The Sound of Silence

All I can hear right now is silence, and it's a strange yet beautiful thing. 

Justin is out of town on a guy's trip and my three babies are with his parents so it's me all by myself this weekend. I feel guilty for admitting that I've been looking forward to this weekend for a while. You see, I pretty much get no alone time. I'm a wife, a mother, and a teacher-I'm surrounded by people all day every day. It's fulfilling but can get overwhelming and demanding. 

So what have I been doing with my free time? Yesterday I went out to dinner with my dad and then went to see Interstellar with him, my sister, and her boyfriend. Talk about a mind trip of a movie. I'll have to watch it a few more times to gauge if I truly like the movie or not. I loved Inception and had high expectations for Interstellar. I'm not a Matthew McConaughey fan so it was a little tough watching him for 3 hours but the visuals made up for it. I know; it's a little shameful for me to be a Texas thespian and not support McConaughey, a fellow Texas actor. 

Today I went and got my hair done at the salon and then went shopping at Target, Nordstrom Rack, and Khol's. Justin is going to wish he had never gone out of town when he sees the receipts for my shopping trips. I never have the opportunity to shop and I took full advantage of my free time. Heeeellllloooo new winter wardrobe! 

This evening I went and saw the play "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." One of my students is in the play for a community theatre and his mom invited me. We went out to dinner before hand. She is so thoughtful to invite me. 

Now it's 11:30 on a Saturday evening and I'm sitting alone in my room listening to a Phantogram/Foster the People YouTube mix. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself! Saturday nights when you are married with kids look so much different then they used to. I wouldn't change it for the world, but it has been a nice change of pace this weekend. I'm re-charging in preparation for the holidays. Speaking of the holidays, I am hosting Thanksgiving this year for the first time ever. If anybody has any advice to give, be it hosting, cooking, or emotional advice, please feel free to share it with me! 

"Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain 

Still remains

Within the sound of silence" 

Hello, November!

We are only 2 days into the month of November and it's already been very busy. Justin and I went to my cousin's wedding in the Woodlands yesterday. It was a beautiful service and a wonderful reception. I always cry at weddings; I love seeing the look on the bride and groom's faces when they look at each other while at the alter. I also LOVE seeing the groom's face when he sees his bride walk down the aisle for the first time. It reminds me of my own wedding. You have your whole life ahead of you with your best friend. There's no feeling in the world like it! I think it's important to reflect on your own marriage vows and renew your commitment to your spouse. And of course, I love hearing Bible verses about love, particularly:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

It's weird that we went to a wedding yesterday and we have a funeral to attend tomorrow. Life is funny that way. It's a good reminder to never take anything for granted and to cherish those that you love.

Justin and I at my cousin's wedding this weekend. 

Fall is FINALLY here!

It's currently 57 degrees here in DFW with highs in the 70's and low 80's for the next week, so it's safe to say that fall is officially here. About time! I celebrated by having a Halloween shopping spree at Michael's yesterday-all of their Halloween items are currently 50-60% off! I'm planning on stopping by one more time this week. Here is my mantle all decked out for my favorite holiday:

I'll post a few more pictures throughout the week of some of my other Halloween decorations. 

It's a 4 day weekend for the kids and a 3 day weekend for teachers. Tomorrow we are headed to the State Fair with my dad and we are taking Julian-please pray that my 2 year old behaves! This could either go really really good, or really really bad.

Last weekend we went to Austin City Limits. It was both tons of fun and a total disaster. That being said, we are definitely going again next year! Friday night we saw Foster the People and Outkast. Saturday I got to meet Interpol. Sunday I got to see and meet Phantogram, see Fitz & The Tantrums, and see Pearl Jam. Fitz was my favorite performance; Pearl Jam was my least. Pearl Jam is one of Justin's favorite bands but it's just not my style of music.

Me getting to meet Interpol. Really sweet guys-I was a HUGE fan of theirs while I was in college! I was all blushy and fan girlie while I was talking to them. 

A few of my favorite pictures from ACL. 

Austin is one of my favorite places ever. I wish wish wish that we lived there! It totally fits my hipster/eclectic personality. A dream that Justin and I have is to buy a house in Austin or a surrounding area. Hopefully one day it happens! 

Justin and I went to ACL for the first time in 2010 when we had just started dating. It was nice to relive and revisit some of those memories <3. I'm looking forward to taking my kids to ACL and introducing them to something that is really important to me-live music! 

Recent Reading-Pet Sematary

My nightstand has looked out of control recently with all my "to read" books. I have a bad habit of going to the library and checking out waaaayyyy too many books. I'm a teacher and mother of 3 very young kids; who am I kidding? But I have been able to finish a couple of really great books recently. The first one is:

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

This was my first time to read a book by Stephen King and it's perfect timing with Halloween right around the corner. I don't normally read books in the horror genre and I decided to read this particular title because I've had a fascination with the movie since I was 13 years old. I think the reason why I've been so drawn to this story is the idea of bringing something back from the dead that you love so much; now that I have kids the idea absolutely terrifies me because I think to myself, "Would I if I could?" And the answer to my own question is what shocks me. This book is all about confronting death and that is not a subject one likes to delve in much. 

The particular edition of the book I read had an introduction by Stephen King. He states that it is the scariest book he has ever written. In fact he thinks he took things too far with this novel and at one point he threw away the story. It's a story of caution and warning. One particular quote from the book that sticks out in my mind is: “And the most terrifying question of all may be just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity.”

I was curious to see how the movie follows the book and I was not disappointed at all; in fact, I ended up liking the book even more than the movie. It explores the psyche of the main character Louis Creed who seems to have the perfect life-a doctor with a beautiful wife and two children (one of them happens to be the age of my own son). His son gets hit by a truck and he decides to bury him in the Indian burial ground that brings dead things back to life. I can't even begin to describe how I felt reading the book and dealing with Louis's emotions while thinking about losing my own son (and daughters). It's the most painful thing I've ever felt. One moment can take away a lifetime of happiness. Life can be cruel, can't it. 

But what if you could take that unhappiness back? What if you could bring back what was taken from you? Would you? Louis decides to bring his son back but unfortunately the son isn't who (or what) he used to be. That's the price you pay-everything comes with a price. His son is now evil but at least he has the chance to be with him again. At least the sorrow is gone. For now. It reminds me of the Governor from The Walking Dead. He keeps his daughter, who has been turned into a zombie, chained up and cares for her. At first I thought, "how weird is that?" And then I look at my own children and I can't help but wonder and think, "I hope I never get put into that situation."

But that makes us selfish people, doesn't it, to bring them back or to keep them from moving on. I believe in Heaven and why would you take that away from someone you love just to have more time on earth with them. Another quote from the book that really stuck with me is “Faith is a great thing, and really religious people would like us to believe that faith and knowing are the same thing, but I don't believe that myself. Because there are too many different ideas on the subject. What we know is this: When we die, one of two things happens. Either our souls and thoughts somehow survive the experience of dying or they don't. If they do, that opens up every possibility you could think of. If they don't, it's just blotto. The end.” 

This book took a lot out of me emotionally, which is rare for a fiction book to do that to me. That's usually reserved for non-fiction books. There were several nights were I fell asleep reading the book and had weird dreams and other nights were I couldn't get to sleep because I was reading a particularly chilling part. I was a little too happy to finish the book; not because I didn't like it but because it was so depressing to me. “That lesson suggests that in the end, we can only find peace in our human lives by accepting the will of the universe.”

The other book I finished recently is "The Husband's Secret" by Liane Moriarty. Be on the lookout for my thoughts on that book within the week. 

What's the scariest book you have ever read, and why is it scary to you?

One month in...

Wow-we are already one month into the school year! I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this but it's been the best start yet. My advanced class is doing GREAT in their rehearsals for their fall show. We are doing a double header- The Summer People and 10 Ways To Survive The Zombie Apocalypse. We had such a wonderful theatre moment together yesterday-my students finally saw my vision for Summer People and they became totally invested and passionate about it. Makes me so proud!

Justin's parents have the kids for the weekend again. Have I mentioned before how grateful I am for them?! I feel a little guilty that I enjoy this "no kids" time so much, but I know we both deserve it. His parents love our children to death and it's so wonderful for them to get to spend the time together. I also appreciate getting to spend quality time with Justin. We dated for exactly one year before we got married (we started dating August 21 and got married August 20 of the following year) and then got pregnant with Julian right after that so we haven't had that much "just us" time for a while.

Truthfully, I'm glad for the weekend off. The fall is so busy with all the social and school obligations. But...the house seems a little too quiet right now! I guess that means it's time for a nap!