A Week of Accomplishments

What a week it has been for us! Although neither of us was as prepared as we should have been for the Houston Half Marathon, we did it and had a blast! We took a flight to Houston the day before (thanks Dad for taking care of Dixie), picked up our registration packets, and ate a carb-filled pre-race dinner with the family. The next morning we woke up extra early and headed to the race along with about 10,000 other people. Both of us were surprised by how exciting the whole experience was - It was a like an exhausting party for 13.1 miles. Seeing friends, family (thanks Aunt Linda), and the community showing their support made you fight to do your best. We both met our goals, so we are more than happy. Chris finished in about 2 hrs 11 min and Katie finished in 2 hrs 52 min, and we are motivated to improve our times next year as this appears to be a new family tradition to honor those we love together. We just received proofs for our pictures from the race, so as soon as we get them we will post them on here for you all to see. The last few miles were rough, with our legs cramping up so bad we could hardly move much less run, but what an amazing feeling to cross that finish line and realize what you accomplished! We are still recovering, but each day it gets a bit easier to move around. It was totally worth it!

In other news, we finished getting our bedroom put together, so we've posted a couple pictures. It really is nice to have a desk, drawers, and a working room for us again. Katie started nursing school this week, so needless to say we have a lot less free time. She has hit the ground running and we don't see it letting up until summer break. Please pray for peace and wisdom for her during these two years. The faculty have all been very supportive of her, and that has helped her confidence a lot. Chris has a couple work trips in the coming weeks, so he could use your prayers for safe travel. We are so blessed to have each other and to have each of you, our family and friends...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don't become weary and give up.
-Hebrews 12:1-3

Happy New Year 2010!

It's hard to believe that 2010 is already here, but we are excited to see what it brings. Our 2009 wrapped up on a positive note with a great Christmas celebration with our friends and family. This time we spent Christmas Eve at church with Katie's family and a late game night with Kori's family. We love our Llewellyn vs. Conaway Christmas game night tradition and only hope it will continue for years and years to come. Christmas morning we drove to Katy to spend midday with the extended Llewellyns and night with Chris' family. Chris is most proud about giving a great pair of Spiderman underwear and a big, blue Snuggie. The next day we celebrated with the Mullins family and a room full of games. Our holiday wrapped up the following day as we returned to Dallas to open presents with Katie's family. We are so thankful for all the wonderful gifts we received, but more so for the memories that our friends and family helped create.

We love visiting Houston, but unfortunately we had to return the very next weekend for a funeral. It is nice to have each other during these times to navigate the emotions and give support.

On a lighter note, we are currently training for the Houston half marathon (that is approaching much too quickly). We are also finally getting our bedroom together (almost 3 years later). Maybe once we finish we can post some pictures...Other than that, it's back to work and back to preparing for nursing school. An addition we are making to the blog for the new year is including a Bible verse that we have found helpful, applicable, or interesting for the time being. We hope it is a blessing to you too!

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."

-Romans 15:13

Six days until Christmas!

That being said, we will be shopping today as we still need to get something for about half of our list. The last week has been filled with Christmas cards, Christmas movies, and Christmas parties. There have been parties with our church, including a seated dinner in one of the most amazing houses we've been invited into, and a White Elephant gift exchange with our small group. There have been parties with our friends, including a time to bring gifts for an Angel Tree child. Finally, there have been parties with our family, including a Harrell family reunion of sorts. In the midst of all these events, we "finished" decorating our Christmas tree. It is sparse currently, but we know over the years we will add meaningful ornaments to fill it (and bigger trees) up. You can also see how difficult it is to get a real Christmas picture of our little family...haha! We love this time of year!

We also were able to spend Monday with Katie's Dad for his birthday. It was a great time and we are glad to be in Dallas for these moments.

All is well with Chris' work, but just slow around the holidays. Katie has been busy preparing for nursing school - buying books, uniforms, supplies...studying already...getting immunizations, and more. We were blessed for her to have been offered a student rep position at the bookstore, so the books and supplies were all half price (a HUGE savings). It is a bit strange to see stethoscopes and scrubs (not to sleep in this time) around the house. Here's to starting our next adventure!

One more thing: CONGRATS to Scott on his graduation!!!

Holiday Season

Sorry it has been so long since our last post! We have been wrapped up in the holiday season and transitions the past month or so...

The Thursday before Thanksgiving was Katie's last day of work, then we headed down to Houston. That weekend we had a wedding shower and wedding to attend (picture below), so needless to say we were busy. While in Houston we were able to catch up with old friends, spend good time with family, and get some much needed rest and relaxation. We celebrated Thanksgiving with all of our family, Thursday was spent in Houston and the next day in Waco. Since Katie had some time off, she spent a week in College Station cooking, cleaning, and decorating with the family, while it was back to work for Chris.

Last weekend, when we were both back in Dallas, Chris' Dad was in town for a soccer tournament. We were able to catch one (cold) game. Since then we've been finishing Christmas decorations and getting everything in order before Katie begins classes in January. This year we got our first Christmas tree (not finished decorating it though) so it feels a lot more festive this time around! We hope everyone is enjoying the season and staying warm.

Decisions

This is one of those weeks that (for the most part) we are glad is over. As we said in our last post, we had decided to choose TWU for nursing school. When the mail came on Monday, an acceptance letter from UTMB along with a $5k scholarship caused us to rethink our choice. It was an incredibly difficult decision, but we decided to stick with our initial choice and stay here in Dallas. The paperwork is in and the decision is FINAL! Save the date for Katie's graduation: December 2011.

In other news, Chris' shoulder has been officially diagnosed as a nuisance. Basically it's a sprain/strain that will take time (and Alieve) to heal. It did keep him from hunting last weekend, which was a disappointment. Since he was in town for Halloween, we were able to to spend some time with friends watching scary movies that give both of us nightmares. Sorry, no pumpkin carving picture to show this year...maybe next year!

The only picture we've got for this week is from one of Katie's girls' nights. Last week, the girls from our church class got together to pack shoe boxes to donate for Christmas in honor of the daughter of a former minister that passed in a tragic bus accident. It was a great time to get together and give back. She also went to a fall tea over the weekend at a Dallas park with another group of girlfriends. We really enjoy the friends that we have made here and are glad we get to spend more time with them.

Lions, Tigers, & Bears

Ok, well not lions and tigers, but yes bears. This past weekend we went to Waco to not only visit Katie's Nanny, but also to attend Baylor Homecoming festivities with her mom. It was Chris' first real taste of Baylor, so that was fun. You will see a picture below - Note the color shirt Chris wore and how descriptive the picture is of our personalities and relationship. We saw the parade, walked around campus, visited the bears, and ate some BBQ outside the game. It was a beautiful, fun day despite some strange setbacks - First, Chris showed off his skills by changing a tire after one on the car went from full to flat in less than a minute. Next, Chris being the scientist that he is, slipped and injured his shoulder while exploring a nearby creek. We're just glad the flat tire came before the creek...He's headed to the doctor this week, so we'll see what the diagnosis is soon (Katie's opinion doesn't count since she's not a nurse yet...haha).

On Sunday we entered a chili cookoff with our apartment community and had a great time cooking together. We started with Chris' mom's favorite chili and added our own twist: fresh jalapenos and diced jalapeno cheese pork sausage. Our "Bottom Burner Chili" did not win the actual contest, but it now has many fans. We're sure it will be a regular at our house from now on.

Life changes update: We have finally decided what our plans are for the year(s) to come. Pending Katie's acceptance letter to TWU (which is on its way), we will be staying where we are in Dallas for the next two years. After discovering that the UTMB program, despite its online courses, would require her to be in the Houston area basically 6 days a week, we decided we liked actually seeing each other :) We know this is what many of you have been praying for, and we're glad that we are finally at peace with such a big decision. Hopefully Chris' job will work out accordingly, so keep that in your prayers.

The Rollercoaster

Well just because we haven't posted in awhile doesn't mean that it has been a slow few weeks. It has been packed full of fun times, sad times, and information we have been waiting for.

Chris has been getting into duck hunting lately, so in addition to having duck decoys stacked in our living room, he was able to go with a friend on a quick hunting trip to Galveston a few weeks ago. He returned with no ducks, but since he never leaves home without a fishing pole, we now have fish to cook. That same weekend we visited PawPaw in Louisiana. Driving all weekend is a trend for us now, as you will see...

The next weekend Katie's Dad took us to the State Fair of Texas. We always love spending the day there together, and aside from a few brief showers, the weather was perfect. No fried butter for us, but we did have some fair staples: corn dog, sausage on a stick, pinapple soft serve. We were sure that by this time we would have bought our new vehicle, but no luck - We are still looking and were able to sit in a couple of our favorites at the Fair's car show. No pictures this year, but here's a picture from last year's trip.

In the job area, we were faced with an incredibly difficult decision, but have made it through. We are staying in Dallas, so it's nice to have some sense of stability. Katie was asked to interview with UTMB, so we are getting closer in that arena as well. Both schools should send out letters in the next few weeks...At this point, we don't even know which we prefer and it looks like we might have to be the ones to pick. There will be much prayerful consideration over the next few weeks.

Finally, Chris' Grandad passed away about a week ago. Although he had been growing more sick the past couple months, it still feels like it happened so quickly. We were blessed to have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together with him over the past few years, and we will miss him incredibly. It is always nice when we get to take a trip and visit family, but this one we would rather have not had to take. We love you Grandad!