So Proud!

Many of you reading my blog have been done with school for some time. I mean in just a couple days it will have been TWO years since I graduated from A&M (and a year since Taylor did) - so I've been out a little while, but I still remember how good it feels to be done with finals and have a break!

With that being said I want to say Congratulations to some of my good friends who are done with yet another semester of school!

Whoop for Ryan!!! You are done TODAY!!! And now you just have EIGHT months until you graduate!!!!!! You can't really be that old..surely not!

Go Jacklyn Go!!! You are SUPER close to being done with college all together & back to living in D-town and living the dream!

BALLA!!! You are SOOO close!!! One more semester!!! I know you have got to be excited to start the real world, but I know how much you are going to miss ou & ou football...but don't worry - it is ALWAYS on TV! ;)

Grace - you genius!!! One semester of law school down - fi...five to go? I know that doesn't sound like fun now, but hey, you are 1/6 done!!!! WHOOP! Or can we say whoop - not sure they allow that in austin... ;)

Megan!!!! YOU ARE HALFWAY DONE WITH PT SCHOOL!!! That is so awesome! Before you know it you will be fixing & rehabilitating people left & right!

& my sweet husband, Taylor! You are done tomorrow - but I am already so proud! One semester down for your Masters & only three more to go! Thesis research, here we come!

I know I have other friends who are still in school and WHOOP for being done with another semester! And like I always say (well to my undergrad friends, because I have NO idea how hard anything after that is) but ENJOY it!!! I know everybody says, "Oh I can't wait to graduate", but seriously, enjoy your time in college before you have to sit in a office for eight hours a day...haha. Or before you have to go to some sort of grad school and be super busy with LOTS of studying and tests and practicals and papers and experiments and theses and everything else that goes along with it. Hmmm this office isn't looking too bad now. ;)

CONGRATS again to everybody who is done!!!!! I am so blessed to have so many intelligent friends! I hope all enjoy your Christmas holiday and break!

Love you all!!!
-Kauffman Krew
**I would like to note that certain words that should be capitalized are not, if you know me, you understand why. If you don't, please know that I know proper grammar, but being the brainwashed Aggie that I am, I cannot capitalize anything that has to do with any school that we play (or used to in this case) and that is why they are not capitalized. :)

Christmas Shopping

This past weekend, Taylor & I did ALL of our Christmas shopping. It was pretty impressive if I do say so myself. We had a list of the stores we needed to go to, with the list of gifts and who they were for. We set out around lunch, and were done by 6! Yes...I know that sounds like a long time, but we were driving in between and like I said, we had lunch! Ha.

I'm not sure I have ever felt so efficient in my life. Well...maybe at some point in college. Some of my good friends used to say "efficiency, efficiency, efficiency"- mainly during yell leader campaign season, but there were other times...setting up for weddings, cleaning for a party, decorating for a shower...the usual. :) But back to shopping - we were efficient for sure! We mapped it out, went to each store, picked up what we needed and we were out. Well that was mostly the way it went, until the mall - we all know how easily it is to become distracted there!

I love Christmas shopping. I love the planning and figuring out what presents to give people. It is so fun to think about what exactly to get each person. I always sit down and write out what people are interested in. I also write down anything that I remember that they have had an interest in or have mentioned that they have wanted. If I can afford it, that is the easiest choice. I also like to make presents, or in some way put a personal touch on them. I always want to make sure they will like their present and will be able to use it more than once. Unless it is food of course - but I can't really recall a time I bought food as a present. Well, except for my Uncle Jimmie who LOVES anything chocolate & peanut butter - he almost always gets some form of Reece's. Ha. Needless to say, I like to put a lot of thought into people's gifts, because it makes me so happy when somebody opens a gift and loves it. I sure hope we did a good job this year, I mean I think we did, but I'm somewhat partial.

I still have shopping to do for Taylor, but it is hard to shop for somebody when they are helping you do the shopping, but I'll get that taken care of this weekend! On Sunday, I wrapped all the presents, and put them under our tree - it looks like a REAL CHRISTMAS TREE! And by real I mean, just all lit up, decorated and with wrapped presents underneath. In collge we always had some kind of tree up, almost every year it was my small pink one, but it never really had presents underneath it. I just love it! I will have to take pictures and be sure to upload them to the blog. I have been so bad about adding pictures...it is because I write most of my posts during my downtime at work, and I can't really upload pictures here, but I will try harder to do so.

So even through those couple of rants, this was just to say that we completed our Christmas shopping with sucess and we cannot wait to give everybody their presents!!! We start our Christmas travels in less than two weeks & we really are so ready!!! We get to see two of our families, go to a wedding, and see lots of our friends over the break - life is good!!! I hope you all are just about done with Christmas shopping and have loved every second of it! Hopefully we will see YOU soon!

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

Thanksgiving 2011

I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!! I really do. Come to think of it...I don't know many people who don't love Thanksgiving. If you don't love it then you should come celebrate Thanksgiving with one of our families. Taylor & I are so blessed to have FOUR families! Well more than that really, but a "core four" as we like to call it. :)

This Thanksgiving we spent the Thanksgiving holiday with two of our four families. It is easier that way for sure! On us, our cars and our gas bill... ;) Haha.

We started the break off at my parents, Pop & Mrs. B! We went to the ranch in Bellville. Taylor & I were really looking forward to getting to go to the ranch and just take a break. It is always so relaxing at the ranch. There isn't any internet, the cell service is so-so, and it is not anywhere near the city - so needless to say, it is a WONDERFUL break! We love being able to just be with each other and family out there. No interruptions, just each other. We got to the ranch around 3:30 on Thanksgiving day. We road around the ranch, (one of my favorite things to do) just to see everything. We saw the new creatures at the ranch, rams! Then we warmed up eating some delicious tortilla soup that Mrs. B made. Then we settled in for the evening in front of the television and the game...

As everybody should know, this was a pretty big game. I have a lot of thoughts & feelings about it, but overall, just disappointed. I love my Aggies & I sure do love when they win. BUT like I tell Taylor all the time (mainly Sunday or Monday nights when Fantasy Football isn't going his way) it is just a game... and it really is. Not to get too deep, but in the grand scheme of everything, its just football. :) And sure it would have been GREAT to end the season with a win (we do still have a chance at the car care bowl...) and to "end the series" with tu with a win, but we didn't. Yes I put "end the series" in parenthesis...we all know that eventually all those money bags out there will realize the amount of money they could make off the two teams playing again, and then we will play. And as nice as it would have been to win...it wouldn't have REALLY given us bragging rights. You know those t-sips. They would still throw it in our faces that they have the winning record. Sorry for the tangent...like I said, lots of thoughts and feelings.

The game was an exciting time though. Mrs. B & I were up and walking around, we couldn't sit down. I think we both jumped pretty high when we scored that last touchdown, and then we both went to bed bummed after that darn field goal. But like I said, it was fun nonetheless!

Friday, Kelly & Shannon, and Connor & Kyle came out to the ranch. We had our Thanksgiving lunch and it was delicious!!! Turkey, sweet potatoes, some of the best cornbread stuffing I have ever had, cranberry sauce, rolls, and some great vegetables! After lunch I went for a ride with Connor in his red gator...but it isn't really a gator..it is more of a go-kart, but not really...don't ask me. It was very fun! Kyle was worried that Connor would try to scare me (don't know where he would get an idea like that), but he didn't! Connor was a great driver! Then just about everybody went fishing. I passed at first, but then Kyle talked me into it. He & I went down to the bass tank and watched for a little while. Taylor needed to go and help Connor get a fish off of his hook so he asked me to hold his fishing pole. I decided...meh...might as well cast this thing, and wouldn't you know it? I CAUGHT SOMETHING! Ha. I didn't take it off the hook or touch it or anything, but I caught it! After one fish, that was enough for myself & Kyle!

That night we ate the rest of the Thanksgiving feast (no leftovers!! yay!! Well I think there might have been a little turkey left). Then Taylor & I headed to Sugarland to see his mom's side of the family.

We went to Meme's that night and hung out with Meme, Sherrill, Mike & Madeline. We finished the day off with some of Meme's peppermint ice cream, that was pretty good! Then Taylor, Madeline & myself headed over to Taylor's aunt & uncle's house (Brian & Ashley). They weren't home, but they let us stay there that night. We had such a blast with Madeline! We played Just Dance 3 on the Wii...don't tell Taylor I told you! Haha! He was awesome, but not as good as Madeline, she was kicking out rears!!! We really had a great time, but it was wearing us old folks out, so we suggested we do something that took a little less effort for the rest of the evening. So we watched a movie, Aladdin. Well we watched most of it. We all kept dozing off mid movie so we called it a night.

Saturday we woke up and went and got donuts at Shipleys!! There isn't a Shipleys in Mobile (or Alabama for that case) so we were pretty excited to have Shipleys! We took the donuts to Meme's and we all ate donuts and chatted over breakfast. Pretty soon we headed back to Brian & Ashley's to finish Aladdin. Then we decided (since it was pretty cold and misty outside) we would watch onnnnne more! So we watched The Little Mermaid, a favorite for sure! Pretty soon it was time for lunch so we grabbed lunch and headed back to Meme's. We really have such a good time at Meme's just getting to sit around and chat with everybody. Once Brian & Ashley & crew got back into town we headed back over there to watch the Alabama/Auburn game. Taylor's Aunt Ashley went to Alabama, and now we live here, so it was a fun game to watch! For the halftime show, Kaite, Mason, younger Taylor, Madeline & myself played some Just Dance 3 some more. I was no match for the 4 of them, they are SO good! But it was still fun! The rest of the evening was just playing Wii, and with the cousins and hanging out with the family. Just some good family & relaxation.

On Sunday we hung out with the family some more, Taylor Kauffman, younger Taylor, Mason & Kaite played Mario Brothers on Wii until we left and headed for Lafayette. Sherrill & Madeline road back with us, it really is a great idea since we drive right through Lafayette on our way to Mobile. We stopped and had Cracker Barrel, a favorite for Taylor & myself. The traffic wasn't too bad from Houston to Lafayette so we made it to Lafayette around 5 . We didn't stay in Lafayette for long, we heard the traffic was going to be the worst on Sunday from 6 pm - midnight so we knew we better get on the road.

This is when it really got fun. Between Lafayette & Baton Rouge there is a bridge that is 26 miles long, I think it is called the Basin bridge. Needless to say, it took us TWO HOURS to get over it...we still aren't sure what the hold up was. We saw a couple wrecks, but they were completely off the road, so who knows! We ended up getting home around 11. So the trip that normally takes us a max of 4 hours...took 6! It was ok though! We are used to getting home MUCH later than that, and we love getting to spend that time together.

To summarize everything, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving break! We really are so blessed to have so much family and we are so glad we got to spend it with two of the core four! We hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving break as well!!!

Love you all!!!
-Kauffman Krew

A Quarter of a Century OLD???

So this is almost THREE months late, but better late than never! Hope you enjoy!!!

For my 25th birthday I had many wishes. When I first started thinking about what I wanted for my birthday, I realized that they were pretty much all material things. Friends to see, a purse to wear, a dinner to eat, flowers to smell... Then I realized that maybe my wishes should be a little most meaningful than that. I mean, I am 25 now - that's practically an adult right? So I started a new list. I wished that the wild fires in Texas would be put out - and to my knowledge they are all under control - WHOOP! I wished that my loved ones would live forever - yes I know, this does seem like a wish a child would wish for, but I won't ever give up on that. And I wished that my husband would be pleased with himself and to know that he did an amazing job planning my perfect 25th birthday.

And it was the perfect weekend. I didn't get the things I wished for initially but like I said, the wildfires are under control, I'll always wish that my loved ones would live forever and my husband did an amazing job that I'm still making sure he knows about. I received many gifts from friends and family - and cards to go along with them.

Side note: I haven't really written about this, but I have a new found love for writing. Not typing, but really writing. I have always loved talking - which to mean translates fine into my love for writing. When I write, I'm talking. But what I mean now when I say writing is really writing. Taylor & I were blessed with many shower & wedding gifts, which gave us the opportunity to write many thank you notes. It was while writing the thank you notes, and even more when I realized we were finished writing them, that I realized - I love writing. Pen to paper, and then putting a stamp on it and mailing it. And then knowing that somebody would get to go to their mailbox, and have mail! I know how much I love it when we have mail. I think between Taylor & myself we check the mail at least 4 times a day. So point of this saying, I LOVED getting those cards with sweet messages in them and loved being able to reply to them.

Back to the birthday update. I loved all of the gifts and cards that I received! ! I also loved all the phone calls that I got on Sunday. One of my very dear friends, Ryan called and woke me up with a sweet birthday call. It started the day off wonderfully. She also sent me a text message right at midnight on my birthday telling me Happy Birthday. She is quite the overachiever. :)

Taylor made me breakfast both mornings and it was delicious. He actually made dinner all birthday week and it was never a disappointment. He is an outstanding cook. It was a nice break from cooking. We normally cook together or I'll cook before he gets home. But not my birthday week - I was to relax and just wait for dinner to be served. As my presents Taylor got me an iPod shuffle. I have wanted one for a couple years actually and my last birthday Taylor gave me his old one - but it was broken ha. So this year he got me a new & working one! He also bought me (really it is for us because we both love Disney!) The Toy Story 3 pack! Yes, that's right Toy Story, Toy Story 2 & Toy Story 3 - all in one! Needless to say we couldn't resist but watch them. So Sunday afternoon/evening we watched the Toy Story trio and loved every second of it. He also took me to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday dinner! It was so nice to have a touch of home for a little while. Afterwards we went to a little dessert cafe that Taylor discovered and had cupcakes! Red Velvet, Wedding Cake & OF COURSE - Birthday cake! They were amazing!

Overall my birthday was wonderful, very relaxing - and definitely different than years before. It reminded me a lot of my birthday my freshman year in college. Because my birthday is in September - so soon after school starts, if I am in a new place/new school I don't have a ton of friends to celebrate with quite yet. That is how it was my freshmen year. My good friend, Jeff, planned a little get together, invited a lot of Aggies for Christ people (most that didn't even know me yet) and we had cookie cake & ice cream. It was chill, laid back, and a good time. Just like now, Taylor & I don't know a whole lot of people so there wasn't a big group dinner, or going out dancing  - just a sweet weekend with the two of us. I'd say it was the perfect first married birthday! I can't wait celebrate many more with Taylor!

Love you all!

Kauffman Krew

Slackerrrrrr

Yep - that's me! A slacker! At least with the blog I have been! I can't believe how long its been since I posted. I am going to blame it on all the traveling we have done. We went to Nashville, College Station & Houston all in the month of November. So even though that was really only the weekend...you all know what its like to recover from long road trips, so that is my excuse!

With that being said, I have not only been busy traveling, we've been busy with fun Christmas festivities, like Christmas shopping! And ordering those Christmas cards I was telling everybody about! *Which I CANNOT wait to send out!!!*

I will be posting some old posts that I have been meaning to posts for MONTHS, so start looking out for them! I will also be posting about our last couple weekends of traveling - it has been amazing! I can't wait to share all the love and excitement we have experienced this month. There is no doubt we have a TON to be thankful for!

Thank y'all again for reading our blog, it truly does make me happy.

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

Christmas Cards

To say that I have been looking forward to making our Christmas cards would be an understatement...a very, very BIG understatement.

Since before I can remember I have thought about my Christmas cards that I would send out with my someday husband and family, and now that time is here! Whoop!

So this is just a short post to tell you all how excited I am about the Christmas cards, that I am currently working on them, that I CANNOT pick just one because they are ALL so cute, and that you should get really excited about receiving one this Christmas!

Well that's about it! Hope you're as excited about Christmas cards as I am!!!

Love you all!!!
-Kauffman Krew

Pinterest!!!!

Ok so if you know me, you more than likely know how ANTI-bandwagon I am...or I was anyway. Since getting married, I've realized that I have jumped on a lot of other bandwagons that I didn't even realize.

1. Getting married - ha, ok so maybe not really a bandwagon, but still, it is something that most girls want at our age.
2. Facebook - EVEN THOUGH I can say that I joined when it was super new, I mean I was on it when you had to have a college email address to be on it.
3. Grey's Anatomy - Again, I was watching this show from the beginning of Season 2, and I didn't even know it existed Season 1, so its kind of NOT a bandwagon for me...but we'll just say for the sake of this post, it is.

*Note - I do consider the fact that if you are on a bandwagon from its origin, then its not really you bandwagoning, because you helped create the actual bandwagon. Example, me with Facebook & Grey's OR somebody who has been reading Harry Potter since the first book came out and read it before the 2nd one came out and it took over bookshelves...see my point?*

With that being said, I can say that being an Aggie, Christian, Spurs fan, & Cowboy fan is not any bandwagon to me. I've been an Aggie from the moment I knew Aggies existed (freshman year of high school) and have stuck by them through the good, the bad and the very ugly (like some of our football games this year). I've been a Christian for as long as I knew there was a God that loved me and wanted the best for me (approx age 5 :) ) I've been a Spurs' fan since I knew there was another team in the NBA besides the Chicago Bulls haha. And I have been with them with their Championships and their very disappointing early exits in the playoffs. AND I have been a Cowboy's fan since I can remember, or should I say since I could hear my Grandmother yelling for/at them. :)

But now onto the things that I have started to bandwagon on -
1. A blog, but lets be real, we are all so glad that I did! What better way to keep everyone informed on our lives alllllllll the way over here in Alabama!
2. Twitter - yes that's right, I started a Twitter. I don't tweet a lot, mainly because one of my friends (you know who you are) is an excellent tweeter, and I feel like I have a lot to live up to, and I feel like if you are going to tweet something, it better be A. good, B. witty C. make somebody at least smile!
3. and finally - Pinterest. I had heard about Pinterest this summer, but it just sounded like another bandwagon that would fade away...boy was I wrong. So a couple weeks ago, I decided to click on a link that somebody had pinned on Facebook. It was just a funny little saying about Adult Truths. Here is it below:

Hilarious, right???

Now after reading that, you would be intrigued as well, right? You want to know what other funny things you can find on this Pinterest. Well boy oh boy. Once I got started, I couldn't stop. Well I tried just saving all of the websites that I found for all the delicious recipes, but then Taylor told me to just cave and sign up for it. So I did, with some help from my friend Ryan. She invited me and there is was. A world full of great recipes, decorations, DIY crafts...just pure awesomeness. And from that moment I have been pinning like crazy. It isn't hard, I think just about anybody could do it. So that is why I am telling you, YOU SHOULD DO IT! If you want to sign up, let me know. I will send you an invite. You don't have to be sent an invite to sign up, but if you just try to sign up yourself, they put you on a waiting list...no seriously, they do. So just let me know. Whether you're young, old, male, female, you'll find something that you love. I have quite a few pins...270 as of right now. If you want to just check out Pinterest without signing up, you can! Just go to:

http://www.pinterest.com/

If you want to check out MY Pinterest, then just go to: http://pinterest.com/paigekauffman09/

I have boards for meals, baked goods, dream home, crafts, style, even a Christmas wish list!

I hope that you at least just check it out! And like I said, if you want to join LET ME KNOW! I know some bakers and cooks that would love this! And some fashionistas & crafters that would also!

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

*I was going to say this was really just a post from me, but Taylor will tell you that he has benefited from Pinterest as well! LOTS of great dinners of ours have come from it, and many more will as well!*
Including these "nuggets of joy" that Taylor likes to call them. They are pepperoni bites!

If you would like the recipe, just check out my Pinterest!

Exciting News!!!

So like I said in my last post, we have some exciting news! We think we found a home church!!!!

Taylor & I have been visiting churches since we got married. We haven't had a lot of luck in finding a church that we wanted to call home. Don't get me wrong, we have visited some really great churches, just none that felt quite as welcoming and right as the church we visited on Sunday.

It is Port City Church of Christ, and it is about 15 minutes from our apartment. The regular Sunday morning attendance is about 200, so it isn't huge but it isn't tiny. I think just about every person there at least said hello to us on Sunday, and many came to introduce themselves and get to know us. It was amazing.

The preacher there is very energetic and is really excited about what he is teaching. Taylor & I joked to each other that he had a few too many Mountain Dews that morning, but it really was encouraging to see. He was energetic from the first words he preached to the last. He definitely kept us intrigued and we really enjoyed his lesson.

We did see a lot of younger couples, so that was encouraging as well. We are going to go back next Sunday when we're in town again. Our hope is that the more we go, the more people we'll meet and the more involved we can become. There seem to be a lot of ways to get involved, and a lot with the youth, so I am very excited about that!

This is just a little update letting you all know the good news! Please continue to pray for us and pray that we have found our home church where we can plant our roots and grow.

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

Happy November!!!

It is November! WHOOP! That means MANY things!

It means the weather is cooler, and it just might stay that way!
It means college football is getting really good (well for most schools anyway).
It means we have a good excuse to eat warm soups & chili.
It means we get to GO BACK TO TEXAS!!! (Just for Thanksgiving)
It means we get to see our families! Well 3 out of 4 anyway!

So needless to say, we are pretty excited! I know I've been absent from the blog for a couple weeks, but I'm back and ready to go! I have lots to tell everybody! I still need to post about the wedding we went to in San Antonio, our Halloween, and some other exciting news (no we aren't pregnant haha).

Here is what our November looks like SO FAR!
This weekend - Taylor & I are headed to Nashville Tennessee on Thursday afternoon. We will be there all weekend for Taylor's cousin's wedding & all of its festivities. We are very excited about getting to spend a weekend out of Mobile and with family.
November 11-13 - Nothing too exciting planned, but we are still looking forward to it
November 18-20 - My friend from work is going to have a baby in late November/early December so they are having a little shower for her that I get to go to! Very exciting!
November 24-27- THANKSGIVING!!!! One of my favorite holidays - and yes I love all holidays and I have a hard time ranking them, but it is tied with the 4th of July for 2nd. (My birthday is first for any of you not sure haha)

For Thanksgiving this year we are going to Texas!!! We might even be in Louisana as well! We will spend a couple days with my parents, Pop & Mrs. B and then a couple days with Taylor's mom, Sherrill, his sister, Madeline and their family. That’s why we know for sure we will be in Texas for some of it, and we might be in Louisiana depending on where we spend that time with Taylor's side of the family! We really just cannot wait! Four straight days of family, catching up and DELICIOUS FOOD!!! MY FAVORITE!!! :)

Speaking of food....let’s talk about some of the best Thanksgiving food!
Turkey - duh!!! So good and almost any way that you prepare it, it is fantastic.
Stuffing - makes the turkey even better, but it is not complete without...
Cranberry sauce!!! And I tell you what, I eat that stuff whether it is made from true cranberries, OR straight out of that can with the can rings imprinted into it and all. Yummmm.
Sweet Potatoes - I'm not really picky on how these are prepared either. Of course, I am partial to how I grew up eating them, with marshmallows on top. But I've had them with caramel & pecans as well, and let me tell you, those aren't bad AT ALL! :)
Mashed Potatoes - yes, I know, more starch, but these are soooo good, especially with,
Green beans! - Without bacon of course haha. Just kidding, I eat them however they are prepared as well.
Corn
Carrots (all buttered up)
I think that’s all the vegetables I'm used to. Although I would not be opposed to any other gracing a Thanksgiving table.
CRESCENT ROLLS!! You cannot forget those. They are the perfect last bite to just send that full feeling over the edge. You know what I'm talking about.
Most families serve Ham as well...and that’s fine, but I'll stick with my turkey!
Ok I think that is about it for the main course...I wonder if I forgot anything. I would love to hear about what other dishes you have at your Thanksgiving table!
*Note: when I grow up and I am the one making Thanksgiving dinner, you better believe there will be Mac & Cheese! And lots of it!*

And don't worry, before we go, I won't forget the most important part: DESSERT!
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Well those are my three favorite, although some others that like to make an appearance:
Lemon Meringue Pie
Chocolate Pie
Chocolate Meringue Pie
Cobblers (all and any)
And of course, don't forget that fruit/whip cream salad thing that is on most tables with the main course, I love it, but not sure if it is a side dish or pre dessert. :)

Mmmmm...Aren’t you STARVING for Thanksgiving now??? I know I am!!! Only 23 days away!

Like I said, check back soon because I will have more posts coming very soon.
Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

The Shack

I just read The Shack by WM Paul Young. This is one of the first books I've read all the way through since - I honestly don't know when. I'm not much of a reader, but I really want to start writing, so I figure to become a great writer, I should read what other great writers have written. I have a stack of books that I have been given or have borrowed over the last couple of years, and this was at the top of the pile. I started it on a Monday - just read some while my boss was at lunch and I didn't have anything to do - and Sunday night on the plane back from Atlanta (which was our connecting flight from the wedding in San Antonio) I was finished. Then Taylor took it and started on it. He is only on chapter two now, but he has studying to do as well, he can't devote all his free time to reading like I am able to do. I did want to share some about the book. Don't worry - I won't ruin it. I am not a huge fan of when people tell you parts of a movie, a TV show or a book - no matter what they tell you - it ruins a part of it for you. I say that to reassure you that I will not give anything away.

I would highly recommend this book though. I will say there were parts of it I struggled with. The summary on the back of the book reads: (DO NOT READ if you feel like it might give something away)

Mackenzie Allen Philip's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question: Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

(AND BOY IS THAT LAST LINE TRUE!!!!)

I struggled with this book because there is not really any scripture to back up what is being said in the book. I am sure that if I knew scripture better, and as well as I should for somebody who calls them self a Christian, I wouldn't have been as uneasy about some of the statements in the book. But then it did occur to me that most people who are reading this book probably don't know scripture all that well either. I do not mean to complain about the book at all. I am just saying that I struggled with parts of the book because there was not any scripture to back it up.

The struggling was good for me though. I prayed a lot about what was written and just prayed that it would encourage me to dive into the Word and find the evidence that those statements were true. I can say that this book made me think about loving in a completely new light. I realized that sometimes, the way I treat people that I say I love - isn't always loving. I'm not sure that makes sense - and maybe this is too much information for some of you, but I think that if you were to read the book, you would understand.

I hope that many of you WILL read this book. It is an easy read, although I did have to reread a couple paragraphs, but that is because some parts are very deep. You will more than likely cry AT LEAST one time. I cried multiple times, but that is not a surprise to anybody that knows me. I don't think that it will be hard for anybody to get into either. It isn't a book that starts slow and then speeds up - it is intriguing from the very beginning. I also hope that once you read it, you will let me know and we can discuss what you thought. I am very interested to see what others got out of the book. No matter who you are, what you believe, where you are in life, just give it a try. I can just about guarantee you will find something in this book that will teach you or change a part of your life. Like I said, it taught me a lot about the way I love, and I hope that it is helping me to actively change that.

If you would like to read more about the book you can go to The Shack's website: www.theshackbook.com

I am now reading "Same Kind of Different As Me" by Ron Hall & Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent. I will let you all know how it goes! If you have any suggestions that I should add to my pile, let me know!

Love you all-

Kauffman Krew

Quick Life Update

I just wanted to give everybody a quick update on what is going on with us and what blogs you have to look forward to!

 

This weekend Taylor's dad & stepmom were coming to see us (Tim & Betty), but very sadly, Betty's mom, better known to all as Murkart (I probably did not spell that right, sorry!) passed away on Tuesday night. She went very peacefully. She had a heart attack and then did not wake up. Her viewing will be this Sunday and her funeral will be on Monday. Please keep the Eckharts in your thoughts & prayers. We are sad we won't get to see Tim & Betty, but we know there are many weekends in 2012 that they will be able to come see us! :)

 

We aren't sure what we will do this weekend. We might just print out our WEDDING photos and frame them! We are so excited that they are here! I posted almost all of them on Facebook last night, and they should be up on our photographers website soon so you can look through ALL 1250 of them if you'd like! Ha! I will let you all know once they are on there. You will need a password, but I can give you that in an email, text message or phone call - no big deal at all. I hope that you all have been able to check them out on Facebook. I really do love all of the pictures! Erin did a great job on the photos of just Taylor & I. I know that we will treasure those forever. She also did a great job fitting our whole wedding party (yes there were 26 of us in total) in pictures. I loved the shots she took of us with our friends. I also just love the family pictures. Those will be framed and kept for a lifetime. Everybody looked so wonderful and it is so great to have all the family in one place at one time. I do wish we could have tried to get a picture of all FOUR...well SIX of our familes all together. That might have been a little difficult though. :)

 

My job is going well. My boss resigned last Friday, so this next Friday will be his last day. They are in the process of replacing him, so just be thinking and praying about that. I just hope that they find the right person who loves this job and won't leave as well! My current boss had only been here for 1 year, so like I said, hope they find somebody who enjoys this. Other than that, I am really liking my job. We are still growing our business which means I am growing and learning how to be a saleswoman...it is work for sure. But it is going to be so great to have this experience.

 

Taylor is doing really well in school. He has had some homework due these past two weeks so he has been busy reading a lot and working on that. He has a test next Tuesday! His first grad school test. So even though I just mentioned we would be working on pictures this weekend, I think I will work on pictures and Taylor will be studying. :) Taylor met with his advisor this week and now he is working on coming up with ideas for his Thesis. So crazy that he is already starting to work on that, but Taylor really wants to get his Masters within 2 years, so he is determined. Once he knows what he is going to focus on, I will definitely let you all know! I bet I am going to learn a lot over the next couple of years - and I cannot wait! I love to listen to Taylor talk about his school and his work - he is just so passionate about it all and knows it all so well.

 

Other than that, we are not up to much! In the near future I will be posting about my 25th birthday (yes it was almost a month ago - oops), The Hill Wedding (our friends Stephanie & Preston got married October 8th and we were blessed enough to get to go!) & a book review! I read the book The Shack and I want to make sure EVERYBODY I know, reads it as well. So now you can look forward to little book review on it from yours truly. But don't worry - I will NOT give anything away.

 

Don't forget - we are dying to have visitors so come see us! Even if it is just for the weekend, we would love to see you! Thank you all for reading. I checked my blog stats today and I was so surprised to see how many page views this blog gets each day. It is so encouraging to know that so many read our blog. It really makes writing a little more worth it. Hope you all are having a great week! Check back soon for our new blog posts! & don't forget to pray for Marli Ruth and check out her care pages!

 

Love you all!

-Kauffman Krew

Prayers Please!

Howdy all of our dear readers! I have been meaning to share this story with you all for a while. We all know the power that prayer has, I especially know. Right now is a time that we need many prayers for dear friends of ours. I have known Kevin McDonald since I was in high school. He was on the board for Medina Children's Home while I lived there. I would see Kevin at some of the benefits dinners and while his family was on Medina's campus. While I was in college, I would return to Medina Children's Home with the Aggies for Christ, and during those years Kevin was the CEO of Medina, so again I would get to see him then. As long as I have known the McDonalds they have been servants to Medina Children's Home - which is pretty special if you ask me. After all they have given to me (through giving to Medina), now it is time to try and give back in any way we can. Kevin & his wife had a beautiful baby girl on September 22nd, 2011. A short 5 days later, their sweet baby had brain surgery to remove a brain tumor. Taylor & I have been able to keep up with Marlie Ruth (their sweet baby girl) through her family's care pages. Below you will see his most recent post that I have copied and pasted from those care pages. Below that I have included the link to go to her care pages. You do have to become a member to read their posts, but they don't send you any annoying emails, or any junk - only updates when there are new posts, and I think you can even opt out of those. Whether you decide to keep up with this story or not, I do ask that you pray. Anytime you think about praying, just mention her name, I promise God will know what you are asking for. Thank you again for following our blog, and thank you for reading this post, and thank you in advance for your prayers for Marlie Ruth. She says thank you too!

Post from Care Pages by Kevin McDonald:

What a journey Marlie Ruth has been on since being born just 18 short days ago. She has already undergone several significant medical tests and treatments that are usually only utilized on much older patients. After seeing how happy she is now, it is hard to believe she underwent major brain surgery for over 6 hours when she was only five days old. Marlie Ruth has also spent over two weeks in the NICU at one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country. Now we prayerfully prepare for her to be the youngest chemotherapy patient currently at Texas Children's Hospital.

We have enjoyed spending three wonderful days with Marlie Ruth at the Ronald McDonald House in Houston. While we have been extra-careful to stay away from germs and keep Marlie "quarantined", having time getting to know our beautiful daugher away from the hospital, doctors, monitors and needles has provided much needed joy to our hearts that we will always cherish.

Marlie Ruth is not only beautiful, she is sweet, funny, fiesty and tough. Obviously and thankfully, she takes after her mother. We love her so much and are having so much fun getting to know her better each day. My favorite moments have been when she smiles at me as I sing to her. If you have ever heard me sing, you know that she is either laughing at me or making extraordinary efforts to let her Daddy know how much she loves him despite his inability to carry a tune.

Before being released from the TCH NICU on Friday, Nathalie and I were given a tour of the Texas Children's Cancer Center where Marlie will be receiving her future treatments. The tour was informative, the facility was impressive and we saw the staff that is ready to care for our daughter. Walking through the cancer center, however, made everything about Marlie being a cancer patient even more real and immediate. The tour was a very emotional experience for both Nathalie and me. We continue to request and cherish your prayers that we may have peace, strength and comfort as we continue this difficult journey with our sweet baby girl.

Tomorrow is a BIG DAY for Marlie Ruth. We report to Texas Children's Hospital at 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning so Marlie can be prepared for her 7:30 a.m. surgery to install a central line where her chemo medicines can be administered and blood can be drawn and given. While she is asleep, her doctors will also perform a spinal tap so that her spinal fluid can be tested for malignant cells. Once Marlie Ruth awakes from these procedures, she will be admitted to the oncology floor of Texas Children's Hospital as an in-patient and preparations will begin for her chemotherapy which will begin either late Tuesday afternoon or sometime Wednesday.

We will find out tomorrow how long Marlie Ruth's first round of chemo will last and when we can expect to return home to Kerrville to be with our entire family. We are really missing Maycie and Coleman more every day. We will also find out more about the full plan for Marlie's chemo including how many rounds she will receive and what the planned timeline looks like.

Marlie Ruth and her Mommy and Daddy enjoy hearing from you via messages on the Care Page, cards, emails, etc. We have started a beautiful journal for Marlie Ruth so she can look back and see all the friends she had while she was in the fight of her life as an infant. The doctors, however, have requested that Marlie Ruth not accept visitors while hospitalized for her treatment in order to minimize her exposure to germs that are minor occurrence for most healthy people, but may be life threatening to her while at this time.

Our main prayer is that God prepares us to accept and find glory in His plan for Marlie Ruth, whatever that plan may be. We additionally request specific prayers for Marlie Ruth and her care providers including -

* That Marlie Ruth will tolerate the chemotherapy well and will not significantly suffer from side effects of her treatment.
* That the doctors will select a treatment plan and medicines that will eradicate all malignant cells from our precious baby girl.
* That Marlie Ruth will not have any dangerous infections while her immune system is significantly suppressed.
* That Marlie Ruth will experience complete and total healing and become a healthy and happy child.

P.S. We have some great new photos of Marlie Ruth that I will try to post to the Care Page before we leave for the hospital so be sure to check for them.

And as promised here is the link to get to her Care Pages:

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/MarlieRuthMcDonald/updates/3146281?client_code=default&ipc=mur

You can read all of their posts since they started and you can see pictures of Marlie Ruth in all her preciousness. Thank you again.

Love you all!

-Kauffman Krew

Happy Friday!

Just a short post to say HAPPY FRIDAY!

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! Taylor & I are off to TEXAS tomorrow morning! I can't wait to tell you all ALL about it!

And yes I am posting this at 2:22 PM in the afternoon - my awesome boss let us all go early today! We did not have a thing to do, so he sent us home! Thanks & Gig'em!

Again - HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

October

As I said in the previous post, Taylor & I have some fun weekends ahead of us! We are actually going to some good friends' wedding this weekend in San Antonio. We won't be there for long. I didn't want to take off work so we are flying in Saturday morning (Leaving at 6:00 AM - be praying for Taylor starting now ha) and then flying home on Sunday afternoon. We are just so excited that we are able to go. We will get to see a lot of our Texas A&M friends! Hopefully we'll make it back to Texas again next month and get to spend longer than a day! This will be our first wedding since our own! I am so excited to go to a wedding with my husband and listen to their vows, and see all the traditions that we shared at our wedding!

Our friends who are getting married - Preston & Stephanie
This was taken at the Rebel Ranch Christmas Party 2009!

And then next weekend, we will have our first visitors!!! Taylor's dad, Tim & step-mom, Betty, are coming to visit! They saw our OPEN APARTMENT and jumped right on it! I'm so glad to see that it worked! Hope more will come soon! They are only staying the weekend, but we are so happy to have our first visitors. I hope they don't mind that they are the first, we will get to test out our hospitality tactics on them. But they shouldn't be too worried, I learned from some of the best! (My Grandmother & my Mrs. B).

And then at the end of the month we are going to have a little get together with some of Taylor's work friends at the apartment. Just a little halloween dinner party! I am very excited to find some fun recipes that are Halloween themed. And who knows, by that time we might have even MORE friends to invite! Oh and yes costumes will be a must! These are just a few of our best costumes so far!

And that is about it for October - for now! That means we have one open weekend this month if anybody wants to come see us! And of course we have November & December and then alllll next year!!! So pick your date and come on!

Love AND miss you all!

-Kauffman Krew

Weekend Update!

Well, as usual the fall is here and we are starting to feel busy! We weren't sure that time would ever get here, but we are back to normal ha. Most of you know this summer was a whirlwind for Taylor & I. We had weddings, showers, wedding festivities, etc almost every weekend this summer. We said that after we got home from the honeymoon we didn't want to travel that far again for a very long time, and so far we've stuck to that. The farthest we had gone before this weekend was Gulf Shores (about 1 & 1/2 hour drive - NOT bad compared to our Louisiana, Texas & Arkansas travels). This weekend we went a little further, not much - a full TWO HOUR drive ha. Again, it was so nice to only drive two hours and be at our destination.

Taylor & Madeline

 We went to Taylor's younger sister, Madeline's soccer game. Madeline is really great at soccer and plays on what we call in Texas, a club team. She has played on this team for years, just moved up in age group. That soccer team is full of really great girls and a lot of Madeline's best friends. Taylor & I have met most of those girls a couple times. Two summers ago, most of their team came to A&M's soccer camp so Taylor & I got to go watch them play and then Taylor drove some of them back home on his way to Dauphin Island. They also all came in town for Madeline's birthday last year and went to a soccer game that Taylor & I got to go with them. SO needless to say we get to see familiar faces anytime we get to watch Madeline play.

Madeline & some of her friends at the A&M Soccer game last fall.

 The weather was so perfect. The game was at 5:00 so the sun became tricky at some points (couldn't really see the game on one end of the field, just small figures kicking a ball), but even with the sun out, it felt great out! Madeline played a lot of the game and she even played a new position. *Side Note* Most of you know that I have never played soccer, so I am still learning a LOT about the positions and rules and this thing they call off sides???* Madeline's position that she plays most is a defensive position - I don't know the real term, BUT I do know that she is awesome at! I think that if I played, I would want to play that position. But during the second half, Madeline played forward. And once again, she did GREAT! I forgot my camera at home - of course - but I was able to take a couple with my phone. During the game we sat with Taylor's mom, Sherrill and just caught up.

Only had my iPhone, so this was the best photo I could get.

I must include the ending of the game, it was pretty intense! The Rage was up 2-1 when time ran out, but when time ran out the ref called a foul (? I think you can call those in soccer) and it was in the box from what I was told so the girl that was fouled on their team got to take somewhat of a free kick. I mean she stood right in front of the goal, nobody in front of her but the goalie. So again, from what I'm told, this was a sure thing that they would end the game tied, and nobody wants to tie - they want to WIN! The girl kicked the ball STRAIGHT to the goalie and she blocked it! It was incredible, I couldn't believe it. So the Rage won! The girls were really excited to win, but apparently this was their hardest competition so they were even more excited. They hadn't ever beat this team either, so again, victory was sweet! But The Rage played really well, so I wasn't surprised they got the W. (not so much can be said about my Aggies - which you will see that I am leaving out of this post minus this)

Madeline in action!

Afterwards we went to dinner at Chickfila (YUM) with Madeline and Sherrill. It was so nice to get to sit down and just catch up for a little while. We hadn't seen them since the wedding, so we had lots to talk about. We got to hear about Madeline's birthday (September 24th) and her Homecoming dance that she went to the night before. Madeline still has some soccer games left this fall, so wish her luck with me! Good luck Madeline!

Sunday was a basic Sunday for us. Lots of football of course. Taylor's fantasy team won again so he is now 4-1 (whoop!). We did more decorating and some rearranging of furniture - well I did some decorating and Taylor did the rearranging ha. Sweet husband, I know. We also did our normal Sunday cleaning & laundry. I just love having Sunday afternoons to get that all done. OH I almost forgot to mention our Friday night! We went bowling with FRIENDS! I was so excited! Taylor came home and said that some people from the lab had invited us to go and he asked if I wanted to....I said....ummm YES PLEASE! It was so fun. We bowled three games, of which I did not get last EVER! I actually got 2nd twice and 4th the third game - I was not very good that last game, I blame it on my arm being tired - but that's embarrassing too ha. I know this post has been lengthy but I must mention here that I used to LOVE to bowl. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoy it, but we rarely do it. It is really hard to find a bowling alley that is up to date and not sketch. (this one was sketch BUT it was NO smoking - a miracle!) When I was much younger, my Aunt Leigh worked in a bowling alley and my Aunt Leigh was my best friend, so needless to say, I was at the bowling alley a lot. To be honest, I'm not sure if I bowled as much as I ate the food and watched my Aunt work & bowl, but I loved it. So it was really fun to get to bowl again, and I'm hoping that when my Aunt & her family (The Gibbs Gang) comes to visit we can go again and she can show me a thing or two...or ten ha. Taylor bowled really well, which is no surprise because he good at just about anything he tries. He got 1st all three times, which again I expect, but he wasn't doing so hot the second game so I got my hopes up and thought I could beat him...I didn't. :(

Ok so this post was really long, sorry if took a long time to read, but you should be used to it by now. I LOVE to write and I LOVE details. And I'm hoping that you LOVE to read and you LOVE to know all the details. :)

LOVE you all!

-Kauffman Krew

OPEN HOUSE!!! /Open Apartment!

Taylor & I are so happy to finally say that our apartment is open for business - well for visitors!

We are so ready for any and all family & friends to come see us! We have our rooms set up and we are ready for guests! We have finally figured out our way around town and found some fun spots to go to and to take visitors to. And we are awesome chefs & bakers so we are ready to prepare delicious meals for you too!

We have a couple weddings to go to this semester, but other than those weekends, we are open and free! If you have any weekends that work for you to come see us - just let us know and we'll put you down for a room at the Kauffman's humble abode! :)

We cannot wait to have guests, so really - find a time and come see us!

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

Bragging...

You know how every female in the world says, "I have THE BEST boyfriend/fiance/husband in the whole world!"? And then you smile and think to yourself, "Sure you do, but you haven't met mine?" Well, I'm going to be that female and I'm going to tell you all now that I honestly, truly, 100% have THE BEST husband in the entire world. And you can think what you'd like - but trust me - he is beyond amazing.

I won't put every single thing that he does that makes him amazing, we would be here forever - and then you would never get to read the blog post, because I wouldn't be able to post it, because I would never finish it... you get the point.

During our marriage prep, we were asked questions about each other & our relationship. We were asked separately and then Kelly (our minister) shared many of those answers with us and our loved ones at the ceremony. So as many of you heard during our ceremony I said that one of the things that I love the very most about Taylor is his servant heart. Taylor will do anything in the world for you. He won't do it because he feels obligated, or because he doesn't want to feel bad - he does it because he loves you. He has so much love in his heart that he wants to do everything in the world for everybody. And what does he ask in return? Not a single thing. Maybe a kiss if you're his wife, but anybody else, not a thing! :) I also answered in our questions that I love how loyal he is. Again - it's that part of Taylor's heart that is so full of love that he can't imagine not being there for somebody that needs him. I'm sure I'm going around in circles, but the point of this is to say, that I have found an amazing man and I TRULY am THE LUCKIEST woman in the world and I have married the BEST/MOST AMAZING man in the world.  What a pair eh? Lucky lady & amazing man. Ha - sorry I like to laugh with myself.

The more you read our blog and the more you get to know Taylor, the more you will see just how amazing he is and you will see why I claim to be the luckiest woman and why I can proudly proclaim the truth to be that he is the most amazing man in the world. I don't normally brag, but Taylor has been such an incredible husband to me that I want to just shout it out from the rooftops - and this is the closest I can come. So there it is! I do hope however  that each person that reads this has a love like I have found with Taylor and that each one of you realizes how amazing your spouse/significant other truly is.

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

PS - a few more reasons I'm so in love!

Such a goofball - who can always make me smile!

Do you know anybody else that can pull off a bow tie like that? So cute!

Our Rehearsal Dinner

So many of my friends had told me that one of their favorite parts of the wedding festivities was their rehearsal dinner. Needless to say, I was very excited about ours and could not wait for it to be here!

Loving our rehearsal dinner!

From the very beginning Taylor & I knew we wanted to make sure a couple things were included in/at our dinner.
1. Mexican food
2. As much of our family that could come
3. Our closest friends
4. Slideshow of our lives & relationship
5. & an OPEN MIC!

We were so blessed to have all of these things!

Taylor's mom found a great Mexican restaurant in Sugarland that was a short 20 minute drive from our wedding venue where the rehearsal was. It had a delicious fajita buffet and a great party room. The room was perfect for our large families & wedding party. The room also had a great set up for our slideshow & open mic!

Taylor & his mom, Sherrill

We had SO much family there! It really was incredible. All of our grandparents came, so many aunts & uncles, cousins and lots of parents! We also were so blessed to have a large portion of our wedding party that was able to make it.

With my parents, Pop & Mrs. B!

The slideshow went off without a hitch and then it was time for open mic. It was truly perfect. Some of our best friends got up and said the sweetest things about us, to us, and gave their best wishes. Even some family members had sweet things to say! Taylor's dad wrote us a fairy tale that was super sweet and that we will forever cherish.  I don't have any pictures from the speeches, but believe me they were wonderful! But this is a good time to share the sweetest photo ever of our sweet flower girl, Izzie.

We also had a BEAUTIFUL sign in for the rehearsal. I had wanted to do this for our wedding, but we had far too many guests at the wedding to make it happen, so the rehearsal dinner was the perfect place. Our good friend Natalie (who is a very talented artist & has an Etsy shop - Natty2Shoes), drew this tree and framed it for us as our wedding present. It was one of our favorite gifts without a doubt!

Our awesome sign in tree - now hanging in our home!

 One of Taylor's uncles also made us something! Uncle Chuck makes these for family member's weddings and big events - so it definitely made me feel even more like a part of the family!

A carved watermelon!

And at the end of the night my ladies were still there, being amazing friends and gorgeous as ever! We are so blessed.

Megan, Natalie, Ashley, Ryan, Cali & Lauren - Back Row
Grace, Bayley, Paige (me), Jacklyn, Melissa & Caitlyn - Front Row

Overall, Taylor & I had an incredible time! I do wish we had more pictures, but we were having too much fun to take photos. Good thing we have amazing memories from the night that will last forever. We will never be able to thank our family & friends enough for being there and helping to make the night so perfect. And we will never be able to thank Taylor's parents enough for all the thought and love they put into that night or ever be able to explain just how wonderful that night was. It was a perfect introduction into what an amazing day our wedding would be! We are so blessed!

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

NEW POST!

We're alive! We're alive! I haven't done a great job about keeping up with our blog - sorry about that! I have a lot of new great things to blog about, so be prepared and check back daily!

For now just a quick update!

Work is going well for me. I just started my fourth week of work and I am really starting to do the real job now. There was a lot of training involved & I'm still learning, but now I am doing the staffing position duties. I have been assigned three different positions to fill, and it has been fun finding new people! I also have been assigned finding more business for our staffing company in the specialty of call centers! My last job I kind of "specialized"/all I staffed was a call center, so we are all hoping with my knowledge of call centers will help me grow our business in that field - wish me luck!

School is going well for Taylor. He is really starting to get into the real meat of the courses. He is not really liking the studying part (he did have a whole semester off, just working not studying), so it is not fun to get back in the swing of being a student, but he's doing a great job. He is still loving the sea lab and enjoying all the experience he is getting. Taylor is also really enjoying his fantasy football league. He is 1-1 now, but this weekend a sibling game will go down. That's right, Taylor vs. Carter - no matter what happens, they'll play each other one other time this season, so maybe they'll come out 1-1!

Our sweet little home is coming together more and more everyday. We still have some organization to do, but that is a process. We are also waiting on our wedding pictures to be sent to us (if case you are curious - we will get them anytime between now and December - we're hoping for NOW! Ha), we are waiting for them to come in so we can print off and fill frames to fill the walls in our apartment. Once that is done, it will really feel like home.

Well like I said, just a quick update on our lives and to let you all know the blog is alive and well and will have regular posts starting again now! Check back soon for posts about our Rehearsal dinner, Honeymoon, Open House/Apartment, my birthday weekend and whatever else is going on in our fun lives!

Love you all!
-Kauffman Krew

Labor Day Love

I hope everybody had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! It is so nice to have that three day weekend during the fall. I know that in most parts of America it was beautiful and sunny and even cooler weather than the past weeks, but here in Alabama we were in a tropical storm. Lee, if you haven't been introduced, was his name. He was large, brought a LOT of rain, a LOT of wind, and even a tornado. Luckily the tornado was small and did not do a lot of damage and was nowhere near Taylor & I. Whew.

Taylor & I spent the weekend in Alabama, but not in Mobile. We ventured further south, to Gulf Shores and stayed on Ono Island with Taylor's good friends from Lafayette. His best friend, Jonathan - his parents own a house on Ono Island and invited some of Taylor's friends down for the long weekend. We were so blessed to be some of those friends!

We slept in on Saturday (naturally), and then got up and made cookies! I got to use our new stand mixer to make them, which was just awesome! Taylor's dad & brother got it for us as our wedding present and I just love it! After the cookies were ready, we were showered and packed, we walked out the door - only to realize it was POURING rain. I'm not sure how we didn't hear it, because it was really coming down. So we ran out to the car and stayed to stay dry, and started our 1.5 hour drive down to Ono Island. It really was not too bad of a drive, just a lot of rain. We got to Ono early afternoon and then LSU game talk started soon after. There was yellow & purple everywhere. They were getting excited about the big game!

We hung out with friends until the game, and then watched LSU beat Oregon - it really was a good game! Then at halftime we had gumbo & rice. It was delish! We watched the rest of the game, and with the victory it was time to go out and celebrate! We went to a place on Gulf Shores - The Florabama. Apparently it is very near the border of the two states - so great name. They had a live band and LOTS of SEC fans. There was chanting all night, from L-S-U, L-S-U to ROLL TIDE ROLL, to something about Auburn....I tried chiming in with GIG-THEM, GIG-THEM with a big thumbs up in the air...but it did not catch on, imagine that. Maybe once we're in the SEC (which should be tomorrow I hear! Yippee!). We stayed pretty late, which was impressive for this old married couple :).

Sunday we all slept in and woke up to an incredible breakfast. It was a french toast, caramel, pecan goodness. And fruit! We loved it! Not long after the boys went and got the boat. Even though there were "feeder bands" (I put this in quotations because it was just a tropical storm and not a hurricane, but the joke was all about the feeder bands all weekend) coming through, the boys couldn't stay off the boat. We all got on and headed out. We stopped on a little "isle" (which was IN Florida per Taylor just telling me as he was reading this) and took a walk. It was a nice little trip. We came across some jelly fish & some quick sand which was fun. Jonathan's dog, Champ (who is the most amazing dog in the world, he's a black lab who is about 12 years old) came with us on the boat and on our trip. He was so good on the boat and anytime we got off he would just explore with us.

We got back on the boat and took a trip to another one of Taylors' friends' houses on Ono Island. This was the eventful part of the trip. The feeder bands starting showing up. We got soaked. I laughed the entire time because it really was just funny. We could see the rain that we were about to drive into, but we couldn't do anything about it, we just keep driving. So I laughed, and got soaked, but it was quite a memory to have. The rest of the day involved going to his friends' house, and then getting back on the boat and driving back to Jonathan's. It rained on us some more, so thus, more laughing. After we got showered and warmed up, we had dinner! More gumbo & a fish fry! Then we watched the TEXAS A&M GAME!! And boy was it a game!

Taylor & I got nervous at the beginning with our defense (but that's not what everybody wants to read about). The defense got better and our offense was great! We had a blast getting to watch the game and we were so lucky to be able to, all the way in Alabama! We hope we get the rest of the games too! We miss Kyle Field already. It was my first game in 6 years to miss and Taylor's first game in 5 years. But we know that someday we'll be back in College Station and we'll get to watch lots of games live again!

After the game we went out to celebrate again! We went to a restaurant called The Hangout. They had a band that used to play in Louisiana that the boys used to go watch, so they loved seeing them. There was a lot of two stepping and swing dancing - it was a blast!



It really was a wonderful weekend and we loved our first three day weekend as a married couple! We are looking forward to the next one...who knows when that will be.

Like I said, I hope everybody else had an amazing Labor Day weekend and enjoyed your time off!

Love you all!
-Kauffman Klan

New Job!

I started my new job on Monday and I have been training, training & training since then!

This first week I've just been working part time doing training, which has helped with the transition from being a stay at home self wedding planner to a grown up working woman. :)

I am a staffing specialist for Manpower. This position is very similar to what I was doing in College Station, minus the parts that I did not like. I work in an actual Manpower office, with coworkers who do the same job that I do. It is so nice to have people who work with me for the same company that I do. There are only three of us in the office right now, but we are in the growing phase (which is what helped me get hired! whoop!). My boss is Chris, and he has been with Manpower in Mobile for about a year. He is out of the office a lot trying to find more business. He works directly with the clients (which means I don't have to WHOOP again!). The other staffing specialist is Abbey. She is a little bit older than me and she is 6 months pregnant and super nice! We have a great time chatting during down times and lunch. So fun to have a new friend! Chris & Abbey are from Tennessee and they both went to Tennessee so they are big college football fans like me! Just for a school who wears orange...at least its not quite burnt orange.

Like I said, this week I've just been training. I have been going through a lot of training modules online which have been really helpful. I know a lot of what I have been going over since I was staffing in College Station, but I'm learning a lot about Manpower's systems.

Overall, I really like it so far. Its only been 4 days, but it is going well. I am excited to see what happens once I am done with training and start working the actual job with the recruiting and staffing (the parts I love!). So that's about it! If you have any questions about any specifics I left out, let me know! I'll keep everybody updated on the progress of the job and of our office!

Love you all & thank you for the prayers & well wishes! I have a job! WHOOP!
-The Kauffman Krew

NEW JOB!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I will be starting my new job tomorrow! Please be thinking about me as I brave the real world again. I sure did enjoy my little vacation, but Taylor & I are so glad that I have this opportunity! I'll be sure to post more details about what I'll be doing and how its going soon!

Love you all-
Kauffman Krew

Taylor's First Day of School!

Today was Taylor's first day of grad school! Needless to say, I am SUPER proud! He is so smart and I can't wait to see everything he does with his degree. I woke up early to see him off and take this cute picture. And by early, of course I mean 7:00 AM....which will be a normal wake up time for me in just a few short days once I start my NEW JOB! (But that's another post!)

Gig'em South Alabama!

To celebrate Taylor's first day of grad school I decided to make a really yummy dinner for him. We cook just about every night, and most of the time together, but I wanted to treat him to something special and cook it FOR him.

I pulled out my Champions Church of Christ cookbook that my Mrs. B gave me a couple years ago and starting flipping through the pages she marked. I came across a delicious recipe for meatloaf. I went to the store to pick up a few ingredients I didn't have and got to work!

Cookbook on my new Cookbook Stand that I LOVE!

I made meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes, & home grown green beans that my Aunt Leigh canned. It was sooooo good, if I do say so myself! I think the topping on the meatloaf was the best part. Catsup, Mustard, Vinegar - and the key ingredient BROWN SUGAR! :) You can never go wrong with brown sugar!

Mmmmmm dinner! And colorful! :)

For dessert I made a very easy recipe - Lemon Ice Box Pie. It is only three ingredients plus a graham cracker crust. It was pretty tasty also. I forgot to take a picture of that though. Just imagine fluffy goodness.

As for Taylor's first day of grad school? He said it was good! He is taking only a couple classes this semester, 1 three hour course (Physical Oceanography) 1 two hour course (Fisheries Ecology) 1 directed study (where he works on his master's thesis - he doesn't know yet what he's going to do it on, but still working on it!) AND 1 seminar (this is a one hour class with his professor, whatever the professor wants to do) - and yes those definitions came from Taylor, because I'm still learning what all of this means. :)

All of his classes are on Dauphin Island this semester, so he'll be driving a lot. We live about 40-45 minutes from the sea lab. Luckily he is only taking 7 hours of class, and he will only work 20 hours a week, so he will not have to go to the lab everyday. He is still loving the sea lab and all the opportunities he is getting. We can't wait to see what all this semester has in store!

Please feel free to ask any questions you have about his school/classes. I am sure I left out some details. Thanks for reading!

Love you all-
Kauffman Krew

First Saturday at Home!

So today is our first Saturday to stay in Mobile in what feels like MONTHS! I moved to Mobile in the middle of May and since then we were in Alabama TWO times until today! So needless to say, we are pretty excited!

We have big plans for the day!

Before we did anything today, we SLEPT IN and it was glorious! :) Now we are on our way out to finish our to-do list for the day!

First, we're headed off to Bed, Bath & Beyond - Target - & Dillards! We are exchanging some of our multiples for things we did not get off of our registry. It will be so nice to have this taken care of!

THEN - what I'm most excited about - we are going furniture shopping! Well.... more of window shopping, but I still can't wait! We are going to look at some couches & barstools for our apartment. Like I said, we won't buy anything today, but we are just trying to get an idea of how much it all is!

And then we will come back home and continue nesting our sweet little apartment. We have done a lot this week, but we still aren't done. Its been fun finding a place for everything. Sometimes it is a little more creative than you'd think (griddle under the bed) (kidding...mostly), but it is all fitting!

Tomorrow is a big day as well! We are going to visit our first church here in Mobile. Like I said, we've been out of town for almost all summer, so we haven't had time to try and find a home church. We are both really excited, but also nervous. It's been a long time since either of us have had to go somewhere where we didn't know anybody. So keep us in your thoughts & prayers! We'll post an update on how that goes tomorrow!

Love you all!
Kauffman Krew

We're Married in Mobile!

Howdy y'all!

I will be writing on here to update all of our family & friends on our lives. School, work, the apartment, friends, our travels - whatever is going on in our lives! We both aren't the best at calling, so we hope this will be a great way to help keep everybody up to date on the Kauffman Krew!

Thanks for checking out the blog and please come back & check for updates! You might even get a guest post or two from the Mr. himself!

With love -
Kauffman Krew