A trip to the pool with the family....

Before Anna learned the proper way to drive....

June

The month of June seems to have slipped by - the days slowly, the weekends faster, the month in a flash. It is crazy to think that we are pretty much halfway done with our internship here.


Here is what we loved in June:

* Being surprised by everything when we got here - the unpredictable weather (a hailstorm of golf ball sized hail), how decent our apartment is, how much we love the lake.

*Cigarz pizza. With a Z. Don't let the Z throw you. We were pleasantly surprised with how awesome their pizza is. They only do takeout/delivery. Good thing we only live around the corner from them.

*Bluebell ice cream. We've only purchased this in pint containers because we like ice cream too much (plus the word 'diet' is now in our vocabulary).

* The activities David's work does. Sand volleyball games every week at this outdoor grill with a great view of downtown. Going to the horse races = hilarious. We've both never been and it was  fun experience. The go-kart place had some fun rides - David's favorite was the dragster ride. 

* The Rangers game! Seriously, it is something every week with David's company.

 

Dollar hot dog night? Yes, please....

* The Fort Worth zoo! Seriously, it was really awesome. They have really good habitats for their animals (which they have tons of!), we were quite impressed. It is really walk-able...they put up canopies and have lots of shade to keep you cool, plus some fans blowing mist that sort of cools you down for a second.

*Trying to make our apartment feel like a home, i.e. the case for purchasing a couch for 3 months.

*Mother's group when you don't have a child. Oh yes. You definitely are the one having the most relaxing time.

*The Walking Dead. This is what David loved. Me? Not so much. I loved the story but not how much I jump in surprise/anticipation. David laughs every time.

Pretty much we are loving Dallas. 

White Rock Lake

We've decided that this lake is probably our most favorite thing about living here. Yes, David loves his job and the people there. But, outside of that, this lake makes us LOVE where we live.

We've settled into a basic routine where we go walk/run around the lake each night after dinner. We wait for it to get a little bit cooler outside and it doesn't get dark until about 8:30ish, so we usually end up seeing the start of sunset each night.

 This is the view from the causeway.

 

Our attempt at taking our own picture. A lot harder with a big camera than I thought.

This is right by a great playground they have on the west side.

 They have really done an amazing job with how good the areas/paths around the lake are. 

Like this little balcony area.

 Some of the houses around the edge of the lake are MASSIVE and have tons of land too. 

This one is called Mount Vernon.

 We just thought this was hilarious. 

 The marina.

 David's favorite part of the lake - the bridge on the north side.

 Views from the bridge.

 This is the small bridge on the southeast side. Still pretty.

 \

There are always lots of people walking/jogging/pushing strollers/biking. We have even seen people rollerblading and skateboarding. One night there was a wedding. And lots of people fish. We never saw anyone catch anything until 2 nights ago. Then it was a huge bass.

We didn't take a picture of the boathouse - but they have rowing camps out practicing each morning. Lots of sailboats are usually out on days when it isn't storming. AND they have kayaking and paddle boards -- which I'm going to do one of these mornings if I ever can remember.

White Rock is like 9.33 miles total around the whole thing. It's been fantastic for us because we just do a small section of it each night and that way it takes us a week to do the whole thing. Plus the views are different when you turn around and walk back.

Pretty much, we love white rock.

Dallas Apartment

After much insisting, (ahem, L) here is where we live! It is way, way better than we expected. 

We really were prepared for the worst. And we almost couldn't believe what we got ourselves into when we turned off the freeway into the most ghetto area. Seriously. Panic and fear and anxiety were on the rise. Then we kept driving and it turns out, we're okay. 

Our complex has a gate which is actually closed most of the time (and a minimum income requirement) and it is right on the corner of a couple nice areas. So we like to think we are pretty blessed over here in our little corner of the world. 

Okay. Enough of me blabbering. Here you go!

Believe it or not, this little door (not even a normal-size) is what constitutes as our "hallway"

Our lovely bed room.

Yes, our bed is a souped-up air mattress. And our 'nightstand' is a suitcase.

We pride ourselves on being pretty resourceful around here :)

 

Please ignore the sock on the floor. We didn't have a bin for them yet.

This is one of 2 closets and believe it or not, it is the smaller of the 2.

My favorite part of the apartment! Our last shower curtain was so boring and old. 

I love all the colors in this one!

Laundry

Kitchen/Laundry from the back wall by the door.

Dining room

 Those green chairs are pretty awesome, huh? I'm still trying to think of a way we can bring them home.

Also trying to figure out a way to get thus couch home. Except I really don't think it will happen.

But it is really nice to have something real to sit down on.

The view out our front door.

BUT, if you want to see some amazing views you should see the lake 2 blocks away from our house. It's got a great trail all around that is becoming a great morning tradition. 

Our trip.

Here's basically how our trip went. (Wyoming is not shown, unfortunately. I think I was taking a nap...)

Utah

 

Fort Collins to see XiaoXiao and Hai

Last night.

We leave for Dallas tomorrow, bright and early. It is kind of exciting and kind of scary thinking about this.

This is a new chapter in our life - no more school. no more living in Provo. moving on to real life with a real job. possibly no more working for me (my chances of finding a job for 3 months with no weekends are quite slim.)

We've both never moved to a place where we would really be on our own. I don't think we have ever taken a trip just the two of us. We have always been with family and friends.

Although I am dreading the long drive, come Wednesday I will be very excited for this new phase of life.

We have LOVED being with family these past couple weeks. Like when the boys were giggling like 6 year olds over funny youtube videos and crying from laughing at home videos. It will be weird to not be so close anymore.

But life goes on. And it is exciting. :)

My biggest fear

I am finished a book at work today about a woman who is diagnosed with cancer and how her family (specifically, her husband and sister) deal with it.

I get sucked into books like any bookworm, living and breathing the stories like they were my own. This is probably why this book is making me cry every paragraph. I'm sitting there at work and I'm having to put the book aside every time I read a few paragraphs because I seriously was about lose it. I was definitely caught wiping a few tears away. (It's tricky answering the phone when you're choked up.)

Why is this book such a tear-jerker for me, you ask? Because it is basically my biggest worst fear that everything in this book will happen to our family (me).

I'm terrified that David will die before I'm ever ready (are we really ever ready?) and that I won't be able to handle missing him. I know that our family can be together forever, but every time we discuss stuff like this (oddly enough, we were talking about it a couple nights ago), I cry. Like a baby. There is no helping it. It just is like opening a dam and letting a waterfall down.

Cheesy, yes, but true. via

This darn book. I'm such a weeper. (Also, I almost cried watching the guy who won American Idol last night cry because he'd won. And I hadn't watched any of this season at all.)

I told you mine, you tell me yours: what is your biggest fear?