Trunk of Treats... two weeks late.

This last weekend was truck of treats at MacArthur Park. There was a pretty good turnout- though I'll admit I thought there would be more cars. But...people go all out for this stuff! I wish I took more pics of the other trunks that were decorated. So many cars and so many different ideas. Our honeymooners class was told to do "Disney" which is kind of hard unless you want to be the all time fall back ... a princess. So- it took a little more creative thinking on our parts. Ashley, Ava, and Kevin did finding nemo (Ava is nemo...so cute!), while Justin and Melanie did the dentist office scene from Nemo- complete with drills, and crazy tools. THey even brought a live fish! Jordan and Megan were tourists complete with leather keds, pleated shorts and frizzy hair. Definitely National Lampoon's family vacation feel. We didn't even recognize them until they took off their sunglasses. Marshal and Erin were Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and Jess and I were Dumbo and the Ring leader. I should have done Horton instead because most the kids are too young for Dumbo. Only the adults knew who I was supposed to be.

We went out for pizza and games afterwards, I was exhausted by the end of the day though. I spent the whole day doing chores and making my costume. Poor Byron was on call again and it was a rough night for him. He's a champ. He woke up on Sunday for evening church and went right back to bed when we got home. Poor guy.

Work and home projects

Not much has been going on in our world other than the good ol' regular routine. I"m settling into work just fine and am learning on average one new technique a week. Its very detailed work which is not always my favorite- but I enjoy the challenge and the opportunity to learn new stuff! Last week I set up four locomotor chambers that will be used to monitor animal movement. I was so proud of this because as many of you know...I do NOT consider myself a manual/directions reader. Nor a techie, nor a mechanic. So...building these chambers, programming them, and learning how to simulate an experiment was a great accomplishment in my book. I'm sure someone could have done all of it in 1/10th the time it took me - but whatever. I was getting paid and I was doing my best:)

At home...Byron built me some flower troughs from scratch on his day off last week. They are AWESOME! We don't have a yard so we have to be a little creative with our landscaping. I'm in love with the fall chrysanthemum colors..it's about hte closest I'll come to fall colors here in SA so I went to home depot and picked a few up this weekend. Byron was pumped I picked out TWO maroon ones (he's such an aggie). We stained and sealed them this weekend and I just love the new colors outside our door!




And because I'm such an awesome gardener (as much as I can call myself that with a few plants outside in pots)...I have a new pet. Yes that's right. His name is Squirmy II (RIP Jennie's Childhood pet). He is a snail. And he lives in my flower pot and comes out every evening when I water. He loves me. Isn't it sad I've resorted to having a pet snail? Bug Byron. Please. I bring up the issue of getting a dog every week- but I am met with stubborn resolve. Help me plead my case! Feel free to call or email him immediately and tell him we need a more interactive pet.



Byron is having a rough week at work- one of the other residents is out on vacation so that shortens everyones call schedule by one night. So...basically he works call...sleeps....works call...sleeps....etc for the next week and a half. Ouch. I feel for him. I'm just not a nice person when I don't get enough sleep. But...he has a good attitude about it which always helps.

And...FYI...Byron passed his 3rd and final medical boards (well...there is one more for his specialty later)! HORRAYYYYYY!!!! I'm so proud of him. He worked really really hard to prepare for it and took the bull by the horns and took it about 4 years earlier than he had to! Go Byron! We went out to celebrate with a nice dinner in Boerne which is a small, very cute town outside of San Antonio. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was perfect. We both enjoy smaller, quieter places as opposed to the downtown chaos. I wish I took some pictures but alas...I never remember my camera.

Saturday I ran 9 miles with the girls (And walked one) and the time just flew by. It was a beautiful day and the conversation was great! Running is made so much more enjoyable with friends. But- They will both be out of town next weekend so we'll see if I can stay disciplined and go on my own. I had lunch with Jess Logan at Red lobster. I simply LOVE their biscuits! Yummy. Her husband is deployed and it was really nice to sit down and just visit with her. I'm so thankful God has brought so many new friends into our lives.

I also managed to cook some some new fall flavors this week with a berry crumble, and pumpkin muffins. The muffins burned a little (I have a temperamental stove), but I just cut off that part and they taste great anyway. My new friend Becky has excellent recipes of all sorts to share. She is also my new personal library:) She's giving me some friendship bread tonight to try out. I'll let you know how that goes. Apparently it's a 10 day process so...I'm not sure how dedicated I am for that. To me- bread tastes just as yummy frozen out of the freezer. But maybe manual labor adds a little extra something. We'll see:)




P.S- I did not put the Aggie mug in the picture on purpose. Guess who took those? Borderline obsessed.

Rainy weekend

San Antonio and the surrounding areas have been in a SEVERE drought for a while now. Well..this weekend it seemed like God was answering all our prayers for rain the last few months. It rained and rained and rained. While I"m not particularly fond of it rainy weather- I'm thankful that we got some of the relief we needed. However- this also meant that I had to do my long run in the pouring down rain at 7 AM on Saturday. That just stunk.

I've decided to run the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon in November and have been training for it with two girls from church: Julie and Olivia. It's totally necessary to have running buddies- because on days like Saturday there is no way any of us would willingly run without the motivation of the others. It s a great time to reflect on the last week, talk about our struggles, goals, etc. all while getting some exercise. The time actually goes by pretty fast, but last Saturday did not. It was cold, and wet, and dark. But- all that being said- we ran faster than normal because all of us just wanted to be done! So- I got home by 8:30 which left the entire day open for activity. I managed to clean the whole house and finish the laundry before Byron got home so I felt very productive.

Byron was on call Friday night which was his first overnight call of his career. It was a doosey. I don't know how he does it, but he was at the hospital going non-stop for 36 hrs with no sleep. Ouch. So- I tried to clean the house (the loud stuff) on Friday night so I wouldn't bother him. He got home around 3 and crashed. I treated myself to a nap as well after I went to the grocery store and did some gardening for a while.

I love saturdays like that. There's just something that makes me feel better about having a clean house. It feels more cozy or something. And since it was raining- I didn't feel so bad about not getting outside and being productive.

I spent the evening paying bills, reading and cooking. I made Chicken and wild rice soup, and a chocolate espresso silk mousse pie. It was delicious! I finally woke Byron up around 10:30 to let him eat, but he went strait back to bed. Poor thing. But the good thing about this rotation is that he gets a full post call day and the day after off. So- at least you have a chance to catch up on your sleep before having to do it again. There is one week this month when he has three call days in 1 week- which is going to be rough.


It was still raining cats and dogs on Sunday and the following pictures were after only 24 hrs of rain. Yikes! Holy bad drainage systems! But- our roof didn't leak this time- so that's a step in the right direction! We had to find new routes to church since some of our normal roads were flooded. We went to a new pizza place with our young marrieds class and then back home for hte afternoon. I went to volleyball practice and man....am I sore today! You'd think I'd be in shape after training for a 1/2 marathon! All in all- I'd say it was a productive, but relaxing weekend.