One day at a time.

Moving...As you could possibly expect, life has been a little crazy around here lately. If you didn't read my previous post, I was offered the opportunity to relocate back to Texas and Luke and I are moving back in a little over 5 weeks. It took a few days for the dust to settle (we jumped straight into budgeting moving expenses, figuring out where we're going to live, etc.), but I'm feeling really great as everything is falling into place for the big move!

{Ha! This made me laugh. via}

Work...Everything is going great, but soon I'll be shoulder-deep in transitioning from my current territory in the northeast down to my new territory in the southwest. This will include me helping train someone new to take over my old position AND me being somewhat trained for my new position (although the latter should take less time). I've got a work trip to Vegas in September, one in New Jersey in October, and another in Florida in November. This girl is going to be on the MOVE! And this doesn't include my many shorter distance trips to Houston, Austin, San Antonio, West Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley throughout the fall. Summer is almost over y'all and this means work is about to kick into a whole new gear of busy! 

{via}

School...One thing I haven't talked about on the blog just yet is school. Back before we had any idea about being relocated, I decided that it was time for me to go back to school for my MBA. This is something I've always wanted to do, but the timing just hadn't been right until now. Back in June, I was accepted into UT Dallas' Naveen Jindal School of Management Professional MBA program. This program feels like it was created for my unique work and travel schedule. It might take me three years to finish it, but I can't wait to get started and to someday have my MBA!

{My sweet friend sent me this after she found out I got into grad school. Love her!}

Luke...This guy is amazing, y'all. I've been so grateful to have him by my side as we've decided to relocate back to Texas and make another huge life transition. He's wrapping up work in NJ and has already started the process job hunting in Texas. Please say a prayer for us as he goes through this process! God is already opening doors and we just want to be prayerful and faithful as we seek His will for this next step in Luke's career. Also, Luke is the mastermind behind all things moving (renting the truck, planning the route, budgeting the cost, etc.) and I'm so thankful for this! As you can see, this girl has A LOT on her plate as is. And at the end of the day, this guy lets me cry, scream, laugh, and just talk it all out as I self-induce panic attacks when thinking too much about all of these big changes.

I'm just taking it all one day at a time. But I must say, these temps in the mid-60s sure are helping make this week a lot less stressful. It's like a tease for fall, pumpkin spice lattes, and baked apple pie candles (I can't wait!).

Hope your Thursday is blessed. :) 

Here we go again! :)

I still can't believe I'm typing this, but if you've heard the rumors, then I'm here to confirm them as fact. The Hintons are officially moving...   BACK TO TEXAS!!!  

You're probably wondering why/how. :) 
Long story short, a spot on my team at work recently opened up in Texas and I was offered the opportunity to relocate. After weighing the pros and cons and praying about it, Luke and I decided that long-term, moving back to Texas is the best thing for our family and an opportunity we just couldn't pass up!   Ok, so now for some answers to a few of everyone's favorite questions:   1) When will you be back? In about 6 weeks. Sooo soon!!   2) Where will you live? This position is based in Houston, TX.   3) Will you still be doing the same job? Yup. I'll just manage a different territory.
And, of course, a few of the things we're most excited about with this move: *being so close to our friends and family again *authentic Mexican food, but most importantly: chips, salsa, and margaritas *a new city to explore (neither of us have ever lived in Houston)  *Baylor football season and homecoming *being able to conceal and carry (that's Luke's two cents, ha!) *and just being back in the greatest state that ever existed: TEXAS!!    Please be praying for Luke and I both as we make big transitions at work, pack up our apartment, and make that looong, 1700-mile drive back to Texas. We've got a lot going on, but we know that God will be protecting and carrying us the entire way.
See ya soon Texas!

Local art show + Morristown adventures

This afternoon, right after church, Luke and I were driving home and noticed an art show going on just a few blocks down the street from our apartment. An art show featuring local art, plus some homemade goodies, jewelry, etc? We were sold! So, we went home, put the pups on their leashes, and walked back down the street to see what kind of trouble we could get into...:)

{Lunch right after church. We love summer and sitting outside for lunch!}

{This is what my husband does EVERY TIME I ask him to take a pic with my iPhone...}

{Exploring new places around out little town}

{Loved the art show! I will buy local art over mass produced art every day of the week. Luke and I walked away with 4 pieces that we're going to hang in our apartment like a collage. I also bought some homemade body butter that smelled like honeysuckle. I can't wait to use it!!}

So far, Luke and I are loving summer in Morristown! Every weekend there is something going on, and even if nothing is going on, there is always NYC just a few miles away. Finally, we're smack dab in the middle of our favorite season. :)

Aubrey and Sarah Visit NJ/NYC: Part 2

On Saturday, A, S, & I caught the 9:23am train into the city from Morristown. I knew I wanted to take the train at least once into NYC while they were here so that the girls could experience it. Plus, it's always nice to be car-free in NYC and you could feed a third-world country with how much it costs! ;)

{On the train; Beware: there are quite a few 3-headed pics in this post, ha!}

This was Aubrey and Sarah's first time in the city and it was so entertaining to see their first reactions to  the city as we took the escalator up out of Penn Station! We grabbed some Starbucks and headed straight for Times Square. 

After the girls got the chance to soak up the craziness that is Times Square, we headed over to the the Gershwin Theatre. We put our names in the lottery drawing for Wicked tickets, but did not get drawn (boo). After my mom heard this, she did the sweetest thing and bought us Wicked tickets for Sunday afternoon. Score! From the theatre, we took off on our day-long adventure of seeing as much as possible in the city. 

{Spring in NYC is lovely}

We then walked up the Central Park. Side note: we did a TON of walking on Saturday. Could we have taken the subway more? Sure. But it was way more fun to walk and see so much, plus I didn't have to worry about getting my Saturday run in. Pretty sure I burned 1,000 calories just walking around NYC!

Experiencing Central Park in the spring might have been my favorite part of Saturday. As many times as I've visited and even lived in NYC, I've never done either of these while the sun was out the way it was on Saturday. There were people and dogs EVERYWHERE! Running, laying out, playing with footballs/frisbees/soccer balls/etc. I even took a quick video and sent it to Luke. If you can't find me in June, it's probably because I'm at Central Park! We took tons of pictures (which I've limited for you, you're welcome) in all of the beautiful trees and ate street tacos for lunch.

We then traveled down to Soho to visit Kate Spade NYC, Georgetown Cupcake Soho, and Purl (where I'm pretty sure Aubrey was in heaven!). And from Soho, we continued south into Brooklyn so that I could show the girls my old stomping grounds, Brooklyn Heights. We walked Montague St. and ended up down at the Promenade for another photo shoot.

{Pic stolen from Sarah}

We then decided to walk the infamous Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhattan. At this point, you can imagine that my feet were about to fall off. But of course, walking the Brooklyn Bridge is always worth it!

While in lower Manhattan, we stopped by the World Trade Center Memorial. I had never been to the new memorial and it was definitely a humbling experience. I'm forever grateful for those that gave their lives to fight for and protect America.

We ended our day with dinner in Hell's Kitchen and a quick trip up to the top of the Empire State Building. I'm a firm believer in people visiting the ESB at night vs. during the day. The view is absolutely breathtaking!

{Pic stolen from Sarah}

See? I was not lying! We did a TON on Saturday! But I must say, I was pretty proud of us. We took the train back to Morristown and crashed. It was good that we did though, because we still had another full day in the city to conquer. Sunday's adventures up next... :)

Aubrey and Sarah Visit NJ/NYC: Part 1

This past weekend, two of my best friends in the entire world flew up to New Jersey to visit and go into the city. Their visit was the first long visit by friends that Luke and I have had since we moved up here. I cannot even begin to explain how good this was for my heart! Not only had I missed these two like crazy, but they brought with them a little bit of Texas, familiarity, and comfort that I hadn't felt in a while. True friends will do that to you. :)

The girls flew in on Friday and I picked them up at the Newark airport. It could not have been a more gorgeous day (or weekend, as you'll be able to see from my pics)! After I squeezed their necks half to death, we grabbed their luggage and headed back to Morristown so that I could show them where I live and they could chill after an already long day of traveling.

After a quick break and showing the girls our apartment, we all piled into the car and went looking for lunch. Of course, we ended up at Tito's, one of mine and Luke's favorite places to eat in Morristown. The girl's liked it too!

After lunch, we went back to our apartment so Aubrey and Sarah could take a quick nap. They had, after all, been up since about 5am and lost an hour in the switching of time zones. We lounged on the couch and caught up on Revenge and SVU, just like old times. This was exactly what I'd been looking forward to!

After naps, us three girls left Luke and the pups at home to go walk around Morristown. I wanted to show my friends our cute little town since I knew we'd spend a majority of Saturday and Sunday in NYC.

{Walking around downtown Motown; pic stolen from Sarah}

{Isn't Motown so pretty in the spring?! pic stolen from Sarah}

{Pic stolen from Sarah}

{Pic stolen from Sarah}

We walked around the Morristown Green, enjoyed the perfect weather, and had our first-ever experience with bubble tea. It was a little interesting and probably not something I'll drink on a regular basis (creamy flavored tea with brown tapioca bubbles--weird), but it was fun to try something different!

That night, the girls ordered pizza and Luke and I ordered Chinese. Got to love delivery! Knowing that we had a long two days in NYC ahead of us, we wanted to fuel up and get plenty of rest. 

Up next, Aubrey and Sarah's first day in NYC!

Our weekend getaway to Washington, D.C.

Last week/weekend, Luke and I took Thursday and Friday off from work and drove down to Washington, D.C. for a long weekend with some friends. This was sort of a Sara's birthday/our friends' anniversary/we all need a weekend away from life kind of trip and it was exactly what Luke and I needed!!

{View from our hotel room}

I had forgotten how beautiful DC is! It had been over 10 years since I'd last visited and Luke had never been. In addition to being saturated in our country's history and American pride, DC is an awesome city for your professionals to live/work in and it has a really fun restaurant/coffee shop/bar scene. We stayed at the Washington Hilton and I would totally recommend this hotel to anyone!

{I love the cherry blossoms in the spring!}

We stayed three nights, but didn't get into town until closer to dinner time on Thursday. Knowing that Friday and Saturday would be our only two full days in Washington, D.C., we spent all day Friday visiting touristy sites. We took the metro over to the Arlington National Cemetery, where we watched the changing of the guard. We also walked through the National Mall and Memorial Parks (Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam, WW2, etc) and even made a quick stop into the National Museum of Natural History. We did a TON of walking on that first day and I'm pretty sure we all felt like our knees/ankles/feet we're going to fall off! 

We also ate some really amazing food that day. I have to admit that my pub onion soup at lunch was by far my favorite!

{Warm doughnuts with caramel and chocolate dipping sause after dinner on Friday night. SO YUM!}

On Saturday, the four of us tackled the Smithsonian National Zoo and it was amazing! DC's zoo is free to the public, but this does not mean it is mediocre in the least. It is actually a very nice place and we had the best time walking around out in the sunshine feeling like kids again! We ate over-priced chicken fingers and french fries for lunch and, of course, Luke had to have Dippin' Dots, ha! Zoo food at it's finest. 

After the zoo and a ton more walking, we decided to start walking back towards our hotel so that we could rest up and get ready for a fun last night in DC, but of course, the girls had to make a quick stop into Lou Lou Boutique, the cutest little shop just a couple of blocks from our hotel. Our sweet boys suffered through and I'm so glad we stopped! I picked up a couple pairs of earrings and a beautiful, spring-inspired infinity scarf for my birthday. :)

For dinner on Saturday night, the four of us walked down to Tortilla Coast, a popular Mexican food restaurant in DC. It was like HEAVEN for these displaced Texas kids just dying for fajitas, enchiladas, and margaritas! We toasted to birthdays, anniversaries, and a great weekend in Washington, D.C.

Waking up early on Sunday morning so that we could get back to Jersey and pick up our furbabies from the doggy boarding place was a rough wake-up call (a little too much fun? nahhh!), but we were excited to get home and relax the rest of the weekend. As we were driving home, Luke and I could not stop talking about how much fun we had and ranking our favorite places we visited. I think that is a sign of a successful, long weekend getaway!  Our 2nd anniversary is quickly approaching and I'm already thinking about a weekend trip to...? Any suggestions??

Until next time DC! :)

The Poconos & Birthday Celebrations

On Saturday, Luke and I drove up to the Poconos to celebrate our friend Jessica's 30th birthday. We met up with Jess, her fiance, and some of her closest friends and family at her parents' weekend house. It snowed on and off all day, so the mountains looked gorgeous. We went for a walk, found a waterfall, and took pictures. Later, we cooked out, ate birthday cake, and celebrated the birthday girl. It was so fun to get out of New Jersey for a little bit and hang out with such awesome people! Hope you had an awesome birthday weekend Jess!!