Thankful

Things that I am thankful for this week:

Spring Break. No school till next Wednesday! (I only have class Wednesday-Friday anyway)

A sunshine-y Sunday. We spent the afternoon on the lawn wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. All of Spokane was dressed for summer. The funny thing? It was 59 degrees. Ah, Washington!

Cups of tea on rainy days. With the exception of Sunday, the weather has been copying Seattle's. So I'm thankful for cozy mornings and afternoons.

Long drives. Carson and I drove to Couer d'Alene for dinner one night last week just because. We had yummy pizza and found a tiny mall that we walked around, laughing and talking. And you probably already knew that I like to talk on long drives....

Great friends. On Saturday evening I joined several friends for a girly movie night and chocolate pie. On Monday, the same lovely ladies and I braved the rain to search for formal dresses. We didn't have much luck with that but the company was great (and I found a dress for graduation).

Impending Graduation. School only has eight weeks left. I graduate in 58 days! And then five days after that, I go on my internship! I'm looking forward to the summer.

Around the House

I don't have much to say (a lie. I always have a lot to say) other than to show you what we've been up to lately. 

A few weeks ago, I made peanut butter cookies. I enjoy most cookies before they're cooked (dough) but peanut butter cookies and the oatmeal cookies my mom makes are the two exceptions. I had all the ingredients for peanut butter cookies, so I set to work filling up the cookie jar. 

Unfortunately, since I like them, the cookie jar is once again empty. Oh well. 

Carson returned to work at Super Supplements. His boss called and offered him a full-time position. Yes, please! I made a sign for his first day. 

 I also thought I should make a note of how we watch movies around here. On the macbook, propped up by other dvds, with computer speakers. This movie, by the way, was the updated version of "Charade" (with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn). This one was called "The Truth about Charlie" and it just wasn't that great. We have Charade and I think it's much better! 

With ice cream, of course. Carson keeps getting my favorite (mint chocolate chip) so we keep eating ice cream... it's a problem I don't mind all that much :) 

Here's another something I made: an owl pincushion. The drawback is that it sort of looks like an owl voodoo doll. I don't know that they have those but I feel bad stabbing this poor creature in the back. He has been rather handy though. I don't miss having to stick pins in the couch when I'm trying to sew.

I just love squash and zucchini cooked together. Something about it just seems so summery. I think it's the colors and the fact that growing up we had a million squash from Granddaddy's garden each summer. 

Since I'm showing you "life", here's some Reilly Building pictures and updates. 

This is our list of rules for the apartment building. Some people took the liberty of calling others out on certain misdemeanors. I, for instance, have a drug and alcohol issue... clearly. Some of the names are personal jokes (Rachel has a fish and was called out on the "pets" rule and Keith may or may not be loud late at night).

That rule list is posted on the whiteboard that's in the foyer of the building. I think it's supposed to be for helpful notes. There are a few, but there are mostly pictures and funny notes. Stephanie recently made this one of the Reilly women (yes, we have new people)... and Izzy made an addition. 

The biggest Reilly family news has been that two of our members, John and Rachel, got engaged last week! We're all THRILLED for this event, to take place this winter over break. They will continue to be our neighbors - she'll move down the hall to his apartment, which happens to be right next to ours!

Our First Valentine's

Fun fact: this was our first Valentine's Day together! Two years ago we weren't even friends, last year we were engaged but I was in South Carolina, so finally this year, we got to celebrate!

We celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday, since school and work conflicted with the actual holiday.

Carson planned the whole day!

First of all, we went to a diner that I've never visited. There were so many good options on the menu, but we both got sandwiches. The breakfast menu looked amazing, so I'm sure we'll be back!

Then we painted pottery downtown.

It was his first time doing this but I think he liked it. 

A stretch, since he doesn't do creative things so often (but he's pretty good!)

We were there for nearly three hours. 

[closer look: our creations]

Afterward, we went miniature golfing up north. 

There was the option to go outside, but the chilly weather made that a quick no. 

It was dark with blacklights. 

We're both horrible at this (which made it better since we were on the same level). 

Our final scores were 58 and 53. He won. 

Finally, we settled in at home with some spinach ravioli and alfredo sauce. 

It was followed by some yummy brownie covered oreos 

(you just dip them in the brownie batter and place them in muffin tins) 

and watched While You Were Sleeping

(a favorite of mine and he loved it too!)

And for Valentine's Day, I received this: 

A white sapphire heart necklace

I'm wearing it in most of the pictures if you want to see its actual size

Love it :)
[in fact, I love it so much that you'll be seeing it a LOT]

I've always loved this holiday, the candy, pink and red and fun decorating...

 Celebrating it with my husband instead of with girl friends and roommates made it totally different. So, so fun!

Hope you had an excellent Valentine's Day as well, no matter who you spent it with!

captions

"Let's take a picture in this mirror"

I'd rather not... but I'll humor you

"Look happy to be next to me!"

I am... just not so happy to see that camera

"Oh, this will be funny. Let's be serious."

This WILL be funny...

"No seriously, come on!"

No, seriously. I'm patient but not that patient.

"What's that you say?"

People are coming! They'll see us taking pictures like fools!

once upon a saturday evening

if only every evening could be spent this way...

Eight Months

There's nothing special about eight months.
Nothing monumental about the number eight at all.
Not really.

And yet, today we've been married for that long.
And it's gone by very fast.
And we're loving it.
And we're really growing.

I love the man I married more now than before marriage.
Not that it's a surprise, I just didn't get it before.
But living with him has given me a new perspective on him:
His temperament, his character, his quirks, his strengths and weaknesses.

And for eight months, I've had a front seat to all of this.
And he's had a front seat to who I really am.
Yikes.
But really, it has been so good.
Even the not so wonderful moments - seriously anything can turn out for good and for growth!

Happy eight!

thankful for

workout videos. because i HATE gyms. ick.

workout video buddies. because at least you aren't alone with the sweating and suffering.

my husband. because he leaves sweet notes around. and does the laundry at random.

leftovers. because i don't have to have a sandwich for lunch.

mascara. because my eyelashes have blonde tips.

showers. because of that workout. because now i smell good!

spell-check. because i don't like to proofread.

babies. because they're so darn cute.

school. because it starts in two weeks and i'm enrolled!

sleep. because i didn't get enough and i can see how much i need it.

jesus. because my life would not be the same without him.

sweats. because i can wear yoga pants to work.

water. because i don't even know how many times i filled my camelbak up yesterday. lots.

bible. because it's true and life-changing and alive. because it's god's word.

ibuprofen. because kids are loud and i got a headache.

writing in all lowercase. because i can.

Taco Bell and Sparkling Cider

New Year's eve last year was spent with friends in Cheney, watching movies and playing Settlers of Catan.

This year? We spiced things up...

 Clearly.

We went to Target after Carson got off work. If you ever want to spend a quiet evening in Target, 9:30pm on New Year's Eve is the time.

And yes, we went to Taco Bell:

Carson: "Let's go get tacos"

Lindsay: "Are you serious?"

Carson: "We can make a resolution NOT to eat it in the new year"

Lindsay: "Sounds fantastic!"

So there we were, off to the drive thru...

And oddly enough, we weren't alone. Others had the idea for pre-resolution fast food. 

So we took pictures while we waited.

Target and Taco Bell. Jealous yet?

And then we returned home with our Target purchases: sparkling cider, The Blind Side, and candy. 

Carson LOVES candy.

We poured the cider, opened the candy, popped the DVD in and played Scrabble. 

At five to midnight, we were doing this:

 We were about to take a "Yay, it's midnight" picture

When we heard a sound. It confused us.

(We were mid-picture and this is an actual candid)

Until we realized that our clocks were one minute off and it was 2011! 

And there were fireworks going off downtown.

So we did what any normal people would do: we ran to the other end of the building, grabbed Heidi's spare key, and watched the fireworks from her window!

Happy New Year!

It Wasn't Love at First Sight

It was not love at first sight. 

It was actually kind of painful. 

The getting dressed up was fun. The shopping and curling and painting and primping. That part.

The awkwardness of going on date, dressed really nice, with someone you really didn't know all that well or, honestly, feel any attraction toward? Doing it because you didn't know how to say no? Not being a conversationalist and having to think of small talk?

 That was a little painful. 

But there he was, at my door, with a big smile on his face (a nervous smile, I've since learned) and blue flowers that he'd hoped would match my dress. They did. 

It wasn't love at first sight. 

But something happened, because two weeks later, he was my boyfriend. 

That didn't last so long, and three months after that, he was my fiance. 

Twelve months and twenty days from that first date, we became husband and wife. 

 That was six months ago. 

Half a year ago. 

I'm happy to report that life is not painful, awkward, nerve-wracking or embarrassing. 

Luckily, it was just that first date. 

Well, and the first couple weeks after that.

But marriage has been wonderful. We're learning a lot, growing, and loving it. 

Happy half-year to us!

Is He Serious?

Sometimes, from those of you who aren't very well acquainted with Carson, I hear the question, "So is he quiet and serious all the time?" 

The answer is an emphatic no. 

And a little giggle. Are you serious?

I'm not even sure where you got that impression, because he can be serious, and he isn't obnoxious, but he certainly isn't quiet. Or boring. Please don't think he's boring. 

Life is a million times more interesting with Mr. Bay. 

For example: 

For every documentation of him being... not serious... I have 100 other instances of funnier moments not captured. He's not serious all the time, not quiet at all. 

And trust me, life is quite fun that way.

baby

This is one of my very favorite pictures. 

Abishai was 12 days old at the time - 4th of July weekend.

Carson held him a lot. It surprised me a little bit. 

I love the contrast of the big strong arms holding up the little helpless baby. 

And the way they're both studying one another.

Life Pictures

I walked back outside to my Bible Study I was doing outside to find... Ivy... joyously waiting my return. "Our dogs" have come to be fun to have around.

Notice the bottom left corner. While we're glad not to be pet owners, we do share with the dogs that come to our door. In the bowls is leftover roast beef. They weren't sharing so Carson made each dog her own bowl. 

We went hiking last Sunday! Carson found this huge dandelion-like thing. It was as big as my hand!

More of what it looks like here; on the same hike.

So Carson's mom made a book contrasting our wedding and Trent and Erin's... this page was just too perfect NOT to take such a shot. Shannon and Danita (mom) behind the pages. 

Um, yep, this is where we spend our Wednesday evenings... Naches Laundry. Joy. 

 It's strange to be in a place where we can see snow - in JUNE! This was taken (on a mountain pass - don't think it snows at night here or anything) on the way back from Olympia. There was a bank of snow taller than Carson! By the way, I was wearing flip flops... it was chilly!

So that's just a bit more of how life is going for the Bay Family.  Enjoy!