Travels, Meetings, Work, School , etc

Well, as per usual, things have been pretty busy. I went out of town and visited college town for some school related things at the end of last week, which was fun and enjoyable. I especially loved being able to see and catch up with some good friends who live there, brief though it was. Not to mention, my foodie side was very satisfied by some of the restaurants I visited!

Me with M, L, and Kristen! 

Although it would have been great to spend more time in college town, I came home pretty early in the weekend to maximize my time with hubby. He just left today for about a month, unfortunately. Much as I think it is lame (that's my chosen word for how I feel about it), in the military life, things could always be worse. I am very conscious that I have many friends separated from their husbands for longer, and hubby is in this country still and everything, so I am not letting myself become too bitter about it. Between last weekend and today, we were both very busy, with meetings, school, work, and a fun event with school friends of mine. I was so tired today that I took a nap instead of shopping, as I'd originally planned. I don't nap that much, and do to that instead of shopping, you know I must be tired! 

Luckily in terms of missing hubby, I am busy (mix of school and fun) this weekend, so I won't have too much time to sit around. 

Annnd, as a bonus, I'd like to recommend this recipe for linguine with walnut-tomato pesto. I made it with whole wheat spaghetti and added peas. Delicious and super easy! 

Yummy!

I can't believe it's already almost October! I feel conflicted about how fast I want the month to go by - I'll get hubby back at the end of it, but I'll be that much closer to finals too! I can't believe I'm already almost five weeks into the semester as well. Crazy times. 

Middle of September!

Just a little Friday night update before my hubby gets home.

These past couple of weeks have been non-stop for us both! I am hitting the ground running at school, and things have been crazy for hubby at work. For me, it's not so much the classes (I have a slightly lighter load this semester, and I survived what everyone says is the hardest year already), because they are just starting. It's really the other activities I have taken on this year, along with the job search for next summer. Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but things happen really early with law school job searches! Despite stresses here and there, I am enjoying my classes and activities, there are just a lot of them. It is really nice to take classes I chose myself instead of a mandated curriculum, like the first year.

In addition to our busy work and school lives, hubby and I have been busy socializing, oddly enough. We went to a friend's birthday party last weekend, are going to a law school social event tomorrow night, AND have a military ball in a couple of weeks! On top of that, I will be out of town at the end of this coming week and get to see some old college friends while I'm back in College Town! I'm excited, but it's definitely another thing keeping my to do list loaded, even as I complete other tasks.

That being said, I can't complain. Hubby is living at home with me, I am enjoying school when it's not too crazy, and we've been spending time with friends. At this rate though, the holidays (and finals) will be here before we know it! I'm just hopeful I can keep up with all my obligations and keep up with friends near and far this semester. I certainly will do my best.

That's about all for now. After hubby gets home tonight, we'll do the usual Friday (homemade) pizza and a movie thing!

Oh... that reminds me actually - let me share some recipes I've made and liked recently!

Asian Bowtie Pasta Salad (click for link)

This salad had delicious sesame flavors running through it, with yummy vegetables and chicken. It made for a great take-to-school lunch as well - tastes great hot, room temp, or cold. 

Skinny Sour Cream Enchiladas

Hubby was a big fan of these, and I liked them too. I made some modifications, like low fat sour cream instead of fat free, but I mostly followed the recipe. It came together easily and was definitely tasty!

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

This recipe is fantastic - I highly recommend it. It's super easy (especially if you already have cooked chicken, but even if you don't), tastes awesome, and is reasonably healthy, especially if you use low-cal/whole grain/whatever tortillas. It's so good I've already made it twice, the second time with beef. Gets high marks from both hubby and me, and it will be a repeat player in this household! 

Thanks for indulging the last minute recipe share. We may be busy, but homemade dinner is always a priority for us! And much like last year, meal-planning is key and makes putting dinner on the table much much easier.

Note: all recipe photos are from the linked websites. 

Back to the Grind, Weekend, and Home Decor

Luckily it's a long weekend, so we've had a bit of a break these past few days, but before that, I started up the school year and hubby kept on getting into the normal work schedule he'll be keeping for the foreseeable future. My first day was pretty long and stressful (the most class of any day, and an interview to boot), but I am starting to get into the flow of things. It's been really nice to see school friends again, many of whom I saw rarely or not at all over the summer.

This weekend hubby and I have mostly been hanging out around our casa, but I did have to do an orientation for a school activity two days ago. On the plus side, we've been able to go out with friends of mine in the "big city" two nights out of this weekend. For people who are usually content to eat a homemade pizza, watch a DVD, and call it a night pretty early on the weekends, we got out there on this particular one. (Yes, we're old, but we're married and enjoy each other's company, so it's okay.)

In addition to all that and other usual chores and errands, we are using this weekend to tackle a home decor project I've been hoping to do - window treatments! We do have curtains in our living room, because the landlord had already put hardware there. I was inspired by home decor blogs and some curtains I saw at a certain Swedish furniture store. A few months, more hardware, and more curtains later, we're in the process of putting up curtains in three other rooms of the house.

First, there's my office.

This is my office when I first looked at this house, with staged furniture as a suggestion. 

Over time, I added my desk (that was actually very early on), a real desk chair (more recently), and hubby put up some floating shelves (even more recently). Add to that a bunch of books, and today, curtains, and you have the following before and afters - 

Yay! I love my office so much more now. It always motivates me to be good and do my homework in my office (as opposed to the living room) when I have a pleasant place to be. It's a lovely luxury to have a home office, especially when hubby is around and I benefit from isolating myself in my work space. 

So that's our little recent foray into more home decor. The other two rooms' window treatments are a work in progress, but hopefully I'll share them when they are done. Our house situation is certainly no Young House Love, but I sure am inspired by them and we do what we can on the weekends. :-)