He's Back!!

Yay! Bryan's back! Finally! I was so friggin' happy to see him. I couldn't stop smiling...ear to ear. Poor thing was exhausted. He worked so hard while he was in Miami; he barely got to sleep. He was pulling 18 hour shifts!! He works so hard.

Instantly upon seeing him my funk lifted. It was good to talk to him face to face. We went to Kerby Lane for dinner and then on home. When his head hit the pillow he was out. He's still out, but I could sleep no longer. No time like the present to get started on all the laundry he brought home. :)

I'm going to do my best to enjoy this weekend as if I were still getting a 3 day weekend. There's not anyone who is interviewing over their holiday anyway. However, I find it hard to be passive. I feel like I must do something...anything...towards getting employed. However, I know that it's important that I figure out what I want to do first. Bryan keeps saying this, but I just can't get past the fact that I'm jobless. I have to do something. I am not comfortable bringing in my portion.

I really would like to do something in art. I'm not really sure what all my options are, and it is an industry where who you knows gives you the breaks. I know no one. Ok, enough of the pity party. I'll try to look at it like this: I'll do my very best to get a job (once I figure out a path), but until then, I can actually get a lot of things done that I've wanted to. For example, I have a list of painting ideas. I could get started on some of those. There's still A LOT of scrapbooking that needs to be done before I'm 30. I haven't forgotten that list. :) There is now plenty of time to get into shape. Oh, and I can finally go to TKD in the daytime if I choose. I like some of these ideas. ;)

You Might Be A Loser If...

Ok, this week sucks. No joke. First of all, what a week for Bryan to be gone. It's bad enough that he is gone for the week (back tomorrow evening), but he just happened to pick the week when the shit hit the fan.

I can't say much...not on here anyway. I wouldn't want to. It doesn't seem right to blast certain people on your blog...especially when you know they're reading it. Hi!

Anyway, to make a long story short, I quit my job yesterday. I didn't have much choice. I'd love to tell the whole demented tale on here, but unfortunately you'll have to ask if you want to know. Don't worry though, I've got it down at this point. So, yeah...this week has been hell, and I currently find myself jobless yet again. This sucks because I really thought I had found my niche - at least for a while. I was happy there, but I guess there must be something else out there needing me more. I really am looking for a career. I'm 25, and I'd like to start working toward something meaningful and substantial in this area of my life. Perhaps I am being presented with an opportunity here. I do have a degree in photography (that I rarely use). But, ugh...I don't even know where to begin. I have no connections, no anything. I guess the question is: Do I want it bad enough to achieve it at all costs? Probably not, I like the security of a 8 to 5. I also like the construction industry and wouldn't mind staying in it at all. I don't know what I want to do. I think I could be happy in a few places, but where do I focus my attention? There's A LOT to think about, and I've decided to just take this weekend to try and figure some things out. Everything will be better when Bryan gets back because I need my best friend more than ever. He always had great advice and is a super listener.

Speaking of friends...I know I've whined about my lack of girl friends. I am never amazed at the amount of flaky people in this world (though I do take it to heart each time they flake), but every now and then I'm amazed by someone who steps up and is a true friend. That happened this week, and I have a lot of gratitude to this person for doing the right thing. I'm also amazed at myself a little. I stood up for myself when I needed to. I don't really like confrontation, but I did what I had to do when I needed to do it. I'm glad I was able to speak my peace. It's not nice to be used; it's not nice at all. Ok, the sentences are starting to sound random though they actually all tie in together.

I'm officially in a funk. Bryan please come home!

Wendy met me for coffee last night. Thank you! I needed to talk, and I always enjoy our conversations. Thanks for buying, but more importantly, thanks for being there for me. :) Yesterday was Wendy's birthday!! She stopped by for a few minutes along with Nicky. I love seeing them both. Sorry if I seemed out of it or down (the funk...sorry!). I hope she had a nice dinner. I feel you on that string of bad birthdays. That's why this year I'm planning my own. :D

It's Labor Day weekend. I was looking forward to the day off...not so much anymore. Bryan and I are planning on going to Batfest because the Flobots are going to be playing, and I must see!

September has a lot of things planned:

• September 9 - 7 months for us (I really promise to stop counting months after a year)
• September 20 - I test for blue belt; this also the night of the spades tournament (please come!)
• September 24 - Bryan's birthday (I've already got his present - have you?)
• September 30 - Bryan and I leave for NYC for a few days (really looking forward to that though it will make interviews somewhat harder)

The Deed Is Done (Inked!)

Thursday:

Videos of Bella early Thursday evening - this cat is CRAZY!!:




Thursday night I rode with Wendy to Bryan's school to watch him test for his black belt. It was truly exciting. I was both excited and nervous for him. However, just as I figured I had no reason to be worried, Bryan "tore it up" as always. He never fails to deliver an awesome performance. I am super proud of him. I was glad Wendy was there to keep me company too. It was impossible to use my camera without the flash so I ended up just taking video during the actual test.

Here are some of the the videos I took at testing (I would have posted them all, but Blogger is acting buggy):

Bryan's forms:





Here are the pictures I took of Bryan's testing:

Bryan about to test
Bryan awaiting his new black belt
Bryan getting his black belt
Bryan showing off his belt/certificate
Bryan taken off guard by my picture taking
Bryan and Troy
All the new black belts
Another group shot
Bryan and friends
Black belts with their instructor
Bryan getting his belt signed

After the testing a few of us met at the new and may I say improved Kerby Lane.

Friday:
I was super glad that Friday finally came. I worked some extra hours at work, so I was ready to relax.

Bryan went to watch the black belt testing. Jason went to TKD class with me to watch, and then we rented Funny Games to watch while we ate Bryan's chicken spaghetti (mmm). That movie was just...weird!

Saturday:
First thing we had to do was get up...a little to early for my taste. I had promised a coworker I would watch his 2 year old daughter for a couple of hours. I drug Bryan along. No reason I should be the only one awake! It was a good move; the kid liked him better.

Here are some pictures I snapped while babysitting:

Bryan and his dolly
Bryan and his dolly again

After a job well done, it was time to head downtown to consult with my tattoo artist. He had some suggestions to make about the design. I really wanted to get it done before I could chicken out so I made an appointment for 6 PM that night. I was pretty much nervous all day! I had to come home and rework the design a little.

On the way back home we went shopping, and I crashed (literally) upon walking in the door. Naps are the best. We lounged around all afternoon and then headed back to the tattoo place so I could finally get my ink. Yes, it hurt, but it was nothing I wouldn't do again. I love the ink! I think he did an awesome job. It took about 1.5 hours. I was super still and did it one sitting. I'm still getting used to having this dark thing on my back. However, I am really starting to love it.

Here are the pictures Bryan took of me getting inked:

It hurts!
Smiling because it's almost done
Thumbs up for a job well done
The finished product

After getting back home, Bryan made this crazy home dinner for us. It was delicious and romantic. We tried to watch a movie, but I didn't make it 5 minutes, and Bryan wasn't far behind me.

Sunday:
We got to sleep in a little, but finally after waking we started our busy day. Bryan went to buy the iPhone 3G because he got an offer to buy my old one. Then we had to get him packed and ready to board his plane that afternoon. He is currently in Miami for work....all week. He'll be back on Friday at 6.

Driving back from the airport, I dropped by Jason's. We then went to check out the kayaking possibilities at Brushy Creek (awesome), and then we rented a couple of movies. Hollywood Video is currently letting anyone rent Blu-Rays for FREE! We got Saw IV to watch, and I got Cars. Saw IV was scary and gross! Still, it was pretty good. After Jason left, I HAD to watch Cars to get all the scenes out of my head. After all, I'm staying at the house alone!

Monday (today):
I miss Bryan bunches, and it's only Monday! I can't believe he's gone for the entire week!

I went to class tonight. They are putting in carpet in the lobby so after class, we all helped move EVERYTHING into the main room. I think the place will look awesome one all the work is complete. We also got the new schedule which starts September 2. There are a lot of good changes included moving all super juniors into the adult class. This will make our class a lot bigger and better. I look forward to sparring new people and losing to them also. :)

Bryan Goes For The Black - One Night Only!

Ah, the weekend is within sight. Yay! Good, I could use one. I don't really have much to report from the week so far. I didn't get to go to the Madonna Sing Along. Boo! However, Wendy has promised to make it up to me by creating a home version. Wendy, I can't wait! Tell me when I need to kick Bryan out of the house. :D

Tonight is a VERY important day. Bryan is testing for his black belt. I can't wait to see him do his stuff. I happen to think he's very good. I love watching him. He makes it look kinda easy, but I know it's not. This is something that he's been working on for years so I'm both excited for him and very proud. I can only imagine what he is feeling. I'm still in the lower ranks, but I dream of that day. I know that martial arts is best when it's a life long goal. However, it must be pretty rewarding to finally wear the black belt. Good luck to Bryan and all the other Kung Fu people testing! I'll be there with my cameras so say Cheese! I'm also looking forward to eating afterward with everyone.

I am definitely ready for the weekend. Friday night Jason is supposed to come over for dinner and movie. Saturday I'm going to the tattoo place to see what transpires. Other than that though, nothing is planned.

Music I'm diggin' at the moment:
Paper Planes - M.I.A
No Deliverance - Toadies
In My Arms Instead - Randy Rogers Band
All I Want To Do - Sugarland
Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body) - Three 6 Mafia

Yet Another Start To Another Week...

Monday. Ugh! But hey, it's almost over.

Sunday night (things done after my Sunday afternoon post):
We cleaned - big time! The place is all spiffy again. Bryan got me distracted in the middle of vacuuming, but we have now rearranged living room furniture. You gotta mix it up every now and then. Maybe we shouldn't have though. Now we have to purchase another piece to our couch. It's ok because it will look awesome and make watching movies wickedly cool.

Here's Bella trying to get me off track during laundry:

She's such a stinker!

After we cleaned Nik came over and brought the new Futurama movie which was super good! There was definitely a lot of laughing taking place. It was a pretty good day, and I crashed - hard.

Monday (today):
Bryan is currently in Houston for work. Sucks...but he'll be back tomorrow night. That's not so bad I know. And I'm sure I should be enjoying my "freedom", but I just don't know what to do with myself. I would try to pile all the cats in the bed with me tonight if they didn't have this "thing" about being in the same space as each other most of the time. Oh well....perhaps one of them will keep me company.

I don't have much planned in the way of upcoming events. This weekend looks pretty clear so far. All I have planned as of now is the consultation with the tattoo artist on Saturday. I am really looking forward to this. Hell, I might be getting inked on Saturday! That's crazy! I'm excited though. And I know Bryan will be glad when it finally occurs because I'm positive he's tired of hearing me say "I want a tattoo!"

I wanted to go to the Madonna Sing Along at the Alamo tomorrow night. Is there a chance anyone would go with me? Wendy? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeee? Eh, who am I kidding? I know no one wants to go see that.

Ben did send out an email today to gauge interest in going camping. I'd be down for that. Hey, is this somewhere where I can bring my kayak along? Hmmm?

Sites I dig:
I found this cool site today. Check it out. Austin Green Art They have some pretty cool things on there in the way of art. Awareness and beauty - I like it!

Texas Flag And A Fish Bag

I have learned this week that most things are usually not as they appear. This is a lesson I've been taught many times before, but this time I think it just might stick. I've got to stop being so damn naive! Enough Victoria bashing...moving on...

Thursday:
Girls night was awesome! I really enjoyed myself. I can't thank Wendy enough for inviting me over and Danielle for having me over to her home. It was awesome to meet some new people as well as get my mind off the week which pretty much sucked. The food was good, but I really loved being around some girls!

Here are the pics that were taken that night:
about to enjoy dinner
dinner time
moving on from wine
sake bombs - my first and only
group shot
girls, girls, girls
Wendy and her peeps
me n Wendy
sexy shot time

Friday:
What a day...no, what a week! I was glad to wrap up a very hard work week. I'm getting a crash course in closing out a job, and though you won't understand, it is quite a task. Please send me encouragement as I am still going to be laboring through this in the upcoming week.

After spending the evening being very lazy (if you don't count that sparring Bryan and I did), we headed over to Dan's going away party. Dan, I'm gonna miss you! The party was fun and BIG. However, I was emotionally drained and feeling lethargic. We stayed for quite awhile but eventually went home (way before the party was over). I hope Dan enjoyed his party.

Here are the party pics:
Bryan and I look on as they play a drinking game
Holly's cake for Dan
Dan about to murder his cake
cake cutting onlookers

Saturday:
We slept in which is no surprise. Bryan was begging to eat so I finally dragged my ass in the shower. We ate at a Cedar Park treasure we recently discovered. After that we went to Academy so we could purchase an exercise station that we had been eying. It's still in the garage unopened. There was a VERY nice employee that helped Bryan get it in the car. It's so rare to see someone who will go out of there way to ensure customer satisfaction. It was awesome that he did because we'd been to Academy several times in an attempt to purchase this, and I was most displeased about the customer service. We stepped over to the new department store but found NOTHING we wanted. Finally we went back home.

We hung out at the house for the rest of day. As night approached we debated over several things to do. It seems like this day's activities were doomed. The spades tournament was supposed to be held this night, but it failed due to no one being able to come. Then we had other options planned that were knocked out one by one. After finally deciding neither of us really wanted to leave the house anyway, Wendy said Danielle was hosting again. So, Bryan and I changed our tune and got ready. It's a good thing we did because it was another good time at Danielle's. There were quite a few people over talking, eating, watching football...hanging out. It wasn't anything special, but it was a good time. Danielle set Nicky up his own personal rigged up slip n slide. He didn't quite get the concept, but he had fun playing in the water anyway. He had us in stitches as he struggled to keep his wet shorts up...hehe.

After Bryan and I left and arrived back home we watched Fight Club. I had never seen it before, and it was really good! It was sooo late when we went to bed.

Sunday (today):
No surprise we slept in again (almost till 12!). Bryan left to go somewhere with Ryon, and I'm at home currently feeling a little weakish (blood sugar). We are scheduled to clean house and work on house projects for the remainder of the day/night. I am supposed to be getting a start on it now, but since I was feeling weak, I thought that blogging was a good activity since it requires no standing. :D

Here is a picture of OC doing his thing this weekend. Good for nothing cat...


One last thing...
Bryan helped me rework my tattoo design because the 2 artists that I talked to said the original one I wanted wouldn't work. It took some time for me to pick a location as well as a design, but I finally got it figured out. I contacted a guy at Southside Tattoos about setting up a meeting to discuss the design. I sent him an email of what I wanted, and he said we could meet up on Saturday morning. Yay! I'm finally moving forward with this thing. I'm not sure I'll actually be getting the tattoo on Saturday. I need to see how the meeting goes and if the guy needs to make changes to the design for any reason.

Here is what I currently have in mind.



Please let me know what you think about this or if you have suggestions. I am definitely up for hearing what you think. Share - stories, photos, ideas...whatever! This is a HUGE and permanent decision, and I want to hear anything that might help in making up my mind one way or the other. I am almost positive this is something I want to do, but it's important to weigh in every factor.

Wanted: A Girlfriend (Silly Giggling Is A Must)

Ok, I'll admit it...right out here for the world to see. I need a girlfriend(s). I need to associate with the female population.

I have lots of friends. I even have some really close friends. And then I have Bryan, my best friend in the whole world. But most of these friends are males, and the ones that aren't are not close friends. I used to have girlfriends. Then at about my 4th year in college they all fizzled out, and I never found another one. Who knew it was easier to find "the one" in a city where you know no one that it is to find a BFF? I certainly didn't expect it to be so hard to find some girls to be friends with. I miss silly girl giggling, shoe shopping, and all the other "girly" things that only girls do. I know a lot of girls, and I like most of them, but unfortunately they are already spoken for. If you already have a best friend then you probably don't want another. If there is a girl in Austin currently in the same predicament then please call me.

Wendy did invite me to a girl's night out with a bunch of girls that she knows tomorrow night. I look forward to meeting some new girls and being in the presence of only girls. It should be a fun night. There better be silly girl giggling! I need to figure out what I'm going to make.

On a lighter side...

Here is a list of all of the things that Bryan and I accomplished at the house this weekend and since:

• flower beds de-shrubbed and dug up - replaced by gravel (all Bryan)
• ceiling fan hung (again, all Bryan)
• we bought stuff to plant in the backyard...currently still sitting in garage but it's a start
• bought stuff to hang kayak in garage (bought but not hung - still, it's a start)

Work has been killer this week. Seriously. I took Monday night off to be lazy with Bryan. It was nice even though I missed class. Last night (Tuesday) I passed out sometime around 6 PM and slept through class. Tonight, however, Bryan is already at class, and I'll be there shortly. I guess my body needed the rest last night; I couldn't fight it. After class, we are meeting up to eat at Kerby Lane...yum!

We have already fasted once this week - one more to go.

I'm still waiting on those replacement pieces to put my new computer desk together...sigh.

Uh oh...more complaining...

Bryan and I have decided to push back the spades tournament that was scheduled to take place Saturday night. We invited almost 50 people, and only about 15 have responded. Most people can't come which I understand. It seems this was like the perfect weekend for heading out of town or either having family come in. Most of the people who said they would be there didn't want to actually play cards. I hope that by pushing it back till next month it will give people the time to learn to play spades and be more excited about attending. We are playing for money after all. I'm a little bummed that so many people flaked on me, but I'm trying not to take it personally.

I'll be glad for this work week to be over. I'm mentally drained.

Friday night we are attending the going away party for Dan. You will be missed. Good luck on your endeavours. I know you'll do great things.

Here are some pictures taken since my last post:

Before leaving Lowe's - how many things you can put in a Scion tc - it's all how you pack it

Bryan and Mallos - my favorite men

We Celebrate 6 VERY Happy Months

Trying to get in the weekend cap a little early this weekend.

Friday:
After ending a very long week at work, I settled in to a nice night in with Bryan. Shortly after getting home we decided to try a place in Cedar Park we hadn't eaten at yet. It was a good meal as well as our last for 24 hours. We are still fasting twice a week. It is getting easier, but it's not always a walk in the park.

With full bellies, we headed over to the new Academy that was recently built close to our house and celebrating their first day in business. We walked all around the place and looked at just about everything. I bought some gloves for the bag.

We finally arrived home for the night. We were very lazy. We watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and then rented Bee Movie on the T.V. It was a cute movie. Finally we passed out.

Saturday:
Saturday marked 6 months since the day Bryan and I became a couple. It doesn't seem like it's been 6 months. I guess time really does fly by when you're having fun. :) We planned out a very nice day out to celebrate. First we went to the Austin Nature & Science Center. It was fun, but I really loved the botanical gardens in Zilker Park, which is where we headed next. Finally, we headed to the Splash! Exhibit in Zilker Park. It was a very informative exhibit, and I learned a lot. We were supposed to go to a sculpture garden, but it appeared closed for the day. I was disappointed; I wanted to see some art. Oh well. It was sooo hot and humid that I was just as happy to sit in the air conditioned car. Next, we went to pick up the coffee mugs that we painted last weekend. They are so cute and perfect! On the way home we stopped at Whole Foods to get some stuff to make chocolate covered strawberries (Yum!). Finally, we arrived home. Bryan took a nap, and I piddled around the house. At 5 we left for dinner at this awesome place called The Grove. It was sooo delicious. You have to try it!

After a long eventful day, we finally settled in at home for the night. Bryan bought some wine, and we made the strawberries then devoured them. We played a PS3 game we had rented, watched some television, and finally passed out. It was an awesome day and a great way to celebrate the happiest 6 months of my life. :)

Here are the pictures we took from Saturday:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011059&l=82b19&id=163200356

Here is a video I took:


Sunday:
Well, today is Sunday and the end of the weekend. Bryan is currently outside working in the front yard. He was moved dirt and is currently putting down that free gravel. He is amazing, and I am blessed. The flowerbeds are going to look awesome! It's so hot outside. I just don't know how he does it, but I'm super happy that he does. :D

Bryan Sweats His Ass Off - I Stay Indoors

Long week, long week indeed. However, tomorrow is Friday and the end of the work week! Work has been quite hectic because we are bidding projects like crazy, and I have one job closing. I know this doesn't mean anything to any of you who read this, but trust me, this makes for a crazy long week! It's been even harder to endure because Bryan and I have an awesome Saturday planned, but before I get into that - a quick week wrap up.

I've been to TKD every night this week. I'm still adjusting to the new guy, but several conversations with him have me very excited about some upcoming things. On September 2 he is starting a new schedule. Some classes will remain the same, but some will change; many classes will be added too. I'm very excited about having more options for taking classes. I'm most excited that Saturday classes will return to normal, and I will start attending those for sure.

I ordered a desk for my computer. It's one of the last elements needed to complete the home office. Well, I'm thinking about painting some sort of stripe or accent on all or one of the walls just to jazz it up a little, but at this point we are both quite stumped as to what to do exactly. However, we'll figure it out, and it will be awesome (just like the rest of our house). :) The desk came in record time which was quite the surprise. I'm used to waiting forever to get something I ordered on the internet. I guess the speedy delivery was just to tease me. The first pieces (step 1) didn't fit together (see the picture below). I had to call customer service (which was amazingly still open and even more amazing - they were super nice and said that the manufacturer would mail me replacement pieces). It was almost too simple. Most likely, it will take the pieces a month to arrive. This is just my luck.

Just look at this! This is just one of many holes that just don't line up. I wonder if the replacement will actually be drilled differently. I have my doubts.


Bryan spent pretty much all evening outside working on our flower beds. It was sooo hot. I have no idea how he managed to do all he did with out passing out. So, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that we finally came up with a game plan for the flower beds. Since we are so bad at keeping up with our shrubs and weeds, we decided to plant something that required almost no attention from us. We decided that some cacti and/or succulents would look awesome and give us the independence we crave from yard work. We want to put gravel around the plants to complete the look. This brings me to earlier in the week.

Last weekend we had gone to have a looky at the landscaping place close to our house. We priced out their gravel and came up with $150 minimum. Luckily, I RSS craigslist.com Austin freebie section. Early this week I saw an ad posted for free gravel from someone in Cedar Park, and I put Bryan on the case immediately. Thanks to Scott and his truck, Bryan was able to transport enough gravel to fill our beds. FREE! I love it.

So, Bryan pulled up all of the shrubs today. He transplanted 3 of them behind our fence in the backyard. It just adds a little something to our yard. We gave the other 5 to my coworker who recently moved just down the street from us. No plants were killed in this makeover. Ok, that's not entirely true. Lots of weeds are dying as I type this. Bryan just put down some sort of weed killer. He'll be putting the gravel out on Sunday most likely.

Oh, and the bed suit finally sold!!!! Our garage is almost ours again! I'm sooo happy. Oh, and craiglist.com will bring about some very major weirdos. Don't say I didn't warn you!

This Saturday is our 6 month anniversary. We have a big day planned. I'll just wait and tell you all about it afterwards.

I Feel Famousy

Monday:
Wow, TKD class was weird. Even before I walked in the door, I could tell that the entire entrance had been redone. Everything has been rearranged. The new guy was teaching class. I guess there's no use in wasting time getting started. He was really nice, and I like him...a lot, but he's just not what we're used to. It will take awhile to get used to his teaching style. I'm sure he's still trying to get used to us and the school. I suppose the next few months will be a major adjustment for everyone involved, but TKD marches on. While some things are just weird, there are a lot of things that he's planning on doing that are going to be awesome to say the least. First, he's going to remodel the place. But even better...he's going to offer Jiu-Jitsu around Christmas! I'm super excited about this and will take it as soon as its offered. He's also going to keep the sword and add the short stick. This means I'll get everything I need in one school.

I ran after class. I'm trying.

Moving on...our cat OC started this weird thing last night. He has never done this before, but if he was trying to get our attention, it worked! He's so damn cute!


Why is our cat in the sink? I don't know, and he's not talking. Fell free to give me your best LOLcats though.

Tuesday (today):
Bryan totally made my day when he found this.

Blogging to the Fair

Folks are blogging about the Fair.

Straight from the Horse's Mouth won't be making the drive from Austin to Philadelphia this year, but she writes about the Fair, her cabin, and a great list of suggestions of things to do at her blog: Red Clay Hills Are Calling My Name

That's right...my blog was mentioned in another blog. I'm not sure how famous that makes me, but um, yeah, I'll take it. :D It makes what I do feel worthwhile. "Hello, all you random readers!"

It's Tuesday, and that means a new episode of my current television craze (please see previous post - there's no reason to embarrass myself twice on here).

It Is Hot In Texas!

The weekend is almost over. Well, it pretty much is over. I plan on hitting the sack very shortly, but first, let's recap!

Thursday Night:
We met Wendy for a little coffee and a game of Scrabble. It is hard to know what's going on in Scrabble when you don't keep score, but hopefully I proved to Wendy that I'm not all competitive. ;)

Friday:
I worked. It was a long day. Jason and I did go out for lunch which made it somewhat better.

Shortly after arriving home from work, Bryan and I headed to my belt ceremony...finally! It was short and to the point, but still it was awesome to finally get to wear that senior green! I can't stop staring at it and talking about it. I love it! I'm so happy to be moving up in the ranks. I learned some very strange news at the end of the ceremony. Our school was sold to someone else so it will now be under different management. I'm not sure what this means...about anything. It will simply be a wait and see game. I have no real information at this point. I am both excited and nervous. Things may only change slightly or dramatically. I really don't know. It will still be an ITA school so, it can't change that much. I will let you know when I know more. I'll definitely be anxious to go to class tomorrow though I doubt much will have changed over the weekend.

Thanks to the little boy sitting beside me at the ceremony - He kindly pointed out that I didn't have a yellow stripe on my belt (he is the same rank as me). Yeah well, they don't give that one out to adults. Thanks for reminding me of how old I am.

Bryan offered to take me out for dinner in celebration, but I was still feeling pretty full from lunch so, I opted out. Instead we spent an awesome night in drinking mimosas and watching movies/television.

Here are the pictures that Bryan took of the belt ceremony:
Bowing In
Removing Our Belts
Getting My New Belt
Back To My Seat
Top Belt Awarded
Sporting The New Belt

Saturday:
We slept in which was awesome! We finally managed to drag our asses out of bed to hit downtown for the farmer's market. It was soo hot which caused Bryan to be irritable quickly. :) We bought a few things, but we had to escape the heat pretty quickly. We headed for lunch - Greek - yum! After engulfing some very awesome gyros, we went the Buffalo Exchange. I had never been there before and wanted to at least see what it was about. I bought some jeans and a shirt.

After all of that, I suggested that we go paint pottery! Haha..yeah, I know, but it was a lot of fun. It was something we'd been talking about for awhile. I quickly googled and found this place on Bee Caves. It was a pretty cool little place. We decided to paint coffee mugs for one another. We each picked out a mug we'd like, and then the other one painted it. I was surprised to see Bryan choose colors and a design that I loved. Who knew he knew me so well? We can pick them up as soon as Wednesday. I know we are both super anxious/excited to see how they turned out. Plus, it's time we started sippin' in style. :)

We were exhausted by all the activities and the sun so, we took a great nap upon returning home. We didn't leave the house all Saturday night, but instead opted for another great night in. We watched Atlantis and ate then slept.

Here is what Bella did that night:


Sunday:
We slept in again. We hung out around the house doing nothing until it was time to leave for Ryon's birthday lunch in South Austin. The whole gang was there, and we devoured much pizza and desert. It was awesome to see everybody; it's been awhile since I've seen everyone. After leaving the pizza place, we ran by Wal-Mart for a few essentials.

Here is a funny picture Bryan snapped of me there:


Basically we've been lounging ever since coming home. Bryan's been helping me work on my tattoo design. Think I might be getting close to locking in on something. :) We are currently fasting.

Here is the rest of Bella's weekend in pictures: