I went running for the first time in Virginia (mostly because I am lazy, but partly because I don’t know of any good routes around here and the terrain is incredibly hilly and my knee is still bugging me a little bit. Excuses excuses).

The view from where I crashed on the floor, post-run. I love the light in our apartment in the mañana.

I thought I had gotten a handle on the public transportation system here until I tried to get home yesterday afternoon. Everything was fine until I looked at the route online (thank you, little iPhone!) and realized I had gotten on a bus with the wrong alphabetical designation. Oops. I got off before the bus headed completely far away from our apartment, and Jason came and picked me up. Will not make that mistake again.

Today we headed over to our nearby mall to run some errands. Below: Jason’s favorite store in the world, The Art of Shaving.

We tried out a new Mexican restaurant for lunch, which turned out to be both authentic and delicious. I had chilaquiles, which Jason says is a breakfast food. Jason had his standby: mole poblano.

On our way out of the mall, I saw The Boots that I have been wanting all winter long: knee-height attractive brown hue riding boots with tasteful/utilitarian buckle decoration and proportionally-correct toe-pointiness–for 50% off. My size wasn’t available, but I tried on the size 7 display boot and it fit perfectly. I asked the associates if they could bring out the other shoe so I could go ahead and purchase them.  Thirty minutes later, they still couldn’t find the right boot, so Jason and I went home without them. I was bummed, although knowing that there may be a one-legged person out in the world wearing an attractive boot slightly helps to assuage my glumness.

The Macy’s associates did try to make me feel better by printing off a list of all stores that still had the boots in stock. The closest one? Pittsburgh. Thanks guys. Also, the boots are not available online in any size except 5.5. Thwarted.

We lazed about much of the afternoon, periodically tuning into the UK game and trying to figure out what to eat for dinner. We finally trekked to the grocery store around 7 PM, and had BLTs for dinner afterward. At nine, we anxiously turned on the BYU game, then winced and cringed for the next two and a half hours.

If I were a good (or maybe creative is a better word) spouse, I’d come up with a list of 1,000 things I like about being married or my 1,000 favorite memories from the last 2.75 years. That would be incredibly time-consuming, though. Instead, I’ll just relish that the last thousand days have been happier than any previous thousand, and look forward to thousands more.

spent most of Monday with Mockingjay | dinner last night, sans tofu | french braided my own now-almost-prohibitively-short tresses | this is my thinking face | mutant carrots I discovered in the veggie crisper today | loved the description of crazy UK fans in Sunday’s NYT | dual-screen action for the SOTU | the picture on Jason’s desk, to remind him of what a nice wife he has (and of how excellently he pulls off a baseball cap)

baked and ate these today.

read and enjoyed this today.

savored glorious breadmaker bread for lunch today.

mopped up a wet linoleum floor with Jason after our dishwasher flooded today (a problem that I’m sure will go away once the disposal is fixed).

loved having Jason at home with me today. Weekends are my favorite.

Now, however, we are in a place that 1) is not completely new to us and 2) is not new at all to people we love. We are no longer arbiters of perception and our experiences are not uncommon.  There is a character to our new home, but it is not as foreign or distinct (or delightful, but I think it will grow on us).

The Margaret Mead-ing can continue, I guess. We are both enjoying this new chapter in our collective life and are having excellent adventures. It’s just hard for me to think of things to write about anymore–so I drink obscene amounts of hot chocolate instead.

Time to do the dishes. Tomorrow we are supposed to get a wintry mix. Good-bye, autumn weather.

I cried mightily in Downton Abbey today, probably because Jason was gone and because it is just so sad. Roni: you will definitely weep if you watch it.  I was trying to think of other movies that made me cry, and could only think of A Little Princess (I was eight) and Almost Famous. I also cried in Life is Beautiful, after which my mom and I had to watch a documentary where Julia Roberts visits Mongolian horse farmers to cheer up.  Sometimes I feel like I dreamed that documentary, but guess what! I didn’t.

Plate courtesy of Roni.

I did laundry and cleaned the apartment and experimented with the new bread machine. We’re still >1 hour away from a hot loaf, but I’m optimistic.

I watched more Downton Abbey–the current season is available on the PBS website–and went to the grocery store, and figured out how to take a panoramic picture on my phone.

Voila: our living room/dining room/window into the kitchen. Maybe if you click on it, it will get bigger.

I’m (healthily) enjoying my short-lived carefree days for now, because I know there will be a future day (probably in winter) when I more than anything long to stay in my apartment with hot chocolate and a book and just ignore the world. On that day, I will try to remember that I 1) enjoyed my off-time and 2) was very bored at the same time.

Today, I enjoyed Cafe Rio leftovers and sunshine

…and may have watched multiple episodes of Downton Abbey (while folding laundry, eating lunch, and exercising, so it counts as productivity). It’s a good–albeit hopefully impermanent or I may go crazy–life.

It’s in four sad pieces. I guess I’ll run to Hobby Lobby and see if I can find another styrofoam form, but I’m mostly just bummed. I worked hard on that thing and was looking forward to showing off my one-time craftiness. Sigh.

On Wednesday night, the Harris fam and I went to Outback to celebrate my last night in Lexington. Afterward, we hit up Orange Leaf (no Coach Cal sightings), and on our way out, I got a text from Orbitz saying my next-day flight from Chicago to BWI had been cancelled. Great.

I called the airline, spent forever listening to fun eighties hold music, and when a real person finally answered (20 minutes later), she informed me that all the computers were down and that they couldn’t do anything about my flight. Great. She recommended calling back in half an hour, which I dutifully did. There was much confusion because my flight out was on a different airline and apparently all flights from Chicago were cancelled, but I finally got in touch with a very helpful employee who arranged for me to fly out of Lexington at close to the same time as I was supposed to leave originally, but connect through Dallas-Forth Worth instead of Chicago. This change essentially doubled my travel time, but I was ready to be home.

Breakfast buddies my last morning in Lexington.

On Thursday, Bryn let me come over at 7:15 AM to hang out before my flight. We made browned butter chocolate chip cookies–of which I ate four and an immeasurable amount of cookie dough–and Puccini’s pizza. Then, she and her cute kiddos took me to the airport. I had a great time and was glad we were able to hang out before I left.

Saying good-bye to Lexington, but so excited to see Jason.

My travel was mercifully uneventful. I’m back, and life is good.

watched the Iowa caucus results come in.

went out with Laura for hot chocolate (peppermint, of course), and to Mellow Mushroom with some of her friends. Afterward, we made vegetarian chili. She kindly sent me home with a couple servings for my lunches, and it was delicious.

had my first ever Culver’s experience. I liked my chicken sandwich and loved my mint chocolate chip custard shake confection. Yum.

attended three indoor soccer games.

So far this week I…

relived fond childhood memories by drawing a little smiley face on my thumb.

built a boat out of LEGO bricks.

kicked back with minty hot chocolate (perhaps more than once).

got together with Bryn, Taryn, and Grant (not pictured).

received pumpkin butter of my very own, about which I could not be happier!

went to basketball practice (not my own).

watched the New Hampshire results come in, and enjoyed the ridiculous multimedia gimmicks used to explain how caucuses and primaries work. Come on, CNN. Use your words.

went out for lunch with the basement bunch at Josie’s.

consumed all the regular flavor oatmeal in the Harris home.