I know about 10 people who deserve today off...

I'm officially an Austinite again! I don't have pictures just yet of the completed new place, but I will have some this week. The move this weekend was a FAST one! Jake and I stopped and Lance and Lauren's on our way out of town Friday night to get some furniture packing supplies... that came in SUPER handy! A quick dinner in Waco with Jake's cousin, Bess... and we were on our way!

We got up to Dallas around 10:30 and I immediately got overwhelmed with everything on our plates. After assessing the territory, I got straight to work while Jake taped up boxes and help me pack. Had a super late night and early rise... we got to working and my parents came up from Henderson to help us out. Mom packed up the kitchen, while Jake and Dad loaded up the moving truck. I was packing more boxes and just trying to clean up while doing that! Jake's mom came over from Waxahachie to lend a hand and then we all went out to a good lunch. It was fun to finally have my parents and Jake's mom meet!

Literally had everything packed and ready to go by 1:00 in Dallas... and Jake got on the road a little after 2:00 to head back to Austin. I got on the road at 4 and waved to Dallas in the rear view mirror... even though I couldn't see a thing because my car was packed!

I rolled into the apartment complex at 7:00 and to my surprise, Jake and our friends Dave, Erica and Chris were almost done unloading! What great friends!!! Do you ever have that twinge of guilt when people are sweating beads because of you?? Definitely felt bad, but was so thankful for all of their help... especially helping Jake load things up 3 flights of stairs! By 8:00 we were all in the apartment pool!!! Yes, LESS than 24 hours after getting to Dallas to pack up, I was all moved in in Austin! Dave and his wife, Jennifer, helped me and Jake arrange furniture and figure out where things should go. Jennifer is an interior decorator... so Linda and I were so thankful that she was willing to help us figure out furniture placement in the living room!!

Yesterday was spent just unpacking and trying to get back into a normal way of life! Pretty much all we have left is just hanging pictures and organizing the study.

Linda's room is super cute... and mine is slowly but surely coming together. We are already having a blast and we've decided that we are going to have a game night at our place... because we have seating for 13 people!

Thanks to EVERYONE for their help, whether physical, loaning us stuff or humor support! This was a super easy move... and one that I was so excited to make! Austin is my town... and I thank my God for bringing me back!

Hope all of you can come see the new place soon!

Movers, take your marks...

Ok... so it's been a few weeks... life has been crazy, but, none-the-less, interesting! Prepare yourselves for quite possibly the longest blog update ever...

So a month ago, Linda Arredondo and I decided that we were going to save some serious cash and move into an apartment together! We settled on this sweet deal at this apt complex in South Austin. We looked at 2 floorplans, and oddly enough, we liked the smaller plan better. So, Linda began preparing her first move in 5 years and life with a roommate... and I, well I started packing up my few belongings in the ATX and preparing mentally for the massive move back to Austin from Dallas! Oh... I'm tired even thinking about it!!

Now for a little picture painting -- this past Tuesday around 10:30 in the morning, I get a call from our new apartment complex, telling us that there is a "maintenance" issue with the apartment that we had picked out. After digging a little and probably annoying the guy a little, I found out that apparently the last tenants were so disgusting that they have had to call in pest-control to get rid of furry-4 legged friends not once, not twice, but now a THIRD time... mind you 2 days before we are supposed to get the place! Umm yeah!! GRODDY! At any rate, they offered us the BIGGER apartment for the same price of the smaller one... therefore we are sooooo bankin' on this apartment deal!! And... to top it off, I got the apartment manager to throw in a free accent wall, as if they already weren't doing enough! Hey... never hurts to ask, friends...

Our move began yesterday!! We both spent our first night in #731 and had us a little Chuy's for our first roomie dinner :) Unfortunately, no pics from last night... but I promise to document as much of this crazy weekend as possible. Linda and I both got our bathrooms and closets pretty much taken care of... so that's good. I figured that seeing as how people were going to be in and out of the place all weekend, they could at least find a little bit of normallcy in el bano...

Now... for a few pics, discoveries and comments on the new place...

where it all goes down...


yes... that's the FREE accent wall... to the largest APT living room I've ever seen in my life...



Jake's room... jkjk it's just the pantry... But it is HUGE! And knowing our eating habits, it will probably be full at all times...



Our loverly kitchen... complete with island, complementary pot rack and DEEP sinks w/ sprayer!




This is the view from our study... Yes, I did say study. First of all... please notice the lovely non-paint job on the built-in shelves. I guess the painters got a little tired, poor chaps...



My bathroom... I decided to stick with the red and brown... but one new shower curtain and a few new rugs... it's ALL new to me! A few things to notice... all of the freaking cabinets! I am seriously racking my brain as to how I can fill all of these cabinets! Another thing you probably can't notice is that I'm currently without a door to my bathroom. This indeed causes a few challenges. For example, last night when I was getting into the shower, Linda had to stay in her room with her door closed until I yelled that I was in... funny, none-the-less...

Ok... the huge challenge so far has been my closet. It goes back really far on both sides, but the biggest obstacle is the fact that I have sliding doors. It's nice I don't have to go buy a floor length mirror... but I'm going to have to train myself to a) move the doors to find anything and b) not run into them! I got a little confused last night and literally almost face-planted! It's hard because if you are looking at the bottom of the mirror, all you see is carpet... and THAT can get a little confusing!

The great view from my bedroom...



The even better view from Linda's window... We've already investigated our neighbors, and it looks like we have some gross boys on the second level...



Their momma's obviously don't live there...


Of course... the first piece of furniture brought in was Linda's hammock... don't worry, I've already tried it out and thought about sleeping on it, but alas, it was too hot outside...



Well... finally... the day has come. Linda's movers are packing her up as we speak and Jake and I are going up to Dallas tonight to get me packed up and moved in tomorrow! All I have to say is we have this to look forward to... at least we don't have to worry about any furry friends...

duummm da dum dum...

Wo

An interesting fact about Sarah is that I really want to adopt one day. Of course, I'd love to have my own children, but in the mix, I'd love to give a child in need a home. I want a brood of kiddos! Well... seeing as how I'm not married and not quite ready to be a mom, I felt God laying on my heart to give to a child in need. Jake took me to a Casting Crowns concert right before I moved back to Austin and they talked about World Vision. World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization that’s dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. (Yes, I got that from their website!) Their ultimate goal is to spread the love of Christ to the world!

In early June, I decided to officially "go for it"! The cool thing about WV is that you can go through this database full of kids all over the world... search by birthday, age, country, whatever. I decided that I'd pick a little girl with May 21st as her birthday... that way I'd always remember to send her something for her birthday! (For those of you that don't know... my bday is the same day!) At any rate, I chose a cutey-patootie, Woliya. (Or Wo as I call her…) She lives in Ethiopia

I’m going to try to get a picture of her to put up here… so bare with me. I pray that she will feel God's love everyday through knowing that a random girl in another country cares deeply for her.
I think what drove me to give to Wo was the fact that these precious kids have so many unknowns. They don't know if they will have meals everyday, what a weekend is, how to escape from the life they are in and who God is. I just felt so blessed to be born in the US, with parents and family that were able to provide for me... to know about the hope in Christ from such a young age. We are so very lucky. I know I’m kind of preaching to the choir here… but my whole outlook on material possessions have changed since I started to give! It’s been a very cool journey so far. with her parents and siblings. She isn't in school right now (my prayer is that she will get to as soon as possible!) and carries water for her family everyday. She lives in a community that is extremely affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. World Vision is in the process of working in her community through tangible prevention and care programs. So, I'm very comforted that the little money I give a month is going to great use!

At any rate, having Wo in my life, ever so distantly, has been such a blessing that I really haven’t shared with anyone! So… I just wanted to share with you!

If you are curious about World Vision… what they are about… and other things they do around the world… check them out… http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/master.nsf/

Hello old Blog friend...

So I used to blog a lot when I was on Myspace... so since I canceled that, I figured I'd find another outlet for my thoughts I'd like to share. Hopefully as I get the hang of this thing, I'll be able to make it pretty and all of that fabulous stuff... So for now, I'm going to be boring...

My first official blog is going to be about hair and babies...

So, after growing my hair out for the past few months, I just decided to chop it all off today! Yep... gone. My question is... WHY in the world do I do this?!?! I have this whole idea in my head that I'm going to have this long, beautiful hair and then, within a matter of a few days, I just go off and change my mind. I think it's all a matter of function. At least that's what I'm going to believe it is. For some reason, when my hair is shorter, I spend less time working on it... which in the grand scheme of things is what it should be! Short hair = less time in the bathroom which means more time connecting with God every morning. At any rate... I've posted a pic of the new 'do... I'm sure I'll change my mind about it tomorrow and not cut my hair for another year! Ohh me oh my...

Also wanted to share with all 2 of you that yesterday some of our good friends, Lance and Lauren Ralston, welcomed their precious baby girl, Kendall Elise, into the world! She is absolutely adorable and Jake and I were all smiles when we saw them at the hospital last night. Uncle Jake is super hyped... so below is the first pic he has with Miss Kendall...