Muir to Love.: A May in Dallas

I arrived in Dallas at the very end of April. Kirby had been here for two weeks without me, and those two weeks were killer! I was finishing my student teaching in a 6th grade class in Idaho Falls and it was time for him to start his job for the summer. He drove out with one of the other guys who is selling with the team, and I moved in with my in-laws so that the renters could get settled into our place for the beginning of their new semester.

In case you didn't know, I am madly in love with my husband. Anytime spent away from him is hard on me...and those two weeks were particularly hard. I cried, a lot. I cried when I had to crawl into an empty bed at night, I cried whenever someone asked me if I missed him, needless to say carrying a baby turned me into a baby. When the two weeks were finally up, I packed our little car, said good-bye to my sweet sixth graders, and drove myself down to Utah. Once there, I stayed the night with another wife from our office who was about to make the long drive for the second time, with me. We left early in the morning and drove the entire day until we reached Amarillo, TX, stayed in a hotel, then finished the trek to Dallas. We got there early in the afternoon, while Kirby was already working. So I started unpacking our car, and carrying as much up to our 3rd floor apartment as my pregnant body could handle...then the sweetheart I call my companion made a surprise trip back from work to help me finish unloading and to take me to lunch. The second I saw him I was in tears (again). A hug has never felt so good as that one in the parking lot, with my big old belly between us.

And as soon as Kirby started talking to me our little baby boy started going nuts...he is such a daddy's boy already.

I did what I could to make the little apartment feel like home...which was hard considering all of our decorations and furniture were put in storage in Idaho for the summer. But that first night back in our queen sized rental bed with my sweetheart by my side was the best night's sleep I had had in weeks. Nothing feels more comfortable and right as being with my husband.

Soon the stresses of moving hit me. Getting rent, internet, insurance, doctor information, and everything else that comes with moving and being six months pregnant has been one of the biggest hassles of my life. I am now 28 weeks pregnant and still don't have a doctor lined up! I have had to jump through so many hoops here it is almost funny. Texas is definitely not Idaho...and I am quickly realizing that things here work a lot differently than they do back home. On top of all of that...my morning sickness has been back to full blown. I prayed so hard day and night that I would not be sick at my in-laws or on that long car ride...and Heavenly Father answered my prayers because even if I felt nauseous, I did not throw up once over those few weeks. But, the first day I experienced in Texas, I was right back to running to the toilet in the morning and Kirby was right there by my side, as he has been through this entire process.

And HELLO! Where is my Blue Bell Ice-cream?? Can the recall be over yet? Blue Bell in bed each night was our favorite summer tradition, not to mention I have been craving the pistachio almond ice-cream since day one of this pregnancy! I demand it be brought back!

*rant over*

Also, as I am sure you have heard and seen...Texas is quite literally under water. We have probably had a total of 5 sunny days so far, it has been rainy/stormy non-stop! Most nights we get restless sleep as we try to ignore the thunder that causes our ceiling fan to wobble, and lightning that lights up our room through the closed blinds. I have always been a fan of thunder storms back home...but those are nothing like the storms here. As beautiful as they are, it is often hard to appreciate them when my phone is getting constant warnings of floods and tornadoes headed our way. We have seen our fair share of streets covered in inches to feet of water, we have heard the tornado sirens, we have heard of the deaths and damage cause by these storms, and now the beauty I used to appreciate now fills me with fear. Kirby has had to hold me tight while I silently pray through my tears that we would be spared from the tragedies night after night. But we have been lucky. While the rivers near us cover the trees on their banks, and the streets get temporarily covered in water, we live up high enough that the flooding we experience ends up settling farther down in Dallas. So really, we are so lucky to have been kept safe through it all...but we continue to pray for those who have been affected by the weather here, and hope the worst of it is over (even if going to church in the pitch black of a power-outtage was kind of fun haha) Also, this tiny baby inside me ALWAYS knows when there is a storm going on. He has this torpedo move he does during a storm, where we can literally feel him spinning in circles inside me!

But aside from the woes of settling in, being sick, not having Blue Bell, and having close calls with nature, we have been enjoying Dallas so far. Naturally we have been loving having tacos and bbq at our fingertips again...and it feels wonderful to have Torchy's Tacos near by for the 2nd time! But one of my favorite things from this summer is a magical tradition called Sodapalooza. Let me tell you about this brilliant concept: spend $7.99 on a fancy cup at the beginning of May...fill that fancy cup as many times as you want at any Race Trac (gas station) with whatever beverage you want until the end of July! To a pregnant girl who craves slushies like nobody's business and has a Race Trac on the corner across the street, this fancy cup is heaven in my hands. I've become pretty good friends with the workers at our near-by Race Trac...often making more than one trip a day to fill my cup with half coke slush and half cherry slush ;)

Kirby has been more than happy with his decision for the summer. He has switched companies and now works for Alterra Pest Control. We love the people we are with and Kirby seems happy with his job, which is all I need to be happy! He still works long hours like he has the past few summers...but get this...remember how our Saturdays used to be non-existent? Meaning his longest days were Saturdays? Well now he gets home between 4 and 5 and we actually have time to go on dates and be together on the weekend! We have tried to take advantage of the amazing city that holds never ending possibilities...and will have a lot more exploring to do over the next few months. But mostly, we have been seeing a lot of movies. We are both movie people, and with the upcoming bundle of joy, we figured we had to take advantage of our baby free nights at the movie theater! And of course, being a couple of foodies, we have tried to try a new place each weekend to test out all the gems of Dallas.