I've been meaning to do this for several months now, but this month I am writing a blog post on Things I Learned This Month. It's something that blogger and author Emily P. Freeman "sponsors," and you can link your blog posts to hers to show everyone what you learned this month.

And boy, was February a month of learning. That's why I finally remembered to sit down and do this - there's lots to tell. So sit back, relax, and enjoy.

xoxo,
E

About a month ago, we went on our first house-hunting expedition. To be frank, it was kind of half-assed. We hadn't finished painting and updating our condo yet, much less listed it, so we knew we weren't going to be buying anything for a while.

Fast-forward a few weeks, and suddenly our house is under contract, and in a month we won't have anywhere to live. Suddenly, house-hunting takes on a more urgent tone.

On the day we married, I told B I was thrilled to have adventures with him for the rest of our lives. I probably should have been a little more specific about the "adventure" part.
 
In truth, I'd actually love a peaceful, ordinary, non-insane January, February and March. In 2014, we were wrapping up the wedding planning (and B was frequently traveling to Dallas for one- and two-week clips for work). In 2015, we were trying to do all that was involved to get our behinds to France, including packing, cleaning, visa meetings, and other intercontinental insanity (and B traveled to Dallas for one- and two-week clips).
 
And 2016? Well, in 2016, we spent January and the bulk of February cleaning and updating our condo to sell. We must've done a hell of a job. Last Wednesday, after being on the market for a whopping 4 hours, we received an offer on it - a good one. And, naturally, B has to go to Dallas next week for work.

I don't do wildly terrific with chaos, disorganization, messes, or ambiguity...so getting our condo ready to put on the market and looking for a new house is basically my idea of hell on earth. I'm an introverted homebody - my home is my safe haven - and when it's a giant cluster I am not a happy (or relaxed) girl.
 
But I have an escape, my favorite, most beloved kind: books. I chose these books because they're not too taxing, but they were entertaining enough to take me away from my disaster of a house to a world (somewhat) more orderly. These were all really good - check them out!
 
xoxo,
E

Typically when my parents visit for my birthday we go out to celebrate Saturday night. But because Valentine's Day was Sunday, and because there was a Republican presidential debate going on at the Peace Center, and we absolutely, positively did not want to get caught up in the love-struck couples and/or politically inclined crowds (not to mention security detail and traffic blocks), we went out on Friday night and decided to cook at home on Saturday.
 
I am personally a fan of this, because the older I get, the more I like doing things in which I can stay in my pajamas.

That food story I did - I tell you, I had fun with that one. I like to write, but let's be honest here - I love food even more. And I really love finding new foods. Not long after I wrote my blog post about Big T Coastal Provisions dips, another source I interviewed, who makes sauces and dips, sent me a sampler pack of her products.

And now I'm here to tell you about them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my absolute favorite part of my job is getting to interview different people. Everyone has such cool stories. I'm convinced that if everyone could just be a reporter and take the time to listen to others, the world would be a much nicer place. Of course, then I'd probably be out of a job. Anyway.

What with all the touch-up painting and home repairs in anticipation of selling the condo, meal planning has kind of taken a backseat. As in, it hasn't happened at all.

We've eaten leftovers, we've made bizarre concoctions, we've broken down and gotten Taco Casa out of desperation - but in an effort to stay healthy we decided to make baked spaghetti squash one Friday night.