Rangers Love

One thing I really love is Rangers baseball. I know I mentioned it last time, but I DO!!

Justin doesn't seem to share this passion with me, though he usually goes along to the games with me and puts on a good face. He mostly doesn't enjoy sitting outside in the heat for a three-plus hour game in the middle of summer in Texas. Also, he tends to feel sleepy after eating lots of food, which usually happens at the games we attend. Nothing beats a ballpark hot dog!

Luckily, the Rangers made it to the World Series this year. The games are much more interesting and happen to fall in October so the weather is AWESOME! My dad scored us some tickets to game four and we went with Krista and Collin.

Throughout the series I had my bear claw on the mantle, propped up on my upside down Yankees cup. When game four came around, we were ready!

The game was SO much fun - an experience we will remember forever!! There is something pretty special about 50,000 people swinging their rally towels and cheering; the crowd chanting Na-po-li in unison until he come out of the dugout to tip his hat; a standing ovation for Derek Holland after pitching 8 1/3 shutout innings... I want to go every year!!

I'm so happy my parents got to have an equally great experience at game five, even though the series didn't end with a championship for the Rangers. We had a great time watching the games with family and friends this year, whether at the ballpark or at Red Dog Right. I still love my Rangers!!

My Favorite FALL Things

FINALLY my favorite season out of the year is here! We've kept pretty busy since "fall" arrived. After I started back up at school, time has simply disappeared. And here we are, looking at the middle of October this coming weekend!

We've really taken to the spirit of the season by doing some of my favorite fall things, including...

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
In September, we got to go to our first longhorn football game since a couple of seasons ago - SO fun! I felt silly because I almost cried I was so happy to be back and listen to the beautiful sound of the longhorn band. Thanks to the Greens for the awesome opportunity to go to a game!!

HOMECOMING ANNIVERSARY

We have made it a tradition to celebrate our "original" anniversary (high school homecoming!!!) since we did it for so many years before we got married. We enjoy being creative and thinking of gifts or things to do that correlate with the number of years we are celebrating. This year we celebrated eight years! After a couple of weeks of thinking and me suggesting that I get Justin an octopus as a gift, we decided it would be fun to go eat eight-legged creatures. So on September 18th, we went to Joe's Crab Shack. We stuffed ourselves and had a fantastic time!

BASEBALL

With fall comes baseball (which I REALLY love) and we've been to a couple games this season, including one of the ALDS games against Tampa Bay. As I am sitting here, I am watching the Rangers, tied going into extra innings and hoping for a win so that they can (possibly) go to the World Series. I've canceled my America's Next Top Model and CSI recordings for this game, so hopefully it works out!

Okay, I think I have to wait on the boots and sweaters that I get excited about in the fall. It's still in the eighties. BUT I think this weekend I will be making pumpkin cookies or possibly some apple pie!

What are your favorite fall things??

Tuesday Ten: Travel Destinations

One time awhile back, Justin and I made a list of all the different places we'd LOVE to travel to some day. We are continuously adding to the list and really enjoy checking off the places as we explore them. Some are cities/countries one or both of us have traveled to before and others are places neither of us has ever been to. When we travel, we like to go somewhere we can relax a bit and also take in a little bit of culture. Although there are more, I've picked the top ten destinations we'd like to travel to share with you. So in no particular order...

SANTORINI, GREECE:

Justin and I went here on our honeymoon and it was amazing. We can't wait until we can go back again!

SCOTLAND/IRELAND:

We can't decide on one or the other, but Scotland and/or Ireland is high on our list.  

AUSTRALIA:

Neither of us have been to Australia and would love to take an extended stay here!

TAHITI:

Ahhhhhh... Just put us in one of those little water huts.

ALASKA:

Okay, it's not super exotic but it's SO gorgeous and neither of us have been. Would be a fun summer trip!

LAS VEGAS:

We just think this is something that every adult should experience at least once in their lifetime! So much fun!

BRAZIL:

Anywhere in South America would be a beautiful vacation spot, but Brazil would be our pick!

TOKYO, JAPAN:

This is one of Justin's top picks. It would be quite the experience!

INDONESIA:

We love the mix of exotic palm trees and amazing architecture. What a beautiful place!

SOUTH AFRICA:

Africa has so much to offer and I love elephants!

Well, we've got a lot of saving to do! What would be your top pick for a travel destination?

July

Well, it's July 31st and I have an hour and a half or so until the month is technically over. I am determined to get a post in! Needless to say, it's been a busy month for us (well, me) and I suppose it's as they say, "Time flies when you're having fun!"

I started the month out in New York City with a group of teachers from my school. I had a lot of fun learning about reading instruction at Teachers College of Columbia University while experiencing what NYC has to offer. I was able to see ground zero, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, check out Rockefeller Center on the 4th (the flags were awesome!!), watch fireworks over the Hudson, and of course, walk through Central Park. The last photo in this collage is a picture from Columbia's campus.

But that's not all...

Don't get me wrong here. I am SO not a Yankees fan. I LOVE the Rangers. But we got to go to new Yankee stadium for the game Derek Jeter hit his 3,000th and it was so much fun. If it was A. Rod. I may not feel the same way... 

So I got back from New York and tried to get back into routine before leaving yet again for a week, this time with my family to Branson, Missouri. I had fun spending time with them and getting to see my older sister, Amy and her husband, Joel, too. We saw a couple of shows, rented a pontoon boat on Table Rock Lake and went ziplining. I know what you're thinking and I have pictures to prove it. We also ventured to Springfield to see a Civil War battlefield and a cave! For a little town in a state I frequently reference as "misery" (no offense to any Missourians, I usually just drive through) it was pretty fun!

After getting back from Missouri, we spent some time with our families and celebrated my 25th birthday which I am sad to report that I have no pictures of other than the brownies Justin and I made in our brand spankin' new oven! On a side note, I have wanted this oven for MONTHS and it was on clearance at Best Buy (shout out!) while we were there randomly so we splurged! This is an excitement one can only understand as a first time homebuyer, I imagine. On top of the oven, my parents gave me the piano from their house (YESSSS!!!) and Justin got me the Michael Kors watch that I've been eyeing for some time now. It was a wonderful day!

Well, that's what I've been up to. If you're wondering where Justin was this whole time, it was at work. He's being the responsible one, as usual, and I appreciate it. I will appreciate it even more when he can take time off at the holidays. As much as I hate to admit it, I am getting ready to get back to work/school. So bring on August!

San Francisco

For our anniversary in May, Justin surprised me with a trip to San Francisco this summer. We had been once before and had a great time, but the trip had been so short that we left wishing we had more time to spend there. So, we came back to spend four days in and around the city and had so much fun! We did lots and LOTS of walking and got to see many different people and places, including some family!

As I was searching for an easier way to put photos in the blog without taking up so much space, I discovered Picasa collages! So, enjoy a tour of San Francisco via mosaic!

We got in late Thursday night, but had big plans for Friday. We got up early to get our rental car (a convertible Mustang!) and head out to Muir Woods and Napa Valley, both north of the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at the Dipsea Cafe, where we'd actually had lunch last time we were in San Francisco. Then, it was off to Muir Woods where we saw HUGE and beautiful redwood trees. Some of the trees were even over one thousand years old!

After leaving Muir Woods, we headed towards Napa Valley to V. Sattui, a winery that would have a deli as well as wine for us to have some lunch. Justin LOVED driving through wine country with the top down and the scenery was amazing. We took ourselves through a tour of this first winery and enjoyed some Reisling with our lunch on the lawn of the winery.

We had a reservation at a winery called Kuleto Estate which we had heard had incredible views so we ventured out to find it. Little did we know that we would take a tiny, curvy road to a gorgeous building that overlooked the valley. We enjoyed sampling many of their estate wines while visiting with two other couples and enjoying the quiet patio. Kuleto DID have the most amazing views and was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to San Francisco.

We started off on Saturday with seeing Chinatown. We stopped at a Buddhist temple, a tea shop, a fortune cookie factory, and little shops that sold tea pots and parasols and other fun things. We wandered into City Lights Bookstore and found the trolleys!

We hiked our way up to Coit Tower to enjoy the views and then headed towards the Ferry Building for some Hog Island Oyster Co. oysters! The view of the Bay Bridge from the piers was very pretty and even though the weather was on the chilly side, we sat outside to enjoy it.

On Saturday night, we went to see Anjelah Johnson at Cobb's Comedy Club. 

Psssh.. you don't even know.

Sunday we started out by attempting to get to some more sightseeing, but only made it to the Painted Ladies before lunch with Christina, Jason, and baby Caden. We were able to get to Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea Gardens before heading back to the hotel to get ready for our evening.

We went on a dinner cruise through the bay that went by Alcatraz as well as Marin, Sausalito, and then the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a nice evening out!

Our last day we were able to hit all of the things we'd run out of time for and without the same weekend crowds since it was Monday. We got to the Golden Gate Bridge lookout to take pictures, though it was really foggy! We also went to the Palace of Fine Arts to walk around and then we headed towards Fisherman's Wharf. We made it out to Lombard Street while over that direction and then ate a hot fudge sundae at the Ghiradelli Chocolate Shop. Yum! Before taking the trolley back to the hotel to grab our bags, we walked around Pier 39 and saw the infamous sea lions.

So that's what we've been up to the last week or so. I hope everyone can make it out to San Francisco at some point - so much fun!!

Old Friends, New Times

I love how when you get back together with old friends, it seems like no time has passed. You can always pick up where you left off whether it has been days, weeks, or months since you'd last seen them.

It has been seven years since we graduated from high school. Justin had a close group of friends from years before that over the last seven years we've been able to see less and less due to different locations, different jobs, and different lifestyles (marriage and babies!!!). Now, our friends are spread out from Malibu, California to Lawrence, Kansas and down to Austin, Texas. Luckily, we do have some close by that we enjoy seeing and are so happy to have the luxury of seeing more often, but everyone being together at the same time is a rare occurrence.

We have been lucky to have a few weddings to get together at, but we decided that we can't let weddings be the only times that we all see each other. Plus, we get so busy at weddings with rehearsals, luncheons, etc. So, this past weekend we planned for everyone to get together. It was SO nice to see everyone and have everyone together for a weekend. It really felt like we had been able to get together like this on a regular basis. We were even lucky enough to have two of our best friends stay at our house! We had SUCH a great time and hope to have a get-together like this more often.

In our short weekend, we were able to go out to dinner to celebrate Jessie's birthday, see Adam & Emily in Southlake, go out on the boat with Gordon, Laine, Shep, and Jessie, and then have everyone over to our house to grill out the yummy sausage that Spencer picked up on the way down. We even made it to the old snow cone stand (Barbie is where it's at...)!

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I had hoped (what's new...) but I did get a few fun ones from our Saturday boating experience.

 Justin and Shep on the tubes. 

Gordon and Shep action shot! 

Jessie and Laine having conversation WHILE tubing! 

Gordon and I on the boat... "Co-Captains" 

Justin and I 

The guys 

Laine in her cute summer hat! 

Jessie & Shep 

The girls 

Group shot!

We had such a blast and are looking forward to next summer when we all hope to get together again! 

Cheers to Thirty Years

On June 20th, 1981 my parents got married in Rochelle, Illinois. I love this picture of them in their "getaway" car.

For thirty years they have been such a great example of how to live a life together as husband and wife. They have grown together in many ways throughout the years and are still so great together. I appreciate them more than I can put into words. They have been such a great influence on my life and the decisions that I have made. I couldn't ask for anything better and I am so grateful for all the good times we've had together and the memories that we've made together.

Today they are in Breckenridge, Colorado, I assume looking out at the snow covered ground off of their balcony thinking, "Yes, this was a good decision," as the heat index today in Texas is estimated to be around 105 degrees. They are having a very well-deserved vacation together and are enjoying the beginning of their thirtieth year of "wedded bliss," as my mom has put it.

Well, 1981 was a good year for them, but it was also a good year for Justin's parents who got married the same year!

I know that Justin is so grateful for both of his parents and the roles they have played in his life. My hope is that Justin and I can live a life as full of love, family, happiness, opportunity, and bliss as our parents have. We are so thankful and blessed.

Cheers to thirty years!

Three Years Later

It has been three years now since graduating college and beginning life as "grown-ups"and we are always amazed with how fast time goes by. We have had some great times in the last few years but we both miss the friends that we made in college and the things we experienced while with them.

I was lucky enough to have a small group of ladies to finish out my teaching classes and student teaching with at the University of Texas that made the last year and a half of college the most memorable. My closest college friends are in this group of women and I am always impressed with each and every one's accomplishments as professionals as well as friends, wives, mothers, and people.

This past weekend, we had a little reunion of sorts in Austin and it was so nice to catch up with those that could make it. (We missed you Lisa C., Sarah, Lori, Laura, Katherine, Kristy, Lauren, and Katie!)

We got to go to Trudy's (...mmm Mexican Martinis & Stuffed Avocados...) and have a barbeque. I stayed with one of my best friends for the weekend and just LOVED getting to spend some quality time with girl friends.

I am looking forward to getting together with high school friends this coming weekend. I am loving reunions and summertime!!

Karma?

Back in the summer of 2006, my family went on vacation to Florida. It so happened that the Mavericks were playing in the playoffs that year and made it to the Finals!! Not only that, but they were going to be playing the Miami Heat, while we were in Florida.

We were so pumped that we all bought Mavs t-shirts at the airport on our way down. We wore them with pride and watched the games from our little condo down there only to see the Mavs slip away from an early series lead, ending with a championship loss.

Needless to say, we didn't get to parade around Florida in our Mavs t-shirts while on vacation.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I've been a Mavs fan since I was a little girl, or even since I've moved to Texas. I loved the Bulls and Michael Jordan growing up. But I have definitely enjoyed rooting for my Dallas team when going to a game or when the playoffs come around.

After watching the Mavs lose to Miami in 2006 IN Dallas, it really was sweet to watch the Mavs win over Miami IN Florida, especially after all the praise the media and the announcers were giving the Heat and their super stars, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Sheesh. I felt like the un-favorite child all series.

I'm so proud of the Mavs team and we had such a great time watching and celebrating this year. Oh, and we got to do it in the same t-shirts. Thanks, Dirk.

Catching Up

I've been looking back at old pictures. Unfortunately, they only go back to when we started college since that is when I got my first lap top. We were fortunate enough to both attend the University of Texas at Austin and had some really great times! Of course, we did all the things that you'd think of doing while living in Austin: attending concerts, football games, and hanging out with college friends. We also got to do quite a bit of traveling with our families. Take a peek back at some of our good times from college!

 This was at Austin City Limits, a huge music 

festival Austin hosts every year. It fell on our anniversary 

the year we took this picture, so we were celebrating that, too!

 This was taken in Scotland while Justin was studying 

abroad at the University of Edinburgh. 

SUCH a beautiful place!

 While I visited him in Scotland,
we took a weekend trip to London.

 Justin played club rugby for Texas.

 Out at a rugby post-game party.

 On a trip to Mexico with Justin's family. 

LOVE the clear blue water!!

 We went to Florida with Lisa's family one summer. 

We saw dolphins on this boat ride!

 Of course, longhorn football!! 

This was OU/TX weekend in Dallas.

Time to say goodbye to college & Austin. 

This was our university-wide graduation day.

We are so lucky to have the support of our families!

I'll be sure to keep digging for some high school pictures to share.