The Cat Who Hates Walking (Day 78-84)

I can't promise that these pictures are in order but I can promise that these all happened this week. It's my blog I can forget what happened on what date if I wanted to.

Day 78


The teacher I am an assistant for is pregnant and is due in a couple of weeks. The other assistant has been making "diaper babies" for all pregnant staff of the school I work at, there are a lot! The "diaper baby" is made of diapers, clothes, and a pacifier.

Day 79


One of our kids from our preschool choir says he is going to be an artist when he grows up. To prove he has potential and that he is going to make it, he drew us a dragon. We call him "Trogdor."

Day 80


This is a learning tool we use on one of our kids. It teaches cause/ effect and encourages her to practice gripping. Basically, she pushes a button and the radio turns on. When she lets go it stops playing.

Day 81


Look who drove me to school! She had an appointment to visit her vet so we decided to carpool. She is a very excellent driver, except when we find mailmen. She can't stop following them.

Day 82


The cat who can play fetch is not the cat who likes to go out on walks. That's right folks, we attempted to take the cat on a walk. Because we moved out into the wilderness, we don't feel comfortable letting the cat outside on his own like we would in the suburbs. We found out he would rather be stuck indoors than to be dragged on the ground outside. Lucy came as close to laughing a dog could at Barney. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Who knew cats don't like leashes?

Day 83


Today is the second Sunday Aaron and I have been leading worship at the church. We got to meet the choir members and have choir practice with them after a hearty meal. We explored the town some and then came back to go to evening service and have another choir practice at my in-laws' church. Let's just say I am as tired as this puppy looks.

Day 84


Thanks to this time change, we are up before the sun rises and go to bed before the sun sets. What are we, farmers?

"Speshll Stuf" (Day 71-77)

Oh what a week this has been! The whole Spring Break was spent moving mine and my in-law's stuff to Stanton. I was looking foward to going back to work just so I could stop moving.

Day 71


This is part of my commute; isn't it beautiful? I have completely embraced West Texas and I love it! Aaron and I have both expressed this week how much we feel at home in Midland- West Texas in general. We love the people and feel the area has a unique beauty to it. The culture has helped me slow down, really appreciate people, and have genuine conversations with them. I feel like it has helped me grow up. I apologize to the people of Abilene, because it took me a while to take pride in the place.

Day 72


Aaron's mom is going through the stage every parent eventally reaches; handing over the childhood toys and papers to the grown-child to which they belong. Aaron and I had a lot of fun looking through all of his "speshll stuf". He was obsessed with indians and they kept a lot of old stories that he wrote about them when he was four. See if you can figure this one out:



At Aaron's preschool graduation they introduced him by saying, "this is Aaron and he loves indians."

Day 73


Today, we moved the pets to the new house. Actually, Lucy had already been sleeping there with us, but she was "helping" us move. Lucy has been using the cat's crate to sleep in, but of course I left that at the house; therefore, I had to hold on to both animals as we took them to Stanton. Lucy (the puppy) immediately went to sleep and didn't stir even when Barney (the cat) climbed all over her while he was trying to make the world as he knew it stop moving.

Day 74


The rest of the family went into town while I decided to stay home and unpack some. I got the whole kitchen finished and got the guest room ready for Aaron's sister, who is coming for a visit. After about four or five hours I couldn't stand to look at another box, so Lucy and I explored the camp. I introduced her to the horses. Lucy stood at a distance, as you can see, and barked very meekly.

Day 75


This really sweet couple from the church my father-in-law is music minister at is moving, so the choir threw a going-away party. It was probably the most fun I have had at a party. The couple who had it at their house has a real knack for hosting. The food was delicious and they ordered these great candied apples from Idaho that were shipped that day. We had a great time singing hymns and listenening to some guitar playing.

Day 76


Today was the first Sunday out of the next three that Aaron lead worship at the Church with which we're talking. The pastor apparently thinks like I do because he introduced us and said that we were dating the church right now. We loved meeting everyone (and eating all the homemade barbecue). The drive is only 1 1/2 hours and is a straight shot, so it's not bad at all.

Day 77


This is a picture of me editing my blog today. I have to do it in Starbucks because we don't have any internet in Stanton. I love hearing all the conversations of the different people that come in here. I wonder if I look like I belong in a coffee shop or if I am a poser.

Love Ya Nation (64-70)

As promised in a post a while back, I have found my wedding slideshow! We have also found a new temporary home until Aaron's parents find a more permanent location. We are staying in missionary housing at a baptist encampment and there is no internet there so I will try to put the slideshow in the "about me" page either this week or next week. So check it out! It includes cute videos of me and my husband when we were little ones.

Day 64


To make up for my lack of an interesting day, here is an embarrassing video of me skydiving for my eighteenth birthday. Do I deliver, or what?

Day 65


Today was a very tough day in general. We had kids misbehaving left and right and I am pretty sure I have used up the entire week's supply of patience today. Aaron being a really sweet guy let me pick the restaurant we ate at so we went to Fazoli's. We always end up sitting at the same booth no matter what Fazoli’s we are at. We ate at that booth when we had a crush on each other and I guess we just like to keep the tradition.

Day 66


Meet our new neighbors, at least for three weeks. Aaron's parents have connections to the head of Circle Six, which is a Baptist encampment in Stanton. They are letting us stay in missionary housing for at least three months, or whenever we find a place to live.

Day 67


Will work for play. One of the teachers I work with his head of concessions at the Midland Community Theatre so Aaron and I agreed to sell food for free tickets to Shrek. We can't really afford to see plays because the tickets are usually $26 a pop. Aaron and I used to work together at this family entertainment center so it was fun to work together again. Intermission was crazy. It felt like one of those cartoons where the crowd is waving money in the air and you are just throwing food at them.

Day 68


Sorry for the pictures of drinks. I had a plan of what picture I wanted to take, I just completely forgot! Aaron and I had an interview at a church today. I am so excited to say that it went really well! We have been asked to come back and lead worship for the next couple of Sundays as a trial basis and they will see from there if they want to hire us or not. I always compare our involvement with churches as a dating relationship. And yes, it is getting pretty serious.

Day 69


Lucy has a thing for shoes, specifically her grandmother's slippers; therefore, grandma got her a treat in the shape of a shoe. I am sure this will deter her from chewing on shoes in the future. Oh well, it kept her occupied all afternoon.

Day 70


Today Aaron and I woke up early to move most of our stuff into storage and the rest into our new "temporary" home at the Baptist encampment.

I'm a Barbie Girl in a Barbie World (57-63)

This week Aaron and I went home for our niece's sixth birthday. I didn't get the websites up yesterday because we are traveling so I am hoping to get that up later tonight.

Day 57


Every morning I have the same routine at school. One of my objectives is something I dread. Freshmen get dropped off at our school to get picked up from another bus. They aren't supposed to be in the building, but can be in the foyer when it is cold. I have to wait for the buses to drop off my kids so guess who gets to enforce the rules. I feel like I have to say the same phrase every day and I get called some variation of the same name everyday.

Day 58


After church, the landlord informed us that they decided to sell the house. Without boring you with a lot of details, we have a short amount of time to find a place to live. The landlord is coming Friday to check out the house so we are scrambling to get the house clean before Aaron and I leave for Round Rock after I get off work on Thursday. Life loves to throw you curveballs, doesn't it?

Day 59


Last week was half of my family's birthdays, seperated by a day of two. I wanted to go home to celebrate with them but I didn't get payed until this week so I had to put it off. Aaron and Lucy picked me up after school and we stopped in Abilene to pick up some used baby stuff from one of my really good friends to give to my sister-in-law and brother. We got to my parent's house around midnight and went straight to bed.

Day 60


I spent all day setting up a mini party for my niece. She loves Barbies so I baked her a barbie cake. Here is a close up; I am pretty proud of this thing:



Day 61


The intention of today was to go shopping for some baby stuff for my not-yet-born niece. What ended up happening was us driving around aimlessly while I was giving directions. Both Aaron and I are awful at reading, telling, writing, and listening to directions. We finally got to our destination. That's when my ditsy self realized it would have saved a lot of frustration if I clicked the "directions to" button on the map rather than trying to interpret the stupid thing. Technology is only useful if you click the right buttons.

Day 62


We had planned on going to a kite festival in Austin but after fighting traffic for an hour I actually muttered the words "I wish I was in Midland." I think this officially makes me a West Texan. How did this happen? Sorry Austin, I am no longer a conservative hippie.

Day 63


Today was actually pretty good! I didn't have to yell at freshmen when I first got there (some other teacher already took care of it) and my first period class with the general ed kids was actually pretty calm, even though there was a sub. We also took the kids out on their bikes today! We have three or four tricycles outside our classroom and I was looking foward to finally using them. The kids have so much fun and it is a good excuse to get out of the classroom.