August Events

Hi all! I had a few moments to spare, so I thought I'd tell you all what's going on around here!

I'm continuing to adjust to apartment life. It's kind of like being in a dorm, but you're not surrounded by a bunch of impulsive young people who party all the time. Our complex is working well for us, but our only beef is the fact that there is a disproportionate amount of reserved parking (which we don't have) compared to unreserved parking. It's annoying, but if that's our worst problem, I think we're doing alright.

Last time I mentioned how homesick I was, so Thomas decided that we needed to do something to fix that. We had a free weekend in the middle of August, so we were able to sneak home to surprise everyone! Well, almost everyone...Scotty was in on everything, as we didn't want to drive all 4.5 hours to get there just to find out that everyone was out of town...or worse yet, on their way to Dallas to surprise us! Scotty had a great time getting to be a part of this surprise. He was our eyes and ears there, and he organized a "back to school" cookout. (We have cookouts like this all the time, so no one really thought anything of it.) To add to the surprise, he feigned a medical call (he responds to those all the time as a volunteer EMT) and sped off to come pick us up from down the road. He came back to dad's shed but made us wait outside. He started off on a speech, which was when everyone thought something was up. When it became too painful for us to listen to anymore, Thomas and I rushed in and the surprise was up! Everyone was happy to see us! The boys rushed us with hugs, as did my parents. Gina and Emily were mad that Scotty knew the whole time, but were happy nonetheless. We had a great evening catching up. They always say that when you leave home and come back, it's never as good as it used to be. Whoever said that was wrong, because it felt like we'd never left in the first place. Everything felt just like it always did. Sleeping in my old bed, eating breakfast, talking to my mom whilst laying on the couch, going to Enid for groceries, going to church, everything. I was worried that it'd make my homesickness worse, but thankfully it really did help. While in OK, we were also able to pick up our wedding pictures from our photographer and have an impromptu birthday celebration for Gina! Good times abounded!

Side note: Andy (whose birthday was 2 weeks after the wedding) was happy to hear that we wouldn't be in OK for Gina or Cody's birthdays either. In his words, "If I can't have you here for my birthday, then I don't want you here for my mom's or Cody's birthdays!" Nine-year-olds are known for their saltiness, right? (I thought it was kind of funny, myself!)

All the boys (and I mean ALL the boys) are in school now. Cody is in 7th grade (at the big junior high), Wyatt is in 6th, Kyle is in 5th (and starting band/football...he's a french horn player!), Andy is in 3rd, Cole is in Kindergarten, and Jakub has started a 3-year-old program at Fairmont. It's the end of an era for the time for our family. There are no more "little" kids who aren't in school. It seems oddly surreal, as it never felt like we'd be at this point as a family, but here we are.

At long last, I've started my new venture of tutoring. Really, it's more accurate to say that I am privately teaching. I have two students, a freshman and a junior, both sisters, who are homeschooled. I've been hired to teach them math this year, and I'm happy to report that I LOVE it. It's teaching the way it's supposed to be! I'm at their house 3 mornings/week, and we go through their book (which is designed to be a self-guided book). It requires zero lesson planning, test writing, or homework planning. I'm not bogged down in grading, I'm not stressed about classroom management, I don't feel like I have administrators breathing down my neck criticizing my every move. I don't have extra duties to do that I don't get paid for (looking at you, gate duty...), I know exactly where my students are learning-wise. I know exactly what they're struggling with. I don't have to worry about using outdated materials that don't cover their curriculum because there's no money to get what we need. It's all the fun of teaching without having to deal with all of the "bad stuff". I'm in heaven! I may not get rich from this, but the fact that I'm ridiculously happy doing this makes up for it. (Thomas appreciates me not being so stressed, also!) Now, I'm working at expanding to other families, which will just take some time.

The great eclipse came and went without much circumstance in Dallas. We were quite a ways from the path of totality, which WON'T be the case in a few years! I stepped outside to see the little moons reflecting through the leaves of trees. It was slightly cooler and the sky was oddly dimmer than usual, but that was about it. No fancy glasses here...I guess I should buy some now to beat the rush for next time!

Speaking of happenings in Dallas, we've managed to stay pretty busy these days. I've gotten involved with the women's group at our church, which has been good for me. We do a book/Bible study weekly, and I've had the opportunity to lead once, as I will again in a few weeks. I also found another friend via a Facebook group that I recently joined. She's a newlywed who just moved to Dallas, so we have quite a bit in common. We've gone on quite a few adventures already, and she's a great light to me! Last week, Thomas and I decided to join the young adults group for their weekly social. We were able to meet a few more people, and it was nice to have a reason to get out of the house to socialize some more! Slowly, but surely, we're making some connections down here!

We've also stayed busy by seeing Elizabeth and McKenna (Thomas' sister and cousin, respectively) off to college. Elizabeth is returning to St. Louis for her second year of school for physical therapy. McKenna is starting at Samford in Alabama, where she'll study nursing. Both have reported having great first weeks, so I think they're in good shape. We're excited to see all that this year will bring for each of them. In a few weeks, Thomas' parents will be off to visit Elizabeth for the family weekend at SLU, which will leave us to stay over at their house periodically to keep an eye on their dog and let her out through the day. The following week, we have been commissioned by Ross and Juliette (Diana's brother and sister-in-law/Thomas' uncle and aunt/McKenna's parents) to stay at their house for the weekend with their two younger children (Michaela and William, a sophomore and 7th grader, respectively) and their dog. It'll be a busy time for us, but we're looking forward to it all, nonetheless!

When Steve and Elizabeth headed up to STL for move-in weekend, Diana stayed behind, so Thomas and I decided to have her over for dinner. Somehow, she was our first dinner guest since we've gotten married. I loved it, because I love planning dinners and being a hostess. I also showcased our instant pot to her, and I think she's officially sold! We had a great evening full of good food, good conversation, and good memories! We're excited to have more and more of the family over through time!

As a continuation of my name change saga, I recently received a nasty-gram from my OK cell phone carrier, telling me that I had 2 weeks to change carriers before they dropped me. It was on our list of things to do, but it just hadn't happened yet. This was slightly annoying, as it was different from what I'd been previously told before the wedding, but so goes life I guess. This meant that I had to change cell phones for the first time in almost 3 years. Steve offered to add us to their family plan, as he is an AT&T employee who gets a discount on his cellular services, which was a nice bonus for us. I decided to take the plunge after all these years and join team iPhone. Honestly, it's a phone like every other one, but in some ways, it makes things a little simpler, especially since basically everyone in Thomas' family has one. In other news, I (finally) received my TX license, so I can continue with changing car registrations for myself and for Thomas. There's still a bit to do, but it's starting to diminish in importance, so that's nice.

In sad news, I found out that another of my high school classmates has passed away. He and I weren't terribly close, but we had gone to school together from kindergarten through 12th grade, so that has to count for something. It was very sudden and tragic, and yet another (tough) reminder that tomorrow is promised to no one. Very sad news along with all of the news coming from Houston with the hurricane. I'm happy to report that none of our friends or family who live in Houston incurred any damage.

In the wake of the hurricane, we felt an unnecessary effect up here in Dallas, as the media hyped a "gas shortage". It all started with the shutdown of one of the Houston oil refineries. This was going to slow down the rate at which gas supplies would be replenished, but we were in no way going to run out. Needless to say, local news stations blew that out of proportion, which led to the perfect storm. We had (literally) millions of people flocking to gas stations to fill up when very few actually NEEDED to, it was right before Labor Day weekend (so everyone was already needing to gas up to go out of town), and people were unnecessarily hoarding gas. People went and bought up red gas cans and were filling them up left and right. Before we knew it, we had a full-on madhouse everywhere in the DFW metroplex. People were in lines of cars 10-15 deep to get to gas pumps. Stations were depleted of fuel within hours, prices soared, and tensions were high. Traffic on surface streets was an absolute nightmare.

In the midst of FuelMageddon2k17 (as I affectionately called it), we were given (amazing) tickets to a Texas Rangers game and we were also planning on joining Thomas' family at their weekend place for their family get-together. We were slightly unsure if it was a wise decision to do either because of the apparent lack of fuel. We didn't want to buy in to the hype, but we also wanted to be smart about everything. As it turned out, we had nothing to worry about. I was able to fill up Thomas' car so we could take it to the Rangers game. Our seats were right above the third base line!

It was the longest 9-inning game the Rangers have ever played, taking about 4.5 hours, but we emerged victorious! What a great evening we had at the ballpark!

After having a late Friday, we had a fairly early Saturday, full of preparations to head out to Quitman. After what felt like a ridiculous amount of time, we were finally on the road! We were joined for the weekend by Diana's cousin and his twin sons. Throughout the weekend, Steve's sister Jean came out for Sunday lunch. Ross, Juliette, Michaela, and William also came over on Sunday. They stayed through Monday. For our big Sunday dinner, Steve smoked a brisket, and we had tons of food to accompany it. It was a regular feast! It felt just like the Hladik gatherings I know and love (and miss). I commented to Steve at one point that being there amid the craziness of having 12 people in the house (including 2 eight-year-olds) made me feel just a little less homesick. Having smoked meat helped too, since the Hladik men/in-laws are masters of meat smoking. Throughout Sunday afternoon, we had lots of good conversation, a lively game of Spades among myself, Ross, Michaela, and Diana, and a quick entrance into dove season by Steve and Thomas. 

Everyone would probably be mad, but here's a shot of everyone (minus me, Steve, and Thomas)

relaxing in the family room at Quitman. 

Thomas with his dove.

Like they say, a great time was had by all. Thomas and I reluctantly bid everyone adieu on Sunday night, as I had to work on Labor Day. (I know, the horror.) The family was gone last Monday, so it didn't make sense to take off two Mondays in a row, especially since I'm only there 3 days per week. And I only taught until noon, so it's not that big of a deal. 

After getting off yesterday, I came home to Thomas (something that never happens!), and we had a relaxing day together. We ended up going out and about, procuring many of the items we discovered that we didn't receive at the wedding or that we neglected to register for. It turns out that we lucked into quite a few Labor Day sales! Our crowning achievement for the day was going to Dillard's and getting an amazing deal on some table linens (cloth napkins, place mats, and a table runner). We saved almost $200 on our purchases there! I was so proud of us! We ended the day by talking to my parents, who we'll see this weekend. We'll be making another trip to OK to celebrate the long-awaited wedding of one of our good family friends, the Reinerts. I'm beyond excited for their wedding, especially the reception, where I'm anticipating seeing lots of old friends! It should be a great time! More so, we're excited to attend a wedding where we can just focus on having fun! 

Until next time, enjoy! I'll hopefully get some wedding pictures posted soon, as I think most everyone in the family/wedding party has seen them already. Have a great day!