Friday...

Nothing really exciting to write about today, so just some random stuff.

-We got our tax refund today...woo! hoo! (I was on the ball this year and filed super early!)
-I will be in Austin all next week for a TASBO (Texas Assoc. of School Business Officials) conference (sounds like fun, huh!)
-There is hardly anyone in our office this afternoon - for some reason most people decided to leave early today...why didn't I?
-Eric has been sick most of the week with "the crud"...boys are whiny and mopey when they don't feel good!
-I drink WAY too much diet coke...it's a bad addiction I have.

Okay - enough random thoughts. I will leave with a few (random) pictures today, just for fun.




My cute nieces - Emma, Bailey, & Isabel












Eric likes to tell people this is a picture of us...isn't that sweet of him.










My sweet friend April and her adorable Marcella (who will be 1 in April...wow!). I just had to post this one since I mentioned taxes and I just finished doing her tax return as well. (Nice trade - I do her taxes, she does my hair...I think I win there!)

Girlfriends

I'll try to be a little more up-beat today than I was yesterday. After all, it is Wednesday, which means the work week is half over!

Yesterday I had lunch with a group of girl friends who try to meet regularly for lunch to "catch up" with each other. The funny thing about this group is that at one time, just a few years ago, we all worked together. And now each one of us is at a different place, each doing something completely different. The best part of it is that, because we all spent time at the afore mentioned work place, we all have this "bond" that ties us together. We can share funny (and sometime not so funny) stories about people, trips, jobs, etc. and we all completely understand the good and the not so good memories shared in the stories. These lunches are also a great time to find out about each other's families, see pictures of kids, and find out how life has been for each one. Thanks to Jennifer for always planning our girl's lunches and keeping us all in touch face to face!

Venting

I am going to vent for just a minute (so here's your head's up)...

I absolutely hate Eric's job...and more specifically his boss. I am so ready for him to have a job where he is happy and where he is rewarded for his education and experience instead of treated like any other "hand" off the street. (He has his Master's degree for crying out loud.) I hate that he comes home from work every day disgusted at whatever happened that day and asking if he can quit his job. I hate that he is so unhappy working there. I hate that he gets paid squat and it causes us to struggle financially. I hate that his boss is more moody than any woman I've ever met. I hate that he works someplace where he has to punch a time clock. I hate that we have to keep track of how many hours he has taken off each week so we know how much smaller his paycheck is going to be. I hate that when he does actually get a weekend off (unpaid of course) he is chewed out the following Monday for "putting them in a bind by being gone" even though he cleared it with them weeks earlier. I hate everything about his job.

We have been married for a year and a half, and we have spent that entire time looking for a job, or a better job for Eric. Why has this been such a struggle for us? It seems like it has put so many areas of our life on hold because we are always 'waiting until he finds a better job.' It just gets old.

Weekend Update

We had such a great time this weekend. Being in Plainview, and on the Wayland campus brought back lots of memories from the years I spent there. Friday night a group of us got together and had a great time catching up and looking back. It was lots of fun looking at old yearbooks and old pictures and laughing at the silly (and sometimes stupid) stuff we did. And even better was looking at current pictures of everyone's kids and families, and hearing what everyone is doing now.

Mike & Summer, Kevin & Sarah & Elizabeth, Eric & Mandi

Sarah, Mandi, & Summer (This is kind of a tradition for us...just missing Kala.)

Here's an upright shot of us (Mandi, Sarah, Summer).

Saturday morning we made our way to the famous Spudnuts Donuts establishment, where we again spent time talking and laughing with good friends Sarah & Kevin, and Summer & Mike. We proceded from there to the campus where we (unsuccessfully) were planning on attending the actual "reunion" part of the festivities. Since we obviously missed that, we gave ourselves a tour of the campus and oohed and aahed over the new student activity center. (Where was a place like that when we were there??) I think the most memory-inspiring activity was the trek through our old dorm. Summer and I dragged Eric and Mike up and down all the hallways of the dorm, pointing out which rooms we lived in, who lived in each of the other rooms, which stairs we had to drag our friends up in the middle of the night when they were not able to do so themselves (ahem...Michelle!), how the bathrooms had not changed at all, the basement where the laundry area was still quite stinky and scary, and even the backyard with a funny (although somewhat unfortunate) story about laundry and misfit kids (Rachel). After a yummy lunch at Leal's we went the the basketball games where we caught up with some other friends and had a good time visiting. Overall, the time spent in Plainview was really great, and I guess we will make the journey again in 10 years! (Maybe we won't wait that long this time!)

Following our time in Plainview, Eric & I went to Lubbock where we spent Saturday night and Sunday with our good friends Kelly & Kory. Kelly and I met while working as auditors together at DK in Abilene. She has been, and will always be, an amazing friend, a delicious and talented cake maker and decorator, a fun scrapbooking buddy, and a genuine person who I am happy to call my friend! We had a fun time with she and Kory Saturday night eating pancakes (you've got the love the Lion's Club!), playing pool (although not the original plan), watching wedding videos (Eric's favorite part!), and eating chocolate pie (yum!).

Kelly & Mandi

Me & Eric...we don't have very many pictures of us, and this is why!

Kory & Kelly

So, other than being super tired, everything about the weekend was great. And I can't wait until I get to see my friends again!

10 Years!

That's right...I have been out of college for 10 years! Wow! In May of 1998 I thought I was on top of the world because I was about to graduate from Wayland Baptist University. (That's in Plainview, TX for those of you who don't know...and if you don't know where Plainview is...well, you're probably in the majority!) Anyway...so there I was, about to be free of classes and studying and tests and, uh-oh, everything I had known for the last four years. Exciting...but extremely scary at the same time. What was I going to do? Where was I going to live? Where were all my friends going? Yikes! I guess I finally figured it out, because here I am...ten years later...and doing okay!

So this weekend we are going back to the scene of the crime...back to the plains of West Texas, "where the wind sings loud her name." Oops - got a little carried away there. Homecoming 1998 at good old Wayland is this weekend. Fortunately, this weekend will be a chance to reunite with friends of long ago and catch up on the lives and families of the people I surrounded myself with for four very fun and fulfilling years of my life. It will also be a chance to introduce most of those people to the most important person in my life now...my amazing husband. I can't wait! It will also be a chance to remanisce about some of the fun and memorable times we had. I am excited to show Eric around the campus, take him to Kidsville, have him taste a Spudnut Donut, show him the dorm and house I lived in, eat at Leal's with him, and just let him experience (if only for a day) some of what I was like before we met. I am also super excited about seeing my dear, sweet friends Summer, Sarah, and others, and spending time with them laughing and just being silly (because let's face it - that's what we do best!).

I will try to remember to take lots of pictures (try is the key word here), so that I can share them and have them as memories of what I'm sure will be a wonderful weekend.

Happy Birthday Eric!

Today is Eric's 31st birthday...Happy Birthday, Babe! So if you know him, give him a call and wish him a great b-day!

Here's a picture of Murph giving Eric a great big birthday smooch...

So last night I talked to my sweet friend, Summer, about our plans for this weekend. This weekend...holy crap...has is really been 10 years since I graduated from college?!? What have I done the past 10 years? How old am I? Good grief...

Trying something new

I have recently happened upon several blogs of friends from college, high school, and even elementary school, and I am learning that this (not email, or phone calls, or even...gulp...snail mail) is the newest and easiest way to stay in touch with people. So, I am giving it a go. We'll see how successful I am at staying up-to-date with it.

So, yes, I am back in Abilene, even though I swore I would never move back here once I left. It's funny how sometimes things don't work out exactly the way you plan them out in your head. But anyway...I have been back here for about six years now (yikes...has it really been that long?!?), and I work for the school district. I am NOT a teacher...I did that for a while and realized that it is not the job for me. I am an accountant, taking care of all the federal and state grants the district gets, and I really like my job. The best thing about being back in Abilene is that, had I not moved here, I would not have met my wonderful husband (more on how we met in another post).

Okay, I didn't really mean for this first post to be about my job or where I am, but that's just what came out when I started typing. I will try to use this blog as a (daily/weekly/or whatever) journal of how things are going in our lives, and sometimes as an outlet for whatever happens to be on my mind. Enjoy!