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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!

what happens in vegas..

stays in vegas! we had such a great time. that place is absolutely RIDICULOUS and we are both EXHAUSTED. i don't know that i'll ever recover, sigh (please imagine your most dramatic, southern woman sigh inserted here). and, no joke, my FEET are so swollen from walking around that whole place that i've had to sleep with my feet propped up for the past couple nights!

i didn't find out where we were going until we got to the airport and the woman at the desk asked ed where our final destination was. he tried so hard to whisper las vegas to her, but i heard it! and yelped in excitement. she realized that she had spoiled a surprise and felt very bad, but there were more surprises to come!

i didn't find out the hotel we were in until ed told the cab driver. Planet Hollywood! That place is so fun..much newer and younger? hipper? than some of the other places. PS Heather- That's where the guys should stay if they go!


We did a lot of sight seeing..which led to a lot of feelings of guilt about how absolutely ridiculous and wasteful that entire city is. if i was going to take out a city..that might be it. it's hard to imagine how much time and attention was paid to each and every detail of every place, though. ridiculous.

ed won a little money in the poker rooms, and i lost a little on the slots. we jointly lost a nice chunk at the black jack tables in hollywood's Pleasure Pit. f black jack.

we saw a cirque du soleil show! KA at the MGM. It was so fabulous, I loved the aerial acrobatics. I wish Ed and I could do that together. It looked like so much fun.

we ate some yummy food and had a lot of yummy drinks (BEST mojito EVER..with mashed strawberries and blueberries added, YUM). those people just keep bringing you free drinks while you're playing, and who am i to turn them down :) they're taking my money, aren't they?

it was a fabulous trip, but we're happy to be home!

ed finished up his mini mester today, and I got some really good news! Maybe only Ivy can appreciate this, but Dr. Neff, who I am now and will be working with in the fall, just had an NSF grant come through (600K!)! It's a 3 year grant, and I'll be getting a few perks with it! I will have SUMMER FUNDING FOR 3 YEARS AND GET TO BE AN RA- NO TAing FOR ME!! At least not until later when I'll need to squeeze in a semester or so :) And this will be data that I'll be able to publish with for the first 10 or so years of my career. It's a huge undertaking and I'm going to be working my ass off, but I'm super excited about it.

and abbi and joseph are getting married on sunday!



yay life :)

surprise!

ed planned a surprise trip for our anniversary!

on tuesday he asks me if i want to know a secret. of course, i say! the secret is, i'm going to tell you a secret on sunday! ..sigh. sunday rolls around and all he'll tell me is that i need to pack for 3 days, we're going on a vacation! happy anniversary!

i'm super excited, and he's taken care of everything. love him.
____________________________________________________

April: I feel like we just got married yesterday.
Ed: Must have been a loooong day.

:)