Welcome HOME!!

      The past couple of weeks has been quite the adventure! We are loving our new little house in Sugar Land after two hard weeks of unpacking, painting, repairing, replacing and redecorating. Justin and I are overwhelmed with how happy we are to be back here where we have friends and family. Now, I just have to get my parents here and life will be perfect! We just got back from dinner at Larry's. Justin is at some friends' house watching Monday Night Football and I am enjoying my first quiet night alone with our girls. Our first two weeks back in Sugar Land have been filled with dinners with our friends, golf & tennis at Sugar Creek, watching the beloved ABC shows with his parents and sister, and LOTS of home improvements. I still do not have a job yet, so I have been working hard on the house, but I will be "proactive" about the job hunt this week! Here are some before and after pictures of the house...sorry it took so long. Our second guest room, office, and master bath are still "under construction"...

Fredericksburg

     Justin had a surprise trip planned for Labor Day weekend- to Fredericksburg!  I loved having the entire weekend planned and not knowing what we were going to do next. We stayed at an adorable bed and breakfast called Cooks Cottage. Justin had a basket sitting inside with all my favorite things- wine, cheese, chocolate, chips and dips! 

     We did a lot of walking, talking, drinking, and eating...just what a vacation is all about. Justin had arranged for a limo to take us on a "Texas Wine Tour" all day Sunday. If this is anything like Napa Valley, I believe a Cali vacation is just my thing. 

In the limo off to the wineries!

Mapping out a plan

Inside the tasting room

Grape Creek Vineyards

 Navajo Grill

Stormy Night!

       So it hasn't rained in Austin almost ALL year long, but a couple weeks ago was a different story! Justin and I were home waiting for Kelly and her friends to get in town and the sky opened up. Sadie was hiding in the bath tub (smart dog) shaking her little tail off while Mattie and I were on the back porch enjoying a drink and watching the storm.

 All of a sudden a HUGE gust of wind and loud whistling sounds hit and I couldn't even see my feet. I ran back inside, threw my drink on the floor and had to use my entire body to shut the back door. When I looked up at Justin, his eyes were huge and he started laughing at me thinking I was over dramatic at whatever was going in our backyard. After I could see in the backyard again, we walked outside and noticed our big tree had been completely uprooted and there was debris everywhere. 

A wind tunnel had landed and swept through our street. There were trees and power lines down all around our house. Luckily, our house was not actually hit by any trees, they just got very close. However, out of the other 9 trees that had been uprooted, 4 had damaged roofs. Here's a few pics of afterwards, although they don't look nearly as bad as I remember it being : )

It's official...we're moving to Sugar Land!

So glad to finally say it, "we're moving to Sugar Land!" Although Justin and I have enjoyed living in Austin for the past year and a half, we are beside ourselves to be going back home. We are looking forward to buying a house and having our friends and family in the same town. Justin has already moved down and started work at Hawkeye, but I am still in Austin trying to part with my amazing job. I really enjoyed house hunting with Cindy, although it only lasted for a day because I fell in love with a house very quickly! We are supposed to close on October 15th, so I will post some pictures once it's finally ours. Here are two pictures from when we went down to tell Justin's parents and Kyla & Wyatt!

River Trip 09

For Carlos' birthday, we all met in Gruene and stayed in a river house for a weekend of tubing. This is the first time we have all been back together to tube since college and it was so much fun. Many memories and old stories were brought up as we acted like we were back in college taking a road trip and playing drinking games. After tubing all day, we went to Gruene Hall and enjoyed live music. The weekend was filled with laughter and making new memories. I can't wait until Carlos' birthday next year, because he always loves to plan a good party!

Sunny San Carlos

      There is no place I love to be more than San Carlos, Mexico. After going there for 24 years, I still look forward to it as if it were my first vacation. I dream about it for a month before we go, and then we look at pictures for several months afterwards. There is something to say about a vacation that is completely stress free- no plans, no cooking, no making reservations, no clocks, no worries. A hidden gem on the Sea of Cortez. We spent a week with my parents at my grandparents house and enjoyed every minute of it. We spent most of our time at the Soggy Peso Beach Bar, floating in their pool, out on the boat or sailing. Here are some of my favorite pictures...out of the 450 that were taken! Thanks Grammy and DD for showing us how to live life and love it every day.

Sunset from their back porch

Walking back from the marina

Flying the Texas Tech flag high!

At the little market picking up some cheese!

Sailing!

Dancing on the beach...and yes, there was a band.

Happiest girl in the world!

My beautiful Grammy

Still the same beach after 25+ years!

The Soggy Peso (notice the bar tender)

Stud.

One of MaNy StArFiSh!

I love my mom : )

Sarah is ENGAGED!

     She did it! One of my best friends said yes two weeks ago and they've set the date for January 9th. Sarah Ward is soon to be the beautiful bride of Jake Kellen. They live in Lubbock right now and plan to stay there for another year. Sarah lives up her cowgirl life on Jake's ranch as he cuts horses, and still gets to dress up and enjoy the nightlife as Jake has just released his first album as a singer. What a beautiful couple! I can only hope they move a little closer to us so we can see them often...can't wait for the wedding!