Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's been three months since I last posted, so I figured I was due for a short briefing. I don't have any fun pictures to post, so that is why I have been putting it off for so long ;) I have had this week off of work, and it has been fabulous. I had a little bit of work to do, but I have been able to spread it out amongst other fun things. Like....I ordered myself some UT Longhorn license plates for my Jeep and went to go pick them up this week :)!!! Now my car is officially the way I want it!! Then I drove down to campus and tried to find a UT vs A&M shirt that the Texas Exes usually sell during this week. I parked and walked around campus for a few minutes trying to find their display....I didn't find it. But, it was so fun to walk around campus again and feel like I was back in school. I ventured into the Co-Op and bought a generic UT shirt instead....I would one day love to add up all the money that I have spent in the Co-Op on t-shirts and various UT paraphinalia (spelling???) During my first year at UT, I would stop in the Co-Op during long breaks in between classes. I think I bought more burnt orange shirts that year than anyone should ever be allowed :) I love it!! This week I was also able to put up all of my Christmas decorations and bake some goodies. I made snickerdoodles, pumpkin bread, and my mom's jello pudding double layer pumpkin pie. It was fun! I love to bake, but I never have the time or engery to do it! I have read one and a half books so far! I am currently reading "The Lost Symbol" By Dan Brown. He is the one who wrote The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons. They are all very fast reads. Tomorrow Chris and I are headed to San Antonio to have Thanksgiving with mom, dad, gramma, and grandpa. (and Jennifer's dog Abby). We will stay with them for one night, and they we will be moving to a hotel in San Antonio. One of our college friends from Concordia is getting married this weekend. So, we have the rehearsal/dinner on Friday night and the wedding on Saturday evening. It should be a fun weekend! Hopefully I will return from the weekend with some pictures to post...that is my goal! I hope everyone has a happy and fun Thanksgiving with their family/friends!!

Lately

We finally got around to painting the front door red, so now you get to see a picture :) I love the way it looks!!



Last weekend, Chris and I went to Galveston to visit the family before I have to go back to work. It also happened to be Jen's birthday, so we went to an Astro's game to celebrate. They lost, but it was still fun ;)


Take number two of this shot. Take number one is below :)




My family- I love the way they pose when you ask them to take a picture ;)

This picture was taken at Jen's graduation party in Austin.

Not much else has been going on lately. I start back to work on Monday, so I am feeling anxious this weekend as usual. Even though it is my third year in the same district, I have done something different each year. maybe next year I will be doing the same thing!! I hope things start off smoothly this year.

Also- we just sold chris' playstation on Craigslist and bought a Wii. I never played the playstation, but I have really gotten into the Wii. for those of you who haven't played, you should try it!! I love it!!

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Promised pictures

The friendly Vermont bears


Boston Harbor

me at the statue of Liberty (way in the background)

We got to sit in the 2nd Row :)

Times Square

The family in Vermont

Jen's graduation

All of the graduates

Ok....I finally loaded all of my pictures onto a shutterfly page. To view all of the pictures go to: http://www.lesandchrisphotos.shutterfly.com/

I also posted some selected pics on facebook :)

I am still sick with whatever I picked up in New York, but am at least feeling well enough to post something.

Our trip was wonderful. We started out in Boston, Mass. While in Boston we visited the Boston Harbor, Fenway Park, Quincy Marker, Faneuil Hall, Cheers, and took a two hour walking tour of the Freedom Trail. The freedom trail led us through such sights as: Boston Commons, the Boston Tea Party, where the Boston Massacre began, where the Declaration of Independence was read to the people, and through a very old cemetary where the following people are buried: John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams (there are pics of all of these hot spots on shutterfly). Chris' favorite part of the trip was definitely our visit to Fenway Park. The Red Sox were out of town, but we were able to take a guided tour of the park.

Our next stop was Montpelier Vermont. The first night we stayed in mom and dad's hotel. the second night we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast. This was my first experience at a bed and breakfast. The house had a cat named Boots who had to have weighed thirty plus pounds. She was my favorite part :) We awoke at 5:30 in the morning to the rattling of our bedroom door by boots. While in Montpelier we got to experience such things as Jen's graduation (yay for Jen!), going to the VonTrapp family lodge, and stopping at crosswalks so that pedestrians could cross. What a strange phenomenon!

Next stop was New York City. Our hotel was on Manhattan, about one block from Times Square. We really wore ourselves out in New York. We visited the following sites: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Today Show lot, 5th avenue shops (Saks, Tiffany's, Trump Tower), Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, the Late Show with David Letterman (we sat in the second row!!!!), Grand Central Station,Wall Street Financial District, Ground Zero, the statue of Liberty, riding the subway, and various other things that seemed to have slipped my mind. My feet are currently covered with blisters!!! Our hotel room was the smallest thing I have ever stayed in! It consisted of a double bed that took up the majority of the room. There was approximately two feet of space on one side, and five on the other. (literally!!) The bathroom even had a 'dwarfed' bathtub! But, I cannot complain because of the great location and cheap price!!

I enjoyed everything about our trip! I have ALWAYS wanted to go to the east coast ;) oh, and I forgot to mention another highlight...I got to ride on a plane for the second time in my life !!!

Tease post

We are back from our FUN vacation. I promise I will post pictures soon...however, I am not going to do it today :) I am either extremely exhausted, or sick....or quite possibly both. I started getting a sore throat on Wednesday, but still had a great time despite feeling bad. Now, I think I am paying for it! I have so many pictures to post, and I will probably create a shutterfly account or something, because they won't all fit on my blog. Stay tuned for more details and pictures of our trip :) We enjoyed so many things from: Cheers in Boston, the beautiful scenery in Vermont, and going to the Late Show in NYC. (although I have no pics of the Late Show because NO cameras are allowed inside the Ed Sullivan theater...boo!!)

Pictures from my NEW camera :)

My four-year-old digital camera died over the 4th of July weekend. Chris took it apart (literally) and fixed it. However, he still decided to surpise me with a new camera for our anniversary! yay! My old camera was definitely out dated. It was not able to take 'action' shots because there was a delay of approx. five seconds between pushing the button and the picture being taken. My new camera is much faster, and much smaller.
Not much has happened of late. We finished the house....except, my new front door still has to be painted red for the finishing touch. It is currently white, and just blends in. I will post pics of the front of the house when the door is finished. Chris and I celebrated our two year anniversary by going out to dinner at the Oasis. We went there last year as well...maybe we are starting a new tradition?


How can you get a new camera and not take a picture of her????



the dining room



my new living room, with new wall/window

new wall-up close

the view of the doors/new wall from the outside (and blurry)

me pointing out the 'sunset' at the Oasis

The End :)

new windows :)

We are in the process of getting all new windows in our house. When we moved into the house, it had single-pane, alluminum windows. We quickly found out this winter that single pane windows do not keep the cold air out ;) So, we decided it might be time to put in some new windows :) (in the hottest part of the summer) we also decided to move the back door exit to the dining room instead. We used to have a sliding glass door in the living room. Now we have french doors that open into the dining room (onto tile floor, instead of carpet). Chris has plans to eventually put a deck in the back yard right off of the dining room

so as of right now, we have new doors in the dining room, two new windows, and half a wall in the living room. what's left is- two more windows, and the dry wall/texture in the living room. I am posting some before and after (in the process) pictures below :)

dining room before (with window on the leftt)

dining room after (the picture is too dark and doesn't do it justice)

living room before

living room in progress (and again very dark)

view from outside before

view from outside (in progress)

Summer Lovin'

It has been FOREVER since I last posted...but for a reason. I always feel like I need to post pictures with my blogs, and I haven't taken any pictures in a long time. So, I have felt like I have nothing to blog about.

I have been out of school/work for a couple of weeks now...and it is WONDERFUL. I am always worried that I am going to get bored really quickly, but I have found so many things to do :) I am helping to coordinate VBS at my church this summer, so that has kept me uber busy. I have been trying to figure out a cheap way to make t-shirts, and have been making posters to advertise the event.

Last week I went to Dallas to visit one of my best friends, Stephanie. She went to grad school with me in Dallas, and we spent A LOT of time together during our two years there. I am so happy that we have both been working hard to keep our friendship up. We talk at least once a week, and have been able to see each other every couple of months. While in Dallas, Steph and I got to visit our other friend, Krista. Krista got married several months before me, and just had a baby in February. So, I got the privilege of meeting Krista's baby, Gracie. She is beautiful.! However, it was slightly weird to see Krista with a baby. I am used to being around babies/small children, but none of my close friends have had babies yet. I still think of myself as too young to have children, so it was kinda surreal.

What else have I been up to?....hmm...I wake up, check my email/blogs/facebook, work out, work on VBS stuff, read, take a nap, and make dinner. That's about it...and its great!!

Jennifer is graduating from her master's program in July, and the whole family is headed up to Vermont to see her walk. Chris and I decided to make a vacation out of the trip as well. We will be flying into Boston,and will stay there for several days. Then we head to Vermont for graduation. Finally, we will drive to New york City and stay there for the remaining three days. Of all the states I have been to in my lifetime, I have never made it that far up the east coast. So, needless to say, I am VERY excited. We have booked our flights and hotels...but I still need to do some trip planning. I should probably get on that, since we are leaving in a few short weeks.

Next week (July 4th weekend) we will be going to San Antonio to spend time with Dad's side of the family. All of Dad's brothers and sisters will be there, and many of the grandchildren as well...so, hopefully I will have some updated pictures to post in the not so distant future :)

The worst hail storm...EVER

Austin....more specifically, northwest Austin...even more specifically, our neighborhood, was recently hit by the worst hail storm I have ever experienced in my life. It was a Wednesday evening, and luckily Chris and I were both home from work already. The sky suddenly became black and small ice pellets began falling from the sky. Then within about one minute, golf ball size hail began pelting the ground, our house, and unfortunately, Chris' new truck. The entire lawn and street were completely covered with icey balls. If one didn't know better, it looked as if it had just snowed. The hail came down in golf balls for about five- ten minutes before letting up and completely stopping. The storm disappeared as quickly as it arrived. The storm damage left us with getting Chris' car repaired and a new roof on our house. Pretty much everyone in our neighborhood is getting a new roof. It looks like a roofing advertising lot as you drive down the streets. Hopefully the amount of money we get from insurance will cover the whole cost of the roof, including the deductible :) Not much else is going on in our world.....we are going to visit mom and dad for Easter, so maybe I will have some family pics from next weekend :)

Evan's First Birthday

As I sit here typing, it is finally Spring Break! Yay! I definitely needed this week off of work, if to do nothing else than rest. About a week and a half ago, I came down with a virus that I wouldn't wish on a single soul. It started with a simple rash on my hands and feet. It didn't itch, and only hurt when my shoes rubbed against it. I decided not to see any kids at work that day and went to the doctor to have it checked out. As it turns out, I had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. ugh! what an awful name! As that day progressed, I ended up getting ulcers on my tongue and on my inner lip. I could barely talk or eat for the next two days. Chris avoided me at all costs, and I was made to sleep on top of the cover :) Needless to say, I am better now. But, that was an awful way to spend an entire weekend!!
This past weekend was much more enjoyable. It was Evan's first birthday party. He turned one-year old on March 12th and we celebrated on Saturday. For those of you not in Texas, this past we have been having an unseasonably warm late winter. It had been in the 70s and 80s for a couple of weeks, until last Wednesday. We had a cold front come in that brought lots of rain. While we needed the rain, it didn't make for much of an outside birthday party on Saturday. I stayed outside for brief stints until my brother-in-law lit the outside fire pit. I am such a whimp that I won't even tell you what the temperature was that day :) The party was fun...Evan got LOTS of toys and clothes and was able to tear into his first cake.
Now I am spending the week relaxing, and catching up on extra work from last week. I would always much rather do work sitting on my couch than at work, even if it is spring break :) I hope you all are doing well !!

By the Grace of God

By the grace of God, many prayers, and lots of hard work...mom and dad's house is complete AND liveable! Dad and grandpa have been working non-stop since September to fix the house after it was completely destroyed by Hurricane Ike (see previous post with before pictures). Dad was able to finish the house this past week, and they moved in on Tuesday February 3rd. After the storm hit, I couldn't even fathom how long it would take for them to complete all of the work that lay ahead. There were many volunteers from various churches, along with much help from grandpa, (and endless hours on Dad's part) that made it all possible. It truly is amazing to see God's love and faithfulness through the help of others.

Chris, Jennifer, and I were able to make a weekend trip to Galveston to see the new house. It is beautiful! I am so impressed that it was done so quickly, and looks so professional! I have included pictures of every room in the house. Keep in mind that mom and dad haven't unpacked any of the few boxes that were in storage. They also haven't purchased any decorations yet, so it will look even more complete in the coming weeks.

Thank you for all of your constant prayers. They have paid off!! Thank you God for helping us all to see your handiwork, kindness, and blessings during a time of trial and devastation.

Love you all!!



The front door


view from the front door- notice there used to be a complete wall there...it was shortened to make the room more open



the new dining room



the living room

the living room from a different angle

the kitchen

kitchen again

bathroom

the new study- the desks haven't arrived from the store yet

the guest room

mom and dad's room

again

The teeth are out!

I was finally able to get my wisdom teeth taken out today. I have been trying to get this procedure done for over a month now. My dental insurance has really been giving a run for my money. They initiall denied any coverage for the procedure until they received copies of xrays. So, they were sent and finally received about a week ago. Once they got the xrays, they decided to completely throw my oral surgeons opinion out the window. My oral surgeon had decided that the procedure would be surgical because some of my teeth were impacted in the gums. But no, why would insurance belive the person who has been trough at least eight years of school. Instead they decided to only pay for 200 dollars of a very expensive procedure. So after many, many days of arguing with insurance, I decided to go ahead and get the procedure done and hopefully get more money reimbursed than what was originally projected.

So, I got my teeth (all four) taken out today. I actually slept pretty well last night, but I was very nervous this morning. I opted for the IV sedation, because I know I am a whimp when it comes to procedures like this. The last thing I remember is the doctor asking me if I wanted a Texas Martini. Then he injected the meds, and what seemed like five minutes later I woke up to Chris receiving post-op instructions. So, I have to say that the actual procedure was not that bad. I slept most of the mid-morning/afternoon and am now just laying in bed. I have been given an antibiotic and several types of pain killers. I am sticking with the IB profen right now and will bump it up if need be. As of right now (knock on wood) I am not feeling any pain. Lets just hope that this continues and I don't experience any of the possible complications/risks. Last time I had surgery I was one of the lucky estimated 4% to experience complications. Hopefully that will not happen this time. I guess thats it for now...if My cheeks puff up I will probably take pictures for laughter purposes :)
The end