we went camping!

Here's why I haven't been blogging: 3, (now actually 3 + 1 consulting) jobs + husband with 2 jobs + trying to pack for our apartment move + housesitting/dogsitting/babysitting for 3 different people....whew! We are tired. Robert's been a champ, working really hard at both jobs until he goes back to school.

Since things have been so crazy, we decided to take one night and go camping this past week.

Rufus enjoying the creek with RobertAt the top of the mountain for the first time

I took my first iPhone video....here's us on the way up the mountain the first time.

You might have noticed I said "first" which is funny, because most people climb up a mountain, then climb back down. Well, somewhere along our hike, we must have taken a wrong turn and ended up hiking the whole 10 mile trail, which took us up the mountain twice. That would have been fine, except, thinking we'd be gone for an hour instead of 5, we only took one bottle of water for us and Rufus. We were so tired, hot, and thirsty by the time we found our way back. Next time, we'll learn some lessons like look at the map before hiking, get to the campsite before dark, and bring firewood.

The upside to this was that our tent and gear were awesome, and we'll probably head back this fall now that we know a little more about what we're doing.

And big, fun goal reached in our big debt payoff. We now have no car debt! We got the official letter from the credit union yesterday along with the title in our name. So exciting, and very encouraging on our journey to get rid of all our debt ASAP!

I'll put up pics of the new place when we get moved in and painted, but it probably won't be for a couple weeks til we're settled!

head this way for a giveaway

I'm doing a giveaway on my design blog: mudpiemagnolia. Right now there's only a few people entered, so your odds are excellent. You have until midnight on Sunday to enter. Also, I'd love for you to add mudpie magnolia to your frequently-read blogs, so subscribe away, and tell your friends to enter my contest. No fear, this blog will not be going away, we've just been super busy with our combined 5 jobs...or actually, I guess it's 6.
Pictures of our new place are hopefully forthcoming!

it's summah-time!

We've been all busy, and aren't really slowing down now that it's summer. So here's some updates!

Robert finished his first year of seminary! Hooray! Finals are all done, and there's no more school til August. We're already getting to see each other more.

The day Robert finished finals, we went to go look at a place to live this fall...and we decided to go for it. It's on the bottom floor of a 2.5 story house. The people that own the house go to Covenant, and are going to let us share a backyard, internet, a doggie door, and most importantly....a fire pit for s'mores. We're going to be moving at the end of July and be in a cheaper place without mold on the ceiling and pee in the hallway and WITH an awesome park and a cool family to share the house with us. So yay!

Also changing for us is our job situations. As I type, Robert is at training for Schlafly (a St Louis brewery), where he will be working in addition to Starbucks - at least for now. Also, I quit the Alpine Shop because next week I start nannying 2-3 days per week for a 5 month old little girl.

We're also planning on camping and going to Nashy for a wedding, so our summer will be busy, but a lot more fun than studying...and it's so wonderful and warm!

If you have a minute to pray for our friend Ruthie, please do so. She was in a car accident in high school, and the injuries from that accident are keeping her in chronic pain. She needs surgery to help correct some of this pain, but that surgery costs $100,000 that won't be covered by insurance. Some amazing people are throwing a benefit concert for her in Nashville this week, so if you're in town and want to go, it'll be awesome. Or just pray for her and that this concert will raise a lot of money for her.

And Ross and Lindsay are leaving for Italy on June 15th, and need to raise more money to really cover their support. Pray that they'll be able to raise this money quickly, and that it doesn't get in the way of their transition to Florence.

We'll check in soon!

look at our fun weekend!

Robert's in finals, bluh. But once he's done, we're going to actually see each other - hooray!

No huge updates, but here's a few pics from our fun weekend with Nate and Cassie. We knew we missed them lots, but having them visit for a couple days made us realize we REALLY miss them, and there's no way we can go this long without seeing them again. Lots of fun, lots of laughs.





You don't quite get the full effect of the Arch here, but it's big. I also have to include my favorite quote by Cassie ever..."Sometimes, chocolate is the only good thing in a day"
That's why I like her.

Now that the Taskers left, we're diving back into work for a week, then heading to Nashville for Kristin and James' wedding.

Til next time...

hop around

This was quite the week....we had our friend Brooke Waggoner visit us with her band because she was playing a show here. Robert actually got to see them, I got off work too late (boo). We had Rufus' first training lesson with the amazing Hillary. He's almost angelic now. We considered getting another puppy, and had to pass on it because of time and money, which was sad (I was crying during church, which Robert said was good because it made me look legit). I have been working on several photo sideshows for rehearsal dinners. We both have been talking about job transitions and will be feeling out what that would look like over the next few weeks, so we'd appreciate your prayers on those things. We went to a very yummy Easter lunch with Josh and Caylee. Whew, it was busy.
Robert gets off Starbucks in about an hour, so we finally get to go to the Y together. I'm not going to be taking him to my step and sculpt class yet because I don't think he's ready for it. That, and I look awkward dancing around on a step like it's the early 90s.
We're going to Nashville in 2 weeks for Anna-Ruth's wedding, and are definitely looking forward to it. And, since we'll be missing the Taskers yet againin Nashville, they have decided to drop by St. Louis en route to tour dates. We are SO stoked to see them, because last time we saw them was right before we drove off in our moving truck.

I'm off to scan more pictures, but here's Rufus (in the front) and Belle (my parents' dog) from when we were in Texas - exhausted from running around all day. They're pretty cute.

we went to texas: a pictoral adventure

Although you can't tell from my face in this picture Robert snapped, I was really stoked to be in Texas.











Danica came with us to Amy's Ice Cream, and we hung out with the cows for a while. This poor guy had lost his ear since the last time I saw him.











Robert had not eaten it off, though that's what he'd like you to think.












We got cupcakes from "Hey Cupcake" on South Congress. This is Kara, who is now as tall as me even though she's 11 years younger.

















Rufus knows how to swim now! He was a little nervous because he couldn't remember swimming with Aunt Grace when he was a baby, but once he got in there, he loved it.












I also got to see my friends Ashley and Bekah - BFFs since 10th grade.


I sort of stopped taking pictures halfway through the trip, but it also included seeing Lynn, Shelley, Christa and little Sada, Emily, Ceci and Tim, my family and Robert's family.

I'm also very proud of how well we did on gas money - we had allotted just the right amount (thank you eBay sales), and then ended up with some extra (thanks families!) and were able to put that towards our meals on the road.

We also had some money saved to do a little outlet shopping, and we both came away with some fabulous deals - for example...$300 jeans for $5. Yeah, we're amazing bargain hunters.

It was so nice to see our families and be in Texas. Also, on a side note, Mary Beth and I bought U2 tickets today. We will be seeing them in NYC in September. I decided this was the year - that even though it would cost a little bit to go see them, I would get to see MB and U2, and would just save up and enjoy it. So anyway, we have tickets to a sold out show. It's going to be crazy!

off to texas!

Well look at that - a month since my last post. Sorry, faithful readers.
I've been editing a lot and working - you know how it goes. However, the editing is slowing down for the moment, which is nice as far as having a break, but we will be missing the income. Boo. I'm currently looking for jobs, as I have been since we moved to STL. I might keep one of the three current jobs as a part time gig even if I find something else, but I've been praying hard about what God might be calling me to do. I hope it's not standing at a cash register - I've learned a lot of patience by doing that, but I don't want to do that long term.
I have met some super interesting people in the training that I do at the job I'm prohibited from mentioning explicitly on the web. Take a guess. Anyway, just in the past week, I met the first woman to dead lift 3 times her body weight - she holds all the weightlifting records. I also met someone who was involved in the Apollo 13 and Gemini missions as support staff. Then I helped another man who is in charge of much of the liturgical institute for the Catholic church. Some of these people are so super interesting, and I wish I could ask them all to a dinner party.
We're heading to Texas on Saturday - and taking Rufus with us. We're looking forward to seeing my family, and to seeing Mark and Connie's new place in Houston. We're obviously hitting up Amy's ice cream as much as our gift cards allow. Rufus has never made more than a 5 hour drive, so we're hoping he behaves himself. When we get back in town, he's getting personal training sessions - I guess it's his early birthday present. We hope it improves the inside (and outside, for that matter) rowdiness a little.
Yee-haw, see you when we return from Austin/Houston.