Whoopin' it Up

Texas A&M opening day: AGGIES VS. LUMBERJACKS (lol what!)

Me, Natalie and Jenny at our hotel

Little pre-drinking at Ozona. Josh and I ate an awesome chicken-fried steak!

Can you believe it's been 5 YEARS since we graduated?? Reunion weekend was a complete success and I'm STILL tired from all the partying!

Nat, Casey, me, Jenny, Jill, Chelsea and Liz

It was so amazing that all 7 "IKPi" members (roomies) made it to the game! Jill and Liz are MOMs now (!!!) and Casey is pregs! Man, things have changed, but it was so good to get together. And most people know how much I love College Station. We had a great time and the Aggies beat SFA!

Here's Josh and David hopping in our cab to the game!

Natalie and I in the van (no A/C, sooo hot)

Me, Chelsea and Liz at the Charles' tailgate!

Free bandanas? Nowaks say "Yes, please!"

After the game, we headed off to Northgate. We made appearances at Corner Bar and Logan's and shut the place down. Getting home was tough, but after a Taco Bell and McDonald's run, we found a cab and made our way back to the hotel. Josh was such a good sport, he is not an Aggie, but he plays one on the weekends =)

He's Back!

So my hubby Josh finished up his MBA program this month. I am so proud of him!! He doubled up on classes and finished way ahead of schedule while working full time at JP Morgan. No easy task. Not the working part, but the being married to me part. I require alot of attention, so he did a good job keeping me happy and doing homework for 2 years =)

We had a little party at his mom's house in Katy, here are a few pics!

Opening gifts, he got money for a scope (hunting) and I gave him a Kindle!

Cheryl (Josh's mom) and Ann

FIVE DOGS! My dad and sis, Emily

Mmmm Cookie Cake!

Now that he's not gone til 9pm most nights, we have alot of time to hang out. ALOT. It's so different, in a good way, but I also laugh. He comes home, we eat together now, and then he says, "So what do you wanna do?" DO? You mean sitting on the couch and watching TV and being online isn't DOING anything?? I have to adjust. I have to come up with activities now?

Josh isn't one to lay around the house, that's my thing. I mean, what did he think I did all those nights he was at school? Go on an adventure? Ha Ha, he's in for a shock. I mostly did...THIS. Sat on this computer. I may work out and take Shelby to the dog park. So, now I have to think of an answer for "So, what do you wanna do?" now! EEK!

Another thing we realized was our grocery bill was a bit more this week. SHOCKING. Now he's not just eating soup or sandwich in the U of H parking lot before running into class. Poor guy. But we're so excited for his new job at BMCSoftware and having all this time together, my honey-do list is going to get alot longer for those "So what do you wanna do" nights! Bet he can't wait!

Shelby loves towels

Man Time...

I was such a good wife this weekend. No, really. I did all the boy things that Josh wanted to do. I think I did pretty good and being his man friend.

I went fishing. Soccer. Softball. BBQ.

Now, friends O mine know how big of the 'out doors type' I am. I'm not saying I'm miss priss, but I was outdoors a LT much, more than my comfort zone, and I have the mesquito bite welps to prove it.

Saturday morning Josh had an indoor soccer tournament. LOVE it. Key word INDOOR.

Saturday night, we stopped at Fiesta, got some bait shrimp and headed out to do some night fishing with Shae and Daniel. Yep, me and tha boys. We went over to the ship channel where DOW chemical and all that goes down. You don't eat these fish. They may have 3 eyes.

Josh said it's sad I've never caught a fish, so he set out to change that. Unfortunately, I did not catch a fish, BUTTTTtt...

I CAUGHT A CRAB!

Josh was so proud. I know he wanted to keep fishing, I literally was getting eaten alive by the Texas Hummingbird sized Mosquitos. Even though the OFF said "protects against West Nile," I wasn't convinced. I wrapped myself up in a towel and headed back to the car to get on Facebook mobile. =) ... what! I caught a freakin' crab, I was dunzo.

Shortly afterwards, the boys came back and it turns out I was the only successful fisher-woman. So, HA!

Sunday was filled with softball. Luckily, my sis Emily came along for the ride so I had some girl time. Josh's brothers and friends have a team called "STEROIDS" and some of their shirts are quite inappropriate.

I got to play around on my new Canon Rebel XS. I shot a few on the 'sports' mode. I know it's stupid to use those pre-set buttons, such an amateur. But you wait! I'm going to take a leisure learning class and get really good at photography!

Next free weekend, Josh is going to do a mani/pedi and go shopping! He owes me! =)

Google This

Have you ever thought about life b.G. (before Google)? If someone asked you how many miles it'd take you to get to Cleveland (shout out to the Mertzes!), you'd have to guess and guess hard. I can tell you it's 1,304 miles.

A crazy thing I heard this winter was that the CDC was working on where to send those pesky H1N1 Flu vacs and Google knew WAY before the gov't simply by looking at the "Googling" trends; what area of the country had the most "flu symptoms" or "do i have H1N1" queries.

Some may think that this is scary. They know too much about you. I mean I can look at my mom's house!! Google map her address, click street view and BAM, my dad's car is even in the driveway from the day they photographed!

Also, I will admit to you, I just Googled "why do dogs sigh?" It came up, and there are ALOT of people Googling (wondering) the same thing. Sad for us, funny for you. Turns out Shelby is either bored, tired, or content.

But who are the real people affected by this? The ones who Google's national domination hurt the most?

KNOCK KNOCK.

Yep, the Encyclopedia sales man. Also, remember those commercials for Encyclopedia Brittanica? It's a nice thought. But....I vote Google it. Google it ALL, ALL the time, till the cows come home, then Google why the cows come home in the first place!

Which, BTW, originated in print in Scotland, 1829. Also, here's an illustration from an English Teacher's whose students are learning to illustrate colloquialism.

AHHH..Google.

I live Sub-Tropical

So this is an alternate hair-do for those who live in the rainforest like me. I would say it rains MOST days here! You have to get creative!!

One Hurricane down (Alex)...how many more to go??

Our Yearly Kid Fix

This weekend we headed to San Antonio for an "Anderson" family mini-reunion. My mom's side came into town from Arizona and Oklahoma, aunts, cousins, kids and all! Those who couldn't make it, we missed you ALOT!

Staying at our house was my cousin Randy and his wife Heather. They have 3 cute kids: Amber, 4, Matthew, 6 and Joshua, 9. Joshua and my Josh have a special bond. They are both named Joshua Lee. During the World Cup halftime, the Josh's played for the name. The loser was to be named "BOB." Here's some of the kids playing with my Josh and Shelby! It was so cute.

So on Saturday, the Oklahoma clan came over. Michelle and Kenny's kids are Blaine, 11, Skylar, 10, Jordan, 6 and Lyla 14mo. Also were Aunt Jill and Bill. Yes, there were 13 adults, 7 kids, and 2 dogs over at the house. Our family activities tend to revolve around food. Burgers and hotdogs for lunch and mexican food for dinner!

Bar B Q Men - Daddy, Bill and Cousin Randy

Cousin Shell, me and Emily. Same pose since 1985.

Some of the group at La Posada Del Rey

Emily and I are the youngest of our cousins...so no we have not produced any great grand kids for Ganny and Pom like everyone else....and yes, Josh and I were asked WHEN WHEN! Don't you love those questions?

The Prices, Nowaks and Andersons!

Look at all these great-grandkids for Ganny and Pom! (minus little Trey)

So happy Aunt Sara (dad's sis) and Cindy made it to dinner.

At least I know that Shelby will be good with any future children. She didn't seem to mind being sat on, chased, or poked. Good little girl!