Hook 'em

Today marks another day of senseless violence occurring on school grounds. A 19 yr. old gunman opened fire at the UT library today with an automatic weapon, and by the glory of God, missed everyone he aimed for, and eventually took his own life. I still can't believe we live in such an ugly world that we should fear getting an education for such reasons as these! Being there just 3 years prior brings back all the emotions of being on campus after the Virginia Tech shooting, with the emails of bomb threats and our emergency sirens going off about once a month. My heart goes out to students, teachers, and administrators every where! Being a student comes with risks, but it also comes with such great gain! I pray for the lost souls who feel the need to commit such acts, and the hearts of those left trying to make sense of it all!

Gluten-free + Groupon= Grrrreat

So what's up with this thing called Groupon? (Thought I'd start with a Jerry Seinfeld-esq intro) But seriously, Groupon is amazing. You register based on your zipcode and you receive daily emails containing AMAZ-ing deals for food, fun, and other fluff. Thus far, the best Groupon I have purchased was for a little place known as Little Aussie Bakery. Be forewarned, do not go if you are able to eat gluten and intend on keeping your wallet heavy...EXPENSIVE! Delicious, yes. Worth it, well yes...thanks to Groupon. Best $10 I have spent in a while.

Among my purchases: package of 2 vanilla-iced cookies, a lamb sandwich with side salad and roll (can't remember the last time I used the words roll, restaurant, and myself in the same sentence), a piece of 4-layer strawberry sponge cake, and an additional package of cookies to reach my $25 Groupon Certificate level.

Yes, as good as it looks

About 5 min, I meeaaan 23 1/2 minutes later :(

*I didn't eat it all myself. Promise.

And I didn't get a stomach ache from eating it so fast.

And I'm not saying I had some in my hair.

Cause I didn't.

* If Justin Berner says otherwise, ignore him. He lies and he likes the Cowboys. And he will lie about really liking the Broncos over the Cowboys at this point. Although, you might wanna tell the truth on that one. Better football choice my friend!

Bigger News

We don't really celebrate Halloween. Just carving pumpkins, Fall Parties, and certain costumes are acceptable. This falls into one of those categories!

Yeehaw

Big News

That's right people. Fall is knocking on our door, so please ignore the weather channel stating 99+ degree weather. It was pointed out to me, by my sweet husband, that I associate seasons with what Starbuck's drinks are available. Thus, Pumpkin spice latte= Fall. I am not the biggest fan (nor any fan at all) of cold weather but, I do enjoy cooooollll weather. Plus, cooler weather = not needing to re-shower after walking from the front door to the car + other really awesome things that make Fall fantastic.

Welcome back "We'll always have Paris"

I have to admit I have already been wearing these.

Thank you UTHSCSA for keeping it Fall indoors year round

YES! Pottery Barn catalogs bursting with acorn filled hurricanes,

brightly decorated plates, and individually labeled pumpkin place markers!

Did I mention the PSL?

Pumpkin scented candle, I will be purchasing you tomorrow!

Well, maybe not in Texas but one can hope!

Food and Fam go together like turkey and gravy

(I actually hate gravy, just seemed like an appropriate metaphor)

BARF and glop

Say what?!?! Well, this may sound absolutely crazy to some, so feel free to judge us, but Mateo and I started Tristen on a new diet. BARF (Bone and Raw Food) and glop (not really sure what it stands for). We take whole chicken parts, grind them in a meat grinder, and form patties. Next, the glop. In a blender, I put a whole head of Romaine lettuce, green beans, carrots, clove of garlic, a banana, and a small orange, and pour into ice cube trays. Breakfast consists of one patty, a defrosted glop cube and a dollop of daisy (not really...a dollop of plain cultured yogurt), followed by a single patty for dinner.

Okay, so why did we choose to do this? We know a friend that does it and has seen great results with his pup. Plus, it mimics the dogs true diet in the wild. I mean what wild dog doesn't eat cultured yogurt, right? Truthfully, we thought it would be better for him inside and out. So far he hasn't been scratching as much, his coat looks awesome, and his poop is much better (outside of yesterday, not sure what happened there).

Shout out to Costco for chicken by the ton!

Glop!

My Happy Boy!

Geesh...

I consider my blog as a not so private outlet. I share the good, and the bad, but here is the UGLY.

School:

Since this is where I currently am, listening to hour one of a ten hour lecture on not so interesting topics. Anyways, my annoyance with school started this morning at 5:45 am. We were suppose to register for our clinical groups this morning at 6 am. Believe it or not, this is a big deal. We will be with these group-mates, with these instructors, at these locations for the next 9 weeks of our life. Since, Monday we received notifications everyday regarding the sign-ups and detailed instructions/locations (mind you, every single one of the announcements contained inaccurate information that was later corrected and reposted... proof read people). So, at this point it's not looking too good. Nevertheless, I was at my computer at 5:45 am anxiously awaiting the opening and longing to go back to sleep (I had an awful nights sleep as it was...more to come). 6:00 am comes, nothing. 6:15 am comes, still nothing, Facebook comments commence and tempers start to rise. 6:32 am comes, still nothing, Facebook comments continue, many are disgruntled and must walk away from their computer mouse in order to not arrive at school make-upless and naked. 6:50 am comes, and... it's up, texts are sent out to notify the troops. 7:22am, arrive at school to realize many people were completely unable to register due to being on the road or spontaneous closing of the groups. 8:11 am, professors address the class with no apologies or resolution in sight. Am I back in last semester, only slightly more successful because I have YET to burn my tongue repeatedly with coffee and a tree hasn't fallen on my car mid-commute? ... but we are 3 days in.

Blessing: I am thankful despite all the miscommunications, misunderstandings, and missed sleep, I have a 4.0 GPA.

Trist:

I was one bark away from finding him a new home last night. Matt was in Austin for the evening, so I was home with the little dude. Lately, he has been barking like crazy, mainly because it has been too hot to do any kind of physical activity and burn stagnant energy. I feel ya dude. We went for a fetch session and he seemed more interested in eating grass than returning the ball. Okay cool. Next, he repeatedly follows me from room to room (usually endearing), our small closet included barking at me and eating my clothes I was carrying. Not so endearing. Then he wakes me up at 12:30 am thinking Matt was home, he was not, and again at 2:30 am.

Blessing: I love him and enjoy feeling his presence in our home...notice I said "feeling" not "hearing".

Car:

This time of year in Texas is when I feel like packing up and moving north. Mark my words, never again will I buy a car with black leather interior and massive windows ever again. My car was 104F the whole way home Monday and I had sweat coming from places I didn't know could sweat. Curse you MINI Cooper!

Blessing: I am thankful to have a vehicle that gets me from one place to another... sometimes.

Acupuncture:

My mom has insisted, despite my objections, to schedule me for weekly acupuncture appointments to try and help rebuild my immunity and increase my energy level. Being poked with needles is not necessarily my idea of fun. Nor was it relaxing, laying there for an our while I made/repeatedly revised a mental list of things I needed to do once I left. Not to mention, I left feeling more tired then when I arrived and was dependent on caffeine to complete my assigned readings.

Blessing: My mom is worried about me is willing to pay for treatment, that may or maynot work.

Belated 1st Anni Trip

A couple weeks after our anniversary, we left our pup with his grandmother and we were beach bound! We stayed in such a nice condo in Port-A, right on the beach, and got some great time in the sand, by the pool, and around town (really only dinner and Dairy Queen).

View from our room... Ahhh vacation and solo time with the hubby

Our lovely pool

Dockside dinner at Trout Street... the fish was ehh, okay,

but we were happy to pay for the view!

He's so awesome he glows!

L-O-V-E

Give it up for our first anniversary!

On a side note, I have discovered I like the "idea" of the beach more than actually being on the beach. I do NOT like saltwater and its way of making your contacts feel oh so good in your eyeballs. Plus, sand gets everywhere... I mean EVERYwhere. Our last night we went for a romantic stroll on the beach and we returned with sand in places it certainly wasn't invited. But, I will forever say I heart the beach.