a lot like Christmas! Bri and I have been a little behind with our decorating this year. Usually we start decorating the day after Thanksgiving, but this year my sweet hubby got me a plane ticket home! It was a quick trip, but I got to hang out with family which was wonderful. After I got back I headed off to a business trip so we haven't really been home together until this weekend. We still aren't done (I have dishes to set out) but at least the tree is up. Can you believe it's 18 days until Christmas?
Our tree
Here's some pics from the last two games, ESPN came to the Missouri game and ABC came to the Oklahoma State game.
The EPSN guys at the stadium
On the sidelines
The funniest fan ever...this guy is hilarious at the games.
Unfortunately during the Oklahoma State game this is the view we got every time the ball got to the end zone.
The obligatory field shot
Isn't this guy cute? The critters on campus are very friendly so I couldn't resist stopping to take his picture.
Not a whole lot going on here...just lots of work. I have a few pics I've taken over the past month, mostly of our favorite non-work pass time. I'm hoping we'll still get to enjoy it once Brian graduates =).
And last but not least, the babies!
Right now I have two situations going on in my life that have been a big struggle. I know life isn't always about being happy and I'm trying to understand better what true contentment means. My nature is to worry and stress over things, even if I have no control over them. I've been praying about this and understand that God is in control. The part I don't completely understand is how to know whether your heart is truly desiring God's will or your own. I tend to have seasons where certain verses are on my heart, and there have been several situations where the first chapter of James is where I focus. I'm learning how much I need to develop perseverance when my gut thought is always 'Please Lord, get me outta this situation!'. Being uncomfortable is not always a bad thing, but how do you know though when God is refining you through a situation or when He's shutting a door and saying to refocus on something else (take another path). Does that make sense? I want to trust and be refined if that is the purpose of these situations, but I also want to accept and refocus if this is a wall the Lord is using to redirect me. I have a coworker that I am close to (her family also attends our church) and we have we had this conversation several times lately (the Lord has truly blessed me with such a godly role model). I feel like I'm always praying both ways (for refinement through it and to understand when it's time to accept that the situations are what they are and redirect). I know sometimes God shuts doors, but how do you know when you are supposed to move on or if should just accept this is where you are meant to be?
Last weekend was UT's first football game. Brian and I got separated from our ticket group (not sure how that happened) but we ended up on the second row!!! Brian laughed because he said I had more fun taking pics than watching the game. I wouldn't say that, but it was definitely a close second. Here's a few highlights:
Bevo himself
And I'll leave you with a pic of us.Back in the day, Brian and were both good about working out. Neither of us were 'skinny', but I'd like to think we were pretty healthy. Lately we have been working so much that it's been a struggle to be active. It's so hot this summer that we have both dreaded being outside most of the time, and didn't really have much we could do inside. So, we bit the bullet and decided to get a workout machine. Hopefully this will be more motivation since it will be in the house. I used to love the elliptical machine at the gym and I'm excited to get back to it at home! Wish us luck!!
We're back in Texas, and already missing all of our family and friends. We didn't run around as much this time, just tried to see folks and enjoy spending time with them. I wasn't very good at taking pictures except for ones of the princess (my niece Reagan), but here are a few:
Hope everyone had a great week!!!!
Nothing much going on here, but I took some pictures on campus I thought I would share. Hope everyone is doing well!
I got a new camera recently, I'd saved birthday and Christmas money and finally settled on what I wanted. I've been playing around with it to get used to the settings and so far I'm pretty happy. We haven't been up to much lately, just lots and lots of work. But, I did get out yesterday and take some pics in the backyard. Hope everyone is doing well!!
Cornell University in Ithaca, NY!! We had offers all the way from California and Massachusetts, but we both just felt like Ithaca was the best choice. Brian talked to the professor he will be working for on the phone and I could just tell how excited he was about working for him. Two of the most important things in my mind are liking who you work for and being interested in his research, and Brian has found both! It will definitely be an adjustment since we have been living in a very warm place for the past 4 years, but I'm excited. Not that we have done too much exploring out here, but we will within driving distance to things I've always wanted to see...Niagara Falls, Pennsylvania (Amish people and the Hershey factory). Brian has never been to New York City, so I'm excited to see it as well. We don't know how much longer it will take Brian to finish up here (depends on how his research goes), but we're excited to start this new leg of our adventure together. Once we have more details I'll share, but we wanted to thank you for your prayers and support.
Occasionally I forget that I'm getting older, particularly at work. Until two weeks ago. I was trying to explain to a new co-worker how the special kind of triplicate form worked, and I mentioned that it looked kinda like a ditto used to (purplish ink from the carbon). You know, those purple text pages we used to have in elementary school rather than the copies we have now? He definitely looked at me and said 'What's a ditto?'. to make it worse, when I explained he said (I kid you not) 'I think my mom told me about those'. So, not only did he not remember, he lumped me in a category with him mom. Good grief. Please tell me someone out there remembers those ditto copies from grade school???
Well, it's hard to believe we're at this point, but it's time to decide where Brian and I will end up next! We have one more year until Brian will graduate with his doctorate. It doesn't seem like we've been in Austin that long, but it will be four years in July. Brian has applied for post doctoral positions at several schools and has received several responses, but is torn over which school is best. Where we end up next could play a big role on the types of positions he can get afterward, so it's a pretty big decision. If you know me well you know I'm anxious to get closer to family, but more than likely these positions will take us farther away from home. God has a plan for us, and I'm reminded to trust Him. Please pray for us as we work to make the right decision on this next phase in our life.
We're halfway done with our latest project, installing flooring. We have been living with concrete in the living room for awhile, scoping out the flooring prices and saving. We looked around and almost bought it from a flooring store when we decided to check Sam's one more time. When we got there, we noticed one color was on clearance and it was the exact number of boxes we needed. What a blessing!
Anyone who tells you it's easy is CRAZY, but I think it turned out well. Brian and I joke that the next house we have won't need so many updates, but we've truly been blessed to be able to have a house out here!! We still need to sand, touch-up paint the baseboards and install the transition molding, but I think we did well for a day and a half! Once we recover, it's on to the bedroom and then we're done with major improvements (or so we hope).
Putting down the plastic (moisture barrier)
