Hey, y'all. Looks like today's April 29th, so that means we've been married a whole two months! Go us! If you haven't seen the wedding pictures yet, they're on facebook, or you can go here to our photographer's site. Turns out being married is not very different than cohabiting. (Cohabitating or cohabiting? The first seems right, but the red squiggly is there. We have to trust the red squiggly in these times, yes?). We just have better jewelry. We had thought of having a celebratory party in Houston, but it just seems like a lot of effort. That's mostly why we didn't have a wedding in the first place. We will still have random gatherings of friends in our house, but again, whittling down a guest list to a manageable size is just something we can't do. We suck at things.
We honeymooned in Mexico from March 1-6. I totally recommend the El Dorado Royale to anyone. The food was incredible. I really didn't take many pictures, but the website does the grounds justice.
Clay's mom had a party for us in Vidalia, LA last weekend. My parents flew south for the occasion, and they were indoctrinated into
the finest of Louisiana cultural traditions -- the crawfish boil (No. You cannot trust the red squiggly. There is a red squiggly under crawfish. The red squiggly is bullshit).We really enjoyed visiting w/ everyone and filling our bellies with crawfish, cake, and other delectables. Pictures are all over facebook, so I'm not going to repost them here.
Mostly, the last two months have been pretty domestic. We redid part of our fence (the crappy side that Nina rammed with her head and ended up in the neighbor's yard), tilled and sodded the back yard, planted some fruit trees and the herb garden. (God, this blog is thrilling...I swear I'll do something exciting and tell you about it soon.) Liz hooked me up with the Woodduck Farm CSA, and it's been awesome. I guess that's why I haven't been blogging. I've been cooking away my free time.
We did fulfill one promise to ourselves and upgraded the boat. Well, that was more Clay than me, but I'm generally supportive of the idea. Our current boat can hold four, but only two can fish. The new boat can hold 4 to 6 comfortably for fishing, and it can go in the bays (or the Gulf on a calm day). I'll post a picture when I get one. It's still at the dealership, as our old boat is still in the driveway. So, another plea. Visit us. We'll take you fishing.
adventures, rants, and raves of a reluctant texan
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Married.
We started off our wedding day with a drive to Brenham. On the way, we stopped for a tasty breakfast at Chappell Hill Cafe. It's about half way between Houston and Austin. We both got properly caffeinated and full bellies for less than $12. The sign looked really cool by these clouds.
I got my hair done at a day spa in Brenham by a race car driver named Lindsey. She was a trip. Clay came along, and the spa people gave him some beer while he waited. (This is our kind of day spa.) After an hour, an entire pack of bobby pins, and a half a can of hair spray, we were set to move on to the B&B.
Clay and I stated simple vows in front of a rustic shed at Murski Homestead Bed and Breakfast at 2:00 PM on February 29, 2012. While witnesses in Texas aren't mandatory, our wedding was attended by Pamela, the owner of the B&B and Zach, our photographer. Steve, another B&B owner, officiated the ceremony. After the ceremony, we walked the grounds for a bit, avoiding cow pies when possible. We didn't take too many photos of our own, since Zach's a professional and all. We did ask him to take one with my phone so you could see us now.
We did have a champagne toast and a wedding (cheese)cake that was honestly the finest cheesecake that I've ever had. She put our tiny wooden us (see previous blog) on top of it. We had a wonderful dinner of brisket, ribs, beans, mac & cheese, and cole slaw. And more wine and champagne. We were both incredibly calm all day. And happy.
It was an absolutely perfect day. We promise to follow up with more pictures in the next few weeks. Thank you to our families and friends for letting us run off and do this. We love you.
I got my hair done at a day spa in Brenham by a race car driver named Lindsey. She was a trip. Clay came along, and the spa people gave him some beer while he waited. (This is our kind of day spa.) After an hour, an entire pack of bobby pins, and a half a can of hair spray, we were set to move on to the B&B.
Clay and I stated simple vows in front of a rustic shed at Murski Homestead Bed and Breakfast at 2:00 PM on February 29, 2012. While witnesses in Texas aren't mandatory, our wedding was attended by Pamela, the owner of the B&B and Zach, our photographer. Steve, another B&B owner, officiated the ceremony. After the ceremony, we walked the grounds for a bit, avoiding cow pies when possible. We didn't take too many photos of our own, since Zach's a professional and all. We did ask him to take one with my phone so you could see us now.
It was an absolutely perfect day. We promise to follow up with more pictures in the next few weeks. Thank you to our families and friends for letting us run off and do this. We love you.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Last name.
This one isn't an easy one to write. Not because it was a difficult decision, but because I know there's sometimes pretty harsh judgment with this particular choice. It's an intensely personal one, and this is a pretty public way to go about distributing the information. I'm putting it out there in hopes of explaining why I chose to go this route, and I hope you understand. Here goes...
I'm not changing my name when we get married.
Here are a few random points, in no particular order, to explain where my head's at.
1) I'm totally supportive of anyone who chooses to change their name whether they are getting married or not (e.g., if they decide they want to be officially recognized as Miley instead of Destiny). Your name is your own thing to change or keep as you wish.
2) This won't make me any less part of the (hislastname) clan. I feel like I've been part of their family without a ring or a name change for the last five years anyway.
3) Clay's supportive of this choice. He said, "It's your choice; it's your name." (Reason #459 why I love this man.)
4) Our hypothetical offspring will totally have his last name, just like the bitches do. (Although, I gotta say, my ass was pretty chapped when the vet arbitrarily changed Miss Claire's last name to hislastname a few years ago. I got over it. Nina has always been a hislastname.)
5) I won't get offended if people assume I changed it. I'll correct them, but I won't be mad or anything. It's a common thing to do, and I realize I'm in the minority.
So there it is. I hope you understand.
I'm not changing my name when we get married.
Here are a few random points, in no particular order, to explain where my head's at.
1) I'm totally supportive of anyone who chooses to change their name whether they are getting married or not (e.g., if they decide they want to be officially recognized as Miley instead of Destiny). Your name is your own thing to change or keep as you wish.
2) This won't make me any less part of the (hislastname) clan. I feel like I've been part of their family without a ring or a name change for the last five years anyway.
3) Clay's supportive of this choice. He said, "It's your choice; it's your name." (Reason #459 why I love this man.)
4) Our hypothetical offspring will totally have his last name, just like the bitches do. (Although, I gotta say, my ass was pretty chapped when the vet arbitrarily changed Miss Claire's last name to hislastname a few years ago. I got over it. Nina has always been a hislastname.)
5) I won't get offended if people assume I changed it. I'll correct them, but I won't be mad or anything. It's a common thing to do, and I realize I'm in the minority.
So there it is. I hope you understand.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Refrigerator clean-out quiche.
I like cooking. A lot. So much, in fact, that I regularly joke about starting up a food truck when the grant expires. I'm lucky to live with a guy who will eat just about anything I attempt to make. He'll tell me it's good even when it's not. He's a supportive, adventurous eater, but honestly, he's likely just hungry. Tonight I'm taking a risk though...
I make quiches probably once every two weeks, but I usually use the same ingredients: some combo of ham bits, mushrooms, spinach, onions, eggs, and cheese. Sometimes I make a crust, but we've been attempting to eat more healthy, so crustless quiche (while waaay less enjoyable) is the way we go. Today, I've got some really wild stuff in the fridge thanks to the farm share and a blissful early morning visit to Whole Foods a few weeks back. Some of that shit's about to expire, so I'm cleaning it out before it turns. So welcome to "refrigerator clean-out quiche." I rarely use recipes, and I hardly ever measure.
Here's what I used:
So yeah, I'm turning it into a meal.
First, I put a bit of olive oil in a skillet, and cooked the onions a little. I cut the tempeh into some small cubes, and threw it in w/ the onions.
I chopped the beet greens and mustard greens together, and cooked them up with the sliced apple, some Tony Chachere's, and some pepper.
There wasn't enough of either to just go with one of them. The beet greens turned everything else pink. Remind me of that tomorrow when I think I'm dying. Next step was to grease a pie dish and toss in everything I cooked so far. I sprinkled some cheese, some more pepper, and some nutmeg on top, and it looked like this.
I whisked the 4 eggs with a little bit of milk (cream is advisable, but I didn't have any). I poured that on top of everything and put it in a 375 degree oven. I guess it baked for about 25 minutes. I forgot to look at the clock when I put it in. I just cook it until the cheese starts to brown. Now it looks like this. Time to eat.
I make quiches probably once every two weeks, but I usually use the same ingredients: some combo of ham bits, mushrooms, spinach, onions, eggs, and cheese. Sometimes I make a crust, but we've been attempting to eat more healthy, so crustless quiche (while waaay less enjoyable) is the way we go. Today, I've got some really wild stuff in the fridge thanks to the farm share and a blissful early morning visit to Whole Foods a few weeks back. Some of that shit's about to expire, so I'm cleaning it out before it turns. So welcome to "refrigerator clean-out quiche." I rarely use recipes, and I hardly ever measure.
Here's what I used:
- beet greens
- a few mustard greens
- a yellow onion
- 4 eggs
- about 1/4 c milk
- about 1/2 c of shredded sharp cheddar
- a brick of spicy tempeh
- one stray granny smith apple
- pepper, tony's, nutmeg
So yeah, I'm turning it into a meal.
First, I put a bit of olive oil in a skillet, and cooked the onions a little. I cut the tempeh into some small cubes, and threw it in w/ the onions.
I chopped the beet greens and mustard greens together, and cooked them up with the sliced apple, some Tony Chachere's, and some pepper.
There wasn't enough of either to just go with one of them. The beet greens turned everything else pink. Remind me of that tomorrow when I think I'm dying. Next step was to grease a pie dish and toss in everything I cooked so far. I sprinkled some cheese, some more pepper, and some nutmeg on top, and it looked like this.
I whisked the 4 eggs with a little bit of milk (cream is advisable, but I didn't have any). I poured that on top of everything and put it in a 375 degree oven. I guess it baked for about 25 minutes. I forgot to look at the clock when I put it in. I just cook it until the cheese starts to brown. Now it looks like this. Time to eat.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The dress.
Finding a wedding dress was actually way easier than I had anticipated. I had a few simple requirements:
1) Preferred material = cotton
2) Must fit in small suitcase
3) Must not hug my butt in an unflattering way
4) Must not require me to buy restricting undergarments or spanx
5) Must not have spangles, sequins, beads, wire, or pulleys to hold the top up
6) Must weigh less than ten pounds
Let me tell you, if you go to any wedding dress emporium in the good old U.S.A. with these requirements, most bridal consultants will not only not be able to find you a dress, they will most likely escort you to the door and come up with a moderately polite way to explain to you that you are wasting their time. A lovely friend took me to Nordstrom and helped me try on a variety of dresses I never would have tried otherwise, and it was a totally fun day. They had plenty of options that met my requirements, and the sales associate was very attentive and patient. I'm really happy we did that. I also went to a bridal store in Johnstown with my mom and niece, and we had a hearty laugh over a couple of satiny confections. It was a comical experience, and I'm so glad we had that day of generational bonding.
Last July, I found my dream dress doing a simple search on etsy.com for "eyelet wedding dress." A kind woman in the Seattle area makes pretty dresses, and the one I chose met all six requirements. I'll save the final reveal for the professional photographer, but I'm really happy with how it all turned out. For now, here's a rough approximation of how we might look that day. (I still have to finish painting them, but you'll get the idea.)
1) Preferred material = cotton
2) Must fit in small suitcase
3) Must not hug my butt in an unflattering way
4) Must not require me to buy restricting undergarments or spanx
5) Must not have spangles, sequins, beads, wire, or pulleys to hold the top up
6) Must weigh less than ten pounds
Let me tell you, if you go to any wedding dress emporium in the good old U.S.A. with these requirements, most bridal consultants will not only not be able to find you a dress, they will most likely escort you to the door and come up with a moderately polite way to explain to you that you are wasting their time. A lovely friend took me to Nordstrom and helped me try on a variety of dresses I never would have tried otherwise, and it was a totally fun day. They had plenty of options that met my requirements, and the sales associate was very attentive and patient. I'm really happy we did that. I also went to a bridal store in Johnstown with my mom and niece, and we had a hearty laugh over a couple of satiny confections. It was a comical experience, and I'm so glad we had that day of generational bonding.
Last July, I found my dream dress doing a simple search on etsy.com for "eyelet wedding dress." A kind woman in the Seattle area makes pretty dresses, and the one I chose met all six requirements. I'll save the final reveal for the professional photographer, but I'm really happy with how it all turned out. For now, here's a rough approximation of how we might look that day. (I still have to finish painting them, but you'll get the idea.)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The plan.
Many of you have asked when our big day is. Some of you may be wondering if there's a "save the date" coming your way. For many people, a wedding is a wonderful way to blend the families in one big event, with aisles, flowers, a band, liquor, food, cake, and general merriment. I love those weddings. Big festive weddings are glorious, wonderful events...for other people. It's just not for us.
We have our reasons for going about our plan the way we are, and none of them are meant to exclude our friends and family or make anybody sad. We thought early on about trying to have an intimate family and closest of close friends wedding. It was impossible to draw the line. For those of you married folks reading this, hats off to you. I can't imagine how rough it is to draw up a guest list. For me, it would involve guilt, fear, a half dozen kolaches, tears, and a fifth of whiskey. (Or the components to a good country song!)
Then I thought about the day itself. I'm a planner by trade. I'm not in operations. I support writing plans, but very, very rarely do I get out in the field to implement them. I think I could plan a pretty nice wedding...for someone else. Also, a stressed Mel isn't a good Mel. If you've ever seen me before a big meeting at work, you know that there is an evil, type A, zilla-bitch that lurks within. If she shows up, she wouldn't make a very nice bride. We didn't even make it to the point of discussion where you talk about wedding logistics. Those first two points made it clear that elopement was our best path.
So we decided on a private, convenient ceremony (not technically an elopement since we're telling people). We'll work out some family visits after the event. I know this sort of thing isn't for everybody, but it's our day. Oh, and we're going to buy a bigger boat, so visit us, and we'll take you fishing.
We have our reasons for going about our plan the way we are, and none of them are meant to exclude our friends and family or make anybody sad. We thought early on about trying to have an intimate family and closest of close friends wedding. It was impossible to draw the line. For those of you married folks reading this, hats off to you. I can't imagine how rough it is to draw up a guest list. For me, it would involve guilt, fear, a half dozen kolaches, tears, and a fifth of whiskey. (Or the components to a good country song!)
Then I thought about the day itself. I'm a planner by trade. I'm not in operations. I support writing plans, but very, very rarely do I get out in the field to implement them. I think I could plan a pretty nice wedding...for someone else. Also, a stressed Mel isn't a good Mel. If you've ever seen me before a big meeting at work, you know that there is an evil, type A, zilla-bitch that lurks within. If she shows up, she wouldn't make a very nice bride. We didn't even make it to the point of discussion where you talk about wedding logistics. Those first two points made it clear that elopement was our best path.
So we decided on a private, convenient ceremony (not technically an elopement since we're telling people). We'll work out some family visits after the event. I know this sort of thing isn't for everybody, but it's our day. Oh, and we're going to buy a bigger boat, so visit us, and we'll take you fishing.
Monday, January 23, 2012
The proposal story.
Really the story starts around Memorial Day 2011. Clay and I went to his dad's place in Mississippi for the weekend to celebrate his cousin's high school graduation. As any good southern Mississippi family does, they had a solid crawfish boil, replete with beer and festivities. Clay and I got a bit buzzy, and started talking wedding hypotheticals. Like, "what we should do is just elope and then have a big crawfish boil like this." (That was Clay, not me for once.)
Then out of nowhere, he asked what I was doing that Wednesday evening. And I was all like, "Uh, probably working late, making a quick dinner, and watching the Daily Show like most Wednesdays?" I didn't think anything of it until we got back to Houston. Then Clay said, "remember when I asked you what you were doing on Wednesday...well, we should go look at rings." And I was like, "really??" And he was like, "yeah." So I had to work late on Wednesday and no shopping occurred. The following Saturday (June 4) was the Hurricane Preparedness Expo at the George R. Brown, and I escaped a bit early so we could shop. I tried on about three sapphire rings, but number 2 was incredible. (I like blue rocks.) It fit perfectly, and it was shiny and everything. He said, you should sleep on it to make sure it's really what you want. And I did.
By the following Thursday (June 9), my finger was getting itchy, and I told him so. When I got home from work, I said something to the effect of, "Uh, I really don't want to be pushy about this, but you can't take a girl ring shopping and expect her finger not to get itchy." (I fully realize this makes me an asshole, but this is the authentic story.) At this point, Clay was playing with his 4-wheeler in our front yard, and messing with his fishing gear. He said, "well, I had work late all this week, and I need to get this stuff ready for the weekend." So I went inside and pouted, and looked at some dresses on modcloth. Clay rolls in to the office, and I didn't really look at him. He asked what I was shopping for, and I said, "work clothes." And he said, "well, you should wear this." And he was kneeling beside my office chair, holding ring number 2. And I was like, "whoa. really? you went?" And he said, "yeah, I was just messing with you earlier." And then it went on my finger. And then we exchanged mushy pleasantries.
Totally us, right?
Hey. I'm gonna blog now.
Hey, y'all. Welcome to my ramblings. Our recent visit to PA made me realize how out of touch I am with my family and friends, and instead of just being morose, I'm going to do something about it. Facebook is nice for catching up on snippets of life, but I feel weird about posting all our life events on there. So here's my site. Welcome to it.
As you probably know, we decided to do some paperwork, get some nice clothes, and some new jewelry soon. I'm going to post about that particular event and other bits about our life in Houston and our travels. There will likely be colorful language (warning for the kids and those with opposition to filth). You'll probably see pictures of the bitches (collective title for Miss Claire and Nina), our garden, the boat and fishes we catch, rugby, crafty shit I make, and an occasional recipe. If that bores or offends you, that's cool. I'm not making you click on that link. But if you just want to catch up with us and don't feel like calling, this is for you.
As you probably know, we decided to do some paperwork, get some nice clothes, and some new jewelry soon. I'm going to post about that particular event and other bits about our life in Houston and our travels. There will likely be colorful language (warning for the kids and those with opposition to filth). You'll probably see pictures of the bitches (collective title for Miss Claire and Nina), our garden, the boat and fishes we catch, rugby, crafty shit I make, and an occasional recipe. If that bores or offends you, that's cool. I'm not making you click on that link. But if you just want to catch up with us and don't feel like calling, this is for you.
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