We took home the cold virus! Yep, we've done it again. Both of us have some nasty little upper respiratory yuckiness, although Heath is just a little congested and I've (as usual) got the full blown virus fun. So I have been trying to get lots of sleep and drink plenty of fluids which has left no time to blog about what an awesome Christmas we had. So here we go...
Thursday night we headed over to Ben and Mer's for our annual Christmas Eve Bash. This year we had the pleasure of having the J's, Cody and Bandaid there also. We had a breakfast buffet for dinner and I must say Jeremy makes the most awesome omlets ever. Then we let the girls open their gifts from us (and my parents) since we don't see them on Christmas day. After that, it was the Breinholt Nativity Christmas Devotional Spectacular via Skype. All and all it was a very fun time. We left a little earlier than we would have liked because surprise, surprise we had gotten snow that whole day and the roads were a little slick as the day went on. Us Texans don't do too well driving unless it is bright and sunny outside :)
Then Christmas day I fought the urge to wake everyone up at my parent's at 5 a.m. and let them sleep in until almost 8! Man, am I good daughter/sister/wife or what? :) So we got up and opened presents and hung out for awhile and then we got packed and headed out toward Wolfe City. My grandma and aunt wanted us to do Christmas with them this year there and so we packed the car with humans, packages, and dogs alike and headed out on the now thawing roads. My grandma wanted to do dinner at her house (which is right next door to my aunt's) so she prepared an all out feast for us all. It was a tough time for them as they were struggling through the holidays without my cousin Colin, but it was great being there with everyone. After opening presents at my Aunt's we went off to Gran's for some much needed rest (the whole waking up at 8 was catching up to us) and then we headed home the next day. That was also the day I woke up with the dreaded sore throat. After that we just lounged around at mom and dad's playing with our new trinkets. Then on Sunday we headed back to Austin so we could get some paperwork into our lender...... because we close in 5 days!!
So here we are in Austin, 5 days away from closing, and couldn't be more excited! We can't wait to be in our little home together and make it our own.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Or a dead lizard.....
Wow, so out of all the boring posts I've written, I thought at least the "We're getting a house" post would get more buzz. I must be down from three readers to one. Maybe this will be more entertaining, but I doubt it. We've been in Keller for the past three days or so. Friday we drove in and then Saturday we went to a Casa Manana play with Mer's family and the girls. I haven't been there since like elementary school field trips. It was a pretty cute play minus all the smoke in the air for the lights. My eyes couldn't breathe through all of it. Other than that it was the best seeing the girls light up when Santa would come out. Ah, to be young again.
After the play, we headed over to Mer's parent's house and hung out for awhile. Mer took the girls home to put them in bed, and Ben stayed with us so he could watch the Cowboys game. We decided to spend the night over at Ben and Mer's so we took Ben to my parent's to get our things. Heath took Ally out and she was acting weird after that. She kept roaming in a circle around the couch. Mom thought it was because she knew we were leaving. I was thinking, "The only time she does this is when she has snatched something up and knows she's done wrong." So she jumped on the couch next to me and I opened her mouth and behold, there was a small piece of a stick in her mouth. Looked almost like a root of a plant or something. Then I looked closer, my eyes got wide, and in my best disgusted girly girl voice exclaimed "Or a dead lizard!!!". I was holding in my hand a tiny, shrunken, dead house lizard....from my dog's mouth! Yuck. I promptly threw it away, washed my hands, and reminded myself to not get "kisses" from Ally for a long time. Dog's do the darndest things!
So after all that excitement Sunday we went to church and then headed over to our friends Scot and Amy's house. They recently bought it about 7 months ago and we have yet to go and check it out. We had a great dinner, had fun catching up, and had a little friendly competition on the Xbox. Good times all around. Looking forward to more fun this week. Merry Christmas!
After the play, we headed over to Mer's parent's house and hung out for awhile. Mer took the girls home to put them in bed, and Ben stayed with us so he could watch the Cowboys game. We decided to spend the night over at Ben and Mer's so we took Ben to my parent's to get our things. Heath took Ally out and she was acting weird after that. She kept roaming in a circle around the couch. Mom thought it was because she knew we were leaving. I was thinking, "The only time she does this is when she has snatched something up and knows she's done wrong." So she jumped on the couch next to me and I opened her mouth and behold, there was a small piece of a stick in her mouth. Looked almost like a root of a plant or something. Then I looked closer, my eyes got wide, and in my best disgusted girly girl voice exclaimed "Or a dead lizard!!!". I was holding in my hand a tiny, shrunken, dead house lizard....from my dog's mouth! Yuck. I promptly threw it away, washed my hands, and reminded myself to not get "kisses" from Ally for a long time. Dog's do the darndest things!
So after all that excitement Sunday we went to church and then headed over to our friends Scot and Amy's house. They recently bought it about 7 months ago and we have yet to go and check it out. We had a great dinner, had fun catching up, and had a little friendly competition on the Xbox. Good times all around. Looking forward to more fun this week. Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 11, 2009
We're homeowners!
Well, not quite yet, but almost! A couple weeks ago we put an offer on a house that was exactly what we were looking for. We have been looking at houses ever since we lived in Roanoke, but then we found out we were moving to Austin. Once we got here, we kept looking, but nothing in our price range ever came up in North Austin (there were tons in South Austin but that area is scary).
So one Sunday, I did my usual search in Pflugerville and only one house popped up. Very unusual since there are normally at least three pages worth of results. This house was so cute. One of those row type homes with the cute white fences. Then I looked at the price. Awesome. So we decided to drive by and check out the neighborhood. It was the cutest neighborhood we'd ever seen. So three weeks later and after a ton of paperwork, the bank has accepted our offer and we will close on January 5th! We're pretty excited and can't wait to have guests in our new home! Come visit!
Also, in other good news, Heath has survived his first semester at UT and came out with some pretty awesome grades. I'm so proud of him and super excited to have him home all day during his break. Although it doesn't do much for my productivity :)
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and love you all.
P.S. I'll put pictures up soon. Our only computer decided to die right after we found out about the house so I'll have to download the ones we have on Heath's phone.
So one Sunday, I did my usual search in Pflugerville and only one house popped up. Very unusual since there are normally at least three pages worth of results. This house was so cute. One of those row type homes with the cute white fences. Then I looked at the price. Awesome. So we decided to drive by and check out the neighborhood. It was the cutest neighborhood we'd ever seen. So three weeks later and after a ton of paperwork, the bank has accepted our offer and we will close on January 5th! We're pretty excited and can't wait to have guests in our new home! Come visit!
Also, in other good news, Heath has survived his first semester at UT and came out with some pretty awesome grades. I'm so proud of him and super excited to have him home all day during his break. Although it doesn't do much for my productivity :)
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and love you all.
P.S. I'll put pictures up soon. Our only computer decided to die right after we found out about the house so I'll have to download the ones we have on Heath's phone.
Monday, December 7, 2009
One second
One second can change your life. One second can change everything. One second can put you in field goal range, you make the field goal, and then your favorite team is going to the National Championship game. Thank goodness for that one second :)
Hehe I bet you thought this was some profound blog about a life changing event. Nope, just about the most stressful, yet exciting game I've ever experienced. Saturday, Texas played Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game and it was a nailbiter. It was insane. Neither defense was letting anyone by, both offenses were playing pretty bad, and the officials seemed to have been taken off the street and offered the job right before the game. So it came down to the last play with one second left and a kicker who is now my hero. I sat at the tip top of the Cowboy stadium swaying with nausea, knees feeling like they were going to buckle, and a slight feeling that if something didn't happen soon then I would certainly pass out. See Nebraska thought the game was over when McCoy threw his last pass and so they stormed the field and started to celebrate. Tisk, tisk Huskers. But there was a review and whispers in the stands that the clock was wrong. The judgement on the field: there was ONE second left of game play. Mack sends out our kicker and there is a hush among Horns fans. I can't take it anymore. I sit in my chair, pound my head into my hands, and begin fervently praying to Heavenly Father that we will not lose this game. A selfish and unimportant prayer to most, but you don't don't know my father. The guy who's life revolves around Texas Longhorn football, the guy who chose his career around the football schedule, and the guy who already had his reservations set in Pasadena, CA banking on this win. Yes, THAT guy. I did not want to drive home with that guy, spend the rest of the weekend with that guy, and gosh darn it I did not want him to be unhappy. So I kept my head down and my eyes closed. There was a hush, then cheering, and I looked up to see a smile on my dad's face which can mean only one thing. We won! We WON! One second and one point, and Texas is heading to the National Championship. Now all this obsession may seem crazy to you, but for me, the little girl in the cheerleading outfit who held her dad's hand as they entered the stadium all those years ago, it was pretty darn awesome. Hook em Horns, and thanks for an awesome game.
As you can tell, we spent the weekend in Keller attending the Big 12 game. Thanks so much to mom and dad for a great weekend and for taking us. We loved it. We also got to meet up with Tami and Jason to eat before the game and tailgate before and after. Seriously, best game ever. Then on Sunday we got to see Ben, Mer, and the girls. A great weekend all around.
Hehe I bet you thought this was some profound blog about a life changing event. Nope, just about the most stressful, yet exciting game I've ever experienced. Saturday, Texas played Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game and it was a nailbiter. It was insane. Neither defense was letting anyone by, both offenses were playing pretty bad, and the officials seemed to have been taken off the street and offered the job right before the game. So it came down to the last play with one second left and a kicker who is now my hero. I sat at the tip top of the Cowboy stadium swaying with nausea, knees feeling like they were going to buckle, and a slight feeling that if something didn't happen soon then I would certainly pass out. See Nebraska thought the game was over when McCoy threw his last pass and so they stormed the field and started to celebrate. Tisk, tisk Huskers. But there was a review and whispers in the stands that the clock was wrong. The judgement on the field: there was ONE second left of game play. Mack sends out our kicker and there is a hush among Horns fans. I can't take it anymore. I sit in my chair, pound my head into my hands, and begin fervently praying to Heavenly Father that we will not lose this game. A selfish and unimportant prayer to most, but you don't don't know my father. The guy who's life revolves around Texas Longhorn football, the guy who chose his career around the football schedule, and the guy who already had his reservations set in Pasadena, CA banking on this win. Yes, THAT guy. I did not want to drive home with that guy, spend the rest of the weekend with that guy, and gosh darn it I did not want him to be unhappy. So I kept my head down and my eyes closed. There was a hush, then cheering, and I looked up to see a smile on my dad's face which can mean only one thing. We won! We WON! One second and one point, and Texas is heading to the National Championship. Now all this obsession may seem crazy to you, but for me, the little girl in the cheerleading outfit who held her dad's hand as they entered the stadium all those years ago, it was pretty darn awesome. Hook em Horns, and thanks for an awesome game.
As you can tell, we spent the weekend in Keller attending the Big 12 game. Thanks so much to mom and dad for a great weekend and for taking us. We loved it. We also got to meet up with Tami and Jason to eat before the game and tailgate before and after. Seriously, best game ever. Then on Sunday we got to see Ben, Mer, and the girls. A great weekend all around.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Catching Up...
Lots has happened lately but I just haven't been in front of the computer long enough to write it all down.
On the 13th, Ben, Mer, and the girls headed down from Ft. Worth to visit us. It was so great to see them and so much fun having them here with us. Friday, we met up with the Mathis' to eat. We were going to eat at our favorite Mexican food place (Trudy's), but the wait was so long we bailed on them and walked over to Chili's where they seated us immediately. Saturday, we rode the bus to Campus. It was funny to see Mallory's face in amazement as she realized she didn't have to be buckled in on the bus. We showed them where Xhaxhi goes to school, the store where you can buy anything Longhorn, and the Tower/Capital. Then we headed back home via bus and rested for a bit. After that we headed to everyone's favorite place....Chuck E. Cheese's! 300 tokens later we had Syd walking out proud with this awesome Tink toy and 4 bags of cotton candy. It was pure awesomeness. Then the boys headed back to the apartment to "put the girls to sleep" which means feed them tons of cotton candy and let them stay up :) Mer and I headed to Round Rock to shop at the Outlets. I always enjoy me some Mer time. All in all it was a great weekend and we are so grateful for them coming and sharing in the magic that is Austin :) Love you guys! Oh, a funny side note. Syd knows we live pretty far from her, but it was funny, she kept saying "When I get back to Texas..." and we tried explaining to her that she was still in Texas, just another city. Her words were" Yes I know, its just another country" Hehe, so apparently we live further away than Mom and Dad Breinholt.
This last week we headed home to Keller for Thanksgiving. We headed down Wednesday afternoon and our three hour drive turned into 5 1/2. No bueno. The break was awesome. It was nice to have 4 days of fun. Mom and Gran cooked up a great Thanksgiving dinner which we enjoyed throughout the weekend. My mom had a small disaster with her water valves the day after Thanksgiving and so Jeremy(and JaeLyn) were nice enough to come over and fix them all. Thanks again! My family is helpless with things like that so it is nice that the Breinholt's are so hands on. Then Saturday, we ate dinner with Ben and Mer and had a fun game night after that. Then we had a 6 hour drive back, and will be doing it all over again next weekend for the Big 12 Championship game. I'm a little ready to be in just one place for awhile. We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season and are truly grateful for all the many blessings we have in our lives. Happy holidays ya'll and Hook Em' Horns!
On the 13th, Ben, Mer, and the girls headed down from Ft. Worth to visit us. It was so great to see them and so much fun having them here with us. Friday, we met up with the Mathis' to eat. We were going to eat at our favorite Mexican food place (Trudy's), but the wait was so long we bailed on them and walked over to Chili's where they seated us immediately. Saturday, we rode the bus to Campus. It was funny to see Mallory's face in amazement as she realized she didn't have to be buckled in on the bus. We showed them where Xhaxhi goes to school, the store where you can buy anything Longhorn, and the Tower/Capital. Then we headed back home via bus and rested for a bit. After that we headed to everyone's favorite place....Chuck E. Cheese's! 300 tokens later we had Syd walking out proud with this awesome Tink toy and 4 bags of cotton candy. It was pure awesomeness. Then the boys headed back to the apartment to "put the girls to sleep" which means feed them tons of cotton candy and let them stay up :) Mer and I headed to Round Rock to shop at the Outlets. I always enjoy me some Mer time. All in all it was a great weekend and we are so grateful for them coming and sharing in the magic that is Austin :) Love you guys! Oh, a funny side note. Syd knows we live pretty far from her, but it was funny, she kept saying "When I get back to Texas..." and we tried explaining to her that she was still in Texas, just another city. Her words were" Yes I know, its just another country" Hehe, so apparently we live further away than Mom and Dad Breinholt.
This last week we headed home to Keller for Thanksgiving. We headed down Wednesday afternoon and our three hour drive turned into 5 1/2. No bueno. The break was awesome. It was nice to have 4 days of fun. Mom and Gran cooked up a great Thanksgiving dinner which we enjoyed throughout the weekend. My mom had a small disaster with her water valves the day after Thanksgiving and so Jeremy(and JaeLyn) were nice enough to come over and fix them all. Thanks again! My family is helpless with things like that so it is nice that the Breinholt's are so hands on. Then Saturday, we ate dinner with Ben and Mer and had a fun game night after that. Then we had a 6 hour drive back, and will be doing it all over again next weekend for the Big 12 Championship game. I'm a little ready to be in just one place for awhile. We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season and are truly grateful for all the many blessings we have in our lives. Happy holidays ya'll and Hook Em' Horns!
Monday, October 19, 2009
A Wedding and a Win
This was one crazy weekend but an awesome one at that. Friday afternoon we flew out to Utah for Heath's sister's Wedding. They were sealed at a new Temple (pictured above) that was absolutely beautiful and the reception was amazing also. I love going to the Temple, especially for Sealings, and hearing those same blessings that were given to Heath and I almost four years ago. I know that the work that goes on in Temples brings together families for eternity and I'm so grateful to have that in my life. I am so happy for Kam-a-roo and it was nice to finally meet her husband Chapan. He seems like a really sweet guy and I couldn't be happier for Kami. So after flying in late Friday night, we woke up early Saturday and headed to the Temple, attended the Sealing, took lots of pictures (some which I will post as soon as I get them from Mer/Bandaid), went home for a little bit so I could watch Texas get a touchdown (It was Texas/OU weekend), headed out for lunch at Carino's, headed to set up for the reception, took some more pictures, had the reception, cleaned up the recpetion, woke up for church, went to church, took a nap, then flew back to Austin, arrived in Austin at 11:00pm, went to bed, woke up for work/school at 7am. PHEW! I told you, a crazy weekend, but well worth it. It was so nice to see Mom and Dad Breinholt, K&K, J&J, and all the kids. K&K's kids are getting so big! It's crazy how fast they grow when you don't live near by. Hopefully we'll get have a longer visit to Utah sometime soon. So thanks everyone for a great weekend in Utah and we were so glad we could be there for Kami's special day!
P.S Texas beat OU! Heath and I (and Kent and Ben) were checking on the score via our phones throughout the day. The nailbiting game ended with a Texas win which allowed me to wear my O Who? shirt home with pride. Great job Horns! Now let's just finish the season off with all wins! Hook 'Em!
P.S Texas beat OU! Heath and I (and Kent and Ben) were checking on the score via our phones throughout the day. The nailbiting game ended with a Texas win which allowed me to wear my O Who? shirt home with pride. Great job Horns! Now let's just finish the season off with all wins! Hook 'Em!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Flu Epidemic Strikes The Breinholt House!
Okay, so it might not be the flu but both of us have been sick for about two weeks now. Fun stuff. Heath brought home this lovely vistor from school and he has been lounging around in our throats ever since. But hey, if we just got our flu fun time over for the season then I am grateful. There is some pretty nasty stuff going around and it seems like we got the milder of it all.
In other....more interesting news. We went to our first UT game last weekend. We missed our first one due to my cousin's funeral and the second one was an away game. The best part was that our friends Tami and Jason came for this one. My parents have 4 season tickets and their best friends usually go but they were away this weekend and so Tami and Jason bought them. They stayed with us (and hopefully don't get sick) and we had a blast hanging out with them. The game was pathetic. We won but made a lot of mistakes. Our seats are pretty cool but the students never sit down so needless to say my lower back was killing me by the end of the game. All in all a great time.
Last night we finally made plans with Heath parents to go up to SLC for Kami's wedding. We are really excited to see everyone up there and share in Kami's special day.
That is pretty much it for the updates. Just school, UT football, and work around here right now.
In other....more interesting news. We went to our first UT game last weekend. We missed our first one due to my cousin's funeral and the second one was an away game. The best part was that our friends Tami and Jason came for this one. My parents have 4 season tickets and their best friends usually go but they were away this weekend and so Tami and Jason bought them. They stayed with us (and hopefully don't get sick) and we had a blast hanging out with them. The game was pathetic. We won but made a lot of mistakes. Our seats are pretty cool but the students never sit down so needless to say my lower back was killing me by the end of the game. All in all a great time.
Last night we finally made plans with Heath parents to go up to SLC for Kami's wedding. We are really excited to see everyone up there and share in Kami's special day.
That is pretty much it for the updates. Just school, UT football, and work around here right now.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Mourning an Early Morning Call
Last night I was woken up by a phone call. Late night phone calls are never good, especially if they come from my parents. Mom just came out with it " Colin was in an accident and he didn't make it." What? This was a dream right. It wasn't. It was real and for the third time my life has been changed by someone I know being in a fatal car accident. Being in Austin it is hard to feel the true impact of this situation yet. I don't even know what to think, what to say, what to do. I just laid there silently crying for my aunt and uncle, who would now have to bury their only son.
My emotions are so mixed because I have the peace and knowledge that comes from the Gospel and know with all my heart that this life is not the end, but the beginning. But also you cannot help but miss those people who are taken from this life and grieve that missing part of your life that you used to know. I know I will see him again someday, but it doesn't lessen the grief and sadness I feel right now, right here.
We grew up visiting my aunt, uncle, and two cousins in Wolf City. I had fun walking all over town, buying sack fulls of candy at the only gas station, and playing with my two wonderful cousins in a beautiful victorian home that belonged to my aunt and uncle. I spent a few weeks there almost every summer. Colin could be a little stubborn, but he was a great uncle to my cousin Heather's kids and was active in almost everything in that small town of Wolf City. I remember when I got married and the first Christmas he met Heath and the two got along so well. They exchanged numbers in case Heath ever wanted to hear stories about me growing up. That was Colin. A people person of people of all generations. I know he is in a better place, but we will miss him a lot down here.
My emotions are so mixed because I have the peace and knowledge that comes from the Gospel and know with all my heart that this life is not the end, but the beginning. But also you cannot help but miss those people who are taken from this life and grieve that missing part of your life that you used to know. I know I will see him again someday, but it doesn't lessen the grief and sadness I feel right now, right here.
We grew up visiting my aunt, uncle, and two cousins in Wolf City. I had fun walking all over town, buying sack fulls of candy at the only gas station, and playing with my two wonderful cousins in a beautiful victorian home that belonged to my aunt and uncle. I spent a few weeks there almost every summer. Colin could be a little stubborn, but he was a great uncle to my cousin Heather's kids and was active in almost everything in that small town of Wolf City. I remember when I got married and the first Christmas he met Heath and the two got along so well. They exchanged numbers in case Heath ever wanted to hear stories about me growing up. That was Colin. A people person of people of all generations. I know he is in a better place, but we will miss him a lot down here.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Where has the time gone?
To facebook games my friend. Tis sad but true. I have become, what is the saying?, exactly what I hate. Obsessed with games. But hey, I am back, and have regained control over my life...at least enough to write you a little update. Let's review the past couple weeks...
Friday the 31st we drove down to DFW to surprise Ben for his birthday. It wasn't much of a surprise as he told us he was expecting it. Well poo. We had a fantastic weekend staying at Ben and Mer's which was awesome. It was so fun to be around them all day and get to have a sleepover with Syd and Malla. They are such great kids and we miss them so much. Thanks so much to Ben and Mer for letting us crash at your home and feed us all weekend. We had a great time and can't wait for future slumber parties.
That Monday, my brother and I headed into downtown Austin for the Counting Crows concert. It was our birthday presents to each other since we both love the CC's. It was a really fun concert at a great place. I have lower back issues and can't stand that long so I made my brother give up our great standing places to head up stairs so I could sit down. Getting old is hard :) It was a fun night and another reason why I love being in Austin. I get lots more quality time with my bro, whom I've grown to love as we've gotten older. Fun times!
Two weeks later we headed back down to DFW to celebrate my dad's birthday (and Kami's :) ). My brother aslo bought his first new car at the same dealership we got our CR-V. We also went to a Rangers game for my dad's b-day and just had a blast hanging out with my family. We sadly didn't get to see Ben, Mer and the girls, but maybe it's a good thing considering they were all sick :).
Nothing much has been going on. Just getting ready for Heath to start school next week and just putting the little things away in the apartment from moving. I'm hoping to have pictures soon, so stay tuned for the good stuff. Everything is going well and we are still loving being here. Hope all is good with you!
Friday the 31st we drove down to DFW to surprise Ben for his birthday. It wasn't much of a surprise as he told us he was expecting it. Well poo. We had a fantastic weekend staying at Ben and Mer's which was awesome. It was so fun to be around them all day and get to have a sleepover with Syd and Malla. They are such great kids and we miss them so much. Thanks so much to Ben and Mer for letting us crash at your home and feed us all weekend. We had a great time and can't wait for future slumber parties.
That Monday, my brother and I headed into downtown Austin for the Counting Crows concert. It was our birthday presents to each other since we both love the CC's. It was a really fun concert at a great place. I have lower back issues and can't stand that long so I made my brother give up our great standing places to head up stairs so I could sit down. Getting old is hard :) It was a fun night and another reason why I love being in Austin. I get lots more quality time with my bro, whom I've grown to love as we've gotten older. Fun times!
Two weeks later we headed back down to DFW to celebrate my dad's birthday (and Kami's :) ). My brother aslo bought his first new car at the same dealership we got our CR-V. We also went to a Rangers game for my dad's b-day and just had a blast hanging out with my family. We sadly didn't get to see Ben, Mer and the girls, but maybe it's a good thing considering they were all sick :).
Nothing much has been going on. Just getting ready for Heath to start school next week and just putting the little things away in the apartment from moving. I'm hoping to have pictures soon, so stay tuned for the good stuff. Everything is going well and we are still loving being here. Hope all is good with you!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The New Adventures of Xhaxhi and Halla
Okay, okay I know everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for an update. All three of you at least :). We are officially Austinites, and it feels great (minus the whole missing everyone is DFW part). But honestly, we are enjoying being here so far, and if you haven't heard from us much, it is because we are trying not to focus on all that we miss back in Fort Worth. Not to mention, we are still unpacking. So the trip down was pretty uneventful with a few hiccups and highlights. Thanks to a lot of great help Friday we got everything into the truck and were ready to go Saturday morning.
Saturday morning we shifted a few things so we could fit all the people (and pets!) into my mom's convertible (brilliant I know). So during this overhaul of the moving truck my mom manages to misplace the keys to her car-you know the one parked in front of the driveway, the one we were driving down to Austin, and the one that doesn't have another set because a long time ago they hid them from us and now can't find them. Hehe. Luckily my dad had a valet key so we were able to use that, and so later than expected we started our trek down to Austin. About 5 minutes on the road my mom says in her best worried voice "Oh my gosh, the truck is open" and starts pounding on the horn to warn my dad. I look at her puzzled and say "Are you talking about the picture....that is PAINTED on the back of the truck?" She calms down, realizes her mistake, and we laugh...a lot. In fact, many times on the trip we continue to laugh about that, and will for many years I am sure. Hehe love yah mom.
We got there and started unloading, and unloaded, and unpacked, and unpacked some more. And we are still unpacking. But things are coming together and we really love the apartment. Mom and Dad helped so much and we are really grateful for all they have done for us this move. Thanks for your hard work and for your contributions to making our apartment feel like home. Love you guys.
So that's pretty much it. We are just getting settled in and enjoying getting to know our new area. We miss you guys and hope all is well! Come visit soon!
Oh, and in case you were wondering, we found the keys, in the truck, as we were unloading. :)
Saturday morning we shifted a few things so we could fit all the people (and pets!) into my mom's convertible (brilliant I know). So during this overhaul of the moving truck my mom manages to misplace the keys to her car-you know the one parked in front of the driveway, the one we were driving down to Austin, and the one that doesn't have another set because a long time ago they hid them from us and now can't find them. Hehe. Luckily my dad had a valet key so we were able to use that, and so later than expected we started our trek down to Austin. About 5 minutes on the road my mom says in her best worried voice "Oh my gosh, the truck is open" and starts pounding on the horn to warn my dad. I look at her puzzled and say "Are you talking about the picture....that is PAINTED on the back of the truck?" She calms down, realizes her mistake, and we laugh...a lot. In fact, many times on the trip we continue to laugh about that, and will for many years I am sure. Hehe love yah mom.
We got there and started unloading, and unloaded, and unpacked, and unpacked some more. And we are still unpacking. But things are coming together and we really love the apartment. Mom and Dad helped so much and we are really grateful for all they have done for us this move. Thanks for your hard work and for your contributions to making our apartment feel like home. Love you guys.
So that's pretty much it. We are just getting settled in and enjoying getting to know our new area. We miss you guys and hope all is well! Come visit soon!
Oh, and in case you were wondering, we found the keys, in the truck, as we were unloading. :)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Good and the Bad
The Good:
Farewell Parties! Mer and Mom threw us a great party to set us off on our new adventure. We had lots of people show up, ate lots of good food, and had lots of fun. We also got some great gifts (which were not needed), but the best one had to be this scrapbook that Tami made me. We have been friends since 7th grade, and she made this great book of all our memories throughout the years. It was awesome and made me teary eyed. It was so nice to sit with some of our favorite people and visit before we leave this weekend. My aunt and grandma even came from like 3 hours away. Very nice. Thanks Mer and Mom for such a great night. We love you.
The Bad:
My internet decided to go out TWO days before I was done using it. This normally wouldn't be a problem because I could live without blogging and facebook for two days, but now I work from home and this pretty much ruined my day. Stupid ATT morons. They were going to expediate my service repair to Thursday around noon. I would pretty much be done with working for the week by then. Again, MORONS. So we just took my work station to my parent's and I will be camping over there for the next two days working. Bah, stupid, stupid ATT. As you can see, I'm not quite over the incompetence that is ATT internet. I will NEVER, EVER, EVER give them another chance. EVER.
So anyways. We are almost all packed. We have some wonderful friends and volunteers coming on Friday to help, and Saturday we will be living in Austin. Crazy. I don't think it's hit me yet that this is it. No more DFW. Yikes. Time for new adventures!
Farewell Parties! Mer and Mom threw us a great party to set us off on our new adventure. We had lots of people show up, ate lots of good food, and had lots of fun. We also got some great gifts (which were not needed), but the best one had to be this scrapbook that Tami made me. We have been friends since 7th grade, and she made this great book of all our memories throughout the years. It was awesome and made me teary eyed. It was so nice to sit with some of our favorite people and visit before we leave this weekend. My aunt and grandma even came from like 3 hours away. Very nice. Thanks Mer and Mom for such a great night. We love you.
The Bad:
My internet decided to go out TWO days before I was done using it. This normally wouldn't be a problem because I could live without blogging and facebook for two days, but now I work from home and this pretty much ruined my day. Stupid ATT morons. They were going to expediate my service repair to Thursday around noon. I would pretty much be done with working for the week by then. Again, MORONS. So we just took my work station to my parent's and I will be camping over there for the next two days working. Bah, stupid, stupid ATT. As you can see, I'm not quite over the incompetence that is ATT internet. I will NEVER, EVER, EVER give them another chance. EVER.
So anyways. We are almost all packed. We have some wonderful friends and volunteers coming on Friday to help, and Saturday we will be living in Austin. Crazy. I don't think it's hit me yet that this is it. No more DFW. Yikes. Time for new adventures!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Change of Plans
So we received a call yesterday offering us a deal on another apartment we had looked at a couple blocks away from the one we were planning on renting. They offered us 50% off the rent for 9 months. That brought the rent down to 373 a month!! 373! We couldn't believe it either. So we are going to take it, but there was a stipulation. We have to move July 18th instead of in August. That is next week! So needless to say we are going crazy packing and hopefully everything will pull together and it will be a smooth transition. It stinks that we have to leave early, but it will be nice to get an early start on getting used to living in a new place. I think we are just really excited about being on our own for once and not so dependent on the people around us. We love, I mean LOVE having family near by, but I think we'll do a lot of growing up as a couple out in Austin. I am excited for the change and the new doors this will open, and sad for the loved ones we will leave behind. I will miss watching Sydney and Mallory grow each day. They brighten my life, and it will be hard not to be near them. I will miss teasing Ben and my talks with Mer. I will miss dropping by my parent's and spending time with them. And I will definately miss all my friends here, because really friends are my life and they bring me such joy. But hopefully I will find all these things in Austin and we will be just as happy. I can't believe it is coming so soon. The apartment is almost all packed (thanks to Mom and Heath!). The days are speeding by. Soon we will be in Austin. I hope everyone knows how much we will miss them and appreciate what they have meant to us these past couple years!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Adventures in Austin Land
This weekend we headed down to Austin for a little fun and some move prep. We left Friday to spend the night with my brother in the good ol' Bastrop. He showed us a good time by taking us to Big Mouth's for some delicious food and then Cindy's (Heath's second bar ever) for some free Shuffleboard and to watch the Longhorns weasle their way into the College World Series (I say weasle because they made some stupid moves and didn't deserve to win, but hey I'm glad they did). Then after a long night of "partying" with Mateo we had to get some rest to wake up early to meet with our apartment locater.
Which brings us to Saturday. The worst day EVER. At least for me. It was so stressful working with this guy and trying to find something that fit our criteria in Austin. The prices are outrageous, the amenties are scant, and new is a relative term when it involves being near campus. Before we even left the locator's office I was almost in tears. He was saying we would be lucky if we got W/D connections, lucky if we even got a 1b/1b with a study, and lucky if we got into anything built after the 80's. Ugh. We were leaving this beautiful spacious apartment in DFW for what seemed like a rat hole in Austin. Each place we went to got a little better, but man it was horrible. My parents made it in town right before I had a total meltdown. We finally found a place we loved and really thought we'd end up there. So we left the locater and headed off to eat. I was feeling sick and itchy, but chopped it down to a long day of walking around the Austin heat stressed out about crap apartments. So we hit up the local HEB (grocery store) and got some snacks for the hotel. My mom took one look at me a gave me this worried look. I said "What?" She asked why I was breakng out. I looked down. I was covered in hives. Haha I had literally stressed my self out into hives! Who does that? Me and my worrying problems apparently. So we snatched some Benadryl off the shelf and some water and I downed two pills and started to feel better.
Too bad the Benadryl worked TOO well. I slept the rest of the day and night. I missed my brother's friend's band, Paperwork ,rock it out on 6th street (which made me really sad). Hopefully I'll catch them in August! Heath had a great time though and ended up staying on 6th street with my dad and brother until 2 AM. Crazy stuff.
I'll fast forward you through the rest. We ended up finding the perfect apartment and will be moving in on August 15th. We got our Season Tickets for Football (priorities right?!). We took care of a financial aid problem. We drove home. And now we are closer to getting everything together for the move. Phewh. ONE LONG WEEKEND, but fun. Here is a pic of the new apartments.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
New Car!
This is so random but yes we have a new car. A lot of craziness has happened this week and it is only Wednesday. We have been thinking for awhile now that if Heath got into UT that we would downsize to one car because we just wouldn't need two there with the public transportation and all. So yesterday we made two cars turn into one. We have been looking at small SUV's/Crossovers for a couple years now. So we had it narrowed down to the Honda CR-V and the Saturn VUE. We just loved everything about the CR-V and decided to get it. The great news is that we are now unleashed from the horrible lease we were in with the Corolla and they paid it all off and gave us money for the Camry which is pretty awesome! We also get to have WAY cheaper insurance which is great. It was a little sad saying goodbye to my first car (the Camry my dad bought me) and our first car as a couple (the Corolla), but we are excited about the new car and think it is perfect for us. We love it more everytime we see it, and it is just one more step to make the move to Austin a little easier!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Bittersweet
So I'll start with the sweet. We FINALLY heard from UT and Heath is happy to announce he is now a true Longhorn! We will be heading down to start school this Fall and couldn't be happier about it. Heath worked really hard for this (and had no faith in himself!-silly Heath) and I am just so happy he is going where he really wanted to be. We will be heading down to Austin sometime mid-August. So now we can finally plan and pick out a place to live. The only problem- there are a million apartment complexes there! Luckily my brother has been living in the area for like 8 years so we should get some tips from him. So that is the good news.
The bitter part is leaving. Leaving friends. Leaving family (my parents and of course Ben, Mer and my sweet nieces Syd and Malla). Leaving this place we know so well to go somewhere new. And most of all bitter, the decision to not purchase the puppy. With all the new fees about to come our way, we have just decided it would not be wise to add onto that financial burden with adding in another dog. I am so sad about this, but know it is the right decision. Bah, but not my favorite. So we are very excited and can't wait to experience all the new fun that Austin will provide for us. Thanks for everyones prayers and well wishes! Hook em Horns!
The bitter part is leaving. Leaving friends. Leaving family (my parents and of course Ben, Mer and my sweet nieces Syd and Malla). Leaving this place we know so well to go somewhere new. And most of all bitter, the decision to not purchase the puppy. With all the new fees about to come our way, we have just decided it would not be wise to add onto that financial burden with adding in another dog. I am so sad about this, but know it is the right decision. Bah, but not my favorite. So we are very excited and can't wait to experience all the new fun that Austin will provide for us. Thanks for everyones prayers and well wishes! Hook em Horns!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Pupdate!
Look who is all grown up and ready to come home.......a week early! Yep, that's right. The breeder has some conflicts (her daughter's wedding) the weekend we were supposed to pick her up so we get to go snatch her away this Friday and bring her home. She'll be about 3 days short of 8 weeks instead of 8 1/2 weeks so it is no biggy. We are so excited...and scared at the same time. Hopefully everything works out fine with the new pup and Ally!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A visit from.... Jill!
*These are older pictures from 2006 of Jill and Heath jamming.* I couldn't find any new ones.
This week we got a phone call from our friend Jill asking if she could come over. Jill is one of my very best friends who I met around the same time as Heath. She was my visiting teacher in the Hurst Singles Ward and we quickly became the best of friends. She was even a bridesmaid at my wedding! Well she has been lost in the world of Grad school these past two years and I have hardly got to see her. She graduated last month and is now free to have fun! So she came over and we had a blast doing what we do best....just hanging out. It was so nice to see her and see her so happy. I think graduating from a really hard program will do that for you. So we are just so proud of her and her accomplishment and glad she got to come and spend some time with us.
Other than that we are just waiting, waiting, waiting. Waiting for Sophie to be 8 weeks old so we can go pick her up, waiting to see if Heath gets into UT so we can make plans, and just waiting to see where we'll be living in the next couple months! Hopefully everything is going well with all of ya'll!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Weekend Update
This last week has been pretty crazy because I have been working both for HCA and Presby. I am PRN (as needed) at Presby and so whenever they get behind they give me a call and I come in. It was so great to see everyone there and walk in with everyone yelling "Adrienne!". They still treat me like a member of the team and that feels great. It wasn't really that bad working two jobs, but I like just having one :). Heath got his grades in this week also. Two A's and two B's. We are so proud of him! So all of that started the weekend of well. Extra money and good grades!
Friday, as I was working at Presby, I got a text message from my friend Brindee asking if we wanted to go to the Rangers game with her and her husband. We went and had a lot of fun and some quite funny moments. This crazy hybrid looking spider was in the car with us and we couldn't kill him so we spent the entire trip to Arlington with our hand on the door handles ready to escape. I am still trying to look up what the heck that thing was. Anyone know what a red spider that looks like a giant, hairy red ant is? Other than that the night was great. The game was awesome and the Rangers won. We had about 4 fly balls come into our section and didn't get one! Most of all we just had fun getting to know Wes and Brindee some more. Thanks guys, for some great last minute fun.
Saturday my parents invited us to go see the movie Angels and Demons. We went to the Movie Tavern and it was pretty awesome. They serve you restaraunt quality meals as you sit and watch the movie. Heath and I split the Teriyaki Steak and Chicken and it was delicious. The movie was pretty good too. I haven't read the books, but my dad has, and he says it is nothing like the book.
We had a great weekend and now we are just waiting to hear from UT and hopefully we'll have more good news soon!
Friday, as I was working at Presby, I got a text message from my friend Brindee asking if we wanted to go to the Rangers game with her and her husband. We went and had a lot of fun and some quite funny moments. This crazy hybrid looking spider was in the car with us and we couldn't kill him so we spent the entire trip to Arlington with our hand on the door handles ready to escape. I am still trying to look up what the heck that thing was. Anyone know what a red spider that looks like a giant, hairy red ant is? Other than that the night was great. The game was awesome and the Rangers won. We had about 4 fly balls come into our section and didn't get one! Most of all we just had fun getting to know Wes and Brindee some more. Thanks guys, for some great last minute fun.
Saturday my parents invited us to go see the movie Angels and Demons. We went to the Movie Tavern and it was pretty awesome. They serve you restaraunt quality meals as you sit and watch the movie. Heath and I split the Teriyaki Steak and Chicken and it was delicious. The movie was pretty good too. I haven't read the books, but my dad has, and he says it is nothing like the book.
We had a great weekend and now we are just waiting to hear from UT and hopefully we'll have more good news soon!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Pupdate, Star Trek, and the Final Countdown
The breeder posted new pictures of the pup and Sophie is finally looking like a little schnauzer. She is about 3 weeks now which means only 5 more weeks to go before we can introduce her to Ally. Can't wait! I am so excited to see her interact with the pup and have a friend to play with. We are both pretty excited about the new pup coming home and think it'll be great all around.
Saturday we went to the Star Trek movie. The awesome thing was that as we were waiting for the movie to start I looked down at the entrance and who was there? Joey and Kira (and some of Joey's step family)! It was a nice surprise and made the movie that much better. The movie was actually really good. I never was really into Star Trek growing up, but I really enjoyed this movie. There were also some interesting previews for great movies in the future. Should be a good Summer.
This week is finals week for Heath. He took his Calculus exam today and then has Physics and History on Thursday and then his semester is over. He is looking for a good Summer job right now so if anyone knows of a good position please let us know! Now we're just waiting for his grades to be sent to UT and hear back from them. Hopefully it'll be good news! That's pretty much it for now.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Bastrop, Texas- Population: Small Town Wonderful
So this last weekend Heath, my mom, Ally (our dog), and I packed into the 4Runner for a little adventure down to visit my brother. He lives in this cute little town called Bastrop which is about 45 minutes away from Austin. We had a blast. Friday night we headed out to the only big name sit down restaurant in town: Chili's. After getting stuffed we got tucked into his one bedroom apartment all cozy and went to bed sometime after 2. Saturday we got up and visited some houses closer to Austin that Heath and I have been looking at. We're thinking of maybe having Matt move in with us if he can fight off the 3 other people also wanting him to move in with them (he's very popular you see). Then we headed into Austin and watched a UT baseball game (with red faces to prove it), shopped at our favorite store (The Co-Op), and ate some yummy food at Trudy's (best mexican food around). After that we headed back to Matt's for some good ol' fun, Bastrop style. Matt took us to their entertainment center (which consists of their really crappy movie theaters (4 small ones), miniature golf, crappy bowling lanes, and a gameroom. We hit up the glow-in-the-dark mini-golf (which was actually fun) and saw the movie 'The Knowing' in Crappy Theater #3. The movie was pretty good...minus the very loud, small-minded teenagers sitting behind us. Other than that it was a great time. The next day we went and looked at some more houses, stopped by the Pecan store (Berdoll Frams-they have the best treats!), and then headed back to Matt's to pack up and leave. Oh Bastrop, Texas how we will miss your quaint charm and loveliness. Thanks Matt, for a great mini vacation!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
New Addition!
We are so excited to announce a new addition to our family......a beautiful white miniature schnauzer baby! (I realized no matter how I put it, people would think I was pregnant or something, so I just went with it). She was born early this morning (That is her in the picture above, they always look strange as newborns) and will stay with her mom until she is 8 weeks old and then come home with us. The breeder is in Oklahoma and so we'll get to do a little road trip to pick her up in June.
It was a crazy process though. I'm pretty sure I have about three new medical problems due to the stress and anxiety of waiting for these pups to be born. See you have to be put on an e-mail waiting list and then when the pups are born, the breeders shoot out an e-mail, and it's first come, first serve. We lost out on the first litter we were waiting for because I didn't realize how fast people responded. The first litter was born Tues around 3 a.m.. I responded at 7 a.m. and they were all gone! Crazy! So I set my phone up to text me when I received an e-mail from them so I could have a heads up, and I still almost lost out this morning and I responded within 6 minutes of getting the text (stupid laptop not being on!). I mean I was toting my phone, the laptop, and my check card everywhere with me. It was pathetic.
We are so excited though. It will give Ally a friend which I think she has missed. My older dog Missy (also a schnauzer) practically raised her and they were best buds and then she passed away. I think she has missed that companionship for a while now and that's why she has the seperation issues and stuff. Anywho, were really excited and can't wait to see her- her name is Sophie, we already picked it out, okay I did, because I have always wanted a schnauzer named Sophie. More updates on Sophie to come!
It was a crazy process though. I'm pretty sure I have about three new medical problems due to the stress and anxiety of waiting for these pups to be born. See you have to be put on an e-mail waiting list and then when the pups are born, the breeders shoot out an e-mail, and it's first come, first serve. We lost out on the first litter we were waiting for because I didn't realize how fast people responded. The first litter was born Tues around 3 a.m.. I responded at 7 a.m. and they were all gone! Crazy! So I set my phone up to text me when I received an e-mail from them so I could have a heads up, and I still almost lost out this morning and I responded within 6 minutes of getting the text (stupid laptop not being on!). I mean I was toting my phone, the laptop, and my check card everywhere with me. It was pathetic.
We are so excited though. It will give Ally a friend which I think she has missed. My older dog Missy (also a schnauzer) practically raised her and they were best buds and then she passed away. I think she has missed that companionship for a while now and that's why she has the seperation issues and stuff. Anywho, were really excited and can't wait to see her- her name is Sophie, we already picked it out, okay I did, because I have always wanted a schnauzer named Sophie. More updates on Sophie to come!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Life on Hold
Things have been going pretty good lately. I've been working at home for about two weeks now, and although it is hard to concentrate sometimes, I really am enjoying it. Right now I just feel like life is on hold waiting for Heath to find out about UT and everything. I am a big planner so it's driving me nuts not being able to know where we'll be living, etc, etc. Nothing much is going on. Just school, work, church, friends, and family. Pretty much the same. Hopefully more interesting things will happen next week :)
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Car For Sale!
So we are trying to sell our 2006 Toyota Corolla. Now that I have a job from home, we won't really need two cars and would like to save some money. So if you know of ANYONE who might be interested in it let us know!
Here are some details about it:
5 speed manual (fun to drive and easy to learn how to, if I can drive it, anyone can!), only 35K miles, new tires, mantinenced by Toyota every 5k, Silver with cloth interior, power windows and locks, CD player, gets awesome gas mileage and usually costs less than 20 dollars to fill up! Plus, not to mention it's a Toyota which means it lasts forever and keeps its value!
We are asking $11,000 for it, but may be able to come down on the price a little bit!
Please, please, please let us know if you know anyone that needs/wants a great little car. Thanks!
Here are some details about it:
5 speed manual (fun to drive and easy to learn how to, if I can drive it, anyone can!), only 35K miles, new tires, mantinenced by Toyota every 5k, Silver with cloth interior, power windows and locks, CD player, gets awesome gas mileage and usually costs less than 20 dollars to fill up! Plus, not to mention it's a Toyota which means it lasts forever and keeps its value!
We are asking $11,000 for it, but may be able to come down on the price a little bit!
Please, please, please let us know if you know anyone that needs/wants a great little car. Thanks!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Starting new and letting go...
So I've been at the new job for the past two weeks and so far I LOVE IT. I think it is the perfect work environment for me. Lots of options, flexibility, and just the right amount of socialization so I don't go crazy. It'll be interesting to see how it really is when I move to home. But so far so good.
In other random news ....
I was contemplating my "infertility" issues the other day (since April will be our one year mark for trying) and I really feel like I have movedon from where I was a couple months ago. I really feel like I've put more trust and faith in the Lord lately and realize that he knows what is best for us and probably has great plans in store, well not probably, but does. So pretty much I am just a happy camper right now and hope that I continue to learn and grow from everything (Don't get me wrong, I'll still yearn, and hope, and vent), but I feel like I am really letting go and giving this to the Lord. Baby steps right?
Well hope all is well with ya'll. Have a great weekend.
In other random news ....
I was contemplating my "infertility" issues the other day (since April will be our one year mark for trying) and I really feel like I have movedon from where I was a couple months ago. I really feel like I've put more trust and faith in the Lord lately and realize that he knows what is best for us and probably has great plans in store, well not probably, but does. So pretty much I am just a happy camper right now and hope that I continue to learn and grow from everything (Don't get me wrong, I'll still yearn, and hope, and vent), but I feel like I am really letting go and giving this to the Lord. Baby steps right?
Well hope all is well with ya'll. Have a great weekend.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
I'm exhausted!
So my new job started this week and so far everything has gone well, but really all I've done is orientation so it's hard to really tell anything yet. Today, after getting up at 6, leaving for Irving at 7, having orientation from 8:30-4:30, driving in horrible traffic from 4:30-5:30, and then heading off to Presby-Denton to code from 5:30-7:30, I can honestly say I'm exhausted, VERY EXHAUSTED! So I guess this is how it's going to be for the next little while. Why, you ask, are you so crazy? Well, I kind of left Presby in a bad situation and so I said I would stay on PRN (as needed) to help out and most of all to make some extra money. It's a way better PT job than any Heath could get and this allows him to concentrate on his schooling and do well so he can get into Austin. So I am trying to get 20 hours a week at Presby while doing 40 for HCA, so it should get interesting. It'll be better when I start working from home and get an earlier start to the day. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
New Job!
So you are looking at the new Coder II for HCA. I got a call today extending an offer of employment and I accepted. The pay isn't a ton better, but it's better. The benefits of working from home will be great. To be honest, I am very nervous about this new job and change. I hate change. Despite all that, I am really excited to start and extra happy to be able to work from home. This will be such a blessing for us in the future and if Heath gets into UT-Austin I will still have this job. So my last day with Presby will be Friday March 13th and I'm actually kind of sad about it. I love the people at work, but this is just a better oppurtunity for us. I start orientation on Monday, March 16th. Things are going to happen fast. I'll keep you posted.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Updates! Colleges, Moving?, and Jobs Oh My!
Well Heath finally applied to UT and UNT last week. He received a letter this week from UT stating that all his classes would not transfer and that he was short of being considered a Transfer Student. That's the bad news. The good news is that they're allowing him to turn his transcript in after this semester to still be considered. This makes me think two things:
1. They are actually considering him because otherwise they probably would have just sent him a denial letter.
and,
2. I think they really are looking to see how he will do in his Physics and Calculus classes since they are two of the prereqs they look at (the other one is Chemistry which he did great in) . He is currently doing awesome in these two classes too! Yay Heath!
So we are going to have to wait until May/June to know if he gets into UT. This throws off most of our plans considering I was becoming quite comfortable with staying here, but I am always up to UT and Austin. I practicaly grew up there via Longhorn football and my brother lives there so it would be great. But again I would be okay with UNT considering my job is here, our friends and family (most of them :)) are here, and I know the area like the back of my hand. So we are just waiting to find out and the great thing is that we would like either option so it is a win-win situation.
As for other news, I was afraid to blog about this, in fear of jinxing it in some sort of superstitious way, but I am currently interviewing with HCA for a better job oppurtunity. I had the initial interview on Wednesday (which I thought went well), and tonight I have the coding test. It is for a Coder II position and I would get to work from home. Not only that but it offers better pay, better benefits, and just pretty much everything better. I am really hoping this works out because it would be perfect for us. If I got this job, even if we did move to Austin, I could still work for them since it is remote (from home). I love most everything about my current job but this one just offers a better situation for our future. I'll keep you posted on how everything goes. Wish me luck!
1. They are actually considering him because otherwise they probably would have just sent him a denial letter.
and,
2. I think they really are looking to see how he will do in his Physics and Calculus classes since they are two of the prereqs they look at (the other one is Chemistry which he did great in) . He is currently doing awesome in these two classes too! Yay Heath!
So we are going to have to wait until May/June to know if he gets into UT. This throws off most of our plans considering I was becoming quite comfortable with staying here, but I am always up to UT and Austin. I practicaly grew up there via Longhorn football and my brother lives there so it would be great. But again I would be okay with UNT considering my job is here, our friends and family (most of them :)) are here, and I know the area like the back of my hand. So we are just waiting to find out and the great thing is that we would like either option so it is a win-win situation.
As for other news, I was afraid to blog about this, in fear of jinxing it in some sort of superstitious way, but I am currently interviewing with HCA for a better job oppurtunity. I had the initial interview on Wednesday (which I thought went well), and tonight I have the coding test. It is for a Coder II position and I would get to work from home. Not only that but it offers better pay, better benefits, and just pretty much everything better. I am really hoping this works out because it would be perfect for us. If I got this job, even if we did move to Austin, I could still work for them since it is remote (from home). I love most everything about my current job but this one just offers a better situation for our future. I'll keep you posted on how everything goes. Wish me luck!
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Sickies
So Heath and I have finally overcome the Texas Epidemic. It first started with him getting sick and then a week later me and then a week after that our friend Kira. Sorry Kira! I got it worse than them all of course thanks to my pretty non existant immune system. I had a visit to the doctor that ended with a nice shot in the bum and some antibiotics (my absolute enemy in this world). So we are finally well and loving it.
This weekend we ventured out to a neighborhood we've been looking at and took a peek at their homes. It is called Sendera Ranch and is located in Haslet, not too far from where we live right now. We loved a couple of the houses and they are actually in our price range. We were pre-approved for a home, but aren't pursuing it due to the lack of funds we currently have. I don't make as much as I should because of high insurance, FSA account, 401K, and taxes being taken out. So actually I am looking for a raise or a new job so we can get into one in the near future. It was fun to go look and realize that our dream of owning a home isn't that far away. The great thing about this neighborhood (if we stay in this area, it's all dependent on where Heath goes to school) is that it is like a little community. It is a huge neighborhood with lots of parks, pools, schools, and even a market center. It would be a great starter home and a great place to raise a family.
So we are just concentrating on saving money and looking forward to all the great oppurtunities in the future. We would appreciate your prayers for us concerning Heath's school choices and getting into school and also new job oppurtunities that have come my way. Thanks for your love and support!
This weekend we ventured out to a neighborhood we've been looking at and took a peek at their homes. It is called Sendera Ranch and is located in Haslet, not too far from where we live right now. We loved a couple of the houses and they are actually in our price range. We were pre-approved for a home, but aren't pursuing it due to the lack of funds we currently have. I don't make as much as I should because of high insurance, FSA account, 401K, and taxes being taken out. So actually I am looking for a raise or a new job so we can get into one in the near future. It was fun to go look and realize that our dream of owning a home isn't that far away. The great thing about this neighborhood (if we stay in this area, it's all dependent on where Heath goes to school) is that it is like a little community. It is a huge neighborhood with lots of parks, pools, schools, and even a market center. It would be a great starter home and a great place to raise a family.
So we are just concentrating on saving money and looking forward to all the great oppurtunities in the future. We would appreciate your prayers for us concerning Heath's school choices and getting into school and also new job oppurtunities that have come my way. Thanks for your love and support!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Fertility Funhouse, it ain't that fun!
So I completely agree that matters like this are private and between husband, wife, and the Lord, but gosh darn it, I am just really over all this "trying to conceive" business.
Most may look at us and think "When are they going to have kids?" or "Are they putting money before family?" or the like, and I can honestly and bitterly shout WE WOULD LOVE TO! and NO WE ARE NOT! Recently I have found many other women who struggle with fertility and even pregnancy issues and have found peace and understanding in their stories. So maybe, just maybe someone out there is looking for my story.
Heath and I started along this road about a year ago. It just 'clicked' in both of us that we were ready to start a family. I was extremely excited because, well heck, I have been ready since Day 1 of marriage. There was just one thing I needed to do in order to prepare. Visit with the doctor. I decided to do a pre-pregnancy check-up. I was concerned about a gene that my cousin's family had- the Factor X gene. It is the number one cause of autism and retardation. Not that the results would change things for us, but it was something that I wanted to get checked out. So a needle puncture later we were waiting for results back from the chromosome analysis. Two weeks later I headed into the doctor for the results. I sat nervously waiting for the doctor. She came and plainly stated "Well you don't have Fragile X". I was relieved. She went on...."But it does look like you are missing part of one of your X chromosomes." Wait? What? What the heck does this mean? What will it mean? She went on to say "You should either not get pregnant or do IVF." I left. I walked down the hall. Down the stairs. I opened the door. I walked towards my car. And then it happened. I just let loose and cried my eyes out. I saw my dreams, my biggest dream, slowly slipping away. How could this be? This was completely disheartening to me considering how naive I was about the whole process (for example: the fact that you only have a 20% chance to get pregnant each month anyway!)
The following week or so I visited with a Genetic Counselor who eased my worries and explained things much better than the OB/GYN (remember doctors don't know everything, especially those incompetent in genetic issues). So pretty much the deal was this: Women who are missing a whole X chromosome have Turner's Syndrome, I did not have Turner's and did not exhibit any Turner's signs or symptoms, I can not give my children Turner's (well not anymore than any other woman, Turner's happens when the cells are dividing, just like my abnormality), and most comforting: I am not weird. Hehe I liked that last one. What it could mean: early menopause (like age 30), Premature Ovarian Failure (again, like age 30), and a harder time conceiving a boy (since most likely if they received my "broken" X then the pregnancy would miscarry). All equal a high possibility of infertility. Boy do I hate that word. Other feelings attached to that word are incapable, incompetent, and inability. I felt those things in the following months, along with anger, bitterness, pity, loathing, emptiness, unhappiness, jealousy, unfairness, loneliness, and a lot, I mean a lot, of misunderstanding.
So we went on trying each month without any good news. The first months were full of disappointment and even fear. Fear that something inside of me was broken. I felt like a complete failure as a woman and especially as a wife. I felt alone and worthless at moments. Heath was amazing. He didn't understand, but he was amazing. He tried so hard to make me feel better, but I was a constant vacationer on the island of self pity. So more months went by and I just became angry. I resented anything that dealt with pregnancy (especially at work when I would work on charts that dealt with 15 year olds who were pregnant or talked with people who almost regretted having children). I asked Why? How?. I begged with Heavenly Father. I even thought I was being punished by Heavenly Father. I was miserable and I'm pretty sure it was miserable to be around me. I yearned for pregnancy, the feeling of an infant in my arms, and just had a desire to begin our little family. But nothing happened. 10 months have passed and still nothing. Don't get me wrong, I know my time in the land of infertility has been short compared to others, but it is still painful, it still feels lonely, and it still feels empty.
And for those of you on the edge of your seats wondering.....this story doesn't end in pregnancy, at least not yet.
At about month 6, due to my 'high risk' for infertility, I saw a fertility specialist. I got a pelvic sonogram done and some blood tests and everything checked out perfectly. 4 months have passed since then and still nothing, and I'm finally okay with that. I'm not saying it doesn't hurt each month and I don't cry sometimes. And I'm not saying that I don't still feel pangs of jealousy or bitterness when friends or even strangers announce/flaunt their pregnancy(as they should! It's great news and I would too!), but it is becoming okay. I am okay because of a plan. Heavenly Father's plan and the knowledge that I know he cares, he knows me, and he hears me. A part of me is so grateful that pregnancy has not been easy for me. I now know the pain and grief that is attached to infertility and the feelings that you experience. It is especially hard because you feel left out at church when things are centered around being a mom, taking care of kids, and it seems like everyone is pregnant. I know that things will happen, whatever they will be, in God's time. God it perfect in his timing, and the timing is always perfect. I am extremely grateful for this time Heath and I have to become closer, to prepare for the future, and just grow as a family of two, but look, with hope, at the future and what it holds, whatever it may be.
Most may look at us and think "When are they going to have kids?" or "Are they putting money before family?" or the like, and I can honestly and bitterly shout WE WOULD LOVE TO! and NO WE ARE NOT! Recently I have found many other women who struggle with fertility and even pregnancy issues and have found peace and understanding in their stories. So maybe, just maybe someone out there is looking for my story.
Heath and I started along this road about a year ago. It just 'clicked' in both of us that we were ready to start a family. I was extremely excited because, well heck, I have been ready since Day 1 of marriage. There was just one thing I needed to do in order to prepare. Visit with the doctor. I decided to do a pre-pregnancy check-up. I was concerned about a gene that my cousin's family had- the Factor X gene. It is the number one cause of autism and retardation. Not that the results would change things for us, but it was something that I wanted to get checked out. So a needle puncture later we were waiting for results back from the chromosome analysis. Two weeks later I headed into the doctor for the results. I sat nervously waiting for the doctor. She came and plainly stated "Well you don't have Fragile X". I was relieved. She went on...."But it does look like you are missing part of one of your X chromosomes." Wait? What? What the heck does this mean? What will it mean? She went on to say "You should either not get pregnant or do IVF." I left. I walked down the hall. Down the stairs. I opened the door. I walked towards my car. And then it happened. I just let loose and cried my eyes out. I saw my dreams, my biggest dream, slowly slipping away. How could this be? This was completely disheartening to me considering how naive I was about the whole process (for example: the fact that you only have a 20% chance to get pregnant each month anyway!)
The following week or so I visited with a Genetic Counselor who eased my worries and explained things much better than the OB/GYN (remember doctors don't know everything, especially those incompetent in genetic issues). So pretty much the deal was this: Women who are missing a whole X chromosome have Turner's Syndrome, I did not have Turner's and did not exhibit any Turner's signs or symptoms, I can not give my children Turner's (well not anymore than any other woman, Turner's happens when the cells are dividing, just like my abnormality), and most comforting: I am not weird. Hehe I liked that last one. What it could mean: early menopause (like age 30), Premature Ovarian Failure (again, like age 30), and a harder time conceiving a boy (since most likely if they received my "broken" X then the pregnancy would miscarry). All equal a high possibility of infertility. Boy do I hate that word. Other feelings attached to that word are incapable, incompetent, and inability. I felt those things in the following months, along with anger, bitterness, pity, loathing, emptiness, unhappiness, jealousy, unfairness, loneliness, and a lot, I mean a lot, of misunderstanding.
So we went on trying each month without any good news. The first months were full of disappointment and even fear. Fear that something inside of me was broken. I felt like a complete failure as a woman and especially as a wife. I felt alone and worthless at moments. Heath was amazing. He didn't understand, but he was amazing. He tried so hard to make me feel better, but I was a constant vacationer on the island of self pity. So more months went by and I just became angry. I resented anything that dealt with pregnancy (especially at work when I would work on charts that dealt with 15 year olds who were pregnant or talked with people who almost regretted having children). I asked Why? How?. I begged with Heavenly Father. I even thought I was being punished by Heavenly Father. I was miserable and I'm pretty sure it was miserable to be around me. I yearned for pregnancy, the feeling of an infant in my arms, and just had a desire to begin our little family. But nothing happened. 10 months have passed and still nothing. Don't get me wrong, I know my time in the land of infertility has been short compared to others, but it is still painful, it still feels lonely, and it still feels empty.
And for those of you on the edge of your seats wondering.....this story doesn't end in pregnancy, at least not yet.
At about month 6, due to my 'high risk' for infertility, I saw a fertility specialist. I got a pelvic sonogram done and some blood tests and everything checked out perfectly. 4 months have passed since then and still nothing, and I'm finally okay with that. I'm not saying it doesn't hurt each month and I don't cry sometimes. And I'm not saying that I don't still feel pangs of jealousy or bitterness when friends or even strangers announce/flaunt their pregnancy(as they should! It's great news and I would too!), but it is becoming okay. I am okay because of a plan. Heavenly Father's plan and the knowledge that I know he cares, he knows me, and he hears me. A part of me is so grateful that pregnancy has not been easy for me. I now know the pain and grief that is attached to infertility and the feelings that you experience. It is especially hard because you feel left out at church when things are centered around being a mom, taking care of kids, and it seems like everyone is pregnant. I know that things will happen, whatever they will be, in God's time. God it perfect in his timing, and the timing is always perfect. I am extremely grateful for this time Heath and I have to become closer, to prepare for the future, and just grow as a family of two, but look, with hope, at the future and what it holds, whatever it may be.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sleepover Fun with Sydney!
Sydney had been asking if she could spend the night with us for awhile now, so Friday we made plans and she came over to stay. It was so cute. She had a rolling suitcase with all of her favorite things (even her ceramic toothbrush holder because according to her "I will just miss it". hehe).
So she came over around 5 and we played a little Rock Band (she loves to play drums) and after we were done we made dinner. We had hot dogs and veggies and then for dessert we had S'mores (marshmallows were roasted in the oven). She of course was more interested in the S'mores than anything else (She had two :)). So then we watched Meet the Robinson's and Tinkerbell. And I will admit, I actually liked the Tinkerbell movie. In fact, Sydney got bored in the middle of it and started jumping on the bed, and Heath and I stood there with our eyes glued to the TV. Pretty sad. Well after that we got Syd's jammers on, brushed her teeth, read her a book, and watched some illustrated scriptures off the LDS website. Then we said ours prayers and went to bed.
It was the longest night of my life. Only because I am not used to having children in our home, so I was constantly worried about her waking up or needing something. So we all tossed and turned all night and finally around 4:30 or so we got some good sleep. Then we woke up around 8:30 to eat breakfast. We had pancakes with strawberries and bacon and eggs (oh and if you ask Sydney she'll tell you we allowed her to put jellybeans on her pancakes.....and it's true! hehe, the perks of being the aunt and uncle). So then we got dressed, or should I say got Sydney dressed, and then barely had time for us to throw on some clothes before heading out to clean the church with Ben and Mer. I now know why mothers don't have time for themselves. :)
Needless to say we had a great time and the next day when she was tired and cranky from not getting sleep and having too much sugar we handed her back over to the parents. Hehe, how great! But seriously we really enjoyed having her over and are grateful every day for being so close to family and getting to enjoy things like this. We love spending time with them!
And to finish the weekend off we had a lot of fun with Joey and Kira, and I even worked on my apron that I am making with my new sewing machine from Christmas. I got a pocket done (Mom Breinholt would be proud!), woo hoo!
Hope you all had a fun weekend too! Love yah!
So she came over around 5 and we played a little Rock Band (she loves to play drums) and after we were done we made dinner. We had hot dogs and veggies and then for dessert we had S'mores (marshmallows were roasted in the oven). She of course was more interested in the S'mores than anything else (She had two :)). So then we watched Meet the Robinson's and Tinkerbell. And I will admit, I actually liked the Tinkerbell movie. In fact, Sydney got bored in the middle of it and started jumping on the bed, and Heath and I stood there with our eyes glued to the TV. Pretty sad. Well after that we got Syd's jammers on, brushed her teeth, read her a book, and watched some illustrated scriptures off the LDS website. Then we said ours prayers and went to bed.
It was the longest night of my life. Only because I am not used to having children in our home, so I was constantly worried about her waking up or needing something. So we all tossed and turned all night and finally around 4:30 or so we got some good sleep. Then we woke up around 8:30 to eat breakfast. We had pancakes with strawberries and bacon and eggs (oh and if you ask Sydney she'll tell you we allowed her to put jellybeans on her pancakes.....and it's true! hehe, the perks of being the aunt and uncle). So then we got dressed, or should I say got Sydney dressed, and then barely had time for us to throw on some clothes before heading out to clean the church with Ben and Mer. I now know why mothers don't have time for themselves. :)
Needless to say we had a great time and the next day when she was tired and cranky from not getting sleep and having too much sugar we handed her back over to the parents. Hehe, how great! But seriously we really enjoyed having her over and are grateful every day for being so close to family and getting to enjoy things like this. We love spending time with them!
And to finish the weekend off we had a lot of fun with Joey and Kira, and I even worked on my apron that I am making with my new sewing machine from Christmas. I got a pocket done (Mom Breinholt would be proud!), woo hoo!
Hope you all had a fun weekend too! Love yah!
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