SNOW!!!!

Not just snow, lots of snow. It was a beautiful day and we took many opportunities to get out and enjoy it. Today we've seen tons of new things: kids sledding outside school, Dixie bounding through the mounds of snow, 5+ life-sized snowmen, our very own snow angels...We both got off work and school early enough to partake in a friendly snowball fight too! Here are some pictures from Dallas' official "snowiest" day ever...

Note from Katie

I just wanted to take a moment to write a quick note and thank everyone for all the birthday wishes, special thoughts, and sweet surprises over the past few days. It really makes my day, my week, my everything to know how much I am loved and how much I am able to love.

This past weekend we did our usual tour of Texas, part due to Chris' fly tying event and part due to birthday traditions :) He had a really good time doing what he loves and it gave me an opportunity to study my brains out! We always love spending time with family and this weekend was no different. Saturday night we had some great Mexican food with Chris' family and Sunday we had a wonderful home cooked meal in College Station (complete with strawberry cake and ice cream!). P.S. Thanks Mom for the flowers at church. We even had time to stop off in Waco to watch the first half of the Superbowl with Nanny and munch on some pizza rolls. Like I mentioned earlier, this weekend (well, actually everyday since January) I had to study, study, study for the 4 tests I have this week. Two of them were today and I've got good birthday news: I got a 102 and a 90!!! I hope this finds you having a fantastic February 8th as well.

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24

More of the usual...

We don't have anything really exciting to report on this week - Our lives continue to be consumed by work and studying, but we are working hard to make time for fun too. Katie's birthday is shaping up to be an eventful one: 3 tests and a dentist appointment. Woohoo! Please pray for her as the first round of tests are always difficult to judge. It is amazing how much knowledge is getting crammed into her head already though. Taking vital signs of anyone who enters our apartment is not out of the ordinary at this point. Chris has been traveling more lately, but will be staying home more in the weeks to come, so that is good.

This week we received our half-marathon pictures in the mail, so we wanted to show them off. Hope you enjoy them!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

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.