The Christmas Story

So, I forgot to take pictures of my Christmas dinner table. Whoops! Everyone said that the food was edible, and no one has died yet...so I guess I did an acceptable job. Christmas was definitely a whirlwind..but worth it. We celebrated Christmas eve and Christmas morning with Chris' family. Then we drove back to Austin and celebrated Christmas evening with my fam. The day after Christmas Jen and I spent the morning/early afternoon exchanging items around Austin. Then Chris and I went down to San Antonio to spend a day with Grandma, Grandpa and my parentals/sister. It was definitely good to spend time with everyone, even if it was brief.

In other news, I have been spending my Christmas break at the dentists office. I recently found out that I have several (putting it mildly) cavities and I need my wisdom teeth taken out. Insurance didn't approve my wisdom teeth extraction in time to get it done before Christmas, so I have been getting some cavities filled instead. What a wonderful way to spend your Christmas break, right? For anyone who doesn't know, I am deathly afraid of the dentist. I have been only going to the dentist over the last several years for emergency situations. So, they would fix one or two teeth here and there...but I never took care of any preventative measures. So now I am stuck with fixing what I have been putting off since I graduated high school. Not fun!! I am scheduled to get my wisdom teeth removed on Jan 16th if insurance ever approves it.

Christmas was definitely short, but fun. I am glad I got to see everyone over the past couple of days. Now on to spending the rest of our budget on fixing my teeth :)


Abby opening her present

The above pics are of my nephew, Evan, opening presents on Christmas morning

New Traditions???

Chris and I are about to head to Temple to spend Christmas Eve with his family. We are going to church, and then coming home for a tamale dinner. Tomorrow morning we are opening gifts, eating lunch, and then coming back to Austin. Then, my family is coming over for Christmas dinner and more gifts. Who is making this dinner you might ask? Well, me. I know, I think it is humorous as well. I have already made the turkey because I won't have time tomorrow...it looks edible, and smells pretty good too. On tomorrow's agenda is making the mac n cheese, stuffing, and green beans. I conned mom into making the rolls...one less thing on my list. I will hopefully have some pictures to share with you guys come tomorrow...

I hope everyone has a very, merry Christmas!! I love you all!

My Christmas Tree

I have quickly discovered that updating my facebook status now requires me to update other things as well. So demanding!! (just kidding) Anywho...this picture doesn't do the tree justice. It makes the corner it is sitting in look very bland in this picture. But, I think it is pretty in real life and that's what matters- I suppose
Thanksgiving updates- I forgot my camera in Austin, so I have no pictures to share. BOO!! But, it definitely was a great time. I think the final head-count was 31 people. It was good to see everyone. I am so thankful to have such a big, caring, funny family. Thank you God that we all have each other even in the face of material destruction. The end

Galveston update

Sam says I am overdue for an update- so here it is. I have been really busy at work of late and have been exhausted at night, so I have been neglecting my blog. This past weekend Chris and I went to Galveston so he could help dad with the house. I was able to take pictures of the house at it is now if you guys want to see them. It was definitely surreal walking through the house. It is all basically one big room now, since it has been ripped down to the studs. I walked into my old bedroom and almost lost it. But, on the bright side- Mom and dad are really blessed that they are able to live in Jenn's apartment. There are many people in Galveston who are a lot worse off. I hope everyone is doing well and that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I miss all of you Nebraskians. Hopefully I will have happier pics to share of Thanksgiving when we get back from Dallas.

In mom and dad's room-looking into the kitchen

The living room-filled with kitchen cabinets

Looking into the garage

The hallway

Mom's 50th Bday

Hooray for Mom! We were all able to get together on Sunday and celebrate Mom's 50th birthday. We met mom and dad in Gruene and had dinner at the Gristmill. It definitely was a nice relaxing moment in a time of many stressors. Happy Birthday mom, you are the best! I love you so much and am so blessed to have you as my mother!

A few pics of mom/dad's house

The front of their house- doesn't look too bad. Mom lost her car because the water was up to the console on the inside.



This boat is not supposed to be there.



These boats were thrown/floated onto the highway on the way onto the island



One of the spare bedrooms, you can see the water line on the bedspread



This is my old room. The chest was turned over, and you can see the water line again. The floors are covered with mud and dad said they are buckled in many areas as well.


This is a blurry pic of the kitchen, I included it so you could see the amount of mud on the floor


This is a peek of our street.

Dad and grandpa went back down to Galveston today to clean up. They took some of the fallen trees out of the yard and sprayed all of the walls with bleach to help prevent the mold from spreading even further. The insurance adjuster is supposed to come take a look at the house tomorrow morning. Mom and dad will be living in jennifer's apartment until their house is liveable. That's pretty much all the updates for now. We are all taking it one day at a time and putting everything in God's hands.

I can do all things through Christ....even rebuild!

Hurricane Ike has come and gone, but the devastation in Galveston is long-lasting. The pictures that I have seen are engraved in my mind. Every picture and story I hear touches my heart in a different way. To see buildings and houses that have been a part of my life for so long, that are now nothing but a pile of rubble, is hard to comprehend. We have hard several reports on that status of my parents house, but don't know which one is true. According to some, we had at least 1-1/2 feet of water in the house (and maybe my mom's car-which is in the driveway). The mayor suggests that power won't be restored for another month and that the island won't be 'liveable' until Christmastime. The city officials allowed a 'look and leave' today for residents to go to their houses and assess the damage-but they had to leave the island by 6pm. Well, too many residents came to the island and the plan did not go as anticipated. So, now we are back to no one being allowed on the island until further notice. Mom and dad are currently in San Antonio and Jennifer, Abby, and Alley-cat are with Chris and I. I am without words. Jesus, please be with all those who have lost everything-including houses, loved ones, and personal belongings. Please give us all the strength to rebuild and renew. We can do all things only through you, Lord.

Smurfs and Refugees

The weekend is here, and so are the refugees. The family showed up late wednesday night (early thursday morning) to avoid the traffic from the impending hurricane. Hurricane Ike is starting to hit galveston as I am typing. We are all watching the news reports of the water crashing over the seawall. We are constantly praying that everyone will be safe and houses will still be intact come Sunday morning. I have posted some pictures of the aftermath at my house as well as a long awaited picture of my mom with her blue 'smurf' casts. I failed to mention in my blog that my mom fell in the kitchen several weeks ago and broke both of her arms....she has been in double casts ever since. My wonderful aunt sam has been begging me to post a picture of her pretty arms...so without further ado...

Labor Day Weekend in Pictures

The weekend was most definitely full of fun events....but not relaxing. Chris and I started the weekend by tailgating before the UT vs Florida Atlantic game. Then we went to the game...the seats this year should have come with kleenex to wipe our nose bleeds. Mom and Sam would definitely not have been able to sit in our seats...we were about 4 or 5 rows from the top in the highest section. The air was thinner, but the view of the field was actually pretty good! The stadium is even bigger this year because they added another tier in one of the endzones...the total head count was 98,000 people.

Then on Sunday Chris and I along with many old college friends went to an all day outdoor concert. Very fun, but way too hot to be outdoors for 8 hours. Now its back to the grind....working is for the birds!

Happy Birthday Chris

We went out last night to celebrate Chris' 25th birthday a few days early. His actual birthday is this Wednesday, Aug 20th. We had a fun time hanging out with friends! In other news, I start back to work tomorrow....and needless to say I am very anxious. Having the summer off was great, but this last week of anticipation was not so much fun! I know it will be fine....but would I be myself if I didn't worry about things to come?

Fences and Phones

This past Saturday Chris, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law undertook the big task of putting in a fence in our backyard. When we moved into our house, the backyard was open to the park behind our house. It was nice to have a nice, open yard (pretty unusual in Texas), but Chris and I quickly became irritated with the amount of foot (and bicycle) traffic through our yard. So, we called a fence company who quickly told us that it would cost $1500 dollars to put a fence along the back and one side of our yard. Yeah right! You don't know the Locketts! So, Chris and his family decided to complete the task themselves. I had full confidence, they really are a jack of all trades family. All of the poles were successfully put in place, and so far the back of the yard is complete!! yay! All that is left is to put up the chain link on the right side of the house....but here is where the complications arose (at no fault to Chris !!)

I was sitting at home yesterday afternoon and saw a couple of guys snooping around the poles on the right side of the house. I went to the front of the house and looked out the kitchen window to see several ATT trucks parked in front of our house. Then....doorbell! The man at the door informs us that when digging one of the posts on the side of the yard, the auger (digging tool) hit the phone line. Whoops! Apparently, the whole neighborhood had been without phone (and cable and internet....for those who have ATT services- we are not one of those families) since Saturday. Now, like I said earlier...this was of no fault to chris. Last Monday before any of the undertakings took place, I called the Dial Before you Dig company to come out to our house and mark all of the buried cable lines. Well, the ATT man 'forgot' to mark the side of the house. So, we had no idea that there was buried cable running along the side of our house. Chris is actually lucky that he was not shocked by any other unmarked cables! How did they remedy the situation, you might ask? well, about an hour after the knock on the door a contractor came out and dig a 3 feet deep by 3 feet wide hole in the side of our yard. Then the ATT man spent the next five hours replacing the wires. Ugh! As I am typing right now, the contractors have returned to our house to fill in the hole, replace the fence post, and place some new sod on top. Luckily, since the event was not our fault, we don't have to pay for the digging and fixing costs. The ATT rep estimated that is would cost about 1000 dollars to complete...ugh! What a monday! I have posted a couple of pics of the hole as well as a pic of the completed back fence....the end!!

The infamous Hole!

The damage

The Fence in the back....sorry for the darkness!

Nebraska, Shreveport, South Padre, and Galveston

Mom and Aunt Sam


Cousin Natalie and Uncle Mark


Chris and I in Shreveport- he likes to botch my pictures


Me, Emily, and Stephanie in Galveston


Kate, Jennifer, and me in Galveston


I would like to say that I was able to visit all of the above places over the last three weeks...but that would be a lie. But, I did visit two of them and have some connection to the other two. For starters, my aunt, uncle and cousin came to Austin to visit me (just me and no one else...hehe) all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska. My aunt Sam wanted to see all of the famous Austin sights, but I wasn't very successful in this endeavor. During their trip I discovered that I am not a very good Austinite...maybe one day I will play tourist and discover all of the cool things that the city I live in has to offer. Then....the next weekend, Chris and I went to Shreveport to visit one my best friends. The weekend entailed a little gambling (in which we lost almost 100 dollars that could have bought me several outfits at Target) and some good time spent with friends. During the whole trip, the thing that got me the most excited was spotting cheap gas stations. The gas in Shreveport was almost twenty cents cheaper than it was in Austin, so I wanted to fill up every time we passed a gas station. When we got back to Austin, things were not quite as exciting. Chris' grandma had a heartattack and was put in the hospital. A couple of days later she was brought from Temple to Austin in order to undergo a procedure to remove the calcium from her arteries and put in a couple of stints. According to the doctors, one of her arteries was 99% blocked and another was 97% blocked. They were able to successfully complete the procedure and place 4 stints in her heart. They did the whole surgery while she was awake....kudos to her, because they would have had to strap me to the table!! She is now back in Temple at her assisted-living facility. It really is a miracle that her surgery was so successful!! Thank you, Lord! During this week of surgeries and time spent at the hospital, I began watching the news about Hurricane Dolly that was heading for the Texas coast. It wasn't heading towards home, which was a good thing....but it landed right over South Padre, where I was supposed to be going with two of my good friends for a girls weekend. So, where did we go instead, you might ask....to galveston. The parentals were in Colorado for a well deserved 30th anniversary vacation, so my friends and I invaded on my sister. We went to the beach, and spent plenty of time in the sun. It ended up being a good trip, despite the fact that I still have never been to South Padre. Every time I plan a trip to another Texas beach, something always comes up...I think God is trying to tell me that everything I need is located in Galveston. Anywho... on a side note...I need to learn more about Bloggerland because I hate that my pictures posted at the top of this section and I can't move them....ugh!!

One Year Anniversary!

I can't believe that one year has passed already! It has been a wonderful year, to say the least! Quite a few things have happened to us over the year as a married couple...I started working as a speech pathologist, we bought a new Jeep Cherokee, Chris got promoted to manager of a branch, and we recently bought a house. whew! To celebrate one year together, we went out to eat at the Oasis, which is on Lake Travis. We pretended to be tourists and took pictures of the scenery....I pretended like we were back on our honeymoon cruise. Afterwards we came home and ate our saved wedding cake and toasted with champagne. We finished the night with me breaking one of our engraved wedding champagne glasses...is that a bad sign? oh well, I don't believe in omens anyways. One year down and many more to come...I can't wait!

Libby Day

Happy Belated Birthday Gramma! 75 years! I am so glad that we were able to get together over the past weekend and celebrate your birthday....since you have never had a b-day party ;) It was so fun to see everyone and spend time together. I can't wait until your 80th...althought it might take a little more trickery to pull one over on you again! I love you lots!


Uncle Corky as the MC
The Fajita chef

The beautiful cake that Ann made

The Locketts

The Taylors and Locketts

Happy Libby Day!

Opening Presents

Dad pretending to have hair