Tornadoes and Hail...

Are the only things we haven't experienced this year.  Chris and I SLEPT through Hurricane Humberto, we drove through snow and ice the day after Christmas, and experienced extreme fog on Thursday.  It was crazy!  But other than the crazy weather extremes, Christmas itself was nuts.  

This pic was taken from the car

Chris and I, along with Baxter, left Christmas Eve afternoon for NWA.  We drove 10 hours and arrived at his parents house shortly before 11 p.m.  We attempted to drug Baxter with children's benadryl before we left.  Apparently, you are supposed to give 1 ml for every pound the dog weighs.  Baxter weighs 10.5 lbs, but we only gave him about 5 ml.  We did that because we didn't know how he would react and it was the first time we've ever attempted to drug him.  He literally slept for about 10 minutes of the 10 hour drive.  If we put the window up, he freaked out.  We passed a UPS truck and it backfired.  Baxter lost it.  He jumped in the front seat, clawed Chris, jumped over to me (I was driving), clawed me, and tried to get on my back.  It was the most horrible trip with him EVER! 

  

We got up Christmas morning, and had a little breakfast.  We (Chris, 

myself and Jim) went to pick up Chris' grandma around noon.  Jim drove us around Springdale and showed us everything that has changed. We got back to the house and watched The Christmas Story (my personal fave) and had lunch.  Around 2 or 3 we finally opened gifts.  Baxter was spoiled by Grammy and Grumpy (what we call Chris' parents) and found his favorite new toy.  He even got gourmet treats!                                                

                       

After we got done opening presents and such, a couple of friends

stopped by, Daniel and Heidi. We haven't seen them for quite a while, so it was nice to catch up. They're pregnant, so watch out for Daniel Jr. (they haven't picked a name yet).  Then we went to Yvette's and got to meet Ella (short for Isabella), her daughter.  She was so precious!  Chris just adored getting to hold her and feed her and burp her.  Can you say baby fever?  

The day after Christmas we did a little shopping, then went down to Ft. Smith to meet up with Jon and Emily.  We had a quick lunch before Emily had to go back to work.  Then we opened a couple of gifts and played a new game Jon got for Christmas.  I wasn't in the best of moods, but still had a good time.  We left there, drove through the snow and ice (as mentioned previously), and finally got home.  We had dinner with my parents, opened a few more gifts, and crashed.  The next day Chris and I went to Little Rock to look for places to live, since we're FINALLY moving back to Arkansas in 4-5 months.  We found a few places we like, but are keeping our options open for right now.  We'd really like to find a house to rent for the year, but we'll see.  

Well, this turned out to be a lot longer than I planned.  So I'm stopping now.

The Christmas Spirit

Tonight we went over to a friends house, and from there, we went to their parents house for dinner.  They are our best couple friend here in Texas, and their family is just amazing.  They ALWAYS include Chris and me in whatever they do.  They invited us for Thanksgiving last year when they found out we were going to be on our own, they invited us for Mother's Day, Father's Day, July 4th.  You name it, we've been invited.  Then tonight, unbeknownst to us, was their family Christmas.  They even got us gifts!  We just thought we were going for seafood gumbo and to hang out.  They have really made us feel like part of their family, embraced us into their craziness, and we are so thankful to them.  We will truly miss them when we move back to Arkansas.  They are an amazing family, and we are so privileged to have been able to meet them.  They have definitely made living in Texas worth it!

that annoying screwdriver and wrench

I need help!  How do I get rid of the screwdriver and wrench on the side bar of my blog?  Am I the only one that can see it?  Can you see it?  What's it function?  If you have the know how, and can explain it in simple English...I'd surely appreciate it!

WooHoo!

I just checked my grades for the semester and I made all A's!  Yea for me!

School...

I'm beginning the last of 5 months here in Texas.  Finishing school has seemed so far away for so long, and now that it's coming to a close, it's a little bittersweet.  Hell, getting into school seemed nearly impossible at one time.  On the one hand, I'm so thankful that I won't have any classes, no tests, no assignments, no professors.  But on the other hand, I feel like there's so much more to know, that I'm nervous I'll get somewhere for clinic, have a patient with some odd hearing loss/disease, and realize I was never introduced to that topic.  Never heard of it.  And that scares me.  But, I have learned quite a lot, more than the ones before the Au.D. ever had, so that comforts me a little.  

I interviewed with a site in Little Rock in September and was offered the position as a 4th year extern, and accepted.  I was really looking forward to moving back to Arkansas, and now it's a reality.  Now Chris and I have to find somewhere to live in L.R.  We have a home in Hot Springs, but we're thinking of selling and building a home instead.  Because of the commute I would have to L.R. every day from H.S., we decided to move to L.R.  

Last week I was in Arkansas working with my dad, at the office, and discovered that I really love what I do.  It's odd...this fascination with ears...but I like to help people, and with this career, it's almost instant gratification.  I know a lot think it's just an ear, what is there to really  know, but I'm telling you, it's more than you think.  I loved working with my dad and can't wait to do it full time.  Just one more year!