Happy 50th Aunt Sherri!!

The same weekend we were in Houston for Shannie's Shower, we also were able to celebrate my Aunt Sherri's 50th birthday with my family.

We went to her house and brought food, snacks, and flowers for the festivities. We all wanted to watch the Belmont to see if Big Brown would pull out the Triple Crown but since he came in last place it was good we had other reasons for our PAR-TAY!!!

My parents gave Sherri an Ipod and Kevin, Kari, Chris and I got a car adapter for it. We don't want her going over the hill without the hippest electronic accessories. Kevin and Chris swam in their pool and we all took a shot at riding the clown bike. It was funniest to see Kevin and Chris try because they have such long legs on a little bike. But my mom and I had just as much fun trying to get it going. Chris even figured out how to pop a wheelie...it was AWESOME!

Grandma made strawberry shortcake which just happens to be one of my favorite summertime treats!

Christmas in July...

I am behind on lots of things...not just our blog. But, slowly I am catching up! The attached YouTube video is from our Christmas in New Hampshire with Chris's family. We were having so much fun with our new camera and then subsequently, I had fun making a little movie! Enjoy...

Shannie Shower...

Right after Lake Catherine Chris and I made the drive to Houston. We mainly were headed to Houston for Shannon Boyer's (my matron of honor) baby shower that I was co-hostessing. However, we loved the time with my family too! Friday we even picked 16 pounds of blueberries...my favorite summer activity. Mom and I realized that this is our 22nd year to pick berries but she didn't want to admit that....should that mean I'm not publishing it? Hmmm?

Anyway, Saturday was the shower for Shannie! She is having a little boy and is due in August. This was one of several showers and she got SO much stuff. She will be more than prepared when Brayden arrives. The nursery is done and painted in two shades of blue. I love the paint colors with the contrasted dark wood furniture they choose. They are going with a sports theme and just got the bumper and such a the shower. We also asked if people would bring books to start a little bookshelf for Brayden. It was super fun to remember some old favorites. Chris suggested A Very Hungry Caterpillar which we got and then I also found The Adventures of Frog and Toad which brought up some other fun memories for Chris. We love books! It was a fun shower and good to catch up with old friends. Mostly it was fun to see the glowing mommy-to-be!!

I also loved designing the invite and decorating cookies for her shower! My mom and I made all the cookies which was super fun in her gourmet kitchen. Then Kari, Mom, and I decorated the cookies. I couldn't have done it without them!

Lake Catherine...fun!

Seriously, I am trying to get caught up! For those who subscribe and get the emails, I apologize that you are getting several in your inbox today. I hope to get back on track and not have so many at once.

The first week of June we headed to Arkansas, right outside of Hot Springs, to Lake Catherine State Park for a vaca with Chris's Mom, Sister Robyn, and her husband Brad. We stayed in cabins in the woods and enjoyed a fabulous few days away from commercialism!

We took turns cooking meals for dinner, played cards (darn that Craxton rummy!), went fishing, hiking, and really enjoyed time together and time resting. I could write tons here but am desperately trying to catch up so here are my top 10 points of interest...in no particular order.

1. Fishing - or as Brad called it "feeding the fish." We rented a Pontoon boat and spent the bulk of the day baiting our hooks, feeling a tug, and later pulling in our reel to see the fish had eaten the worm without getting hooked. Chris was the only one to catch a fish and it was a smaller fish...so we ate our back up dinner - frozen pizza. I'm thankful for yummy pizza and not having to clean smelly fish!

2. Nature classes- one of the finer moments of the trip was Chris, Sally, and I deciding to go to one of the nature courses on tracking animals. We went early to explore the nature center which had several snakes which I am still having nightmares about. They also had adorable turtles and lots of information about animals in the area. We headed outside for the course and were early to get front row seats. A few minutes later Naturalist Julie pops out with a big smile and child-like energy. We looked around to notice the other "students" were children. Apparently they have a Jr. Naturalist program that these girls were working towards and this course was one of their credits. Ha! We sat through the class anyway and not surprisingly learned stuff!

3. Baby deer - I loved that we could look right outside of our cabin and see Bambi. Seriously - these babies were still wobbly on their legs they were so young. ADORABLE!

4. Vistas - I love new words! Robyn educated me on "Vista" which is a view.

5. Bum Vista- Later Robyn clarified that a true Vista is a spectacular view that you can see for miles...like 50 (can you see 50 miles?) into the distance. So, some views are bum vistas because they just aren't that spectacular.

6. Hike #1 - Chris, Robyn, Sally, and I did a 2.5 mile hike. It went over the "Indiana Jones bridge" and by a sweet little waterfall. It wasn't too hot and fun to work our way through the woods. We saw a few bum vistas.

7. Hike #2 - Chris and I did the unthinkable. We woke up at 5:00am. On the last day we wanted to attempt the more treacherous 4 mile hike to the top of the dam. It was BEAUTIFUL and so worth getting up for. We saw an adorable box turtle early on our trail. We enjoyed the vista at the top...it was not a bum vista!

8. Sally's Smorgashborg - The last night we were there we had lots of random food left overs so Sally organized it all into a meal. We had scrambled eggs, grilled veggies, biscuits, salad, lemon squares, cupcakes, and possibly some other stuff I am forgetting! It was such a smorgashborg but soooo fun and yummy! I love that Sally can make a fun event out of anything!

9. Birthday presents - Ok...so I know I'm really spreading this birthday thing out but this couldn't go without mentioning. Robyn and Brad brought us birthday presents to the trip! They seem to know me all to well as I got a burlap lined fabric bag that has old fashioned cars printed on it. Can I say LOVE?!!! It is so adorable and I've been so into using these bags for groceries, etc. that I was just over the moon. Loved it!

10. Poison Ivy - We both brought up proof of our treacherous hike! For Chris it was a slight rash that itched and healed in a matter of days. For me...it was oozing boils that got disgusting looks from all who happened to catch a glimpse of my ankles gone cankles in the last 2...READ IT...2 weeks. Seriously, why am I only able to out-do Chris when it comes to ailments?

It was a super fun week and I would recommend Lake Catherine. I hope we'll go back some day...

Birthday Surprise 3!!

I know, I know...you're wondering how long it's going to be all about me and my birthday! A girl only turns 28 once so I might as well stretch it out, right?

Monday night rolls around and really the birthday was behind us. I had a great weekend and was ready to get back to reality where I can't do whatever I want and chalk it up to "my birthday weekend." So, I'm trying to get Chris to commit to which chore we'll tackle and every time I ask he diverts the question with "How was your day?" and then he tells me stories that are clearly longer than the normal stories he tells. I was getting annoyed that he wasn't answering my questions! And, while I'd love to believe that overnight he grew into a Drama King and that his story telling about his days would now match mine but let's get real. This is Chris...the practical one. Sooooo, I'm about to blow when the door bell rings and the smile of relief crosses Chris's face. Was he seriously just saved by the bell?



(Random side story - Chris and I very rarely "feel" different in age. However, when we talk about anything relating to our childhood the 5.5 year difference is much heavier. One recent discovery is that Chris never watched Saved by the Bell!!! I guess he was too old for silly high school drama by the time it got popular. I however religiously watched and always wanted to be Kelly. So weird that he has no idea about the first tv show I was ever addicted to.)

Ok...so open the front door and SURPRISE!!! Sarah and Angie are there. Again...confused I start to slowly put pieces together. Really people...what is wrong with me? Clearly, I am so not good at surprises. Instead of the perfect hands to the cheek and gasping response of a surprised drama queen I am usually dumbfounded and slow to catch on. It's a miracle I don't drool on myself with the "Huh?!" look that surprise stirs in me. I should work on that....

Anyway, the girls coordinated with Chris for a girls night for my birthday!!!! He quickly disappeared and left us to girly movies, manicures, and snacks. They brought me a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers, yummy marshmallow topped chocolate cupcakes, wine, popcorn, and my favorite flavor ice cream. It was so so so so so so so SWEET of them! Can I just mention that Sarah had a 2 week old at this point? And...Angie had already made me a strawberry birthday cake on Friday night? They absolutely went above and beyond. But, I LOVED IT! We never watched a movie or did manicures. We only got through the cupcakes and wine....but not for lack of time. We literally got talking and could barely stop for a picture when Chris came home 4.5 hours later. It was so super fun and such a great extension of my birthday weekend!!

I love you girls!

Birthday Surprise 2!

With Brudder and Sister on their way to Houston, Chris decided it was time to give me my present and then tell me about his birthday surprise.

He had planned to take me to a drive-in!!! I was so excited because I've never been to a drive in and always wanted to go. I love movies, I love cuddling, and I love being with Chris so I always imagined the drive in to be a perfect date! So we packed up blankets, pillows, some speakers to make the radio louder, snacks, and drinks. We drove about 40 minutes North of us to Killeen. We were racing the sun because as soon as it goes down, the movie starts. The great thing about the drive-in is that you actually get two movies for the one entry price. We got there with sun to spare, got the car all set up with our cushy blankets, and settled in for Baby Mama and Iron Man.

It was totally campy fun and romantic all at the same time! I was a perfect evening where it was cool and breezy. We were cuddling under the stars feeding each other yummy snacks when it hit me.....this blissful moment included something else dear to my heart for a different set of reasons. We were in the RS.

For those who are long time readers of our letters and blog know all about our Rust Spot - the '91 white Acura RS that my husband never gives up on. Without re-hashing all the fine memories of our beloved RS, just know that to put it lovingly this beater has been know to be the bane of my existence and part of some of our not-so-fine newly wed memories.

So, can you imagine my horror in the realization that my perfect birthday moment, at the birthday drive-in, with the birthday snacks, and birthday cuddling included the RS in all it's glory? I feel like the RS is much like Dwight on The Office. 99.9% of the time he's annoying and worth making fun of. But every once in awhile there's a redeeming moment where you are almost relieved that it's not one more painful moment in the life of Dwight...or in our case RS. I guess in the birthday goodness, this was one of those redeeming moments for RS.



I love you RS. I love that the drive-in was all I'd hoped for and more. I love Baby Mama. I love Chris.



I LOVE 28!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birthday Surprise!

Soooo, it's was that time again...another Crack Team birthday. As you can see from previous posts, we don't mess around when it's birthday times. And, as a random side note can I stand on my "Even-year" soap box for a moment? This was my 28th birthday. I LOVE the even numbered years and years with 5. All other years don't sound pretty and historically have not been my better years. So, lets just say I was super stoked to go from drab and hideous 27 to glamorous 28! I'm weird, I own it.

Saturday night before my birthday we went to dinner with our friends Paul and Jana. Chris and I have a Pluckers membership. For those who don't Keep it Weird (Austin slogan for supporting local businesses), Pluckers is a fabulous hot wing place that is an Austin original. As one of their members we get a free meal on each of our birthdays and we certainly don't let that go by without cashing in. So we all enjoyed some hot wings and then played Settlers of Catan at their house. Burning lips and competition ring in the birthday like none other...

We got home and for some reason Chris wanted us to stay up. I did the best I could until right after midnight and then was so tired I had to go to bed. Around 2am his phone rang. The next thing I remember was Chris saying "Put on some clothes." Let me paint this picture...I am so groggy I can barely move, I have the anti-grinding over sized mouth guard in my mouth, I throw on my glasses, and managed to find my I-love-shoes robe. I walk downstairs and see Chris at the front door telling someone that I was awake. He swings open the door and there stand my Brudder and Sister-in-law in a suit and cocktail dress. First of all - my brother and sister are those crazy-types that go to sleep by 9:30 or 10 at night in order to get up at 4:30 or 5 in the morning. If I call Brudder at 10:30 at night he answers groggily or angry. By 11:30pm he answers because it's the middle of his night and he's sure if I am calling it's an emergency (it never is, it just gets him to answer).

Anyway, I was so confused and still a picture of a not-so-sleeping beauty. But with lots of questions and some passing moments, I finally understood that they were at a wedding in Dallas and had coordinated with Chris to come in for my birthday. They never intended for it to get so late. We all finally went to bed....but I was THRILLED!

Sunday morning we went to church and then did another one of my favorite Austin lunches...CHUY'S!!!! We sat on the patio, ate awesome Mexican, and had a super fun time together. Afterwards we played some Wii and hung out some more before they had to head back to Houston.

I loved my birthday surprise!

Chuy's 5K

So a few months ago my dear friend Angie had a brilliant idea....doing a triathlon in relay together. She'd run, I'd swim, and we tried several different bikers but came up empty. We landed instead on running together in the Chuy's 5K to benefit Special Olympics....in the un-timed, fun-run part. But hey...most of you were probably still in bed when we were out there running.

Saturday May 10th was the big race day. We both did very little to prepare other than picking a cute running outfit and sleeping in it since the race was way too early for both of us. However, we set our pace and finished the race in 32 minutes. We'd also like to point out that we passed some young college gals which made us feel accomplished. I must confess though that we saw a group of elderly men running together with shirts that read "In denial at _____" and they filled in the blank with their age. The one we saw closely was 86. So we have a long way to go to really brag because he passed the college girls too.

Anyway, my parents happened to be in town so they cheered us across the finish as if we'd run the Boston Marathon. Love that! We then cheered our other friends in: Stephanie, Karen, Karin, and Betty Blake. It was super fun and I love that Angie is short like me so our strides match as opposed to running with taller types who can take one step for my two (ehem...Chris).

Next year we'll do the triathlon....

Cinco de Mayo

Still playing catch up here...


Saturday May 3 - 4 was Chris's Premier Team's annual Cinco de Mayo tournament in San Antonio Texas. I was most excited for the tourney this year because our friend Matt has been playing on the team with Chris. Matt and Jenn have been dear friends to us and sadly their time in Austin will end in August as Matt has accepted a professor job at the University of Colorado. While we are excited for them we're selfishly sad to see them go.


Sooooo, the tournament was a great time for me to hang out with Jenn and Soren, their adorable one year old. The guys headed to the tourney early on Saturday morning for their first game and then Jenn, Soren, and I drove down for the second game. We cheered them on for the rest of Saturday and then drove back to Austin for a fun cook-out at Matt and Jen's house.


Los Anejos, the team, won two and lost one on Saturday which meant they advanced to Sunday's semi-finals. Chris can be credited for a goal, several headers (his Mom's favorite) and as always, being the "gazelle" who burns by everyone with his speed. Sadly, on Sunday they lost in the semi-final round. However, by this point most of the guys were fairly sore and sunburned so as one guy from the team pointed out...in someways they won by loosing.

Chris and I went to San Antonio's famous Alamo Cafe for a post tourney lunch. Yum! Another year of Cinco under our belt but with out Matt and Jenn...it just won't be the same next year.

Chris did awesome, as always and I had fun with our new camera!!!

Getting caught up....conspiracy theory

Now that the NYC trip is finally blogged and behind us, I really will try to stay on top of Crack Team news. Bear with my while I do some catching up.

I loved the movie Conspiracy Theory. It redefined extreme theorists for me and allows my creative mind to work through my own conspiracies without feeling nuts. So, here's my latest theory (note:most of them have nothing to do with bureaucracy, politics, or boring stuff like that...more like shopping deals, clothes, and the like).

In April right after our NYC trip I noticed that some of our clothes were coming out of the laundry with rust spots. Let me mention that I love doing laundry. Separating, washing, drying, and most importantly the smell and feel of items fresh from the dryer. Between my love for laundry and delicate items that have to be hung dry I don't even let Chris do the wash. So, a rust spot on the laundry was a highly upsetting event. We noticed that the basin in our washer was chipping and leaving rust spots which must have been depositing on and ruining our clothes. This was a strange discovery for several reasons:

1. I am a scavenge for change in pockets. I figure if Chris leaves it, it's mine. I have a small piggy bank near the washer and I happily empty his pockets and fill my bank. This goes without count on our official budget which is of great advantage to me. Then when the bank is full I spend it...usually on shoes. For those who love my green and white polka wedges...it's the laundry bank fund!

2. I also am pretty particular about zipping jackets and tucking in sharp edges. Mainly because the clanging sound ruins the serenity of laundry for me.

3. Because I can think of lots of better things to spend money on than new washer and dryers.

None the less...it had chipped and for fear of ruining other clothes we decided to buckle in. This is where the conspiracy begins.

We knew we wanted to go to the HE (high efficiency) front loaders. We're really trying to make GREEN decisions around the Crack House. We hope you are too. I had visions of the sparkling red front loaders on the pedestals in our organized laundry area and my weekly duty reaching new levels of bliss....

Conspiracy one - the pedestals don't come with the machines. However, the front loading doors are so low to the ground that years of laundry would lead to chronic back pain from bending and lifting at such a low height. So, you are basically forced into two pedestals. Pedestals run at $200 each.

Conspiracy two - the color versions of the front loaders are a minimum of $200 more for the SAME model as boring white. OH COME ON! I work in product development. I know that occasionally a color version of something can cost a little more because of paint but the $200 per machine (washer and dryer) is a greedy rip off.

Conspiracy three - while these HE machines are FAR more efficient and I fully support the earth friendly cause for them, you save money on utility bills but practically make up for it in detergent! You have to use special HE detergent with these machines because regular detergent is too sudsy for the fast spinning action of the washer. So, since the appliance companies rip us off with the color mark up and pedestal mark up the detergent people jumped the bandwagon. I paid $11.99 for the same amount of detergent I can get for a regular machine at $6.99.

So, we decided on white machines. I'm calling it clean, fresh, pure, white - think fresh linen (to compensate for my lost dreams of the red sparklers). We punked the system and got our pedestals on Craig's List for a far cry from $200 each. And, while there is nothing I can do about detergent, (perhaps I should write a letter) at least we are doing the laundry in a more efficient way. I don't have to worry about rust spots, I now have a setting for hand wash (LOVE THAT!), and one day when my laundry area is presentable, I'll even post a photo. Warning...don't hold your breath. Our laundry area is in the garage and it is over 100 today so I'm in no rush to work out there for any length of time.

While I stand firmly behind the conspiracies of greed in the appliance and detergent industries I do want to be very clear that I am thankful for the blessing of a new washer and dryer...for any washer and dryer.

So on that note, I'm off to smell some fresh laundry....

New York - Day 5

Ok folks...posting for NY was harder then I ever imagined. It is now into June and while some great things have happened around the Crack House since NYC, I can't get past the enormous hump of day 5 for some reason. So here is the really quick run-down:

- Slept in - love that!

- Checked out but left our bags with the bag guy...I am sure he has a much more official title.

- Took the subway to the upper East side

- Bought roasted nuts from a street vendor

- Marveled at the flowers growing in the sidewalk pots

- Shopped, I just can't help myself

- Headed to Central Park

WE LOVED CENTRAL PARK!!!!

- Got a little snack

- Found some grassy shade

- Wrote postcards to some of you...

- Enjoyed watching the Cherry Blossoms blow off the trees

- Found the famous fountain

- Walked to the Imagine tiled area

- Dreaded it was time to head back

WE LOVED CENTRAL PARK!!!

- Took a car to the airport, I slept and Chris got carsick...darn those crazy drivers

- Ate another snack at the airport...this snacking has to stop since our walking is going to

- Got on Jet Blue to head home and this time stayed awake and watched American Idol which I could get on our non-cable tv so I technically still did not take advantage of all the fun channels

WE LOVED NYC! It was such a great trip! Thanks for hanging in with the long and some times informative review. Things will be back to normal here at the Crack Team Chronicles soon....