Mmm...shopping.

I have quickly come to a realization that I am not going to fit into my regular wardrobe for very much longer. Which I am A-OK with. It is actually kind of exciting!! But, pants are becoming a bit snug and tops are hugging my shape a little more closely than I prefer. So, I am definitely in need of doing a little shopping people!!

Just a few things I have my eye on...

Totally cute top from Nordstrom.


I like this whole get-up too. Also from Nordstrom.


These next few items are from Gap Maternity. I am liking the chord...




I don't know why, but I have an obsession with the color gray right now. Love it.


And some fun things. Not necessarily pregnant-lady related...
Scarves from Old Navy





I want these, even if they are ridiculously expensive...


Adorable red loafers from Nordstrom. Can you believe that I don't own a pair of red shoes? It's horrible, I know.


And this Michael Kors watch. It. Is. Beautiful.


Alright... I'm done coveting the things that are not mine. For now...

First Day of Fall

Is anyone else a little freaked out that it is already the end of September??!! I mean seriously... Where did the year go?!

Anyways, I would like to be the first to officially usher in the wonderfulness that is Fall. I was pleasantly surprised to step outside this morning and not feel the need to immediately take another shower.

Fall is probably my favorite season. It quite possibly could be because my birthday is in October...but I especially love the smell of fall spices, the turning of leaves, carving of pumpkins, warm soup, the beginning of the hunting season and of course the cool camping-friendly weather. And, AND!! it means Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner, and who doesn't look forward to that?!

So, hello Fall. I have been waiting for you.

P.S. I need this candle.

2 Years down...

...Forever to go.

May 19, 2007


Before dinner at The Republic May 19, 2009

What's been going on with us...

Lots of good things have been happening in the Bassham household lately. Here is a catch up...

• I am officially a working woman! I work here , at StarVision Technologies and I absolutely love it. My official title is Communications Specialist which means I have lots of responsibilities pertaining to the company's internal and external communications. I stay pretty busy. I am still getting used to the 8 hour work days and going to bed early and waking up early, but it will come with time I am sure. Everyone else in the world does it! So, yay for a new job!!

Me in front of the office building where I work. My mom insisted.

• Ryan is officially a Texas A&M Aggie! He was accepted into the school as a transfer student starting this summer and we are SOO excited!! It means good things for us: we don't have to move, I can continue working at my new job, and Ryan can get that gold ring he's always wanted. I am so very proud of him, he has worked really hard. Yay for getting into A&M!
  Ryan's acceptance letter. "Congratulations" is all I needed to read!
  
  
  
• Next, I was able to walk for my degree in Small Business Management from Blinn College on May 15th. I finished my degree in the Fall of '08 but all summer and fall graduates walk in the spring at the college's Graduation Ceremony, so we were officially able to celebrate finally! My parents, both sets of grandparents and Ryan's parents came in for the occasion and we had so much fun! Thanks to everyone for coming and supporting me, it really meant a lot and wouldn't have been the same without you here. Yay for graduating!
  

We ate at Cafe Eccell before the ceremony.
Sooo so good.

And here are some pictures from the weekend - provided by my mom.

*Just a side note...we somehow miscalculated how long it would take us to get to the location of the ceremony. The ceremony took place at the other Blinn campus, about 45 minutes from where we live, and if it weren't for Ryan driving 90-100 miles an hour the whole way there, I wouldn't have made it. No joke. Talk about STRESSED OUT!! I almost started crying in the car. I seriously was the LAST person to get in line. UGH.

• And finally, Ryan has been working super duper hard on losing weight, and I have to brag on him because he looks soooo good! (As you can see in the pictures.)He has lost 25 pounds, people! He has been running like a mad man and it really has paid off for him. So so proud. So, yay for lookin' good, hunnie!
  

Go Fly a Kite...

I don't get the saying, "Go fly a Kite!" It is so negative. Like when someone is bugging you and you want them to get lost, you say, "Go fly a kite!" I would be like, "Okay! I love flying kites it's so much fun!" Reverse psychology, you see.

I flew a kite the other day. It was like I was 5 again. Only better. Because I could actually make the kite fly. I actually bought the kite to put in Ryan's Easter basket. He thought it was pretty funny, "Haha Haha good one Marissa."

But I was serious.

...and so we went to the park and I enjoyed Ryan's Easter present.

Picnic in the Park

For date night tonight we got some good ol' FreeBirds, and had a picnic! It was such nice weather. And the company, well it was alright :)

The Burritos at FreeBirds are ridiculously enormous. Seriously, bigger than my arm. But dang it, they are good.




Our view. It was nice.


Roxie had fun too.

I need it.

It's true. I can't survive without them. Okay, whatever, I can. But I don't want to. They are too yummy.

Birthday number 2-3

So I've decided that as you get older, birthdays get less and less exciting. It seems that the magical-ness of the day isn't so magical-y anymore. However, I think I still managed to have a great birthday.

To start my day right, Ryan prepared a lovely breakfast that he had waiting for me when I woke up, complete with waffles garnished with strawberries, bacon, eggs and toast. Really good. I still had to go to school...total bummer...but I decided to be a responsible adult and go to school anyway. However, my marketing professor opted to be not so responsible and didn't show up to class. Normally I would have done a discrete little happy dance or sang hallelujah in my head, but of course I had one more dreaded class to go to. So I sat up at the school for an hour and a half until my business law class started. Blugh....business law...definitely not a birthday activity high on my list. It's not even high on my list for a regular day.

To lift my spirits, Ryan took me shopping later that day to get a new outfit and then out to dinner. Ryan was kind of sick, so thanks, Ryan, for taking me out on the town, even though you weren't feeling 100%. I can't think of a better person to spend my birthday with. And thanks to all of you out there for the birthday wishes, texts, presents and calls!

These are the gifts Ryan got me! I had to show them off:)

This is the Nikon 50mm 1.8 Lens for our camera. Definately love at first sight. I wasn't expecting this digital picture frame, but I think we are really going to love having it. It plays music with the slideshow and it holds an endless number of pictures. Very cool.And this is for the baker in me. Of all the kitchen gadgets I had, a rolling pin was not one of them. It will definitely be put to good use.

Until next year...

Early Birthdays

While we were in Plano last week, Bill and Cherie wanted to celebrate our birthdays with us. We had a lot of fun opening gifts. Ryan's birthday is this coming Monday (the 6th) so he opened first, with the help of Roxie. He got a camo hunting jacket that he has been wanting. He was really excited and decided to model it for us.My Birthday is on the 23rd of this month, and it is my GOLDEN birthday! I am turning 23 on the 23rd. Only happens once in a lifetime people! Sorry to all you suckers that were born on the 1st or something. You didn't even know the awesomeness of that day...poor things...I got a yummy smelling candle and a caramel apple mix...awesome. I love fall foods, smells and flavors. My favorite. I also got the icecream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. I was sooo excited! I have been wanting it for a while. We have already put it to good use. We made vanilla icecream with strawberries and chocolate chuncks. REALLY GOOD. It fact, writing about it has made my taste buds wake up, I do believe I will have a bowl when I am done with this post. mmmmm.... We were also surprised with this gift for the both of us!! A grill! We have already used it many times. Grilling just brings food to a whole new level...Thanks so much Bill and Cherie!My parents also surprised us!! In November they are sending us to visit Mandy and Matthew in San Francisco. Ryan and I have never been to the city, so we are very excited to have Mandy and Matthew show us around. San Francisco, here we come!!!

I love...

...children's books. Sometimes I wonder if they are even really for children, because I love them so much. Or maybe it's that I am still a child...who knows. Either way, I can't get enough. I recently went to Barnes and Noble with Callie to help her look for some children's books (she is majoring in elementary education). I had so much fun! We had to find books that demonstrated character building traits in the story. I was like a kid in a candy shop. We read a lot of books and found what Callie needed. Whilst reading I came across this book...

Little Pea, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. One of the cutest books I have read in a long time. It is about a little pea that has to eat candy for dinner every single night. And he hates it! But the only way he will get his spinach dessert, is to eat 5 more pieces of candy.

Other favorites of mine are the Pigeon books. Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Pigeon Wants a Puppy, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus are all REALLY cute. However, Pigeon Find a Hot Dog is a particular favorite.

I like the humor that Mo Willems puts into these books, and the pictures are pretty funny too.

These are all good, but the ULTIMATE children's book series are the Olivia books by Ian Falconer. Olivia, the pig, is a sassy little girl that has many dreams and ambitions and allows her imagination no limits.

I also really like Olivia and the Missing Toy. It is pretty stinking cute. But this last Christmas Mandy gave me this one...Olivia Helps With Christmas. I'm pretty sure this was my favorite gift.

Home Sweet Home

It feels good to be back in College Station. We had such a wonderful time back in Dallas and appreciate the opportunity to work for Hydromulch Services, but we are sure glad to be back.

We came back a week early to get completely moved into our new home. MAN! Are we glad we did!! We have had some long days this past week but we absoluetly love our new house. We have been busy decorating and putting things away, doing some shopping, building office furniture, getting our garden established, unpacking etc. etc. We would have been swamped doing this our first week of school.

So here are a few pictures of the new place.

Here is the living room, complete with husband and dog.My favorite room in the house...la cocina.

Our bedroom. Ahhhh....how we missed our bed during the summer...

Us in front of the house.

Yay, so now you have all visited our place and had the tour. Feel special.

Thank you BERRY much!

Yesterday Ryan and I picked blackberries near our place, just by the railroad tracks. We were on a pretty busy street, with our bucket in hand, determined to get some berries! I was worried that we wouldn't get enough to make anything out of them, but much to my surprise, we probably picked 5 pounds just off a few bushels! It was a fun little outing, and the cobbler I made with the berries we picked was pretty tastey!