That's life.

Been a long time since I have blogged. I know, my three adoring fans miss me; Wendy, Casey, and Mommy. Hi guys! Anyhow, Case and Los finally got here. I LOVE IT! They are uberliciously cool to hang out with . David and I are very excited about sharing daily life together with them. I am working at the Food Bank (1 1/2 months so far) and running my 5th 1/2 marathon in San Antonio with David this weekend. The following weekend I am headed HOME for the New Kids on the Block Concert (yeah baby) and Thanksgiving, and the Seattle 1/2 marathon. David and I are so looking forward to being home. I miss my home more than anything so good food, good friends, good shopping, good scenery here I come.... Seattle is the greatest place in the world and I am so happy to be going back to where beauty, culture, relationships, and style are! 8 days and counting!!! Most of all, I can't wait for my hot chocolate date with Blakey Bear!!!

Thank God I also majored in FCS!!!

Boy, I never thought I would hear myself say that!!! In addition to majoring in Education, I got my B.A. in Family and Consumer Science; sometimes called F.C.S. and otherwise known as Home Economics. Yes, I said Home Ec. I was a generalist so I learned how to teach life skills, family finance, child development, food science, nutrition, and various elements of design (fashion and interiors).This week I met a women at a church event I volunteered for, who is the Asst. Exec for the CC Food Bank. Then on Monday night I met another women at Bible Study Fellowship who also worked there. Apparently I made an impression because there is an opening for a Nutritionist/Educator and I am interviewing for it tomorrow (Wednesday).

I am praying that this is God's will. It really just fell into my lap. The neat thing is that I used to say that one day I would teach in a way that supports families, women, and children. This organization is committed to supporting people with food, insurance (medicaid), education, cooking classes for kids, people with diabetes, and those who are obese and are in need of help. There is a lot of heart there and I am praying that I could be a blessing to that team. I would covet your prayers!!!

Being in Love...

Okay for all of those who want a love life update, here are my thoughts...In the last few months I have learned a lot about love. My heart has been healing lately in ways I could've never imagined. David is like the greatest invention God ever came up with (obviously after salvation). Here are a few things that I ADORE about him. In case you are interested.

11). He is UBER hot. It's true, don't feel bad. I won't be mad if you admit it. Those eyes, dimples, and freckles KILL ME everyday.

10). His laugh is awesome, especially when he laughs hard. Sometimes he makes this face when he is genuinely surprised or excited for me that makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

9). He laughs at me, cuz I am dang funny. Also, he makes this voice that makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts.

8). He watches Scrubs with me every night while we make dinner b/c he knows I love it. Actually, he will do most anything to make me happy or meet my needs. It's crazy. Like when we had a hurricane, he took care of all the pain in the butt things that take forever. He is always doing things that I never ask for but need.

7). He is gentle with me ALWAYS, even when I am a butt head.

6). He prays for me the moment he wakes up.

5). He dances around the house with me and knows all the old skool ghetto songs I listened to in junior high and high school. You know the ones I sing all the time that none of you seem to remember. He knows all of my old jamz.

4). He sings with me in the car at the top of his lungs. He will also listen to me rant and rave over my boy band fetish.

3). He runs with me. We run on the beach all the time. I have had a really hard time getting back into running form and he coaches me through it when I want to give up. I will be close to quitting and he will say, can do it, I believe in you, you are so strong and courageous, you have done bigger things than this, this is easy for you... Basically, he runs at my pace, which is a lot slower and will never give up on me or let me quit.

2). He likes me just the way I am. I like him too!

1). We make a dynamic team. We refer to ourselves as "Team Y'all"; you know Hall and Yokers combined. Whatever; don't hate.

Why so sad Charlie Brown?

Okay so today I had an interview at Starbucks. I need insurance so I bit the bullet and applied. Well, big surprise, I got the job. Here is the deal people; never, I mean NEVER attempt to tell God what you will and won't do. I mean, sure I am reading Boundaries but apparently God just isn't "down" with me setting boundaries with Him. Something about that whole giving my life to Him that enables him to creep in and take command whenever he darn well pleases. Funny.

So despite the fact that I said I would NEVER work at Starbucks, here I am. It's not that I don't like it or believe in the brand. It's just that I am from Seattle and everyone I know practically worked there at one time. I never had any desire to learn how to make all those dang drinks and folks in Seattle are snobby about coffee plus they get really mad if they have to wait just one more second for that second quad, grande, skinny, extra foamy, extra hot, sugar free vanilla, no whip, two splenda's latte, of the day. But now I take the opportunity because I need a job. A minimum wage job.

I guess the thoughts that ran through my mind today were...wow, I get to work and interact with people; yeah, I will have insurance, oh my gosh, I had a career, Lord, why can't I get a teaching job, I will be serving coffee instead of teaching things like letter sounds, glottal stops, initial blends, phonemic awareness, metacognition, schema, and inferences. I am truly grateful but I am sad also.

I know I said I want a year off teaching but I love it. I really do. I sing my morning calendar songs to myself in my car sometimes just to remind myself what day of the week it is and what the weather is like today. I was really good at teaching you know. I am just so sad that I am not where I think I belong...in a classroom. People here won't seem to give an outsider a chance. It's funny, all that education, all that experience, even being prideful about my abilities. God has stripped me of it and here I am working for minimum wage at Starbucks. Part of me wants to cry and maybe even a small part feels mad. Yet another part of me feels hopeful for what things the Lord is going to teach me. I want to be humble. As David reminds me, Blessed are the humble and the meek, not blessed are the most popular, out going. life of the party, and charismatic. Just when I am feeling pretty bad, God uses my best friend to remind me of His faithfulness. Maybe David is why I am down here. Maybe God has listened to my prayers for the last 8 years.

What I love about Texas

Okay, so I don't want to give the impression that I think Texas is totally lame; it's just really different and that's okay. Actually, I am thinking I will do a "You know you are in Seattle when" post, because it is somewhat odd as well. But here is the start to my list of reasons why I love Texas. Are you ready?

10. Killer salsa, I mean like no where else (except maybe Mexico). Go to any grocery store and you will find the most variety and best salsas you have ever seen.

9. Cheaper gas. Right now I am paying $3.39

8. Best Mexican food I have ever had. Actually better than the stuff I have eaten in Mexico.

7. The Forever 21 here in Corpus is four times the size of the one at home. More 21 to love!

6. I live across the street from a beach. I have had bonfires there, I run there, I walk with my sweet boy after dinner there.

5. Austin (closest Whole Foods, a very Seattlesque city, great food, shopping, liberal city, more diversity).

4. San Antonio (closest hot yoga and real shopping, Teresa and her family are there)

3. With everything being so big in Texas, it makes you feel oh so small; dare I say petite actually.

2. Really friendly people. Even back home people are not at all as friendly or respectful. Even kids will open doors for you and call you ma'am.

1. And the number one reason I love Tejas... David Yokers is here. What more could I need?

Publish Post

You know you are in Texas when...

10. A cold front in Texas is 90 degrees and the weather guy is excited about it.

9. You walk into a convenience store, grocery store, shoe store, feed store, or video store and you see a picture of this guy...

8. You hear people talk about the end of confederacy as if everything that is good about life has died with it. Click on the picture to get a closer view.

7. Those belt buckles you see people wear (like on TV) are bigger than the size of your hand.

6. Going green means super sizing your salad (extra dressing please).

5. When these bad boys become a substitute for lawn art.

4. When you no longer hope for the closet parking spot, just one with the most shade. And let's be honest, parking next to the biggest rig becomes the goal.

3. You aren’t surprised to find movie rental, ammunition, and bait all in the same store.

2. A Mercedes Benz is not a status symbol; a Chevy 3500 4x4 is.

1. You go to the river/lake because you think it is like going to the ocean!

Oh and a couple others just for fun...

-You measure distance in minutes and/or hours

-And finally, you know you are in Texas when down sizing your car means from this...

To this!

Everything's bigger in Texas...

I'm not kidding, from the food, to the stores, to the hair, to the attitudes. Never have I been somewhere where people love their state so much. In fact, most think of it as a country. Ya, they aren't kidding. The next few blogs will be about Texas. But when we got here we spent time with our friends the Swanstrom's/Anderson's. Teresa just had the most delicious baby, Laith. What a fun time we had there until we drove to Corpus Christi. My attitude about CC has changed but let me tell you, you haven't seen ugly until you have driven 30 minutes on Aurora (in Seattle). Aurora has nothing on a highway known as the S.P.I.D. My top ten list of how you know you are in Texas is coming soon. Hold onto your seats!!!