Freshly Addicted to Pinterest

I downloaded the Pinterest app onto my phone and now I can't get enough of it.  I don't know why I never found it interesting enough to sit at a computer and browse through.  But now that I can look through random stuff at random times, I love it!  The only problem is it has shown me tons of stuff I would like to make, but don't have the time or money to do.  Someday, right?  Here are a few examples:

Curtains for the guest bedroom; but I want mine in white, grey and yellow.

Simple baby quilt

I am really not a fan of giant headbands on babies.  (Why distract from the beauty of a baby?)  But I do LOVE these simple ones.  Click on the photo above to be linked to a How-To page.  They are functional (whenever Mila finally gets hair - I'm sure she'll be born bald) and they look comfortable.  I have a super sensitive head so I hate most headbands.  But I think even I would wear these.

New Hobby

Sorry I haven't been good about posting lately.  I'm a little addicted to my new iPhone (Christmas gift from Travis), which means I've been reading and playing games more than thinking about what I can write on here.  Seriously, that thing is taking over my life.  I need the awesomeness to wear off a little so I can pay more attention to my life. 

Travis' dad Curt came into town last night.  He's a trucker and needed to take a break from the road, so he is taking it at our house.  He took us up to his truck last night so Aiden could see it up close.  Sadly, he was too afraid to go in the cab.  I stood in the door with him in my arms, but he was still freaked out by it.  So we got out and inspected the exterior of the giant vehicle up close.  Aiden loved that part.

Travis, Curt and I were lost in conversation at one point and I could tell Aiden was getting bored because he kept trying to talk to me.  To distract him, I handed him a rock and told him to go throw it in a giant puddle near where we were standing.  He just thought that was an amazing thing.  Kept him busy long past the end of our conversation.  Finally, we had to pry him and his muddy hands away from the water to go home for dinner. 

Travis grilled out beef for fajitas that night.  We had made plans to do this the day before and had no idea there was a 100% chance of thunderstorms for the majority of the day.  I think we were lucky the rain stopped for us to make dinner!  The flooding was horrible, but thankfully no tornadoes hit our house.

We stayed up late for the second night in a row.  The night before we spent 5 hours putting together a 1000-piece puzzle - our newfound common interest!  I am so excited about this!  Something for us to do together.  After discussing it on Facebook, I found that LOTS of people do puzzles.  The good thing about this is that means we can trade puzzles!  Free of charge.  It's like my very own library of puzzles.  We still haven't finished this puzzle because Curt was in town last night, but we probably have an hour or two left on it.  I look forward to the challenge WITH my husband along for the ride.

Why does Taylor Lautner have to be younger than my brother?!

Seriously - his GQ stuff is hot. Check out my favorite werewolf's moves...

I am currently re-reading the 4th installment of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. I read the third book in preparation for the movie that is set to release June 30th and couldn't just stop there! I heard they are splitting the last book into two films. As I am reading Breaking Dawn, there are many times when I think the actions in the book will have trouble being translated on screen. The first three films are PG-13 and I know they'd like the last film to remain PG-13 so fans of all ages can attend. It will be interesting to see how they deal with this.

As for Eclipse, the movie, this is going to be awkward. This is the first film where both Edward and Jacob are in Bella's life significantly at the same time. I can tell I will be cringing A LOT when Bella does things she "shouldn't". Ugh.

Only 12 days until Eclipse releases! AHHHHH!

What the deuce?!

This is, by far, one of the strangest fish I have seen as of late.


The head is transparent. And those two green balls on the inside are its eyes, pointing upward as it searches for food. The two dark spots just above the mouth are its nares (fish version of nostrils). This fish was first discovered in 1939, but more is being found about this unique creature as technology advances.

Want to learn more? Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (my dream job) or good ole Wikipedia for more info.

Seriously. Cool. Fish.

Just a few randoms...

The southbound lanes of Galveston Causeway finally opened up this week. They were able to get all the boats out of the way in time. Woohoo! The bridge is huge and shiny and the traffic doesn't get backed up anymore. Yes, the concrete is very shiny when the morning sun shines just right off of the lanes. If you can't tell, I'm very excited about this. I think they started the construction in 2004, so this bridge had it's time coming. Here, here to no more construction traffic!

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Speaking of boats, it looks like they (I'm not sure who "they" are) are finally removing the shrimp boat from the Willie G's parking lot. It has been leaning on the toll booth since the storm. They took the mast down yesterday. Today the lot was filled with workers, a huge crane and a truck to tote the boat off. It is amazing what people can do.

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I filled up my gas tank for only $30 yesterday! Gas was $1.99!! Travis asked me if gas prices have been under $2 since 9/11. I don't know the answer to that, but it feels like its been that long. I'm hoping this keeps up through January. Travis, Ariel, Robert and I have made the decision to drive to Illinois for the holidays and at these prices we will have money left over for more Christmas presents!

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As I mentioned before, I have been reading the Twilight series (by Stephanie Meyer) for a month now. I am on the last book at the moment and it is INSANE. I cannot recommend this book more highly. I think it is great for all ages. Everyone from my friend's teenage daughter to my chiropractor and his wife enjoyed the books. If you like fantasy, adventure and maybe even a little romance, then you should pick up a copy of Twilight. Even though it's about vampires and there are many tense moments, I can't really say they belong in the horror genre. I think all I've been talking about with Rachel lately have been these books. She finally broke down and decided to read the series, and now she is hooked. I know Travis will be happy to have me get my nose out of the books and come back to Real Life. I have gotten so attached to the main character, Bella, that I cannot wait to see how it ends. It is bittersweet though, as much as I want to know how the characters end up, I don't want the story to end. At least I still have the movies!

6 Wonders

If I could have done ANYTHING I wanted for a career, I think I would have chosen deep sea explorer (I am easily sea sick, so this didn't work out for me). It is amazing the diversity of strange marine life that is found down there. I know these aren’t necessarily deep sea animals, but I thought I’d dedicate a post to the oddities out in the oceans.

Frilled shark
Deep sea shark that was thought to be extinct, until live specimen was found off the coast of Japan

Goblin Shark
Not much is known about this deep sea shark

Goliath Grouper
This Atlantic fish can get as large as 8 feet and 300 pounds.



Red-lipped Batfish
Walks on it's pectoral fins



Flat-faced Anglerfish
This fish also walks on it's pectoral fins. What makes it so unique is it's two forward facing eyes.


Kiwa hirsuta, or yeti lobster
This crustacean lives around hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean.

That's all for your marine biology lesson for the week. Anyone have something they think should be added to the list?