Are you stinking kidding me?!?!?!

A tarantula. Kid you not.



Try to tell me this isn't the creepiest thing ever!! We looked out our back door today and this is what we found. I almost fainted. Literally.




I think I'll be checking our sheets for the next 50 years of our life for this nasty thing. I think it may be coming back for revenge after Brad tossed it over the fence though. AAAAHHH. That was our day. Updates soon with Mom and Aunt Vicky's visit. We had such an awesome time!

Ellen came to play!!

This past week El came to hang out with us! We love visitors so much! I think it was the first time in a long while that El and I could just hang out and not worry about any other commitments. We were able to relax and just have some girl time!

We took El all over Austin. We introduced her to Hula Hut, which is my favorite place in Austin. Monday we went down to Driftwood to one of the vineyards. Then we headed out to Mount Bonnell which is always fun. We then rounded out that day with a trip to the Oasis. It was a BEAUTIFUL sunset!

Tuesday we hit up the outlets, which clearly is always a good choice. Then we played some Rock Band and we (as in El and myself) beat Enter Sandman by Metallica on our 2nd attempt! WOOOO! That night we met up some friends from the Stone for some Mighty Fine burgers. I had never had Mighty Fine before, and I couldn't even tell you the last time I had eaten a burger, it was delicious!! That night we spent some time just catching up and chatting.

The last day Brad made us pancakes, and then we headed to the airport! Thanks El for visiting! We loved having you!

Bradison Bean is on the way!!

Last week the ladies hosted a baby shower for our dear friend Amy. We had such a great time and it was so much fun to be part of! Baby Girl Bean should be here sometime in April (if I have my way it will be April 17th afternoon, so I can win the game!) and we're all pretty excited! Below are some pictures from the fun day!

New Kitchen Color!

While Brad has been job hunting I've been putting him to work here at home. We have been wanting to paint the kitchen, and we had picked out some paint, so he was kind enough to finish that for me over the last week. I love it. It's bold (red) and different that I ever would have guessed that I would like, but it turns out we both love it! Here are some after pictures!

Coming soon.. Baby Bean Baby Shower pictures and El's visit! Hope you have a fantastic week!

Oh Changes...

So, I have not forgotten that we have a blog...just been a busy little bee lately. However, these pictures below are a bit priceless from some fun time with the Mullins and Aaron's parents a couple weeks ago. We introduced them to Rock Band, and it was both amazingly entertaining and awsome all at the same time! Truly, we love thsi game!

I give you this video because Shauna and I have suffered through Brad and Aaron playing this song for weeks, and never passing it. FINALLY, they were sucessful with no fails! It truly was a day of victory!


On to some news in Allison Land. We've had some changes lately. For those of you who have not heard, Brad has lost his job at Samsung. Though, initaially this was incredibly scary and discouraging we have really come to a peace about the whole situation. We feel that our Lord is so much bigger than losing a job, and He has proven His faithfulness every step of the way of our lives, so we're trusting that this is a part of His plan.
It's hard to watch Brad lose his job after knowing how hard he worked at Samsung, but one thing that has been awesome for me is to watch him lean on God in such a tough situation. He is peaceful and patient, even in the moments when I am frustrated for him. It's been amazing. Not to mention, we get to eat dinner together EVERY NIGHT which is a first for our marriage. So, though it's sad, and he really misses his coworkers, and he is without a job, we're so blessed and thankful for that.
As for what's next, we're still unclear. Thankfully, my job is going really well right now. One huge blessing is that since I've been on day shift I truly look forward to going to work. I really miss my night shift friends, but I enjoy the work more during the day. It's a great thing since some overtime may be in the future. See how God answers prayers?! For Brad in the job department he has started applying this week and we're just praying that we'll be granted some discernment and guidance over where we're headed. At this time, we feel like we are meant to be here in Austin, but praying over that. We'll just see what happens.
As for other news, Nearly/Newly starts up this week and we are PUMPED!! We have some new leader couples and they seem just awesome, we're so excited to get to know the new couples in our group and the others we'll be leading with. Valentine's Day was great..Brad brought chocolate covered strawberries that he made to me and my coworkers on Saturday and then we had an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G steak dinner with the Mullins that night. It was a fantastic day! Anyways..that's about all I have for now. I realized it had been almost a month since I had updated and felt it was time. Hope you all have had a fantastic week!

Birthday Man!

My dear husband ages another year tomorrow...entering the world of 26. He's just so ancient. The theme for the week is All Brad All Week...so we've spent the weekend just hanging out and relaxing and tonight is our birthday date night. I'm pretty pumped because it's a surprise for him what we'll be doing. He's always being so sweet to me, so I'm excited to surprise him! We'll update that later after he knows where we're headed.

As for new news in the new year...
Starting one week from Thursday, I am officially a day shift nurse. While I am having torn feelings regarding this, I'm REALLY excited to get started and see how it goes. My hope is to finally prepare myself and then get to the CCU maybe in the next year. I really like what I do, day shift is just different than nights, so hopefully the transition will be smooth. Brad is still going to be on a night shift, but we will continue to have three days off together each week, so we'll make it work!

Other than that, we were given a Wii for Christmas from my family, and it's become our favorite toy. Our weakness is Rock Band which we purchased from Lisa and Matt, and it's slightly addicting. By slightly, I mean entirely. I love it. Brad loves it. It's more of that competition we like. We put it away through the week so we're not tempted to play too often, but come the weekends, Rock Band tends to find it's way back to the living room. It's a sickness, but we love it.

I'm a knitting fool, thank you to Amy Bean, and can't be stopped on my days off. Though, I'm currently stuck on a project and frustrated with that. No worries though, it's all in fun.

Life is just great down here. Had a fantastic Christmas break, a fantastic New Year's, work has been nice for both of us, Nearly/Newly is getting ready to start up again, and we've had lots of time to spend with friends. We're truly very blessed. Now, if only we could meet that niece of ours. That's about all for now. Have a great week!

My Heart

Ok, so usually I'm not one to post lyrics. I also don't like to share all my feelings out here, but tonight, and Sunday, I heard this song and it just gets me every single time. I think so often I fall short of His will in my complacency towards what breaks my Father's heart. Worshiping our God with these words, it makes me remember what my prayers should be so, I thought I would share.

I see the king of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

Hope you have a great week!