The BIG move...

Holy cow how time flies...

I'm not sure I've ever been so busy in my life. The past 3 or 4 weeks have been an absolute blur filled with tape and boxes and moving trucks and goodbyes and hellos and unpacking and the list goes on and on... It really has been quite a physical and emotional roller coaster. BUT... with all of that said... the moving part is over and we are here! Well sort of...

Brian is back in St. Louis... its a super long story and a difficult situation to explain but basically Brian has so many different things going on for him as far as his fire fighting career goes, but they don't really start until the middle of March for him... so, while he actually has a job in St. Louis, we thought it best that he stay there and continue to make money until he can move down here and officially start his career. I thought, no biggie... what's a few weeks? We can do that... easy... He will be back down here before I know it...

Ok so not as easy as I thought... its been 3 days... and I'm not a happy camper. I'm SO BEYOND happy to be here, in our new home, in this new city, but it's just not the same without him here with me. It's torture saying goodbye to him every night over the phone and then rolling over to an empty pillow.

LUCKILY... he has to come back down this weekend for a Plano Fire Dept. test that he has to take on Saturday... just in time for Valentine's Day :) Granted he has to fly back on Sunday, but at least I'll get to see him. We've talked about it a lot the past few days and we decided he just needs to get here. So he put his two weeks in at his job back home and he will be here for good on the 27th... so like 2 weeks. I can handle that I think.

OK... sorry... so enough about how much I miss my amazing husband...

The new job is going great so far... my first day was Monday. I am in what they call training "Boot Camp" and it's nothing short of that. But I've got to say it's all very interesting... I'm excited to really get a handle on all of this. The company is called Homecare Homebase and basically they created a software (in a handheld PDA) that helps in home nurses keep better records of their patients... instead of writing everything down, it's all electronic now. I'm learning a lot and I really feel like what I do will help nurses help people... and that's a good feeling.

I love our new house... it's absolutely everything I could possibly want or need in a house for us right now. As I'm sure you can imagine we are still very much in the unpacking/decorating stage so I will post pics once I feel more comfortable with the finished product. Val Goode is throwing us a house warming/dinner party on the 28th... SUPER excited about that.

I love it here - I know we have without a doubt made the right decision moving back down here and once Brian gets down here for good it will feel totally complete.

Thank you for all of your prayers during this time of transition for us... I know God has truly had a hand in ALL of this.

Our new address is:
9912 Derwent Drive
Plano, Texas 75025

Work email: choward@hchb.com
Home phone: 214-785-7028

Welp - that's all for now... more to come soon! Happy Valentine's Day!

God is Good

Well... our prayers have been answered! I got the job in Dallas!! You know when you pray and pray for something and God answers your prayers but not in the way you expected? Well this time he literally answered our EXACT prayers. Maybe it was his way of telling us that we are moving in the right direction!

We have a lease application in on a house in Plano - we have not heard FOR SURE if we've got the house yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I don't see any problems arising so everything should be a go, but we'll see! Once we find out, I will post pictures of the house :)

I can't believe how fast this is all happening. We started packing things last night. My last day here at work is the 30th and we would like to be on the road on the 4th headed down there. I start the new job on the 9th! I don't think I've ever been so excited about something... this is going to be a fresh start for Brian and I - we are really looking forward to getting down there.

We are doing a little "going-away" get together at my parents house this weekend just for friends and family - want to make sure we see everyone again before we leave.

Hope everyone has a GREAT week! :)

The WORST part...

I'm officially going through the worst part of the whole "interviewing process"... the WAITING. Interviewed on Friday - I think it went well... said they would call early next week... so here I sit. Just waiting... and waiting... and waiting... Throw a couple of more prayers up there for us if you haven't already - thank you, thank you, thank you!

We found a house that we absolutely LOVE - put our lease application in on Saturday. The only thing they are missing is an "offer letter" from the potential company I'll be working for in Dallas as proof of income. So... again I wait...

And wait... and wait...

What's been goin' on...

I haven't posted since WAY before Christmas. Oops.


Well... Christmas recap how about? Brian got me a new pair of UGGs... my old pair were looking sick. I got him an ipod... when we go work out he always complains non-stop about not having one... solved that problem!! :) We had a WONDERFUL time off just relaxing with my family. So nice to have that time off work. I must say that coming back to work after all of that is beyond depressing.


We are headed to Texas this weekend for the Farmer wedding! We are staying with Alec and Chelsea (they ROCK and are being SUPER hospitable) and I couldn't be more excited to see my best friend again! I haven't seen her since her wedding back in MAY. Good gosh! I also cannot wait to see all of my other best friends as well at the wedding festivities. Man I love weddings! Jacci, Chelsea, Val - since I know you guys are the only ones that I'll see this weekend that actually read this... cannot WAIT to see you guys!!


We have one busy weekend planned that's for sure. Lots to do. We get in Thursday night - from the airport we are headed to Chelsea and Alec's and then to dinner with them to catch up. Friday afternoon at 2pm I have an interview - I am really praying that I get this job. It would be SUCH a blessing. So come Friday at 2pm, PLEASE say a little prayer for me! Friday night we have the rehearsal dinner. Saturday morning we are meeting a realtor that's going to show us a few houses that we've picked off the internet. So we'll see! Hopefully out of the four we'll find one that we love :) Saturday night of course is the wedding!! Sunday we plan to just hang out with Chelsea and Alec before we have to catch our flight at 5:30.


So, a busy weekend, but also VERY exciting!! We are are just so ready to move down there.


Hope everyone has a great rest of the week! Happy 2009!

16 Days till Christmas!!

The last time I posted was before Thanksgiving! Geesh! I LOVE having time off work, but it sure does put me behind for WEEKS whenever I come back.

We spent Thanksgiving in Houston with Brian's family - it was nice to see everyone and catch up. They were all really excited to hear we are moving back to Texas. It sure was a quick trip though... I came back to work Monday a bit pooped. We are spending Christmas here in St. Louis with my parents, so I'm glad we won't be fighting anymore airports over the holidays.

The last couple weeks have really just been a blur... time is FLYING by and now Christmas is only a little over two weeks away! Insane! I have absolutely NO Christmas shopping done either... oops. I'm still not really sure what I'm getting Brian this year... I need to do some serious brain storming. He says he already knows what he's getting me... hmmm... I guess we'll see!

This time two years ago I'd be preparing for finals (probably pulling all-nighters with Chelsea at Starbucks!) and an entire MONTH off school... THOSE were the days, people.

Since I'm getting all geared up for Christmas, I shall do my top TEN favorite things about this AMAZING holiday:

• Christmas decorations! I swear I put my tree up two weeks before Thanksgiving. It's ridiculous how much I love decorating.
• Christmas COOKIES! The BEST!
• Snow, fireplaces, sweaters - just being COZY
• Seeing all of my family together celebrating Christ
• Christmas Parties!
• Christmas music... although by the time New Years hits - I'm WAY over it.
• GIVING presents - I guess that has to do with the fact that I'm not 10 anymore, but I enjoy giving gifts just as much or more than receiving. (ok so maybe not MORE...)
• TIME. OFF. WORK.
• The SMELLS... pine, cinnamon, fireplaces, apple... MMMMM!
• Having Brian to spend these holidays with - this is our second Christmas together - with many more to come :)

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!

The BIG Reveal...

I've been reluctant to post what our big news is because you just never know who's reading, you know? But - I've come to the conclusion that I don't care.

Drum roll please...

BRIAN AND I ARE MOVING TO TEXAS!

Quite a change from my last post since I was talking about the house we are building here in Missouri and all that...but Brian and I just really sat down and talked about the commitment we are making by building a house here in Missouri. We've always known that we would move back to Texas eventually, and if we were to build this house we'd be here for at least another 5-10 years. So we decided that now is the perfect time to get up and go! The lease on our house is up the 1st of March, so we are looking to move in February... or sooner if I get a job before then.

We are definitely thinking the Dallas area. I've started my job search - so if any of you have any suggestions or know of any businesses hiring in the Dallas area, I am VERY open to ideas!! Brian will finish up his 1st paramedics semester here in December, and then he will be transferring all of his hours down there. He's looking to get on a fire house somewhere in Dallas while he finishes up medic school.

Are we sad to leave St. Louis? For sure... I've got some amazing friends here that have been my friends for what seems like FOREVER, and I don't even want to think about how hard it's going to be being that far away from my parents, but with all of that said I really believe this is the right move for us. Plus my parents are definitely not opposed to moving down to Texas once we start a family... no way they could stay away after that!

SO... please keep us in your prayers - job hunting could be difficult with this economy, but I'm hoping we will be able to find jobs between now and February.

We are SO EXCITED about this... cannot wait to be back with all of the people we love so much!!

We are headed to Houston Wednesday night for Thanksgiving with Brian's family... a MUCH needed break from work. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Prayers, prayers and more prayers!

Well folks... the time has come that Brian and I could use some prayers...

Nothing bad has happened or anything like that, but Brian and I have made some major decisions in our lives as of late and some big things are going to change, but we truly feel that we have God behind us on this one. So just pray that we keep that faith and stay steady.

I promise to reveal things soon, but I can't JUST yet. :)

I'll say this... it's been a long time coming!

PS... I'm not pregnant. Just wanted to throw that out there!