The Crisp of Fall

This is by far my FAVORITE time of the year.  In the fall, you will find that I wear my long sleeve shirts (preferably the ones with holes-thank you Andrew Munneke) and nike shorts with chacos... this years addition of my chacos is my snow boots from L.L Bean.  Of course it makes perfect sense... you always need to be prepared for the snow in Texas.. (I have no idea how I talked Travis into buying those at the L.L Bean Outlet in Maine- I love him)

Also, football is the highlight for Travis' fall season.  Along with all the other sports guys in the world.  Sometimes I like to watch ESPN when I work out so I can spew random facts or names to see if I can throw him off.. I mean what's up with Peyton Manning replacing Tim Tebow? I love Tebow...I think he has a good heart and thats what matters in football.

Fall brings Locusts.  Prim loves bugs.  Prim loves Locusts.  Prim loves bringing live buzzing locusts from outside in her mouth and dropping it on the bed to watch it freak out...then I freak out.  

Tuffy likes fall because more old ladies are walking outside...he thinks they are a threat to the safety of the household..therefore he barks every time he sees them.  I feel so safe now from the old ladies.

Fall also brings Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Yum.  

I will be starting with Brewed as soon as they get the power on!  We are all praying October 5th will be the opening date!  I am currently working at the Orthodontist every Monday and babysitting throughout the week.  

We are renovating our "awkward" room that is useless space before our master bedroom.  We are adding a full bath and opened up the closet.  Its been a learning experience for sure.  And also very dusty..Prim loves to eat the dust.

Travis' ESPN: The New TCU Stadium is Awesome.

Tuffy's Tales: Today was the best day, I thought I was in Colorado..but not. I was running all around in the grass, the river and then Mom told me to find her "keys" cause she lost them somewhere in the wonderfulness of "colorado". (And I lost the keys)

Prim Peeps: I love to destroy when parents are gone...

Tricia's Randomness: At the Ortho, I soaked two kids shirts with the spray water instead of pressing air.. I am so glad they were kids not adults..

 Cousin Barb and I :) Poke Fans

 Our House! 

 For some reason this makes me laugh..we are all smiling!

 My wonderful friend Betsy Bradshaw

 First TCU game of the year!

 Taylor Allens Wedding- Trav and I with Andrew and Raelyn Munneke (Cousins)

Sweet Husband of Mine

Joys and Hardships of Marriage: I definitely want to brag on my sweet husband for the sensitivity he has towards me and pursuing my heart.  I came home to flowers the other day and he gave them to me "just because".  He also has been so encouraging through my "in between" jobs and only affirming me that this is what I am supposed to do. Also, I lost my car keys today at the Trinity River and he responded so sweetly to me and with great patience.  I was so nervous he was going to be frustrated with me and I already beat myself up about it and he said, " i am sorry love, that stinks that you had to go through that..." My Husband is Incredible.  I love him.  Girls who don't have a husband yet---make sure you are looking for a patient man!!!! :) 

Bungalow Bowles Update

 Our First Home with the two spoiled dogs..(Tuff got impatient and started barking)

 Again, Tuff got impatient 

 Karon is my BFF at the Ortho-Love her

 This is Molly-Karons Dog..She is guarding the baby doll 24/7

 This is Owen-The Watsons Baby Boy, We love him!

 Prim has a pool :) 

 Back Seat Driver Prim

 Trav's Brother Tim and his long time girlfriend-Suzanne drove through Fort Worth

 Timmy and Travy

Love Birds :)

We decided to call our house the Bungalow.  It sounded nice.  We are currently working on a big project to turn the half bath into a full bath with extra closet space.  We have a wonderful friend from church- Exo- who is a contractor who is working for us.  We love owning our own home and love working on these things together that will add to the value of our 1928 home.

Currently, I am about to go through a job change.  My time at the Orthodontist is coming to an end and my life at a Coffee/Restaurant is about to begin.  I have absolutely loved working with the women at the Ortho...As you can see Karon (pic above) and I are close, and the other women are so incredible and have changed my life dramatically.  I have worked with 7 Moms and they are loved on me so much.  This has really challenged me, since I am so comfortable with kids and can relate to them so easily, to relate with women who are double my age.  And for your entertainment and knowledge I wanted to include some phrases or "haps" at the Ortho:

-"Please stop biting my fingers.."

-"Really Please Don't Bite My Finger!"

-Can you open your mouth? No..Open not close...

-Yes you are bleeding

-I don't know when you are getting your braces off..

-How are you doing today? Silence...

-Don't gag...its ok that you threw up on me...

-Bite.

-Open.

-No thats not a shot

-Awkward eye contact as I work on the patients mouth

-Could you please go brush? Your lunch is still all in your mouth

-Did you eat ___ for lunch? How did I know? Cause its still in your mouth and I smell unfortunately..

I am leaving this world of mouths to go to the restaurant coffee business. The Lord is so faithful when we pray for something He will always answer..we just never know when or what the answer will be.  I have been told a couple of times that my strengths are in relationships.  I wanted to seek out a job that would allow me to use this.  Some church families that I know, had this vision of a coffee shop that would be centered around relationships and loving on those in the community.  This turned into a coffee/restaurant and is opening in September.  I went through 2 rounds of interviews and really felt the Lords leading and got offered a job!  I will be a barista and they are sending me along with 3 others to Austin, TX to get trained.  I will see where our coffee is coming from and how it is made.  I start September 3 and will work full time.  I have always loved coffee shops and lived at one in college-Aspen.  Trav and I always talk about opening up our own someday, just to love on people and get to share about Christ in that environment.  

I definitely wouldn't have guessed that this would be my path...Graduate from Oklahoma State with an Elementary Education Degree, work at a church with 5/6th graders, substitute, go into Orthodontics as a Dental Assistant cause I broke my teeth and want to learn and now going to a brand new coffee shop... I know path this doesn't make since, but we don't know the Lord's ways most of the time but thats what FAITH is about..trusting and pursuing His ways above our own..

Travis is still with XTO and is working very hard.  He is training with his group of guys in fort worth -Jason Bradshaw, Tim Watson, Zack Ethridge, Kyler Wright- to run in the toughest run/obstacle course possible.  Its called the Tough Mudder and is in Austin Texas.  Its about 12 miles full of mud, electric shocks, mountain climbing stuff and all sorts of things that I want to close my eyes and pretend its not real... But my husband loves a challenge and has brought all his friends in with him to accomplish this ridiculous obstacle.  I am so proud of him.  

In our church- Hope Works- the pastor Shane talked about prayer.  Praying with Boldness, Expectation, and faith that the Lord moves mountains not our prayer.  Travis and I have been praying more together and we have seen incredible things being answered within a day from this.  Its been incredible.  Example: I was stressed of missing three days of work next week because three days without getting paid is a hit and spending money down in Austin for food doesn't help... I was really stressed about it and prayed about it and knowing the Lord wants me to go to Brewed(Coffee Shop) I know He will provide.  I went and talked to my office manager at the Ortho and asked if I could work on fridays (and they said no) and asked if I had any sick days left to use.  I have 2 sick days and 1 vacation day to use...3 DAYS! I am missing  3 DAYS and get 3 DAYS PAID!!!  Incredible.  The Lord is incredible, nothing is by coincidence.  He planned that. He is our provider. He cares. He sees it all. He knows our needs.  He is ALL.

Travs ESPN: Fantasy Football Draft...Getting the team together

Tuffys Tales: I like to sleep next to dad.  And share his pillow.  

Prims Peeps: I am growing..in my ears..I chewed up my own pool..and the water dish isn't big enough to sit in...I love to swim.  

Tricia's Randomness: A high school patient that I was working on asked if Travis and I would want to go on a double date to the movies...awkward....

Well, I am so thankful that you read our update and keep checking in with us.  Have a blessed August and Pray With Boldness!

July

This summer has brought up many fun trips and new memories.  The more we live in Fort Worth the more we are building community and loving the area we are in.  


We were blessed by our cousins to take a trip to New York and Maine!  We were thrilled by this gift and hopefully will be able to give someone a trip like this for their wedding present some day. We wanted to go to the Northeast because we both haven't really experienced this area.  

 Bar Harbour

 Fenway Field

 We didn't care for Lobster..

 Clearly..I missed my calling as a model

 Around Central Park

 Anna trying to get Prim to like her..

 Travs Nasty Sprain

 Cousin Anne!

I really do have the most handsome husband! 

 Jimmy, Tyler and Jeff (all Alaback cousins)

 Beautiful Brooklyn Bridge

 Tuffy gets impatient going on the walk to the golf course

 One of the new World Trade Towers

I gave them a bath and didn't look for a second and they rolled in mud..

We flew into NYC not knowing how much time we would spend looking up.  Building after building...there were no rolling plains, cows, or smell of manure..just trash and people everywhere.  We   took a taxi to our hotel located in Soho and quickly cleaned up to go to a Broadway show-Newsies.  I LOVE the Newsies and Travis surprised me by taking me that night.  We have always been told how amazing Broadway shows are.. and it's definitely true.  I think I will pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a Broadway dancer and do that for awhile... (My mom never even considered putting me in dance class..I think there was a reason)


We spent the next two days walking everywhere and learning the Subways.  We both had never been on a subway so that was interesting and dirty.. If I lived there I would probably bring my pine-sol and wipe down the seats and poles everytime I took the subway..


Things we saw:
5th Aveunue
Statue Of Liberty (Took Staten Island Ferry-Thank you Katie Lepine Walker :))
Soho
Chinatown
Little Italy
Rockefeller Plaza
Empire State Building
Times Square
Harlem Basketball Courts for Trav
Parts of Brooklyn
Brooklyn Bridge was our favorite!
Upper West/East Side
Queens
And Much More..


We left NY and went through- Connecticut (Hartford), Rhode Island (Providence-Our favorite! We stopped by Brown University..We felt smart), Massachusetts (Boston-Saw Fenway Field), New Hampshire (Took Us 20 Minutes to cross the state), and MAINE.  Beautiful Maine.  We were surrounded by green.  


We went on Desert Island to Bar Harbour.  Our friends the Bradshaws suggested it after they went over the 4th of July and we are so glad we listened to their advice.  We definitely think Maine fit our personalities more than NY and thoroughly enjoyed the laid back, natural beauty it had to offer.  Our favorite part of the trip was going to Acadia National Park and climbing cliffs along the coast and taking a hike to see a lighthouse.  We talked about moving to Maine but realized Linda might kill us (Oh Mom we would never leave you to go that far...)


Other things going on:


Prim is growing...in her ears that is..She can hear very well
Travis rolled his ankle and has a limp
I have been wrestling of what to do with my career next.. So Tricia is going to accomplish a couple of dreams: Be an Olympian in something-London 2012, become a broadway star, get "noticed" for my amazing voice and be asked to try out for the Voice, go to Medical School ...just a few thoughts..
Went to Little Rock, ARK for my cousin- Jimmy Lepine's- Wedding. Saw most of the Alabacks ( 19 of us Grandkids-yep its a party) and that was just wonderful.


Travis ESPN: TCU BIG 12!
Tricia's Randomness: I love Travis Bowles.
Prim's Peeps: People always look surprised when the first meet me...mom muffles my ears what they say next...all I can hear is something about large and ears...
Tuffys Tales: Its Summer...Which means i get to go to grandpas pool and get the ball.


Joys and Challenges of Marriage: We loved traveling together.  Go somewhere with your spouse that is different so you can have a fun memory :)

May

Travis and I are loving owning a home! It has been such a blessing and such a joy to have!  We love that we can have people over, house small groups, spread out, work on projects, watch Prim do laps around the backyard, watch Tuff watching Prim do laps...

We are so grateful to be in Fort Worth and feel like our community is being established here.  We don't know how long we will be here, but we are loving it.  Travis is enjoying his job at XTO as a Lease Analyst and I am still working as a Dental Assistant in an Orthodontic Office.  I work in people's mouths..

We definitely learned alot through buying a home.  We ended up being "homeless" for about 2 weeks because we got kicked out of our townhome and didn't know if we were ever going to close with our home.  We were so blessed to have Travis' Dad take us in and my Aunt Trese and Uncle Marty to let us store everything in their townhome garage!  Yep, the four of us (Trav, Me, Tuff and Baby Prim) stayed on Travis' Dad's futon!  It was definitely a memory maker.  We didn't really know where anything was for 2 weeks... but we had coffee in the mornings with Pop and watched Modern Family at night as a big family :)

Our first guest was Trav's Mom.  She was driving to Austin and came to spend the entire weekend with us! We LOVED it.  She took us to Lowes (Trav's favorite place..along with every mans) and we got paint, a BRAND NEW FRONT DOOR (original didn't have a master lock and I think a child could kick it down) a fan and so many wonderful necessities with buying a home.  It was such a great weekend. We painted the whole kitchen including the cabinets.  We now have a deep purple kitchen with creme colored cabinets :)

My parents drove down attached with a UHAUL with my bedroom furniture!! We now have a guest room thanks to them!! Travis and I rented a Jack Hammer and a Tiller (which I learned that day what it was) and tore up our random concrete slabs and pathways in our backyard and tore up the dry rocky weedy soil.  It was exhausting but fun to work on it together.  We were palnning to seed our soil and for it to take years..but this is what happened...
Mom calls me at work..
Mom-" Tricia, Salvador and Alfonso are at your house..
Me-"Mom, who are these people?"
Mom-"Oh, they are going to sod your entire backyard! Dad and I are taking care of it.."
Me-"Mom! Thats so awesome!! Thank you! How did you find them?"
Mom-"I met some of your klife families here and met some of your friends and asked them.."
Me-"What how? Mom, only you would find these people and meet them."

We now have a backyard!

Libby (my best friend) and her boyfriend-Peter- came from Tulsa to help us paint! We knocked out two rooms..one was formally a nasty Ralph Lauren Denim Paint..which we painted a chocolate brown..and painted the dining room a sage green. Love them :)

Tuffy's Tales: Well, this little big eared dog keeps hanging on my jugular and biting my nose.  Mom and Dad tell me to practice the fruits of the Spirit, but its hard with the patience...

Prim's Peeps: I love to play. I love to jump and lick Dads face at 4 am! I love: bugs, dirt, grass, flying objects, strings, floss... Mom calls me a Hippie.

Joys and Learning Curves of Marriage: Travis and I found that we love working on projects together! Its quality time and an activity.  Find a project for you and your spouse to work on!

Around Thanksgiving, Trav and I met my Pops and Marion in Fredricksburg!

Our best friends in Fort Worth-The Watsons- new baby Owen!

Travis got in a car accident (not his fault) and he got second degree burns and bruised his wrists

Ouchie burns

Travis' Mom came for the weekend to spoil us by taking us to Lowes and helping us paint the Kitchen!

Libby and Peter came to help paint! Prim is psycho

Our Yard when we moved in...

Handsome Husband has big muscles for jack hammering

We tore down the shed that was falling apart and tore up the concrete 

Travis using his Christmas present from me! Building the side fence and gate

Our beautiful new yard and fence!

Beautiful!

Prim is growing into her ears...she is in the awkward middle age..

Thank you for reading!!

Changes

We have added another member to our family. No we are not pregnant, we went a different route for now :)
Travis and I had been talking about getting another dog for awhile because: we want her to mimic Tuffy and grow up exactly like him, we don't want a puppy while we have little kids, we are about to get a house with a yard, Tuffy gets lonely during the day.. many reasons.

We were looking online on Craigslist for furniture, then it turned to puppies for sale, then I told Trav to put his shoes on cause we are going to look at 4 week old german shepherd/lab mixes. It was love at first site.

She has been awesome in potty training (she is 6 weeks) however, she has had separation anxiety when we are not touching her or when she is in her crate. Therefore, us and the two hairy ones all bundle up on our bed at night. Pathetic right?

Tuffy has first child syndrome and is pouting just a little bit...but he is so patient with her and lets her gnaw on his tail and play with his paws.

We have so many changes going on that are all blessings. We bought our first home! We are planted in Fort Worth for a couple of years and wanted to make an investment in our living situation instead of throwing away our money in an apartment that rent continues to increase. We are waiting for our loan to get processed and got an interest rate of 3.74. We feel very blessed and know that our parents and grandparents have helped us immensely get to this place where we can have a home.

Trav's Highlights: Got put on full time with XTO Energy, thankful for God's provision through it all.

Tricia's Randomness: First night we had prim, I put her in her crate to sleep. Trav and I were in bed and she started crying and whining. I looked at Trav so concerned and go "Why is she doing that! Is she ok!?" Trav just laughed at me and replied" Welcome to having a puppy."

Tuffy's Tales: Well, there is this little black thing that keeps following me around. I don't know what to think of it. I try to look as angelic and perfect as possible when Mom and Dad get mad at Prim.

Prim's Peeps: I love my new family. They come get me when I cry in my prison and let me chew on toys. I follow big white brother around and love to chew on his tail cause he doesn't care. I pooped all over my crate when mom was gone and she was not happy and very shocked. I covered my crate with poop, the wall behind it and the floor around it..oops. I have met many new people cause mom brings me places. I don't like to sit in the passenger seat, I crawl onto mom's lap and lay there while she drives.

Joys and Pains of Marriage: Trav and I have been learning alot about communication through all of our huge decisions recently. Its awesome to see that he truly listens to me and my opinions. We have a great balance with the emotional side (me) and the logical legistical side of him to really make solid decisions. Both of us respecting the way the other is processing knowing it will produce a better product.