Our First Thanksgiving

We took NO pictures on Thanksgiving.
Ok..Correction.
We took ONE picture on Thanksgiving...
...at like 9:00 that night when Noor was eating leftover Thanksgiving dinner.
Here it is, Ladies and Gents....

Now...while that man right there is the stubbliest of men...and I do love this ONE picture we got...

I wish we had taken more memory-rich pictures of our first Thanksgiving together.

That being said...we didn't have our family-filled traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We were stuck in Houston for Thanksgiving because we couldn't afford airfare home. Lucky for us though, a few wonderful families in our ward were "orphans" this year too, so we all combined and had one big Thanksgiving dinner. We still had great food and we stilled laughed and ate too much...but it wasn't the same spending the holiday away from our family.

We did venture out to shop on Black Friday...not enough to wake up early to do it though. We enjoyed going out and spending our day together Christmas shopping and loving that the Christmas season had OFFICIALLY begun. :)

We did go more places than just the sporting goods store...we just we no good
at taking pictures. Obviously we didn't learn much from the day before.

We have been so blessed as a family already. 

The Lord has definitely poured out joy upon us this year and we are incredibly grateful to Him.

We are thankful to be an eternal family. There is no greater blessing on this earth than to know that we can be together forever. I hope to retain the attitude of gratitude throughout my coming years..not just waiting for the one weekend out of the year to stuff my face and realize what I am thankful for.

Live with an attitude of gratitude and you will never be without a life fully of blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

ER Escapades.

Noor woke up with some tight chest pains that didn't go away after a few days so we decided to get him checked out. And of course...no urgent care will even look at you once you tell them that your symptoms are chest pain and shortness of breath. They knee jerk you straight to the ER. Not our favorite option, but we had to do something. We then waited the obligatory ER 3 hours to get seen, but we kept busy with Netflix. ( WE LOVE our Netflix. It has saved us on countless could've-died-from-bordem occasions.)

They finally took him back where we waited another few hours in between nurses that would "peek in" but didn't do much but we did get a lot of "Someone will be in with you shortly"...we knew that was only wishful thinking...

But...we waited. A few X-rays and another heart test later they concluded that nothing was wrong
and that he was feeling was "muscle pain".

We were glad to know he was fine, but we wished the muscle pain could have just gone away sooner...before this whole ER escapade.

That is life though. Real life.

You know what else is real life?
The bill AFTER the ER escapade.

Seriously.
We are oh-so-grateful for insurance. :)

Noor is Twenty-Foor

Noor is 24!!

I found this jacket MONTHS ago and saved it for his birthday.
I could hardly wait to give it to him. It is just SO him! 

He had to work on his birthday
...BOOOO...
so we celebrated after 5pm...even though the majority of our well intended plans fell through.

Dinner at Red Lobster was the first on the list.

Our plan was to then go to the Drive-In movie. But alas, it was raining.

So we altered our course to porch/balcony-side movie with extra blankets and sleeping bags.

That plan failed before we even began on the count of it was FREEZING.

We decided a fort in the living room with a movie and plenty of junk food was just the ticket.

And it was.

We didn't make a cake either. (To be read, I didn't make a cake) But we did have a couple of cupcakes. We didn't have candles either. Big kids don't need candles...right? Wrong. We should have bought candles. But then again..I didn't even make a cake. The thing is..we DID have candles...just not "birthday" candles....and none of mine would fit on a cupcake. BUT..what I did have was a really cool candle I had ordered from Gold Canyon..specifically with Noor in mind. It has a wooden wick in it that makes the candle crackle as it burns. Those who know Noor at ALL know he LOVES campfires. So ya..I whipped that out and he blew that out instead.

It was a quirky birthday, but it was fun.

The next day was a Saturday so we decided to continue the celebrations at the Houston Zoo. But..like all of our other birthday plans...that fell through too. However, it wasn't until we drove the 25 minutes into dead-center-downtown-Houston that we realized our plans would fail again.

They died as quickly and without warning as our car did.

Yep. My good ol' trusty Mr. Sir car had died...which is a story for another post.
But after all was said and done, our day was gone. Noor's birthday weekend was over..and while it didn't go according to plan, we loved having a special occasion to celebrate together. :)

I couldn't ask for a better man to adventure through lives quirkiness with. 

I am truly blessed to call him mine. <3

Our Home: Texas Style

We love our home here in Texas. 

It is far away from the ones we love...but at least we feel at home.

When we first arrived in Texas and were walking into every apartment complex that had walls, none had given us such a feeling of peace as this place did. After searching and driving and being disappointed for a significant part of the day, we drove up to one that felt different. 

Before we even got out of the car, I looked over at Noor and said, 

"I have a good feeling about this one..a REALLY good feeling." 

He looked at me and said, 

"Me too."

So we walked in...already feeling peace.

We toured.

...And the moments we spent in the unit were just..pure.

For another moment yet again, this move to Texas felt inspired...divine.

It was such a sweet moment to have the Spirit testify to us in our home...before it was even ours.

We knew this one the one.

We prayed about it and signed the lease that afternoon.

It isn't much..but it is ours.

This is our
Colorful-One-Bedroom-One-Bathroom-Brand-New-Carpet-Walls-That-Aren't-White, Dark-Textured-Wood-Floors-And-A-Little-Crown-Molding Castle

...that we love.

This is my favorite room in the house. It makes me happy.

The bunting is one of my favorite parts...it was hung at our reception.

That napkin holder is also my fave. IKEA. $4. 

This poor dining room...it has yet to be put together. Hopefully when
 I actually FINISH that project, I'll remember to post about it ;)

I love this rug. Target. LOVE Gift Cards.

I  made that jar. BAM.
I used something college gave me...besides empty wallet trauma.

Our bedroom is currently in shambles due to the 3 piles of laundry needing to be put away (did I just admit that?), we  I never fully unpacked/put away the clothes from our last trip, and we have extra wedding presents that will soon be posted to craigslist because they didn't have a receipt and seriously...who needs 2 waffle irons...?  I also never really got around to putting that room together...

ANOTHER project to post on another day.

(PS: Sorry for some of the dark pictures...my iPhone decided to not take pretty pictures anymore. "Only ugly pictures for you, Katie!," She said. I retook some of them. You'd best be grateful.)

Is it technically camping if you wake up in your own bed?

On Friday, Noor decided to come home early for work and go on an impromptu camping adventure..

And that's exactly what we did!

We packed up our stuff..

picked up some appropriate campfire foods..

(you know...marshmallows, hotdogs, chili,...startbursts...pudding? Yep. That too.)

and drove the 1.5 hours to the Sam Houston National Forest that was actually more like more than 2 hours because traffic in Houston is Ra-Dic. 

(allllll the time..not just during rush hour)

The forrest was absolutely beautiful.

It smelled wonderful.

And the air on our faces as we drove the windy road tasted of pure refreshing bliss.

It felt like I hand't breathed real air for the last 6 months.

We set up camp.

We went on a hike..walk...bushwahck through the forrest trying to find the lake that our trusty iPhones said was there. We hiked..walked..bushwhacked until our maps said we were standing right in the middle of it...If we didn't know any better..we'd think our maps were wrong or something.

Nearing the end of our hiking..walking..bushwhacking adventure

 we came across this little massive fellow. 

Well actually..we encountered quite a few fellows of these particular general specimen

  (*cough* spiders *cough*)

however..I almost ALWAYS missed them. I walked right by them and then I'd hear Husband say, "Whoa! look at this! And I'd turn around and BAM! Massive spider nest..RIGHT behind me..I can't believe I didn't walk right into it. I say nest because some of them were way beyond the category of just a "web". I am really surprised I didn't end up with at least one spider laying eggs in my hair. 

Serious.

I then ate a bunch of junk food while sitting next to the campfire that Husband made, cuddled up with him, and reminisced with him about our first campfire experience just 1 year ago.

Then we went to bed and tried to sleep. 

Tried being the key word. 

It turns out...the ground is hard.

We tossed and turned.

My nose was stuffy.

And anytime I started to fall asleep with my mouth open 

(because my nose was currently incapable of air trafficking) 

I would be woken up my some mental message that said:

DON'T SLEEP WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN BECAUSE A SPIDER WILL CRAWL INTO IT AND THAT WILL BE SO GROSS.

So ya..wash, rinse and repeat.

...

...

...

Then, it is 2 am, and I give up trying to sleep. I open a game on my phone.

Not 20 seconds later, Noor sits up and we mutually decide it is time to pack it up.

So we did. We packed up our tent, put the fire out, repacked the car, and we left.

We drove the 1.5hour trek home..that was really more like 2 hours because we were dead tired and we wanted to make it home in one single, un-burnt, and not-in-any-other-way-injured, piece.

We showered and crawled into our comfy bed that resembles the ground in no way at all.

Beautiful sleep came over us. 

Our camping adventure was over.

It was fun...but being home in our own comfy not-gound-like bed was better.

Oh!!!..and we found this thing.

We don't know what it is.

We think it may be an poison alien life form...

...that grows on the tree that is directly above it...

Go figure.

New York New York New York

While in Philly on business, 

we decided it would be a waste to be SO CLOSE to New York 

and not take our completely free Saturday to go there!

We bought 2 tickets for a Greyhound bus for $60 round trip.

It was so surreal once we got there...I could hardly believe where I was!

It was exactly like I expected it to be..and not at all.

The weather was nice, just slightly humid.

The first thing we did when we arrived was rush over to Gershwin theater

 to enter the lottery for tickets to Wicked.

Its free to enter..you just show up 2 hours before the show and put your name on a piece of paper.

There were probably 50 people there that had entered.

When it came time to draw and the first few names were called I had started to lose hope. 

I decided I had not won.

  (because logically, if you don't get called first even if there are 15 names, you won't get called..)

Then..my name was called. I was so caught of guard that I yelled really loud and waved my hands in the air. I'm sure it was embarrassing. But I was stoked.

We had just won 2 front row seats to Wicked..in New York!

 Not only front row...but dead center.

During the 2 hours we had before the show started, we walked to Times Square to get an 

authentic New York hot dog!

I don't really like hot dogs..but seriously..this was a REALLY good hot dog. 

Apparently you've gotta sell crappy hot dogs form a stand 

and over charge people for them to taste good.

I am a believer though.

I am now officially hungry.

Authentic New York HotDogs!

                                         

We also went into the Hershey's store and the M&M's store.

Who needs that much candy memorabilia? Honestly.

But it was neat!

We then went to the show.

If you have not seen wicked, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Even in cheap seats it's good.

Husband loved the show..it was his first time seeing it.

I was so excited for him!

We then took a walk in central park..

my GOODNESS that place is big!

It made me wish I lived in New York.

I think it's cooler than even the movies make it seem.

I LOVE this picture of us.

This is us laying in the leaves at Central Park. We we sad that we only had a few hours there in NY, so we wanted to make sure we took in even the little moments like actually SITTING and enjoying the park.

It started to get warm..and my face was getting red. Husband bought be a snow cone to cool me down. It was surprisingly helpful in that effort! I was delightfully surprised!

This is the storm that came upon us only 15 minutes later.

It turns out that besides the glass ceiling/staircase leading to the underground emporium, NY Apple store isn't THAT much cooler than any other Apple store. But it WAS busier.

We had the best burgers for dinner that night. Our friend recommended it to us and we are now ruined for life.

We showed up at the Shake Shack and waited in line at least 20 minutes just to ORDER. The line was out the door and heading down the street. Then we waited some more for our food..and then there was no place to sit! We walked across the street and ate in the McDonalds dining room.

We were not disappointed and it was definitely worth the wait.

I forgot to take a picture before we ate...it was hard to put it down long enough after I started to take a picture.
Oh..and the fries and shake were delicious too!!

We then walked around and shopped a little. I got the classic I <3 NY shirt
and Husband got a NYFD shirt, which he looks super good on him.

 With aching feet, damp jackets, and tired bodies, we headed back to the bus station.

We LOVED our day!

I have always wanted to see New York..

...seeing it with Husband was a dream come true. :)


(Oh..and whoever can figure out which picture in this post is "weird" and WHY...will get ice cream.
Even if you live in AZ...)