"Low-profile, noise-canceling headphones" anyone?

So, right before Christmas I had Paul make a wish list. This is typical for us. Among other things, this list included "low-profile, noise-canceling headphones." I thought: that makes sense; his office doubles as our bedroom and Ilana, Moses and I aren't always the quietest beings to try to study to. So, after some investigating, I just decided to let him collect money for them over Christmas. So, we advertised what the money was going towards and Paul spent the holidays rolling in the dough.

Thanks to EVERYONE who gave us money, because a couple weeks ago Paul bought himself...

A NEW MOUNTAIN BIKE!!!

The mountain bike we brought down here, although it was too small for Paul because he got it when he was younger, served perfectly for 2 weeks as a campus commuter bike...until it was stolen. Since then, Paul's been making due with his rode bike, which has been getting a lot of needless wear and tear. It doesn't help that one of Paul's co-workers has been trying to get Paul into mountain biking since he was hired last summer. So when Paul found this bike on eBay for a GREAT price I didn't feel like I could say no when I knew how life-giving this Christmas present would be - and much more fun, and useful long-term - than low-profile noise-canceling headphones. So, of course I said YES!

Thanks to Mark for helping him put it together. (Yes, he's the same one who's been trying to get him into mountain biking since last summer.) Can you tell he's excited to have someone to ride with? :)


This is what it looks like. Pretty, huh?

And I hear that this is a pretty sweet part, but I have no clue...and it really doesn't do anything for me. But, I'm super excited that Paul likes it.

And might I add...HE LOVES IT!!
This was 2 seconds after the first time he rode it across campus. It was SPRINKLING outside. The poor bike! He better wipe it down.

Since then he's been to the mountain bike trails in Cameron Park a couple times and he loves his bike even more, and it's much more filthy now. He sees why it's a great bike and he's really excited to use it more. He, of course, LOVES mountain biking and apparently Cameron Park is THE place in all of Texas to ride, so I'm fully expecting to be a semi-mountain-bike widow. He's assured me that this won't cut into family time, but of course I want to give him a little bit of extra freedom to enjoy the trails while we're here. Who knows where we'll be in 15 weeks?! (Graduation is 13 weeks from this Saturday!!!)

So, thanks again to everyone who gave Paul money over Christmas. He's really enjoying his low-profile, noise-canceling headphones...I mean new mountain bike! :)
-H