We're back

Well, it's been a while. You'll notice there are no pictures in this post. That is because I left the camera & cable in the car and I am too lazy to go get it, and it is too cold. So you'll see pictures later. Here's an update of what we have been doing the past couple weeks. Chad worked 48 hours Monday and Tuesday of last week, and Wednesday we went on a 16 mile backpacking trip in the Juniper Mesa Wilderness. The weather was perfect during the day--sunny and in the 30s. You may think this is cold weather, but it was actually nice when we were huffing and puffing and the sun was shining on us. The really cold part was when we camped on top of the mesa at night and it got down to 11 degrees. The water in our Nalgene bottles was freezing as the wind was blowing. We snuggled in our warm sleeping bags in our tent, and I wore the new down jacket Chad got me for Christmas. Then, it was too hot. Hard to strike a happy medium! But, better to be warm and be able to get cooler than not to be able to warm up at all. The backpacking trip was fun except for the blister I got on each foot...the one on my right foot was actually on the bottom of my heel. I didn't even know you could get blisters on the bottom of your heel. Well, if you haven't gotten one of those, you haven't lived.

We got back from our trip and spent a restful few days at home. Chad worked Christmas Eve and came home Christmas morning. I had made breakfast, so we ate and then opened presents. Chad got a ton of DVDs and CDs and some gear, and I got a brand new sewing machine, dishes, CDs, cookware, and the jacket I mentioned earlier. We lounged around Christmas Day and took all our boxes & wrapping to the recycling bin (I couldn't believe how many boxes just the two of us accumulated for Christmas alone), and got ready for our next trip. The 26th we drove to Vegas to spend a couple days with Emily, Joey, Riley and Josey. It was a lot of fun to hang out with them, and our nieces are just adorable. Then Thursday we drove to San Diego to see the Aggies play in the Holiday Bowl, and we won't talk about that game. It was fun anyway, and we got to see the Aggie band play twice. As usual, the Aggies won at halftime even though we didn't win the game. Being there made me excited to go to even more A&M games when we get back to Texas.

And so now, I am in my classroom, planning what I will teach my students over the next 20 weeks. Looking at a new year is always exciting, especially this year for us and all the unknowns it holds right now. In the next few months we will know where we are moving, what our jobs will be, etc. Sometimes the thought of moving and getting new jobs is scary and daunting, but these next few months for me I think will be very exciting. Keep us in your prayers as we look at making some pretty big decisions...and look for pictures in the next few days.