Backlogged

This is the post where I dump a whole lotta photos and provide brief explanations. If I were a true blogger, I'd break this into ten different posts. Seeing as my semester is moving rapidly toward the end, one post is somewhat miraculous.

As you might have guessed, Brooklyn and I have been running. That's one thing I won't give up, even in the insanity. I need my time alone in the great outdoors (of the city). It's interesting to note the weather changes by my outfits. Tonight we are due to have our first freeze of the season.

Forty-degree run. Afterward, I went home and ordered real cold-weather gear.

Chilly run after two solid days of rain = mud run

Impromptu bath time

Love seeing sub-eights! Brook's not too impressed. She wanted to sprint the entire time.

As Ty mentioned, we spent a lovely Halloween at the Winburnes' home. I loved seeing our neighborhood get excited about Halloween. So many families participated by dressing up, setting up displays, passing out candy, and even showing movies on the lawn. We loved the fire pit in the W's front yard.

Brooklyn did not know what to think about my Jack-O-Lantern

That same weekend, my Centre for Musical Minds students had their recitals. My handful of students played in four different recitals on the same day. It was a whirlwind, to say the least! I was so impressed by the success of all the students (at all levels), and I loved that costumes were encouraged.

CMM teachers! Pony Up!

The very next day, I broke out the Christmas music. I must say, the cooler weather has made it feel more like holiday season!

After a short hiatus (on my part), we both made it back to game night. What a fun time we had with these friends! Halfway through our Trivial Pursuit game, Ty declared a trip to Kroger was necessary. We all split up in the store and came back with different items. We had a feast, to say the least! At one point, the board was entirely covered...

We've also been enjoying a lot of breakfast tacos. They've been my easy go-to dinner. So fresh and tasty!

On those nights when I'm home too late (or too tired) to cook, Ty steps in like a champ. Last night he made a delicious balsamic chicken and mushroom skillet dish. On the nights I arrive late and still have hours of work looming over my head, he takes me out to recharge. Dallas certainly delivers in the food department. 

My bowl of hot chocolate 

GF pizza: venison sausage, mushrooms, green onions

Quinoa and fruit bowl!

Recently, my migraines have returned with a vengeance. I'm dealing with about two a month, and my energy has been lower than normal. My eating habits haven't train-wrecked, but I certainly haven't put the time into intentional preparations. Trying to get back on track this week.

Next time I'll choose the larger cart...

Colorful fridge means nourished family!

Water, spinach, mango, chia seeds, peanut butter

Water,  cucumber, pear, fresh ginger, frozen mango

This past weekend, we made an investment in our winter survival: we bought a fire pit! I'd been asking for one for about a month, and I had my eye on one at Home Depot. After doing some research, we went back last weekend and made our purchase.

Roasting GMO-free marshmallows :) 

Naturally, there have been the usual piles of books, ground-breaking and inspiring lessons, hours of practice, trips to the library, and late-nights planning lessons.

I only wish I could spend more time outdoors, because campus has been exceptionally lovely of late!

Did I mention my family is coming in TWO WEEKS?!

Can't wait to hug them, laugh my head off, and show them the best Dallas has to offer.

And with that, I leave you. Good night.

October is Over

Sooo.... I think it's been a while since my last Tuesday post. Sorry about that, but life has been getting in the way of blogging. Monday night is always a hard night for me to want to do anything. Many things to recap though. Jessie and I have been enjoying lots of things in our life recently. One thing that I am happy about is no longer having to cut and chisel apart frozen chubs for the dog.

We had been buying 10 lb. chubs of frozen chicken meat for the dog, and I was responsible for cutting apart and portioning it for the dog.

She is always very interested in how I portion it out.

Well the most exciting part is that the age of the chub has ended! The dog food company has discontinued making the food, and now we just buy whole, sliced chicken from the store and thow it in her bowl. I feel like I work at Pollo Tropical. "You want a quarter chicken or half a chicken?"

Work has been going well, and we can now say that we are debt-free! So thankful that God has provided good work for me and has more than provided for our needs. I have been working next to a guy named Gary and have really enjoyed hanging out with him some too. He had the front cover off a Cummins ISX the other day. I thought it was interesting, so I took a picture.

Might look like a scrap pile to you, but it's very organized.

Also found a very old Mack in our truckyard the other day. It came in for a state inspection and failed terribly. We enjoyed the train whistle of a horn that it had though.

I think the year model was 1990

Not a very nice ride

Had to dig some wiring out of the frame rail in a trash truck. I was proud that it only took me about two hours to find the issues going on with this truck. Normally, it would have been in the four to six-hour range. 

Hydraulic oil had leaked into the wiring and ruined it. Along with trash juices :/  

All that to say, work has been going well. I am currently in a class at a Mack and Volvo training center for three days. Although it has been mostly review, I'm glad that I get to attend. Gary has been taking the class with me, and the other day we also went shooting. Because it was so close to Halloween, we decided to shoot zombie targets.

If you look closely, you will note ten fatal holes in the zombie.

I shot the ten rounds from about 12 yards

This is Gary who is very happy to be shooting the zombies after a long day of work.

Jessie did a great job with her Halloween activity by carving a really scary jack-o-lantern.

I was impressed

We spent the evening at our pastor's house, giving out candy from his front yard and enjoying a small fire on one of the first cool nights of the season.

Jessie also did a great job breaking her PR on a Half Marathon run.

Here you can see her passing the competition at the finish 

We also had a good time at the first drive-in theater we have ever been to. It was really fun watch a movie on the big screen from our car with everyone else and their dog.

The power wagon out to the movies

Great times were happening at this photo shoot with Matt and his new gal, Olivia. We love having good friends - old and new - here in the big city. It makes it feel smaller.

Things were taking a little longer then I wanted. 

The month of October had really been full of great activities and I will end with one of my favorite that happened. I was called up by our local Indian Motorcycle dealership and told about free demo rides going on through Saturday. I was very excited to go. The morning of was about 45 degrees outside, and I rode my bike out there (and was kind of frozen when I arrived). They asked which one I wanted to ride and I replied, "Which one has a windshield?" Here are the bikes I was able to ride.

First ride was on the Chief. Base model complete with windshield 

This was my next ride called the Roadmaster. It had an adjustable windshield, heated seats, and heated handle grips.

The last ride was on the Scout once it warmed up.

Had a great time but don't plan on ever buying any of those bikes. Either too much money or not enough bike.

Thanks for reading through this random catch-up post and hope you enjoyed it.

Currently listening to: Miss May I, Bon Iver, and Audio Slave

Currently working on: test questions like "What is the part number for an injector nozzle kit for a 2003 Mack CH?" 

Currently thinking about: Is it socially-acceptable to wear spandex running pants outside of the house without shorts over them, or do the shorts make it worse? Why is it cold?