Wicked!

So last night we went to see Wicked with some of my coworkers. It was FANTASTIC! We (I) have been wanting to see this since college, like junior year. I know that maybe that does not seem like such a long time - but three almost four years! Whoa! So you can imagine, when the tickets came up at a decent price, I JUMPED at the opportunity! In Chicago, at least the sites I looked on, those tickets cost $100-200 and when you're in college, you know, you're broke. Brad wasn't super pleased with me when I told him I intended to buy the tickets...he told me I'm not easy to surprise since he planned on buying tickets for me. Whoops.

Anyways- it was great! We had such a good time! It's funny, cute, sad, lovey-dovey. All the good stuff. I must say I thought the costumes were so pretty too. Last night the understudy played Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, and in NO WAY could you tell she was an understudy. She was amazing. The woman who played Glenda was hilarious. As a sidenote - she had also played Sharpay in the national tour of High School Musical...and not to say I follow that sort of thing (though I have been known to be a fan) I could totally see her in that role!

ALSO - for those of you in Austin. If you're interested in going, and you don't have a ticket - they have a raffle before every production for $25 Orchestra section seats. Those are good seats! You have to put your name in 2 hours before the show, and then they do a raffle. I mean, that's a good deal! Go for it, that's all I'm saying.

In other news...the garage is officially organized! My next project that I started today was the closet. I definitely had let this get a little out of hand. I apologize deeply to my mother after her perfect organization when she was here...it went a little by the wayside. Anyways, I'm organizing and trying to get rid of clothes that my sweet husband doens't wear anymore. I had to stop in the middle, I got a little discouraged. This will be my last project of the week. Seriously.

Also - we are Indiana bound in 3 days!! Yay!

Organization

I get a thrill out of organized things.

Seriously, a thrill. Like it makes my heart beat faster.

This BY NO MEANS is meant to imply that I am all that organized. Because, truly...I'm not. I also like to read and be in the sun...which slightly hinder the organization process.

Anyways, I woke up today determined to get some things done today. We're going to paint a little this week, and since I'm pretty much worthless in that department, I thought I would rock it out in my department.

So, halfway through laundry and dishes, I decided it was time to organize our pantry. It had gotten a little out of hand. If asked, my mom could definitely vouch for the fact that closets have always been my little devil area. I fold things sometimes because I'm too lazy to get a hanger. This would work if the stacks weren't out of control. Our pantry had become my own little closet. Not for clothes, obviously, but it was the catch all. Cleaning supplies, sliding pads to make moving furniture easier, cookbooks, light bulbs, a roadside tool kit (in the house?), and then all our food. I probably only spent 30 minutes total...but it looks AWESOME! Things are where they belong. I had to just stand and smile at it for a minute. I love it.

I got the same sense of satisfaction when we moved into the apartment and I had our guest closet organized perfectly!

So now I'm on my way out to organize the garage...in the 100 degree weather. Sad the lengths for such a silly pleasure. Oh well! It's a day off and I LOVE a clean house!

The countdown is on until we head up to Indiana for a whole week! 5 Days and we will arrive!! WOOOOOOOOO! We're so excited!

Hope you have a great week!

Weekends!

I have come to truly appreciate the weekends. I LOVE my job. I really do. Ask anyone who knows me, they know I love it. Good gracious though, at the end of the week, I'm exhausted. I don't say this to whine, like my job is any harder than others, because it's not. Just to say that seriously, it wears me out. All this to say, when Friday night comes I am PUMPED!!

This weekend was great. Had a birthday party of Friday night for one of my favorite doctors. I don't spend a lot of time outside of work with my coworkers, and I really enjoyed it. Saturday I announced to Brad my only plans for the day included the pool. That was it, and you better believe I did it. Shauna and I spent some quality time sunning ourselves down at the pool, and it was quite enjoyable. Grilled out with the Mullins and Chuck and Jen last night enjoying the gorgeous weather! Today time at the Stone serving with the kiddos in Kidstuff, out to lunch, clean cars, and a sparkling clean bathroom. Laundry to do, ending with Fro Yo. It's a stinking good day!

Brad was a little upset that Taco Deli didn't make my list of favorite things here in Austin. So here I am to update that we love Taco Deli. (I didn't feel that one meal qualified it as a favorite, but round two was equally as delicious so it's been officially added.)

Two more weeks of work and then we're headed home to Indiana for some quality time with friends and family! El and Ryan are getting married, and we can't wait to celebrate their day with them!

Question of the day: Anyone have any tips for getting the grossness off the shower door? Like hard water build up? But we have soft water...I am almost embarrassed to ask that question, but there has to be a way. I can't stand anything not being clean, and that shower is just kicking my caboose. I did use the magic eraser today (thank you Mom) and that worked really well. That may be my new solution.

Have to go..I see a sneaky spider trying to crawl across the floor.

P.S. Please don't judge..our house is clean. We live by a quarry - thus the weird intruders. Thanks to the Dunns though we purchased some hardcore bug killer, and this is the first spider in months! Have a great week!

My Favorite Thing about Austin:

The Austin Stone Community Church and the amazing people we have met through it.

Let me explain. Growing up going to Kossuth, I truly appreciated having a church family. I love so much about that church and the teaching there and the amazing families there. I love that that is where I grew up learning about the Lord. Then in college I found River Valley, which was amazing for when I was away from home. So basically, I was a little spoiled.

Needless to say, I was NOT excited about having to find a new church home when we moved here. I was scared and nervous and skeptical. Yes I, Rachael Allison, was skeptical. Brad had been going to the Stone since the first week he was in Austin, and I said "We're going to have to try a few different churches, we can't just go to the first one we try."

Yea right. We walked into that church two weeks from our wedding day and have not stepped foot out of it. The day we arrived back from our honeymoon, these people we cherish so much met us for dinner and made me feel so welcomed. Not to mention the few times we had been here before we moved, and the dinners/lunches/introductions that had already happened. I can't explain the way the Lord paved the way for these friendships, but I am so grateful.

Not to mention, the teaching at the Stone. We are daily challenged to grow in our walk with the Lord. This church preaches the Gospel! I am so thankful. It's definitely a little different than Kossuth, but just as Bible based, and that makes me happy! I always worried we wouldn't find one with the people like Kossuth had.

Every week, we spend time with friends and we are so thankful for the blessings they are to us. We are so far from family, and that's so tough, but these people have become our family, and they're AWESOME!

I thought of this today because last night was First Tuesday Prayer. The church has a prayer service each month, and I couldn't go last night because I was working late. I was pretty bummed about it, but after it was over Brad promised me we could meet for some frozen yogurt. Some friends came too, and it was nothing out of the ordinary, just a night out enjoying the beauty of Fro Yo. After we went home though, I just thought it was just the perfect ending to a long day. Ending with friends that you can really just laugh with and walk through life with. I love it.

So that's it, I love our life here in Austin. I love these people that we do life with.

Summertime!

I have no idea where this summer has gone. I remember college, and 3 months of summer, and how awesome and long that seemed. Now, I feel like yesterday was May...and now it's August? What on earth? I keep thinking...when summer comes life will settle down..clearly I missed that train. Summer has almost passed, and life is still crazy. Not complaining, just stating.

So...summer is almost over, but it was fantastic!

Coming up with some big things!!
Ellen and Ryan's wedding! We're so excited for this!
Disney Cruise with Carl and Rosemary! We're pumped for this too!
Possible visit from Dad to Texas!

AND...our 2nd anniversary! Goodness gracious, we were sitting today and talking and realized that we're literally a month away from being married 2 years.
I'd have to say ..year 2 has been crazy and perfect. So we're pumped to celebrate that!

Other than that...we have discovered a few new favorite things in Austin.
1. PETER PAN MINI-GOLF. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I have to thank Bradley and Uncle Bob for choosing this place to putt-putt when they were here. It's my new favorite place.
2. Frozen Yogurt. Affectionately known to us and the Mullins as Fro-Yo. Nothing like it. It's perfection in a cup. I love it. We literally at least once a week crave this. We even had some with John out in D.C.!
3. Chedd's - Gourmet Grilled Cheese. This is a new favorite for me, Brad has not experienced it yet. It's a shop completely dedicated to fun cheeses...I mean, obviously it's phenomenal.

That's all for now. Have a great night!