i'm still here.

hello world.

It's been quite a while since I last blogged--three days short of 10 months, to be exact. A lot has happened in the meantime--three days short of 10 months of life. I'm going to try to catch you up in as concise a way as possible, in reverse chronological order. Maybe that will make it more interesting.

I'm sitting in Dominican Joe's in Austin while Joel second shoots a wedding. He's been doing a lot of that lately, and I'm proud of him. He truly loves and enjoys photography. If you are interested, check out his site. [Side note: He is doing a fall photo special, if you are in need of pictures. Let me know.] Due to the pick-up of photography, he was also able to quit Mugz. It has been awesome for him to not have to wake up at a time that begins with a 4. Dominican Joe's is a pretty rocking local place that does some pretty rocking things. You should check it out. The coffee is good which is a bonus.

I will be graduating from graduate school in 5 days short of 6 months. Yes, that is right. I will have a DPT and be studying my rear off for the Physical Therapy boards exam, starting on May 15... well, maybe I'll start studying May 16. This thought excites me and overwhelms me all at the same time. Prior to that, I will be doing my 12-week internship at TIRR during my last semester. I will be working on the Brain Injury team and learning all about spasticity management while I'm at it. I'm extremely excited about the opportunity, as I feel like neurological rehabilitation is the field I want to work in after I pass the aforementioned boards exam.

Three of my buddies, Katy, Ashleigh, and Audrey, are having babies in December and March, and I'm really excited. I'll get to play with the little cuties and give them back when they poop or cry... Now I will answer the question some of you are wondering, even though it's really none of your business. ;) We want babies, but we don't want them yet. We want me to work for a little while and make a little dough before we bring a third person (and hopefully not a fourth at the same time, as twins run in my family) into the picture. God is also still really stirring adoption in our hearts. We went to an adoption conference a few weekends ago and got a lot of good information. We have no clue when we will adopt or where we will adopt from. The only answer we know is that we will one day adopt, when God gives the "go" sign.

Speaking of children reminds me that we will be adding to our family around the end of January or beginning of February. Lucy is "in season", as some would call it, and we are going to get her impregnated by a young stud, named Coach, on Friday. He is pretty handsome. I think Lucy will like him, but she really doesn't have a choice. We plan on keeping one of the puppies, as long as she has a girl. I think we will name her Darla. Doesn't she look thrilled? ^^^

[Side story: When thinking about my stud pun, which may or may have not been funny, I was reminded of a "joel-foot-in-mouth-moment". When I think of the term "stud", I think of two things. (1) "a domesticated male animal, such as a racehorse [or Coach], that is kept for breeding" (WordSmyth), or (2) a pretty rocking/handsome dude with style (KimbSmyth), or as UrbanDictionary puts it "basically a bad[butt]... this person is really cool. Everyone looks up to them and wants to get with them. This person can be a male or a female gay or straight. studs do not discriminate. STUDS DOMINATE." The other night at a business meeting, while giving his youth ministry report, Joel called C.S. Lewis a stud, referencing my second aforementioned definition. However, all the blue-hairs gasped at his comment. They were probably thinking of Wordsmyth's 4th definition of stud: "a man considered to be virile and sexually active". nice.]

We finally bit the bullet and purchased a road bike for me! Joel and I have been doing small rides on the weekends and days off. This past Thursday we rode 21 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes. I have already had a crash, and I'm hoping it's my last. No serious injuries were sustained, thank the Lord, but I hit my chin pretty hard on the pavement. I resembled Jay Leno for a few days, but it is all for a good cause--the MS 150. On April 16-17, we will be riding 182 miles from Houston to Austin. We are raising funds for the National MS Society, and we would definitely appreciate any donations! Go here for my personal fundraising page. My charitable chin:

Tomorrow, I am going to watch one of my best friends pick out her wedding dress. Erin is getting married, and I have the honor of being one of her bridesmaids. I can't wait. Joel is officiating their wedding which is also really exciting. [None of this is in backwards chronological order, so I'm giving up on that idea now.]

This past summer, two really awesome things happened: 1) I lived in Portland for 7 weeks, with my oldest sister, her husband, and my cutest, fully-American nephew. I was doing my neurological clinical rotation, and they were gracious enough to let me live with them. I will forever be grateful. I grew a lot closer to them, and I got to fall more in love with my little Simon. 2) I can no longer say I have a cutest, not-fully-American nephew. There are now two Australian cuties. Michael Rodger was born June 15, Aussie time. He is my third nephew, and I couldn't be a prouder auntie. Speaking of nephews, all three will be here this Christmas. I cannot wait to see my sisters and their families! Fun will be had by all.

As I chow down on my Dominican Joe's granola and yogurt, I bid you farewell. Hopefully it will not be another 3 days short of 10 months before I decide to blog again.


love.