The Newman Way: May Showers

So much rain this past week! I'm very glad I bought a rain jacket earlier this month. Too bad I didn't find or get one for Ryan since he is at Rice this weekend watching a baseball tournament. We tried to find some ponchos, but with Free Press Summer Fest going on, the store was sold out.

Ryan's summer started about three weeks ago so he has been working on crossing some things off his "honey do" list now that he has some time. One of my favorite things he has done is installing usb and power outlets in a few spots around the house. Not a major change or anything really noticeable, but just makes things a little neater to look at. Another favorite is making a big frame I bought into something that looked like a window. I have looked for an old wooden window that I liked to keep as it or repaint to put on display, but we couldn't find one we both liked or was willing to pay for. Instead, I bought a big frame from Hobby Lobby, took the back out and left the glass, and Ryan stained and glued wood slats together to make it into a window. Of course we can't get the stain to match the aged wood perfectly, but I still love how it turned out. This inspiration came from an image I found through pinterest, and I think we did really well.

Other updates:
We went to an Off the Wall dinner at Underbelly this month with the Toals. This time, the dinner was thai themed and cooked by Underbelly, Asia Market (our favorite Thai restaurant), and PJ Stoops who will be opening Foreign Correspondents soon. Everything was really good and we even got some curry paste to take home. I forgot to take photos along the way. We sat at a table with another group and everything was served family style. We were too busy enjoying the dinner to stop everybody for photos.

Marisa, Kim, and I took a day trip to Austin to visit the Lius and meet their new little girl, Emma. I can't believe how much we all have grown and how much our posse has grown in size. I love all these little ones and feel so lucky to be an auntie to so many. Before we left for Austin that day, Marisa found a photo of us at her parents' house of us in 2001, going to their band banquet. We also stopped by three Buc-ees on our trip. We should have stopped by the fourth just because but we all wanted to get back home. Lucky to have these girls in my life.