It's almost fall in Austin and I am so grateful. We had a downpour of rain yesterday which brought the temperature down to "amazing" (in the shade). Russ had an editing meeting with his journal this morning so I hit the greenbelt and finally saw the creekbed full of water again after a very long and dry summer. We've been busy or stressed or both lately, so fall and its outside pleasures are quite welcome. Well, Russ has finished all of the crazy interview process and so far has a summer internship offer in Houston with a fancy pants firm and I couldn't be more proud of him. I tell him this constantly. All of that being more true than I can express to either you or my sweet redhead, I am struggling with this. When we started this law journey, I often told Russ, "Here's my order of future residence preferences: Austin, Nashville, DC third because why not? next, the rest of America, finally, Houston." And I said this probably, no, definitely, more than I should have. I don't necessarily know what I envisioned for Russ and I in the next 5 or 10 years, but I never saw Houston or wanted to see it. Perhaps God sees us there, for whatever reason, so I'll try to keep the faith, and try to
see Houston, also. This is all very "#firstworldproblems" of course. Russ has internship offer/job possibility with a top law firm in a crowded job market at a time with relatively high unemployment nationwide. I am such a whiner, right? Yes.
Anyway, that's what's been happening in future-lawyering world, other stuff is less stressful and will hopefully make up for some of the whiney person stuff in the paragraph above. We've launched a small group at our church along with another couple and it's going well! We've been in Austin a little over a year now and are still looking for friend families, so we're excited about where this little group could lead.
Teaching is also going much better this year. I finally have my feet on firm ground in my job and not only do I know I'm effective at my job, but I also
feel like it. It's a huge shift for my worklife. That said, I still don't like it too much, but there are new possibilities on that front that I'll save for another post.
Lastly, and most importantly, I'm as close to an aunt as I'll be for the foreseeable future! Meet Ethan, the sweetest baby west of the Mississippi:
The sweet son of one of best friends, Blake and her husband, David. I love little E, and that redhead holding him. That guy looks like he's ready to be a dad, am I right or am I right?! Y'all, my uterus is losing its tight, tight grip on reality. Slowly, but very surely, losing its grip. Russ says that weakening grip is making me hysterical with baby fever, which he means as a feminism joke that I won't bore you with that here (because I know you and you already get it).
Okay, this blog is long enough for today.
With lurve,
Mals
