Dont read this.

After re-reading some of my posts from last summer (wooo nostalgia!), I thought I'd update a little. There are no pretty pictures and it's all relatively boring. I'm just being honest.

We ALL remember (vividly) the terrible wisdom tooth extractions. The horrible headaches pre-procedure and all the complications post procedure. My jaw was locked up (trismus) for a solid 6 weeks. My tongue... is still numb. Here we are, a year later and I still have no sensation of hot or cold. I cannot feel textures with my tongue. Basically, I've learned to use the roof of my mouth and the insides of my cheeks to help me chew. Good news is that I can feel pain and tingling. I have pretty much given up on the idea of ever getting more than this pain/tingling sensation back. I thought seriously several months ago about going to an oral surgeon looking for solutions, but assumed that the solution might be more surgery, which I'm not interested in. I did go back to my original dentist and the periodontist who took my teeth out, and they were still relatively unfazed by my odd complication. I just wanted to shake him. On the bright side: My headaches are gone and it's made me a much more open-minded eater (obvious by the fact that I've put on all the weight I lost around my surgery and then a few more pounds on top of that too.) I continuously try to remind myself that it's much easier to live with a numb tongue than debilitating headaches.

Another challenge I faced last year was being diagnosed with GPC (giant papillary conjunctivitis), the issue with my eyes. I'd love to tell you tales of how I miraculously got better overnight, but that would be lying. Because there's no cure for GPC and because I dont qualify for LASIK, this will be something I'll live with for-ev-er. After months of struggling with new contacts and eye drops, supposed to treat the symptoms of GPC, I broke down and switched to daily disposable contact lenses. It seems as if these dailies have greatly improved my tolerance to contact lenses, so while they're expensive, I've only had a few problems with the itching and pain I used to have every day. I've only been using dailies for a couple of months, so I hope that they continue to work well for me.

I'm looking into suggestions for next year's anniversary vacation trip. (just thought i'd throw that out there.)

And now more recent: I'm a little stressed over the job right now. Its hard being the new person in a large group of clique-y women (because the only XY chromosomes in L&D are the docs, and they never stick around long). Speaking of the docs, it's hard to get to know all the different personalities of these docs and the way they like "things" done. I've been chewed out daily for multiple offenses, both of my own doing and of some pretty ridiculous nit-picky things. I want my coworkers to know I'm competent, but after all the scoldings I've received recently, I'm beginning to question whether or not I know I'm competent. I frequently struggle with being prideful. So far, this job has been humbling. I've never missed the always-crazy AWH more than now.

I make it a habit to proofread most of my posts for spelling errors, awkward sentence structure and ideas that need more or less details. After re-reading this post, I came to the conclusion that I am one whiny loser. It feels good to vent a little, if only to poor hubs and my blog. Regardless, I am whiny today. If you've made it this far, I'm sorry!

PS. Please keep Lyndsie in your prayers! She's a sweet girl whose blog I stalk who has battled cancer twice and is facing it once again.

Motivation

I havent been blogging about my running much since the half marathon. Mostly because I havent had anything to write about. But for the past few weeks I've been hitting the pavement once again. It's been pretty pathetic- I keep reminding myself that only a few months ago I ran 13.1 miles. I use the climate & lack of a gym as my excuse. Either way, I ran last night and will go again tonight. I cant afford to skip out again. And by afford, I mean larger pant sizes.

Last night was the youth led service, where the kids (and Jordan) are in charge of everything.

Jordan baptized David, who'd accepted Christ during youth camp. Kasi did a great job singing a solo. After the camp video, several of the students shared testimonies of how God worked in their lives during youth camp and in the weeks to follow. And then of course, the evening was topped off with the "Rooster Song." I was mucho proud of our kiddos for overcoming their stage fright & fears of public speaking and opening their hearts and sharing what they've been learning recently. And what's even more awesome?? A girl who came with one of our students accepted Christ last night! Praise God! Jordan and I are both thrilled to see where this great group of kids is going. (PS: Sorry for the weirdly colored pics- they're SOOC. Our desktop, which is still in it's box has all my photoshop tools.)

We were told last week that we'd close on the house this week, which is well short of our scheduled date of August 14. We're really hoping that this week we'll get our set of keys and go from being debt free to having a big ugly mortgage (with a big pretty house attached!). We got our refrigerator yesterday delivered with the help of some friends to it's new nook in the kitchen. (the sellers have moved out and a house-sitter friend, Michael, has taken up temporary residence to tend to the landscaping and any other house needs. We've gotten to know Michael this weekend and he's nice & flexible enough to let us do things like install our fridge before closing) I have finally, officially (i think) decided on the Master bedroom furniture/bedding/wall color. After we get moved in and all of our appliances in order (we still need a washer/dryer!), the master bedroom will be the first on "the list." Hey, going from a ~700 sq foot apartment to a 1800+ sq foot home means we'll need at least a couple new pieces of furniture. So we have a priority "list" and we both agree that something larger than a full sized bed is at the top of the "list." Oh & the master bedroom will be a surprise! Ha!

For all you Fort-Worthians, I'm planning a quick road trip to DFW in 2 weekends.

For all you Augustans, Jordan and I are coming the weekend of October 17.

For everyone else... the beach is lovely (HOT!) this time of year.

Greetings furry friend!

Check out the newest addition to the Mims' family! Her name is Mauve (we're still working on middle names and are accepting suggestions) and she's a spunky black lab. She's only 5 weeks old now so she'll stay with her fur-mommy a little bit longer before she comes to live with us. We are so excited! Jordan and I have wanted a dog since we got married, but seminary housing doesnt allow fur children of any variety. But seminary is over and we should close on our house NEXT WEEK (yay!!!!!) which means a dog is now in the cards. (That's where Mauve comes in) Check out the kennel we're getting her from. They are a super nice family with some really beautiful dogs

We cant wait to bring her home!

I work tomorrow

Dont be jealous of what I did today.

Hello there Texas summer heat!

Hello there little birdie!

Hello there white leg!

The pics are from my iPhone, so don't knock the quality. It seems like the only thing I've gotten so far in all my beach trips is 12234986 more freckles. It did take me 7 months of tanning to get color for my wedding. I guess I'll have to go back to the beach sometime soon. I guess when we move, we'll be 4 minutes closer, which is great, because the 12 minute drive is killer. Dont hate, just visit. Only, dont go to the beach with Jordan. He pees in the water.

Mo Pics.

Yesterday, while I was hard at work, Jordan took his parents (who came into town for the day) over to the new house to check things out. They took some measurements for furniture and appliances and --more important-- took more pictures! Hubs has even more pictures on his facebook. Oh, and I swear I loaded these in a specific order and somehow they're a little jumbled and out of order. Sorry!

Another shot of the front of the house. See that other house to the left there? That's the house we made our very first offer on! Things obviously didnt work out, but we're ok with that. This house was already under contract when we first were looking and was put back on the market when the buyer backed out. I'm really pleased that this is the house that we ended up with. Sure the house next door has another scrapbooking room, I mean, spare bedroom, but this house has so many things we like that next door neighbor is lacking.

The fab backyard! I love our little deck and fan and grill out area! I cant wait to get some outdoor furniture and have a party.

Out of order guest bath. The stuff you see in the pictures isnt ours. The sellers have a friend staying there to keep the lawn watered and keep everything clean and that sort of thing. So some of this is his stuff, and some of the things you see are the seller's stuff. Just keep that in mind. Anyone who's been to our apartment before, you know what the guest bath is going to look like because we'll use all our old bathroom stuff until I can convince Jordan to let me go buy new things.

The rest of the backyard and our little tree. Doesnt it look just perfect for a black lab puppy? I think so.

Put your sunnies on people! This bedroom is briiiiiight. It was the seller's nursery and it's even more vibrant yellow in real life. This will be the first room to get some Kilz and a nice taupe. If you're planning on visiting, which I already know you are, this will be the guest bedroom.

Praise the Lord for 2 sinks in the master bathroom. O how marvelous.

And a tub! A place to take my post-run ice baths where I dont have to rig up the drain to keep the water in. It wasnt a deal breaker to have a separate shower/bath, we just got lucky.

And another out of order picture- the dining area. There's a picture of the adjoining kitchen a few down. Papasan chair is not included in the sale of the house.

Master bedroom. I may have changed my bedding idea mind again. I have no idea what I want. Maybe I wont worry about it until we get ready to buy new furniture.

The kitchen! Hallelujah for the counter space!!! I am determined to do a lot more cooking when we finally get moved in. Given that there are very few restaurants around here (especially in comparison to the DFW area...or any other area for that matter), I think i'll probably accomplish this goal with ease. The countertops are Corian, which I really like. The door to the right is the pantry and the door to the left is the laundry room. (This picture is from the listing website.)

Another listing picture, here's the living room area -- and look! Windows!!! No more bear cave!!! I'm in heaven. We have heard from the sellers and they are ready to close as soon as possible. All the paperwork is in and the underwriting has begun, so we're hoping to have the keys in the next couple of weeks!

Tres Anos

Oh good grief. My hair = hot mess.

Happy 3 year anniversary sweet husband! I love you lovey-cakes!!!

Fickle

Ok forget everything I said yesterday...

I changed my mind.

I like this now.

Did you know there are duvet sets at Sears that are more expensive than those at PB? Am I the only one who finds that strange?

PS: help me!

Old News

Sorry for the lack of blog love recently. Who knew going back to work was such a time-consuming process?!

Jordan left this morning for Youth camp at Alto Frio. Poor guy's had it rough the past week or so getting all kinds of things sorted out. This kid wants to drop out, this kid wants to go now. He walked into this new job and nobody expected the teens to even GO to camp this year- there wasnt enough money and there were no adult volunteers. But God works in wonderful ways and voila! They're halfway to Leakey, TX now. Please keep hubs in your prayers as he is prettttty nervous about this week. 80% of the campers are middle schoolers, he knows some of them well, some of them not so well, and there were a few kids who showed up this morning that he's never met before. It'll be a week of learning a lot of new personalities. But really, what better way to cultivate new relationships than spend a week at camp? I think he'll be awesome, but he's not convinced yet.

And yes- if you were wondering, he WILL be gone on our 3 year anniversary. I'm not thrilled about this, but he didn't pick this week- it was already established long before he got here. And he says he'll never schedule a camp over our anniversary again.... so he says.

So listen to this. We got a letter in the mail about a week ago now from Geico (our auto insurance company) stating that their "claims investigation center" was unsuccessful in going after the bum who hit me. No luck finding any coverage from any insurer and I dont know if he will be prosecuted or convicted or any of those fancy legal terms. We've long had the Jetta fixed and have reluctantly stomach-ed the deductible needed to fix the car. Well, wouldnt you know... God in all of his mysterious wonder did something mysteriously wonderful. Only days later, I get this call from the claims adjuster at Geico. Turns out the gay male prostitute DID have insurance after all (who wouldve thought...) and he is ALSO insured under Geico!!! What a marvelous blessing!!! So the check's in the mail to reimburse our deductible.

"Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good just as he rejoiced over your fathers; if you obey the LORD your god to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God will all your heart and soul"

Deut 30:9

And praise #2 is our HOUSE!!!!

We have officially accepted an offer on this little beauty!

It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a little over 1800sq. feet. It's in a neighborhood that's verrrrrrry close to the church. Someone told me yesterday that we picked this neighborhood because it looked like Dallas. Isnt that funny? We are scheduled to close on August 14, but our mortgage broker says we should be done well before then. (which would be awesome!!!) I just cant wait to have a house that I can truly say is mine! Hubs has given me full creative reign over the house and I'm totally stoked and immensely overwhelmed! I dont even know where to begin! Paint colors?! How am I supposed to choose?!? So I've looked to many websites and magazines for inspiration. I know what I like- it's just getting everything in my head onto "paper" and it not looking like a jumbled mish-mash of clutter and disorganized non-matchy stuff.

It'll be a work in progress.

Here's some inspiration:

I've learned I'm drawn to stone/earth paint colors. I love the paint color in this room- aptly named Rockport Gray! I want my house to be fun & representative of our personalities and I'm afraid of having drab taupe walls. BUT at the same time, I want our house to be timeless. I love white, glass and subway tiles. And then, I go for colors like peacock blue (look it up- it's by Glidden), which is dark blue/teal gorgeousness. Such an enigma. See what I'm dealing with here????

Ps. I think I'll use the peacock blue in our laundry room... it'll be totally fab.

I really like this fabric- in the same taupey/stoneish/tobacco colors but in a modern pattern. Dare I make my own window treatments?!?! It's definitely something I'd love to do and Thrifty Decor Chick has lots of guides on no-sew "gorg" window treatments. So maybe it's not so far out of my never-owned-a-sewing-machine hands.

And then there's the master bedroom. The sanctuary. The love shack (sorry, I couldnt help myself!!! I crack myself up!!). Our first order of business after buying a refrigerator and washer/dryer is to get new bedroom furniture. The old full size mattress is still as snug and restricting as the day we said "I do." I really like this set pictured above... maybe with a few less matchy-matchy pillows and a little extra color. I'm thinking that awesome mustardy-yellow color that everyone's wearing except me (because it washes my pale skin out). Maybe a few pillows or a throw to break up the grey/white monotony. There's an article in the BH&G Decorating magazine with a house done in this color palate (black/white/mustard) and it's so fab. I'd like to have the master bathroom be similar.

I feel like i've exhausted the decor/furniture world. Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, BB&B, Home Decorators Collection, Grandin Road, Williams-Sonoma, JC Penney, Kohls, Macys.... I'm looking for some new inspiration. Hit me up with suggestions! Plus- anyone who's handy with a paintbrush will be treasured in the weeks to come!