a quickie

SIC 'EM BEARS!

hi everyone who cares! i do apologize for being one of the worst blog posters that has ever existed, so sorry i can't even keep up with a once a month post! thanks for bearing with me and being invested in the boyd's life. here is a super duper quick update:

charlie is almost finished with school! friday charlie will finish his final final exam and be completely done with school. last week he said goodbye to starbucks and said hello to jimmy johns. while he is not full time with them yet he is just getting his feet wet with some internship/part time work. he is super excited about the shop opening in march. right now he is helping the manager (our super duper friend larry wright) with site preparation and hiring. check out Jimmy Johns

i am still working at starbucks and being super supportive of my full time student. for the holidays we will spend one day in san antonio with charlie's extended family, christmas weekend in marble falls with his immediate family and then then make the long drive to lynn haven to party with the penningtons! post holidays look like 3 weeks of manager training for charlie in champaign, ill. who knows, maybe we will take a detour through georgia on the way up to the unnecessary cold that is called illinois. with lots of time off coming SSOOO soon i promise to be more informative and as witty as ever. thank you all for the love and prayers over all the miles. can't wait to spend the rest of our lives knowing you!

a visit from a georgia peach

last week we had a really fun visit with lindsey. it was a wirlwind tour of dallas, waco, marble falls and fredericksburg. it has been really refreshing for charlie and me have so many visitors in our home to share our love with. we are so thankful that our little house at least has room for any friend or family member to drop in and hang out. it makes us feel so special that we are worth a visit from half way across the country!

lindsey and i in a field of what we thought was lavender.....we dont really know

david crowders home in waco-we sorta felt like creepers

the dr. pepper museum

Vacation

Charlie and I have taken the last week off to take the trek to Florida to visit my side of the family. We are just watching the World Cup finals now as we wind down our time here. Here are some highlights from our first few days here. My old roomie Lindsey came down from Macon for a few days and joined us in some beach time. We have eaten our body weight in seafood, gotten sun burned, gone golfing, surfing and kayaking, played with our two precious nieces, and spent a lot of time lounging around the house. It has been so much fun hanging out with the family and sharing laughs and stories. This has truly been a relaxing vacation (although we did fit in one 3 mile run!). Tomorrow we will make half of the trip back toward Texas and land back in Waco on Tuesday-just in time for summer lifegroup at our house. We miss our Waco family/friends and even Starbucks (a little).

We gave Duke and Tusker some sleepy pills to help get them through the 16hr drive...and it shows.

Charlie in the kayak right before a nice afternoon storm.

We caught some crabs in a trap in the back yard....yummy for dinner.

Lilly was highly concerned about live crabs being thrown about the kitchen

Yummy crab boil

A Saturday Outside

this weekend charlie and i took the doggies to crawford (hometown of george w.) for some fun in the sun. we found a great local restaurant/gas station where we got huge hometown cheeseburgers and then went to the local park and waterfall. duke couldn't care less about getting in the water, but tusker is a tiny bit adventurous. tusker will "wade" in the water to fetch a stick but isnt interested in the actual act of swimming. we are looking forward to more outdoor adventures and scouting out fun spots to play during the summer. as the semester is winding down we are getting ready to say good bye to a lot of the kids in our college ministry and experience the "deserted" waco. here's to hoping for fun summer adventures!

We Are Parents

No, not parents of children. Charlie and I started our married life as parents of my 2 year old Lab/Beagle "Tusker" and have loved having him as part of our family. Yes, he is one of the worst behaved dogs in the world - comparable to "Marley". And as I think of it, I might as well start a blog about the adventures of Tusker, too many to count (ok his latest feat was breaking a window in the living room while chasing a fly)!

Lately all signs have been pointing toward "dogs." Just like when it is time for a couple to have a baby all signs point to "baby"-pregnant women, strollers, babies, etc seem to infiltrate the lives of the couple. For Charlie and me it has been puppies. Every time there is a puppy in a car at the drive through at Starbucks they call me over to check it out. A couple of weeks ago a guy from the Humane Society stayed on the patio at Starbucks all day trying to get some dogs adopted. So Charlie sat and talked with him about becoming foster parents for needy dogs at the shelter.

So this week we decided to go to the Humane Society to fill out an application for becoming a foster home - and we came home with a dog. We walked and walked the lines of cages and it broke our hearts to see so many dogs with no "forever home." We know we can't save every dog, but we do feel like we can be instruments in the healing process for some of them. So here is Duke:

Duke was an "owner surrender" which means his family just couldn't take care of him anymore. He is 2 or 3 years old and spent a lot of his time digging holes in the backyard of his family's home. He is some sort of Australian cattle dog/blue heeler/shepherd mix-which means he is really smart. When smart dogs aren't stimulated enough mentally and physically it is likely they will act out in ways like digging holes. Charlie and I have had a great time training Tusker and hope to spend lots of quality time working with Duke as well. Duke is super sweet, he loves cuddling on the floor with Charlie and even gets along great with Tusker. They love to wrestle in the yard but then pass out on the kitchen floor. We are super excited to have him as part of our family, but we would love to find him a great home! If you know anyone in the Waco area that might be interested in him let us know.

Around The House

Here are some snippets of precious things around the Boyd's home:

Giraffes are my favorite and so are coffee mugs, so here are two of our favorite things combined! The other day Charlie and I had coffee in our matching giraffe mugs....too cute.

Ok this one isn't so cute: snails. For some reason Waco is infested with billions of snails. Well I don't really know about ALL of Waco, but our yard is. The other day I counted over 30 of them attached to the front of our house. They find their way in the house and we find them on the ceilings, attached to walls, etc. I think a buffer of salt around the house is in the near future.

Our bedroom: It was Charlie's creative idea to use some old doors, white christmas lights, and some fabric to create our headboard. The quilt on the bed was a special wedding present from our friends in Kenya.

Our baby boy. This is Tusker chillin out after he and I went for a run the other day. He likes to lay on the cold concrete and we like leaving the back door open to let some of the outside inside.

In other news: Charlie and I are officially staying in Waco until at least next May. Our next blog will be all the details surrounding that and our near/distance future. Love you all :)

Good Times

charlie and i are ready for a real post! let us just get you a little caught up on what is going on with some visual aids:

we both love working at starbucks. perks: as many drinks as you want on shift, a free pound of coffee or tin of tea each week (times 2), amazing people to work with, friendly regular customers, and there is no pressure-its not rocket science, just coffee....




lifegroup! a couple of weeks ago our lifegroup hosted a cook out at a near park. we all invited people to join us for food and fellowship. our college lifegroup is lead by ashley binns, emily hanes, and matt larson-some of our great friends from church. lifegroup is about looking up (to the Lord), looking in (having community with one another), and looking out (inviting others into salvation and our community). we seek to live out acts 2:42-47 "they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. and the lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." so that is what we do-eat together, pray together, play together, share the good news with the lost, and provide for each others' needs. its so beautiful!

date night :) charlie and i get to eat dinner together nearly every night, but some nights are more special than others. we try to have at least one date night a week and go out for special food and have great conversation. this is at one of our favorite local places "clay pot"-lots of asain variety and sometimes we sit at tiny tables on the floor on cushions.

Our Family

since charlie and i are now headed down the same path for the rest of our lives, we figured our blog might as well be too. so instead of trying to keep up with two blogs we are simplifying-no not simplifying, you are getting two blogs for the price of one! we are more than simplifying, we are new and improved! this is just to welcome everyone to our family. continue to follow this blog to keep up with wherever the wind may blow our lives next. we have had a blast learning to be married (and brag that we are pretty good at it). we look forward to keeping up with as many friends and family as we can through this page and hope to share in what is going on with your lives too. love you!