HAWAII HERE WE COME!!!!

I'm sure most of you already know this by now, but in case you didn't get the message- WE'RE MOVING TO HAWAII!!!!!!
We are both Super excited. We booked our flight yesterday for January 2nd out of San Diego. We will be driving there to drop off our cars at the port to have them shipped over. We are moving to the Big Island, and a cool site to visit for information about the big island is www.konaweb.com. There is a link on that site to a forum that is for people that are moving to the Big Island, and its been super helpful. We've learned so much about what all we need to have done before we leave, especially with River. She's going to have to be quarantined once we get there, and there's a whole boat load of stuff you have to do before you leave. Good thing we found out when we did 'cause we're already cutting it pretty close with time lines. The photo above is of Waipio Valley. We're thinking that may be where we get hitched (August 8th). Its full of waterfalls and beautiful trees and flowers (so Carl says). We hope to see all of you there!!!

I apologize to any of you who may have been checking my blog lately. I lost our camera in May when Carl and I went to California, which is very out of character for me (ha, ha). Carl bought us a new one a couple weeks ago, so we're back in business.
A lot has happened since my last post. I guess the biggest information is- WE'RE ENGAGED!!!
It happened last weekend on the beach at South Padre Island. It was very sweet, and we are both super excited.
This picture was taken seconds before it happened, and you can see how nervous Carl is.

I only very recently came to the realization that I cry A LOT. Hardly ever because I'm sad. Most of the time because I'm really moved by someone or something. In the book I'm reading, every time Greg gets a donation, I cry. I've cried about 8 times in the last couple of weeks listening to a message little Kennedy left me just because she's so cute and I love her to death. But the one thing that REALLY gets me is a crowd of people cheering. The first time I can remember crying for that reason was at the rodeo with my cousin Robin. We were probably about 12, and we both cried when a little kid finally got a cow he had been struggling with in the calf scramble. Today I cried when I read on the New York Times that 75,000 people turned out for Barack Obama in Portland on Sunday. just the sight of the crowd from the pictures and some close-ups of people cheering made me cry, and I wasn't even there! I cried at the fiddlers frolics twice. Once when they announced the 5th place winner for the over-all bbq contest. The prize went to a guy named Marty Patek, who I grew up with and is mentally challenged. The crowd went wild when they announced it, and he seemed so proud. Then, during the finals of the fiddle contest, a young man from Austin took the frolics by a storm and blew everyone away. It was pretty awesome. The pictures above are from the frolics. Kirsten and I were very proud to be photographed with Harvey, the MC who is 83 and is a legend at the frolics.

check out carl's blog for photos of our shark fishing excursion last weekend with cousins Jason and Darlys

With so many tragedies in East Asia lately its hard to donate your money anywhere else, but for those of you looking, I have a great suggestion. The organization is called the Central Asia Institue, and it was started by a wonderful man named Greg Mortenson. His story is told in the book Three Cups of Tea by David Relin, and it is absolutely incredible. I encourage all of you to read it, and if you feel it in your heart, donate a few dollars. It doesn't take very much to make a huge impact. It only costs $1 per month for one child's education in Pakistan, a penny to buy a pencil, and a teacher's salary averages $1 per day. I believe that approximately 55 schools have been built in the last ten years, all from donations. And one of the most incredible things is that this is the first time that girls have had a school to attend. Greg Mortenson and the CAI believe that improving communities begins with educating its women. Prior to 1999, 5-10 women per village died every year during childbirth. The first educated girl of her village in the Braldu Valley decided she wanted to do something about it, so she petitioned to the CAI for assistance to travel to the city and further her education. She became a midwife, and since her return to the Braldu in 1999, not one single woman has died from birthing complications. I think Greg's story is so amazing, and I know you will too.
www.ikat.org
www.threecupsoftea.com

i love my life!!!

i'd like to start by saying how much i love living in new braunfels. its absolutely the perfect fit for both carl and me, and we absolutely are loving life. yesterday evening around 5, we loaded the kayaks (carl got me one for my birthday so now we have 2) and headed to cypress bend park, which is about 5 minutes from the house. we kayaked up and down the guadalupe for about 2 hours, and it was unbelievably peaceful. its still the off-season, so we pretty much had the river to ourselves. towards the end of our trip, i paddled under some trees, and carl noticed that there were two snakes mating right above my head. it freaked me out pretty good, but it was still cool to see. i've never seen snakes mating before. the female was huge- about 3 feet long and the width of my upper arm. carl says they were diamondback water snakes and not poisonous. we also saw a ton of turtles. when we got home, we grabbed river and walked down the street to buy some avocados and lettuce. when we were walking back home, we both couldn't stop talking about how awesome it is to live where we do. our quality of life is ten times better than it was in san antonio, and we couldn't be happier.

Carl has a new blog. Its strictly dedicated to hunting and fishing. MaryAnne, you don't have to look at if if you don't want to. He was worried about you not liking it. The link is posted to the left.

I realized that I never put up pictures from my trip to see my best friend, Kirsten, last summer. We had an awesome time, and I'm super excited because my step-dad Stanley gave Carl and I each a round-trip ticket to go back to Santa Cruz in May. We're going to spend most of our time on the beach in Santa Cruz, but we're also going to take a day to make the hour and a half drive up to San Francisco so Carl can go to Haight Ashbury(the famous neighborhood where the Grateful Dead got their start and played a ton of shows). We can't wait!!! Its no fun not having Kirsten around anymore, but I love that she lives in Santa Cruz cause it makes it so much more fun to go see her. Here's a picture of the two of us at Pebble Beach.
And this is in the car on the way to San Francisco.
This was taken in ChinaTown. When we walked in to the herbal markets I felt like I was in a dream. All the herbs that they sell at my school for $15 or so were being sold there for only $2!!
This is overlooking San Francisco Bay. As you can see, I was struggling with keeping my skirt from flying up. Within 15 minutes of being in the city I had to change into some pants. I forgot how windy it is there.
We tried to go to the wine country, but the traffic that day was horrific. We decided we could wait for that trip. Here's the view heading back into San Fran.

The best thing about helping Mema clean out her closet is the new addition to my closet. Actually, its the second best thing because the first is a blue and white paisley robe that belongs to my bathroom. But back to my second favorite- I'm not quite sure what you call it. A top? An over-shirt? But whatever it is, I love it. Mema got it at a little boutique in Yoakum in the 70's, and it went with a white and blue dress. She says it was her favorite outfit, and she wore it all the time when she and Papa went out square dancing. I think its absolutely darling, and I am so happy to be its new and proud owner. I wore it to school yesterday, and three people came up to me to tell me how cute my top was. I told them all it was my Mema's and they all thought that made it even more awesome.

Last week I had a break from school and went to Sheridan to spend it with my mema. We had the greatest time together, and man were we busy! We sewed, cooked, cleaned out closets, took buttons off of a mound of clothes as tall as mema, drove all over Texas looking for a sewing machine repair shop, voted, and the list goes on. But definitely the most labor intensive and time consuming part was going through mema's closet. She sort of tricked me into doing it in her sweet little way of asking, and instead of taking one hour as she projected, it took 6. And that doesn't include the additional 4 hours it took to take the buttons off of the clothes that she wanted to give away but couldn't stand to part with the beautiful buttons. But it was worth every penny. I can't even explain how happy she was to have gone through her closet. She had clothes in there from the 1970s that she's just been holding on to in case she might get the urge to wear them again some day. And let me tell you, they may be old and out of style, but they still look darn good. She taught me her secret to setting the color. You just have to add a cup of vinegar to each load, and it keeps your clothes looking like new for 30+ years. One of the many things I love about hanging out with mema is learning these sorts of tricks that she has. I was pretty spoiled as a child, and while it was awesome, I didn't really learn all the things about cooking, cleaning, gardening, etc. I've learned how to get by with all that on my own, but mema has really helped me with all the extra stuff that makes all the difference, like the vinegar and many, many more.

My friend Leila and her husband Ty had a little girl on January 8. Her name is Emma Noel Harrington, and she is incredibly adorable. Leila and Ty live in San Marcos, and now that I'm only fifteen minutes away, I am a frequent visitor of the Harrington household. I visit at least once/week, and I am addicted to little Emma. And Leila's pretty fun too. Her mom came from Argentina to visit when Emma was born, and she just can't bring herself to leave.

Last weekend Carl and I went to Sheridan and Hallettsville for the weekend. Friday night we stayed at Mema's house along with Aunt Gayle. Gayle was doing the master cleanse while we were there, and she inspired me to do the same. I've had allergies all my life, but recently(about 4 months ago) they started manifesting as swollen, red, dry eyelids. Its been so frustrating for me because some days I wake up with eyes so swollen it looks like I got punched in the face. The swelling became particularly bad last weekend, so I decided to buck up and try the cleanse. And here I am, miserable yet feeling great and without swollen or red eyelids, on day three. I'm miserable because you can't eat, but I feel great because you can't eat. As crazy as this may sound, my mind feels clearer than ever. I am totally peaceful and feel like I can work through all my thoughts with a clear and rational mind and not become angered or irritated over crazy things. And most importantly, my eyes look great! This is the first time in I don't know how long that the skin surrounding my eyes is the same color as the rest of my face. I still have a little swelling, but its very miniscule. I plan to go for 7 days, and believe me, I could never do it without Carl. He is so encouraging and keeps me straight. He even goes to another room to eat. He's so great.
And for those of you who don't know, the master cleanse consists of water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The combination of those ingredients is very detoxifying and gives you all the energy and nutrients you need to make it through the day.
I always like to put upt photos when I post, so here are some of all my adorable sisters.

Carl and I went to my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Stacy's house last night for dinner. Stace made the most wonderful chicken parmigiana and some pasta dishes. While we were having dinner, we started talking about the trip that Carl and I took to La Ticla in May, and I realized that I never put up a photo of the famous Catrina. She's been around for quite a while, and anyone who's ever step foot on Ticla sand knows her. You just can't stop looking at her. When we were there, she didn't surface for about 3 days, and I was becoming concerned that maybe she had passed away. I asked some of the local kids if she was still around, they said she was. So I waited patiently untl finally, there she was. And what a beauty.

And when I said famous, I really meant it. Everyone loves Catrina so much that the town store started making and selling bumper stickers almost identical to the photo above but with an orange dog that says her name and La Ticla underneath it. And I have one.

Yesterday was Carl's 3 year anniversary for being 100% clean and sober. We are all so proud of him. We read a statistic that only 1% of people that make the decision to become sober actually follow through with it for this long, and most of those people are in AA meetings every day. But Carl is special. He says that while he was still drinking every day he knew in his heart that it was not where he needed to be, but he just kept telling himself that today is not the day. Well, the day finally came, and he's made it this far without one day of AA. Many people told him in the beginning that he wouldn't be able to make it without attending the meetings, but he knew better. He found a tremendous amount of strength within himself and from God, and he could not be happier. He mentions all the time how grateful he is for everything in his life, and how none of it would have been possible had he not changed his life around. Here he is with some flounder he gigged about 2 months ago.

Since I moved to New Braunfels, I only see my Little Heather once or twice/ month. We've been doing some fun stuff though in what little time we do have. Last time I picked her up we had a day of cooking. I taught her how to make brownies, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and sauteed okra. She said she really enjoyed it, and the food came out great. She's a very picky eater, so sometimes we struggle with the whole food thing. While we were eating a commercial came on with a little girl grocery shopping with her mom, and she kept saying things like, "i don't like broccoli" and "i don't like tomatoes". She started laughing, and Carl asked her if they consulted her for that commercial.

I hesitated to put up these photos because of a fear of appearing a hunting and fishing fanatic, but Carl is very proud of the buck he shot last weekend (and I'm proud too)- so here it is. For all of you who know about this kind of stuff, it scored a 197 and is a Boone and Crockett deer. His family owns a ranch in south Texas called the Tecomate, which is where he shot it. Carl helped me to find peace with hunting a few weeks ago when he explained that all the meat gets eaten, and they only kill bucks that are old in age and would die soon anyways. I think this one was seven. Its definitely the biggest buck I've ever seen.

Carl and I went off-shore fishing about a week and a half ago. We went 185 miles out into the gulf to an oil rig and trolled during the day, threw lures at night. We had a lot of fun. Carl fished way harder than me, cause I didn't quite feel up to par. But I was still lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time and caught some pretty good fish. Here we are with two of the fish we caught. Carl's holding a yellow fin tuna, and I'm holding a mahi mahi (also known as a dolfin or dorado.) Our good friend Matt took this picture on our other friend's dock once we got back to Corpus. This was my first off-shore trip, and I'm definitely going back. The yellow fin put up the fight of my life. The rod I was using snapped, and the handle of the reel came off. Needless to say, after all that I had to hand off the rod to the mate. But I was able to reel it in almost all the way.

I'm very sorry to report that my Papa, Del Sanford, passed away last Thursday, December 13, 2007. He was the most amazing man I've ever known, and I will miss him dearly. I feel so incredibly blessed to be his granddaughter, and my only hope is that I will grow to be half the person that he was. He was a man of God, a wonderful husband, an amazing grandfather, and a dear friend to so many. This was never more evident to me than at his funeral service. At both services (one in Texas and one in Oklahoma), there was standing room only. People came from all over to pay respects to a man that made such a tremendous impact on their lives. So many people stood up to tell their stories of how my Papa changed their lives and helped them get through good times and bad. He will most definitely be missed, but I know I'll see him again in Heaven and as long as I walk here on this earth I will carry with me the love and compassion that he so humbly exuded and instilled in me and all with whom he came in contact.

About a month ago we went to South Padre Island to celebrate Carl's Papaw's 80th birthday. Carl's parents own two houses on the bay, and they hosted the party. We had a great time. Papaw is hilarious. Here we are on the deck before the party.


And this is a picture of the whole family(well, most of it). Papaw is in the middle. His
Granny is the one to the right of Papaw.
This is a picture of Carl with his brother Brian, Dad, Step-mother Suzanne, Granny, and Papaw.
For the dinner part of the party, there were tables set up on the dock. This picture may not do it justice, but it was beautiful. They always have such exquisite parties.
The next day we spent the majority of the time on the water. This is a picture of me, Matt, and Carl poling to a black drum we saw tailing out in front of the house.

Time sure flies! I felt like I had just put up a new post, and then I noticed that it has been almost two months!
One of my really good girl friends got married two weeks ago. Kirsten, Dez, and I were all bridesmades. We had such a great time together. Kirsten flew in from Santa Cruz, and Dez flew in from Holland. It was great to all be together again.
Here is a picture of me and Brandi at her bachelorette party.


After the rehearsal dinner we took Brandi out dancing for a few hours. This is a picture of Dez and Brand.

And here we all are. We all worked together forever at the Hilton. Definitely the best group of people I could ever work with.

Kirsten's boyfriend Eric was a groomsman. It was his first wedding to be in and his first time wearing a tux. We all agreed that he was super handsome.