A study of Nature

I have a new photo album. Its a good one. Keeping all the pictures even, (the same amount for Brody as for Dylan and visa versa), has proven difficult. And so I am not going to worry about it. Hopefully they understand that.

Kitties and Kiddos

Today after our visit with the boys, oh they are just so cute and cuddly, we went to the park so David could study for a test. The weather was really perfect, one of those perfect spring days like in the movies. So we spread out my blanket I picked up in Mexico last year, and David studied psychology and I studied my surroundings.

This is my study of Texas Wildflowers.

They love their Auntie!

It was nice to have the day off today. I have been working so much that I come over just to hold them. I fear I have not been any help at all. They must really love their Auntie because every time I go over they are sleepy little cuddle bugs. Leah and the boys came home from the hospital on Monday! I was at work but David took tons of pictures and video.

Today I got to hold both babies at once. It was mucho fun. Leah and Michael have been doing so great, I am blown away by how much they are dealing with. And my sweet mom has been so supportive of all of them. They love their Mimi too.

David and I graduate training on Saturday, which is cool. Working together is really nice. It is like having an instant best friend at work, he understands my bad days, and we are a few steps away if we want to chat.

But what am I rattling on for? You want to see baby pictures right? I am hoping that things will settle down a bit and I can get some great new pictures of them on Sunday, my next day off.

David holding Brody.

Dylan about to go home from the hospital.

Leaving the hospital. Dylan has the cream blanket (left), Brody has the blue (right).

Love the little face Brody is making there. he he

ps- I have updated the the online photo album. If you want to see mas pictures of the little guys click here.

More elusived than Sasquatch...

You HAVE to watch this video, in it's entirety, that we made on Friday.







There is a water fountain in Houston beside a jogging trail along a bayou. When I was little I would look especially for this water fountain because it was topped with a sculpture of an armadillo. Since those days of armadillo hunting in Houston, the armadillo has been one of my favorite animals. (eyes are rolling from people that know me claiming EVERY animal is one of my favorites)

David and I went on a spontaneous adventure to Abilene State Park on Friday, just for fun. I had been once before with my parents and saw a live armadillo. I had been raving about my experience with the scaling little guy.

We played on the playground for a while, having fun with the digi cam and my cool bendable tripod. We decided to take a little walk on a trail. I was wearing flip flops because it was truly spontaneous, we were on our way to Target.

We were walking and David heard a rustle in the brush. My heart skipped a little beat. YES! It was him!!! If you watch toward the end of the video he gets pretty close to the camera. He was walking straight towards me, David was video taping, and he kept coming, like just a foot in front of me. I didn't want him to take a nibble on my bare toesies, so I jumped back and scared him. That is why he runs away at the end of the video.

How cool is that! A live armadillo!

Check out the pics from our adventure click here.


ps- Blogger was so annoying this weekend. It took me days to get the video uploaded.

See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!

As in years past not much feels more relaxing than to see Abilene in my rear view mirror. It is as if my lungs get a full dose of air. Breathe in, try to live, breathe out.

We drove to Houston this weekend for a crazy busy weekend. ugh. I can't even begin to list our list.

But it is Houston so yay! And I miss my parents.

Abilene isn't awful. But my heart is in Houston. I like being in Abilene with Leah/The Belly and Michael. I am glad I am there to help, yet I crave Houston. For some reason I am just happy here. I can not wait to come back here. I am not sure David cares where he lives. I mean he lived in a steel coffin for 8 months, I think Abilene is a step up.

Why not some random Abilene pictures I took a month ago?

Abilene owes me for making it look interesting.

Fresh and Clean

David is officially moved in.

When we came up from Houston, by way of Ft. Worth, our car was
F-U-L-L, so much so that Leah and Michael brought a couple of things back for us. After the car was unloaded our apartment was, um, a HUGE mess. But yesterday we finally found everything a place. Woo Hoo!

Not only is the apartment clean, but improved!

We put curtains up in the bedroom. (David said it was too bright, and I gave him a hard time about it but wow, sleeping in the dark is amazing! The best sleep ever. If your bedroom isn't super dark at night, make it happen, you will sleep so well.)

Leah and Michael graciously are letting us use an old dresser and old chair. We bought some new pulls for the dresser which was pretty much an excuse for David to use a drill. Men.

I am making it known that I refuse to take down my Christmas decorations, which is basically garland and lights. I have decided that I won't take them down till we go down to Houston next, cause there is no where to put ANYTHING. We have filled every nook and cranny of this apartment. 500 sq ft was plenty for me, but it feels a little tight with a large man moving around and storing giant shoes.

I will admit that we are storing some empty boxes and wrapping paper in the trunk of my car. Hey, it is space.

Butt Update:
I can mostly sit and lay on my back now. Occasionally if I am on it for long periods of time I get sore. My ridiculous bruise, which I did take pictures of but felt it a bit inappropriate to post on the Internet, has mostly cleared. I survived another fall! Yay!

As the World Turns... furiously

Things are good. Still busy, but good.

Abilene is pretty yucky, I don't know if the two of us will ever get along. But you know I guess I am over it. I am pretty determined and I am trying to completely focus on school... the task at hand.

School is fast, busy, enlightening, and fun. I like school, my classes are good too. Spanish and Latin Literature, and I feel Latinofied. I spend all day everyday engulfed in the language and the culture, it is good.

The kitties are happy and content. But miss their grand mama and also the grandparent's house, with all the windows, fun stairs, and birdies. I am so happy to have them here, I don't know if I could have made it through my first week here without them.

I miss Houston tons. I miss my family, even though hanging out with Leah and Michael has been fun. I miss my job at the church. I miss Friday Night Mexican. I do not miss traffic. Or my car being 200 degrees with 0 oxygen after sitting in the parking lot for only 20 minutes. Or worrying about Rigby jumping off the second story window and breaking the other leg. But mostly I miss Houston, alot.

I am working on getting my apartment less.... just moved in, and then I will take pictures and post them for everyone.

I wish I had some fun story to tell but not yet.

Busy Busy Busy. That is me. This last week has been a tad on the busy side. So I guess update time.

Movin' On Up
I am moved into my new apartment in Abilene. It is way bigger than I imagined. I was expecting the size of my shack, but this is a palace, 518 ft of pure Abilene palace. I even met my below neighbor, she gave me watermelon. But it is a weird feeling to be back here, I am just a little bit nervous about being here. I fear that I might mess this up, my past is still in the back of my mind.

The Tunnel King
Oh Rigby, why are you such a booger? He gave me a pretty big scare yesterday. They were just hanging around after my shower, and I went to blow dry my hair and Rigby disappears. I looked everywhere and couldn't find him. I brought out the treat bag and shook it. Abbey came but Rigby didn't. That is when I knew he was not in the apartment; Rigby is always first in line for treats. That is when I discover a hole in the wall behind the water heater that lead to a crawl space for the pipes, and I suspect it is shared by at least two or three apartments. So it is a pretty big space. I saw fur around this square hole, and said he went in there. I freaked out. I won't lie. I heard rustling and was pretty worried that it might be a rat that pokes his head out of the hole, but it was my buttons. So yes I got him back and the maintenance man patched up the hole. But the little booger got in trouble for leaving without telling me. He wasn't upset, he just wanted his treat. (he finally came back after I kept shaking the treat back.)

School Daze
I start school on Monday, Spanish and Latin American Lit. More updates later.

Port of Call Him David
David finally sent me pictures!

David giving a Navy thumbs up.

Manny the Mammoth. (have no clue where he found a mammoth in the gulf)

Wandering the Streets in Dubai.


Rock Climbing. It probably went by real quick, look at that extension!

In the Irish Villiage. Yup they have one of those in Dubai.

Junction Ahead

* I plan to be completely truthful and open in this post. I think sometimes we need to be honest to start fresh.*


Well I mentioned that things were crazy in my life, but seriously they are crazy. I think there are definite points in our lives where you can realize, wow this is a big moment! Other times only looking back do you see the significance of certain events. But I can definitely see that I am at this major junction in my life, and it is all happening so fast it seems.

I guess I should say that I have not yet finished my degree, a fact that I have hidden because of much shame and disappointment. I left ACU two years ago. It is a long and miserable story and I will spare everyone the details. But I will say that I needed a break from school. I had always intended to finish my degree but it was just a difficult process transferring to a new school. As I have returned to Texas I decided to try and finish at ACU, which is a big step for me because ACU and I had a bit of a falling out, I guess you could call it that.

Last weekend we were up in Abilene and stopped my advisor for a quick meeting. This is where I discovered that I could be finished by this December, which I did not think could be possible. My original plan was to attend the spring semester only. I really can see God working in this situation because things are just lining up so perfectly. But it was a bit of a shock and a big change in my plan, and it happened in a day, literally. So, I will be in school the summer and fall semesters and will graduate in December about the same time David gets out of the Navy. It seems fitting that we will both finish a major part of our lives almost at the same time.

Until I go up to Abilene I will be working at my church as the secretary/web designer. This also came about rather quickly. I am happy to be working there and wish I could have stayed longer. But I just believe I am being guided to Abilene and things are happening in such a way that I am confident that I am being looked after.

And now that we have hit the half way mark of our deployment I am starting to get excited/nervous about David's homecoming. And nervous/excited/amazed that we will be free of the Navy so very soon. And I have this strange feeling like all I need is just one more step and I will be this completely new person, triumphant and new, with nothing to hide or dread just opportunity and possibility. I am aware that life is never free from troubles and challenges, and also that happiness is not on the other side of anything; happiness is everyday. There is joy in a simple sun rise. But there was a time when I could not see any hope for possibility in the future, there was no dawn.

Yet now I see my self standing in the doorway that leads to a whole new world, and David and I with a great sigh and release of burdens will step over the threshold hand in hand.

I can not wait.