Some Random Comments

I wanted to just say some things here that have been on my mind lately that are totally and completely random...

1. Why is that billboards NEVER have all the letters needed, for example, here are a couple that I have seen over the last few days:
" 44 cents - Amy fountain driwk" I guess buying 5 "N"s was entirely too costly.

"Al on sale" Al is on sale?!?!?

2. I LOVE the not so new CD by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. It's called "Raising Sand". It's a blend of bluegrass, "old" rock and also acoustic all mixed in. Mom, I think you would like it. He played with Steve Miller and you can definitely hear some Zepplin/ Beatles in the music (at least to me.)

3. I'm obsessed with blogging. I think about it entirely too much during my day. This could also be another sign that I need a job.

4. Flying is finally growing on me. We went to El Paso this weekend( pics and blog to come I have to use Clint's laptop to upload pics and he uses it for school) and on the way home I wasn't nearly as scared. Seriously, every time I get on a plane, I assume I'm going to die. I pray and pray before we get on, then when we take off, I look the other way, grip the armchair and Clint's hand, and literally sweat a little until all I can see are clouds. Once we are up that high I'm okay because my theory is we are more likely to survive once we get up there because we can "coast" down. I know this is totally irrational but it's the way I look at it. I hate landing the most. It's bumpy, loud, and fast. This time we sat near the wing and it's way loud when the wing parts start preparing for landing. I always think a piece of the plane is falling off, Clint has to remind me every time that it is supposed to make that noise. Also, once you land, you realize how fast you are going and that's pretty creepy too. But this time I did really well. I just decided that I'm not going to be scared anymore and actually taking off is kind of fun because you go so fast!

5. I think Obama should forget about being president and go into selling cars. He is so well spoken and suave, he could probably sell me just about anything. Also, he would make way more money. The president makes like 100k or something like that. By now he could own like 5 Ford dealerships. He could be the person keeping Ford afloat. I truely believe he could sell a huge diesel dually to an 80 year old woman.

Well, that's it for now. I promise to post pictures tomorrow!

This is the main course. Off to the side were all the meats. Watching Clint, during this part, you could tell he would make a good doctor. He was so thorough with cooking the meat, checking the meat for doneness, preping the next meat to go in the pot, etc. Quite the multitasker!
The amazing flowers my amazing husband gave me.
Uno mas...


Beautiful downtown Fort Worth (it's still weird that we live here!) If you haven't been to downtown it is absolutely worth seeing. (Forget Dallas) There are tons of places to eat for all budgets, hotels, Bass Hall, places to shop, etc. Plus you still get the small town atmosphere if you go about 5 miles down the road (which is where we live.)

Valentine's Day

This year, Clint and I decided to do our favorite thing...eat. We went to a place called Simply Fondue in downtown Fort Worth. Our reservations were for 8:45 on Friday. They called us a few hours before to confirm our reservation but also to tell us they had a complementary valet. Which was awesome because we were thinking we would have to leave really early so we could find free parking (if we even found that). So we got there early and we checked on our reservation and they weren't ready for us yet. We went upstairs (because the restaurant was in the basement of this building) and there was an art gallery with sculptures, impressionist paintings, vases, etc. It was really beautiful (and really expensive). So anyway, we spent 20 to 30 minutes up there and then went down to the restaurant. We were seated around 8:45. The waiter came and we ordered our salad and our first course which is the cheese fondue. We picked a Mediterranean cheese fondue so it had pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic along with the cheese. Our waiter made the fondue at our table and then brought us our sides to dip. We had different kinds of bread and also lots of veggies, it was so yummy. Then we had our main course. For our meats, we picked shrimp, tuna, Jamaican jerk and teriyaki chicken, beef tenderloin and beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon. Also on the plate with the meat were more veggies, like sweet potatoes and mushrooms. He also brought us dipping sauces which included cream cheese to stuff the mushrooms and a batter to fry the mushrooms in. It was delicious! And then, finally, we had dessert. We picked the dark chocolate fondue. So we had 2 plates (I'm sorry to say!) of marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, pineapple, cake, cherries, and brownie to dip in our chocolate!! It was awesome. When we got in the car, it was 11:20. We had been eating for over 2 hours! We were absolutely stuffed. But, it was so much fun just getting to talk and eat with no other distractions. I took some pictures and I'll post those when I get a chance. We didn't really do gifts or anything but Clint did buy me some flowers and he got me some sconces off the Internet (what husband buys sconces... I don't know, and truly he does a better job of picking things out like that than I do). Saturday we woke up at 10:30, which is really late for us. And we didn't eat until 4 or 5 that day. We were still so full! That night we made stew and watched a movie. It was a good weekend!

Oh One More Thing...

So, in January Clint and I finally broke down and bought an iRobot Roomba. It's probably the best invention ever! It's a small, round vacuum that rolls around the floor. It's battery lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. We have all wood floors so it picks up dirt and Cherry hair so easily! I used to vacuum every other week. To date, I have yet to pull out my bulky vacuum. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has a dog that sheds. Probably one of the best investments we have made!

Blessings

So this week has been really amazing. I have been looking for temp jobs lately and trying to get my name out there about nannying/babysitting. Clint and I and our small group at church have been praying for me to have clarity about what I should do. Well, this week I had 3 separate people ask me about keeping their kids. I was really shocked. It was like God was saying ok, you want an answer well here it is. I mean, I can't tell you how many places I have applied and how many times I have questioned what I'm supposed to do. Clint and I have prayed and prayed for God to steer us. I have always felt that God has a special purpose for me I was just missing what that was exactly. But I don't know, ever since Alisha ( she is one of my good friends in our small group who is having a baby in August) asked me about watching baby Ward, I have felt a since of peace about it. I haven't felt that way with anything else that I have tried to do. Clint and I had a real heart to heart about the job situation this week and he was totally amazing about it. I don't think he knew it but I had a real "wow" moment when he started talking to me becuase the exact things I had been praying about, Clint brought up and talked to me about them. It was really amazing. I know he has questioned my sanity (and so have I) over the past 7 monthes that I have been unemployed. But he has just stuck right there with me. He has always been so supportive of me even though I know he gets stressed out he never takes it out on me (though I can't say the same for myself). I don't know what I would with out him.

God has been incredible to us these past few weeks. Before we need anything he gives us help. One of the girls in our small group, when I was telling her how God had provided for us, said that God knows we are being faithful to Him and He is rewarding us for that. I hadn't thought of that way, but it is true. It took me awhile to put my total faith in Him. Like most people, I wanted to figure it out on my own. I can find a job..in this huge city..with limited experience.. all by myself! Yeah, right. He has taught me a lot of hard lessons since then but honestly I would do all of it again for how close I feel that I am to Him now. And I know it wouldn't be possible had I not gone through it. (Not saying I'm out of it yet).

So anyway, thanks Clint for being such I wonderful husband, I love you. And thank you to everyone else who has prayed and is still praying for us!

Our Cherry Dog and Saturday's Goings On

So most of you have met Cherry. She's our little beagle- basset hound (bagel). Bobbi came over today and made fun of me for loving her, but that's okay, she's just jealous! Cherry and I went walking yesterday and on the way back she acted like she wanted to lay down in the middle of the street. I had to pull on the leash to keep her going. But normally she can run/walk with me for 2 miles or so and she's really ok. (People don't believe me when I tell them that but it's true!)

Like I said Bobbi came over today (she's my BFF from high school and we also lived together throughout college) and we got caught up. I love getting to hang out with her. It's so fun because even if we go a few weeks without talking we can immediately pick right back up where we left off. She's one of those people that will do anything for you. I have always felt like I could tell her anything and know that it was safe with her. Anyway, we went to Half Priced Books and then to the mall. She had to get some makeup and I wanted to see if Gap had any sales (they didn't) and then we went and ate a cookie at Great American Cookie Company. (YUMMY!) We came home and Clint was here, he had been out with some friends for the afternoon, and we ate dinner. Thank you Lacie for the tip about e-mealz. We had roast from the crock-pot that was delicious. I spent $52 at the grocery store (which is really good for food up here) for 5 dinners , lunch and breakfast. Plus, I spent no time having to plan out any dinner meals! And now I'm sitting on the couch, a sleeping dog beside me, watching tv with Clint. It was a good day!

My Very First Blog

So, this is my first blog entry. We'll see how long I can keep this up! I'm not very good at these things. I don't know how many notebooks I have from when I was young where I wrote a few entries and then soon gave up on it. But maybe this will be different!! Anyway, so yeah I'll try to update ever once in awhile with stuff Clint and I are doing. Most of Clint's pictures would be him sitting at our kitchen table, leaned over his laptop with his iPOD earphones in so he can listen to lectures that he missed or wasn't listening to while he was in the class. Right now they are doing renal so...yay for kidneys! He has a test Friday..and a test Monday...and then a test Friday...and a test Monday. So he's kind of busy. Me...well...hmm...what am I doing? I've been reading some good books lately. I just finished "In the Presence of My Enemies" by Gracia Burnham. It's about the 2 missionaries in the Philippines that we're kidnapped and weren't released until a year later but not before her husband is killed. It was an amazing story and really makes you think about what is most important in life. Other than that, I'm still looking for a job. It can be quite frustrating but I think God has His reasons for all this. He has definitely taught me alot thru this experience. And that's a whole other blog that I won't go into. But Clint and I are doing awesome. Sure money is tight but we have met some amazing people here, we are getting to do lots of new and fun things and of course, we have each other...(and Cherry)!


p.s. I wasn't being sarcast about the blog title. I'm not a creative person so it may take me a while to come up with a title.