la vie en Paris...the work version

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Paris for work. Yes, I'm a lucky girl! My company's corporate headquarters is there, and the global marketing communications team met together for a few days to exchange ideas and get to know one another. It was wonderful for me to get to meet so many colleagues so early on in my career with this company - it really helps to form professional relationships when you meet someone face to face. And it was amazing to see that although we all work for the same company how differently the regional marketing teams function all over the world, from the team in Asia, to the European teams to us in North America. And it makes sense of course, considering how diverse the regions are, but it was interesting to see it in action.

I had an amazing time getting to meet some great people from all over the world and spending more time with my fantastic team in North America. And of course I got to practice my French! Although we worked a lot, we got to step out into the beautiful city and do a little sight seeing. Here are some photos.

I have the pleasure of working closely with these girls every day! At Sacre Coeur 

Riding bikes around the city, here at the Louvre

They've discovered how silly I am

Great memories!

Rainbow!

Some sweet friends of ours stayed at our place in Austin for Austin City Limits while we were gone (Joey decided to go to Louisiana while I was in Paris to gear up for the hunting season). I really hated to miss my first ACL while living in Austin, but I guess I can't complain since I was in Paris. When we got home, these were waiting for us:

These were not necessary at all, but it was so very thoughtful of them and a great surprise! Who doesn't love coming home to flowers?

Love and light,

fleur

Disaster in Central Texas

You'd have to be living under a rock to have not heard of the fires raging through the greater Austin area. The fires began Sunday, and they are still active with approximately 11 varying fires blazing at present. The largest and most devastating fire in Bastrop (a town about 30 miles outside of Austin) has been contained by 30 %, which is better news, but still terrible. I believe the current stats from this fire alone is almost 40,000 acres burned with 600 homes destroyed and two deaths.

We are thanking God for the safety of our family - we have not had to evacuate because of the fires and we hope that it stays that way. There's a reason there's the saying "spread like wildfire," and that's a scary reality.

Smoke over downtown Austin

In light of all the effects the fires have had in just a few days -- coworkers left homeless, schools and roads closed, power outages -- I am all too reminded of the landmark disaster of my home state, Hurricane Katrina, and it stings. The only difference is that water and wind was the enemy...here, it's fire and an extremely dry climate. It's hard to say which one is scarier - for me, it's fire because it's so hard to contain and because it can start not only naturally but more often by people - but it's probably because I'm much more used to hurricanes...this is a first for me. Of course both can be equally devastating. 

But light emerges in the dark. Everyday heroes emerged from the ashes as it were, and this is so inspiring to witness.You have to marvel at the resiliency of the human spirit during times of suffering, no matter if it's happening across the world or in your own backyard.

Whether or not you're in the local area, you can help! Taken from an Austin blog, here's how: 

Make a cash donation to the Red Cross of Central Texas, who can most effectively use the money to get needed supplies and assistance.

Most needed: bottled water, canned food, baby food, clothes, socks, dog & cat food, crates, litter

If you want to drive things out, take them to:

Rundell Business Park: 704 W Highway 71 Bastrop 78602 call: 512-332-8661

Places in town to bring things:

The Thrift Shop at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection is accepting donations for victims. The shop at 2008 Justin Lane will take donations of clothing, housewares and toiletries, which will be taken to distribution centers.

To help the families affected by the Steiner Ranch fire, Austin Christian Fellowship is taking donations of bottled water, sports drinks, non-perishable snacks, toiletries, work gloves, heavy duty trash bags, flashlights, batteries and pet food. Donations can be taken to 6401 River Place Boulevard.

Collections are also being taken in the Liberty Hill area. You can call Chuck Licata at 512-466-7751 to help.

Anyone in Hays County hoping to volunteer or donate water and food for firefighters or evacuees can contact Volunteer Coordinator Lidia Contreras at 512-393-7302.

The OASIS on Lake Travis has announced it will be a drop off point for the Austin/Bastrop fire victims. The restaurant is accepting donations as well as water, work gloves, toiletries, non-perishable food items, clothing, trash bags, and flash lights with batteries. Boxes and donation jars will be in the lobby area starting Monday afternoon.

The Austin Disaster Relief Network is currently assisting victims of the fires. Organizers say donations of food and clothing can be taken to any local food bank or charity.

Lutheran Social Services of the South, Inc. Disaster Response (LSSDR)is accepting monetary donations for the fire victims here: www.lsss.org/give-now

Cash donations should be made directly to the Red Cross of Central Texas.

Foundation Christian Ministries in Cedar Creek is setting up a donation/supply center on its campus located at 177 Union Chapel Rd. E., Bastrop, TX 78602.

Catholic Charities of Central Texas will accept donations for wildfire victims on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Donations can be brought to the Diocese of Austin Pastoral Center at 6225 Highway 290 East from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Donations will also be accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Catholic Charities of Central Texas in Austin at 1817 East Sixth Street. Organizers are asking for donations of the following items:

Medical Supplies

• BP Cuff

• Nebulizer

• Thermometer

• Glucometer

• Pen lights

• Tongue Depressors

• Ibuprofen

• Gauze Wrap

• ACE Bandages

• Neosporin Cream

• Bandages

Other Supplies:

• Sleeping Bags

• Blankets

• Pillows

• Towels

• Shampoo

• Body wash

• Toothpaste

• Paper Plates, Cups, Napkins, Plastic Utensils

• Deodorant Sprays for men and women

• Disposable Razors

• Shaving Cream

• Baby Wipes

• Size 4 Diapers

• Baby Shampoo

• Sanitizer

Donations can be taken to the Click Computers of Georgetown store, located at 1102 S Austin Ave, Suite 109, Georgetown, TX through Friday, Sept. 16.

The Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB) is requesting assistance in the following ways: Financial donations to CAFB can be made atwww.austinfoodbank.org. Funds raised will go directly to helping CAFB in this disaster response. The relief effort will be long-term and monetary donations will be necessary for many months.

CAFB food donations can be made at the following locations:

CAFB warehouse located at 8201 S. Congress Avenue, Austin , TX 78745 (8-5 p.m. or leave in boxes on dock outside of those hours)North Donation Spots for CAFB

Georgetown – Caring Place at 2000 Railroad St., Georgetown, TX 78627 — 512-869-473

Round Rock Serving Center at 1099 East Main St., Round Rock, TX 78664 — 512-244-2431

SVDP Round Rock — 620 Round Rock West -Round Rock, TX 78681 — 512-255-2330

To hold a food drive at your workplace, school, church etc., CAFB has large food donation boxes available for pick up at their warehouse. Once filled please return to CAFB or call 512-282-2111 to arrange for a pick up.Most desired food donations are healthy, non-perishable items such as:

- Water, Gatorade

- Ready to eat meals preferably with pull up or pop tops, e.g. chili, stew, canned pasta w/sauce

- Single serving snacks such as protein or granola bars

- Lunchables or other single serving foods that do not require refrigeration

- Diapers

- Baby formula

Other locations taking donations:

350 Discovery Blvd in Cedar Park

Paul Mitchell The School: 15635 Vision Drive, Ste 107, Pflugerville

Hill Country Bible Church: 12124 Ranch Road 620 North, Austin

Catholic Health Association: 6225 E. Highway 290

St. Williams Catholic Church in Round Rock


Learn more things to do with this post, including things to collect for both people and pets, and places in Austin to take them:

http://365thingsaustin.com/2011/09/06/how-you-can-help-fire-victims-donation-locations-what-to-donate/

More than anything, this area needs your PRAYERS! Please pray for healing, containment, safety and RAIN.
Many thanks,

Fleur

Nothing like a sister

My baby sister came to stay with us last week on her way to her new home in L.A! As always, we had a blast together. We're so proud of her - she has worked so hard to make this move happen. Coming from New York, this will be quite an adjustment, but we're hoping she'll love the beaches and sunny weather of the west coast! I know Joey and I are looking forward to visiting her soon.

I like to think that Maya and I have much of the same spririt -- we both love adventure, taking chances and going against the grain. But there's a difference in our situations that makes it a bit easier for me: I lean on Joey when things are tough -- Maya has to be brave all on her own. I'm only pointing this out to say that things are scarier on your own, and although I take chances, I have my partner in life to take them with me. Of course she has wonderful support from her family and friends, but ultimately she is the one making things happen. I just admire her so much. People always comment to me how brave she is, and it's absolutely true. She's a beautiful, talented and hard working woman who can do anything. We love you Maya!

This is Maya's second time to visit us in Austin, and she loves the city! We went to a baseball game (her favorite pasttime), swam at Hamilton Pool, went to the movies, searched for the best BBQ in Texas, drank beer, laughed too much, watched the famous Austin bats take flight and just generally had an amazing time.

I know I've said this before, but my sister will always have a piece of my heart that is only hers. I could write a book about our lives and our journey as sisters (maybe I will one day), but for now I will just say that my sister is my soul mate and I cannot imagine life without her. Here's a few pics from her visit! Good luck in Hollywood, my shining star!

Sisters

Baseball

Cows

Hamilton Pool

Sunset on Lake Travis

Polly Browne loves her Aunt Maya!

The day after Moosh left, my mom and Wendell stopped over for a night on their way to a horse sale in another part of Texas. It was a very short visit, but it was great seeing them just for a bit. We got to show them a tiny slice of what Austin has to offer. August has been the month for visitors from home, and we have loved it! 

Stay Awhile

Recently some of our very best friends came to visit us in Austin. Jenny and Blaine are the first set of friends to stay with us, and we had a fantastic time! They have never visited Austin, so we had a blast showing them what this great city has to offer. We're pretty new here ourselves, so there were some things we got to experience right along with them! I'm pretty sure they fell in love with Austin :) We hope they'll be back soon.

I am taking this opportunity to gush on my little Jen because I just love her so much. Jenny and I have been friends for about 5 years. We met at my first job after college. Jenny and I both recall our time as coworkers with fond memories -- I've never laughed so much at work in my life!! I was only with the organization for a year before Joey and I moved to Wisconsin, but we've remained very close over the years. Jenny is truly an amazing friend. She is someone I can go to for advice and encouragement, yet also someone who will act like a complete nut right along with me! What started as a fun working relationship quickly grew into a friendship that I will forever cherish. In just 5 years we've seen eachother through a lot - job changes, weddings, my moving to 3 different states in 5 years (sorry about that Jen), graduate school, blessings (like a baby boy!) challenges, countless tears of joy and a few sorrows sprinkled in. I'm just so grateful to her because she is a friend who I can depend upon, who will always be there no matter what. Good friends are so precious! And, I can't go without saying how I love my Blainey too, he is so often my voice of reason, and it's so great that the 4 of us have such a fabulous time together, rather than the boys just tolerating mine and Jenny's antics :) We love you both so much! Ok enough gushing. Here are a few pictures from Jenny and Blaine's stay in Austin! So much FUN!

A Big Surprise

I know this was a few months ago, but my darling husband hit a milestone at the end of May. He turned 30, and I couldn't not blog about it, even if it's a few months late.

Joey is not one to get excited about birthdays. . .his motto is that it's just another day, which I'm pretty sure he got from his dad :) They're both laid back men who don't like a lot of pomp and circumstance. Sorry kid, but you married into a family that is all about the razzle dazzle. Enter stage left, Fleur and her merrymen...

In light of his birthday, I was a little bummed that we had just moved to a new place as I had always planned to throw a big shindig for his 30th. And it wasn't like I could just convince to go home for the weekend -- it's 8 hours away, therefore not an easy weekend trip at all.

So I had succumbed to the fact it would be a hohum birthday, when I realized we were planning to come home anyway right around his birthday in May for another event! An event that I really wanted to go to, my 10 year high school reunion to be exact. So I had to make a decision and a difficult one at that. In the end though I decided that Joey will only turn 30 once, there will be other reunions and this would be the perfect way to surprise him in a way that I hoped he would never forget. 

It's stressful to plan a party. It's stressful to plan a surprise party. It's stressful to plan a surprise party for someone with whom you share a house. It's stressful to plan a surprise party for someone with whom you share a house especially when the party's venue is 8 hours away. 

Also the digital age makes things even more difficult. I was scared someone would accidentally write on my facebook wall about the party. I was scared that he would see a text message pop up on my phone about the party. We use the same computer at home, so he could easily see my inbox up with emails about the dang party! Ugh!! So I pulled out all the stops. I changed the password to get into my phone. I removed the preview on my text messaging. I even had a fake twitter conversation with Joey's best friend so he had no doubt we were going to that reunion (just in case he had any suspicions...he didn't). When I told Joey all of this later on, I think he was a little frightened at the level of my sneakiness...anything for the success of a party! 

So while I was sleuthing and planning from afar, my party fairies were working very hard on the action items to make sure the party came to fruition. I would not have been able to do it without the help of my mom, my grandmother and my friend Loren. They truly did everything and were so happy to do it. Thank you again, ladies! 

Needless to say, the party was a huge success! Many friends and family came out to celebrate Joey's 30th year of life. It took about 20 minutes or so for Joey to recover from the shock once we entered the party and everyone was waiting for us. As you can see, he was completely shocked! Here are a few party photos: 

Surprised much?

I'm relieved the surprise is done!

I didn't let Polly B in on the secret, so she was just as surprised as her daddy!  She was tuckered out after a night of new people to kiss. Joey's godson Trey enjoyed walking her everywhere during the party; it was adorable! He was so good with her. She found a new buddy!

 

Joey's best friend Mark with son Trey, Joey's godson

With Loren

Joey with my Mom

Planning a surprise party is no easy thing, that's for sure! It's the surprise element that gets ya, but Joey says he had absolutely no clue as to what was happening. I was worried after a few close calls in the month or so leading up to it, but I should have known that guys are generally clueless about subtle details. Thank goodness!

Joey was so happy to get to see friends and family and of course I was too! Thanks again to everyone who made it a birthday I'm sure he will never forget! We love you all! 

fleur 

Brother?!?

Yep, you read right. I have a brother as of July 14! It's hard to believe -- life never ceases to surprise -- I can honestly say I never expected to have a brother. My dad has 5 daughters to his name, and he never tires of telling everyone he comes in contact just how many daughters he has. Partially, I think, because he wants people to pity him (he calls us high maintenance...ok dad), but mainly because he is very proud of all of us. Ranging from ages 28 (me) to almost 6 years old, I was fairly certain the sibling set was complete. But my dad and his wife were blessed with another child, and amazingly, a BOY! I've read articles about how once you've had about 3 of the same gendered children, it's not likely that you'll get the other sex...you're pretty much marked for either boys OR girls. And since the man determines the sex of the baby, my dad certainly favors girls! He is a proud papa as he adds #6 to Team Ferrara, and I can't wait to see him with a SON! I haven't gotten to meet the little guy since we're in another state, but I hope to see him soon! He's a few photos that have been sent my way. And he's a blonde!!

My brother, Baby Ferrara

Ferrara #5 with Ferrara #6!

Ferraras 001 - 004 with our Dad, James Bond 007 (he refers to us all by numbers, Bond style!)

Fleur

Five Month Check In (yeah that's what I'll call it)

The reason for my post title is because I have done a very poor job of writing about our life here.... because I haven't done so at all! But I hope to do better. In my defense, moving to a new place has been an adjustment. So as a result...this post will inevitably be a long one...but if you read my blog you know they're always long, so no worries!

Beauty
I can't believe we've already been in Austin for 5 months! Time really does fly. In short, we are enjoying our life here! As I've said before, Louisiana will always have our heart, but Austin is being good to us. For me, my favorite part of Austin is the physical beauty -- I have the pleasure of riding through gorgeous rolling hills with houses stuck amongst the trees on my way to and from work. I love that there are bodies of water all throughout the city, with sailboats, kayaks and paddle boats gracing the surfaces. I love that there are greenbelts everywhere to explore and hike, yet we have all the conveniences of a cool, quirky city.

Hill Country in Austin

Town Lake

Getting some action in the water ourselves!

Barton Creek in February (before the drought!!)

And quirky, it is. There's a reason there is the saying, "Keep Austin Weird"...it can be totally just that! People march to the beat of their own drums around here, and it's the perfect place to do so because Austin embraces that way of life. We're finding that most people are not native Austinites, but come from all over. We've also found that just about everyone is super friendly and eager to make us feel at home. There are a lot of strong churches to choose from, and we are still trying to decide which one is the best fit for us.

Snobs
We decided to rent for at least the first year, to make sure first of all that we want to live in Austin for awhile, and also to see which area of Austin is right for us, as it's a big place with lots of different communities within. We had at first wanted to live in the center of downtown, as many people do when they move here, but found that it's just as expensive as my sister's rent in Manhattan. Ridiculous. So we found a nice place about 5 minutes or so from downtown in the hill country. We LOVE this area, but I just have to laugh because the area is considered to be where the "affluent" or upwardly mobile if you will, live....in other words: snobs....or at least this is the way they're percieved by everyone else in Austin. We of course had no idea....and it doesn't really matter, although it's true we probably won't be able to buy here as a result...it's ridiculously expensive to own a home in our neighborhood, which is a bummer. But I now understand why we get the looks we do when we say what neighborhood we live in....apparently, we're already Austin snobs! Oh well. My coworkers like to tease me about it -- it's all in good fun of course. It makes me laugh because it was complete chance for us to end up where we did, and we landed smack in snooty-snoot ville. And what's more, we really love it here... we are in walking distances from shops, we're close to downtown, and we're in the beautiful hill country. I guess that's why it's so expensive. We don't want to swallowed up in a home we can't afford, so we will most likely vacate when it's time to buy....luckily there are plenty of nice places to live in Austin.

Celebrating 5 Years of Marriage in March

Livelihood
It took me about 2 months to find the position I was looking for, and those were the stuff of dark days for Fleurby. Job searching is hard enough, but it can be really hard when you enter a new city where you don't know anyone to plug you in. And, there's seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel...you don't know if it will take weeks, months, years...especially in the current economic climate. I am lucky to have such a supportive husband, friends and family. It just goes to show what a lack of faith I often have -- I was just getting so down on myself even though it hadn't been that long -- it's so easy to feel hopeless in that situation. But as always, God was faithful (even though I was not) and I landed a really amazing job which began in May. I've joined the marketing communications team of an international tech company. The North American headquarters are here in Austin, although we do business all over the world. One great bonus about this company is that it has French roots -- the corporate headquarters are in Paris! Some of you may know that in addition to a communications degree, I also have a degree in the French language. And my goal has always been to do something in communications with an international flair. I feel like I've finally found that. So as Joey said to me recently, we never have cause to worry -- God always takes care of us. Why then, do I spend most of my time worrying so much?? I'm working on it.

So, as you may know if you read regularly, I wanted to do something different from non-profit (where I have spent my career thus far -- nothing against non-profit, just ready for a change), and I certainly got what I asked for in working for a huge tech company! I get to do such interesting things in my job. And what's even more amazing is that it's an international company, and I have the opportunity to speak and write French all throughout the day. Not to mention, my co-workers are really great; I am really enjoying forming these new relationships. I am blessed beyond measure.

Joey, bless his heart, went to work as soon as we got here...a cath lab nurse is a hot commodity, luckily for us. He has been working with a large hospital here in Austin. But I'm very happy to say that he will be undergoing a change soon, now that I am well-rooted in my position. He will go back to school full-time beginning in the fall! We're very excited for what is to come for him and us! As you can see, we're always changing things up around here.

Home

We've had some visitors already since we've been here and are looking forward to more in the coming months! Joey's parents spent a few days with us in March, while my sister Maya stayed for a week in April. My friend Leslie stopped over in May for a few nights. It's so great to have people come see us, as we greatly miss home and our friends and family. And we really enjoy showing our new city, although we are still very much newbies and probably aren't the best tour guides ever...we'll get there. My best friend and her husband (also a dear friend of ours) are coming in August, and we have more friends coming in for Austin City Limits, in September -- as well as my mom coming in either August or September, and my sister passing through as she makes her move to L.A. So we have a jam packed upcoming months and lots of visitors to look forward to! 

Leslie!

Maya at The Grove....a wine bar we love

                

Last but not least...Polly Browne
Our little girl is doing well. She turned 3 in June. We don't have much of a yard at our condo, which is unfortunate, but there are tons of parks here, and we try to bring her to romp and play as much as we can. She brings us so much joy! We always remark as to what she's going to do when we have children because she is our baby. I guess a better question is, what are WE going to do with her when kids come along! It makes me almost sad for her because of course a child will be our priority. But I can't see myself ever not loving her the way we do no matter what. Things will change, but then, things are always changing in some shape or form. She'll always be my first little girl! :)

So that about wraps up about the big picture for us! So much more has happened in 5 months, but that's what I get for not posting more often! I hope to do a better job of blogging more frequently and not being so lame :)

Oh, one more thing, to the rain gods: I'm sorry I cursed your name for all those years I've lived in Louisiana as I walked with wet jeans to class or drove through a monsoon in standstill traffic trying to get home. I have never missed rain more -- we are in a serious drought, my friends!! I like to joke and say we live in a desert, but I'm not sure if I'm joking anymore. It's nice to not have the humidity, but I would love to get a few drops every now and then!!

love and light to you all,

fleur

Remembering Memphis

Recently, we lost a special member of the family. My mom's black lab, Memphis, was killed by a car.

We had Memphis for about 8 years. I was 20 or so when Joey and I got him from a man who couldn't keep him but who wanted to make sure he was going to a good home. We couldn't believe how beautiful he was! We're pretty sure he was a pure bred lab. He had all the instincts of a good hunting dog and loved nothing more than to go on a hunt. Joey named him Memphis.

Especially when he was younger, he was a hard core fetcher of the stick. If you got into a fetching match with Memphis, expect to throw the stick at least 20 times. If you were walking around the farm doing something other than throwing a stick, Memphis would often trail after you, stick in mouth.

Pebbles

A few days after we got Memphis, Pebbles came to us, my mom's other giant dog. Clearly abused and starved, she dragged herself to my mom's property (the other dogs around had probably told her that my mom has a soft spot for animals), and she's been with us every since. She and Memphis became fast friends, although Memphis' sweet disposition made him a passive partner to Pebbles' Alpha Female personality. I'm sure she misses him terribly.

Memphis and Pebbles frequently went on "night hunts" together on my mom's land and wouldn't return until morning. We suspect they did things like kill coyotes, harass nutria, just generally terrorize anything willing to be terrorized. They brought a few bits of evidence to Mom as gifts of love.

Memphis was Mom's faithful companion as she drove the truck to the different pastures feeding the horses. He loved riding in cars.

It's hard to imagine a better dog than Memphis. We were really lucky to have this gallant dog in our lives for as long as we did. He'll be greatly missed.

We love you Memphis. We'll never forget you.

good dog. rest now.

The Next Big Thing

After Christmas, Joey and I decided to go on yet another adventure. Why not, right? But this time, we would stay within our own country.

As I have mentioned in another post, once we came back from Europe, our plan was to relocate to another state other than our own. I've gone into our reasoning for doing this in other posts, so no need to do into now, but I'll just say that although we love Louisiana, we really value and enjoy living and experiencing other places.

We had several places in mind, mainly in the western part of the country, and we figured since we weren't working, why not explore those places to see if they're a good fit? And why not have some fun on the way? And why not take Polly Browne? We like to say YES! :)

So on New Year's Day, we packed up my CRV, scooped up our little one and hit the road for the wild west. I started calling our tour the Williams' Western Whoa! Tour, or the WWW Tour. We had a great time. We were considering Austin, Texas; Flagstaff, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Francisco, L.A., and Napa Valley. Also, we were open to any city we might fancy along the route. We figured this way we could really get a feel for a place.

Of course it wasn't all business. We got to see some things we had never seen before, like the Grand Canyon. It was breathtakingly beautiful!

We visited Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Boulder Basin. Our country has such beauty!

Hoover Dam



Family Portrait at Boulder Basin



I believe the bridge over the dam was Memorial Bridge. It was quite the sight to see.

Of course we couldn't miss the opportunity to visit Sin City! I hadn't been since high school and Joey had not yet been. We had a wonderful time, even though it was freezing walking around. Joey even tried his hand at the craps table. He played for about an hour and walked away with the same amount he put in. Pretty good, I thought! I made "friends" with a gambler's wife who was also watching her spouse play. Interesting life style, I'll just say that.

Las Vegas

 Next, we headed up to California. Unfortunately the weather was not great while we were there. I was a bit disappointed because I'm sure Napa Valley is gorgeous when it's pretty out, so we'll have to come back another time. But they still serve wine when it's raining, so that's a plus!

We made some friends with some wine-drinking Sicilian miniature donkeys...

San Francisco

Polly enjoying one of many treats she was adorned with while on this trip. This was from the Sonoma Dog Camp organization while we were in Sonoma. No, we did not send her to dog camp...

So if we haven't told you already, we did make a decision as a result of the road trip, and we chose...

Probably not a shocker if you know us! We love this city, and we always said if we ever moved, this would be a top destination. And the truth is we didn't find anywhere we loved as much as Austin. It has everything we're looking for in a city, plus it's close enough to drive home if we need to, which is a big plus. Plus Austin is weird, like us, so I think we're fit right on in :) We're excited! Although we will greatly miss our friends and family, this is the right move for our little family. And we welcome visitors!!

I have to end with a great big thank you to our dear friends, the Charlet family. We are incredibly grateful for the kindness, support and generosity they showed us while we were checking out Austin. They are newcomers themselves to the area, but they opened up their home to us on numerous occasions with such graceful hospitality. They are a true example of serving others in the name of the Lord, and we have been and will always be blessed for having them in our lives. We love you Charlets!!

We indeed would appreciate your prayers as we quickly move in the next few days while also searching for (and hopefully finding) employment in our new city! We love you all!

I'm movin' to Austin, y'all!