Well, hello again...

didn't think I'd be seeing you guys so soon.  I mean, it's been what...  six months?

It happened this weekend.  My first week as the new Preschool Director at Milestone Church went without a hitch.  I love my new job!  Then Sunday came.  The BIG day.  Or as Eric likes to call it, Showtime!

I almost made it through the entire first service without tripping over myself.  Then.... SPLAT.  I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE WORN THOSE SHOES!

the culprits

But, alas, bad decisions reap consequences.  I know most of you are thinking what everyone else has been asking regarding my decision-making skillz:

What exactly were you thinking when you selected those shoes out of your closet? Clearly, I wasn't.
Were you conscious? Not really.  I hadn't had coffee.  AND I was rushing.
Were you half asleep? Perhaps.  It was quite early.   
Was the light in your closet not working?  Har har 
Where was Eric and why didn't he put a stop to this? (yeah, ok, no one asked this.  Really the only sliver of blame I could even attempt to re-direct to someone else.)
Doesn't your role require a lot of walking and handling little ones?  Why, yes it does.  And after all, this IS my most comfortable pair of tall shoes.

After the fall I walked around for a few minutes trying to convince myself the "pop" I heard when I tripped was merely an air bubble.  And the pain was really more of an itch.  Yes, despite overwhelming evidence I did not just break a bone.  De.ni.al. [dih-nahy-ul]

But then I caught myself hopping on one foot and figured it was time to face the music.  I sat down in a chair, and hark!  My foot was slightly swollen

And despite my argument that anything can be healed with an Advil and Windex (what movie?), my sweet friend whisked me away to the ER

Thankfully, it was a clean break of my fifth metatarsal (the bone that goes up and connects to your pinky toe.)  No re-setting, no surgery, no amputation.  Simply an ice pack and 4-6 weeks in a boot.  Breaks are common in this bone.  Oh, wait, YES!  I've done this before!  How, you ask?  Oh, same thing.  Wearing a pair of wedges and tripping over my feet.  But that was college.  I've learned to walk since then... so I thought.

The doc tells me I'm going to live, but Eric went through my closet and wiped out all my heels.  He told me that from now on I'm only allowed to wear these

So, am I the only klutz out there or do any of you share my shoe woes?

Stop #2 on the "Our Lives, Pre-Dallas" express

Hellllllllooooo, City of Angels!  Thank you for welcoming me to your traffic-infested highways

405 - busiest in the U.S.

 

your delicious restaurants

 your celebrity-filled streets

and waters...

your garlicky ice cream

your fine educational institutions (Eric's alma mater.)

Recognize this library from a hit movie? Hint: 80's.  Who ya gonna call?

I found a magnolia tree in all this southern California west coast-ness!

 

I also found a felon...

and a cowboy

I enjoyed your diverse neighborhoods

Dim sum with friends

Skid row

and your lively suburbs

Old Town Pasadena

Venice Beach

Riding along the beach in Santa Monica

But most of all, I loved being with Eric and experiencing everything that made this town "home" for the first few years of his life in the U.S.

Until next time, L.A.! 

My little guinea pigs

Back in August I headed down to the Atlantic side of the Sunshine state for a little R&R.  I had so much fun spending the weekend at the beach with my cuz and her family.  We celebrated baby boy's 1st birthday!

 

I'm taking photography classes and figured this would be a good time to practice since I had two little test subjects.  I loved documenting their little lives and personalities.  I could seriously post an entire album of them, but I'll try and restrain myself to a few of my favorites...

Love love love that face.  He is ALWAYS smiling

She loves her Lil' Buddy

Eat your heart out, Favre

I love the contrast between Lil' Miss Hawaiian Tropic and our sweet little southern tomboy

Shoe swap.  Yes, he's wearing her pink shoe on his left toe

She is sooo NOT shy.  Struck up conversations with folks up and down the beach.  "Whassat? Whassat?"

I'm going home with Anna

He is so proud of himself for figuring this out.  And for someone who's never worn shoes I'd say he's purrrdy smart!
 

Eric vs. The Squirrel

This entry approved by Eric.  No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post.

Prior to renovating and moving into the Soon Mansion, my home had been occupied by 25 dudes over the past six years.  (Shout out to all past roomies!)  Eric often refers to me as roommate #26.  In fact, I've been told some of his neighbors thought he was running a halfway house.  I think the cops were even called once, but I never got the full story.

So apparently neither Eric nor his tenants were skilled landscapers.  When I moved in, the back yard looked like a South African township

With lots 'o help from my dad we held our own HGTV Backyard Transformation

See?  Doesn't it look pretty?

One of my favorite additions is our bird feeder & bird bath.  We've had some beautiful guests including  many of these:

Unfortunately, our hospitable environment attracted many unwanted guests

These menacing bullies have wrecked havoc on our bird sanctuary.  With gravity-defying leaps, they pillage and plunder.  They ravage and destroy and scare all the pretty birds away. "Pretty bird. Pretty bird." (What movie?)

We finally reached a breaking point last week.  Our feeder broke from the weight of these pesky beasts

Exhibit A

AND -  like thieves in the night they broke into our food supply! 

Exhibit B

That was the last straw

We bought a new feeder

And hired security

We'll see who wins round two...

Stop #1 on the "Our Lives, Pre-Dallas" express

Man, I am waaay haaaaay behind in my posting so I'm hoping to catch up this week since I'm a stay-at-home wife (this week and this week only.  More on that later...)

Eric and I kinda impromptu decided we would spend this year traveling to our old haunts re-visiting our pre-Dallas lives.  We started with a Fourth of July trip to Indianapolis which is where I lived for three years before I made the big move to the big D. 

The new Colts stadium.  I miss you, Peyton...

I spent the first night and day with one of my favorite people, Cindy From Indy.

Cindy and me just before I moved to Dallas.  She is one of my most special friends, and I miss her so much.  

We had a fun night reminiscing with friends.  I seriously can't believe it's been eight years since this small-town southern girl left the comfort of sweet tea and SEC for the corn fields of the Midwest.  What a journey!

 Cindy and Lisa - two of my first (and best) friends in Indy!

My first house!  I lived in Broad Ripple which was such a cool part of town.  I miss my little bungalow & neighborhood.

We spent the rest of our trip with my uncle Kim and aunt Krystal.  In the true spirit of Eric's gastronomy we went for an Ethiopian food adventure at a place called Oak of Mamre.  We had to call ahead and let them know we were coming so they could start cooking our meal.

 We were the only four patrons... Please bring them more biz so they can buy real fish

Mmmm...

Dig in

 

Preparing our coffee that was thick as tar and filtered through horse tail hair.  Neighhhh.

We spent Saturday riding our bikes along the Monon Trail.  If you're ever in Indy, I highly recommend a run, bike, walk or roller-blade along one of the best trails in the country!

The Monon Trail.  For all you Dallasites, it's like the Katy Trail times a thousand.

We rewarded our cycling selves with a L'Enorme order of pomme frites at the Belgian sidewalk cafe, Brugge.

Before heading home we toured downtown Indy admiring the fountains and statues in Monument Circle

Until next time, Indy-a-nappy-lis!