Home sweet home!!

Wow! I have so many things to touch on in this post!! Yes, we are safe in TX. Sorry I've been MIA lately (I know y'alls hearts are just a'breakin' aren't they?). We finally got inet yesterday after a wee bit of trouble with the AT&T peeps. And I'm thinking that it's not quite over yet, I'll letcha know!
The trip down was interesting, that will require it's own post! Although I will tell you that it involved an unintended 3 hr layover in speedbump, VA at the local military surplus store. Oh and tattoos were involved, as well, dolphin tattoos...but alas, that is for another day.
A few observations: Texas is HOT! YAYAY!! A glorious, sun-kissing-your-shoulders warmth as you frisk from your apartment to your car. Your car which is now a sauna and your poor child's seat belt clips are also handy doubles for a branding iron. Thankfully we have an infant seat so we can bring it inside with us so it doesn't melt and become a permanent part of my car. Side note: apparently I'm insane because I'm drinking my afternoon *hot* tea right now. :)
Ok, this might come across weird, or mean, or something, but I just have to say it and it's made me think about a lot more things too...people in the South are larger than people in the North East. Please don't hate me. I'm trying to figure out why this is but I'm thinking it might have something to do with at the intersection by our apartment there is a fried chicken joint, a burger joint, a taco stand, and a fast food pizza place. And that is not uncommon. There were two fast food places within ten miles of me in NY. One was a McDonalds and the other a Burger King. So the Conservative, don't-mess-with-people's-wants in me, is kinda torn because um, do people really not know that crap is bad for them?!?! Please do not think that I think everyone should be a size 4 or they're fat. I know people who's "happy size" is a 4 and I know others who are killin it in a 14. But I am concerned when there are so many people who have trouble walking because of excess weight or the children are raised going to BK or KFC every night and can't run around like they should. Anyway, it's just one of the observations I've made since I've been back.
There are waaaay more Christian and Latino radio stations here. Explanations? We're close to Mexico and we're in the Bible Belt.
People drive a lot more trucks down here. Love, love, love it. :)
Oh and some of the bumper stickers are a hoot: "The Democrats make the French look brave." Heeheehee (aren't I stepping on a lot of toes in this post?) :)
I'll try to think of some more 'differences' between the two areas.

I'm loving our apartment. Except the management seems very incompetent. With one exception, a young girl I became friends with, that seems to be the norm. Case in point: when I received my statement for this month is said I had an unpaid balance of $45. That made me concerned because our "special" was one month free so we shouldn't have had to pay rent at all. So I went up there as soon as I could and talked to the over-sweet, annoyingly nice lady at the office. Apparently they don't know how to work their software and were supposed to credit me a couple of *free* days because the apartment we had wanted flooded before we got here. She wrote a few things down on a piece of paper, told me they would credit our account, and all was right with the world. Err, wrong! Two days later I receive a notice saying "you owe $45 and you'd better pay it or we're gonna be mad!" I tried not to let my blood pressure go up too much and marched right over there (with my piece of paper in one hand that said they owed US $15 and a slobbery Libby in my other). After 15 minutes they finally got the issue straightened out and I asked, ok so I won't receive any more of these, right? Holding up notice. And that sickly sweet lady said, "oh well, we all make mistakes so you'll probably get another one, if so just come up here and we can take care of it." I was speechless. It was probably good that I didn't say anything but she'd better hope I don't receive another one of those letters! Incompetence annoys the tar out of me. And I've done data entry and worked on several different software systems, it ain't that difficult.

Wow, this is getting a lot longer than I anticipated!

I joined a gym! Soooo much fun!!! I love working out so it has been great to get back into it. Plus, they have child care!! So I like to take my time and have a good, long, Libby-free hour and a half. (I love my child, but as everyone I know will agree, it's awesome to have time to yourself). I'm so grateful that Tim knows this is important for me and he has been very supportive. Plus, I know this will help me lose those last pesky 10 lbs. and we will both be happy about that. :)

I'm going to write a whole Libby post but she is changing so incredibly fast!! She is very mobile and I predict that she will be walking, yes, I said, walking, by the end of August. Which is one of the reasons I enjoy my "me time". Just today I walking into the kitchen, where it was suspiciously quiet and I caught her sharing Maddie's food. Oh yum!! We're working on a bit of "baby-proofing" but we're also "house-proofing" Libby, which will make visiting others easier. More on that later...

It is so awesome being back with family and I've been on the go a whole lot, but after dear Susan's wedding on the 15th things might calm down a bit. :)

A long time coming...

More than a year ago I wrote this post about leaving Texas and I described how I felt like the sad little OU boy when UT kicked their tails a few years ago.
Well, I now get to say that I feel like this...

YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim got an awesome offer with a great company in Fort Worth! We will be leaving July 15th and I have a lot to do before then! My big sis Rebecca is coming up here on the 12th to help me and then to drive back with Libby and I in my car. Unfortunately, we have three cars at the moment. Long story. Short version is that Tim bought a car from a friend of a friend hoping to fix it up and either sell it for a profit or sell his Acura and keep the fixed up one. Unfortunately, the Acura is not selling and we haven't gotten the title for the Hyundai yet.

So we have a bunch of prayer requests for y'all:
~Pray that one of the cars (hopefully the Acura will sell - yay, no more car payments!)
~That I will be able to get everything sorted through and packed by the time Rebecca comes so we can have a little fun before we leave.
~That we find the best place to live in FW/Arlington. Kind of difficult to get the feel for an apartment if you're not there! I have found a good one that seems perfect, lets hope it is!
~That on the drive back Libby won't be too "difficult" and will handle the 1500 miles as well as possible.
~All the logistics will work out: renting the truck, getting Rebecca up here, etc...

Thank you all so very much!! I can't wait to see my dear Texas peeps! It will be so good to be back.
And now I had better get to work!!!

Body After Baby

Time already for this torture?? Here goes nothing, Mama Notes!! :) So I started last Wednesday so it hasn't been a full week for me yet so I guess I get a re-start, right? (side note: remember when you were a kid and learning a new game and if you lost the first go-round big time you just wrote that off as a "practice round"? that's me :) )

So I wasn't too diligent with working out or eating better. But today I started fresh. I've been writing down my calories again (using my iphone app *sweeeet*) and did another 30 Day Shred thingie. Here's to a fresh day and a new week with no mistakes in it! (name that convoluted movie quote!)

Goals for this week:
~Drink a lot of water each day. I think I should be drinking about 60-80 oz/day.
~Keep up with the fruits and veggies. I'm really trying to pile those on!
~Go run/walking 4x this week.
~Do the 30 Day Shred each day. Maybe move up to the next level because this one is getting boring.
~Track my calorie count each day.

So there we go! We're having company this weekend so I know we'll have ice cream and other treats at times but if I'm doing a good job otherwise I won't worry about it.
Thanks again for the encouragement!!

Hope

Dear friends,

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words!!! Kacie and Jess, it is so helpful and encouraging to know that others feel the same way. :) (although it would be nice to be within driving distance, JESS) ;)
Even though I didn't feel like it I got out of the house yesterday and ran a bunch of errands. So now I have a lot of things to do. I am going to be in TX a week longer than Tim so I'm going to cook up a bunch of freezer food for him. Plus, I went to Target (it is therapeutic, Jess!!) and bought some cute things for Libby with the last of my giftcards. I can't wait until it warms up so I can put her in outfits that show off her cute little arms and legs!!
And finally, the best thing that happened yesterday...Tim suggested we go on a weekend trip somewhere...so we're going to DC to visit Kristin again!! And we're going to be there for the cherry blossom festival too! I can't wait! So we'll be doing that next weekend if everything goes according to plan. And maybe this weekend we'll head into the city but I'm not sure.
Today and tomorrow I'm going to stay home and finish cleaning the house. It's almost there and it's going to be so nice and clean and fresh. Plus, I'm using my chemical-free cleaners and they're working well so far!
Well, I just wanted to thank everyone, it's so wonderful to have friends!! And what a blessing to have high-speed internet and free long-distance! I don't know how my mom survived back in the day!! (she left her home country of New Zealand and came to America at 19 when she married my dad).
I love you all so much and I hope to get to see you soon!!!
XOXOXOX
~SAM

PS. there are eleven buzzards in my yard...good thing they weren't here yesterday!! :)

The good, the bad, and the adorable!

What should I say first? The good news or the bad? Well, I guess I'll start with the bad...
I read-ended someone yesterday. It was awful. I've never been in a wreck before. Well, I have been in the car but never as the driver. It was on one of those entrance ramps where you merge with the other cars. I was looking over my shoulder and thought it was clear then turned forward and there was a car right in front of me. I slammed on my breaks but *SMACK* we went. Made me feel really stooopid. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, Libby wasn't fazed at all, she just chilled out in her seat and then went to sleep while we waited for the policemen. The guys I hit were really nice. The driver was mad at first but then he softened up. I was really proud of myself, no crying or hysterics. I just stayed calm and didn't get upset. I didn't get a ticket but we're going to have to get my car fixed and I'm sure our insurance will go up. Makes me so frustrated after all the work I've been doing lately to save money and pay off debts. (we just paid off my car!!) But oh well, as my mom said, thats why we have insurance!! And thank the Lord it wasn't too bad and that no one was hurt. Moving on...
The good: I have to stay at home! That means I can get the house organized and I can cook and bake a lot. Today I'm going to make some bread and some oatmeal cookies. Plus, some chicken and other stuff.
Also, another good thing (hopefully) remember all my complaining about my eye troubles when I was pregnant? I just thought all my contact issues were due to changing hormones so I just gave up and wore glasses. Saturday morning we went to the eye doctor and he gave me the news that I have an infection! Yah! It's just sitting there on my eyeball and whenever I put in contacts it would flair up and make my eye turn red!! So I have to put two different types of drops in my eyes for a week and then in about another week I'm going in again. And hopefully it will have cleared up so I can wear contacts again. Crazy, huh? I can't believe I never went in before! I guess I thought an exam would be really expensive but I went to a doc who takes our insurance and our co-pay was $5!!! Another forehead slapper moment. Lets home the evil infection will be gone by the 23rd!
Four weeks from today we'll be in TX!!! That is fabulous news!! Libby and I will be in that awesome state for 10 days!! I can't wait to introduce her to her "home state". Like I told Vincent (our landlord buddy) "Being born in a barn does not make one a cow!" We'll get our little girl to TX just as soon as possible, she is NOT a Yankee!!
Lib is asleep so I'm going to get going on those cookies but first here are some pics for you. (the adorable part of the post!)

101th post! We're home!!

Hello everyone!! We're home! We actually got to come home on Wednesday the 31st and it was so awesome to get back. Libby is doing fantastically! We're really enjoying our little "Babymoon".

Thanks to everyone for your well-wishes and messages! I'll write a full birth story later, I don't want to forget anything! Mom has been fantastic, she's been cooking and cleaning for us and we're really been able to enjoy baby time. Tim is superdad and loves snuggling with Libby. She's sleeping right now and he's been begging me to go wake her up so he can hold her. :) (Anyone else remember that Friends episode where Rachel brings Emma home and wakes her up?) Maddie is doing fine. She is very curious at times and ignores her the rest of the time. I'm suspecting they'll be best buds in the years to come. She hasn't shown any signs of jealousy and we're trying to treat her normally.

Also, congrats to Todd for guessing the date and being so close on the time! He was really close, he just didn't factor in that it would take so long to deliver her after I got to 10 cm. :) He was also very close on her weight and length although Emily guessed her weight spot on and Katey got her length right! Oh and another funny thing, Kacie and I switched due dates!! She had her little boy 10 days early on Libby's due date and I took her little guy's date of the 30th!! Too funny!! Have you checked out his picture? He's a real cutie!

And THANKS Bethanie for updating everyone!! Great job! I love how quickly news spreads. :) I was planning on sending her updates but that was NOT happening once labor began. :) Oh and yes, Bethanie, I do believe she has the Shenk nose. ;) Tim agrees. :)

Speaking of cuties, I'm going to leave you with a few pictures of our little darlin. More posts to come!!

Updates!

I've got a lot to update everyone on so here goes...

1.) We had 7 members of Tim's family here for the past week and we had a fantastic time! We went into the city, two state parks, and out on the lake. It was awesome having them here and showing them around everywhere. Thanks for coming, guys!! I'll post some pictures as soon as I get some from them, I've gotten really lazy with taking pictures.

2.) Today I got a call and found out I do not have a job anymore. The little baby I was watching has taken a turn for the worse and the family thinks it will be best to have someone live with them. An aunt is going to come live there with them and it will help give him some consistency. I'm sure this is all in God's timing but as we all know, that isn't always our timing! Please pray for us and we figure out what our plans are. I was going to quit at the end of October but before then we had lofty plans to pay off my car and save up a little. Things don't always work out the way we want them to but I know God will take care of us and we'll be just fine.

3.) Tim's job is going great! He had an evaluation and they told him how happy and impressed they are with him. They also gave him a very generous "salary adjustment" which makes everyone concerned very happy. Tim is loving the work and the people and feels like he really made the right decision to move up here. Its really a blessing and the Lord has taken very good care of him. It has also allowed us to meet a couple of terrific new friends, Jonathan and Vanessa, who live in the city. They're a blast to hang out with and have come out to the country a few times with us.

4.) We have not found a church yet. :( We haven't been able to visit very many but have not been too impressed by the ones we have visited. The Northeast is certainly not like the Bible Belt!!! Please be praying that we can find one soon!

5.) I'm hoping to have the opportunity to visit Texas this fall at some time. My dear friend Katey has generously offered to throw me a Fort Worth shower and on the same weekend my family is also giving me one in San Antonio. I'm really excited about that and cannot wait to see all of my dear family and friends, I MISS Y'ALL!!!

More to come soon but for now I am going to sign off. I'll write a baby update soon. :)

An update!

Hello peoples!! Yes, I am finally writing an update! I'm going to get Tim to fix my real blog but for the time being this will have to work.
We've been here for five weeks now and are getting settled in just fine. First off, we love our little house! After I write this post I'm going to put up a bunch of pictures of it. It really has been a perfect fit for us, and it came with friends! Our landlord, Vincent (or Vinny to everyone else) is a doll and he's been so helpful. He's #9 of 13 kids and 11 of them live in this little town! His sister lives next door to us and she and her husband are awesome! In fact, they all came over yesterday to help celebrate Tim's 27th birthday! I made a carrot cake with a recipe from one of my new favorite blogs Pioneer Woman . It turned out really delish! They have a new little baby and he is just precious!! I know we are going to be great friends with them.
And on Saturday we went into the city for the day! It was so much fun!! It was a lot like what I imagined only with more people and more buildings! We walked around Central Park, went to a museum, shopped on 5th Avenue (well, at least I did), ate pizza, and went to a comedy show!! It was great! And our legs are very, very sore. If I lived in the city I would either get really skinny with all the walking around or really fat with all the yummy food available! The show was fantastic! It was an impromptu family-friendly show that made us laugh sooo hard! Highly recommended! We finally got home around 2 and were totally pooped! But it was a great day, so fun!
Tim is loving his job, I think he's really fitting in well (of course!). They recently put him in charge of something, a part of a part of a project. And he's doing a great job with it (again, of course!).
I found a great little part-time job watching a 5 month old baby three days a week. He's a really special little boy who was adopted at birth by this family. The family is fantastic and I'm really excited about it. And I start tomorrow! Hopefully it goes as well as I think it will! I'm not looking forward to waking up early (4:45 :( ) but I'll get over it. I'll post more about it later!
So in a nut shell, this is what we've been up to lately! We really, really miss everyone and I can't wait to have some company!!