CJ & Autumn Miller

What a weekend! Friday afternoon we set out on a road trip with Erika & Ruedi to Austin. We stopped in Waco for some excellent BBQ with Brett & Kristen. On our way to Enchanted Rock the Subaru took us down the back roads & encountered lots of adventure! We almost hit: a wild pig, pregnant cow,  skunk,  turkeys,  turkey  vultures,  road runner, toads, cat, & a rabid raccoon. We set up camp at Enchanted Rock late Friday night & CJ & I slept under the stars. Saturday was filled with sweaty hikes up & around the rock. We found lots of beautiful & challenging climb spots. We repelled down into our lunch cave & enjoyed PB&J & a little shade. We felt like big kids in a huge playground! So much excitement & so many things to climb on & jump off! It was so hot & we were getting so much exercise that by the afternoon we had run out of water. That means that between the 4 of us we already downed 8 liters! So back down to the water hole we went. We were so parched on our way down. Then we saw it.... a snow cone shack........in the middle of the desert & cacti........ Was it a mirage?! Snow cones all around!!! Never had anything tasted as good as my large coconut snow cone. The boys ate theirs so fast they kept getting brain freezes. Later Amy DeLay came in from the city to visit. It was such a fun time to see her & catch up again. I hadn't seen her since the wedding. We collapsed in tents that night exhausted from the day. Sunday was time for more climbing. CJ lead a 5.9 rated climb on what looked to me like a flat rock going straight up. What a stud! I'm not going to lie, it made me a little nervous; I am his wife, I am suppose to be nervous :) Erika & I practiced belaying each other & learned so much. We didn't want to leave, but we showered up & got some more snow cones for the road. Stopped again in Waco at Buzzard Billy's seafood shack on the river where a well fed bird chowed down at the table beside us on the porch. Made it back by 11:30 to the house, just in time to procrastinate about unpacking & laundry until Monday! Wish we could reenact this weekend every weekend!

That's right. We got a motorcycle. Actually 2 - A working bike & a parts bike. CJ drove over to Canton, TX to test drive it & $625 later, came back with them.  It is a 1980  model  & needs a little work, but he is up for the challenge! Speaking of challenge, getting them out of the truck with a skinny little ramp--- that was exciting! We took it for a cruise around the neighborhood & about a block from our house we realized that we had no idea how much gas was in the tank. I told CJ I heard a little sloshing around when we unloaded it. Needless to say, we ran out. The moto barely made it up the hill back to the house & CJ had to push it up the driveway. A gallon of lawn mower fuel later... we were off to Starbucks. I remembered my hater blocker sun glasses this time. No more huge bugs hitting me right between the eyes! It was super funny getting back on the bike after a caramel frappucino. To start the moto, CJ turns the fuel on & sparks the starter solenoid with a screwdriver. I am pretty sure all the Starbucks patio dwellers though we were hot wiring it to steal. CJ wired a new starter button in when we got home, so no more of that excitement. On to excitement of a different sort...

We were blessed to have a relatively slowed down weekend. Friday afternoon CJ spent helping Josh build his Maule airplane to take to Alaska & use in missions work. Meanwhile I picked out flowers & converted the tiers of an old decorative fountain into two planters. They now brighten up our back patio & front doorway. Later that night we met up with Josh & Ruedi at Joe's Pizza. It doesn't get much better than that! I think CJ made himself sick he ate so much. He even turned down an extra scoop of ice cream later that night. But, CJ did manage to beat Ruedi & I in a late night game of Scrabble. I am still not sure if the things he came up with were really words :)
Saturday was my month to host the Women's Brunch. Unfortunately out of the dozens of girls invited, only one showed up. Props to Whitney! So we had brunch together anyway. Then CJ & I went on to redeem our massage gift certificates from CORE Team. (We miss those guys) We got lots of knots rubbed out of our back & came out of the spa totally relaxed. Saturday night we had nothing planned so we bought a new TV & rented Ratatoulle. It was a good buy & we don't have to use our binoculars to see the TV from the couch anymore.
Sunday was an adventure in itself. I set out for Hancock's to buy fabric for my first sewing project with my new machine. On the way, I dropped CJ off at a "boys only" Golf Party. When I was done shopping the Subaru wouldn't start. It was really dead- not even making that dreadful cranking noise. Nothing. So, CJ to the rescue! He borrowed a friend's car & jumper cables & we got it going again. No, this is not the end of the story. I forgot when we got back to the Stratton Golf Party that I should have left it running, so it was dead again in the driveway. We corralled the golf watchers & they pushed me out into the street to get in a position where the Subaru could be jumped off again. While in the process, this time the car alarm was triggered. Beep! Beep! Now we are disturbing the neighbors. So CJ took care of the noise with the remote. It started right back up. I went to get back in the driver's seat to pull it out of the road when, to my dismay, the door was locked. All the doors were locked. Even the back hatch. And the car is still running... & still in the middle of the road! Oh boy. Well, we tried the coat hangars & we tried holding our mouths just right. All the spare keys were in my purse in the passenger seat. Subarus are very hard to break into. So after over an hour of heat, waving cars around, & answering questions from curious walkers, we called AAA.

    As Autumn said, we had a Quail BBQ this past weekend.  It was a lot of fun to host our first ever Miller BBQ!  It was also a lot more work than I ever thought it would be!  We grilled up all the Quail that I shot over Spring Break and it was a huge success, even with the ‘bird shot’, bones, and random feathers found during consumption.  The best part, of course, was the fellowship.  We were able to bring together a few friends from school, work, and church, and as they met and got to know each other it was fun to see our different friends become friends with each other!  God has certainly created us to be in community.
    I am almost done with my Maintenance Summer School Session.  That is very exciting for me because it means I only have 1 year of school left!  The Summer Session has gone well.  I have learned many interesting things and I am even getting the opportunity to learn how to TIG Weld, which is a difficult type of welding that is often used on aircraft.  This will come in handy I am sure!
    With Summer Session drawing to a close I will be looking to head back to work at JL Aero, the maintenance shop I worked at last semester.  If they are not in need of some extra help I will need to look elsewhere to find work for a short period of time because Autumn and I are still planning on going to Alaska for Bible Camp.  Please join us in prayer about this trip to Alaska.  We desire to make a wise decision and we are not 100% certain we should fly ourselves in the C182, fly commercially, or forego the trip all together.  We are patiently waiting for God to gently (or roughly) guide our steps along the path of His will.
    Thank you for keeping up with us and for showing your support through prayer and your time.
God bless, -CJ

Well the last month has been a little hectic, but a blast. We have officially moved out of our little one bedroom apartment to a house in North Longview.  The house is just 8 minutes away from our old apartment so packing didn't have to be too organized - we just made lots of trips. We are enjoying the extra space & especially the yard with lots of cows nearby. The house has a fireman's pole from the second story to the kitchen area just for fun. I think it has brought the little boy back in CJ. He finds any excuse to go down it or climb up it for that matter. He even slides down it one handed with laptops or window screens in his hands. Last night he dug a little garden for me & I am excited to get the tomatoes & whatnot growing.
The moving process hasn't really stopped our traveling. We just work around it.  We flew to Birmingham to visit the family & see Christy again before she left for Romania. We took mom on a scenic flight in the C-182 for her mothers day present & she ate it up! For Memorial Day we unpacked a little & flew to north Arkansas to meet some friends. We spent time camping & rock climbing. CJ & I both got climbing shoes, so we are about to get serious about getting better at it. I need to work on my arm strength, maybe I'll practice climbing up the fireman's pole. Last weekend we flew one of the LU professors down to Houston & we got to spend the weekend with the Bufton crew. We ate good, watched some UFC & relaxed at the pool.
This week we are doing some yard work to get ready for a big quail BBQ. I heard this morning that Christy made it safely to Romania & she is loving it so far. I am sure she could use our prayers as she gets settled in.
Until next time- A.