Random Thoughts and better Pictures of Bree!

Well, it's been an interesting few nights. Bree us actually really well behaved for such a young puppy. If she's not just exhausted when we put her to bed she cries for a while but goes to sleep and doesn't cry again until she's just ready to be up which is about 30mins to an hour before we are ready but really we can't complain.
We think Bree is younger than 6 weeks. She's very small for the typical size of either of her breed and her coordination and sight development seem younger too. While she looks a lot like puppies of both breeds it is possible that she could have a little dog in her bloodline somewhere and not really grow into a big dog... Ryan would be dissapointed. LOL
We'll just wait and see.


In other news, this Saturday... and whole weekend really... is something I'm REALLY looking forward to! Saturday morning we plan on taking Rudy's breakfast tacos and some drinks up to the workers at our house! I think we may start taking Bree too so she can become familiar with the neighborhood. (Of course she won't be walking around, we'll just hang onto her. =)
Last Saturday was the beginning of the framing so I'm interested in seeing what they can do in a week! And Ryan will get to see what they can do in about two days since he and Dad are gonna go see it tomorrow night. =)

Also on Saturday, I'm doing sunset engagement photos in Terra Vista for Jonathan and Kelly! I'm really lookinf forward to that! Hoping for some FABULOUS lighting a great time for all! =)

Sunday we get to go to church AND our Sunday School class which I'm REALLY looking forward to. I think we may just be finished with our service in the Children's Ministry which, in my opinion is good because I'm spiritually hungry and I need our Sundays back! =)
Sunday evening there is a Young Married party at our small group leader's home, which is awesome because of this THREE DAY WEEKEND!!!! We get to sleep in!
Ryan and I are BOTH off and are gonna chill most of the day and then have dinner at Gigi and Pops house with Beth and hopefully George! =)

The weather is gradually cooling down and I am SO looking forward to fall!!! Especially November! It's a good month that will be even more exciting this year.
Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Moving! Woo Hoo! Celebration month!

Well, Happy Tuesday!

Meet Bree!!!

So I guess a lot of new and exciting things were just waiting for Ryan and I! Over the past several weeks we have been discussing the idea of another dog. We have been reading up on breeds, talking about what's important etc. And today we happened upon our new baby girl; Bree. She was outside a Pet's Mart today just waiting for someone to play with. Bree was rescued from a house full of WAY too many dogs and puppies. She WAS suffering with fleas and tics but is now bug free! Bree is a Rottweiler German Shepherd mix and before you get concerned let me just say that Bree has a VERY sweet and sociable disposition and being so young she is very trainable. Plus both breeds are said to be loyal and smart and easy to train. Bree is already such a sweetheart, and she got to meet several of her aunts and uncles and Gigi and Pops. She did GREAT with everyone all at once and two VERY inquisitive dogs!
Now is a GREAT time for a puppy because we have a few months left in our apartment to get the hardest (And messiest) part of puppy training out of the way AND with Ryan's and my current job situations she will spend a max of 3 or 4 hours without one of us so she will have LOTS of attention, exercise, and chances to go outside!
We are SO excited! =)

HOUSE UPDATES!!!

SO!!!

We went to see the slab at our lot today and found our house was already in the stick stage!!! We are SO excited!
Below are pictures of the first stage: the framing of the foundation and then the plumbing, AND today with the framing going up! At this rate we COULD be in the house closer to the beginning of November which we would REALLY like!

Also in the pictures below are some of the enterrior options we picked out.
Because of the swiftness of the house going up we didn't get the Water Softener Loop like we wanted... it was already too late... so any idea on what to do about hard water once we get into the house?

Food, Fall, and Random Thoughts!

Wow, Okay I'm really getting into this blogging thing. Even though I have no idea who all my audience is, I have rediscovered the joy I've pretty much always had in writing!

Now let's talk about food! Today was grocery day and you know what I have been craving almost since I woke up today? CHEESE!!!
I miss cheese! Right now I just want fresh bakes bread, fresh Cheddar cheese and grapes and strawberries! Yum!
I have been thinking about lasagna, stuffed shells, mac and cheese, cottage cheese, Mom's famous breakfast tacos that's all held together with ooey gooey cheese!!!
And sometimes I buy singles to put on MY sandwiches and MY eggs in the morning but I wanted real sharp fresh cheddar cheese. I was at the store and I didn't buy any. I was in that section at the beginning of my trip and needed to make sure I got the necessities first, plus I forgot how much fat is in cheese and I'm still trying to drop that "Married 20" (You know, like the Freshman 15?)
BUT What I did by was that fresh baked bread I was talking about and fresh fruit. Ryan and I both LOVE Heb's warm baked french bread and we are both big fruit eaters. Another bread that is my favorite is the sandwich bread. It's one of the things I splurge on. It's Oroweat (sp) Oat Bread! It's soft but grainy and has a comforting sweet taste to it! Yum!
Also Driscoll strawberries are the BEST even their appearance is prettier. Bigger brighter! Yum. I also got white grapes and white peaches which is one of Ryan's favorites, and my favorite fruit.... Bananas! Mmmm... I just love fresh food.

OK so moving on.
When I went to the grocery store I was outside and thinking "Oh my gosh it's August in Texas and it feels like fall!!!" It's beautiful! Breezy, and yeah it's cloudy but not in a depressing way. It's almost soothing. Like God's reminding my that the seasons change and here's the start of something new!
Weather PLEASE don't go away! I LOVE this season, it's my favorite! And today's outside feeling goes so well with that feeling I described about back to school cleaning and Enya! Thank you Jesus for special moments like this. So refreshing.

Speaking of back to school, today will be my third day of work! We had a VERY rough first day as several things were not done that should have been done before the start of that day. Also my site manager is nice but SHE (That's right I transferred to a site where I am now working with a female! Woot!) has a lot going on for her right now and doesn't seem to have a lot of the extra time needed for the planning and scheduling that goes into having a successful structured day with 45 children.
But, that evening my Hubby brought my a Starbucks, sweetly asked me all about my first day, did the dishes for me, AND gave me a back massage! Talk about brownie points! He's amazing and I love him!
Yesterday went much more smoothly! We both showed up early and had pretty much everything in order before the kids got there so I'm hoping it just keeps going up from here and that the extra time I have can be used to working on curriculum and activities for my group. I have Kinder and 1st graders this year and some of my kinders are more like preschoolers so it gets a bit rough. I'm looking forward to getting to know them better though. I think I know almost all of their names, which, after only 2 days that's pretty good!

This morning was quiet, I think the workers are mostly done. I am so glad!
One thing that constantly makes Ryan and I more Thankful for our new home is that despite how many time our apartment gets sprayed, the critters are still here. It's Roley polies and centipedes. Our apartment is bottom floor in a rather wooded area and nothing is sealed very well... it's just a constant battle.
And be assured when doors and windows go up in our new house Ryan will be checking the weather stripping and sealant. LOL, but I don't remember ever having bugs like this in any of our homes growing up. So we are really looking forward to that.
I think we will stop by tonight or this weekend to see where they are. The slab should definitely be poured, I'm not sure about what's next but pictures will follow! =)

It's Thursday everybody! We are almost at the weekend! and a Monday Holiday is coming up! Woo Hoo!

GO AWAY WORKER MEN!!!!

Ok so our apartment complex has decided that the stairs need replaced on our building. So now starting at 8am every morning I am flooded with the sounds of loud hammering, the thuds of dropping concrete steps and giant sections of wood as well as Spanish yelling!!! And it doesn't stop!
Worse than that It sounds like my apartment is completely surrounded. No matter where I am inside there's someone on a ladder outside or walking around the back! It's horrible! I feel trapped and annoyed. Working with a bunch of high energy kids in the afternoon already gives me a headache. I'd rather not prep for work with another head ache.
"Hey! I'm trying to write a blog here!!! Stop hammering for a minute!"

The other thing is, they keep screaming at each other in such a way that I think someone got hurt like every 20 mins! This is seriously going to drive me crazy!



In other news; My first day of work yesterday was crazy! I'm hoping it's just because my site manager didn't have it together and today she will. I also have a few ideas to try to keep the kids busy. I've put myself in charge of fun kids crafts! =) Hopefully it'll work.
The problem with this group is that there's really not enough kids in each grade to group them evenly according to their age so in any group you have such age diversity that anything you suggest is only going to work for part of the group.
This is difficult.
So, I'm hoping by the end of this week we will have a better feel of who these kids are and how to group them where they behave the best.
I feel like there is a lot of work ahead.

Great Weekend and New Beginnings!

This weekend Ryan and I went to Houston to clear Ryan of traffic violations he did NOT commit. Turns out, when the court looked up the tickets issued with Ryan's driver's License number it had somebody Else's name on it! So, after 2 and a half irritating hours; everything was dismissed and all was good.
After that was taken care of we were lucky enough to catch Allison in Bob in Houston. We got to spend time with them, hang out with Jimmy and Melissa AND see Jon and Em! What a great weekend. Nothing beats time with family and the past several weekends for us have been blessed with different family events.

Today I meet with my site manager to discuss this week of school and I have to admit I'm a little anxious with the idea simply because the school is so small only two workers are currently needed which means it's just me and the site manager who is male, and I'm not sexist or anything but the majority of my work history has been either just me as a nanny or working with women. And especially now that I'm married the idea of working just myself and another guy just bothers me and it has nothing to do with the site manager and maybe I'm just a dork, I don't know...

Well, our slab should be poured today, and we are still hoping to close before Thanksgiving, I'm also REALLY hoping I can be transferred to the elementary school right down the road once we move.

The next few weeks/months involve a LOT of change for us. This week I go back to work which will change Ryan and I's home life Schedule a bit. We started attending a small group that we are hoping won't be a conflict with Ryan's classes which start next month on a twice weekly basis but the days are unknown to us at this point. We will get to go back to Sunday School now at church and really start getting plugged in there, this holiday season will be our first as a married couple and will be mixed with our move in. And I still really want to try to get my photography up and running. Everything in it's time.
We are VERY excited about all the upcoming events and are both REALLY looking forward to Fall weather and the holidays! I'm already thinking about Christmas presents so if you wanna send me ideas now so you forget before Christmas, I'm OK with that! =)

And mow I will wrap up with a random likes and dislikes list!

Things I Have Discovered That I LIKE:

~Spontaneous trips to Houston
~The Simply brand of orange juice with Mango (Yum!)
~Candles that fill our apartment with pleasant fragrances far better than any air freshener! (Thanks Allison!)
~Blogging
~That "It's almost fall/back to school feeling" even though I'm not a kid anymore. (It always puts a picture of our old house with all the windows open, a breeze blowing through the place with Enya blasting through out the house the smell of clean everywhere! =) Thanks for that Mom)
~Our new small group!
~Painting time with Mom and Beth talking about "stuff" ;)
~The idea of my other two brothers moving back to Austin with their families. (Not that the BOTH plan to at this point but I'd love to see it happen! and I like the pleasant thought/day dream)
~Our first Home!
~The sweet similarities between my beloved husband, and my precious Daddy and brothers. =)

Things I Have Discovered That I DON'T Like:

~Our stairwell at our apartment being worked on. (They drop things and it's scary!)
~Uncomfortable work situations
~The complicated aspects of Home buying (Just the stress of it.)
~Bills
~Getting the oil changed (I just don't like car repair stuff, those places are icky. LOL but I am SO thankful for my car.)

HAPPY MONDAY AND HAPPY BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

Random Thoughts

Well, the last time we checked on our house they had finished up the plumbing and it looked like they might be real close to pouring the slab. That was Tuesday so it'll be interesting to see where they are the next time we head out there for a visit.

In other news; Ryan and I were finally able to go to a young marrieds small group last night. And we loved it! BOTH of us! We feel like couple friendships are just waiting to bloom! Plus our Sunday School class starts up again this week! We are so looking forward to getting plugged in to our church and making new friends.

I am getting really excited/nervouse about starting work on Monday. Excited to actually work with the kids and curriculem, but nervous about how my supervisor might like to supervise me. In my past experience with this job I had a group of about 24 kids, we met before the kids arrived, went over a few things and then we all worked with our particular group of kids without anyone hovering. And not to brag but I did a pretty good job with things that way.
I'm also not pumped about only working with one other guy. I prefer to work with Women. I'm hoping this aspect of the job is short lived. And I'm hoping that it won't be a problem to transfer to the elementary school down the street from our new house wants it's built.
It's a lot easier to put up with something when you know it's temporary.

Ryan and I are headed to Houston tomorrow to try and sort out this ticket mess and are hoping that it will be even easier than we are hoping for.

We are also already looking forward to the holidays! I'm looking forward to a change in seasons!! =)

Hope you are doing well. Happy Thursday it's almost Friday!

Replacing Facebook

For several reasons I have decided to get rid of Facebook and turn to blogging instead.
This way I can still try to keep up with everyone and allow family and friends to see what's going on in our life.
This also encourages me to write more, which I believe to be very good for me.

A lot has happened over the past several weeks; some tragic, some funny, other's absolutely delightful.

We lost our sweet puppy Samson, and have been doing better now, and are grateful for all the encouragement we recieved for family and friends.
I auditioned for American Idol which was fun but uneventful. It's a high stress environment which caused my nerves to get the best of my voice. Hilarious!
And this weekend Joe and Sara were in town and it was wonderful to see them. Almost the whole family was here and we got together on several occassions which is just such a blessing to both Ryan and I.
We are so blessed by our families.

I start my job at the YMCA after school program this Monday and I'm hoping to be transfered to a school down the street from our new house when we move.
Ryan has orientation for his Union school next week and we are scheduled to close on our house about Thanksgiving so we are in for a lot of exciting changes!

We are headed to Houston this weekend to try to figure out some ticket mess that someone else got Ryan into, and we are looking forward to being in Houston again next month when our baby neice, Ally is borne!!!

We are so excited about what God is doing in our lives and so blessed to have such wonderful people to take part in it.

Please keep us informed on what's going on in your neck of the woods and how we can be praying for you!

Much Love!

Tiffany