Obligatory Post

I feel like I should post something, because I have definitely been lacking since we moved. I can't even believe that tomorrow is the first day of September; that seems unreal to me! Labor Day weekend is supposed to mean a 3 day weekend, but I'm going to end up making it into a 6-day work-week! There are about 100 teachers that are signed up to go in to school tomorrow to finish up and get ready for Tuesday, so I don't feel too bad. All the FL (foreign language) folks are coming in, too, so I won't be alone! While I'm slaving away earning the dough, Brett's off gallivanting in NYC with his dad! They just went to a Yankees game and are hanging out in the big city for the weekend. So, that's all my news for now. More later!

Mom's Birthday!

Today is my mom's birthday! I think that she is the most fabulous Mom in the whole world. She's absolutely wonderful! Over the years she has been much more than just "mom", though: chauffeur, supporter, encourager, adviser, cook, cleaning lady, errand-runner, listener, challenger, comedian, example, fashion consultant, book recommender, host, and confidante, among other things. People always say that I am the spitting image of her, and I love that; but the greatest compliment I get is when they tell me that I act just like her, because she's an incredible woman of God whose example I want to follow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Grillin'

As I left work yesterday and called Brett, he announced that he had bought a grill and was going to make me dinner! I immediately tossed aside my list for the grocery store that included ingredients for some new recipe that sounded good the nite before but no longer was appealing, and I bought the fixins' for "hangabers" as Mom always called them! And, man, were they good! So juicy and scrumptious! We got to sit out on our patio and eat dinner, enjoying nice weather. Props to Tracy for sending us these awesome placements for eating on our patio! I can't wait until Brett's next grilling escapade. If you have any easy recipes that you love, please email me; we're looking for dinner and veggie recipes to try out!

Sugarland video

Flip Flop Summer Tour

Last night, Brett and I went to a fun concert! He surprised me with these tickets on our anniversary, so we have been waiting for a month to attend. The Flip Flop Summer Tour included a performance by Pat Green, Sugarland, and Kenny Chesney. I'm a huge PG fan, ever since he started out as a measly Texas Country singer. And, of course, I love Sugarland and KC.

We left Brett's parent's house about 6pm after visiting with them for the afternoon. They live about 3.5 miles from the concert site, so we figured we'd be there around 610 or so by taking the backroads. At 730 we finally got there!! There was a bit of traffic.
Our lawn seats worked out well, except that it meant we got rained on for part of PG and part of KC! We didn't mind, though; it was a fun experience! Because we were very wet and weren't in the mood to suffer through 1.5 more hours of traffic, we left the concert a bit early to avoid the traffic and drunk college kids! That worked out perfectly!

I shot a video of Sugarland while we there; it's shaky and not perfect, but you get the idea!
Actually, it won't upload, so I'll see about putting it up later.

Another meme

Kelley tagged me!

Four jobs I have had:
1. Hostess
2. Dental assistant
3. Old Navy know-it-all (with Kel & Sarah & Erin...anyone else?)
4. Spanish teacher

Four Places I have lived:
1. San Angelo, TX
2. Madrid, Spain
3. Winston Salem, NC
4. Greenville, SC

Favorite TV shows:
1. The Amazing Race
2. Travel Channel shows
3. The Office
4. The morning traffic report

Food:
1. mint chocolate chip ice cream
2. CFA
3. Chili's chicken crispers
4. Nutter Butters

I would rather be:
1. at the beach
2. shopping with an unlimited account
3. cruising with my girlfriends
4. zip-lining in Costa Rica

Favorite movies:
1. Bourne movies
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
3. The Waitress
4. The Importance of Being Earnest

I'm tagging:
Katie and Liz (clearly I need more blog friends!)

House husband extraordinaire

That's who Brett was today! While I spent the day working, he completed all kinds of errands, taking care of all those things I didn't want to deal with. Then he cleaned the bathrooms. AND THEN he made me dinner! Don't you wish your hubby was as great as mine?

Vacationing in the DR

Here is the summary I know each of you has been waiting for: our vacation!

Of utmost importance is the fact that it was an incredible vacation! Our all-inclusive package allowed us the use of kayaks and a few other activities, but we literally sat on the beach each day reading. Before we knew it, the sun was going down and it was time for another dinner! So lovely! I took tons of pictures of the water because every time I wanted to capture how beautiful it was, I never thought the picture was just right! There are 7 restaurants, a theatre (for live shows and movies), tons of quaint, inside and outside, piano or saxophone bars, plenty of chairs, couches, and places to relax. We also got to get massages one day! What a treat!

Day 1, Wednesday:
5:00pm - arrive to hotel; they upgrade us for free to an ocean-view!
5: 15pm - get to room and admire nice digs; move to balcony and stare at blueness of ocean
5:20pm - change into swimsuits--there's still plenty of daylight!
5:22pm - make our way to the beach; sit; read - this sets the tone for the rest of the week
7:45pm - go up to shower & head to dinner

Day 2, Thursday:
9:30am - wake, forego showers (why bother?!) and don swimsuits and coverups (no little string bikinis in the dining room! though I will say that we saw our very fair share of too-tiny suits [on both men and women] and toplessness while on the water)
9:55am - eat breakfast, which includes crepes, eggs, omelets, churros, bread, cereal, yogurt--whatever you want, it's there!
10:30am - stake claim on beach chairs (actually, there are tons of places on the beach and even latecomers will find spots); Brett moves his chair into the direct sunlight; I move mine to make sure no sun hits me (I don't tan, I burn; and I burn splotchy at that, so why even try to tan when I know I'll just end up burning in weird areas and then hurt all week because of it!); read
11:30am - walk over to bar to get a drink, take walk along the beach, go back, read
12:45pm - walk to pool area, shower off sand, jump in pool (the pool must have been about 3 football fields long--absolutely amazing!)
2:00pm - eat lunch, head back to chairs
4:00pm - drinks anyone?
7:00pm - go to room for showers and then to dinner
9:30pm - watch show in the theatre

Day 3, Friday:
See Day 2, Thursday. There was probably some variance: we may have gotten crazy and gotten in the pool at 12:00pm instead of 12:45pm. And we didn't watch a show after dinner but sat on the balcony.

Day 4, Saturday:
This was the day Hurricane Dean was directly south of the DR. We woke and ate breakfast to torrential raining, extreme clouds, and great winds. By 11:30am, the rain had stopped. For the remainder of the day, we actually sat at the pool and read. The winds remained about 40mph for the duration of the day, but there was no rain. The beach had eroded such that there was about a 4 foot drop-off, but we enjoyed walking up and down and the beach with the crowds of people who were wondering when the weather would get worse. It never did, thank goodness!

Day 5, Sunday:
See Day 2, Thursday. I believe this was the day we walked down the beach and I found a coconut. Palm trees line the beach, so that's not unusual. Also, I had to start a new book. After dinner we played a game of chess with pieces that were about 1.5ft tall.

Day 6, Monday:
9:30am - wake up, eat breakfast
10:30am - shower and pack
12:00pm - check out and shop for souvenirs in the stores on the campus
1:10pm - head to airport
4:25pm - leave for home

So there you have it! Enjoy the pics in the slideshow. If you have any questions or I left anything else, just comment! We highly recommend the DR. Our hotel was great-not luxurious, and the food was good- not excellent, but we feel that we got our money's worth and it was exactly what we wanted. We could have been more active, but for this trip, sitting around reading sounded better to us. It was a wonderful time, and I'm sad that it's over! But now it's on to planning our next vacay!

A preview

Today was hectic, but that should come as no surprise! We ran a number of errands and continued to get the house in order. Our couch and chair were finally delivered and we bought a rug, so our living room is now actually livable! It helps make the house feel like home. My goal tomorrow is to finish organizing the guest room, do the laundry, and get ready.

I have to get ready because on Thursday, I start work! You probably read that last Tuesday I had 2 interviews. While in the DR, I was offered 2 jobs! Praise the Lord! Both are part-time, though the one I will have has the possibility of turning into full-time (please pray for that!). I'll be teaching Spanish I and II at a high school. I'm scared and excited and feel all out of practice all at the same time!

Here's a preview of some of the fun pictures and beautiful views to come. Ahhhh...Serenity.

Yep....

We're home. Things are still extremely hectic, so that's why there are no updates. Maybe tonite when I feel I wouldn't be productive anyway, I'll have some pictures and descriptions. Thanks for tuning in!

And away we go!

I know we've been a bit spotty in our postings lately. Trust me, there is good reason. Did you know that my guest book already has 3 separate entries in it? That means that we've had at least 3 (the exact number is 4, by the way) guests come and stay at our house. We've lived here less than a week! Funny how no one wanted to visit us in Houston....

Anyway, so that's been going on. And we're still unpacking boxes. And today I had 2 interviews. Yeah, 2. Crazy! Please pray that something would materialize. I feel a bit bad interviewing and then telling them they can't get ahold of me for the next 6 days! And why's that?....

...because we are GOING ON VACATION!!!! We're hitching the 551am bus at the corner of our street and heading out of the country (we're just taking the bus to the metro and the metro to the airport; thought I might clarify in case you thought we were taking the bus all the way to the DR!).

So, we're off. And I'm not taking my computer. And neither is Brett. There's lots to catch up on still and will be even more when we come back. But, it'll all have to wait, because I'm going to relax! Talk to y'all next week!

Sad

Marty is on a plane home right now. Sadness. He was an absolutely amazing help to us as we drove up here to Virginia and as we got the house into working order. He's a good painter and is a rock-star at putting together furniture. Both Brett and I enjoyed getting to have so much time with him! Now we are looking forward to next summer already when we'll see him next!

Thanks, Mart, for all your help!

Settling

We're still here. And our furniture arrived, too! Apparently houses made in the 1940s have much smaller front doors because our sleeper sofa absolutely would not fit; some guy walking by got to keep it for free, and we are getting a new couch! That's been the only big surprise so far, and we can handle that! It's been absolutely exhausting but fun to have our own place that we can make feel like home. I will post pics and more info as I have time, so keep checking back.

Painting

Thanks to Jo, Charlie, and Marty, painting our bedroom went much more quickly than we thought it would! Here are a couple of pictures of the process. Now we are all set for the furniture to arrive early tomorrow morning!

Before

DuringAfter

Home at last!

Yes, we did make it out to Virginia! Our drive here was completely unremarkable, which was exactly what we had been praying for. My brother Marty came with us, and it helped tremendously to have a third driver between the 2 cars! We arrived to Charlie and Jo's home on Monday nite and came out to our place Tuesday morning. Brett carried me over the threshold as we entered our first home!

Marty's been here with us at the house doing what little organizing we can with the things we currently have, putting together a TV stand and cabinet with Brett, and painting our bedroom! It's been such fun to be here in our new home, even though it doesn't have all our stuff! But don't worry--there is a sleeper sofa and carpeted floors, so we are making do with those each night.

Now that we have internet, I'll be able to post some pics and such as we have the time. Tomorrow is DMV day; wish us luck!

Sunday results

-cars driven: 2
-stops made: 3
-state-lines crossed: 2
-songs listened to: 500,000 (that might be an exaggeration)
-state license plates sighted: 30
-miles driven: 698.8
-hours driven: 10:05
-arriving to Nashville, meeting up with Marty's friends, eating at Jason's Deli, and getting to relax in the hotel: priceless

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

I would like to wish a very happy day to my favorite father-in-law! I probably shouldn't say exactly how old he is (I want to remain in his good graces!) but I will tell you that he is quite excited about some of the benefits that come about with this particular birthday. He's going to go out to a fancy dinner tonite, but is waiting to do the real celebrating when we are back in town next Sunday! We can't wait! See y'all soon!

Packing

I've got three guys in my apartment doing all my packing while I'm sitting on the computer. It's weird. I feel like I should be doing something, but when I asked if I could help, they said no. Part of my wanting to jump in is the control-freak aspect of my personality, but my guess is that they are probably a lot better at packing my stuff than I am (and they are definitely faster!!). I suppose I should enjoy it on this end because I'll be doing lots of lifting and moving on the unpacking end of this journey.

The Salesman

Here's Brett improvising after he sold his desk today! Our packers come tomorrow and our cable and internet get turned off, so we'll see if we can do posting before we leave.