Casa del Maxwell

We have one more week of packing and purging of things before we load up the truck and move into our new home. I am so excited to have a little more space with a second bedroom, second bathroom and a balcony and to be living in the same complex as a few of our friends, but at the same time, the leaving is bittersweet.


It's not that we're moving far away and leaving behind people we love, like Patrick's sister and our brother-in-law did back in May. It's just that, well, this was our first home together. The first place we picked out and furnished and lived in for the past five years. We know all its quirks and how loud our current neighbors are. I know where all the light switches are without having to run my hand up and down a wall. I know how to find my way from the darkened kitchen to my side of the bed without stubbing my toe.

So, in a couple months, once we get things all set up in Casa del Maxwell, come on out for a visit! We'll have an actual guest bedroom for you to stay in! That is, as long as you don't mind sharing it with the kitties...

"Knuden" Reunion

Hope everyone had a wonderful, fun-filled, Four of July! This year, Patrick and I ventured up to the DFW Metroplex for the first Knudsen Family Reunion and along the way, met up with some friends whom we hadn't seen in awhile.

We drove up from Austin Saturday morning and got to Dallas in time to have very yummy lunch of Cuban food and bottomless mimosas and bellinis with Amy and her boyfriend Glenn (the second 'n' is silent). From there, we drove to our hotel in downtown Fort Worth and then met up with Julie and Matt for drinks at Flying Saucer, where we sampled some new beers and I made faces when sipping Patrick's Double Dead Guy Ale (Brandi, has Chris had this one??) and some incredibly hoppy IPA. We laughed, traded stories (some people might call it gossip) and I think I might have agreed to going to my 10 year reunion somewhere in there. And from the third story of the parking garage, we saw a couple of fireworks go off, but that was about it for our 4th of July celebration.

On Sunday, the entire Knudsen branch of my family (minus Rachael & Hagan) gathered at my cousin Jenny & Curtis' house. I think Jenny was a little sleep deprived, because she wrote "Knuden Reunion" and forgot the 's' in Knudsen on the chalkboard. We got to see people that we hadn't seen in a number of years and even got to meet a few new members. I got to squeeze the neck of some of my favorite cousins, and played with my cousin Lori's rolly-polly of a son, who has the most squeezable cheeks you have ever seen! It was so nice to see everyone in one place since the last time we all got together was almost 9 years ago (not including all the weddings that happened in between.) I have to admit, at first I wasn't to excited about a family reunion when I first heard about it, but we had a bunch of fun and finally got to connect with family that live just around the corner. Can't wait to see the pictures from yesterday!

Reunion

Last night, after going through our entire Netflix Instant Watch list, we finally decided on revisiting Can't Hardly Wait. The movie was released the summer between Patrick's senior year of high school and my senior year of high school, so it definitely has a bit of nostalgia about it. The soundtrack to the film carried over to the soundtrack of our senior video that my film class edited and showed at our prom....yes, complete with the footage of me being wheeled off after fainting during the senior panorama picture. It was a hot, humid, September day in Texas. It happens. And while still in high school, I even got the poster from a friend who worked in a video store.

Besides some of the obvious ones: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry and Seth Green, that film seemed to be a jumping off point for so many actors in their late teens early 20s. There even seemed to be a pre-union (instead of reunion?) of Six Feet Under actors in there. Patrick pointed out that he has now seen Lauren Ambrose get licked by Eric Balfour in two different shows. Every time the shot or point of view changed, another familiar face jumped out and Patrick or I would yell "That Guy!" or "That Girl!"

And for all those people I didn't recognize, I wonder what happened to them. I wonder where they are now? 10 Years later. That's kind of how I feel on Facebook sometimes: getting a friend request from someone I can't quite remember or wondering about an old friend. My 10 year high school reunion is coming up this fall. I'm not even sure if I will be going...I'm just not quite sure if I'm ready for that