Avery Lately

Helloooo, from Amarillo, Texas!! That's right-Amarillo. I'm up here in the Panhandle working for a couple of days then heading a couple of hours south to Lubbock for a couple more. Then Thursday night I get to go back to Midland just in time to celebrate my hubby's 10 year class reunion this weekend. YIKES!! 10 YEARS!!

So. Lately. Y'all, I have been having the time of my life. Cash and I celebrated our one year anniversary (one year of being a Mrs.--unreal) in July. Two weeks before that I had had surgery, so our anniversary trip was delayed until this past weekend. I'm not much on selfies, but for those of you who know me will be SHOCKED by this one. I did it. I had the surgery. I said goodbye to the girls. Glorious moment.

feeling good! (and actually getting to run around!)

 I never had our wedding or honeymoon pictures printed to my liking (I'm lame), so in their place we enlarged and framed the envelope and congratulations letter from President and Mrs. GW Bush. We put them side by side in our hallway, and I'm over the moon pleased with how the art gallery came through for us on the framing. They did a fantastic job all around. The envelope may be my favorite, but I doubt my parents would be thrilled if I displayed their address on my blog. :)

 

favorite wedding card

At the beginning of August we met my parents in Ruidoso, New Mexico (where we got engaged--holla!), for a fun-filled weekend of horse races, history, and gondola rides. We rented this cute little condo/cabin that faced the woods. The deer would walk by in the mornings and evenings. One night I was able to get them to come up to me. Unreal!



the deer whisperer, that's what I call myself

In September I switched roles at the bank. When I was hired, it was known that I would be a Personal Banker for some length of time. Then I would eventually start a Training Department. September 3rd we officially got that up and running, and I have been eyeball deep in creating training material ever since. Four years of teaching and two summers of bank experience ended up being the recipe for the perfect job. I am traveling a lot now, but this is something I could have only dreamed of doing. It took 9 years between college and professional work to finally get to this point. I had always hoped I could just land in a training department. To CREATE one and have that trust from my executive team is something I can't describe. Unbelievable. Oh, and my boss is a Razorback. Make me lucky times 1,000!!!

Over Labor Day weekend Cash and I went to Santa Fe to go white water rafting. The rapids weren't too high, but it was still a nice day on the Rio Grande. Our guide had just finished a canoe race that went from Kansas City to St. Louis, so we learned a lot about rafting from her. Plus, Santa Fe is becoming my "gift" city. Last year, Cash bought me a super amazing road bike at the REI store there. This year he found a Jeep.

When we got back to Midland, this is what that sweet man bought for me...

I didn't live until I had this thing!!

I never thought my heart would let me trade in my 4Runner. It was the last bit of my single life I had left. But when Cash took me for a test drive in the new Wranglers, I could've cried I was so in love. It was the best choice we ever made. I love taking the top off (even if it does rain!) and driving all over West Texas. I am a Jeep person now, no doubt.

The first weekend we had it we took it out to the dove lease. I even killed my first dove! I was so proud.

my first dove

Even though I am no longer on the retail side of the bank, my old boss asked me to be in a golf tournament with him a couple of weekends ago. We played in the Bosworth tournament. Living in Midland, you learn you didn't really survive until you had Bosworth in your life. They take care of every single problem you could imagine having in your home or business. Since I moved to Midland I have become good friends with their CFO, so my former boss and I were on the team with her and their President. I spent the day trying to cost-effectively get them to Arkansas to work on our home there. 



Ron, Stacy, me, and my old boss Martin

This past weekend was finally our anniversary trip. We left after work Friday and headed to Kerrville, Texas, home of Johnny Manziel. (Hey, I'm an Aggie now.) We spent the weekend at the Texas Hunt Lodge, and I can promise you no one has ever had more fun than I had this past weekend.

Saturday morning we woke up to the smell of breakfast, then we headed out to go hunting. Cash bagged a catalina, so we took it to the processor and headed in for lunch. They had a full-time cook on staff, so we were fed to the brim at all hours of the day and night. After a power nap, we went out to find a ram for me. I wanted a painted desert. We finally saw a group of rams, so I popped this one. I could not stop shaking. Literally. I was so excited my heart was going 90 to nothing.

I hit him through both lungs and the heart. If I must brag! LOL. I made a better shot on mine than Cash did his, and I just wanted to point that out. I am currently trying to convince my boss to let me hang this above my desk at work. She said a hog, no big deal...but a ram, ehhhh. I am still working on this though!

painted desert ram taken at Texas Hunt Lodge

Texas Hunt Lodge houses 35 ranches and over 100,000 acres. It is mostly for exotic hunting. We were able to shoot ours on a safari hunt then spend Sunday photographing the other exotics. It was quite amazing. We saw wildebeests, springbock, water buffalo, axis deer, pere david deer, many typs of rams, tons of different sorts of African antelope, whitetail deer, elk. They have a hunt lodge in Africa as well, and I'm determined my husband will take me there. Italy is out. Africa Hunt Lodge is in.

We drove the 4 hours back to Midland last night. Then I repacked and headed to Lubbock. I stayed there last night and drove the other 2 hours to Amarillo this morning and worked here all day. The COO even took me to see our new building; sometimes I can't get over how great it is to work for our executive management.

After work I checked into the hotel and headed out to Palo Duro Canyon. It was gorgeous! If you ever get the chance to go through Amarillo, take time to see this. I met an elderly couple from Australia while I was taking pictures, and the gentleman was kind enough to take my picture.

Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo

Traveling for work isn't quite the same as traveling with my husband, but I usually try to make friends in the other markets or find some sort of attraction to enjoy. If I'm going to be away from home, I might as well enjoy my time...and eat good! I am ready to smoke some steak from Las Brisas Wednesday night!! By smoke I mean eat it until it's all gone.

Well, that is the latest and greatest from the Pullin house. When I get settled in one night this week I plan on changing up the look around here. I miss this ol' blog world.

(*Note: News about the Razorbacks has intentionally been left off due to embarrassment from this past weekend.)

Later!

Avery Jane