RTP

Leslie and her family were in Dallas this weekend and stayed a few nights at the Haynes abode! We had such a great time catching up and I wish so badly we lived closer to one another. Michael was in Vegas for a bachelor party so they made the weekend far less lonely. I took pictures of their adorable family in November and sheepishly asked if they'd let me take more since Riggins is turning one next month (holy cow)! A friend of Leslie's suggested the Grapevine Botanical Gardens, which is close to our home and was perfect for a cold, overcast day. Riggs was far more mobile than our last shoot so it made for an entertaining afternoon. I spent most of the time crawling after him and Leslie was busy dancing behind me. Quite the sight.

Happy (early) Birthday, Riggs! We love you (and your parents) so much!

Yep. He's adorable.

This face kills me...

I think this is my favorite, both scenery and baby.

Wrist wrinkles make me happy.

His eyelashes are so blonde that the tips disappear!

He's on the move!

Absolute joy.

On his tip toes...

I think this was dad's favorite.

:)

On an unrelated note, THANK YOU for the sweet messages re. Michael's new job. You guys are the best. :)

Kicking Stress To The Curb

We received some wonderful news this week – Michael accepted a position at a new company!

Some of you are probably thinking, “I didn’t know he was looking for a new job," which is exactly what we wanted.

Those of you who’ve been reading the blog for a few years know the pretty cool story of how we ended up in Dallas. Michael was laid off from his job in Tulsa and searched for 5 weeks with no luck so we decided to open the search to Dallas. He met with a recruiter, had an interview that day, and accepted the job in the same week. The person who interviewed him happened to be his childhood friend’s dad (and CEO of the company). In a place like Fort Smith, that’s not unusual. In a place like Dallas, that’s a miracle. It became very clear we were meant to be in Dallas.

2 years later, we can't imagine being anywhere else.

From the beginning, his job was a bit risky. It’s a small start-up company and we knew there was a good chance it might not be successful. For the first year, things were looking pretty good. For the past year, things have been pretty shaky. I remember him calling in October and telling me he thought he'd be without a job by the end of the week.

Last week, he had two interviews and was offered the job. He told his boss today and starts his new job April 11.

I honestly thought I was dealing well with the stress of possible unemployment (again) but after hearing the news, the relief and joy were so overwhelming that it became apparent I’d been an absolute wreck for six months. I can’t even imagine how he felt. When you go to work on Monday not knowing if you’ll have a job (or get paid) on Friday, it’s pretty intense. In typical Michael fashion, however, he was calm and cool as a cucumber. He’s awesome like that.

After Michael applied for the job, someone from HR contacted him and said the salary would be quite a bit less than what he’d requested. We talked about it a lot, did some budget consulting, and decided peace of mind was more important than having extra spending money. We would be able to pay all of our bills and continue our savings, which were our only requirements. However, they changed their minds and the salary offered was exactly what he requested, which was a wonderful surprise. I like to think we were rewarded for making a sensible decision—a decision I’m not sure we would have made a year ago.

Did I mention we’ll be working 4 miles from one another and can meet for lunch whenever we want?

Did I mention we’re so glad this job is in Dallas and will not require another move?

Did I mention 100 pounds released from your shoulders feels absolutely amazing?

Did I mention I’m so ridiculously proud of my husband?

Oh 2011, you’re off to a great start.

Slow And Steady.... Means You're Dead.

A group of us were eating dinner last night (on the patio... in 80 degree weather.... with a perfect breeze), and I mentioned to Wes that I wouldn't mind shooting with the boys one day. Not photography shooting, but shooting shooting.

I didn't realize my comment would spark such a reaction from both Wes and Michael. After dessert we headed to Wal-Mart, picked up some ammunition and planned our adventure.

Have I mentioned I've never really shot a gun before?

"One day" turned into this morning--we woke up and headed to the gun range, accompanied by three friends: a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum revolver (previously owned by my grandad), a Springfield XD-9, and a Taurus PT1911. The previous sentence means absolutely nothing to me and I had to ask Michael to repeat the names four times.

Moving on.

As soon as we arrived I put on the ear muffs and prayed this would not be the day some random dude decided to take out his angst on the human to his right (more specifically: human to his right named Wes, Michael, or Merd). We were in luck and are all alive and well. Thank you, Lord.

You guys, it was awesome. I'm typically not a gun person. I would never keep one in my side drawer, never hunt an innocent animal, and I think war is highly overrated for crying out loud, but shooting metal targets was a blast.

And dare I say I was decent? There were six targets and we loaded the guns with six bullets each time so no second chances. A handful of times I shot all six but most of the time I missed one or two. Michael and Wes were both very good and very quick. In the time it took me to shoot two targets they'd shot all of them. They were so helpful and patient, not to mention they gave great tips (e.g., "push forward with your right arm, pull back with your left"). I know I added an interesting dynamic to their typical boys-only outing.

Such a fun experience and I even have a small battle wound on my left shoulder (damn flying shells) to prove I was there. My cool points are at an all-time high. And what a neat feeling to shoot my grandad's gun--I only wish he could have seen me. :)







Michael actually got a quick video. It begins in the middle but gives you an idea of my turtle-like pace. :)

Zooby do bee Zooooo...

I don't know about you, but I go through major withdrawal when I haven't seen my parents in a long time. I must admit, "long time" is two months. We hit that mark several weeks ago so I called and begged them to come down for a visit. Fortunately, they happily obliged.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous so Michael and I suggested going to the Fort Worth zoo. We'd been before and knew they'd love it as much as we did. Not only does the zoo have spectacular animals, but everything is so clean and pretty. My dad and I brought our cameras and (between the two of us) took over 500 pictures. Yowza. I did not bring the telephoto lens so while dad got some great close-ups of the animals, I tried to photograph the beautiful scenery. I'd say together we captured every square foot of that place. :)

I think I'm due for a long, endearing post after so many picture posts. Until then...

My cute parents. Wouldn't you miss them too? :)

Gorgeous day...

(Dad's shot of the tiger...)

My shot of the tiger (and scenery)

Look at the baby chimp! All arms and legs...

Dad's kangaroo

Merd's kangaroo

Go TU.

The family favorite...

Did I mention the zoo had funnel cakes??

Wonderful weekend with my parents. And the two month countdown begins... now.

March!

I'm having a horrid case of blogger's block. I've started this post three times and after two or three paragraphs I highlight all and delete. Rather than spend my entire afternoon experiencing what I call "writing fail," I'm going to keep it short and post some pictures.

Friday Night:
- Happy hour with the Preston Hollow Presbyterian young adults. Awesome group. Met some new people and had a wonderful time.
- Drove downtown to see some college friends. One of Michael's soccer buddies just got back from Nicaragua and is about to leave for Denver so we wanted to see him before he took off again.

Saturday:
- Went to Nasher Sculpture Center (First Saturdays are free!) and had a fantastic time. I'm an art museum junkie and, fortunately, Michael is just fine with that. The museum also had an outdoor sculpture garden, which was absolutely gorgeous and made me so grateful there are creative people in this world. Every 20 feet or so there was a small basket with drawing paper so visitors could sketch if they wished. My terrible sketches would get me kicked out so I chose to take pictures and leave the sketching to the pros. Next on the list: Dallas Museum of Art.
- Met up with some friends to see The Adjustment Bureau. I'd give it a B+. Very good, not great.

Sunday:
- Church (three weeks in a row--this has to be a record for us)!
- Michael played flag football and I went to Calloways Nursery to figure out if we stand a chance at growing grass in our side-yard (to be determined--more on that later).

Off to enjoy the last few hours of this glorious weekend! Below are pictures from the Nasher Sculpture Center.

How cute is this couple?

I dare you to find a bigger fork.

Balloons. :)

One of these things is not like the other....

Could not get enough of the weeping willow. I was trying to get some pictures for our bedroom... Had a grand ol' time with the manual focus.

Hi!

Cool but kind of creepy.

My souvenir. :)

The Speech

Tonight, every finger and toe is crossed for The King's Speech. I can't remember the last time I was so emotionally invested in a movie--perhaps it's due to my four years of speech therapy (Mewadif Wee!) but I really don't think so. It's such a beautiful film, and I can't wait to own it so I can watch it all over again.

Mom and Dad--this is my final plea--GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Dance And Pray That No One's Watching

Yesterday my mom asked if I'd gone on another blog hiatus so I figured it was time to dust off the keyboard and let my fingers do a jig.

I know you're thinking I must have done some extraordinary things over the past few weeks and that's why I haven't made an appearance. But alas. I was just living life.

Last weekend we went to a TU young alum event and had a great time. It's weird reuniting with colleagues who now have grown up jobs, when the last time I saw them they were at a fraternity house yelling obscenities. Ah, the joys of growing up.

So I'm going to give you some unsolicited advice. Get on Amazon or iTunes and order Mumford & Sons latest cd, Sigh No More. Or do you already have it? We were both fans of "Little Lion Man" but Michael bought the cd and we can't stop listening to it. It's strange because it's definitely not a genre I'd typically like (folk??) but it's amazing. Every single song. Below is one of my favorites, "Awake My Soul." I especially love the line, "Where you invest your love, you invest your life." I dare you to listen to it and not breathe a little easier.



The other night Michael and I went to dinner and played the favorites game. I wish I could say all of our discussions are thought-provoking and life changing, but sometimes it's just fun to think about your favorite year in college (his: sophomore, mine: freshman), favorite artist (his: Death Cab mine: MJ), or favorite part of our wedding (his: peeking over the guests to see me walking down the aisle, mine: sharing our vows). Honestly, a lot of the questions we could answer for one another. But it's those questions we've never asked (until that very moment) that make me realize we've barely scratched the surface.

Seriously, marriage is so much fun. As I type this I'm watching Michael dance like an idiot to Mumford & Sons and I'm realizing that maybe, just maybe, this will become a favorite moment. And with that, I'm off to dance (like an idiot) with my husband.

Have a wonderful weekend.

It's The Freakin' Weekend!

The past few weekends have been so great! Now that the snow is finally gone and the sun is back where it belongs (front and center), my heart is no longer beating erratically and I've lost the huge desire to hibernate. A not-so-quick recap...

Last weekend Michael and I invited my work friends (the Underwriting group) over to our house for Game Night (oh yes, it's capitalized). We had so much fun. There were four couples total and each brought an appetizer and/or dessert and a board/card game. We ate, drank, and were very merry. I am really fortunate to work with so many great people. You'd think we'd be sick of each other after working together all week but we get along fabulously and so do our husbands. We decided Game Night needs to happen more than once a year so Game/Grill-Out Night has already been scheduled for May 2011. Woohoo!

Last Sunday we had our second annual Super Bowl party (I use that term loosely as there were 5.5 of us total) and ate Texas BBQ while watching a decent game with so-so commercials. We had a great time with the group and had fun watching Owen boogy to Beyonce. :)

Friday night we skyped with Justin, Michelle, and Evan and were able to wish Justin a very happy 32nd birthday "in person." We also got to see our future niece/nephew (well, Michelle's baby bump--close enough). Can't believe s/he will be here in less than two months!!

Yesterday we woke up to a gorgeous day and Michael surprised me with a gift card to a place in Highland Park. We ate lunch at The Mint, spent my gift card, and decided to turn it into Discover Dallas Day (our New Year's resolution). We spent most of our time around Highland Park and were so out of place (and SO ignored). As we were leaving we decided we don't need to go back again. I did, however, have a moment of pure happiness as we walked around the Christian Louboutin store. Michael might get mad at me for telling you this, but he really likes CL shoes (for me--not himself). He notices them more than I do (admittedly it's pretty easy with the shiny red sole) but he also realizes they cost more than an average house payment and so the shoes will remain on the shelf where they belong. BUT since we're on the subject, I found these beauts yesterday and figured I might as well share them with you:

Window shopping wore us out (ha) so we had some gelato and headed home. We weren't quite ready to end the day so I mentioned a movie at the Angelika. This place is fantastic! It's a very nice movie theater (there are two in Dallas) and it shows movies other theaters won't (think Indies--Sundance, Cannes, etc.). When Michael and I started dating he had to get used to my love of Indie movies. In the days before Netflix, we'd go to Blockbuster and I'd always pick the obscure movies while he'd gently steer me to something else. I finally convinced him to see some and he loved about half. The other half he absolutely hated, but 50% was enough to make him want to see more, especially since we've discovered a lot of music we would've missed if it weren't for them. I now check Angelika's movie listings on a weekly basis. We saw "Another Year" (it had amazing reviews) and when it was over Michael and I were both laughing. Michael was laughing because he hated it and I was laughing because I knew Michael hated it. Actually, the whole theater was laughing because I'm pretty sure everyone hated it. I thought it had several redeeming qualities but the end was crap. Absolute crap. Oh well, can't win them all, and we still managed to enjoy two hours of British accents and bad teeth. An evening well spent if you ask me.

This morning we went to church (finally!) and are going to a nice dinner with Michael's parents tonight. And that sums up an extremely long post that approx 10% of you finished and 5% of you enjoyed.

Hope you all have a happy V-Day. We will be spending it in our pjs on the couch. I believe pizza and champagne have been invited. We'll see if they accept.