Amen and Hallelujah!

This morning marked a momentous occasion in the life of me (a lover of Fall).

We opened our door to send Jon on his merry way to school... and it was COOLER outside than inside!

WA-HOO!!!

A lovely 61 degrees outside.

Beautiful.

My screen door is open and I'm immensely enjoying this cool breeze (while it lasts!)

FREE!!!

So, although Jon and I aren't the POOREST of college students... we still like to live like it.

Is that bad?

Our food budget is ridiculously small and we are constantly looking for free handouts.

And thanks to THIS website, we've been the recipients of much "free-ness"...

Example...

Free movie passes from Studio Movie Grill...

The most amazing place ever!

You can order food while you watch the movie... super cool.

Free fish and chips at an Irish Grill... all we had to do was wear green!

 And it was delicious!

Free shows at Miller Outdoor Theatre

Free pictures, scrapbooks and calendars from various places...

AND free nights of theatre...
(there are free shows all around the country!
For a listing... click here)

"That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest."
Henry David Thoreau


Well said, Henry... well said.

New Bathroom

There comes a time in one's life... that you just want to change things around.

You wanna rearrange furniture, you wanna re-do your living room, you want new pots and pans, and you want to get rid of your old bathroom.

This is me... ALL the time.

Much to Jon's peace of mind... I only chose one :)

The bathroom.

I've had these decos since my sophomore year of college, and I was ready to say good-bye.

Not that it looks bad- but I like THIS a little better :)

AND what makes it even funner- I sewed the shower curtain, towels, made the wall hangings, and grew the potted flowers... (ok- not so much the last one...)

Saturdays with the Brames...

FOOTBALL!

Football!

and food :)

Days Gone By...

Today was one of those days.

You know the kind.

The ones where you have conflicting schedules and don't see your spouse until late at night.

Thankfully- I wasn't busy this afternoon and I met Jon on campus for a picnic.

But not REALLY a picnic since it IS still 96 degrees outside with 80% humidity.

So it was an inside picnic :)

It made me miss the good ol' days at BYU when we'd have lunch together everyday.

I can count on three fingers how many times we've been able to have lunch together at Rice.

How come I never appreciated it back then?

In fact- sometimes we'd complain that we had to walk across campus to meet up!

Puh-leez. A five minute walk is nothing.

Anyway- I just love this boy.

I pulled out my old journal from two years ago.

Two years ago, Labor Day weekend, we started dating.

I had been home from my mission for a week and a half, had been in Provo half a day, 

and this boy got my number.

It was a whirlwind of events! 

Many included BYU football games...

Picnics up Provo Canyon...

Trips up to Temple Square...

And getting engaged :)

From start to finish- it took us 4 months to get hitched.

I used to make so much fun of people who dated and got married super fast.

Then I become one of them.

Oops!

It's fun to remember the good ol' days at BYU :)

Are you ready for some football?

I love it.

This time of year is just exciting!

I love the changing seasons. (Although not QUITE as prevalent in Texas!)

I love how excited Jon gets about college football...

I love how hours are spent at ESPN.com...

I also love how Jon does the laundry before watching football on Saturdays ;)

(I have him trained!)

And I love the games.

Back in March (for his birthday) I gave Jon tickets to go to the Rice-Texas game for this opening weekend of college football.

AND that's exactly what we did!

Jon even sported wear from his school...

But he's not COMPLETELY loyal, yet. 

He brought a change of clothes.

That's more like it :)

And we're off!

Jon got some free tickets from school, so we brought along the Ellsworths!

Here we are waiting for the metro...

Sorry we did- we couldn't even fit on :(

We ended up walking.

So we walked.... and even though we've been having a cold front in Houston

(mid 80 degree weather)

We still did some good sweating.

At least the stadium had AC! Thank goodness for indoor stadiums!

Here are two very happy boys.

Who wouldn't be happy? 

We're about to watch some college football!

The game...

The huge stadium...

See all that orange?

Yeah, we were pretty outnumbered.

Love, love, love.

Isn't this girl adorable?

I love her.

I'm adopting her as my surrogate niece.

UT's marching band was HUGE and amazing! Check them out on the field!

(Yep, that is a longhorn and "TEXAS" down there...)

And here is Rice's marching band. Hahaha

They only have a student body of 5,000. I'll cut them some slack.

I'm still wondering why they spelled "NUTS"....?

Love this boy.

Had we had enough football?

Nope- no way.

We went straight back home and watched the BYU game.

Thank GOODNESS for justintv.

I asked Jon what he wanted to say about the start of college football season,

and he just sighed in extreme bliss.

And to that I say, "Amen brotha. Amen."

Sewing...

I'm by no means a great sewer...

BUT when I was little, my dear, patient mother taught me how to sew.

I even got my own sewing machine for my birthday when I was 10!

But after highschool, there was no room and no time to sew in college.

I certainly didn't sew on my mission.

And I haven't sewn at all since I've been married because my

sewing machine was still at my parent's house.

I think you get it. It'd been a while.

SOOO driving to Utah this past summer had it's perks...

because my family loaded our car with all my old STUFF!!

Including, Mrs. Sewing Machine.

SOOO (get it? sew? so?) this past week I pulled it out and gave it a whirl.

I clearly over-estimated my skills and wanted to make a skirt.

It's just been too long, yanno?

Anyway- I did a LOT of seam ripping, a LOT of poking myself with the seam ripper, a LOT of google-ing on how-to stuff, a LOT of grumbling,

and a LOT of start overs...

but I think it turned out well?

Maybe?

One thing is for sure...

I miss my mom's serger :)

My Quest For Purpose...

Ok, so the title of this post is a LITTLE on the dramatic side BUT with the end of the summer means a new year (well... school year) and time for a change!

Although I love teaching kids how to tap their toes, how to sit in criss-cross applesauce, and how to put their ballet shoes on... sometimes I feel like my job is just glorified baby-sitting.

Don't get me wrong- I love it.

BUT I've decided to take some classes of my own.

Firstly- it's been way too long since a ballet class.

Sometimes I feel like the dame in this picture in my pink tights and leotard... 

but you gotta do what you gotta do.

ALSO, I finally am taking pointe!

I've wanted to do it my WHOLE life... but never had time or money.

I can barely stand on my toes, but that's ok :)

And it's also been too long since THIS-

Jazz Dance.

Feels good to put them crusty jazz shoes on again ;)