Wednesday, April 29, 2009

What's next?

Well the last couple of days have been eventful, if not quite enjoyable.  

As you know, we have been getting a LOT of rain lately.  A lot.  Seriously.  Rain.  

Anyway.

So Tuesday I woke up to a flood in the sunroom.  It had receded a bit, but from the water line, I estimate we had about 3 inches of standing water in there at one point.  In addition, it was still raining and the front and back yards were the worst I have seen yet.  I could not see the driveway for the water!  Needless to say, I was late to work.  At one point, I made it out of my driveway and about 4 blocks toward the highway when I had to turn back because of the high water on the road.  But eventually, I did make it to work.

When I got home from work,  I had a mess to deal with.  We had been using the sunroom to store some empty boxes, and of course they were wet.  Well, the bottom layer, anyway.  I had to move the dry boxes to the garage and throw out the wet ones.  Then I mopped up the standing water best I could, and turned on the ceiling fan to facilitate the drying process. *sigh*



If that were not enough, I woke up this morning an hour after my alarm should have gone off.  We apparently lost power sometime early in the morning.  It was very dark without any lights!  That is why my photo of the day is this light - because I am so grateful for power!


I wonder what tomorrow will bring...

Monday, April 27, 2009

Nostalgia

I've been wanting to scrap this photo for a long time.  Thanks to this week's challenge at Jen Wilson Designs, I had the opportunity.

(Dan, I know we took new photos of our hands for this challenge, but I couldn't resist!)


Weekend Fun. And more rain.

On Thursday, I met my good friend Jessica and her mom to chat, shop, and eat dinner. I met Jessica when I lived in Portland (actually, she was Dan's friend!). Now she lives in Provo, Utah, and we live here in Texas, but since her parents live here too, we get to catch up every time she comes to town. I had a GREAT time! It made me realize that I have no girlfriends here in Houston and I really needed a girl's night out! Here we are, post shopping and dinner.




Friday it rained again. Here is Bentley, all wet.



On Saturday morning, I drove to Dallas, where I met Dan and Lyn & Ryan for Ryan's birthday dinner at Benihana. Dan is staying with Lyn and Ryan (and their three boys and two pugs) while he searches for a job in Houston. In short, they are another little miracle in our lives. Thank you guys!


We had a great time with them this weekend. It was quite a full house since I brought Bella & Bentley, too! The puppies came home exhausted after the fun!



Sunday morning, breakfast of champions:



And here it is Monday and it's RAINING again. BIG thunderstorm tonight. More flooding, etc. Bella and Bentley will not go outside (even though I KNOW they need to!) since it is raining so hard. Here is a fuzzy photo of Bentley looking outside at all the water.



Have a great day!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Our House.

Thanks to Cristie, I didn't have to figure out what my photo of the day was going to be!  This is our house here in Houston.  While it has some problems, I like it very much.  Very cozy.  :)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Sometimes I hate computers. Now is one of those times.

For the last week or so I have been having minor trouble with my work computer.  Every day when I try to log onto my email, it crashes my system.  And every day I call IT and they "fix" the problem.  It happened again today, so I call my friend Chris in the IT department and he says "uh oh".  That's when I knew it was going to be a long day.  

By the end of the day, my computer was toast.  

And I'm just hoping that by some miracle, they can save my files. 

But anyway, our trusty iMac (home computer) is running well.  (quick!  knock on wood!)

It's been a busy few days, but here we go.

Wednesday, 4/15.  Bella and Bentley after a nice long walk.  First stop is always the water bowl.


Thursday, 4/16.  Bella looking a little annoyed that I woke her up with the flash.


Friday, 4/17.  The fun begins.  It started raining about 3 pm, and by the time I got home from work, this is what the drainage ditch looked like.  I thought - wow! that is high water!  But little did I know...


Saturday, 4/18.  Rained ALL DAY.  And I mean RAIN.   This is the same drainage ditch.  Yes, it has filled completely to the road.  Our driveway was a river, and our front and back yards became lakes.  We had minor flooding in the sunroom.  

Sunday, 4/19.  But by Sunday morning, everything was back to normal.  We met up with the Houston NSX club before afternoon church. Quite a nice turnout.


Monday, 4/20.  The weather since the storm has been amazing.  Sunny skies and afternoon highs about 85 degrees.  Perfect, if you ask me.  And the dogs.  They love this weather.  We have been going for nice walks and then come home to play ball in the backyard.  While this photo isn't the best, it is of something that doesn't happen very often:  Bella running.  But she is so cute when she jumps around.  


Tuesday, 4/21.  More backyard fun.  Bentley had had enough at this point. 

I hope your week is going better than mine so far!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Family Photos!!

While we were in Idaho, I took some family photos.  Everyone has been asking for a preview, so here we go!  I hope you like them (I am certainly no professional!).

I call this one "Proud Grandma". :)


Monroe and Heather


Marsh, Emily, and baby Tucker


David and Jessica


Dan and Chrystal (courtesy of Chris!)


Brad and Deb


The whole clan.


That's all, folks.  After all, it's just a "preview"!  


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

where was I again?

OK, we are in for a looooonnnng, photo-heavy, post tonight.


It's been crazy the past .. oh... week.


Photo-of-the-day for 4/6 comes with a question.


Which of the following did I get for FREE on my shopping trip today?
a. 2 bottles of VitaminWater10
b. 1 Chapstick Naturals lip balm
c. 4 packs of Mentos Gum


the answer is d. all of the above!!

On Tuesday, 4/7, I started packing for our Easter trip to Idaho.


On Wednesday, 4/8, my Check Engine Light came on. After a few frantic calls to the dealership and a stop at AutoZone, I checked my gas cap. It appeared tight, and the light stayed on. We disconnected the battery to reset the light. It still came on. Hmm. We left for Idaho, and when we came back, the light is off. So I guess it was nothing. At least I hope it was nothing.


Thursday, 4/9: this is what $400,000 worth of equipment looks like!


Friday, 4/10. We flew to Salt Lake and went to the 8th Annual International Art Competition: Remembering the Things of God. My friend Amy had a piece on display (shown here under the baby). Yeah, Amy!


Saturday, 4/11: drove to Idaho and took some Hollingsworth family photos (note new baby Tucker front and center!). Not bad for tripod and remote, huh?


On Sunday, 4/12, Little Tucker and Uncle Dan after the blessing.

Monday, 4/13, we flew home. This is a photo of the Salt Lake Valley from our airplane window.


And today, Tuesday 4/14, it was back to work. When I got home, I received this package from Houseparty. Yippee!

The End. (for now)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

as the dust settles...

Well it has been quite a while since I have last posted.  My parents have been here visiting from Wisconsin, and we have been very busy.  They left Saturday morning, and we are exhausted! 

So here are my photos of the day beginning Saturday, 3/28.  We drove downtown to try out Crave, a new cupcake store.  I give them 4 out of 5 stars.  No Red Velvet. :(, but check out that cool milk bottle!


Sunday, 3/29.  Cooking dinner, Hawaiian Haystacks.  Yum!


Monday, 3/30.  Bentley (the "before" shot)


Tuesday, 3/31:  Bentley, the "after" shot.  Both he and Bella went to the groomer and came back looking (and smelling) much better!


Wednesday, April 1st.  We went with Mom and Bruce to Taste of Texas.  Delicious steaks.  (tasted much better than my photo!)


Thursday, 4/2:  We went antique shopping in old town Spring, Tx, and came across this cool birdhouse!

Friday, 4/3: Family Photo Op.  And a chance to brush up on my remote photography skills.


Saturday, 4/4:  blast from the past.  This is our engagement photo.  I was working on a scrapbook page and this photo just called to me.  It was taken in 2003 by my good friend Jaime.

Sunday, 4/5:  look at the size of this strawberry!  We got them at Costco, and they are ohhh, so good!