Despite all the time I have on my hands, I consistently forget to update. Talking to Paula the other day, kindly reminded me to do so.

I've just about finished painting, and decided to only do two walls in the bedroom and one in the living room--I was starting to run low on paint and energy. The molding on the living room wall needed to dry and have a second coat, hence it's unfinished look. I'll get to it, eventually. I think it turned out pretty well, and after hanging up Ben's paintings from an art class, it's starting to look like a real home!

Living room, in Sea Foam and Lucy Sky.

The bedroom, before

After! I think it looks so much better.

I've also been quite the cook lately. Trying, at least. One night last week, I made a meal for us--Turkey Burgers, a recipe from Family Circle. It included grated zuccini, which I loved, but Ben definitely didn't. But he was so sweet to try it, and loved it beyond the zuccini. So we'll just make half and half next time. 

My other creation was a strawberry pie. I got this recipe online, and it was a gelatin sauce base, which I don't think I'll do again. It didn't turn out too badly, but I was expecting a creamy, sugary sauce like Marie Callender's. 

I couldn't make it fully presentable because Ben was the main object of my affection for this pie, and he hates whipped cream. It was pretty delicious. 

In other news, Ben and I registered on Sunday! We went to our new-ish church (Ben's gone there since moving here, I've gone there on and off when visiting Ben), Woodcreek Church. We go to the 20's group--we love the community aspect of this group. We went to lunch with them all after service, which was the most entertaining thing I've done this week. The people there are so friendly and willing to help us to prepare for this new way of life we're about to undertake (marriage). After all this, we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and registered. 

This is a picture of our fine china set-up! Apparently it's becoming more and more common for people our age to register for china that can more or less become casual china, and we really loved this pattern and flatware. We're really excited. You can see the rest of it at bedbathandbeyond.com and enter either of our names to search for our registry. It was so nice to pick things out for the apt and realize I won't be living in an empty living space for long. 

We also went to the UFC fight at Buffalo Wild Wings on Saturday with Ben's roommate Mike which was fun. Brought a little bit of home to me. Last night we went over to Jake's who set me up on his Slingbox so now I have TV on my computer!! I've been watching Law and Order all day long--it's been heavenly.

I love and miss you all!

God Sustains.

In the four days since I've been here (five, six? How long HAVE I been here?) I've taken to a new Diet Dr. Pepper addiction (mostly because regular Diet Coke is non-existent) and to only saying ya'll when picking up job applications. I find that I don't look as much like an outsider when I do that.

Ben's been working a lot since we've arrived, although he does have tomorrow off. We're going to try and register at one of our places, though we aren't sure which one yet. I really feel like a Californian  here. I never really thought of myself as a Californian, but I definitely stick out. I drive extra slow on the freeway to keep ambitious Rangers from pulling me over. And although I grew up in 110 degree heat, I have been thoroughly educated in the ways of humidity over these past few days. Sweet Jesus, what point could it have. I can deal with Palm Springs heat, but sweet lord, Texas heat is totally different. I feel like I'm wandering through a moist hell, wondering why I bothered to do my hair. I'll probably end up wearing it curly through the summer then see where winter leaves me. 

A grant job might be in the works, and in the meantime I've applied to Half-Price Books (my personal heaven), Starbucks (job fair on Monday), and I tried to apply to Barnes and Noble. It might not happen seeing as how the woman there could barely hold all of the applications they've received in both arms, while looking for a blank one, which she did not find by the way.

With all of my bitching, there is one thing I do know for sure: I am a resilient person. Even in my most depressed moments out here, I know that I'm strong enough for this, and even though it doesn't feel anything like home right now, it will soon. 

Paula and I at Convocation. RIP Von Zipper Sunglasses =(

Saying bye to the Phister

The colors I'm attempting to paint the living room. You can see what color it is if you look at the top of the wall and see where I couldn't reach. Compare it to the lonely beige at the top. My "Sea Foam" is a much better color, even though we don't live within 8 hours of a sea.

Presenting....

OUR FLOWER GIRL!!!





Miss Sophia Lerma

We aren't sure what dress she'll wear yet, but look at her! Does it matter?? I'm seriously thinking about just letting her wear her red Chuck's under her dress.