March 2014 Round-up

Since today is March 31, it's time for my monthly round-up. Here are some of the highlights of the past month:

• Spending the first full weekend of the month at home in Henderson. It was dreary outside most of the time, but I enjoyed celebrating Dad's birthday with the whole family.
• Gaining an extra hour of daylight in the evening. It's amazing how such a small thing can make such a big difference in my mood.
• Renewing my library card and checking out two books while I was there. I love free books!
• Going out for brunch with my officemates.
• Learning how to use my Silhouette as I worked on my Europe scrapbook.
• Seeing 20/20 from both eyes at my most recent eye doctor appointment.
• Cheering for UT (and SFA!) in the NCAA Tournament.
• Seeing wildflowers everywhere.
• Driving over to Warrenton this past weekend to shop with Mom and her friends.
• Waking up early to watch the World Championships from Japan last week. It's been a long figure skating season, but it's still hard to believe it's over.

Books I read: Gilead (Marilynne Robinson); The Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Pride and Prejudice Novel (Pamela Mingle); Palisades Park (Alan Brennert)

Movies I watched: Frozen, Veronica Mars, Midnight in Paris (DVD)

TV: Castle, Parenthood, Grey's Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, Call the Midwife, NCAA Tournament, World Figure Skating Championships, American Cup

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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.

Currently...

Counting down the days until Mom and I leave for Europe (only 15 after today).

Reading Palisades Park by Alan Brennert.

Looking forward to the World Figure Skating Championships next week.

Singing along to my two favorite songs of the moment: "Happy" (Pharrell) and "Let It Go" (Idina Menzel).

Enjoying learning more about my Silhouette Cameo (I finally was brave enough to try it last weekend).

Planning to see the new Veronica Mars movie tomorrow after work.

Getting into March Madness — so far, my bracket is doing pretty well.

Celebrating that I have internet access again after having to replace my modem earlier this week.

Going on 11 straight days of making 10,000+ steps.

Loving that tomorrow is finally Friday!

Home

This past weekend I traveled up to Henderson to celebrate my dad's 75th birthday. It was rainy and dreary most of the time, and some of our plans (including Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden) fell through. But oh, it was nice to be home, even if it was for less than 48 hours.


The sky was magic.


The birthday cake was oh-so-appropriate (and yummy too).


Parker was friendly.


And the first Brown family selfie was, in a word, epic.

Dorothy was right; there's no place like home.

February 2014 Round-up

Happy Hump Day! I hope the beginning of March has been treating all of you well. It's time for my February round-up; here are some of the highlights from the last month:

• Spending the first weekend in the month with my family. We went to the UT-Kansas basketball game on Saturday, and the Longhorns upset the Jayhawks!
• Watching the Winter Olympics. The highlight was Davis & White's victory in the ice dance competition.
• Playing "Hymn of Promise" with the bell choir at church one Sunday.
• Receiving my figure skating photo book in the mail. It cheered me up a little bit while I was feeling so sick.
• Doing some trip research one Saturday afternoon at Qdoba. I can't believe Mom and I leave for Paris a month from today!
• Having Esther come down to Austin toward the end of the month. She stayed with me one night, and we went out to eat two nights.
• Enjoying a pedicure on the last day of the month. It's so nice to have pretty toes and soft feet.

And a few lowlights:

• Being sick
• Dealing with crazy neighbors
• Staying super busy at work during what used to be our "slow time"

Books I read: Unfortunately, I didn't finish a single book this month. Between being sick, watching the Olympics, and having trouble finding an engaging book, it was not a good reading month for me.

Movies I watched: The Gabby Douglas Story on Lifetime (it was also not a good month for movies)

TV: Winter Olympics (especially the figure skating on NBCSN), Downton Abbey, UT basketball

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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.