Sunday morning, we went to the outlet mall to get some Bare Escentuals!! We had lunch at Craigo’s Pizza, then went to Cavenders to buy Cowboy Hats for Jill and Mom.

Then we went to meeting! My congregation finally got to meet my mom!  It was great!

After meeting, we drove up to Austin and went to OASIS for dinner.  Oasis is a restaurant overlooking Lake Travis.

It was crazy!!  We got there and there was NO parking.  The restaurant seats 2,500 people and we were there on a holiday weekend…We were nuts!   Once seated, we ordered.  YUMMY food!!

After we ate, we walked outside the restaurant and there was a guy taking pictures of people on the Longhorn.  We  decided to all jump in for the picture. 

Seth got to sit on the Longhorn…It was fun and yet scary at the same time.

Monday we went to the Guadalupe river with Seth’s family.

My mom finally got to meet Aunt Pat, Cousin Bill, Jen, Ava, Bella and Wyatt!

Jilly is helping Wyatt over to “mermaid island”

We had a great time relaxing!!

Tuesday, Seth and I took mom and Jilly to the airport.

Greatest weekend ever!!!

Thursday night, Seth and I drove up to Austin Airport to pick up my mom. She was coming to stay for the long weekend.  We were leaving the airport and a stranger came up to me from behind….it was Jilly!!!  I say stranger because she was dressed incognito (big sunglasses, sundress with vest, boots, tons of silver/turquoise  jewelry and a hat).

We drove out to Lockhart to go to dinner at Black’s Barbecue.  Good food!!

Friday morning I had to go to work, but everyone was up early that morning… They picked me up for lunch and we went to Palmer’s.  Yummy food and beautiful atmosphere!!

Friday night we went to Landa Station for Karaoke!  It was so much fun! We started off the night by singing the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song!!!  Too much fun!!!  I sang More Than Words by Extreme, Seth sang Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd and Jill sang Against All Odds(take a look at me now) by Phil Collins.  We had a great time!

Saturday we went thrift shopping, found tons of good stuff!! Jill bought 3 hats (sailor, straw, train conductor’s hat).  I won a piece of art at an auction at Goodwill.  Mom  bought a book.

We went to  Allen’s Boot Shop on South Congress!!  It was so much fun trying on tons of different pairs.

It was so much fun, we decided to all get a pair!!

Mom’s have stars, Jill’s have flower and mine are motorcycle boots!!!

to be continued….

My work history has been pretty sketchy ever since I got laid off  from Plaza Home Mortgage in October 2007…

I nannied and worked for a temp agency in San Diego.

When we moved here in July, I started to work part-time watching Ava weekday mornings. Bella was born in November, so i got to watch both of them.

In November, I added some hours by working part time (evenings/weekends) for L’Occitane at the oulet mall.

I have been looking for a full time job ever since we moved here.  Today I got a call from Texas State University offering me a position!!!

I start July 13th and it will be full time with benefits!!!

The position is Data Entry-Prospects in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

I will find out more about the position when I start on Monday. Here is where I will be working, my office is in the “sunroom.”

I will try to keep my blog updated regularly.

Seems like June flew by…

Seth & I got to go to the cabin in Canyon Lake with the family.  It was so beautiful and relaxing!  Here are some pictures from our day…

Seth and Uncle Steve relaxing with a beer while the steaks cook!

Ava and Aunt Pat

Bella enjoying a bottle …Wyatt in the background

Aunt Pat, Cindy and Ava making the sides for dinner…

Cindy, Bella and me at the river…

Close up of Bella…

Steve & Pat in the paddle boat  and Wyatt in the water…

Brad in a kayak…

Seth in kayak…

Ava doing some fishing…

The boys…

Great picture of Uncle Steve and Aunt Pat …

A wonderfully relaxing day….

Saturday I helped Rachael with another wedding.  This wedding was so cool.   The contrast between the rustic barn and the elegance of the flowers and the bridal party was awesome!!!

The bride rode up in a horse drawn carriage.

The wedding was outside of the barn.

I snuck inside the barn to take this picture of the kiss!

The amazing bouquet!

The cocktail hour and food was inside the barn..

The dinner was out in the tent behind the barn.

have a look inside…

The tall centerpieces…

And the short centerpieces…

Rachael also fixed up the cake…

and my favorite picture…

What a fun wedding!!!  After the wedding we went to Inoz in Wimberly for dinner.  We had a great dinner and conversation.

3 goals for Jilly’s visit:     eat good food, stay busy and relax

Jill arrive on Thursday evening!!!  We took her to Stubbs for dinner.  We had some bbq!  Then we dropped Seth off at school and headed to The Domain to meet up with our aunt Kendra and cousin Lauren, who is stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, TX.  Kendra is in town this week because Lauren is about to have her baby!!  We can’t wait for Aiden Mike Thompson to arrive!!

We enjoyed some coffee while sitting in rocking chairs outside…what a perfect night!!

Friday we did some  shopping in Austin.  We went to Monkey See Monkey Do, Parts & Labour, and New Bohemia.  Then we headed to the Hula Hut for dinner and drinks!  It was great sitting above the lake enjoying the company!!

Saturday we relaxed around the house.  Then i had to go to work for a few hours.   Jill took Max to the river!  Max did some swimming and had fun with the other dogs.

Yes, Max has a life vest!

After I got home from work, we went to  TX Red’s  Steakhouse for dinner with Aunt Pat & Uncle Steve.  This is probably the best steakhouse in San Marcos! Good food, great conversation  with amazing people!

Sunday morning we went to Lake Austin (aka Lady Bird Lake) to do some canoeing!  I was skeptical at first.  But i must admit, i had a blast!

It was such a beautiful day!  It was cool and overcast!

View of Downtown Austin….

Downtown Austin

Jilly taking a break!  lol

Finally, a picture of all 3 of us on the lake!

After canoeing, we went to Chuy’s for lunch.  Chuy’s is yummy tex mex food.  We went to meeting,  then went to Grin’s for dinner with some friends.

Monday morning the news said:

The National Weather Service (NWS) has placed Hays County under a tornado watch until 1 p.m., and a flash flood watch until 4 p.m.

Oh great!  Last time Jilly was here Hurricane Ike was the threat!  Now this!

Jilly got packed up and we headed to Austin.  We stopped by Urban Outfitters, then to the airport.  It was pretty rainy and trafficky.   We got her to the airport in time and there were no delays!  We said our goodbyes.

I think we accomplished our 3 goals for the weekend.

Love ya Jilly!

This past weekend I went to my circuit assembly in San Antonio.   It was very good…here are some photos from the event.

Me and Rachael on Saturday:

Rachael,Tamra and me on Sunday:

Saturday morning was wet and humid, so everyone’s hair was frizzy…lol

But it cleared up for lunch time.  We all ate outside at the picnic tables.

These are some of our new friends Gaylin and Misty, they just moved here from California!!  Instant bond!!!

Here are their cute kids, Micah and Ezra:

Here is another great family in my congregation! Dana & Sharon and the kids are Trevor and Maddy!

Me, Zita, Yvette and Michelle….why do the guys always have to mess up the good pictures??

Today I got to help Rachael again with flowers.  It was crazy how many flower arrangements needed to be made. Here is the back of my car, full of flowers and vases.

They all turned out awesome!!!

This one is my favorite, I did it all by myself…I am so proud of myself..

and this one too..

I zoomed in on the vase…

Here are some other arrangements made by Rachael:

This day was tons of fun!  It was actually very relaxing.

Today I went over to Rachael’s house to help her with some centerpieces for a wedding she is doing on Saturday.  Rachael owns Corbyn’s Floral Design & Decor.

She does amazing work! I was glad to help out!  I worked on these centerpieces.   They are Pink Roses with Horsetail(looks like bamboo) and Green Button flowers.  I forget the names…sorry…

This is a larger centerpiece.  This will sit on top of a tall cylinder vase with lights and black rocks inside.

I was fun and actually relaxing!

If you or anyone you know is getting married, they should definitely check out Rachael’s talent!

Some of our friends (Rachael, Joe and Corbyn) were going to the river to go fishing.  Max and I decided to go and watch.

I had never taken max to the river before, so i kept a close eye on him.  I don’t know if he can swim with his short legs!

This is San Marcos River,  I went tubing with the girls who visited us last year in this same river.    We crossed the bridge and watched Joe & Rachael fish.   Max chilling at the river…

The sun set and it was time to go…