Summer update....

Can you believe that I am posting again without several months having gone by? Unbelievable!
Anywho...so this post is going to be a mixture of things that have been going on this summer so far. And, it looks like it might be a bit out of order since that is the way the pictures uploaded :)
The following couple of pictures are of our bedroom. Chris and I (or really just I) decided last weekend to repaint our bedroom. When we moved into our house we painted the dining room and living room with plans of painting the bedroom-but we never got around to it. So, I decided it was about that time. We probably should have started before 4:00 on a Saturday, because we didn't finish until about 12:30 that night.

Here is a picture of the new mirror and lights we put in as well :)

Notice the armoir in this picture- Dad made this for us :) doesn't it look professional???


The next picture was taken after our anniversary dinner. We went to the Mansion at Judge's Hill in Austin. It is downtown (near the UT campus), and it was nice :)

After Chris and I got back from Mexico, I was greeted by a sad text message from my mom saying that my uncle's mother had passed away. So, my aunt, uncle, and one of my cousins (and her beautiful kids) came down for the funeral. I had just gotten to see Sam and Mark at Jen's wedding, but it was so nice to see my cousin Katie and her two kids. I had previously only met Madeleine once (at her baptism) and I had never gotten to meet Audrey. They were tons of fun, and so cute! While it was a bittersweet occasion, it was so good to get to see them!!

The next couple of pictures are from our vacation in Mexico. We stayed in Playa Del Carmen for five days, and it was a blast. My tan was not as perfected as I would have liked- due to the continuous rain provided by Tropical storm Alex, but we still had a good time. While we were in Mexico, we were able to take a short cab ride up to Puerto Morelos for a friend's wedding. Chris's friend from college, Kyle, was getting married to Whitney (who he met on Chris' bachelor party weekend in Chorpus Chrisit three years ago).

In other news- Chris and I recently bought a used fish/ski boat. Chris and his brother and dad bought two old houses last year and have been working on restoring them in order to sell them. They were finally able to sell one of the houses in June. The whole time the house was on the market, I had been promising Chris that he could use some of the money to buy a used boat. Well, that time finally came. I think he was able to wait a whole week before we bought the boat. I don't have any pictures of the boat yet (although Chris has several on his phone that he will gladly share with anyone who asks ) because we took it to the apholstery (spelling?) shop to get new carpet and seats. It should be back in the next week or so. Once it's pretty I will post pictures :)

I will be going to visit Jen in Michigan in a couple of weeks as well, so hopefully I will have some fun pictures to share of her new place. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!! love you all!

Kicking off the summer....

Here are a select few pictures from Jen's wedding 5/28/2010

I'm back again. As much as I try to be diligent about posting on my blog, let's face it, it isn't going to happen :) I check other people's blogs daily and love when they update, but just can't get myself motivated to do the same.

What's been going on? well, as most of you know...my sister, Jen, got married over Memorial Day weekend in Galveston. The wedding was beautiful, and it was so great to see family! I really enjoyed being able to spend time with family that I don't get to see very often.

I am mostly done with work for the summer. As a speech pathologist, the children I serve in the school district fall under the special education umbrealla. Because of this, we have to have yearly meetings for each of our students to talk about the progress they are making on their goals. In Texas we call these meetings: ARD meetings. Well, I have to go back to an ARD meeting tomorrow morning because the parents disagreed with our (the school district's) recommendations. I have a feeling it is not going to go well, so I am just hoping for civility during the meeting!

I mentioned in my last post that I interviewed with a home health company. Well, I decided to take on one client over the summer. My client is a two-year-0ld little boy who was born prematurely at 28 weeks. When he was born, he suffered a brain hemmorage, and was hospitalized for the first six months of his life. Now, he has mild cerebral palsy and is still fed via a g-tube (tube inserted directly to the stomach). He is a handful!!! I have only seen him twice for therapy, but boy does he keep me on my toes! Try keeping a two-year-old occupied (for therapy purposes) for 45 minutes straight!!!

Other than that, I am just taking the time to relax over the summer! I spend my days by working out in the morning, and then reading/watching TV in the afternoon. I know, you are all envious of my busy lifestyle!!!

In other random news, Chris and I will be going to Playa Del Carmen in two weeks. We will be there for about five days, and I am so exctied. Mom and Dad will be coming through Austin this weekend to drop off their cat, Alley. They are driving to Michigan to visit Jen and David, and we get cat duty :)

I am still alive :)

Here are a few pictures of life in the last 6 months :)


Me and my new UT license plate!! Hook em!


Chris and I on Christmas Eve


At our friend's wedding over Thanksgiving weekend


hanging out with friends :)

Wow! I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted a blog. I pulled up my blog page and noticed that the last time I posted was in November. Life has definitely been busy lately! I should probably change the name of my blog, since my ramblings have been all but endless lately :)

Most of you have already heard- but the last month and a half has been very busy for me. Chris' sister, Sherry, recently became VERY sick and was hospitalized for over three weeks. She 'caught' sepsis and was put in the ICU where she also developed pneumonia and went into kidney failure. We spent all of spring break at the ICU with her (and the rest of the family), and then have been back and forth to Temple pretty much every weekend since then (except for Easter, which we spent with my fam in Galveston :) ) This period of time has definitely been a roller coaster ride of emotions, to put it mildly. God really performed a miracle in Sherry's life by restoring her to complete function! The whole ordeal could not be explained, unless through God. Sherry was so very sick, that the doctor's even told us that she was the sickest patient in the ICU and that we shouldn't get our hopes up with any small improvement that she made. Then- after 11 days of being in a medicinal coma- Sherry began breathing on her own and was removed from the ventilator. She was moved to a less intensive hospital room where she remained for another two weeks. While in the hospital, she underwent dialysis treatements daily for her failing kidneys. The doctors were worried about her kidneys because they both failed while she was in the hospital. Then, when we were in Galveston over Easter weekend Chris got a phone call from his parents saying that Sherry was being discharged from the hospital on Easter Monday. We were in complete shock! Her kidneys kicked back in almost overnight! Sherry was discharged from the hospital on Monday April 5th and has been staying at her parents (my in-laws) ever since. Once Sherry left the hospital she was able to walk on her own and didn't even require the need for outpatient occupational, physical, or speech therapy!!! Sherry returned to work this past Monday (April 12th). She worked three half days and then took Thursday and Friday off because she was so tired. As I am typing this, I am still in complete awe of the work that God did in Sherry's life. The amount of trauma that Sherry underwent is usually indicitive of months of in and outpatient rehabilitation. Sherry's life is now a true testament of God's mighty hand and the power of prayer.

In other news- Chris' bank (Guaranty) was bought out by BBVA Compass in August. The transition over to Compass actually took place in February. He has not been enjoying work as of late due to the changes made in the company, and his branch was severely understaffed. He was thinking of leaving the bank, and we had been searching for new job opportunities for him. Then- this week Chris was asked to meet with his regional manager. During this meeting, he was offered the branch manager position at a much bigger branch!! Chris' current branch has 4 employees, and his new branch will have approximately 10 employees. This means that he won't have to pull open to close shifts (7-6:30) shifts anymore because he will have the adequate number of staff members to run the branch efficiently! He starts work at his new branch on Monday, and we are both praying that this change will help him become more happy in his career!!

I also had an interview of sorts this week. I am looking for a PRN (work as needed) Speech pathology position to fill some time over the summer. I found a home health agency in Austin called River Kids. Come to find out, the company is very small (only operates in Houston and Austin) and is founded on Christian principals. The companys follows Dave Ramsey's philosophies and is debt free (no loans from the bank to operate)- and all of the owners are Christian. I met with the manager of the Austin branch and his wife (who is a physical therapist with the company) on Thursday. They are awesome people. We met for dinner- and it was so surreal to be at an interview and then hold hands with the people and join in prayer before dinner. They want me to work for them, and I am just taking some time to pray about it and make my decision. I am able to work as much or as little as I want- so I am thinking about starting by just taking on one or two patients who live in my area.

In other news- my sister, Jen, is getting married in May. We are excited to be there with her in May and have just been getting ready for her big day. I can't wait to see all of our family again- I haven't seen many people since I got married almost three years ago! Chris and I are also planning on taking a vacation this summer to somewhere tropical. I am about to book our trip online, and I think we are going to the Riviera Maya. I am getting so excited just by looking at all of the pictures online! When will June get here???

whew! that was a marathon post!! I hope everyone is doing well and I love you all!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's been three months since I last posted, so I figured I was due for a short briefing. I don't have any fun pictures to post, so that is why I have been putting it off for so long ;) I have had this week off of work, and it has been fabulous. I had a little bit of work to do, but I have been able to spread it out amongst other fun things. Like....I ordered myself some UT Longhorn license plates for my Jeep and went to go pick them up this week :)!!! Now my car is officially the way I want it!! Then I drove down to campus and tried to find a UT vs A&M shirt that the Texas Exes usually sell during this week. I parked and walked around campus for a few minutes trying to find their display....I didn't find it. But, it was so fun to walk around campus again and feel like I was back in school. I ventured into the Co-Op and bought a generic UT shirt instead....I would one day love to add up all the money that I have spent in the Co-Op on t-shirts and various UT paraphinalia (spelling???) During my first year at UT, I would stop in the Co-Op during long breaks in between classes. I think I bought more burnt orange shirts that year than anyone should ever be allowed :) I love it!! This week I was also able to put up all of my Christmas decorations and bake some goodies. I made snickerdoodles, pumpkin bread, and my mom's jello pudding double layer pumpkin pie. It was fun! I love to bake, but I never have the time or engery to do it! I have read one and a half books so far! I am currently reading "The Lost Symbol" By Dan Brown. He is the one who wrote The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons. They are all very fast reads. Tomorrow Chris and I are headed to San Antonio to have Thanksgiving with mom, dad, gramma, and grandpa. (and Jennifer's dog Abby). We will stay with them for one night, and they we will be moving to a hotel in San Antonio. One of our college friends from Concordia is getting married this weekend. So, we have the rehearsal/dinner on Friday night and the wedding on Saturday evening. It should be a fun weekend! Hopefully I will return from the weekend with some pictures to post...that is my goal! I hope everyone has a happy and fun Thanksgiving with their family/friends!!

Lately

We finally got around to painting the front door red, so now you get to see a picture :) I love the way it looks!!



Last weekend, Chris and I went to Galveston to visit the family before I have to go back to work. It also happened to be Jen's birthday, so we went to an Astro's game to celebrate. They lost, but it was still fun ;)


Take number two of this shot. Take number one is below :)




My family- I love the way they pose when you ask them to take a picture ;)

This picture was taken at Jen's graduation party in Austin.

Not much else has been going on lately. I start back to work on Monday, so I am feeling anxious this weekend as usual. Even though it is my third year in the same district, I have done something different each year. maybe next year I will be doing the same thing!! I hope things start off smoothly this year.

Also- we just sold chris' playstation on Craigslist and bought a Wii. I never played the playstation, but I have really gotten into the Wii. for those of you who haven't played, you should try it!! I love it!!

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Promised pictures

The friendly Vermont bears


Boston Harbor

me at the statue of Liberty (way in the background)

We got to sit in the 2nd Row :)

Times Square

The family in Vermont

Jen's graduation

All of the graduates

Ok....I finally loaded all of my pictures onto a shutterfly page. To view all of the pictures go to: http://www.lesandchrisphotos.shutterfly.com/

I also posted some selected pics on facebook :)

I am still sick with whatever I picked up in New York, but am at least feeling well enough to post something.

Our trip was wonderful. We started out in Boston, Mass. While in Boston we visited the Boston Harbor, Fenway Park, Quincy Marker, Faneuil Hall, Cheers, and took a two hour walking tour of the Freedom Trail. The freedom trail led us through such sights as: Boston Commons, the Boston Tea Party, where the Boston Massacre began, where the Declaration of Independence was read to the people, and through a very old cemetary where the following people are buried: John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams (there are pics of all of these hot spots on shutterfly). Chris' favorite part of the trip was definitely our visit to Fenway Park. The Red Sox were out of town, but we were able to take a guided tour of the park.

Our next stop was Montpelier Vermont. The first night we stayed in mom and dad's hotel. the second night we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast. This was my first experience at a bed and breakfast. The house had a cat named Boots who had to have weighed thirty plus pounds. She was my favorite part :) We awoke at 5:30 in the morning to the rattling of our bedroom door by boots. While in Montpelier we got to experience such things as Jen's graduation (yay for Jen!), going to the VonTrapp family lodge, and stopping at crosswalks so that pedestrians could cross. What a strange phenomenon!

Next stop was New York City. Our hotel was on Manhattan, about one block from Times Square. We really wore ourselves out in New York. We visited the following sites: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Today Show lot, 5th avenue shops (Saks, Tiffany's, Trump Tower), Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, the Late Show with David Letterman (we sat in the second row!!!!), Grand Central Station,Wall Street Financial District, Ground Zero, the statue of Liberty, riding the subway, and various other things that seemed to have slipped my mind. My feet are currently covered with blisters!!! Our hotel room was the smallest thing I have ever stayed in! It consisted of a double bed that took up the majority of the room. There was approximately two feet of space on one side, and five on the other. (literally!!) The bathroom even had a 'dwarfed' bathtub! But, I cannot complain because of the great location and cheap price!!

I enjoyed everything about our trip! I have ALWAYS wanted to go to the east coast ;) oh, and I forgot to mention another highlight...I got to ride on a plane for the second time in my life !!!

Tease post

We are back from our FUN vacation. I promise I will post pictures soon...however, I am not going to do it today :) I am either extremely exhausted, or sick....or quite possibly both. I started getting a sore throat on Wednesday, but still had a great time despite feeling bad. Now, I think I am paying for it! I have so many pictures to post, and I will probably create a shutterfly account or something, because they won't all fit on my blog. Stay tuned for more details and pictures of our trip :) We enjoyed so many things from: Cheers in Boston, the beautiful scenery in Vermont, and going to the Late Show in NYC. (although I have no pics of the Late Show because NO cameras are allowed inside the Ed Sullivan theater...boo!!)