a snow day in San Marcos?

Not even a month after we moved, there was a freak cold front and on February 4th, we actually got snow... in San Marcos.  We talked to people who had lived here their whole lives without ever seeing snow.  Pretty weird.  Plus, since it iced that night, and no one knows how to drive on ice here, they closed the university, so, since it was a friday, Danny and I had an improptu three-day weekend! yay!  Even though it all melted by lunch time, it was really pretty that morning, and so nice to be able to sleep in too.

Danny and his new ACUs

Danny was so excited once he got all suited up in his new ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) and getting to show off all the cool accessories.  It really started feeling official then.

Sarah's 23rd Birthday

I celebrated my 23rd birthday just a few days after moving in.  So we just had a simple day amongst the boxes.  Danny bought me some beautiful tulips and I had a chocolate marble cake (yum!), and just had a nice time watching movies at home.

... twenty-three candles seems like so many ...

but it sure looks pretty when all lit

Happy Birthday to me!

Moving in - San Marcos!

So, why the move to San Marcos?  When we met, Danny was going to the community college in Bryan and was prepping/planning for where to go to continue his education.  He knew he wanted to go military and go through the ROTC program, and also get a degree in history.  When it came time to apply for schools, the top choices were either Texas A&M University in College Station, where I graduated and has a long history in military and ROTC with the Corps of Cadets, or Texas State University, where Danny did his freshman year.  (He also applied to University of North Texas, as plan c, just to be safe).  By November, all three schools had accepted him!  So now it was just picking A&M or TX State.

Since both had decent history programs, we talked with both schools' ROTC programs (at this point we weren't sure which branch he would join).  A&M has a navy branch (which also is marines), whereas Texas State only has Air Force and Army.  We were figuring either Marines or Air Force, so after talking to them, we realized that both would require Danny to complete the full four year ROTC course.  A&M's Corp of Cadets isn't exactly family friendly and is a much more involved program.  TX State's Air Force would also be a tough time getting in as the branch is making more cuts.  So, not sure what to do, lots of prayer and a trip to the temple, Danny told me, "We should talk to the army branch."  I was a bit surprised, since neither of us had really considered the army.  But we figured why not.  After talking with them, TX State Army ROTC would let Danny finish in just two years (he would have to take a 4-week summer course to catch up), with opportunities for scholarships as well.  The more we researched, the more it just felt right, as well as to go with TX State's program.

And so, we planned to move to San Marcos between semesters.  It was a little tricky at first (we had to break our apartment lease and find a new place in just two months) and I miss College Station at times (like having a Kroger, or flat roads), but the more things moved along, everything has been falling into place.  We found a nice decently priced apartment close to campus on a bus route with lots of space and ample parking (yay!) and a dishwasher (yay!!) and on a bus route and just a lot of other things that we were wanting.  Not even two weeks after we moved, I found a good job on campus in the Financial Aid Department (whereas I hadn't found anything in College Station in months).  Danny fit right in at school and in the Army ROTC and we both agree this is where we need to be.

So, here's our new place!  (... I think moving in is always a work in progress, and I still haven't gotten a lot of decent pictures of our place, so most of these are the pictures from the apartment complex's website)

We have a 835-sq ft, two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, all on one floor this time (thankfully).  It's so nice to be able to have an office, and the numerous closets are wonderful.  We don't have a washer and dryer anymore, but we got an apartment just across the parking lot from the complex's laundry, so it's really not that bad - plus, it's kinda nice to be able to do three loads at once.  And the windows let in lots of sunshine! :)

the entrance... we live right on the highway, not too bad, but sometimes annoying since it's the access road and only one way.

We live on the first floor, very nice for moving in, plus it keeps the electric bill pretty low (well, anything would seem really low compared to our last place, lol).

(obviously our kitchen before we moved in... now the counters are covered with toaster, microwave, toaster oven, and knife block)

... one picture of our place currently, one of the few days the place is actually clean, haha.  *eventually* I'll get the place looking how I want and I'll post pictures, or maybe a video tour...

Now that we've moved, a few things I'm learning about moving:
 - always plan on taking twice as long as you think, with twice as many boxes and twice as much tape and ten times as much packing paper.  I never realized how many oddly shaped a/o breakable things we had.
 - labeling is always good (I did do this fairly well), but label the sides, not the tops, because once they're all stacked you can't see the tops anymore
 - double check when the aparment office closes on the day you move (we got in a lot later than planned, so I didn't even think to check that... thank heavens our new landlords were really nice and left us a key, since we got in three hours after they closed for the day)
 - pack a box of essentials ready to unpack first at the new place, including toilet paper, a change of clothes, the shower curtain, soap, bedding, etc. so you're not opening dozens of boxes trying to find them when all you want to do is take a shower and go to sleep.
 - don't be afraid to recruit lots of help (most of our recruits bailed last minute) ... but make sure you're actually ready for them when you say you'll be (Nick had to help us pack a lot of last minute boxes, and then we weren't even at the new place for over an hour after we told the new ward to meet us and help)
 - take pictures of the new place before any boxes even come in - it seemed sooo big and clean back then, it'd be nice to actually remember that.

rest of winter break

... okay, it's been a looooong time since, I've updated, so I'm going to be posting a lot to catch up. just a head's up.

We were able to stay at my parents for a couple weeks over the Christmas break and spend lots of time with family and just relaxing (away from our crummy apartment in College Station).  We were able to stay for Katsu's birthday too, but we really had to leave by January since we were planning on moving January 8th for San Marcos and still hadn't really packed yet.  So, we left on New Year's Eve and by the time we got back, we were so exhausted and I was kinda sick too, we ended up crashing at 9 pm.  oh well... it's not like we had any parties to go to or tv reception to watch a new year's special, so it would've been pretty lame anyway.

We spent the rest of the winter break prepping to move (unfortunately... or maybe fortunately, I don't have pictures of that).  A big thanks to Nick for helping us pack the truck and drive it from College Station to San Marcos, and to the elder's quorum president in San Marcos who helped us unpack once we arrived.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, we prepared a huge breakfast/brunch with muffins and eggs and fruit for the whole family.  Michael and Meghan joined us again around nine (they acted surprised when I suggested 9 am, thinking I'd suggest something way earlier like 7 or something ... am I really that bad? lol.  I know in the past I'd get overly excited about the holidays, but I've definitely learned to appreciate sleeping in.) They got to spend the whole day with us as we opened gifts, played board games, watched movies, and made a big traditional Christmas dinner with ham and rolls and even a jell-o mold! yum!  We also all had stockings to open.  Danny's mom makes stocking for everyone in her family, all the kids, spouses, and grandkids.  Once we got married, she had already asked what I'd like, knitted it, and mailed it to me by October! amazing! (... too bad I forgot a picture, it's pretty with an angel on it).  Unfortunately, Danny doesn't know where his is, haha.  I had a generic red one that he used, but we'll have to find his for next Christmas.

I must say, Christmas is so much more fun with lots of people and especially with kids.  It just seems more magically, I guess, when you see how excited they get, or even just funnier with some of their sayings and reactions (like how upset Seth would get when Andrew got a gift that Seth liked but it was Andrew's).  I'm so glad that I got to spend this Christmas with all of my family since who knows when we'll be able to all get together like this again as we start finishing up school and getting jobs that move us farther apart.  ... and, since pictures tell a thousand words, here's a few snapshots from the day (thanks Amanda and Meghan for the pics!  ... I've really got to get a better camera of my own one of these days, lol).

... is it bad that sometimes I envy the toys the boys got? lol.  One really cool toy that got this year was a huge wooden train set.  It was so fun and adorable and had lots of different parts that you could put together so many ways, and I liked that it wasn't sponsered by some cartoon character like Thomas or Disney or something.  I really like the classic toys better.

Danny got so excited with his new Tom Clancy books, all military related.

I got lots of books and movies too.

... what could Michael be opening?

Yard-O-Beef! haha, he'd been talking about this all week, such excitement! :)

though Meghan was probably equally excited for her Eclipse DVD from the Twilight series.

... what to do when one kid likes the other kid's toys too?  Being a toddler is so tough, lol.

... quickly distract him with his other toys and books.

more games to add to the family collection

We also got some new games, Stratego and Risk ... can you sense a theme in Danny's gifts? haha.

This year for gifts amongst siblings, we decided to go with just small a/o homemade things as gifts, so I made some homemade "gourmet" popcorn (one was red and green, the other was chocolate peanut butter) and some mint chocolate pretzels.

We also got the boys some little board books of trucks and cars that had wheels on them, and they seemed like a hit.  Seth would point to each one and shout "truck!!" for every one.  so cute!

The kids also got a flannel board from my parents with lots of pictures from the scriptures.  I was surprised at how much Andrew enjoyed it, of course he'd stuff as many pieces on the board as he could and then drag it around to show everyone, but it's a start.

Christmas Eve

Danny and I spent nearly two weeks with my family in Allen for the Christmas break.  It was so fun and such a nice break from College Station and the stresses of moving and such.  We're so glad we got to see everyone.  My sister and her family visited for the whole time too, so it was lots of time with them and playing with the nephews.  We even got to celebrate Meghan's birthday (12/23) and Katsu's birthday (12/29) while there.

For Christmas Eve, Michael and Meghan came by and we had a dinner of all sorts of appetizers that you never really get to eat during the year but always sounded fun to eat.  We had bagel bites, mini quiches, mini pigs-in-a-blanket, boneless buffalo wings, and cheese and crackers trays.  For dessert, we had a cookie / dessert bar with all the standards like candy cane cookies, frosted sugar cookies, and nut cups, plus others we'd gotten from coworkers, neighbors and family.

Cookie time! :D

 

... notice the trend? without even realizing it, Amanda, Katsu and Mom all wore argyle sweaters, haha!

Andrew playing with grandpa before going to bed

Once the nephews were told they needed to go to bed so Santa could come, they went around giving everyone kisses (which meant sloppy wet licks on our knees since they couldn't reach any higher) and kept goofing off by "dancing", aka running around in circles, holding hands, as fast as they could.

... finally after one last dance carting the extremely excited boys to bed.

... and while it may have been Christmas Eve, Amanda did in fact finish Seth's cross-stitch stocking before Christmas this year.  I helped her sew a backing on the finished piece earlier that day.  It turned out really pretty, I wish I had her patience for such a meticulous craft.