Holiday Plaid

- Melody

top: Target, jeans: F21, moccasins: Urban Outfitters, sunnies: F21

For our anniversary, my sister gave us a free photo sesh! We redeemed it partly earlier this week. I say partly because a big storm rolled in and ran us out of our location. I think we’re going to try and go back when we get together for Christmas. This is what I wore. In my head I was thinking of this engagement session. So adorable. I’ll be sure to post pictures when we finish!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (eve!)

So Sorry…

- Melody

So sorry things have been quiet for about a week. I have many posts waiting to be written, but for now I’m recuperating from the week that was finals. I’ll be sure to post our Christmas decorations, our crazy shopping experiences and some outfits over the next few days!

Merry Christmas!
Love you all!

I Survived.

- Melody

If any of you are friends with me on Facebook you probably saw this post:

*(aaand I just realized I said “statues” instead of “status”. HA!)

The generous people at UT Tyler decided to try out something called “dead days”. AKA, the greatest thing ever. They are just no-school days before exams to give students a chance to catch their breath and study. It. Was. Glorious. I actually had three dead days because I didn’t have exams one day this week. I did an entire 10 page paper in 2 days, a history review full of essays, and studied like a crazy person while not eating. (I don’t think I had a consistent meal the past week or two.)

But Wednesday nearly did me in. I had three of my hardest exams in one day. I did have a chance to take one another day but decided to get them over with all at once. And I think I did pretty decent! On Thursday I dare say I made a 100 on the exam I took! I was so incredibly proud of it I should put it on our fridge. Forrealz.

Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Jason and I just started last night. I know. It’s awful. But finding free shipping coupons on the internet really makes you feel better!

Want to know a secret? We don’t even have a tree. My mom gave us one of those skinny ones with the real wooden trunk so we have that sitting in our corner. No ornaments, no tree skirt, no presents under it. Nada. We’re real festive.

(Look out for a new big post featuring Crumbs and Crayons!)

An Outfit and a Flood

- Melody


scarf: Old Navy, shirt: pacsun, skirt: f21, tights: target, boots: thrifted

Probably the comfiest outfit I’ve ever worn. That $6.50 skirt was really worth the splurge. 🙂

We’ve had a little bit of a ridiculous few days! Wednesday night Jason noticed the washing machine was cutting off and on. When I walked back to see what he was doing this is what I saw:

Oh. So that’s what the inside of a washing machine looks like. Apparently, that little magic switch that’s supposed to turn the washer on when you close the lid wasn’t working. So magic Jason fixed it.
While he did that Little Bit decided to explore.
So yay! It worked that night.

Thursday morning I heard water running but I shrugged it off. Partly because I knew Jason had started another load before he left but mostly because I was still asleep. A little later I still heard it so I decided to check it out. As soon as I looked towards the door I saw a black puddle in our carpet. All of my clothes that were waiting to be put away were soaked and stained. Our laundry room and butler’s pantry were FULL of water. I went to get the phone from the butler’s pantry and stepped in a half an inch of water. I was still in such a sleepy daze I didn’t know if I should scream or go back to bed. I was home alone and Jason was 35 minutes away in meetings. I frantically called him. He didn’t answer because of the meetings. So he texted me and I typed as fast as I could “EMERGENCY!” But coming from me, he probably didn’t believe me so much. I cry wolf a lot! Example:
Me: “EMERGENCY!”
Jason: “What’s up?”
Me: “We have no chocolate.”
See what I mean? So he calmly called me back after I told him there actually was an emergency. All he could really say was, “…sorry baby. I guess just start sopping it up.”

So I did. I grabbed EVERY available towel, only after strapping on my rainboots. They were immediately soaked. I grabbed the shop-vac. It worked for about 15 seconds then started shooting water out of the other end. Great. I opened the door in the butler’s pantry to aim the shop-vac outside and then it just quit working altogether. Even greater. I finally got all the water up and left for class.

Later that night, I realized that even more of my clothes than I thought were soaked and the water reached the edge of the bathroom. When Jason and I were drying it up he asked me, “You just wanna rip up the carpet?” Ok, sure. Why not? So we have a half wood, half carpeted room. I caught him tonight ripping up our bathroom floor.

All I Want for Christmas

- Melody

I can’t believe it’s already that time of year again. I love it. This weekend hub hub and I are going to pick up our real tree (why in the world are fake trees so expensive!? IT’S A FAKE TREE!) and decorate our house! Fires, coffee/hot chocolate and Christmas music will be had. 🙂 I can’t wait.

Meanwhile, I’m going to be like my 12 year old sister and make a booklet to give to my loved ones filled with my Christmas wishes… if money was no object 🙂

NUMBER ONE:

First up the iPad 2 ($500). I know what you’re thinking. “Melody, that is ridiculously expensive and there is no purpose for it.” And I’d like to say to you, old person who obviously isn’t into technology, “You’re so right.” However!, Jason miraculously got the school he works for a grant to buy iPads for the teachers and we ended up with one to play around with until someone needs it. I’ve fallen in love.. It’s only a first generation but I can see a “need” for one. (Just like someone needs a jetplane.) It’s easier to lug around than a laptop and does all of the same things. But for the price? $500? Really? I could buy two and a half Kindle Fire’s for that much money. For the record, I’m totally okay with the Kindle Fire if that’s what you’d like to get me. 😛

NUMBER TWO:
The Canon Rebel T1i. ($579). My sister owns this camera and I loooove it. It snaps quicker than our Nikon D40 and the lighting is so much more natural and clear. The only thing that annoys me about it is not being able to hold the flash down when it wants to come up. On a lot of the settings the flash can’t be turned off and if you try holding it down it says to turn the camera off and back on before being able to use it again. But still…

NUMBER THREE:


JCrew’s Double-cloth Townhouse Trench ($250 on sale). Since my mishap with Old Navy I’m still in the market for a new coat. I bought a Zara coat a year or so ago on Etsy but when I got it the lining was hanging out of the sleeves and there were several holes inside the pockets and the lining. (Something the seller failed to mention…) It’s a nice enough coat but lint finds a home on it and I’d like one that wasn’t so black. This is way out of my price range for a coat, but thanks to the Look 4 Less I found a similar one for $45. (in olive please 🙂

NUMBER FOUR:

The iPhone 4s. (from $199). Seeing how I have the iPhone 3 (not even the 3s!) I think I’m due for an upgrade. I’d even settle for the 4. 🙂 I’m super jealous now that my dad AND my sister both got the iPhone 4 and I’m stuck waiting 30 seconds for my camera app to open. Life is so unfair. Jason, being the frugal tech-dude he is, thinks we should wait until Apple releases their long-awaited iPhone 5. I agree, but I’m also really anxious to get a new scratch-free (I mean, anyone wanna buy an iPhone 3?) phone. In this case, I’ll forgive you if this isn’t in my stocking this year.

What’s on your wishlist? Any suggestions on (inexpensive! useful!) stocking stuffers for a guy?

Our First Year

- Melody

Although our one year anniversary was over a week ago, (the 20th) it still doesn’t feel like it should really be here. Has it really been an entire year since we were married? We waited so long for that day that it doesn’t seem possible that it’s already been another 365 days.

There isn’t a lot I can say about this year. Only that it’s been full of new experiences, more love than I thought I could ever deserve (I still don’t!), house renovations, learning more about someone else, connecting with someone on such a deep level, meeting new people, starting a new school, graduating, moving, traveling, realizing that we really can do whatever we want to  (like sleeping on the couchbed) (such a new and weird concept to me since I was never on my own before we married) and just living.

I love you so very much, Jason! Here’s to decades more.

Thanks to mom and pop for keeping that cake in the freezer for a year! And to milkpod studios for all of our flowers. Including Jason’s boutonniere (I can never spell that right on the first try) shown above.