A Visit to the Forest and a Finished Fence

On Veteran's Day, Evan had off from work so we decided to do a little exploring and take the dogs to the Kanawha State Forest. It was an overcast day and most of the leaves were brown but it was still beautiful. The dogs really enjoyed the outdoors time, even Baxter. He did well enough to be off his leash most of the time. We hiked for about an hour and then went to check out the firing range we had seen a sign for. We didn't get out and shoot but there were quite a few people there. Here are some pictures:

Jersey, Baxter and Evan on the trail

A sealed off old coal mine

It was pretty chilly but still beautiful!

When we got home, the fence was finished! We had figured that with the progress they had made that morning that it would probably be finished that afternoon but I decided not to get my hopes up. Sure enough, that evening, we finally had a fenced yard for the dogs. Evan and I both noticed a potential problem with the fence right away. Basically, there was about a 10 inch opening by the gate. The guys had stopped the fence that ran along the back wall just short of making a corner with the gate on the ground. We decided to just try it out since the dogs would have to jump about three and a half feet up to get through the opening. The couple of nights later, we left the dogs outside when we went to run a few errands. We were only gone about an hour and a half but when we got back the dogs were gone. After we left, the sun had set and no doubt, Jersey caught sight of something on the other side of the fence and decided to go after it. I was surprised that Baxter was gone too. I didn't think he would make the jump. We ran upstairs from the driveway and out into the backyard. We determined very quickly that they had to have made it by jumping the wall because there were no signs of digging anywhere. We called for them for what seemed like a long time. A couple of minutes later, we heard them coming from up the hill behind our yard. They both ran back and jumped back into the yard through the opening. Thankfully, they were safe and didn't have any injuries. I was actually surprised by how upset I was over the thought that they were both lost. Evan found an oversized brick and put it in the opening until we could make it to the store to get some cinder blocks. It didn't cover the entire opening but based on our dogs' personalities, we figured they would be freaked out about knocking it over therefore wouldn't try to jump out again.

The next night, I let them out for their routine bathroom break before we all were to go to bed. I heard Baxter barking so I ran downstairs just in time to see Jersey knock over the brick and jump the wall. Baxter stayed this time but I quickly called for Evan to help get Jersey to come back. I got him a flashlight and he took off running after her up the hill. You could hear her tearing around amongst the trees, bushes, and leaves behind our house after some animal no doubt. Evan finally corralled her to come back home but not before she collected quite a few stickers. So much for the quick fix!

When Evan's parents were in town for Thanksgiving, they helped us come up with a solution. A few cinder blocks and coat hangers later and  now the dogs can't get out anymore. One modification to the design was required when the dogs pushed their way through the gate and met us on the driveway last week, but hopefully all the kinks have now been worked out.

We Made It!

We've moved to West Virginia! After spending a little time in San Antonio hanging out with family, we took our car, a u-haul trailer, the dogs, and some furniture that Evan's parents graciously gave us to help fill our new and much larger home, and headed off for the 1400 mile trip. The drive went very well and it was beautiful for major portions of it, especially in Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia.  

We couldn't have picked a better time to move here than October. The fall colors are GORGEOUS! When we came to visit at the beginning of October, the leaves had just started changing but it was already beautiful. When we came to sign our lease the following week, the colors were even better! When we returned the next week, this time to stay, it was just more of the beautiful reds, oranges, and golds than the week before!

View from our front porch!

Unfortunately, last week a cold front came through that brought wind and rain, and most of the leaves fell to the ground, but there are still a few hanging on. We have a tree in our front yard that is just a brilliant shade of red right now and it makes me smile every time I see it.

As for the weather, it has been pretty mild so far. We have had a few mornings in the 20s but we have had numerous afternoons that are sunny and 70 degrees. I love being outside and I am really looking forward to being outside more now that we live somewhere that isn't SO hot!

On our visit at the beginning of October, our main objective was to find a place to live and we hit the jackpot! God promises to go before us and prepare a way and we are so thankful that He has done so for us. After looking at some places that needed a lot of work, were too small, or didn't have any type of yard or fence for the dogs, I was discouraged. I am not THAT picky, but I was starting to think we were going to have a problem. Then we came to the house that we now live in :)

There aren't that many houses for rent in Charleston and the ones that are available are not available for long, if they are in good condition. My main source of information was the local newspaper classifieds that, thankfully, were updated daily online. The only problem was that of the seven or eight listings a day, most wouldn't work because they had been rented by lunch time or they didn't allow pets. The other resource that every realtor I called referred me to was a version of the classifieds that could only be found at local gas stations. Most realtors didn't have any properties to show us because only those who are also property managers would show rentals, and most of them didn't have anything available. Don't get me wrong, all the realtors I called were very friendly and went out of their way to help me but there just weren't many options. I had called about a different house that was listed in the newspaper and the landlord said that it was already rented (no surprise) but that he had another one coming available soon and we could see it if we wanted. My parents and I came and looked at it before Evan arrived for the weekend and we were all shocked. It was huge, beautiful, and brand new. It exceeded all of my expectations. Only in my dreams had I thought we would live in a house like this one. I quickly called the landlord back to double check about price, the dogs, and when it would be available. The house was being completely re-done (they tore the original down to the studs and then added onto it) and still about three weeks from being finished. We were to arrive in Charleston in two, but I knew we had to bring Evan back to see this one. Evan had a similar reaction the next day when we came back to see it. (Evan would like for me to add that I showed him the second worst place we saw right before this one, so a cardboard box would've looked good at that point...but he does REALLY like the house.) The landlord said that they could have it ready for us to move in when we would arrive on the 22nd but that they would probably have a few little things left to do and we agreed that it was worth it. This house was never advertised and yet, two foreigners found it! Praise God! Just this past weekend, one of my new friends, who has lived here for about 6 years, came to pick me up and said, "How did you find this place?!?!?" I told her it wasn't as much about the how as it was about the who. And did I mention that Evan has less than a 10 minute commute to work and never has to get on the highway? I am still overwhelmed by what a blessing this house is and how it all came together. I will post pictures once we are a little more settled. Right now we have boxes everywhere! While we lived here for over a week before our stuff was delivered, it is all here now and I have a huge puzzle on my hands figuring out where to put stuff. We have a guest bedroom so just give us a call if you want to visit. We would love to have guests!

All that paper came from one box!

Another HUGE blessing is that we have found a church and have already made some friends. Charleston had been great, but it was starting to feel lonely. Especially since I am not working, I was anxious to meet people and get plugged in at a church. I am really thankful for all the people we have met so far and for how warm and welcoming they have all been. I am excited, but having a hard time being patient to see where and how God will call us to serve at this church.

Evan's new job is going very well. He is enjoying the work and has great people to work with. We are adjusting to the new schedule since this will be the first time that I stay home during the day and he leaves to go to work since he worked from home for so long. The fact that I have had a lot to do in the way of cleaning, unpacking, and errands for setting up our house and new life here have helped. Making new friends that I can see during the day is also helping with this a lot. I am still adjusting but starting to settle into my new role quite nicely. Now that we are starting to get into a routine, I hope to update the blog more regularly!

While it is very different here than it was in Houston, we like it so far and have peace about knowing that this is where we are supposed to be. It is fun living in what would be categorized as a small town compared to Houston. We had only lived here for two weeks before I ran into someone I knew in Walmart! Everyone is friendly and quite chatty. It is also very laid back. I have caught myself hundreds of times since we moved here feeling like I am the only person in a hurry. I never realized that I was always rushing around before but most of the time, I don't even have a reason to rush. The pace is much slower here and it is a welcome change. Overall, I would say we are doing very well and that we are blessed to be here!

The dogs are doing well too. After all the confusion of the last 10 months, I think it took them awhile to figure out that we were staying here.

In the back seat of the car on the trip to WV

They (Jersey) will be happier when the fence is finished and they can go outside for long periods of time without us. They will also be happier when the fence is finished because then there won't be guys walking around our backyard. Baxter has a particular dislike for the welder and the sparks frighten him. They both get very excited with all the cats that seem to cross through our back yard at night and are beside themselves when deer show up. One of Evan's co-workers who lives in our neighborhood said that with the Kanawha (pronounced "Ka-naw") state forest close by that people have seen bears too. Yikes! We're not in Houston anymore!

Deer in our backyard

I think they both finally accepted the idea of staying when we unpacked the dog bed last night. They have spent most of their time sharing their "pillow" today and finally seem content about hanging out in the basement. They also have found their new "spot" to gaze out the window. In our old house it was sitting under the drapes of the sliding glass door in the living room. In this house, they really like looking out the sliding glass door in our bedroom

Enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon in our backyard!

Virginia for Labor Day and the NASCAR Race at Richmond

We spent the week of Labor Day in Virginia. We were the guests of Gary and Marie Allen and had a great time! With all the travelling Evan and I have done to Virginia in the last year, Gary and Marie have graciously taken us in and have become like adoptive parents to us. They live in beautiful Williamsburg and thanks to their hospitality, their house really feels like a home away from home. The biggest highlight of the week was finding out definitively that we were going to be moving and when. It was great to be able to share with them in praying over the situation and then celebrating the good news since we had to be far away from home. Thanks again Gary and Marie for hosting us!

Gary is really into cars and is a big fan of NASCAR. The weekend at the end of our stay was the weekend of the race at Richmond. Gary got us all tickets and Evan and I attended our very first NASCAR race. We went to the Friday night race which is known as the Nationwide Series. The "big boys" race on Saturday night as part of the Sprint Cup but the Friday night race is more affordable and less crowded. The great part is that some of the big names race both so the Friday night race is definitely the way to go for people just wanting to check it all out. Gary and I showed up early so that we could walk around the grounds and check out all the booths that were giving away free stuff. That part was just like OU weekend at the Texas state fair minus the rides and concession stands. The race, however, was unlike anything I had ever seen before. We went up to our seats during time trials for the Sprint Cup race and the noise was UNBELIEVABLE. And that was with just one car going around the track at a time! I have been to some very large and very loud football games in my time but this was the loudest noise I had ever heard. I definitely got a rush standing on the walk way at the bottom of the bleachers watching the cars race by at 185 mph. Even if you couldn't see them or hear them, you would feel them race by. Since the race was on September 11th, there was a very nice tribute to those who lost their lives during the attacks in 2001.

Evan arrived just in time for the race to start and Gary got us set up with the appropriate "gear." We each had a headset connected to a scanner so we could listen to the commentary of the race but still protect our ears. At the advice of Gary, we listened to the start and the first couple of laps with out the headsets. The noise was indescribable! While I could have done without all the people around us smoking, I really enjoyed the race. There were no huge crashes but it was a pretty close race. Having the headsets, scanners, and Gary's coaching allowed me to keep up with the race pretty well. If I didn't have anyway of knowing which cars were leading, it would have been boring but the headsets/scanners solved that problem. Thanks again Gary for taking us to the race! Here are some pictures:

Gary and I at the National Guard booth with Dale Jr.'s car

The pace cars leading the pack out of the pit just before the start of the race

Evan and I at the Allen's country club Saturday night

Elizabeth's Birthday Party Weekend

Our niece, Elizabeth, turned 5 at the end of August and we were fortunate to still be in Texas and be able to make it to her party. Friday night, we met up with my parents and sister at this new Brazilian steak house that my Dad had been wanting to take us to. I had never been to one of these places before but based on my Dad's description, it sounded fun. It was DELICIOUS! The food was great and it was fun to watch the waiters (they actually have some special name for them that I can't remember) come around with all the meat and wield these giant knives right in-front of your face to slice you a piece of meat. While we didn't get there until about 8:30 because Evan and I were late getting in from Houston, it was totally worth it. Here are some pictures:

Like a kid in a candy store :)

The next day was Elizabeth's birthday party. The theme was Dogs and Cats. Elizabeth is really into animals of all kinds and has been for some time but I'd say her favorites are dogs and cats. I remember when she had just started talking and she would list all of the dogs in the family...Tombs, Jersey, Rowdy, Toby...it was really cute hearing her trying to pronounce all the names :) She still asks about Jersey and Baxter (our dogs) when we see her. Elizabeth tells everyone that she is an animal rescuer and trainer. I don't watch Dora the Explorer but apparently Diego (her brother) is an animal rescuer and I think this is where she got the idea from.


In the morning when we saw her for breakfast, she talked about how there was going to be a dog show at the party. She got a DVD for Christmas last year about dog training and has been working on training her dog Stache. We were obviously very interested in the possibility of a dog show, especially since Elizabeth tends to be pretty shy. The dog show was definitely the highlight of the party. It was hilarious but it was also great to see Elizabeth coming out of her shell. Page did an awesome job as always with the party. She had dog and cat ears for the kids to wear, dog and cat door hangers for the kids to make, and of course a dog cake with dog and cat cupcakes! It was a great party and we are thankful we were able to be there! Here are some pictures from the party:

The birthday girl

James is one serious cat!

The birthday girl with Aunt Amy and Uncle Evan

Let the Dog Show begin!

Dave trying not to laugh during the Dog Show

Sight Seeing in Houston

At the End of August, Evan's cousin Matt and his wife Rike came to Houston to visit and were able to stay with us for the weekend. It was fun to hang out and catch up with them as well as play Houston tour guide one last time. We drove them around downtown, the museum district, the medical center, etc. Then, we met up with more cousins from Evan's mom's side of the family in Pearland for lunch. It was great to see Judy, Jeff, Marsha, Vic, Matt, and Susie. We had a great time catching up at Judy and Jeff's restaurant, Jake's. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was the last opportunity we had to eat at Jake's for a long time because of our move...thankfully we had one last time to enjoy it! If you are ever in the Pearland area, you really need to check it out. We obviously enjoy the people :) but the food is great too!

Matt and Rike on our tour of Rice University

Me, Susie, Matthew, and Evan at Jake's

Later that afternoon, thanks to my brother Eric, we got a great tour of NASA. While we went on the standard tour, Eric, who works for one of the contractors at NASA, was able to give us some insider info. Our Dad's company has always had contracts out at NASA so I had been on the tour a couple of times before when I was a kid. I was excited for Matt and Rike to see NASA since they had never been but honestly, I probably had just as much, if not more fun than they did! Being older and having my brother as a tour guide helped me get way more out of it then when I was a kid. It was also a cool way to learn more about Eric's job. It was also cool as an older sister to see him in his element experience his passion for NASA. The funniest part was when we were looking at all the full sized units they use for training and Eric starts explaining to me how they often times use this Russian spacecraft called the Soyuz to transport people to and from the space station. I was looking at this thing thinking, "Your kidding, right?" Apparently not. It just looked so primitive. I guess I just hadn't ever thought about the fact that there aren't enough space shuttle missions to transport everyone to and from the space station. The crazy part is that it looks like an over sized metal soccer ball and when it lands, it just lands in the middle of some field in Russia and sometimes the passengers have to wait for hours before anyone comes to get them! Check out this link for more info. Anyway, we had a great time! It was also great to hang out with Eric and Kim one last time before we moved. Thanks again Eric and Kim for joining us and giving us a great tour! Here are some pictures:

UT siblings in front of Saturn V

Eric, Kim, Matt, Rike, Me, and Evan in front of Saturn V

Baby Adalyn

At the end of July, there was also an addition to our small group…Adalyn Reese was born! We were able to visit Adalyn and her parents, Chet and Kristi in the hospital and get this cute picture:



Thanks Chet and Kristi for letting us share in your journey and celebration!

Two Parties in One!

We have really been blessed to be a part of the worship ministry at our church for over a year. Evan served on the technical team running sound, lights, or other multimedia stuff and I served on the praise team. We grew very close to many of the team members and we will really miss them now that we are moving. At the end of July, we were invited to attend a surprise birthday party for the worship pastor. The cover for the party was that it was actually a going away party for one of the families involved in the worship ministry. It all went really well and we successfully surprised Paul (our worship pastor). It also gave all of us a chance to hang out with and say good bye to the Wilson’s who were moving to Denver the following week. We were definitely sad to say goodbye to the Wilsons but it was great to get to hang out with them and everyone else one last time especially since we knew that we would probably be moving soon too (even though at the time we weren't sure). Here are some pictures from the party:

Paul blows out the candles on his cake as Wendy (his wife) looks on


Wendy, Jennifer, Courtney, Debbie, and me


Paul, Aaron, and Evan...they are always up to something...


I wanted a few pictures with Gracie since they were moving....apparently she was too cool for this picture :)


Gracie graciously agreed to pose with me for this picture...she picked the pose