blast from the (forgettable) past

I was looking through some of the first tagged photos of myself on facebook and came upon this pic...




Why does this picture even still exist? Jess, this is a bad bad thing you have.

new look.

Do you like the new look and title of the blog? I am worried the title is too cheesy. Quirky or cheesy? I'm fine with like goat or brie cheesy...it's cheese but sophisticated and classy. When we get to like kraft singles cheesy I will change the title in an instant.

Yesterday, Tommy and I were talking about the different gym personalities we encounter. First of all, this is actually the first time we have actually belonged to a real gym. All through college and last year (b/c I was the spouse of a student) we went to the SLC. So we are Lifetime-ing it up and it is interesting.


There is a DISTINCT difference between the 5am crowd (that's when we normally go) and the 6pm crowd (when we hit the snooze). The 5am crowd is CONSISTENT. They tend to be older and a little more reclusive, but they are there no matter what. At 6pm, it's about being skinny (if you are a girl) and ellipticizing for an amount of time that only results in muscle breakdown rather than muscle conditioning. For the guys, they are big, creatine-eating, bicep curling monsters whose aerobic capacity is probably that of an 85 year old woman. Of course these are frightening generalities but I wanted to emphasize the difference.

Then you get the individuals. There is this one woman who ALWAYS wears tight, black spandex pants. She wears a sweatband around her head and she wears glasses which she keeps on with a thick band almost like goggles. Another is this one girl who is either walking, ellipticizing, or stair-climbing. She is EXTREMELY tan and she does all these movements very fast and kind of spastic. And her left leg is always coming out really oddly. She wears like a billion pieces of jewelry, mostly bracelets during all of this. Then my personal fav, Foam Roller Body Builder Guy. This guy looks like an 80s body builder. He is very toned but not BIG and hulk-ish. And he wears this goofy haircut that is parted on the side and combed over (think Ken doll). He comes in every morning and spends about 20 minutes with his foam roaller before starting his workout. It's pretty entertaining.

But yesterday, when Tommy and I were doing front squats, Foam roller guy said I had good form. THAT'S right Mr. Foam roller guy, I DO have good form. And it was my first day to do front squats. Booyah.

she's baa-aaack

no this is not some freaky re-telling of Poltergeist, rather a declaration of my return to blog land.

Since we moved from Waco, we have not had internet so I depended upon Tommy's Iphone for world wide access and I was definitely NOT going to write a post on that teeny tiny keyboard.

Some updates in Byrd life:

1. We moved to Dallas to a townhome in uptown...about twice the size of our waco apartment and suddenly we had all this space we didn't know what to do with!

2. In the meantime, we were driving up north to see family and friends like a billion times a week, I got a job in Frisco (more on that later), and found that all the amazing qualities of living in uptown are not quite in our budget.

3. So we moved again! This time to a town home in Addison/North Dallas. We like a number aspects about this: both of our commutes are shorter, we are closer to family and friends and potential church options, and in general we like the apartment itself alot better. We have only been there 2 weeks and it already feels more like home than the other place.

4. My job. So I was offered 2 jobs: one at a mental health agency caseworking like I did in Waco. the other was at Frisco High School (my mom basically got me this opportunity). After much thought and prayer we decided to NOT accept the caseworking position. I would have had to use my own vehicle and been driving all over the DFW metroplex. Also, it was a position with clients at a lower functioning level than my Waco job and I don't think I would have really enjoyed that like I did in Waco.

5. At Frisco, I am an aide in the Special Education Specialized Behavior Support (SBS)classroom. These kids aren't necessarily academically or functionally challenged (ie mentally retarded) but have emotional/social/behavioral issues. We have several with mental disorders. So I went from working with crazy adults to crazy teenagers! It's quite a paycut but there are so many opportunities in education that I thought it was worth a shot. I am already attached to our kids...want to fight for them...want to see them succeed.

6. I am going to be an aunt! My sister is 3 months pregnant! Pray for her b/c she has fibroids on her uterus so that makes her semi-high risk. She is due late February/early March. I am so pumped to be Uncle T and Aunt Celina!

That is all for now, I shall be updating much more frequently.