Happy Bday America

For the 4th of July Taylor and I fly to Pensacola to be with his family for the long weekend. It was a trip just to get there due to Hurricane Alex, but once we were there we were so happy. We hadn't seen Taylor's  family since we have been married and moved off so it was a very emotional homecoming. Every year his whole family (Grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) goes down for the whole week of the 4th. As some of you know, Taylor's granddad died a year ago on the 2nd so we weren't able to do the "whole week beach thing" last year. This year was tough but it was such a refresher for everybody. We laid by the pool all day Saturday, once we got there, and most of the day Sunday. On the 4th, we always get together with other family and have a huge late lunch/early dinner meal. After our meal we all went and played putt putt and rode go-karts. Monday and Tuesday it rained but didn't stop us. Taylor and I were so glad to see everybody. It was like we haven't skipped a beat with all of his family. We walked on the beach, which we hadn't done in forever, ate good food, watched movies, and much much more! It was soo good to be with family and be MARRIED. It was really hard coming back this time though. It was not easy for both of us. We are so happy leaving out here and it has been awesome for our marriage but having times like this makes it hard to see that clearly. We know we will be back but it just makes it tough. We have settled back into reality though and look forward to what is to come!

The "kids"

Happy 4th!

Taylor's Family

                                                                  Me and Braxton!

home sweet alabama

 I took my first trip back home last week and loved every minute of it. It was such a wonderful refresher. I spent a whole week hanging out, eating, shopping, celebrating, and just being at home. We celebrated Michelle's bday and engagement, Mom's bday, and Jordan's wedding festivities!! It was a nonstop week. Mom and I went up to Cullman for a day and 1/2 to spend time with my Ninnie. We ate with my mom side of the family and celebrated Mom's bday. I was able to get all the places I had to been craving out in New Mexico out of my system too. I enjoyed eating Jim N Nicks, Tazikis, California Pizza Kitchen, Surin West, Panera Break, and many more! For the first time I was able to be apart of Jordan's wedding festivities. It has been hard living way out here and having one of your best friend getting married because I feel like I can't contribute to anything. I was able to go to her dress fitting and be apart of her lingerie shower. It was so great to catch up and see people that mean soo much to me. Although I didn't want the week to end, I was ready to head back and see my hubby and puppy. When I got home Taylor had grilled salmon, esparagus, and grilled onions for our dinner and also had gotten me flowers. It was delicious. I have the BEST husband in the world.

Mom and Dad come to visit!

Well I am almost a month behind on my blogging so I guess it is time I get back on it. We have been so busy these past three weeks that they have flown by. My parents made their first trip out together (mom has already come out once) on the 17th of June. Taylor was already off on Friday of that weekend so we were both able to hang out with them for a three day weekend. It was NONSTOP. If you know my dad you know that the Brocks don't mess around. We were on the go the whole weekend. We rode mtn bikes in Cloudcroft, hiked, grilled out, went out to eat, played with pup, took books to my school, shopped in Ruidoso, explored, and went to White Sands. The four of us had the BEST time together. When my parents flew in on Thursday afternoon they were able to meet Teal for the first time. They loved her and she loved them. She especially loved hanging around Mom (a.k.a. Nanna). She would follow her wherever she went.

On our way to Alamogordo we stopped in Orogrande to show Mom and Dad Taylor's job site. Later that night we grilled out steaks and enjoyed a nice evening on our 4x6 foot concrete patio. On Friday, we all went up to Cloudcroft to go hiking and mtn biking. Since Dad is having surgery on his shoulder, he let Taylor borrow is mtn bike for a while. Taylor was so excited. Our first trail we tried was quite an expert's trail. It was tough to say the least..haha but Taylor stuck with it and LOVED it.

We hung around up there till about dinner time and came back to Alamo. We took Mom and Dad to our favorite spot, Pizza Patio, and enjoyed some great Pizza.

On Saturday we decided to ride around town on our bikes and show dad the town. We came back and grabbed mom and Teal and headed up to Ruidoso. We ate at a really good place for lunch and shopped around. Saturday night we were exhausted so instead of cooking we ended up going to our other local favorite Chili's! haha Sunday (Father's Day) we had a lot to do so we woke up early and enjoyed a cup of Joe on our little patio. We started our busy day by going to White Sands. Mom and Dad couldn't believe how beautiful the park was!

We then came back and loaded up all by boxes to take to the school. Mom and Dad loved my school. They couldn't get over that I could see the mountains out my windows. Dad wanted us to go mtn biking again so we headed up to Cloudcroft for the second time. Taylor and I hit the trail while Mom and Dad hung out with Teal. The trip didn't last long cause I def. went over my handlebars and crashed. We headed back to Alamo and Taylor cooked some amazing ribs for Father's Day.

We just really enjoyed hanging out with my parents and showing them around the town we now live in. It was neat for them to see our house, job site, and school. Teal loved them and cant wait for them to come back for Thanksgiving!

19lbs going on 65lbs!

                      Our Family

Here are some awesome pictures David Roberts took of Teal when we went camping the other weekend. I cannot believe we have had her for over 2 months. She now weighs 19 lbs and her paws are still HUGE! She has a lot of growing to do. She really has become her own little self. We took her to our favorite spot "Pizza Patio" the other day. She was able to sit on the patio with us and she did an awesome job. She is (for right now--lets don't jinks it) a very well-tempered dog around other people. She has started fetching more, which Taylor is thrilled. We are looking forward to see what else we have in store for us. The things we are working on now is "laying down" and "Knee." We cannot say "Heal" because it so close to her name so we have decided to use "Knee."

In the Middle of Nowhere!

The five of us ( don't forget about Baby Roberts!)                         Our Campsite                                                                      

Last weekend we went camping with the Roberts in Cloudcroft! We had the best time. We defiantly wanted to get out of Alamogordo and El Paso (where Chelsea and David are living) because the projected weather was 108 degrees! So we loaded up early Saturday morning and headed up there. David took us to a spot him and his brothers had hunted at, which was in the middle of nowhere! We had to 4wheel drive it to get to our spot. We set up camp, ate lunch, and went for a hike with all the dogs when we got there. Teal loved it because they brought their two labs and she had a blast annoying the stew out of them. The rest of the afternoon, we just hung out around the camp fire. On Sunday, we cooked an awesome breakfast and packed up camp. The Robert's showed us the waterfall up in Cloudcroft and the dogs were able to swim some. Teal wasn't too sure about the water, which kinda disappointed us at first; but she is a little young so she will warm up to it! We were exhausted when we got home. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Chelsea and David and their pups. Can't wait to do it again!

                         One Wet Puppy!

hikes, camp fires, and s'mores

  
 This Memorial Day weekend was one of a kind. T and I had been thinking about all the different things we could do since we had a four day weekend together (T was off Friday too!). Flying to the beach, driving to the Grand Canyon, or staying in a cabin were all ideas that ran through our heads. The beach was going to cost us around 1600 dollars so we said no thanks to that! We decided we were a little behind the ball on planning for the Grand Canyon and everybody else had the cabin idea so everything was booked. So we just decided to chill around Alamogordo. On Friday, we really just enjoyed spending time together. We went out to lunch, took Teal to the vet, got all my teacher editions from the school, went to the park with Teal, played tennis, took a 4 hour nap, and watched a movie. It was a well needed day together. On Saturday we decided we would go hiking up in Cloudcroft.  That was the best idea we had. We took Teal with us, of course, and she LOVED it. She did really well too. It was about 20 degrees cooler then what it was in Alamogordo so it was amazing all around. We drove around and noticed that there were come campsites that were still vacant so we decided we would camp out Sunday night. When we got home Saturday we got all of the camping stuff my parents had let us borrow and saw that we had everything we needed.

Sunday morning we loaded everything up and headed for Cloudcroft. We had a BLAST! We set up camp, ate lunch, went hiking, rode bikes, grilled out, hung out by the fire, and ate s'mores. We got up Monday morning and cooked a yummy breakfast. Then we packed everything up and went for our last hike. We had to carry Teal some of the way cause she was pooped. The best part about the whole weekend though was finding this BBQ restaurant in Cloudcroft that was owned by a family from ALABAMA! Crazy uhh? It was the best thing we had put in our mouths since we have moved here. It was like walking into a place at home. You could feel the "southerness" when you walked in. AMAZING. We will defiantly be back!

The new 3rd grade teacher!

     I have known for a while but couldn't say anything till I found out "officially"last week that I am going to be the new 3rd grade teacher at Buena Vista Elementary School here in Alamogordo. I couldn't be more excited. I have been floating on cloud nine for about a month now. It has been really hard not to say anything to anybody but now I can. It is crazy how it has all worked out. It is amazing how things fall into place when you let the Lord do HIS will. For so long I have tried to do my will, but every since Taylor has gotten this job and we have moved 1200 miles away I have given everything up to Him. Again I have to say it is evident He wants us here!
      It is crazy how all of this has come about. When we first moved here I went around and passed my resumes out and introduced myself to the principals. I was subbing on Friday in April and Mrs. Korbakes, the principal, stopped me and asked me if I wanted to interview the following Tuesday. I was shocked. Of course I said yes. So Tuesday rolled around and I was extremely nervous. The interview went well and she told me she would let me know by the end of the following week. That Friday came and I received a call asking if I could come in for a second interview. I was like WHAT!! So the following week I went in for the 2nd interview. I was to present to the principal and 3 other teachers how I would instruct my reading block, math block, and what my discipline plan. You can say I was a TAD nervous (haha more like extremely nervous) but I did feel prepared. So that Friday rolled around and I gave it all I had. The next couple weeks I kept hearing good news though some little "flies" on the walls -ha. I wasn't about to get my hopes up although I new those "flies" were good sources. So finally on May 23rd almost a month after I had my interview I got a call from Human Resources asking me if I would except the job! I said YES! So I will be teaching 3rd grade in the fall and cannot wait to meet my little munchkins. I couldn't be more excited about working with the staff that is at Buena Vista. Everybody I have met is awesome! I have already seen the classroom I will be in and have started working on my theme. I am trying to create a nautical theme in my classroom... we will see how that goes! ha Tomorrow we have our first meeting on our new reading program. I am looking forward to it. Please keep me in your prayers as I start this journey. Thank so much.