"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you."

Well I'm still just as busy as I was in the last post.  We had parent orientation last Sunday and it was PACKED! Standing room only, people.  So it was cool to see everyone's family.

Last week was the first time it really hit me that I moved to Texas.  I know that sounds crazy because I've been here for almost 3 months but last week was when it sunk in.  I read a post about giving yourself time to grieve when you move, even when it is for happy reasons.  Then I went to a Rangers game.  The game was good but when I walked into the stadium and I looked out onto the field the only thing I thought was "this isn't Turner Field."  I'm not even that big of a baseball fan, for some reason the stadium just set me off!

The next day I got to see Becky, Chris, Brady and Abby! They had just moved to Texas and I got to babysit Brady and Abby and I asked them to be my ring bearer and flower girl! I'm so excited they are a part of our wedding.  They were great reminders of Athens and it was comforting to see them, but I still spent some time crying on their couch! I felt bad because I was so happy to see them but I was suddenly missing the place they reminded me of!  But I'm truly blessed to have them here in Dallas with me and I love Brady and Abby, they are so cute!

In keeping with the "I suddenly can't believe I moved to Texas" theme I sometimes forget that I'm in Texas.  Except when there are certain things that remind me.  Like I'm driving down a road called FM 1382 or FM 2499 and I remember that the FM stands for "Farm to Market." Because that was the road that took you from the farm to the market...

Or when I go to Kroger and they don't know what hummus is.  Or when I go to the drive-through ATM and I can't reach it because it's 4 feet higher to accommodate trucks.  Or when I go in a building and people are smoking inside.  Or when people at church are [jokingly] told not to talk to me because I'm a vegetarian and a 49ers fan.  Yes, all of this happens on a regular basis.

In DIY Devyn Land I built a bookcase! It was only $30 from Target and I put it together all by myself!  I didn't have the right tools through, so I used my pocket knife and my "Ms. Frizzle" high heels.  It turned out great! I'll have to post an after picture soon but for now here is the picture of what it looked like building it in my little apartment.  You can see in the picture I'm still sleeping on an air mattress in my living room... but as of today I have a bed! Just picked it up thanks to the help of Mr. Buschow and the wonderful website known as Craigslist.

 Those of you who know me won't be surprised by the picture above.

My tools: the screw driver part of my Swiss Army Knife was too big so I used the can opener for the screws.  Now that's resourcefulness! Shout-out to Dorian for buying me that knife in Switzerland with my name on it!


Reflection: I'm going to dedicate this reflection as a prayer to those on the gulf coast.  I remember hearing how bad Katrina was and I remember seeing the water line on the walls at St. Dominic's even 3 years afterwards.  I've heard the area is keeping up ok! I will continue to pray for the people there.  Just the memories that come from their experience probably make them nervous enough.

Lesson Learned:  If you fight with insurance companies long enough, you will finally make progress with your car! Kaiser is in the shop and will be ready sometime next week.  My month-long experience fighting with Liberty Mutual (the insurance company of the man who backed into my car) was horrible, but (hopefully) everything will be over with in the next few days!  My apologies go out to all those I have ranted to in the past weeks!