Almost time to bust out the cardigans!

It’s fall! I’m so ready for the cooler weather, I can’t believe it’s almost October. I keep waiting for that really hot day to warm our pool up just enough to go swimming one more time, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. It's still pretty warm here, though...mid 80's. I can't wait for the first crisp, cool day...prime camping weather :).

This past weekend I went to San Antonio for my friend Cathy’s bachelorette party. We had a lot of fun, catching up with old friends and hanging out…it was like being in college again. It was a pretty low-key weekend, and much needed for all of us, I’m sure. Sometimes it’s just fun to get away and reeeelax. We probably all spent more time at the hotel talking and catching up than we did “going out”. It’s crazy that the next time I see Cathy, she’ll be getting married!

Frank went to Rapid City, SD to visit one of our friends since I ditched him for the weekend. He did some mountain biking, drove past Mount Rushmore, and then yesterday morning he went to something called Buffalo Roundup – where cowboys move over 1000 buffalo for vaccinations, it’s basically a big stampede.

This weekend we have NO PLANS. Woohoo! It doesn’t seem like those weekends are coming very often anymore. We will probably stick around here and work on the house. I have an idea for the fireplace that involves painting and stencils...and depending on how motivated I am this weekend, I may try and tackle that thing. I also really want to finish the half bath. Now that it’s cooling off, we really need to start working on the house again, seriously! We thought it would be easier to wait until the fall to start working on it again, but I’m beginning to doubt that with holidays coming up, and football season, and all. There’s always an excuse! We just need to commit!

I’ll be posting about the rest of our trip to Costa Rica & Panama soon. I really want to upload a photo album, but for some reason my computer is not cooperating with me! I’ll work on that tonight…maybe.

Proud of Frank

He's been doing crossfit workouts off and on for about 2 years, but these past couple months, he's really kicked it up a notch...and looking good! I'm super proud of him for kicking butt and reaching some of his goals. Here are a few photos of him from our trip:

Check out those muscles!

I'm happy that he's happy :)

Speaking of crossfit- I was in my first crossfit competition yesterday! It was called Fight Gone Bad and is more of a fundraiser for a few military non-profit organizations. I'm definitely a little sore today, but it was fun!

Happenings

So it’s been nearly a month since I’ve updated and I’ve pretty much accepted that’s the way it’s going to be. It’s been busy as usual since Frank got back from Ukraine. Our house is a mess because we’re constantly coming or going…and the laundry piles just keep getting bigger! Luckily Frank is home today (he’s off on Mondays) and apparently he’s already done 4 loads of laundry-woohoo!

I’ve started working out with Frank at the Crossfit gym he’s been going to the past year or two. This is the first time I’ve worked out regularly…hmm…pretty much since high school. Yeah, it’s been a while! I’ve done a little here and there but it’s been more like running, Pilates, etc…nothing this intense. So far it hasn’t been too bad- but I’m still in the “elements” phase which lasts about a month. The workouts are shorter and easier than what everyone else is doing. I know I should enjoy it while I can, because they are going to get a lot harder as time goes by!

This past weekend I went to Gulf Shores, AL with some friends for a girls weekend. It was so nice to get out of Montgomery for a few days and relax on the beach and eat some yummy seafood! We had a great time :). I forgot my camera so this is the only photo I took (with my phone)...hopefully I'll have more to add later once the other girls get theirs uploaded.

Frank and I have been talking about going to Costa Rica ever since it fell through for our honeymoon last year…so guess what? We’re going for our first anniversary! I booked my ticket last week and we’ll be in Costa Rica from Sept 3-10^th. It’s sort of a birthday/anniversary present to ourselves since we didn’t buy each other gifts…we’re bad about that stuff. Instead of gifts we’ll be making memories together in Central America!

At first I was thinking about doing the west side of Costa Rica, there are a lot of beaches and it seems like the place that most people go. But after some research, I have decided we are going to probably spend most of the time in the southeast side (the Caribbean side). It’s less touristy, better weather this time of year, lots of natural beauty. I found all these little bungalow’s in the rainforest close to the beaches (http://tierradesuenoslodge.com/). So far the plan is to start the trip off in Puerto Viejo, explore the rainforest, and maybe take a 2 day trip to Panama and go to Bocas Del Toro (some islands off the coast of Panama that look awesome). Before we leave I also want to raft the Pacuare River, I read that it is one of the top 10 rivers according to National Geographic….I’m super stoked!!

This weekend I’m heading to Wichita Falls for my dear friend Cathy’s wedding shower. So excited to see her and also be able to celebrate her birthday with her this year :)

25 and 26

This week we celebrated my 25th birthday and my parents 26th wedding anniversary. I think it's pretty neat that I was born the day before their 1st wedding anniversary! The parents & brother drove in from Texas a week ago and have been keeping me company, they are also calling this their "break from the heat" vacation. Although- I still think it's hot here! It worked out perfectly, we had a little bit of a cool front roll through, and for a few days it was in the 80's with rain showers off and on all day. They loved it!

For all you iPhone users out there who love music. Download the Spotify app immediately! It was just released in the U.S. You basically get access to all the music you can think of (think iTunes) and you can stream it for FREE to your computer, make playlists, and then sync to your iPhone. Ta-da! OOORRR- if you want you can pay $5 a month and bypass using your computer and just stream directly from your iPhone. How awesome is that? I will probably buy the subscription.

And also- here's an article about Frank flying SU-37's in the Ukraine here. He's enjoying himself over there for sure...

Sad that my parents went home today :(...but I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Here are a few photo's from the last week or so:

2 dozen roses from Frank for my birthday

The current state of the jungle behind our pool. Basically all the ground you can see in this photo was covered about 12 ft. high with weeds and brush before my dad tackled it. The pile of weeds and old bushes/branches was HUGE when he was done. We still have a few dead tree stumps to remove. Look at our banana trees on the right! We have about 10 of them! They grow soooo fast- you can literally watch them grow, I am not kidding.

FDR's house in Georgia. This is actually where he died when he was President.

Callaway Gardens

Parents

Butterfly at the Callaway Gardens Butterfly Conservatory in Georgia

Annnnddd...another one

 

 

 

 

 

TGIF

I gave myself this evening to do things I keep putting off. One of those things is choosing photo's for a wedding album. I narrowed down our 2500+ photos to a little under 300. I figure that's a start! I am now uploading them online and it says I have 10 hours remaining! Guess my computer will be running all night! Another thing I worked on was making these super cute (if I do say so myself...) headbands for our baby niece:

Frank flew to Vermont today and will be doing some training there over the weekend. I'm not too envious that he's out of town because the high in Montgomery this weekend is close to 80 degrees...while in Vermont it will be in the low 40's. It does kind of make me sad that he had to leave for about 4 days so soon after coming home from Korea, but I know he'll be back before I know it.

This weekend I want to finish caulking baseboards in the entire house, and paint the laundry room. That's the minimum I want to get done! If I get really ambitious I want to try and figure out what's wrong with our pool pump. A couple of days ago the PSI went down to about half of what it normally is, and we can't figure out what's causing the low pressure. We've checked for leaks, clogged pipes/pump...nothing. We're kind of stumped. It might be time to call the professionals! I also might try and treat our lawn (or lack of it) with weed killer/fertilizer. That would be a first for me, so we'll see how it goes!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend :)

Bob

I had the opportunity to talk to a sweet older gentleman named Bob the past two days. He’s 79, going on 80 in October…and just called me at work to ask a simple question about his voltage regulator on his plane (he still flys!). Let me tell you, this guy LOVES to talk. At first I was slightly annoyed…I won’t lie. I’m at work and have things to do and here is this guy telling me his life story. He kept me on the phone for 30 minutes yesterday!

I got the info he was looking for late in the day yesterday, and I was kind of putting off calling him back this morning because I knew that this would not be a short call. But today I had a change of heart for good ol’ Bob. He is seriously one of the happiest, friendliest people I’ve ever talked to in my life. He was so genuinely happy and optimistic when talking about his family and life that I thought to myself “I really hope I feel as fulfilled and satisfied with my life as Bob does when I’m 79”. It makes you feel good when you talk to people that are so happy to be alive and don’t take anything for granted. Bob really gave my day a good little boost :). If I had to choose between a cup of coffee to start my day, or a conversation with Bob…I’d probably choose Bob.

I think God puts people in your life for just a short while to help you put things into perspective and nudge you in the right direction. Sometimes it’s a conversation with someone sitting next to you on the plane, sometimes it’s the rep on the customer service line. Everyone we come in contact with has a purpose – God knows what he is doing. Sometimes I forget that we are also messengers for God when we are talking to strangers. Maybe we will affect them in some positive way, just like some strangers have that affect us :)