Muddin'

In February, a couple guys in our church started talking about how they've always wanted to complete a Tough Mudder. They spent the past few months training with each other and getting tough. Last weekend was the actual run.

My role in all of this: run the spectator "course" which includes my own set of obstacles mostly made up of dodging camp chairs and visor-clad grandmas. But boy did I run that path. I would take pictures of the boys at one obstacle, then book it so I could meet them at the next. It was exhausting.

In total, I took almost 200 photos and videos of these guys. Check out our Mormon Mudders:

As you can tell, I was a little hesitant to get close to him. He was caked in mud and I didn't want any on me. He was so exhausted and beat up from the run. A couple hours after the run, the aches and pains started to kick in and he was having a difficult time walking. Right after the race he said that he'd never do another Tough Mudder again. But now that his muscles have healed and he's walking properly, he's thinking about signing up for another one!

Did you buy your tickets?

A few weeks ago we went to a gun show.

That's right. As part of our conversion into Texas culture there are several things we feel we must experience: the Texas State Fair (completed), a good ol' Texas Rodeo, Billy Bob's Texas, etc.

Well Scott got his Texas drivers license, our car is licensed and registered in the state of Texas and we figured it was high time that see for ourselves the true love that Texans have for the second amendment.

Man oh man was I in culture shock - and I've spent plenty of time in foreign countries. I walked in and was just amazed. I'm a girl from a tree-hugging, recycling, very liberal city.  A gun show was definitely foreign waters for me.

Scott had a blast. I'm convinced he's a cowboy at heart - he already has boots! I still have a ways to go before I'm full Texan.

Calgary Flames

Here's a pre-break in post that I was going to write and then of course, I didn't have my laptop anymore.

Scott spent a majority of his growing up years in Canada and loves hockey. He eats, breaths, and sleeps hockey. Me not being a real sports-enthusiast in general, decided I might as well watch it with him and maybe some day I'll learn to enjoy it.

I probably annoy Scott when we're watching games on tv because of all of the questions I ask. What call did the Ref just make? What is 'icing'? Why is fighting acceptable? Why are there only four people out on the ice now? etc...etc...etc.

I can officially say, I am an amateur fan. I know some of the players names, most of the ref calls, and most importantly, when I should cheer and when I should be frustrated. I'm getting pretty good at this whole hockey thing.

When we moved to Dallas, Scott's one request was that we go to a few hockey games now that we lived in a city that had a major league team. We attended the Dallas Stars opener in the beginning of January. The second game he wanted to attend was when the Flames came to Dallas.

Well that was a few weeks ago and of course we attended, dressed all in red.

We had a blast!

Unfortunately our beloved flames lost, but it was so much fun. Such a fun date night! Hockey is something definitely better enjoyed in person. I can keep up watching it on tv, thanks to the sportscasters, but I think I do a much better job in person. Or maybe I could keep up and understand because of all the previous hockey exposure.

Anyway. I'm becoming a more devoted hockey fan and Scott definitely appreciates that.

March Update

I know it's been a month since I've blogged, but granted, it's been a crazy month. I feel like I need one of those blurbs at the beginning of tv shows saying "Previously on Soxx and Rara..." just so we're all on the same page.

So this past month I have been in training at Southwest Airlines and learning so much. On average, I use about five different programs/applications to find information but I have been trained on ten or so. Tons of information. I swear everything you do in regards to flying is recorded in at least one of our systems. It's almost so detailed that if a passenger sneezes on a plane, we document it. Not really but I read so much information about flights, passengers, and all the behind the scenes stuff at the airports.

For the most part, the past month has been run-of-the-mill. I work in the morning because I'm in training and Scott has been working the 11am-8pm shift. So our days are pretty booked.

Here is our month in quick bullet points:
- A few weeks ago, we did go to a Calgary Flames game (pictures and formal  blog post to come)
- I took my first phone calls (eek!) and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.
- Scott spent a weekend taking a motorcycle driving class and officially got his Texas Driver's License for both vehicles and motorcycles
- We bought Scott a motorcycle and some cowboy boots.
- And our apartment was broken into.
-We attended our first gun show.

Yep. About two weeks ago we were about 20 minutes from home at Scott's eye appointment. I was holding onto Scott's phone and it rang with a blocked number on the screen. I thought it was a telemarketer and not worth answering. For some reason I answered anyway.

It was the cops.

The Dallas police officer I spoke to said that he got our number from our managers and said we needed to come right away. Our apartment door was kicked in and we needed to come and look at the crime scene.

The suspect only had just enough time to grab the first things he saw because our neighbor immediately called the cops when she heard him kicking our door, so by the time he got the door open, the cops were pulling into our complex. He grabbed Scott's new playstation and my laptop that was sitting on the couch. He ended up dropping the playstation on the cememnt walkway outside our apartment when he ran off, but my poor little laptop was no where to be seen.

We gave the laptop's serial number to the detective and checked to see if it pulled up on Apple's Find My iOS device feature, but no luck.

My tear ducts lasted until seconds after we spoke with the cops. I literally sat on the floor and all I could do was cry. Man oh man it was a rough day for me.

I told Scott that it wasn't that my laptop was stolen - I could care less about that. I was in shambles because some stranger was in our apartment. It felt violated. Any sense of security I had in that apartment was gone. I was a mess and randomly bursting into tears for the rest of the day. Scott was so supportive and was great to me.

I am happy to report that we were released from our lease and transferred to a new apartment that we abosolutely LOVE. We were moved in exactly a week from the break in, so we feel blessed and definitely see the Lord's hand in guiding us to where we need to be.