February

Wow--February has been a full month. It's really flown by! Let's start from
the beginning. On February 3rd, we got the very sad news that Aaron's mamaw had passed away. Thankfully both of our employers were very understanding and allowed us time off to make a trip to Mississippi. Although the reason for the trip was no fun, we did have a good time catching up with friends and spending time with family. We spent some time at Mamaw's
house that weekend. We found out that she had been keeping a journal for quite some time. It was kind of neat to read it....It was almost like reading a blog!
We miss Mamaw but we're so thankful that she is in Heaven now.
We got back from that trip on Sunday the 8th. The next day was pretty
normal as far as work goes; however, I wasn't feeling 100%. Just to be safe I
went to an after hours clinic after work to get checked out. I got a
prescription and everything was fine.....So I thought. Little did I know that a
few hours later I would be in the ER with the stomach virus. I don't know if
I've ever been that sick! I was dehydrated so they gave me lots of fluids and
medicine for the nausea. Aaron was the most wonderful husband and took GREAT care of me that night and for the rest of the week while I recovered. That virus really drained me!
Later that week I turned a year older! I "celebrated" my 24th birthday still in bed recovering. Thankfully at work we get to take our birthday off, so it was great not having to feel guilty about missing another day at the office. Aaron bought me a beautiful necklace that I wear pretty much every day.
The next week of February was great. My mom and dad came to visit!!! We were moving to our new apartment, so they came prepared to help. Since I had missed so much work already in February, I decided I needed to be at work and let my mom, dad, and Aaron handle moving all of our stuff. The move went well...Aaron and I had saved up so we got to splurge and buy a lot of new accessories for our new apartment.
My parents are really good at decorating, so they played a big part in helping
to coordinate everything. It all looks great!
Besides all of those things, we've been attending a great Bible study
class one night a week, I've been getting involved in the Chamber of Commerce for my work, and Aaron is training for a half-marathon. Oh, and we paid off a student loan (woo-hoo!). February has been a super busy month, but it's been great. I can't wait to see what March has in store!

Not our Moving Truck!

We kept with my old faithful truck and the Waltman's Expedition. Thank you Mr. Carson and Mrs. Linda for helping us to move last week! We couldn't have done it so quickly without you.

This was just one of the small parts of my job and something I saw on duty. I was dispatched to this motorist assist (driver needing assistance with a vehicle due to mechanical failure) in 5 o'clock traffic. Several motorists called in to make the Police aware that the U-Haul with car trailer was backing up traffic at a busy intersection. And then it was towed!

We are Moving!

June 24, 2007 I moved to Texas with what I could haul inside my truck! I had it packed like I was coming from south of the border to a new found land, featuring a 6' X 5' solid oak wall unit laying across the bed of my truck. At the time my 1-bedroom /1-bath bachelor pad was all the room I needed and then some. I had two walk-in closets and a small hall closet for storage. No more than a recliner and dinning room chairs for seating, and a television in each room.

Decoration, art, storage...who knew I would need such things?

From March 22, 2008 my home would change forever. I now happily share the space I call home with my lovely wife Anna! Being in such close conditions has taught us a lot about each other. For instance, I learned that I would need art and decoration to make our apartment a home. This would mean dedicated money in our budget each month for such items. I guess it was funny of me to think all I needed was a set of keys, an alarm code, and food in the fridge.

After a month, and moving all of Anna's clothes and other "stuff" from Mississippi we have learned to manage using Space Saver bags. Even though I have always found plenty of space in my closet for uniforms, winter and summer clothes, camping, travel, and outdoor equipment without these bags, I have to admit extra space is a rare commodity in our almost 800 sq ft apartment. Until Wednesday, and 11 months latter...

On Wednesday we move into a 2 Bedroom /2 Bath apartment with a garage! Finally we can keep our living and storage areas separate! Currently when we have had family and friends visit they have had to stay in our living and dining room where we also have our computer desk. Put an over sized queen air mattress in the mix and it causes us to be overwhelmed. ALL of my Police gear has been another "issue." Due to constantly wearing a uniform, boots, belt w/ an array of tools, bullet resistant vest, radio, etc..., my daily wardrobe cannot go in a dirty clothes basket. I have had little choice but to take my equipment off and leave it on the dinning room table to not wake Anna up at night. This move has not come soon enough!

Finally, I have gained the part-time courtesy officer position at our current apartment community. This is going to help us "live like no one else, so that latter we can live like no one else." (Anna will be ecstatic that I am quoting Dave Ramsey on our first post!) My duties include making sure the concierge locks up the property securely and doing brief daily and weekly security reports on the apartment community. The best part is that for compensation our rent is reduced to less than what we currently pay for our 1 bedroom apartment!

I guess this means Anna also gets to start decorating again and make our new apartment our home!

The only change to our address is the apartment number, we will be at #104.