Ski Trip to Canada

Neither Jarrod or I had ever been to Canada & I had an itch to go skiing so we took a vacation to Whistler/Vancouver, Canada to go skiing the week before my BIG birthday. I won't mention the age, but let's just say I've entered into a new era.Our friends Stacey & Josh went with us and we had a great time. It was beautiful and we had the slopes practically to ourselves since it was still pretty early in the season. We stayed right at the bottom of the mountain so was just a short walk to the lifts. We got our fill of skiing, along with some bruises and sore muscles, but the hot tub & Eucalyptus steam room at the resort was also visited every night! This was also the first time Jarrod & I went skiing together so was a fun, new experience. Jarrod managed not to wipe out during the trip, but one of the slopes got me a couple times and I slid a good ways down. Jarrod said one time he wasn't sure if I was going to stop before I got to the edge where he wasn't sure what was on the other side & he didn't run to my rescue! I think he was too busy laughing at me. The Olympics are set to be held in Whistler in February so it was also a lot of fun to see all the preparations. We got to ride the peak to peak gondola that has just been built for the Olympics. It is about a 3 mile ride from the peak of Blackhomb mountain to the peak of Whistler mountain to allow skiiers to easily go back and forth between both mountains. It also offers some amazing views!

The trip was definitely a great way to move into the next era!

All Ski Trip Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40137&id=1070915343&l=dcb2c3f5e9

Ags vs Hogs...

At the beginning of October, we headed to Dallas and stayed with Emily & Brad in Ft. Worth for the weekend and enjoyed the famous Joe T Garcias Mexican restaurant for the first time with them, my family and Laura & Erich. We also went to the new Cowboys stadium for the first time to watch the Texas A&M Aggies fight it out against the Arkansas Hogs. Well, there wasn't much of a fight, but we can always hope for next year. It was fun meeting up with friends at the game anyway. Mom, Ernie and Jim were also in town for the weekend so we got to spend time with them and celebrate with Mom for her birthday.

Jarrod, Mom, Ernie, Jim

And me.

Experiences in Rock Climbing

So after we had our first yard work day of the season & were completely exhausted, we decided to try our hand at Rock Climbing b/c our arms weren't sore enough just yet. Some friends of ours from Church invited us out to climb a beginner's rock up near Georgetown. I must need a pre-beginners rock b/c I didn't make it that far, but Jarrod did pretty good. We learned the rock climbing lingo, "Belay On" & "Climb" or something like that.

A Gaither Christmas in Austin

This year was our year to have Christmas with Jarrod's side of the family and our first time to host at our new house. We spent a week enjoying time with them, celebrating Christmas, and eating lots of good food.

We went to a Christmas Eve service at our new church...

Gaither Family Photo

Christmas Eve Service with Rick Trevino

Sing Along with the kids

Candlelighting and Snow

Rick Trevino has roots in Austin and he has led music for the Christmas Eve service at our church for 18 years.

We were entertained by our nephew Cayden....

He learned to play the piano

& to climb stairs

Enjoyed opening gifts on Christmas morning....

Ate a yummy Turducken for Christmas dinner...
and also explored Austin with Jarrod's family, watched lots of football & movies, did lots of eating, lots of playing with Cayden, only a little of playing Bridge since I discovered I may not like the game so much after all (or maybe I just need to practice up a little on the computer like Jarrod has!) & had many friends stop through to visit. It was a fun time having Jarrod's family here at our house for the first time and enjoying our first Christmas in our new house here in Austin. Hope all of you also enjoyed time with family & friends this Christmas season and took time out to remember the birth of our Saviour , Jesus Christ, that our loving God sent to us to save us from our sins and allow us to have eternal life. What a wonderful reason to celebrate!

Do I hear 30....

Sold! To the couple on the back row who has no clue what they are doing! Ok, so recently we were finally able to go to this antique auction near our house that we have been wanting to attend since we moved here. There was some stained glass windows being auctioned off at this particular sale and we had our eye out for a piece for one of our windows. However, once arriving, there was sooo much more! I went early to scout out what we might want to bid on and picked out the piece of glass I wanted and a couple other things -- one of which was this adorable piece of furniture that would fit perfectly in our half bath downstairs. After the scouting, I called Jarrod immediately to tell him we had to go to the auction that night. So we both finished up most of our errands and met back up at the auction at 7pm. What an experience it was! It was more than just shopping -- it was entertainment! People watching was great! Jarrod loved the fact that the couple sitting next to us opened their picnic basket to an array of cheeses and a bottle of wine! Hilarious! But, definitely fitting as we found out as the night progressed -- no lack of entertainment. So back to the buying -- well that adorable table I just had to have was auctioned off 5th so I had not had a chance to learn how to do this yet and I let it get away. I should have had a price in my head of how much I was going to bid, but it all just happened so fast!

Auction Lesson #1: write down max price for all items wanted.

After my table got auctioned away, I was so sad and just couldn't forget about it so we sat back and watched for a while, and a while longer and longer....they were not bringing out the piece of stained glass I wanted. 2 hours later they still hadn't and our stomachs were growling.

Auction Lesson #2: Bring snacks! The popcorn at the concession doesn't do it!

We bid on this painting that came up that retailed originally for $1000 & we won it for $85 + tax & 15% auction charge. We thought it might work in our entry (and it did! but is so high up that we can't hang it just yet until we get a taller ladder.)
Finally about 10 o'clock, the auctioneer had lost lots of buyers and bidding was getting scarce so he asked us to go pick out the things remaining that we wanted to bid on. Finally! I could bring my stained glass up! He began auctioning some of the items and a very cute old lady sitting toward the front was trying to bid on something she really wanted, but was not very confident about her bid so the auctioneer didn't see her hand and sold it to someone else. Wow! Was she mad! I hate to admit it, but old ladies are so cute when they are mad.

Auction Lesson #3: Be confident about your bid and stand up to get his attention if you are being ignored.

So my stained glass was finally up there and the bidding began. Luckily there were not many bidders left and since quite a few other pieces had gone earlier in the night, I didn't have to put up much of a fight and got it for $30! If you have looked at stained glass windows at antique stores before as I have, you know they are not necessarily cheap! Especially for one in good condition. I'm guessing the piece we got would retail for at least double what we paid, but some larger pieces can get up into the 100's. Anyway, we were quite proud of our purchases and the stain glass window fits perfectly in the bathroom window where we wanted to put it.

Visiting the new Mommas...

Well, we made our first trip back to Dallas together this past weekend to go to Liesl & Dudley's (Jonathon's) couples baby shower in Frisco.

We had a great time getting to catch up with them & others at the shower who we hadn't seen for a while. I also got to meet Dudley's parents whom I have heard so much about, but had never met. So that was fun. I also got to meet Liesl's sisters. Liesl is due to have Aaron Sayres Dudley on December 31. Doesn't she just look so cute at 8 months pregnant though!

We also got to stay with Alicia & Collin and see the beginnings of the baby room. So far, the closet is painted blue & all decked out with baby boy stuff and the bedding/decorations she chose are farm animals, which of course I love! (being that I am a farm girl) We enjoyed our short stay with them. It was great to be with close friends for the weekend! We didn't get to fit in our usual Spades card game though (not sure who is ahead right now -- girls or guys), but Alicia and I have been known to kick their tails at Spades! We also didn't get to fit in a ping pong tourney. Last time we played, Collin was the champ, but I made it to the finals (yes, it is what you are thinking -- I BEAT JARROD)!! If you cannot tell, I am very proud of that. ;) It is a loving competitiveness that we have though, right Dear? LOL Anyhow, we'll have to make another visit to fit in all the competition with the Sharps.

Alicia is due January 30 & is so cute pregnant too! I hadn't gotten to see her since she was showing a little.

And, on Sunday, we went to service back at our old church, Stonebriar. The new sanctuary was completed about a month ago so we were so excited to go back and worship there! It was wonderful! The choir sounded so good & the organ pipes that were just put in sounded & looked amazing! It was great to hear from Chuck & just be in a place that was so familiar. After church, we made a pass by our "old house", which is really weird to say. It was still there of course and things looked pretty good, but the grass wasn't near as green as when we left it and my flowers I planted had grown a lot! But they looked pretty wilty & dying after going through the hot summer. Next, we went for some sushi at our old fave, Chaucers. It was yummy! And a stop in Frisco just wouldn't be the same without getting some custard at Sheridan's ---

It was a short visit so we hope to make it back up again soon to see everyone!

Aggieland is close, but Corpus is Home...

Although we got to visit my surrogate home, Aggieland, last weekend, this weekend we made the first drive home to Corpus from Austin. It was such a relaxing drive. Especially b/c it was 3 1/2 hours less than we are accustomed to from Dallas!! We took a back route to miss Friday afternoon traffic, but also with ulterior motives to go through Lockhart and stop for some BBQ at yet another talked about joint! This one is called Kreuz. We decided that they have the best brisket that we have ever tasted! Jarrod and I have differing views on the pork ribs. I liked them better than several of the places we have tried (although, all have been wonderful!), but Jarrod wasn't to keen on the seasoning. Nevertheless, we left there with very full stomachs!! And on to Corpus we went. It was a great time visiting family and friends. We went to a wedding of a friend of mine, Licia Dodson, from grade school who also went to business school at A&M with me.

I caught up with quite a few familiar faces whom I hadn't seen in years so that was fun, but also got to see Amber for the second weekend in a row! That never happens these days!

We were also able to celebrate with my mom on her actual birthday, which has probably not happened in quite some time -- usually it is a card sent in the mail & a phone call. Love you Mom! And I am thankful for the ## years (I won't tell) that God has blessed you with & the almost 29 years of it (getting close to the big one!) that I have been blessed by having you as my mother! Wish I had taken a picture to put here from the weekend, but these older ones will have to do.

We're famous!

We started out our weekend as we do many weekends, our Friday night sushi date. We have many sushi places we like to go to, but we went to our fave that I've mentioned before, Tomo. It was yummy! We had missed a couple of Fridays b/c of various reasons so it was great to get back to our routine. After dinner we went to the movie theatre to see the new movie "Fireproof" with Kirk Cameron (http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/)







If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. It is made by the same folks that produced "Facing the Giants". It presents some great lessons and a WONDERFUL message. After the movie, our names became "famous" in Austin as we debuted on The Word 99.3 FM radio in an on the spot, live interview about the movie. Being on the radio was certainly a first for me!

Working on the House

We've been working away trying to get everything in its place in the house. Our first purchase for the house was some beautiful new office furniture so that I don't have to work off the kitchen table anymore. The furniture was hand made in Guatemala and Jarrod pointed out the other night that I have quite the ecclectic office -- Guatemalan desk & credenza, painting of Italy, a chair, side table & rug from Bahrain, and a painting by a family friend of some mountains with a water feature below it. This past weekend we were able to get a lot done including: staining the concrete on the back patio, halling off as many boxes as we could to the recycle center downtown Austin(where all the crazy longhorns were getting ready for their game I might add - my eyes were strained from all the burnt orange!), Jarrod trimmed all the tree limbs (so they'll grow straight up he says) & set up our new garage organizer while I changed out the hardware on our cabinets in the kitchen and did lots of loads of laundry. In the middle of all of our work, we were able to take some time out to try a new church that we really liked so we'll try it again. It is the closest one to our house that we have been to so far and we had a really good feeling about it. We also went to a cookout at our neighbors house that was a great time getting to know lots of people on our street better. They are all super nice and so welcoming. Seems to be a pretty tight knit community so we are excited about that. We had some great fajitas and of course Jarrod told them as we were leaving "I'll come over anytime as long as you feed me." I wonder what he is saying about what he gets at our house! hmmm! (Actually, we also went to the grocery store on Monday for a stock up and I have cooked every night this week - shocker!)

Look at the huge laundry room we have!! It is amazing!

Grocery Store Scare!

With all the chaos & busyness of the move weekend, it is not a wonder that I lost my mind by the end of the weekend! I shouldn't tell this on myself, but I figure it was a good wake up call to me and could be to many others to pay more attention to your purse when at the grocery store! Anyway, Mom left on Sunday evening & I decided to make a run to the store for some groceries. I was about middle of the shopping trip when I looked down and realized my purse was gone & my stomach just dropped! I immediately ran frantic with my basket to the front of the store and grabbed a manager on my way who (I'm happy to say) dropped everything and ran with me. He made some calls on his CB as we were headed to the front. I parked my basket and headed out the front doors and into the parking lot asking all of the basket guys if they had seen any suspicious behaviour to which no one had. So, hoping that I had just left my purse in the truck, I ran over to it and took a look inside, but no purse. I went back inside to where I had left my basket and described my purse to the manager and where I had been in the store. He told me that they could look at the security cameras & I'm thinking "this could be a long night full of police reports & closing down credit cards, cell phone, etc. & also what a great way to start off our experience in Austin!" So as I am explaining where I had been in the store, I was pointing to the basket at items I had picked up there when I realized that half the stuff in the basket was not mine & some of the stuff I had picked up was missing & still it did not click, but it evidently did with the manager. We began retracing my steps in the store to find a basket sitting nicely in front of the bagged lettuce refrigerator with a black purse that looked EXACTLY like mine just minding its own business! If you are a woman, you know what a feeling of relief came across me at that moment! My life is in that purse! My digital camera, new cell phone, wallet with all credit cards & any and every necessity that a girl needs! Anyway, let this be a reminder to all of you ladies, NEVER take your eyes off of your purse when in the grocery store!! I knew I had & really thought someone had snatched it just when I wasn't looking. i know purse theft is real (click on the link & pay close attention to tip #3 b/c I literally felt stranded) & it would have been so easy for someone to do b/c I really wasn't paying attention. I will now!!!

It's official!

We closed on our new house today!! Ironically, it is on the 2 year anniversary of when we were engaged on August 4, 2006. Kinda crazy! Must be a good date for us! This is our first house to purchase together so it was an exciting experience. I had never been through a house purchase before & never knew my signature could be so important! We must have signed over 100 documents! Anyhow, the previous owner is leasing back the house from us until Sunday, then we are taking the week to do some things to the house before moving in on August 15! More details to come about our new house!

Our First Visitor...

My brother came to visit us this weekend & we toured him around Austin. Friday night we introduced him to our favorite sushi place here called Tomo Sushi. This was also Jim's first time to try any sushi that wasn't at least partially cooked. I was glad that he embraced the experience! We had a great time! Saturday, I went and picked up donuts from Roundrock's World Famous Donut shop so Jim could try them. http://www.roundrockdonuts.com/ We live just a few blocks from it, but Jarrod & I don't really get what the fuss is about. The donuts are a little different b/c they have an orange based batter, but we aren't that impressed. However, typically the line is out the door! After having our donuts & laying around a bit, we headed out to drive around the city, to the area where we will be living & on down to the lake before making our way to have some small town, good eatin' Texas BBQ in Lockhart, Texas. We went to a place called Smitty's that has been filmed and shown on Food Network.

There was an open fire at the end of the pit where they were smoking the BBQ right there where you placed your order.

We (the boys) ordered a total of like 5 lbs of meat!! We did at least have a few left overs, but we definitely did not need dinner that night!

On our way back into Austin we drove by Barton Springs area where Town Lake is & there were a ton of people out swimming, canoing, kayaking, etc. It looks like a fun area that we'll definitely have to go back to. We brought our suits, but the line to get into the swimming hole was way too long! So we headed back toward Round Rock, but we didn't get too far before Jarrod spotted a snow cone stand & I knew we would be stopping & finding some room in our tummy's. Jarrod tried to get out of standing in the hot sun by saying he would watch the car to which I quickly responded, "oh, I'll be glad to watch the car". So he & Jim braved the heat for some unbelievable snow cones! Thanks guys! The cones were yummy & definitley worth the stop!

After church on Sunday we went and ate at Z Tejas in the Arboretum area. Another of our faves! What a great view! And it was such a pleasant day to sit outside on the deck.

It was a great visit! Glad you got to come Jim!