bite-sized blogging

We've had a lot going on over here, and the more that happens (um like Africa?!), the more daunting it is for me to think about "covering it" on the blog. So here's a quick recap of spring-summer to date, since weather-wise they've basically been stuffed into the same two-month period...let's not even go there.

The Bike Shop

One day Brian decided to buy an old kid's bike on Craigslist for $15. This actually wasn't as weird as some of his other "killer deals" from Cragislist, like the child's bike trailer or the vintage baby scale. (We are not having a child so you can see how these purchases are a hair disconcerting.) But anyway, he actually DID have a plan for this one: to fix it up and re-sell it. So within a week, we had a full blown bike shop up and running on our deck. The funniest thing about the Bike Shop is that a bunch of the guys have ridden over after work to fix something on their bikes, or just hang out. It's a regular 1960s juke joint. 

 

before: rusty, grody

after: shiny, tuned up, new wheels, ready to ride!

just another afternoon at the Bike Shop

The Gardening
We gave in again to the annual masochistic cycle of paying $100 for flowers for the porch, only to slowly and steadily kill them all off. This year, Brian took the reins away from me and decided he'll be in charge of watering, so that should be interesting. So far, so pretty darn good, huh?

as you can see, I use the term "gardening" loosely

we started out very intentionally picking out flowers based on how much sunlight they need, and by the end we were like ahh F it, these are pretty, let's go. they are pretty though, right? :)

The Pregnant Friends
My two besties here are both pregnant, due in August and September, so it's been pretty awesome to ride the wave with them. Granted this has really cut down on my BYOB sushi nights, but it's exciting to see them grow, literally, and figuratively grow into the idea of being a parent and what that might/probably/could entail. What a crazy-scary-awesome adventure...requires so much bravery. Meanwhile, Ashley is kicking off the baby wave in Austin, so we'll finally have a little Texas baby in the group come November!
 

baby's first Cubs game!

 

nobody in this pic is pregnant but they're still pretty darn cute

The Anniversary
We've been great so far about staying true to the traditional anniversary themes for our gifts, so we did paper gifts for Year 1, cotton for Year 2, and this year was leather. Get your mind out of the gutter, we kept it clean and oddly similar, ha. Brian got me a cool brown leather bracelet that says "love" in really tiny letters, and I got him a sweet brown leather watch that he can wear at his new 9-to-5, what what! For the last 5 1/2 years, he's been doing theater full-time, with a bunch of odd jobs here and there. Don't get me wrong, it certainly makes for an interesting lifestyle, but it's cool too that he's trying the corporate life on for size. He's still juggling theater in the after-hours, which is turning this into a pretty intense summer...but hey, that's how we roll around here!

he LOVES it when I take pictures at dinner

love him more all the time