Our newest addition to the family

She is finally here!! Saturday morning we went and picked up our new little bundle of joy, Penelope (Penny) Bruner. Jon and I were really nervous about meeting her for the first time, we hadn't really seen pictures of her since she was a tiny little 2 week old puppy. We went to the farmer's market in downtown Dallas to meet her breeder. (The farmer's market is amazing by the way! everyone needs to go there sometime and check out all the fresh produce and flowers, just awesome!) When he pulled her and her sister out of their kennel I started beaming. They were the cutest little puppies I have EVER seen. Unfortunately we had to choose between the two sisters, who looked identical. We seriously couldn't decide. Finally we made a decision and she said goodbye to her sister. Later we saw the another guy walking with the other puppy, I covered Penny's eyes so she wouldn't get sad. Saturday was a rough day for her and she slept a LOT. She finally perked up a little and we are starting to see her personality a lot more. She is really inquisitive, playful, smart and determined. But she is learning really fast and is already attached to us which I love. Here are some pictures!

cuddles


sleeping with daddy


tug of war


favorite toy "the beaver"



I'll have tons of stories to share, I'm sure. Jon and I are already having fun trading stories about her silly/cuteness. Hopefully you'll get to meet her soon!

Girls night out

Last night was super refreshing. After a long week me and a few gals from work hit the Warehouse up for a couple drinks. Although we were 4 of 8 people there for a majority of the night, and we could hardly hear for rave music blasting in the background, it was such a good time. There is something about sipping martini's with the girls every once in a while that reinforces our 'poshness'. After all, there are not many occasions in my life that I get to wear the fancy top I bought that one time cause it looked amazing, despite having nowhere to wear it to. Case and point, the floor length Grecian formal dress I bought Sunday which I'm already lamenting to have to take back. But Jon made me come to my senses. Stacey, Stacey, Ashley and I got in some great well-needed girl talk. Who would think that when you step into this place you are transported from Abilene, TX to an awesome chic place in some big city. It's a great feeling. Too bad the realization that these prices are ridiculous brings us down off of cloud 9 (no not the trashy strip club in Abilene), but it is worth it.

One thing to top of this night of pleasantry was seeing Kim Leedy's bachelorette party take place!!! It was great to see Cherry and Lauren Baker and the girls , it reminded me of my party back in the day. We decided that everyone should get more than one bachelorette party in their lifetime. We are now designating a once a month bachelorette party where we alternate being the 'bride'. Why not? You know you are jealous you didn't come up with the idea yourself, and yes you can come if you want. But you have to come to Abilene. Here is to more girls nights out to come. Cheers!

Jon=25

Today Jon turns the big two five. A quarter of a century! No big plans tonight, just a nice night at home. Maybe the new Terminator movie...we'll see.

HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY JON!!!

New Job

Over the past few months I have felt really drained in my work and very unsuccessful. It has been a weird mental battle for me to keep working hard and not give up even though I know that it is highly unlikely that I will meet my enrollment goal in the fall. I've spent a lot of time in prayer about it because Jon and I just bought a house, so I couldn't quit. Plus there aren't a ton of jobs open right now. After a while, my big (higher up) boss approached me about taking a position that one of my coworkers, Ashley, left open. I was super skeptical because I knew how hard this job was on Ashley and the struggles she had, it did not sound appealing. But after a couple of long talks with my boss and big boss, I began to think that this might be a good change. Better than what I'm currently doing at least.

So, as of Monday I accepted a new job in the admissions office at ACU. I will now be the admissions counselor for pre-senior high school students. I am hoping that this will be a well needed refreshing change from what I am currently doing. My boss has promised me that this position is being recreated and he wants me to run with it and make it my own, which I am very happy to do! I am hoping to make this more of a marketing position, that was another promise made to me. Please keep me in your prayers because right now I really need a job that gives me purpose and that I feel I'm good at. I've been struggling to believe that I have the ability to perform and be good at my job. I hate that feeling! And in sales success is measured in black and white, not a good combination for me right now.

Also! Jon is up for a promotion at work. New hierarchical positions aren't created that often at ACU, so advancing in your career can take a long time. But it so happens that a new supervisor position opened up in Jon's department and he is in the running for it! :D We are keeping our fingers crossed that he gets it. If this falls through there is another guy that might be leaving, and we think Jon might get his job...so there may be a lot of changes happening for him too.

In case you haven't heard...

I am FINALLY getting a puppy. The wait has been long and arduous but it is almost here!! Unfortunately I was misleading in my last post about puppies, and we ended up getting something completely different. It is called a soft coated Wheaten Terrier. Here are a few pics for you to fawn over:

Teenager



Adult



'Show Dog' hair cut, not as cute



We have heard nothing but wonderful things since we started looking at them a while back. Our little girl will be ready two weeks from tomorrow!! Jon and I decided to name her Penny, short for Penelope (pending it goes with her personality) . I will definitely post some pics once we get her. I can't can't can't can't wait. YAY!!!!!

House Update

There isn't that much to update on besides painting and being moved in. Everything is still in shambles and I'm so tired from cleaning the old house and getting it ready that I have no energy to set up the new one. Once we get things set up cute I'll post those pictures. But, here are a few before and afters to keep you satisfied for a while.

Kitchen Before:



Kitchen After:

Still need to paint the cabinets white


Entry Before:



Entry After:



Bathroom Before:



Bathroom after: (not quite done)



Stay tuned, there are more to come!!

Israel on my mind

So I can't stop thinking about this sermon that David McQueen gave at Beltway a couple weeks ago. To cap off a series called the Release Initiative, he talked about the faithfulness of God. Now, I have heard countless sermons on God's promises and his faithfulness. But David has a way of putting things together and conveying messages in ways that are so easy to relate to. These concepts that would usually be fairly difficult to understand and more than that articulate to others, seem to float wistfully from his mouth. This week was just one of those especially great ones.

Let me recap. He talked about the promise that God made to Abraham in the Old Testament. That he would bless him and his descendants would be like that stars in the heavens, a great nation. These people are of course the Jews, God's chosen people. Many people believe that God for some reason 'changed his mind' when he extended grace to the gentiles. I hope that you don't believe this, because if God changed His mind about a covenant with Abraham, then he could definitely change His mind about grace for the rest of us. However, this replacement theory has been believed and taught by many Christians for hundreds of years. Therefore procuring hate and prosecution towards God's chosen people. But even during World War 2, when Satan tried to completely wipe out the Jewish people God stepped in and eventually returned them to their homeland of Israel. Fulfilling his promise to them and prophecy. One reason I believe that Beltway is so blessed is because they bless Israel, as scripture says if we bless God's people we will be blessed, if we curse them they will be cursed. I think that is testament to the rapid growth and blessing that has come to Beltway. And of course God's faithfulness.

This has been weighing on my mind for the past couple weeks because I think it impacts us dramatically. So often I am not Kingdom-minded. I fall into the routine of my own little world and my sole relationship with God and I forget that there is a battle being waged and an even bigger one to come. The Jews returning to their homeland is a prophecy which begins the timeline of Jesus' return. Political events are starting to be eerily reminiscent of those foreseen long ago. I mention this because I believe it is so important to spur one another on and for all of us to start seeing the big picture here. It is not about your job, your relationship, your home, etc. it is about recognizing the signs that God has given us, and starting to fight. As the Israeli nation comes back to the Lord, we come closer to seeing Jesus return. Be bold in living your life for the Lord, what do you have to loose? If God is for us who can be against us? I know I am not as eloquent with words, but I hope this encouraged you to keep God's will at the forefront of your minds. And not just His will in your life, but His overall plan for our salvation. Many Blessings.