Gustav

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Gustav MAY be headed in our direction. This will be our first hurricane if it does turn towards us. And I'm unsure whether I want to leave or not. Dain asked me to reserve a hotel in Austin just in case. And I did. He has to work no matter what since that's what media people do when something like this happens. I'm just torn!!! I have heard stories of people driving 15 hours and travel about 200 miles. UGH!!!! Of course, safety comes first. And we are prepared no matter what choice is made. If we decide to stay, we have provisions, water, etc. So keep an eye on this storm ...

First Day of School

(this is me)

It's the first day of school!!! Christian is officially a Senior (EEKK!), Emi is 8th grade (her last year of Middle School) and Alyssa started her 2nd year of college. I have been doing a happy dance all morning. I love having the kids home during the summer, but when school starts, I'm ready for some peace and quiet. Hee hee hee



Alyssa was in the library studying when I texted her and asked her to take a pix of herself. lol



I took these of Christian as he was leaving at 6:30 a.m. He has a full load for his Senior Year. He will be a busy boy this year.



I had to force Emi to smile and stand still. It's so much easier when they're little .. ha ha ha As she was walking out the front door, I said, "One more!" and she looked over her shoulder and said "Moooooommm". HA HA HA So that's what I took!

This year's rockin' eye candy

Last week, Dain and I had the chance to go see two concerts in a row. Dave Matthews on Friday (totally rocked!!!) and Keith Urban on Saturday (for my sake). I'm not much of a country fan. Keith Urban concerts rock. It was a combined concert with LeAnn Rimes and Kenny Chesney. Not a Chesney fan so we left after a couple of songs. They were both awesome!

Eye Candy

Alyssa and I went together last year to see Keith Urban. We yelled and screamed and had a great time. We were really close to the stage!!!

As Summer Break Ends

So school starts next Monday. I'm excited and the kids are dreading it ... Here are some images from summer. We really had a good one. We made shave ice (complete with sweetened condensed milk on top "snow capped"), played in the pool a ton, flew to Brenham for lunch, and just plain had fun.

Schlitterbahn

We finished our "staycation" by going to Schlitterbahn, then to Austin to see the capitol, down to Brenham for Blue Bell ice cream, and drove home.

New Braunfels, Gruene

We went to visit the Cavern .. it's so cool! We also visited Gruene, right next to New Braunfels. Cool shops and great restaurants.


We went to New Braunfels and tubed down the Guadalupe River. My water pictures are in my other camera ... so these were taken before.

Dain the Astronaut

Since we live in Houston, Dain decided to apply to become an Astronaut. LOL Yup, you read right. He's not one to pass up an opportunity such as this one. So here is the official reply from Nasa. Now that the Shuttle program has ended, it may or may not happen. But he can always say that he tried. :-)

Miami-Key West

I forgot to post our Miami-Key West pictures!!!! It was beautiful ... and it's always awesome to spend time alone with my Sweetie.

RHS Class of 83 Reunion!

Yup, we're older, heavier, with more wrinkles and gray hair but wiser ... And we had a BLAST! Good friends are there for life. This brought back a ton of memories!

Rigby!!!

Dain and I went to Rigby last week and over the weekend. I went up for my class reunion which will be a different post. Alyssa drove up from Logan. Also, my sisters Lee and Angenette drove up from Salt Lake City along with my niece Sara (Paul's daughter) and Ang's daughters Elena and Leah. My brother Ryan and my mom and dad live in Rigby. We had a mini family reunion!!!! Dain and I also got to spend time with our friends Susie and Lance.

I had forgotten how nice it is to wake up to 58 degrees in the summer ... It got to the lower 90's by mid-day but having cool mornings and evenings was sooo nice.

Remember the cold???

It's been so hot lately, I decided to post a video of the kids skiing this past Christmas. The snow looks SO nice!!! And cool!

Marching Band!

Last night, we went to a Drum and Bugle show. It's basically a bunch of professional marching bands. It was fun to watch and some of those groups were very, very good. Christian is in marching band and he starts in about two weeks. Where has the summer gone??!!!!

This picture is from last year. Christian is the first one on the right in the first picture and that's his band playing at a Texan's game.

Snake!!!

I got in the pool this morning to swim laps and guess what I found swimming in there with me!!??? Yup, this snake. I used the skimmer to throw it over the fence (to the side without neighbors, lol). My little sister found that it's a Texas checkered snake. Non-poisonous. PHEW!

Independence Month!

July happens to be independence month both in Argentina and the US. July 4th for the US and July 9th for Argentina.

I am grateful for both countries!!
Happy independence days!

Dain's workout in a magazine!

Houston's Chill Magazine did a story on Dain and a trainer he's worked with in the past. They show a complete workout. Pretty cool!

Blue Bonnets and Wildflowers

I completely forgot about these pictures! We took them in April during Blue Bonnet season. We took a long drive (much to the kids' chagrin) and found fields and fields of beautiful flowers ....

Gator Country!

We have seen a couple of gators since moving to Texas, but we haven't see a lot! So this weekend, among a bunch of other activities, we headed over to Gator Country! It's a bit redneck but so interesting!!! Learned about their behavior and got to see some big alligators and snapping turtles. Cool!

Curry in a Hurry!

For my birthday in January, Dain gave me a gift certificate to take classes at a local cooking school. I have taken 2 classes so far: Greek and tamales. Loved both! Especially the Greek cuisine class. Tonight, it's curry!! I'm SO excited. We love, love Indian food. I've tried making a few dishes on my own and they turned out okay. Now I get to learn about the art of curry, which as you know, can be a combination of many spices. One drawback: my right shoulder/arm. It's still in pain. Hopefully, I can get around that.

Namaste

Using My Left Hand ...

This morning, I took my bike out for a ride. Twenty minutes out, I slid sideways and hit my head, my right shoulder, and my right knee. Ouch! And it wasn't a slow ride... My shoulder REALLY hurt so I walked the rest of the way home and drove myself to the ER. Turned out to be a separated shoulder. I have a bruise on my head and just scraped my knee. So now I'm wearing a sling and can't workout for 2-3 weeks!!! YIKES! I had signed up for some yoga workshops and I'm so bummed. So I guess I will be walking a lot and trying to swim with one arm. Ha Ha

And Emi will have to do my hair ... EEEEKKKK!!!!

Tagged

I was tagged by Melanie so here are my answers:

A-Attached or Single?- very attached!
B-Best Friend(s)- My Sweetie .. And D'Ann .. And Aly .. And Lee .. and Susie .. oh so many. Nice!
C-Cake or Pie?- chocolate cake with chocolate icing
D-Day of choice?- Friday....it's date night!
E-Essential item?- flavored lip gloss and lotion
F-Favorite color?- black ... which isn't a color
G-Gummy bears or worms? not a candy person. oh! swedish fish! those are gummies, right?
H-Hometown?- Rigby, Idaho
I- Favorite Indulgence? Shopping for myself, by myself
J-January or July?- January! it's my b-day and anniversary month!
K-Kids?-3- Alyssa, Christian and Emi
L-Life isn't complete without? Pedis!!! And yerba mate
M-Marriage Date?- January 15, 2000
N-Number of Bro & Sis?- 3 brothers, 2 sisters
O-Oranges or Apples? oranges. can't bite into apples--gives me chills
P-Phobia and Fears?- mice/rats
Q-Quote?- Hmmm
R-Reason to smile?- so many things- my life in general. it rocks!
S-Season of choice? For sure Fall but up north! Love everything about it!
T-Tag Ten People? D'Ann, Angenette, Lee, Paul, Lauri, Deb, Lena, Di, Karen, Aly, T, LB & Susan (I know, it's more than 10)
U-Unknown fact about me?- I'm a daredevil at heart. like I would have loved to be a stunt woman. lol
V-Vegetable?-asparagus
W-Worse habit?- I rub my skin on my face/lips. use tons of lotion (bottles in all major rooms plus in both cars)
Y-Your favorite food? it changes. right now?? Thai and Indian
Z-Zodiac sign? aquarius

Drummer Girl

Look at what Dain put in Emi's room this weekend. I have a feeling my life will never be the same (or quiet) again. She's LOVING it! PS: She made honors band for next year (8th grade).

Green is in

While Alyssa was here, we visited this cool park in the area that's like a bayou. Pretty trails, pretty green water (lower left hand picture), moss everywhere and ants carrying whole leaves!

Christian is 17!!!

So Christian is 17 as of May 8th. Happy Birthday!!!!

We celebrated with dinner and a big, yummy chocolate cake with chocolate frosting-his fave (mine too!). Now someone tell me this: How do they grow up so fast? It seems like yesterday that he was a giggly, happy toddler. We love you!

The "A" Team

Alyssa is working this summer with Utah State University's A Team.

They help out with new student orientations. These are some of the hard-working girls. :-)

Here's a link to USU's Soar page: http://www.usu.edu/soar/A-Team/