Guest Blogger: Grace!

So I decided to try something new and feature a guest blogger. I could not think of a better first guest blogger than my sister Grace. I really miss living far away from my sister, especially as she gets ready to go off to college. I secretly hoped she would come to school in DC, but looks like that wasn't in the cards. BUT..... without further ado..... I introduce my guest blogger: Grace!

Hey, it’s Grace! I assume that if you are reading this blog then you know that I’m getting close to the end of my senior year of high school. There has been lots of exciting events throughout senior year and there are still many to come in these last two months. But the main reason Steph said I should be a “guest star” on this blog is because I tested out my blogging skills when I went on a mission trip to Brazil and wrote a blog about the trip one of the days. I guess me and my sister are somewhat alike considering the blogging and the enjoyment we get out of travel. Anyways, when I got back from Brazil I finally made the “Big Decision.” After most of the year being unable to make a decision, I finally just pulled the rip cord and decided on a college. I know, I know many of you are quite excited because if you know me, I’m sure you thought this day would never come. But after lots of visits, meetings, events, counsel from friends and family, prayer, and major thought, I did come to the decision that this coming fall I will be part of…. 

(Wait for it) 

The Crimson Tide of The University of Alabama! 

Even though it was insanely hard to make a decision, I can’t tell you how excited I am for my college experience there! For those of you that haven’t visited, it is a beautiful place with a great education and fun traditions. Everything is BIG (The campus, football, the Greek system etc). But I’m excited about all of it! There is a great Honors College program that I have been accepted to. I have also been accepted into the College of Human Environmental Sciences, which is a confusing school to explain to people. Even my own mother couldn’t quite remember what it was called haha. But I’m excited about pretty much all of the majors it offers including Interior Design, Fashion Design and Apparel, Nutrition, Child Development, and a couple others. I still don’t have a clear idea of exactly what I want to study, but I do know that I would enjoy and be good at pretty much all that this school offers, which is also a great perk. 

I’m now starting down the process of getting together everything for Greek Rush. Also, I’m meeting and communicating with different people in Texas that are also going to Alabama in hopes that maybe I will find a roommate or at least some good connections to travel back to Texas with during breaks. Thankfully, I still have some time on the roommate because I can’t choose housing until April. But I have one of the first slots and I plan on signing up to live in the like-ten-floor- all-girls-dorm. I am able to live in the much nicer Honors Housing (which my mom thinks should be tempting), but I want to live where all the action is. The Tutwiler dorm is located right across the street from the stadium and right by Greek row. It also is 95% Greek girls and even though the dorms are not by any means nice, it is said to be the place to be and lots of fun! Anyway, I wanted to be able to share this exciting news with all my friends and family and this seemed like maybe a good way to at least reach some of the people further away. Thanks to Steph for the blog spot and 

 ROLL TIDE! 

International Relations

There is a way of these diagrams hitting facebook about different majors and places. Someone shared the International Relations one with me and I'm still laughing about it.... a week later... and thought I would share:

As cliche as it is, it is so true. I sure wish I was a super spy, but sadly I am not. I definitely do not lounge in Paris sipping wine all day... although bad days make me want to escape there. Probably semi-true that we want to save the kids and make world peace.... but maybe not in the lovey-dovey way you think. Sadly, I am a realist to the bone and know that the world is a terrible place.... But we can...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

I would someday like to travel the world and put out fires like Hillary Clinton does. Maybe not in chartreuse pant suits.... but Secretary of State would be a pretty awesome job! But, for now, it is very true that I spend most of my time lugging books around, going blind trying to read them by lamplight as I drink my weight in coffee and attempt not to rip all of my hair out. Ah the life of a Master's student trying to finish up their last semester....

Well... break is over... back to reading 400+ page books on Afghanistan and attempting to craft policy recommendations to make the country more secure by pull-out in 2014!

The Past 6 Weeks....

Well.... apparently I should have made a new year's resolution to blog more. In pursuit of my other 12 resolutions, my blogging has gone by the wayside. We have actually been incredibly busy. I know most people will laugh when they read this (and by most people, I mean my mom and sister), but my social life has seriously been stressing me out!

When we first got back home, our Sunday School class has its Tacky Christmas sweater party. We definitely made a splash and Caleb won me a 3rd place snow globe!

We've had a relatively mild winter. A few snow flurries here and there but no snowpocalyse.... yet. Scarlett continues to enjoy the winter weather, but Rhett Butler is not quite a fan of snow. In fact... she hates it. Oh well. At least she's cute!

 
Next,  my friend Karyn hosted a tea party at her house in DC. It was SO fun to see her house and have a lovely girls morning. She reminded me that now that I have a bigger apartment, I should be hosting myself ...so..... we had a superbowl party at our house. We had more than 20 people from our sunday school class over to watch the superbowl/laugh at the commercials/enjoy Madonna. We had a fabulous time and it gave me a great opportunity to bake some goodies!

I actually have been baking before the super bowl party BUT since Caleb and I have been trying to eat better, I've been baking dog treats. Don't judge! It's actually cheaper than buying dog treats and Rhett and Scarlett seem to like them.

Speaking of food. My miracle broccoli continues to grow.... I seriously haven't watered them since Thanksgiving, but no matter how much I mistreat them, they continue to grow! Does anyone out there reading this know whether I can actually eat them?

I've also gotten in touch with my crafty side (again Mom & Grace, don't laugh!). One of my post-Christmas goals was to completely clean and organize my closet. In doing so, I found a whole bunch of my international treasures. I wanted to display them somehow so I started searching some blogs to get ideas. Here is how I am displaying my foreign currency....

And my new pride and joy.....

Okay. I know it doesn't look like much, but this was a beast to make. First I needed the giant frame (24x36). Then I made a trip to home depot (where I was judged) to buy sheets of tin. I had to cut the tin with tin snips (be impressed- I did this myself) to fit pieces around the outer edge of the frame and then use liquidnails to glue them down. I then modge podged decorative paper over the tin and the rest of the frame. I think modge podged the map of the world over the paper. Next, I took my foreign currency coins and hot glued magnets on the uglier sides. I then used these to hold up pictures from my travels around the edge of the frame.

It's an homage to traveling and I LOVE it. I also glued beads onto the map to show where I've been. I feel like I've traveled alot, but there is still so much open space without beads! When I told this to Caleb he rolled his eyes at me and told me I was only 25 and still have time to travel the world. Sigh.... one day I'll travel again.

Let's see.... what else have we been up to.... we redecorated out apartment a bit. With the addition of my international crafts and some framed pictures, the guest room is now complete.

We got a new cabinet to hold/organize kitchen gear,

and we shifted furniture in the bedroom so I have a better study nook.

I also faced my fear and joined the church choir! I'm so glad I did. I forgot how much I love music and singing in a choir. I originally planned to go to rehearsals for a few weeks before singing in church, but some nice old ladies adopted me and after one rehearsal I was already singing in both services! The only bummer is that they only have HUGE choir robes right now so I look a tad ridiculous and have to wear tall heals so I don't trip. Oh well.

We also said goodbye today to our first guest in a string of visitors we are expecting. My Aunt Tammi has been here the last few days and we have had a BLAST.... although I'm so tired I'm not sure how many days of sleep I need to recover! Oh well.... its just a sign of how much fun we had. In two weeks my grandparents (Gran & Grandy) are coming to visit, and two weeks after that my brother and his girlfriend. So.... if anyone else would like to book their reservation at Hotel D'Osborne, let me know cuz we are booking up fast!

Other than that, we've just been studying and working. I'm still desperately applying for real jobs for when I graduate in May. No bites so far... but hopefully soon. Law school has kicked into high gear so Caleb is studying his tail off. Oh well, as least he doesn't have to worry about his social life adding extra stress : )

Well.... that's all I've got for today. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I still haven't figured out my new camera yet..... Soon. I promise. Now off to watch the Mavs (yay for playing on national television) and hope we don't get the snow that is predicted this afternoon.....

Looking back on 2011 and 12 Resolutions for 2012

Looking back on 2011, it was a fantastic year... much better than 2010. People who say that the first year of marriage is hard were RIGHT. Of course we didn't help ourselves by moving halfway across the country, both going for advanced degrees, learning to commute, living far from our families, etc. in that first year. So.... I must say that as tough as the first year was, the second year was so much better. We started the year off by a trip to New York City to celebrate our first anniversary. I love taking trips and we both loved NYC and it was a great way to start off the year

Scarlett experienced her first snow! (and we survived our first winter.... barely)

We discovered the glory that is the cupcake frenzy in DC

 We survived a 24 hour drive home through flooded highways for Caleb's grandpa's birthday

 and Micah and Kelsey's graduation

 And I got to see my sister perform in her high school's Les Miserables show

 And we got to see the Mavs in a playoff game.... and they went on to win the Championship!!!!

 

And I got to celebrate my great grandma's birthday!

 And we played church softball together.... despite the fact that Caleb does not believe in co-ed softball

 And we made new church friends!

I went on a trip with our church to Turkey

 Flat Stanley came to visit

 We made a trip to Baltimore to watch the Rangers play.... and win!

 We accidentally shaved Scarlett...... never again!

 We moved and bought our first can of paint together... and discovered we are terrible painters haha

I did a week long course in Tbilisi, Georgia

We added a new addition to our family.... the adorable Rhett Butler.... also known as 1/2 dog, tiny dog, and yittle dog (thanks to my niece Annie)

 I took an internship at the Pentagon and won first place in our division's bake-off at the annual picnic

 My mom came to visit and celebrate my 25th birthday!

 We made a trip to Amish Country

 

 And I got bangs.....

 I had a great ladies Bible study where I learned awesome tricks... like carving an apple out of a bird!

 We went to our first murder-mystery party..... dressed up for the wild west

 I hosted a table at our church's ladies tea

 And we celebrated christmas!

Most importantly, Caleb and I realized on our drive home that in 2011, our concept of home changed. When we went home for Christmas last year, we were DYING to ESCAPE DC. We couldn't wait to leave this awful place and just get HOME. But this year, as much as we loved being with our families for the holidays, at the end of two weeks, we were ready to come HOME. Back to DC, to OUR HOME. Home is now where we are together, the two of us. I love that over the last year we have really grown together and discovered that home is where the two of us are.... whether that is in Arkansas, Texas, or DC.

On to 2012....It was not my original intention to have 12 different resolutions for next year, but on our long drive from Little Rock to DC I just kept thinking of more! Without further ado.... here are my resolutions for 2012 (in no particular order)

1.) Lose the remaining weight to get to my goal weight (where I was when I went to college). I was doing SO good this fall and halfway there... and then my dumb appendix got in the way. So.... now that I am allowed to exercise again, I'm back on track and hoping to be at my goal by graduation in May!

2.) Run the Marine Corps Marathon OR Half-Marathon with my sister. I am already regretting this resolution. I LOVE that I have a joint goal with my sister and think we'll have a lot of fun with it - but the thought of actually having to run lots of miles is just not fun to me. Oh well. Onward....

3.) Eat more meals at the table. When people treat us like we are just college students up here, I always joke with people that Caleb and I are going to be REAL adults one day. The more I started thinking about it, if we want to be treated like real adults, maybe we should lose some of our college-like habits.... including but not limited to... sitting on our living room floor and eating our dinner off of the coffee table in front of the television.... (don't judge us too much).

4.) Get a real job - as in, a job that pays. After 50+ rejections this fall, I'm a little down on this one but hey, there are still 360+ days in 2012. If anyone knows someone who is hiring....

5.) Grow a successful summer garden. I was about to give up my quest to have a garden on my patio until those broccoli and cauliflower plants decided to actually do their jobs. And hey! They survived while we were at home for the holidays. One of my favorite memories was when we had a summer garden in our backyard that grew okra, peppers and squashes. With a little luck, my patio will have the same success in a few months...

6.) Actually get my dogs somewhat trained. Scarlett has now gone through obedience school twice and Rhett once. Scarlett will sit and lay down on command.... sometimes.... if there is a treat involved.... Rhett will look at you when you say her name, and is STILL not completely potty-trained. So ya..... dog training is definitely high on my list. I would like them to at least sit, stay, lay down, come and walk nicely on the leash by 2013.

7.) Get more involved in our church. I got more involved last year by going on a Turkey mission trip last spring, joining a women's bible study in the fall and hosting a table for the annual ladies tea. In reality, what I really want to do is join the church choir. I've already chickened out once - I meant to go last night and then talked myself out of it. I'm not sure why I'm so intimidated, but I really need to suck it up and just go. Maybe next week..... I am planning on starting a new ladies bible study this weekend.

8.) Leave the country. I know, I know, I'm addicted to leaving the country. But I just LOVE it. This year I'm hoping to make it back to my old stomping grounds in Russia. We'll see : )

9.) Do a better job saving money. I don't want to live in an apartment forever.... haha. Seriously though, we aren't major splurgers or anything, but we haven't been doing a good enough job of putting money in savings. I am declaring 2012 the year of the save!

10.) Continue to expand my baking abilities. Lately I've been mastering the art of the cake, but I'd really like to be able to make great cookies too. Between leftover Christmas money and the last of our hoarded up wedding gift cards (and some much needed encouragement from my sisters and mother in law) I bought myself a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for Christmas. I can't wait to start using it!

11.) Learn how to use my nice new camera. I'm super excited about it, but it still really intimidates me. Caleb told me the place he bought it had classes so I spent several hours the other night researching classes to take. When I went back to the site the next day to actually register for the classes, the company had declared bankruptcy and cancelled all classes.... of course in the 12 hours I was sleeping on my decision. That figures. So if anyone out there knows where I can get good, affordable camera lessons. Let me know!

12.) Encourage Caleb more. I have to admit... encouragement is not one of my finer qualities. I am much more prone to be a tough love and problem solver type. It is hard for me to remember to actually be encouraging. Caleb is much better at this than I am. So in 2012 I would like to be more encouraging - law school is stressful.... add in working part time and commuting and the pressure that he puts on himself and he is just a total stress ball. If anyone has any tips on how to remind yourself to be encouraging... especially if this is a hard skill for you... I would love some advice!

So that is it.... 12 resolutions for 2012!