26 Day Picture Project - Day #1

How did that even happen?!?!
So during my run last night it started raining, it didn't seem too crazy, but when it started pouring I decided I'd cut the run a mile short & head home, as I crossed to street & got on the sidewalk the tree that you see here fell....FELL! It didn't scare me really, I think I was more shocked....I was sprinting at this point & turned to go into my neighborhood & saw that another tree had already been knocked over on our street. The power was out, I couldn't get into the house b/c I couldn't open the garage.....
Long story short, I was invited into the home of a nice older couple down the street who let me use their phone & gave me a towel to dry off. I'd like to thank Ms. Rose & her husband for helping me today! :) 
Day 1, kinda crazy!

crazy scene, but all is well....well not with this poor tree, but no one was
hurt  :)

Other pictures of stuff that happened yesterday....up until the tree thing, I really thought one of these pictures was going to represent Day #1....but the tree really just took the cake, don't ya think?!

these absolutely cracked me up, they are multipurpose
sunglasses!  Ariana & I decided that you could use
them twice before they broke....

I've been on a yummy "flavored"water kick after
having some at the hotel I stayed at during the AVID
Conference in Dallas...yesterday's was with lime, today
I plan on trying out apples :)

Spring Break 2012

What I did on my Spring Break
Report posted & created by Erica Ellis

I have been bugging Lake to take me to New Orleans, Louisiana since forever!  I even wanted to go for my bachelorette party, but I was swayed to stay with the bribe of a free house & a limo, it all worked out quite well!  Roll around to getting back from London.  Lake wanted to go someone oversees for SB, but I know what kind of toll that takes on you & the exhaustion it creates, so I said I didn't want to be gone for the entire week, I needed some down time to just vegg during the break.  So we were at a stand still.  I kept suggesting NOLA & kept getting brutally rebuffed!  That is....until Valentine's Day rolled around.  Lake had cutely hidden little Valentine's cards (the kind you hand out as a kid) all around the house.
 
Side story:  when Lake was in India 2 years ago he had done this.  He hid all these fun gift cards & notes & cards all around the house & sometimes I'd randomly find them OR sometimes when we'd Skype & he knew I had a bad day he'd be like "oh, hey, go check in the 2nd draw on the left in the kitchen" or whatever.....so sweet!!!  Anyway, Valentine's Day kinda reminded me of this!
Back to the story.....

We ordered in sushi & stayed in on Valentine's & I'd already gotten a lovely vase of tulips & Breaking Dawn:  Part 1 on DVD.  Thought that was it, we aren't big Valentine's people, which is fine by me!  So Lake says, oh wait, you have one more present.  He hands over a big white envelope with one more card attached to the outside that says:  "how bout we go to NOLA?".......opened the envelope & there were our plane tickets!  YAY!!!!

NOLA Trip--1st Half of Spring Break
Day 1

Our flight out was scheduled to depart from SA at 12:50pm, we had a layover in Houston & were landing in New Orleans at 3:30pm, this was the plan.....

Lake & I at Hobby airport in
Houston, we were very happy
to be getting on a plane!! (stand by)

Well, Sunday morning some crazy storms rolled through San Antonio, by the time we were up & headed to the airport it was a gorgeous day....here.....well, at around 11:30am those crazy storms were demolishing Houston & our plane was still stuck in Houston due to weather.  Needless to say, we were delayed...a lot!  We ended up leaving SA at 2:40 and landing in Houston at 3:30 (our original landing time in NOLA).  To say that people were upset or angry is just an understatement.  Everyone was getting super pissy with the desk people....it was people watching at it's finest!  What can you do, it's a safety thing, so oh well.  At one point, it became just funny to me.  We land in Houston & bust it over to Gate 49 to see if we can be put on stand by for the 4:45 flight.  There were a few people in front of us, but we ended up being 5 & 6 on the list.  Numbers 1 - 4 ended up getting on the flight.....nice.......  Good thing though is that we were automatically put on the stand by list for the next flight out which was at 6:05.  Checked in there, assuming that we were would be 1 & 2, but NO, there were some "A-Listers" (frequent fliers) who had already been placed on the stand by list ahead of us, so we were 4 & 5 for this flight.  Long story short, we had a stand by success!!!  And by 7:15 we had safely landed in NOLA & we were eager to get our bags & eat some dinner.....
Oh wait, our bags!
Had we not made the 6:05 flight we were going to have definite seats on the 8:30 flight, well, of course, no one told our bags about our stand by success, so they of course came in on the 8:30 flight.  Oh well! 
We leave the airport, tired, agitated, excited, & lets be honest, a little stinky.....we catch a cab & head over to take on "The Big Easy"

We stayed at The Hotel Monteleone which is located on Royal Street, one block over from Bourbon & 2 blocks in from Canal Street.  This is a really cool, historic hotel & is still family owned!  It also is home to one of the oldest bars in America:  The Carousel Bar, literally, you sit & the bar & it turns.  It takes 15 minutes to make one rotation.  Kinda cool stuff!  Back to our first evening.  While in the cab headed over to town I used my OpenTable App to make a reservation for dinner at NOLA which is one of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants in New Orleans.  Luckily they had room for us at 9:30.  We got to our room, splashed some water on our face & were off to dinner.  As I've mentioned before, I've never been to New Orleans before, so my sense of direction was a bit off.  But we managed to find our way over to the restaurant.  Looking back on it, the French Quarter is really easy to maneuver, I just needed to get my barrings.

our appetizers at NOLA, omg!

Dinner at NOLA was so good!  The food was delicious!!!  When we got there we were about 20 minutes early so we grabbed a beverage & waited.  There was a very lively group of UK (University of Kentucky) basketball fans there.  The SEC Tournament was being played in New Orleans & they just had a game.  I'm not a b-ball person, at all, but based on how happy they were, I guess they won, or lost really badly?!  We were seated & got looking at the menu.  We decided on mussels & stuffed chicken wings to start with.  Both plates were some of the most delicious things I'd ever tasted, seriously!  And how ingenious is it to stuff a chicken wing!  Culinary master minds!!  For my entree I ordered a Blue Fin Tuna salad with an Avocado puree & Lake got good 'ol Shrimp & Grits!  WOW!  Again, WINNING!  For dessert we opted for an Ooey Gooey Chocolate dessert.  It was ooey gooey because it had marshmallow underneath the cake/brownie portion & was topped with a coffee flavored ice cream, incredible!!!  We rolled out of there & headed over to Arnaud's which is just off Bourbon & I believe Bienville.  This bar was pretty cool looking, totally reminded me of the bar that Jack goes to at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.  The bartenders were wearing tuxes, very old school!  It was way smokey in the bar, so we opted for "Go Cups"

ooey gooey at NOLA

Sidebar:  Can I just say, this whole "go cup" thing really intrigued me.  Everywhere, get a go cup here, get a go cup there.  What an ingenious idea!  Not done with your beverage, but your friends are.....Go Cup it is!  LOVE IT!

the "OG" Pat O's in the French
Quarter :)

At Arnaud's, the bar is actually named "French 75"....this is where the French 75 drink was invented, thank you Mr. Arnaud & your brilliant mixologists!  After Arnaud's we went over to Pat O'Brien's on Bourbon, the original!  I think it's kinda cool that San Antonio has one as well.  Now I've been to all 3 in the US.  There's also one in Orlando at Universal Studios City Walk.  After we had one hurricane, we made one more stop & then it was time for bed.  When we got back to the hotel we were pleasantly surprised to find our bags waiting for us!  YAY!  I had never been so happy to shower in my life, yuck!

Day 2
We woke up bright & early for our brunch reservation at The Court of Two Sisters which was about 3 blocks down Royal St. from our hotel.  This had been highly recommended by various people, so I was really excited.  The brunch was a buffet with jazz music, pretty fun.  The outdoor patio was really pretty, only problem was that it was raining on & off, not hard, but still rain.  We were able to sit under a large umbrella & braved the rain.  The patio had a very large Wisteria that covered the entire patio, it was cool!!!  Lake & I both enjoyed the buffet & the greatest thing about a buffet is trying a bunch of stuff in little amounts & deciding if you like it or not.  This was great!  I tried "Turtle Soup" for the first time.

Lake & I at brunch at The Court of Two Sisters

Sidebar:  I don't know what's in Turtle Soup, just that it's good & has a very tangy after taste.  I was very saddened (not sad enough though) when I learned that YES, there is actually turtle in Turtle Soup.  I still feel kinda bad, but WOW was it good!

Jackson Square

After brunch we walked over the Jackson Square & visited St. Louis Cathedral.  We kind of just wandered around for the morning & then went to Harrah's.....played some craps, won/lost some money, then we were on a search for Johnny's Po-Boys.  We found it, had to wait in line for a bit, but after trying it, the po-boy was well worth the out the door wait!!  After lunch we did some "antiquing" down Royal Street then headed over to the Mississippi River to start our Cocktail Tour.

Cocktail Tour
We'd look into this before we left SA.  Lake & I were both really excited for the tour!!  It was a walking/guided tour.  It was so much fun & I highly recommend it!  It was through GrayLine Tours.  Drinks were not included in the price of the tour, but I believe it was $24 for each of us, our tour guide was AMAZING, so just for all of the historical facts that we got it was well worth it!

First Stop:  Antoine's Hermes Bar.  We toured the restaurant, got to see some really cool private rooms, they have a HUGE wine cellar (crazy big), & they also had a whole bunch of Mardi Gras memorabilia to look at, it was very educational!  We tried a Pimm's Cup at the bar, it's a very British beverage.  Pimm's is actually caramelized gin.  The drink tasted like Sweet Tea with a hint of cucumber, very light & summery.  I really liked it & Lake loved it!  very yum!
Second Stop:  The Court of Two Sisters.  We were back, again!  Our tour took us out on the patio & I actually learned that the wisteria tree over the outdoor courtyard is actually over 140 years old, crazy!  The recommended drink at the bar was the Bayou Bash.  This drink was made with SoCo (which I hate!),   home made fruit punch, & a splash of Cabernet on top.  It was actually really really good!!
Third Stop:  Pirate's Alley Cafe & Absinthe House.  arrrrrggggggg!  Apparently this is a very popular for the local pirates of the area.  They meet nightly & dress up!!  kinda funny!  As this is an absinthe house, this was the recommended drink of choice.  The drink is called "The Green Fairy", you drip water over a sugar cube & it drips into the absinthe underneath.  You're supposed to swirl it around & see "fairies" in the liquid.  Lake & I decided not to partake in the beverage.  Absinthe is actually now legal in the US, but it wasn't up until like 2 or 3 years ago.  Although our tour guide did tell us that Louisiana never really got rid of it.
Fourth (Last) Stop:  Arnaud's French 75 Bar.  And this was the same bar we'd been to the night before. As we were running a little late, Lake & I excused ourselves from the tour to make sure we'd be able to make our dinner reservations at Commander's Palace.

1-1-1 Soup, a-mazing!

We had dinner at Commander's Palace that night, it's located in the Garden District & unfortunately this is all we actually saw of the garden district, with the way the rest of our plans were broken up, we didn't have any time to make our way back down there....or ride a street car, so oh well!  Emeril Lagasse was a sous chef here back in the day....our cabbie told us that he was a "baby chef" there, haha!!  Dinner was good, our soups were fantastic, we had 1-1-1 soup, which was a small tasting of each of their soups.  So we had a gumbo (not my favorite, but still very good!), a tomato shrimp bisque (which was A-MAZING!) & turtle soup (my 2nd favorite).  For dinner Lake had fish & I had a gnocchi plate that was so tasty!!  For dessert we split a cream cheese cheesecake topped with caramel that was TDF!  It was very creamy & yummy & delicious!!  After dinner we met up with one of my colleagues who just happened to be in NOLA with his family.  We met up with him & his wife & bar hopped but ended up at Turtle Bay, kinda close to Pat O's.  There was a guy playing guitar & during his break John & wife Dejah, who just so happened to have a birthday that night, sang during the break.  They were great!  Crowd pleasin' stuff!!  We parted ways & went to bed, dreaming of our last day in NOLA & the copious amounts of food we would consume!

with the Benke's out on Bourbon!

Day 3

Tuesday morning we woke up to eat our last brunch in New Orleans.  We went to eat at Brennan's which was a nice 2 block walk down Royal Street.  The family that owns Brennan's actually owns lots of restaurants in NOLA, including Commander's Palace.  Brunch was so good!  If you ask Lake he'll tell you that it was hands down, the best brunch he'd ever had in his life!  I find it hard to argue with that statement.  I ordered Eggs Benedict, which I'd never had before & I can't remember the exact name of what Lake ordered but it was basically Eggs Benedict but with a Cajun twist.  Whatever it's called, it was so good!  At the end of our meal we shared an order of Bananas Foster, which was actually created at Brennan's.  They have a rolling cart that rolls around the restaurant & prepares your dessert for you table side, kinda like table side guacamole, but with FIRE!

St. Louis Cemetery #1 Tour

After brunch we didn't have too much time, so we wandered a bit & did some shopping.  I find the 2 cutest dresses at a boutique just off of Jackson Square, loved it!  By the time we knew it, it was 1:00 & it was time for our Cemetery Tour.  I had really wanted to do a night time "ghost tour" of the city, but with dinner reservations each night, we just didn't have any time for that.  As our tour started it began to rain & not just "sorta rain" no, it was pouring!!  We took a bus from the Mississippi to St. Louis Cemetery #1 which is just outside of the Quarter.  We waited out the rain for about 25 minutes in their visitors center.  Not that I didn't enjoy myself or the tour, BUT, our tour guide wasn't all that great.  She just wasn't very dynamic & didn't really give us too much information that you couldn't find in a book.  The cemetery itself was super creepy, but cool.  The only really bad problem was that it did stop raining, which was GREAT, BUT like a typical rain storm in the middle of the day, in the south, it was brutally HOT & HUMID after, which probably also took away my enjoyment of the tour.  All in all, I'd say skip this.  There are plenty of horse drawn carriages that give you a tour of the city & stop at this cemetery & allow you to walk around on your own for 15-20 minutes, I'd say do that instead!  After the tour we were ready for a late lunch, because we had late dinner reservations.  We went to eat at Napoleon House, which wasn't very far from our hotel.  I had the most delicious shrimp remoulade over an avocado.  Basically I love anything that is served over an avocado!  Since lunch was "semi-light" we walked over to Cafe du Monde for an afternoon snack of beignets & cafe au laits.  Can I just say, if you want to go there & NOT have to wait, go on a Wednesday at 4:10pm, NO ONE was there, I mean, it was still crowded, but we didn't even have to wait in line.  There were open tables, SCORE!!  I'm excited to have tried there "famous" beignets, very tasty, but there coffee was even better!!  Loved it!  After our beignets we walked down to a market area, then walked all the way back down Royal, it was a good 10-12 blocks, but I fell in love with the streets of NOLA, so it was lovely stroll.  We had a late dinner reservation so we grabbed a drink at the Carousel Bar at our hotel, which, like I said earlier, actually turns!!  I indulged in a French 007, it was pear vodka, champagne, & cranberry juice.  It was really great & our bartender was great as well!  Our dinner reservations were at Galatoire's which is on Bourbon Street.  It was one block away from us.  We had been told, that if we can....get seated on the 1st floor, we had made reservations though & Lake had read up & what he read told us we'd be on the 2nd floor & that the 1st floor was for walk-ins.  So we got there & the first floor wasn't full, so we asked if we could just be seated there & they let us.  When we first got there the atmosphere was really lively & upbeat, but slowly people started finishing their dinner & there weren't too many people coming in, so it kinda died down.  The food was just kinda OK.  We started off with Oysters Rockefeller, which I'd never tasted before, they were very very fishy, but good.  We also had souffle potatoes which were quite possibly the best thing I've ever tasted!!  They served it with a super yummy, rich Bearnaise sauce, they were delish!!!

the magical potatoes!  

Sidebar:  These potatoes are sliced long & thin, then fried in oil that's about 200 degrees.  They then take the fries & freeze them & once an order for the potatoes are placed, they fry them in oil that's like 800 degrees & they POP!  So they end up being big & puffy, but hollow because they explode.

Back to dinner.  Lake & I shared crabs au gratin, which was OK, but I was expecting more flavor.  For dessert though we had a black bottom pecan pie, which was so rich & yummy!  That was good stuff!!  All in all, I'd say Galatoire's is a good place to go, but there are so many other incredible places to eat at that I wouldn't put it on the top of my list of "must eats."  After dinner we went to Jean Lafitte's Bar which is way down on Bourbon.  I grabbed a hand grenade before we began our trek.  This had come highly recommended by a friend & pretty much everyone on the street I saw was drinking one, so I thought....why not....when in NOLA?!??  It just tastes like melon, which can be very dangerous!  It was good, but strong & sneaky, it's like, oh yeah, yum, then BAM, buzz city!  haha.  That was pretty much all I needed for the evening, I was good.  We were back in the hotel, not too late & packed up to get ready for our flight the next morning. 

heading to dinner our last
night out in NOLA :)

And so that was our trip to NOLA, lots of fun, lots of food!  I'm so glad that Lake finally gave in & we were able to experience....."The Big Easy"  :)

Valley Trip--2nd Half of Spring Break
Thursday morning I woke up early, ran a quick 2 miles with Anne & was off to drive to the Valley.  It was a quick 2 day trip, but lots of fun!!  I hadn't been down there since the end of November, so it was nice to visit & see family & friends.  Thursday afternoon my friend Monica came over with her two adorable girls to play with Maryn & Hayden who were down in the Valley with my sister in law.  Watching Lily & Maryn play was too cute!!  They were both so sweet with each other, awwwwwwww!  It's hard to imagine how "grown up" they are now!  They aren't little babies or even toddlers anymore, they're little girls!!  Monica has a second daughter named Mallory who is about Hayden's age, so yeah, they just kinda stared at each other the whole time, still very adorable though.  :)  After the visit Leah & I went to have dinner with my cousins on my dad's side of the family.  We had a great time & they can always make me laugh!  On Friday, I woke up, ran 4 miles, then was lazy, which was very much needed!!  I also got a hair cut at deSanchez with my old stylist, I only cut about an inch & a half, so nothing too drastic.  I needed it though!  The whole reason why I went down there was to help my BFF celebrate her 30th birthday!  Monica had her party at Tipsy Canvas in McAllen.  Basically, you have an "instructor" who guides you through a painting & everyone paints that same thing, they can just use the colors of their own choosing.  We painted "Tipsy Tulips."  This was much harder than I thought, but it was so much fun!!  I think it had more to do with the fact that I was getting to spend time with my life long friends, but the food, drinks & painting didn't hurt either!!  ;)  Saturday morning I woke up & drove back to SA.

Mon's 30th Birthday at Tipsy Canvas in McAllen

Phew, so that was it, that was my Spring Break!  All in all, it was so much fun & also very tiring!!

SPRING BREAK 2012, wohoooooo!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom is celebrating her birthday today & although I won't actually get to see her & give her a big 'ol birthday hug, I still thought it would be nice to dedicate a blog entry to her.  :)

Pretty much since I was in middle school I've always heard how much I look like my mom, now I'm starting to get that not only do I look like her, but I'm starting to act just like her!  I, of course, have always taken this as a HUGE compliment! 

My mom is sweet, helpful, kind, caring, thoughtful, selfless, generous, spiritual, forgiving, & quite honestly, one of my best friends!  Now let's not pretend that it's always been this way, when I was kid, my mom, well both of my parents were so incredibly strict!  Especially with me!  I always say it's because I'm a girl & the baby in my family, I kinda figure that's the norm.  When I was younger this was an incovenient thing, my curfew was always earlier than everyone elses, I couldn't wear make-up until I turned 14, I couldn't wear CLEAR nail polish till I was 10 & boy was I excited when my 10th birthday rolled around, I wasn't allowed to sleep over at friends' houses until middle school & that was only if my parents knew my friends' parents really really well, I wasn't allowed to "date" till I was 15, although I didn't have boys knocking down my door for dates, haha!  And don't get me wrong, I was no perfect angel, I rebelled (on a very small scale)  But yeah, I was sheltered & kept under close watch!  Yeah, sometimes it was hard & sometimes I said....."that's not fair!" BUT looking back on it now, I'm so glad that they did that to me!  I had a GREAT childhood, I had a GREAT high school experience, I didn't miss out on anything, I had fun, I had friends, I was involved in school & I got along with my parents, but they were still that, MY PARENTS and not my friends!  I didn't start considering my mom "my friend" until after I graduated from college.  I think that's so important.  My parents never tried to be "cool" with me...please, I'm so sure!  They were looking out for my best interest & no matter how many years go by, I will never be able to repay them for doing that!

I'm not a parent, so I can only imagine how hard it is to tell your child "no", especially when it might be saying no to something that you very well did when you were younger, but I pray that I can be as strong as my mom & dad & stand firm to how I was raised.  Lake has amazing parents as well, so I think we have a pretty solid foundation!

I can vividly remember poking fun at my mom when I was a teenager because everything made her cry, EVERYTHING!  I have slowly become the exact same way.....and I love it!

me & my mom at the giant Disney store in Orlando
my senior year of high school......being silly!  :)
one of my favorite pictures

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  I LOVE YOU! 

2011: The Re-Cap

So I guess I've been busy......that's my excuse I guess, because why else would I have a 6 month gap in posts?!
Well, since 2011 is now over & I did oh so much enjoy my year in review post from last year, I thought I might as well do that as my first post for 2012, so here it is:
January 2011
Back to school & routine & just regular life, but I did throw in a little visit to Vegas there with my best friends from the Valley. We went to celebrate Miss Cristina's single-dom one last time! It was a weekend filled with lots of laughter, food, gambling, & fun! I'm so happy to have taken this trip with this group of ladies. The rest of January was pretty much par the course, which isn't a bad thing
February 2011
During this month we celebrate love, right?! What better way to celebrate than to host a Twilight Movie Night! DUH! This party was so fun to put together. It also "snowed" in San Antonio & we got a day off for it, then had to make it up on President's Day. The same weekend of the "snow" was also my first race of the new year. I ran a 5K in New Braunfels with Michelle, which ended up being a great race, the weather started off chilly, but warmed up nicely & we ate Chicken E on the way home. Any day that contains Chicken E is a good day in my book!
March 2011
Happy Anniversary Lake & Happy Birthday! :)
On March 1st Lake & I celebrated our 3rd anniversary, crazy how time just flies on by. During this month Cristina got married & we had a great time celebrating her & Dyver. Spring Break was also in March, I spent the week being lazy & relaxing, it was awesome! During March I also ran my first half marathon for the year in Dallas & hit a new personal record! It was a great race.
April 2011
April was all about Fiesta fun & starting to look forward to summer! Lake & I had a very laid back Easter & just celebrated together, it was quite perfect actually! :)
May 2011
May began our race training for the fall. I'm still not sure why, but I made the decision to run the FULL marathon in San Antonio this past year & my training started the last weekend of May. We quickly went from running 3 miles the very first weekend to 12 miles by my birthday at the end of July. To say that the training was "hard" & "intense" is quite the understatement. Although, while I was going through it, it wasn't so bad, it's now that I look back on it that I realize just how crazy I really am! May also shoved me out of my comfort zone when it came to public speaking. I'll pretty much do anything to avoid having to stand in front of people & speak....I know what you're thinking, "but Erica, you're a teacher!" There's a HUGE difference between standing in front of a group of high school students versus a group of your peers. The position I currently serve in the Junior League of SA is New Member Chair Assistant which basically does lots of the background work for the New Member class, however, the New Members have a big kickoff before their year "officially" starts & it's run by the NM Chair & Assistant. As far as the presentation stuff went, I was in charge of showing off the website. To say I was nervous doesn't really begin to describe how I really felt. Alas, I did survive (obviously) & I think I've taken a positive step forward in public speaking. I still don't like it, but I now know I won't throw up on people even when I'm THAT nervous! May also brought my brother & his family to San Antonio. I am beyond grateful, happy, & blessed to have them so close, even it's only for a few years. I love seeing Maryn all the time & seeing her grow up right before my eyes. I'm also really loving being close & seeing Hayden during his first year, it's so exciting to see his new "tricks"
June 2011
Ahhhhh, the lazy hazy days of summer! I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself over the summer. June was filled with laying out, running, a super fun beach trip, & being lazy! I also was in Dallas for a week at the AVID Conference & got to meet up with some Dallas friends! SHOUT OUT to Misty, Mary, & Holly. They were all very sweet & came to pick me up from my hotel. I ate italian with Mary, ate mexican & saw The Bachelorette with Misty, & ate burgers with Holly & got all caught up on her life as a newlywed! So not only did I get to attend a really great conference, which I will go to again this summer, but I got to spend time with friends that I never see, it was a super fun week!
July 2011
July is my favorite month of the year, why you ask, because it's my birthday & the heart of summer! I turned 29 this year & had a great birthday, all thanks to my husband & friends! On my actual birthday I did a day bar crawl with Kristen. We covered a lot of territory. We hit up The Friendly Spot, took the downtown trolley to Esquire, & walked over to Zinc. It was one of the funnest birthdays that I've ever had! To top it off, Lake surprised me when I got home & said to pack a bag & we were headed BACK downtown to have dinner & stay the night. We took our time the next morning & did lots of fun touristy SA things! I really love doing that. That next weekend we bowled for my bday. It was a really fun night! :) Thanks to everyone who was able to make it!
August 2011
August always signifies the end of summer.....we had our last few pool times & last few lazy days, but back to work was definitely on the horizon. Coming back to school is always so stressful, no matter how many times you've done it! You're nervous & you feel unprepared, but just like every other year, you make it through those first couple of weeks & get back in your groove & things are great! August pretty much involved getting ready for school.
September 2011
Now's when the marathon training was getting a little crazy! We were approaching our "milestone" run & during this month I ran some pretty crazy amounts! The farthest & by far worst run was the 15 mile run. There was one point in the run where it was 90 degrees & this was in LATE September! UGH, South Texas, you make me sad! Although the first "cool" front to blow in was over Labor Day weekend, which coincided perfectly with a 5 mile race that I ran with Leah & my friend Dawn. It was a very hilly race, but I PRed with a 49 minute run, I felt amazing after! There really is nothing like a runner's high! :)
October 2011
October was more of the same, running & school & junior league, but all fun! During October my training group hit our "milestone" run which was 21 miles. I actually didn't run this with my group though. The weekend that we were scheduled to run this was also the weekend of my friend Monica's bachelorette party at SPI, so Lake & I got up extra early & headed out to the Valero Trailhead & ran. We ran the first 6 miles together & by that point the sun was up, so Lake felt OK to let me run on my own, so he finished his 12 & I powered through to run 21! WOW! Lake picked me up, I showered & was at the airport by 12:30, I was on the beach by 3:00, haha, it was a great & tiring weekend, but lots of fun!!! For Halloween I dressed up as the Tooth Fairy, thanks to Leah's help with my accessories.
November 2011
Monica & Tommy got married the first weekend. Since Connie (another bridesmaid) & I both live in SA, we decided to carpool to the Valley. We made it just in time for Monica's Bridesmaids Luncheon. Later that day was the dress rehearsal & rehearsal dinner at Pappadeux, yum!! The next day was make-up & getting ready in the morning, then wedding time! The reception was at Quinta Mazatlan, which a beautiful outdoor venue in south McAllen. The whole weekend went by in a blur, but it was a great time! The very next weekend was the marathon! The weather wasn't shaping up to be on any one's side & I started getting really worried. It had been so long since I'd trained in warm weather, then it totally freaked me out to see it would be in the mid-80's when I was supposed to finish! So the race didn't go as I wanted, but I did finish, and I suppose that's what counts, at least I have to say that! This race seriously taught me that running really is just putting one foot in front of the other AND I quite possibly have the greatest friends EVER! Seeing them sprinkled throughout the course cheering me on made me feel so happy & very special. Although I am glad that only Lake saw me between miles 16 - 22, I looked rough....someone only a husband could love! But having him pump me up during that point was definitely needed! Special shout out to Anne who literally ran with me around mile 6 & Kristen, Mireya, & Matt who walked with me around mile 24, I'm sure they would have run with me, but I was walking at that point, so they didn't have to! ;) We were off to Tulsa for Thanksgiving & I left with a very worried mind. My dad was hospitalized the Friday before Thanksgiving with pneumonia & stayed for an ENTIRE week! Things got scary around Wednesday, but he's made a full recovery & is doing great now!
December 2011
And finally the last month of the year! So I started 2011 with a trip to Vegas (see January 2011 section) & I also ended it with a trip to Vegas. Lake & I ran the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon the first Sunday of December. I was really thinking.....hey, you already ran a full marathon, you've run more than 13.1 miles on SEVERAL occasions over the past 6 months, this half, well it's gonna be CAKE for you! But boy, was I ever WRONG! UGH! The weekend overall was fantastic. We flew in on Saturday, checked into our hotel at Aria, which was awesome by the way...highly recommend! After check in we made our way to The Venetian to packet pick up & here's where I learned that 44,000 other runners would be joining Lake & I on our run down the strip the next night, that's a whole lot of runners. This was the largest race I'd ever participated in by far! I was excited though, running on the stip, at night, pretty cool! Well, the weather was OK, a little chilly, but after running a 1/2 marathon almost 2 years ago while it was sleeting, I thought, hey, it's not THAT bad! The race started at 5:30pm & right away I could tell I would be annoyed. There so many people in my corral (Corral 15) who were NOT supposed to be in there. You are given your corral number based on your estimated time of completion, so everyone that SHOULD be in your corral would have --### (ex: 15339), so I know that I'm supposed to be in Corral 15 because of the first two numbers on my bib. Well, looking around me there were tons of people with 20, 25, 30, 40, 21, 19....well, you get the picture & I'm thinking....hmmmmmm, so moving up a couple corrals isn't the worst thing, but jumping 25 corrals IS! And just like I predicted they release my corral & BAM, a whole bunch of walkers. I mean, more power to ya if you are going to walk 13.1 miles, that's awesome, good luck, God Speed, but MOVE OUT OF MY WAY! I'm sorry, but when I spend half of my energy saying "to your right" or weaving in between people because YOU chose to move yourself up when you had no business doing so, YEAH, it's going to annoy me. I actually had one lady call me a SUPER mean & disgusting name because after I'd politely said "to your right please" & she didn't move I passed her anyway & while I did that I acidentally bumped her & wham....super mean disgusting name, what the?!?! After about 6 miles (yes, almost half of the race) things finally starting clearning up & I was feeling great! I was right on track to hit my PR. Then mile 9 rolled around, which has always sorta been my personal mile nemisis & it reared it's ugly head again. I physically could not make myself go any faster than I was going, it was sad....I finished the race, my 3rd best time, which isn't saying too much considering that my 2 slowest times are REALLY REALLY slow. And to add insult to serious injury I felt AWFUL after the race was over. I still don't know what happened, I'm not sure if it was too cold, if I didn't hydrate well enough, if I was too tired because we'd walked around all day or maybe my body just wasn't ready to run for that long of a time. Who knows, oh well.....Lake PRed though, which is awesome! YAY! December saw the end of the 1st semester of school & a 2 week much needed break! During those 2 weeks Lake & I traveled to jolly old London to enjoy holiday! That's a whole other long post though. Stay tuned.....
All in all 2011 was a fabulous year! I learned a lot, got way more involved at school & in Junior League, to which I'm so grateful for all that I've learned & the leadership skills that I've gained. I've lost a few relationships, but gained knowledge from the losses & also gained some amazing friends, so thank you 2011, for being fun, awesome, & pushing me out of my comfort zone! Ready to take on 2012, let's see what you've got in store!

"whatever"

the 90's party was a success if I do say so myself! we had a great turn out & it was lots of fun. i'm way to old to "party" that way, but hey, if you're going do it, do it big! :)

I really don't have too much to post, the pictures speak for themselves. I'll post just a few.

my gifts, so great! love them all

me & my besties :)

my Lakey & I :)

yay cupcakes!!

so 90's ;)

what to wear, what to wear???

so for my 28th birthday, we're hosting a "90's" themed party. costumes are strongly encouraged of course! I'm at a fork in the road right now....which way to go, which way? I have 2 complete outfits picked out & a jacket picked out to make a complete outfit. I'm going for the whole Alicia Silverstone ala Cher Horowitz in Clueless circa 1995 :)

here are the choices:

who doesn't love a good 'ol jumper?? maybe with brown knee high socks?

this is the incomplete outfit choice, what should the lower half of my body wear?

this one is very librarian, I think. LOVE the shoes! :) maybe w/ cream colored knee high socks?

what to wear, what to wear??????

"nothing's sweeter than summertime"

So it's finally summer, hoooooooray!
It's been months since I've last blogged, obviously. Lots has occured over the course of 4 months, as you can imagine. Lake is finally back from India. He got back on Thursday, April 29th, it's been great having him back, it was so hard to have him gone for so long & it's so great to be able to actually see him IN PERSON everyday. Thank goodness for modern technology & SKYPE, that really helped us get through the 3 months.
What also helped me get through the 3 months were my amazing group of friends, both in San Antonio & in McAllen. I went down to the valley about 4 times over the course of the 3 months, so it was nice to get to visit with my friends as well as my family.
Around the World in 8 Days
During the past 4 months, I've also traveled around the world.....LITERALLY! So plans kind of changed with my India trip. I left from San Antonio on Friday March 12th & few to Houston, I had a long layover in Houston & finally flew out to London. We were very delayed in the air on our way to London & I landed at Heathrow with about 90 minutes to make it to my flight to Chennai, talk about rushing!!! I still had to ride a bus to my departing gate, then go through customs & go through security. I barely made my flight. I literally got to the gate when they were asking for anymore passengers. It was the only flight leaving London to Chennai for the day & not that I would have minded spending a leisurely day in London, but not by myself & also, I just wanted to see Lake, I didn't care where!!! So I made my Chennai flight, which was about a 9 hour flight. As luck would have it, I had my entire row OPEN! The 2 seats next to me were empty, so I was able to actually lay down & rest! Which I completely needed. When I finally landed in Chennai it was 11:00 p.m. India time, which is 10 1/2 hours ahead of Texas time. Landing in a foreign country, alone, is SCARY!!!! I survived though & found Lake outside the airport with one of the drivers, Moses.
India Adventures
So India...............um, let's just say it was interesting & very eye opening. It reminded of me of Mexico, but not as clean. :o/ I spent 3 full days in Chennai.
Day 1 I went shopping with some of Lake's co-workers, then attended my 1st ever cricket match. I have no idea what was going, still don't get it.
Day 2 I just lounged around the hotel & went to the pool. I also had a very exciting date planned by my super awesome husband. Chennai is on the beach & there are a few resorts on the beach. (the body of water is the Bay of Bengal), anyway, Lake made dinner reservations for us there & he wanted to me to get very "Indian" so he picked out the most beautiful saree (traditional indian dress) for me to wear to dinner. It was a very pretty shade of green, think of the most obvious shade of green & that was the color. It had pink & orange flowers & gold sequins on the sari, it was spectacular!!!! :)
Day 3 I spent with Lake, finally. He had to work the first 2 days that I was there, but the third day we went shopping & gathering tons of souveniers for friends & families. That night Lake & I flew out from Chennai (this was my final farewell to the country) & we flew into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
KL & Gang Talk?
We landed in Kuala Lumpur (KL) early in the morning & really had no expectations for the city. We had just kinda added it to our itinerary for an extra country to travel to, no real reason & not really knowing what the city had to offer us. KL is an amazing, beautiful, shopping RICH city, I absolutely fell in love with it!!! It was also to be in warm weather after spending time in SA with the weather in the 50's for the past 5 months, it was nice to be in 80 degree summer-like weather. We went sight seeing & the city is pretty history rich, considering how young the city is. It's a muslim country so Lake & I were able to visit the National Mosque which is located in KL, it was truly breathtaking!!! If you love basilicas & cathedrals, you'd love this mosque!!! Our first stop in KL was the KL Tower, which is essentially their "space needle" we were able to get a layout of the city from there, so that was nice. Our cabbie from the tower was named Zul & he made us a good deal to take us to the following 4 tourist locations in the city: The Sultan's Palace (the kings' house, don't cross the fence there, they shoot & ask questions later), The National Mosque (I got to wear a pretty purple cover up), The National Monument (reminded me the of the Iwo Gima monument) & Independence Square (this is where Malaysia gained their independence from GB). We took the deal b/c we were going to see all those places anyway. He was a great tour guide, until......he started asking us if we knew anything about gangs. WHAT?!?!?!?!!? I had mentioned that I grew up along the Texas/Mexico border & he found that fascinating & asked if I knew anything about certain gangs. Then he started saying how he was in a gang & how he's a cabbie to support his family but his love was for his gang. Oh MY-LANTA, I was scared!!! I made sure to get a picture of his cab # & us in the cab & him, just in case he kidnapped us, my camera would have the evidence of who did. So, who knows if he was actually in a gang, or if he thought that Americans think it's cool to be in a gang, who knows, I just know that I was scared. I mean, we're in a foreign country here, hello?!?!?!?!!? The rest of our day was fantastic. We went to have drinks & appetizers at a rooftop bar/swimming pool at the Traders Hotel which faced the Petronas Towers & got some amazing pictures. We then went to have dinner at La Fite at the Shangri La Hotel. I had the most amazing Duck L'Orange, ever! It was so tender & juicy, ah, so yummy!!!! The next morning, we woke up early again & made our trek back to the airport to fly our 45 minute flight to Singapore.
Singapore....Make Sure You Follow ALL Rules
Lake kept telling me to make sure not to piss anyone off in Singapore b/c as a country itself, it's very strict, which I know, but I just kinda put out of my mind. Well, when we landed I guess I looked at one of the security people funny & they insisted on looking through my large red carry on bag that I had gotten at H&M in Paris, which by the way, the American H&M stores are nothing like the international ones, this store was amazing...but I digress. Anyway, the security lady kept asking if I any "cigarettes"...to which I kept saying "no, maam, I do not".....after about 5 minutes of her going through my entire bag, she finally gave it back to me, I could tell that she was completely upset & disappointed that she hadn't found anything questionable. Thank goodness, she scared me! Singapore is the cleanest more manicured place I've ever been besides Disneyworld. It was beautiful, I loved the city & the food was amazing. We had a great time. We actually celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in Singapore, so that was great! :) All in all the trip was so amazing, not a bad way to spend my Spring Break! Lake & I flew out from Singapore & he went back to Chennai & I went back to America via Tokyo & Houston. Hence, I flew around the world in 8 days! WOW!!!!!
Life After
Well life is pretty much back to normal, I survived my 1st year at my new school & I'm staying at my school. Thank goodness, I'm pretty over job searching since I spent my last 2 summers doing just that! My brother just celebrated his 30th birthday down in the valley, so I was able to go to that party & I wasn't sure when I'd be down in the valley again, until I got horrible news that my childhood friend had passed away on Thursday.
It's been hard to take, we'd definitely grown apart since HS ended, but him & his family always had a special place in my heart. My brother & my friend used to run summer track together, he was the most amazing athlete I'd ever/have ever known. I feel like a piece of my childhood has been taken from me & that's hard to swallow, I know that he'll live on forever through all of the people that he knew & loved & I know that he's most definitely in a better place, I guess all we can do now is pray for peace & understanding through all of this. His memorial service was such a testament to him, we all knew he was with us when the lights went out in the middle of his picture slide show, that was Louie, always joking around :)

In Closing....

I'll post pictures from all of Lake & I's recent adventures here & around the world. If I've learned anything in the last few months it's that we're only here for a short time, so as Leonardo DiCaprio so eloquently said in the movie Titanic....."here's to making it count!"
To my dear sweet friend Louie:"So much of me, is made of what I've learned from you, you'll be with me, like a hand print on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine, by being my friend"

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Amy, me & Cristina at the Willie Nelson Concert in Mission

Monica, me, & Cristina downtown McAllen

Kellie, Sarah, Megan, Amy, me & Jordan at Hillbillies after the Lady A/Tim McGraw Concert

Shaunda, Rachel, Michelle, me, Camp & Laura at Oscar Night :)

me & Lake at the Chennai Super Kings Cricket Match

my "corona" pic at the Asiana Hotel in Chennai

me in my beautiful green saree

Lake & I at our dinner on the Bay of Bengal

Kuala Lumpur from the KL Tower

me & Lake in front of the Sultan's Palace

me at the National Mosque

The National Monument in KL

Independence Square in KL

The Petronas Towers in KL

Lake & me at La Frite at The Shangri La Hotel in KL

Lake in front of restaurant sign in Singapore

Lake & I in the Singapore Eye

me at Merlion Park in Singapore

me at The Raffles Hotel in Singapore

me & Lake at Clarke Quay in Singapore

Rachel, Shaunda, Michelle, Janine, me, Laura & Dawn at Soluna for Rachel's birthday dinner

me, Laura, Rachel, Shaunda, Camp, Janine, Michelle, & Whitney at Gristmill for Camp's 25th Birthday Sunday Funday

me & my Clare-Bear enjoying our Easter Family BBQ

group at Silo after Alamo Heights Night

me, Malarie, Michelle, Janine, & Erica at Oyster Bake

Rachel, Camp, Janine, me & Michelle at NIOSA

me, Camp & Kristen at Beethoven's for Gartenfest

Maryn & me downtown Houston

Kari, Dawn, Kathleen, Lake & me at Lake's Welcome Home Party

Marshall, Laura, Joe, Peter, Vanessa, Janine, Michelle, Erica, me, Lake, Camp & Shaunda at Rosario's for Janine's Graduation Dinner

Janine, Rachel & me at the movies for SATC 2

Lake, me, Kelly, Dru, Jessica, Lindy & Jason in Luckenbach for some Texas Country Music

group at the botanical gardens for Shakespeare in the Park

Leah, Demitri, Dad, Maryn, Mom & me all ready for my brother's 30th bday party. Lake wasn't able to come b/c he had to work :(

Rachel, Shaunda, Bethany, Tanya, Camp, Elyse, Erica, Michelle, Janine, me, & Laura at Tiago's for June's Girls Dinner

Sarah, Shaunda, Laura & me at Laura's Baby Shower

Audra, Amy, me, Leah, Nikki, & Olaya at Chili's for our Cousin Dinner

Maryn, Leah, Amy, Lily, Monica & me at my parents' house for Bachelorette Night