Crawfish boil

On sunday we got invited to a crawfish boil, I had no idea what that was, but they're our friends, so I accepted. I was pretty hesitant at first, but Dave had mentally prepared me well. Although I could not get that nervous/disgusted look off my face, they weren't too bad.  I just felt like it was too much work for such a little bite of meat.  It was a good experience though and Dave was really proud that I tried it.

Dave has fond childhood memories sticking the heads on his fingertips, so he just couldn't resist.  I was debating trying it until he mentioned it was feeling a little gross cause he had to squish the brains to get his fingers in all the way.  At that point, I was done with dinner.

Texas Wildflowers

I've heard lots of great things about the Texas wildflowers and I finally got to see them.  Last year we were in a horrible drought, so there were none.  This year, Spring showers came in January and February, so by March they were all over the place! Every open field and all along the roads there are fields of blue bonnets and Mexican hats.


We took the back way up to Joshua for conference weekend and we were just in time to see all the wildflowers in full bloom. My favorite were the indian paintbrushes (which I didn't see any in San Antonio, but there were tons up north and they're a beautiful pinkish/red color) It was such a colorful drive.  I wish these flowers were around all year, but Dave said that soon the grass will get way too long and gardeners will come and have to cut them all down.


So we got  pictures with the Blue Bonnets just in time...

A lesson on humility

I woke up with on January 19^th, everything about me felt normal, except that any noise made me dizzy.  Hearing a loud noise made me feel like I was spinning and about to pass out for about few seconds, and then I’d snap out of it.  If there were a few noises in a row (like someone talking to me) it would make me dizzy to the point I’d start sweating, my head would start hurting and I would have to sit down.  It's been slowly going away and the duration of it has gotten shorter and shorter, but it's been 2 and a half months!  For the first month I stayed home in my silent apartment all day and I’d forget that anything was wrong until my phone rang or I went to use anything that made a noise (opening the fridge or microwave) The worst was when Dave came home… slamming the door closed, dropping his bag, or talking to me (it all seemed so extreme & loud at the time)… I was miserable.  I had no desire to talk or eat anything crunchy, because hearing myself in my head brought those symptoms. Dave and I just whispered, I had to remind him often, but he did it. I am blessed, with my job I can just work from home in the quiet.  I discovered an online service area, so Dave would text me a project and I could take care of any issues online rather than calling in.  I didn't go to church or even out in public because I couldn’t stand people talking to me and it’s just way too loud everywhere.  After a few weeks I started going outside again with my trusty earplugs and did ok.  I tried to avoid people or I would have to read lips, not really know what people were saying to me half the time, so that was fun. So I am still alive, I'm just flying under the radar for a while.  

My dad had asked some of his ENT buddies and they weren’t sure, but he told me it was something that would probably just go away in a few months.  The pride in me thought that nothing could bring me down for that long, and surely it would go away in a week or so.  But, it didn't.  I finally accepted that and went to a doctor who suspected a bad inner ear infection.  After a week with no improvement I went to an ENT specialist who discovered hearing loss at certain frequencies, gave me vallium and diagnosed me with Menneire's disease.  That involves permanent hearing loss and possibly not being able to fly, plus these random sudden dizziness spells so that was a little scary and unexpected.  The next week I went to a different specialist for a 2^nd opinion and my hearing was back. We had fasted for it to be a misdiagnosis, and our prayers were answered.  The other ENT thought it might be from some kind of fistula (trauma or over exhaustion). He offered me some steriod drops, but could not diagnose anything.  It was definitely a humbling experience for me, having no control over the situation. It was one of those times when I honestly felt that the Savior was the only one who knew how I was feeling.  All I’m praying for now is that it’s nothing permanent and that it never happens again.  I'm writing this on my blog because I don't really like to talk about it, so hopefully this answers anybody's questions.

Dave found this commercial and I could not believe how perfect it was for me. (Only when I watch this can I think about this experience and smile) What I would give to live in a world like that.  I'll be completely honest, for a split second the thought did cross my mind to consider getting this car!

Disney Movies

Neither Dave or I have very many movies.  We recently discovered CD Exchange here in San Antonio that has tons of used movies (I just can't justify spending $20+ on a movie, unless I know we're gonna watch it often)  So with that in mind we decided that we would only buy movies that we would watch with our future kiddos, and CD exchange has a whole separate section for family movies.  We've found some great classics like Surf's Up and Finding Nemo for $6 each.

Our most recent shipment

We also found a great promo code and recently became members of the Disney Movie Club.  Including taxes and shipping, we're getting 9 of our favorite new Disney movies for about $7.50 a movie.  And I just saw that they have a rewards program with it, so we'll be able to use the points from those 9 movies and we qualify for a free one.  I love getting great deals on things and I love getting things for free even more!  Family movie nights in our home are gonna be awesome!

New Office

We've found a bigger and better office!  It all happened pretty quick, an big office space in a growing residential area became available...a friend of his (also an agent) wanted to move in but was looking to share the space...they went and looked at it...Dave's boss agreed to take over the lease at his other new office...everything just fell into place real quick. So they signed it and moved in.  It's in a great part of town, up at the Bulverde/Evans intersection, surrounded by brand new or under construction neighborhoods.
We were sharing a desk in an 85 sq ft office with no windows, not we're in an 850 sq ft room and we each have our own nice desks with a big bright window in the front.



Our side...Dave's desk & mine coming soon



Conference area by the back door





The full view from the back

Bob's desk and the kitchen area



The purple bathroom :)





This will be replace with a big Famers sign






















So we have a lot of changes to make.  Luckily, the Nationwide guy gave us a great price for all the furniture, so we don't have to worry about buying it all and moving it in. We're still planning to get me a desk, repaint, rearrange everything, etc.  Once everything is looking good, we'll have a big Open House.  We're pretty excited about it all right now!



A little experiment

I've been cutting Dave's hair with a buzzer, but I wanted to try something a little different. I love his hair when it's just a little bit longer, rather than the fresh hair cut look. So I decided to try cutting it with scissors.  I was half expecting that I'd mess up and end up using a buzzer, but I did surprisingly well.  Dave was happy with it, so it was a success!!!  Plus, it only gets better from here, right?

Valentine's Day treats

We had a very nice Valentine's Day.  On a different note, one of my favorite things to do is save money.  We had a free coupon for a Marble Slab so we went there after making our own delicious steak dinner.  It was only free with one mix-in, so we decided that we'd bring our own additions.  Dave is shameless and walked right in holding our plastic bag of goodies. Me, not so much...I insisted that we eat it outside, and at the farthest table away from the door. It was the best ice cream creation I've had in a while!

Everything Awesome

 I just needed to do a quick post about my amazing wife.  Lisa and I have a good thing going on.  You know, with being married.

After some scripture reading we pray, turn off the lights as if we were going to bed, and then have

pillow talk lasting anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours.

We wake up, get ready together, eat together, work together, play basketball together, serve in the church together, and anything else that we can think of. Basically, I get to hang out with my best friend for nearly 24 hours a day. (I don't think there are may people that can say that.

She's a wonderful cook, she knows how to decorate the house very well, she's very crafty (as in she enjoys, and is getting to be awesome at crafts), she has an aptitude for anything she puts her mind to and makes work super easy (and a joy), she's smokin' hot!, she's patient with my shortcomings, she's surprisingly good at wrestling, she looks good in everything, she supports me in numerous ways, and many other wonderful things. 

In short, day in and day out, hands down, no holds barred, Lisa is the WBW and life with her makes everything awesome.