Jeff and I went to Dallas for the State Fair last weekend. We had a LOT of fun! It was UT & OU weekend so the crowd was young and hip! It rained a bit and the Birds of the World show we love got cut short, but other than that it was a blast! We rode the new Sky Way ride that takes you up and over the fair. As the sign said it takes you "from one deep fried side of the fair to the other." We also tried the fried cookie dough. It gets two thumbs up from this sweet lover!
Along with going to the fair, we got to stay with Sarah, Wade, and Clayton. Clayton is at a really fun age and I love that I can understand everything he says now. That kid says some funny stuff! I'm sure he did before too, I just never understood it. He makes everything into the "hook em' horns", which simultaneously irritates Sarah and exhilarates Wade. We love that little guy and it's a joy to be able to visit him as much as we do.
Jeff started a new job on Monday at Live Nation. It has a lot of perks such as free tickets to concerts and it also offers Jeff a more relaxed atmosphere than the more corporate environment he just left. It is probably the coolest accounting job you can find! I am trying to get Jeff to get a new "cool" haircut for it. If he does, I will post a pic.
Wednesday we celebrated our four monthiversary. Jeff did a great job!
I came home to flowers in a vase with a card.
It was one of those fun cards that plays a song. It was cute!
Next, we went to dinner at La Griglia. It is in the same chain as the restaurant we had our first formal date and our rehearsal dinner, The Grotto. Anyway, we had a wonderful meal and of course my favorite part, dessert!
We had this creative version of creme bruele. It was yummy! It was a very nice evening and I am so proud of my husband for planning it!
This past weekend was great too! Friday night Jeff grilled steak and made potatoes. We stayed home as has become our tradition now that we wake up at the crack of dawn on Saturdays for the marathon training. Saturday, we woke up at 4:05 to be at the park by 5:05 AM. We walked 9 miles! I can't say like last week that I did not complain. In fact I did, but I am working on it. After that we did our other new tradition, going to Sonic and getting a drink and a grilled chicken wrap. Yes, we eat a grilled chicken wrap at 8 AM. What's wrong with that!? After a short nap, we went to Trinity to see Jeff's parents. They have a "community fair" in their town every year. This is my first time going though. The 4 H and FFA auction the animals they have raised throughout the year, they have a petting zoo, rides, lots of food, and booths of arts and crafts. It was fun! I forgot the camera so we don't have any pictures. :( All in all it was a great weekend!
Hey friends. I just wanted to take a minute to thank you all for your prayers the last couple of weeks. God has revealed Himself to be so faithful and loving towards us. Jeff has had four interviews so far. The first one wasn't a good fit for him, but the other three have been very promising. It means a great deal to me to see him come home excited about these companies after almost a year and a half of undue stress and drama at his previous job. One of the interviewers actually used to work at Reliant prior to Jeff and he said that he thought the women running the group were crazy! Praise the Lord, I'm not the only one!
Also, tomorrow we will be walking 9 miles for our Marathon Training. We are still injury free, but I have to be honest, I am struggling a bit. Last week I did really well though! 8 miles, and not one complaint! That's pretty good considering we started at 5:15 AM on a Saturday!
Once again, love you guys and thanks for your prayers.
We took a couple days off of work and went to Durango, Colorado for Labor Day. We had a wonderful and relaxing time. We flew into Albuquerque, New Mexico on Friday and drove from there to Durango, Colorado, where we would be spending most of our trip. It was a nice 3 hour drive with beautiful scenery. We stayed at Durango Mountain Resort. During ski season they have lifts and opportunities to ski. In the summer they have some summer activities mostly for kids from what I could tell. Anyway, on Saturday we went on a scenic train ride that goes from Durango to Silverton, Colorado and back. It takes all day because the train goes slow so you can enjoy the view and then gives you two hours in Silverton to eat lunch and shop. It was fun! I have never been to Colorado except for our short layover in Denver on our honeymoon. I loved seeing the mountains and I took a lot of pictures. Jeff enjoyed it too because it is a trip he took when he was in middle school. Saturday night we went into Downtown Durrango for dinner. It is a cute little historic town. Sunday we slept in and then went to the Trimble Hot Springs. It has natural hot springs where you go to relax. We had some issues with rain and lightning, but we were still able to enjoy the hot springs and the view. That night we went to the Chuck D Wagon dinner show. It was fun to see the show and before hand they had little artisan shops open. Monday we left our hotel in Durrango after taking some pictures of the view, and drove on a scenic drive through the mountains. We then went to Mesa Verde National Park to see the cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people. I loved the view and the experience, but I did not love all the stairs and the little ladders you had to climb. I almost decided to live like the Pueblos in the cliff dwelling, but with Jeff's help I climbed out. After we did we saw two beautiful rainbows. You could see them arch all the way across the sky! We went from Mesa Verde to Albuquerque to stay the night and catch our plane Tuesday morning. It was great and I look forward to going back to Colorado!
The next weekend we went to Dallas to go to Coasterthon. We go once a year to this event for roller coaster enthusiast. We met up with Derek, Roxanne, Greg and Mandi for the event. First on Friday night we had dinner with the other Derek, Lauren, Katie and Josh. They were so sweet to wait for us to get in town to go to dinner. We didn't get there until 9 PM. We took some pictures, had great conversation, and enjoyed one another's company. All day Saturday and until noon on Sunday was spent at Six Flags Over Texas. We had a great time riding roller coasters over, and over, and over again! We even did the Dive Bomber, which is similar to bungee jumping, but you are strapped in and are laying face down as you are propelled up high in the air until of course you pull the cord and then you come flying downward. It was FUN! A big adrenaline rush that's for sure! We don't have any pictures of it because our friend Roxanne has them on her camera. When we get them from her we will add them to the blog. We do have a video though. Sunday afternoon we spent with my sister, Wade, and Clayton. We had fun playing with Clayton's toys and seeing their new house and neighborhood. God has been blessing us with a great time of love and fellowship even during this difficult time. We are so grateful for all of your prayers.
I can't sleep. I'm up and I am sad. I have been in a place for the last couple of months of being really unsure that I am in the profession that I was called to be in. In college, when I choose social work, I did so because I felt that it was the profession that would allow me to do what I was called to do. Now, I am not so sure. This is my second social work job and I am beginning to feel the way I did during the end of the last one. I don't feel like what I am doing is making an impact. That sounds egotistical I'm sure, but it isn't meant to. I'm not in this profession because I want applause or even really expect a thank you. But, I do hope that I can say that what I am doing is leaving people better off than they were before we started working together. Right now, I feel like I am juggling schedules, legalities, personality types, and the like without really improving the lives of the kids I serve. I spend all my time making sure the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted, until I have no quality time with the kids to impact them in a positive way. I am worried that at 25 I am already getting burned out in this field. Please, pray for me that God will direct my path and help me to determine what His will is for my professional development.
I should have posted this picture a long time ago, especially with the recent turn of events. Before now, I have never had a new car. I have always been blessed, and I really mean blessed, not in a sarcastic way, with being able to use the cars my parents no longer needed. However, prior to the wedding, I was having a lot of car trouble and having to jump my car a lot. It was really not reliable enough for the amount of driving I do for work. When we got home from our honeymoon, I was still having to jump the car and after a fender bender that involved rain and a sleep deprived Becca, Jeff and I decided to buy me a new car. Jeff had been doing research for a couple months, knowing I would need a car sooner rather than later. So, the Saturday after we returned from our honeymoon, we purchased a new 2007 Saturn Aura. It is beautiful with Moroccan brown leather (my teenage clients call them the peanut butter seats) and On Star to help me with directions, and tons of other wonderful features. I love it and am so happy to have it!
Well, on Saturday after the wedding we went to, an older gentleman backed his car into my brand new car. It isn't a lot of damage and if it were in the past when I had older cars, I probably wouldn't have even gotten it fixed, but this is a new car. I went to get an estimate today and it is a bit more expensive when we expected. These type of situations are difficult because for minor damage, isn't really worth dealing with insurance companies and deductibles. Plus, we feel bad for the man that hit us. But, the body shop said I would be out of a car for three full work days and the man is going to have to pay for a rent car for me. We are in a pickle trying to decide what to do.
We had a fun, but busy weekend! Mr. and Mrs. Albus, Matt (Jeff's brother) and Austin (our nephew) came to visit for the day on Saturday. We missed our morning marathon training so we could rest up for the day of fun. They came about 10 AM. We showed them the changes we had made to the house, mainly just hanging pictures and putting away wedding gifts. Then we went out to eat and to the neighborhood pool. Our neighborhood has several awesome swimming pools and one of them is like a mini-water park for kids. It's actually really fun for adults too! They have three big slides, but Austin was too small to go down those. However, he loved the one shaped like a frog. He also enjoyed mushrooms that shot water down on you and water fountains that come out of the ground. We all had a lot of fun and we are so glad they came to visit!
After our company left, we got ready to go to my friend, Trisha's wedding. Trisha and Jason started dating around the same time we did and are a sweet couple. It was the first Catholic wedding I had ever been too, so it was interesting to see the differences in the ceremony. It was funny because at the end of the wedding, the priest pronounced them Mr. and Mrs. "James" Bunetello! Oops, but I think it is still legal if they say the wrong groom's name, right? Another new thing for me came at the reception. They had what is called a "Grand March." I'm sure this is more common than I think, but I have never seen it done before. Jeff and I observed the festivities, as we weren't sure exactly what to expect. It looked like a lot of fun though! We enjoyed the wedding, our second to attend since our wedding, almost 3 months ago! Here are some pics:
