December Arkansas Trip

In early December Cody and I traveled to Arkansas. It was great to see where Cody spent the majority of his life and finally meet some of the Arkansas Orvins. Getting to Arkansas was a mess. We flew stand-by and it was a disaster (what one will do to save money). We left at 8 am to Las Vegas and weren't able to make our connection to Little Rock. After many, many frustrating hours we finally boarded a 8:30 pm flight to Arizona to spend the night with the Arizona Orvins. Luckily, Cody's parents were also visiting and so we had a bit of a party that night before catching a flight the following morning for Arkansas. The following are some pictures which document some of our trip.

Here we are - after about 6 hours in the Las Vegas airport. I got sick at the airport and magically recovered once in Arkansas. Cody and I are convinced I'm allergic to airports.


Here are some homes in Conway. The first is the one we stayed at. Thanks Arkansas Orvins!




And now for the eating. White cheese dip is all I've heard about since I met Cody. It is unique to Arkansas. Cody bought me some and I also had Stoby's cheese dip.



Here are some pictures of Hendrix College and University of Central Arkansas.




Now - here is the last picture I love. Conway, AR consists of SO MANY CHURCHES, many of which are huge. It also has an unusual amount of banks. Banks and churches but no trailer parks like some uneducated California wife expected :)

"End of Holiday Season" Blues

Do any of you get sad that the holiday season is almost over like us? I was talking to Cody on our ride home from the festivities on Christmas day and shared how sad I was that the holiday season was almost over. Cody said he used to get sad the holidays were almost over even before Christmas! Bye bye sparkle lights. Bye bye reason for being overindulgent and a little "soft" or overweight. Bye bye shopping and money. Bye bye Christmas tree. Bye bye radio Christmas music (and therefore always something on I know I'll want to listen to). Sure I'm excited for dinner out on new year's eve and cider in the hot tub. Sure I'm excited for the rose parade, football, and sub sandwiches on new years day. But I'll tell you what, my "end of holiday season" blues make everything harder to enjoy. A year is such a long time before I get to have my holiday season back. I just hate goodbyes!

It's starting to feel like...

Home...well, it's starting to feel like Christmas too. Our apartment is about as decorated and organized as it's going to get for now. We officially have too many things...but that won't stop me from wanting to buy more china, clothes, lamps, cute wrapping paper, stationary, jewelry, and odd end stuff. Cody and I love the show "Hoarders" and he teases me that I could be a star on that show someday if he let me to my own care and attention. I really wish I was the type of person who could minimize.

Here is our tree and minimal Christmas decor.






Here is our Kitchen


and our living room...



and the master bedroom...




and lastly, our office/guest room...




I left out the garage (piled high with mexican textiles) and our bathroom. Hope none of you were hoping for those shots.

Stupid Sticky Door

I'm so mad. I hate my front door. It's stupid and dumb and sticks so you have to slam it to close it. Now a glass vase of mine has fallen off the wall and create a dent in my china bureau. My antique china bureau that used to be my grandmothers. So I hate the front door AND I hate the maintenance supervisor at my apartment complex who hasn't come to fix it.

I'm being very hateful to keep from crying. All I know is that Cody doesn't understand and thinks he officially married a "weirdo." Apparently I'm not really allowed to be mad at a door. And I'm not allowed to be mad at the maintenance supervisor since we never called him to come over and fix it in the first place. If you ask me, he should have known it needed fixing, somehow. Now when I actually do have to call him I feel like asking for a whole new door. Take that. Besides, my relationship with this current door is non-repairable. Stupid, Sticky, Poop door.

The Best Wife...

has to be a blogger. This is what I've been told anyhow. Last week in church in a lesson on the importance of journaling a husband raved about his wife and what an amazing journalist she is for herself and their family because of her, that's right, blog. Couple this with cody's constant inquiries on when I'm going to start our blog, I've decided blogging would be the "good wife" thing to do.

Becoming a blogger is a nail biting thing for this new wife. First - my husband expects me to be witty. This is his argument when I say, "just start the blog yourself." I admit that I can be quite funny, hilarious at times actually, but unfortunately, I'm least funny when I'm actually trying to be funny. I'm most funny when I'm trying the least. Probably a case of "we're not laughing at you, we are laughing with you." Tricky business.

Second - I'm lazy. I love to take what you're offering but don't ask for me to offer in return. For example, I've been entertained by blogs for years. I love seeing the photos, reading the stories, and following the comment feed of a post, but I've never committed to the time and creativity a blog requires. To start and maintain a blog is one thing, but to create one worth mentioning, now that is ENERGY. I've been entertained and informed by my friends and have failed to give back. I've actually received complaints because I'm horrible at doing the bare minimum of leaving a comment after enjoying a great post. I'm too lazy to comment. You know what this means? It means that I'm going to be that blogger. The one we all get frustrated with. You know, the one who fails to update their blog when you want to see pictures of "that wedding you were were in" or "your kids halloween costumes you sewed" or "that swap meet shopper with the floor length pony tails" you promised us in your last posting. Worse yet, I even get annoyed with those that I blog stock who haven't posted a lick of anything in months. So not only will friends be frustrated with me, but friends of friends, and strangers in my life will be annoyed. I hate disappointing others. It's a lot of pressure to blog: a lot of pressure for a lazy, "people pleasure" at that.

Third - I'm long winded as this posting shows. You know you're already over reading this post and thinking..."are we only on reason number 3?". I'm way too detail conscious. Sure makes blogging a large time commitment, doesn't it?

We'll stop at three. So, for good reasons as you can see, I've kicked and screamed and refused to start a blog. But today is the Sabbath, I'm a newly wed who still feels like she's on a honeymoon, and all I want to do is be the best wife ever. So here we go...HELLO BLOG WORLD. I've arrived and I'm making no promises. This might not be entertaining. You may get frustrated by my lapse in postings. You may never read a posting in its entirety (are you still with me?), but I'm here and I'm blogging!!