July 2013 Round-up

Happy last day of July! I feel like I say this every month, but July really did fly by. Here are some of my highlights from the month:

• I spent the July 4th holidays at home with my family in Henderson. We enjoyed our time at the farm on the 4th, especially the afternoon rain shower. While I was home, I also attended The Foreigner at the Texas Shakespeare Festival, spent some time with Paul in Tyler, walked Max on Saturday morning, and ate S'mores made in the microwave.
• Walking, walking, walking. I've enjoyed taking walks around the apartment complex almost every evening.
• I loved traveling down to San Antonio one weekend this month. I visited the Missions as well as the Museum of Art. The next day I went to the outlets in San Marcos and spent some time in South Austin before driving home.
• It's been fun to continue reading the Anne books this month. I only have one and a half more to go!
• Glorious rain. We've had a wonderfully wet July in Austin. Hopefully it will continue into August.
• Last week I was guilty of being on Royal Baby Watch. Welcome to the world, Prince George! (A much better name than Spencer...yuck!)
• July has been a month for (sometimes odd) wildlife sightings. Over the course of this month, I've seen several bunnies, a lizard, field mice, a stray cow in the Target parking lot, and raccoons around the apartment dumpster.

Books I read: Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, and Anne's House of Dreams (L.M. Montgomery); Austenland (Shannon Hale)

Movies I watched: The Great Gatsby (1974), Mamma Mia (both DVD)

TV: Gilmore Girls (Season 2 & 7 DVDs), Duck Dynasty (Paul showed me an episode while I was home); I occasionally watched some HGTV or a random episode of The Big Bang Theory or Castle, but this July was not a big TV month for me.

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About My Monthly Round-Ups
At the end of each month, I take a look back and write a post about the month's highlights, as well as what I read and watched. To see all of my round-up posts, visit this page.

For the love of sunsets

I love a good sunset. There's just something so magical about seeing the sky put on an amazing, colorful show for a brief time each evening. Over the years, I've captured many beautiful sunsets on camera. Everywhere from Italy...

Project 365 | Week 30

Good Sunday evening! I hope all of you had a nice weekend. Mine was more relaxing than I originally anticipated, but it was probably exactly what I needed before heading into this next week.

Here are my pictures for Week 30:

203/365: Summer memories (taken using my Instax camera)

Weekend in San Antonio

Mission Concepción

Last weekend I drove down to San Antonio. I've always enjoyed visiting the city, but I usually only make it the Alamo, the River Walk, and a few other sites. For this trip, I decided to focus on some of the less-touristy areas. The Missions and the Museum of Art aren't exactly off the beaten track, but they were definitely less crowded than the more well-known San Antonio sites.

Friday Finds

Yay for the end of another week! I can't believe this is the last weekend in July — it seems like just yesterday I was driving home to Henderson to celebrate Independence Day. I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend. Hope all of you have something fun planned!

Things that caught my eye this week...

Antiques of Highclere Castle

I'm going to miss this sweet show.

Dog saves kitten from a ravine 

9 great travel guidebooks

Memory suitcases

Project 365 | Week 29

It's hard to believe another work week is about to begin. Yesterday morning I drove over to San Antonio for the weekend and enjoyed visiting the San Antonio Missions and the Museum of Art. Today I drove back to Austin after a brief stop at Trader Joe's (I love their salsa) and the outlets in San Marcos. It was a full weekend, but I'm happy I broke out of my normal routine for a little while.

Here are my pictures for Week 29:

196/365: A rainy start to the week

Friday Finds

Once again, Friday is here. Just a few more hours and we can enjoy the weekend! I've loved the weather this week. It rained earlier in the week, and today was bright and sunny but still cool for Texas in July. My evening walks have been quite pleasant, even if I had to walk through a few sprinkles on Tuesday.

This weekend I'm planning to head down to San Antonio to explore. Before I go, here are a few things that caught my eye this week:

Be a traveler, not a tourist

Parenting in Norway (interesting, mostly because I learned that kindergarten means "children's garden" in German)

Michelle Kwan: 5 tips for staying fit and healthy (of course)

50 places every literary fan should visit 

A road trip through Louisiana (I've been to most of the places the writer mentions)

Still one of my favorite Internet finds (warning: there is some bad language)

And my favorite quote of the week:

"I never said the Methodists hadn't common sense, Captain. What I say is, I doubt if they have much religion." — L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

Project 365 | Week 28

Another weekend has come to an end. The last two days have been nice — I didn't do anything terribly exciting, but I enjoyed the chance to relax around home and work on some projects I've been putting off. I'm hoping to start the next week off inspired and ready to capture some interesting pictures.

My favorite picture this week is the one I took on Saturday. I took it during my evening walk once I noticed the horses were right next to the fence. I had to hold my phone over my head and the fence and just snap. Considering that I was shooting blind, I'm pleased with what I got (I edited the picture using the PicTapGo app on my iPhone).

189/365: Grapefruit

Memories of the 4th

What I want to remember from my 4th of July holidays...



Continuing the Brown 4th of July tradition at the farm — cooking hamburgers, making homemade ice cream, working on the jigsaw puzzle, being together.

Watching the rain stream down as we sat on the screened-in porch.

Laughing with Mom while we watched The Foreigner at the Texas Shakespeare Festival.

Taking a walk with Paul and Max on Saturday morning.

Eating s'mores baked in the microwave.

Meeting Parker's neighborhood buddy, Stella....pardon me, Pete.

Walking uptown on Wednesday evening with Mom and Dad.

Experiencing my first episode of Duck Dynasty when I stayed with Paul on Friday night.

Attempting to put Sammy in his carrier for the journey home.

Seeing the double rainbow on my way home on Sunday.

Friday Finds

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope all of you are as excited for the weekend as I am. This past week, well, it's been a week, if you know what I mean. I don't know how or why I attract the crazies, but apparently, I do. At least one of my clients willingly admits to having multiple personalities and promises to have a meeting with them all soon (this is a true story).

Anyway...here are my finds for this Friday.

Driving the Lincoln Highway

RIP, Albino Squirrel

100 best first lines from novels

Colorful outdoor project

A very good dog

10 DIY wall art ideas

Wonder if Sammy would be up for wearing a Fitbit?



Probably not.

I hope all of you have a splendid weekend!

Project 365 | Week 27

With my picture on July 1, I reached the halfway point of this project. It's all downhill from here! It was quite a week to achieve this milestone as I said goodbye to a fabulous co-worker and spent lots of time with my family over the holidays.

182/365: Wearing my Keds on an errand to Costco

Friday Finds

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm spending the night with my brother in Tyler, so I just have a few finds for the week. I hope all of you had a nice 4th of July yesterday. We enjoyed cooler weather at the farm, including a short rain shower.

Cute bunnies

Weird ice cream flavors (lobster, anyone?)

51 U.S. Attractions (one for every state and the District of Columbia)

A neat DIY project

June 2013 Round-up

Can June really be over already? It seems like just yesterday I was looking forward to visiting Louisiana, and now the trip and the wedding are pleasant memories. June had its highs and lows and definitely came to a crashing end (more on that later).

• The highlight of the month was visiting Louisiana for my cousin Maegan's wedding. Over the three days I spent in Louisiana, I helped host the bridal luncheon, spent lots of time with family, fit in some sightseeing, and of course, attended Maegan and Adam's wedding on Saturday evening. It's hard to believe it's almost been a month since I was there!
• This month I also participated in a walking challenge at work. I teamed up with the two other writers in Austin and our senior writer. Even though I destroyed my first two pedometers, I've enjoyed pushing myself to walk more each day. I was doing pretty well until I fell and skinned my knee on my evening stair-run on Sunday. (This was the crash I mentioned earlier.)
• I was very invested in the NBA Finals this year since the Spurs were playing. Many nights were spent pacing my living room floor as I willed the Spurs to pull out another nailbiter. Even though they came up short in the end, I was so proud of how they played.
• I think I'm developing a green thumb. I bought a new houseplant earlier in the month and added several succulents to my collection last week. Hopefully these new plants will survive both the sun and Sammy's curiosity.
• The busy season has certainly returned at work. I worked late several times in June, but at least there hasn't been any weekend time yet.
• I finally began rereading the Anne of Green Gables books, one of my goals from earlier this year. I finished Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea and started Anne of the Island this month.

Books I read: The Rhythm of Memory (Alyson Richman), Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea (L.M. Montgomery)

Movies I watched: Much Ado About Nothing, The Help (DVD)

TV: Mr. Selfridge, Call the Midwife (Season 1 DVD), NBA Finals, The Bletchley Circle, Gilmore Girls (Season 2 DVD)

The family before the wedding

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About My Monthly Round-Ups
At the end of each month, I take a look back and write a post about the month's highlights, as well as what I read and watched. To see all of my round-up posts, visit this page.