Karl is home!

After serving his third tour in Iraq, Hans' older brother has finally arrived home!! He got into Killeen yesterday afternoon where he was met by his wife, daughter, and Hans' mother. We really wish we could have been there but with work and finals, it wasn't possible. We can't wait to see him this weekend though and are so glad that he is home safe and sound - and in time for Christmas! Enjoy these pics, courtesy of Hans' mom.

We got robbed.

Last night my cousin Stephanie and her husband Lance had their annual Christmas party. It was a white elephant gift exchange and it was so much fun! I think she had about 80 people crowded into her home, so the game took a couple hours.

Hans and I lucked out and drew really high numbers - #50 for me and #59 for Hans.

Early in the game, some one drew a Leopard snuggie. Birthday boy Lance had his eye on it and when it was his turn, he stole it. Steph yelled "But we BROUGHT that!" Someone stole it from him, and he ended up stealing it right back. He was really proud of that snuggie. We thought it was pretty funny because we actually brought a teal Snuggie. Apparently, love of snuggies runs in the family.



Stephanie got one of the funniest presents. It's half a dog (so it looks like it's digging the ground). He barks and kicks his foot. I laughed so hard I thought I had tears in my eyes.



I got a boring gift :( It was a stuffed gorilla that sings L-O-V-E. No one wanted to steal that - Erika's done for the game.





Hans, on the other hand, drew the best gift of the bunch - giant red onesie, footy pajamas. It was hilarious and he loved them. Unfortunately, so did everyone else and they promptly got stolen three times in a row. He should have put them on as soon as he got them so no one could steal them. He was so sad when we left - we got so robbed!



But the party was so fun. Great friends, great food, great laughs. And Hudson has a cute new chew toy that he loves :)

Hans has a new job!

The time has come for me to leave the bowling alley. It's treated me pretty well. It gave me plenty of time to study and it paid decently for a campus job. Plus, it gave me all the free bowling I could handle, which let's face it, is a lot.

It wasn't cutting it anymore though, so I began to look for other work. I spoke to my friend Adam about a week ago concerning any openings at his job. He works for a company called ebQuickstart and loves it. It felt like a long shot, because I haven't graduated yet and won't be able to work full time until the summer, but I was getting desperate. I had my interview on Thursday with the CEO of the company and he must have like something because he offered me the job that same day!

I'm incredibly excited!

The high unemployment rate and especially the number of college graduates who can't find work right out of school seems to be the only thing I've been hearing lately. I feel so blessed that I now have a job that I can be proud of and that will help me support my wife and this new marriage.

And the timing couldn't have been more perfect! As most of you know, my mustang is out of commission and Erika's Civic is totaled. School starts up in late January and there is no way that we can get around without two cars. That means we were going to have to get two new cars within a month. We would have been stretched very thin if we were able to afford it at all. This new job will give us the ability to get the cars we need to get to work and school.

Needless to say, the Lord has had a hand in my life lately. I know that I don't deserve it but am humbled and eternally grateful for all that has been given to me.

Great date night!

Today was such a great day. We ran some errands during the day (including cleaning out the Yellow House - sad!). But this evening we met Adam and Mandy Krutsinger at the temple in San Antonio.


We decided to do sealings and initiatories since no one but Adam has done them, aside from our own. The Sealer was Bro. Francis Burton who actually sealed Hans and I. He's a really neat man and tells great stories. He used to be a surgeon, so he encorporates a lot of that into what he's trying to say about the Gospel. Mostly, he's just adorable and sweet and always has a smile on his face. It made me really happy.

After that, Mandy and I each were able to do five names for initiatories. The guys did three names each from Molly Lewis' family names (go Molly!). I'm always really interested in where the women are from and when. Tonight was really special in that all five of my women were from Spain in the 1560s-80s. I've never had names so old before and that was really special.

When we were done at the temple, we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory (about 15 minutes from the temple) for dinner. It's one of Mandy's favorites and the only one in Austin is on the opposite side of town from where we live. The food was amazing!! Mandy and I both got the pumpkin cheesecake for dessert and it was incredible.

A simple evening, but full of the spirit and great food and laughs with dear friends. I wish all nights could be like this.

Praise the Honda

Many of you are curious about the accident I was in last week. Here's the whole fun story.

I was on my way to work shortly before 4 p.m. I have to take the main highway in Austin, I-35, to get to work. It was pouring torrential buckets of rain. I moved into the inside lane to pass and 18 wheeler and as I did so, I started hydro

planing. I tried to get control of the car, but couldn't and started spinning. It was truly the scariest moments of my life as I realized I what was going to happen.

I slammed head first into the cement highway divider. I'm not sure, but I estimate I was going probably 40-50 mph when I hit it. But then I kept spinning and slammed the back of the car, too. 

When the car finally stopped, the inside was full of smoke. I know now that that was

 the powder from the airbags, but I didn’t realize that at the time. I was scared and just wanted to get out of the car. So even though it was pouring, I grabbed my purse and ran out into the rain. I called 911 and the police came to get me. At the time, Hans was actually in a final exam for one of his labs. He pulled an all nighter the night before because he had two finals that day. I called our good friend Andrew Taylor and he came

 and picked me up. We went and picked Hans up from campus when he was done with his test. He did a good job of staying calm when his wife called him saying she’d just been in an accident, totaled the car, and needed to go to the hospital. Andrew suggested we skip the ER which would be a long wait and very expensive. Instead, we tried one of those urgent care clinics and it was awesome. There was no wait. We went right in, the doctor examined me and took a bunch of xrays, and we were out in under an hour. And they took my insurance. Woot.

My car was completely destroyed. The front bumper fell off. The engine fell down and some fluid (I don’t know what) container was burst and spilling. The whole front hood crumpled and the front left wheel well caved in (and the tire was blown, too). On the back end, I took out the b ack right corner, lights, everything, and managed to displace the trunk’s hood. None of the doors on the car, nor the trunk, could be opened without forcing them. The windshield was cracked and stuff in the car even broke from the impact (Hans’ sunglasses, to be exact).

And believe it or not, I am fine. I had wicked whiplash for a couple days after the accident, so bad that I had a hard time moving my head or body at all. I have a nasty burn on my chest from where the seatbelt tore across my skin. It looks and feels like a carpet burn. But aside from that, no other injuries. No cuts from the breaking glass. No burns from the air bag powder. No cracked or broken ribs from the seat belt. Nothing. I’m totally fine. And while I spun out of control on I-35 in 4 p.m. traffic, no one hit me and I didn’t hit anyone. I truly feel very, very blessed and believe that Heavenly Father preserved my life. It feels like a miracle.

There were other blessings, too. When I was standing in the pouring rain, too afraid to get back in my car, trying to call 911, I all of a sudden realized there was an umbrella over my head. A small, older Hispanic man had seen my accident, pulled over to the side of the road, and ran out to help me. I could see two little girls in the back seat of his car watching us (daughters, or granddaughters I assume). His name was Joe and I don’t think his English was great, but he said that he would stay there until the police came. By the way, not only was it pouring, it was freaking freezing last week. It snowed in Texas, if you didn’t hear. So this kind, wonderful man stayed with me until the police arrived, than wished me luck, gave me his umbrella and left. People like him give me faith in humanity.

The cops were also very nice. I was shaking so hard I couldn’t sign the forms they were giving me. But they were very patient, helped me to sit down, and one gently joked “Don’t worry, there’s no points for neatness.” When the tow-truck driver asked for my keys, in my daze I simply handed them over until one of the cops put a hand on my shoulder and said “No, honey, you’re going to need your house keys.” They were just very patient and gentle with me while I was in shock. More good people in the world.

That was the accident. It was horrifying, but I feel very, very blessed to be whole and intact. And people have been so wonderful. Andrew helped us all day, even stayed at the hospital and drove us home. Parker picked us up the next day and took us to get a rental car. Amy offered her car and Adam and Mandy offered rides and food. Denny sent me the sweetest email to check on me. And people from work were amazing, too! Obviously, I didn’t make it in to work. I called my boss immediately (like, after 911 but before Andrew) so that she could find someone to cover me. Not only did she tell me not worry about it, but she stopped by the urgent care clinic on the way home to check on me. My boss’ boss called me three times that night to check in and see how I was doing. I got home to find emails from four other co-workers offering whatever help they can give. It truly made me realize how abundantly blessed I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. And my brothers kept calling me too! I don’t talk to them much (they’re always so busy and talking to your sister isn’t cool) but I got to talk to them both for a total of several hours over the past week and that made me really happy. I really love those little jerks.

We're still working everything out with the insurance company, but they're going to cover everything. We went ahead and bought a new car last weekend, but I'll save that for another post.

All in all, I am surprisingly grateful for this opportunity. I realize how lucky I am to have such great friends and more importantly how good the Lord is to me in preserving my life and providing such comfort and peace. It's amazingly wonderful how trials bring us closer to Him and I'm grateful for that.

All hail my poor, dead Honda. She gave her life for me and I'll always remember her.

Wowza!

Expect lots of posts from me, all in a row. Not only do I hate empty blogs, but there's much to catch up on!

But I had to throw in a plug for this blog. I grew up with this woman's family (her dad and brother were my hometeachers for years!) and now she has an amazing blog. Even more amazing? She's giving away a KitchenAid mixer! 

Hans and I have been drooling over these since we registered for one, fully expecting no one would actually get it. So if there's anyone reading this already, please help us up our chances to win by following The Litter. To help us out, follow her blog, leave her a comment and say that we sent you. Thanks!

You got me.

About a year ago, even before wedding mania '09 began, I noticed that several people I'd grown up with had started blogs after they got married. Of course, I brushed this off. "What does anyone need a blog for? I don't need a blog. I don't have anything interesting to say."

As much as I scoffed, I did, in fact, end up reading these blogs. And admiring the cute backgrounds and templates on them. They became especially useful after said friends started having kids - I'm a sucker for baby pictures.

Then yesterday, I found a whole network of people I had no idea existed. That's right, my great-aunts and cousins apparently all have super-cute blogs. We're talking, my great-aunts that I love but never see and don't get to talk to often. I happened upon my cousin Amy's blog and discovered a whole family network. They all found each other, I was just out of the loop.

So long story short - I'm in. I figure if nothing else, this will help the grandmas, (Hi Grammy, Hi Oma) know what's going on.

Here we go!