delight in life

HELLO

Hi blog! It's been a bit. But! I have a very good reason. Actually, two. Number one: we were house hunting! And then we bought a house! We just closed on Monday, and we move tomorrow, and we are very, very excited. Number two (and most importantly): we're having a baby! I am fourteen weeks pregnant, and for the last...nine weeks, I have not felt much like being on the computer. Or doing much of anything else. But I did manage to get out of the house long enough to hang out with my parents when they came to town, and to go to my cousin's wedding in Texas. And now I'm finally starting to feel better and am looking forward to getting our new house in order and enjoying summer! And blogging about it along the way!

This has been a very exclamation-point happy post, but I've got a lot to exclaim about, you know. I'm looking forward to getting back in the habit of blogging, and sharing more photos and thoughts about our current life craziness. I've missed you, blogland!

(a picture from my parents' super fun visit earlier this month) 

grateful

For the crew of US Airways flight 1780 that waited for me while I ran back to the previous plane to find my iPad

For the crew of US Airways flight 2698 that understood my pleas between my gasping breaths and found my iPad

That I chose to wear Toms yesterday morning and not flip flops: all the better for sprinting, my dear

For the Charlotte airport employee/OKC Thunder fan who gave me a ride on his cart "even though" I was wearing a Spurs shirt (go Spurs!)

That my record for lost and found iOS devices is 2 for 2

For my legs and lungs, which somehow held out for me, when I found myself running further and faster than I have in a very. long. time.

For Molly and Hiram, who came to take care of our cats when we forgot to leave a key for the cat sitter

For the city of Savannah, which was a perfect, delightful host

For my wonderful, thoughtful, loving husband, two fun years of marriage, and plans for many, many more. "Grow old with me, the best is yet to be."

 

lately

learning lots about the home-buying process (yay!)

grateful for our awesome realtor

re-discovering how wonderful naps are

powering through the complete series of Friends, only eighteen years after everyone else in the world

spending a lot less time on the internet

— and enjoying it

enjoying our weekend routine of doing a lot of nothing with our friends

making fun summer plans!

looking forward to our trip to savannah this weekend (and our second anniversary!)

falling a little behind in project life 

being okay with not having much to say

missing my blog a little (but I know it'll come back to me when I'm ready)

the buckleys go house-hunting

"The kitties would be so happy here! Oscar was made for wood floors and grey walls."

"Um. I guess?"

one year ago

Have you guys heard of Timehop? It's a great little service I signed up for a while ago. Every morning I get an email with a list of everything I posted on my social networks exactly one year before. Tweets, Facebook statuses, Instagram photos, Foursquare check-ins.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I signed up, but I've found I really look forward to that morning email! Sometimes it's boring, but some mornings I wake up to see an album of vacation photos I put on Facebook. It's fun to spend a few minutes with happy memories every morning.

Last week, the email had the picture I took of Chris and me when I dropped him off in Dallas to leave for Army boot camp. I remembered how sad that morning was and how much I was dreading the three months that followed, but then I thought about how amazing everything has been since then.

Chris and I both have grown in so many ways. We are both stronger as individuals, and our relationship is stronger and better too. More secure, more relaxed. We moved from a city I did not love, to this incredible city with tons to offer, including nearly all of our friends. We both have good jobs and we got rid of our hated brown couch.

We are happy. Life is good.

I remember being so lonely and miserable while Chris was gone, but my Timehop emails actually present a totally different picture. I didn't have anyone to tell my jokes to except the cats and the internet, so the emails are full of hilarity (hey, if I don't think they're funny, who will?) and one multi-day saga involving several wasps and some duct tape. It's interesting to look back on those months through a lens that's mostly free of all the emotional baggage I was dragging around.

What a difference a year—and a little perspective—makes.

valentimes

It was a lovely February 14 over here in the Buckley house. When I came home from work I saw this:

That is our apartment, cleaner than it's been in some weeks. That is also roses on the coffee table. Then I turned to my right and I saw this:

That's my sweet valentine, cooking dinner. Which turned out to be this:

Tasty, tasty chicken tostadas and fresh guacamole. Which we devoured while watching a few episodes of my latest tv obsession, Friday Night Lights. 

This Valentine's day was low-key and sweet and perfectly us. He makes me know I am so loved every single day, and I am so lucky.

happy (belated) birthday, chris!

Yesterday was Chris's birthday! We were so busy celebrating that I didn't even tell the internet.

In a lame bit of scheduling, he ended up having a rehearsal Monday night, so we went out to dinner Sunday night instead! We've heard nothing but glowing reviews of Ray's the Steaks since we moved here, so Chris's birthday seemed a perfect excuse to give it a try.

And man, did it live up to the hype. I am not normally a big steak person, but I was on Sunday! It was a really wonderful night with great food, delicious wine, and great friends. If you're in the DC area and you even sort of like steak, you should definitely give it a try. (If your wallet's not up to steak, try his burger place Ray's Hell Burger instead. Best burger I've ever had. And the man likes a pun, which I can appreciate.)

On Monday, his actual birthday, we slept in till almost noon, which was amazing. Then we went to another local restaurant that he'd been wanting to try since we moved here, and which I kept vetoing. I thought it would make a nice surprise, and it sort of did, but unfortunately my initial instincts were right--the place was not very good. Do not recommend, will not dine again.

All was not lost, since there was cake at home. More specifically, cheesecake, his favorite food. I had never made a cheesecake before, and really was nervous about it since I don't even really like cheesecake, so I didn't even know how to tell if it was good! Luckily, Chris loves it. I used this recipe, though mine didn't look quite as nice as the picture.)

Happy birthday Chris. I love you!

2011

Twelve months ago, I declared that 2011 was going to be the best year ever. I love being able to say that I was right about that. At the end of 2010, my dad asked us how we wanted to be different a year from now, and I said I wanted to be "at a job I enjoy and in a dwelling with painted walls."
Here I am at the end of 2011 with apartment walls that are painted a lovely shade of light grey, and while I'm not yet at a job I enjoy, I might be soon. And I'm not at a job I don't enjoy any more, so that counts for something for sure.

My monthly resolutions fell off a bit at the end of the year, but they were so useful and motivating for me all year. I am really glad I did that.

2011 was the year we moved and I fell in love with our new home.
2011 was the year I fell in love with quilting.

2011 was the year we spent three lousy months apart but six magic and oh-so-fun months in Virginia. 

2011 was the year we celebrated one year together.
2011 was the year I realized that spending your life counting down till the grass is supposed to get greener in two months, or a year, or a week is a good way to make yourself unhappy and miss out on a lot of good stuff happening right now.

2011 was a very good year.

 

the two of us

If we hadn't visited so many friends this month, I surely wouldn't have gotten so many pictures of us. I'm not very brave about asking strangers to take photos of us, and I often feel silly in public propping up the camera on a post and smiling at it for 10 seconds while we wait for the self-timer. (I should get better about both of those things.) They're not all masterpieces for the museum, but I'm so happy to have these photos of the two of us -- together. It is how we spend most of our time, after all. Nice to have proof of it.





I'm still thinking about my goals for February, but I plan to share tomorrow!

weekend shots

We celebrated Chris's birthday in San Antonio at a Spurs game. The game was great, but sadly the weather was not. We spent a few days wandering around shivering and wet, and then came back to Dallas for some cake and Trivial Pursuit. Good weekend.