Hello again.

I have been too busy exploring my new city to sit down with my computer and think. By exploring, I mean eating and attending happy hours. Not going to lie, waking up before 7 A.M. has not gotten any easier. As I enter my 4th week of work, I continue to snooze my alarm for 40 minutes every single morning. My coffee intake has doubled, my bed-time comes earlier, and if I don't work out the second I get home from work, it just doesn't happen. My apartment faces the pool that I have only gotten to appreciate twice since I moved in. When you finish work at 5 and have no homework to finish, no test to study for, no extra-curricular activity to attend, you think you have the whole night ahead to just play. By the time you drive up five levels of a parking garage, change clothes, work out, and have dinner in-front of prime time television, it's time to go to bed and start the whole work-day over again. To try to fast-forward the last 4 weeks, I will break up events into things I love and things I... could live without.

I love:

Walking to restaurants with patio seating

Being less that 2 miles away from my office

The ability to go to my apartment for lunch

And having a Starbucks one floor away

My job. Yes that is actually the truth.

Feeling more comfortable in my role at the firm

Starting the process of finding a new church and getting plugged in

Sunday Brunch

My George Foreman grill

Walking the Katy Trail.... all the way to Katy Trail Ice House

Dallas Shopping

My cozy little apartment and my cozy little roommates

Pay Day

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Feeling like a grown-up

Crossing things off my To-Do List 

I could live without:

My parents being 4 hours away

Sitting for 8 hours Monday-Friday

The cable bill, the trash bill, the energy bill, the rent bill, the insurance bill, the gas bill, the grocery bill, the credit-card bill, the iTunes bill... 

All the e-mails... so many e-mails...

Being tired

The ability to no-longer sleep in

The concept of a job

Dishes not washing themselves

Loud pipes every time I turn on the shower

The amount of time it takes to park in a garage

The amount of money it would take to own a kitty

The slim chance of retiring at age 24

This past weekend my wonderful boss let me leave the office early to catch a plane to Park City, Utah. My cousin Jenni was getting married on my Uncle's ranch, a place I had never seen with my own eyes. Even more amazing than the mountains was the fact that my whole family was gathered together to celebrate. My cousins and I all reside in different states and area codes, but once we all sit down at the "cousin table" no distance can be found. The hugging and laughing doesn't stop until we have to say  our goodbyes again. The get-togethers don't happen near enough, but when they do they are nothing less than memorable. Spending time with our grandparents is special to each of us grandchildren. Seeing how much my mom loves her parents makes me realize how much I love mine. :)

Here are some pictures I simply must share in order for you all to be jealous of my weekend:

side note: My cousin Michael, the bride's brother, broke his jaw the night before the wedding. He was rushed into surgery, spend the night in the hospital, and stood as a groomsman just hours later. Poor fella was still able to get into the party spirit with his wine-straw.