Gettin' Around

Just an update on how we're getting around these days... This Wednesday Reid had a five week follow up on his ankle.  According to x-rays it's healing nicely.  He has physical therapy ahead to slowly begin putting more and more weight on his left foot. The great news is his cast came off and he's in a boot.

Trying not to freak out about the circular saw being used to cut the cast off.  My physician's assistant sister assures me it doesn't cut skin.  I don't buy it.

Free at last.  He had some cuts from the original fall that didn't really heal completely while in the cast.  He's lost a lot of muscle mass as well.

He's happy because the cast was getting itchy.  It's much nicer to be able to take the boot off now and then for his skin to breathe.  In addition after four weeks of waiting, we finally received a temporary handicap parking tag from the state.  It's made trips around town much easier.

In the mean time Reid's come up with some pretty interesting ways to carry things and maneuver around:

Reid sleeps outside the covers with his leg propped up and covers up in his favorite quilt my mom made for us.  He left his quilt in the living room one night, and this is how he brought it back to the bedroom while on crutches.

 The greeter at Sam's offered Reid one of these motorized carts.  He heartily agreed.  He's been talking about riding one since he first got the cast. Dreams really do come true ;)

Making breakfast and packing lunch is a breeze rolling around the kitchen in a office chair! :)

Just Keepin' It Real

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind, and yet more evidence that life is what happens on the way to your plans.  I certainly wasn't expecting to receive a phone call on September 28th from my husband asking me to take him to the hospital to see if his ankle was broken.  I certainly wasn't anticipating the 9 hours it took to be seen in the ER.  I definitely wasn't prepared for his fractured fibula. And I certainly was unprepared for the serious adjustment it takes to getting used to life without a mobile husband.

So this week my living room looked like this:

And the kitchen, like this:

And this:

What you can't see are the three bags of trash that are just sitting by the door because, well, that's the husband's job.  I honestly have never been to the dumpster in this apartment complex before. 

In these past several days, I realized just how much Reid does around here.  He wakes up early and cooks breakfast for us while I get ready for work.  He washes almost all the dishes for the day, and  cleans out the dishwasher too.  He helps with cleaning and sweeping and mopping.  And even makes the bed according to my ridiculous OCD standards. And while I don't expect him to help as much as he does, it is always a blessing.

Now that he's got the cast and his ankle is more stable and protected, he's been attempting a lot on his own.  He uses this green chair to roll around the kitchen making breakfasts or lunch (I leave much earlier than him, and he's on his own for most of the day when he's not at school).

For the past two weeks I've been adjusting to life without Reid's help, and I know it sounds like complaining because let's face it it could be worse, but it's been kind of tough.  And some times I don't want to do it.  Work is busy (but good) and I'm behind in school.  In addition to his broken ankle, Reid is going through some hard things with school, and it just seems like things don't come as easy as they used to.  But Reid and I know that this situation is not out of the hands of our loving and sovereign Father, and we know this is in fact an opportunity to walk in faith.  I was listening to one of my lectures tonight (yay for getting homework done!), and the professor said, "Faith is acting on the truth that God has revealed to you."  God usually doesn't show us the whole picture of how things will turn out.  Instead He asks us to take the step we can see in front of us.  God has graciously and clearly shown us what's in front of us.  Reid will continue to work hard at school and trust God for the result, and I'll keep on doing what I can to care for Reid and our family even when some times it feels like too much.


I suppose that means I'll be taking out those three bags of trash :)

Houston Happenings: Eating

Here's an update on some of our other adventures.  Most of our week is spent at school (Reid) and work (Ronda), so our "fun" things have to wait for the weekend.  However, R&R happen to both be fairly content homebodies, so our trips to try a few new restaurants and our Saturday jaunts to Whole Foods are about as wild and wacky as it gets for us.  Right now it's too hot to go out much, but we're hoping to see more of Houston as the weather cools.  In the mean time, it's odd how excited we two can get about going to Whole Foods shopping.  I'm enjoying meal planning, and Reid and I both enjoy the eating.  I like to see how well I can purchase what I need for the meals I've planned while staying on budget.  Right now the only thing putting us over is a serious ice cream addiction I'm trying to break.  Haagen Daas chocolate peanut butter-it's just so good. ;) But I'm kicking the habit (after we finish the pints in the freezer that is...)

Here are some of our homemade creations:

Summer Gazpacho

Meatzza (Pizza with ground beef as the base) and plum salad. That green plastic plate is so fine dining!

Homemade Egg Drop Soup (one of Reid's favorites)

Cod with Roasted Tomatoes and succotash

Same succotash from above mixed with leftover quinoa and some nitrate-free all-beef hot dogs from Applegate.  Reid added a little cayenne to this wonderful frugal creation so that used up all our left-overs.

Skillet Lasagna (grain-free).  We used eggplant for "noodles." The basil came from our "garden."  Yes, we're growing basil on our balcony.  Couldn't keep Reid away from the dirt for long.  Of course I'm not complaining; I've already used basil sprigs in several dishes. This recipe has definitely become a favorite. 

Spiced Lentil Soup with Roasted Tomato and Eggplant.  I had an extra eggplant leftover because I over-estimated on the eggplant for my lasagna above.  I diced and roasted it so it wouldn't go bad. It worked out great because I threw it in this soup for some serious deliciousness.  The green stuff is wilted kale. 

Finally, I made peach cobbler over Labor Day weekend as a special treat.  I used almond flour for the crumbly part, so it's grain-free (and also sweetened only with honey. Except if you count the giant scoop of Haagen Daas Ice Cream).  It was delicious even if it did make a giant mess in my oven.

Duh, I should have known that juiciness would be running everywhere. 

In addition to Whole Foods, we have made a visit to a local farm.  Right now all the farmers are struggling due to the drought, and the produce at the farmer's markets has been really scarce.  However, I did discover that purchasing raw milk is in fact LEGAL in the state of Texas, so you better believe I was on the hunt for a quality source.  We found just what we were looking for in Tomball, about 45 min away.  We drove up to Gramen Farm several weeks ago.  They raise pastured cows, goats, and chickens.  It was amazing! We bought beef liver, heart, and some stew meat from a cow that had been processed the day before.  We also bought a freshly processed chicken.  Of course, we sampled their raw goat and cow milk.  Delicious! We bought a half gallon of cow milk and drink it in two days with meals.  The couple that owns the farm were people after our own hearts.  We took up so much of their time shooting the breeze about all sorts of health topics.  The farmer's wife makes most of their toiletry products and we ended up buying some of her tooth powder.  So yes, we now "brush" our teeth with powder.  And you know what, it feels like a dental cleaning after every brush. :)

Houston Happenings: Driving

I've been busy with my first weeks of my new job, but I wanted to update you with some of our goings-on!  One thing we do a lot of since we're trying to learn our way around is drive.

Houston is a labyrinth of loops and highways. 

On my way to work I have to drive on two different highways.  When I need to exit I often have to cross over several lanes without much warning to get where I need to be.  It can be fairly difficult when traffic is thick.

Scary! But I'm getting used to it now and have actually stopped cutting off the circulation in my fingers from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.  The good thing here is that our traffic in Houston is just like our thunderstorms.  It doesn't last very long.  You're never really stopped anywhere for long, and most of this time it clears up within a few miles.  And people actually use their blinkers for the most part! It's amazing :)

Thankfully, I'm getting comfortable weaving in and out of traffic lanes because we don't have our "foreigner" NC license plates as an excuse anymore.  We both are officially registered in Texas.  It was an ordeal getting our license plates installed on BOTH the front and the back, but the local Toyota dealership helped us out.

 

Reid and I are sporting our water bottles which we take every where.  That particular week the temps were up to 109 degrees.  It's cooling down to mid 90s now.  The weather is extremely dry even for Houston, and as you may have heard some pretty serious wildfires are spreading north of us.  Please lift up those affected in your prayers.  I'm hoping to update again soon about Reid's first weeks of school and some of our other adventures. 

I Got a Job!

So I kind of lied to you.  If you look back to some of my first announcements of our move to Texas, I told you that both Reid and I are going back the classroom - Reid to the U of H classroom and me to the public school.  From the beginning something told me I wasn't going to be in the classroom in the way that I had first imagined, but I dutifully filled out the forms (and paid the big bucks!) to get my teaching license transferred to TX.  After all we were moving across the country for Reid's school, and I needed to have all my options open.

Over the past two years working at a great ministry in Wake Forest, I learned a lot about my work style and the type of work that excites me. I love the organization part of it all, creating efficiency structures, and managing time to increase effectiveness.  Always an avid to-do list maker, I've finally discovered what I should have realized all along: I love to plan (and the feeling of checking things off that list!)! When I think back to teaching, I remember how much fun I would have lesson planning for the week (strange, I know) and thinking through all my plans for the first day of school.  So I think it makes sense that my next career move would push me further into this area of strength. I decided to pursue jobs that would allow me to use and improve on these qualities.

As I engaged in the job search process, I got some genius advice from my dad who helped me to use my network of friends and acquaintances from my past work experiences and Teach for America to connect with potential opportunities here in Texas.  Within a week of reaching out to some folks, I had filled out four applications for four jobs in which I had personally connected with the key decision makers.  None of these jobs were directly in the classroom.  All of them were office support/project management positions within the world of education and education reform.

So the process has finally come to an end, and I'm happy to announce I have a job! Yours truly is the new Teaching Excellence Alternative Certification Program Coordinator at YES Prep Public Schools! In the end, I had a total of four interviews and two job offers.  I took the job at YES, and I start on Monday! Reid and I are so thankful for how the Lord provided this great opportunity in such a short time after we've arrived here!

Just so you know what I'm getting into, YES Prep is a charter school network that exists to increase the number of low-income Houstonians who graduate from a four-year college prepared to compete in the global marketplace and committed to improving disadvantaged communities. YES Prep was the first public school system in the country to make college acceptance a graduation requirement, and what they require, they work really hard to help their students achieve! Currently 80% of Yes Prep graduates are  enrolled or have already graduated from college, compared to 25% of low-income students nationwide who enroll as freshman.

YES Prep seeks out highly qualified individuals to teach in their schools including many Teach for America teachers.  They support their teachers with the Teaching Excellence program which provides initial and on-going training. My role in the organization will be to help coordinate the Alternative Certification Program within Teaching Excellence to help first year teachers who majored in subjects other than education to  complete the necessary coursework and tests to obtain a Texas teaching license by the end of that first year.  The Teaching Excellence program is top rated in the state, and we will be working to make it top in the nation! I'm excited!

So in the end, I do get to be a part of the classroom.  I'll be supporting new teachers and helping them serve their students! I'm looking forward to this, and am so thankful that God has allowed me to do something that I enjoy and believe in!

Thanks to all our friends and family who have been praying! We realize that moving to Texas with no job seemed a little crazy! But our God is faithful, and He has provided!

Exploring

We have been out do some exploring.  This weekend we traveled to Dallas/Fort Worth area about 4.5 hours away for a friend's wedding.

It was beautiful and fun! Amy is a friend from way back, and we're excited for her and Rob! They are moving to Minnesota, far away from their home state of TX.  We understand a little of what they might be going through.

We've also explored more than our fair share of this city.  We've been lost a time or two - once on the way to an interview.  There are SEVERAL major highways that intersect here, and all of them have feeder roads that you use to access everything.  CONFUSING! Here's a nice shot of one little part of the city.  It does not do the 104 degree temperature justice. And the traffic is never this sparse!

We also visited Houston's large and fancy mall, the Galleria.  It seemed as though every designer had their own store in this place.  There was even an indoor ice skating rink.   We saw two different girls dressed in brightly colored dresses for their 15th birthday celebrations (I know this event has a beautiful sounding name, but I don't know how to spell it.  I definitely need to work on my Spanish.  German is not exactly useful here.).  I also saw three women at different times dressed in a full burkha.  There is so much diversity here.  And SO many people.  The world is here in Houston!

In the midst of all the new things we're experiencing, our apartment feels like a home and a refuge.  We were able to have our one and only friends here, Will and Jenn, over this week.  They've been in the city for a year and gave us the skinny on all things Houston!

We've been doing lots of little errands this week, and I have had some job interviews.  We're hoping to do some more touristy things later this week including a trip to the zoo and to Pearland (for some more shopping with less people hopefully!).  We may even throw in a trip to the National Funeral History Museum.  Some interesting stuff they've got going on here!

Home Sweet Home

For curious family and friends, here are a few pics of our new home:

Kitchen

Dining/Office (including Reid hard at work.  He's still working part time for his company.)

Living Room (from the Kitchen)

Bathroom

Bedroom (Including unmade bed.  I had just woken up.  This is the Real Housewives of Houston, folks)

Gigantic Closet (which we have filled to the TOP)

 All of this, including the nicely organized closet is thanks to our moving help: Jamie, Mom, and Dad. They stayed for a week helping us get settled.  They are a well-oiled machine.  The house was moved in and COMPLETELY unpacked in about 1.5 days.  Dad hung pictures and other fixtures.  Mom cleaned and unpacked boxes.  Jamie organized and put things away.  We are so thankful for their help!

A little Rest and Relaxation on the couch!

My Dad is a Genius (Alternately TItled: The Best Kept Secrets To Finding a Job!)

I guess I should have written this Sunday for Father's Day, but it didn't occur to me then.  My Dad has been encouraging me for a long time, and he often says very wise things for his age (hehe).  Whenever I call him to talk about life (and he really doesn't actually like to talk on the phone), he listens to me cry about whatever hard things are going on, and then he says "You're the woman, baby."  And I think he really believes it.  The sky's the limit for me according to my dad.  While he believes that, most of the time I don't (thus all the crying phone calls).

This week I'd become a little discouraged because the job search just didn't seem to be going anywhere. I called Dad, and he gave me some genius advice. And, you know what? It's working!
All the looking on sites like monster.com (and I even desperately searched the Houston craigslist) haven't had remotely the impact of taking my dad's advice over the course of the last 48 hours.  I know I have quite a few friends on the market for a job, so I'm happily passing along my dad's secrets to you.  Just so you know that he has some credibility, my dad's been in the corporate world for thirty years.  He's been actively involved in the hiring process for the companies he's worked for. He knows what they're looking for and he knows how you ought to go about it.  So here are his tips:

1) Assess your friendships and professional connections to determine some folks who can connect you to possible opportunities in your search area.

I happen to have some professional friendships with former colleagues at Teach for America.  I contacted a friend from there who gave me the name of someone she works with.  This friend of hers connected me with the Managing Director of Alumni Affairs all the way in Houston, Texas! Score!

2) Reach out to your network base by email or phone and ask them if they can connect you to anyone that has possible openings or can connect you with those who do.

The ideal situation is for your connection to provide you with three or more names of others you can contact.  You'll want to ask your connection if you can use his or her name in a cold call to the names he or she has provided.  If you're lucky, your connection will communicate your name to the other parties directly.

Just recently I made a connection just like this.  As soon as I contacted her looking for some help in the Houston area, she rattled off three names and provided three job descriptions for me.  She directly contacted two of the three and was actively researching the hiring manager of the third so she could contact him on my behalf. (My Dad says that this kind of thorough response is pretty rare, but I'll take it! Usually you're lucky to get one name and personal contact.)

3) Recognize that the connections you  make provide two possibilities in the job search.  These people who you have been referred to can either represent a possible job OR they can provide you with yet another level of networking connections to lead to more opportunity. 

Think QUANTITY here.  The more people who know you're looking and who feel a personal connection to you, the better you will do. So when you are communicating with folks, always ask if there's anyone else they would recommend that you talk to.

4) If the names you've been given fizzle out, don't be afraid to reconnect with your prior contacts.

The Alumni Affairs Director in Houston actually told me of a job available on his own team the second time we talked.  I'm now applying for that position.  Good thing we talked again! My Dad suggests waiting about 45 days, and if you're still looking, to reconnect with older contacts to keep lines of communication open and to see if they've heard of any new leads.

5) Seek out opportunities to meet contacts in person or at the least talk over the phone. 

Like I said above, you want people to feel personally connected to you.  This isn't about schmoozing, it's about making sure that the job is right for you and that you're right for the job.  Relationships are a big part of making sure it's a good fit.  If people are going to hire you, a personal recommendation goes a long way. 

So, taking my dad's advice, here's how things having been going for me: In the past 48 hours I have sent in one application to a job for the which the person who will be my actual supervisor I have already personally spoken to several times.  I have three other jobs I'm interested in for which one of my contacts has recommended me.  I have plans to connect with the folks doing the hiring for these jobs as well. My contact has provided me with their info. My Dad says that puts me ahead of the game! Time will tell!

Thanks Dad! YOU'RE the man! :)

Fun with Food

I'm loving summer because it means no school and more time to play! Reid and I have been doing some experimenting with food.  Here are some of our projects:

 Reid has dressed the part! Actually we've both ruined a few shirts with oil stains from all the cooking with coconut oil and bacon grease.  Whoever is manning the skillet wears the apron now.

 My new (to me) toy! An Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator.  I found this for an AMAZING price on Craigslist.  I'm looking forward to making SO many yummy things like dehydrated fruit chips, all sorts of dehydrated veggies for flavorings and soups, fruit leathers, jerky, and even yogurt can be made in this.

I soaked some nuts over night (soaking makes the nutrition in the nut more available) and dried them in the dehydrator.  The product is called crispy nuts and they make a great snack! And when you pulverize them in the blender you can use them as ingredients in yummy and healthy desserts like:

 These are called No BS Cookies and contain coconut flakes, peanut butter, cocoa, cinnamon, and honey for some sweetness. No need to cook them, I just chilled them in the fridge!

 Last night Reid helped me use some of our soaked nuts to make homemade almond milk.  We blended the nuts with filtered water then strained out the pulp.  The left over liquid we blended with some raisins to add some sweetness.  We used it as coffee creamer this morning. I used the dehydrator to dry the almond meal today, and now we've got a jar of almond flour for some yummy (and gluten/grain-free) treats!

 Reid likes to drink the almond milk plain.  I like it as a mix in.

We've been buying up strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries at their lowest prices since they are in season.  I've frozen a lot of them to use in smoothies or for oatmeal in the mornings.  I also blended some blueberries up with some honey and lemon juice to make a yummy fruit leather.  I just dehydrated the mixture for several hours, and the leather tasted even better than a fruit roll-up and it's healthy too.

Right now I'm trying to dehydrate some left over blueberries.  I'm not sure it's going to work.  But as with all experiments, sometimes they just fail.  The berries are not finished yet in this picture, but we'll see what happens.

Next up, I'm going to use some coconut flakes to make homemade coconut milk and I'll use the pulp to make coconut flour.  The milk should be a good substitute for dairy, and the flour is great for baking! Gotta do all the experimenting I can before school starts again!

We Have a Home!

As of June 6th, Reid and I are the happy lessees of an apartment in Houston, Texas!  This moving thing is really starting to sink in.

On our short trip to Texas we were able to see twelve apartments, but none of them felt quite right.  We're weren't trying to be picky, but we just didn't have that sense of peace.  In the end our choices came down to two factors: safety (almost every home and apartment complex is gated and many have a guard house at the entrance) and as selfish as it may sound - comfort.  We figure we're here for Reid to study, and the best environment we can find for that the better.  I'm going to be working full time which means most of my day will be spent out of the house.  For these reasons, we nixed anything without a dishwasher and any place that seemed like it was going to require a lot of upkeep. We also wanted to have space for a desk for Reid which was proving interesting since a two bedroom was definitely out of our price range.

On the way back to NC at the end of trip, Reid and I were discussing our options and when it came down to it we really enjoyed the complex and the apartments where our friends Will and Jenn live.  So we asked our realtor to search all the empty units there.  We found a great 1 bedroom unit (that's almost the same size as our two bedroom now), and our realtor was able to talk the owner down $70.00 per month on the rent. 

We'd actually not seen this place ourselves, but Will was able to see it.  He's been in the housing industry before, so he could spot all the red flags if there were any.  Once we got the thumbs up from Will and an email full of the pictures he took, we decided we better jump on this place.  And it's a good thing we did.  Just as we finished up the contract a couple from NY had put in an offer for a 1 year lease at full price! We've signed a two year contract in order to seal the deal (and to negotiate our late move-in in July), so we'll be there til 2013!

Here's some pictures of our soon-to-be home!

 The living room looking into dining area and kitchen (These pictures were taken while the prior tenants were still living there).

 The large bathroom!

 My kitchen (and no, Mom, it doesn't come with the baby chair ;) )

 DISHWASHER!

 The bedroom with big windows!

And a nice added bonus- the community pool!

R&R's First Trip to Houston

Some highlights from our first trip to Houston on May 26-29th:

We arrived Thursday morning and met up with Will, Reid's friend from Seminary and now a fellow graduate student in the Philosophy program at U of H.  After eating lunch at Chipotle, we headed over for at tour of the university campus.

Here are the philosophers now! They're standing outside the philosophy building soaking it all in :)

These little guys were also soaking it but mainly the coolness of the concrete floor in this shaded area.  Not a bad idea since it was in the high 90's this day.

Of course, we had to get our picture with the Houston cougar...

Then it tried to attack Reid, and I had to save him!

It was a close one, but we made it!

Reid and I spent some time exploring and found this:

And this:

And ran into some of this:

Houston Traffic (it gets a lot worse than what you see here!)

Friday night we met up with some of the other philosophy students at U of H.  They gave Reid lots of good advice on classes and professors and preparing for the PhD.  They also spent quite a bit of time discussing topics using words I didn't quite understand. They're starting a reading group for the summer and were trying to land on a specific book. All in all, Reid feels excited to join in on the fun!

On Saturday, we spent all day apartment hunting with a wonderful Realtor recommended by Will and Jenn (our friends in the grad program at Houston).

That night we went out for some wonderful TexMex at Pappasito's and some homemade ice cream at Hank's.  We recommend the Texas Oreo (more oreo than ice cream it seemed- yum!) and Banana Pudding (tasted just like the real thing, but better!) flavors. 

We are so thankful for Will and Jenn and their generous hospitality.  Reid and I aren't sure how we would've made it to Houston without them.  We're so excited to get to be their neighbors soon, and of course hang out with their friendly dog Cutter (he'll help me through Cooper withdrawals):

We only saw a little bit of Houston, but we can't wait to see more and experience it ourselves as residents.  To top off a wonderful and productive trip, Delta offered us free travel vouchers if we took a later flight since they had overbooked ours.  $400 travel vouchers and a free meal at the airport? We'll take it!

Reid happily waiting for our later flight!