A finished book and a new chapter

So, I tried to tie what truly is a random mix of pictures and thoughts into a single theme with the title I created. In general I am not a fan of change, but God seems to be teaching me a lot through transitions the last couple of years. Getting married was of course the biggest change that brought a series of more change, which have been the best of my life! You'll see in the slide show that I posted some of the spreads I created for our Wedding scrapbook. It has taken me months and it is HUGE, but the scrapbook is complete and I am proud of all my hard work! I have had a lot of fun creating it and am looking forward to starting on a honeymoon scrapbook along with one for our first year of marriage. All this has gotten me thinking. I saw online the other day that some people have their own business for creating scrapbooks for others. I have often considered doing such a think, but wasn't sure how it worked. So, I am toying with the idea of trying it out. Of course, I would start with people I know and then try to branch out if it works out. What do ya'll think, would it work?

Jeff recently surprised me with flowers. I had forgotten that we were coming up on 2 1/2 years of being together, but my thoughtful husband didn't forget! He had to explain what the flowers were for, but once he did, I couldn't have appreciated him more! He is a wonderful provider and God has truly blessed me with my perfect match!

Also in the slide show I've posted pics of my goodbye lunch with some of the foster care staff at the main campus of DePelchin. I have been feeling God moving me towards making a change for at least 6 months, but I didn't want to leave DePelchin because it is such a wonderful organization to work for and I truly believe in the mission statement. I thought about staying at DePelchin and leaving the foster care department, but that wasn't God's plan. So, instead He has decided to bring me and my supervisor, Gabrielle to the Ft. Bend satellite location of DePelchin to join the foster care staff there. I began the new position on August 18th and spent the first week with two caseloads as I tried to transition my previous families to the new clinicians. It was crazy! Now, I am starting to settle in and am realizing I have my work cut out for me getting everything organized and meeting a whole new group of kids and foster parents. It is going to be a good change though and most of my families are closer to my home and the office is too. I will miss my sweet buddies/co-workers at the main campus, but I'll be back once a month for our all staff meeting.

A "Suite" deal!

This weekend was a great one with the perfect mix of time with friends, time together, and time alone.

Jeff filed at work on Thursday and was able to make it to our small group Bible study for the first time in about a month. The group was glad to have him back and so was I, even though everyone was very sweet to me while I was a "single woman"!

Jeff had the day off on Friday and I worked from home, so we were able to have lunch together, etc. Friday night we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics. AMAZING! I multi-tasked by scrapbooking at the same time. When we were done with that we made a midnight trip to Wal-Mart. We rarely do this, but we walked on the wild side! After navigating the isles filled with boxes and workers re-stocking the shelves, we retrieved our items and headed home.

Saturday Jeff took care of some car errands while I cleaned and did laundry. Saturday afternoon Katie, Josh, and Caleb came to see us on their way back to Dallas. We had a nice visit and celebrated Caleb's half birthday with sweets that he was too young to eat. Sorry Caleb!
Here are some photos from their visit:


Saturday night we had the wonderful opportunity to get free tickets to the Texans game from Jeff's company and sit in their suite at the game.
Reliant stadium:

The players taking the field:

The sign outside the Live Nation suite:

The suite was decorated with Live Nation and concert/band signs:

We also got free parking, food (including ice cream sundaes in the little helmet), drinks, and a game day program. I also got to meet Jeff's co-workers, whom he has spent most of his time with lately. They were all very down to Earth and we had an amazing time! I told Jeff that I would like to be rich so that I could do things like this all the time! I joke with Jeff that he is a "rock star" because he works for the world's largest concert promoter, even though he is on the accounting staff. This time it really did feel like he was a rock star, at least for the day.

The game was close, but the Texans won by a field goal!

My hubby, the Superhero!

Jeff is finishing his long hours (70+ per week) tomorrow, at least for this quarter and will file the 10Q tomorrow at 4 PM. The coutdown has begun...16 hours and counting! We are excited about him getting some time off Friday and then seeing the Herweck clan on Saturday!

Jenny and Becca, back together again!

For those of you that met me post-high school, you don't know about Jenny. But, Jenny and I were very best friends in high school, inseperable in fact! Well, Jenny moved to Honduras for a couple of years and met the man of her dreams, got married and moved back to the states. Jenny and Gustavo have been back in the Houston area for a while now, but Jenny and I haven't seen each other in a while.

A week ago I got to spend three days at Jenny and Gustavo's house while I was at a training nearby. I never actually saw Gustavo because he works nights and I was there at nights only, but I appreciate his hospitality as well. Jenny and I had a lot of fun talking, catching up, looking at each others scrapbooks, and our favorite, eating!

Thank you Jenny and Gustavo for your hospitality!


On Thursday I got to see my husband again after three days apart when I picked him up for a surprise lunch. Friday was fun too because Jeff got some alone time at home while I went to dinner with my friend from church, Alecia. Alecia and her husband got married last month after her sister and Maid of Honor was missing in Alaska for a week after getting lost while hiking. The story made national news and the family was reunited just two days before Alecia and Dennis' wedding. It is amazing how they endured that stress, but they are an amazing couple! We enjoyed celebrating their wedding and the reunion with them.

Anyway, Saturday we celebrated Tim's birthday with some good ol' fashioned friend fun! We played rock band, ate wings and icecream, and enjoyed every minute of it!
I didn't get a picture of Jeff in action, but he actually played all three parts in the band, not simoltaniously of course, but usually he isn't into playing at all!
Here we are after jamming out:

Encouragement from an Unlikely Source

Okay, so most of you know that it has been a difficult few months at my job and I have really considered making changes. Well, due to some recent events it appears that God has other plans and He would like me to stay, at least for now, working with foster families. Last night I recieved some news of rejection from another opportunity and in the very next moment, I came across this in the blog of one of my foster mothers:

"when it feels like everything is falling apart around me and my anxiety level over things out of my control has reached a toxic level. I am so thankful to have a clinician with the agency I am through who not only supports me and my worries, but is also a Christian and not afraid to remind me of God's sovereign plan, love and peace."

Isn't it wonderful that God uses other people to bless us right at the exact moment when we need it?! I was feeling really hurt and rejected and I read this and God ministered to me greatly by these words that the foster mother did not even expect me to read. Praise God for His ever personal and loving manner of encouraging us in pursuing His will!

The Joys of Pet Ownership!

Disclaimer: I love animals and I LOVE my pets!

I droped Harvey off for his regularly scheduled vet appointment yesterday on my way to work. Like every responsible pet owner, I take him twice a year to Banfield. We purchase "pet insurance" from the vet for all of our pets (2 cats and a dog). At least we currently do, maybe not for much longer. Anyway, I mentioned to the vet that he has been scratching his ears a lot and they had me sign a paper that they could clean them ($14). The vet called me at 2 PM and let me know I owed them $123!! What?! But, I have the "pet insurance". Oh, but "we cleaned his ears, he has an ear infection, so we need you to put this antibiotic in his ear twice a day, etc." I ask, what the antibiotic does, because I am thinking, if it is Neosporen I can buy that at CVS for $2. The lady gives me a sufficient enough answer to stomach buying the $26 antibiotic. So, Jeff picked up the dog and paid the bill $123. A couple of hours later I get a call from the vet informing me that his nurse did not sell us the ear wash we are supposed to use twice a week. Oh no, we will not purchase this because I have a whole bottle from 2004 when they suckered me into it the last time. Did I mention Harvey has to go back in two weeks for a "follow up." I wonder how much that will cost!

This morning I wake up, still fuming a little from the vet bill when I notice cat puke is at the bottom of the bed, on my side of course and on the comforter! YUCK! Jeff was nice enough to clean it up. Then I walk through the kitchen to see a pile of dog poop in the dinning room. Again, see disclaimer, but honestly, I'm a little annoyed!

Pibb and Pop Tarts

Thanks for all the commments! We're so excited to have new blogger friends and now we have sitemeter so we can track the flow of readers. That was an all time high for number of comments though!

Jeff is working a lot lately and could use some prayer for endurance and clarity. I have been using my time while he is at work to get together with old and new friends and reconnect.

I'm sure you are wondering about the title of the blog. When Jeff works late, they feed him dinner so I haven't been cooking. I went to the grocery store tonight and this literally was my grocery list:
1. Pibb Zero
2. Pop Tarts
3. Granola Bars
4. Tylenol

No Joke!