One last thing…

I forgot this part and I can’t believe I did.

Aaron went deer hunting with my dad this past weekend in central Texas and shot his first deer. He was so excited when he called me about it. Even more excited was him bringing home lots of venison for us to cook. I can’t remember the last time I had venison and I know I’ve never cooked it before so that will be fun.

I’m so proud of Aaron!

Oops!

So I thought that I would randomly check on my blog today and realized that it had been over a month since I’d last written, oops! Here is a quick update.

Belle is doing great. She hasn’t been sick since that last post and has been her cute puppy self ever since.

I started my new job right before Thanksgiving and have loved it ever since. I’m still getting used to it because there is so much to do but everyone has been way nice, patient, and helpful. The people there are awesome and totally make the job that much better. The actual tests aren’t that exciting but once I’m done working at the BOD (don’t ask unless you REALLY want to know) station, I can go out and collect samples from the field which will at least be interesting.

Aaron has started writing movie reviews for the Abilene Reporter News, yay! His first one came out last week. It was so fun to open up the paper that morning and see his review in it. We’re going to go see Yes Man tonight and that review will be out on Thursday (CHRISTMAS!!!). Check them out at reporternews.com.

Thanksgiving was spent with my family in Garland and we had a great time. Belle loved all the attention and even got some thanksgiving turkey which was gone in about 2 nanoseconds. We did some shopping and a lot of relaxing and catching up with the family. Wonderful!

The apartment is all decorated for Christmas and I love it! Aaron and  I got a real tree this year which is so fun because my family hasn’t had a real tree for Christmas in a long time. It’s really cute and has all our old ornaments on it. Christmas day will just be Aaron and I but then my family is coming out this weekend to exchange gifts and such. Fun fun!

I got to see Megan and Dylan Carey on Saturday which was fun but I wish we could’ve hung out longer. It’s always great to catch up with old friends.

That’s about it as far as I know.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Sad news, good news, and a thought

Here is a continuation of Belle’s incidents…

After she had the bad poops that nearly made me throw up she had some incidents but they were outside (thank goodness!) so we decided to call the vet. Aaron and I took her in that Saturday and waited FOREVER for the vet guy but he did eventually get to see her. He wasn’t really sure why she was having so much trouble with her little GI tract but we got three different kinds of meds for her (she also had some congestion) and she was fine in the next few days. The vet wanted her back last Thursday for some x-rays because he wanted to look at her heart. I dropped her off that morning and talked to the vet when I got off work. He told me that Belle has an enlarged heart, how sad! Since we caught it now, we can give some heart medicine everyday basically for the rest of her life and that should slow it down. He also said we could take her to see a cardiologist in Dallas to get further testing done. Aaron and I love Belle to death and we’re so sad about her heart issue but there’s a line to how much money we can spend on her. The medicine is definitely affordable and we’re going to give her that but a cardiologist, are you kidding me??? There’s no telling how much that would be. Anyways, at least Belle is back to her normal spastic loving puppy self.

The good news is that I got a new job, yay!!!! I’ll be working for the City of Abilene in their environmental labs testing water and stuff like that. I start the 25th and am definitely counting down the days. The mail room hasn’t been a bad place to work at all, in fact, it helped Aaron and I to be financially stable in our first months of being married. I’m just really happy to start working in my field, maybe not necessarily doing something that I want to do for a career but gaining very valuable experience for the future, which leads me to my thought…

Is it totally irrational and crazy to be actually considering just up and moving to a new city (possible Seattle) because Aaron and I don’t want to get stuck living in Abilene. Abilene is cool and all but we want to be able to live in a bigger city that can offer more job opportunities and to experience life outside of Texas together. I think we’re in a perfect time of life to move right now but I don’t want to make a dumb decision and get us in financial trouble just because we want to move. That’s really my only concern. We’ll see where God leads us.

Visit to Dallas…and other things

Aaron, Belle, and I went to Garland to see my family. It was such a good visit. We were a little nervous about how Belle would act but she did great. She’s a good traveler even though she insisted on riding on the passenger’s lap the whole time. She didn’t want to stay in the back seat where I had set up her bed with blankets and toys. Oh well. She was nervous around everyone at first but she warmed up quickly! My family loved her, especially David. He wanted to take her outside constantly and then when we were leaving, he told me that he was going to miss Belle a whole lot. Isn’t that sweet? Mom said that now Dad and David are going to be asking for another dog. Lol! They are looking forward to having her back for Thanksgiving. Otherwise, the trip was a lot of fun. It was nice being there without having to worry about the wedding or school. We went to church on Sunday and that was soooo good. It was so fun to go back to where Aaron and I got married. I got to see lots of friends which was fun too.

A quick funny story. 2 nights ago, Belle pooped on the carpet which was weird b/c she nevers uses the restroom in the apartment but it wasn’t that much so it wasn’t a big deal. Yesterday I came home from work and the whole apartment smelled like poop, literally. Belle had gone in her crate so I got her out to take her outside and she run to the corner where she had gone earlier and started having what Aaron and I call “bad poops” (or diarhea) all over the carpet. I freaked out and took her outside but of course she didn’t have to go since she had done it in the apartment. Aaron couldn’t come home for another thirty minutes so I had to clean it up by myself.  The smell was unbelievably horrible and I definitely dry heaved a few times while I cleaning it up. Aaron was sweet and took me out to dinner. I don’t think I could have cooked dinner that night after all that! Obviously she wasn’t feeling well last night for some reason but after the incident, she cheered up and was her old self again. Hopefully that was it and she feels better now. Lol! It wasn’t funny at the time but I can laugh about it now. What a goofy dog, but we love her.

Exciting news to come later!!!!

It’s been a while

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. Life wasn’t too exciting until recently…

Aaron’s parents came to town to see us which was awesome! We had a great time just relaxing around our apartment visiting, watching football, eating yummy food, etc. We also went to the local pumpkin patch and bought some pumpkins. It was so windy that day but we had a great time. Aaron’s mom and I carved two of them. I carved an owl and she carved a cute smiley face. They were so cute sitting on our bar but unfortunately they got moldy after only 6 days so I had to throw them away. I’m so glad they came and I hope we get to see them soon.

Right after they left, our fridge broke It actually happened at a good time (not too much food in the fridge) but Aaron and I still had to throw away quite a bit. Thankfully, Brad and Amanda let us put our newly bought groceries in their fridge. Our apartment complex got us a new fridge and it was in our kitchen the next day. Yay! It’s nice to have a new appliance they we didn’t have to buy. Now maybe if I can “accidentily” break the dishwasher….

Other than that work has been busy which is nice because it was really slow for a while which made my days agonizingly long. I’ve been a little under the weather but am starting to feel better. Aaron is doing well. Belle is doing good too but we think she might have a little doggy cold so we’re trying to find a time to take her to the vet soon. Life is wonderful!

PS We got our wedding pictures and they look soooo good!!!! Big thank you to Aaron’s dad for doing all that

And the verdict is…

The peanut butter popcorn is sooo yummy! Even though it’s rich, it has a wonderful peanut buttery carmel-y flavor that Aaron and I fell in love with. It was quick and easy to make too. It would be even quicker to use plain microwave popcorn but I wanted to pop my own which was fun but a little messy. Next weekend when Aaron’s parents come, I’m going to bake Everyday Food’s chocolate pumpkin pie since Aaron’s dad and Aaron love pumpkin pie. The chocolate addition sounds like the perfect thing to mix in with it. I’ll definitely let yall know how that one turns out.

Yay!

I’m so excited because today when I’m home from work, I am trying out a new and fun recipe, peanut butter popcorn. I saw the recipe on thekitchn.com and just had to make it. I can cook dinners no problem, but baking is something different. If I had more time, I would bake more. This Christmas will be a lot of fun though because I’m planning a baking extravaganza!

Life is good. Last weekend, we took Belle to the park with some friends and their dog, Graham and had a lot of fun. Belle had never been to the park and she totally loved it! The smells just couldn’t come any faster to her. She somewhat got along with Graham but we’re still working on helping her socialize with other dogs. It doesn’t help that there are a few dogs at the apartment complex that have acted aggressive towards her.

It looks like Aaron’s parents are going to come visit us soon!!! Aaron and I are very much looking forward to seeing them and showing them our new apartment and Belle. I see an opportunity to bake…YES!! This weekend is the Big Country Balloon Festival. Aaron and I are going and I hope it will be fun. I’ve always enjoyed hot air balloons so I’m looking forward to it.

Life Update

Life has been very interesting and fun this past week. Well mostly…

Last Friday was definitely a sad, weird day for me. ACU’s SA president (who is African-American) found a noose in his office chair last Wednesday. This was addressed in chapel on Friday and that was when I heard about it. They are still investigating the whole thing but it was a big blow on ACU’s reputation and I hope they find whoever did that because that is definitely not funny at all.

Also on Friday, one of my student worker’s younger brother passed away in a motorcycle accident and he had to leave to go home. My heart is totally broken for them. It was hard to know what to say to him but he seems to be doing a little better now that he’s back in Abilene.

We also had a weird incident in the mail room that I won’t go into detail about because it is bizarre and was taken care of but just added to the overall weirdness of the day.

On to more fun news, Aaron and I adopted a puppy from the Taylor Jones Humane Society last Wednesday. Her name is Belle and she is a one year old chilhuahua-beagle mix. She is so adorable and affectionate. I’m not a huge dog person but she has definitely stolen my heart. She was already house broken so Aaron and I are just working on teaching her how to tell us when she needs to go to the bathroom. She’s only had two accidents so far and they were both within the first day we had her. We love her very much!

Otherwise, life is going well. Aaron and I are looking forward to the holiday season (I know it’s still early but it’s our first one together as a married couple!).

Yay for married life. I LOVE it!

The Other Cook

Aaron has started cooking and it’s been so fun!

Last Friday, he made a wonderful vanilla pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream topping. He’s so cute in the kitchen because he’s learning where everything is and the little nuances of cooking. The cake tasted so good and had a light yet sweet flavor.

On Labor Day, Aaron volunteered to make dinner so of course I let him! He made a pork tenderloin roast that was covered in sage and pancetta. Yummy! He was a little disheartned because the smoke alarm went off but that is a somewhat common occurence when the oven is at a high temperature. It tasted really good (even though I’m not a huge fan of sage but when mixed with the pancetta, it had a great flavor).  It’s fun having him in the kitchen. I wonder what he’ll cook up next???

CRAZY!!!

So I’m officially working at ACU full time now. Woo…hoo. Not my first choice but it’s hard to complain. Aaron and I have good jobs with benefits and our hours are the same so we get to see each other in the evenings. Hopefully next summer we’ll be moving somewhere new!

My family is coming in this weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing them a lot and to show them Aaron and I’s apartment.

Back to work for a sec, it has been a madhouse. I feel like I’m constantly surrounded by packages and letters. It will be nice when the craziness settles down and when all the freshmen remember their mailbox combinations.

Aaron and I were in a wedding this past weekend. I was a little nervous about how it would go but everything went great! We danced a lot which was a BLAST! The ceremony was wonderful, my speech was lame but was totally me, the food and the cake were yummy, and the couple was finally together and very happy. I was pretty emotional all weekend with all the memories that came rushing back. It was so fun having all our old friends back together again. I also enjoyed making new friends. It is nice that we have no more weddings as of now.

This post was all over the place but that’s me for you!

PS   So excited about Viva Pinata 2 coming out next week…yes, I’m a nerd