Bluebonnets + Blue Bell: Long Time, No Post.

Wow. What a blogging hiatus, huh? Completely unintentional - just busy, so, so busy, with life right now! What have we been up to since I last posted at the end of May? Since I am completely lacking pictures from anything, I'll just list...

Visited Arkansas to meet baby Lauren! This included Sawyer's first airplane flight, a curvy drive from Branson, MO to Bella Vista, AR, some kayaking, some eating and lots of baby snuggles. And a lot of disciplining. Two years old is rough.

Celebrated our friend Kevin's 30th birthday with a weekend (child-less!) at Jamaica Beach near Galveston. The beach and water were disgusting, but the company was perfection. We had a blast!

The week before our beach weekend was my last week with my company downtown. I got a great job offer to join a much larger operator and back to doing offshore regulatory, which is where I started my career. I celebrated my job change with a weekend at the beach, then a week off from work, and a weekend in Kansas City, MO with friends, then got back to work that Monday after. Such a nice break!

As I said, I also spent a weekend in Kansas City, MO with Pam and Adrienne, who moved there with her husband from NYC. Adrienne's husband was working in Italy for a month (doesn't that sound awful?), so we planned a trip up there to keep her company! (Unfortunately I double booked my weekends and missed Jeremy's cousin's wedding - so sad! But Jeremy was able to go and represent our family appropriately.) We had so much fun in KC - I had no idea how beautiful it is there. The homes are all gorgeous and so unique, and the shopping and eating wasn't bad either.

After that weekend I started my new job! It's taken 3 or 4 weeks to feel like part of the team, but I am really enjoying who I work with, and re-learning about offshore operations. I've been doing a lot of training and learning - I even took a Water Survival/Helicopter Underwater Egress Training (HUET) class in hopes of traveling offshore at some point!

Our weekends have been completely packed with plans, even though I didn't think our summer would be busy! Starting last weekend we are entering a string of busy weekends celebrating more birthdays, going-away parties, and lots of wedding festivities for Sarah. Last weekend we surprised our friend Sean with a dinner - he just moved to San Diego last week to start law school; I took a French macaron class with Emily; and we went to one last house party for our friends before they move to the Woodlands, also known as "South Dallas." I went to Sarah's bachelorette party, which was a blast downtown, and Jeremy went to Sean's "official" going-away party, and we celebrated Emily's 30th and Jeremy 30-something-th birthday! This weekend I'll be seeing some of my mom's family in town from Austin, doing more birthday celebrations with Jeremy, going to a baby shower in Clear Lake, and the following weekend is the big couples shower we are hosting for Sarah and Huynh!

Hopefully I can do true recaps of all these fun events soon!

We've been having a blast with Sawyer on the weekends and in the evenings, in between some dramatic, tear-filled moments that come with being almost two and a half. Sawyer is beginning to be very opinionated and borderline bossy (he says things like "Come on!" and "Follow me!" and "Sit right here" a lot lately!). But it is fun being able to generally communicate pretty well with him. We found a community pool a few blocks from our house and have been spending time there on the weekends, though Jeremy is making it a habit to swim laps there 2-3 times a week. We have actually both been making a concerted effort to eat healthier (mama only cooks baked chicken, green veggies, and sandwiches - for Sawyer! - these days) and to work out 5 times a week if we can. It sometimes feels impossible to find the time, but Jeremy makes it easy for me to find time away in the evenings since his schedule is less crazy than normal. I have been working out with a trainer twice a week for over a month now, and trying to run 3 times a week. Don't get too excited - it's not making a huge difference yet, but I am proud of choosing running or going to see my trainer over watching TV or being lazy at home (which sounds awesome right about now, but it does always feel good to complete a workout). Jeremy has been very disciplined also, probably more so than me, but he's a great support and accountability partner to have at home.

What else? I guess that's mainly what you've missed with us. Not too exciting, but it explains why when I finally finish working, working out, and prepping for the next day, all I have time to do is shower and get in bed to start it all over the next day!

Happy summer, peeps!

Okay, okay, a few cute summer iPhone pics: