I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas...

For years, I've been trying to get my family to have a "greener" Christmas- and for years, I have failed. But I will never give up! (I think they secretly enjoy my tears...)

My biggest request: stop it with the wrapping paper! There is zero reason to go out and buy wrapping paper. Get creative! Use fabric, or newspaper, or old shopping bags. Or... in case of an emergency (a fancy wedding where fancy wrapping paper is a must)- get pretty 100% recycled paper. Trust me, it exists.
And then... if none of that does it for you, this year I discovered a new option--

SNACK BAGS!! See that little guy there in front? He's wrapped in a Quakes bag! And turned inside out, the shiny silver part makes for a lovely little homemade bow. (The larger ones are wrapped in old shopping bags.)

I'm all about Christmas spirit, but don't really see why all the "stuff" needs to come along with it. I found this awesome website that agrees... a great place to get some green holiday motiviation!

He liked it, so he put a ring on it!

Yep- it's been a YEAR! A year since we said our "I do's," became husband and wife, and started this adventure...

 

We hit the ground running and have been going ever since!

New Orleans Honeymoon

 

Leo with his work permit, social security card, driver's license & green card!

Obtaining all 4 (and not murdering any government employees in the process), was such a big deal that we decided to go to Las Vegas to celebrate--

 

Then onto California! (San Francisco & Yosemite National Park)

And then Washington DC!

It's been one heck of a year. Lots of travels, lots of fun, and even more love. I can't wait to see what the next one brings! 

Recall Schmecall.

I was off work on Wednesday and Thursday this week, and blew my extensive to-do list out of the water! But in order to achieve that, more than 2 hours of my Thursday were spent at the Honda dealership…

And here’s why:

One night last week, I came home and had Leo inform me that my “car had been recalled.” Of course, I immediately blew this off and explained to him that things are recalled all the time here, and it’s rarely the year or model or type of something or other that you actually own. But just in case, I did a quick google search the next day and found out that Hmm- 2001 and 2002 Honda Civics had truly been recalled for something related to their airbags and that yeah, maybe I should call a professional just to double check.

A short phone call and VIN check later, and I officially owed Leo an apology. He was correct and my car needed to get to a Honda dealer pronto to make sure the airbags wouldn’t kill us. (After 10 YEARS on the road, and 3 DIFFERENT OWNERS, they’re just now figuring this out?? I was particularly tickled by that.)

So to Honda I went. And it took FOREVER. Fortunately, they had free coffee and a big-screen TV, and the service guys were really nice and honest about how long it would take… but that didn’t make up for the fact that it took 2 HOURS. I went walking around the showroom for a few minutes, but decided quickly that was attracting too much attention from eager salespeople. When I told them my 2002 Civic (which still works wonderfully) was being checked for deadly airbags, they tried to convince me to trade in for a newer model. And when I put my cards on the table and told them I was only interested if they could get me in a brand new one (with a sunroof!) for only the value of my trade-in… they walked away.

But eventually Adam, my friendly service representative, came out and called my name and informed me that I had escaped danger. My airbags were perfect and would surely save our lives in a crash- instead of forcefully pushing us toward the light.

AND- the 2 hours turned out to be completely worth it because he had another bit of good news. The “SRS” light that’s been lit up on the dash for a year now is related to a faulty passenger side belt buckle.  (I already knew that- hence my lack of concern. It's only the sensor and doesn't affect the function.) This model Civic is notorious for having that buckle do weird things… BUT- he did let me know that it’s covered by a lifetime warranty and he can replace it for free and get the light to go away! Yes, that means another trip to see the Honda people… but it’s free and that light will be out again for the next 200,000 miles or so.

Score.

14% finished!

I haven’t blogged in a month? A MONTH??

Well never fear- I’m here now.

This Wednesday marked my last day of class for the semester… and oddly enough, I had no idea! See, according to the calendar, the last day is Dec. 7^th, and I always had that in my head. But apparently only those doing final presentations have to show up on the 7^th, and since I presented on the 30^th… I’M FREE! My lack of paying attention to the fine details got spun into a nice little surprise for me!

I am officially finished with 1/7 of my overall program-- And while that may not seem like much, it's a lot better than 0/7!

Grades aren’t posted yet, but it’s good to know that all the assignments are a thing of the past and I can get to work selling back books to Amazon and partaking in fun Christmas times. Let the baking commence!

And… only 15 days til PUERTO RICO. Methinks this will be a good break.  :)

No paper necessary.

Almost a year ago, we decided to go paper towel-less. Well, really it was my decision... Leo's line of thinking was more: "But they're so great. Why do they have to go away??" But being the awesome husband he is (who's learned not to ask too many questions when it comes to reducing waste), he humored me.  :)

 

 

There were a few bumps in the road, because instead of cutting back on our use, we just quit cold turkey. But with a few minor adjustments, it's worked out great!

We got one of those plastic cover things for inside the microwave... since splatter makes me crazy. And it cost literally $1.98. As for when Keebs decides to free himself of a hairball- dish rags work great, and then go directly into the laundry. The biggest obstacle had to do with adventures in glass cleaning. Other than newspaper (which we don't get), I had no idea what else to use to clean mirrors & windows. But it turns out, those microfiber cleaning rags you get for the car or even a cut up old t-shirt work wonders!

It makes me so happy when a change like this not only works, but works well. Toss those paper towels! You can do it, too.

Worth the 6 month wait.

Guess what arrived yesterday?? THIS!

Remember how my old one was dying a slow and painful death? Well, that descent into death started way back in June, and it's taken me  6 months to bite the bullet and get a new one... But it took me over a YEAR to get a new laptop, so I am showing improvement. See, I'm not big on spending money. In fact, I hate it. Unless the expenditure involves me getting on a plane or going on a super awesome trip, I'm not a fan. But I do realize that trips aren't nearly as much fun without a functioning camera... And thus my predicament.

Enter my new little green friend: The Olympus Tough 6020. Basically the new & improved version of the old one, and from what I can tell, the new bells & whistles just make it that much more fun! The jury is still out on the new photo editing software that it seems I'm being forced to use, but I'm sure I can find a way around it and bring back the oldschool version...

Just to try things out, I snapped a few pictures around town today. And so far, I'm impressed. 

Can't wait to get it out and about and stretch its wings for real!

Nothing a few hazardous chemicals can't handle.

After working on it for weeks, I submitted a very large paper today. And after taking a moment to enjoy a massive sigh of relief (and a mini happy dance), I decided to tackle a project in the bathroom I'd been putting off.

See, my eyeshadow applicator was falling apart. And because I'm awesomely frugal and resourceful and didn't want to spend a whole $2 on a new set, I decided that with a little glue, this one could be good as new. It was a brilliant idea in theory, but the outcome was not so great. I underestimated the porous nature of the sponges and used a little too much super glue... The result: super glue on 5 different fingertips and on our beautiful granite countertops. Yes- I'm an idiot. Technically, the applicator still works, and just to prove a point I plan to use it as long as possible. But a valuable lesson was learned. (and ps- the spot on the counter is tiny and I will be researching ways to remove it asap.)

I also made a decision while sitting in class today: Tomorrow will be a day OFF. No books. No work. No need for eyeshadow or applicators. My plan is to sleep in, gather my weapons of attack (vacuum, pledge, lysol, scouring pads, etc) and wage war against the mess that is our apartment. And if time allows, I'll also be scraping off the bird poo that is currently covering about 20% of my car. It shall be a cleaning extravaganza! And I'm excited. In preparation, I'm making the perfect playlists and trying to figure out if I'll be able to properly enjoy Pride & Prejudice (with my boy Colin Firth) all the way from the bathroom...

Ooo- maybe some of the cleaning solutions will also take care of my super glue fingers?? Bonus.

O beautiful for spacious skies...

One year ago today, I spent about 3 hours hanging out at DFW International, waiting for my fiance to arrive from Africa. And while absolutely nothing that night went according to plan, I did ultimately find him at a completely different airport, jet-lagged, already making friends, and happy to be on American soil.

In lieu of a sappy "We've come so far" post (which we have!)- I'll just say this: It's been a great year.

A blog neglected.

Hello readers! Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive. Still here- Just too busy to write!

I'm in love with grad school . I am seriously enjoying every single thing we're studying... but the papers are stacking up and I have my nose in a book (or at a computer screen) multiple hours a day. I can already tell huge differences in everyday life- some good, some not so good.

For example, I really enjoy cooking. Leo's been busy with work lately- both teaching and coaching- and tends to get home no earlier than 7:30. And I love having an awesome dinner all cooked and ready by the time he walks through the door... (I'm wife from the 50's!) But now, that's rarely an option. And I miss it.

Also- I have determined that the freshman 15 applies to grad school. Bleh.

But we do have some exciting things coming up--

We booked a super amazing trip to Puerto Rico in December! Talk about an incentive to keep my head above water til then...

AND- I'm headed to Cabot, Arkansas next week to eat some pizza, hang out with family and friends, and honor, remember and raise money. If you're in the area-- stop by! We're having a fundraiser for The 1LT Tom Martin Foundation, celebrating an amazing man- my brother Tom.

Leo and I are also hosting Thanksgiving this year. The Martins will converge on Dallas and fun times will ensue... it shall be great.

So as school continues and the adventures of the next 3 months (and 3 years) come to be, I'll do my best to blog regularly. But if I go missing for a few weeks or so, you know my excuse.

Tasty to go.

We left the house tonight with the intention of grabbing sushi for dinner. And after a few slight miscommunications, we ended up at Fireside Pies instead. It's literally 2 minutes from our place, yet we'd never been! And it's definitely a new favorite.

Leo's to-go box:

We cleaned every last pizza crumb off of our plates, but the waitress was nice enough to send him home with some of their AMAZING ranch dressing. Roasted red pepper ranch to be exact.

YUM-MY.



My little orange love.

My camera is dying. (I've been told admitting it is the first step to healing.) After months of trying to deny it, it's true. And while I'm hopeful I can squeeze a few more weeks of life out of it, I'm trying to give it a bit of a rest to extend its days.

I first noticed the problem in Las Vegas in June. The batteries weren't holding their charge like they should. I have a total of 3 lithium batteries (multiple ones are better when traveling in places without electricity), and the weird part was: all 3 started dying at the exact same time! Instead of lasting days, they started to die after only a few hours of use. And after trying every trick to be found on the internet- with both the batteries AND the charger... nothing has worked. And so I began to think of replacing the charger or the batteries or both- but that's when the screen started to flicker. :( I believe it's trying to communicate that it's DONE.

You have served me well, old friend. Over the past 3 1/2 years, you've taken amazing pictures from all over the world- handling every situation I've thrown at you. You've been dunked in multiple oceans, covered in sand, dropped, stepped on, overheated... and you continue to come back for more.

 I'm not quite ready to betray my little technological buddy by shopping for a replacement, but I know the time is close.

Bad picture. Great gym.

Part of my massive tuition payment this semester went toward a membership at the Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center. And while I had never been before, several people I had asked said it was pretty top notch. So I decided to go today and check it out.

Even as I walked in the doors, I was impressed. Talk about fancy! And I felt out of place. In my t-shirt, no make-up, hair in a pony tail and backpack slung over my shoulder... (No need to dress up for studying!) And while my attire wouldn't have been so bad any other day, what I didn't know was that they had to take a picture for my membership card. Um... yeah. I now have the saddest looking fitness center ID in probably the whole Baylor system. Fail.

BUT! The gym is seriously amazing. The locker room is filled with polished wooden lockers, vanities (fully outfitted with hair dryers, make-up mirrors, cotton balls, q-tips, hair spray, etc), leather benches, a full-on lounge area with leather couches and a TV constantly set to Food TV... It's incredible. And that's just the LOCKER ROOM. While I didn't snap any photos inside because I didn't want to draw any more attention to my disheveled self... I did find these stock photos on the internet.

They have every class you could imagine, and that's definitely what I'm most excited about. Although I'm sure I'll be the girl in the back of the room making up my own Zumba moves...

I know my stress level will only rise from here on out, and exercising is going to help put a dent in it. And I paid for it... might as well use it!