I really have been meaning to blog…sorry for the long lapse…but can’t promise it won’t happen again. 😀

Last week was the same as it is every week. Work…blah! They have been training me to take over documentation in another part of the company…so…a little training last week and continuing into this week.

This weekend has been another blast. Seems like they’ve all been amazing since I started spending them with Bryan. I think I sense a direct correlation.

Friday:

Friday after work I headed to Bryan’s house. My amazon.com book had arrived. It’s called The Complete Guide to Light and Lighting in Digital Photography. It promises to be the best book on the subject. Just thumbing through it at Barnes and Noble that day said so. I really recommend this book if you have any interest on the subject. Bryan cooked another awesome dinner (thanks!). After dinner he suggested we hit Shooter’s, a pool hall. Bryan brought along his IBM pool sticks. That is the first time I have ever played pool where I was able to bring my own sticks. That was a pretty awesome feeling…till I started playing and anyone watching soon realized that I did not know what I was doing. Still, I had an awesome time. Pool was a lot of fun. I only won one game but still feel that I had some awesome shots in there. I think Bryan and I were pretty evenly matched which made it quite enjoyable for me.

Saturday:

I have really slacked off working out for the past 3 weeks. I was sick for a week, but it really shouldn’t have taken me 2 extra weeks to recover and get back into the swing of things. Totally disenchanted with the idea of working out, I didn’t. Nor did I attend much of class. Saturday I ended this. I got my lazy ass up and went to class. And it was so much fun! Weekend classes are always longer. I finally have learned my entire yellow belt form and can now spend time refining, which is badly needed! I still have to learn my 5 sparring steps. I’m getting there…time. After we did the main part of class, the instructor allowed us to exercise with fun. We played some games with a medicine ball. We also played war ball (a version of dodge ball). I don’t want to toot my own horn here, but my team won 2 out of 3 games! Class had me so energized that when I got back to Bryan’s I hit the pavement running. I really pushed myself too. It was good and hot and wore me out. I was tired but happy. I’m glad I broke my lazy routine. Those things can really suck you in if you allow them.

I helped Bryan shave his head. We both thought it would be wicked awesome if he had a mohawk. And now he does! Check out these pics I took of him….

He’s such a handsome devil! 🙂 We’re gonna see where we can take this thing.

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing for the arrival of Bryan’s grandparents. We picked them up from the airport early in the night and headed straight to Kerby Lane for dinner. Nothing like Kerby Lane pancakes….nothing! It was nice to finally meet Bryan’s grandparents. They are super nice and quite funny. I like them a lot and hope they feel the same towards me. Bryan’s grandmother gave me the sweetest little breast cancer awareness bracelet at dinner. It was very thoughtful, and I love it. We all arrived back to Bryan’s house, hung out, and eventually hit the sack.

Sunday:

Sunday was a pretty awesome day. Slept in a little but not much. Bryan, his grandparents, and I all loaded up and went to the grocery store. After dropping off the goods and grabbing lunch at Bryan’s house, Bryan, his grandfather, and I went to Home Depot to purchase some things for Bryan’s yard. After receiving a nice letter with an accompanying photo from his HOA, he has really been trying to make it look nice. We picked out some nice rock thingies to outline the flower beds. Bryan and his grandfather spent several hours putting those into place. It really made the flower beds and yard as a whole look much nicer. I think they did an excellent job. While we were at Home Depot, Bryan bought some supplies to make these exercise wheels from a rosstraining.com video. I helped him put those together. Wow! They were really difficult (not to assemble, to do). Don’t let ol’ Ross there fool you in this video. He made them look easy, but these things will kick your ass…or abs rather! I tried them but found that since my abs hurt from Saturday’s class these were almost impossible to endure. When they feel better, I’d love to try these things out. For now it’s all Bryan! Bryan’s grandmother gave me a cool silver key chain from New York depicting some of the city’s famous attractions. After all of that, we all sat down to a nice meal prepared by the grandparents. It was a new dish for me, but I thought it was pretty good! We all watched a little TV and then I said good night and went home.

I tried out my new workout DVD when I arrived home. I didn’t really like the video, but some of the moves were really good. I’ll be incorporating those into my workouts in the future. Some of the moves really focused on my problem areas (butt and thighs). Today my abs, butt, and thighs are all sore. It hurts to walk, but I’m glad I’m working out again.

Monday:

Well, it’s finally Monday and time to do the whole dance over again…sigh.

This morning I tried to become a little more Texan by getting my license plate. However, after driving all
the way to Georgetown (and back by work in South Austin at 9) I was told I didn’t have all the paper work I needed. I let them know my disgust with their website which doesn’t really help new residents understand the process. I was also told that their was a Cedar Park office that I could use when I have collected all the proper paperwork. That was good to know….but the news didn’t come in time. That was a waste of gas and sleeping time!

Goals for this week are to continue to work out…hard!…and try to spend a lot of time with Bryan’s awesome grandparents before they leave on Sunday. I also have a few things I’d like to do at the house. Hopefully I’ll find the time for all and will feel really accomplished at the end of the week.

April 18th is steadly drawing nearer. The closer it looms the more I am ready to be in Mississippi. I try not to think on it so much, but find that it is always in the back of my mind. Home is calling my name, and I really want to answer. I’m sure that the day will come quite quickly, and in no time at all we’ll be back in Texas. I’ll be a little homesick for a week and then all will be back to normal. I’ve tried to plan out as much as possible to make sure they we can see everyone and get everything done.

For now its back to the old job…have a great week all!

Wow…what a weekend. The weekend was so amazing that I don’t even care that it is Monday. OK, I care that it is Monday…just not as much as normal.

Friday:

Friday after work I took Bryan out to eat in celebration of his new job. He picked North by Northwest. The food (and wine) was really good. It was the perfect end to a boring week of work, work, work.

Saturday:

Saturday was errands. So many errands. But it was awesome to get things off my to do list. And doing boring errands with Bryan made it much more enjoyable. 🙂 We stopped by Half Priced Books to look for…you guessed it…books. Well, one in particular, but we didn’t find it. I bought a book by Denise Austin called Shrink Your Female Fat Zones. Yeah….perhaps it will be good. I also got a workout DVD – something about female warrior. It looked like it was geared toward martial arts. Never know…thought it was worth a try. I’m always on the lookout for any new workouts that I can add in to my existing just to keep things interesting and fun. Lastly, I bought a book about darkroom printing. It’s been awhile since I was in a darkroom. For a buck I thought it was worth the buy for future reference if it was ever needed.

Saturday night was the Pancake Theater (Episode 1 – Waterworld). This was so much FUN! I made so many chocolate chip pancakes. There were none left at the end of the party. And 3 people brought margaritas. Funny that 3 people would think that margaritas would go with pancakes. (I was one of the three 😉 ). Ryon truly put us to shame with his, at least in his eyes. However, his blender actually did put us all to shame. That was one awesome blender. After stuffing ourselves on chocolate chip pancakes, we finally made it to the main attraction – bringing a little shame to the movie Waterworld. True to Alamo Drafthouse Pancake Theater, we started the movie off with a drinking game and trivia. Thanks to Bryan for coming up with our drinking game phrase (“murmaider”). And congrats to Elliot for winning (barely) the trivia. I really didn’t realize just how shitty this movie is. The dialogue was horrid. However, the commentary provided by us was hilarious. I was laughing so hard throughout the entire movie. Bryan’s word combining was the best (fenis and eargina)! But I’m going to have to give the best line to Ryon for his phrase about eggs and fish mating. I don’t think I can actually write the phrase here, but trust me, it was hilarious. I ended the night with a lil Rock Band and said good night.

Here is a link to the pics from the Pancake Party – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009449&l=febc7&id=163200356

Sunday:

Slept in a little…no surprise there. Started the day off with lunch at Mandola’s Italian Market. That was some awesome pizza. Yummy! We dropped by Barnes and Noble to hunt down some books (naturally). I didn’t find what I came looking for but did locate a book that was just what I’ve been needing. It was book on lighting in photography. It’s truly the most comprehensive book I’ve ever seen on lighting. I had to have it! However, I’m a cheapo! “I wonder if amazon.com has a used version for cheaper?” I asked. “Why don’t you look on your iPhone now?” Bryan responds. Bryan, you are a GENIUS! And they did have a used copy for cheaper (even with shipping and handling). Yes, I bought a book off amazon.com while sitting in the floor of Barnes and Noble. Look out chains of the world….the iPhone will bring you crying to your knees. Some of us just can’t help being naturally resourceful. Before you go feeling bad for Barnes and Noble…Bryan bought a book and I purchased the soundtrack to Juno. I loved this movie and also the song that the couple sings at the end of the film. I had to have it too! It’s such a good CD. Very indie…but very good. I love it. I did good.

Moving on with the day… I’d been wanting to take Bryan to Mount Bonnell for several weeks now. Sunday seemed to finally be the perfect day. It was perfect. Mount Bonnell has such an amazing view. After staying there for awhile taking in the beautiful view Bryan suggested that we hit up Hula Hut for dinner. It was pretty good. I liked the atmosphere a lot. Then we walked over to Mozart’s for coffee on the water. We stayed there for awhile…watched the sun set. We went home and Bryan did some interneting and I played Virtual Fighter 5 (PS3) that Bryan rented on Saturday.

See? The best weekend.

Here are some pics from Sunday afternoon

View from Mount Bonnell

Bryan showing off the beautiful scenery at Mount Bonnell

Some love flowers graffiti found at Mount Bonnell

Some signs at Covert Park/Mount Bonnell

Couple of shots of Bryan at Hula Hut

Bryan at Mozart’s

Me at Mozart’s

View at Mozart’s

Yay! It’s finally Friday! I haven’t posted much this week because there hasn’t been anything to post about.

This week has been the normal boring kind….mostly work. Getting back into exercising has been my biggest challenge this week. Ugh…why did I take over a week off? Oh yeah…now I remember! It was that stupid cold. I shouldn’t have to pay for being sick twice. Wasn’t missing work, sleepless nights, sneezing my head off, coughing my lungs up, and being in a constant head fog for a week enough punishment? I feel like I haven’t worked out at all. Sometime last week I must have sneezed or coughed up my enthusiasm I had for working out. Enough of the pity party already….

I am so looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully, we can start the weekend off right tonight. I can’t go to TKD class because they are having an awards ceremony for the testing they just completed. Instead I proposed to Bryan that he let me take him out for dinner in honor of his new job. I told him he could pick any place he wanted. I wonder what he will pick? Hmmm…I hope the food is yummy.

I am very excited about tomorrow night’s party. Bryan and I are hosting our own Pancake Theater at Bryan’s house. Yes we stole this from the Alamo Drafthouse. But ours is better – it’s cheap and has pancakes! That’s right…pancakes! Mmmmm…pancakes. After a heated debate that took up much of a party and many…and I mean many…emails, it was decided – we poke fun of Waterworld. I can not wait. This should be a lot of fun. If I know our little group, this will be hilarious. This could be the start of a great tradition…or it could crash and burn. Ah, either way, it should be fun to watch it unfold. 🙂 But before we can party with pancakes, there are a lot of errands to do. I’m gonna go to class also. Saturday will be a very busy day.

I have no idea what Sunday will hold. No plans yet. If the weather is nice I would love to get outside and do something…anything. I am definitely loving this warm weather. I’m so happy we finally made it to the 80’s. Another 10 degrees and we’ll be talking my kinds of temperatures. I love summer…

Each day is a little closer to April 18th (the journey home). I’m soooo ready to go – NOW. I’m ready to see my family and home. Home is a great place. I have an ever growing list of things and people to introduce to Bryan. He will be so overwhelmed…hehe. I’m also happy I get to load down my car with yet another load of crap that I’m always complaining is in Mississippi. I know my granny will be happy to get a little more of her storage shed back.

Here are some of the things I’d like to focus on in April from the To Do List:
– killer body
– kayaking
– cooking (yet to get one recipe down- so 5 still to go)
– an art project

That should be enough if not too much to work on for one month.

Things getting on my nerves lately: kids who play in the street (do you have a death warrant??) Parents, do you know where your children are??? Really, do you?

It’s been way too long since I’ve posted. Sorry. I only just got back to my old self. I am finally well except for this awful cough that has been lingering. However, it didn’t really act up today, but it has kept me up for the past 3 nights. I’ve been killing this Robitussin. Thanks to Ryon for teaching me what it means to be tussin’.

Tussin: (from urbandictionary.com)

when you take too much of the cough medicine robutussin and you begin to feel giddy and off balance; a mixture of drunk and highness

I was tussin last night.

I still haven’t done anything physical, but I’m hoping to go run as soon as I wrap up this post. TKD was canceled today because of Easter…hmmm…still trying to figure that out how that adds up. I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. I can’t believe I lost a whole week of exercise to this stupid cold. Oh well…no use getting hung up on that which is in the past. Moving forward…

The weekend was really awesome. Friday night we dyed the Easter eggs. I haven’t done this since I was a child. It was a little dorky, but it really was fun. Sometimes you just gotta be a big kid. I think that all of our eggs came out very beautiful and Eastery. Saturday night we went out to eat with the Kung Fu gang….always fun. Sunday (Easter) was the best. Thank you so much Nik for inviting Bryan and I over to your grandmother’s house for lunch. That might be the most fun I’ve had in awhile. His grandmother rocks! It was a really pleasant afternoon. Bryan and I enjoyed ourselves greatly. After we left there we went downtown to Bookpeople. We browsed for an hour. But the real reason for going was so I could attend this meeting for a photography group I found on meetup.com. I drug Bryan along for moral support. I didn’t really know what to expect. I really liked the meeting. They mentioned some upcoming events that I’m definitely interested in participating. I really am only looking for networking but am open to whatever the group can give me. After we finally made it back to Bryan’s, we piled up and watch a movie (Michael Clayton – eh).

I’m still working on my list…always, always. Hopefully, new updates on that soon.

Here are the pics from when we dyed Easter eggs:

Bryan showing off what we’ve done

All 9 of our Easter eggs (aren’t they simply lovely?)

Bryan’s very weird yet artistic egg (points to anyone who knows why it did this)

Things getting on my nerves lately: me! (I have PMS and my hormones are driving me crazy!!)

I know I haven’t blogged much this week. I haven’t done much of anything this week. I worked from home Monday and Wednesday. I managed to pull myself to work Tuesday and today. I feel shitty, and I want to go home. Really contemplating working from home this afternoon. I haven’t gone to any TKD classes this week. I haven’t had the energy to do that or anything physical. I’m just kinda going through the motions. I get a brief energy spurt sometime around 4 PM…dunno why but it is welcomed. I am seriously hating that I’m not doing anything physical. But I just can’t. I’m already coughing my head off (if you see a lung laying around it’s mine). If I get hot I know I’m gonna really be coughing. No, I’m just gonna be blah for the rest of the week, try to recuperate, and get my strength back. Then when I finally feel better, I’ll hit the pavement, TKD, and fluidity again. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

I am sooo looking forward to this weekend. I think I’ll try to dye some Easter eggs Friday night if Bryan is game. We bought some dye. I haven’t done that in forever. I just thought it would be nice to kinda get in the spirit of all the little holidays that come throughout the year. Dorky, yes…but fun. I’ll be sure to take pictures of our awesome and/or very ugly eggs. Also hope to get in some movie and tv time this weekend. Bryan and I are about to start watching Arrested Development from the beginning. Love it! We also have a couple of movies that need viewing. I’m looking for a pretty lazy weekend unless I somehow recover before then. Here’s to hoping!

Yesterday I finally got that pretty pink kayak out on the water. Jason, Bryan, and I hauled her down to Town Lake. Well, actually…we just fastened her on the roof of the car and let the car do the hauling. They rented which is fine if you’re into that sort of thing. 😉 But seriously, it was kinda cool having my own. It’s official – she floats! I thought that she was great. It was windy and a little chilly but overall a pretty nice day. We were only out there about an hour…a good amount for a first time. However, we covered some good ground…er water. And my shoulders are killing me! That was one serious upper body workout. I was glad that both Bryan and I made it out there given our current state of health. We also discovered that none of us, even with our powers combined, know anything about South Austin…lame. (10 points for getting that cartoon reference)

Speaking of…I worked from home today. I just felt BLAH! I’m skipping class tonight. I’m not sure sweating and jumping around are really the thing I need right now. However, I’m gonna watch my official ITA TKD video and try to get my form down for class whenever I do feel up to going back. I’m tired of being lost in class. It’s time to step up my game. Hopefully, I won’t have this thing too badly, and I’ll be back on my workout schedule soon. I would really hate to lose even one more day to this stupid cold. I was really making some headway on that killer body. 🙂

Here are the pics from the kayak voyage:

Well, I’m sick! Yep….got it from Bryan. So far not too bad, but its only been a day. I’m almost positive I’ll be working from home on Monday. 😉 This is bound to put a damper on my workouts. I’ve been doing really well too. Ok, I slacked off a little at the end of this week and weekend not knowing I’d be sick. I now regret my laziness. Live and learn, right? But overall, I have been doing great. I’ve been going to TKD class most everyday and adding a workout at home on top of that. And I feel great! I have more energy than I’ve ever had in my life. I am really noticing the changes to my body too. Killer body here I come!! Swim suit season won’t catch me off guard this year (that’s a first). Sick or not – I am going kayaking today at Town Lake. So far it’s just Jason, Bryan, and myself, but all are welcome.

Speaking of kayaking – I bought a car rack for the kayak yesterday. It really makes a statement too! I feel like people look at my car and think things like – “Wow! That person must be very outdoorsy.” or “You know a lazy person doesn’t drive that car…I mean, look! it has a car rack.” Maybe not…but a girl can dream. Well, I’m just glad that I can now transport my own kayak. Yep, no waiting around for men with trucks for me. I’m no damsel in distress. I can’t wait to get my kayak out on the water today. How awesome will that be? Wait, don’t answer that….I’ll tell you in my next post. 🙂

Here’s is a pic of the car rack:

I went back to the North Austin location of TKD Plus last night. If you’ve been keeping up with this little saga then you know that I was really nervous about returning to this school. However, I am pleased to report that it was the best class I’ve ever taken including the old days back in Chattanooga. I suppose that first class on Saturday was a fluke. Ah, these things sometimes happen. Anyway, the class was amazing. I learned a lot, and I enjoyed myself in the process. I thought the teacher was amazing. I loved his teaching style. I appreciated that he was able to be technical – really break down the movements. I also really like how he made the whole class do exercises but understood that the lower belts can’t do the same thing as the black belts. I couldn’t believe when the class was over – I was having such an awesome time. I bought a book and dvd from the school in an effort to catch up and practice on my own. I really like the ITA program, and I believe their materials are really going to boost me along in class. Practice makes perfect after all. I’m taking a night off from TKD tonight but will definitely be attending class on Thursday. However, I will be running tonight! No rest – my pursuit continues!!

On another note:

I’m going home to Mississippi in mid April. I’m so excited! Now that it’s been decided, it’s all that I can think about. Ugh…it’s still over a month away!! I know I just went home for 2.5 weeks in December, but I miss it and my family already. I can not wait to see everyone. I can’t wait to eat my Granny’s cooking!! I’m actually going for a wedding. One of my childhood friends is getting married. I decided that this would be the perfect time to go ahead and let Bryan meet the crazy family I come from since I didn’t want to be dateless to the wedding. I’m pretty nervous about him meeting the family. I know they’ll like him…but…will he like them?? I’m from rural Mississippi – we are pretty much rednecks. I wonder if Bryan will think he’s been transported to the Twilight Zone…hehe. No, my family is pretty cool, and I like em a lot. I’m almost positive he will too. It will be a lot to take in though. I have a lot of family! I’m pretty excited just to show him where I grew up. I grew up on the best 140 acres in the world!! I really miss sweet tea….sigh. It’s the one thing Austin is missing.

Things getting on my nerves lately: my job!

Because I know you were all biting your nails in anticipation of an update regarding my TaeKwonDo class…here it is!

The class was awesome!!! I loved the Leander location. I really liked the teacher and the other students. It was a small class, but there were 2 other yellow belts. I didn’t feel dumb or pressured…it was great! The teacher was very patient. I loved his teaching style, and the other yellow belts really showed me a lot. Everyone was so nice – I think I may have found my home. I’m still going to attend some classes at the North location, and who knows, maybe that one class was a fluke. I’m sure I will love it there too. I’m going to give them another run tonight. I think I’ve decided to put off jiu-jitsu for a month or so. I think I might be a bit too ambitious! 🙂

I was so energized after class that I went for a run (best run to date)! I just love this nippy night air. It’s invigorating! Just the right amount of cold. After weeks of running, I have finally gotten back that long, powerful stride. I love it! Let me point out that in reality I kinda suck at running. I can’t do it for very long. However, I love it. I really do. It feels amazing pounding the ground with your feet as you fly along with a powerful stride. It makes me feel one with nature though I’m not sure I can elaborate on that. It gives me a feeling that no other exercise ever has. I’m getting better with every run but still so, so, so far away from that 5 mile run.

Looks like Sunday’s kayak outing is going to take place at Brushy Creek according to my roommate. Just like to point out once again that all are welcome.

In my hissy fit on Saturday, I forgot to officially update the list, though I’m sure it was apparent to all. But…officially I have now checked 2 things off the list.

As an update – I called the Leander locale of TaeKwonDo Plus and verified that I could indeed take classes there also with no additional charge. With that information I have just about completed compiling my weekly schedule. I think for the most part I’m going to stick to the Leander location – mainly because they offer the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which I’m very anxious to start and can tomorrow night! Tonight though I’ll be trying TaeKwonDo again but at the Leander location. I’m hoping for a bit warmer of a reception…not the roll out the red carpet kind…but a few encouraging words would be nice. I should be able to get 2 TKD’s and 2 Jiu-Jitsu’s during the week with a break on Wednesday. Saturday is still up in the air. Leander offers a tactical short stick, but if it’s like the North Austin’s Korean Sword, I’m not eligible until I am a blue belt. Otherwise, I’ll be taking TKD at the North location. Continuing to add other exercises on top of this will be tricky but not impossible. I’ll try to work in running or fluidity on most days but definitely on Wednesdays and Sundays.

These are the belts that I am still in need of on the way to my black belt in TKD – Green, Sr. Green, Blue, Sr. Blue, Brown, Sr. Brown, Red, Sr. Red, and Black. I should be ready to test for that green on May 31st.

Yesterday was a month – best month of my life – Thank you!!