Sweet Home Austin

We've officially been Austinites for two weeks now.  Hard to believe.  Almost every box has been unpacked...Wahoo! Our apartment is starting to look like people actually live here, instead of a land of cardboard.  Everyone has been super nice in our complex.  We're really interested to meet our neighbors above us and their small children or large dogs.  We're pretty sure they have racing contests from one side of the apartment to the other.  Tyler thinks their herding buffalo...who knows.

Since we got here things have been anything but dull.  For the past two weeks, while Tyler goes to work I have stayed home, unpacked and decorated.  And maybe I've occasionally made my way to the pool and the mall :).  We also floated the river with some people for our first time last weekend.  Loved it!! We made the short 20 minute drive to San Marcos to float the river by Texas State.  I have to say it was a great way to spend the afternoon in 100+ degree heat.

I also noticed that the landscape is quite different down here.  When they say the hill country, they mean it.  To give you some background, I've only lived in Dallas and Lubbock.  Two amazingly flat places. You can see downtown Dallas from like 10 miles away...not so much here.  While driving to the Barton Creek Mall this week I had a momentary freak out moment where all I could see were hills and no mall.  Come to find out, the mall is on a hill. Problem solved, although frightening at the moment when you have no idea where you are.

We've also done our best to try good local food down here.  Dan's Hamburger's = delicious. Kirby's Lane queso = delicious.  Amy's Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream = mmm, delicious.  More to come in my next update!

- Meghan

Austin Bound

So it's officially public.  We are moving to Austin in June.  Some of you have known for awhile and some of you are just finding out.  We hate to leave our family and friends, but we really feel like this is where God is leading us.

This move is bitter-sweet for us.  We are excited to move to a new place, but we're sad to leave everything we know and love in Dallas. We have been so blessed to have such a great community of friends around us and you have each impacted us greatly.   

As two Red Raiders it won't be easy moving to Longhorn country. Although we are certain that we will receive grief, we will wear our red and black with pride.  And will just say no to burnt orange.  Plus it doesn't hurt that Tech plays Texas in Austin this fall. 

A few weeks ago we went down to Austin and put a deposit down on an apartment.  After looking at more apartments than we care to remember, we finally found one that worked for us.  I am so excited to decorate, especially since I wasn't able to do everything I wanted in the apartment we live in currently.  

Thanks to several Austin fans we are excited to try all the local food places like Salt Lick, Kerby's Lane, and many more!  Plus, with all of the live music that Austin has we look forward to exploring our new home.  And really, how can you not be excited about a place that has signs like this...

The big "C"

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7

As some of you know my grandmother's (Nanny) cancer came back in the fall of 2010.   She beat breast cancer two years ago, but we got the news about it coming back a few months before Tyler and I's wedding.  Devastation can't begin to descibe the way I felt when my parents told me.  But my family tried to stay strong and positive until we knew more.  A doctor found a spot on her skull.  After surgery the doctor recommended chemo and radiation to get the spots they could not remove.

Thursday afternoon my Mom called me and told me that Nanny's test results came in and the cancer has NOT spread, the spots she had have SHRUNK and her back (that she broke) is HEALING.  Praise God! The treatment is working! I can't tell you how exciting this news was.  It is truly an answered prayer. My Nanny is such a rockstar and if anyone can beat cancer it's her!  She is a true inspiration.

Through this experience God has shown me his faithfulness and how powerful prayer is.  We are continuing to pray that the treatment keeps working and that Nanny stays strong through this process.  My prayer tonight is that if you are going through a tough time that you can trust Jesus and tell him what you're going through.

One more thing:
In honor of mother's day this weekend I just want to say how thankful I am to have such a wonderful and loving mother and grandmother!  You both are amazing women and your strength and dedication to our family means more to me than I can express.  I love you both so much and hope to be half the mothers you were one day.

<3 Meghan

Prayer is Powerful

A friend of mine shared this video about Prayer with me tonight.  Great video, take a few minutes to check it out...

Etsy.com

Have you heard of etsy.com?  I may be behind, but this weekend I found the most amazing website!  It's an online site that you can buy and sell things that are handmade, vintage, etc.  So genius!  I especially love this since I'm in the middle of decorating our apartment right now.  I've been searching for a few unique items for our home and I think this is the PERFECT place.  I'm sure I will be spending a long time on this site over the next few months.  Here are a few things I found that are so cute...

60 Days

So here we are two months into marriage.  Yes, two months already!  Life has been anything but boring the last two months.  We almost have everything done in our apartment.  We got a new bed!  That was fun, and very adult too I might add.  As our first big purchase as a married couple we bought a King sized mattress.  Luckily I already had a frame since the store wanted my first born for the mattress.  I love the bed though.  I have to say it's better then the full size we slept on for the first month we were married.

The last month has been a little zany for us.  We were involved in two Disciple Nows, one at the end of February and one the first week of March.  The one in February was in Muleshoe, at Rachael's church and I had such a blast hanging out with her all weekend.  It was like old times when we used to live together.  The band at the D-Now was awesome too.  I was blown away by their talent and professionalism, especially since they're only in High School.  I highly recommend you check them out, their name is Thirty Nine Thoughts.  We hope they come out to Dallas soon so we can see them play again.  Seriously they are that good.

I also got to go to Houston last month to go to a dress fitting for Whitney.  I was so excited that I got to see her in her dress.  Her dress is breathtaking and Justin won't know what to do with himself whenever he sees her on their wedding day in September.  Their wedding will be here before I know it, only six months away now!  Then Tyler and I also visited Austin a few weeks ago.  We had so much fun.  I tried Amy's Ice Cream, which is a big local ice cream place there.  So good.  We also hit up some outlet malls, which of course I loved.

So I've already posted wedding photos to facebook and am about to post pictures from our honeymoon.  Until I do, I thought I'd share a few photos here.  The cup is made out of bamboo and the guy made it for us right on the beach.  Then the other picture is us right off the beach at our resort.  As you can see, the water was crystal clear.  I miss Jamaica already!

*Happy Love Day*

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  Today Tyler and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife.  It was fabulous.

As I look back on our relationship and our first month of marriage, I can't help but to think of the first song we danced to at our wedding - God Gave Me You by Dave Barnes.  I truly believe that God gave me Tyler to be my forever valentine.  I look forward to celebrating each one with him.  I've attached the video of the song for all of y'all to enjoy.  I hope you all have a wonderful day with all of your loved ones.

Love,
Mrs. Gatewood