I Can't Stop Pinning!

So, my dear friend Ashleigh Daniel (formerly Ashleigh O'Quinn) invited me to join

http://pinterest.com/

and ever since then... I have been addicted. I love this website, and it makes me feel very greedy! It also inspires me to paint, go shopping, decorate my home, etc. So, feel free to join and then we can follow each other! It also makes me even more obsessed with braiding my hair. If only I could teach Ryan how to do a few of the braids because it is way harder than it looks to do some of these braids- even if you watch tutorials on youtube! Yes.. I do that. Here are some of my favorites that I have been trying to duplicate unsuccessfully:

Oh well, I will just have to keep practicing I guess!

In other news, Ryan finished his first blocks of the semester this past Monday! Hooray! For my selfish reasons, I am very happy for him to be done with these exams for now because that means that we can actually hang out! On Monday after the blocks were over, a big group of us went to Mullet Beach and cooked out and played beach games that we made- "Poor Man's Golf" and some other frisbee game that I was not good at.

 It was so much fun to finally get out of the house and go to the beach with everyone!

Last night, we went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean in 3-D and it was very good. I think 3-D makes anything look good and I wish that I could wear my 3-D glasses anywhere that I went to make things look better. Wouldn't that be cool? Anyway, I would definitely go see it again, AND I got to see the preview for the new Harry Potter movie coming out this summer! I am so excited for that movie, but I'm also going to be sad that the Harry Potter movies will be finished after this one. Oh well, at least I will have one more Twilight to see and then the Hunger Games movies will come out soon. Hooray! Have a great rest of the week! Peace!

My birthday present finally arrived

And it is a......

Kindle from Amazon!!!! Thank you so much Ryan!

I am so excited to be able to read whatever I want, whenever I want. I will now become an official nerd here. I have been using my kindle app on my mac but this is going to be way better because it will be portable. When I got it, I said "Now I need a case to go with it!" and Ryan said "I wouldn't go ordering that... because you still have something else coming in the mail." ha ha He is so sweet and I am so lucky to have him! Now the question is... What should I read first? Any ideas or comments?

Sweet Mary Love Sledge also sent me a birthday package of some really cute plastic plates that we will really use here. They are white with turquoise and blue polka dots! Thanks ML! She says that there is more to come, but I am just happy to have these! I love getting mail!

Also in other news, our wedding announcement was in one of Cleveland's (where I am from) newspapers this past weekend, and I thought that I would share it with you:

http://www.bolivarcommercial.com/view/full_story/13291061/article-Wilson-Keen-wed?instance=main_article

I have been finding more things to do lately, besides cooking and cleaning, and one of them has been hanging out with some of the spouses here whenever I can. This past Wednesday, several of us went to a zumba workout class (which was not as good as the ones that I loved in Oxford.. but beggars can't be choosers) and then we went to the movies to see "Adjustment Bureau." I think that Matt Damon is such a good actor and he seems like such a great guy.. so needless to say, I liked it. I think they could have made the ending better but I definitely give it 2 thumbs up. Well, that is all for now! Ta ta! 

Ryan has officially started school back!

So, now the question is.. What am I going to do with myself this summer? 

I have a job doing speech-language pathology with school-aged children out of the state of Louisiana through the computer (pretty cool, huh?) but it doesn’t start until August. I may try to get a small part-time job on campus for the summer... but I may just “kick it” here and enjoy myself! Besides, when am I ever going to get this opportunity to live in the Caribbean again? Right?

I have been doing my best, however at planning and cooking meals for Ryan (a.k.a. “trying to be a good wife!”), doing the dishes, doing the laundry, etc. And it has been surprisingly fun! I guess I was more intimidated than anything about how to successfully do this without being a slacker or going overboard. (Right now I am slacking, because I am writing this!) I will have to update this if I have any catastrophes in the kitchen or turn all of Ryan’s clothes pink. Let’s hope that I don’t.  

Almost a week ago, May 10, was my 26th birthday! AHHH! One more year closer to 30! Oh no!- Just kidding, I think this is going to be the best year yet and it is much better than the alternative! :) For my birthday, Ryan took me out to eat at one of his favorite restaurants on the French side, Mario’s Bistro.

 Despite my uneasiness at seafood, I decided to go out on a limb and be different in my menu selections. I ordered the tuna with lobster cakes for an appetizer and it was the best tuna I have ever had. Soooo good. For my main course, I got the red snapper fillet which was encrusted with crab meat... sooo good again. I am glad that I actually broadened my horizons on my birthday. Hopefully, I can keep this bravery thing up! 

I met with some of the girls from the Spouses’ Organization the other afternoon. We all went and got the most delicious gelato I have ever had (the only gelato I have ever had by the way). It was so nice to meet other girls/ladies (which one am I?) and have them welcome me so warmly. I am excited to finally be able to put faces with names and I look forward to the future activities that we will do together!