When in Rome...

Do as the Romans. :)

Hey, It's Ok Thursday.

I love this Thursday link-up and haven't participated in a while, so I'm glad to be back at it again today. After two weeks of traveling for work, a holiday, and two pups that are driving me bonkers, I think it's appropriate, ha! Happy Thursday friends. :)  

  Hey, It's ok...   ...to be eating leftover holiday cookies from the neighbors and the food from that meat/cheese/cracker gift set your aunt and uncle sent you for Christmas as regular meals. Can't let good food go to waste!   ...to not have taken down the Christmas tree and decorations yet. I mean, get real. Christmas was two days ago.   ...to be on my 3rd cup of coffee at 9am. Don't judge.   ...to be so behind in laundry that my husband has moved all laundry baskets into the foyer so that I cannot miss that every towl we own is dirty (yikes!).   ...to continue ignoring those piles of laundry because when you work from 7am to midnight everyday, the last thing you want to think about is laundry.   ...to feed the pups little dog snacks and lunch meat when their food runs out. It's freezing outside and driving to the store is such an effort...   ...to love your job, even during the crazy, peak season when you're slammed with the most outrageous to-do list ever and could really use an additional 5-6 hours for things like landry and grocery shopping. Luke actually helps out a TON and I really am blessed to love what I do (but hurry up April 15th!!).   If anyone is looking for a part-time personal assistant job, I just may be looking for you! *wink*

A City Christmas.

Although it wasn't our traditional Christmas and we were sad to be away from family, we made the best of it by taking a trip into the city. We walked through The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park, ate chocolate-covered strawberries, drank hot tea, walked up to Central Park, and then took a pedicab ride about 24 blocks back to our car. Although it was a quick trip, we had a great time getting out of the apartment and enjoying the Christmas spirit in one of the greatest cities in the world.

P.S. Happy 18 months of wedded bliss to my sweet husband. :)

A Christmas surprise.

So, it's been snowing like crazy in upstate New York and all the way up New England, but all that North New Jersey was forecasted to receive was some rainy, slushy stuff. So this evening, we went outside to let the dogs out and much to our surprise...

It was snowing!!!

Of course this prompted a photo op. :)

Thanks to my sweet momma for the Christmas PJs and thanks to God for our second white Christmas ever! Second, you ask? Why, yes. Do any of my South Texas friends and family remember Christmas Eve 2004? That was NUTS!

{And Tim Lawley--if you see this, I borrowed your pic. Hope you don't mind. :)}

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas from The Hintons!

Thanks to all of of friends and family for all of your love and support this year. 2012 has definitely been one for the books! A big move, new jobs, and more blessings than we deserve. God has been so good.
I pray that you all have a blessed Christmas with your families and a very happy new year!

So excited!!

GREAT NEWS!!   Luke accepted a job in New Jersey! I'm so, SO happy for him. He's going to be working for a protection/security agency in New Jersey and if you know Luke, you know this is totally up his alley.  Like I said in my previous post, he took the NYPD acceptance test a few weeks back, but the process of getting into the NYPD is pretty long and extensive. We're hoping that this new job will give Luke some great experience until the NYPD dream can become a reality.   This is such a huge answer to prayer. It's definitely been an adjustment for Luke to go from 12+ hour days to no-hour days in this move to New Jersey. He's been the greatest support for me in my new job and I can't wait to help support him in this new adventure!  

  {Plus, look how cute he is. I just LOVE him!!}  

Lately.

It's sort of crazy to me that we've only lived in New Jersey a little over a month and living here already feels so normal. I think we've started to find our routine; me working from home, Luke job hunting, and the pups adjusting to their new surroundings. There has definitely been some adjustment, but I'm so greatful for this time. Want to strengthen a marriage? Move 1800 miles across the country. :) Luke had his first job interview last Friday and it sounds promising! The company he interviewed with said he should hear back early this next week, so please say a prayer that we hear some good news. Also, Luke took the NYPD application test. Have I told y'all this yet? He made a 95 out of 100, which is awesome, because it's a really hard test. I'm SO proud of him! Joining the NYPD takes months, with multiple interviews, background checks, etc., so this won't be something that happens tomorrow, but we're excited to have begun the process.  I start my New England "roadshow" this week. This is what my colleagues call traveling for days at a time, doing what we do a.k.a. field marketing. Please pray for safe and easy travels. This Texas girl has never driven in snow, or mountains for that matter, so I'd appreciate your prayers. At the same time, I'm so excited to see Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. I've never been to any of these states and I'll be driving quite a bit. Should be fun!  One other things that has been heavy on mine and Luke's hearts lately is church and the fellowship that church offers. We are actively looking for a church home in New Jersey, but haven't found one just yet. We've visited three different churches so far, and we understand that this isn't something that happens overnight or even in a few weeks. But this can be a frustrating process, too. As Christians, we hunger for fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ and we are praying earnestly that God would show us where He would like for us to lay roots. If you can, please add this one to your prayer list, too. So, that's what's been going on around here lately. That, and a bunch of watching Hulu/Netflix, drinking coffee, and checking out the Christmas light around our new little town. They are quite lovely. :)

A little light.

We finally got a few Christmas decorations put out around the apartment over the weekend. I feel like I'm so behind on a pic like this, ha! I had forgotten how much fun Christmas lights hung indoors can be. I just love turning off the normal lights, leaving on the Christmas ones, and snuggling under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate. Don't you? Hope you all had a great Monday. I must go to bed now because I'm headed to Edison, NJ tomorrow to give a marketing presentation. Nighty night. :)