Removing The Cobwebs

Although the intention is always there, I just cannot seem to get back into the swing of regularly blogging.  It's definitely something that I want to be better about, but other things just always seem to get in the way.  But perhaps I just need to accept that that's how things may be for a while around here, stop apologizing for it, and say hey- something's better than nothing.  Right?  So here's a little mish-mash catch up of sorts.  Thanks to those of you who have stuck around despite my silence!

~A beautiful Houston sunset that I caught on my walk home from the gym a while back.  One thing that I loved about living in small town Australia was that the skies always seemed so much more beautiful than anyplace I had ever lived (I wrote about them in a post HERE).  I don't know what it was, but they always seemed bluer, clearer, had the puffiest, whitest clouds, and some of the most breath-taking sunsets I have ever seen.  This Houston sunset almost reminded me of one of those gorgeous Aussie sunsets that I miss so much. 

~A teacher reunion with some of my favorite former co-workers.  You can tell by our clothes how long ago this happy hour actually took place, but whatever.  I miss these ladies, and it was so fun to catch up!

~A funny bookshelf.  I was cleaning and reorganizing a little bit a while ago, and I noticed something funny about this particular book shelf.  Can you guess which one of these books belongs to my husband?  If you know David, you will get a pretty good laugh out of this one. 

~An Aussie care package.  Two of my closest girlfriends that I met in Australia were sweet enough to send me this fun Aussie care package.  Thanks, Jackie and Katie!!

~A visit with some of my former students.  I spent a couple hours one day visiting my old school and some of my former students.  These are two of my favorites (yep, teachers absolutely have favorites).  I couldn't believe how much they had grown! 

~Office View.  This is my view from the office (it's a office run out of someone's home if you can't tell).  I love March/April in Houston because the azaleas bloom like CRAZY.  I had actually never seen white azaleas, so I was loving these ones.  I tried to grow azaleas at our old house in Houston, and I never had any luck (#blackthumb).  They're so pretty though, and so "Houston" to me. 

~A perfect Friday evening.  A while back, I picked David up from work on a Friday and we had the perfect evening.  We started with a couple glasses of wine at a neighborhood bar (the weather was perfect that night so we took advantage and sat outside), then we headed to my new favorite Houston restaurant- Hugo's.  You guys.  If you live in or around Houston, or ever visit, you MUST go here.  I can't believe we only discovered it a couple months ago.  It is some of, no THE best Mexican food I have ever had- super authentic.  Oh, and the best margarita of my life.  I was too busy chowing down and guzzling margaritas to take any pictures though. 

~Hard-working hubby.  Poor David has just been swamped at work lately.  We were talking the other night and honestly, we aren't really sure that the 13 hour work days/6 day work weeks he had to work in Australia were any worse than the current situation.  Sigh... He has been working just about every Saturday, and during the week usually not getting home until between 8 and 9.  A couple times it has even been 10:30.  One Saturday, I walked down to his office (literally like 3 blocks from our apartment) to bring him lunch, and I saw this duck guarding the entrance.  I thought it was pretty funny.  He seriously wasn't budging for anyone trying to get in/out.  And this text message shows you a little bit what life/work has been like lately.  I usually text him each afternoon/early evening to get his ETA.  And just about everytime, the answer gets later as the evening goes on.  Poor guy...

~Texas BBQ!  I can't believe it took us this long, but we finally made it to our favorite Houston BBQ spot- Luling City Market.  There's nothing like eating straight off of butcher paper and piling a ton of meat onto good ol' white bread.  Yum!  Don't worry, I did not eat all that meat in front of me- we shared that AND took home leftovers. 

~Shaking my head at Texas.  I love living in Houston.  And most of the time I forget I actually live in Texas.  Until I drive by things like this on the side of the road.... really?...

~Random Houston statues.  There is a random outdoor statue museum/field... I don't know what to call it... in Houston.  It's filled with these giant sculptures of the Beatles and about a million presidential heads.  So random, but pretty neat.  Not too far from that... display... is the "We Love Houston" sign that I've been meaning to see for years, but never made it there until now. 

 

~Bubba's Burger Shack.  This is another favorite Houston restaurant of ours.  It is a total dive, and as you can tell from the pictures, it is literally a SHACK.  And even better, it is situated basically underneath a freeway overpass... this little shack has been there so long that they basically built the overpass around it.  But oh my god, they have the BEST buffalo burgers ever.  So good!  I had the buffalo patty melt, and David had the double burger.  Nom nom nom! 

 

~A little Aussie reunion.  A few weeks ago, I met up with two girls that I met in Australia who now live in the Houston area.  Kim had just had her second baby boy, so Lori and I drove out to meet the new little guy.  It was a fun day and some much needed girl time.  It's so funny to me that I had to go all the way to Australia to finally meet some Houston friends :-)  I'm hoping that eventually even more of the girls I met there will get moved to Houston, too!  Please note, none of these adorable children are mine. 

~Crazy Houston weather.  A few weekends ago, Houston had one of its famous rain storms.  These things seriously seem to come out of nowhere, and they are no joke- flooding is usually involved.  This photo is a major street in Houston (Richmond Ave, if you're familiar), and it was completely flooded.  Don't worry, about 3 hours later, the sun was shining and the sky was blue.  Houston is weird. 


~Bear.  We went to Austin for Father's Day weekend to visit David's parents.  This is their dog, Bear.  I have a love/hate relationship with this dog.  You see, Bear used to be my sister-in-law's dog.  She and I used to be roommates in Los Angeles (that's how I met David).  Renee used to be out of town a lot, and so I ended up being the one to take care of Bear.  He would get mad when she would leave, and unfortunately, he would take that out on me.  TWICE this dog peed on my bed in retaliation.  I still haven't forgiven him. 

Alright, I think that's enough from me for now.  Hopefully it won't be another month before I'm back again! :-) 

Austin Weekend

Aside from running ten miles last weekend, I also managed to have some fun while in Austin for the weekend.  David and I drove over on Friday afternoon.  This is usually a great time of year to go for a drive outside of Houston and Austin, because it's bluebonnet season (Texas' state flower).  The bluebonnets didn't disappoint- they (and more Indian Paintbrush than I remember seeing in previous years) were everywhere! But unfortunately, we didn't have time to stop for the mandatory photo in bluebonnet fields. 

A photo from the car was the best I got this year

Since I didn't get a bluebonnet photo this year, here's one from a few years ago. 

That evening we met up with one of David's college friends and his wife for dinner in downtown Austin.  Then we had some drinks at a few bars while we killed time waiting to pick up David's sister at the airport at 1AM.  We stumbled upon a cute outdoor/patio bar that had a really great live band. 

After picking up our race packets on Saturday afternoon, we rented water bikes on Lake Austin.  It was a beautiful day to be out on the lake.  And although I was a little skeptical, the water bikes were really fun- and super easy to maneuver.  They even guarantee they won't tip over- which sold me, since I was definitely not in appropriate clothes for being on the water. 

After water biking, I insisted that we get ice cream at Lick Ice Cream- I had heard about it from an Austin blogger, and I'd been dying to try their crazy ice cream flavors.  Lick didn't disappoint- if you are ever in Austin, you must try it!  It's a really cute little shop with very friendly staff and locally farmed ingredients.  The best part is their flavor choices- they're like nothing you'd ever expect to have in ice cream, but they are DELICIOUS. 

 

These are only about half of the flavors

 

 


My choices: Goat Cheese,Thyme, and Honey & Dark Chocolate, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt - AMAZING!!

 

This place is incredible... and I'm really not even that big of an ice cream person.  The next day during the race, at about mile 7, I decided that we would definitely be stopping by here again for more ice cream on our way out of town.  You know, to undo all the calorie burning I had just spent two hours doing.  WORTH IT!  This time I got a scoop of Cilantro Lime and a scoop of Coconut Avocado Curd.  I was skeptical of these flavors, but I liked them both- especially the cilantro lime!  Oh, and for any of you out there who live in Texas, they are now selling some of their flavors in pints at Central Market.  And I think cilantro lime is one of the ones being sold there now.  GET YOURSELF SOME.  You can thank me later. 

 

So that was about it for our short Austin weekend.  We drove back in rain, so we didn't get another opportunity for bluebonnet photos.  Oh well, there's always next year!