fall is in the air!

This weekend was full of celebrations. On Saturday my church had its annual Fall Festival. It is such a great community outreach. My parents as well as three other couples cooked and wrapped 1200 hotdogs...needless to say my mom didn't want to see another hotdog for '35 years' [which is what anniversary the church was celebrating this weekend :)] Russell and I enjoyed seeing the precious costumes, catching up with people we haven't seen in a while, as well as he continued to meet people I've grown up with at church. Sunday marked the church's 35th anniversary. Which might not seem like that many years to you, but what made this year even more special is the church building debt was paid off. In 2001 they broke the ground to build the sanctuary [where Russell and I got married!] and took out about $3.5 million dollars in debt. Fastforward to Fall of 2008, with interest paid the total is close to $4 million. It was completely paid in FULL the week of the church's anniversary. Now the church has almost $20,000 a month that was going to pay off the debt, now freed up for various ministeries and projects. I have been going to this church almost 15 years. I have loved it so much, it was the church where I first felt challenged and began to make my faith my own, where I met some of my best friends, where I got married, and now where my husband and I might attend now that we are back in Houston. All in all it was great to be there for the celebration :)

Later on Sunday afternoon we went to Bonnie and Russ's house where they were having a pumpkin carving party. Russell LOVES holidays, and decorating, so this party was totally up his alley. We carved two pumpkins and enjoyed drinking cider and eating festive goodies and getting to know their friends more.
The pumpkin I carved is on the right, it is a ghost in the middle, with 'BOO' written below it, Russell's is the large mouthed pumpkin, and he did get another pumpkin so he can make another attempt at a jack-o-lantern :)

oh those Cypress loves

This week Russell and my days have consisted of applying for jobs, working out, eating, and sleeping. PRETTY boring in our opinion. So, on Thursday when both Lindsee and Jen had the day off I jumped at the chance to hang out and catch up with my sweet friends :) We had ourselves some yummy Olive Garden [since we love it, and since Grant (Jen's husband) and Russell are not the biggest fans of Olive Garden]. This was a picture that took about 5 tries to take, as we awkwardly all squished onto a bench while we waited to be seated.


This is us seated after filling our stomachs with bread sticks, salad, diet cokes, and our meals :) MMMM MMMM!

JENNY!

After our gabfest/food fest, the off-center picture this precious lady took for us.

After Olive Garden, we headed to the Martins house to see Jen's adorable niece Grace Parker. She entertained us for quite a while. She loves to dance and give high fives, it makes me want to be an aunt to be around kids like Grace :) After chatting with Cheryl and Jaclyn [Jen's mom and sister], we went back to Lindsee's house where Lind's and my cars were. We encountered sweet Dana and her people ;) at the Eddy's and enjoyed chatting with her and venting about the corruption of kids these days ;)

Later on Thursday night I was in a picture taking mood still and was snapping pictures of our almost 4 month old puppy Cupcake. Here she is nibbling on her bunny stuffed animal.

Friday afternoon we had a ball playing with the dogs in the yard, the weather was great, and Russell is a kid at heart and loves to run around the yard with them. Towards the end of the afternoon, I convinced Russell to let me shove him into the freezing pool. It was hilarious! Cupcake normally likes water, but fell into the pool accidentally when my mom had her back turned, so yesterday, while she was curious about what Russell was doing in the water, every time he went underwater and then rushed to the surface, she would run away. It was HILARIOUS!

Last night, cause we were hankering for cheap pizza and the yummy cinnamon rolls, Mom, dad, Russell, and I went to Cici's pizza for dinner. It was a yummy indulgence that I recommend for all to take every now and then :) After dinner Lindsee came over to meet Cupcake and we just hung out and relaxed.

it feels like home to me

I just realize how nice it is to be where you know and are loved by lots of people. Even though Houston doesn't have the greatest weather, or the prettiest landscape, etc, I just love being where things are familiar. Russell and I loved going to CS and seeing his family, though it wasn't nearly enough to have all the quality time we wanted with people, especially Holly, since she has that whole inconvenience of needing to be at school, so we couldn't hang out all day :)
Also while in CS, I got to see one of my dear friends Kalese. I just love her to pieces. We have been friends since freshman year, she was the first that knew about my crush on Russell, and then we lived together our Sophomore year. She got to see Russell and my relationship grow, and then we got to see her and Ryan's relationship grow. They got engaged [exactly] a month ago today, and I am blessed to get to be involved as a bridesmaid. We love both of them, and love them even more together. We had fun catching up in person and just talking about the future, etc.
This weekend we participated in a garage sale, it was fun but exhausting. Later Saturday evening my sisters and Bonnies husband came over, that was fun to see them, but then they ruined it by turning on the TX game [Bonnie and Russ went to that school].
Today we went to CBC and got to catch up with some couples we knew at A&M as well as some sweet folks we've known for a while. It was great showing up at church knowing people and feeling like you already belong.

well, we are pooped from our 4 mile run and need rest to continue our job hunt...so GN!

ps, I finished the 4th and last book in the Twilight series. It was GREAT, lots of happy endings, which I LOVE! I feel she left the series open for more books, so I hope she is writing one now :) Joelle, you better read this book soon so we can discuss!!

Home sweet home Texas!!

Well friends, the Lambert's have made it back to Texas, puppy in tow. We have been busy the past couple of weeks, entertaining Cupcake while trying to keep her hidden from the other tenants, [the landlords requested we do this :)] packing, getting Russell ready for graduation, etc. We are thrilled to be back home and near so many of our loved ones. The 14 hour drive was tedious, but Cupcake is a great car rider :) and the drive was well worth it because it means we are no longer in the middle of nowhere. Currently we are temporarily staying at my parents house while we figure out where we will be working and living. We have spent the last few days unpacking, sorting, and APPLYING for jobs!! Please keep Russell and I in your prayers that we would find jobs quickly and have discernment while searching for positions where we would best fit. We can't wait to hug and see all of you wonderful folks in Texas, so if we haven't given you a call yet, then call us, we would love to get together :)

we love you!

R&C

PS We are traveling to good ole' College Station, TX tomorrow to visit with our in-laws!!! YAY. We haven't seen them since my sister's wedding, which isn't nearly enough.

Oh, Hi O

This past weekend I got to see my lovely former roommate Joelle [Joebellina, Jo, etc :) ] It was I believe my first trip to Ohio, and it was definitely my fave. I hadn't seen her since May when Paigers got married, and we all know weddings aren't the best place to really catch up, cause you are all stressed/excited/busy.
Jo showed me around the Town of Maumee, where her family lives, as well as precious Perrysburg. It has a charming downtown main street with fun boutiques and kitchy shops. On Saturday we had wonderful Greek wraps at Zingo's, drooled over designer duds at Meigs, and were gawked at while we walked by the river :) We relaxed that afternoon and caught up on season 4 of the office and 'cuddled' on the couch like old times at the Pintail house. That evening we got cute and headed to the Docks for dinner at this great Italian restaurant called Zia's with her sweet friends. It was hilarious because I have been hearing about these girls for a while, and have seen some pictures, but this was the first time I would meet them. Jo was quizzing me the entire drive there using descriptors such as "Amber the newly-wed with short dark hair, Alissa, with cute blond hair, etc. It was fun, and I knew them all as we met. They are such sweet girls, and it was so fun to feel a connection to Joelle's life in Ohio.
Sunday we went to Jo's church, volunteered in the nursery, and headed to Star Diner for lunkfist ;)
All in all it was a great weekend that flew by too quickly, I miss my Jobell [as well as all my former roomies], so it was great to catch up and relax together like we did in college :)

I have to tell you all about my newest obsession. I love reading, and found out about a series for teens/adults. While subbing last year in College station, I always had a spare book on hand for downtime. Many of the high school girls recommended the Twilight Series [by Stephenie Myers]. They are about a teenage girl that falls in love with a vampire. I thought they sounded SO dumb, so I soon forgot about them. Well, they have been a huge hit, so before I flew to Houston, I got the first book as something to read on the plane....fast forward to now: I have just finished the third book [which I bought to keep me busy since Russell was gone in the field ALLLLLL week :( ] and can't wait for my fourth to come in the mail [amazon.com is the cheapest place to get these books]. They are so compelling, romantic, adventurous, etc. I've even read them all twice...dorky I know. I am done with my rant, but I totally recommend you to all go get these books. [PS, Joelle is reading them to, so it was great to have a discussion buddy last weekend!]

Russell and I come home in a week!!! OMGOSH!!!