Texas Visit Highlights

Well I am FINALLY blogging about my other adventures during my trip to Texas back in May.

Vegetable Garden:
During my stay at my parents we decided to plant a vegetable garden for Mom!  I honestly do not remember everything we planted but there were some beans, squash and I think some zucchini.  Dad and Jeff did most of the digging and leveling of the area while Mom and I created the trellis for the bean plants out of string and strategically placed hooks.  The heat got to me fairly quickly so I would pause here and there to take pictures of the progress.  There are more pictures but Mom has this habit of somehow managing to bend over right as I'm snapping a photo so it just looks like I'm photographing her bee-hind!  Haha!  Dad and I tease her claiming she does it on purpose.

I am sad to announce the vegetable garden did not survive the crazy heatwave that hit Dallas.  There's always next year though.

Mother's Day:
Another reason I chose May for my visit was Mother's Day.  It was so nice to get to spend it with my Mom, Dad and Brother.  Since moving I have not been able to spend hardly any special occasions with them.  Well for Mother's Day mom and I woke up and went to Garden Ridge to search for more pieces to go on her Jimmy Buffet wall outside on the deck.  We managed to leave with another pink flamingo and we hung the Margaritaville sign she already had.  We had planned to take Mom out to dinner or cook for her but she decided she really wanted pizza, games and a movie with us!  We sat around outside most of the evening as a family just chatting and laughing.  Yahtzee soon followed and that was....interesting haha.  I kicked some serious butt both games.  Jeff and I busted out in one of David Bowie's musical numbers from The Labyrinth which Mom decided to record haha!  The next day Jeff and I surprised Mom with a pretty new necklace from the two of us.  I love my Mom!

Not taken on Mother's Day but this is my Mom :)

Ranger Game:
So my Dad is awesome for SO. MANY. REASONS.  Classic example of why: Ranger Tickets for mine and Jeff's birthday for seats in the shade!  We got to attend a game as a family and it was such a good day.  Well....it was a good day once we were parked.  Parking was out of control.  I think they just started making up places for people to park at one point.  Anyways, our seats were in the section where the price for food and drink is included with your ticket purchase.  That was pretty nice because I'm sure we all saved a boat load of money that way.  OH!  I did realize about half way down 75 that I left my ENTIRE wallet at home.  ID, debit card, everything.  So my parents were sneaking me beer! hahahaha  That cracked me up so much!  Rangers lost but it's okay because it went into a couple extra innings and that's always okay with me!  I did get caught trash talking one of the other players.  By "caught" I mean he totally heard me and turned around haha.  I was basically right above him and decided to quote The Sandlot by saying "You play ball like a GIRL!"  So at least I wasn't being a total jerk or anything :)

Fun Run:
My mother works for AT&T and, as I'm sure everyone knows, they are 2012 Olympic Sponsor particularly for Trey Hardee.  Their office held an event where you could go on about a 2 mile run with Trey in downtown Dallas.  It was supposed to just be for the employees but Mom had no problem getting them to let me go in her place.  Now, I'm not even going to pretend like I knew who this man was before this run.  I just thought it would be really awesome to get to exercise with an Olympian.  When he arrived I looked at Mom and said "Holy crap, Mom!  You didn't tell me he was freaking gorgeous!"  It was like the stupid high school girl came out in all of us.  Good grief.  Don't worry, though.  It's me we're talking about....it only lasted a few moments and I snapped out of it.  It was really funny to hear 4 people in a row ask "So what are your workouts like?  Do you stretch different?"  One guy tried to give him pointers on calf stretching.

Anyways, the run was a neat experience over all but I just don't think it was a good idea to do that downtown without a path blocked off for 20 mins.  We had to stop at every light and wait to cross, fire hydrants everywhere, parking meters, light poles and it was in the Texas sun haha.  I don't really have any sort of opinion of Mr. Hardee except that he's a great athlete with A LOT of patience!

My 25th Birthday:
I will post a separate blog about this because I'm waiting on pictures from Stephanie to go with it and it was just that much fun :)  My friends and family are awesome.

Visiting My Grandparents:
I was very blessed growing up.  I got to live in the suburbs but spend a lot of time in the summer and most holidays out in the country with my extended family. My grandparents live in Eula which is just outside of Abilene.  As well as a large chunk of the family on my Moms side.  Everybody knows everybody in this very small town and I think most of the people have known me since I was in grade school.  Anyways, we were supposed to have more time together but schedules conflicted at the last minute so I really only got to spend a day out there.  We got to do plenty though!  Grandma, Grandpa, Dad and I went to pick apricots at a neighbors house which lead to Grandma making this delicious apricot cobbler that night.  I'm pretty sure I almost got stung by a few bees picking those things though.  At one point, while I was relaxing on the couch with my Aunt Laura watching the Rangers play, my Grandpa came in with a little friend for me.  It was a sweet little kitten not quite weened from Mama Cat yet.  This little bugger slept on my chest and we napped together.  I later went outside to take her back to mama and saw there were about 7 or 8 kittens out there!  GAH!  When we were leaving, I'm pretty sure Mom and Grandpa did a bag check on me to make sure I wasn't leaving with any kitties haha 

HOPPY Anniversary!

Christopher and I have just celebrated our two year wedding anniversary on June 26!  We decided to drive out to Saarbrucken that evening to have drinks at our favorite spot on the walkplatz, dinner at our favorite restaurant out there and then a drink at our favorite little outdoor spot a little off the walkplatz.  We returned home to have Champagne and intended to to watch Casablanca but I was very sleepy.  It was still perfect!!

The traditional gifts for the second anniversary are Cotton or China.  We really don't have any need for fine china right now so we went with cotton.  I decided to get Chris a new pearl-snap cotton western-style shirt.  It is just like the green one he already has except gray this time.  Chris rarely gets to buy these shirts because they are so expensive.  So this was pretty special to him.  He loved it!


For my gift, Chris got creative :)  He bought me a fuzzy little COTTON-tailed bunny!!  I love my husband so much and love that he caters to my weakness for small fluffy creatures!

Meet Penny:

Penny was born April 10 and we adopted her June 28.  So she just turned 3 months old yesterday!  We went to the pet store to just take a look at rabbits and she kept following me as I walked around the huge pin then had them in.  So Chris went and grabbed a store associate and asked if I could hold her.  We bonded right away.  She wasn't squirming while I held her and I was able to walk around the store with her.  There was no way she wasn't coming home with me!  Just look at those little lopped ears of hers! :)  I love her so much.  We're pretty sure she loves being here.  Penny is always lounging around or when she has her exercise time she climbs all over us and does several "binkies."  A "binky" is where bunny will jump way up and flick her feet around.  Sometimes she'll do 3 or 4 in a row.  This is to let me know she is joyful!  Nothing feels better than to know my little baby is happy in her new home.  She is such a sweetheart and I love having her around the house to play! We are looking forward to getting her outdoor equipment so on sunny days she can play outside in a little pinned-off area.  Penny is our little baby right now and I spoil the crap out of her haha.


Another part of our anniversary was getting new tattoos!  Chris got Deadpool's logo which is pretty awesome but definitely needs to be touched up.  Deadpool is Chris' FAVORITE Marvel character and, if you know my husband, you know how much he loves Marvel comics!  He decided to get it on his right arm kind of up by the shoulder.  It took the artist a while to finish it and we think he just started getting sloppy when filling it all in because there are several uneven parts.  I will post a picture of the finished product once we have it perfected.  He goes back in 2 weeks to have it inspected and fixed.  For now, here is a picture from the internet of what he got:

My tattoo is the word "Love" in a whimsical little font on my left wrist.  

It is small and simple and seems pointless to just about everyone.  But it is a CONSTANT reminder to me.  I was just pulled from one of the deepest and darkest pits I have ever been in in my life thanks to my God.  The "Love Lifted Me" hymn is the first thing to run through my head every time I look down.  I am reminded of how great my Father's love is.  That I strayed so far from Him but the SECOND - The. Very. Second. - I cried out for help, He loved me so much that He pulled me out by the seat of my pants so fast it almost seemed unreal.

Psalm 40 Reads:


I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry. 
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit, 
    out of the mud and mire; 
he set my feet on a rock 
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.

Dub's 30th Birthday

Dub's 30th Birthday:


Thursday:
One of the reasons I came to Dallas in May was to help my Dub celebrate her 30th Birthday!  It all really began on the day of her birthday when I arrived at her office which also the first of our meetings over my trip.  We made it pretty dramatic too.  I walked in and she happened to be walking out of her office so we did this run, jump, hug thing.  It was just like in the movies but better! haha I had only been in town for a day and a half so I was still pretty jet lagged but not enough to miss our traditional birthday lunch.  We went to Razzoos, as usual, but this time it was the one at Firewheel since that's where Patricia is working now.  This was the day I discovered Patricia, who is straight Peruvian, can sing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese.  Dub and I proceeded to laugh so hard at this that she couldn't even finish the song for us.  I am dying a little just recalling it.

Blowing out candles

Still Thursday:
That evening we all met up at Outback Steak House to celebrate Dub with the whole gang.  Her mom, Belinda, was ON. TOP. OF. IT. hahaha she had pitchers of margaritas coming out for about every 3 people and had special delicious birthday shots for Dub throughout the dinner.  One of the most entertaining parts of this dinner was sitting next to Stephanie and watching Dub's nephew, Isaac, go crazy!  Haha!  This kid would ruuuun from one side of the room and just when you think he's about to sprint face first into the table he would duck under really fast and pop his head up between two people's laps.



Friday Night:
The next night was hibashi and karaoke put together by Jayme Beth!  Everyone met up at this Hibashi/Sushi grill downtown.  There were probably close to 20 of us.  Anyways, they sat us at this giant table with two grills.  We were kind of in a big "U" shape so we could all see each other.  Well my side of the table was ready to go first so our chef comes out to begin his little show.  This guy....to put it nicely, was far from entertaining.  He cooked up some food, slapped it on our plates and left.  We still clapped for him to be nice but I leaned over to Stephanie and was like "is it rude to ask for a re-do?" haha!  Dub's side of the table was ready shortly after us and their guy was out of control awesome!  He was throwing food around and lighting stuff on fire and making rice hearts for the birthday girl.  It was so cool!  We got to enjoy their side's show.  We made our way to a place called Family Karaoke where we all proceeded to sing our hearts out all night.  Stephanie and I got to sing some N'Sync and later Dub karaoked some Black Eyed Peas with me.

Story of the Night!
Amber was driving Stephanie, Dub and me back to Dubs house after karaoke.  We stopped off at Whataburger because that's just what you do when it's that late and you've had some drinks (Amber was not drinking just for the record).  While pulling out of the Whataburger, Amber didn't realize there was a median separating the lanes and just took a left into the road.  We all immediately proceeded to inform her she was going the wrong direction.  However, we were also laughing so hard we couldn't even breathe so it was very hard to communicate.  There was only one car on the road so that was a blessing.  However, instead of stopping and backing up to start heading down the right side of the road, Amber starts saying "Lord Jesus help us, Lord Jesus help us" and continues driving down the wrong side until we almost reach the light.  Dub is finally able to get out "AMBER, omg, turn around. The light won't change if we're right here."  So Amber goes to start turning around but realizes very quickly it is going to be a 1,000 point turn like something out of Austin Powers hahaha so we pulled it together long enough to get her to back up and then all of us were laughing hysterically after that.  Ohhh man I love those girls.

Bring Me That Dallas Skyline

Chris gave me one amazing early birthday present this year!  A whole month in Dallas to spend with family and friends!  As much as I wanted him to come with me, his mistress, the USAF, demanded he stay in Germany.  So it became a solo trip.

THE FLIGHT HIGHLIGHTS:

-There was a man on my flight with two small girls (3 and 4 years old).  After making sure to bad mouth his ex wife to every flight attendant and inform the whole flight that she up and left them, he proceeded to crack bad jokes the rest of the time about everything.  You know, just one of those guys that always has to be the comedian.  Except he really was not funny at all.  BUT!  Ohhh, LET. ME. TELL. YOU!  His daughters were sooooo unbelievably adorable and sweet!  :)

-US Air decided it wasn't enough that we already paid about $900 for the flight so they charged us for head phones, all alcoholic beverages and newspapers.  Thankfully I did not need any of these things because THIS girl brought muscle relaxers and a Kindle.  I was happy they did not charge us for any in-flight movies or t.v. shows.

-They served me a sandwich that could have survived a nuclear blast.  I took 2 bites and became genuinely concerned for my digestive system and my heart.  It was like eating a dog toy.

-I borrowed my friend's large suitcase since Delta mangled mine back in December.  Well, I was so tired when I landed in Charlotte that I forgot I had hers and started looking for MINE!  I started getting so pissed off and was talking to the guy next to me at baggage claim saying "Omg I cannot believe they lost my bag!  What a bunch of idiots."  Well then I look down and see my big ol' slice of humble pie (aka: the suitcase) on the carousel and it must have gone around at least 3 times haha!  I walked around to the complete other side of the carousel, made sure the guy couldn't see me, grabbed my suitcase and ran off to customs LOL!  

-When I finally arrived in Dallas my whole immediate family was there to pick me up!!  I walked through the revolving door and saw this guy with a big dumb grin on his face and was like "THAT'S MY BROTHER!!" haha  Then as Jeff is putting me down I see my Mom and Dad coming up to me all smiles and chipper!