It's December!

In November...

 

Handsome Husband spent a few days in Portland, Oregon at a Negotiation competition, and found out he would be traveling to a few competitions in 2014 also!

I got to spend the morning catching up with Cousin Snapshot and Best Cousin during Cousin S' visit to So Cal. 

L-R: Cousin Snapshot, Me, Best Cousin

 

We hosted a fun birthday dinner at our house for birthday girl, Mother-in-Law Red!

 

Gardening Mom, Sisters Singer and Swimmer and their friends and BF YOLO, Handsome Husband and I kicked off the holiday season with the Tree Lighting Ceremony we attend every year!

HH and I at Tree Lighting

 

HH and I commemorated this pregnancy with some maternity photos (that I've yet to share on the blog...coming soon, promise!) in Old Towne Orange.

 

Sneak peak - I'll share more soon!

 

Handsome Husband kicked his studying into gear for finals - and we started getting really excited that once he is done with finals, little Baby M will be making her grand debut any day!  (And because I'm neurotic, I started worrying about what I would do if I went in to labor during one of his 3+ hour long finals.)

 

Cousin Study Buddy and Mr. UNC accompanied HH and myself to a USC basketball game when we were lucky enough to get courtside seats from Gardening Momma's boss.  The game was exciting, but I was a little nervous the entire time shielding my basketball (aka my baby belly) from stray balls and players.  Luckily we stayed out of the action.

 

Best Friend Cute Apartment hosted a lovely baby shower for me to celebrate Baby M's upcoming arrival with all of my closest girlfriends.  It was gorgeous, and I will be sharing details soon!

Me and the hostess with the mostess, Cute Apartment

 

The family got together to celebrate the birthday of Tutor Girl - she's getting close to the big 3-0, and I admire her for loving that instead of loathing it as I do!

 

We attended the wedding reception of a good friend of HH's from law school, and were happy to celebrate their recent nuptuals with them.

 

Aunt Fancy Chef treated the ladies in HH's family to a day of yummy food!  First we had a lovely breakfast, followed by a super fun cooking class!  I can't wait to go back, the cooking class was so much fun!

 

Thanksgiving was full of family and great food and as usual, we were feeling blessed to be able to see both my side and HH's side of the family on the holiday.

 

I opted out of Black Friday shopping, and instead chose to do some Black Friday crafting and wrapping with Gardening Mom and Sister Swimmer.  Gardening Mom and I managed to crank out some adorable burp cloths which will be making their way to the blog very soon!

 

We wrapped up the month with a lovely Hannukah Dinner at Gardening Mom and Hat Dad's house - and I got my annual fix of potato latkes!  I can never get enough, especially leftovers!

 

In December?  I'm crossing my fingers for a slightly early arrival of little miss Baby M, and we've got lots of fun holiday events to attend!



Is it Fall Yet?

Here we are, jumping into September!  This year is flying by, and I can't believe we will have a baby here in just four short months.

In August...

 

The beginning of August started super fun for me, as we were on our Girls Trip in Seattle!  You can see tons of photos and read all about the girl time in my recaps HERE.

 

We made some big changes with the vehicles in our life - more details to come on that soon!

 

Handsome Husband and I started a baby registry, and the next day I enlisted the opinion of non-Mom but great friend, Cute Apartment to round out the registries with necessities, and of course some cute frilly pink items for our little Princess.

 

We helped warm the new home of our some of our newer friends that HH has met through law school.  The Chicago transplants are loving their new place in Orange County - they are close enough to see Disneyland's fireworks and walk to Angels Stadium!

 

Hat Dad and Gardening Momma invited us over for dinner, and it ended up being just the four of us.  A rare occurance, and though we love big family dinners with Sisters Singer and Swimmer, it's nice to get some one-on-one (or two-on-two, I should say) time with the 'rents.

 

We officially hit the half-way mark in this pregnancy!  20 more weeks (less now!) and this little girl better be on her way!  You can read weekly Bumpdates HERE.



 

Handsome Husband is officially back in school - a bittersweet time, for sure.  Sad for the summer to be over, happy to be inching closer to that finish line.

 

Cute Apartment and I took after the Real Housewives of Orange County when we took a painting class at a local restaurant.  We both walked away with some pretty pictures, and it was a fun middle-of-the-week night out!

 

We had a big birthday party weekend, with MIL Red's fiance, Mr. Bear's, 50th birthday and Cousin Ronomon's 30th birthday parties squeezed into one fun weekend!

 

And tomorrow we will end the month spending the day with some of our very favorite people, watching one of our HH's very favorite sports - we're heading to a Galaxy Game with our friends, Twin Oh Yeah and Future Dr. Babies.

With our friends all the way back in October 2011



Back to School

As the days click by, we get closer and closer to the school year starting up again.  Not for me, but for my Handsome Husband, who is going into his second year of law school in just weeks.

The beginning of a new school year is completely bittersweet.  It brings us one year closer to being done with law school entirely, and it brings some fun events and times with our fun future-lawyers-of-America friends.

But with the sweet, comes the bitter.  It brings more stress back into our lives.  It puts an extra toll on our marriage - one I have no doubt we can make it through easily, but a toll nonetheless.  It becomes harder for my HH to work, as he has to go back to performing the scary balancing act between school, work, social life, his marriage, and soon?  A baby!

It's scary and exciting, and groan-inducing and thrilling.  It's fun and it's torture.  In the end, I hope it is all worth it, that we will look back and remember the great times and not remember the hard ones nearly as vividly.

Happy back to school!

Aloha August!

Double month recap time!  Oh yeah oh yeah!

In June...

We started off the month with birthday celebrations - dinner at Goofy's Kitchen for Sisters Singer and Swimmer, and a local Italian restaurant for Gardening Mom.

 

I had a long overdue meeting with an old friend, filled with catching up and apologies, forgiveness and moving forward.

 

We headed to the San Clemente pier to one of our favorite restaurants for a perfect Saturday lunch with Cute Apartment and her Boyfriend Number Cruncher.

 

Arizona was calling our names, and we finally got back out on the boat!  The whole family went out for Father's Day and it was so nice to spend some time in one of our favorite places (especially with the addition of brand new air conditioning!).

There was lots more family fun to be had when Uncle Firefighter, Nurse Auntie, and Cousin Snapshot and her darling kiddos came to visit!  We had two lovely dinners, and it was nice to see family that we don't get to see as often as we'd like.

We finally revealed to family that there was a little BABY in our future!  It was so fun to tell all of our family, and a relief to have the secret OUT!

I got to get some more practice in with my camera when I took some photos of Mother-in-Law Red, and Mr. Bear.

I graduated from 1st trimester to the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy - time is flying!

In July...

Handsome Husband spent some time at the International Negotiation Conference, negotiating with law students from all over the world!

We celebrated the 4th of July by hosting our friends for beers, bbq and a big surprise!

 

Best Cousin and I headed to the fair to see Colbie Callait, and I was inspired to write my first letter to our little baby on the way.

We got to see all of our favorite future lawyers at a Vegas-themed birthday bash!

HH and I spent the day with Cousin Study Buddy and company - breakfast followed by a fun-filled day at our neighborhood water park and pool!

Handsome Husband's family finally got together for another Poker Tournament!  It had been long overdue, and I was so happy (almost as happy as I would have been had I won again) that Tutor Girl took home the prize!

We got another little peak our our sweet New Years baby on the way, and a few days later held a Gender Reveal party to find out whether we are expecting a baby boy or a baby girl!  I can't wait to share with all of you in just a few days!

In August? The ladies in my family head to Seattle for a long weekend, there are lots of birthdays to celebrate, HH goes back to school, and we'll get to see our little Baby M again!



How to Survive the First Year of Law School: The Spouse's Edition

1. Be social. 

This is my number one tip to the significant other of someone starting law school.  1. It helps with any kind of jealousy you may have over your loved one getting close (which they will) will all sorts of new people.  I'm no psycho, but of course I feel a little left out when Handsome Husband starts talking about all these people I don't know.  Which is why it's perfect if you start being social - then you do know them.  And better yet?  They know you.  And 2. No one wants to be the clingy wife constantly following her husband around.  I don't have to hang all over my husband at social law school functions.  Why?  Because now I have my own damn friends there!  Just because I'm not getting a JD doesn't mean I don't have anything in common with the future lawyers of America!  I was happily surprised to meet some very down to earth and super fun people through this experience.  I hope these new friends of ours last a lifetime!

 

 

Being social at Law Prom aka Barrister's Ball in February

 

 

2. Get a hobby. 

Law school takes up a shocking amount of time.  On top of classes, reading, and studying; you've got social events, meetings with professors, and networking.  Your spouse will be busy.  Sure, you can attend lots of the social events, but you're always the +1.  If you don't have something that is yours, that you are truly invested in, now's the time to find it.  I am invested in my career, and also threw myself into decorating and getting our new home ready throughout this school year.  Now?  I read a lot about babies, too!

 

 

3. Be helpful. 

I am by no means a Stepford Wife, but there are times during law school where I need to step my game up to help out Handsome Hubs.  I try to do the majority of the cooking throughout the year, but come finals?  That increases to cooking, cleaning and laundry because finals studying is seriously no joke.  I've never seen anything quite like it, and if I hadn't been here to experience it myself, I'd never belive how much time really goes into studying for these exams.

 

 

4. Be interested.

This might be my downfall, because if I'm being honest?  Civil Procedures and Torts bore me to death.  It's hard for me to stay interested in these topics, but the fact is, when your law student gets home from school, all they want to do is talk about school.  There have certainly been times where I've had to sigh and tell HH enough about law school, but do your best to listen, to take it in, and to be interested in what is engrossing so much of your loved one's time and thoughts.

 

 

5. Stay confident in your relationship.

It may come as a shock to you, but there are lots of breakups, and even divorces, that happen throughout law school.  I have to attribute this to the great stress that the schooling puts on the student, combined with changes in social life that might be affecting these relationships.  The statistics are there, and stress doesn't do any relationship good.  If you go in expecting it, and knowing your marriage can come through the other side not only in tact, but stronger, it will only fuel you to make that happen.  I can say, without a doubt in my mind, there has not been one moment throughout the first year of law school where I thought my marriage was in jeapordy in the slightest.  But if there was?  I'd fight for it, because I made vows for better or for worse, and if some law school stress is the worst we get - then I'll consider us very lucky.

 

 

 
 

6. Encourage your partner.

I consider myself a master of the pep talk, and I think my HH would vouch for me.  Sometimes, your partner will just feel stressed and overwhelmed and like there is no way he or she will make it out of this with anything to show for themselves.  And that's where you need to come in, and remind them how wonderful they are, how much hard work they've put in, and how far they are going to go.  Law school can break you down a bit, and it's your job to build your husband back up.

 

 

7. Go on dates.

Law school is a total time suck, but don't let that take away all of the romance from your relationship.  Go on dates, and talk about anything, even if it's mostly about school.  Take your husband somewhere fun, and make him court you sometimes too.  Don't forget that before being a law student, he was just a man in love with a woman, and after law school he'll be that too.  Relationships (all relationships, not just romantic ones) require nurturing, don't forget to water your garden!

 

 

7. Remember, this is only a very very short period of your life.

In the grand scheme of things, law school accounts for hardly any of your life.  A whopping three (or four, for part-timers!) years is nothing compared to the 50+ years you'll be married!  Even when it's the worst, when your partner gets a worse grade than anticipated, or you feel like you haven't seen your husband in weeks because well, you sort of haven't, remind yourself - this is not forever.  Yes, the life of a lawyer's wife has got to be trying at times, but this knock-down drag-out world of grades, competitiveness, drama, law review, externships and craziness is only temporary.

How to Do a Baseball Game Right

I've lived in Southern California all my life (about 23 years of them in Orange County, within 30 minutes of Angels Stadium), but until recently, I had never been to a night Angels game.  I know I know, it's like never going to Disneyland (which, you know, I never do) - just another thing to take for granted.

Now don't get me wrong, I had been to a few daytime ballgames, and good God, I did not see why people enjoyed them.  It's hot as hell, and a baseball game lasts forever while I start to die of boredom in the blistering sun.

But all of that changed last month when I learned how to do a baseball game right.

It all started when Handsome Husband's law school buddy and huge Angels fan, Sports Lawyer, invited us to a baseball game.  HH told me we would be sitting in Diamond Club seats, and as I'm sure he expected, anything with Diamond in the name is alright by me.

The seats directly behind home plate...that's The Diamond Club seating.

{via}

I was excited to see the Angels play at night, and as always, spend time with these new friends of ours that have been so incredibly kind and friendly as we've gotten to know them over the past year of so.

Now that I have learned the best (and in my opinion now, only) way to do a baseball game, I'm sharing that knowledge with you.  Now get our your credit cards, and get to a ballgame!

1. Attend games only with Sports Lawyer, or people who have a passion for the team you're watching play or sport in general.  They do things big, and those are the people you want surrounding you. 

2. Park in the very front spots.  I am a lazy biz, so you'll imagine my excitement when I realized that we were parking practically on the damn field. 

3. Eat at the buffet at The Diamond Club Restaurant before the game. 

 

The patio of The Diamond Club Restaurant, where we sat while eating our dinner, and also stayed for the entirety of the game.  Hard to want to go sit in your folding baseball stadium seat when you've got a whole table to spread your shit out on with a fabulous server coming every 15 minutes to make sure you've got all you need.

 

4. Don't be one of those people who cannot look away from the game.  Even Sports Lawyer, who loves it, can enojy a simaltaneous conversation.  My personal opinion on sporting events is that the memories you make with the friends you attend with will be much longer lasting than the game in front of you.

 

5. Take your time indulging in the buffet (we're talking 5-6 trips over a few hours, people), and make sure to wash your food down with some cheap beer.  (Okay, the cheap beer thing is just me, most of our party actually ordered good beer, but nothing beats BL for me!)

 

6. Top off your fantastic meal with some super fabulous desserts to share.  Bonus points if you can order a dessert that makes your husband this excited.

 



7. Document your view, and make sure to share on Insta.

I mean, right?

8. Happen to catch the most hilarious dance-off between two spectators that you've ever seen!  I truly wish I would have thought to record the moment, because no words could do it justice.

9. Thank Sports Lawyer and his very generous parents in person, and with a blog post to seal the deal.  Thank you, A Family, for the wonderful evening - you are a family full of generous, kind and inclusive people and we are so happy to have met you! 

And that, my friends, is how you do a baseball game right.

The Month of Love Comes to an End

In February...

We watched the Superbowel at not one, but two family homes - first half at Gardening Mom's with regionally appropriate food (Maryland crab cakes and San Fransisco sourdough bowls hello!) and the second at Grandma Beach Bum's with a super yummy dinner to end the night!

Aunt Fancy Chef and Uncle Lighting took us to a lovely dinner filled with stories, laughter and a little wedding ring chatter.

We went bowling (at the most ghetto bowling alley I've ever been to, mind you) with some of Handsome Husband's law school pals.

We had a miniature goodbye with Best Friend Fashionista as she headed off to NYC to start this most exciting chapter in her life.  It wasn't too traumatic, being that we would be seeing her in mere days when we rendevouzed in the Big Apple on our vacation.

HH's family hosted another quarterly Family Poker Tournament - keep an eye out for some good news from that coming soon on the blog!

This, my friends, is what marriage looks like.

(Not sure what I'm praying for here - maybe for HH to relax!)

We hosted a little triple-date breakfast at our house for Twin Beauty School and The Bouncer; and Best Friend Cute Apartment and Number Cruncher.  We killed quite a few bottles of champagne - and by we, I mostly mean HH, myself, Cute Apartment and Numbers.  Beauty School and Bouncer are way more responsible than us!

I got hit with quite the case of a nasty cold that was followed with some horrific allergies.  Needless to say, our Valentine's Day was very romantic - it included me sleeping drugged up on cold meds and HH studying.  Ahh, love.

Handsome Husband and I attended our first "Law School Prom" as were calling it - otherwise known as Barrister's Ball.  It was so much fun, and I am truly so delighted to be meeting all of these wonderful future lawyers, but more importantly future and current friends.

HH, myself and Cousin Study Buddy at "Law Prom"

After a fun morning-after breakfast with our Law Prom pals, we headed down to San Diego to celebrate the homecoming of an old friend of HH's, World Traveler! WT was in the Peace Corps, and we literally had not seen him since HH graduated college back in 2010.  It was so nice to see him, it was as if no time had passed since HH and him had seen each other.  Aren't those the best kinds of friends? 

World Traveler in the middle - he looks so worldly, no?

I had the best ever day off work for President's Day.  A morning of sleeping in; an afternoon of lunch with my favorite girl, Cute Apartment; and a couple glasses of wine with Cousin Study Buddy?  Just what the doctor ordered.

To avoid packing for our vacation, I headed to dinner with Ms. Art Teacher (who is actually no longer teaching art, but whatever).  It was overdue (as it always seems to be, damn busy adult lives!), but as wonderful as always.

And of course - we headed out on our vacation. 

That we are on as you read this blog post!

Not to worry, full recaps to come upon our return.

In March?  We'll both turn ancient (read: 25), Tutor Girl is having a wittle baby, Hat Dad and Cousin Study Bud are having birthdays, and Easter is happening.

Things Thursday: Things Currently On My Mind

For a blog named Stress Case, there hasn't been a whole lot of stress mentioned on the blog as of late.  Partially because I am getting slightly more relaxed in more old age (this next birthday is going to kill me), and partially because I have just really sucked it up as a blogger as of late (see below for more on that).

I digress.

1. The fact that I have approximately 10% of my wardrobe in my car and need to bring it inside, wash most of it, and pack tonight for our East Coast Vacation.

2. All of the crazy violence that has been going on lately.  We're talking ex-cops gone nutso, a murder followed by shooting rampage that started a fourth mile from my home, and the horrific but less recent school shooting and movie theater shooting that still weigh heavily on my mind and heart.  I thought about writing an entire post about these (most recently about the shooting in Ladera Ranch, California), but thought it would come across as both inappropriate (I was not affected by any of these personally, who am I to be freaking out about it), and depressing.

3. Our joint birthday party (Hubs and I are just a week apart) that is fast approaching.  PS Is it totally inapprop to throw yourself a birthday party?  I figure I can get away with it since it is for both of us.  Thoughts?

4. On the same note - turning 25, in general.  Lots of mixed feelings about this one, y'all.

5. How inspiring Sister Swimmer is with her ongoing and expanding dreams of helping others - sister is on her way to Peru in the next few weeks for a mission trip.

Sister Singer (in blue) on her 2011 trip to Haiti.

6. Our San Diego friends and how much I miss them.  Here's to hoping we'll be seeing them at our upcoming birthday!

With our SD friends in SD, May 2011

7. How happy I am to be still completely and totally in love with my very Handsome Husband after almost two years of wedded bliss.

Our Wedding, February 26, 2011

8. The awesome things HH is doing in law school: kicking butt in classes, securing externships for the summer, and my favorite - meeting some really wonderful new friends!

A bunch of future lawyers...and me.

9. Friends, family, and the funny way dynamics change over time.  This one's vague, I know, but some things gotta stay private.

10. How insanely excited I am to see Aunt Delaware and company out on the east coast in less than 48 hours!

The last time I saw my Aunt Delaware - 2 years ago at our wedding!

January is OVA!

I can hardly believe we are already one month deep in 2013...time is flying!

In January...

 

We started off the year dancing and drinking our asses off at The Derby, our local dueling piano bar, with some wonderful friends.

 

 

We headed to the boonies San Bernardino to welcome our good friend Twin Navy home during his short leave.

 

Twin Navy himself, with his cutie wife looking on.

 

Handsome Husband went back to school to kick ass in the Spring semester the way he did this past Fall.

 

To celebrate the new semester, we headed to the diviest bar in Orange for a little Law School Karaoke Contest.  I'm just going to come right out and say it: my rendition of Call Me Maybe would have won if I was eligible (students only shmudents only).  Though, HH's track did a cute little number themselves:

 

 

Tutor Girl and I kicked it into gear and started walking again like we used to so much pre full-time job, house hunting, crazy life stress.  And I realized how out of shape I was when the pregnant chick was doing better than me and my legs were sore for days.  A few weeks later I even incorporated C25K back into my routine, maybe I'll make a runner out of myself afterall.

 

Handsome Husband had his last day of work as an official employee (the dude is working from home now, lucky right?), and a week later had a lunch to say goodbye to his coworkers friends that he's worked with for the past two years.

 

My best girls and I headed to Solvang, CA for our annual Girls' Weekend!  We drank lots of wine, and even went on a fantastic wine tour.  Check out the favors I made for the ladies HERE, and even see the Instagrams HERE.  And keep an eye out for the full recap coming later this week!

 

We had a double date dinner at Cute Apartments' new place (a cute condo this time!) with boyfriend, Number Cruncher. 

 

A whole lot of us headed up to San Pedro to see Mother-in-Law Red's new home.  Lots of drinks and fun were had with family and her closest friends.

 

And we ended the month with a long overdue meeting of the Taco Tuesday Club where we had a margarita or three and ate some Mexican food with some of our favorite people.







Things Thursday: Things I'm So Thankful For

1. This amazing wonderful man that I get to spend every single day with for the rest of my life:

 

2. My amazingly generous and supportive parents, whom I love and adore and can't imagine having to live without.

 

3. My sweet sisters who I miss more and more each day!

 

 

4. These little wonders that popped up on the shelves again in the past few weeks:

 

 

5. All of my extended family that I don't get to see nearly enough and miss every single day.

 

6. My job, that can be very stressful, but that I truly love and enjoy, which not everybody can say.

 

7. My Handsome Husband's scholarship for his law school education, which makes law school a much more enjoyable experience for my bank account.

 

8. All of my in-laws, who have always welcomed me into the family from day one and continue to do so as the years go on.

 

 

9. The Real Housewives franchise, without which, I would feel better about my finances and worse about my friendships.

 

10. My amazing friends, who always support me, never judge me (at least not to my face), praise me for my strengths and forgive me my weaknesses.

 

 

Missing You When We're in the Same House

They said law school was going to be hard on our marriage.  That it would result in lots of sleepless nights, and many a frustration.

And they were right.

 

But not quite in the way I thought they would be.  I thought, if anything, it would a frustrating couple years.  That I would be angry with law school for keeping my husband so busy - bitter even.  But I'm not mad, I'm not angry, not even frustrated (not yet at least - still have quite a ways to go!).

 

I just miss my Handsome Husband!

 

I feel I'm lucky in that I love being around my HH - I don't just love him.  We are truly the best of friends and we have so much fun together.  The funny thing that this new transition into law school has brought is that I now miss him even when we're in the same house!  He can be in the next room over, but I miss him desperately because we went from spending so much time together (living in one 10x10 bedroom will do that to ya), to a whole new time in our lives.  

 

The good?  It makes our time together that much special.

The bad? It makes me just a little sad when I really miss the dude.

The ugly? After a few too many days of next-door missing, I get a little whiny. 

 

Dance party in Arizona - August 2012

 

Here's to counting down the days until Winter Break, and just a little bit of free time for my hardworking Handome Husband.

(Dibs on being your partner at the first dance party post 1st semester.)



Is It Fall Yet?

With August came a heat wave, new starts for so many people, and a love of waiting on our househunt.  Check out what else we did this month!

In August...

We headed to the desert for a weekend of booze, river time, and friends for our annual trip: Extreme Arizona.

Handsome Husband and I celebrated our four-year "dating" anniversary by heading to the OC Fair and catching an All American Rejects concert!

I caught up with an old friend, Ms. Art Teacher (who recently resigned and should now be called Ms. Professional, but for continuity's sake we'll keep her as Ms. AT!), when we had quite the romantic dinner for two.

Cedar Creek Inn

San Juan Capistrano

Best Friend Cute Apartment and I had a long overdue girls night, where we hit up happy hour and walked the mall.  Girl talk was much needed.

Mother-in-Law Red, Gardning Mom and myself headed to Chapman Law School for their "Parents and Partners" Orientation for incoming law students, where we learned many things: lawyers are the most amazing society of people ever to have existed on the earth (I shit you not, they asserted this to us), and HH is in for a rough four years.  Good thing he's got such an amazeballs support system rooting him on!

{Via}

MIL Red hosted a fun afternoon at her beachside apartment where we got to learn about new skin products, eat some yummy munchies, and some of us even got a facial out of the day!

Handsome Husband was an awesome DD when he drove us, along with Cute Apartment and her boyfriend, Number Cruncher, up to LA to celebrate Best Friend Fashionista's birthday at a lively restaurant in LA - Tokyo Delves.

Birthday Girl Fashionista!

HH had his very first day of law school!

We said some sad, but oh so exciting goodbyes to Sisters Singer and Swimmer as they headed off to college, to live somewhere else other than home for the first times in their lives! 

We got together to celebrate Cousin Ronomon's birthday with a BBQ lovingly hosted by his fabulous wife, Tutor Girl.

Clockwise from upper left: Cousin Teeny Girl posing like a lil cutie, Lil C gettin' his cupcake on, Cousin Ronomon opening presents, and the family playing bocce ball.

First Day of School

Today, my handsome smartie pants husband goes off on his very first day of school.

Law School,

that is.

After HH's graduation from Undergrad, Summer 2010.

I am so proud,

nervous,

anxious,

and excited to get this new chapter of our lives started!

I don't think it's going to be easy,

but I do hope it's going to be worth it.

Good luck to my very Handsome Husband,

I know you will do amazing.

And if you ever feel alone,

just remember I'm right by your side the whole time.

(Or at least a text message away.)



Things Thursday: Things That Need to Come Sooner!

1. Memorial Day weekend in Palm Springs with some of my very favorite people: Handsome Husband, Twins Unicorn and Beauty School, The Bouncer and Best Friend Swagger.  Sun, booze, and good times cannot come quick enough.

2. My little sisters' big high school graduation.  I cannot even believe that Sister Singer and Sister Swimmer on their way to college!  That is huge to me! 

3. A weekend in Arizona with my family.  Celebrating the graduation of the youngest members of our little clan, Father's Day with Hat Daddy, and an awesome RIVERBASH with Best Cousin and company!

4. Some news on our Hunt to Homeownership...we have been waiting forever.

5. A super amazing fun trip we have planned for HH, myself and Sisters Singer and Swimmer in celebration of their graduation and 18th birthdays!  I haven't mentioned it yet here on the blog, but more details to come!

6. A day at the fair - Twin Unicorn and I are practically counting down the days!

7. Lil C's 2nd birthday - can't believe my little buddy is almost two already!

8. Finding out what Handsome Husband's class schedule will look like, buying crazy huge textbooks, and just generally getting started with the three-four year long adventure of Law School we are about to get going on!

9. Helping my sisters pick out fun stuff for their new dorm rooms, and watching them go off on their next big adventure.

10. The smell of jasmine, sunscreen, and chlorine - it's Summer!

It's Really May Already?

Another two months have escaped me without recapping my shenanigans here on the ole blog.  So lucky Stress Case readers get a double monthly recap today!

In March...

We officially started house hunting, and even fell in love with a place right away, and had our first disappointment.

This beautiful couple celebrated their third wedding anniversary:

Cousin Ronomon and Tutor Girl

ps It looks like Tutor Girl might be making a reappearance in the blogosphere, go check it out!

Hat Dad had a birthday, and Sister Singer and I pulled together to create quite the birthday feast!

We celebrated my 24th birthday a few days early with a night out to our local dueling piano bar!

Ain't that the truth?

We had a triple date for St. Patrick's Day with our favorite twinners ever, Twins Unicorn and Beauty School and their fabulous boyfriends.

We were also very social at the pre-party we went to, as you can see.

Handsome Husband and I had a wonderful joint birthday brunch with his family, we even got gifted an iPad that I am now enamored with playing DrawSomething on (get at me - stresscasey).

We tried out the new revolving sushi bar in our town with my family for our birthdays, and now have a new favorite sushi restaurant!

The awesome Spring Sweets Swap went off wonderfully!  I can't wait to host another one.  What do y'all think of an I {Heart} America swap in honor of the 4th of July?!

I had a long overdue Happy Hour with my long-time friend, Ms. Art Teacher.

Handsome Husband turned the big 2-4, and I celebrated by sharing the Top 24 Things About Handsome Husband.

We went to Las Vegas was Cousin Ronomon and Tutor Girl and had a wonderful time checking out the strip, gambling, eating amazing food and getting our drink on!

We got together to celebrate Cousin Study Buddy's 30th birthday!

Most of HH's side of the family

I celebrated my one year Blog-a-versary, and celebrated with {Why We Blog} Week!

Handsome Husband spent a few days learning about the law school that he ended up chosing, Chapman University School of Law at Scholar's Weekend (so fancy).

While he was doing law school things, I was getting into some debauchery with Best Friend Swagger when I spent the weekend with her going to singing sushi bars, reality show casting calls, and her own housewarming party.

In April...

We celebrated adorable little Cousin Teeny Girl's 4th birthday with pizza and cake!

We had a fabulous Ladies' Wings Night Out with some of my all-time favorites: Twins Unicorn and Beauty School, Cute Apartment, and Ms. Smiles!

Handsome Husband, myself and Gardening Mom celebrated Passover with some of our wonderful family friends. 

We had an awesome night out starting with a double date with Twin Beauty School and her boyfriend, The Bouncer; and then throwing back a few cocktails and watching some very entertaining karaoke at our local dive bar.

I made some amazeballs Rainbow Cupcakes for Easter.  We celebrated the holiday by having brunch with HH's family, and then a home-cooked meal at Cute Apartment's cute apartment.

Handsome Husband and I headed out with my parents and sisters to Blythe, California - the little town where Hat Dad grew up.  We celebrated some big family milestones while there: a 50th wedding anniversary, an 80th birthday, and a 90th!  We also got a chance to see Best Cousin and spend some time with Best Cousin and Cousin Snapshot and company!

Grandma Beach Bum hosted a lovely wine tasting birthday party for HH's Grandpa Backgammon.
Handsome Husband golfed in his family's Annual Golf Tournament this year, while I did my usual and took photos of the foursomes!

This little princess turned another year older:

Best Friend Swagger and I

Some girlfriends and I went line dancing at a brand new fabulous venue in our area! 

We got to see some of our very best friends when we went to two soccer games that HH's alma mater played in.

Twin Unicorn, Grandma Beach Bum and myself walked our booties off for babies in our local March for Babies walk!

Twin Unicorn and I hanging out with CHOCO bear!

Here's hoping May brings just as many good times as the past two months have!