Good music...

I'm embarrassed to admit how many times I've listened to this song.  I love it.  We almost caved and bought tickets to The Killers concert in Vegas next week, but instead practiced a little self-restraint.



And this video is just positive and uplifting.  I really like it.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

My brother, Aaron, is a teacher in Japan.  He just sent this to my mom.  I think it's adorable!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was very relaxing.  I felt spoiled not having to work the holiday.  And it was an added bonus to have some of my family visiting from California.  We almost had the whole crew here.  In the evening we attempted some shopping at the outlets, but decided nothing was worth the lines.  We got hot chocolate and headed home.

Somehow I failed to take any photos of the actual Thanksgiving meal...and I didn't get any of my sweet mom who prepared the meal.  The food was delicious - my mom's pecan pies are one of the highlights, they're absolutely amazing!

I feel incredibly grateful for so many things - Thanksgiving always helps me realign my sometimes skewed focus.  I'm looking forward to the other holidays, too! 

Zee Avi

Still love this song.  We listened to it over and over again when we were in Hawaii last year. Now anytime I hear it, I think of that trip.  It's an instant mood booster for me.

This is a photo from a few Sundays ago.  Isn't Jared handsome...  The other night we made a list of things we want to do over winter break.  I'm counting down the days until this semester ends -- can't wait.

Love this.

This made me smile...

As of late...

I can still remember the moment I read this.  Initial relief overcame me...followed by nervous excitement.  I was pretty happy.  I still think it's a funny coincidence that the date up top is also our wedding anniversary.

Sometimes I pull this letter out to remind myself that at one point I was pretty darn excited about going back to school.  This week has been particularly exhausting and poor Jared's probably sick to death of listening to me grumble about it.  I'm trying to keep things in perspective.  I really like my classes and find them incredibly interesting -- I just wish there were more hours in the day.  As I was trying to find room in my planner to pencil in yet another 'to-do' item, I had to laugh...boy I had things good before starting graduate school.

Despite feeling overwhelmed with everything I need to learn/do, I am actually very content with my life.  I love my new job; I love the satisfaction that comes from learning new information and accomplishing hard things (they're hard for me); and I love thinking that I've almost completed my first semester.

A snippet of my life lately...via my planner.

One evening Jared told me he had "good news and bad news" for me.  The good news was that I had a surprise coming in the mail; the bad news was that it wouldn't arrive until the end of the week.  Last year, I could not have cared less about having a laptop; this year, I felt like a kid on Christmas.

Ain't she a pretty little thing...

Don't know what I did without her.

I came home from school to see these on my counter (my brother-in-law went to China, but stopped in Japan and picked them up).  They're delicious and they bring back the best memories of the trip to Asia that Jared and I took a couple years ago.  I want to go back. 

Lastly, I sure appreciate good times with friends.  I feel incredibly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Rock Climbing

Lana Del Rey

Her music gives me chills.  She's stunning.  I wish her tour included a stop somewhere near us; too bad we can't take a trip to the UK anytime soon.  Someday, maybe.  For now, I'll have these on repeat.

All Hallows' Eve Party

We had quite the variety of guests at our family party for All Hallows' Eve.  We mingled with Marilyn Monroe, JFK, Nicki Minaj, and Captain Jack Sparrow, among others.  The party was very fun.  Everyone brought their favorite Halloween treat to share and we enjoyed good food and even better company.  Some of us stayed out very late -- the conversation was so intriguing we couldn't resist (Jared and I didn’t get to bed until almost 3am!).

The highlight of the night, by far, was uncovering everyone's deepest, darkest secrets with the polygraph test.  Thanks to Amy's timely purchase, we learned some interesting things about each other -- definitely money well spent! :)

Marilyn Monroe and JFK
Lizzie put her sewing (er, stapling) skills to good use and made her dress.

No, it's not a cheese nip!  It's Nicki Minaj...in all her fabulousness.

Snow White and Captain Jack Sparrow

Mary Poppins and Bert (he's holding a chimney sweeper NOT a witch's broom :) )

Jus Precious!

Lovelies

Oh, so classy...

A hairdo from Pinterest

"Happy Birthday, Mr. President"

They're pretty fantastic!

Where's a manhole when you need one...

Little lovebirds.

Don't let that smile fool you...he was sweating bullets :)

Poor guy, first time meeting the family and he gets to take a polygraph test.
He passed.

Delicious.

Well, aren't we lucky...