Lauren & Phil

New Discovery

2011-11-29T21:30:00.000-06:00

For as long as I can remember, I have loved Samoas. Yes, the Girl Scout cookies that are so good that 'you always want samoa'. Get it? That was the witty sales pitch I admit to using more than once as a young girl in green trying to sell cookies. Samoas have always been my favorite of the GS cookies. One year for Valentine's Day my husband even bought me 2 cases of these cookies because of how much I love them! (...except he quickly learned that I could never eat that many cookies!) But it was a great idea because you can only get them once a year and feel like you need to stock up to make it through the year!

Flash forward to 2 weeks ago as I was walking through HEB, and a cookie package caught my eye, Keebler's Coconut Dreams. The package had an image of a cookie that looked like a Samoa and since Keebler is the creator of Grasshopper cookies which definitely can hold their own against Thin Mints, I decided to give them a try.

What a fantastic surprise! These cookies are delicious! While I have not done a side-by-side taste test to compare them to Samoas, they taste pretty darn close to the real thing. And just like Samoas, these cookies are extra good when cold, so I'm keeping my package (okay, to be fair, I'm on my 2nd package by now...) in the refrigerator.

We're Ready!

2011-04-07T22:22:00.001-05:00

This pregnancy has been great. It has been fun, exciting, eye-opening, a learning experience, a bonding experience, and also tiring, scary, emotional, and stressful. Nine months (or ten actually!) have gone by with something new each day - the way the baby moves, maybe, or a new piece of advice from a friend or coworker - and we are now so ready for little Preston to arrive.

As of my last doctors appointment, I was 2 cm dialated and 80% effaced. She said she thought I would deliver about a week early, which would be around 4/15. I am not thrilled about my baby's birthday being on tax day, however, so I am doing lots of walking in the hopes that he will make his debut sooner! We have another appointment with the doctor tomorrow to see if anything has changed in the past week.

I must confess that I am getting a little nervous about how long labor will last and how painful it will be, but I know that it will be worth it in the end when my little baby boy is placed in my arms... right, moms? Plus, there is always the epidural to help with that!

There are a few things still on our to-do and to-purchase lists that we plan to tackle this weekend so that everything will be just right and we will feel ready when Preston blesses us with his presence. I don't think Phil is as worried about getting these last things done before Preston comes, so maybe that's just my nesting instinct kicking in. And to be truthful, he is probably right-- things like hanging pictures on the wall can probably wait... but of course I want everything to be perfect. :)

Baby ____'s Nursery... A Work in Progress

2011-02-12T15:32:00.001-06:00

With a lull in home projects upon us, we of course decided to create a project for ourselves, and getting the nursery ready was the perfect one! We started out with an empty room with all the walls painted chocolate brown, and white trim and shutters.

We decided that we wanted to have a dark wooden crib and lighten the walls, so we purchased wainscoating panels, chair rail, and new paint for the walls. We bought everything on a Sunday morning and were able to get all of the wainscoating and chair rail up by the end of that day. Luckily Phil had planned to take 2 days off of work the following week so he graciously spent his days off doing all of the caulking and painting that were needed to finish off the project.

Next we decided that the lighting in the room was not bright enough, especially at the entrance to the room where the built in drawers and shelves are located. We did not want to embark on a huge electrical project which is what we could have done if we wanted to try to keep the ceiling fan and branch off of it, because we would have to split the fan and the light onto separate switches and it would have been somewhat complicated since there is only a single wall switch currently. So we decided to just remove the ceiling fan and replace with a light fixture, and tie in new recessed task lights at the built-ins on the same switch. It turned out to be the perfect amount of light and we are very happy with the result.

AND finishing up the lighting meant we could put together the crib and make the bed, to make the room really look like a nursery! We also bought a matching dresser that can be used as a changing table on the top surface. Here is a photo of me standing in the nursery next to the crib:

Next we need to get a glider chair/ottomon and a small table with a lamp and clock on it, and do some decorating on the walls. As soon as we decide on a name we will be putting individual letters spelling out his name on the wall above his crib, so the pressure is on for us to make a decision! Suggestions are welcome. :)

Just a little something I'm proud of...

2011-02-12T13:55:00.000-06:00

Working in the sign business is rewarding in that you get to see a finished product on a building and know all the effort that you put in to coordinating those signs paid off in a big way to provide wonderful advertising and exposure for your customer. I love driving past "my" signs at businesses across the city, state, and country. In December we finished a very large project for a new theatre in Frisco, TX and I had an opportunity to fly up and see the signs in person both at day and night, and attend a VIP opening event. So I thought I'd share some photos of the beautiful signs!!

Pregnancy Update

2011-01-11T19:01:00.000-06:00

Today I had my 25-1/2 week doctor's appointment. She reports all is well with my weight gain, the baby's heart beat, and my vitals. I go back in 3 weeks for my next appointment and glucose screening, to test for gestational diabetes. I am really hoping that one comes back negative because I would really have to put my sweet tooth in check and change up my diet!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T15:29:00.002-06:00

Wishing all of our family and friends a happy holiday season. Santa came to our house this year and the we enjoyed having the kids around and spending the weekend with family. We hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and trust that 2011 will be everyone's best year yet! We certainly have an exciting year of adventure ahead of us!

2010: Year in Review - BRYN MAWR HOME SALE

2010-12-26T15:03:00.001-06:00

Since our renter's one-year lease was up at the end of May, we made the decision to put our home on the market for sale in June. We met with a realtor to determine the value of the home and get feedback on the types of upgrades we could put into the home, spending the least to make the most 'bang for our buck' so to speak. We started June 1st with our upgrades and projects to get the house ready to put on the market and by the 2nd weekend in June we had it listed. Some of the things we did in those 2 weeks included landscaping (mowing, edging, weeding, replacing all of the mulch with new mulch, pruning the roses, planting new small perennial flowers, and adding new flower beds with plants in the back yard), changing out all the ceiling fans in the house, re-painting the 2nd bedroom, kitchen, and hallway, re-painting the exterior shutters, replacing one window, patching any wall cracks that had shown up in the past year, staining the fence and deck, replacing the kitchen counters with granite slab and installing a white subway tile backsplash and of course cleaning the place spotless. It was a lot of work and a lot of late nights but we got it done!

We also decided that staging the home was going to be important to get it sold in the least amount of time for the most money so we decided that rather than spending a few thousand dollars to hire a staging company, we would just rent a moving truck and move some of our furniture pieces into the house for the time it was on the market. Since much of our furniture had been purchased when we lived in that home, we knew it would fit well and after the home was listed, we got lots of compliments on our staging efforts appearing professional! We also purchased an exterior patio furniture set including a table, chairs, umbrella, and outdoor rug to be placed on our back deck until the home sold and we picked one that we would like to keep so that we could bring it to our new home when we moved all our furniture back (good trick, eh?).

Our realtor was Kerri Hoermann of Kuper Sotheby's and she did a wonderful job. One of their services is to provide professional photos of the home for the listing which I believe made a huge difference in the presentation to get it sold.

We had an aggressive strategy and within 30 days we had a contract! It was a wonderful experience and we closed on the home in July, actually coming out ahead (financially) from the whole experience. We really loved the character of that home, the neighborhood and all of our neighbors who lived there, and we definitely miss them! Hopefully the new owner enjoys living there as much as we did.

2010: Year in Review - WEEKEND RENOVATIONS

2010-12-26T15:02:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of January, I drove to Houston for a girls' weekend with friends and during that time, Phil kicked off what would prove to be a year full of renovations on our home with the scraping of the popcorn off the ceilings upstairs. We had completed this messy task in all the rooms downstairs but hadn't touched the upstairs and we couldn't stand it anymore. But as anyone who has embarked on this type of home renovation knows, one project always leads to another. So after we scraped the popcorn off the ceilings, textured, and painted them, we had to paint the walls. We chose hues of browns, blues, and greens not far off from the rooms downstairs and by February we had all the rooms painted (Jack helped us with this while we were in Miami).

But of course, then we decided to be ambitious and try installing crown molding. So we embarked on that project for all the rooms upstairs (except the bathrooms). We self-taught ourselves how to make the proper cuts, line it up properly, etc. so it was a bit of trial and error but it was really a fun project because we could really see an immediate difference. We ended up having to buy a new miter saw that had a tall enough 'fence' for the crown molding we selected, but fortunately for my husband, I firmly believe that these types of tools are a good investment so I never have any problems spending our money on things from Lowe's or Home Depot. Installing crown molding is definitely a lengthy project if you want the finished product to look professional, because first it has to be painted, then after installation of all the molding, the corners, seams, and nail holes need to be filled with wood putty, then sanded, and painted again with 2-3 more coats and finally caulked at the top and bottom. We used oil based paint for all the molding so that added an even more challenging aspect to the project (Phil does all the painting when we use oil based paint... he is meticulous and patient and the end result is always wonderful).

During this past year, we also decided to close up the pocket door entrance to our master bath from the hallway so that its only entrance would be from our bedroom. So we spent a weekend framing up the opening, installing new drywall, texturing, and painting. It was our first time doing a somewhat large area of drywall and texture ourselves and although most people wouldn't even notice the imperfections, we are not entirely satisfied with it and may end up re-doing this at some point in the future.

This year we also replaced the carpet upstairs. This was brought on by a coupon received in the mail for a great deal on carpet at CW Floors, where we had originally purchased our hardwood floors and kitchen tile the year before. So we selected a color and pattern of Stainmaster carpet and placed our order. We had a few weeks before the install date and in that time we decided that we needed to finish up things like painting all of the doors, door frames, and moldings, and replacing our baseboards. So we jumped head first into that project, ripping out all the old baseboards and carpet and installing all new baseboards, which again involved LOTS of painting with the oil based paint on Phil's part after it was installed. Fortunately I am able to help him during installation by measuring, holding, and planning while he does the actual saw cuts and nail gunning. We got it all done just in time for the carpet installation.

Next, we decided that we would install crown molding in all the rooms downstairs. This was another few weekends of work but again such a great end result!

Our other big project last year was the remodel of the guest bathroom upstairs. We ripped out the existing vanity, mirror, light fixture, and vinyl tile flooring. We left in place the tiled bathtub and the built in cabinets but otherwise it was mostly an overhaul. First we selected and purchased the new freestanding vanity from Cabinets to Go in Houston. We then matched the cream paint color on the new vanity and Phil used a paint sprayer to paint the existing built in cabinets and medicine cabinet to match the same color. This took 3 coats but was good practice with the spray gun because next year we want to use it to spray our kitchen cabinets! Next we embarked on our first tile project ever! We purchased 8"x12" travertine tiles from Floor & Decor for a great price, and bought a new wet saw so that we could install the tile ourselves. We watched a few YouTube videos and lots of HGTV to get tips and then went for it! It turned out pretty good and a few days later we did our 2nd tile project by installing 3"x6" white subway tiles along the back wall behind the vanity, up to about 42" above the floor. Next we did the patching of the wall where we had removed the old light box and relocated the electrical feed. Then we were ready to paint the wall, install the vanity, install the new mirror and light fixture, then finally hook up the plumbing, clean up and decorate. It all sounds so simple and quick when I list it here but especially with the holidays in there, this process took almost 2 months of weekends to complete. But we are very happy with the finished product and now we are ready to try some other tile projects.

Here is a photo of the bathroom BEFORE (when we bought the house):

and AFTER:

The last project we did just before Christmas was to install a new garbage disposal in our kitchen sink! We had lived for over a year without one and were very ready to change that. We picked a mid-range disposal (they range from very loud to very quiet and different horsepower) and brought it home after work on a Friday night and installed it. Putting the disposal in is the easy part because we already had electrical in place for it. The more tricky portion was reworking the plumbing pipes to accommodate the new setup. This required some critical and creative thinking on our part, probably mostly because we are not expert plumbers. :) The first night we worked for about 2 and a half hours and got it all completed, but the next morning we tested it some more and found a small leak. So we went back in and made some adjustments and have been leak free since before Christmas. We gave it a good test by having Christmas dinner at our house and lots of dishes to go with it, and were able to appreciate how great having a disposal really is!

On the forecast for 2011: painting the kitchen cabinets, installing an over-the-stove microwave, installing a tile backsplash in the kitchen, some landscaping, and of course furnishing and decorating the nursery!

2010: Year in Review - February

2010-12-26T15:01:00.002-06:00

The first weekend in February we packed up the 4Runner and headed southbound for Mexico to visit my parents! We ended up leaving around midnight, crossed the border in Laredo, and drove all day until about 6pm where we stopped at a hotel for the night before waking up the following morning to drive the remaining 4 hours or so to La Ticla, where my parents were camping.

The first glimpse of the ocean after many, many hours of driving through the mountains is always very exciting so we did make a quick stop that morning at a lookout point.

As soon as we got to La Ticla, my parents shared with us that just 2 nights prior to our arrival, there had been an armed robbery at the campground in Ticla where they were staying and although they had not been targeted or involved, things were a little tense so we decided to play it safe and pack up and head to another campsite for the week.

We ended up at a clean little campsite (we happened to be the only campers there for almost the entire week) located at the bottom of a hill where there was a restaurant and bathrooms. Best of all was the beautiful view from our campsite and even more so at the top of the hill.

We made day trips throughout the week to our favorite spots like Marueta and El Faro, where we found great swimming spots and beautiful beaches.

We spent our days reading, playing paddle ball, laying in the hammock, sunbathing, swimming, and taking walks on the beach. Every evening we enjoyed beautiful sunsets (are you noticing a pattern yet with the types of things we love to do on our vacations?).

2010: Year in Review - JANUARY

2010-12-26T15:00:00.000-06:00

The year started out with Phil loading up the Nissan Sentra with all of Felicity and Ethan's belongings and driving nonstop through the delightfully wintery conditions from San Antonio, TX to Saginaw, MI. Talk about quality time together! When they arrived, the temperature was about 3 degrees and Phil doesn't own a heavier jacket than his North Face fleece, so the cold weather experience certainly didn't win him over!

A few weeks later we traveled to Miami, FL for an extended weekend to spend time with my aunt and uncle on their boat. We were able to enjoy some beautiful sunsets, delicious meals, and lots of reading and relaxation!

I Need to Buy a Chef Hat

2009-12-01T19:08:00.002-06:00

After seeing the movie Julie and Julia a few weeks ago, I have been inspired to start cooking more frequently.

We purchased a crock pot the week before I saw the movie, so that was a baby step in the right direction for me. First we made a Pot Roast which turned out to be very tender and delicious, and so very easy to prepare! Phil browned the roast and then we just put in cut up onion, potatoes, celery, and baby carrots and a can of beef broth with some seasoning and it was delicious about 6 hours later!

Next I made a Southwestern Chicken Stew that my friend Lesli gave me the recipe for. It is basically her adaptation of a recipe that was in the SA newspaper in October.

2 cups cubed cooked chicken (we used the pre-cooked and pre-seasoned chicken breasts that HEB sells so I just heated in the microwave and then cut into cubes)
1 sm can green chilies
1 can whole black beans
1 can corn
1 cup salsa
Juice of 3 sm limes
1 sm can tomato sauce
3 chicken buillon cubes (I used 1/2 can chicken broth instead)
3 whole bay leaves (I omitted these because I did not have them)
Dash of cilantro
Dash of pepper
Dash of McCormicks mesquite chicken seasoning
Chili powder to taste
2 t. dried onion
1 cup white rice

Dump all ingredients into crock pot. Add water as needed to cover ingredients (I did not need to since I used the chicken broth). Set pot to low and let cook for at least 8 hours or until mixture is piping hot. Before serving stew, prepare rice and stir into crock pot mixture. Service topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or tortilla strips.

Phil and I both really enjoyed this recipe and it also made good leftovers!

I used the crock pot again to make my friend Kate's award winning chili! I don't think I should give out the recipe here, but I can divulge that it included butternut squash which was my first experience working with the ingredient, and the chili turned out to be so spicy that Phil and I both ended up appreciating the butternut squash in the recipe as kind of a neutral flavor to tone it down. It was delicious enough that I plan to prepare it again tomorrow while I'm home sick from work!

For Thanksgiving I had plans to prepare another dish with butternut squash that I had seen in Real Simple magazine. However, we ended up not needing extra food with everything else on the menu so we brought the ingredients home and I made it on Sunday for dinner. The recipe is called Roasted Butternut Squash with Mustard Vinaigrette and the receipe can be found here. Let me back up and say also that when shopping for the groceries for Thanksgiving we found out that 3 butternut squash cost us $15 so I was a little nervous that the recipe was going to turn out badly and Phil would be upset that we wasted $15 on it! Fortunately, the recipe turned out great. Mine even ended up looking pretty much like the photo! (Special thanks to Phil for peeling the butternut squash for me... as we continue to prepare recipes we are learning the things that we should upgrade in our kitchen. One such thing is our potato peeler; it is in sad shape.)

On Sunday evening I also had a need to use up a bunch of red apples that had gone uneaten for a few weeks. I decided to look online for a random recipe for Apple Crisp, which if you don't know was basically my favorite thing in high school. The cafeteria served this delicious crispy, cinnamony, sweet dessert every so often and I would always try to eat as many of my friends' servings as I could, in addition to my own. I found a recipe that ended up being perfect, and so simple to prepare! It is certainly not healthy by any means, with the main ingredients being butter and sugar, but it turned out to be mouth-watering, and even the leftovers taste good (it stayed crispy on top, didn't get soggy as I feared it would).

I have a few more apples left so tomorrow I am planning on baking an apple cake and maybe making hot fudge pudding cake from my mom's recipe just because I feel like having something that reminds me of home/childhood while I am sick (home for the next day and a half with strep throat).

Truth be told, I know that my cooking skills need quite a bit of work but I know also that the old adage "practice makes perfect" certainly has some truth to it, so I think that the more cooking I do, the better I will be at it and the more comfortable I will be in the kitchen. I still consider myself a novice but hopefully am on my way to being a decent cook! I am interested in trying new recipes now, so please send me your favorites!

New Home

2009-10-07T21:53:00.008-05:00

We started looking for new houses earlier this year without any real timeline or plan for buying. We knew we were interested in a larger home in a quiet, established neighborhood somewhere between my work and Phil's. We found a realtor who began sending us listings for homes that met our criteria, which at first included a swimming pool, no exceptions. But as we thought about it more, we opened ourselves up to houses with backyards big enough for a pool to be added in the future in neighborhoods with pools, and that's what we ended up buying. We were not in any rush to buy, which put us in a much stronger buying and negotiating position. After driving around neighborhoods in our favorite areas we narrowed down our search to one particular subdivision. We found one particular home that had been on the market for almost a year, through various listings. We looked at it once, then thought about it for a few weeks, then looked at it again as it continued to grow on us. We then brought Phil's mom to look at it a third time and when my parents were in town one weekend they also drove by the house and looked in the window. Again, we were in no rush since we had a place to live, but were interested in the house because of its potential. This time we were much more knowledgable when we looked for homes and not as emotional as first-time buyers tend to be. We could see this house's potential and that it had good "bones". Neither Phil nor I are in love with the open-concept floor plans that are so popular today. We prefer smaller cozy rooms and we loved the traditional feel of the house, in our favorite neighborhood. It was a very good deal and the sellers were motivated since the house had been on the market for so long. After about a month of negotiations with the seller, we finally came to an agreement on price and considerations. At the end of May, we moved in to our new home! The house was listed as 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, with a 2-car garage, fireplace, eat-in kitchen, formal dining room, totaling just over 2600 sqft. This was a BIG change from our 1174 sqft little home! As it turns out, we had quite a few empty rooms with absolutely no furniture in them at the new home once we moved in, which made it look kind of sad. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

When we bought the house, we had a list a mile long of projects we wanted to do to improve it. The first thing we did when we moved in was scrape off the popcorn ceilings from every room downstairs. We decided right away to focus all our energy (and money) downstairs and probably won't even get to any upstairs projects for a few years! We talked to different people and were told to spray water on the ceiling, let it sit, and use a scraper to remove the popcorn. Well it was slow going, using an empty Febreeze bottle to spray with, me going ahead of Phil to get it wet, then him scraping. Not to mention the mess!

We laid down plastic on the floors to cover the carpet/laminate, covered the windows, tried to cover and do one room at a time, but nothing stopped that white powder from getting on everything I owned. One day I showed up at work and looked down on my white pants to see little white Cooper paw prints. As we got better at it, the work went a little more quickly but one evening Phil found a video on YouTube showing that if you add vinegar to the water, the popcorn texture would come off more easily. So we added vinegar to the water and it slightly improved our pace. Our biggest finding ended up being the use of a big pesticide spray bottle to spray a thick coat on the ceilings since they have those continuous spray nozzles, and once we figured that out (still with vinegar), Phil was able to go at least 20 times faster, doing multiple rooms before I even woke up in the morning!

When we moved in to the house, we decided that we would make what had been called the "master bedroom" downstairs into a TV room, so that the room with the fireplace could be our formal sitting room. The room originally had a large walk-in closet in it, and during the course of the popcorn ceiling scraping, we decided to tear out the closet and make the room bigger. My mom had come to stay with us to help us get settled into the new house, and little did she know she would be able to partake in some demolition! We had lots of fun swinging around a hammer and knocking the wall down! Here is a before picture...

...and a during picture...

...but no After photo just yet! We still had a long way to go!

After the demo of the closet was complete and the popcorn was scraped, Jack helped us get the ceilings lightly textured and painted, and re-painted all of the rooms. We went with a much more muted color pallete than in our other house, but still just could not deal with cream colored walls.

Another weekend project we did in the middle of August (yes, the hottest part of the year in South Texas) was installing recessed lighting in our new TV room, completely DIY style. We carefully marked off 5 light locations, cut the holes, and then climbed into the attic to wire them, one at a time. I would help Phil think the wiring schematic through, then he would climb up there and I would be his eyes and ears below while he did the wiring in the sweltering hot attic. It would start out fairly comfortable in the mornings but after about 11am, it was awful up there. The moment you went up, you were immediately drenched with sweat! But we did not want the project to be un-finished so we made it happen. So on Saturday we got all of the recessed lighting wired and working, with the new double switch installed in the wall! On Sunday we needed to wire the room for surround sound, and relocate the cable TV connection to another wall, so we accomplished that as well! We then had to patch the ceiling areas where the old light fixtures had been, and install the recessed lighting surrounds that we preferred (we went through 3 or 4 before deciding on the best fit/lighting for our room). It was a full weekend with a total I believe of 5 trips to the hardware stores!

So after we removed the closet in the TV room, there was a gaping hole left in the carpet in the middle of the room where the wall had been. It was L-shaped and could not be hidden, so this gave us the extra push we needed to make a decision on the new flooring we wanted to put in. We researched for a few months, visited multiple flooring stores, had about 10 wood samples to choose from, and finally made our selection. We chose Scandian's Bonita Collection in Timborana Cafe, which is an Engineered wood. We had decided that an Engineered floor was the better way to go for our needs than solid hardwood, after researching and discussing with flooring professionals. After living in the house for a few months, we had also decided that the white tile in the kitchen had to go. We decided that it would be a complete mess to try to do the tile project after our new hardwoods were installed, so we added the tile project to our scope. We selected Emser's Umbria Savera travertine in 16"x16" tiles. Most tiles come in either 12"x12" or 18"x18" so we were very happy to find a stone we liked in a middle size.

We decided that to cut costs and keep the project within the budget we had set, we would do the existing flooring removal on our own, except for the carpet. We started with the tile removal in the kitchen, initially with a hammer but quickly learning that borrowing Jack's sledgehammer was the way to go. The tiles came up easily so as Phil broke them apart, I bagged them up and vacuumed up the area. We had the tile up in the kitchen, half bath, hall, and laundry room in just a few evenings. The difficult part was that the tiles went all the way underneath the cabinets in the kitchen. Since we were not removing the cabinets, we did not want to remove the tiles and leave the cabinets with nothing to sit on. So we had to buy a tool and grind the tiles so that the edge of the tile would be flush with the edge of the cabinets. The ceramic tiles kicked up a lot of red dust and every surface, seen or unseen, became coated with it. This would just be another round of wiping down the walls, cabinets, counters, etc since we had already done this once after the popcorn ceilings came down!

Removing the laminate wood flooring from the dining room and fireplace room was very simple and I was able to do it myself. The material was fairly new and in very good condition so we were able to donate it to Habitat's Home Store so that they could re-sell it. We are not complaining that it's a good tax deduction, either!

The floors were installed at the end of August. Here are some Before and During photos...

Once the floors had been installed, we decided to install new baseboards. We bought all of the boards and painted 2 coats of bright white oil based paint on them, then with Jack's help we got them cut and nailed to the wall. Jack also helped us with caulking them. We have a final coat of touch up paint on them to cover the small nail holes, which is on our To Do list still.

While we were doing the baseboard project, we realized that if we wanted to install molding/trim around the openings from one room to another, we needed to do it at the same time, otherwise we would be cutting the baseboards to the wrong size. One project ALWAYS leads to another with home ownership!!!

So we bought molding and painted 2 coats (Phil is a perfectionist when it comes to these details so he did all the tedious painting, and it looks really good). After we installed them, we had some gaps to fill with wood filler, and then everything had to be painted again with one or more coats of paint. We also decided to paint the french doors from the office to the TV room white rather than the orangy wood color they were previously. With the white trim and dark floors, they just didn't fit in anymore. So we have painted the trim 2 coats, and the doors are in line to be painted next.

We are co-hosting a couples baby shower for our friends Jennelle and Greg at our house on November 7th, so now we have a deadline to get all of our To Do list complete and some new furniture here before we have a large group of people over.

Two weekends ago we drove to the outlet malls and bought 3 new area rugs at the Pottery Barn outlet. We got a very good deal for really nice rugs. The following week we started shopping around for furniture, and last weekend we purchased a sofa for the formal sitting room, and matching chair/ottoman which will go in our office downstairs (just off the front entrance hallway).

I should mention that Cooper had really been loving the carpet in the house when we first moved in. He loved gripping his nails into it and running at full speed through all the rooms in the house as we chased him. It was lots of fun but we decided, to his dismay, to pull up all the carpet and install the hardwood and tile floors. (We do still have carpet on the stairs and all the bedrooms upstairs, which he enjoys but is not able to run around like he could downstairs.) But he does seem to enjoy the new rugs and now we see him just laying around, always on a rug. Sometimes while I do dishes he will lay on the rug under the dining room table and watch. Other times he will lay in the formal sitting room on the rug and watch while I cook. I will not be surprised this winter to see him roasting smores in the fireplace, of course, with his paws firmly resting on the rug.

Here are some of the latest photos taken as recently as today. We still need to buy more furniture and finish a long list of projects in the next month, so we will post more photos as we go. Hopefully just reading this post has tired you out and you can see what has been keeping us so busy that we have let our blogging lapse!

Becoming Landlords is Tons of Work!

2009-10-06T23:08:00.003-05:00

While we were in Dominica we spent part of our vacation working with realtors and contractors in the process of buying a new home. We finally closed on the new house the last week of May, but we will write more about that in future posts.

We decided that rather than sell our little house, we would find a renter for it. We tried to find Trinity students but that didn't work out, and we ended up getting very lucky to find a personal friend who was looking for a place and we are now renting to her, someone we trust to take care of the house and be a responsible renter! The timing also worked out perfectly because she moved in right as we moved out, so we were able to avoid having to go any period of time paying double mortgages.

In order to prepare the house for the renter to move in, we created a very long list of repairs we needed to complete. We installed a privacy fence first. Then we replaced the old, yellowing laminate flooring in the laundry room with fresh new tile. It turned out really nicely!

We also had the bathtub professionally refinished, initiated a pest control plan, re-leveled the gate so it would properly lock, repaired the running toilet, touch-up painted in all rooms, replaced the flooring under the sink, and thoroughly cleaned the house from top to bottom. It was so much work and we wondered why some of these projects hadn't been done sooner so we could enjoy the results!

We also swapped out the refrigerator with a side-by-side one that was in the new house so that the renter would have the benefit of a water and ice dispenser rather than the old refrigerator we had been using while we lived in the house.

After she moved in, we also installed a sprinkler system so that she would not have to worry about hand-watering the yard and that it would stay in good condition and maintain the value of the home and its curb appeal. This was a big investment but we consider it just that, an investment, so it was worth it.

We are not sure if we will keep renting the house out forever, but for now it's been a good situation and we are happy with how everything turned out.

2009-10-06T22:49:00.003-05:00

Felicity can correct me on this one if I'm wrong but due to my blogging hiatus, I can't confirm the name of the last waterfall we went to. I think it was Sari Sari. Anyway it was also fantastic. The weather had been rainy in the previous days and the waters were rushing very quickly which limited us on the waterfalls which were safe to hike to, and we could definitely tell when we got to these falls because the rocks were very slippery and the upsplash from the falls was big! (It was also quite wet and cold.) Felicity and I stayed on the lookout deck while Phil climbed down to the actual falls and he was gone for about 20 minutes. Just about the time we started worrying, he turned up again and said the views were gorgeous down at the bottom.

Last, we visited Titou Gorge which was a cave made of tall gorge rocks and formed swimming areas inside. Very pretty but it was dark inside so we didn't get very good photos. There was quite a bit of treading water involved while holding the camera in a plastic bag over our heads, and the water was freezing! So needless to say it was a quick visit, but one Felicity really wanted us to see because on a sunny warm day it is said to be even more gorgeous!

During our entire stay, Felicity and Karthik were wonderful hosts and cooked us delicious home cooked meals including pizza, Indian food, burritos, and one of my other favorite things was getting to drink Coke and Fanta from the glass bottle (just like in Mexico). We did not get to visit all the waterfalls we would have liked if time allowed, nor did we get to scuba dive (Dominica is supposed to have some of the best diving in the world) so we would like to someday return!

Our travels home involved us leaving Felicity's house before 4am so we could drive across the island, return our rental car, and make our early flight. Apparently Phil was out of sorts because he left his wedding ring in Felicity's house and to this day still doesn't wear a ring on his finger since it's currently living in Dominica...

2009-10-06T22:12:00.004-05:00

Our last stop of the day was Trafalgar Falls, which is a breathtaking double waterfall. We enjoyed the hike to get there and Phil and Karthik climbed further up the rocks to get closer to the falls. It was an absolutely spectacular sight.

2009-10-06T21:59:00.004-05:00

The following day we rented a van so that we could explore the steep mountainous terrain of the island without any worries about wearing out Felicity and Karthik's new vehicle. We drove from one end of the island to another and learned just how beautiful it was!

Here is Phil doing his ritual of putting sand in a bottle to bring home from each of our beach vacations. This was a black sand beach we happened to drive by during the road trip that day.

We drove to Scotts Head where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean but we happened upon it on a cloudy day so we weren't able to see its true beauty. We did take a walk along the rocky beach... until it started pouring rain!

To warm up from that adventure, we next stopped at Screws which are natural sulfur hot spring pools. The water is a murky brown color but the water is warm and feels like a nice hot tub! They managed to reduce the sulfur smell somehow in the actual pools themselves, but when we were driving nearby, there were some spots that smelled terrible!

2009-10-06T21:44:00.003-05:00

On our next adventure Ethan was able to join us for a trip to Emerald Pool because the hike was not too intense. The car ride, however, was a bit too much for him. About half way to our destination, Ethan got sick and we had to endure the rest of the ride with the lovely smell of spoiled milk accompanying us! So, Ethan got the pleasure of bathing in the (freezing) crystal clear water and his mommy got to rinse off at the same time.

It was the day before our wedding anniversary and I found a heart shaped leaf so I had to show it off.

No carseat laws in Dominica! Ethan liked to stand up in the back seat. Good thing his mommy is protective and kept him safe, plus Uncle Philip was driving and we all know that is safer than Ethan's daddy's driving. ;)

2009-10-06T21:27:00.003-05:00

Later that afternoon we went to Syndicate, which is basically a nature preservatory/national park where if you come at the right time you can see the parrots that are native to Dominica. We were able to see some on our second trip to Syndicate during our stay but only from about 30 feet up in the air. It was still exciting.

They had some really cool species of trees that we had never seen before and they were so tall!

On the drive home, one of the lookout points had this fun sign. The Dominicans are proud of their beautiful country!

2009-10-06T21:06:00.006-05:00

The next day Karthik took care of some school business and the rest of us went on a group trip to what we were told was the best beach on the island. The transport driver dropped us off after about a 30 minute drive at the top of this hill and we trekked down a muddy hill to get to the beach. We had to be very careful not to slip, especially since I was carrying a sleeping Ethan! The views were very pretty from the lookout points as we walked.

We had a nice time at the beach swimming and walking on the beach. Later that evening we all went out for a seafood dinner to celebrate the end of the semester for the med students. We were able to see a beautiful sunset so it was very nice.

The following day we got a babysitter for Ethan and we took a day trip to a cool natural water slide called Bense Pool. There is a tall rock where you can jump into the crystal clear water below, and also a rock formation that rushes down a small hill, creating the water slide concept. It was super fun!

Dominica Vacation

2009-10-06T20:41:00.005-05:00

The last week in April we flew to Dominica to visit Felicity, Karthik, and Ethan. As we flew in, we knew this island was not going to be like the other Caribbean island destinations we have visited. First of all, the island is definitely not flat. It has big hills (maybe they could even be classified as mountains) and lush green foliage so from the air, the landscape is overwhelmingly green. The beaches are pretty but they are not spectactular like some of the other nearby islands; this island definitely had its own gorgeous scenery and its fair share of things to do to fill up our vacation!

We arrived on a Saturday and were excited because the following day was Ethan's 1st birthday party! Ethan was just at the stage where he wanted to start walking but just wasn't there yet so he would take one or two steps and fall down. But he LOVED for us to stand up over him and hold his hands up so he could stand up and we help him walk, so that was lots of fun.

He enjoyed his pool party and lots of the other kids whose parents attend Ross came, so we were able to meet their group of friends. Ethan's favorite activity was definitely eating, so he really enjoyed his birthday cupcake at the party.

A little snot makes it taste better, he told me!

2009-10-06T20:09:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it has been 6 months since I blogged! Since today is the 6 month anniversary of my last post I figured it is a perfect milestone to jump back into this blogging game. These past few months I have pondered whether the blog is even necessary, with everyone keeping up with the day-to-day on networking sites like Facebook. I considered just posting a general pitch for everyone to join Facebook, but then I started looking back at our blog posts for the past 3 years and realized that it is such a great way to journal our lives that I shouldn't give it up. But after 6 months, do I go back in time to play catch-up, or just dive right in with a blog entry about our current lives? I choose to go back in time... enjoy!

Bahamas Vacation

2009-04-06T21:37:00.006-05:00

At the end of February we flew to the Bahamas for a week-long vacation. We met my Aunt and Uncle in Georgetown and spent a wonderful week on their boat, the Miss Pris. It is a 42' Grand Banks and was such a great vessel to spend the week on. We spent the week traveling on the boat between Georgetown and Nassau, where we flew out of, so we were able to see more than had we flown in and out of the same airport. Pris and Beuth were great hosts and introduced us to some awesome foods that we don't typically eat. The foods they prepare on the boat are infinitely more fantastic than anything I ever cook at home so it was such a treat. For example, lobster pasta, homemade pizza, lobster w/ drawn butter, lobster sandwiches on homemade bread, freshly baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies... we didn't like lobster before the trip but learned to appreciate it when it is caught-that-day-fresh! We also got to do some wonderful snorkeling and see some exotic fish and coral which was really cool. Speaking of cool, the water was only 75 degrees so we were in full wet suits with hoods and booties. The only part of my face that was exposed was the space between my chin and my eyes, otherwise I was completely covered in black neoprene. Apparently this was a pretty funny sight. Enjoy our photos and if you ever get a chance to visit the Bahamas, we highly recommend the destination!

Here is the Miss Pris at dock in Nassau.

On the way out of Georgetown on our first day on the boat, here we pose on the back deck.

We watched the sunset every evening from the top deck. Sometimes the clouds got in the way but we still watched to see if we could see the famous "green flash".

The mornings were kind of chilly so my aunt and I donned our toe socks. My mom had given us each a pair back in October. They were really cute but also practical!

The water was so many shades of aqua, turquoise, and blue but we could never capture them all on film.

We kept trying, though!

Here we are enjoying a hike on one of the islands (I need Pris to fill in the blanks on the names of the island because I failed to keep a journal on this trip!). We spent the day hiking across the island, going all the way up the peak you see to the left and all the way around the perimeter of the island on the beach.

Another day, we took an excursion on the dingy to Rachel's Bubble Bath. Here is the view of our dingy anchored just off the beach. It is even more gorgeous in person!

Here are Uncle Beuth, Aunt Pris, and I before we trek to Rachel's Bubble Bath.

Behind us is the Bubble Bath. It is an area where the water from the ocean splashes over the rocks and creates bubbles. The water can get kind of forceful so we couldn't stay too very close to the rocks. It was much more pleasant a few feet back if you didn't want to get crushed by the waves!

After Rachel's Bubble Bath, we went over to the marina nearby where some of their friends were docked. We had hamburgers for $13 each and Phil was able to enjoy the beer of the Bahamas. There are nurse sharks that swim around the docks waiting for people to throw food or fish guts in so we got to see lots of them up close as well.

Eating lobster fresh from the ocean below with drawn butter was a real treat. It ended up tasting more like popcorn, I'm sure because of the butter, and didn't have any seafood or fishy taste at all. I ate my weight in that stuff.

Here is Phil showing off the lobster they had caught that morning!

I'm so brave! They said this wasn't even the biggest one they had gotten this winter! It seemed pretty big to me!

Our last night, we went out to an Italian restaurant in Nassau that Pris and Beuth enjoy. The food was delicious and it is right on the water in the harbor area so it was very pretty.

After dinner, we went over to see Atlantis hotel/casino on Paradise Island. There is so much to see there so we spent a few hours walking around the casino which had Dale Chihuly glass sculptures hanging from the ceiling, the aquarium, and the marina. The aquarium was really cool because we were able to point out all of the fish and sharks and sting rays we had seen while snorkeling over the past week. The marina was also spectacular because of the amazing mult-million dollar yachts that were docked there. It was a cool way to end the week although we were glad we hadn't spent our entire stay at a resort like that.

The following morning we headed to the airport. We had decided to return on Sunday so that we could maximize our time in the Bahamas. This was nice because the weather was the best the last few days we were there, however when we flew through Charlotte on our way home, they had a blizzard and we were stuck on the tarmac for about 4 hours, including de-icing the plane twice, before we could take off. We ended up landing around 2:15am and finally got to bed around 3am after Phil's mom was nice enough to pick us up in the middle of the night. We did make it to work by 8am, with a little help from our friend caffeine to get going!

Now we look forward to our next vacation which is just in a few weeks. Destination: Dominica!

Birthday Weekend in Leakey

2009-04-06T21:08:00.004-05:00

My birthday turns out to be the day after our friend Jack's birthday so this year we decided to get together with some friends and rent a cabin in Leakey, TX. We found the Three Brothers Cabin on the internet and loved it right away. We planned multiple lunches, dinners, and afternoons planning all the details such as food, beverages, and activities of the weekend. Truly this was just an excuse to hang out but we did get everything worked out with multiple to-do lists before the date finally arrived. We took off half a day on Friday so we could get there right at check-in time and enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Here the guys are hanging out next to the homemade beer pong table that Jack and Katherine made. PS- Our list of things to bring didn't include plaid shorts, despite appearances...
While the guys played beer pong, we did what girls should be doing... relaxed in the hot tub!

Here are Katherine and I the first evening.

We brought two pinatas for the occasion. Jack got a pinata that was shaped like a beer bottle and I had a colorful donkey one. Here I am trying to whack the pinata after being spun around a few times.

They had a great fire pit near the house where we built a fire both nights and made s'mores. By the second night all that was left was the graham crackers and Phil earned the nickname "T.G." which stood for Teddy Graham based on his consumption of all of the remaining graham crackers.

It was a really fun weekend and we look forward to what celebration next year has in store! We should probably start planning now...

Yard Work Weekend

2009-03-22T18:20:00.003-05:00

A few weekends ago, we spent the entire weekend doing yard work.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Saturday morning Phil mowed the yard and edged while I pulled grass and weeds from the flower beds. He helped me weed when he finished and that afternoon his mom came by to teach us the best way to do our annual cutting back of our plants in the beds so that they would not remain the overgrown craziness that had been there previously. She also taught us how to properly prune our Crepe Myrtles for optimal tree shape. We significantly cut back all of the rose bushes in our beds and we planted some Red Tip Photinas behind them, pulling out the Oak Leaf Hydrangeas that were previously behind the roses but never bloomed because they get too much sun there. We moved them to the side of the house where it is more shady so we'll see how they do in their new location. On Sunday we continued planting and laid 2 layers of mulch- the mulch that we had ordered originally for the beds, and then a layer of the red mulch over the top. We love the way the red mulch looks against the colors of our house. We also planted the yellow and orange flowers in the front for some extra color for the spring. We are happy with the end result. It was even worth all the blisters and cuts on my hands that resulted from the hard work! We are so glad this type of hard yard work only is required once a year. Now if only we can get some good rain (not on the weekdends though!) so that the grass our yard will start coming back green. That would really complete the look!

Birthday Celebrations

2009-03-16T21:44:00.002-05:00

On Philip's birthday last week, we celebrated low-key by going to his mom's house for dinner rather than a big surprise birthday bash or anything of that nature. We hung out and had delicious grits for dinner (Phil's request). Afterward we got to enjoy cake from the Cake Shop, which I had secretly ordered the week prior and picked up earlier in the day without his knowledge. We were all able to enjoy a slice (or two) and even had left-overs for Phil and Cooper to eat during the week that followed!

100 Things

2009-02-10T21:52:00.003-06:00

Ever since Amity posted her 100 Things list in 2005, I have wanted to make my own list. Finally when the 25 Things lists made their rounds on Facebook I decided to not just make a 25 things list, but go for the full 100. So without further ado, here it is.

1. I am married to my high school sweetheart, and he is also my very best friend.
2. Food is a major motivator for me, and most often dictates my mood. My coworkers know that I am not very friendly before lunch. Accordingly, we eat promptly at 11:00am every day. My husband also knows that if I ever need cheering up, he can suggest one of my favorite restaurants/foods and immediately my mood improves.
3. As a young child, I was bitten on my upper thigh by a large dog. Ever since, I have slightly feared dogs, especially big ones. One day after I graduated from college, I decided I wanted a Chihuahua (no other breed was considered). Getting Cooper was one of the best decisions, and he is like a child to me. I let him lick my face, eat from my utensils, and he gets his own ice cream bowl.
4. I am a Liberal, especially when it comes to social issues. I am a huge supporter of gay marriage. Obviously, I am very proud to live in this country under an Obama presidency.
5. I was the Valedictorian of my high school class.
6. Despite this, I have never truly felt that I was really good at something until I worked at CS. I feel proud to consider myself truly good at my job.
7. I consider myself a perfectionist and have trouble delegating because I feel that I will have to do it over again because it will not meet my (high) standards. This means that I stay overloaded at work 100% of the time.
8. Someday I want to have 2 children, but I am not ready yet. There is a history of twins on my side of the family (my aunts are twins and my grandmother had twin sisters) and Phil is a twin, so our chances of having twins are even greater.
9. I love shopping secondhand at thrift stores. This has made me almost entirely unable to spend more than $5 on any article of clothing. I typically spend about 3 hours at each store, searching through the racks of clothes, filling up an entire shopping cart, and trying everything on in the dressing room. I always try clothes on before buying them, no matter where I am shopping. Fit is very important.
10. I choose beach destinations for all of my vacations. Luckily my husband and I are on the same page with this.
11. Unfortunately, I did not value living at the beach for 17 years of my life and very rarely stepped foot on the sand as a teenager.
12. Phil and I are Scuba certified and have dove in amazing tropical locations such as St. John and Belize.
13. I cherish efficiency. I drive fast, walk fast through crowds, type fast, and hate sitting through commercials on TV. Thank goodness for DVR; I rarely watch live TV these days.
14. I am an only child. As such, I see no rush to eat the food in our pantry because I know it will be there when I am ready for it, since I am not competing with any siblings to eat it first. My husband, one of 4 children, is quite the opposite and I have since learned never to expect the chips to still be there when I am ready to eat them, unless I sternly warn him that I plan to eat them later. On the other hand, I refuse to eat any food that is stale or past its expiration date, so it is probably a good thing that Phil eats it quickly. I do not like to buy food in bulk because I get tired very quickly of eating the same thing over and over again. Philip learned this around our 2nd year dating when he bought me 2 cases of Samoas (the Girl Scout cookies) for Valentine’s Day because they were my absolute favorite cookie, but I did not even eat the first case before I got tired of them and refused to eat any more. That was the last time he bought me a large quantity of any food product.
15. I like to maintain a ratio system with the food I eat. For example, I want to have at least one marshmallow per spoonful of Lucky Charms cereal. Or, I need to be sure to have a sip of milk with each bite of my cookies. When the milk runs out, only then do I stop eating. On a plate full of dinner, I am sure that the portions of each item remain equal so I have at the end one bite of salad, one bite of chicken, and one bite of corn left. This was something I did subconsciously all my life until my husband pointed it out. Now I notice that my Dad does exactly the same thing.
16. My mother is the most positive person I know. She can find good in anything and always has a wonderful outlook and great advice.
17. My parents are still happily married after 26 years and enjoy spending every day together. I look forward to this type of life-long love and feel lucky to have such great role models for it.
18. I love the games Scattergories and Catchphrase. I tend to become an intense Catchphrase player. People say that being on my team is kind of stressful because of the pressure to win. I take this as a compliment.
19. I do not enjoy cooking, cleaning, or working out. In my mind, these are what the expectations should be for a stay-at-home-wife, so I have no desire to be one.
20. I played the oboe in high school and was in the marching band. Stop laughing.
21. I wore braces and headgear for 4 years up until my Freshman year of high school. I never wore my retainers so my orthodontist put me back in headgear in college. I finally told him that I was not going to wear it, because there could be a fire drill at any time and I would rather have bad teeth than be seen by my classmates wearing it in the dorms.
22. I love our home. The location is great, and it has such great charm including hard wood floors, a large back yard, stainless steel appliances, and a great floor plan. But I am ready to live in a house with more than 1 bathroom, larger closets, and overall more square footage. We also want a pool.
23. Ideally I would love to rent out our house fully furnished so I can start from scratch in a new house and decorate the whole thing. Unfortunately I have a hard time spending thousands of dollars at once on furniture and decorations, so it is likely that we would have bare walls and furniture-less rooms a while.
24. I have a terrible memory.
25. I do not enjoy shopping at what I consider to be “boy” stores: Best Buy, Academy, Office Max, etc. I tend to be grumpy and rush through them, much to the dismay of my husband.
26. I am secretly glad that Philip is so financially strict that I feel guilty when buying things I don’t think he would approve of. I know that we will always be financially secure because of it and I really value that.
27. I spend a lot of time on Facebook and check my friends’ blogs for updates every day.
28. I rarely deem anything blog-worthy, so my own blog goes without being updated for long periods of time.
29. My favorite TV shows currently include Lipstick Jungle (recently cancelled and I am still distraught), The Office, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, House Hunters International, Beauty & the Geek, Project Runway, The Girls Next Door, Desperate Housewives, and Intervention.
30. In high school this list would have been comprised of Dawson’s Creek, Beverly Hills 90210, Party of Five, Friends, and Gilmore Girls. Obviously this was prior to the reality TV boom.
31. My favorite color is pink.
32. I do not like to take medicine unless it is absolutely necessary.
33. When I go to the beach I am always on the lookout for unique shells and heart-shaped rocks.
34. As a child, I remember riding my bicycle around with my friends and checking inside the coin return areas of soda, phone, and newspaper machines to look for coins. This was a lucrative adventure and many times would find at least a quarter in the machines. Almost always we came up with enough change to buy a soda or candy bar.
35. I almost always feel cold. I have a space heater at my desk at work that I use year-round.
36. I have a bad habit of plucking out my eyebrows with my fingers when I am nervous or bored. I really wish I could stop doing this because having no eyebrows is very unattractive.
37. I truly believe that my husband is far smarter than I, and admire his logic, decision-making, and reasoning skills. He always knows how to make a great argument. I like to let him make decisions partly because of this. He does not like my indecisiveness and this sometimes leads to argument.
38. In my household growing up, there was not any fighting/arguing and certainly no cussing. My mom used words like “shizam” and “fudgesicles” in the place of cuss words.
39. I enjoy watching basketball, gymnastics, and tennis on television. However, I would always choose one of my favorite TV shows (see #29) over any of these sports.
40. The only sport I have ever played is tennis. I went to tennis camp 3 times while growing up but still am only mediocre at the sport. I still play with the same racquet my parents bought me in high school which was nicknamed “The Skunk” because it is black and white.
41. As a child, my parents also put me through piano lessons, tumbling, oboe lessons, and tennis lessons. I also participated in elementary school choir and Girl Scouts. My mom was a Troop Leader, of course.
42. My first source of income around the age of 10 was washing boats at the docks every day when the charter captains came in at noon. My Dad was my first client and paid me $5 per day to wash his boat. Then I started working with the other captains who paid up to $10 if they used live bait and their boats were dirtier. This is how I bought my first pair of roller blades.
43. My first real job after I turned 16 was at a hotel. I worked PBX first, then Reservations. I worked there during the summers all the way through my Junior year of college. Sometimes it was boring when the phones would not ring, and my good friend Jane and I would write each other notes to stay entertained. They were silly and many times we would great creative and write the notes in weird shapes like spirals just to keep them fresh and exciting.
44. Drug use is prevalent in a place like South Padre. Combine the relaxed atmosphere of a beach resort town with the proximity to the Mexican border, and it makes perfect sense. From a very young age I knew what pot smelled like. However, I can honestly say that I have never done any drugs.
45. I am currently having laser hair removal treatments. I am hopeful that 6 months from now, I will never again have to pick up a razor. That would make it worth every penny, and justify the pain (it does not just feel like a rubber band snap like they tell you when you sign up).
46. I do not cry often. Not at movies, commercials, even when someone says something that hurts my feelings. The last few times I have cried have been when I was stressed over work issues. Most of my best friends have never seen me cry.
47. Getting gas for my car is a task that I loathe. I never fill up before my indicator light comes on.
48. I appreciate organization. The shirts in my closet are organized by length of sleeve, then color. All of the cans and jars in my pantry face the same direction, and everything has its place. I do not like it when Phil puts away the groceries, dishes, or laundry because things do not end up where I believe they go.
49. My family is full of teachers and as a child I always thought I would be a teacher when I grew up. However I realize today that I do not have much patience and would be a terrible teacher. I get frustrated/annoyed at work when someone asks the same question twice because they did not listen or take notes the first time, or when people do not fully read the information they are provided but immediately start asking questions about it. I have a hard time agreeing with the saying “There are no stupid questions”.
50. I did not ever envision myself as a sorority girl, but ended up loving my experience as one. My sorority sisters are some of the most successful people I know, not to mention fun, intelligent, beautiful, well-rounded, and admirable.
51. I always wear my seatbelt. My mom would not start the ignition of the car when I was growing up until all seatbelts were buckled and she heard the clicks. Now it is habit to me to put one on and I feel anxious and agitated when other people do not wear theirs.
52. I am not a rebel and enjoy following rules. I guess I am like Amity in this way.
53. I hate waking up in the morning. No matter what time it is and how long I have slept, I will always want 5 more minutes. Then 5 more. And 5 more. Usually our alarm starts going off at 5:15am and I do not get up until 7:00, with the snooze alarm going off in 10-minute intervals.
54. When I do wake up, I am going to be grumpy. I do not want to speak to anyone for at least an hour. This is for your own good.
55. I hate to be late so I am always sure to wake up on time to make it where I need to be. I think it is very rude when people are habitually late. I start to feel anxious when I arrive somewhere even 1 minute past the time I was scheduled to arrive.
56. I value thank-you notes. I think they are an important response to the receipt of a gift. I read once about a man who writes approximately 12 thank you notes per day and I love that notion. I have a place inside myself where guilt resides when more than 3 days has passed and my thank you notes have not been written. It gets larger and louder as each day passes and I don’t forget. I remember the thank you notes I never got around to writing for one of my bridal showers and always wonder if those people have judged me because of it. Probably not, but I would understand if they did.
57. I am so glad that I made the choice to attend Trinity University.
58. I think that my wedding was perfect, and would not change a thing.
59. I almost always prefer a night staying in with my husband, puppy, and bowl of ice cream to a night going out and drinking.
60. I do not enjoy dancing. If you see me dancing, I am drunk. I have been known to do the chicken dance to an Outkast song, dance on a raised platform with an “X” on it at a gay bar, and dance around the living room to salsa music in a sombrero after a house party while drunk.
61. I love US Weekly magazine. I know it is wrong to support the intrusion into the lives of celebrities, but it is a guilty pleasure of mine. And I find US far superior to Star or OK! magazines.
62. The only type of books I like to read are the girly non-fiction ones. I judge the books by their covers and if they are pink with a cute font, I’m sold. I also love all of Nicholas Sparks’ books.
63. I am not interested in the news, true crime, history, or non-fiction. My husband enjoys all of the above, in all forms (books, TV, internet).
64. I have never lived anywhere but Texas. Its climate is perfect for me and I do not plan on moving out of state anytime soon.
65. I enjoy traveling and want my list of destinations is almost endless. Too bad my vacation time and funds are limited.
66. I took the SAT 3 times in high school. My score went up each time and my highest score was 1360. I was proud of that score.
67. I am not a good story teller.
68. One of my favorite things is having a pedicure. However, I find it hard to justify the $30 cost, especially if it is not the hottest days of summer where I am wearing open toe shoes every single day.
69. On the other hand, I faithfully get my hair highlighted and cut every 6 weeks.
70. I really want to own a set of dishes that I love, all matching in a place setting of 8. I think I am old enough to have them, and finally get rid of our mismatched, chipped IKEA bowls.
71. Often when I am standing in place, I cris-cross my legs. I am not sure why I do not just stand with my legs parallel to one another.
72. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I enjoy the decorations most of all.
73. Once in pre-school I was trying to impress a boy and ate the crust on my sandwich first. I hate the crust, so I guess he was pretty great.
74. I like Coke. Not Diet Coke. And I get a little offended when waitresses assume I would ask for Diet.
75. I enjoy dressing my male puppy up in sweaters and doggy t-shirts. I find it cute.
76. I think my husband is HOT.
77. I love my nieces and nephews. I am so glad to have married a man who has siblings so I can be an aunt! What a unique role; I love being Aunt Lauren.
78. I really wish I would have been able to know my maternal grandmother.
79. I would someday like to bungee jump and skydive.
80. I am not a worrier. I realize that worrying does not help a situation and logically am able to stop my brain from going into worry-mode.
81. I love amusement parks and roller coasters. My favorite ride is called the Frisbee at Fiesta Texas which combines heights and spinning. This type of ride makes my husband sick to even watch but I like to ride it over and over again.
82. When someone sings a song, it gets stuck in my head and 5 minutes later I will find myself singing it and wondering where it came from. Then when I figure it out, I get angry at that person because it is usually something ridiculous. Currently “goodnight sweetheart, yeah it’s time to say goodnight, shoobeedoowap”. Last night, “8675309”. Thanks, Phil.
83. In high school I had the bright idea to get bangs. They were thick and covered my entire forehead. This was a bad idea. Please don’t ask to see photos.
84. My first car was a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. It was maroon exterior, with maroon interior. I drove it for 5 years. Today I drive an Acura 3.2 CL with leather interior, sunroof, and my favorite part: heated seats.
85. I am a people-watcher. Airports, malls, and restaurant waiting areas are very entertaining places for me. I just have to be sure not to stare too much; sometimes I get wrapped up in observing and other people realize I am watching them, which is embarrassing.
86. If there was one day of my life I could do over, it would be the year my Mom and I forgot my Dad’s birthday. It was bedtime before he reminded us that we had all forgotten and he looked so hurt. I don’t know if he realizes how much I still regret that day and if I could do it all over again I would go overboard to make him feel special with gifts, parties, cake, and love.
87. I love s’mores. Indoors or outdoors, I don’t care. They are even delicious when cooked on our gas stove.
88. I believe recycling is important. I believe in global warming and Al Gore’s message. I try to do my part.
89. If money were no object, I would get involved with non-profits and spend my time helping organizations I believe in, rather than corporations, to succeed. I would travel more frequently, but only if my husband could join me. I would enjoy luxuries such as those pedicures, a personal trainer, dining out frequently, and I would buy more expensive clothing and accessories. I would probably also get a boob job.
90. I am not a gum chewer.
91. I do not mind silence or being alone. I will go to a restaurant, movie, or shopping alone. However, I feel uncomfortable spending the night in my own home alone when my husband is out of town. So does Cooper; he tends to bark much more frequently when one of us is gone. This doesn’t help me feel safer.
92. I have always been a little afraid of the dark.
93. I wish I would remember my dreams after I woke up. Sometimes I know they were really cool but I just can’t lock in the memory. I have never had the falling dream that people speak of.
94. I do not fluently speak a second language, but my Spanish is good enough that I can get by to travel in Mexico. I took 3 years of Spanish language in high school and a semester in college.
95. My birthday sometimes falls on the first day of Spring, and always is the first day of Aries astrological sign. I feel that as I get older, I exhibit more and more Aries-characteristics. But I also have some Pisces personality traits which makes sense since I’m right on the line between the two signs. However, I do not believe in astrology.
96. I have a difficult time with faith. I would like to be religious and go to church, but my logical side makes it difficult for me to believe in something without seeing anything tangible.
97. I get rid of stuff on a very regular basis. I almost always have at least a bag full of things in my trunk to take to Goodwill and if I have not worn an item of clothing in 6 months or so, I get rid of it. I also help my Mom clean out her wardrobe at least once a year.
98. I have a hard time watching channels on TV that are not HD, now that I’m spoiled by it. Same goes for sitting in floor seats at the Spurs games. You can’t go back from these types of luxuries to the way you used to do things.
99. I use SPF 8 sunscreen when tanning.
100. I am nervous to post this list for everyone to read because I am not confident that it is properly organized, all-encompassing, and am not sure what story it tells about me.

So... which of these things did you not know?

PS- Phil plans to write his list soon, which I look forward to reading. He said there were a few things on my list that he did not know, which surprises me, and I look forward to maybe finding out a few things about him through his list!

Christmas

2009-01-11T01:23:00.005-06:00

Felicity and Karthik arrived on Christmas Eve and we picked them up at the airport, heading directly to the mall to stand in line to get Ethan's picture taken with Santa. He is 8 months old so this is his first Santa photo and very important to his mommy. As it turned out, many other mommies had the same idea and we ended up being in the Santa line for about 2 hours before it was all said and done. But Ethan's photo came out really cute! (I have given his mommy ample time to post his photo on her blog so I don't really feel bad stealing her thunder and posting the picture on here since it's been 2-1/2 weeks since Christmas Eve!)

It was lots of fun playing with the kids at Christmas. Blake received Guitar Hero from all of his aunts and uncles...

... and Drew showed off his new costumes that he had gotten for Christmas. Uncle Philip jumped right in and joined in on the fun!

And this is just a cute picture of Ethan being a hoodlum :)

Sam & Henna

2009-01-11T01:00:00.006-06:00

We have been dog-sitting since the first week in November for Felicity's dogs, Sam & Henna. This post is a tribute to them since they will be headed overseas with their parents in just a few weeks.

One day in November while I was doing some dead-heading of our rose bushes in the front yard, Sam and Henna could be heard whining from the back yard. We came over to the fence from the front yard to see what they were up to and saw them doing their very best to try to come help.

We found out in December that Sam, the largest of the three dogs in our household, is a scaredy-cat (dog). He does NOT like the lawnmower. When Phil mowed the back yard, Sam found the farthest spot away in the back yard and stayed in the very corner until the mowing was done.

Philip thought it would be funny to give Sam & Henna peanut butter and watch them get it stuck in their mouth and smack. This was probably the hardest Phil had laughed in a long time. It was hard to get a good photo of it while laughing so here is the best one we got. (Notice Henna's tongue in the background!)

Most of the rest of the time, they can be found lounging around, doing some light reading...

... and of course always making time for a nap.

Luckily, Cooper gets along really well with them and they play quite a bit so they tire one another out!

2009-01-11T00:48:00.003-06:00

My friend Amanda graduated with a Master's Degree in Health Care Administration from Trinity in December and Phil and I attended her graduation. She had an entourage of friends and family at the ceremony and I am so glad we could be there to support her.

Unfortunately, she will be staying in Louisianna for the time being and starting her new job at the hospital where she has been interning for the past year, so I won't get to see her as often as I'd like, but hopefully I can go visit her in the exciting town of Alexandria sometime this year!

Debbie's Reindeer

2009-01-11T00:45:00.002-06:00

To get into the spirit of the holidays at work, we had a week-long schedule of festivities. Day 1 was Hat Day and I won with these antlers!

2009-01-10T23:29:00.008-06:00

Day 7

Woke up this morning to Phil saying "So I have good news and bad news." As I squint my eyes to see (contacts not in yet), he holds up my flip flops which had been left on the ground just outside our car the evening prior, one of which has been what appears to be chewed up and spit out. This is the bad news.

The good news happens to be that although at first Philip thought his shoes were missing altogether, he found them strewn out about 50 feet away. Apparently the campsite dogs had feasted on our shoes the evening before just outside our vehicle, while we slept soundly within. Luckily, my flip flops are still wearable and since they are Reefs and cost $25, I am not giving up on them that easily!

That morning, after a morning surf session for Mom, Phil & Dad, we had breakfast at the restaurant at the campsite and then packed up camp to head further south to our final destination, La Saladita.

We stopped in town for supplies (ice, food, beer, etc.) and got Aguas Frescas for the trip (fruit-flavored waters). I got a pina colada flavored one and my parents got orange and they were very refreshing.

We arrived in Saladita that afternoon and set up camp next to my parents' long-time friend, Dean. They met Dean many years back in Sayulita when we used to go there before it got very crowded and have spent many winters with Dean and his wife since. Now they meet up in Saladita where Dean has purchased land and is in the process of building a house. The construction process in Mexico is much more laid back than we are used to in the US, so Dean has taken an active role in the construction to try to help streamline the whole thing. He was originally told the construction process would take 6 months, and he celebrated the 1-year construction anniversary while we were there, and the house still has about 1-2 months of work to go before it will be complete. So Dean spends every day all day at the house so he was not around when we arrived that afternoon. We got situated and later that afternoon met up with him for dinner at the restaurant nearest our campsite on the beach. Guess who was at the restaurant? Gregory with the motorcycle from our previous campsite! Seems like he did take my parents' advice of where to stop!

After dark, the bugs started to show up so we had an early night retreating to the 4runner to read and listen to music inside before falling asleep early.

Day 8 - Day Trip

The next morning we woke up and took a walk on the beach around 8:30am while Mom did her yoga.

Dad had gone out surfing so we watched him for a while catch some waves. We knew we wanted to take a day trip south to Zihuatanejo to check the city out and wanted to leave kind of early. By almost 10am when Dad still had not come in from surfing, Phil and I decided to go ahead and do the day trip on our own rather than waiting any longer to get going. Mom stayed back so Dad would not be all alone for the day at the campsite.

My parents had recommended a surf town called Troncones, so we stopped there first. We came across a cool art shop, and the artist happened to be a surfer from the US who had lived on South Padre and knew my parents! We got to talk to him for a while and bought some small pieces of his artwork- magnets which we have on our refrigerator now!

Next we drove south and went through Ixtapa, which turned out to be a very touristy town with hotels lining the beach, lots of Americanized fast food chains, and shops. We didn't even stop, just drove though to see it and kept on going. Not much farther down the highway was Zihuatanejo which is a much larger city and very populated. There was traffic we didn't really have a destination so we stopped at a supermarket to see what it was like. It was basically like a super Wal-Mart. It had everything we could have wanted and we decided next time we didn't really need to bring anything; we could get it there for great prices! We did not spend too long in the city and decided to head back to Troncones to spend the rest of the day on the beach.

We had a snack of guacamole with a beer/pina colada for lunch right on the beach at El Burro Borracho restaurant. It was kind of pricy for Mexico and their menu was very touristy but it was right on the beach and the day was beautiful.

We took a long walk on the beach and swum for a bit in the water. The waves were pretty forceful and at one point the waves threw my into Phil's head and I hit my cheekbone just below my eye and got a mini-black eye! After that I was pretty ready to leave so we decided to head back to the campsite. The afternoon sun was still high when we got back so we decided to take our chairs to the beach and do some reading. After about 30 minutes, my Dad came down to the beach to see what we were up to and while he was there, a bee had been flying around me and ended up stinging me right at my collar bone! I have never been stung before by a bee and didn't really know what to do. Phil even had to pull its little stinger out of my skin because it got stuck! My Dad wasn't very sympathetic- he couldn't believe I had never been stung by a bee before in my life and by the time he was 10 years old he had already been stung multiple times! But despite all those stings, he couldn't tell me what to put on it to soothe the sting! The guy in the campsite next to us told me to put niccotine on it, but of course I did not have any available nor did I think that was an attractive idea so I just decided to suffer in (semi) silence.

That evening we watched the sunset and then had dinner at the campsite which Dean joined us for, consisting of grilled sausage with cheese/jalapenos, salad, and toast. It was a great way to end the day!

Day 9- Last Day of Vacation

We wanted to spend the last day just relaxing and not driving anywhere since we had a long road ahead of us starting the next day. Phil and Mom joined Dad in the water for an early morning surf session. I slept in a bit and caught just the tail end of their session but got to greet them as they came in.

We ate some breakfast and then my parents, Phil, and I walked up to Lourdes' which is a restaurant, bar, and surf shop where the locals like to hang out. We did not find anything to purchase so we didn't stay long. We decided to talk over to Dean's house so Phil and I could see the construction (my parents had been by the day before so they were able to give us the tour). After walking through the house, we headed back to the campsite and on our way stopped at a little taco stand and had drinks (limonadas for my parents and Coca Cola for me!). We talked to the ladies there about coming back for dinner and they said they would be open. But that evening when we showed up, there was not a soul in sight! We ended up having to eat at the restaurant on the beach that we had eaten at two nights before; we were hoping to add another taco stand to our count so this was disappointing!

Day 10 - Long Drive

We left Saladita at 5:45am and headed North. We had spent over an hour the afternoon prior mapping out our route to find the best way, a tricky combination of finding the most toll roads, least mountainous terrain, least windy roads, and not going too far out of our way to accomplish these goals. We must have done a good job because made very good time. We stopped minimally - only for gas when necessary. We had snacks (junk food) in the car and did not stop for a meal all day. Our goal was to make it to Cuidad Victoria and spend the night, which we were not sure we could accomplish since it was many more miles than we traveled on day 1 of our trip. We did make it there around 6pm and decided that since there were only about 3 more hours of driving to get to the border, we would rather keep going than stop and have to find a hotel.

I will be honest and say that driving in Mexico at night is not fun. Actually, some might describe it as scary. The roads are mostly 2-lane with small shoulders, and this is best case scenario. So, many times when a car is trying to pass an 18-wheeler going the other direction, you are facing that car head-on in your lane and have no choice but to slam on your brakes and reduce your speed to avoid a collision. This happened more than once! Also, the big trucks in Mexico are double-long which we don't see in the US much, so that makes passing them even more trecherous since it takes longer to get around them! We had to both stay very alert and awake the entire day. Luckily, the police know better than to pull anyone over on the roads- they have no place to safely do so! The only time we saw any police was when a safety hazard was forthcoming; they would park on the shoulder with their lights flashing if a dangerous curve was ahead to warn drivers to slow down, which was really helpful.

We finally hit Matamoros around 9pm although the signs did not clearly direct us towards the border so we got lost and did not actually arrive at the border until about 9:45pm. We turned in our car permit and actually made it across pretty quickly. But we still had a 40 minute drive to the island before our travels for the day were over! Since we had not eaten all day, we stopped and picked up Whataburger on the island as our first meal back in the US. How American... burgers and fries.

The best part of the evening was a hot shower when we got to my parents' condo (the campsites had fresh water and showers but never hot water!) and we went right to bed, having the best night's sleep we had had in 10 days! Phil is usually an early riser but it was almost 8am before he even opened his eyes. I think he may have even woken up in the same exact position he fell asleep in! Same for me, but that is nothing out of the ordinary in my case... :)

Day 10 - Home Again

This day I drove for the first time since we had left San Antonio to give Phil a break from being behind the wheel. We made it back to San Antonio around lunchtime and unpacked and started the unwinding and chores that come with returning from vacation, and preparing to return to work. That evening we drove to pick up the dogs half way between SA and Austin where Brad and Stacy met us for the exchange. It was great to see Cooper again (oh yeah, and Sam/Henna too) and with them back in the house, back into the swing of things we went.

All in all, the trip was wonderful- very relaxing, gorgeous views, with really no problems or stress. I decided that all our vacations need to be international so that we really are able to get away without access to phones or emails. We plan to return again on this type of trip to Mexico many times in our lives.

Did we mention the whole trip cost us less than $700 for the entire 10 days?! I think we can definitely afford to do this again!

What's in that tube?

2008-12-29T22:10:00.003-06:00

Phil reminded me of an exciting event from our vacation that I forgot to mention during my recap of our time in Ticla. As dentally hygenic individuals, each night before bed we would brush our teeth before climbing into the car. However, by this time of the night, the sun had gone down and it was dark, and we either usually could not find our lantern. So one of the evenings, I divied up the toiletries and headed up to the bathrooms to shower. Mom and I went to the women's bathroom and Phil went to the men's and of course he was finished sooner than we did. Later, when we arrived back at the campsite, Phil asked me what I gave him to brush his teeth with. I told him it was the Colgate that we had gotten from our dentist as a sample. He said that no, it was not toothpaste... it was the other similarly-shaped and similarly-sized tube of Cortizone that we had bought to help soothe the itching of bug bites. Unfortunately, Phil did not find this out until it had been spread across the bristles of his toothbrush and lathered up his teeth with it! Oops!

(I told him to look on the bright side-- at least his mouth was not itchy afterward!)

2008-12-27T22:40:00.008-06:00

Day Five- Tizupan

The next morning we packed up our campsite and headed south for our next destination, a beachfront town called Tizupan. We arrived and pulled up under a palapa where my parents have stayed in the past.

There was a guy named Gregory who was staying in the campsite next door and packing up his gear to continue on his trip south. He was from Boston and was traveling on just a motorcycle, hoping to end up south of the Panama Canal if he could figure out how to get his bike that far south. We chatted about his trip and our experiences and my parents recommended some other spots for him to stop during his travels.

We set up camp and had a quick lunch, then Mom, Dad & Phil all decided to head out surfing!

The beach was rocky so they walked down to the shore with their shoes and then I retrieved them and brought them back to the campsite while they surfed. The waves were not too big and perfect for Phil to learn on and Mom to practice on. Dad stayed farther away in areas where he could get slightly larger waves and would not be in the way of the other two.

They spent about an hour in the water and when they came in, their shoes were brought to them so that they would not have to endure the rocky shore on their bare feet.

After the surf session, Phil and I took a long walk on the beach. First we walked left to the end of the rocks but the walk was short and there were some fishermen catching bait in their nets and we didn't want to get in their way, so we decided to walk back past our campsite and walk all the way to the end of the beach in the other direction. During our entire trip, I was searching for heart-shaped rocks, and this walk was no exception. I even had my parents searching while they walked the beaches! We found a few good ones and also some really beautiful shells that we brought back with us- they were bright pink and they are kind of like a clam since they fold inward toward each other, and both sides of the shell are identical. The animals were already gone from the shell so we picked them up. We probably came back to Texas with 20 of them!

We returned to the campground and showered and got ready for dinner. As with every night, we watched the beautiful sunset.

We grilled game hens and had salad and toast with it, which was delicious. Afterward, I toasted marshmallows on the grill for dessert! This night was probably the most beautiful of them all- it's hard to tell from the photo but the sky was orange near the horizon but the moon and some stars were already visible, so the contrast was gorgeous!

I even pulled Mom away from doing dishes for a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful view!

2008-12-21T18:56:00.008-06:00

Day Three - Relaxation

Dad went out fishing and then surfing. When Mom had returned from her long morning exercise walk with her friend, she accompanied me and Phil as we waded across the river (the water was waist high and cold in the river!) to watch Dad surf. He had gone around the point to get better waves which seemed to be what most of the surfers were doing. As we walked over, we passed a surfer who was bleeding from the head because of a surfing injury! This was not the only time we saw this type of injury at Ticla so I am glad Phil did not decide to try surfing here.

We found a log to sit on and watched Dad surf while basking in the morning sun. After about half an hour, Phil and I decided to take a walk farther down the beach. It was rocky where we were, so we wanted to get to the sandy part of the beach so we could more safely go for a swim. Mom decided to head back to the campsite so that she could get together with some friends for yoga, so Phil and I walked to the very end of the beach together. Where the beach ends, there is a cliff and Phil climbed up to explore. I climbed up just a few feet, not all the way, but the view was beautiful from that height.

We came back to the camp after our walk and hung out in the hammock for a while and read. It was very relaxing and the weather was nice and warm.

Later, we had a snack of guacamole at the restaurant in our campground, and then walked up to town to use the internet to email and let Phil's mom know we had made it safely there. We hung out some more and later my parents grilled pork tenderloin for dinner with salad and toast. They say that they usually become the envy of the other campers at their campgrounds because they eat "real" food (as opposed to canned sardines and such) and I can understand why. Dinner was delicious!

Day Four - Day Trip

Phil woke up early and went fishing on the beach with my Dad. The evening before, they had spotted a fishing hole in the ocean and put a stick in the sand-dune to remind them the following morning where it would be. Mom and I woke up and took a walk on the beach (with mom calling out exercise moves and tips like "Suck and Smile" which translates to suck in your stomach and smile while you walk, despite what it might bring to mind otherwise) and we joined the fishermen to see how they had done. Unfortunately, they did not catch any fish so we had to go to the taco stands for dinner... (and we promise this was not sabotage on Phil's part since he doesn't eat seafood!)

We decided we wanted to see some other beaches in the area and we had heard from the other people in the campground that the beach at Maruata was great even though Mom had not been impressed with it in the past when she had been there. We decided to pack up and drove our vehicle back up to the highway to head South to some different beaches.

We first stopped in La Manzanillera. The beach there reminded me of the beaches in Cabo San Lucas. It was very pretty and the big rocks on the shore were remniscent of the ones we posed by just a few years ago. We did not stay much longer on this beach because we were anxious to get to our other destinations.

Next, we drove farther South to El Faro (which literally translates to "the lighthouse" so there are more than one El Faro beaches in Mexico). We had a nice time at this beach. We arrived and there was basically nobody there yet which was great.

We took a swim in the ocean and then Mom and I decided to lay out and do some reading on the beach while Phil and Dad went snorkeling. While they were out in the water, a bus load of people showed up at the beach and the beach got super crowded, which was to be expected since it was a Sunday. These people had obviously been to this beach before because the teenager and 20-somethings of the group quickly climbed up on the rocks in the water and as a wave would come through between the rocks, they would one at a time jump off the rocks into the water below. All of their friends and family in the water closer to the shore would cheer them on each time. It was pretty fun to watch, although I figured it had to be kind of dangerous if it was too shallow to jump into the water before the waves came through...

Soon thereafter, the ice cream truck showed up! Similar to an ice cream truck in the US, except it was a jeep and it drove right onto the beach!

We all mused at first that this guy must be money laundering or something because there was no way an ice cream truck could bring enough revenue in to be able to afford a brand new Jeep in Mexico, but then as over 30 minutes passed and every single person on the beach (other than us) had purchased in ice cream cone and the line was never-ending, we realized we were very wrong and this ice cream business was quite lucrative actually!

We also entertained ourself on this beach by playing with a golden retreiver who had come with 2 people who were staying back at our camp-site in Ticla and picked a spot on the beach right next to us. The dog was so well-behaved and loved to fetch anything. Phil and Dad got roped into the stick-throwing but it was relentless after a while when the dog couldn't get enough. It was cute, though, because the dog would bring the stick right up to our chairs, and when we didn't pick it up, the dog would pick up the stick and actually lean it up vertically against the legs of our chairs so that we didn't even have to lean down to pick it up and throw it. Wasn't that thoughtful of him?

We ordered Limonadas and a plate of Camarones de Ajo for lunch and ate and drank on the beach and under the palapa, although the plate of food was kind of weird in that the shrimp needed to be peeled when they arrived at the table, shell and little bitty legs and all. I wasn't expecting this and it kind of made it less appetizing. But I ate it anyway, and my mom helped shell and de-leg the shrimpies like good mommies are supposed to do for their daughters.

Next we got back into the car and drove to Marueta. This is where we kind of got lost, although it turned out to be a wonderful thing! We drove into town and there was this big new building that was not there last year, so my parents did not have any recollection anymore of how to get to the beach. We drove down one street but there was lots of construction and rebar in the road on one side while the other side was torn up with piles of bricks. We turned around and drove down the next street over, which was a dead end. We went down a third street which led back to the first street. We had not yet seen a glimpse of the ocean! So we drove back to the closest road to the highway and turned down it, which led us to some sort of landing strip for airplanes, again not the beach. So we decided to go around the other side of the building and take a new road. We decided to follow the car driving ahead of us just to see where he led us, and it actually led us down a dirt road toward the beach! We found a camp ground and turned off to the side of it and I decided to just get out and see what the beach looked like before we left altogether and headed back to our camp. We walked up over the sand-dune and saw the most beautiful beach!

From the top of the sand-dune, the beach sloped down and rested between tall rock cliffs on either side, so the water was crystal clear and the waves were not too big. The ocean just rolled in and out so it was perfect for swimming! I stripped my cover-up off and ran into the water for a swim! It was wonderful to see a beach that was not rocky and easy to enter/exit. After my swim, I just laid directly on the sand and sunbathed. Phil and my Mom decided to go over to the rocks to the left of the beach and it turned out that there were caves that you could walk all the way through to another secluded beach just like this one! They came back and told us how cool it was so we all went to take a look for ourselves. It reminded us of two years ago on our trip to the Virgin Gorda where we were able to explore the caves.

On the right side of the beach there was another set of rock caves. The only other people on this beach were some older Canadians and we asked them if the caves led anywhere, but they had not yet entered them. We learned that they did go through and we were able to find yet another gorgeous and isolated beach! This was such a cool spot that we decided was our favorite beach of the trip and would love to return to and spend time camping there. But it did not have any good waves for surfing, so my Dad wasn't as enchanted as we were.

After enjoying Marueta we decided to drive down another dirt road and we ended up at a dead end road. We got out of our car and walked up to the beach over the hill and found that we were on the back side of the part of Marueta that my parents had been to before, where there was more of a surf spot. We ran into our neighbors from the campground who had been out surfing there. As it turns out, they drove straight through the road construction to get to this beach at the spot where we turned around due to the piles of rebar and construction materials in the road!

That evening, we had dinner at 2 taco stands in Ticla and went to sleep after a long day of beach-going and driving. Count: Taco Stands #5 & #6.

Days 5-10 to follow; stay tuned. This is where I stopped writing in my journal during the trip so the remainder of the posts are bound to be less detailed and shorter entries!

2008-12-19T21:18:00.005-06:00

I figured my posting the photos on Facebook would tell a good enough story of our trip to Mexico but apparently that is not the case and people want a narrative. I even tried to get Phil to do this blog entry but he opted out and here I am, blogging instead of making my Christmas list on a Friday night, just days before Christmas... so here goes!

Day Zero- Trip to Valley

We woke up at 4:30am to pack the car and I had to get dressed for a meeting at 10:30am in Edinburg while trying to keep Sam & Henna's snouts & fur off of my outfit. We were on the road by 6am, right on schedule, so we felt good. We stopped for powdered donuts on the way for breakfast of champions before my meeting (if you are wondering why I was worried about dog hair on my dress when I was just going to get powdered sugar all over it, you would be smarter than I was at the time...). Phil was a trooper and hung out in the car while I went to my 2 meetings in Edinburg, but we were done with both and headed south by noon. We stopped at Whataburger for lunch (guess whose decision that was?). We arrived at my parents' condo and ate lunch and hung out for a while before getting back in the car and heading to Wal Mart in Port Isabel to try to buy an iPod dock/alarm clock and a GPS navigational system. We had a hard copy of a 2008 Guia Roji map of Mexico but Brad insisted that a GPS was the way to go. When we got to Wal Mart, however, we found out that none of the navigation systems come with Mexico maps loaded on them and we would have to pay over $100 extra to get a map of Mexico for it, so we opted out and stuck with our hard copy of the map!

That evening my mom made a turkey meal so that we wouldn't feel like we totally missed out on the Thanksviging celebration all together. We had turkey, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, brocolli, and the next day we had turkey left over for sandwiches on the trip! We headed to bed early so that we would be well-rested for the trip.

Day One- Driving, With Stops

We woke up at 5:00am and packed up our last minute things so that we could be on the road by 6am, following my parents in their camper. We stopped at the corner store for energy (Rockstar for Phil and fountain soda for me) and ice and headed towards the border (Matamoros)! We had a little hiccup at the border because we tried to get the car permit in Phil's name since he would be driving, but since my name is on the title of the 4Runner, we had to re-do all of our paperwork and resubmit (to another person at the counter) in order to avoid having to present our marriage license which was back in San Antonio! We were probably at the border for almost an hour which was longer than my Dad had planned, so he started to get antsy and pace around the place. He told us that the first thing we needed to do when we came back to the states after our trip was to change the title into Phil's name... don't tell him but we won't be doing that. It costs $35 or something and for what? It works just fine the way it is!

We headed out from the border around 7:30am after getting our visas and car permit and by 9:00am my parents were already making a gas/bathroom stop! (I think I forgot to mention that we all went to the bathroom before leaving the house and again at the border.) They proceeded to make another stop that morning for a bathroom break, and then we stopped for lunch. With all these stops, we figured we made up for the lost time at the border!

For lunch we stopped in the mountains and had a beautiful view as we ate our turkey sandwiches.

Phil was getting over 26 miles per gallon during the drive so we were very excited to have brought his car and not carry too much heavy luggage! We continued to drive through mountainous terrain and as we got close to the end of our travels for the day we got stopped and searched at a checkpoint. The officials were so professional and nice, and it was very quick and easy, so we felt completely at ease. We made it to Lagos De Morenos by 6:00 that evening and checked into our hotel which was only 260 pesos which translates to $20 per night! It was a very small room which fit just the furniture- a bed, TV, bedside table, and small desk and chair. There was a closet and a bathroom which was all open without a door to the shower so that when we took showers, everything in the room got wet! Luckily, my Mom had warned us not to leave our toilet paper in the room while showering because it would not be usable afterward since it would be soaking wet!

We walked down the main street and had tacos from 2 taco stands for dinner and were very satisfied. We decided to start keeping a count of our taco stands visited on the trip, so here were #1 and #2 already on the first day! After dinner, we read our new books that we had picked up before leaving SA and went to bed early. We were tired after a long day of driving.

Day Two- Our First Glimpse of the Ocean!

We woke up early again so that we could be on the road by 6:30am. We hoped to avoid traffic in Guadalajara but ended up making it there just at rush hour. As we drove into town, we noticed a brown cloud of smog covering the city, so combined with the crazy traffic, we didn't get a good impression of the city. Although we are told that there are very nice parts of the city with museums and such, we just didn't visit those parts as we drove through. It was not very easy to follow another car (my parents) in the heavy traffic, and the exits and road signs are not the easiest to follow, so it was certainly an adventure. Phil saw a car next to him get rear-ended, which didn't help because it made us think how terrible that would be to have to deal with that on our trip! Luckily we made it through town and didn't even get lost. We stopped for breakfast tacos on the other side of the city at the same place my parents stop at every year (have I mentioned yet that my Dad is a big fan of routine and basically every stop we make is one that he makes every single year?).

My parents needed to stop for propane for their camper so we found a re-fill station and stopped. The tank, however, was frozen to the camper (or rusted to the camper?) and neither Phil nor my Dad could get it loose. In the midst of trying, Phil sliced his thumb open... at least we were able to figure out that the location of our first aid kit was not very handy since I couldn't find it in time to help! Luckily, my mom knew just where their first aid kit was located so she was able to get Phil a band-aid and Neosporin quickly. But anyone who has cut themselves like that knows that this type of injury is painful and can easily open back up while it's healing, so it was too bad it had to happen at the very beginning of our trip!

Around 1:00pm, we finally started seeing signs of the coast! We came across these huge fields of palm trees which were planted in perfect rows and they were so tall! Some of them were stripped of their coconuts which we could understand but some of the others had the entire tree cut down which we figured was for wood, but we did not know what coconut tree wood is used for... the trunks are so small!

And shortly thereafter we saw the ocean! We arrived at La Ticla in the early afternoon at the campground where my parents have stayed for over 25 years. (When my parents were dating they took a trip together to Mexico and came to La Ticla. They realized when they could travel on a trip like this together that they were compatible and decided to get married when they returned! They have a photo of their 30-ish year old selves at sunset on the beach in Ticla that has been framed in our house forever.) Over the past few years since my parents have been traveling together to Mexico, they have made a group of friends whom they see every year in Mexico on these vacations. So when we showed up, they basically knew everyone there and every came out to greet them! We got introduced to their friends and then set up camp under a palapa on the beach. We took a beach walk first thing- the weather was a bit cloudy but pretty warm so it was nice, definitely a change from the weather we had been experiencing in SA the week before.

We watched the beautiful sunset...

...and then walked the short 5 minute walk up to town for tacos. Count: Taco Stand #3. We sat at a table right in front of the lady preparing the tacos and Phil unfortunately had his back to the lady as she chopped the meat and he kept feeling it hit the back of his t-shirt. Finally when he got hit in the back of the head with chopped pork, he decided to move around to the side of the table... The pork tacos she served, though, were delicious and ended up being our favorite tacos in Ticla. We joked later that we could always eat the pieces on the back of Phil's shirt if we needed a taco fix!

We slept on our bed that night for the first time in the 4Runner which consisted of 2 layers of egg crate, a feather comforter, a regular comforter, and 2 sheets. It was actually very comfortable! We had rolled down all the windows to let a breeze through and put up mosquito nets on the outside with magnets. It got so cool during the night that we actually had to use a blanket, which was just perfect for sleeping.

Days 3-10 to follow... stay tuned!

He Did It- 26.2!

2008-11-16T18:20:00.007-06:00

Today, Phil ran 26.2 miles in the Rock 'n Roll Marathon!

The day started out at 5:00am with a shower, breakfast, and getting dressed in lots of layers. (Last night the temperature dropped down to freezing!) We pinned on his number to his bottom layer shirt, attached his D Tag (disposable tag for timing his run) to his shoe, and left the house around 6:15am.

The website stated that we had to drive down Hwy 281 to the participant drop off area, and by the time we had sat in traffic for 30 minutes and were still probably an hour away from the start line and not moving, Phil decided (along with hundreds of others) to hop out of the car right on the freeway and walk to the start line which on foot was about 1/2 mile away. He made it there in time to check in his gear (his jacket and pants) which were transported to the finish line for him. The gun went off to start the race at 7:30am, but Phil was in corral 15 so he did not start running until about 8:00.

After dropping Phil off, I went straight to a friend of mine's shop on Main Street where I parked at 7:00am and waited until Phil ran by (around 9:00).

He picked up his sunglasses and dropped off a layer of clothing (his long-sleeve running shirt) and picked up a Gatorade and kept on running. Can you spot him? With 30,000 runners I thought I might miss him, but luckily I was able to spot him (plus he knew where I would be so he was on the right side of the road).

My aunt Carol also ran by about 5-10 minutes later so I was able to cheer her on and pick up a layer of her clothing as well so she could continue on her 1/2 marathon journey. By then, she was half way done so I made sure to remind her of that!

After the two of them ran by, I left Main Street and went directly to the Alamodome to stake out my spot at the finish line! I made sure to watch Carol run across the finish line and cheer her on and then had to find the best spot to watch Phil cross the finish line. I waited for about 2 hours at the finish line to get as close as possible to the runners and finally made my way all the way up to the gate so I could basically touch the runners and give some of them hi-five on their way across the finish line. Finally, when Phil came across I cheered for him and took pictures, although come ot find out he was so focused he never even saw me!

He says around mile 20 he got really nauseous after drinking 3 of the gel packets and had to slow down and walk to avoid getting sick on the course. His last few miles ended up being slower than his first 20, but he finished at 4:31 which we are so proud of! He didn't stop and walk until he got to mile 20 which is a personal best for him.

After he crossed the finish line, we found each other and quickly found a spot to sit down so Phil could cool down and let the nausea pass.

But after about 20 minutes of resting, he switched into flip flops, hydrated and was ready to walk to the car (another 1/2 mile at least).

Will he run another marathon? Probably so, but not just yet. He might try a 1/2 marathon next so he can work on improving his time and endure a less rigorous training course, but I'm sure this isn't the end of his running career. Just time for a little break.

Now, we get to pack for our Mexico trip! We leave in 11 days!

YES WE CAN

2008-11-04T06:20:00.002-06:00

Go Vote!

Here's our life, in a nutshell

2008-10-30T19:58:00.002-05:00

Usually when I post on the blog, I can either think of something witty or at least post some photos to compensate. In the past month as you've noticed and *ahem* mentioned, we haven't posted anything on this blog. Really, it's just because our daily lives don't seem to be exciting enough to blog about. But here's a recap for those of you who we don't see or talk to frequently:

There was that weekend in September where we celebrated Katherine's birthday by starting to drink at 5:30 with dinner, getting to the bar downtown by 8pm, and ending the night by midnight passed out in bed because we started too early, all with me wearing the skimpiest dress I've ever worn in public. But it was fun and we swore we were too old for this.

Then there was the weekend when we headed to Austin to Chuck-E-Cheese for Logan's birthday party. First we met up with Freddy for lunch and he showed us the greatness that is the reality TV show Tabatha's Salon Takeover. Such a guilty pleasure to watch and now we record all the episodes. We have "paid it forward" so to speak because we got Maria hooked when she came to visit!

There was also the Valero Texas Open that consumed Phil's life at the beginning of October. He is a co-chair of the Admissions & Will Call committee so he was heavily involved in the tournament preparations and actually spent most of his days there for about a full week. But really this just involved sitting in an air-conditioned RV where they had cable TV, free food and beverages, and free access to watch live golf at the tournament at any time.

The same week of VTO, my aunt and uncle came into town at the last minute on a Wednesday night which also happened to be one of the VTO events. So they joined us for that along with my other aunt, Carol, and then we all went to dinner at a new restaurant in town. It was so great to see them and we are actually headed to Port Aransas this weekend to spend more time with them before they sail away to the Bahamas for a few months on their boat.

The weekend of VTO this year also happened to be Alumni Weekend at Trinity so my friend Maria from college came to stay with us. We went out for lunch on Saturday to Beto's which became my new favorite place for Tacos Al Pastor! I also had a mojito with lunch which subsequently, combined with the massage chair and pedicure, made me very sleepy in the middle of the afternoon. Guess this is why we save our drinking for evenings.

Then there was two weekends ago when we went out with our friends Katherine & Jack to The Bonham, a gay bar downtown where one of my friends is a bartender, and he gave us a few too many free drinks and shots, making us again realize how we are getting way too old to take shots and drink this much.

So last weekend we played it low key and stayed in and watched the UT game at our house. Katherine and Jack brought their Chihuahua, Martini, over to play with Cooper which provided plenty of entertainment, rivaling the game actually.

I also got to see my friend Lena twice in the past few weeks which was so great. She was my college roommate and one of my closest friends but she moved back to Kuwait last year to be with her family. She came for just a few weeks and had to divide her time amongst all the many people who wanted to see her but I got her all to myself for a few hours one day at lunch and we had a mini-reunion with one of our college suitemates another night. I hope one day to go visit her so she doesn't always have to come here to see us!

Phil is still training for the marathon which is now less than a month away. He runs many times a week but does his long run on Sundays. He ran 22 miles last weekend on Sunday after running 5 miles the day before. I am so proud of his drive and determination to do this. Can't wait for race day!

I have been working a lot lately, either going into work early, staying late, or working weekends. Sometimes I come home from dinner and go back to the office and work into the evening. It's a good thing to be busy right now with the economy slow and people losing jobs so I am grateful to have the work and job security (knock on wood). Plus, the more I work, the more money I make so that is always a plus... and pretty good motivation!

This weekend we are headed, as previously mentioned, to Port Aransas to spend some time at the coast and with family. My parents will be joining us and we are staying at a condo that my aunt and uncle have reserved. Another aunt and uncle who live in Corpus are going to join us so it should be great. On Sunday we will drive to Houston to pick up Sam & Henna and bring them back to our house where they I am sure will be so glad to see Cooper and run around and poop in our back yard. We are happy to have them here and I am sure their owners will soon come and scoop up the back yard, right?!

So that is a recap of the last month and a half of our lives. We'll try to remember to take more photos to capture the events in our lives so our friends and family, avid readers of our blog, do not feel neglected anymore. With the election coming up, the marathon, and our trip to Mexico all in November, we should have enough going on to blog about!

Are we officialy OLD?

2008-09-09T21:14:00.002-05:00

So this weekend we were making dinner and as I pulled out a salad dressing bottle I happened to notice that some of the other dressings were almost empty, so I pulled the Thousand Island out and noticed it had expired in 2005. What?! That was 3 years ago! I'm thinking, "this is weird, let's check the balsalmic", only to find that it expired earlier this year. On to the ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, whole-grain mustard, and on and on we go- ALL EXPIRED. Now let it humbly be known that both Phil and I on multiple occasions have made fun of people with expired condiments in their fridges as old, and that only old people keep expired condiments past their expiration date! Yet who pulled approximately 25 expired containers out of their refrigerator door this weekend? WE DID!

Four More Years!

2008-08-18T20:06:00.002-05:00

I've had my wonderful Acura 3.2 CL sports car for 4 years now, and it has been such a joy to drive. This summer it was starting to show some signs of age so we spent this weekend giving it a little TLC to get it back in tip-top shape. Saturday morning we took it in to get the A/C re-charged (no more getting out of the car and my back being so sweaty that the back of my shirt is soaked). Then to be extra sure, we got my windows tinted! I knew they figured out I was from the valley when they offered me the metallic finish... but we ended up deciding on the middle darkness and middle price-point yet still keeping with a 3M product with a lifetime warranty. Then on Sunday we changed my air filter and (Dad, stop reading here so you don't have a heart attack) I put the new registration sticker on my windshield that had been expired for over a year! Now I am legal and hopefully should stay cool and maybe even get some better gas mileage! Phil says I have to keep my car until it has at least 150k - 200k miles on it, so here's to another 4 years together, Acura--- cheers!

2008-08-12T07:33:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post to pay homage to and honor one of the most delicious desserts I've ever consumed. On Carol's birthday this weekend she had a group of people over for dinner. We had chalupas for dinner which were yummy of course, and some home-made margaritas on the rocks which also held their own, but the real star of the show in my opinion was the s'mores cheesecake! With a graham cracker crust, chocolate cheesecake filling, and toasted marshmallow top, each bite was nothing less than heavenly. It also needs to be mentioned that Carol made it from scratch! (We definitely discussed how the cooking genes must have skipped a generation... but luckily I have all these great cooks around me who can take care of me with delicious creations like this amazing dessert.) We took leftovers home and there is an amazing slice in the refrigerator right now calling my name. At least I have something to look forward to this evening - a night on the couch in front of the women's gymnastics finals with my slice of deliciousness. I can't wait.

Is there such thing as Olympics Fever?

2008-08-09T21:49:00.004-05:00

For the next two weeks, we plan to be watching the Olympics, and not doing much else. Well, there is our 8-5 work schedules, running (for Phil), eating (me), celebrating Carol's birthday, and dinner next weekend with Jennelle & Greg, but that's all we will commit to.

The opening ceremonies last night were awesome. The "Birds Nest" stadium is a beautiful piece of architecture and the Chinese display of entertainment was fantastic.

I don't really consider myself an extremely patriotic person, but when an American is participating in virtually any event, you just have to cheer for them... whether you know the rules of the game, or have ever heard of that person before or not. Luckily, Team USA tends to be pretty strong in the events we like, so that helps.

Favorite events of ours include gymnastics, swimming, beach volleyball, water polo, track & field, basketball... luckily this only happens every 4 years because it's almost* enough athleticism to make me want to get off the couch, put down the ice cream, and exercise.

*Note the use of the word "almost".

Chicken Fight!

2008-08-03T14:29:00.010-05:00

On Saturday after lounging at the pool and drinking a few of Randy's pineapple-sugar-rum concoctions, Felicity and I decided it would be a great idea to get on our husbands' shoulders for a good-natured chicken fight!

We made it up on their shoulders and were so proud of ourselves.

The next thing you know, my competitive side came out...

...and Felicity's competitive side was under water!

A winner was declared (I think it still counts if it's self-declared).

We decided to do a triple decker next, but Drew just didn't enjoy it as much as we had hoped.

2008-07-29T20:04:00.003-05:00

Thanks to many of you for your concern about my parents' wellbeing during Hurricane Dolly. Thought I'd send a quick update so everyone has the latest.

My parents decided to evacuate to Mission, TX last week on Tuesday and stayed there as Dolly came ashore. They took my dad's boat, both of their cars, and their camper so that they could avoid any major damage to their valuable possessions. They got to Mission early enough to be able to enjoy the first day there, even spending some time by the pool at their hotel! On Wednesday, they stayed close to the TV to stay in touch with the latest with the storm, and when they were able to return to the island on Thursday after the storm, they returned to a sweltering hot island without power (this translates most importantly to air conditioning in July) although luckily they did have running water. Their condo, luckily, did not sustain any damage, although the rest of the island did not fare as well. All of the docks along the bay had been washed away by the storm, many of the power poles had been snapped in half, and many of the condos, restaurants, and homes had lost roofs and flooded. For some photos of the storm damage, click here.

We heard that the county parks were closed to the public and that since the surf was so dangerous, the police were arresting people who tried to go surfing!

My parents also experienced in the upper valley a desperate lack of gasoline, since most of the gas stations either didn't have power, or were sold out of gas. Basically, they were stuck in the valley for a day or two without any options of leaving! Finally, they were able to get gas and headed to Corpus to stay with family over the weekend in a more comfortable and air conditioned environment.

Finally this afternoon around 4:00pm, the power was restored to their condo so they have returned home. The docks at my dad's marina have almost already been completely re-built, so he may be able to start working again next week. They have cable, internet, and of course air conditioning. The county parks at the beaches have also been re-opened and my parents can make surf-checks, so all is well with their world, even though there is still quite a bit of construction and re-building to be done for many of the other residents on the island.

Run, Philip, Run!

2008-07-27T17:44:00.002-05:00

Philip has decided to run his first marathon! He is registered to run the San Antonio Marathon on November 16th. This year, the theme is a Rock 'n' Roll marathon, which means that there will be live music every mile. Hopefully that will help him get through the 26 MILE run more easily.

He has already started training, and has a routine that he is settling into. This morning was his long run, which translated to 12.65 miles. The run took over 2 hours and he only walked 4 minutes of it; the rest was running!! He has been using his Polar heart rate monitor watch and it has a component that clips to his shoe to measure his stride and distance. This tool should really help him track his training between now and November.

I am so proud of him for doing this, since I am certainly not running right alongside him. I have no desire to mark this off my list of things to do before I die, so my plan is to make signs and hold them up during the marathon to show my support. I have been trying to think of some good running puns that also correspond to Rock 'n' Roll, so if you have any good suggestions for poster slogans, let me know!

Farewell, Awesome Blossom

2008-07-26T20:37:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, Phil emailed me at work and offered to take me out to dinner that evening (after he got home from happy hour with his co-workers). He stated we could go to Chris Madrid's (abbreviated as CM's in his email), Chili's (with appetizer), or Mon's for Thai food. I told him that the appetizer really won me over and beginning at 3:30pm yesterday, my mouth started watering for an Awesome Blossom and the Molten Cake from Chili's. (I decided instead of having an appetizer and entree, I would just forego the entree and have appetizer and dessert!) So we finally arrived at Chili's last night around 6:30pm and of course there was a 30 minute wait. We decided not to wait and that we would go to Chris Madrid's instead. We drove across town to CM's, and the line there was wrapped all the way across the area where you order and around the entire dining room, so we didn't stay and eat there either. We ended up at Taco Cabana and both of us ate for $9.33, which we decided meant that we could go out to eat Saturday night too!

So all day we have been planning to eat at Chili's. We decide to go early so we won't have to wait to be seated and get there before 5:30pm. We sit down, flip open the menu, and...... no Awesome Blossom. What? This cannot be happening. The waitress walks up, "What can I get you to drink?" and we order our beverages. "Any appetizers?" she asks, to which I respond with a question of my own, "do you have the Awesome Blossom?"... here comes the devastating news. "We don't serve the Awesome Blossom anymore." This was the most disappointing news I've heard all day! What was I going to do without this 2,710 calorie fried appetizer I'd been craving for over 24 hours (203g fat for those of you who keep track of this sort of thing)? There was nothing I could do.... it is gone forever. So we decided to boycott appetizers altogether as a silent protest. And in the end, I forewent the dessert as well, for the principle of it all.

So here's to you, Awesome Blossom; you will be missed. You were indeed awesome, when dipped in ketchup.

2008-07-21T18:46:00.000-05:00

Apparently the thing to do this summer is to hang out at Lake Livingston and partake in waterports like being pulled behind a boat on a tube. Question is, who do you think was going faster? I think we have the Bergers beat by a long shot- check out the wake in our pics vs. the (lack of) wake in theirs... but we're not competitive!

Here you can see the battle wounds on my elbows, caused by the intense tube riding earlier in the day. (Looks like Greg's only battle wound was a little sunburn... clearly that's not the same thing.)

The weekend at the lake was lots of fun and then........ the boat broke. On the Fourth of July after a fun morning on the boat, we came upon a big rain storm and all ran for cover inside the house. We waited out the storm and after the rain stopped, some of the guys decided to go out on the boat and do some wakeboarding/kneeboarding. They were gone for about 2 hours so we thought they were having tons of fun. Come to find out, the boat broke down 20 minutes into the fun, and the rest of the time was spent with 2 guys in the boat paddling with a paddle on one side and a water ski on the other side, and Phil on the front of the boat swimming/steering the boat. They pulled/paddled all the way out of the cove they were in and finally after about an hour of that, a jet ski graciously stopped and offered to tow them back to the lake house. Needless to say, we didn't expect to see them paddling back towards the house! After they got back, they continued to show their masculinity by taking apart the propellor to try to fix it, even though none of them knew what they were looking at or looking for. We even brought in the professional (Brad) and tried to draw from his Naval experience, but that wasn't fruitful either. So we had to find other ways to keep ourselves busy, like a long walk the following morning around the neighborhood, and swimming in the lake at the dock.

Another fun way to remain entertained, come to find out, is to take care of a newborn. We had fun figuring out how to keep him from crying while riding in the jogging stroller (we determined that one must simulate bumps even when bumps are not present), watching him sleep, and giving him a bath. Everyone stood around on Friday evening watching Felicity and I give Ethan a bath in the kichen sink; apparently we put on a pretty captivating show. Or maybe that is just Ethan- he likes to keep it interesting by shooting out a fun little stream when you least expect it! Luckily, his mom's reflexes are getting to be really good. ;)

Reason #43 why I do not bake

2008-06-15T13:25:00.000-05:00

Note: There are only 20 cupcakes shown, and for those of you who are still allowed to bake, you know that a batch of cupcakes is 24. You would be correct if you deduce that the other 4 cupcakes were in such a sad state that they weren't even allowed to be in this sad, mangled photo. These are the beauties of the bunch, and as you can see, they are far from beautiful.

Okay fine, here are the others (the 24th didn't make it) . I didn't want to subject you to this, but I know you would be thinking the other 4 were probably beautiful and I was being modest. You can clearly see that is NOT the case. Notice how some of them didn't even remain in their paper cupcake holder home? I should have known better than to volunteer to bring a baked good to a party. Obviously these could not make their debut in public for people I'd never met before to see.

2008-06-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

This evening, Cooper went on a blind date! I took him over to Katherine's apartment and he and her little Chihuahua, Martini, had a great time playing. At first, Cooper was playing it cool and dis-interested in her, but I think that was mostly related to him smelling the pizza we had ordered for dinner, and wanting to have a piece. But after dinner they really had a fun time chasing each other around the apartment. He was so glad to run on carpet again, since it offers so much more traction than our hard wood floors.

But it's not all fun and games for Cooper lately. This weekend we noticed that his front right paw was swolen and he continuously licked it all day Saturday. We began to get concerned because it got more and more red as he licked it. Overnight, it went down in size and color since he was not licking it but on Sunday he proceeded with the licking and it got worse again. On Monday evening I took him to PetSmart to get his nails clipped and have a vet take a look. There were not any doctors available so the next morning I called our vet and made an appointment for that afternoon. The vet was not able to diagnose the exact problem but gave us an ointment and a pill to give him which should help it heal in the next week or so. Because of all the licking, I was really hoping that we would not have to put one of those cone collars on him because I've always thought those were so cruel and just looking at them makes me sad. But as it turns out, that was exactly what the doctor ordered. So here is a photo of our little guy, sad as can be, with the cone around his neck. Of course, we had to buy him a toy to help ease the pain, and Phil fed him some potato chips.

In other Chihuahua news, Cooper's new friend Martini got a new polka dot dress while we were at PetSmart today that is ADORABLE!

2008-06-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

This evening I found my new favorite website. Seriously, people are hilarious. http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com

I found this link while browsing another great website: http://shine.yahoo.com.

Enjoy!

Tag- You're it!

2008-06-09T21:19:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we were tagged. And because this serves as an easy blog post, and I feel obligated since I was tagged after all, I'm participating.

Rules: Answer the following questions about yourself. At the end of the post you pass on the questions to 6 other people. Write them a comment telling them that they've been tagged and ask them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know that you've accepted the challenge and refer to your post. Here it goes:

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was 15 years old and it was summer. I couldn't drive yet and couldn't have a job. Most of my days were spent hanging out with Dana; summer band hadn't started yet (go ahead, laugh- get it out of your system). I had started "liking" Philip and we had become friends at school. Since I didn't have a car yet, I had lots of things I wanted to do but really no means to do them. I remember one day that summer I even convinced Phil to drive to Dairy Queen and drive all the way to my house and bring it to me; we didn't start dating until months later in October. I guess I should have known from that moment when the Blizzard was placed into my 15-year old hand what a sweetie he was and that it was TLA (true love always, for those who aren't fluent in the linguistics of a 15-year old).

2. Five items on today's "to do" list:

Dead-head the roses (done)
Water the flowers (done)
Take Cooper to get his nails clipped (done)
Call the vet about the bump on Cooper's paw (tomorrow morning, first thing)
Return dress to Banana Republic to get $109 refund (this week, for sure)

3. What snacks do you enjoy?

Food is the way to my heart. Yes, usually that is the old antic known for how to make a man fall in love with you, but it's also the way to make me love you. Phil knows to cheer me up is to get delicious food in my belly. So, the list will be long but I will do my best. Also, I am changing it to FOOD I enjoy rather than just snacks. I don't want to discriminate against non-snack foods as they bring me plenty of joy.

Home-made baked goods such as cupcakes, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, black cherry cobbler with chocolate chip ice cream on top; Multi-grain tortilla chips & guacamole; Geneva cookies; Chris Madrids' cheeseburger & fries; Which Wich's muffaletta; salt & vinegar chips; S'mores; S'mores flavored Chewy bars; Neopolitan ice cream (current flavor of choice but this changes periodically); Cherry Cordial ice cream (absolute favorite flavor but only available at Kroger which we don't have in SA); Hershey's Cookies N Cream candy bars; Corn Pops & Lucky Charms; artichokes......... the list could go on and on but I'll move on for your sake.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

I would move to a beautiful house on the beach somewhere tropical but also have a jet that could take me to other more populated places (like a good mall) whenever my little heart desires. I would enjoy all my days with Phil & Cooper, and I would pay for my family and close friends to visit a few times a year at least, for those who don't move there with us. I would donate some of my millions to causes I support, and finally I would be the best gift giver, the one I've always wanted to be but haven't been!

Oh, and most importantly I would fly the taco stand lady from Belize to my new home on the beach and build her and her family a house on my property so she could make me those delicious tacos anytime I wanted. Served with Coke from a bottle, of course.

5. Where would you live?

Oops apparently I was supposed to save the tropical thing for this question. But it is part of my happy billionare life. And, I would travel often to other beautiful places in the world and do all the fun things on vacation since I can afford them!

According to the rules, I'm supposed to make six other people be "it" now. Here goes. Jennelle & Greg have already been tagged but they are one of our most bloggers of friends so they're getting tagged again. I am also tagging Jane, Felicity & Karthik, Brad & Stacy, and Amity & Randy. I know the last two haven't updated their blogs in over a year but what better time to start? Also, I know Brad has a great blog entry to post showing the photos of our house getting TP'ed. So now he has two.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

2008-06-08T11:15:00.001-05:00

Schlitter-boy we had a great Saturday!

2008-06-08T11:04:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we spent the day at Schlitterbahn with Katherine and Jack. We got our tickets at HEB on the way to New Braunfels and got to the park just as they opened at 10am. We rode all the best rides, including the new Dragon's Revenge ride (although it was not as cool as the commercials made it seem). We ended our visit with a drink at the swim-up hot tub bar, and then Jack had his funnel cake, and headed home around 4pm. We were completely beat. I think the one thing we will all remember from this day was the guy with the Speedo on in the Master Blaster line. He kind of looked like Jack Black but we don't think he was wearing the Speedo as a joke like you would expect from JB. Completely ridiculous, gross, and inappropriate. Poor children, and poor guy standing behind him in line for 2 hours.

After the water park, we decided so celebrate a successful day of bathing suit wearing by stuffing our faces with all things fried at Willie's for dinner. Phil and I had chicken strips and french fries (we got the kids size and neither of us could finish it... makes you really wonder) and a side of fried jalapenos and fried pickles. That's right, no bathing suits for us today, at least not in public. Phil also tried Pacifico beer for the first time and really liked it. He said it reminded him of Belikin, the beer we had in Belize. He still has that one Belikin in the fridge and he decided now is the time to open it since it's been over a year and he may not even remember correctly what a true Belekin tastes like. I think he's hoping as soon as he opens it we will be transported back to Belize and the delicious taco stands that come with it. Or maybe that's my hope. Let's crack it open!

Tony Barker?

2008-05-27T19:42:00.000-05:00

It's that time again in San Antonio, when everyone wears Spurs attire on game days since we're in the Western conference finals. Cooper has been begging for weeks so we finally broke down and he used his allowance to buy a jersey for him. Here he is modeling and showing his Spurs pride:

Doesn't he look handsome in his officially licensed NBA jersey?

And here he is at half-time after sinking a huge 3-pointer right at the buzzer. You'd be tired too.

2008-05-26T20:50:00.001-05:00

We spent the long holiday weekend visiting my parents and vacationing on South Padre Island. We left Thursday morning and headed to Edinburg so that I could go to a client meeting for work (this allowed me to count Thursday as a day at work and still make our drive to the valley for the weekend- pretty good deal, isn't it?). I did learn that it was not the best idea to wear a black top if I was planning on having our blonde puppy lay in my lap for the 4-hour drive, nor was it worth my while to painstakingly iron my skirt which would only become a wrinkled mess by the time I arrived at the meeting. Luckily Debbie had a lint roller in her car so that helped with the little white Chihuahua hairs. After the meeting, we made the last 1.5 hour-drive and arrived at SPI; my parents had a spaghetti dinner waiting for us which was very nice.

On Friday, Phil and my dad played golf early while my mom and I did what girls do best - shopped. The four of us took one vehicle to Brownsville to save gas money, so Mom and I dropped the guys off at River Bend and headed to the shops. Brownsville has really built up since we lived there- they have a brand new shopping area which spans both sides of the freeway, with shops like Kohl's, Petsmart, Mervyn's, Sam's, Academy, TJ Maxx, and a second, and much nicer, Target. They even got their first Taco Cabana! The stores were even clean (which for Brownsville is unusual!), but that might have been due to the fact that we were shopping before the busy weekend while kids were still in school. Either way, we had a nice time, and were not ready to pick up the guys when they called at noon for us to pick them up. Alas, we cut our shopping trip short and picked them up (although not soon enough if the guys were to tell the story- you should have heard Phil's response when I told him we had just stopped at a garage sale on the way- it wasn't joy in his voice that I heard!). We spent the rest of the day basking in the sun poolside, and had some delicious Reuben sandwiches for dinner.

Saturday was another day of relaxation by the pool and on the beach. We met Dad at the dock at noon after his fishing charter and Mom cleaned his boat so that we could all go out to lunch afterward! This has been the deal ever since I was a young "Boat Girl"-- although back then I used to get $5 in addition to free lunch for washing his boat. These days, getting fish guts on my hands just isn't worth the $5 to me. But hey, I can't knock the job where I earned enough money to buy my first pair of rollerblades, and many many many rides on the Bungee Trampoline.

Saturday evening we attended the wedding of our high school friend, Molly, to her fiancee Jerry. They actually live in San Antonio since Molly just finished up law school at STMU so we hope to be able to have them over for dinner soon. Although come to think of it, we know they got lots of cool wedding presents (like that food processor we got them) and probably want to try them out, so maybe they should cook for us! Haha, okay maybe I am just trying to get out of one of my least favorite tasks, cooking. I guess we could just barbeque for them, since then Phil would be the one to cook.

Their wedding was really wonderful. The setting was very whimsical- outdoors on the resaca of The Inn of Chachalaca Bend. They had lanterns strung from the trees, and the ceremony was on the dock at the water's edge. They had really cute touches like polaroid cameras for the guest book and really personalized programs with history and personal notes about the guests, family, wedding party, and bride and groom. The groom's cake was even 3D and shaped like an airplane since Jerry will be a pilot "when he grows up". Debbie who made the cakes is the same person who made my Barbie cake as a child, so I knew she would do a great job (this was before they sold them at HEB! At the time it was a huge deal and I was so so so excited about it).

My parents and Phil and I got dressed up in "elegant garden party" attire and we really enjoyed ourselves. We got to see some of our high school friends that we haven't seen in almost 10 years (yes, our 10 year reunions are quickly approaching!) so that was really fun. Freddy was there as well and he is fun to see as always; he was running late getting to the valley as he had driven from Austin that afternoon, stopping in Laguna Vista to change into his suit for the wedding. The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 6:00 and luckily for Freddy the ceremony did not actually start until almost 6:45. He showed up just as the ceremony was starting... actually, he walked down the aisle to be seated after all the wedding party had walked to their spots at the altar to the tune of the stringed quartet, and just before Molly was to make her entrance on her father's arm. Actually, everyone was already standing to see the bride for the first time, and here came Freddy running down the aisle, trying to be inconspicuous but of course not able to since everyone was looking that direction! Anyway, Molly was very excited to see him so she didn't mind one bit (lucky for him)!

My parents left the wedding around 10:00 but Phil and I stayed until almost midnight, since Freddy had offered to drive us back to the island afterward. While driving down Padre Blvd. on the island, Freddy and Philip decided on a whim to stop at Recoil which is the bungee tower where he worked all through college. While Phil caught up with his old co-workers, Freddy and I decided to ride the Reverse Bungee. It was so much fun, even though I had ridden before. I didn't remember it doing so many turns and lasting so long, so that was a great surprise. And actually, we watched the next few people ride, and theirs didn't seem to flip as much as ours. But I think our screaming as we were propelled up into the sky was good for business, because the line got pretty long shortly thereafter. Then, Phil decided to bungee jump! He has jumped hundreds of times before, but it has been almost 5 years since he worked there when he used to jump so frequently. I think they tested him by having him hook up his own harness just to see if he remembered how. Hopefully they double checked his work!

I tried to get some photos but I clearly have some work to do in learning how to take good night-time photos, especially at a distance where the flash doesn't work. If anyone has tips (other than buying a new camera), please share.

On Sunday, we spent the day again taking long walks on the beach (one with and one without Cooper- he would start sprinting as soon as he hit the sand and tire out so quickly that we would have to pick him up about half way through and carry him, so during our second walk that afternoon, we left him at the condo with my parents where he could rest). We got plenty of sun, but neither of us came back sunburnt! I think we are learning how to do this whole tanning thing. We decided to head back to SA after dinner yesterday evening so that Phil could work on a big presentation he has to make on tomorrow at work. He was thinking about it all weekend so we wanted to be sure he had time to tweak and prepare it before Tuesday. We left the island around 8:00pm and had no idea that the traffic would be as bad as it was! We sat in traffic all the way down Padre Blvd. and then all the way across the causeway! Luckily, we had a delicious treat to help soothe our frustrations. Cooper even had a few bites, but it turned out when the ice cream got drippy and I accidentally dropped a pretty large spoonfull down his back, he wasn't too thrilled. He didn't even let me try to lick it off. And since it was Blue Bell, I might have tried. This brand of ice cream alone may keep me in Texas for all my life. YUM!

It's a Boy!

2008-05-04T16:43:00.001-05:00

We love this photo. So cute! But shouldn't Felicity be the one yawning, not the little squirt who sleeps all day and night (well except for waking up to eat every 2-4 hours)? But you just can't fault someone that cute for anything! (Side note: the cool mohawk we created is still visible in this picture. I really think this is the start of him being really cool.)

We had such a fun time getting to spend time with little Ethan last weekend. And to think that his due date is still over a week and a half away!

I don't want to steal the thunder from the new parents by telling the funny stories of Ethan's first weekend out of the womb, but let's just say watching Karthik change Ethan's diaper while Ethan started peeing straight up in the air was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

We look forward to seeing all of you again next weekend. Do you have swim trunks for him yet? Or do you think that teaching him to swim before his due date even comes around is a bit too soon?

We are so happy for y'all and look forward to getting to watch another adorable nephew develop into a handsome young man. I'm glad I married into this family with such great "cute kids" genes.

One day Uncle Philip and I will have the custest kids of all. But not just yet- don't get too excited. For now we're happy to play with our four adorable nephews and nieces.

Plus, Cooper got kind of jealous when we held Ethan and did not pay attention to him, so I don't think he's ready for us to have kids yet. So we're going to wait a few years... for Cooper's sake.

Dune Dog

2008-04-30T20:00:00.001-05:00

Just like us, Cooper LOVES the beach. When we were in South Padre earlier this month, my parents drove us up the beach one morning and were able to let Cooper off his leash to fully enjoy his sandy surroundings. You can see he took full advantage and ran like a cheetah back and forth along the shore!

Big Day - Celebration Required!

2008-04-22T22:09:00.000-05:00

Today, April 22nd, is National Jelly Bean Day. And Earth Day. And the birthday of our new nephew, Ethan!!

What do you think his favorite jelly bean flavor will be?

Sorority Reunion

2008-04-13T14:02:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, a bunch of the girls in my sorority pledge class met up in Austin for a mini-reunion. Not all of the girls could make it, of course, since we have some international members now! But it was a nice showing and good to see everyone and catch up.

On that Friday, I had to travel to Dallas for work to go to one of our customers' offices for a software training session. This was my first time to travel alone for work where I had to be the only representative for our company, although luckily I had met the key people at this company before, so it was not as intimidating as it could have been! Not only that, but since I just turned 25, this was my first time renting a car on my own! So I flew into Dallas and checked in for my rental car and was told I'd be getting a small Dodge compact car like I had reserved. But when the shuttle dropped me off at my assigned space, there was a mini van parked there! I double checked and it turned out they had run out of compact cars so they gave me the mini van. So on this day I learned once and for all that there is no way to look cool in a mini van. Luckily, the parking lot at this customer is pretty big so nobody assocaited me with the mini van.

After the training session, I had to fly into Austin instead of San Antonio since that was the weekend of the Final Four and all flights into San Antonio were full. So I got in around 6:30 and we all met up at the hotel and then went to Trudy's for dinner. Since we had a party of 9 plus a baby, we knew we would have a wait. We all headed to the bar, as you would expect from a group of young ex-sorority girls, right?! I ended up ordering a Mexican Martini. They not only give you the martini glass full but also give you the shaker so it's a pretty good deal. After they finally seated us 2 hours later, I ordered another of these drinks with dinner. I learned this night that when the menu says limit 2 Mexican Martinis, Lauren should not order and consume 2, especially if she plans to continue drinking downtown at bars later that night.

After dinner, we regrouped at the hotel and decided to go to 4th street. We were looking for a bar where we would not have to pay cover, so we decided on the new bar Qua. It is cool because the dance floor is an aquarium underneath so when you are dancing, you look down to see sharks and sting rays swimming beneath. Pretty cool concept. Might inspire one, were they inebriated, to pose for photos like they themselves were a shark...

We stayed at this bar until it closed at 2am, then headed back to the hotel. I proceeded to fall right asleep, but apparently only after blaming everyone else for getting me drunk.

The next morning I was in no shape to do anything productive, so I accompanied the girls to lunch but then headed back to the hotel for an all-afternoon nap. It was no fun and makes me realize why I drink so infrequently!

By dinner time I was feeling better and we went to Carlos N Charlies on Lake Travis. The view of the lake was pretty, especially with the sun setting in the horizon. Since I was in no shape to party again Saturday night, Phil came to pick me up that night from the hotel after dinner. We got back to SA by around 11pm so we were able to spend Sunday together and actually laid by the pool at Robin & Jack's all afternoon, and enjoyed a delicious pot roast for lunch. Yum- what a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-03-23T17:40:00.000-05:00

As I am sure you all know, Friday was my birthday! Actually, I got an early start celebrating this week. On Thursday, my salesperson Debbie came to town to celebrate with me. A big group of us all went to lunch at Chris Madrid's, which was delicious as always! Then the new Team Debbie (consisting of Katherine, Debbie, and me) spent most of the afternoon getting Deluxe pedicures (this involves getting your foot dipped in hot wax which was a new thing for me, but felt pretty good) and then going shoe shopping! Of course I had to get open-toed shoes so I could show off my newly painted toes! It was such a wonderful day, although it did involve staying a few hours late to make up for the hours I was out of the office in the middle of the afternoon...

The next morning on my actual birthday, I got to work and Amanda had cinnamon rolls cooking in the toaster oven for me. (Okay yes, everyone in my life knows the way to my heart is through my stomach... and new shoes.) So that was a delicious way to start my birthday! Then a little while later, I got a flower delivery and to my surprise it was from my parents! I got a beautiful bouquet of multi-colored roses and they smelled wonderful!

And my desk had been decorated by my wonderful co-workers in all pink!

As if that wasn't enough celebration, I got another floral delivery that morning from Debbie and Katherine! These were flowers that can later be planted in the yard too. Very pretty and of course pink!

Since my birthday fell at Easter-time this year, we had my favorite work event of the year on my birthday - the Easter Egg hunt!!! I was the reigning champ since I found the most eggs last year and I founded the Easter Egg hunt in our office my first year there, so it's a tradition that I get very excited about (this is why Debbie came to town on Thursday instead of my actual birthday, so as not to interfere.) So we also got festive this year and all wore bunny ears all day (there was also a handicap during the egg hunt that if you didn't wear your ears you had to subtract 5 eggs from the total number you found).

My original lunch buddy, Melissa, and I wear our ears proudly!

Katherine and I have lots of fun together in our shared office. Here we are with our ears on. Yes, I did hop around the office part of the day, when I remembered to.

So we all had boxed lunches brought in to fortify ourselves for the big event. Trisha hid all the eggs this year and about 10 minutes prior to starting, I started standing by the door so I could be first out the door. Competitive advantage, yes. Amanda was right behind me and then followed the rest of the girls. We got a running start and hunted for eggs outside by cars, sign crates, filing cabinets, boxes of files, and in the end as a group we found 161 out of the 162 eggs. Good thing they didn't put chocolate candy in them!! I had to turn over my champion status to Amanda who found 25 eggs, and I tied for second with 22. There was a cheater in the bunch (isn't there always?) who brought eggs from home and added them to his bag of eggs so that during the count it seemed like he had more than he really did. Too bad he brought cascarones which we knew were not included in the ones Trisha hid, so he was caught in the act and his plan back-fired when we cracked his cascarones on his own head.

Needless to say it was a wonderful way to spend my birthday at the office. Thanks to all who made it special, and also to those who left voice messages, text messages, and emails as well. I will try to find time this week to get back to everyone, but since it was Easter weekend there hasn't been a dull moment since Friday!

We Support Obama

2008-03-23T17:28:00.000-05:00

Although we don't yet have a sign in our yard, we proudly proclaim our support for Barack Obama. We both admired that amazing speech he gave at the 2004 DNC and voiced our wish that someone that innovative would run for President. Four years later, our wish is coming true! Obama embodies the change we feel our country needs and we hope that he becomes the next President of the United States!
Earlier this year we attended a rally in support of Obama with some friends. It was exciting to hear his speech in person (although it was similar to the ones we hear highlights of on MSNBC every night) and despite the cold weather that evening, we stayed for the whole thing. We both voted in the Texas primary for him, of course. Then came that incredible speech last week about his views on race which solidified our support. Can't wait to watch his continued success, hopefully all the way to the White House!

Dog-Sitting

2008-01-26T16:40:00.000-06:00

For 5 weeks, we are dog-sitting for Felicity & Karthik as they travel to India. We are one week in and we've learned a few things about these big (compared to Cooper) doggies. Sam is a standard Schnauzer and Henna is a beagle.

1) These puppies are not very independent. They like to always be at our heels, following us around the house, every step we take. Cooper is not this way at all, so we are not used to having to watch out for running into or stepping on doggies. So when we accidentally step on Henna or Sam because they follow us around, do we feel bad about it? We'll get back to you on that one...

2) These puppies are smelly. Granted, we haven't given them a bath yet in the week they've been here but they do have one scheduled for tomorrow. We only usually have to bathe Cooper every month, if that, because he has so little fur, and so little body mass, that he never really smells like a dog. But these doggies retain that smell. We like to spray them with Febreeze to help the situation. They don't so much like being sprayed with Febreeze.

3) Henna has a very sensitive stomach. She cannot be fed "people food" so this means Sam and especially Cooper have to suffer and eat dog food 100% of the time. When Felicity and Karthik brought the dogs, we fed Henna some sugar cookie and the next morning she got sick. So we were forewarned. But the other night while Phil was eating soup, he figured giving the puppies a few stewed carrots couldn't hurt anything (Cooper loves them and eats them all the time). Well we found out the next evening that hadn't been such a good idea when she got sick. So now we know we can't test the theory on her anymore.

4) Henna and Sam love pecans. They like to go outside, and especially Sam can stay out there for hours on end cracking the pecans in our yard and eating them. Cooper likes them too, but prefers when we crack/shell them for him.

5) The first night they were with us after F&K had left, we tried to let them sleep on their doggy bed on the floor in our bedroom. We figured they'd want a little freedom and prefer not to sleep in their crate, but knew we would not allow them to sleep in our bed. By midnight, when they had not laid down yet, after pacing back and forth in the house, with toenails clicking on our wood floors with every step they took, we got frustrated and led them into their crate. Immediately they went inside and laid down, and went right to sleep. I still think it's weird that they'd rather stay inside there than have freedom.

6) Henna loves the heating pad. We try to remind her that her mommy did not bring the heating pad for her and it belongs to Cooper, but she doesn't seem to care. Actually, she is kind of a bully and pushes Cooper off of it at every opportunity. And Cooper lets her.

7) BIG POOP! In our backyard. Cooper never poops back there. These dogs do, and very often. By the amount we picked up today, you'd think they'd been here the full 5 weeks. But nope, just one.

I am sure there will be more discoveries as the weeks progress, so I'll stop here for now. Either way, we love having them here as they truly are great company and wonderful at showing their love!! They make great cuddling partners in the cold weather!!

Here are a few photos of the puppies for the enjoyment of F&K who miss them like crazy. They are doing really well and have not damaged any of our electronics yet!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T11:04:00.001-06:00

We wish each of you a wonderful 2008 filled with happiness, success, love, and everything else you wish for. Good luck sticking to your resolutions for the new year!

I'm Dreaming of a PINK Christmas!

2007-11-27T20:54:00.000-06:00

One thing that keeps me going through the 8-5 workdays during the holidays is my beautiful holiday display prominently displayed just next to my (flat screen) monitor on my desk! Last year after Christmas I got this tree on half price sale along with those big pink ball ornaments at Pier 1 Imports. This year I bought the smaller pink ornaments at Wal-Mart and the pink Christmas lights to complete the look at Walgreens. I also found that perfect pink stocking at Wal-Mart to complete the look. One of my co-workers felt that her little pink bear should reside in my area since he matches the theme, although he must be returned to his rightful place on her desk after the holidays.

Anyhow, the decor really does a great job in keeping my cheerful during the holiday season. Some of my co-workers have made mention that the tree looks like a "Charlie Brown Christmas tree" but I wholeheartedly disagree and vow that it is quite stylish and proportional. [Side note: the others who throw stones from their glass houses do not have any Christmas decorations of their own at their cubicles.]

We also put up our office tree in the front entry area today and I bought an ornament at lunch to hang on that tree. My first year there, I started a tradition of requiring that everyone bring an ornament to hang on the tree so that after a few more years we will have a beautifully decorated tree that isn't just filled with hundreds of plain ball ornaments. I made a point to keep track of who had contributed so that I could hassle those who did not participate and it really seemed to work-- last year we had 100% participation!! I have no shame in emailing the entire office in order to peer pressure the slackers, or calling their wives to get them involved, etc. This year since I'm not the office manager I have vowed not to hassle anyone so I figured I should participate quickly so I wouldn't be on the receiving end of it. So we went during lunch and I picked out an ornament. Of course, my ornament was pink this year -- as if anything else would do!

Howdy, Y'all!

2007-11-18T15:18:00.001-06:00

Last night, Phil got all dressed up in country attire to go to the Kendall County Junior Livestock appreciation party. One of his co-workers invites us every year and usually when we show up in our flip-flops and foreign cars, we seem pretty out of place in this highly Texan environment. So this year Phil decided to join in on the fun, and borrowed some attire from his friend Floyd. Take note of the pearl snap western-style shirt (orange and pink, no less), the turquoise studded belt with true western belt buckle, and boots. Next year we plan to add a 10 gallon hat and some tight heavily starched Wrangler jeans to the attire but we just didn't get that part coordinated in time this year. Most importantly, check out the thumb in the pants like a true cowboy. You should've seen the little shuffle step dance move that accompanied it.

Eating like a king!

2007-11-12T18:41:00.000-06:00

Since Cooper's birthday is later this week, we decided to let him have an entire turkey leg for dinner tonight!

Actually, last night my mom and I picked up some plates of BBQ from a stand on the side of the road because it smelled so good. The plates came with beans, corn on the cob, and 2 types of meat (we got ribs & turkey legs). We thought we were doing such a great thing for our husbands since dinner would be taken care of when we brought these plates home! But when we got home and started eating, we found out that the meat was not cooked all the way through and therefore was inedible. We ate what we could, but ended up having to get come ice cream for dessert to supplement our dinner.

Lucky for Cooper, though, because he got to have a dinner fit for a king tonight!

Typical Monday Evening in the Stackhousehold

2007-11-05T20:27:00.000-06:00

Came home from work, changed into my new puppy-walking pants. Believe it or not, Cooper demands that I wear them because he feels it shows my love.

Warmed up leftovers for dinner. Phil had spaghetti and I had a hotdog and pickle.

Phil turned on the game in the living room while I checked my email, charged my iPod (a hand-me-down from Phil), and spend countless hours on Facebook.

On this particular evening, I made another black cherry cobbler (had bought 2 just in case more people came over on Friday so we had one left over), which we devoured as soon as it came out of the oven. Here's Phil showing off his heaping portion.

Coincidentally (or so he says), Jack showed up just as I sat down on the couch with my bowl on the premise that he had to pick up a letter that they had "left in my car" after the weekend. I think he just has a 6th "Dessert" sense, actually.

2007-10-21T11:54:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we woke up early and went for a long bike ride along the Mission Trails of San Antonio with aunt Carol. We start around 8am at Blue Star and ride to Mission Espada where we take about a 10 minute water break and then head back. The whole trip takes about 2 hours and with the beautiful fall weather we've been having, is a great way to start the day. Plus we can put our pedometers on our shoes and get steps from it (we had about 9,000 by the time we were done!). Afterward we went for coffee at Olmos Perk, which is kind of a tradition now because we go there after every ride. It's a nice alternative to the national chain type of coffee shops so we like to give them our business.

Afterward we came home and rested, did our grocery shopping and hung out until 5:00 when we went over to Jennelle & Greg's for a BBQ. Greg had built a cool grill in the back yard out of some bricks they had acquired when they bought the house and he did a really great job. [See their blog in the links section for previous post & photos of the grill and I am sure a new post to come with photos of the BBQ.] Greg made some delicious Teryaki hamburger patties so dinner was really yummy.

Since it was alumni weekend, I figured we should participate in at least one of the activities so afterward we headed to Pat O'Briens downtown. A bunch of our sorority friends from college were there including Ropes to celebrate her birthday. When we got there it was very crowded and as we tried to find the piano bar where everyone was, we headed upstairs only to find that the bartender who Jennelle asked for directions turned out to be my best friend and neighbor from when I was about 8 years old, Erica! We used to play together every single day for a few years until she moved and went to a private high school. I have not seen her for many, many years. It was so weird because as Jennelle was talking to her I was just thinking "she looks so familiar.. could it really be...?" and then she looked over at me and we both realized we knew each other! It was so great to see her and luckily Jennelle remembered to capture the moment on film. I hope that we can catch up again soon now that I know she lives in the same city as I do!

Next we headed downstairs and found our Sigma friends but it was so crowded so everyone was getting ready to leave to head to another (hopefully less crowded) bar. We decided to stay at Pat O's until we finished our drinks at least and then we headed over the few blocks to Zen Bar. We were glad to be wearing flip flops since we were comfortable on the walk. When we got outside on Houston Street, we saw very long lines at some of the other bars in the area and on the street we saw one of our Sigma friends, Jessica, who was having her Bachelorette party! I had recently seen her engagement photos through a link on Facebook and fell in love with her photographer. I even asked Phil yesterday if he thought it was too late for us to take Engagement photos since we never did before we got married! So it was good to see her in person even if it was just a short visit on the sidewalk!

So we got in line at Zen Bar to get in and hang out with everyone but we were denied entrance because the four of us were wearing flip-flops! Alas we came to the conclusion that we didn't really want to go to a bar where they did not allow flip-flops, you know, out of principle... so we decided that anyway it was past our bedtime and we might as well come home. We got home around 12:30am, had some Double Stuf Oreos and milk, and went to bed. All in all, a pretty good day.

Our tree decided to trim itself...

2007-10-14T21:34:00.001-05:00

... and did not look out below or yell "Timber" and thereby destroyed our hammock when this huge branch came down.

So anyone who might happen to have a Mexican hammock just sitting around not being used, we're really hurting for one and would be more than happy to put it to good use for you. This is the perfect hammock season with the cool crisp fall weather, so the sooner, the better...

Renewed Blogging Enthusiasm... and Congratulations are in order!

2007-09-05T23:22:00.000-05:00

So it seems that all the bloggers we know have taken a break from their blogs over the past few months. We hope that by playing catch-up with these posts we can motivate others to do the same, or at least start blogging more going forward.

We know some of you (ahem, Felicity & Karthik) have a whole lot to blog about, so no excuses!!

Here's to a renewed dedication to blogging. And that's not the only thing we have to celebrate these days... break out the champagne!

CONGRATULATIONS to the parents-to-be!!!! We love you and can't wait to celebrate with you in person in next weekend! (Felicity, I'll drink your share of the champagne. You can have sparkling cider.)

Spectrum

2007-09-05T21:08:00.001-05:00

Phil and I joined Spectrum back in July, which is a local chain of gyms in San Antonio. The one closest to our house is literally so close it's within walking distance (although come to think of it, we haven't walked there once yet). Our favorite feature about it, aside from the normal gym perks like individual flat screens on the elliptical & treadmill machines, a full array of strength training equipment, multiple classes, state of the art locker rooms with showers, razors/lotion/soap provided, etc. is the POOL! They actually have 2 swimming pools-- one lap pool which is in a covered area with multiple lanes for exercise, and another outdoor pool which is just for play. One side of the pool has a children's area which is no deeper than about 2 ft, then in the center is a big water slide and on the other side is the deeper area for hanging out, and where the slide empties out (only about 4 ft deep). This pool has been great for us to lounge by on the weekends, work on our tans, etc. We love it!

Another great feature of the gym that we enjoy is the HealthMiles program. I had been a member before the wedding of this same gym and they did not have this program before but I really think it's a great incentive. They give you a pedometer to start, and for every day that you use it, you get "miles" which are basically points towards a reward system. They have levels of steps (0-7000, 7001 - 12000, 12001 - 20000, 20,000+) and you get different amounts of miles depending how many steps you take that particular day. I tend to make the 12,000 step area each day (if I work out) because by the time I leave work on any given day I typically only have about 4,000 steps. Phil has an entirely different situation. His work is considered a "campus" so even walking from meeting to meeting amounts to a great number of steps every day. So he typically hits 20,000+ every day (if he works out). Once you get to 6,000 miles you enter level 2, where you're awarded $25 to use towards prizes or your membership dues, 2 free fitness assessments, and a water bottle. Phil already hit this level, and when he hits the next level he gets $50 (on top of his $25), a t-shirt, a few personal training sessions, etc. The higher you go, the better the prizes. You can also do other things to earn miles. For example, each of us did a Fitness Assessment with a personal trainer at the gym a few weeks ago. Because Phil was considered "Ideal" overall, he earned an extra 2000 points. Because I was considered to be in the level just under ideal, I did not get these points. They recommend doing these assessments every 6 months to track change so you can bet I'll be back in February! Also, you can take "measurements" and you get points for entering them as well. Extra points if you're in the "Ideal" category. Turns out I am considered under-weight and my BMI index is below ideal, so I didn't get those points either. So, as I sit here with a 1/2 gallon of ice cream and a spoon, I know that it's in really my best interest... anything to reach the next level (I really want that water bottle). Only 4 more pounds to gain!

Kids!!

2007-09-05T20:53:00.000-05:00

For about a week during August, Blake and Drew came to stay at our house. Robin and Jack were able to take care of them during the day while Phil and I were at work (aka break from the responsibilities of kids!) but we were able to have fun with them on the weekend. On Saturday night when they arrived, Jack grilled hot dogs and chicken for dinner. Afterwards, we all ate our weight in S'mores! Yes, we have corrupted the Nelson children. I made sure to document with photographs.

The rest of their stay was filled with Drew & Blake getting haircuts, Drew being potty-trained, the kids going down the slide at the pool again and again and again, Drew being "the cat in the hat" (he wore my circus hat around for most of his stay and meowed), and both of them staying up as late as they wanted and watching as much TV as they wanted. Yes, again with the corruption!

Another Vacation

2007-09-04T21:10:00.000-05:00

For the 4th of July, we traveled to New Jersey for a family reunion. This is the family on my mom's mom's side, all of her brothers and sisters and their children and grandchildren. (There were no matching t-shirts for those of you who are wondering.)

Phil and I flew inexpensively on Southwest Airlines into La Guardia airport... apparently not the smartest thing to do but, hey, it was cheap. We picked up our red Mustang rental car and got to drive through the heart of NYC at about 5:00 in the afternoon. Luckily it was the day before a holiday or the already terrible traffic might have been unbearable. On the bright side, at least we got to see the city! We drove into Red Bank, NJ to the home we'd be staying at, owned by Faye, the girlfriend of my mom's cousin Dick. My parents, Aunt Carol, and Aunt Pris were already there waiting for us and we all had a lovely dinner that evening. It must be mentioned that Faye is a fantastic hostess. In each of the guest bedrooms she provided a welcome basket consisting of snacks, an eye cover mask for better sleep, water bottle, etc. Plus she had stocked the rooms with current magazines for our reading pleasure. And, when Faye says that this is the way she always keeps her home, I believe her, because she is so good at it! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the home has been featured in decorating magazines-- Faye remodeled and redecorated after moving in and did a wonderful job. She actually has the home for sale now since it's such a large home for just one person to live in.

The next day, July 4th, was the family reunion. We all went over to Dick's home and spent the afternoon in his back yard catching up (or meeting everyone, in Phil's case). These are people that we don't see very often since we all live so far apart, so it was nice to get re-acquianted. One of the best parts of the reunion was visiting with my Aunt Jeannette. For my entire life she was special to me because although we rarely saw each other, we always kept in touch. The basis of our communication stemmed from her sending me $2 in a greeting card for each holiday of the year (sometimes two one-dollar bills, and sometimes a $2 bill, always crisp from the bank). It was so fun to get mail at every single holiday (Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, etc) and I would always promptly write her a thank-you note at which time I would also update her on my life as I grew up. We got to visit in person only a few times over my life when we traveled to New Jersey but we kept in touch much more frequently via mail. I am glad that Phil finally got to meet her, because a few weeks after the reunion, Aunt Jeannette passed away. I am glad to have such great memories of her and she will always hold a special place in my heart.

The morning after the reunion, a bunch of us took a walk on the boardwalk of Asbury Park and got to see "tent city". We didn't know what else to do the rest of the day so we decided to drive up the coast to Sandy Hook. All 6 of us piled into my parents rented Ford Focus (that's my Dad & Phil in the front and my mom, 2 aunts, and me in the back... it was cozy!). We didn't want to go to the beach since it was drizzling out, but we thought we'd go see the lighthouse and walk around on the island. We had a really fun time at one of the stops where there was an old canon, where I proceeded to hop on in what apparently was similar to a Playboy pose. My mom and aunts proceeded to yell things like "give me Sexy" and "give me pouty"... it was then that we realized I don't know how to do pouty. Guess I will need to to hone those skills before I can become one of "The Girls Next Door".

The following day, my parents, Aunt Pris, and the two of us decided to spend the day in NYC. We took the train in early that morning and when we got to the city we decided to find a tour bus to show us around. We did a tour of lower Manhattan with stops like the Empire State Building, Chinatown, Little Italy (which is much smaller than Chinatown), the Financial district, SoHo, Macy's, etc. It was a good overview and we were able to hop on/hop off which was nice as well. We ate lunch in Little Italy at an authentic little Italian spot. In the afternoon we decided to walk over to Central Park as well. That evening, my parents and aunt headed back to NJ and we stayed in town to meet one of Phil's college friends for dinner. She is working in the city and was able to take us to a great Vietnamese restaurant nearby her job. It was great food (we both had noodle bowls) and actually pretty inexpensive, for NYC! We took the subway back to our train stop and got back to Jersey around 10:30 that evening. It was a full day of sight-seeing!

For the next half of our vacation, we drove our rental car to Washington DC to sight-see for a few days. We checked into our hotel in Silver Spring, MD which turned out to be in a really good location. Downtown Silver Spring is filled with all sorts of restaurants so after a long day in DC we were able to stick close to our hotel and still get good food for dinner, all within about 2 blocks. Plus, the Metro stop was about 2 blocks away as well. We would buy all-day unlimited Metro passes each morning so that we could visit whatever attractions we wanted to, which was great. Their public transportation system is so well organized that it just makes us wish we had something similar in Texas. Hopefully some day we get there...

Anyhow, the first day after driving into town from NJ, we decided to go into the heart of DC and walk around. And boy did we walk! I think we probably walked at least 5 miles that day-- our whole bodies were sore from all the walking, especially our feet! We saw all of the monuments (Lincoln, Vietnam War, WWII, Korean War, Jefferson, FDR.....) and we hadn't even made a dent in all that DC has to offer! Our favorite memorial by far was the FDR memorial. He seems to be a perfect example of the type of president we need right now in our country, one who realizes the values of equality and most importantly PEACE. (haha I first typed peach, which is also important, but more of a flavor than a value)

The next day we took the Metro out to Arlington National Cemetery which was a very moving sight, with the gravesites of JFK and Jackie O, plus the guarded Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very respectful and humbling place...

The following day we went to the Spy Museum which was very cool, but almost too thorough! We got hungry so we probably didn't get to see everything we could/would have! It was really well done. My favorite exhibit (which Phil thinks is fake, of course) is of how they used to have pidgeons strap cameras to their stomachs and fly over enemy territory where otherwise planes or cameras could not go. They had a cool photo of an aerial shot and you could see the bird's wings on either side of the frame! After the spy museum (and lunch), we walked through Chinatown, to the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and past the Supreme Court building.

That afternoon we decided to take our family members who lived in the DC area up on their offer to stay with them, so we checked out of our hotel (after a big fight about it being pre-paid, which we eventually won after talking to the manager) and moved over to Patty & Bob's house. They were so welcoming and fun to hang out with, along with their two kids Haileigh and Tyler. They had visited us last year in SA so the kids knew us and since two of them had stayed with us while they were in town, they were more than happy to reciprocate and let us crash there.

That evening, Patty & Bob took us to Annapolis which is a beautiful town (home of the Naval Academy). We walked along the boardwalk at sunset and got ice cream cones while we walked through the heart of town. Very charming place.

On our last day in DC, we went to the Holocaust Museum in the morning and then met a friend of mine from college for lunch. It started pouring down rain while we were in the museum and of course there were not any restaurants anywhere near the museum, so we had to trek across the city in the pouring rain to find food. Erin was such a great sport; she had just moved to DC after graduation a few weeks earlier, so she was not very familiar with the city either. But she led us to food, which was the most important thing. That afternoon we took the Metro to Old Town Arlington, as many people had recommended it as a romantic, charming little town. We walked up and down the streets and were not all that impressed, although the dreary drizzling weather might have contributed to our feelings...

There is still so much to see that we did not have an opportunity to visit in DC. We didn't make it to the National Archives, the Federal Reserves, or take a tour of the capitol. That just means we'll have to visit again!

In-Laws

2007-09-04T21:03:00.000-05:00

While many people would rather jump in front of a moving train than have their in-laws stay with them for weeks at a time, I really must say we're in the minority. In mid-June, Phil's parents sold their house and moved down to San Antonio. Well, actually the sale didn't close until mid-July but the tenants moved into the house in June so that's just a technicality... although an expensive one since they had to wait until they closed to get their money! Anyway, at the risk of sounding like I'm sucking up, I can honestly say that it was not a negative experience at all. In addition to being good company, they were very helpful around the house with cooking, taking care of Cooper, etc. I think they could/would have stayed longer if only we didn't just have those minor annoyances in our small house, i.e. no storage space, only one bathroom, etc. But all in all we lived together really well! They recently moved into an apartment complex just down the street, so we still get to see them frequently, not to mention that we work out at the same gym, shop at the same grocery store, eat at the same restaurants, etc.

Belize Vacation

2007-09-04T20:25:00.001-05:00

For multiple reasons, we're really glad we chose to visit Belize when we did.

1) The resort we stayed at consisted of a few condo buildings (with more being built while we were there) plus a few individual cabana-style rooms called "casitas". Jennelle & Greg and Phil & I stayed in these casitas, which were thatch-roofed, with hardwood floors and very cool decor. They had a/c, a small refrigerator, coffee pot, small sitting area, king bed, and bathroom. Most importantly, they were right on the beach! We had a good sized front porch with 2 chairs, which overlooked about 100 yards of beach with only palm trees, hammocks and some beach chairs between us and the ocean. These casitas were the main reason we chose Captain Morgan's Resort. But sadly, during our stay we learned that these casitas are soon to be torn down to make room for more condo buildings. The resort is big on time shares, which must be big business for them, but for us the draw was the privacy of not having neighbors on either side of your walls, being right on the beach, etc. It will be sad to see them go...

2) Hurricane season! What a year Belize has had. I hope that they have survived these storms but who knows what kind of damage they are facing with the high winds and heavy rains they've experienced.

3) Construction -- the island was filled with it. We feel that if we were to visit again in 15 years, every spare inch of the island of San Pedro would be covered with resorts and tourism. For now, we were able to experience a more true sense of what the Belizean culture, food, and ecosystem is... before tourism takes over completely.

During our stay, we rented a golf cart, because the streets of Belize are not (yet) paved. They claim that they will never pave them (to save the island from being taken over by tourism), but we doubt that is true because we could see the roads deteriorate day by day as the construction trucks and tractors drove back and forth over them, causing bigger and bigger pot holes. And the dust! A normal ride home from dinner in the golf cart (which lasted about 30 minutes) would require a shower if you were the 2 lucky passengers sitting in the back, due to a thick layer of dust that would gather on your entire body. But on the bright side, it was certainly an adventure navigating around the island on that little cart.

The scuba diving in Belize was good; we were able to swim amongst 6 ft sharks, 5 ft wingspan sting rays, and many other large fish, not to mention the beautiful colorful smaller fish, conch shells, and coral that can be found underwater. We dove on two different days. On the first day, the water was so rough most of the passengers were getting sea-sick. But we all stuck it out and did our 2 dives. On the second day we dove, the water was much calmer and made for much more fun dives. Another day we took a snorkel trip during which we got to hold sharks, and pet the sting rays if we chose (much more interactive than during the diving). Our guide also dove down to the bottom of the ocean floor to retreive conch shells as souveniers for all the females on board. Pretty smart of him, as the shells were abundant and it certainly increased his tip!

We also took a trip inland one day for zip line/cave tubing. Our group took about a 45 minute boat ride over to Belize City where a van was waiting for us to take us to the zip line area. It was kind of like an amuzement park. We got all suited up and waited in line to go up to the top of a hill where the first station began. We then got to zip from one tree to another across the rainforest, well at least where they had the zip lines set up. But it wasn't like you could see wild animals or anything; this spot was very commercialized so there were not wild monkeys hanging from the trees like I'd hoped. I had been soooo excited about the zip-lining; I had convinced our whole group to pay $210 per person for the day trip to do it, and it really was lots of fun and (I think) worth the money. When in Belize...

The cave tubing was pretty funny, in that it made me realize how many people don't have the luxury that we Texans do to go tubing frequently. Most of the tourists had not ever been tubing before and as we went into the set-up area, they told stories of how we must wear shoes or our feet would get all cut up, and how we should not wear our flip flops or we'd certainly lose them, etc. The little store was renting water shoes and against the recommendations of everyone around us, we decided to take our chances and wear our flip-flops. Come to find out, we simply had to walk on a dirt path for about 15 minutes, then hop in the river which had no rapids and simply flowed slowly (needed to paddle to move at a good pace). Plus, we got to tell everyone about how tubing in Texas is all about bringing an extra tube for your ice chest. Our tour guides really liked that idea. We did get to wear "cool" headlamps around our foreheads to see up in the caves where it was very dark. We got to see some cool cave formations and bats, but other than that it was pretty much any other tubing trip, minus the beer.

Another cool thing about Belize was that the people really seemed to appreciate the tourists. After visiting other places, we know this is not always the case (sometimes you get the "this is my island and if you don't like the way we do things you can leave" attitude). But the Belizeans came up to us multiple times during our stay to thank us for visiting and to let us know that they appreciate the tourism, and ask that we return to visit again. It was nice to feel welcome!

And finally, the BEST part of our stay: the taco stands! On one of our first days, we found a taco stand that made pupusas right on the street, whose smell drew us right in. These were stuffed with pork, beans, and cheese, and you could have 2 of them with a Belikin (Belize's local bottled beer - very good according to the guys) and make a meal for about $4. They also served great tacos! Another day we tried out a different taco stand located a few blocks away on another street, where a woman had a large circular griddle with meat and onions cooking all the way around it. When we ordered she would bring out small corn tortillas and throw them on the griddle to warm them up, then add the meat/onion mixture and a little hot sauce (for those who wanted it). Each order was for a batch of 3 tacos, and they were to die for. I told Jennelle, Greg & Phil that if I was rich I would fly this woman (and her family if necessary) to San Antonio to live with me and cook these tacos for me all the time. They were DELICIOUS. And they went great with bottled Coca-Cola, another one of my favorite Central American delicacies.

Would we go back? Maybe, but there are so many other places in the world we want to see and to compare Belize to St. John, the beaches in St. John were far superior (although they did lack the taco stands).

Our House's Transformation!

2007-05-15T19:42:00.000-05:00

BEFORE

AFTER

What an Enchanting Weekend!

2007-03-18T22:14:00.000-05:00

On Friday afternoon my Mom came to town to visit us and will stay through my birthday this week. On Friday evening, we decided to have Thai for dinner at Mon's Thai Bistro. While Phil and Mom were adventurous with their meal choices (curry & spicy dishes), I stuck with old faithful, Pad Thai. Everything was really wonderful! After dinner we headed to Central Market so that everyone could pick out an ice cream flavor for dessert. We quickly learned that they do not carry as extensive selection of the Hill Country Fare brand of ice cream as the other HEB stores, but it didn't stop us from picking out a 1/2 gallon each!

On Saturday morning we got up early and my Aunt Carol met us at the house so that we could embark on the 1-1/2 hour journey to Enchanted Rock. Just outside of Fredericksburg, TX the 425 ft tall rock stands tall in the horizon. We hiked all the way to the top and even those in the group who excercise often were huffing and puffing a bit before getting to the top. The climb is kind of steep in some areas, needless to say. The weather that morning had been pretty dreary in the 50s but we certainly warmed up during the hike! By the time we got to the top, we were ready for a short break and took a few moments to take photos and chat before climbing back down.
On the trek down the hill, we decided to pass the time by playing the reciting game "I went to my Grandmother's house and in my Enchanted bag I packed..." where each person picks an item in alphabetical order and the next person has to list everything everyone else has packed and add something on that begins with the next letter. Phil was a good sport and played along, and when he got to "L" he packed Lauren in his bag! What a sweetie. :) Needless to say, we got to "Z" just as we arrived back at the car. We had a little picnic in the back of Phil's vehicle, consisting of the turkey sandwiches I'd made earlier that morning, pretzels, pickles, and drinks. We started heading back to the city and made it back around 2ish. Mom and Carol had to run an errand so we laid in the sun to work on our tans for a while and then started doing some yard work. We pulled 2 trash bags full of weeds before we all needed to take a shower, Cooper included. He had been such a great helper digging in the yard... at one point he had so much mud on his paws it looked like he was wearing shoes! But I don't think he liked it much because he started gnawing at the mud to get it off his foot.

Today we went to my Uncle Jerry & Aunt Patricia's house for lunch to celebrate my birthday early. Patricia had made a lovely lunch with a spread of appetizers, pasta for lunch, and then we had layered chocolate birthday cake for dessert. Everything was delicious and we had a wonderful time. We were able to get them set up on their computer with e-mail, something they had been wanting to do for a long time, so it was beneficial for them as well! Jerry also sent us home with a beautiful Bird of Paradise plant and Ginger plant for our yard, so we are on to a good start for our Spring garden. Now we look forward to Robin's visit in a few weeks so she can help us move forward with actually planting them in our garden!!

You'd better Belize it!

2007-01-29T09:48:00.000-06:00

We booked our trip to Belize last week! We will be flying out of Houston on a non-stop flight to Belize City around the first week of May. We've booked a 7-night dive package at a resort on the beach which includes 5 days of 2-tank boat dives, a night dive, a welcome cocktail, use of resort equipment (bikes, kayaks, etc.). Meals are not included in the package but we do plan to bring food since we learned in St. John how much island food can cost!

We look forward to diving the Blue Hole, although the best diving out there is supposed to be at about 150 ft which is deeper than our certification allows us to dive. But there is a shallower dive of about 60 feet so we can do that one.

I also want to do some of the other mainland activities. They have tours scheduled during the week and the one I'm most excited about is the cave tubing/zip line trip. I have always wanted to zip line so I can't wait! The trip is a bit pricey but I know my husband will allow it since we're on vacation... right, Phil?!

We would love it if others could join us on this trip just like the group we had in St. John. Let us know if you're interested in joining and we can send you all the details and itinerary!

Tim-brrrr

2007-01-22T19:00:00.000-06:00

We've been pretty busy lately so here are the Stackhouse highlights.

First, the arctic front descended upon us last Tuesday, bringing freezing temperatures and ice. Because of the rain on Monday, Tuesday's ice built up pretty thick. While most of San Antonio shut down on Tuesday, dedicated employees that we are, each went to our respective workplaces. Let's just say that attendance was sparse at both places of business.

Tuesday night was the worst of the weather. The ice built up on our car windshields, icing our doors shut and freezing over our walkways.

(Disclaimer: The following portion of the story is narrated by Phil. Lauren does not get to have any input since she slept through it.)

Tuesday night around 11:10pm while fast asleep, I heard a big creak and a weird noise. Being the light sleeper that I am, I got out of bed and looked out the window to investigate. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. While up, I asked Lauren if she heard anything. Lauren responded "No" which was no surprise. [side note: Lauren cannot verify this portion of the story as she does not recall this conversation ever taking place]. So I went back to bed... at approximately 11:25pm, a loud snapping noise and large crash on the roof/side of the house jarred me out of bed. I looked outside and to my amazement saw the large Loquat tree split in two, with one half lying on our roof. While rushing to put on socks, shoes, and a jacket, I told Lauren what happened and she calmly turned over and went back to sleep. Her thought was that the tree would be there in the morning and there was no sense going out in the icy night to investigate. The funny thing is that Lauren barely heard the tree fall, even though it sits less than 5 feet outside of our bedroom window! While investigating outside, my neighbor came out of his house and said he heard it and thought it was his tree falling down on his truck. How this man could hear it from the next house over and many yards away, and Lauren could sleep through it will always baffle me.

Needless to say, we spent our Friday night cutting up the tree and a BIG special thanks to Mom and Jack for perpetually lending us their electric chain saw. There would've been no way of cutting it down without it. However, we still need a regular chain saw to cut the big portion of the tree stump down. For now, we were able to move the big limbs off the house and into a huge pile in the back yard. Now we just want to know when our next heavy trash pick up date is going to be!!

Next portion of the story as told by Lauren:
Another exciting event in our lives recently has been the purchase of his and hers mountain bikes. Phil's work offers a health incentive discount which allowed us to get a great deal on both bikes. We both bought Trek bikes... mine is a women's bike and honestly, I picked it because it was pretty. I mean, what else do I care about other than looking stylish on the trails? I even got a helmet (safety first) but it has pink on it which made it acceptable. Phil's bike is one step up from my bike (the male version) and so they are similarly shaped and styled. We had to buy a bike rack to put on the back of Phil's SUV to haul the bikes around. Of course, we bought the bikes just before the brunt of winter hit, so we haven't had much opportunity to ride them. The first day we rode them, we rode around the neighborhood and down to Twin Sisters. Boy, it was only then that I realized how our neighborhood sits on a big hill. Going down -- no problem. Going up -- ugh! Perhaps I should confess at this point that I am definitely out of shape. But hopefully the bike will fix all that. So this weekend, we decided to head to McAllister Park for an afternoon bike in the park. Luckily, the weather was beautiful (75 degrees and sun shining-- although it only lasted the one day). We started out on the paved trails but soon enough, Phil decided to take a detour. Of coure, the trail says you can go this way or that way, and Phil decides to take a third, unmarked trail. The trail starts out just fine and is a dirt path but come to find out, it was more intense. Phil leads the way down a rocky terrain filled with mud puddles, tree roots, and hills. I can definitely say I learned how to navigate a more rough terrain than I expected, and although I must admit I did fall off the bike once, it was still fun. Getting back on the paved trail after almost an hour of off-road trails was a heavenly change. The up-side is that I felt like I had a decent workout and even if not, I had mud all over my bike and my body so that if nothing else, it looked like I did some great off-roading!

Some of Phil's co-workers have recently purchased bikes too so maybe next time we will have some company. I look forward to spending weekends this spring at local parks in the hill country, like Government Canyon where you can spend a day, bring lunch, etc.

Lastly, we are planning an anniversary vacation to Belize. We are looking to take about a 7-day dive vacation. If we fly out of Houston, we can get really cheap airfare, too. We hope to book our reservations tomorrow. We are planning the trip with our friends Jennelle & Greg and if anyone else is up for it, we'd love to have company! But you'll need to get SCUBA certified if it'll be any fun for you, since we plan to be diving most days. We are going over to Jennelle & Greg's tomorrow to finalize all our plans... I can't wait.

I guess this means I have a LOT of biking in my future to get in bikini shape by May... plus all the biking can't hurt my tan, either. :)

I <3 Christmas Ornaments

2006-12-28T20:17:00.000-06:00

This year we got some great Christmas ornaments as gifts.

But even though we got a bunch of ornaments as gifts, I couldn't help but buy a few of my own.

Can anyone figure out what the theme seems to be?! Apparently we're carrying the beach theme all year long into our Christmas celebration. But come on, Santa Claus and snowmen on a beach?! It really doesn't get any cuter than that!!

I am getting to be very proud of my ornament collection. Specifically, my S'Mores ornaments. I have 8 of them now, and each year I add more to the collection. This year I got one from Aunt Lori and another from my parents.
I can't wait to see what new themes the S'Mores folks come out with next year!!

Christmas Recap

2006-12-26T19:59:00.000-06:00

This year we spent Christmas at our own home for the first time! Robin and Jack arrived Friday evening so we were able to spend quite a bit of time with them. On Saturday, Phil and Jack did projects around the house all day which involved quite a few trips to Lowe's, of course. Robin and I went to HEB that afternoon to pick up all the ingredients we'd need for the rest of the weekend and Christma dinner. That night we had homemade pizza and black cherry cobbler while we let Robin win at Phase 10. On Sunday, we did some last minute Christmas shopping (nothing else like being at the stores with the other slackers who waited until Christmas Eve to do their shopping too) and then some major baking preparations for Christmas day. I realized this weekend why I don't cook very much. It takes soooo long. Don't get me wrong, the finished product is AMAZING but I just don't have the patience for all the prep-work that goes into homemade meals. I think 30 minutes total including prep and cooking is all a meal should require. Hence, my lack of skills in the kitchen.

Needless to say, I learned a lot. Robin taught me the difference between wet and dry measuring cups, I got to whip the whipping cream (pretty much unsupervised, which may account for the whipping cream all over the kitchen floor, appliances, my sweater, etc.), help make the doughs for the pies and cinnamon rolls, etc. I never thought I'd remember all these recipes, but one of my favorite things about Christmas was the "Family Cookbook" that Robin put together with all the family's favorite recipes.

Christmas morning was fun. Robin got up around 4:30 to put the home-made cinnamon rolls in the oven to "Bread Proof" (I can admit I had no idea what bread proof meant before this weekend) and then was up again a few hours later to continue preparing them. The rest of us got up around 7:30 and celebrated our Christmas morning by unwrapping our presents and stocking stuffers. We then proceeded to play Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) for about an hour, which was one of Robin's gifts. It's actually pretty fun but I don't think I could ever master the "Expert" mode. My legs just aren't made to move that quickly, or maybe it's the eye/foot coordination that I lack? Anyway, it was fun watching everyone try to beat each others' scores.

Later that morning, Brad, Stacy, & Logan showed up after having their own Christmas morning in Austin. Logan was in her adorable Christmas dress and showed us how she has mastered the art of opening gifts. Smart girl.

One of Logan's other favorite activities is trying on other people's shoes and walking around in them. First she put on her mom's sneakers, then my house shoes, and finally my black boots. I think she liked them best because the heels made noise on the floors.

Later we all sat down to Christmas dinner. It turned out really well, thanks to everyone's contributions. The menu consisted of: Ham, Company Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus, Ambrosia, and Green Salad. And luckily, we have LOTS of left-overs since we made so much! Actually, I'm headed to the kitchen now to warm up a plate for dinner. YUM!

Office Christmas Party

2006-12-10T16:09:00.000-06:00

When you work at a company of 15,000 employees, you can't have your holiday party just anywhere. You have to rent a convention center to accommodate everyone. So last night we got all gussied up and headed downtown to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center for Phil's company's holiday party. One of Phil's co-workers and his girlfriend came to our house before the party and we carpooled (yes, we've seen An Inconvenient Truth). We ran into a nice little traffic jam on the way downtown in which Phil's road rage emerged, but we all helped to keep it in check. We ended up parking about a block away in the mall parking lot; I think we got lucky with our parking spot because one of his other co-workers who we met there said it took them 45 minutes to find a parking spot!

We arrived at the party and posed for a quick shot outside the bathrooms before heading in.

We of course headed to the buffet tables first to check out the spread. They had h'ors deuvres in one room and we took our pick from the cheese and crackers, artichoke spinach dip, and chicken skewers, and headed into the main room.

We found a table and sent the men to check out the buffet table. They came back with pasta, roast beef, turkey, salad, chips & queso, tamales, and 7 layer dip. While the guys were in line getting food, Tracy and I went over to the dessert table and made up some big ole plates of yummy desserts. I ended up eating too much dessert too quickly and realized I needed more solid food in my system so we went back for more pasta. It's so easy to indulge when it's all free!

I wanted to take a photo next to the great set-up with the professional photogaphers (Christmas trees, fireplace, stockings, etc.), but after finding out that the least expensive photo package was $35, we decided we could just take a photo at our own house in front of our own tree for free. Plus, you had to pay up front so if the photo was not to your satisfaction, you'd already bought it!

The most entertaining part of the party, surprisingly, was the concert. They had booked the Foreigners to play. While I had never heard of them before, I think that is simply due to my age, because once the concert started I realized I had heard most of their songs. The lead singer kind of reminded me of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith with his long hair and tight pants, and the lead guitarist was definitely balding in a major way, but they did put on a pretty entertaining show. Plus, what other Christmas party puts on a full blown concert?!

I am sure that many of you are pretty jealous right now that we saw the Foreigners LIVE... but if you don't want to admit it because it may date you (Amity...), we understand.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

2006-11-26T20:46:00.000-06:00

Today was one of my most favorite days of the year-- the day that we pick out and decorate the Christmas tree! I loooove shopping for ornaments every year and then strategically placing them just right on the tree. This year, our tree was significantly bigger than the one we had last year, so it created a fun new challenge. And I realized that just as long as we keep getting bigger and bigger trees, I can continue to buy more and more ornaments!!

So we cranked up the Christmas tunes (my idea and my CDs of course) and got in the christmas spirit. All we were missing was some warm cookies and hot cocoa. But there is still plenty of time for that before Christmas.

Here are some photos of the three of us in action... hmmm someone seems to be below the acceptable level of Christmas cheer. Thought with those big ears he would be more elf-like. Will have to work on that.

After about an hour of decorating... voila! The finished product! Here are a few photos of our decorated living room and dining room.

I can admit that we are lacking a few items, like a tree skirt, tree topper, presents... but that just gives me a shopping goal for the holidays. Plus, my favorite shopping day (even more than Black Friday) is the day after Christmas when all the decorations are 50% off. I already decided I want to head to Kohl's first on that day, as I think they have the BEST price and selection of all the stores I've been to (which is saying a lot). They have the cutest set of place mats that I can't wait to get my hands on... at 50% off the retail price.

Happy Holidays!!

2006-11-25T14:33:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays from a bunch of reindeer! (Yes, we went out in public with antlers on... we actually wore them all day on Black Friday starting at 6:00am at the mall. We like to spread Christmas cheer and what better way to do it than by wearing antlers on your head that jingle?!)

Happy Birthday, Cooper!

2006-11-15T20:26:00.000-06:00

Our puppy turned 2 today. That means he's a teenager, in doggy years. Oh, how quickly they grow up! ;)
He loved all the treats we bought him at the nearby doggy boutique. He couldn't keep away from this one long enough for a photo...

We joined the library!

2006-11-11T19:08:00.000-06:00

This morning we went to the San Antonio Public Library just after it opened and signed up for library cards! The central library is down town and is the largest of all the branches, but there are more than 10 other locations around the city, which is pretty convenient for returning books, etc. Each of us checked out 5 books. Bet you can't guess which stack belongs to which of us!!?

Book reviews to follow! The books are due back by December 2nd, and since we are such diligent blog posters (yes, that is a passive aggressive jab at the rest of you with blogs who pretty much suck at keeping them updated) we will get our book reviews posted promptly upon completion of reading our respective stacks.

2006-11-06T20:02:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday we took of 1/2 day of work and drove down to South Padre to spend a long weekend at the coast and celebrate my parents' 25th wedding anniversary!!

We got there Thursday evening just in time for some BBQ chicken and babyback ribs, potato salad, and baked beans. Yum! Cooper also enjoyed nibbling on some baby back ribs.

My parents' condo is suffering from major plumbing leaks and water damage, so when we arrived we got to see the entire downstairs carpet pulled up, furniture shoved to one side of the room, sheetrock torn out of the walls and ceiling, and you could see all the way upstairs! The next day they had to pull up carpet in the master bedroom and tore up the master bath as well. Luckily, my old room was just fine so we had a place to stay. The owner of our condo development had agreed to let them stay for free in another condo on premise, which was very nice because it gave us a place to hang out and spend time, plus we were very excited to have cable for a few days!!

On Friday, the boys headed to Harlingen to play golf, while the girls ran errands (picking out carpet) and shopped in Brownsville. We met up in the afternoon at the condo and later that afternoon and evening my mom's sisters arrived.

On Saturday morning, Cooper did not seem to be too tired and woke us up at 5:45am needing to go out. Phil and I both woke up and walked him, and decided that since we were already up, we might as well head to the beach and watch the sunrise. It was a great decision because the sunrise was beautiful!

Saturday was the big day-- at 4:00pm, Captain Paul performed a beautiful vow renewal ceremony for my parents to celebrate 25 happy years of marriage. The ceremony included exchanging of traditional wedding vows and rings, plus a sand ceremony in which they poured sand from their individual jars into a 3rd jar symbolizing the combining of their individuality to become one unit. Very pretty ceremony (and I must say that the jar I selected was very stylish).

It was a lovely weekend and a great reason to celebrate. Congratulations to Mom & Dad for their 25th wedding anniverary. We hope you are able to happily celebrate many, many more years together. Love you!

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T20:34:00.000-06:00

Check out my super cool witch's finger cookies!! Bet you didn't expect such an amazing product from me!! I am learning to be more and more domestic as the days go by!! Plus, I had a fantastic opportunity to wear my "Lil" apron.

Bridal Shower

2006-10-22T15:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated Kristina and Mark's upcoming nuptuals with a Bridal Shower at Mamacitas. It was a great venue and Dory did a wonderful job co-hosting her very first shower. Kristina and Mark are getting married in Las Vegas in November, and we wish we could make it! But we know they will have a wonderful time and we wish them the best. Kristina was my suitemate in college, so we had a reunion of sorts yesterday at the shower. Pictured below is our entire suite for our Sophomore and Junoir years at Trinity. My roommate, Lena is on the left, then me, Kristina, and Dory. Dory is getting married in March so she gets to prepare for all the bridal activities soon, too!

More Book Reviews

2006-10-22T14:39:00.000-05:00

Now that we have successfully proven how dorky the Stackhouse clan is, I can proceed with my book reviews. While Philip (and his family) apparently enjoy books where learning is involved, I prefer the simple enjoyment of fiction.

In Full Bloom, by Caroline Hwang
4 book worms
This book was about a Korean woman in her late 20s who was single, which apparently is unacceptable to her Korean mother. Her mother flies to NYC to find her an acceptable Korean man and lives with her for the duration of this book (a month or so). The tales of how she meets these Korean men, but really prefers white men, is quite funny and intriuging. I started out not really liking the book because I was unfamiliar with the Korean culture which I thought would make for a slower read, however the author did a great job keeping it light-hearted, and I probably learned a few things about Korean culture, or at least their food. Cute story, quick read.

Boy Meets Girl, by Meg Cabot
5 book worms
Written entirely through instant messages, emails, or journal entries, this book was so cute! I loved the modern format of "chatting" and you get so many different perspectives this way. The main characters are best friends who work together in HR. They become entwined with this HR firing scandal and one of the friends gets fired by her horrendous female boss. The boss's fiancee works for the company's law firm, and is equally as horrendous, but of course has an amazing lawyer brother who works there too that our main character falls for. A cute love story, cleverly written. Love it!

The Rice Mother, by Rani Manicka
5 book worms
While this book is definitely not my typical reading genre, it was taking up space on our book shelf so I decided to give it a try. My Aunt Carol had passed it along to me a few years ago so I figured it may be worth it. The book provided a very thorough, and at times gruesome, look at Malayan life through the eyes of all different members of a family from the 1940s - present. The wartime descriptions are what I mean by gruesome, as she describes the things that were seen and done to the citizens of Malaysia that are unthinkable (at least to me, in present-day American culture). However, the life lessons and values learned by the children and granchildren through their many hardships really told a great story. I tend to enjoy books where you get all different perspectives and points of view, rather than just the one character telling the story, and this book really did a great job of this. Hearing about experiences from the different characters' perspectives really helped to tie the story together, and create a solid set of memories and experiences. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, which is why I have been so vague, but I really recommend this book. And, I may have learned some history so Philip should be quite proud.

Nights in Rodanthe, by Nicholas Sparks
5 book worms
In true Nicholas Sparks style, this book is a fantastic love story that is absoulutely heartwarming and unforgettable. I have read many of Nicholas Sparks' books and never once have I been disappointed, and Nights in Rodanthe is no exception. The story is told by a mother looking back 14 years into the past, remembering her whirlwind romance that became the love that lasted her a lifetime. She is telling this story to teach her daughter the lesson of love and loss, as her daughter's husband has recently passed away, leaving her 2 young sons to care for alone. The characters are, in typical Sparks' fashion, ones you can relate to. Even if circumstances in this novel aren't ones a reader has experienced personally, the characters and feelings conjure up memories to really draw the reader in; this would not be the first time a Sparks novel has made me want to laugh and cry with the characters. I am headed to Amazon.com right now to make a list of the other novels by Sparks I haven't read yet, so that I can head out to Half Price Books and pick them up.

Other than the novel above that Aunt Carol lent me, the others were lent to me by my friend Amanda. But usually I borrow three at a time and now I've read them all. Guess it's time for us to have dinner and do some book swapping! Until then, I can see a Harry Potter book on the shelf that I will read next. Can't tell which one it is, so you'll just have to wait for the next book review!

Book Reviews

2006-10-15T21:01:00.000-05:00

Seeing how we don't have cable or basic TV, Lauren and I have been reduced to reading books! While this isn't a bad thing, it is definitely something to get used to. Fortunately, it has been pretty easy to adjust. We figured we would provide some reviews of the books we've recently finished reading and a review on the "bookworm system" in Drew's honor. Each rating is out of a possible 5 worms.

1 worm = Don't bother. We feel for the trees killed to print this sorry thing.
2 worms = Ehh... don't bother unless you're locked up with nothing to do, and they took away your finger paints.
3 worms = Put this on your list, but not at the top.
4 worms = Definitely worth your while.
5 worms = Get up right now and go purchase (or borrow) this book! A must read!

24 Days, by Rebecca Smith & John R. Emshwiller
(4 Worms)
The Enron story has been thoroughly documented in numerous books and articles in the past few years. While I had a general idea of what brought down Enron from the numerous articles I had previously read, I was looking for an Enron book which would provide a detailed insider account of the unfolding events which eventually took down one of the largest corporations in America. This book caught my attention because it was written by two Wall Street Journal-ists who were assigned to cover the story. It was said by some (including the authors) that they were the first major news outlet to uncover the scandals taking place at Enron. This book is the account of both reporters detailing the days that they spent investigating Enron's financial position, most notably the Fastow partnerships. 24 Days gave great detail of the reporters' difficulty in uncovering the partnerships and the very complex manner in which they were produced. The book also goes into account of Arthur Anderson turning a blind eye towards Enron's entire operation, even though they were aware of the huge conflicts of interest between Andy Fastow (being General Partner of the partnerships) and Enron. Overall, the book provided a great view on how the reporters gathered and collected evidence to report the biggest corporate scandal in American history. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the details of how Enron was brought down, chiefly the Fastow partnerships, however the book gave very few details on many of the failed business ventures which also led to the eventual downfall of Enron. To further learn about this part of the story, I will be adding the book Enron: The Smartest Men in the Room to my wish list. (I must say, the movie was pretty good.)

1776, by David McCullough
(4-1/2 worms)
This book was referred to me by my beloved siblings, Brad & Amity (everyone knows Felicity doesn't read). Actually, I even borrowed Amity's copy of the book from her extensive collection. This book details the American Revolution during... 1776 (who would have guessed?). I'm a big fan of history, particularly the accounts of wars, so this book definitely fit my interests. Having known only very general details of the American Revolution provided by my exquisite public education, this book was my first real education of what took place during the period of the American Revolution. The year 1776 was important in many respects because this was the turning point for the war. Everyone knows that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, but who knew that the war waged on many years after that? (Sorry, Mom, for some reason I did not know that... but it helped that my wife didn't either... even though she also expressed how little she cared.) This book provided insight into the character of George Washington and his very young and very inexperienced commanders. While the book got off to a slow start, it soon picked up after recounting the events of the battle for Boston, and from that point forward was a very fast read. McCullough did a great job in researching all the different accounts from the participants of the war to the media and newspapers. It was interesting reading the communication between British and American commanders, as well as gaining the insight of how during 1776, the "rebel fighters" were many times on the brink of losing. This book while at times praises Washington's resolve, also makes him out at other times to look like a fool. Let's just say that if Washington had his way, we would all be accustomed to having High Tea. It is my opinion that McCullough should write another book detailing the events leading up to the Treaty of Paris in 1783 so that we can further learn about the important events of the war after this important year he has detailed.

Neoconomy: George Bush's Revolutionary Gamble with America's Future, by Daniel Altman
(1/2 worm) -- Did not finish
This book, just by the title, in my mind would be a great read because there are a multitude of topics that could be covered under the changing of the economy and the position of Neo-conservatives. This book, however, did a poor job of outlining key topics and explaining conclusions. The book is dry, and in my opinion poorly written. As noted above, I was unable to finish the book because of how ineffective the author was in explaining his view and keeping the reader entertained. Hopefully someone else will pick this topic up and write a more intriguing account.

The next book on my list is Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman by Merle Miller, and Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. Please feel free to respond with recommendations on other books to add to my list.

Congratulations are in order...

2006-10-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

Many things to celebrate these days, so I figured why not post it for all the world to see!

Congratulations to Karthik on his new job with the City of Houston! We are super excited for you! Soon Felicity will graduate and become a "day-shift" worker again and maybe you can be on the same schedule! Then again, you'll probably be headed to Medical school around that time... Oh well, then you'll be on your way to becoming a doctor and Felicity will just stay home and spend the paycheck anyway. So much to look forward to-- congrats!!

Congratulations to Dana on her acceptance to SMU's PMBA program! This is a program for Professionals who work full time while they get their MBA. The PMBA program is rated the best program of this type in Texas so it is very exciting for her. Plus, one day when she graduates and gets her great-paying dream job, I hope to benefit from having a rich/successful friend... duh. Congrats!!

Congratulations to Shannon & Cary on the birth of their beautiful baby girl Penelope Linda! She is gorgeous, and we can't wait to watch her grow in the next few months through photos, and actually meet her in December when y'all visit. I only hope in the weeks after I give birth I can be as well adjusted as y'all seem to be! You are doing a great job sharing photos of Penelope and keeping up with your correspondence-- much better than other people we know who don't have the excuses like a crying baby to feed and not getting a full night's rest that you could use. Very impressive. Congrats!!

Gardens by Moonlight

2006-10-02T19:16:00.000-05:00

On Saturday night, we experienced the cultural adventure that was Gardens by Moonlight at the Botanical Gardens. We went with two other couples, and none of us had ever been to the Botanical Gardens before, despite living in San Antonio over 5 years.

We had dinner at our house before the event because we knew the "gourmet" food that was advertised would not be cheap, and we are very glad we did because by the time we arrived, the food was already sold out! So luckily we were not too grumpy or hungry to enjoy the gardens.

Back to dinner. I planned the menu-- chicken fajitas with all the fixin's, strawberry margaritas for the girls and of course beer for the men. I found a recipe online for strawberry margaritas with real fruit (well, real frozen) because I don't like that strawberry mixer stuff that many places use. So we made them in our super fun Smootherator and they turned out to be VERY yummy! The boys grilled and the girls did prep-work (while gossiping of course) and then we all had a wonderful dinner.

The reason we had dinner at our house (other than our fantastic party-hosting skills, of course) is because just at the end of our street is a shopping center called Terrell Plaza, and that is the one stop for the shuttle to the Gardens by Moonlight event! We couldn't have planned it better ourselves! So we walked to the end of our street and hopped in line for the shuttle.

As we were riding on our plush shuttle bus to the Gardens, we were suprised at the SUPER long line of cars trying to get in. We were glad we didn't try to drive, and we were also very surprised at how popular the event was. But we also felt very proud of ourselves for picking such a great thing to do on Saturday-- we were sure everyone would be talking about it on Monday. (Although needless to say I didn't hear anyone else mention it at work today... hmm.)

They had Gypsy Jazz musicians, Cajun musicians, and all other sorts of bands for our listening pleasure and they had all of the exhibits and gardens open for us to roam around and see.

We walked all around the gardens, but my favorite place had to be the rose garden, where my amazing photographic skills came to fruition. I mean, check out that photo. Try to beat it! Everyone else was impressed with my photo, well except my husband who wonders who takes photos of flowers. Honestly, who cares as long as my photo is the best?!

Oops, I think my only child competitive streak just showed itself...

Needless to say, it was a fun event, and now we have gotten our cultural fill for the month and can resort to watching movies on the couch for the rest of the Saturdays of the month.

In Bloom!

2006-09-28T07:43:00.000-05:00

After all the rain last weekend at our house, all of our plants have started to bloom, and the grass has started to turn green again, which is a wonderful change from that ugly shade of brown it had started to turn due to our horrendous lack of rain!

Fun at the Circus!

2006-09-24T10:16:00.000-05:00

So even though my mom claims that I have been to a circus before, I don't have any memories of it. So when my friend Jen recommended that a group of us go to the Alzafar Shrine Circus this weekend, I decided to go for it! Phil was volunteering at the Valero Texas Open, so he could not come along, and I brought my good friend Lena instead.

We all met up at Chris Madrid's for a yummy (albeit greasy) dinner before the show. Then we headed over to Freeman Colliseum, bought our tickets and our shrine circus hats, and headed inside for the show.

Before the show, people had indicated that this circus was inferior to the Barnum & Bailey circus, and that we may not have a good time. Some even called the circus "poor". However, we had also heard that there would be an opportunity to ride an elephant at this circus, so we didn't care what else happened as long as we could get a fantastic photo of us on the elephant!

Now, the first half of the show was great. It started off with a man on a motorcycle way up in the air going round and round, and he was attached to this pole, which on the other side swung a woman from a bar that she hung from. They both took turns turning round and round going up and down, all hanging high up in the air. Pretty impressive. There was also a tiger show (which leaved something to be desired to be honest), but there were some great drummers, really cool acrobatic tricks, the hula-hoop lady, etc. By intermission, we had decided this circus was great!

So during intermission we rush down to center stage to get in line for the elephant ride. Literally, picture 7 of us fully grown men and women running across the floor to get in line. I guess I should back up and tell you that we had also picked our seats at the beginning of the show accordingly so that we would have the easiest and quickest access to the floor as possible to get in line easily during intermission! So we get in line and are told that tickets are required. We send a few of the group to get tickets but in the meantime find out that it is not $7 per ride, but $7 per person!!!! We decided that we would not pay $50 for our group to ride on the elephant for 3 minutes. But we also realized that this circus was making LOTS of money, and maybe we were in the wrong business! Maybe I'll talk to my boss on Monday about investing in an elephant...

So needless to say, we did not get our cherished elephant ride in, but we got some photos pretty close to the huge animals, so we were still happy.

After intermission was our absolute favorite act! The elephants came out in two rings, 7 total. There were 6 adult elephants and one baby! They did great tricks, like spinning in circles, "holding hands" which was done by using their trunk to hold the next elephant's tail, laying down on their sides, getting up on their hind legs and putting their paws on the next elephant in line to form a train, sit on a chair, etc. It was soooo cute!

Go Diddy Go!

2006-09-11T15:33:00.000-05:00

Too bad for Felicity-- if she wants to pursue pop stardom with the name "Diddy", the US and UK are already out for her (see important news article below)... But I think the Indian market is still open-- Go Diddy Go!

Diddy can't be Diddy in Britain
09/11/2006 11:07 AM, AP

Sean Combs is Diddy no more — at least in Britain. The musician and entertainment mogul has agreed to drop the Diddy name as part of an out-of court legal settlement with London-based music producer Richard "Diddy" Dearlove, the law firm representing Dearlove said Monday.
Solicitors Jens Hills & Co. said Combs had agreed to "rebrand his commercial activities" in Britain and would "no longer be able to trade in the U.K. as 'Diddy.'" Combs' lawyer, Nigel Calvert, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Combs — formerly known as Puffy and Puff Daddy — has used the moniker P. Diddy since 2001, but last year decided to be known solely as Diddy.

Dearlove launched a lawsuit for unfair competition, claiming the name change had caused confusion. The case had been due to go to the High Court next month.

"I started getting e-mails from Puerto Rican girls asking if they could be in my video and people were asking me to look at their clothing line," Dearlove was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper.

Combs, 36, whose fortune was last year estimated by Forbes magazine at $250 million, agreed to pay Dearlove's costs, as well as "significant" damages, Dearlove's lawyer said.
Dearlove, 40, best known for his 1990s dance remix of Blondie's "Atomic," told The Guardian he was "happy and relieved."

"It doesn't matter how big people become," he said. "This is my name. I've been successful too. I'm not a global megastar, but what I do is valid."
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On the Net:
Richard "Diddy" Dearlove: http://www.diddyland.com
Sean Combs: http://www.diddyonline.com

Gone Fishin'

2006-09-05T21:06:00.000-05:00

To celebrate Labor Day, Captain Larry Langford took us out on a fishing trip in the lower Laguna Madre bay. As you can see above, Phil caught the catch of the day!!

2006-09-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

Just kidding!! We all know who the true angler is!! Now, Phil wants to debate what the true meaning of a great angler is. The dictionary definition is "a person who fishes with a hook and line" so I guess rather we are debating the true meaning of "great" when in relation to angler. While I believe in quality (i.e.- size) of fish caught, Phil believes sheer number is what creates a great angler. Honestly, doesn't he know who I am?! Fishing runs in my blood! I know it's a bit cliche, but fish really do fear me. Check out the delicious bass below. (Note, it really is a redfish and if you haven't seen Napoloen Dynamite, you really should!)

Phil did catch his fair share...

...but are fishermen supposed to kiss their catch?

We had a really great time, despite the fact that we had to leave the docks at the outrageously early hour of 6:30am. We headed towards the bridge where the bait was really schooling. We could see little mullet (or other bait) jumping in and out of the water all around us, which indicated to the cap'n that the fish were near. The sun had not even come up yet when we began to catch. Phil fished with artificial lures the whole time and when that wasn't working for me, I took "the easy route" and switched to frozen mullet. That made me happy because I caught the huge redfih seen above on my first cast with mullet.

We did not keep any fish all morning (catch & release) but had we kept them, we probably would have had our limit by the time we headed in by 9:00. Dad did a wonderful job guiding us to the fish, and even though Mom could not fish due to her still-healing wrist, she was a wonderful cheerleader.

Par-tay!

2006-08-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

Amity sure does know how to throw a party! And not to toot my own horn, but who else got photos of the decorations? Randy/Amity: 0, Lauren/Phil: 1. It's okay, I am sure that at the next family gathering you'll have your chance...

Moving on! the party was a success! And, our wonderful hostess made everything look so easy! Maybe I'll try hosting one of these myself one day. But I'll start off on a smaller scale...

Dinner was fantastic (and I can't forget dessert!), and the company was even better. Loved trading stories about childhood and hearing how everyone has different memories of how things happened. Very entertaining, but I of course stick by Phil's version of how it went... AND that he is the inventor of the do-it-yourself mechanic shop!

Sunday at the river

2006-08-23T20:39:00.000-05:00

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Guadalupe River with Phil's coworker Floyd and his girlfriend. Floyd owns a ski boat so it was lots of fun getting to hang out in the sun. My St. John tan is long gone so it was nice to get a little color again. (Just have to remember to generously apply the aloe so that the tan/burn doesn't peel off!)

All along the river, different property owners have installed rope swings from their trees which we had lots of fun swinging from. They installed ladders so you had to climb up onto the tree and swing off of it. And let me tell you, it seems much higher when you're up there than it looks from the ground!! It was very fun... luckily Floyd happened to know the owners of this particular property because they came over to find out why we were using their swing!! Turned out that since Floyd knew the guy, we all ended up swinging and hanging out, so what could have been a sticky situation turned out just fine! Hopefully you can see the blur that is Phil swinging into the water in the photo above.

Phil also got to try water skiing for the first time. Turns out it's a pretty fun sport, and much, much easier to be successful at than wakeboarding. I think he did pretty great for his first time!! Then again, what are wives for if not to be their husbands' cheerleaders from the boat?!