Burnt black-eyed peas

Last week Andrew and I decided that we needed to get away for a couple of days, so we packed our bags and drove home to Texas. Even though we were only there for 3 days, it was such a great trip. We spent time with our family, and Andrew (the ever so patient husband) drove around the state with me to catch up with a few of my friends. It was so good, and although I was sad to leave, the trip brightened my spirit. 

I shamefully didn't take any pictures, but if you just picture mounds of Mexican food and lots of smiles then you'll get a great idea of what our time there looked like. 

This week we are back to business. The universities here have started class, which means Andrew has a few more things on his weekly to do list. The boys' football games have kicked off. I start a women's bible study this week. And I am still searching for a job. 

The job search is more discouraging than ever at this point. I was SURE that when I got my Louisiana license number in the mail I would start hearing back from jobs. That hasn't happened. It still feels stagnant, and it's annoying. I keep going back and forth on the idea of looking for work elsewhere because I did not go to school for 4 years and become thousands of dollars in debt to be a waitress or clean houses. I will do what I have to do, but doing it with a happy and grateful heart may be more difficult that I want it to be. 

On another less complainy note, last night around 4 am (technically this morning, but we were sleeping so I'm not going to count it as morning) Andrew and I both woke up to a strange smell. It smelled like a fire, but not a normal fire. Andrew got up and searched the house. Because our home has proven to not be electrically trustworthy, the smell of smoke makes us freak out a little. When he came back to our room (I was still in bed, working terribly hard analyzing the smell/still sleeping) he said he didn't know where it was coming from. At this point I had decided that it smelled like a huge batch of black-eyed peas had burnt in a crockpot next door. I can't remember if I told him this or not, but It wasn't concerning to me and I went back to sleep. 

Are you wondering why you just read that rant without a conclusion to the story? Don't worry, there is one. And, our neighbor's poor black-eyed peas cooking skills were not to blame. 

There was a marsh fire and the smoke has been spreading all over. It really does smell like burnt black-eyed peas. My non-sleeping self agrees. 

The nose knows.