If you have not heard...

If you have not heard... Chris got a job!!! Hooray! He is now a NCAA Div 1 head tennis coach!

If you have not heard... It's in Texas. University of Texas Pan American, to be exact. The UT university system is exactly like the UC system here - schools spread out over the state, some bigger than others, some better than others. Pan American is one of the little ones.

If you have not heard... Chris loaded up his truck and left this morning. He should be in Texas tomorrow night.

If you have not heard... I will be joining Chris in Texas in December, after the semester ends at Vanguard. We will be apart for 5 weeks and 4 days, until he comes back for Thanksgiving. After that, it will be a little over 2 weeks until I join him in Texas permanently.

If you have not heard... I am a slow processor. Don't ask me how I am feeling about him being gone. I don't really know yet. Ask me in a week.

If you have not heard... It is an exciting, sad, adventuresome, heartbreaking, blessing, and disappointing thing all at once. I rarely feel these emotions seperately. Most of the time, I feel all of these all at once... Example: In my head, I know that moving to Texas is a very good and practical move; in my heart, I am devastated that I have to leave my family and friends. In my heart, I also feel love and support and excitement for my husband's job and fulfillment, and it fulfills me to support him; in my head, I worry about what job I will get and if I will be as good at it or enjoy it as much as the one I currently have.

If you have not heard... Well, now you have.

iFly part 2

A breakdown of the adventure:

We all arrive at DW's house at 8am. We jump into his car and drive for like an hour and a half. He is not telling us where we are going. We are all watching his GPS and trying to guess. (I am secretly hoping it's not Six Flags because I would vomit everywhere.) We finally pull into Universal Studios parking and he informs the parking attendant that we're not going to the theme park, we're going to City Walk. We are still confused. We get out of the car and walk around a bit. He says we're still early, so we all grab coffee. Then, when the time is right, we keep walking and stop in front of iFly. It's an indoor skydiving simulator - basically, a giant vertical wind tunnel. We freak out - so awesome!

We took a little training class, then suited up - suit, helmet, eyegear, earplugs. Each of us got two 1-minute flights. The first time, we each really just learn how to do it. The instructor is in there the whole time and makes small adjustments to your arms and legs and you just relax and float and feel your cheeks vibrate. The second time, we each felt way more at ease, the time went by too fast, and at the end of each of our minutes the instructor grabbed hold and took each of us higher up in the tunnel. It was such a blast! We'll have to go back.

iFly

Mystery solved. Totally did it. More details to come.

Mystery Staff Meeting

So, our staff has a new boss. And he's pretty cool. I've decided to call him DW. But we don't know him super well yet... To be honest, the rest of us have all been working together for a year and don't really know each other super well yet either. So, Cool New Boss, DW, is taking us on a mysterious adventure on Friday to get to know us... And I am SO excited! I literally can't wait! We just got instructions to be at DW's house by 8:00am, wear comfortable clothes and tennis shoes, and he'll have us back by 2:00pm... SO EXCITING! I'll let you know what happens.

July 17

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthehalf-bloodprince/

Oh my gosh... I'm so excited, I can't stand it. I'm contemplating attending another midnight showing.

Flea Market Montgomery

I hope you heard this awesome video playing in the background of the "Michael Scott Paper Company" episode of The Office. Watch it.

Chocolate Bunnies

Besides the whole Jesus dying on the cross for my sins and rising from the dead thing, chocolate bunnies are the best part of Easter. I like the hollow ones. And, yes, the ears are the first thing to go.

Pass the Pigs

I learned this game in college. It's the funnest game ever! And I just found out that you can play online at www.passthepigs.com. Life is beautiful, Friend.

TOMORROW

Praise God!

Cole

I tell you what, this kid has changed my life...

I've been around kids a lot in my life, but I never really connected very well with them. I simply had no clue how to act or talk. Growing up, my sister was always the one who was asked to babysit, and I was the one who was asked to feed people's dogs when they were on vacation. So, I hadn't had much practice - or, well, any practice at all - until Cole came into the picture. Everything I know about babies has all been learned in the last year. During Jaime's pregnancy, I would ask her question after question after quesion. I would read pregnancy articles and websites, trying to learn about Cole's progress. From his conception, this kid has fascinated me. And that is a dramatic difference from anything that I am used to. Cole is the difference. Cole is family. Cole is my nephew. I take that very seriously. I would lie down in traffic for him. He smiles at me and I suddenly have purpose in my life. He's my little Monkey Face.

Chris and I don't have kids yet, but when we do, it is so hard for me to imagine my kids being cuter than him. I cannot imagine loving them more than I love Cole. I know that I will, but I didn't even know I could love a baby as much as I love Cole, so it's weird to think about. He will no't be replaced, though. Cole will always be my nephew, he will always be one of my favorite people in this world, he will always be my Monkey Face.

Every year...

Every year, I watch The Bachelor(ette). Every year, it's the same. Every year, it includes at least one beautiful lady and one beautiful man. Every year, it contains at least one person that I want to push out a window (often it's more than one person). Every year, I hold an ongoing dialogue with the TV (an inanimate object, mind you) about how stupid it is. Every year, I scream at the TV. Every year, at least once, I will turn off the TV mid-show and throw the remote across the room because it irritated me that much. Every year, no matter how much they swear that they're going to be different, the couple breaks up after a short period of time. And, yet... Every year, I return - like a moth to a flame (burned by the fire, Janet), like a dog to its vomit - to this frustrating, amazing, stupid, addictive show. Every year...


P.S. DeAnna's coming back???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

The Settlers of Catan

It's on like Donkey Kong. Bring it, sucka.

It's BA-ACK!!!!!!!!

And now the love/hate relationship will continue... I just saw a preview the other night and it looks amazing/dreadful... I really hate this show. But I am strangely addicted. Remember me ranting on this a few months ago? No? Read this to jog your memory... The return of this show actually complicates my life a bit. Now there are FOUR shows I have to watch on Mondays: Gossip Girl & The Secret Life are both on at 8pm, One Tree Hill and Heroes are both on at 9pm. And what am I to do when The Bachelor returns?? Customarily, it is on Monday nights too! My universe is going to implode.

One more reason to love Netflix:

A-MAZING!

Netflix

Hallelujah!

A-MAZING!

I'm a little bit addicted now.

Tyrone

So, I've totally dug this guy since college. I just saw him play for the umpteenth time last Friday, and... I totally still dig his music. You need to check him out here. He's got a new album coming out before Christmas, which I am really stoked on. He played some songs from the new album at this concert and they're amazing. Check out "Sink or Swim" on his myspace page, it's awesome!

Onto Book 3... and now 4

Yup, that's how quickly I read...

Finished.

Started. And shocked. And addicted. I will talk to you again when I am done.

I found my book

Holy trash... I love this book. I was looking for a new book/series to read and I found it! I stinking love it. Read it. Seriously. I would lend you my copy, but I already passed it on to my step-mom, Carol, so that she can become addicted. I have now moved on to the next book in the series, and the obsession continues:

Cole Trabue Warren

This is my nephew. He is the cutest thing I have ever seen. These pictures do not do him justice. You need to hold him, to smell him, to experience him in order to even begin to grasp how much I love him. He came five weeks earlier than expected, but he is precious. It's been like four hours since I've seen him and my heart hurts. I cannot believe my sister and Josh created him; a fact which contributes to the many reasons for why I love him. You should meet him. He's wonderful. Really, he is.

If you want to see a sweet slideshow, go here. And make sure your sound is on!