the love of my life

I just have to say that I love my husband more and more each day! I can't imagine being with anyone else. Craig - thank you for everything that you do for me! I love you so much!

Oh yea, and here's a new picture of us... I took it myself... : )

a new chapter

Craig & I have made a decision to stay in Amarillo for just a little bit longer. We have both had such a hard time trying to find jobs in Dallas. Fortunately, I have a full-time desk job at Milestone, which is a little bit surreal because it's the job that I had before I went to work at Chili's. I am currently staying there until I find something that pays more. I have a job interview this week with Joppa Design. A friend of mine works there and gave me the inside scoop. I think I have a pretty good shot at getting it considering the fact that I have already met alot of these people with the AAF Addy Awards. :)

Craig is up for an IT job with Region 16 (deals with all of the school systems around here). Things are looking up for us, but in a totally different way than we had expected.

We are going to be moving in a month! We found a different apartment that isn't as expensive as ours, still has w/d connections, and is about 100 ft2 bigger than ours! We're going to be in our old neighborhood off of 34th & Coulter. One thing I'll miss about our area now is how close it is to work & being so close to the thrift and antique stores on 6th street! That's my favorite afternoon activity for my alone time!

We've gotten new fabric to do floor pillows and re-do the seats in our new dinning room chairs! We'll have a beatiful new dinning room table, too! (Thanks, Mom & Papa Ghee! Love you! - I have the best parents in the world!) We're really excited to have room for a dinning room table again so we can have people come over to eat. And we have a big balcony again! Live is good! : )

Here's the new place!

eat drink & be merry

so, as of 3:30pm today, I OFFICALLY DON'T HAVE TO WORK FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS! : ) I'm really excited, because it's my first day off in 2 weeks! That's right kids, working 3 jobs is not as glamorous as it might see at first. However, I have done some graphics for the Creative Group in Dallas, graphics for cRae Designs (my company), graphics and marketing for Milestone (oh yea, I have my old job back.... isn't that sureal?), and my least favorite, working at Chili's (although I've been expoing in the kitchen mostly lately, so that's a nice change from jerk-face customers).

The best part of this weekend is the bday present my husband got me... tickets to DAVE MATTHEWS! : ) I can't wait! It's the same thing I got last year and I'm in much need for some R&R. Carley & Meghan are going, as well as several of my friends. It's crazy the number of people that I have found that have tickets!

We are staying with Andrea & William (who Craig calls the Porno Chef)who are so much fun! I'm really glad that Drea and I have come into touch again (since after HS).

So, I'm off! oh yea, best day of the year is on Monday! It's the day of our Chuck.... Celebrate with style! : )

later, peeps....

WOO HOO!

I OFFICIALLY HAVE MY FIRST JOB OUTSIDE OF COLLEGE! I just got the call awhile ago.... I'm going to be doing graphics for a company on a contract basis that is out of Dallas, and if all goes well I'll have a permenant position! : ) We'll still be in Amarillo for right now, but I'll be able to do this and wait tables at Chili's still.... : ) Thank you to my friends who stuck by me, helped me get contacts, and for their prayers.

Love,

Charli Rae

tis the season

Well, today officially starts my favorite month of the year... AUGUST! And although my hubby tells me I say that too much, I truly do love it that much. Why, you might ask? The day of Chuck occurs every 21st of August, that is since 1981. I always enjoyed starting back to school and seeing all of my friends growing up because we lived in the country and it was hard to be able to see everyone with my mom in school, dad working, and me not able to drive. So August always held lots of new opportunities. Plus, the weather is always nice.

This year it will be different for me because this the first time EVER that I will not be starting school in August, which is going to feel different.

So, here's to growing up....... man, how far we have come!



p.s.... I'm the one on the left...

farm fresh...

Craig and I visited our new neighborhood farmer's market on Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn't get around to getting there before 10am so everyone was almost gone. However, we did purchase some fresh sweet corn (which I miss dearly fresh out of the garden - that and OKRA!) and these beatiful sunflowers! : )






it really brightens up a room while you are surrounded by neatly stacked cardboard boxes...

all my friends drive....

here was a recent find a week or so ago while driving around in town...



maybe we should convert our vehicles to "trucks" to help with our move.... hehe....

treasures are what I shop for!

I LOVE TO THRIFT SHOP! And not just at thrift stores, but at antique stores as well. There is nothing better than finding something for such an amazing price that makes people eww and awww. My most recent trip to my favorite antique store, Ally Cats on 6th street, was my alone time to think and hang out. I had worked for about 7 days straight and was in serious need of some r&r. So while Craig was at work, I took the afternoon to go shopping for treasures. I usually go without any intentions to buy. And trust me, with all of the window shopping I've done, it has really helped me get a good grasp on what is a good price for certain antique items. On this day, I found a window in the frame that was only $8.00! They usually range from about $20-40, depending on shape, size & style. I knew I shouldn't buy it, but by the time I went all the way around the store, upstairs and downstairs, I just had to go back up to where that window was. And it's a good thing that I went back up there, because that is where I found my treasure! : )

I noticed this metal utility cart that I didn't see earlier. There were several around the store, some with handles and some a little larger. I had priced several of those thinking that they would be great in our new house as a temporary place to put he microwave, etc. while we took time to find a baker's rack that we really liked. However, they were all about 25-40 dollars a piece. I took a double take on the price on my treasure because it was only $11.50!!! I almost didn't get it, because I hate buying new stuff that I'm going to just have to pack up and waste more space while we are in the moving process. I decided to go ahead and buy it. It's a nice lemon yellow color & is also rusted in some spots, which I think gives it lots of character. I want to do a red wash over the yellow so that they yellow will still show through. Later on, I plan to use it on our new porch to put plants on. : )

back to the drawing board

so we found out yesterday that the job that craig was up for, the company decided to wait to fill the position... that is only the 3rd time that that has happened to us! i guess we are kinda back to ground zero again.... we are trying to keep in good spirits! i know wonderful things are going to happen for us, it's just only a matter of time....

here are some pictures of craig & his little cousin, matthew on our most recent trip to dallas... they were racing lawnmowers... i couldn't be prouder!

times are changing...

although i'm really ready to "get the hell out of dodge", i'm really going to miss my family & my friends.... it's going to be really hard not to be around our parents all the time... they are really there for us all of the time and i really appreciate everything they do for us...

as we have started packing, i've started collecting everyone's email, phone, & mailing addresses from people at work... even though i am so ready to get out of there, there are alot of people i will miss dearly... i've worked with many of them for almost 2 1/2 years, can you believe it? : ) i'm also trying to take as many pictures as possible before leave, too... these people make me laugh on a daily basis and make waiting tables as "bearable" as it can be... here are some of the pictures we have taken so far...

one step closer...

Craig and I both had second interviews on Monday (17th) that went very well. We also got calls yesterday that we both are being considered positions... It seems that things are finally looking up for us! We are still trying to remain patient, although at times it is hard when you want something so bad. We have almost all of our apartment packed up and we have sold a couple of furniture items to lighten the moving load. The next month or so are going to be stressful, but I'm really excited to see what is in store for us! : ) We'll kee you posted....

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This one is new for me.... I usually blog on Myspace, but I wanted to branch out and try something new. I also wanted to be able to update friends and family of this going on in our lives... so, here's to trying something new!