Long Time No Post

Wow.  So it's been a while, and we have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm thinking today just isn't the day I feel like doing it.  After a LONG two weeks of living in an extendastay hotel (I still throw up thinking about those two weeks), we waved a tearful g-bye to 'ole A-town and headed down south.  Here are the top 20 things we've learned since moving to Houston:

1- I don't care what anybody says, it really is stinkin' hot down here. AC is fabulous
2- Showers don't really do a whole lot...you go outside and you'll be soaked with sweat in T minus 5 seconds
3- Bugs like the big city life.  Never seen so many bugs in our lives!  Don't worry, it's normal to find at least a couple spiders a day visiting in our house (yeah and that's even with pest control. YUCK)
4- Rain is a blessed, blessed thing!
5- There's no point in doing your hair.  I have devil horn fly-aways on my head pretty much anytime I go outside
6- Rain brings out the frogs
7- Regardless of what one might think, frogs DO NOT get out of the way of the lawnmower
8- A frog can still hop with only three legs. Frog legs for dinner anyone?  (sorry, don't let the kids read this one)
9- If I see a black spider with a red hourglass on its bum, run and get David. FAST
10- Black widows like garage doors A LOT  
11- Crickets multiply like rabbits apparently.  If anyone has a pet that eats crickets, give us a call...I can get about 100 from my flower bed alone (I'll give you a fair price, heck I might even give you 99 for free)
12- A mosquito bite down here can produce an impressive welt the size of a quarter, David's poor hiney was living proof o' that one night (don't ask)
13- The neighborly thing to do is to go sit in somebody's garage with them and drink beer and talk about the size of your TV, what NFL team you like, if you like Nascar, and what kinda car you drive.  Every night. (Yeah we're not very neighborly I'm sure everyone is finding out)
14- The very friendly neighbor kids graciously taught David how to start a lawnmower correctly, how to mow a lawn, and how to water a lawn (good thing David is such a patient man!)
15- The beach= euphoria
16- Our family can no longer send chocolate in their packages to us (BOO HOO!)
17- People do crazy things down here...at church last week a man told the entire congregation about how he beat the tar out of a guy who was trying to steal stuff out of his truck.  His point was that you have to be prepared for anything. David and I now know that kneeing a man repeatedly in his face will most likely make him fall to the ground so you can sit on him
18- The standing record for a door-to-door salesman trying to get us to answer the door is now three rounds of doorbell rings and two rounds of knocking (don't people know if nobody answers the door, nobody's home?)  I guess it probably didn't help that I was vacuuming the front room at the time ;)
19- We still miss our familia and now we really miss our cronies from Amarilla
And last but not least,
20- A neighbor informed us if we see an 8 yr old driving a car around in the neighborhood, we shouldn't worry about it even though he's Mexican and we might think he's stealing a car. It's just his son, and he lets him drive the car around

Such a learning experience it's been!  But we're happy!  I passed my nuc med tests and I'm certified.  Yippee! And David started school this week and he's jumping right in! So proud of him!  Hope summer life is treating you well in your neck o' the woods...

Change is Oh So Good!

Well, we're still alive, still in A-town, still on a high.  Time to play a lit'l catch up on what we've been up to for the last 4 months. :)

The ENTIRE Dayton fam got to come see us in Feb.  It was a wonderful week full of lots of laughs, shopping, and most importantly many late late nights of farming game playin.  (we're hard core with that game)  We were so sad to see them go.  It's always a party with the Dayters!

Dave got to go to Idaho for work again (so jealous) (he gets to go to NY in a week...again so jealous) and it was perfect timing for him to get to see our niece Hadley's baby blessing, and see Marnie who was visiting from Germany.  First time in like 4 yrs that all his siblings were together.  So fun!

    Went to Houston over spring break to find a house and check things out.  We were pretty sure we were gonna get shot or beat up or something the whole time we were lookin. Apparently we were lookin in all the wrong places! OOPS!  We got to go to the temple, a rodeo, and Gary Allan concert while we were there.

Our city league v-ball team took 1st place again for the spring season.  Yeehaw!  We're gonna miss this...

It was our 4th anniversary at the first of May.  :)  Seems like just yesterday we were walking out of the temple together.  Oh the memories!  I can't wait for what the future holds for us!  I definitely got the cream of the crop for a hubby!  Sooo blessed...He takes such good care of me...always has me laughin', and he gives the best massages!  LOVE YOU DAVE

Finally we just bought our 1st home down in Houston.  WHOA!  Yes.  Craziness.  Lots and lots of it.  But we love the house, it's finally finished, and it's beautiful!  I love the low housing market in Houston!  It's wonderful!!  We're still in shock...it's a new feeling to sign your life away, but I guess Dave's gonna be doing quite a lot of that in the next little while.  We're so excited to start this new chapter in our new home.  So if you're ever in our neck of the woods, give us a call!  We'd love to have you!  I'm graduated with just clinicals left now, we have a home, and I'm a happy girl!  We're feeling so very blessed.

So here's to wonderfully warm sunny weather with no wind for a change, so's we can go run off all the winter insulation we've accumulated :)

Remember that one day when...

So I'm going to give a replay of how January 19, 2010 went for David and me:

Just got home.  Sittin' on the couch eating some addictive gummy bears.  Got a text from David.  Read it three times before it made sense in my head.  Started crying.  Evolved into bawling.  Said "Oh my gosh!" about 500 times [Out Loud].  Started freaking out because I couldn't call David [he said he couldn't talk right then].  
Called my parents.  Dad answered.  Scared Dad to death when I could barely talk.  Because I was still bawling.  He thought something was wrong, HA!  Told him the news.  There was a lot of laughing, a lot of crying, and a few more "Oh my goshes!"  Hung up.  Freaked out some more.  Might have done a few olympic ice skating jumps across the living room.  Called my sister.  No answer.  Called my aunt.  Told her the news.  Still crying at this point.  Decided I better stop blabbing the news and let David do the telling.  Compromised (with myself) about just telling my sister.  And my brother.  That's all.  And my mom and lil bro who'd be getting home in an hour.  And maybe my sis-in-law because my brother wasn't home.  And maybe...nah, just kidding.  Self control.  Decided I better let Dave tell everyone else himself.  Stopped calling people (after I got ahold of my sis 3 tries later, hehe).  Finally got David to call me.  Learned he couldn't call earlier because he was so excited he couldn't talk.  

To make a really long story short, or maybe medium length, OK just longish, when David got home, there was mucho hugs, kisses, and happy tears.  So what, you might ask, would make me behave so ridiculously?  Well here's the big news!  We're moving to Houston in July, because come August, David will officially be a Texas Longhorn . (Excited face!)  He got accepted into UTDB in Houston!  So yes, we've had a perma-smile ever since.  I'm sooo proud of my David.  He's worked hard to get to where he's at, and he never gave up.  It does my heart good to know that he's going to be able to do what he loves, for the rest of his life.  The reason we moved to Amarillo was for David to work at getting into dental school, so our prayers have been answered. HE DID IT!  So watch out Houston, and watch out world!  Here comes Dr. Dave!  He's got a long four year road ahead of him (I think I should be saying WE have a long 4 yr road ahead of us, haha), but I know he's going to accomplish great things. Congratulations to you, my David!  I know Grammy is so proud of you!  It's definitely been a better year already.  Houston, here we come!

What I'll Miss the Most...

Her laugh. Gram had a great laugh! Dave was so good at making her laugh...loved it!

Wow, she could cook! She always was cooking when we were over there--breakfast, lunch, & dinner. She insisted. And she ALWAYS had the best treats.

Her pretty hair. I don't think her hair ever looked bad.

The cards she'd send to us with "presents" at EVERY holiday, even if it was a little one.

The little pictures she'd draw for us in the holiday cards she sent...turkeys, clovers, hearts, pumpkins, etc. The last one we got had turkeys on the envelope and in the card. :)

(Kabree 'Rose' Day'ton' Sterzer)

How she was always worrying about us. I always told her "not to worry" but I'm grateful that she loved us so much that she did always worry about us.

Her being at every important thing that's happened in our lives. She never missed anything! My last 2 b-days in TX were the first ones IN MY LIFE that she hadn't been there to help me celebrate, and it was my fault! (b-days are big in my family!)

She took the entire family out when we'd get together. A fav was Papa Tom's in IF, or anywhere we wanted to go when we went to visit. She always got pizza with sliced tomatoes on it.

I'd secretly catch her reading her scriptures or saying her prayers. What an example!

Our weekly if not bi-weekly phone calls. She'd call us to see how school, work, dr appts, & church stuff was going. Or just to talk. I called her on my way home from the hospital often. I miss these calls A LOT. A lot.

Her hugs, my Rosie O'Neal nickname, her stubborness, her pink lipstick, her garage sale finds.

She spoiled us...seriously, we were spoiled!

She treated David like he was her grandson before we were even married. She told me before she died what a good man he is, that she loved him like he'd always been her grandson. :')

She helped raise me. She literally was like another mama to me.

Mostly I'm gonna miss her.

Our Grammy passed away on Christmas Eve. Needless to say, it was a hard Christmas! What a blessing we were able to be in Idaho with our family when it happened. Grammy was an amazing woman, and we feel so blessed to have had her as a part of our lives. She taught us so much, and we have TONS of wonderful memories to remember her by. We're going to miss her terribly, but we know that we'll see her again. Families are forever!

WE LOVE YOU GRAMMY JANE!!!

Here's to 2010!

Out with the old, in with the new. We've decided to give 2009 a permanent title for the record books. 2009 is officially "The Year of Tuff Stuff". Seems only fitting...it really was a tough year. We look back and see this: lots of funerals, lots of tears and heartache when dealing with "tuff stuff", being away from family, being in limbo with where we're going with our lives, getting diagnosed with Hashimoto's, etc. BUT, 2010 is here! This is a new year full of new beginnings. And it's going to be a good year. We'll make it be a good year...I think it's time for a good year. So here's to 2010!

STERZER TO-DO LIST

1- Run a hilly 5K in a triathalon with friends (Dave's team took 5th...Niiiice!)
DONE!

2- Harvest a pea...the only pea...the only thing to harvest...from our garden
DONE!

3- Go find some hot air balloons just lying around A-town
DONE!

4- Make a b-day cake for Kabe without her help
DONE!

5- Be in a chocolate pie eating contest so you won't want to eat choc pie ever again (Kabe won)
DONE!

6- Visit the American Quarter Horse Museum

DONE!

7- Cook our first whole turkey and have Thanksgiving dinner while being brave because we're all alone for Turkey Day for the first time ever (It was wonderful! We fat-dogged it for like 8 hrs after cuz we ate too much)

DONE!


8- Sight in Dave's rifle so he can go hunting
DONE!
9- Shoot a deer

Still workin' on this one

10- Shoot a turkey (how about 3 in one shot?)

DONE! DONE! DONE!

11- Get a sweet new niece, Hadley Sue (Amy had her! YAY! 4lbs 9 oz & doing awesome)

DONE!



12- Pack it up so we can go to Idaho for Christmas
Work in progress...
13- Wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

DONE!

14- Realize how wonderfully blessed we are

DONE!

I (this is Kabe) love the holidays! I love the warmth that comes from celebrating the birth of our Savior, from spending time with family, from giving to others, from the beautiful lights, from the love everyone seems to have. I always get way emotional around Christmas time for some reason. I don't know what it is, but I'm pretty sure I tear up at least every other day, if not every! I'm a mess at church, when I talk to Dave about Christmas/life, and I even teared up when I saw a house last Sunday that was decorated with gorgeous lights. David and I saw the movie The Blind Side last week and I bawled thee whole movie! Forget staying dry while I'm visit teaching, or after talking on the phone to family. But the best part about this whole I-can't-control-my-emotions-during-the-holidays thing is that it's all for HAPPY emotion. I LOVE IT! It's embarrassing, but I love it. I hope everyone can take a bit to enjoy the wonderful feelings, reflection, and warmth that encompasses this time of the year. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!!!!!!! Mucho Amore, and for some of you, we'll see you soon!

PS--Had a slight malfunction with my blog list, so if you're reading this and you don't see your name in my blog list, please let me know what you're blog address is again. I've blog stalked as many people as I could find off family's blogs, but I'm having a hard time finding everyone. THANKS!

Spoiled

David went to Madison, WI this past week for the World Dairy Expo. He called every night to tell me about all the crazy stuff he'd seen that day. He even recorded a video of the craziness for me to see. I thought I'd share it on here for you all to see! (you can thank me later) Ohhhhh to be a prize winning cow with superior genetics and worth lots and lots of money. And I thought I was spoiled...