banks' christmas sweater

I bought Banks a Christmas sweater from the dollar spot at Target. Cats don't understand sweaters.

But he looks so cute!

holiday braided scarf DIY

I realize I may be jumping the gun a little with this one. It's not so much of a holiday scarf as it is a Christmas scarf and we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet, but I saw this super cute (and easy) braided scarf tutorial and had to try it out. I've had my eye on this snowflake/reindeer knit at JoAnn's for a while and have restrained myself while wearing shorts and flip-flops. The weather is very confusing here in Texas. 

Anyway, fun and easy tutorial complete with a video in case the "braiding" part get's confusing. 

october mash-up

Remember when I said that October was going to be obnoxiously crazy? Well, it was. Crazy good and bad. My iPhone camera roll tells it best. 

The first weekend in October, I was in Dallas for a recruiting event and to watch the Ags play Arkansas. Rhett works in Ft. Worth-ish, so he met me there just in time for the Aggies to break our little hearts.

While at the recruiting event, Dr. Loftin, the PRESIDENT of Texas A&M University, stopped by (bow-tie and all) my booth and posed for a pic in front of the over-sized heads on our College of Geoscience backdrop. 

Reveille was there, too. She is so precious and well behaved. In case you are wondering, she is just mild mannered, not on drugs. I asked.

The following week, Rhett and I headed up to Minneapolis, MN for a few days. Rhett had already put in for vacation time over my birthday weekend (how sweet :) :) ) when I found out I had to go to a geological conference that exact week. He is super flexible. I was less than thrilled about going at first, but when I called him all he said was "BOOK IT!" He wasn't feeling 100%, but you'd never know. Always relaxed and having fun. The weather was gorgeous and downtown Minneapolis is incredibly clean and beautiful.

We ate at fun places like The Local, Hell's Kitchen, and Cafe 128.

Did I mention my birthday gift came in a baby blue box?? :) You can just barely see it on my right arm in the pic. Love it! Love him :) and I actually loved Minneapolis as well. Too bad we were a few weeks early or we might have seen a heartbroken Kris Humphries moping around town. Too soon?

Just a few days after returning to College Station, iGeo began! iGeo is a weekend program hosted by the College of Geosciences for HS students interested in our degree programs. It's three days jam packed with awesome stuff. Needless to say, I was mostly fried before it started (the kids had  already given me 4 strikes by dinner on the first day!) and I was totally done for after it was over. 

October was not the time for resting, though! Literally the last day of iGeo, I packed up early and headed to the Guadalulpe Mountains with my Carbonate Rocks class. I did not take the above pic. I stole it from a classmate. Pretty cool, right?? The trip was actually pretty good. The weather was gorgeous and the outcrops were spectacular. 

How much do you love this blue house? The story goes, way back when (think late 1800's) this guy falls head over heals for a true city girl. She marries him and everything is great. He thinks he is pretty suave and buys a really awesome piece of land in NM (above). He builds her this adorable house and brings her out to enjoy a breath of fresh air and a new life together. Homegirl stays one night and packs her bags. Thankfully she gave him the option to join her and he took it. His brother, sister-in-law and their toddler moved in and raised cattle on the land for a few years before a drought hit and forced them away. Pretty neat story, huh? I should mention that we drove an hour on a dirt/large rock covered road to get here leaving us with our second flat tire of the trip. I might be able to see where she was coming from, but one night??

Banks stayed at my parents house for a good bit of October, and though he is particularly fond of their yorkie, Reggie, he was happy to be back at our apartment and so was I.

[most pics taken with the Camera+ app. LOVE]

Happy November! I am so enjoying my boots :)