summertime again

Our first act of summer was a vacation with my parents. Literally, the day after finals (Saturday, May 7) we drove down to San Antonio & met them for a long weekend. Especially exciting since this was my Dad's first time to Dallas since I moved here in March '09! We spent two nights in San Antonio. It was definitely on the warm side, so we enjoyed an air-conditioned trolley ride around town and a 'breezy' boat ride on the river walk. And we saw all of the most important sites: The Alamo, the Menger Hotel, the Davy Crocket Hotel, the Riverwalk Mall, the Guenther House and Market Square.

Notable restaurant: La Margarita.

Notable pastries: Mi Tierra.

We drove from San Antonio to Austin, stopping in San Marcos for some serious shopping at the Premium Outlets and cruising up through "Hill Country," with a stop in the cute town of Wimberley. We were a little late in the season to catch the blue bonnets, but it was still a nice change of scenery from the city. We dedicated our entire lone evening in Austin waiting for & watching the famous bat fly out from under the Congress Bridge. It was a unique experience to say the least.

After a quick trip to the Botanical Gardens the next morning, we headed for Dallas - on Tuesday, May 10, if anyone is keeping track of days. Upon arrival, we did a drive by of Dallas Theological Seminary & our old place at the Village, before showing off our new place to Mom & Dad (did I mentioned we moved? Stay tuned for more on that!). They didn't have too much time in Dallas, since their flight left the following afternoon, but we got to spend some time relaxing & they helped furnish our new place =) Learning to love Lowes.

Thanks Mom & Dad for coming out to visit us!!! So great to spend some time relaxing & playing with you guys. Please come visit us again =)

Rewind

So where have we been since August?

As much as we were looking forward to Fall, I think it caught me off guard - I've been trying to catch up ever since! Here are some of the highlights.

Halloween:

We decided to stay in this year since we've been so busy. We made soup, pumkin sandwhiches (like an ice cream sandwhich but with frosting in the middle), amazing spiced apple cider (with cinnamon sticks), rented Ghostbusters (which David had never seen before!) & relaxed for the evening. So nice to just be home.

Retreat:

We took a weekend off & headed to Cedar Creek Lake with our small group from church. Some friends from church have a house that they were gracious enough to let us stay at. We ate meals & hung out on their amazing deck/boat house over the lake, watched the Rangers beat the Yankees, played games & soaked up the silence.

Family visit:

My mom & grandma came to visit us the first week in October. I wore them out & fully enjoyed spending 4 full days with them =) The weather was perfect while they were here, which meant we got to do lots of fun stuff! We went to the Texas State Fair, the Dallas Arboretum and the Dallas World Aquarium (which I think we all would agree was the highlight). There were toucans flying over our heads & monkeys (even a sloth we could have reached out & touched) in the trees around us - it was like being in a rainforest! And they had manatees, which is pretty cool =) My mom & Grandma took me shopping & watched girl movies with me too. So good to be with them.

Friend visit:

Kendra & Greg (our close friends from college who now reside in Virginia) came to visit in September. Greg was coming out for business in Fort Worth, so they made a weekend out of it & came to see us! So fun. It had been over a year since we had seen them (way too long!!). We of course had to play disc golf, so we found this neat course on Lewisville Lake, grabbed some slurpies when we finished (it was pretty hot), & barbequed dinner on White Rock Lake. Sunday we went to Fort Worth Zoo & grabbed some dinner in Sundance Square. Monday I got to spend the day with Kendra, shopping, eating at Snappy Salads =) & chatting. Girl time is so good. I think this weekend went by before I even realized it had come. I was very sad to see them go. It is hard living to far from such close friends, but it is such a huge blessing when we can get together.

Other updates:

1. David is continuing to work part-time at the ESD bookstore through the school year. He has worked there the past 3 summers & they have decided to keep him on staff. Yay!

2. Per bullet point #1, we are considering moving to a slightly larger place nearby. David needs the study space & I could use the closet space =)

3. ThM status: Pending completion date May 2012

4. PhD status: currently considering Wheaton or DTS

5. Lindsay just started co-leading her SWIM Bible study (soon to be leading)

7. We will be in California Dec 23 - Jan 1. Yay!!

Going Solo

I've been in training for about 2 months for my new position at work & this week I am officially "on my own." The last month has been full of anxiety over not knowing how to do my job & fear of Cherith leaving, but as my days with her were dwindling to the number of fingers on my left hand, a peace came over me instead. I love how God does this. I get anxious because I am not trusting my situation to the Lord, then I pray about it because my stomach really can't handle it anymore, and then he gives me the peace I should have had all along. I'm going to be fine.

I am starting to get a little more comfortable in my job & in my office (so fun!) & am very thankful that things are a little quieter around the office at the moment - gives me time to work through things at my slower pace & catch up. This job is challenging and detailed and I like it. Definitely miss Cherith though - we bonded through our two months of training =) She did give me her email & cell if I had questions, so I do have a lifeline. But I also have a fantastic boss, so I am covered. I am so blessed.

Learning to trust the Lord is a continual process, but he proves himself faithful every time. We are so thankful for our jobs & the opportunity David has to be here at Dallas Seminary. Thanks for your continued prayers & support!

Trip to Missouri

Plans for the big, much anticipated Thornhill Reunion were compromised at the last minute due to some unforeseen & unavoidable circumstances, but we headed out to Missouri nonetheless & still had a great time. We drove up on Friday, June 25, with our books on tape: The Hobbit (although it was so painful to listen to, we couldn't finish it) & Adventures in Odyssey (thanks Bekah!). We met David's mom & Brett upon arrival for dinner (they took a road trip out from California for the weekend) & stayed at David's Aunt & Uncle's house. We were still able to have a mini family reunion on Saturday, which of course included games, food & catching up.

On Sunday, we spent some time with David's Aunt & Uncle on his Mom's side of the family & of course played some more games =) I found out that I am not the weakest link - good to know. We headed out that evening in a fantastic thunderstorm for Branson, where we stayed the next two nights with David's mom & sister. We decided that Branson is kind of the Hillbilly version of Las Vegas & it was an interesting drive down the "strip" to our hotel on the way in (which was thankfully off the main road). We did not take part in any of Branson's popular shows, but instead spent the following day at Silver Dollar City - a Knott's Berry Farm type theme park. The weather was perfect & it wasn't too crowded. I think the highlight for me was the folk singers that we sat & listened to - they did a Beatles medley as if the Beatles had been from the Ozarks. It was pretty entertaining & they definitely had me tapping my foot & singing along (even though I think I was embarrassing my family ;) Also, it is pretty safe to say I will avoid the tea cups next time.

Oh yea, and we had an awesome screened in porch at our hotel, so we sat out in the evenings & played games. The weekend came to a close too soon though & we headed for home on Tuesday morning.

While we said goodbye to Missouri on Tuesday, we didn't have to say bye to Mom & Brett until the following Saturday morning! They headed down to Dallas on Wednesday & stayed with us for three nights. I think we mostly served to allow them to rest up before the long trek back to California (before Brett's next trip to Europe!), but we had a great time with them while they were here. We got to visit with David's Aunt & Uncle who live here in Plano, we played some games (thanks again for Pictionary!!) & they visited me at work and took me to lunch at Chick-fil-a (I can't lie..it's becoming a new favorite of mine)!

It was so good to see you guys!

lazy summer

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Summer = no classes! It is a much needed break for David, although I know he would tell you he is already getting bored. But I welcome the break & admit we have been pretty lazy with our evenings & weekends. Oh so nice to have nothing to do sometimes =) We are both busy at work though - David is working full time at the bookstore again this summer & is in the middle of a move + inventory. I am just starting my new position & very thankful to have my trainer for over a month still! New title: Transfer Administrator. I have business cards. Nothing much else new on the home front =)

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So far, we have managed one round of disc golf in the heat & disc golf means slurpies. Worth it.

There is a cute park down the street where I like to spend time reading, praying & reflecting when I get a chance...although I get distracted taking pictures sometimes =)

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Now that it is summer, I have had to give up some staple dinners like Chicken Tortellini Soup, Chili and other heavier, hot dishes...which means I've been forced to search for alternative, summer-appropriate recipes. I've been trying a lot of new things & finding that I actually am somewhat enjoying it =) This whole "cooking" thing is still kind of new for me, especially cooking on a budget (& with limited time) but I am learning. We finally discovered for ourselves how easy & delicious homemade smoothies are and it's a new weekend favorite. I've made a couple "summer" salads & shish-kabobs, yumm. We also brought back breakfast for dinner! Awesome.

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Last month we got to see my family back in California & next weekend we get to drive up to Missouri for the Thornhill family reunion! This year we are going to Silver Dollar City, in Branson, which I guess is kind of a big deal out here? Anyways, we're excited & also so blessed to have David's mom & Brett coming to visit us in Dallas after the reunion for a few days too! Yay for family.

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Hope you are all enjoying your summers so far!