Kindred Spirits

As I was reading Bossypants (Tina Fey's book) last night, I came upon the following passage.  How eloquently she voices our shared understanding of the animal kingdom.

"I have no affinity for animals.  I don't hate animals and I would never hurt an animal; I just don't actively care about them.  When a coworker shows me cute pictures of her dog, I struggle to respond correctly, like an autistic person who has been taught to recognize human emotions from flash cards."

Form your own opinion of me based on this admission, but I hope most of you know me well enough to realize, I am actually not a mean person....I just don't enjoy animals in general.

Back in the Saddle Again

It is time I get back in the old blogging saddle!  I definitely want to update frequently after we move for my faithful readers (do I have any??) as well as my own documentation!  I love reading back over posts from past years!  We are scheduled to leave Dallas on Saturday, February 25th at 6:40 pm and will arrive in LA at 8:00 pm.  We leave LA at 10:00 pm and arrive in Auckland at 8:00 am on Monday, February 27th!  The flight from LA to Auckland is 13 hours but we lose an entire day during the flight.  On the return trip from Auckland to Dallas, you take off and land at almost the exact same time!  So we will have to wait 18 months to get that day back.  My company has arranged for a car to pick us up and for 30 days of temporary housing at the Connaught Apartments which are less then half a mile from my office.  The packers are coming on February 2nd to pack and move our belongings.  Then we will stay with my parents until we leave.  It has been crazy trying to get everything in order at work and home for a move across the country!  Things are starting to fall into place but we are both stressed about all the details.  I just keep trying to tell myself to relax and what happens, happens!  That seems to be the only way to deal with everything since all the details seem to be constantly changing.  I'm not going to try and catch up on my blogging entirely but there are a few fun trips we took this past fall and winter that I want to document.  We had our new camera for some of the trips so I want to be sure and share some of our pics.  So check back soon for a few new updates!

Merry Christmas!

All play and no work!

I took this week off from work.......9 days of absolutely no work :)  A nice and much needed break after a long busy season!  So what did I do on my week off, you might ask?  Well, let's see...

• Took Sophie June to the Plano Balloon Festival (no balloons were launched but we had fun...b/c mom wasn't there!)



SJ on an inflatable slide at the Balloon Festival

• Attended Sophie June's pink donut dance party 4th birthday



Waiting on her candles in front of her pink donut "cake"



Baby Ford waiting on a donut

• Watched Baylor beat SFA in the shortest game I've ever been to (game called after 3 quarters due to lightening)
• Ate gourmet hot dogs with our small group friends (Bruce made 3 different choices!)
• Got a pedicure with my mom
• Had a girl's lunch and pool day with some of my work friends
• Laid out by the pool
• Went shopping
• Slept in almost every day
• Completed my final week of training for my tri including two open water swims
• Cooked dinner for my small group
• Made homemade power bars




Some for now and a bunch in the freezer!


• Saw The Help
• Ate at Fuzzy's.....twice
• Watched lots of premier week TV
• And to top it off.......I'm doing my first Olympic Tri tomorrow!

It was a great week and I feel relaxed and refreshed!  I'm not looking forward to going back to work on Monday!

Open Water Swimming

I'll start at the beginning.  The swim part of my sprint tri did not go well.  I had done exactly one practice swim in Lake Lewisville and was NOT prepared.  I absolutely hated the swim...from getting water up my nose to getting kicked numerous times to almost being caught by the next wave start, it was not a good experience.  So being the eager, stupid person I am...I logically signed up for another race with an open water swim over three times as long as the sprint. 

I am doing the Stonebridge Ranch Olympic Triathlon on September 25th.  The swim is 1500 meters. 

Immediately after the sprint tri, I signed up for swim lessons.  My friend, Blake, and I took 8 lessons from a young college student.  But she really did help me a ton!  She taught me to breath on both sides to balance out my stroke, drills to help with my form, and the basic of the free style stroke.  I feel MUCH more confident in the pool.  However, the lake was still a different story. 

I have been so busy at work I haven't had time for many (or any) practice swims.  So this week I decided I would do two practice open water swims a week until my race.  The first one did not go well.  Let's just say it began with my crying and Justin having to get in the lake with me.  I did end up swimming some that day and got a little used to the odd feeling of swimming in open water...it is very disorienting at first.  Since then I have done two successful swims in Lake Ray Hubbard (1200 and 1000 meters).  I am getting used to swimming without being able to see anything since the lake is so cloudy.  I am also learning to sight to keep myself going in the right direction.  I still don't like swimming in the lake but I am beginning to feel more comfortable and not absolutely hate it.  One thing that is hard to get used to is the nasty water going in and out of your nose and mouth!  Hopefully with four more swims under my belt in the next two weeks, I will be more than ready for my race!

New Zealand

I think most people who follow my blog probably already know our exciting news...but just in case...Justin and I are moving to New Zealand!  We are doing a rotation with my firm, Ernst & Young.  I will be working in the Auckland, New Zealand office beginning February 2, 2012!  The rotation will last about 18 months and then we will be moving back to Dallas.  We are beyond excited to start this new adventure!  We applied for the rotation back in January anticipating that if we were placed at all, it would be in London.  About 3 weeks ago, leadership called and asked if I would be interested in New Zealand.  It was completely out of the blue!  I honestly didn't even know which side of Australia, New Zealand was on when we accepted the offer!  After some research and few days in denial that we were actually moving across the world, we discovered that New Zealand is awesome!  There are so many exciting things to do there like mountain biking, trail running, river running, and bungee jumping!   The weather seems perfect to me...highs in the 50's in the winter (our summer) and highs in the 70's in the summer (our winter).  We are so excited and appreciate your prayers and support as we start a new chapter in our life!

Drew

Drew's brother posted a video on fb today.  Well, not just a video, I guess.  The video they played at his memorial service.  I unknowingly clicked on play thinking it was just a clip of Drew.  As soon as those baby pictures of little Drew came up on the screen, I immediately clicked away.  But it was too late.  It took me back to that moment, giving me goosebumps, thinking of standing in the packed funeral chapel watching Drew's family go through what we would go through the next morning.  I remember the sick feeling in my stomach and wanting more than anything to be anywhere else.  They played Let It Be and spoke of Drew, a boy I barely knew that I now think of all the time.  At the close of the service, Drew's mother tearfully ask the piano player to continue playing.  She didn't want the service to end.  I think it was a perfect depiction of how we all felt. 

As my thoughts continued to wonder through the events of that day, another moment came to mind.  After Ben's viewing that evening, Kara, Aaron, Justin, and I walked to our cars a little way into the cemetery.  As we tried to drive out, we realized we were locked in the cemetery.  Aaron went to get someone to let us out but we had to wait a little while.  We were all starving from a long and exhausting day.  Luckily, I had stuffed some chicken mini's from Chick-fil-a in my purse that morning.  So Aaron, Justin, and I ate the purse chicken biscuits much to Kara's amusement.  She wouldn't have anything to do with them!  We all laughed and cried.  Relieved to be through one of the worst days of our lives.  Dreading the day ahead.

A Slight Reprieve

Today marked the 26th consecutive day over 100 degrees here in the Big D.  That puts us at the No. 3 spot for longest consecutive streak of days over 100 degrees in the metroplex.  We may soon move to the No. 2 spot if we hit 29 days in a row....not that I'm rooting for it but it seems unavoidable at this point.  We are all sweltering!  Running is miserable!  Thank goodness for my bike which is actually bearable to ride even in the 86 degree weather at 6 am.    Our house is sooo hot in the evening.  So I have been searching for a decent looking fan that did not cost a fortune to set up in our living room for the rest of the summer.  Surprisingly, it was difficult to find.  I finally found this one on Walmart.com but had to visit two Walmart's to actually find one in stock...and I got the last one...in an opened box!  We are enjoying the new fan which has cooled our living room off by about 5 degrees!