And Baby makes three!

If you havent heard by now...Justin and I are going to be parents in June. We are so excited but nervous at the same time.  Right now I am almost 30 weeks pregnant and thinking that in 10 short weeks we will have a little boy in our house. I will have another life that I am responsible for. I also can't wait to watch Justin be a father to our son. He is so loving and caring even if he likes to give the "Tough Guy" image to others.  I will try to update as we get closer to the Due date.

302 days!

That's right we have a countdown started. In 302 days we move home! Justin and I have been looking forward to moving home since the day we moved. It's not that everything is so bad down here, it's just not home. I miss my family and Justin's family, and our friends too! We don't know what is going to happen when we get home as far as jobs, where we will be living for good, but we know we will be among friends and family and thats all that matters.

Update on the Folks

Another post starting with: It's been awhile since I have written anything. Anyways, here is a quick recap of the past year....

June 2010: School Ended and Justin came home then left like a week later to do some work on the ranches with all of the other students. I did Curriculum Writing right after school ended to make some extra money. Most of June was spent being lazy and catching up with my husband. Justin and I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary with a dinner at Applebees, Putt-putt and a Movie (Get Him to the Greek).

Justin and I getting ready to leave to go out to dinner for our Anniversary!

July 2010: Back in April I mentioned to Justin that we should surprise our friends and family by going home for Billy's wedding. We had decided months ago we didn't have the money to go...but I think we both needed this trip. We decided on some dates to leave...then kept moving them up because we were so ready to see everyone. We were going to see my family first but they had planned on seeing my sister that weekend in WV. So we went to Staunton and made a grand entry. It was probably my favorite trip because of the moments when we got to reveal we were in Virginia. We spent two weeks in VA. We went camping, saw my mom's play, spent time with good friends and even got a puppy while there. Then we had to make the 24 hour trip back to Texas. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Kaeleb and I at the wedding!!

Billy and Tiara....it was a beautiful wedding!!

Kaeleb and Justin

Us having a great time!!

Justin and the boys being silly!

Our Little Shelby!! Saying Goodbye to VA!!

August 2010: August was a super busy month. We finally moved into our house (which is a million times better than the apartment). School started back for both Justin and I. I started teaching Child Development this year, which was strange at first but has become one of the best things ever. I started driving an hour to and from work every day which took some getting used to and a lot of money in gas. We started settling back into our normal routine, which was nice after 5 months apart. We were both homesick after our trip in July but knew we would see our family again soon.

September 2010: Justin's parents and extended family came to Texas in September. They were in San Antonio for a AHDRA race. I took some days off from work and had a nice 4 day weekend with them. We drove up to Cabela's and had some bonding time. We mainly stayed around the track as Justin's Cousin and Uncle raced. It was hot, Hot, Hot all weekend long, which is expected for Texas in September.

October 2010: I really can't remember anything that happened this month other than both Justin and I being very busy. Oh and I got a Nook....my life is forever changed....LOVE IT!!!

November 2010: My Parents came for a visit for Thanksgiving. Emily and I drove up to San Antonio to pick them up and spent some time exploring the city. It was nice having family around for Thanksgiving. I am very thankful for them, they have been so supportive of Justin and I all along. We visited the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and some shops in San Antonio, and did the touristy things in Corpus/Kingsville. Here are some pics:

December 2010: CHRISTMAS!!! As a teacher, nothing is better than Christmas Break and now it also means going to Virginia to see our friends and family. We spent the entire two weeks in Virginia. As always we spent time with both families trying to spend as much time as possible with everyone. Here are some pics:

January 2011: Justin moved back to the ranches in January. It wasn't as emotionally draining as last time, but still hard to handle the first couple of nights. He should move back sometime in May or June. I've made it a point to visit him more and he comes home more too this semester. The semester ended for me mid-Jan and I got a new crop of kids. My students this year have been so much better than last year. I've been really happy at Ray this year.

Feburary 2011: As a teacher you get very close to your students, I would like to say I have a good relationship with most of my students. This year one of my students passed away unexpectentlly. I was heartbroken, devastated, and in a complete state of shock when I heard the news. Alexis was a student I had from August to January, we had a very close connection and was a very special person. I will miss her so much.

March 2011: SPRING BREAK!!! Thank God....it means summer is coming up soon. I choose to stay in Texas this year for my break. I took some much needed me time and just relaxed. It was very nice. My computer was acting strange and I tired to fix it...didn't work out too well, so I had to order a new computer. Nothing else great and wonderful happened in March, other than my birthday. Speaking of which. I got a Xbox 360 with a Kinect for my birthday....AMAZING!!!

That's about all that has happened, I think. If I think of more stuff that happened I post again. More later, I PROMISE!!!

New Post

I've been doing very bad keeping up with the updates anyway here is a new one....

....The most important bit of news is Justin is moving home tomorrow (Friday). I so happy and can't believe its been 5 months. We have come out of this separation better than we started. He should be home tomorrow afternoon and then we get a wonderful 3 day weekend together. We are planning a wonderful meal with friends to celebrate. I could write tons more about this but I will move on to other topics.


....School has been OK. There has been lots of drama and I'm over it all. I don't wanna get into what happened but I've lost trust and respect for a lot of people at school. I will not allow myself to get hurt again, so things will be changing for next year. I will stick to those that have had my back and look out to me.....and stay far away from others. So I'm very glad school is ending soon.


....We are still unsure what is happening with our move to Kingsville. We are in line to get a house but the current tenant has to move out first and it keeps getting pushed back for various reasons. We are trying to be very understanding and patient.....but we are ready to move. It is now costing us extra money to stay in this apartment and not to mention Justin will have to start driving down there a lot when he gets home. So we may have to start looking at other options.


....Justin and I are still making wonderful progress paying off our debt. We are 6 months in and about $10,000 richer (I guess that would be right???)....we still have a long (LONG) way to go. But we have really changed our habits and trying to make this a priority.

Ok That is all for now.....Happy Summer to me in 3 days!!!

Happiness

When we moved to Texas, Justin and I both knew things would be different and hard at times. We both have gone through some deep, dark moments in the past year. Our marriage too saw some dark days. I know at times I focus on the negative and seem very unhappy. MOst of this is just venting. My mom always tells me "Happiness is a choice" which I totally agree with but my mom normally tells me this when I just want to vent and be mad for awhile. So when I need a pick me up, I keep telling myself the following:

My Happiness does not depend on...

...what state I live in
...the size of my clothes
...the condition of my apartment
...the food I consume
...how much money I make
...how many friends I have
...how much debt I'm in
...the behavior of my students that day
...what clothes I wear
...ANYONE BUT ME.

It's a Love Story

Spring always brings up memories for me (and hopefully Justin too). We met in 2004 at the end of March and during April and May our relationship developed into a love affair. Just so I can walk down memory lane again...this is the story of how we met and fell in love....

....Justin and I both attended Bridgewater College, we were freshman at the time...and both had string of bad luck in love. We had many mutual friends but it still took us until March to officially meet. I remember seeing Justin at different times during that year....

The first time I ever saw him, my friend Ashton was looking him up on our school's directory (StalkerNet) and there he was picture and all (a very bad picture BTW). See Ashton had gone to school with Justin's cousin Matt and Matt had told her to look Justin up. I believe this was in November. Flash forward a couple months to one meal I had in the KCC. My group of friends always sat at the same table for every meal. At one of these meals right on the end was a very attractive person I had never met. I asked my cousin Brent who that guy was at the end of the table. I don't remember exactly what was said, but I do know later on Brent told me he knew exactly why I had asked.....

...At the end of March, my roommate Amber was invited to hang out in the boy's dorm while the guys played a poker game....I did something that was very out of character for me and asked to tag along....We went over to the dorm and found our friends Brent and Billy playing poker and Justin too. I was immediately trying to figure out how to get to know this guy. I found out he played baseball and knew I had an "IN." Nothing happened that night, no sparks flew but something was set in motion.

I was always trying to figure out how to be around this guy, I would always tell Amber that we should go hang out in the guy's dorms or spend time with Billy (who lived next to Justin). Well, Justin hasn't always been the most upfront with his emotions, meaning I had no idea what this guy thought about me....I never got any sign that he liked me at all .....so I tried to move on...and I did, kinda and I regret it tremendously.....I could have ruined everything with Justin....But enough about that. I wouldn't even say we had a relationship at this point, we were just talking and flirting. I do remember one time we were in Billy's room and everyone left us alone (Not sure if it was planned or not) but I think this was the first time I thought that he may like me too. But I still wasn't sure.

Justin played baseball in college and was right in the middle of the season, he had a lot of games during this time on Saturdays and many days during the week. One Friday right before a Saturday double-header, the college hosted a Relay for Life event. Justin was on a team with some other guys in his hall, so I went down to his team's tent thinking maybe I could see him ....which was very out of character for me...but that night was a big night in our relationship....Justin did show up and we spent time together just hanging out with some of our other friends. It was a very cold night and I joked with Justin that I could keep him warm...and I did....it was the first night we spent together....and nothing happened, not even a kiss. I told Justin I would come watch him play before I had to go home for the weekend. He told me later he was looking for me in the stands the entire game.

We had many more days back and forth...and we never talked about what was going on or what we were....we were just enjoying what was. We both knew the end of the school year was coming and starting a relationship then would kinda be silly. Amber and I had a meeting one night in a building near Justin's dorm and we headed over there as soon as the meeting ended. Amber was hanging out with Billy and Chance, and I went over and hung out with Justin. As we were getting ready to leave, Justin told me that I couldn't and I had to stay with him. At first I didn't know what to do....but I felt comfortable with this guy and knew he wouldn't hurt me. And so Justin and I spent another night together....and nothing happened, not even a kiss.

I was getting many mixed messages about how this guy felt about me....but I knew I liked him. As I was leaving his room to head to class....I turned around and kissed him for the first time.

The next few weeks went by very fast, we had a very innocent relationship and it was great. I stayed some more nights with him and we ate some meals together in the dining hall. Like I said earlier Justin and I never talk about the future...just kinda lived for the day. I was very loyal to Justin...and had some situations come up that could have changed things. Justin was also getting information about me that could have changed things....my other cousin had told Justin that I was "clingy" and basically I wasn't what he needed...another friend knew what Justin and I had both been through with relationships in the past was afraid we'd both get hurt and wasn't exactly pushing us together.

The day we were leaving for home Justin and I both knew the future of our relationship was in question. We again never talked about seeing each other again....all I knew was that I was going to call him to let him know I got home. I believe this was a Tuesday (5/11).....I pretty much cried the entire trip home because I couldn't bare the thought of not seeing this guy for 3 months. That night we both independently knew we wanted to make this a real relationship. I made plans to go see him in Staunton that next weekend. We had an amazing weekend together and that was the first time he told me he loved me....and I loved him too. By the end of the month we knew this was it...we had found the "One." We spent that whole summer traveling back and forth to see each other.

We dated for three years before we got married on June 23, 2007.

I love Justin more than anything in the world.....when I think about everything that had to happen in order for us to meet and fall in love, I know there is a higher power that has a master plan.... Justin is perfect for me in so many ways and I really do fall in love with him more everyday.

Hello March!!!!

It's a new month and new events are happening!!!

March brings:

~My Birthday...YAY!!!
~Spring Break
~Week Home in VA
~Spring
~NO MORE DI!!!
~More Weight Loss
~More Debt Reduction
~Less Stress (Hopefully)!!
~More Self-Growth....is that even a word
~And Lots more I'm sure!!!