Pics from Puerto Vallarta

Me & a Monkey

On the zip line

Puerto Vallarta

The past few days have been full of activity. I left for Puerto Vallarta on Monday, June 11 for Ashley & Freddie's wedding. After sitting in traffic, standing in a long check-in line at the airport and rushing through security, we made it to the plane minutes before the scheduled departure time, only to see that the Ashley and her family were lagging behind us. As we sat there anxiously watching the front of the plane for the bride to round the corner, I thought to myself, "what a story we would have if everyone but the bride made it to the wedding." But alas, Ashley and her family made it with a couple of minutes to spare. And we were off to Mexico for a week of vacation!

In total there were over twenty people in the wedding group. We had a lot of fun crossing paths at the resort and eating dinner together every night. The ocean temperature was perfect and the resort was beautiful. The wedding was picture perfect. We spent plenty of time on the beach, swimming and playing in the sand. One day we went into town and explored a little bit of "real" Puerto Vallarta, complete with a roller-coaster bus ride through the narrow and winding city streets. We also took a small excursion up into the Sierra Madre Mountains to enjoy the scenery of the port below via zip lines. What a rush that was - a sweaty, bug filled, fun and exciting rush. I celebrated my 25th birthday at a Brazilian restaurant. As I'm not a huge fan of meat in large quantities, my favorite part had to be the fire show and of course, my surprise birthday cake and birthday song. The night before the wedding all the girls and ladies gathered in Ashley's room to do our nails and such - and of course there was some giggling and silly antics. It was the perfect way to spend the evening. It was a great vacation and as I packed my bag Thursday night, I couldn't help but wish we had a couple more days to enjoy each other. Of course, I didn't know what was waiting for me at home...had I known I may have been more eager to board the plane for Texas Friday afternoon....

Chris Finishes Grad School!

Graduation Celebrations

Waiting for Laura Bush and the Cannon

Sand and Sun

This past weekend was absolutely lovely. Late Friday afternoon Chris and I decided we would drive down to Surfside to meet up with some friends who were already down there. It was nice to escape the usual circus of errands and places to be that usually fills the weekend.

The plan was to camp on the beach; however it was just too windy and too sandy for our comfort. Being that we're no longer the spring chickens we used to be, our bodies were tired from the 5 hour drive to the coast followed by another 5 hours spent splashing around on the beach. The thought of going to bed without a shower on the hard ground inside a sandy sleeping bag was not appealing. As soon as we made the decision to go a hotel for the night, I began to fantasize about the warm shower and the clean sheets awaiting me. I was anxiously looking forward to a blissful night of peaceful slumber. The high school kids in Surfside were not however, looking forward to a blissful night of peaceful slumber. We saw them earlier that night running around in their gowns and tuxedos at the local civic center. It was prom night in Surfside and the after-prom festivities began around 1:37 am. I know this exact time because this is when I was wakened from my blissful slumber to the sound of laughter, doors slamming and walls rattling. After two calls to the front desk, a quick visit from a police officer and 40 minutes of lying in bed trying to get back to sleep it looked like they were going to party all night. I could hear them on the balcony and I couldn't just lie in bed and take it anymore. I jumped out of my bed, exclaiming to Chris that they were "on the balcony." I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back just far enough to see the cluster of people outside. Without any hesitation I began knocking on the glass as hard as I could. It was a frustrated attempt to get their attention. One guy slowly turned around and I can only laugh as I imagine what he saw. There I was – half awake, half asleep, with puffy eyes and crazy hair that had dried as I slept on it. Most of my body was hidden by the darkness of the room but my face was illuminated by the lights that shone in on me from the balcony outside. As I made unflinching eye contact with this kid I gave him "the look;" the look I give in moments of extreme agitation and anger; the one that Chris swears by. Then I swiftly rose by right hand and made a swiping motion across my neck, as if to say, "Cut it out now." The whole time I didn't move my lips nor did I dart my eyes away from his. I imagine I looked as crazy as I was feeling. Thankfully it was quiet about 10 minutes later and we slept blissfully and peacefully the rest of the night.

Upon arriving home late Sunday night I learned that my mom thought Chris and I had run away to get married. I guess she felt the need to confess this to me after seeing that I had come home alone and spouseless. Hmmm….I didn't really know what to say to her except that she's crazy. I guess I come by it honestly.

Lay Activities

Yesterday afternoon I took a delicious nap. I slept for almost two hours and when I woke up I felt great, until I realized I had been sleeping on one of the Butterfinger eggs that the Easter Bunny gave me. Body heat plus chocolate equals a big giant mess. Who knew that those little eggs could spread out so much when melted....yuck!

He asked and I said, "What?"

You know how sometimes girls jump to conclusions even though it may not be the most logical conclusion considering the circumstances? I had one of those moments this weekend.

Yesterday I went to a small church in Arlington. A friend was preaching and a few of my friends went to support him. The church was real small. The room where they were holding the church service was set up so that the main entrance was at the front of the room, just to the left of the main stage area. About half way through the sermon I realized that I was going to need a bathroom soon. Not wanting to distract attention by using the poorly placed entrance, I tried to "hold it." After "holding it" as long as I could I finally gave in and I tried to sneak out as quietly as possible. When I came back I planned to sneak in as inconspicuously as I had exited however as soon as I opened the door I was greeted by my friend who was preaching, who immediately said to me, "Chris has something he wants to give you." As I walked around the small partition between the door and the main stage area, I saw Chris standing on the other side of the room with his hands behind his back, intently looking in my direction. Hmm....this is the moment where I jumped to a conclusion that really made no sense considering the circumstances. Let's review the facts: 1) we were at church, 2) the church service was obviously still in progress, and 3) we were visitors who knew few people there. Despite all of these circumstances, I thought that this was my moment that all girls dream about, or so they say, and all I could think was, "this is not the appropriate place for this," and "this is not the proposal story I want to tell everyone for the next six months." As I stood there looking utterly confused and I suppose somewhat terrified, I heard one of my friends shout out something about how this was part of the sermon. I guess my face betrayed what I was trying to hide inside. Still bewildered I walked toward Chris and accepted his gift - a dead rose. Even more confused than before all I could say was, "What, a dead rose?" As it turned out, the giving of a dead rose was part of an illustration in the sermon and I just happened to go to the bathroom at just the right moment. Chris was oblivious to everything and didn't even realize what all the girls had picked-up on until after the sermon was over, although he now knows that a proposal made during the middle of church in front of a bunch of strangers is not a good idea. As it turned out, he knew that already and was surprised to find out that I would even think that he would put that little thought into it. Oh, what fun it is to date and go through those awkward little moments where your innermost hopes are uncomfortably displayed for a small group of friends and a bunch of strangers. I must admit however, that I have never seen a prettier dead rose.

Wal-Mart

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart to buy gas and had another one of those experiences that made me feel like I'm living in the future. It was kind of like the feeling I got the first time I saw one of those billboards in the mall that periodically changes advertisements. I know I saw that in a futuristic movie 15 years ago, only the movie version was much more impressive than the mall version, which is nothing more than a continuous roll of poster paper attached to rollers and a motor. Only slightly more impressive are people movers. A couple of summers ago I discovered these flat escalators that effortlessly move people along long corridors in airports or subway stations. People movers totally look like something from an outdated futuristic movie. Ironically, the mechanics of these people movers are strikingly kin to the futuristic changing billboard…

But back to my trip to Wal-Mart. This was not the first time I had a strange futuristic feeling while at America's big-box store. I can recall one occasion that I was actually reminded of the book 1984 as I stood in line to check-out. My extreme frugality however keeps me coming back despite this unflattering comparison. Last night I learned that my local Wal-Mart gas station has officially moved into the new millennium. Gone are the boring gas pumps designed for the sole purpose of pumping gas. Those outdate models have been upgraded to an attention grabbing entertainment center. The pump was plastered in advertisements. There was even an advertisement attached to the rubber hose that connects the nozzle to the pump. Attached to the left side of the pump was a small electronic vending machine. The tiny screen displayed different gasoline upgrade options that could be purchased by simply pushing one of the colorful buttons to left. I was so distracted by all of the busy ads placed conveniently at eye level that I almost missed the T.V. above the pump. Wal-Mart may be accused of skimping out on employee benefits but they cannot be accused of skimping out when it comes to entertaining their customers while pumping gas. As I stood there watching the local news I couldn't help but think that the only thing that would complete this experience was a news story about the high price of gas, or maybe an advertisement for a fuel efficient car. Now that I think of it, maybe the T.V. was a blessing in disguise. For a split second, as I watched a boy fall off a diving board during an advertisement for the next episode of America's Funniest Home Videos, I forgot that the gas pump in front of me was eating away at what little money I have in my bank account.

Night at the Moview

A couple of weeks ago I went to see Night at the Museum. As I sat in the theater waiting for the movie to start I gave into the tempting advertisements for the concession stand. The concession stand line was really long and I almost went back to my seat, not willing to stand in such a long line, but my craving for Raisenettes was too much to ignore. I got in line behind a man with 7 kids; 5 girls and 2 boys. The five girls looked like they were 8 or 9 years old and the two boys didn't look much younger. The man was asking each of the kids what kind of Icee they wanted and trying to keep a mental tab of how many "brown" Icees and how many "red" icees he needed in all. Each time he finished asking however, he always had more or less than seven total. I observed the problem right away. The kids kept moving around and changing places so that by the time he got to the end of the group, he had either missed someone or counted someone twice. The situation was further aggravated by the boy at the end who never knew what he wanted, and kept asking for nachos instead, which apparently was not an option. At one point the man tried to make the kids stand in a line, however the girls were distracted when another group of girls about the same age walked by dressed like those trashy looking Bratz Dolls. The five girls in front of me quickly broke out of the line and formed a huddle where they commenced to say things like, "Did you see what they were wearing?" or "Can you believe they get to wear that much make-up?" Noticing the natrual male-female separation, the man decided to take two seperate talleys. He appionted one girl to figure out what all the other girls wanted. It took the girls a while to decide, mainly because they were still gossiping about the other slutty looking girls (and they did look slutty). The man kept having to redirect their attention to the Icees. As this was going on, one of the little boys was running around the man asking him if he could be in charge of what the boys wanted. Finally the girls decided on 2 red icees and three brown icees and boys gave their order, just in time for the man's turn at the counter. Clearly proud of his accomplishment, he stepped up to the counter and proceeded to ask for 3 brown icees and 4 red icees, however before he could even finish his sentence the guy behind the counter cut him off, telling him taht the Icee machine was broken. The man didn't say anything. He turned and walked away with all the kids trailing behind him asking why they didn't get any icees. I couldn't help but laugh. I hope that man learned that next time he takes 7 kids to the movies he should just get them all the same thing and forget about asking each one what they want.

Christmas

Cousins

My Fair Weather

Yesterday I went to the State Fair of Texas. The day started out really ugly. The morning was windy, cloudy and chilly. By noon though the sun was out and the rest of the day was history - we had perfect fair weather for the rest of the day.

I ate...a hamburger, some coke, a hot dog, some lemonade, some fudge, a crepe and a fried PB&J with banana. Yikes, I better get some good exercise this weekend.

I saw...Zombies dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller, a juggling chef, some racing pigs, BMX stunt bikers, a really tall guy (not Big Tex, although I saw him too), Marilyn Monroe made out of butter, some strange arts and crafts, an 800 pound pig, and a lot of new cars, some nice, some ugly, some way too big, and others that were way too pricey.

I really enjoyed...the Crazy Mouse ride, the fried PB&J (surprising, huh?), the Card Stacking Man (does he get a lot of paper cuts?), the long-jumping dogs, the weather, and my date.

I was weirded-out by...the chair invention that wraps around your knees (the guy selling it said that he uses his for yoga and meditation), the strange-and-way-too-confusing end of time chart depicting the seven stages of the history of the world, the juggling chef's whistle, the fried coke, the Parade of Lights, and all the food on a stick.

The following foods were on a stick...sausage, cheesecake, fried potato slices, chocolate dipped strawberries, fried pickles and of course corn dogs and ice cream (those are classics).

I think...THE FAIR IS AWESOME! Where else can see luxury cars, racing pigs, butter sculptures, as-seen-on-TV inventions and a tacky parade all in one place?

True Story...

This past Saturday I went biking in Fort Worth and part of the trail was blocked off by a lion and a buffalo. The lion was standing up on his hind legs with a fierce look in his eye, like he wanted to attack and the buffalo was just standing there. They were really big and since they were blocking the trail we had to bike around them.

Innocent Fun

This weekend I went to see a belated fireworks show in Addison. As with any fireworks show it started off slow, gradually building up to the finale. And it was quite a finale. As the show climaxed and the fireworks went off in an overwhelming frenzy, I realized that fireworks make us act like little kids. Try to envision it: 6 adults representing 8 college degrees (so far) using words like "mitosis" and "Bunsen burner" in casual conversation. Then the finale comes and all of that disappears. All we could do was smile and laugh, and then cheer and clap like a bunch of little kids. It was great, innocent fun.

Summertime

This summer Chris and I bought season passes to Six Flags. I must admit that at first I was not a big fan of the idea. Besides the usual distaste for lines and heat, I was afraid I wouldn't use it enough to make it worthwhile. Okay, so maybe I know this girl who bought a season pass one summer with a couple of friends and then we never used them, I mean they never used them. But I reasoned that they never went because it was hard to find a time when all three of them wanted to go. With Chris I figured that since we spend such a large quantity of time together, we were bound to find the time to go. Going against everything past experience had taught me, I gave in to my reasoning and bought a pass...and I am so glad I did! Six Flags is great when 1) you have a season pass, and 2) you actually use the season pass. We go for a couple of hours, ride a few rides and then leave. We go in the late afternoon and evenings after it has cooled off and the crowds have disapated. Six Flags is no longer an all day event that leaves your head aching, your body dehydrated, your skin red and blistered and your feet on the verge of mutiny. Now I can go to Six Flags and leave when I get tired, hungry or when it's too crowded and not feel guilty for not getting the most out of my outrageous ticket price. It's great! This summer is shoring up to be a great one.

So I was going to end the blog there, but I couldn't resist adding a bit more after what just transpired. As I was typing that last sentence (the one in bold) I accidently typed a "w" at the beginning of shoring...he he he. Pretty funny. Just think if my summer was "whoring" up to be a great one...now that would put a totally different spin on this blog entry. Instead of six flags, I would have to write about...well, use your imagination. I have to keep this G

You Know You're a Redneck if...

...when you go to the big fire-work warehouse on the fourth of July, you actually hear a guy say, "I want that one; that big-ass one," as he points at the "big ass" fire works that he wants. I hope he didn't blow-up his big ass with those "big ass" fire works!

You Know You're a Redneck if...

...there's a bull loose in your neighborhood. Yesterday I was getting ready to go walking and just as I started down the driveway I was met by a sheriff. He promptly warned me that there was a bull running loose in the neighborhood. After telling him I didn't know anyone around me that owns a bull, I decided that a loose bull was all the more reason to go walking. I wanted to get out and gawk like the rest of the neighborhood. Sure enough, just as I rounded the corner I saw a group of people standing in the road, slowly backing up as this huge bull ran across the road, bucking his hind legs as he went. Apparently bulls do not like to be corralled by a sheriff's car and two men yelling and waving their arms. Add a group of gawkers and a barking dog, and let the circus ensue. The bull never did go into the gate that the men were trying so hard to direct him into, but he did run up and down the road and across lawns, the sheriff following him all the way in his car. As the sheriff plowed over people's lawns, he would yell, "Sorry," to those of us gathered to watch the show. It was amusing to watch him weave around the trees and flower boxes as he tried to herd the spooked animal. Eventually the sheriff got the bull cornered and the show was over, but that had to be one of the most interesting walks I've ever taken. Maybe you're not a redneck if there's a bull running loose in your neighborhood, but you're certainly not city folk.

NYC

Central Park

Chrysler Building

Planeterium

At the top of the Rock

Ellis Island

Restuarant from Seinfeld

Rockefeller Center

Central Park

Our Longest Date Yet

I know it has been a long time since I posted a blog. So much has happened that I don't know where to start. Let's see...term papers, no sleep, finals, no sleep, graduation, no sleep, graduation party....the list goes on. Graduation was great. The actual ceremony wasn't that exciting, although the guy who marched next to me made it a lot more interesting. The whole time he told me all about his boyfriend, their celebration and imminent move to Kansas and their Canadian wedding this summer. I hope you don't think I'm homophobic, it's just that I'm not used to people being so open about alternative life styles, especially to a stranger. In retrospect, that was all about to change.

To celebrate my graduation I decided to give myself a trip to New York City. I had actually been planning this trip since I got back from Europe last summer. Having planned it so far in advance, I was naturally very excited about going. As graduation approached I found it a convenient answer to questions like, "what are you going to do after you graduate?" I know that when people ask that question they don't want to know what you're doing the week after graduation, but rather they want to know about your career plans and all that grown up stuff. At that time however, I hadn't figured all that out, so it was a convenient answer to say, "I'm going to New York City."

What to say about New York? I think the most intersting thing to do in New York is people watch. We found a great little hotel in Manhatten. It was small and in a residential area, and it was pretty reasonably priced. All the reviews we read were really great, so we were pretty excited about it. The reviews however, failed to note that the hotel was in the gay part of town. One of my hobbies is going to the book store and reading travel guides, and I always find it intersting that many travel books have a special section for "Gay Paris," or "Gay New York." I always thought, "how can gay traveling be different from straight traveling?" I now understand a little better. The neighborhood was great; it was quiet, there were a ton of restuarants and the subway was real close. But it was definantly the gay part of town...transvestites and everything. We also saw some interesting characters on the Subway. A few drunks, a lot of homeless people and one weirdo ranting on and on about innappropriate things. Chris and I observed that there are different kinds of beggars in New York. There are some that just sit on the sidewalk or on the subway holding out a cup. It is up to the passer-by to figure out that the extended arm is a request for money. There are others that sing for their money. They sing hymns or they make up their own catchy songs about being down-and-out, complete with harmony and different parts for different singers. After they sing their song, they go through the subway car asking for money. Then there are others that carry signs, only the signs are typed, laminated and have color pictures of the starving children at home. Ironically, we saw this same sign more than once...either that one person really gets around the city or the sign is just a ploy. Chris and I decided that they put so much work into the begging because it's their job...you can't expect them to get something for nothing. Of course, if they can put so much work into begging, it seems like they could put some of that energy into looking for a real job...but that's just my opinion. At first you do feel sorry for them, but after a while you get burned out and start to think it's all a scam.

The city is great. There are so many people, so much to do and so much walking. Among my favorites were the Brooklyn Bridge, Rockefeller Center and Battery Park. We both really enjoyed eating at the Tom's Restuarant, the restuarant from Seinfeld. The guy who works in there, Pete, was really funny. One night Chris and I were craving cereal. It was pretty late and we knew that Tom's restuarant would be open and served cereal, so we jumped and the Subway to satisfy our late night craving. Upon exiting the subway station, we went East instead of West, and knew that something was wrong when we noticed that we were surrounded by shady characters, liquor stores and what appeared to be low income housing. After walking a few blocks we turned around and headed the right direction. Once we got to Tom's Restuarant, we took out the map and realized that we had accidently wondered into Harlem...at midnight. But the cereal was really good. The Empire State Building was somewhat of a let down. It was so crowded. The observation deck is really small and they let people keep coming up, even when there isn't room for them. But the view were awesome, and almost worth the crowds. I would reccomend going up the Rockefeller tower instead. The observation deck is much larger and the walls are glass so you can really see everything. Chris was most exvited about going to the Guggenheim. It was desiged by one of his favorite architects, Frank Lloyd Wright for those of you who don't know, and the building is quite famous. He was bummed out the day we were going because it was raining. Oh yeah, it rained on us a few times. The first time it happened we were totally unprepared. By the time we got to the Subway station we were totally soaked. Anyways, it had rained the morning we went to the Guggenheim and Chris was disappointed because he wouldn't be able to take any pictures of the outside, but once we got there we realized that was the least of our worries. Not only was the outside of the building covered in scaffolding for renovations, but the majority of the inside was closed off for the installation of a new exhibit. Chris was so upset. I guess we'll have to go back sometime...

All in all, Chris and I were there for a week. When he dropped me off after we got home, he told me it was the longest date he'd ever been on. It was a fun date though, and I'm so glad we went.

Done with Undergrad!

My Mimi and I after the Graduation Ceremony.

The Zoo at the Zoo

As I progress further and further into the world of adulthood, I have learned to appreciate new things, one of these being the three-day weekend. What's better than a lengthened weekend and a shortened work week? Well, don't actually answer that because I know that there are plenty of things better than an extra day of vacation, like family, friends and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. But on a level of instant gratification a three-day weekend is pretty swell. This past weekend I took advantage of my extra day off and went to the zoo. I thought it was a great thing to do over a three-day weekend, and apparently so did the rest of the DFW metroplex because it was crowded. The crowds caused lines and the lines caused impatience and sometimes this impatience was expressed with a less-than-friendly demeanor. There were 7 of us that went to the zoo together. One of my friends arrived before the rest of us, so she got in line to get a ticket. The line was long, and she was pretty close to the front when the rest of us arrived so a couple of us jumped in line with her to buy tickets for the rest of the group. No harm done, right? Well, not according to the stroller-pushing couple in line behind us. As we got closer to the ticket window and started switching people in and out of line, the man behind us started making comments about having no manners, which made the rest of the wait pretty uncomfortable. We took the moral criticism like adults and got our tickets only to realize that we had 7 people and only 6 tickets. In the distraction of the few words that were exchanged back and forth between "us" and "them," Chris's brother panicked and bought only one ticket when he got to the window, forgetting that he was supposed to buy a ticket for someone else also. So we all ended up waiting while one person stood in line to get another ticket. I guess we got what we deserved. Other than our dramatic entrance everything at the zoo was pretty much how I remembered it; except for the dinosaurs. I dont recall ever seeing dinosaurs in a zoo. I suppose they are, or were, animals but I dont think that if they were still alive I would want to go somewhere to look at them locked up in cages. Anyone remember Jurassic Park? Dinosaurs and zoos do not go together, especially since theyre extinct. Do you know how to put an extinct animal in a zoo without making it a useum exhibit of pictures and bones? You find nice green places along the main walkways, build a replica of the dinosaur, give it a few moving parts and a motor, and add some speakers that emit scary dinosaur noises every now and then. I though it was weird to come to the zoo to see fake animals. Isnt that the opposite of what a zoo is supposed to be?

Streaker?

Did anyone watch the local news on ABC last night, at 10 pm? I wasn't really watching but I looked up when I heard one of those air horns going off during an on-the-scene report, and I swear I saw a naked guy running across the screen Actually, I saw was his backside, white butt and all, but he was obviously naked. The reporter stumbled a little bit and then they switched to a recorded piece. I was just wondering if anyone else caught that.