Saturday, June 9, 2012

Goodbye, Couchsiteating.

We took a big step into becoming "real" adults this June.
We left our life of couchsiteating!
and
We bought our first kitchen table!
(Funny enough...they happened simultaneously!)
We were so proud!

We found it on craigslist for a killer deal.
However, we failed to measure the dimensions of our car trunk...
..which led to quite the fiasco when it came to fitting the pieces..
but we attached it with some ingenuity 
and some bungee cords/ anchoring straps that magically appeared in our trunk. 
Seriously.
We are so blessed.

We LOVE our table. 

It's funny sad that before moving to TX, I hardly ever made dinner.
We were often at school until 9 or 10pm..
..so we generally ordered Jimmy Johns or ate out of vending machines.
Nice, right?
.
...And then there was the termites....see THAT story here



Well....since we are no longer in school until all hours of the night...

and our new apartment is free of termites..

and we now own a kitchen table..

the occurrence of home-cooked-goodness is increasingly more common.
(Plus the official-iating of the family budget)


We also more recently bought silverware.
We are getting more refined by the day, people!

Three cheers for leaving the life of hooligan couchsiteating!








Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Slacks. No tie.


This is Husband...
On his first day at his NEW JOB!!
..you know...the job that we fled the land of 'Zona for.
Ya..that one.

He is a technical sales engineer for a controls company...his emphasis is in fire and security systems.
He loves his job because he gets to help people...
...something that, if you know Noor at all, would not surprise you
He is in "training" until November, but the love for the job is growing nonetheless.

I am so proud of him. 
He wakes up early and works all day.
And he looks studly doing it.

I am grateful to have such a sweet, hardworking, and generous man to call my husband.
He stops at nothing to ensure that our family and our home are completely taken care of.
I am a truly blessed wife.
<3


Sunday, June 3, 2012

Honeymoon No.3 : Cozumel

So, we moved...
And just as we unloaded the boxes into what was our empty apartment, 
and waved goodbye to my lovely parents, 
we scoured our boxes in attempt to pack what essentials we could find for our
Honeymoon Cruise!!!
This was our "3rd" honeymoon...but it was the official planned honeymoon trip from the beginning.
We just put if off so that we could fully enjoy the free-ness of vacation, 
without the tragic return to: 
"Oh shoot, I have a history exam tomorrow."

It was perfect timing. We had both just finished school. We had pretty much the whole month of May to party party party...(and move..which is less of a party)
 but we enjoyed being able to do whatever we wanted, when we wanted. 

No School.

No work.
(at least for the month of May)

Our cruise was 6day/5night cruise to Progresso/Cozumel, Mexico.
It started on Monday.


(You will see a lot of these sun glasses in this post.
 It's pretty much the first time I have carried my glasses with me 
and actually used them for an extended period of time. Go me!)





We had just boarded the ship, super excited...
....and were simultaneously discovering that it was pretty much just one massive beer party.
Seriously. 

And that soda prices were ridic. 
Seriously again.

I drank a lot of water that week.


The first afternoon we walked around the ship a lot..
Got some food..
And the best part of the day,
was deciding to lay out on the deck and watch the sunset.
Yep.
Seriously.
It was exactly how I had always pictured REAL vacation.

Carefree.
With the one you love.
Enjoying the moment you are in, while you are in it.



 The wind in my hair. A love hate relationship.
Seriously.





Dinner was one of the best parts of the day.
It was sooo delicious!!
A new menu every night.
New and adventurous dishes to try.
My favorite meal of the whole week:
The Crab Cakes.
To die.
I got a second plate of them, they were so good.
Husband, with his sweet tooth, always craved his dessert.
His favorite was the chocolate melting lava cake.

Richest thing ever.
Like a $100 bill on your tongue.

Not seriously.
....That's gross.



I think it was Day #3 that we landed in Progresso, Mexico.
We weren't going to do a shore excursion because they were a bit pricey, 
but in the end we changed our minds.
In Progresso, we were taken to a private beach club. They have comfy chairs, inflated water jumpy things, and free drinks that were served seaside to you as you enjoyed basking in your vacation-ness.
Even as you were walking in, they handed you a glass of and icy guava fruit punch and the whole staff was lined up clapping for us. 
Seriously. 
Applause..for spending a day relaxing at the beach and being waited on? 
Don't mind if I do.










Once upon a time, we were cruise newbs.
..and we didn't get the memo that you were supposed to bring formal wear 
in order to eat in the dining room one night...
Everyone we asked said they wouldn't let you in and you'd have to eat on the upper deck.

Walked in wearing jeans.
Like champs.
Ate in the cool dining room..on formal night.
We win.



A lot of the time we just spent hanging around on the ship.
We went to a few shows. 
A comedian and a few game-show-like shows.
Most of them seemed kind of lame to us.

We did watch some of the movies they played..
..we like movies..even on vacation.



On the last day at sea, we stopped in Cozumel.
In this port, we went SCUBA diving!!
Coolest thing I have ever experienced!
We had a half-hour long training and then spent a good 30-40 minutes under the water.
We saw all sorts of fish and plants..it was really neat.
I really want to get certified now.

We have no pictures of said events because :
A. We weren't allowed to take pictures under the water because we were beginning divers.
B. Our camera is not waterproof..so any such picture gathering would have been a wash. 
Get it? A wash? Ha...please laugh.

We did buy the overpriced souvenir pictures though. 
Totally worth it. 
I'll try to edit this post later to add them in.


My other favorite part of each day was turndown service. 
It's really awesome.
People come in and make your bed, and turndown the covers so it's easy to slip into..
..and they fold towels into ridiculous shapes..
..and give you chocolate...

I don't really know how to explain it, 
but if you've had it before, you know what I'm talking about...
Or I could be crazy.
Seriously.
....
But SO not seriously.
It really is the coolest thing ever.


Oh..and we were really good at wearing sunscreen..most of the time.
The only thing that we didn't do was cover our feet thoroughly enough.
Don't worry....they were worse than they even look in the picture.

We loooooooved our cruise.
We would do it again in a heartbeat.
..and we were so glad we waited to take our big trip..
It made this trip all the better.

We returned home....
....which was more accurately described as a couple of square rooms filled with boxes.

Work started just a few days after we got home. 
Our "Moony" month was over.

But it was OK, because we ware excited and ready to start our new life together in Houston, TX.
This cruise was the best way to end one phase, and enter a new one.






Friday, June 1, 2012

Once upon a time, we moved away.

Once upon a time,
Husband and I lived in a far off place..

..it was a little warm..
     ....and a lot of brown...

but we loved it there,
where many-a-dream came true.
But new adventures lay ahead,
and we were ready for experiences new.

So, we packed up the truck...all by ourselves.
(The truck that was 3 hours later than it was supposed to be)
We didn't get it packed and parked at my parents house until after 5pm.
We were supposed to be leaving the valley at 1pmish and we almost decided to stay one more night and leave in the morning...but we didn't.

Where would be the fun in that?

Who wants to drive during the day time after a full nights sleep? Not us.

So we left. Grabbed one last burger from In-N-Out. Filled the tank with gas. Got on the road.
(Our blessed parents drove the big moving truck the 18 hour trek to Texas just a couple days after we left.)

We drove.
..and drove...


.......and drove...

.....until we could no longer.

We were somewhere in the middle of nowhere Texas when we decided to grab a room at the Motel 8.

It was 4am. We slept until checkout, which was at 10am. 
(seems silly that we pain the pull day's rate to sleep for only 5 hours..but hey..we don't make the rules.)

It was then McDonalds and Dr. Pepper for lunch and off we were to finish our journey.
They daylight was nice, but it seemed to make the last leg seem longer.

Texas was like nothing we'd seen.
So. Much. Green!
And no mountains. It took us a while to figure out how to know which way was north without having mountains to tell us...


We arrived to our destination around 9pm Texas time. Completely exhausted.



We were so blessed to find and sign for our apartment the NEXT day. It is perfect.

Our parents came the day after that, and with the help of some very kind and helpful friends, we unloaded the truck in just an hour or two. (We live on the third floor...these things take time.)

The weekend was then filled with time with the parents and packing for our honeymoon cruise..
   ...due to disembark only 2 days after we'd unpacked the truck...
Life was busy. Slighty  Very Very Messy. But it was adventurous...

...and lots of fun....
Life with your best friend tends to be. :)

I made this movie commemorating this move.
I still suck at iPhone videography...
...but I promise, I have done much better at holding the camera lengthwise since the making of this film.
I bought a tripod and am trying to get some help.


If the video doesn't work, the link is (http://youtu.be/aISjXWInZCE)