Sunday, June 29, 2008

Busy Week/Weekend

We've been super busy since I posted last, so here's a few of the highlights: 

On Wednesday I fixed dinner! That may not sound like a big deal to most of you, but cooking doesn't come as naturally to me as it does to others. I'm not bad, mind you, but I have to really read directions and follow them closely. None of this "a pinch of this, a dash of that" stuff. Not yet, at least. You'll have to check with Brian if dinner was good, but personally, I thought it was fantastic! :) 

Thursday night I went to a Ginny Owens concert at Park Cities with Rachael Clark. (Rachael and Matt Clark live in our apartment complex and are in our sunday school. They got married in December. Rachael is Aubrie's cousin. Aubrie is Jake's girlfriend. Jake is my younger brother. Got it? Good.) Last Sunday they made an announcement in Sunday School about the concert, and I got so excited! I was a big fan of hers in high school. In fact, I used one of her songs for the background music of my senior slideshow video. She also came to Baylor my freshman year and performed at Waco Hall for chapel. Anyways, she plays the piano and has a wonderful, unique style of singing. She writes most, if not all, of her songs - and her lyrics are meaningful and often clever. One of the most interesting things about her though, is that she's been completely blind since she was two. I bought her 2 newest CD's (1 for $15, 2 for $20 - Mama didn't raise no fool, so I got two) and have loved listening to them in the car. 

Friday's are my day off, so I usually do stuff around the house and run errands. I did some of that, and then went to babysit the Porch girls. They were great (as usual), and made me hope that one day when we have kids they go to bed as easily as those girls do. What a blessing!

This weekend we've been in Austin. It was a great trip! We went down there for Sarah Seidlits' wedding, and so that Brian could ride a specific mountain bike course. He's doing a triathlon there next month, and wanted to pre-ride it so that he's more familiar with it on the race day. Sounds like cheating to me, but he's promises that it's not. :) The wedding was beautiful, and we were glad that we went. We were just glad to be in Austin. Neither Brian or I have been there many times, so it was a learning experience for us both. Brian's great with directions, though, so he had his bearings pretty early on. I love that about him. Austin is such an out-doorsy town and very dog-friendly. Oh, did I not mention that we took Mia with us?! We found a hotel that let your pet stay in the room with you, and offered doggie spa services if needed (we didn't need them, Brian would want me to point out). While Brian was biking on Saturday afternoon, Mia and I went to what we thought was going to be a dog park. This was so much cooler, though. In Austin, they have what's called "Off-leash Areas". Basically this one was a nature trail all through the hills, and your dogs are allowed to wander along with you, off of their leash. I was a little worried at first because I wasn't sure how well Mia would do staying close to me, but I was very pleasantly surprised! She stayed within 20 feet of me at all times, and every few seconds she would turn around and make sure I was still behind her. A few times, I hid behind some bushes to see what she would do, and after she realized she couldn't see me, she came back looking for me. I was so proud! :) Needless to say, I couldn't stop talking about how much fun we had, so Brian came back with us on Sunday. I wanted him to be able to experience it too. The pictures didn't do it justice. We had a great time hiking for a couple of hours, all three of us... happy little family! :) 

Last but not least, to top off our weekend, we drove back from Austin this afternoon so that we could make it for our Sunday School class' cookout. We were so exhausted, and for a second, considered not going (Mom, don't be mad..I was embarrassed because I was supposed to take a dessert and realized I wouldn't have time to make one), but then decided to tough it out anyway. And, we're really glad we did. We love the people in our Newlywed class, and it was great to catch up and laugh with several couples we haven't seen in a few weeks. 

Well, I think that sums up our weekend. I need to post more often so these entries don't end up so long! Lesson learned.

*** Here are the pictures I promised! Enjoy! ***

This is the front of the hotel where we stayed:
The Mansion on Judge's Hill

Brian before the pre-ride

Mia and I posing on the nature trail at Emma Long Park

The beautiful bride and me


3 comments:

Lindsey said...

Sounds like a fun weekend. We need a cool dog park like that here!!

Remy said...

Busy weekend... squeeze us in sometime ok!!!

Erica Ladwig said...

Hey! I just started a blog too! I got your mom's hot sauce recipe a few weeks ago to make it for a graduation party, and I've been making it ever since! The other day we were eating it, and Aaron was like "What's Rachel up to? This hot sauce reminds me of her!" Lol I thought it was funny! Hope you're doing well!