Table Rock Lake

A few weeks ago, Paul and I went to visit his parents in southern Missouri.  They live on Table Rock Lake which, for those who don't know, is one of my very favorite places. 

Table Rock is so special to us: it's where Paul's parents went on their honeymoon (camping-love that), where Paul vacationed with his family every summer growing up, where we spent our first vacation together with our families (we were 18), and where we've made countless memories with family and friends. 



my first trip to Table Rock ~ 2002



And when Paul's parents retired a few years ago, they moved down there full time, which means we can visit any time we want.  Yay!

This year we road tripped it down there for Memorial Day.  It's a 12 hour drive which might seem long to some, but we don't mind.  Especially if it means Oscar can come along :)

The first night we were there, Bob and Mary had everyone over for a cookout.  Paul's aunt, uncle, and cousins were in town for the weekend too and it was so fun to see them.

This is the view from Bob and Mary's deck.  It's so peaceful.

The next day we went out on the boat all day but I didn't take any pictures.  boo.

But take a look at this picture...

On New Year's Eve this year,  Bob and Mary's neighborhood was hit by a tornado.  Luckily it didn't do any damage to their house, but it completely destroyed their dock and did a lot of damage to their boats.  This is actually a picture of their neighbor's dock.  Crazy huh?

On Memorial Day we took the fishing boat out to see if we could catch anything.  Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting.  Paul caught one, but he was the only one.

That night we boated over to Big Cedar Lodge for dinner.  It's one of our favorite spots on the lake.

For our last day, we decided to canoe the Buffalo River.  I've only done this twice before, but it's always so much fun.



Bob & Mary

 

Paul does most of the rowing hehe

 

swimming across the river





And then I saw this...two snakes (I think they're Water Moccasins) nose to nose in the water.  Eeekk!!  I get the chills every time I look at this.



Toward the end of the trip, Paul and I were talking about how awesome we were because we hadn't tipped our canoe once.  Well, we spoke too soon because about 5 minutes later, we hit a rock, tipped the canoe, and were swimming downstream haha.

The next day we had to head home.  We had such a great time, as always, but it's never long enough.  Luckily we're going back later this summer!  I already can't wait.

I'm Back

Whoa, I sort of fell off the face of the Earth for a while there!  Sorry about that ;)

Paul and I are officially Pueblo residents.  We found a little condo to rent and moved in two weeks ago.  We've been busy settling in, unpacking (me), and working (him).

My impressions of Pueblo so far:

* The people here are very friendly.  Everyone from Paul's co-workers to the lady pumping gas next to me at the Loaf 'N Jug have been nothing but nice.

* It has a small town feel.  Pueblo technically has a larger population than Boulder, but it feels so much smaller.  It's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone.

* The cost of living is lower than Boulder.  Rent, gas, food, alcoholic beverages..all cheaper than what we're used to.  SCORE! 

* It's very desert-y.  I don't really feel like I'm living in Colorado-it feels more like New Mexico.  Maybe that's because New Mexico is less than 100 miles south of here. ha!

So far I really am enjoying it here, other than being a little lonely when Paul's at work.  We definitely miss our friends in Boulder, but in time we'll make some new ones here.  It just feels so good to finally be living with hubs again!

I'll be back later this week with recaps of two trips we took before me moved and maybe even a tour of our new home.  Until then, here's a little sneak peek of each...

Have a great week! 

Roller Coaster

A recap of the past two and a half weeks:


Paul's parents came to Boulder to help us pack up our house (we had to be out by May 1st).

We found a house to rent in Pueblo that we loved!

That same day, Paul was offered a job coaching defensive line at a Division II school in Texas.


We held off on signing the lease in Pueblo.


It seemed that Paul would most likely take the job in Texas.


We continued to pack.

I got really excited about moving to Texas and started making plans.


Paul turned down the job in Texas.  He did so for many good reasons and I supported his decision, but now I was confused.


We called about the house in Pueblo and found out it had already been rented.


I cried for a day because I felt like my life was in shambles.


Then I told myself to get over it.


We moved out of our house in Boulder and put all of our belongings in a storage facility in Pueblo.

I moved in with my parents.


I had an epiphany that I would rather live in a box and be unemployed in Pueblo than live without my husband any longer.


I put in my "three weeks notice" at work.  My last day is May 27th.

I got excited about moving to Pueblo...all over again.


Whew.  It's been a roller coaster, that's for sure.  There have been times that I've questioned God's plan for us and why certain things happened the way they did.  But the crazy thing is, after going through all of these twists and turns, I am more convinced now than ever, that we're right where we're supposed to be.  This was the push I needed to finally be ready to take this next step.  I now feel totally confident about this move and I have a peace that I didn't have before. It's a wonderful feeling!  That doesn't mean that there won't be more bumps down the road, but it's nice to know that  no matter what happens, everything will work out the way it's supposed to.

Life Ain't Always Beautiful

Okay, I feel like Debbie Downer lately..

I just feel like 2011 is kickin my butt.  I know I shouldn't complain, because things could be waaaay worse.  I'm just going through a rough spot.  Does that ever happen to you?

I'm trying to stay positive, but every time things seem like they're looking up, something happens that brings me right back to where I started. 

God is trying to tell me something......  I'm just not sure what it is.

Today it all came to a head.  I honestly felt like I needed to crawl into a hole and live there forever; like I couldn't handle one more thing.  I was feeling sorry for myself.  Ick.

But then I heard a song on the radio that gave me a little attitude shift.  I've heard this song before and I've always liked it, but today it really hit home.

Life Ain't Always Beautiful ~ Gary Allan

Life ain't always beautiful

Sometimes it's just plain hard

Life can knock you down, it can break your heart

Life ain't always beautiful

You think you're on your way

And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day

But the struggles makes you stronger

And the changes make you wise

And happiness has its own way of takin' its sweet time

No, life ain't always beautiful

Tears will fall sometimes

Life ain't always beautiful

But it's a beautiful ride

What a beautiful ride!

Moving Right Along

Guess what?

We found someone to rent our house in Boulder!  Hip Hip Hooray!

I'm gonna miss this old house :(

I was worried it might be hard to find someone to take over our lease, but less than 30 minutes after listing it on Craigslist, we already had people setting up appointments to view it.  Twelve days later, the new lease was signed.  It was that easy.

Getting that lease signed was a huge relief, but it also made the impending move that much more real.  The new tenants are moving in on May 1st which gives us two weeks to pack up all of our worldly possessions and find a new home.  YIKES!!! 

That's enough to make anyone go into panic mode.  But I'm not freaking out...yet.  I like to think of myself as an expert packer.

Okay, that's a lie.  Paul and I have never really packed our own stuff-we've always hired a team of experts to do that for us (read: mom, dad, Bob and Mary).  Seriously.  When we moved from Boulder to Auburn, Paul and I were in Las Vegas on a trip we had planned months earlier and our parents packed all of our stuff for us while we were gone.  Then when we moved from Auburn back to Boulder, Paul was already living and working in Boulder and couldn't help pack.  Our parents flew out to AL and packed up all of our stuff while I finished up my last week of work.  Oh, and I should probably mention that they drove the moving van across the country with us both times. 





Best. Parents. Ever. 

And lucky for us, they signed themselves up for another packing party next week!  Although, Paul and I will be a little more involved with this one.  We are so blessed.

The thing that is making me a little nervous is finding a new home in Pueblo.  Everything we've looked at so far has made me want to cry.  I'm going down there this weekend and I'm making it my mission to find something habitable.  I'll be back next week with a full report.  Wish me luck! 

April 8th

Four years ago today, on Easter Sunday, my first and only true love asked me to marry him.  It's a day I will never forget for as long as I live.

We had just graduated college and had been living in Alabama for a little over two months.  I knew we would get married someday; I'd known since I was sixteen years old (I wouldn't have moved across the country with him otherwise) but I didn't know when it would happen.  We had never looked at rings or discussed the topic in too much detail.  I figured we would take some time to adjust to life in Alabama before we even thought about that next step.  To say I was surprised would be a huge understatement!

A few days before Easter, I was feeling a little blue.  I was sad about having to spend the holiday away from my family.  I've always been big on holidays and family traditions.  Every year we would go to Mass, have brunch, and my mom would hide eggs and a basket for me, my brother, and sister (yes, even when we were grown adults).  With this in mind, I kept asking Paul if he thought the Easter Bunny would come visit us in Auburn.  He would laugh and say no.

On Easter Sunday morning, I woke up to find one shiny plastic egg on the floor.  I picked it up and looked at Paul who was smiling at me.  I asked him what this was all about and he said he had no idea.  I opened the egg and found a little piece of paper inside with a note written on it.  It said:

At this point, I just thought Paul was being sweet and hiding eggs for me like my mom always did.  And I was so in to it!  Each egg had a clue inside that led to the next.  I began racing around our tiny apartment looking for eggs.  And let me tell you, they were not easy to find!  Paul was following me and laughing the entire time because I probably looked like a total dork.

I finally found the last clue that led to my Easter basket.  The basket had some goodies in it and one final egg.  I opened the egg and here's what I found:

I turned around to look at Paul and found him down on one knee with a beautiful ring in his hand!  I think I said something along the lines of, SERIOUSLY??? and before he could answer me I was jumping in his arms and screaming YES!  He put the ring on my finger and we shared some hugs, tears, kisses and laughs. 

It was such a perfect proposal.  I couldn't have even dreamed anything better.

Happy engagement anniversary Pauly, I love you!

winning-duh

Look what I got in the mail this week...

Sweet Katie of it's in the details hosted a giveaway a few weeks ago and I won!  I never win!  Can you tell I'm excited?  I am now the proud owner of Black Heels to Tractor Wheels-signed by PW herself, I might add!-and some super cute personalized stationery.  I just finished part one of the book and it already has me totally entertained.  It's a fun and easy read.

Getting this little package in the mail put a huge smile on my face.  Thanks again Katie!