More to Come

Someday maybe I'll have time to write about the moving process, how we celebrated our first anniversary, and the gorgeous wedding I attended this weekend.

But, that day is not today. For now, I'm using the unexpectedly available Internet access to solicit prayers. My sister and grandfather are in Africa on a medical mission trip, and it was a challenging day. Please pray for healing and for peace.

Also, on a lighter note, I may or may not have eaten these chips twice in the last week. I may or may not have chosen Subway for lunch yesterday because I was craving another bag of them. And I am not being paid by Frito Lay for this endorsement. Go get some of these chips, and thank me for the recommendation later.



We're moving on Saturday. I'm especially thankful for all the help my family (both sides) has given and will give during the whole process, and I'm so excited about getting settled at our new place! I'll return once I have Internet access at our new home. Until then, have a wonderful week!

Big News

No, the news is not baby-related. Consider yourself chastised for thinking the only big news a newlywed could possibly have is related to pregnancy. I forgive you, but try not to jump to that conclusion next time.

The actual big news has been on the tip of my tongue for a few weeks, but I had to keep it a secret until the appropriate people had been notified in person. Drum roll, please. Husband got a new job, and we're moving!

I had to wait to write anything about apartment hunting or packing until he finished up end-of-the-year activities and told his students that he was leaving. The new job is an amazing opportunity for so many reason, and we found an awesome apartment located about halfway between his new school and my office. Bonus: it has an attached garage!

Among so many upsides of this new opportunity, the one huge bummer about moving is that we love our church family, and we'll be too far to travel there multiple times each week. We'll be close enough to visit, but we want to be really involved with our church, and that means that we have to find a new church to place membership.

As I type, I am surrounded by boxes, both packed and unpacked, and there's still so much left to be done. I started full time work this week, and we're moving the middle of next month. When it rains, it pours. I'm looking forward to the long weekend to relax and pack. A dear friend is getting married on Saturday, so I'll get to attend her wedding and see lots of friends there. Then, I'll probably spend some time packing more boxes and relaxing.

I hope your weekend is filled with friends, fun, and exciting news!

Precious Commercial

I finished the semester, and now I'm on to a busy summer of working, etc. Maybe I'll write more about the end of the year later. For now, all you need to know is that I'm happy with my grades, and I've applied for graduation in December!

And now, to appease the jealousy of those of you who still have a couple weeks of school to go, I have a treat to make you smile. Watching the video is well worth 30 seconds of your time.

Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of mother's day, I thought I'd post some pictures of some of my favorite mothers/grandmothers. I'm overwhelmingly blessed with them. So, thank you to the women who are related to me by birth for shaping me into who I am today, and thank you to the women who inherited me by marriage. You've made me feel very welcome, and I appreciate it more than I can say.

Without further ado, pictures of my mom, Sam's mom, and our grandmothers, courtesy of our talented wedding photographer, Arlene Cloud.

Blogging Hiatus

Sorry about my extended absence from the blogosphere. I've been a little busy finishing up this semester while working. Thankfully, there's only a week left, and I'm completely finished with my Middle English course as of this afternoon. After two and a half hours of writing for the final exam, my right hand is tired, and the professor is in possession of two hopefully well-structured essays.

This weekend, Husband and I will attend the youth missions auction on Saturday night and maybe update our cell phone service. I'm quite excited about the youth auction because we had tons of fun last year. We donated some money to youth missions and left thoroughly entertained, well fed, and the proud new owners of a printer/copier. The theme this year is Western, so I'll have to brainstorm a costume. :) Other than those bright points, I will be welded to my laptop finishing up my final essays. And then the sun will shine through the clouds and I will rejoin the blogging world.

For now, since I've consumed your time reading all the reasons I haven't been able to write, I'll leave you with a treat. Last night was the final Awana meeting, and the scale has tipped in the favor of my fourth graders. I will definitely miss them. One in particular is very interested in my new job and asks every week, "Miss Jordan, what did you write today?" Last night she asked in front of some of the other leaders, and I explained that she was so sweet to ask every week. She then recapped what I had told her about each Wednesday over the last few weeks with bubbly enthusiasm and surprising accuracy. It made my day. Not only does she care enough about my "boring" technical writing job to ask about my workload; she also cares enough to remember from week to week. See why I'll miss them?

I hope you have a beautiful weekend with the right balance of productivity (i.e. essay production) and fun (i.e. a youth auction!)

Happy Birthday, Husband!

In honor of my husband's first birthday since we got married (our first anniversary is fast approaching) I thought I'd dedicate a post to him.

He made my first birthday as a married woman spectacular. I'm attempting to do the same. It's a busy week for him at school and things haven't exactly been stress-free in the education world recently, so on the menu for tonight and this weekend is relaxation. I'm making one of his favorite meals so that we can unwind at home tonight, and you'd better believe there will be presents galore. That is, if three carefully chosen and lovingly gift wrapped presents and a card count as galore. Then, for Easter we're heading to the Metroplex to visit my family where there will be more delicious food and fellowship. I'm also hoping there will be time to improve my Wii bowling average, play with my cousins, and maybe watch a movie. :)

Other than making my birthday a blissful day to remember, here are a few more things I love about my husband in no particular order:

1. He makes me laugh. A lot.
2. He's been helping me adjust to working while finishing my Master's by doing more around the apartment.
3. We can enjoy being together even when we aren't saying a word.
4. He's the first person I want to tell about my day, and I love coming home to hear about his.
5. He's passionate about music and teaching, and he gives 110% to his students.
6. We both enjoy eating out, but we're also both budget-conscious.
7. Our Friday night movie nights are becoming a tradition, an inexpensive weekly date night.
8. Last week when I forgot to mail the Netflix movie back in time to get a new one by Friday, he got a Redbox movie for us to watch instead. Thus, he is thoughtful and does sweet things to make me happy.

I hope he has an amazingly wonderful birthday, and I hope you all have a blessed Easter weekend!

First Paycheck, I Hardly Knew Thee

I got my first paycheck today, and then I immediately spent a large portion of it on work-appropriate attire. Don't worry. I discussed the decision with my husband, and we're looking at the splurge as a start-up cost for jump starting my career. In related news, the company where I work redefined their dress code last Friday to exclude any denim, so the pants I was super excited about are going to be exchanged for a black pencil skirt. One of the reasons I loved them was their affinity to jeans, only dressier, but the new professional attire rule is probably for the best.

One reason dressing professionally is so important for me is my youthful appearance. If you've ever discussed this topic with me, I have probably hyperbolically compared myself to a twelve-year-old. That's a slight exaggeration, but I do often feel like people assume I'm younger than I am. That's a problem, since I'm young enough that if people subtract years from my age, my tenuous grasp on authority slips into oblivion. I thought that the wedding ring might tip people off, but my petite frame and youthful expressions negate any attention paid to my ring finger.

All in all, shopping for dress clothes was a necessary process, but I fully intend to avoid the mall for the next several months. I got enough of the "shopping experience" at the dozen stores I browsed today. Have a blessed mall-free weekend. Unless you enjoy that sort of thing. In which case, I don't understand you, but I still wish you well.