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!