MBA Hooding

Last Friday before our trip to Houston, we attended JW's MBA hooding ceremony.  Joey's dad, sister, and mom came in town to go with us.  There were several MBA students being hooded that night with different specialties, but JW was the only joint Law and MBA student.

 

 It was a pretty small and intimate ceremony, so I got to stand up there and get good pictures.  We all hooped and hollered as they called Joey's name and announced his post-graduation career plans.  So proud.

 Joey and his dad

 Jenn, me, JW, and Joe

 Momma Hance and JW

 Carol, JW, me, and Jennifer

  The MBA graduate and his proud wife

JW is done with graduation ceremonies now!  We have been thankful for a time to reflect and celebrate the opportunities and accomplishments God has allowed us over the last several years of JW's school career.  We're now ready to fully move forward in our transition to Houston and the new things the Lord has in store for us there. 

Moving to Houston - Part 1

This weekend we traveled to Houston to see our house in-person for the first time!  JW's MBA Hooding Ceremony was Friday night (more on that later), and then we came home and loaded up our cars and drove to to Houston on Saturday morning. 

The movers come one week from today!  Yikes.  My stomach just did a somersault as I typed that.  There were a few things I preferred for the movers to not move, like pictures and the china we got as wedding presents, and some things that would just be difficult (and expensive) for them to move like mirrors and lamps, that we went ahead and brought with us. 

Jenn and Momma Hance all loaded up and ready to go.

Me and JW ready to go see our new house.

We stopped at the Farmers Market on our way out of town.  Yea for yummy coffee and breakfast tacos!

This was a family picture after church on Mother's Day.  JW & I are both very blessed to have wonderful mommas.  Dad cooked a yummy steak lunch after church and Grandma and Aunt Kimmie came over to celebrate with us.

After lunch, we changed into work clothes and headed to our house to start painting.  JW and I got there first and went out the front door working on our inventory list of the house's condition.  Mom and Claire met us at the house a little later.  JW and I were around back when they arrived, so they just came in through the front, locked the door behind them, and found us out back.  Only when they joined us out back and closed the back door behind them, they didn't realize the bottom door knob was locked.  You know those lovely knobs that have the little lock you can turn to make it lock from the outside?  I'm sure you can guess where I'm going... all four of us got locked out!  Luckily, Claire and JW both had their cell phones on them.  We looked up locksmiths.  They were expensive.  So,then we looked up "how to pick a lock with bobbypins" on Claire's phone.  Mom and I tried to be spy-like and attempted to pick the lock for about 20 minutes, and then Joey's patience ran out.  He broke a window in the front of our house, Claire climbed through, and let us all in.  Here's a couple of videos from Claire's phone.

This first one is a little anticlimactic.  My favorite comments:

Mom- "Joey, the lawyer, breaking into a house."

Claire- "Amanda could climb through."

My response, "H- - - no."

Claire- "Language...  I'll go!!!" 

Best comment:

JW- "Nice butt shot, Claire!"

And we're in.  Let the painting begin!

Claire was so excited to start painting.  She wanted to be the first one to get paint on the walls, and she was.

Mom was looking cute in white shorts on Mother's Day, so she taped.

Girl pic!

Em came over to see our new place, and we put her to work in no time!  She timed her drive over from her and Britt's place... 11 minutes, and she hit two lights.  It's going to be great to be close to them!

Our room didn't have a ceiling fan, so we found one on sale at Home Depot and the boys got the fun task of installing it... with no instructions!  How do you package a ceiling fan in lots of unassembled pieces with no instructions?  The dialogue over the hour or so it took them to get it up and fully functioning was comical.  At the onset, when dad realized there were no directions Joey said, "If there were, would you read them?"  Dad said, "No, probably not.  But, I'd at least look at the pictures".  Love it!  So true.

Momma Hance came by the next day and helped us get the first coat of paint on our bathroom.  She was a rockstar with the spray bottle of bleach cleaning some mold around the window before we painted.  Our new bathroom has no vent in it, and apparently gets a little steamy.  Then, we ate pizza from a local place around the corner from our house on a box in our living room.

We painted an accent wall in our living room and dining room and painted our master bedroom and bathroom.  It was a productive weekend, and our family was so helpful in helping us get our house move-in ready!  We love it.

We are back in Waco now and packing with a new vengeance since I realized in the shower yesterday that the movers come in a week!  Wow.  Rich & Meg are coming in today to hang out and help us pack.  Moving is kind of exhausting, and last weekend was just a warm-up for the big day.  Hold on to your hats!  I have a feeling the next couple of weeks are going to fly by.  We are excited and can't wait to have it all done! 

Graduation Day!

Oh, how we've dreamed of this day!  On April 28, 2012, JW graduated from Baylor Law School with honors.  He was one of eleven students to graduate cum laude because not only did he finish Baylor Law School, which is referred to the Marine Corps of law schools, he did it while maintaining a 3.4 GPA.  Needless to say, I was a proud wife when they called JW's name to walk across that stage.

We had lots of friends and family make the trip to be in town to celebrate with us... 25 people to be exact.  We had a large cheering section and were so honored to have loved ones there for the momentous occasion.

Most of my pictures turned out blurry, so we're going to have to get copies of the ones the professional photographer was taking.

Such a handsome graduate!

Hance Family: Macie, Matthew, Angie, JW, me, Joe, and Jennifer

Proud daddy!  JW and Joe

Momma Hance, JW, me, and Jenn

 

Nana, Papa, Carol, JW, me, and Jennifer

Mullings crew: Claire, Hunter, JW, me, Mom, and Dad

Gotta love that wind!

With the Perry's: me, JW, Adam, and Lauren

Uncle Randy, Aunt Gigi, JW, me, Erica, and Jake

That wind was picking up!

Howard, JW, me, and G-Ma

The graduate and his proud wife

After graduation, we had a party in a room at our church.   We ate lunch, visited, and then had a pick-up basketball game.  You know Joey has never turned down the opportunity for competition, and when we reserved the party room at church, we got half of the basketball court too.  So, we had friends bring a change of clothes so they could play basketball after lunch.  JW had a blast!  It was really fun to watch them and was a perfect ending to a pretty great day.

With the Hitte's: me, JW, Cory, and Lauren

Meg, JW, and me

Rich had a youth event for church, so he couldn't make the trip, but Megan came in and represented the Roush's.  We missed you, Richie Rich!

Papa, JW, me, and Nana

Momma Hance, JW, and me

JW and Dana

This is one of the judges in Ft. Worth that Joey clerked with last summer.  She and her district staff have been so sweet to keep up with JW.  We were honored to have her there to celebrate with us.

I spent all day Friday cooking 15 lbs. of pulled pork, sides, and dessert.  Momma Hance, Jennifer, and Nana and Papa came in that afternoon in time to help me finish up some centerpieces, take us out to dinner, and go and setup the party room.  They were a huge help!

You probably don't care much about the menu, but I want to remember what we had, so here's the list:

Appetizers:

Salsa and Spinach Artichoke Dip with pita chips and crackers

Lunch:

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches on rolls, Potato Casserole, Fruit Salad, and Cole Slaw

Dessert:

 Spice Cake, Lemon Snowball cookies, and Momma Hance made her famous Cheesecake, brownies, and Hermits

I had never cooked for 30 people before, so we definitely aired on the side of having too much food rather than not enough.  JW had the idea to purchase disposable tupperware so that our guests could take left-overs home with them.  That ended up being a great idea and many people took food home with them.

For the centerpieces, I got three different sized mason jars and tied natural, yellow, and green raffia around the top, filled them with sliced lemons and limes, and fresh flowers.  They went on top of burlap in the middle of each table and turned out pretty cute!  I will definitely save the jars to use for parties in the future.  Math is not my strong suite and I had a major brain fart when buying them, so we actually have twelve of each.  Thank goodness Momma Hance arrived before I had put flowers in all of them! :)

Friend table: Lauren, Adam, Cory, Lauren, and Meg

Mom, me, and Claire

The ladies in my family all ended up wearing the same color and it wasn't even planned.

Angie, Macie, and Jennifer

Pretty ladies!  This turned out to be a really cute picture.

Let the games begin...

We are very blessed to have such amazing friends and family to celebrate life with!  Law school has been a challenging chapter that has taught us a lot.  We are thankful for the support of friends and family throughout the journey and look forward to beginning our new chapter in Houston very soon.

Life Lately

 At the end of March we attended a marriage conference at our church with Gary Thomas as the speaker.  It was great.  We enjoyed the chance to slow down and spend some time together talking after the sessions.  After the conference was over, we went to the Texas Rangers Museum and checked another Waco Bucket List item off our list.  JW definitely enjoyed this one more than me.  We made it in time for the last showing of the day of a 45 minute documentary on the history of the Texas Rangers.  It was just as exciting as it sounds... I ended up taking a little cat-nap. :)  Hubs had fun though and enjoyed walking around and reading about all of the exhibits.

 JW getting to handle an old revolver.  That thing was heavy!

 In other news, we have been trying to move dinner time back for the pups.  They have been spoiled and were getting fed right at 5 p.m. with Joey's schedule being so flexible.  In Houston that won't be the case, so we have been working on pushing it back.  They're not a fan of the new schedule.  One day we found them both hanging by their bowls at 5 wondering where their grub was.  It was pretty funny, so JW snapped a picture.

 One day last week our kitchen sink got backed up and JW attempted to fix it before we sent in a maintenance request.  Although Joey has an uncle that is a plumber, he has spent no time with him on the job and had no idea what to do.  Dakota tried to help.  JW put forth great effort and did his best, but we still had to call the plumber.  Oh the beauty of renting!

 We're in moving mode around here.  We have to be completely moved by the end of the month, but May is a busy one for us, so we are trying to pack a little bit at a time when we get the chance.  We took pictures of the house before we started packing so we could remember our first place.   I enjoy being organized and don't mind packing too badly as long as I can spread it out and don't have to do it all in one week.  Being able to pack a few boxes a night is a great way to get it done for me.  We have 19 boxes packed so far, and we still have 17 more days to go before the movers come!  I think we're in pretty good shape.

 We gave our 30-day notice and a sign went up in our yard.  It made me a little bit sad the first time I saw it... it's all setting in and feeling more real.

 We've both been wanting Waco shirts to take with us as we move from here.  We went to a local t-shirt shop and picked these up.  I got a cute Baylor shirt too.  It's like it was made for me... with the megaphone and BU.  Love it.  Sic 'em Waco!

The Circle of Life

Most of you probably know that I work in an office by myself here in Waco.  I am out and about in the community quite often, but when I am in the office, I'm usually on my own.  It makes for a quiet place where I can usually get a lot done, but moments like this one today make me wish I had co-workers down the hall to share things with.

We have an inner-office instant message system that Shay and I frequently use to talk.  Today our conversation went like this:

Hance, Amanda [2:53 PM]:
ok, don't laugh... i'm having a total charlotte's web moment at my office...


Paulson, Shay [2:53 PM]:
haha!

Paulson, Shay [2:53 PM]:
how so?

Hance, Amanda [2:54 PM]:
a fly just got stuck in a spider's web in my window seal and the spider just came out and is trying to have it for lunch

Hance, Amanda [2:54 PM]:
the fly is buzzing frantically trying to get free but i think he lost

Hance, Amanda [2:54 PM]:
the spider is about the same size as the fly but is wrapping it up.

Hance, Amanda [2:54 PM]:
it's totally gross but I can't help but watch it

Paulson, Shay [3:00 PM]:
oh gosh!

Paulson, Shay [3:00 PM]:
that is gross, but i can see why you'd want to watch!

Hance, Amanda [3:00 PM]:
it's disgusting! the buzzing has stopped. spider won.

Hance, Amanda [3:00 PM]:
he carried it off to the corner. i'd kill it, but after that fight i feel like it deserves to live

 Paulson, Shay [3:01 PM]:
haha yeah i agree

Paulson, Shay [3:01 PM]:
i sure hope you have a boy some day!

 Hance, Amanda [3:01 PM]:
ha ha!

Paulson, Shay [3:01 PM]:
you'd be a good boy mom

And there you have it.  The circle of life.  It really was just like on tv.  Sad and distracting to witness the hierarchy of the food chain while working on numbers in a spreadsheet.  But, I'm thankful to have a girl friend that I could share the experience virtually with, and one who instead of thinking I'm crazy, takes the opportunity to tell me I'd be a good boy mom one day. :)  Hope you too can get a giggle out of it!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Today was a big day at the Hance house!  Joey finished law school, and we finalized the lease for our new house in Houston! 

The housing search has been a tedious one that we could not have done without the help of my mom.  The housing market close to the Galleria area near to where JW and I will both work moves very fast.  We learned quickly that if we found something online that we liked, we needed to move fast in order to be considered.  Most of the houses we liked had 4-5 applications on them a couple of days after they were listed.  Mom was so great about helping us call the listing agents and getting over there to see them for us since we are three hours away.  She saw 10 houses for us this month and drove by a few additional ones that she was not able to walk through.  You would be surprised how different a house can look in person from the pictures.  Monday, mom was one of the first to see this one. 

She liked it, we put in an application not even an hour later, prayed a lot, and the owner chose us!  We haven't seen it in person yet, but I'm sure we are going to love making it our home.  Our lease will start the second week in May and we will be completely moved in by the end of the month.

Joey took his last ever law school final today and is now officially done with school!!!  I could not be more proud, and we are both very excited for graduation this weekend and being able to celebrate with all of our friends and family coming in to join us.  The month of May is going to be a whirlwind I know.  We are so grateful for all the things falling into place.  The Lord is good!

Out with a Bang

This weekend was my last March for Babies in Waco and it was a big success!  I feel so blessed to have had so many family members come in to be a part and help out.  Here is a picture of our crew.

Jake, Erica, Aunt Gigi, Hunter, Dad, Mom, Me, Joey, Joe

Grandpa and Megan came as well, but had already left to drive back to Dallas before we took this picture.  It was a bittersweet day for me.  This was my fourth and final walk as the Director in Waco.  I have loved my time here, and my job has been a big part of that.  I will most definitely cherish the memories and all of the relationships I have been blessed to have with volunteers and friends.

After all of the event breakdown, our family came back to our place and we grilled burgers for lunch.  It was an exhausting, but really great weekend.

Monday when I got home from work, look what my sweet hubby had waiting for me.

Purple roses for my last Waco March of Dimes event and a gift certificate for a massage and facial.  I am so lucky!

Guess what today was????  JW's last day of class... EVER!

I have a feeling this looks a lot like some of the pictures Momma Hance has of him growing up on the first day of school every year.  So, now he has a couple of days to study before finals start this Saturday.  By this time next week, JW will be finished with finals and we will be ready for graduation!  Woo hoo!  I can't believe it's finally here.

Mess of Spaghetti

Women are like spaghetti and men are like waffles.  Have you heard that said before?  This week I am feeling like a mess of spaghetti and am wishing I could keep my life more waffle-like.  The month of April has brought so many projects that are demanding my attention, and this week especially, has me feeling a little out of control.

I usually take great pride in my spaghettiness.  It what makes multitasking come so natural, and I often enjoy balancing many things at once.  However, the last few weeks I have had so many balls in the air that I can't keep them straight at times.  In the month of April we have started officially looking for housing in Houston, started the hiring process for my position in Waco, begun conversations about my transition to working in Houston, designed and sent out Joey's graduation announcements and started planning that weekend of celebration, and by the way... work is nuts with my last March for Babies event in Waco in 3 days.  I'm worn out just thinking about it all!  And that's what happens.  I think about it all.  Even at night while I'm sleeping I think about it.  I have been waking up early in the morning without an alarm clock thinking about it all.  My muscles are even sore from being so tense.  I wish I was better at compartmentalizing sometimes.

Or maybe I just need to be better at turning it all over to Him.

 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4: 6-7

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28

I don't need to worry because He is in control.  I like having a plan and knowing all the details of what's coming and when, but He has a plan and His timing is perfect.  I know I'll feel a lot better after this weekend is over and one big thing is checked off the list.  I have such a supportive husband and family, and I am so thankful.  But, I am praying I will have the strength to keep turning it all over to God, who can alone give me peace that surpasses understanding.  Life gets crazy sometimes, but I'm glad we serve a God who has it all under control even when I don't!

Just Around the Corner

JW is graduating... in 22 days to be exact!  Wow.  I can't believe this chapter in our lives is nearing its end.  We are so thankful for the time we have had in Waco.  It has been full of challenges and growth and a lot of great memories as well.  As graduation approaches, our upcoming move becomes a more vivid reality.  We are certainly experiencing a lot of emotions, but are looking forward to a new journey together in Houston. 

I am so proud of my husband.  He has worked so hard during his schooling career.  This will most certainly be a fun day of celebrating all he has accomplished.

Happy Easter weekend to you!

He's Always There

Work is crazy this week with March for Babies less than two weeks away, but I need a few minutes to come up for air.  So, let me share with you something that has been on my heart while I take a break.  Our Pastor shared a video this Sunday at church that has a pretty powerful implication, and I have not been able to let it go.

Take a few minutes to watch this video.  This is Penn Jillette, a very outspoken atheist, well-know for his comedy and magic show in Vegas, Penn & Teller.

Convicting right?  Did you catch the part where he said, "If you believe in heaven and hell, how much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them about it?" 

Wow!  I want to be a "kind, and nice, and sane person" not afraid to look someone in the eye and show them the genuine love of Christ.  Shouldn't we as Christians have the sense of urgency that he mentions?   He uses the analogy that if we believe without a shadow of a doubt that a truck is going to hit someone, there comes a point when we tackle them to keep them safe.  Why don't we have the same mentality about salvation?  Penn Jillette reflects on his encounter with this man, and doesn't change his belief, at least not yet, but has a great deal of respect for this "good man." 

Isn't that all God requires of us?  To simply share our story of faith, and let Him do the rest.  He alone can change a person's heart, but we can share what God has done in our life.  I find great responsibility, but also freedom in that.  I pray that Penn Jillette never forgets the goodness of that man who witnessed to him and one day comes to know the love and goodness of Jesus as his savior.  I heard this song on the radio this week and it brought me peace.  We have a lot going on right now, and being reminded that He is always there is so comforting. 

I vividly remember coming home from school when I was eight years old after having a fight with a girl friend one day in tears.  I was so upset my friend would betray me and not be there when I needed her.  I told my mom I wanted a friend who would always be there for me and would pick me up when I fell down, and that I thought that friend was Jesus.  She prayed with me and since that day, I know His holy spirit has been with me all this time.  As we get ready for Easter and celebrating our risen Lord, I pray that I would not be afraid to share the kind of friend my Jesus is to me.