excited about the southwest

as nat's interview at sandia draws closer, i find myself getting more and more excited thinking about possibly moving to albuquerque.

i started looking at houses a few days after nat told me about the interview, and the housing prices are pretty affordable, and many of the houses i looked at were fairly new (less than 20 years old) and in good condition. i also like how albuquerque is a city, but not a big city. albuquerque doesn't strike me as suburbia (which i may be wrong), so it seems like it would fit our hopes of continuing to live a modest lifestyle. it also seems that we wouldn't have a problem living off one income. i like that it seems pretty sunny and warm there (a nice change from the midwest winters), and that's a definite plus for me!

one of the few down sides is that we'd be further away from our parents (at least nat's) than in champaign. both of our parents would have to fly which mean that we would see both parents less during the year.

i don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched, but i really do hope that nat does well at his interview and gets an offer. i also hope that the projects would be things that nat would be interested in.

a great deal!

Dear Tech Companies,

My accomplished, intelligent, hard-working husband is graduating this year with his PhD. He would be a great asset to your company. Sandia has offered him an interview. I think it would be wise for you to jump on the band wagon too before he gets snatched up.

Thank you.
Ramona

happy birthday

today is nat's birthday! :) happy birthday nat!

each year, i ask nat what he wants to eat for his birthday; it's the way that i show people i love how much i love them. this year, he has picked chimichangas for dinner. i'm not a fan of the recipe he likes, but since he requested it, i am happy to make it for him. :) he has also picked out having a chocolate cake.

i also picked out some foods he likes to celebrate. i made stuffed french toast for breakfast this morning. i also bought some cheese that he really likes--goat, smoked gouda, and manchego.

conversations we have in the morning

me: lane kiffin is going to usc.
nat: i know, i read that this morning. what a jerkface. it's a good fit for usc though*.

some conversation about why he's a jerkface.

nat: well, at least this will continue my dislike of usc.**

* nat's explanation: usc is under a lot of controversy. lane kiffin is under a lot of controversy. that's why it's a good fit.
** nat had told me earlier he wasn't sure how he was doing to dislike usc if pete carroll wasn't there anymore.

longhorn love

yesterday's championship was heartbreaking for me, but not as heartbreaking as it would have been if we'd lost with mccoy in the game. it seemed like things were going the longhorn way until colt got injured and went out of the game. when gilbert came in, i knew that the game was over. the leader of our offense was out, and it was unrealistic to ask the team to pull out a championship win with a true freshman quarterback that had "no significant playing time".

as the 2nd half rolled around, i was pleasantly surprised by my longhorns. the defense played spectacularly and with heart. they were fired up and were playing like they had a chance if they could get the offense onto the field. sure, 'bama was playing conservatively to protect their lead, but give credit to the defense in how they just dominated 'bama defensively for most of the 2nd half. then, gilbert got some confidence and scored for the horns. when i thought the game was over in the 1st half, the horns showed that they might be able to pull off a miracle with 4 minutes to go. sure, it went downhill after gilbert fumbled the ball, but there was a real glimmer of hope right at the end of the game. we didn't get blown out. we didn't embarrass ourselves. we played with heart. we played the best we could have having lost colt and having a true freshman play. good job longhorns. i'm proud of you!

another good exchange from today...

nat: i can't watch him embarrass himself. just like you can't watch violent parts, i can't watch socially awkward parts.

nat proceeds to walk out of the room. :P

this is while we were watching "the proposal" tonight.

plans?

nat: do you have any plans tomorrow?
me: no.
nat: are you sure? (nat raises his eyebrows)
me: yes.....
nat: are you sure you don't have plans around 7-7:15PM?
me: uh, do you have game night?
nat throws me the hook 'em sign.
me: oh yeah! :)

hook 'em horns. good luck tomorrow! :)

d'oh

i ordered nat's christmas gifts online this year, and they came in three separate packages. one of the gifts was a laptop battery since nat's battery died. i thought the package that arrived yesterday was nat's battery so i told him to open it. it turned out to be one of his other gifts--firefly. whoops. :P nat told me that i should have opened the packages first! lesson learned!