'Tis the Season!

So Joshua and I got our Christmas tree a few weeks ago, but I've been entirely too busy to post about it! We spent one Saturday shopping for lights and garland...and of course our tree! This year we got a real tree, which was a lot of fun to pick out. It's actually my first real tree ever, so the whole "picking out a tree" thing was new to me. We got our beauty from Home Depot. It's approximately 7 1/2 feet tall and really fat! We absolutely love it. Some pictures are below:

The tree! It's much bigger than it looks in this picture.

A view from below

This ornament was a gift from the Dickens family!

We are so blessed to have such great family and friends. We didn't need to buy a single ornament! Thankfully, half of our tree faces a corner so we didn't have to put ornaments on that side. My mom and grandmother both gave us ornaments as wedding gifts from this great town in Michigan called Frankenmuth. The entire town is dedicated to Christmas all year round. I remember going there as a little girl and picking out ornaments and Christmas figurines. We also got ornaments from some friends of Van and Jannelle for our wedding. And then more from the Dickens family (Joshua's aunt, uncle, and cousins) for Christmas. We are so glad to have such a beautiful tree.

We are going to be spending Christmas in Dallas this year and we are really looking forward to it! We are going to Highland Park United Methodist for church on Christmas Eve and then developing our own Christmas traditions from there! We are so excited to spend not only our first married Christmas together, but our first Christmas together EVER! You would think after dating for 5 years we would have spent one together already, but our families are always in different places. So, this one will be very special for us.

We'll let you know about all of the fun later in the week!

Season of Celebration

So it has been a while since I've posted. Joshua and I have been staying very busy. We have celebrated his birthday, had Thanksgiving in Dallas, and now we are getting ready for Christmas!

This year for Joshua's birthday we got a group of friends together to go to Medieval Times. This was most definitely Joshua's idea and thankfully they had a buy one get one free deal going on...those tickets aren't cheap! We had a good group of 8 and it was a fun evening! We were in the Red and Yellow knight's section and we wore our crowns proudly...and cheered very loudly. Below are a few pictures to document the evening.

All of the knights before the competition

Not sure why Joshua has such a goofy face...

Outside of the castle after the competition!

This year we sent Thanksgiving in Dallas and Joshua's parents came down to be with us! I was able to cook my first Thanksgiving meal (minus the turkey) and everything turned out GREAT! Here is a list of our menu:

1) Honey Baked Ham: Joshua's choice
2) Barbequed Green Beans: Steaban tradition
3) Sweet Potato Casserole (with pecans on top)
4) Deviled Eggs: Vincent tradition
5) Corn: needed another veggie
6) Rolls: gotta have some carbs!
7) Pumpkin Pie: Thanksgiving must have!

Picture of the table (minus some of the food due to lack of table space)


I also got to use our china for the first time!
And finally: Joshua and I with our first married Thanksgiving Dinner!

Friday morning Jannelle and I went shopping. I got a few great pieces for work and the mall was relatively calm! I think we got there as the early birds were leaving and before the afternoon crowd came. Then we all went out to the shooting range and the guys shot the shot gun and then we went and shot pistols. Friday evening we went to dinner at Cuba Libre, one of our favorite places to eat and then we traveled to Fort Worth to go to Billy Bobs, a huge country bar. Jannelle and Van got out on the dance floor while Joshua and I watched...we had no clue how to line dance!

I'll update with more fun Christmas festivities later!

Pose, and Pose..

I have FINALLY uploaded pictures from my camera. So upon request, here are the long awaited pictures from my dear friend Hawley's wedding. Matt and Hawley were married on September 20th in Washington D.C. It was a fantastic weekend and here are all of the pictures to prove it!

Weekend Fun

Joshua and I had a pretty great weekend. We went out Friday night with some friends to celebrate our friend Greg's birthday. Greg and Kristi are also married and Greg is in class with Joshua. They are from California and we have a really good time with them when we hang out. Nicole and Richard, other law school friends, also went out with us and we ended up splitting into a girl group and a guy group while we were waiting on dinner. Conversation was great and dinner was FANTASTIC! We went to Cuba Libre, which you can check out here! It's always nice to have good food and great company. We then went to Victor Tangos, a new bar in our area. It was pretty cool...a little pretentious, but overall it had a nice atmosphere.

Saturday morning was spent sleeping in. Then we went Boulevarding...aka tailgating SMU style. This is pretty much the best situation for people watching. Mainly because it's fun to watch all of the undergrads parade around and wonder if I acted anything like them/hoping I acted NOTHING like them. SMU actually played Memphis on Saturday, but we opted for shopping and relaxing at home over the game. Then Saturday night we went over to Richard's for movie night...always fun. We watched the Godfather. Well, they watched...I fell asleep, per the usual.

Sunday was a great day. We started off with waffles, which...if you know me at all..you know that any day that starts with waffles is bound to be a spectacular day. Though we didn't go to church as we had planned, we did get up and go for an amazing walk around White Rock Lake. If you go here you can learn more about the lake. It was a gorgeous morning and the walking path goes right along the edge of the lake...absolutely perfect. I think I'll have to go out there and run on the weekend now. We are looking into purchasing a bike for me so that I can go ride with Joshua out there!

Well, that's about it for our fun-filled weekend! Sunday afternoon was spent doing laundry while Joshua studied. It's starting to kind of feel like fall here and some of the leaves are changing a little bit but I really miss the weather back home and all of the beautiful trees. Thankfully I got a little dose of that when I was in Michigan last weekend.

Playing Catch up!

So, it has been quite a long while since I've posted and so much has been going on! We had a fun filled weekend. We spent Saturday afternoon at the dog park with Nicole, swooning over other dogs and having fun playing with all of them. We REALLY want a dog and it was nice to be around so many different breeds all at once. Now we just have to agree on which breed we want..and move. Our apartment doesn't allow bigger breeds, which is what we want.

Aaron was in town this weekend for the Cowboys game so we met up with him for dinner on Saturday before we headed out to a Halloween party hosted by the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers (DAYL). The party was fun...I love dressing up for Halloween and there were tons of great costumes at the party. Josh was a boxing announcer (think: "Let's get ready to rumble") and I was a disco girl (see picture below).

Sunday we went to the COWBOYS game with Aaron!! It was a lot of fun and they won! I will have pictures up from that soon. I just have to get the camera stuff downloaded. It's the Cowboys' last season in Texas Stadium so I'm glad we were able to experience a game in one of the oldest stadiums still being played in before they move.

Here are the pictures from the game...posted almost 2 months later:

This is Texas Stadium.

Inside Texas Stadium, I love the light coming through!

Joshua and me at the game.

annd...The Cowboy's entrance.

The job is still going great. Last week was our family fun night...Halloween themed of course. All the kids were adorable! The membership staff dressed up as witches, so I got to wear a witch hat all day. Dressing up at work is always fun. I am finally working at my desk, rather than out front and I'm working through all of my accounting reports. It's so nice to have more responsibility and to have people come to me with questions.

Well, that's it more now! I still need to download the camera software so I can post some pictures! Have a Terrific Halloween!

Muscleflex

So the great perk of working at the YMCA is free exercise classes! I went to a class on Monday titled "Muscleflex" (hence the name of this post). I took the class with three of my coworkers, which was really fun...but MAN did that class kick my butt. We used the bosu ball, which is the 1/2 ball used to help with balance and strengthening. I am here to testify, that was probably one of the hardest workouts I've done in a very long time. My entire body still hurts, especially my upper body (such a weakling). Anyways, I'm really excited about all of the class possibilities. They have cycling too!

Weakling no more! The Y will make me strong. Also, they are sponsoring a 5K in November called the Turkey Trot. I'm excited about another chance to run a race.

That is all for today! The weekend is almost here!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

This week has been anything but boring. After getting back from D.C. on Monday, I started my job! I am working at Town North YMCA in Membership. My first day was Wednesday and it was absolutely fantastic. Everyone was so welcoming and helpful. In addition, it feels great to be working for a company I believe in and grew up around.

For the first month I will be working at the front desk, mastering their computer system. I've been meeting all of our members and getting to know the staff really well. The other great thing about working at the YMCA is a free gym membership. One of the other girls in the membership department also really likes to run and think she'll be a great person to hold me accountable in my workout routine.

Speaking of running...the law school put on a 5K on Saturday. It was my first race since my hip injury in college. I was a little nervous and didn't think I would do all that great. Joshua, of course, had tremendous faith in me and said I would run it in 24 minutes. I laughed that off because I really was thinking more like 27-28 minutes. Well, he was right! I ran it in 24 flat! I was also the 2nd female to finish (23rd overall)!! It was so great to get back out there and race. I'm looking forward to more races in the future.

It seems Josh and I have been on the go all week, which has actually been really fun. It is so great to be employed and have something to do during the day. I think we are going to start having some guests from home in October! Some of Joshua's friends are going to come down for the SMU vs. Memphis game and Aaron is coming down for a Cowboys game. So we'll stay busy! I'll post again later in the week!

D.C. Weekend

I just got home from a wonderful trip to Washington D.C. My dear friend Hawley got married on Saturday, so I went up Wednesday to help her finish up a few errands. I had such a good time and I was able to stay with another good friend...Elyse!

Hawley's wedding was absolutely wonderful. The whole thing could not have fit her and Matt's personality more perfectly! The colors were a olive green and gold and the centerpieces at the reception were potted plants, so people were able to take them home and keep them! I had a great time meeting all of Matt's friends, as well as those of Hawley's that I didn't know yet. It was definitely a busy weekend, but I had a blast being a part of such a special day.

On Sunday I was abl to spend some time with Elyse, Claire, and Moira. Claire came in town from Charleston, and Moira came down from New York. I had a blast catching up with them and just relaxing, and generally having a good time. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do any site seeing. I spent most of my time north of the city, in Bethesda, where Hawley's parents live..or actually running errands around town.

I missed Joshua TREMENDOUSLY and we have decided never to take a trip that long without each other again. I'm lookin forward to taking trips with Joshua one day soon, but for now I'm just so thankful to be back home with him. Well, that is all for now. I start my new job tomorrow! I will write more about that later this week, and I'll also post some pictures from Hawley's wedding.

Weddings and Reunions

This past weekend I traveled up to Michigan for my cousins wedding. It was so nice to see my family. Mom was already up there and Zach and Olivia drove up Friday, arriving after me. We all had a great time hanging out at dad's house on Saturday and at the wedding Saturday night. I danced the night away with my cousins. I loved my wedding, and I am so thankful for all the people that came..I really was the party of a lifetime. However, it's also great being on the other side, and being a guest! As their favors, they gave lotto cards, which was so fun!

The trip was very short, I flew home Sunday afternoon and came home to a wonderful surprise! Joshua had picked up our new coffee table!! I'll post pictures soon. He also bought beautiful dark pink roses and had candles lit. It was so nice to come home to my loving husband and a clean house. We had a wonderful afternoon together. We explored a neighborhood on our way to the movies. There is this really cute (really expensive) little shopping center in Highland Park that has an amazing movie theatre. I am putting a picture below. It reminded me of the theatres in Italy (though I've only seen them in movies). I think I may have thought that in part because there was a little gelato shop on the main level!

Highland Park Village Theatre

After our movie we went out to dinner at a great little Mexican place that has truly Mexican food, rather than tex-mex. The food was delicious and the proportions were perfect! After dinner we came home, grabbed our things and went to the library so Joshua could get some work done. It was just really great to spend an entire day together. I hope all of our reunions will be so great.

Volunteering, Tailgating, Socializing

I had an awesome opportunity to volunteer at a local gallery last week. The Dallas Contemporary honors an artist, artist patron, and artist professional every year at their "Legends Ball." This years artist was Joseph Havel and his work was pretty incredible. He works mainly in cloth, but also has bronze works that imitate cloth. I have put a few examples of his work below.
This was a beautiful work entitled Drinks Are Boiling, Iced Drinks are Boiling. It is an amazing, monumental installation measuring 12' x 10 1/2'. The swirling mass coming out of the central ball includes words from a poem and it is absolutely breathtaking. At the Contemporary, the long strand spiraled up two stories. My friend Brittany wrote about the birthing of ideas recently, and this work give a visual example of that concept. The words are coming out of a central nucleus, finding their way into the world.


This work is entitled Dream. Joseph Havel created this work out of shirt tags that were made to order with "Dream" on the tag. This was another piece that I loved. It is suspended from the ceiling and the labels spill out onto the floor, forming a beautiful, irregular puddle. It is an interesting piece to me because he has taken something that could be abstract (dream) and placed it on a consumer object (the shirt tag).

I really enjoyed volunteering at the Contemporary. The environment and the energy was really great and rejuvenating. I had a great time meeting people and discussing art..and career options. I can't wait to do more work with them.

Last post I had mentioned that Joshua and I went to a dinner at a local judge's house. It was such a great evening. We met another couple that also just got married...the weekend after us actually! It was really nice to meet someone that is in the same position as me. After dinner there was a bible study, which was actually done by a local lawyer who graduated from SMU. I'm looking forward to going again. He invited law students once or twice a month, so we'll definitely be going back.

Well, that's all for now! I have another long week of job searching to look forward to!

Labor Day Weekend

Joshua and I had a great weekend. Van, Josh's dad came in town, so we got to hang out with him a bunch. Friday afternoon, while Joshua was in class, Van and I went to lunch with a couple he knows from Nashville. Catherine is from Dallas and her parents came to lunch with us as well. We went to this GREAT Italian restaurant called Campisi's. Their pizza was absolutely amazing! They invited us to go out to dinner with them and some of their friends on Saturday (I'll get to Saturday in a little bit).

Friday night we went over to Fort Worth with Van, Fred (Van and Jannelle's neighbor), and a friend of Fred's who lives in the DFW area. We went to a pizza place...yes, I had pizza twice in one day...but it was really good too! Fort Worth has a much more relaxed night life than Dallas. Most girls there were wearing jeans, which is not common in Dallas. Girls in Dallas usually wear dresses out. Downtown Forth Worth was just really cool. They had lights in the trees and we felt really safe walking around. Granted, I was with all men...so how could I not feel safe, right?

Saturday afternoon Kylie Jo invited me to go watch the season opener for our beloved Bulldogs with some other Georgia alumn. So, while Joshua studied at the library, I drove out to Plano to cheer on the Dawgs. It was great to be around familiar faces and just relax and have a good time. There was also some wonderful tailgating food, can't pass that up! After the game I came home and relaxed and then that night we went to dinner with the group of Catherine's friends. It was great getting to meet other women in Dallas in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. We must have sat at Primo's (a great tex-mex place) for at least 4 hours. I acquired the name of a Salon, so I can get my hair cut (a definite need right now) and I got a few numbers too!

Sunday was really relaxed. We went over to Fred's friend's house (yes...two possessives in a row, sorry!) and played in his pool and grilled out. It so nice to relax all weekend! I had an interview on Monday..but that didn't lead anywhere because it was a sales job and I'm just not interested in cold calling people. I DO have an interview with the Dallas Museum of Art on Friday though!! I am really excited about that. They are hiring temporary staff for the King Tut Exhibit that will be here from October to June. That's a LONG temporary position and if I get the position, it will enable me to learn the city a little better and continue to make contacts for jobs after that.

Ok..I'll stop now. I realize I just wrote a ton! We are going to eat at a judge's house tonight with the Christian organization from the law school. I'm sure I'll have something fun to share from that!

Our Apartment!

I finally have some pictures of our apartment! It wasn't easy to get a view of the whole room, so there are just highlights. Our place is still a work in progress. We still need to put up some art and I have a bunch of crosses to hang on the wall behind our bed. But..for now, here are a few views of our first home together.

This is what you see when
you first walk in the
door. We will have a coffee table very soon that will sit in front of the couch. There is a sliding door behind the far chair that leads out to our patio (pictures to come later).






Down the hall and to the right
is our bedroom. The only thing in there that is worth photographing
is the bed so here it is. I absolutely love our bedroom. We definitely
need something above the bed though...and eventually a bed frame and head/foot board. I absolutely love our lamps!









Directly across the hall from
our bedroom is the office. From this picture it looks really messy, but it's actually really clean! We just have a lot of stuff in there. There are two desks, one for each of us..even though I usually sit out on the couch when I'm on the computer. We still need another computer chair for the second desk. This room also has a walk in closet and bathroom. You might be asking yourself, why didn't they make it the master then. Well, it is a good bit smaller and would have been a tight fit!






On the same side of the hall
as the office, going back towards the main room, is the bathroom. This is the only picture I could get that ALMOST gets the entire bathroom. Don't worry, I have a few details. I picked blues and greens for the colors..very calming.

<--This is a detail of a picture we received as a gift. It also gives you an idea of the shower
curtain and towels.


And to the right is another detail.
Josh and I purchased the painting in Jamaica last summer and it hangs on the right wall as you enter the bathroom.









Well, that's it for now. I haven't taken pictures of the kitchen or dining "area" yet. I'll post them as soon as I get everything organized.

Texas Resident!

I am officially a Vincent and a Texan!! I received my driver's license in the mail yesterday!! Yes, you read correctly, in the mail. Here in Texas they don't print your license out for you at the DMV. Instead, they give you a temporary, paper license without a picture on it and mail you the real one. You also must surrender your "foreign" i.e. out-of-state license at the DMV, leaving you without a photo id. Very weird, I know. Josh and I have been using our passports as identification for the past two weeks and finally..I can now use my new Texas license!

There really isn't anything else exciting going on. I went to an interview today with American Income Life Insurance. I had a brief 10 minute interview and then sat through an extensive information session. The job seems interesting, though I'm not sure how stoked I am about a life insurance sales position. We'll see if I get a call for the final interview and assess the situation from there. I have applied for jobs at the American Red Cross, the YMCA, and Mended Hearts. I think all three of those would be a better fit for me...now I just have to wait and see.

That's all for now. I will post pictures of the apartment later this week.

Weekend Fun

Josh and I didn't do too much this weekend, but we did have fun going to a few law outings. On Friday we went to Barley House, a bar about 3 minutes from us, for "Bar Review." We mingled with all of the other law students and Josh introduced me to several of his classmates. I had a good time talking with them and getting to know everyone. The bar was fun. It had a huge patio out front, which is where we spent most of the evening. We learned later that Barley House is a big undergraduate hang out, which was very apparent later in the evening. We also learned that bars close at 2 here and on Saturday night they close at midnight because they are no longer allowed to serve alcohol (since it is technically Sunday).

On Saturday we went to another law party held at the home of one of the law students. The house was great and the backyard was absolutely gorgeous. Some girls that came in behind us commented on how perfect the space would be for a wedding/reception and I couldn't have agreed more. The party had a dj and two bars on either side of the pool, as well as some appetizers. They had margarita machines which was pretty great..it reminded me of our rehearsal dinner! Overall, it was a nice event allowing for more mingling.

I spent Sunday afternoon watching the end of the Olympics and staining our new dresser that we purchased from an unfinished furniture store in Plano. It's turning out great! We picked a "Rosewood" stain, which looks like a cherry stain. I'm excited to see the finish product. I have one more drawer and then the actual dresser to stain. Then I have to put on a topcoat and that's it! I'll post pictures with the final product.

Married life has been great and I've really enjoyed making this place our home. I really love cooking dinner..and on the weekends breakfast. I made banana pancakes on Saturday (thank you Jack Johnson) and there were amazingly delicious! Joshua said they were his favorite meal that I had made!

Well, that is all for now. I'm still looking for a job and have started looking over the non-profit site for job postings. I have found a few interesting things so we shall see!

More About Our Move

I thought I would post a few pictures from the move. We only have a few of the drive...it was pretty flat and there really wasn't all that much to see. We DID stop at the Texas border and take a few pictures to document our arrival in our new home state! After getting back in the car and driving a little further, a huge rainstorm popped up and as I turned around to look out the back window I saw a huge rainbow...such a wonderful sign of God!

So here are the photos of our journey to Dallas:

Joshua driving, keeping us safe the whole way there. He was such a trooper, driving us the entire way with my car pulled behind the Tahoe.








So here I am....in the long car ride to the big D! I had to wear my glasses so I could be somewhat
helpful on the drive.






We're in Texas! I thought it would be fun to climb on the huge metal Texas sculpture that was at the welcome center. We didn't realize at the time that the state was backwards! Oops!







Another one in front of the Texas sculpture. This time it's the right direction!










I'll post some pictures of our new apartment soon. We have a few more boxes to get rid of before I take pictures though. It's starting to look like home!

We're Here!

Josh and I had an amazing time at the wedding and can't believe it flew by so fast! We had a spectacular time in St. Lucia on our honeymoon. Talk about a tropical island...it was absolutely gorgeous! Three days after returning from the island we packed up and headed to Dallas, our new home. It took us about a week to unpack and get settled. We definitely still have a few things to finish, like putting up pictures on our bare walls and staining our new dresser, but things are starting to look like home. We've had dinner at home most nights, which has been nice. I am looking forward to exploring the city more and finding some great places to eat. Thankfully, we have a few friends here and we have been out to eat with them.

Josh started school yesterday and I have officially started my job hunt. I have an interview on Thursday, so keep your fingers crossed! I also have a great volunteer opportunity with the Dallas Contemporary, which will hopefully get me a foot in the door to something else in the future! We also attended Highland Park United Methodist on Sunday and really liked it. I think they have a total of 3 different types of worship services going on at the same time, which is really cool! The church is huge and reminds me a lot of Brentwood UMC. I'm looking forward to trying out the contemporary service and looking into some different volunteer opportunities and bible studies there as well. Josh and I are still so excited about our new life together and all the wonderful things that we know are in store for us. God has put us on an awesome journey together and we are both looking forward to the road ahead.

Well, off to research some more job opportunities! I'll continue to post with news of our life here in Dallas