milking the holidays

Curtis and I will be spending Thanksgiving in Austin (TX) with my family and Christmas in Wyoming (MI) with his family. I could use our travel as an excuse to be decorating the house for Christmas early, but the truth is... we would do it anyway.
There's just something so cozy about a Christmas tree :) ...and we have four.
(I apologize for the bad quality of the pictures - I took them with my iphone which is a 3G and doesn't have flash capabilities)

It's Christmas in our living room:

 A little Christmas in "the parlor":

 A Sherlockian Christmas in Curtis' study:

 And a very little Christmas in our bedroom:

This tree is not of the Christmas variety, but it is one that I took pride in creating on our bedroom wall:

So! While we plan on thoroughly enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday this weekend (and an anniversary of sorts), we can also rest in knowing that our home will be ready to welcome us into the Christmas season when we return from our trip to Austin this weekend.

confessions of a quiet, quirky couple

Curtis and I are rolling merrily along with married life (PTL! Being married is awesome. I'm so glad God called us to it.) We're very much enjoying our Awesumn Rocktober dates and hermiting together. Work is great --we thank the Lord daily for providing so well with jobs we enjoy, a house to live in, and our perfect friendship in each other.
The only thing we seem to be dissatisfied with is finding a regular companionship in others --this has been bothering me a lot more than Curtis. We want close friends (the bible calls us to this kind of fellowship), but don't feel like we're living that out in the right way. That is probably a product of our not reaching out.
I've always taken a very long time to get to know and be comfortable around people, but I think something more has crept into my personality over the past few years. Being social is a struggle. I have a desire in me to have deep friendships with people, but feel overcome with a strange anxiety around people that I don't see everyday. Even if I've known you for a while, adrenaline rushes like crazy and I either get really quiet, or unusually energetic with very little to say. This can make for some awkward moments.
Curtis loves me and finds it endearing --I've been this way since he's known me-- and I'm grateful for that.
So, friends: If we seem aloof or reclusive at times, the truth is that... we probably would rather be alone... but! we also want to hang out with you. We'd like you to get to know us, and mostly, we'd really like to get to know you.
We seek your patience and grace in getting to know us! Once you look past the anxiety thing, Curtis and I are pretty dorky fun people. And I think that equals cool.
Yeah! ...that totally equals cool. :)

we're rocking the 'tober.

It's October! and although the weather doesn't quite feel like it yet, there are lots of other signs that autumn is here!

We see acorns on the ground outside our house!
Our home is filled with pumpkin spice candles, food, coffee, and tea!
I drink at least one cup of hot cocoa and one cup of tea a day!
Curtis is spending more mornings on the porch enjoying a pipe!
Our living room has been painted "Autumn Harvest!"

Wow...I just re-read what I've written so far and noticed how... exclamatory it is. I must truly be excited for the season.

This autumn has come with some new routines for teamShides:

Curtis has graciously accepted my request that he not only serves me as an awesome husband, but also as a trainer. I'm naturally very thin and I think it's a common misconception that I don't need to work out, but the truth of the matter is that while I'm not overweight, I'm also not very physically fit. My heart hasn't gotten a good, regular work out since I did A Chorus Line in 2009. ...Yeesh!
It's easy to get inspired to work out when Curtis spends roughly 3 hours of each day doing the same. I'm only working out for half an hour a day; running 3 days a week, lifting weights and focusing on abs 3 days a week.

That leads to our next new(ish) endeavor together: entering races. Curtis is currently registered for 3 races in the next 4 weeks. I will be running with him in two of them. TWO! ...Who am I?

I have developed an interest in cooking. I'm not attracted to recipes, though. One day I got tired of eating microwave food and sandwiches and decided to throw together some items that sound yummy together. This is fun and freeing because I'm the only one who eats my cooking, so there are no embarrassing consequences when I mess up. I've learned that it's best not to measure.

awesumn.

August, September... Where have you gone?

busy  [biz-ee]

adjective

1.actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime.
 Curtis has been busy relearning lines, busy at daytime rehearsals, and busy performing in ELLIS ISLAND at Bass Hall.
 

2.not at leisure; otherwise engaged.
 Curtis spent 3 busy weeks working on a very consuming outreach production of The Sound of Music. He was "not at leisure" between 60 and 80 hours each week.
 Meg was busy at work preparing for, attending, and catching up from a Family Ministry Conference in Dallas. She also kept herself "otherwise engaged" with household projects while Curtis worked so many hours... that part was a little more fun, but still falls under the "not at leisure" category.
 

3.full of or characterized by activity.

 Dang, life has been busy.

We at teamShides have felt positively consumed by the past couple of months with little time together, let alone time at home... but it looks like October will bring us that fresh breath of autumn air that we're so in need of! Figuratively. And possibly literally, if the weather forecasts hold true.

We've planned a remedial month, taking some intentional time to spend together. We're really excited about it. October has been our anticipated horizon for a long time now. It's that awesome month where we'll finally paint our house, read on the porch, go on dates, relax with each other, relax with friends, etc... AND it sort of marks the beginning of our very favorite season: autumn.

It's decided: As of tomorrow (October 1st) we will wake up and it'll be Awesumn. 

awesumn [aw-suh'm]

adjective/noun

1. slang terminology for the especially awe-inspiring fall season. See definitions for "awesome" and "autumn."

  Rocktober is totally awesumn.

Join us in celebrating, won't you?

God is good.

God is good.

Today has been one of those days where I allow little things to irritate me, stress to consume me, and emotions to take over. All I want to do is seclude myself in our bedroom, read my bible and sleep until it's tomorrow.
Praise God for the wise and encouraging women I work with, and for a God who is so sovereign and merciful! He reveals more of his awesome steadfastness to me daily... today he's doing it by using my co-workers.

I'm so blessed to be surrounded by these Godly women at work. They love their husbands and families deeply, are continuously acknowledging God's work in their lives and pray passionately for his will to be done and his name to be glorified. I could not ask for a better environment to be immersed in day after day. I know he is using this time in my life to really grow me and shape me. I just feel abundantly blessed on a day like this when I feel like my consuming Self has caused me to wander off the lighted path.

Today is no longer about self pity, but praise! And that's a good thing. A very good thing :)

In other news, Curtis has been working incredibly long hours as our church gears up for their production of The Sound of Music. It's taken it's toll on him, but we've been blessed in his overtime, and in learning better what marriage looks like during those busy show times when he's only home from 12AM - 8AM.
Despite his lack of personal time and our lack of together time, I think it's going pretty well. I couldn't be more proud of him and his desire to continue to work hard and do the work well.
I'm also looking forward to seeing him up on stage again at Bass Hall in a couple weeks in Ellis Island!

Life is blessed when it's busy.
and it's going to be AWESOME when it's not busy for a little while :)

haircuts and wildfires

If you haven't seen us in a week, you may not know that both Curtis and I got our hair cut. Way off.
Ta-da!

(Cut-credit goes to the talented Mel Florey.) I meant to update about that sooner, but we've had a busy weekend :)

Friday was my dad's 60th birthday, so Curtis and I made the drive down to Austin after work. We also got the pleasure of seeing my friend, Meg Steiner, rock out in a production of Hair. I loved watching Meg up on stage again. The whole family had a good night out, and we got to quietly celebrate my dad's birthday over "24 karat" cupcakes from Hey Cupcake after the show.
Curtis had to work a wedding back in the Fort on Saturday, so we capped the short trip off that morning.

The day after we left, my parents' neighborhood (Steiner Ranch) was one of the Central Texas areas that caught on fire. They were evacuated yesterday and are still unable to return as of this evening, but luckily their house is still untouched. Praise the Lord for watching over them! --If you haven't heard about the wildfires here in Texas, please be praying about them! Austin, especially, has been effected this weekend... please pray for the families, homes that have been lost or are in danger of being lost, Bastrop farms/ranches, those fighting the fires, and for RAIN! Weather forecasters haven't predicted any in the next week, but God can bring relief if we ask him.

At some point this weekend Curtis and I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Apollo 18 --both really well done movies. We recommend seeing them.

...So, have I to mention the gorgeous weather yesterday morning. Autumn is our favorite season, so when the thermometer read in the 60s, Curtis and I decided to celebrate. We spent a fantastically tiring day together and look forward to an entire week of cool temps!

Until next time,
Peace :)

Another show closed.

Well, we made it through the run!
Yesterday Curtis and I closed Becky's New Car at Circle Theatre. It was a blessing and fantastically fun experience. We loved getting to know our amazing director and castmates.
Thanks again to all of our friends who came out to see it --the support was outstanding!
Here are some photos to show y'all what we've been up to for the past 2 months.

This marks the end of one chapter for us, but we've got some exciting things coming up this week. Can't wait to share more! The next post should be full of updates :)

Dreamin' post-Becky's

After a long and enjoyable run of Becky's New Car at Circle Theatre, we will finally be closing this weekend! If you haven't come to see it yet, this will be your last chance. We've got shows Thursday at 7:30, Friday and Saturday at 8, as well as a matinee on Saturday at 3.
Man, Curtis and I have been so blessed to get to work together on this production. For those of you who have been a part of it, you know there's a special sort of energy about working in live theatre. Well, it becomes extra special when you get to experience that exchange on stage with your spouse. I'm really going to cherish these couple of months for years to come. Hopefully God has it in his plans for Curtis and I to work together in this capacity in the future!
We've seen some incredible support from people on this show! It's really floored us. Typically only one or two friends and my parents will make it out to see us, but several of our CCBC co-workers have come too! It's been very encouraging :) Thanks, guys, for loving on us. It's meant a lot.
The next big thing that us Shidelers are looking forward to after this 8 week contract is GETTING OUR HAIR CUT! ....and much more importantly: finally having more free time to spend with our friends. We're hungry for fellowship! Hopefully our home will get painted quickly and we can start having YOU guys over. I would love love love that.

Smell ya later!