The last month has been quite busy. Thanksgiving was good (both in spirit and delicious food), a bit of extra time with the husband was quite lovely, and the semester ended quickly. We had our MSSA Christmas party the same day as my last (and only sit-down) final. Luckily, I've maintained my grad school 4.0 this semester. One more semester to graduate with a 4.0! Hopefully I shall accomplish such.
Christmas was very nice. We weren't able to travel anywhere to be with family due to busy restaurant patrons keeping Chris serving every day but Christmas Day that week. It's really okay, though, as this was our first Christmas married. We were able to combine our favorite family traditions and establish a few new ones. We even Skyped with both sets of parents (with quite the eventful hour with my parents due to technical misunderstandings that led to us seeing a wall instead of my brother and then not able to hear him except the last 5 minutes since my dad's earphones were accidentally left plugged in). We kept the gifts between us as few and useful. Well, he got more items from me but most were things he needed anyway (like chapstick) that just got wrapped.
My favorite gift was a new iPhone cover. He was very thoughtful about it and asked opinions from friends to make sure he got the best one. I think he did.
My beautiful Van Gogh and Doctor Who cover.
Just the right amount of pretentiousness and geek.
So in the midst of all the holiday craziness, we got some spectacular news. Chris was accepted at the University of Aberdeen! PhD, here we come! So excited to live in Scotland for three years.
Chris and I with his acceptance letter.
So since Chris was unable to ask off work at the holidays, we are going with his family to Montana for a ski trip right before the semester starts! I haven't been skiing since one time in middle school. I admit I cried. I was a very emotional 13-year-old. I also have a tendency to associate ski lodges with Cory sort of cheating on Topanga with Lauren, so it wasn't my favorite winter activity ever anyway. (Snow men, of course.) Regardless, the closer the trip gets, the more excited I am. I miss snow. Texas is estranged from snow, at least where we live.
Me in my new warm ski shirt and waterproof pants.
Ignore the polka-dots. I was trying these on while wearing other clothes.
Now for the most exciting thing from today. We went shopping to use some Kohl's cash that expire soon, and I decided to try to find a pair of pants since almost all of my pants are too big. I have one pair of jeans and one black pair that fit pretty well. Everything else fits like big sweat pants. Comfortable, but bulky.
So for the last four years or more, I've had to skip pants shopping at regular stores and go to the "full-figured women" stores that only carry larger sizes. My jeans that fit best are the smallest size they carry, so I thought maybe I could start looking at size 18 (the largest in most regular stores) to get some cheap pants that fit better, even if they need stretched out a bit before going in public.
So I tried on some 18 pants, and they were baggy. I tried on 16 pants and they were exactly right in stretchy material, which means they would stretch more with wear. So I tried on 14, and they were barely too tight. Just barely.
I bought two pairs of size 14 pants that were on sale, one khaki and one blue.
Size 14 hasn't been in my vocabulary for years.
Since this blog is more about my life in general and particularly, lately at least, about my journey of weight-loss, I decided to start a new blog. "That's How We Roll in the Shire" will track our adventures in Aberdeen, both now as we get ready and while we are there. Please check it out! I already have a few posts to explain more about Chris's acceptance, the city, and the university.
That's How We Roll in the Shire
http://adventuresinaberdeenshire.blogspot.com/