New Beginnings

At lot has been happening for me in the past couple months. Hopefully things will start to slow down a little, and I'm going to try to write at least once a week to keep anyone who reads this up to date on what's going on.

Saturday I moved back to Texas to attend seminary. This week has been spent unpacking and trying to get the house in order. I decided not to post any pics until I get it done, but since I'm on a grad student's budget, its gonna be awhile before I can afford to get the little things that will really spruce the place up. Here are some basic pics of the living room and kitchen as they are right now.

A view of the Living/Dining Room from the front door.

The kitchen, view 1.

The kitchen, view 2.

The Living/Dining Room from the kitchen door.

The Living Room TV area.

Its not much to look at but it's home. Still looking for a roommate to help split the living expenses, but I know it's all gonna work out. Milt and Janet are really loving the new place. Janet has a decent backyard to run around in, and Milton has loved playing in all the empty boxes from moving. This has been an adjustment for all of us, but having Milt and Janet has made the transition much easier.

The decision to leave my old job was a tough call to make. The church I worked at is full of loving generous people with whom I have become good friends. They even took up an amazing love offering that helped pay for all the deposits on my new place and for my moving expenses as well as some school costs. I will miss them all dearly.

The toughest part of the move was leaving behind all my good friends and adopted family. I know that a part of growing up is leaving and meeting new people, but that doesn't make it any less painful to do so.

I'll post some pics and info on school in my next post. I need to go spend some time on campus with the camera.

The good news is I'll be working for my school as a graphic designer/publisher. It's an exciting opportunity, but will definitely be a challenge. The good news is I get to use their brand new Canon T3i camera and Mac computer with editing software! I'm super excited to see where this leads.

Blessings to all. Hopefully, you'll be hearing from me soon!

Catching Up

Wow...can't believe how long its been since I posted on here. I've spent all my spare time working on a website for my office. You can see it at http://www.fbcark.org/ if you're curious. Working on that has just completely burned me out computer work, but that's about to end. Now to catch up on what's been going on.

First, the new addition to the family. Meet Janet (new name needed!) the 1/2 black lab, 1/4 golden retriever, 1/4 boxer mix. I got her from a friend who has a several months old son who will begin walking soon. She's just a little to hyper to have around a toddler. She's super sweet and she and Milton have become the best of friends. She helps make my life easier, and has helped heal my heart in a time of some pretty intense family drama. I didn't pose any of the pictures, she's just really photogenic. There's not an evil bone in her body, though she did chew through the books of Job and Psalms from my preaching Bible....guess I can't do any studies from those books.


She loves tennis balls and rawhide chews!




Sweet Face




Buddies


In other news I am about to leave my church job in Arkansas to move back to Texas for grad school. I'm currently searching for a job, house, and car. Things are stressful but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. (Note: there will be a rant coming soon on Craigslist scam artists). I'm hoping to do better about blogging as I miss the communication with you wonderful people.

Meet Milton

I am officially done with undergrad classes! I recieved my Bachelor of Arts degree on Saturday (blog post/pictures coming soon), and now that I am out of campus housing I can share my beautiful cat with you all! I got Milton from the rescue shelter here in town in October, but had to hide him due to the campus housing restrictions. I named him Milton Hops Bryan after a favorite quote of mine; "Malt does more than Milton can/To justify God's ways to man." - A.E. Housman. Milt's been a great joy to have around the house this year, but he is definitley a handful. It's kinda like having an unruly 2-year old who needs constant attention. He is spoiled rotten, and is Mommy's Little Boy. I'm planning to post a series of "Milton's Misadventures" now that the cat is out of the bag (cheesy, I know! but I couldn't resist) as he carries out more of his hilarious hijinks. Enjoy the pics, and don't forget to watch the video!

Milt congratulating me on my graduation!

Milt with my former roomate

When I first got Milt there was absolutely no way I'd be able to hold him like this.
It's amazing to see how trusting and loving he's becoming.

Milt's favorite chair, my former favorite one.

All ready for the 2010 Christmas party

Favorite toy is a simple plastic cup with nothing in the bottom.

Authentic Cowgirl

This weekend I had the opportunity to travel back home and visit my Dad, H and S. We also got the news that Dad's biopsy came back clean, so that was a huge relief! One of S's favorite things to do is ride horses. A while back I posted about how envious I was of her skill. So, I decided I would go riding with her one afternoon to spend time doing what she does best. I proudly pulled on my boots, hat, and jeans and looked every inch the authentic cowgirl. I mean, I really looked the part. Then I strutted up to the barn, looking like I knew exactly what I was doing. S quickly handed me this huge stack of tack (riding equipment). Although I had saddled a horse before, it had been some time, and it quickly became obvious that I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. S quietly came over and fixed my mistaken jumble of straps without fanfare, for which I am grateful. So there I was, looking the part but completely oblivious, and there she was in jean shorts looking like a supermodel, but the master of her craft. Later it became even more evident that I didn't have a clue what I was doing when the horse took off with me and I nearly killed myself, but that's a story for another post!

My crazy mind started thinking about how sometimes that's how we go through life. Looking the part, but not really living it. I used this as a Bible Study topic last night, about how many people claim to be religious but don't really "walk the walk," but rather just "talk the talk." It can apply to so much else though. Are we really letting our true selves out around others, or do we have a different personality for each different group we encounter? I know I'm guilty of having one persona at school, and another outside of it (but that is partly of necessity because my school is extremely strict). Wouldn't the world be a better place if we could all just be ourselves?

Just bored at work, so my mind is just ruminating on all sorts of crazy stuff. Hope you're doing great!

Some Days

I'm really working on being more positive. On looking for the silver lining, and putting my best foot forward. But some days it catches up with you. I'm getting ready to graduate in May with my BA degree, and just really wishing my Mom could be here for the ceremony. Dad had a prostate biopsy on Thursday, and we're waiting for Friday to see what the results hold. I'm not sure if I should wish for it to be all clear, or if I hope they find something we can fix that will cure his health problems. And to top it all of, there's a guy I like and who I think likes me back and I would just really love to be able to pick up the phone and call my mom to talk about it. Most days I just think about her as a passing thought with a smile, but today I just really wish I could get a hug from her and a listening ear. I'm surrounded by so many loving people, and my "adopted" Mom is really amazing, but it's just not the same.

Sorry for the depressing post, but I just needed to get it off my mind. My best friend and I are about to go to dinner and bowling, and I want to be in a better mood for him (wink).

So do me a favor, give your mom a hug if your able, or at least a phone call. Tell her you love her and that you're grateful for all she's done. Moms are such a big part of our lives, and sometimes we don't realize just how much so until its too late.