We've Moved!

Dog Walkin!

Yesterday we took the dogs for a walk around the apartment complex, and Lauren managed to snap some pictures. It wasn't quite as hot yesterday, so it was nice to get out for a little while!

My sweet Layla!



Samantha!



I love my Sam!



She's such a good "heeler"!



Our two beautiful girls!

Ryan

Early Anniversary Date

Last night, Ryan and I went out to dinner to celebrate, early, our first anniversary. We didn't really have any plans to go out, but then we got a card in the mail from Alan & Kathy with two $25 gift cards for either Red Lobster or Olive Garden. (Thanks!) Most of you who know me well, know that I LOVE Olive Garden, but Ryan really wanted Red Lobster and lobster sounded pretty good to me, so that's where we ended up going. I'm so glad that fish is healthy because I ate quite a bit of it. I had the Ultimate Feast, which included lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp scampi, and Walt's famous shrimp. However, I did not eat the scampi, and Ryan helped me with the crab legs. I had never had crab legs before, and it was definitely an experience. It was good, but so much work for the amount of meat that you get. I definitely preferred the lobster tail. I had lobster for the first time on our cruise, and I'm pretty sure I'm hooked. Unfortunately, however, lobster is too expensive to have very often and it's just not something I think I could cook at home. The thought of picking up a live lobster creeps me out. Ryan had "Shrimp Your Way", and he got shrimp scampi, Walt's famous shrimp, and coconut shrimp. I also enjoyed a delicious, refreshing frozen Margarita. Overall, it was a great dinner out to celebrate, and I'm glad we got to do it. Normally, it's just too expensive for us to do when I can make something nice at home....which is the plan for our actual anniversary. After dinner, we met up with my friend Anne to go see The Hangover at the movie theater in Bryan. Everyone had said how funny it was, and it really was funny. It's definitely a guy movie, but that's ok. You know you have a mature relationship when you go see a guy movie when celebrating your anniversary!

Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden (HA!)

Today, Ryan and I decided to go golfing. I used to be on the varsity golf team in high school, but I haven't played in probably four years or more. I loved it when I played, but as with most things in high school, the girls got very catty and started cheating, and I got sick of it, so I quit because I hated having to deal with it on a daily basis. I'm not sure why I quit playing completely, other than the fact that I didn't think I had room in the dorm to bring my clubs, and now I don't have any more since Michaela is now on the golf team. But we decided that this would be something fun to do together, and it would give us some exercise, so we headed out to the A&M golf course to hit some balls at the driving range and practice on the putting green. This was Ryan's first time ever, so there were definitely a lot of whiffs, duffs, etc. But he got a few good shots off and most of them were right on par with a beginner. Since we don't have our own clubs, we had to rent them from the Pro Shop, and I ended up playing with men's clubs. Somehow, despite the fact that the clubs were WAY too long for me, I still managed to hit really well considering that I haven't played in four years. When we get our own clubs, we will definitely be going more often!

Cruise Pictures!

My husband is so sweet!

Back on May 2nd, Ryan brought home these beautiful flowers for me! He knew that I needed a little pick-me-up since the housing situation was really stressing me out. I love him so much!

Aggie Ring Day

Waiting in line to get the Ring!

The lady handing out Rings!


Checkin' it out!


Fightin' Texas Aggie Ring!
WH09P!

It's been far too long...

since I have updated this blog, and for that, I apologize. Life has been incredibly busy this past semester. For my part, the only grade for one of my classes was a 25 page thesis that was due at the end of the semester. It was an incredible amount of work, but I am very proud of it and I received an "A" on it, so that is even better! The class was an independent research seminar with Dr. Krammer, and I was able to pick the topic that I wanted to do my research over. I knew I wanted it to deal with World War II, and more specifically the Third Reich, but I wasn't sure exactly what topic to cover. It did not have to be a topic that had never been done before, but it also could not be over-done. After much deliberation and a discussion with Dr. Krammer, I came up with the topic of comparing the Nazi occupation of Poland with its counterpart, the Soviet occupation. The topic of Poland during WWII is discussed very minimally, and I thought this would be a very interesting topic to write about. The final product turned out excellent after writing 18 of the total 25 pages in one long night, and the title was, "Erasing Polonia: The Nazi and Soviet Occupation of Poland During World War II". In other news this semester, I received my Fightin' Texas Aggie Ring on April 17th!




Although it was very rainy, it was a wonderful day, and I could not have been more excited to get the shiny piece of gold that I have been wanting for my entire life! Now it seems weird to think about not having it. The semester ended and it went very well, I even passed math, which for most people who know me, they know this is a major accomplishment. That class was insane! Ryan and I just recently returned from an amazing cruise to the Caribbean to celebrate (early) our first anniversary! We went to Montego Bay, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. It was so much fun and I wish that we didn't have to come back to work, but I'm sure we'll get to go again.

Taken

Last night, Lauren and I went to see the new movie, Taken, starring Liam Neeson. It was incredible! I don't think words can really describe how awesome this movie is. The basic premise, without giving too much away, is that Liam is an ex-spy (or something to that effect) and his 17 year old daughter goes with her 19 year old friend to Paris and they are taken by Albanian men dealing in human trafficking (aka sexual slavery) and Liam gets mad and goes to Paris to find his daughter and kicks some butt along the way. Honestly, there's not much more I can say other than it's amazing and it's a fairly rare movie that Lauren and I both absolutely love, so everyone needs to go see it! Lauren loved it so much that she will be going back tomorrow night with her friend Anne!

Ryan

Cooking Blog

I started a cooking blog! I will still update this blog, but our life is not that interesting at the moment, so the cooking blog will probably be updated more often! Check it out!

www.bthofastfood.blogspot.com

79 Days, 22 Hours, 16 Minutes!

Yesterday, I took the first step towards something I have wanted for my entire life.....I ordered my Aggie Ring!! It was a quick process, and I can't wait until Aggie Ring Day on April 17th! Anyone who wants to come and celebrate with us is more than welcome!!

My crazy, crazy life

Classes started yesterday, and they went really well until about 10:30 this morning when I was sitting in the first day of my German 431 class. When I registered for classes back in November, German 431 and 334 did not show any necessary pre-requisite courses in order to be in the class. But when I got there today, I was told that both of them require German 202 to be completed, which I am taking this semester. So, I had to drop both of those classes which put me down to 9 hours, and I have to have 12 hours to be a full-time student. I was really irritated because they are supposed to list all necessary pre-requisites, but they didn't and now nothing I need for my degree plan is open. I talked to my advisor, and my only option was to take any class just to get 12 hours, so I emailed Dr. Krammer to see if he would do an Independent Reasearch Study with me. Luckily he said he would, so that brings me up to full time and it will be very helpful for graduate school. Basically, that means I only have 3 real classes and then I will be working with Dr. Krammer to do research for a thesis I will be writing for a grade for the class. It's not an ideal situation, but I am much less angry now and I'm excited about doing research with Dr. Krammer!

Blackhawk down

Today an Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed on the A&M campus. They were doing routine training exercises with the Corps of Cadets and the helicopter malfunctioned upon take-off and went straight down. Luckily, classes have not started and as far as I know right now, no students were injured. But one Army officer was killed. I heard about the crash while I was at work, and at first, I couldn't really believe it. It just seemed so unreal. Please keep the family of this young officer and recent Texas A&M graduate in your prayers. If you want, you can read the full story here.

Ryan