January

Here are some of our highlights from January:

Drew enjoyed a field trip to a small town outside of Abilene, trying to catch illegal hunters. He loved it & can't wait to "get in the field":
Courthouse in that small town.....

It was open country...at least they took advantage of the wind power out there! If only I had one of these next to my house, I'd have electricity galore with all the wind where I live!

We also celebrated 4 wonderful years of marriage in January! We feel like we're still newlyweds on a great adventure! We have a blast together and feel so grateful to the Lord for these past 4 years. To celebrate we went to Austin (such a cool city!)......walked around the capitol building:

Went to the massive whole foods store (we were like kids in a candy shop!), ate at a delicious Greek food restaurant downtown and went for coffee at Mozarts on the lake to top off a wonderful day!

Since we were unfortunately not together on our actual anniversary, I mailed Drew this yummy cookie cake and he sent me beautiful flowers! What a wonderful husband!


Let's see...the next weekend, I attended an awesome Arbonne VP conference in Oklahoma City. I love these ladies that I have the privilege of working with including my wonderful mom! She looks so young and trendy!


and Drew went hiking at one of our favorite Texas State parks...Enchanted Rock. This huge rock with caves and peaks that you can climb all in and over. You can actually see Enchanted Rock from our deer lease and that's where Drew spent the weekend with his dad & youngest brother, John Michael.


Towards the end of January I was cooped up trying to keep warm from the ice/sleet storm -- my car got covered!

This weekend we decided to kayak a river that fed into Lake Georgetown, about 30 minutes south of where we live. So we found a spot to park, Drew wheeled the kayak to the water and we were ready to go! The river look a bit low, but not impassable for a kayak.....


That water quickly dried up...but we were not deterred by having to "portage" the kayak over the dry spot, because it led to this beautiful part of the river...

We would not even be deterred by 2 more portage spots...even after the kayak falling off the wheels repeatedly & Drew having to rig it up with his fishing stringer, until we came to this spot!

So much to our amusement we had to HIKE over a mile out of the river on the biking trail! Drew got some good speed on the downhills!

No matter what we always have a grand adventure!

What a great start to 2009!

Small town.....

Doesn't my blog look pretty now? My great friend and blogger extraordinaire, Amy Busti made my blog look so beautiful which inspired me to post just to show it off! Thanks Amy!

While I grew up in a relatively small town, I have not wanted to live in any town smaller than my hometown. On the other hand, Drew loves small towns....actually I think he could live out in the middle-of-nowhere (Little House on the Prarie) and be perfectly fine. Tallahassee was great, I loved the size, friends, "small town type of feel" and everything at your fingertips, but at times I didn't always feel safe at night in my own house (especially the time when Drew was on patrol, told me to turn the lights on and get armed because there was a break -in in progress a few houses down from us & he was heading our way fast! That's not a fun way to get woken up in the middle of the night!).

I thought I didn't care to personally live in a small town...that is until Salado. This town is SO cute and I feel so safe here.
Who wouldn't feel safe with a red barn right off of the main street?

Or love having a little creek running through your town....I love to walk here with Rookie or sit and read a book....


Salado has tons of bed & breakfasts....this is one on Salado Creek - everytime I go here I get the urge to wade across the river just to enjoy a few peaceful moments in that hammock. This picture reminds me of the mountain streams and little cottages we loved so much in North Carolina.

Another bed & breakfast....yes, this is Texas - wagon and all!
Drew trying out his new camera during our Sunday afternoon stroll around the town. One of the historic bed & breakfasts behind me.


Again...so cute (a secret flower garden behind one of the gift shops)! I think I've come to believe that small towns are wonderful...if they're cute! I am adjusting to small town living (although I drive 20-30 minutes to even grocery shop!). There are great perks like....the post office clerks already know me! This may be my training grounds for whereever we move next with Drew's job...could be a really small West Texas or border town....which I have a hard time believing will beat Salado on my "cuteness" scale.

Baby Sophie

Sally (as many of my friends in Florida say, "Sally, you're best friend Sally") & Wade are now proud parents to baby Sophie! She was born via c-section on Dec. 26 - Wade's birthday. Drew and I were able to celebrate her 2nd day of life by seeing her. She is so cute! This is her "thinking" pose.

I am so happy for Sally and Wade and know they will be great parents. Sally is looking so good.

We just loved holding her and are looking forward to watching her grow up!

We've been everywhere....Christmas 2008

Our Christmas was wonderful! We haven't been able to spend Christmas day together with family in 3 years, so this was extra special. We felt like the song says, "I've been everywhere man, I've been everywhere"! Here are a few glimpses of our Christmas travels:

First we celebrated April's (Drew's cousin) college graduation, my sister's 21st birthday and Christmas with my family:

My niece, Makenna is getting so big and now says, "Drewww" and "Jess". She smiles and flirts with Drew a lot. She is active and a lot of fun, we love being closer to watch her grow. Jonathan and Karen are such great parents and that is neat to watch them parent her in a loving, Godly way. Here she is being a big girl:

We then enjoyed a special Christmas concert on the 23rd with the Busti family. Ally Beth and Blane played several solos, Amy & I played a duet and I also led us in guitar singing. It's fun to use my musical background in this way. We admire Amy and Tony for focusing their family on Christ, not only during Christmas, but with everyday life. It's been such a wonderful learning experience for us (and particularly me, since I am around more) to be near them and watch how they parent their children. With Drew being gone so much, their home has been my "second home" and having Amy close has really helped me not be lonely during this time. Living close to them is one of the many blessings I am thanking the Lord for this season!

The musicians: Me, Amy, Ally Beth and Blane

My parents even came up for the concert and stayed with us a few days before Christmas. We had a great time, hiking, shopping and hanging out!

Another reminder that we are back in Texas, is Drew in his cowboy get-up. All of our Florida friends will get a kick out of this, since they have never seen Drew like this. I think he looks CUUUTE!!

Christmas Day! What a treat for Drew and I to have Christmas morning together and then spend time with my mom's family in Boerne, Tx. It is a large family gathering and we have tons of fun together. Here are all the guys making the trash can turkey. apparently it was "black hat" day.

We absolutely love this part of of Texas and hope to be stationed in the hill country after Drew is done with the academy. Drew has completed almost 2 months of the academy - time is flying by! 5 more months to go. It will be exciting to see where we end up....we will know about 1 month before the academy is over, so it will be a quick move! It is crazy to think that we could be as far from our family living in Texas as we were living in Florida. We are hoping that's not the case, but know we will be where the Lord wants us to be and we will also make the best of where ever we get put.

Finally, we went to the farm to see Drew's grandparents at the Farm (notice the cute cowboy again):

And then celebrated Christmas with Drew's parents and siblings. Drew shooting guns and romping around with his little brother while we were there. Here's Drew with his beautiful mom, Tami.

I saw Drew off today for 2 weeks. He is going to Abilene, Tx over New Year's on a field trip to deer hunting camps. He went on a field trip to the coast 2 weeks ago and LOVED it! He got to drive an airboat, check duck hunters, board a BIG shrimping boat and so much more....I can't wait to hear the stories he'll have to tell this time. He's on a grand adventure and can't believe he gets paid to do this!

As we are recounting our blessings this Christmas and New Year's we are so thankful for each one of you and the impact you have on our lives. We pray that you have a wonderful upcoming New Year!

Love,
Jessica

To see more of our pictures you can click here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2557456&l=9c1c0&id=5244184

Five weeks....

Dear Friends & Family,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to celebrating Christ's birth. Drew and I feel so blessed and thankful this holiday season. We are especially thankful for all of you in our lives.

Well, it's been five weeks since we left Tallahassee and we are getting settled into our new home. Our good friends, the Busti's, who live 5 minutes down the road from us, have really helped to make our transition easier. It's been such a blessing living so close to them! Amy and I have been doing pilates together and Drew & I are getting to "borrow" Amy & Tony's 3 wonderful children to practice our parenting skills while allowing them some date time!

For Thanksgiving we went with Drew's family to our hunting lease in central Texas, the "hill country". We had such a great time (even though I did get deer blood on me!).

Drew shot this buck on Thanksgiving day. While I don't mind being outdoors or roughing it ---




holding the deer legs so Drew can gut it, is not my cup of tea!


Picture: me and my sister-in-law Mary hiking around the lease

We really love the rugged beauty of the hill county and would love to be stationed here one day. Game wardens actually stopped by the hunting camp one day and Drew got to talk with them. One of them said it took him 12 years and the other 20 years to get stationed in that county. Maybe we won't have to wait that long.....


Other exciting news: We found a church to attend! It was important to us to get plugged in right away to a church since we will probably only be in the are for 6 more months. We decided on Temple Bible Church and have loved the 2 Sunday's we've been so far. They have a great young married's Sunday school class and I will be getting involved in Women's bible study/maybe a small group. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming, I had forgotten that Texans were extra friendly!



I have had the pleasure of traveling around Texas for my Arbonne business and seeing friends and family while doing business! I love it! Here is my best friend Sally and I from this past week. Lord willing, Sally and Wade will be welcoming Sophie Catherine to the world this month!! And here I am as a proud Aunt with my niece Makenna. I have been around more and now she knows my name!

Drew is doing really well at the Game Warden academy. He is learning a lot and they are working them hard! This weekend he gets to go down to the coast and learn how to check duck hunters and fishing boats. He is really enjoying getting to know the guys that he rooms with.

I think the saying that "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" (at least I think that's what it is) is so true. We have really been enjoying our weekends together. This weekend we went kayaking on a lake only 15 minutes away!

Have a blessed week and we'll be in touch soon!

Our New Adventure in Texas

Hello Family & Friends,

You're probably thinking, oh no, another blog! Several of our close friends have blogs, which have enabled us to stay connected to their heart and what's going on in their lives.......so I am going to attempt the world of blogs! I value each of you and want to stay connected to you.

Well, Drew and I successfully made our 15 hour journey across country last week and are getting settled back into Texas. We loved our home, friends, neighbors, co-workers and church family in Tallahassee and it was hard to leave. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us with the move & then unpack - it was quite a task!

Being in Florida for 3 years, I've almost forgotten what Texas was like. I forgot about the HUGE trucks, cowboy hats (and belt buckles, wranglers --- the whole 9 yards), people wearing camo in the grocery store, or worse....camo trucks! One thing I don't mind seeing is the cheap gas.....I never thought I'd see $1.91 ever again!

Drew has started the academy and I have briefly spoken with 2 times. From what I've heard he is loving it! It's perfect for him - out in the middle-of-nowhere hill country of Texas. It will be a challenge for him, but he sounded so excited for this new adventure. He's going hunting at the Deer Lease this weekend with all the guys in the family --- doesn't get much better than this for him.

All of the game warden trucks --- Drew's can't wait for one!

The Classroom


Alexander --- He's the first on the left. No room for napping when you're at the front! He has 7 hours of class a day.

When we said there wasn't much out there - we meant it! There are 6 or 7 dorms like these. Drew said he has a great dorm of guys.

I love my new cozy home - it is the perfect size for me and Rookie.

I feel like I'm living out on the plains of Texas -- it's very open here and WINDY! One perk of the openness is that I can roll over in bed and see the sunrise.....beautiful.

Our town is so cute and I am so blessed to have my good friends the Busti family 5 minutes down the road. Amy and I are starting pilates together - one of my passions!

Ally Beth invited me to go on her date night with her mom, Amy, and Baby Caleb!

We've already gotten to see most of our family and I've traveled to see friends and to do business. We love having our family only 2 hours away!
My sister, Lauren, and mom came and we went shopping in Salado (after mom helped me for 4 days unpack my house!)

Even though transition is always challenging we know we are in the place the Lord has for us. He has clearly provided beyond more than we could ask or imagine! To see Him working so clearly in our lives is amazing.

Much love,
Jessica
PS - not every blog will be this long, I just had a lot to update on!