November 28, 2011

So Very Thankful

Yes, I realize this post is a few days late for the actual Thanksgiving holiday, but I didn't plan ahead to post before we left to visit family and I didn't bring my computer along on the trip. I have so much to be thankful for, but I'll narrow it down to my top ten (in no specific order):
  • a wonderful husband who makes me laugh so hard, and does everything in his power to coax me out of a bad mood
  • my family, sometimes I can't believe how amazing they all are.  and that we're related.
  • my nanny baby and how she cuddles
  • Riesling, kale chips & Walking Dead evenings with mah Boo
  • that my car is still running and gets us from A to B (please don't ever stop)
  • walking to our wonderful church on crisp Sunday mornings
  • wearing tights
  • dreaming of our first house (and the gajillion Zillow posts we email to each other) and the puppy that we will adopt before even the first box is unpacked
  • Miles giving his best effort to finish the Hunger Games series for me
  • Boo finally conceding that it is now the Christmas season and we can finally decorate/pick out a tree/listen to music/watch christmas movies non-stop
There are big things that I am thankful for, as well as the million tiny things that fill my minutes, hours, days. My life is so wonderful. Miles and I have been so blessed. We both agreed not to let the spirit of thankfulness pass as we move into a new season. I hope to really be contemplative and reflective on a more daily basis. Every third Thursday of each month methinks is the new mini-thanksgiving for Miles and I and our little family. 

Once again, I failed completely at taking pictures this weekend. Just too busy having fun and stuffing my face with delicious foods. But I did make sure that Miles took a picture of the three siblings before they flew back to Chicago last night. Miles and I are SO EXCITED about our trip up to Chicago in February to hang out with these cool kidz.
So happy Caleb was here this year. Y'all, I have the best, coolest, most beautiful siblings. 

Happy late Thanksgiving!!

November 22, 2011

Birthday!

My birthday was so wonderful! We celebrated all weekend and let me say, I got used to being spoiled. Miles planned a surprise dinner on my birthday with some of my most loved friends and family in Nashville. He had been acting weird most of the week before my birthday (making me decide on a restaurant 3 days early, making reservations, snatching my phone away from me and deleting text messages from friends who didn't realize they had been invited to a surprise dinner). But I was going to totally act surprised for him, until he told me about the surprise two minutes before we left the apartment. Silly boy. Silly boy! I'm sure I've mentioned before that I don't do well with last minute plan changes..so that was his reasoning behind telling me. But even if I hadn't suspected his plans, birthday surprises don't count as last minute plan changes. Just for clarification (and future reference, boo). But dinner was so wonderful, we all had our fill of delicious mexican food and margaritas and I felt so loved by all who came. Of course we all forgot to take any pictures...


So we just finished birthday celebrations this weekend, and tomorrow I get to pick up my brother and sister at the airport for thanksgiving festivities! Honestly, I am more excited about the rest of this week than I ever could be about my birthday. I can't wait to be with my siblings, my aunt and uncle and cousins, and have Miles off work for four whole days! SO EXCITED!


Also, I loved that my birthday started off with this StoryCorps story. It was a follow up of one of my favorite of the animated shorts from previous StoryCorps stories found here.
Honestly, I love all StoryCorps stories.

November 17, 2011

Last Day

Today is my last day as a 22 year old. My last day! How has a whole year passed by? I feel like I remember everything too well for some of those things to be a whole year away. This year was huge. This year I had my last Christmas at home without having a husband with me, I graduated, had an engagement shoot, had a bridal shower, went to Texas, went to my great-grandmother's 100th birthday party, watched Boo play live for the first time, read/fell into obsession with The Hunger Games, my fatty fish died after 3 years :(, Miles took me to see Les Miz, my sister came and lived with me for a spell, I planned my wedding like mad and then actually carried out all those plans.  I married Miles, we went to the Dominican Republic to honeymoon it up. I married Miles. Who am I kidding--that is definitely the biggest, most important, most memorable, most amazing part of my year.  Miles and I became a little family and put together a little home and began our life together. I started a nanny job and fell in love with a chubby legged baby girl. Some days she makes me want my own, and other days she makes me thankful that I get to hand her back to momma at 5:00. Today she is cuddly and sweet and taking good naps and laughing at everything--guess which type of day this is for me? My whole family (except Miles) met up in Chicago for hang times. Miles and I ate so many burgers and went on so many dates and watched so many movies and tv shows and found our own rhythm to live within. I don't want to forget anything about this year. So here is something to help me remember. Remember, Bethany! Remember who you are (/were as a 22 year old)..

So here is to an amazing year that has come to an end, and to a new one about to begin. I'm excited and ready! (I think) (definitely excited, hopefully ready)

November 15, 2011

Cuddle Baby

I loved being off all last week and getting so much cleaned and organized, and having lunch with friends and mother-in-laws, and being able to take my time making dinner for Miles. But I also equally love being back with the nanny baby. I feel like she's already changed so, so much and that I missed out big time. And I ain't even her momma. Laws, I need to cool it.

Handsome Boy

Miles was off this whole weekend, which hasn't happened since the wedding (we think/can't remember otherwise..) So I meant to take a million pictures to celebrate having two whole days together, but surprise, surprise, I failed. Looking through the [few] pictures yesterday I realized that I really only took pictures of Miles, with very few exceptions. He's just so cute. Good thing I married him.
Making sure we pick out the coolest/best matchbox cars for the Operation Christmas Child box we were putting together. It took a while. And we were totally lost/overwhelmed in the toy section of Target.
Being adorably patient while I got ready to go out Saturday night.
Being my hot date.
I wish I could say that I didn't eat my entire pizza after I snapped this picture. But that would be a lie.
This alley makes me happy and we would've eaten out here if it weren't so windy all weekend (and if they had their tables set up...)
And home time. With my million apple cinnamon candles and with my boo. 

November 09, 2011

Old Home

So, I grew up in Hong Kong. We moved there when I was 9 and for the first few years we lived there I was pretty indifferent. Then I became somewhat bitter--thought I was missing out on something by not growing up in the States or something like that. Something completely ridiculous. Then the last year or so, I absolutely loved Hong Kong. Loved every street, every bus ride, every time I rode MTR, walking everywhere in a huge crowd of people, towering skyscrapers, a 28th floor apartment with my bedroom overlooking the sea. It really was home. It really was a huge part of me. It still is, but its been so long since I've been back that sometimes it feels more like a dream than 7 years of my growing up. (and I have dreams about being back there at least once a week)

I saw this video floating around on my HK friend's facebook pages and once I finally had a moment to watch it I fell in love with the city all over again. I love Nashville, I do...and Hong Kong and Nashville could be a little more opposite than they already are. But not by much. How strange to know that the only two places I consider home could be so different. Like, so different. 


This video is so breathtaking. I need to watch it at least once a week to remember my old home well, and not the weird way I dream of it. 

Let's Pretend...

Right now I am home, cozied up on the couch pretending that it is much colder than 64 degrees outside. Pretending that the gusty wind is actually really chilly and the drizzles of rain are, in fact, flurries of snow. Listening to Dean Martin sing Silver Bells on Pandora and having my plethora of apple spice candles lit around me helps a lot with this game of pretend. Now Nat is helping with Joy to the World. 

There is a disaster of a kitchen just two rooms over, but I am ignoring it for now. I have a (nine days early!) birthday package sitting on my coffee table and I am trying to ignore it. I have a huge Goodwill drop off, and tons of movies and books to trade. But its just too cold to go out right now (remember?) 

Obviously I am all for bringing on the holidays a teensy but earlier than some would like. I am okay with that. I just need to stock up on candles. Or maybe I'll just start to mull spices. Thats something, right? At least it looks cold outside. I haven't totally lost my mind. 

I think the farm adventure this weekend allowed me to check off the "fall" season. Not that its not my absolute favorite. But really...its only my fave because it leads up to the holidays. So lets lead a little faster, shall we? Here's to our lovely fall evening out in the middle of nowhere. It was absolutely perfect.
All but the last were taken with my iPhone. Why did I even ask for a camera last birthday? I always forget it. But I love this last photo taken by someone else that night. With a real camera. 

November 04, 2011

Already Forgetting

Last night as Miles and I were eating dinner, I realized that we had forgotten our four month anniversary (November 2). Yeah, okay, its not that big of a deal. We both forgot, so that worked out well. But how are we already failing at remembering anniversaries? I can't tell if I'm really upset that we forgot, or if I just feel like I should be. I'm going to say...just feel like I should be. Everything is so wonderful, its not like we forgot because we don't remember that time we got married only four months ago...we're just busy looking forward to weekends and evenings together, talking about house buying (yeah, I know last week I said that wasn't happening soon...but it might if we find something good), watching terrible, awful movies from redbox, failing at dinner-making and not making messes in the kitchen, and having husbands be employee of the month and winning a new Les Paul. Our loves are wonderful, we are in love, I'm okay with forgetting a teensy anniversary. 

The rest of November is going to be so fabulous. I am off next week, glory hallelujer! A whole week to myself to clean and actually have time to cook and bake and organize and read without baby interruptions. That being said, I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss the nanny babe like crazy come Monday afternoon. Then my birthday is coming up, and a week later my brother and sister are flying down from Chicago. We get to spend the whole day in Nashy hanging out, being awesome siblings, and then when Miles gets off work we're piling into the car and headed to our aunt's house for Thanksgiving weekend. I l-o-v-e thanksgiving weekend with my aunt and her family. And this year is going to be the best yet with both of my siblings and my lovely new husband. My cousins have already talked about watching Elf after our thanksgiving feast. Bring it on.

We're headed down to a friend's farm tomorrow afternoon and evening and I got a little too excited when I saw "s'mores items" on the list of things people could offer to bring. I offered. duh. I can't wait to be outside in the beautiful weather tomorrow even though I'm not 100% sure what the hang times will look like or consist of since we're tagging along with a few new friends and a lot of people we don't know. And I'm sure we won't have a giant bonfire. But there will be s'mores. There will be s'mores...


found on pintrest, here

November 03, 2011

Sense of Humor

I have a terribly stunted sense of humor. I laugh the hardest when I am around 5 year old boys (wait...and Miles...hmmmm). 
Someone posted this comic strip by a 6 year-old today and it came up on my newsfeed. So perfect.


The holding hands is genius. 

Also, when I draw, this is what it looks like. My sense of humor isn't the only thing that didn't progress as I grew older.