Where Do I Live Again?

Because I thought I lived in Texas. Where it is supposed to be warm and sunny. I think someone may haved missed the memo on this, because this winter has been crazy! Yes we have had a few days of 70 degree weather, but it has been interspersed with ice days/blizzards and now... today... more snow than I have ever seen fall in Texas. It snowed all day, from around 8:30am on. And it is still snowing.

In contrast to the ice & the blizzards though, today has actually been enjoyable :) The roads weren't too bad because the temperatures were above freezing. My brother David came over & we worked out together. Then we went on an adventure outside to get Subway for lunch & then he went with me grocery shopping. (I thought that was really sweet because we were way overdue on a shopping trip, but I really didn't want to drive in the snow.)

Then, after David left & Alan came home, we made a MASSIVE snowman in the backyard. Alan named him Epic Man. Epic Man is a full head taller than Alan, and wayy taller than me.

He is facing towards our living room window, so when the window in open... Epic Man is staring into our house. (It's a little creepy actually, lol)

All in all in was a good day. I am just so thankful I was not scheduled to work today... and especailly thankful I am not working tomorrow because it is supposed to freeze tonight. If you are driving tomorrow, please be careful!

--
In an update to my last post about my car: I got a quote on the damage. It would be $2500 to fix. (Which I think is crazy!) Also it is an older car, so more things are going to go wrong with it. So, we are looking at buying a new car. (At the moment Alan is driving my banged up car... It works fine but it makes a strange noise, we're pretty sure it's not going to pass inspection, and it just looks bad). This new car will be Alan's... but we decided the next car is going to be a family car.. and it will be mine :)

Icccee

Driving in ice is no fun.

Especially in Texas, where they don't sand/salt the roads until after a major problem.

At work last Thursday I had the opportunity to witness an entire winter storm/blizzard through our beautiful new windows. The storm passed before I left for home, but the snow and ice had already been sticking to the roads for several hours. When I got to my car in the parking lot, I first had to borrow a window scraper from a nurse from Colorado, because my Texas ice scraper apparantly didn't stand a chance against this particular brand of stuck ice. After my windows were de-iced, I slooowwly made my way out of the parking lot and onto the main road before the freeway.

As I was pulling up to the stop-light before turning onto the freeway, I attempted to stop. Attempted being the key word. I pressed the breaks, pumped the breaks, slammed the breaks.... nothing. I just thought, "I'm going to hit that car in front of me." And that's exactly what happened. My first real accident.

The guy I hit pulled across the intersection and then walked back to my car. I attempted (note that verb again) to step out of my car to talk to the guy and assess the damage on my car. However, I soon realized the ground was too icey to even stand up in that area. The guy I hit said there was no damage to his car (he had an SUV with a metal bumper), and also motioned for me not to try to stand (I must have looked unstable). I asked him if I had damage, and he said my headlight & bumper were cracked. (After I got home 1.5 hours later, I checked myself and he was right... also the hood is bent). So we didn't exchange insurance information since I was obviously at fault.

I slowwlly turned onto the freeway access road and continued home. I have to say, that was probably the most terrifying 90 minutes of my life. Nothing like driving an hour and a half in icey conditions after just experiencing first hand what it feels like to be out of control on said icey roads.

But I survived!!

Now to figure out what to do with my car...

Thanksgiving 2009

This year I am thankful for:

• God and His blessings
• My wonderful husband, I couldn't have married a better man for me :)
• Our new house
• Especially our kitchen and the jetted tub :)
• My job, working with sick/premature babies and supporting their parents.
• My coworkers, who get me through the day at work.
• Living close to both of our sets of parents, and all of our siblings (and sister-in-law :)
• Our two adorable cats, Hobbes and Lucy.
• Two engagements, my brother (engaged in Austria to an Austrian) and a good friend (engaged in Italy to a Virginian).
• My husband's good job with a good company.
• The fact I don't have to work nights or weekends, which is almost unheard of for a new RN grad :)
• The three Thanksgiving meals I got this year... one at work (since I worked the actual day of Thanksgiving), one at my parents house that night, and then leftovers from Alan's aunt's house :)
• And did I mention my amazing husband, Alan? :)

True Love

Alan bought me dinner tonight so I wouldn't have to cook or even warm up food after working four 12 hour shifts in a row.

Me: Teriyaki Chicken Bowl?! You're my most favorite person ever!

Alan: You're welcome.

Me: Do you know what would make you even more my most favorite person?

*I start putting my feet up on the couch*

Me: If you gave me a foot massage.

*Alan starts walking away*

Alan: ...she loves me enough.

I never did get my foot massage :( However I did get yummy, much needed food! :)

Chickens & Vets

Yum, yum... this will be our dinner tonight! (Once Alan gets home). I found this recipe on this blog. Hopefully it's good.. I've never cooked an entire chicken before, lol.

Also, this morning the cats and I took a trip to their favorite place, the vet. The poor vet almost got his hand bitten by our little Hobbes when he tried to give Hobbes a pill to swallow. But everyone involved is fine. :) Here are the cats resting from all the vaccinations (both pictures taken just now):

Meeeetings

My day so far:

8:00 - Rolled out of bed

8:20 - 8:40 - Jogged in the backyard while watching Smallville

8:40 - Got ready to go into work (on my day off)

10:00 - Town Hall Meeting (would have been a better time to roll out of bed ;)

11:30 - Staff Meeting

1:00 - FINALLY back home.. thinking, what happened to my day off??

The Journey Towards Our Engagement

Yes this is a little late, after being married a year and a half (and coming up on our 2 year "anniversary" of being engaged) to post this, but I want to have our dating life as part of this blog. This story was written by me for our wedding website early last year:

Alan had been coming to my church off and on for 4 years. (He was a member of a smaller church in the area with basically the same beliefs). I hadn't seen him for a while, so I messaged on AOL instant messenger on Friday night, February 2, 2007. We ended up talking for 3 hours and I told him he should visit our congregation again sometime. He agreed, but I didn't think he'd come for at least a few weeks.

The next day, he came to our church service. I had always thought he was really cute and sweet, but I'd been dating another person when he visited before. I wasn't going to hang out with the group that night, but I wanted to spend time with him.. so I went with him and our group to On The Border and to my house afterwards. On The Border made us wait 2 hours to get our food, but I didn't mind because I wanted more time to talk to Alan. I was upset that he didn't sit next to me when we finally got our table, but I learned later he thought I was still dating someone else at the time. Afterwards, our group went to my house and we played Pictionary and Cards.

At this point, I already liked Alan a lot. He came to church again the next weekend, and he asked me on our first date on Monday, February 12. He asked me to eat at Chili's and go bowling with him on the following Thursday, February 15. Of course I agreed, and I was really excited about the date. He picked me up at 7 and dropped me off at 10, which impressed my mom. We continued to date over the next few months, and on April 3, 2007 we decided to become boyfriend and girlfriend. :)

We continued dating, and I fell in love with his laid back personality, his jokes, and his sweetness (even if it was coated with sarcasm, which I also liked). We began talking about the possibility of getting married in the future. During the summer we traveled to Galveston and Oklahoma with several of our friends, and saw each other often. We had a great time dating each other, and we both wanted to marry each other. On Thursday night, November 8 at Lake Arlington, Alan asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes :)

April 2007 - Our first dance together.

June 2007. Me and Alan on the beach in Galveston, TX

July 2007 - Turner Falls, OK