StRiPeS

Lately, I love stripes, so why not try it on the wall? So I decided to paint our dining room wall and am really proud because I did this all by myself! This is what I do all day without a job, use all my creative energy to decorate our house. Which, speaking of jobs, I just got an amazing job as a donor center supervisor at Carter Blood Services and I start Sept. 8th!! Which is a very good thing, although I might cry when I have to go back to work. Until then, my next projects are to stain the kitchen table and some oil paintings.

Banquet

Every year Dan's school puts on a beautiful banquet sponsored by physicians for all the first year med students. We got to go and it was so much fun! Basically it's for students to go and ask the doctors any questions they have about their practices, and med school and what they should be doing. We got to meet two of the sweetest and amazing doctors, Dr. Smale and Dr. Salmon, who had very interesting life stories. We felt very privileged to rub shoulders with such great men.

It's not personal, it's business

These feelings may come as a surprise to many family members and friends who know me, seeing as how it has come as a surprise to myself. Being without a job for the last month has helped me come to the realization that I love to stay home. This is something new I have learned about myself because I thought I received my biggest satisfaction in life from working and doing well in my career. When we first moved here, I was so stressed out because I couldn't stand just being home and not being able to find a job. In fact, I was kind of throwing a little pity party for myself, feeling really upset that it was taking me longer than I thought it should to get a job. But after talking to a very wise women, (my mother-in-law), she gave me some advice that really made the difference. She told me to just enjoy this time off and being able to have a break from work. Although I am diligently looking for a job, and have had a few interviews, I really like being a stay at home, domestic wife. I love being able to clean everyday, keep up with the laundry and dishes, cook, attend relief society activities, and write in my journal. Now that I am not working, I have the time and energy to do all these things. I knew there was some sort of lesson I was supposed to learn from this trial and stress of not being able to find a job. The lesson I learned is that I want to be home, and have a family.

Even though I love babies, I didn't really feel like I was ready or would even enjoy staying home and having my own. I used to think, what on earth would I do all day without work? Where will I get my validation without the success of a career? Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't understand the importance of being a mother and home maker, I just didn't know where or when it would fit into my own life. It's funny how the Lord works, and this experience of being forced to slow down has definitely changed my paradigm and priorities. All it took was to slow down a little bit and have a little quiet time away from work and the drama of the work place, to help me realize what I want in life. For the past 5 years (and longer) all I have done is work, work, work. I have missed out on so many family, and church events. Working on my own talents, personal growth, and family has sort of taken a back seat to earning money and climbing the corporate ladder. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but this is such a huge personal step and change of thinking for me. So who knows, maybe the pitter-patter of little feet in our home is not too far in the distance...

First day of school!

Remember when we all were little and on our first day of school our mom's would put us in our new outfits and fix our hair perfectly and then make us take pictures? Well, although I did not dress Dan today, I am a nerd and made him take pictures on his first day of school.

Food, food, food...

This weekend we pretty much hit jackpot when it came to fine dining. We ate so much, I don't think either of us will fit in our church clothes tomorrow, but we wanted to have one last hurrah before Dan's school starts next week. We had lunch at Le Madeline's, a French restaurant, where we ate such delicacies as crepes, croussants, and baked sandwiches. Then on to dessert at the Corner Bakery Cafe, and then a fabulous dinner at Anamia's, an amazing Tex-Mex find recomended by a lady in our new ward. Dan was freaking out about how good the chips, salsa and enchiladas were. Finally, we wrapped it all up with another dessert at Marble Slab Creamery. We are food lovers and are loving the food here in Texas. This is about as exciting as our days get here.

We are just enjoying every last second of Dan's freedom until he becomes a slave to UT Southwestern. He went to orientation today and is getting ready to start Monday. I am so proud of my babes, he is one smart cookie! And I am still on the hunt for a job, and have not found anything yet. I need to start making the big bucks because for the next 4 years I am Dan's sugar mamma.

Our first week in Big D

Warning, there are a lot of pictures in this post but our family is wanting to see our new place.

Me being cheesy. Welcome to our home!



Our first visitor. I wanted to keep him, but Dan said "no". When I asked him why, he said that I don't even feed him so what makes me think I would feed this gecko. He made a good point, so we let him go.


We are no Candice Olsen, (my favorite designer on HGTV), but here is our place so far, we still have some work to do.

Kitchen still needs some decorations.

I love all the windows, that's what made me fall in love with this place. You can't really tell from these pictures but there are windows in every room, including the bathroom and kitchen, something you just don't find too often in apartments. I have got to have my sunlight!

My husband is amazing, he helped me so much with painting, hanging stuff and lot of annoying questions like, does this look good here? We love our new apt, it really feels like a home to us with the walls painted and everything put together. Our first week in Texas has been busy with painting, unpacking, cleaning, watching So You Think You Can Dance finale and the Olympics, stressing about finding a new job, and exploring the very big city of Dallas.

We are here!!

Our first dinner in Texas at Steak 'n Shake.

Dan's Dad drove down with Dan to help him with our move.


I got to spend some time with the munchkins before moving. This is Capri "washing hands", as she was saying, with her yogurt.


Emerson with his cat food. He took it everywhere with him, to the mall, bathroom, and he even slept with it, just in case the cat got hungry. It was pretty funny.


We finally got to Texas and love our new apartment (pictures are coming soon) and updates are coming soon! Sorry to everyone who we didn't get to see before leaving, we were so busy but miss you all and hope to keep in touch.