and the bad luck continues. . .

So last week I was running some errands, and while I was at the dry cleaners (for like the ONE thing in our closet that needs to be dry cleaned lol) and this guys goes, I don’t know much about tires, but you definitely have a flat.  And sure enough it was flat, so luckily the dry cleaners was my last stop.  When I got home, I saw the nail that was in my tire.  The next day I took it to Discount Tire, and they had to replace the tire, it couldn’t be fixed.  While I was there I was informed that I need all new tires, since they were getting kind of low.  Which Russell had actually mentioned that to me, but since we just got back from vacation tires will have to wait a few paychecks. lol.  I got the one replaced for only $28.  Is there such thing as tire fraud, because I would like to just perfectly place three nails under the existing tires and drive over them to get all the other tires at $28 as well.  That’s probably illegal though  

On Friday we were driving to Katy to meet up with our friends Katie and John who live in Sugarland (so Katy is about halfway for both of us) and we hear this noise.  All the sudden we are driving over spilled paint.  OMG.  So frustrating.  As we keep driving we see the can dragging underneath a car.  We pull over to a gas station to assess the damage.   I didn’t take a picture because I think I was in shock and wanted to try and get it off asap! It looked like how when upi drive through a big puddle of mud, only it was paint.  I guess I am glad that it was beige color, not hot pink or something- though that might have been cool- lol.  At the gas station we use the window scrubbers to try to scrub it off.  It comes off kinda, but its balling up and leaving some weird residue.  UGH so frustrated.  We do what we can at the gas station but eventually leave to go to dinner (which was SUPER fun I love them).

Saturday I looked up on the internet how to get paint off a car.  Somehow no one had my same problem- all it talked about it like paint from another car.  So I went to Walmart and got some Goo Off and it seems to work, along with a lot of scrubbing (I think I ruined Russell’s sponge).  However, its not working good enough, so we decide a pressure washer would work best.  So I empty out our change jar and raid it for all the quarters, go back to Walmart (and also one more time that day with Russell to get more charcoal- so three Walmart runs in one day- probably a record even for me) to get another can of Goo Off, and head to the closest do it your self quarter car wash (which was not actually close- but it was the only one I knew of- so I’m sure there is one closer I just don’t know about it).  So about a million quarters and an hour of pressure washing later my car is back to normal.  It also got rid of some of the scratches from my wreck earlier in the summer, and some other scratches that have come over the years.   So all is well, just very frustrating.

Tomorrow I am going down to the courthouse to take care of the ticket I got- which means defensive driving. . .  BOOO.  This summer has not been good to my poor car. 

Tennessee Part 2

The last week we were in Tennessee, we stayed in a super sweet cabin about 10 miles outside of Gatlinburg.  Russell stayed in it on Friday as I spent Christy’s last night as a single lady with her.  However, that night he checked in was after the rehearsal dinner, it was late, and raining, and the code they gave us to get in the cabin didn’t work.  But because the cabin was in the mountains, there was no cell service.  So Russell had an interesting night before he finally drove back into town, called the owner, and got the right code.  The hassle was worth the wait!




We loved the cabin. . . so if you are planning a vacation in Gatlinburg we highly recommend it. 
The first full day we were in the cabin was Sunday.  We went to Pancake Pantry for breakfast.  Pancake Pantry was recommended to us by at least 4 people (here in Texas).  Of all the pancake places (which there is a lot in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area) this one is apparently the best.  And it was really good; however, there are a LOT of choices.  They need like a silver dollar pancake sized sampler platter. 

After pancake pantry we went to the grocery store and got some supplies for the rest of the week.  The rest of the day we just relaxed.  On Monday we went to Cade’s Cove, which is basically a fertile valley community  in the middle of Smokey Mountain National Park before they bought the land for the park.  In Cade’s Cove we saw 3 bears, a mama and her two babies.  They were SO cute!






That night we went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for dinner, Russell wanted shrimp.  I don’t like shrimp so I had a burger. lol.  We also walked around town some and Russell got some fudge (the first of many times haha).
On Tuesday we just relaxed around the cabin.  After our New Zealand honeymoon, which was very action packed, we both knew that we didn’t want to have something scheduled everyday.  But that night we went into Pigeon Forge to go to the Dixie Stampede.  Dixie Stampede is a dinner show put on by Dolly Parton.  It was a good show, horses, buffalo, pigs, good times.  Mom had texted saying that they might not have silverware.  And she was right.  I still don’t understand why not.  It was a LOT of food, soup (yes with no spoon!), a WHOLE chicken, a pork chop, corn, potato, and roll, PLUS dessert.  No cameras were allowed during the show, so sorry for the lack of pictures.


On Wednesday we went zip lining.  There was a place that was literally two minutes from our cabin.  It was SO much fun.  They had 10 zip lines that we did, and we never touched the ground until the very end.

After zip lining we went back to the cabin and got cleaned up.  Then we went and played putt putt.  We chose to play at a place called Hillbilly Golf.  We chose it because it looked cool, you have to ride a little tram up the mountain where the course is.  However, we were not too impressed with the course itself.  After that we went to a place where everyone in the guest book recommended, the Alamo Steakhouse.  It was really good, it was a nice place to have a nice meal.

Thursday was our last day in Tennessee.  Unfortunately, we had to be out of the cabin by 10.  So we packed everything, had breakfast at McDonalds, then went looked at some of the artists shops.  The first one we went in was definitely the best, it was a woodcarvers, where I got some Christmas ornaments.  After that we went to the aquarium.  It was good, but I wasn't overly impressed.  Then we went into Pigeon Forge and had lunchand then went to the Christmas store.  The Christmas store was AMAZING, there was all these different trees with different themes.  I wanted them all:  here are a few of the best:

blue and white china tree

red and white snowmen

gingerbread men

smores (marshmellow snowmen)

After Christy's Christmas in July theme wedding, and the Christmas store I am ready for Christmas!  If I start praying for a white Christmas now, do we think that God will get tired of that prayer and answer it?  

Oh yeah, we also got this made while we were in TN.  We love it, but not sure where to put it, so for now its on the mantle.  Please give suggestions.

Tennessee Part 1

For the last two weeks I have been in Tennessee, basically all over TN.  I went to TN because my best friend Christy was getting married on the 11th.  On Friday, July 1st, I flew into Nashville, where she lives in a suburb called Franklin right outside Nashville.  That Friday we went out to eat with one of her friends to a place called Sapphire.

The place was pretty good food, but kinda pricy.  We also got a drink and they were really expensive and not very good.  oh well, It was still fun to see her.

On Saturday some of her friends drove in from Knoxville for her bachelorette party.  We went into downtown Nashville for an “Amazing Race” type scavenger hunt.  We broke into teams and had envelopes with card clues in them.  It was a lot of fun.

Christy’s camera has all the pictures from that night with out group.  It was fun to be downtown, on the strip seeing where country music happens.  That night we went to Margaritaville for dinner, and stayed the night at the Sheraton. 

That weekend Christy was housesitting for one of the doctors at her work.  His house was AMAZING!

It is also for sale, so if someone would like to give me $2.5million I would really appreciate it.  haha. 

Monday, July 4th, her cousin and her family came over to swim at that amazing pool and then we went to their house for a barbeque.  It was a nice little fourth of July.  Christy had to go to work on Tuesday, and a half day Wednesday.  Wednesday after she got off work we drove to Knoxville, well technically Maryville, about 3 hours away.  We got there just in time for Christy and Jim’s (her dad) dancing lesson.

Thursday we went up to the church to start decorating it.  Her theme was Christmas in July (her and Joey-her finance- met at while on ski patrol, and winter/Christmas is when their relationship took off).  So we set up a lot of Christmas trees.

Friday was the rehearsal and dinner.  Russell flew in Friday and came up to the church and took some pictures.  Mom and dad also flew up and met us at dinner.

practicing was a bit chaotic

after Christy gave us our awesome bridesmaid gifts (Vera Bradley purse filled with some goodies)

yay seeing Russell after a while week!

me, Christy, and her sister Nikki

The Rooks and the Roddys

Saturday was the wedding.  We got up to the church at 8:30 to get our hair done.  Pictures started at noon.  Then we had some time to kill until three, when the wedding started, so we played Taboo.  It was lots of fun.  Her wedding was lots of fun, and very beautiful.

finished decorations and flowers

my beautiful best friend getting married :)

I love this girl.  I’m glad I got to share her special day with her.

mini reunion. Missing some Colorado friends though!

Right after the wedding me and Russell spent a nice week in a great cabin in Gatlinburg. . . more on that in the next post!

Traffic is a tool of the devil

This week I went to the AP (advanced placement) Summer Institute at Rice university, to learn how to teach World History AP (WHAP).  I’m not teaching WHAP next year (at least that I know of) but when I signed up for it, there was a possibility that it could happen, so I went anyways to learn and be prepared for anything that could happen in the future.
 
However, Rice is downtown, and Houston is trafficky. Please refer to the map below that shows scientifically where all the traffic is. (lol just kidding I made it- but it’s probably 94% true).



It took me all four days to figure out a good (or at least the least amount of traffic).  Here is a map that I

 made that showed my routes.

The first day I went the purple route.  Though it is the most direct, it is by far the most traffic.  The second day one of my coworkers who was there too, showed me the benefits of Westpark Tollway (definitely a fan!).  I took that to Sam Houston Tollway (blue route).  I was going to take 290 next, but traffic was already stopped on the ramp- so I though that going up to 249 and going the back way to the house would be faster- that was a NO! 

The third day I tried the tollways to 10 (green).  And I noticed that there is two HOV lanes and one says “Katy Tollway” where you can pay to go in the HOV lanes even if you are a single rider – well I didn’t take it because the HOV lanes in Houston are permanent, once you are in you are in so I did want to get in and not be able to get out in time.  Well on the fourth day I realized that yes I can take it and on the fourth and final day I got home in about an hour (unlike the 1 hour and 30 minute drive I had the first three days).  Going there wasn’t too bad (about 45 minutes).  But I was still having to get up and leave by 6:30 (waaaaaay to early for the summer)

But all that said and done, it was good to go- I learned a lot.  And if they need me to teach WHAP then I can (two of our WHAP teachers from this past year moved up to other grades- but we did bring someone else in that has taught it before).

Tomorrow I will once again wake up early, but it will be to take Russell to work, so that I can pick him up and go to lunch and he can take me to the airport- and then only have one car to deal with.  I leave for Tennessee to hang out with Christy before her wedding next week- can’t believe it’s already here!

VBS

This week I got to help out with the first week of VBS with my church.  The church we go to is a satellite campus of a larger church and we meet in a middle school.  Every Sunday people get up at 6am to unload our four trailers to set up.  We stay after church to load everything back up.  Over the last few months we have put together a “dream team”- we can pack and load by 1:10 every Sunday.  Last Sunday we had to pack differently because one trailer will be specifically for VBS. 

VBS was at an elementary school, we set up Sunday afternoon to make sure everything was ready on Monday morning.  I got the Kindergarten group.  On Monday we had 4 kiddos, 3 youth helpers and me.  Tuesday two girls did not show up again, but we got one new, and Wednesday everyone showed up for a total of 5.  Not too bad, overall there were probably between 40-50 Kindergarten-5th graders and about 25 youth and adult helpers.  Our theme was "JUMP putting faith in motion” following the life of Paul.  I was very impressed with my Ks, they all memorized the memory verse: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, set an example for the believers in what you say and how you live.” 1 Timothy 4:12.

Unfortunately on Wednesday we had to tear down in the rain.  We then had to rearrange how we packed the trailer, because we had a few more VBS carts than that would fit in the trailer, so we had put them on a flatbed trailer behind our pastors F150 (normally we had F350s take the normal 4 trailers we pack up every week).  So when it was raining only a few of the carts were able to be on the flatbed trailer that were waterproof.  So we had to put a few extra carts in the big trailers, so it made for some finagling and praying- lol.

On Tuesday me and Russell went golfing again on a course out in Hempstead.   The course was really nice with some water.  I liked it- it was cheap, so I’m sure we will be going back.  Unfortunately Russell didn’t get off work that early, and the course had a policy that you had to be in by 8, so we only got 15 holes in.

Yesterday, we had dinner with Amanda and Leslie (her sister who flew in for the weekend).  We went to OTB (of course) lol, and then afterwards we went to our house and played some wii.  It was fun to hang out with them.  Russell fell asleep on the couch (remember we had a busy weekend last weekend- so he has been a sleepy boy all week).  But they didn’t end up leaving until 12:45.  Lots of fun and laughing and dying on Super Mario Brothers.

Some good news!  My sister Leslie passed her nursing test so she is officially an BSN, RN !!!

Father’s Day

My parents and Leslie and Jeremy came done last weekend for fathers day.  My parents had just spent the better part of the last two weeks on their Alaskan cruise.  So when they got back they called and asked if they could come visit- and of course I said yes!  Unfortunately, that very day I had sent out dad’s father’s day present in the mail.  Ugh could have saved a few bucks- the ONE time I was actually on top of it.  Oh well he still got it when they got back.

It has been awhile since everyone came down here.  Most of the time Jeremy has to work on Saturday nights so he doesn’t come.  But the whole crew came down late Friday night.  Saturday the boys went golfing and us girls did a little shopping.  We started out on a scrubs store for Leslie, and Google led us to someone’s house- lol, so we ended up going down in Spring Branch to find it.  But the place we ended up at had a lot of stuff, and she got everything she needed.  Then we went to the outlet mall.  Jeremy was going the long way to Austin (via Houston for the weekend) before middle school camp, so he brought his X box Kinect.  It basically takes video feed of you to make sure you are doing the game right.  He brought a dancing game.  It was a lot of fun/sweaty.

I love my family, and glad they got to come down. 

Rain!

It rained today.  A LOT!  I woke up around 7 am to thunder and rain (and Rusty going crazy) and it didn’t stop until about 1 pm. 

It hasn’t rained since May 19th.  The reason I remember is because it was the Thursday before finals week, and we had a lot of kids scheduled to come in for afterschool tutorials and they cancelled all afterschool activities because it was raining (I know very ridiculous).  But before that it hadn’t rained in probably two months.  And it hasn’t rained since then. 

It was a good, solid, steady rain.  Very much need rain!  Thank you God!