Christmas Parties and More!

December so far has been pretty busy with lots of Christmas and end of school parties.  This week we had an 'End of Fall Extravaganza' Monday, I had a Chi O Christmas party Owl Exchange on Tuesday, and last night we had a couple friends over for dinner because we didn’t make it to their Vintage Christmas Cocktail Party last weekend.  My office Christmas pitch-in is Friday and T.J. is making Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie for me to bring!  This weekend we’re going to San Antonio for a nice, relaxing weekend away.  Next Friday we are off to Indiana for a few days of Christmas celebrations and then back to Austin to ring in the new year!

T-9 days until we are back home again in Indiana!

November Update...a few weeks late

It has obviously been awhile since I’ve updated this and I could say we’ve been busy, which is true, but I think it’s more I just haven’t done it.  November was full with seminary stuff most weekends.  I was in San Antonio for a couple of days at a conference, and I was able to make it back to Austin just in time to hear T.J.’s Veteran’s Day sermon.  That weekend was Visitor’s weekend at SSW so we were busy most of the weekend with various activities on campus.

SSW Football Team after the game

The weekend before Thanksgiving was the annual Polity Bowl with the Presbyterian seminary.  SSW lost 6-7, but it was fun to watch the game.  Seminarians can get really serious about their flag football!

We stayed here in Austin for Thanksgiving and had Thanksgiving dinner with about 100 of our new friends here!  The seminary puts on a big dinner – one of the professors made 6 turkeys and LOTS of mashed potatoes and then everyone brought sides and desserts to share.  We had a great time at dinner and then just relaxing for a few days.  My boss let me work from home on Friday and then told me at noon to log off and enjoy the weekend!

Halloween, Hermione, and Chi Omega

Some of the SSW girls (spouses/girlfriends/students)

The past couple weeks have been pretty busy here in the Freeman household.  Last week we had dinner out two nights with a few prospective students so we got to visit a couple of Austin hot spots courtesy of SSW!  Friday night was our Progressive Halloween Party! 

TEXANS!

We spent a few hours at the school's apartment complex between a couple students' apartments and then ended the party here at our place.  Everyone got into the festivities and dressed up for the party.  We had Anchorman characters, Parks and Rec characters, zombie Barbies, hippies, a crazy cat lady, and many others! To get into the spirit, T.J. and I dressed up as Texans!

Last weekend we got a new addition to our family!  We got a kitten on Sunday and named her Hermione!  She is six months old and came from the Austin Humane Society.  We took her for her post-shelter vet appointment and unfortunately she had a parasite so T.J. has been giving her medicine for the past couple of days...she HATES it!  Only 11 days left to give it to her and then she'll be all better!  I think she is now used to us and our house and has learned every place she can jump up and around.

Chi Omega Make-A-Wish

Thursday night we went to a company dinner downtown Austin with one of the company owners and some of my coworkers.  We had a great dinner and T.J. got to meet some of the people I work with at CORE.  Friday evening we went to The Oasis for the Chi Omega Make-A-Wish Extravaganza!  The Iota chapter at University of Texas holds this annual fundraiser and silent auction each year on Parent's Weekend and invited the Austin Chi O Alumnae chapter and their guests.  We had a great time with my new Chi O friends and ended up leaving with a cute owl painting.  We almost won a weeklong trip for 8 to Angel Fire, New Mexico, but we were outbid right before the auction closed.  We didn't get the total amount raised, but annually the chapter raises about $40,000-$50,000 on this night with all proceeds going to Make-A-Wish to grant 5-6 wishes!

It's (kinda) fall!

This week is what we like to call "birthday week" in the Freeman house.  I only pointed out a couple times that for five days T.J. is four years older than me!  T.J.'s birthday was on Sunday and we celebrated with having some friends over to watch the Notre Dame game Saturday (before realizing it was an off-week and they play USC tomorrow) and then out with friends again Sunday evening.  It was also the birthday of one of T.J.'s classmates so we had quite a seminary crew.  Today is my birthday so we are going out to a nice dinner to celebrate both of us and then we go back to it being my day and maybe out for drinks with some friends post-dinner. :)

Weather is the topic that everyone jokes is brought up when there is nothing else to talk about, but I think a little weather update is appropriate this week.  It is starting to feel a little bit like fall here in Texas.  We've had our windows open a few days this week because it is cooling off overnight.  Now don't get me wrong, it has still gone over 80 during the day each day except one this week (high 77 on Wednesday), but it has been dropping into the high 40s/low 50s at night, which is wonderful open window sleeping weather when we've been used to the 80 degree air conditioner.  The leaves haven't turned yet so it still looks like summer, but I have a feeling it will be happening over the next few weeks.  

Everyday Routine

Sorry it's been awhile since the last post...work wears me out!  Things have been pretty uneventful around here the past couple of weeks and we've settled into a pretty normal routine now that I am back to work.  I have officially taken over everything at work plus a few other company projects that got handed to me after only two days of being in the office so I am very busy at work, but it makes the days go quickly so that's always a plus. 

Last weekend we spent Friday evening with T.J.'s classmates and their families for a 'Junior Class Fiesta' and then Saturday was the Red River Rivalry game (UT vs. OU) so a bunch of the students set up the game on the projector in the auditorium and we went over for lunch and to watch the game.  UT unfortunately did not pull through a win this time around, but it was still fun to hang out with everybody.  Sunday we went to church in the morning and then T.J. did some homework while I did some laundry and cleaning around the house.  Monday evening there was a dinner and talent show fundraiser for the fire victims so we had dinner on campus and enjoyed the various talents.  Tomorrow evening we are going on a ghost tour of downtown Austin with the local Chi O alumnae group + dates so that should be a fun evening.  T.J.'s birthday is on Sunday as well as one of his classmates so I think they are planning to hit every bar in Austin that offers free drinks on your birthday...we'll see how that goes :)

Two jobs!

Last week wasn't too eventful - I tried to wrap up any errands I needed to run before I started work and T.J. had 3 papers due and lots of reading so we weren't very exciting.  I watched the ND game Saturday afternoon while T.J. was at the library studying and I learned that my cousin Elisabeth had her baby girl (Lily Grace) Friday night!  I can't wait to meet her although it could be awhile before that actually happens since they are in Chicago and I am in Austin...

Saturday evening we went out to dinner to a place called Baby Acapulco.  It was very good; however, we had some interesting entertainment after a few minutes of sitting down.  There was a table next to us with about 8 college kids dressed as pirates and astronauts...weird, but it's college kids so whatever...then more and more started showing up with various costumes.  By the time we left there were over 30 people dressed as pirates, astronauts, members of Kiss, Mario and Luigi, a green gorilla, and a few girls who didn't get the whole message and just put stars on their tshirts.  We have no idea what sort of party they were getting ready to throw/attend!

Sunday was a day of relaxing and then watching the Colts play Sunday Night Football!  For anyone who says the Colts need Peyton Manning, I will agree, but you have to admit losing by 3 to the Steelers in the last minutes with Curtis Painter as your quarterback shows that the rest of the team has a lot of talent and they will still be contenders this year!

I officially have two jobs now!  I am now just working on a consultation basis for Community through the beginning of next week and have started my training at Core.  Yesterday I learned about policies and procedures for suicide watch, fall prevention, etc.  Today I learned about First Aid and CPR.  Tomorrow through Friday I learn about agression management, learn to drive the giant van, and practice putting out a pretend fire with a real fire extinguisher (we can't use a real fire because of the burn ban).  While I probably won't use any or all of this training it will be cool to actually use a fire extinguisher and it will be nice to be able to explain to my new hire what they are really going to do in orientation. 

Next week I will try to post pictures from my office so everyone can see my cubicle (moving up in the world!) and the view from the back of my office out to Dripping Springs.  They aren't really dripping right now because of the drought, but still a pretty sight.  I think after this week we will be into more of a real routine and start getting back into the normal swing of everyday life so my blogs will probably be less exciting and less frequent...you are warned :)

New Job!

I got a job offer today...yay!!  I have officially accepted a position as the Sr. Recruiter for a brain injury rehab facility west of Austin starting in just over a week!  I will be recruiting for direct care staff, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, etc.  I will also get the chance to work on lots of other random HR projects since it is such a small facility.  After the offer I met T.J. for lunch to talk about everything and to hang out with some of his friends since they don't have classes on Friday afternoons. 

We didn't have a lot of other activity this week...T.J. is two weeks into classes and very busy with papers and reading and some more papers and reading...it's like Hanover all over again!  Yesterday morning I had an interview and they called to offer the position this morning so that was basically the excitement of our week!  The other excitement is that it rained today!  Not for long, and probably not enough to measure anything, but it rained for a few minutes!!

This weekend is Austin City Limits and we don't have tickets, but it is on PBS if we decide we want to watch parts of it!  We don't have cable so local TV is extra exciting.  On the topic of local tv, I am pretty excited because I will be able to watch both the Notre Dame football game and the Colts game this weekend!  So I can watch the football games while T.J. is reading and writing papers upstairs or at the library.

Weekend update

Friday evening we went out to dinner to celebrate selling my car and then had a relaxing evening at home.  Saturday morning I had my first SPOTS (spouses group) meeting so I got to meet a lot of the other seminary spouses and get a support group set up.  After I got home we activated our new iPhones and then went to the Apple store to get covers because we all know how I like to hurt my cell phones :)  We met up with one of T.J.'s friends from class to watch the UT game at a pizza place just down the road.  We decided that we need to buy some burnt orange clothing because everyone except our table had burnt orange...haha!  We were clearly the outsiders!  Sunday T.J. spent the day at the library reading and working on a few papers and I sat around and read the rest of The Help so I can now convince T.J. to take me to go see it!! 

Yesterday was T.J.'s first Monday of the school year so now he has officially completed a week of seminary!  I worked online and ran some errands on my lunch break.  We had a dinner meeting with the people in the area where we live (at the Presbyterian seminary) to learn about lock-out procedures, pot-lucks, etc.  After dinner, T.J. read a little bit more and I went over to campus for yoga.  I was a little nervous since I've never really done a yoga class, but it turned out okay...I never fell over, which was a plus!  I am a little sore today, but definitely plan to go back again next week.

Matriculation and One Car Family!

Last night was T.J.'s Matriculation service and dinner...Hanover grads think convocation minus the robes and plus a church service :).  The entire SSW community (students, faculty, staff, and families) had a church service to welcome the new students and then a catered dinner following the service.  This is the first of the weekly Community Eucharist and Dinners, but this one was special since it was the first one of the school year.  It was a 'dress-up' sort of event so T.J. of course wore his kilt!  The dean told him he looked good in his "dress" and it's a good thing T.J. served in the Army or Dean Travis might not have let him in the school!  Most everyone else really liked the kilt so I'm sure T.J. will be wearing it to every other school function he can.  We stayed on campus for a few hours talking with students and their families after dinner was served. 

Today is a big day...I am once again venturing out into Austin to learn my way around, but this time I am going to sell my car!  We've decided that we really don't need two cars since T.J. walks to school and the cars are just losing value sitting in the parking lot.  While I am excited to get whatever money they will give me for the car, it will be a bittersweet moment because the civic is the very first purchase I made after HC all by myself and paid for with my own money so I don't think I will ever be ready to let it go.  I might cry when I give them the keys...haha!

P.S. for Anne and Angela - feel free to ask me your random questions in the comments and I will come up with really good answers for you...I have some free time on my hands :)

Annie's last few days in Indy and first few in Austin

While T.J. was in Austin, I tried to see as many people as I could squeeze into a few weeks. Angela was a wonderful friend and let me stay in her new guest room for three and a half weeks, just like old times! In those few weeks I got to cross of all of my 'Must do before leaving Indy' list, plus a few extras:

GO COLTS!!

• out on the lake with Matt and Lindsay
• dinner a Fever game with my mother-in-law Cindy, my grandmother-in-law Sandy, and my brother-in-law Cody
• dinner with my family and a basketball game with my brothers Jonny and Stevie
• girls night slumber party with Sarah, Sarabeth, Angela, and Anne
• Indiana State Fair with Angela, Anne, and Emily
• weekend in Kokomo
• Indians game with Emily and Anne
• Slippery Noodle and Colts game with Anne
• Rally in the Alley with Angela, Anne, and Emily (we hung out a lot...haha)
• lunch with the work crew
• Sun King Brewery tasting with Angela and Anne

Mom and I left Indianapolis at 7 am Friday morning with the plan to drive about 12 hours to Texarkana.  We hit Texarkana around 6:00 Texas time and decided we could go a little bit more.  We made it all the way to Ft. Worth and spend the night with my mom's cousin Janet.  Her home is a wonderful hotel!  We relaxed that morning and then had lunch with Janet and her daughter Andrea then hit the road for the last few hours to Austin. 

Austin skyline from the concert

We spent the rest of the weekend running some errands around town and T.J. showing Mom and I some of the Austin must-see things!  On Saturday night we got to see the bats (there are TONS of bats that live in Austin for the summer and each night just before sunset they all fly out from under one of the bridges and it looks like ribbons of black flying through the air!) and then Sunday evening we went to an outdoor concert on the lawn and heard a Grammy winning latin funk band!  Monday morning we took Mom to Kerbey Lane (an Austin staple) for breakfast and then took her to the airport to head back to Indiana.  Monday evening we had a 'Chill and Grill' with the other seminary students so I am starting to meet the new students and their spouses.

T.J. started classes yesterday and he is really enjoying it so far.  It will be a lot of reading and a lot of work, but he has decided he'll study a little more than we all did at HC this time around. 

I went back to "work."  I'm doing my Indianapolis job remotely for the next few weeks.  On my lunch break yesterday, I went to the DMV to get my new driver's license (I now know why Indiana redid its BMV system...I waited for an hour and a half to get my picture taken, but they did let me smile!) so I am officially a Texas resident now.  While I work I am organizing things around the house and trying to turn it into home for the next three years. 

That's about it for now...I will try to keep updating as we have new and exciting adventures! :)

T.J.'s first few weeks

T.J. left Indiana August 10th and made the trip down to Texas with his mom Cindy, his grandma Sandy, andhis Uncle Charlie. They brought the U-Haul with ALL of our stuff and T.J.'s Escape. After arriving in Austin, they unloaded everything into our new condo and drove to San Antonio for the weekend. I wasn't there, so you can ask T.J. how much fun that was! :) T.J. spent the next few weeks in Austin setting up all of our furniture and getting to know his new classmates and figuring out which area bars had which specials and happy hours on which days.

P.S. I stole these pictures from T.J.'s Facebook page :)

Crown and Anchor (we can see this from our front door!)

Flying Saucer

We made it to Texas!

I had a few requests to start a blog about our time in Texas, so here is my attempt. I've never written a blog so I'm going to go ahead and say there is a good chance this may not be updated as often as it should. Instead of giving an entire page of updates, I'll separate the last few weeks into a few different posts.