Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

So I recruited Liz to help me with the leaves and yard after not being motivated to brave it alone, and we got it all done, and it looked great! What a day. Woke up this morning and yep, leaves EVERYWHERE! Why is fall my favorite season again?
Beck, I have a nice 2 niner disc wheelset ready for ya. Give me a call, I'll give you the details.

Getting Older.

Liz covered this a few weeks back, but I have to throw in my two cents cause its me we're talking about here. Yeah, yeah, ya I turned 30 three weeks ago ----as a side note, I just typed "turned" 30. I don't remember any corners, or spinning, so why did I type that? but is there another way to express it? nope----back on topic, I guess I kinda AM getting/feeling older. Let me give you an example. Maybe its youth or just one of my dumb quirks, but I used to spring out of bed on Saturdays to do the lawn, yep, "spring" --it really annoyed Liz who is more of a fan of the "gradual snuggle" out of bed. Now, the leaves are starting to come down and I just don't care anymore. I even asked a neighbor about his lawn crew. It could be me getting older or the "leaf" factor. I'll cut grass all day, but I HATE dealing with leaves. Am I being lazy with age or just being normal here? I've always been a "gotta go Joe" and unable to sit still, but lately Liz and I have been watching lots of old movies that we record from TCM. Classic John Wayne westerns and Alfred Hitchcocks and I'm loving it! I guess she's trying to start me from the beginning, since she's a huge movie fan. Its pretty good. And speaking of sitting still and watching TV, since Comcast took over, they changed the program lineup and brought back "Top Gear" on BBC. Best show EVAR!!!, o.k. maybe "The Office" but its great!!!!!! Crap, enough stalling, I guess I gotta get out there and do the yard now..... poop!

I've been tagged...twice!!

I've been tagged by Mariana and Amy. I'm giving in to peer pressure, and have spent the last 30 minutes trying to come up with my 8 random facts...it was harder than I thought. But first, the rules:


1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

So, in no particular order:

1. FEAR - I am terrified of throwing-up. I realize that "no one likes to throw-up", but my dislike goes much deeper. I go to extremes to avoid this action, to the point of pacing around my room for hours, sipping water to avoid it at all costs. I do NOT share sentiments with the phrase "you'll feel better when it's over"...and I REFUSE to force myself. And by the way, Emily Skaggs can relate. :)

2. LIKE - I am pretty fond of Rap music. Maybe this stems from my basketball roots, I don't know, but I can jam to Eminem, Kanye, 50 cent, Dr. Dre, etc. So, everyone sing/rap along:

"Cause I'm slim shady, yes I'm the real slim shady, all you other slim shady's are just imitating..."

"Now, I ain't saying she's a goldigger, but she ain't messin with no broke, broke...get down, girl. Go ahead, get down..."

3. QUIRK - I love baby names. And, although Andrew and I are still a couple of years away from taking the plunge, I've had a list of my favorites since we first got married. Actually, it's not so much a list as it is an Excel spreadsheet...yeah, I'm not kidding. It has a column of girl names, a column of boys names, and then a column of final combinations. I keep it on our hard drive, and update it periodically with new additions. For now, the top slots are filled by Addison Grace, Avery Elise, Noah Walker, and Grayson Seth...we'll have to see if those hold up. :)

4. TALENT - My special talent is quoting movies or tv episodes. My brother and I are capable of holding several coherent conversations using only movie lines. And, I'm a huge Friends fan, and love to quote them with Emily Roberts (she is truly the master), Shelah, and new-comer Mariana. "The cushions are the essence of the chair!"

5. STRUGGLE - Total transperency, here...I have a self-esteem problem. I know, it is so silly, and I really don't know where it comes from, but there you have it. Ultimately, I think I've spent too many years trying to find my self-worth in things like marriage, work, friends, family, etc. I realize this now, and am shifting my focus to realizing my worth in Jesus Christ.

6. HATE - I detest ALL condiments. So, no mustard, mayo, ketchup, relish, or even salad dressings. I used to get made fun of all the time when I was a kid b/c I'd want my burger with meat and cheese only, my sandwich with just meat and bread, or my salad dry. Now that I'm an adult, it pays off b/c I don't have to worry about the extra calories. Who's laughing now?!?

7. PASSION - March Madness, baby!!! College basketball play-offs is truly the greatest sporting event every year. Each March, I look forward to filling out my bracket to predict the winner of "The Big Dance". I watch Sportcenter for hours on "Selection Sunday" to give me the edge over my fellow competitors. In fact, I won our office pool this past year. Way to go Florida!!

8. PET-PEEVE - Text messaging...where do I begin. This is the one fad that I have not jumped on yet. Probably, because I'm not any good at it!! For the longest time, I had no idea what BTW, LOL, :), and :( all meant. And T9...seriously?!?! All, I want to do is type the word "three", and all I get is Ugh, thirsty, or word not in dictionary. Seriously...there has to be an eaiser way. BTW, I dun hav a txt plan, so it costs me $1 Ech tym U txt me :)


There's my 8 facts, and I think that most of my blogging-friends have already done this, but here it goes...Leah, Emily Roberts, Shelah, Amanda (3rd time's the charm), Travis and/or Katie, and Beck and/or Hayley...you've just been tagged!!

So...

I was glancing back over the past few blogs, and has anyone else noticed how many paragraphs I've started with the word "So..."?!? That's a little silly. There's bound to be more ways to communicate thoughts than with the same word over and over again.

So, I'm going to quit doing that :)

New car...well, new for me :)

So, Andrew and I have finally decided that we are going to quit TALKING about moving to Austin, and actually start PLANNING on moving to Austin...YAY!!! Seriously, this is a place that we've talked about moving to since we were engaged. And seeing as how we do not have any bitties running around, it's a good time to relocate. Of course, taking into account that God will provide the opportunity.

So, with that being said, we've decided to downsize our cars to get rid of our car payments sooner. This a very hard task for Andrew AND I to consider because we are huge car people. And not from a standpoint of driving the most expensive or "showy" car, but of having a "driver's car"...i.e. something GERMAN like VW, Audi, or BMW...hence the Passat...and tear now that it's gone :(

We sold the Passat on Labor Day, and afterward, Andrew and I had a little family finance meeting to discuss the budget for the next car. Oh boy, these little meetings can get tense quick. Ultimately, we decided max $6500. Now I had no idea that $6500 would be such a difficult limit. We searched and searched on Autotrader, Craigslist, Ebay, and all the usual spots. Considering our price range, we were mainly looking for Accords or Maximas. We test drove a couple...and I just came home depressed. I mean I know I was giving up my wonderful German car for a good reason, but I had no idea how much I would have to lower my expectations. Yikes! In fact, I kind of gave up looking and decided to let Andrew do the research...too depressing for me.

After only one week, he calls me about a Maxima he found. Now this, my friends, is what is SOOO wonderful about being married to Andrew Jean...he is a ROCK STAR!!! Many of us know how his talents come in handy in the bike world, but let me tell you, he is truly amazing. I didn't even see the car other than in pictures. It's a 2000 Nissan Maxima w/ my favorite color combo (silver ext/black leather int), and for under our budget!!! While he was test driving it, he noticed a leak in the radiator, and used that to bring the price down. Yah, it's pretty darn nice having my own auto mechanic in the house. Give him anything with parts, even a car engine, and he can take it apart and put it back together. And, if he doesn't know how to do it, he'll just Google it and then go do it. I'm telling you...ROCK STAR!!!

So, I thought I'd share pics of this great find (previous car above and new car below). I think the "treasure hunt" is half the fun for Andrew. I mean, let's be honest...he's had 10 cars since I met him in 2000...maroon 4runner, white maxima, blue lexus, silver GTI, red GTI, green explorer, brown 4runner, maroon truck, silver truck, pewter truck...Geez, that's a bunch of cars. But, hey, we're "car people"!! :)

Drew is 'a bloggin'

Rant, rant, rant.... Soapbox, soapbox
and a little shout-out to all my friends!
Oh, and I recently rode my bike.
Happy Travis?
until next time, -Drew

Bare Minerals!!

So, Andrew and I were in Austin over Labor Day weekend hanging out with some of our friends, Travis/Katie and Beck/Hayley. The funny thing about this is that I'm more like "3rd wheel", or technically speaking "6th wheel". The reason being...they are all very outdoorsy and they all love to mountain bike. Now let's be honest, as my age has progressed, I have become a little more girly and a little less tomboy (tear from Travis, smile from Andrew). So, while I was once very athletic (and still am if I'm playing something like basketball), I could care less about being outdoors, mainly because of things like spiders, roaches, and mosquitos (poking fun begins now).

So, all of this to preface my new favorite thing...Bare Minerals make-up!! This stuff is awesome, and who do I owe this great find to...Katie and Hayley, who are without a doubt, the most outdoorsy/tomboy-esque kind of girls that I am friends with. I mean these girls could go a week straight with no make-up at all, sleeping in the dirt with the boys, banging their legs and arms up mountain biking in Austin, Colorado, or wherever. So, you can imagine my surprise when we are all getting ready to go out to dinner, and they BOTH have this new make-up to demonstrate for me. "You just twirl the brush, tap off the excess, and buff" explains Katie. Seriously?? Seriously!! I was cracking up...this was the sort of thing that I was supposed to be showing them!! I've got to hand it to them...they are both a perfect blend of tomboy and feminine...as clearly displayed by this picture.

So, to my other girly friends like Emily S, Leah, Emily R, Amanda, Laura, Katie W, and Mariana (who should be ashamed of yourselves for not being the ones to suggest Bare Minerals first :)), we've got some catchin' up to do!! ~Liz

We've been converted...finally!

So, we have decided to give this whole blog thing a try. Although, we are babyless and not much occurs from day to day other than work, we figure we have SOME good stories to tell. :) ~Liz