Steak & Lobster

Two nights before we left we were treated to an amazing evening of steak, lobster, cuban cigars, and good ole family time. The food was incredible!! For those of you who don't know, we've been living with Dan and Becky since January, and we've loved every minute of it. We've been away for 3 days now, and we miss them terribly. They made us the most wonderful dinners every night, and we played many games of spades. We always beat them of course (sorry Dan, I had to do it).

This is a photo of Carl, Dan, Carl's brother Brian, and Becky by the bbq pit.
about to dig in....

Dan and Jackson

and the feast....

saying good-bye

Yesterday was a rather difficult day for me. I went to Hallettsville to say my final good-byes to my Dad and family and to my dear sweet Mema. It was really great seeing everyone, but it was pretty difficult saying farewell. August really isn't that far away, but right now it feels like it will be forever before I see them again.

Gettin close!

Well, its to the point that we're saying our final good-byes. We went and had dinner with our good friends Brandi and Bill last night. It was really sad to say good-bye, but they are thinking about coming to visit in a few months. Brandi was supposed to be one of my bridesmaids, but a few weeks ago she found out that she's pregnant. That means she'll be 8 months pregnant during the wedding, and she won't be able to fly. I'm really sad about it, but I'm super happy for them. Since they can't come in August they're thinking about making a quick trip before she's too pregnant to fly. We already have one visitor scheduled- Carl's mom is coming out for a week in March. We're thrilled. We want all the visitors we can have.

These pictures are of me and Robin in DC.

Moving and Carl's Graduation

I can't believe we're leaving Texas in 1 week!! We are excited beyond words. Carl found a place for us to rent when we get there. We'll be able to fly in and drive straight to our new home, and the key will be waiting for us under the mat. Its a studio/loft apartment in Kona, and its about a 5 minute walk from the water and the downtown area. I think its going to be perfect. By the time everyone arrives for our wedding we'll be in a new location because we're renting it on a month-to-month basis. Its pretty small, but it will most definitely hold us over until we find the perfect place to live in long-term.

These are some photos of Carl's graduation. I know its been a while, but I realized I hadn't put any up yet. We had a gathering out at his parents' house afterward, and it was a lot of fun. There was a time when Carl, and many others, never thought he would graduate, so this day was extra special. Yay Carl!! My Dad and family gave him a card, and on the front Dad wrote "Congraduations!" I thought it was really funny. Carl didn't even catch it- at first glance he thought that was how you spelled congratulations.

Text Books

For any of you that are still in school or know someone who is, I highly recommend using www.sellbackyourbook.com instead of going to your school bookstore. Carl and I have a stack of books that we never sold back because we knew we'd only get a few bucks anyways, but we kept them during our move because I found this site. We recently went to the site and typed in the ISBNs, and we're getting $237!!!! And they even pay for the shipping!! That is absolutely unheard of in the selling back of textbooks world. So keep it in mind the next time you or someone you know has a textbook to get rid of. Its definitely worth the few minutes it takes to type in the ISBN.

One of my favorite experiences of our trip was the "We Are One" Inauguration Concert on Sunday. There were tons of performers including James Taylor, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Bon Jovi, Shakira, Beyonce, and many more. The best by far was Garth Brooks, which really caught me by surprise. He is most definitely my least favorite country singer, but he put on an incredible show. He was quite the entertainer, singing "bye bye Mrs. American pie" and "shout", invoking the entire crowd (500,000 people) to throw their hands in the air and sing along. The most moving part of the experience for me was that the entertainers didn't sing their own songs, they sang songs that every single person in attendance, from children to the elderly, Asians to African Americans, knew the words to. It was really awesome to look around and see such a diverse group of people all singing together and having an amazing time. Everything about the concert from the singing crowd, the diverse group of people, and the group of entertainers that spanned genres really reflected the overlying theme "We Are One", and I thought it was beautiful.

Inauguration

Yesterday was by far the most memorable day of my life, and for many, many reasons. I'm in DC with my cousin Robin, and when I say that we're exhausted I mean it. As an example, we're still lying in our hotel bed, and its 4:15 pm.

Our day yesterday began at 3:15 am, kind of. Really it began at 9 am on Monday morning because we went to the Black Tie and Boots Texas Ball Monday night, got in at 2, lied down at 2:15, and set the alarm for 3. I really don't think I ever fell asleep in those short 45 minutes because I was so worried about missing the alarm. We left for the subway station at 4 am, and made it downtown around 5, at which time the metro station was already unbelievably packed. We got to the Mall (the strip of land between the capital and the Lincoln Memorial) at about 530 and remained in 1 spot until 1. The temp was in the low 20s, it was still dark for about 2 hours, and there were an estimated 1.8 million people in the Mall alone. When I say we were crowded it is an understatement. We were packed in so tight you were constantly squished between people and being pushed around from side to side. It was definitely a test of our balancing skills, and today we feel like 85 year old ladies. We were chaparoning a group of 17 high school seniors, and at one point while it was still dark, 2 of the girls needed to go to the bathroom. A short while later Robin gets a call that they were stuck and people would not let them back to our spot. So Robin, being the kind-hearted soul that she is, decided to go find them and escort them back. Well that, my friends, was no small task. She literally had to push, shove, bribe, and crawl over people to get to them. And then do the same to get back. I felt so horrible for her. But she finally made it.

Eventually the clock struck noon and the ceremonies began. Some time around 630 that morning I was quite certain I would never see 12 noon, but by the grace of God we made it. Once the inauguration began our lives got much better. It was very exciting, and most memorable. We have a great video of the crowd after Obama took his oath. Almost everyone on the mall had flags, and after his oath we were in a sea of waving flags and cheers. It was really incredible.

But needless to say, Robin and I both agreed that we would never do anything like that again. We are so excited to have been there, but next time will be perfectly happy to watch everything from the sidelines. I have great pics from the ball and other places that I will post later.

I cannot believe we're leaving for Hawaii in 3 weeks!!!! Carl and I were talking yesterday about how that's a super hard thing to grasp. It really has not sunk in for us yet, but every once in a while we get unbelievably excited. Our plan is to rent an ohana house for a month so we can have a place to go when we get there. Then we'll have plenty of time to look around and find the perfect place. An ohana house is very common in Hawaii. Ohana means family, and most people have a 1 bed/1 bath detached apartment on their property. Some choose to rent it out. The only thing is that most of them don't have a kitchen. But we'll be fine without a kitchen for a few weeks.
Actually, I've already found the perfect place, but I doubt it will be available when we get there. Check it out:
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/big/apa/994266640.html
And here's where Carl wants to live. And I'm not kidding.
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/big/apa/990453581.html

Papaw

Carl's papaw is in the ICU right now, and I want to encourage all of you to keep him in your hearts and prayers. He's an amazing man, and we can't wait to see him feeling better. He's been in Intensive Care for 15 days now, and Carl has had quite a few opportunities to visit him there. Today was my first, and to say it was emotionally overwhelming would be an understatement. In the few short years I've known Papaw I haven't had as many visits with him as I'd have liked, but none the less, each one has been nothing short of entertaining. His use of sarcasm will keep you laughing for weeks. Every time we leave him Carl and I remind each other for days of all the funny things Papaw said.
It was terribly sad to see him in the condition he's in today, but even with all he's experiencing he was able to give us the same smile you see below when he saw us this morning.
Carl has really been a pillar of strength for me over the last year since my Papa died, and he was for me again today after our visit with Papaw. He has an amazing ability to keep me centered and focused on faith rather than reeling with thoughts and negative emotions. I thank God every day for putting us together, and I feel so blessed to share my life with him.

Where's River?

This picture is the afternoon after our garage sale. We threw some things into my truck to take to Salvation Army. See if you can find the stow-away that wanted to go for a ride!

Give up?

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River loves to go for a ride any chance she gets. I think she is hoping that we are either headed to the beach or to the river.

"Waffle" Fest

As much as Carl and I are ready for a new and exciting adventure, we're definitely going to miss living in New Braunfels. We were only able to spend 1 year here, but we've had a really great time. The things I'll miss the most are the really fun festivals New Braunfels has. My favorite two are Wurstfest and Wassailfest. Wurstfest is always the first week in November, and its a blast. I went this year with my friends Brandi and Bill, and we had a great time. We got to do a ton of really great people watching and polka dancing. At the end of the night we were walking by a stein booth, and Bill decided he wanted to pick one up. After about 15 minutes of going looking at each one he finally decided on the perfect one and the attendant went to the back to get it out of the box. While she was gone we picked up the mug to see the price, and it was a whopping $92!!! We were all shocked. Bill and I tried to bail, but Brandi wouldn't let us. So Brandi and Bill are now the proud owners of the beautiful $92 stein on the left.

Wassailfest was last Thursday. It was almost unbearably cold, but we went anyway. A few days before the event I called my friend Leila to see if she and her husband would like to go with us. She replied, having never been before, "oh, yeah, we'd love to, Ty loves waffles. Ty do you wanna go to Waffle Fest?" Carl and I got a pretty good kick out of it.

This image was actually taken at last year's Wassailfest, where Carl and I both discovered that Wassail is pretty much disgusting. But we still love the fest. It makes you really get into the

Christmas spirit.

surfing gustav

It seems like every other post I'm saying this, but sorry for the huge time delay in posting. Carl and I decided a few days ago that as soon as we get to Hawaii we will begin posting every single day, so please don't give up on us. We know it will be a great way for our friends and families to keep up with our lives since we'll be so far. More and more of my family members have started blogs recently, and it makes it so much easier to stay informed.
While most people would get as far away from the water as possible during a hurricane, Carl heads straight for it. Well, not straight for it, but straight to a beach that's far enough away to be safe yet close enough to get huge swells. In early September Gustav headed our way, and we packed up our dog and our boards and headed to Corpus. (Mom and Shelly- Carl is a seasoned surfer and is always very, very safe.) Carl does all the surfing while River and I sit on the pier and watch. Some day I too will be out there, but not until after I've graduated from Titus Kinimaka's Hawaiian School of Surfing some time next year.
When it gets really hot River likes to bury herself in the dirt under the truck. She's such a good beach dog. I think she's going to hate Hawaii (ha, ha).
At one point River and I had to take the truck and go to a gas station to get some water. Luckily when I came back I parked at the very edge of the beach because while we were out at the end of the pier a HUGE swell came and washed away the beach. All of the sudden I turned around and saw people running and driving off. This poor guy wasn't fortunate enough to have moved his car in time, and his whole front end was submersed. It was terrible. I felt so bad for him.

This is a photo of us after Carl's surfing session. I love it when he gets to surf. It always makes him so peaceful. When we move to Hawaii he'll get to surf his little heart out. Hopefully I turn out to be pretty good myself, and if I like it even half as much as he does I think I'll have the time of my life.

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.