school starts!

School starts tomorrow! I'm a little nervous about it...


I haven't really blogged much lately. Let's see, mostly we have been organizing, but some fun things happened: Christy came and visited us for 3 days. It was so much fun having Christy here. We went hiking and played a lot of the Settlers of Catan, a board game that Christy introduced us to. It was so nice having a great friend here - a kindred spirit in the same town, finally!



Lucy got into a little bit of trouble for barking too much - more on that later...


Nate, another Ph.D student in my department, and his dog, Chico, moved in with us for a short spell while Nate looks for a house to call his own. Chico is a Portuguese water dog, and he is so cute. He and Lucy play and wrestle together.


Today, we went into Ogden to watch the rookie team of the Dodgers, the Ogden Raptors play. Parker Dalton, of A&M, plays there now, and we got to meet him. He was so nice and so excited to see Aggies. Before we found him, a teammate of his talked to us and said that all Parker talks about is how great A&M is. :)

living in Logan!

A lot has happened since my last post, mainly moving to Logan, UT for an approximate 4-year adventure. There is nothing like stuffing a moving truck to the absolute fullest to make you realize that you have way too much stuff, but we had such wonderful friends in the two Marks and Bret to help with the stuffing. It's really the people and the great friends that we left behind in Texas that I miss the most.

So far, in Logan we have mostly been working on our house, trying to get everything fixed up before school starts (just one more week!). The latest task that we completed was painting a couple of rooms. Our bedroom is a two-toned green, the living room is russian blue with a reddish shelf as an accent, and then the room that I messed up on: the dining room - red and yellow...it is pretty bright and I am not sure that I really like it too much. But we have spent so much time painting that I refuse to paint anymore, but perhaps in a year, I will repaint if it hasn't grown on me by then.

For my birthday, we went away for a couple of days and escaped the paint fumes. We took Lucy to Wyoming. Adrian showed me around the town of Lander, WY where he did his 6-month internship and we camped at Sinks Canyon State Park. It was a great camp site, right next to the Popo Agie River. We went on a hike to a natural water slide, where water flows over a rock into a pond. We took turns riding the "slide" into the super cold water. (I might post our videos at some point.)

The next day we went to Thermopolis, where there are hot springs, and sat in them for 20 minutes in the free bathhouse (you wear swimsuits in the bathhouse...). On our way back home, we stopped at Fossil Butte National Monument, completed the senior ranger program, and hiked a nice hike around an island of aspen trees. It was a fun trip. It's exciting to realize all the incredible places that are very close to where we live. Lucy was really good throughout the trip. We tired her out on the hikes, so she went right to sleep in the tent. I will have to post pictures and a video or two of our hiking and bouldering dog. She has an adventurous heart.

hufflepuff

I've decided to retract what I said previously about Hufflepuff. I wouldn't mind being in Hufflepuff. Tonks was a Hufflepuff and we suspect that Lucy might be in Hufflepuff if she were to get sorted.

"You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;" ~ the Sorting Hat

mission accomplished!

We have actually done everything on my list of things I wanted to do before we left Texas:

1. hike up Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas - completed 7/01/07
2. take some pictures in the Texas bluebonnets - this was done in the spring on 2 different occasions
3. see Nickel Creek in concert again before they disassemble - seen at the Meridian on 4/20/07
4. go to an Astros game at Minute Maid Park - went to 3 games! (2 were free. I think we may have lost all 3 of those games...)
5. explore the George Bush Museum - I'm going to say that we did this. We went to the Museum on July 4, but I forgot that the entire main exhibit is closed until November, but we did see the miniature White House and both of us had already seen the main exhibit at some point previously.
6. visit the Houston Zoo to see our old friends one more time - completed 7/14/07
7. fully appreciate Whataburger, H.E.B., and Blue Bell - we are kind of still doing this, but I consider it done. :)

"Time is making fools of us again." ~ Albus Dumbledore

we say goodbye...

It seems like we have had a lot of goodbyes lately. First to my parents two weekends ago; then to our Bible study group when we met last week for a game night (we learned how to play a card game called Nertz); then to my boss (He's heading off to law school. The College of Geosciences paid for our lunch at Abuelo's and I truly ate an amazing amount of food.); and finally to Adrian's parents.

We spent this past weekend with them in Houston and went to the zoo Saturday. It really was the perfect day for the zoo. It was overcast the entire morning we were there with a few spots of slight drizzling. It was a nice temperature, and it made some of the animals a little more active. We rented the movie, The Holiday, which I thought was kind of cute - maybe a tad long - definitely a chick flick. Occasionally, when Cameron Diaz would talk, I would think, 'She sounds like Fiona...' Then we spent the rest of the time trying hard to find a DVD/VCR player that would work with his parents' connections. 2 hours and 4 stores later, we found one!

We got home in the evening Sunday night and prepared to make another goodbye - to Adrian's old blue Malibu. We made the sale, and the Malibu drove away. We are officially a one-car family now.

"You're supposed to be the leading lady in your own life, for God's sake!" ~ Kate Winslet, as Iris, in the Holiday.

Harry Potter

We went to see Harry Potter at 12:05 this morning with Michelle and Neal. It was packed - with some people in Gryffindor outfits. If I were not a muggle, I would most want to be in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. And then I think that I might prefer Slytherin to Hufflepuff - it just seems like Hufflepuff kind of gets all the leftover people who are not distinctive - although, it is true that Cedric was a Hufflepuff...

Anyways, I think the movie did tell the overall story, but I had just finished rereading book 5, so I noticed so many differences. They cut out a lot (I suppose they had to), but some of the deletions made me sad. They also changed some things, mostly for the sake of simplifying and shortening, but there were some changes that really bothered me. I won't say anything specific so I don't inadvertently ruin the film for someone, but I will say: Harry and Cho's kiss in the movie was way more involved than in the book...

"Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily -- weak people, in other words -- they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!" ~ Severus Snape (I really like Alan Rickman as Snape - he's cool.)

Our Corpus trip!

We went to Corpus this past weekend to see my parents for the last time before we move to Utah. It was weird and kind of sad to think that it may be awhile before I go to Corpus to their house again.

We all went to the beach together on Saturday - and Lucy swam for the first time! There was a deeper area in the water separated by a sandbar where we deposited Lucy in. Then, she swam to shore. She looked so cute swimming. I think it gave her a little of a high because after she swam to shore, she was so excited and ran around everywhere. She swam 3 times.

re-run of our Logan trip

I found this post as a draft and thought that I would post it, before I post the pictures and video (of Lucy swimming!) from our Corpus weekend.

We flew into Salt Lake on Tuesday a little after 4. By the time we picked up our rental car and drove through rush hour and construction, it was about 7 or so when we got into Logan. We ate dinner at Taco Time and settled in at Priya's house. She allowed us to stay at her house for the whole week even though she wasn't there!

Wednesday: We spent the morning walking around Logan.

Here is the Logan Temple.

Logan is on a grid system, and most of the streets have sidewalks, so it is really easy to walk everywhere. They also have these above ground irrigation canals that are interesting - some have ducks. We met with Andrea, our real estate agent, and looked at houses. We found two that we liked - we called them the little house and the big house. The little house was a bit farther away from campus and had an offer on it already by that afternoon. We decided to write an offer for the big house.

Thursday: We received a counter-offer that morning and submitted a counter-offer of our own. Then, we drove all the way through Logan Canyon to Bear Lake in Garden City. It is really a beautiful drive, with lots of hiking, climbing, and fishing opportunities along the way. We ate raspberry shakes in Garden City and hiked a short, easy hike in the Canyon - the Limber Pine trail. We went back to Priya's and learned that our counter-offer had been accepted, and we were under contract!

Friday: We went back into Logan Canyon and hiked to the Wind Cave, which was a fun, steep hike.

Wind Cave

Then we went back to our (hopefully) future house for the inspection. It is weird to think that the house is 108 years old!

For the most part, it seems in pretty good shape although there are some things about the house that aren't ideal. The good thing is that we are looking at the house as a place to live for 4-5 years, not a life-time, and that helps me not freak about things. Plus, the price we are paying is more than fair, and from what we have seen of the real-estate market in Logan, we don't think that we will have trouble selling it - unless the house falls apart... We also love the location, and we figured that our mortgage payments plus taxes and insurance would equal what it would cost to rent.

Our house! It's a little plain in the front. (incidentally, I have no idea why this is underlined...)

Half of our kitchen - look there's a dishwasher!

The living room

The backyard

Saturday: We met with Andrea again to add in more things to the addendum for the seller to fix before closing. We stopped by the Farmer's Market, which was really cute and fun. Then we headed back to the Canyon for the Mt. Naomi hike. This hike took us to Tony Grove Lake, which is beautiful. We even encountered several snow drifts on the hike!

Tony Grove Lake

Snow!

Sunday: A full day of traveling to get back to College Station at around 10 pm.

Guadalupe Peak

This past weekend, we took a short road-trip out to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The goal - hike up Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas before we move to Utah.

It was a fun, Texas-filled trip. On our trip out there on Saturday, we stopped briefly in Fredericksburg and walked down Main Street and browsed in the 10 cent store and in a fancy dog shop. We also stopped in Junction to eat Cooper's famous BBQ.

We got to the campsite at Guadalupe with plenty of time to set up our tent, eat a quick dinner of sandwiches, and make the campfire talk that night. The campfire talk was filled with children who kept interrupting the poor ranger while he tried to give his geology talk, but I suppose it is good that they are inquisitive and interested about the area - even if their questions had nothing to do with the subject on hand.

at our campsite before we put the tent up

The next day, we woke up after a strange night's sleep. It was somewhat loud in the campsite - with a group loudly discussing the merits of wedgies at 10, a group of guys barking loudly at 3 in the morning, and a car alarm incident at some point in the night (though, I actually slept through this, but it sounded amusing from Adrian's memory).

We went to the visitor's center to stamp our passports, buy a magnet, and ask a few questions about the hike. The girl working the desk was Class of '05. :)

Then we set out on the hike. It was a good hike. It is somewhat strenuous at the beginning, then gets easier, and then inclines steeply again until you get to the top. The hike climbs 2,950 feet to reach the 8,749 foot peak. It is cool, because as you climb, you can see how the vegetation changes - from desert plants, like agave and sotol, to ponderosa pines and junipers.

agave

the Texas madrone - one of my favorites

cholla!

At the top, there is this metal triangle symbol that denotes the peak (complete with the American Airlines symbol). There is also a log book where you can record your ascent to the top. :) We ate lunch at the summit and enjoyed the views for a spell. We met an SCA crew throughout the hike as well.

Here we are at the top. In the second picture, you can see El Capitan in the background.

We made it back down for a total excursion of almost 7 hours. We headed back to the visitor's center to complete our tasks for the senior ranger program. :) We earned our patches and headed back to the campsite, where we looked at the clouds, talked, and read for a spell until it was time for bed.

The next day, we left somewhat early to start on the 10 hour trip back to College Station. We stopped at a peach stand outside of Fredericksburg to buy some fresh, locally grown peaches. Then we stopped at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site outside of Johnson City. It was very pretty there with lots of wildflowers and cute walking trails along the Pedernales River. We didn't really stay too long, but we did get another stamp in our passports, and were able to see-saw in the adjoining playground area.

It was a fun road-trip, and I am glad that we were finally able to hike up to the highest point in Texas. It was something that I have been wanting to do for a really long time, and I am glad that I was able to do it with Adrian. :)

"I'm king of the world!" ~ Jack in Titanic (although, in this case, it's really king of Texas, perhaps...?)

B-G-O!

yay, for Biggio. He's my favorite and so nice. :)

Because we are dog/house-sitting, we had access to extended cable and were able to watch: Acie Law IV get drafted AND Biggio's 2998, 2999, 3000, 3001, and 3002 hits. Hurrah, it is always gratifying to see good things happen to nice people.

“I never did say that you can't be a nice guy and win. I said that if I was playing third base and my mother rounded third with the winning run, I'd trip her up.” ~ Leo Durocher

dinner with the Gastons

Last night, we got to have Mariann and Shawn over for the first time since their wedding. :) I made a chicken pesto pasta, which actually turned out pretty good (hurrah for the food processor), and then we finally finished off the fried icecream balls. It is always fun to have Mariann and Shawn over. We will miss those two! Adrian says they are good listeners, ha. So I hope that doesn't mean we spend the entire time talking, while they are forced to listen.

Sadly, it may be one of the last if not the last time to have someone over for dinner in College Station. Our house seems to be getting messier, and my will to clean it seems to have weakened over time...

back in Texas for a month or so

We are back in Texas after a week of blue, dry skies. The continual threats of rain seem to be making the air even more humid, which results in extra frizz for me, which seems more defined as my hair adjusts from being in dry air. :(

We are dog-sitting and kind of house-sitting this week for a family that lives off of Thomas Park. Last night, we cooked a premade casserole that was left for us, played Guitar Hero, washed clothes, and watched Mighty Ducks Three at the Fogles' house. It was kind of fun, but Duke really misses his parents.

a house!

We found a house and are under contract! whew, it is a fast process here in Logan. Houses go fast. I would see houses for sell and then poof, a day later they are under contract. We were lucky with this one - it was not even listed yet, but our agent knew the man who was selling. It is super old - 1899! But has been remodeled (there is even a dishwasher!). It is only 4 blocks from campus. The yard is not nearly as big as the yard we have in College Station, but hopefully, Lucy will still like it. We are across the street from a park. The house is a bit bigger than we really know what to do with, so we hope to have people visiting us. It is beautiful here...pictures to come. :)

2 posts in 1 day = not much to do at work...

I was talking to Amy the other day about weddings, and I talked about how I didn't really view my wedding as the most important day of my life, and therefore, nothing would really have bothered me too much if something went wrong (unless Adrian had said the wrong name or something!).

But I think I kind of left the impression that marrying Adrian didn't mean much to me - that's not what I meant. Just that, to me the fact that we are married and are spending the rest of our lives together is what makes me happy. It was actually kind of hard for me to really appreciate the ceremony with a lot of people looking at us. For me, my most happiest times are when it's just us together where no one is around to witness how truly strange we are.

"The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made." ~ Emma Woodhouse in Emma. (this quote is from the movie, though. I am embarrassed to say that I have not read the book and am not sure if the quote is also in the novel.)

like clockwork

Due to rain, instead of going to the Bombers game last night (although, they did end up having the game), Adrian and I had the chance to hang out at Mark's apartment for a spell. We don't get the chance to see Mark that often. His work schedule changes with unusual hours, but it is always fun to go to his place - it is always educational. Mark is somewhat of a "hyper geek" (this is Mark's own term so I think it's okay to repeat it).

Last time, he showed us the rocks and minerals that he collected on his trip out west (I forgot which states). This time, he showed us the insides of the clock he was making. I would tell you more about it, but my mind is pretty limited when it comes to electronics and circuits and things of that nature. But he is very handy, and it's cool to see the things that he can create and make work.

back to the blogspot

My summer job is slightly boring, so I thought that I would try to revamp my blogspot as a way to pass the time. Although, since not much is happening this summer so far, it could make for a somewhat boring blog.

I was looking at my past xanga posts and then my past blogspot posts, and it will be a little sad to leave the xanga. Those were some quality posts, there, when compared to my older blogspot ones - those were really bad. But I like the features that blogger offers - will google ever cease coming up with the best ideas and methods?

Right now, the thing most preoccupying my mind is: looking for a place to live in Logan. I pretty much spend way too much time everyday looking at house listings and then mapping them on googlemaps. Currently, I am spoiled by being a 10-minute bike ride away from campus, and I am still trying to live a bikeable distance from the university. Tuesday, we head to Logan to house hunt - we are going to look at houses for sale and for rent. Whatever happens, I am hoping that when we return, I will no longer have to spend vast amounts of time looking at real estate sites...