm home in b-town for my final wedding dress fitting (!) and to spend some time with friends and my mom (for mother's day). none of these things are at all related to the photos i've posted, but i wanted to put them up anyway.

nosy nora! while babysitting nora a few weeks ago, she became fascinated by the activity in the neighboring back yard... she enjoyed peeping for a good five minutes before moving on... it was pretty cute :)

attempting to take photos of the gorgeous country sunset on my drive between seattle and spokane... this is somewhere between moses lake and ritzville, i think...

another attempt at capturing the beautiful countryside... somewhere on the road around the gorge area...

local heroes

here's a photo of my local hero--the crossing guard who sees it fit to stop traffic for me every afternoon... he's so funny and definitely dedicated to pedestrian safety.

in other news, life continues to be very busy. the wedding is encroaching and i'm trying desperately to get things done! invites need to be mailed, plans need to be finalized--yikes. pray for my sanity... research is kicking in to high gear. classes are falling into their rhythm, meaning papers and presentation deadlines are approaching...

ah, grad school.

recipe for a perfect friday

recipe for a perfect friday:

good weather: after such a rainy, windy miserable week, it was absolutely amazing to see the sunshine yesterday. couldn't help but have an extra spring in my step with the sun's beautiful rays beaming in my eyes. i went down to gasworks park on lake union and watched the sunset. it was truly beautiful. the pictures you see are of said sunset, though really my iphone camera does not seem to do anything justice!

good food: decided to explore a new area and a new restaurant yesterday. went to this little hole-in-the-wall dive called pacific inn pub. it was so tasty! kath and i both had the fish n'chips with a beer (it felt very appropriate) and watched the mariners play while we munched on our fare. not only was it incredibly tasty, it was also downright cheap by seattle standards! totally a winner!

good company: my friend kathleen drove in from her home (located just south of seattle) and we met up for dinner, drinks, a walk around gasworks park, and some dessert and coffee at barnes and noble. all in all, it ended up being about six hours of great conversation and catching up. it really doesn't get much better than that!

now i'm off to enjoy a perfect saturday... :)

three things that made me smile today

so, today is monday. and, not only is it monday, it is a rainy, cloudy, cold, WINDY monday! it was all i could do to pull myself out of bed and head in to work.

that said, there were plenty of things to be happy about and plenty of things to make me smile. so, here's the list of the top three things (in no particular order) that made me smile today.

1. all the beautiful flowers. seattle is a flower-filled city. there's so much moisture over here, the plants just thrive! even though it's been cold and nasty and incredibly windy, the flowers are still in bloom and they're still hanging on! i can't believe that more of the trees haven't lost all the blossoms because of the wind... there is one house in particular that i pass on my short 10-block walk to the bus stop on my way to work, and this house has the most amazing flowers! its entire yard is covered in bright splashes on purple and magenta and white... it's pretty incredible. i'll try to take a picture of it during my walk on wednesday, but for today i have a picture of this really interesting plant right down my alley...

2. the crossing guard. while i was walking back from work this afternoon, and little old man dressed in traditional crossing guard garb (complete with a reflective sash and sporty cap) decided that, though i am no longer a child and certainly capable of ascertaining when it is safe to cross the street, i needed his assistance. so, he ran out into the middle of the road waving his neon orange flag, and he stopped traffic for me. it was pretty great. i aspire to be an overzealous crossing guard like him when i'm older...

3. eating leftovers for lunch. when you're a kid, leftovers are not really prized. in fact, you kind of despise them for some reason. there's just something so horrible about eating something that wasn't cooked within the passed hour or two that makes any and all leftovers repulsive and intolerable. not so as an adult. right around the time each person begins to become responsible for creating their own meals, leftovers become a treasure! let no scrap of food go to waste--save any morsel so that you won't have to worry about cooking something tomorrow. thus, as a person who could probably in most circles be classified as an adult, i rejoice in eating leftovers and circumventing an occasion to actually make something.

so there you have it. take joy in the simple things, right?

2010: the year of the wedding

and not just my own, mind you! i feel like 2010 is the year of the wedding for the entire United States population of young adults ages 22-30. i know so many people getting married this year, it's crazy! every time i try to count all of the weddings, facebook alerts to a new engagement and i have to start counting all over again! oh well--mazel tov to all!

to start the kick of the year of the weddings, i travelled down to houston, texas to witness the marriage of my cousin greg to his fiance (now wife) candice. weddings with the hall side of the family are always so much fun, because we don't really get to see each other often, and it's nice to have (almost) everyone in the same room, even if just for a wedding reception. kevin got to make the trek with me, and here are some pics of the festivities:

in what became our standard weekend pic, all of the hall girls in front of the hotel lobby fire place ready for the rehearsal dinner!

kev and i enjoying some awesome mexican food and hall family time at the rehearsal dinner!

like i said, the traditional fire place pic: the hall sisters all dressed up for the wedding!

a look at the fam hanging out waiting for the wedding to start...

after the wedding, my two second cousins (or first cousins once removed? i can never keep these complicated family relations straight) both climbed on me... their so cute! the one peeking out of the back is savannah (savvy for short) and the cutie in pink is alexandra (or sasha for short).

leigha stepped in and took sasha off my hands :)

hanging out at the reception with kev, enjoying some appetizers.

seriously, i would not be at all terrified to think about having kids if my kids would be: a. this cute, and b. this well-behaved! these girls are angelic!

almost the entire gaggle of hall cousins! we're quite a good looking crew!

sunday brunch with the fam before taking off for the airport. the entire boise hall/faw family!