I did some traveling to New Mexico at the beginning of the year. I saw some sights and met the parents. Not scary at all. Great people. The weather was all over the place, snowing one day, sunshining the next. Talk about wide open spaces. What a refreshing break.
White Sands, New Mexico on Valentine's Day.
Oh, I don't remember the name of this small town near Las Cruces, but I think this is one of the oldest churches in New Mexico, or something like that ... great attention to detail, I know.
I remember being beyond cold. I think I had six layers on. Brrr.
The truck got stuck and the men tried everything to get it out of the bar ditch. Luckily, off in the distance, a tractor--wait, I think the machine is called a skid-something-or-other--was tooling around, and helped yank it out of the ditch. This was quite the ordeal. I wasn't sure if we were going to have to wait for the snow to melt in order to make it home!
A boy and his ranch. By the end of our visit, the snow had melted!
I went home, and Rocky managed to do some business in the NW, too. Naturally two of my college sisters (not real sisters, and not sorority sisters, but you know, sisters) drove down from the Emerald City to meet the man in my life. They hit it off, just as predicted.
He said "Cheese" and so we did ... in a big way! This photo was snapped at the Rose Garden in NW Portland. Emily and Katie. Two of the best.
I heard Em's boyfriend, Greg (affectionately known as "Dirt"), would be playing baseball at Rice University in Houston, so I made the little trek down to H-town to see him play. I got so excited and made him some baked goods (cake balls, to be exact), but I'm pretty sure due to the humidity and (unseasonably? maybe?) rather hot hot heat, I'm almost certain they melted by the time I handed them to G after the game. Oh well. Got to see the Cougs play in Texas. Always a treat. Loved heckling No. 45!
Batter up!
No doubt one of the best weekends of my time in Austin was Easter 2009. Katie and Mariel came for a visit, and we accomplished a checklist of essential Texas treats including, but not limited to: drive-thru beer barn shopping, barbecue-eating, Sixth Street party partaking, Tex-Mex Tuesday (or in this case Thursday) feasting at my neighborhood Maudie's restaurant, visiting the Brady ranch and riding, celebrating the risen Lord at Easter mass, gospel brunching at Stubb's, Lake Austin dockside lounging, Johnny Cash-themed Mean Eyed Cat bar-hopping, and oh yes, who can forget Don Juan breakfast taco eating at Juan in a Million!
