I Will Rise

I am going to start out this blog post by saying things that are positive because I am about to throw down some very negative things. 


1. It is October 27! (I started this yesterday. It is now October 28.) Do you know what that means?? Michael and I are one month away from being married for ONE YEAR!! Whoop! It has been a year of learning to say the least. You always learn the most about someone after you start living with them. Example: No matter how many times I show Michael how to fold the towels, he always gets it wrong. Haha. Or, no matter how many times he tells me he does not like a certain food I am surprised and give him a hard time. It has been a wonderful year and I cannot wait to see what God has planned for us next!


2. Allie is growing! She is almost 8 months old and weighs a whopping 60 pounds! I did have a lot of good things to say about her until 10 minutes ago when I was about to sit down and start typing out this blog and I found that she tore up a ziploc bag, empty the contents (which were Michael's hunting face paint), and was chewing on the tubes of paint. GOOD thing is that she did not puncture the tubes. WHEW! After my day, I think my blood pressure was through the roof at that moment...

And now about the raised blood pressure......... Please bear with me on this one. 

I love my job. I do. I love going into work every day and hearing kids say "Ms. April" and give me hugs. I love teaching them and seeing them grow. However, I do not love being bit, spit at, having to chase you down the hall, telling you to not climb on everything in the room. I most of all, do NOT love being called a "stupid b****" ten times in one day. BY A FOUR YEAR OLD! Let me get this straight: this is not done by all of the kids - just one. One child. One child who has caused my heart to ache every day because I see they are hurting. They have not had the easiest life at only four years old. This one child has me contemplating why the heck I even want to be a teacher. How long can the good outweigh the bad?? This is something I am seriously struggling with. My heart is breaking. My patience has gone out the window. Granted, I do not want to teach four year olds. I want to teach 5th grade and beyond. Someone told me it is this child that will make you want to change your major. That scares, or now scared, me. 

After sitting for a night and talking to Michael I am feeling better about the situation. I need to pray to God for the patience and the understanding so I can try and get through to this child. I love working with kids and I would hate for one child to take that away from me. I just please ask for your prayers so that I can begin to start anew with this child and forgive them for what has already happened. I need to stop holding a grudge and move forward so they can move forward. After working with this child I will (hopefully) have nerves of steel. Right now I am just worn out, exhausted, and lost.

I will try and promise not such a debbie-downer for our next post. I am going to end this post with a song that came on the radio when I was leaving work on that defeated day - the exact moment I needed it. 

I Will Rise - Shawn McDonald (Click the link)

We hope everyone has a great rest of October!

It's OCTOBER?!

Man oh man how time just seems to be flying by! The other day Michael and I realized that it has almost been a year since we got married. Crazy, huh?? We sure do think so. I know it seems like I saw this every time I write a post, but I really need to get in the habit of updating everyone on what is going on in our lives. One reason it has not been updated lately is because, well... I GOT A J-O-B so my free time is very limited now between that and school. I work at a daycare here in Clovis called The Children's Center and I am in the four year old classroom. I work with an amazing lady, Becky, who has taught in the Clovis school system before working at the school. Our classroom is kind of like a pre-school classroom because we are still teaching the kids lessons, not just babysitting. Although... it does feel like babysitting sometimes. It is hard to hold their attention for long periods of time. I love my job so far, even if I am getting bit, spit on, spit UP on, or catching stomach bugs. Let me tell you though... by the time I get home I am exhausted. Completely and utterly exhausted. Our house shows it too. I am weeks behind on laundry.

I am behind on laundry because we have had neighborhood activities such as a one of neighbor's kids birthday parties. Micah had a blast. We got him a Nerf gun. What kid does not love a Nerf gun, right? Our other neighbors got him a pinata so that was fun for all the kids. There was also a silly string war. Which, I will admit, the adults did join in and have fun! 

I am also behind because we traveled to De Leon last weekend for opening bow hunting season! I am excited for hunting season. More so the rifle than bow season, but Michael enjoys sitting out and "being one with the deer". My words, not his, so no teasing (Toney)! That weekend was more than miserable for me. I started feeling sick towards the end of our drive Friday night. We did not get to leave until 5 that evening because we both had to work. I did not feel right asking off on my first full week there. When I woke up Saturday morning I was still feeling quite nauseous and actually began throwing up. For the rest of the day I was running fever and throwing up. Terrie gave me nausea medicine which made be completely worthless and I was in and out of sleep all day. Thankfully I woke up feeling better Sunday morning, but I was still weak and very tired. As of today, I am feeling WAY better! A big thank you to Terrie for nursing me back to health!! Michael's hunting was pretty miserable too. Saturday evening while hunting he had his bow pulled on an 8-point when SNAP, his release broke and scared away the deer. He came home and ordered new parts though so hopefully this upcoming weekend he will have better luck. We both have Friday off and plan to leave early early that morning so we can be in De Leon by lunch. Michael's buddy, Ben, from the Corps will be joining us that weekend for hunting! So wish him luck too! Jennifer (Rush) sorry that we will miss you, but hopefully another weekend we can see you when you are not busy!

And for a bit of random... If you have not bought a Keurig, you should. They are the best thing since sliced bread!

We have some exciting news!

Well I cannot promise to you that this post will not be SUPER long! We have a lot to catch you guys up on. We will start with our trip to Dallas over the long Labor Day weekend.

Our trip started out great until we reached the Lubbock city mark... Imagine that, Lubbock making things difficult on us. Allie threw up for the first time of the car ride here. TWO hours she had already been in the car. Anyway... so we stopped so that I* (*April; just want to make sure y'all know it was me) could clean it up. :) Also at about this time, it was getting hotter outside (we left at 8 AM so it is now 10 AM) and we noticed the inside of my car was getting hotter as well. Well 2-3 more hours plus another throw up thanks to Allie we found ourselves stopped in Seymour, Texas to find a mechanic so we could find out why my car was blowing hot air. The mechanic told us my expansion valve was stuck and it would need replacing, but guess what? He did not have an expansion valve. All hopes were crushed at that moment. We had three+ more hours to go with an A/C that was blowing hot air because the coolant could not pass through the valve. Ten minutes outside of Seymour Allie gave us another nice present. At that moment, Michael and I were both hot, frustrated, and fed up stopping so that I could clean up vomit. We took all of our luggage out of the back, put it between the seats in the middle with Roy, took the dog hammock out and folded it up in the kennel and locked Allie in there for the rest of this oh so enjoyable journey. She could throw up for all we cared because now she was contained in a space that I did not have to touch for the next 3+ hours. Because the coolant was not getting to the A/C we would have to turn off the air and drive with the windows down to give it a rest. After we got tired of that, we would roll the windows up, turn on the A/C, and be cool for maybe 10 minutes. Then we got to Denton, Texas where Friday after work traffic was stacking up. Michael did not want the windows down because we were in stop&go traffic, so we sat for 45 minutes with hot A/C blowing on us. We were MISERABLE!  God must have been testing us on a personal and married couple level that day. Overall, our trip to Dallas was WONDERFUL! We ate dinner with my family at El Fenix on Friday (after we both got a shower because we stank so bad), after dinner we saw a fireworks show at Lake Grapevine. 

Saturday, Michael and I woke up early to take my car to Firestone so we could get it fixed. Well, it turned out that after they did a diagnostic on it, it was TOTALLY FINE, WHAT?! After that, we had lunch with Jennifer and Daron at Abuelos. We are so happy that we got to spend some time with those two! We do not get to see family enough. Michael and I then did some shopping for stuff we cannot get in Clovis and that night ventured down to Deep Ellum in Dallas for some sushi with Addi and Jenna. That was an interesting, but fun, experience. They had a car show going on so there were all these old, mob-looking, cars.

Sunday we had breakfast with my family at Cracker Barrel, YUM!! Later that day we hung out with the dogs, grilled up some burgers and hot dogs, and watched the Aggies BTHO smu! On Monday, Michael and I hung out with just my mom for awhile and then met up with Addi, Reid, and Jenna for lunch at BJ's. Our drive home went perfect, crazy right? Allie was locked in her kennel, Roy had a new dog car hammock to enjoy, and Michael froze me out. I kept wanting to turn on the heat. Amazing how sometimes we are never satisfied. We can be so spoiled in life that sometimes we forget other people deal with things like this on a daily basis.

Weeeellllll.... are you ready for the exciting news?!?! As of today, Michael has been at ENMR Plateau for ONE YEAR! As of last Friday, his title within the company is now Enterprise Support Team Lead! Yup, you read that right, MICHAEL GOT A PROMOTION! I am so excited for and proud of him! He totally deserves this and I cannot wait to see what this company has to offer him. He has learned so much already and continues to learn more everyday from this business. This is truly an amazing experience for him, and for us as a family.

I figure I will also show how big Allie is getting. She is now six months and around 50 pounds. She is starting to test her boundaries a bit. She has not chewed anything of ours, but we have found that she likes paper. Hopefully I will not be having a "my dog really did eat my homework" scenario. 

And Roy, is.... well, Roy. Spoiled as ever, but we love him. This is him enjoying a massage.

There's Gonna Be Brighter Days

The title for this post seemed appropriate for what I am about to say. As I was about to begin this post, Mercy Me's "Move" came on the Christian radio station I am listening to at the moment. Here are some of the lyrics:

When life won't play along
And right keeps going wrong
And I can't seem to find my way
I know where I am found
So I won't let it drag me down
Oh, I'll keep dancing anyway

Michael and I recently attended a new church with our neighbors. It is The Vine Community Church of Clovis. They broke off from Central Baptist and created a modern service which we both really enjoyed. The church community seems more geared toward our age and priorities as a young, married couple seeking for God's eternal love. Becoming involved in this church will allow me to grow a stronger relationship with God and therefore a stronger relationship with myself and Michael. Having a stronger relationship with God will make the tough times here a little easier. We will also be able to meet new people and hopefully make some new friends out here. We really need this because lately we are missing Texas along with our family and friends.

I am not making this a super long entry. I just wanted to share a little of what is in my heart at the moment. :) 

Joshua 1:9

Being away from Texas and family is really starting to sink in. Saying goodbye to friends and family is always dreaded because sometimes we do not know the next time we will see each other again. I have not made many friends out here and that is starting to take a toll. I love meeting new people, but I can be so dang shy at times. We both love all of our neighbors because they are so kind and thoughtful. The fact that we are a decade younger than all of them is starting to be glaringly clear. They have kids... We have dogs. They are military... We are civilians. I just feel like "the young one" and that I don't fit in. I really need to make it a goal this upcoming semester to make some friends and feel young again. We are 22 and have a long life ahead of us. The Bible verse that stands out to me at this time is Joshua 1:9 "This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  Well I apologize for being such a Debbie Downer... sometimes I just need to vent - even if no one reads this thing. Ha Ha. 


Last weekend my mom and sister, Addi, came for a visit! We have not seen them since the middle of April so it was great having a long weekend with them. When they came in Friday Michael made beef/venison burgers and brau chips... yum! On Saturday, I showed mom and Addi around Clovis and we went shopping at Roden Smith. Roden Smith is a neat store that has a lot to offer: Hallmark cards, furniture, kitchen tools, decor, all sorts of gifts, a coffee shop, and an assortment of candy. For dinner that night we drove to Portales to eat at Vines, an Italian restaurant. Their appetizer, Fried Ravioli, is DELICIOUS! I wish I could say the same about the rest of their food, but I just cannot. The menu is overpriced and simply sub-par. Before we went to eat though I got to show them Eastern New Mexico University's campus. On Sunday we showed them our local park, Ned Houk, which has two separate areas. One side has playgrounds and a small pond while the other side has a disk golf course, playgrounds, a walking trail, dirt bike/ATV trails, another small pond, and a fishing pond. For dinner we showed them what New Mexico Mexican food is all about. It is certainly NOT Tex-Mex that's for darn sure! Then on Monday I took them to one of Michael and I's favorite breakfast restaurants, Don Maria's. That place is so yummy. They have been low on my list lately, but after the last couple of visits they are back towards the top. Yay! Here is a look in pictures of what our weekend consisted of: 

Addi got to take a ride on Michael's motorcycle

Mom and Addi made Belgian Waffles for Sunday breakfast! 

We had a neighborhood block party this past weekend and I made some Cupcake Cones to bring for dessert. 

While looking around the mall one day I found these shoes by Steve Madden, the Tblanket Moccasin Boot. Call me crazy, but I love them and want them REALLY bad! I think they are amazing and I would totally wear them. Ahh...a girl can dream can't she??

I really should update this thing more!

We have just not been up to much during June and July is looking to be the same. I do have a lot to update everyone on though. Where to even start??


I guess I will start in the middle of June when Michael and I went out to our local gun range so Michael could compete in a USPSA shoot. By standards, this is not a true USPSA shoot, but Michael really enjoys going out and he has met some nice people through it. I decided to join him because I figured I would take my camp chair, sit in the sun, and work on my tan. This is the opposite (dramatic?? maybe) of what happened. The New Mexico winds decided to pick up and I sat in the shade all day while being pelted with sand. Michael did excellent in the shoot I do have to say and it is fun to see how much he enjoys it. Here is what part of our day looked like though:

Between here and the Fourth of July weekend, we did not have much going on. Although, Michael did have A LOT of overtime at work which made for a sad April, but that's the trick of the trade. 


For the Fourth of July weekend we traveled to De Leon. We always enjoy being able to spend time with family and this time my sister, Jenna, joined us for the celebration weekend! Our puppy, Allie, also joined us for this trip. On the way there she got carsick five times... *Sigh* Good practice for what kids may bring to us in the future?? That's ONE way to see it. I always seem to jinx our mishaps with her though. I can say "Michael, guess what! We have not have a puppy accident in the house in three days!" And of course, that night, she will pee right in front of you. Or we can be in the car and I'll say "Allie has not gotten carsick ONCE yet" (being almost two hours into the trip), and she throws up to be followed by four more times. But I digress... Friday we got there, sat, and chatted for awhile until we decided to hit the hay for the busy weekend. On Saturday, Jenna and I went to Stephenville because she forgot her bathing suit and we needed to find her a spare. (Imagine that, Jenna forgot something ;) ) When we got back we went to the Scarlet Ibis for some shopping. I LOVE that store and love being able to chat for a bit with Kelly Dickey, the owner of the store. After shopping around we went back to the house, had lunch with MaMaw and Tammy, and visitied with them for awhile. We also took the dogs for a swim. Yes, plural, dogS. Allie is not as great as Roy but with time she will learn. She is a proud dog so when Wubba is in her mouth she puts her head up high which causes her bum to sink. She then starts sinking slowly and turning in circles. Ha Ha! Such a sight to see. We first found this out when she jumped in Friday night, started to sink a bit, and I had to jump in after her, FULLY CLOTHED! Oh the things we do for our (fur)children. 


After our swim with the dogs we went out behind the phone company and shot some guns. I love being able to say that (behind the phone company to shoot). We shot Michael's new Springfield XDM (LOVE LOVE LOVE this gun!), the zombie killer (as we call it), and Toney's new Ranch Hand pistol. 


After shooting, we went to Strawn, TX to eat at Mary's Cafe. If you are in the DFW area or in a good radius of Strawn and looking for a mini roadtrip, you better eat at Mary's! Their Chicken Fried Steak is to die for! Jenna and I both got a large so we could bring home leftovers. 

On Sunday we went to church and then came home to have lunch and get ready to go out on the lake. We took the jet skis out to Proctor Lake to have some fun. It was Jenna's first time out on a jet ski and was a natural. We had a really good time!


After the lake, we swam for a bit and then went out to "The Place" to explore. "The Place" is the land Toney bought and we use for hunting season. We took the mule out for a ride and changed out some of the cameras and tested the feeders to make sure everything was in order for this coming Fall! 

We came home Monday because Michael had to work on Tuesday, but we were still able to catch the Clovis firework show! We sat on our roof and enjoyed the show. :)

For any who may be wondering, the dogs are doing great! Roy ripped some of his paw pads from swimming too much. He was pitiful for a couple of days, but seems back to normal now! Allie is still growing - four months old as of today and weighing 30 pounds. She is our little nugget. 

We've Got Some Catching Up To Do

 

For Memorial Day weekend we traveled to De Leon, Michael's hometown, to spend time with his family. Michael got off work at noon, we packed the car, and headed out of town. It stinks that we drive maybe ten minutes to the border and we jump ahead an hour in time. So instead of leaving at 12:30 mountain time, we are really leaving 1:30 central time. Very frustrating. The drive to De Leon is about 6 hours without stops so we made it there a little before 8 that night. Terrie had dinner waiting for us when we got in - grilled chicken, homemade bread, mac & cheese (my favorite), and brau chips. Of course, after we ate, we let Roy take a quick swim in the pool. He LOVES to go swimming. You cannot say the words "pool" or "swim" around him or he freaks out and will not shut up until he hits that water. By the end of the trip, I think he swam about ten times. Saturday night after we got home from eating at Mary's in Strawn (OH MY GOSH, SO GOOD!!), the Sparger clan came over so Lane could swim with Roy. Lane is the cutest little kid ever! He named his imaginary calf and real baby calf Roy, after our dog, because he loves Roy that much. Only this little boy would have an imaginary CALF. I wish I had gotten a picture, but unfortunately I didn't: Lane grabbed onto Roy's tail and Roy pulled him across the swimming pool. It was so cute and Roy did not mind one bit at all. He is so good! Although I did not get a picture of that, I did get some others of Roy swimming. 

Also on Saturday, I must not forget, I got upgraded to the iPhone 4! YAY! I love it. Thank you so much Toney and Terrie! 

Jennifer and Daron came in Sunday night and Toney and Terrie cooked us up a fish fry! We had fried Crappie (similar to Catfish, caught out at Proctor Lake by a family friend), hush puppies, corn bread, brau chips, and of course, mac & cheese (mine and Daron's favorite). All of it was SO delicious. I just might have to say... "It's the best I've ever had" 

After dinner was cleaned up, we all sat and talked with Terrie about her new kitchen! Yup, it's remodel time! I wish I was closer to Texas for this time because we all know I am OBSESSED with HGTV and redecorating. Terrie, whatever the details, it will be what you have always wanted and beautiful. Jennifer, I know I said we should get Candice Olson, but I have moved on... Genevieve Gorder! She'd be perfect. *Sigh...* 

After coming up with ideas for the new kitchen, we played several rounds of Apples to Apples. That game is so fun and is always funny to see what people put out there.

On Monday, MaMaw and Aunt Tammy came in for lunch and we played Phase 10. We have gotten the two hooked on that game after their visit to Clovis. I learned my lesson from our last game experience and kept my mouth shut this time around. Which served me well, I think I only got skipped once or twice! After our game, Michael and I packed up our stuff and sadly headed back to New Mexico. It is never easy leaving Texas because it is truly God's country. I cannot wait for the day we move back and are closer to all our family and friends. 

A little update on puppy: She knows her name! She also kind of knows sit. Like Roy, she is very food motivated, but more calm than Roy. When teaching Roy "down" he would throw himself to the ground he was so excited about food... It's like the poor thing never gets fed! Puppy is definitely growing: she seems taller and now weighs 19.6 pounds at almost 11 weeks old. She is still super cute, but very frustrating. We are still working on housebreaking her. She is doing better except for last night, I nearly killed the darn nugget - she peed on our bed at 11:30 at night. Not totally her fault because it was raining last night so her time outside was very limited, but still did not make for a happy April. This face is just so hard to be mad at...

Sadie? Sydney? Sammy? Allie? Allie.

Like I said in the last post, things here in Clovis have really slowed down and we are enjoying each others company. Last weekend, Clovis had a Monster Truck Show that Michael and I decided would be a fun thing to do together. It was held at Curry County Fairgrounds and was actually pretty fun! I have never been to anything like this before so it was definitely an experience. We ended up seeing one of Michael's co-workers and sitting with him and is family. Michael had fun looking to see how many mullets we could find- sadly he only found two. I wish during the show there was more of the monster trucks instead of the not-so-comedic comedy. Unfortunately I did not take many pictures because my camera died within the first 10 minutes! Shoot!

 As many of our friends and family have seen on Facebook, we got a new puppy! After a long time trying to think of the perfect name for her, we have named her Allie. We think it fits her perfectly! Now for the story on how we came to getting her: Michael was going to attend a USPSA shoot at our local gun range, but had to stop at Walmart first to get some ammo. On the weekends it is pretty common to see people out by Walmart with puppies for sale. Michael happened to drive by one and sent me a text that said, "Golden Ret. puppies at Walmart. Cute!! You come get one :) I wouldn't be pissed. Haha." So I hopped in the car and drove over to see them. The puppies are Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever Mix and are 8 weeks old. How can I resist that?! The dad and mom and both AKC registered as purebreds. The litter was actually accidental. The mom is only a year old and had not gone into her first heat so the family decided to go on vacation. Well, while on vacation she went into heat, got pregnant, and had a litter of ELEVEN puppies! I spent quite awhile looking at the puppies and really liked one, but did not want to get one without Michael being able to see her so she said she would hold the puppy for me for two days until we made a decision. After Michael's shoot, we went and ate at Chili's with a nice couple he met at the shoot and then I told Michael we should go look at the puppies again so we could make a decision on whether to get one or not. During the day, she took the puppy I originally set eyes home and brought the others out. Which turned out to be just fine because we fell in love with a gorgeous girl who is absolutely precious! Michael had about two minutes of buyers regret until she completely stole his heart. We are so excited to have a new member in our family! Here's a picture of her that will most likely steal your heart as well...

Slowing Down

Terrie, Jennifer, MaMaw, and Aunt Tammy all made a trip here to Clovis to see us. We are SO happy we got to see them. The last time Michael saw his mom was back in January when she and Toney came for a short visit. I saw her in February when she came and stayed with me while Michael was in Washington DC (still too short of a visit). The last time we saw Jennifer, MaMaw, and Aunt Tammy was Christmas. It has been way too long! They came in Friday evening and Michael and I made chicken, homemade bread (not as good as Terrie's of course), chicken & rice casserole, and brau (pronounced brow) chips (again, not as good as Terrie's, but I digress). I also made Zucchini Muffins, YUM! If you are interested in this recipe please let me know because I promise you, they do not taste like a vegetable muffin. I also attempted Chocolate Cupcakes from scratch. I do not think I will ever again make these. They were pretty tasty, but such a HASSLE to make. Sorry, Jennifer, I know you looked forward to those! Overall, we had a really nice weekend with family. We even taught MaMaw and Tammy how to play Phase 10. Such a fun game. They got a pretty good hang of it and it was so funny to see them get excited when they completed a phase. On Sunday we went to the early church service and ate lunch at Don Maria's: Michael and I's favorite restaurant here in Clovis. As all of our family visits, it was not near long enough. We miss all of you already and cannot wait to see you in De Leon at the end of May!

Well now that we have gone to Vegas, to Texas, our birthday's have passed, family has visited, and final exams are next week, things in the Prather household are starting to slow down. I am not sure how I feel about that yet. We have had plans written on our erasable calendar for what seems like forever. Now that May is here it seems empty! It really is a sad sight to see. I am sure we will find something to occupy our time... As for my time? I will be looking for a job because I cannot sit around all day and watch HGTV.

Take a look at what's been cookin' in the Prather kitchen:

Shredded BBQ Pork Sandwiches with homemade bread. Made these in the Crockpot... easiest thing ever!

Michael's work had a fundraiser bake sale supporting Relay for Life so I made Blueberry Muffins and Chocolate Cupcakes. These Chocolate Cupcakes came out looking much prettier than my scratch cupcakes. These ones came from a box... Needless to say, I learned my lesson about cupcakes. 

My mom has had a Zucchini Muffin recipe in her recipe box for a long as I can remember. As a kid I did not care much for them, but my palate has grown up since then and I decided to make these for when our company came.

And last, but certainly not least, PANCAKES for brinner. Nothing special about these... came from the box, but I love flat, not fluffy, pancakes. The secret?? Well... I'd have to kill you if I told you. ;)

Travels and Birthdays

I will start off with our trip to the Dallas area for Claire and Cody's wedding. We cannot possibly express how excited and happy we are for this new family. The 7 hour drive to Coppell starting at 6 PM Texas time, and then the two hours to Pittsburg from Coppell on Saturday, was worth it to see Claire and Cody get married. We enjoyed being able to see them and celebrate their big day with them because we do not get to see much of them anymore now that the guys are graduated and we are in New Mexico. Congratulations to Claire, Cody, and baby boy Cason! We love you guys and cannot wait to meet your sweet little one.

Long trips are not on our list for awhile. Those car trips can be brutal and because of traveling we had not seen a weekend at home for three weeks. Yikes! Our first weekend back home was uneventful due to all the high winds we are experiencing. This past weekend Clovis/Portales had a huge grass fire. 17,000 acres of land was burned along with four homes. Very sad. On my way to school, I pass part of the area that is burned. The air over there is hazy and I can smell the smoke inside my car passing through. Please keep all the people affected by these grass fires (and other storms) in your prayers.

Also this past weekend we had planned a day trip on the motorcycle to Santa Rosa, but again, due to these awful winds, it was canceled. We actually drove out about 10-15 miles before turning around. Hopefully soon, once the windy spring has passed, we will plan a trip out there again. We plan to see the Blue Hole (a natural spring), Route 66 museum, and the Billy the Kid museum. Here is a picture from our trip which was sadly short-lived. 

Because our trip to Santa Rosa was canceled, we went to Ned Houk Park that is outside the Clovis city limits. Roy really loves coming here because of all the ducks. I am sure if I let go of his leash he would be in the water chasing them in no time. We took expired bread with us this time to feed the ducks. 

Michael and I are both 22 now! We like to joke that for about four days there, he was married to an older woman. ;) Michael got me beauuutiful roses and took me to dinner at Vine's Italian Restaurant in downtown Portales. I do not think we will be back there though. The food is overpriced and not that great. Oh well, you live, you learn. Poor Michael had to go into work at 6 AM on his birthday. To top it off, they were out of coffee. Oooppss. Spending our birthdays here in New Mexico has been weird. For the past four years, our birthdays have fallen around parents weekend at A&M so our birthday weekends were always jam-packed with family and activities. Having nothing to do around this time of year has been an adjustment. C'est la vie.

Things I'm loving - Wednesday Style

So I am going to steal a little idea I saw on a friend's blog. Jennifer Rush, this blog is thanks to you! (Hope you do not mind, hehe)

Moving to Clovis, New Mexico has its negatives, but I really do not give it enough credit as I should. Moving so far away from family and friends has been one of the toughest decisions for Michael and I, but what better way to start a marriage than by completely relying on your significant other. We look to one another each and every day when the going gets rough and it only makes us stronger because of that. Every now and then we all need to be reminded about the little joys in life.

Therefore, my first thing I am thankful for is my husband. He truly is the most amazing man I know (besides my Daddy of course). He keeps me sane when I feel at my craziest. He is so fun to be around and he makes any bad day a good one. I love you, babe!

The second thing I am thankful for: POPCORN! We got a popcorn maker for a wedding gift and it is the most amazing thing. As a matter of fact, it was mine and Michael's dinner tonight. Y'all may think we are crazy, but come on, dinner of champions! 

Third thing I am thankful for: Sweet Tea. I have my Momma to thank for this addiction. Growing up, we always had a gallon of sweet tea in our fridge. With summer just around the corner, nothing tastes better than sweet tea on a hot day.

Fourth thing I am thankful for: My stinkin' cute A&M Armadillo Yard Decorator. My sister, Jenna, gave this to me for my birthday. I love my armadillo.

The last thing I am thankful for: Dry, warm weather here in New Mexico. Probably the best thing about Clovis is the dry weather. If we were still living in College Station there is no way we could shut off our A/C and open the doors and windows. Well... we could do that in CS, but would have to sacrifice nice looking hair (humidity there is ridiculous). Best part of this deal, lower energy bill. We are all about saving the monies these days. I do not have a picture of dry air, so a picture of our house in the springtime will have to suffice. ;)

Okay well after publishing the blog, I came up with ooonnnee more thing I am thankful for: Roy. He is so funny and I am super glad to have him back home with us.He will never be away from us for three weeks ever again. Sorry, Jay! And yes, he really slept like this.

Too often we can be so self-absorbed. The next time you are having a bad day, stop to think about the little things in life that make you happy and enjoy the life God gave you.

Busy Bees

Well in the middle of March we drove to Coppell to see my family and celebrate my momma's birthday. The seven hour drive from Clovis does NOT leave enough time and I always dread the drive back home to New Mexico. My mom, sisters, aunts, and I attended a wedding shower for my soon to be cousin-in-law, Liz. It was so nice and the food was delicious! If you ever get a chance to eat at The Dove's Nest in Waxahachie, do it! The tea room is so cute and the shopping in the square is equally nice. Since we had Vegas coming up, we left Roy in Coppell. It has been two and a half weeks and I miss him SO much - he is my baby boy! How can you not miss this face??

Since we moved to Clovis after we got married, we did not have time to take our honeymoon. We had planned on taking our honeymoon to Orlando, Florida. I like warm places and escaping New Mexico winter would have been nice. We ended up canceling our trip because we wanted more time with family. It turns out that canceling our plans was a good idea because we lost Paw Paw during the time we would have been gone. So it was nice being able to be with family during that time.

When planning a new honeymoon, we decided on VEGAS!

Vegas was such a blast! It is always weird leaving a small city and traveling to a larger city. We always miss all the food options we get in larger cities. When we got to Vegas on Wednesday, we checked into our hotel and then went walking around the city. SO. MUCH. WALKING. Just a little advice if you are going to Vegas, pack comfortable shoes! The city designs the walkways to where you have to pass eeeevery hotel and casino. How convenient. Our first show we saw was Blue Man Group at The Venetian on Thursday. I have seen BMG in NYC before, but it was still amazing! Michael says BMG was his favorite show. Him being a drummer, he said he is going to BE a blue man some day. Good luck with that one, babe! When we called to buy tickets, we just went with the cheapest option. The guy ended up calling us back and said if we went to the 10PM show instead, they would upgrade us to 8th row and center for FREE! Of course, we said yes!

On Friday we walked around town and ate dinner at a place we found on Urbanspoon (great iPhone app. by the way!). We found a New York Pizza place called No Name Pizza Kitchen. All the reviews said the pizza is amazing, but good luck finding it in the hotel. We took on the challenge. NNPK is in The Cosmopolitan. When we walked in we immediately asked a worker where to go. He had no idea what we were talking about so we asked someone else. When we asked, he laughed at us, but explained where it was. Once we got to the right floor, we could not remember the restaurants he said it is next to. Mind you, this place has NO sign out front and is down a long, narrow, hallway. We asked yet another person and she directed us to the right location. The pizza is absolutely the best pizza I have ever eaten in my entire life. You MUST try and find this place when you are in Vegas. After pizza, we gambled for awhile. Well, Michael gambled. I only like the slots and they were not very nice to me. The first day, I won $25, but should have stopped there. The going good never lasts for long! Michael played roulette until it was time for Cirque Du Soleil's "O". This show is incredible! As you might know, there are several Cirque Du Soleil options in Vegas. "O" is the one that uses water. The stuff they do in this show is just so unreal. By far my favorite show of the entire trip. Thank you thank you thank you to Toney and Terrie for buying these 13th row and center tickets for us!!!!

Oh my, I making this post really long! Sorry y'all!

Our last show we saw was The Price is Right - so much fun! Granted, this was not the real show with Drew Carey, but they gave everyone an equal chance to win so it differed from the real thing. We still got the price tag name tags. When we were walking in, the guy in front of us, who was hilarious, shouts "APRIL, COME ON DOWN!" He did this to about 10 other people. He was way excited (the alcohol probably contributed to it as well). We ended up with great seats for this show as well, we were at a reserved table which was basically third row.

Throughout our trip, we met a lot of nice people. Whenever they asked us where we were from we said Texas. We could not bear telling people we were (now) from New Mexico. We also got told we do not sound like we are from Texas - what a disappointment - especially since Michael can be such a hick! I cannot wait for the day when I can honestly say we are traveling from Texas. We are just 15 minutes to the border... close enough you think??

At the end of this week, we will be traveling to Coppell again, but this time is for Claire and Cody's wedding! We are so excited for the two of them! The travel will be hard on us, but we cannot wait to share their special day with them! We will also be bringing Roy back home with us! I have been having dreams that he does not know who I am anymore and does not love me. I know, call me crazy.

We also recently made a big purchase... are you ready for it???

WE BOUGHT A MOTORCYCLE! Michael's co-worker was selling his bike and so we got a really good deal on it. We thought a lot about it before purchasing it, but in the end, it will help save money on gas. Michael has been driving it back and forth to work, and in the end, it will pay for itself with what we save in gas. We also plan to take mini-vacations with it to see the sights of New Mexico.

Well that is what has been going on with us and I hope to update y'all again soon on many more exciting times to come!

What We've Been Up To

Well I am new to this whole blogging deal, but we are going to give it a go! We want to be able to update all of our family and friends on what we have been up to lately. This is going to be a long one, so I apologize in advance. Here is the jest of it:

November 2010:

WE GOT MARRIED! Our wedding was everything we could have ever asked for and more. Thank you to our family and friends who made our big day so special. I do not think we could ever thank everyone enough. It was such a relaxed, laid-back wedding and that is exactly what we hoped for. We just wanted everyone to eat, dance, and have a great time. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves. We spent our wedding night and next day in Houston, Texas relaxing (while family and friends packed our house, again, THANK YOU!) before our big move to Clovis, New Mexico. We ate a lunch at Houston's (my favorite restaurant from back home), saw a movie, ate very nice dinner at Perry's Steakhouse, and headed back to College Station to our empty house. Leaving our house in College Station was bittersweet. We bought the house thinking it would be our first home together, but God had different plans and brought us here. 

December 2010:

 We got moved to Clovis, New Mexico and unpacked. The unpacking took awhile, but I had nothing else to do while Michael was at work.

We are sad to say that we lost Paw Paw (Michael's grandfather Ray) during this month after battling cancer. He fought his hardest and now he is one of God's angels and no longer has to suffer. We all miss him. 

We spent a few days before Christmas with my family and Christmas day with Michael's family. The day after Christmas we drove to Waco, Texas to be a part of Jake and Jenna Hartsfield's wedding! Their wedding was beautiful and we are so glad we got to spend such a wonderful day with them before they moved to Charleston, South Carolina where Jake is stationed for the Navy. 

We drove back to De Leon for a few days of hunting. Guess what?? I SHOT MY FIRST DOE! The feeling was unreal and I swear my heart was about to bounce out of my chest! The initial sound of the rifle startled me and I closed my eyes when I pulled the trigger, oopps. When I opened my eyes I did not see the doe anymore and Michael feared she jumped over the fence. We walked out to look for her and my hopes were dropping fast until I spotted her in a clearing. We got summer sausage, ground meat, and tenderloins. I like to joke when we make burgers that I, literally, killed our dinner.

On New Years Eve we drove to College Station, Texas for our friends, Carolyn and Rob Hetrick's wedding. It was GORGEOUS! And so fun. I loved being able to see a lot of our friends we used to hang out with when we lived in College Station and it was a great start for the New Year. 

January 2011:

I started school at Eastern New Mexico University, and so far, I absolutely LOVE it. The campus is a good size and the people just do not get much better there. Yeah there are some weirdos, but I hope to make some friends soon. Not too much went on here, but my mom and sister Jenna did come visit and it was just what I needed before classes started! Being so far away is definitely difficult... Michael's parents also came out after classes started. They did not stay long, but I do not think Toney would know what to do with himself out in these parts. Haha. 

February 2011:

My childhood dog from home, Minnie passed away early this month. She got real sick and I prayed to God to end her suffering, which she passed the next morning. I love and miss her a lot. On that same day though, a door to door salesman came to our house. When I opened the door, an excited puppy ran straight into the house! She ran back out, but I tracked her down to see if she had tags and took her to the vet to see if she had a microchip; she did not. We currently still have her. She is ten hands full, but is super sweet and her puppy head tilts are simply irresistible. We, or shall I say Michael, named her Kimber. Imagine that! ;)

Michael went to Washington D.C. the first part of February for work training. While he away Terrie came and stayed with me. I really enjoyed it because if I was here in this house by myself I would have been sleeping with a gun under my pillow! 

We also attended a USPSA shoot at the local gun range, Patriot Outdoors, where Michael competed and placed FIRST PLACE in his division! Way to go, babe! It was his first shoot and he was definitely nervous, but wants to compete in many more to come.
 

March 2011:

It is the beginning of March so not much has gone on here, but we are going to Dallas for my mom's birthday and my cousin's wedding shower. I am SO excited to see all of my family - I miss them so much!! My wonderful, amazing, loving husband also changed my brake pads and rotors for me! Oh my goodness I extremely thankful he is so handy because those needed to be changed BAD. At the end of this month we are taking our honeymoon to VEGAS! So stoked! We are going to The Price is Right (HECK YEAH!), Cirque De Soleil "O", and Blue Man Group. SUPER stoked about Blue Man Group because after we booked our tickets we got a call back saying they would upgrade for free to the 8th row if we went and saw the show at 10pm instead of 7pm! 

Well friends, I think I have drug this out long enough. I hope to stick with this so y'all can see what's up in the Prather household.