see alli scrap: Sayonara 2009: July through December

July

In July we discovered Mayfield Park in Austin. It's an old homestead that was donated to the city, and peacocks are allowed to freely roam the grounds.

Henry and I celebrated our second anniversary on July 7th by going to lunch at Fogo de Chao. We still love being married!

We also went on another popular Austin adventure: a bat cruise! During the summer months a colony of 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats take up residence under the Congress Bridge. It's the largest urban bat colony in North America. At dusk you can see them fly out to look for food. When Henry and I were dating we canoed down the river to see the bats. That was one of my favorite dates. This was a similar thing except we were on a bigger riverboat with a bunch of tourists and we had a tour guide.

I turned 24 in July too.

August

We moved out of our first newlywed apartment at the first of August. It was bittersweet. We really liked living there, but our new place is much closer to my new job, and the rent is $125 cheaper!

In August we also said farewell to some grad school friends who moved out of state for work.

My best friend Alifia came to visit from Kuwait.

I started my first grown-up job! This is me at the end of the first day of school, August 24th.

September

When you have a grown-up job you get real paid!

Sumi came to Austin for a Geology reunion. We got to do some shopping together, got our makeup done at Sephora, and ate at Madam Mam's. Yay for girl time!

Henry and I visited Amanda and Joseph in San Antonio. We had some of the worst Mexican food ever on The Riverwalk. Hopefully we'll choose more wisely next time. =)

October

My parents, nephew, and great-nephew came to visit us in October. We went to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. I recall it being a pretty chilly day for fall in Texas, but we did see some pretty flowers.

Over the summer I was diagnosed with psoriasis. It wasn't a big deal then (just dry patches on my forehead), but in October it spread to my eyelids and elbows. I spared you the pictures of my actual skin since Henry said it looked gross. Instead I am sharing a photo of the creams I acquired with my most recent visit to the dermatologist.

Henry and I won our ward Halloween costume contest by dressing as Mary Poppins and Bert. Putting the costumes together was one of the most fun projects for me this year. I'm amazed that we were able to find 90% of our costumes at Goodwill.

November

My brother-in-law David moved to China in December for a post-doc position. Yes, you read that correctly, China. I think Henry is still in shock that he actually moved there. We had a farewell dinner for him in Austin. Hopefully we'll be able to visit him sometime in the next three years.

I went to the Regina Spektor concert with my old friend Larissa and my new friend Meghan. I loved it. I think it was the best concert I've ever been to.

For the second year in a row we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our apartment. Unlike last year, however, my parents and sister Randy came (in addition to Henry's parents, Lara, William, April and Helen and her boyfriend Tripp). I really enjoyed cooking with my mom and Henry.

December

As is tradition, we visited the Trail of Lights in Zilker Park and spun under the big light tree. Guaranteed to make you dizzy!

This year we went with three other young married couples from our ward. We've been very blessed to meet so many cool people this year, and many of them have been in our new ward.