Dallas Trip

Justin and I have been out of town a lot lately. For the 4th of July weekend we soaked up a lot of sun at Sam Rayburn Lake with Jonathan, Kathleen and some of their friends. Most of the weekend consisted of eating and playing washers and catch-phrase.

From Rayburn, Justin and I headed up to Dallas to spend a week seeing friends and family and most importantly celebrating our 2-year anniversary! (can you believe it's been 2 years already?)

Stuff we did in Dallas:

For our anniversary dinner we ate at Bob's Chophouse and oh my goodness it was sooo good! It is a steakhouse and what do I do but order salmon. I don't know why I never end up ordering a steak at a steakhouse. Justin would only give me two bites of his steak and it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious! The best steak we had ever tasted. I am still holding a grudge against myself.

We saw a movie at Inwood Theater where you sit on these "love sacks" that are like plush love seats with attached footrests so large you can practically lay down flat while watching a movie. If you are the type to fall asleep during movies then this is not the place for you!

We saw Thrice (a rock band) at the Palladium Ballroom.

The Dallas Museum of Art was neat (I liked it better than the art museum we went to in NYC) it showcased real talented artists and not just paint splattered on a canvas and called art.

The coolest thing we did was visit the Dallas Aquarium. It was like being in a jungle! There were Manatees, sting-rays and ducks all swimming together in a pond next to a huge waterfall. An island with trees on it right next to them housed birds and monkeys. Like all these animals were cohabiting in the same space, it was so amazing to me! We saw crocodiles, snakes, sharks and even baby penguins! We saw some animals we had never seen or heard of before. It was an amazing reminder of how creative our God is!

A toucan eating a blueberry out of Justin's hand

A lady feeding the baby penguins

Another neat excursion was to the Bodies Exhibit (somewhat different from BodyWorld). Real dead people's bodies were preserved to show muscles, nerves and organs. It would show a body cut length-wise so you can see where all the organs are in relation to each other. There was a separate room that showed a fetus at the different stages of development. Even at 5 weeks before many people even know they are pregnant you can see the head and little arms and legs already formed. It was amazing.

We had the pleasure of staying with Justin's cousins Stephan & Tasha for awhile during Hurricane Ike 2 years ago and we just had to see them again. They have 3 adorable little girls - Skylar, Piper and Stella. Our visit was a good excuse for Stephan & Tasha to get out of the house to eat sushi and see a movie with us.

It is really hard to get 3 youngsters to all look at the camera and smile at the same time!

I caught Justin holding the baby and had to hurry and grab my camera! Aren't they so cute?

We got to hang out a lot with a couple of Justin's buddies from high school. Perry & Amy who live in downtown Dallas and Kolby, Lindsay and Shane who live in Fort Worth. We had such a great time visiting with them. Can't wait until Kolby & Lindsay move to back to Beaumont!!

Perry, Amy and their sweet adopted dog

Kolby, Lindsay, Shane & baby Hunter who is smiling from the womb :)

We also had a great time visiting Matt & Michelle and Catherine & Steve. Sad we didn't get any pictures :( Matt & Michelle took us to this awesome pizza place - thanks guys!

Oh and of course we did some shopping. Must take every opportunity of being out of town to shop! Dallas was very fun to visit especially since we were on vacation and not fleeing a hurricane!

This past weekend we made a trip to Galveston to meet up with my sister Emily and brother-in-law Luke to celebrate mine and Emily's birthdays. Luke's grandparents have a beach house in Galveston and invited us to stay with them. Better yet, they treated us to a nice dinner at Gaido's which was very yummy and much appreciated. We walked the strand and had a great time visiting. I just love summer!

Lukes' Grandparents are the cutest ever! (and have the funniest sense of humor)

Latest Jewelry Creations

I am seriously getting addicted to this!

My New Hobby

I have started learning how to make jewelry!! I have never been the type to wear a lot of jewelry but making it is really fun! It is an easy homemade gift to make for someone. I love that you can start a jewelry project and finish it in about 20 minutes or less. The only hard part is picking out beads that go together and designing a pattern.

Here is my favorite and most recent piece I have made. I got these beads at a specialty bead shop in San Antonio. (usually I get beads at Hobby Lobby or Michael's)

I made these for my mom and Justin's mom

This one was for Justin's grandmother

I am going to start trying to branch out and get more creative using multiple strands and ribbon and such. Anything I make is for sale if anyone is interested :)

Took a fun summer day trip to....

GALVESTON!! and had so much fun!
Ok, so I haven't been to Galveston since I was a kid. How come no one told me how cool it was? I was sad I never made it down there prior to Ike and I'll admit I thought it would still be torn up a little but there were lots of rebuilt houses, palm trees and the cutest little shops. The sand was fluffy and soft, not even as dirty as I had imagined. Even the ferry ride was fun. I can't wait to take little kiddos here someday :)

We ate crab-stuffed fried jalapenos and fried shrimp at Fish Tales - yum! Then we strolled up and down the Strand.

Hurricane Ike water line above Justin's head

We saw this guy making art work using spray paint - talk about talent! It was quite impressive. Here is a YouTube video of him in action

The completed pictureWe got some frozen coffee drinks at the newly restored Mod Coffeehouse and then strolled the beach. It was a beautiful day.

And then we got to ride the ferry again! Funny side note: a couple in a silver toyota tacoma was parked behind us on the ferry ride in. On the ferry ride out, the same couple ended up parked behind us! How weird is that?!
We will definitely be going back again! Oh, and here is a pic of Milo with his new summer cut.

Milo Milestones

Milo is 8 months old! He weighs a whopping 2 pounds now (he has only gained .5 pounds since we got him 5 months ago) so I guess he won't be getting much bigger. In fact, he is so small he can fit in the pocket of Justin's cargo shorts!
We bought Milo a collar made for a cat and still had to make it smaller. It came with a jingle bell on it so we know where he is at all times (thankfully we haven't tripped over him yet.) Milo can now race up and down the stairs with ease and jump off the couch. He is getting more brave everyday. To wear him out I will throw a ball from the top of the stairs down to the bottom for him to chase and bring back over and over again. There are soccer fields across the street from us where we run around for him to chase us. Justin can run full speed and Milo will be right at his heels!

This dog come with a big personality and is very rambunctious. He doesn't know a stranger. He will run up to anyone (including very large dogs) and try to give kisses on their face. His best friend is Eva, Justin's parent's dog, whom he loves to chase all over the house and lick him all over. Eva graciously puts up with him. We visited our friends Josh & Christi a few weeks back who recently got a wiener dog named Hank. This was the first dog Milo had been around who was more hyper than himself.
For Easter weekend, we took Milo to Round Rock to meet his Crockett grandparents for the first time. They absolutely loved him! Milo loved to be carried and spoiled by my mom. We took him to Old Settler's Park where he got to chase little kids around and bark at the ducks in the pond. How awesome is that sunset?
Well, we still have issues with house-training, but its so hard to get upset at him when he looks so cute. We love our baby!

Gusher Marathon

The Gusher on May 1st was Beaumont's first Boston-qualifying marathon. Justin decided he wanted to run the half marathon - 13.1 miles - and started training in January. Our gym membership had ended in October so we were lazy bums for a few months but that didn't seem to hinder Justin. He ran his first run -about 3 miles- like it was nothing! A few weeks later he upped it to 6 miles, then he was running 8 miles and then 9 miles. A couple of weeks before the race he ran 11 miles but his right knee was really starting to hurt. His exact words were "this is going to be my first and LAST half marathon." We'll see about that.

The day of the Gusher was super humid and muggy. I was sweating and I wasn't even running! My mother-in-law, Prissy, came with me to cheer on Justin and some of our friends - Chris McDermand, Crystal McDermand, Garrett Syphrett, Kasey Fitch, Aaron Chinn, Jon Nuckolls, Charlie Buser, my coworker Starla Ricks and her husbandBrian, and Justin's coworker Derek McWilliams - everyone did so great!

Chris ran a really good time (not sure the exact time)

Justin & Derek headed toward the finish line. (Justin in the middle, Derek on the right) A complete stranger could tell Justin was struggling through the last mile and encouraged and pushed him through that mile.
Ok, so my picture-taking-skills are not so great when it comes to moving objects. He barely made it in the picture!

I'm exhausted!

I made him squeeze out a smile

Chris, Kasey, Garrett & Justin

Brian & Starla Ricks

Justin cramming his face after the race with Crystal's son Austin looking on in amazement (or maybe he is yawning who knows). They were giving out Jason's Deli, smoothies from Smoothie King, and even beer! There was live music and inflatable games for the kids.

Justin is feeling great, just dealing with sore knees. Congratulations to everyone who ran! Justin, I am so proud of you! I think you should do another race when it's not so hot and humid.

MLK Weekend

This weekend we got out of the big city and went up to the cabin for some relaxation with Jonathan and Kathleen. It's always nice to get way from the t.v. and internet for awhile and just chill by a warm fire. It was Milo's first trip to the lake and he loved it! He got to go on a leash-free walk (well we all walked while he had to run to keep up) and meet some neighbors. And he got along pretty well with Jonathan & Kat's 120 pound Rhodesian Ridgeback, Chase. Fortunately, Chase didn't eat Milo or accidentally sit on him.

Chase wants to be just like Milo - a lap dog!

On the way back home we stopped by the Orange Gun Club to shoot some ammo. Jonathan is a cop so he brought along a small arsenal and we went to town.

So Kathleen carries this gun in her purse. Don't piss her off! Can you believe the gun doesn't have a safety? Kinda scary.

Time to get down to business Feeling liberated

We shot these post-it notes 100 yards away with a rifle that had a scope on it. Turns out I'm a better shot than Justin! (Ok, maybe it's just luck because I usually close my eyes when pulling the trigger).