tomorrow a new point of view...

i have really never worked hard to get a job. fortuantly for myself i have been at the right place at the right time or new someone. until presbyterian school...i never really tried very hard.

my only interview in sacrmaneto has ended like this...

Hi Amanda,

I apologize for the delay in getting back to you. Things have been very bust around here!

The position for which you applied has been filled. We had many fantastic applicants – including you – so the decision was difficult. Ultimately, we chose a person who we felt had skills that were best suited to the job,

If you are interested in doing substitute work, we would love to have you on our list. Sometimes that can lead to a more permanent position, if one becomes available. I do realize tat you may need consistent work, so if that is the case I understand. In either case, I wish you the best of luck in the future.

oh well...i'll just keep looking. however...rejection is hard even if you really didn't want the job in the first place.

Posted by aca at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

yes i know...that's a country song. there's my homage to texas.

so the car is all packed. my skin glistened sweat as i "helped" pack the car. there wasn't even any sun out. oh well. last night in houston...couldn't have had it any other way.

we visited 2210 saxon tonight to pick up our mail. driving over there it felt like we were going home. when we arrived the new owner took us around to show us all the changes that have taken place. she was doing some Italian texture thing to the walls...and added crown molding. all i can say is that i am glad it didn't look like home. i would have been very sad. so i left...only kinda sad. we stopped across the street to say "see you later" to baxter and family. he had cavities out so he was conked on the couch. he just turned 5 and he entered his first surfing competition. awesome. here's a pic his mom stephanie snatched while he was asleep. too cute. i'll miss you bax.



we had dinner with the jolinks at tony's. fun times with that family. i really don't think we could have spent our last night any other way. i've been upset here and there...but saying "see you later" to them was really hard. we love those guys.

we were asking ourselves "what was the purpose of our time here?" "did we make an impact?" "a difference?" "were we effective?" it's difficult to be in a place for 2 years and make some connections then have to say goodbye. we say we will see each other soon...or we'll visit...but is that just something you say? i sure hope not.

but we ware in for the jolink disneyland trip 2008.

Posted by aca at 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments

not being from houston i have noticed a few things about the city that i thought was pretty awesome. before our arrival houston was voted the fattest city in america in jaurary of 2005 (not awesome)...so i wasn't too sure what i would find.

i was surprised! houston has a lot of parks and tracks for you to run, jog or walk. and people are always outside! one place in particular is rice university. there is a huge track around the outside of the campus which is shaded by trees and nature. it really is beautiful. so my goal was to jog around the entire campus without stopping. yesterday was the day.

jasen dropped me off at the park before he went to work. (it's about 1.5 miles or so away from first pres) i don't have a stretch routine so i kinda eyed the other hard core runners and copied their stretching. i was so thankful the sun was hidden behind the clouds, plus the lush tress which covered the path made it much more tolerable to run in the humidity. i was so excited to finally run at rice that started way too fast. i started to get a cramp but i was not going to stop. i had made a sweet workout mix on my nikeplus ipod which really got me going. plus talking with tom was encouraging.

ready for the outcome?

4.18 miles
37ish minutes
8:45 pace

not only did i accomplish my goal! i beat my personal goals! man it felt good!

here is the fittest and fattest cities in 2007 according men's fitness (i'm not sure how it's ranked):

The Top 10 Fattest Cities in 2007

2007 RANKING LAST YEAR
1. Las Vegas 2
2. San Antonio 12
3. Miami 14
4. Mesa, AZ 10
5. Los Angeles 3
6. Houston 5
7. Dallas 4
8. El Paso 8
9. Detroit 15
10. San Jose 24

The Top 10 Fittest Cities in 2007

2007 RANKING LAST YEAR
1. Albuquerque 13
2. Seattle 8
3. Colorado Springs 6
4. Minneapolis 21
5. Tucson 4
6. Denver 20
7. San Francisco 7
8. Baltimore 1
9. Portland 17
10. Honolulu 2

Posted by aca at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments

OK i love MAC but i also love M.A.C. so ladies if you are looking for some new makeup let me tell you...

check out this.



From the M.A.C website:

Flashtroniccolon Mineralize Eye Shadow

A sheer, pearled, mineralized powder Eye Shadow with up to four shades baked together in one pan. Superfine, lightweight: provides a softly tinted, reflective shimmer on the skin with a delicate sense of dimension. Subtly builds colour and shine. Can be worn on face, eyes or body.

it's sweet. go check it out. if you are a man and don't care...tell your girlfriend or wife. she'll thank you.

Posted by aca at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

now that life has simplified 1000% we are back at the lux's living the high life. we celebrated our house closing yesterday...wow i shake my head in amazement. we were talking with our realtor yesterday...thinking about how bad things could have been for us.

but we won't think about that.

meanwhile...we are staying (as stated earlier) with tom and melaine while jasen finishes work in houston. we stayed with them before we moved out to houston 2 years ago...and what a way to end our season here. we were stating that we should have just lived here! what fabulous people. we truly are grateful.

we plan to hit the road july 31st. i can hardly believe it's happening.

btw...if you ever need to get rid (or find) anything...use craig's list. wow...thanks craig...whoever you are.

Posted by aca at 6:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

so being married to jasen as forced me into this love-hate relationship with pop music.

awful i know.

like umbrella. man that song is annoying.

but deep down i secretly want to listen to it.

**disclosure** by no means do i support skimpy outfits in the rain. poor thing could catch a cold. this video is not for everyone.

\

Posted by aca at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

when i was growing up our pastor would say..."god is good!" and the people would say, "all the time!" hummm...i always wondered if i was able to challenge that statement. sometimes in my heart i wouldn't feel like god was good. to me...to others...and i wondered why we are made to chant it and repeat it when we don't always believe it.

it sure is easy to like god when things are good. but things aren't always good are they? then i think about my relationship with jasen. if jasen were upset with me i wouldn't want him to constantly tell me how good i am... i would want him to tell me how i made him feel...i would want to share and then we would grow. i guess god's like that...i'm not supposed to be robotic in my answers to him...and say he is good...when i may feel like he's not.

i guess we get by when things are hard by remembering how good god was before and how you know it won't always be hard. a month ago after we put the house up for sale...we started having these little problems with our buyer. nothing HUGE but enough to get you going. and as you know, i have high anxiety so whew...it was rough. jasen kept telling me it was all apart of it and it would work out. god brought us this far...he will take care of the details. and i said, (i am ashamed to admit) i feel like i can't trust him...it's too hard this time.

now obviously i can not think like god...but i think he appreciated my honesty. and i think he appreciated jasen's honesty...cause i know that's what he truly felt. i don't think he wants us to lie over and play dead. he wants us to share our HONEST thoughts.

i know i don't deserve it...but man we are blessed. every detail was worked out and i think i may have only had one (minor) panic attack. huge things are in store...we really feel an honor to be along this journey and be apart of what he is doing. we have always wanted to be in a place where we could give back, and i think god is leading us there.

what exciting times there are ahead.

Posted by aca at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments

it never ends...wanna help?

Posted by aca at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

so i got up at 7 today (which is early for summer break) and i decided to go jogging before it got too hot. wait...i live in houston it's ALWAYS hot. who was i kidding? my nikeplus says i burned 350 calories. but i think that was the percentage of how much water my body lost. as i was jogging along i felt a dripping sensation from my hands. yep...my palms were sweating too. yuck.

does this mean i will be more conditioned to run farther in california? i sure hope so.

also...i average about 2 bites a day from mosquitoes, spiders or whatever other terrible creature texas has to offer. god please stop the rain.

::

as you may have read on our wedblog we are moving to sacramento july 31st. crazy! we have been so busy recently trying to pull it all together. we put our house on the market on a friday and by sunday we had 2 offers! unbelievable! we out a lot of our furniture on craig's list...and it sold within days too! we have been sitting on a sleeping bag in the living room because we have no sofa and sleeping on the full sized aero bed. let me just say that life is a little uncomfortable right now. but the moving truck is coming next week! then on to the lux's!

can you believe all this craziness?

oh...and are you having a hard time finding shorts that fit like i am? man it's annoying.

Posted by aca at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

so i have been spoiled rotten for my birthday this year. must live it up...only 365 more days in my 20's. scary.

so yesterday we started off in downtown austin at the the milk and honey spa for a hot stone massage. ummm....



next we headed to wahoos austin and split a maui bowl for the car ride to granite hair studio to get my hair cut and colored by necole. next, we went to dinner in downtown and later had table side smores at a local coffee shop. and that wasn't even my birthday!

today we are back in houston at the granduca. since every event is a surprise i am not sure what is up next...i will let you know what else is in store for me today!

jasen i love you! you have out done yourself!

Posted by aca at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

so today after jogging with my nikeplus lance armstrong congratulated me on completing my personal best time on a mile. i'm not sure what my personal best time was exactly... but lance whispering sweet encouragements through my earphones makes for a great day running in the humidity.

what a surprise.

Posted by aca at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments