Love in the Time of Swine Flu

It's hard to believe David and I have been married for 362 days and we've been in Lubbock for the last 49. Life in Lubbock has settled down a bit since the last post. Our boxes are unpacked, my job is going quite well and David begins orientation tomorrow. I've bought a bike and have been able to bike to/from work every day (except when it rains and David drives me). We've visited several churches and haven't found a great fit yet. We're hoping to find a church where we can meet other young married couples and feel connected to the community. There is an art walk the first Friday of the month that we were able to participate in this month. We're told that there is also a great drive-in theater nearby that is really fun. David and I have been playing disc golf together on the weekends. It is a difficult course with several water holes and I've lost 2 discs to the water already! I've recently finished watching all 3 seasons of "Friday Night Lights"--so good! So now I've started watching "Mad Men"--needless to say, we're eager to make friends so I can get away from the TV! 

I've taken a few pictures of our living/dining room. You'll have to forgive me for not posting better pictures of the house--it's still a work in-progress to say the least. I'm finding that I'm pretty inept at decorating. You'll see below our living room needs an area rug, more wall decor, photos, etc. BUT it's home. 

You can see into David's office a little from this angle.

Thank you, Dad, for the print--it's perfect over our mantle!

This is what you see when you walk in the front door.

Living room

View from my office... I think you can see Canada from here.

My orange desk circa 1965.

David and I will celebrate our 1-year anniversary on Sunday. Here are a few of the highlights:

Best day ever.

Honeymooners

First Christmas tree.
David's graduation from UVA. 

(I've 86ed the bangs since then--too much hassle)

While we were in LR in June, we decided to go ahead and eat our wedding cake at my grandparents' house.

It was still so good! Traditional 1st anniversary gifts are paper goods while a more modern trend is clocks. Which should I give David? 

Again, we love and miss everyone very much. We're already anticipating the holidays when we can reconnect with all of our friends!

Love,

Elisabeth

New in Town

OUR NEW ADDRESS:

David and Elisabeth Clark

2610 22nd Street

Lubbock, TX 79410

Hello friends! We've finally arrive in Lubbock! It is certainly flat and dry here, but greener than we expected! After hours of driving through desolate West Texas, we pulled into town on July 2 and we've slowly been setting up house since then. (Below you'll find some snapshots of our humble abode pre-stuff... more to come) It is a 1200 sq. ft. home built in 1928 so there are many charming features, although we've been too overwhelmed with boxes to enjoy them! 

I started my new job on July 6 as Unit Coordinator for the Health Organization Management Program within the MBA program at Texas Tech University. My office is located on the 10th floor of a tower adjacent to the English building where David will be working. So far the job has been very challenging, but I think it is a role that I'll be able to grow into. I'm responsible for managing 11 grad. students, marketing, PR, web design, event planning and general coordinating for the department. I'm excited about the connections I'll be able to make in this job and I get to take classes at the university for free. Strangely enough, an acquaintance of mine from Union (Megan Malone) works with me in my office! What a blessing it has been to have a familiar face that I get to see every day! We live about a mile from the buildings where we work so we've been walking to/from campus. David will begin his Ph.D. in Creative Writing (Poetry) at TTU sometime mid-August. He expects to finish the program in 4-5 years. 

In other news, we sold my Jeep prior to moving to Lubbock which was very sad. However, our only remaining car, David's Taurus, has decided to give us some trouble. We found out today that it needs a new transmission to the tune of $1600 so needless to say, we're in the market for another car, but luckily we're able to walk to campus. 

On a positive note, David got a poem accepted into The Cimarron Review!!! We've been celebrating his success and we went out to buy a bottle of wine. However, Lubbock is currently a dry city and we had to go to this place called "The Strip" located on the outskirts of town (picture below). What a bizarre place that was! For some reason these businesses in "The Strip" have a monopoly on the booze sold in our area. It was reminiscent of Atlantic City or Branson---very strange and flashy--but an experience none the less. Word has it that Lubbock will be a wet city as of August so hopefully we won't have to venture out there again!

A few random facts about Lubbock:

• Lubbock is located in the south plains region of Texas and receives ~300 days of sunshine a year (it's been sunny every day we've been here)
• There are 268,000 non-student residents in Lubbock
  
• Buddy Holly was from Lubbock
• TTU has the 2nd largest college campus in America with regards to property size
• We're 6 hours from Dallas and 6 hours from Albuquerque 
• We're only a few hours from Area 51 :)

The view out of my passenger window for countless hours. West TX is so windy so there are windmills everywhere!

Home sweet home

Shade is certainly a commodity in Lubbock!

Our living room

Dining room

Backyard... I'm planning a garden for the spring

Garage--we're told that Lubbock receives many hail storms so garages are pretty necessary!

Check back in a few weeks for another update. I'll try to have the house in decent enough shape to be able to show it off! We miss and love all of our friends and family so much. Please keep in touch with us. 

Love,

Elisabeth

Also, my skype name is: elisabethberryclark