It's been brought to my attention by a few friends and family members, who shall remain nameless, that we have been slacking on updating our blog. And looking back at our latest post I now realize that it
has been a little over two months since we've written an entry.
Today's the
day.
I'll back up to where we last left off in late November/ early December. We returned from our Thanksgiving trip in Phoenix/ Sedona to finish up a few more weeks of work in CA before the Christmas holidays began. Mike's parents and younger sister, also named Mandy (yes, we have the same name. I know it's weird.), came to visit for four days and to celebrate an early Christmas with us. We really enjoyed the laid back visit and were able to take in a movie, drive around and look at Christmas lights, and then celebrate Christmas together at our apartment with a festive meal and a small gift exchange. It was really nice to see them since we weren't traveling back to Indiana this Christmas.
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| Our attempt at decorating for Christmas. (Note the goofy fake tree we found at the Goodwill as our substitute Christmas tree.) |
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| One of the decorated houses we saw when looking at Christmas lights. |
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| I LOVE the decorated palm trees. Who needs a white Christmas anyways? |
Shortly after we flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma where my older brother, Aaron, and his wife, Susanna live. My parents and my older sister, Dori, and her husband, John also came to celebrate Christmas with us. We had an awesome time! It was a great chance to relax, rest, and enjoy time together. Aaron and Susanna gave up their bedroom for Mike and I to use during the visit and it was seriously like staying at a five star hotel. The bed was soft, the pillows plush, the bedding was filled with down and the finishes in the space were beautiful. Aaron and Susanna were just finishing up a renovation in their bedroom and it was so sweet of them to give up their bedroom during our stay. We also really enjoyed playing with their three sweet pups, Spanky, Tito, and Little. The cute little white balls of fluff all had their own distinctive personalities that we got to know very quickly. All in all, that trip was filled with great food, excellent company, and fun memories.
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| How a Christmas tree should look. This was Aaron and Susanna's. |
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| The ladies in the family attended the Nutcracker ballet. |
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| We celebrated my dad's birthday, too. That's Aaron's normal face. |
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| My mom and older sister, Dori before we headed to the ballet. |
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| All piled in the car (including the trunk!) when we checked out a winter wonderland of Christmas lights at a nearby bible college. |
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| A poor quality picture of the lights. There were tons of them and it was gorgeous! |
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| Opening stockings on Christmas morning in our jammies :) |
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| Aaron and Susanna |
We returned to Southern California the day after Christmas and worked for two more weeks before we packed up what little we owned and moved again. Our plan was to move to Houston, Texas where our good friends, Sarah and Jon Gibson live. They've been talking up Houston for quite some time now and we wanted to see what all the hype was about. Only...Mike didn't have a job set up in Houston yet. Lining up the timing of these short term work contracts can be tricky. So we diverted to Plan B which was to spend a little extra time with family while Mike secured a job. Aaron and Susanna readily opened their home to us and we spent a fun two weeks with them. We are blessed to have family that we enjoy spending time with and that are so welcoming to us!
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| Referred to as "the center of the universe", you can hear your echo all around you when you stand at this exact spot and yell- just as Susanna is demonstrating. |
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| The tall building behind Mike and Susanna is where Aaron works. |
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| A super old gas station that we stopped at on our way out of Oklahoma. No credit cards accepted on this baby. |
Mike secured a job that started on the 28th of January. On January 25th we made the 8 hour drive from Tulsa to Houston. This was the first time Mike and I had been in Houston and we enjoyed taking in the city skyline as we drove into the city. As we approached the city we also noticed a change in weather; the sun was shining and the car quickly warmed up. You can't beat temperatures in the 70's in January! We arrived at Sarah and Jon's apartment around 6:30pm that evening and were able to unpack and get settled in fairly quickly. Sarah and Jon graciously invited us to stay at their apartment so we are splitting the costs with them during our 3-month stay. We love their apartment; it's roomy and has been recently renovated so everything appears brand new. Sarah has it decorated very nicely and we felt at home right away. They have a new puppy, Mae Mobley (named after the sweet little girl from "The Help") who is so smart and sweet and full of puppy love. She's going to be a fun companion for us....as well as Sarah and Jon. They're pretty fun, too ;)
As for now, I (Mandy, in case you haven't figured out who this is yet) am unemployed. It's difficult to find a short term contract in early intervention for a speech therapist so Mike and I decided that I would take a little time off work for these 3 months. I have a few goals I am working towards that should keep me busy including learning to speak Spanish fluently and reading through the entire Bible. I'm also enjoying having more time for reading, cooking, napping (haha), and traveling. I've already made my first trip back to Indiana to visit some friends and family (see pictures below) and next week we are headed to Austin, TX where Mike and Jon are running a marathon. Wish them luck!!!
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| The view from the airplane on my flight to IN. The clouds were a solid sheet of fluff. |
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| My mother-in-law, Rose, and her Christmas present: Buddy Holly. |
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Isn't he the sweetest?
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