Lately

Once again, a month has gone by and I have neglected to post.  In the past couple of months, I've....

1. Moved across the world
2. Flew to San Francisco for a dear friend's wedding
3. Had my sister come out to visit
4. Signed a lease and moved into a permanent apartment
5. Took a trip out to Austin to spend time with family for the Fourth of July
6. Unpacked all of my junk

I have to be honest, I'm sort of glad I don't have any trips planned for awhile and get some time to just relax at home.  Moving is stressful and tiring, no matter how small or straightforward the move is.  But I will say, this is probably the easiest move I've done since I'm already somewhat familiar with Houston.  Moving is not my favorite thing to do, but I do enjoy living in new places and experiencing new things.

So, here are a few pictures of what's been going on lately:

One of my college roommates got married at Half Moon Bay near San Francisco.  It was a beautiful wedding!  I was debating whether or not to go for awhile because it was less than a week after we made our big move back to the states, but I'm so glad I got to go.  I got to spend some quality time with her and one of our other roommates...really made me miss the good old days.  It's hard for me to believe that we are all grown up and married now.  I think in my mind, college friends will remain in that stage of life forever :-)  It's also amazes me that no matter how far apart we are, or how long we've gone without seeing each other, when we get together, it's like no time has passed at all.

Walking down the aisle - isn't she gorgeous??

Ring exchange

                 

This was one of the funniest moments of the wedding.  My friend, J, who is deathly afraid of all insects, decided to release a box of butterflies at the end of the ceremony.  She basically hid behind her husband while the butterflies clung to the box, stubbornly refusing to fly away.  When he finally got the butterflies to fly, one of them flew straight into a lady's face who was sitting in the front row.

The new Mr. and Mrs. C!

They had a blackjack table during the cocktail hour where you could win some raffle tickets, it was pretty awesome.  I lost all my money...haha.

Before the big introduction

The new couple!

Me and my wonderful friends.  I love these girls!

Re-posing an old photo - 8 years later (did I really just say EIGHT??) still looking good :-)

Moving on, here are some pictures of my sister's visit to Houston:

I took her on a cruise around the Port of Houston.  It wasn't the most beautiful cruise I've been on, but it was  still pretty interesting, and the best part was, it was FREE!  They even offered a soda for everyone on board.  Pretty neat.

Here we are, having a fun time along the Port of Houston.

Being 14 years younger than me, I have a pretty interesting relationship with my sister.  I think of myself as her mini-mom, which according to her, can be a good or bad thing.  I'm obviously less strict than my mom would be, but probably boss her around more than she prefers.  I love watching her grow and develop her own personality.  Since I've played a big role in her life, it's funny when I see her exhibit traits and tendencies similar to mine....like acting crazy, or being inexplicably drawn to movies with dancing or any type of group choreography.  We're really similar in many ways, but different in others.  I can't believe she's 16 already!  She'll be driving in another year....yikes! I think I will always see her as my baby sister....even when she's 30.  There are just some things that never change.

        

Acting kooky

Don't think she's the only who acts kooky.  We sailed by some contraptions that look like "The Claw" the little green men from Toy Story worship.  Of course I couldn't resist doing my own imitation of "The Claaaaww"



We also took a trip down to NASA to check out the space center.  In all my time in Houston, we've never visited it before.  I'm glad we finally got a chance to do it!

Waiting in the blazing hot heat for the tram tour.

I hate that this picture is ruined by a little smudge on my lens...

Where the astronauts train in mock-ups of their shuttles

Me, Andy, the Saturn V shuttle and rocket, and the back of some kid's head.  Photo credit: my sis.

So, there you have it.  That's what I've been doing in the past couple of months.....that and unpacking like a mad woman.  The doc gave me some new drugs at a really opportune time.  They've given me a burst of energy the past week, which has resulted in the fastest unpack I've ever done!  Now I can relax in my organized apartment and, the most exciting part, begin sewing again!  It's been nearly 3 months since I last touched a sewing machine. *Gasp!*  Today marks my return to sewing - I'm so excited!