Butterflies and Mummies

One of our favorite adventures from this summer was visiting the Museum of Natural Science and the Butterfly Exhibit. Some of the exhibits included paleontology, gems, sea life, energy sources, African wildlife, Egypt, and South America. I think I will just post a bunch of pictures from the trip instead of writing about it. Also, don't mind my CRAZY, frizzy hair in these pictures. The humidity here kills me! I walk out of the house with nice curls, and ten seconds later its a fluff ball. (Sigh.)


 This butterfly landed on Jeff's head just minutes after entering the room. I couldn't believe it!

  

Check out that blue butterfly! It was gorgeous! About the size of my hand, and so quick. It was impossible to get a good picture.

I think I sat on this bench for 1/2 hour waiting for a butterfly to land on me. It never happened, but one landed on Jeff after 2 minutes!

Some kind of special gem. Its a vibrant red, spiky thing.

This mummy is especially special because he has a beard. Apparently it was incredibly weird for anyone to have facial hair, especially when being prepared for mummification. He is incredibly preserved.

This head was carved into a metallic sandstone. 

We went to Dallas this weekend, so more updates to come!

Wicked!

You guys.

I went with Jeff and his co-workers to see Wicked last night. In my mind I'm still like, "Whaaaaaatt??" I had seriously been wanting to see it since I was in high school in 2006. And although I am definitely behind the times, it was fantastic to finally see it. I am still reeling inside.

 The musical was incredibly clever and well written, and had the best references to The Wizard of Oz. I thought it was a fantastic way to think of the "real" Wicked Witch. Also, all the songs I've been hearing in talent shows, and what not, make so much more sense in the context of the play. I appreciate the music more now than I have in the past.

This was the only picture we were able to take, as photos were not allowed during the performance. :( But you can kind of see the stage here! And we had great seats in orchestra seating! WHOO!

Pardon the dark pictures. Lighting was rough in there! haha The picture below includes some of the group that went to the show. Jeff, Mack and Michele, Jessie, and Marybeth. Mack, Jessie, and Marybeth are interns with Jeff at work.

It was a fantastic night! Afterward, I told Jeff that I would love to go to more musicals/plays in the future. I must admit, he looked a little afraid. :)

4th of July

The 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the fireworks, the barbecues, the family, the parades. It is such a festive and fun holiday! But it was weird for me to be in Houston to celebrate alone with Jeff this year. I didn't realize how differently the states would celebrate. For example, they do not have parades in Texas! What in the world?! NO parades?? That is the best part! Needless to say, we had to make some of our own fun. :)

We started our morning by making festive chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries for breakfast.

That evening, Billy and Erin came over for dinner. We had club sandwiches, chips, and corn on the cob. It was so much fun! Jeff and Billy have been friends since they were kids, and both Billy and Erin lived in our singles ward before we got married. They are a great couple and we loved catching up with them. :)

After dinner, we frosted 4th of July cupcakes! Jeff just squirted different colors all over the cupcake. He just wanted to eat it. haha Men are so much different than women . . .

That night we watched fireworks downtown with Billy and Erin. Billy works for a law firm in the city, and we were invited to go with them to a party in the skyscraper to watch the fireworks. We were almost exactly level with the fireworks! It was really cool! It gave a whole new perspective to watching fireworks.

The pictures don't quite do it justice. And we were closer than the photos make it look. :)

At the end of the night, we were walking up the stairs to our apartment and stopped to look out over the lake across the street. There were 8 different firework shows we could see on the horizon. It was pretty magical. :)

Beach Day!

One of the cool things about being in Houston is that we are an hour away from the beach! So probably a month ago, we went with Mack and Michele, the other couple here from BYU, to the beach in Galveston. It was a beautiful day! The water was so warm, and at one point it was even warmer in the water than it was outside because it was a bit rainy.

This beach is maybe a mile away from where Jeff proposed to me two years ago. It looks basically the same. :) It was great for us to reminisce about that day and visit the place again, especially since I thought I would never be able to come back.

I am obsessed with this hat. It is the only hat I have ever owned, but for some reason I absolutely love it!

After the beach, we drove back to downtown Houston to watch the USA vs. Ireland rugby game! After watching BYU rugby throughout the past four years, we have learned to love the sport. We ended up losing to Ireland by three, but it was fun to be there! Unfortunately, Jeff's phone died as we arrived so we were unable to get any photos.

Houston has been good to us! We have been loving our adventures.