Tijerina Tidbits

Paris Reclassified

2011-03-28T19:26:00.004-05:00

We took our "Irish Setter mix" to the vet and we came home with a Golden Retriever mix. Paris has officially been reclassified as a Golden by her doctor, which confirms everyone's suspicions. Paris's vet visit went well. Other than ear infections in both ears, she has a clean bill of health. Unfortunately, the vet also told us that she might be older than 7. Without actual birth records it's difficult to know for sure. Hopefully Casper didn't have his heart set on a younger dog.

Paris: An oldie but goodie!

2011-03-27T09:58:00.014-05:00

Paris- 7 yr old Irish Setter mix; a "dog you never see at a shelter"

We had no idea reading the webnews on a Friday night would change our lives so much. After Jacob discovered a "dog you never see at a shelter" we decided to visit the shelter and take a look. In part, we were hoping she would not live up to her personals ad but we quickly discovered she was the "elegant, warm-hearted, well-mannered, red-headed lady," the ad described. We introduced her to Casper and since no one had any objections, we believed she was exactly what we had been looking for and decided to bring her home. Little did we know, her desire to chase and torment cats is much stronger than we anticipated.

Our first night together was rough. Chloe and Paris were fine sniffing each other until Paris opened her mouth. After Chloe saw Paris's teeth, she freaked out and has taken residence under the bed. Chloe only comes out from under the bed for a few minutes at a time to eat, drink, and well, you know. Crystal spent the evening twitching her tail and glaring at Paris from the other side of the pet gate. Sometimes Paris ignored the glares but other times, she barked out her feelings. Casper didn't understand why he was stuck sleeping in the living room with "the foreigner" who didn't respect the cats. Casper and Paris barked periodically throughout the night and Casper tried to tear down the gate. We prayed everytime we heard the gate rattle and we were afraid of what we would find when we opened the bedroom door in the morning.

What did I get myself into? She doesn't even know how to share a backseat!

Fortunately, the house is still standing and Paris and Casper seem to still be getting along. We're optimistic that this will work out but we'll see how it goes.

Day 2: Family Day in Connecticut

2009-06-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

Thursday began with daily mass. This is not something Jacob and I normally do and at first we were hesitant to attend because we had hoped to sleep in that morning. However, we are both thankful that M&M encouraged us to attend mass because it started our day off on a positive note (and mass was only 30 min. long). After mass, 13 of us (Michelle, Manuel, Mary, Stan, Danielle, Stanley, Emily, Abby, my mom, my grandma, Brittany, Jacob, and I) headed for New Haven for a scavenger hunt inside the Knights of Columbus museum. After the scavenger hunt we had several delicious pizzas at Bar. The pizza crust was thin and crispy and the toppings were mouthwatering (i.e., nice and greasy). Yep, we even tried mashed potato and bacon pizza, which was good but confusing for our mouths. Ultimately, our favorites were the cheese and the pepperoni pizzas.

After our pizza lunch we headed back to Trumbull to decorate Mary and Stan's backyard for the reception. The rain never let up and after a few hours of wrapping tulle around the tent posts we headed back inside drenched with water. I know this in probably difficult for our San Antonian friends to comprehend since we're in a drought so to put it into some perspective, we were wearing rain coats, rain shoes, jeans, sweatshirts, and carrying umbrellas, and still our jeans were soaked up to our knees. It felt as though we had gone to Schlitterbahn with our winter clothes on.

Day 1: Heading East for Manuel & Michelle's (M&M's) Wedding

2009-06-25T16:55:00.021-05:00

On Jun 17' 09, we boarded a plane and headed for LaGuardia, NY. Since we don't travel much, we arrived at the airport so early that we were the 1st people in line and we waited 1 1/2 hrs before the check in counter even opened.

Manuel and Michelle immediately greeted us upon our arrival at LaGuardia, NY. From there we headed to CT in Michelle's mom's minivan. During the drive, we celebrated M&M's upcoming wedding with sparkling grape juice.

After checking into the Hilton Garden Inn in Shelton, CT, we headed over to Mary and Stan's house (Michelle's mom and stepdad). Michelle's family greeted us with open arms and made us a spectacular dinner! The dinner consisted of a salad, chicken tarragon on garlic toast topped with gravy, pork tenderloin, rice, and steamed broccoli. For dessert we enjoyed carrot cake and tiramisu. We felt as though we had just dined at a 5-star restaurant! We can definitely see why Tommy (Michelle's brother) is pursuing a career as a chef.

Monica's b-day

2009-06-08T17:39:00.004-05:00

On May 24th, we celebrated Monica's b-day at Maggiano's where I attempted to eat a HUGE bowl of pasta that lasted for 2 additional days!

Monica

Jacob & Me

Matthew, Jacob's mom, & Jacob's dad

Beto & Monica

Monica blowing out her candles (Beto gave her a delicious Tres Leches cake & Maggiano's gave her a plate of refreshing lemon cookies)

Jacob (not so) busy at work

2009-05-26T18:59:00.003-05:00

Jacob spent part of his day in a dunk booth for his school's fun and fitness day on Apr 23 ' 09. His students jumped at the opportunity to dunk him.

A Better Mouse Trap

2009-05-06T20:02:00.004-05:00

We just spent 2 hours trying to build a "better mouse trap." Okay, it was more of a barricade with an opening to allow Chloe and Crystal access to the bathroom while keeping Casper out of it.

Yes, we did consider several options but each option came new problems:

Option 1: Lock the cats in the bedroom with access to the bathroom during the day.
Problem: We worry that the cats may retaliate and protest by not using the litter box (yes, this is the exact reason we need the barricade to begin with).

Option 2: Lock Casper in the spare bedroom.
Problems: It sort of defeats the purpose of having an indoor guard dog if he's locked away in a room all day.

Option 3: Leave Casper outside all day.
Problems: We live in TX and after all of his practice of getting through a barricade we also fear that he may be able to climb fences. Basically, we love him too much to risk leaving him outside all day.

Option 4: Get rid of one species (either both cats or the dog).
Problems: We made a committment to the animals when we first adopted them and will only give them up if they become aggressive or if we can no longer provide a good home for them. Again, it comes down to us loving them and them not doing anything that truly warrants us giving them up (yet). After all, it's separation anxiety that has caused Casper to resort to drastic measures and seek out the bathtub as a safe haven while we're not home.

Option 5: Put a cat hole archway in the door.
Problems: We might not install it or create it correctly. We may not build the opening large enough (our cats love to eat). We'll need to buy a new door if we ever sell the house.

Option 6: Keep trying to build a better barricade.
Problems: It takes time to set up in the morning and we need to build it strong enough to keep Casper out but still safe enough to prevent him and the cats from being injured if it fails.

After considering all of our options we determined that option # 6 is the best one.

After numerous failed attempts of building a barricade with a baby gate and other random materials we have around the house, we finally succeeded (we think). The barricade consists of 2 sturdy cardboard boxes, 2 shoe racks carefully positioned on their sides, and a baby gate to top it all off. The true test will be tomorrow. Hopefully, it works!

Pssst...

2009-04-14T17:57:00.002-05:00

Wanna hear a secret?

Fun Day at McAllister Park

2009-04-11T14:57:00.003-05:00

Today we met up with our friends Amanda and Daniel at McAllister Park for a picnic lunch to catch up with them and to meet their new son. We had a great time talking with them and watching their daughter play on playground (it's really funny to see how random kids interact with each other).

For lunch, chef Jacob made Turkey Club Subs (yes, real bacon was included) and a fresh fruit salad. We also enjoyed Cheetos and water. Lunch was delicious!

After lunch, we headed to the dog park because Casper was still full of energy.

He got to know a few dogs...

he even almost played with another dog...

but ultimately he wanted to be anti-social...

Wanna be nosy?

2009-04-10T20:36:00.002-05:00

I found the greatest website for nosy (concerned) citizens.

It's the SAFD active response site. I discovered the site last week when I became concerned about a few fires on the access road on my way home from work. I went to the SAFD website and it indicated that 1 vehicle was already responding to the fires. My mind was set at ease.

Then this afternoon while we were making dinner we heard several sirens that sounded as though they were on a street nearby. Upon realizing that the sirens might be from fire trucks, I immediately accessed my new favorite website. Sure enough, 3 vehicles were responding with the hurst tool ("jaws of life") to an incident on the street in front of us! We speculated about several possible situations. When we conveniently drove down the street on our way back from DQ we noticed that one of the houses had a huge mangled mess of a garage door lying in the grass. What happened? We may never know the exact details but it made for an interesting night and great conversation.

When Chloe's Hungry...

2009-04-10T18:12:00.003-05:00

she can really eat!

The poor monkey never had chance.

Organic only goes so far...

2009-04-05T12:53:00.004-05:00

For the last few months we've noticed a gradual increase in the little black ant population in and around our house. Trying our best to be environmentally conscientious, we've tried to control (and eliminate) the ants using organic products. However, the last straw was when I noticed that the ants had made their way into the honey in our pantry. We don't mind killing a few ants around the house but we draw the line when they get into our food.

We are officially seeking professional help.

Especially now that the girls have packed themselves up and are threatening to leave.

Dr. Jacob Saves the Day

2009-03-29T15:42:00.003-05:00

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the "kids" were sleeping, Jacob was monitoring his Fantasy League stats and I was vacuuming the house.

I vacuumed the living room, bedroom, part of the office, and the area around the litter boxes. With everything going so well I felt inspired to vacuum underneath the oven. Crystal sat nearby eagerly waiting for me to retrieve all of the puff balls she carefully stored away under the oven. I playfully tossed a few back to her and then began vacuuming all of the crumbs, fur balls, and dust that we normally can't see. Then I noticed them...crumbs were sitting in the bottom of the oven drawer. Armed with the vacuum I sucked the crumbs out of the drawer. While cleaning the drawer I somehow rubbed my finger against the sharp edge and all of a sudden I felt extreme pain and saw blood pouring down my hand!

"AHHHHHHH!!!! I'm bleeding to death! HELP!!!! I need a bandaid!" I screamed out to Jacob. Feeling faint due to the amount of blood I had seen, I quickly sat on the ground gripping my pinky finger with a paper towel and holding my arm above my head. Not believing that it was an emergent situation, he slowly came to my rescue, grabbed another paper towel, and gripped the life out of my finger in an effort to stop the bleeding. After about 5 minutes, the bleeding finally stopped and we were able to bandage my cut.

In the mood for a melody...

2009-03-22T00:31:00.009-05:00

Our view of the jumbotron (the speakers obstructed our view)

Tonight was the night! We went to the Elton John/Billy Joel Face to Face concert and it was AMAZING! Together and alone, EJ and BJ sang all of our top favorite songs...Good-bye Yellow Brick Road (my all time favorite), Piano Man, Uptown Girl, Just the Way You Are, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, I Guess that's Why They Call It the Blues, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Moving Out, and so much more. Not only can they sing well, but they are both quite entertaining. Who would've guessed that Billy Joel is so witty? We hope they return to SA soon.

Us waiting before the show...yep, we're up pretty high (the 2nd row from the top)

Both on stage

Vision Walk

2009-03-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early (6:50am) to attend SA's first annual Vision Walk with one of my friend's from Grad School.

When we first arrived at Brackenridge Park, we had trouble finding the correct Pavilion/parking area. We eventually started seeing signs for the event and found parking in the new parking garage. Based on the signs we had seen on our way to the garage, my thought was to take a right from the garage into the park. About half a mile into our walk, my friend called me to tell me that she and her family had parked in the garage too and that they saw balloons and weren't too far from the event pavilion. I had thought it was odd that she had seen balloons and didn't think the garage was far from the event because we had been walking for quite a while and we didn't see any balloons or pavilion in sight.

Eventually, we made it to the pavilion and quickly realized that we had been following the signs for the walking path! We also learned that if we had taken a left out of the garage, we would have immediately seen the balloons and pavilion. We found it ironic that at a Vision Walk, we couldn't see what was right in front of us.

That's Chacho's

2009-03-14T21:11:00.008-05:00

We LOVE Chacho's! It's greasy, affordable, and just plain good (did I mention that it's greasy?). Not to mention that ordering food from Chacho's is always an experience (especially when we order through the drive-thru).

For instance, every time we order our meals we're never really sure what we're going to get. Opening our to-go containers is almost like opening a box of cereal and searching for the 1 out of 4 prize identified on the outside of the box. Remember how you felt as a kid? You always hoped for that one specific item, which sometimes you got and other times you didn't, but in the end you were happy because you always got a prize. That's our Chacho's experience.

I almost always order the 2 Beef Taco Plate. The plate always comes with 2 crispy beef tacos, rice, and some type of bean (I always order borracho but sometimes I receive refried). Then comes the mystery portion of my plate. Sometimes I receive guacamole, lettuce, and/or tomatoes, but I'm never certain which combination of the 3 I will receive until I open my container. Heck, I don't even know what's supposed to come in my plate because the items are so inconsistent, but fortunately the food is always spectacular! That's Chacho's for you!

Our Chacho's meals from Thursday. We both ordered 2 beef taco plates. My plate had lettuce, tomatoes, and guacamole; Jacob's was missing the tomatoes. Despite the variations, we both loved our meals. (I shared my tomatoes.)

Friendship at First Sniff

2009-03-10T17:19:00.004-05:00

On Sunday, Casper finally met his cousin from his father's side, Bentley. Bentley is a beautiful, friendly, gentle-natured Beagle. They seemed to hit it off right away and are now best butt-ies.

Low performer...

2009-03-05T19:02:00.005-06:00

Casper's job is simple.

1) Keep intruders away from the house.
2) Love us unconditionally.
3) Greet us when we come home.

As you can see, he's not fulfilling duty #3 of his job description.

Should we fire him?

Pizzaria Tijerina!

2009-03-02T17:56:00.003-06:00

My sister gave us 4 personal deep dish pizza pans for Christmas this year and we finally tried them out 2 weekends ago...and then tested them again this weekend. Hmmm...should we quit our day jobs and go into the pizza business?

Catchin up...

2009-02-23T16:31:00.004-06:00

We're slowly but surely catching up on all of the movies we've wanted to see over the last few years but didn't have/make time for.

This past weekend we watched "The Notebook." It was such a great movie! We can't believe we waited so long to see it.

Next on our list...

..."Wall-E." Hopefully it lives up to our expectations. :-)

2 Saturdays & 2 Breakfasts

2009-02-21T14:45:00.006-06:00

Breakfast foods are my favorite types of food; I could eat them morning, noon, or night.

So, for Valentine's Day, Jacob took me to Nicavid's for breakfast. Nicavid's is a cozy cafe/bakery off Fredricksburg Rd. For breakfast on Saturdays, they offer an all-you-can-eat, made-to-order breakfast that includes, pancakes, french toast, omelettes, biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon, and fresh fruit. We both had omelettes, pancakes, biscuits-n-gravy, bacon, and fruit. Plus, for Valentine's Day they even gave us 2 chocolate covered strawberries. Everything was delicious and I can't wait to go back to try some of they fresh baked pastries!

Then this past Satuday, Jacob took me to I-Hop to spend the I-Hop gift card I received from the DEO team as a going away gift (thank you DEO team!). Breakfast at I-Hop was as spectacular as usual! We each had a pancake combo. Jacob ordered his with the Harvest Nut-n-Grain pancakes and I ordered mine with the traditional buttermilk pancakes! The pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns were declicious! Did I mention that I LOVE breakfast foods?

Puppy Playdate

2009-02-18T20:32:00.004-06:00

This afternoon Brittany and Preston stopped to have dinner with Casper and me. The 4 of us had a great time...however, the girls were not too excited about having another canine in the house!

If it smells like my cousin then it must be my cousin!

Notice Crystal observing from the window

It's a g-r-r-reat day to play!

3 hours!!!!!

2009-02-17T19:07:00.003-06:00

That's how long it took me to get home today! Yep, that's what happens when 1604 is shut down. It took me 20 min. to get to the traffic jam and then another 2 hrs and 40 mins to get out of it. Gotta love those "large objects" that hit the underside of overpasses. Did the driver really think that the bridge got taller?

Sad, Happy, Excited, Anxious, & a Little Confused

2009-02-13T15:51:00.005-06:00

Sad because I'm leaving the DEO team...

happy because I'll see them again when they come to one of my training classes...

excited about starting my new job as a trainer...

anxious because I'll be out of my comfort zone until I learn my new job...

and a little confused about why my start date was suddenly pushed up by a month.

Yep, it's official! I'm going to the training academy!

Taking it too far...

2009-02-09T21:03:00.008-06:00

A few pictures in a suit was all we needed...

before I knew it, it turned into an all-out photo shoot...

Giddyup!

2009-02-07T23:09:00.012-06:00

As he walked into the building, the adults and 10 year olds knew that there was a "new sheriff in town." Armed with blue jeans, a borrowed cowboy hat, a huge aluminum foil belt buckle, and a package of pencils, Jacob walked down the dusty path that led to his school. Ok--seriously, it was just Western Day at the local elementary school.

Saturday Highlights

2009-02-07T22:24:00.008-06:00

This afternoon Kelly and Charlotte stopped by for a grilled cheese and veggie soup lunch. It was nice to see them again because I hadn't seen them for a few months. Casper was very excited to see them too; fortunately, Charlotte likes dogs and didn't mind all of his barking and slobbery kisses.

Kelly & Charlotte

For dinner, Jacob and I enjoyed Double Dave's pizza buffet with salad, pizza, pepperoni rolls and chocolate chip dessert pizza (d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!).

After dinner we headed to Border's to spend our gift cards from Christmas. New books, yay! I even started list of books I want to look for the next time we go to Half-Price books.

After the bookstore we headed to our favorite "healthy" dessert stop...Orange Cup! The Acai, with strawberries, chocolate chips, and almonds was just as good and refreshing as I had remembered! Jacob enjoyed his Acai with blueberries, strawberries, and kiwi.

Dinner with a friend

2009-01-26T16:53:00.005-06:00

On Sunday, 1/25/09, my friend Vicki from Florida came into town for training. I've only met up with her 2 other times, but we used to talk on the phone almost every day when I worked with her so although I haven't spent a lot of time with her, I still feel as though she's a friend.

When she said she could meet up for dinner her only request was that we eat Mexican food (she seems to really like Tex-Mex). I suggested we eat at El Chapparal on Redland Rd. She ordered tableside guacamole (very tasty) and chicken enchiladas with cilantro cream sauce and I ordered spinach enchiladas smothered in a rich cream sauce (my all time favorite dish). It was nice to catch up with Vicki and hear how everything is going with her and some of the other people I used to work with. We both hope that she'll be scheduled for another TDY soon (maybe even with someone else from her office)!

Scrabble Date

2009-01-26T16:45:00.004-06:00

On Saturday, 1/24/09, our friends Amanda and Daniel invited us over for Capparelli's cheese, salami, pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom pizza, Caesar salad, brownie sundaes and 2 games of Scrabble. We love getting together with them because they're great company and they always make Scrabble interesting. Daniel even teaches us new words (e.g., clumpage, innards) and this time the words were even in the dictionary we used (e.g., wizen, dram). We're always amazed at the expansiveness of Daniel's vocabulary!

Shoes

2009-01-23T16:53:00.008-06:00

What are my favorite type of shoes?

Free shoes!

The other day, my friend Carol from work was giving away a pair of gently used tennis shoes. They weren't necessarily the style of shoe I would buy for myself but they fit, were functional, and were free so I gladly accepted them. I now have a new-to-me pair of work out shoes. :)

Good Ol' Wok Inn

2009-01-19T17:26:00.006-06:00

Today we had lunch at the original Wok Inn on Grissom Rd. Today's all inclusive $4.75 special was Mongolian Beef, which we both ordered. So, for $10.72, we enjoyed 2 drinks, 2 bowls of unlimited, serve-your-self soup with crispy wonton strips and green onions, and 2 plates of Mongolian Beef, fried rice and egg rolls. Yep, Wok Inn truly offers a good amount of delicious and greasy Chinese food for a small price. Plus, I have left-overs for lunch tomorrow.

2 Great Movies

2009-01-19T10:00:00.001-06:00

Since we've been married, our trips to the movie theater have dramatically slowed. We went from seeing a new movie every Friday night, to seeing a new movie about 1-2 times a year. In fact, instead of seeing movies our weekend highlights typically involve trips to the gym and HEB. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

However, this year has been different. We've already seen 2 movies since the year began and best of all, both movies were great! The movies were Gran Torino and Marley and Me. (Don't worry, we won't spoil the movies.) We both reacted strongly to both movies and came out of the movies discussing what we saw, how we felt, and how we connected with the characters. We highly recommend both of these movies.

Food filled weekend

2009-01-18T22:00:00.001-06:00

Jacob waiting for our main course to cook (Melting Pot)

This weekend was packed with delicious food!

It started on Friday when we ate a Rome's onion and black olive pizza. It was so delicious that we finished the whole pizza. Normally we save at least 2 slices for lunch the next day but we hadn't eaten a Rome's pizza in so long that we were unstoppable.

Then on Saturday we went to Rio Mambo with Jacob's family. Jacob had 3 brisket tacos and I had 3 crispy picadillo tacos. Everything was delicious and again, we didn't have any left-overs.

Jen enjoying the cheese fondue (Melting Pot)

Finally, on Sunday, in celebration of our 6th anniversary we (over-) indulged ourselves with a 4 course meal at the Melting Pot. First, we had the Boston Lager Cheddar Cheese Fondue with veggies, breads, and apples. Next, we both had Southwester Cobb salads. Third, we had our main course cooked Coq au Vin with veggies, salmon, filet mignon, chicken, pork tenderloin, shrimp, spinach artichoke ravioli, and lobster tail. Then, we finished off our meal with Cookies-n-Cream Marshmallow Dream chocolate fondue with strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, rice krispy treats, marshmallows, brownies, and pound cake (we even had seconds on the bananas and strawberries). The food was spectacular and we were surprisingly stuffed when we left. We'll definitely visit the Melting Pot again but to save money we think we'll only focus on the cheese, salad, and chocolate the next time around.

Jacob enjoying the chocolate fondue (Melting Pot)

I married a younger man!

2009-01-17T17:57:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago Jacob and I took the real age test. Considering that we both eat healthy foods, we exercise, and we don't experience too much stress in our lives, we expected our real ages to be younger than our calendar ages.

Jacob took the test first and sure enough he was younger (by 5.3 years).

Then I took the test and I turned out to be older (by 1.5 years)!

I was shocked! Sure, I complain about the disgusting double fiber bread that Jacob buys, I sometimes choose to eat the easy to open candy bar over the pain in the rear to peel orange, and I usually stay home when it's too cold to walk but I had no idea that these few decisions would impact my age by so much. As result, I started drinking more water, choking down more double fiber bread, stocking our house with more convenient fruits (it helped that cherries were on sale last week), and exercising more by incorporating weight training and more rigorous cardio back into my workout.

Today, I modified the responses to my real age test and based on my improved healthy lifestyle, my age went down (a little). My real age is now 28.1. Yep, I'm still married to a younger man.

Norman

2009-01-10T00:00:00.010-06:00

We've been adopted.

Sometime last Spring, we started noticing that a lonely bird would hide in the corner of our back patio. He tends to arrive around dusk, depart around dawn, and is always alone. We think it is quite sad that a bird would sleep in our patio corner all by himself. Something that made him look even more pathetic was the way he would tuck himself into the corner with his back and tail facing our back window. Yes, it's a very pitiful sight (see for yourself in the picture below). As a result, we've welcomed him to our home and done our best to keep curious cats, an oblivious dog, and our noisy selves out of his way. We named him Norman because, well, he looks like a Norman.We've come to accept that Norman's schedule is unpredictable; sometimes we'll look out the window and he won't be there and other times he'll surprise us and appear again. We look forward to seeing him because when we see him we know he's okay, but it also saddens us a little because it means he hasn't found a long-term nest mate, yet.

Norman

A Day at the Park

2009-01-09T21:33:00.007-06:00

On Saturday (Jan. 3) Jacob and I hit the trails at Friedrich Park. Since my lung capacity was still low from the flu, we decided to "take it easy." However, because we hadn't been to the park for a year or so, we ended up taking a pretty good hike up and down several steep and winding trails. As a way to casually catch my breath, I would pull out the camera and suggest that we take a few pictures. Unfortunately, Jacob caught on to what I was doing and became a little annoyed that I kept stalling. However, because I had insisted that I was healthy enough to take a hike, I tried to hide my exhaustion as much as possible.

Jacob making the steep climb while I took a short break. :)

Friday Fun

2009-01-04T17:00:00.010-06:00

On Friday (1-2-09), my sister, my brother, Michelle and I went out to shop for bridesmaid dresses. Before our shoping began, my sister treated us to a refreshing snack at Orange Cup. It's a lighter and healthier alternative to Marble Slab. :)

Brittany

Manuel & Michelle

We explored phase II of La Cantera, picked up glasses for my brother, then headed to the dress shop. We tried on several dresses in many different colors. Michelle is armed with information to coordinate with her sisters and decide on final colors.

Next, we headed to Kona Grill for another snack. We split tacos, pizza, and sushi (I didn't have any sushi).

It was a fun Friday!

ps
It turns out that my sister really is a good driver (most of the time).

:-)

M&M Visit

2009-01-01T21:59:00.005-06:00

Today I was finally well enough to see my brother and Michelle (a.k.a., M&M).

This evening we went to my mom's house for dinner and games with M&M. It was nice to see both of them and to hear about how their wedding plans were coming along. We enjoyed dinner; however, it did get a little tense when I asked my brother about his visit with my dad and my dad's family...I know it's a sensitive subject but they are still my family and yes, I'm just plain nosy at times.

After dinner we played the game "Hear Me Out" which my mom and my sister had given us 3-4 Christmases ago. This was the first time we actually played the game and when my brother informed us that it was a drinking game we finally realized why the game didn't make much sense the last time we tried reading the instructions. So, with bottles of water, cups of cocoa, and glasses of tea in hand, we started playing the game. It is quite a fun game (even when alcohol is not involved) and we're looking forward to playing it again sometime.

Scott told me so...

2008-12-29T19:58:00.006-06:00

Every year I get the flu shot and almost every year my friend Scott responds with, "you mean you got the 'Give me the flu shot?'" This year was no different. As usual, I got the flu shot and as usual Scott gave me a hard time about it. In fact, when I got sick with flu like symptoms about a month after receiving the flu shot Scott proudly announced that, "[he] told me so." I quickly disputed his claim and explained that it was probably sinuses but if it was the flu, then at least the flu shot mimimized severity of it.

So, this brings me to why I am posting this blog. On Sunday, my doctor (from Texas Medclinic) officially diagnosed me with type A influenza.

On Friday (12/26), my sinuses started bothering me and I also had a weird cough. Since Jacob was at the recovery stage of whatever he had (which we thought was also sinus related) I was convinced that it my turn to be hit with allergies. It isn't unusual for our allergies to hit us at different times because both of us seem to react to allergens in a staggered time frame (thank goodness we're usually not affected simultaneously).

However, by Saturday (12/27) I started feeling really tired and weak (I felt as though I had been working out all day long because my legs and arms felt like jell-o and were sore). My cough had worsed, my sinuses were killing me, I had a headache, and later that evening I started running a fever. I called my mom to let her know that I didn't think I'd make it to my aunt Rosemarie and uncle Jimmy's luncheon. She said I sounded really bad and that if I didn't get any better then I should go to the doctor because it sounded like the flu. She also explained that the flu was very dangerous which I had heard before but wasn't too concerned about.

On Sunday (12/28) Jacob and I were concerned because I still had a fever and I was extremely tired. We both headed to TexasMedClinic: Jacob to be seen for his congestion that wouldn't go away and me for my cough, aches, pains, congestion, etc. When we arrived, I decided to take one of their complimentary face masks because of my fever and cough. I was so tired that I had no problem taking a nap while we were waiting to be called (this was unusual for me so Jacob and I were both begining to be convinced that I might have the flu). The doctor evaluated both of us. He prescribed Jacob an antibiotic for his congestion that wouldn't go away and then did a throat and flu test for me, he explained that even though I had received the flu shot, he had already seen 2 cases where 2 other people contracted the flu even though they received the shot also. 10 min. later the results were in and I did have the flu. Now, what was scary was that the doctor sat down and said he wanted to explain a few things to me. It's never good when a doctor sits down to talk so at that point I began thinking, "I am so glad that I get the flu shot every year," because I suddenly realized how serious the flu really is. The doctor explained my options, what to expect, how to take care of myself and what to watch for with regard to serious complications. He also suggested that it is possible that my flu shot may minimize the severity of my flu symptoms. Jacob took me home and started taking care of me. Between teas, soups, tylenol, temperature taking, and tissue refilling he's been wonderful. Sadly, he's also been sleeping on the couch and has officially become Crystal and Chloe's midnight trampoline/wrestling platform. I owe him big! But hey, he did buy himself a PS3 to pass the time!

So far, although I've been super sleepy, congested, and weak, based on what the doctor told me to expect I truly believe that my flu shot is helping to minimize the severity of my symptoms. My fever has gone down, my legs and arms aren't sore anymore, and I had enough energy tonight to make it to the living room for dinner, t.v., and computer time. So, although, "[Scott] told me so," I am still very thankful that I got the flu shot!

Holiday Rounds

2008-12-29T17:57:00.013-06:00

As usual, our holiday rounds began on Christmas Eve at Jacob's aunt Christina's house. We enjoyed rice, beans, deviled eggs, dips (including Jacob's world famous 7-layer dip), cheese, crackers, meats and sweets. I even brought some seasoned crackers which were a huge hit. The food was delicious! Oh yeah, there were also tamales for the tamale eaters. While we waited for midnight to strike, we attempted to play a game of Cranium. I say "attempted" because we had to modify the rules because we quickly learned that playing with 19 people can be very challenging. At midnight we opened gifts and we finally headed home around 2:30 am. (Yes, this was well past my bedtime).

On Christmas day we planned to go to 10am mass. We knew this meant that we would need to be awake by 8am so we could be ready to leave by 9am. However, since we had gone to sleep at 3:30am, I convinced Jacob that we should sleep a little more and go to the 12pm mass instead. He agreed. We woke up around 9:30am, got ready for church (wearing wrinkle free clothes because our iron stopped working that morning), and then as we headed out the door, Jacob wanted to make sure mass was truly at 12pm and not at 12:30pm. Yes, fortunately mass was at 12pm but unfortunately, 12pm mass was in Spanish! I thought it would still be worth attending but then Jacob pointed out that we wouldn't understand anything that would be going on. So, after researching a few other church options, we realized that based on our timing, along with our wrinkle free outfits (a.k.a., jeans) we probably wouldn't have made it to another mass in time and we would have really stood out as being under-dressed.

Later that day, we went to Jacob's aunt Martha's house. Normally, we don't have enough time to eat at Martha's house because we usually only have enough time to stop by to say hello before we rush off to my mom's house but because game night at my aunt and uncle's was postponed until the next day, my mom started her dinner later this year which gave us plenty of time to grab a plate of delicious food. We had rice, beans, ham, potato salad, and Jacob even had more tamales! We even had enough time to watch Roger Mason hit a game winning 3pt shot against the Suns. Go Spurs Go!

Next we headed to my mom's house where we had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, sweet potato casserole, cranberries, rolls, fruit salad, and chocolate cheesecake. We opened gifts then my mom, my sister and my grandma teamed up against Jacob and me in a game of Mad Gab. It was a tied game and then my mom and I went head to head in the tie breaker match. Their team won with the saying "Me Tarzan, You Jane." I never would have gotten it, who speaks like that anyway?

On Friday we went to Mimi's to use my $10 off coupon for a late lunch (they're grilled cheese is exceptional but I was dying for some veggies mid-way through my sandwich; thank goodness Jacob let me eat some of his walnut and cranberry salad.)

After Mimi's we went to my aunt Rose and uncle Cesar's house for game night. We started the night by opening gifts and enjoying some munchies. We had pigs in a blanket, spinach and artichoke dip, chips, dips, veggies, cheese, crackers, and sweets. I had brought my seasoned crackers as a gift for my uncle and he (along with everyone else) really enjoyed them. Plus, Jacob even had some more tamales! I think he had a really good share of tamales this year! Then after everyone had arrived, the men vs. women showdown began. We started off by playing Partini. This was a new game for us and was great because it helped the women take the lead: 1-0. Next we played Cranium Wow. It was a head to head battle but the men came out ahead. The score was then 1:1. Sadly, we lost a few players but the tie needed to be broken. Using Pictionary as the tie breaker, the women blew the men away in landslide win! Yay! The women had finally broken the dynasty of the men and then we headed home. Side note: Jacob claims that the men only lost because they lost 40% of their team.

Belated Holiday Pics

2008-12-26T14:06:00.010-06:00

2 of my friends sent me holiday pics that I meant to post on previous postings, so here they are:

#1: Gag gift exchange at work. This year Janie (a co-worker) and I were in charge of coordinating our team's Secret Santa gift exchange/luncheon. Janie suggested that we do a gag gift exchange along with the Secret Santa gift exchange. I thought her idea was great because it was something we hadn't tried before. Plus it eliminated the stress of giving small gifts during the week. In order to keep the guess who aspect of Secret Santa, I suggested that each Secret Santa attach a tag to their gift that provides a clue about who the Secret Santa is for the gift recipient. Everyone had the option to participate in the gag gift exchange, the Secret Santa gift exchange, both exchanges, or neither exchange. The gift exchanges and luncheon seemed to go very well. We learned a little bit about each of the participants and we shared some good laughs. Here's a picture of Tony and the gag gift he received (he named "her" Lola). This was the one of the most creative gag gifts I had ever seen!

Sandra: Great job on the gag gift!

Janice: Thanks for the pic!

Tony & "Lola"

#2: Ben (my friend from work) was the photographer for our DPI Holiday Party so for the first time, Jacob and I took a "formal" picture at the Holiday Party.

Ben: Thanks for the pic!

Us at the DPI Holiday Party

Busy Weekend

2008-12-21T17:37:00.011-06:00

This weekend was packed with events.

Friday night (12/19):

We ate dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse on the riverwalk and exchanged gag gifts during our annual holiday dinner/gag gift exchange with a few close friends from work. We had some really good laughs (especially from John) and we also learned a few new things about some of our other friends (one, in particular).

Angie, Jessica, John, (Jacob behind John), Jen, Judy, Bruno, Dianna, Randy, Jenn, Scott & Tiffany

Saturday night (12/20):

We ate dinner at Rio Mambo with Jacob's family to celebrate Beto's 27th birthday. The food was delicious and affordable.

Beto & his tres leches cake

Next we headed to Christina's (Jacob's aunt's) 40th b-day bash at The Stockyards. The place was really loud but the drinks were cheap and we got to meet a celebrity! Gabe Garcia was celebrating his birthday also! He even sang 2 songs while we were there. He seems like a really nice guy because he was willing to take pictures with anyone who asked. After a few drinks Monica and I even went over to ask him for a picture (unfortunately, my eyes look really weird; I had already had a few drinks and I couldn't contain my excitement. I'd like to blame my weird expression on the alcohol that was definitely settling in).

Gabe & Beto

Monica, Gabe, and Me

Sunday (12/21):

We went to SeaWorld for the holiday celebration. Jacob had been wanting to go on a cold day and it was definitely cold when we went. We were both bundled up in sweatshirts and jackets. I even had a scarf and gloves. It was nice being at the park when it was practically empty. We saw the Polar Express 4-d show; we fed the sea lions; we visited the sharks, clydesdales, and penguins; we listened to carollers; we saw the Clyde and Seamore show (Clyde wasn't cooperating); we rode the steel eel (our faces were practically frozen stiff); and we had some delicious hot cocoa! Unfortunately, we didn't last until the Shamu show but we're hoping to return for an evening within the next 2 weeks to catch the show before the season is over.

A Tale of Two Parties

2008-12-16T17:45:00.005-06:00

On Dec. 6th, we went to Jacob's work holiday party and on Dec. 12th, we went to my work holiday party.

Jacob's party cost $10, a 7-layer dip, plus 2 white elephant gifts for the 2 of us to attend. The party was held at a neighborhood club house and about 70 people attended (which accounted for most of the people Jacob works with). The food was good and we had a good time watching people open and steal white elephant gifts. We came home with a box set of Planter's Peanuts (Jacob's gift) and a bright yellow, weird shaped bowl that I "stole" because it would make a great dip dish or more immediately, a great peanut bowl. :)

My party cost $66, $6 for parking, plus the cost of a new dress, for us to attend. The party was held at El Tropicano hotel (which we quickly realized was the hotel formerly known as the Four-Points Sheraton) and about 120 people attended (which only accounts for a very small portion of everyone I work with). The salad with ranch dressing and the rolls with sweet cream butter were delicious. The rest of the meal was not so great. Fortunately, we did have some cake towards the end of the night (yay for cake!). The emcee was someone from work who did a great job entertaining us. The door prizes were good, in fact we won a date night because Jacob won a GC to Malibu (who knew it was still open?) and Scott and Tiffany gave us their GC to Mamacita's (we rarely say no to free food). The AFPC coordinators did an excellent job ensuring everything ran smoothly. However, the hotel coordinator kept propping open the door that led to the smoking area (I have nothing against smokers, but I don't want to breathe their smoke); it was pretty disgusting (not to mention hazardous to our health). When one of the AFPC coordinators asked the hotel coordinator to keep the door closed he explained that he wanted the doors open to cool down the room and that running the a/c would make it too cold.

Which party would you prefer to attend?

Christmas Luncheon

2008-12-11T17:21:00.005-06:00

I love my job! Today we had our division holiday luncheon at the Marriott Rivercenter. The luncheon cost $25 per non-shinefund member or free for all members who were paid up (I finally paid all of my dues so I was able to attend for free). It was a great luncheon! (Yes, in case you haven't noticed a reccuring theme on this blog, I truly love to eat).

Carol, Janice, Me, & Greg

Fran, Elva, Sandra, & Kathy

The luncheon included an all-you-can-eat salad bar, pasta bar, chicken, pork chops, rice, veggies, assortment of breads, and dessert bar. I ate way too much (especially after finishing my meal off with 2.5 desserts)! After enjoying our meals, our division chief made a few announcements and then drew names for door prizes. The luncheon coordinator arranged for enough door prizes so that there would be a 50% chance for each person to win a prize. In fact 50% of our table won prizes, including me! It was a great way to spend a lunch!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T20:36:00.013-06:00

Three years ago, I negotiated an agreement with Jacob for us to host Thanksgiving. Negotiating Thanksgiving back then was quite a challenge because I had to convince Jacob that it was woth it to him to host Thanksgiving even though it meant he would need to do most of the work. This was because I was in grad school and most of my time was spent studying or meeting with groups. Thanks to Dr. Plowman's negotiations class, I was able to negotiate and draft a contact that both of us agreed on (plus I was able to use my Thanksgiving negotiation as my final project, on which I earned an A).

Based on the success of that initial Thanksgiving at our house, Jacob has easily agreed to host Thanksgiving ever since. Thus, for the 3rd year in a row, we hosted Thanksgiving. Each year seems to run a little smoother than the previous year and we received a lot of positive feedback from our families suggesting that this year was the best year yet! I was especially glad about this because now that our families are growing (i.e., through marriages) we know that we might not be able to host Thanksgiving the same way, much longer. For instance, now that my cousin Cesar is married, his family now spends Thanksgiving game night with him, so you can see that we are slowly losing our attendees.

The details:
Our families arrived around at our house between 2-2:30 pm; we ate dinner a little after 3 pm (we had good variety of food, plus we had 3 sweetpotato dishes and 2 cranberry dishes); the football lovers watched football (which gave me some time to clean up a little), and the non-football lovers engaged in conversations with each other and helped me pick up the kitchen by packing up to-go plates for Jacob's grandfather (who wasn't able to make it to our house); we enjoyed delicious desserts, cocoa and coffee (my favorite part); and we played Turbo Cranium (my mom was a great puppeteer, Monica was a great puppet, and Jacob's dad was a great sensosketcher). After the game, we sat back and relaxed in the living room to wind down from the day. It was a great Thanksgiving!

My mom, Jacob's mom, and me trying to guess the song that Monica was humming.

Matthew and Jacob trying to guess what Jacob's dad was sculpting.

Neysa's B-day Extravaganza

2008-12-03T20:36:00.012-06:00

On Nov. 29th, Jacob and I attended Neysa's 29th Birthday Extravaganza! The party was great! She had tons of good food (beef, BBQ chicken, pork, shrimp, potato salad, beans, rice, etc.), plenty of drinks (to include a margarita machine), and good music. Neysa's mom even made Jacob a small batch of her atomic habanero hot sauce.

We had a great time and we were excited to be back at Neysa's house after 11 years (the last time we were there, it was for a high school graduation party, c/o '97). Rosanna and I even reminisced about out senior lunch experiences which involved us being at ... well, I better not say where, since her parents still may not know where we went for senior lunch (Neysa, in case your parents are reading this, I'm refering to the exciting times we had in the cafeteria at Taft). : )

We're looking forward to the next time we all get together...hopefully sooner than 11 years from now. : )

Pitiful Cats

2008-12-03T20:35:00.003-06:00

On Nov. 18th, after arriving home from work, I let Crystal and Casper play in the backyard while I stayed inside taking care of Chloe (she scratched the sides of her face so hard that she cut herself with her nails). After about 30-45 min., I went outside to check on Crystal and Casper and discovered that Crystal was no where in sight. After checking the backyard 3 times (just to be sure she wasn't hiding anywhere) I called Jacob and explained the situation and asked him to come home from work as soon as possible. Both of our neighbors checked their yards and still no sign of her. Jacob checked with the neighbors behind our house as soon as he came home. Meanwhile, I evventually checked the backyard again and discovered that she had returned. She was frantically running around the backyard while Casper barked at her and chased her around. Apparently he also was upset that she had escaped (and worse for him, had returned).

After we recovered her, we decided that she would never be allowed outside again without one of us with her. Ever since the incident, Chloe and Crystal both walk around the breakfast area, crying at the back door, begging to be let out. It's a very pitiful sight.

Training is Fun

2008-11-21T21:02:00.004-06:00

This week I taught my first true training course. It was on external referral certificates. The course lasted for 2 1/2 days and although I was physically and mentally exhausted at the end of each day, I loved it! At first, I was full of anxiety about presenting the material. After all, it was my first class and although I was given some guidance about what to train, it was all up to me about how to train. I was scared to death about what the students (my peers) would think of me and the materials I had prepared. Not to mention, that I was afraid of what they might ask especially because I was teaching a course about something I was familiar with but I hadn't actually been involved with on a regular basis for almost 3 years. You see, I recruit for positions that are open to the public which involves a different set of rules and procedures than positions that are limited to external candidates that fall under specific recruitment categories.

Anyway, the point is that although I was a little worried about how it would all go, I faced my fears head on and I loved being a trainer! Yes, it was challenging and exhausting, but in a very good way. It was almost as though I was back in school again! (Did I mention that I loved school, especially college?)
As a trainer, I was being challenged with random questions, I needed to think critically, I prepared activities and presentations, and I could adjust my training material as needed. It was great and now, I can catch up on my rest...before I finish responding to the list of questions they left me that I promised I would research for them. I really think training people is going to make me a happier and stronger HR Specialist. :)

Love What You Do

2008-11-12T19:14:00.010-06:00

Over the last 6 months I've been seriously re-thinking my job and career choice. One thing I learned in grad school was that successful people find jobs that they love and are great in. Although I like my job and I am good at my job I don't think it's what I'm meant to do. Several years ago I started noticing something wasn't quite right between my job and me but I didn't know what it was because for the most part, I loved my organization's culture and people. Initially, I had thought it had something to do with the massive reorganization we underwent to "lean" our processes but over the last 2 years I started realizing that it was because I didn't love what I did and I wasn't "great" at what I did. Sure, I am good at my job but I don't think I'm great.

Despite feeling mismatched with my job, my supervisors have given me several opportunities to excel and find aspects of my job that I do absolutely love. For instance, about 3 years ago I started being tasked with briefing senior leaders about our HR systems. Although I have a lot of anxiety about presenting material in front of others, I quickly discovered that presenting briefings was something I got a "work high" from. Plus, I was briefing people about a favorite part of my job (the technical system stuff) and I received several comments about how well I presented material. Thus, I feel as though presenting briefings and learning new systems is something I am great at doing.

Now, although I finally found parts of my work that matched me, I am not able to brief people on a full-time basis nor do I want to; however, I think training others would enable me to do something I enjoy (present material) without overdoing it. Which brings me to why I am posting this blog.

At work, I applied for a training position in a different section. I discovered that the manager of the training position was interested in hiring me, but that my manager did not want to let me go. Basically, I was advised that in the best interest of the organization, I would not be able to leave my current area until I work in the area for 1 full year but that I could guest instruct on an as needed basis. As a result, thinking that my work situation was not that bad, I accepted the explanation and agreed to be a guest instructor instead of a full-time instructor. After all, I like everyone on my team and I still enjoy some parts of my job. Plus, I've learned that there are some battles not worth fighting, especially the ones I am most likely to lose. Although I initially accepted my fate without too much concern, over time, I started feeling as though I was being held back from reaching my potential and from doing something that I believe I would truly enjoy. Not to mention that being a trainer was part of my 5 year goal plan (7 years ago). As a result, I find myself not as excited about work as I used to be and I find myself fighting to make it to work in the morning and racing out of work in the afternoon.

However, I was recently asked to guest instruct a course and suddenly my excitement and motivation came back. It was amazing. I found myself naturally happy to be at work again and I look forward to going to work again, but only when I'm working on the training material. When I think of my other work I get a sinking feeling in stomach because I realize that it's only a matter of time before I will need to resume my normal workload again and be stuck behind my desk.

Yes, a desk is the last place I pictured myself ever working but it is where I have spent almost all of my professional career.

Although I understand why my supervisor did not want to let me go, I cannot understand why anyone would want to hold someone back from something that would make them happy. I have not given up hope that I will one day be working in a job that I love and that best fits me and in the mean time I am loving my current guest instructor assignment. Next week I will have my first guest instructor class and I will learn whether or not training is where I belong.

Helotes Elementary Cold Stone Night

2008-11-10T20:46:00.008-06:00

Jacob serving Cold Stone ice cream

Ever since Jacob started working at Helotes Elementary, I've been looking forward to him working during one of their fundraiser nights and Jacob's been looking forward to achieving his "other" career dreams.

Tonight was one of those nights! Tonight, Jacob worked at Cold Stone Creamery. What more could I have asked for? I saw Jacob in action at an ice cream place (he looked so cute) and I got to eat Cold Stone ice cream! Plus, Jacob achieved one of his career dreams. You see, he's always dreamed of working at either Cold Stone or Marble Slab. (His other dream is to work at Subway, but we're still working on that one).

Jacob and his teacher friends worked hard behind the counter and raised a lot of money for his school. He enjoyed seeing his students and co-workers outside of class and his students loved seeing him! What a night! We're looking forward to their next Cold Stone night sometime in the spring.

Good Times with Good Friends

2008-11-10T20:13:00.009-06:00

On Saturday, Rosanna, Neysa, Jacob and I went to Alamo Drafthouse for dinner and a movie. Jacob and I had heard of Alamo Drafthouse from a few of our friends but we never had an excuse to go there until Rosanna suggested it for our group night out. Although Westlakes Theater was one of our frequent hang-outs in highschool, Neysa, Jacob, and I hadn't been to Westlakes in years (Jacob and I think we were last there sometime during our freshman year in college). Needless to say, the 3 of us were "Drafthouse virgins" so the waitress (who happened to be Rosanna's cousin) gave us a crash course on Drafthouse procedures and etiquette.

After our crash course, we ordered our drinks and food. Much to our surprise, the food was really good! No, we didn't expect the food to be bad, but we were expecting bowling alley quality food and instead we got Friday's quality food. It was definitely a pleasant surprise. Jacob ordered the "Italian Job" Calzone and I ordered the "Wild at Artichoke Hearts" pizza. Both were delicious!

We enjoyed our dinner and caught up with everything that's going on in everyone's lives and then the movie began. The movie was hillarious! It was great to hang out and laugh with good friends from high school.

As Neysa put it, we feel blessed to have been able to keep in touch with such good people that we've known since high school (and one that Jacob has known since middle school). Hopefully, Brenda and Nick will be able to meet up with us next time (we missed you guys!).

Jen, Rosanna, & Neysa

Team Building Day

2008-11-07T19:25:00.007-06:00

Today we spent the afternoon participating in team building activities at work and we had a blast!

At 11am we left the office and headed to the park for free hamburgers and hot dogs. As usual, the food was delicious. :)

Then we started the games. Tony, Greg, Elva, Carol and I represented our division in Family Feud. We kicked butt and placed 1st! It was a great way to start off the afternoon.

Then Tony payed volleyball while Greg, Elva, Carol, Janet and I played Guesstures. This game was a little more challenging for us and we were out during the first round...but we still had fun. :)

Next, Tony and I did the balloon toss. We were doing well up until there were 3 teams left (including us). I tossed the balloon a little too hard and not quite straight which resulted in it splattering on Tony. Sorry Tony, but at least we placed 3rd.

Then it was Mr. Harris, Camille, Woody, and me for the Dizzy Bat relay. Our team was doing great but in the home stretch, out of nowhere Mr. Harris and Maggie (from our neighboring team) were suddenly in the same spot and collided. The whole collision seemed to happen in slow motion yet still too quickly for any of us to react in time to prevent the collision. Fortunately after icing down one of the injuries, both of them were okay in the end.

Next, Tony, Elva, Carol, Dawn, and I competed in Taboo. We did great during the 1st round but the 2nd round did us in. Fortunately, we still placed 3rd.

Then during the final event of the day, Tony represented our division in the playground obstacle course and finished with the fastest and best performance at the slip-n-slide finish line which resulted in our division placing 1st for the obstacle course.

At the end of the day, they tallied all of the points and although our division didn't place 1st, we were content with our tie for 2nd place.

Go DPIA!

Mom's b-day

2008-11-07T18:00:00.002-06:00

On Thursday, we celebrated my mom's birthday at Saltgrass Steakhouse.

It was nice to get together with her, my grandma, and my sister. We had a nice dinner and the food was delicious!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Halloween

2008-11-03T18:48:00.013-06:00

This was the first Halloween in 4 years that I didn't have any school work to worry about and I was so excited about spending it with Jacob by sitting on our front porch to hand out candy together.

Our Skull Strobe light

In preparation, we bought several bags of candy: Twix, Snickers, a Wonka mix, a DoubleBubble mix, and a Twizzlers/Jolly Rancher mix. Jacob decorated the house (I helped a little), we played spooky holiday music and we strategically planned our seating arrangement so that the trick-or-treaters could easily reach us.

Our dangling spider

Sadly, after all of our preparation, we had much fewer trick-or-treaters than we expected and we were left with tons of candy. On the bright side, we did get to see some of our neighbors and we were able to spend 2 hours on our front porch relaxing together and listening to our music and the sounds of the high school football game in the distance.

View of our house from the front while I waited for the trick-or-treaters

Celeste's b-day

2008-11-03T18:33:00.006-06:00

On Oct 18th we celebrated Jacob's cousin's (Celeste) 9th birthday at a neighborhood park. The theme was Rock-n-Roll. She had rock-n-roll music playing in the background and her cake was in the shape of a record. The fun activities included making personalized journals (where were these when I was a kid?) and a pinata.

Celeste & the pinata

Celeste & her Grandpa

As the main course, she had hot dogs and hamburgers with every topping you could possibly want: chili, cheese, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, and relish! Yum! It was nice to spend time with Jacob's family and a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Jacob's mom, aunt Liz, sister Monica, & cousin Jessica

Great Friday!

2008-10-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

After a rough week at work I really needed a "great day" and today was great!

My day started out with me going to work (this was not the "great" part, don't get me wrong, it was not horrible but it was work).

Then, around 10:45 a.m. my day started becoming great! First, before leaving work, someone asked me to help them troubleshoot a problem with one of our systems. Although I was not able to assist them that exact moment, I did give them a tip and said that I'd be more than willing to assist them on Monday morning. This definitely gives me something to look forward to when I go in to work on Monday because troubleshooting system problems is the part of my job I absolutely love the most. I think I love this part because I get to analyze a problem and try to solve it; it reminds me of when we used to be given challenge problem in math or science. I just love the sense of accomplishment I achieve when I solve one of these issues. Unfortunately, my everyday routine work usually falls short of challenging me in this sort of way, which might be why I often wonder if I'm doing what I'm meant to do.

So back to my great day...after leaving work I met up with my friends Aurora, Lynn, Amanda, and Annabelle for lunch at Pompeii's. It was so nice to catch up with them and hear everything that's going on in their lives. Unfortunately, due to all of our busy schedules, we don't get to meet up often but it's wonderful when we do because they are such great people all of whom I admire (yep, Annabelle, even as young as you are I even admire you).

After our lunch I headed home for a quick nap before my tire appointment. Naps are one of the great, relaxing pleasures of life that I look forward to when I have afternoons off.

After my nap I headed to Discount Tire to have my tires rotated and valve stems replaced due to the recent recall. When I first arrived at Discount Tire, it was crowded and based on other customers' grumblings, it sounded as though there was a long wait. I asked the service rep how long the wait was and he explained that since I had made an appointment I should be out of there within 45 min - 1hr. Then after only waiting about 30 min my car was done and I was out of there--yay for appointments that are actually taken seriously!

To wind down the evening, Jacob made a delicious dinner with butterflied pork chops, seasoned potatoes, and brussel sprouts. We caught up on CSI (Las Vegas) and by 7:30 pm I fell asleep on the couch. I think I was exhausted from the stressful work week and my allergy/sinus problems that had gotten worse over the week.

All-in-all Friday was a wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating day and feel completely refreshed and ready to begin the weekend!

Sea World with Mom

2008-10-21T17:53:00.007-05:00

On Sunday (10/11/08), Jacob and I took my mom to Sea World. We had a blast! We saw all of the shows (or at least all of the shows we wanted to see) and we visited the sharks, penguins, sea lions, and otters.

We enjoyed lunch at the park. Jacob and my mom ordered burgers and yes, I ordered a huge chili cheese dog!

We even convinced my mom to ride Atlantis. I was so proud of her for getting on the ride. After all, she's not quite as young as she used to be and rides make her a little more nauseous than she used to feel several years ago. All in all, we enjoyed riding the ride with her. She even made us laugh with her facial expressions! But I must confess that I did feel a little guilty about not telling her about the part where you go backwards!

After the Atlantis, we had planned to dry off by riding the Steel Eel (mom had enough rides by then so she agreed to watch our stuff). Sadly, the ride was stuck on the lower part of the incline (we were thankful it got stuck before we got on). As an alternative, we relocated my mom and our stuff to the Great White, but the line was so long that we decided we weren't meant to ride a coaster after all.

Later we enjoyed an afternoon snack. Jacob had a candy apple and I had cotton candy. My mom didn't want a snack but thankfully she helped me with my cotton candy.

Zombie (can you see the worms crawling out of him?)

Next, we headed off to wait in line for the haunted forest. I noticed that waiting in line flies by when you're with 2 other people because the conversation never seems to die. It was great. Not to mention that we enjoyed watching the warewolves and zombies spook people. Then as we approached the entrance, Jacob commented about how he hated haunted houses because he always ended up at the end of the line...and sure enough that's where we ended up. As soon as Jacob realized this, he frantically pushed my mom and me aside so that we would be last instead of him...it felt like we were part of a Seinfeld episode. So, hand in hand, Jacob led me and I led my mom into the forest. It was spooky and fun! The beginning definitely address my slight claustrophobia...and then the rest was suspensefully frightening. I'm so glad we went through it and again I was proud of both Jacob and my mom for coping with their fears and enjoying the experience with me.
Making friends with a zombie

We ended the day with the Shamu show and then headed to Subway for a light dinner that included some much needed veggies!
Mom & me waiting to see Shamu

Cesar & Kara's Wedding

2008-10-14T16:39:00.012-05:00

Cesar & Kara's 1st dance

On Saturday (10/11/08), we attended my cousin Cesar's wedding. It was beautiful! The ceremony was held in the Gazebo area at the SW School of Art & Craft. After the ceremony, they encouraged us to mingle and enjoy refreshing drinks and delicious appetizers, while they took picures. Then, we headed to the chapel for the reception. The reception area was gorgeous! The dimmed lighting and magnificent interior design created an elegant dinner setting, not to mention that the food was spectacular!

Aunt Rose & Cesar (Mother/Son Dance)

Brittany (sister) & Niki (Cousin) Grandma

After dinner the dancing began. It was a lot of fun to watch Cesar and his friends "challenge" each other on the dance floor. The DJ was great and played a lot of good hits (Daniel, they even played "Ice Ice Baby"!)

Mom & Britt Us

Cesar & Kara: Thank you for sharing your day with us! We wish you the best as you venture into the new chapter of your lives together!

ACTS-travaganza HIV Ministry

2008-10-06T16:32:00.011-05:00

On Saturday we attended the ACTS-travaganza HIV Ministry Casino Night event. We've attended this event for the last few years and we always have a good time. It's a great fundraiser for the HIV ministry and it allows us to enjoy a good dinner, sample several types of Sangria, hang out with a few friends, get our gambling fix, and most of all, donate to a great cause, all in one night.

My brother donated 2 pictures this year which helped raise $50 in the silent auction (thank you, Manuel!).

Our friends Scott and Tiffany introduced us to this event a few years ago and it has become something we look forward to every year. Tiffany was even the event chairman this year and she plans to chair it again next year (great job, Tiffany!).

Jessica & John

Scott (Tiffany was busy coordinating stuff all night)

Spa Day

2008-09-26T17:16:00.005-05:00

On Sept. 21st, we enjoyed our first spa day at the Windflower Spa at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort. Going to a spa was something we had always talked about but had never actually done. Last year, my mom, sister, and grandma had given us the perfect reason to go to the spa...they bought me a gift certificate for a massage and manicure as my graduation gift.

Wanting to share this experience with Jacob, we booked his and hers massages and spent the day relaxing! It was wonderful! He received a theraputic massage and I received a signature massage. We soaked our feet in the spa, had a room service delivered lunch, and cooled off with a swim in the refreshing spa pool. It was a wonderful day and a great way to end the weekend/begin the week.

Jacob's 30!

2008-09-26T16:57:00.007-05:00

Jacob turned 30 this past weekend (Sept. 20th). It was a little sad for him to be leaving his 20s, but overall he enjoyed his birthday. Although I had wanted to celebrate his b-day with a big bash full of family and friends, I knew he's really not into big b-day celebrations, so we kept it low key by having dinner with family at La Hacienda de Los Barrios and dessert at our house.

For dessert, the plan was to have a Cookies-n-Cream ice cream cake. He had his heart set on a spectacularly delicious all ice cream cake that had a crumbly cookie crust. Unfortunately, after coordinating with the HEB bakery for several days, I eventually discovered that his first choice would not be available. As a result, I researched the ice cream cake options available at Cold Stone, Marble Slab, and Baskin Robbins. In the end I selected a Cookies-n-Cream Ice Cream Cake from Baskin Robbins. It was delicious! And surprisingly, it was Jacob's very first BR Ice Cream Cake! Can you believe that in all his 30 years of life, he had NEVER tasted a BR ice cream cake!

After the cake he opened presents. He had requested that no one bring presents, but his family ignored his requests, which I was especially thankful for when he opened the gift from his sister which contained oatmeal raisin cookies. They were the most delicious oatmeal raisin cookies we had ever eaten.

All in all, Jacob's birthday turned out well. He enjoyed saying farewell to his 20s by relaxing, eating, and spending time with our families.

Love the litter and your cat!

2008-09-09T17:43:00.010-05:00

Let's be frank. Crystal, our youngest cat, has litter box issues. We've tried almost everything.

We took her to the vet for an exam.

We put her on Prozac to ease her anxiety, but realized we're the type of parents who don't want our "kids" to be on drugs their entire lives.

We changed the litter to something more natural with no dust (which we loved but she hated).

We tried using a different style litter box.

We moved the box to different locations around the house.

We tried spending more time with her, but there's only so much you can do to spend quality time with a cat.

And recently we scheduled yet another appointment with the vet.

We're still waiting for our vet appointment but in the meantime we've found what we like to call a "miracle cat litter."

This weekend while we were at PetSmart examining a few more litter options, a lady approached us and said that the litter we were looking at (Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract) was wonderful. We asked her if she encountered some of the same problems we encountered and she said, "yes!" Like us, she had made numerous attempts to "fix" the problem but nothing seemed to work. Then her vet had recommended the Cat Attract litter and it worked! Based on her recommendation, we went home with the Cat Attract litter and a new litter box (one with a "sun roof"). The litter even came with a booklet that included some very good tips and coupons.

When we arrived home, we let the girls (Chloe and Crystal) explore their new litter box and sniff their new litter in the bag. After they seemed comfortable with the new box and interested in the new litter, we set the box in an appropriate location that did not make them feel "trapped in a corner" and before we knew it, both cats were fighting to use the box! Based on our cats' positive reactions to the litter, we purchased more several bags of the Cat Attract litter and another new box.

Testimonials:

Chloe: "It's so unnatural for a cat to not use the litter box. I just didn't understand it. We're supposed to be cleaner than the dog but Crystal was really making us look bad as a species. I'm so glad mom and dad finally found a litter Crystal will use."

Crystal: "I love the new litter, it doesn't smell funny and it feels great between my paws!"

Casper: "Yeah, the litter's okay, but I had more fun watching mom and dad yell at Crystal when she wouldn't use the box."

Will they ever get along?

2008-09-02T19:37:00.006-05:00

Every now and then we have hope that Crystal (our youngest cat) and Casper (our dog) will one day be friends but then...

on days like today we can't help but wonder if they'll forever be at each other's throats.

This afternoon, while I was brushing Casper, Crystal plopped herself down right next to me and glared at Casper.

Then out of nowhere, I saw Crystal reach out a paw and slap Casper's front paws and then his face. Casper jumped up in shock. After I calmed the 2 of them down, everything seemed okay but then all of a sudden, Crystal slowly reached out another paw and slapped Casper again! I couldn't believe it! Maybe they'll be friends one day, but probably not today.

When God listens...

2008-08-28T21:19:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had a moment where you realized God really does answer prayers? Well, I had one of those moments today.

A few weeks ago, my brother and a few of his friends embarked on a mission in India. Aside from upset stomachs and combating bed bugs, overall, their trip seemed to being going relatively well. However, as planned, this past weekend my brother's missionary friends headed back to the US while my brother stayed behind in India alone. Now, I know my brother had planned for this but still, he's my "little brother" so I can't help but be worried about him being alone and possibly sick, in a foreign country. As a result, for the last few days I had been praying that my brother finds "friends" in India. Then yesterday, after not hearing from him for a few days, I also started praying that I would be given a sign that he is still alive and well.

So, I was so excited when I came home this evening and received an e-mail from him (signifying he was alive and well) and then read his new blog posting which indicated he had made a lot of new friends when he attended a mass in Bangalore. My prayers couldn't have been answered any louder! I am so thankful for the power of prayer.

Do you have any prayer moments you'd like to share?

Bobbi pens?

2008-08-26T19:30:00.001-05:00

Today was the day we've been waiting for since we discovered that our washing machine was broken. It was the day we would meet the "Maytag Repair Man" or more precisely, the contacted out, but certified to work on Maytag, service repair man from A & E Factory Service.

I found it quite ironic that a commercial with a supposed "Maytag Repair Man" was playing while our washer was being serviced. Go figure!

Regardless, the service technician was friendly, thorough, and professional. The diagnosis? 2 Bobbi Pens had become lodged inside the pump. $155 later, I realized that I need to pay much more attention to emptying out all of our pockets before starting a load of laundry.

Additionally, Jacob has made it quite clear that I am no longer allowed to complain about the occasional paper he forgets to remove from his pockets. I suppose a messy washer and paper lined clothes doesn't come close to the expense of 2 bobbi pens.

It came to a screeching halt...

2008-08-24T11:38:00.002-05:00

Around 11pm Friday night, while doing a load of laundry, Jacob noticed that our washer didn't sound quite right. He called me into the pantry to listen to the screeching sound our washer was making.

We agreed to stop the washer then called Jen's mom to seek advice regarding appliance repairs before we made any hasty decisions.

After speaking with my mom we called the "Maytag Repairman" only to discover that we would need to wait until the morning to speak with someone contracted out, yet certified to work on Maytag appliances.

We had been given 3 phone numbers to try and after trying all 3 numbers, we settled for the appliance repair company that would actually schedule an appointment for us.

Note to appliance repair companies: Even if your service hours are only M-F, you are losing customers if you can't even make appointments for people who call during the weekend!

Needless to say, we're not sure that we chose the best company but we chose a company we could bank on providing us with a service visit early in the week.

Then, we called my mom to set up a "we're home to do our laundry" visit. Now, seeing as both of us lived at home during college, this was a neat experience for us. We can finally say, yeah, we know what it's like to stop at mom's house to do laundry. And yes, we brought Scrabble to kill time.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 10 - Heading Home

2008-08-21T20:12:00.004-05:00

After spending a night in Atlanta, we hit the road and headed back to Texas.

We had lunch at Hardee's in a small town in Alabama. We shared a 1/3 lb bacon & cheese thickburger and curly fries so that we'd have room for dinner. Although the food was good, the atmosphere was questionable and we've decided that we'll stick to the big cities next time we visit Alabama.

Based on a friend's recommendation, we stopped at Copeland's for dinner in Baton Rouge, LA. Our friend was right. Copeland's was sooooo good. Jacob ate the Shrimp Etouffe'e and Red Hot Potatoes and Jen ate the Country Fried Ribeye and Red Beans and Rice. Yes, the heartburn was completely worth it. We think they have the absolute best Cajun food and we're looking forward to stopping at Copeland's again, next time we are in LA.

Around 11pm, we finally made it to Houston and we stopped at What-A-Burger for a "midnight snack" of a milkshake, a malt, and a fried apple pie. Yes, food was the only thing we had to look forward to on our drive home. :)

Then, around 1:30am, we finally made it home.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 9 - Chimney Rock

2008-08-20T17:26:00.011-05:00

We spent the morning of Day 9 hiking at Chimney Rock.

We hiked to the top of the rock...

and admired the view...

We saw the Devil's Head...hmmm...which one is the devil?

Jacob climed down into Moonshiner's Cave...

and then he took some time to ponder the meaning of life.

Then we headed to the waterfall, which we reached after a humid, 30-45 min. hike.

After admiring the waterfall, we headed back to the car so we could head out for lunch and then head to our hotel in Atlanta.

We had worked up a pretty good appetite after hiking, so we couldn't resist stopping at Pizza Inn for their buffet lunch. To top off our lunch indulgence, Jen at the most delicious dessert pizza, S'mores Pizza. Yum! : ) It's too bad we don't have Pizza Inn in SA anymore.

Aside from the fact that we were sad to know our vacation was coming to an end, and yet excited to know that we would see our "kids" shortly, our drive to Atlanta was relatively uneventful.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 8 - Heading to NC

2008-08-14T18:56:00.000-05:00

On Day 8, we knew our vacation was slowly coming to an end. :(

We said good-bye to the colonial experience and headed for the mountains in NC.

During our drive down I-95, while Jen was taking pictures instead of navigating, we discovered that we missed a turn and made it to NC much faster than we had expected. Fortunately, we realized this as soon as we looked at the map in the NC welcome center so we didn't get too far off track and with the help of our AAA tour book and TripTiks, we were able to find a state highway that eventually brought us to I-85.

After getting ourselves back on track, we stopped for lunch at Ruby Tuesday. We're really going to miss their salad bars.

After several hours of driving, we finally saw the mountains. They were breathtaking! And best of all, we knew we were almost at our destination: Asheville, NC.

View of street in Asheville

After settling into our hotel in Asheville, we headed out for dinner. The brochure in our room mentioned a place called Picnic's that had been featured on Rachel Ray. Considering Rachel Ray a reliable source, we decided to try it out. When we first walked in we were a little worried that we were in the wrong place becuase it was a little hole in the wall. But we were quickly welcomed with friendly faces and a brief orientation on what the place is all about and how to order. It's a cafeteria style restaurant that offers fresh home cooked food. Don't be deceived by the humble appearance of the food. They offer the BEST wood smoked chicken, home cooked mashed potatoes, home made macaroni and cheese...and more! But the good food doesn't end with dinner...Nope! We took two slices of home baked desserts back to the hotel. Jacob had fresh strawberry pie and I had carrot cake. OMG!!!!! Both were heavenly (I would say more but we're trying to keep this site G rated)! We've decided that next time we are in Asheville we will definitely be stopping by Picnic's.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 7 - Water Country USA

2008-08-14T18:37:00.000-05:00

On our final day in Williamsburg we opted to take it easy at Water Country USA.

WC is about the size of Splash Town but much more scenic and comfortable. When we first arrived we hit the slides. We rode Aquazoid, Big Daddy Falls, Jet Scream, Malibu Pipeline, and Wild Thang. All of the of the slides were exciting and fun and best of all, almost all of them had some sort of waterfall incorporated into the ride so we were soaked after each one!

After riding on the slides, we strapped on life vests and cruised the Hubba-Hubba highway. The highway was a faster paced version of a lazy river and wearing a life vest enabled us to catch the jet stream and float away. It was a great way to relax!

After a day at the water park, we headed back to the hotel to pack up so that we'd be ready to head for our next stop...Asheville, NC.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 6 - BG at Night

2008-08-14T18:22:00.001-05:00

After touring Williamsburg all day, we headed to Busch Gardens to finalize our Busch Gardens experience...

Jen had the famous, supersized, made right in front of you (not prepackaged), melt down your arm, cotton candy she had been craving for years...

Jacob had his famous, refreshing, combine all of the flavors, watch out you'll get a brain freeze, icee...

And then we sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed Busch Gardens' night show, "Kinetix."

The show was spectacular! It had acrobatics, bike tricks, circus acts, and more. It was amazing to see the performers fly through the sky and perform many of the same tricks we had seen at Sea World, but without the water beneath them. It was an intense, heartstopping show to say the least!

Vacation to Virginia: Day 6 - Williamsburg

2008-08-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

Day 6 was devoted to Williamsburg.

Knowing we had a lot of walking to do during the day, we decided to take the trolley into Revolutionary City.

Jen waiting for the trolley.

Our first destination was the Capitol Building. This was the legislative center for Virginia and where capital crimes were tried.

Outside the Capitol Building.

Meeting room in the Capitol Building.

Capitol Courtroom

Tour guide in the House of Burgesses inside the Capitol Building.

Different view inside the House of Burgesses.

We also stopped by the Public Goal (Jail)

Outside the Jail

In the Jail Courtyard

View from inside the jail.

We also visited a few historic homes.

The Wythe House

The Wythe House Out house

Tea Time at the Wythe House

Dinner at the Powell House-Did you know dessert was considered a side dish? Yep, Jen's kind of eating. She'll take a side of greens, a slice of meat, and a slice of pie. : )

Then, after dinner they would eat a small lightly sweetened dish (e.g., a piece of chocolate).

Slave quarters in the Randolph House

Back yard of the Randolph House

The Governor's Palace

The Maze at the Governor's Palace

Entry way for the Governor's Palace-it was quite a welcome!

Governor's Palace Ballroom-it was like being in a scene by Jane Austin.

Us outside the Governor's Palace garden

Jen in the Governor's Palace Cellar

We had lunch at the King's Arms Tavern. Great food in a fun colonial environment. The waiter even gave us tips on how to eat our food like a colonist. For instance he advised Jacob to eat his beef tips with only a knife.

We stopped to hear the colonists' views on their fight for independence.

Colonial Transportation

Artillery in the Guardhouse

Jacob outside the Guardhouse fence

Colonial Fire Truck...yes, you might as well accept the fact that you'll need to rebuild your house if it catches fire.

The Printer

One of the Shoe Makers. These guys were hillarious! We walked in and they were gossiping about the latest happenings in Colonial Williamsburg. They were so good that at first we couldn't tell if they were acting or if they were just engaging in everyday conversation.

The Dressmaker

The Silversmith

The Wig Maker

She could style your own hair or create a wig for you. Your choices of hair were human, horse, or Yak.

Options for the men. The fuller the wig, the more prominent you were. Hence the phrase, "Big Wig."

The Apothecary

Not only could they give you medicine but they could also perform surgery!

Jacob enjoying an afternoon colonial snack (sweet potato muffin & root beer).

After our snack we joined the colonists for a battle reenactment and celebration behind the Courthouse.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 5- Busch Gardens

2008-07-16T17:34:00.000-05:00

After 2 full days of history lessons, we decided to take a break and hit Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens is Jen's all time favorite park. It has thrill rides, water rides, the best "melt in your mouth and all down your arm" cotton candy, entertaining shows, and animal exhibits. (Note: Jen has not been to Disney World, yet.)

When we first entered the park, we were welcomed by the scene of a European village.

We anxiously waited for the clock to strike 10am so we could enter the rest of the park...

the clock finally struck 10am and everyone made a mad dash for the rides.

First we rode the Loch Ness Monster. Jen promised Jacob that this would be an easy ride to break us in for the more serious coasters. She said it had a steep first drop, an exciting tunnel, and was an overall smooth ride. It's amazing what 15 years can do to a coaster...she was only correct about 2 of the 3 descriptions.

Then we rested a little and searched for our next coaster ride. We were determined to ride all 5 coasters but we carefully developed a strategy to slowly work our way up to the most extreme...The Griffon.

We stopped in Ireland...then we headed for the Big Bad Wolf (another one that Jen claimed was so smooth), The Alpengist (that truly felt like we were flying through the Alps), and Apollo's Chariot.

Apollo's Chariot was amazing! It was an extreme version of the Steel Eel and so much more. We flew through the sky, up, down, up, down, up, down, and so on, it was a pure adrenaline rush!

After several "are you sure we should do it?" conversations, we finally committed to ride The Griffon, the tallest dive coaster in North America. Jen reasoned that if we were going to ride it, we should ride in the 3rd row so that we would simply be looking out at the world rather than staring down to our death when the coaster dangles us over the ledge for what would feel like an eternitity. Yep, that's the coaster dangling people over the ledge after it climbed 205 feet! Then, after you finally get used to the hanging position you suddenly plummet to towards the ground at a 90 degree angle at 70 mi/hr. We only rode this one once.

We also rode some of the water rides: the Roman Rapids, a flume ride, and Escape from Pompeii. Now, we knew that Escape from Pompeii was based on the experience of people escaping from Mt Vesuvius but we didn't realize that the ride involved real flames! In the appearingly harmless tunnel portion of the ride we were surrounded by flames and falling structures. The flames were beside us and above us...we were definitely ready for the splash down after we escaped the heat of the flames.

We also rode a few 4-D rides: Corkscrew Hill & The Curse of Darkastle.

And we visited the animal exhibits. A rescued female bald eagle is above and a male bald eagle is below.

Blue and Gold Macaw

Rainbow Lorikeet

Kukaburra

Rescued Grey Wolf...doesn't he remind you of our "son"?

After a long, head spinning, action packed day, we called it quits early and headed back to the hotel. Fortunately, we knew that we would be able to return to the park the next evening to finalize our Busch Gardens experience.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 4.3 - Ghost Tour @ Williamsburg

2008-07-16T16:55:00.001-05:00

After visiting the Victory Center, we had a pasta dinner then headed to Williamsburg for our Ghost tour. We arrived at Williamsburg early enough to stop for ice cream at Baskin Robins.

Jen enjoying her colonial ice cream cone

Then we began our "The Original Ghosts of Williamsburg Candlelight Tour." We selected this tour because it was sponsored by Barnes and Nobles and was based on the book The Ghosts of Williamsburg by L.B. Taylor. We enjoyed the tour because not only did the guide tell us ghost stories, but she also told us a few interesting historical facts.

Our guide

The haunted Wythe House

The haunted Randolph House

Statue of Lord Botetourt . Our Guide explained that he was flaunting his calve muscles because large calves indicated that a person attended many balls which meant that he was affluent.

Our guide also explained that many colonists could not read. As a result, signs were created based on symbols. This is the sign for Hartwell Perry's Tavern.

We enjoyed our tour however, we did not see any ghosts. I guess we just don't have that 6th sense. :) After our tour we headed back to the hotel to sleep so that we'd be prepared for our next day at Busch Gardens.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 4.2-Yorktown Victory Center

2008-07-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

After lunch we walked to the Yorktown Victory Center. The walk was scenic but much hotter and longer than we had expected. Fortunately, San Antonio has "trained" us for the heat and humidity.

View of the York river on our walk to the Victory Center

We toured the museum and watched a historical video before we explored grounds of the Victory Center. The first site we visited was the Continental Army Encampment.

View of the General's tent from within the encampment

Jacob standing next to the General's desk

Desk in the Officer's quarters

We don't think the small latern provides the same lighting as the chandelier in the General's tent.

Bedding inside an Officer's tent

Bedding inside a soldier's tent...not quite as "comfortable" as the Officer's bed.

Soldiers' tents

Basic tent for wives and children

More spacious tent for wives and children

The cook in the kitchen. The barrel of white stuff is full of salt and meats.

The surgeon, his tools, and his medicines.

Soldier on guard duty.

Soldier firing musket.

After exploring the encampment, we moved on to the 1780s farm.

Garden on the farm

Jen looking through a window of a farm house

Jacob enjoying dinner in a farm house

Dried foods in the drying house

Colonist inside the drying house

Colonist in farm workshop

Jen doing her favorite colonial activity...grinding corn.

Jacob carrying buckets of water.

Thanksgiving dinner

After touring the farm, we left the Victory Center and headed back to our car.

A redoubt we saw on our walk back

View of the York River on our walk back

Vacation to Virginia: Day 4.1 Yorktown Battlefield

2008-07-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

Day 4 began with a tour of the Yorktown battlefield. While waiting for the tour to begin...

we hung out with the troops...

Jacob and George (Washington) had a meeting of the minds...

we boarded a ship suspended inside the museum...

And then the moment Jacob "History Buff" Tijerina had been waiting for...we began our tour of the battlefield.

The guide started the tour by explaining the different cannons that had been used during the battle...

Then the guide lead us to a section on the actual battlefield and pointed out the redoubts and flags in the distance while she explained the key points that led to our success (with assistance from the French) in the battle.

Then, we took the battlefield car audio tour, which apparently works best with a cassette player that you can take with you as you exit the car so that you can stop and play the "cassette" at all of the appropriate times.

On the tour...

Jacob tried to break into a redoubt...

Jen hoped to be invited into the Moore house to witness the negotiations (see explanation of Moore House in picture below).

We ended our car tour by stopping at Surrender Field.

View of Surrender Field

Trophies of War

Enscription on a trophy

Cornwallis' surrender

After working up an appetite we headed to Yorktown for lunch at the Rivah Café where we shared 2 mouthwatering burgers.

Jen waiting for the burgers.

Vacation to Virigina: Day 3 - Williamsburg (at night)

2008-07-07T11:55:00.000-05:00

For dinner we ate at Food for Thought, which we highly recommend for anyone visiting Williamsburg. The service was great, the food was spectacular with a unique mix of flavors, and the atmosphere was thought provoking. We were even able to pose thoughtful questions to each other based on brain teasers provided on the table.

After our enlightening dinner, we headed to Williamsburg to enlist in the Continental Army through the "In Defense of Our Liberty" evening program.

We arrived at Williamsburg with some time to kill before we our began our program. So, we explored our surroundings...

Jacob found some horses that didn't want to show their faces.

Jen became friends with TJ (Thomas Jefferson).

We found the Public Hospital...just in case we lost our minds while on vacation. (It's really a museum now.)

We found the archeological site of Carlton's Coffeehouse. It looks just like Starbucks, right?

Okay, so it doesn't look exactly like Starbuck's and we needed the sign to tell us it was a Coffeehouse.

We got into a little trouble while we were exploring...

Jen accepted her fate...

Jacob claimed he was innocent.

Not wanting to get into any more trouble, we enlisted in our program as soon as we were freed.

Other people standing in line waiting to enlist.

The experience of joining the army was intense but fun. Our group met at the Magazine and Guardhouse and entered the wooden fence as we prepared for our experience as 18th-century soldiers. At first our primary fear was that we would be hit with embers from the torch baskets (our primary sources of lighting). However, after being yelled at to form lines and stand straight we soon forgot our fear of the embers and directed all of our attention to our assigned Sergeants. Note: There would be more pictures but our Sergeants wouldn't allow us to take any pictures while we were enlisted...something to do muskets being more important in battle than cameras.

View of the fence and torch basket.

View of the Guard House.

We learned how to march (it wasn't pretty), take orders, and head into battle. Sadly, three of our soldiers were hit by a cannon ball and we suddenly forgot everything we had learned. Our Sergeant immediately yelled at us to pick up our flag and regroup. At which point we slowly got back into our orderly lines and continued marching into battle.

A female colonist stopped by to explain that many wives and children would accompany their husbands in the army. The wives would help out as nurses, do the laundry, cook, mend clothes, etc., in exchange they had the comfort of knowing that they were with their husband instead of being at home and possibly being forced to house British troops in their homes. We also learned that some women even posed as men and fought side by side with the men in battle.

At the end of the night we headed back to our hotel for some much needed sleep.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 3 - Historic Jamestowne

2008-07-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

On our way to Historic Jamestowne we stopped by the original Jamestowne glass house which included a functioning replica glass house where colonists were blowing glass.

Historic Jamestowne is the archeological site of the Jamestown settlement.

Statue of John Smith

Jamestown Memorial Church which contains brick and cobblestone foundations from the 1639 church.

Glass displays embedded in the floor line both sides of the church to allow visitors to view the 1639 brick and cobblestone foundation pieces.

Times were rough when the colonists first arrived in 1607. This is the James Fort Burial Ground for the colonists who died between August and September of 1607.

Ruins of the Ambler House (a centerpiece of a plantation estate) which had been built in the 1750s.

Ruins of Swann's 1670s Tavern

After touring Historic Jamestowne, we decided to take the Jamestown Island car tour.

View of road tour from the car.

A wooden bridge along the road tour...we were a little concerned about strength of this bridge.

Next we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner and prepare to enlist in the Continental Army at Williamsburg.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 3 - Jamestown Settlement Part 3

2008-07-06T11:09:00.000-05:00

Next we headed for the Powhatan Indian Village. The Powhatan Indians were native to the region at the time of settlement.

View of Powhatan homes

Jen grinding corn

Jacob sitting on animal skin covered bed

Powhatan gardener sitting near scarecrow hut. The Powhatan children would sit in the hut to scare animals away from the garden.

After visiting the Powhatan village we had lunch at the Jamestown Settlement Museum cafe and headed for Historic Jamestowne.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 3 - Jamestown Settlement Part 2

2008-07-06T10:29:00.001-05:00

After visiting the Riverfront Discovery Area, we headed for the James Fort. The fort was a recreation of the 1610-14 fort, which home to Jamestown's earliest colonists. At first, only men lived in the fort.

Church

Jacob standing in front of the altar

Jen sitting in the church

Jacob standing in a colonial doorway

Jen standing in colonial bedroom

Meats drying (just like beef jerky! yum!)

Would you want to get you water from this well? (Note: This water may smell bad and make you sick...and may even lead to death)

Colonial blacksmith: The blacksmith was more of a repairman who was permitted by England to make components for repairs, but was not permitted to make complete items.

Colonist explaining how the colonial oven worked. She said it makes great bread and pizza.

Colonial kitchen

Olde English Chicken and chicks (living behind the kitchen)

View of cannons inside the fort

Vacation to Virginia: Day 3 - Jamestown Settlement Part 1

2008-07-05T19:06:00.000-05:00

We began day 3 with breakfast (we are so thankful for complimentary, hot breakfasts) and then we headed to the Jamestown Settlement to begin sightseeing.

At the Jamestown Settlement we saw replica ships of the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.

We were able to board and explore the ships. We don't think comfort was a top priority in the 17th-century.

Privacy cabin

Open cabin (includes space to air laundry)

Luxury cabin

Ship cannon

Jacob near the ship anchor

Colonists manning the ship

Aren't you glad flying is now an option?

After touring the ships we headed for the Riverfront Discovery Area that showed us 17th-century waterfront activities.

Jacob next to a tree trunk that will become a canoe.

Jen in canoe.

Anyone need a fishing net?

Colonist making a fishing net.

Colonist in garden

Vacation to Virginia: Day 2 (at Night)

2008-07-05T15:11:00.000-05:00

After settling into our hotel, we had dinner at Ruby Tuesday which had the same wonderfully delicious salad bar that we remembered.

After dinner, we headed down Colonial Parkway to make sure we could find Jamestown, which was where we would begin our next day.

While driving down the Parkway we came across a few historic markers, one of which we visited while the sun was setting.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 2

2008-07-05T12:01:00.000-05:00

Day 2 began at 6:30 a.m. with a delicious, complimentary, warm breakfast from LaQuinta. After breakfast we headed for Virginia. During our drive, we started noticing the trees were getting taller and scenery was becoming more beautiful as we got closer to Virginia.

Us at a rest stop in SC.

Jen driving in NC.

Jac dancing and driving in NC.

Based on our AAA Triptik, we took Hwy 5 just outside of Richmond Va., to reach Williamsburg. Although the road was scenic, the speed limit was somewhere around 25 to 35 mph. So, what appeared to be a 30 min. drive on our map, turned out to actually be a 1 hr. drive. On the bright side, we passed a few historic plantations along Hwy 5 that we'd like to tour next time we visit Va.

Scenic view while on Hwy 5

We finally arrived at the Hampton Inn and Suites hotel on Richmond Rd. in Williamsburg around 5 p.m.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 1

2008-07-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

Our vacation to Virginia was amazing. It began on Jun. 20, 2008 at 4am when we headed for Atlanta, Ga. During our drive to Atlanta, we took a detour along the Mississippi Coast to see some of the remaining devastation from Katrina. It was sad to see that much of the beach was still being reconstructed, several of the homes and businesses were still boarded up, and many of the trees were missing their tops. After getting back on our original route to Ga., we stopped at Dreamland BBQ in Montgomery, Al. based on Rosalind's recommendation. The BBQ and sides were just as good as she had said. The BBQ sauce was more vinegar based than we're used which was exactly what we had wanted because it was a flavor we were not used to eating. We will definitely try it again next time we travel through Alabama.

Our day ended around 11:30 p.m. when we finally arrived at the LaQuinta Inn in Norcross, Ga. (just outside Atlanta).