Celebrations

This year Ben and I decided to combine our Anniversary (January 9th) with Valentines Day, so we could do something really nice together.  Ben, my romantic and thoughtful husband, planned everything...I only knew the date of the events. These were saved entered on our calendar as "mystery activity" and "mystery dinner."  :-)

Our "mystery activity" ended up being something I have talked with Ben about wanting to do for a while, but never had the opportunity to do...the Opera!  We saw the Austin Lyric Opera's production of "The Marriage of Figaro."  I loved it.

Here we are dressed up for our day's events.

Following the opera, we went to a fabulous restaurant, Green Pastures.  It is downtown in a historic Victorian style house...very elegant and just right for the occasion.  You can see a little of the house and beautiful grounds in the background.  The trees were all lit beautifully with string lights as well.

 

Happy 3 years and counting.   I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

Hola!

Voy a aphrender Español! (I am going to learn Spanish!)

Or rather, I will hopefully improve upon my Spanish enough to use it in real life.  I have been thinking about this ever since I started my first job here in Austin.  Especially working at the clinic where probably >25% of the people I work with speak only Spanish.  We have a great interpreter, but I really wish I didn't have to rely on her so much.  And I think it would be awesome to be able to actually speak (reasonably well) another language.

I guess I should have listened to my dad when I was in high school.  I think his advice went something like this:

"You should stick with the Spanish because you're going to need it someday." 

 And I'm pretty sure my response was something like:

"I'll find a job where I don't need it..." 

 And then I moved to Texas.

Well, it looks like he was right. ☺  I guess I should have listened Dad!

Anyways, I started a Spanish class this week.  It was actually developed for people working in the medical field so will be truly applicable to what I need to use on a daily basis.  The first class was really fun and can't wait to know enough and be comfortable enough to start using it!

Christmas Recap

I know it is already past the holiday season but thought I could post a brief summary of our Christmas for those that didn't get to celebrate with us.

This is the first year that Ben and I had room to set up a Christmas tree.   We spent way too long in Hobby Lobby picking out the perfect tree and coordinating ornaments...but I'd say it turned out pretty nice. :-)

I also tried my hand at some homemade decorations.  Ben was kind enough to spray paint some sticks from the back yard for me (He really likes to spray paint things).

We got to spend time in December with Ben's Family and actually had a beautiful White Christmas (as documented in Ben's time lapse video – one of the many features of his new camera)!  I have a feeling that this year will be well documented photographically.

We (I mean, Ben) didn't take many pictures of us in Dallas, but this one pretty much summarizes Woody's holiday activities (He says thanks for the pillow Donna!):

Last weekend my family came to celebrate at our house...except my poor brother in law, who got sick and didn't get to come.  Here are some pictures of the festivities.



All in all, it was wonderful to get to spend the holiday season with family.

New Year, New Blog

Welcome!

 

A whole lot has happened in the last three years.  Most notably, Ben and I got married, started establishing our life together in Austin, adopted a dog, have worked on our careers, and recently bought our first home. 

 

This year I want to do a better job of capturing and remembering the all the exciting and important moments in Ben's and my life. So I thought while I was at it, I could share those with friends and family as well. I hope you enjoy coming along on our adventures.