Okay, this is my first entry. I hope its all you've been waiting for. Not much to say, but i have a few pictures i thought you might like to see.


This is Brian's dog Lily in the front of the photo. We try to take her and River somewhere they can swim at least once a week. We have three or four places that we like to go to, and this one is one of the favorites, Guadalupe State Park.

The water temperature right now is about 60 degrees, so its a little cold. River couldn't care less, to her it almost seems warm. Lily doesn't quite have the insulation that River does, so she usually lets River fetch the ball.

After Brian and I braved the chilly water, we set up the grill and got ready to cook some dinner. Brian is a professional hamburger cooker, and he brought all the secret ingredients.

It may look like Brian is seriously burning the hamburger patties right here, but he knows what he is doing (at least i hoped). We stayed till about 9 pm, and we all, including the dogs, enjoyed the hamburgers. I hope you enjoyed this, and i will keep putting up new pictures of us for you to see. bye, Carl.

Our second day in Portland we went to the beach, or the Coast as they say in Oregon. The coast there is absolutely beautiful. We tried to make it out early so we could catch low tide and be able to see the starfish and sea anemones on the rocks, but we didn't make it in time. It was still beautiful though. Carl loves anything and everything to do with marine life, so he had a blast.

We took one detour on our way to get a glimpse of the largest Sitka Spruce in the United States. Here's Carl standing next to it.




I don't have any pictures ot if, but we finished off our day at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Carl took an aptitude test a few months ago, and the results showed that he's destined to be a cheese maker. So I had to show him the factory. I had no idea he'd be so enthralled. We had to stay forever. I've been there many times and taken lots of people, but never anyone as interested as Carl. It was quite entertaining. What's even more funny is that we drove by the Bluebell factory the other day on the way to Anna's wedding, and Carl wanted to stop. Then we were eating some M&Ms and he mentioned that he'd love to see where they make them. I may begin to wish I had never taken him to Tillamook because I am not one for tours, and it appears that we may have to take a few some time in the future.

Carl and I returned home today from a super long and really fun week. We left last weekend for Portland, Oregon, returned on Friday, and left again on Saturday for his friend's wedding in College Station. We did a lot in the last couple of days. I'll spread out all the pictures over the next couple of days to drag it out a little longer.
The one thing we did the most of was driving. Here we are in the car on the way to Multnomah Falls, a really beautiful natural waterfall about 25 miles outside of Portland.

And here we are with my sister Kennedy. We had such a good time with my family. We got to pick up Kennedy from day care one afternoon, and I had a lot of fun doing it. Carl thought she would be scared of us and possibly cry, but she loved it too. We put on her favorite CD and sang songs on the way home.

Here's Carl at one of the falls that's on the way to the big one. Its called Latourrell Falls, and its my favorite. I like it because only a fraction of the people that go to Multnomah Falls go there, so you can hike up and feel totally secluded from the world. Carl's not much of a hiker, so we opted to just enjoy the beautiful scenery from the bottom. But its definitely worth the hike if anyone ever gets out there.

This is a picture of the Hotel St Martin in Carson, Washington (I think that's the name of the town). Susan and I drove out there on Saturday to enjoy the mineral bath. I've never done that before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I definitely imagined something totally different. It was very outdated, but cool at the same time. We each had our own bath filled with hot spring mineral water. We soaked for about twenty minutes.

Then we got out, lied down on the cots seen below, and were wrapped in a thick blanket. When I heard we were going to be a wrap, I imagined seaweed, mud, or something of the sorts, but it was just what you see here- a blanket on a cot. It was relaxing though, and the scenery was gorgeous. Susan and I laughed as we left because we felt that the place left much to be desired, but my mother on the other hand, had she been there, would have thought it was the greatest place. She does think so, actually, from the pictures and description we gave her.

Wow- its been a super long time since I've written. Sorry, no excuses- just haven't written, but I promise to get better. Not much has changed. The most exciting thing in my life right now is my new yoga class. I'm taking Bikram yoga classes at a yoga studio here, and its so wonderful. You do yoga poses in a 105 degree room with 60% humidity. Its so relaxing and wonderful- I can't even explain just how much so. My friend Brandi and I have been going to the 9:30 class every morning, and its such a great way to start your day. I leave feeling so relaxed and ready for anything.
I'm also working on opening a smoothie and juice bar. I originally wanted to be a street vendor and have a permanent cart somewhere, but I can't find anyone willing to let me rent a space of their parking lot. So, now I'm looking into getting a loan to start my own place. I have wonderful visions of what it could be, so hopefully everything will fall into place.
Kirsten left us at the Hilton. Its sad not having her there, but she's in a better place now. Brandi had a going away party for her the other night. It was really fun. I was the ping-pong master. I played 11 people and beat all of them (I counted so I could tell Carl because he thinks he's the ping-pong master). I love playing anything that involves rackets, so I had a blast. The highlight of the night, however, was the breaking of the pinata. We have a manager at the Hilton that no one gets along with very well. She just died her hair this awful red/purple color, so Brandi found a girl pinata with purple hair and wrote Alex(our manager's name) on it. We all took turns knocking her out. Here's Kirsten before we got going.

I had a really great time with all my family at Jason's wedding. It was definitely one of the best weddings I've ever attended. The crying started for me at the dress rehearsal. I just couldn't believe my oldest cousin was getting married! He was the closest thing I had to a brother growing up, so I feel extra close to him. He and Darlys are blissfully happy, and they're such wonderful people.
On Friday night, me and three of my cousins hit the workout room. Here we are on the treadmill and what not.

And here I am with my beautiful cousins Robin and Heather.

This is my wonderful Aunt Shelly and her daughter Rob dog.

And finallyl, Robin and I with our fantastic beyond words grandparents.

Isn't my mema just drop-dead gorgeous?! And my Papa's a looker himself.
Okay- ta-ta.

Not much going on lately. I've been working this week at my aunt's pediatric office and at the hilton, so I've been just a little bit busy. I work again for her tomorrow, but I'm off from the Hilton until next Thursday. I'm leaving on Friday for College Station for my oldest cousin's wedding. He's the first grandchild to go. He seems super happy. Alrighty, no pictures today, but I'll definitely have some coming from this weekend. Carl will not be able to join me because he is in his own cousin's wedding in Austin. We're meeting back here on Sunday and then heading to Houston on Monday afternoon. Monday is his one year anniversary for being sober, so I'm taking him out on the town in Houston. We were planning on going there the next day anyways for a concert, so we're heading up one day early. I'm taking him out for sushi since its his fave at a place I go once a year with my family. Its got a hibachi grill and a sushi bar, so he's going to love it. Okay, ta-ta.

Yesterday I had one of the best days of my life. I didn't have to work, so I woke up when I felt like it and read some of the book I'm reading ( a million little pieces).
Then I went to a spin class at the gym. I've only been to 1 before, and it was about 4 years ago, so I kinda forgot just how intense they are. I almost had to quit half way through, but I reminded myself that I'm not a quitter and I stuck with it. My plan is to start taking a spin class 2 times a week. We'll see how long I can keep it up. Then, the most exciting part of my day, I went to my first belly dancing class. It was awesome, and I'm sooooo excited to go again next week. You go once a week. Right now I'm in the beginners' class, and we're just learning the basics of belly dancing. Once I become more advanced I can move into the choreography classes (there are levels 1 through 4) and start learning dances. My friend Tiffany is taking the classes with me. After class, I met Carl, Brian, and Seve at the tennis courts for some doubles. Carl and I put a wippin on Brian and Seve. I'm thinking about joining a women's doubles league, but I'm still trying to find a partner.
This is a picture of some of the wheatgrass we're growing. We plant five pounds of seeds in one tray, and it yields about 20 ounces. We've been juicing every day and we love it.

We even got Brian interested in it. He's planning on buying some seeds so he can grow his own and juice every day also. We give River a handful every day while we're juicing, and she seems to really enjoy it. We don't know if its just the fact that we're giving her something or if she truly likes it. She seems to though. Its really sweet, so I imagine it tastes pretty good to her.

And here's a picture of my two jail birds. They're in River's new bed that we got from Carl's parents. She loves it, and it seems really comfortable.

Hey there. Its been a while since I've written. We've been pretty busy. Friday night I met some of my friends downtown to celebrate Eric taking his GRE. I worked until 11, so I had to take a taxi downtown to meet them. I had the best ride ever. My driver just turned 60 but didn't look a day over 45. I told him about one of my passions in life, nutrition, and we talked non-stop till we arrived. He was super nice and told me he hopes to see me soon working at my smoothie and juice stand I hope to open soon. I ended up leaving my phone in his van, so I called, he answered, and he drove it all the way back to me. I love nice people.
We had a really fun time downtown. There was a man playing live music, and he played all our favorite alternative rock songs from our high school days. The girl at the bottom of the picture is Kelly Wright. She used to live in Hallettsville across the street from me until third grade. Kirsten saw her after several years when she moved to San Antonio our freshman year. One of our roommates moved out, so Kelly just took her spot. Its pretty cool having us all back together.

Here's a picture of River lounging outside with her new favorite toy. It used to be Carl's mom's dog's toy, and its really squeaky. She absolutely loves it.

And here's my new favorite picture. I think Carl looks super hot in it. He's really talented on the guitar for all who didn't know.

This is Kirsten and me at lunch at one of our favorite spots. We used to go every Wednesday for the lunch special, when they were fairly new and you could always get a good spot and fast service. But now they're apparently one of the hottest joints in town cause you can go there any time of day and you'll have to wait in line.

And last but now least, a picture of Carl at Carl's (well, its actually just the billboard for Carl's). We went to Dallas on Saturday night for a concert, and on I-35 there's an exit named Carl's Corner. We couldn't resist the photo opportunity, so we had to pull off the highway and snap one. He's stopped there the last couple times he's driven by it, and I'm sure we'll stop again.

Woo-hoo! Our dog is FINALLY home! She's been away for five weeks at obedience school. Carl's parents sent River to a cop in Georgetown to be trained for his Christmas present. We hated not having her around, but she learned some good stuff.

I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about sending her to obedience school. She has such a great spirit, and I was a little concerned that obedience training would make her into a solemn, not very playful dog. I'm not sure why I expected that, but I guess it was because I've never had any experience with dog obedience training.

But thank the Lord, I was wrong. She's still the same ol' river, and we love her to death. The trainer said we're not supposed to love on her as much as we do, but I don't think that's gonna happen. I mean, what's the point of having a dog if you can't give it love and affection? She's way too beautiful to just look at and give orders to.

Carl is super excited to have her back. He could hardly stand it any longer. I don't know how he ever survived without her.

I had such a great time with all my family over the holidays, but I absolutely hated being away from Carl for so long. We missed each other a lot. The day after Christmas, I hopped on a bus to Harlingen so I could meet up with him. No pictures from there, but we had a lot of fun. We went fishing a couple of times and just hung out with his family.
We finally got to have our Christmas together when we got home on New Years Eve. Carl got some earwax candles in his stocking, so we both cleaned our ears out. You can see a picture of me cutting one or Carl's candles open so we could see the disgustingness that was inside. I could be really gross and zoom in on it, but I won't do that to you.


We had a really nice New Year's Eve. We made a pile of fresh fried seafood (oysters, shrimp, and trout). And then we opened gifts. I got way too much stuff from Carl, but one thing I'm real excited about is my new Dremel XPR 400. I plan on building furniture in the near future, and this tool will be everything I need to get started. Its amazing. It has a zillion attachments, so you can do just about anything your little heart desires.

From my parents I got a Wheatgrass juicer. I'm super stoked about it too! I've wanted one for about 4 years now. Carl and I started taking one ounce of wheatgrass juice per day. Hopefully now we'll live forever. Wheatgrass juice is a really good thing to get into if you haven't already. You can check out more about its healing properties on http://www.wheatgrasskits.com . I just planted a tray of seeds three days ago. Its supposed to take about 10-14 days until you can harvest.

I got to spend a whole week with my family in Houston, and we had a really great time. This is Kennedy, Susan and me at the Houston Zoo.

I also got a chance to hang out with my dear friend Ameera, who I grew up with in Hallettsville but now lives in Houston. She's absolutely hilarious.
My mom made me ride the carousel with her while at the zoo. She just loves them for some reason. Here she is on the seal.
And here we are right before we went in to get our massages at the Hyatt Spa. We were treated like royalty with champagne, fruit, cookies, and chocolate covered strawberries.
And this is my adorable little sister hanging out in a store in the galleria while her mom was sucked in by all the cute baby clothes.

Woo-hoo ---- our first entry!! First and foremost, a huge thank you to Dan and Becky because this would not be possible without the awesome graduation present they gave me (a digital camera). This is the first picture we took with the cam.
We got the camera just in time for my graduation, which was a blast. After graduation we went to dinner with some of my family and my best friend at Kona Grill. We ran into Robert Horry, and my aunt totally embarassed me by making me take a picture with him.

This is a picture of me and my beautiful sister, Samantha.

The next day we met my mom, Susan, Kennedy, and the rest of the gang at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort. I had an amazing time. On Saturday, most of us headed over to the spa for manicures, pedicures, and massages. Kirsten, Robin, and I wore our robes every opportunity we had-- we have somewhat of a tradition of wearing robes everywhere we go in our hotels when we're on vacation together.

Everyone had a really great time. Thank you so much to my parents for making my graduation weekend such a special and memorable one.

Okay- that's enough for today, but much more to come in the next few days.