Pictures
I've been trying to post pictures of our weekend at the Gaylord Texan. I'll have to get those on a computer and put them up.
Licensing
I passed my licensing test today for Limited Lines. That doesn't mean I'm licensed already (of course there's bureaucratic red tape to go through still) but I've done everything I need to get it finished. And I didn't have to spend most of today at my desk.
Finishing the Race
The realization is becoming more and more clear as we are rounding the corner. It is only a year until we are finished her (a year and four weeks if we want to be really specific, which I do). So we keep getting asked what we (or Adam) wants to do when he is finished. And we always answer the same way. We don't have the foggiest idea. (That answer comes in different forms, from "Whatever God wants us to do" to "We don't have the foggiest.") So most of you who read this know us pretty well. What do you think we should do? Where should we go? Just wanted to get some feeback. Let us know what you think.
Driven07
Driven is awesome! It's my favorite of conferences ever.
We've been asked again to help this summer. We need to prayerfully consider this because we hadn't planned on travelling to Ohio for it (mostly, actually wholly, for financial reasons). But our heart really lies with the work that is being done to reach a new generation for Christ and then even more specifically in the Grace Brethren Fellowship. Pray for and encourage us as we make a decision soon, very soon.
More to Come
There are some things in the works that I can't yet discuss on here but just you wait! I'll have a lot to talk about soon enough!

So many wonderfuls

I had a bunch of things to blog about, but as soon as I opened my screen to do it, they flew from my head. So here's another list of wonderfuls...
Baby Alex McClung is here. I'm so excited to finally meet him
Baby Ella's health so far is wonderful. Check out the new pic of her!
Getting to leave work early and having time to run errands :)
My "weekend to remember" with my husband. We had a great time.
Getting to work early.
How you feel after 2.5 miles on the treadmill.
The smell of a clean house.

Horray for fun things

Things I love right now...

Actually feeling like I know how to do my jobs (instead of being the new girl).
Secretly reading Cosmo... I love trashy airplane magazines. oooo Glamour too.
Drinking high quality tea. Life's too short for bad tea. (Drinking right now- Harney and Sons Citron Green Tea)
Knowing I don't get to sleep in my own bed tonight, but still get to sleep with my husband.
On a similar note, not having to see my dirty/messy apartment for two days.
That my mommy is coming to town for Easter.
Ohio State pulling it out in the last minutes of the game. (the guy who sits next to me at work went to Tennessee)
When I'm in the middle of a good book.
Crochetting! I've spent some time this morning looking up patterns for really cute stuff.
Feeling like the day is flying by and you are being productive.
My pretty new car.
Have a happy weekend!

Oh yeah, I forgot

I was also going to write about how I got chosen for jury duty. Are you kidding me? I'm a totally conservative Christian. I'm surprised they'll even let me in the buidling. It should be fun to not have to go to work in the morning and get compensated for it. Did you know the first day of jury duty you get paid 6 whole dollars? Wow, that makes me want to do my civic duty. I'm pretty sure they'll ask me 5 questions and send my on my way. My best friend was hit by a drunk driver, I believe in the death penalty, and I have no tolerance for thugs since I taught school for a few years. Oh yeah, I should say I believe everyone is guilty until proven innocent (which I don't believe by the way). They probably shouldn't waste their time on me. Bummer they probably won't let me take in my camera to photograph this momentous occasion.

Random Things for the Day

Insurance Weight
Today I was scheduled to take my limited lines insurance test next week. The only reason I mention it is, that the process was partially humiliating. My boss's boss is not the most conversational of people. He's a nice, upstanding guy who I really don't mind working for, but I think in the 6 months I've worked here our conversations have consisted of Hello, how are you? kinds of things. Today, the man had to ask me everything down to my weight. My husband doesn't even know how much I weigh, so now I have to tell this man my weight, and not in the DMV kind of style where I never have to see this person again, but in the I see you 25 times a day and now you know how much I weigh kind of thing. Don't worry, I resisted any off color jokes about how he should at least take me out to dinner and buy me wine before asking these types of questions and I just reverted to answering them honestly (I swear, honestly) and will now proceed to avoid eye contact for the rest of the time I work here. I think its a great solution.
This weekend
Adam surprised me a while ago (when I was probably having a rough week) with a weekend getaway to Family Life's A Weekend to Remember conference. Well this was a long time ago but the weekend is finally coming up. We will stay at the Gaylord Texan for a weekend and I will not have to work for two whole days, and get to spend it with my husband.

Oh come let's sing Ohio's praise

Before I start on the never ending post of my weekend.... Horray so far for Ohio pulling out the basketball win in double over time on Saturday.... make me proud Buckeyes.

This weekend I went to Ohio to "surprise" my Andi Leigh at her bridal shower. So of course I couldn't post about all this until after the weekend had come to fruition. So this shall be a long discourse on everything that happened leading up to this (and may actually take a few posts, but I want to get it all down before I lose some of the funny things from memory).

Back Story
The whole idea started way back last year, you see Andi and I have a habit of surprising each other in different places. She surprised me for a weekend in Columbus from Denver and then again in Dallas when I moved there. I surprised her for her graduation in Denver from Dallas, and then this weekend was going to be the ultimate, surprising her at her bridal shower flying from Dallas to Columbus.

But things were a little fishy.... I kept getting text messages that ended with "see you soon". Yeah, she knew. That sucked. But, none the less we had a wonderful weekend and I had a wonderful time hanging out with her.

Getting there

I flew in Friday afternoon and my mommy picked me up from the airport. What do I love to do when I'm in C-bus? I love to eat! So, I told Mom that I was starving and we should go eat Skyline. Horray for Skyline! I got my four way with onions... If you've never had Skyline, it's the best chili in the world. I took this picture to make Adam jeally (see Erin, I used it).

Then I took the second one to make him laugh...

After that, Mom and I went for me to try on Kara's choices of bridesmaid dresses... I won't bother you with those pictures, though Mom trying to figure out how to use my camera ended with some funny pictures.

After hanging out with the in-laws for a while, I got to see my Jessica. She politely cut my mullet off (yes it turns out I had a mullet) and then we went to Starbucks to hang out. Talking about life with her makes everything seem better and leaving her breaks my heart everytime. I have not cried so hard in a long time when I had to get out of her car. So I called Adam to cry some more, and he promised that this summer he would fly her down to visit us. Yeah! I can't wait. She's so dear to me and one of the kindest people I've ever met. I call her my spiritual soulmate, our hearts know how to talk to each other.

The Big Surprise/Letdown
So the next morning we have everything planned. Barb is going to drive me out to get my dress fitted where while I have my beautiful dress on Andi will walk in thinking she's getting a fitting but see me instead and shed copious amounts of tears and shout many shouts of joy. So I'm in my dress and I hear Andi talking to Agi in the next room and the door opens, and she says..... "hey, how are you?" Really?!? hey how are you? are you kidding me?!? Where are the tears? the shouts of joy? Nothing.... Then she laughed, ran across the room, and hugged me.... Silly Momma (Paula) had spilled the beans months ago and didn't even realize it.

Crazy Day
So the shower itself wasn't until 2pm, so we spent the rest of the morning running around with errands (mostly at JoAnn Fabrics and Walmart). But we had a great time doing it... Erin and I kept ourselves busy laughing about things while the moms and Andi did most of the work. What are sissies for except to make you laugh?

But we did get Andi to act a little goofy!

We stopped by Chipotle for lunch before the shower, where Corey joined us for a few moments. His face says to me, "I can't believe I'm joining this family...." I can't either Corey, good luck with all those crazy women.





We had a great time at the shower, all of Andi's gifts were lovely, the food tasty, and the company and guests were the highlight (for me anyway). I love all the women who were there, it was fun to see people who I hadn't seen since the summer and some in years. Erin and I tied during the game where everyone finds out who knows Andi best, which was pretty good since we only cheated off each other a little.


After the shower was over, it was time for the real party to start. The girls decided they would go ahead and finish all the favors for the table which really consisted on tying a ribbon the top of a beautfiul bookmark. Really easy right? Nope! We were up until 2:30 in the morning and couldn't feel our fingers by the end of the evening. But the sangria, fondu, pizza, and jokes were great. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, especially at poor Miss Erin, whose problem with spelling Tupperware, Tubberware, has earned her the nickname Mrs. Tubby.

After we finally finished the bookmarks (which I wouldn't mind if I never saw again, as lovely as they are). Andi and I thought it would be a fine idea if we slept in the twin bed together, just like we did in high school. Let me remind you, that I'm no longer in high school.... I didn't seem to remember that at the time, but boy the next day, my body really reminded me. I've pretty much never felt so old. My body hurt so bad. It didn't help that we stayed up until 5:30-6am chatting and giggling like little school girls as well. But I wouldn't change any of that for the world. It's a memory I hold really dear to my heart.

The next morning I woke up early enough to go to both services at East Side and was able to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen since we'd left during the summer. It's so great to be asked if we are coming back soon. I really wish we had an answer to that question. I even found Marty hanging out by the new nook built in the entry way and stopped him for a picture. I love our church here in Dallas, but East Side is where I became a Christian, learned about true worship, and grew up in my faith. I love the people and atmosphere and meaning it has.

After an afternoon with my wonderful in-laws and a quick dinner (if you call cheese fries dinner) with Andi at the airport, I flew home to a wonderful and lonely husband and was greeted with flowers and a spotless house. What more could a girl ask for (besides a really long sleep)? I know, Donato's Pizza (good thing I packed a pizza in my checked baggage). So we ate the best pizza in the world, talked a little, and then I fell straight asleep.

Andi Leigh & Cara Beth

My Day Off...

I am proud to post that the underbelly of my beds have been exposed, reorganized, and masses of things have been thrown away. I even got some scrapbooking accomplished yesterday.
You see I found alot of my scrapbooking stuff under one of the beds, including my unfinished Disney scrapbook from this summer that I lovingly worked on before I got a job.
But since I have become employed it was somehow discarded and shoved under a bed. It was safely recovered yesterday and I took over the middle of the livingroom floor in order to spread it all out and arrange everything before digging in. It took an hour or so to collect everything I needed and when I then only had enough time to complete two pages before having to go to work, I didn't have the heart to pick it back up. So I left it there and then after work completed about 10 pages and ended up keeping myself up until 1AM working on pages when I then finally picked up the mess and dragged my sorry self to bed. Promise I'll post some pics of my fun pages soon, if I can figure out how to get a good picture of them.