Chance becoming citified

I never thought Chance could get used to an elevator, but he has been a surprisingly distinguished urban gentleman!! Even his first trip in it was filled with more curiosity than apprehension, as his ears perked up every time the elevator "dinged", signaling the passing of another floor (fortunately, there aren't that many floors as my vertigo would kick in....). He figured the elevator situation out rather quickly and now knows exactly what to do ....what a smart boy, if my biased self must say so ;)

Lil' Lila

While Ed's band, the Band of Heathens, was playing in Houston this past weekend, Kacia and I took the opportunity to have a gals only dinner together. Before we went out to eat, of course Lila needed to get her belly full ....with peas, that is. I just had to post this one. Lila is my newest little buddy and she makes me smile :) ....We are going to spend some time together this week and I'm really looking forward to it!!

More friends we miss....

Judy and Wells ....a lovely, fit couple!!

Once upon a time, there were two beautiful, intelligent, witty, and very fun single gals (of course I'm referring to myself and Judy) who found a crazy, bachelor guy named Ron to live with (as a matter of fact, yes, it was like "Three's Company"). They all partied too much, laughed a lot, occasionally argued, but most importantly became very close and like family to each other. Until one day, a single handsome suitor came along who just so happened to be good friends with Ron and swept Judy off her feet and to Idaho (that's
Wells I'm talking about by the way, pictured above) ....and then to Oregon (all good prosecutors must heed the call!)....Then Ron met Lara and moved away to Florida and I was left all alone in Colorado .....but wait!! My sweetie Marsh finally came along and I, too, was eventually pulled away to another state and the three of us are officially spread out across the country .....and once again, that's why we are thankful for air travel!! Well, anyway, here Judy and Wells are 10 years and 4 kids later!! We are hoping to make a trip to Bend, Oregon in the fall where Judy, Wells, and clan reside, but we have a ton of trips this summer and may have to postpone our visit ....But I wanted to share some pictures of their 4 beautiful children (no, really, they are all beautiful and I'm not even just saying that out of some sort of obligation). Taylor is their first born and a spitting image of Judy. Then comes Jacob who, in my opinion, looks just like Judy's father who I had the privilege to meet before his passing. And finally, there's the twins (quite the surprise there!!), Ava and Noah. I think Ava looks like Wells and Noah looks like Judy's brother Sy. ...Who really cares, though....they are ALL adorable ....see for yourself:

Ava and Taylor .... on a "girls only" outing with Judy!

Jacob, the human marshmallow ;)

the Lone Ranger, Noah!

...the entire clan, learning team work (now THIS is the wonderful thing about a big family, right Judy??!! ....you guys have your hands full!! ;)

...We love and miss all of you!!! We can't wait to make it to Bend soon (hopefully before you make it down here to Austin, right???!!!)

Evening at The Oasis on Lake Travis

our view from an upper deck at The Oasis

Last Sunday evening, we had dinner at the Oasis ( http://www.oasis-austin.com/ ) on Lake Travis. It is a happening place to drink margaritas, eat dinner, and watch the sunset here in Austin and can get crowded, but if you show up at a decent time, it's not so hard to get a table. Anyway, I was missing "nature views" now that we are city dwellers and insisted we head out to the lake for dinner. The building has an old world Spanish feel with multiple stories and interesting, ethnic decor. I really liked this chandelier in the entry way near the host stand:

...and here's a taste of the architecture (exterior):

....The food here is pretty good, but it is definitely the view and the ambiance that attracts people here for sure. Marsh and I had Collin take a photo of us out front in front of the fountain and sculpture of swimming turtles.

....But I think my favorite artistic piece here had to be, by far, the three monkeys in the well-known "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil..." pose.

My mom had a much smaller tabletop version of this in marble growing up with this same depiction and used to say that each of us triplets represented one of these monkeys. I think I was the "see no evil", Andria was "speak no evil", and David was "hear no evil", but I don't remember......and I think the monkeys were switched around in her version. We ALL probably should have been "speak no evil" since none of us knows when to shut up ;) .... Nevertheless, these guys were nostalgic for me and I had to get a picture on the way out. It was a gorgeous, hot Austin evening and I was happy for the change of scenery....

Band of Heathens at Whitewater Amphitheater

...our friend Ed on the right here :) .....

Last Saturday night, we drove down to Whitewater Amphitheater in a little town called New Braunfels (about 45 minutes south of Austin) to hear Ed's band play (Kacia's husband). They are the Band of Heathens and they are incredibly talented. We were fortunate enough to hear them play in Colorado before, but they are quite well known down here in Austin and more than making a name for themselves as they were awarded Best New Band in 2007 at the South by Southwest Conference. As Collin's down visiting for a couple weeks, he tagged along. We are attempting to instill a taste for true, authentic, good music within him ....

...still a work in progress, as you can see ;) ....The amphitheater is along the Guadalupe River and it's very pretty hill country. It is a popular area, especially in the spring and summer, for rafting, kayaking, fishing, and the gamut of outdoor activities one might expect along a river. Here's a good link for rafting type activities: http://www.rioraft.com/ ...a scenic area indeed.

...Minus a few gnats and such buzzing around here and there, Marsh and I enjoyed ourselves as well. A little bug spray and a Shiner Bock turned things around pretty quickly! ...Anyway, I'll leave you with a video so you can sample the talented sound of the Band of Heathens. Also, check out their website at http://www.bandofheathens.com/ ...GREAT stuff!

Urban Bats

... just a pretty picture I took off of Congress Ave. downtown before our "bat" viewing....

Austin has the country's (as well as the world's apparently) largest urban bat population living under the Congress Avenue bridge downtown .....and every summer night at sunset, the bats come out and I have to say, it is pretty spectacular to watch!! With a population of over 1.5 million in the colony, you can imagine the awesome scene this nightly activity creates --and the crowd it draws :) ... Last weekend on Friday night, Marsh, Collin, and I decided to go check it out for ourselves.

Marsh and Collin heading underneath the bridge....

...the crowd already well-formed above and below the bridge...

It began to drizzle on and off shortly after these pictures were taken and as the sun continued to set, it was difficult to get a good picture. Most of my pictures of the bats were way too dark and covered with drops of rain from the camera lens. So what I've done is to get a much better image off the web to help better depict what it was like experiencing this unique event.

...this endless stream of bats flying out from under the bridge, into the air, out over the lake, and across the city lasts for about an hour. It is really, really cool!! If you would care to learn more about this unique occurrence, check out this website for a beautiful sunset picture and more information: http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=122 ....If you come at the right time of the year, I promise I'll take you downtown when you come visit to see this for yourselves :)

Road Trip to our new Austin home!

Goodbye, Colorado!! (photos taken somewhere outside of Colorado Springs)

...that's me to the right following my honey...occasional tears flowing down my face ....goodbye, mountains :( ......I will miss you so, but promise to visit OFTEN!!

...The movers came, packed and loaded everything up two days before we left on Saturday (June 7th), so we had ourselves, Chance, and a few miscellaneous items with us on the trip down to Austin. We made it in two days (spent our first night in Amarillo .....sorry, no pictures from this locale as it was, quite frankly, dull and boring.....). But this picture signaled our official arrival like no other (it simply speaks for itself):

....I'm not even going to touch the slogan underneath the sign. ....It's just too damn embarrassing..... We also made a brief stop in the small town of Memphis, Texas. Although a real town that supposedly lives and "thrives" (term used loosely), it resembled a ghost town on many levels. Business hours are atypical, to say the least.

.....see our two cars in the background?? ....This was the "town square" ...on a Sunday .....yeah, pretty scary........where the heck is everybody??? ......oh, wait, .....I hear the "hallelujah" music. ...Never mind, mystery solved ;) ......What I can tell you is that is was ungodly hot this particular day in Memphis, Texas.

...Marsh considering joining the ranks of the retired.........

Marsh captured this next image in a storefront window before pulling out of Memphis, Texas and it pretty much epitomizes quite a few small, conservative Texas towns outside of Austin. I didn't even know he took this one until I downloaded the photos from the digital camera:

Spot-on, folks ...when representing your professional line of work in Texas, always don the cowboy hat so people know you're the real deal ......hilarious.....

...Upon entering Austin city proper, we felt a different vibe wash over us. Marsh thought it might be worth looking into getting our emissions tests on our vehicles taken care of right away and here's where we pulled up:

....ahh, Austin.....home sweet liberal home ;)

Breakfast before our departure

Marsh and I with the "boys" (ahem .....young men.....)

We met up with Andria and Ash as well as Justin and Collin late on Saturday morning (June 7th) before beginning our road trip down to Austin. When in Boulder, be sure to stop by the Walnut Cafe ( http://www.walnutcafe.com/ ) as they serve a great breakfast all day (and lunch, too .....something for all ya' all .....see, I'm already getting into the southern lingo ;) ...Needless to say, there were more tears and I could hardly believe we were really officially driving to our new Austin home. It was bittersweet, I guess ......I don't really want to think about it or I'll start crying all over again, darn it ........At least we had some laughs before we left, provided mainly by Ash.

...thanks for attempting to lighten the mood, Ash!

...and you, too, you Cool Cats you!!

Andria and I ......crying.........

....I really lost it when Andria and I hugged each other goodbye......actually, we both did. It was tough.......We are fortunate, though, in that we have a family trip to Wisconsin planned July 5th, so we will get to see Ash and Andria sooner than later and I'm incredibly happy about that :) ....We already have several "sister" long walks planned so we can catch up (you know, talking every day isn't enough, ...c'mon!!) ....It's going to be the first time the entire family on my side has been together in a LONG time. I'll definitely have a slide show for that one, count on it!!

One last evening at The Corner Bar

Still updating June (bare with me ;) ....We spent the night at Matt and Shamane's house on Friday night, June 6th (our last night as Colorado residents) and spent our final night out in Boulder at one of our favorite spots, The Corner Bar. It was nostalgic, fun, and sad all at the same time.

Ash and Marsh previewing the start of the insanity about to ensue ;)

Matt (getting the camera ready....hey, I still need some of those pics!) and Shamane

Shamane and I admiring each other's ......outfits??!!!

Nice shot, Dale!! ......you clearly have not captivated your audience, Andria ;)

....Per usual, we had a nightcap at Matt and Shamane's house and some tears were shed, believe me :( .....I can't tell you how hard it is to part with close friends and family and move away. It is heartbreaking. .....Thank god for airplane tickets, emails, blogs, and phone calls (sorry, I won't say text messaging because that it just way too impersonal and quite frankly, sucks.....something we all just don't do on any sort of regular basis....). We are already planning a post-Halloween get-together in Austin with this very tight-knit crew .....I CAN'T WAIT!!!

A final win...

Kay, Nikki, Tracy, myself, Rob, and Jeff in one final moment of trivia glory at Tusk!

...Yes, I'm still updating the blog for June and yes, it is late. .....If all goes as planned, I will crank out the pictures and events in June tomorrow and be "current" with the blog as we unpacked darn close to our final box yesterday (a good feeling indeed). I couldn't help but post about our Prospect Trivia team's final win before our departure. After we stuffed ourselves with pizza at Proto's celebrating Collin's graduation, we decided to stop in at Tusk one last time and it was, of course, trivia night. ....I had to join my teammates and see if we could pull out another win. ....The good news is we were able to accomplish this goal. ....The bad news: the team has since been defeated, has broken up, and may never return!!! .....A true sadness washes over me as I share this depressing news .....There is talk, however, of the forming of a trivia team here in Austin composed of myself, Marsh, and several of his coworkers. ....I'm sure it will be fun, but can we repeat the five week winning streak of my former Colorado team??? .....I think I'm going to cry (myself to sleep, that is ....)

Congrats to the Graduate!!

Wow, I am sooooo behind with the blogging, but now that we are finally here in Austin, I intend to catch up on June's events ....starting with Collin's graduation from highschool on June 3rd!!!

We celebrated the following evening with Andria and Ash at Proto's in North Boulder (best pizza in town: http://www.protospizza.com/ ). We are incredibly proud of Collin and excited for his upcoming adventure in the fall: studying abroad for a year in Spain!! And, of course, we intend to make a trip there in the spring, right honey??? Anyway, it is hard to believe Justin and Collin are both legally considered adults and we are practically empty nesters ......where does eight years go??? .....the blink of an eye, the blink of an eye.......

.....the Colorado clan of our family (former locale now for Marsh and I :( ....)

Cool ......and cooler ;) ......

the happy grad!!

Justin gorging .....I hate myself, I hate myself!!