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!!!

and they lived happily ever after...

Bonnie and Russ got married this weekend. It was a beautiful wedding, the weather was sunny, and the venue gained power the day before the wedding, so we all stayed cool :)

My sweet hubby was able to be there for the rehearsal and actual wedding, but unfortunately had to leave before the reception :( There was a surprisingly large turnout with all the extenuating circumstances, which was great. It was a wonderful celebration for my sister and new brother, now we have two Russell's in the family! The day had its dramas as well. One of the bridesmaids zippers broke, and my mom [the quickest hand with a needle and thread] was sewing her into the dress 45 minutes before the ceremony. The flower girl repeatedly showed the audience her cute panties during the ceremony...never a dull moment. This wedding will probably be the most memorable of the family, if only because of everything that initially went wrong, though all turned out beautifully :)

I am now back in Missouri with my baby, and doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. Trying to be a good wifeums and make up for leaving my baby for 2 weeks by himself...

ps I am still no good at uploading pictures to my blog. Check my FB for more :)

wedding weekend

Well, thanks all of you for your prayers and concerns. My family has had power for about a day and a half, Praise the Lord. We are ready for the wedding, I believe we have now run all the last minute errands [other than the ones that inevitably come up at the very last minute!]. The venue still does not have power, so keep praying for that. They have wired several generators so that there will at least be fans. They decided they did not want the wedding/reception to be outside because of the heat. I think we all [especially Bonnie and Russ] are just ready for this wedding to happen. Hopefully the next wedding in the family won't be so stressful!

We have had several friends of the family [Karin Monson, Jill Kendall, Diane Parnell, etc] that have been SUCH a big help. Calling people, offering to do anything that needs to be done.

My sweet husband will be here in 25 hours and I am just THRILLED! :)

C

OH IKE

Well friends, I am writing from a laptop borrowing electricity and Internet. I have been in Houston the past week and a half with my family, getting ready for my sister Bonnie's wedding, which was supposed to be this past Saturday. We obviously had to postpone because of the power outages and damage caused by the hurricane. The wedding is scheduled for this Sunday. The venue is undamaged, and aside from generators to keep their food fresh and to cook it, they have no power. The weather has been great from a cold front we got, so the plan is to go ahead and just have the wedding outdoors if the power doesn't come back. Please pray that this great weather will hold, and or that Ashelyn Manor gets its power back by this Sunday. Also, while we are just without power and dealing with the day to day struggles associated with that, we are SO lucky compared with most people in Houston. The situation and aftermath of the Hurricane is so much more extensive than we all predicted.

I am really missing Russell and can't wait to see him this weekend. He is in Missouri still finishing training. He has 3 and a half weeks of school left till we come back to TX. There is also a cold front right now in Missouri, with temperatures in the forties. This is making Russell sad because I am not there to snuggle with him :)

I don't know when I'll be able to update again, but if you see this, please keep praying.

C

Praying for Ike

I have been in Houston since Saturday afternoon. I got in just in time for my sister, Bonnie's lingerie shower. It was fun and I LOVED seeing people I know [well]. This week has been busy with mainly my mom and I working on wedding stuff since everyone else is at least working the beginning of the week. Though today, we decided we had been so productive, we would go to the outlet mall. I LOVE going to the outlet mall, especially with my mom who loves to shop [and buy presents!] I found a GREAT dress at banana and am wearing it for the rehearsal dinner. I finished Bonnie and Russ' slide show and am now gonna head out to the pool to catch a little sun before Saturday :)

On a worried note. Right now Hurricane Ike has been predicted to hit the Houston area. My sisters wedding is this Saturday morning, right when the hurricane is predicted to hit. Please pray that it steers clear of Houston and does not affect her wedding, people traveling to her wedding, or their honeymoon. All the time and money that goes into this would be sad to see all go to waste, not to mention it's the biggest day of Bonnie [and Russ'] life.

Love from Texas!

C

Take me to St Louis

Russell had a four day weekend for Labor day, so we had lots of fun adventures together.

I'm just getting to this post though, because I last minute volunteered to baby-sit for a friend from church. Something came up and she had to go out of town. I had 3 of her four kids, ages 1, 2, and 5. Needless to say, I am recuperating today. These kids don't nap and the little one doesn't stay in a crib, so I am definitely waiting a little longer before I have kids, I don't have the energy yet :)

This past weekend we started off Friday being lazy in bed and then I made Russell a big breakfast. We left for St Louis around Mid-day and went to the zoo. They have one of the best zoos around and it was free, so that's all that mattered to us :) We enjoyed seeing all the animals, the penguins especially because they are SO cute! That night we planned on going to a 'fancy dinner' to celebrate our anniversary. Our concierge recommended Annie Gunn's, a steak house. Well, we arrived, I in a pretty sundress, and Russell in khakis. We were by far the most over-dressed and youngest. Then the menu was pretty steep, over $30 for a basic meal. Apparently this is a restaurant the rich go to after tennis [literally many people were in shorts and sneakers]. We felt slightly gypped especially when the waitress didn't ask if we were there for a special occasion.
Saturday was great, we ran errands and relaxed till about mid-day. Then, Cupcake's [our puppy] breeder met us at our hotel. We can't have puppies at our apartment, so she is holding onto Cupcake till we return to TX. We took Cupcake to a park and played with her. She is just precious. Playful, curious, good with adults and kids, etc. Basically a GREAT dog, and if my mom is concerned, she's cuter than Lucy ;) Saturday night we had dinner with one of Russell's classmates and wife who was in from TX for the weekend. She was PRECIOUS! I just love meeting Texans up here because they are just another [better] breed of people. Sunday we checked out the St Louis Arch, the art museum, and even went to a cupcake bar. All in all, we had SO much fun enjoying ourselves in the big city.

I fly to Houston this Saturday for the week before my sister Bonnie's wedding, and I couldn't be more excited. I just cannot wait to see my family and friends for a whole week!