first week updates

work: i guarantee you, you will be hard pressed to meet friendlier people than in del rio, texas. last monday was my first day on the job and the entire week felt like a whirlwind of new information, learning like crazy and getting thrown right into the mix. i am officially an HR assistant and freelance project coordinator. this week i did a lot of meeting people, HR paperwork and statistical analysis for the HR director. it has been fun, challenging and wonderful all at the same time. my co-workers are amazing and everyone just seems so genuinely excited i've joined the val verde team (www.vvrmc.org). my outfits are making a pretty big splash (as are the fun shoes) since wal-mart and ross are the shopping pinnacles of del rio (:

cooking: every week the six of us (my apartment and rem's) cook dinner for the group during the weeknights and one weekend night. i've been flexing my culinary muscles and tried a new creamy chicken enchilada recipe (big hit, minus the onions) and even did mexican pork chops with sauteed beans and peppers. tonight i'm keeping it simple and going with tuna melts. since i generally get off work before all the pilots, i don't mind cooking a few nights a week. sundays after church we all go grocery shopping together and plan out menus.

fun: monday after work i laid at the pool. tuesday and wednesday i went and floated lake amistad with jake, towal, jesse, tank (dog) and beers. it was magic. thursday was the pool again. friday night i went out to dinner with stef, ashly, rem, matt, paul and sarah at cien diez and had THE BEST grilled chicken burger i've ever had. the owners stayed open late for us and presented our first official language barrier. our waiter didn't know a LICK of english so his 5 year old son translated (: after that we went to dairy queen and me and my roomies hit up a late showing of harry potter and the half blood prince. even though a movie is only $5.50 on friday night, it wasn't worth it. big snooze. saturday i went with matt to a float party thrown by his flight's sponsors. there was great food, a ten gallon jug full of margaritas (YESSSS!) and 7 coolers of beer. about 30 of us linked our floaties and cruised the RIO GRANDE for a couple hours. it was a little cloudy (still hot) so no major sun burns. border patrol told us not to touch the opposite bank since that would technically be considered entering mexico. HA HA. i may or may not have over consumed and matt was my faithful babysitter. i made it into bed by 7.30 p. and slept for a glorious 14 hours (:

today: this morning i went to church with stef, matt, sarah and amy and after had a delicious breakfast at skillets. matt and i went to the HEB for our weekly grocery run and then played and laid at the pool (hard life, i know) with rem, ash, amy, abby, sarah and brian. on deck in fifteen minutes are tuna melts and GAME NIGHT with the crew.

have i mentioned that i love it here??? 

tickets from seattle to del rio are SUPER cheap right now (hint, hint). come visit me!!!