Spring time

Phil and I have been staying pretty busy this past week. I started my new job last Monday and it's definitely going to take some getting used to. They warned me that I will probably never have a 40-hour week (I'll always be working more), and last week proved right on. I am really learning a lot and thus far, I have enjoyed taking everything in. My typical schedule has me working the floor on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 4p-12a. During that time, I'm helping the clients with showers, preparing for bed, making dinner and completing evening activities/goals. Between 8-9pm, the clients go to bed, so for the last few hours of my shift, I am finishing laundry, cleaning up, documenting and preparing for the upcoming days. Wednesday-Friday, I have office hours from 9a-5pm (yes, I have my own office)! During that time, I'm filing, charting, taking care of staffing issues, discussing things with other home leaders and people at the main office, and just attending to the needs of the house. The staff at the house have been fantastic at helping me, so I am so blessed to have such a great team to work with.

To make things a bit more overwhelming, after finishing an exhausting week, Relay for Life was Friday night. I was the Food and Hospitality Chair person, so after I got home on Friday afternoon, I had about an hour to re-group and then headed to the big event. It started at 7pm on Friday night and ended at 7am Saturday morning. I am pleased to announce that at the age of 25, I have finally completed my first 24-hours of staying up! Thankfully, I was a good college student and never had the desire to pull an all-nighter, so needless to say, staying up for so long was a shock to my system. But, I made it through and it was such an amazing night for a great cause. If your towns have not had the Relay for Life yet, you need to get invovled (either get a team together or donate).

Phil's job continues to be full of new adventures. They have finally narrowed the list of applicants for the agent position, so in two weeks, they will conduct face-to-face interviews with the candidates. So, hopefully, they will be full-staffed in about 2 months.

We've finally been able to get out to a baseball game. Saturday night, we went with a couple of friend's to the Midland Rockhounds game. It was great being outside with good weather and fun friends (and delicious adult beverages)! More games are definitely in the calendar, as well as seeing our new professional soccer team in action.

Next week will be pictures of our trip to Austin, as well as my triathlon... keep posted!

Catching up

So much has happened since I last wrote, so I'll try to keep things short and sweet, but make sure I don't leave out any details :)

As for the last blog, I'm sure all of you know now that it was our April Fool's joke! One day, I put in the wrong address for our blog site and I went to another Katie and Philip's blog, and wouldn't you know, they were blogging on their pregnancy! After a moment of confusion, Phil and I came up with the grand idea to put an ultraound picture on our site for some giggles. So, sorry, but we are not pregnant (and don't plan on being for some time).

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened. I have started training at my new job and so far, I'm really liking it. I feel like a deer caught in headlights, and I have a feeling that I'm going to feel that way for a couple of months. But, I love the clients in the house and I'm slowly meeting the other staff. It will be a shock to my system to change my hours (Monday and Tuesdays, I'll work 4p-12a, then Wed/Thurs/Fri, I'll have office hours from 9a-5p). The people training me have been angels sent by God and I'm so blessed with the amount of patience and wisdom that they are giving me.

Other exciting news is that I got to go to Colorado Springs for a few days last week. It was a much, much needed break from Texas and it was so good for my heart to see a lot of friends and family. The only thing that I requested of my parents was that they have snow for my enjoyment-- wish granted. I flew in on Wednesday to a snow storm and left Sunday after a storm had come through Saturday afternoon. Oh glorious! But, I took it without complaining! The main reason that I went home was to participate in the World's Largest Scrap-a-thon in Denver! It was my third year attending and like the other years, it was fantastic! There were about 2000 participants and we spent 11 hours chatting, scrapping, laughing and having a great time. (The picture shows just part of our table of creativity-- I didn't get a really good picture of the whole table, but this is just the mess from three of us). In addition to that wonderful day, I spent time with some of my old co-workers, visiting some programs that I helped with, eating yummy food (here's Sarah, Cquava and I at The Loop-- if you live in the Springs and haven't gone there, it is a must!) and just relaxing. It was only a few short days, but I am going back for my brother's graduation in a few weeks, so I guess I couldn't cram everything into just one trip!

Back in Midland, things are moving along just fine. Last night, Phil and I had one of the greatest moments thus far, as God provided us with rain, hail and even a lightening storm! We put on our sweatshirts and stood outside watching the beauty of it all. (Picture is from our patio, looking into our 'backyard.')

We also have been wrapped up with great hockey watching experience. Last night was great, not only with the storm, but we got to see an amazing NCAA championship game on ESPN. Oh, happy moments :)

In other non-exciting news, we've spent the past week clearing up some messes, finishing our taxes (yippee-- good job Philip!) and doing some Spring cleaning. I guess this is one of the few times that I appreciate having a small apartment-- not a lot of clean-up!

Hope everyone has a great Easter! We are heading to some friend's house to enjoy lunch with them, and a few other people. Then, back here to eat some candies and relax before my first day at my new job tomorrow!