First of all, we are alive and survived the move. The other house hasn't sold, but we are enjoying our new place.
Finally took a little video of the new house. We moved in on 11/22, so I do have to say that I'm impressed with how quickly everything came together. We couldn't have done it without the help of Karly and my mom and dad. Big kudos for all of their help. Wanted to post the video tour, so those who haven't been able to see it can get a quick tour.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Fightin' Texas Aggies
Hello all,
This is Patrick and it has been way too long since I have blogged. My lovely wife always seems to keep up a little better, but we have both been bad as of late. I would like to share a few thoughts regarding our incredibly awesome journey to Aggieland this past weekend to watch the Aggies beat up on the high powered Oklahoma Sooners. I think it is safe to say that most Aggies did not expect to exit the tall ramps of Kyle Field following an Aggie victory over the top ten ranked Sooners, but the Aggies came through and surprised us.
The evening was crisp and cool, and the crowd was electric. There has been a dull sensation floating over the stands during the last few home games, but this particular game brought a new energy, an energy that I often felt during my days romping around Aggieland earlier this decade and late last decade. We sat with Kim's parents on the "alumni" side of the stadium, second deck, approximately looking over the 20 yard line. The stands are older and tighther than our normal seats which are positioned in the very corner of the upper bleachers of the end zone, which we call, "The Zone". We sat and stood with many great old Ags, who simply love football.
To our suprise, three Sooner lady fans sat adjacent to us. Two were calm, but obviously cheering for their beloved Sooners, while one was wild, quite obnoxious, and simply annoying. I believe there were some non-natural substances flowing through her body, as she boldly provided the first down signal every time her Sooners even moved the ball (first down or not). She performed this action repeatedly and mixed up the letters to the "O" "U" chant that the Sooner Nation screams as their band plays. Yes, there are only two letters, but she consistently said them in the wrong order. Also, and even more noticeable, was the fact that her entire body jived similar as Seinfeld would state, as a "full body dry heave" every time the Sooners would have a better than average play. The dance she performed was one that practice would be necessary to make so very ugly. To add fuel to the fire, she turned around and taunted a swarm of Old Aggies dressed in maroon when the Sooners had a big play. As expected, the great Aggies began polite taunts in her direction, but she was mostly clueless during the actions. Once someone did provide some unkind words towards the Sooner marching band, she was deeply offended and departed the scene for approximately 30 minutes.
The drunken lady of Norman was not the only obnoxious person in our section. A reprentative from our Corps of Cadets decided to take a seat right in front of this lovely gal from Oklahoma. He was loud, spit a little bit as he screamed, exposed almost every vein in the area from his head to his neck, and loudly brought his newly learned traditions to our section. While I love the enthusiasm, some of his actions should be saved for his time in the student section of the great Kyle Field. He was also taunted, but probably did not care.
Despite our adjacent "real woman of genius" football fanatic sitting in our area, the overall game, from the initial safety on the first snap of the game to the 100 yard kickoff return by the pumped up Aggies, was a thrill to witness. Not only did the Aggies defeat the highly ranked Sooners, they did so in convincing fashion.
I am so proud to be an Aggie right now and so proud of the team that takes the field on Saturdays. Hopefully now, they can find the strength and talent to win a few more games and compete in a decent bowl game.
Gig Em Aggies!
This is Patrick and it has been way too long since I have blogged. My lovely wife always seems to keep up a little better, but we have both been bad as of late. I would like to share a few thoughts regarding our incredibly awesome journey to Aggieland this past weekend to watch the Aggies beat up on the high powered Oklahoma Sooners. I think it is safe to say that most Aggies did not expect to exit the tall ramps of Kyle Field following an Aggie victory over the top ten ranked Sooners, but the Aggies came through and surprised us.
The evening was crisp and cool, and the crowd was electric. There has been a dull sensation floating over the stands during the last few home games, but this particular game brought a new energy, an energy that I often felt during my days romping around Aggieland earlier this decade and late last decade. We sat with Kim's parents on the "alumni" side of the stadium, second deck, approximately looking over the 20 yard line. The stands are older and tighther than our normal seats which are positioned in the very corner of the upper bleachers of the end zone, which we call, "The Zone". We sat and stood with many great old Ags, who simply love football.
To our suprise, three Sooner lady fans sat adjacent to us. Two were calm, but obviously cheering for their beloved Sooners, while one was wild, quite obnoxious, and simply annoying. I believe there were some non-natural substances flowing through her body, as she boldly provided the first down signal every time her Sooners even moved the ball (first down or not). She performed this action repeatedly and mixed up the letters to the "O" "U" chant that the Sooner Nation screams as their band plays. Yes, there are only two letters, but she consistently said them in the wrong order. Also, and even more noticeable, was the fact that her entire body jived similar as Seinfeld would state, as a "full body dry heave" every time the Sooners would have a better than average play. The dance she performed was one that practice would be necessary to make so very ugly. To add fuel to the fire, she turned around and taunted a swarm of Old Aggies dressed in maroon when the Sooners had a big play. As expected, the great Aggies began polite taunts in her direction, but she was mostly clueless during the actions. Once someone did provide some unkind words towards the Sooner marching band, she was deeply offended and departed the scene for approximately 30 minutes.
The drunken lady of Norman was not the only obnoxious person in our section. A reprentative from our Corps of Cadets decided to take a seat right in front of this lovely gal from Oklahoma. He was loud, spit a little bit as he screamed, exposed almost every vein in the area from his head to his neck, and loudly brought his newly learned traditions to our section. While I love the enthusiasm, some of his actions should be saved for his time in the student section of the great Kyle Field. He was also taunted, but probably did not care.
Despite our adjacent "real woman of genius" football fanatic sitting in our area, the overall game, from the initial safety on the first snap of the game to the 100 yard kickoff return by the pumped up Aggies, was a thrill to witness. Not only did the Aggies defeat the highly ranked Sooners, they did so in convincing fashion.
I am so proud to be an Aggie right now and so proud of the team that takes the field on Saturdays. Hopefully now, they can find the strength and talent to win a few more games and compete in a decent bowl game.
Gig Em Aggies!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Terrible.... but there's a good excuse
There's really no excuse for our lack of blogging,but between Aggie football, buying a new house, and my decision to join Junior League of Austin / Patrick's decision be a Big Brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister program our time has been limited. Yes, you heard right we bought a new house. I didn't want to jinx us, by posting pics, but we're only 2 weeks out from closing...
Contrary to our current house, there is very little needed for us to do to move into this house. However this week I went to the house to meet a couple of painters to get quotes on getting rid of the yellow in the house, and we discovered that the current owners had painted over wallpaper in the kitchen and bathrooms. Ugh! Just a small hiccup, but we've only had to push the big move date back 3 days. So we officially close on 11/15 and move on 11/22. Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday....
I promise to post pics once the inside of the house has been painted, but wanted to let everyone know that we haven't fallen off the face of the earth!
p.s. If you know of anyone looking for a really cute starter home in Austin, send them our direction. We have a great one for sale! :-)
Contrary to our current house, there is very little needed for us to do to move into this house. However this week I went to the house to meet a couple of painters to get quotes on getting rid of the yellow in the house, and we discovered that the current owners had painted over wallpaper in the kitchen and bathrooms. Ugh! Just a small hiccup, but we've only had to push the big move date back 3 days. So we officially close on 11/15 and move on 11/22. Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday....
I promise to post pics once the inside of the house has been painted, but wanted to let everyone know that we haven't fallen off the face of the earth!
p.s. If you know of anyone looking for a really cute starter home in Austin, send them our direction. We have a great one for sale! :-)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Life's little reminders...
I haven't posted anything about my seven year battle with an auto immune disease on our blog. But today I received a phone call from a woman that gave me a new perspective along my seven year path that reminded me how important my support system has been along the way.
Just to give a little history for those reading, and to put some context around how I met this woman who called me today. My senior year at Texas A&M my body started to not allow me to do the things a normal 20-year old would expect to do. After a night on the town my ankles would swell to double their size and it would take me days to recover. I also found myself getting more and more tired, and I was that person in college who could still run hard after 3 hours of sleep. I talked to a doctor in College Station, but he was stumped as to what was going on. Upon graduation, I went to visit a doctor in Dallas, who was the first to think that this was an auto-immune disease. She had an idea from the symptoms, but wouldn't tell me what she thought it was because I was about to go empty my bank account in Europe for 8 weeks. She ran some blood tests and the results came back exactly as she had expected, but recommended that I make an appointment with a rhuematologist in Austin.
At this time I was a month and a half from starting my job in Austin, so I picked a rhuematogolist at random that was on my future medical plan and my parents (who I was covered on). The doctor had a 3 month waiting period for new patients, so I went ahead and booked the appointment for 3 months out (not thinking that it was going to be a problem). I moved to Austin and started my job, but I kept feeling worse and worse. All I had the energy to do was go to work and then come home to sleep. By the time I got to the rhuematologist, with my mom at my side, they admitted me to the hospital that same day. While I was in the hospital they confirmed that it was Lupus, but had no idea what that entailed. It was a scary time and my parents made countless trips up and down 35 to help me take care of myself and be with me through the numerous hospital stays. I couldn't have done it without their help, and I am so thankful for the love and support they continue to provide.
As a strong willed person, I wasn't going to let this thing take control, so I sought out a Lupus support group in Austin. The women in this organization were amazing, and provided tips and tricks on how to live your life while managing this disease. I went to all the meetings, and as I started to feel better I felt that it was my turn to be a mentor to those having a tough time. As I started to get things under control and I met Patrick, I started to not go to the meetings as much. However, I still received the e-mail updates from these ladies, so I was able to keep up to date with the group.
I received an e-mail from the group requesting support for a family, who's daughter had a stroke as a result of a Lupus complication with a blood disorder. I immediately felt the need to go help, and that's when I met Arlene Paris. Her daughter Laura, who I had never met, suffered from a stroke and was in a rehab facility in South Austin. Patrick and I headed down there to meet Arlene and talk to Laura who was in a coma when we met her. Arlene lives in Richmond, and basically set up camp here in Austin to take care of her daughter. We visited Arlene and Laura on many occasions, reading to Laura, bringing dinner to the family, but Laura never recovered and passed away three years ago.
Arlene had done a good job (and I had not) about calling me after Laura died to see how I was feeling, but I had lost touch with her. About 2 weeks ago Arlene called, but I never called her back because I had let life get in the way. Today, Arlene called again, but this time I answered. She wanted to just check in to see how I was feeling, and let me and Patrick know how important we were to her. She mentioned how we had acted as her support group, while she was so far away from family and her support group in Richmond, VA. It's calls like this that remind me how much of a difference you can make in one person's life, just by doing something you feel is normal. It really made me step back and have a little reminder to make the time for those relationships because it's those relationships that will get you through the good and the bad times in your journey through life ...
I know that I don't say it enough, but thank you to my parents, friends, and my wonderful husband Patrick for being my constant support system (and reminding me that I can't do everything)
Just to give a little history for those reading, and to put some context around how I met this woman who called me today. My senior year at Texas A&M my body started to not allow me to do the things a normal 20-year old would expect to do. After a night on the town my ankles would swell to double their size and it would take me days to recover. I also found myself getting more and more tired, and I was that person in college who could still run hard after 3 hours of sleep. I talked to a doctor in College Station, but he was stumped as to what was going on. Upon graduation, I went to visit a doctor in Dallas, who was the first to think that this was an auto-immune disease. She had an idea from the symptoms, but wouldn't tell me what she thought it was because I was about to go empty my bank account in Europe for 8 weeks. She ran some blood tests and the results came back exactly as she had expected, but recommended that I make an appointment with a rhuematologist in Austin.
At this time I was a month and a half from starting my job in Austin, so I picked a rhuematogolist at random that was on my future medical plan and my parents (who I was covered on). The doctor had a 3 month waiting period for new patients, so I went ahead and booked the appointment for 3 months out (not thinking that it was going to be a problem). I moved to Austin and started my job, but I kept feeling worse and worse. All I had the energy to do was go to work and then come home to sleep. By the time I got to the rhuematologist, with my mom at my side, they admitted me to the hospital that same day. While I was in the hospital they confirmed that it was Lupus, but had no idea what that entailed. It was a scary time and my parents made countless trips up and down 35 to help me take care of myself and be with me through the numerous hospital stays. I couldn't have done it without their help, and I am so thankful for the love and support they continue to provide.
As a strong willed person, I wasn't going to let this thing take control, so I sought out a Lupus support group in Austin. The women in this organization were amazing, and provided tips and tricks on how to live your life while managing this disease. I went to all the meetings, and as I started to feel better I felt that it was my turn to be a mentor to those having a tough time. As I started to get things under control and I met Patrick, I started to not go to the meetings as much. However, I still received the e-mail updates from these ladies, so I was able to keep up to date with the group.
I received an e-mail from the group requesting support for a family, who's daughter had a stroke as a result of a Lupus complication with a blood disorder. I immediately felt the need to go help, and that's when I met Arlene Paris. Her daughter Laura, who I had never met, suffered from a stroke and was in a rehab facility in South Austin. Patrick and I headed down there to meet Arlene and talk to Laura who was in a coma when we met her. Arlene lives in Richmond, and basically set up camp here in Austin to take care of her daughter. We visited Arlene and Laura on many occasions, reading to Laura, bringing dinner to the family, but Laura never recovered and passed away three years ago.
Arlene had done a good job (and I had not) about calling me after Laura died to see how I was feeling, but I had lost touch with her. About 2 weeks ago Arlene called, but I never called her back because I had let life get in the way. Today, Arlene called again, but this time I answered. She wanted to just check in to see how I was feeling, and let me and Patrick know how important we were to her. She mentioned how we had acted as her support group, while she was so far away from family and her support group in Richmond, VA. It's calls like this that remind me how much of a difference you can make in one person's life, just by doing something you feel is normal. It really made me step back and have a little reminder to make the time for those relationships because it's those relationships that will get you through the good and the bad times in your journey through life ...
I know that I don't say it enough, but thank you to my parents, friends, and my wonderful husband Patrick for being my constant support system (and reminding me that I can't do everything)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The things you learn as an adult....
In my previous post, I mentioned that I was not allowed to have any sort of sugar cereals. As a child, I would go to my grandparents' house for a couple of weeks, and I would convince them that sugar cereals are allowed. Mom would come to pick me up, and they would then find out the truth. Every summer they seemed to forget that I couldn't have them, so we would stock pile Lucky Charms or Frosted Flakes for my visit.
Last weekend, I went to Dallas to host a baby shower for Breck England and baby J(http://theroyalenglandfamily.blogspot.com/), and what do I find in my parent's pantry? Not one, but THREE boxes of Chocolate Cheerios. I couldn't believe my eyes, and felt that I had been betrayed. Mom just shrugged her shoulders and poured me a gigantic bowl, but I still felt the need to take a picture and to show the evidence.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
A weekend with the niece and nephew
Two weekends ago, Patrick and I had our niece (Aly who is 4) and nephew (Eric who is 8) visit us from Phoenix. There were no parents involved, Patrick and I were on our own. We knew that the activities and the pace would be different than we were used to, and we hoped that there wouldn't be any fights over food or bedtime. Aly and Eric did great! (and we did great too...) 
Patrick kicked off the weekend with a balanced meal at Subway where Eric conned him into a coke, so when he got to Austin Eric was full of energy! We started off our Saturday with a balanced breakfast of Fruit Loops. (side note: I wasn't allowed sugar cereals as a kid, so I felt that I needed to provide this to Aly and Eric) After showers (including a little hiccup of getting soap in our eyes), we headed to Gattiland where the kids could be kids and so could we... I caught Patrick on a rollercoaster ride with Eric, and Aly was able to score some pink vampire teeth.
After lunch we headed to Toy Story 3 in 3D, which was fantastic. After staying in the cool for long enough, we headed out to Zilker Park to ride the Zephyr mini-train. Inside I was so excited because it's something that I've always wanted to do, but did not want to go on just as an adult. Aly and Eric were a perfect excuse for me to get to ride the train. However, just after boarding the train a very skinny man in a very small g-string walked by. Thankfully the kiddos, didn't notice because I wasn't ready to explain what "that" was.... We ended our evening trying to watch the bats fly out from the Congress bridge, but they decided to stay in. Eric got to see a couple of bats, but it surely didn't meet the expectations that Patrick and I had set up.
All in all it was a great visit, and we're so glad they were able to spend a weekend with us. Hopefully they'll make time to visit soon.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Trip to Forest Hill, LA
About twice a year, we try to make a trip to Forest Hill, LA to visit my aunt and uncle. These trips are always relaxing and filled with going to get plants at the local nursery and great food. Luckily this year, we received (as a joke) an Obama figurine. My dad had already played a joke on his brother (my uncle) by giving him an Obama calendar for Christmas, so we knew this figurine was going to come in very handy for this trip.
We weren't quite sure how we were going to use it, but knew it needed to be packed for this trip. I asked my cousin Sammy where we should put it. We wanted to put it some where it would blend, yet not belong. Lucky for us, my aunt has a case that she keeps nick-nacks from trips, so I casually opened the case and placed Mr. Obama in...
As you can see, he fit right in with the crystal. I acted like I was inspecting the case right before breakfast and asked my uncle if they had picked up a new item on their last trip. His response was that they hadn't, and he asked me what I was looking at. I pointed out their new addition, and they laughed and laughed but didn't take him out.
Patrick and I left to come back to Austin, and my uncle reported back to my dad the nasty trick we had played on them. My uncle then told my dad that they had forgotten about the new addition, and my aunt had the ladies from Calvary Baptist Church (where they have members for years) over for dinner later in the week. One of the ladies, who knew my aunt very well, pointed out Mr. Obama, and asked why he was in there. Knowing very well that they were in no way advocates. My aunt was so embarrassed that she couldn't back track and get her story straight about our joke.
Thanks to Jenny, Luc, and Jack for providing this figurine and hours of entertainment for all of us...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
