Tour de Judson

Well I was supposed to have my next blog post be filled with a picture tour of our new house, for all 5 of my loyal readers who would care to see it (Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Hi Christie! Hi Bekah! Hi Gram and Pop!) buuuuut we haven't been here for longer than like 4 consecutive days since we moved so our house isn't quite put all together ( AKA I have created walking paths through the crap everywhere instead of just organizing it). 

The reason we haven't been home is because Judson had to go to bus driving school (hehe the thought still makes me giggle) and a coaches clinic, both out of town. So I decided instead of staying home alone and taking care of business I would escape from reality and go visit my parents in Graham. As soon as I sneakily got into town I surprised my mom at her evening yoga class she teaches. It was awesome! I love big, dramatic gestures and surprises. And presents. I know there's a herd of sweet, shy girls out there that would say "I hate surprises and having all the attention on me" And bless you, girls, because that means more for me! Ha! Totally kidding.. Kind of.. Not really.. Just shower me with gifts and attention and surprises okay?! K bye. 

Going to Graham usually ALWAYS means spending time with my nephews Knox and Hayes, which I ALWAYS welcome.

Then, we went to Ft. Worth to finally meet our new baby nephew Jett! And I celebrated my 4 year long college roommate's bachelorette party. Both fun things!! 

And then for the past couple of days I've been really sick with really random symptoms. I was perfectly fine, spent a lot of time in the heat doing yard work and not really eating or drinking water, then my throat started to hurt. I came in, ate some dinner, and took a late afternoon nap. I would love to say a late afternoon nap is a sign I was coming down with something but no. My body wants to take a late afternoon nap everyday. Dusk approaching? My eyelids get heavy. I don't know why. I've always been this way. I also always want dinner around 4:45-5:30. Any later than that and I start to act out from hunger. BUT, I digress. After my nap I woke up, put a load of laundry into the dryer, started blacking out, stumbled to the bathroom and threw up. I've been weak, had fever, and a sore throat ever since. I don't know. I just don't know. But I think it's starting to pass. 

Judson took this video to show his sister and brother-in-law our new home when we went to visit them. The commentary is so adorable. I had no idea he was doing this (notice at the beginning, I'm just putting laundry away and ask him if he wants to see my new clothes) or I would have said "NO. Wait till I make our house look beautiful and clean!" But it's not. So whatever. I still love it because when he does things like this I get a glimpse of how cute of a dad he will be someday, YEARS away, as he makes home videos of our life like my parents did.  

So here it is! As cluttered and messy as it is. 

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'!