Update

I feel like I'm severely neglecting this blog. However, since I don't think many people actually read it, it's hard to be motivated. Not gonna lie.

Here is an update on our lives. (A little late, but it made it to facebook and twitter in a timely manner, so what can I say?) Stephen got into Baylor College of Medicine early decision! Which means we are moving to H-town (Houston) next summer. I've begun my own job search for teaching positions in Houston elementary schools, so if you have any connections, let me know! Oh real life. What a blast.

I feel like I should take the time now to share some anecdotes that sort of explain why I haven't been a very faithful blogger. In other words, stories about my 40-hour-a-week job that I don't get paid for (student teaching internship.)

Just today for example, sweet little Maria asked me, "Miss, do you still live with your mom?" I replied, "No, Maria, I don't live with my mom anymore." She almost leaped out of her chair in excitement as she replied, "Miss! Does your mom live in Mexico?!" No, no she does not. Some background for you... Maria regularly threatens her mom to call immigration if she punishes her. As in, her mother is an illegal immigrant and eight-year-old Maria uses that threat to get whatever she wants. Welcome to my third grade classroom.

Another Maria story. Recently, I baked sugar cookies for my class to make "landform cookies" since I'm such a nice third grade teacher and like to make class fun even if sugar + eight-year-olds = mass chaos.

When it was Maria's turn to come to my small group table and make her cookie, she asked, "Miss! Did you make these?" I replied, thinking her response cute, "Yes, I made them." Her immediate response was, "Miss Pickett, do you have sons or daughters?" So of course the fact that I bake means I have children. Perfect. I said, "No Maria I don't. I am married, but I don't have children." She looked puzzled and replied, "But, but Miss... why you marry your husband if you no have children?" I feel like this story speaks enough on it's own without any further elaboration.

Needless to say, my loving husband never gets tired of all these crazy stories and endless venting. All in all, we both can't wait for this internship to be over!

the muscle couple

Move aside Jillian and Bob. We just placed an order for P90X. That's right. We are intense. Pretty soon you won't even recognize us because we will have ultimate "beach bodies." Well, at least we'll burn off the calories from the 3-sticks-of-butter cake-disguised-as-muffins I'm currently baking. Mmmm!

I'll keep you updated on our progress once the DVD set finally comes in the mail. $20 shipping ought to count for something, right?

the summer of spontaneity

If you know us, or if you don't, you should know that spontaneity isn't the first word most would use to describe the way we live. We just aren't spontaneous people. I (Laura) am a list person; my desk (and whole apartment for that matter) is covered with lists and post-its. I am a planner. Stephen, on the other hand, while not an avid list-maker, is all about the meticulous, carefully calculated decision making. At the grocery store, he calculates which size is the better deal by dividing price by ounce in his head in order to make the most cost-effective decision.

That said, we have made not one, but two, rather large spontaneous decisions this summer. The first being our puppy, Mia. July 3rd, a random summer Saturday, a dog wandered around our parking lot. When attempting to contact his or her owner using tag information, we got the "ding ding ding this number is not longer in service" message. Stephen commented, "Well, we may have ourselves a dog." My response was, "Wait, really? I want to get the dog I want though! Can we get one?" Now, please know that I am not heartless. I would have kept that dog and loved it well, but I also wanted to get a puppy of our own, so when the little Yorkie ran off with purpose towards a different apartment, we let him go. This led to a quick internet search, a speedy trip to the bank and an immediate drive off to Dallas to pick up our new Chiweenie puppy. We named our 2.4 lb black and white puppy Mia. She fits right in with our family because she has a little sass to her.

Spontaneous decision numero dos: trip to Vegas. Las Vegas may not be quite as cute or soft as baby Mia, but it certainly was a spontaneous decision to jet off for a last-minute vacation. It was an average Friday afternoon. As Stephen and I sat in our respective seats in our living room (Stephen on his lay-z-boy and I on the couch) we thought out loud about our weekend plans and the upcoming school year. We toyed around with the idea of going to Choctaw, OK since Stephen had been itching to play some poker. Instead, we looked up some flights on Expedia.com and found a great deal on a trip to Las Vegas, leaving at 7 am the next morning. This led to a quick hotel reservation, a phone call to Mia's babysitters (my parents), and another speedy trip to the bank and an almost-immediate drive off to Austin where our flight was to leave from the next morning. We had a great time in the wild city, which was actually tamer than we expected (in a good way.)

We enjoyed our jaunt in the world of spontaneity and encourage anyone to try it, especially if it goes against your nature. It's thrilling and surprising, and you really won't regret it. We intend to have more spontaneous adventures, even if that is a bit of an oxymoron--we're planners, what can we say?

numero uno

Despite my suspicion that most people write blogs but rarely read them, other people's that is, I have decided to create a blog to chronicle our lives as young married folks. Some may think our life is boring; we're stay-at-home people, but we love it.

Here's a quick look at where we are right now just to put things into context...

Current location: Waco, TX

Stephen is working for Princeton Review, teaching MCAT prep classes and "schmoozing" Baylor advisors and pre-med students. I'm working at a local church daycare with kindergarteners, but will be embarking on my senior year internship at an elementary school in the fall, in order to finalize my early childhood education certification through Baylor University. Stephen just sent in his application to medical school, so we'll see where we end up next! Other than the basics, we're just hanging out enjoying our second year of marriage!