Chelle And BryanOur lives, together, a day at a time…

This is the newest addition to our menagerie – meet sweet Sadie!

Snuggle Bugs

"This is my comfy spot!"

Stealing my markers

Take THAT!

Playing UNDER Lucky

Full of P & V

. . . so stay tuned for many cute photos. 

Yep, its official – we’ve moved in at 3908 Yarborough!  Here’s a rough tour of the house (mind the boxes!):

Lucky says “Wipe Yer Paws!”

Dining Room – in the works

Kitchen, take 1

Kitchen – looking into the Living room

Living room

Living room, looking back to the Kitchen

The Study – a work in progress, or a disaster zone?

You make the choice

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom, almost finished!

Garden Tub in Master Bath.  There’s also a walk-in closet and shower stall in here. 

And a big ol’ backyard for the Luckster!

The master bedroom, and a better shot of the master bathroom aren’t up here at the moment, but I will post them once those rooms get unpacked!  Leave us some love, and any decorating ideas!

I’m finally posting, yay!

Its been two weeks since Bryan moved in, and today we celebrated our TWO YEAR anniversary.  That’s right.  We’ve been attached at the hip now for 730 days, officially.  So, Bryan told me to meet him at an address in downtown Austin.  We eneded up meeting at a little Italian restaurant called Vespaeio, which was absolutely dee-lish!  I really do recommend it if you’re looking for a new twist on Italian.  We also walked South Congress afterward and got to listen to lots of live music, all thanks to SXSW.    We realy enjoyed listening to Matt the Electrician, which were having a show at the Caritas of Austin Soup Drive.  Also got serenaded by a homeless man with a guitar who made up a song about Bryan and I.  He made us kiss.  It was bueno.

In other news, we get the keys to the house on Saturday!  I’m very excited, but still have three exams to get through next week before we move.  :/  So. . . .

Until next time!

…someone should really put some news up on this site. 

… is a dirty three letter word.

We’re already a month into the new year, and with it, comes the joy and stress of everyday life.  So far 2009 has been pretty good for the both of us – Bryan’s still enjoying his job, and I’m loving the new lab I am rotating through.  Dr. Bedford’s a histone man – that is, he focuses on the proteins that DNA is wrapped around when its not being ‘read’ by the cell.  The people in the lab are awesome, and even though my project has been stuck on dead center now for almost a month, I am learning a lot and genuinely enjoying the lab.  Though anything is better than last sememster’s experience, I really think I could call this one my home, if Bedford wants me. 

I’m also starting to enjoy the Austin area this semester, which is really good news.  Going out with friends, even if they’re the same people I see all day at work has become a source of joy for me, and I have started looking at places in Austin to live!  I cannot wait to move – I am really starting to like my excursions into the city, and can’t wait to live there.  While Bastrop is convenient, Austin is awesome. 

But like I said, 2009 hasn’t been all that generous. The distance has been wearing on the both of us this month, what with my crazy class load, and Bryan’s endless drives to come visit.  He mentioned the other day that in the past 3 months he’s put 6,000 miles on his mustang.  That’s a feat, I don’t care what you say.  And I feel bad because I am tied down to Bastrop.  Its hell to try and move all of my study materials for two days, let me tell you.  I am also to the point that I have to come into the lab every weekend in order to keep my project rolling.  So, between the two, my weekend Waco trips have become very numbered.  As in zero this year.  Ouch.  I need to work on that.

Hopefully February will be a much better month than the last for Bryan and I.  We have Valentine’s day, our anniversary (next month its the big 2.0!) and someone’s turning 23.  Not going to say who, or when.  But I am hopeful that we should have enough time to work on what’s been stretching thin lately.  Namely, us.

I promise those of you who read this (is there anyone out there??) that Bryan and I have NOT thrown in the towel on this site, nor have we made a split.  Life’s actually quite peachy for us at the moment – Bryan’s coming to his first anniversary as a graduated software engineer (sounds so sophisticated, doesn’t it?), and I am finishing up my first semester at MD Anderson!  We’re still separated, with Bryan up in Waco and myself still trudging away in Bastrop, but this too, shall pass.  We’re both hoping the market will straighten out after the new year (though if yesterday’s 650 pt drop indicates anything, the US markets are still on shaky ground!), as he’s been looking for jobs in Austin fruitlessly.  We’ve been trading off weekends in Austin and Waco, with a weekday trip thrown in for good measure.  To say the least, we’ve been working our butts off to keep us going, which, we think, is worth it. 

This past weekend was the Thanksgiving holiday, which we spent with Bryan’s family in Temple.   Sad to say, but the tryptophan got to all of us at one point or another, with Bryan’s parents knocking out directly after the meal, Bryan crashing at 4pm, and myself bringing it home with a 7pm bedtime (and 10am wakeup – 15 hours of sleep!).  We then spent a sleepy Black Friday in Waco, not really daring to go out to the stores.   Saturday we came to Bastrop, however, and performed a Bolner Tradition – putting up the Christmas Tree!  Take a look:

Changing out the Wreaths

Bryan plus lights...

Equals lit-up Lucky

Being artistic

Happy Holidays from Austin!

Our Creation...

I think after 2 hours of straight Muppets singing Christmas songs and me singing an octave too high, Bryan got a little burnt out.  Nonetheless, it is really nice to have our first ‘full grown’ christmas tree.

The next few weeks shall be a bit crazy, what with finals looming in the distance and then road tripping with Sam to El Paso.  Bryan’s flying in on Christmas Eve, and God help him, he doesn’t know what he’s in for – there’s nothing like a Southwest Christmas.  Especially with my family and friends. 

I’m not a politically inclined person, but if you have the time to watch this video clip in its entirety, you’ll be laughing your butt off at what the media has come to.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26508701#26508701

So, long time no post!  I’ve been in Bastrop for the past two weeks, getting ready for classes and rotations at the lab.  My incoming class at Smithville is a total of FIVE people.  I’m not kidding.  Thankfully, that’s not all of the first years in the GSBS program, as we saw yesterday while in Houston to fill out some paperwork.  Also while I was there, I found out that I am one of the lucky few who are actually funded for two years by the Dean’s Office of GSBS.  Very neat!  I don’t know why they think I’m as smart as they do, but they’re in for an awakening!  These first few weeks are sure to be a struggle, but then I’ll be back on my feet and off running.

Meanwhile, the town’s still rather boring.  The town closes up by 10pm every night, and any semblence of a social life is thirty miles away in Austin.  As you can probably guess, thoughts in my head are starting to form about a more efficient vehicle and living in Austin.  That won’t be for at least another year, however, since I prize my credit score. 

Life’s also a bit sad without Bryan around.  He’s been living the highlife in Waco with his friends on the weekdays, and comes to visit on the weekends.  Its not terrible, but I do feel like a total dork for being home every night while he’s out on the town.  I don’t have a choice, and that makes it all the more unbearable.  Oy veh.

Other than that, everything is going well here.  I start school Tuesday, and have nothing to do until then!  Woo hoo! 

For my very first apartment without anyone’s help.  I think that deserves a ‘Booyah’!

I made it back to Waco – YAY!  We had a long but safe drive, and it feels so great to be back in the humidity.    Yesterday Bryan and I went to Olive Garden with his family for his mother’s birthday.  And today I’ve been contacting every realtor in South Austin looking for a place.  Slim pickings is what I’m running into, however.  Wish me luck!

Today was my second to last day team teaching a science/computer camp.  Its been a three hour long job, for four days a week, and I’m making more than I was at Academy full time.  And I love it.

Today we got lazy and let the kids watch a history channel movie entitled ‘How the Earth was Made’.  The kids were totally amazed by tectonic plate movement, Pangea and the ‘SUPER ICE AGE’.  I had fun stopping the movie and explaining everything to them.  Just to watch their faces light up with understanding is one of the most rewarding actions I have ever encountered.  The kids that Stacy and I have are so damned smart – I wish every kid was like these are.  Oh, they make the morning fly by.  It is going to be sad to have it come to an end tomorrow.

The Bryan countdown is down to NINE days.  Yes. Very excited about seeing my goober.  I can’t wait.

Oh, but I have competitive news to Bryan’s arrival – I just landed my third rotation at MD ANDERSON.  I get to do three ten week lab rotations with different ‘prospective mentor/professors’.  Okay, so I already had two down:  One in reproductive cancers (and xenoestrogens) with Dr. Walker, and a second in epigenetic factors of carcinogens and teratogens with Dr. Bedford.  Guess who I’m doing my third one with???  Oh yeah, that’s right:  The Dean.

Dr. Richie, the dean of Research Park, asked me to do a rotation through her lab.  She specializes in studies of the thymus (that organ above your heart that produces young antibodies).  When you’re about twenty years old, your thymus stops producing naive T cells and begins to turn to fat through a process called involution.  This means that after this time, your body won’t recognize and fight any new diseases that you encounter.  Dr. Richie’s research interest is in either keeping the thymus from involution OR being able to restart the thymus’ ability to produce new T cells through a motif on an outer thymus cell’s DNA.  While talking to her today, she made the comment that they basically have this theory explained by data, and now are just looking for a way to make it happen in the animal model.  If her lab group can actually pull of ‘restarting’ the thymus, elderly susceptability to common diseases like the flu and TB would be irraticated.  IRRATICATED!!!!!

…And I could be one of those partners in that lab.  Pretty cool, huh?

Oooh, I’m so ready to get back to CenTx.  It’s going to be an AWESOME fall. 

Oh poor, poor Lucky…  met a skunk in the front yard at about 8pm this evening.  And proceeded to get sprayed all over his poor wittle face.

I didn’t notice anything until my parents started asking about which dog was sprayed.  Sadly, I couldn’t really smell it – guess my nose isn’t as keen as I thought! So, after a thirty minute long baking soda and peroxide bath, I had one relieved and neutralized pooch.  I figured he’d probably get into a skunk at some point, since my next door neighbor thinks its cruel to evict the family of them living in her run down horse barn.  But I never thought he’d get it full-on in the face!  What an idiot!  It apparently traumatized him, because he came in after his bath and wouldn’t get back out of his bed.  Poor guy.

On other fronts, I worked my last day at the shoe store job a few days ago – it was brilliantly rewarding!  I never thought I’d enjoy quitting as much as I did.  AND I started my new summer camp job today, which I love.  The kids are so smart, sweet, and well behaved.  We built lawn chairs, draw bridges and robots out of legos today, and they even enjoyed my little lesson in excel! The hours flew by, and I can’t wait to see what they create tomorrow (We’re making motorized levers!)!  See people, I do love kids.  I just don’t want any for the next, say, eight years? 

Bryan made me giddy today by buying a plane ticket to EPT.  He’s going to be driving back with me to Waco on the 26th.  That drive sucks the life out of you, one mile at a time.  Only 18 more days until I get to see his happy face!  This distance has been tough, but I also know I won’t be seeing the people in El Paso for at least six months once I leave, while I get to see him on a regular basis. 

I do say, it will be great when I’m back in the real state of Texas.

So, I have returned home after a wonderful week/end with Bryan in CenTex.  Leo and Lindsey’s wedding was a cute outdoor shindig, and it was great to see them on cloud nine on their big day.  Also got to see Ferrell Searls and some of Leo’s family, so it was a little like a high school reunion.  Bryan and I stayed at a little bed and breakfast in Kyle, and it was gorgeous.  Absolutely gorgeous. 

Also got to look at some apartments and a house or two in Bastrop on the way back to Waco, and (cross your fingers) I may have found a house for the fall.  Its a little two bedroom, with a small backyard in town, just what I need to start out in.  The flooring’s been redone on the inside, and it was the cheapest dwelling I’ve seen yet in that area.  Should know if the owners will hold it until August for me some time this week.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Like I figured, it was wonderful to be with Bryan for the week.  Though I didn’t get to see many people while I was in Waco, he and I did get a lot of little errands done in preparation for my move in August.  I still can’t wait to do it – only a month away and it feels like its going to be ages!

On other fronts, I came home to a few major happenings too!  Take a look:

WHOA…..

Lucky’s learned to play fetch!! 

AND how to play tug o’ war!

To top of this extremely important update, there is a bee hive in our water meter hole.  Pretty cool, I’d say. 

That is all for now.

It is two days until my best friend from high school gets married.  I am sooooooooo  excited for him!  I’ll be flying out of this ill-forsaken town wednesday morning at 11am, and will be back on the right side of Texas that afternoon. I have a dress, the shoes, and the plane ticket…  I wouldn’t miss this wedding for the world. The best part is I don’t have to come back to EPT until Sunday. YAY! 

I am very glad to be going to visit Bryan too.  The distance is hard on us both, but amazingly not on our relationship.  If anything, it does make the heart grow fonder!  I am really looking forward to spending time with him and exploring Bastrop in search of an apartment for moi.   

If you could see my face right now, its lit up like a little kid’s at Christmas – I have finally realized that there are only a few more days until I am back with the one I love.

Oh, and I hate my Al Bundy job.  ‘Nuff said.

I actually got a job.  Yessiree.  At a sports store, lol.  I will be like Ted Bundy (the sitcom character, not the serial killer), and sell shoes to random people.  For $7 dollars an hour.  Oh boy.

What’s rather sad, is the fact I am excited about it.  I have applied for 20+ jobs in the greater El Paso area, and this is only my second interview and first job offer.  It seems that the area has been hit pretty hard by the recession, and my temporary work status coupled with my lack of spanish-speaking skills left me a poor candidate for most jobs here. 

It really is depressing to see me, a college graduate getting turned away from job opportunities.  And it angers me more to think that I was promised a job last month and then stripped of it only to find out that the other candidates who were selected only finished high school.  To make matters worse, it was a summer teaching position.  Talk about issues in the education system – its a wonder I made it out of this town alive.

Why don’t some people value the effort put into a degree?  And furthermore, when will women be treated as equals in the job place?  I just don’t understand the complexities of life, my friends.  I just don’t get why it can’t be black and white.

:/

So, Bryan Deric Frederick is certifiably insane.  Why, you ask?  Because he decided to buy a ticket to come to El Paso to cheer me up Friday afternoon.  As in LITERALLY bought a ticket and 4 hours later was in El Paso, TX.  I was shocked.

That shock wore off and turned to pure joy though.  It was absolutely wonderful to spend the weekend bumming around this stinky little city with him.  Even though I did want to kill him at first for not giving me fair warning of his arrival, and then making me stay up till 11pm to pick his butt up from the airport, I really enjoyed having him in person.  And it was like pulling stitches to have to let him get on that plane to Dallas this afternoon.  I already miss him terribly, and have been walking around the house in a daze since he left.  Even my dad has been worried about my zombie-like mood.

But let me back up a little and tell you WHY I was so unhappy on Friday.  My mother volunteered me to substitute for a pre-k class at her private school.  “Easy money!” I thought.  I taught pre-k during the 04′, 05′ Summer camps, and Bible schools at this same Church, and understood basically what I was getting into. Boy was I wrong.  The class I subbed for was apparently the WORST class at the school, and yelled and cried and misbehaved so much that I couldn’t hear out of my left ear for 2 hours after class was over.  I should have been clued in that something was amiss when the teachers I did know apologized and gave me hugs after I uttered the name of the teacher I was filling in for… That’s never a good sign. 

So, Bryan could tell I was frustrated, and quickly getting into a state of total inebriation that afternoon over AIM, and made the rash decision to fly to El Paso that evening.  It ended up being just what the doctor ordered, since he was able to meet one of my best friends from high school, Arlynn, and then bum around the Canutes outlet mall with me.  (Which I found out that I’ve lost enough weight to fit into a jean size 6!!Woot Woot!!)

My boyfriend is insane, but I love him dearly.  He always seems to know just what to do to cheer me up.   Even if its a bit unorthadox.