Back in Business

I've been MIA lately because I didn't have a laptop. My desktop is as old as dirt and soooooo slow - which means it's so frustrating to work on it. But I finally went and bought a new laptop from Best Buy so now we're back in business!

Yippee!

Hopefully the blogging will come back to me now.

Long overdue birthday update

It's been over a month since my birthday but I still wanted to do a quick update on it because it was so great.

Some of my friends came into town to surprise me for my birthday. We hung out at the house and Celia cooked dinner for us and we talked and ate lots of carrot cake.

The High School Musical birthday sign Chris got me.

My very serious husband with one of my two carrot cake birthday cakes (they know me so well...).

The hydrangeas Lydia and Collin brought me (goes towards my flowers 101 goal which I'm so behind on).

The next morning we went to brunch at Moonshine Grill. It was my first time there so I got to count it for my 101. Their brunch is so yummy...I loved how everything was in little bit sized pieces so you could try a lot and not feel like you were wasting food. Can't wait to go back.

#64 - Voted today

I voted early today. I highly recommend it to those that haven't voted yet. I love that you can vote at any location in your county. This is extremely important to me because my voting location is way out in BFE Southeast Travis County and I never go out that way. So going to the HEB a mile from my office on my lunch break is way more convenient for me.

Bonus to voting early: there weren't any annoying campaign people outside the voting location stalking you as you go in and out of the voting location!

So my 101 goal was to research and make an informed decision on voting for president. This was a lot harder than I expected but I made sure to keep an open mind through the whole process - and even watched 3 out of the 4 debates. When I wasn't sure what to do I finally decided to pick one issue that's important to me and base my decision off that. Right now the most important thing is me keeping my job (ie - getting the economy back in good standing). Communication jobs are often the first to get cut because the ROI is often hard to show. I did detailed research and made my decision off that.

But then after I stressed and stressed about it I realized it doesn't really matter anyway. Afterall, I live in Texas - and thanks to the electorial college - my vote automatically becomes a McCain vote. So why did I waste my time??? (this is rhetorical) Gotta love the national election process.

P.S. - Here is the info for Travis County early voting locations.

Long Time No See

I knew this fall would keep me busy and and tired - but still sad I haven't had time to blog. I've missed my blog and now I'm sooooooo far behind on stuff I need to update. I haven't even had time to keep up with all the blogs I follow (which is even more sad!).

So even though I don't have time to follow blogs as much right now...I still managed to find a new one to follow (how does that happen?). And I want to share the love - because it's really funny.

www.jennsylvania.com

I somehow found this book at the library called Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster. I just started the book but so far I'm in love. I can already see she'll become my new obsession. I'll have to read all her books and go back and read her archived blog until I know every damn thing about her.

So go on - read the books...read the blog...and become obsessed with me so I have someone to talk to about it and won't be obsessed by myself!

Austin is Spaztastic!

#34 - do something Austin-y

Last weekend was a unique experience for me - I had the house to myself and nothing on the schedule for the entire weekend. This is so unbelievably rare for me. And even though I planned on camping out on the couch in PJs all weekend eating mac n cheese and ice cream, I found myself itching for something more by Saturday morning. So I called up my friend Monica and we ended up hanging out and knocking some 101 goals off the list.

1. Four Hands Sale

Who knew a furniture sale would be so awesome? But it really was. Four Hands is a wholesale furniture company, so they aren't usually open for the public. However, several times a year they have a big warehouse sale and you can buy leftovers for great prices. Monie went with me to see what all the fuss was that we'd heard about. All I can say is "Damn, wish I was a lottery winner so I could buy everything they had there!" I couldn't believe the awesome prices they had for such quality furniture. It's hard to find solid wood furniture pieces these days - and for the normal price as the crappy furniture - it was amazing. So now that I know what to expect - I hope to have a bank account full and ready for spending when they have their next sale!

Chandelier Monie was drooling over.

2. Saw Spasmatics in Concert
After spending the whole afternoon together, Monie and I just hadn't had enough of each other. So we headed downtown to Cedar St so she could enlighten me to the fabulousness that is the Spasmatics. I've been to many concerts in my day, but I'd have to say that this was my second favorite concert ever (no one will ever beat Willie Nelson).

Meet my new crush - Geoffrey on the bass (on the left)

Who knew nerds could be so popular and cool and have groupies???? You just want to pinch their cheeks. I seriously can't wait to go see them again. It's so brilliant and strange and funky and weird that it has to be considered Austin-y. Wanna see them for yourself? They play at Cedar St every Wednesday night - go check them out!

The gravy on the night: they sang my favorite song (please watch the original video just so you can see the grown men in black diapers - gotta love the 80s).

Monie and I after a long day of taking in Austin

Fall is Here...

....and so begins the busiest time of my year. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Over the past 5 years (since I've been with Chris) I've had to re-fall in love with this season. I've always been a warm bodied person - drinking in the warmth of the sun in the summer. But I loved fall too for various reasons - Aggie football, get to wear long sleeved clothes, not dying of heat when I get in my car, can walk my dog outside, get to make comforting foods like chili, etc.

But then there were a few years where I just loathed this time of year. Why you ask? Because for some crazy reason I married into a Christmas tree growing family! I don't know how many times I've asked myself over the years, "How come you couldn't marry into a lazy family??? Why do they have to be so productive???" The answer (I now know) is - passion.

It's the passion that Chris' parents have for the farm and the Christmas trees and the pumpkins and school kids and the families that come out to visit the farm. And the past couple of years I've grown to feel that passion myself. So now, instead of complaining that I don't have any time to do anything in the fall, I.....oh who am I kidding...I still complain. I'm the queen of complaining! Just ask my husband.

Look at how my weekends play out between now and 2009:

Sept 27 - My birthday! Woohoo!
Oct 4 - Our 2nd anniversary - weekend up at the lake house
Oct 11 - Great Pumpkin Hunt
Oct 18 - Great Pumpkin Hunt again
Oct 25 - Great Pumpkin Hunt and again
Nov 1 - Monie's party/most likely recovering from sinus infection I got while working on the farm
Nov 8 - WURSTFEST!
Nov 15 - Hopefully visiting my adorable nephew in Sugar Land that by now I haven't seen in ages and probably has totally forgotten all about his favorite Auntie Katy
Nov 22 - Only free weekend (so far it's free but I'm sure it'll get filled with something)
Nov 29 - Thanksgiving weekend up at the farm/actually get to watch Aggie vs t.u. game this year since it is on Thanksgiving instead of when the farm is open
Dec 6 - VERY busy weekend on the farm
Dec 13 - Christmas tree farm
Dec 20 - Still at the Christmas tree farm
Dec 27 - Probably in Sugar Land celebrating Gavin's first Christmas
Jan 3 - Whew...it's finally 2009! Am I still alive?

p.s. - Please come visit me on the farm. It's the only way I get to see my friends and family (besides in laws) this time of year.

Girly Movies

It is a VERY rare occasion that I get the house to myself all weekend long. While I'm often out abandoning my husband on weekends to travel to see some friend or family member, he's the type that just wants to stay home. So when he left this past weekend for a seminar down in Corpus - I took FULL advantage of this opportunity.

I had my PJs, mac n cheese, bottle of wine and ice cream on hand to help me through the weekend. I plopped myself down on the couch and settled in to catch up on various girly shows on DVR (Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, 90210, etc - yes I still think I'm 17 on the inside).

I also made sure to watch as many girly movies as I could while Chris was gone. Little trick - have you tried the Red Box before? If not, don't be intimidated by it like I was at first. It's easy. Red boxes can be found in places like McDonald's and Wal Mart. They have all sorts of new release DVDs that you can rent for $1 a day. You just swipe your card, pick a movie, watch it and return it to any Red Box location by 9 p.m. the next day. If you keep it longer than that, they just charge you another $1 a day. It's so simple and cheap! So this weekend I rented 2 girly movies from the Red Box.

(ppssssttt - I also saw Mama Mia! again this weekend but I won't count that towards my 100 movies. Just couldn't stay away from it and all its ABBA glory)

1. Made of Honor

With McDreamy in the movie, it has to be good, right? Well...it wasn't bad. But let's just say I'm glad I only spent a buck on the movie. I think if the ending hadn't felt so rushed, it might have been better.

2. What Happens in Vegas

I liked this one a lot more...but not like "rush out to buy it on DVD" more. Let's just say I was happy I saw it and it totally fulfilled my need for a cheesy romantic comedy.

------------------------------------

I also saw a bonus movie this weekend. Wasn't planning on it, but when I saw Annie Hall was going to be on AMC Sunday afternoon - I had to make sure I watched it. It's one of those movies you always hear about and know that you aren't cool until you've watched it. I have to admit, I was a little nervous - afraid I wasn't smart enough for the movie. But that was silly - I loved it.

Top 10 reasons why I love Annie Hall:
10. The part where Alvy and Annie are having a conversation and there is subtitles of what they're really thinking - reminded me of the first Wayne's World movie when Wayne and Cassandra have a similar scene. Then I felt silly for remembering that...and comparing one of AFI's 100 Best Movies to Wayne's World...
9. How Alvy grew up in a house under a roller coaster
8. Wasn't expecting to see Paul Simon in the movie
7. The fast dialogue
6. The scene where Annie and Alvy are visiting their separate therapists at the same time and both therapists ask if they have enough sex and Alvy responds "hardly ever - maybe three times a week" and Annie responds "constantly - like three times a week!" It was like looking into a mirror. haha
5. That Christopher Walken is creepy - even in a romantic comedy
4. The scene where Alvy is killing the spider the size of a Buick in Annie's bathroom
3. That I still don't know why Alvy and his agent call each other Max
2. "Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F's" - Alvy
And my #1 reason...when Alvy sneezes into the canister of cocaine and it goes all over the place. hysterical!

Only in Texas

All us Texans have to deal with the stereotype that we ride our horses to work everyday. It's so annoying to travel somewhere and someone asks how many horses you own. The answer is zero....unless you talk to my husband, to which he says "I have 345 horses pulling my Hemi Dodge Ram, baby!"

Well some people have to go and ruin this stereotype for everyone.

Just yesterday I was taking some back roads home (and by back roads I mean Manor/Springdale instead of HWY 183) to avoid a traffic jam. As I'm driving along this road in the middle of the city I notice something odd on the sidewalk up ahead and almost peed my pants it was so funny to me.

My only thought was "Why don't I have my camera with me when stuff like this happens???"

What I saw was...a man...commuting home from work...on his horse...on the sidewalk.

Okay maybe he wasn't really commuting home from work...I don't know him so I don't really know. But it was rush hour and he was in a residential/commercial area - not some ranch. So I'm going to make the broad assumption that he was ruining the stereotype for the rest of us because it makes the story better, okay?

It was pretty funny to see though.

Good ol Austin, Texas.

You just never know what you're going to see when you wake up in the morning.

However.....I will really pee my pants if I ever see this going down the sidewalk:

photo from Internet

#34 - Do Something Austin-y

Congress St. Bridge bat watching!

Image from online since it's hard to get a good shot with my crappy camera at dusk.

If you haven't done this - you should - now - seriously get in your car and drive to the Congress St. Bridge tonight. It's so much fun and it's FREE!

Last week Chris and I met the rest of the Walterscheidt clan at the Statesman park for a picnic and bat watching. We had Hooter's wings for the picnic and something about Chris' parents going into Hooter's to buy wings just cracks me up.

As the largest urban bat colony in North America, there are up to 1.5 million Mexican free tail bats that fly out of the Congress St. Bridge each night to go find food and eat those pesky mosquitoes (sure could have used a bat nearby when the mosquitoes were biting the heal of my foot this past weekend...ouch!).

Anyway, living in NM for so long I shouldn't be that impressed with bats flying at night. After all, I've seen the Carlsbad Cavern bats before. But there's something about 1.5 million bats living under a bridge that I drive on all the time that is just so cool. Plus, it's right in the middle of town and not out in BFE like Carlsbad is.

This was the second time I'd seen the Austin bats and it always amazes me how many people show up to watch this each night. Last time we went on a random Monday night. This time we went on a Thursday night - school night both times. And yet there are tons of people just standing around waiting and taking photos.

It was a lot of fun and next time I want to stand on the bridge instead of sitting on the sidelines. They seem to fly out of the north side of the bridge, fly over the bridge and head south...so how cool would that be to have them fly over you? Well, cool until one poops bat guano on your head. Ever smelled bat guano before? Ew.

Note to self: bring a rain coat just in case.

#38 - try a new restaurant

Last week Chris and I hoped in the truck and headed over to Lowe's to pick up some stuff. After we decided to head to dinner but didn't know where to go - so we started driving. Ended up at Hill's Cafe on S. Congress. It's one of those places I've always wanted to try since I've heard so much about it but never remember to suggest. So I'm glad we finally were able to stop in.

For those that don't know...Hill's Cafe is owned by KVET morning DJ Bob Cole and is the location for the KVET free summer concert series. I've wanted to go to several of the concerts too but haven't made it yet - hopefully sometime soon...

Anyway, the place is definitely down home Texas cookin'. At the end of the night I'd have to say I was just "eh" about the food though. Everything seemed to be fried....so I felt guilty eating there. The onion rings get a thumbs up - and I'm hard to please on onion rings. The fried pickles were my favorite part - they were pickle spears so that was unique. The mac n cheese wasn't good at all - which surprised me because usually places like that have amazing home cooked mac n cheese.

But my biggest disappointed was with the chicken fried steak. I don't normally eat chicken fried steak (unlike my husband who must order it if it's on the menu). Since it said it was the official chicken fried steak of the Austion Rodeo I thought it would be good. I was mislead - guess I shouldn't have read that to mean it was the best. It tasted more like dog food to me (not that I know what dog food really tastes like). I could barely eat it. It holds no candle to the Gristmill's chicken friend steak...now that is some yumminess! I think I should have gone with the Hill's burger - which does have a "best" title in it....voted best burger in Austin (I think by Statesman former food writer Dale Rice).

Anyway, I'd go back again...especially to go to one of the concerts...but I won't be twisting any arms to get there.

# 2 and # 30 - DONE!

#2 - Install a kitchen island
#30 - New lighting in the kitchen
DONE and DONE!

I can't believe I haven't posted about this yet. I'm such a slacker! When we moved into our current house in Feb 07, I wasn't pleased with the layout of the kitchen. There was a lot of wasted space because it was supposed to be an eat-in kitchen. So I said "I'd love to have a kitchen island in here!" and so began my long long journey...

I saved and saved money for it. I researched and tried to just buy one. Didn't see what I was looking for. I tried to get someone to build it for me - timing just wasn't right. So finally Chris and I decided to tackle this sucker on our own. We started building it in Feb 08 (one year after I originally wanted this baby) and didn't have it installed in the kitchen until July 08!

We had some set backs (which I shall not list here because I wouldn't want my husband to have to admit that he actually needed help and that sometimes he should listen to your wife! And then I'd have to admit that I hit the top with my tire and caused a wee bit of damage...oops!) and we had to make some adjustments to the original plan - but in the end it turned out great and was cheaper than I would have paid for a manufactured piece.

The cabinet part is a pre-made cabinet from Lowe's. But then Chris added wood all the way around the sides since the pre-made cabinets just have a plywood sides/back. The top was the interesting part. A butcher block (my original idea) was too expensive. Then I saw an antique table that had wood planks as the top and decided that would be a good idea for my top. So we spent a lot of hard work making a top from scratch! On my end, getting all of this to match the cabinets and counter tops that already existed in the kitchen was stressful - but seems to match pretty darn close!

And all the hard work and waiting was well worth it. I love my kitchen island. Sometimes I just sit there and stare at it, knowing that even though it isn't the most perfectly crafted kitchen island - it is perfect for us and was a combined effort.

Side view with stools and on the other side is a place to hide my trash can under the top. This side will one day have a bookshelf for all my cookbooks.

You can see the window seat Chris recently build for me too. I need to stain it/paint it and put a cushion on the top and then I'll blog about it.

A big fat thanks goes to my fabulous husband for all his hard work and patience (most of the time...), to my dad who saved the day a couple times and to my cousin Alan who helped in the beginning and was an excellent beer drinker during the process!

And if the kitchen island wasn't enough...I also got a new light fixture to go over the kitchen island. I knew I would one day get the light fixture - but I had no idea it would be so soon. My parents came in town to help install the kitchen island (it's pretty heavy!) and my dad decided right then and there that he'd also install the light fixture for me. I love it!

Original light fixture meant for eat-in kitchen.


New light fixture over the island.

#60 - Step Brothers

Like I stated before, we were in Iowa visiting our friends Leslie and Mike recently. We were going to go canoing one day - but there were some bad storms so we had to make different plans. Last minute we decided to go see a movie and picked out Step Brother with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly.

What makes a movie more fun? ALCOHOL! What are you to do when there is no Alamo Drafthouse in Iowa? Sneak in little flasks of alcohol you bought at the grocery store on your way to the theater, of course!

Did I mention we went to a matinee on a Tuesday? That made it even weirder to be drinking. I felt like a teenager sneaking liquor into the theater but it really did make the movie more fun.

As for the movie - I loved the beginning. There are some great lines. However, I felt like towards the end of the movie they just ran out of steam and thought "Hey, let's just find a way to end this." It just didn't quite work for me.

So basically what I mean is...if you haven't seen it already - just wait until it comes out on DVD and you can rent it from the Red Box for a buck and save yourself some money. And then you don't have to sneak the liquor in either - you can get as drunk as you want in your own living room.

The 600 lb Butter Cow

Have you ever seen a 600 lb cow made out of butter? I HAVE! And I have the photos to prove it.

Quick (grainy) photo of me in front of the butter cow before some runt kid pushed me out of the way

While we were in Iowa visiting our friends Leslie and Mike, we went to the Iowa State Fair. The "must see" for me was the butter cow. Things to know about the butter cow:

1. The butter cow could butter 19,200 slices of toast
2. I wouldn't want to use that butter on my toast though since they recycle the butter from year to year (ew! part 1)
3. It would take you 2 lifetimes to consume all that butter
4. There is a wood, metal, mesh frame so it isn't JUST butter
5. They go into a lot of detail on the cow. (ew! part 2)


Bonus for the butter cow of 2008: the life size butter Shawn Johnson, US Olympic Gymnast from Des Moines.

Before the butter (photo from Yahoo! Sports and Getty Images)

After the butter (with butter balance beam - her premier event)

With the butter flag

Sorry for the lack of updates

This summer still continues to be crazy busy for me with lots of twists and turns. I won't go into details now because I don't have time but I'm hopeful it will settle down once Christmas tree farm season starts in October. I don't know if I can handle all this PLUS working on the farm every weekend.

But for now Chris and I are headed on a 16 hour (one way) road trip up to Iowa to visit our good friends Leslie and Mike.

Chris and I with Leslie and Mike at their wedding just over a year ago.

We'll also attend our first National Christmas Tree Meeting in Des Moines, IA (the initial reason we're going up there - but don't tell Leslie!). Yup folks, my summer vacation includes going and meeting with a bunch of Christmas tree farmers! Whoda thought??? But I'm really excited about it. Bonus is that we're stopping in Jeff City, MO on our way back to visit Chris' Aunt Mary Ann - and that woman sure can cook! My tummy can't wait. :)

I have major updates (like I finished my kitchen island!!!!) but no time to organize the photos and post about that long process. Just sit pretty and hopefully I'll get to it when we come back from our trip.

p.s. - Pray that our crAaZy dog doesn't make my parents go insane. They're angels for watching the hellion. It'll be a miracle if he doesn't kill our 22 year old family cat this week with his antics.

#60 - Mama Mia!

I have a confession...I love musicals.

I just recently realized it though. It's not something I go around saying but I realized that some of my favorite movies are musicals. I feel bad for Chris that I must subject him to this type of very girly material but I guess that's what he gets for making me watch James Bond movies.

For example: Across the Universe - favorite movie of all time (well besides Steel Magnolias...). Chicago, Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz (which was on TV last night), Hairspray (the original), Grease, West Side Story, Moulin Rouge, High School Musical 1 & 2 (yes you can start making fun of me now) to name a few.


And now...add Mama Mia! to the list of musicals I love. It started out slow for me - I didn't like the beginning but it quickly got better and better (especially the closing credits - oh my!). The movie doesn't surpass Across the Universe but it was still really good and I'll definitely buy it when it comes out on DVD. Plus, how can you go wrong with ABBA songs anyway??? I had a hard time not just standing up in the theater and dancing around and singing "If you change your mind, I'm the first in line. Honey I'm still free...take a chance on me..." - but the grandma next to me probably wouldn't have appreciated that.

Oh and I wasn't expecting a movie theater full of senior citizens. Seriously. And thanks to Desma and Noaillese for going with me (my husband thanks you too!).

p.s. - Dear James Bond (aka Pierce Brosnan), seeing you sing in a musical is just weird. Please stick to your day job - drinking martinis - shaken, not stirred.
p.p.s. - Dear Mark Darcy (aka Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy), you are still hot!

Related to #93

Ever since I was a little kid my mom has always said to me "Katy, be positive!" That's because I am the queen of complaining. And it's not that I'm always upset or in a terrible mood - I just love to talk and talking about bad things is usually easier. Funny part about the "be positive" comment is that later in life I found out that my blood type was....B+! Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

So anyway...while I haven't started the #93 goal (only positive comments), last week I came to the reality of how important this goal is. Last year I just happened to be at home watching Oprah when Randy Pausch was on and gave his "last lecture." Last week he passed away from cancer - leaving behind a wife and three young children. But he wasn't mad about his situation - he lived his life as best as he could for the time he had left. And he just wanted to make sure his kids had something to remember him by.

So I guess my point is that even before I start #93, I still need to practice the positive thoughts and remember that things could be so much worse and the stupid complaining isn't really worth it.

Here is the Oprah version I originally saw:

Cutest nephew E-V-E-R!

Dear Lord, please don't let him lose those beautiful big blue eyes. Thanks. Amen.

My handsome nephew, Gavin, turned 6 months old. We went to visit this past weekend to celebrate with him. He's so much more fun now that he's sitting up and playing more. He's sooooo close to being able to turn over. He already has two teeth and weighs 20 lbs! His fat rolls are freakin adorable (much more adorable on a baby than on me, I might add...). And I just LOVE when he smiles and giggles and drools and sleeps and cries and cuddles with me.

My brother and sister-in-law asked me to be Gavin's godmother this weekend and I was so honored. I can't wait for him to get baptized and be there for him as he grows up and closer to God. It really is a huge honor for me and I got a lil teary-eyed when they asked (and I swear that wasn't just because it was 1 a.m. and I was tired).

Here are some recent photos of him and his adorable face and beautiful blue eyes:

I love this photo because it proves that we're related - he has the "Katy face"

Over the 4th of July Gavin got to play on his daddy's catamaran (on land of course)

Oh my gosh - there is a big bear behind me!

Making Gavin laugh (p.s. - I don't normally crop people out of photos but my cousin LB was not looking like her normal hot self so I did her a favor by cropping her out. I swear!)

"Um guys...where did you go?"

#41 - Road Trip!

"Are we there yet?"

Went on a random road trip earlier this month. It was random because it wasn't really planned. Which is so unlike me in these situations. I had to pat myself on the back for letting it just go how it would go. I had thought about the trip a couple months ago when my friend Amanda said she'd be back from China (where she's teaching English for 3 years). She'd be in home for a couple weeks in Albuquerque. I honestly hadn't put much thought into it since then thanks to my damn busy life. Well the week before the supposed trip I said "screw it!" and decided to go. So I packed up my car and drove to Albuquerque by myself for the first time in 7 years.

NOTE: this wasn't a tourist road trip so I have random photos of the trip - not your usual touristy stuff. Sorry.

Some people think I'm crazy for driving 11 1/2 hours by myself but that's how I roll....my family has done that drive for 20 years now and so I know it like the back of my hand (not that there's much to really know in the middle of BFE west Texas...but still!).

On the way out there I stopped in El Paso to hang out with Celia. We ate, talked, ate some more (the quiche was just that good), watched SATC and ate some cookies. Thank goodness she had Wii Fit for me to pretend like I exercised for a good 30 minutes to get rid of all those cookie calories. And thank goodness again that she let me use her Wii Mii so I didn't have to weigh myself to play the games. I think if I'd had to weigh myself I would have just turned the game off and ate another cookie...or quiche...or both...

A couple of days later I headed to Albuquerque where I got to hang out with my best friend since childhood, Joni. I would have to say it's the best quality time we've spent together since I moved away 9 years ago. I can't describe why or give examples of how - it just was a feeling I had. We spent most of our time shopping, driving around town, doing a drive by (viewing not shooting...sometimes you have to clarify these things in ABQ) of our old cul-de-sac where Joni and I had many great memories, remembering how stupid we were in high school, playing trivia at the bar, babysitting her adorable nephew (who - by the way - is exactly one month older than my nephew), buying green chile to take home, sitting around talking about life and of course drinking beer (and martinis and bloody marry shots)! It was so nice and relaxing.

Joni's adorable nephew at ~6 months old

During the week I got to eat at some of my favorite restaurants. Like:

and

and of course

A bonus to eating at Dion's was that I got to do it with Coeli and Kristen (two fabulous friends from high school). We had so much fun just sitting there talking and scarfing down the best greek salad and pineapple pizza that you can buy. Sorry I didn't get a photo of them. And even more sorry that I only bought one slice of pineapple pizza instead of the whole damn pie.

My favorite day of the trip though was when I got together with my girl scout girls (I call them that because the four of us were a girl scout troop for many years back in the day) and headed to the mountains. Oh how I miss the mountains.

Clockwise from the top left: me, Ruth, Kathy and Amanda (aka - the girl scout girls)

Confession time: There is this row of pine trees on the Christmas tree farm. Sometimes I stand in the middle of the trees and close my mind and imagine that I'm back in the mountains. The smell of the pines, the sound of the wind blowing through them - it's heaven.

Anyway, back to the day trip to the mountains...on our way out of town we heard on the radio that they were giving away from ice cream - so of course we stopped!

Girl Scout girls (plus Emily - second from right) eating free ice cream at 10 a.m. Please don't judge me for having an empty ice cream dish sitting there while everyone else is still chowing down...the ice cream was good, okay?

First we drove to camp - Rancho del Chaparral - where I spent years and years of my childhood, teens and young adult life. I love that place. It was amazing how little had changed in the 7 years since I'd been there - but it was so comforting. I did several happy dances/jigs. I was just that happy (and dorky). The best part about the mountains (to me) in the summer is the awesome storms that the monsoon season brings. And how sad is it that I had to drive to the effin desert to see rain??? It was greener in the desert than it is in Central Texas!

In the mountains we drove through a hail storm for a good 15 minutes, had awesome lightning/thunder and then later in the day saw a great view of mammatus clouds (some of my favorite clouds ever that I rarely get to see in Texas). It's moments like this that it's hard being a weather geek because you can't really explain the way your stomach turns when you see such fun weather happening.

I love random mountain hail storms (but only when we aren't driving in my car...however, no cars were damaged in the making of this exciting moment).

When asked why I loved mammatus clouds so much I replied "DUH...because they mean 'DANGER! Watch yourself!'" (said to the tune of the Mystikal song)

While we were at camp we pulled a classic camp prank, saw the new (to me) art building, walked around the camp sites, visited the new burros (or as Amanda calls them "burritos") and did more happy dances. The only sad part was that it was pretty empty since it was the day before the 4th of July. Oh well....hopefully I'll get to go back again next summer and not wait another 7 years.

Three of the new "burritos" and a random horse.

Isn't the heart on that ass' ass adorable??? To clarify...I meant the burro...not Ruth!

Once we left camp we drove the long way home, through the Jemez mountains, past Bandelier, into Los Alamos and through Santa Fe (where we had dinner) down to Albuquerque. As we were driving we came upon a national preserve. I screamed "STOP THE CAR! I have to visit this preserve so I can add it to my 101 blog" to which they all said "Katy are you on crack again? What are you talking about?" to which I had to explain this silly lil blog to which they gave me funny looks, laughed but at least stopped the car.

#50 - visit 5 state/national parks
There wasn't much there - but I did read the sign and took a picture of me there to prove I went. National preserve is close enough to a park for me! So I was happy for the random 101 goal.

Yippee for random 101 goal marked off!

Proof that I was at the national preserve (and proof that I'm a TOTAL dork - like we needed any more proof on that...).

The next day was the 4th of July. I headed over to Kathy's house for a BBQ and some fireworks. It was like a blast from the past getting to see so many people I hadn't seen in at least 5 years. Made me happy.

I drove home on Saturday - all the way - 11 1/2 hours straight - by myself. It's amazing how fast the time really does go. The first hour is always the worst and then before you know it you're home!

#97 - Update my MP3 Player
All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS FOR MY MP3 PLAYER! yup - cross #97 off the list. Thanks to my wonderful husband, my mp3 player was organized and updated with new songs before the trip so I was able to listen to it during my long drive in the middle of nowhere.

In closing - it was a great trip. I really really missed my husband and animals while I was gone though (my husband just a lil more than the animals...). The week brought back a lot of great memories and I hope that one day I can take Chris there during the Balloon Fiesta.