Meanwhile, back at the Ranch……

Friday night while I was making a fire outside in the pit, Madelyn rang the dinner bell (giant triangle on the porch) to call us all in for dinner. It was at this moment that I realized I was actually spending my weekend at a Texas ranch. Earlier in the week our friend Heidi invited Madelyn and me to spend the weekend at her families’ ranch somewhere in south Texas. So Friday Madelyn, Heidi, Corby, and I all piled in the Civic to embark on a two day journey into the Texas wilderness. I think I may have misunderstood the amount of “wilderness” we would actually be getting into. After a three hour car ride (and an awesome purchase of a camouflage hat!) on roads with no distinct characteristics, we finally arrived to a gate that had an “H” on it. If I had to find this ranch again, even if I were at gunpoint, I don’t think I could do it. Especially at night, where the only marker to the driveway is a small green reflector.

Once we arrived we cooked some tacos, sat outside by the fire pit, and played some games. It rained all night long, which made for an interesting morning, and a Honda Civic covered in mud. NOTE: If you are planning on going to a ranch, do not take a Honda Civic. We put on some boots (see pictures below) and spent the day petting the horses, admiring the long horns, and looking for alligators. No joke. ACTUAL ALLIGATORS. Unfortunately we were unable to find any alligators in the rivers and streams on the ranch, but we were able to see a pack of wild pigs. Am I naive? Up until this point in my life I was under the impression that there were two types of pigs. You have your “bacon” pigs which live on farms, and then you have the “Tusks” pigs that live in the wild. These pigs on the ranch were “bacon” pigs, but were wild. It blew my mind. I think I have learned something new everyday we have lived in Texas. By the time I am done here I will be full of all sorts of useless Trivial Pursuit knowledge.

Saturday night we ate at a local restaurant called Crowfutts known for their hamburgers. The Crowfutts specialty is a cheeseburger with a fried egg on it, and a side of tots. Madelyn, being the daughter of a cardiologist, advised me not to order the special. It was a nice dinner because we got there just in time for the sunset over the bay.

We left Sunday afternoon and headed back to Austin, in a Civic that looked like it survived a nuclear holocaust. The last thing I learned on our trip, and a great piece of advise, was a sign I saw on the side of the road. It read:

“Whats missing in Ch_ _ ch? UR!”

It was a nice weekend at the Ranch, and we had a really great time. It was nice to get out of town for the weekend, and go do something completely new. Enjoy the pictures!

Mid-Blog Blog (yes, that’s exactly how it sounds)

What is a mid-blog blog? It’s the blog that comes in-between two really good blog posts, just to keep the blog new and updated. This week Madelyn and I found an apartment! Hurray! Unfortunately it’s not ready until February 12^th……. Won’t that be a good blog post? Just imagine! Madelyn and I also went out to dinner this weekend to the fabulous and always classy Olive Garden (we had a gift card). “When my uncle comes to visit from Italy we always make sure to take him out to the Olive Garden!” Through my many visits to restaurants I have come to realization that if your chair has wheels on it than you won’t be paying more than 10 dollars a plate. Anyway, we went to dinner with our new friend, and Corby’s girlfriend, Heidi. What I found most interesting about our visit to the Olive Garden was the shopping center is was located in. There were two businesses next door to each other, one was called “Denver Mattress” the other was called “Austin Mattress”. I have a feeling Austin Mattress does better business. Dinner was a lot of fun, and it was nice to get out from the confines of the house. This week was quite the storm in Austin, and we stayed indoors a lot more than usual. It was cloudy for a week straight! Yuck. So it was a really nice Saturday, because the sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It warmed up to about 60 degrees, and I was finally able to get the car washed. Sunday of course we watched football. Madelyn was willing to watch this week, because I told her it would be the last game of the season, besides the Super Bowl. I think she was cheering more for the conclusion of the football season, rather than the actual game.

Washing my car? Football? Could this blog get any more exciting?!?! Stay Tuned. In the meantime here is Madelyn with a giant remote control….

Pictures from the Ice Storm

Day 75, Texas is closed

Christmas is a thing of the past, it’s officially 2007, and Madelyn and I have had to get back to our regular lives. Luckily both of us have finally landed jobs! Madelyn has been working everyday, and I start next week. The next blog I write should be from the comfort of our new apartment! Above is a picture I snapped from the window of my airplane, it was one of the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen, I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed such distinct lines in the sky. It was the perfect end to a great trip back to Salt Lake City.

Today I am getting a special treat because Madelyn is home from work for the day. Its not because of Martin Luther King, it’s because of the weather. But the way the local population is reacting you might think Armageddon is upon us. The reason the locals are so concerned is because it’s in the 20’s and it’s supposed to rain. Below freezing and rain? That’s the supposed recipe for disaster! Madelyn was sent home early so that she could beat out the storm. I don’t want to sound really pretentious or anything, but this is the type of weather I would ride my bike in. I went to the University of Utah for 4 years and they never closed school, not once, even though there were plenty of 2+ feet snow days. Last night on the news they were live at the local grocery store, and people were stocking up as if there was the threat of nuclear war. The grocery store looked like a market in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. The shelves were bare. Now, to give the Texans some credit, they don’t have snow plows or salt, they don’t have experience driving on ice, they have LOTS of overpasses which freeze, most don’t have 4WD or AWD, and they don’t have ice scrapers. But it’s quite the experience coming from such a snowy place. I say that now, but come July when all these locals are outside having fun, and I am inside waiting to die from stifling heat, they can laugh at me. .

Other than the weather, Madelyn and I have not been up to much. As mentioned above Madelyn started a new job at a commercial real-estate company, and I will be starting a job with Dell computers, or this other website development place, I haven’t figured it out yet, but I will be starting a job no matter what. We did get the chance to go out this weekend and head down to what is referred to as “G-Ridge”. G-Ridge, or Garden Ridge for the un-cool, is the neighborhood I was raised in. Growing up I had some friends who lived across the street and we are still friends to this day. That is us pictured below from our reception in last July. The order goes left to right, Justin, Ty, Corby, and me. Also pictured is Corby’s girlfriend Heidi and Madelyn eating some nachos.

On Sunday night we went to the Alamo Draft House to watch the premier of 24. The Alamo Draft house is a movie theater in which you can watch a movie and eat dinner. It was a lot of fun, especially because we were in a sold out crowd full of 200 "24" nerds. Jack Bauer is back!! That’s Madelyn giving the official 24 salute from in front of the theater. A true testament to this show is that the theater was sold out, people left their homes in the middle of the storm to watch 24! They turned away everyone who hadn't reserved seats online. If you aren’t watching this show you need to be.