adventures are bigger in texas.

i'm a fan of traveling, that is evident. but i think i've had my fill of roadtrips for at least the next...oh, month or so. two weekends ago, i drove twenty-eight hours, about 1800 miles, by myself. well, i was physically by myself, but i was on the phone so much, i didn't get too lonely. (don't worry, it was hands-free.) my car has also seen better days. in the past month, she's been hit twice and driven over 2500 miles. and her left blinker is now freaking out.


don't worry, i gave jetta some good old-fashioned t-l-c today at the car wash.

why was i on the road again? well, in case you haven't heard, i have accepted a short-term position in austin, texas as a live-in nanny for an active, busy, lovely family. they have four kids, and for the sake of safe and easy blogging, we'll call them little K, little A, big K, and big A. the two littles are girls, 6 and 9, and the bigs are boys, 12 and 15. like i said, they are lovely and sweet and the little ones say funny kid things that i enjoy thoroughly.

the view from the house is one of my favorite parts of living here so far!


dad, this last one is for you:


i had the unique opportunity to witness the swearing in of all of the representatives in the texas state legislature the first week that i was here.

they've got stars on everything down here.

above you literally SEE the "swearing-in!"

and here, you can see the election results for the new speaker of the house. i'm not super politically savvy, but i assumed mostly green dots = he's a shoe-in.

exploring the city beyond suburbia is my main goal on the weekends at this point. i'm loving it already! i especially loved it today at 61 degrees...and we had a day last week that was 65! i have a goal to see live music every weekend and i saw some mediocre music last weekend at a dive joint, but this weekend i went to a more reputable hot spot and caught two great acts, the beans and the scabs. okay, just goes to show, don't judge a book by its cover. or its title.

and, in case you forget the title...

they had a really great brass section and somehow incorporated reggae rhythms, samba beats, and rap...and i actually liked it!

lastly, i also have a new goal of working out 5 days a week and eating healthier...also noticing that taking care of kids full time just naturally beats the calories out of you. so, on that note, you can see my friday night dinner that could feed a small country:


that's chicken fried chicken. and those little fried nuggets are actually a vegetable called okra. so that made me feel a little better about the idea. ok. so the goal of eating a tip-top diet starts next week!? ahhh, famous last words. until next time...y'all!