Planning.

With the fall coming, it means our lives kick up another notch. When I say notch, I mean another statistics class and the projects, homework, and textbooks that come along with it.  I mean, Back-to-School.

I look at this fall with a new excitement. About how artsy it will be, about making my own bread, about loving well the people around us.

So once again here comes the list. Kind of like the one I didn't accomplish this summer... or the 235,391,208 that I made on post-its at work this year. Really.

Fall (in no particular order)...

1. Live in Community. Sure it's broad, sure it's not a S.M.A.R.T. goal. But I wanna do it. I wanna see other people, and have them over to our home, and cook for them, and write them cards, and bring cookies on their birthdays, and laugh... a lot.

2. Lose the 10 pounds I gained this summer at Ute. You thought I was kidding, but I was not. Turns out that I gain 10 pounds every summer, drop a couple in the fall, replace them all during the holidays, and then lose the rest of the 10 pounds by May. Just in time to head to camp again. (More on that later... always).

3. Bake bread from scratch. I did this in college, and it's not that hard. And it'd be yummy.

Okay, so I didn't make these, Pioneer Woman did... but soon...

4. Buy a pumpkin.

5. Buy a house. (It's a little more expensive than a pumpkin... but we're looking into it anyways.)

6. Finish my statistics class... and finish the statistics for my thesis. (Which is being approved as we speak. Fingers crossed.)

7. Join Pinterest. So I said I wouldn't join until I finished my Masters for obvious reasons. But now I am "allowed" to join IF I only look for new easy healthy dinner ideas and party food. (And if we buy a house, maybe decor stuff ???)

8. Make a list of meals. At least 50. that we like. That we can eat. I'll have sections for cold and hot weather. Turns out we have a lot of cold weather meals and when it's 108 outside I have nothing to cook!

9. Still look into buying a sewing machine. Maybe if Kyle gets to buy a claw machine (yep... a claw machine) then I get to buy a sewing machine... right? We'll see what we've got left after the house.

But that's it. An uneven nine. I'll add to it I'm sure. But I'm starting smaller this time. And of course I didn't mention calling my mom, or loving my husband, or the MUST of having a Bible study with the ladies or celebrating thanksgiving... because those I will do for sure anyway.

What will you be doing this fall?? Or can you even think about it in the 108 degree heat?? Or is it way way too early to even call it fall??

We're Home

So after a wonderful summer of jetting off to Colorado every two weeks, and missing my husband the other two weeks... (and after taking a week off the blog to relax)...

we are finally home.

I say that in the best way possible for both worlds. We love our Colorado world, the people in it and the lives changed, and the way a family forms every summer. I miss seeing our sweet friends and Jennie's growing baby belly. There is nothing, at all, at all, to hate about our Colorado world (other than the fact that I gain 10 pounds every summer because of the yummy food!)

But it's good to be home. It's good to be able to cook dinner for my husband, and sit next to him on the couch for hours. I can look over and see him smile anytime I want and I love knowing he's home.

So we're home again (we have a lot of places we call home), and it's been good to see our friends. The Texas family that we got to pick out ourselves. While we've been gone many of them have been busy too: they have growing baby bellies too, they are moving houses, they are switching jobs... And it's great to know we have people to do that with. It was great to hear the "welcome back's" at church on Sunday. (Almost as good as the first day back at school, but without the homework, and the awkwardness).

After a wonderful summer, the fall looks even more exciting... I have a feeling it's going to be a lot more about community, and a little less about me.

Airports and babies.

 
So I've been traveling a lot this summer, and today I'm in a cute little airport with lots and lots of small little children. And I could not be happier!

I was sitting during my really long layover in the tiny Amarillo airport when from behind me I heard the high little voice of a 6 year old little boy.  He was running and dragging his dad to the large windows in the terminal while shouting, "a jet, daddy! A jet." He proceeded to smash his face against the window and stare in amazement. As the planes were directed to the gates, he began to explain to his dad what those "big orange sticks" were the woman was using and he ran back and forth skipping around every time a plane came in.

Then sitting, reading a few more minutes...  I realized this was not uncommon. Soon another boy and his dad were at the window, then an older woman, and soon yet another father and son. One kid calling the luggage car a "choo choo." which I'm thinking meant train. And before I knew it another toddler ran up to me and just smiled ear to ear and stared. And giggled. Apparently he didn't know I was already taken. :)

I figured maybe having kids won't be as crazy scary as I thought before. Maybe we won't have to wait 10-15 years, lol.

Or at least if kids are ever screaming and crying we'll just take them to the airport, right?

Enjoy your days, enjoy your travels... even the crazy long airport layovers. Today I'm going to enjoy the 60 degree Colorado weather... and I'll probably be a little later getting back to the blog.

I'll blog again soon once we return to the 110 degree Texas heat and it's impossible to even go outside :)

Buying the Hess House?

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned before that we currently live in a rent house. A cozy, homey, just-right-for-us rent house. We have a great landlord, and we pay a great price for rent. We love this house...

But we're thinking about buying a real house!

Crazy, I know.

Now don't worry, we haven't jumped into anything just yet. We're looking over our finances 5 million times and reading books and blogs on buying a home. And we've been stalking the house market in our town since early spring. Really this may take us years to decide all this.

See we took a financial class this past fall and I loved it. But one thing I'll never forget is that all the other people in the class were older than us, or well... more lived. And they kept telling us, "oh I wish I had had this advice when I was your age...oh if I could go back and do it right." So even in all the reading, I thought. Hmm, I wonder what the readers think?

So feel free to comment (and please do). Share your worst and best house buying stories. What to do? What you did and are glad you did, or wish you wouldn't.

Like I said, we're not moving tomorrow or anything... but I'm a planner. And I love to read! :)

Enjoy your home today, whether a rental, a real house, a dorm room, a counselor cabin, or even your parent's house. Because really you don't need a house to have a home :)

New Books.

So for the first time in a long time, I got new books.

Nope. Not new textbooks, or even new "how to" books. But just good books.  I'm not sure if you like to read, or if this blog is the extent of your reading, but I learned from my mother how to get lost in a book. How to cut out any busyness or stress and just cozy up and read.

This week. I have time to read.

This week is an interesting week.

It's right before my last trip to Colorado, right as my roommate is moving out. I'm unable to work on schoolwork because it's not that time of year, and unable to work on thesis because I have to wait two more weeks for the data. My house is clean, because I cleaned it for my parents coming into town, and surprisingly it stayed that way.

I've completed 5 out of 15 things on my Summer List of Wonders, and I'm not quite sure I'll get to all the rest.

But this weekend. I got to see my family. And my family went to the bookstore that was closing and having a clearance sale. So we all ran around and looked for books. Payton got some romantic/young adult books that I'm sure are good but I've never heard of, and the popular novel called The Help.  Justin, of course, got a Star Wars trivia book full of 2500+ questions. The book has a little computer attached that holds the answers to the questions :) My mom bought 2 cookbooks, not for herself, but for my siblings as a not so subtle hint to start cooking more and eating out less, lol.

And I finally bought Shana Neiquist's Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet, and I could not be more excited about owning any other two books right now. I've started Cold Tangerines, and I have to force myself to only read 1 chapter a day... so I can savor it, lol.

And then I bought Julie and Julia, because I haven't seen the movie yet and I think the book will be even better, and because it was only $5.

So here's to reading, and to family, and to taking time to relax before the fall gets here in all of it's greatness, but busyness.. of school and thesis and football and recruiting and retreats...

Relax today. :) Because, guess what? It's still summer.