Once Upon a Time

I had a friend who told me about this great guy she wanted me to meet. He was an engineer, graduated from Poteet (my alma mater too!), and from what she could remember- he always had impeccable taste and always matched his socks to his shirts. I didn't want to go meet him, to be honest. I was ready to just take a break from dating anyone. I agreed upon her insistence.
And, there it happened. I walked into his apartment and I knew that we were either going to spend the rest of our lives together OR never see each other again. The rest of the evening (was spent on a double date with another couple) went well. So I thought. I noticed that Brian stayed within close proximity but looked at me as if I were from a whole 'nother planet. He didn't ask for my number at the end of the evening so I figured the latter of the two ideas about "us" would be the one to come to fruition.
Two weeks after that date, I got a phone call from the girl who happened to be on the double date with Brian and me. She said he was definitely interested and she hoped it was okay but, she went ahead and gave him my number. (yes!) Later that evening, he called.
I won't go through the next few years we dated. It would be too long to recall and write down every single date we went on. All I know is I knew after the first few dates that I wanted to marry this man. The end of our dates were the hardest. He would take me home and drive back to Richardson. About a year after we started dating, we began to discuss the possibility of marriage. He once told me, after the fact, that one of his aunts pulled him aside in his grandmother's kitchen and asked if he was planning on asking me to marry him. I imagine he turned purple from embarrassment and mumbled something similar to, "Uh...yeah, um, yes. I mean...I think." haha!
So, this next part, I come off not looking so great in so let's just go with it, shall we? We discussed setting a date and we wanted to get married in our church. The only date that was close to what we had initially wanted was August 11th. So, I went ahead and put the deposit down on the church before Brian formally asked me. Don't misunderstand. I totally asked him if he was comfortable with me doing this. He was. Obviously. We went through the church's premarital counseling sessions for the next six weeks. We met with an older couple who were our counseling and prayer partners. They gave us a compatibility test and after they looked at the results, told us that in their 20+ years of doing premarital counseling, we were the most compatible couple they had ever seen.
The proposal was a surprise...but not. On Valentine's Day, he made me this amazing dinner at his apartment and watched an I Love Lucy marathon with me. Here's the deal: There were these dishes I had been eyeballing. They were square and unique and I loved them. Well, in the living room, he had two huge boxes wrapped addressed to me. I opened them and thought, "Um, dishes for Valentine's Day? Ok. Where would I keep these?" As I was opening the second box, he said, "Please turn around." And there he presented me with a ring and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.
And I intend to do just that.
I knew I wanted to marry him. I didn't care how, when, or where. I wanted to be his wife. I think about that feeling sometimes when we're caught up in the stress of every day life, work, and our precious and precocious little boys.
We have been through everything together: loss of family members, jobs, school, new jobs, loss of a child, and my whole near-death thing. It is by the grace of God that we are where we are and we don't forget that. Eleven years and I still wake up excited about what new adventure we're going to take our family on.

Happy Anniversary, B!
1 Universe, 8 planets (9 really), 204 countries, 809 islands, 7 Seas, and I had the privilege to meet you.

Austin, TX

We took the boys on a quick trip to Austin, TX after we drove through on our way to Port Aransas and Ethan expressed interest in the city. The boys had no idea. Brian and I packed a suitcase, reserved a room, and loaded the boys into the car. Our first stop was West, TX at the Czech Stop Bakery; one of our favorite pit stops when we head south. Caden got a red velvet cupcake with sky-high icing (his favorite) and Ethan decided on a snack mix. They still had no idea what was in store for them until we got to the UT Stadium. Ethan's eyes lit up and he was so excited! We stopped at the Texas Capitol Building. I had never been inside and neither had our boys. It was beautiful!! Ethan and Caden were in awe of the architecture. My knowledge of Texas History (from teaching 4th grade Social Studies for so long) served me well when they asked questions. As we were leaving, both boys made comments about wishing we could stay the night at at hotel. Brian and I never told them we were staying in a hotel and kept the suitcase well-hidden.

After we left The Capitol Building, we stopped at Chedd's http://www.chedds.com/ for lunch. As we were leaving, we got another comment from the Peanut Gallery about wishing we could stay in Austin a bit longer. That was about the time we pulled into the hotel. I'm shocked people didn't hear the screams, yells, choruses of righteous and awesome coming out of the their big mouths. 

We stayed around the hotel for a bit waiting to spring the next surprise on the boys which happened to be  bats. Brian found a state park animal preserve in Fredricksburg, TX that would allow us to get up close to the bats as they emerge for their feeding. Old Tunnel Preserve is an old train tunnel where the bat reside. I had the best time convincing Caden that the tunnel was really where Batman lived. We debated back and forth for a good while. To get the best view, you have to be one of the first 60 people to purchase a ticket to go down close to the tunnel. Otherwise, you get to sit up at ground level to see them. We knew about the bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge, but this was on the way through Luckenbach and next to Alamo Springs Cafe- both places Brian wanted to see. The boys loved the bats and I thought it was highly intriguing. What I didn't like, and the boys confirmed their dislike for it too, was the smell. Gag.

Not birds...BATS

Batty Bats!

Alamo Springs Cafe- you can go pick your own beer (from a bazillion selections) and their hamburgers are ginormous! It was a pretty cool place with live music and great food.

That's a dang good sammich, y'all.

This sweet dog was out on the patio with his owners. He was just the sweetest baby!

We left and got back to the hotel pretty late, so what else was there to do? Go for a late-night swim. Duh. I took the boys down for a quick swim before bed. When they were done, I took them back up, stuck them in the shower, put them in the bed and they were out in less than 10 minutes. Easy.

I slept in a bit the next morning, so Brian took them downstairs for breakfast where the kids loaded up on waffles, sausage, bagels, cereal, fruit, and juice. Crazy, bottomless pits for boys I have.

We headed to the Austin Zoo after breakfast. It's the tiniest zoo EVER, but the animals are amazing. They're rescues and some were just walking around- like the peacock. I realized that if I ever hit the lotto, I would donate money to that place. It's beautiful and they have a moral ethic to the way they run their zoo, but man they sure need money for improvements!

Knock, Knock...

The saddest thing EVER. Wolf-Husky hybrid found connected to a trailer in Houston. The left leg was infected and had no feeling, so they had to amputate. You can't see it in this picture but, he had huge shade trees and fans to keep him cool.

She is a full-bred wolf and completely beautiful.

Random rooster who walked around, crowed, and was obsessed with chasing Caden around.

Zomg! A real-live fox. Adorable and she barked/yipped at the rooster walking around.

The tigers here looked healthier than the ones at the Dallas Zoo. Shame.

Gift shop? Yes please!

We didn't stay much longer because, again, it's a super tiny zoo. I don't even think it's a zoo as much as it's an animal refuge. We took a drive through Austin and ended up at County Line on the Lake for lunch. The food was really good, but the atmosphere is even better. It's an old lake house lodge thing right on Bull Creek (Austin Lake is right there) and has the most beautiful scenery. I highly recommend eating here if you ever get the chance. After lunch, we had to take the boys onto the dock and around the area to look around. 

The ducks gave Caden El Ojo as he walked by...

We had a great time! The boys were well-behaved and appreciative of our efforts. Brian and I were impressed with our ability to plan, pack, and pull this whole thing off without them suspecting a thing. We also ended up falling in love with Austin and how beautiful it is. I would not mind living there, traffic and all. Up next---First Day of School (eek!)