Halloween v. 2010

hello dear internets.

there are all kinds of posts happening about Halloween currently.

i love Halloween. like a lot.  i just don't have something much to say about it.

our plans: we went to two parties*. tonight, we're staying home, carving a{nother} pumpkin and watching bad B scary movies.  with maybe a lot of popcorn and candy involved.  perhaps some cake baking, too. for some reason, that sounds like way more fun to me than the parties were. weird, i know.

i do love Halloween. i've had decorations up since October 1st {there's a glowing Frankenstein in my window!!}. i just don't necessarily like watching people taking shots and getting wasted. again, weird, i know. though, i did enjoy dressing up. i was a bucket of popcorn.  be excited.

my parents are having a haunted house in their front yard back in Texas.  you should go if you can. it'll be a lot of fun, i know from experience.  did you know that Halloween is probably the hardest holiday i have away from my dad? it was always our holiday, so it's weird not to be there. {I miss my mom most at Thanksgiving}

and with that, have a fantastic Halloween!! 

*did you know that people charge you to come their parties here? i mean, maybe not necessarily to come, but if you want to drink their beer, you typically pay $5 a cup.  that was so foreign for me & ze husband. when we throw parties, we total pay for it all.

Dancing Hands

Some coolness for your Tuesday morning.

Redoing the Bedroom {pt. 3}

See Part I here and Part II here.  

And now... the finished project.

Drum roll please...!

Redoing the Bedroom {pt. 2}

See Part I here and Part III here. 

When we last left our heroine, you were left thinking about the ickiness of our room. The yellow/white walls. The dirty, crampedness.

So, then we painted.

That chair took 20 minutes for the husband to move into the room. There was no way he was moving it out.

The husband and I have very different painting styles.

He had to paint the ceiling area. I'm far too short.

Isn't that a lot of blue tape?  And the bed made a fantastic staging area.

I bet you've never painted in heels before, huh? I think it just might catch on.... maybe.

I could add the finished product here... but I'm not. That's another long post. So! Come back Monday and see how it all turned out!

Redoing the Bedroom {pt. 1}

See Part II here and Part III here.

For the last 6 months, I've wanted to paint our bedroom. It's not a bad bedroom, a bit small, no closet space. But it was white. We have beautiful woodwork throughout the apartment, but someone got happy with the white paint and painted over all the wood in our kitchen and in our bedroom/hallway. It felt awfully institutionalized.

I originally wanted to try to scrape the white paint off. And I thought about it until I pulled off a piece (did I mention it was old paint too? probably lead) and it was about 1/8 of an inch thick, with more white on there. So, that plan seemed like it wasn't going to work. Then, I decided I wanted a blue/gray color. a) because it's calming and b) it would look really good with the white "trim." Husband got on board once we went to go look at paint colors.

So, this past weekend I was on fall break (meaning instead of getting a week off for Thanksgiving, we get Monday and Tuesday off in mid-October). On Monday, we painted.

Before:

Our bed.  I created those canvases above the bed with this as inspiration. As someone who often doesn't feel crafty, I'm really in love with them. Folded up there on the right hand corner is our wedding quilt.  We used it during the ceremony in lieu of a unity candle and it's always on our bed. Probably one of the first things I'd grab in a fire. For real.

Corner of the room.  Husband spent about 20 minutes getting that chair into the room.  And  the cat lives in that window. 

This is my vanity/make up getting ready place. Our bathroom is tiny. Teeny-tiny. Without any storage.  We don't even have a toilet paper holder. So, I had to get creative with getting ready space. 

Then, finally, probably the most shameful part of the bedroom. The one where you kind of cringe anytime someone asked for a tour. Our "closet" area.  See that tiny door? That's supposed to be out closet.  It houses Chet's {hanging} clothes and that's it.  Most of his clothes lived under the bed or on the bottom of the white drawer thing. My {un}mentionables live in that suitcase. And my folded clothes (cami's, sweats, etc) were living in the white thing. Everything else lived on that crappy, crappy hanger thing from Target.


Since this is getting ridiculously long, I'm going to pause for now and do homework.  Tomorrow, I shall show you our painting!

Busy Weekend.

This weekend was so busy.
Like crazy, busy. But also crazy amazing.

Our friend Jordan came up for the UT vs UNL game... He writes for The Daily Texas and was covering the game.

 

I went to the UT vs. UNL game with my friend Holly, her friend Alyssa, and her brother Aaron ans sister in law Shannon. Chet stayed home and watched because her didn't have a ticket. He argues he had a better seat.

It was a lot of fun. I actually don't know if I would ever go again, but I'm glad I got the experience.

And sooooo much red! 

 

On Sunday afternoon we carved pumpkin with our friend Alana and met some of her friends from back home.

 

I would like for everyone to know that I drew that cat freehand. And that this is the first pumpkin of our 2010 carving season.  It currently resides on our dining room table and I put a candle in it at night.

On Monday (because I'm on my fall break) Chet and I redid our bedroom.

And that's the only image you get for now!

How was your weekend?

Tom Osborne E-mailed Me!

I don't actually know who he is, but I think he's the athletic director of UNL.

Yup.

Just wikipedia'd him. (I made that word up, by the way. I think it should catch on).

Anyway, he sent an email out to all of the students about the big game on Saturday. Big game? What big game? Ooooh, dear internets. I will tell you.


This Saturday (10/16) UNL will be playing UT. For those who aren't up on those acronyms, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln will be playing the University of Texas (Austin version). This is a big game, apparently. Okay, I knew it was a big game, that's why I'm holding onto my ticket for dear life (I've been offered $400 for that ticket).

It's a big game because last year, UNL almost, almost, almost by {} that much beat Texas. But Texas was sad and demanded their "fake" second back on the clock and beat UNL. No, I don't choose sides and that is all completely factual.

It's also a HUGE game because this is the last time that UT and UNL will play each other, since UNL opted to pack their (our) bags and head on up to a different conference. So it's big. Oh, and we apparently have a shot at winning, sooooo there.

Anyway, there has been a lot of trash talking on both sides. A LOT.

Thus the very classy email from Tom Osborne:

Dear Husker fans,

Saturday's game is a great opportunity for each of us to display the pride we have for Nebraska football. As an integral part of our team, we need your support to give us the best home field-advantage possible. We hope you will blanket the stadium in red, be loud and support your Huskers. Equally important, however, is providing evidence to support Nebraskans' reputation for treating our opponents well. Please be courteous, responsible and respectful of your neighbors and all players, coaches and fans. Only positive comments are appropriate in both word and print. Let?s enjoy a great game and show our Husker pride through respectful behavior.

Best wishes,
Tom Osborne

Okay. Really. How awesome is that? Because, as a lovely Texas Native, I can tell you that I take serious offense to some of the stuff that's been spouted off my these insane UNL fans. So, I just think it's fantastic.

As for me, I shall be wearing this shirt:



The back reads: You're Ugly and Your Mama Dresses you in Burnt Orange. I wonder if that's okay with Tom Osborne?

And I'll be joining in the chants: Goooooo Biiiiiiiig Reeeeeed! Go Big Red!

Then, I will eat dinner with a good friend who writes for the Daily Texan.

Annual Fall Tour

On Sunday, husband and I went on our annual fall colors tour. Normally (like last year) we drive around this lovely state and stare at the pretty colors. However, the request was placed to not drive and maybe go hiking or something to look at the colors.

Fine. Noted.





So, we headed out to a state park.





And, it was a lot of fun, I must admit.
We walked around the park for about 3 hours.
We found a clearing, laid out a blanket, and laid down for 30 minutes, talking.







We trespassed on BNSF property, where I promptly had my first ever photo by a train track taken.


Please enjoy our lovely photos.
Click to enlarge.
:)

Don't be so mean.

"You're a first year, right?"
"Yeah"
"Haha. You have a loooong way to go."
awkward chuckle.

ooooooh conversations overhead in my hallway.

Parties and Feeling Connected pt. 2

So. Do you guys remember about my wanting this end of summer/welcome fall party?

Well, we pulled it together in 3 days. Really, in 1. And it was lovely.

We had people show up.






On the menu:

We had lots and lots of beer.
Water with Lemon.
A punch with sprite and sherbet
And the always classy Arbor Mist Strawberry Zinfandel.

Chet's salsa
homemade bruschetta and sliced ciabatta bread
a ranch and salsa dip
pizza roll ups &
deviled eggs.


We bought garden lights from target, mason jars and put candles in them. We laid out blankets in the grass.













We sat outside on the lovely night, a crisp 55 or so degrees. The wind was blowing. There were stories everywhere. People were laughing, and drinking, and eating.














It was so wonderful.

perfect protest

there's this researcher at University of Houston. she studies authenticity, vulnerability, shame, and courage. she's publishing a book about not being perfect.

first, how cool is that research?

second, wow.

Being our best selves is about cultivating the courage to be vulnerable, authentic, and imperfect.

Perfectionism, on the other hand, is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame.

It's that simple.
--Brené Brown

talk about ringing true. i know that's something which i struggle (and pay for) everyday. and nothing really could be further from the truth, honestly.

i'm not perfect.

i'm in the midst of figuring out why i use it as a shield, but i know we all do. what's your knee jerk reaction to "how's it going?" we've been socialized to put up this front that we're all okay. i struggle, because i know that's good. there are times when i need to be okay (e.g., seeing clients, giving a presentation).

but what's tripped me up is that i don't take off that perfection shield when i get home, or when i'm with friends. and when i know i'm not okay.

so, in protest of this, i made a sign. i'm joining in against battle of perfectionism.

i encourage you to head over to her site. take a look at all the amazing photographs of people who are battling with imperfection. wanna join?