It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

 

The past few weeks have felt like a whirlwind. Lets start with the week before Thanksgiving . . .

Let me start off by saying that this little 4 day trip I took was actually the longest time I've spent away from Matt since we got married. It was way harder than I thought! I never thought I'd be "that girl," but there you go. Loved the trip, but missed my husband every second of it.

On November 15th, Rachel Fay Woodbury got MARRIED! We were roommates our freshman year at BYU and we've been best friends ever since. I'm so grateful that I was able to get a couple of days off work to fly out to Mesa for her wedding. She was such a beautiful bride. It was also the first temple sealing that I've been to, other than my own. It was an incredible experience.

Congratulations Rachel and Dave!

 

 

I also got to hang out with this girl! It had been too long.

 

 

Since I had the next week off, I decided to extend my trip and drive back to California with Em. We took a side trip to see my friend Elliot, who was supposed to have a baby that day. Luckily Camden waited to make his appearance so that I could have a quick visit with his mama. He's here now though and I'll probably have to make another trip out to Tucson asap...

 

And then we drove to Glendora! I hadn't made any concrete plans, but everything worked out perfectly. I got to see all of my people--grandparents, aunt, as well as my "second families." Most of my friends have moved away now, but we spent so much time at each other's houses growing up, that seeing the Spencers, Jacobsons, and Hartwigs was truly like visiting with family. It was very strange to be back there now that my parents and siblings have moved away. It was the first time I had been back since my wedding 2 years ago. Nothing has changed though, and Glendora will always feel like home. I also got my Sergios and El Merendero, so I'm calling it a success.

 

A couple of days after I got home, the Scotts flew out from Utah to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had such a great time! We threw together a fabulous dinner, despite my teeny tiny kitchen, and enjoyed the time we were able to spend together. We saw a couple of movies, drove out to Galveston, went to a Renaissance Festival (quite an interesting experience), ate lots of delicious food, went to the Arboretum, saw Matt's school, went to the Museum of Art, and saw lots of Christmas lights.

 

Thanksgiving morning at the arboretum. It's really hard to be so far away from my own family right now. That will never change. But it would be so much harder without the love and support that I feel from the Scotts! I'm grateful to be a part of this family too.

 

 

And now the Christmas season is finally here. Here are a few pictures of our little Christmas-fied apartment!

 

 

Wouldn't be Christmas without the Simpsons Village, right?

 

 

 

 

We obviously downsized this year when it came to the tree. But I'll be darned if we didn't cram in as many ornaments and lights as it could hold! I think it's beautiful.

 

 

Despite the 80 degree weather, it's beginning to feel like Christmas. Hallelujah. And Houston doesn't skimp on their lights and decorations either. It's going to be a good one!





A Med School Kind of Halloween

So apparently the folks over at UT Medical School have a complete and utter disregard for proper Halloween celebrations. Matt's block exams are this week, and his biochemistry test is tomorrow so hanging out with me, watching Hocus Pocus, and going to a Halloween party was out of the question for tonight. There will be plenty of future Halloweens though--I wasn't too bummed. And I pulled together a pretty good celebration of my own:

1. Carved the most amazing pumpkin of my life and plunked it on a fence spike so it would look like a floating head.

2. Set up shop for the trick or treaters.

And then they never showed up! Not a single, blessed, soul. Darn it. So what's a girl to do but take the candy bowl upstairs and indulge her Friday Night Lights addiction?

Hey, it's better than what Matt's been doing all night . . . this is a video of one of his lectures last week. Phosphora-what??

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

 

 

Central Market: Trader Joes' Cooler Big Brother

picture courtesy of weddingmapper.com

We have been receiving ads for Central Market since we moved here. The ads were cute, and the food looked exciting. So, we made a date night out of it and went in search for something unique to make for dinner. Turns out that Central Market is one of the coolest places we've been to! Think Trader Joes only bigger, with a whole array of gorgeous fresh flowers (half the store smells like fresh roses), 10 million different kinds of cheeses, a wall of gourmet chocolate, an entire bakery section with a display of tarts that could have been straight from Paris, a deli that was so crowded on a Friday evening that it had to have been good, and samples.

We put together a delicious spread of grapes, fresh guava, black bean hummus, pita bread, baguette, brie, and ancho chile/monterey jack burgers on fresh ciabatta rolls. Random? Yes. Delicious? I think my overly excited expression in this picture says it all :) Another hidden gem! Keep em' coming, Houston.

Is it really here??

I am so excited for fall that I can hardly stand it. I've spent the last couple of weeks envying facebook pictures of my friends wearing their scarves and jackets at BYU football games, the instagrams of the beatiful fall leaves in Provo canyon, and countless blogs posting recipes like dinner in a pumpkin and crock pot soups. A little depressing, until Matt surprised me by breaking out the Halloween decorations while I was at work! That settled it. I was going to welcome fall properly, regardless of the 90 degree weather--pumpkin bread and all.

And then this weekend happened! We've been in the 60-70 degree range for the past couple of days. Sure, the leaves are all very green, and it's supposed to get back into the high 80's tomorrow, but I wore a scarf and had soup for lunch today. That will be enough for now.

3 weeks until Halloween.
6 weeks until Thanksgiving.
12 weeks until Christmas.

Thank Heavens for Columbus.

I don't know what it was, but man. This week was long! Progress reports came out a couple weeks ago. Which means that I had to notify parents of failing grades. Which means that I now have quite a few kids coming to after school tutorials. The good-teacher side of me knows this is a good thing, but the tired-teacher side of me knows that that's two more hours of teaching after a long day, and two more hours of prep and grading to get done at home. Plus, there are only a couple weeks until report cards go out. And we just got some new information about the big test the students take in March, and now we basically have to overhaul our entire year plan. So let me just come out and say it. This job is overwhelming and hard. I love it, but it's overwhelming and hard. Luckily Columbus pulled through, sailed the ocean blue, and gave us a three day weekend right when I needed it.

Here's my Monday activity :) Grading! It's a ton, but it will be so nice to get caught up.

On a brighter note:

Matt knew I was having a rough week and surprised me with a trip to the zoo on Tuesday. It was so nice for both of us to take a break from everything, and enjoy a rare cool-ish evening outside! We were both impressed by the size of the zoo and the variety of animals. And it's only 5 minutes from our house. Score.

This weekend was General Conference!
"General conference is a semiannual gathering of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During general conference weekend, Church members and others gather worldwide in a series of two-hour sessions to receive inspiration and instruction from Church leaders."

As always, it was a welcome respite from the world. I was able to take a weekend off, relax, and enjoy the inspired messages that were shared. I needed this!

 

"There's something in each day to embrace and enjoy . . . let us resolve to be happy, regardless of our circumstances."

- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

"The Lord is in the details of our lives."

 - President Thomas S. Monson

Happy Birthday To Me

23!

 

Why my birthday was awesome:

1. Matt gave me an array of randomly perfect things that I have been wanting for awhile. You know the little things that you want to buy, but everytime you see it you think, "I'll pick it up next time," or, "I don't really need it," but never pick it up and you totally do need it? Well he bought them for me. All at once. Awesome.

2. My friends at work gave me presents, Kit Kats, and wrote a message on my board telling all of my students they better be nice to me on my birthday. The best part? My students actually followed directions.

3. Matt made me dinner (California rolls and fried rice) and did the dishes.

4. Mom Scott came to visit! Yes, she took me shopping at the outlet malls, but that's not why I was excited to see her. She's so much fun, can't you tell? :) We have really missed spending time with Matt's family. It's been great having her here and we're looking forward to them all coming for Thanksgiving! (2 more months, guys!)

It's going to be a great year.

Thoroughly Inspired

Every now and then I get in these really good moods where I feel thoroughly inspired. I think that's the best word to explain the feeling. Through and through, head to toe, inspired. There are various things that can trigger these feelings of inspiration. An uplifting church meeting, quality time with my husband, a trip to the bookstore, a needed conversation with a friend or family, being impressed by a character in a book/movie/show, delicious food, Boden catalogues, reading a blog, beautiful scenery, the perfect weather . . . I mean, some of this may seem silly, and everyone's "list" will be different, but this is me. You know what I mean? I hope you do. It's all the little things that, together, leave you feeling hope, happiness, and contentment, so strongly that you just feel happy to be alive.

 Now don't get me wrong, my life isn't all sunshine and butterflies. Just a few days ago I was breaking down in tears over a bad day at work. In fact I had broken down at work, not during class, thank heavens, and things definitely didn't seem as bright and shiny as they usually do. I cried all the way home, even. But those moments always pass, and when they do it feels like a breath of fresh air to sit back and be inspired by something. To allow myself to "feel intensely" as my friend Elliot says in her recent blog post.

Here are a few of the things that have inspired me these past few weeks:

My faith. A hymn that is particularly meaningful to me, and the book containing the truths that lay the foundation for my faith and for my life.
"Reverently and Meekly Now"
The Book of Mormon

These blogs inspire me to enjoy every second of my life and to fill it with the things and the people that I love.
Enjoying the Small Things
Eat Live Run
Andrew and Carissa

This short video speaks for itself. Magic.
Ode to Summer by Kinfolk

Planning out my future flower garden

I know this one is weird, but Downton Abbey! Matt calls it my soap opera, and it sort of is, but I love how poised and graceful these women are. I want to carry myself like Lady Cora and Lady Mary do, have the strength and determination of Anna, and the innocence of Daisy . . . you Downton-ers know what I mean :)

Books that uplift and inspire
Fire of the Covenant: The Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies
Cooking for Mr. Latte

From the Ground Up

My Life in France

And, of course, this guy :)

Find something that inspires you. Have a wonderful week!

The Scott's Houston Restaurant Guide

One of the things about Houston that Matt and I were most excited for was the restaurant scene. Don't get me wrong, we loved Cafe Rio and Rancheritos as much as the next person, and the pupusas on Center Street? I think the people who worked there were starting to recognize us. But Provo's selection pales in comparison to what we've found here. Here are a few of our favorites:

Gatlins BBQ: The family who owns the place is so nice and friendly. True Texan hospitality. However, due to the location, this is probably a "be there in broad daylight" kind of place. And you may want to get your food to go rather than leave your car out on the street. . . but the brisket?! Oh my word. And the barbecue sauce?! Get out of town. The ribs?! Words fail me. Yes, it's that good.

Marini's Empanada House: "An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Western Europe, Latin America, and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread." wikipedia.com
Everything delicious, stuffed inside a delicious pastry, fried to perfection. How could you go wrong? The variety at Marini's is incredible, and we've loved every empanada we've tried (been there twice already). They aren't too greasy, and this place even has dessert empanadas. Yahoo!

La Pupusa Loca: "(Salvadoran stuffed masa flatbread) Pupusas are similar to corn tortillas, only thicker and stuffed with cheese, beans or meat. The pupusa originated in El Salvador, but it is also popular in neighboring Honduras. Pupusas are traditionally made by slapping the dough back and forth between greased palms. A tortilla press is quicker and easier for beginners." whats4eats.com

This little hole in the wall place is right by my school. Last year, Matt and I had pupusas at this market in downtown LA and thought we'd never find anything like them again. Hallelujah! We did. And they're cheap. And they're right on my way home. I knew we moved here for a reason :)

Thai Cottage: Once I moved to Utah I realized how spoiled I had been by the abundance of good Thai food in Southern California. But it's ok because now I live by Thai Cottage and I'm spoiled all over again! We went to this place last weekend and I've thought about it every day since. There are at least five more curries that I'm dying to try, and I've been craving a good mango sticky rice for the past two years, so we'll be returning to this place again very soon.

Taco Keto: The "Houston mobile food scene" is supposed to be pretty magnificent. The best trucks park downtown during the weekdays at lunchtime, so it's been hard for us to find any. Until last night, that is, when I stumbled upon Taco Keto on Yelp. This truck parks near University of Houston, and is the best, most authentic, Mexican food that we've had since moving here. We like TexMex as much as the next person, but a person can only take so much queso and sour cream, you know? These were legit, greasy, street tacos topped with nothing but cilantro, lime, and onion. Mmm. City life definitely has it's perks.

So come and visit us! And come hungry. We'll show you a good time :)

*all photos courtesy of yelp.com

Sometimes I wonder about these kiddos...

In my classroom, next to my desk, I put up a collage of some people, books, and works of art, that I think my students should be somewhat familiar with (Van Gogh's "Starry Night," Fahrenheit 451, Martin Luther King, etc.) Yesterday, in the middle of testing, one my students called out, "Miss? Is that a picture of you when you were little?" It took me a moment to realize that she was looking at this picture of Amelia Earhart:

Seriously??? It took all of my composure not to bust out laughing as I calmly replied, "No, that's Amelia Earhart. That picture was probably taken in the 1920s." She thought for a second..."Oh! She's the one who died, right?" Long pause. "Yes. Please finish your test and raise your hand next time if you have a question."

My job is never dull :)

"As long as it gets you there!"

 
The air conditioning in my car went out a couple of weeks ago. I try not to complain too much . . . but come now, it's got to be at least 100 degrees in there! So yesterday I'm sitting at a light and this guy pulls up next to me. His AC was broken too, all his windows were rolled down, and he looked just as hot and sweaty as I was. In any other state we may have nodded or smiled at each other and moved on. However, this isn't any other state. This is Texas. The land of frequent conversations with total strangers. He calls over to me, "girl you lookin' just as hot as I am!"(We're talking temperature of course). We commiserated for a bit, then he flashed a giant smile and said, "as long as it gets you there!" and drove off.

Funny story, especially since I've never had a conversation at a stop light before, but he made me think. Things could be worse. I'm grateful to have a job with a salary, and I'm grateful to have a car that gets me there.

What We've Been Up To

Matt: So after begging Matt to come write his own little blurb, he came over and typed two words, "Medical School," and refused to write anymore. Haha. I guess that pretty much sums it up! He started classes on Monday and is enjoying it so far. It's pretty overwhelming, and it's proving to be just as much work as he thought it would be (if not more), but he's ready to give it all he's got. One of his big classes this semester is anatomy. All of the students are assigned to cadavers in teams of three. Luckily, Matt really likes his team since they'll be spending a lot of time together. This week they began dissecting the back and looking at different muscles and arteries. Honestly it makes me a little queasy, but he's enjoying it and learning a ton.

Sarah: School starts tomorrow! I've been working 10 hour days for the last two weeks going to new teacher trainings, signing paperwork, attending professional development seminars, tech training, STAAR training, meeting with my "team" (the other 10th grade English teachers), creating lesson plans for the first couple weeks, decorating my classroom, and setting up classroom procedures. Phew! I am ready to teach! School is a weird place without any students. I love the other teachers, and I already have some really good friends (love my team!), but I love working with the kids/teenagers. It's going to be hard. Situations will arise that I don't feel equipped to deal with, and I'm curious about how classroom management is going to be. I know that I can do it though, and I feel like I'm going to grow so much as a teacher this year. I'll have lots of stories to tell. Stay posted!

And so it begins . . .

Tonight was Matt's White Coat Ceremony. It was a really cool experience. We were sad that his family couldn't be there, but it was kind of neat to share that together, just the two of us. He walked in with the rest of his class, a brass quintet playing super classy, regal music in the background, and I actually got a little choked up. I loved hearing all of the students repeat the Oath of Hippocrates, and hearing the Ethical Pledge, and watching everyone go through donning their white coats and signing the pledge book. It was very inspiring to see so many people ready and willing to donate their lives to public service. And that was my husband up there!

Matt has worked so hard to get to this point, and he has such a long road ahead. They say that while a typical undergrad course load is 16-20 credits, the required med school course load is the equivalent of 40 credits. Yikes! But he wants to be a doctor anyway. What a champ. He's so excited and ready to get going.  I couldn't be more proud of him. Doesn't he look good in white? :) 

Matt's Birthday Week: The Finale

Matt found one of the coolest places in Houston on Saturday. Houston Memorial Park and Arboretum! I know that this level of excitement for an arboretum might make us sound super boring, but trust me. It's pretty awesome. I think of it as a city oasis. Parts of it are cultivated as gardens and parks, but the area that we went to is this giant, wild, forest-y, magic land. It will be even more amazing when it's not a million degrees outside :)

And this, my friends, is the most delicious pizza we've ever made. I was trying to channel the baked potato pizza at Pizza Pie Cafe. The only thing it was missing was hot sauce . . . next time. Trust me, there will be a next time.

Which brings us to today! The real birthday. I was forbidden from telling anyone it was Matt's birthday. However, his Dad is here to visit and I think we pulled together a pretty good celebration.

My cupcake cake looks a little smushy. But I pulled it off with one cake mix instead of two so I'm calling it a success.

Happy birthday Matt! I love you so much.

The Newest Members of the Scott Family

Matt's birthday isn't until Sunday, but we were so excited about his birthday present that we just couldn't wait! A couple of days ago we went out and bought a real fish tank. It's so fun to watch those little guys swimming around. We're both having a lot of fun with it. Matt would really like a dog, but fish are about all we can handle right now. So far we have three little tetras breaking it in. In a week or two we'll be able to get a couple more fish and maybe even a shrimp! He really wants a frog too, one of the little aquatic ones that lives underwater, but I'm too nervous that it will get out and be jumping around in my kitchen . . .

House Tour

This is for you, Mom :) Please forgive my mediocre photography skills.

We live along the back fence of the complex. Nice and quiet except for the family of noisy squirrels that lives in the tree. They squeak and chitter all night long. It's so weird!

The downstairs is all one big, open floor. I love how open and airy everything feels after living in a basement apartment.

My Hawaii and Catalina tiles keep me in my happy place while I'm doing dishes :)

The second floor is all open as well. It's our bedroom/library. So fun!