Daddy's Boys

I'm not the only one excited to see Jason after a LONG week without him...the boys go nuts over their daddy! Here are just a few pictures I took this weekend of the boys loving on their daddy!

Jason took the dogs outside when we woke up and Muzzy wouldn't leave his side--Bazzle, on the other hand, was sniffing and searching for a new piece of grass!

Jason was laying in the floor watching TV and Muzzy had to get as close to him as possible. I guess he thought climbing to the highest point would get him closer than Bazzle.
Notice the orange blanket....it's a super comfy blanket that Jason loves to cover up with and the dogs go crazy over it. Whoever has the orange cover on them will inherit two little dogs on their lap! The boys miss their daddy so much and they will be glad when November 6th gets here!

Halloween Isn't The Same Without Costumes

This weekend we planned to carve pumpkins and get in the Halloween spirit...so I decided to dress the boys up in their costumes. Muzzy was supposed to be a rooster but the only thing that fit was the head part.

He wasn't too excited to have some weird thing tied to his head but was better when I gave him a treat.

Bazzle was a squirrel--a very cute squirrel I might add! He didn't mind the costume as much as Muzzy but he still wasn't thrilled. I love the huge acorn in the front...too cute!

Once I got pictures of the boys in their Halloween costumes, I couldn't get them off fast enough. As soon as I got them off, they ran right to the treat jar. They knew they had earned a treat for the pain I put them through.

Once Jason got home, the fall festivities began! I made a spooky cake for us--we needed some sugar to keep us going! We had a fun weekend planned!

I had bought 4 pumpkins...one for each of our family members! We decided that we would carve designs on the 2 bigger pumpkins and the boys initials on the 2 smaller pumpkins. Jason decided he wanted to carve a flame face on his and I wanted to carve a scared little boy hiding in his bed from a scary eye looking in the window on mine.

The designs seemed very neat when we started but about half way into it we were wishing we would have just stuck with the simple, original pumpkin faces.

The finished products were awesome! It was definitely worth the work! We couldn't wait for it to get dark so we could put candles in our pumpkins and set them on our back patio. We were so proud of our pumpkin creations...

Here is the finished product of the Conway's pumpkins! The carved pumpkins on the back patio make things feel a little more like fall.

I Am Like A Pumpkin

In a lot of ways, Christians are like pumpkins. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you. Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff...

He removes all the seeds, doubt, greed, jealousy, etc

Then he carves you a new smiling face and puts a light inside you for all the world to see!

**I saw this on another blog and LOVED it! I think it's a perfect visual, especially at this time of year! I'm so excited for the holidays--Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas but I need to remember to be a light, regardless of the season!

My Achy, Breaky Heart

Jason just left for another week in his psychiatry rotation--he's only got 3 weeks to go! Time is definitely flying by but I'm ready for him to be here with me full-time. When he left today, I felt a little more upset than usual. We have so much fun together on the weekends-whether it's riding bikes, watching movies, walking the dogs, sneaking out to the hottub at night, or sleeping in past 7am that I hate to see him go.

I hate to see Sunday evenings come because Jason has to leave but I know that it's a week we can mark off the calendar until he's back home! I know that all of these sacrifices will be worth it but right now I'm feeling sorry for myself. I miss my husband and I want him back home. I love my husband so much and this distance has definitely made me realize just how crazy I am about him. Enough of the sappy talk...HURRY UP NOVEMBER 6th!

If You Need Me, I'll Just Be In MY OFFICE!!

I have succesfully completed my first week of work and I LOVE IT! I really feel like this is exactly where God wants me and it's a great feeling. Since the organization hasn't had a program coordinator in over a year, there was plenty of work for me to do! On the first day--I was given my very own office!

Notice my very own computer, printer, filing cabinets, desk, phone, and comfy chair! Nice, huh? The rest of the week was really good--I actually started placing students with their volunteer tutors. There is nothing better than to call a student to let them know we matched them with a tutor. The students are very grateful that someone would take their time to help them meeting their personal literacy goals. I think once I get a better understanding of our different sites and a little more background, then I will be able to really build this program up in the right direction. Week one was amazing...hearing the alarm clock every morning was music to my ears. I'm sure this will change once I've been working for awhile but for now, I love it! I'm definitely looking forward to week two--my own business cards and endless student/tutor placements. I still don't know if I'll get used to saying, "please come back in my office so we can go over more details."

I'm Watching You....

Every morning when I get up, the first thing I do is feed the dogs and give Muzzy his medicine. They are starving...or act like it by the time I get up and get their bowls filled. Bazzle gobbles his up faster than I get get Muzzy's poured, while Muzzy eats totally different. Muzzy actually takes a few pieces out of his bowl and he tends to be more selective. He actually enjoys what he's eating. When Bazzle finishes eating, he goes a short distance away from Muzzy's bowl so he can watch and when Muzzy is done he eats any of the leftovers. Muzzy has figured out that Bazzle is lurking around the house just waiting for him to turn his back so he can gobble up his food so he has started guarding his food. This cracks me up! I had to get a picture...

Muzzy is taunting his older brother by leaving one piece of food outside the bowl, but Bazzle won't get close until Muzzy leaves. It's things like this that keep my days interesting. The things they do are so funny! I love those crazy boys!

Now Do I Get A Flatscreen?!

Getting a great job was not only exciting for me but he was also really excited for the possibilites it would be able to offer our family. Before I got a job, we always talked about getting a flat screen but only when I got a job and we could save up for it. I called him and told him that I was offered the position and right after he congratulated me he asked "does that mean I can get a flatscreen now?" He's so funny! I guess we'll need to start saving up...he does have a birthday coming up!

Jason is the most sweetest, thoughtful husband! On Friday night, when he walked into the house he gave me the prettiest flowers. He stopped on the way home to grab them so he could show me how proud he was of me! I was not expecting to get any flowers, which always makes getting them so much nicer! God has given me a WONDERFUL husband and I don't know what I would do without him!

Just Keep Peddling

Saturday morning we woke up and decided it was a great day for a bike ride. Well, things aren't always as easy as hopping on the bikes and heading towards the bike trail. Our adventure started when we couldn't figure out the combination to the bike lock. We tried everything we could think of...irritation and frustration was running high after 20 minutes of wrong combinations. I ended up driving to Lowe's to get a bolt cutter--a bike lock wasn't going to stand in our way of a good ride! After we cut the lock off, we had to take Jason's bike to a bike store and fix his front tire. The tire busted out on the drive out to California--must have hit a really big bump! Our bike ride started as soon as the lock was cut off and the flat tire was fixed. We rode from our apartment to the bike trail.

The whole trail is about 30 miles each way, so there is plenty of room for us to ride and get a great workout in. We went about 10 miles and decided to turn around and head back for home. On my turn, I got off the path a little bit. Being that we are out in the middle of the desert, I didn't think it was a big deal. Well, I guess it was a big deal because I ran over a thorne and my tire went completely flat about 5 miles away from civilization. Needless to say, my legs got one heck of a workout! I just kept telling myself to "just keep peddling, we're too far away to be pushing bikes back home." I made it back to the main road and took my bike straight to a bike shop. I explained my situation--bike riding on trail, no money, and flat tire. I offered to leave my sunglasses or camera if they would fix my tire and trust me to come back and pay. We didn't think we would need our wallets but I guess we should always be prepared. They didn't take any collateral--just asked us to come back and pay sometime later that day. As the tire was getting changed, we sat around and laughed about our day. Sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh...laughing is good for the soul!
Our Saturday was great--sometimes the unexpected always makes for the best days.

Starting A New Chapter...Adulthood!

Since moving to California, my job search has been intense and continuous. I was applying to just about any job, online or in the paper, that said "now hiring". I didn't hear anything back from many of them, but there were a few. I was starting to get very discouraged...I'm fresh out of school and can't find a job. This wasn't suppose to be how things worked. Well God does provide-I had an interview at a literacy council and fell in love with the job, the area, and the overall atmosphere. My first interview went great and two weeks later I was invited back for a second interview. The second interview was a little more intense--I had to interview with the board. After the interview, I sat patiently waiting for the phone call to tell me if I had the position. Did I tell you that out of 250 applicants, 4 applicants were being interviewed in front of the board and I was 1 of the 4?? It was very nerve racking! Well, I got the phone call and I was told that I was in second place, very close behind their first choice but that I didn't get the position. I tried to stay positive but part of me felt like I let down my family. I wanted to be able to support my family, buy special gifts for Jason, and save up for family vacations. None of those were going to happen until I found a full-time job. I didn't let the news get me down...I kept searching for my perfect job. Two days later after driving home from visiting Jason, I got a phone call. I noticed the number was from the literacy council--odd being that I didn't get the job. I answered the phone and was given some great news! The person that was offered the job decided to turn down the position and accept another one. So, that leaves me next in line! All things happen for a reason...I was offered the program coordinator position at the literacy council! I was offered an office, benefits, and a salary! This is the next chapter...adulthood. I'm looking forward to working at a job where I can change lives and be a light for others. My position has so much power--power to be a positive light and to give compassion to people that need it the most. I'm looking forward to my daily challenges...I am going to be the best program coordinator possible! God has once again provided! I don't know why I let myself get so discouraged and impatient-things happen when they are suppose to. Thank you God for being so great to the Conway family!

Huntington Beach

Every Wednesday, I load up the dogs and we head to Norwalk to see Jason. We usually leave later in the afternoon so we get there right when he gets off work, but this week was a little different. Jason had to go to court with a few of his patients and when court was over, he got the rest of the day off. I left early and got there right when he got home. It was really nice that he got off early because we got to go and explore the area a little bit. We decided to make a drive for the coast and see the ocean. We drove up the Pacific Coast Highway until we found an area of beach that we wanted to explore.

We ended up going to a dog beach so the pups could enjoy themselves! They didn't know what to do with themselves...so much territory to be explored! They would barely let me pick them up for a picture--everything was so distracting!

I knew we weren't in Missouri anymore because there were "baggy" stations everywhere along the beach. They definitely want people to pick up after their dogs!

We had such a great time exploring the coast and walking along the beach--we didn't want to leave!

It was so good to be able to spend the whole afternoon together...I really miss him during the week!

Jason is half-way through his psychiatry rotation...only 4 more weeks and he will be doing rotations in Bakersfield. We miss each other during the week, but it's days like this that erase all the lonely nights!

Do-It-Yourself Project

How neat are these framed wall decorations?? I was searching on the internet for easy "do-it-yourself" wall decorations and came across this. I'm not sure what I want to spell out but I know I definitely want to do this for our apartment. While deciding what I want to do, I need to be on the lookout for letters in nature and in our everyday lives. I'm hoping that I can get everything together soon...our walls are looking a little bare!

Patience...It's A Virtue

I would consider myself a pretty patient person...at least initially! Well, when we first moved into our apartment we were told that the apartments right across from ours caught on fire and there was some serious damage. If serious damage means one of the four apartments being totally burnt down, one burnt but not totally destroyed, and the remaining two apartments with serious smoke damage, then yes, there was some SERIOUS damage. There were some legal issues that were preventing workers from fixing the apartment, but I'm guessing the legal issues got resolved because the workers are present every day! Workers start their day working on the apartment at about 6:30am EVERY STINKING DAY!
I'm so thankful that they are fixing up the apartment so we don't have to walk past or constantly see a burnt down apartment building! I'm also thankful that they are doing all this work while Jason is away--it could be pretty annoying when he has call for the hospital and gets woken up by saws, hammers, and all the other tools that makes loud, awakening noise.
I didn't get any pictures of what the apartment looked like before they started working on it, but they've gotten a lot done since the beginning.This project right outside my bedroom window is definitely helping me with my patience. I guess God thought I needed a little more practice with my patience. I've been pretty positive about the construction...but here lately I'm getting really frustrated with all the noise! I lay in bed, tossing and turning, burying my head under pillows, and eventually giving in and getting out of bed. I'm hoping that God is just training me for a potential job...never know what the future holds! I'm determined to stay positive the next few weeks! When I am woke up by the banging of hammers, drilling, saws, and loud nail guns--I'm going to smile and thank God that I was able to open my eyes for another day!

We're No Angels, But It Sure Is Fun To Pretend!

Tuesday night was our first baseball game at a stadium other than Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Chip and Sue had extra tickets to the Angels game and were nice enough to pass them off to us! I drove down and met Jason when he got off work--he had to change out of his work clothes and into something a little more festive for the game. Anaheim isn't that far from where Jason is staying so we decided to leave a little early and explore the stadium a little before the game. The stadium had some very interesting decorations outside--totally different from STL, but very eye catching.

After looking around for a bit, we headed to our seats. Our section was 530 so we knew we were heading up, but we didn't know exactly how high we would be going...did I mention the tickets were given to Chip and Sue for free? We couldn't complain--we were given tickets to a major league game for FREE!

Our seats were the last row in the stadium...we were cracking up! We were joking about how bad the seats were going to be but we never thought we'd be the last row. It was actually kind of nice because you could see the whole stadium pretty well

We had a game plan early on...we'd stay in our seats until the 3rd inning and then we would relocate to some closer seats! Before we could relocate, Abreu (Angels player) hit a homerun in the second inning! The stadium shot off tons of fireworks and the crowd went crazy. I didn't have my camera out in time to catch all the excitement but I did get a picture of the scoreboard!

The longer the game went on, the colder the temperature got. I knew it would be cooler because it was a night game but being from Bakersfield, the city of extreme desert heat, didn't realize how cool it would get. Thank goodness Chip brought a jacket along and was nice enough to share! I was freezing--I even had to break down and buy some hot cocoa!

The game was a lot of fun! I'm glad we got to enjoy a Tuesday evening at Angel Stadium-Jason really enjoyed spending the evening with his little brother and dad!
The Angels defeated the Texas Rangers to win the American League West pennant. We are still Cardinal fans but it was fun to pretend to be Angels for the night!!