Fresh paint and beginnings

We did it! We moved! 

It was a crazy, hectic, and EXHAUSTING experience. My body is still hurting from it all. We could NOT have done it without the help from our families. Judson's mom and dad helped us pack everything up from the old house and my mom and Gram helped us unpack everything at our new house. They also helped me clean and paint the new house.

Remember, I told you that our adorable house was filled with horrid wallpaper. 

My Gram is AWESOME. 

My mom is AWESOME. She set up our whole kitchen.

It was very fun. Jamming out, painting, decorating, unpacking, and getting all settled.

Then, mom and gram left. Judson started going to football workouts. So, it was up to me to keep painting.

Our breakfast table is folded up into those cabinets. ADORABLE. 

It was all fun and games for the first couple of days then took a drastic turn to delirium from paint fumes  and hatred for it all. 

Luckily, I have a husband who knew I needed fresh air so to break up the monotony we went on a walk at the San Saba River Nature Trails the other day and it was BEAUTIFUL. And it's less than a mile from my house… NEW RUNNING PATHS. I can't believe I live in a place this gorgeous.

Now, the last couple of months in Abilene were tense and stressful with finishing the school year, finding new jobs, new house, and packing. Before we went to Vegas, we hadn't been on a really good date in a while. We were just tired and blah. So tonight, Judson decided to take me on a date that was wonderful enough to make up for lost time. AND BOY, WAS IT! 

He started by driving me out to a place in San Saba called The Wedding Oak. It is a huge oak tree over 200 years old that the Indians and Settlers used to get married under. See the heart!?

When we got there he pulled flowers out of the backseat of his truck to give to me. SWOON! I really like him. 

After that he took me to the oldest suspension bridge in Texas. It was really bouncy and fun! But the sun was starting to set and it was really bright so our picture didn't turn out great. But, hey, I tried. 

Then we ate a delicious dinner at a restaurant here that I can't remember the name of but it was really good! And they had live country music playing. Yeehaw!

With full tummies he took me to this BREATHTAKING piece of land and drove me all over it on a four wheeler. We saw baby deer, streams, rivers, giant trees, and puffy flowers.

He took me to a place called Chapel Hill that overlooks the whole beauty that is our town. And after, to the little mini river walk we have. 

Lastly, to our home, to our twinkly back porch to dance with me. So dreamy his is and this night was.

Coming up soon is a picture tour of our new house! As soon as I get all theses boxes unpacked…

So long sweet Abilene

The time has come, folks. Tonight is the second to last night in our first home.

Not only that, but it is our second to last night in Abilene. The place I've called home for the past 5 years.

It's a weird, yet exciting feeling. So for your reading pleasure I've decided to make a list of what I will most about Abilene and our first home, and what I will miss the least. Ready, set, GO!

What I will miss MOST about Abilene:
- Natural Grocers. I can't even.. I don't know what I'll do without it at my fingertips. WAAAHHH!
- Speaking of food, all my favorite places. Including, but not limited to, Rosas, Chick-fil-a, Papa Murphys, Abuelos, Little Caesars Hot and Ready, Wholey Cow…
- Beltway Park. I LOVE our church. I feel closer to God every single time I go.
- The convenience of being able to go buy new jeans or shoes or a dress if you need one
- Target
- The Lundsford trail around ACU. Only wonderful memories there, including getting proposed to
- All my running routes I've finally mastered
- The fact that this place is so familiar to me
- The distance it is from my parents. Even though I'm only adding an hour to that distance, I JUST DON'T LIKE BEING FAR.
- The sunsets
What I will miss the LEAST about Abilene:
- The wind
- The dust
- The trash EVERYWHERE on the sides of roads
- The allergies I have here
- The rude drivers on the intersection of Buffalo Gap and Industrial
- The construction that is happening everywhere
- The lack of water
- The lack of green, lush land
- How spread out everything is

Now here comes the real hard part…..

the day we got all moved in

The things I will miss MOST about our home 

- ALL the sweet memories of our first year of marriage here

- Learning how to cook in that unbelievably small kitchen, and also dancing almost every night in there with my husband 

- The fact I can vacuum our whole house using only one outlet, and that it takes a total of 10 min to make our house clean

- Our DISHWASHER. Our new house doesn't have one. I know, I'm kind of devastated. 

- The shower head in our shower

- The porch Judson BUILT me

- The tree Judson gave me a year ago and planted for me in our backyard

- The purple wildflowers that grow all over our backyard (see also, the things I won't miss about this house is how un-yard-like our yard is.)

- The brick wall around our front porch that we have spent countless hours sitting on and talking

- Our walk-in closets

- Just the comfortableness I feel in this house. I know I will feel this way eventually in the new house, but I'll miss the jive and routine that we know and function so well at here. 

The things I will miss LEAST about our home

- THAT WE DON'T FIT IN HERE ANYMORE. It's so small. Y'all… It's so small. I have to get ready every morning at our kitchen table with a vanity mirror because our tiny one bathroom can't fit the both of us. 

- The plumbing. Just everything about it and all the history we have with it. 

- How intensely the sun sets on the back of our house because there are barely any trees in this neighborhood, it heats up our house to about 5 degrees every evening and it's blinding if you walk out there. 

- The carpet. It holds in everything I'm allergic to including every strand of Rylee hair that falls. It doesn't matter how much I vacuum or how many air purifiers I have (our new house is all hardwood floors. EEEK!)

- Only having ONE bathroom. Living with a boy is just too hard in one bathroom. All married ladies said - AMEN.

- The stickers everywhere in our yards that end up in my house, in my carpet, and then in my foot

- The amount of bird poop that is on my car every single day from parking under our tree

- The garage and backyard door open into each other, this means that to enter the backyard you have to open the door into the garage, step in the garage and then CLOSE that door for the backyard door to open. It doesn't make any sense and it is incredibly frustrating. 

- The amount of salesmen that come knockin' on our door. No one likes a solicitor! 

- Lastly, the dust. Abilene just makes everything so dusty. My house is always so dusty. 

I think that's all..

All in all, I will definitely miss this place that has been my home. I am also extremely excited for this new adventure! 

Vegas, baby!

To celebrate both of us graduating and our (2 months early) one year anniversary, we went to LAS VEGAS!

We flew out of Midland and it was incredibly easy. So easy that I may never go to DFW airport again! We left Texas at 3:30 pm and arrived in Vegas at 3:30 pm! The time change was like magic! But since it was actually 5:30 in Texas, we were STARVING. We quickly changed clothes, refreshed our deodorant, and hit the town!

We stayed at the Paris while we were there, and it was right in the middle of everything!

After we ate we went and tried our luck at the slot machines! It was so strangely addicting. We put in $5 and won up to $90! If only we had stopped….. buuuuuut we didn't so, we walked out with $5.

The next morning we ordered room service for breakfast. HEAVEN. Spent the day at the pool and went to see a show! It was Cirque De Soliel Mystere. It was so weird and awesome all at once. Then we walked all up and down the strip!

The next day was basically the same thing except this time we went to a breakfast buffet. Judson came back to the table with one plate filled with a reasonable amount of breakfast items and I came back with TWO plates with MOUNDS of food on both. Whatever. IT'S VACATION, PEOPLE. Before we hit the pool again, I got a massage. Once again, HEAVEN. We went out on the town again and ate at an amazing seafood restaurant in Caesar's Palace. The amount of movie quotes from The Hangover that were running through my head was ridiculous. Especially THIS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=526QUiYPgt0

Today while we waited in the airport we drank a Jamba Juice in efforts to undo all the fatty foods I ate.

And we watched The Lorax on the plane ride home, because adulthood is overrated and we love being children!

The only CON to this whole ordeal is that we miss Rylee so much!! She is staying with my parents and we get her back till Saturday! Thank goodness for Snap Chat.

It was a wonderful trip! We are refreshed and happy and ready to make the big move to San Saba!

San Saba, Texas - GO ARMADILLOS!

Well folks, it's real life now. We are moving to San Saba, Texas! Pecan Capital of the WORLD

With beautiful pecan orchards all around us

with UNLIMITED water! Rivers EVERYWHERE! Seriously, It looks like Colorado.

Who even knew this place existed?!

And their colors are PURPLE (go ACU!) and gold and their mascot is an armadillo! All cool things.

Now here's the story of how this all came to be and how God is SO crazy faithful.

We have been job searching since late February/early March. It has been stressful, to say the least. A lot of wondering, a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress. We would fill out applications, for the both of us (usually about 8 pages or more EACH) stuff them in an envelope and pray over them that God would put them in the right hands and lead us where we need to go. The start of April we started to finally get responses to all the applications and resumes we were sending out. Buuuuuuut we are a package deal so it would usually be that Judson would go in for an interview but they didn't have a job for me or vice versa.

THEN San Saba contacted Judson about coming in for an interview. As always he told them that his wife is an elementary teacher and would need a job too. They responded with a "Awesome! Both of y'all come in for an interview!" WHAT! After our interviews and the warm welcome we received we left knowing/hoping that would be the place for us.

Days went by. Judson got called in for another interview with an excellent school that had no openings for me except for an aid position. Things started to look unfortunate again and I was really sad at the thought of yet another year of not having my own classroom.

Last Tuesday as I was driving to school I began to listen to a worship song (Not For a Moment by Vertical Church Band. LISTEN NOW.) and praying that God would shape my heart to be happy in whatever circumstance He calls me to be in. If it was His will for me to be an aid, then help me keep a positive... *RING RING RING* yes, during this prayer my phone began to ring. Who was it, you ask? SAN SABA. Offering me a full time teaching position for 5th grade math! And the 5th grade is at the middle school. Which is where Judson's teaching position would be for 7th grade (Texas history. Coaching middle school and varsity football, assistant basketball, and the spring sport is still up in the air). WHICH MEANS WE WILL WORK DOWN THE HALL FROM EACH OTHER EVERY SINGLE DAY. MY HUSBAND AND BEST FRIEND. Then, they told me not to give them an answer right now and that they wanted Judson and I to talk about it and PRAY about it, and call them later with an answer. As soon as I hung up the phone I just started crying.

GOD IS SO FAITHFUL, Y'ALL. He cares about our happiness.

We got our sweet little house that was built in the 1930's. It is full of character and horrid wallpaper. We just absolutely love it. 

Even the street name is cute - Storey street.

So we will start the moving a whole house/painting a new house process. Oh, and a quick intermission for our vacation to Las Vegas starting on Sunday until Wednesday. OH, and we haven't even finished THIS school year yet. COME ON FRIDAY.

Here goes nuttin'!

terrific #tuesday

I have said "Happy terrific Tuesday!" every tuesday to my students. And every tuesday I've said that has been just a normal ol' day. I have also had an inside joke with my sister-in-law, Christie, about how people use stupid hashtags all the time like "#tuesday" that don't really have a purpose. But today - TUESDAY - has been a terrific day worthy of a hashtag!!!


First - 
After months and months of applying, interviewing, stressing, searching and praying; Judson and I have ACCEPTED JOBS! and we're MOVING from Abilene! But since we haven't signed contracts yet (even though there is a minimal possibility something could happen between now and then) I'm going to be conservative and not give any more details until it is officially official.

Second -
WE HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!! Judson's sister, Jana, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy today. Meet Jett Foster Justice! Who looks so much like Judson it's crazy!

Third -
My running goals for this week are to run a total of 10 miles, cross train 1 day, and to have a fastest mile of 10:20.

So after school today, I went for a run in the hot, hot, hot and windy, windy, WINDY Abilene climate. aaaaaaand…………

Fourth - 

There is only ONE more Tuesday left until summer break! (All the teachers said - AMEN) And the Tuesday after that, Judson and I will be in VEGAS!

Fifth - 

Judson took me on a fro-yo date to get the totes best hun cal fro-yo. Are Harvard sailing team references still funny?

hot pink cup with a yellow spoon. hello perfection.

Sixth -

My mom said "amaze-balls" today.

Seventh -

We made the most delicious Mediterranean pizza for dinner. Thin crust, olive oil, grilled chicken, mozzarella cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach. I may or may not have had 5 pieces. 

#tuesday - am I right!?!

Run For The Children 5K RECAP

If you don't want to hear all sorts of details about my running - then let me just stop you right here and tell you that this blog post will bore you out of your mind.

Today we (Judson, my mom, and I) ran the Run for the Children 5K in Graham. And it was AWESOME. But, let's back up a little first.

We had been registered to run this race ever since I first began being inspired to be a runner again, so I have been anticipating it's arrival. This past week I was starting to get worried that I wasn't going to be ready enough for it, but on Wednesday I ran my 3 mile hill route WITHOUT stopping and walking at all. I'm not even exagerating, that this route is 75 % uphill and so hard. Once I conquered that and with a fairly decent pace, I knew I was ready!

I also read this book for the 3rd time in my life last week, for some added boosts of inspiration, while icing my knee of course.

This was the first race I had run since my half marathon two years ago. It was the first time my mom had run at all in weeks. It was the first race Judson had EVER run, but he has been running a lot with me. Needless to say, our expectations weren't very high we just all wanted to finish without being completely humilated.

I know, I know - high maintance runner

I really thought that when my alarm went off in the morning I was going to have to do some convincing/begging to Judson to plleeeeaaaassee get out of bed and come run this race with me. Instead, before my alarm could even ring at 6:45, Judson was already jumping out of bed and getting dressed in his racing gear! We drank some coffee (duh.) and ate a banana and headed to Dowtown Graham ready to go!

It was a great atmosphere and really made me realize how much I missed it all! It was also perfect weather. A little overcast and 65 degrees - A runner's dream.

As soon as we started Judson took off! I kissed him before they blew the horn and then saw him as a little purple dot up in the distance for about a minute before he completely disapeared out of my sight. I was really trying to focus on keep a good pace and not get burnt out. Luckily, I had a running buddy with me the first mile. Am I embarassed that she is 6 years old? No, because this girlfriend was bookin' it and bless her heart was completely exhausted by the start of the second mile. But together we PRed my mile time for the week!

I was really excited, pain free, and happy the whole race. There were people cheering all along the whole route, and since this is my hometown 85% of them were people I grew up around, which was comforting. Also, Graham is beautiful so it was just very enjoyable. I kept looking at my Garmin and being shocked at how fast I was going and telling myself to slow down some so I can finish this thing strong, but I just couldn't help it! 

The last .3 stretch of the race, what do I see? My adorable husband, who has already finished, running back to run with me. I teared up a little at first as he was running toward me and telling me I'm almost finished and then I quickly switched gears to just wanting to run run run as fast as I could. 

Turns out - we all did A LOT better than expected! My mom got 6th place for her age group! I got 4th place for my age group! WHAT! I have never ever placed in a place worth telling about. And just to make sure that I wasn't 4th out of 4 or something like that, I went and counted all the women in my age group and there were 21! So YAY! 

Judson got 3rd for his age group and got a medal!!!!! 

I'm so proud. 

When we were walking around for a cool down he said to me, "Maybe we could run like a half marathon or something together." I think I started jumping up and down and screaming YES! I'm sure people thought he just proposed to me. I think I got him hooked.

Of course, double knee icing was in order afterwards. I think I just about have this knee pain under control, though. 

And then, you know, FOOD. 

and NAPS

It has been a great day. I can't wait to sign up for another race, then next one will be a 10K though! I'm also so happy that I have made it to a place again where I can say - I love running.

Judson and me have some other exciting things in the works in our lives right now, but we'll talk about that later. God is good.