from then until christmas.

i figured out why i have been so absent from blogging regularly.  my old blog was called "beckie's blunderous journeys". it was just about me and whatever i felt like writing about or saying. my posts were sometimes thoughtful, other times they were just preposterous, but customarily, they were a means of keeping track of things that had been going on in my life and sharing that with the few people that actually read it.

but this is a married person blog... and i realize now that i was overwhelmed by the duty of being a mormon wifey blogger about our little family of 2. but since no one really reads this anyway, i think that i will just go back to my real blogging style and if you don't understand my sarcasm, or don't care where we went, or what made me laugh or made me mad or whatever- don't worry- not many people do.

the last time i blogged was in october.  at that point we had been in Austin for almost 2 months and we were loving it.  jared primarily worked and i unpacked and settled us in.  it was a much longer process than i anticipated it would be. on the weekends we tried out some local joints and movies, and we had the chance to go to houston for a night out and to attend the temple.  

isn't it gorgeous?!  amazing how hard it becomes to regularly attend the temple when the closest one is 2 hours away... but we were happy to be there and to make a little trip out of it. speaking of church related topics- we both received callings in our new ward as teachers. i teach in the relief society and jared teaches the 15/16 year olds. i have to say, that though i am far from being considered a qualified teacher and i often broadcast my own opinions a little too freely, it has been an amazing experience.  a large part of that is due to the members our ward.  i love our ward so much and our relief society has every age, personality, and status in it and they have all been so supportive of us as a new family and to me as a teacher. 

by october, jared was getting a little more settled into his new job.  but it was still...rough... there was/is so much to learn and a lot of adjustments. due to some unexpected and difficult situations, i did not begin working upon establishing our new home. instead, i put more energy and time into my ebay and poshmark sales.  that has since picked up dramatically (i just found out that i am in the top 10% of sales- hooray!) and currently, that it how i contribute pennies to our little piggy bank.

it was a little awkward for me at first when people would ask what i do, because for a while, i really wasn't doing much...and then too much time had really passed for me to get a job without having to explain the hiatus.  but this led me to get more involved with my online business and it definitely keeps me busy.  jared- being the businessman that he is- has been very supportive and can't wait for me to make my own online boutique.  that is still just a thought but it is fun to work with him and see him get to excited about ideas for expanding my audience and profits.

there is another reason that staying home to work has been a fantastic route for me- besides being able to keep a spotless house, on top of errands, and the occasional nap... we got a baby!  and by baby, yes, i mean a puppy- but she might as well be a baby. 

little baby girl would fall completely asleep in the middle of playing.

that is a genuine smile... she had picked laney up 15 minutes before this pic!

 a few years ago i decided that i would name my dog george costanza. but when we found out that we were getting a baby girl puppy- i had to rethink that dream. with the help of friends and family and after getting to know her a little more, we arrived at the name Laney- a nickname for Elaine (if i can't have george, i will most def take elaine). she is an all white siberian husky and she has grown from that little pup in the pictures, to a fluffy, 37lb dog!

i had no idea that a newborn puppy was going to be so much work. i had a big white samoyed all throughout my childhood, but apparently my parents did a lot more of the rearing than i ever knew about!  imagine a new baby that barks, has teeth, and does not wear diapers... i had to watch her 24/7.  but luckily for her- she is my baby and so i don't mind because she makes us laugh so much and we love playing with her. we bring her in the bed for saturday morning snuggles and she loves it.  i am so glad that jared was so impulsive in bringing her home.  it was completely unexpected, it has been more work and money than i ever knew, but it has also been a great experience in learning patience and responsibility.  it also makes me excited to have a human baby one day.  when jared gets home from work- laney can hardly contain herself, she is so excited.  she likes to take naps on his tummy while they both fall asleep watching pawn stars, and it is just adorable.

thankfully- christmas was not far off and jared's parents surprised us with a washer/dryer for christmas! with all those muddy puppy feet and dog hair everywhere- they have been a lifesaver. 

luckily, he has such a slender figure...

watching jared and his dad install these machines was pretty entertaining... i love being able to do laundry whenever i need to and not having to hoard quarters! it was nice having his family come and visit us, we have a little bit more space now and so we are always up for guests. plus, with his sister being the food truck queen- we had an excuse to go out and try some amazing local food! we also went to see the nutcracker ballet and to austin's tradition- trail of lights.

this is what the austin skyline looks like on a wintery night... beautiful, right?

right before christmas, i was able to fly to UT to spend a week with my best friend and her baby. 

and yes, we are wearing matching outfits and i did buy that polka dot sweater for lucy.

tx roadhouse, j dawgs, happy sumo, chilis, cafe rio...and then some. mmmm.

it was so fun to be with her little family, eat at all our favorite places, play in the snow and best of all- just to sit and talk with my best friend. it was something that i really really had been needing and it was so good for me.  

for christmas eve, jared has adopted my childhood tradition of stuffing yourself with all the junk/finger foods you want. however- presents must wait until morning. the plane tickets (ridiculous $) and laney were my early christmas presents, so i was totally fine with not opening anything on christmas morning.  i would have to say those equate to a few christmases worth of gifts! i was just dying to give jared his presents. on christmas eve, i was a little sad...i haven't been home for a few years and my family always celebrates christmas on christmas eve, so i was already feeling emotional. and because jared had been so busy- even though i knew he wasn't going to "buy" anything for me, i thought that he might at least make a card or something... i mean, it is christmas. when i asked him, he felt so bad and admitted that he hadn't done anything. LIAR!

i woke up on christmas morning to this:

i was so happy and surprised! i forgot to take a picture of jared's snow angels. boo.

jared had waited until i was asleep and then he created an entire white christmas for me in our family room! there were strings of snowflakes, snow all over everything!  it was so pretty and so cute, it was truly one of the sweetest, cutest things that anyone could do. that was the best christmas morning that i have ever had. 

i mean just look at him? star wars christmas sweater, a movember beard that decided to stay for months...how could i not be elated?

and of course- we had a real tree. real tree= real christmas. fake tree= fake christmas. this one even had hand strung popcorn and cranberries. add our texas star, childhood ornaments, and few other typical target picks, and you get a pretty perfect tree.

thanks to skype, we got to check in with the other christmas morning shenanigans.  but for the most part, it was just the 2 of us and our puppy and it was a great little christmas.