Surprises (Good and Bad!)

Well, we've had a few fun things happen in the last couple of weeks and a few not fun things happen...

First, I watched my car turn 100,000 miles, which I was probably a little too excited about. Yes, I really did stop and take a picture.  

Unfortunately, a few days later at about 100,300 miles my car decided to fail me... at a light, at a busy intersection, with 5:30 traffic.  Not good.

A couple of police officers, a tow truck, a few days, and $700 later, we were good to go again.  Thankfully, my parents had flown out of DFW to go to Philadelphia for the week and left their car in our care... what good timing they had to leave me with a spare car!

Before they left town, my parents treated Justin and I to something that I have been looking forward to since I heard about it in December...

WICKED!!!

While I was studying abroad, I had the opportunity to see lots of shows, and this one easily became my favorite. I LOVED getting to see Wicked again with some of the people who have been subjected to my enthusiasm for it the most.  If you haven't seen it, you must!

Please note how my dad and my husband are wearing the same outfit...

We also celebrated my good friend, Kellie's, birthday!!  Several of her friends and family members were able to make it out to dinner to surprise her, followed by cake, etc. at our place.  Kellie is one of my favorite people in the world and it was fun to celebrate with her!

This weekend Justin and I were excited to hear that my brother and sister-in-law were coming to town, along with my sweet baby nieces!  We grabbed our umbrellas and made plans to go to the Rangers game... Unfortunately, the weather had different plans for us.  Because rain delays took over the game, we ended up going to dinner with them instead, where Justin and I got to see the girls walk for the first time!  It is hard to believe how big they are getting.  They're starting to look more like little girls than babies! 

Around 9:30, there was finally reason to hope that the rain might let up and the Rangers might actually get to play, so Justin and Jason headed to the ballpark and Katie and I took the little ones. We were a little disappointed that our plans didn't pan out the way we had hoped, but it is always good to see Jason and Katie and the girls.  It doesn't happen nearly enough!

In the midst of all of this, I got to take midterms this week... those things sneak up on you in these short summer sessions!  School is going pretty well - that is, I haven't quit yet - and Justin and I are both still enjoying our jobs.  We have been very blessed in the last couple of months and have received plenty of reminders that God is in charge -  and more importantly, that that is a good thing!

Hope you all have a happy 4th of July weekend!

Sweet Saturday

Now, I know this may come as a great shock, but on Saturday I did NOT have a bicycle race to attend. Whatever did I do with myself?? I'm glad you asked. Here are some of MY hobbies from the weekend.... nothing as exciting as racing, but we can't all be crazies. Look what I did!

First, I decided to see just how many plants we can grow out on our balcony. We had flowers out there but the heat has long since shriveled all of those. This time I went for herbs...

Okay, I planted some flowers too... I have my doubts about them, but you never know what might happen!  Hopefully these pots will be much prettier in a few weeks.

I also decorated a little with the summer decor that Justin's mom sent!  She keeps us festive.  Thanks, Cindy!

Then, I made a pocket organizer for our closet door.  This is going to be very useful I believe.  It's hard to see the details in this picture, but trust me, it took some time.

I also made an earring holder...

I even worked on a scrapbook that has been on the to-do list for many months.  It's amazing what a girl can do with a couple of work-free, school-free, race-free days!  Maybe I'll see another one someday. :)

Race Days

I'm thinking about changing the title of my blog to "Justin's Race Results," or something equally fitting. I'll try to throw in some other tidbits about what's going on around here, but these races really do make up a large part of that precious free time outside of work and school.  Here are some highlights for you!

GS Tenzing Crit

Frisco, TX

These are from two separate races over Memorial Day weekend.  Here's Justin at the starting line. (Please note that I even got a smile out of him!)

See those clouds rolling in?  This was taken at the evening race... The guys started racing in the blazing sunshine and finished in cool rain and wind.

Here he is up front just before winning a prime.  Justin ended up third in both the morning and evening race.  That's been his magic number lately!

Texas State Championship Criterium

Fort Worth, TX 

The Texas Championship race was held on Memorial Day.  Because Justin had to work, he had no expectation of being able to race that afternoon.  In fact, I'm pretty sure he ate a brownie or two for breakfast. 

As it turned out, Justin's boss decided to let him off early so that he could represent Bicycles Plus at the race, which meant that about five minutes after hearing about this race for the very first time, I found myself in the car flying to Fort Worth.  You see, by that point we had less than an hour to get to Fort Worth before the race registration closed.  After a couple of setbacks, we made it to the race in the nick of time and Justin raced over to the starting line.  This meant, however, that he had to start in the very back amongst 60-70 cyclists.  Not where you want to be in a competitive race! 

Justin worked his way to the front, only to have a mechanical problem on his bike pull him out.  He quickly took care of it and was let back into the race.  He managed to work his way back up to the front a second time and ended up getting third in this race, too!

Bike the Bricks
McKinney, TX

Here is Justin with his buddy, Chad.  They both work at Bicycles Plus and frequently ride together.  These two took a trip to Austin for a race last week and had a great time!  They even stopped in Belton to have lunch with my mom... wish I could have gone with them! Here they are before the "Bike the Bricks" race Friday night. There were a LOT of cyclists at this race and Justin ended up 5th.

                                                          

Justin has continued to race in a weekly crit series and is having a great time!  He was recently moved up to the next division of racing and has quickly gained enough points to "cat up" again. One of the most exciting things that has happened recently was an offer from Bicycles Plus to sponsor him.  This means they are going to pay for all of his races (even the ones he has already finished!) and give him jerseys to represent them... not a bad deal!  The shop has been very good to Justin and we are very thankful for them.

If anyone feels like going to a race sometime, I have a feeling I'll be able to find one for you... just let me know!

Camping!

Last week, Justin and I took a couple of days off work and headed out to Cedar Hill State Park.We've talked about going camping since we got married almost 10 months ago and finally made it happen.  Unfortunately, our carefully created opportunity coincided with a week of severe thunderstorm forecasts.  After some debate, we decided to chance the rain, packed up the tent and headed out of town.  We are so glad we did!

As you can see, Beau got to come along. He LOVED it.

After we got the tent set up, we decided to go on a little hike...

And somehow managed to get ourselves quite lost!

About an hour and a half later, we stumbled upon this outhouse.  We took this as a sign that we were getting close to the campgrounds!  Next time I think we'll pay a little more attention to where we are. :)

We eventually made it back and set about making dinner.

We ended the evening watching the sun set by the lake, seeing the stars come out, and sitting around a campfire. Ahh.

And in case you were wondering, it did rain overnight - for maybe an hour.  Did I mention we're glad we didn't cancel because of the weather? 

TGIW

Now that I am out of school for a couple of weeks, Wednesday has become a new favorite day.  That is because in this house, weekends fall on Wednesdays. 

Wednesday is the only day of the week that Justin and I both have off.  This means that it is our day to spend some time together, and we have thoroughly enjoyed it these past two weeks.  When school starts up again on June 1st, we'll have to re-think this arrangement, but for these few weeks I am loving having a day off with my husband to go on walks, ride our bikes at the lake, or even just to run some errands.  Too few people have the opportunity for days like these!

For Christmas, my parents gave me and Justin a membership to the Dallas Arboretum.  We LOVE to visit.  If you are ever in town, please let us take you!  You will almost certainly love it (unless you go in December during a blizzard like my parents managed to do).  We are becoming regulars there, and it is so impressive to watch the gardens change from week to week!  We have never seen it look the same twice but it is always beautiful.

Two Wednesdays ago, it was the prettiest we have ever seen it.  It was a gorgeous day and Justin and I agreed that the flowers had never seemed so bright and beautiful.  Unfortunately, it was also the only time I  have visited the gardens without my camera! :(

When we went again this last Wednesday, I attempted to make up for this mistake.

 

I especially love the storybook theme garden they have right now!  It's pretty adorable.  It has a series of houses, many made out of flowers, illustrating popular children's books.

  

If you are ever in Dallas, you must come with us. It is one of the best escapes within the city! 

On another note, Justin and I would love your prayers regarding this next year.  I have one more year of grad school here before we are able to move too terribly far away, and we would love for Justin to find a teaching postition to fill that time (and more if we stay in Dallas post-graduation).  I know that God will use Justin wherever he is, be it teaching, working in the bicycle shop, or whatever else comes his way. We truly believe this and are content with God's plans for him.  Until that plan is made clear, however, we will continue to pray for teaching opportunities in the surrounding districts and would love it if you would too!

I am so thankful for the supportive family and friends that surround Justin and I.  We are deeply blessed!

Bicycles, Birthdays, and Babies

Here are some pictures from Justin's last few races.  As I have said before, he is doing so well!  Justin has been blessed with many gifts and has a very passionate spirit.  This means that I frequently have the pleasure of watching him succeed in doing what he loves!

I also included some pictures from Justin's birthday... We went to a Ranger's game and had a great time, despite the unexpectedly FREEZING cold weather.  It was a good day!

This weekend, Justin and I made a spur of the moment trip to see the siblings in Early, TX.  Justin works weekends so we aren't usually able to leave town. However, we somehow both ended up with a free Friday and took the opportunity to get out of the city!  Justin hadn't seen our little nieces since Christmas and neither of us had seen Geoff and Jamie's new home, so we were very thankful for the chance to see everyone.  It was a quick trip, but we had a great time full of fun and relaxing. I think little Beau enjoyed it just as much as we did.  He is an inside dog on the outside, but an outside dog on the inside - he LOVES being outdoors and took full advantage of the opportunity to run and play with the big dogs. I'm pretty sure we brought all of the burrs on the property home with us via Beau's fluffy fur coat!  We are so thankful for Geoff and Jamie's hospitality and for Jason and Katie driving down from Abilene with their little girls.  It was just the respite we needed!

On a final note, Justin and I are celebrating nine months of marriage today.  God gave me a tremendous blessing when he brought Justin Schofield into my life, and I am so grateful.  Justin is a dream husband and I love him more every day!  Thank you to all of you who have supported us along the way. : )