BBQ Celebration

On Sunday my family got together to celebrate my Dad's birthday on the 14th and my birthday on the 18th and AJ's going back to college. After much (MUCH) debating we decided to go to the Texas Roadhouse.
But first Mom and AJ came up early so we could get in some final pool time of the summer. Yes, I know the summer isn't over yet. But really, I don't want to go to the pool by myself. I've done that and I felt like some sort of stalker. Weird. So after a couple hours of sun, we headed down south to eat. I of course didn't think ahead to make a reservation. But in my defense, we didn't really decide where we were going until right before we left. So we ended up waiting an hour and half to be seated. Apparently being the new place in town will do wonders for business. Thankfully there we're buckets of peanuts for us to snack on. Speaking of which, what do you think of that? Are piles of peanut shells on the floor of a restaurant a gross reflection of the cleanliness of the place or just a fun past time to be enjoyed?

In spite of the wait and the mess, the food was good. Although next time I might bring ear plugs because of the loud music and even more loud conversations. I enjoyed my leftovers at home much more. I ordered a pulled pork dinner with my sides as fresh veggies and baked sweet potato. They made great leftovers for lunch the next day. And before our meal we got a refillable basket of the little bread muffins with a cinnamon sugar butter to spread on them. Warm bread with sugary butter - I should have thought of that.

So it was a great meal and a great time with family as you can see from all my pictures here and on the side. :) I am really going to miss seeing AJ all the time. They've been up to help us with moving or just to hang out nearly every weekend for the last half of the summer. Here's a final picture of AJ and I showing how full we were from supper! I will now be looking forward to when AJ comes home from college in October. Then we can celebrate her birthday with another family dinner. Maybe A will come this time so we can really make it a family celebration. (hint, hint.) :)
Safe Travels!

How Time Flies

I can hardly believe that summer is nearly over! This summer has just flown by. Three years ago when we got married, I remember feeling like the days just flew by for the next year and a half. Then, finally life began to slow down. I felt like I could enjoy my days and moments again and not fall into bed exhausted or overwhelmed every night. This summer the pace picked back up! Summer is my favorite season and I'm sad to see it go.

Recently I read a friend's blog as she reminisced about where she was 7 years ago. I thought about it and couldn't believe that 7 years ago I had just graduated high school, was working at Timberlake for the summer and was preparing to head out to WY for college. Seriously?! I could hardly believe that it had been that long. That part of my life still feels like it was just yesterday. When people ask me how it feels to be married for 3 years, I say a day and a million years both in a good way. I can't imagine my life without J always there but yet I still feel like a newlywed. (Picture from our honeymoon when we really were newlyweds.)

I remember my parents and other adults telling me to enjoy junior high or high school or whatever other event I was complaining about. I never understood why I shouldn't want to skip a few moments of growing up misery. But THANKS! I get it now! Every time I hear a co-worker complain and wish for the weekend, I remind myself that THIS is the day the Lord has given me. I try to enjoy lazy evenings at home or crazy days of busyness. I've realized that is not easy. Our world doesn't encourage it at all. Just listen to the radio. Every day they countdown to 5 o'clock. And every week they countdown to Friday and the weekend. How do you remind yourself and encourage others to enjoy this moment? Isn't this the challenge every believer faces? Enjoy moments here on earth but still live with eternity in view. I recently heard a song that says "we all want to go to heaven but we don't want to go right now". How true is that! I still want to accomplish things on earth before Jesus comes or takes me home. At nearly 25, eternity seems a long way off most days.

GO BIG RED!!!

It is 25 days until the Huskers are back on the field. I canNOT wait! I can just feel the excitement as I think about it. I love the feel of game days whether I'm in town for the game or at home. I like to turn on the radio and listen to the Big Red Network all morning. And of course I like to crank up the tunnel walk when it comes on. I get goosebumps even at home!
But nothing can beat actually being at Memorial Stadium. The food is great - I like to get nachos with everything but who doesn't like a smashed dog from the wiener slinger. You can feel the excitement building as people come in to their seats and the players start warming up. When the players head back into the locker room it's really time to get pumped up. I love watching everyone stand up on tip toes as the tunnel walk begins. The excitement and thrill I feel at the climax of the Tunnel Walk when the players run in and the whole stadium erupts is unexplainable!

This picture is from the Texas A&M game we went to last fall. A, my brother loves getting his picture taken. :) I have to say, that my favorite games have been with AJ and this one might be at the top of my list with the game we went to a couple years ago close behind. The first game we went to was a cold one. I love cold game days. I get to bundle up in my red puffy coat and squeeze into our row by some hopefully nice people. AJ and I sat by a large farmer that day who made jokes about fitting us all onto the seat every time we stood up and down. Very funny! I love husker fans (not the disrespectful ones).

The Texas A&M game was a hot one. I mean hot! But we sat in the faculty section. At one point during the first half, everyone began booing the refs for a bad call on defense. AJ thought they were booing the Blackshirts, who have seen better seasons. She immediately stood up and screamed "Go Blackshirts, we support you! WELL, at least I support you!!" The person next to us pointed out that we were booing the refs. But it was really funny!

So here's a picture of AJ and I from that game. We had a blast in spite of the lose. I sure hope our team is better this season. And according to most reports we will be. Well, at least we can't be worse than last year. I'm so happy that Bo respects and is excited about Nebraska traditions and walk-on Nebraska players. I think the passion of the Nebraska boys is what drives the passion of the team on the field. I look forward to seeing what this season brings and am really happy it's only 25 days away! Even though summer is my favorite season, Fall is a very close second because of football. Goooooo Biiiigg Reeeeedd! GO BIG RED!

First Home Pics

We have been happily settling in to our new home. Here's couple pictures for now.

1. J opening the door to our house for the first time. This was right after closing. :)

It was exciting to know this was our house as we walked in for the first time, rather than the unknown. I know, these kind of pictures are kinda cheesy but still fun! This is an important thing I want to remember.

2. J carrying me across the threshold of our new home. Aww, so romantic. :)

We are having so much fun settling into our new home. When we got married, J moved into the duplex where I had been living with roommates so this has been a new beginning for us. We're excited to make this house really our home and combine our tastes as we decorate. And I am really excited about that! I'm looking forward to furniture and decor shopping! :)


Hopefully more pictures coming soon!

Lonely

Tonight my handsome husband will be traveling out of town for the weekend. This is the weekend of the long awaited 70-mile mountain bike race. J is very excited and a little nervous. You can check out his blog for more info about this race. Then when you feel better informed you can worry with me. I wish they planned these races for spring or fall instead of July. I keep thinking of the Cornhusker State Games 2 years ago. It is was a scorcher and poor J and S did the adventure race. And afterwards we got to visit the ER for some fluids. So I'm hoping that first God will take care of J and secondly R. R and J will be driving up to Wyoming together. And R has a little more experience in the mountain biking races. Whoohoo! Go team hubby!

So in light of J being gone and us being in a new house, I have been trying to plan things to keep me busy. I know that doesn't sound very hard but unpacking is a joint venture in some ways. Sure, I could unpack the house and start putting it in order but we're both too opinionated for that. So unpacking is best done together if at all possible. This weekend I'll be unpacking things that are more specifically mine and leaving everything else. I am also having company! Friday night is girl's nite for the Flock girls which will hopefully include some Chinese food and Hawaii pictures and maybe a movie. On Saturday sister A's coming to visit me! We're hoping to do some swimming and unpacking. I mean really, what fun would a visit to my new house be without some unpacking. I don't want her to get spoiled or anything! :) I'm pretty excited about going swimming. It has been hot, hot! Though I'm nervous about staying in a new place by myself at night, it's also exciting. I admit I'm one of those wives who misses having the bed all to myself. I will miss J but I sure will sleep good as long as the new noises don't keep me awake. Maybe I'll dream about decorating! Before I was making lists of what to pack and what mail to get transferred, and now I'm making lists of what we want to fill our new home. I'm thinking we're going to have a lot of options for Christmas!

Moved and Thankful!

Well, we are all moved in but now I need to organize everything! It has been a very busy last week. J and I both took off last Thursday and Friday as part of moving and I was off Monday as well. I am so thankful for our friends and family! Everyone has been so helpful during this moving process. I can't imagine having to move a longer distance or having to move by ourselves. It's amazing how much junk 2 people can have in such a short time!

On Thursday morning we offically became homeowners. Closing was way easier and less intimidating than it appears on TV. We've been watching HGTV programs about being new homeowners. They always close in these huge conference rooms with a bunch of lawyers. We were in a small room and there were a few other people but they were all so excited for us so it wasn't scary. But apparently I looked nervous because the seller's realtor, who is also now our neighbor commented on it. My parents came up in the afternoon and Abby came over as well. The boys spent the day doing minor repairs as the house while we cleaned. It's nice to start out in a clean house. This is just the beginning of all I now owe Abby and my mother. They were so helpful! Abby put her hands places to clean things, I would never dream of! Thank you Abby! And they were both super fast cleaners. J and I left to get lunch and run errand for a couple hours and they were practically done when we got back!

On Friday my mom and my sister drove up to help us pack. I was so not kidding when I said we were procrastinating. Mom and A packed up our kitchen and half of the living room while we focused on packing everything else. It's too weird to let someone else pack up your bedroom or bathroom for you. The highlight of the day was Sonic!! Yum, Sonic!! I am very happy that Mom and A are obsessed with Happy Hours (1/2price drinks) at Sonic. If it's between 2 and 4 and we drive by a Sonic, we will be stopping! I recommend the Lime Creamslush. It's very refreshing. I think I need to go to Sonic because that day I got a Orange Creamslush instead -on accident. When I heard they were stopping there I requested the Lime CS and was really looking forward to it. A happily presented me with my drink and it tasted orange. I don't think she believed me so she tried it, and yes it was orange. But she rather surprised because she had already tired it and commented about the refreshing flavor and the green color. Hmm, doctor needed? Or maybe just a return to her blonde roots? :) Needless to say it was a fun and productive day.

Saturday was the big move day. We started at 9AM and I was up at 7. Yes this is early for those of you that know me. The guys (J, my dad and our friends) started loading all the big stuff into their pickups and cars. Mom, Aud, and Abby stayed at the new house to direct traffic and unpack my kitchen for me. What a huge help! And my brother, A and I stayed at the duplex to help load boxes, finish packing and move boxes to the front room for the guys. Normally A would have been helping load and unload with the other guys but a recent motorcycle crash landing has him limping a little. So I was happy to have his company! After we moved everything over the house and had some pizza for lunch, we started cleaning a the duplex. We made a pretty good start before we went to my great aunt's for the 4th annual Family Picnic.
She's my grandpa's sister and has her 6 siblings and all of their families over every summer for a potluck style picnic. It was so good! It's another reason for me to eat holiday foods like deviled eggs, sweddish meatballs and roll kuchen. (Yeah, I think I spelled that wrong but most of you have no idea what I'm even talking about.) My aunt also brought my cousin's wedding dress by. So pretty! I think women should be allowed to try on wedding dresses even if we're not getting married, like prom dresses. But I think they frown on that.

This post is getting really long so short(er) version... Sunday were J had a mountain bike race in the AM and we napped in the afternoon. After 3 days of craziness we needed a break. Congrats to my hubby for getting 3rd place!! He was covered in mud and sweat and had to run a mile because of a flat tire. So it was well earned.
On Monday, Mom and my friend A helped me clean the duplex. Dirty, dirty. I have a new resolution even though it's not January. I need to be a better housekeeper in the cleaning department! Thank you A for being a farm girl and not afraid of bees and grasshoppers. Thank you Mom for driving up for a 4th day! I owe my mom big time - for the whole live-giving thing and now for moving. I'm thinking we'll be even when we have grandkids and start taking care of my parents because they'll be stubborn old people! :) love you mom!

So in wrap up...
Thank you MOM and all my family.
Thank you friends and flock and especially Abby.
Thank you LORD for safety in moving and this huge blessing!

packing up

Here's a picture of our beautiful house that we're moving to next week. And I'm happy to announce I have finally started packing! But sadly J has not. I am not the worst procrastinator or the worst pack rat in our home! :) I never thought I'd be able to say that.

Thank you LORD! This house is more than we ever could have expected for our first house. As we searched and waited over the last 6 months or so, we were encouraged to hear from people that God has the perfect house for us. I learned some huge lesson in patience and found the wait was truly worth it. Thanks for your continued prayers as we go through the moving and settling in process!