Love Birds

I may be a little scarce around the blogosphere for the next few days. My mom is in town visiting and I'm trying to soak up all the quality time I can without being glued to my phone/laptop/iPad.

She got here Wednesday evening, and so far we've mainly shopped....no big surprise there. She's actually staying longer than originally planned, so it's nice to not have to try and cram everything we want to do into just a couple of days. Arsen is going to be traveling for work next week and will be leaving on Sunday, so she's going to stay to keep me company/protect me from strangers while he's gone. He'll be back Tuesday night, just in time to celebrate the 4th. Hopefully we can find something fun to do around Frisco since we can't leave town....working a big kid job is not cool! How are you supposed to celebrate your freedom if you have to be at work at 8 am the next day?

So I'll be back with actual posts early next week most likely. Until then I'll leave you with the cutest thing ever that we saw at PetCo today. These little birdies must be in love...it seriously looked like they were kissing the whole time we sat there and watched them. So adorable!

Have a great weekend!!!!

Yesterday, I Cried

Let me paint a little picture for you:

Around 5:30 last night, I decided to take Addie for a walk. I'd been working from home all day and basically ignoring her, so I thought she could use some attention. We walked about two houses down, and I noticed a small bird on the sidewalk. So did Addie. So she took off running toward it.

Obviously I expect the bird to fly away, but it did not. So I stop Addie, pick her up, and walk over to the tiny bird. It looked up at me with big, terrified eyes, and had it's mouth open in what looked like a silent scream. It was so pathetic looking, it broke my heart. It was obviously scared of me, and it started trying to hop away. But it couldn't even really hop. So I started plotting how I could help the little guy.

I walked Addie down a few more houses, let her do her business, then picked her back up and walked back to the bird. "Okay, I'll be right back little guy, don't worry!". Literally said this out loud to the bird. This is when I realized I might be losing it.

I sat Addie down and ran inside as fast as we could. I had called Arsen when I first saw the bird to ask if I should take it water. His advice? Sure. Clearly he wasn't too concerned.

So I grab a little bowl of water and run back outside. The poor little bird had now hopped into the street, so I started panicking about it getting hit. Naturally, I called my mom for advice since Arsen was pretty much worthless. I asked her if birds drink water; she said she would never tell anyone I asked that question, and have I ever heard of bird baths? Okay, so water was a good move. I kept her on the phone with me as I tried to corral the little thing back onto the sidewalk, but he kept going further into the street. I went out into the street and started scooting my feet at him so he would hop back to safety. I tried to interest him in the water I brought. Not happening. So I poured some in front of him, hoping he would get the idea. Nope. He just fluttered his little wing at me.

At this time I took a closer look, and I noticed that all the feathers on one side of his neck were missing. I'm assuming he got into some sort of altercation that led to his poor state. By this point I'm realizing that I may not be able to help him, and I get a bit worked up. I tell my mom I have to go or I'm going to cry.

I stood there and stared at him for a solid five minutes. His poor little mouth was still open in that silent scream, and he was panting so hard. It was still almost 100 outside, so I was worried about him becoming dehydrated. I poured him some more water. Still no interest. So I went back to the house, hoping that when Arsen got home he would have an answer.

By the time I got inside, I was in tears. I stood in the kitchen and sniffled a bit, which turned into a full on cry. I didn't quite make it to an ugly cry, but I got pretty dang close. It was seriously the most I've cried in months. Every time I would stop, I would think about that poor tiny bird, and there I'd go again. I started Googling vets in the area that deal with birds, just in case I could convince Arsen that this would be a good idea.

Addie was fascinated. She stood across the kitchen staring at me with a confused look on her face. About that time, Arsen got home. First thing he said to me was "Why are you crying?" in a voice that let me know he already knew. I said something along the lines of "That poor bird is out there dying in the street and I don't know what to do!". By the look on his face, I could tell he was not impressed.

So we went about our business, getting ready for dinner, me looking out the window and reporting on what I saw, him trying desperately to ignore me. I saw the little thing hopping around in the street, and once a truck came dangerously close to hitting him. Arsen kept saying there was nothing I could do and I needed to just shut the blinds, but I couldn't look away. After 15 minutes or so he stopped hopping. And I never saw him move again.

It was awful. Now I'm not going to be able to take Addie on her normal walking route, because I'm pretty sure if I see his little body I may burst into tears. I'm sure some of the neighbors witnessed my failed rescue mission, I don't need them to think I'm completely insane.

Yes, I realize how ridiculous it is that I just wrote an incredibly long post about a tiny bird, but this is the mental state I'm in. I seriously felt like I made an emotional connection with that little guy, and to just stand by and let him die felt like the cruelest thing I could have ever done.

And no, I'm not pregnant. I'm sure that crossed a few minds. Just emotionally unstable apparently.

Heaven Is Here: My Thoughts

I am a BIG fan of reading, and have been since I learned how around the age of five. When I was younger, anytime I had friends over to play my mom would have to force me to put my book down and play with them. It's something I have always loved, and I can get wrapped up in a book so easily that everything around me disappears. I don't have much free time to read anymore (what with working full time, taking care of a home, and now, blogging) but I try to fit it in wherever I can. So I thought whenever I read a truly great book, why not share it with you all?

I'm always looking for book suggestions, so maybe some of you will enjoy this as I would. By no means will this be a "regular" thing on my blog, at least at the present time, because unfortunately my reading is a bit sporadic these days. However, I did recently read a book that I absolutely loved, and that truly touched me: Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson.

The first time I heard of Stephanie Nielson was on Oprah. I've never been an avid Oprah watcher, so it was random that I happened to be watching that day. I remember being completely overwhelmed by her story and amazed at the strength and courage she had, and I would think of her from time to time.

Fast forward a couple years, and I slowly started to become a part of this amazing blogging community. Stephanie, or NieNie, is one of the blogging world icons. I saw mention of her new book several places, and decided to pick it up.

After just the first few chapters, I was hooked. She describes her life before the plane accident she was involved in so beautifully, and as a newlywed myself I can only imagine the complete happiness and contentment she had when her little family started growing. She had everything she had ever wanted: she was a stay-at-home mom to four little ones, she and her husband were madly in love, she had a new home that she was making their own, and she had recently found a wonderful pastime in blogging. Maybe I connected to it so much because that's really my dream for the next few years of my life, and I can only imagine how elated you would be when it started coming to fruition.

And then out of nowhere, her perfect world was shattered. In a way that you could never imagine happening to you, and to the most horrifying level.

The amount of strength that this woman possesses is truly amazing. When I think of myself in this position (because when you're reading this story she's so easy to identify with that you can't help but imagine it happening to you) I wonder if I could be so strong. I can't imagine that I could.

Her recovery after the plane crash that took the life of a friend and burned the majority of her body, as well as severely injured her husband, is something that is tough to read at times. From being in a coma for months, learning that she was severely disfigured, re-learning how to do the most basic tasks, and her children being afraid to look at her, it's emotionally draining to read. I cannot comprehend going through it myself, and I was brought to tears several times thinking of this poor woman and all that she had to endure.

But more than anything, what I got from this book was a message of hope, courage, strength, determination, and faith. For someone who lost so much, she has embraced life with such a beautiful attitude. I'm a faithful reader of her blog, and I know that she still struggles with things on a daily basis, such as people making remarks about her appearance or not being able to do something that she could have so easily before the accident. Again, heartbreaking and tough to read, but the perseverance and amazingly upbeat attitude that she has is truly encouraging. 

I came away from this book with a renewed sense of gratefulness for all that I have, and a determination to not let the little things get me down. It's so easy to dwell on the negative (for me especially), but to see someone who has overcome so much is truly encouraging. I 100% recommend this book to anyone. I think you will be truly inspired by her story.

Now, a question for you all: Does anyone have any book suggestions for me? I'm always looking for my next favorite book, and I will read just about anything and everything. I would love it if you would share your favorites with me!

A Lovely Little Weekend

Our weekend was exactly what I needed it to be. Relaxing. We decided to finally have a yard sale since our garage was slowly being taken over by random junk, so we woke up around seven on Saturday (on my day off, ugh!) to get ready for that.

Let me tell you, yard sales in Texas are intense. We were set to start at eight, and people started showing up around 7:20 as I was setting stuff out. We were completely swamped for the first couple of hours, and we ended up getting rid of probably half the junk that we had and making a nice little chunk of change.

Of course I ended up shopping my own sale and bringing a few things back in the house. I do it every time. I start thinking of uses for things and panicking about getting rid of them, so back in they come. And then they sit in a closet. And most likely will be back in the next yard sale that we have. Ah well.

The downside to this day was the fact that Texas has hit that point in the summer where it feels as if you are burning alive if you stand outside for more than thirty seconds. So I sat in a chair in the insanely hot sun and sweat for hours...maybe I lost some water weight? Gotta look for the positives here.

After a long shower and a delightful little nap, we headed to our old standby Chuy's for some Mexican food with our friend Joel. Another reason I know we are all getting old: we discussed going to the driving range (we all were too tired), going to the movies (nothing good out, might fall asleep), and going back to the house to watch a movie. Obviously a movie at the house won, and I was asleep before midnight. Perfection.

 

Chuy's Texas Tini. Insanely delicious.

Sunday was spent with Arsen's family celebrating his dad's 65th birthday. It's so much fun to get the whole family together, but going to a restaurant with that bunch is so chaotic. Arsen has five nephews, two who are around 12, two who are around 10. So you can imagine. I was exhausted by the time we left and went back to his parents place for birthday cake.

 Made from scratch by Arsen's sweet little Mama

 

Arsen's youngest nephew Haik is getting to that age (almost two) where he's coming out of his shell and is showing his adorable little personality, and of course that really helps our baby fever. I mean, look at that face! We're doomed.

 

Could anything be sweeter? Nope, didn't think so.

All in all, great weekend. Now I'm getting super excited because my mom is coming to stay later this week! She and I are way overdue for some girl time. Arsen is already plotting his escape for the weekend, and she and I are planning movies, shopping, late night chats, the whole shebang. Can't wait! And I know Addie can't wait to see her Nana. So here's to a good, quick week! Hope everyone has a fabulous Monday!

Baby Fever

When Arsen and I got married, the first thing people said after "Congratulations!" was "So when are you having babies???". I'm not gonna lie to you, it annoyed me. Why on earth would we be thinking about babies already? We actually had people AT the Armenian wedding asking when we were going to start trying. Really? I couldn't believe it.

In fact, two months after our wedding we were having a dinner for Arsen's birthday at our house, and his dad asked what was wrong with us because I wasn't pregnant yet. Apparently in their culture you pop out a baby exactly nine months after the wedding night. Arsen quickly informed him that we had "a plan". The plan was to wait about three years after the wedding and then try. You can imagine how that went over.

We had discussed it quite a bit, and there were SO many reasons that we wanted to wait. To become a little more financially secure, to travel, to enjoy ourselves with our friends, to enjoy being newlyweds....and there were several more. Three years seemed like a good amount of time. I would be approaching 30, which would still give us plenty of time for the three little ones we wanted. And this way we could continue to be selfish and do whatever we wanted to do whenever we wanted to do it for three glorious years. Perfection.

And then it happened. I got the fever. And he did too.

Baby fever is vicious. It's intense. All the adorable babies in their adorable baby clothing at every restaurant, store, and gas station you enter don't help either. The store windows with their cute little displays of mannequin babies are torture. And then you have friends who have the audacity to bring their cute babies around you. It's unfair, I tell you.

So here we are, nine months after saying I do, having the baby conversation. Now I see it all so differently than I did just four or five months ago. We both got new jobs with pretty substantial raises. Financially secure? Check!

Travel? Well, it's super expensive to travel, and if we're trying to save money, how much will we really be traveling? And if we have little ones we can go places like Disneyland and not be judged. Okay, so we'll mark that one off too.

Our dear friends. I do adore them, and I love spending time with them. But it's seriously ridiculously expensive to go out every weekend. And if you're drinking? Well, I think I've already covered how my body tolerates late nights out. We can just have barbecues at our house and I'll tell people to keep it down when the baby is sleeping. Alright, sounds good. Check!

Enjoy being newlyweds. Okay. Here's what being newlyweds is: being in love, fighting over every little thing until you figure a few things out, having fun cuddling on the couch watching TV, fighting a little bit more, talking about going out to dinner and then picking up sushi and eating on the couch in your sweats instead, another little argument here or there, and yeah....that about covers it. We've done this for almost four years now. We have basically spent everywakingsecond together since we met. So although I adore my husband and love him more than anything, this is old news. To be honest, marriage hasn't changed much for us. So yeah, we can mark that one off.

And wait until I'm 30? Who am I kidding. I want three kids (right now I do, talk to me after I give birth the first time), I don't want to have to give birth every year or two, and I really hope to have them all before I'm in my late thirties. So we may need to get going here.

So basically, now we are trying to find reasons we shouldn't go ahead and have little blonde Armenians. And it's getting harder and harder to find them (although the fact that my body will be destroyed is at the forefront of my mind at. all. times.). So while this is by no means an announcement of any sort, it could happen. And now I'm scared.

Sometimes Husbands Are Helpful

A few days ago I asked Arsen if I could go shopping and buy some things for the house. This was via text message, and his response was "20 Bucks". I text back, "Heh?". As in, "Are you kidding?". He wasn't. Fun hater.

So, I was forced to get creative. I went to TJ Maxx, but couldn't find anything there really. I thought about heading over to Ross, but I was getting a bit discouraged. I was walking to my car to go home, but then I noticed that the dollar store was right next door to TJ Maxx. So I thought, why not?

I went in and started looking around and immediately found these fun, colorful baskets. I've been needing baskets for a few things around the house, but when I go to buy them I can't make myself do it. You can't really find decent baskets for less than $10 or so, and that adds up quick. So these were perfect. I picked up five.

 

As soon as I got home I thought of the perfect spot for one of them. Under our kitchen sink we have a gazillion cleaning products, and they're always a big jumbled mess. So I put one to use.

Much better! I've got plans to use some of the others to organize my craft stuff upstairs. But I feel like that's going to turn into a much bigger project, so I'm putting it off just a bit.

I also got a few other fun things at the good ole' dollar store. Check it out!

I got a bag of candy as well, but didn't really feel the need to take a pic. If I'm being honest, I ripped into the bag the minute I walked in and didn't even think about it until it was too late.....

But for all of the things I got my grand total was a whopping $10.83. Are you kidding me???? If I would have bought all of these things at Target or WalMart, I'd have spent, what, like 30 or 40 bucks? WHY do I not shop here more often?

So the moral of the story is my husband being greedy (smart, whatever) with our money turned into a super successful shopping trip and a lesson in shopping smarter. So thanks Arsen, ya did good.

Kitchen Updates (ish)

When we moved into our home, pretty much the only room that didn't need some type of update was the kitchen. It was pretty beautiful. Granite counter tops, nice floors, stainless steel appliances...in fact, the kitchen is what really sold us on the house.

So the fact that I'm doing this "update" post really just means that I cleaned the kitchen and rearranged some things, so I thought it would be a good time to take some photos. I'll give you a taste of the before photos. Please excuse the poor-quality iPhone pics:

And here's what we've done with it. I think the most telling photos are the ones of the sink, which show the changes we've made in the living room. Yikes.

Now, if I had designed this kitchen I might have picked a different granite, and I definitely would have used a different wall color. But overall I think it's really quite beautiful and I am so incredibly thankful that we don't have to upgrade the kitchen at all. Kitchens can be so expensive, and we were dreading buying a fridge when we got a home....but the guy left his! One thing he refused to leave was the flat screen he had mounted on the wall by the desk, but oh well. He said it was a special gift from a family member. Alright guy, keep your TV.

Anyhow, we are still lacking a table and chairs in the bay window area, and need a chair for the desk, but that's really about it. I'm constantly rearranging things on the counters, so this current arrangement should stick for a couple months before I take everything off, set it on the center island thing, and rearrange all over again. Spending a couple hours cleaning, arranging and rearranging things until I think they look good is one of my favorite things. What can I say, it brings me joy :)

The Colorado Bulldog

 If I'm going to have a drink, it better be a yummy one. I'm not a fan of anything where I can taste the alcohol. Don't really care for beer, I'm okay with wine but not a big wine drinker, and liquor? Not so much.

So when I find a yummy drink, I get super excited. I'm one of those girls who is indecisive when it comes to ordering a drink. I always end up asking whoever I'm with what they're having and usually trying that. And that's exactly how I discovered this little gem. My lovely friend Sarah informed me that they are the most delicious drink around, and she was right. If you've never tried one and you like sweet drinks, give it a shot! Here's what you'll need:

 

Colorado Bulldog

1 shot vodka
1 shot Kahlua® coffee liqueur
milk
1 splash Coca-Cola®

 If you decide to try it, let me know what you think!

Father's Day Weekend

This weekend my dad finally decided to grace us with his presence. Even though he lives just a little over two hours away, we usually only see him once every couple of months. So I was so very happy that he decided to come stay for Father's Day.

Saturday we had a big Armenian feast at the house. Arsen's parents came over and prepared everything, and it was amazing as always. We invited a few friends over to join us and everyone was thoroughly impressed with the food.

We had a great time with a whole lot of drinks, food and laughter. After probably two hours of sitting and eating and toast after toast after toast, the guys decided a game of poker was in order. I'm not much of a game player, and I'm definitely not much of a gambler, so I left them to it.

My friend Amelia and I decided an evening of watching HGTV's House Hunters (and catching up on blogs for me) sounded much more exciting. This is what my evening looked like:

Addie has been pretty mopey for the last couple of days...I think it's because she hasn't been getting 100% of my attention since I've been cleaning house and hosting people. She wouldn't even sit on the couch beside me for most of the night. So this is what her evening looked like:

All in all it was a fun evening, and I'm glad my dad was here to share it. Sunday morning we got up and had lunch at Babe's here in Frisco. It was our first time there, and ohmygoodness was it good. They serve everything family style (mashed potatoes, cream gravy, green beans, corn) and then you choose a meat. I had chicken fried steak, which is pretty much my favorite meal in the world, and it did not disappoint. So yummy!

After lunch dad headed back home, and I think Addie and I were both a bit sad. We walked him out to his truck, and as he drove off Addie watched him until he turned the corner. Then she just stood there staring straight ahead for awhile. Then she slowly lowered herself onto the sidewalk and put her face on her front paws with the saddest look on her face. Break my heart why don't ya!

I'm so glad my dad came to visit, and wish we could see each other more. Maybe when I have those grand-babies he's been wanting he'll start coming around more ;)

Dearest Dad

When I was growing up my dad and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. He's stubborn, a bit quick-tempered, and always thinks he's right....and I got every single one of those traits from him. So you can only imagine.

Also, I'm his only child. So when I say he was overprotective, I mean really overprotective. I can't tell you how many times I was the only one of all of my friends who wasn't allowed to go somewhere or do something. I would sit at home and cry over my sad existence while everyone else was out having fun. Now that I'm getting older I understand every single one of those decisions he made. At the time I would say " I will NEVER treat my children this way!!!". Yeah....pretty sure I was wrong.

But as much as we may have butted heads, I learned so much from him. One thing everyone knows about my dad is what a hard worker he is. He grew up in a great family with not a lot of money (he didn't even have indoor plumbing until high school!), enlisted in the service at 17, was in Vietnam, and came back with no college education and pretty much nothing to his name. He worked hard, and was rewarded greatly for it. By the time I was about two years old, he was president of a bank. He kept that position until he retired a few years ago, and he was greatly respected in the small town we lived in. On top of that, he has always had numerous horses and a lot of land that he has taken care of. Even now that he's retired and approaching his seventies, he works on his land almost every single day. All day long. And yes, I worry about him constantly :)

I have always, always known that my dad loves me more than anything in this world. Yes, it drove me crazy when I was younger, but it also showed me what kind of love I should hold out for. I have always known that he would do anything in his power to make me happy, whether that meant packing up every last thing that I owned, driving a U-Haul across the country to Los Angeles, and dropping me off at the age of 20, or if it meant coming back to L.A. one year later, packing everything back up in a U-Haul, and driving me back to Oklahoma.

He paid for my college education, a brand new car when I graduated, and my wedding. And he still asks if I need anything every single time we talk on the phone. To say I am spoiled may be true, but to say I am loved is most definite.

I can honestly say that I love and respect my dad with all of my heart, and feel like a lucky girl to have him. I can't wait to finally give him the grand-babies he has been waiting oh-so-patiently for. Love you dad! 

I'm Getting Old

It's true, I'm getting old. And I'm actually starting to embrace it, because really, what choice do I have? I may only be 27, but the differences that I'm discovering from Celeste at 22 and Celeste at 27 are astounding. I'll give you a few examples.

Last night I met up with several girls from my last job (who I miss terribly). We went to Mi Cocina for dinner and drinks, caught up on life, and had a wonderful time. I had one glass of sangria with my quesadillas. It was a large glass, but it was ONE glass. I got home around 8:15 and started a load of laundry....and went to bed. At like 8:30. Because that one glass of sangria made me so unbelievably sleepy (and a bit tipsy) that I just couldn't take it. If I had one glass of sangria when I were in my early twenties....well, I would have had more than one glass, but still. I wouldn't have been sleeping thirty minutes later, I'll put it that way.

Also, everything physically is much more difficult. If I take a quick jog after work, it's never really a jog. It's a walk for 90% of the time and then I try not to pass out as I jog the other 10%. And if I do a semi-difficult work out, I basically can't move the next day from the soreness. This last Christmas my cousin's little girl was making some of us "do tricks" for her, and when it was my turn I decided to do a herkie (a cheer-leading jump) and really blow her socks off. I pulled it off, and she was definitely impressed, but I paid a price. A bruised ego and sore thighs for days.

I remember my mom showing me how to do a cartwheel when I was around three or four. She took me out in the backyard and did one, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now I realize how incredibly painful that must have been for her. I admire her even more.

Another unfortunate side effect of aging? Hangovers. I'm not a big drinker these days (although I feel like I talk about it a lot on here), but if I happen to go out with friends, stay out late and have a few drinks....oh. my. goodness. The horrible, pounding headache, the constant nausea, the complete lack of motivation to do anything other than lay in a dark room. So not worth it. My college-self would be so incredibly disappointed and ashamed.

And let's talk about pop culture for a moment. First of all, I don't know who ANYONE is when I watch E News these days. Where are all these people coming from? But when I'm watching TV and I see a risque commercial for a movie or television show I find myself thinking "What if a young child were watching this? How will I ever let my kids watch TV???" And the fact that they are allowing for so much cursing and sex scenes on mainstream channels...it blows my mind! I remember my parents making remarks about things like that when I was younger and thinking they were so old and lame...and here I am. Same with music. I love pretty much all music, and when it comes to hip-hop or whatever it may be, I'm in it for the music, not the lyrics. But when I start listening to what is actually being said, I am shocked! Where do they even come up with this stuff? Craziness.

So, there you have it. I am officially on the way to becoming an old lady. Occasionally it causes a bit of an identity crisis, but for the most part I'm dealing with it. I guess it happens to the best of us...

Our Armenian Wedding Day

Something I haven't shared much about on this here blog is the fact that we had two weddings. Yep, two. Not really by choice, it just kind of...happened. As I've mentioned, Arsen is Armenian, and his family is very, very proud of their Armenian heritage. They moved here when he was only six years old, so obviously they want to keep their culture alive. And I am all for that, because the more I learn, the more fascinated I am. But it did make for some complicated wedding planning.

Originally we were planning on having one big wedding where we could try to capture the Armenian side of things as well as do all of the fun "American-ized" things I wanted to do. We talked about guest lists, venues, the menu, vodka (a more important aspect than you would imagine), officiants, etc. Everything was kind of up in the air, but we knew there would be A LOT of compromising. To be brutally honest, the last thing a bride really wants on her wedding day is to have to compromise every aspect, but I knew this was important, so I was trying to be understanding.

After what felt like years of looking at venues, we finally found one. It had been my first choice, but we thought it was too small. I ended up deciding that it was exactly what I wanted, so we would just cut the guest list (sorry anyone who didn't get invited, now you know why!). I knew it was super important for Arsen's family that their priest do the ceremony, so that was always the plan. However, after we booked the venue, we found out that he couldn't perform the ceremony unless it took place in a church. Which our venue was not. Sigh.

So basically because of that, and the fact that it is Armenian custom to invite not only your friends, but their children, and their children, and their cousins...we decided two weddings was the only way it would work.

As a stressed-to-the max bride, planning TWO weddings was my ultimate nightmare. Thankfully, thankfully, Arsen's mom and sister planned every single detail of the Armenian wedding. They even bought me a second wedding dress since I wanted the first time Arsen saw me in my actual wedding dress to be at my wedding.

The Armenian wedding took place two weeks before our wedding. I had a lot of friends and family show concern over the Armenian wedding being first, the fact that we wouldn't know which was our true anniversary, and the fact that we would be "married" before our actual wedding. I did have a few reservations, but when it came down to it, none of it mattered. And none of it has been an issue. We consider the American wedding to be our wedding day, September 17th is our anniversary, and we weren't legally married until that day. But September 3rd will always be a very special day to us, and I know to his family as well.

They got to see their baby boy married in the Armenian church, to a girl who had just been baptized in the very same church a week before. (You can't be married in the Armenian church if you've never been baptized, which I hadn't, so we had a ceremony for that as well.) I know in their dreams of this day they never in a million years imagined that he would be marrying a little blonde American woman, but they have come to terms with it and embraced me wholeheartedly.

It was a beautiful ceremony, and the reception was one of the most fun nights of my life. Let me tell you, Armenian people like to party. There were bottles of wine and vodka on every table, more food than you could ever imagine, and a million toasts to our future. There was also dancing....oh my goodness, the dancing. Armenian women dance in a very specific way, and they kept throwing me in the middle and dancing around me in a circle, and I was trying to do this dance that was so awkward and foreign to me...but after a few glasses of champagne I had it down!

My parents and their dates and my uncles who came had so much fun, and will still occasionally bring it up. Arsen's mom said someone told her it was the happiest wedding they had ever been to. She said "Everyone said " Everybody's so happy!". Which was true. We all danced the night away and celebrated the love that Arsen and I have for each other, and these two families that couldn't be more different merging together and becoming a crazy mix of amazing.

Looking back, I'm so incredibly glad that things turned out the way they did. I got the dream wedding I always wanted, and Arsen's family got the wedding of their dreams as well. Arsen's brother was married in Russia after they had moved here, so no one got to go to that one, and his sister and her husband got married in a ceremony at the court house. So this was the blow out wedding they had been waiting for.

It was an amazing day, and it will be such a wonderful thing to share with our children someday. Growing up in a multicultural family will be such a blessing for them I believe. And I'm sure they will love seeing a video of their mom dancing around like a silly white lady in the middle of a bunch of wild and crazy Armenians :)

A Weekend Trip to the OK

Our weekend was a good one, full of friends and family and loooots of driving.

We got to spend a few hours on Friday afternoon with my dad, just chatting and looking at old photos. There were some hilarious ones of of my cousins as children (I'm much younger than all of my cousins on Dad's side, so by the time I was around they were all grown), my parents with bad 80s hair and clothing, and my grandparents hanging out at the dance hall my dad used to own before I came around and ruined all the fun ;) I wish I would have taken some of them so I could share the hilarity with you.

 Addie and Papaw Just Chillin'

I also took a few photos of his baby horses while we were there. My great picture taking expedition was hindered by an unreal amount of disgusting grasshoppers. I hate all bugs, but anything that jumps is at the top of my list. Crickets make me want to cry, and grasshoppers are almost as bad. They were sticking to our car, jumping everywhere, and there were just so many of them. I made Arsen take Addie and I took off running and screaming into the house when we got there so they wouldn't touch me. So needless to say, I took the photos that I did get from a safe distance on his porch.

We then went to my moms for the evening. She's recovering from her gallbladder surgery, so we really just sat around and talked for the most part. Her medicine made her a little drowsy, so we called it an early night. Nothing too exciting, but I'm so glad I got to see her!

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head for Tulsa. We met up with my friends Nick and Alicia, who just had a baby on St. Patrick's Day and are now living in Indiana. Alicia and I were roommates our freshman year at UCO, and Nick lived on our hall, which is how they met. That year there were four of us girls (Alicia and I and our friends Amanda and Andrea) that were pretty much inseparable. We all met our first day at UCO, and I think coming to school as a freshman not knowing anyone you naturally form a close bond with those around you. I moved to California about two years later, so I unfortunately drifted away from them a bit. I still keep in touch with Alicia pretty frequently, but I hadn't seen any of them in about three years. It was so much fun to catch up and reminisce about our time in college together, and to meet precious little Lizzy! Miss those girls.

Saturday night was spent with my best friend Rachel and her sister Lyndsey. We had a yummy sushi dinner and then went to a nearby bar to have a few drinks. It's hilarious how well Arsen gets along with these girls that I've known almost my entire life...you would think he's known them just as long. In all honesty all they do is make fun of each other, but that's how Arsen shows his affection. But not to me, because I start taking it seriously and then it's not so fun ;)

After our four hour drive home on Sunday we were ready to relax. So that's exactly what we did. Picked up some In N Out, watched TV, and went to bed before 10 pm. For an old married couple that's just about the perfect evening.

Now we're preparing for my dad to come visit this weekend for Father's Day. He never comes to Texas, even though he's only 2 hours away, so I'm super excited! We're planning a cook out and Arsen's parents will probably be joining us, so it should be a pretty good time. I foresee lots of vodka shots and toasts to our future babies in our near future...