February, WHOA.

Phew! It is hard to believe it’s been so long since I’ve updated! I know you all have asked, but life took a very unexpected busy turn two days after my last update! I am now the manager at Viking Sewing Gallery here in Amarillo. Many of you know this is the company I worked for in Columbia selling Husqvarna-Viking and Singer Sewing and Embroidery Machines. I am in HOG HEAVEN. However, it has left little time in the way of blog updating.

Let’s start way back at Christmas. Many of you know because of my new job I was unable to go home for Christmas. I must say, I was really bummed, but loving my new job helped. Much to your all’s disappointment, I have to say Christmas Day’s unexpected snow fall also helped boost morale!

Yes, in true Amarillo weather fashion, it was forcasted to be a gloomy mid-forties rainy day on Christmas, but instead it never got above freezing and we received six inches of snow! 

This was our trek to Christmas Day service!

And this is what happened by two hours later!

Conditions continued to deteriorate, but the airport continued to say Stephens flight was still slated to fly. So he dug out a path for our new-to-us CR-V (bought quicker than originally planned due to quicker employment for myself) <I quickly commandeered the car with little fight after I exclaimed about actually seeing the lane markings on the road - being up high is SO COOL! That was easy. ;-) >

In the meantime we went to have Christmas Dinner with the Berg family. The meal was delicious as usual, but the fellowship was even better! It made missing Christmas dinner in NC more bearable for sure. 

Stephen packed his bags and put them in the CRV to take to the Berg's. Checking flight status again before heading to the airport, the flight was still slated to leave so we headed out on snow packed icy roads passing several wrecks. I was less freaked out by driving in the road conditions as I was about Stephen's plane taking off in the conditions. As the sun went down, things were quickly going from bad to very bad. But alas, I dropped him off with a quick kiss eager to get the drive home over with.

A good 20 minutes later, I was a little over halfway home and received a text from Stephen saying his flight had indeed been canceled. <Rest assured, I pulled over to check it before turning around thinking it had to be him - or PRAYING it was him to tell me it was canceled to ease my nerves aka KEEP ME FROM FREAKING OUT!!!!>

Come to find out, they could put him on a plane, but they weren't going out of Houston until the next morning. Stephen thinking he could either spend a night in a crappy hotel by himself in Houston or at home warm in bed with his absolutely charming wife, made the appropriate decision to ask me to come back pick him up. <It was tough, but I braved the elements once again to pick up my husband so that he may spend Christmas night comfortably. I hated he couldn't leave...really....>

Turns out due to more mechanical issues, he couldn't leave until Tuesday. This was actually sad because it meant missing a lot of extended family and Craig. 

And the rest of the story of Christmas is history.

January bought new changes for me once again as my store got moved to a similar location and format with in JoAnn Fabrics as the store where I previously worked. After five weeks of dust and multiple inconveniences - like a recurrent cough and eventual illness making me feel the sickest the longest I ever have (hence the blog update)- we moved the store. My area manager came in and we set up.

I have not taken a full picture of the finished product, but this picture featuring the 160th Anniversary Limited Edition Singer Sewing Machine shows some of our progress.

<Isn't that the cutest machine EVER? It's made to look like the old Featherweight! *Droooooll*>

Stephen and I are continuing to settle nicely. Of course, the new schedule for myself has proved difficult to adjust to and spend appropriate time together. Stephen has been a pastor-on-wheels for most the month of January going to various "mission area" gatherings including a "Think Tank" for the future of our mission arear, a tri-synodical gathering, and first-call theological education. The trips back and forth to Dallas and Waco left him exhausted and me sad for our lack of contact. Thankfully, things have slowed down AND the mission area has dedicated funds from their Disciple Life Alive campaign to update technology. One of their goals is to create web conferencing so that Stephen and others so far from the mission area offices will not have to hit the road and skies so often. It's cost efficient, wife-approved, and pastor appreciated (tending to a flock is hard when you're on the road so much!)- a definite win-win.

Our house is slowly coming together...some clearance shopping piece by piece has helped our living room feel homey and warm. Post this pictures, we've put up red curtains, and I've worked on some pillows.

Things are going well, and when you leave work with a few like this - it's hard to complain.