One YEAR

Neil and I celebrated our one year anniversary on the 11th.
What a year it has been. Where do I even start?
A year of new perspectives, faith and miracles.
A year of love, growth and new directions.
Our families have supported us through this tender first year of marriage.
I am more in love with Neil than I even knew possible.

I remember the day I married him before our family, friends and God. What a glorious day it was. One year has past since then and so much has changed.
Yesterday, Neil and I closed on our new house our new city.

We spent our anniversary eating at our place where is all began 4 years ago. A great dinner at a local restaurant Mirabelle. The place we went on our first date.

We also headed out to Wimberley to shop around and enjoy the beautiful views of Driftwood Estate Winery. We visited there on our mini-honeymoon and just loved it.

By the end of the day, we were happy and hopeful for another wonderful year to come. We tasted our wedding cake... which was better than expected after a year in the freezer.

April 11 - Happy Anniversary! I love you Neil!

The best is yet to come...

Friday Stream of Consciousness

Friday, busy day.
Nose hurts, head hurts- keep ignoring it and I can conquer the pain.
Maisie dug a hole in the yard again this morning.
I never knew how much my dogs pooped until I had to pick it up every morning.
Need to get the yard guy over again... so much rain everything is growing, blooming & growing some more!
Laundry to do. Oil change needed. Packing to do. E-mails to do. Gifts to wrap. Scooter to sell. Papers to file. Return the blockbuster movies after they were stuck in my brother-in-law's garage for a freaking week!
Need to work out- the week flew by with no gym time... eeeekkkkk!
5 more weeks of work in Round Rock... wow, what a quick year.
5 more weeks of living in Austin... change is in the air.
Hope the right buyer finds the Austin house soon.
So excited to begin life in the San Antonio with Neil.
I miss Neil. Going for a run/ride after work today.
Fish and vegatables for dinner... or maybe kabobs.
Gray's party Saturday, Andre's party Sunday. Lunch at Country Line after church.
Oh, what a busy, busy world. So thankful the week is over. Buckle up here comes the weekend.

Prayer on a Gray Day

Friday.
School starts with tardy students- released late from barricaded neighborhoods...
Shots fired, Officer Down. Saved by grace and a bullet proof vest.
Gray clouds and baggy jeans hang low
Blasting i-pods and wet, shiny concrete around campus
Big kids begging for boundaries and screaming for attention
I do what I can to reach who I can, but do my words fall on closed ears or open ears?

The rainy weather and Spring hormones make for restless, rambunctious souls.
A population divided- one conversation circles admission to college, another the f-word
A high school microcosm of baby adults trying to find a branch to hang on to in the wind storm that is their morning.

The aire of the end of an era percolates through the roof and the floors and the walls, hitting virgin noses- and again a duel effect.
One student carefully prepares to soar away, another unsuspecting who stirs like a caged animal that senses an approaching storm.

May prayers shelter these young ones with umbrellas of grace.
Make haste my God, may they hear Your voice.
I claim these students in Your name.
May the work of their hands be blessed and good.
May their steps find solid rock.
May their lives find purpose and dignity.
May their dreams survive the fight.

Baby Steps to Triathalete!

Yesterday Alex and I met with our new trainer. He has finished many races including an ironman (which is ca-ca-ca-caRAzy)! The point being he helped us out with our first open water swim in the lake. Mind you it is warm in our part of Texas, but not THAT warm. In the spirit of ripping off the band-aide I plunged in from the deck... OH MY GOSH was it breath-takingly cold. Instantly, my heart raced a mile a minute and I think I was making some strange shoutish sounds like, "Oh! AH! EEHH! OOO! It's COLD! I can't breath! Why is everybody but me in a wetsuit!?!"
"Start swimming!" they shouted to me.
And swim I did! I'm not sure if it was the freezing water temperature or the intimidating fact that I could not see a foot in front of me in the murky green water- but as I finished my trainer declared that he was quite impressed with my speed.

Thennnnn, Alex and I practiced our technique in the pool, thennnnnn we headed to Town Lake for a run. We managed 2 miles and then called it quits for dinner time at Whole Foods. It was a great baby step in my journey to becoming a triathlete... or at least a triathlon completer. :)

I KNOW I CAN I KNOW I CAN I KNOW I CAN!

I know I can I know I can I know I can!

Do you remember the story of the little engine that could?

Lately, I have been very attracted to simple lessons and messages of truth.

In this children's story, a little train engine decides to climb a mountain. This charming story teaches children that's is good to be brave, to try hard, to believe that you can do it. If you keep trying, you will achieve your goal.

As adults we may look at the goals of a child as easy to achieve, but this is only from our perspective. As adults, we may see our goals as difficult or impossible to achieve. Maybe a goal feels like climbing a mountain- each step is a little scary and movement is a struggle.

No matter what happens, or how difficult a goal gets- we must stay focused and keep trying. Never give up! Achieving my goal begins with me, my thinking, my FAITH that I can find victory through that struggle.

Sometimes I feel like the little engine that thought I could but then I didn't... like a little train sliding backwards down a mountain, the guilt and shame pile on top of my head which makes me feel like a failure. But this feeling is false, and I tell you what I tell myself- dump that toxic cargo!

God promises us:
"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." ALL things, that means any mountain and any goal. Through Christ, we have more that the little engine that thought he could!
We do not have to say... I think I can I think I can...
We can say... I KNOW I CAN I KNOW I CAN! I know I can because it is Christ who strengthens me!

Lord, thank You for giving me the strength to KNOW I can do all things through You!
Thank you for a new day! Thank you for mountains and truth.
Glory to God in the highest! The King of Kings reigns in my heart!

How RUUUUDE!

As you know I am training for a triathlon. Last night I headed, rather tired, to the gym to swim. The lanes were full so I waited until I thought I saw a man gesture me to share his lane with him. As he was a safe distance away, I hoped in, adjusted my new goggles and took off swimming. Just as I am about halfway down the pool, SMASH! We smacked each other in the head - strait on! We both popped out of the water shocked and throbing! I was so stunned, I stood motionless applying direct pressure on my forehead. "WELL! I guess you are sharing this lane with me!" this blanketlyblank shouts at me. (By this time all other swimmers have stopped swimming and are staring at us. "Yes," I say softly, "I tried to get your attention and I thought you saw me."
"Well, try to stay out of my way!" he barks and takes off again.

Out of sheer pride, I swam 5 more laps, all the while, my head throbbing and I was crying on the inside. How could someone be so rude? How do you smash someone in the head and then yell at them? Even if this was my fault (which it was clearly an accident) one would still say, "Are you okay?" WHAT A JERK!

I slunk out of the gym not long after I had entered. Tears poured from my now pulsating head all the way home and into the shower. I'm not sure what hurt more, my head, or the jab to my heart from such a "tough guy."

I thought about what I could DO about such a shameful situation:

A. Call the gym and complain of this dill weed and how it's a liability to have such recklessness and discourtesy in the gym. They should post a new sign in the pool to make sure people know they are expected to be courteous- better yet a lifeguard!

B. Wait for this floppyfish to come out of the pool and use my Imeanbusiness voice to tell him just how "tough" it really is to smash someone in the head and then yell at them in front of the whole pool. AND how I would want that kind of karma on my conscious in this day and age! AND how if my husband or any other REAL MAN would have seen that he probably would have yanked you right out my your too small speedo and... well- you get the picture.

C. Or... another option. Go home, take a hot shower, cook dinner and share champagne with Neil. Tend to my head with an advil and a little prayer, and even say a little prayer for that grumpy hammerhead numb nuts that did this to me. There's something to be learned from not fighting back. I guess today I have to figure that out.

What would YOU choose?

Each time I look in the mirror today at the bump on my head- I will say a little prayer for rude people. Anger and bumps both fade with time. I'll do my best to replace the ugly with the good.

image: www.rude-world.co.uk/

BIG NEWS!

Well, I just cannot hold it in anymore!

The BIG NEWS is out!

Neil and I are moving to San Antonio!
We bought a house last week and I received my acceptance letter to begin my Ph.D. this morning!

Neil and I have been prayerfully house-hunting since October. It was around then that Neil came to the old, but true adage- 'If you want something done right, you need to do it yourself.'
Neil wanted to run the San Antonio clinic himself. We believed that the path for our future would be revealed to us in perfect timing. Neil dealt with a brutal work commute. I dealt with an empty house. We researched communities, school districts, and life possibilities with the hope that doors would be opened or shut accordingly.

Along the journey- I decided that I would like to get my Ph.D. I had been thinking about this for a while- but all of the sudden the timing seemed perfect. UTSA was only minutes away from Neil's clinic and the campus is brand new and beautiful. The university is about the same size as TxState's which makes for a phenomenal learning environment. In the meantime, I began the application process, the interview process and then back to the waiting game.

Last week, I hoped in the car after a run and found this text from Neil, 'We just put an offer on a house!' Neil knew what I would like and jumped on a great deal. Our bid was the best and we got the house! The next day, I got to see it. Would you trust your significant other to buy a house before you saw it? Neil did a great job- I didn't find an ounce of worry- only excitement to see what would be our new home in our new city.

And this morning- I received an e-mail from UTSA. I am officially admitted and will begin as a full time Ph.D student next Fall.

The pieces are coming together in a beautiful way. The chapter of our first year of marriage was certainly full of unexpected events, twists and turns. The Heavenly Author writes His masterpiece- and I strive to grasp it's message.
I know I am not in control.
I know we can face anything together.
I know it is good.

Today is a day of praise and celebration in our house.
Glory and joy abound! Praise Him, Praise Him!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14