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've been reading the Helifreak.com forums a lot lately and been wanting to learn to fly R/C helis for a while now.  So... yesterday I made an offer on a helicopter and the seller and I were able to come up with a pretty good deal.    My new heli should be in the mail Friday.  I'm very excited.  I got a my brand new Spektrum DX7 transmitter a couple of days back and my copy of Phoenix R/C Simulator arrived yesterday.  I crashed thousands of dollars worth of helicopters and airplanes last night. 

In other news- Michelle and I signed on our new home yesterday!  I'm super excited about moving in closer to my new work.  It's going to be much nicer driving 20-30 minutes to work instead of 50-60 minutes every day.  We officially get the place on the 21st, but Michelle has like three tests that week so most likely we won't be moving in until the following weekend.  Anyone feel like lifting boxes?! 

Our new home!!  My new heli!!  Check it out:

Alright... there.  Is that enough of an update for you, Michelle? 

Just kidding... just kidding.  Michelle has been nagging me about something I really needed to do a long time ago.  So- here's the scoop.  I've moved to Austin.  I'm living with my amazing girlfriend in Bastop, Tx.  This is a temporary living situation.  We've already got plans to move into a home in South Austin by the end of the month.

Michelle and I will soon be renting a cute little house together.  The house was built in 2005 and has three bedrooms and 2 bath.  It's got a two car garage and is in the perfect location for Michelle and me, right near the intersection of highway 173 and 71.  She'll be 30-40 minutes from her school/work and I'll be about 30 minutes to my work-- much better than the hour drive I've been doing every day to my new job!

Ahh... a new job?  Yep!  I'm now officially working in Austin.  I don't want to get into the same issues that I did by talking about my previous employer on the blog so I won't talk much more about it, but I'm enjoying the change.  I'm still a "Software Engineer" and so far everything is going great with the transition.  I think everything will be even better once the move into Austin is over and Michelle and I can start exploring the big city together.

Alright.  I'll update again soon.  It's been way too long since my last update...  I know I'm a slacker. 

This weekend I saw Wanted with Josh Moore.  Pretty decent movie.  It reminded me a lot of both Shoot 'Em Up and Jumper.  It had action sequences like Jumper along with humor very similar to Shoot 'Em Up.  Overall, I'd give it a B+.  Very entertaining movie.  The only thing that was lacking was a little bit of the plot development.  It was better developped than Jumper, but was still lacking.  There's no explanation of the root CAUSE of the story- where is the loom getting messages from?  Fate-- seriously?  Anyways, good movie overall.

It's getting closer and closer to August, which is when Michelle is planning on moving to Austin (or Bastrop).  Most likely that is the next time I will get to see her!  It's sad, but it's only 3 more weeks, so I know it won't be that bad!  It will definitely be exciting to help her get moved into her new place.  While we're still not sure where that new home will be, I'm certain it will be awesome when it all falls into place!!!    I miss my girl... badly.

My relationship is finally over...  with Baylor. 

 The past weekend was a whirlwind of activities, from family arriving, graduating, packing, partying, etc.  While I was tired nearly the entire time, it was so wonderful to have people that I love and cherish so much around to celebrate this culmination of my trials at this university.  Looking back, it is easy to see how much I have grown, from a skiddish, do-right freshmen all alone in Central Texas to the driven, independant, and sometimes crazy woman I (feel I) am today. The change is rather amazing to see within myself, and I know that my past four years of struggling have been well worth it.  I have figured out who I am. 

For the next two months I will be spending my time in El Paso with my parents.  My dad asked me to come home for the summer, which he would never do if it were not for some really good reason.  For those of you who don't know, I haven't moved home in over two years; my last two summers were spent at school, working on my thesis.  It seems that my parents needed to have some 'Michelle Time' before I truly do move out on my own.  They sold it to me as a means to pad my bank account while I pay no rent and work.  As for myself, I am mildly dreading the next few weeks, since I have a)lost my freedom and b)lost visual contact with Bryan.    And NO BRYAN, I WILL NOT GO BUY A WEBCAM.

Aside from that, life is going rather well.  I am slowly destressing from classes, and becoming quite excited about graduate school.  I understand now that some greater being really did have a hand in directing my life towards research, for it has become both my sanity and passion.  I can see that the next few years are going to be awesome, and its all going to be for my dreams.  How cool is that?

Hopefully now Bryan will begin to look for employment in Austin, and we can begin the next leg of our wild journey as close friends.  One thing at a time, one thing at a time. 

 :)