the Christmas Wrap-Up Part 2

As is our usual custom, Adam & I split our holiday time between our families, spending Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with his.

This year, my brother David hosted Christmas at his & my sister-in law, Dara's, house. It was lovely, reed thought the Christmas tree was a thing of magic. And luckily, Dara is a photographer and we got lots of wonderful pictures from the day's events.


Playing with his Christmas Ho's (& Gordon).

Me & my sweet little nephew Luke.


Father-Son talk about the art of opening presents. And don't ask me why Reed insisted on putting his hat on.


David's really excited, apparently.

It looks like I'm weighing in on the opening presents lesson.

Isn't my husband sweet with the babies?

For Christmas Day, fewer pictures were captured, or if there were more pictures, no one is being real speedy about putting them up on Facebook. Largely, this was due to the Flip video camera that my father-in-law Jerry received from Andrew & Nicole and we were far more focused on taking videos.

While both dinners were delicious, I'll admit I was looking forward to dinner at Andrew & Nicole's a tad bit more. Last year, Andrew got a deep fryer and we had deep fried turkey. This year, I pretty much demanded another serving. To say it was delicious is putting it mildly, it's a little like heaven. Normally, I exercise a bit more self-control when it comes to the fried food but once a year can't kill me. Right?
A big thank you to Adam & Andrew for the delicious turkey.

As far as presents were concerned, Reed made out like a bandit, especially thanks to both sets of his grandparents. The major theme of his gifts were Thomas & his friends, with a few segues to the Toy Story characters and some Lego sets. I have a feeling he's getting on board with this whole Christmas thing.

Did any of my awesome followers give, recieve or eat anything of note during the holidays? Do tell. 

 And with that, I say Au Revoir to the Christmas season.

the Christmas Wrap-Up Part 1

Christmas has come and gone, with the final vestige of my holiday cheer was lived out last night at our girlfriend Secret Santa potluck dinner at Ronni's. I truly wish we had taken pictures, Ronni set her dining room table beautifully and all the food (tomato bisque, cheesy french bread and potatoes au gratin), cocktail of the night, gluehwein (German mulled wine that my dear Amanda made) & dessert (peppermint ice cream) were all delicious.
But alas, we were hungry and I guess Molly was busy because she always takes pictures.

Robyn was the recipient of my Secret Santa gifts this year. I decided to go practical and cozy with her presents and so she got cozy socks & a new pair of gloves, both of which she had mentioned she needed fairly recently. I also gave her the Glee Christmas Album.

As it turns out, I was also Robyn's Secret Santa, which hasn't happened in the last few years that we've done this thrifty means of gift exchange. You'll notice, but I'll state the obvious anyways; Robyn is a far more creative gift giver than I, God love her for it.

You can't tell from the picture but it is massive. Adam is very jealous, I love it.

Robyn put this necklace together and gave one to me & one to Ronni, so we now have matching necklaces :)

This was hard to get a picture off (and of course I just noticed that my kitchen cabinet is open) but it was my favorite gift. Robyn got it when she went junking for some chairs, repainted the frame and now it's beautiful.

Ellie and I also had a minor gift exchange last night, for and from Reed.
As I'd imagine most of my followers would know dearest Elspeth was my maid of honor at my wedding so reed, being the thoughtful little fellow that he is, thought she would appreciate a framed copy of this picture:


And, knowing his love for all things Thomas the Tank Engine, Ellie got reed this:

We broke them out for bath time tonight and Reed was pretty thrilled that he could pick up ole Percy and draw not only on himself but on the walls of my bathtub.

Originally I was going to recap the entire weekend, family Christmas included but it turned into the world's longest post that wasn't even holding my attention. So this shall be a two (or maybe three if I'm feeling extra crazy) parter. Sadly, I have no really amazing cliff hanger for anyone.

Lists of Four

As remiss as I have been in my blogging of late, I've fallen even further behind on my blog reading. I was catching up and saw that my darling Shannon tagged me in this post, and so I will play along. 

1. Four shows that you watch:
one: The Office
two: Grey's Anatomy
three: The Venture Brothers
four: Family Guy

I was going to put Glee but Robyn made me feel like a hipster for following the crowd. Thanks, Robyn.

2. Four things that you are passionate about:
one: my sweet baby reed.
two: my wonderful new husband, Adam.
three: my friends. Oh, how I have amazing friends.
four: blogging. 

3. Four words & phrases you use a lot:
one: reed. reed. REED!
two: you're ridiculous (mostly to Ellie).
three: NO.
four: You're an Asshole (mostly to traffic when reed's not in the car)!

4. Four things you've learned from the past:
one: Not everyone is going to like everything you do.
two: None of my friends is ever going to think I should go blond, no matter how much I ask them.

three: Love is a gift, but that doesn't mean it isn't work.
four: If you get four positive pregnancy tests, it's not necessary to keep taking them.

5. Four places you would like to go:
(I've been to some of these but I'd like to go back with reed & adam)
one: New York City
two: Paris
three: Italy (yes, the entire country).
four: I will travel to New Zealand and walk The Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and I will hike Mount Doom. 

6. Four things you did yesterday:
one: I took reed to the Children's Museum.
two: I visited Adam at work (& got a latte).
three: I went to work.
four: reed & I ate a lot of popcorn.

In case you can't tell, yesterday wasn't very exciting except for the morning at the CMOM.

7. Four things you are looking forward to:
one: Reed getting his big gift from Santa.
two: Christmas Eve Lunch with my family at my brother & sister-in-law's.
three: deep fried turkey & sweet potato casserole at my brother-in-law's on Christmas Day.
four: New Years Eve at the Pennel's

8. Four things that you love about winter:
one: drinking hot lattes.
two: the month-long break from school.
three: cozy socks.
four: when it's bloody OVER.

Today, the actual first day of winter, doesn't apply to most of these. For those not in Memphis, it was nearly 70 degrees outside.

9. Tag four people to play along:
Amanda @ Your's Truly
Amanda @ Because I Said So

Fallon @ Welcome to the Real World
Mary @ Home is Wherever I'm With You

A Grinch's Guide to Christmas Shopping

It's not a secret that I'm not really a Christmas person. Or a holiday person.
As an adult, I just haven't found it to be my cup of tea. However, this is one of the many hang ups of mine that I have no desire to pass on to reed, so I'm trying to leave my Scrooge-like ways behind.
Adam could take or leave the holidays as well and so I've taken it upon myself to get both of us into  the holiday spirit. So in keeping with that, I'm really throwing myself into the Christmas shopping. As it turns out, giving him essentially nothing to do and no one (except his wife) to shop for is one of the easiest ways to get Adam in the mood for Christmas.

If you need an actually helpful take on Christmas shopping, particularly as a general concept, please see my dear friend Robyn's blog. She has two posts on the subject.

With my seasonal employment with Gap Kids &Baby Gap (Wolfchase Mall, ya'll), the discounts from all the Gap stores, Old Navy & Banana Republic have been quite influential in planning my Christmas list.
I've found that sticking to a handful of places helps figure out what I'm getting people (I'm a horrible gift giver, I can never think of what to get) and so my store lists consist of Old Navy, the two Gap stores and Target. If you're not into Christmas shopping, lists (both stores and the actual gifts) are critical in my opinion because otherwise you will go to the mall and realize you've just entered the fourth ring of hell.
I've managed to get most of my shopping done already, with a trip to the mall and Old Navy planned for later today with my love Elspeth that will wrap things up for me this year.

Some money saving shopping tips that I've picked up along the way:

1. It's all in the packaging. Nearly every store you'll frequent during the holiday season will have gift boxes of varying shapes and sizes. Take advantage of this. In the past, I have been the queen of gift bags and tissue paper. I might has well have lit money on fire every time I gave someone a present. Between free gift boxes and wrapping paper available as cheap as a ginormous roll for $1 (dollar tree), it's way more cost effective to wrap your presents.

2. Limit how many people go on your gift list. Hey, times are tough, or haven't you heard? This year, I'm a part of two Secret Santa groups. My dear girlfriends and me & Adam's rock band dinner group each drew names, cutting the amount of presents I have to buy from 9 to 2. Or in my friend Ryan's family, the siblings only buy presents for the kids and not for each other. This goes a long way to help out around the holidays and make them less of the stressful, soul-crushing endeavor that I have grown to know & dislike.

3. Sometimes less is more. When it comes to gift giving, I hold with the smorgasbord of smaller gifts over the giant, sometimes over-the-top, presents. Despite what television advertisements want us to believe, most people do not expect a brand new car, a diamond tennis bracelet or a 60' plasma TV. And when you're like me, and the idea of the one big gift is a daunting task, sometimes it's a lot easier to think of three or four smaller things that the recipient would enjoy.

Hopefully the knowledge I've acquired has been helpful to someone, but if not, at least I succeeded in getting through both Christmas shopping and the first 2 weeks of December without running around with my hands over my ears screaming that I hate Christmas.
Hey, I'll take whatever small victory comes my way!

Happy Holidays :)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...Break!

I think you already know what I'm going to say. Obviously, I've neglected my blog.
There were times where I could have updated it but for the sake of sanity and not having total sleep deprivation, I decided to take blogging off of my list of things to do and stick to being a momma, working, and studying for finals/writing papers. Oh and not letting my house fall into total disarray.
However, as of about 15 minutes ago I turned in my last paper, all of my finals are over and my fall semester has officially come to a close. Well, all except selling all the godforsaken textbooks back.

In my absence from the blog world, life did go on for the Hinson family, slightly beyond school and work.

The most important of which is the food. Adam and I went on a few date nights, the first of which was at Old Venice. Sadly, we went with friends and I didn't feel comfortable asking them if I could photograph their food. The second was a happy just for me, Adam treated me to sushi at Sekisui Pacific Rim and a matinee of Love and Other Drugs. Sushi and a naked Jake Gyllenhaal. Do I have the best husband ever or what? 

My Spicy Salmon Rolls with Avacado :)

Adam got California Rolls because he's scared of raw sushi. I ended up eating most of them.
I treated him to a burger after the movie.

And lastly on the topic of food, my dear friend Heather & I had a play date with our boys and, after a long day of school, she made me lunch. Isn't she adorable?

In case you can't tell, that's a peanut butter sandwich, baked lays, grapes and spicy pickles.

And here's what reed is up to:

Reed managed to find all things Thomas in BookStar within 2.5 minutes.

He became his father. At least I don't have to worry about him being the 16 year old dad on the 2020 version of 16 & Pregnant (he'll at least wait til 24).

And wait for it....

And then he joined the teeny tiny Village People.

Celebrate my return to my blog. Seriously. Have a party with really good food and cupcakes and then invite me. It'd be kind of lame if you didn't. Next up in the life of Raquel, Adam & Reed Hinson....Christmas Shopping! Stay tuned.

who I'm going to be when I grow up

When you tell people you're in school for Journalism and Public Relations, the first question you get is usually "So what are you going to do with that?" Generally, I never have an answer for them and it's a really awkward few minutes of "Ummm well, there are a few things I could see myself doing...." But I now have an answer for those people: When I grow up, I want to be Chelsea Handler.

I'm not kidding, with the exception of the aversion to seeing a pregnancy through and the affinity for midgets, I'd like to be her. If you live under a rock or across the river in Arkansas with no cable and no bookstores, I'll familiarize you with my dear Chelsea.

She started as a stand-up comedian, has a nightly talk show on E! and is a published author (My Horizontal Life, Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea and Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang)

BEST BOOK COVER EVER. 

She gets to write, travel the country on stand-up tours, have tons of gay boyfriends and earn buckets & buckets of money for being ridiculous (and i think sometimes drunk) on E! every night. And gets lots of twitter-infused press about a possible affair with 50 Cent. I could totally have an alleged affair with a rapper....Adam wouldn't mind, right?
Added bonus of the Chelsea Handler path to success? I would stop worrying about the family alcoholism trait and just embrace my Catholic upbringing, being a full-on lush and make lots of money writing about my vodka-induced shenanigans. 

Essentially, her life and career is amazing and I want it.

If you have the E! channel, go watch the Chelsea's Big Interview Special that inspired this blog. She interviewed Gwyneth Paltrow (who I'm now obsessed with since she did Glee last week), Anne Hathaway and Christina Aguilera.

Now comment with ideas on how to convince Adam & Reed to move to New York or LA so I can start gathering material for my first book about (drunken) southern mommy in a big city, fish out of water situations.

things I've been doing instead of blogging

I've been a terrible blogger of late.
As always, Adam is partially to blame for stealing the computer unless I've commandeered it specifically for schoolwork but that excuse is about to go the way of unsliced bread because Adam's desktop computer is finished being rebuilt. Thanks Tim! And, as the post title suggests, i've also been doing other things aside from blogging:

Reading
the Shopaholic books. Ellie called me Monday morning cracking up laughing about Mini-Shopaholic, the latest installment, so of course I had to start reading them. Please don't judge them by the movie (Sorry, Isla Fisher, I do love you). If you're a fan of hilarious chick-lit, these books are great. However, if you're a frugal lady like me, as I was warned by Robyn, you will get stressed out by her inordinate spending habits. it's okay, it all works out.

Watching

1. The usual suspects: Glee, 16 & Pregnant, The Office, Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice.
2. RED. The Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren & John Malkovich movie about retired CIA operatives. It was hilarious, I actually liked it more than Adam did (who still liked it) which is crazy, since it's based off of a graphic novel. If you need a non-chick flick date night movie, I highly recommend it. 

movie date night with my wonderful husband :)

3. General Hospital. Don't judge me. No really, please don't. It's for my Television & Culture class, I've had to watch like five episodes to finish my assignment. It's beyond terrible, James Franco isn't on the show anymore. 

Seeing
I've gotten to see a lot of my friends this week, albeit the separate visits with the Haire sisters were both too short.

 (Ahem. Picture Edit).

I popped in on my dearest Robyn (& Jesse) to get the first two Shopaholic books. And of course she further took care of me by feeding me pumpkin bread & hot chocolate :)

Ronni & I went to see the TOMS shoe guy (Blake Mycoski) talk at school
and then the next day we were joined by Reed & Molly at Muddy's for some cupcakes and cookies that were muy delicioso. Ronni & Reed became great chums as reed repeatedly asked her "get a bite of cupcake?" and Ronni obliged and handed over her Frankly Scarlet.

I didn't see these ladies together, but come on, this is a great picture of both of them.
I finally saw Mrs. Sarah Harr for the first time since either one of us became married ladies. It was great to have coffee and catch up :)
As far as my dear Elspeth goes, we happened to bump into each other on campus resulting in a 20 minute chat and me being late for my Mass Comm Law class. It was lovely, and of course, too short.

and last but not least, Reed & I had a Target trip, backyard picnic and lots of playtime on Friday with Heather, Buck & Theodore Pennel. Aside from thinking I lost my car keys for a few hours only to discover Buck was sleeping on them and Reed getting pecked at by a chicken, we had lots of fun.


this isn't from last week but it's fairly recent. it's blurry because they were running around crazy. And yes, those legs poking out at Reed belong to Buck.

Oh and the most exciting part of my blogging adventure- I had a new follower when I logged in and it wasn't someone I see on a weekly basis or whose blog I follow! Thanks Fallon :)

it's the worst kind of heartache

tonight's blog is going to be about something very important to me.
it's a highly emotional topic and it's one that often I'm too upset to speak of so this is a special occasion.
i'm speaking, of course, of Celebrity Break-Ups.

there's been a string of them recently, some more devastating than others, and really, I needed to take to the blog to let out my feelings about this.
hey, it's cheaper than therapy.

let's go back to the genesis of when the celebrity break-up's really started to wound me. there were a few that tugged at my heart strings in the beginning;
riding to school freshman year of high school and hearing on the radio about Tom & Nicole (remember they were married before he kidnapped Joey from Dawson's Creek) was slightly disheartening but not truly upsetting.
No, the big one for me was also the big one for America:
the beloved Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Brad & Jen
I have to admit, I'm still not over this. Despite their six kids, I still think Angelina Jolie is a homewrecker and I would rock those "Team Aniston" shirts from back in 2005 (that I totally would have bought if I'd been old enough to posses a credit card and online shop back then). The couple formerly known as Mr. and Mrs. Pitt are heartbreaking but not all that recent (tell that to OK! Magazine though, they are still running weekly stories about this drama).

Last year, the collective of Celebrity Relationships received another blow.

Tim Robbins & Susan Sarandon Split after 23 years.

This was pretty devastating. If you're not familiar with this particular coupling, despite their years together and two children, they were not married. At the time of their separation, Adam & I weren't engaged, much less married, and their supposed success without a marriage license gave me hope. After they broke up, all I had was Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russel.

It seems like in the last year we've had a lot of celebrity break-ups. The Tiger Woods and Sandra Bullock respective serial cheating sagas both ended in divorce. Bristol Palin got re-engaged and then re-broke up with her PlayGirl babydaddy all in the time that it took 2 US Weekly's to come out (publicity stunt?) And the final nail in the relationship coffin of The Notebook couple Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams was hit with a hammer (I'd like them to get back together, please) and Christina Aguilera filed for divorce a few weeks ago, despite telling the world that there Ain't No Other Man like her hubby.

But if there was one couple in La La Land who I thought would actually make it, it was Jen's BFF and her manchild husband.

Courteney Cox & David Arquette
Granted, the Arquette’s haven't filed for divorce and the lady of the family herself has said that this is a separation, not a divorce. However, David has gone all over the Howard Stern Show and Twitter about the girls he's screwed since their split and how his wife is tired of being his mommy. I smell divorce attorneys any second now.

If Celebrity Break-Up's don't break your heart, then probably you find me and this blog utterly ridiculous right about now. And that's okay, I understand. There are lots of things that upset other people that don't upset me. I can only hope that by some miracle of God or Perez Hilton one of these celebrities mentioned will be pouring through google posts of their name, come across my blog and realize they HAVE to get back together with their lost love.

that might happen, right?

happy tuesday, blog loves. if you're in Memphis, I hope you voted and I hope you remembered your rain boots. I only remembered to vote and I was cold all day.
Au Revoir.

Just Tell Me 10 Things

I'm borrowing this posting idea from Amanda's blog, my friend from high school and fellow blogger.

1. My current sized jeans are now too large to wear without a very good belt.
The size below, of which I still have a lone pair from before reed, cannot be buttoned. It's a predicament.
2. Dinner & conversation with my husband is one of my favorite simple things but sadly, due to scheduling, has been a rare treat lately.
3. I like going to movies alone. I think I may go see HP7P1 (that's Harry Potter 7, Part One) alone since the first movie I saw alone was HP4.
4. Reed told me today, after previously telling me that Mommy was his best friend, that Ellie (& the CATS) was his BFF and that he needed my phone to call her.
I had to tell him, sadly, that she was in class.
5. I think after winter break, I'd like to give being a dark redhead a try again.
6. I really want some Blue Coast Burrito. It's been months. I miss it.
7. I want to place a ban on Adam playing Fall Out 3: New Vegas. I'm having dreams about an apocalyptic future society and I also need more attention.

8. I should be searching for commercials to write about for my Television & Culture class right now.
9. I'm listening to the music from last nights Rocky Horror Glee episode on Grooveshark.

10. I'm sleepy. And hungry.

There you go, just ten things.

What It's Like to be a Wife: Day 17

My blog is sad, so I am sad.
I haven't had a lot to post about; most of the stuff in my life right now is either too boring or too personal to put on a blog. And so my blog is sad.

But we are changing that tonight.

1. I need a new book to read. Suggestions from readers?

2. My dear friends Jesse & Robyn (read her blog, it's fab) are throwing a Halloween party.
In honor of my new wife status, I've decided to actually dress up this year.

I'm going to be a retro housewife. Pictures of the real deal will be forthcoming.

3. I lied before, I'm definitely blogging about the wedding one more time. I got all the pictures in and they are up on my facebook. But honestly, it was just too big of an event for me to not give the joy of it a blog post, especially since i went on and on about the stress.

4. Speaking of housewifely duties, I've been trying to cook for Adam more consistently. A lot of my friends, particularly the married ones, plan out their meals for the week so this week I'm trying it out.

Tonight
Veggie Burritos with Spanish Rice

Thursday
Buttermilk-Brined Fried Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes & Asparagus

Friday
Four Cheese Homemade Pizza with Garlic & Veggies

Saturday

Spaghetti with marinara sauce, parmesan & romano cheese
(cheap dinner night)

Sunday

Cornish Game Hens with Greek Rice

Hopefully, HusbandAdam will be pleased with the effort. I don't have that much experience cooking meat so I'm relying heavily on cook books, cooking shows and the internet.

My blog is happier and so am I.
Don't forget those book recommendations :)

Sneakers O'Toole

I've decided to post about the changes to our apartment that Adam & I are making.

We've gotten a lot of housewares and decorative stuff as wedding presents and since we re-signed our lease, we're attempting to make this a home rather than a temporary living space.
That being said, this post will not be about that. Something to look forward to for the readers who hate posts about reed (heathens, as i refer to them).

thanks to uncle Nathan (Nay-Fen), reed & I had Pump It Up to ourselves this morning.

the enormous slide that we only went down once.
I was pretty sure I was going to have a heart attack over reed's safety.

reed & I climbed this wall for the medium-sized slide approximately 65 times.
it tired me out, reed seemed to derive extra energy from the experience.

reed futilely attempting to climb back up to the big slide.

we also went shoe shopping today. for the pop culturally retarded, these are darth vader shoes.
sadly, the lights freaked reed out so we didn't get them. And by sadly, I mean for Adam.

the clicking from the keyboard is bothering sleepy Adam and i'm kind of having a spacey moment. goodnight, blog friends.

ps, the blog title was a random line from a Family Guy episode that Adam & I are watching right now.

the adventures of raquel & reed: part 3

for someone with Mama in the title of their blog, I don't talk about little man reed as much as I should.
I've been thinking about changing the title of my blog, especially since I'm a married lady and this blog has been more about my life than reed's, but that's really not the point (but if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in a comment).

while I am definitely not one of those parents harboring any illusions that anyone reading this blog is half as interested in my child's goings on as I am, there are some pretty adorable pictures and reed is definitely one of the cuter children out there.

So here are the continued adventures of raquel & reed...

 

 

putting on his sunglasses getting ready for the day :)

playing with Thomas at breakfast at Cafe Eclectic.

drinking milk with his trains & mommy at daddy's Starbucks.

Target! reed's 2 and he knows the word so that should tell everyone how much we frequent the establishment.

reed's treat for being so good at the park: organic chocolate milk at daddy's Starbucks.

the crazy hat ate reed's head :)

And now sweet little reed is slumbering away, Adam has been snatched up by the closing shift and I'm home alone with only my blog (read break-in-homework) and my iTunes to keep me company.

 

But sadly, the laptop battery is dying and I'm too lazy to get up and get the power cord. Goodnight all. And don't forget about the blog re-do title suggestions :)

I learn more from Dr Seuss than Dr Freud

i've made no secret among friends of my obsession with Teen Mom. Hey, don't judge me.

I don't watch Jersey Shore, The Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars. We all have our vices.

Recently, however, the show that was once equal parts mocking those who can't speak properly and feeling sorry for both the babies and some of the moms who are neglected by the baby daddies (heretofore known as the BD's) has now become a forum for public safety announcements against child abuse and domestic assault.

In short, it's gotten beyond sad. And also a little bit like I'm watching a crime take place and then not reporting it.

Thankfully, Teen Mom was the show of the summer. The season finale is next week and while I'll miss the way it was, I'm kind of glad to be immersed in television that doesn't pretend to be about reality.
Tosh.0, I shall miss you as well.

 So what's on my fall DVR?

Glee
Tuesdays at 7 on FOX. It's described as a comedy but I nearly always break down in tears. The music is generally fabulous and yes, despite the tears, I crack up at nearly everything Sue and Brittany say.

Grey's Anatomy
Thursdays at 8 on ABC. I'm just going to say it. I still hate all the Mercy Westers. I miss Izzie & George, despite Katherine Heigl probably being a diva and TR Knight actually wanting to be in the show.

Private Practice
Thursdays at 9 on ABC. Yes, the Grey's spin-off. I basically just watch this out of nostalgia for Judging Amy & Wings and because I want to look like Kate Walsh when I'm her age.

The Office

Thursdays at 8 on NBC. I think all of my friends know about The Office. As with Grey's, we are 6 years in and my ultimate dream for the show has been realized: Jim & Pam are together. However, it's Michael's (Steve Carell) last season so I'm pretty interested to see how that works out.

And while most of my friends are anti-teen mom, if there are any unknown blog friends out there that like it, please check this guy's blog out.

So what are all the blog friends watching this fall?
Oh and the blog's title is a quote from on of the shows mentioned here. A free cup of coffee (if you go while Adam is working) to the person who comments with the correct show. No googling.

What It's Like to Be a Wife: Day One

the wedding is over. check my facebook for pictures.

Adam & I are now married.
He is my husband, I am his wife. I am Mrs. Hinson.
I assumed, since literally nothing of our daily life would change, that being married wouldn't really feel any different. Granted, I'm only about 22 hours into this, but it does, in fact, feel different.
But what is more interesting, to me, is the wedded bliss thing that has, however momentarily, clouded our usual line of thinking. (the same thing happened after we got engaged- we didn't have a single fight for about 6 weeks)

Exhibit A
"Honey, wherever you want to eat tonight is totally fine. You put all the work into the wedding and this is your treat."
Okay, Adam can totally be the sweetest guy in the world but the man has strong opinions about food. Not only did he suggest sushi (I love it, he's not a fan so I don't eat it that often) but he asked our sister-in-law for a recommendation to a nicer place than usual.
It was his wedding night too but he made sure dinner was a treat for me :)

Exhibit B
I woke up this morning at 6 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I reached over to Adam's bedside table for the remote to catch up on our DVR'd shows. Adam stirred and I asked him if he wanted me to watch television in the living room: "Nope, I'm not going to ask my wife to watch television without the warm blankets we have in her"
Yeah, a week ago my ass would have been on the couch.

Exhibit C
At 9 am, I was bored and hungry (not bored enough, however, to get up and cook something for breakfast) so I woke Adam up and asked him to go get breakfast with me.
Normally, this is a sin against nature. Adam wakes up at 4 am nearly every morning so if happens to be capable of sleeping in, he really isn't to be woken.
Married Adam, however, rolled over and told me he'd love to as soon as he brushed his teeth.

It seems like I'm making unmarried Adam out to be a jackass (which he wasn't) but it's funny, marriage didn't seem to be a big deal to Adam. It seemed like he figured we were more or less married, but we should probably make it official for reed.

However, it seems as though Adam is pretty pleased to be a married man, and honestly, I couldn't be happier that the wedding is over and that I am his wife.

Now we get to go pick sweet little reed up from school. And yay, no more wedding blogs :)

wedding weather

Dear Fall Weather, 

Thank you for making an appearance. It was a tad late in the game
for my comfort, given the impeding wedding, but alas a fourth-quarter appearance
is better than no appearance at all.
Being slightly chilled in the morning before school and needing a hot cup of coffee, rather than my
fiance-made iced toffee nut latte was a nice change of pace from peeling my thighs off of my car seats every morning in the Central parking lot.
I expect the leaves changing colors will follow and my sweaters and scarves will be out within a few weeks.
I am not thrilled that your appearance will apparently lead to people wanting to sit on the Crumpets patio, as
though I want to walk another 10 feet to seat them, but with great joy comes a slightly less great sacrifice (or
something like that from Spider Man).
I'm further pleased when, according to my Weather Channel iPhone app, it will be a pleasantly brisk
68 degrees on Sunday, October 3rd.
Perfect Fall Wedding Weather.
So thank you, Fall Weather. Stay exactly as you are until Monday. Then everything can go to
hell in a hand basket if you wish.

Love, 

the not-so-demanding bride Raquel

PS, if you could figure out what's going on with the precipitation in Memphis before we all drop dead of dehydration, it would be much appreciated.

Did my arm fall asleep or did it fall off?

I have started to write several blogs this week. Clearly, they did not make it to the light of day.

There are a lot of contributing factors to not being able to get through a single blog post this week. If anyone is keeping count, there are 11 days left until the wedding.

If anyone is wondering, I am freaking out.

It's definitely not the marriage, I'm pretty excited to get married. This wedding, however, may be the death of me. I'm trying to focus on positives, like my friends and family all being together. The actual getting married part. Looking pretty in a dress and having Adam look ever so handsome in his suit. All good things.
I'm not too successful at it but I sure am trying. Stress is not attractive on me.

School, work and spending time with sweet baby Reed are always factors but mostly it's the fact that I've been catching up on the last season of both Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

It's not the time of watching them. Honestly, Private Practice is on while I'm writing this. It's the fact that I've had this bizarre headache for the last five days and due to these medical shows, I'm 95 % sure that I'm dying of some sort of rare brain disorder.
It's pretty time consuming to think that you may be dying of what I can only assume is a fictional brain disease that can only be cured by the possibly-dead from a gunshot wound Dr. Derek Shepherd.

So let me (and my friend Heather whose husband has forbidden her from watching House after she was convinced of many medical abnormalities between her and her children) serve as a cautionary tale for anyone out there who may think of picking up medical shows as a habit:
Tread lightly, friends. It's not something to be taken lightly. Therapy and medication are rarely helpful and there are extreme emotional attachments that are formed with the characters. The will-they/won't they of Meredith & Derek caused many a cookie dough eating spree.

All of that being said, my headache is really terrible and its a weird one so if there are any neurologists that happen to read my blog, holla.

Alright, I have a tiny confession...

I'm not being boastful when I say this but I'm pretty thrifty. Frugal, one might say. I clip coupons, I buy in bulk on sale, I sell books and clothes in order to buy new ones, I put a percentage of every school refund check & paycheck into savings.

In short, I'd call myself fiscally responsible.

HOWEVER. I'm not immune to what I, and many others, refer to as the impulse buy. I'm guilty of the People Magazine and US Weekly at the grocery store if the cover looks particularly juicy, every now and again. But by far, the most egregious offense that I have in this category is the purchase of television on DVD. 

It's awful, but I do it once a year when the new releases hit and I realize that I just have to catch up on whatever show is premiering in two weeks but I fell behind on watching due to whatever circumstance. 

I'm confessing this, dear blogger friends, because I've fallen victim to this financial vice once again. And by falling victim, I mean I didn't exert any amount of willpower or responsibility. 

I purchased season six of Grey's Anatomy on DVD. 

Judge if you will, but it was on sale. And if you're not familiar, a lot of shit went down this season on Grey's and I can't go into season 7, which I won't miss because of our pretty pretty dvr, without knowing all the drama of Meredith Grey and Co. 

And hey, at least I kept up with The Office last season or I'd have to pick between the two shows. 

And who's making that easy choice, Sophie?

Almost-Wife, Interrupted

i know, i've been super remiss about the blog lately.

i wish i could blame this entirely on school starting, work, needing time for baby reed and Adam, ect. 

In reality,  it's largely because my laptop is still hijacked nightly after reed goes to sleep so Adam can play his online games.

Apparently, all the xbox games aren't that interesting lately.

I hope this has somewhat come to an end. 

With 23 days left until the wedding (not that I'm counting), Adam & I had a come to Jesus talk about our relationship and how we spend our time. Not suprisingly, the time he spends playing games, both video & board, were on my list. 

And i think we came to an agreeable compromise. 

speaking of the wedding, after that conversation with Adam, it began to dawn on me that this wedding I'd been planning for the past few months was going to result in an actual marriage. 

the idea of being married in the abstract has never really appealed to me. that's probably some combination of the 6 failed marriages between my 3 parents and an inaccurate view of what being a wife is (think Donna Reed). If I'd never met Adam, I'd probably graduate and promptly become married to my career and my girlfriends.

being married to Adam though? I'll admit, I'm pretty excited to be Mrs. Hinson (except I won't technically be until after I graduate) and to have Adam as my husband.

HOWEVER.

For most people, when they get married, something changes. They honeymoon, they move in together or they buy a house together or they start to think of kids. Or something.
But for me and Adam? Seemingly, nothing is going to change. We may score some new bedding and dishware, but we've done all of the above (minus the honeymoon, which we won't be doing any time soon- stupid school year).

And that knowledge is making me listless. 

I always thought when Adam and I finally got around to getting hitched, it would be the first step of many in moving forward. Getting big-kid jobs, moving out of Memphis, buying a house, giving reed the little brother (ok, maybe sister too) he wants. 

For now, we're stuck in the "Raquel's still in school limbo" which I've managed to make longer by not being able to figure out what I want to do with my career until after I'd decided on something else.

Oh well, at least I get to spend my life, limbo or no, with this adorably goofy man.

the whining portion of the blog is over for the evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm settling in to do clerical wedding work and listen to the Glee soundtrack on grooveshark