We had a pretty productive Saturday...slept in, messed up some sourdough pancakes that turned out really gross, finished our taxes (Turbotax rules!), renewed my passport, and finally got rid of the last bit of our moving trash...all before 2pm. Days like this are great, now we can spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and doing whatever it is people in Connecticut do.


I found out this week that my company is sending me to London for a week in April, how cool is that?! I'm going to try and fly Joni out ahead of time so we can spend a few days over there exploring, anyone have any bright ideas of what we could do in 3-4 days? Everyone has been asking about my first week on the job and I don't really know what to say because its not that exciting. I have a big office (which surprised me) and I sit next to some pretty important people...which has its positives and negatives I guess. I spent most of the week reading up on stuff and giving myself a first-week orientation since my assignment leader has been gone all week. Its fun to "decorate" the office a little to make it my own by putting up pictures, but that only lasted a couple of minutes. I can't wait to get into the full swing of things and really know what I'm doing because all I can do right now is pretend. There is a really cool hot chocolate machine that I like to play with in the break room...well not really "play" with, but its yummy. Come to think of it, it doesn't sound like I did a whole lot this week, but I really did I promise.

We have met a lot of new people, and we really love it here so far. We can't wait until it gets warm enough to go to NYC and Boston because right now its just too cold to be outside for more than a few minutes. I'm going to try and post a video of our place from the outside, we'll do one of the inside another time if you are interested...if not, we'll do it anyways.

Joni has been experimenting a little with her new camera...here are some examples of some stuff I really liked. Thought you might appreciate it. The fun part about the Andrea pics is that I was marching around and acting stupid in the background trying to make her smile...but I think this first picture comes across as the "Paul's an idiot but I still love him pose". Happy Tuesday!

We finally made it! After our long trip across the deep south and east coast we are in our new home. Thanks to Melecia and fam for putting up with us for a couple of days, we had a blast. We saw a little bit of DC on Saturday including trips to a couple Smithsonian museums and we watched Marine One land at the White House with the President aboard. Turns out we just missed Obama at the Lincoln Memorial. We were planning to go see the memorial but we were freezing in the rain and we found out the next day that he had been to the memorial with his family just about the same time we would have been there. Because of the weather no one else was really there so that would have been pretty cool, oh well eh? Madison and Joni trying to act cool in front of the Washington Monument...its just harder for Joni because she has a grocery bag wrapped around her head and she has trouble forming her fingers into the peace sign (story for another day).Me and two of my cute nieces

Everything has gone pretty smoothly except that our couch won't fit through our door, and we only have one spot in the house where the cable and internet can be hooked up so we have really long cords lying across the floor right now. Now our couch is leaning against the wall in the downstairs foyer and we have a long, beautiful front room with no place to really sit. I think we will have to sell the couch now and invest in some new furniture. Our front room is huge and has 7 large windows, so we will have to get stuff to fill it up as we can afford it, but it will be a fun project. We have a huge empty attic above us, a mother/daughter/grandaughter/sister combo that lives below us, and a creepy stone walled basement for our laundry. Our apartment has been totally remodeled and we have an awesome landlord as well as our own contractor who have helped out a lot.

We are trying to get used to the lack of closet space and sharing one tiny little bathroom, but I think this place will grow on us someday soon and it will probably be hard to leave. I can't wait for those of you planning to visit, and to visit the surrounding areas with you, just let us know ahead of time when you want to come. We are excited to only be 6 hours from Melecia's now.

Here is our front room pre-move in, mint green walls but I guess its better than white, its pretty long (not sure if the picture does it any justice)And our kitchen that we absolutley love, its really big and everything looks nice and new

I start work on Tuesday and Joni will be job searching next week, we can only hope she finds a good job, but we feel pretty lucky to be where we are. I will post a video sometime of the outside and the neighborhood, its really pretty here.

I am writing this blog on Andrea's roomate's computer in Salt Lake before our plane leaves, I figured if I didn't blog now it would be a really long time because next time I have a couple minutes by a computer we will be settled in Connecticut. Not that I'm crazy about writing blogs, but we've been so many places and seen so many people in the last couple of weeks that I will never catch up if I don't do it now. We flew into Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago, and we have been "hitchiking" and living out of our suitcases ever since. Our travels have taken us up to Ashton to see my family, then to Pleasant Grove to see Joni's dad, then to Vernal, then to Evanston, Wyoming, and a bunch of random SLC visits in between. We fly to Denver tonight, then we have a 7 hour overnight layover in the airport. We fly to Dallas tomorrow and finally arrive in College Station by early afternoon.

Once there we have to meet the movers, pick up Dilly, paint our front room, clean the apartment, ship our other car, take my truck into the shop for maintenance, and then leave for our 30 hour drive to Connecticut on Wednesday. We plan to stop in Virginia to see Melecia and fam, and then hopefully our stuff will arrive by the time we get to our final destination so that we have something to sleep on. So thats our life in the next week or so, we feel bad that we didn't get to see everyone on our big trip out west, but we really didn't have a way to see anyone else even if we wanted to. Thanks to everyone who accomodated us, we hope we didn't overstay our welcome anywhere. We felt we really got the most out of our trip and had a lot of fun with everyone we did see. Here are some pictures of our travels:

Sushi at Ichiban in Salt Lake, I either looked like "the man" or the "gay guy" with a bunch of cute girls, either way, I had fun.

Poor Bess, Joni couldn't resist the old boot on head picture. Hasta next time everybody!

Another move

It seems like every time we go apartment hunting (which has been a lot the last few years) we always find the right place at the very last minute. This time was a little like the first time going to Dallas in that we were under a tight time crunch to catch our plane, so we got a little nervous in the end, but found just the right place. We had about 5 realtors working with us and we saw a lot of cool and crazy places. We were really experiencing culture shock the first day because we have never lived back East and it is definately different than anything we have ever experienced.
This is not our house...just the capitol. We totally forgot our camera but we will take pictures as soon as we move to share them with you.

This is West Hartford Center, about 4-5 blocks from our new place, its a really fun place with plently of shops and bistros. If we want to fit in we are going to have to buy some fancy trench coats and scarves...I'm sure that can be arranged.

Like other cities on the East coast, Hartford is very unique and old. Most of the homes and buildings were built pre-1920, and since most of the land has been "spoken for" in the cities you won't find many big box stores or fast food franchises unless you drive outside the city limits. There are little markets and "mom and pop" shops and restaurants everywhere, and lots of colorful big houses and red brick buildings. We will live in a very safe and fun area in West Hartford on the 2nd floor of a HUGE house. Part of our apartment includes an unfinsihed 3rd floor attic that is the size of the entire 2nd floor. I am crossing my fingers the movers can get everything up our little stairs because its a tight squeeze. One of the big shocks for Joni was the lack of closet space in the places we looked at, and it is nearly impossible to find a two bedroom apartment with more than one bathroom. We found one of the few apartments in Hartford with carpet, we loved the wood floors everywhere but we preferred the place we found that has been totally renovated.

So we are off again to a place that couldn't be more different than Texas, it kind of makes us wonder where life will take us next after our short stint in Hartford (we'll be there for a little over a year). We're excited to see more of the country as we take the 30 hour trek to get to Connecticut, and we are hoping to see Melecia and family on the way in Virginia...as long as Joni and I haven't killed each other by then. For now we are just excited to be going to Utah and Idaho for Christmas. As always, we love playing host, so let us know if you ever want to stay at our place for a visit back East, we are two hours from New York and Boston but we just know you would only be coming to see us...right?

Congrats to Joni for finishing up her job, today was her last day!

Congratulations PAUL!

Here are a few pictures from Paul's graduation this weekend. I'm proud to be married to a two-time Aggie! Above is a picture of Paul and his study pals - they were nick named "the marrieds" among the students in the H.R. program. Its going to be hard to leave all the friends we have made here in Bryan/College station, but are also excited to move on to a new chapter in our lives.

Congratulations Paul, you did it!!!

JONI

Two miracles happened last night.

1) It snowed in College Station, Texas

2) The world didn't end, and nothing in the town shut down because of the snow

This picture is not Texas snow but since its the only real snow we've been around the last three years then it'll have to do for now.

I would have taken pictures but it would be kind of embarrassing. There was enough, however, to be able to make a good quick snowball. Dilly's first "experience" in the snow involved a tail between the legs (more like a little "nub" facing downwards) and intense sniffing inspections, as she bounced over the stuff like it was hot coal. Once inside she bolted into the bedroom and hid under the sheets where Joni was still sleeping, I can't wait to see what she does in Connecticut.

So, I am done with school. My week has been filled with finishing one book, starting another, playing basketball, playing video games, and talking on the phone with about ten different people to try and set up appointments to see apartments and houses. Friday morning we will go see President Bush speak (there have been secret agents all over town checking things out) and Friday night I get my diploma...wierd. I'm realizing how much I look "down the road" in the life. I'll think about how I can't wait to go back to school, then how I can't wait to graduate, then how I can't wait to start a job, when I should really be focusing more on making myself happy right now. I know a lot of people would die to be in my position right now doing what I'm doing with my free time, I just need to soak it all in and enjoy it while it lasts. I feel very blessed to have a job lined up, and stressed for friends who don't.

So with the soaking it all in comes soaking in the Christmas season. I remember some of the best Christmas' I have ever had were the best because of what I did BEFORE Christmas. I'm not just talking about watching Christmas movies (which is the best) or decorating the house, but getting out to provide service. I'm glad I have parents and friends who have taught me the importance of service, especially during this time of year. Sometimes I wait to hear in church what service is needed, other times you can find it on your own. Some of the most memorable experiences in my life were helping at the soup kitchen, singing at nursing homes, going caroling, or picking a family to help out on Christmas. Its hard to get out there at first because it can be outside our "comfort zone", but it quickly becomes worth it. Everything becomes less exhausting when we remember what and who we are doing it for. How did this turn into a sermon?

I want to hear your best Christmas story. Lets inspire some people with our blogs to make this Christmas the best one yet. Maybe we can inspire someone who normally wouldn't get out there and volunteer, to do so. The more Christmas spirit out there the better, it will help us understand the true meaning of it all instead of arguing about whether or not to use the word "Christmas". God bless us everyone...not bahhh humbug! (it only seemed fitting to say that...with an English accent of course).

I am still cursing myself for not bringing my camera this week to Joni's colonoscopy...okay that sounds wierd, not for the actual procedure, but for the part when she's on drugs and still coming out of it (She's okay by the way, all systems are a go...no pun intended).

Joni always had the upperhand on me because I am such a lightweight with drugs, they make me really crazy and really sick...little did she know she is the same way. When we have kids I feel for them if they have to go through any type of procedure under any type of drug, cause there's officially no hope now. So picture this, imagine Joni trying really hard to keep her eyes open and frowning constantly in confusion because every time she talks her speech is slurred. For some reason she thinks that licking her lips will help her talk faster but it doesn't. So I figured I'd give away our Christmas presents a little early this year and explain to you some of the things Joni said and did while on drugs, here we go in no particular order:

To the nurse (this was a first for her): (Joni pointing to the curtain next to her bed) "which one of those colors is your favorite? Mine is somewhere between the yellow and the green" (She asked this question 3 times).

"I've got a great idea for a movie...it involves a man...and he goes to work...(she dozes off)"

(After I kissed her on the cheek) "Woah...I thought you were a grizzly bear coming out of hibernation to eat a reindeer"

(As I am looking for her bag of clothes) "Wierd...I thought we were at the grocery store and you couldn't find the carrots"

For the first time ever Joni was afraid to pass gas which is exactly what you are supposed to do after a colonoscopy, so the doctor comes in and as he is talking to us Joni lets out a ten second long squeaker and just uses the little barf pail to fan away the smell while she's still passing gas.

Later on the lights are a little bright for her, so she puts the barf pail over her face to shield her eyes from the light.

I got out my phone to take a short video of her and she acts really confused and won't stop asking what I am doing until I hold up the phone to take a picture...she gives me a half smile and says "howdy", then looks confused again.

I think for me the best part was just watching her different facial expressions as she was coming in and out of consciousness trying to talk. I placed a cold cloth on her head and over her eyes so she didn't have to use the barf pail anymore, but then she forgot it was there and was desperately trying to see what was going on in the room without removing the cloth from her eyes.

I guess in the end we're pretty thankful that everything is okay so we can look back on the whole experience and have a good laugh. I'd love to hear some "coming out of surgery stories", so consider yourselves all "tagged" to tell your best one. I'm looking forward to it.

On the way home I told her everything she said and she was laughing pretty hard, but then she didn't remember any of it an hour later. So now its on record, kids, don't do drugs.

Thanksgiving '08

For the first time in a long time we went to Colorado to see family there and enjoy a little Thanksgiving madness, its been 4-5 years since we visited Longmont. We played some football and managed not to have anyone end up seriously injured or dead...which is good. We did a lot of "hanging out" and had a lot of fun just laughing, playing games, talking, and eating leftovers. I wish my dad could have been in the picture with his goofy tall hat but I guess someone had to take the picture. A lot of people were getting over some bad colds so it was a bit of a sick-fest, but nothing like the puke-fest we had a couple years ago in Ashton.

Ryan's wife Ali has a fun little program on her computer that distorts your face and makes you look really creepy, we had a lot of fun playing with it, but apparently its just as fun to watch how people react to the different faces.

We all went around the table to mention what we were thankful for before stuffing our faces, and we managed to smile after feeling uncomfortably full.
And how would a trip to see family be complete without playing a few video games?

It was so refreshing for us to be with loved ones and it made us a little sad that we are moving even further away from family soon. We really enjoyed being with everyone and it was a little strange being with so many people during the holidays without a single kid or baby in sight. Sometimes all the attention is given to little kids (and rightfully so cause they're cute) but it was nice to focus on each other and get to know each other better. Having said that, we are really excited to see our beautiful neices and nephews soon. Great, I probably just got myself in trouble with that one. I love little kids...I also love "adult time".

This is pretty much my last week to crack down on school to try and salvage my current GPA. It has gone by so fast and its still hard to believe its all coming to an end...and that I'll actually be a Master of something. I'm trying to do that, having started 2 different John Grisham books that I don't want to put down. Its great to be back home and with our little Dilly, she went berzerk (spelling?) when we picked her up. We are happy to have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we are looking forward to Christmas soon.

Just a couple random recent pics, we are loving this beautiful fall weather here.

So today was somewhat of a momentous day for us. I finished a big portion of my school projects, now I just have a couple of finals to go in a couple weeks and I am done. Hard to believe this could be the end of the road as far as school is concerned, but I will never rule out going back because thats just something I don't know yet. I officially accepted my offer with GE today, I'm actually pretty excited and I know its probably the best situation for us right now even though we want to start "settling down" one of these days soon.

I have been offered several different locations, 6 of them throughout the U.S. (KY, CT, PA, IL, NC, OH...how good are your state abbreviation skills?) and two locations in Puerto Rico. We can't consider PR yet because Joni isn't licensed to work there but we are strongly considering going there for 8 months within the next couple of years. We are leaning towards Connecticut right now which is about as opposite a place as Texas as you can find. I have to admit it is hard to pass up living in a place 2 hours from New York City and 2 hours from Boston, except moving from Texas to New England in January should be interesting. We feel pretty blessed and pretty lucky to have these types of opportunities while we are still young.

We are going to see Twighlight this weekend, Joni got hooked and read the entire series last week so now I have to go see what all the fuss is about this Edward the vampire wonderguy.

We are getting very excited to see family and friends in the next couple of months for the holidays, and at the same time we are sad to be leaving great friends and expereinces in Texas. My entire blog life started when we moved here 2 1/2 years ago. I never thought we would have so many opportunities to go to new places, so the excitement definately outweighs the sadness. I know updates can be boring sometimes, but they are updates nonetheless. Since we will be living near "cooler" places to visit we hope that you will all continue to feel welcome staying with us at anytime, we love playing host. Thanks for all your encouragement, thoughts, and prayers. See ya'll soon.

Found a better picture of Dilly's Halloween costume...rediculous but funny

I hate not keeping up with my posts because then when we do memorable stuff it all just piles up into one jumbled mess of a blog, but thats kind of how our lives feel right now too. I was a sack of jelly beans for halloween (see pregnant picture below), Joni was a nurse (we didn't have time to find real costumes), and Dilly was a Bumble Bee (her little nub as we call it made the perfect little stinger). Wish we had a better picture of the costume...poor dog...but hilarious

We went to Austin last weekend because I lost a bet to Joni about her show Grey's Anatomy...long story. We had fun seeing more of the town, we ate on a rooftop down on 6th street and watched all the people go crazy and get mad when Texas (the former #1 football team in the nation...haha) ended up losing to Texas Tech.

We played the funnest game, its like shuffle board but involves smaller disk thingy's and sand. We were cheering when Texas was losing...in our minds...cause we didn't want to get beat up.

Joni went to Philadelphia for one day last week to help her sister get around for a job interview. They were able to see some cool stuff and eat some cheesesteaks, I guess she was pretty satisfied (and I'm guessing thats Root Beer she is "stabbing" her forehead with). They were there during the World Series so they came back saying they are now Phillies fans.

I went to Boston for a couple days this week for a second round of interviews. I drove by Fenway Park and Harvard. I thought it went really well and I was really impressed with the company, but I wasn't extended an offer. The feeling I had was like when you have a crush on someone back in high school, then you find out they think you are retarded. Oh well, I still have an offer on the table but that is a huge mess by itself right now. Another long story but I spoke to some people from the company yesterday after I was pretty much ready to accept and a friend of mine in the company suggested I keep looking to make sure there is nothing else out there...that made me want to run away from the situation fast. They are on a hiring freeze because the business I am supposed to work for may be sold and incur massive layoffs...Yeeeeaaaaaaah, sounds like fun.

So I have a potential offer on the table, but I am frantically searching for any last minute options during a time that has probably been the worst time ever to find a job. Your prayers and suggestions are always appreciated.

Back to the positives...I'm not big on politics nor do I enjoy discussing them, but I am very excited to have our new President-Elect. I think whether you love him or hate him, his leadership is exactly what the country needs right now, I hope to see our country improve as I know it can with a change of scenery in Washington. Speaking of which, President Bush is speaking at my commencement ceremony in December, I am excited about seeing another President in person. I have seen Bush the first at a couple of football games.

So there you have it, I told you we are a jumbled mess right now, we'll keep the updates coming.

Quirks

This picture goes in our "all time greats" file. Joni and I took some pictures at the park on Sunday. We laid down and while waiting for the timer, we realized we laid on some fire ants. Joni's reaction is priceless, Dilly is terrified of being thrown into the lake, and I am used to this kind of stuff happening...so our expressions pretty much explain the rest.

A friend of ours challenged us to decide on 6 things that are unique or "quirks" about us, we had some pretty wierd conversations, but this is what we came up with. Some of these are a little embarrassing.

Joni: I can't stand when phone cords are wound and curled up tightly(I know you are probably thinking "who has those types of phones anymore") Well my work has one of these phones in every corner of the facility and I can not walk by a curled up phone with out stopping, letting the receiver hang and the phone spin to release the tension.

Paul: I would like to make fun of her for that one, but I have to wear yellow rubber gloves when doing the dishes. It all started when I had to do some nasty dishes and I didn't want to touch them, now I have to use them.

Joni: There is list of criteria that must be met when I go running. NO jewelry whatsoever, hair pinned completely away from my face, shoes tied in the perfect runners knot with the inside laces on each shoe tucked in (to prevent slapping on my legs), ipod cord wrapped twice and tucked neatly away to prevent excess swinging/swaying.

Paul: Ummmm...I like to have pancakes every Saturday morning. Tradition started as a kid, it just makes the day complete.

Joni: I can't seem to overcome my compulsion to immediately take a hearty bite out of almost any sandwich I make ;whether it is for myself or others.

Paul: I have gotten used to that quirk after many sandwiches with bites missing. Funny thing is I used to hate sharing "my food" but now I am like a trained animal. I actually give Joni the last bite of everything...even if its the best dessert ever, the look she gets on her face is better than having the last bite.

Joni: I spend way too much time thinking about songs I like and what they would look like on Guitar Hero.

Paul: Hygeine habits- I've always been paranoid of bad breath and hairy necks, so I always have gum or breathmints, and my neck never goes more than a couple days without being shaved.

Joni: Some time in my life I think I became a hypochondriac. Each week I become conviced I have a new disease. This week is MS, last week was Renal Failure, the week before it was Diverticulosis. You name a disease, and if I havn't already had it then I do now because you named it.

Paul: Holy smokes that is totally true, its crazy, I should have been a doctor. I think that I would rather lose email or phone access than not have access to ESPN. I turn it on first thing in the morning while getting ready, its like another religion to me.

Joni: I vacuum the inside of my car more than any person I know. I also have to keep little cleaning upholstery wipes handy tucked away in a side pocket. The only thing I let stay on any seat in my car is my sunglasses on the passenger side. Funny, because the outside is a mess. I think I've washed it once since I owned it.

Paul: I have to always east something crunchy with non-crunchy food. Sandwhiches, noodles, whatever...I'll find something to crunch on with it. Its part of my optimal food guide pyramid.

So now you all might be scared of us, or you might just be able to relate to our quirks with some of your own. Coming soon...Dilly's embarrasing but hilariously funny halloween costume.

R.I.P. cow, carrot, little pup, and frog

Joni would strongly object to me posting about one of Dilly's destructive habits, but she's in the family room taking a nap and I am bored so let me tell you a little secrect. We call Dilly the black widow because every night at about 10pm she "goes to town" on her little stuffed animal. Once she is satisfied (after about 5 good turns), she tries to tear her toy apart and eat it. The funniest thing is that she lets the toy take advantage of her, if thats possible, by always being on the bottom, and since she is always on bottom her motions cause her to roll around in a perfect cirlce while on her back. I would love to post a video but I thought that would be innapropriate, so I get to describe it in detail instead and be innapropriate all on my own.

The latest toy lasted several months until tonight when I walked in and saw stuffing all over the floor. She has gone through a carrot, a frog, a dog, and a cow (all stuffed of course). Its a coincidence that the latest addition looks exactly like her.

The whole reason we got a female dog was to avoid this type of problem. She has even been spayed, but for some reason the devil comes out in the middle of the night, and the devil is a little female rat terrier named Dilly. When we take away the toy or refuse to buy her a new one, she insists on treating my harry arms in the same fashion. In fact, whenever I talk on the phone she gets jealous and gets into "happy mode". When I tell her "no" she gets mad and barks and/or pouts. 23 hours a day she is sweet, cuddly, playful and all kinds of fun, so I guess one hour can't be too bad right? Despite all of her imperfections we love our little dog, but all I can ask is that our kids don't have any late night rondezvous with their favorite stuffed animals like Dilly does with hers. In the meantime, I'm off to the store to find Dilly another mate.

We finally got a new camera! After getting the same one (twice) in the last couple of years we decided to get a different brand and we are happy that we can post pictures again. Our friends from Houston that stayed with us for a couple of weeks during the hurricane moved back to Idaho this week. We played a lot of Rock Band and sports on the Wii, as you can see the whole fam was into it. Speaking of which, we downloaded a bunch of original Nintendo games last night and I have been having some serious flash backs. Most of those flash backs are of me watching my older brothers play, then when they were finally done I would sneak in a game or two. But now Joni and I are completely addicted. The worst addiction is Dr. Mario, the one with the little pills you put together and match colors kinda like Tetris...but not at all like Tetris. Joni used to play it so much in college that when she pulled up to a car that was the same color as hers she would make the same noise from the game...wierdo.
Wanna see a great picture?

Annie is the funniest little girl (one on the left), talk about two sisters that are completely different. Our friends made me a giant rice krispie toilet cake for my birthday...strange...but yummy.

Last night we ate with friends at a German/Irish pub, it was fun but that German food hits your stomach like a brick. Its one of those places that the waitresses dress up in big poofy dresses and everyone cheers in unison when proposing a toast...or when someone drops a plate everyone says, "Heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy". Of course the rest of the night was dedicated to a Dr. Mario tournament.

I have been invited to a second round of interviews with Raytheon in Boston at the beginning of November. Raytheon is contracted to make all the weapons for the FBI, CIA, and other government operations. They make missiles, satellites, and all the James Bond gadgets you could imagine (Talk about a guy's dream job). I'm thinking pretty seriously about accepting an offer from them if they give me one, but as always I have a lot to consider with the GE offer currently on the table. Some day we'll have our life figured out.

"...inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it unto me."

We survived our first hurricane. Well, all we got here was some sideways rain and a bit of wind, but the last couple of weeks have really been an eye opener for us. There are still evacuees in our church, we're the only church in Texas that still has them...not sure why but I like to think its a great opportunity to serve even though it has been pretty challenging for everyone involved. Let me explain the situation and you can make your own conclusions:

There were over 120 people in the church for the first 10 days. They shared food, slept on the floor, shared small classrooms with up to 10 people at a time (some had to sleep in the gym), tons of little kids screaming and playing at all hours, and there was one shower that has a 70 gallon water heater. After that, think about not knowing whether or not you still had a home or a job once you went back.

I was amazed and extremely humbled that after all of this, these people managed to stay positive and be okay with their circumstances, and went out of their way to thank us for spending a few hours of our time to be there with them. It made me feel stupid for complaining about having to be there so much. The first day I was at the church for over 11 hours. We had to be there to check the evacuees in, we also have to have 2 priesthood holders at the building at all times...24 hours a day until they leave. Its amazing that when you see people in such dire circumstances that you can forget about all of your little troubles and you feel renewed physical strength. I felt that a lot on my mission.

Everything was very organized, down to sign up sheets for the shower, room assignments, pet sitting, and eating times. 3 women volunteered to cook all the meals, and everyone pitched in with something. When the truck arrived from church headquarters to be unloaded with supplies, the youth unloaded it in less than 15 minutes. The truck driver was in tears when he saw how willing these young people were to serve.

400 members of the church drove all the way from Austin to help find members all over our stake because some areas were without power for several days and we had to make sure they were okay and accounted for. There were too many volunteers for what needed to be done.

We had our close friends from Houston staying with us for 10 days, they have three little girls so it got crowded in our little 2 bedroom apartment, but it was really fun. They had no power the whole time until a couple of days ago, and when we drove to Houston to check their place out their apartment had a lot of water and sheetrock damage, shingles were everywhere and huge trees were completely uprooted. I can't even imagine what Galveston looks like.

My Bishop told me a funny story that happened last week in Houston. Hundreds of Meninites came up from Mexico to help in any way they could, and so when they got to Houston they went straight to the Sherriff's Office and asked what they could do to help. They didn't really know what to tell them to do so they said, "go find the Mormons, they'll have something for you". So, if you drive past certain Stake centers in Houston you may see several tents out on the lawn...don't worry, its just the Meninites. Also, there is a chapel 5 blocks from the shoreline in Galveston where all of the buildings and houses around it are underwater. The chapel didn't receive an ounce of damage and it isn't even on higher ground than the other buildings...come to mention it not a single church house was damaged in any way.

So now that I am literally inundated with homework, group projects, and midterms, as well as helping schedule people to help the evacuees, I really have to say that I am thankful for the opportunity to serve. I'm greatful to know that I have taken so many things for granted, and that I can be reminded about what really matters in life. Its so cliche to say, but I hope that we can all take the opportunity to be thankful for what we have, and to be prepared on a moment's notice when the next disaster strikes. I think you can see the true side of someone to see them react in stressful situations, and I am greatful to know I have so many awesome people around me that I have seen serve others without an ounce of concern for themselves.

p.s. Thank you Andrea, the shirt you sent to me today with a blue stallion on it made me laugh...and remember how great it is to have friends that follow through on lame promises.

I just wanted to update everyone on Hurricane Ike and let you know that we should be okay...in case you are worrying at all about us...if you don't know what Hurricane Ike is then I guess you live in a box...haha, I kid I kid. I went to an emergency preparedness meeting at the church tonight for all the leaders, we have at least 72 people coming from Houston to stay in our church tomorrow for the rest of the week and there could be a lot more. These are the times that the church organization shines. We have to have two priesthood holders at the church 24 hours a day while evacuees are here, I'm sure I'll have lots of good stories to tell but please keep these people in your prayers.

Evacuating a place like Houston is nearly impossible, and tonight I ran over to buy some water and fill the cars up with gas. The price went up 15 cents a gallon in two hours and I can't even imagine what it will be like tomorrow.

Joni's work will be very crazy as well. She is in charge of feeding everyone there and she'll have to be at work the whole time as the elderly are brought in from Houston. I'm not sure how these things work because I've never been in a hurricane but we'll keep ya'll posted as much as possible.

I am loving the weather right now, I don't know if its more of a mild summer or if we are just used to it by now. Its the end of August and it feels great...but by great I mean low 90's and its very tolerable. Our favorite thing to do on Saturdays is go to the student Rec Center on campus where we work out and then lay out by the pool after swimming laps. I play basketball three days a week now at 6am at the church, and I swim 3 days a week. Joni and I have decided to train for a triathlon...stay tuned to see if we actually do it but we are looking at used road bikes so that we can ride to and from work and school...and for fun of course.

I got an assistantship to do research with a professor at school. Its really cool to make a little extra money for just surfing the internet and doing some extra HR things. This semester seems so much more laid back but maybe thats just me, and I'm not doing as much as I should be. I am interviewing with a couple more companies in the next couple of weeks, and hopefully we will know where we will be moving soon. I have to make a decision before mid-October.

I am realizing that every time we take pictures we are around our friends the Carroll's. I think we need to include their names in our blog title now since we pretty much hang out all the time. Yes, I am holding the pink putter but thats okay.

We made Sean a sweet bday "cake" that was actually a giant goblet made of rice crispie treats and filled with his favorite candy bars. We surrounded the whole thing with a bottle of Dr Pepper (his favorite drink) so that after all the rice crispies are gone you are left with your favorite drink.

Joni and I are changing...its really wierd. We have always struggled to do the most basic things like reading scriptures and praying together, but we are trying really hard to do that as well as family night on Mondays now. We sold all our rated "R" movies today, and we have been trying to build a collection of family movies. I'm not trying to say everyone should do that and that we are above anyone for doing it, but we are realizing that when the time comes to start a family we really want to be on the right track...and we decided to do certain things to help us stay on track. So, we are not trying to have kids right now (I wouldn't tell you if we were anyways) but its wierd how little inspirations come along. Crap, now everyone is going to start bugging us about it.

Austin City Limits

My two girls watcing me at the driving range, Dilly has a crazy look in her eyes because there were people all over the place swinging big metal sticks at little yellow balls...and she was expected to remain calm the whole time. After driving across the country we decided to take a day trip to Austin, which really is a cool city. We talked our friends into going with us, and we all agreed it was worth a trip back soon. Austin definately lives by its city motto: "Keep Austin wierd".

We decided to try out a disc golf course there, we're really not that fanatical, but its a good excuse to walk around after spending an hour at "sample days" at Whole Foods Market headquarters. There was a really fun looking river with a diving board that we are going to have to go to the next time. Here are some random pics of the Austin experience.

So school starts tomorrow, I've been laying low the last week or so playing golf and laying by the pool reading books, its a hard life. I am going to try to take up swimming because the running thing is hurting my knee and I can't seem to get rid of some lower leg cramps I've had. Other than that we have just been really happy, we have a lot of great friends here that have kept us busy.

I got a priesthood blessing from my bishop just because I haven't had one in a very long time and we have so many big decisions in our lives coming up. Its amazing to me how inspired people can be to say the right things. My personal testimony has grown by leaps and bounds lately, and I haven't felt this excited about spiritual things since my mission and I feel good about the direction Joni and I are headed. We constantly miss our family and friends all over the place, but I am totally confident we are in the right place, and that we'll make the right decision about what job to accept. Keep on bloggin'