in the event that anyone reads this thing anymore

updates for you because i have a second to breathe:

• earnest quit his job! he has been doing valet for the driskill hotel/ stephen f austin hotel since 2006..and has hated every minute of it. it keeps him in shape and the money is great, but something about having to smile at and be nice to people for hours a day, bending to their every whim, etc. is a bit draining. he's been happily unemployed for the last 3 weeks or so, and his spirits are amazingly lifted. he has been going to class and studying for the GRE, which he is retaking this coming wednesday. he's really happy, and that makes me happy :)

• school is going well. i'm done with one class, and only have one test and a cumulative final in my stats class, and a 20 page paper due in another before I am DONE with this semester. and it can kiss my ass, because I kicked its :)

• family is ridiculous. my relatives have been shamefully fighting about my grandfather's will, and my mom and an uncle are having to take my 2 other uncles to court. sigh. people are so selfish, it's disgusting what people are willing to do to loved ones for extra cash.

• the 2 girls in my program from china (Niko and Yijie) and I and another girl from my program, Brittany, went to the san marcos outlets today! Niko was SO excited, they've been told stories about the outlet malls and were dying to try them out. they ooed and aawed so many times! we all spent more than we should have and didn't cover much ground in 7 hours, but we had a great time :)

• we're going to tomball after ed's GRE on wednesday and will be hanging with the fam through the weekend. i hope you all have a marvelous holiday :)

and i can't resist adding a picture of campbell
pictured here with her mom, aunt, and grandma
she's getting so big :(

pumpkin carving with lonestar founders?

yes please.

have i told you guys this story? ed came home from 'man night' last year and told me that some of the guys that he hangs out with are the HUSBANDS of 2 girls that started lonestars. bull shit.

but oooh so true. ed's friend richie is married to sara, and his friend tim was just married to kacie this past summer! love her wedding pictures..her dress is exactly what i was looking for. turns out she couldn't find it anywhere either and her madre MADE IT HERSELF. love. isn't life ridiculous.

anywho, we carved pumpkins this past weekend! it was hilarious to talk about lonestars and answer questions like, "so, what is a t-shirt dress anyway?" kacie's younger sister is in lonestars this year as a freshman. also, kacie is a teacher and received an email this past spring from the parent of one of her kids...whose older sister had received a dress at project princess! she was gushing with great things to say and wanted to let everyone know about the great group of girls that did it. everything comes full circle :)

and i had "LL!" yelled at me as i walked away..overall a very surreal experience. i know we gripe a lot, but it reminded me of the reasons i joined lonestars and was excited and involved for so long. love you ladies :*

earnest working hard

ed's creepy pig pumpkin? not sure.

ed with his friend jesse and his gf meaghan

sara (l) and kacie (r)

sara and kacie

kacie and her hubs tim, and earnest

pumpkin guts

ed's beautiful creation.
pumpkin with worms out its ears. and a cool scar.
all together now!
jesse and meaghan's, mine and ed's, sara's, richie's, tim's, kacie's

up...and then back down.

my last remaining grandparent, my mom's dad, or PawPaw, passed away this morning.

getting his purple heart from senator john cornyn

some of you might remember my post, Oh Grandpa. no word yet on funeral arrangements, except that he will be cremated like my grandmother with a memorial set up right next to hers.

looking up

we're doing much better at the bucks. things are still really hectic, money is tight, advisors are demanding..but we've been able to spend more time together lately, which always results in laughter and lifted spirits.

-ed and i have both been on antibiotics. mine turned out to be something different. apparently my body is not currently able to handle it's own friendly bacteria :/ the doctor asked me if i was stressed...HA. the symptoms have been around since august, which, coincidentally, is when school started. geez. she gave me antibiotics and made me all but pinky swear that i would start sleeping more. this weather is currently helping me keep my promise :)

-speaking of the weather! i told you i would use the fireplace as soon as it got chilly!

-my niece is adorable :) ..and makes angry faces that look JUST like her dad's.






i don't know what they do to her that causes her to make such..beautiful? faces. can you believe she just turned two? where's the baby fat?!? our kids are going to be rolie polies, she's going to be a giant.

-the allens will again descend on austin for halloween! derek had his wedding back in september, and now alissa is getting hitched. i'm trying to think of a costume that's wedding appropriate..not too over the top. while they're not dressing up, alissa and lyle have totally embraced the fact that their wedding is on halloween...i'm even making the pumpkin pie bites from bakerella for their rehearsal dinner! any costume suggestions?

-my advisor will be gone for a week :) so i'm definitely breathing easier. we had a student concerns meeting this past week that has given me a little perspective...as demanding as my advisor is, she's approachable (most of the time). sure..she assigns ungodly amounts of reading, requires my presence at everything, calls me out in her class, and is generally intimidating..but i still feel comfortable approaching her with problems and questions. other students are not so lucky.

-thanks to everyone for their love these last couple of weeks. they have been some of the toughest in memory, and it's so comforting to know that a few of you are going through it with me (thanks abbi and ivy), and that all of you will listen to my moans and groans.

love love love

my cohort kicks ass

i love them. eventually i'll post pictures and bios of them..so you can get to know and love them too :)

below are some pictures taken by Niko, one of the 2 girls from china! they are so full of questions and say some of the most insightful things. last night they both tried marshmallows for the first time..and it was the funniest most awesome thing ever. they both LOVED them. and niko likes it here because people are so free to laugh :)

guadalupe

dean keeton

i love her pictures of campus.
she helps me see the campus i've been at for the past 5 years in a completely new light

niko, caroline and myself at anne's bbq

weekdays are rough. friday happy hour :)
left, front to back: Yijie, Niko, Brittany, Mickey
right, front to back: Earnest, April, Liz, Holly
missing: Anne and Caroline

going bankrupt just to feel better

ed and i have both been really sick, but his symptoms have been worse than mine. he went to the dr. on monday..and tested positive for the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers. seriously?

they asked that i go in this next week to get tested too, and said they'd call in the pack of antibiotics for ed to get started on. relieved to finally know what has been making us sick, he goes to the pharmacy...that wants $360 for his prescription. and that's after insurance knocked off a couple hundred. seriously?

he got a print out of the drugs that make up the pack, and we're going to call the dr. on monday to see if they can call in individual prescriptions for each drug which will hopefully allow us to get the generic version of them.

but seriously. who can afford that?

i want my life back

ed and i have been through the worst 2 weeks that either of us can ever remember. i am not interested in reliving any of it, but know that we no longer have mac and we may both have stomach ulcers (awaiting blood tests), complete with the absolute worst nausea and every other fun symptom you can think of. i was overwhelmed with the work from school BEFORE i got sick, and now i don't know that i'll ever recover. i have never experienced this sort of overwhelming exhaustion. ever. presentations have not gone well. when i finish something, i'm used to having a brief moment of relief where i can take a deep breath, maybe sigh a little, and recuperate before moving on. now, as soon as one thing is over a million other things are waiting there for my attention. i'm too selfish for this bullshit. and i want my life back.

Mac

Meet the newest addition to the Buck clan...

Machael, aka Mac :) Ed's grandma had such a strong southern accent that when she told the nurse that baby Michael Buck (Ed's dad) was going to be named Michael, it came out MAchael. So that's what's on his birth certificate. We have always wanted to name a kid after him...but have since decided that Mac Buck is just cruel..almost as cruel as Earnest Dow Buck..

Half Neapolitan Mastiff, half German Shepherd. In his 5th month and at least 50 lbs. So far, very docile and a lover of tummy rubs.

wedding weekend

the allen family will descend on austin this weekend to partake in the Dyson wedding weekend! It begins today, Thursday, with the arrival of my parentals. Juli is coming on Saturday..and we're looking forward to chaos that always ensues when you combine the two of us and a dance floor. The reception is going to be at the University of Texas Club..which I used to gaze at longingly when I parked in Manor garage. It's in the stadium. Too bad it's an away football game..or we might be able to find her a cute football player :)

Derek Allen Dyson. Back Left. One guess where the middle name came from. The groom for this weekend's festivities.
Alyssa Dyson. Front Left. The bride for the wedding to take place on Halloween. This family is going to have a busy fall!

and, because as much as i complain, i really do love my siblings

i should be reading.

or watching football. too bad they want to charge me $40 to watch it on TV, and ed and I already paid over $600 for season tickets. he is currently at the game with 2 of his 3 brothers, dad, and grandpa. i had reading to do.

quick update.

we're in the condo! it's amazing how much more concerned you are with things when the realization hits you that you OWN it, and if you break it, YOU BUY THE NEW ONE. no major updates needed..it was in pretty great condition when we bought it. we did, however, replace the ghetto 70s looking microwave, install a new hot water heater, and put in one of those roundy shower curtain rods. i. love. the. bathroom. i swear my bathtub was made for giants. the first night in the condo i took a bubble bath. i am a bubble bath fool. and i grinned through the whole thing :) we also have a corner fireplace..which i will use the shit out of as soon as it hits 65 degrees. we'll need to replace the AC in the spring..boo..so we'll be saving our pennies.

my parents were in town last weekend to help both dave and i move, the buck men traveled to austin this weekend, and my family will be back in town for a wedding weekend beginning this coming thursday. love them..but i'm looking forward to a weekend of actual rest. or at least the chance to get some school work in without feeling guilty.

school is ridiculously overwhelming and all i want to do is sleep. i really dig my cohort, though, and am becoming quick friends with a girl we recently hired to help out with the new nsf grant project as the project manager. she introduced me to pandora. i'm listening to it right now..don't laugh if you've been listening to it forever. ed started school at texas state and seems to like it pretty alright so far. he's taking an art in literature course and is the poetry editor for a publication course. his classes are on tuesday and thursdays, with thursdays keeping him away until 10p or 11p at night. booooo night grad classes.

my darling carra came to visit! our visit was brief, but very uplifting. love her.

that is all :) just a quick update to let you all know that we made it to the new place and through the first real week of school..alive.

i suck at taking pictures of living spaces..so here are a few. and a lost photo from ivy's wedding of her and her daddy! i love it!

calm before the storm

ed and i ventured to old stomping grounds a couple weeks ago to see one Ms. Ivy Ikpeme wed her Mr. Troy Ruths! Ivy- can you BELIEVE it's been 2 weeks already? i foolishly volunteered to help my mom host a garden shower for a family friend, and ended up staying the ENTIRE following week at home. i don't think i have had a lengthy stay at home like that since..summer after freshman year when i actually moved back home? i wish i could say it was relaxing, but everything was GO GO GO to get everything accomplished. we also celebrated the births of our beautiful niece campbell and ed's best man and great friend, andrew.


let me preface this next paragraph with the following disclaimer: my mother and i (and sister too, come to think of it) go CRAZY for a theme.
the garden shower was complete with flower fruit kabobs and amaretto fruit dip, dirt cake..which had to be placed in a wheelbarrow, you know, sangria, little ants (mostly the fake kind) scurrying around everywhere, gifts for the lawn and garden, and the yummiest food. shower games were vetoed, but they did play beer pong. my PARENTS played beer pong..only i think their version of it included cups containing margaritas, not beer.

a day or so of rest and it was off to celebrate with campbell! that darling little girl is the only grandchild thus far on EITHER side and is absolutely adored by all. she just turned two, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her or SPEAKING to her. they're even moving her up to the 3 and 4 year old class because she is 'mature' for her age. she's tall and lean, like her parents, with no trace of baby fat to be found :( she knows her shapes, colors, a little sign language, LOVES doing crafts, and can say AQUA-DOODLE. ed and i still refer to her as 'the baby' ..and probably will continue to do so until she has a new sibling or cousin. which you should not look this direction for.

click HERE to see pictures from both the shower and campbell's birthday!

****

this week has been absolutely nuts trying to get back in to the swing of things. ed and i CLOSE on our condo next wednesday! and we've been running around signing our life away all week. in an effort to save money on boxes we made the trip to campus to score a few boxes from undergrads during 'MOOve in with Bevo' weekend. ridiculous, i know. that little trip ended up cosing us a nice chunk of change, as ed got a ticket for 'ignoring posted signs' when he turned left from guadalupe on to 25th. in all my years on campus i NEVER saw those signs or knew you couldn't turn there. seeing another 6 people do it without receiving tickets only fueled our rage. we got one box that trip..a very pricey box.

orientation was friday..and it was information OVERLOAD. i'm all signed up for classes now, and will not have to TA for 3 years...which is super excellent. i also sat in a 2 hour presentation about the health insurance i can now receive, and was informed on all aspects of life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. it left me feeling pretty deflated, as i'm sure you can imagine.

my parents' birthdays are on monday (yes, same day) which is a bit overshadowed by what my mother is certain will be bad news from her doctor. we've all decided to chip in and get them a wii..as they somehow manage to overtake ours every time they come to austin. keep mom in your thoughts this upcoming week, if you would, and i will do my best to let you know how it goes.

condo closing is on wed. classes start on thurs. we have to be out of our apt by the 31st. parents are coming to austin that weekend to help the little brother (and hopefully us) move some of this crap we have all managed to accumulate. should be one hell of a week.

blank.

again. i hate trying to sum up the post in a couple of words.

i haven't posted in a bit because, well, there's not much to report! i haven't even started grad school and it is already consuming my life. I run couples 9a-10p about 5 days a week. The other days I'm running around trying to complete stupid errands for my other employer, Dr. Sherry, like getting the floor resealed or having a security system installed.

The research I'm doing is part of the Austin Marriage Project with Dr. Lisa Neff. I talk to newlyweds all day about how perfect their life is and the outrageous expectations they have for their relationship and each other. It makes me miss the hubs like crazy, and also makes me sad to know that almost half of all of these people are going to be throwing chairs at each other when we bring them back in for another session in a year and a half.

They've also got me scanning in the data from the questionnaires, and I just finished a massive lit search on different ways for coding conflict interactions between couples. Dr. Neff is great, so far, and has already spoken with me about my own research interests and possible questionnaires that I might want to include in the second phase of the study.

Ed finished his summer school courses (A's in both, yay!) and is now distracting me from all of the work I'm supposed to be doing. I'm also helping two doctorate candidates complete their dissertations (I don't know why I agreed, don't ask) and catching up on years of research that I've missed while living in my undergrad bubble.

We've managed to squeeze in fun times at Canyon Lake, our friend Lance's lake house on Lake Travis, and a lot of condo searching with our favorite realtor, Michael! He's great..always asking great questions, doing a lot of background research for us, and as it turns out he is a carpenter (did his apprenticeship in LA and made furniture for Michael Bay, who apparently is a "dick") and an actor! He was in a Scrubs episode and some other small things that Ed and I didn't recognize. But we stalker searched for the scrubs episode and found it...he might have like 2 lines, but it was pretty funny. He is able to tell us real quick if a condo is in good condition or not..and we like having him around.

Right now we've got it between 2 condos, one older but updated condo on the corner of Wickersham and Oltorf, and another newer condo (it was an apartment conversion) on Manchaca and Lamar. No bus stop on this one, but it's new and in our price range. So we'll see!

Speaking of Michael Bay, we saw Transformers recently...and it was terrible. If you haven't seen it, DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. We also saw Harry Potter yesterday and thought it was...OK. The book was much better, and I thought they focused too much on the goofy/awkward teenage love, and not enough on the horcruxes. But that's just me. Alamo was also serving butterbeer...which turned out to be apple cider with some sort of butterscotch mixed in. Nothing like I imagine actual butterbeer tasting. Gosh.

Super excited to take a break from the newlyweds and hang out with my soon to be wed Ivy! You're allowed to be all gushy, because I like you ;) Can't wait for all of you ladies to be back in Austin (where you belong!)!

I'll leave you all with my recent Etsy find that you should steal: Charm Design- Original Handmade Bags. I want one of each :)

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Couldn't think of a title. Deal.

Yesterday Ed and I went around Austin with our favorite realtor, Michael, to search for condos! **Warning: NEVER try to find a condo during the summer. These people don't leave the AC on and we were absolutely MELTING at the end of it.
BUT, we did find one that we both really liked :)

It's small, updated enough so that we can move right in, full-size washer/dryer, on a bus stop, and I get my larger than average bathtub. Those were pretty much our (my) only specifications :) We're not looking for the dream home, just something we're comfortable in that's relatively hassle free, that we hopefully won't throw money away on (like renting). The loan paperwork hasn't gone through yet, so no moves on it yet.

I've been a web searching fool lately, trying to find ways to make a small space doable. Apartment Therapy has me convinced that smaller is better and offers a lot of super fun ideas for small spaces. I've pretty much bookmarked every. single. thing.



I have also found a new little gem in south austin. **INSERT LOVE OF SOUTH AUSTIN HERE** Sugar Mama's Bakeshop!! Most of you know that I worked at a bakery all through high school, and I miss those days terribly! I don't think I have had another job to this date that has been more gratifying or immediately satisfying. Do an amazing lattice top for a cherry pie and BAM 45 minutes later, there it is, in all of it's perfectly golden-brown and sugary-glistening glory. This little shop down the street is amazing, baking everything from scratch daily, with vegan options and some pretty outrageous daily specials. It's old fashioned and small. Totally adorable.

And for those of you bride to beeeees! Here's a website offering a few eco-friendly kitchen options. I know there are A LOT of sites out there, and that you can't stock your entire kitchen, but I wish I had been more eco-conscious when registering for all of my gadgets.

AND, I want to make this. Who will help me?

Craziest. 2 weeks.

EVER.

We did a lot of driving the last couple weeks or so between Austin and Houston, going home to spend time with his family and attend his grandmother's funeral. After going over his speech with his older brother, Ed decided he would not be able to speak. Chris offered to do it, so he did his own speech and then read what Ed had written. It was perfect. All of the boys had a breakdown or two. She was such a beautiful woman, the matriarch of the Buck clan, and she held that family together in such a beautiful way. I've never been close to my extended family, but they've pulled me close since I was 15, and she was always what I thought a grandmother should be. His grandfather lost the love of his life, after being together from the time she was 16 until she died at age 77. They had a slide show of pictures with her during her service, and they ended it with pictures from our wedding, the very last picture being the one I posted in my last blog. Totally lost it.

We missed a lot of class/work and have been making up for it, Ed working doubles and having to make up stuff he missed in summer school, and me pulling double shifts in the lab AND at Dr. Sherry's. We weren't going to be able to go home for Father's Day, so my family decided to come here. Great...but...we had NO time to see them. We were able to go to dinner with them last night and I took them to a bakery today when I had a lunch break, but that was about it. David is going through a rough patch again, so they really came to see him I think, but still. Exhausting.

We spent 2.5 hours with the lender on Wednesday signing paperwork so they can just START looking into what sort of loan we can get. We go to look at condos with the realtor on Thursday? Wednesday? My days are running together.

What is this I hear about a bachelorette party? Ed has some friends flying in some time in July..so let me know! I need to write these things down :)

Betty Buck

Betty Joyce Williams Buck passed away on Saturday morning. They called us on Thursday, we drove to Tomball on Friday, back to Austin on Saturday, and we'll drive back to Tomball tomorrow afternoon for the funeral on Tuesday morning. They've asked Ed to speak at it.

I'll write more later.

Abbi and Joseph Justiss

Abbi was one of my roommates freshman year. Her and Joseph met in French class and have been dating as long as Ed and I, and their dating anniversary was right near ours..and now their wedding anniversary will be too :) I think it is appropriate that they met in French class and will be honeymooning exploring the French countryside :)

The wedding took place at Vintage Villas on Sunday morning at 10:30am. The. weather. was. gorgeous. Perfectly sunny with a cool breeze. I have put pictures on facebook, but really I write because I was so impressed by all of the personal touches that Abbi and Joseph added to their wedding to make it special. I think it can be easy to lose yourself in a wedding venue that churns out several weddings a week and was so happy to see that they were able to make it their special day.

Abbi has been a fan..maybe a fanatic..of Tiffany's since the day I met her. Both her engagement ring and wedding band are Tiffany's..and I don't think anyone was surprised when she chose Tiffany blue as one of her colors. And pink :)

The gifts were sugar cookie Tiffany boxes that Abbi and her aunt made. Abbi also made the numbers for the tables and all of the little doo-dads that tell you which table you are supposed to sit at. Instead of a guest book, Abbi designed several scrapbook pages for her guests to sign that she will put in to her wedding scrapbook. She has become QUITE the scrapbooker in recent years :) Bridal and engagement photos shot by her uncle were located on several tables near the entrance and on the table with the scrapbook pages.



There were pink margaritas. Pink lemonade. Pink cake. Pink flowers..that little girls ended up passing out at the end. I don't think this was planned..but Abbi didn't seem to care.

After Abbi and Joseph's first dance, to 'Lucky I'm in Love,' a couple of her friends gave a dance lesson to the rest of the guests. It was quite fun and encouraged everyone out on to the dance floor. Ed was unable to go, so I had the pleasure of dancing with Abbi's younger brother. He MIGHT have been as tall as my shoulders when I met him years ago. Now he's taller than I am :)

Abbi and Joseph are little food connoisseurs ..always exploring new cheeses, wines, coffees, etc. Part of the spread included a mountain of alllll different kinds of cheeses for everyone to try. Joseph also roasted his own batch of coffee beans to be ground and served that morning for their guests. I LOVED this. It always makes me smile to see the groom add his own touch as well.

And Abbi wore red shoes :) At one point she came by Carra and I and said, "I did you proud!" ..and yes, she did!

I love you Abbi darling! I hope your trip to France is everything you dreamed it would be. I still remember talking with you when you were an education major, about how you knew you wanted to be a doctor one day. I'm so proud of you for going after that. Best wishes for med school this fall!