Quick Notes

It's been too long since we've made a post.  It is late and we wont fully get to one but we'll so a short blurb!


In about four hours we are leaving for the airport (yup, we should be sleeping...not writing blogs) for a 6 o'clock flight to Virginia.  We will be joining B's family for a 4 day, west-coast excursion.  I can't wait to meet parts of the family I have yet to meet and to see the family I met at our wedding.  I have scarves, coasts, gloves and adorable new Christmas shoes pack and ready to go!

B and I are doing great out in San Diego.  We'll post more about specifics later but we're working, doing grad school and just loving being newly-weds!  Hopefully you received  Christmas card and I hope we keep getting them in the mail.  There are about four on the fridge so far!

Merry Christmas to everyone. I pray that your Christmas is filled with the love and joy God gives!  We can't wait to celebrate the birth of our savior in just a few days.  What a joyous reason to celebrate!

Love,
D and B

Tis the season

Tis the season for....

1. Fun
2. Lovely weather
3. Busy-ness
4. Fun holidays

As soon as Halloween comes around I am ready to go for the holidays.  It is without a doubt my favorite time of the year.  From October to February there almost 10 fantasticly fun holidays.  Lets see.....Halloween, Thanksgiving, (this year we get to throw in Colin and Jenny's wedding!), my birthday, Christmas, New Years, B's birthday, Valentine's day and the day B and I started dating.  See my point?  It's the most fantastic time of the year.

Colin and Jenny's wedding was last weekend, which was a blast!  After a terrible flight/morning B and I finally made it into Phoenix.  We had girl/guy lunch before heading the the rehearsal.  Meeting all of the bridal party was fun.  They are so quirky and made the event fun.  Then the rehearsal dinner was great.  We headed over to their house to eat and spend time with our family. It is always wonderful getting to have our family in town, it doesn't happen very often.  B had a ball jumping on the trampoline with my 10 year old cousin, Eric.  Then the BIG DAY!  We went to our brunches, primped our hair (both B and D!), and off to the chapel...kinda.  Their wedding was so 'Colin and Jenny'.  It was help at an art gallery in downtown Phoenix that was once a warehouse.  Very snazzy.  The ceremony was beautiful and made me cry, of course.  Everyone had a blast and loved seeing them make that commitment to each other!

Next comes Thanksgiving...turkey, casserole, potatoes, big comfy couches, family...can't wait!  We're going to be at B's parents this weekend so we can have an opportunity to see his family before Christmas.  Then for the actual Thanksgiving celebration/my birthday celebration we are headed back out to Phoenix.

In other news-we started grad school yesterday!  Today is now day two and so far we have all of our assignments done.  Maybe we'll have to go to a coffee shop at the beach next week to do our work ;)

All is well on the Lawrence-front!

Grad School

That's right....a few months off and we're back in the game.  God has blessed us with the opportunity to go back to school for very little.  Brian will be able to go back for free and because I am a spouse I can go for just about nothing.  Who would have seen that as a reason to move out here!?  Just one more way God was setting us up for success.  Anyways....our applications are in, Brian filled out his financial aid yesterday, and I just finished.  Hopefully it'll all be in place and we will be starting on November 15th!  We are able to pick specializations to go along with our degrees.  I will be getting a Masters in education with 2 specializations: Higher Education and Mathematical Education.  Brian will be getting a Masters in Organizational Management with a specialization in Organizational Leadership.  Exciting!


We are so excited for this weekend to start the holiday festivities.  A friend comes into town, B's parents will be in San Diego for business next week and then my brother's wedding!!!  I'm so excited to go out to Phoenix and celebrate Colin and Jenny.  Then Thanksgiving, my sister comes into town, Disneyland and Christmas in Virginia!  Can you tell I'm a holiday kind of girl??? I am SO ready for it to be about 10 degrees colder, bake cookies, have mochas, ice skate and go to the Grinch!

Team FUN!

I have done a rather poor job of updating our blog lately.  But, let's put that aside.  Nothing too crazy has been going on but we have been having a lot of fun!  Needless to say...this will be a big post :]

Brian's job is still going great.  He is learning how to be more efficient with what he has to do and even helping other people do the same.  Between creating a number system to sort student numbers and teaching people to send emails 40X quicker they are loving his help!  We joke that if he had a computer degree he could be one of their computer-tech guys! The newest thing is that we are now eligible to start school again.  A few months off and now it's time to become graduate students!!  God has truly blessed us.  We could have never seen the opportunity for B to go back to school for free and me for 80% off to be one of the reasons God was leading us towards SD.  That is one blessing that we are still in awe of!

My job at Sylvan is going great!  Now that I've been there for close to two months I am understanding how all of the programs work much better.  Earlier this week I had one of those realizations that I didn't have to think about what to do next anymore.  It feels nice to have a rhythm and be a part of things.  I now have some more administrative responsibilities that I am really enjoying.  Those that went to school with me know how much I like do admin/office type things.  The people I work with are just lovely-it's a great fit!

We have been up to a lot of fun lately. Somehow we put a bunch of great activities all together.

Two weeks ago we had a lovely fall weekend of apple picking with Brian's family.  We were just expecting his parents but Greg (B's brother) came down from San Fran to surprise us! The five of us went to a Tehachepi and came away with about 40 apples each!

About a week ago Thursday B and I geeked out...I mead geeeeeeeeeeeeeeked out.  We went with a few friends to see...wait for it.........Lord of the Rings in Orchestra.  It ended up being a blast!  They played the entire first movie on the screen while the German National Orchestra played the music for the entire 3 hours!  There were points where we would get distracted and only be watching the movie because they played so well.

The next night we went to a pumpkin patch.  That one was upon my request!  We went up to Lakeside to get a few pumpkins and go on a hay ride.  What a lovely place!  The patch we went to was way more than a parking lot pumpkin store.  It was on a farm where they grow the pumpkins and people can go pick them from the ground.  A cow had been born that afternoon so we were given the opportunity to go see it as a part of our hay ride.  After the ride, playing kiddie games, petting animals and finding someone to take a picture of us (usually we can only get one of us int he picture!) we enjoyed sorting through their pumpkins.  Our house is quite festive now.  A

Our apartment doesn't look quite like this but......still a lot of gourds!

Baby cow-born that day

A picture together! YES!

And, somehow there is more fun!  The next day, after a great brunch-date, we did archery....yup....arrows...targets...the whole shebang.  We found it on groupon a while ago.  Mr. Archery-Merit-Badge-Counselor husband of mine decided to teach me.  We had a great time.  I never missed the target-woo!  And, B was the star of the class.  He won the game we played by getting closest to the center and then hit the exact center! There was even a prize involved.

Hash House for brunch! They are known for their crazy large portions.  B and I split this meal and only ate 3/4 of it!

That's right!  And I always hit the yellow, red or blue. 

They call hitting the exact middle joining the spider club.

Then to end the hoopla we had a big group of friends over to watch the ASU game and eat apple crisp.  There were still so many apples left from the prior week's events!  

Life in SD is going lovely.  There is much more going on that is less surface than the fun we've been having but maybe I'll go into that tomorrow!  This weekend is going to be a quick turn-around to PHX for my sister-in-law-to-be's bridal shower!  Can't wait!

BLACKOUT!

BLACKOUT!  Depending on which state you're reading this from it could mean something different. Right now, Brian and I are spending out pre-bed time watching a few minutes of the first Arizona State game of the season.  Go Devils, we are doing amazing!  It's the debut of our new black uniforms....which looks quite intimidating...and the whole stadium is decked out in black.  Team Lawrence may not be there but we've been sporting our school gear all night.  Trying to represent out in SD. 

If you're in California you either experienced or heard of the largest power-outage in our history.  Yesterday afternoon at 3:30 all of the power in the house went off.  Usually after about 2 minutes it comes back.  After about 5 minutes I didn't quite know what to do.  So, I of course called B at work wondering if I should call the apartment manager or the electric company.  Turns out his entire work building was down too.  We were quite impressed, seeing as he works 20 miles away.  Throughout the night we found out that the power was out from LA, to Mexico, to Yuma....wow.  Blackout! It took B 2.5 hours to get home, gah.  We decided to make the best out of the situation and have fun.  Two days earlier I bought 5 things of steak so that was first choice for dinner.  A few friends came over, we filled the apartment with candles, ate steak and enjoyed talking.  The candles made the apartment hot and sleeping was not fun at all.  I'm used to having AC or a ceiling fan out in PHX...not here.  We have little fans near our bed and don't turn on the AC so I have a hard time sleeping normally.  Luckily at about 1:45am we heard the buzz on the little fans....mmmmm....we were happy campers.  So, Brian did have to go to work, the stores were open again, and SoCal in once again in working order!

We live next door to Greg and Kill Boaz.  David was over too so the three of them joined us for the evening.

Brian, Greg and David in our living room.

It was pitch dark, making the moon shine brighter than we've seen anywhere in the city.

The sky last night was one of the most exciting parts of the blackout yesterday.  Not a light for hundreds of miles.  Just the glow of the moon.  The sky was almost gray because of the absence of city lights.  God sure gave us a gift!  We got to enjoy each other's company and marvel at His creation.  We woke up to a much cooler San Diego today.  It has been hot and muggy this week due the the day of rain Monday. Gross.  But, today was breezy and lovely.  I felt like it was a little present from God.  "Here ya go, guys.  Just because I love you."

Now, back to the game. Take that Mizzou!

Fun weekends!

Today is the first true rainy day of the season!  Can you say happy people?!  I'm sitting here with the windows open, listening to the drip drops and smelling it..mmmm. All I can say is that I am on pins and needles for the fall to stay. 

We've had a lot of fun the last two weekends.  Last weekend we went to the AV fair and Alfalfa Festival. Hot dogs, goats, pumpkins, the works.  I just love fairs.  There is something about the atmosphere that screams fun.  Maybe next year we'll have to enter in one of the contests ha ha

Look at all of that fun in one picture!

We got to see a lot of different goats that were up for showing. Maybe a house with animals some day?

This weekend we had a great time exploring San Diego.  We live here, why not get out and experience it, right?  Thursday B called from work saying: Let's go to a Chargers game.  Well, ok!  We ended up saving $100 (YES!), and borrowing jerseys from our friends.  It was my first time at Qualcomm statium....it's huge.  Saturday we headed downtown to Seaport Village for dinner/ice cream with friends.  Down the way, at the Embarcadero, was a Pops concert by the San Diego Symphony playing the hits of Tchaikovsky.  B and I really wanted to go but couldn't get tickets.  To our luck we found a great spot on the grass right outside the gates to listen.  Yesterday we headed to the beach for the holiday.  It was wonderful that B had the day off so we were able to spend the whole day just enjoying life.  We played lawn games & bbq'd with friends in overcast weather. We ended the day with some sushi-the best!

In other news, B has a little 'accident'.  While I was on a run B was in a cleaning mood and decided to sweep/mop.  While going for the boom stuck behind the refrigerator, he pulled too hard and BOOM!  I came home to his mouth full of tp and blood.  It stopped bleeding and no stiches needed but it sure made for an eventful day.

It's was swollen for a few days.  But, he sure looks cute, ya?

Now, off to another work week! Hope that the rain drops stay for a few more days :)

'Projects'

Here are a few pictures to update on our 'projects' in the house.  We seem to love having things hung up on our walls.  Something new joins ever week!

This picture is above our TV, in between the bookshelves.  It was a steal: originally over $100 and we bought it at a closing sale for $5!

Shadow boxes, pictures, and other decorations in our hallway.

This project was a beast.  It started with 1 1/2 hours of me attempting to hang the shelves, another hour of B trying to hang the shelves, then a 2 hour excursion to Home Depot (my latest episode of getting lost) and another 2 hours of work.  Alas...it is accomplished.

Both of us are excited to buy a house in a few years that we can continue to decorate and have fun with.

Hello from San Diego

Brian and I decided we wanted to start a blog so we could keep people in the loop about our new life!  Hopefully we'll keep it up and running.


Today marks us being married for two months already.  I could swear the wedding was yesterday and we just got back from our honeymoon.  God has been quick to work over here.  Brian and I have both been through our second jobs (technically), we have pregnant friends, our apartment is radically different and we're learning a lot about each other. 
Let's see what I can update you about.....

B: Brian was working at Starbucks for about 1 1/2 months before the wedding.  He continued to look for jobs that could use his communication skills but no luck.  Mr. Talkative wasn't letting those skills go to waste though.  He quickly became friends with all of the regulars.  B knew their story, they knew his/ours.  The opportunity arose for him to meet with the VP of Bridgepoint Education to talk business ethics and resume stuff.  Long story short.....today is his last day of a 2-week training at one of their schools, Ashford University.  The company is huge on being involved in the community.  (We went to a Padres game and saw their signs everywhere and the next week at a concert in the park)  God has put him in a place that uses his communication skills and love for helping people. 

D:  I have been busy at work making sure our apartment is up kept perfectly.  (Mainly because for the first 2 months of living here I didn't have a job).  I am surprised at how many dishes we go through.  There are only two of us here and yet I do a load of dishes almost every day.  My theory is because I love presentation.  I use twice as many dishes because I like to present them on a clean plate or in a clean bowl.  The apartment is us.  It's covered with pictures of places we've been, filled with cozy pillows and overall a warm place. I don't get lost very much anymore.  The first few weeks I had to call B almost every day asking, "how do I get to Kohls?", "where is Old Navy?", "B, I can't find Home Depot!!"  That only happens in a blue moon; I feel like I'm getting the hang out it.  Monday was the first day of my training at Sylvan as a teacher.  I was on hold with Starbucks for an entire month and then I was asked to take the teaching position.  So far it's perfect.  God knew that I needed a job I didn't take home, I could start going to grad school with, used my teaching degree and made my heart happy.  He has provided us both with so much and we are so grateful!

School:
B's new job will allow us to go back to grad school soon for almost free.  When he told me that I was amazed.  What did we do to deserve so many blessings?  I don't know, but I am so grateful. 
Church:
We have both been getting involved at our church (Skyline) as high school leaders.  What a wonderful place to create relationships and help encourage the students.  Camp was a week that we were able to get close with a lot of them.  I'm excited to take that and go into small groups.  Those start in about 2 weeks.  B and I will both be leading high school groups and building more relationships with the students.  Also, we joined a young-married group.  The first meeting is 1 1/2 weeks...we are really glad that there is that opportunity to be a part of that. 


Everything in San Diego is going really well.  The first two months of being married have been wonderful.  Each day we learn how we can love the other better and we need.  I think one of the biggest eye opening things for me has been learning more about what I need. Not only am I learning about myself and how I can communicate my needs to B, I get to learn more about how my actions and words can build him up and love him more.  It's great.  It's work.  But, it's great work.

Tomorrow we are going to the fair.  Awesome.