* Bought a new phone on Craigslist. Why did I do that? Let me tell you. A few days prior I pulled the genius move and dropped my phone in the toilet. Luckily the toilet had stopped flushing and did not flush the phone, but it did soak it enough that it would not work. Go team Camille!

* Came home from my Craigstlist deal to a man in a mustache making delicious quesadillas. See below.

If you look behind us you can see my new gray wall! I was so excited to get approval to paint from the landlord (even if it was just ONE wall). Oh, and don't judge me that we don't have pictures in our frames yet. One step at a time people.

* Ran half of a 1/2 marathon. (do I say a 1/4 marathon?) This couple from my church planned a 1/2 marathon on a Saturday (since there are like no races on Saturdays here) for anyone who wanted to run (obviously for free). It was basically a 6.6 mile loop twice. I haven't been training per se, so I opted for just one loop. But now I can say I have run a 1/4 marathon. Don't be jealous.

* Cleaned/organized/weeded/ran errands like a mad-woman on very little sleep. And then I crashed at about 4 pm leading to my first nap in a good 6 month period. It was glorious.

* Went on a date with the mister and friends to dinner, the Riverwalk, and back to Megan and Brandon's cute house for dutch-oven-peach-cobbler and s'mores around their fire pit. A fun evening had by all!

* Made pumpkin pancakes in honor of Halloween before church (click on the link for the recipe. It's worth it). Russ wanted to have "bats" in them... so I added some chocolate chips. yummmmm.

* Have filled the candy bowl and am anxiously awaiting passing out candy to eager trick-or-treaters for the first time in my own home.

Ahhh, the weekend. So short, but so sweet. Hope yours has been just as sweet! Oh! The doorbell has rung...

Ellen

Sooo... work has slowed down. A lot. Unfortunately, even though we don't have much work to do we still have to show up. Today has resulted in watching this video, where I was trying so hard to not laugh out loud. Just watch it, it's funny. (It's totally G-rated... no need to fear).

I can't help but think how good of a sport David Beckham, and not to mention that masseuse, is to play along with Ellen's schemes. Oh, Ellen. Too bad you are on day-time TV and I can't watch you.

Baby Brigham

As of last Wednesday, we are an Aunt and Uncle for the third time! Marcella had her third baby, Brigham. Everyone is happy and healthy, which is all we can ask for. Looking at these pictures and seeing the sweet moments of Benny and Lucy meeting their new baby brother has made us very excited to get to meet him ourselves at Christmas. Until then, meet baby Brigham everyone!

A Tribute

 This is a tribute to the night bagel. When Russ and I first started dating, he introduced me to the night bagel, a tradition him and his roommates had carried on for years. Tonight I also got to hear a speech about how this, this very bagel you see in the picture above, is the perfect bagel. It has the perfect softness, warmth, texture, flavor, and yes, even the perfect weight. Wow, I didn't know all of this was possible in a bagel. Now I do. Thomas' Everything Bagel, you are the real thing. Thank you for making Russ's night... and I'm sure many nights to come.

Phone Woes

So.... a few months ago I let Russ "hack" my phone. Apparently my phone didn't approve. We "unhacked" it last night, and I magically had over 100 voice mails I never received since the beginning of September. 

Point is, I apologize profusely if you left me a voice mail since then and I was a jerk and never called you back. I just didn't know you called. :) You may be getting an apology phone call in the next few days. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Sheri - mom

I say "Sheri-mom" because that's how Sheri always finishes any emails/cards/texts she sends my way. She is and forever will be my second Mom.

Sheri has occupied my thoughts a lot lately. About three weeks ago they found a tumor in her brain. After going through brain surgery and removing most of the tumor, she was then diagnosed with Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer (and ironically the exact diagnosis as my Aunt). I haven't been able to be there with her and her family (seeing as they are in Spokane), but I get daily updates from my Mom and her daughter Lindsay, my "sister"/former room-mate/life friend.

Sometimes I get so frustrated with this situation and want to scream out loud "WHY SHERI??? Why that family?" But I know you can't ask that question, because the Lord has a grander plan. He really does have everything in control. I have always looked up to Sheri, but in the last 5 years I have seen her become one of the strongest, most faithful, positive, and influential people in my life. Her husband, Lindsay's Dad, and my own father's best friend tragically passed away in an airplane accident. Since that day in March 2005, Sheri has been a rock. I am completely in awe of her and their family.

And now with this brain cancer, from the stories and experiences I hear, she has not faltered. I tell you this story mostly to get it off my chest. But also, remember her and her family in your prayers, if you are the praying type. Miracles happen. Faith is powerful. Prayers work.

I love you Sheri and family!

If you are interested, you can follow her story HERE

PS. I'm sorry Lindsay, I totally stole that picture from your blog. She just looked so pretty, I had to :)

Summoning Fall

The Texas fall is much different than any other fall I've had. It's a very welcome season, for sure. But none of this "crinkling autumn leaves," "cool weather to bundle up for," or any reason whatsoever to "cuddle up by the fire with some apple cider." No sirree. Not in this part of the country. We are just grateful to have left the 90 degree weather.

With that said, I have been trying to summon fall. You saw the yellow wreath. We also bought pumpkins. Lots of them. A few big ones for carving, and little pumpkins to scatter about. Oh yeah... and the cooking! I started this weekend off with some homemade Butternut Squash Soup. It sure was delicious, and it was my first time conquering the beast of a vegetable known as a butternut squash. Wowzers. That vegetable is tough. But so, so worth it.

We finished off the weekend with some scrumptious pumpkin cookies (with cream cheese frosting, of course). Just prior to our "La Cocina de Lewis" experience, we had unpacked a few last boxes from the move. Russ found these matching "his and her" aprons we had received from our wedding. If these cookies are the result, I might need to get Russ in that man-apron a little more often (or should I say Mapron?)

Happy Fall-ing everyone!

The cipher to my code

Hello everyone,

So I have the answers to my riddle that I posted on Sunday. BTW that was the most fun post I've ever done and really loved reading the responses to it.

1. Camille. I guess growing up with a foosball table in your basement, and Jace as a little brother makes one competitive player.

2. Camille, she has never sworn.

3. Russ. What can I say, I have good taste.

4. Camille. Her favorite subject was math and she really was math student of the year.

5. Russ. I got out of school for a day to go work some word problems and hang out with my friends. Who wouldn't join?

6. Camille. One day Camille's good friend Danielle greeted her a little too warmly and cracked her laptop screen on accident.

7. Camille. She loves solitaire and will win if you let her play for more than 10 minutes.

8. Camille. She would hang out with her friends and play Halo on the weekends.

9. Russ. I have old computers from Desktop Distribution that followed me from college and are still going strong.

10. Camille.

Thank you to those who played my game, and I will see you next time I surface for another post.

Happy 011000100110100101101110011000010111001001111001 Day!

If you are confused about the title of my post, do not dismay. Today is 10/10/10. I overheard a guy at church behind me say that it was binary day. Then I got to thinking that I should post about this. BTW this is Russ if you couldn't already tell. Also the picture above is about the most complicated sudoku I can do and will ever be interested in. So in celebration of 10/10/10 I have decided to setup a little game for our readers. Below are 10 things you may or may not know about Camille and I. Read each one and put a 1 down if you think it is Camille and a 0 if you think it is about me. At the end, you will find out something pretty cool.

0001. One of us is an intensely competitive foosball player and can beat any opponent faced. This is performed without even having to spin the rods.

0010. One of us has never used a swear word, although there have been some very close calls.

0011. One of us is a furniture snob. Pottery Barn outlet only.

0100. One of us loves math and was the math student of the year.

0101. One of us participated in the Junior Engineering Technology Society in high school.

0110. One of us had to repair a screen on a laptop because of a friend hugged a little too hard.

0111. This person's favorite game to play on the phone is solitaire.

1000. This person used to play Halo in high school with friends on the weekend.

1001. This person hasn't bought a computer in 5 years

1010. One of us plays the guitar.

Ok everyone so here is the breakdown of scores and what impact it will have on your future:

0-2: Have you h@ck3d every technology you own? You know my mind.
2-5: Work on your twitter skillz. Once you get up to 6,000 followers, come back to me.
6-8: You are on the path to great craft-dom. Spend some more time on Etsy.
8+ : Go buy yourself a diet coke and some sour patch kids cause you are Crazy about Camille.

Our Hot Friday Night Date

One word explains this last week: CRAZY. After getting into town late Sunday night from Albuquerque and getting right back into work, I felt like I could never really catch up on anything I needed, much less wanted, to accomplish. Last night Russell and I stayed in to finally catch up on conference that we had missed last weekend. Within 30 minutes Russell was OUT. I seriously questioned if he was even alive. I decided to capitalize on the opportunity and delve into the craft project I had been itching to get started. After all, the house was needing some fall colors to help bring in this amazing season.

And can I just get it out there that I cannot wait till I have a legit camera and finally have some decent/non-blurry pictures on my blog? Whew, I feel better getting that off my chest. Please don't judge me until that time comes. Moving on, I found the idea from this fun blog. Mine really does look like hers, my pictures just don't quite portray the full cuteness. Someday people, someday.

I hope you all had a wonderful Saturday and had fun celebrating John Lennon's birthday like I did (which before you roll your eyes and think how creepily obsessive I am, all I did was listen to the White Album. Normal enough, right?). Google even paid tribute! He would have been 70. And dang, he was a pretty cool guy. And before I ramble on too much longer, PEACE.

New Mexico Part 2: The Wedding!

As we were driving to Sada's wedding I was nervous and giddy, almost like it was me getting married all over again! Sada and I share a room in the back of our office, and during the slow times (and even when it wasn't that slow), we were constantly planning, talking about, and scheming her wedding. I loved being a part of her planning process -- I got to help plan a wedding without the stress! Needless to say, I was perhaps just as excited as Sada to see how everything was going to turn out. I got to the reception center in Old Town Albuquerque early in the day to help set everything up. Thanks to the help of Sada's family and bridesmaids, and the bride herself, everything came together seamlessly. I think it all looked fabulous.

Clockwise from top left -- Sada made these adorable place cards to designate which guest got which plate, accented with Washi Tape, of course. I loved the feel of the tent with the lights... it was so cozy! The roses were the table center-piece. Those roses. Oh, I loved those roses... we even got to take some home! And finally, the cake table was planned with great care. The cake was a Tres Leches cake (yummmm), and that paper banner was made by me!

Do you see those white vases in the top right picture? Do you remember a post from long ago promising they would be used? Ah ha! You thought I would let you down. Do not fear, they reappeared.

And of course I must mention the part that really mattered: THE CEREMONY. It was so beautiful, I may have shed a tear or two. They were both beaming and totally in love. It really was such a happy moment. Sada designed these programs, and carried the theme throughout her wedding. Everything was so well thought-out. As I leave you now, just remember that:  

"Marriage is like a WEDDING CAKE. You need all the right ingredients."

- Sada's late Grandfather

New Mexico Part 1: MUSE!

We made the drive across beautiful west Texas (cough cough... not) to attend Sada and Reagan's wonderful wedding nuptials. We arrived in Albuquerque Friday afternoon, and immediately stopped at Terriyaki Chicken Bowl, a local restaurant that Russell was quite sentimental about. After dropping our stuff off at our good friends, Jessy and Dylan (who happened to be fantastic hostesses), we high-tailed it to the Sandia Resort and Casino for the first wedding event -- the Rehearsal Dinner!

It was at this dinner that Reagan surprised Sada with the honeymoon destination which is the far-off land of FIJI! After nonchalantly asking the waitress for some water, she brought him a Fiji water bottle that he had put a picture of them in the background, with the phrase "we are going here" and an arrow pointing to the word "Fiji." Pretty creative, if you ask me. Way to go Reagan!

After the dinner, we again high-tailed it to Rio Rancho, to attend the Muse concert. Oh boy, was I excited to see them. I have been a big fan since college, but never been fortunate enough to see them. It just so happened they planned a trip to Albuquerque the same weekend we did! Who'da thought?

We made it to the arena just a few minutes before Matthew Belamy and crew walked on stage. All I can say about the rest of the night was it was an EXPERIENCE. That band delivers. If you can't tell how much we were enjoying it from the picture on the left, Russell's expression on the right is a perfect description of what we looked like the entire show. Can I say sensory overload? They played lots of our favorites, Matthew played on his light-up piano, big balls fell from the ceiling, all while experiencing a pretty amazing light-show. Thanks again, Muse. I hope to see you again someday.

The Sign-In Book

As mentioned previously, I made a sign-in book for my good friend, Sada. She got married this last weekend to a fellow Lewis (her new husband is named Reagan John Lewis... strikingly similar to Russell John Lewis, no?). It was such a beautiful wedding, and I am excited to share some details in the future. As for now, I present the sign-in book, hand-made by yours truly.

I made this scrapbook based on the same book I made for our wedding. Sada's colors were orange and gray. It was perfect. I made the book primarily with these colors, but threw in a few splashes of light blue. I "sewed" the front and back with basic sewing thread. The cover is made with fabric from Hobby Lobby that I backed with Wonder-Under (3 different times! I guess third time really is the charm). Anyway, I think it turned out great, and I was glad I got to keep my bookbinding skills fresh! I might just need to make another book... don't want to lose it, now do I?

And can I just say, are her engagement pictures not AMAZING? She used a local photographer, Bend The Light Photography. I love, love, love their style, and would be one happy chica to have a photo session by them. Maybe someday. You can see more of her engagement pictures HERE.