Cade, London, and lots to share!

Howdy everyone!

Well lots has been going on, but things have been really good despite being insanely busy!

First and foremost, congrats to Ashley & TJ in the birth of their second baby boy, Cade Thomas who arrived on Monday in the afternoon, weighing in at 8 lbs, 3 oz! We are told he looks exactly like Cody did so I can’t wait to meet him… Ashley did a great job in the delivery room, just popped him right out in no time! We’ve seen adorable pics, and one really cute one with Cody kind of checking him out… we know that Cody is going to be a great big brother! Speaking of Cody - today is his 2nd birthday - I can't even believe it but I'm so excited for him. He is growing up to be such a beautiful boy!!

So yea for the Dortch’s…

As for me I was in London for a couple of weeks on business, and am back but am still not feeling up to par. Usually jet lag never affects me, and if it does for maybe a day at the most, but I was sick all last week and just miserable, so this is the only thing I can think of as to why I’m just not feeling like my normal self!

London was great though – saw some friends that I haven’t seen in awhile which was *fantastic* - dinners and just good company – and saw the sights again! I was amazed at how well I still knew my way around although I hadn’t been back in 2.5 years – I mean down to being oriented knowing where the Thames was and about how far, which “landmark” was close by on a back street, etc – came into good use as I was the impromptu “tour guide” for my fellow colleague who had never been to London. When I showed her Big Ben she had no clue what we were looking at (we came out right under it at the tube station) so I took out my Discover Card to show her exactly what she was looking at as I have Big Ben and the houses of parliament design on my card – LOL. It was hysterical! We also had a fantastic time shopping at Harrod’s and enjoyed shopping (I got the most fun and amazing necklace, and we had great fun shopping for perfumes for her – I recommended Jo Malone and we found the most heavenly fragrance – nectarine, but strangely it’s not all that citrusy smelling which is good for me). So she bought some perfume and I got some samples, but tried to stick with my necklace which soon came to be impossible when I decided I HAD to have a tea cosy (a teapot cover essentially that keeps your teapot warm for awhile) and some tea tidies. But I really did stop there – whew! Then we took a look at the Rock N’ Roll exhibit where I saw the first electric guitar – 1931 – looks like a small banjo with a very long neck – looked like it had been to hell and back but it was still smiling at me… thank goodness for the inventor (American, by the way, and this is the first time the guitar has ever been allowed outside of the good ol’ USA). Was so happy to make its acquaintance. And don’t worry, I got my fix of Wagamama chicken katsu curry in (heaven as far as food goes), and my Pizza Express… also had two long walks along the Thames (my old favorite past time) and all in all was very enjoyable! Lots of people keep asking me about the weather, though in truth it wasn’t any warmer/colder than it had been here, but it definitely rained a LOT – probably about 80% of the time I was there with one beautiful day that of course I was training for. Oh well – soon after we figured it would be raining all the time, and I experienced day after day one of my biggest pet peeves – wearing heels and pants in the rain, and feeling the cold wet pant cuff against your bare skin – ugh – makes me cringe! – our party decided to forget about the daily commute (walk 13 minutes from hotel to train station, ride 40 minutes on the train, wait for 10 minutes in the rain for the bus, ride the 10 minute bus, walk 5 minutes down the hill from the bus stop to the building, oh yeah, in the rain, and the whole time with laptops, training materials, etc) and just cab it to and from – oh, was so much nicer and really not that much more expensive, and certainly was a time saver! LOL – I really don’t mind the tube/trains for public transport, but all that switching all the time in the elements in heels that fall in the cobbles really just isn’t enjoyable at all, so hence why after 4 days of this we were like, nope, not doing it. So good times – am scheduled to go back in mid-March so I’ll get to see everyone again and spend some more good time there!

Other news – Mam has moved into her new house which I think is perfectly suited for her – as soon as I got off the plane I headed up to help her move, and my aunt Kelli was down from NC, too, so it was so fun to hang out! It is closer to us on the freeway, and I still get really excited when I think about being close to my family down here, and that I get to see everyone more regularly without having to plan a big weekend!

Young Life is going great and just loving it… it fills our time like sand but it is so rewarding for us to develop great relationships with the kids. The girl leaders also have a Bible study going that I am getting so much out of and am enjoying so much – I look forward to it all week and the book is so good!

Anyway, have to get back to the daily grind but had 10 minutes to give you guys an update… will post pics later b/c I have some good ones!

Love,
Tasha xx

February ALREADY?!

Ah, so much time has passed again – do you think that in truth time does really go faster and faster as you get older, because really I can’t understand where the time goes!

So quick update – we are still having a ton of fun enjoying our new house – we’ve lived there for a month and not quite a week! Whoop! We regularly enjoy our hot tub, and now almost finished media room! It is fantastic – my only regret is I don’t get to spend that much time there – sigh! Oh well, maybe things will slow down in a month or so… but for now I guess not so much.

Work update: still working long hours but have a perk coming up on Friday – I’m going to England for two weeks! YEA!!!!!! I’m really so excited although I know training end users on software will be exhausting! But it will be a great way to break up the day to day, though I know I will miss Curt and home and the semblance of a routine that I have built tremendously! Stay tuned for that…

Also, this past weekend Curt and I officially started our MS 150 training, marking it with a 38-mile bike ride from Kingwood to north (parallel to The Woodlands) which was really fun and really insane of us… I mean it was our first group ride ever (and I’m sorry but people get all up in your space and when you’re clipped in to an inanimate object this can be stressful!) and we have not been keeping up with our training as we should be, so of course it was difficult. And don’t get me wrong, cardio wise we were fit for this ride, but on a bicycle for hours wise, no we were not… the same rote body movements, over and over and over and over, is what really wears on you… the backs of my knees where the tendons join were aching, my shoulder and neck muscles were screaming at me b/c who holds there heads out like turtles for hours at a time, I’m sorry, not me… it was only at the end in the last few miles that our energy was sapped so we had some gooey fruit stuff that only the *cool* bikers eat (or suck, I don’t know, obviously not a cool biker yet as I don’t know how to describe the function without question?). Anyway, so Saturday we were aching, and thought for sure Sunday would be worse, but actually we were fine and I’m sore like I would normally be after a hard workout of any other kind, so that’s encouraging! Or maybe it’s really the benefits of our hot tub as we soaked both Saturday and Sunday night??

Let’s see, what else… Young Life has been awesome and I love everything about it… we have been making great new friends, developing relationships with the kids, and I’m so excited about this semester and getting to know them even better! Our Leader’s Leader, if you want to call her that, started a new women’s Bible study for the girl YL leaders that I am already getting so much out of – it’s thought provoking, and encouraging, and a great place to just have some girl time. Probably when I get back from England we will begin the exhausting process of church shopping which will probably be hard as our church in Fort Worth was so fantastic after we finally found it!

Curt is walking to work on the days that are not rainy, so he’s really enjoying this kind of start to the day, and he listens to books on tape which I think is adorable! In mind, whatever works is wonderful as he does not enjoy reading the way that I do… though admittedly I’m only getting a half a chapter or so in each night of my current pick, Marie Antoinette, so I wish there was more than 5 minutes to devote each night, but oh well, I guess I have a couple long flights coming up so that will help!

Speaking of long flights, Mom and Mam are currently down under!! I smiled so big reading their first email update… they were in Sydney and are now on the ocean on their way to Melbourne… SO jealous!! They get to hold koalas and kangas next! So fun, can’t wait to see all the pics!

I have missed her on our morning workouts at the gym, this morning was especially lonely as I had no one to complain how sore I was, and no one to talk to in the sauna… but it was still great – I love this new part of my routine although I do NOT (and neither does Mom) enjoy waking up at 5:15 a.m. every morning and having to go to bed by 10:30 p.m. at the latest each night, but it is important for our health and also for training for me, so oh well. The other ladies at the gym are nice and they do actually crack me up… I hope I have as much energy as they do when I’m that age!

Anyway, must run but I’ll post pics of the house, media room, and other events soon… which by the way, wish me luck on my travels, this upcoming week (lots of crazy stuff going on), and our training b/c I need it!

xx