Waiting for Fall

We have been in school for three weeks already! I can't believe. The summer went by way to fast for us, but we managed to get some good family visits in and enjoy what we could. Chris had school through he summer so we didn't get to do as much as I would have like, but gotta get that done first.

The month of August was a busy time for us. More so just busy with work for me. Which is wonderful! I am still loving my job and learning more about massage each day. I added Shiatsu to my menu and it is starting to pick up where I work pretty nicely. I can't wait to do more with it. For those of you who don't know what Shiatsu is, it is a Japanese modality. It's a form of soft-tissue manipulation by thumbs, fingers, and palms, without the use of instruments, mechanical or otherwise, to apply pressure to the human skin to correct internal malfunctioning, promote and maintain health, and affect specific diseases. It is amazing stuff! I love giving and receiving. Unfortunately it's been a while since I received it because I'm the only one that does it at work. There is another Therapist in town that does Zen Shiatsu that I am thinking of going to, we'll see. I am always hesitant to go to someone new that I don't know much about because I don't want to get a crappy massage feel like I've wasted my time and money. Being a therapist myself it's hard to find someone you like because you know how its' supposed to feel and work. We'll see though I am longing for Shiatsu. It is so relaxing and just re-balances you in a way you don't always get from regular massage.

Chris, poor guy, is ready to be done with Bloomington already and move on to the next step, Doctoral program! I feel for him. We have really enjoyed the friends we've made and my job is fantastic here, but we are both ready to move on to the next chapter. I have been working on focusing on the here and now, but those dreams of bigger and better things keep distracting me!:) He is doing really well in school and man how I LOVE to hear him play! He is SO GOOD!!! I am so happy to have married a musician. Though I do miss the practicing at home. He can't practice at our apartment because it bothers our neighbors. Understandably, even though I love listening to him practice I can see why our neighbors don't. They just don't know how to appreciate good music when they hear it!;)

Our next step is hopefully University of Texas-Austin. There is a program Chris is really interested in and unfortunately UT-Austin is the only one in the nation that has it! So, crossing fingers we get in. Chris is applying this fall, then he has to audition, and we'll find out in mid-March to early April if he got in or not. Mean while we are waiting for fall to roll in.

It has been so hot lately, except for this past weekend it was in the low to mid-70s which is perfect! I can't wait for the colder weather that's for sure. Not sure I'm going to do well in TX heat, but what can you do?:) I'm hoping we get some good snow here in IN this year. Last year was terrible, hardly any snow, and if it did snow it was only about an inch and it melted the minute the sun came up. Anyway, I am starting to put up my fall decorations and can't wait for the holidays to come!

Well, I need to sign off. Hope you enjoyed a little up date. I will hopefully be able to post again soon of our Summer fun with weddings, women's retreat, and family fun later. Till then make it a great day!

March Update

Well February has come and gone. It went by so fast! We had a great Valentine's day though. We got to watch our friends two little girls for them so they could go out to eat. (We don't really like going out to eat on V-day so it was no big deal. The girls were so much fun! The cats were terrified of them, but it was kind of funny to see them chasing the poor kitties. We did have to make the kitchen off limits for the girls so the cats had at least bit of a kid free zone.:) The oldest girl saw our automatic litter box cleaner and while it went off she exclaimed, "That's AMAZING!" IT was so funny. She also recommended that we build a sand castle in the litter box. hehe. Like I said we had fun. We also got pictures taken since back in October, we purchased a pretty good deal for pics. We got them back just before V-day and were able to buy some awesome frames at 40% off at Michael's and put them up in our home. It definitely feels more like home now. I really love our apartment. We don't have very good neighbors. They are really loud and reported us the other day to the office for being loud even though what they reported was for the most part wrong. So it might be an option for us to move into a different unit. Wouldn't be fun, but if things continue we may just have to.

Chris is doing really well with classes. Says he likes all of them except for Music History. I even very much dislike that class. We don't know of a single music person that does though...;) He  is in charge of a combo class that perform once a semester and last semester they were awesome! He had his first concert of the semester last Monday, which he soloed in. He sounded amazing of course!:) So proud of him. I love listening to him play. So happy he has found a career he really enjoys being apart of.

Can't remember if I mentioned in my last post the friends we made. I think I did. If not I will write again and share much more about our awesome new friends that we would love to move with and live by:) We'll see how that goes.

In a week we will be driving up to Wisconsin to make our first LARGE purchase of our married life, Chris's trombone. He's pretty excited, I'm just excited to have a few days off and to get to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago! We're also going to attend the Chicago Temple for a session. Very happy about that. We have made it a goal to try and go to the temple at least every other month. It is a half day trip for us and can't afford to go every month. We should be able to during the summer months though. We wish the Indy temple was built which would make it so much easier, but it will come in due time. Well, in the Lord's time. So excited for the people of Indiana to have their own temple! Great joy!

It's late and I must get to bed. Have a great month and Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!! Don't forget to wear green!

Loving Life

It has been way too long since my last post. But, I have to say we are doing absolutely wonderful! Chris is having a blast at IU and I love my job! We love it here in Bloomington but miss being with family. We were able to make it back for Christmas and see almost everyone! Some new things for us are: Chris got a new calling, he is an Instructor for Priesthood. I had three callings two were in teaching but just got released from those two and put in as the new Primary Music Leader. I am kind of freaking out. Nervous and  a little scared, but Heavenly Father blesses us and I know I will be fine. We so far are liking these new callings and look forward to serving in our ward. I have also taken over being the leader of the ward Book Club. A little more work than I had expected, but I figure once I get the hang of it I'll be fine.

In October we added a new addition to our little family. Her name is Athena. She is a very small kitten. We got her a few days before she was six weeks old. Achilles did NOT like her at first but now they're practically inseparable. We have turned into "those" people. You know the ones where their animals are their children? We don't mind though. We love them so much!

I also started taking cooking lessons from a new friend. We trade massages for lessons. She is pregnant with their third and I stink at cooking so we both are pretty excited about it!:) We are so blessed to have made such great new friends here and look forward to what Heavenly Father has in store for us next. Sorry this isn't very long, just wanted to drop a note.

Loving living!

Well, we've been here for just over 4 weeks and we love it. The Bloomington area is beautiful and the weather is wonderful! We live next to a cool bike/hike trail which is kinda fun. My parents came into town this past weekend where we rented bikes and took a 14.2 mile bike ride, Chris took Dad fishing for his birthday and we all had a lot of fun!!!:) They caught about 18-20 fish (they were all a little on the small side) which we ate for lunch the next day. Delicious!!! They left Sunday which I was really sad about. It was so amazing to have family here with us. Can't wait for Christmas time and New Years to see even more family!:D

Chris started classes Monday and so far as much as he said they went well. He has his auditions for ensembles tomorrow afternoon so really excited about that. I finally got my license for IN yesterday so searching for a new job! Yay! We seem to finally be settling in and life is great!:)

Fighting when you're hungry....

I've already learned this rule way before we were even married, but I am terrible at it! Wish there was a button that could be pushed to remind me "Wait to talk about what you're frustrated with AFTER you eat your dinner!" We got into a really silly argument (which I started of course, Chris really doesn't start anything he's way chill about everything. The go with the flow kinda guy) that once we had eaten I was able to reflect at what I had said and realized none of it was super important, and the important parts could have been addressed way differently. Grateful though when we do argue it's not for very long and we don't stay mad.

So, I made dinner last night. Chicken with green beans and pears for a nice sweet fruit on the side. If you know me at all you'll know I really can't cook. The chicken was pretty dried out, the green beans were only good because I just had to put them in a pot and let them cook a little, and the pears well I guess they weren't my fault,  they were well just awful. The can says they're good until September, but really they weren't. (and yes of 2011). But, I made pudding all by myself for I think it was the first time. I've made it as a kid, but I really just watched. It turned out great. Chris said it was a little runny, but I think that has something to do with  the fact that I had to use skim milk instead of 2%. Still tasted great and it was the perfect sweetness to curb my sweet tooth:) Did I say it was Chocolate? Yum! Regardless of the fact that the dinner didn't turn out as I would have liked, we're still on the right track for a healthier lifestyle:) Just need more practice is all.

Friends and Family

So, new to this blog stuff, but I thought I'd give it a try.
 Just wanted to shout out to our friends back in Tennessee who were so helpful to us getting all moved out and on our way. We're now finally in Bloomington and so far we're doing great. Can I say how much I love our new apartment? The kitchen right now is the only room all put together, but we're getting there. Already got a washer and dryer set for dirt cheap which we love. :)  Funny thing is the people we bought it from were moving to Pocatello, ID. Crazy how small the world is. Anyway, it's still a little weird now being here. I mean we've only been here for a few days and I know it will take getting used to. We just had been waiting and working towards finally getting here and now its here and I almost can't believe it. I feel like anytime we're just gonna get back in the car and drive back to TN where we have jobs and loving friends/family. I'm a bit nervous about this new adventure, however we are very excited to be starting it. Can't wait to get all unpacked and maybe we can find some bike's or rent some and bike the trails here. Our apartments have an 8 mile bike trail next to us. The whole town itself is a big bicycling community which I love. A very I guess what you would call a "green" community. The IU campus is massive and absolutely beautiful. I think we're gonna need to just go walk the grounds and explore. I am excited to make new friends and hope to find a great place for me to work doing massage! Well, I guess off to more unpacking... fun...;)