Getaway to Dallas

This past weekend, Eric had to go to Dallas so I tagged along with him for a couple of days. It was so great to get away! I had no homework to do while I was there because I was out of school so the the trip consisted of eating at fun restaurants, going out for gelato, reading my book, and visiting a museum. We drove and had to stop at the famous Buc-ee's gas station. It is the nicest gas station and they are known for having the cleanest bathrooms. There are only a couple of them around Texas. My dad had been to the one in between Houston and San Antonio and had told us about them. They also have super yummy fudge. We stopped at the one between Houston and Dallas. On the way there it was pouring rain and freezing so we stopped for hot chocolate and yogurt and on the way home we had to stop for the cheery limeade and a piece of fudge. My dad says next time he comes we are going to drive an hour north to Buc-ee's for a little field trip. 

Eric had to work for some of the time so I stayed at the hotel and read my book. It was so great! There were no distractions there like there are at home so I could just sit down and read. For some reason I am starting to love to read. I have never been a reader but now I think I am becoming a big one. 

We went to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum while we were there. I am usually not into this kind of stuff but it was super interesting. Eric was in heaven and I would of been done in like 30 minutes but we spent two hours in there. It was on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas. It was fun to go and just say that we have been. 

I am glad that I was able to tag along with Eric on his business trip. I like to go whenever I can. I keep Eric company and I get to see things that I have never seen before.

One Year Anniversary

Wow! We have been married for a YEAR! They are right when they say time flies when you are having fun. We were in Utah for our anniversary and it was on a Sunday so there wasn't much of a celebration on that day. We did eat our frozen freezer burnt cake though and we celebrated when we got home to Houston! 

Things I have learned from this past year of marriage...

1. Living with a man is hard. Growing up with all sisters and a dad that traveled I was not used to it. Eric is super clean which is good but it is still different.

2. I HATE folding his socks. I am not color blind I promise but the black and the blue ones look the same. 

3. Doing laundry in general is the worst chore. 

4. The husband having a job that he loves makes for a good life.

5. When that alarm goes off at 6 am for Eric to go to work, I want to throw the phone out the window. Then I remember that he loves his job and is excited to get there. 

6. When Eric leaves the house for work at 7:10, I walk out the door and go to the gym. A good morning workout makes for a fabulous day. Good thing he keeps me on track to reach my goals.

7. When he gets home from work he just wants to relax. The weekends are when we go out and do fun things.

8. School is my first priority so when he gets home he will ask me if I did my homework today. Glad he is keeping me on track.

9. Sometimes I miss my family back in Utah. Eric always makes sure that I am happy and wants me to be able to do everything I can to make friends and stay involved in the ward. Even if that means leaving him home on a Saturday night to go out with friends. 

10. Being married to your best friend for forever is the greatest blessing anyone could ask for.

Heres to many more wonderful years together!

Trip to Utah

This is picture over load! Eric had to go to a conference in April for a week. I did not want to be home for a week all by myself and it was the same week of finals and a bunch of stuff going on in Utah so I headed there for the week.

Monday- I flew into SLC from Houston just in time to Welcome Elder and Sister Warnick (Grandpa and Grandma) home from their mission. They have been serving in the Little Rock Arkansas mission for the past year and a half. These were their mission shirts. They sent them to all of us for Christmas. It was great to have them home. 

Tuesday- We started moving McCall into her apartment in Provo and had a shower for my cousins fiancé at a sushi place called Tsunami.

Wednesday- McCall and I went and got our toes done (I haven't found anyone here in Houston that can do my toes as cute as this lady in Utah. Whenever I go to Utah I have to go and see her). I took Morgan lunch to school and we ate it in the car and then we all went and saw the movie "Heaven is for Real". I loved it! I saw the movie, and then read the book in 2 days. 

Thursday- I was driving to UVU campus to a review for one of my finals and saw the Hunter Hayes van. I went to my review, ate lunch at Cafe Rio with a friend and loved every bite of it (There is nothing like Cafe Rio in Texas), and then my mom took my sisters and I and our 3 cousins to the concert. It was Dan and Shay, Danielle Branbury, and Hunter Hayes. It was such a great concert. 

Friday- This day consisted of McCall and I shopping at City Creek, watching Macie at her dance competition, eating more Cafe Rio (I will never get sick of that place), and helping McCall move some more stuff into her apartment. 

Saturday- Now this was a busy day. We went to the Temple early that morning because my cousin Christopher got married. I love these two so much. Christopher and I grew up the best of friends. We would always share steak and caesar salad when we would go on family vacations, hold hands at Disney World (I saw a picture of this), and we went on double dates in High School. Their wedding day was gorgeous and it was great spending time with the Savage side of the family. 

As soon as the Temple part was over, I rushed to the Airport to pick up Eric. He flew into Salt Lake that morning just in time to go to my Great- Grandma's "90th" birthday party. This is my moms grandma and she is such an incredible woman. She had a big party and all of her friends and family were there. I love this woman and hope to be half of the lady that she is one day. I talk to her on the phone once a week and cherish the memories that we have. 

After the big party was over, we were off to BYU so Eric could give McCall a tour of campus. Eric lights up whenever he can go back to BYU and he was so happy that McCall is going there for the Spring and Summer. We are for sure big Cougar fans in our house! 
After the tour in the pouring rain, we headed to my cousins reception for the rest of the night. 

Sunday- Today was mine and Eric's one year anniversary! We did not bring our frozen cake to Houston so we got lucky that we were there on our anniversary to eat it (Another post on our anniversary). We spent the day going to church, having another party for my great grandma, seeing some of Eric's family and friends, and spending the last day that we had with my family.

Monday- We headed out today after Eric had an orthodontist appointment and we said bye to everyone. Back to Houston and the heat and humidity!

It was so great to go back to Utah and spend time with our family. We got back to Houston and then Eric had to go out of town on a work trip the next day for 2 nights. That was rough but I finished my finals and then got a case of strep throat as soon as we got back. Good thing we came back when we did. I have a week off school to get better. I told Eric I can lay in bed all day and read by book and not feel bad about it at all. 

Easter Sunday

I thought it was going to be hard being away from my parents and sisters this year for Easter but we had a fun weekend here in Texas! We went to dinner to a seafood restaurant that is right on the lake. It was so good to get out and get some fish and chips. 

On Sunday, we went to church and then our friends invited us over to dinner. I made Easter cupcakes to take and we had so much fun. They are such a cute family and have totally taken us under their wing since we have moved here. They have made the move much easier. We knew them from Utah. I help her sometimes during the week with her little ones and we go to the Taco Stand. We have been so lucky to have them here to help us when we need something or when I am having a bad day she is the first one I call. We love Beau and Amber! We loved having our first Easter together as a married couple in Houston. 

Perk of living in Houston

How BEAUTIFUL is this? Ah! I was so worried moving to Houston because I thought that the temple would be super far away. It is only 30 minutes away! We are so blessed to have it this close. I love to go to the temple! I love to go in the mornings. It is never busy and it is just so nice to be in a place that makes you feel so great. I love going with Eric though on Friday nights for a date once a month. The temple and the Taco Stand make for the perfect date. 

GUESS WHO I SAW?!?

SISTER HUBER!! This is my best friend and she is serving in the Houston, TX mission. I wrote her and told her I was coming and we were dying to see each other. She lives 5 minutes away from me and we finally saw each other. We went to a crawfish boil. YUK! Eric was in heaven and loved it but that was not something that I wanted to try. Finally, Sister Huber and I decided that it is a cultural thing and we better try it to say that we have tried crawfish. Eric cracked them for us and we ate them. It was so fun to see her for a couple hours. I love to put together packages for her and send them with the sister missionaries in my ward to their Zone conference to give her. So proud of this girl! 

Now those are two BIG perks of living in Houston, TX! 

Birthday Weekend!

Birthdays are so much fun! Eric and I celebrated on Friday night and Saturday morning and afternoon and then my mom came in to town that night. Eric and I shopped, and ate and then Mama Shan came and we shopped, ate, showed her around Houston, and shopped some more. It was a fun weekend eating at fun restaurants and shopping! 

I had to take mom to my favorite place here in Houston so far. The Taco Stand is the place to go. It sits right by the lake. This is where I will be spending lots of time doing my homework!

Yay for birthdays! 

Keeping Busy...

I haven't been on top of this blogging thing lately but there isn't much to report on. Eric has been traveling quite a bit lately and things have started to slow down. I really should find a job to keep myself busy but I want to be able to do things with friends when things come up, hang out with my family when they come to visit, and make sure I am ahead in school. I found out I will be graduating next summer so Eric and I are super excited about that and school, of course is my first priority. 
Here are a bunch of pictures of what we have been doing:

My parents sent me a package for Valentines day and they sent Eric a gift card to Outback. Eric loves that place and I got to go out to eat with him so that was fun. Eric's parents sent us a gift card to Applebee's so we got to go to dinner again together. Our parents sure know how to make our day. It is so fun to get things in the mail when you live far away from family. 

One of the many perks of living in Houston right now is that my best friend Sara is serving her mission here. I walked outside a couple of weeks ago and my car was covered in mormon.org cards. I was so confused and then one of them had a note on it from her. I was so bummed I wasn't able to see her. I put together little packages for her and the sister missionaries in our ward take them to her at their Zone Conference. I better see her before she leaves in November. 

Easter is super far away but I have been decorating for Easter a little bit. My cute mom gave me some decorations last year so I got them out a little early. Hobby Lobby is so fun and I could spend hours in there. I go there all of the time and always find something cute. I have a birthday coming up next week so I had to put out my one birthday decoration too. It is a darling frame and you change out the pages for all of the different holidays. I had the Easter one in and then took it out and put in my birthday one yesterday. Eric laughed when he got home that I was decorating for my own birthday...Whoops! :)

My Aunt Kim made us this wreath and I love it! It is so cute on our door. Eric made my trim the ribbons so I could see out the peep hole so it doesn't look like this but it is still cute. He was worried that since he traveled I needed to be able to see who it was if anyone knocked on the door. I was bummed about cutting them but he was just looking out for me. He is such an awesome guy!

I ran the Woodland's 5K with a group of people that Eric works with. I finished it but it was hard. Before I even started running I was sweating from the humidity. It was a super pretty run and it was fun to do it with the people Eric works with. I hope we do another one sometime soon. It helps me when I go the gym and have something to be training for. 

My dad came last week for seriously less than 24 hours. He came to speak at a conference about oil downtown in Houston. We live about 30 minutes away from downtown. He came on Monday night and we all went to dinner and he came and saw our apartment. On Tuesday morning, Eric had to go to work so I went with my dad downtown to listen to him speak. I have no idea what he was talking about but it was fun to just spend time with him. After he was done, we had breakfast in the airport at the Marriott and then he had to go back to Utah. It was fast but fun to see him. He was called as the Bishop in my parents ward on Sunday and we weren't there to be with him. I was super sad and it was a big thing to miss but I know that my dad is going to do an incredible job. I was starting to get super lonely so when he came that really helped. 

I had to get Texas license plates a couple weeks ago and a Texas drivers license yesterday. I am not going to lie.. it was kind of a hard thing. I guess we really are living in Texas for a while. Ah!! I now have a Texas license plate with a BYU Cougars license plate holder. Perfect!

BNSF has tickets to the Houston Rodeo and Eric and I were able to go last week. It is the biggest Rodeo and kind of the thing to do right now in Houston so Eric and I were super excited. Eric forgot that he was allergic to horses until we were walking into the stadium. Whoops! We were sitting on the second row and horse hair was flying everywhere. He could not stop sneezing but other than that it was super fun. I have never been to a serious Rodeo like this one before so it was a different experience. Every night at the Rodeo, they have a country concert. Eli Young Bang did their concert the night that we went. It was great! They were so close to us. We had a blast!