Rowdy

Rowdy the kitten is ours for keeps.  While I was gone visiting my family in MO for Thanksgiving, Matt took him to get officially adopted and "fixed."  He and Lucy are getting along much much better, though there are plenty of playful cat-fights to keep an eye on.  My favorite part of having him around is when he snuggles up on my shoulder at night.  Sooo cute & warm!  

Since both of our cameras are out of service these days, Steph let me borrow hers.  I have a few pictures to share, but can't find the right cord to download them with.  Bummer.  

8 Things

I haven't been motivated to post for a while, so here's something to help get me back in.  I'll honor my "tagged" status (thanks Steph & Say) & will fill this out...

8 TV shows I watch:
1) Jon & Kate Plus 8
2) Lost
3) Friends reruns
4) The Cosby Show reruns
5) House Hunters
6) Scrubs
7) the Weather prevue channel
8) The Bonnie Hunt Show

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1) 1424 (Waco)
2) Teriyaki Park (Waco)
3) Gratziano's (Waco)
4) Amsterdam's (Auburn)
5) Lolita's (Waco)
6) Pei Wei
7) Firehouse Subs
8) Schlotzky's

8 Things That Happened This Week:
1) Randomly ran into Lauren Wilkey at a wedding rehearsal in Denton, TX
2) Danced a traditional Lebanese dance at a wedding reception
3) Wrapped Christmas gifts for our adopt-a-family at work
4) Scraped ice off my car before leaving work Monday
5) Had a great long phone conversation with Natalie while she was stuck in Chicago snow traffic
6) Met Stefanie for lunch at Panera before she drove back to Dallas
7) Marveled at our fabulously low power bill
8) Made spaghetti, twice.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1) Knowing where we will move after Matt is offered & accepts a job
2) Matt's graduation in May
3) Having a washer/dryer at home (no more toting laundry in the car to the laundry mat)
4) Having a car with a working heater & radio 
5) Fab 5 Beach Trip '09
6) Diamond earrings... one day... years from now... maybe...
7) Traveling at Christmas and being able to see Matt's family
8) Cuddling with Rowdy the kitten at night

8 Things I Pray For:
1) Help getting out of bed in the morning
2) My husband
3) Our parents & other family members & friends
4) Safe travels
5) Other drivers on the road
6) People I see waiting at bus stops
7) Healthy eating habits
8) Initiative & boldness

Kitten Update

One week later and the kitten is still in our possession, but we don't have a final decision yet.  We've learned that Lucy is slowly adjusting to the kitten's presence alright, she just hates it when he tries to play with her.  So, as long as we have the time & energy to keep them somewhat separated and the little one entertained by by things other than Lucy's tail, it may work out.  Here's a picture I took on the computer;  It makes him look bigger than he really is, but no less cuter!

Joy in a Ball of Fur

It all began when a co-worker found a orange tabby kitten with blue eyes in the parking lot at work Thursday afternoon...   Though Matt did not really want me to, he gave the ok to bring him home to see if Lucy would be ok with it.  If she wasn't, we'd take him to the Humane Society.  It was either that or leave him in the parking lot.  Lucy didn't take to the kitten, so we called around but no friends needed a ball of fur to play with.  All the while the kitten ran all around the back courtyard playing and jumping in my lap having a hay day.  Soooo cute & friendly!  I stayed strong and didn't put up a fight when Matt said it was time to take him to the Humane Society.  Off we went knowing that someone looking for a friendly kitten would be thrilled the next day.

Friday I went to work and thought about kitten all day.  My co-workers were sad to know we couldn't keep it.  I held back from calling Matt to plea with him that we go back and give it another try before someone else gets the kitten.  I knew he wouldn't budge.  He's a pretty firm guy.  I told myself that other cute orange kitty's were waiting to be born later on when we could get one.  It was going to be a normal weekend for us and a very special one for the kitty's new owners.  

At 5:10 I unlocked our backdoor thinking about sorting whites & darks and then going to the laundry-mat when out from the living room darts an orange ball of fur!!!  I was SHOCKED!  Matt went back to the Humane Society first thing that morning and got permission from them to keep the kitten over the weekend to see if the two cats would eventually get along better!  I was so surprised that he went to the effort to do that.  Not that they equate to the same shock value, but the only other time I can think of that he took me by such surprise was when he proposed!  

Now it's Saturday morning and Lucy has done better, but not good enough.  She's outside as is normal and the kitten is asleep on the couch.  Hopefully it will all work out by Monday...

Halloween

Halloween night didn't disappoint!  Our friends Ricky & Dalia came over dressed as "Matt & Jenna!"  They were hysterical... both had on blonde wiggs & glasses similar to ours.  They were both wearing typical Sunday clothes the real Robinson's commonly wear (Ricky even said he wore orange for Auburn).  "Matt" was also carrying fake physics & theology books while holding a cup of ice to chew.   Note to all you creative costumers:  Dress up like the hosts you are going to see - it was so funny!  Our friend Jason (the Sing guy), his wife Erin and his drummer Scott were here over the weekend and Jason showed off his Wizard costume before heading off to Pigskin (a Baylor Homecoming tradition).  Matt was a Master Card ad and I threw on a neon green moo-moo (thank you Heather!), purple fuzzy slippers and put sloppy rollers in my hair.  Stephanie also came over and we all made our way to the porch to eat our chili and pass out candy around 6:30.  It was a blast seeing all the costumes & hearing the funny things some of the kids would say.  Such as... after Steph prompted one little girl to say "trick-or-treat" by asking her, "what do you say?" her immediate & bold reply was, "I want that one," as she pointed to that one.  At 7:25, less than one hour later, we were out 10 lbs of candy and had about 400 trick-or-treaters come by!!!  We turned the crowds away, locked the door and walked around for a while to partake from the sidewalks.  What a bizarre, but fun tradition.

Matt carved Yoda (& later The Joker).  I'm a traditional jack-o-lantern girl.

Matt the Master Card ad and Jason the Wizard.

Jenna, Matt, Jenna, Matt

Enjoying our chili on the front porch.

We had 3 jack-o-lanterns and a black light... and 10 lbs of candy.

(The little boy walking up had fake tattoos ALL over his arms.)

The cars & crowds in front of our porch.

The line for candy in front of our porch - crazy!  

(I love the "Papa Bear" with a camera around his neck)

Texas State Fair

Last weekend Brock, Matt and I drove up to Dallas to stay with Stefanie and go to the TX State Fair!  Friday night Stef cooked a great spaghetti supper for us then we went out for gelato afterward.  At the fair Saturday we saw Big Tex the mascot, the Cotton Bowl stadium, lots of random fried foods (fried smores, fried cheesecake, fried grilled cheese, fried moon pies, fried bacon...), a bizarre butter sculpture, a great 2009 car show, a laser light show, and much more.  Sunday we drove out to the Dallas Farmer's Market - I was on cloud 9!  They had all kinds of flowers & plants and 2 large pavilions of fruits and vegetables.  Between the four of us we walked away with wasabi peas, pears, cantaloupe, raspberries, huge bags of blueberries and lots of free samples in our tummies.  

Big Tex and the Cotton Bowl Stadium

An irresistibly large bootie to pinch.

Expected & very unexpected things come out of their deep friers...

We tried out LOTS of 2009 cars, one of which was the van that has a table in the back!

Butter sclupture of an Egyptian tomb.  Pure butter?  Yes.  Walls and everything?  Yes.  Why?  Because it's a fair.

Waiting on the laser light show. 

Dallas skyline at the farmer's market.

A Good Life.

Sadly, Matt's grandmother passed away this Monday.  Mimi/Ada had been on a slow decline for months , but now she is done waiting and is in Heaven!  Thankfully we can celebrate for her because we know 100% she was a Christian.  

Unfortunately, due to car trouble and a very irresponsible Allstate phone claims person, Matt was unable to make it to DFW to catch his flight to Atlanta.  Very crummy circumstances.

Halloween Hoopla

Halloween night on our street is quite a spectacle.  It's like a scene out of a movie... such as one I used to watch on the Disney Channel where Sarah Jessica Parker & Better Middler are witches and there are a million kids wondering around in costume trick-or-treating.  It's like that, but with bumper to bumper traffic.  In sane.  I'm looking forward to all the hoop-la  again in a few weeks!  Maybe they come because it's an older neighborhood (that's safe) and it's neat for the kids to walk  around on sidewalks with older spooky houses :o)  Below is a wobbly & very unprofessional video clip I took last year after running out of candy and a photo of people lined up for candy at a neighbor's house:

PS - Matt began applying for jobs on Saturday!!!

Halloween Duck & Other Things

My next-door cubicle neighbor has decorated her filing cabinet with statues of a dog & a duck dressed in Halloween costumes. The duck must be a distant cousin of the famous Dothan duck who was always properly dressed in theme for everyday & special occasions.  Can anyone report on the Dothan Duck these days?

The Panera in Waco has a grassy spot next to it in the middle of a shopping center & while driving by recently I saw a man, woman & toddler having a picnic on it.  So cute.  Maybe it was his lunch break so Mom dreamed up the little outdoor adventure in order to get out of the house and spend time with Dad.  I was proud of them for taking advantage of the weather & green grass to have a little family picnic time.  

I spotted gasoline for sale at $3.09 a gallon on my way home from work today!!! 

I often look forward to replacing my car in the next few years, but after washing the windows & shaking out the floor mats I feel like it's a whole new car!  Amazing what a little TLC & Windex can do.  Mom & I found it in November 1999 and it's been a great car ever since.  Assuming newer Civic's only get better than the 1994's I would highly recommend one to anyone.  Except to really tall people.  

I started making a sentimental t-shirt blanket.  It was surprisingly hard deciding which shirts to use and then to cut them, but we each had two crammed drawers full so it was time to downsize and I didn't want to just give our colorful 100% cotton memories away.  After "threading the bobbin" and arranging all the squares I didn't get much further.  The actual sewing part is harder than I remembered.  I need to practice more on scrap fabric before going any further on the blanket.  

I recently went to a garage sale a few blocks away at the Jr. League House not really expecting to find anything but I merrily walked away with some monogrammed paper napkins, a novel, 4 name brand shirts (Gap, Ralph Lauren, Hollister) and... drum roll please... a bread-maker.  But here's the big finale... all that totaled a whopping $1.50!  I was on cloud nine for the next week!  Bargain of the YEAR!

Tonight we're going to enjoy our second loaf of bread from it, rotisserie chicken, minestrone soup and chocolate chip cookies while we continue re-watching Lost with Brock, Jacob & Mandy.  

Hard Drive (almost) Disaster

The hard-drive on Matt's laptop crashed. Yes, the laptop he's been doing all his research & disertation work on for the past 2.5 years. After driving to the Apple store in Dallas and taking it to a data recovery place it was obvious there was no hope. Matt took it like a champ though. He quickly focused on the fact that most of the REALLY important things he needed are saved in his email account and scattered on papers in the apartment. That to say, for 3 days straight he's been typing & working up a storm like a, umm, well like a 5th year PhD student who just about lost everything. Thankfully it shouldn't interfere with anything major. He just has to keep persevering over the next few days to meet a paper deadline & hope for no hand cramps. Poor guy. In the meantime all I can do is make sure there are plenty of cold sweet tea refills to be had. But I guess that part isn't much different than any other week. :)

Birmingham Baby & Buddies

One day after this past Christmas I was wondering through the mall looking for a 1/2 price winter coat when I recieved a phone call from Sarah. After recovering from complete shock when she said Santa brought them a baby for Christmas... we almost immediately started planning when I could fly out for a visit after mystery baby was born! On August 6th Patrick McCay was born and last weekend I was able to leave work early to spend a fabulous & long weekend over in Birmingham. This being the first baby born into my long-time core group of friends, I was excited about how the introduction would go (laughter, tears...?) As Sarah's car pulled up at the airport I was quickly informed there was a very unhappy baby inside! She hopped out, my bag was thrown in the trunk, I was thrown in the backseat and 30 seconds later without any hugs we were off! It was the perfect whirlwind meeting representative of their new lifestyle. :o)

Whitney also came into town from Atlanta & we had a great time ooohing & aaahing over the cutest little 6 week baby we had ever seen. Saturday we took a chance and went out to lunch (Allison Moore got to go with!) at the Purple Onion where we had DELICIOUS gyro's. From there it was on to the carwash & then a little shopping at Target. Mac did sooo good & let the three of us enjoy a wonderful afternoon out & about. Later in the afternoon we drove out to the Beverly's Sunday school teacher's house to eat BBQ and watch the Auburn game. While there it dawned on us that my Mom was only 3 hours away, so after a quick phone call she made last minute plans to drive up the next day! Sunday morning I was able to get up with Mac & do all the fun watch-the-sunrise things with him (diaper, bottle, spit-up...) while the others slept. He was such a good baby! Mom got into town later that afternoon & we had a wonderful visit on thier back deck. Later on she took Sarah, Patrick & me out for supper at Ted's Montanna Grill. Mac slept & slept while we enjoyed a fun and long meal. Monday, after Sarah went to her PT apointment & Mom left mid-morning, I got good Mac time in & took some cute pictures. My flight didn't leave Birmingham until 6:00pm that evening so we had a full day to visit and ponder over their precious miracle that is on the verge of smiling & laughing and before we know it, rolling over & riding bikes. Thankfully, I can say the weekend didn't leave me with "the itch" but it did make me want to go back as soon as possible. :o)

:o)

This past weekend was a goodie.  (I almost don't like saying that because it was horrific for so many down in Houston & especially Galveston.)  But it unfolded as such... 

Thursday, engaged buddies Thomas & Kayla evacuated Houston & set up camp here in Waco.  We had a good couch visit with them & then Kayla headed to her sister's place while Thomas stayed here.  

Friday we went to the Dollar Theater (really the $1.75 Theater) with Brock & Stefani to see Get Smart then to a pizza parlor for supper & to watch some of the Baylor game (they actually won!)  Next we headed back to our place for ice cream & Brian Regan's newest stand-up skit.  The guys love him. We stayed up late & finally hit the hay after seeing the bad weather was going to miss us (but we all had flashlights just in case!)  

Saturday Matt & I worked out a wee bit at Gold's & then got ready for our Football & Fried Chicken party!  Auburn played lousy (so I was told?) Thankfully there were better things going  on in our apartment like Bush's fried chicken & fixins and 10 friends to visit with!  Later on our friend Jason from Austin showed up.  He frequently has to come to Waco for work (a.k.a. Baylor's Sing program).  

Sunday was church, leftover chicken, and lounge time.  Sunday evening is also when Matt gets together with some guys to hang out.  They've been doing it for almost 3 years now, so that's usually my grocery store or girl time.  Last night Stef & I went to Starbucks before she drove back to Dallas.  OH MY GOSH!  Caffeine really IS a drug!!!!!!!  I was bouncing off the flipping walls an hour later!!!!  Evening coffee is soooo much more powerful than the occasional midday DDP.  Phew.  

Today, Monday, was an absolutely GLORIOUS day.  Sunny blue sky, warm but cool.  I could smell Fall on it's way & tonight it's supposed to dip down into the lower 60's!  I love it.  I turned off the AC and opened our windows after work.  The cool fresh air is so wonderful.  After supper I went outside and laid on our front sidewalk to watch the sunset.  It was such a simple pleasure to feel the temperature drop, watch the stars come out, and hear the crickets.  Unfortunately the mosquitos interrupted my moment and a retreat indoors was necessary.  

Now the kitchen is crumb-free, sink empty of all dirty dishes, tomorrow night's menu is planned for our weekly meal with friends while watching Lost, Lucy is laying belly-up on the floor, Matt is productively working on the laptop, and I'm meeting Mac Beverly on Friday.  I can do anything but complain :)

Ike

Despite predictions for the Waco area, Hurricane Ike didn't make much of an appearance around here.  For the past few days the weather forecasters have been mentally preparing us for flash flooding, high winds and tornados all day Saturday.  Since Ike leaned a bit more to the East we just got slight wind and drizzles.  

Last night we stayed up until 1:00 watching The Weather Channel to know if we were in for any last minute bad weather surprises and got an even bigger surprise... a streaker ran through the background of the live program!!!  Thankfully as he made his way into the camera frame the Weather Channel logo was in just the right spot to block out, umm, "him."  We definitely got a good view of his white bootie 2 seconds later though!!!  Did anyone else see that???  SO SHOCKING!!!  Silly guy.  

 

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend we went camping for 2 nights at Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg with friends Mandy & Jacob.   We pitched our tents, put up a tarp, made jiffy-pop, smores and enjoyed eggs & bacon for breakfast.  It was great!  The park area has a lot of hiking trails and rock climbing that we all enjoyed.  Fredericksburg is a German influenced area so we went into town for Jagerschnitzel, spatzle and brautworst at the biergarten one night(spellings?). On our drive home Sunday we happened to stumble upon an awesome swimming hole in the middle of no where called Hamilton Pool.  It is a collapsed cave turned natural swimming hole that sometimes has a waterfall - SO COOL!  (We later found out it is ranked #3 on the top natural sites to see in Texas and Enchanted Rock happens to be #1.)  It was a fabulous weekend spent outside!  Here are some pictures:   

New Look

I'm trying to come up with a new look for the page... there are waaaay too many options!  This one is way too busy for me, but it's a start...

Ohio Pictures

Here are some pictures from our trip to Ohio last month:

Cincinnati Skyline

Navigation Team

Rehearsal Dinner, Thursday 7-3

With the Bride & Groom, Kate & Brian

Brock & Stef on 4th of July Morning Bus Ride to the Baseball Game

By the River Before the Reds Game

There was a looong rain delay, but Kate's Dad had umbrellas for us!

An All-American 4th of July with Baseball & Hot Dogs!

Bridal party being announced (Matt's in the middle) 

Mr. & Mrs. David

Brock & Stefanie

Us :o)

Pre-Party

Friday night (8-15) I came home from work and immediately crashed on the couch for a nap.  (The night before I stayed up until 2:00AM visiting & laughing with friends Marla & Stefanie.  They were in town for Marla's graduation & stayed at our place a couple nights.  It was well worth the lack of sleep.)  I later woke up from the nap after hearing a key in the lock and feet entering the living room - I sleepily raised my head & got a "SURPRISE" as Brock, Stefanie, Jacob, Mandy, Brian, Kate, Matt and a chocolate cake surrounded me.  Matt had everyone come over for a pre-birthday celebration!  (I'm still 24 until the 18th) Once I came to my senses and got out of sleepy-mode we ate dinner at the Elite Grill and then came back to the apartment for a few games of Mexican Train (domino game) and cake.  It was a very fun evening spent with friends.  Thank you Matt :o)

Saturday (8-16) we used our free time to check out a nearby place called Homestead Heritage.  Both of us were surprised at how much we enjoyed ourselves!  To kind of explain what it is I'll use Matt's departing words... "Well, that was cool.  Kinda like the Amish but without all the weird crazy stuff."  Their facilities and way of life are completely modern, just with the mindset of preserving farming and "homesteading" skills of the past that are lost in today's world.  They make and sell all kinds of homemade things as well as give seminars on how to do it yourself.  We had lunch at the deli (had my first falafel!), watched them make pottery, visited with a wood worker in his shop, smelled homemade soaps & lotions, sat in a garden, saw a working gristmill and gawked at the biggest sunflowers I've ever seen (like 10 ft tall!).  As it will do with most adventures, the perfect overcast breezy weather made the outing even more pleasant.  We stopped by the bakery on the way out for an apricot scone & apple nut bread - YUMMM!  Homemade all-natural food is the way to go.  It was a good birthday weekend adventure.  

Anything That Comes to Mind

After peeling open the last roll of laundry-mat quarters I got from the bank I noticed they felt different.  Less grimy.  Low and behold... I looked down and the entire thing had brand spankin new 2008 New Mexico quarters in it!  Not a single scratch on them.  Kinda neat.  

Because I had extra quarters left over I visited the vending machine at work almost every day last week.  Now my new favorite liquid indulgence is Diet Dr Pepper.  And people, the ads are true, there really is nothing diet about it.  Yum.  

I recently discovered the discount bread store in Waco.  I remember going to the one at home with my Mom when I was younger so visiting this one on my own felt like a rite of passage into adulthood.  I got $6 worth of things (tortilla chips, Cinnabon cinnamon bread, English muffins, moon pies...) in order to pick an item off the free rack.  Thank goodness for freezer space.  

Last Saturday (7-27) while Matt spent the morning at home working I headed out with my friend Lisa for some adventures.  First we hit up the local farmer's market.  A bit pricier than HEB (our grocery store), but I love buying fresh local produce.  Next, just for kicks, we headed to an estate auction.  Years ago I remember going to auctions with my Mom and Grandma for their antique business.  This one was the real deal... hamburger stand, big tent in the front yard, auctioneer talking a mile a minute, hands up in the air giving bids, stuff displayed everywhere.  And this was good stuff too.  First thing we heard go was a Martin guitar for $1,800.  The man had been in Congress for 40 years and had quite a collection of antiques and memorabilia.  We stopped at a more reasonable garage sale on the way back.  Spending 50 cents on a pair of Express pants is my kind of bargain!  

This past Friday night (8-1) we didn't have any quarters so we didn't make it to the laundry mat (darn that Diet Dr Pepper addiction).  Instead we went to the dollar theater to see Ironman.  Good fun action comicbookish flick.  Matt had been eager to see it in the big theater, but seeing movies for $1.75 just a month or two later is worth the wait.  

Saturday night (8-2) after a big trip to HEB we rented Music & Lyrics.  It had been a while since we saw a romantic comedy & both thoroughly enjoyed it.  

Today (8-3) I made homemade chocolate ice cream!  We got the machine as a wedding gift from Matt's grandparents and had not yet used it.  Today is Brock's birthday so that was a good reason to try it out!  Very rich and creamy!  

The temperature has been at 100 and above the past week.  Tomorrow the high is 105... not including heat index.  That combined with a dry summer makes for a crispy brown world.  Thankfully I hear some drizzles outside right now!  

The next few days are going to be huge for our friends Sarah & Patrick.  She is scheduled to have their first baby this Wednesday in Birmingham!  Hopefully I can make it out there later in the fall to meet baby Mac.  We are soooo excited for them & look forward to learning about parenting through them.  :o)

Progressive Dinners

I was recently reminded that I talk about food a lot. I guess it's true. Here goes again...

Thursday night when I got home Matt was ready to be out of the apartment away from his papers so we headed to BU's campus to exercise and then had a little progressive dinner. There are two small downtown places we enjoy eating in, but always have a hard time deciding where to go. Don't know why we hadn't thought of it before, but this time we stopped in Terriyaki Park for our appetizer of edimamme and sushi rolls. Then headed nextdoor to Wing Stop for terriyaki flavored wings and french fries. Yum!

We had no intention of doing it again the next night, but... I've been having a hard time finding a place to have Matt's graduation party (Lord willing 10 months away) so we figured the best way to do research was to be restaurant patrons. Friday night we started off at Gratziano's Italian restaurant downtown for Cajun Chicken Pasta & Portobello Raviolli. They were a no-go for the party, so we moved on. Dessert was at the Elite Grill on the Circle and my satisfied comment is that I've never had to take my shared dessert home in a to-go box. Their chocolate cake was scrumptious & HUGE! They too were a no-go for the party. Darn. Though we knew it wouldn't hold potential for a graduation luncheon, we were having a ball so we headed back downtown to Crickett's for a little night-cap. There we had a surprisingly enjoyable conversation about the election, politics, and weaning ourselves off foreign oil dependancy. It was a fun splurge, but it's back to Bagel Bites & canned soup for the rest of the weekend :o)

The Past Month

Hummm... what's been going on... let's backtrack a bit...

(Apologies for any excessive story telling or untamed jibber-jabber and that there are no pictures to hold your interest.)

June 14-23 my Mom drove out for a good long visit. Her being here over two weekends made a big difference in not having to schedule as much around my work hours. Also, it gave Matt good uninterrupted time to do dissertation work while I had someone else around to entertain me. We wandered around town a lot just browsing in stores and spent a LOT of time eating out and trying new restaurants. I've always been aware of it, but now I KNOW that a good trip for Mom means lots of fun food experiences! Some places we went were old favorites, but most were new to her and I'm proud to say that our restaurant tally came to a whopping 15 by the end of her stay! Three meals a day over 9 days makes for a lot of opportunities.

For all you TLC fans, we also had fun playing "What Not to Wear." Before leaving Dothan, Mom loaded the car with most of the contents from her closet so I could help her take out things Stacy & Clinton would not approve of. It's amazing how many memories an article of clothing can hold. Even so, she drove back to Dothan with an empty trunk!

Mom was also here over the Saturday Spenco scheduled a company picnic to Sea World in San Antonio! Sadly, at the last minute Matt decided it would be wisest for him to stay at home to work, but thankfully I still had a buddy to go with me. (I didn't go last year because Matt was in Philadelphia for a conference.) Spenco rented busses & provided lunch so it was an easy & inexpensive trip down. We saw Shamu & all the typical Sea World animals. Despite the quick thunderstorm it was a lovely casual day just strolling around the park watching the shows & of course, sampling some park food.

Oh yeah, one night we had 4 people ask if they could stay with us... in addition to Mom being here. Normally I LOVE running Robinson Room & Board, but we can only do so much sometimes. Mom already in the spare room, our friend Jason (from Austin) got to stay on the couch, but we sadly had to turn down lodging for Doug & Natalie (who now live in Chicago) and Stefanie (from Houston). We did squeeze in a quick hug & chat with the Chicagoans though!

July 3-6 we flew to Cincinnati, OH with our buddies Brock & Stefanie. Matt & Brock were groomsmen in Brian's holiday wedding. We drove up from the Louisville airport & after that little drive I fell in love with the area - it was beautiful, rolling & lush! It even smelled good. Because of the holiday Thursday evening was the Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner. Friday we took a big bus downtown with the entire bridal party & both families to the Reds 4th of July baseball game! Despite the 2 hour rain delay we had a really good time watching and of course eating ball park food. (Skyline Chili-dogs are YUMMY!) That night the bride's parents hosted a BBQ dinner at their house. Their son recently decided to start college at Auburn in the fall so Matt had a BLAST talking to him about anything and everything Auburn related. Saturday Matt worked downstairs in the lobby while Stef, Brock & I watched movies in our hotel room until it was time to go. The wedding was a success & reception lovely! We ate, danced and sent them off with sparklers. It was fun traveling to a new state with good friends and being part of such a wonderful celebration.

July 12, last Saturday, we drove out to McGregor to eat at the Coffee Shop Cafe with our new good buddies Jacob & Mandy. (They both went to Auburn & are now temporarily in Waco with his work. I did not know either beforehand, but Matt knew Jacob through their fraternity. We're so thankful to have crossed paths with them! It's nice to have someone around who can relate to where you came from.) From supper we drove a bit further out to Gatesville to go to a drive-in movie!!! The double feature was Wall-E and Hancock. We took their truck, lawn chairs, a cooler and a boom box and had a blast. Concessions were cheap, the weather was perfect and we all saw multiple shooting stars.

Monday Night Jacob & Mandy came over to eat dinner and watch Lost with us. We're getting them hooked on season one so they can be obsessive fans with us once the show starts back up :o)

Yesterday we met Brock up at Ma's Suds for laundry night. Whoop whoop. It actually is kinda fun. We usually pick up some food (last night was Arby's b/c I had a coupon) and then knock out 4 or 5 loads in an hour and a half. I read magazines while Matt does physics work. He comes up for air when the folding begins.

This evening we went to exercise at BU and kinda grazed for supper. I'll probably get up and watch HGTV in a bit and Matt has been and will continue to work into the wee hours of the morning (notice a trend here?). Thanks for reading; this journal of an entry is finished!

War Eagle Wedding!

We made it to Auburn & back.  Getting there was a bit challenging though... after being rebooked on 3 additional airlines & rerouted through a few different cities we finally left Dallas at the time we should have been arriving in Auburn.  Oh well.  Seven hours later than expected we pulled up to our hotel.  Friday morning Matt's parents drove down to visit for the day.  We walked around campus, Matt visited with a few of his professors, and then we met my brother at Bazillia's Cafe for chicken pesto panini's.  It had been a long time since Cameron & I had seen each other & it was great to visit with him.  Then I left to help kick off the wedding festivities... Ashley's lingerie shower!  It, as well as the wedding & reception, was at Auburn Oaks, a venue out in the country owned by Pat Dye.  There were bedrooms galore, so the entire wedding party stayed out there as well.  Before we left on Sunday sweet Sarah drove down from Birmingham just to see us for a couple hours.  It was so great seeing her (and -2 month old Mac!)  She put some pictures up on her blog.  It was a great mini vacation/wedding celebration.  There was little sleep, but lots of laughs & hugs.  We loved seeing many friends from Auburn (and even high school).  Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Weston Bell!!!

(Unfortunately my camera died shortly after this picture)

Alabama Bound!

We're headed back to Alabama this Thursday & are so pumped!  Our friends Ashley & Wes are getting married in Auburn so we have a great 4 day vacation/celebration planned!  I became friends with Wes in high school and then with Ashley in college.  She & I lived together Jr. & Sr. years at AU and Wes was in the same fraternity Matt was in.  They are a crazy wonderful couple meant to go together like peas & carrots.  As we rooted for them all along, God was also on their side and now they're tying the knot in just a few days.  Here's a couple older pictures with my artist buddy whom I love dearly :-)

  

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a low-key yet delightful holiday weekend!  We just hung out together and took care of our friend Brock's dog Mack.  Matt made the decision to take a complete break from research & that made such a difference!  We kicked the weekend off Friday evening at Ma’s Suds with two rolls of quarters and $5 footlongs from Subway.  As many of you know, we don’t have a washer/dryer connection so we usually spend time at the laundry mat on Friday nights.  Though it’s a bit of a hassle & not particularly clean, we’ve been able to get up to 7 loads completely washed & dried in just 90 minutes.  Can’t beat that!  

Saturday we took care of Mack the dog, grabbed an early lunch from Chick-Fil-A, stopped at Wal-Mart to buy sun-block, then headed out to a friend’s neighborhood pool for the afternoon.  (Thank you Mark & Julie for lending us your key!)  I had a great time reading in the sun & Matt had a great time reading in the shade.  We then drove to Baylor to conquer the Bear Trail (path around campus) in the 95 degree weather.  I barely completed my walk, but Matt duked it out & ran!  Yikes.  After a brief recovery from that we had supper at home followed by our new favorite indulgence… milkshakes from Health Camp!

Sunday morning we skipped out on church and got ready to drive up to the Dallas Zoo!  But before getting on the road we went over to feed Mack then stopped at Rudy’s BBQ for breakfast burritos, Matt’s absolute favorite.  It was a beautiful & easy hour or so drive.  Our favorite animal was the White Cheeked Gibbon.  They were hilarious & attracted a big crowd as they swung around playing tag.  At the lion habitat I was thinking in my head, as any true Auburn fan would, "War Eagle," just as I saw Matt do a double take at the guy next to us & yell "War Eagle!" at him.  He had on an AU hat!  Unfortunately he wasn't as excited as we were & I don't think he even returned the friendly battle cry.  It was pretty neat... running into a fellow AU fan in the Dallas Zoo while watching a live Tiger!  Oh well if he didn't want to be too friendly back.  I'm sad to say there are some collegiate party poopers out there.   After gawking at the animals for 4 hours, we headed home.

At the Tiger Habitat

Monday was yet ANOTHER day of play... and taking care of Mack.  We ate blueberry muffins for breakfast on the front porch, piddled around, then armed with smoothies, sun-block and reading material headed out to the pool again.  I had a good time in the sun & swimming laps and, once again, Matt had a good time reading in the shade :o)  We concluded the weekend with a cajun dinner on the river at Buzzard Billy's.  

Thank you to all veterans & active duty people who have so faithfully & diligently done your job!  I can not imagine all the challenges you have and will face.  It's worth celebrating every day.  

No More Bee's... and Stuff

I should let it be known that the bee issue was taken care of last week & no one got stung!  The exterminator came while we were at work/school the next day & we haven't seen one since.  Thank goodness!  

The new issue, however, is the ever penetrating cigarette smoke smell coming from our new neighbors in the apartment next to ours.  We & other tenants have filed complaints with the realtor, but they can not/do not want to do anything about it.  Time will tell how this issue pans out.

Tonight we had a great visit with good friend Kayla Moyer over supper at Pei Wei.  She was in one of Matt's first physics labs he taught at BU & is now graduating and moving to Houston.  They became friends at the same time Matt was getting to know a guy named Thomas Saadeh... long story short, Kayla & Thomas are getting married in December!  We're looking forward to that celebration!  

The month of May marks the potential "one-year-left" countdown for our time in Waco, so we've been thinking more seriously about where we want to live & what type of work atmosphere Matt may prefer.  We have always leaned toward the SE region of the US, but will be very flexible & follow the source of a paycheck wherever it leads us!  However, we recently found great potential in the Knoxville, TN area.  Who knows what will happen, but it's exciting to begin thinking about the next phase.  I have to be careful not to let the excitement interfere with my loyalty to dear Spenco too soon though :)  

Speaking of Spenco... I came back from lunch today to find a Bath & Body Works gift card on my desk from my supervisor!  No particular reason she said.  Just a little token of appreciation & thanks.  How sweet is that?  Sitting at a desk daily isn't always the best, but little gestures like that can boost company morale so much.  It doesn't necessarily need to be done through gift cards, but to know you've been thought of and are doing a good job makes a huge difference in the daily grind.  

5-K & Bees

This past Saturday I did the Central Texas Race for the Cure 5-K here in downtown Waco.  Spenco sponsored a team so I signed up!  Never before had I done anything like that & after it warmed up from a sunny 50 to an even sunnier 55 degrees it was a blast!  Our friends Brock & Stefanie did it too and we had a good ole time walking/jogging down by the river.  It was a treat to eat the free snacks afterward too.  I planned on walking the whole time, but that's hard to do when adrenaline kicks in as you go past 50 motorcycles revving their engines or when you pass a military band playing the Rocky theme song!  I was sore down to my toes the next few days, but it was worth it.  I found these pictures on the Waco Tribune Herald website:

(Girl I met that morning, Boy I met that morning, Brock, Stefanie, Moi)

Random side note... Matt just discovered & killed a swarm of bees in our kitchen.  They appeared within a couple hours.  We just went outside to discover a hole in the side of the brick with a billion bees swarming around it!  We left a message on our realtor's emergency phone line.  I wish we had a door to close off the kitchen.  Oh dear, he said 5 more just came in through the exhaust vent.  I'm hiding in the other room. 

An In-Law Visit!

Last month Matt's parents flew out for a visit (April 17-23) and as usual we had a great time!  Both of us comment frequently how grateful we are that we truly enjoy visits with both his parents and my mom and we always look forward to spending time with them.  It's too bad we only see them about 3 times a year right now, but we'll take what we can get.  

One evening we went to a BU Men's Tennis match.  The weather was fabulous & the original Robinson trio enjoyed reminiscing on the many years Matt played tennis.   

 

  

On Saturday we drove down to College Station (1.5 hours away) to visit the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library.  But first, we took a drive around Texas A & M University (might I say that campus is in no way whatsoever pretty like our beloved Auburn, or even Baylor for that matter...) and then to eat at Matt's favorite burrito restaurant, Freebird's.  Having never been to a presidential library, it was much better than I expected.  The museum did a great job of documenting the Bush family & his presidency.  We even got to have our picture taken in the Oval Office!  I think the pre-presidency history was my favorite though.  

The night before they left we went out to eat at a local restaurant overlooking the river downtown and then to a play Baylor Theater put on called "Picasso at the Lapine Agile."  It was written by Steve Martin (yes, the "wild & crazy guy" Steve Martin, who happens to be from Waco) and it was hilarious!  It is about Picasso & Einstein meeting in a French cafe at the turn of the century.  Afterward we went to get shaved ice & milkshakes at Coco's.  To be frank, on the right night going to Coco's is reminiscent of taking a trip to coastal Mexico.  The people, the music, the decorations...  a mini-vacation right in the middle of Waco.  

We did some other fun things... Matt cooked shrimp for us one night, we went out to eat with good friends Brock & Stefani after church, had soda fountain Coke's & MoonPie's at the Dr. Pepper Museum, saw The Bucket List at the Dollar Theater on 50 cent Tuesday, discovered a neat antique/gift shop downtown, got a paper shredder, looked at the bluebonnets & wildflowers, Matt studied, Lucy got lots of extra attention, and Peg got a brand new camera!  (Hence why there are plenty of pictures to document all the adventures!)

 

A good time was had by all!