November 2017 (in a nutshell)

I'm back to pick up right where I left off, as usual. It's been a good, albeit busy time since I've last written.

The last time I wrote, I mentioned that Thomas' cousin Nicole would be coming to town. We ended up having a lovely time catching up with her. She is continuing to enjoy life in Chicago, and she is has now begun her career as a nurse. I'm so happy for her and for all she has accomplished! We had a great dinner with everyone from the family who lives nearby. It was fun to have everyone together for the evening. The next day, Nicole invited Diana and me to join her on a venture to the Dallas Museum of Art. I didn't realize it til that day, but apparently that museum has free admission, besides a few special exhibits, which was a nice surprise. It's been quite some time since I've been to an art museum, but I enjoyed myself. I especially enjoyed looking through many of the American art exhibits, which included some pieces of historical furniture and glassware.

This picture doesn't do this armoir justice!
It was spectacular!

Tamac pottery that I found in the American modern glassware display!
Thinking of you, Debra!

Diana, Nicole, and me in front of a mural outside the museum.
So blessed to call these ladies family!

Shortly (and I mean like an hour after being done at the museum), Thomas and I hit the road to see everyone in Oklahoma! It was great to be back, as we hadn't been there since early September. We loved seeing and talking to everyone. It was absolutely perfect! We celebrated all of the birthdays we had missed/would have missed in that time, including my dad, Scotty, and Jakub's birthdays, which was a great time.

Jakub, showing off his new birthday gift, "Bikey"

Andrew, sipping on his morning coffee.
(aka creamer with a little bit of coffee!)

Kyle is growing before my very eyes!

My dad's new shirt that reads, "Girl Dad: It's Expensive"
I love it so much!

The next weekend, Thomas went on a hunting trip with his friend Matt in eastern Texas. They came up short, but had a good time, I hear. The worst part of the weekend for Thomas was that he incurred (another) injury. Thankfully it didn't require another trip to the ER, but it did involve a gnarly looking scratch on his face. I am happy to report that both of his wounds have healed completely! He has a massive scar on his left hand, as he probably will for some time to come, but so it goes. While he was out and about on his trip, I had a lovely weekend of "me time", which involved watching the entire last season of "Parks and Recreation" on Netflix, making some incredible lemon scones, and FaceTiming my pal Sierra. Not too long after that, I came down with some version of the usual fall crud. I felt absolutely awful, which eventually led to me visiting a minor emergency clinic, as I thought I had a sinus infection. I'm 99% certain that the nurse practitioner referred to me as a hypochondriac in the hallway outside the exam room, but I don't even care. He gave me a prescription for a steroid, and I felt like a brand new woman a couple days later. I was very happy to feel better, because Thomas and I had a great date night that following weekend!

Let's hope 2018 contains fewer injuries for my husband!

I baked some incredible lemon scones while Thomas was off hunting!

Date night ready!

From that point on, it has been a long, swirling whirlwind of activity!

We spent the week of Thanksgiving house/dog sitting for Steve and Diana, who were in NYC/Connecticut celebrating Thanksgiving with Jay and Mark. They were accompanied by Elizabeth and Jean, as well. We wanted to be there, but it wasn't in the cards. Thus, we spent our Thanksgiving with Diana's brother Ross and his family. It was sad for Thomas and me to spend a holiday without either set of our parents, but technology saved the day and allowed us to FaceTime with both sets of parents. Thomas ended up not having to work on black Friday, so we spent a lazy day around his parents' house. I had a lot of pent-up energy, and I was missing my family more than I realized. (I was fairly pitiful, if we're being completely honest.) I tried to fill the void by crafting or doing a number of other small projects, but nothing seemed to satiate me. Late that afternoon, I was in the back of the house when I heard the doorbell ring. Thomas went to the door, assuming that it was one of the boys in the neighborhood, from whom we bought some Boy Scout popcorn a few months prior. I knew something was up when he shouted for me to come to the door. When I walked into the entryway, I was shocked to see Andrew, Jakub, and Wyatt, who shouted, "SURPRISE!!!!"

I was a mess of tears and shrieking when I realized that Gina and her family had driven to Dallas to surprise us for the weekend! It was a welcome surprise that I really needed! We didn't do anything that exciting during their stay, but we were able to show them our apartment, church, and some of our favorite places in town. We loved getting to spend a good deal of time with just them. It did my heart good to see them!

One of my tutoring families gifted me with this decadent pecan pie!

Thanksgiving at the Coulter house

The Mattsons, all smiles after surprising us!

We had a great time at the park in our neighborhood!

Wyatt was too cool to smile, but I love this picture anyway!

If 4-year-old angst could be captured in a picture, this would be it!
(Also the look of not getting a full nap...)

Selfies with Andy are the best!

Me, Andrew, and Thomas, with Andrew's traveling classroom companion, Humphrey the Hamster
Andrew had custody of him during Thanksgiving break,
and got to chronicle their adventures in the accompanying travel log!

(I'm going to pause here, as I have really slacked, and I would rather go into another post instead of prattling on for another 10 paragraphs!)