Valentine's Day

I meant to write about what Justin and I did for Valentine's Day last week and never got around to it. Justin makes fun of the day as just a Hallmark day, which I do agree with, but it's still nice to use it as an excuse for a date out. Also, as this is Hannah's birthday and she was in town for the weekend, we had her to celebrate too. I made her cupcakes and had her blow out her candles on Saturday (Justin couldn't wait any longer to eat a cupcake). Then on Sunday, the 3 of us went to a dance lesson at the same studio I do my yoga class at (and the same instructor). It was only 1 hour and she taught us the basic steps to the waltz, tango, and salsa. Unfortunately for Hannah, she had to partner with a couple of different random guys, and one of them was fat, old and creepy. He looked like a toad and was just dripping in sweat. I really felt bad for her when she had to do the tango with him. But overall we had fun - at least Hannah and I did. I know Justin only did it to make me happy (that's love right there) and I told him just doing that with me was enough of a Valentine's Day gift for me. Between Justin and me, we have 4 left feet, so don't expect a breakout performance at the next wedding we attend.
After the class, Hannah had to get on the road back to College Station and Justin and I went to an early dinner at a little Italian restaurant. From there it was home and getting ready for work on Monday, but I thought it was a great Valentine's Day!

Interior Decorations

I hate hanging things on the wall. All through college and in my Dallas apartment, I never put anything up on the walls. And it's not that I just hate the act of hanging decorations, but I never really had anything to hang up (because I didn't want to hang it). It's not that I don't like anything on the walls either; I love going in other people's houses that are all decorated and have pictures and artwork up. But I have a hard time spending my money on something that has no useful value other than being something pretty to look at. A $100 piece of artwork or a couple pairs of jeans? A $20 picture frame or a new pair of shoes? I just could never justify to myself spending the money when there were other things I wanted more (and could use). Also, I watch HGTV religiously, so I have so many ideas to pick from that when I walk into a decorating store, I am overwhelmed and don't know where to begin. Then I just can't decide what I want so I don't buy anything.
So when we moved into our nice big house, I had nothing to decorate with. And it really bugs Justin. I can live with it, I have for years. But he grew up with an interior designer for a mother, so he's used to things being up on the walls and houses being decorated.
Justin's always bugging me about why I haven't "girlified" the house yet. I did buy a picture back in July to put above the fireplace, and in the fall bought 2 metal scroll candleholders he hung in the dining room for me. But that's been it. There are no pictures out of the two of us because I have never bought picture frames either. It started to change this past Valentine's weekend when I enlisted my sister to go with me to a few decorating stores and get her opinion on things. I alsotold Justin he couldn't bitch about how much I spent because he's been bugging me for over a year to do something and he agreed that was fair. He knows I hate spending money and am wise when I do, so it's not like I went crazy - I got some stuff on sale and when I used Gelea's business name at one store, I got a discount. :)
After my weekend spree, I ended up with 2 floating shelves and 5 picture frames (and then Hannah bought me 3 small ones) to put on the shelves. Then I bought 3 pieces of artwork. One for the guest bathroom, one for my craft room, and one for our bedroom. And Justin hung everything for me on Sunday. I'm just waiting on the pictures I ordered to finish putting those in the frames and that will be complete. There is definitely still some work to be done, but I think I have in mind what I want now, so now it's just a matter of finding it at a price I will pay!

Bella in the Snow

Again, I found these pictures I took the first weekend in December when it snowed. I like how just the weekend before Justin was in shorts. Bella wasn't too sure about it at first but quickly started to play and try to eat the snow.

I don't know about this, mom. My butt is cold.

Can I eat it?

Ok, I'm done playing and ready to go in now. It's cold out here!

Christmas Decorations - Late

I was just going through our pictures loaded on the computer and realized I never posted our outside Christmas decorations! I made sure we took pictures that day just so I could blog about it and then completely forgot! So, here are pictures of the decorations we did for Christmas 2009:

Justin put up my lights one by one so they would all be in perfect alignment (400 total lights). We lined around the entire house, even borrowing our neighbors extension ladder to get the front peaks. (I love TX weather - note the shorts and t-shirt) It probably took a good 6 hours:

My candy cane lights line the walkway:

And the finishing touch are these huge ornaments from Home Depot to hang in our tree:

I guess this is better late than never!

Hot Yoga

Need I say more? For Christmas I received a pack of 5 classes to yourbodycenter.com. This place has yoga, pilates, even belly dancing classes. However, they offer several classes that are in a heated room, hence Hot Yoga. And by heated I'm talking 120 degrees, plus humidity machines. This is not for the faint of heart. The first time I went, Hannah came with me. She had to step out of the room after about 10 minutes because she was on the verge of passing out. Actually, very few people remain for the entire class (it's 90 minutes long) or they take breaks by just sitting out on a few poses. I have stayed the entire time for all the classes I have gone to but I do have to take breaks and rest sometimes. The instructors say even if you come and only sit on the mat the entire time, it's better than constantly going in and out of the room. They say your body needs to adjust to the heat, even if you can't do any of the moves while you're there. It truly is a fun way to exercise and I feel so good and sweaty when I'm done, but I wouldn't necessary recommend this to a beginner. (I have gone to a handful of regular yoga classes before.) But do not eat within a few hours of the class and drink lots of water if you ever want to attempt this!

Rachel's Celebrity Look-A-Like

I get told almost on a daily basis that I look like Julia Stiles. Everytime I meet somebody new, that is almost the first thing out of their mouth: "Hey, you look like that girl from the Bourne Identity, what's her name?" or "You look like that chick from that dancing movie (Save the Last Dance)". I have even received discounts at a Taco Cabana and a Subway because the guy working the counter thought I looked so much like her. I can kinda see it, but it amazes me that so many people have said it to me. One time, I took a picture of her in to get my haircut similarly, and the hairdresser thought the picture was actually me. So, I thought I would post a couple of pics of me and her to see what y'all think.

I can really see the similarity of me in this one:

This is the picture I took with me to get my hair cut:

TYOT Party Pics

The boat:

Our dinner table:

Cruising the Kemah boardwalk:

Justin playing some Hold 'Em with me there to support him:

The camera I won and the CEO of Triad:

Playing Wheel of Fortune:

Our "James Bond at the Casino" pose:

The cute couple: