Color Me Rad: So much fun, words cannot describe it!

Life Updates

I know, I know. I'm slacking in the blog department. Honestly, I have several posts in my head...posts about marriage, faith, a Saturday night at the camp house...I just need time to sit and write. I hope these quick updates will hold you over until then.

First I want to say THANK YOU  to my sweet blog friend, Tiffany, who sent me a little something to congratulate me on my new job. Opening and reading her sweet card put a huge smile on my face! Thanks, Tiff!

So, life updates...

- Life is good. Brandon is continuing to work hard at his job, and we are finally starting to somewhat get used to his schedule. I shouldn't even use the word 'schedule'. He's here for a few days, then he's gone for a few days. He's in Dallas for a few months and then Oklahoma for a few weeks. There's really no rhyme or reason to it. I've just learned to go with the flow. When I tell people about his job, and how often he is gone they say "I don't know how you do it." Well, I don't either. I think the only thing that helps is knowing that it's not going to be like this forever. It's only temporary. That's what I keep reminding myself.

- As far as my job goes, I'm still getting used to it. The schedule, itself, is an adjustment. I'm working Sunday through Thursday, 3:00pm to 11:30. It's not the best, but it's not the worst. I'm starting to get used to sleeping later, which was actually hard for me at first, and waking up at 8:00am and not going back to sleep 'till 2:00am can make you {or at least me} crazy.

I'm also adjusting to working at another facility, a facility that does things a lot differently than what I'm used to. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but I will say that I have moments, days even, when I feel very frustrated. That's when it's helpful to come back to my office and read this:

It's something my mom gave me when I was in high school, and I've carried it with me through every stage of life since then. Mom, I bet you didn't even know I still had it! It is a great reminder, and something I will be reading often.

- I'm headed to Austin this weekend to run in the Color Me Rad 5k with my sister. I've heard it's one of the funnest {is 'funnest' a word?} races, and I can't wait to show you pictures!

- I finally stepped out of the stone age and into the world of Instagram. I only follow a few people {four, to be exact} but I love it! If you have Instagram, find me! {@emrenken} And if you don't have Instagram, get it. Then you can take super fun pics of what you eat when there's no groceries in your house, like me!

{#starving #unhealthychoices}

- One good thing about my work schedule: Today's my Friday! Haha, hope you all have fun at work tomorrow! Don't worry, you can rub it in my face on Sunday when you're all at home relaxing. Seriously, have a great weekend! And thanks for reading, friends!

Thanksgiving 2012 {Late, I know}

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend this year. Brandon and I were both able to take off work, and we went to Yoakum for the weekend. We spent Thursday morning with all of his family, eating turkey and watching football, and we had a quick baby shower that afternoon for his cousin, Terri. After the shower we quickly headed over to my parents house, so we could eat with PaPaw before he went home.

**I feel like I need to pause for a minute to tell you about my mom's sweet potato casserole. Y'all, it was the best sweet potato casserole I've ever had in my whole life. The sweet potatoes were mashed really smooth, and there was the perfect amount of crunchy, brown sugar mixture on top. I enjoyed it so much that everyone else stopped eating it that weekend, so I could bring the rest back to Corpus. I almost cried when it was gone.**

Brandon didn't have to go back to work until Sunday, so we were able to fit in a few visits with some of our best friends, too. We had dinner on Friday with Kayla and Riley, and it was so nice to just sit and talk with them. When we were in high school and college we used to have date nights, with just the four of us, all the time. But we live in different places now, and sometimes the only time we get to see each other is at a wedding or party, where there's lots of other people to visit with, so it was nice to have time with just them.

We also spent time with Jenny, Eric, Reese, and their family. Every time we see them we leave asking ourselves, "Why did we ever move away from Austin?" But I'm starting to think maybe the move was best for all of us, because I'm not sure Jenny and I would ever see Eric or Brandon. They'd either be at the golf course, the softball field, or eating at Plucker's. But I guess that would just mean I'd have more time with Jenny and Reese, and I wouldn't mind that one bit!

After a weekend of family, friends, online shopping and good food {did I mention we ate at Mi Tierra, Weiting's, and Sweet Home Store and Kitchen??} we headed back to Corpus to unpack and decorate for Christmas.

We definitely had a lot to be thankful for this year, and Thanksgiving weekend was another reminder of how truly blessed we are.