Disney trip

After we went to Panama City, FL, we headed to Orlando to stay in a resort and spend days at Disney. We went to two Disney water parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. My favorite was Epcot. At Epcot we got to ride a segway (see pic) people mover thing. Pretty cool - don't have the $5,000 to throw at it at this time.... I thought the Lego people at Downtown Disney were fun. They were entirely make of legos! The big, blue magic Mickey hat is from Hollywood studios.

Panama City

Jason and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Florida with our friends Leighton and Melissa. We first stopped in Panama City to see Jason's family. Mama Lynn fixed some wonderful suppers, and we had some family poker games! We also had two breakfasts and Corum's - Jason's favorite place to eat back home. I highly recommend it if your are ever in town!

Surviving Ike

Well, after cutting their Florida vacation a few days short to make it home before the storm, the Albright's are happy to say they are alive and well after Ike! The storms path went right through Tyler, TX, and was televised to be a doozie! So, we got all of our water, flashlights, batteries, matches and candles together. We received a notice from our apartment complex to get everything off our patio that could be blown away inside. We moved our cars out of the path of falling trees. Winds were anticipated to be between 40 and 70 mph.

Well, on the big day, Ike had been downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm. There was some rain, and some good wind. But, for the most part, it was just another storm. We lost power around 2pm, and a tree in our apartment parking lot fell down (see pic). Fortunately, it missed all cars and buildings. Jason and I ended up sitting in lawn chairs on our porch and reading during the tail end of the storm. And then headed to Starbucks to enjoy a hot beverage and their electricty. We are still out of power as we speak, no word as to when it will come back on. So, we will continue to ice down our fridge, take short showers, carry flash lights, and sleep with the windows open until it turns on again!

Supper Club

I belong to a wonderful Sunday school class at my church Grace Community. One of the fun things we do is Supper Club. People open their homes and couples sign up to come over and have dinner together and get to know each other. This Friday night I went to the Ghrist's home (Joel in front in blue shirt and Eloise in front of TV in brown shirt). We had amazing grilled pork chops and chicken and other yummy food. Then we played Moods and Apples to Apples. Great fun was had by all.

Yesterday, Jason and I drove to DFW to pick up his little sis Jennifer. She will be staying with us for about a month and will go to camp at Rockin' C this week. I will go back out to stay at the RV tonight hopefully. My friend Julie from California will fly out on Thursday to stay for the Holiday weekend. It's going to be a great week!

RV Living Journal: Day Five

Yesterday I came to the ranch straight from work. Jason was in town running errands, so I had dinner in the dining hall with Mr. Matt and Ms. Janie. It was chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a great green salad. We chatted for a while and then I headed back to the RV to figure out how to vacuum the floors. The RV has a special vacuum system where you plug the hose directly into the wall. It turned out to be very easy! Then, another storm hit, and Jason still wasn't home. Now, I'm not usually afraid of thunder and lightening -I generally enjoy it. But when you're out in the woods, in an RV, by yourself, watching unsolved mysteries, it gets kinda creepy. So, I made sure to lock the door, and sit with a borrowed flashlight by my side and the matches and candle near. I fell asleep on the couch and lived to tell this story!

RV Living Journal: Meet the RV Part 2

Here is our King size bed, with a closet. Then the little bathroom sink nook (yes, where the sink/shower/washing machine water overflow horror happened!) And then, of course, the toilet.
Stay tuned for a step by step photo demonstration of how to flush the toilet. It's not as easy as you might think!!

RV Living Journal: Meet the RV

Well, this week in the RV has been delightfully uneventful! Please join me on a tour of our "summer home."










Below is our little living room, with a two person table, couch that pulls out into a full size bed and lots of storage! The picture to the right is our fridge and microwave in that cool style that looks like the cabinets.


















Below is the entertainment center: we only get reception for one local channel, but armed with the third season of "The Office," I think we do pretty well :o)







Now, adding all of these pictures is getting tricky, so I'm going to start a new post with the rest of the pictures!

RV Living

Summer camp season has begun, which means Jason's job is in full swing! In an effort to see each other more, we made plans to live part time in an RV at Rockin' C Ranch where Jason works. A generous couple has offered their very nice RV for us to live in for the summer (pictures to come soon). So, Jason and I moved out to the Ranch on Monday and RV living began!

RV Living Journal Entry: Day one
There was a bad storm tonight - lightning, rain, even a little hail. I was on my way to the ranch with a car full of stuff, and Jason, who was already at the ranch, called and said to pull over and not come any further as the storm was rough. So, I spent the next hour at Taco Bueno waiting for Jason to call with the go ahead. I finally arrived at the RV around 10:30pm only to find the electricity was out in half the RV - including fans, AC and outlets to charge our cell phones!

RV Living Journal Entry: Day Two
Got out to the ranch in time to enjoy a "Taco Tuesday" dinner with my husband in the RV. I couldn't believe how exhausted I was. I fell asleep around 8:30pm and was awakened at 2:15am by a strange beeping noise. Jason was fast asleep, so I staggered into the kitchen to find the fridge display saying, "NO FO." Hm. Didn't know what that meant. Pushing any one of the three buttons on the fridge didn't work. So, I just closed the door to the bedroom and fell back asleep. Around 5pm Jason woke up asking me if my alarm was going off - it was still the fridge. So, Jason unplugged it somehow and fixed it later that day.

RV Living Journal Entry: Day Three
Tonight we enjoyed a camp dinner together again. It was spaghetti night. Now, my favorite thing about this meal is the dessert - the most amazing apple pie I have ever had the pleasure of eating! YUM! Jason was free to relax earlier in the evening, so we decided to watch a movie. While Jason was out collecting Nacho Libre, we decided to get a load of laundry going. The RV has a cute little set of a washer and drier. I was in the living room and hear this awful noise followed by an awful smell. Oh yes, gross water was spitting out of the bathroom sink and shower! AH! Jason spent the remainder of the night working with the waste hoses out behind the RV while I was busy disinfecting the bathroom and shower.

RV Living Journal Entry: Day Four
This morning we decided it would be good to spend a few nights back at home. So, I loaded up the remainder of the laundry in my car before I left for work, and plan on having a good night's rest at home.

More to come of the RV Living Journal!

Movie Review

One of my favorite pass times is watching movies. I've seen many movies, and know a good one when I see it. For example: You've Got Mail - great movie. I watch it all the time! Now, my former co-workers at Starbucks did not find the value in my movie taste, but that did not crush my love for critiquing!
Today I went with some friends to see the new Indiana Jones movie - The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - loved it! It kept my attention all the way through, delivered on humor, and Harrison Ford is in amazing shape for a man his age! I don't know how he can roll around and jump and all those things after all these years.

I also rented the movie Over Her Dead Body from the Red Box. Wow, not even worth the dollar I spent to rent it. Not entertaining, not believable, nothing really redeeming about it. Not funny, no warm fuzzies. Not recommended.

If you have any movies to recommend to me, please let me know!

Progress....

I have been on a quest to fight social work burn out. So, this week I officially joined the gym! As one of the added perks of joining, I had a session with a personal trainer this morning. Her name was Candice and she really pushed me to work out! Ah! And the most embarrassing part about it, was she was just showing me the equipment - I doubt she would define it as an actual work out. By the end of the 40 minute session, I could hardly walk, and then I went home and slept for three hours! She also checked my body fat mass - no details necessary. I am feeling motivated and hope this turns out to be a great stress reliever! I was trying to find a picture of a woman body builder to put with this post as a joke, but they were all pretty gross and inappropriate. So, as soon as I have a decent picture of myself, I might throw it out here!

My new discovery

A few weeks ago, on a whim, I picked up a pilates DVD for $3.99. Yesterday, I decided to give it a try, and now I am addicted! I love pilates! It reduces my stress and help my posture. Now, I think it's important to note, I'm not good at pilates. I can't do what this girl in the picture is doing....at all! But maybe someday! I encourage you to try it!

A Call for Chivalry

At the beginning of every month I make a big trip to Super Walmart to stock up on groceries for the month. Inevitably, two huge bags of dog food to feed our sweet and large chocolate labs are on the list. I am starting to get the hang of wrestling a 25lb bag of dog food onto the bottom rack of the shopping cart (or "buggie" as they call it here) without it rolling away. As I wheel my purchases out to the car, I always feel a twinge of frustration as I struggle to get the big bags from the bottom of the cart into my trunk as many men walk by and watch me struggle. Where have all the cowboys gone? Where have the gentlemen gone!? Well, they sure don't go to Walmart at the same time that I go! I have even contemplated going to Brookshires (a more upscale Texas grocery store just down the street from my apartment) just to have the bag boy walk me out to my car and assist me with the lifting. I must say that my wonderful husband is always eager and ready to carry the bags of food in when I get home and I am sooo grateful! Cowboy found!

I ventured out on just such an endeavor this weekend, and today have a kink in my back. I think we have ruled out kidney stones - don't have any other related symptom - thank goodness! But I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with the dog food....

Cajun cookin'

This California girl had a Cajun treat this evening! Crawfish, gumbo, boudin sausage straight from LaFayette Louisiana! I was woefully unprepared for this experience in my crisp white professional shirt right after work! I have to admit, looking at those googley eyes and then hearing people suck on their heads made me nauseous! But it all tasted very good in the end! I am willing to try just about 98% of any kind of new food, but I did not suck on the crawfish heads. I could never be on fear factor!

It's warming up, how good is your air conditioner?

What Don does to keep cool in East Texas....



Now Don is a fine specimen of an East Texas man. That clip was taken from a documentary of an East Texas contest called Hands on a Hard Body that Jason and I have grown to love. Check this clip out to get a better idea of it all....

There are two kinds of people in this world.....

I find myself often thinking the phrase, "There are two kinds of people in the world...." followed with something relevant to my current experience. At that moment, it's just that simple. Then I chuckle at the thought and wait for the next opportunity to fill in the blanks.

For example:
There are two kinds of people in the world...
...those that use their turning blinker and those who don't.
...dog lovers and then everyone else.
...chocolate lovers and the mutants.
...considerate drivers and inconsiderate drivers
...people who like coconut and people who don't.
...athletes and then the rest of us.
...people who like running and then people who would rather stick pencils in their eyes than run.
...people who like to go to weddings and people who hate them.
...people who like the ocean or people who like the mountains.
...those who like the Florida State Seminoles, and those who don't.


I would love to hear what two kinds of people you think are in this world! Please share with me!

Beaver's Bend Camping Trip

So, I am going to try to blog a little more often than once every five months :o) The most notable, photographed adventure I've been on recently was to Beaver's Bend Oklahoma. Jason and I went with a few couples from our Sunday School class and had a wonderful time! This picture makes me laugh and sing the song in my head, "One of these things is not like the others..." Being tall has it's blessings and curses! During our two night camping stay, we were visited by a friendly raccoon who attempted to steal our graham crackers from our picnic table one night as we were sitting around the camp fire. We heard a rustling and chased him down with our smores skewers. The next night, one bin was left unsecured and he managed to successfully steal the box of graham crackers and a loaf of bread! He also left many little muddy paw prints on all of the coolers!

When in Rome.......

Why "hope restored?"

As a medical social worker, I frequent meetings with people who have not taken care of themselves. The technical term for this kind of a person: non-compliant. These kinds of people do not, for example, take their medications, or follow the speical diet required to keep them well. When I talk to these people, I explain to them that they are engaged in self-destructive behavior that can eventually lead to death, if they do not make some changes. What I find in so many instances, is that there are deep-seated wounds that these people bear that had brought them to this place of non-compliance. Many times, their life experiences leave them without hope. One particular patient in this circumstance really touched my heart. As we were talking, I made efforts to extend some hope to him about the value of his life. And, he started to understand. He asked me, before he left the hospital, to be sure not to forget him. I assured him I would not. I had planned for sometime to visit him, but just never made time for it. Friday I was notified that he had passed away. I pray that in the little time left in his life after our meeting, that the hope that I feel was restored to his soul brought him some comfort and quality of life. There is something powerful about hope....my hope is in the Lord. It is a precious gift that motivates and comforts and gives strength. I consider it a part of my calling to extend and restore that hope to others.