A night I will never forget!

It still seems like a dream but the reality is that I just got engaged to the most amazing man ever! Here it how the night unfolded.

It all took place this past Tuesday (December 23rd). We had planned to go out to a fancy dinner in order to celebrate Christmas. Andrew was going to have to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so we decided to have our own little Christmas. He took me to a place called Rainbow Lodge. This restaurant is rated in the top ten of upscale dinning in the Houston area. The restaurant looked like a cabin, it was very so cute. All the windows looked over a little garden that had a running stream. We decided that after dinner we would go take a look at it. The food was amazing. They decorated the plates so fancy. Andrew adventured out and got a sample platter. It included elk, deer, duck, and some over meat. He really enjoyed it and I even tried little bits of it. Not so much my taste through. After dessert, we took the stairs to a little balcony in the garden. Andrew wanted to take a picture of us and I thought it was a great idea. He went to set the camera on a ledge and had me stand in place to get the right shot. He then said that we had 12 seconds before the picture would take. Andrew set the camera and then came over to stand by me. He then gets down on one knee. As this point I say, " What are you doing? The picture is going to go off." It was at this point, he pulls the ring out. I start saying, "Oh my gosh" over and over again. I guess at some point, I said yes. Most of the moment was a blur! I just have to say that it really surprised me. (: He knew I was looking around every corner for when he was going to propose so he got me. It will definitely be a night I will never forget.

Rocky's Friend?

The King vs. Rocky! He doesn't like him so much. (:

The King Lives!!

As many of you already know, Andrew’s birthday was back in October. Well a month before his birthday, I received a call from his mom. Apparently, his family was sending a “gift” that they wanted to make sure Andrew got. To help clarify what you are about to watch, I will help explain the “gift” they sent. Andrew, as I have found out, does not really like the Burger King mascot at all. Anything having to do with the King just freaks him out. Well being the loving parents they are, they came upon a Halloween mask of the King and just had not found the right opportunity to use it. So they decided to send it my way and let me have some fun. So I hope that you all enjoy. (:

Andrew's Graduation

Here is video of Andrew's graduation from Jail School.

Christmas is Here

Christmas season is here! I had the enjoy of decorating my condo a couple of weeks ago with all my Christmas decorations. The previous Christmas, I was at my parent's house so I was unable to put up all my decorations. I even bought myself my 1st Christmas tree. I know that it is no real but I didn't want the hassle of caring for a live one. Maybe next year, I will adventure out. (: It was great decorating my tree with old and new ornaments and all the memories tied with each one. Here is a picture of the finished tree and I think that it turned out pretty good. You gotta love my tree topper! (:

Snow in Houston!

I still can't believe that is happened! Snow came to Houston, Texas last night. I left work when the temperature outside was in the low 30s but with the wind it felt like the 20s. As I started making my way home, I started noticing that there were little white things falling out of the sky. I didn't think much of it until my mom called an hour later and told me to go look outside. I walked out on to my balcony and to my surprise, there was little bits of snow falling. I couldn't believe it. Once Andrew picked me up from his LONG day at school, we decided to take a drive around the neighborhood before heading over to my parent's house. We ended up in Randles (grocery store) parking lot. There were many cars covered in snow so we took the chance to go out and enjoy. Also, a great time for a photo op! After freezing to death, we decide to head to my parents. Andrew ended up making a snowman with my brother Eric in the front yard. They probably spent an hour making him. I think he turned out pretty good. We also made a trip over to the park across the street to run through the snow. As the night went on, it snowing even more. I would say that we probably had a couple of inches by the end of the night. It was so pretty seeing everything covered in white! We ended the night drinking hot chocolate and thawing out our frozen bodies.

Check out my mom's blog for some more photos of the snow..... www.karenineverydaylife.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Thanksgiving greeting from Kristal and Andrew. Almost as good as being there :)

Catching Up!

So it has been awhile since I have posted anything on here. Since I couldn’t sleep this morning, I thought this would be a great time.

I am officially a United Space Alliance employee now! It was nice being able to sign those papers last Monday and know that I will be here to stay. (: Also, the fact that I will not have to pay for Cobra anymore is such blessing.

Andrew starts jail school tomorrow! He will be in for the next 5 weeks. Andrew has been told that it is pretty hard and that there is a lot of studying to do. He will be in a group of about 80 people. This will be the biggest group that has gone through so far. Usually they average about 20! Andrew will also be driving there Monday through Friday. It is over 50 minutes about away. He has been asked the question, “Why don’t you stay up there?” and after factoring hotel, food, and other stuff, it was cheaper for him to commute. He will be getting an Easy Pass for the toll roads here so that should make his commute a little fast. I will keep you all updated on how it goes. (:

Other then that, things are going well. Glad that Hurricane season is over and really enjoying the cooler weather. I still can’t believe that we are already in November. I will also post some pictures of Andrew’s birthday once he finds the cord for his camera. HAHA!! Just wanted to give you all a quick update and hope you all enjoyed your one hour of extra sleep.

Hurricane Ike and my condo!

These pictures are what Hurricane Ike did to my condo complex. The chimneys seemed have fallen over during the Hurricane.

This is the water damage that I recieved when the chimney fell. You can tell where drips of water hit the floor. Remember that there is a unit above me. It makes you wonder what it looks like up there.
This is something that I found today! Mold has begun to grow along the wall where the chimney fell.
This is the outside closet. It is also along the same wall.
The stuff from the chimney come out in the living room! It was everywhere.

So as it stands right now, my landlord is in contact with the managment company for this complex. They had told her that a temp fix would be on the roof last Friday, well today is Sunday and still no fix. My landlord is having to also wait for their insurance adjuster to come by and look at the damage. Hopefully, a call will come tomorrow to see when that meeting it taking place. So can you pray that this situation is resolved soon. It seems the longer the management company waits, the worst the problem! I am very frustrated at this point but feel very blessed to have a family that is willing to take me during this time. I will keep you all updated!

Got Paint?

A fun Labor Day weekend was spent painting my condo. I couldn't have done it will out the help from my whole family. The crew painting! The kitchen was an area that required a lot of work.
Look at the finished product. I think it adds so much to the place. Makes it feel like a home.
These paintings were a fun project that Andrew and I undertook. I had a blank wall so we decided to do our own art. I think it turned out pretty good.
Taking off the two layers of wallpaper and a fresh coat of paint adds so much to my little kitchen.
The view from the other side. All and all it was a busy weekend but well worth it. Hope that you enjoy the pics. (: Scroll down to the other pics of my place so you can really see how much it has changed.

Summer Fun!

So much stuff happened this summer. So hear are a couple of pictures to capture all the fun!!My best friend Keri came for a visit in July. It was great being able to see her.
Andrew is finally here! He drove in with his dad on July 14th. This picture was taken to prove that I actually helped unpack.
This was a sight to see over at my condo. I am not in San Diego anymore!!!
This is where Andrew is working now. The building is located in Downtown Houston.
Took this picture on Downtown Houston. It made me think of San Diego so I took it. Also, found out that most of Downtown is closed on the weekends. Now that is crazy!!!

Edouard

I am sitting on the couch at my parent's house watching the development of Edouard on the news. This is my 1st Topical Storm to be experiencing in Houston. Oh so fun!

A great day for a parade

A parade you say? At about 10am this morning, I start to hear sirens from what sound like a Fire Truck coming down the street. Rocky at that point started freaking out and was wondering what was going on. Well we stood at the front door and low and behold a Fire Truck with all its sirens and horns came down the street. It brought a smile to my face but nothing could bring a bigger smile then what came after the truck. There were tons of kids and adults riding their bikes and razors right behind the Fire Truck. One kid has a hug American flag flying from his seat of his bike. It was awesome to watch. There were even young families that had decorated their strollers with streamers and such. It really brought a sense of community, knowing that all these people lived around this neighbor. So I thought I would share my fun 4^th of July memory with you all!! What a great day for a parade.

Mi Casa

Here are the pictures of my new place. Hope you enjoy them!!!This is my living room. I have a fireplace!! Don't know if I will use it but it is cool to have.
The kitchen! My landlord said that I can pull the wallpaper off in here. A fun weekend project awaits.
My room! I couldn't get a very good picture of it.
This is my balcony and also what the complex looks like. It is small and cute!!
The view from my living room. It is fun to watch out the window and watch the storms roll in.
The great thing ever. I love having a washer/dryer in the unit.
This is my dinning room with the new dinning room table. This is my first piece of grownup furniture.

New Place

It has officially been a week that I have been in my new place. It is finally starting to look like a home. I just love being on my own and knowing that my parent’s are only 20 minutes away. I will be posting some pictures soon so you can see what it looks like. My parent’s gave me a house warming present and it was a convection oven. I didn’t realize at the moment how much I was going to love it. It is the best thing since sliced bread. It is so fast and you don’t have to heat up a whole oven. I did find out today that plastic wrappers and a convection oven don’t mix. I forgot that I had my bread on the top and let’s just say the plastic melted onto the oven. I always know that my smoke alarm works well, too. This is just the beginning of all the fun adventures that are going to take place here. So fun! (:

Been a year.... Brittany, we all miss you!!!!

It is hard to believe that you are not here anymore. I will always remember your smiling face and always having some kind of yummy food to share with everyone at work. You had a heart for others and made everyone feel like your friend. It's hard to imagine that someone would want to take your life away from you. But your memory will live on! Every time I see a sunflower, I think of you. I only knew you for a short time, but you have touched my life. Brittany, you are missed.

Giving Back

Laying down mulch, planting flowers, pull weeds, and cutting back over grown bushes, these are just a few activates that I took part in last weekend.

Our church had decided a couple of months ago to shut down church for one Sunday morning and go be the church in our community. We had chosen some local needy schools in the area and decided to help them out with landscaping, painting, building, and even power washing. We had over 600 people sign up for the event!! With all the excitement going on, I knew I wanted to get involved. Not just getting on a team but to be an active team leader. (: I got to be the landscape team leader for an elementary school called PH Greene. This job was going to be HUGE but with God’s help I knew I could climb this mountain. So here is how the day went…..

The morning started with everyone together in service together for worship before heading out. I have never felt God more near then I did at that moment. It was amazing (a word that I will use a lot throughout this post). Everyone all together for one goal! After the service, we are all dismissed to head out to the local schools. It was a sight to see, car after car leaving the parking lot and knowing that everyone was about to go bless our community. I headed out to PH Greene and boy was the day filled was fun! I was in charge of about fifteen or so volunteers and had to direct them on our landscaping goals for the day. I ran around most of the time answering questions, directing, and helping find extra wheelbarrows (something that was in short supply). I felt in my element. I got to meet so many people from the school (some of the teachers came out to help along with some parents) and many people from the church. It was a great bonding time. I wish I had taken pictures of everything we did because people worked their butts off. I could write on about the many different blessing that happened that day. All in all, it is a day I will never forget. It was AMAZING!!!!

Next step

It has been amazing to watch God work in the last couple of weeks. As many of you already know, Andrew has been in the process of applying for a Detention Officer position with Harris County Sheriff Department in Houston.

Since having successfully passed the written exam (April 11), this let him move onto the next step in the applying process….. the background check! Andrew had to fill out a background packet about his life and ask for letters of reference. He was able to complete this by the end of the April. Well he called over to Harris County at the beginning of this month to make sure they had received it. The guy who took his call could not seem to find his packet anywhere. He told Andrew to hold on so he could figure out what happened. The guy gets back on the phone and says that it had already been assigned a background investigator. The guy seemed a little shocked that it got assigned so fast. (:

Andrew was then instructed to call back in a few days to talk with the investigator. He gets the chance to call the investigator back on Monday (May 5). To make a long story short, the investigator wanted to see when he could get out there again to do the “final steps” of the applying process. Hold up a second….. I thought the background was going to take a couple on MONTHS! All in all, Andrew is making a trip out to Houston at the end of this month to complete the applying process. The investigator said that by the end of this trip, he will leave knowing if he has a job or not. This is all so crazy!!

I would never think in a million years about how quick the process has gone so far. Andrew and I have just been sitting back really watching God work. To where Andrew is at this point, is all because of God. It just has been great to watch.

We are not out of the wood yet through. Andrew still has the “final steps” to do and this is going to be a real testing time for him. He has no control over this final phase and I think that worries him a bit. So please keep Andrew in your thoughts and prayers as the date approaches (May 29 through June 4).

Andrew in Houston

This past weekend, Andrew came to Houston for a visit. (: His main purpose for this trip was to take the Harris County Sheriff exam which thanks to everyone's prayers, he was able to pass. So now he moving to the next stage in the process, which is the background check. So once he submits his packet, the waiting game beginnings. Andrew says it can take a couple of months to run a background check. So keep praying and I will let you all know how it goes.

Below are some pics from his trip. Hope you all enjoy!!

Andrew and I spent Saturday at Moody Gardens down in Galveston. This was the first time for both of us to adventure here. It is a place that has different places you can visit like an aquarium, rain forest, or discovery zone. As you can tell we did the rain forest.
It was very fun to see all the animals and birds. After that we kept going with our rain forest theme and went to the Rain Forest Cafe down the street for lunch. It was so much fun!!!!
Andrew enjoyed playing video games with my brother. I just enjoyed seating there and watching.


Andrew and I took Stephanie, Heather, and Eric down to Kemah on Friday night. We went on Joe's Boardwalk Beast. Boy was it a beast. We left the ride soaked to the bone. It is a fast boat ride into the Gulf. Every time we made a turn a wave of water came over us. Something we will
have to do in the summer for sure!

All in all it was a great weekend!!! (:

Keeping Up

As I look at the date of my last post, I feel so behind. It was my plan to try to keep this current. So I am going to give it another try. (: Check back soon and see if I keep true to my word.

Trip to San Diego

I was able this past week to go to San Diego for a couple of days. I had gotten a good amount of money back after doing my taxes and thought what a better way to use it then a trip to San Diego. Also, with no job to hold me , it seemed like the perfect time. So below is a snap shot of my trip.I was able to spend some quality time with Andrew while I was down. We made a special trip down to Ocean Beach to eat at one of our favorite places, Hodads (they have amazing hamburgers). It was nice being able to go on dates and just hang out.
Going to dinner with Jamie, Christina, and Amanda. It was a great time hanging out and just having fun. Also the food was very good. Good choice Jamie and Christina!
Joesi and I at Starbucks. Still can't believe that we have been friends since the fourth grade! Always good to see her.
Andrew, Andrew's brother Ben, and his wife Jodi. Spent the day at the zoo and then went to Roadhouse Grill for dinner. It was so fun to hang out with them. When you get those two brothers together, there is no telling what can happen. (:
Spent breakfast and a trip down to Mission Beach with my dear friend Kelly. She is expecting a baby boy in July so it was fun seeing her. Also, enjoyed buying her little baby outfits and getting to see her open them.
Spending some time with my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Helen. Chuck opening his late birthday present from my family. Fun being with family.
It was a great five days. I felt like I was running around nonstop but it was worth every second of it. I thank God for giving me this chance for a much needed trip. It was awesome seeing friends, family, and Andrew all at once.Now I am back in Houston recovering from a cold that I got while down in San Diego. I guess all the running around finally caught up with me.(:

Hope

Today turned out to be a great day! This afternoon was my three month check up with my pre-diabetes. I went in a little worried about what the test results might show and hoping that I was heading down the right path. The first person I met with was my doctor who was overly impressed with my weight lost. I had lost over ten pounds during that time! She also said that my levels were great. My fasting glucose was 90 (anything under 100 is good). It was hard for me to hold back my excitement. I did let out a hooray!! From there, I went to see my nutritionist and she was amazed, too. She answered some questions I had and helped me get more of a handle on eating right. She even said that if I kept losing the weight that I will probably not have any symptoms anymore. Those words were music to my ears. To believe that I could live a normal live was amazing. So all and all, I am overjoyed. All of my hard work has paid off!! I know that I am on my way but still have a ways to go. However, this appointment brought me hope and that was something that I had been missing for so long.

Friends

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us." -Author Unknown

Pre-Diabetes

The word pre-diabetes is a scary word to hear as you sit in a doctor’s office. This was something that I came face to face with just a couple of months ago. Let me start for the beginning, I had for almost a year been experiencing feelings of being nauseas if I did not eat any food right when my stomach was hungry. Then in the last few months, I would become dizzy, I felt out of it, and I would become very tired. As I came to later realize was that my body was telling me that my sugars were low. At this time these symptoms were going on, I had gone to my regular doctor and she could not figure out what was going on. So I then got referred to another doctor and this is where I began to get some answers. I remember that first appointment and hearing the word type 2 pre-diabetes. I was in shock! I never thought that this would be happening to me but this was the card that I was dealt. I was then instructed to test my blood sugars for a week and go for a follow up appointment. After that appointment was when she told me that my blood sugar levels were not in their normal range and if I kept living the way I was then I would get type 2 diabetes. I just remember crying and a feeling of hopelessness came over me. What was I going to do? It was at this same time that my move to Houston happened. I really think that this was a God send. Since moving here, I now go to a place called Diabetes America. I love it there. Your doctor, nutritionist, and blood work all gets done in one place. Anyone will pre-diabetes or diabetes knows how great that is. After that appointment here, I realized that I needed to change my life. It has been hard and let me repeat hard. When anyone goes on a diet…. those first couple months are a challenge. I never realize how much I liked eating food and that I never really exercised. Now… about four months, I am exercising five times a week and really watching what I am eating. I have to eat about every two hours in order for my symptoms to not start. Even if they do, I know what to do to get my sugars up fast. My snacking has gone down a lot and I am learning health foods to eat that will fill me up. It is a huge change for the way I use to live. Next month is my check up appointment and I am hoping for the best. As when I tell people that I have type 2 pre-diabetes, they can not believe their ears. That is why I want to get my story out there so people are aware. It can happen to anyone and it is as simple as that. I am working through it and learning that I can overcome it. I have become a stronger person throughout this whole process. (:

Rain

I was subbing in a preschool class today and we were talking about the rainy weather outside. It was really just sprinkling but the kids all said it was raining. Anyways, one little boy had some great insight for me on this subject and I thought you all would enjoy what he said.

He was telling me how when the clouds get black outside that means it is going to rain. Also, when one cloud runs into another cloud, it makes that cloud cry. He then looks at me and says, “Ms. Kristal, that is what rain is right?” I could not help but laugh a little. It made my whole day. I just love children at this age, so full of imagination!!